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eOne Entertainment GroupRapper Joe Budden has been inspired by the #BlackLivesMatter movement to record new music. Placing his vocals over the beat to Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar's "Freedom," Budden weds sharp freestyle vocals to unsettling visuals for the song's accompanying video.

Explaining the reasoning behind the track, Budden writes in the comments section, "I was told that there was once a world where slaves communicated with each other via music, and tho I wasn't present for that, the HipHop I fell in love with always encouraged me to do the same (Thank You Public Enemy)."

He adds, "...Let this act as an unfortunate reminder that times change and they don't." He finished with the hashtags #BlackLivesMatter, #YallLivesMatter and #OurLivesMatter."

The video begins with a clip from Diamond Reynolds' recent Facebook Live video, which she filmed as her late boyfriend, Philando Castile, was shot by police. Vignettes of historical moments and images in American history, such as Martin Luther King Jr. peacefully marching and the arrest of the late Eric Garner, are also portrayed.

You can check out Joe Budden's "Freedom" freestyle track, along with its video, on YouTube.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
ST. HELENA  A $1.9 million skeleton in the closet was only the first scare in what became a full-blown financial house of horrors at St. Helena City Hall.

In the last 18 months, City Manager Jennifer Phillips and her new team have discovered one skeleton after another: a mismanaged flood project, a lack of funding to maintain or replace deteriorating facilities, and accounting procedures so sloppy that the city had forgotten to register and pay sales taxes for its newest fire truck.

Now, as the City Council prepares to ask voters to approve a half-cent sales tax, lets look back at what happened to St. Helenas finances and examine what city officials are doing to ensure it doesnt happen again.

The first bombshell came from a financial audit revealing that the city had returned $1.9 million to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which had provided a grant for St. Helenas flood project. The citys email archives helped to tell the story of how former city officials had failed to reassure a skeptical FEMA that the money had been used for the correct expenses.

As Finance Director Karen Scalabrini was leaving St. Helena for a job in Ukiah, she told a state official representing FEMA that the city didnt have the kind of documentation that FEMA was looking for. Her replacement, Interim Finance Director Sheila McCrory, wrote the words OK to pay per Gary on the resulting $1.9 million invoice. Unbeknownst to the council or the public, the invoice was paid, primarily with city reserves.

Former City Manager Gary Broad, who retired about three months later, denied knowing anything about the payment, although Scalabrini had also mentioned, in an email to a state official, that shed been consulting with Broad on the matter.

Through exhaustive research, current city officials concluded that FEMA had been right  the city had paid for flood project construction using FEMA grants that had been reserved exclusively for planning expenses.

FEMA wasnt the only granting agency that had been wronged. The city had also failed to comply with the terms of a grant from the Department of Water Resources and a loan from the State Revolving Fund. The basic problem seems to have been that city staff were not prepared or able to manage such a huge project.

Revenues barely keeping up with expenses

Paying back the money would have been easier if the city had maintained substantial fiscal reserves. But it hadnt, and long-term financial forecasts prepared by Phillips showed that even without factoring in the flood project repayments, the citys long-term revenues were just barely keeping up with expenses, which continually rise due to escalating employee benefit costs and the need to comply with new regulations.

As a local government, there are fundamental responsibilities and requirements that we have to abide by, Phillips said. Its not a choice.

Meanwhile, City Hall and the police station are nearing the end of their useful lives, and the city has no money set aside to replace them. Theres not even a line item for equipment as basic as computers and servers, which have to be replaced out of operating funds.

The unfunded capital expenses extend to major road repairs and upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant, which the state is pressuring the city to do.

Phillips told the council the citys infrastructure needs are woefully unmet, and even everyday operations are a struggle. The citys water fund is taking $1.3 million out of its reserves, the wastewater fund has no reserves left at all, and a rate study is underway that will almost certainly result in higher rates.

The long-term challenges were matched by short-term problems. For example, former finance officials had counted on using county Measure A funds to cover a regularly scheduled payment on a loan related to the flood project. When it became clear that Measure A funds wouldnt be released in time for the payment, the city had to take it out of reserves.

Facing a $1.5 million deficit in the 2015-2016 fiscal year, the city made major budget cuts, including at the library. Phillips said the city needed to make sound fiscal management its top priority, and discard long-held ideas about how much money the city needed to generate in order to operate properly.

Some of the challenges are inherent to operating a small city. St. Helena provides all the same services as big cities  police and fire departments, library, and water and sewer systems  without the economies of scale enjoyed by big cities, where the basic fixed costs of operating, for example, a sewer treatment plant can be spread among a broader user base.

Its like a mom-and-pop store trying to compete with a chain, Phillips said.

Cities with a greater economy of scale can more easily afford staff members to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations, which often involve officials with little knowledge of how small cities work. Last year, the city had to negotiate with regulatory officials in Oakland to reach a settlement over a leak at the wastewater treatment plant.

Preparing for the future

With the St. Helena City Council adopting a resolution Tuesday to place a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot, city officials, including City Manager Jennifer Phillips, are taking steps to stabilize city government, even as it faces long-term challenges.

One of Phillips primary goals has been to prioritize proper city administration. St. Helena hired a grants manager, recently appointed a Human Resources director, and is seeking an assistant public works director.

The grants manager researches the use of flood project grants, ensures compliance with current grant terms, and keeps the city in contact with granting agencies, in hopes that St. Helena can rebuild its reputation as a responsible fiscal steward.

The HR director ensures that the citys employment issues are handled legally, and is also responsible for risk management and information technology.

The assistant public works director will help ensure compliance with the citys various permits, especially those involving water and wastewater.

Phillips said these employees save the city money in the long term by ensuring that the city is complying with applicable regulations, which became an expensive problem under previous administrations.

Last July, the city hired a new financial auditor after using the same firm for 23 consecutive years. Periodically changing auditors is a routine practice that ensures that a fresh pair of eyes are looking at the books.

To prevent unauthorized expenses, major expenses are now reported to the City Council. A new purchasing policy has been adopted, city staff now provide quarterly financial reports to the council, and the long-range financial forecast that Phillips introduced is updated every time the citys revenues or expenses change.

Poor record-keeping was at the heart of the flood project debacle, so last September the city adopted a new records management policy and retention schedule.

To learn the full story of what happened with the flood project, the council approved a $60,000 contract with a forensic accountant to provide a detailed report, especially on the citys use of Measure A funds.

A council-appointed Revenue Source Task Force spent three months analyzing the citys finances. It concurred with Phillips assessment that the city needs to find significant ongoing revenue sources, and recommended a menu of six options:

 a sales tax,

 a real estate transfer tax

 more hotel rooms

 the sale of some city property

 the annexation of county land such as Meadowood

 the formation of a community-based economic development committee.

The council has already taken the task forces suggestion of proposing a half-cent sales tax, which would generate an estimated $1.4 million a year. The November ballot measure will need the support of a simple majority of voters.

The Las Alcobas hotel project and the Measure T road tax are two more reasons to be optimistic.

Las Alcobas, a luxury hotel at the old Grandview property, is scheduled to open in September. The city budget conservatively projects that the hotel will open in January. At full strength, the hotel is expected to generate $1.2 million a year in hotel taxes.

Meanwhile, a half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2012 will generate $660,000 a year for St. Helena road repairs, starting in 2018.

Because of the mismanagement under previous administrations, Phillips acknowledged that theres a tremendous amount of mistrust in the community. She emphasized that a new team has been hired thats committed to transparency, sound management, and learning from the mistakes of the past.

This was an organization that was broken all the way through, Phillips said. Public administration wasnt a priority. But it is now.
WASHINGTON  Tens of thousands will flock to Cleveland this weekend for the start of the Republican National Convention that is expected to formally name businessman Donald Trump the partys presidential nominee.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, will reportedly be home mowing the lawn instead.

Flake may have given the cheekiest reason for his absence, but he is far from the only high-profile Arizona Republicans who is opting to sit out this years convention.

Most, like Sen. John McCain or Secretary of State Michele Reagan, pointed to looming primary elections in August as the reason their time would be better spent anywhere but Cleveland.

But political analysts point to the polarizing message of Trump as the more likely reason for the absentees.

Many who are up for re-election believe that the message of staying home sounds good to voters, said Jason Rose, a political consultant with Rose Moser Allyn Public Relations. He said later that for those candidates, Trump could be an electoral disaster and they wouldnt want any part of that for their campaign.

Lauren A. Wright, a political scientist who will be giving television commentary at this years convention, said its more than just the election calendar at work.

Clearly theres something risky thats causing Republicans not to go, Wright said of the absences.

Arizona Republican Party spokesman Tim Sifert called it nonsense that state Republicans might be avoiding Trump. He noted that only about 20 of the states 113 convention delegates had resigned their seats, for any reason.

And many high-ranking state Republicans will be going, starting with Gov. Doug Ducey.

Others who said they are going include Treasurer Jeff Dewitt, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Rep. Trent Franks of Glendale and former Gov. Jan Brewer.

Former Sen. Jon Kyl said that not going to the convention is not necessarily a political statement. He said he would not have gone if he were running for election this year, but would be out campaigning.

If you dont have to do it, there are much better things to do with your time, Kyl said. In John McCains case, hes running for re-election. I think hed rather be at home in Arizona than in Cleveland.

McCain and Flake are not the only members of the states congressional delegation staying home. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Prescott, is attending his daughters wedding and Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Mesa, said he has a personal conflict. Reps. Martha McSally of Tucson and David Schweikert of Fountain Hills did not return calls about their plans.

At the state level, Reagan will be joined by schools Superintendent Diane Douglas, who said she has meetings planned around the state.

There may be innocent explanations, but Wright said the number of absences this year is higher than it has been in the past. She pointed to a survey by The Hill newspaper last week of the 54 GOP senators that showed 18 staying away from the convention and four undecided.

But Sifert said its hard to read any meaning into those numbers, adding that comparing one convention to another its like comparing apples to oranges.

Mike Noble, a political consultant with MBQF Consulting, said, party officials have to think about the Republican brand with Trump at the helm.

He agreed with Wright and Rose that there is electoral risk for candidates associated with Trump  particularly in Arizona, where the large Hispanic population may not look kindly on Trumps comments on immigrants and his pledge to build a wall at the Mexican border.

Republicans dont want to alienate Mexicans, who account for one-third of the population and 20 percent of the voting population, Wright said.

Hispanics are not the only ones to chafe at Trumps rhetoric. He belittled the Vietnam service of McCain, who served years as prisoner of war, by noting that he prefers those who dont get captured.

Flake reportedly referenced that comment in a private meeting with Republican senators last week, causing Trump to say he could start to bring pressure on Flake, a senator who has been very critical of me.

Exchanges like that led to Flakes off-hand comment that he would be home mowing the lawn rather than attending the nomination of a man he has called boorish.

Noble said that its no surprise Flake wont be going to the convention because hes at odds with Trump.

But Kyl said, Trump or not, those who skip the convention wont be missing much. After being at a few conventions, he realized that its an event best left to a younger crowd.

I mean if you like to party, if you like to stay up late and not get any sleep, if you like balloons  its a lot of fun if you havent done it before, Kyl said.
Lebanon, Israel sign deal on maritime border demarcation

Spanish prime minister twice mistakes Kenya for Senegal during his speech

Peskov: CSTO meeting to be held before Armenia-Azerbaijan-Russia summit

Putin says he is ready to negotiate with Ukraine

Putin compares Indian Prime Minister Modi to icebreaker

Putin warns Seoul about risk of ruining relations with Russia by supplying weapons to Ukraine

Interpol Secretary General visits Armenia

Putin: Russia will not abandon the historical legacy of the USSR and the Russian Tsarist Empire

Putin sees no point in nuclear strike on Ukraine

Olaf Scholz says solution can be found to curb speculative spikes in gas prices

Putin calls Russians and Ukrainians one people who find themselves in different states

Putin: We proposed Armenia give 5 districts

Putin: Washington version provides for recognition of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over whole Karabakh

Putin calls Erdogan consistent and reliable partner, although not easy one

Italy plans to double national gas production to 6 billion cubic meters a year

Putin: The West, as a minority, has no right to impose values on the world

Putin: As long as nuclear weapons exist, there is always a danger of their use

Putin outraged by US assassination of General Soleimani: What is this all about?

FM Abdollahian: Iran will not allow its interests to become plaything of terrorists

Mirzoyan and Lavrov discuss preparations for CSTO Collective Security Council

Putin proposes to discuss changing structure of UN and UN Security Council

Pashinyan's wife accompanied in Tavush by mothers of servicemen who died in first and last days of war

Shell reports almost $9.5 billion in profits

Putin calls on West not to shift blame on intrigues of Kremlin

Hungarian PM expresses readiness to buy electricity from Azerbaijan via Georgia

Newsweek: The biggest foreign threat to the U.S. is not Russia or China. It's the EU

Putin: In recent years, West has taken steps to exacerbate situation in world

Armenian Defense Minister and French delegation discuss possibilities of developing defense cooperation

Australia to send 70 soldiers to UK to help train Ukrainian troops

Scholz condemns Turkey's stance questioning Greek sovereignty

Armenian Defense Ministry: Azerbaijan hands over 10 bodies of killed servicemen to Armenian side

Dollar, euro lose value in Armenia

Turkish Central Bank raises inflation forecast for the end of 2022 to 65.2%

U.S. State Department official visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in Yerevan

Prime Minister Pashinyan sends letter of condolence to Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi

Secretary of Armenian Security Council and representatives of French Ministry of Defense discuss cooperation prospects

Israel and Turkey to resume defense cooperation

Scholz says solidarity is the only way to deal with the energy crisis

Israeli and Turkish defense ministers meet in Ankara

Turkey to rewrite inflation forecasts again after rate cut

Azerbaijan does not want checkpoint on border with Armenia, it wants only 'corridor'

Putin plans to attend meeting of CSTO leaders

CSTO special session to be held Friday, assistance to Armenia to be discussed

Estonia urges Rishi Sunak to increase UK defense spending

Moscow perplexed by information about ban to enter Armenia for Konstantin Zatulin and Margarita Simonyan

Armenia PM honors October 27, 1999 parliament tragedy victims

U.S. and Western officials finalize plans to limit Russian oil prices

EU seeks Armenia-Azerbaijan peace for its own energy interests?

World economy is approaching recession

US Armenians demand Senate member candidate Mehmet Oz to stop his Armenian Genocide denial

Azerbaijan president, Russia deputy PM discuss prospects for unblocking South Caucasus communications

Armenia opposition MP: Azerbaijan attempting to fulfill much bigger task with its attacks of aggression

Armenia opposition pledges to become active again

Syria MFA: Terrorist attack in Shiraz shows that terrorism has become U.S. policy main tool

Lebanon and Israel approve maritime border agreement

Pashinyan to Sunak: Armenia attaches great importance to further development of cooperation with UK

U.S. accelerates deployment of modernized version of nuclear bomb at NATO bases in Europe

Armenian Foreign Ministry expresses condolences to Iran over Shiraz terrorist act

Premier: Armenia set new absolute record in income-salary jobs

Armenia premier: We need to ensure 7% economic growth in 2023 also

Gazprom: Creating gas hub will benefit Russia, Turkey, Europe and Azerbaijan

Ruling force MP: Azerbaijan must withdraw its troops from sovereign territory of Armenia

Armenia parliament speaker: We hope Uzbekistan will also remain part of building peace in our region

CNN: CIA Director visits Ukraine

OSCE needs assessment mission briefs deputy FM on their work in Armenia

European Parliament report amendment condemns Azerbaijan policy of erasing Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh

Armenia to provide around $50M loan to Artsakh

EU monitors in Armenia set off on first patrol on Azerbaijan border

Armenia to introduce system of transition from compulsory to contractual military service

Newsweek: American troops are preparing for war with Russia

Azerbaijan and Russia discuss increasing number of checkpoints on border between 2 countries

Ombudsperson to attorneys of Frances Montpelier: POWs trials in Azerbaijan are aimed at terrorizing Armenian society

Karabakh parliament to convene special session Sunday

Today marks 23rd anniversary of Armenia parliament tragedy

Newspaper: October 31 trilateral meeting in Russias Sochi to not be groundbreaking

US State Department: Armenia-Azerbaijan direct dialogue is key to resolving issues, reaching lasting peace

Armenia MOD: No wounded soldiers in military hospitals who are in severe or critical condition

Ukraine Presidents Office: Kherson direction situation changing unpleasantly for Kyiv

Raisi: Terrorist attack in Shiraz will not go unanswered

Turkey arrests doctor who called for investigation into chemical weapons use in northern Iraq

Blinken: China has decided that the status quo in Taiwan is no longer acceptable

Steven Mnuchin says China will face significant economic downturn that will affect rest of world

German government allows Chinese company to buy reduced stake in Hamburg port terminal

'Corridor' between Armenia and Azerbaijan becomes subject of heated debate in European Parliament

Awkward lunch: Macron humiliates Scholz in Paris

Polish government prepares for 'potential use of nuclear or chemical weapons' by Kremlin

Iran: Unknown shoot and kill 2 IRGC members

EU calls on defense ministers of bloc countries to coordinate arms purchases

What will Israeli defense minister discuss in Turkey

Erdogan: We cannot allow 'terrorist organizations' to take the issue of Sweden's membership in NATO hostage

KGB: Opponents of authorities will begin to rock situation in country in November-December

Finance Ministry: Armenia plans to increase pensions in July next year

Terrorist who carried out shooting in Shiraz is foreigner

Saudi Arabia slams countries for using emergency oil reserves to manipulate prices

Azerbaijani who fought in ranks of AFU killed in Kiev as result of Iranian drone strike

Konstantin Zatulin: You don't have to be Armenian to love Armenia and Armenians

Biden's approval rating approaches lowest level of his presidency just 2 weeks before election

White House tones down its previous optimism about the midterm elections

Ford Motor leaves Russian market by selling its stake in Sollers joint venture

Council of Lazarev Club considers ban on Konstantin Zatulin to enter Armenia outrageous trick
The sky is full of delightful collections of stars that, when connected by imaginary lines, take on the shape of familiar objects. Searching for, and recognizing, these patterns is a fun pastime for many stargazers. Some of these stellar outlines, such as the Big Dipper and Summer Triangle, are well-known and relatively easy to distinguish. Others are less obvious but still intriguing; one that is visible in the current night sky is the diminutive yet distinct Coat Hanger, so-called because of its conspicuous shape.

The Coat Hanger consists of 10 stars of similar brightness in the meek northern constellation Vulpecula, the fox. Six of the stars lie in a straight line, forming the bar of a coat hanger, and the other four form the curved hook of the hanger. The coat hanger is aligned about two-fifths of the distance from Altair to Vega, two of the three stars of the Northern Cross asterism. It is visible with the unaided eye but more easily seen with binoculars or a small telescope.

This group of stars, seen as a faint smudge, was first recorded by the Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi in his classic "Book of Fixed Stars," written in 964. This was a significant publication in the annals of astronomy because in it, al-Sufi also described the Large Magellanic Cloud and Andromeda Galaxy. This appears to be the first time that galaxies besides our own Milky Way were observed and described.

Centuries later, European astronomers independently rediscovered it but didnt include it in any of the major catalogs of astronomical objects. In the 1920s, American amateur astronomer Dalmiro Brocchi included a sketch of it in one of the finder charts he produced for the American Association of Variable Star Observers. Swedish astronomer Per Collinder also included the grouping in his 1931 catalog of star clusters. It is from these astronomers that the Coat Hanger derives its nicknames and scientific designations, including Al Sufis Cluster, Brocchis Cluster, and Collinder 399.

For most of the 20th century, astronomers considered the Coat Hanger to be part of an open star cluster, a group of stars formed at the same time and from the same nebula. Brian Skiff of Lowell Observatory disproved this notion in 1998 when he analyzed data from the Hipparcos satellite. Hipparcos, an acronym for HIgh Precision PARallax COllecting Satellite and named in honor of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, was built by the European Space Agency and operated from 1989 to 1993. It was the first satellite to accurately measure the positions and motions of stars and resulted in a catalog listing these characteristics for 118,200 stars.

Skiff compared the Hipparcos data for all 10 stars of the Coat Hanger and showed that, although they appeared to be near each other, they were all moving in different directions and thus couldnt have come from the same source. This meant that the Coat Hanger isnt a physically bound star cluster, but just a chance alignment of stars.

Star cluster or not, the Coat Hanger is a distinct group of stars worth observing on a clear night.
Despite the achievements of the last 60 years, civil rights and social justice remain as two of the most central issues in any discussion of current American life. Understanding them requires looking at their historical context and exploring their broad range of implication and influence.



Helping students reach such an understanding was the goal of Global Connections 2016, Civil Rights and Social Justice in the U.S. South, a 10-day study tour through five southern states, led by Oxford College faculty members Susan Ashmore, associate professor of history, and Molly McGehee, associate professor of American studies.



The itinerary included historical sites and opportunities for our students to engage with people working for racial justice," McGehee says. "Our hope was that they walked away with an expanded understanding of civil rights-era history and the impact of slavery and segregation on our present.

Global Connections is a program of Oxfords Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and is supported by the Pierce Institute for Leadership and Community Engagement. Founded in 2006, this travel experience has a mission of helping students connect religious and spiritual convictions with justice issues such as peace, poverty, human rights and the environment.



The scholarly interests of the two faculty members made them natural complementary leaders for this summer's trip. Ashmore is an expert on southern U.S. history and teaches Oxfords course on civil rights history in the U.S. She is the author of "Carry It On: The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, 1964-1972." McGehee teaches Oxford courses on African-American literature, southern literature and U.S. race relations; her academic research has focused on studies of U.S. southern culture and modern and contemporary southern writers.



Their aim went beyond just informing the eight Oxford students who were selected for the trip. It is our hope that they are inspired to become agents of change for their generation," Ashmore says.

Visiting civil rights landmarks

The first days of the trip focused on Alabama. Among the places the group visited were Montgomerys Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor; the Southern Poverty Law Center; and the Greyhound Bus Museum. In Selma they walked the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and in Birmingham they toured the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, site of the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls.



From Birmingham, the group traveled to Jackson, Mississippi, touring the homes of author Eudora Welty and slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. They met with Ed King, a retired Methodist minister who was active in the civil rights movement in Jackson. Other Mississippi stops were in Sumner at the interpretive center named in honor of Emmet Till, whose 1955 lynching inspired greater civil rights activism, and in Money at the dilapidated store where Till allegedly whistled at a white woman.



In Memphis, students visited the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the site of King's assassination in 1968. The group also went to Stax Records, which launched many African American musicians in the 1950s and 1960s. Moving on to Little Rock, they toured Central High School, now a National Park Service historical site, where integration of the student body in 1957 sparked violence and riveted national attention. The trip ended in Oxford, Mississippi, site of the University of Mississippi, where they met with Susan M. Glisson, director of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.



There was far more, of course, on the itinerary, as well as time for fun, exploration and  naturally  barbecue.



Thinking about differences

Nisaa Maragh, a rising sophomore from Loganville, Georgia, says the trip gave depth to her knowledge about the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

Prior to the Global Connections trip, I thought I possessed a deep understanding of the civil rights movement," she explains. "Even though school lessons, books and museums taught me about the events and figures such as the Montgomery bus boycott and Dr. King, I lacked the finer details that truly allow the people, places and protests to resonate. Through Global Connections, I explored historical sites and met agents of change that personified the less publicized struggles of the movement.



Nia Bilal, a rising junior from Bronx New York, also gained new insight from the summer trip.

Initially I wanted to take this trip because I wanted to be present in historical places. I wanted to feel the spirit of the past and just completely take in that I was standing in the spaces that I read about in many of my classes," Bilal says. "However, I learned that there is so much more than just visiting these spaces and leaving. I realized that there [are] so many different ways to interpret history, and it led me to want to take the time and actually listen to each side. It forced me to ask, why do I think of this situation one way and this person believes something completely different?...Once I started asking these questions, I began to actually change the way I thought about differences.



Asked if the trip has spurred her to action, Maragh responds, I was inspired to implement [what King calls] 'tough mind and tender heart' by aiming to endlessly learn and seek more understanding about differing backgrounds.



And Bilal adds, I am inspired to be a part of the work that the Southern Poverty Law Center is doing[It] allows college-aged students to take activism into their own hands and spread the word amongst their peers. ..I [am interested in spreading] a message like this through a college chapter that is connected to something [as powerful as] the Southern Poverty Law Center.


Incoming freshman Brittney Hill interacts with the augmented reality sandbox.

Understanding how rainfall, flooding, tsunamis, even lava flow alter the surface of the earth just got easier for geography students. Titans are getting a hands-on lesson in how Cal State Fullerton teaches differently in its classes this fall.

Greg Beringer 16 (B.A. geography), a graduate student studying geography, encouraged students at summer orientation to get their hands dirty as he demonstrated an augmented reality sandbox he built in spring. The portable sandbox debuts in geography classrooms this month, after receiving oohs and aahs usually reserved for summer fireworks.

I like to call it a living topographic map, Beringer told the cluster of new students circling the sandbox. Push the mountain over. Youll see what happens when you have a landslide or a volcano blow (its) top off, he said prompting students to reach into the sand. Go ahead, shove it over.

Like icing makes a cake irresistible to a toddler, Beringers sandbox brings field study to the classroom. The touchable tool replicates a topographical map and makes tough concepts like geomorphology and hydrology  usually confined to a two-dimensional textbook  as simple as playing in sand.

Dig a pit in the sand and a channel becomes a canyon. Hover a hand over the top and make it rain. Shove the sand pile aside and the water shifts to create a tsunami.

With the press of a button, Beringer floods the newly formed sandscape. This is what I like to call Houston, Texas, last month, he said with a laugh, during a summer presentation. True, Texas got a lot of rain in a short amount of time. And when Californias El Nino was a no-show in spring, it looked like the dry valley Beringer exposed with another touch.

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The augmented reality sandbox was designed by researchers at UC Davis last year. It uses first-generation Kinect, a short-throw projector, open-source software and a laptop computer to transform 150 pounds of white sand into a 3-D image. A camera collects the image. The software creates color and contour lines that are projected back onto the sand, showing elevation of sea and soil levels, as well as flooding and water patterns.

The sandbox can be used to study rainfall and flooding, and to predict the effects of storms like El Nino, even lava flow. It will be used to illustrate lessons in spatial data courses and Beringer will soon demonstrate the sandbox to faculty who teach the Introduction to the Natural Environment classes.

It could be the connection point for students who get their first view of geography in a general education course, said Zia Salim, assistant professor of geography.

By bringing the content and the technical skills together in a really fun and interactive way, we can radically improve the understanding of a student in our Geography 110, Intro to Natural Environment course whos studying, say, a freshwater ecosystem, or a mountain range, he said.

Knowing how to read a topographic map isnt some esoteric skill, Salim said. From engineers to hikers, to environmental managers to the military, being able to look at a 2-D map and, in your minds eye, see the lay of the land is an immensely useful skill. Ive even seen examples from history, where historians use these maps to understand the how and why of troop movements during Civil War battles.

John Carroll, director of the campus GIS Research Center, interim director of academic technology, and Beringers mentor on the project, said using the sandbox for outreach will raise awareness about the CSUF Geography Department. Many people are unaware that geography is an exciting major with great job opportunities for graduates, he said.

Beringers sandbox was one of six CSUF geography activities at the Orange Unified School Districts 11th annual Community Science Night in March. Hes also slated to share the sandbox at community outreach and educational events in Irvine, Long Beach and Costa Mesa.

The student-driven project is a natural recruitment tool, Salim said.

As a student, you might not be completely aware of what you are capable of, or you dont know what kinds of research resources exist beyond the classroom, he said. So, we think it is very awesome and very inspiring for students to see what another undergraduate student just like them was able to accomplish.

Related story: Beringers Cartography Project Wins Third Prize
Asharq Al-Awsat, by Abdel Rahman Rashed

Since its inception ninety years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood was never as influential and dangerous as it was after the January 25 Egyptian revolution. Now, however, it is losing ground and its last stronghold is falling.

Turkey has started to actually expel the organisation as part of its policy to reconcile with the Egyptian government which stipulated that the Ankara government end its support of and its relationship with the organisation which explicitly aimed to overthrow President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis regime.

Ankara stopping its support for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood effectively ended its project to gain power. It may not achieve its aim for another ninety years except in exceptional circumstances. In a rare historic moment, the Brotherhood came to power in the largest Arab country in June 2012. Their rule lasted a year but they were unable to deal with the delicate and volatile situation in Egypt and the region.

Rather than cooperating with parties who participated in the revolution and reassuring influential powers such as the army and governments in the region that were wary of them, the Brotherhood fought with its friends before its enemies and lost its only chance in its long history full of failed attempts.

In reality, the Brotherhood political project ended the day that its president Mohamed Morsi and other leaders were arrested, and a transitional government was formed. The Brotherhood did not comprehend the harsh lesson and deluded itself into thinking that foreign intervention would restore them to power. It placed its bets on regional differences and relied on the statements of foreign powers without learning from history. The violence and terrorism that they carried out in Sinai failed to shake the regime in Cairo and their provocative media campaigns did not mobilise people.

US sanctions on the government did not last long as aid and trade resumed. After the Qatari government distanced itself from Brotherhood leaders, Turkey is finally beginning divorce proceedings.

The Muslim Brotherhood imposes itself on countries without taking into account their circumstances. It was not satisfied with the great support that it received for setting up television channels and websites, holding conferences and other activities. It therefore established a huge presence in the local media of sympathetic countries and all of a sudden we see a great deal of them on the TV channels and news agencies of host countries.

This reflects the organisations ideological reputation which has caused the frightening image that it seeks to dominate education and social media in countries that tolerated its presence, such as the Gulf states.

Some may think that we are prematurely announcing the death of the Brotherhood because the Turks have yet to announce it. However, there are enough official and unofficial statements confirming that Turkey has started to constrain the organisations leaders and its activities inside the country.

Turkish officials, such as Mr Mohamed Zahid Gul who is a specialist in Islamic groups, acknowledged this trend but tried to dilute its gravity by saying that the government will not hand over any Brotherhood members to the Egyptian government.

Of course, no one expects Cairo to insist that Brotherhood members be arrested or deported because of their hostile activity towards it. The agreement will most probably end its political and media presence, and it is likely that some of them will be deported from Turkey as they were deported from Qatar. The organisation will then lose its last key station.

It will then only be able to resort to Europe where it will diminish. The most appropriate shelter for it is Iran, given that they have been allies since Khomeini came into power, and since its branch in Gaza (Hamas) is still on good terms with Tehran. However, if the Brotherhood did that, that would be the end of it.
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The leadership of Move on Pakistan, a political party which is inviting the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif to take over the government, approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in order to avoid being arrested and obtain protective bail. After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs return from the UK, where he stayed for 48 days to recuperate after cardiac surgery, Move On Pakistan has put up banners inviting the COAS to take over the government, Dawn online reported on Saturday. The banners were put up in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Hyderabad and other places, and while previously the party was urging the army chief to reconsider his plans to retire in November, this time the partys message was for Raheel Sharif to take over. The partys Facebook page uploaded pictures of Raheel Sharif on July 11 with the caption: General Sharif has been invited to impose Martial Law. However, the COAS has said that it had nothing to do with the party. After the COAS' remark, party Chairman Mohammad Kamran and his associates Ali Raza and Asif Iqbal, said some elements in media misconstrued their messages and that Move On Pakistan had never supported the imposition of martial law. On Thursday, Islamabad Police registered a case against the party on charges of criminal conspiracy. Kamran has said through his petition that he was heading a registered party and that by placing the banners, he did not mean for any unconstitutional measures to be taken. He said he only meant to request the army chief to continue with his fight against terrorism. --IANS ksk/bg ( 281 Words) 2016-07-16-11:38:00 (IANS)
New Delhi, July 16 ANI: Social media sensation Qandeel Baloch, who was today shot dead by her brother in Multan, has always claimed to be a rebel, fighting the set norms of the society. Her last Facebook post was no different. "No Matter how many times i will be pushed down under,,But I m Fighter I will Bounce back..?#?Qandeel ?#?Baloch is "One Women Army".. #Qandeel #Baloch inspiration to those ladies who are treated badly and dominated by the society..I will Keep On Achieving and I know You will Keep On Hating..DAMN but Who Cares #Qandeel #Baloch ?#?Women ?#?Power ?#?Inspiration ?#?Society ?#?Pakistani ?#?Media ?#?Bigg ?#?Boss ?#?Season10 ?#?BB10 ?#?Bigg_Boss_Season10 ?#?Bollywood ?#?Colors_TV," it read, along with a photo of the model. After this, she even updated the link of her recent video, titled 'Ban,' and wrote alongside, ""BAN" Video getting awesome response from all over the World..Thanks Supporters for Your Unconditional Love <3 <3 ?#?Qandeel ?#?Baloch ?#?Hot ?#?Bold ?#?Sexy ?#?Bollywood ?#?Bigg_Boss_Season10 ?#?BB10 ?#?Bigg ?#?Boss ?#?Season10" This post was considered as another hint that she would be entering the 'Bigg Boss' house this season. (ANI)
Lashing out at Pakistan for observing 'Black Day' over the deaths of the Kashmiri people, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said the Asian neighbourhood should instead observe 'Black Year' for breeding terrorism. "All this has no value. They are trying to somehow create a political mileage. But the larger question is given the number of people who die in Pakistan by the terror machineries, that the Pakistani establishment or non state actors have created, perhaps, they need to celebrate a black year of what Pakistan has done to itself," BJP leader Nalin Kohli told ANI. He said the theatrics are not going to change the reality that Pakistan is a county which breeds terrorism. "Theatrics are not going to change the reality that Pakistan is a country which helps terrorist, launch attacks against India and the same time breeds terrorism to such an extent which is now also harming its own citizens," he added. The BJP leader's remark comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that Pakistan will observe July 19 as a 'Black Day' to protest against what he described as 'Indian barbarism' in Jammu and Kashmir following the protests over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Sharif proposed the observance of 'Black Day' while chairing a special meeting of his Cabinet in Lahore yesterday to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. His proposal was accepted by the Cabinet, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. Sharif and Pakistan's Foreign Ministry recently angered India by referring to Wani, a commander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, as a 'Kashmiri leader' and describing his death as an 'extrajudicial killing'. At least 37 people have died in the protests following Wani's killing last week. India dismissed Pakistan's criticism of its handling of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and accused the Asian neighbour of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. (ANI)
The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly at Naharlagun has been put under tight security cover ahead of the floor test by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Saturday. Security personnel were deployed in and around the Naharlagun town, particularly near the State Legislative Assembly complex and all entry and exit routes have been placed under security cover to ensure that no anti-social element hamper the the session. Arunachal Pradesh Governor Tathagata Roy had reinstated Nabam Tuki as the state Chief Minister following the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday and asked him to take the floor test to prove the majority of his government in the House no later than Saturday. Tuki held a Cabinet meeting on Friday and appealed to the Governor to defer the session of the House by 10 days so that he gets reasonable time to prove his majority in the House. Roy, however, asked Tuki to take the floor test on Saturday as scheduled. Meanwhile, the political situation is changing rapidly in the state as sources in the Congress party said that the a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) is slated on Saturday, ahead of the scheduled House session to prove the majority of the Nabam Tuki led government. "A section of the Congress leaders are not projecting Pema Khandu as the Chief Minister instead of Tuki and the CLP meeting is likely to elect Khandu as the CLP leader. After his election as the new CLP leader, Khandu will meet the Governor and prove the majority of his government in the House," the sources said. Former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who had unseated Tuki in February this year with the help of a faction of dissident Congress legislators and BJP members, claimed that he has got the support of 42 legislators in the 60-member house, whose effective strength is 58 now after two members resigned earlier. Pul, who is camping in a hotel in Guwahati since last two days with 42 legislators, also expressed fear that Tuki might try to resort to "horse trading" if more time is given for the floor test. --IANS ah/ksk ( 362 Words) 2016-07-16-10:14:00 (IANS)
Washing its hand off the Arunachal Pradesh political crisis, the Centre today said whatever had transpired in this North-eastern state was a result of dissidence within the Congress party. Addressing mediapersons, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said instability in Arunachal was creation of the division within the Congress and that BJP or its government at the Centre has nothing to do with internal matter of the Opposition party. The remarks of Mr Rijiju, Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, came shortly after state Tourism Minister Pema Khandu, the son of late Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, was elected leader of the Congress legislature party (CLP) in the state assembly. Mr Khandu replaced Mr Nabam Tuki. " The Supreme Court ruling is no setback for us. The Congress leaders were fighting over leadership. We supported rebel MLAs only from outside. All this has happened only because of the ruling party's internal conflicts," Mr Rijiju said. The senior BJP leader hoped for political stability in Arunachal Pradesh, saying it is a sensitive and important state for the nation. On Jul 13, Mr Tuki took charge as Arunachal Chief Minister after the Supreme Court ordered the restoration of Congress government in the state, severely indicting Governor J P Rajkhowa for his role in the ouster of his government in a judgment which was described by the Congress as 'historic' but 'strange' by the BJP. The judgement is seen as a major jolt for the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, coming within two months of the SC ruling on Uttarakhand which reinstated the Harish Rawat government in the state.UNI RG SS -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0377-839256.Xml
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Malaysia Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will be on a four-day official visit to India, beginning from tomorrow. Dr Hamidi will arrive here tomorrow with his official engagements scheduled on Monday when he calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday noon, followed by a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh the same day. The Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister is also scheduled to visit Telangana on Tuesday where he will have meetings with senior leaders and officers of the state government. Dr Hamidi will make a brief visit to Agra to see Taj Mahal on his last day of his tour, before leaving for Sri Lanka, his next destination. UNI XC-MK CJ SB 1838 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-839885.Xml
Five people died while twelve others had to be hospitalised after consuming poisonous alcohol under Aliganj area of Etah district of Uttar Pradesh today. Police sources said here, "Five people died and twelve others got sick in different village and mohallas of Aliganj area. Twelve critically ill people were admitted in the hospital." They said that Netrapal, Sarvesh, Ateeq and Ram Avatar were among the dead. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Deepak Singhal issued directives to Principle Secretary Home and Principle Secretary Excise to take strict actions in the matter of five deaths after consumption of poisonous alcohol. After that Principle Secretary Home, Devashish Panda suspended Circle Officer Aliganj, Asha Ram Ahirwar and concerned Station officer Mukesh Kumar in the same reference due to negligence of the duty. Also Principle Secretary Excise Kishan Singh Atoriya suspended District Excise Officer, concerned Excise Inspector and Excise constable in the matter. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Shankar Rai said here, "police is searching for one person involved in this scam and we will catch him soon."UNI JDM MB DS 1834 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-839834.Xml
A 17-year-old school girl, who was abducted by a three-member-gang in a car from Pudukottai district was let off, before crossing a police check post at Nemathanpatti, here today. Police said the girl, hailing from Adugappatti village near Thirumayam in Pudukottai district was studying in 12th standard in a government higher secondary school at nearby Azhagapuri village. She was going to tuition, when a three member gang abducted her in a car. When the car was about to cross the police check post at Nemathanpatti in Sivaganga district, the gang pushed off her from the car and fled in the vehicle. The girl was rescued by the police and was handed over to her family members after an interrogation. Based on the confession of the girl, police identified one of the gang members as S Madhavan (34). On a complaint from the girl's family, Thirumayam police have registered a case and are searching the trio. UNI GSM PY 1936 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840110.Xml
A senior police officer said Nenad Kresoja was found dead in his room no 106 of Aura hotel at Mahipalpur.

The deceased was found with self-inflicted injuries on his elbow made through glass window, the police officer said.

"A CFSL team had visited the spot," he said, adding that prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suicide. The body has been sent for a post-mortem.

Nenad was on tourist visa and has visited China and Nepal before coming to India. He had worked in a school in Croatia. However, his job was still not known, police said.

Ambassador of Croatia to India Peter Ljubicic also visited the scene of crime. UNI SHS/AR SW 2048

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-840237.Xml
A scene of 'pro-Pakistan'-slogans-raising protestors is something unusual for Patna police unlike its counterparts facing the situation in Kashmir Valley, so the incident leading to arrest of Mohammad Taufique has sent the alarm bells ringing in top brasses of Bihar police who have pulled up their socks to scan his antecedents. DIG (Patna range) N H Khan told mediapersons here that Taufique has claimed to be secretary of Mithila region of Progressive Front of India which is virtually an unknown outfit in police records. The person, arrested on charges of raising slogans in favour of Pakistan and making provocative speeches while leading a procession in support of controversial Islamic scholar Zakir Naik and AIMM chief A Owaisi, near Gandhi Maidan in Patna, was also a new figure for Bihar police, the DIG said. "Taufique, a native of Madhubani district, is being intensely interrogated to ascertain his links with other associations or persons that may lead to draw the conclusion whether his act of raising anti-national slogans in Patna, has roots in any terror outfit", Mr Khan said adding that prima facie, the act was aimed at disturbing peace and communal harmony. More UNI KKS RD PY SW 2119 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840302.Xml
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Dr Jitendra Singh today said Pakistan has always been fishing in troubled waters over the Kashmir issue. ''Pakistan has always been fishing in the troubled waters of Jehlum,'' Dr Singh here told reporters while reacting to Pakistan's statement describing slain militant Burhan Wani as 'martyr'. Dr Singh said, ''As far as India is concerned, it has reiterated more than once that there is an approach of zero tolerance towards terrorism.'' The Union Minister hit out at Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue and said, ''There is no room for any foreign interference from Pakistan or any other country in the internal affairs of India''. ''Pakistan should care about human rights violations taking place in Balochistan, Baltistan and PoK rather than raking up the Kashmir issue,'' he said. He, however, said there is "no Kashmir issue" between India and Pakistan and it has been made clear on all the fronts. "Way back in 1994, Indian Parliament passed unanimous resolution that if at all there is any outstanding issue, it is how to retrieve part of J&K which remains under illegal occupation of Pakistan,'' the Union Minister asserted. He also said it is the responsibility of the government to provide security to the Kashmiri Pundits and they should not leave the Valley. On youngsters taking to the streets in Kashmir, he said, ''If there is any conviction behind this so-called 'jihad', then they should first set an example by getting their own children to sacrifice their lives before using others kids as sacrificial lambs.''UNI VBH PY SW 2203 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840230.Xml
Nine maoists, including seven armed militia members of CPI Maoists ofKorekonda Dalam, surrendered before District Police Superintendent Rahul Dev Sharma today. According to a police statement, the nine members including seven militia members on the advice of the police, voluntarily came to surrendered before him. The surrendered two Dalam members M Krishna alias Ganesh and S Nagesh was moving with Korakonda Dalam since six years with SBBL and 303 weapons. Both carries a reward of Rs 1 lakh on their head. The seven armed militia members are A Neelakantam, K Satayanarayana,P Kameshara Rao, K Kumar Swamy, V Nagaraju, T Madhava Rao and Vanthala Subbanna. The militia members also participated in Theemulabanda coffee Godown blasting incident along with Maoists. The attitude of the police towards these people will be sympathetic as they were innocent misguided youth and must be brought back into the mainstream. The tribal people must not believe the false propaganda created by Maoists that police will harass them. Rather Police will always help them in whatever way possible. Rural Police emphasised on the cooperation and support required from the people in the road development programmes in the agency. They will not assist the Maoists in future and they will participate in village Development programmes, the statement added. UNI BSR PY SW 2206 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840247.Xml
"The CM talks loud on development everywhere but when time comes to accelerate it he ignore it," alleged Mr Maurya questing the Chief Minister to give reply on why he did not attend the Inter State Council meeting called for development agenda in New Delhi today.

Mr Maurya said, ''From time to time the Samajwadi Party government make wild charges against the Centre for not providing them adequate funds but when time comes to raise the issue before the Centre they intentionally miss it showing their laxity in development agenda of the state.''

Mr Modi had called for the CMs meet in New Delhi today to talk on various issues including development, internal security and coordination between states.UNI MB PY SW 2208

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840250.Xml
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP today said the people have to defeat evil designs of anti-nationals to come out of the prevailing situation. ''The people of Jammu and Kashmir have to defeat the evil designs of anti-national elements, who have vitiated the peaceful atmosphere in the state, particularly in Kashmir valley, which has also disturbed the annual yatra of Shri Amarnath,'' BJP national vice-president and J&K Prabhari Avinash Rai Khanna said while speaking at the BJP Core Group meeting here. The meeting was held in order to take stock of the developments arisen after the ongoing turmoil in valley and discuss the current situation related to law and order and smooth conduct of Shri Amarnath Yatra. He said the party at the national level too is keeping eye on the whole situation and the Union government has also ensured to provide every kind of help to the state government for restoring peace and normalcy. Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh briefed about the discussions held during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent high level meeting on Kashmir and told that the Union government is keeping vigil on the developments in Jammu and Kashmir. He said review meetings on daily basis are held at New Delhi to discuss the latest situation in the state. Meanwhile BJP state president Sat Sharma appealed to the people of Kashmir in particular to maintain peace and harmony and extend every possible help in ensuring that there is no further violence or law & order problem. He said such situations affect the normal life and the people who are dependent on daily earnings for survival are badly hit. UNI VBH PY SW 2210 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0298-840380.Xml
Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) today out rightly rejected the formation of Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the Nagaland government to probe the fuel adulteration case. In a statement ACAUT Media Cell said the SIT probe would be accepted only if it is headed by the present Commissioner of Police of Dimapur. Stating the reasons, ACAUT has alleged that the SIT announcement is nothing but an eyewash and a conspiracy to derail the excellent work done by the Dimapur police in investigating the case. It alleged that the formation of SIT by the state government was merely to ensure that it gives a clean chit to all the higher-ups in the government involved or linked to the larger adulteration racket. ACAUT also expressed apprehension that the SIT during its course of investigation will not touch the issue of siphoning of SK Oil to the fuel adulteration market. It suspected that the SIT members, irrespective of their personal integrity and efficiency, would be compelled to compromise on the issue by the State Government and therefore will be "mere rubber stamps." ACAUT also contended that when 4 of the 5 accused 'kingpins' have been arrested by the Dimapur Police, the need for SIT does not arise unless the attempt is to sabotage the intensity and the commitment of the Dimapur Police's investigation so that higher officials are not implicated. Further, as a beforehand announcement, ACAUT said it will also reject the formation of any so-called 'judicial enquiry' in case it's being contemplated. "It is a fact that for a state which is one of the most corrupted in India, the state judiciary hasn't convicted even a single person on corruption matter. This speaks volumes about the efficacy and integrity of our state's judicial system," the corruption watchdog stated. While espousing full faith in the Dimapur Police to carry out the investigation to its logical conclusion, ACAUT said it cannot allow handpicked SIT to usurp the power of Dimapur police. "If the intention of the state government and the Chief Minister is sincere, the subject matter of Dimapur Police Commissioner heading the SIT should be accepted," it stressed. ACAUT also hit out at Chief Minister TR Zeliang who is also the portfolio-in charge of Food and Civil Supplies Department for remaining silent for 16 days on the fuel adulteration issue. This silence is an admission in itself that the Government wished for the issue to die a natural death, it stated, adding that the silence of the Chief Minister and the Government for such long periods in any other states would have led to "massive street protests leading to unwarranted situations, even deaths," the statement added.UNI AS BM SW AN2326 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0136-840429.Xml
Shipping and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari undertook a tour of the world's most commercially viable inland waterways system of the Mississippi river on Thursday. This inland waterways system has 40,000 kilometers of navigable water covering almost the entire North America. Gadkari was on a mission to study the structure of the Mississippi River inland waterway. During his tour, he exchanged views on land port operations with the St. Louis Port authorities and assessed the feasibility of similar arrangements in making the Ganga river waterways navigable in an effective and commercially viable manner. Gadkari also undertook a boat ride and witnessed the effective lock based system along with senior officials of his ministry. He was highly impressed with the barrages and the manner in which the authorities have been able to keep navigation cost effective, something which he plans to do in India. The minister took a keen interest in the mechanism of regular dredging of the river and maintenance of its freight barges through a system of locks. He was told that the principal value of the inland waterways was its ability to efficiently convey large volumes of bulk commodities over long distances. Gadkari examined the towboats pushing barges lashed together to form a big tow as an extremely efficient mode of transportation, moving about 22,500 tons of cargo as a single unit. A single 15-barge tow is equivalent to about 225 railroad cars or 870 tractor-trailer trucks. If the cargo transported on the Mississippi inland waterways each year had to be moved by another mode, it would take an additional 6.3 million rail cars or 25.2 million trucks to carry the load, St. Louis Port Authority officials told Gadkari. In the context of the inland waterways in India, Gadkari said the ability to move more cargo per shipment will make barge transport both fuel efficient and environmentally advantageous. Carbon dioxide emissions from water transportation will be much less as compared with rail transportation. Inland waterways will thus allow tremendous savings in fuel consumption, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, reduced traffic congestion, fewer accidents on railway and highways and less noise and disruption in cities and towns .He said that barges, when built in India, will help the movement of large quantities of bulk commodities and raw material like coal, petroleum, stones, sand and gravels used in road and highway building and food grains at relatively low cost. Gadkari further said that like in the United States, the central government will manage the inland waterways in India. We can maintain a draft of two and half to three meters as in the Mississippi river inland waterways. Indian River waterways can be operational all round the year unlike in the US where they remain closed for some time during a year. (ANI)
Exiled Kashmiri leaders in Geneva and Brussels have criticised Pakistan for not fulfilling its part of the UN resolutions on Kashmir and have said that Islamabad has no right to point fingers at India when it itself remains in violation of the resolutions it so frequently flags and talks about. Mr Jamil Maqsood, Secretary, Foreign Affairs of the United Kashmir People's National Party, who is currently based in Brussels, said, "Since the Pakistan Army continues to occupy large parts of Kashmir in defiance of the UN resolutions, it has no right to talk about the implementation of the UN resolutions whose first condition is the de-militarisation of areas held by the Pakistan Army." Clearing doubts over the UN resolutions on Kashmir, the senior Kashmiri leader from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, said, "The UN resolution is actually very clear. There are three steps - they were sequential and they were conditional - The very first step was that Pakistan was supposed to demilitarise to the satisfaction of this UN body that was to be established; then, conditional upon the UN being satisfied with this demilitarisation, India was also supposed to demilitarise as a second step with a presence being permitted to defend itself against Pakistani aggression. The third, having both of those two steps taken place in satisfaction, in sequence to these preferences of the UN, then the plebiscite would be held. So, all those Pakistanis who are so upset about the plebiscite that never happened, they have their own government to blame because Pakistan never fulfilled the first condition." Islamabad's hue and cry on Kashmir and its constant "harping on the UN resolutions has no basis, because historically, it is in defiance of the resolutions," said the Kashmiri leader. When asked about the relevance of the demilitarisation of POK, Mr. Maqsood said, "Of course, that isn't only a prerequisite, but also a stipulation set in the truce agreement. These things are very much relevant today as well." He added that Islamabad has no right to point fingers at India as "Pakistan itself is an illegal occupier and has no legal status on Kashmir as per the United Nations resolutions." Adding that Pakistan forces from PoK and Gilgit Baltistan must be withdrawn, Maqsood said, "Unless Pakistan withdraws its troops from POK and Gilgit there can be no movement on the UN resolutions." Another leading exiled Kashmiri leader Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri also laid emphasis on the withdrawal of troops from PoK. Describing the Pakistan Army as tribal invaders, he said, "Instead of meeting with the stipulations of the UN resolutions and the Truce Agreement, Pakistan has done her best to stigmatise the rights of the people of the erstwhile state. In this regard, her hue and cry is no more than crocodile tears". Kashmiri added that "A country that has refused fundamental rights in its held parts of the state is advocating rights of the people of Kashmir valley is something highly condemnable". Col. (Retd) Wajahat Hasan Mirza, Chairman of Gilgit Baltistan Thinkers Forum, currently based in Geneva said, "Pakistan must withdraw its troop without any iota of doubt. Rather than blaming India, Pakistan has to vacate our territory as per UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan)". He added that "Pakistan wants to capture Kashmir valley on religious grounds". Col. Wajahat Hasan Mirza said the " tragedy is that not many in the media and diplomatic services know the exact details of the Security Council resolutions that Pakistan talks about all the time. Instead of getting targeted India should push Pakistan to withdraw its troops from POK and Gilgit as mandated by step one of the United Nations Resolutions. It is Pakistan which is in Violation of the U.N. resolutions as long as its army stands on the soil of POK and Gilgit". (ANI)
A former Swiss university professor who pleaded guilty to instigating the 1995 meat-cleaver murder of a man who she claimed raped her while she was a college student in California was sentenced to six years in prison.Norma Esparza, 41, whose 2012 arrest in the long-unsolved case made international headlines, was yesterday sentenced along with two co-defendants for their roles in the slaying of 24-year-old Gonzalo Ramirez more than 20 years ago in Irvine, California.Shannon Ray Gries, 45, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for his guilty plea in May to felony murder during the commission of a kidnapping, according to Orange County prosecutors. Diane Tran, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison. She pleaded guilty in January to voluntary manslaughter.Esparza, who moved to Europe after the murder and later became an assistant professor at Webster University in Geneva, pleaded guilty in 2014 to voluntary manslaughter and agreed to testify against others accused in the killing.Chief among them was her former boyfriend, Gianni Anthony Van, now 46, who was found guilty in May 2015 of first-degree murder and was sentenced two months later to life in prison without the possibility of parole.According to prosecutors, Ramirez was abducted, tied up and hacked to death with a meat cleaver by Van and others at Esparza's behest in retaliation for her claim that he had raped her weeks earlier.Prosecutors have raised doubts about the veracity of her rape accusation, noting during Van's trial that Esparza did not report the alleged sexual assault to authorities until after learning Ramirez had made romantic overtures to her sister.Yet another suspect in the case, Diane Tran's husband Kody Tran, died in a shootout with police in 2012 before charges were filed in the Ramirez killing.Esparza, a 21-year-old Los Angeles-area college student at the time she met Ramirez at a bar, was initially arrested in his death in 1996. But prosecutors declined to press charges, and she moved to Europe, eventually settling in France with her husband and young daughter.The Ramirez case grew cold until new evidence surfaced years later, and Esparza was arrested during a visit to Boston.REUTERS RJ 0922 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-838834.Xml
China called on Turkey to restore order and stability as soon as possible after a coup attempt, state television cited China's foreign ministry as saying today.The ministry has so far not received any reports of Chinese citizens being injured there, state TV said, and has activated emergency mechanisms. REUTERS RJ 1018 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-838905.Xml
The United States called on all parties in Turkey to support President Tayyip Erdogan's government against a coup attempt as world leaders expressed concern about the upheaval in a NATO member country that bridges Europe and the Middle East.President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone and gave their support to Erdogan after Turkey's military said it had seized power."The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said in a statement.US government sources said a coup attempt was under way in Turkey but it was unclear who was prevailing.Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down.Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003 and if the coup against him is successful it would be one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years.The sharp-tongued Erdogan is often accused of authoritarian rule at home and has frequently fallen out with neighbors such as Israel, Iran, Russia and the European Union as he tried to carve out a greater role for Turkey in the Middle East.But Turkey has long been a key ally for Washington, including in the current fight against Islamic State, despite accusations that Erdogan has eroded human rights and press freedoms.Gunfire was heard near the Turkish General Staff Headquarters in Ankara, where defensive forces were being deployed, a US government source said. The State Department told US citizens in Turkey to "shelter in place and stay indoors."The United States uses the Incirlik air base in Turkey to launch strikes against Islamic State, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. It said those operations had not been affected by the upheaval.EU SEEKS RESTRAINTEU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for calm in Turkey."Call for restraint and respect for democratic institutions," she tweeted from an EU-Asia summit in Mongolia.Ties between Turkey and Germany - vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe - have been strained since the Bundestag passed a resolution in June branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a genocide. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation.Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation which has long been a regional rival to Sunni majority Turkey, said yesterday it was deeply concerned about the crisis in the neighboring country."Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity and prudence are imperative," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account.In Syria, hundreds of cheering government supporters took to the streets of Damascus early on Saturday and celebratory gunfire erupted after Turkey's army said it seized power from Erdogan, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main foes in the region.Residents said convoys of cars circled around the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.Assad's government has accused Erdogan of fuelling Syria's five-year conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.The Kremlin said it was gravely concerned about events in Turkey, and that it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey.Britain's new foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said he was "very concerned" by events in Turkey, where many thousands of British and other European holiday-makers were spending summer vacations.REUTERS RSD 0603 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-838779.Xml
Turkey has closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid any travels to the country's southern neighbour.The border crossings from Bulgarian side remain open, the ministry said in a statement.The government said it has bolstered patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border following the unfolding developments there. REUTERS RSD 0620 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-838783.Xml
The attempted military coup in Turkey could hamper the United States in its war against Islamic State in Syria and undermine other US goals in the Middle East by weakening democracy and sparking prolonged instability in the NATO pact's only Muslim member.With the Turkish military and security services apparently split as gunfire and explosions rocked both Istanbul and the capital Ankara on Friday night, the United States made clear it was siding with the government of President Tayyip Erdogan.Relations between Erdogan's government and the US administration have been rocky, but he has broadly cooperated in the fight against Islamic State."The United States views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey," Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. He later stressed Washington's "absolute support" for the democratically elected government during a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.Whatever the outcome, analysts said, the US ally now faces a period of political and economic instability. That could divert the Turkish military and security services from stemming a recent series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, fighting a Kurdish insurrection and shutting off the flow of foreign militants across its border to and from Syria."From the US perspective, the worst case scenario might be an ineffective coup that pitches Turkey into a prolonged power struggle," said Blaize Misztal, the national security director at the Bipartisan Policy Center."Even a quickly executed coup which met little resistance would be destabilizing, but a partial or unsuccessful coup would lead to much more instability ahead."Turkey, the bridge between Europe and the Middle East, has NATO's second-largest army after that of the United States, and is the region's largest economy. Despite a history of military coups, the country of 75 million people is the region's oldest democracy, and has helped provide stability in southeastern Europe and the Middle East."This could be one of the most critical challenges of the Obama administration. A stable Turkey is crucial to American interests in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus," said Bruce Riedel, of the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst. "A democratic Turkey, even if flawed, is essential to any hopes of political reform in the Middle East."Turkey is host to important US and NATO military facilities. They include Incirlik Air Base, from which US fighters and drones hit Islamic State in neighboring Syria, a CIA base from which the agency has been supporting moderate Syrian rebel forces, US listening posts and an early warning radar for NATO's European missile defense system.Turkey was scheduled to attend a meeting near Washington next week of the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition, although it was unclear if the attempted coup would affect that.US officials have criticized Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism, Turkey's support for Islamist opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the slow pace in sealing its border with Syria to foreign fighters.For his part, Erdogan has been angered by US support for Syrian Kurds fighting Islamic State that he considers allies of the PKK, the rebel group fighting for greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds."The key point is, the (Obama) administration would always support a democratically elected government in this situation," said Matthew Bryza, a former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and a former senior White House adviser on Turkey.US interests will suffer no matter the outcome of the coup attempt, said Gonul Tol, director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute.If the coup fails, Erdogan's "hand will be strengthened and we'll see more of his autocratic agenda," Tol said. "And if it succeeds, this means . . . further instability for Turkey domestically." REUTERS RSD 0655 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-838792.Xml
Bulgaria is following developments in neighbouring Turkey with concern and hopes that the situation there will be resolved in a lawful and democratic way, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.The Balkan country has beefed up patrols along the border with Turkey after a coup attempt there. Turkey has closed the border crossings with Bulgaria and the foreign ministry appealed to Bulgarians to cancel their travel plans to Turkey."We are following what is happening at our neighbours with concern," Borisov told reporters at an emergency meeting with the defence and foreign ministers, as well as intelligence and security officials."Let's hope it will regularize in a lawful and democratic manner... There are ways to topple a government and that in the democratic world happens through elections," he said.Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov spoke on the telephone with his Turkish counterpart and contacts were made by the special services, Borisov added.The border crossings with Turkey on the Bulgarian side are open. A witness told private national BTV channel that entrance at Kapikule border crossing into Turkey is allowed, but exit towards Bulgaria is not and several cars with Bulgarians were blocked on Turkish territory.Bulgaria has built a fence at its border with Turkey as part of its attempts to limit illegal crossings of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan."The border crossings from the Turkish side are closed. We have beefed up the border with border police officers and army units," Borisov said. REUTERS RSD 0816 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0435-838808.Xml
The nine-week trial in the sensational Indo-Canadian love triangle murder case ended in an Ottawa court on Friday. Gurpreet Ronald and her lover Bhupinderpal Gill were being tried for the first-degree murder of Gill's wife Jagtar Gill who was found murdered in the family home in January 2014. Both have pleaded not guilty. Gurpreet, 37, and Gill, 40, who were fellow bus drivers with Ottawa's OC Transpo and neighbours, were allegedly in a relationship. They conspired to kill Gill's wife Jagtar, 43, so that they could be together. Jagtar, the mother of Gill's three children, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in her home in Ottawa on January 29, 2014. The day was also her 17th wedding anniversary. A day before her killing, the victim had a hernia surgery. During the trial, the prosecution told the jury that Gurpreet and Gill were romantically involved. Since they "dreamed of being together", they plotted the murder of Gill's wife. Gurpreet Ronald, a mother of two girls, is married to Jason Ronald who is also a driver with the same company in Ottawa. During her testimony, Gurpreet admitted that she had an affair with Gill. But she told the jury that her sexual relationship with Gill was "not satisfactory" and that she had an affair with another fellow driver at the same time while she was in a relationship with Gill. Her lawyer told the jury that she depended on Gill only for "emotional support, a shoulder to cry upon" and she had no intention of being with him. During his testimony, Gill told the jury that he ended his affair with Gurpreet Ronald in 2013 before his wife was killed in January 2014. During the trial, a psychic also testified that Gill and Ronald had consulted her about their future together. Ronald's husband also testified, telling the jury how his wife tried to attack him with a knife many times. The 12-member jury is now closeted to give its verdict in this sensational case which shook the Indo-Canadian community. --IANS Gurmukh/ask/bg ( 351 Words) 2016-07-16-11:58:00 (IANS)
Russia reiterates its readiness for joint constructive work with the legitimate leadership of Turkey, Russia's Foreign Ministry said today."The aggravating political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability," the ministry said in a statement.Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought today to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.REUTERS SDR VP1425 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-839248.Xml
Turkish Airlines resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport today following a failed coup attempt while some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights.Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought today to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt. Television images late yesterday had shown tanks parked in front of the airport.A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said flights had now returned to their normal schedule from Europe's third largest hub, though delays were to be expected.Turkish budget carrier Pegasus said its flights were also experiencing minor delays.The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late yesterday had caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and cancelled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk.British Airways said in a statement it was halting all flights to Turkey today and one tomorrow as a precaution."The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so."Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.EasyJet said its advice from British authorities was to continue flying, although it was monitoring developments.The attempted coup follows a series of bombings that hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country.The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 per cent in April, data showed yesterday, the biggest drop in 17 years.The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around 8 billion dollar.German airline Lufthansa cancelled all its flights to Istanbul and Ankara today and pared back the number flights to holiday destinations Bodrum and Antalya.TUI which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday companies, said its flights to Dalaman, Antalya and Izmir were operating as normal.Tour operator Thomas Cook said most German guests who had booked a holiday to Antalya or Bodrum had taken their flights today. It said flights from the UK were operating as normal but, given the circumstances, free cancellations or amendments were possible for customers due to fly to Turkey this weekend.Russia also suspended passenger flights to the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency said.Turkish and Russian officials had met this week to discuss the restarting of charter flights between the two countries and tourism security after relations soured following Turkey's downing of a Russian jet last year.State airline EgyptAir also cancelled all flights today to Istanbul, the company said in a statement. The company, which has 14 flights to Istanbul per week, did not say when they were expected to resume.All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for today had been cancelled, according to Sofia airport's website. REUTERS SDR VN1845 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-839977.Xml
Brazil has deported the Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist Adlene Hicheur, who was convicted in 2012 for his involvement in a French terror plot, after rejecting a request for an extension to his work visa, the Justice Ministry said.In a statement yesterday, the ministry said the decision had been taken in the "national interest" without giving any further details.Brazil is in the midst of tightening security ahead of the Olympics which start Aug 5 and said separately yesterday that it would enhance the scope of operations following a deadly truck attack in Nice earlier this week.Local press reports said Hicheur had been deported to France, though a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry would not confirm the information.Hicheur was sentenced by a Paris court to five years in prison in 2012, on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria.A former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, Hicheur was found guilty of providing logistical advice using encrypted messages sent via the internet.At the time, Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors said he had provided a terrorist manual to would-be attackers.Hicheur, who had already been in detention for two and half years, was released shortly after his sentencing and moved to Brazil in 2013 where he took a post at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.In a statement, the university said it was "surprised" and "concerned" by Hicheur's deportation, which it said was "announced without clear justification and attention to basic democratic principles." REUTERS SDR BD2003 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-840211.Xml
German Chancellor Angela Merkel today condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey and said Berlin stands by those who defend democracy and the rule of law, which must be observed when dealing with the coup's supporters.Elmar Brok, a Merkel ally and chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, had earlier said he expected Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to take advantage of the attempted coup to strengthen his grip on power."It's tragic that so many people died during this attempted coup," Merkel told reporters in Berlin. "The bloodshed in Turkey must stop now."Merkel said it was the right of the Turkish people to choose their political leader in free elections, and that political change should only be achieved within the framework of political institutions and the rules of democratic competition."Tanks on the streets and air strikes against their own people are injustice," Merkel said.The conservative leader called on the Turkish government to treat the arrested supporters of the attempted coup in line with the fundamental principles of the rule of law."We are guided by solidarity with all political forces in the government and the opposition who are committed to precisely these values," Merkel said. "Especially when dealing with those responsible for the tragic events of last night, the state under the rule of law should prove itself."European Parliament President Martin Schulz also urged Ankara to stick to the rule of law."As distressing as the coup attempt is, which I condemn in the strongest terms, the Turkish government should not take the opportunity for its part to break democratic principles", Schulz told Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper.GRIP ON POWERBrok, who is a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, spoke to Die Welt newspaper overnight as Erdogan loyalists fought back against the power grab and the Turkish leader told supporters he would "clean up" the army."Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," the veteran member of the European parliament was quoted as saying in the interview published today, adding that such a move could lead to a "dramatic divide" in Turkish society."Turkey must quickly return to constitutional order. This would apply to the military as well as for Erdogan who currently fulfils a function as president that is not foreseen in the constitution," Brok added.Erdogan and his supporters are pushing for a more executive presidency, saying it would guard against the sort of fractious coalition politics that hampered Turkey's development in the 1990s.His opponents, and some sceptical Western allies, have accused Erdogan of growing authoritarianism. Opposition newspapers have been shut and journalists and academics critical of government policies sacked.There was no immediate reaction to Brok's words from Turkey, where Erdogan and his supporters said they were fighting for democracy as they tried to crush the last remnants of the coup attempt today."OBJECTIVE OF AUTOCRACY"The leader of Germany's opposition Green party, Cem Oezdemir, echoed Brok's message."Erdogan won't let this opportunity be missed to not only thoroughly clean the military but to finally realise his project of a constitutional amendment with the objective of autocracy," Oezdemir told Welt am Sonntag newspaper."The few critical media outlets and the first green shoots of civil society have certainly nothing good to expect."Germany has led talks with Turkey through the European Union, seeking its help in controlling a record influx of migrants. Turkey has long sought to join the bloc.German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also called for restraint. "It is encouraging that the parties represented in the Turkish parliament declared their support for the democratic principles," Steinmeier said.In a sign that the events in Turkey are stirring emotions in Germany, several thousand people took to the streets in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Essen and other cities to show support for the Turkish government, police said.Germany is home to about 3 million people of Turkish origin, most of whom came to Germany to work in the 1960s and 1970s, or as refugees fleeing violence in the 1980s and 1990s.REUTERS VS BD2057 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-840261.Xml
Eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece after a failed military coup against the government will be repatriated to Turkey "as soon as possible", Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter.Greece arrested the men after they landed in the northern Greek city of Alexandroupolis.REUTERS VS BL2123 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-840321.Xml
PARIS, July 14, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Republican Guards march during the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, on July 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Alan Wilson)

PARIS, July 14 (Xinhua) -- The Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue was dedicated this year to France's national anthem "La Marseillaise" and highlighted the commitment to national security, putting the younger generations into the spotlight.

Held each year on July 14, France's national day, since 1880, the Bastille Day parade was among the oldest regular military parades in the world.

The July 14 celebration opened after the arrival of French President Francois Hollande at the Arc de Triomphe, with a march of 4,000 soldiers from the French Army and the parade of 55 airplanes and 30 helicopters from the French Air Force. Eight Alpha-jets flew by in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, as a symbol of support to the Paris bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

As a symbol of unity and values, this year's Bastille Day parade invited Australia and New Zealand as guests of honor, in remembrance to the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of Somme, known as one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. Some 140 Australian and 85 New Zealand soldiers, including eight Maori warriors, joined the parade. Also, the traditional aerial parade, directed by General Jean-Christophe Zimmermann, features the squadron "La Fayette" in order to honor Franco-American fraternity during the First World War.

Following 2015, a tragic year marked by terrorist attacks in Paris, the 2016 military parade was an occasion to display France's military strength, showing to its nation the personnel in charge of defending their security from external and also internal threats. The parade also marked the last such event in Hollande's five-year term as president, with the approaching presidential elections of 2017.

The march was followed with a chorus of "La Marseillaise", featuring 400 high-school volunteers,and the aerial acrobatics of Captain Alexandre Orlowski, world air race champion that would close up the Bastille Day celebration.
BEIJING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The National Commission for Disaster Relief issued an emergency notice urging local authorities to prepare for floods and geological disasters.

Various authorities must evacuate and relocate residents in advance and help public institutions such as schools, hospitals and elders centers prepare for disasters, the commission said.

They should closely monitor the development of rain and floods and release early warnings via various channels including mobile messages, television and the Internet.

The people relocated must be supplied with food, clothing and clean water, it said in the notice. Enditem
NANNING, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A group of rock paintings dating back over 2,000 years in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was included into UNESCO's world heritage list on Friday.

The Zuojiang Huashan site, covering over 6,621 hectares, is home to more than 1,900 well-preserved drawings on the face of the Huashan mountains along the Zuojiang River, Chongzuo.

The brownish red paintings depict the sacrifices of the Luoyue people, ancestors of today's Zhuang ethnic minority, during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and East Han Dynasty (25-220).

Liang Tingwang of Beijing's Minzu University of China said the major images of the paintings are frog-shaped people -- a totem of the Zhuang ethnic group -- and the Zhuang people's invention of artificial cultivation of rice.

Lan Riyong of Guangxi world heritage application office said the paintings are the sole record of the vanished Luoyue people.

It remains a mystery how the Luoyue managed to paint on the rocks at a height ranging from 10 to 130 meters above the surface of the river, he said.

Chongzuo residents gathered to celebrate the inclusion with dancing and music. Lyu Xiaofang said, "We are so proud as ethnic Zhuang people. The inclusion of the heritage list is the world's recognition of China's ethnic minority culture."

Lyu is also looking forward to economic benefits brought about by more tourists in the future.

Chongzuo officials said they will strengthen protection of the site and work to build a high level tourist destination.

The listing of the paintings was announced during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul.

A total of 27 applicants for listing are being reviewed by the committee, including another Chinese site -- Shennongjia Forestry District in central China's Hubei Province. Enditem
DAMASCUS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Celebratory gunshots echoed in several districts in the capital Damascus on Friday evening following the news of a military coup in Turkey.

Heavy gunfire reverberated across districts of Damascus from military checkpoints, in what appeared to be a celebration for the military coup that took place in Turkey later on Friday evening.

Not only gunshots, some people took to the highway of the Mazzeh district in Damascus, celebrating the coup news.

In Turkey, a military coup took place with the armed forces announcing they have seized power, citing rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism.

The Turkish government of President Recep Tayyep Erdogan has emerged as one of the staunchest opponents to the government of President Bashar al-Assad throughout Syria's five-year-old conflict.

The Syrian government released endless statements, accusing the Turkish government of supporting the terrorist groups in Syria.

Turkey, under Erdogan, has allowed foreign fighters to cross its territory to reach Syria, with arms and ammunition being smuggled through the Turkish borders into Syria.

Observers in Syria, while refusing to give an immediate response to the coup news, said a new leadership in Turkey could largely help in bringing an end to the Syrian conflict.

Military experts, meanwhile, said the Syrian army and allied fighters could carry out sudden attacks on positions of the Turkey-backed militant groups to take advantage of the state of confusion. Enditem
SANAA, July 13, 2016 (Xinhua) -- The UN secretary-general's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed(C), sits as he arrives at Sanaa Airport in Sanaa, Yemen, on July 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Hani Ali)

UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The Yemeni peace talks are expected to resume with both delegations in Kuwait on Saturday in a bid to bring security and stability to the war-torn Middle East country, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters here Friday.

The delegation of Ansarallah and General People's Congress arrived in Kuwait on Friday, Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here, adding that the UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was in Riyadh on Friday to meet with Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hai and the delegation of the government of Yemen.

The UN-facilitated peace negotiations aimed at ending Yemen's civil war officially halted in Kuwait on June 29 and is expected to be resumed in mid-July.

Political observers said the UN-brokered peace talks, which kicked off in Kuwait City on April 11, failed to reach any tangible breakthroughs after two months of negotiations.

Delegates of the government strongly insisted that they represents Yemen's sole legitimate governing authority, and called for the full implementation of last year's UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

The resolution orders Houthi militias to withdraw from Sanaa and all other cities occupied earlier, hand back weapons and release political prisoners before forming new sharing transitional government.

However, the Houthis and their allies, for their part, say that they represent the country's de facto rulers and urged to form a new transitional government before discussing withdrawal from cities and the other topics.

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, has expressed concern regarding the lack of foreign currency reserves in the Yemen Central Bank, Dujarric said.

"Without such reserves, Yemen's commercial sector is unable to receive lines of credit, curbing Yemen's capability to import key staples such as rice and wheat."

Yemeni families are already paying as much as 30 percent over pre-crisis wheat prices in some areas of the country. Seven million people are severely food insecure.

The United Nations has provided food assistance to an average of 4 million people a month between January and May this year.

The civil war has drawn in Saudi-led coalition in March 2015, in response to President Hadi's call to restore his internationally recognized government to the capital Sanaa.

The civil war has killed more than 6,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more 35,000 others, and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian aid agencies.

Yemen's conflict began after 2011 massive popular protests that demanded an end to the 33-year rule of then President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
MEXICO CITY, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries on Friday joined France in mourning the hundreds of victims of the latest terror attack on French soil, and condemned the targeting of innocent lives.

From Mexico to Argentina, countries across the Americas expressed their consternation and unity with the French government and the families of the victims of Thursday's tragic incident in the southern city of Nice, where a truck plowed through crowd celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84, including 10 children, and injuring more than 200 others.

Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry building was lit up in the red, white and blue colors of the French flag late Thursday, in what has become a traditional show of solidarity with France, which has suffered a series of terrorist strikes.

"Mexico's government reiterates its total rejection of any type of violence against civilians," the Foreign Ministry said.

Families had gathered along Nice's waterfront promenade to mark the national holiday when the truck rammed into crowd.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa offered a symbolic "hug for France on its national day and in the face of this tragedy caused by madness. Our solidarity with the injured and the families of those who were killed."

Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said, "we are shocked by this horrendous and horrifying attack in France."

The driver of the truck, identified as a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin, was shot dead by French police and arms and grenades were found inside the vehicle. French authorities have yet to determine whether he acted alone.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez expressed his "total repudiation" for the attack, adding "that such brutality arising and spreading in so many countries and so many societies is incomprehensible."

In November 2015, 130 people were killed in an attack on a concert venue in Paris, and as many as 352 were injured, in what was considered the single deadliest terrorist strike in the history of France.

Terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) has said it will target France, one of the western coalition forces waging war in Syria, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.

In Caracas, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "Venezuela categorically condemns terrorism in all its manifestations ... regardless of the motives."

The ministry, in a statement, also called for "building a world free of violence and combating these atrocious acts that plunge all of humanity into mourning."

Argentina's President Mauricio Macri posted via Twitter, "we join in rejecting the bloody attacks that have shocked France and the world."

The governments of Bolivia and Colombia also condemned the attack, with the president of the Bolivian Senate, Jose Alberto Gonzales, telling reporters it was "unacceptable" that society in this day and age was unable to find a peaceful way to resolve "our differences."

Christian Estrosi, the governor of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, where Nice is situated, described the attack "as the worst tragedy in the history of Nice."

French President Francois called the incident a "terrorist" attack and has announced a three-month extension of a state of emergency that has been in place since the November attacks. Enditem
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The White House announced Friday it will invest more than 400 million U.S. dollars to support 5G wireless research to maintain the country's leadership in the mobile technology world.

The so-called Advanced Wireless Research Initiative, led by the National Science Foundation (NSF), will launch four city-scale testing platforms for 5G wireless research over the next decade, the White House said in a statement.

The NSF committed more than 50 million dollars to enable the construction of these research platforms while more than 20 companies and private-sector associations, including Intel, Samsung and AT&T, cumulatively pledged more than 35 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations towards this effort.

The NSF will also invest 350 million dollars over the next seven years in academic research to utilize these testing platforms.

The announcement came just one day after the Federal Communications Commission voted to begin opening up vast amounts of high-frequency spectrum to prepare the United States for 5G networks.

"Collectively, these spectrum policy and research efforts will accelerate the deployment of a new generation of wireless networks that are up to 100 times faster than today," the White House statement said.

"These super-fast, ultra-low latency, high-capacity networks will enable breakthrough applications for consumers, smart cities, and the Internet of Things that cannot even be imagined today."

The White House outlined possible advances the initiative could help bring in the next decade.

For example, users can download full length HD movies in less than 5 seconds, 100 times faster than 4G and 25,000 times faster than 3G.

Semi- or fully-autonomous vehicles could communicate with the outside world and with each other to improve travel efficiency and safety.

In addition, gigabit-speed wireless broadband could be available in businesses, public transportation stations, stadiums, campuses, schools, malls, parks, and other public spaces. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Southern Africa is experiencing the worst El Nino-induced drought in 35 years, following the failure of two consecutive rainy seasons, a UN spokesman told reporters here Friday.

Nearly 40 million people in the region are food insecure, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

The UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, is scheduled to visit Malawi and Madagascar on July 16-22 to see the impact of El Nino in Southern Africa, he said.

During her visit, Kang is expected to meet representatives of affected communities, government officials and humanitarian representatives in Malawi and Madagascar to discuss the effects of the drought and the efforts currently underway to address people's needs, he added.

This year's El Nino is taking place in a world already dramatically affected by climate change.

More extreme weather events are expected in the future, and these hit the poorest communities -- those least responsible for climate change -- first and hardest.

Aid is not enough; a longer term approach is required in order to build the resilience of the most vulnerable. Enditem
CHICAGO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn, wheat and soybeans extended losses to close the week on Friday .

The most active corn contract for December delivery lost 6.50 cents, or 1.78 percent, to 3.5825 dollars per bushel. September wheat delivery fell 9.25 cents, or 2.13 percent, to 4.2475 dollars per bushel. November soybean shed 5 cents, or 0.47 percent, to 10.5725 dollars per bushel.

For the week, corn, wheat and soybeans declined 1.17 percent, 2.36 percent and 0.05 percent respectively.

The midday weather forecast on Friday showed wetter weather in some corn and soybean fields in U.S. Midwest, pressing corn and soybeans lower again on Friday as traders were closely monitoring the weather model on Friday, analysts noted.

Wheat futures continued to follow corn and soybean lower on Friday.

However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought some bullish export news for soybeans on Friday by announcing in the morning that private exporters reported export sales of 320,000 tons of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2016/2017 marketing year. Enditem
ISTANBUL, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. (Xinhua/Saltanat)

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

According to the military statement, reported on NTV, the military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and rule of law.

The statement said that all our international agreements and commitments is continue to be kept valid.

"We hope that our good relations with all countries of the world will be continued," the statement said.

President Erdogan's office website said he is safe and and that a coup attempt by a small group of soldiers was "unsuccessful."

In his appearance on CNNTurk via a reporter's mobile phone, Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"This is an act encouraged by the parallel structure." he said. "I believe that this act will have the necessary punishment that will be given by our nation."

The president was referring to the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"I will be at the squares as well either in Istanbul or Ankara," Erdogan said in remarks delivered later on NTV.

Shortly after Erdogan's statement, soldiers started leaving the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, while some Turks walk toward the airport, the Hurriyet daily said.

It said supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among the throng gathering there.

Reports earlier said that tanks were sent to the airport, where all flights were canceled.

In Ankara, helicopters could be heard hoving above. There were also reports of gunshots and explosions heard in the capital.

There were also reports of tanks being deployed outside the Turkish parliament.

On the capital's Kizilay Avenue, Xinhua reporters saw a large crowd gathering, some throwing rocks on tanks passing by and calling for peace.

On Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told local media that there has been a coup attempt.

"This is a mutiny attempt; we will not let it win," Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim as saying. "Those who are doing this will be punished in the hardest way."

Meanwhile, NTV reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was taken hostage by a group of soldiers.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the coup attempt is unlawful and Ankara and Istanbul public prosecutors have launched an investigation, Milliyet News reported.

"The coup of some armed forces was made without command," Bozdag said. "It is time we show our attitude to democracy."

In Istanbul, the gendarmerie closed the two bridges that connect the city's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, with tanks reported on the bridges.
TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on early Saturday expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey.

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount," Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department on Friday advised its citizens in Turkey shelter in place and not attempt to go to the U.S. Embassy or consulates amid an ongoing military coup.

"Continue to shelter in place in Turkey. Do not attempt to go to US Embassy or Consulates at this time," the State Department said in an message for U.S. citizens in Turkey via its Twitter account.

It urged U.S. citizens in Turkey to contact loved ones directly "to let them know if you're okay," it said in another tweet.

"Use email/SMS/telephone if social media blocked," it said.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara has informed U.S. citizens that "shots fired and explosions have been heard in Ankara and both bridges in Istanbul, the Bosphorous and Fatih Sultan Mehmet, are now closed," the State Department said in an Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens about the "Turkey Uprising" on its twitter account.

It also asked U.S. citizens to monitor local press for updates, avoid areas of conflict, and exercise caution if being in the vicinity of any military or security forces.

Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama received briefings from his national security aides on the ongoing situation in Turkey, a NATO ally and part of the U.S. coalition in fighting the terror group Islamic State.

"The president's national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey. The president will continue to receive regular updates," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in a tweet.

A military statement issued on Turkish media said Friday the Turkish armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday that the coup attempt has failed, urging people to take to the streets to protect democracy.

The military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law, the military statement said.
TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, early Saturday expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey.

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount," Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.

Also on Saturday, Secretary of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said that "We are cognizant about the current situation in Turkey, and we consider instability in Turkey as the instability of our own country," Tasnim news agency reported.

"All the ground and aerial borders of Iran is under full control, and comprehensive surveillance is underway in the border areas," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. (REUTERS/Tumay Berkin)

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department on Friday advised its citizens in Turkey shelter in place and not attempt to go to the U.S. Embassy or consulates amid an ongoing military coup.

"Continue to shelter in place in Turkey. Do not attempt to go to US Embassy or Consulates at this time," the State Department said in an message for U.S. citizens in Turkey via its Twitter account.

It urged U.S. citizens in Turkey to contact loved ones directly "to let them know if you're okay," it said in another tweet.

"Use email/SMS/telephone if social media blocked," it said.

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara has informed U.S. citizens that "shots fired and explosions have been heard in Ankara and both bridges in Istanbul, the Bosphorous and Fatih Sultan Mehmet, are now closed," the State Department said in an Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens about the "Turkey Uprising" on its twitter account.

It also asked U.S. citizens to monitor local press for updates, avoid areas of conflict, and exercise caution if being in the vicinity of any military or security forces.

Earlier, U.S. President Barack Obama received briefings from his national security aides on the ongoing situation in Turkey, a NATO ally and part of the U.S. coalition in fighting the terror group Islamic State.

"The president's national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey. The president will continue to receive regular updates," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in a tweet.

A military statement issued on Turkish media said Friday the Turkish armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday that the coup attempt has failed, urging people to take to the streets to protect democracy.

The military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and the rule of law, the military statement said.
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called on all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

A military statement carried by Turkish media said Friday that the Turkish armed forces have fully seized power in the country, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday that the coup attempt has failed, urging people to take to the streets to protect democracy.

Obama discussed the situation by phone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in Moscow, and asked Kerry to continue to keep him updated as the situation unfolds.

Kerry underscored that the U.S. State Department will continue to focus on the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Turkey.

The State Department on Friday advised its citizens in Turkey shelter in place and not attempt to go to the U.S. Embassy or consulates amid an ongoing military coup.
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for calm in Turkey following a coup attempt in the country, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said.

"We are following closely" the current situation and its latest development in Turkey after sections of the Turkish army have officially declared a coup and Martial Law, Haq told Xinhua by phone.

At this stage, the secretary-general appealed for calm in Turkey and "hopefully a written statement will be issued in next hours," he said.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey.

"This is a mutiny attempt; we will not let it win," Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim as saying. "Those who are doing this will be punished in the hardest way."

There were reports of the Turkish chief of military staff being "held hostage" and of a military statement claiming to have taken power of the country.

Flights from Istanbul Ataturk airport were also reported to have been canceled.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the coup attempt was unlawful and Ankara and Istanbul public prosecutors have launched an investigation, Milliyet News reported.
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for calm, non-violence and restraint in Turkey following a military coup attempt in the country, stressing that "military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable."

"At this moment of uncertainty in the country, the secretary-general appeals for calm, non-violence and restraint," said a statement issued by Ban's spokesman. "Preservation of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, remain of vital importance."

"The secretary-general is following closely and with concern the fast-moving developments in Turkey," said the statement.

"The secretary-general underscores that military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable," the statement said. "It will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy."

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
CANBERRA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement on Saturday that her government is monitoring the situation in Turkey closely.

She described the situation in Turkey as "highly fluid".

"The government is monitoring reports of a possible attempted military coup unfolding in Turkey," the statement said.

Bishop said her department is in contact with the Australian Embassy in Ankara and she herself has spoken this morning with Australian Ambassador to Turkey James Larsen to seek to determine the facts as the situation unfolds.

"Our priority is the safety of Australian citizens in Turkey. Australians in Turkey should be vigilant, monitor media, follow the direction of local authorities and advise friends and family in Australia that they are safe."

The travel advice for Turkey has been updated to reflect the unfolding developments. However, the overall level of advice has not changed.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday advised its citizens in Turkey to stay in their place and not to move out, after a military coup was announced there.

"Dear compatriots and visitors to Turkey, please stay in your place and avoid attending the crowded areas," a statement by the foreign ministry was cited by the country's official IRNA news agency.

"Hearken to and consider the announcements by the security officials of Turkey" for further developments following the coup attempt, the statement said.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
CANBERRA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Australian government should do all it can to de-escalate the tension in South China Sea and help find peaceful resolution to the disputes instead of dictating, said Linda Burney, Member for Barton at the Federal Parliament House of Representative.

In a statement on Friday, Burney said it is crucial that the Australian government do all it can to ensure that it does not add to the tension in the region.

"The focus needs to be on de-escalating tension and resolving disputes - it isn't the role of the Australian government to dictate these terms but we should be doing all we can to help find peaceful solutions."

"Any solution will need to involve the peaceful diplomatic cooperation of all the nations in the region - that includes China and Australia."

After an ad hoc arbitral tribunal issued on Tuesday a so-called award on the South China Sea arbitration, which was unilaterally initiated by the former government of the Philippines, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop warned China there would be "strong reputational costs" for ignoring the ruling.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang then urged Australia not to treat the illegal conclusion of an unlawful arbitration court as the international law.

"We hope that the Australian side will take international law seriously, instead of as a trifling matter," Lu said.

China respects international law - if any country violates it, the consequences will not be only reputational costs, Lu said, noting that China upholds the sanctity of the international law and rejects any action that violates the international law.
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The international community has shown great concern over a coup attempt in Turkey and urged for the non-employment of violence and a speedy return to civilian rule.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for calm, non-violence and restraint in Turkey, stressing that "military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable."

According to a statement issued by Ban's spokesman, "it will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy."

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday called on all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Britain's newly appointed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said via his Twitter account: "Very concerned by events unfolding in Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely."

Greece follows closely the development in Turkey in the wake of reports on a military coup attempt in the neighboring country, Greek national news agency AMNA reported on early Saturday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been briefed by the head of the Greek intelligence service, according to government sources.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement on Saturday that her government is monitoring the situation in Turkey closely, adding that "our priority is the safety of Australian citizens in Turkey. "

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday advised its citizens in Turkey to stay in their place and not to move out, after a military coup was announced there.

"Dear compatriots and visitors to Turkey, please stay in your place and avoid attending the crowded areas," a statement by the foreign ministry was cited by the country's official IRNA news agency.

"Hearken to and consider the announcements by the security officials of Turkey" for further developments following the coup attempt, the statement said.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
ANKARA, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- People gather near destroyed vehicles in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said on July 15 that the armed forces have fully seized power in the country. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)

ISTANBUL/ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said here early Saturday that his holiday resort was bombed as soon as he left, vowing to finish the operation against coup plotters to keep the army "clean."

In televised remarks delivered soon after he landed at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, the president said the resort town of Marmaris in southwestern Turkey was bombed as the attackers thought he "was still there."

Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the plotters in the military, saying "Our army is clean and no one can harm it."

He blamed the ongoing coup attempt in his country on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"They are getting their order form Pensilvania," Erdogan said, referring to "a minority of group" within the military as part of the "parallel structure."

"Today the act is an uprising, what they do is a betrayal," he said, appealing to all the soldiers not to "put the guns against your mothers" and "against the nation."

The Turkish leader also revealed that his secretary general was taken away. "What are you going to do with my secretary general?" he asked.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said the situation in Ankara was largely under control and around 120 people were arrested.

At least 60 people have been killed in Turkey as groups inside the army attempted to topple the government, according to the latest figure from the prosecutor's office.

A no-fly zone over Ankara has been declared.
ANKARA, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Police vehicles block a road in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said on July 15 that the armed forces have fully seized power in the country. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed. (Xinhua/Zou Le)

ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government is in charge and he is in power, after the country is smarting from a coup attempt overnight.

In his second speech delivered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in less than two hours, the president said the armed forces do not and cannot rule Turkey.

Soldiers on a bridge that links Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait have surrendered to the police, Turkish media reported.

The Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the strait as words of a coup attempt spread on Friday night.

In his first speech, Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against coup plotters to keep the army "clean."

As many as 754 members of armed forces have been detained across Turkey, state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing official.

Sporadic gunfires can still be heard in central Istanbul, but no more explosions and the roaring of jets overhead, a Xinhua reporter said.

Things are reportedly returning to normal in Ankara, Turkey's national capital, where at least 60 people were killed in the chaotic coup attempt, according to the prosecutor's office.
by Raimundo Urrechaga, Noemi Galban

HAVANA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Nearly a year since Cuba and the United States formally restored diplomatic ties, the two former adversaries have inched closer to establishing a normal relationship.

The two countries made history on July 20, 2015 by reopening their respective embassies. But while bilateral ties have seen no more major breakthroughs since Obama's visit to Cuba in March, 2016, the two former adversaries appear to have settled into a relationship of respectful coexistence, a development that may be just as valuable in the long run, according to a Cuban analyst.

Jesus Arboleya, a professor at Cuba's Higher Institute of International Relations, spoke with Xinhua about how the process of rapprochement between the two countries has evolved since they first announced on Dec. 17, 2014 their decision to normalize ties after more than five decades of hostility.

In contrast to decades of cold-shoulder exchanges, Cuban and U.S. delegations have traveled to each other's countries for direct talks on a range of matters and on an equal footing, noted Arboleya.

These face-to-face encounters facilitate dialogue and minimize the chances of misunderstandings, he said, though negotiating with a power such as the United States necessarily requires a degree of caution.

"It is the first time that we see ties marked by respect and they will remain that way to the extent that Cuba demands it. The first chance the United States has to reestablish Cuba's dependence, it (the U.S.) will take it, and in fact that is what it hopes to do," warned Arboleya.

Washington's tendency toward domination largely defines White House policy, not just toward Cuba, but also the rest of the world, he said, so bilateral ties will always be fraught with difficulties.

Much depends on Cuba and its ability to preserve social and political stability, improve its economy and strengthen international ties.

"Some Cubans see this process (of rapprochement) as toxic to Cuban socialism. It could be, that depends on how we handle it. But without a doubt it is a situation that offers Cuba an economic respite, while politically it is viewed as a victory for Cuban resistance," said Arboleya.

Even Obama, he noted, acknowledged that Washington's aggressive, outdated and long-running policies toward Cuba had failed, requiring a new strategy to achieve its hidden goal of regime change in the Caribbean island.

"Cuba is going to win and lose in its relationship with the United States, just as the United States is going to win and lose in its relationship with Cuba. The challenge is to take advantage of the opportunities that this new juncture provides and strike a new balance, which I believe is going to be positive for both countries," said the scholar.

The two countries have already reached a handful of agreements in the areas of environmental protection, fighting drug trafficking, terrorism and human trafficking, health care and telecommunications, among others.

And both stand to benefit from accessing each other's markets, though the ongoing trade embargo against Cuba impedes real progress in that area.

The positives so far outweigh the negatives, noted Arboleya.

"The new situation also curbs more aggressive U.S. actions towards Cuba, such as terrorism and a military invasion," he said. "I'm not saying they can't happen under certain circumstances, but (the current climate) considerably limits the chances."

Still, obstacles to improved ties remain, including the embargo, the U.S. occupation of Guantanamo, where it operates a naval base and notorious prison, U.S. immigration policy towards Cubans, and so-called "democracy promotion" programs that aim to topple the Cuban government.

Another bump in the road to better ties may be the weakening of Latin America's leftist governments, whose defense of Cuba largely pressured Obama into changing tack, said Arboleya.

"Today, the Latin American scenario that served as the basis for the new policy toward Cuba has changed, and it is also going to be a source of conflict," he said.

What about the changing political landscape in the United States?

The academic dismissed the idea that the outcome of upcoming presidential elections in the United States may have a decisive influence on how bilateral ties develop.

"The process has gone relatively well and the foundations have been built, making it difficult for whoever wins the elections in November to reverse it," he said, though "establishing business with large companies" would do more to protect ties from being dismantled.

Ultimately, Cuba's future is in the hands of new generations, he said, noting Cuban President Raul Castro has announced he will be stepping down from power, marking the end of an era and paving the way for younger leaders.

"In 2018 there is going to be a generational change in Cuba's political leadership and we will have to begin a new chapter," said Arboleya.
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Saturday condemned a military coup attempt in Turkey and said the country stands by the people and the government of Turkey.

In a statement, spokesperson of government of Pakistan said that the country supports the will of the people reflected in the democratic system and the democratically elected leadership of Turkey.

"Pakistan condemns the attempt to undermine democracy and rule of law in Turkey," he said.

The spokesperson said the Pakistani nation hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

Pakistan's Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi telephoned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and expressed solidarity of people and government of Pakistan with the Turkish Government and democratic institutions.

The Turkish Foreign Minister thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for showing resolve to stand by democracy in Turkey.

He said they are also thankful to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his message of support for Turkish democracy and the government.
CAIRO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian experts say the international community should be vigilant about veiled U.S. interests in the South China Sea arbitration case.

Though it was the Philippines that initiated the case against China, the United States predominated it, Diyaa El-Fiqy, a political analyst on international affairs, told Xinhua.

"In the past, the Philippines signed a deal to solve the problem in a friendly way via negotiations, but it reversed its promises under U.S. pressures and went to arbitration," he said.

The United States uses the freedom of navigation as a pretext to interfere in the South China Sea through the Philippines, El-Fiqy added.

"The United States is entirely upset about the development of China as a powerful country," he said."This is their biggest fear."

El-Fiqy's remarks were echoed by Nabil Zaki, a political analyst and spokesperson of Egypt's National Progressive Unionist Party, who said Washington has exerted pressure on the arbitral tribunal.

"The United States wants to stir up a new cold war in the region to contain a fast-growing China both economically and politically," Zaki said.

El-Fiqy said people should pay attention to the logic of Washington behind the issue, the same as behind the Iraq War, which was recently exposed by Britain's investigation report on the Iraq War.

The United States has double-standard policies because it has never respected international law, and it invaded Iraq without approval from the United Nations Security Council, El-Fiqy said.

The Iraq War destabilized the Middle East, leading to the rise of the Islamic State group, he added.

Washington's worries about China are not justified, and it "seeks to repeat the Iraqi mess to prevent China from growing," the expert concluded.

Zaki reckons Washington's intervention in countries of the Middle East are intended for resources in the region. "After the Middle East, It is trying to poke its nose into the South China Sea now," he said.
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Friday urged "a peaceful and credible electoral cycle" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying that it will help promote stability and development in the country.

"The members of the Security Council stressed the crucial importance of a peaceful and credible electoral cycle, in accordance with the Constitution, for stability, development, and consolidation of constitutional democracy in the DRC," said a statement issued to the press here by the 15-nation UN body.

The council members cited Resolution 2277 as the basis for "an open, inclusive and peaceful political dialogue among all stakeholders focused on the holding of elections," the statement said, adding that the council resolution also called for efforts to ensure an environment conducive to free, fair, peaceful, credible, inclusive, transparent and timely elections in the DRC.

The African country was expected to hold presidential elections on Nov. 27, but international observers and UN officials said the schedule was impossible because only the electoral register in preparation for the vote would take at least nine months.

On May 12, the DRC's Constitutional Court ruled that Kabila could remain in office beyond his mandate if the elections scheduled for November were delayed.

According to the DRC's constitution, President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001, should step down in December after two five-year terms in office.

Given the political distinctions between different parties in the DRC, the African Union (AU) has appointed Edem Kodjo, the former prime minister of Togo, as the facilitator for the political dialogue in the country.

The members of the Security Council expressed support for the AU decision, the statement said.

They also welcomed the efforts of Maman Sidikou, the special representative of the UN secretary-general for the DRC, and Said Djinnit, the special envoy of the secretary-general for the Great Lakes region, to facilitate the dialogue among political stakeholders, the statement added.
KHARTOUM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The South China Sea crisis is yet another piece of evidence of that the U.S. interventionism hurts other countries' stability, a Sudanese strategic expert said here.

"During long decades, the successive U.S administrations tended to create crises in many regions of the world" to implement hegemony said Dr. Mohamed Hassan Saeed, a political analyst and lecturer of political science at a number of Sudanese universities.

He pointed out that the South China sea dispute was not a major issue until the United States moved into the scenario and encouraged the Philippines to adopt a hard line stance.

"It was possible to reach satisfactory solutions for the South China Sea disputes through dialogue and negotiation, but the U.S. encouragement was what pushed the Philippines to unilaterally demand an international arbitration," Saeed said.

A consensus solution is still possible for the issue as long as the United States stays away from it, he said.

The government of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III filed the arbitration against China in 2013, despite the agreement his country had reached with China on resolving their disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiations.

Earlier this week, a Hague-based ad hoc tribunal's arbitral denied China's long-standing historical rights in the region. China has said the award is invalid and will neither accept nor recognize it.

"America should not mess around this vital region of the world. This is a stable, vital and important region for the world trade, and America would be the biggest affected party if the crisis flared at the South China Sea," he noted.

The United States has adopted the policy of intervention in international affairs since the Cold War, using various pretexts to justify its meddling in other countries' business, Saeed said.

The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are the "living models for that American strategy (interventionism)," he added.

"The United States claimed Iraq had nuclear weapons and invaded Iraq, which was later proven to be a sheer lie; and a recent British report on the Iraq war (The Chilcot Report) embodied a clear condemnation of the US-British conduct," the expert said.

As for Afghanistan, he said, the world's only superpower has occupied the country for many years under "the pretext of combating terrorism."

"In Sudan's case, for instance, America is responsible for what has been inflicted on us: the political, economic and service difficulties during long decades of unjust siege and unilateral sanctions, and even military aggression," noted Saeed.
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Up to two dozen Taliban militants have been killed during cleanup operations in the northern Badakhshan province over the past two days, spokesman for provincial government, Nawed Frotan said Saturday.

"A total of 16 Taliban rebels have been killed in Ragistan district and eight others in the neighboring Darayem district since early Friday," Frotan told Xinhua.

The official, however, avoided commenting to possible casualties of security personnel, by saying the security forces are capable enough to pursue and target the militants elsewhere in the province.

Taliban militants who are active in parts of Badakhshan province are yet to make comment on the situation there.

Badakhshan province with Faizabad as its capital 315 km northeast of Kabul has been the scene of Taliban-led increasing militancy over the past couple of years.
PR NEWSWIREThe AIDS Healthcare Foundation is hosting a "Keep The Promise" free concert in Cleveland, OH on Sunday, and many big-name performers are expected to attend.

The Roots, Empire's Jussie Smollett, Mary Mary, B.o.B., Teyana Taylor, and Raheem Devaughn will entertain audiences during the event in at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center. The concert was created as "a forum for advocates to publicly call on Republicans to articulate clear domestic and global policies on HIV/AIDS, income inequality and other critical social justice issues."

Journalist Soledad O'Brien will host the concert, which coincides with the Republican National Convention. Activist Dr. Cornel West and Orange is the New Black actress Diane Guerrero are slated to give keynote remarks.

A second "Keep The Promise" live concert in Durban, South Africa will take place on Saturday, July 16, with scheduled performances from Common and Queen Latifah.

Doors for the 2016 "Keep The Promise" concert in Cleveland, Ohio will open at 4:00 p.m. ET. You can ask about free priority access and reserved seating on usakeepthepromise.org.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
CHANGCHUN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- One of two giant pandas that are the first to live in cold, high-altitude Jilin Province in northeast China celebrated its ninth birthday Saturday.

"Jia Jia" was treated to a cake of frozen melon juice, bamboo shoots, persimmons and carrots in its outdoor pen while a large crowd of tourists sang "Happy birthday" and cheered.

Jia Jia, a male panda, is one of a couple that is living at the tiger park in the provincial capital Changchun under a three-year lease contract with China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas in Sichuan Province.

Jia Jia and his partner, "Meng Meng," arrived in Changchun on July 1, 2015.

"They are in perfect health," said zoo keeper Wang Haijun. "Each eats about 25 kg of fresh bamboo daily, plus 3 to 5 kg of bamboo shoots, buns, apples and carrots."

Fresh bamboo is flown in from Sichuan every five days.

Two zoo keepers and three vets take turns to care for the panda couple and health checks are carried out at least once a month, Wang said.
MONTEVIDEO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay will launch efforts to reduce suicide rate, the Health Ministry said Friday, which is National Suicide Prevention Day.

Uruguay has one of the highest suicide rates in the region. Some 643 people took their own lives in the country in 2015, 42 more than the previous year, with a particular rise in the number of men between 20 and 24 years old, according to official data.

In 2015, the country's suicide rate rose to 18.5 per 100,000 people, up from 17.4 in 2014, when 602 people killed themselves. Suicide has become the leading cause of violent deaths in Uruguay.

Health Minister Jorge Basso said that it was crucial to detect depression in time and to strengthen the training of health teams.

Basso added that the country's suicide helpline, which is available around the clock, would be strengthened.

"There is a long list of myths linked to suicide. The most prevalent one is that suicide should not be talked about, as if talking about it could cause a prevalence of suicides," said Basso.

"In a complex society like ours, topics must be accepted and discussed. It is important to do so properly, without sensationalism, and by involving all the population," he added.
ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for joint actions against terrorism to root out the global scourge following a deadly truck attack that claimed more than 80 lives in Nice, France, on Thursday.

Speaking in an informal meeting during the 11th Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator, Li said Asia and Europe are enjoying peace and stability in general terms, but outstanding security challenges, both traditional and non-traditional ones, remain on the two continents.

In particular, he said, terrorism poses a common threat for all countries in the region.

Li's remarks came two days after a truck rammed into a crowd marking the national day of France in Nice on Thursday evening, leaving at least 84 people dead.

The driver of the truck, identified as a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin, was shot dead by French police and arms and grenades were found inside the vehicle. French authorities have yet to determine whether he acted alone.

"Countries must join hands to counter terrorism and build a truly open, inclusive society, in order to wipe out the hotbed for terrorism," said the Chinese premier.
TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday praised.the resistance of Turkish people against coup attempt as a victory of democracy.

"The brave support of the Turkish people of democracy and their elected government proved that the coup has no room in the region and is doomed to failure," Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

On early Saturday, Zarif expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey, saying that "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount."

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Saturday that China hopes Turkey can restore stability and order as soon as possible after the military coup attempt in the country.

"China is paying close attention to the situation in Turkey," Lu Kang added in a press release.

A military statement in Turkish media on Friday said the armed forces had seized power in the country, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early on Saturday that the coup attempt had failed.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassy and consulates in Turkey have not received any reports of injuries of Chinese nationals and have launched an emergency response mechanism, said Lu.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel April 27, 2016 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to pursue an "American First" foreign policy if elected president, demanding that allies contribute more to global security. "America First will be the major and overriding theme of my administration," he said in a speech outlining his foreign policy.(AFP/Brendan Smialowski)

LOS ANGELES, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A Donald Trump presidency "would be a disaster for innovation," said on Thursday an open letter from 145 U.S. tech industry leaders, including high-profile names like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.

The letter, posted on Medium, shows that much of the tech industry remains concerned about the prospect of a Trump presidency.

Signers of the letter come from some of the most powerful tech companies including Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Qualcomm, Ebay, Tumblr and Apple, as well as startups, venture capital firms, nonprofits and universities.

"He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people," the collection of tech power players says in the letter. "His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy -- and that provide the foundation for innovation and growth."

The letter focuses on immigration, which is a hot topic for the tech industry that sources much of its top talents from other countries. According to the letter, 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.

These tech heavyweights believe that progressive immigration policies help the United States "attract and retain some of the brightest minds on earth -- scientists, entrepreneurs, and creators" and they say Trump "traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes" in his opposition to immigration reform.

The group criticizes Trump for failing to lay out much of a tech agenda, saying he "articulates few policies beyond erratic and contradictory pronouncements."

Citing Trump's recent suggestion of shutting down parts of the Internet as a security strategy, the group writes that the idea demonstrates "both poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works." The letter also criticizes Trump's hostility toward the media.

The tech leaders also discussed government's role in the technology economy by investing in infrastructure, education and scientific research, which they believe lack in Trump's policies.

The group writes that Trump's "reckless disregard for U.S. legal and political institutions threatens to upend what attracts companies to start and scale in America," and that his policies would risk "distorting markets, reducing exports, and slowing job creation."

"We stand against Donald Trump's divisive candidacy and want a candidate who embraces the ideals that built America's technology industry: freedom of expression, openness to newcomers, equality of opportunity, public investments in research and infrastructure, and respect for the rule of law," the letter concludes.
ISTANBUL, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. (Xinhua/Saltanat)

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The situation in Turkey has been tense in the past 10 hours as groups inside the army attempted to topple the government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government was in charge and he was in power, after the country was smarting from the coup attempt overnight.

In his second speech delivered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in less than two hours, the president said the armed forces did not and could not rule Turkey.

A total of 1,563 members of armed forces have been detained, according to the state-run Anadolu agency. At least 90 people were killed, the prosecutor's office said Saturday.

The situation started to escalate late Friday around the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff in the capital of Ankara, Dogan News Agency reported.

A Xinhua reporter, on his way to the headquarters of the General Staff, saw warplanes such as F-16 fighters and military helicopters flying over head and heard gunshots and suspected warplane bombing.

The reporter and other civilians hid themselves in the roadside bush. Some of them made phone calls to their relatives telling them they were safe.

Turkish NTV reported on early Saturday that a Sikorsky helicopter of rebels was downed by F-16 fighters.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the press that the Turkish army would shoot down the planes flying over Ankara.

At around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday), several military tanks passed the intersections near the Turkish parliament building and the headquarters of the General Staff. Emotional civilians were seen pelting the tanks with stones.

Due to the blockade caused by the civilians, the tanks had take a detour, crashing into vehicles and poles at the roadside.

The parliament building was bombed by anti-government forces in early Saturday morning, which injured a dozen people, the reporter said.

Until 3 a.m. (0000 GMT), interrupted gunshots were still heard near Xinhua's Ankara bureau, while there were not many people on the street.

With a no-fly zone over Ankara declared, the situation in the capital city calmed down, according to Yildirim.

Meanwhile, three warplanes were seen flying over Taksim area in central Istanbul, and huge explosions were heard in the largest city of Turkey.

President Erdogan, who landed later in Istanbul from his holiday resort in southwestern Turkey, said in his first speech at Istanbul Ataturk Airport that his resort was bombed after he left as the attackers thought he was still there.

Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the plotters in the military.

Rebel soldiers on a bridge that links Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus have surrendered to the police, Turkish media reported.

The Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the strait as words of a coup attempt spread on Friday night.

Sporadic gunshots could still be heard in central Istanbul, but no more explosions and the roaring of jets overhead, a Xinhua reporter said.

Things are reportedly returning to normal in Ankara.

Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage in the coup, was later rescued, the private TV station CNN-Turk reported.

Related:

Turkish president says gov't in charge following attempted military coup

ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government is in charge and he is in power, after the country is smarting from a coup attempt overnight. Full story

Death toll in Turkey military coup attempt rises to 90
KABUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A bomb blast targeted a police vehicle in Bagrami district on the outskirt of Kabul city on Saturday.

The incident, according to a local official, occurred in the morning rush hour after a magnetic bomb went off inside a police vehicle, probably leaving casualties.

Interior Ministry has yet to comment on the incident.
by Jose Aguiar

CARACAS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela is expected to see an economic recovery in the second half of 2016 thanks to a new food supply plan, a Venezuelan economist has said.

"I feel this new initiative will anchor policies designed to stop the economic war and we will see an economic recovery in our country during the second half of the year," Tony Boza told Xinhua.

President Nicolas Maduro on Monday announced the Great Sovereign Supply Mission aimed at ending the country's critical supply problems for basic foodstuff.

Maduro said the implementation of the new plan, which will be overseen by the military, would change the current distribution system in what he called an "economic war" launched by opposition politicians.

"This policy was properly designed, as it involves the direct participation of those affected, who understand the problems of each person in every family," said Boza, author of "La Guerra Contra el Pueblo" (The War Against the People).

According to a government decree, the supply plan seeks to "transform the production and distribution model for foodstuff" and "neutralize destabilizing actions being carried out in the national agricultural system."

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who is in charge of this operation, on Tuesday deployed military forces in agricultural areas and to offer assistance in ports, processing plants and companies involved in agriculture and food preparation.

Padrino Lopez said this was simply a supervision process and was not "a matter of militarizing ... but a matter of the security of the nation."

"The armed forces will act to facilitate, strategically plan, supervise, finance, assist and verify this drive. This is not an intervention," he said.

Boza believes that military involvement is crucial as it will allow better coordination between the military and civil society.

Falling oil prices in recent years have plunged the oil-exporting country into a deep economic crisis aggravated by a political power struggle between the ruling Socialist party and conservative opposition groups.
ISTANBUL, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. (Xinhua/Saltanat)

ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the military coup attempt in Turkey has risen to 90, with 1,154 wounded, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.

At least 700 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have surrendered, the report said.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,563 military officers have been detained throughout Turkey, a government official told journalists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government is in charge and he is in power, after the country is smarting from the coup attempt overnight.
NEW DELHI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- India on Saturday called upon all sides in Turkey to support democracy and avoid bloodshed, where at least 90 people have been killed and more than 1,000 injured in a night of violence that was triggered by an attempted military coup.

"We have been closely following the developments in Turkey. India calls upon all sides support democracy and mandate of the ballot, and avoid bloodshed," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The External Affairs Ministry also advised Indians not to travel to Turkey and urged its nationals there to avoid public places.

"Indian nationals in Turkey: Pl avoid public places and stay indoors," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

While the Turkish military said in a statement that it has seized control of the country because of rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that "a minority" within the military has attempted a coup and it's an act of "high treason."
TAIYUAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- An important base for the Chinese army during World War II, Liyu Village, deep in the Taihang Mountains in north China's Shanxi Province, was once best known for a homemade landmine.

Villager Wang Laifa, the "King of Landmine," made and laid hundreds of landmines as the plucky village attempted to repel the Japanese invaders. It's a story every Chinese schoolchild knows.

Seventy years on and the village is facing another kind of battle: the fight against poverty. Once again, it is all about bangs and flashes and the element of surprise, but this time, it's magic!

Village Party head Wang Zhuhong was scratching his head in early 2009, wondering what could be done to bring some money into Liyu, when he saw Taiwan magician Lu Chen on the Chinese New Year gala. Almost no one had heard of Lu at that time, but he became household name overnight.

"I had no idea that a stage magician could be so famous and make that much money," said Wang, who there and then came up with the idea of transforming Liyu into China's magic village.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES

Bread has to be won. It cannot just be conjured out of thin air, and over the past six years, Wang has taken his fellow villagers on an enchanted journey that has filled both their bellies and their purses.

From an early age, Wang had been fascinated by street magic shows and circus performers. He had learned a few tricks from TV and by searching on the Internet, but never saw his skills as anything other than fun.

Convincing his fellow villagers that his harmless hobby could be a way for them to earn a living was not easy. His idea was strongly opposed by his No. 2, who believed magic shows were "not a decent business" and "embarrassing."

"They said the profit from magic shows would be even less than the yield from a small plot," Wang recalled.

After a door-to-door visit to all villagers, only two eight-year-old boys agreed to learn from him. While teaching the boys, Wang applied for a spot on a local TV gala, and by the magic of television, Wang and his two tiny tyros became overnight "stars," at least in the village, and villagers were suddenly queuing up to join in.

"More kids turned to me to learn tricks, but I told them it was useless unless their parents joined in too," he smiled.

By the end of the year, Wang's troupe had costumes and equipment and were taking bookings for weddings and company parties.

"At first we performed for free, and through these performances, we became more confident on stage."

SPINNING STRAW INTO GOLD

Hao Lanying thought the performers were a bunch of "loafers and idlers." Then she found out that each performer was making 100 yuan (about 15 U.S. dollars) to 200 yuan for each show, and even she, at 70 years old, decided to learn from scratch and join Wang's magic circle.

"At first I was afraid of being made fun of for my lame performances, but after practicing tens of thousands of times, I feel much more confident," she said.

Of the village's 900 residents, around half of them are able to perform some stage magic. More than 200 give performances regularly in nearby cities and towns. They each make around 3,000 yuan a year from their performances, triple the typical "yield of a small plot" achieved by toiling all year round in the sun, rain and snow.

"Even my aide who was so opposed to the idea in the beginning sent her daughter to learn," Wang said.

The village troupe has starred in several television galas at various levels, including one on China Central Television in 2015.

The stage magic has not only brought money income to Liyu, but has changed the whole outlook of villagers.

"People were often found gambling or playing around during the slack season, but now they are busy practicing and rehearsing," Wang said.

AS IF BY MAGIC, TOURISTS APPEARED!

The villagers now know a lot of tricks. They pull flowers from the fire, wriggle out of straight-jackets, saw each other in half and can transform a man into a woman. But the biggest trick is yet to come. Can the villagers wriggle out of the straight-jacket of poverty and transform their hometown from a depressed backwater into a not-to-be-missed tourist destination? Yes, they can.

Apart from a memorial to the memory of the "King of Landmine," Liyu is the only gateway to 40-odd historical sites of the Taihang revolutionary base, including the former headquarters of the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party of China during the war against the Japanese invaders.

The village has built a 600-square-meter theater that opened in May, where performances are held three times every weekend. Apart from stage magic, villagers have written plays based on local legendary tales of their wartime resistance.

There is optimism in their eyes and a spring in their step. They have started businesses in raft drifting and fruit picking. Family hostels have sprung up all over. These days, during the peak tourist season, Wang and his troupe are turning down invitations from other places.

"Since we've an audience at home, why bother going out?" he said.
NEW DELHI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has become the first in the country to set up a Ministry of Happiness, taking inspiration from neighboring Bhutan.

State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the Ministry will work to infuse "happiness in the lives of common people" like in Bhutan that has Happiness index to measure people's delight.

"The Cabinet has decided to constitute Happiness Department in the state," Chouhan, who will be in charge of the new Ministry, told the media in state capital Bhopal on Friday.

"Besides the basic necessities of Roti, Kapda aur Makaan (food, cloth and shelter), people need something more to be happy in their lives."

Stating that happiness is measured with economic growth rate, which is not entirely correct, the Chief Minister said "There is something more which can bring happiness in the lives of people."
CAIRO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State-related Amaq news agency, citing a source, said Saturday an IS "soldier" executed the attack in Nice, France, on Thursday in response to the group's call to target the anti-IS alliance.

A truck rammed into a crowd marking the national day of France in Nice on Thursday evening, leaving at least 84 people dead.

The driver of the truck, identified as a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin, was shot dead by police and arms and grenades were found inside the vehicle.
PARIS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic State (IS)-linked news agency Amaq claimed responsibility for the attack in Nice on Thursday that killed 84 people, reported French media.
ISTANBUL, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. (Xinhua/Saltanat)

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's acting army chief Gen. Umit Dundar said Saturday that 104 coup plotters have been killed and 1,563 soldiers detained.

"We're determined to cleanse the army of a parallel structure," the chief said in a televised speech soon after he was promoted from the rank of 1st Army Commander to replace Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was later rescued.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the coup on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

Earlier on Saturday, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported the death toll in the military coup attempt has risen to 90, including 41 police, with 1,154 wounded.

At least 700 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have surrendered, the report said.

Related

Eight Turkish coup participants request asylum in Greece: media

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece, close to the borderline with Turkey on Saturday and the eight people onboard requested political asylum in Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

According to Greek military sources, the eight people may have participated in Friday's military coup attempt in Turkey. Full story

Death toll in Turkey military coup attempt rises to 90

ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the military coup attempt in Turkey has risen to 90, with 1,154 wounded, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.
RABAT, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Morocco expressed deep concerns on early Saturday over the ongoing political turmoil in Turkey, where a rebel group in the military attempted to launch a coup against the legitimate government, Moroccan Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

In an official statement, Morocco pledged support for Turkey's stability, saying it refuses any recourse to force to change regimes.

Morocco called upon all sides in Turkey to protect the constistutional order in this brotherly Muslim country, the statement added.
PARIS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Four men have been arrested by Saturday over the terrorist attack in Nice that killed at least 84 people, local media quoted judicial sources as saying.

Among the four men linked to the killer, one was arrested Friday and three others on Saturday morning. The driver's ex-wife has also been arrested.

At around 10:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) on Thursday, 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a truck into a crowd celebrating the French national day in the southern city of Nice. At least 84 people were killed.
YANGON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 55 ethnic armed groups will attend the summit of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) to be held in Maijayan in Kachin state, northern Myanmar, from July 26 to 29, official media reported Saturday.

After the summit, the EAOs stance will be discussed at the conference of ethnic parties.

EAOs are non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), according to U Saw Than Myint, secretary of the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party.

At present, preparations are being made for EAOs to attend the summit which will mainly focus on the installment of a federal system in Myanmar.

Prior to the summit, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will convene a meeting with leaders of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) in Yangon on Sunday.
KABUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has expressed concerns over coup attempt in Turkey, believing that military regimes often block the way for development.

"Since the government and people of Afghanistan have bitter experiences of coup and military regimes, believe that coup and military regimes are obstacles on the ways toward development and prosperity," the president said in a statement released by his office here on Saturday.

"The government of Afghanistan expresses concern over coup attempt in Turkey and is hopeful that the elected government of Turkey to remain in power and the brotherly and friendly people of Turkey live in peace and prosperity."

Similarly, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, in a statement released by his office, expressed regret over coup attempts, saying fortunately the coup has been foiled with the outstanding leadership of Turkey backed by its people.

Report said that a coup attempt by group of military officers launched early Saturday against ruling party in Turkey has failed to dethrone the government there.

"Chief Executive strongly condemns the failed coup in Turkey and expresses support to President Ordogan, to the government and the people of Turkey," the statement added.

Describing the relations between Afghanistan and Turkey as historical and friendly, Abdullah said that the government of Afghanistan wants to see peace and prosperity in Turkey and wishes welfare and victory for Turkish leadership and Turkish people.




ULAN BATOR, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) meets with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)

ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to further communication and coordination with Bulgaria within the framework for cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Saturday.

During a meeting with Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit, Li said China and Bulgaria enjoy a traditional friendship, which garners healthy momentum of development and vibrant mutually beneficial cooperation.

China is willing to deepen with Bulgaria the alignment of each other's development plans, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and intensify personnel exchanges, Li added.

He voiced his hope that Bulgaria will continue to play an active role in propelling relations between China and the European Union.

While adhering to an independent and peaceful foreign policy and a path featuring peaceful development, China is ready to enhance cooperation with other countries all over the world, including Bulgaria, to jointly safeguard global peace and stability and promote common development and prosperity, said the premier.

For his part, Plevneliev said he is proud and happy to see the positive progresses made in bilateral relations.

Speaking highly of China's adherence to peaceful development, generations of Bulgarian leaders have been committed to promoting the development of bilateral ties, with a firm belief that China's development path is conducive to the whole world, he said.

Bulgaria is willing to further enhance exchanges at different levels and cooperation in various fields with China, said Plevneliev, adding that his country supports deepened cooperation between CEE countries and China.

His country is willing to play a leading role in developing relations with China in the international community, said the Bulgarian president.
ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Binali Yildirim was speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara and accompanied by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt.

As many as 2,839 soldiers are now detained over suspicion of involvement in the failed coup.

"Those who form the backbone of the coup have been taken into custody and arrests are still being made," Yildirim said.

He vowed to consider enacting a death penalty, which is not included in Turkey's constitution, "to make sure this will not happen again."

The prime minister added that a parliamentary meeting will be held later in the day to discuss the coup attempt.

He warned any country against supporting Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are blamed for the coup.

A country that will stand by cleric Gulen won't be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with Turkey, he pointed out.

Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years.
DAMASCUS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 people were killed on Saturday by aerial bombardment on rebel-held areas in the country's northern city of Aleppo, a monitor group reported.

Aircrafts dropped several barrel bombs on a number of rebel-held areas in Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said half of those killed were women and children amid ongoing battles at the city's outskirts.

The violence in Aleppo has largely spiked recently with intense battles between the Syrian army and the rebels, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, amid ongoing shelling on residential areas in rebel-held areas and government-controlled districts by both parties.

The Nusra Front and likeminded groups unleashed several offensives recently to retaliate against the government troops' advance and control over the last supply route the rebels use to smuggle in arms and fighters from the northern countryside of Aleppo into the city's rebel-held eastern part.

The Syrian army in return continued to pound rebel areas and advance in Aleppo countryside to isolate the rebels in Aleppo city and force them to surrender, due to the strategic importance of the province, Syria's largest, and once and economic hub near Turkey.
COLOMBO, July 16 (Xinhua)-- Sri Lankan investigators on Saturday arrested an army officer, attached to the Sri Lanka Army Intelligence Unit, over the murder of popular editor and journalist, Lasantha Wickremetunga, the police said.

The arrest came months after police sought public assistance in tracking down the suspects in connection with Wickremetunga's murder after the police, in February, released sketches of two persons who were suspected to be involved.

Wickrematunge was the founding editor of the privately-run Sunday Leader newspaper. He was shot dead in January 2009 by a group of unidentified men, in a high security zone, while he drove to work in broad daylight.

He was a staunch critic of the former government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who have denied any role in the editor's killing.

The Sri Lankan government led by Maithripala Sirisena, who came to power in January 2015, had reopened investigations into Wickremetunga's murder, vowing to commence a thorough investigation and arrest all those involved in the killing.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafza speaks during a news conference following her address at the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 25, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Ornitz

KIGALI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The 2014 Nobel laureate Malala Yousafza, warns the world could lose future generation as the young generation, especially girls, are facing many challenges related to the refugeehood.

In Rwanda since Wednesday, Malala says international donors and all countries should make education a priority and should invest in refugee children.

She made the remarks Thursday while visiting Mahama refugee camp hosting over 49,000 Burundian refugees.

Her regional tour started at Dadaab Somali refugee camp in Kenya, on Tuesday.

It is in part to advocate for refugees in Africa under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

While in Kigali, Malala met Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and other government officials on Wednesday, before visiting Mahama camp, in eastern Rwanda.

In the camp, the 19-year-old girl freely interacted with refugee children and women listening to their stories, challenges and future ambitions.

All the refugee children need, according to Malala, is quality education.

"Education is the only tool that can empower them but unfortunately in this refugee camp there are many students who cannot have access to education," she said.

Malala said the refugee girls especially in camps face many challenges such as sexual violence, poverty, but their voices need to be heard and their rights need to be respected.

"Raising the voice for the young girls whether they are refugees or not is very important, the international community, media, leaders need to give importance to the voice of young girls, their voice matters, they are also individuals and human beings," she said.

There are over 15,000 refugee children in Mahama camp studying in nearby primary and secondary school but more than 2,700 do not have chance to go to school.

Accompanied by her father and government officials, Malala said she was impressed by the courage and ambitions after listening to the refugee girls.

But she noted it was unfortunate that some refugee children are not able to acquire quality education due to limited funding.

There are over 60 million refugees of whom 22 million are not able to go to school, according to the UNHCR.

The Pakistani activist for female education rose to international fame in 2012, when she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for her criticism of the Taliban and advocacy of girls' education.

She celebrated her birthday last year by opening a girls' school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The 2013, 2014 and 2015 issues of Time magazine featured Malala as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World."

Aged 17 at the time, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.

July 12 was declared "Malala Day" by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2013 to coincide with her birthday.

Refugee girls expressed hope that Malala's advocacy would make their voices heard.

Rwanda Government officials and UNHCR also believe Malala's visit could bring more funders on board to support education for refugees.
MANILA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government has been closely monitoring the situation in Turkey to ensure the safety of Filipinos there, a senior government official said Saturday.

Presidential Communications Office Martin Andanar said the Department of Foreign Affairs through its Embassy in Turkey has already gotten in touch with the Filipinos.

There are around 3,500 Filipinos in the troubled country.

A coup attempt swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for the coup.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

At least 161 people were reportedly killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt.
JERUSALEM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Saturday it "respects" Turkey's democracy and expects to proceed with its recently launched reconciliation process with Turkey, in a first comment after Friday's failed military coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that the failed coup is not forecasted to affect the bilateral relations. "Israel expects the reconciliation process between the two countries will continue," the statement read.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that his government is in charge and he is in power after the country is smarting from the coup attempt overnight.

Death toll has risen to 161, with 1,440 wounded, according to Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in Ankara on Saturday.

At least 700 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have surrendered, the report said.

On June 27, Israel and Turkey announced an agreement to normalize relations between them, nearly six years after an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla killed 10 Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in 2010.

Under the deal, Turkey will not allow Turkish citizens to file law suits against the Israeli soldiers who killed the Turkish citizens on the flotilla, while Israel will pay families of the victims 21 million U.S. dollars in compensation.

Additionally, the two countries agree to exchange ambassadors and to begin negotiations on a deal to sell Israeli gas to Turkey, and Turkey will send humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.
BERLIN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The German government on Saturday condemned a military coup attempt in Turkey overnight, expressing support for Turkey's elected government.

"The democratic order in Turkey must be respected. Everything must be done to protect human lives," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement: "I condemned in the strongest terms any attempt to change the democratic order in Turkey by force."

"I call on all parties to respect the democratic institutions in Turkey and to respect the constitutional order," he said. "All those responsible must adhere to the democratic and constitutional rules and ensure that further bloodshed is avoided."

The German Foreign Ministry has updated its travel advises to Turkey, asking travelers to "exercise extreme caution" and not to leave homes and hotels in case of unclear situation.

At least 161 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in an attempted military coup overnight in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday morning that his government was in control.
ISTANBUL, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. (Xinhua/Saltanat)

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece, close to the borderline with Turkey on Saturday and the eight people onboard requested political asylum in Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

According to Greek military sources, the eight people may have participated in Friday's military coup attempt in Turkey.

The Black Hawk helicopter entered the Greek airspace without permission and was escorted by Greek military jets to Alexandroupolis.

The eight Turkish nationals were detained at the city's police precinct, according to AMNA.

Related:

Turkish acting army chief says 104 coup plotters killed, 1,563 soldiers detained

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's acting army chief Gen. Umit Dundar said Saturday that 104 coup plotters have been killed and 1,563 soldiers detained.
ULAN BATOR, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, European Council President Donald Tusk, Mongolia's President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw (from L to R) attend a press conference during the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator on July 16, 2016. The 11th ASEM Summit concluded Saturday in the Mongolian capital with a chair's statement and an Ulan Bator Declaration that emphasizes the need to promote connectivity. (Xinhua/Sadat)

ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit concluded Saturday in the Mongolian capital with a chair's statement and an Ulan Bator Declaration that emphasizes the need to promote connectivity.

"Enhancing connectivity across diverse domains is an important and commonly shared objective," according to the declaration issued after a two-day event under the theme of "20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity."

The summit, gathering heads of state and government or high-level representatives of 51 European and Asian countries as well as leaders of international organizations, set course for enhancement of the inter-regional process in the next decade while celebrating its 20th anniversary.

"Connectivity will be mainstreamed into all ASEM cooperation frameworks. Given the growing interdependence between the two regions, Asia and Europe cannot be treated separately in any area of ASEM activities," the declaration said.

Representatives also exchanged views on the current regional and global political and socio-economic situation, and discussed ways to address the existing and emerging challenges to peace, security, stability and sustainable development.

"As shifting geopolitics lead to greater uncertainties and volatility in the world, ASEM will reinforce its role as a catalyst for effective multilateralism and a rules-based international order," it said.

ASEM is an intergovernmental forum for dialogue and cooperation aimed to foster political dialogue, reinforce economic cooperation and promote collaboration in other areas of common interest.

The next ASEM summit will be held in Brussels, Belgium, chaired by the European Union, in 2018.

Related

China remains top trade partner for EU among ASEM in 2015

BRUSSELS, July 14 (Xinhua) -- China was the leading destination for European Union (EU) exports and leading source of EU imports in 2015 among the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) partners, accounting for a third of EU exports to ASEM partners, according to data issued on Thursday by Eurostat.

The statistics agency said the figure of EU exports to China stood at 170.4 billion euros (189.3 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 33 percent of EU exports to all ASEM partners. Full story

Interview: ASEM becoming platform of Eurasian cooperation to jointly address global challenges

SINGAPORE, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM), which was firstly held in 1996, has become an important platform for interaction between Asia and Europe at a range of different levels of engagement, said Alvin Lim, a research fellow with International Public Policy Pte. Ltd.(IPP) in Singapore.

Mongolia will host the 11th ASEM summit from July 15 to 16 in the capital Ulan Bator, during which representatives of ASEM member countries will also celebrate ASEM's 20th anniversary. Full story

Interview: ASEM performs well in bringing together Asia, Europe: European Expert

by Grandesso Federico

Brussels, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Shada Islam, director of policy at the Brussels-based think-tank Friends of Europe, said that the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has performed well in terms of bringing together the two continents.
ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday praised the people of Turkey for backing their elected government and resisting a military takeover.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Turkey's acting Army Chief Gen. Umit Dundar has said that 104 coup plotters were among the dead.

"I strongly condemn the attempt to undermine democracy by a failed coup in the brotherly country of Turkey,"the Pakistani prime minister said.

"We deeply admire the resolve of the brave and resilient Turkish people, who stood up against the forces of darkness and anarchy to express their support and commitment to democracy,"Nawaz Sharif said in a statement.

He expressed complete support and solidarity with President Erdogan, the democratically elected government of Turkey and the democratic institutions of Turkey.

"Pakistan reaffirms its abiding interest in a democratic, peaceful and stable Turkey. We wish to convey our prayers and good wishes for President Erdogan's well-being and welfare of the people of Turkey as well as the unity of the Islamic Ummah (nations),"he further said.

Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan deeply appreciates President Erdogan's steadfast support and the support of the people of Turkey to Pakistan on all occasions, whenever the need arose.

"I wish to reaffirm full support of the government and people of Pakistan to the elected leadership and government and the people of Turkey,"the prime minister said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for the coup. Gulen reportedly denied the charge.

In remarks delivered early Saturday in Istanbul, Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the military plotters, saying "Our army is clean and no one can harm it."
JINAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- An elevator fell from the 18th floor of a construction site and left eight people dead in east China's Shandong Province Friday evening, the local government said Saturday.

There were eight people in the elevator when it fell from the 18th floor of an apartment building under construction in Longkou City at around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, the city government said in a statement.

They were immediately rushed to hospitals but none survived, the statement said.
KHARTOUM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Sudan voiced its strong solidarity with the legitimate government in Turkey on Saturday, declaring support for the country to bolster stability, security and development, as well as enhance its international position.

"The Sudanese government and people have followed, with deep concern, the foiled coup attempt on Friday evening, July 15, 2016, against the legitimate Turkish government," Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement congratulated the Turkish government on its victory over the foiled military coup attempt.

"Based on the historical bonds and ties between the two countries, Sudan expresses its strong solidarity and stand alongside the leadership and people of the Republic of sisterly Turkey to strengthen the pillars of stability, security and development, and enhance the deserved international position assumed by sisterly Turkey," it added.

The Turkish authorities have arrested 1,563 military men, with prominent army officers relieved after the coup.

The acting armed forces Chief of Staff, Umit Dundar, declared on Saturday the coup attempt has failed, saying 104 of the coup plotters has been killed.

He also said 90 other people, including civilians, were killed in the events, describing them as "martyrs."
BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China and the European Union are looking for "an appropriate mechanism" to solve their steel trade disputes, the Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

The ministry confirmed reports that Chinese and EU leaders discussed steel trade, and the many European anti-dumping investigations into Chinese steel, during the 18th China-EU summit, held on Tuesday.

The EU has launched 15 anti-dumping investigations into Chinese exports since 2014, with eight of them related to steel products.

"Leaders from both sides have asked their departments in charge of foreign trade to enhance exchanges in the steel trade," according to a brief statement on the ministry's website.

Ministry officials have said on many occasions that China, the world's largest steel producer, has been wrongly blamed for the difficulties faced by the global steel industry. Actually, it is the anemic global economy and weak demand that are to blame.

The ministry maintains that frequent use of protectionist measures will not help end global steel overcapacity, but rather disrupts normal trade order.
by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Greece will return to Turkey the Turkish military helicopter which landed in the city of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece on Saturday, Greek government spokesperson Olga Gerovassilis said in an emailed statement.

"Greek authorities will follow procedures foreseen by international law. However, it is taken into account for serious consideration that the eight people detained are charged in their country of violating constitutional order and attempting to overthrow democracy," the Greek official said.

The Greek General Staff confirmed in an announcement that the eight Turkish military officers onboard the helicopter, including three majors, three lieutenants and two sergeants, requested political asylum.

Greek authorities have not confirmed whether the eight officers who entered Greek airspace with no permission had participated in the attempted military coup in Turkey on Friday. Greek military jets had escorted the helicopter to the airport.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that the eight officers were "traitors".

The Turkish nationals were detained in Alexandroupolis police precinct.

Related

Eight Turkish coup participants request asylum in Greece: media

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece, close to the borderline with Turkey on Saturday and the eight people onboard requested political asylum in Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
MOSCOW, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian authorities on Saturday appealed for peaceful settlement of problems in Turkey, where a foiled military coup on Saturday has left at least 161 people dead.

Kremlin expressed support for "a legitimate settlement" of the coup, as well as a Turkey returning to "stability, predictability and public order," according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"Stability in Turkey and the current situation have a direct impact on the situation in the region," Peskov was quoted by Tass news agency as saying.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed relevant government departments to ensure the security of Russians staying in Turkey and the opportunities of them returning home.

"Moscow hopes that regardless of how the events develop in Turkey and no matter who was the initiator of the situation, safety and security will be maintained in the first place, the safety of Russian citizens," Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concerns in an online statement over the situations in Turkey.

"The aggravation of the political situation in Turkey, considering the background of the terrorist threats there and the ongoing armed conflict in the region, brings higher risks to international and regional stability," the ministry said.

"We call on the authorities and people of Turkey to settle the problems without use of force, and with respect for the constitutional order."

The ministry added that the Russian side is ready for further enhancing the bilateral relations and cooperating with Ankara on issues like international anti-terrorism fight through "joint constructive work with Turkey's legally elected leaders."
People wave a giant Turkish national flag at Taksim square in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (Xinhua/AFP)

ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Binali Yildirim was speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara and accompanied by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt.

As many as 2,839 soldiers are now detained over suspicion of involvement in the failed coup.

"Those who form the backbone of the coup have been taken into custody and arrests are still being made," Yildirim said.

He vowed to consider enacting a death penalty, which is not included in Turkey's constitution, "to make sure this will not happen again."

The prime minister added that a parliamentary meeting will be held later in the day to discuss the coup attempt.

He warned any country against supporting Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are blamed for the coup.

A country that will stand by cleric Gulen won't be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with Turkey, he pointed out.

Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years.
MELBOURNE, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R, front) shakes hands with Daniel Andrews (L, front), premier of Australia's Victoria state, as he arrives in Melbourne, Australia, July 16, 2016. (Xinhua/Bai Xue)

MELBOURNE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden landed in Melbourne late Saturday night for a three-day visit to the second largest city in Australia before heading to Sydney to meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

In Melbourne, Biden will attend the official opening of Victoria's Comprehensive Cancer Centre - the state's new 760-million-U.S. dollar facility - to promote the U.S.-Australia collaboration on cancer research.

The vice president has been working closely with several global cancer research projects after his 46-year-old son, Beau, died of brain cancer in May last year.

Prior to Biden's visit, Victoria's acting Premier James Merlino said, "Victoria has a long and close relationship with the United States and I know all Victorians will warmly welcome the vice president here in Melbourne."

Merlino said, "Victoria is a world leader in medical research, so it's fantastic that the vice president will be able to see the extraordinary work going on at the new Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

"Victoria and the United States collaborate strongly across aerospace, medical research and information technology and this visit will help strengthen those ties for the years ahead."

The vice president will leave Melbourne on Monday to meet with Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney, before flying out to New Zealand next week.
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Up to 20 Taliban militants were killed as aircraft targeted their hideouts in parts of the restive Helmand province Friday night, spokesman for the provincial government Omar Zawak said Saturday.

"Acting upon intelligence reports, the aircrafts targeted Taliban hideout in Khashkaba area outside provincial capital Lashkar Gah late Friday night, killing 14 rebels on the spot," Zawak told Xinhua.

Six more militants, according to the official, were killed in Marja district the same night.

Taliban militants who have been challenging the government forces in Helmand province over the past couple of years, haven't commented.
MOGADISHU, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday condemned an attempted coup in Turkey on Friday, after a group of military officers tried to disrupt the stability and the democracy of the country.

The death toll from the coup by an army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reached 161 and 1,440 were wounded.

In a statement, President Hassan said it's intolerable to reverse the democratic path that the people of Turkey enjoyed in the recent times of their history.

"This was unfortunate and we are very glad to hear that the forces who tried to turn Turkey into a violence ground have been defeated," he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

Turkey which has invested heavily in Somalia's reconstruction efforts opened the world's biggest embassy in Mogadishu in June.

Several Turkish companies have been involved in infrastructure sector in the Horn of Africa nation.

President Mohamud said Somalia fully supports the government of President Erdogan, saying constitutional order and the democratic institutions should be respected in order to uphold the momentum of the successes the country has registered.

"I wish the people and the leaders of Turkey to continue enjoying unity, peace, stability and prosperity, which have been achieved through exercising democratic values and respecting the constitution," he said.

President Erdogan has said in Istanbul that those who were involved in coup attempt will be punished. A mission to fully cleanse the Turkish military of traitorous elements has begun.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said the situation in Ankara was largely under control and 120 people were arrested.

About 15 minutes before his remark, the parliament building was hit by bombs with people injured, according to reports. A no-fly zone over Ankara has been declared.
ULAN BATOR, July 15, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (C, front) delivers a speech during the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 15, 2016.(Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- In Mongolia over the weekend, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's effort to promote China's stance on the South China Sea issue received broad support during the 11th Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.

Li said Saturday before he returned to China that the South China Sea arbitration award will have no impact on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime interests.

Speaking in an informal meeting during the summit, Li said the South China Sea issue should not be subject to multilateral discussions from the very beginning, or be included in the summit's agenda.

"But since certain countries commented on the issue, it is thus necessary for China to come out to clarify its stance and spell out the truth," he said.

Li said China has never participated in the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, adding that his country neither accepts nor acknowledges the so-called arbitration award.

"By doing so, we are both exercising our rights in accordance with international law, and safeguarding the dignity of international law," he said.

"Under no circumstance will the arbitration award exert any impact on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea," Li added.

The Chinese premier said China remains committed to settling the South China Sea disputes via dialogue and consultation with countries directly involved on the basis of historical facts and in accordance with international law, so as to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea.

This is the first time the Chinese premier has made an open statement on the South China Sea issue at an international forum following the South China Sea arbitration award issued Tuesday.

Li did not include the issue in his keynote speech at the start of the two-day summit. However, faced with certain nations' attempts to stir up tension and interfere in the South China Sea issue in the summit, Li expounded China's stance of non-acceptance of and non-participation in the arbitration proceedings, as part of his diplomatic offensive.

In a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc Thursday, Li said the South China Sea issue should be solved through bilateral negotiations between relevant parties in line with historical facts, international law and the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

One day later, he told Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen that China will work with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to protect regional peace and stability as well as the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Li's toughest remarks were directed at Japan, which, according to a Chinese diplomat that demanded anonymity, had sought in vain to include the arbitration case into the chair's statement of the summit.

Tokyo, not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, should thus stop hyping up and interfering in the South China Sea issue and "exercise caution in its own words and deeds," Li told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a Friday meeting at the latter's request.

China's stance on the issue is completely in line with international law and the DOC, Li said.

The Chinese premier's statements have been keenly received and won the backing from a number of Asian and European heavyweight leaders.

In the meeting with Li, Vietnam's Nguyen Xuan Phuc said his nation respects China's stance on the arbitration, adding that the disputes should be solved peacefully through negotiations.

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said on the same day that Laos supports China's stance over the South China Sea issue, and stands ready to work with China to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Their words were echoed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who said on Friday that his country supports settlement of the South China Sea disputes through dialogue and consultation between countries directly concerned.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also said Russia opposes the internationalization of the South China Sea disputes or any interference by the forces outside the region.

Russia supports China's principles on resolving the disputes, Medvedev said. He called for bilateral negotiations and consultations between directly relevant parties to solve the issue.

According to the anonymous Chinese diplomat, a vast number of countries "expressed understanding of China's stance in difference forms" and "accepted our stance on dispute settlement via dialogue and consultation."

"On the one hand, more and more countries have come to understand China's standpoints via extensive exchanges with the Chinese side," he said.

"On the other hand, the Nice attack had shed light on the importance of peace and stability," he added, referring to Thursday's truck attack in southern France that has claimed over 80 lives.

"We realize that the real threat in front of us is terrorism. There are neither wars nor conflicts in the South China Sea. Only a volatile South China Sea would threaten regional peace and stability," the diplomat noted. "Our 'friends circle' on the South China Sea issue seems to be getting bigger and bigger."

Related:

South China Sea arbitration award has no impact on China's territorial sovereignty -- Chinese premier

ULAN BATOR, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Saturday that the South China Sea arbitration award will have no impact whatsoever on China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.
People protest against the coup outside the parliament building in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning. (Xinhua/Zou Le)

MOSCOW, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian authorities on Saturday appealed for peaceful settlement of problems in Turkey, where a foiled military coup on Saturday has left at least 161 people dead.

Kremlin expressed support for "a legitimate settlement" of the coup, as well as a Turkey returning to "stability, predictability and public order," according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"Stability in Turkey and the current situation have a direct impact on the situation in the region," Peskov was quoted by Tass news agency as saying.

He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed relevant government departments to ensure the security of Russians staying in Turkey and the opportunities of them returning home.

"Moscow hopes that regardless of how the events develop in Turkey and no matter who was the initiator of the situation, safety and security will be maintained in the first place, the safety of Russian citizens," Peskov said.

Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concerns in an online statement over the situations in Turkey.

"The aggravation of the political situation in Turkey, considering the background of the terrorist threats there and the ongoing armed conflict in the region, brings higher risks to international and regional stability," the ministry said.

"We call on the authorities and people of Turkey to settle the problems without use of force, and with respect for the constitutional order."

The ministry added that the Russian side is ready for further enhancing the bilateral relations and cooperating with Ankara on issues like international anti-terrorism fight through "joint constructive work with Turkey's legally elected leaders."
KIGALI, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 16, 2016, shows a view of the 35th New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee meeting, in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. African governments expect that the upcoming G20 meeting under the chairmanship of China will usher in a new industrial take-off in the continent, Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Saturday. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)

By Peter Mutai

KIGALI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- African governments expect that the upcoming G20 meeting under the chairmanship of China will usher in a new industrial take-off in the continent, Senegalese President Macky Sall said on Saturday.

Sall said with the latest industrial initiatives in the continent, Africa now is ready than ever before for an industrial revolution and awaits the September 2016 meeting of the G20 countries.

"Our harmonization of country and regional level industrialization policies to ensure synergies with continental policy creates a conducive environment for partnership that is geared at improving lives of populations in Africa," Sall said at the opening of 35th New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee meeting at the 27th African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.

He said that the chairmanship of China is a new opportunity given the partnership between the Asian country and Africa in infrastructural development.

"The resolution is expected to propel Africa's industrialization process through capacity enhancement in science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship," he added.

Sall cautioned African governments to be wary of falling in the trap of over engaging in renewable energy at the expense of fossil fuel.

"We need to balance the mix in developing clean energy and at the same time use fossil fuel since Africa's contribution to climate change is minimal," Sall said.

He called for the introduction of a mechanism that favours technological transfer to Africa to meet the need of people.

African countries have established an industrial development index, a move that is expected to change the business in the continent.

Sall observed that through the adoption of fiber optic that includes information, communication and technology, and the renewed engagement of women and the youths in agriculture, the continent is expected to foresee an increased development.

Twenty heads of state that make up the membership of NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee are attending the meeting.

AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that NEPAD is expected to strengthen the implementation of agriculture, agro-processing, infrastructure, science and technology and industrialization programs that are under AU Agenda 2063.

"Our Industrialization strategy must be at the core of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) as we wait to achieve infrastructure development program," she noted.

She called on governments to engage in a paradigm shift, cultural revolution and change the education systems, mindsets and interconnect with key forces of change.
BELGRADE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Serbia will send troops and police officers to patrol its borders to prevent illegal entry of migrants and human smugglers, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday.

"We are in a situation in which people from Afghanistan and Pakistan do not have a chance to be received in the European Union (EU), but have managed to reach EU borders through our territory," Vucic said at a press conference.

"Serbia is forced to protect its national and state interests, and because of this we have proposed these measures," he said, adding the proposal to introduce new patrols will become legally binding after a government meeting scheduled for Sunday.

He said migrants will be denied entry while smugglers will be punished.

"Serbia cannot become a parking place for Afghans and Pakistanis whom no one in Europe would accept," he said.

He said Serbia expects help from its northern neighbor Hungary in protecting its southern and southeastern borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria, through which many migrants enter Serbia on a daily basis.

About 2,700 migrants, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, are now stranded in Serbia, according to Vucic.
AMMAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Saturday voiced its concern over the developments in Turkey that has left at least 161 people killed, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Jordan's Minister of State Mohammad Momani said the stability of Turkey is a key factor to the stability and security of the region.

He also expressed hope that developments in Turkey will not affect its role in fighting terrorism and Turkey will be able to overcome the situation and preserve its stability and unity.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government was in charge and he was in power, after the country was smarting from the coup attempt overnight.

A total of 1,563 members of armed forces have been detained, according to the state-run Anadolu agency.
ENTEBBE, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- A seriously injured Chinese UN peacekeeper is lifted aboard a specialized medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military in Entebbe, Uganda, July 16, 2016. Two Chinese UN peacekeepers seriously injured during the recent fighting in South Sudan were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing for specialized treatment and operations. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese UN peacekeepers seriously injured during the recent fighting in South Sudan were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing for specialized treatment and operations.

Chen Ying and Huo Yahui were flown back home aboard a specialized medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military which arrived on Friday.

"The government of China decided to send a specialized medical plane to receive our two seriously injured peacekeepers. Today (Saturday) we came here to see them off and wish them good luck," said Zhao Yali, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, while overseeing the see-off moment at Entebbe International Airport, 40 kilometers south of the capital, Kampala.

The two other soldiers Wu Le and Yao Daoxiang who were injured in the fighting between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar in the capital Juba are on recovery at a UN hospital in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The remains of Corporal Li Lei, 22, and Master Sergeant Yang Shupeng, 33 who were killed in the incident were on Friday airlifted to Uganda and expected to be returned back home early next week.

The peacekeepers were killed and injured on Sunday evening after a mortal shell hit the armored vehicle as the fighting between the two army factions continued in Juba.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Su Guanghui, acting director of the Peacekeeping Affairs Office at the Chinese Defense Ministry, other Chinese military officers and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials on Saturday morning arrived in Juba to handle the relevant aftermath of the attack and killings.
ANKARA, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- The damaged parliament building is seen in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister said on Saturday that at least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning. (Xinhua/Zou Le)

ANKARA/ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities said they regained control of the country on Saturday after thwarting an attempt by a military faction to seize power from the Turkish president.

The putsch attempt appeared not to have been backed by most senior military ranks, and Turkey's main opposition groups quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that eight rebel soldiers escaped to Greece by a helicopter, CNN Turk reported.

Ankara demanded Athens to immediately extradite the rebels who sought political asylum, Cavusoglu was quoted as saying.

He added that Greek authorities promised that they would fully cooperate with Ankara.

At least 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier on Saturday.

"The situation is completely under control," Yildirim told reporters outside his Ankara office, flanked by Turkey's top general who had himself been held by the plotters.

He described the coup attempt as a "black stain" on Turkish democracy.

"Those who form the backbone of the coup have been taken into custody and arrests are still being made," he said.

Yildirim vowed to consider enacting a death penalty, which is not included in Turkey's constitution, "to make sure this will not happen again."

He warned any country against supporting Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are blamed for the coup.

A country that will stand by cleric Gulen won't be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with Turkey, he pointed out.

Turkey's acting army chief Gen. Umit Dundar said that 104 coup plotters have been killed and 1,563 soldiers detained.

"We're determined to cleanse the army of a parallel structure," the chief said in a televised speech soon after he was promoted from the rank of 1st Army Commander to replace Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage but later rescued in the coup attempt.

"A military unrest has begun outside the chain of command around several cities of Turkey, mainly in Istanbul and Ankara," Dundar said.

"It has been understood that this unrest was an attempt of coup d'etat by a group of soldiers from different ranks who have nested inside the Turkish army," he added, noting that many commanders were taken to an unknown location.

"In Turkey, the coup d'etat era is over in a way that it will not be opened again," he stated.

In remarks delivered early Saturday in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the military plotters, saying "our army is clean and no one can harm it."

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when the coup attempt unfolded on Friday night, with tanks rolling into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul.

Appearing on television over a mobile phone overnight, Erdogan had urged people to take to streets to defend the government, and large crowds responded to his call.

He denounced the coup attempt as "treachery," saying he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end."

"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."

He pointed finger at cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

However, Gulen "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting." Gulen has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years.

Turkish Airlines announced that flights are due to resume as normal at 1100 GMT on Saturday, its chairman told CNN Turk.

The airline had diverted 35 airplanes and canceled 32 flights on Saturday at Istanbul's main airport, Ilker Ayci told the broadcaster.

Turkish maritime authorities have reopened Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers after shutting it earlier on Saturday for several hours following the attempted coup.

The Bosphorus is one of world's most important chokepoints for the maritime transit of oil with over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, countries have condemned the attempted coup and stressed support for Ankara.

Morocco said it was deeply concerned over the ongoing political turmoil in Turkey, where a rebel group in the military attempted to launch a coup against the legitimate government.

In an official statement by the Foreign Ministry, Morocco pledged support for Turkey's stability, saying it refuses any recourse to force to change regimes.

Sudan voiced its strong solidarity with the legitimate government in Turkey on Saturday, declaring support for the country to bolster stability, security and development, as well as enhance its international position.

"The Sudanese government and people have followed, with deep concern, the foiled coup attempt on Friday night, July 15, 2016, against the legitimate Turkish government," Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement congratulated the Turkish government on its victory over the foiled military coup attempt.

Iran hailed "the resistance of Turkish people against the coup attempt as a victory of democracy."

"The brave support of the Turkish people of democracy and their elected government proved that the coup has no room in the region and is doomed to failure," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

Saudi Arabia welcomed Erdogan's success in standing against the coup attempt, state news agency SPA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Saturday.
By Alex Osei-Boateng

ACCRA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese cardiac team has left indelible marks in the lives of Ghanaian families at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, some 270 km northeast of the capital.

Cardio experts from the Guangdong Academy of Medical Science's Cardio Institute performed successful surgeries for ten cardiac patients at KATH during their first visit to Africa in December last year.

The surgeries has brought back laughter and joy to the patients who were enduring pain for most part of their lives in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest commercial city. But for the surgery, many of the patients had few months or years to live.

Esther Konadu Boateng, one of the 10 patients who had her life back after the surgery, thanked the Chinese experts for their kind heart and their decision to carry out the surgeries at KATH with the complement of Ghanaian specialists.

"I came here last year December and had ventricular septal defect so they repaired it, they filled the hole and since then I am fine and okay,"she told Xinhua, beaming with smiles as she met the Chinese delegation on Thursday for the second time.

Another patient, 15-year-old Lydia Manu also praised the team for saving their lives and helping Ghanaian patients with special needs.

"When I was brought to the hospital, after regular check-ups, I was told that I needed a surgery and that is why I came here. And after the surgery by the Chinese team I feel comfortable. I thank them for saving my life," said Manu who aspires to be a nurse.

Dr. Huang Jinsong, who was one of the leading members of the Chinese medical team said he was highly elated seeing them hale and heart and are able to go about their normal daily schedule.

"I am happy to see them healthy and hearty seven months after the surgeries," he told Xinhua.

The long-term goal of the collaboration between Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is the training of Ghanaian practitioners to perform cardiac surgeries independently.
by Larry Neild

LONDON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Nottingham Police has become the first constabulary in Britain to declare misogyny as a hate crime.

Although the new law criminalises serious incidents of misogynistic hate crime, it also encapsulates behavior such amorous calls, known to generations of men in Britain as "wolf whistling" or "cat calling".

While some females may enjoy attracting the attention of wolf-whistling guys as they walk along the street, others find the attention from males most unwelcome.

Nottingham's chief constable Sue Fish issued a statement on Thursday reiterating her police force's commitment to giving women in Nottinghamshire the confidence to report incidents of misogynistic hate crime.

Her statement was prompted by the way local media focused on the "wolf whistling" aspect of the clampdown.

Fish said: "Misogynistic hate crime can cause significant distress to women, who have been known to face threats and in some cases sexual or physical abuse for turning down propositions. We have heard first-hand accounts from women who have been through this, who were left frightened and intimidated, but felt there was nothing they could do about it."

"We want to encourage women to feel that they can report incidents where they have been made to feel intimidated, or frightened by this unacceptable unwanted behaviour," said Fish.

Police say wolf-whistlers and cat callers are likely to be visited and "spoken too" by police officers rather than being dragged before the local magistrates for punishment.

The local Nottingham Post even ran its own straw poll, asking: "Is wolf-whistling a good or bad thing?"

Readers were quick to give their opinions to the newspaper, showing that feelings were mixed on the topic.

Some thought the initiative was a great idea while others slammed it as being unnecessary. More than a few were bewildered that the subject had even come up, and there were plenty of jokes to take the heat out of a fiery thread, said the Post.

Emma Johnson chipped into the debate stating: "You don't know what it's like to have comments made about you in the street, completely unsolicited, rude and personal. This isn't about being chatted up, this is about women being made to feel uncomfortable in public places, often when they're alone."

Katie Keating described how the issue was very real to her, telling the newspaper: "This isn't about being flattered by attention it's about making a stand and showing society that it's not OK to harass a woman just because she's a woman. I used to get harassed every single day."

But Lynn Hope gave an opposing view, saying: "A wolf whistle used to make my day when I was younger. The world's gone mad."

And William Pastuszka wrote: "What a joke, so it is now illegal to compliment women."

Sammy Westbury wrote: "If I was wolf whistled at, firstly I'd have to check over my shoulder that it was most definitely me that they were whistling at and secondly I'd take it as a compliment and walk away with a smile thinking I've still got it. The world's gone crazy."
Chinese living in the Netherlands attend a protest in front of the Peace Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands, July 15, 2016. Over 1,000 Chinese living in the Netherlands gathered in front of the Peace Palace here on Friday to protest again an ad hoc tribunal's ill-founded ruling on the South China Sea arbitration. (Xinhua/Zindziwe Janse)

VIENNA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The award delivered Tuesday by the arbitral tribunal on South China Sea set up upon unilateral request from the Philippines was "not correct," an Austrian International law expert has said.

It "will not contribute to the peaceful settlement but on the contrary will increase the tensions," Gerd Kaminski, professor of international law at Vienna University and also director of Austrian Institute for China and Southeast Asia studies, told Xinhua in an interview.

The professor, who is also a senior policy advisor of Austrian foreign ministry, said he believes that in terms of the international law, historical evidences and regional harmony, the tribunal's award is negative.

The government of former Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III filed the arbitration against China in 2013, despite the agreement his country had reached with China on resolving their disputes in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiations.

The tribunal issued its final award on Tuesday, sweepingly siding with Manila's cunningly packaged claims, denying China's long-standing historical rights in the South China Sea and saying China has no sovereign right on some atolls in the region.

Chinese living in the Netherlands attend a protest in front of the Peace Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands, July 15, 2016. Over 1,000 Chinese living in the Netherlands gathered in front of the Peace Palace here on Friday to protest again an ad hoc tribunal's ill-founded ruling on the South China Sea arbitration.

(Xinhua/Zindziwe Janse)

"It's not in line with former verdicts and former cases," Kaminski said, citing some former arbitration cases as examples.

Kaminski told Xinhua that the Eastern Greenland Case between Norway and Denmark showed that people don't need to settle down permanently for acquiring the island, and that fishing and observing and building landmarks is enough for the sovereignty.

China has owned the islands in South China Sea since ancient times and many activities were made on these islands like fishing and exploiting. Chinese people also started to live on the islands long time ago.

Regarding Philippines' argument that some islands in the south China sea is near the country, he said previous arbitration case showed the distance of the island from the country claims it is not important criterion.

"From the international law arguments, also from historic arguments from both sides Chinese side, European side, I think we can prove that China is the owner of those islands (in South China sea)," he said.

He told Xinhua that he read the letters from the western priests who lived in China in 17th and 18th centuries, telling the truth that the islands in south China sea belong to China.

"There are records by those priests when they set out to other territories in south east Asia, they wrote down they were passing the Chinses islands, so also from these European records, and the map from the 18th century drawn by priests that the east Chinese sea and South China sea are Chinese territory," Kaminski noted.

The Austrian expert said items found on the islands in the south China sea proves that the islands were inhabited by Chinese, and according to the international law, it's not necessary to be permanently inhabitant.

He stressed that after the World War II, islands in south China sea were returned back to China, and Chinese government at that time sent marine expeditions to the region, which further confirmed the Chinese rights over these islands.

He was concerned that the award could make region more complicated.
XINING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Sonam Doje's dream came true when he secured a job as a teacher of Tibetan medicine shortly after he graduated from university in June.

"When I was a child, there was no hospital in the village. Little ailments often worsened into big troubles and even became fatal," said Doje, who is preparing to leave home for his job in Chamdo Prefecture, Tibet.

His dream to be a medical teacher originated in his home province of Qinghai, which neighbors Tibet. "I longed to learn Tibetan medicine, spread the knowledge, and save lives in Tibet's herding areas."

Doje entered Qinghai University's School of Tibetan Medicine in 2011. "Five years of study, at school and in hospitals, taught me a lot about the ancient practice, and I'm eager to start working," he said.

Nearly all 51 graduates from Doje's class have secured jobs. His classmate U'Maigya is now a doctor at the Hospital of Tibetan Medicine in Qinghai's provincial capital Xining.

"Girls rarely had any chance to enter university in the past, let alone work as doctors," said U'Maigya.

Today, however, women graduates like U'Maigya are very popular at hospitals in Qinghai and Tibet.

"Some of our best doctors are women," said Goin Qoiyang, a senior Tibetan herbalist at the Hospital of Tibetan Medicine in Qinghai.

Tibetan medicine was traditionally taught at monasteries and the best doctors were often high monks, he said. "In those days, women were rarely given the opportunity to learn medicine."

"Tibetan medicine is evolving into a multi-disciplinary subject. Its further development needs university graduates who are well-grounded in Tibetan medicine as well as modern science," according to Goin.

Altogether, 151 students graduated from Qinghai University's School of Tibetan Medicine this summer. They majored in the five disciplines of Tibetan medical practise, Tibetan herbs, nursing, public health administration and modern medicine.

"About 85 percent of them have secured jobs in Qinghai Province and the rest have chosen to work in Tibet, or the neighboring Gansu and Sichuan provinces," said Ma Xueyuan, dean of the university's Tibetan medicine department.

Instead of securing a job in a hospital, Doje Cedain joined a Tibetan pharmaceutical group in Gansu Province. "I think it's a promising career, as an increasing number of patients nationwide are seeking Tibetan-style treatment for chronic diseases," he said.

The total output value of traditional Tibetan medicine has topped 1.3 billion yuan (201 million U.S. dollars), thanks to growing demand across China for the ancient herbal therapy.

There are now 18 pharmaceutical companies in Tibet alone, including two public companies.

Tibetan medicine, known as "Sowa Rigpa" in Tibetan, is at least 2,300 years old. It has absorbed the influences of traditional Chinese, Indian and Arab medicine and is mainly practised in Tibet and the Himalayan region.

It uses herbs, minerals and sometimes insects and animal parts. It was put on the official list of China's national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.
ULAN BATOR, June 16 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson of the Japanese foreign ministry was bombarded with questions on Japan's role in the South China Sea disputes between China and Philippines and avoided any direct answers to these questions at a press briefing on Friday.

Yasuhisa Kawamura, spokesperson of the Japanese foreign ministry, held a press briefing, attended by journalists from Xinhua, Reuters, Bloomberg, AFP, Montsame and some Japanese media Friday night on the sideline of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator.

During the Q&A session, he appeared uneasy with the questions related to the South China Sea issue.

A Bloomberg journalist asked "in these meetings, what was said about the allegation that Japan manipulated The Hague's ruling on the South China sea," referring to the meetings between Chinese and Japanese leaders.

The Japanese spokesperson shun the questions by saying "your question is unrelated to today's meeting."

Reuters journalist asked "if Japan is pushing to have the South China Sea mentioned in the closing remarks of the communique and was that discussed with China?"

A Xinhua journalist asked the spokesperson to comment on remarks by the United Nations on its official microblog that it has nothing to do with the arbitration tribunal that handled the South China Sea disputes. The spokesperson said "I need to clarify on this," but did not answer the question.

An ad hoc tribunal, set up at the unilateral request of the former Philippine government, on Tuesday issued an ill-founded award sweepingly siding with Manila, denying China's long-standing historic rights in the South China Sea.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday during a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe that Tokyo should stop hyping up and interfering in the South China Sea issue, urging the two countries to properly manage their differences.

Li said that China's stance on the South China Sea issue is completely in line with international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should "exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering in" the issue, he said.

Related:

China asks Japan to stop interfering in South China Sea

BEIJING, July 12 (Xinhua) -- China has asked Japan to stop interfering in the South China Sea issue, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.
by Xinhua writers Lyu Dong and Li Zhengwei

BEIJING, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Startups looking for funding to develop next-generation technology like artificial intelligence and robotics are increasingly likely to find it in China.

Companies working on equipment to deliver parcels to the moon, robots to stock warehouse shelves, and computers capable of acquiring knowledge like a human are among more than 30 startups seeded by Comet Labs since its founding last year.

The venture capital firm, created by Chinese investment fund Legend Star, gave the media an introduction to its work this week. It provided only the briefest of glimpses into its investment portfolio, without disclosing further details on the seed companies, but it was enough to make clear the cutting-edge nature of their technology.

Legend Star is owned by Hong Kong-listed Legend Holdings, which is also the parent company of Chinese PC maker Lenovo. Comet Labs not only provides funding for startups, but also helps find them clients.

Comet Labs Managing Director Saman Farid said the startups it has backed have managed to secure a combined 40 million U.S. dollars in follow-up funding rounds that have also drawn investors including Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator.

"The world has been carried forward by waves of technology, from digitization to the Internet, then mobile Internet and we believe the next wave will be artificial intelligence," said Farid.

Until recently, China had mostly been on the receiving end of venture capital from around the world as many of the country's top Internet firms, from Alibaba and Tencent to Uber competitor Didi and smartphone maker Xiaomi, received backing from overseas.

But the outbound investment made by Chinese firms like Comet Labs could signal a reverse in the flow of capital, as investors in China look out for entrepreneurs tinkering with what could eventually evolve into technology that redefines industries.

Earlier this month, Zhongguancun Development Group, a state-backed investment firm based in Beijing's tech hub Zhongguancun, also set up a fund to raise 10 to 20 million yuan (about 1.5 to 3 million U.S. dollars) to incubate startups focused on smart manufacturing in Germany.

In June, a group of Chinese investors, including Baidu, CICC Alpha, China Everbright and IDG also participated in the 60-million-dollar financing round for U.S. online cross-border payment startup Circle, which uses the block chain technology that many in the financial industry say has the potential to bring sweeping changes to the financial world.

This investment comes at a time when China's vast manufacturing sector is wobbling. Industrial production growth has been slowing consistently, sinking to 6 percent for the first half of 2016, compared with double-digit rates couples of years ago.

Rather than consumer-facing firms, much of China venture capital's outbound investment goes to startups working on technology to enhance businesses' operational efficiency and productivity, as such technology holds the promise of catapulting Chinese manufacturing to the higher end of the industrial value chain.

"A lot of traditional industries like agriculture, healthcare and construction have been little changed by the Internet and digitization, but they could look very different with technology like artificial intelligence and smart machines and these technologies will go beyond borders," Comet Labs' Farid said.
GUANGZHOU, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A knife-wielding man killed one nurse and injured four other people at a hospital on Saturday afternoon in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said.

The knife attack occurred around 2:53 p.m. at a urology hospital in Huizhou City. The suspect, surnamed Lai and 26 years old, has been controlled by police.

One nurse is killed while a security guard and three other medical workers were injured. The injured has been hospitalized and are in stable condition.

The suspect's motive is unknown and police is investigating the case.
United States President Barack Obama (R) and his wife Michelle Obama (L) arrive at Jose Marti Airport in Havana March 20, 2016. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)

by Raimundo Urrechaga, Noemi Galban

HAVANA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Nearly a year since Cuba and the United States formally restored diplomatic ties, the two former adversaries have inched closer to establishing a normal relationship.

The two countries made history on July 20, 2015 by reopening their respective embassies. But while bilateral ties have seen no more major breakthroughs since Obama's visit to Cuba in March, 2016, the two former adversaries appear to have settled into a relationship of respectful coexistence, a development that may be just as valuable in the long run, according to a Cuban analyst.

Jesus Arboleya, a professor at Cuba's Higher Institute of International Relations, spoke with Xinhua about how the process of rapprochement between the two countries has evolved since they first announced on Dec. 17, 2014 their decision to normalize ties after more than five decades of hostility.

In contrast to decades of cold-shoulder exchanges, Cuban and U.S. delegations have traveled to each other's countries for direct talks on a range of matters and on an equal footing, noted Arboleya.

These face-to-face encounters facilitate dialogue and minimize the chances of misunderstandings, he said, though negotiating with a power such as the United States necessarily requires a degree of caution.

"It is the first time that we see ties marked by respect and they will remain that way to the extent that Cuba demands it. The first chance the United States has to reestablish Cuba's dependence, it (the U.S.) will take it, and in fact that is what it hopes to do," warned Arboleya.

Honored guests wait to attend Karl Lagerfeld's "Cruise" line for Chanel at the Paseo del Prado street in Havana, Cuba, May 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)(dh)

Washington's tendency toward domination largely defines White House policy, not just toward Cuba, but also the rest of the world, he said, so bilateral ties will always be fraught with difficulties.

Much depends on Cuba and its ability to preserve social and political stability, improve its economy and strengthen international ties.

"Some Cubans see this process (of rapprochement) as toxic to Cuban socialism. It could be, that depends on how we handle it. But without a doubt it is a situation that offers Cuba an economic respite, while politically it is viewed as a victory for Cuban resistance," said Arboleya.

Even Obama, he noted, acknowledged that Washington's aggressive, outdated and long-running policies toward Cuba had failed, requiring a new strategy to achieve its hidden goal of regime change in the Caribbean island.

"Cuba is going to win and lose in its relationship with the United States, just as the United States is going to win and lose in its relationship with Cuba. The challenge is to take advantage of the opportunities that this new juncture provides and strike a new balance, which I believe is going to be positive for both countries," said the scholar.

The two countries have already reached a handful of agreements in the areas of environmental protection, fighting drug trafficking, terrorism and human trafficking, health care and telecommunications, among others.

And both stand to benefit from accessing each other's markets, though the ongoing trade embargo against Cuba impedes real progress in that area.

The positives so far outweigh the negatives, noted Arboleya.

"The new situation also curbs more aggressive U.S. actions towards Cuba, such as terrorism and a military invasion," he said. "I'm not saying they can't happen under certain circumstances, but (the current climate) considerably limits the chances."

People watch U.S. cruise ship Adonia arriving in Havana, Cuba, May 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Still, obstacles to improved ties remain, including the embargo, the U.S. occupation of Guantanamo, where it operates a naval base and notorious prison, U.S. immigration policy towards Cubans, and so-called "democracy promotion" programs that aim to topple the Cuban government.

Another bump in the road to better ties may be the weakening of Latin America's leftist governments, whose defense of Cuba largely pressured Obama into changing tack, said Arboleya.

"Today, the Latin American scenario that served as the basis for the new policy toward Cuba has changed, and it is also going to be a source of conflict," he said.

What about the changing political landscape in the United States?

The academic dismissed the idea that the outcome of upcoming presidential elections in the United States may have a decisive influence on how bilateral ties develop.

"The process has gone relatively well and the foundations have been built, making it difficult for whoever wins the elections in November to reverse it," he said, though "establishing business with large companies" would do more to protect ties from being dismantled.

Ultimately, Cuba's future is in the hands of new generations, he said, noting Cuban President Raul Castro has announced he will be stepping down from power, marking the end of an era and paving the way for younger leaders.

"In 2018 there is going to be a generational change in Cuba's political leadership and we will have to begin a new chapter," said Arboleya.
Photo provided by Diario La Opinion shows Venezuelan citizens carrying bags of food and other products they bought at a supermarket in San Jose de Cucuta, Colombia, on July 10, 2016. (Xinhua/Edinsson Figueroa/Diario La Opinion)

by Jose Aguiar

CARACAS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela is expected to see an economic recovery in the second half of 2016 thanks to a new food supply plan, a Venezuelan economist has said.

"I feel this new initiative will anchor policies designed to stop the economic war and we will see an economic recovery in our country during the second half of the year," Tony Boza told Xinhua.

President Nicolas Maduro on Monday announced the Great Sovereign Supply Mission aimed at ending the country's critical supply problems for basic foodstuff.

Maduro said the implementation of the new plan, which will be overseen by the military, would change the current distribution system in what he called an "economic war" launched by opposition politicians.

"This policy was properly designed, as it involves the direct participation of those affected, who understand the problems of each person in every family," said Boza, author of "La Guerra Contra el Pueblo" (The War Against the People).

People stay in line in front of a store to get first need products, after the formalization of State of Economic Emergency Decree, in Chacao, in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 17, 2016. (Xinhua/ Boris Vergara)

According to a government decree, the supply plan seeks to "transform the production and distribution model for foodstuff" and "neutralize destabilizing actions being carried out in the national agricultural system."

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who is in charge of this operation, on Tuesday deployed military forces in agricultural areas and to offer assistance in ports, processing plants and companies involved in agriculture and food preparation.

Padrino Lopez said this was simply a supervision process and was not "a matter of militarizing ... but a matter of the security of the nation."

"The armed forces will act to facilitate, strategically plan, supervise, finance, assist and verify this drive. This is not an intervention," he said.

Boza believes that military involvement is crucial as it will allow better coordination between the military and civil society.

Falling oil prices in recent years have plunged the oil-exporting country into a deep economic crisis aggravated by a political power struggle between the ruling Socialist party and conservative opposition groups.
ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The last group of Turkish military personnel involved in a failed coup surrendered Saturday afternoon, state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.

About 150 plotters, including 13 high-ranking naval officers, were held out at the headquarters of the General Staff and the nearby gendarmerie compound in Ankara.

According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the coup attempt was staged by followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Earlier on Saturday, around 700 coup troops surrendered to police, and counter-terrorism officers would make detailed search of the compound, the report said.
Chinese living in the Netherlands attend a protest in front of the Peace Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands, July 15, 2016.

(Xinhua/Zindziwe Janse)

THE HAGUE, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Over 1,000 Chinese living in the Netherlands gathered in front of the Peace Palace here on Friday to protest again an ad hoc tribunal's ill-founded ruling on the South China Sea arbitration.

The protest, staged at a small triangle square facing the main gate of the Peace Palace, started around noon, and lasted until 2 p.m. local time (1300 GMT).

The protesters held banners written in Chinese, English and Dutch with messages slamming the so-called final award issued from The Hague on Tuesday, while shouting slogans supporting China's stance in the case.

"No jurisdiction means the ruling is null and void," one of the banners read. "The 'arbitration' is nothing but a political farce," another banner read.

The merely 200-square-meter square could only hold around 100 protesters at a time. Many people, who came from across the Netherlands, waited nearby in good order for their turns to participate.

"We originally expected around 300 people, but as soon as we posted the information on social media, Chinese communities in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and other cities all responded. Now we have definitely surpassed 1,000," said Huang Yue, head of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in the Netherlands, one of the organizers of the protest.

The Chinese communities in the Netherlands have been following this case very closely, and they are furious about the decision of the tribunal, which is based on exceeding its power and ignoring China's historical and legal rights, according to Huang.

"It upsets us even more that such a law-abusing political farce happened in the Netherlands, a country with a long tradition of respecting international law, and in The Hague, the 'capital of international law,'" Huang added.

The main goal of the protest, Huang said, was to reach out to more people in the Netherlands and other Western countries, and tell them the truth about the South China Sea. "It is a righteous act for us to demonstrate our determination to protect the sovereignty and the territory of our motherland. It deserves respect, recognition and support from the international community."

"As overseas Chinese, we live abroad, but our hearts are always with our motherland," said Huang Qichang, chairman of the Holland-China Cultural Exchange Foundation, "We want to convey our peaceful, rational voice to our friends in the Netherlands, and let them know that such a political farce is illegal and useless."

Speaking for the organizing team, he stressed that the protest was planned and carried out strictly in line with the Dutch law.

"The tribunal did not respect the law, but we Chinese do," he said. "We held a meeting shortly after the tribunal issued its award, handed in our application the next day, and received our permission on Thursday. Then we sent out calls on social media."

"The Chinese people are peace-loving and law-abiding. That's also one of the messages that we want to convey," he added.
DURBAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- TB2016, a two-day conference dedicated exclusively to tuberculosis (TB), kicked off here on Saturday in Durban to highlight the urgency in efforts to address the devastating global impact of tuberculosis.

The conference was immediately preceding the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, scheduled for July 18-22.

TB 2016 will look at opportunities to make major inroads against the infectious disease, organizers said.

Organized by the International AIDS Society (IAS), which also leads the AIDS 2016 conference, TB2016 represents a unique partnership of HIV and TB scientists and advocates, convened to build greater urgency and innovation to combat both epidemics.

TB2016 is bringing together political leaders, advocates, health workers, and scientists to address the policy, scientific, and advocacy components of efforts to expand and speed the global TB response.

This inaugural TB pre-conference at the international AIDS meeting will see global experts advancing knowledge and innovation on TB, promoting and sharing best practices to reinvigorate the global TB response, and galvanize political leadership and commitment to end TB by 2035, the IAS said.

Although it is one of the world's oldest disease, TB is not currently on the decline. In fact, a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report found that the global TB epidemic is even larger than previously thought, revising the estimated global burden of TB upward for the second year in a row.

The millennia-old disease sickened almost 10 million people last year and claimed 1.5 million lives, despite being preventable, treatable and curable. People living with HIV are particularly susceptible to TB infection and to TB-related illness.

"We cannot win the fight against AIDS without also tackling TB," said Linda-Gail Bekker, IAS President-Elect.

"Too often, TB and HIV team up against us, but with this conference we are supporting a global movement to bring the TB and HIV responses together to defeat both epidemics. TB 2016 reminds us that the work before us will take place not only in laboratories, but also in the halls government, in health facilities, and in the communities affected by these two devastating epidemics," said Bekker.

Commenting on the rapidly evolving science of TB prevention and treatment, Valerie Mizrahi, Head of the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, said, "The TB 2016 program highlights the urgency of using the treatments and public health interventions we have today, as well as the need for new tools and approaches to tackle TB, drug-resistant TB, and the complex co-epidemic of TB and HIV."

"Recent scientific advances and a new global plan to end TB point to opportunities ahead. But the challenges of a vastly under-resourced response, a lack of political urgency, and the growing threat of drug resistance must all be confronted head on if we are to reduce the global burden of TB," said Mizrahi.

"TB is preventable, treatable, and curable, yet we have allowed it to become the world's leading infectious killer, and the leading killer of people with HIV," said Joanne Carter, Executive Director of RESULTS and RESULTS Educational Fund, which is dedicated to the fight against TB.

"The question is not whether we are able to do more, but rather whether we will make the fight against TB a global public health priority it must become. TB2016 is an important step forward in the effort to bring the needed scientific, financial, and political resources to bear against this global killer," he said.

At TB2016, parliamentarians from 20 African countries will launch the African TB Parliamentarians Caucus.

The caucus is committed to pressing for increased domestic investment in TB care and prevention, with a particular focus on the twin epidemics of TB and HIV.

This regional group is part of the growing Global TB Caucus, a team of parliamentarians and other political leaders from more than 120 countries worldwide. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Saturday warned that the human costs of recent fighting in the capital Juba will be compounded by deepening hunger across South Sudan if peace does not hold.

Millions of people facing hunger in South Sudan will be driven to the brink of catastrophe if renewed flashes of violence derail the fragile peace process in the war-torn country, the UN food agency said in a press release.

Intense gunfire erupted again in Juba on July 7 as the renewed fighting threatened to send the world's youngest country back to all-out civil war.

The latest clashes between opposition and government forces have been the most violent in Juba since the end of the country's two-year civil war in August 2015.

The most recent FAO assessment, released last month, showed South Sudan was already in dire straits, with over 4.8 million people severely food insecure and malnutrition rates rampant.

The assessment projected severe food shortages over the months to come and warned of the risk of hunger crises in parts of the country, the press release said.

"In Juba, which hasn't experienced such a level of violence in years, a fragile calm now appears to be holding, but uncertainty grips the city and supplies to food markets have been disrupted," said FAO Country Representative Serge Tissot.

"And while we hope that the situation will hold, violence may flare up again," he said. "If the tenuous peace process falters, the consequences will be widespread and an already dire situation, in which over half the nation's population is food insecure, could get much, much worse."

A return to stability and the continuation of the peace process are essential to allowing agricultural production to continue and markets to open, said FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva.

"The people of the world's youngest nation cannot afford any further instability," the FAO chief said. "We have to remember that peace and food security are two sides of the same coin -- it's the currency that drives development and prosperity."

"The future of the country depends on the people of South Sudan making a firm and lasting commitment to peace, now," he said.

At present, FAO is assessing the full extent of losses incurred following the violence that broke out last week, when its Juba warehouse was ransacked and stocks of essential supplies like seeds and tools earmarked to help food-insecure people across the country save their livelihoods were looted.

"As the FAO offices in South Sudan remain operational, the continuation of our support to those most in need requires that additional resources be urgently made available to replace what was looted," said Tissot.

"Under normal conditions, harvesting of the main maize and sorghum crop would begin in a few weeks' time -- planting of a second season would take place over the same period," he said. "How well those activities are able to proceed will have a big impact on food security in both the short and the longer term."

The latest flare-up of fighting between the forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, which left scores of people dead, has raised questions about the political stability.

The South Sudanese leaders signed an agreement in August 2015 to form a unity government. The unity government was formed in April to run the country until elections are held within 36 months.

South Sudan has canceled this year's independence celebrations due to the economic crunch resulting from more than two years of civil conflict. It won independence on July 9, 2011 from Sudan after more than two decades of war that ended in a bitter divorce.

The country again plunged into conflict in December 2013 after Kiir accused his deputy Machar of plotting a coup, which the latter denied, leading to a cycle of retaliatory killings.

Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal in August that paved way for the formation of the transitional unity government to end more than two years of civil conflict. Enditem
PARIS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The world, distressed over flaws of Western democracy and social crisis, needs to re-evaluate the merits of China's political system and governance style, a famous French scholar said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

David Gosset, a global affairs analyst and a Sinologist, said it is widely recognized among Western leaders that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has a long-term vision to conduct necessary reforms.

"As a result, the country is able to implement reforms in various aspects, but it is much more strenuous and costly to carry out such (reforms) in Western countries," said Gosset, also the founder of the widely-credited Euro-China Forum.

Since the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, China has carried out a number of major reforms, rendering the country with over three decades of spectacular economic growth and the current status as the world's second economy, said the scholar.

"This fact has fully demonstrated the efficiency and success of China's political system featuring remarkable continuity and sustainability," he said.

He added that the CPC could promote its governing style and social benefits with the "Five-Year Plans," but Western administrations have to focus on policies viable within their tenure.

The scholar said that the democratic election system in Western nations have proved problematic in terms of social governance, since parties and politicians, focusing only on how to win the elections, have become short of long-range strategies and approaches to rule their countries properly.

For example, the French society, boggled by months' confrontations within the society due to the labor law reform, has been lacking trust in the government, Gosset said, adding the situation is getting increasingly hazardous day by day.

That is part of the reason why demagogues with nationalists began to rise in the West's political arena in recent years, as in the case of the U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, Gosset said.

However, the Westerners, still stuck in the dilution that their system is "flawless" and "irreplaceable," refuse to reform or learn from other countries, he noted, adding even those with insights began to retrospect their institution, but they did not know what the real problem is or how to correct them.

What these people have relied on is still the traditional Western-style democracy thinking, and even anarchism for some, have thus limited influence on the society, Gosset pointed out.

Currently, China is making efforts to push forward its Belt and Road Initiative. The plan, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road with the aim to building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

The initiative has a global perspective and is definitely not just empty talk, Gosset noted, adding such a plan will "profoundly exert profound influence on China and reshape Eurasia in the future."

He said that the initiative, backed by the European Union and relative countries along the routes, will lead 65 percent of the world's population to the unprecedented solidarity and prosperity.

"It is a dream of Eurasia, a dream that we can pursue together," the scholar noted.

He suggested that China take the initiative as a chance to promote the country's achievements in political, economic and cultural areas, so that the world could begin to understand China and its system advantages. Enditem
ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- "Last night in Taksim area nobody could sleep a wink for the gunfire sound and for the fear," said Hacizade, the owner of a restaurant on Istiklal Avenue.

The Taksim area, with a homonymous square at its center, and the adjoining Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian street teeming with shops and malls, have been must-sees for both locals and foreign tourists.

A sense of terror and violence reigned there on Friday night when an army faction announced that it had "taken over the administration of the country to restore the rule of law."

A group of troops appeared at the square soon after and snatched its control from the police, while hundreds of Turks poured there following a call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"Go to your barracks where you belong!" the crowd shouted at the soldiers.

Things turned even nastier as military planes started flying low over the city, followed by massive explosions and heavy gunfire that had bellowed across many parts of the metropolis overnight.

From Friday night till the morning hours of Saturday, snipers had been positioned behind every possible structure to shoot the police and civilians, an eyewitness said.

Hacizade and his friends joined the crowd to show solidarity with the police, but heavy fighting erupted soon between the soldiers and the police, he said.

"Civilians were shot, several died," Hacizade said, displaying the stains of blood on a Turkish flag he was holding in his hand.

"My friends have died, my friends are in hospital," he added. "Look, you can still see their bloods."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that at least 161 people, including 20 coup plotters, were killed and 1,440 others wounded in the coup attempt that swept mostly Istanbul and Ankara, the national capital.

Previously Turkey's acting army chief Gen. Umit Dundar put the number of deaths at 194, among them 104 plotters.

The Turkish presidency made a new announcement on Saturday on its twitter account claiming there could be a new attempt any time soon.

The presidency in its tweet urged people to flood the streets again to protect them.

Murat Ertekin, a man from Turkey's western city of Izmir, disagreed. In his view, it is very dangerous for civilians to swarm the streets as the move fuels violence.

"It would definitely fuel violence, which mostly would be observed in the form of executions," he said.

"What is going on in Turkey since last night is very worrying," he added.

In the view of Hacizade, Erdogan will soon push stronger for a presidential system in the country in the aftermath of the coup attempt. "And nothing will get any better," he observed.

Years of troubles both at home and abroad have hurt Turkey a lot, while a series of deadly attacks over the past year have contributed to a growing predicament.

"Our country has fallen apart," bemoaned a man who declined to give his name.

He harbors no hope about the country's future, saying the economic deprivation will affect all the most.

"Our business has long been disturbed significantly due to the terror attacks," he noted, adding

"From now on we will have zero business." Enditem
A U.S.-made Turkish military helicopter (Blackhawk) is shown parked on the tarmac of the Alexandroupolis airport, in extreme northeast Greece, on Saturday afternoon on July 16, 2016. The Turkish army aircraft flew from Istanbul with eight military personnel aboard, all of whom requested political asylum in Greece following a reported failed coup attempt on Friday. (Xinhua Photo)

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Greece will return to Turkey the Turkish military helicopter which landed in the city of Alexandroupoli in northern Greece on Saturday, Greek government spokesperson Olga Gerovassilis said in an emailed statement.

"Greek authorities will follow procedures foreseen by international law. However, it is taken into account for serious consideration that the eight people detained are charged in their country of violating constitutional order and attempting to overthrow democracy," the Greek official said.

A U.S.-made Turkish military helicopter (Blackhawk) is shown parked on the tarmac of the Alexandroupolis airport, in extreme northeast Greece, on Saturday afternoon on July 16, 2016. The Turkish army aircraft flew from Istanbul with eight military personnel aboard, all of whom requested political asylum in Greece following a reported failed coup attempt on Friday. (Xinhua Photo)

The Greek General Staff confirmed in an announcement that the eight Turkish military officers onboard the helicopter, including three majors, three lieutenants and two sergeants, requested political asylum.

Greek authorities have not confirmed whether the eight officers who entered Greek airspace with no permission had participated in the attempted military coup in Turkey on Friday. Greek military jets had escorted the helicopter to the airport.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that the eight officers were "traitors".

The Turkish nationals were detained in Alexandroupolis police precinct.
ENTEBBE, July 17, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese people evacuating from South Sudan arrive at Entebbe International Airport in Entebbe, about 40 kilometers south of Uganda's capital Kampala, July 16, 2016. China on Saturday evacuated some of its embassy staff members and citizens trapped in the recent fightings in Juba, capital of South Sudan. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday evacuated some of its embassy staff and some citizens trapped in the recent fighting in South Sudanese capital, Juba.

Major General Su Guanghui, acting director of the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Chinese Defense Ministry, and his delegation who arrived Saturday morning in Juba evacuated 17 embassy staff, 12 members of the Chinese medical team and 20 people from Chinese companies.

The relieved team from the conflict-hit country aboard a special plane organized by the authorities in Beijing was received by Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhao Yali at Entebbe International Airport, about 40 kilometers south of the capital Kampala, on their way home.

"I felt proud, relieved and safe when I boarded the special plane organized by the Chinese government. I thank our government for organizing and sending this plane to evacuate us," Jiang Feiyun, deputy leader of the Chinese medical team in Juba, told Xinhua in Entebbe.

The evacuation is part of the emergency measures the Chinese government is taking to protect its citizens in the recent fighting between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar in Juba.

Two Chinese peacekeepers under the UN Mission in South Sudan were killed and four others injured on last Sunday evening as the fighting between government and anti-government forces continued.

The two seriously injured peacekeepers, Chen Ying and Huo Yahui, were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing aboard a specialist medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military for specialized treatment and operations.
WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday reiterated the U.S. "unwavering support" for the democratically-elected civilian government of Turkey in the aftermath of a coup attempt.

Obama made the remarks at a White House meeting with his national security and foreign policy advisers, where he received an update on the situation in Turkey, where reportedly at least 194 people were killed and 1,100 others wounded in the military coup attempt on Friday.

"The President's advisers apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground, and the President reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey," the White House said in a statement.

Obama instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts "to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, U.S. servicemembers, and their dependents," the statement said.

So far, there has been no report that any Americans were killed or injured in the violence.

Obama and his team "lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," it said.

Obama also "underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism," it added.

The White House meeting was held amid reports that the Turkish government sealed off the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, where U.S. forces launched the air strikes against the terror group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Turkey is a NATO ally for the United States and part of the U.S.-led coalition to fight IS.

Meanwhile, Turkey blamed a U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for the attempted military coup, while demanding Gulen's extradition by the U.S. government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated a call for Obama to hand over Gulen.

"Please meet our request if we are strategic partners," Erdogan said in remarks delivered in Istanbul.

Speaking earlier in Luxembourg, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider the extradition request for the cleric on condition that Turkey proves Gulen's wrongdoing.
A seriously injured Chinese UN peacekeeper is lifted aboard a specialized medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military in Entebbe, Uganda, July 16, 2016. Two Chinese UN peacekeepers seriously injured during the recent fighting in South Sudan were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing for specialized treatment and operations. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese UN peacekeepers seriously injured during the recent fighting in South Sudan were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing for specialized treatment and operations.

Chen Ying and Huo Yahui were flown back home aboard a specialized medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military which arrived on Friday.

"The government of China decided to send a specialized medical plane to receive our two seriously injured peacekeepers. Today (Saturday) we came here to see them off and wish them good luck," said Zhao Yali, Chinese Ambassador to Uganda, while overseeing the see-off moment at Entebbe International Airport, 40 kilometers south of the capital, Kampala.

The two other soldiers, Wu Le and Yao Daoxiang, who were injured in the fighting between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar in the capital Juba are on recovery at a UN hospital in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The remains of Corporal Li Lei, 22, and Master Sergeant Yang Shupeng, 33 who were killed in the incident were on Friday airlifted to Uganda and expected to be returned back home early next week.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Su Guanghui, acting director of the Peacekeeping Affairs Office at the Chinese Defense Ministry, other Chinese military officers and Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials on Saturday morning arrived in Juba to handle the relevant aftermath of the attack and killings.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump(L) and his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence appeared for the first time in public together since Pence was named as Trump's running mate, in New York, July 16, 2016. Trump announced on twitter Friday he had chosen Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his pick for vice president is a bid to draw more socially conservative voters to the Trump ticket in the presidential race, experts said.

Trump first made the announcement Friday via social media, tweeting out a message that Pence would indeed be Trump's running mate, after much media speculation and leaks to major U.S. media.

Pence brings to the table a sharp contrast to Trump, as Pence is much more subdued than the bombastic and flashy Trump, and has solid credentials among the Republican Party (GOP) establishment, and especially among social conservatives, experts said.

Indeed, many Republicans believe that Trump is not a true conservative on issues from the economy to foreign policy to social issues, and Pence is likely to be a positive impact on Trump's campaign, helping him unify the GOP.

"He helps Trump solidify the Republican base," Republican strategist Ford O' Connell told Xinhua.

"One of the things that Trump needs to do if he wants to win the election is to get about 92 or 93 percent of registered Republican (voters) backing him," he said.

Around eight in 10 Republican voters say they back the brash businessman, and overall the race against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is a dead heat, according to a New York Times/CBS poll released Thursday.

"For Republicans that are questioning Trump (the choice of Pence) helps instill confidence that Trump will govern reasonably as an agent of change," O' Connell said.

"It's going to be a tight race no matter what, but Pence helps give conservative bona fides to the Trump candidacy," he said.

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that the pick of Pence is designed to help with a Republican base that is skeptical of Trump's brand of social conservatism, especially social conservatives.

Trump is not particularly conservative on social issues, nor is he particularly religious, and did not win over evangelicals during the Republican primaries.

In sharp contrast, Pence has been very conservative on many social issues such as abortion and gay rights.

"It is also a pick designed to bring someone with experience in government to the ticket, as Pence has experience as both a member of Congress and a state executive," Mahaffee said.

"Additionally, as governor of the state of Indiana, he represents the Midwestern and 'Rust Belt' states that Trump needs to hold or turn to the GOP to beat Clinton," Mahaffee said.

Trump's strategy was to bring someone with significant political experience to the ticket, and someone who could help shape Trump's campaign "in a way that appears more legitimate and presidential," he said, referring to the frequently heard criticism that Trump's manner is both brash and unfitting of a presidential candidate.

"In many ways (Pence) can represent a calm foil to Trump's bombastic approach to campaigning," Mahaffee said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told Xinhua that Pence will help Trump with conservative Republicans who are uneasy about Trump's loyalty to their agenda, and potentially with fundraisers and legislators in Washington who like Pence very much.

"Trump wanted to pick someone who would appeal to the right and calm Republican nerves, and someone with experience and connections on Capitol Hill," he said.

But despite Pence's conservative bona fides, he may not make many inroads with independents in an election in which some analysts say those voters may well determine the election's outcome.

Mahaffee said many of Pence's policies are likely to hurt Trump's outreach to moderates, independents and young people who are less concerned about social issues.

"Pence is infamous among them for his legislation that many saw as a thinly veiled license to discriminate against gays and lesbians," he said.

Pence's policies on HIV/AIDS, as well as his Congressional record, will be significant fodder for those who want to portray the GOP as being behind the cultural mood of young, urban, cosmopolitan Americans, he noted.

Zelizer said the pick of Pence could help Democrats mobilize the gay rights movement and other social movement activists, who regard Pence as a far rightist, to support Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
CAIRO, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The word "fire" was heard on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of crashed EgyptAir flight MS804, the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee reported Saturday after data analysis.

The report said the CVR's recording before the occurrence of the accident mentioned a "fire," but it is still too early to determine the reason or the place where that fire occurred.

EgyptAir Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, went missing from radar screens on May 19 en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French.

The Egyptian military later announced personal belongings of victims and small pieces of the plane wreckage found in the Mediterranean Sea 290 km north of the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt.

The committee said in Saturday's statement that it had studied a large number of data of the CVR and the flight data recorder (FDR) and synchronized between the two, noting the data analysis process still continues.

"Additional work on the CVR, the FDR and the recovered debris is continuing," the committee said.

The committee said that French vessel Lethbridge John, which was hired by the Egyptian government to locate and pick up debris and body remains, arrived Saturday at Alexandria seaport after its mission is accomplished.

The vessel managed in June to find and pick up the doomed flight's CVR and the FDR that were later taken for repairs in Pairs and then returned to Cairo.

Probe into the tragic fall of EgyptAir Flight MS804 still continues with all theories on the table, including a terrorist bomb and a severe technical failure, yet without a strong clue for any.
Protesters loyal to the Shi'ite al-Houthi rebel group burn an effigy of a U.S. aircraft during a demonstration to protest against what they say is U.S. interference in Yemen, including drone strikes, after their weekly Friday prayers in the Old Sanaa city, Yemen on April 12, 2013. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo)

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. drone strike on its own is certainly no panacea for violence and will backfire elsewhere, Paul Kawika Martin, a senior expert with Peace Action, the U.S. largest grassroots peace network, told Xinhua.

"When you have troops on the ground and you accidentally kill civilians, there are places for those civilians to try to attack you back," said Martin, political and communications director of Peace Action, a group dedicated to advancing a progressive platform in U.S. policy for over 50 years.

"When you do this with a drone, where do they go to attack you? They come here to attack you, they try to attack you somewhere else. There's no place for them to have redress. It causes great problems in long term, and is obviously a great recruiting tool, for terrorism," he warned.

Members of the group "Grandmothers Against the War" hold signs as they protest the use of drone strikes by the U.S. government in New York, U.S. on April 3, 2013. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo)

The White House said earlier this month that between 64 and 116 civilians were killed in 473 U.S. strikes between 2009 and 2015 in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and North Africa where the United States is not at war.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria were not included in the report, the first U.S. public assessment of this kind.

Few details were offered about the strikes and the people who were killed, provoking criticism from human rights groups which called for more transparency of the counterterrorism strikes, especially the U.S. drone program.

Critics also say the numbers of civilian deaths reported are far too low to be accurate.

"A lot of these places are remote, hard to count, and there's a big issue of what do you count a combatant, a lot of times they have a tendency to count someone a combatant when they are not, and these numbers are very far off from third parties," said Martin, citing an estimation of 200 to 1000 civilian causalities by a watchdog.

"Again these are just in areas outside Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan," he noted, lamenting the lack of transparency.

"We don't know actually what the exact formula is when they make a decision for drone strikes. But they do know that there are civilians there. And, typically there may be a rule of thumb that it's ok to kill five civilians, if we get the one high level target. So, sometimes we do know that they are there, and we are killing them on purpose," said Martin.

He said the strategy, mostly used by U.S. President Barack Obama in his two terms as one of his government's trump cards, will not truly make the United States safer.

"There hasn't been a huge decrease in the activities of ISIS. ISIS took over good portions of Iraq over the last several years, and now we are trying to take it back," he said.

"(This is) also the case in Syria, also the case with the Taleban, in Afghanistan, also the case with terrorists in Pakistan."

"I mean we have killed now, according to Obama, 2300 to 3300 people using drone strikes, or assassinations or targeted killings, or whatever you want to call them, and we are now being jury, judge and executioner without any legal ramifications, in a country that was founded on having a right to trial, and having the legal means to redress if you are the guilty party," he lamented.

"And we're certainly not doing that in these places that we are attacking with drones," he said.

The drone war was initiated in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attack by then U.S. President George W. Bush. Up till July 1, the U.S. government had kept almost all information relevant to its drone strikes classified, including the civilian causalities.
Some Chinese citizens from South Sudan arrive at the airport at Entebbe of Uganda, July 16, 2016. China on Saturday evacuated some of its embassy staff and some citizens trapped in the recent fighting in South Sundanese capital, Juba. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday evacuated some of its embassy staff and some citizens trapped in the recent fighting in South Sudanese capital, Juba.

Major General Su Guanghui, acting director of the Peacekeeping Affairs Office of the Chinese Defense Ministry, and his delegation who arrived Saturday morning in Juba evacuated 17 embassy staff, 12 members of the Chinese medical team and 20 people from Chinese companies.

The relieved team from the conflict-hit country aboard a special plane organized by the authorities in Beijing was received by Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Zhao Yali at Entebbe International Airport, about 40 kilometers south of the capital Kampala, on their way home.

"I felt proud, relieved and safe when I boarded the special plane organized by the Chinese government. I thank our government for organizing and sending this plane to evacuate us," Jiang Feiyun, deputy leader of the Chinese medical team in Juba, told Xinhua in Entebbe. Some Chinese citizens from South Sudan arrive at the airport at Entebbe of Uganda, July 16, 2016. China on Saturday evacuated some of its embassy staff and some citizens trapped in the recent fighting in South Sundanese capital, Juba. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

The evacuation is part of the emergency measures the Chinese government is taking to protect its citizens in the recent fighting between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar in Juba.

Two Chinese peacekeepers under the UN Mission in South Sudan were killed and four others injured on last Sunday evening as the fighting between government and anti-government forces continued.

The two seriously injured peacekeepers, Chen Ying and Huo Yahui, were on Saturday afternoon airlifted to Beijing aboard a specialist medical rescue plane sent by the Chinese military for specialized treatment and operations.
After 111 minutes behind closed doors Friday morning, the Gage County Board of Supervisors reached no decision on what to do next about a federal jury's July 6 verdict that found the county liable in the wrongful convictions of six people.

The seven supervisors met with County Attorney Roger Harris and private-practice attorneys Jennifer Tomka, Pat OBrien and Melanie Whittamore-Mantzios to talk about how the county could pay the $28.1 million judgment ordered by the jury in the civil rights trial, how to proceed in the courts and whether liability insurance is in place.

Soon after going back into open session just before 11 a.m., the board offered little insight into its next steps.

With our legal counsel, we went over all of our options, and over the next few days decisions will be forthcoming on how we are going to proceed, said Chairman Myron Dorn.

Harris said the county could ask for a third trial -- the first ended in a hung jury -- or appeal. Either way, he said, it's not likely to announce its intentions ahead of time.

At the filing deadline, there might be something there, Harris said. Youll know at that point.

Dorn said later Friday the board likely will decide on its course of action with legal counsel in closed session and take no open-session vote.

Immediately after the federal jury's July 6 decision, county officials said they didn't think the county was insured for such a thing. Earlier this week, its insurance carrier said they had not yet asked but that the county is likely covered to a cap of $5 million.

It appears county officials are now asking the risk-sharing pool that carries its coverage what the status of that coverage is.

Six people served a combined total of more than 75 years in prison after being arrested four years after Helen Wilson was beaten to death in her apartment near downtown Beatrice in 1985.

DNA testing in 2008 on evidence preserved from the crime scene tied the murder to a seventh person, and the six were exonerated.

They sued, and at the end of a second trial, jurors found the county, Deputy Sheriff Burt Searcey and Reserve Deputy Wayne Price liable for conducting a reckless investigation that led to the wrongful imprisonment of Joseph White, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Thomas Winslow, Kathy Gonzalez, James Dean and Deborah Shelden.

Attorneys for the six are required to submit their fees and other costs to the court by Thursday, and they have until Aug. 11 to file any further arguments with the courts. Attorneys for the county must respond in writing by Aug. 4.

Under federal law, the county can file a motion for a retrial in federal court within 28 days of the judgment and it can appeal the ruling to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals within 30 days.

Tomka, the lead attorney for Gage County in the civil rights suits, offered only a no comment after the Friday morning meeting as she, O'Brien and Whittamore-Mantzios walked to their vehicle.
ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated a call for his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to hand over the leader of an opposition movement accused of being behind the coup attempt in Turkey.

"Please meet our request if we are strategic partners," Erdogan said in remarks delivered in Istanbul.

The Turkish leader has blamed the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic scholar living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, for the unsuccessful coup that started on Friday night.

"I asked you previously either to deport him or surrender him to Turkey," Erdogan said, referring to Obama. "I told you that he is considering the coup d'etat, but you didn't listen."

The Turkish leader's audience chanted, demanding "the execution of Fethullah."

Ankara has been accusing the Gulen Movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

As many as 2,839 Turkish troops are now detained over suspected involvement in the failed coup, but Erdogan stated that "The Turkish army does not belong to the parallel structure."

The president urged his audience to shun schools run by the Gulen Movement for their children.

Erdogan's extradition request is expected to further heighten tensions between Anraka and Washington, as the NATO allies have long been in dispute over the treatment of Kurds in Syria.

Related:

Turkey confirms 3 top commanders held hostage saved and sound

ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Three top commanders who were held hostage by the Gulenist coup attempters were saved on July 16, Defense Minister Fikri Isik announced on Saturday night.

"Our commander of air staff, naval staff and the second chief of general staff were saved from the Akinci Base where they were held and are in good condition," Isik told reporters in the capital Ankara, adding that it was early to say that the coup danger was completely over, while urging caution. Full story

Feature: Coup attempt traps Turks in increasing anxiety over uncertain future

ISTANBUL, July 16 (Xinhua) -- "Last night in Taksim area nobody could sleep a wink for the gunfire sound and for the fear," said Hacizade, the owner of a restaurant on Istiklal Avenue.

The Taksim area, with a homonymous square at its center, and the adjoining Istiklal Avenue, a pedestrian street teeming with shops and malls, have been must-sees for both locals and foreign tourists.
RAMALLAH, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) welcomed on Saturday Islamic Hamas movement decision to agree on holding the first municipal elections in the Palestinian territories since 2006.

Saeb Erekat, the PLO Secretary General said in a statement in Ramallah that he is happy to hear the news that Hamas agreed to hold the municipal elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on October.

"We should resort to the poll and whoever wins will govern," said Erekat, adding "no one will come to appoint himself to govern this people, where Palestine and Jerusalem are more important than Arab and Islamic capitals."

The last municipal elections were held in all the Palestinian territories in 2006, however, the elections were held only in the West Bank in 2012 after Hamas, which controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, refused to hold it in the enclave.

"Hamas violent control of the Gaza Strip is the wound in the body of the Palestinian cause that is still bleeding," said Erekat, adding "all knows that the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem are under Israeli occupation."

He stressed that there will be no independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip only and there will be Palestinian state in the West Bank and Jerusalem without the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip announced that it accepts joining and holding municipal elections in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It said in an official press statement, emailed to reporters, that Hamas "affirms that holding the local elections is necessary based on Hamas keenness to rearrange the Palestinian home and boost principle of partnership."

Hamas, which will participate in the elections, promised in the statement that it will succeed the municipal elections in the Palestinian territories. Enditem
TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian officials on Saturday unanimously condemned recent coup attempt in Turkey and shouldered their support for Turkey's government in foiling the coup attempt.

Iran fully supports the legitimate Turkish government and the will of country's people against coup, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, was quoted as saying by Press TV on Saturday.

Iran condemns any military move to forcefully impose political will and supports the resolve of the Turkish people, Shamkhani said at the end of a SNSC meeting chaired by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday also praised the resistance of Turkish people against coup attempt as a victory of democracy.

"The brave support of the Turkish people of democracy and their elected government proved that the coup has no room in the region and is doomed to failure," Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

On early Saturday, Zarif expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey, saying that "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount."

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.

Besides, the senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday reiterated Iran's opposition to any use of force to topple democratically-elected governments, particularly the recent abortive coup attempt in Turkey, Press TV reported.

Ali Akbar Velayati said that governments have for years assumed office through popular vote and democratic channels in Turkey.

"If a few military personnel seek to crush underfoot the vote of the people under the influence of whatever factor or factors and overthrow the popular government of Erdogan, the Islamic republic of Iran will naturally oppose it," he pointed out.

On Saturday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also lauded the victory of democracy and national will over "a desperate bid" in Turkey to topple the country's government through an military coup.

In a message to Turkey's Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman, Larijani offered congratulations to his counterpart, members of the parliament, government and people in Turkey on the "victory of the nation's will, national sovereignty and democracy over a desperate and doomed measure" against the country's democratically-elected bodies, the report said.

"Events over past few hours showed very well that the nations' vote, will and demand are decisive," he said.

As an establishment which relies on people's votes and demands as well as Islamic principles, Iran has always supported democratically-elected governments as well as their people and national sovereignty, he added.

Also on Saturday, Shamkhani, said that "We are cognizant about the current situation in Turkey, and we consider instability in Turkey as the instability of our own country," Tasnim news agency reported.

"All the ground and aerial borders of Iran is under full control, and comprehensive surveillance is underway in the border areas," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

On Saturday, it was announced here that the Iranian airlines have resumed their flights between Tehran and Istanbul, official IRNA news agency reported. Enditem
This file photo taken on October 14, 2014 shows Turkish Chief of General Staff Operations Department Erdal Ozturk (2nd L) listening while to the US president make a statement for the press after a meeting at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Turkey detained general Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, on July 16, 2016, after a bloody coup attempt aiming to oust the government. Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country on July 16, after crushing a military coup by discontented soldiers seeking to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

TEHRAN, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian officials on Saturday unanimously condemned recent coup attempt in Turkey and shouldered their support for Turkey's government in foiling the coup attempt.

Iran fully supports the legitimate Turkish government and the will of country's people against coup, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Ali Shamkhani, was quoted as saying by Press TV on Saturday.

Iran condemns any military move to forcefully impose political will and supports the resolve of the Turkish people, Shamkhani said at the end of a SNSC meeting chaired by Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday also praised the resistance of Turkish people against coup attempt as a victory of democracy.

"The brave support of the Turkish people of democracy and their elected government proved that the coup has no room in the region and is doomed to failure," Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

On early Saturday, Zarif expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey, saying that "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount."

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.

Besides, the senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday reiterated Iran's opposition to any use of force to topple democratically-elected governments, particularly the recent abortive coup attempt in Turkey, Press TV reported.

Ali Akbar Velayati said that governments have for years assumed office through popular vote and democratic channels in Turkey.

"If a few military personnel seek to crush underfoot the vote of the people under the influence of whatever factor or factors and overthrow the popular government of Erdogan, the Islamic republic of Iran will naturally oppose it," he pointed out.

On Saturday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani also lauded the victory of democracy and national will over "a desperate bid" in Turkey to topple the country's government through an military coup.

In a message to Turkey's Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman, Larijani offered congratulations to his counterpart, members of the parliament, government and people in Turkey on the "victory of the nation's will, national sovereignty and democracy over a desperate and doomed measure" against the country's democratically-elected bodies, the report said.

"Events over past few hours showed very well that the nations' vote, will and demand are decisive," he said.

As an establishment which relies on people's votes and demands as well as Islamic principles, Iran has always supported democratically-elected governments as well as their people and national sovereignty, he added.

Also on Saturday, Shamkhani, said that "We are cognizant about the current situation in Turkey, and we consider instability in Turkey as the instability of our own country," Tasnim news agency reported.

"All the ground and aerial borders of Iran is under full control, and comprehensive surveillance is underway in the border areas," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

On Saturday, it was announced here that the Iranian airlines have resumed their flights between Tehran and Istanbul, official IRNA news agency reported.
ADEN, Yemen, July 16 (Xinhua) -- A second round of the UN-facilitated peace talks between Yemen's warring parties resumed Saturday in Kuwait after a two-week break, government officials said.

The negotiations aimed at ending the civil war, bringing security and stability to the war-torn Middle East country were officially halted late last month and were scheduled to resume on Friday.

The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed declared on Twitter that the first session of Kuwait-based talks was held Saturday evening with the presence of representatives from the two warring rivals.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdul-Malik Mekhlafi, who heads the government's peace negotiating team, said on Twitter that "the government decided to return to the peace talks after receiving written response from the UN envoy to our previous demands."

The upcoming talks will continue for about two weeks and will mainly focus on discussing withdrawal from cities, handing over government facilities, release of prisoners and lifting siege on cities, he said.

He added that "we agreed with the UN envoy that the two-week duration of the negotiations won't be extended more and no other topics will be debated."

The delegation of the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies from General People's Congress Party arrived in Kuwait on Friday from Sanaa.

Earlier this week, sources close to Yemen's presidency office told Xinhua that the Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi asked the government delegation to boycott the UN-facilitated peace talks in Kuwait if partnership with Houthis will be imposed on them.

Yemen's presidency based in Riyadh strongly rejected the latest UN vision that suggested a coalition government with Houthis to be formed and considered it as "attempts to legitimize the Houthi coup."

Yemeni political observers said that the UN-brokered peace talks that kicked off in Kuwait City on April 11 failed to reach any tangible breakthroughs to end the conflict after more than two months of negotiations.

Delegates of the government strongly insist that they represent Yemen's sole legitimate governing authority, and call for the full implementation of last year's UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

The resolution orders Houthi militias to withdraw from Sanaa and all other cities occupied earlier, hand back weapons and release political prisoners before forming a new sharing transitional government.

However, the Houthis and their allies, for their part, say that they represent the country's de facto rulers and urged to form a new transitional government before discussing withdrawal from cities and the other topics.

The Houthi top leaders have also reaffirmed their demand for a consensus president to lead the transition in any peace deal, but government delegates have firmly rejected and insist on implementation of the UN resolution first.

The civil war has drawn in Saudi-led coalition on March 2015, in response to the call of Yemen's president to restore his internationally recognized government to the capital, Sanaa.

The civil war has killed more than 6,400 people, half of them civilians, injured more 35,000 others, and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian aid agencies.

Yemen's conflict began after 2011 massive popular protests that demanded end to the 33-year rule of then president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
ANKARA, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of protesters gathered Saturday in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir to protest the coup attempt which killed at least 194 people and lead to chaos in majors cities in Turkey, Hurriyet News reported.

Protesters waving flags gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday night. The group also staged a marched toward the central Istiklal Avenue.

Thousands gathered at the central Kizilay Square of capital Ankara on late Saturday to protest the coup attempt, chanting anti-coup slogans.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was due to address the crowd but it was postponed later. The square was also closed to traffic. Protesters said they will stay until officials call them to return their homes.

In the Aegean province of Izmir, protesters gathered in the central Konak Square and chanted anti-coup slogans.

Following the coup attempt in the country on July 15, Turkish officials called on the nation to continue to protest the coup attempt in squares.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik said it was early to say that the coup danger was completely over, while urging caution in Turkey.
LHASA, July 16, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Local villagers of the Tibetan ethnic group ride to the filed for equestrian during the celebration of the Ongkor Festival in Lhunzhub County, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 16, 2016. The Ongkor Festival, or Bumper Harvest Festival, is celebrated annually by local farmers praying for good harvests of crops.(Xinhua/Chogo)
In light of continued developments, primarily since 2008, there exists in these United States a Legal System which operates on a proved Two Tiered approach to justice rendered, which primarily benefits Democratic Elites and Woke Ideological Virtue Signalers, representing their co-dependent wards, to the expressed exclusion of normal hardworking American citizens: What is your suggestion in remedying this widespread injustice and, if not corrected, its existential outcome for our Constitutional Republic?

Complete overhaul of the Department of Justice and their enforcers - the FBI - to reflect a far more honest justice system to keep patriots remaining calm.

Disband the FBI, and request that congress investigate all unethical and non patriotic practices to partially right the wrongs of a distrusted and politically weaponized "Department of Justice."
iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- On Friday, Congress and the U.S. Intelligence Community declassified 28 pages of documents produced by the first Congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks that included leads and speculative information about a possible Saudi government connection to two of the 19 hijackers.



The intelligence community said today that these pages only represent preliminary findings and do not reflect the U.S. government's ultimate conclusions about the attacks, which for the most part exonerate Saudi Arabia.



But these documents might serve as useful evidence for families of the 9/11 victims who are trying to sue the Saudi government. Read the documents for yourself here.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
What is the best evidence that God created the world?

Carl Kerby, president and founding board member of Reasons for Hope, says it is all around us, in our human anatomy, in the natural world and in the stars.

For instance, stars visible to the eye total the number 7 followed by 22 zeroes.

That number is greater than every grain of sand on every beach on the planet, said Kerby, who will be speaking at Faith E Church in Billings on Saturday and Sunday. And those are just the stars we can see.

Then theres over 100 species of an insect group in New Zealand, the weta. One type in particular can freeze solid for three months, and then when the sun comes out and the ice melts, the bug thaws and is still alive.

How can something like that evolve? Kerby said, in a telephone interview. If it didnt have antifreeze in the blood the first time it froze, how did it survive?

He maintains that the amazing complexity found in the world doesnt support the slow gradual process of Evolution.

It supports a Creator who created the way he said he did, Kerby said.

Kerby will speak on Does Genesis Matter? during three services, on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 9:30 and 11 a.m. He will address What is the best Evidence that God Created? Sunday at 6 p.m.

The talks are open to the public.

Kerby, who lives in Hebron, Kentucky, has studied the topic extensively. For a number of years he was a speaker with Answers in Genesis. The apologetics ministry seeks to help Christians learn how to defend their faith and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That includes focusing on the Old Testament book of Genesis and issues such as creation, evolution, science and the age of the earth. Kerby spoke to groups around the country.

Then about six years ago, he felt a tug to turn his attention on challenging men of all ages to understand and live out the Gospel. The tagline for Reasons for Hope Inc. is know it, live it and share it.

You can have the answers, but if your life doesnt reflect that, its hypocrisy, Kerby said. You have to live it.

Most Christians arent taught how to apply their faith in the real world, he said. Instead, they memorize the Bible, but dont get the deep meanings into their hearts.

We wonder why 50 to 88 percent of young people are gone from church by age 18, Kerby said. Weve not taught them how to apply their faith. Theyre walking away because they dont have a clue about it.

Young Christians need to be taught how to think, not just what to do, he said. It starts with addressing real world issues and showing that Gods Word is true, he said.

Kerby called Christianity "almost invisible" in American culture.

"There are 400,000 churches and 6,000 first-run movie theaters, he said. Which one is impacting the culture more?
MISSOULA  House and Senate Republican members called on their colleagues to pay attention to wildfire funding and forest management bills on Friday as Congress moved into its seven-week summer recess.

Were going to try to take action as soon as we come back, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, said during a press conference on Friday. The House moves pretty quickly, but the Senate has numerous committees that have jurisdiction. Well get to working away in the fall.

Roberts Emergency Wildfire and Forest Management Act of 2016 (S. 3085) pairs with a bill by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, that passed the House last year. The Resilient Federal Forests Act (HR 2647) was co-sponsored by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana. Roberts bill has no co-sponsors.

When all the money is going to fight fires in the West, theres no money for the Forest Service to manage forests in the South and East, said Westerman. And we havent told the story well enough about how much carbon gets emitted when these forests burn.

Both bills would create a funding mechanism to end the U.S. Forest Services problem of fire borrowing, where the agency must raid its own annual budget to cover the costs of large forest fires. They would also change some of the rules governing how the Forest Service manages collaborative forest projects, uses categorical exclusions, and handles legal challenges.

The bills got a lukewarm response from Montanas congressional delegation, all of whom are working on a different legislative package to fix the fire-borrowing problem. The Forest Service spent about 52 percent of its 2015 appropriation on wildfire costs.

Its not as bipartisan as I would hope, Zinke said of the Waterman bill. Our bill, which I strongly support, is the best road map going in. When (former Forest Service Chief) Dale Bosworth is testifying in favor of it, along with Dave Mahalic, who was superintendent of three national parks, I think Im on pretty good ground. Those are my sounding boards, guys who have tremendous experience in the parks and forest.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, said the Westerman-Roberts legislation used a less effective fire-borrowing solution than the version he supported, while adding controversial forest management changes that were likely to get vetoed.

While there is no doubt we need to improve the management of our forests, these partisan bills fall short and fail to address the underlying problem of fires burning up resources that should be used to proactively manage our forests, Tester said in an email. I will continue to focus on bipartisan efforts that put folks to work in our forests and preserve our outdoor heritage.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee thats working on the fire borrowing problem. In an email, he said he was pleased to see Agriculture Committee Chairman Roberts offering another solution.

Im encouraged by the growing bipartisan support for meaningful reforms to protect and grow good-paying jobs, enhance forest health, and treat catastrophic wildfires as natural disasters, Daines wrote.

One place where agreement does appear to exist is how the fire spending problem might get resolved  in a post-Election Day scramble. During a visit to Missoula earlier this week, Tester predicted the forest management bills could end up attached to some public lands omnibus bill in what he called a fairly active lame duck session.

Sen. Roberts made a similar forecast on Friday.

Were looking at any vehicles, and I do literally mean any vehicles, to get this done, Roberts said. It could be a stand-alone bill, or part of an energy bill conference. We are also looking at the end of year for some kind of omnibus that deals with appropriations. Those are all options.
Americans are getting too casual about death by violence, John Robinson told a crowd of about 25 people Thursday during a lecture series on Native American race relations and healing. We are living with a lot of tension now, but thats our reality.

Robinson, former president and chief judge of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, and Carolyn Pease-Lopez, a Democratic member of the Montana House of Representatives from Billings, were the speakers in what has now been a year of discussing race issues important to people living both on and off Montana reservations.

Theyve been productive and solutions-oriented talks, said Russell Rowland, who along with Adrian Jawort organized the lecture series, held the second Thursday of each month at the Billings Public Library.

We have seen so many instances across the nation that show us we have problems that need to be addressed, Pease-Lopez said. People in power need grassroots voices united to change things. I wonder what it would take for people to get mobilized and speak out like they did in the 60s? People then were jailed and killed, but we need to address these injustices now, because it has become a nightmare.

Both speakers referenced the killings of Hanna Harris, a Lame Deer woman murdered in 2013, and Roylynn Rides Horse, who died two months after being burned over much of her body near Castle Rock Road between Busby and Crow Agency.

Our law enforcement personnel are stretched too thin, Pease-Lopez said, concluding her talk with a quote from an unknown source but sometimes misattributed to Benjamin Franklin: Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

Robinson recalled entering law enforcement the day after he returned home from military service in the mid-1960s. He was issued a too-big holster and a snub-nosed weapon.

Back then, he said, there was a basic honesty among people, a sense of community and family. I was fortunate, he said of his early law-enforcement career on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

He said hes heard from current Northern Cheyenne law enforcement officials that 98 percent of arrests these days are drug related. He cited a rise in plea agreements  even for those people who arent guilty  as a reason why I pick up a few cases now and then, and so far I am batting 1,000.

I wonder, he said, how many of those 4,000 charges a year (filed against Northern Cheyenne reservation residents) should have gotten that far? I think we need a public defender system on the reservation to take a look at what occurred, make appearances and file motions for people.

Robinson said Native Americans can advance their goal of seeking justice by playing to their strengths.

Our strength is our stories and our traditions, he said. Rather than pointing fingers at the police and at President Obama, we need to look to ourselves and our own strengths  and how willing we are to step forward for our neighbor and our family.
When Scott Dubbs started teaching science in Harlowton in 1980, Montana issued scant guidance on what kids should be learning.

I remember the days when there were no standards whatsoever, said Dubbs, though there were some education guidelines related to state accreditation of schools, he said.

It was what the textbook people said was important.

He learned to evaluate what content in textbooks kids needed to learn most and when to teach it.

During the past year, Dubbs, now the curriculum director at Lewistown, helped create new science standards for Montana that the Board of Public Education proposed Thursday.

The science standards closely resemble Next Generation Science Standards, a framework developed by a 26-state group in 2013. Sixteen states have adopted the standards.

Kids in Lewistown, Billings, Missoula and Victor all get the same high school diploma. They take the same standardized tests. And they all learn the same things in class  kind of.

For decades now, Montana has issued state content standards  requirements for what students are supposed to know in certain subject areas. But those standards dont dictate how students learn, what materials are used and what subjects educators emphasize. Local school districts set curriculum, and teachers often have flexibility within that.

A standard is an educational destination; curriculum is how students get there. But the road for each district can be very different. Large districts, like Billings, have more resources but also have more moving parts to keep track of, like more students and more elective classes. Some small districts might have only one teacher per subject. That can lead to stronger relationships with students, but there are fewer opportunities for collaboration with fellow teachers.

The proposed standards are grouped by elementary grade-level standards, then middle school and high school. Current standards only address what students should know by the end of fourth and eighth grade, and by high school graduation.

About two-thirds of respondents in an Office of Public Instruction economic impact survey said their district wouldnt have to change its curriculum to meet the new standards.

The proposed standards were created by committees of educators, administrators and community members. They will be open for public input, and are slated to be up for approval this fall. If approved, they're supposed to go into effect for the 2017-18 school year.

New state standards for health, physical education and the arts were approved Thursday. Math and English and language arts were updated in 2011. Science standards were last updated in 2006. Officials said that while there is no formal schedule for what standards will be updated next, social studies standards last updated in 2000 are a priority.

Meeting standards

Often, classroom materials  a textbook, videos, activity guides  drive curriculum.

Current accreditation standards say districts need to review curriculum materials every five years; that doesnt necessarily mean they get updated or replaced. Teachers often use supplementary resources, from newspaper articles to YouTube videos. Billings is behind schedule updating its science curriculum, but its policy allows teachers to use supplemental resources. The district has also been rolling out Project Lead the Way, a hands-on science, technology, engineering and math initiative.

Andrea Meiers, a former Laurel Middle School principal, leads the Alliance for Curriculum Enhancement, a group that helps 38 districts in Montana design curriculum. Many of them are small, rural districts that aim to utilize collective expertise. Her group works to help districts get past relying solely on textbooks. Instead, she encourages them to use a variety of resources.

"But now the problem is vetting those (other resources), she said.

The proposed standards are less resource-dependent, she said. Promotional materials for the standards pitch them as not just a series of isolated facts, but as encouraging students to apply concepts across disciplines.

Missoula County Public Schools recently adopted NGSS standards as a district.

"Science used to be really fact-based and regurgitating a lot of facts about things," said Jodi Smith, a Missoula teacher who helped lead work on new science standards for the district. "Now it's taking it to more of that critical thinking from students."

Districts, with their curriculum control, are often ahead of the curve adapting to standards.

"Comparing NGSS to the old MCPS documents, science teachers found there was a lot of overlap," said Robyn Nuttall, another Missoula teacher who worked on the curriculum overhaul.

Our teachers have already kind of been implementing the concepts of the Next Generation. We have to teach our current state standards, but there are a lot of things that the Next Generation Standards apply to, said Laurel superintendent Linda Filpula, whose district hasn't formally adopted the standards. Theyre very well aligned with what were doing.

Challenges

The state did determine that the standards would be a significant financial burden for many districts, whether for new materials or teacher training. The OPI set aside more than $500,000 for districts during the first three years of new standard implementation. The office requested an additional $100,000 in the governors budget.

Engineering standards in NGSS were excised from Montana standards, in part out of concern about the ability of small districts to adapt.

Dan Johnston, principal of Victors middle and high schools and leader of the Ravalli County Curriculum Consortium, said in an email that the consortium is in the process of reviewing and adopting fine arts and library media standards that were revised by the state in 2008. Science standards wont come under review until the 2017-2018 school year.

No matter what OPI does with the standards, local districts tend to be one to five years behind, depending on their adoption cycle, Johnston said.

No one is considering mandating a statewide curriculum.

Thats not the way it works in Montana, Dubbs said. We are so independent. We literally get on our horse and we do our thing.

There are benefits and downsides to that independence, said Dr. Lisa Blank, a University of Montana professor in curriculum and instruction.

With a decentralized education system, districts can set a locally-focused curriculum that makes sense for its students and teachers. But the tradeoff is a mile-wide, inch-deep curriculum that lacks a consistent progression of subject matter and emphasis across the state, Blank said.

Meiers, an advocate of Montanas local curriculum system, called the current science standards very broad.

I think we certainly need guidance on what a good education looks like, she said. (But) you have to go back through your own community and figure out what fits.

Accountability

The state checks in on districts through accreditation standards, which were last updated in 2013. New federal legislation also mandates that schools create an accountability system that includes standardized testing.

The rise of test-based accountability led to a push to teach to standards, Dubbs said.

Then everybody started going, if were gonna get tested on this, we probably do need to focus more on what the standard says and how were going to get there, he said.

But federal testing zeroes in on reading and math, not subjects like science, or the arts, health and physical education, for which new standards were approved Thursday.

"Assessment is what we value, Blank said. Math and reading have become quite central to curriculum, because its whats evaluated. Science is not a high-stakes assessment field, unlike math and reading. In the last decade, it has been math and reading every year in elementary, then in middle school one checkpoint in science in eighth grade, and one in high school.

Several administrators said collaboration would be key for implementing the standards once they're approved, especially for rural districts.

When youre in Podunk, MT, 100 miles away from anywhere, it really hard to have those conversations, Dubbs said. I think a lot of it is just trying to share as much as you can."
Off-duty cop shoots bandit, recovers stolen loot

The courageous officer identified as Police Constable Ramjitsingh of the Tableland Police called on the bandits to drop their weapons but they fired shots at him which missed their target.

Ramjitsingh returned fire, striking one of the bandits in the groin area.

The men fled the scene but Ramjitsingh called for backup from his colleagues at the Rio Claro Police Station and the wounded suspect was found hiding in a box drain.

A short distance away, close to where he was hiding, officers recovered cash, cigarettes, and alcohol stolen from a nearby grocery.

The suspect was identified as a 19-year-old from Libertsville Rio Claro.

Police investigators said yesterday that the arrest of the four accomplices is imminent.

According to reports shortly after 8.45 pm when 38-year-old Hu Cheng-Kan, proprietor of Rainbow Supermarket and his father 63-year-old Hu-Chao-Gian were held up by the bandits.

Hu-Chao-Gian was beaten with a cutlass while his son Hu Cheng-Kan was ordered to hand over cash, cigarettes and alcohol from the supermarket.

The owner of the building, Wayne Mohammed, who witnessed the robbery in progress, alerted Ramjitsingh, his neighbour, who wasted no time responding to the robbery.

Senior police officers led by ASP Neesha and officers from the Rio Claro Police Station visited the scene on Thursday night and commended Ramjitsingh for his bravery and quick response.
Arima man stabbed to death

Newsday understands that a 25-yearold man is now in police custody at the Arima Police Station assisting police with enquiries. The dead man has been identified as 33-year-old Michael Joseph.

Reports are that Joseph and the man were near the Guanapo dump yesterday, when, at about 9.30 am, the two got into an argument, after the man accused Joseph of touching his girlfriend inappropriately.

The argument escalated into a physical confrontation and, during the fracas, the 25-year-old man pulled out a knife, and stabbed Joseph. He died on the spot.

Police and emergency services were called and police officers of the Northern Division responded. Josephs body was ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre, St James where an autopsy is expected to be conducted.
Man shot on Maraval Road

An online news report stated that the incident occured at about 4:15 am when Dave Williams, an acclaimed local dancer, was driving along Maraval Road.

The report stated Williams offered a man a lift near Maraval Road when the man attempted to rob him.

During the attempted robbery, the assailant pulled out a firearm and shot Williams. The assailant then exited the vehicle and made good his escape. Williams reportedly drove himself to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he was treated.

He was later said to be in a serious but stable condition.

Williams is a multi-media performer and choreographer, and an advertising consultant.
Man charged for womans murder

The accused Mark Sonawah, of Amichan Trace, Lower Barrackpore, appeared before Senior Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan who read the charge which alleged that on February 19, at Papourie Road, Lower Barrackpore, he murdered Angeline Ali.

The charge, laid by WPC Callender of the Homicide Bureau (Region III), was laid indictably and Sonawah was not called upon to plead. Ali, 56, a mother of three, was a director in the familys landscaping business, Shaliza General Contractors, located on the same compound of the home.

The magistrate adjourned the case to August 10. Meanwhile, Tarouba pipe-fitter Jonathan Bucket Lawrence , 25, made his first court appearance last Friday charged with the murder of Claxton Bay resident Nicholas Vespry, 40. Cpl Patrick of the Homicide Bureau ( Region III) laid the charge.

Vespry, a company foreman of Union Village, was shot and killed along Railway Road, Couva, on May 20, when he exited his Nissan Almera car, he having been struck from behind by a white AD wagon.

The accused is expected to reappear in court on August 5.
IT WAS SCARY

Ten children were among 84 persons killed in the attack by a 31-year old French Tunisian during Bastille Day celebrations, late Thursday evening. More than 200 persons were also injured and the death toll appears set to increase as dozens more were deemed to be in critical condition by hospital officials.

(See Page 23A) Minister of Foreign Affairs Dennis Moses  who was early yesterday morning engaged in meetings  said his ministry was following the situation closely in a bid to ascertain if any TT nationals were affected. He said lines of communication had been opened with the TT embassy at Brussels, though there is also an honorary consul at France.

We are in communication on an ongoing basis, Moses told Newsday. We are trying our best to follow the situation. He later added there was no confirmed instance of any nationals among the dead. Trinidad and Tobago national Larry Lumsden yesterday said he was not at Nice at the time of the events, but described the mood in Paris, as all of France mourned the dead.

It is a very scary mood, Lumsden, a former talk show host, told Newsday. There is a heavy police and army presence everywhere.

While people are moving around the city, it is really scary.

It is uneasy. Lumsden described sombre scenes of mourning. On one Paris street, citizens put up posters and placed flowers in one square.

Nice, Istanbul, Bagdad, Orlando, the posters said, alluding to a string of recent atrocities all over the world. Another TT national, Ranae Teeman Thomas, had a narrow escape. After a romantic trip to St Tropez, Thomas had planned to head to Nice but decided at the last minute to head to Ibiza to celebrate a recent engagement, her mother Kathy yesterday said. Ranae was busy counting her lucky stars at Ibiza.

France extended its state of emergency  in place since the Paris attacks in November 2015  by three months. France has been on high alert since the January 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo offices and a Jewish supermarket in Paris that killed 17 people and wounded 22. Frances president Fran?ois Hollande vowed to escalate action in Iraq and Syria.

France is in tears, it is hurting, Holland said. He nonetheless vowed, Nothing will make us yield in our will to fight terrorism. Kamla shocked Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the event was, a shocking demonstration of the forces that work against peace and liberty and constituted a time of horror and sadness.

She said: Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and in particular, the families who lost their loved ones in this violent attack. We in the Opposition UNC, and indeed the people of Trinidad and Tobago stand in solidarity with the French people and President Fran?ois Hollande who rightly said we are facing a long battle because we have an enemy who will continue to hate all the people who enjoy liberty, Persad- Bissessar said.

The Opposition Leader also said, The battle has been long and will continue to challenge us in every sphere of life, but battles for liberty and freedom were fought and won by our forefathers; we are a generation of people who are not only free, but also know how to defend our freedom. We wish the people of France Gods hand and protection in this time of horror and sadness. US President Barack Obama condemned the Bastille Day attack as horrific; UK Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to redouble efforts to fight terror; and Chinas premier Li Keqiang vowed, as well, to fight terror in all its forms. US Ambassador to TT John Estrada sent condolences to the French Embassy at Portof- Spain and said, We stand in solidarity with France and all those who oppose such acts of violent extremism throughout the world. French prime minister Manuel Valls said although he could not confirm the attackers motives, Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was, a terrorist probably linked to radical Islam one way or another. Obama warned that terrorism should not be used to divide nations on the basis of religion.

Rihanna yesterday cancelled a concert which had been scheduled for last night at Nice, while in the UK the Queen also joined world leaders in sending condolences.

According to the French media, the lorry was rented two days ago in Saint-Laurent-du- Var, close to Nice. The driver, a chauffeur and deliveryman who was born in Tunis but had lived in France for years, did not appear to be on the radar of anti-terrorist law enforcement officials but had a criminal record, including for domestic violence, theft and violent assault with a weapon. He had last been convicted in March.

There were reports of weapons in the cab of the lorry, and police raided the apartment of the drivers estranged wife. Commentators said the driver seemed to fit the profile of persons who held a background in petty crime who were later radicalised.
Unity in face of terror

The ambassador was speaking at his St Clair residence where members of the diplomatic corps gathered to celebrate Bastille Day.

Addressing the tragedy, which took place in Nice earlier that evening, Picquart said: As you knowmaybe you have not heard, but tonight there has been a killing in Nice  in the south of France by a truck launched in high speed into the crowd of people gathered to celebrate the 14 of July. France is desirous of strengthening the cooperation between our two countries as evidenced by the session organized here in May with the Counter Narcotics Training Centre based in Martinique coming here to train staff of the Trinidad and Tobago Police in the fight against money laundering  which is part of the fight against both terrorism and drug trafficking. Ambassador Pacquart was an affable host to the assembly, as he mingled and chatted with his comrades and associates before and after his address. Thanking his guests for their attendance and support, Pacquart also made note of the challenge posed by recent agreements signed by 175 countries including Trinidad and Tobago) with regard to global warming and the reduction of harmful emissions.

He noted that France is also a Caribbean nation, in addition to being a European one and referred to several diplomatic and economic partnerships and projects already in progress.

Additionally, Ambassador Picquart made note of cultural exchanges and internships taking place between our two countries and reminded citizens of T&T that VISAs are no longer required to visit Martinique, Guadelope, France and now also French-Guiana (since March 2016).

TT EXTENDS CONDOLENCES

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, Dennis Moses conveyed condolences to the Ambassador on behalf of Prime Minister Keith Rowley in regard to the most recent tragedy and also reviewed the history of the French influence on the development of Trinidad and Tobago. French expertise has contributed to the development of Trinidad and Tobago most visibly through infrastructure projects, such as the design, construction and equipping of the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, the construction of the International Waterfront Complex and the Churchill Roosevelt Highway/Uria Butler Highway interchange.

Our bi-lateral relationship with France, Minister Moses added, has included cooperation in the areas or: agriculture, construction, crime and security, culture, education and health  and is reinforced by the ties Trinidad and Tobago has been developing in the region with Guadelope, Martinique and French-Guiana. Congratulating France on its leadership in achieving the COP21 agreement to limit global warming and offered a celebratory toast to the Ambassador and the people of France and its regions on the occasion of la Fete Nationale.
Kamal displeased

Persad-Bissessar made her feelings known as she addressed the launch of the UNCs screening of candidates for the Siparia Regional Corporation (SRC), at the Siparia Auditorium yesterday.

While the Local Government election was her main focus, Persad- Bissessar however gave her views on the former Congress of the People leaders decision saying while neither Rowley nor Ramadhar had consulted her about the issue, Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial made the correct decision by informing her of the invitation.

With respect to inviting two Opposition MPs to go with him to Jamaica, Dr Rowley did not seek to speak with me or the Office of the leader of Opposition, Persad- Bissessar said, adding, Ms Ramdial contacted me and said she received a phone call from the Minister of Everything Stuart Young and she consulted me and I asked her thoughts on it and she took a decision that the whole process was inappropriate and she would not accept the invitation. Mr Ramadhar did not consult or seek any advice from me and that was the process there but Ramona Ramdial did and I think we should congratulate her for her decision, she added. Persad-Bissessar also described her decision to invite then Opposition Leader Rowley, to accompany her to the state funeral for South African leader Nelson Mandela, as totally different as the Jamaica trip was one in which policy decisions would be made while the other was a State funeral.

This clearly is not the case of when I invited the Opposition leader to come with me to the funeral of Nelson Mandela. It is a totally different situation because this (Jamaica visit) is where policy decisions are to be made and should be discussed beforehand, before anyone of us run out there, she said.

We have our caucuses and we decide what the policy decisions we will make are. We cannot decide that we will just take a free trip and go to represent the Opposition without consultation. I think Ramona did the right thing and I thank her for doing it. We are a team and we work together and we caucus together, Persad- Bissessar said. She also offered her views on statements by SDMS leader, Satnarine Maharaj, who had labelled former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning as a racist and whose statements was subsequently described by Rowley as being close to sedition. My comment on that is simple, we want to be very careful when we speak about sedition. Sedition is a crime in Trinidad and Tobago, a crime for which there is no bail and we know that this Rowley administration is to lock up everybody.

Lock them up, they say it in Parliament yes, she said.

I think in this country constitutionally we are entitled to freedom of speech unless our freedom of speech breaches the law then we are free to speak and therefore the Prime Minister coming to attack Mr Sat Maharaj not on the reasoning he gave, not on the substance on his argument but in an attempt to create fear to talk about sedition.
Billings firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming from the western section of the roof of the Heights Inn Motel on Friday afternoon.

The call came in about 4:15 p.m.

Roofing work including tarring earlier in the day might have played a role in the fire, said Billings Fire Department Battalion Chief Terry Larson, though it's not yet certain what caused the fire.

Smoke was ventilating from the attic below the roof, and several firefighters were sent up a ladder truck to direct water flow, Larson said.

Firefighters cut a 12-foot-by-15-foot hole in the roof to extinguish any remaining hot spots, Larson said. Four engines and a ladder truck were sent to the business located at 1206 Main St.

Everyone was evacuated, and no injuries were reported, Larson said.

Kari Musgrove, a tenant at the hotel, said she was lying in her bed on the first floor when she smelled smoke after 4 p.m. When she heard sirens, she came outside, grabbing her 1-year-old support cat, Laylo, on the way.

"I'd leave my purse before I'd leave my cat," Musgrove said.

Speaking Friday night Larson said the roof was patched up and all but two customers were able to stay for the night. A report from Fire Marshall Jaime Fender estimated damage in the range of $10,000 and reported that moderate damage was caused to the roof and attic of the fully insured property.

It's unclear how many customers were displaced by the fire, but more than 20 people stood in the parking lot watching the firefighters work Friday afternoon.

A hotel employee told Musgrove the business had arranged for rooms for tenants at the Days Inn on Parkway Lane, she said.
Villagers evacuated in North Trinidad

The woman who only gave her name as Natasha told Newsday that she was supposed to visit the health centre to tend to a wound on her arm but could not because of the floods. She has lived in Greenvale for more than a year and she said this was the first time this had occurred.

MP for the area Maxie Cuffie said he started getting calls at about 3.30 am yesterday about the situation and he immediately contacted the Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

He added that TTEC was also contacted as many of the utility lines in the area were underground. Cuffie said the flooding was caused by a faulty flood gate that the HDC had to address. He assured residents that the gate would be fixed as soon as possible. HDC Corporate Communications Manager Marissa Findlay who was also visited the area said six pumps were brought in to flush out the water and once that was done they would work on repairing the flood gate.

Meanwhile in El Carmen Number 4, St Helena many homes were surrounded by water.

One woman who gave her name as Laura said she has lived in the area for 16 years and it happens every time it rains. She said last year, box drains were built and because of that, the water did not enter their homes yesterday She added that for the many years they have had this problem, no one has come to their aid.

I think they are afraid they drown in the back here, we never see anyone, she said.

Meanwhile Sunil Ramjitsingh and Beeran Rambaran, aldermen in the Couva-Tabaquite- Talparo Regional Corporation are claiming that corruption and mismanagement contributed to the Central floods. In a release, the two men claimed that the flooding in parts of Cunupia, Chin Chin, Welcome, Las Lomas, Talparo and other areas could have been averted or minimised if the watercourse cleaning programmes approved by the Corporations Council since April of this year, were implemented.

The men also claimed that $750,000 in approved work in critical areas was not done.

The two aldermen called on the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government to investigate the situation.

A Ministry of Works and Transport release yesterday indicated that the Priority Bus Route (PBR) had been opened for general traffic to mitigate major traffic gridlock on the main highways because of the flood.

Use of the PBR by the general motoring public was extended up to midnight.
SWMCOL workers on go slow

This is according to President of the Industrial General and Sanitation Workers Union, Robert Benacia who told Newsday yesterday that the working conditions of the daily paid workers at SWMCOL remain extremely hazardous. The union met with officers from the Inspectorate Division of the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA) yesterday morning, he said, and discussed some of the poor working conditions under which workers carry out their duties.

OSHA has put forward some recommendations to SWMCOL which now has to say what action it is going to take, Benacia said.

The union met with the workers on Thursday, he said, to brief them on Governments proposed method of paying the arrears on their salaries. Over 330 workers from dump sites at the Beetham, Guanapo, Forres Park and Tobago, he said, were affected.

On Wednesday, Benacia said, the line minister for SWMCOL, Public Utilities Minister Ancil Antoine, informed the union that workers will be paid half of the arrears owed to them by the end of this month (July), and the balance by September. That did not go down well with the workers, he said.

Antoine is due to pay a visit to the Beetham Landfill on Tuesday to see first hand the hazardous conditions under which workers carry out their functions.

Immediately, the water connection that was cut over two years ago at the Beetham Landfill site, he said, has to be reconnected.

Without water you cant keep things clean.

Toilets and bathrooms are of immediate concern, he said.

Until his visit on Tuesday, we would be giving everyone a little ease. The sites are open.

We have not called off the protest, and we will by guided by the workers demands, Benacia said.

On Wednesday, too, he said, he spoke with Finance Minister Colm Imbert on the phone to get an update on a proposal that was sent to him to fund welfare facilities for workers at the Beetham Landfill site. Imbert, he said, apologised for the lack of communication from SWMCOLs line minister on this issue.

There seems to be a deliberate plan to mislead workers so they will not protest. We have been fed a lot of misinformation which I call blatant lies. It is a disrespect to workers, he said.

The major problem with the company is the failure to improve the poor working conditions at all the dump sites. We are 40 years behind up-to-date waste management systems.
Two judges tipped for CA

In March, in what some have described as an unprecedented move, the Judiciary advertised two vacancies for CA. The JLSC invited applications from people between the ages of 45 and 60 who are qualified nationals of the Commonwealth who are either sitting judges of the High Court with three years experience or who have been admitted to practise as attorneys and have 15 years standing. There are currently 11 Justices of Appeal (three women, eight men). The full complement of 12 will likely be made out in time for the new term.

Weekes on Thursday thanked a wide range of persons from her 20 years on the Bench. Among those she thanked was the late Dana Seetahal SC (my good friend, still missed, who appeared many times before the Court of Appeal) and all three Chief Justices whom she served under (CJ Ivor Archie; CJ Sat Sharma and CJ Michael de la Bastide).

She also thanked her orderly Bernette Wilson Phillip, among others.

The two decades have passed in the blink of an eye, Weekes, 57, the longest serving justice of the Supreme Court, said. It has been both an honour and a pleasure to have served the people of Trinidad and Tobago...

Even jury exemptions could become lively. I really love the Judiciary and the people who make it up. Justice of Appeal Allan Mendonca described Weekes as, one of the most valued and respected judges of the court and an outstanding jurist.

We will miss you. He hailed her for, a mind of obvious clarity and for being at one point, the most experienced criminal High Court judge though not the most senior. Mention was also made of an aborted attempt to scale Mount Kilimanjaro.

Of Weekes habit of supplying baked goods, Mendonca remarked, my brothers humbly ask that the tradition continue. Weekes was the first woman graduate of the Hugh Wooding Law School to be elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Her legal career began in 1982 after graduating from UWI in 1980.

She spent 11 years at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), working with Lionel Jones and Clebert Brooks and rising to become a senior state counsel. She then worked in private practice for three years  at one stage working with the late Theodore Guerra SC and later having her own chambers at Park Plaza  before being invited to apply to become a judge. She joined the Court of Appeal in 2005.

Perhaps the most famous case Weekes sat on was the one which applied the law of apparent bias in relation to the matters surrounding the Basdeo Panday Integrity trial conducted by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls. She also sat on a panel which refused to overturn a conviction for the countrys biggest-ever drug bust, the $700 million Monos Island drug bust.

CJ Archie noted Weekes would ask lawyers if they had anything useful to add in addition to written submissions in an effort to efficiently manage court time.

Since I have nothing useful to add I will simply concur with what has been said, the Chief Justice said
Prakash: Executive approved Jamaica trip

In a statement to the media issued hours after it was announced that Ramadhar would be part of a delegation to Jamaica, Ramadhar also said there is precedent for Opposition members being included on delegations of official overseas missions and praised Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for bi-partisanship in relation to the issue of relations between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

I am pleased that Dr Rowley has recognised the value of this example in bi-partisanship and is now following suit. It is note-worthy that my participation has been approved by the Executive of the Congress of the People, Ramadhar said.

The example of inviting opposition Members of Parliament to accompany the Prime Minister on official overseas missions was set in December, 2013 by former PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, when she invited then Leader of the Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley, to attend the funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Of relations between TT and Jamaica, Ramadhar said, It is both unfortunate and worrying that relations between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica seem to have soured somewhat. Apart from being a friend and ally of Trinidad and Tobago for many years, Jamaica is home to many of our own citizens, particularly our students who attend the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies. It is also an important trading partner - being one of this countrys largest markets for our manufactured products. Ramadhar continued, Consequently, it is important for us, as parliamentarians and as elected representatives of our citizens, to do everything reasonably necessary to restore the good relations which previously existed. This includes taking full advantage of any opportunity which may present itself for meaningful dialogue on the issue.
Kamla concerned about SASC

He made the announcement at the post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair on Thursday.

Persad-Bissessar said Imberts reasons do not support the abolition of the SASC. Describing this as an exceedingly dangerous pathway to follow, Persad-Bissessar said if the Government was unhappy with the SASC and felt it had acted illegally, it can pursue other avenues for redress. Persad-Bissessar said she was not aware of the argument advanced by Imbert that the SASC had outlived its usefulness and that its functions should be carried out by the PSC. Noting the PSC already has a lot of challenges to deal with on its own, Persad- Bissessar said there was no need to further burden the Commission with the SASCs duties. She added that the countrys 14 local government corporations are amongst the bodies that fall under the remit of the SASC.

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal described Imberts announcement as Government, continuing its rampage of undermining the independent institutions of State in TT. However in its 12th report, submitted to Parliament on June 14, 2013, the Municipal Corporations and Statutory Authorities Joint Select Committee (JSC), noted that, previous governments have suggested the dissolution of the SASC. This JSC said the issue of whether the SASC should continue; or be abolished or be reconfigured, are serious matters falling for consideration. The JSC, at that time, said if the SASC is a necessary restraint against political control or influence, it recommended,  a complete re-evaluation of the Commissions mandate, roles, functions and services be pursued, expeditiously, in order to improve upon existing weaknesses. On the issue of discipline, the JSC said the SASC indicated to it that in many instances, non-public officers were unaware of public service regulations which resulted in decisions being taken that were inconsistent with the regulations.

At that time, the JSC was chaired by then Independent Senator Subhas Ramkhelawan.

Other members of the committee included St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar, Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene McDonald and then Arima MP (now Opposition Senator) Rodger Samuel.
What you need to know about the Octagon Art Festival on Sunday in Ames

news
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., has resigned as a delegate to the Republican nominating convention because of the party's position on the transfer of federal public lands to the states.

Montana's lone congressman, Zinke told The Gazette he withdrew after the Republican platform committee endorsed transferring federal lands. Zinke made his resignation public Friday. The decision was official a few days ago.

"What I saw was a platform that was more divisive than uniting," Zinke said. "At this point, I think it's better to show leadership."

The GOP draft platform reads: "Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing a timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to the states. We call upon all national and state leaders and representatives to exert their utmost power of influence to urge the transfer of those lands identified."

A reserve Montana delegate will have to be appointed to replace Zinke. Public lands have emerged as a political tripwire in the 2016 Montana elections.

Zinke will still deliver a speech about national security Monday to the Republican National Convention.

Since mid-June, Zinke's Democratic challenger, Denise Juneau has accused the congressman of "voting to sell off public lands," by supporting a bill by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, that creates a 4-million acre pilot program for local management of federal lands. The federal government would keep ownership of the lands, under the pilot project."

Campaign factchecker Ballotpedia this week found Juneau's allegation to be false.

However, Ballotpedia focused only the ownership of public lands, not transferring management of those lands, Juneau's campaign responded Friday.

Denise stands with Montanas sportsmen and conservation groups opposed to HR 2316, which would transfer management of Americas public lands to politically appointed boards, said Lauren Caldwell, Juneau campaign manager. Denise is opposed to any attempt to chip away at management of and access to our public lands. Congressman Zinke cannot say the same. Both the Montana and National Republican Party platforms advocate for the transfer or sale of our land.

Zinke said he supports better management of federal land but doesn't support transferring those lands to the states.

Surrogates for both presidential candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, have said the presumptive nominees wont support a transfer of federal lands.

"Quite frankly, most Republicans don't agree with it and most Montanans don't agree with it," Zinke said of transferring federal lands to the states. "What we do agree on is better management."

In June, Zinke proposed appointing a watchdog panel of state, tribal and local government representatives and mining industry representatives to advise the Department of Interior on mineral leasing. House Democrats said Zinke's proposal gave too much power to local interests.

The proposal, knows as the Certainty for States and Tribes Act, was in response to a suspension of new coal leases made by The Department of Interior earlier this year. Interior officials suspended leasing so the department could determine whether royalties on coal mined on federal land were set too low.

In coal country, the suspension was met with calls of mismanagement and a demand for local control of federal land. Similar arguments have arisen in northwest Montana as timber industry jobs have declined.
President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee inaugurates first edition of "India Skills"

New Delhi, Sat, 16 Jul 2016 NI Wire

President Shri Pranab Mukherjee here today inaugurated the first edition of "India Skills Competition" on the occasion of World Youth Skills Day in the gracious presence of Union Ministers Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Smt. Smriti Irani, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Dr Jitendra Singh and Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy. yesterday is the day when Skill India is also celebrating its first anniversary.

Marking the first anniversary of the "Skill India" initiative, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) also announced the launch of five major initiatives reinforcing Ministrys commitment to the youth of India. These initiatives are Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 2.0, India International Skill Centres, India Skills Online and a Labour Management Information System (LMIS). These initiatives were launched by the President Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Congratulating everyone on the anniversary of Skill India, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, Skill India Mission is like a Start-up of Prime Minister for us, and during this last one year, every day has been enterprising for me. My Ministry is a live example of an early stage venture that I and my 35 Co-founders (All the officers and employees of the Ministry) have cherished, have been excited about, experienced nervousness for, but truly enjoyed it.We are thankful for the enormous support that we have received from the President of India, who helped us in reaching out to 1500 employees at Rashtrapati Bhawan and certify them under the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) component of PMKVY, across 18 job roles and is today a part of our celebrations, he further added.

Skill India is seeing great traction and is all geared to meet its philosophy of speed, scale and standards ensuring there is opportunity to get skilled for all. In the past 15 days, MSDE has got cabinet approvals on 22,000 crore worth of outlay for programs like Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojana and PMKVY 2.0, to be implemented over the next few years.

The Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), which was launched last year, has secured an approval from the cabinet for its 2.0 version with an outlay of 12,000 crore for the next four years to train a total of 1 crore youths over the next 4 years (April 2016 to March 2020). This is an endeavour by MSDE to scale up the reach of PMKVY and at the same time strengthen the system and make these trainings more effective with robust monitoring and outcome. PMKVY. Last years edition of the scheme saw training of close to 20 lakh youth in 2015-16 while the overall achievement of the ministry stood at 1.04 crore trainings across ministries.

The event also saw the announcement of 50 India International Skill Centers that are slated to be open by the end of this year. In the initial phase, 15 centres have been launched today by the President, across the following eight sectors: Domestic Workers, Healthcare, Retail, Security, Capital Goods, Automotive, Construction and Tourism &and Hospitality.These will be set up through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and will be implementing the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) and Pravasi Kaushal VikasYojana (PKVY) to the youth seeking global mobility for jobs. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shall provide support for Pre-Departure Orientation Training, which includes language and soft skills training modules. The first 15 will be the following States: Uttar Pradesh (6), Kerala (2) and one each in Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Shri Mukherjee also launched a single window platform to aggregate supply and demand trends in the Indian skill development ecosystem, referred to as the National Labour Market Information System (LMIS) - www.lmis.gov.in.LMIS is an integrated set of institutional arrangements, procedures, mechanisms and data systems designed to produce labour market information as per global standards and best practices. The system brings together statistical (quantitative) and non-statistical (qualitative) information concerning labour market actors and their environment and generate key analysis and reports which can be used for various policy interventions by different government stakeholders, as well as by the industry at large. The National Skills Development Agency (NSDA) is designated as the lead agency for the development of the national LMIS. NSDA is undertaking a phase wise approach for the integration of required data. The inputs from 21 ministries, State Governments, National Skill Development Corporation and Sector Skill Councils is underway to be integrated in the national database on skilling. The core function of the LMIS is convergence of information such as data of Training Providers, Training Centers, Employers, Certified candidates, Candidates seeking Training etc. across Ministries/Departments/Geographies and Sectors. Another initiative of the Ministry leveraging technology to reach millions of skill seekers, the President announced the launch of India Skills Online (www.indiaskillsonline.com), an online platform for learning skills of choice. With the introduction of Online Skill-learning environment, the whole nation potentially becomes a classroom. The audio-video graphical illustrations format will help internalize the concepts for the skill-seekers, faster and longer. Online, the hard skills are supported by soft skill learning opportunities that help candidates become more confident, presentable, professionals. Skill India resolves to bridge the digital divide by providing basic digital literacy opportunities to all skill-seekers. Thus enabling them to become more aware, and better suited for the work environment of the day. The web skilling opportunities, come coupled with the convenience of learning and practicing the skill-nuggets with the convenience of a mobile app. Thus increasing the accessibility, availability and personalization options in skilling.

Earlier in the day MSDE and its partners from the skill ecosystem celebrated the day with great fanfare at multiple locations around the country. Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship flagged off a Skillathon (an awareness march) which began from India Gate, having more than 2500 youth participating in it and showcasing their solidarity towards the need and importance of skills. 40 smaller chapters of Skillathon 2016 were organised by partners of NSDC throughout Delhi and other parts of India celebrating World Youth Skills Day 2016.

India Skills is a national competition steered by Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to select the best talent who will lead Indias participation at the biennial World Skills International Competition scheduled at Abu Dhabi in 2017.

In order to select the best talent to represent India at IndiaSkills, MSDE and NSDC have completed more than 80 regional competitions in 24 skills/trades including hair stylist, welding, car painting, auto body repair, graphic designing, robotics to name a few.Close to 4820 candidates registered to participate in the competition this year. The competition will conclude with a closing ceremony on 17th July, 2016.

Source: PIB
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This week in the Next Generation Communications Community was eclectic to say the least. Making up for what was a short week due to the July 4 celebration last week, there was a lot that caught our attention, ranging from IoT adoption to public safety and a whole lot more.





News

There certainly was no shortage of interesting news this past week and a good place to start is with the publication of the Vodafone Fourth Annual IoT Barometer Report. By all means use the link in the article to download the complete report. As I noted in the posting, what is most interesting about it were the findings of just how extensive IoT adoption already is and how important organizations believe embedding IoT is to almost everything they do will be for future success.

From the good news to a mixed bag is probably a good way to assess the recent report from PointSource, The State of the Mobile Experience Report (which also can be downloaded via the link in the article), on how industry professionals feel about the state of the experiences they are providing mobile users. Without giving away all of the details, the bad news here is that only 15 percent of those interviewed rated their organizations mobile experience as excellent. The good news is that there is recognition of the importance of raising the bar and there is going to be ample investment in the area at a level that may surprise readers.

In our third item, if you thought Facebook (News - Alert) was just about social media you need to rethink things. Not only is the company working with others on looking at what the future of data center infrastructure should be, and at encrypted messaging , it is has designed and begun testing its own open-source software-defined wireless access hardware called OpenCellular.

As readers will see below, community host Nokia (News - Alert) has been busy the last few days, and in an item that is certainly one of note, it announced this week that Nokia has renewed its OSSii Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ericsson and Huawei (News - Alert), who did likewise, it should be noted. What is new about the MoU is that it extends the duration and scope of the initiative for assuring OSS interoperability between different solutions providers to cover IP multimedia subsystems and virtualized network functions.

And, speaking of support, the GSMA (News - Alert) made news this past week when it lent its support to European 5G development with encouragement of the"5G Manifesto for Timely Deployment of 5G in Europe" initiative.

Last and not least, since 5G is really top of mind, Verizon (News - Alert) announced that it is the first carrier in the United States to complete 5G radio specifications. As the article points out, Verizon is not stopping there as it pushes to be not just the leading mobile service provider in the U.S., but a recognized global leader as well.

Features

As noted above, community host Nokia dominated the features this past week. In fact, as part of my continuing look at the recently published Nokia 2016 Acquisition and Retention Study, and the series of more granular aspects of the report series, this weeks attention moved to the important customer criteria for choosing a mobile operator.

The monetization of intellectual property (IP) is critical of all members, not just the communications industry but ICT in general. Indeed, this importance is repeatedly highlighted with the multi-billion dollar legal battles between industry heavyweights and the constant wars with patent trolls. Thus, when contention is replaced with cooperation, as is the case with Nokia expanding its cross licensing agreements with Samsung, attention should be paid.

Finally, as frequent visitors to the community are aware, the efforts to upgrade networking infrastructure for public safety organizations has been a staple of the community for many years. A great example of this is the decision by San Diego to upgrade its public safety network with the help of a slew of products and services from Nokia.

Weekend Reading

We like to remind community members that the community home page has been designed as your place to navigate to constantly updated news, whitepapers, videos, podcasts and case studies.

Items I recommend for weekend reading this week, along with the aforementioned Nokia 2016 Acquisition and Retention Study and the accompanying series of more granular reports is the following posting on TechZine:

Cloud interconnect  where network and cloud meet

Plus, there are links to other outstanding community resources such as the Digital Ideas section, along with links to eBooks and blogs. And, make sure you are signed up for Nokias newsletter, Insight.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called on citizens to become reservists, in a bid to help boost security forces in the wake of the countrys latest terror attack.

Frances operational reservists include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.

I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve, Cazeneuve said.

His call comes after the government has been criticized for not doing more to stop attacks.

French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that reservists would be called upon to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes.

The operational reserve is currently made up of 12,000 volunteers, 9000 of whom are within the paramilitary police and 3000 in the regular police force, said Cazeneuve.

We are going to reinforce the presence of security forces across the country, he added.

He said the number of security forces deployed to protect the population was nearly 100,000, including 53,000 police, 36,000 para-military police and 10,000 soldiers.

Frances reserve forces

France has had two types of reserve forces: an operational reserve and a citizens reserve. However, French reserves barely total 20,000. France also has a militarized police force, the gendarmerie, with a potent, 40,000-member reserve of its own.

The operational reserve, composed of volunteers or former soldiers, is the only one of the two that is a true operational reserve. These volunteers serve one to five years in the reserves, with one-third of them available for mobilization within two weeks. Soldiers leaving active duty in the French Army are required to serve up to five years in the operational reserve and may serve both in France and abroad, each member receiving several weeks of training per year.

They are organized in about 100 company-sized units called Reserve Intervention Units, in addition to a small number of so-called Reserve Specialized Units of similar size. During a crisis, their duties in support of the civil authority include providing general reinforcement of public order forces, aiding the population and maintaining continuity of essential public services. In cases of extreme emergency, the civil authorities can also use these reserves for internal and border security, including protecting public facilities under a French anti-terrorism program known as Vigipirate, in which French military personnel conduct armed anti-terrorism patrols in key transportation, government and tourist facilities.

The Citizens Reserve or Reserve Citoyenne has an entirely different role: to maintain the French concept of lesprit de defense, or the spirit of defense, perhaps in response to a France in which the ordinary citizen has lost interest in things military. Indeed, in 1998 France instituted a day of introduction to military service (journee dappel de preparation a la defense). This reserve is intended to assist with recruiting, to maintain liaison with the public and reinforce emergency response mechanisms. However, its members are expressly excluded from military tasks and thus can carry out only civil assistance operations of a nonmilitary nature. In essence, they carry out representational efforts and, in any event, their numbers are very limited.

SOURCES- Armed Forces Journal, AP, Wikipedia
What are the most likely places for world war 3 to breakout ? The cold war had a more clear matchup between NATO and the Soviet Union with the most likely breakout being in Europe. Now there are many possible breakout locations.

Global tensions and conflicts give the feeling like you are reading a history book and are in the chapter just before the big war. The period where there are conflicts and tensions building but little resolutions.

The Council on Foreign Relations tracks all of the current global conflict hotspots

There are several reviews of what could be a flashpoint for the next global war aka World war 3.

North Korea

A few days ago North Korea (DPRK) threatened to reduce Japan to debris as it considers invading the country.

Pyongyang-based newspaper Rodong Sinmun, which is the official publication for the hermit states one-party government, promised the nation possessed the weapons to carry out its attack  in response to a Japanese military drill.

The editorial accused Japan of working with South Korean officials, described as the worst group of traitors, as part of a plan to invade the country.

Last weekend the state promised to turn South Korea into a sea of fire and a pile of ashes after its neighbor and the United States moved to deploy a missile defense system near its territory.

North Korea has nuclear bombs and is working on submarine launched missiles and intercontinental missiles.

In January 2016, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear weapons test, claiming to have detonated its first hydrogen bomb. However, analysis of the seismic readings and radiation left doubt as to what type of weapon was actually tested. Continuing to defy international sanctions, in February 2016 Pyongyang fired a long-range rocket to launch a satellite in to orbit, which was widely viewed as continued testing of intercontinental ballistic missile technologies and has further increased tensions. These actions have elicited serious concerns, with new U.S. sanctions passed in February 2016 following additional punitive measures taken by Japan and South Korea.

North Korea has continued to test weapons systems since 2012, including the launch of the long-range Unha-3 rocket in December 2012 and a nuclear test in February 2013. Pyongyang threatened a fourth test in November 2014, following the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly condemning North Korean human rights abuses.

Other incitements include firing rockets across the South Korean border, known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), in August 2015 and North Koreas cyberattack on U.S.-based Sony Pictures in December 2014, as well as its 2010 shelling of South Koreas Yeonpyeong Island, which is located around twelve miles south of the North Korean coast.

Submarine missile launch test from April 2016

South China Sea  Scarborough Shoal

China is calling the construction project for Scarborough Shoal its plan for HuangyanYellow RockIsland, where a settlement will be set up. The atoll is a potential flashpoint in the disputed South China Sea and is claimed by Beijing, Manila and Taipei. Chinese coastguard ships took control of the area after a tense stand-off with Philippine vessels in 2012.

The shoal is located about 168 miles from Subic Bay in the Philippines, where U.S. warships will be regularly deployed in the future as part of the enhanced defense agreement recently concluded between Washington and Manila.

A graphic with one photo outlined the development plan, with three Chinese guided-missile frigates at a wharf at the southern opening of the shoal.

From this future base the 400-kilometer range YJ-62 can attack targets in most of the Philippine main island of Luzon, Fisher said. China could also deploy longer range anti-ship ballistic missiles to this base.

The US and the Philippines began joint patrols in the South China Sea in March, US defense chief Ash Carter revealed during his latest visit to the region. US forces will also have access to at least eight military bases in the Philippines, with two air bases in Pampanga, 330km from Scarborough Shoal.

East China Sea  Japan vs China

Tensions between Japan and China over the contested Senkaku/Daioyu islands in the East China Sea have subsided in recent months as a result of high-level political discussions organized to prevent a dangerous escalation. However, close interactions between air and maritime forces of both countries continue.

In June 2015, the Japanese government revealed that China came closer to Japans exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by establishing natural gas projects along the border between the two countries. Chinese and Japanese naval and air patrol vessels continue to operate closely in the area, making the risk of a miscalculation that could lead to an armed confrontation a real danger. To maintain its strategic advantage, China has converted naval warships of considerable size and capability to coast guard vessels, These actions, as well as Chinese coast guards constant patrolling, present serious concerns for Japan. In 2015, Chinese aircrafts approached Japans airspace more than 570 times, causing the Japanese government to scramble in response.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida lodged a protest with the Chinese embassy on June 2, 2016 for new construction at two Chinese gas facilities. The Ministry had just confirmed that China was constructing drilling towers in the East China Sea near the median line Japan has proposed as a demarcation line. The construction was spotted by Self-Defense Forces personnel flying over the area in late May.

Aside from a brief period after World War II when the United States controlled the territory, the Senkaku/Daioyu islands have formally been a part of Japanese territory since 1895, although owned by a private Japanese citizen. China began to assert claims over the Senkaku/Daioyu islands in the 1970s. Tensions resurfaced in September 2012 when Japan purchased three of the disputed islands from the private owner. The economically significant islands, which are northeast of Taiwan, have potential oil and natural gas reserves, are near prominent shipping routes, and are surrounded by rich fishing areas.

Rising nationalist sentiments and growing political mistrust heighten the potential for conflict and hinders the capacity for peaceful resolution of the dispute. Though Chinese and Japanese leaders have refrained from forcibly establishing control over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, unauthorized action by local commanders could result in the unintended escalation of hostilities. Through treaty commitments with Japan, a military confrontation could involve the United States.

India, Pakistan, China

Territorial disputes over the Kashmir region sparked two of the three major Indo-Pakistani wars in 1947 and 1965, and a limited war in 1999. Although both countries have maintained a fragile cease-fire since 2003, they regularly exchange fire across the contested border. There was an uptick in high-profile cease-fire violations beginning in July 2014, and artillery shelling and small arms fire continued through 2015. Both sides accuse the other of violating the cease-fire and claim to be shooting in retaliation to attacks.

Having identified South Asia as an epicenter of terrorism and religious extremism, the United States has an interest in ensuring regional stability, preventing nuclear weapons proliferation, and minimizing the potential of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

July 13, 2016 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked security forces to exercise absolute restraint and ensure that civilians were not harassed in Kashmir following the killing of a popular militant leader (Hindu). Thirty-two people have died in clashes between protesters since the weekend (RFE/RL), and Pakistan summoned Indias high commissioner to discuss the violence

July 11, 2016 Some twenty-two people were killed and an estimated two hundred injured after police and paramilitary troops in Indian-administered Kashmir fired on mourners paying homage to rebel leader Burhan Wani, who was killed Friday

China has had border wars with India and China supplies Pakistan with arms.

Middle East

There are all kinds of conflicts there in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Libya and other spots.

There are many countries involved including Israel, Russia and the USA.



Pew Research Center surveyed muslim countries to determine how much support there is for terrorism, strict sharia law and other questions. There are over 1.7 billion muslims in the world.

Pew research polling suggests at least 100 million muslims support [have a favorable view] ISIS and if say around half of those who would not say their opinion had some support then it could be another 200-300 million.

A favorable view of terrorism as a tactic in general is even higher than support for ISIS About 200 million muslims support terrorism as a tactic.
An Indian company has launched what is being billed as the worlds cheapest smartphone.

Ringing Bells said their Freedom 251 phone would cost just 251 rupees ($3.67; 2.56), and there was huge demand in the first hours of sale.

But sceptics have raised questions about the device and the companys price strategy.

India is the worlds second-largest mobile market and has one billion mobile phone subscribers.

Freedom 251 is expected to target a market already dominated by low-cost handsets.

The Freedom 251 smartphone resembles Apples iPhone 4

The phone has 8GB storage and cameras in the front and back, and its model resembles Apples iPhone 4, including the home button and icons.

This is our flagship model and we think it will bring a revolution in the industry, the AFP news agency quoted a spokeswoman as saying.

Specification

4.0 qHD IPS Display

1 GB RAM & 1.3GHz Quad core processor

3.2 MP Rear & 0.3 MP Front Camera

3G Support

1450 mAh battery

The smartphone went on sale on Thursday morning but, just hours later, the company had to stop accepting orders after its website crashed due to huge demand: 600,000 hits per second, it said.

Ringing Bells said the phone would be produced locally, even though it still has no factory in India. The prototypes handed to journalists were, actually, of a Chinese-made phone with its brand name, Adcom, covered with white paint.

It has promised to deliver the first devices in four months.

SOURCE- BBC News, Ringingbells, Freedom 251
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Morocco has strongly condemned the despicable terrorist attack that targeted Thursday night the French city of Nice during the Bastille Day celebration and King Mohammed VI sent a message of condolences and solidarity to President Francois Hollande.

I would like to express, on my behalf and on behalf of the Moroccan people, our firm condemnation of this despicable terrorist act and assure you of our solidarity and support in this ordeal, said King Mohammed VI in his message.

The King who expressed deep sadness at this horrible attack extended to President Hollande and to all the French people his heartfelt condolences and compassion in this painful time.

The ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation released a statement condemning in the strongest terms the horrific attack and expressing Moroccos solidarity with France during this painful time. The statement which denounced all terrorist threats aimed at undermining Frances security and terrorizing the innocent, reiterated Moroccos support to all efforts and measures undertaken by French authorities to protect their territory and guarantee the safety of their citizens.

Morocco also reiterates the need to strengthen international coordination and cooperation to deal with the phenomenon of cross-border terrorism, the statement said.

Moroccans of all walks of life, including religious leaders, civil society militants, have also all firmly and widely denounced the criminal terror attack that killed at least 84 people.

They also expressed solidarity with the families of the victims among whom there were more than 10 children who lost their lives after a lorry driver slammed through a crowd celebrating national holiday in the southern French city of Nice.

The driver ploughed on for 2km on the Promenade des Anglais, before he was shot dead by police. Witnesses say the lorry swerved in an apparent attempt to hit the greatest number of people.

According to press reports, nobody really paid much attention to the white lorry parked on the Promenade des Anglais. The unmarked, 19-ton truck had been parked on the street for some hours and police had even asked the driver what he was doing there.

He told the officers he was delivering ice cream and would be moving on soon. What in fact he was about to deliver was murder on a massive scale. The Promenade des Anglais was crowded. Families had packed the long stretch of road and promenade that follows the seafront through Nice to witness the annual fireworks display celebrating Bastille Day which turned into carnage.

Several Muslims are also among the victims of the lorry deadly attack that has left also at least 100 injured. No clear motive has yet emerged why the driver, who was known to police for petty crimes, carried out such vicious and repulsive attack.

President Francois Hollande, who is in Nice, said the attack was of an undeniable terrorist nature.

He said the battle against terrorism would be long as France faced an enemy who will continue to hit countries who see liberty as their essential value.

A state of emergency, in place since Novembers Paris attacks carried out by militants from the so-called Islamic State group, in which 130 people died, has been extended by three months.

Hollande said 50 injured people were in a critical condition between life and death. Some foreigners were among the victims, he said.

Some 30,000 people were on the Promenade des Anglais at the time of the attack.
Morocco reached an agreement with the UN to allow 25 civilian members of the MINURSO to resume their mission in the Sahara, the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Five MINURSO civilian members have already arrived in Laayoune to continue their mission, after they were expelled last March.

Morocco took the decision to cut the MINURSO civilian component after the verbal blunders uttered in Tindouf by the UN Secretary General, who used the word occupation to describe Moroccos retrieval of the southern provinces from Spanish colonialism in 1975. Bans missteps caused a row that put the continuation of the MINURSO mission on the edge of the precipice.

Last April, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution calling for restoring the full capacity of the MINURSO within three months. Morocco and the UN have been engaged in negotiations to set new terms for the UN mission in the Sahara.

I think weve had what I would call constructive discussion with Morocco and it was agreed as a result of those discussions to restore full functionality of the peacekeeping mission through a gradual process, Dujarric said.

The MINURSO was established following a UN-brokered ceasefire in 1991 that put an end to a guerrilla war waged by the Algerian-based Polisario front on Moroccan troops. The UN mission was tasked with organizing a referendum, which never took place because of disagreements over who is eligible to vote. Ceasefire monitoring remains the main task of the MINURSO.
Algerias gas production and export capacity is facing dim prospects with estimates the North African country to be a net gas importer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in two decades, warned the former Algerian energy minister Nordine Ait-Laoussine.

Ait-Laoussine, who was speaking to Interfax Natural Gas Daily, said that politics and bureaucracy are contributing to the demise of the energy sector by crippling Algerias potential to attract investments.

Earlier in May, the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies issued a report entitled Algerian Gas: Troubling Trends, Troubled Policies. The document points out to the depletion of Algerian gas and the declining export capacity.

Algeria would be left with only 15 bcm/year to export by 2030. In a lower production or high demand scenarios, it will cease exporting all together, therefore importing gas beyond any such a point, said the report.

The demise of Algerias oil and gas export capacity is largely due to the increasing domestic energy needs and falling investments, notably following the Ain Amenas attack on a BP oil extraction plant that left dozens killed by terrorists.

Algeria continues to be heavily dependent on hydrocarbon revenues, while little seems to be done to diversify the economy. The newly appointed minister of energy and mining opted for increasing production to address the declining revenues, a move that risks depleting gas reserves further.

Efforts to diversify the Algerian economy failed to deliver significant results as the countrys attempts to attract investments are hampered by political uncertainties around the Presidents succession and divisions among the political elite.
Last month, two anti-public lands bills came up for vote in the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington, D.C. One of these bills, Rep. Don Youngs State National Forest Management Act of 2015, would allow states to acquire up to 2 million acres of national forest lands for the primary purpose of being logged and mined. The second bill, Rep. Raul Labradors Self-Sufficient Community Lands Act, would transfer control of up to 2 million acres of national forest lands in Montana to a state-appointed advisory committee, also for the purpose of being logged and mined without having to adhere to bedrock environmental laws.

Both of these lands transfer bills passed the committee. Rep. Ryan Zinke voted against the Young bill. Unfortunately, he voted for the Labrador bill.

The passage of these bills in the House Natural Resources Committee is the latest eruption in what has been a tumultuous year for public lands, a year that started with armed, anti-government zealots seizing Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and demanding that the refuge and surrounding public lands be handed over to private local interests.

After Malheur and the latest votes in the House Natural Resources Committee, its become abundantly clear that Montana needs a pro-public lands agenda that can counter the well-funded and virulent anti-public lands movement happening in Washington and within our own state.

Last month, Gov. Steve Bullock unveiled the agenda Montana needs. This agenda recognizes and bolsters the crucial role public lands play not just in our culture, but in our economy as well. It includes:

Opposing the lands transfer agenda in Montana at every turn

Unfreezing and fully restoring Habitat Montana, the states premier big game management resource, paid for by out-of-state fishing and hunting license fees

Creating a state position that will help ensure that Montanans enjoy all the stream and public lands access to which they're legally entitled

Launching a Montana Office of Outdoor Recreation

Outdoor recreation on public lands generates $6 billion annually, accounts for $403 million in tax revenue, and sustains 64,000 jobs. The Office of Outdoor Recreation would help boost those numbers and augment the economies of Libby, Lincoln, Ekalaka, and other small towns across the state. It would help them take advantage of their proximity to the world-class fishing, hunting, hiking, and other types of recreation that draws visitors to Montana from around the globe.

Earlier this year, Utah voted to set aside millions of taxpayer dollars in its legal quest to seize ownership of American public lands. Behind that vote and all other efforts to seize public lands in Utah is the American Lands Council. This Utah-based group is now led by a Montana state Sen. Jennifer Fielder. Its fair to assume that she and her cohorts will again launch a legislative attack on our public lands and outdoor way of life at next years legislative session, as they have the last two sessions.

American public lands provide an outdoor way of life that defines us as Montanans. Thats what makes these threats to public lands so insidious. If these threats come to fruition, life in Montana as we know and love it would cease to exist, at least for the majority of us who wouldnt be able to afford access to the lands that were once public but then were sold to the elite rich.

Thats why were supporting Bullocks public lands agenda. It offers Montana the assurance we need that our states outdoor legacy will live on.

Please visit mtgreatoutdoors.org for more about Bullocks plan and to offer him thanks and suggestions.
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Available across ten healthcare professions in a variety of options to suit your career goals, Passport Membership propels your career advancement and offers exceptional value to healthcare providers.
Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army APC after an attempted military coup. Photo: Gokhan Tan/Getty Images

At least 265 people are dead and 1,440 injured after a failed military coup in Turkey on Friday night, which for a time turned Istanbul and Ankara into active war zones. The New York Times reports that the Turkish government has already arrested thousands of military personnel who are believed to have been involved in the attempt. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan  who, at one point Friday night, called on Turkish citizens to take to the streets to oppose the coup  says his government is now in full control of the country, and prime minister Binali Yildirim declared Saturday afternoon that the uprising was over, calling it a a stain in the history of democracy. Erdogan, who was on vacation when the attempt started, returned to Istanbul early Saturday morning, and he has vowed that those who participated in the attempted coup will pay a heavy price. Some may already have: There have been reports of reprisal killings against coup supporters on Saturday. While capital punishment is banned in Turkey, Prime Minister Yildirim has already proposed changing the law to allow executions for the coup-plotters.

People berating detained soldiers who were involved in the coup attempt. Photo: Gokhan Tan/Getty Images

Regardless, the attempt  which involved pitched military battles in the countrys two largest cities, both on the ground and in the sky  remains a massive political crisis and is the most significant threat to the countrys stability in decades. It follows a long period of turmoil during which the country has suffered regular, large-scale terrorist attacks; been besieged by Syrian refugees; and fought a renewed conflict with Kurdish militants  all while the leader of its government works to assert more and more authoritarian control.

The attempt has also unsettled many in the international community, as Turkey is not only a major power in the Middle East, but a member of NATO and a key Western ally in the fight against ISIS in neighboring Syria and Iraq. While the attempt was underway, world leaders joined Turkish political parties and officials  including those who oppose Erdogan  in denouncing the coup and expressing their support for the countrys democratically elected government. While the far-from-bloodless coup appears to have been poorly planned and executed, and while a widespread crackdown on both the plotters and perceived opponents of the government is already underway, it is not yet clear what short- or long-term impacts the event will have on the country.

Supporters of Turkish President Erdogan march on Saturday in Ankara. Photo: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

The Associated Press reports that the coup was backed by many within the most senior ranks of the Turkish military, though not by the entire military leadership. The military has traditionally been at odds with Erdogans ruling AKP party, which has regularly sought to reduce the militarys power in the country. There is also a long history of military coups in Turkey: Three successful coups occurred between 1960 and 1980, and in 1997, the military pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a mentor of Erdogans, out of power.

Prime Minister Yildirim announced on Saturday that 161 of those killed were either those opposing the coup or civilians caught in the crossfire, meaning the remaining dead must have been considered coup-supporters. It seems that police and soldiers loyal to the government, as well as ordinary civilians and AKP supporters who heeded the call of Erdogan and local mosques to take to the streets, banded together to repel the coup. At this point, it seems as though coup participants at times targeted and killed civilians during the fighting, though precise details from the various confrontations remain murky.

A civilian purportedly killed by Turkish soldiers lies on the ground in Istanbul. Photo: Erhan Demirtas/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Nearly 3,000 Turkish military personnel have been detained, and at least five generals and 29 colonels have been removed from their posts. The Washington Post reports that the generals detained include the commanders of the Second and Third Armies  the latter being the countrys largest field army, and the former being the one that controls the countrys borders. The apparent mastermind of the coup, according to Turkish authorities, was the countrys former air-force commander, General Akin Ozturk, who was also a member of the Supreme Military Council.

Heavy damage at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara after it was bombed by rebel jets. Photo: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images

After the coup faltered, eight Turkish army personnel were able to fly a helicopter to Greece, where they requested political asylum  though Turkey is already pushing for their extradition.

The Turkish government says that some low-ranking military personnel have told investigators that they didnt even know they were participating in a coup, and instead thought they were on military maneuvers. It is not known how much of the militarys rank and file supported the coup, or how much of the larger military establishment did. In addition, its important to remember that statements from the Turkish government and its large state-run-or-influenced media empire should not always be taken at face value.

In addition, the Turkish government has already purged some 2,745 judicial officials in the aftermath of the attempted coup, including ten members of the countrys highest administrative court, all for alleged ties to the coup plot  or, more specifically, to Fethullah Gulen, who the Erdogan regime has quickly blamed for the uprising. But, at this point, he does not seem likely to be the culprit. Gulen, who currently lives in exile in Pennsylvania but maintains a vast network of supporters across Turkey, rejects any blame, and publicly condemned the attempted coup on Friday. Gulen said, As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

President Erdogan after returning to Istanbul on Saturday. Photo: Veli Gurgah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The purge of judicial officials is likely only the start of what may be a far-reaching crackdown of perceived opponents by Erdogan. Though democratically elected, he has consistently sought to consolidate power in the country, and will likely have a big opportunity to advance that goal following the failed coup.

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have both condemned the coup and expressed their support for the Turkish government. The Washington Post reports that the U.S. military raised its protection levels on bases in the country to the highest level, condition Delta, in response to the uprising. The U.S. facilitates much of its war on ISIS from bases in Turkey, and it seems that airstrikes crucial to the fight against ISIS from Turkey are now at least temporarily halted, as Turkish airspace has been closed. The long-term impact on U.S. operations based out of Turkey is not yet clear, but the American military told the Guardian that they didnt expect a long-term disruption. However, it stands to reason that Turkey itself will not be as active in counter-ISIS efforts anytime soon.

Incirlik air base, seen here in January 2016, was under lockdown on Saturday. Photo: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images

This is a developing story, and this post has been updated throughout.
Photo: Andy Katz/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

In 1991, after a high-speed chase, four Los Angeles police officers pulled Rodney King, a black man, out of his car, and beat him. In what seems strikingly familiar in 2016, an amateur videographer captured the scene. The next year, in 1992, a mostly white jury acquitted the officers, setting off riots that left over 50 people dead. In response to the attack, an independent commission reviewed the LAPD. In their report, the commission found that one type of officer was much less predisposed to force: No female cops were among the 120 police with the most use-of-force reports.

Males are the more belligerent sex in virtually all mammalian species that biologists have studied 

Female cops accounted for just 3.4 percent of officers involved in the 83 most serious lawsuits against the LAPD from 1986 to 1990. While the stats suggested that female cops arent reluctant to use force, the commission reasoned, theyre not nearly as likely to use excessive force. With some exceptions, female officers interviewed believed they were more communicative, more skillful at de-escalating potentially violent situations and less confrontational, the report reads. A suspects defiance and disrespect of an officer often gives rise to use of force by an officer. Many officers, both male and female, believe female officers are less personally challenged by defiant suspects and feel less need to deal with defiance with immediate force or confrontational language. After the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, the murder of five Dallas police officers last week, and the 586 people killed by cops in the U.S. in 2016 thus far, much of the cultural conversation has been around the role of race, and racial bias, in the conducting of police work. But, as Danielle Paquette argues at the Washington Post, another factor of identity that needs to be evaluated is gender. Not only is it a matter of having a gender-homogeneous field in the form of policing, but social science finds that men and women relate to force very differently. It may be in our very biology.

Policing remains one of the most male-dominated professions in America: in the 1970s, about 97 percent of American cops were men, and in 2013, that had fallen only to 88 percent, meaning that the police force is even more gender imbalanced than the active-duty military, which was 84.9 percent male as of 2014. And while there are way more men than there are women policing American streets, the gender disparity for police use of force is even greater. Paquette reports that of the 54 officers that have been charged with killing someone with a gun while they were on duty, just two have been female. A 2002 report on gender and use of force from the National Center for Women and Policing found that male cops are way more expensive to employ than their female peers because of force, finding that male cops are two to three times more likely to have citizens name them in excessive force complaints than female cops, that male cops cost taxpayers between 2.5 and 5.5 times more than the average female officer in the payouts of excessive-force liability lawsuits, and that a male cop is 8.5 times more likely to have allegations of excessive force sustained against him than a policewoman would.

The gender disparity in the police force, argues Feminist Majority executive director Katherine Spillar, comes from the way policing is marketed. Would-be cops are recruited with promises of car chases and helicopter rescues, which fit traditional masculine values, while most of police work is nonviolent beat-walking and working with communities, with appeal to traditionally feminine values. Additionally, testing still has a physical strength component, while it should focus more on the ability to de-escalate potentially violent situations, which appears to be the direction of progress in policing. But theres something even more basic at work here as well: Research on how elite companies like law firms and consultancies hire has found that if there isnt a rigorous, standardized protocol for evaluating potential candidates, hiring managers just use themselves as the proxy of worthiness for a position, so people end up hiring people who are just like them, and thereby organizations replicate themselves.

Which makes the gender differences in predispositions to aggression and violence goddamn frightening. Back in the 1970s, psychologists were concluding that there werent many differences in psychology traits between men and women, except for aggression. A 2004 meta-analysis on sex differences in aggression found that men are more aggressive than women at every age, particularly so in their 20s, and this held in every country the analysis looked at, from the U.S. to the U.K. to Canada to Spain to New Zealand to Japan to Finland to Australia to the Netherlands. Indeed, as psychologists Hal Arkowitz and Scott O. Lilienfeld reported in Scientific American in 2010, men are more likely to be aggressive in their mental lives, fantasizing about revenge and homicide and dreaming more frequently of violent acts. A 2007 study of babies found that at 17 months, 5 percent of baby boys will bite you, kick you, or do other physically aggressive acts, compared with 1 percent of girls. And those differences hold at 29 months, which makes you think that the male disposition to violence is not wholly a matter of socialization to traditional gender roles, or, more bluntly, acculturation to toxic masculinity. Even more astounding, theres evidence that humans arent the only one with gender disparities in aggression: Males are the more belligerent sex in virtually all mammalian species that biologists have studied, write Arkowitz and Lilienfeld. Even the one marked exception to this trend  the spotted (laughing) hyena  may prove the rule. The female hyena, which is more physically aggressive than her male counterpart, has higher testosterone levels than the male does.

So theres a pretty clear logic to reducing excessive force in American policing. If de-escalation is the way of the future  as its been shown to be in Las Vegas, Dallas, and New York  then it makes lots of sense to have the humans doing the police work be more biologically and culturally disposed to peace. Theyre called women.
Photo: Courtesy of Snapchat/Dani Mathers

LA Fitness isnt resting on its well-toned laurels when it comes to pursuing justice for the woman whose refreshing, post-workout shower was shared over Snapchat.

Last years Playmate of the Year, Dani Mathers, is officially super-sorry for making all of your high-school nightmares come true by Snapchatting a photo of a naked woman in her gym locker room. Unfortunately for her, sorry just isnt enough for gym chain LA Fitness. The management filed a police report against the model on Friday, and now the Los Angeles Police Department has launched a formal investigation into the incident.

A spokesperson for the LAPD told the Wrap that the crime theyre investigating is the dissemination of private images, ominously adding that it would be up to the city attorney to determine how much time Mathers would face if convicted. (It would probably be six months at most.)

If Jane Doe declines to pursue the case, the charges against Mathers will be dropped. Honestly, who could blame her? Meanwhile, the stench of social-media shame will follow the model wherever she goes, and thats its own sort of twisted, modern-day justice.
Photo: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic

Tara Reid and Jenny McCarthy got beef.

Reid was on McCarthys SiriusXM show Friday to discuss Sharknado 4 and Sharknado 4 only, thank you very much. Yes, thats right. While we were being distracted by all the especially terrible things happening in the world, Syfy somehow cobbled together another movie in this never-ending franchise.

McCarthy, who is married to Donnie Stop calling me Marky Mark Wahlberg, riled up Reid by asking about her stint on Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. Reid is currently on the seventh season of the show with her boyfriend Dean May, and its going about as well as you might imagine.

I think the whole thing is absolutely so stupid and silly, Reid said. And, like, were not even talking about it because theres confusing things about it. So right now were just talking about Sharknado  Its not worth the time to talk about. After McCarthy pressed some more, Reid snapped, Babe, I asked you, please lets not talk about this show. Were all here about Sharknado.

McCarthy lobbed her a softball question or two about Sharknado  how do you get in shape for such a role, you know?  before really going for the jugular and asking about Reids history of plastic surgery.

Are you still  going through surgeries or are you past them? McCarthy asked, with a touch of Barbara Waltersstyle concern. Thats when things really went off the rails. McCarthy backhandedly complimented Reid about being pretty open about things going wrong in her plastic surgeries, before asking if shes good and done, not moving forward with plastic surgery, which is when Reid snapped.

I think Ive made that clear, like, about a 100 times, you know?  Maybe you only read the bad things, but Ive made that really clear  Read what you want to read. You know, it was really nice talking to you, and really, good luck with your show, she chirped.

Good luck to you too, McCarthy replied. And Im so excited about Sharknado and I hope you stay married 

I hope you stay married too! Im sure hes a nice guy, Reid said.

I will. And I hope your knees get a little wobblier than they are already are. (What does that even mean?)

My knees? Oh, yeah. Hope your tits get even nicer. Amazing. Same guy who did mine, right?

It sounded like Reid had already walked out of the studio by the time McCarthy got in one last diss. Love you, Tara. Good luck with Sharknado 18.

Reids rep issued the following statement:

Tara is a positive person who is against women tearing each other down. She was bullied on Jennys and felt ambushed when she came into the show with a positive spirit and in a happy mood. It was very unfortunate how Jenny shifted the conversation for her personal gain when the whole focus should be on Sharknado 4.

Still, this wasnt quite as satisfying as when The Bachelorettes Derek Peth zinged McCarthy on Twitter after she made fun of him for crying on camera.

Is it wrong that I have a maniacal laugh while watching Derek cry? #thebachelorette  Jenny McC-Wahlberg (@JennyMcCarthy) June 28, 2016
oh shit I was gonna ask in FFAF if anyone has any live streaming links :(

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I'll definitely search for one for next



Or cave and get cable? Idk but I miss this ;_;

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new posts already? srsly?

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ok great!

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I need to be faster about getting my Killjoys/Dark Matter screencaps up. I just posted them today and there's already a new ep. :S

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I know! It's just time flies! especially because I can't watch anything live because I don't get any tv channels

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I also don't appreciate that reminder of what happened in the premiere, sean baek



don't hurt me so

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He's just playing with our emotions at this point!!

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Im not watching it live but i just wanna say pree was so hilarious on the first two episodes! I love every character on this show and will be legitimately sad when/if someone dies.

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Praise your light OP, I forgot about it until I saw this post.

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OP I'VE NOW BEEN AWAKE FOR 14 HOURS AS I STARTED QUEUING FOR STAR WARS CELEBRATION MIDNIGHT YESTERDAY...



So I'm away without laptop so can't watch and have to sleep for tomorrow's con day anyhow.



Just wanted to come in and give my love and kisses to this good & noble OP, and all the other Killjoys Regulars, my Quad Fam! 



Edited at 2016-07-16 01:16 am (UTC)

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This show is cute and all but Dark Matter is by far the superior space show (next to the Expanse anyway)

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Have those awful two main potato guys 1 and 3 died yet? Because if not... hard pass.

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says the person commenting in post whose 2 main stars of the 3 are mediocre white guys not to mention your obsessive stanning of a CW show whose main star is a flop white guy

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There are more level sixes?!



And what at angry vaginas :O

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God I ship Dutch and Alvis so hard

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Me too, damn Lucy cockblocking them.

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I guess I'm gonna watch the re-broadcast alone :(

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She's a level 6?!?!

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Ooohhh. Lucy doesn't sound happy about contacting Pawter. Still doesn't like her lol

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I kinda loved that Lucy wasn't thrilled about contacting Pawter, though she did talk to Dutch about her, I'd kinda like her to be jealous.

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Me too. I wonder what makes her hate Pawter in particular. She's nice to other women in Jon's life. But I love that bit of personality.

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Yeah, I think all of these mine people have lost it.

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That's messed up :(

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:( I don't get why he has to be in the room

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idk that the post is worded correctly. the opposing party doesn't usually attend the deposition, only their counsel does. nevermind, read the actual article. that's fucked up.



Edited at 2016-07-16 04:53 am (UTC)

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legally he has a right to, so the judge permitted it



but we all know its strategically to throw her off and get her to mess up & not convey all the facts as clearly, it's an intimidation tactic used by his lawyer likely

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:( i at least hope it doesn't go to trial

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I've been in the room while a family member had to speak about an assault while their abuser was staring them down. It's an awful, awful situation for someone to be put in.

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what a gross creep. I could never deal with being famous omg I hate when strangers talk to me

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i feel like if she settles, then people will say that she's lying. :/

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wait i thought we knew this already? why is this resurfacing now? /doesnt understand lawsuits

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gotcha. i thought the judge had already denied that request fsr.

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we knew the lawsuit was happening, but now the judge decided that Taylor has to give her deposition on tape and with the groper in the room, which is what she was trying to avoid.

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Wait... the guy who groped her ("allegedly") has to be in the room with her while she gives her deposition? That is fucked up!

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man that's fucked up :(

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is this uncommon? I thought that was like one of the laws of court that the accused got to face the accuser or whatever



I mean, I don't really think it's okay or anything...i just thought this is how it always was?????????????????

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it's not. it'd be uncommon if he wasn't allowed to attend

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yeah, that's what I was thinking but this post got me so confused???? Everyone's acting like this is some sort of unprecedented event....





like, I mean I do think it sucks that people have to do this but it's still how it's always done

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There are lots of important reasons why victims don't pursue legal action, but, in a way, I'm glad that she is publicly fighting back. This sick fuck thought that he could bring her down with physical groping and then by publicly humilating her, and she isn't taking it. She will use her publicity, fame, and image as weapons against him, not as weapons that he could use against her. So, no shade-- go Taylor.

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mte. This is one takedown I wholeheartedly support - end him, Taylor!



(Also it is fucked up that not even one of the most well-known and powerful women in entertainment is safe from sexual harassment in her workplace.... like, how did this creep think he could get away with it?)

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ugh awful. I hope this is settled so it doesn't become public.



Edited at 2016-07-16 03:51 am (UTC)

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that's really messy, I feel sorry for her

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Ew. That would piss me off so much. I feel bad for her.

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that sucks.

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those tweets are really chilling

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It's chilling to read support of this act. They actually make me feel sick. Why would anyone celebrate this?

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fucking insane. :(

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Oh my gosh rest in peace to her :(

Ugh those reactions holy shit...

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what the fuck :(

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people are disgusting

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Those tweets are horrific. I hope they find the brother.

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Could you explain about her 'antics'? I think most people here don't know who she is or what she said/did.

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She's the Pakistan Kim Kardashian, nothing she has done warrants her being murdered

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She posted provocative photos on her social media and made controversial statements (eg. she said she would do a strip dance if Pakistan won against India in the recent world cup)



No one that warrants her being murdered.

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ew

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It's really weird that you despise her for being a typical social media celebrity and you frequent a forum that celebrates celebrity like this. While you keep saying "she didn't deserve to die" your comments sound an awful lot like those tweets in the post.

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so fucked up, and it's insane how honour killings are happening all over the world

we had a horrible murder of three sisters by their parents and brother a few years ago

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This was the one in Ottawa, right? I recall reading a thorough investigation of that in Macleans magazine. I think they are now appealing on the basis they feel discriminated against because of their religion/beliefs. They were even secretly recorded saying the same things that people in the above tweets are - that these family members deserved to die because they were hanging out with boys and typically acting like any other Canadian teenager. No remorse whatsoever. I can't even begin to fathom how anyone could think that way.



Edited at 2016-07-16 04:07 pm (UTC)

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Canada has experienced several honor killings, inside and outside its borders. The ordered honor killing of Jaswinder Kaur Sidhu has been particularly troubling with respect to the Canadian and BC governments' general unwillingness extradite the architects of her brutal murder. It's been 16 years and Jassi continues to be denied the justice her own country owes her.

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Her murder was so disgusting. Makes me sick when I'm reminded of it.

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the shafia family murders :(

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I know, this is so horrible. It reminded me of one that happened in my small Central California town many years ago. A brother killed his sister for dating someone the family didn't approve of and then fled and never faced charges. So sad. :'(

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one of the Harry Potter kids (the one who played Padma) was also the victim of an attempted so-called honour killing for dating a non-Muslim, her scumbag brother went to jail for it.



It's at times like these that ia w the tweet that if your sense of honour requires you to kill, then damn well try killing yourself first.

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What was her reasoning?

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honor killings are disgusting and I can't believe there are still people who agree with them

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Women need to just start killing these men first. Fuck it. You so mad that she was posting pictures online that you murdered your own fucking sister!?! I hope her brother gets caught and rots for all eternity.

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can't wait to hear my father's unbiased, nuanced take on this tragedy :/

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RIP



her brother and those people are scum, and holy shit @ how fast the comments to the tweet in the post went downhill jfc

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her last few tweets are fucking heartbreaking



[ Spoiler (click to open) ] Life has taught me lessons in a early age...My Journey from a girl to a SELF DEPENDENT WOMEN was not easy.#Qandeel pic.twitter.com/Mwyn4UC32z  Qandeel Baloch (@QandeelQuebee) July 14, 2016

holy shither last few tweets are fucking heartbreaking

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so pretty :(

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Independent woman ... no matter what culture or background, it amazes me how many men are terrified of us.

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lol just pakistan or all of south asia? or the middle east too? be more specific!

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men? agreed

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mte

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Mte. If women killed men for being "whores" we'd probably long be at 10%/90% m/w.

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i'm sure there's women who uphold this too & will say she deserved it because she was insulting the religion. same way as there's women who think rape can be justified and they won't be like them because they don't act "like that".

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wtf

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Welp, here we go, this story becoming a springboard for people to shit on brown people countries.

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...seriously? this is what you take from this? patriarchal violence exists ALL OVER THE WORLD.

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It'd be nice if you could also add posts/comments from Pakistani women who are speaking out against this. Meesha Shafi comes to mind, she was talking about it on Twitter and FB.

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sure thanks for the link

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Agreed. If nothing else, it can make white folks reconsider making derogatory blanket statements about South Asia or the Middle East or any given third world (read: brown) country.

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This looks really good.



I cant believe Maude apatow is so old now!

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It is pretty great. Good story, well acted, good directing. Solid film.

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This looks exactly like the type of movie I'll watch alone and cry my eyes out



very much like Miss You Already





And fuck all y'all, I like Jesse



Also, that tiny glance of Retta made this a must-see

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okay but he does look terrible in that interview the OP linked to

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ikr why is he so violently red!? and the directing of that interview was all over the place, i couldn't even listen to wtf that lady was talking about

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I love him too! one of my fav parts of friday night lights

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Walked off? Did they invite a bunch of local Mormons to the screening?

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Well...it is Utah. They probably invited themselves over in hopes of brining them all closer to Jesus or w/e they believe in.

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I was in three screenings and I didn't see anyone walk out. Publicity maybe? Anti-Mormon rhetoric maybe?

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I saw a screening of this at SIFF, and got to see a Q&A with Molly Shannon as part of the evening!!! The movie was lovely, and I cried, Molly Shannon too was wonderful.

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Personally I wouldn't call it explicit, but it was very realistic, in that it was hella awkward (it was not "hot" sex by any means, haha). You see some nips, and a brief flash of booty, but that's really it. I don't wanna give too much away though, if you are planning on seeing it! Mr., ah, Meth Damon, hahaha, was very good! I feel bad now, I don't actually know this actor's name!

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Oh wow, I hadn't heard of this but now I'm really looking forward to it! I'll probably cry the whole way through (my mom died last summer and I took care of her for years before that) so idk i might just go by myself. I'm so glad jesse plemons is getting a lot of good roles, he's so talented.

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This looks really good. I don't know if I'd be able to watch it tho. I've lost so many people I love to cancer and just watching the trailer made me tear up :(

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this is full of comedians I love, but will likely make me cry? Color me interested

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I'm a sucker for these types so I'll see it

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This looks very good and also Meth Damon is a good actor, I liked him a lot in BrBa and he is good in Fargo.





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this looks good. i hope it gets to my side of the world.

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Lots of great people in this. Happy to see John Early in everything these days.

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he looks terrible in that vanity fair video, holy crap. he looked much better on fargo which he did a gr8 job on, he and kristen played off each other really well



i'm sure if they were straight, nobody would've walked out. rme. i bet the scene wasn't even that explicit by film standards. i can't understand the video so idk what he says in it but if anyone wants to transcribe/sum it up for me that'd be cool

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jesse plemons/zach woods sex scene??? omg sold

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lmaooo same

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Back in February, while armed occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge demanded it should be given to the County, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leaders secretly began discussions to transfer the National Bison Range (a unit of Americas National Wildlife Refuge System) to the narrowly defined, exclusive category of tribal trust lands.

Those undisclosed talks with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana have never been revealed to the general public by that agency. When an agency, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, entirely fails to comply with the law and inform all Americans, the real owners of our national wildlife refuge system, of such a major action affecting a long-standing, successful wildlife program important to us and all future generations, we must loudly protest.

No details describing the proposal have been supplied in spite of legal obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. That law requires federal agencies to analyze such major decisions, develop alternatives, describe the effects, and fully explain those results to the public.

It is our main sunshine in government statute based on the important idea that a well-informed, interested and involved citizenry is essential to our democracy. Government secrecy is anathema to a free democratic society.

Having worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 30 years, with eight years as the Project Leader at the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, I know just how important and valuable the Bison Range in Western Montana is to the ultimate full recovery of the American plains bison. Giving up that refuge with its unique infrastructure for properly maintaining its numerous wildlife and other natural resources so popular with the public more than 220,000 visitors each year  is a terrible idea and a bad deal for all of us.

The National Bison Range was established by an Act of Congress in 1908 specifying that it be permanent. That was among the earliest attempts to prevent extinction of Americas plains bison, an icon of our prairies and grasslands once numbering in the tens of millions. But by the end of the 19th century, bison had been exploited to near extinction with only a few hundred remaining.

The Bison Range accomplished its job against great odds and many uncertainties. Today, it represents one of fewer than two dozen conservation herds with extensive and very important records of each animal in the herd, including its pedigree, health status, and current genetics. The Bison Range, with its experienced, dedicated staff, special equipment, corrals and fencing designed to maintain its valuable herd are considered by many experts to be vital to long-range plans to reestablish the bison into its ecological homelandAmericas grassland prairies. Genetic testing at the Bison Range has found unique characters (called alleles), not found in other herds. Such factors are vital to retaining our native bison in the long run.

Only the conservation herds have the genetic makeup, necessary diversity, and other traits that defined our native bison. Most bison herds contain a large mixture of cattle genes. Those bison are bred for meat, and manageable docility, economics drive their management programs.

We are being ignored while an important, perhaps vital population of our recently named national mammal may be negotiated away without any common sense plans, rational explanations, or even apparent compensation. I strenuously object to this proposal and even more so to the underhanded way it is being done.

The National Bison Range must be kept in its public lands status; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must be directed to comply with the law.

We need some sunshine!
The seven million strong American Muslim community was shocked at the impractical, inhuman and unconstitutional suggestion of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich calling for Inquisition-style religious "testing" and possible deportation of "every person here who is of a Muslim background."

In response to the terror attack in Nice, France, Gingrich told Sean Hannity of Fox News: "Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization.

After paying cursory respect to "modern Muslims," Gingrich proposed making a felony out of visiting "any website that favors ISIS," as well as "any organization which hosts such a website," which would presumably include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and innumerably more sites where people freely engage in all sorts of incendiary speech.

Gingrich went on to say: "And we're told to be reasonable, to be passive, to not judge. Well I just want to tell you tonight, everybody who watches this video, this is the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama."

He also suggested monitoring of mosques in America.

The suggestion is un-American

President Barrack Obama remarked that "in the wake of last night's attack we've heard more suggestions that Muslims in America" be targeted for tests, exclusion and even expulsion. "The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything that we stand for as Americans," he said.

He argued that nations should try to protect freedom, not surrender in fear. "We cannot give in to fear or turn on each other or sacrifice our way of life," Obama said. "We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that's exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them. And here in the United States, our freedoms " keep us strong and safe."

Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, noted that America had been founded on the principle of religious freedom. "That is a principle enshrined in our constitution and one that the president believes is worth protecting," he said, criticizing Gingrich's rhetoric as "un-American by its very definition". Earnest added: "This is also the very worst possible time for leaders to suggest that Americans should turn on one another. That's exactly what the terrorists would like us to do."

Democrat Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, co-chair of the congressional progressive caucus, told MSNBC's Morning Joe: "He does know better. That's the sad thing about Newt Gingrich. He's a very smart man, it's just calculating, pandering, and it's really sad." Keith Ellison is the first Muslim congressman.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, condemned the terror attack in France and also condemned a suggestion by Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who responded to the attack by calling for testing and possible deportation everyone of a "Muslim background" in the US for sharia beliefs.

In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said:

"We condemn this bloody massacre as we have condemned previous ISIS or ISIS-inspired atrocities and the deviant ideology that produces such senseless and cowardly violence. We are praying for the people of Nice, the victims of another outrageous attack on humanity.

"As we mourn the victims and determine how best to protect people of all faiths and backgrounds from such brutal attacks, let us not help the recruiting efforts of ISIS and other terror groups by blaming all Muslims for the murders in France.

"When Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich suggests that American Muslims be subjected to an Inquisition-style religious test and then expelled from their homes and nation, he plays into the hands of terror recruiters and betrays the American values he purports to uphold."

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My one-sided 'lurid' love affair with Bernie Sanders has come to a screeching halt. The political infatuation I had with Bernie that was strong enough to make me swear off George Clooney (pre-Amal); is now stored away with old tokens meant to curse former crushes, (including an ugly little voodoo doll bearing more than a striking resemblance to Trump); and all because he whole heartedly endorsed Hillary this week.

Now I understand that Bernie told his followers the fight will go to the convention floor as a show of newly grown progressive force. He wants to knock out political bosses, reform the nominating process, and allow voting rights for independents in the primaries.

Rumors of blackmail fly online"

Unsubstantiated rumors surfaced on a reddit thread, claim that Bernie was allegedly blackmailed (by the DNC and Hillary), to happily endorse Hillary, or be locked out of the convention. (Source : https://m.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/4snwvk/why_bernie_endorsed_hillary/ )

That's right, no Bernie and no nasty aftertaste from Bernie delegates to stop Hillary's coronation. Frankly, envisioning Bernie, his delegates and fellow protesters barred from the door of the convention with the threat of arrest hovering like 'hanging chads' of yesteryear; would have served as a more powerful indictment over a corrupt process. Alas, it was not to be.

I can forgive Bernie for being tired and realizing that Hillary has stolen the nomination; but I have difficulty accepting his smiling face standing next to HER--the poster child of groveling and political obeisance to Wall Street.

I would have been crushed except, I had someone even better than Bernie--waiting in the wings, namely Green Candidate Dr. Jill Stein. I admit that I was attracted by her mantra which simply states the obvious and most inconvenient truth, that; "Democracy needs a moral compass; it needs our moral values." (Source : J. Stein interview in St. Louis, July 3, 2016)

Jill Stein to the rescue"

Dr. Stein or Jill as she prefers to be called is the 'dirty' little secret of the political world. A medical doctor by profession and an alumnus of the Harvard Medical School; she is refreshingly humble. Jill was kind enough to consent to an interview on a very short campaign stop in St. Louis. We met in a local coffeehouse which had also previously served as a refuge for Ferguson protesters. There were no handlers, no entourage, no demands for the questions in advance, and no arrogance.

It's easy to see why Jill Stein and the Green Party have been locked out of the press cycle at least until recently. Her agenda has a corny name; 'The Power to the People Plan', but the goals are golden in terms of economic, social, political and climate justice. She blames""both corporate political parties;" for the current litany of economic, political and climate crimes against humanity. (Source :http://www.jill2016.com/plan)

Jill's plan"

Her goals are to create""deep system change, moving from the greed and exploitation of corporate capitalism to a human-centered economy that puts people, planet and peace over profit." (Source : http://www.jill2016.com/plan)

Key points of her plan feature the following:

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Reprinted from Media Matters

Fox News has rediscovered its love of law and order.

In the wake of protests across the country by Black Lives Matter activists following the deaths of two African-American men at the hands of police, Fox has spent days loudly denouncing the group for its allegedly violent ways. Under the headline, "Time to end Black Lives Matter lawlessness," Fox's Todd Starnes recently insisted "the rules of law matters, folks. Without it, we've got anarchy."

Starnes was angry that Black Lives Matter activists weren't arrested when they marched on a bridge in Memphis and shut down traffic there over the weekend.

Fox hosts and guests have all been piling on Black Lives Matter, continuing the network's long-running campaign to demonize the group. Bill O'Reilly announced that an NAACP director and African-Americans in general need to "distance themselves from Black Lives Matter" in order to create "good racial relations," while a panel of Fox News talkers last week insisted Black Lives Matter has its "roots in violence." And Sean Hannity recently claimed that Black Lives Matter's "advancing narrative is killing cops."

In other words, just rancid stuff, as Fox whips up racial tension under the guise of defending law and order. (Rudy Giuliani on Fox: Black Lives Matter "puts a target on the back of police.")

Fox News' hate rhetoric isn't just dangerous, it also reeks of hypocrisy when you recall that back in 2014, the same Fox News flaunted its disdain for law enforcement in order to champion Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. For two decades, Bundy refused to pay federal grazing fees on the public land his cattle used. According to Fox and the conservative media then, there was no more important battle than Bundy's symbolic showdown with the federal government.

The rancher's battle was supported by heavily armed militiamen and women. Insurrectionism was the ugly theme of the day. Law enforcement was the enemy. And for Bundy, Fox News acted as his publicist/public defender, rallying conservatives across the country to support a rancher who didn't want to pay his taxes.

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The "Prince of Peace " was also a Prince of Principle. On his final visit to Jerusalem, Jesus went once again to the temple...... And Jesus was indignant at the sight and said:

"You men of Israel, for shame! This is supposed to be the house of prayer, but it is now a den of thieves. Remove this plunder from this holy place!" The merchants only laughed and said "we are protected in our trade by those who bear the rule, we will not go!"

Then Jesus made a scourge of cords, as he did once before, and rushed amongst the merchantmen, threw all their money on the floor, threw open wide the cages of the doves , and cut the cords that held the bleating lambs and set them free..... And then he drove the merchants from the place.

A bit later on, when Jesus was asked about the effects of prayer and deeds: "So shall it be with those who bear no fruit. When God shall call them up to give account, lo, he will breathe upon them and their empty words will wither and decay...... God will not hear the prayer of any man who comes with blood of other men upon his hands."

Symbolism is key in any spiritual quest, or in any discourse on interrelationships. One can readily interpret that the temple of that day could very well be our temple of government today: the Congress or city council and state houses. The merchants could very well be symbolic of the lobbyists who 'buy and sell "votes from the Congress"..... Or perhaps they represent the politicians themselves. Could the symbolism of the doves and other sacrificial animals be perhaps regular citizens who are now behind the proverbial eight ball?

Finally, in relation to Jesus' words on God and his judgment or comfort, having any sort of belief in the sweet hereafter with a Creator would dictate that 'As ye sow so shall ye reap '.

I mean, we can go on and quote Jesus: "As ye do to the least of mine you do to me ." When the Wall Street crowd premeditatedly scammed millions of unsuspecting home buyers, is that not fitting to what Jesus meant? When our government conducts phony wars of aggression, destroying and then occupying the defeated countries, does that too not fit? Are the lives of those Iraqi and Afghan civilians and those young American troops less important than the lives of the super wealthy and their political allies? What better analogy to the words of Jesus concerning " the least of mine " than that of the illegal and immoral US torture programs and haphazard drone missile kills?

Obama should have known better! He was not the son or grandson of the elite class. For one who postures himself as a "Man of color", these seven plus years did he not realize that historically a large percentage of the victims of the policies of greed and corruption always wear black and brown faces? A greater representation of those in United States Army & Marine battle fatigues happen to be of color. To send them deeper into the "hornet's nest of empire" is not spiritual at all. A greater per capita percentage of those scammed by Wall Street housing hustlers were folks of color.

Mr. Obama needs his own epiphany , or as Jesus told about those who "bear no fruit': "Their empty words will wither and decay". While Obama trots to the podium, being pushed along by his Wall Street and Military Industrial Complex handlers, as a Christian Mr. Obama should remember Jesus of Nazareth's warning:

"No man can serve two masters, for then he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon." Mr. Obama, mammon defined means "Money personified as a false God". Who have you served sir?
Calling the 2016 GOP convention the whitest of the whitest GOP conventions is not redundancy or a play on words. It underscores the fact that this convention in comparison to the 2012 GOP convention and indeed a string of other GOP conventions going back in recent time have been virtually lily white affairs. Start with the 2012 convention. Much was made before the start of that convention that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Democratic Congressman Arthur Davis, and Saratoga Springs, Utah Mayor Mia Love would be among the bevy of speakers at the convention. Much was also made that New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley would also be prominent on the speaker's dais. This supposedly was the GOP's public rebuke to the loud charge that it was yet another good ole' white guys confab. The charge was more than a charge it was a brutal fact. Blacks and Hispanics were the proverbial invisible persons at the convention. African-Americans made up a paltry 2 percent of the delegates, and Hispanics only a slightly higher number.

It wasn't much better four years earlier in 2008. Only 36 of the more than 2,300 delegates to that convention were black. The GOP by its lowest of low minority delegate bar looked positively like a minority's champion in 2004 when the number of black delegates soared to a towering 167 number at that convention.

http://racerelations.about.com/od/organizations/a/The-Gop-S-Diversity-Problem.htm

The 2016 convention may well plumb even deeper the depths in the number of minorities there. The tip-off is who is on the list of the dozens of speakers announced. More than 80 percent of those who will take the podium are white, mostly white males.

http://racerelations.about.com/od/organizations/a/The-Gop-S-Diversity-Problem.htm

The chronic invisibility of minority, especially African-American speakers and delegates, at this year's GOP convention is chalked up to Trump. That is his racially incendiary, immigrant, Hispanic and especially Muslim bashing campaign and rhetoric that got him to the top of the GOP presidential heap. This was on glaring and embarrassing display when one poll found that Trump got all of 1 percent of black voter support. Embarrassing because even Reagan and George W. Bush got about six percent of the black vote, and other GOP presidential candidate like Reagan and Bush no matter how conservative their credentials get around that percentage of the black vote.

The paltry number of blacks and Hispanics that turn up at the GOP conventions is much more than just a reflection of a GOP presidential candidate, that is Trump, who has run a virtual one man hit campaign against minorities. And who has not so subtly aimed his hard pitch at frustrated, fearful, and angry whites, and worse unreconstructed bigots. It's a continued hard indictment of the party that shoved him to the top. That's on naked display in the Trump influenced 2016 GOP platform that calls for a tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, and comes dangerously close to endorsing Trump's call for a border wall.

Trump, however, merely swims in the party's long standing rancid racially charged history and philosophy. The GOP is a party that promotes unabashed racially sneaky code words, a Southern Strategy, and state's rights. It would not be the political force it is in state and especially national politics, and would not maintain its firm support base in the Deep South and the Heartland states among white rural, suburban, conservative blue collar, and male voters, if it wavered in defending its core racial turf. Even the few high profile black Republicans such as Clarence Thomas adhere to and fervently espouse the party's hard line conservative attack points.

There is absolutely no room for them to deviate from them. Former GOP Republican National Chairman Michael Steele had a momentary inkling that simply having black faces spout the stock conservative line would never attract more than a bare handful of blacks to the GOP. On occasion he quipped that the GOP had to give blacks some reason to embrace the GOP. But Steele even as he said that Steele was already well on his way to becoming a casualty of the GOP's steady march backward to its extreme right-wing stance on the issues. He was soon ousted.

With the spectacular surge of Trump there was little doubt that the GOP's 2016 convention would play hard to white conservatives, and that the delegates to the convention would reflect their views. Trump's virtually lily white key staffers, his selection of ultra-conservative Mike Pence as his VP running mate, and his raucous rallies before mostly white audiences were further glaring signs that the GOP convention would be a convention where minorities would be largely missing from sight.

The 2016 GOP platform reflects much of the Tea Party agenda. The staples again are repeal the Affordable Care Act, deep slashes in government spending, the downsize of federal employment, and the gut of federal regulations on environment protection, and the lax checks on financial, and corporate abuse. The convention platform is designed to rouse the GOP's conservative legions and will wreak even more misery on minorities. The 2016 GOP convention again delivers on what the GOP has worked overtime for years to be and that's the whitest of whitest conventions.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is the author of Let's Stop Denying Made in America Terrorism, (Amazon Kindle) He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on Radio One. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles and the Pacifica Network.
According to political opportunists and anti-public land advocates, good land management is a thing of the past  and collaboration has vanished, too. Yet successes exist if you look past the political rhetoric and boondoggle proposals advanced by those whose real effort is to take the public out of public lands. One of those successes is the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project.

The Blackfoot-Clearwater region is the public lands surrounding Ovando and Seeley Lake. This is where countless Montanans go to hunt elk, deer and black bear or fish for native trout. Families have been spending time on these timbered ridges and creek bottoms for generations. Thousands of Montana kids have learned to hunt big game in the wild country of Lolo National Forest and to fish for trout in the waterways of the North Fork of the Blackfoot, Monture Creek and the Clearwater River.

The Blackfoot and Clearwater rivers also provide irrigation water for ranchers and farmers and sustain native cutthroat and bull trout fisheries. The rivers headwaters are high in the mountains and present some of the best fishing in Montana for anglers hearty enough to reach them. Just last month, thousands of Montanans and tourists flocked to Seeley Lake and Ovando to hit the salmon fly hatch, one of Montanas first chances to sling big bugs at willing trout.

Irrigators have collaborated for years with groups like Trout Unlimited to improve fish habitat and water conditions so that traditional family agriculture and native fish both have plenty of room to exist and thrive.

Collaboration is another tradition in the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys. For more than 10 years, the people who live, work and play here have been working together to end conflict with large carnivores, increase access to public lands and ensure a bright future for the inhabitants of these spectacular valleys  people and wildlife alike.

To this end, the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project is a landscape-driven, locally grown, widely supported tool for sound public lands management. It includes provisions that would permanently conserve important big-game habitat, ensuring that this section of Montanas backyard remains a destination for locals to fill their freezers each fall. Backcountry Hunters & Anglers supports the BCSP for all these reasons. Yet our support is grounded in the fact that the BCSP is the product of diverse interests, including timber, conservation, outfitters, local business, snowmobilers and ranchers, all of whom put aside their differences and forged something that benefits everyone.

A new University of Montana poll shows that 74 percent of Montanans support the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project. By joining recreational and timber interests with conservation interests  and designating 84,000 acres of public lands as wilderness  the BCSP is a proposal that all Montanans can celebrate. Its time for our Montana delegation to finish the good work that was started on the ground in Seeley Lake and Ovando and introduce a BCSP bill in Washington, D.C.

Montanans are tired of gridlock and petty squabbles derailing locally crafted proposals that respect the multiple uses of our shared public lands. The time is now to introduce the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project and work together toward its passage in 2016. Our fish, wildlife and outdoor heritage all depend on prompt and decisive action.
Military Coup in Turkey

ANKARA: An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.



Around 50 soldiers involved in an attempted military coup in Turkey surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.



A Reuters witness earlier saw tens of other pro-coup soldiers surrendering to armed police after being surrounded in Istanbul's central Taksim square.



A senior official said 42 people had been killed in the violence in Ankara alone, most of them civilians. More deaths were also reported in Istanbul.



Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes on Saturday against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara, an official with the presidency said.



Turkish F-16s have launched air strikes against tanks outside the presidential palace, the official said, adding that a military helicopter, which was involved in an attack against a Turkish satellite operator earlier, has been downed in the Golbasi district of Ankara.



Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.



Erdogan put the blame of uprising on supporters of his arch-foe, US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who once was an ally of the Turkish president.



What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason, Erdogan said at Istanbul's airport.



The president said his hotel in the Aegean coast resort of Marmaris was bombed after he left. But he remained defiant, vowing: We will not leave our country to occupiers. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim meanwhile said over 120 people had been arrested over the coup attempt.



Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.



But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.



The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.



Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.



In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.



Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a peace council that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.



Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.



Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.



"There is no power higher than the power of the people," Erdogan said. "Let them do what they will at public squares and airports." The state-run Anadolu agency meanwhile said 17 police officers had been killed in an attack on their offices in the city.



Turkish military appears divided over coup attempt

Turkey's armed forces do not condone the coup against the government, the commander of the special forces said.



General Zekai Aksakalli made the comment to broadcaster NTV, adding that the attempted coup would not succeed and that his special forces were in the service of the people.



State-run news agency Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency. Subsequently, a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a military helicopter being used by a faction within the army attempting a coup over the capital Ankara early on Saturday, broadcaster NTV said.



Earlier, Turkeys prime minister Binali Yildirim had said a group within Turkeys military engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup.



Yildirim told NTV television on Friday: It is correct that there was an attempt.



Yildirim didnt provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any initiative that would interrupt democracy.



The Turkish military said that it had assumed power over Turkey. The power in the country has been seized in its entirety, said a military statement read on NTV television, without giving further details.
The ninth biogas - expo & congress will take place at 8. - 9. February 2017 at the Exhibition Center Offenburg. Exhibitors as well as visitors are very convinced by the trinational orientation on the target markets Germany, France and Switzerland.

Inbetween 800 to 900 visitors as well as 50 exhibitors benefited from the cross-border communication platform in Southwest Germany. Especially the combination of the trade fair and congress offers professional expertise, well-founded knowledge of research and practice as well as a perfect place for the exchange of experience and networking.



To the specialised trade visitors count: Planners & engineers, Representatives of the agricultural & forestry sector, Suppliers, Local authorities & administrations, Energy authorities & public utility companies, Operators & investors, Science & research
The International Conference Progress in Biogas IV will be held in Stuttgart, Germany on March 8th to 11th 2017 at the University of Hohenheim. The conference is organized by the IBBK Fachgruppe Biogas GmbH in cooperation with the University of Hohenheim.

The developments in the fields of production and process engineering, frame conditions and use possibilities will be presented and discussed in contributions to and from practice, science and politics. The fourth edition of the conference covers the advances on low-tech biogas plants, biogas generation from biowaste and wastewater treatment plants, digestate application and management, innovative digestion technologies, pretreatment technologies, gas cleaning and gas processing as well as the optimal integration of biogas in the energy system. The modeling, controlling of the biogas process and the inhibition of the process will be also discussed.

The conference will last two days and will be divided into parallel sessions. On the third day, a "workshop day," in the framework of a total of four workshops (two in parallel in the morning, two in parallel in the afternoon) will take place. On the fourth day the participants will have the opportunity to visit several attractions in the metropolitan region of Stuttgart on a guided excursion.
For more than 40 years ONS has been gathering the international oil and gas industry to network, debate, do business and plan for the future. Last time more than 90 000 people visited the exhibition and conference. We hope to see you in 2016!

ONS attracts high-level executives and politicians as well as specialists and young professionals from all over the world. The ONS exhibition gives you direct access to the most interesting companies in the offshore and overall energy industry. Have a look at the visitor and exhibitor profiles from 2014

Visitor profile

91 682 visitors

100+ nationalities

Over 31 000 international visitors

59 % line managers and above

200 members of the press

Company category  visitors

Oil and gas company 29 %

Supply industry 25 %

Design/engineering/construction 20 %

Authorities/education/research 5 %

Production/drilling contractor 5 %

Safety/environment 3 %
The production of energy from alternative sources and its impact on climate change are among the main strategic tools implicated in the sustainable development of our society. Numerous types of biomass and wastes contribute towards the production of energy and reduction in the use of fossil fuels by means of biological, chemical and thermal processes. Existing biomass and waste to energy technologies are currently undergoing rapid development. Despite growing interest in the use of these technologies, in many countries their implementation remains limited.

The aim of the Venice 2016 Symposium is to focus on the advances made in the application of technologies for energy recovery from biomass and waste and to encourage discussion in these fields. The previous edition of the Symposium, held in 2014, was attended by over 500 scientists and operators from approximately 54 different countries.

The sixth edition of the Symposium will feature:

Three days of scientific presentations

One day of guided technical tours at biochemical and thermochemical plants

Six parallel oral sessions, poster sessions and an exhibition by companies working in the field

Expected attendance of over 600 delegates from tens of different countries worldwide

The sixth edition of the Symposium will be held in the eminent meeting centre of Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice. Internationally renowned as one of the most relevant congress venue, lately it has begun encouraging and hosting famous and fascinating art and architecture exhibitions. It has always been supported by the most prominent institutions, such as the Municipality of Venice and the Veneto Region.

The Symposium is organized by the International Waste Working Group (IWWG) and Ordine degli Ingegneri della Provincia di Venezia, with the scientific support of the Universities of Padova, Hokkaido, Queensland, Rostock, Trento, Tsinghua and Hamburg University of Technology.
We are the direct manufacturer and exporters hardwood charcoal, sawdust charcoal, briquette charcoal, bamboo charcoal, oak charcoal, vegetable coal,

mangrove charcoal.

We have all of these products in large quantity in our company warehouse and we are looking for serious buyers to sell to them.

If interested in our product,please do not hesitate to contact us asap.

Waiting to read from any serious company.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
Green Party state Senate candidate Steve Ruzbacki had $405 in his campaign fund, as of Monday, according to a new campaign finance report filed with the state Board of Elections.

Ruzbacki received $680 in campaign contributions between Jan. 11 and Monday, and spent $274.

His largest contribution was $500 from Warren County Green Party.

Ruzbacki, a teacher and political activist from Minerva, is running in the 45th Senate District against Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, who had $254,705 in her campaign fund, as of Monday.
Officials representing charities say granting North Dakotas five American Indian tribes exclusive rights to host online gambling could effectively end charitable gambling in the state. The tribes want Gov. Doug Burgum to approve the idea under tribal-state agreements known as compacts. The current compacts expire at the end of this year and only Burgum can approve them. The tribes argue that their casinos have been hurt by the explosion of the charities Las Vegas-style pull tab machines. Burgum heard arguments from the charities and tribes on Friday. He says the terms of the compacts are still being negotiated and should be completed next month.
QUEENSBURY | The Warren County Sheriffs Office was in the right place at the right time.

Deputies went to the Price Chopper on Upper Glen Street in Queensbury on Friday to investigate a larceny. When they arrived, workers told them another larceny was in progress.

The suspect tried to run away from the store with stolen merchandise, but Patrol Officer J.M. Palmer chased him down.

He arrested James A. Giacalone, 34, of Binghamton, on charges of criminal possession of stolen property, a felony, and two misdemeanors, petit larceny and resisting arrest.

After arresting Giacalone, deputies learned he was using a vehicle that had been reported stolen in Binghamton and that he was also wanted by state police in Binghamton for a probation violation.

The vehicle that was reported stolen has been recovered.

Giacalone was arraigned in Queensbury Town Court and remanded to the Warren County Correctional Facility without bail.

Giacolone was traveling with Katee P. Neu, 17, of Deposit, New York. She was also charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.

Neu was arraigned in Queensbury Town Court and remanded to the Warren County Correctional Facility.
DRESDEN  Two drivers died Friday afternoon in a head-on collision caused by a new driver, state police said.

Michael P. Rehm, 17, of Clemons, struck a car driven by Walton K. Smith, 58, of Putnam, police said.

Both drivers died instantly, according to state police. No one else was riding in either car.

It happened just north of Blue Goose Road on Route 22 in Dresden at 4:21 p.m. Friday. Rehm was driving southbound, navigating a curve. He drifted over the yellow lines and struck Smiths car head-on, state police investigator Joe Bearor said.

Although an autopsy has been scheduled, Bearor said Rehm appeared to have just made a simple error in navigating the curve. He did not believe Rehm was driving under the influence, using his cellphone or otherwise breaking driving laws.

He was 18 years old, new driver. Something distracted him, Bearor said.

Both drivers were near home, he added, and appeared to be safety-conscious.

They both had their seat belts on. Didnt work, he said.

Keith Redmond, athletic director and boys basketball coach at Whitehall, said Rehm was a well-liked student who was friendly with everybody. He was a member of the boys basketball team.

"Michael was such a popular kid in school ... this is just a devastation for everyone," Redmond said.

Whitehall Central School District Superintendent Patrick Dee posted a letter on the district's website Saturday expressing sympathy for Rehm's family and notifying the community and student body that mental health counselors will be made available this week at the high school to help them cope with the loss.

State police investigated the crash. The Washington County Sheriff's Office and Dresden firefighters assisted at the scene. That stretch of Route 22 was closed for hours Friday.
CAMBRIDGE  A parade, a block party and dance, a firemens muster and fireworks helped the village of Cambridge celebrate its 150th anniversary year Saturday.

The Cambridge Fire Department formed a few months after the village incorporated in April of 1866 and is also marking its 150th anniversary. The morning parade up Main Street included members and apparatus from 14 area fire companies, from the town of Hoosick in northern Rensselaer County to Kingsbury in Washington County.

Other participants included village officials in a horse-drawn wagon; the Cambridge Historical Society featuring the Jerome B. Rice Seed Co., the villages most famous and long its largest business; area churches including the Coila Church, founded in 1785, and St. Lukes Episcopal, another 150-year organization; members of Cambridge Central Schools Class of 1966; civic and youth groups; and several local businesses.

Parade entries were judged, and the winners  Cub Scouts Pack 62 and Girl Scouts Troop 3525, the Coila Church and the Cambridge Historical Society  received yellow bricks with an attached plaque, a nod to the yellow bricks that were the first pavement on the villages main thoroughfares.

State Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, whose district includes the White Creek side of the village, presented village mayor Carman Bogle with a proclamation from the Assembly noting the anniversary. McLaughlin said the village is one of his favorite places in his district.

I congratulate everyone for living in such a great community, he said. State Sen. Betty Little, who also represents part of the village, praised the Cambridge Fire Department for making the community safe for 150 years.

The town of Cambridge side of the village is represented by Assembly member Carrie Woerner, who was unable to attend, and State Sen. Kathy Marchione, who presented the village with a proclamation from the state Senate at its anniversary kickoff in April.

Festivities continued after the parade with food and drink vendors and music in Durrin Memorial Park and a firemens muster, hosted by the Cambridge Fire Department, at Cambridge Central School. The muster was a four-event competition based on firefighter skills: dressing quickly in turnout gear, coupling hoses and running water through them, and setting up portable pumps. Cambridge, Salem and Bennington Rural fire departments and Victory Mills Fire and Rescue fielded six-person teams. Victory Mills took first place.

Part of Main Street was turned into a pedestrian mall and picnic area for an afternoon block party.

Everything is going as planned, Mayor Carman Bogle said in the early afternoon.

The Village Board appointed a five-member anniversary planning committee in January, Bogle said. The village partnered with the Cambridge Fire Department and had assistance from other groups, including Hubbard Hall Projects, which coordinated street banners with students at Cambridge Central School, and the Cambridge Historical Society, which commissioned an anniversary coin.

The village lies at the intersection of the towns of Cambridge, Jackson and White Creek. It was pivotal in joining the three communities, Bogle said. Were the city-ish hub of the area. Its the only center for shopping in the three towns, she said.

Unlike other villages upstate, there have been no serious proposals to dissolve Cambridge, Bogle said.

Were going to thrive because of our people, she said confidently. Were in a better position than others in the area. Our Main Street and local businesses receive a lot of community support.

Whats next for the village?

My goal is to get wastewater treatment, Bogle said.
MOREAU  Frustration is mounting over Supervisor Gardner Congdons management style, with Town Board members saying they cant get much done because of him.

What of significance have we accomplished in the past seven months? said board member Todd Kusnierz. I cant point to anything.

Instead, he said, the board has had to spend months finding a replacement building inspector, after the last two inspectors left. Both came under heavy public criticism from Congdon.

Congdon criticizes many employees in public, and Kusnierz noted that several employees have resigned while few people have applied for their jobs.

Hes single-handedly moving the town backward, Kusnierz said. To one after another, publicly ridicule, disparage town employees by name is completely unacceptable.

Board members are also deeply dissatisfied with the way Congdon wants to run the town.

He doesnt want to work collectively, Kusnierz said. Its his way, take it or leave it. And thats not the way government works.

Often Congdons ideas are the right thing to do, said board member Alan Van Tassel, who added that he doesnt know anyone in town who cares about Moreau as much as Congdon.

But Congdons way of wanting to take action without following the rules, or while shouting and insulting board members, has not worked, Van Tassel said.

You can be right, and if you are not effective, it doesnt matter, he said. If you cant communicate and you cant get a bunch of people to work together, it doesnt matter that you are right.

Congdon is frustrated too, by the slow pace of change and by what he sees as unwarranted delays from other Town Board members.

I came in trying to do a good job for the town and I have been burdened for six months, goddamnit, he said.

He has hit hurdle after hurdle, he said. Board members wouldnt support his choices for building inspector, wouldnt vote with him to get rid of the current town attorneys and, most recently, insisted that he follow the towns rules regarding three bidders for projects.

He is particularly frustrated by the bidding situation. Part of Town Hall flooded this winter, due to mistakes made by a plumber when the building was built. Congdon hasnt gotten the walls repaired yet because he doesnt want to go with the lowest bidder.

He wants someone you know will be responsible, will be on call. Which is not what we did the first time. We got a low-bidder from Albany or somewhere down there.

That company, Crisafulli Brothers of Albany, has never come to Town Hall to inspect the damage and the parts believed to have been installed incorrectly.

Congdon has two bidders who wrote responses to his RFP to repair the damage. A third wrote a vague response that didnt include a price. Since that didnt meet the three bidders rule, Congdon proposed simply contracting with individual companies  one for each piece of the work.

Ive offered to take care of this, get this done, he said. So it doesnt look like this. The insurance company has agreed to pay it.

But Van Tassel moved the issue to committee, saying the building committee would get pricing in time for the next meeting  another two weeks wait.

In response to such delays, Congdon often erupts in shouts and insults of other board members. He also interrupts them and leads the board into tangential arguments that generally last 30 minutes or more.

These fights are terrible, board member Gina LeClair said. Who wants to be represented by the yelling and screaming we have at our meetings? I dont think people want to say, Heck yeah, thats my town!

After months of such behavior, a line appeared to be crossed at Tuesdays board meeting. Twice, Congdon and Kusnierz stood as they confronted each other, both seemingly ready to throw a punch. Other board members were openly critical of Congdon, telling him to calm down and saying he throws temper tantrums.

Even the public seemed to feel that enough was enough. People in the audience repeatedly tried to derail arguments, first by coughing loudly and finally by shouting, Stop!

Van Tassel said the supervisors problem is ineffective communication.

If we could better understand his position, we could probably work better with him, Van Tassel said.

But instead, Congdon skips meetings or doesnt offer his input and then criticizes the decisions after the fact. He angrily denounced the boards choice for building inspector but had skipped the meeting at which they made the decision. He also recently criticized the decision to clean the Sandbar Beach bathhouse for one last season rather than demolishing it.

That should have been aired before, not after the fact, Van Tassel said. Be involved early on. Dont always be criticizing after the fact.

The four board members have now banded together and are working to do the work that was often previously done by the supervisor. They are doing research, meeting with employees, talking out ideas with attorneys and developing legislation.

Were hoping to handle things Gardner doesnt want to work with, LeClair said.

The process is slower, but its working.

We may not always agree, but we always come to a solution, LeClair said. Its wonderful. Its never been as smooth as it is now.

Van Tassel stressed that the board members will work with Congdon if he wants to work in a collaborative, non-combative way.

Were going to just move forward and we hope that hes part that, Van Tassel said. We are fully committed to do that with or without the supervisor.
A federal program that funds community health centers such as Hudson Headwaters Health Network has long had bipartisan support, said Dr. John Rugge, the local health center chains chief executive officer.

Historically, every president has been supportive of our program. ... The two presidents that were most supportive of all were Barack Obama and George W. Bush, he said.

Rugge is pleased the preliminary Democratic presidential platform calls for a major expansion of the program, and hes hopeful the Republican presidential platform coming out of Cleveland this week will call for an expansion, too.

Basically, its building and supporting more health centers like Hudson Headwaters all across the nation, which we think is flattering and appropriate, he said. We like it a lot and are just now waiting for another prospective candidate (Donald Trump) to come up with the same idea.

The program provides annual funding to federally qualified health centers in rural and inner-city neighborhoods to subsidize operating costs and provide free or reduced care to patients who have high deductibles or no health insurance.

The goal of the program is to encourage patients to get routine physicals and preventative care to avoid costly care for conditions that become chronic.

Democratic politicians have spoken in general about doubling the scope of the program from serving 25 million to 50 million patients, Rugge said.

The Democratic platform does not specify how the expansion would be paid for.

Democratic congressional candidate Mike Derrick praised the platform proposal.

Its all good, Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru, in Clinton County, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. Good primary care, good preventative care is what keeps people healthy, keeps them out of the hospital, he said.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday she did not have enough information about the Democrats proposal to take a position.

Im going to have to take the time to look at the actual language, she said. Ive been focused on doing my job. Ive been focused on putting forth my ideas to represent this district and ensure that our seniors have the best quality care possible.

Stefanik has a record of supporting community health centers, Rugge said.

Stefanik spokesman Tom Flanagin said on Friday that the congresswoman voted in December for legislation to increase funding for federally qualified health centers by $1.6 billion, and in favor of earlier legislation that included $3.6 billion in funding.

She co-sponsored pending legislation to establish new funding for mental health and addiction treatment at community health centers.

Congresswoman Stefanik believes the North Country is a national model for this type of care, Flanagin said.

Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello said he would prefer the federal government open the Medicare program to provide mandatory coverage for all, but he would support increasing funding for health centers as long as it is not linked with increasing military funding.

Why are we worrying about all of this when all we have to do is make Medicare for All happen? he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

The Democratic platform calls for allowing those 55 and older to purchase coverage through Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.

I think this is a very good step. It makes the Affordable Care Act (President Obamas health care plan) that much stronger. ... Its just the kind of incremental improvement youve heard me talk about before, Derrick said.

Congresswoman Stefanik does not support lowering the eligibility age to 55 for Medicare, Flanagin, her spokesman, said Friday.

Funiciello said he would prefer to open the Medicare program to everyone, but would support opening it to those 55 and older as a stop gap measure, so long as it is not linked with increasing military spending.

Anything that the Democrats are doing with health care might be seen as some type of incrementalism, and we can give them the benefit of the doubt. Its still nowhere near enough, he said.
A Democratic state lawmaker plans to introduce a bill during next months special session that could delay construction of the planned multimillion-dollar governors residence, saying it doesnt look too smart to start such a project when the state is struggling financially.

Construction on the 13,600-square-foot residence is tentatively scheduled to being the first week of August -- the same week the Legislature will convene in a special session called by Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Wednesday to balance a revenue shortfall thats projected to grow to $310 million by the end of the 2015-17 biennium.

I think its absolutely the wrong message, Rep. Jerry Kelsh, D-Fullerton, said Friday. In the first place, we dont need a new residence. Its not falling down. Its in good repair.

Lawmakers voted in April 2015 to spend up to $4 million from the states Capitol Building Trust Fund to replace the existing 56-year-old residence if $1 million in private funds could be raised.

They said the 10,000-square-foot, ranch-style residence has problems ranging from security concerns to a lack of handicap accessibility, and it would cost up to $3 million to repair and upgrade. They also said a more impressive governors residence would better reflect North Dakotas recent prosperity, owed largely to an oil boom that has since slumped.

The trust fund is a constitutional fund that gets most of its money from oil and gas royalties on state-owned trust land. It can only be used for improvements on the Capitol grounds.

This isnt general fund money, said John Boyle, director of the states Facility Management division, which coordinates Capitol projects.

But Kelsh, who sits on the nine-member Capitol Grounds Planning Commission, noted there are general fund dollars appropriated for Capitol grounds projects in the facility management budget. Boyle said those dollars totaled $1.28 million for 2015-17, of which about $550,000 has already been spent and $300,000 is under contract.

Kelsh said his bill will propose shifting the general fund dollars back to help cover the revenue shortfall, then replacing them with trust fund money that was appropriated for the residence.

However, first it will have to make it through the delayed bills committee controlled by the Republican majority when the Legislature convenes Aug. 2 for a three-day special session.

House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, questioned whether Kelsh's proposal would be allowed under state law. But he said he isnt opposed to delaying construction.

Im not against having that project stopped for now, but I am against moving (the money) for anything else, he said. The timing just isnt right for today, so lets put it on hold for a little bit.

The Friends of the North Dakota Governors Residence fundraising committee has received more than 120 donations totaling about $520,000 for the project, including gifts from nearly 30 lawmakers, according to state Rep. Pamela Anderson, D-Fargo, who co-chairs the committee. The Legislature has required that at least $500,000 in private funds be transferred to the trust fund before construction can start.

Construction on the residence was scheduled to begin Aug. 15, but the project is about two weeks ahead of schedule, Boyle said. He expects to receive a guaranteed maximum price from construction manager JE Dunn Construction Co. on July 28 and hopes it will be $3.9 million, which will allow at least $1 million -- if the committee raises that much -- to be spent on landscaping, indoor and outdoor furnishings, architecture and engineering fees, and demolition of the existing residence. About $400,000 has been committed to the project so far, Boyle said.

The project is on schedule for a Thanksgiving 2017 completion, and Boyle hopes to have the structure buttoned up by winter.
Parkers fifth Silver Rush mystery, What Gold Buys, takes series heroine Inez Stannert to Leadville, Colo., in 1880.

Why the long gap between the previous installment, 2011s Mercurys Rise, and What Gold Buys?

Compared to many mystery authors, Ive always been a slow writer. But right around the time that Mercurys Rise came out, it felt like life, the universe, and everything else just came crashing down. I know there are people who can work through, say, their spouse having brain surgery, but I cant. There arent a lot of publishers who would welcome a writer back after a five-year lapse, but Poisoned Pen did so for me. Ive been with them since the series first book, and Im deeply grateful for the relationship.

What drew you to 1880 Leadville as a setting?

I was born and raised in California. But my parents, grandparents, and cousins are from Colorado, and I was always drawn to the state. At a family reunion, an uncle once mentioned that my grandmother was raised in Leadville. When I admitted I knew nothing about the place, he said that it had been the site of the biggest silver rush in the world, a hell-raising town. The more I read about it later, the more intrigued I became with this huge influx of people coming from all over the world, hoping to strike it rich at 10,000 feet in the Rockies, where winter lasts nine months of the year. It seemed like a really wonderful place to center a series. Just like the location itself, the setting gives me lots of room to expand and explore.

Inez Stannert is a tough woman in a masculine world.

When I was a kid I watched a lot of westerns. Even then, I realized that the guys were having all the adventures. As I started the Silver Rush series, I wanted to let the girls have some fun! I didnt want my protagonist to be perfect, and I didnt want her to be a spunky young thing. I wanted her to be a woman whod had some experience in life and was willing to walk the fine line between right and wrong, legal and illegal, when it would get her what she needed, help her friends, or protect her family.

What inspired the novels theme of communications after death?

When I finished Mercurys Rise, which was all about the scourge of tuberculosis, it seemed natural to go from disease to death and the afterlife. I have training in the sciences, so its hard for me to believe that we can connect with those who have died. But I can understand the drive to want that to be possible, and I was intrigued to discover how prominent Victorian women were in fields like spiritualism.
Melissa Sweet had been actively searching for an idea worthy of a new book when it came to her as she was walking her dogs in her hometown of Rockport, Maine, a picturesque harbor town. Shed had great success with picture book biographies, winning Caldecott Honors for her mixed-media illustrations in The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus and A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams (both written by Jen Bryant and published by Eerdmans). Shed also won the Sibert Medal for Balloons over Broadway (HMH), a book she both wrote and illustrated, about Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who launched Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade into the air.

She needed a new subject who would engage her as fully as Roget, Williams, and Sarg had. E.B. White popped into my brain, Sweet says, and I immediately knew I wanted to write about him.

Almost simultaneously, Sweet shuddered at what shed be taking ona biography of the legendary, beloved writer, who casts a large shadow not only over the literary community in Maine and New England but over the entire world of letters; the author of Charlottes Web and Stuart Little, the New Yorker staff writer, and the coauthor with William Strunk Jr. of The Elements of Style. I dont mean to be glib, she says. I have had a lot of training on how to do research, but I did think, there is no way I can do this book, before I did it. As it turned out, she couldnt not do it. Once I pulled down my copy of The Letters of E.B. White and began reading, I was gonehook, line, and sinker.

That was four years ago. What began as an idea for a picture book soon exceeded the bounds of the format. We thought at first, we can go to 40 pages, recalls Ann Rider, Sweets editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. But it quickly became apparent that there was just too much good content to squeeze into a picture book, and that the right audience for the book was slightly older anyway. It was kids who were reading or had already read Charlottes Web.

Some Writer! (HMH, Oct.) grew into a 176-page full-blown biography, illustrated with Sweets signature watercolors and collage art, excerpts from Whites personal letters and early drafts of his novels, and family photographs and ephemeraa treasure trove of rare materials, some of which have never been published before. In a bit of serendipity, Martha White, E.B.s granddaughter and the literary executor of his estate, also lives in Rockport.

I had been working on the book for a year, feeling my way, and knowing I wanted to use a lot of [Whites] quotes, portions of his letters, letting him set the stage as much as I could, Sweet says. So I thought, I should call Martha and ask her how one goes about getting permission to use his words.

The two met at Sweets studio and hit it off at once. She understood what I was attempting to do, Sweet says, and as she was leaving, she said: By the way, I have some vintage home movies and lots of scrapbooks. Would you be interested in seeing them? 

It was like Melissa had been given the keys to the kingdom, Rider says.

Whites Idyllic Childhood

Elwyn Brooks White was born in 1899 in Mount Vernon, N.Y. His father, Samuel, rose from errand boy at a piano manufacturer to president of the company. His mother, Jessie, was the daughter of Scottish-American painter William Hart.

White was the youngest of six children; his family, he wrote, was a small kingdom unto ourselves. His father recited limericks at the dinner table, inviting his children to supply the last lines. His mother raised chickens in the backyard. (Later in life, White wrote the introduction to a book on chicken husbandry, A Basic Chicken Guide for the Small Flock Owner.) All through elementary school, Whites dog, Mac, met him at the same spot for the walk home[a] service he thought up himself, White wrote in his essay collection One Mans Meat. A boy doesnt forget that sort of association.

Unaccountably, Whites family called him neither Elwyn nor Brooks but En as a child. (His older brother Stan was called Bun, because he could wiggle his nose like a bunny, Sweet reports.) Later, at Cornell University, where White fatefully became a mentee of English professor Strunk, he was renamed Andy. (It had been a long-standing tradition at the school to confer the name Andy on everyone with the surname White in honor of Cornells founder, Andrew Dickson White.) From then on, Sweet writes, to friends and family, Elwyn White was Andy White.

White wrote often of his idyllic youth in Westchester County. If an unhappy childhood is indispensable for a writer, I am ill-equipped: I missed out on all that. But he also admitted that being the youngest in a large family could be isolating. He took to writing early to assuage my uneasiness and collect my thoughts, and I was a busy writer long before I went into long pants.

The biggest crisis of Whites childhoodan allergy to pollenactually produced a life-changing benefit. A doctor prescribed dousing Whites head in cold water every morning as a cure. Whites father, who had recently visited his older sons at a camp in Belgrade Lakes, Maine, thought the clear air and cold water might help his youngest. August in Maine became a family tradition. Sweet reproduces portions of the handmade brochure White sent to a friend who was coming to visit him, promoting life at one of the most beautiful states in the Union... and the most beautiful of the lakes in Maine.

Condensing Millions of Words

Armed with so much information, memorabilia, and the millions of words White himself wrote, Sweet at first felt overwhelmed. Rider counseled her to take small steps and offered loose deadlines. Shed say, Why dont you start with just the chapter headings?  Sweet recalls. There was basic biographical information she needed to include, but she was most interested in drilling down to the origin stories of his novels. What information got him to Stuart Little? Where did it come from and how did it unfold? she wanted to know.

Sweet unearthed a coincidence when reading an article on the history of St. Nicholas magazine, in which White had published poems and stories as an adolescent. His future wife, Katharine Sergeant Angell, the New Yorkers fiction editor, had also published in St. Nicholas as a girl, including a story she wrote about finding a spiders nest. It just gave me chills, Sweet says, to imagine they both had this connection to spiders.

After distilling all the information Sweet had collected to a manageable amount, she then had to think about how best to organize it. Her specialty is presenting facts in varied formsI love portraying information in an atypical way, she says. Instead of just words, I want charts and diagrams and legends. (One legend, attached to a map detailing Whites perambulations west after college (see below), reveals he received $25 in Minneapolis for winning a newspaper contest that required furnishing the last line of a limerick.)

To offset Whites quotations from Sweets own text in the finished book, she procured a 1940s-era manual typewritera beauty, she says, the Mustang of typewritersand typed out his words herself. It slowed me down so much but it turned out to be a good thing, because it helped me get really familiar with his writing, and because [the typewriter] didnt work perfectly at all, Sweet notes. The font is really crazy. Its consistently off but the imperfections mean its not flat on the page and that was what I wanted.

Sweet also painted certain scenes from his life and created the backgrounds over which Whites quotations and family photographs were layered. She created collages with found objects from the world he inhabiteda Moxie soda-bottle cap (Mr. White bought a case... assuring his family that the new drink Coca-Cola would never be as popular), boat ropes, leaves, eggs, pencils, rulers, postmarked stamps. Your eye begins to train you that there is nothing too weird to put in a collage, she says.

When Sweet was unsure of a detail, she relied on Martha. Did White have a mustache in the 1930s? Was he in Maine around this time? When she was unsure of her words, she turned to the subject himself. Strunk and White was the book I went to when I wrote my first book, Sweet says. I have one by my bed, one in the studio. I probably have six or seven copies. [The book] made me feel that [White] thought anybody could write and surely if I followed his advice, I could do it.

At the end of Charlottes Web, Wilbur muses on his spider friend, concluding that she was in a class by herself. The same could be said of Sweets book. Its not a picture book, nor a straight biography, but a hybrid volume of unique design that brims with color and interesting visuals and tells an arresting story of a man in love with his wife, his child, his dogs, and the world.

Editors have to read projects over and over again, and every single time I read the part where his wife dies, I cried, Rider says. Thats Melissas power to make us really feel for him and [it] shows the deep, deep affection she has for him as well. I dont think she realized just how much work this was going to be going into it, but I definitely think she found her voice.
For the publication of A Celebration of Beatrix Potter (Warne, Nov. 1), Penguin Random House senior art director Giuseppe Castellano commissioned text and illustrations from more than 30 contemporary childrens book illustrators. Their tributes, excerpted here, provide the artists own spins on beloved Potter tales.

Castellano explains how the project came together: As we know, Beatrix Potter is one of the most admired childrens book author-illustrators of all time. Her writing is a master class in cadence of language; her illustrations rival the greats. Potter was influenced by Randolph Caldecott, John Everett Millais, and John Tenniel. She, in turn, continues to influence generations of author-illustrators. And so, the idea for A Celebration started with a simple question: Wouldnt it be great to pay tribute to her by reimagining her beloved characters and sharing our stories about her?

To celebrate Potters 150th anniversary, Castellano asked a number of artists to share what Potter has meant to them. Their unique stories and illustrations speak to her incalculable contribution to the world of childrens books, he says. We, the stewards of Frederick Warne & Co., feel this book is a fitting tribute to the remarkable Helen Beatrix Potter. The book is dedicated, To Beatrix. 





Betsy Lewin

Beatrix Potters book The Tale of Peter Rabbit was among my favorite picture books when I was a child. Ive always been fond of animals, and I love the warm, endearing personalities she gave her characters. Peter Rabbit was my favorite because, like me, he was mischievous and adventuresome, sometimes finding himself in hot water.

When I grew up, I became more interested in Beatrix Potter. She was a shining example of a woman making a place for herself as an artist and author in the world of publishing at a time in history when it must have seemed all but impossible. In the 1950s it seemed all but impossible to me, but I jumped in with both feet and am both thankful and still a bit surprised that I didnt drown.





Peggy Rathmann

Beatrix Potters mother allowed her daughter to keep a small zoo in her nursery. My mother, hoping that pet rodents were the key to Beatrix Potters success, let the five of us keep all the mice, rats, and guinea pigs we wanted.

Results were mixed. Several of us developed mouse phobias.

Mom and I, however, are still fans of Hunca Munca, the lovely mouse who stars with her husband in The Tale of Two Bad Mice. In fact, our only issue with the book is its title: How could such a sweet mother mouse be bad?

Here is Hunca Munca with her children at a dollhouse birthday party.

Uh-oh...





Chuck Groenink

What I remember best about Beatrix Potters stories are all the fantastically cozy little homes she gave her charactersfrom Jeremy Fishers splishy-splashy little cottage by the water to the mice hidden away under the floorboards decorating their rooms with stolen furniture from dollhouses. Each had a perfect little space of his or her own. Reading those stories, there was nothing I wanted more than to be able to visit all those abodes.





Matthew Forsythe

We love Jemima because she is a duck who wont accept her station. She is impelled to live her own life and not give in to others expectations. She is the Emma Bovary of childrens literature.





Paul O. Zelinsky

Ive always liked little things. So did Beatrix Potter: Mice and bugs, squirrels, and baby rabbits populate the tiny books she made. In her created world, the characters are part farmland animals and part English country folk. But the lives of these creatures are no safer than those of their real-life animal counterparts. If youre a rabbit, the farmer will try to catch and skin you for fur. If youre a duck, you risk being eaten. Beatrix Potter has no time for sentiment: Things are what they are and we must carry on with the story. Still, the small size of her books and the light touch of her watercolor illustrations somehow lighten the stakes. And her matter-of-fact tone in the face of animal disaster comes across, to me, as terribly funny, in a special, British way.
A former government official of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation accused of accepting bribes and kickbacks from a construction contractor has pleaded guilty to federal charges in North Dakota. Randall Phelan was an elected representative of the governing body of the Three Affiliated Tribes from the end of 2012 to the middle of 2020. Investigators say Phelan used his official position to help the contractors business by awarding contracts, fabricating bids and managing fraudulent invoices. His trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday. Phelan and two others were originally charged with receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bribery scheme on the oil-rich Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The contractor has pleaded guilty to bribery.
Its been a decade since Steve Gillis and Dan Wickett founded Dzanc Books, and the pressheralded at the time by poet Raymond McDaniel as the future of publishingis in the midst of transition. Dzanc, which was incorporated as a nonprofit in late 2006 in Michigan, has undergone many changes in recent years: Wickett stepped back from his responsibilities as executive director a few years ago due to health issues; the press switched distribution from Consortium to PGW on Jan. 1, 2015; and in June, Gillis stepped down as publisher to focus on his own writing career. Gillis said that hes very comfortable handing off Dzanc to a great staff, noting that the publisher is in the black, sustained by several hundred thousand dollars in revenues, supplemented by the returns on an investment account he set up 10 years ago for Dzancs benefit.

Editor-in-chief Guy Intoci now heads the staff of five and oversees the publication of around two dozen books each yearup from eight releases in 2013, when Intociwho is based in New York Citywas hired as senior editor. Dzanc also runs Disquiet, a literary program in Portugal, and writers-residency programs in Michigan public schools.

Dzancs expansion of its frontlist came about as the result of its executives efforts to grow the house, not just in terms of number of titles but in the variety as well, explained Intoci, who has not yet decided whether, with Gilliss departure, he will assume the title of publisher. The press also publishes a handful of nonfiction and at least one poetry title each year. Since Intoci came on board, Dzanc has begun publishing previously unpublished works by well-known authors, as well as reissuing in digital format notable books that have gone out of print. It has published close to 600 e-books.

Recent acquisitions are solidly literary, but they have a broader appeal, Intoci said. In April Dzanc published Movie Stars, a collection of short stories by Jack Pendarvis, a writer for the animated television series Adventure Time, and in May it published 2006 Pulitzer Prize fiction-finalist Lee Martins most recent novel, Late One Night. Dzanc has also published in print and digital formats three novels by William Gay, including two 2015 releases, Little Sister Death and The Lost Country, which were previously unpublished.

While Intoci declined to disclose sales figures, he said that Little Sister Death is one of Dzancs all-time bestsellers, followed by Laura van den Bergs 2009 debut collection of short fiction, What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, which was selected by Barnes & Noble for its Discover Great New Writers program that year.

Dzanc has also severed its relationships with the other small presses that were, for some time, Dzanc imprintsamong them OV Books, Black Lawrence Press and Hawthorne Books, all of which are independent once again.

In the past two years, weve been sinking everything under the Dzanc umbrella, Intoci explained. Indeed, to further promote the Dzanc brand, the press launched an annual $10,000 Dzanc Prize for Fiction (the deadline is September 30); it also sponsors a short story competition and the Dzanc Nonfiction Prize.

Intoci said he is committed to continuing Gillis and Wicketts mission of putting out exciting and original work. But, he added, as Dzanc enters its second decade, it is also striving to give its writers a place to thrive, both artistically and commercially.
The president announced this in Kigali, Rwanda where African Heads of State met to discuss the implementation of the SDGs.

In 2015, countries including Ghana adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.

President Mahama on Twitter said "The SDG is the most ambitious goal the UN has ever set itself. But we can and will work to achieve them."

He said the adoption of the goals is to enable the world tackle the unfinished business of the MDGs.

President Mahama added that "Strong political commitment at the global, national, & local levels important to this implementation."

The president was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hanna S. Tetteh.
The launch of the Fire Watch Magazine has drawn experts from the fire service to prevent and fight fire to avert property loss.

The magazine seeks to spell out several safety measures that will protect lives and properties. The event was held to also appreciate achievements and effort put together by the Fire Service personnel, some who have served for more than 20 years.

The program was held on 15 July, 2016 at the Fire Academy and Training School in James Town, Accra. The magazine was duly launched by the Minister of the Interior, Hon. Prosper Douglas Bani who said: "I extend my special gratitude to the technicians of this service for the able manner they had taken control of the servicing of the fire tenders which I believe has reduce the general cost of maintenance of our fire tenders."

Dr. Brown Gaisie the Chief Officer of the National Fire Officer service mentioned that since September 2015, 25 fire stations has been commissioned throughout the country in an effort to reduce the response time of the service to emergencies, especially in the area of rescue and expedition rescue.

This is a policy the command has to ensure that at least each district in the country is provided with fire and rescue cover.

He later mentioned that fire has no boundary therefore as part of the facility procured by the Government through the Exon Bank of India, the command is expected to take receive 24 engines in India by the end of the year.

He was hopeful that by the end of this month, they will commission fire stations at the ministries in Accra.
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A coup attempt on Friday evening (GMT) that went through the night saw a group within the army try to take over.

The Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday morning said the situation is now largely under control.

Speaking in Istanbul in the early hours on Saturday, President Erdogan promised to clean up the army.

"Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from," he said.

Other Islamic Militant groups in the Middle East also condemned the attempted overthrow of the President.
The partys parliamentary candidate would also be introduced to the over 3,000 delegates gathered at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.

National Youth organiser of the party, Murtala Mohammed called on all and sundry to vote massively for the PPP, following what he calls massive corruption that the country is being faced with.

The National Chairman of the party, Nii Allotey Brew Hammond said the purpose of the third National Convention is to affirm the choice of flag bearer of the party, Papa Kwesi Nduom.

He said the theme of the Convention "Jobs for all through competent and incorruptible leadership" is aimed at providing the appropriate leadership that will ensure employment opportunities for the teeming youth in the country.

"The PPP needs your support to attack poverty and prosperity," he entreated Ghanaians, saying that is one of the ways the party can occupy the Flag Staff House after the 2016 elections.
"Bad governance breeds problems and troubles in nations. Africas problem is that of leadership. Wherever there is turmoil and hardship is any nation, then leadership is to blame," he said.

The Chief of Agona, thus, urged Nana Akufo-Addo to constantly trust God, as He is the only one who anoints Kings, adding that "we pray for Gods guidance for you, and I am certain that if you do Gods will, His will for your life will also come to pass."

NHIS collapse

In the Afigya Sekyere East constituency, Barima Owusu Sekyere, Chief of Asaman, in the Afigya Sekyere East, said the National Health Insurance Scheme, established by the Kufuor-led NPP government, to remove the constant fear of falling ill under the inhumane Cash & Carry system, has collapsed in his town.

According to the Chief, residents of his town, who in times past beamed with smiles after returning from the hospital, now have to pay exorbitant amounts of money, in the midst of the prevailing hardships and suffering, in order to access healthcare.

"When as a government you only think of infrastructural development, without paying attention to the wellbeing of the citizenry, it is a cause for worry. President Kufuor instituted the National Health Insurance Scheme, which enabled residents to access affordable healthcare at the Asaman Hospital.
According to former President Kufuor, Ghanaians can attest to the numerous interventions the party implemented, which improved the quality of life of citizens, as well as developed the country.

President Kufuor made this known on Thursday when he, together with flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei tutu, as part of his five-day campaign tour in the Ashanti Region at the Manhyia Palace.

"In the last 8 years, however, Ghanaians have been witnesses to how bad things are. Nana Akufo-Addo was a key and integral member of my government which chalked all these successes. There is a saying, which I entreat all of you to pay attention to, which states that when you want to send someone with a message, you send one who is wise, and not one with long legs."

Governance, he noted, "is not about slogans or propaganda. We in the NPP are serious about the business of governance, and how to give the Ghanaian people a decent standard of living."
Additionally, the NPP leader noted that the major industries and businesses in the region, such as the Anglogold Ashanti mines, breweries, logging companies and cocoa farmers, have also collapsed.

"The undeniable truth is that the Ashanti Region is home to a great deal of Ghanas wealth  our cocoa, gold etc. However, the talk emanating from the region is not a good one. Everywhere I have been to, I am met with phrases such as Nana come and save us, Nana, we are suffering", he said.

He said this on Thursday when he paid a courtesy call on the Asantehene, Otumfuor Osei tutu, as part of his five-day campaign tour in the Ashanti Region at the Manhyia Palace.

According to Nana Addo, "the Inland Port at Boankra has been abandoned. The Kumasi Ring Road project has also been abandoned. The 8-lane Sofo-line Interchange, from Abuakwa to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, has also not been completed."

He added, "Every truthful person in Ghana will acknowledge that all is not well with our nation. I am not saying this to score political points. It is the sad truth. Everyone in Ghana is suffering. In such a situation, we have no choice but to find a way to take away the hardship from the Ghanaian people."

Nana Addo "indicated that there is no government that has developed this country as much as the Kufuor government did in our time. Every good policy in operation in Ghana was done by President Kufuor  the National Health Insurance Scheme, Metro Mass Transport, School Feeding Programme, Free Maternal Care, amongst others."

It is against this background that the Nana Addo appealed for the support of the Chiefs and people of the region, to help bring wealth and prosperity to every part of the country, without discrimination.

"If the Chiefs and people of Ashanti hear my cry and give me their support, all the abandoned projects I enumerated will be completed during my stay in office. Of particular focus is how we are coming to create jobs for the people of Ghana. Our young men and women, in every part of the country, are all looking for jobs. Every country that has failed to create jobs for the youth has ended up with several social problems. It is therefore necessary that we find ways and means to create jobs for the people," he said.

Nana Addo stated that, "everywhere I go, my message is that we can help establish a factory in every district across the country to help create jobs for the people. Also, we plan to improve and diversify our agriculture, and halt the over-reliance on cocoa."
The BoG made this known in a press statement to react to the scam involving over 400 people.

Victims of the microfinance scam numbering about 200 staged a demonstration in Ho, and later presented a petition to the regional minister to find the perpetrators.

Clad in red, the demonstrators carried placards with inscriptions such as Our money, No Vote, Prosperity bring our money, "No help, no vote," "we need our money back" and No money, No vote

The Volta Regional Minister, Helen Ntoso, promised the victims of swift police investigations.

"All we have to do is to report the issue to the police and get the people apprehended, that is all we can do," Ntoso told GBC

According to statement, the microfinance companies are not licensed and regulated by the Bank.

The BoG statement added that it had no control over their operations or interest payment promises to clients.

The statement continued:"The Bank deems the activities of the aforementioned companies, as reported, as purely fraud disguised as some form of banking business.

"The Bank is liaising with law enforcement agencies to trace and bring the perpetrators to book.
The convict, Ganiyu Wahab, who was reportedly arraigned for murder and sentenced to death at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on July 2, 2007, has now been discharged and acquitted.

The Nation reports that Wahab was accused of stabbing one, Kolawole Lateef Alaran, to death with a broken bottle in the Agboyi area of Lagos on January 23, 2005.

Wahab was reportedly discharged following an appeal by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), against his conviction.

The reports reveal that the judgement which was delivered by a panel led by Justice Abimbola Osarugue Obaseki- Adejumo on Wednesday, July 13, overturned his conviction and death sentence.

The appeal was based on the fact that Wahab's conviction had been made on the evidence of a lone witness, whose confessional statements were reportedly erroneous.

Wahab's lawyer, Chino Obiagwu said:

This is another opportunity to reiterate our calls for an in-depth re-evaluation and urgent overhauling of our criminal justice system, especially as it relates to the use of capital punishment. We cannot continue to sentence innocent persons to death, only for the appeal court to upturn the judgment after a decade or more.
The victim identified as Kudirat Oduola, who was a textile trader based in Gbagi market, Iwo Road, Ibadan, Oyo State is reported to have been attacked by thugs sent by her creditor.

Correspondents from The Nation reports that the deceased who had been three months pregnant at the time, had approached a fellow trader identified simply as Oriekun, asking for a loan to allow her buy more materials.

Brother to the deceased, Abdulahi Asimolowo, disclosed to the publication that his sister had paid back the loan exactly five months after, adding that Oriekun had insisted on a N400, 000 interest for the five months period.

Speaking with The Nation, he said:

It is a common practice among traders at Gbagi Market to assist one another with money to buy goods. No interest is usually charged. This was what happened between my sister and Oriekun.

Oriekun assisted my sister with the sum of N2m, which was refunded after five months. She, however, insisted that she would collect interest on the money for another five months. She said she would collect N400,000 per month. She also threatened the deceased to consider herself a walking corpse if she refused to pay the interest.

Asimolowo also disclosed that the deceased had later agreed to pay the interest after a lot of harassment from Oriekun, but later realised that she could no longer continue, discontinuing the payments.

She actually paid some of the interest, but when she could no longer continue, she told Oriekun that she was tired of paying because she could no longer afford it."

The thugs were reportedly sent to attack Oduola on May 19, 2016, for failure to pay the expected interest amount.

The thugs beat her up and left her when she collapsed. She lost her pregnancy as a result of the attack and she was rushed to the hospital.

She was taken to a private hospital at Olodo area, and later transferred to the Police Hospital at Eleyele. From there, she was transferred to the University College Hospital where she died on July 9, 2016.

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Oriekun has now been arrested by the officers from the Oyo State police command, and is awaiting trial.
Ebere, who committed the crime on Wednesday, July 6, 2016 is now facing a charge of assault, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The accused reportedly hit the victim with a stick at his residence when they got into an altercation over the Eko Distribution Company bills.

Insp. Tony Elibeh, who is the prosecutor in the case stated that the offence contravened with Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

He said, "The complainant said they were trying to resolve how the bills can be paid without rancour when the accused grew angry and used a wood to hit her and caused her injuries".

Ebere is expected to serve a 3-year prison sentence if found guilty of the offence, NAN reports.

He however pleaded not guilty to the accusation, and has been granted bail in the sum of N50,000 by Senior Magistrate, Mr Titus Abolarinwa.
According to Ojikutu, though not present, his wife's lover sent in a name suggestion during the christening of their child, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Telling the court, he said, "My wife's lover, Temitope, gave my child his name on the day of christening",

"My wife is unfaithful, she made love to her lover while she was pregnant."

"I discovered this when she slept off after chatting on facebook. What attracted me to the chat was my name that I saw on the screen and I was curious to read their conversation."

"Her lover told her that he enjoyed the sex they had together and my pregnant wife also appreciated him for giving her a good sex."

"Because of their chat, I denied the paternity of the baby from the womb up till now because I am not sure I am the babys biological father."

"Also in that chat, my wife told her lover everything about me, my full name, where I work and where the guy can locate me and since that day I became afraid because I do not know what they were up to."

"When I informed her mother about her daughter's conversation with a man, she told me that I was lucky that her daughter did not bring the man to our matrimonial bed, he said.

In his complaint, Ojikutu accused his wife of being uncaring, stating that she does not feed him properly.

The court's president, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, in his ruling, told the parties to settle the case within their family.
The characters, Kibarkingmad and Olushambles, were heard in a dialogue making a mockery of the president's visit to London to check his ear.

According to the audio clip, Buhari had promised to end what was termed as 'medical tourism', when he assumed his role as the leader of the country.

Kibarkingmad and Olushambles were of the belief that African should make conscious efforts to improve its medical institution, so that such visits will no longer occur.

ALSO READ: Death row convict freed from jail after 11 years

Recently, an unknown lady reportedly said a prayer asking God to kill any Nigerian politician who goes abroad to seek medical attention.
The suspects are: Bakura Tijani, Saidu Lawal and Muhammed Umoru from Yobe and Borno ,respectively.

Olonisakin said that the gesture was to further demonstrate the level of adherence and observance of rule of law and transparency by the military in the prosecution of fight against terror in the North-East.

He was represented by the Chief of Administration, DHQ, Rear Adm. Andrew Dacosta.

He noted that such professional conduct had been exhibited by the military in the past, particularly by the Nigerian Army.

"The exercise is a continuous one and as many suspects that are cleared will be released,``he said.

He said that the Armed Forces were committed to the observance of the rule of law, human rights and international best practices.

Olonisakin said that it was in this regard that the DHQ recently initiated the operation SAFE CORRIDOR to de-radicalse, rehabilitate and integrate surrendered Boko Haram members into the society.

e said that the initiative was yielding results as some members of the group were surrendering.

Responding, the representative of the Yobe government, Alhaji Ahmed Gonori, Attorney -General and Commissioner for Justice, said the state was committed to the plight of its citizens.

"The state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam is committed to the plight of citizens of the state wherever they are," he said.

He said that the state government had constituted a committee to de-radicalise cleared Boko Haram members and reintegrate them into the society.

"We also counsel them using various religious organisations," he said.

Gonori commended the military for the gesture, adding that it had opened a new set of collaboration between the military and the civil authority.

Speaking on behalf of the suspects, Bakura Tijani expressed joy and thanked the military for releasing them.

He also thanked Gov. Gaidam "for remembering us all these years.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspects had been in detention for two years.
Dasuki has been in court over allegations that he misappropriated funds meant for the purchase of arms for the military.

Daily Post reports that the former special adviser was granted bail on health grounds and asked to report to the EFCC office regularly.

An EFCC source confirmed the story saying He has been coming to the EFCC over fresh allegations bordering on illicit payments received from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, as well as strange payments to his companies by a council in Niger State.

He was quizzed over N50million which he collected in cash from the former NSA without record or accountability.

We also got evidence that a company that is owned by him, Romic Soil Fix International Limited, received N63million from Chanchaga Local Government of Niger State and another N13.5m from the same council, for reasons that are not stated.

The source also said Another company that is linked to Okupe, Abraham Telecoms Limited, allegedly received N35.5million from the NSA through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The payments from the Chanchaga Local Government to Romic were made on November 21, 2014 during the PDP primary election and February 13, 2015, just before the general election.

He has not been able to explain the receipts and has been asked to be reporting at intervals.

The reason he is not detained is because he claimed to have a heart condition and presented a medical report to back the claim.

In January 2016, Doyin Okupe denied that he got contracts from the former NSA, Sambo Dasuki.
Agbele was alleged by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to have laundered N1.2billion from the office of the National Security Adviser.

The judge, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, reserved ruling after listening to the submissions from the counsel in the matter on the bail application

Agbele through his counsel Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) filed a suit alleging breach of his fundamental human rights by EFCC.

Ozekhome told the court that the application was dated and filed on July 11 and supported by 33 paragraph affidavit, and another nine paragraph affidavit of urgency.

He claimed to have been detained since June 27 and prayed the court to award the sum of N500million as compensation for his unlawful detention.

Ozekhome told the court that EFCC did not say that Agbele paid money into his own account rather that he paid the money into peoples account.

He said it was wrong to detain a suspect and begin to look for evidence or carry out investigation.

EFCC got a warrant of remand on June 30 from a Magistrate court in Lagos pursuant to section 293 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of Lagos.

He said that they should have arraigned him within 48 hours as stipulated by sections 35 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which is inconsistent with the provisions of sections 293 of the ACJA because the constitution is superior.

He said that an administrative bail was granted him with stringent conditions and that EFCC went back to the same Magistrate court to obtain another order after the expiration of the 14 days given.

Mr Andrew Akoja, EFCC counsel in his opposition alleged that the issue of breach of fundamental rights did not arise at all.

He said he admitted that the Magistrate court may be an inferior court to this court; however, the statute has bestowed power on that court.

He, therefore, urged the court not to grant bail to the applicant; saying that treason before now was perceived to be the highest offence in the country, but now corruption is the highest.
The Governor said the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Bill, when passed into law by the state House of Assembly, will put an end to the incessant clashes.

Ortom also frowned at reports that said he denied that Fulani herdsmen killed people in Benue. The Governor said the media misquoted his comments.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Terver Akase, Ortom said he only said the people killed were not up to 200.

The Benue Governor also prayed for the family of those that lost their lives during the deadly attacks.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin has announced the launch of Operation Accord to tackle the menace of Fulani herdsmen in some parts of Nigeria.
They gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.

They said that the sight of herdsmen moving their animals around to feed on the monument`s lawns was not fit for a tourist centre.

The fun seekers added that apart from polluting the theatre`s environment with their dung, the animals posed danger to visitors as they could run out of control and inflict severe injuries on them.

"Honestly, I do not know what the animals are doing here? I keep seeing all these cattle all the time.

"And I wonder if the theatre has become a pasture or it is actually a place where people can come to relax.

"Sometimes, the environment smells of dung and you are lucky if you do not step on the animals` wastes while moving around.

"This is not just good for the theatre; the management has to do something about it. They have to stop the animals from coming in here, a fun seeker, Mr Tunde Ajibade said.

Another fun-seeker, Mrs Mojisola Adu, said the constant presence of cattle around the theatre could scare visitors away especially as the country was experiencing security challenges.

Adu explained that fun spots were usual targets for terrorists, adding that criminals could disguise as herdsmen to launch attacks on unsuspecting fun seekers.

"You know stories of killer herdsmen are everywhere nowadays and all these terrorists like to attack people where and when they are enjoying themselves.

"I am not saying those ones at the theatre are criminals. What I am saying is that we have to be proactive and stop anything that could make people vulnerable.

"Again, animals like cattle are not supposed be around a place like this. The management of the theatre should take the appropriate steps to stop the practice by the herdsmen, she said.

Another visitor, Mr Emeka Duru, said the ease with which herdsmen moved in and out of the theatre premises with cattle spoke of the security laxity at the tourist centre.

He, therefore, said there was the need for the management to put in place stringent security measures to ensure that only fun-seekers and those who had legitimate business had access to it.

Duru pointed out that some fun seekers especially children might have phobia for cattle because of threats they could pose.

He added that people with such fear might stop coming to the theatre because of the animals.

Mrs Margaret Arinze, who runs a food joint around the theatre, appealed to the management to ensure the monument`s premises was always cleared of dung.
This is coming after 81 people reportedly died following an alleged attack by men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in Benue state.

Speaking to newsmen at a meeting with the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin said the armed force is preparing to launch Operation Accord to tackle the menace occasioned by armed bandits in the recent spate of farmers and cattle herders clashes across the country.

Nigerians have criticised President Buhari for not taking a firm action to stop the herdsmen from causing havoc wherever they go.

The CDS also urged the police boss to motivate his men to co-operate with the military to promote peace and order.

Responding, the police IG also said The police have been briefed to take over 19 local government areas but only nine has been taken over.

He also called on the military to help train the police marine patrol team, so they can be effective in securing the Niger-Delta creeks.

Ardo Basso, a Fulani herdsman recently said that it is compulsory for people to carry machetes and daggers.
Eyewitness and one of the shop owners told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday that the incident happened around 530pm when most of traders had closed for business.

According to the witness, the fire which destroyed phones and other valuables worth millions of Naira, was said to have been caused by a spark from a converter supplying power to some of the shops.

The source said though no life was lost, but no fewer than 44 shops were destroyed by the inferno.

When contacted, the Director of the state Fire Service Alhaji Mustapha Rilwan confirmed the incident.

He said a total of 44 wooden shops were razed by the inferno.

We received distress call around 5: 20pm and we immediately mobilised our personnel to the area.

We were able to put out the fire within 45 minutes.he said.

He said it was an inverter that was being used by some of the traders that caused the inferno as most of the affected shops were made of wood and zinc.he added.
The militant group also threatened to attack any worker who tries to fix the pipeline which they blew up recently.

ExxonMobil spokesman, Todd Spitler had earlier denied reports that the militants bombed its pipeline.

Daily Post reports that the militant groups spokesman, Mudock Agbinibo said We are warning ExxonMobil not to carry out any repair work on the blown pipeline, if they refuse and go ahead with any repair work, something big and worse will happen.

To the traders/international refineries doing business with them, do not let ExxonMobil deceive you that the repair work will take three to four weeks, with the level of damage. it will take them (ExxonMobil) months to fix it.

What happened to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) crude oil export pipeline in Forcados is an example to all International Oil Companies, IOCs, no repair works until the federal government heed to our demands.

If ExxonMobil fails to listen to us (Niger Delta Avengers), your personnel are going to be our next casualties, not pipelines.

The militants allegedly of Ogun State.
The Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta also said the Federal Government has not shown commitment to the proposed dialogue with militants.

Punch reports that the spokesman of the militant group, Sibiri Taiowoh, issued a statement saying We have said it before that we have nothing to lose on the bombing of oil pipelines because our mission is to ground the oil economy if our demands are not met.

We have said we are doing what we are doing to prod the government to renegotiate the control of our oil resources and other related matters. What we are doing now is the only way to this kind of agitation.

 We have watch with chagrin the recent utterance by the President and his Vice and all we are seeing is them tacitly playing double standard and lips services to the demand of the groups as it concerns the Niger Delta question and that is why all of our Units and affiliates have not fully heeded to our ceasefire.

Today the President will say something, tomorrow his Vice and some of their dishonest and selfish lieutenants will contradict him and that only shows how confused and unserious the government is about the problems and how to deal with them.

The Niger Delta Avengers has warned oil giant, ExxonMobil not to repair it pipeline in Qua Iboe- Akwa-Ibom state.
An eye witness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Friday that the accident happened between 8 a.m. to 9a.m.

According to the witness, the military truck with registration number NA1716 BO5 was travelling to Dutse in Jigawa when the incident occurred.

NAN gathered that the accident was caused by break failure.

He said that the incident happened around 9 a.m. when the military truck which was conveying 36 soldiers led by Maj. R. O. Alieze had break failure in Gaya town, Gaya local government area.

He said that the injured soldiers had since been taken to General Hospital Dutse in Jigawa for medical treatment.

"It was our rescue team in Widil that conveyed the victims to the General Hospital, Dutse where they are receiving medical attention, he said.
This is contained in a statement signed by the Corps spokesperson, Emmanuel Okeh on Friday in Abuja.

The statement quoted the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana has disclosing this in his office.

He said over 40 suspects had also been convicted since he assumed duty in July 2015.

Gana said that the pro-activeness of the Corps Anti-Vandal squad in the Niger-Delta area and other oil communities in clamping on the illegal activities of the suspects brought about the feat based on intelligence report.

The NSCDC boss said the Corps has been partnering with NNPC in ensuring adequate distribution of petroleum products to all filling stations across the country as well as checkmating the activities of unscrupulous marketers.

He stressed that the Command and Control Centre operates 24 hours for the purpose of surveillance of the pipelines in order to clamp down on vandals.
The undefinedon June 30, 2016, recognising him as the Governor of Abia state, following a court ruling by Justice Okon Abang, ordering Ikpeazu to vacate office.

Ogah and Ikpeazu have since been engaged in legal and verbal battles in a bid to prove who should be at the helm of affairs in the Abia Government House.

Daily Post reports that the chairman of OYC in Abia, Okemiri Alex, said Keyamo has verbal diarrhea.

Alex also warned the lawyer to keep his mouth shut and let the courts decide the outcome of the governorship tussle.

The group issued a statement saying The recent vexatious antics and vituperations of one Barrister Festus Keyamo, who asked for the swearing-in of Dr. Uche Ogar as Abia State Governor is a slap on the legal profession.

It is nothing but a verbal diarrhoea. Is Keyamo not aware that the Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, is in the Appeal Court to challenge the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja?

Why do all manner of people make unguarded statements on the Abia issue just to be noticed, rewarded or just talk for talking sake?

Festus Keyamo should keep his mouth shut and allow the Court of Appeal at Abuja to do its job. There should be no trial on the pages of the newspaper.

Even the AGF has made it clear that the case should be unfettered even up to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

Mr Darlington Ozurumba, a lawyer, has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking the court to stop the release of monthly Federal Allocation to Abia state until a valid Governor is recognised.
Entwistle, in a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, alleged that Mohammed Garba Gololo (Bauchi), Samuel Ikon (Akwa Ibom) and Mark Gbillah (Benue), displayed improper sexual behaviour during their stay in the US.

He also said the hearing will be held in public, adding that nobody will be shielded.

He said The committees (ethics and privileges and foreign affairs) has decided to do a public hearing, we are not shielding anyone but we are going to give colleagues fair hearing.

The ambassador did not follow the due process by passing through the minister (foreign affairs) but we are past that now.

The House ethics committee had reportedly summoned Entwistle to appear before it on Thursday, July 14, 2016, to shed more light on the allegations.

The lawmakers also called on the outgoing US Ambassador to provide proof to back his accusations.

Entwistle however on Thursday.

The hearing was subsequently postponed to Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
Amaechi said this during the project presentation by the National Freight Information and Transportation Hub (NAFITH) in Abuja.

He said that the proposed project was aimed at decongesting the ports to enable residents of Apapa have free flow of movement within

the area.

According to him, if the project can work independently outside the national single window, it can be approved.

"We need to automate the seaports so that corruption and congestion can be drastically reduced.

"I am looking at us decongesting the seaports, which is very important to us now; we want Apapa residents to be able to pass through Apapa without traffic.

"We need to bring Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) to the table so that we will know if the project can work independently without the single window.

"Because we are already having issues with custom on the national single window, I know it will be resolved but for now if you can work independently without it, it would be approved, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes the minister as saying.

Amaechi, further stated that the 15 months proposed for the completion of the project was too long, adding that it should be reduced to five months.

Speaking Earlier, the Director of Strategy, NAFITH, Mr Saneer Mubarak, said the project was under International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

He said that, "NAFITH implements and operates a Truck Control System (TCS) that controls the entry and flow of trucks to and from the port.

Mubarak said that they were set to replicate what had been done in other parts of the world in the Apapa seaport with the approval from

the ministry and other relevant agencies.

He said it is a 40 million dollar project which would be completed in 15 months and will create 1,600 jobs for Nigerians.

The Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr Hassan Bello said the presentation was one of the many areas of automating the ports and making them modern and competitive.

He said that the project proposed by NAFITH and IFC, the investment arm of World Bank, was on a comprehensive traffic management system for the ports and to modernise them.

"Modernising the ports in Nigeria would block revenue leakage, stop corruption and make ports operation transparent.

"The project is called comprehensive traffic management system for the ports to decongest not only the ports in Apapa and Tin Can but this is the solution that could be applied for other ports in Nigeria.

"When you modernise a port, you will block the revenue leakage, you will stop corruption, and everything will be transparent, NAN quotes the executive secretary as saying.
Osinbajo said this during a program on Africa and Sustainable Development Goals, organised by President John Mahama of Ghana.

Osinbajo also shed more light on the social protection program of the Buhari-led administration.

The Vice President, in a speech made available to newsmen by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, said In Nigeria, in the current budget cycle, we have the largest social protection programme in the history of the country. Its a N500bn programme-(worth over $2.5bnas at the time budget was signed.)

Basically, we are looking at lifting many out of poverty, of course many are familiar with the size of the Nigerian state and we have close to hundred and ten million people who are poor and about two-tenth are in extreme poverty.

So it is a very huge problem and part of what we are trying to do is to look at how not just to empower people but also to ensure that what they are given is sustainable.

For the women, we are doing a programme, micro-credit programme for a million market women and artisans.

All would be given facilities, training facilities as well to enable them to be able to do some work for themselves and to continue to be able to live.

He also said In determining who the poorest is, we had problems on that, but we have very good assistance from the World Bank and the Bill Gates Foundation. They helped in trying to map the really poor.

We had to get inside the communities looking for the poorest of the poor with the small sum of money which is about N5000 (which is roughly about $25 dollars or there about) which is a sum of money that would be given to the poorest every month, which may enable them feed themselves and find something that they may do and on the condition that they send their children to school and participate in immunisation.

So we are really excited about some of the works we are trying to do around the SDGs and we are hopeful that well be able to get the Social Protection Programme working.

We just recently appointed a Senior Special Assistant on SDGs. We also have a full SDG Implementation office which is fully equipped and we hope to be able to carry out all of the proposals we made and effect them within the shortest possible time.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is currently representing President Buhari at the 27th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Kigali, Rwanda.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, said this in a lecture at the fourth Nigerian Turkish Nile University Convocation on Friday in Abuja.

According to Onu, such effort will provide a continuous stream of revenue to help build more roads, bridges, railways, dams and look after the needs of the nations security and intelligence community.

He urged Nigerians to continue be hopeful`` for the future of our country is bright.

The minister explained that the price of crude oil that slumped had exposed the nations vulnerability as a mono product economy as no sufficient attention was paid to science and technology.

"Your aim to be a center of excellence in science, technology and culture to produce graduates that are self-reliant, tolerant, creative, confident and enterprising to solve problems of Nigeria, Africa and the world, is laudable.

"We thank you for working so hard to ensure that in the future, education is made available for every student, regardless of gender, financial status, ethnicity, religion and nationality."

In his contribution, Prof. Julius Okojie, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), said the commission would intensify efforts toward orderly development of a well-co-ordinated and productive university system in the country.
"It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a substantial body of the military, not just a few colonels," the source told Reuters.

"They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently," the source said, shortly before state television TRT broadcast a military declaration of martial law.

"They control several strategic points in Istanbul. Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing," the source said.

Another European diplomat said he was attending a dinner with the Turkish ambassador in a European capital when they were interrupted by messages on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up.

Meanwhile, access was restricted in Turkey on Friday to Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc's YouTube shortly after news that a military coup was under way, according to two internet monitoring groups.

Turkey Blocks, a group that monitors internet shutdowns in the country, and Dyn, which monitors internet performance and traffic globally, both reported it was difficult or impossible to access social media services in Turkey.
British Airways said it had cancelled all flights to and from Turkey that were due to fly on Saturday, and at least one flight departing from Istanbul on Sunday, following an attempted coup in the country.
"Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," the veteran member of the European parliament was quoted as saying in the interview published on Saturday, adding that such a move could lead to a "dramatic divide" in Turkish society.

"Turkey must quickly return to constitutional order. This would apply to the military as well as for Erdogan who currently fulfils a function as president that is not foreseen in the constitution," Brok added.

Erdogan and his supporters are pushing for a more executive presidency, saying it would guard against the sort of fractious coalition politics that hampered Turkey's development in the 1990s.

His opponents, and some sceptical Western allies, have accused Erdogan of growing authoritarianism. Prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since he became president in 2014. Opposition newspapers have been shut and journalists and academics critical of government policies sacked.

There was no immediate reaction to Brok's words from Turkey, where Erdogan and his supporters said they were fighting for democracy as they tried to crush the last remnants of the coup attempt on Saturday.

The leader of Germany's opposition Green party, Cem Oezdemir, echoed Brok's message.

"Erdogan won't let this opportunity be missed to not only thoroughly clean the military but to finally realise his project of a constitutional amendment with the objective of autocracy," Oezdemir told Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"The few critical media outlets and the first green shots of civil society have certainly nothing good to expect."

Germany has led talks with Turkey through the European Union, seeking its help in controlling a record influx of migrants. Turkey has long sought to join the bloc.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German government spokesman Steffen Seibert both condemned the military coup attempt and called for restraint.
"We congratulate the Turkish government...for the victory of the Turkish people and the government they elected," said a statement issued in the name of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

It said the Turkish people had thwarted a "great conspiracy which targeted the stability and security of the country", and had shown the world that their will would not be broken.

he statement was sent to Reuters by Jaysh al-Nasr, a Western-backed faction which is part of the broad FSA umbrella of rebel groups.

Forces loyal to Erdogan's government were fighting on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup which crumbled after crowds answered his call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

First reports of the coup had triggered celebrations in central Damascus and other government-held areas of Syria, with hundreds of people taking to the streets of the capital, cheering and waving Syrian flags.

There was no immediate official response in Syria to the attempted coup in its northern neighbour, but state television had extensive coverage of the overnight turmoil.

The Syrian government has accused Erdogan of fuelling conflict in Syria by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

Syria's civil war, now in its sixth year, began as a peaceful uprising against Assad before developing into a multi-sided conflict that is estimated to have killed several hundred thousand people and spawned an international refugee crisis.

Turkey alone is hosting 2.7 million refugees.
A Turkish presidential source told Reuters that the statement was not authorised by the military command.

Gunfire was also heard outside Istanbul police headquarters and tanks are said to be stationed outside Istanbul airport with all flights cancelled.

"We are working on the possibility of an attempt. We will not allow this attempt. Those who are in this illegal act will pay the highest price.

"There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
Finding Peace of Mind: Discover These Five Places in Europe to Unwind
A Mercer County judge on Friday denied a request to file a motion to take back the guilty plea of a former Moline man who admitted to killing his girlfriend and burying her body in Cordova in 2007.

Judge Richard Zimmer denied a petition for post-conviction relief filed by Osbaldo Jose-Nicolas during a brief hearing at the Rock Island County Justice Center.

Zimmer rejected claims by Jose-Nicolas, 31, that his former attorney did not promptly file a motion to take back his plea after he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for the death of Christina Mejia.

Several members of Mejia softly whispered yes and wiped away tears as the judge handed down his decision.

Mejias mother, Paula Murphy, and sister, Amanda Hawkins, said Friday that they were relieved the petition was denied.

Why would he move forward with this? Hawkins asked after the hearing. He confessed, he was convicted. Why do this to the family?

Murphy said after eight years, the death of her daughter hasnt gotten any easier for her or her family.

We deal with it every day, she said. We miss her every day.

Jose-Nicolas pleaded guilty in March 2008 to first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death. Prosecutors say he fatally strangled Mejia, 22, on Nov. 18, 2007, at her Rock Island apartment because he thought she was having a relationship with another man.

After strangling Mejia, Jose-Nicolas took her body to his and his siblings' apartment in Moline where they briefly tried to revive her, according to prosecutors. They then put the body in trash bags and dumped it off a rural road north of Cordova. Later that day, they went back and buried the body, according to prosecutors.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors recommended a capped maximum recommended sentence of 40 years on the murder charge.

On June 19, 2008, Judge Walter Braud sentenced him to 40 years on the murder charge and five years on the concealment charge. He must serve 100 percent of the sentence for murder under Illinois law.

Jose-Nicolas had 30 days to file a motion to take back his guilty plea.

Post-conviction relief proceedings are civil actions that challenge constitutional errors that occurred at the trial court level and on appeal.

At a hearing July 8, Jose-Nicolas testified that he told his attorney, former public defender Vince Lopez Jr., that he wanted to take back his guilty plea immediately after he was sentenced.

Lopez testified that Jose-Nicolas did not ask him to file such a motion. Lopez testified that he filed a motion to reconsider the sentence after receiving a letter from Jose-Nicolas several months later.

Jose-Nicolas attorney, Nate Nieman, argued at the hearing that Lopez erred when he did not file a motion to vacate the plea, which he was required to do before filing a motion to reconsider the sentence because of the partially negotiated plea with prosecutors.

He said that if Lopez himself thought Jose-Nicolas sentence was excessive, he should have filed the motions within 30 days, regardless of whether his client directed him to do so.

Nieman asked Zimmer to allow Jose-Nicolas to file a motion to vacate his guilty plea or reconsider his sentence.

Rock Island County State's Attorney John McGehee argued that there was no evidence that Jose-Nicolas ever asked his attorney to file the motion and that he was responsible for making sure the motions were filed.

Nieman made an oral motion Friday for the circuit clerk to prepare and file a notice of appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court. Zimmer granted the motion and appointed Jose-Nicolas an appellate defender.
The fastest distance runner on the girls' track team at Wood Intermediate is 14-year-old Lauren Long.

She has honey blond hair and blue eyes, and she likes running track and cross country. This spring, she ran the 800- and 1600-meter events in the junior high meets, and she works out this summer with the Davenport North varsity girls' team.

Despite her success in sports, she struggles in school. She is a special needs student in Davenport, with brain damage caused by epilepsy. As a teen with complicated health needs, how well is she able to learn in Iowa's special education system?

"Special education in Davenport has not gotten better; it has gotten worse," said her mother, Megan Long.

Students such as Lauren, in fact, will not fare as well on assessment tests compared to their Midwestern peers, even as Iowa pays as much, or more, than any other state to help the students succeed.

Gap between spending, success

Lauren is tested yearly in the Iowa Assessment. Special needs students can be expected to test lower than children who are without intellectual disabilities, commonly called "general education" students.

In Iowa, the gap between special needs and general education students on these tests is wider than in any other state that surrounds it, including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Iowa pays more for special education compared to most of the others. In 2014, Iowa spent $17,529 per student compared to Wisconsin's $12,842. Even so, the students in Wisconsin perform nearly 25 percent better on tests than Iowa students do.

According to the National Assessment for Educational Progress, measuring math scores for children in fourth grade, the gap in Iowa is 36 points between special needs and general education students. In the surrounding states the gaps are: Illinois, 30; Minnesota, 26; Missouri, 25; Nebraska, 27; South Dakota, 24; and Wisconsin, 29.

'Thousands and thousands of seizures'

Lauren Long's academic life is driven by what's called an Individualized Education Program, or IEP.

In kindergarten, Megan Long said Lauren's teachers didn't think she needed an IEP, and she ended up repeating the grade.

"She needed services," her mom said, adding she prepared a lawsuit against the Davenport Community School District until officials agreed to provide Lauren with a health paraprofessional.

She is convinced her daughter needs a caregiver who knows how to handle epilepsy.

Lauren suffers from what are called cluster seizures, and she can have 20 such events in 24 hours. Her longest time in a seizure was 45 minutes, but she also has had critical seizures for 15 minutes. At times, when Lauren is not breathing, her mother holds oxygen to her mouth.

"I pray it goes to her brain," she said.

Just four years ago, the teen was on multiple seizure medications and barely able to walk. She also lacked control of her bowels. The situation grew so critical that her parents, including her father, Tyson Long, took her to a special Mass to be healed by a priest.

As the seizures continued, Lauren was at risk of being debilitated at the age of 10  in a wheelchair and unable to speak coherently  until an Iowa City specialist found a way to help.

Another Davenport parent of a child with special needs also faced the prospect of losing her daughter to epilepsy. LouAnn Harmsen is the mother of Lacey Harmsen, a special needs graduate of Central High School, now 26.

Like Lauren, Lacey Harmsen has a critical case of epilepsy and a lack of oxygen to her brain led to her mental disability.

Lacey has had "thousands and thousands of seizures," LouAnn Harmsen said. When she was a child, Lacey was tested in hospitals all over the country in hopes of finding a way to stop them.

"It's a miracle she is still alive," her mother said.

Lacey had an aide in school and still is with a caregiver every day. When she's at home, and LouAnn is cooking dinner with Lacey in another room, she will shout to her, every so often: "Are you OK?"

About the gap

"In this state, we take these gaps very seriously," Barb Guy said. She directs special education for the Iowa Department of Education in Des Moines and said the shortfalls in math also exist in reading.

The cost of services is based on what a child in Iowa actually needs, according to Jeff Berger, deputy director for school finance in the state's education department. The cost goes up, especially if a child has significant needs.

One factor driving up cost is when a student requires a one-to-one aide, for example. In 2015, the most recent year on record, there were 56,544 special education students in Iowa, and $1,035,927,516 was spent on their education. The average expenditure is $18,321 per student.

ZIP code matters

Special education varies so much from state to state and school district to school district, "it almost seems arbitrary," said Andrea Lynn Ruppar, who has a doctorate in special education from the University of Illinois and is an assistant professor in special education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

A high predictor of quality special education is ZIP code, she said, and that appears to be the case in the Quad-Cities. Math and reading proficiency is measured for each school district and recorded on the Iowa Report Card.

Achievement levels in 2015 for area students on IEPs are as follows: Bettendorf High School, 55.2 percent proficient in math and reading; Davenport North High School, 18.2 percent; Davenport Central, 29.4 percent; Davenport West, 29 percent; North Scott, 50 percent; and Pleasant Valley, 52.9 percent.

When a school is doing well, it is widely known that the children on IEPs also will do well, said Guy at the Iowa Department of Education.

For example, some of the most high-income areas of the Quad-Cities have highest levels of comprehension for special education students, the Iowa Report Card shows.

At Pleasant Valley High School, the proficiency level for IEP students ranged from 47.7 percent to 52.9 percent in the past three years. At Davenport North High School, the levels ranged from 18.5 percent to 38.5 percent.

The Davenport district's special education effectiveness is not reflected in test scores, said Patti Pace-Tracy, the district director.

"Kids arrive in school with lots of puzzle pieces, and it takes a lot to know what the kiddos need and how they can be supported," she said.

Guy notes the differences between urban and rural districts and how hard it is to provide resources to teachers with fewer special education students.

"That is also pervasive across Iowa," she said.

One thing that Guy's research has found concerns individual progress.

"It's individual students, their progress and trajectory in meeting their own goals. When we look at that, there is less of a (achievement) gap," she said.

Lauren Long's experience at Wood seems to bear that out. One spring day, the teen reported she was "all caught up in math" but struggled with reading comprehension. "I'm not too good with that," she said of the reading.

A paraprofessional helps Lauren with the reading, and the teen simply did not care for a book she was given.

"I got all confused," she said.

Does the gap matter?

Why does Iowa see a wider achievement gap, even as it spends so much money on each child? And does that gap matter to special needs students as they move into adulthood? One Iowa parent argues that it does not.

David Adams is the father of Quinn Adams, 24, a client of the Handicapped Development Center, Davenport.

"In his case it didn't matter. By then (the time he graduated high school), he was on an IEP for a long time, and we knew he would not be a physician," David Adams said. "In the last three years, we worked on how he could have a happy, productive life."

Quinn was identified as a special needs student when he was in kindergarten and his family lived in Chesapeake, Virginia. His son was talking and singing, but David Adams said Quinn's verbal and oral skills were not at standard levels.

The family moved to Iowa in 2005, when Quinn was in eighth grade. He graduated from Davenport North High School in 2009 and spent one more year at the school before he transitioned out.

He is employed in the laundry of the Handicapped Development Center's residential facility in northwest Davenport.

He and his father spoke to the Times, citing the value of learning job skills as opposed to academics. Quinn did take assessment tests, and he qualified for accommodations. In 2008, the questions were read to him, and he had help in filling in the circles he picked as answers on the test.

This is allowed for the children in Iowa with severe intellectual disabilities, less than 1 percent of the student population.

Kathy Foslien of Moline is retired from Davenport schools where she taught at North High School. Quinn Adams was one of her students.

Foslien cites the work experience program at North and how it helped students such as Quinn.

"In high school, our focus was on getting them ready for the rest of their lives," she said.

Quinn now lives with a roommate in north Davenport, and the roommate has a caregiver who also lives in the apartment. As Foslien pointed out, many with disabilities can never live alone.

Institutions, not classrooms

Before special education legislation was passed in the U.S. Congress, many of those with disabilities, both mental and physical, lived in state institutions. In 1967, these institutions were home to almost 200,000 people with significant disabilities, according to the U.S. Department of Education's 2010 publication, "35 Years of Accountability in Educating Children with IDEA," (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).

Many institutions were restrictive settings, providing food, clothing and shelter, rather than education and rehabilitation. In 1970, public schools in the United States educated only one in five children with disabilities, and many states excluded students from school, such as those who were deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed or had certain intellectual disabilities.

Significant legislation was passed in 1975, "Education for all Handicapped Children," and with subsequent amendments are reflected in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The gap for teachers

Institutions are relics.

Special education students now are in the classroom, but education systems have not caught up to the demand.

At the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, assistant professor Amy Petersen has served nearly a decade in the Department of Special Education. She coordinates the program that prepares educators to teach children with significant disabilities.

Petersen previously taught students with disabilities in Cedar Rapids and Belle Plaine, Iowa.

Today, she also works with the Iowa Department of Education to provide professional development and support to teachers. In that role, she visits school districts and notices many things.

Because so few students are on IEPs  13 percent to 15 percent of all students qualify for the services  special education teachers may handle multiple grade levels at once.

Also, many special education teachers do not have experience with academics.

"Prior to 2002, it was not expected that we would teach academics to students with the most complex learning and communications needs. Rather, we'd provide students with life skills, or a functional curriculum," Petersen said. "I have had many teachers of 20-plus years tell me that they do not feel prepared to teach math or literacy to students with significant cognitive disabilities, because they never had a math or literacy method course."

The Iowa Department of Education now is providing teachers with the professional-development skills they need for academic teaching.

"When the teaching is not so aligned, that explains part of that gap," Petersen said.

The Davenport district has supplied many professional development opportunities to special education staff for the past six years, Pace-Tracy said. She is the district's special education director and noted the training has included topics such as reading disabilities, behavior management and applied behavior analysis.

Identification process

Most children are identified with special needs by the third grade.

The Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency, or AEA, in Bettendorf runs the Child Find program to identify children who need services, according to Kim Hofmann, the agency's director of special education. She has specialist degrees in school psychology and educational leadership and an endorsement in special education.

Some children are identified by parents or through medical referrals, she said. Others are found through a coordinated intake process, which involves organizations such as the Iowa Department of Human Services, county public health agencies and Lutheran Social Services of Iowa.

"They meet regularly to discuss families and children they are aware of and determine what services and supports might be needed and what agencies might be used to connect with families," Hoffman said. "We get a number of referrals from this process."

The AEA also attends agency meetings, reaches out to medical groups and sends out fliers to area pediatricians and other doctors.

The goal is to identify the children with disabilities and then partner with school districts to provide services. The schools provide academic instruction, while the AEA provides the physical or specialty services. That means health aides or therapists to help with speech or hearing or vision loss.

Those who qualify for services are 3-21 years old.

Grief process

The AEA tries to intervene early with children who need help. Hofmann also works with parents who face the news that they have a child with special needs.

"It is very difficult for them to hear this," she said. "The disabilities are permanent, and parents need to work through the grief process."

Some parents are thankful that support services are in place, Hofmann said. Others struggle because their vision of and for their child has changed. Some are skeptical of offers from their school district.

"We want to do whatever it takes to help," Hofmann said. "We do need to figure out what will help the best."

Pace-Tracy of the Davenport Community School District also is a parent with a special needs child. More than a decade ago, she and her husband adopted a kindergartner.

The boy caught her eye when she was a principal in Clinton and learned he needed parents.

Now an 18-year-old, the high school senior has an IEP that addresses his dyslexia among other issues.

"He's now doing very well and has completed dual-credit courses with Kirkwood Community College," his mother said.

More honest?

Another Northern Iowa professor has a more provocative explanation for Iowa's achievement gap: "Iowa looks worse, perhaps, because we are very honest in the data that we provide to the federal government," Christopher Kliewer said.

He is an Iowa Board of Regents professor in the Department of Special Education at the university in Cedar Falls. He also is a special education expert who holds a Ph.D. and travels the country to speak on the topic.

In addition, he is author of two books, "Seeing All Kids as Readers: A New Vision for Literacy in the Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom," published in 2008, and "Schooling Children with Down Syndrome: Toward an understanding of possibility," from 1998.

Wisconsin is a progressive state in education, Kliewer said, and Madison was one of the first to include special needs students in the general education classrooms, one key to narrowing achievement gaps, experts say.

"They have a great tradition, but they still struggle," he said of Wisconsin.

Kliewer talks about the gap in his classes at Northern Iowa, and through his travels, he has discovered that every state struggles with it.

"Iowa is not terribly worse than any other state," he said. "A lot of kids were screwed for a long time by being put into programs where they were not presumed to be competent. Now, we need to assume competence and provide social interaction and benefits, like recess."

Authors of academic texts agree with Kliewer's view on inequities. According to the book, "What Every Principal Needs to Know About Special Education," by Margaret McLaughlin and Victor Nolet, published in 2004, there is considerable evidence that a sizable number of students currently classified as having a disability instead have dyspedagogia, a term that refers to a history of inadequate instruction most notably in reading and language arts or math.

Behavior and social learning also contribute.

Reality vs. reading levels

In sixth grade, Lauren Long read at the level of a third-grader. She was better in math, where she tested as a fourth-grader.

She has just completed seventh grade, and Lauren had a terrific report card in her special education classes: Straight A's in band, language arts and advanced literacy, an A- in math.

At Wood, Lauren spends about six periods a day in the special education classrooms. It is noted on her report that she is a "great self-advocate for herself and is able to verbalize for items needed."

Wisconsin focus

The director of Wisconsin's special education department is Barbara VanHaren.

As the nation has moved from measuring compliance to thinking about outcomes, each state faces challenges, she said.

Her state is in its third year of a new testing method.

"Our ability to track meaningful change is really challenging for us," she said. "A lot of states are in the same situation."

Across the country, in both Iowa and Wisconsin, students are tested in math and reading. While Wisconsin has a good reputation, VanHaren said, state officials are not satisfied with the outcomes.

"Our focus is on reading scores," she said. "We see a gap there as well."

Parent advocates

Lauren Long's mom has stood up for her in the Davenport district, time and again.

Megan Long ran for school board twice.

Her mother-in-law, Betty Long, was the longtime Davenport administrator for special education.

Megan Long has questioned the number of administrators in Davenport and what she sees as too many curriculum changes.

"Educational supplies for a new curriculum are costly," she said when running for a seat on the Davenport School Board in February.

Long, as well as other parents of special-needs students, goes over her child's IEPs with teachers and others every year, or more often if necessary.

"As a parent, that is the most stressful and gut-wrenching time ever," Long said, noting, however, that Lauren's most recent IEP review "was awesome."

She said the IEP reviews that involve the teachers and staff who directly interact with Lauren go much better. Problems occur when district officials get involved.

"They don't know what we deal with every day," she said. "But educators at the schools, they do know."

Davenport officials don't get involved in each IEP, according to Pace-Tracy. Such actions occur when district officials are invited to an IEP meeting by building staff or when the meeting might be complicated by recommendations, for example, to move a student to a more restrictive environment in the district.

Long's activism is typical of many parents of special needs students. LouAnn Harmsen, the mother of Lacey Harmsen, is another example.

She had no specific issues with the Davenport district, she said, but remained on guard.

"I had a good rapport back and forth with teachers, but I was in their face if I needed to be," she said.

Several weeks ago, Megan Long made a five-minute presentation to the Davenport School Board. She decried changes in the special education program, said teachers were bullied by the administration and parents were not informed when programs were closed or moved from school to school.

Board members did not respond.

Pace-Tracy addressed the matter of relocation, saying Davenport special education students who were at J.B. Young K-8 School, now closed, may move to Smart Intermediate School.

All schools in Davenport have special education services, Pace-Tracy said, and Smart, Williams and Wood have behavioral programs. Students are moved to these programs based on where they live and where space is available.

Long offered ideas to the school board in May: "What if we formed a task force for special education? It would include board members, both special ed and regular teachers, members of the administration and maybe the superintendent. We need to meet and try to come up with solutions. These children are most vulnerable. We can decrease resistance of families when change occurs."

In July, Megan Long reported that although the board members promised action on some of her suggestions, it has not yet happened.

"I'm still frustrated," she said. "I asked how I could help move the process along, and I got no answers. So, it's at a standstill."

A pediatric occupational therapist who works with babies and children with special needs, Long has knowledge of IEPs on a personal and professional basis. She has her own learning disability and a sister with Down syndrome, who was on an IEP in school. She has worked at a Wendy's restaurant for 26 years.

Classroom inclusion

Iowa requires that 75 percent of special needs students spend 80 percent of their school day in general-education settings. But that does not always happen.

In fact, it works the opposite way for Lauren Long, who spends about 80 percent of her day in special education classes.

Among the battles to be fought on her daughter's behalf are daily life-and-death concerns for Megan Long. Although proficient in running and music, Lauren is at risk of falling. Her mom said the epilepsy causes auras, but Lauren does not know when one will occur.

"They come on quickly and attack, and she falls," her mom said.

The future

Slowly, the special education approach in Iowa is changing for the better, said Hofmann, the special education director for the Mississippi Bend agency. Several areas have evolved to help close the achievement gap:

 More teacher cooperation and collaboration.

 More special education children in general classrooms.

 Special education teachers who are more proficient at teaching academics.

 Tests that are better aligned with student abilities.

Some instructional standards have been reduced in depth and complexity but still are aligned to the Iowa Assessment tests, according to Emily Thatcher, the program consultant at the Iowa Department of Education.

Its taken seven years to work out the details, and it was done with a consortium of help, including from the states public universities. The aim was to align the standards to Iowa Core essential elements, she said.

"This has been transformative for our teachers, students and their families, she said of the changes. "Historically, this was a separate but parallel curriculum, and the special needs students were not taught what the general education students were. Now, it is aligned."

The new assessment stresses what children know, rather than emphasizing what they dont know.

A state leadership team, comprised of representatives from 12 area education agencies and the public universities, works across Iowa with the program.

"We have work to do and have leaders across the state to do this work," Thatcher said.
Davenport firefighters are investigating a blaze that damaged a single family home Friday.

The fire at 510 E. 7th St. was reported at 3:43 p.m., said Davenport District Fire Chief Mike Ryan.

There were four adults at home at the time, along with three dogs and several cats, he said.

Firefighters arrived on the scene to find smoke and flames coming out of the upper story in the back of house. Ryan said the flames were quickly knocked down.

The fire was confined to the upper floor of the 1-story home that according to Scott County assessment records was built in 1890.

Ryan said that all of the adults and dogs got out, but he was not sure if all of the cats escaped.

While the fire damage was contained to the upper floor, there was smoke damage throughout the home, he added. Ryan did not have a damage estimate.

The American Red Cross was called in to assist the family.
Former Moline residents Steve and Melanie Meersman were visiting Montreal when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2001.

On Thursday, the couple were in Paris as part of a tour when a 31-year-old delivery driver drove a semitrailer through a crowd in Nice that was celebrating Bastille Day.

The attack killed 84 people, and injured more than 200 others, some critically.

We were supposed to go on a bus tour of the city later today, Meersman said early Friday via Facebook Messenger from the Paris Pullman Hotel, within sight of the Eiffel Tower. Two busloads of Americans on a Viking River Cruise. May just stay at the hotel today, he said.

No reason to see the sights, Meersman, a former Rock Island County Board member, added. Most will be closed and why make ourselves a target. We definitely wont be doing any unescorted strolling.

Security was very tight in Paris, he said. Many of the streets around their hotel were closed, he said.

We had to walk the last three blocks to the hotel and a few of the police were eyeing our luggage, he said.

Police in pairs were stationed at most street corners, he said. Soldiers were stationed at monuments.

Meersman took a photo of a soldier outside the Bonaparte Memorial. He was all business, Meersman said of the soldier. He noticed me taking his picture and eyeballed me.

Meersman said French news agencies were reporting that Mohamed Bouhlel drove two kilometers, or 1.24 miles, down the narrow crowded beachfront street. People had nowhere to run, he said. The streets are too narrow. And two kilometers, thats like driving through the Bix Street Fest.

France announced a state of emergency that was put into effect after the November attacks in Paris that killed 130 people. That state of emergency has not been lifted.

Meersman said the extra security around the city was evident. Its almost a way of life here, he said.

The Meersmans will be leaving France early today and heading to Germany. They now live in Buford, South Carolina.
DES MOINES  Some of the nations governors worry federal lawmakers do not trust them enough to include wiggle room for states to tweak new federal laws and programs.

That was one of the messages governors conveyed to U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley during this weekends summer meeting of the National Governors Association.

Pelosi and Grassley, Iowas senior U.S. Senator, appeared at the event to address state and federal government relationships.

The governors asked the Congressional representatives how they can better strike a balance between accountability and flexibility for states with new federal laws. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said sometimes governors get the feeling federal lawmakers do not trust states to properly implement federal programs.

I wouldnt back away from the word accountability, and you arent either, Grassley said during his appearance on Friday. I hope Im never one of those that says I dont trust the states.  You cant make policy in Washington, D.C., that fits New York like it does Des Moines.

Pelosi said the question of states flexibility is the one she has received most over the years from governors, and that she does not want governors to feel as though they are not trusted by federal lawmakers.

Its not even a question of trust. Its a question of the purpose of the (federal) funds that go out, Pelosi said during her appearance on Saturday. If you think for a minute its about a lack of trust, then lets address that. 

That is the classic question.  Clearly we have not addressed it sufficiently because it continues to raise its head.

Grassley suggested part of the issue may be that governors and the impact to states rarely are considered when federal policy is being crafted.

Maybe not at all, but at least not very often does the impact on states get much attention (in Congress), Grassley said. You want me to give you advice. I dont have any. But be aware of it and be active.

When asked on what issues governors could work with and help federal lawmakers on a bipartisan basis, both Grassley and Pelosi mentioned infrastructure.

I always come back to infrastructure because no matter what we have done, and we have done some good things, we have to do more, Pelosi said. Science and technology are moving so quickly.

Grassley said governors would be well-served to urge federal lawmakers to approve federal infrastructure spending in a timely fashion.

Put the pressure on us to make sure thats fully funded, Grassley told the governors.
The Scott County Board of Supervisors on Thursday accepted a payout of $160, 334.44 from an insurance claim covering loss incurred from employee theft.

County officials discovered the theft last fall after a former Sheriffs Department employee was dismissed for performance reasons and a new employee filled the vacancy. The theft prompted a review of internal forensic investigation procedures. David Farmer, county director of budget and administrative services, said the procedural review has improved written policies and financial records control.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Ulaanbaatar on July 15, 2016. [Photo/provided to China Daily]

The Asia-Europe Meeting is the right platform for a conversation on shared global challenges. With Britain's exit from the European Union, the world economy in poor shape, growing inequalities and discontent with globalization on the rise, the two-day meeting of Asian and European leaders in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, from Friday has acquired greater importance.

Add to the list the increasing disconnect and mistrust between governments and citizensespecially between leaders and youthsrising populism, fears of uncontrolled immigration and terrorism and it will become clear that leaders at ASEM have their hands full.

Asian leaders and policymakers may believe most of these issues apply only to Europe. The truth is otherwise. Brexit has highlighted the strength of these and other preoccupations among Britons (and other European voters), but many people across the world also share them.

Asia is as unequal a continent as is Europe. Both continents have winners and losers of globalization and both face threats from terrorists. Populist politicians may be making headlines in Europe but they exist in Asia, too. So leaders in both Asia and Europe need to build stronger connections with youths and respond to their worries about education, jobs, exclusion and marginalization.

ASEM offers a unique platform for an open, no holds-barred high-level brainstorming on such issues. In fact, it is the need for such conversations that led to the creation of ASEM 20 years agoand such conservations are likely to make ASEM geo-strategically relevant again.

The emphasis of ASEM stakeholdersincluding policymakers, members of parliament and civil society, academics and think tank representatives, as well as youths and business leadersshould now be on new ideas and increased connectivity as part of a potent new recipe for injecting new energy and dynamism into ASEM.

Interestingly, China's focus on connectivitythrough transport links, educational ties and digital information highwayshas revitalized ASEM discussions, which now needs to be taken further. Transforming ASEM into a network of ideas and initiatives will give Asia-Europe ties a geo-strategic raison d'etre which it has lost over the past two decades.

Asia-Europe connectivity is now a fact of life, and reinforcing it through stronger institutional, infrastructure, digital and people-to-people linkages is emerging as a central element of efforts to rejuvenate ASEM.

ASEM has met many of its original goals by providing Asian and European leaders with opportunities to better know each other, encouraging greater people-to-people understanding and providing the two continents with avenues to explore new areas of cooperation in political, economic and social fields.

Also, meetings among business leaders, parliamentarians, academics and civil society membersand young leadershave allowed ASEM to enhance Asia-Europe understanding and upgrade the quality and diversity of inter-continental conversations.

While these connections are important, ASEM can do much more by playing a more central role than it has so far in generating, nourishing and disseminating new ideas about living and working together in a globalized world.

This requires the setting up of an "ASEM Brains Trust" or network of think tanks, which can transform ASEM into a market place for ideas and initiatives. Proposals and ideas generated by such a network should be fed directly into the work of senior ASEM officials and the activities of other stakeholders. Such tasks could be performed by an ASEM coordination center that has been recommended by Mongolia.

This combination of ideas and connectivity allowing for a permanent circulation and exchange of thoughts, knowledge, experience and expertise could revive ASEM. And the summit in Ulan Bator should revive ASEM so that it can help increase Asia's and Europe's understanding of a complicated and turbulent world.

The author is policy director of Friends of Europe, a leading think tank in Brussels.
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Quinton Tellis gestures to his family as he is escorted out of the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Miss., on Friday, July 15, 2016. Tellis has pleaded not guilty in the 2014 burning death of a Mississippi woman. Panola County District Attorney John Champion said charging Tellis ended a lengthy investigation into the grisly burning death of the 19-year-old, who died in a Memphis, Tenn., hospital hours after being found near her burned-out vehicle on a road not far from her home.

(Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)

HERNANDO, Mississippi -- An ex-convict who left Mississippi last year as authorities tried to determine who killed a young woman in their small town appeared in court Friday and pleaded not guilty to a capital murder charge.

Quinton Tellis, 27, grew up with the victim, Jessica Chambers, 19, who was found near death, with burns over 98 percent of her body, near her burning car on a rural road outside Courtland, a town about 70 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Authorities said the former high school cheerleader had been doused with a flammable liquid and set on fire.

Investigators found was so much criminal activity and drug use in the small town that 17 people were arrested as a result of the murder probe, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported.

District Attorney John Champion said that probe has been resolved with the grand jury's indictment of Tellis, who has previous convictions for burglary and fleeing from law enforcement.

Champion told The Associated Press on Friday that court rules prevent him from discussing the evidence or explaining why they believe Tellis murdered the young woman, a crime that carries the death penalty in Mississippi.

Tellis wore an orange jumpsuit and shackles and showed no emotion as his attorney Darla Palmer entered the not-guilty plea. Families of the victim and the accused attended the 10-minute hearing, and left without speaking to reporters.

Tellis faces another capital murder indictment in Louisiana, where he's accused in the torture death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, a 34-year-old Taiwanese graduate student at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

That indictment alleges that Tellis probably stabbed Hsiao more than 30 times on her face and body with a knife to get her to reveal her debit card's PIN number before killing her on July 29, 2015.

The indictment notes that evidence is circumstantial because physical evidence was removed from the crime scene, but it "points to only one suspect, Quinton Tellis."

That includes Wal-Mart security video showing them together the day before she was killed, and a neighbor's testimony that she heard Hsiao arguing with a man she later identified as Tellis who gave her a "creepy feeling."

Phone and bank records showed calls to Hsiao's bank from Tellis' phone the day she died, and GPS records showed Tellis probably was inside her apartment.

He was extradited to Mississippi from Louisiana last month after pleading guilty to fraudulent use of Hsiao's card. No trial dates have been set in either case.
"The most significant reinforcement of our collective defense any time since the Cold War," President Obama called it. A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but it was still an achievement: Last week's NATO summit in Warsaw ordered the deployment of troops to Eastern Europe, the alliance's most serious response yet to Russia's aggression and provocations on its western frontier.

The post-Ukraine economic sanctions have been weak; the declamatory denunciations, a mere embarrassment. They've only encouraged further reckless Russian behavior -- the buzzing of U.S. ships, intrusions into European waters, threats to the Baltic States.

NATO will now deploy four battalions to front-line states. In Estonia, they will be led by Britain; in Lithuania, by Germany; in Latvia, by Canada; in Poland, by the United States. Not nearly enough, and not permanently based, but nonetheless significant.

In the unlikely event of a Russian invasion of any of those territories, these troops are to act as a tripwire, triggering a full-scale war with NATO. It's the kind of coldblooded deterrent that kept the peace in Europe during the Cold War and keeps it now along the DMZ in Korea.

In the more likely event of a "little green men" takeover attempt in, say, Estonia (about 25 percent ethnically Russian), the sort of disguised slow-motion invasion that Vladimir Putin pulled off in Crimea, the NATO deployments might be enough to thwart the aggression and call in reinforcements.

The message to Putin is clear: Yes, you've taken parts of Georgia and Ukraine. But they're not NATO. That territory is sacred -- or so we say.

This is a welcome development for the Balts, who are wondering whether they really did achieve irreversible independence when the West won the Cold War. Their apprehension is grounded in NATO's flaccid response to Putin's aggressive revanchism, particularly in Ukraine. Obama still won't provide Ukraine with even defensive weaponry. This follows years of American accommodation of Putin, from canceling a Polish-Czech missile defense system to, most recently, openly acquiescing to Russia's seizure of a dominant role in Syria.

And what are the East Europeans to think when they hear the presumptive presidential candidate of the party of Reagan speaking dismissively of NATO and suggesting a possible American exit?

The NATO action takes on even greater significance because of the timing, coming just two weeks after Brexit. Britain's withdrawal threatens the future of the other major pillar of Western integration and solidarity, the European Union. NATO shows that it is holding fast and that the vital instrument of Western cohesion and joint action will henceforth be almost entirely trans-Atlantic -- meaning, under American leadership.

The EU, even if it doesn't dissolve, will now inevitably turn inward as it spends years working out its new communal arrangements with and without Britain. Putin was Brexit's big winner. Any fracturing of the Western alliance presents opportunities to play one member against another. He can only be disappointed to see NATO step up and step in.

After the humiliating collapse of President Obama's cherished Russian

"reset," instilling backbone in NATO and resisting Putin are significant strategic achievements. It leaves a marker for Obama's successor, reassures the East Europeans and will make Putin think twice about repeating Ukraine in the Baltics.

However, the Western order remains challenged by the other two members of the troika of authoritarian expansionists: China and Iran. Their provocations proceed unabated. Indeed, the next test for the United States is China's furious denunciation of the decision handed down Tuesday by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague -- a blistering, sweeping and unanimous rejection of China's territorial claims and military buildup in the South China Sea.

Without American action, however, The Hague's verdict is a dead letter. Lecturing other great powers about adherence to "international norms" is fine. But the Pacific Rim nations are anxious to see whether we will actually do something.

Regarding Iran, we certainly won't. Our abject appeasement continues, from ignoring Tehran's serial violations of the nuclear agreement (the latest: intensified efforts to obtain illegal nuclear technology in Germany) to the administration acting as a kind of Chamber of Commerce to facilitate the sale of about 100 Boeing jetliners to a regime that routinely uses civilian aircraft for military transport (particularly in Syria).

The troop deployments to Eastern Europe are a good first step in pushing back against the rising revisionist powers. But a first step, however welcome, seven and a half years into a presidency, is a melancholy reminder of what might have been.
The recent headline said Branstad defends ban on voting rights for felons. He goes on to say Restoring voting rights to Iowans who have committed felonies.. He also says To automatically restore the right to vote. Yet goes on to call voting a privilege that only he can restore or withhold.

Women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries didnt fight for the privilege to vote, they fought for the right to vote. In the 1960s, we didnt have marches and demonstrations for civil privileges, they were for civil rights, including the right to vote. We didnt pass the voting privilege act. It was the Voting Rights Act.

Giving our governor the exclusive power to decide who has the right to vote is anthemia to democracy. Everyone should have the right to influence how their government interacts with them.

We should go back to having the right to vote restored immediately and automatically when a person is released from prison or better yet dont deny the right at all.

Marlyn Schepers

Musccatine
SPRINGFIELD  When Republicans convene in Cleveland beginning Monday to make Donald Trump the partys official presidential nominee, only a few GOP members of the Illinois General Assembly will be there.

The real estate mogul and reality TV star has largely received a tepid response from the Republican establishment in the Land of Lincoln, with elected officials from U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk and Gov. Bruce Rauner on down the line keeping their distance and skipping the Republican National Convention.

As Rauner and his fellow Republicans seek to cut into the Democrats supermajorities in the Illinois House and Senate this fall, what impact, if any, Trumps presence at the top of the ticket will have on races down the ballot remains a major question.

State Sen. Jason Barickman of Bloomington appeared on the March Republican primary ballot as a delegate candidate for Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Barickman said that if Rubio had won the nomination, he would be making the trip to Cleveland, but he planned to stay home otherwise.

Hes never been to a national convention, he said, and with two small kids at home, he tries to limit his time away.

But Barickman does have some concerns about Trump becoming the partys standard-bearer.

He campaigned in the primary on a message of anger and divisiveness, and that is not a message thats going to resonate with the general election, Barickman said.

As the campaign moves forward, he hopes to see Trump become a voice for Republicans and conservatives, something he hasnt always been thus far.

I hope that he becomes the leader that our party needs to have, Barickman said.

One Republican lawmaker who will be in Cleveland is state Sen. Chapin Rose of Mahomet, who was elected in the March primary as a delegate for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Rose believes Trump will do well in November throughout downstate Illinois, noting that he and Cruz each received more votes in Macon County than presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

While Trump's presence on the ballot might help Republicans in southern Illinois, it could hurt them in the Chicago suburbs, said Chris Mooney, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.

The key will likely be which candidate and party inspires more voters to come to the polls  or to stay home, Mooney said.

Its not about changing peoples minds, he said. Its about motivating your people to come out to vote and demobilizing the opponents voters.
NATION

6 people shot outside nightclub

Six people were wounded in a shooting spree early Saturday near a Tennessee nightclub as patrons inside kept dancing to loud music, unaware of the violence outside.

Clarksville police said the shootings occurred shortly before 2 a.m. near the El Punto nightclub. The wounded were taken to hospitals in Clarksville and Nashville, about 50 miles southeast of Clarksville. The extent of their injuries was unknown.

Police department spokeswoman Natalie Hall said authorities have no suspects. Police were gathering evidence in a parking lot near the nightclub on Saturday.

Inmate accused of killing female officer

A male inmate killed a female corrections officer at a prison in west central Texas early Saturday, authorities said.

Mari Johnson, 55, was found unresponsive about 3 a.m. near the kitchen area of the Robertson Unit, a prison in Abilene, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said. Life-saving measures were initiated and Johnson then was taken to Hendricks Medical Center in Abilene where she was pronounced dead, he said.

The name of the inmate and circumstances surrounding the killing were not immediately released. Clark said the agency's Office of Inspector General was investigating and that no additional details would be released yet.

Off-duty officers SUV hits, kills pedestrian

One man was killed and three other pedestrians were injured early Saturday when an off-duty police officer's SUV struck them in a trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Authorities said 28-year-old Nicholas Batka lost control of his vehicle and it mounted the sidewalk on a street in the popular Williamsburg section, striking two men and two women. Batka faces driving-while-intoxicated charges after the 3 a.m. accident.

Police spokesman Officer Brian Magoolaghan said Batka has worked 1 years in the New York Police Department Transit Bureau Manhattan task force. He said Batka was suspended and remained in custody, awaiting an initial court appearance. It was not immediately clear who will represent him in court.

WORLD

Noriega to have surgery on brain

Imprisoned former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega is scheduled to have a benign brain tumor surgically removed.

Noriega's doctor is Eduardo Reyes and he says a neurologist has scheduled the surgery for Thursday.

Reyes said Saturday that representatives of the 82-year-old Noriega are requesting he be allowed to prepare for surgery at home to avoid infection. The tumor has caused severe headaches.

Pakistani social media star killed

Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch, who recently stirred controversy by posting pictures of herself with a prominent Muslim cleric, was strangled to death by her brother, police said Saturday.

Her parents told police one of her six brothers strangled her to death as she slept in the family's home in Multan, police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar told The Associated Press.

Multan police chief Akram Azhar said police were searching for the brother, identified by the family as Waseem Azeem, who runs a local cellular phone shop.

UKs May makes more changes

British Prime Minister Theresa May has made more changes to the government, removing another key supporter of predecessor David Cameron and appointing several new ministers.

Downing Street said on Saturday that arts minister Ed Vaizey, a friend of Cameron, had left the government. Ros Altmann, Cameron's minister for pensions, was also dismissed, along with business minister Anna Soubry, a leading voice on the "remain" side during Britain's recent European Union referendum campaign.

May also backed staying in the EU but has appointed both "leave" and "remain" supporters to her Conservative government.
Back in 1965, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology chemistry professor Dr. John W. Willard had hopes, but no real evidence, to show how much his chance discovery might change the world.

Half a century ago he found a complex formula of minerals that change ordinary waters ability to deliver nutrients to cell tissue. That led him to start CAW (Catalyst Altered Water) Industries, the maker of Dr. Willard's Water. His product has since been the subject of dozens of research projects, congressional hearings and even a spot on "60 Minutes," the CBS news magazine.

Now, Willards grandson, also named John, hopes to cement his grandfathers legacy by helping the worlds agriculture industry produce more food while using less water and fertilizer.

If the legacy he leaves is that hes increasing profitability for farmers, helping them get out of poverty, maybe feeding the world a little bit, itll be a hell of a legacy, said the third-generation John Willard, who took over CAW Industries after the 2005 retirement of his father, John Willard Jr., and the death of an uncle, Bill, in 2009.

Willard served as a staffer for then-South Dakota Senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, and worked in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After resettling in Rapid City with his wife, Christine, he decided to take a long look at the company, its products and its mission.

That re-examination recently led him to Africa, where he hopes to eventually establish markets for Dr. Willard Waters proprietary formula of silica salts and lignite extracts called PlantCatalyst.

Bolstered by five years of research, including a just-completed study by South Dakota State biologist R. Neil Reece, demonstrating PlantCatalysts positive effect on seed germination and overall plant growth, Willard decided to test the product in Zambia and Mozambique through the help of international nonprofit organizations.

Willard and an international business development consultant, Joe Miklosi of Denver, spent more than two weeks last month in central and western Africa setting up research projects.

The Zambian project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development through its Feed The Future program.

Willard said the PlantCatalyst formula will be tested by the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) and the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI).

The ACDI/VOCA field trials will chart the growth of maize (corn) and soybeans, while the ZARI researchers will conduct trials on irrigated plots of maize, tomatoes, lettuce, soybeans and red onions.

Willard said the Zambian government is particularly interested in the potential of PlantCatalyst cutting the amount of fertilizer used by the nations small cooperative farms.

That is a really big deal for them when theyre spending $200 million per year subsidizing fertilizer, he said.

In Mozambique, Willards product will be put through its paces in greenhouse germination trials and used with a private seed company on both a small irrigated farm and a larger commercial operation growing piri piri peppers, a popular local crop.

Willard said the goals of the projects are the same  to raise yield and profit per acre and cut the need for additional fertilizer by at least 30 percent.

Because both countries are south of the equator, field trials wont begin until their summer months of November and December.

Willard said he needed four days to recover from a 36-hour flight from Mozambique, which included stops in Dublin, Los Angeles and Denver, returning to Rapid City on June 25.

Results from the Africa crop tests will take far longer.

We wont know how it works for another year, he said.

If it does, Willard believes his grandfather, who died in 1991 at age 84, would be pleased to see his discovery help the world become a better place.

It sounds kind of cheesy, but that appeals to me as well, Willard said.
It has been a dry year in parts of South Dakota. Sixty percent of the land in South Dakota is abnormally dry and counties west of the river and in the northeast are experiencing moderate to extreme drought.

Drought is most severe in the Lawrence County area where the fire at Crow Peak burned more than 2,700 acres over the course of two weeks.

As I write this, the Crow Peak fire has just reached 100 percent containment. Under the lead of an Incident Management Team from Colorado, no structures were lost and no one was seriously injured or killed.

The team had help from local, volunteer and municipal fire departments from across the state that put in many hours and sacrificed their Fourth of July weekend to assist the Incident Management team.

Our state fire crew, the South Dakota Department of Agricultures Division of Wildland Fire, also played a critical role in managing the Crow Peak fire. They offered air support, equipment and hand crews to assist the Black Hills National Forest and the Incident Management Team with containment.

Created by Gov. Bill Janklow in 2001 to assume the duties of wildland fire management in South Dakota, our Wildland Fire Division assists in large fire suppression efforts by sending personnel and equipment. Wildland Fire has its own fleet of fire engines with full-time and seasonal firefighters who are stationed at four locations around the Black Hills.

Division employees also work with the South Dakota National Guard, which lends military heavy left helicopters, pilots and crews to fight wildfires. Wildland Fires efforts arent limited to South Dakota. They help fight fires in Canada and across the United States.

When they are not on the ground fighting fires, Wildland Fire employees are engaging in fire prevention efforts. Agency hand crews are involved in fuel reduction activities that include tree thinning and brush disposal through chipping and burning at various locations in the Black Hills. They also have a fire prevention program called One Less Spark.

South Dakota is fortunate to have a well-operating fire crew. Wildland Fire division director Jay Esperance and his employees work very hard to limit the damage from wildfires.

We are also lucky to have so many volunteer firefighters in our state who are willing to dedicate their time to help with fire suppression efforts. They routinely put their lives on the line to keep us safe.

For our part, we must not add to their workload. Respect county burn bans when theyre in place. Where fires are permitted, never leave a fire unattended, completely extinguish fires before leaving the area and remind others to be cautious. Also, be mindful when operating equipment in dry areas.

South Dakota weather is anything but predictable. We cant prevent lightning strikes or control how much moisture we receive. But we should do all that is within our power to prevent fires, especially this year.
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. | Colonel Bradley Cochran, son of USAF Lt. Col. (Ret) Bill and Shirley Cochran from Layton, Utah, has been appointed vice commander of the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The 28th BW is the largest B-1 combat wing in the U.S. Air Force and is home to 27 B-1B bombers and more than 4,300 military and civilian members.

Cochran recently completed studies at the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Prior to attending Air War College he served as the 393rd Bomb Squadron commander, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. In that role he was responsible for the conventional and nuclear combat readiness of the men and women in one of only two operational B-2 stealth bomber squadrons in the Air Force.

He has served in several instructor positions, was a Military Legislative Fellow to Sen. John Thune on Capitol Hill, and served within the Joint Chiefs of Staff Operations Directorate (J3) at the Pentagon in Washington.

Cochran participated in Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, and has combat experience in Operations Allied Force and Enduring Freedom. He is a distinguished graduate of several USAF schools including Squadron Officer School and the U.S. Air Force Weapons School. In 2001, his crew was 21st Air Forces nominee for the MacKay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year.

He is a command pilot with more than 3,100 hours in various aircraft.

For more information, please contact the 28th BW Public Affairs at 605-385-5056, or by emailing 28bw.pa@us.af.mil.
A few piles of logs were still smoldering this afternoon in the blackened interior of M-Hill, but the fire that burned across the popular hiking spot near downtown Rapid City was 100 percent contained and controlled.

After examining the fires point of origin, investigators determined Wednesdays blaze was man-made, but the cause remains under investigation, according to Rapid City Fire Department spokesman Lt. Jim Bussell.

Bussell said the burn area in Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park was secured shortly before noon today, primarily thanks to the efforts of two fire crews with the South Dakota Department of Corrections: Crew 700 Alpha and 700 Bravo.

They did a great job, Bussell said.

After mopping up the fires remains, the crews worked with the Rapid City Fire Department on erosion control. Using mounds of dirt and chunks of burnt trees, firefighters created a series of berms to control the flow of runoff water in and around park.

Fire crews also spent the day cleaning the hillside of trash from the firefighting operations, as well as garbage that was on the hill before the wildfire ignited there around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Crews also began removing more than 7,000 feet of water hose from the slopes. An afternoon lightning storm interrupted that effort, forcing firefighters to vacate the hill before the work could be completed.

Bussell said the M-Hill Fire was contained at 13.3 acres, thanks to the cooperation of multiple firefighting agencies.

It cannot be overstated that the successful outcome of this incident is directly related to the quick and efficient response made possible by mutual aid agreements, he said in a prepared statement. It is through interagency cooperation that the M-Hill Fire did not become a catastrophic page in Rapid City history.

Hanson-Larsen Memorial Park is expected to reopen as soon as Saturday, Bussell said. Those who visit the park are advised to exercise caution and remain on the trail, as hot ash, loose soil and stump holes may be safety hazards in some areas.

Bussell also advised Black Hills residents to prepare for wildfire season by building a supply kit in case evacuation becomes necessary.

This is just a blip at the beginning of what can be a volatile time of year, Bussell said of the M-Hill Fire. Were looking at a busy wildland fire season.
Even if Anthony had a year to analyze and dissect each piece...(he couldn't tell if it would)... stand the harsh light of public exposure.

WUWT insider Willis Eschenbach tells you all you need to know about Anthony Watts and his blog, WattsUpWithThat (WUWT). As part of his scathing commentary , Wondering Willis accuses Anthony Watts of being clueless about the blog articles he posts. To paraphrase: Click here to read more.
It takes a lot of courage to stick your neck out, but one Rapid City resident has been dubbed a hero for doing just that.

Charmaine White Face, an Oglala Sioux scientist, environmentalist and activist, has been named a Giraffe Hero by the Giraffe Heroes Project, a nonprofit organization that encourages people to "stick their necks out for the common good." White Face, who learned of the honor just days before it was announced last Wednesday, was surprised.

"I knew someone had nominated me, but I didn't expect it," White Face said. "And I'm glad, but I knew all of the reasons I was nominated, and there's far more that happened than anyone knows."

White Face, 69, was chosen for her battles against corruption within tribal governments, as well as her fight against uranium mining in the Black Hills. Her work has been met with threats as well as plaudits: White Face said that the brakes to her car have been cut, and that people have told her to "watch out" or a bomb would be placed in her car.

"That's why I have mixed feelings about this, because there's trauma that comes with my work," White Face said. "I still have residue of that."

White Face's fights began in the 1980s as she tried to uncover corruption within the tribal governments. At the time, she was the treasurer of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

"I saw all of the corruption and misuse of federal money," White Face said. "Different programs like Head Start and elderly meals programs had money being used to pay people off, and that left people in poverty."

White Face refused to go along with it, even as she was warned that her family would be in danger. Instead, she got on the radio and television and spoke out about what was happening.

"I want federal programs for health and human services, transportation, whatever, to strongly monitor where the money goes to," White Face said. "Because that's taxpayer money. That's money that you and I pay, and it needs to be used what it's earmarked for."

She also has written public commentary (including in the Rapid City Journal) about how public officials did not have the public's interest at heart. In 1998 she authored the book, "Testimony for the Innocent," about her experiences as treasurer.

"More people eventually took notice, and that was the good part," White Face said.

The bad part: Though the FBI and a special committee investigated, no one was charged.

"I saw Tom Daschle on TV saying that no corruption would be found in South Dakota tribes, and I knew nothing was going to happen," White Face said. "It made me sad, because the people who need these services don't get them. And it's still going on. It got bigger. It made the crooks bolder.

But White Face felt that it was still important to try to help people, and in the 2000s, she grew more active, speaking out about the effects of uranium mining in the Black Hills.

"I'm a biologist and a physical scientist," White Face said. "I'm an environmentalist from way back. I learned about these abandoned uranium mines and the active uranium mines, and I wanted to find out how this was affecting the people."

White Face founded the environmental and social justice organization Defenders of the Black Hills in 2003. The organization advocates for the protection, preservation and restoration of the environment of the 1951 and 1868 territory treaties. The organization won the Nuclear Free Future Award (described as "the Nobel Prize for Environmentalists") in 2007.

It was 2003 when she first started learning the extent of the uranium problems. White Face says that there's a major radioactive policing problem, with pollutants in the air, water and "probably the food."

"One thing we've found from studies done by the Indian Health Services is that Native Americans in the Northern Plains regions have the highest cancer rates in the country," White Face said.

White Face said that though there are only 272 abandoned uranium mines in South Dakota, there are over 2,000 in Wyoming, and that because they are open mines, wind scatters radioactive particles. Additionally, active mines like the Crow Butte Uranium Mine in Crawford, Neb., are very concerning to her, as the water nearby has high levels of thorium, a radioactive metal.

"The EPA doesn't monitor naturally-occurring thorium in water, only man- made, which surprises me," White Face aid. "It's the first decaying product from naturally-occurring uranium, and nothing is being done on the EPA level."

The Defenders of the Black Hills, however, is pushing for a bill in Congress to clean up the abandoned mines, and for the EPA to include all radioactive particles in air and water monitoring.

White Face says she has been threatened by uranium companies, but vows that she and the Defenders of the Black Hills will continue to educate people and push for South Dakota and Wyoming congressmen to keep the air and water clean from radioactive particles. She has also suggested that coal miners who have been laid off might be able to get work cleaning up abandoned uranium mines safely.

"Wouldn't it be great if they could be put to work doing good?" White Face said. "It would help. It would help. I'm old, and I'm not going to be here, but it could help my grandkids and yours. We're supposed to look out for seven generations following us."

Despite all of this, White Face is reluctant to call herself an "activist."

"I have never classified myself that way or called myself that," White Face said. "I encourage people to get active, though, so sometimes I hear that."

But White Face maintains that it's important to keep advocating for justice, even in the face of insurmountable odds, because sometimes it works: in 2003, when a shooting range was going to be built near Bear Butte, White Face and others opposed it, uncovered the misuse of federal money, and stopped the project.

"Good can happen," White Face said. "Every time we do something, we give people the opportunity to do what is right. Even if nothing happens, they have the opportunity to know what's right."

She added: "If they don't know about it, it's just going to keep on, you know?"
I, too, have a grandson that started on marijuana and went straight to meth. No matter what they say, marijuana is a gateway drug.
KADOKA | One person died and two others suffered critical injuries Friday morning when a truck trailer hit a parked vehicle at the Badlands scenic overlook along Interstate 90 near Kadoka.

Authorities were withholding the names of the victims until family members could be notified.

Investigators said a westbound 2016 International truck pulling a fuel tanker trailer pulled off I-90 at the scenic overlook exit. In entering the parking lot, the truck trailer hit a curb, tipping the truck over and into a parked 2001Toyota Corolla.

The impact shoved the empty car into two of its four riders, who were in a nearby grassy area.

The trucks driver, 54, was pronounced dead at the Philip hospital. The two injured women, ages 57 and 63, were flown to Rapid City Regional Hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to a state Department of Public Safety news release.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigated the crash, assisted by the Jackson County Sheriffs Office and personnel from several local fire departments.
Montanans live in a state with one of the highest motor vehicle fatality rates in a nation that has the worst rate among high-income countries. That disheartening conclusion comes from a report the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last week.

Even when considering population size, miles traveled and number of registered vehicles, the U.S. consistently ranked poorly relative to other high-income countries for crash deaths, the CDC said.

Motor vehicle death rates run 10.3 per 100,000 population in the United States. (That was more than 32,000 deaths in 2013). The next worst rate is New Zealands, which is only half of our rate. Canada, our spacious northern neighbor country, has a fatality rate of 5.4 per 100,000. France, Japan, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Sweden all have lower rates than Canada.

Only Canada has a higher percentage of alcohol-involved fatalities (34 percent) than does the United States (31 percent). But remember, we have double the overall fatality rate.

Other nations studied had much better seat belt usage; on average 94 percent of motorists are buckled up. In the United States, the average use is 87 percent. In France, its 99 percent.

What are other nations doing?

Primary enforcement of seat belt laws that cover everyone in every seat.

Car seats and boosters seats required for child passengers at least through age 8.

Stringent definitions for driving under the influence: The USA, Canada and Great Britain define DUI as 0.8 percent blood alcohol content or above. All other nations set the limit lower, as low as 0.02 percent.

Ignition interlock devices are required on vehicles driven by people who have been convicted of DUI. These devices require an alcohol-free breath test before the vehicle can be started.

Red light cameras and automated speed checks.

More use of publicized sobriety check points.

Maintaining and enforcing a legal drinking age.

Montana law doesnt support some of those proven safety policies. Its illegal for police to set up sobriety checkpoints to apprehend impaired drivers. Montana has a law that requires drivers and passengers to use seat belts, but the law has a big hole in it. Officers cant stop a driver for a seat belt violation unless another law also is being violated.

In Montana so far in 2016, 85 people have been fatally injured on our streets and roads, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.

The vast majority of those crashes involved just one vehicle. Most victims werent buckled in. Many were ejected as their vehicles rolled. According to preliminary MHP data, 17 fatally injured victims were wearing seat belts and 46 werent.

Preliminary data indicates that 18 crashes were related to alcohol use and 13 were related to other drugs.

Individually, Montanans can do more to avoid serious and fatal crashes by buckling up and staying sober on every trip. Together, we can better protect ourselves and our loved ones by insisting the 2017 Legislature finally tighten up the seat belt law. If scofflaws know that they can get tickets for ignoring that essential safety measure, more will buckle up and fewer will die.
As the Observation Point fire winds down, one support worker at Darbys fire camp next to the high school was excited to be the first recipient of PFLAGs Start-up Grant.

Grey Muhlnickel, 18, of Denver, Colorado was part of the supply team with Trapper Creek Job Corps, filling orders of shovels, stakes, pumps and first aid kits for the fire crew. The fire was said to be 90 percent contained on Monday, so most of the crew at the fire camp were packing up to leave Tuesday morning.

As a student at Trapper Creek Job Corps, Muhlnickel completed the core curriculum for Level I Pre-apprentice Electrical Trade certification and is looking forward to graduation Aug. 8. He plans to seek employment or will otherwise continue his education in electrical engineering.

For the first time in the PFLAG Hamilton-Bitterroot Chapters history, the board decided to offer a $500 grant to graduating students at area local schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) individuals or allies to help students with the next step in their career or education. This grant can go towards anything from tuition, books and other school supplies, or even to help with securing a job, housing or transportation.

In his grant application essay, Muhlnickel clearly demonstrated his role as an ally and advocate for LGBT individuals in his family, his school and his community.

Muhlnickel states that he saw LGBT friends as well as a family member being mistreated and discriminated against without the same basic rights or recourse to stand up to unfair practices regarding employment and housing.

If we can learn anything from history about people who are socially ostracized based on race, ethnicity and other [protected] classes, everyone deserves the same rights and equality, including those who identify as LGBT, he said.

He also notes that differences should be celebrated, not discouraged. Those who are different should not be compelled to conceal those differences based on the acceptance of others.

As a Boy Scout, Muhlnickel stated that his scout troop accepted girls, LGBT individuals and people of all ages, races and socio-economic sectors. When their troop handed out fliers in his school stating that anyone who wished could attend, several LGBT community members came.

The dark question already on their mind: When I tell them Im different, will they turn me away? The answer was a unanimous no, he said. Everyone was welcome, regardless.

Muhlnickel plans to spend his Start-up Grant on a new pair of work boots and save the remainder to secure housing or a vehicle after graduating and moving to a new location for employment. He states that he will continue to advocate for LGBT individuals, especially if he sees something occurring in the workplace, such as hazing or mistreatment by management or co-workers. He says he would speak up on another LGBT persons behalf.

I wouldnt want to work for that kind of company, he said.Its my opinion that no matter who you are, where you come from, the company you keep or the status you choose to uphold, you are accepted, youre beautiful and you deserve to be treated like everyone else. You deserve equal marriage rights, equal employment rights and your presence in society, instead of being frowned upon, should be applauded.

PFLAGs mission is to promote the health and well-being of LGBT persons, their families and friends through support, education, and advocacy and acts to create a society that is healthy and respectful of human diversity.

For more information, contact PFLAGHamilton Bitterroot@gmail.com or call 360-6796.

Deb Eckheart is the president of the PFLAG Hamilton-Bitterroot Chapter.
A coalition of government agencies, private companies and nonprofits is offering a $2 million grant for moonshot ideas to enrich early childhood STEM education.

Following a series of engineering-focused grants awarded last year by its partners, 100Kin10 is providing the Early Childhood STEM Learning Challenge Grant for organizations that will develop a project to provide active learning environments for younger students in science, technology, engineering and math. The coalition will award up to 10 grants.

The coalition of more than 280 partners was created with the moonshot goal of bringing 100,000 qualified STEM teachers to classrooms across the nation by 2021.

In an analysis of the challenges to its objective last year, the organization found that early elementary educators often felt insecure about teaching STEM, and that students often learned those subjects in a rote manner. So the coalition would need to push for active education in addition to quality teacher support.

According to 100Kin10s founder, Talia Milgrom-Elcott, that includes everything from maker education to do-it-yourself programsany project-based learning that gets kids involved in their education.

Theres some pretty strong evidence thatespecially for girls and kids of coloractive engagement in STEM piques interest early, gives them core skills, and keeps them in the pipeline, said Milgrom-Elcott, noting also that children are naturally curious.

The grant emphasizes experimentation along with its collaborative element. Milgrom-Elcott said that she wants to encourage innovation in addressing the coalitions ambitious goal.

Lets not re-create the wheel. Lets understand whats happened before us and lets build off of that, she said in a phone interview.

She also stressed that such creativity means knowing how the barriers to achieving quality STEM education are felt in the real world. Dont just theorize in it your boardroom, or in your office. Get out into the classroom, into the field, and understand how the challenge is actually being experienced,

This is the second award of its kind offered by the coalition, which was formed in the wake of President Barack Obamas 2011 call for more STEM teachers .

Milgrom-Elcott said that she hopes this years announcement will attract other funders, as it did last year when grant recipient projects included a San Francisco mobile-engineering lab.

Applications will open this September, with a deadline of October 26.

CORRECTION: The original version of this item misstated the number of partners in 100Kin10. It is 280. This post has also been updated with additional information about the awarding of grants through the 100Kin10 campaign.

See also:
A tank moves into position as Turkish people attempt to stop them, in Ankara, Turkey, late Friday, July 15, 2016. (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey, July 16: Turkey's president declared he is in control of the country early Saturday as loyal military and police forces quashed a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who flew home early Saturday, said coup supporters "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey."

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Gen. Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said more than 190 people died in clashes: 41 police officers, two soldiers, 47 civilians and 104 people described as "coup plotters."

Dundar said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units were mainly involved in the attempt.

More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested across the country, said a senior official who was not authorized to speak to the media. The state-run Anadolu news agency said more than 1,100 were wounded. Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara.

Erdogan flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. He told them: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar is taking over the command of the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding a number of others.

Government officials, who blamed the unrest on a U.S.-based Islamist cleric, said the coup failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz said 16 coup plotters were killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The government has made clear that no Nepali has been impacted in violence ensued after a failed coup attempt, in Istanbul and Ankara of Turkey.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said through its official Twitter account that Nepalis living in Istanbul, Ankara and other affected places have been advised to say home to avoid any fatality.

The government had communicated with Nepals Honorary Consul in Istanbul about the recent developments and closely following unfolding of the events, states the ministry.
sacw.net - 16 July 2016

On "World Youth Day," I pray for children and young people, the future of every and any nation, the world over. I condemn the use of unwarranted force, pellet guns, the policy of shoot to kill employed to disperse crowds in Kashmir! I condemn the glorification of the"matrydom" of our young, whose families will be devastated forever and will never know any relief! The physical and psychological incarceration of our alienated young people is part of the problem, not the solution!

We, as a people, cannot afford to ignore the empowerment that critical intelligence gives us; the credibility that articulate expressions of our discontent give us; the international forums that are made available to us because of the intelligence that we have employed to create a national identity. We have witnessed the militarization of the socio-cultural fabric of Kashmir; we watch with remorse the clamping down of intellectual freedoms in Kashmir and the growing influence of fanatical elements in that polity;we are saddened by the shutting down of dissenting voices; we mourn the erosion of womenas activism in Kashmir by the reduction of their identities to grieving mother, martyras mother, or rape victim; we grieve the relegation of sane voices in civil society to the background; we are pained by the scathed psyches of women suffering psychosomatic illness in conflict zones.

We, as a people, have recognized and availed ourselves ofthe myriad political, socio-cultural, and economic forums that education, historically,has created for us.

In order to question inequitiesathe alteration of the political and cultural milieu by the forces of rampant corruption; state supported institutions where young boys are indoctrinated in right-wing nationalist and religious fundamentalisms of various hues; Pakistanas shift in strategy that revolution cannot be exported but has to be built in target areas by various means, including indoctrination and inducements; the complacence of the Indian government if the batons of police and the guns of the Central Reserve Police Force make the political milieu in J & K look calm on the surface awe require an education to be able to counter the instances of injustice and unfairness created by such institutions/ ideologies/ doctrines. How can we, as a people, develop the ability to organize and mobilize for social change, which requires the creation of awareness not just at the individual level but at the collective level as well? How can we develop self-esteem for which some form of financial autonomy is a basis? A lot of work needs to be done for these mammoth tasks.

Civil society and political institutions are closely interconnected. In order to substantiate democracy. A consolidated democracy has to be open to diverse opinions, which is the edifice that India was initially built on; dissent and conflict on specific policies is an important element of every democratic system. There must, however, be some shared consent on fundamental principles.

Democratic, social/ educational institutions cannot function in Kashmir without participation by citizens. Nurturing a civil society that bridges regional and communal divides is a prerequisite for the effective and legitimate functioning of educational, political, economic, and bureaucratic institutions.

To my well-meaning and progressive friends in mainland India, of whom there are many:

The Constitution of India seeks to guarantee respect for the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and the integrity of the electoral process. But time and again, provisions of the Constitution of India have been flagrantly violated in Kashmir, and the ideals that it enshrines have been forgotten. In Kashmir, rights relating to life, liberty, dignity of the people, and freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, embodied in the fundamental covenants and enforceable by courts of law, have been gravely violated. The much lauded parliamentary democracy in India has been unable to protect a genuine democratic set-up in Kashmir. The Government of India cannot continue to install Heads of State in Jammu and Kashmir, and claim that it is not plutocratic. The non-governance in Jammu and Kashmir, and the growing disconnect between the rulers and the ruled in the State seem to have lulled the Government of India into further apathy. Heads of States, particularly of trouble-torn ones cannot avoid their ethical and moral responsibilities toward peoples of the States by letting their lives be torn asunder by paramilitary forces and other aupholdersa of the law.

The diversity of India cannot thrive on facile attempts to create the homogeneous category of aIndian.a Nor can it thrive on dubious attempts to gloss over xenophobic provincialism or a highly culpable state-sponsored marginalization of a minority community. The increasing communalisation of Indian politics is a juggernaut that annihilates the myth of secularism in India.

Insurgency, counter insurgency, flawed institutions, un-accountability in political and bureaucratic offices, tenuous infrastructure, rife unemployment, languishing prisoners, a bankrupt state exchequer, and a civil society that is gasping for air. Is that the Kashmir that our ancestors fought tooth and nail for? Is that the Kashmir for which our previous generations sacrificed their youths, their comforts, their lives? Will the toll that the past twenty-seven have taken on the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir be brushed aside in a bid to integrate the State even further into the Indian Union?

Nyla Ali Khan is a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma and a member of the Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), and Parchment of Kashmir: History, Society, and Polity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
sacw.net - 16 July 2016

Holding people to ransom; criminalizing political space; causing psychosomatic ills; forcing people to develop apathetic attitudes toward the demands of life by immobilizing them; disabling the younger generation from finding healthy ways to channelize their energy; curbing the vitality of Srinagar by reducing it to a garrison in which movement is violently restricted by ugly coils of razor wire; appalling traffic in volatile areas which remains uncontrolled by slumberous policemen; life revolving around the diktats issued by gun-toting men; fleeing tourists with anxiety writ large on their faces; lay people being made to dance to the tunes of a martyrdom seeking octogenarian; a fledgling government that finds it difficult to wade through the murky waters of coalition politics; the culpability of mainstream politicians and separatists who all live with the indulgence of proverbial lotus-eaters.

Gloom is writ large on the faces of young professionals, students, and lay people. A lack of purposefulness; a paralyzing atmosphere of fear and paranoia; a suffering populace whose voice is stifled by those who claim to be ideologically motivated and fighting for a ajusta cause; the complicity of state-sponsored agencies with self-proclaimed guardians of religious freedom; the passionate nature of violence in conflict-ridden Kashmir where politicians need a couple of mercenaries at their beck and call to execute their lop-sided decrees, while turning a deaf ear to popular consent; the debasement of the languages of both nationalism and political Islam; the trammeling of Kashmir by a militarized culture; the benightedness of the territory by reprehensible misgovernance. We, as a people, have been mourning the loss of lives, erosion of democratic institutions and aspirations, destruction of our socio-cultural fabric, deliberate marginalization of our people, all of which have occurred over the past two decades with an unparalleled intensity.

In the Afterword to my book, Islam, Women, and the Violence in Kashmir, political psychologist Ashis Nandy correctly observes, aEveryone [in Kashmir] is bereaved and everyone is a mourner. The casualties include not merely the official and unofficial dead and the incapacitated, but also those who have disappeared without a trace. . . . There is in Kashmir a miasma of depression that touches everyone except the ubiquitous tourist determined to consume Kashmiras unearthly beauty.a Torture machines have certainly accomplished the task of creating indelible scars, fears, panic, which will not fade with the passage of time. But will this trauma leave us incapacitated to envision a viable political and socioeconomic future for ourselves that would enable Kashmir to become integrated into South Asia as a democratic state? If Kashmir were simply a apolitical problema as some mainstream politicians have been reiterating for a while now, the elected civilian government would have no role to play. It is quite possible that the coalition government doesnat envision a role for itself in the Kashmir imbroglio. Arenat there more complex aspects to this problem for which the electorate has voted its representatives into office, expecting them to voice peopleas hopes in the hallowed halls of their overlords in New Delhi?

The Kashmir conflict is driven by nationalistic and religious fervor, each side pointing to the violence and injustice of the other, each side pointing to its own suffering and sorrow. The distrust, paranoia, and neurosis permeating the relationship between a large number of people of J & K and the Indian Union has intensified the conflict. The guerilla war in the state has gone through a series of phases since 1990 but repressive military and political force remains the brutal reality in the State, which cannot be superseded by seemingly abstract democratic aspirations. This conscious policy of the Indian State to erode autonomy, populist measures, and democratic institutions in J & K has further alienated the people of the State from the Indian Union. The systemic erosion of political opposition in J & K has delegitimized the voice of dissent and radicalized antagonism toward state institutions and organizations. The exposure of some democratic institutions as a brutal facade has instigated unmitigated disgruntlement and antipathy toward democratic procedures and institutions in the State.

Although the insurgency in J & K, which has extracted an enormous price from the people of the state, was generated by the systemic erosion of democratic and human rights, socioeconomic marginalization, relegation of the peopleas democratic aspirations to the background, we cannot indulge in lamentation for eternity. While the rebellion may have been incited by Indiaas political, social, and economic tactlessness, it has been sustained by not just by the belligerence of the Indian army or by the garb of militant Islam donned by some separatists, but by the territorial ambitions of Pakistan and the inability of an elected government to function to its full potential in J & K. During the ongoing insurgency, the military has been granted a carte blanche without an iota of accountability. Paramilitary forces in J & K, as witnessed over the past couple of weeks, are a loose cannon, which even those in positions of political power can question only to their detriment. Paramilitary forces in the state exercise their power with the brutality of an occupation force, at odds with the dispassionate nature of modern warfare.

New Delhias strategy in J & K was validated by US military operations in Afghanistan, and the deployment of US forces in and around Pakistan to restrain Pakistani aggression. India was assured by the US that it would stall any attempt by Pakistan to extend the Kashmir dispute beyond local borders, which might disrupt its operations against the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Also, deployment of the US military in Pakistani air bases strengthened New Delhias confidence that Islamabad would hesitate to initiate nuclear weapons use. Pakistanas nuclear arsenal has given its military the prowess it requires to exploit the disgruntlement of the Muslim population of the Kashmir Valley. Pakistanas military leaders are privately convinced that its daunting nuclear arsenal has dissuaded India from embarking upon a large-scale war. Indiaas cautious stance is however dictated by multiple factors. Its primary concern is that a limited war will not enable it to accomplish substantive political or military objectives; that such a war might spin out of control and would be impossible to cease according to the wishes of the administration and the military; that India might find itself in disfavour with and spurned by the international community, and that a war might beef up nuclear armament. The impending menace of precipitative nuclearization has been one of the many factors underlining the necessity to maintain a quasi-stable regime in the South Asian region. In effect, one of the ramifications of India and Pakistan climbing the ladder of nuclear proliferation has been a tottering stability, maintained amidst the continuing conflict in Kashmir. The insurgency in Kashmir, India and Pakistanas ideological differences and their political intransigence has resulted in the eruption of a crisis.

Ironically, mainstream politicians and separatists in J & K havenat found niches in the upper echelons of decision-making bodies, political, religious, or social. New Delhi is letting them flail their arms and flex their muscles within carefully contained spaces, but, for all intents and purposes, they have no place within India and Pakistanas bilateral talks. The significant process of nation building and the construction of Kashmiri nationalism isnat being facilitated by either party. Kashmiri society needs to recognize the terror caused by such predatory discourses that swoop down on the vulnerable, devouring their ideological and experiential strengths. How long will those unfamiliar with the rich history and nuanced culture of Kashmir seek to describe the state of mind of traumatized Kashmiris? How long will those ignorant of the rich heritage of Kashmir seek to write narratives about the political future of Kashmir? A reconstruction of the political space in Kashmir is the need of the day.

Despite the political mobilization of Kashmiris during the upheaval in 1931 and the politically volcanic Quit Kashmir Movement of 1946, their reversion from a substantive public sphere to a brutalized sphere has been rather abrupt. The onslaught of despotism in 1931 unleashed by Maharajah Hari Singh and his platoons awoke Kashmiris from their apoplectic slumber, and induced them to rattle the confining bars of the monarchical cage. Remarkably, lay people in Kashmir, were initiated into political activism and heralded the political participation of the so-called elite. The Quit Kashmir Movement in 1946-7 saw the evolution of Kashmiris into well-informed and articulate protestors, assuming leadership roles in the quest for a Kashmiri nationalistic identity. But vicious attempts to sink the voices of the citizenry in Kashmir into oblivion by have become much more frequent now.

(Nyla Ali Khan is a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma, and member of Scholars Strategy Network. She is the author of Fiction of Nationality in an Era of Transnationalism, Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir, The Life of a Kashmiri Woman, and the editor of The Parchment of Kashmir. She is editor of the Oxford Islamic Studiesa special issue on Jammu and Kashmir. She can be reached at nylakhan@aol.com)
The New Jersey Board of Education will require all school districts that havent yet tested their water for lead to do so within the year and to make those results public.

The agency passed the new regulations on Wednesday.

The regulations followed Gov. Chris Christies announcement in May that he will require all schools to test their drinking water for lead annually and to publicly report those results. Christie also asked the state legislature for $10 million to help the districts to pay for expenses related to the testing.

All of this came after the March discovery of elevated lead levels in the drinking water at some Newark schools. That discovery prompted the district to shut off drinking water fountains at 30 schools. Subsequent reviews revealed that the district had been taking some lead-remediation steps for many years, though the public appeared largely unaware of it.

After undertaking further tests, the city offered free lead testing to its youngest students.

Northjersey.com reported that even before the state board of education passed the new regulations on Wednesday many districts had already started voluntarily testing the water . Other New Jersey districts, including in Teaneck, Bergenfield, and Fort Lee, have also reported finding elevated lead levels in some schools. (Since the Flint water-contamination crisis, schools have come under increased scrutiny to test their drinking water. )

According to the Associated Press, the new state rules will require districts to test water used for drinking and cooking at least once every six years. The districts must also send written notices of the results to parents, the AP reported.
Human Rights Watch - July 15, 2016

Bangladesh: Charge or Release Holey Attack Hostages

Guarantee Rights and Safety of Two Held After Massacre

(New York) a Bangladeshi authorities should guarantee all due process rights of two detainees who had been held hostage by armed gunmen during the July 1 siege on the Holey Artisan Bakery CafA in Dhaka, Human Rights Watch said today. The two men, Hasanat Karim and Tahmid Khan, were initially held for questioning by authorities but have neither been charged nor released.

Armed gunmen attacked the cafA on the night of July 1, killing more than 20 people and holding others inside hostage. Security forces stormed the cafA on the morning of July 2, killing several of the gunmen, and securing the safety of the remaining 13 hostages. The hostages were taken to the Detective Branch headquarters, where they were questioned by the authorities.

All hostages, except for Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released on July 3. Their families have had little or no official information about their safety and whereabouts since. They have been allowed to send medicine and clothes, but are unsure if those were delivered to the detainees. The detainees have not been produced promptly before a judge, a right enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a party.

aThe attack on the cafA was a horrific event, and the authorities should conduct thorough investigations by questioning those held hostage a but they must do so in a rights-respecting manner,a said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. aKarim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately.a

The length of time the two men have been held incommunicado is a direct violation of their basic rights.  Brad Adams, Asia Director

Human Rights Watch noted that Bangladeshi security forces have an extensive and well-documented history of custodial abuse, including torture. Given this history, there is a real risk of harm during detention and interrogation. Human Rights Watch has documented torture and custodial abuse of those detained by Bangladeshi security forces, including of one of its own consultants, in 2008. A 2012 Human Rights Watch report documented the mass arrests, torture, and custodial deaths of those suspected of involvement in a 2009 mutiny by the Bangladesh Rifles. Subsequent investigations by Human Rights Watch before and after the violent elections in January 2014 documented arbitrary and illegal arrests, leading in some cases to disappearances and deaths. Most recently, Human Rights Watch expressed concern at the nearly 15,000 mass arbitrary arrests by the government in a much-delayed reaction to a spate of killings of bloggers, atheists, foreigners, and gay rights activists.

Karim is a UK national and Khan is a resident of Canada. Human Rights Watch called upon both the UK and Canadian authorities to press for consular access to ensure the safety and well-being of the detainees.

aThe authorities holding Karim and Khan are bound by Bangladeshi law and international law to ensure that both men are accorded their full due process rights, including the right to a lawyer and the right to be produced before a magistrate, both of which are key in ensuring their physical well-being and freedom from custodial abuse,a said Adams. aThe length of time the two men have been held incommunicado is a direct violation of their basic rights.a

Human Rights Watch called on the Bangladeshi authorities to admit to the detentions of the two men, to make clear their whereabouts, and to protect their rights.
Outlook Magazine, 25 July 2016, Cover Story

Azadi

What exactly does azadi mean to Kashmiris? Why canat it be discussed? Since when have maps been sacrosanct?

by Arundhati Roy

The people of Kashmir have made it clear once again, as they have done year upon year, decade upon decade, grave upon grave, that what they want is azadi. (The apeoplea , by the way, does not mean those who win elections conducted in the rifle sights of the army. It does not mean leaders who have to hide in their homes and not venture out in times like these.)

While we denounceaas we mustathe gunning down of unarmed protesters by the security forces, the attacks on ambulances and hospitals by policemen, and the blinding of teenagers with pellet guns, we have to keep in mind that the real debate cannot only be about the violation of human rights by Indian security forces in the Kashmir valley. Egregious though they are, those violations are the consequenceathe inevitable and unavoidable consequenceaof the militaristic suppression of a peopleas struggle for freedom. Kashmiris are not fighting for the establishment of the rule of law or an end to human rights violations. They are fighting for azadi. For this, they are prepared to face down bullets with stones. For this, they are prepared to die in numbers. For this, they are prepared to exhibit acts of open defiance that may lead to their death or incarceration in the most densely militarised zone in the world. For this, they are prepared to take to arms, to fight to the death, knowing full well that they will die young. They have proved that with tragic regularity. They have been nothing if not consistent.

Itas no use pretending that what the Indian government has on its hands is a fleeting law and order problem created from time to time by a fickle, volatile people. What is happening is a dangerous, spiralling crisis of unmanageable proportions in a region that is sandwiched between two hostile nuclear powers. For that reason alone it should concern the whole world.

If we really want address that crisis, if we really want to stop the endless cycle of killing and dying, if we really want to stem the haemorrhaging, the first step has to be a small concession to honesty. We have to have an honest conversation. However diverse the views may be, however opposed to one anotherathe subject of that conversation has to be azadi: What exactly does azadi mean to Kashmiris? Why canat it be discussed? Since when have maps been sacrosanct? Should a peopleas right to self-determination be denied at any cost? Are the people of India prepared to have the blood of thousands of ordinary people on their conscience? With what moral authority can we talk about all the other horrors being visited upon us, if we are prepared to swallow this one? Is the presumed aconsensusa in India on the subject of Kashmir real or manufactured? Does it matter? In truth, it shouldnat. What matters is what Kashmiris want, and how to arrive at that consensus in the most peaceful, democratic and informed way possible.

If there is to be a solution to this terrible, seemingly endless tragedy, we have to be able to think clearly, speak freely and listen fearlessly to things we may not want to hear. We have to find a new imagination. This applies to everybody, on all sides of the dispute.

Something beautiful could come of it. Why not? Why ever not?

o o o

The Tribune, July 15, 2016

Repurposing Kashmir outreach

by Harish Khare

Creating an alternative truth

THERE can be no satisfaction a but only sadness a in observing that our collective obtuseness in Kashmir has burnt out yet another Kashmiri leader. Mehbooba Mufti, who not long ago had so courageously and so craftily taken on the separatist arguments, has been rendered hors de combat by Delhias narrow minds and their narrower calculations. Unless she quickly finds an honourable exit out of the Chief Ministeras office, she and her party, the Peopleas Democratic Party, both would stand consumed in the current cycle of violence and counter-violence. Her political future is important but what is even more critical is the future of New Delhias relationship with the troubled state.

The death of more than 30 Kashmiri youths is both painful and inexcusable. Every Indian who believes in democratic values and our constitutional system must feel slightly diminished after the post-Burhan Wani bloodshed. It is no consolation that agents provocateurs may have been at work. After three decades of insurgency, militancy and organised confusion, we should have been wiser.

Two fundamental, somewhat conflicting, propositions need to be reiterated. First, since Burhan had opted for athe guna , it was inevitable that sooner or later he would be out-gunned. He had become a prisoner of his own myth. There could have been no peaceful aouta for him. Nor should the social media-induced solidarity his death has generated surprise anyone. This is the new tool of mobilisation, and it is being used extensively in the whole country. We tend to forget that five years ago, social media was used to amobilisea crowds for the Anna Hazare amovementa . Then, we had celebrated adefiancea as the highest democratic entitlement and serenaded the arevolta of the youth. Burhan Wani was using the same tools to fire up the imagination in the Valley. He made the error of supplementing his poetry of defiance with an AK-47.

Those who defy the law, order, authority invite a response a often a disproportionate response a from the State. Recently the Jats in Haryana were so riotously on a awarpatha that the Army had to be deployed in town after town; and, people got killed. Last year, the Patels in Gujarat insisted on defying authority and were made to feel the heavy hand of the State. This happens everywhere, almost in every part of the world. No exception could be made in Burhan Wanias case. He did not ask for any quarter. Nor was he given any.

The second proposition: A democratic State such as India has an obligation to cajole, coax and convince the dissatisfied and the aggrieved citizen(s) to seek him out, hear him out, make him feel un-marginalised and bring him back to amainstreama . In Kashmir, for three decades now we have been trying to create an alternative truth a the possibility of an India whose citizenship offers the Kashmiri a life of dignity, honour and equality. We have had very little success in convincing many Kashmiris of Indiaas agreeableness. The post-Wani violence has made the task even more difficult.

Perhaps, it is time to recognise and acknowledge that democratic India has fumbled in Kashmir because our own politics does not invoke respect, leave alone admiration, in Srinagar. If anything, we allow even our common sense a forget about any statesmanship a to get overwhelmed by very ordinary political calculations of ordinary politicians. But we do love to bemoan that the Valley has never purged itself of the ajamatia influence and ideology. We regularly and righteously berate Pakistan for fomenting separatist tendencies and atanzeemsa . Anti-Pakistanism, after all, may be a very paying proposition back in the amainlanda India, but it does not help much in the Valley.

Irrespective of how quickly and efficiently the current turmoil and tension are defused in the Valley, the latest eruption has once again underlined the two-fold task before all those who wish to rule Kashmir from Delhi.

First, to ensure the security and safety of the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir, both against any intrusion from across the border and from those inside who choose to use the aguna to insist on having their point of view prevailed. Geography and history provide Pakistan a slight edge in keeping the pot boiling, but Islamabadas potential for mischief can be easily contained. It is the second task that taxes our democratic credentials.

And that task is to summon the imagination and willingness to expand the mainstream, seduce the middle, and isolate the separatist. If the first task is the soldieras responsibility, the second task becomes the politicianas obligation.

The trick has always been to find the right mix. And, most of the time, the optimal mix has eluded the wise and clever men who aruna Kashmir from Delhi. And in recent years, we have loaded the Kashmir matrix with demands and promises of atoughness.a This overloading of macho pretensions has complicated the current Kashmir scenario.

Ideally, the Modi sarkar is best suited to asolvea the Kashmir issue aonce and for all.a There is no dearth of domain knowledge. The Prime Minister is a Kashmir veteran. Not many remember his sterling role as a major domo in the then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshias march on Srinagar. There is the Finance Minister, who once played the interlocutor. Then, there is the National Security Adviser who has a reputation of knowing everything and everyone who matters in Kashmir. There is also the redoubtable acommissara Ram Madhav, who has been trying his hand at playing the master puppeteer. Never before, perhaps, was such a formidable talent pool available for solving the Kashmir issue.

At one level, there is a smug satisfaction that Kashmir has once again acquired a salience in the discourse back on the amainlanda . Anything which gets the anationala television channels excited and gets them screaming at Pakistan and against aterrorisma and aIslamic radicalisationa would be good for the electoral chances in Uttar Pradesh. Officially, the BJP would be spared the ungainly tactics of having to resurrect the overtly controversial issues like abeefa and aHindu exodusa . Television channels can be relied upon to scare the Hindu voter.

Anyway, the BJP believes it now has an obligation and a historic chance to achieve the old Jan Sanghas old agenda. Many of its prima donnas remain mesmerised by the mythological mumbo-jumbo about Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and his astrugglea and amartyrdoma . Then, there are those Nagpur-headquartered nationalists who are breathing down on the decision-makers in Delhi and have a definite view of what the whole Kashmir issue was all about.

We may not be back to the grim 2010 and certainly not to the dark days of 1990, but it does seem some of the nagging doubts remain unanswered. Can small men be entrusted with the task of repurposing our attitudes and actions in Kashmir? Who will produce statesmanship in Kashmir? Can the Indian Stateas moral authority in Srinagar be redeemed by leaders who do not command any moral stature back in New Delhi? It is anybodyas call.

o o o

The Hindu, July 14, 2016

Living in denial on Kashmir

by Happymon Jacob

There is a return to home-grown insurgency, with religious radicalisation acting as a force multiplier this time. Delhi needs to open a result-oriented dialogue with the Valleyas dissidents

The latest uprising in Kashmir, triggered by the encounter killing of the young Kashmiri militant, Burhan Wani, was waiting to happen for some time. The writing on the wall has been clear to those who cared to read it: that Kashmir would soon bounce back to the days of home-grown insurgency, with religious radicalisation acting as a force multiplier this time. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in New Delhi, in its impatient race for power in Srinagar, did not care to read the signs, and when told, it didnat care to listen.

The Kashmiris knew that things were not going to be easy for them if the BJP were to come to power in the State, and so they voted in large numbers to keep it out. But they were in for a rude surprise when BJP interlocutors sweet-talked the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into believing that the aAgenda of Alliancea , that the two parties put together after months of negotiations, would be an inviolable document for political action. The PDP has since been silenced and the so-called guiding document has been cast to the winds. We are perhaps one last stop away from the Valley slipping into another full-blown insurgency: with Rawalpindi aiding and abetting it, disaffected Kashmiris being hopeless and edgy, and clueless New Delhi playing with fire throwing all caution to the winds.

A decade of follies

There was a time, a decade ago, when we were close to ending the Kashmir insurgency. It was the heyday of Manmohan Singhas proactive diplomacy with Pakistan on the Kashmir question even as his interlocutors were quietly negotiating with the dissident leadership in Kashmir on a aKashmir formulaa. As per anecdotal evidence, a majority of the dissident leadership in the Valley, barring Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was on board the formula. Not only were the Pakistanis supporting the process but had even tried to reach out to the dissidents in the Valley to convince them of the proposed solution! Dr. Singh held extensive consultations with the Kashmiri leadership both publicly and privately. While Dr. Singh lost his political nerve in mid-2007 to take the initiative to its logical conclusion, his counterpart, Pervez Musharraf, lost his domestic support thanks to the lawyersa agitation, and as a result, the deal that would have settled both the conflict in Kashmir and over Kashmir disappeared into oblivion.

Kashmir has never been the same again. Anti-India feelings were steadily on the rise after over 120 Kashmiris were killed at the hands of the J&K police and Central forces in 2010. The seeds of a new indigenous insurgency were sown by the hasty manner in which Afzal Guru was hanged in 2013 during the Congress-led UPA regime. Letas remember that all this was happening during a decade when terrorist infiltration from Pakistan was lower than ever before thanks primarily to the border/Line of Control fence that was erected in J&K in 2004.

The combined result of this mishandling has been a sharp, and worrying, spike in the number of home-grown militants: educated, armed, religiously inclined and ideologically motivated, and not necessarily shepherded. Second, years since the violent insurgency of the 1990s was put down, there is today a disquieting rise in the legitimacy for armed militancy among civil society and the educated classes of the Valley a Burhan Wanias father, who is convinced of the righteousness of his sonas mission, is symbolic of that radical change. Anti-Indianism has become fashionable once again. A society that was exhausted by violence and gun culture has suddenly started justifying it. Finally, a decade of mishandling Kashmir has fundamentally damaged the liberal political space that could have politically and ideologically countered the return of militancy. Even the moderate Hurriyat faction finds it difficult today to converse with the youngsters thronging Kashmiras dark alleys and war-torn mofussil towns, shouting for azadi, throwing stones, and ready to die.

Still losing the plot

Its miserable history of mishandling Kashmir has hardly taught New Delhi how to deal with Kashmir, despite fighting the insurgency for close to three decades now. While it was the Congressas greed for power that historically, since the 1950s, alienated Kashmiris from the Indian political mainstream, itas now the BJPas turn to emulate the Congress with, of course, far more chest-thumping and name-calling.

Having cleverly hemmed in the Muftis, BJP strategists seem to believe that they have finally won the battle of wits in Kashmir, which they may well have. Yet, by being ignorant of the big picture, by investing heavily in short-term strategies and being insensitive to both the disaffected Kashmiris and its beleaguered coalition partner, the PDP, the BJP government in New Delhi is miserably losing the bigger battle for Kashmir and its people.

When these two unlikely partners came together to form a coalition government in early 2015, there was hope that things would get better for J&K given the PDPas popularity in south Kashmir and the BJPas historic mandate in Delhi: one and a half years down the road, however, all that J&K is left with is the PDPas political isolation and helplessness, and the BJPas inflexible political positions. Both the Muftis, first Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and now Mehbooba Mufti, have repeatedly reminded the BJP on the need to deliver on the promises (such as athe coalition government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilectionsa ) enshrined in the aAgenda of Alliancea .

However, not one of the key objectives outlined in the document has been taken up by the coalition so far, not even for discussion. I am reasonably confident that if the coalition had reached out to the dissidents in Kashmir in the past one and a half years that itas been in power, things would not have looked this bad today.

Judicial observations on AFSPA

On the day Wani was killed, the Supreme Court came down heavily (though in the context of Manipur) on the shocking extent of immunity provided to the armed forces. Indeed, this stinging indictment of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act a AFSPA a has come at a point in time when the BJP has been playing hide and seek with the PDP, and Kashmiris in general, on the AFSPA question even though a need for a relook at this draconian law was clearly mentioned in the coalition work plan. The courtas redefinition of the situation in Manipur as ainternal disturbancea, summarily rejecting the Central governmentas plea that it is a awar-like situationa, has undeniable implications for how New Delhi deals with Kashmir and the debates on draconian laws like AFSPA.

It is not enough to issue occasional feel-good statements like aKashmir is an integral part of Indiaa a we should respect their human and political rights and not snatch away what the countryas Constitution guarantees in Article 370. In fact, the court has, on various occasions, made its views sufficiently clear on both AFSPA and Article 370. And as the court noted, every human life is important and therefore extrajudicial killings cannot be allowed. Those of us who justify extrajudicial killings in the name of fighting terror should take a careful look at what the court has said on the matter: aIt does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the State. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both.a Has any accountability been fixed for the killings of 2010? Has a proper inquiry been conducted into the thousands of unmarked graves in Kashmir?

Immediate next steps

In our country, the government and the political class look for solutions only when there is trouble in Kashmir: they make calls for peace, and send an occasional all-party delegation to the Valley (as happened in 2010) and promise to look into the genuine demands. Sometimes even a team of interlocutors is appointed to negotiate with the dissidents. The tragedy is that once the trouble subsides, promises are forgotten and the committee reports, as usual, get ignored. There is therefore a need to look for sustainable political solutions if the government is serious about pacifying the conflict in Kashmir. The more you wait, the less appetite will there be in the Valley to talk to New Delhi: there was more positivity in the Valley about talks a decade ago than is the case now.

In difficult times such as these, hard decisions have to be taken and the political class should show courage to do so. Here are some suggestions to bring normalcy back to Kashmir: repeal or at least amend AFSPA, release political prisoners, institute a broad-based inquiry into extrajudicial killings in Kashmir, and open a result-oriented dialogue with the Valleyas dissidents to discuss the larger political questions as promised by the ruling coalition. If the Indian state could strike a peace deal with the Naga insurgents, why not Kashmir, which is even more central to Indiaas national security?

This round of agitation will eventually end, but the Kashmir issue is certainly not going to go away: it will keep simmering, with occasional eruptions such as this one. With terrorism engulfing the region and the Islamic State waiting at the gates for an opening, India can ill-afford not to pacify its domestic insurgencies. Letas face it, branding dissent as terrorism would only frustrate our efforts to deal with real terrorism.

Moreover, we should shed our national habit of pointing fingers at others when trouble brews in our country, and own up to our share of mistakes.

Finally, India and Indians need to speak to Kashmiris, openly and without prejudice, but not through prime-time shouting matches by TV anchors some of whose ignorance of history and politics, or basic discursive decency, could both shock and embarrass us.

Happymon Jacob is Associate Professor of Diplomacy and Disarmament Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

o o o

The Indian Express - July 13, 2016

After Burhan Wanias killing, an illusion is shattered in Kashmir

How does one address words to Kashmir? What do you say in a political context where all texts are sub texts, all ends dead ends?

by Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Kashmir evokes, above all else, an overpowering and numbing sense of futility. When aheaven is on firea , to use Muzamil Jaleelas evocative phrase, it is not clear to whom words are addressed. How can one address words to the Indian state that has repeatedly produced outcomes of the kind we have just witnessed since Burhan Wanias killing: Thirty-one young people killed, scores injured, many blinded? What does one say to this state that has, whatever the formal legalities and mitigating circumstances of the case may be, acted as an occupying army, immobilising considerations of justice at every turn? What does one say to its custodians, who at this point, mouth platitudes about their resolve over Kashmir, more I think to convince themselves, than to address Kashmiris? What does one say to this state that refuses to see the problem for what it is: A deep legitimacy crisis of the Indian state and a standing rebuke to Indian democracy? This state will, doubtless, be able to curb the violence in a few days: We will again feign normalcy, till the next round takes us by predictable surprise.

We will unleash our rhetorical prowess on Pakistan; stand firm in our resolve to fight terror. All well and good and justified. But let no one underestimate what has been on display in Kashmir since the killing of Burhan Wani: In one fell swoop the legitimacy of the Indian state has been eroded. The comforting illusion that all we face is a cross-border intervention, not the deep and continual alienation of our own citizens, has been shattered. The response will alas be predictable: First the law and order solution and then some promise of good governance. The latter could be a start, but that promise has been betrayed so many times that one cannot make it with a straight face. And these instruments have not been enough to break the vicious cycle of distrust. The structure of competitive politics will, in the end, be too preoccupied with competitive bickering.

But it is a fatal mistake to assume that there is just an instrumental solution to this challenge. The small windows of relative normalcy, the inevitable desire of so many young Kashmiris to make their way in the world has always lulled us into a sense of complacency. The sense in Kashmir that the idea of India is not a beacon of light and hope, but an ever strengthening shadow of darkness and violence, of disappearances and denial, of betrayal and repression, is strong. One measure of this is that it is hard to think of an Indian state that has produced such a poetry of pain (but then in these times of prose, who reads poetry). As the shadow of majoritarianism increases, this credibility crisis of the state will worsen. But how can one say this to a state where even an attempt at the description of the problem will be met with the usual ideological barrage: Insinuations of romanticising separatism and much worse. There is nothing in the ideological and empathetic armoury of the Indian state that is geared to addressing the deep alienation of those who matter in Kashmir. It is designed mainly to address Indians in the rest of India, so that we give our state a long leash in Kashmir.

I must confess that I am surprised that we are constantly surprised that teenagers in Kashmir are throwing stones at the Indian state. The real surprise is that it does not happen more. If we were subject to the regular interdictions of the police most of us might be tempted to pick up a stone or two; what years of army occupation, no matter how well intentioned and well run, would do is anybodyas guess. Our insecurities have produced a failure of empathetic imagination on our part, we want to hide behind a cloak of monumental ideology that mutilates any conversation about what it is really like to live in a state of siege. But I am also surprised at the surprise that a terrorist like Burhan Wani can be made a martyr by the general public. It is important to remember that this is not a phenomenon unique to Kashmir. It is still hard to dissociate far graver acts of terrorism, the assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, from the construction of ethnic identity and politics in Punjab and Tamil Nadu respectively. This political phenomenon needs deeper diagnosis.

But how does one address words to Kashmir? What do you say in a political context where all texts are sub texts, all ends dead ends? Writers like Chetan Bhagat are more confident of their locus standi in addressing Kashmiri youth. Given what we know about our state, I am less confident that we can look them in the eye and make even a credible promise let alone redeem the pain of the past. All we can do is try and make this India, in whose name we licence violence, attractive and credible enough. Just as we hope that the Indian state will make truth not illusion the starting point of its strategy; we hope Kashmir politics will do the same. The path of violent state subverting terrorism, just as a matter of political reality, has almost never led to success. Whatever romanticism there was about the idea of Kashmiriyat, it is now tinged with the irrevocable odour of ethnic cleansing and reactionary radicalism. The Indian state, with its size and might, will probably absorb the cost of this turn. But in the end, the price of that violence and turn to reactionary radicalism will be most deeply felt by Kashmiris. One can easily grant the mutilations inflicted by the Indian state; but these do not have to be compounded by a kind of self-mutilation that violent terrorism by its nature brings. It may seem cathartic for a while, but this path hardly contains the seeds of regeneration. We can all remind ourselves of Sheikh Abdullahas insight: That the fate of Kashmir inevitably depends upon the fate of India-Pakistan relations.

A transformation in that relationship opens up options; hostility in that relationship diminishes possibilities. It is easy to propose interim steps in Kashmir. But as Vajpayee used to ask, ayeh sab karega kaun?a No political force is minimally up to the task. The crisis will deepen as this episode puts a strain on the PDP-BJP alliance. All we can hope for is that politics throws enough cold water on the heaven that is on fire. But the sense of foreboding is only growing.

The writer is president, CPR, Delhi, and contributing editor, aThe Indian Expressa

o o o

The real tragedy: There will never be a solution to the Kashmir problem

We are not Canadians or British who would conduct a referendum to decide on a stateas demand to secede.

by Ajaz Ashraf

http://scroll.in/article/811798/the-real-tragedy-there-will-never-be-a-solution-to-the-kashmir-problem
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Salina photographer brings exhibit to Kansas Wesleyan

The exhibit features Wichita War Dancer, a member of the Tohono Odham and Ponca nations who has been performing the war dance for several years.
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In February 2014, a year after he was elected, Indiana Governor Mike Pence made a special trip to his states Senate.

In a rare move for a governor, Pence was there to testify before lawmakers in support of a bill that would have established a preschool pilot program, which he touted as a priority during his campaign.

Despite the personal appeal, lawmakers were skeptical. According to Chalkbeat Indiana, the pilot program nearly didnt make it out of the legislature. But Pence and other preschool supporters in the state were ultimately able to create a state-funded preschool tuition support program for about 1,000 children in five counties. (Separately, Indianapolis also created a preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds. That program is funded by the city and by private dollars.)

I will always believe the best pre-K program is going to be a prosperous family that can provide a child with the kind of enrichment in the home that every child deserves, Pence told Chalkbeat Indiana . But the realization I came to over the last year is thats simply not the case for too many Indiana kids.

The Indiana state preschool program is now so popular that it is turning away applicants .

But a year after that victory, Pence found himself under censure by preschool advocates, who wanted the state to apply for a share of $80 million in federal funds to expand preschools. The state had signaled an intent to apply for the funds, but Pence refused to allow the state to send it is application.

The decision bought a rebuke from the states elected education superintendent, Glenda Ritz . Gov. Pences about-face with little or no notice to those who had worked in concert with his administration on the grant application is bad for our state and our children, she wrote in an editorial.

But Pence has recently changed his mind on the idea of asking the feds for preschool money . In a June letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he said that expansion money would be welcome after allbecause Indiana has now had a chance to see that its state-funded program works.

In supporting a public role in early-childhood education, Pence finds himself out of step with the committee that is drafting the Republican Partys platform. The draft platform opposed state prekindergarten because it inserts the state in the family relationship in the very early stages of a childs life .

Photo: In March 2015, Gov. Mike Pence joined preschoolers and legislators at DayStar Childcare Ministry in Indianapolis to sign into law Indianas first state funding for prekindergarten. Courtesy Indiana Governors Office.
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As nearly half of all states battle with the federal government about what schools are required to do to accommodate transgender students , many educational leaders are already carrying out policies related to pronoun use, school climate issues, and which restrooms and locker rooms students can use .

Many created those policies well before the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice issued controversial guidance in May that Title IX requires schools to allow transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity , even if it differs from their sex at birth.

While transgender students represent a very small percentage of the population, advocates say children are coming out and transitioning gender identities at younger ages, meaning any school in the country may have to address the issue at some point. Heres how one principal handled it.

In June, the PBS Newshour aired an Education Week story about Atherton High School in Louisville, Ky., where Principal Thomas Aberli worked with a transgender student to help address her needs. Heres some bonus content, a special Q and A with Aberli about the ins and outs of that work.

If you missed our Newshour segment, you can view it below.

Still confused about the issue? Here are some frequently asked questions about the debate over transgender students and school bathrooms and locker rooms.

Related reading on transgender students:

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Turkey is in the throes of an attempted military coup at the time of this post.

Military officials aligned with the junta tried took over CNN Turk in Istanbul, minutes after the news network reported the death toll from Parliament, and word that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was flying back to the city after being briefly (?) sort of ousted from control.

The CNN Turk studios were broadcasting to Facebook Live when the junta forces broke in, and for some time, the CNNTurk stream displayed an empty studio with the sounds of a crowd chanting outside.

"We don't know how much longer we can continue our broadcast" says @CNNTurk anchor as soldiers enter studio https://t.co/NcCFaICe3W  Anderson Cooper 360 (@AC360) July 16, 2016

BREAKING A group of soldiers landed in Dogan Media Center where @cnnturk is based. They have entered the studio. pic.twitter.com/D2QMF6s8Xt  CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

CNN Turk Gen Dir @aktaserdogan reports civs from outside have entered the building and there is a struggle ongoing. pic.twitter.com/gppPVANL3R  CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

CNN International says the CNNTurk anchor said on-air, "We don't know how much longer we can continue our broadcast," and "we will try to continue our broadcast until the last moment." They did.

Their Facebook Live broadcast has since resumed, hosted by Erdogan Aktas (who was hosting at the time soldiers broke in).

At the time of this post, you can still hear a large crowd chanting outside, and the anchors seem very agitated. It wasn't immediately clear if the soldiers were still there, or if they'd left, or if anyone was harmed.

#Turkey CNN Turk being emptied livestream still on can see soldiers' reflections pic.twitter.com/JkmhOtzLyz  Cooper (@cooperlewis_) July 16, 2016

Turkey is a very social media literate country. Live streams via Periscope and Facebook Live are all over the country at the time of the coup. The revolutions of our time are being televised, after all.

Turkey has great practice on social media, citizen journalism and circumvention of censorship. https://t.co/tHLKoAfm9a  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

I'd once given a talk on how different a coup would be in Turkey if it had internet. Erdogan tweeted, facetimed, people argued on WhatsApp.  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

Erdogan is addressing Turkey on live TV. Some channels have been taken off but most are up, and pro-government. Internet barely blipped.  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

This was basically Erdogan's speech: It was the Gulenists, they will pay. Now PM Yldrm says people should stay outside in squares.  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

Also Erdogan says they bombed his hotel in Marmaris after he left. PM Yildirim says it's not over, people should stay outside.  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

So coup forces still have some helicopters and F-16s. Pro-government forces have mass media. Holding Bosphorus bridge But not mass media?  Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 16, 2016

For those of you wondering about @CNNTurk, it launched in 1999  it's operated by local journalists in Turkey  they license the CNN name.  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 16, 2016


Though the SFPD has tried to suggest that only a couple of officers had any contact, sexual or otherwise, with the 18-year-old woman at the center of a broad-ranging sex scandal involving both the Oakland and Richmond Police Departments as well as the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, KQED did some digging on Facebook that proves otherwise. The station found that "at least two dozen current and former SFPD officers  as well as others affiliated with the department" were at some point "friends" with Guap on the social media platform, with a number of them liking and commenting on photos she posted of herself.

Presumably reporters Alex Emslie and Nicole Reinert were able to do this because Guap's Facebook profile and all of her posts are public, and without naming names they say they found comments and evidence of connections between Guap and at least three current and 21 retired SFPD officers, including "a former police commissioner and a recent member of the board of directors of the police officers union, the Police Officers Association."

SFPD spokesman Sgt. Michael Andraychak said that a review of officers' social media accounts may be part of what is an open internal affairs investigation.

Guap is an active poster on Instagram and Facebook with many selfies, some more suggestive than others, as well as photos of food and dogs. And she's left her account fully public despite the fact that many commenters are using it to verbally attack her, calling her a whore and many other things, now that this scandal has made so many headlines.

One recently retired SFPD officer who said he had friended Guap but shed ties with her as this scandal was breaking spoke anonymously with KQED, saying, "Police officers, being human, they do make mistakes. So they may friend somebody who maybe they shouldnt be friends with. We dont always make the right decisions. We try to do whats right, but it doesnt always turn out that way."

The scandal, which first broke in May but deepened in June with the resignation of Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent, allegedly involves the exchange of confidential information with Guap regarding prostitution stings and police presence in East Oakland for sex. It has already led to at least three Oakland police officers being placed on administrative leave, and one officer's involvement with Guap when she was underage, and her threats of going public with the story, appears to have led to his suicide last September.

Guap made multiple connections with over 30 law enforcement officers across the Bay, by her own admission, some of whom she was introduced to by other officers but many of whom, it seems, she reached out to on her own, sometimes on social media.

She allegedly had sex with three SFPD officers, in all three cases after she turned 18 last summer. And KQED admits that the Facebook connections with dozens of other officers are not conclusive of anything, and it's unclear whether she knew any of the of officers in real life.

Previously: Two SFPD Officers Now Implicated In Oakland Police Sex Trafficking Scandal

Sex Worker At Center Of Oakland Police Scandal Reveals How And Why She Went Public; Three SFPD Officers Involved Too
Rick Santorum said pregnancy from rape is a "gift from God" and compared gay relationships to "man-on-dog" sex  and he signed a pledge saying that African-Americans had it better during slavery.

He's not an aberration, either. The whole cadre of GOP presidential nomination hopefuls were a bumper-crop of absolute terribleness: Rick Perry's summer hunting camp is called "Niggerhead" and he pledged to eliminate three cabinet-level government agencies, but couldn't remember which ones. He is a young-Earth Creationist, an anonymous GOP governor once said that Perry was "like George W Bush, but without the brains."

Bobby Jindal named himself after a character on the Brady Bunch and bankrupted Louisiana by cutting taxes on the wealthy. Carly Fiorina is a climate-change denier who tanked HP and thinks Planned Parenthood sells foetal organs. Rand Paul wants to eliminate environmental and civil rights legislation and eliminate welfare. Scott Walker said he could be trusted to fight Isis because he'd defeated Wisconsin's teachers' unions. Chris Christie is basically a mafia don, but not a competent one. Jeb Bush thinks that health insurance can be eliminated by giving people Apple watches and that poverty can be solved by everyone "working longer hours."

And so on: Eliot Weinberger's magisterial biography of the GOP Class of 2016 is a reminder that Trump wasn't an aberration in the Republican leadership  just the brightest blaze in the permanent tire-dump fire that is the Republican Party.



They could have picked Dr Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon, who, with his unfocused gaze and mumbled rambles about the 'fruit salad of life', often seemed as though he'd spent too much time in the hospital pharmacy. An African American, he called Obamacare 'the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery', declaring it to be, in fact, 'slavery in a way', because its passage was part of a larger Leninist push to impose communism on America. He said that if people want to know the truth about President Obama, they should simply 'read Mein Kampf' and the works of Lenin, and that 'if there were no Fox News and if there was no conservative radio, we would already be Cuba. I know [Obama] realises that they're impeding his agenda of fundamentally transforming this nation into something else.' In one of the debates, Carson suddenly announced that he had inside information about Chinese troops in Syria, but he became better known for his Egyptology: 'My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archaeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs' graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it, and I don't think it'd just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.' He has also explained that the 'Adversary', Satan himself, entered the heart and mind of Charles Darwin and persuaded him to come up with the theory of evolution to undermine God's word. He plans to write a book called The Organ of Species, 'to talk about the organs of the body and how they completely refute evolution'. Donald Trump, for some reason, compared the somnambulist Carson to a child molester: 'You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that.' In Carson's home there is a large painting of Jesus with his hand on Dr Ben Carson's shoulder.

They could have picked

[Eliot Weinberger/London Review of Books]





(Image: CNN Reagan Library Republican Presidential Debate September 16, 2015 [Donkey Hotey, CC-BY-SA)
A pair of small-scale protests last night in San Francisco and Oakland  one in solidarity with teachers in the Mexican state of Oaxaca and the other part of a national call for Black Lives Matter rallies  took different turns, with the Oakland event remaining mostly peaceful and the SF event turning weird.

In Oakland, a group estimated between 50 and 150 people according to KRON 4 gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza Friday as part of the national Day of Solidarity and soon moved to attempt to block freeways and off-ramps. Per the Chronicle, they succeeded in marching onto the westbound lanes of 980 briefly, but left the roadway after police arrived. The determined group then spent the next four hours marching to various on- and off-ramps, attempting to disrupt traffic, and trying to climb onto the same section of 880 that a larger group of protesters succeeded in shutting down for several hours last week. Police successfully thwarted that attempt this time.

No arrests or injuries were reported, and the protest dwindled around 9:30 p.m.

Meanwhile in San Francisco, a similarly small group of protesters gathered on 24th Street Friday in solidarity with teachers who have been protesting across Mexico over education reforms that will change how they're evaluated  protests which in the state Oaxaca resulted in the deaths of eight people in recent weeks. As Mission Local reports, protesters marched to 18th and Shotwell Streets, to the site of the police shooting of Luis Gongora in April, and at least one scuffle ensued involving a KTVU cameraman.

The scuffle appears to have begun on 24th Street, and Mission Local reports people were shouting "Fuck KTVU." The cameraman was reportedly shoved against the crowd near Mission Police Station, outside of which a further melee took place as the night wore on. Witnesses at Blondie's Bar saw police pepper-spraying and roughing up protesters, and ultimately a pile of trash was lit on fire in the middle of Valencia Street before the crowd fully dispersed.

The Chronicle says three people were arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest. Activist Edwin Lindo posted the photo below of a protester's bruises from being hit with a police baton.
Heres a short list of things you can do through an app on your cellphone.

Buy clothes. Order takeout. Read a newspaper. Watch a movie. Buy birth control pills.

For that last purchase, you dont even need to visit your doctor first.

New smartphone apps and websites give women access to prescription birth control without ever having to visit a doctor.

The New York Times calls this mobile movement a quiet shift in how women obtain birth control, which can be a time-consuming, costly and even embarrassing process for some.

The Times found at least six private companies and nonprofits offering the services. Each works a little differently but all allow a woman to answer health questions either through an online form or via video with a doctor or other medical clinician.

The physician reviews the information, writes a prescription and the woman can either pick up the pills  patches, rings and morning-after pills are also available  at the pharmacy or get them in the mail.

This kind of access is certainly an improvement for some women who have access to the web and a smartphone, Dr. Nancy Stanwood, chairwoman of the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health, told the Times when she learned of the services.

Look, if I can order something on Amazon and theyre going to drone-deliver it half an hour later to my house, of course were going to think of better ways for women to get birth control.

Public health experts told the Times they hope easier access like this will encourage more women to start, or restart, contraception, which in turn could reduce Americas rates of unintended pregnancies and abortions.

Birth control via apps also sidesteps a lot of political drama. The Obama administration ran into a buzz saw of controversy, for instance, with the controversial Affordable Care Act requirement that group health plans provide contraception to female employees at no cost.

Faith-based companies and groups revolted, arguing the requirement violated their federally protected religious freedom.

The new services have so far sprung up beneath the political radar and grown through word of mouth, with little of the furor that has come to be expected in issues involving reproductive health, the Times reported.

One of the apps is put out by Planned Parenthood, no stranger to controversy when it comes to womens health issues.

The co-founder of another, called Nurx, told the Times that the company has seen a ridiculous amount of traffic that were struggling to handle.

Not all the companies accept insurance, and fees vary. Nurx, for instance, charges women who dont have health insurance $15 a month for its birth control pills.

Many of the companies are trying to head off controversy by setting older minimum age requirements. For instance, Prjkt Rubys minimum age lines up with each states age of consent for sexual activity, typically 16 to 18, the Times reported.

Virtuwell will only write prescriptions for women ages 18 to 34. Lemonaids minimum age is 18, too.

We are being especially conservative by choice, Dr. Jason Hwang, Lemonaids chief medical officer, told the Times.

The minimum age is not based on clinical grounds; it was a political decision. We didnt want people who might be under 18, who might still have parents who would get upset if we were making decisions for them.

Critics of the apps, however, worry for other reasons. Some doctors are concerned that women who skip the physical exam dont get the benefit of a physician checking them for other possible health problems, such as sexually transmitted diseases.

And while he praised the convenience of an app, Dr. Mark DeFrancesco, immediate past president of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, worried that women might skip seeing their doctors because they think the brief video interaction with a clinician is enough.

Many health experts argue that birth control pills should be available in the United States without a prescription at all, as they are in most other countries.

In 2012 DeFrancescos group, the nations largest group of obstetricians and gynecologists, recommended that birth control pills should be sold over the counter, like condoms.

Half of the pregnancies in the country every year are unintended  a rate that has held steady for 20 years  and easier access to birth control pills could help, the group said.

The outdated practice of requiring a doctors visit to get a prescription causes some women to take their pills less regularly, compromising their effectiveness, the doctors argued.

Its unfortunate that in this country where we have all these contraceptive methods available, unintended pregnancy is still a major public health problem, said Kavita Nanda, an OB/GYN who co-authored her groups opinion.

If the pill didnt require a prescription, women could pick it up in the middle of the night if they run out, she said. It removes those types of barriers.
SIOUX CITY | The first Missouri River boat parade in two decades will be part of the 2016 River-Cade festivities, which begin Saturday.

The boat parade will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and will be followed by a fireworks display at 10:30 p.m.

[The boat parade] is just about one of the coolest things you can see, said Phil Claeys, River-Cade event coordinator. Its pretty impressive, and then with the fireworks its even better, because everybody in the boats turns their lights on.

The fireworks following the boat parade will not take place at Anderson Pavilion. Spectators may watch the boat parade from both sides of the river, but the best place to watch is from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Chris Larson Park. People are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs and set up camp in the field or the parking lot.

Boaters who wish to participate do not need to register. The boats will promenade from the boat ramp up to the bridge.

The traditional parade has been an annual favorite for more than 50 years and will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday in downtown Sioux City. The parade will not feature fireworks afterward, as it has in the past.

This years traditional parade will follow a different route than usual. It begins at the corner of Fifth and Douglas streets, proceeds to 10th Street, and ends at Fourth and Pierce streets.

That parade will include Capt. Paul Young of the USS Sioux City, who has been named this year's parade marshal. Young's service is based in Mayport, Florida.

River-Cade is the longest running festival in Sioux City, and has donated $400,000 in scholarships to its royal court. Its 2016 festivities are an attempt to restore it to its former glory and remind the community that River-Cade belongs to Siouxland, according to Claeys.

River-Cade has not been without hurdles in recent years, including declining attendance and loss of major events. The festival was removed from the riverfront for a number of years due to flooding and construction, and has had to change its traditional parade route. River-Cade also suffered roof damage to its offices last August.

Claeys has called for community involvement in order to revitalize the festival.

Its the ultimate celebration of us. Were celebrating that were on the river, we love the Missouri River, were a river town, and were damn proud, said Claeys.

More information is available at river-cade.com.
After the massacre of five Dallas cops, during a protest of police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, President Obama said, "America is not as divided as some have suggested."

Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, an African-American, says we are "sitting on a powder keg."

Put me down as agreeing with the president. For when a real powder keg blew in the '60s, I was there. And this is not it.

In 1965, the Watts area of Los Angeles exploded in the worst racial violence since the New York draft riot of 1863 when Lincoln had to send in veterans of Gettysburg. After six days of looting, shooting and arson in LA, there were 34 dead, 1,000 injured, 4,000 arrested.

In 1967, Newark, New Jersey, and Detroit exploded, bringing out not only the Guard but the 82nd Airborne. After Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, a hundred American cities burst into flame.

Troops defended the White House. Marines mounted machine guns on the Capitol steps. Thousands of soldiers patrolled the city. The 7th and 14th street corridors of my hometown, D.C., were gutted and would not be rebuilt for years. That was a powder keg -- that went off.

But only crazed cop-haters applaud that Dallas atrocity by the delusional anti-white racist Micah X. Johnson. As for the shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, almost all agree they must be investigated, and justice done.

Chief Ramsey says he expects trouble at the conventions. But if Black Lives Matter shows up to raise hell in Cleveland, then that is going to be a problem for Hillary Clinton.

This writer was on the 19th floor of the "Comrade Hilton" in August 1968, looking down as Mayor Daley's finest marched up Balbo to Michigan Avenue, then stormed into Grant Park to deliver street justice to the radicals calling them "pigs."

"A police riot" liberals raged. The cops beat "our children" up.

Richard Nixon came down on the side of the cops, carried Illinois and won the election. Liberals were still calling "law and order" code words for racism. Most Americans had come to recognize they were the indispensable elements of a decent and civilized society.

"Richard Nixon," lamented Hunter S. Thompson, "is living in the White House today because of what happened that night in Chicago."

Last weekend, Rudy Giuliani called Black Lives Matter "inherently racist." Does he not have a point?

After the death of Eric Garner in a police takedown, Black Lives Matter led mobs onto the streets and highways of Manhattan chanting, "What do we Want? Dead Cops! When do we want them? Now!"

In anti-police demonstrations since, another chant has been, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon."

This is pure hatred, and as it is directed against white cops, racist.

Obama should tell Black Lives Matter to stop the hate. But though he has shown no reluctance to lecture white America, he has rarely shown the same stern judgment with black America.

Now there is no denying that urban black communities are among the most heavily policed. Why? As Heather Mac Donald, author of "The War on Cops," writes of a city she knows well:

"Black people make up 23 percent of New York's population, but they commit 75 percent of all shootings. ... Whites are 33 percent of the city's population, but they commit fewer than 2 percent of all shootings ...

"These disparities mean that virtually every time that police in New York are called out after a shooting, they are being summoned into minority neighborhoods looking for minority suspects."

As these percentages are unlikely to change, we are going to have more collisions between black males and white cops. Some will end in the shooting of black criminals and suspects and, on occasion, innocent black men. Some are going to result in the death of cops.

Mistakes are going to be made, and tragedies occur, as with the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, killed in Cleveland while waving a toy pistol.

But if there is to be a social explosion every time an incident occurs, like the deaths of Trayvon Martin, shot while beating a neighborhood watch coordinator, and Michael Brown, shot in Ferguson after trying to grab a cop's gun, America is going to be permanently polarized.

And there is no doubt where the majority will come down, and who will be the near-term beneficiary.

Monday, Donald Trump declared himself "the law and order candidate," and added: "America's police ... are what separates civilization from total chaos and destruction of our country as we know it."

And Clinton? Last week, she said, "I'm going to be talking to white people. I think we're the ones who have to start listening."

Prediction: If Black Lives Matter does not clean up its act, Obama and Clinton will have to throw this crowd over the side, or the BLM will take her down.
DES MOINES  Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says he is certain that if you put any 20 people in a room, at least one of them will have been directly impacted by opioid addiction.

In Iowa for this weekends summer meeting of the National Governors Association, 16 governors on Friday at the Iowa Events Center discussed what their group calls one of the deadliest drug epidemics in U.S. history.

The rate of overdose deaths involving opioids  including heroin as well as prescription opioid pain relievers like oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine  has nearly quadrupled in the U.S., and more than 165,000 people have died from prescription opioid overdoses, according to federal data.

More people died from drug overdoses in 2014 than any previous year, and thanks in part to a spike in opioid overdoses, overdose deaths have overtaken vehicle crashes as the nations leading cause of death by injury, according to the governors group.

Our states and our country are in the midst of a heroin and opioid crisis that is the most serious public health and safety issue of our time, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan said. (The epidemic) is devastating families and communities across our country.

Governors and lawmakers at the state and federal level have been attempting to address the rise in opioid overdose deaths. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who spoke with the governors group Friday, described provisions in newly passed federal legislation that authorizes $900 million over five years for prevention, education, treatment, recovery and law enforcement.

This epidemic demands a comprehensive response, Grassley said while addressing the governors. I hear from Iowans all the time, just like Im sure you hear from your constituents, about real-life examples of how this epidemic is hitting home.

Grassley talked about the advocacy work done by Davenport resident Kim Brown, whose son, Andy Lamp, died from an accidental heroin overdose in 2011.

Brown advocated for a bill signed into law this year by Gov. Terry Branstad that allows emergency responders and some others to possess and administer naloxone, an opioid antagonist, to people who are experiencing an opioid overdose.

Branstad said he hopes Iowa lawmakers consider requiring physicians to consult drug registries before prescribing opioid painkillers. These prescription drug monitoring programs are designed to prevent individuals addicted to opioid painkillers from obtaining them from multiple doctors.

Sixteen states have such a requirement, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.

I think its something that we need to be looking at, Branstad said. Hopefully the legislature will take a serious look at it.

"I think the information that were going to be able to get out of this conference will be helpful to us in trying to educate the legislature that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

The governors discussion also included U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and national experts in medicine, public health and law enforcement.
DES MOINES -- While they agreed no solution will fit every state, many of the governors who are in Iowa for this weekends summer meeting of the National Governors Association said they can learn from successful programs in other states.

Utahs governor spoke about a program to reduce poverty; Virginias governor discussed steps taken there to prevent cyber attacks; Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, the events host, talked about Iowas program that helps provide housing and employment for retiring veterans.

The governors then spend the day discussing topical issues like opioid overdoses and foreign trade.

The annual event continues Saturday with more sessions and more topics.

A total of 16 governors attended Saturdays sessions. There was a near-even bipartisan mixture, with nine Republicans and seven Democrats.

Governors support TPP

A bipartisan group of governors expressed strong support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed international trade deal that has become a political issue in the U.S.

The governors in support of the trade deal --- including Branstad, a Republican -- said it will benefit states economies.

Its not perfect and I accept some constructive criticism that maybe we can do better, but lets continue to break down these (trade) barriers, Branstad said, adding that half of Iowas economy is business exports.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said he approves of the trade deal because it will create American jobs. He said opponents of the trade deal are putting their heads in the sand like an ostrich.

I look at this simply as a job creator, McAuliffe said.

Both of the major party presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, said they opposed the trade deal.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, said he believes the debate has been polluted by politics.

I dont understand why we cant sit down and come together with a compromise and move forward, Herbert said. Its a global marketplace and we need to understand that and find ways to interact with each other in the world. 

I call upon those fighting this on both sides of the aisle: lets bring everybody together and finally get this done.

Terrorism and the states

In the wake of multiple recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. and across the globe, governors said keeping their states people safe is their primary responsibility.

One thing I can say, I think we all understand is that public safety is really not a partisan issue, Herbert said. The proper role of government is to keep us safe.

Branstad noted governors Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Brian Sandoval of Nevada planned to attend this weekends governors meetings, but instead remained in their home states to attend to incidents.

Although neither incident involved terrorism --- Dayton is attending to unrest in the wake of the death of a black man who was shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop, and Sandoval on Friday toured the site of a bombing that killed one person, apparently the bomber --- Branstad said those examples show a governors role in times of crisis.

My advice to a governor is whenever you have an incident, be it a natural disaster or something else that happens, its important for the governor to be there to reassure the people and help local authorities and others in law enforcement protecting the publics safety, Branstad said.
Top Republicans in Iowa praised Donald Trump's selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to be his running mate Friday.

Gov. Terry Branstad, who has long shown a preference for fellow governors on presidential tickets, called Pence a friend who has governed conservatively.

"Mike is an excellent choice for vice president and someone who will continue bringing Republicans together to defeat Hillary Clinton in November," Branstad said in a statement.

Pence was to have been at a National Governors Association meeting in Des Moines this week, but as speculation swirled about whether he would be Trump's pick, he did not make an appearance.

Trump announced his selection on Twitter on Friday morning and said there would be a news conference Saturday.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, also praised Pence on Friday. He pointed to his executive experience and said Pence would satisfy most in the conservative movement. He also said his demeanor, which has been described as low-key and quiet, is a plus for the ticket.

His personal demeanor is going to modify somewhat the erratic demeanor of Trump," Grassley said in Des Moines.

Pence, who is a favorite among some but not all social conservatives, has made stops in Iowa to raise money for the Iowa GOP and to stump for other candidates, including Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

He's also been mentioned previously as a possible presidential candidate himself, speculation that was stoked by a 2010 appearance at an Iowa Faith and Freedom event. He also was in the state in 2014 for a fundraiser for Branstad.

Some religious conservatives have had doubts about Trump, and Pence's selection could help with that. Luana Stoltenberg, a Davenport woman who's long been involved in the anti-abortion movement, said she'd struggled with the idea of voting for Trump but planned to do so. Pence's selection, she said, makes her feel more comfortable about it.

"It gives me a little bit more peace to know that that's what he's shooting for," Stoltenberg said Thursday, after news leaked that Pence had been selected but before Trump made the official announcement. She called Pence a conservative who's "stayed true to the cause."

Shane Vander Hart, a conservative blogger and social media consultant who lives near Des Moines, called Pence a safe choice on Thursday but added that he draws a "tepid" reaction from conservatives.

Vander Hart, who won't vote for Trump, said the Indiana governor has been "wishy-washy" on religious liberty, as well as the Common Core education issue.

"I don't think he moves the needle much," he said.

Pence angered some conservatives last year when he signed a law that critics argued would allow businesses in the state to refuse to serve gays and lesbians, only to approve of revisions later following an uproar that included concerns the original law would hurt the state's economic climate.

Bob Vander Plaats, chief executive of the Family Leader, alluded to the episode as a high-profile stumble on Thursday. But he added, "I believe his heart is for religious liberty."

Vander Plaats also praised Pence for his time in Congress and as governor. He said that Pence has surrounded himself with like-minded conservatives.

"It gives a very good indication to pro-family conservatives that he (Trump) hears us," he said.

Democrats on Friday were critical of the choice. Iowa Democratic Party Chair Andy McGuire, in a statement, said: "Pence has a long career of embracing discriminatory policies and pushing forward legislation that only benefits corporations and the 1 percent."

Erin Murphy and James Q. Lynch of the Journal Des Moines Bureau contributed to this article.
Missile destroyer Guangzhou launches an air-defense missile during a military exercise in the water area near south China's Hainan Island and Xisha islands, July 8, 2016. Chinese navy conducted an annual combat drill in the water area near south China's Hainan Island and Xisha islands on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

"Let those who tied the bell on the tiger be the ones to untie it," goes a Chinese proverb, which means trouble is best solved by those who create it. Whatever the Philippine government was thinking when it decided to put its disputes with China in the South China Sea before a kangaroo court, it was surely not that the process would bring peace and harmony to a tranquil tropical sea.

China has been reiterating it will not accept the arbitral tribunal's opinion and would stick to the principle of settling disputes through direct negotiation. That policy is rock solid.

As neighbors facing each other across the sea, China and the Philippines have been friends for generations. There were no territorial disputes between them until the 1970s, when the Philippines suddenly decided that some of China's islands and reefs were up for grabs and occupied them without so much as a "by your leave". China's reaction to this affront has been restrained, to say the least, as it is not too difficult to conclude that China is the encroached-upon party rather than the encroacher.

In 2013, the government of former Philippine president Benigno Aquino III ignored previous agreements with China and went running to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Aquino has since passed into history, and the job of cleaning up his mess has fallen upon the new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who seems willing to talk directly with China.

Even after the absurd arbitration ruling, China retains its faith in a peaceful solution and will welcome direct negotiation. A statement issued by the Chinese leadership on Tuesday said China is still ready to resolve disputes peacefully through negotiation and consultation with those states directly concerned. And it will make every effort to seek win-win results and maintain peace, which is so vital to the stability and prosperity of the region.

Bringing the issue back to the negotiation table and finding a long-term solution is in the interests of all parties, and it is now up to the Philippines to show the willingness to carry it out. Duterte has begun to make positive gestures, but is his country ready to walk the talk?

China has said the door to talks is always open, but it will not welcome any unreasonable demands nor sit idle if deliberately provoked.

China will now decide whether to set up an air defense identification zone over the South China Sea in accordance with the extent of the threat it faces. "If our security were threatened, of course we have the right," Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin has declared.

Chinese people do not make trouble, but have never acted like cowards when trouble has been made for them. Whether the South China Sea is caught in a tempest of confrontation or becomes a peaceful sea of cooperation and common prosperity is up to the Philippines and its friends to decide.

Is it not better to remain friends with a good neighbor than to allow some faraway superpower to stir up conflicts at your doorstep?

The destiny of the Philippines is in its own hands.

--Xinhua News Agency
On the top deck of the cruise ship River Tosca, the swimming pool was cool and inviting in the afternoon heat. Below, the fabled Nile River was wide and blue and calm. Palm trees dotted the shoreline where farm animals grazed.

And I had the deck of the 236-foot ship all to myself.

Thats emblematic of cruising the Nile in a time when Egypts tourist industry has been decimated by fears that the turmoil of 2011s Arab Spring lingers. The ship, designed to carry 82, had only 16 passengers for a weeks journey in late February. We enjoyed hand-and-foot service and had no crowds to fight as we strolled through some of the most famous and spectacular remains of the land of pharaohs.

Beth Misakonis and her husband, Leo, retired information technology professionals from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, decided 2016 was the year for them to rebook their Egyptian cruise that was canceled during the Arab Spring protests.

Friends and relatives urged them not to go. But Beth noted that mass shootings happen in the U.S. I think there are risks anywhere and everywhere, she said. Added Leo, Its always been on our bucket list.

A river cruise isnt always the best way to see a countrys highlights, but it works perfectly for Egypt. The Niles valley is Egypts heartland and breadbasket, and the river itself is the main highway of Egyptian history, from Cairo in the north to Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel in the south. Its a tour where your clean, cool, spacious hotel room follows you from place to place, with no luggage to haul.

Todays Egypt seemed a calm enough place when we visited. The countrys military-led regime overthrew an elected Islamist government in 2013 and has since cracked down brutally on all forms of dissent, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamic social-political movement.

The U.S. State Department currently has no official travel warnings or alerts for Egypt, but it tells U.S. citizens to remain alert to local security developments, and notes that terrorist organizations are known to be operating in Egypt.

Our small group with Uniworld river cruise line  all but two of us Americans  was often discreetly accompanied by armed guards. Whether that made us feel safer is up for debate, but no one in the group seemed concerned about our security, except perhaps when approached by locals desperate to sell us souvenirs. That wasnt always pleasant, but given the tourism decline its easy to understand. A firm la shukran (no thank you) was usually enough to turn them away.

The itinerary began and ended in Cairo, where the Four Seasons Hotel was our refuge in the sprawling, chaotic, dusty metropolis. We spent a full day at the beginning of the tour, and another at the end, in Cairo, at the same hotel. On the first day we saw the Egyptian Museum and Tahrir Square; on the last, we visited the pyramids.

After an hours flight south from Cairo we embarked on the River Tosca at Luxor, site of the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes. Many of the great sites of Egyptian antiquity are within a short bus ride of Luxor, including the temples of Karnak and Luxor, with their rows of massive columns.

Only a bit farther away, on the Niles west bank, lies the Valley of the Kings, burial place of Egyptian rulers over five centuries. The tombs showcase chambers with well-preserved paintings and hieroglyphics.

From Luxor we sailed to Aswan, a little more than 100 miles south. We took a ride in a felucca, one of the nimble boats with triangular sails that have plied the river for centuries. On the way to visit a Nubian village, we stopped at a small sandy beach, where I walked down a plank lodged against the boat and waded into the cool, clear waters of the Nile.

In British colonial times, Aswans Old Cataract Hotel (cataract is an old-fashioned term for waterfall) was a favorite stop for tourists, including Agatha Christie, who wrote Death on the Nile there. We dropped in for high tea and a tour before returning to the ship.

These days, Aswan is the southern terminus of Nile cruising  the Aswan High Dam, built with Soviet aid in the mid-20th century, cuts off river traffic there. Aswan is also the jumping-off point for what might be Egypts most spectacular ancient site. And no, I dont mean the pyramids.

A short flight south took us to Abu Simbel, the cliff-side temple complex built by the pharaoh Ramses II nearly 3,300 years ago. Sixty-foot-high statues of Ramses guard intimate temple chambers carved from solid rock. Even more amazing is the temples recent history.

When the construction of the high dam threatened to submerge the temple beneath Lake Nasser, the whole complex was carved into pieces and reassembled nearby on higher ground, grafted onto artificial cliffs custom-built to hold it. Its an engineering feat to rival anything the pharaohs accomplished.

But the trips most memorable moment didnt involve a temple, tomb or pyramid. On the last full day of the cruise, in late afternoon, my husband and I took a bottle of Egyptian red wine up to the top deck. We had the space to ourselves.

The setting sun painted the western sky pink and blue behind streaks of clouds as we cruised north toward Luxor. Red, sandstone cliffs rose in the distance. A light breeze took the edge off the fading heat of the day. The only sound was the thrum of the ships engines.

We sipped our wine, read and watched the riverbank panorama for at least an hour, perhaps two. Then, from the direction of the rising moon, the Muslim call to evening prayer sounded, first from one brightly lit minaret in a riverside town, then another, and finally a chorus of rhythmic, fervent chanting.

It was a sound that had been heard at this time of day, in this place for more than a millennium. And the pharaohs of Egypt had journeyed down this stretch of river two millennia before that.
Bubble tea shops have increased wildly in popularity with visits to such businesses jumping by as much as 192 percent in 2015 according to data collected by Foursquare. Franchises for coffee and tea abound. But just like starting your own coffee shop, starting your own bubble tea business is a real option. Heres what you need to get started.

Steps for Opening a Bubble Tea Business

Design Your Store

Theres no secret formula for a successful bubble tea shop. So you can customize it to your unique business needs. When designing your store, choose a space to set up your kitchen area and customer facing counter. You might also consider setting up some seating areas or space for customers to really customize their beverages. You can also decorate the space in a unique way that really helps set your business apart.

Pick the Perfect Location

The actual location of your store is also incredibly important. If you can choose a storefront in a high traffic area, youll improve your chances of attracting customers, especially early on. Or if you want to keep your startup costs low, you can consider a more non-traditional location like a truck, cart or kiosk at a mall or school. No matter what format you choose, youll want to make sure that your location is easy for customers to find and convenient.

Consider the Competition

Another thing to consider, both in terms of your location and your offerings, is the competition. Bubble tea is a growing niche. But it still tends to be more popular in cities like New York and Los Angeles. In those locations, youre likely to have some competition. And in less populated areas, youre likely to have less competition. But you may have to work harder to get people interested in what you have to offer. Just do some research on the customer base and try to find a way to make you business stand out if necessary.

Invest in Equipment

Youll need some pretty specific equipment if you want to serve specialized beverages like bubble tea in different varieties. There are special shakers and sealers that you can get to create a more professional product. And youll also need a heat source like a gas stove or electric induction heater. Smaller pieces of equipment like stirrers, tea jubs, sugar dispensers, cups and straws are also necessary. And of course youll need a point of sale system to actually run your operation.

Develop Your Menu

While bubble tea is a fairly specific niche, there are still plenty of different flavors and varieties to choose from. So before actually opening your new business to customers, you have to think about what you want your menu to include. You can offer milk teas, fruit flavored teas or a combination of different types. And you can use different flavors to really set your business apart and attract curious customers.

Source Your Ingredients

Once you have all the necessary equipment in place, youll need to consider the ingredients you wish to use when creating your bubble tea. Since bubble tea originated in Taiwan, many of the ingredients can also be sourced from there. Do some research on suppliers that fit with your budget but also provide quality ingredients for your menu. Youll likely need to source different flavored syrups, tapioca, pearls, cream and other mix-ins. Then youll also need some basic ingredients like milk, sugar and tea.

Train and Hire Employees

Your employees often serve as the face of your business. But theyre also responsible for crafting the beverages that you sell to consumers. So you need to be sure to hire people who are capable of learning the recipes and providing great service. And then you need to provide all the right training so that your team understands what all is involved in making bubble tea beverages that are up to your high standards.

Secure Any Necessary Permits

Since youll be serving a prepared food product, its likely that youll need some inspections, licenses and permits to do business in the area of your choice. Check with your state and local governments to see what is required of restaurants and coffee shops. And youll likely need to go through those same processes in order to get your bubble tea business off the ground.

Market Your New Business

Once youve got all of the above issues taken care of, its time to actually open your business. Even if youve developed a great menu and set up shop in a high traffic location, youll still probably need to do some marketing. Consider having a grand opening event or doing some local advertising to draw interest. Starting an online presence, at least with your own website and Facebook page, may also be worthwhile.
On Thursday evening, France once again was the target of a Daesh terror plot killing at least 84 people and injuring some 202 others as the people of Nice gathered to celebrate Frances national holiday, Bastille Day. Horror ensued when a commercial truck plowed through the unsuspecting crowd while the driver, and possibly other accomplices, shot into the crowd.

In the globalist world laid out by the European Commission and adopted in full by Socialist President Francois Hollande, terror attacks of this nature have become what US Secretary of State John Kerry referred to offhand following a separate strike two weeks ago at the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey as "daily fare."

As the country now looks to pick up the pieces following another mass casualty event that struck terror in the hearts of the public and ripped at the very fabric of Frances national identity, the possibility of France departing from the EU under the command of a future President Marine Le Pen appears all but certain marking the final act of the European experiment.
"All the plotters, representatives of the 'parallel state,' including in the Turkish Armed Forces, are in the hands of justice and will suffer severe punishment," Yildirim told reporters in Ankara.

He added that death penalty is not in the Turkish constitution, however, Ankara will consider legal changes to make sure a coup attempt never happens again. The Turkish Constitutional Court will consider introduction of death penalty, he added.

"Death penalty was abolished. However, necessary changes to prevent what happened today, can be made. Turkey's Constitutional Council, together with [parliamentary] parties will discuss this issue in the parliament."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the state-run agency, Deniz Yuzbasi Haldun Gulmez, who has organized an operation in the hotel, has been sent to a hospital in country's western province of Izmir.

On Friday, the military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.
PARIS (Sputnik)  On Friday, the military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.

"An attempted coup against the constitutional and democratic order took place in Turkey. France resolutely condemns it France hopes for the situation to calm down as soon as possible. It hopes that Turkish democracy will become stronger after this incident and that basic freedoms will be fully respected," Ayrault said in a communique.

The Turkish people have shown maturity and courage by standing up to defend the country's state institutions, he added.
Chief Minister Chouhan further added that, "Besides the basic necessities of food, cloth and shelter people need something more to be happy in their lives."

Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to have 'Happiness Department' pic.twitter.com/xrRXtVlmFT  TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) July 15, 2016

 "Normally, happiness is measured with economic growth rate which is not entirely correct as our country for ages believed otherwise. There is something more which can bring happiness in the lives of people," Chief Minister and head of the Happiness Department told the media.

The Ministry, however, has been criticized as a ploy to distract attention away from the Vyapam scam, a bribery scandal concerning entrance and admission exams for government employees and other high paying jobs. In the wake of the scam, between 20-40 people died under mysterious circumstances.

Other politicians took issue with the department as well.

"In a state where people are in tears all the time, where bodies are affected by hunger, setting up a department of happiness is like rubbing salt in the wounds of the people of the state," said Congress spokesperson K. K. Mishra.

The average monthly salary for Indian citizens is 20,000 rupees ($295 US dollars).
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Friday, the military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.

"Flights to Turkey are temporarily banned till further notice," the source said.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that there has been no information on any Russian citizens getting hurt during the attempted military coup in Turkey.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A number of other countries' embassies have issued similar warnings, advising citizens to stay indoors, avoid public and crowded places, and remain vigilant until the situation clarifies.

"Our embassy in Ankara and consulate general in Istanbul are closed following the situation and we issued travel advise where we ask Belgians to limit their movements within this country. We are continuously adopting our travel advice and we are watching the situation very closely," the spokesman said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day it was reported that the Bosphorus Strait was closed for tankers transporting oil, but not for the vessels carrying food supplies.

"The traffic for transit vessels is back to normalalong with non-dangerous cargo carriers," GAC told Reuters news agency.
In July 2015, Turkey agreed to open up Incirlik to US manned and unmanned aircraft to conduct anti-terror operations in Syria against the positions of Daesh.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
LONDON (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the Constitutional Council and political parties will discuss the feasibility of death penalty return, following the military coup attempt in the country.

"Investigations and accountability should now begin, but this is no time for further rights regression in Turkey. Fair trials must be ensured and there must be no return to the death penalty in the country, which would deliver justice for no-one," Dalhuisen told RIA Novosti.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup took place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.

"The situation keeps quiet, we do not anticipate evacuation of Russian touristsWe placed information at our website, Antalya's airport is working in normal conditions, however some airlines have cancelled their flights," the consulate told RIA Novosti on Saturday.

The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup took place in the country. Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. Later, Erdogan and other officials have blamed Gulen staying in self-imposed exile in the United States and his supporters for the coup attempt.

Gulen himself denied the allegations.

"I hereby call on US President Obama to extradite that person living on a 400-acre compound in Pennsylvania," Erdogan said, as quoted by the Daily Sabah newspaper.
NEW DEHLI (Sputnik)  He however declined to name any names citing the ongoing investigation.

"The members of law enforcement agencies indentified the patrons and the perpetrators of the recent terrorist attacks in Gulshan [Dhaka district] restaurant and Sholakia," Khan said as quoted by the Daily Star newspaper.
Earlier on the day, Reuters reported that Turkey has closed Bosporus to oil shipping tankers due to "security and safety reasons."

However, an official at the Istanbul-based shipping center said both straits are open and shipping traffic has not been disrupted according to Bloomberg.

The closure of Bosporus would have minimum impact on Russian oil deliveries, Valeriy Nesterov, an analyst at Sberbank CIB, told RIA Novosti.

"Russia exports 10-15 percent of its oil and petroleum product via the Black Sea, the port of Novorossiysk. If the strait is closed for one, two or three days its not a problem. It has happened before due to weather conditions," he said.

The expert added that Russias Transneft could also use alternative routes for oil shipments.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik)  Earlier, Mogherini said on Twitter that she was in constant contact with the EU delegation in Ankara and Brussels.

"FM #Koenders requested @FedericaMog to call for #FAC emergency meeting on #Turkey: call for restraint & respect for democratic institutions," the Dutch Foreign Ministry said on its official Twitter account.
CNN Turk's broadcast was stopped as soldiers entered the studio control room. Gunshots could be heard over the live television broadcast. According to a senior Turkish official, one journalist was reported shot during the studio takeover.

A number of civilians reportedly entered the building and a struggle ensued.

 Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) July 16, 2016

Pro-coup soldiers have seized a number of media outlets throughout the night. Earlier, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube services were halted.
"I was in Marmaris before I came here,"he said. "They bombed the places I was at immediately after I left."

The president said millions of Turkish citizens have expressed support for the elected government.

"Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from," he said. "The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4:30 am."

"I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people," he said.

Erdogan also reiterated allegations that this was the work of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The Alliance for Shared Values (AfSV), a non-profit group linked to the cleric, issued a statement denouncing the coup.

"We condemn any military intervention in [the] domestic politics of Turkey," the statements reads.

Separately, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called on citizens to remain in the streets until coup is completely suppressed. He claimed over 120 individuals have been arrested so far.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  "The High Representative Federica Mogherini conveyed an urgent meeting of EU member states Foreign ministers and their representatives, currently in Ulaanbataar for the Asem summit, to assess the situation in Turkey and coordinate political messages and support to European Union's citizens in Turkey," the European External Action Service said in a statement.

According to the Saturday release, the ministers will meet again in Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council to discuss the situation in Turkey.

"The HRVP spoke with Turkish Foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and has been in contact in these hours with other Foreign ministers and with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg," the statement said.
News / International

by Staff reporter

This was part of the feed before it was cut offThe incident caused speculation online - and is not the first time NASA have been accused of tampering with the feed.What is this? Viewers debate whether it was NASA or the UFO that made the live stream shut down Video loading.UFO spotters have raised the alarm after the International Space Station live feed cut out just as a large mysterious object appeared to enter earth's atmosphere. The incident occurred on July 9 and was first reported by prolific UFO hunter Streetcap1 in a video uploaded the same day.The enthusiast did not directly imply that the object was an alien spacecraft saying: "This could well be a meteor or the like.But he implied that the camera being turned off was slightly sinister: "What made it interesting was that the camera cut off when the UFO seemed to stop."Other enthusiasts put forward theories including one who suggested in could be the Chinese space cargo ship Tiangong-1.Amazing NASA Mars picture shows alien message in Morse code on surface of red planet claim conspiracy theorists"I have watched the International Space Station a lot over the last 6 years and I can tell you that this is not the moon, nor a meteor," he wrote."It may be the Chinese space station cargo ship, called Tiangong-1, or the other one Tangong-2." This is not the first time that UFO hunters have accused NASA of cutting transmission after a mysterious UFO appeared on the live ISS stream.A NASA spokesperson made a statement earlier in April denying allegations that NASA technicians deliberately shut down transmission when UFOs appear on the live video.According to the spokesperson, NASA never intentionally shuts down live transmission to hide UFOs. Loss of video is usually due to loss of signals from the ISS.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the reports, passengers of the helicopter are Turkish military. They reportedly took part in the attempted coup in Turkey and requested political asylum in Greece.

A Black Hawk helicopter sent a distress signal, ERT broadcaster reported.

On Friday, a military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.
PARIS (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a crowd which had gathered to watch fireworks during a Bastille Day celebration, killing at least 84 people. More than 200 others were injured, including 52 who are in critical condition. On Saturday, media reported that Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.

"It is necessary to continue struggle against Daesh everywhere," Le Drian said, following government meeting.

According to identification documents found inside the truck, the driver was a 31-year-old male resident of Nice of Tunisian origin. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.
Fatima, office worker

Using sanctions against us is not the right way to go. How are we going to ride out of this mess? This is the only question Id like to ask our government. On the one hand, we pay, on the other they are slashing our social funds, etc. Well never be able to move forward.

Sergio Carqueja, technician

With these sanction things will go from bad to worse. Well, maybe the present government and the one we had before did not do enough to get things right, but trading accusations will not help us a little bit. They need to come together to solve this problem, they need to lend us a hand.

Rui Madeira, entrepreneur

Im against any sanctions and I think we should make our voice heard in a referendum. Im not saying that Portugal should leave the EU, but I still believe that we need to find a way to stand up to these influential European giants.

Rui Maderira added that the Portuguese people must let Brussels know that they will never agree to this and that the EU cant push around the smaller countries just like it did when Portugal joined the EU in 1986.

They wont be able to pull this off again, Riu said.

Miguel Moniz, waiter

Sanctions will make us even poorer while taxes will keep going up. I dont think we should see this as necessary evil because we are already at the bottom of a financial abyss and will have to work real hard to ride out of it.

Meanwhile, a number of opposition leftwing parties are already campaigning to inform the people about the consequences of Portugals further membership in the EU.

The Alternative Socialist Movement, which is in opposition to the present government, described the proposed sanctions as an attempt by technocrats in Brussels and Frankfurt to enforce even tougher austerity measures on Portugal and Spain that will speed up the process of pauperization of the Portuguese people.

The ASM is calling for a political platform to be established immediately to hold a nationwide referendum on Portugals possible exit from the Eurozone and the EU in general.
Brexit is posing geopolitical, rather than economic, risks to Italy, whose trade turnover with Britain is maximum 5 percent. Britain served as a counterbalance to Germany and now that it has given up its clout as a nuclear power (with France), Germany remains the only superpower in Europe, Professor Sapelli said.

He added that with France now losing its onetime status, Italy could wind up as a German yes-man.

Germany is suppressing weak economies and Italy is first in line, Giulio Sapelli said.
VIENNA (Sputnik)  Der Standar outlet reported that people started to appear near embassy after reports of military coup attempt in Turkey were made.

The media noted that the meeting was carried out peacefully, the participants were holding Turkish flags.

At the same time, over 1,000 of Turkish nationals gathered near the country's embassy in Berlin, Germany, to support Turkey's unity, media reported.
PARIS (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured. The investigation found that the person behind the attack was 31-year-old resident of Nice of Tunisian origins Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.

"We are faced with a new type of attack. A person who committed it was in no way known to intelligence agencies  there were no signs of radicalization. It seems that he got radicalized very quickly," the minister said in reference to the testimonies by those in Bouhlel's environment, after an extraordinary Cabinet meeting headed by President Francois Hollande.

On Friday, Cazeneuve said that he was unable to confirm if the truck driver, who was behind the deadly attack in the French city of Nice, had links to radical Islam.
However, since the two mens release had been agreed on a state level, Dr. Milivojevic was sure that the men will be placed under the care of professional psychologists.

I dont think they will ever look back again, but if they fail to adapt here they might want to return to their natural habitat, so to say, I mean the Muslim society where they will be up to their old tricks, he said.

Jovo Bakic, a Professor of Philosophy at Belgrade University, told Sputnik that he doubted that the guests from Guantanamo would ever be able to blend into Serbian society and dismissed their transfer to Serbia as a deal.

He said that the two could be accepted into the countrys Muslim community, but added that if they are dangerous terrorists then they could try to recruit local Muslims to join terrorist groups.

In any case, this is an attempt by [Barack] Obama to fulfill his longtime promise to shut down Guantanamo which has given America such a bad name in the world, Professor Bakic added.

Late last month Montenegro also received its portion of Guantanamo with the arrival of Abdel al-Rahabi, a Yemeni national suspected of once serving as a personal bodyguard to al-Qaedas late leader Osama bin Laden  a charge which has never been backed up by hard evidence.




MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The deadly Nice attack is an attack on the core European values, that highlighted the need for a united anti-terrorist response of all democratic states, Luxembourgian lawmaker and former head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Anne Brasseur told Sputnik on Saturday.

"It is so shocking what happened in Nice where innocent lives were just blown away. But it is was also an attack on the core values, the symbols of Europe There is one answer, so we need to understand that there is no stand-alone solution taken by one country, we need solidarity, and all democratic countries, all democratic governments have to join their forces to combat terrorism," Brasseur said.

She stressed that it is necessary to eradicate the causes of terrorism in the first place, but also to cure the symptoms always remaining within the framework of the rule of law.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.

According to the Sky News, Christian Estrosi sent a letter to the Elysee Palace some 24 hours prior to the attack, claiming that there were "a maximum of 62" National police officers and 50 municipal police on patrol in Nice on the national Bastille Day holiday.
PARIS (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured. The investigation found that the person behind the attack was 31-year-old resident of Nice of Tunisian origins Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.

According to French news channel iTele citing sources close to the investigation of the Nice terrorist attack, four detainees who were close to Bouhlel said that his behavior had changed dramatically prior to the attack  he became unusually aggressive and started referring to Daesh in conversations.

The media added that the detainees noticed that Bouhlel stopped drinking alcohol.
News / National

by Staff Reporter

Morgan Tsvangirai woke up this morning and put finality to the succession battle in the MDC by sacrificing women and the Ndebele constituency, on the alter of political expediency.Tsvangirai annointed two Karanga men to the Presidency Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri, going against the founding values of the MDC that require a tribal, gender and race balance in the leadership.The people of Matebeleland have long been marginalised in Zimbabwean politics playing second fiddle to their powerful Shona counterparts. The Ndebele suffered a terrible, horrendous Gukurahundi attack, which has never been fully resolved or acknowledged by the ruling Zanu PF party. Many have looked to the MDC going outside the box to be a home for previously marginalised groups be it on tribal grounds or gender. As the sun sets on Tsvangirai's political career he has missed the point altogether.The two men are meant to stop his deputy and long time ally a Ndebele woman Thokozani Khupe from getting to the throne. Khupe has had fierce running battles with male contenders in the party, it remains to be seen how she will manoeuvre this one.Gender activists could not hide their outrage, Samukeliso Khumalo said, "For democracy to be achieved at national level, it should start at political party level. It is shocking to find a so-called democratic movement handling leadership appointments like a privately-owned entity. One would expect top leadership positions such that of VP to go through a congress with all party leadership contributing through a vote."Other feminists could only say "tribalism and patriarchy at play"."Opposition parties in Zimbabwe should lead by example and practice what they preach. The President of a party should desist from making decisions as an individual, transparency and accountability is a principle that all leaders of repute should live by. Leadership change is good but the process of changing leadership should be of moral excellence,"" said Khumalo.
The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life.

Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.

"In these difficult hours, we are guided by the experience of parliamentary democracy and its institutions, the rule of law and freedom. We are guided by solidarity with all the political forces in the government and in the [Turkish] opposition which are committed to these values," Merkel noted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have blamed Fethullah Gulen, a political exile living in the United States and founder of the influential Gulen movement, and his supporters for the coup attempt earlier in the day, but Gulen denied any involvement in the military coup attempt.
The woman who was in her ninth month of pregnancy came to watch fireworks on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. When the attack started, she experienced contractions due to shock, reported the television channel BFMTV.

She managed to reach a restaurant where the staff took her to the kitchens to hide from the attack.

Restaurant staff took the woman into the kitchen, where, in the presence of a physician who was nearby, she gave birth to a child and afterwards rescuers came for her and the child, the channel reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.

"As a result of a terrorist attack in Nice on evening of July 14, a total of 303 patients were admitted to hospitals of both Nice and the cities in Nice's vicinity. Among the 303 patients 121 are still in hospitals, including 30 children in children's hospital of Lenval. Twenty six people are still in the intensive care department, including five children," the statement said.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the "To Vima" newspaper, the statement signed by the Party of Equality, Peace and Friendship, Cultural and Educational Society of Minorities in Western Thrace and the Minority Scientists Association, invites Greek Muslims to come to Alexandroupolis in order to take their stand against the "vile betrayal" of officers who have requested asylum in Greece, and then to rally outside the Turkish Consulate General in Komotini in order to show their support for the legitimately elected government in a neighboring country.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
ATHENS (Sputnik)  Earlier in in the day, a Turkish aircraft with eight crew members landed in in Alexandroupolis following the coup attempt in Turkey.

"A Turkish helicopter with a spare crew will arrive to take back highjacked helicopter from Alexandroupolis," the source said, adding that the procedure might be carried out in the next few hours.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the French Le Point magazine, identity of about 20 injured, who are in intensive care units of Nice hospitals, as well as of 16 killed, have not been revealed.

Late on Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing at least 84 people and injuring over 300.

On Saturday, media reported that the Islamic State jihadist group, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia, claimed responsibility for the attack.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Dogu Perincek praised the process of reconciliation between Turkey and Russia, adding that his party contributed to the normalization of bilateral ties.

"The key issue for all of us is to preserve [Syria's] territorial integrity. The United States want to establish "Kurdish Corridor" in the northern Syria But if Kurdistan is created, the second Israel will emerge in the region, which is very dangerous. That is why we [Russia and Turkey] share the same interests," he told RIA Novosti.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova  Dhuicq said the coup could lead to restoration of "order" in Turkey and returning to Ataturk's political course in the country.

"During the last year, Erdogan has imprisoned few generals and that was a sign that he was destroying the Ataturk's heritage. If it is a coup and if the army is there to restore order, to bring back Ataturk's politics and to change Erdogan's policy that was built on the idea of rebirth of the Ottoman Empire linked with Islamism, it could be a good news for Turkey and the rest of the world," Nicolas Dhuicq said.
TEHRAN (Sputnik)  On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a group of servicemen attempted a military coup d'etat in the country.

"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is convening an emergency meeting of the security council to discuss the situation in Turkey," the source said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a group of servicemen attempted a military coup d'etat in the country.

"Turkey's interference into the Syrian issue, Turkey's role as a mediator and a playground for terrorists from around the globe, could not go unpunished," Ahmad said.

Ahmad claimed that more than 50,000 terrorists crossed the Turkish border into the Syrian territory.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

FIVE POLICE officers in Bulawayo and Harare have been identified as responsible for the assault and tear gassing of residents during the July 6 #ShutDownZimbabwe mass protests.In Bulawayo the attacks led to the death of a Makokoba resident after the police threw a tear gas inside the Burombo Flats.According to Mthwakazi Republic Party's spokesperson Mbonisi Gumbo through the social media pictures which were taken during the skimirshes five police officers who were allegedly over zealously attacking the people during the day have been identifed.In his Facebook Wall Gumbo said names for some ZRP policemen who were beating up people in some videos that went viral on social networks are already out, and he identified them as David Mupandira, Hilton Mutyandiripo, Dazzy Ncube, Benard Gomo and one Trevor Chaitezvi."Lets keep on exposing them until they stop beating up citizens and until they join us in fighting for a New Zimbabwe," he said."Anyone with details of the location of where the barbaric act by ZRP took place (where they beat the Citizens feet), please help by advising the Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights. Please contact: 6th Floor, Beverley Court, 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare. Phone +263 4764085/ 705370/ 708118 or email info@zlhr.org.zw Urgent information needed please spread this."
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik told NTV that the chief of staff had been taken hostage by military coup attempt participants.

Earlier on Saturday, the Turkish government came under siege by a faction of military forces who sought to end the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan citing the leader's drift away from the country's long-held secularist values.
"The embassy is checking the information on possible incidents with Russian citizens during the recent events in Turkey, we keep in touch with other Russian missions. We asked the Turkish authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Russian citizens and institutions in the Republic of Turkey," Igor Mityakov told RIA Novosti.

He added that at the moment the embassy received no information about Russian citizens injured during the events in Turkey.
"Azerbaijan is appalled and concerned over developments in Turkey. This is an attempt to overthrow the government which was elected by the Turkish people in a democratic way," Hajiev said, voicing support to the Turkish nation and hope for the soonest stabilization of the situation in Turkey.

Hajiev called on Azerbaijani nationals staying in Turkey to be careful and urged to avoid walking on the streets.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Friday, the military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.

"It was the 'parallel state' that has deteriorated our relations with Russia. It was an incident, in which one of the pilots of this structures has participated, I guarantee it. He was one of the coup's participants. We have not voiced it until now. But I, Melih Gokcek, say that our relations have been deteriorated by these villains," Gokcek said, as quoted by CNN Turk.

He added that the "parallel state" intended to isolate Turkey in the international arena.
ATHENS (Sputnik)  The frigate was seized at the Golcuk naval base on the east shore of the Marmara Sea, according to CNN Turk. The Turkish government warned of the possibility of repeated attempts to take over.

Earlier, a Turkish helicopter allegedly carrying several coup supporters landed in Greece, according to local TV ERT.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The airline had already published a list of all 925 canceled flights.

"In the context of rough political situation in our country, flights of our airline scheduled for July 16 have been canceled," the statement said.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.

A total of 2,745 judges and prosecutors from Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) have been suspended, Anadolu news agency reported.

HSYK is an organization uniting the legal community of Turkey. Its head is Turkish Minister of Justice.
"The registration has already been announced in 14:00 [local time, 11:00 GMT], but it has been unexpectedly interrupted. There are no more than 150 our citizens. Someone has already left to the hotel, someone is waiting in the airport. Taking into consideration that the airspace is still closed, the situation is unclear. We have been told in the Turkish Airlines company that they are ready to start flights as usual, but only after the authorities will provide them with takeoff clearance," Podelyshev told RIA Novosti.

The coup attempt in Turkey was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
Even though the nuclear deal with Iran was signed a year ago Hillary Clinton has consistently held out for new sanctions against Iran over its missile program and regional policies, the journal wrote.

In an interview with Sputnik Dr. Zeinab Ghasemi, a leading expert at Tehrans Center for US Studies, said that this policy was undermining the Iranian peoples belief that the lifting of international sanctions would make their life better.

A year on people are changing their mind. A year ago 62 percent of Iranians believed that with the nuclear deal already signed, all these sanctions would finally go. Today only 23 percent believe so, which means that people are losing faith in Washington, Dr. Ghasemi said.

Americas image in other countries of the Big Six has likewise been dented, she noted, adding that it is the US that has failed to implement the terms of the 2015 accords. America cant be trusted, which renders all further negotiations useless.

When he was running for president, Hassan Rouhani staked heavily on the earliest possible conclusion of the nuclear talks and the signing of a comprehensive agreement with the West, which would ease this countrys economic woes. Securing the peoples support, President Rouhani and his government bent every effort to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, it looks like the Americans refusal to stick to the terms of the Vienna accords in the course of the ongoing presidential campaign is undermining the peoples faith in America as a partner you can trust, Dr. Zeinab Ghasemi said in conclusion.

All this is playing right into the hands of a conservative presidential candidate for Americas top job in 2017. As a result, the world could see the advent of a new Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or even the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad America hated so much.


Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between the government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and Houthi rebels, the countrys main opposition force. The Houthis are backed by army units loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request despite a ceasefire agreed in April.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Zanu PF UK Chairperson Nick Mangwana has said has said claims that it was a height of arrogance to dismiss the July 6 Shut down protest which happened in the country as the work of malcontents as even a lot of people who participated in the demonstration were Zanu PF members."On the 6th of July Zimbabwe's towns were brought to a standstill by what primarily are cyber activists. There is one thing that has to be clear here. It will be perceived as the height of arrogance to dismiss this as the work of malcontents and mischief makers. A lot of people who participated in the stay away were Zanu PF members. Why?" he said."Well, it is the same people that attended the Independence Celebrations (our people) that today stayed away from their usual day to day actives. The very same ones who filled buses coming from province afar to show solidarity with their President who on the 6th heeded the call of faceless activists. For if they had chosen to ignore that Harare and all other urban centres would have steamed up with people at works."He said it would be unmitigated immodesty to claim that since Zanu PF don't win a lot in urban areas these were not its people anyway."No mashefu, these were our people. This is why when these calls for boycotts or stay always are called by the opposition parties they are not anywhere near this successful. Our Zanu PF members and supporters cannot play for a Team Morgan Tsvangirayi. Never. They would rather kick it into the long grass than score for that man. This is because our people cannot stomach being part to a Tsvangirayi or more recently Mujuru agenda," he said."They have no problem with a citizen agenda. Let us stop and listen to what they are saying. There is a subtext beyond what was declared. They are saying they love Zanu PF but Zanu PF has to love them back by taking their voice seriously. At the top of what' aggrieving the rank and file is our tolerance of nak3d corruption in our midst. Our people have spoken, we should listen."Mangwana said this group calling itself "Tajamuka" or whatever ridiculous name is not making any demands which are very different from those presented by Kudzayi Chipanga on the 25th of May 2016."The only difference is the talk of the self-serving Import licenses. But the exasperation expressed by Cde Chipanga over corrupt top officials is the same. The point I am making is that there has been little action after Cde Chipanga's speech and therefore that message has been hijacked and repackaged and relabelled from Zanu PF Youth League to Tajamuka. This has to be taken seriously. Let us act on corruption," he said."Our leadership should not show an arrogance of power by ignoring this. It is a sign of destructive self-righteousness to be contemptuous of the people that vote us into power. Vendors or touts do not all belong to the opposition." He said a lot belong to them and in any case it doesn't really matter because the whole point is that these people are Zimbabweans whose voice should be heeded. " It is repulsive to abuse our young people by using them as cannon fodder during sundry campaigns and ignore them, only to recycle them again after," he said."We cannot afford to miss the mood of the people, comrades. Truth be told, they are not happy. I am not asking the leadership to heed populist demands like repealing SI 64/ 2016. That is a very sensible piece of law. I am not asking the leadership to bin the idea of bond notes. Bond notes are a brilliant idea, whatever people's institutional memory tells them. I am asking for corrupt people to be dealt with. Only then when the government cannot afford to pay wages, will the people empathise because they won't point to a glaring misuse of the money as well as the pilferage though the tender system."Mangwana said the idea of dismissing urban dwellers as opposition supporters and rural folks as their own supporters (true as it might be) might be interpreted by their own supporters as hubris."We cannot afford as a party to have the populace lose faith in us. When they express disillusionment let us acknowledge it. If we did in, we dig in but we take corrective action. Comrades, we have to acknowledge when it us and not others who have a problem. The externalisation of problems is for the consumption of others. We have to be honest with ourselves and carry the people with us. We banish the people, the people will banish us," he said."Haile Selasie one of the founding fathers of Pan- Africanism said, "Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." I have chosen to speak frankly. May my party choose to act boldly on corruption."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life.

"As of this moment [following the coup attempt], Turkeys cooperation with us in our counterterrorism efforts, in our NATO obligations, and in our regional efforts with respect to Syria and ISIS have not been affected negatively. All of that has continued as before," Kerry said before the meeting with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that several servicemen at Incirlik Air Base were detained on coup attempt links in a result of the ongoing special operation.

Cavusoglu told Reuters that Turkey would continue its fight against the outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries terrorist organization Daesh as soon as the operation at the base is over.

The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life.
On Friday, member of Turkey's armed forces attempted to stage a coup in the country. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the Turkish government.

On Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the government restored full control over the country.

The reasons behind the attempted coup are a power struggle, the spread of terrorism and the growing autocracy of the Turkish leader, an article in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten read.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  "The cessation of hostilities in Syria has been respected in most of Syrian provinces. However, a total of five violations of the ceasefire regime have been registered in Damascus province," the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website.

The Russia-US brokered ceasefire regime in Syria came into force on February 27. The Nusra Front and the Islamic State terrorist groups, which are outlawed in Russia, are not part of the ceasefire deal.
maria mallas (@MallasMaria) July 16, 2016

There are many reasons to doubt this fanciful theory not the least that President Erdogan was on vacation when the coup plotters first seized the TRT news channel, the bridges, and Istanbuls Ataturk International Airport. The leader was forced to phone in by FaceTime to CNN Turk to put out a desperate plea to the people of Turkey to take to the streets and put down the coup.

Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) July 15, 2016

Others point to the convenience for Erdogan who was able to blame his arch nemesis Fethullah Gulen who alleged has developed a shadow government within Turkey  known as the Parallel Structure  with ambitions of ultimately seizing control of the country.

Furthermore, Erdogan had fallen out of favor among Western leaders in recent months after repeated crackdowns on journalists, legal maneuvering to outlaw dissenters, forging a constitutional amendment revoking legislative immunity for opposition lawmakers, and seizure of nearly full control of the countrys executive and legislative powers with the tacit consent of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

j alguacil (@j_alguacil) July 16, 2016

President Erdogan has been both a tormenter of Europe and the United States as well as a key linchpin in the strategic plans of both. Turkey agreed to take in an additional 1 million Syrian refugees from the European Union after already housing over 2.75 million migrants from the war-torn country, in return for fast-track consideration within the EU and visa-free travel.

Those plans were summarily shot down by European leaders with former British Prime Minister David Cameron saying that he didnt fancy Turkey would be prepared to enter the EU for another thousand years at least citing the countrys move towards an autocratic framework.

Subsidiarity Man (@SubsidiarityMan) July 16, 2016

Nonetheless, Turkeys President was emboldened following the events that unfolded on Friday with the very future of Europe hanging in the balance with the EU all but praying that Erdogan would hold on. If Erdogans regime fell, Europe faced the specter of several million additional refugees flooding into the continent  a reality that would all but mark the end of the economic union and result in a near immediate end to the Schengen open borders agreement.

The United States found itself in a similar predicament with Turkey serving as NATOs primary launchpad into the Middle East to attend to the crises in Syria and Iraq. If Turkey fell and the United States lost access to the Incirlik air base the US fight against Daesh would could to a screaming halt.

Faced with those realities, the preview of what a world without Erdogan would look like may very well have been a godsend for the besieged leader of Turkey, but it may also be a nightmare for the United States.

Turkeys government has already wrangled together over 2,800 soldiers and 2,745 judges who are claimed to have conspired against the Erdogan regime and who now all face treason charges. It is unknown whether any of these targeted soldiers or jurists were opponents to Erdogans strongman form of government, but ultimately not involved in the plot at all. Regardless, the prison doors have now shut on the leaders primary political opponents.

"This means it [the failed coup] will be followed by a real coup by Erdogan himself, and the last remnants of democracy will be lost," suggested one social media pundit.

The alleged mastermind of the coup according to Turkish officials, Fethullah Gulen, also trafficked the idea that the coup was staged saying "I dont believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdogan. There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against the Gulenists]."

Whether the coup was ultimately fact or fiction, the world has been fundamentally changed by the horror descended on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara on Friday with the advantage clearly going to the coups survivor.
According to Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) annual report, some 60% of children deaths in Yemen in 2015 were caused by Saudi-led coalitions air attacks.

However, that data hasnt resulted in any particular steps to sanction Riyadhs actions. Saudi Arabia had been placed in the UN blacklist for killing children in the beginning of June, but shortly after was removed from the list under suspicious circumstances with later reports revealing that the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir threatened to cut off millions in funding from United Nations programs and to urge regional partners to respond in kind.

Blatant pandering such as this undermines all of the UNs work to protect children caught up in war, Bennett said of the organizations stance of Riyadhs actions.

Britain is alleged to have been engaged in a controversial vote-trading deal to ensure Saudi Arabias participation in the council three years ago and seems to be ready to back its ally one more time, no matter what reports on human rights violation say.

Asked earlier this month if London would vote for Riyadh to remain in the Council, Foreign Office minister Joyce Anelay evaded an answer: The UK never publicizes how it votes in these matters. Saudi Arabia did not need our support in the last election to the Human Rights Council since they were uncontested.

The fact that Riyadh enjoys unconditional support from the UN and the UK is based on economic considerations.

London seems to be ready to turn a blind eye on horrifying human rights abuses  that under some estimates escalate to the level of war crimes  in exchange for arms deliveries to the country.

During first three months of Saudi-led bombings of Yemen, the UK increased its supplies to the country 100 times, the Independent reported. The revenues for Britain in this period jumped from1 billion pounds to 9 billion.
The indefinite ban took effect on Saturday in the wake of the failed coup attempt in Turkey that left 265 dead and over 2,000 injured.

"The FAA is monitoring the situation in Turkey in coordination with the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves," the agency said in a statement.

The US embassy in Ankara issued a statement Saturday warning that US government officials have been told not to use the airport in Istanbul and that US citizens in the country should continue to seek shelter despite Turkey's claim that they have completely neutralized the attempted coup.
Earlier in the day Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu created a firestorm when he publicly claimed that Washington was behind the coup in Turkey.

"The US is behind the coup attempt. A few journals that are published there [in the US] have been conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests to the US concerning Fethullah Gulen. The US must extradite him," said Soylu.

Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 16, 2016

The attempted coup has left 265 people dead and over 2,000 wounded across the country. Erdogans regime has responded by cracking down with fury imprisoning 2,745 opposition judges and arresting over 2,800 soldiers alleged sympathetic to the coup bid.
Turkish officials closed the airspace to complete "anti-coup" operations at the base, where some of the servicemen are suspected of supporting the failed Friday night military coup. Turkish officials have rounded up over 2,800 soldiers as well as at least 2,745 judges who they claim were sympathetic to the coup. Those individuals will now face prosecution for treason.

The presence of the US nuclear weapons arsenal in Incirlik Air Base was further complicated on Saturday when Turkish Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu alleged that the United States was behind the failed coup attempt.

"The US is behind the coup attempt. A few journals that are published there [in the US] have been conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests to the US concerning Fethullah Gulen. The US must extradite him," said Soylu.

US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a fierce condemnation of the allegations calling them harmful to bilitaral relations between the two countries, a sign of a potentially brewing diplomatic row between the two long-time NATO allies.

US tactical nuclear weapons now rest in the hands of a Turkish government willing to openly accuse the United States of seeking its demise under the leadership of an aggressive autocratic ruler who fancies himself the next Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

The instability of Turkey which faces pressures from the 2.75 million Syrian refugees seeking asylum, Kurdish opposition, Daesh terrorists, and a military that has shown a willingness to turn on the countrys president may force NATO to ultimately pull its nuclear weapons stockpile from Incirlik airbase before the country descends into chaos.
The PAK FA is a 5th generation multi-role, single seat, twin-engine air superiority/deep air support fighter slated to enter service in the Russian Air and Space Forces in 2018. It also serves as the prototype for the joint Indo-Russian Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) project that has tormented the US military and industrial complex that now fears New Delhi will look to Moscow for its weapons procurement needs.

The sixth generation fighter jets planned to be unveiled by 2025 will consist primarily of swarms of unmanned aircrafts flying at hypersonic speed with developers saying that the jets would be able to transit through space.

The aircrafts will be equipped with electromagnetic cannons  much like the Navys railgun  which can force an enemys radio detector out of operation at a 10km range. The super-high frequency weapons is so powerful, however, that it will not be installed on piloted aircrafts as it can harm the pilot.

"In particular, the electromagnetic impulse, with which the SHFs weapon will be hitting the targets, will be so powerful that it will be extremely difficult to protect a human, a pilot from his own weaponry," explained Mikheyev.

The sixth-generation fighter jet has not yet been commissioned by Russias Defense Ministry, but there are hopes to finish the research and development part of the work until 2020 so that KRET can produce the first sixth generation aircraft by 2025 upon the ministrys order.
News / National

by Nyemudzai Kakore

History was made yesterday afternoon when the first African-owned Airbus A350 touched down at Harare International Airport, in a clear testimony of the aviation industry's confidence in Zimbabwe.Ethiopian Airlines A350 XWB, dubbed the Simien Mountains, is Africa's first generation long-range airliner which incorporates the latest technology and a revolutionary design with a carrying capacity of over 350 passengers.The Airbus 350, which was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines on July 5, has only made six landings in Africa, with the Zimbabwe landing being the first in the Sadc region.In a speech read on his behalf by Ministry of Transport and infrastructural Development acting transport manager Mr Nyikadzino Chifamba, permanent secretary Mr Munesushe Munodawafa said the entry of the aircraft into the Zimbabwean market should be a game changer for the travelling public as it offers a new and unparalleled flight experience."This gesture by Ethiopian Airlines serves to demonstrate the confidence that it has in the Zimbabwean aviation sector and the country in general. We greatly welcome this development as it is also bolsters the spirit of regional integration through increased connectivity that this long-range aircraft will offer," he said.Mr Munodowafa said beyond welcoming this modern plane, Government wanted to assure Ethiopian Airlines and other airlines of its continued support of the aviation industry because of its strategic importance to national development through facilitating trade, tourism and regional integration.All seats of the Airbus 350 are fitted with a large high definition touchscreen, with a wider selection of movies, television series and audio channels.Other features include inflight Wi-Fi connection which will allow passengers with smart devices to connect to the world seamlessly.Ethiopian Airlines country director Mr Alebachew Akalu said Ethiopia has continued to evolve, adapt grow and regenerate itself, thus marketing the African continent.Ethiopia has 14 firm orders of the Airbus 350 with the first one having been received on July 5 while the remaining 13 will be delivered in batches in the next three years."Ethiopian is the first African airline to operate the state-of-the-art Airbus 350.This remarkable airframe was built with a feature of wider seats, lowest engine noise level, advanced air conditioning technology and full LED lighting to enhance passenger comfort," he said.Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development and Chegutu West legislator Dexter Nduna said the arrival of the Airbus 350 was laudable as it fosters continental integration, on which the African Union was founded.Ethiopian Ambassador Mustafe Dek Abdisalam said his country was ready to contribute its own share of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa."Aviation is an integrated value chain business and we would not have achieved such a remarkable success had it not been for the strong support of all stakeholders involved," he said.
The FAMAS production was suspended in the 1990s when the army's needs were met. It was too expensive to keep large plants without regular release of mass production.

Now France has simply no alternative to replace aging rifles and has to rely on its European partners. The revival of domestic production seems to make no sense as the manufacturing process takes place in large state concerns, designed for mass production.

According to the web portal, significant investments in the development of new machines logically demand mass sales, but in the case of France they are unlikely, as the needs of domestic security forces will be met in a year or two, and the global market is steadily being flooded by new products anyway.
Immersed in a state of martial law following a horrific night of violence as military forces attempt to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has moved to shutdown its airspace threatening to immediately shoot down all unauthorized aircraft. The warning comes an hour after forces loyal to Erdogan shot down a helicopter from an F-16 fighter jet.

Initial reports indicate that Erdogan's government has taken back control from the coup plotters who are said to be loyalists of the US-based Imam Fethullah Gulen. Earlier on Friday, the military coup plotters had seized the bridges and the media outlets. The military coup leaders said that they had seized the government and established a "Peace Council" to reinstall democracy and human rights, but since making that announcement the military opposition has opened fire on large crowds of protesters.

The announcement that the entire airspace would be shutdown comes shortly after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim declaring that the airspace over Ankara, specifically, would be sealed.
An aircraft carrying President Erdogan has landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport according to presidential sources. The Turkish leader whose control over the country remains tenuous at this hour will address the nation in an effort to get the people to rise up in an effort to quell an ongoing coup plot.

David Cenciotti (@cencio4) July 16, 2016

During the early hours of the coup President Erdogan addressed the nation via CNN Turk calling into the Western media outlet by FaceTime after military leaders had seized the TRT News station along with the bridges and Ataturk International Airport. At this hour, forces loyal to Erdogan have gained ground against the coup plotters who they accuse of being a handful of Gulenists inside the military although pictures coming in from the region suggest that the attempt to overthrow the government may be more serious.

TRT World (@trtworld) July 16, 2016

A massive blast had been reported near the Ataturk International Airport within minutes of the arrival of President Erdogan. The Turkish leader was seen among a crowd of supporters outside of the airport prior to the explosion. Erdogan planned to address the crowd and reporters quoted the leader saying that an uprising has been attempted against the solidarity and unity of our country and that those responsible will face a "necessary response" regardless of what institution they are a part of.
Furkan Haber (@furkanhaber) July 16, 2016

It appeared that the coup effort had succeeded until President Erdogan took to CNN Turk, calling in via FaceTime, pleading with his countrymen to resist the effort to overthrow the government by taking to the streets. The move, initially mocked by Western media and leaders, appears to have been successful with millions of Turks taking to the streets to resist Colonel Kose's Peace Council.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier in the day blamed supporters of the Pennsylvania-based Imam Fethullah Gulen, prior to identifying Colonel Kose as the lead agitator in the coup attempt. Despite Muharrem Kose's apparent links to Gulen, the Imam's non-profit, the Alliance for Shared Values, denies any involvement and has condemned "any military intervention in the domestic politics of Turkey."

Gulenists are not hardliners as the Imam preaches a blend of piety and Sufi mysticism while calling for free markets, democracy and religious tolerance in keeping with the original vision of Turkey laid down by the country's founder Kemal Ataturk.

Gulen's movement known as Hizmet, once boasted as many as 2,000 officers within the Turkish military prior to crackdowns by President Erdogan. Supporters of Gulen have long attempted to use the judiciary to advance corruption investigations against Erdogan sparking a bitter divide between the two groups. Turkish authorities accuse Gulen of attempting to form an opposing "state within a state" known by many in Turkey as the "Parallel Structure."

Prior to being ousted for his alleged ties to the Gulenist movement, Muharrem Kose proudly served as the chief legal counsel to the Turkish military's chief of staff Hulusi Akar. Akar was taken hostage in the first hours of the coup attempt that began on Friday evening.
The self-proclaimed "Peace Council" allegedly led by disgraced Colonel Muharrem Kose claimed to have seized control of the government for a short period of time. Kose, who was discharged from his duties in March 2016 for his links to the anti-government Gulenist movement that has been accused of attempting to form a shadow government within Turkey.

Kose's Peace Council had taken control of the TRT news station, the bridges, and the Ataturk International Airport in what at one point seemed like a successful coup attempt.

President Erdogan countered the military force with an impassioned plea to his countrymen to take to the streets to oppose the military overthrow of the government with millions of Turks heeding the calls. The "Peace Council" responded by opening fire on civilians inside of Turkey by rifle, tank, and helicopter leaving dozens wounded throughout the country.

Fighting continues to take place in Turkey even as the Erdogan government has once again established full control over government buildings, the airport and most of the bridges. A live video above shows ongoing unrest in Ankara with a bridge set aflame.

A senior Turkish official also confirmed that 13 soldiers who tried to enter the presidential palace during the coup attempt have been arrested.

The situation appears to be coming under control with the first flight landing at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport since the start of the failed military coup in what is seen as a sign that the horror that has struck the country is rapidly winding down.

The Turkish Airlines flight is the first to land at the Istanbul Ataturk Airport (IST), the third largest in Europe, which was closed amid the military coup.

Turkish servicemen taking part in the military coup attempt in the country have started surrendering on one of the Istanbul bridges across the Bosphorus strait, NTV reports. There are about 50 servicemen who are surrendering as tanks have blocked traffic across the bridge.

According to President Erdogan's office, 754 members of Turkey's armed forces have been detained over military's attempted coup.
ULAANBAATAR (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko  The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit has successfully concluded in the Mongolian capital and adopted two final documents, as the participants reached consensus, Mongolia President Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin, summit host and chair, told reporters.

"We successfully concluded the summit and produced two important decisions  Ulaanbaatar declaration and Chair's statement. We reached consensus," Tsakhiagiin said.

He added that the two tragedies that happened during the summit  the Nice attack and an attempted military coup in Turkey  "affected hearts" of all ASEM participants.
In the chaos that followed bombs went off at the airport in Istanbul, as well as the parliamentary complex in Ankara. Coup plotters are reported to have opened gunfire at the presidential residence and the national intelligence headquarters located in the Turkish capital.

#TurkeyCoup: Military helicopter opens fire at main Turkish intelligence agency MIT headquarters pic.twitter.com/VkvqcnSe2v  WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 15  2016 .

Rebel soldiers used armored vehicles, tanks military aircraft and helicopters to carry out the coup. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim issued an order to shoot down aircraft piloted by coup plotters. Later a Turkish F-16 fighter jet brought down a helicopter that targeted Turkey's state satellite operator Turksat in Ankara.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar was rescued after coup plotters had taken him hostage.

Sixteen people who took part in the coup are said to have been killed in clashes at the military police command, according to Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz. At least 250 people, including Gen. Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey's command for the Aegean region, have been arrested.

Footage of young coup soldiers being rounded up by civilians and police. They look terrified. pic.twitter.com/nZKpIhVSXc  reported.ly (@reportedly) 16  2016 .

In addition, 1,563 pro-coup officers have been arrested across the country. Some of them surrendered, while overs were detained by fellow officers and handed over to police.

2. Erdogan's reaction

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was staying on the southwest coast for a holiday when the military tried to take over the country. He first addressed the nation using FaceTime, an iPhone app, to urge his supporters to ignore the curfew, take to the streets and protest against the coup.

Stunning: Erdogan's plane landed at #Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, only to take flight once again after explosions ensued. #Turkey #TurkeyCoup  Michael Wilner (@mawilner) 16  2016 .

The Turkish strongman landed in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport early on Saturday, saying that the coup was over and pledging to "cleanse" the military. Erdogan also said that he would remain at the airport until the situation returns back to normal. "There is no leaving here until this situation goes back to normal. I will not leave, too," he said.

3. Who is behind the coup

Turkish authorities pinned the blame for the coup on US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, once a key Erdogan ally, and his movement Hizmet that enjoys wide support in Turkey. Gulen "categorically" denied these accusations, adding that he condemned the coup.

4. Casualties

At least 90 people, mostly civilians, are reported to have been killed in clashes following the coup. Approximately 1,000 people have been wounded.
LONDON (Sputnik)  The United Kingdom supports democratically elected government and institutions in Turkey, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Saturday.

"Just spoken to #Turkey foreign minister @MevlutCavusoglu. I underlined #UK support for the democratic elected government & institutions," he wrote on Twitter.

Just spoken to #Turkey foreign minister @MevlutCavusoglu. I underlined #UK support for the democratic elected government & institutions  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 16  2016 .

On Friday, the military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes.
Barack Obama has less than seven months left in office. This is apparently what has prompted him to reach out to Russia in a bid to find common ground on a range of issues, including the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, as well as NATO's increasing assertiveness in Eastern Europe and the Baltic region. But time is also working against Obama.

This is not to say that cooperation between Russia and the US is not possible. At the moment both sides have indicated that they are open to dialogue, something Moscow has long called for. In the limited timeframe left before the next US president moves into the White House, the Obama administration and the Kremlin could certainly agree on small measures, US-based think tank Stratfor noted.

"Tactical agreements are indeed possible, such as a plan to fight [Daesh] in Syria and moderate concessions on the Ukraine crisis, sanctions and the military buildup in Eastern Europe," analysts said.
As the European Council President Donald Tusk said, the summit has become unforgettable not only for the exotic culture of Mongolia that the participants got to know closer, but also, sadly, for the shocking events in France and Turkey.

These developments largely influenced the agenda of the summit, bringing the enhancement of security cooperation to the fore.

Pledge on Security Cooperation

In the final Ulaanbaatar Declaration adopted as a result of the summit and in the Chairs Statement, participants agreed to give a boost to their collaboration on security matters.

Leaders exchanged views on the ways to promote and strengthen cooperation on international and regional issues of common interest and concern including in the Middle East, Africa, Ukraine, and recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and human rights situation concerning the DPRK, the Chairs Statement reads.

As for countering terrorism after the recent attacks, the leaders condemned all forms of incitement to hatred and intolerance, including xenophobia, religious hatred and violence.

They also acknowledged that the practice of moderation is highly effective in bridging differences and overcoming extremism.

In this regard, they urged Governments to strengthen initiatives on the matter and expressed support for efforts aimed at promoting moderation, in particular as espoused by the Global Movement of Moderates in various formats within the ASEM framework, the Chairs Statement reads.

As for North Koreas nuclear program, the leaders stressed the need for the reduction of tension and resumption of the Six-Party Talks. They also called for vigilance against nuclear and missile-related procurement by North Korea and against any other assistance to its nuclear program.

South China Sea Dispute

Given the attendance of the summit by top officials from Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries, there has been an intrigue whether the issue of the South China Sea dispute will be addressed.

On Tuesday, the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated Beijing's claims to much of the South China Sea, which are embodied in a "nine-dash line" that dates from 1940s maps and stretches close to other countries' coasts.
News / National

by Sukulwenkosi Dube

THREE people including a boy (3) died while about 15 others were seriously injured after a Harare-bound Metrolyn Bus burst a tyre and overturned along the Bulawayo- Plumtree Road.Plumtree Police Officer in Charge of Crime, Superintendent Mzamo Bhebhe confirmed the incident which occurred at the 82 kilometre peg at around 7PM on Thursday. The bus was coming from Gaborone, Botswana.He said the deceased were Herbert Mudzamiri (54) and Eniah Makwara (47) both from Harare and three-year-old Nigel Mudarikwa of Gweru. With 74 passengers onboard, comprising Zimbabweans and Batswana, the bus veered off the road and careened for about 300 metres towards the bush. It overturned and slid on its side, uprooting trees.Four people, among them an elderly woman whose arms officials at Plumtree District Hospital said may be amputated, were rushed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals for further treatment.About 11 passengers are admitted to Plumtree District Hospital, with injuries ranging from serious bruises to fractured limbs. The three-year-old boy's skull was crushed while the two other dead passengers are suspected to have been trampled on by panicky passengers as they stampeded to get out of the bus.When a Chronicle news crew arrived at the scene police, hospital staff and a fire brigade team were extricating injured passengers and the bodies that were trapped in the wreckage. Five ambulances were shuttling screaming and groaning passengers to Plumtree District Hospital as soon as they were freed from the wreck.Passengers said in a bid to escape as the bus was hurtling towards the trees, the driver, Mr Victor Otlhabane jumped from his seat to the passengers' area. They alleged that he was speeding and the bus was overloaded."The driver was travelling at an excessive speed and I think that's why the bus took long to come to a stop. We were packed in the bus as it collected some passengers we found stranded along the way after their vehicle broke down."The luggage which was in the bus was also excessive as there were plenty of bags and small property items," said Mr Michael Mahlangu, who was going to Gweru. Plumtree Fire Brigade lead fire fighter, Mr Graham Dube said they had to cut through seats to retrieve the bodies.''We had to cut through seats and logs as some people were trapped beneath. We managed to pull out an elderly woman who was badly hurt as well as three people who had already died," said Mr Dube.Mr Otlhabane said he had passed through a backyard garage in Plumtree Town to have one of the tyres replaced as the one that was on the bus had developed a fault. He said the replaced tyre is the one which burst.Mr Otlhabane said he failed to control the vehicle and it eventually swerved off the road at a curve. Mrs Beauty Mudarikwa, the mother of the three-year-old boy who died, said she was travelling from Botswana to Gweru with her three children to attend her father's memorial service.She said her other two children aged eight and 11 years were severely injured and were admitted to the United Bulawayo Hospitals.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, a helicopter with eight Turkish citizens, including seven alleged coup supporters on board landed in Alexandroupolis.

"We have asked Greece to immediately return eight servicemen-betrayers, who have run there on a helicopter," Cavusoglu said.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country is returning to normal life. Over 180 were killed and 1470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have been detained, according to the prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States, as well as a number of other states, expressed support for the elected Turkish government in the wake of late Friday's attempted coup.

"The United States will probably have two scenarios [of further relations with Turkey]. One is that maybe the US will want to pressurize Erdogan not to have any kind of agreement with Russians," Krydee said.
Turkey, seemingly one of the most stable countries in the Middle East, has long been plagued by internal discord, involving Islamist-leaning trend particularly visible under Erdogan and a decades-long tradition of secularism. The ongoing conflict between Ankara and Kurdish rebels is also a major factor.

Turkey's stability has further been affected by refuges and terrorist attacks. The country has been the key destination for millions of Syrians fleeing sectarian violence sparked in the Arab country following a foreign-sponsored insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad. In recent months, Turkey has also been rocked by major terrorist attacks carried out, according to local authorities, by Daesh or the Kurds.
European Council President Donald Tusk said that the consequences of the attempted coup in Turkey will be crucial for the whole region and Turkey's relations with the EU.

Moreover, Tusk and head of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker have supported Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and urged a normalization of the situation in the country.

"Military coups have no place in modern Turkey. There is no alternative to democracy and the rule of law," Tusk said at a press conference during an Asia-Europe summit in Mongolia.

Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry also expressed concerns over the attempted military coup in Turkey and called on the authorities and the people of Turkey to resolve conflicts without the use of force. A corresponding statement was released on the official website of the Ministry.

"We call on the government and people of Turkey to solve the existing problems without violence, to respect the constitutional order," the statement said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) Earlier in the day, a Turkish helicopter with seven alleged coup supporters on board landed in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis.

"The Greek government has contacted the Turkish authorities asking to return the military helicopter as soon as possible. As for the eight detainees, procedures envisaged by international law will be applied," Gerovasili said.

"However we will seriously consider the fact that the detainees are accused of violating constitutional legitimacy and of attempting to undermine democracy in their country," she added.
The G8 is a governmental political forum in which the heads of state or government of the major industrial democracies meet annually to discuss and deal with major economic and political issues of their countries and the international community as a whole.

In 2014, Russia's membership to the Group of Eight was suspended over Moscow's reunification with Crimea and the military conflict in Ukraine.

Back then the original G7 members said they would not come to the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi for a G8 summit, which was scheduled for June 4-5, 2014.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkey is unlikely to become a member of the European Union and develop into a western democracy with Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the president, member of the European Parliament Anders Vistisen told Sputnik on Saturday.

I can never see Turkey as a member of EU and it has been clear for a couple of years that with Erdogan as president, Turkey will not develop in a western way, Anders Vistisen said.

The EU should be more critical to the regime and president Erdogan. I do not support military coup in any way, but I understand the frustration behind the wishes of changes in Turkey. And that changes should be supported by the EU, Vistisen added.
The second NRC meeting since mid-2014 took place on July 13, days after NATO held its landmark summit in the Polish capital of Warsaw. The alliance formally approved the deployment of four multinational battle groups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland at the summit.

This was one of the issues Moscow wanted to discuss with the bloc.

"Russia wants to know the reasons behind NATO's decision to deploy battle groups close to Russia's borders. There is no practical need for that," editor-in-chief of the magazine Russian National Defense observed. "But there was no dialogue. NATO essentially refused to discuss this issue."
ATHENS (Sputnik)  Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the situation in Turkey following military coup attempt there, a source in the government said Saturday.

The plane of the Greek minister made a stop in Moscow on its way to Ulaanbaatar, the source told RIA Novosti.

Earlier in the day he also pledged support to the Turkish democracy and condemned the attempted military coup in a phone talk with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
KISLOVODSK (Sputnik)  She added that Russia is always ready for the mutually beneficial cooperation with the United Kingdom.

"The new UK government has to resolve many problems, first of all, the difficult task of ensuring a civilized divorce with the European Union. But we hope that the government will resolve these tasks effectively," Matvienko told journalists.

On June 23, a referendum was held in the United Kingdom, in which 51.9 percent of voters supported a withdrawal from the European Union.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

MDC-T first Vice President Thokozani Khupe has suggested that she was never consulted on the appointments of additional two vice presidents.Party leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday appointed Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri as vice presidents.Addressing journalists in Bulawayo after the #beatthepotscampaign she hinted that she was taken by surprise."If you want a comment on that you better ask Richard Morgan Tsvangirai..".It is understood that most Bulawayo party members are not happy with the appointments.
It is worth mentioning that May has also earned the reputation of a pragmatic politician due to her balanced attitude toward Russia

However, Mercouris adds that since British policy remain "anchored" in the US and NATO alliance, one should not expect drastic shifts in the UK's foreign strategy.

In his article for RIA Novosti Vladimir Ardaev, a Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency observer, notes that the UK is preparing to withdraw from the EU to conduct more independent foreign and domestic policy.

"The new Foreign Secretary's views could hardly be called pro-Russian, but there's no denying that the flamboyant British politician is reasonable," Ardaev remarks.

Still, the journalist cites Evgeny Minchenko, the President and Chief Executive Officer of MINCHENKO CONSULTING Communication Group, who expresses doubts that the UK's foreign policy course toward Russia would undergo significant changes in the near future.

"Russia will be a matter of "secondary importance" for [the UK's] Foreign Office. Brexit has become the main issue of the British foreign policy agenda and the new minister's major focus," Minchenko explained.

As for Johnson's statements in regard to Russia, the expert believes that they were just part of Johnson's struggle for leadership in the British Conservative party.

Here's my first day remarks earlier to mediahttps://t.co/bSw3htGRed  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) 14  2016 .

Dr. Alexander Orlov, Director of the Institute for International Studies (IIS) of MGIMO University, told RIA Novosti that there is a slim chance that Britain will carry out more independent foreign policy after Brexit.

"In the past fifty years the US and Great Britain have closely coordinated their actions on the world arena, let alone the EU affairs. Boris Johnson has a rather interesting personality, very uncommon for the British establishment. And it is not because of his flamboyance, but because of his rather independent behavior. Theoretically, we may expect some sudden steps on his part, including those benevolent [to Russia]. But [this possibility] is still only theoretical," Orlov emphasized.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.

"In any other country of the world the minister with such an appalling number of victims reaching 250 people over 18 months would resign," Le Pen told journalists.

Earlier in the day, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that the suspect of the attack in Nice was not on intelligence service's watch list and that, in such cases, it is very difficult to prevent the attack.
In order to make this happen, Moscow and Washington will have to do a lot of "homework," the US Secretary of State noted.

Kerry admitted that there are those who want to undermine the agreements on Syria. He also said that no immediate results should be expected.

However, he expressed hope that the agreements would seriously change the situation in Syria.

"We give no promises that our agreements would change everything in a couple of days. Nevertheless, Im sure that if those agreements are implemented it will be possible to change the situation," Kerry said.

In turn, Lavrov underscored that the US and Washington will start the implementation in the coming days. According to him, the agreements will help overcome difficulties with separating terrorists from opposition forces.

"The US should clearly define the location of 'good' opposition forces. It also should separate terrorists from moderate opposition forces," Mikhail Alexandrov, senior analyst at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, told the Russian analytical website Svobodnaya Pressa.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, a helicopter with eight alleged coup supporters on board landed in Alexandroupolis. Turkey asked Greece to return them.

The Greek authorities replied that they will return the helicopter but will apply general procedure to the detained passengers who intend to ask for asylum in the country.

"I had a phone talk with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. He told me that eight rebels who fled to Greece would be returned shortly," Cavusoglu said in his Twitter account.
As for now, both parties are cooperating in Syria, but only in order to avoid dangerous incidents. However, if their cooperation plan is implemented in practice, it will become a kind of "reset" for both parties.

"The fact that President Barack Obama gradually gives up his original goal  the overthrow of Assad, and gives priority to the fight against Islamic State has become noticeable long ago. The planned new partnership with Moscow would consolidate this course," the article said.

According to the newspaper, Moscow has long sought such cooperation with Washington. US President Barack Obama, who has been criticized by the Russian media, is now being presented as Moscow's new partner, Sueddeutsche Zeitung noted.
PARIS (Sputnik)  French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu discussed the coup attempt in Turkey over the phone on Saturday, French Foreign Ministry said.

"The two ministers discussed the coup attempt which failed in Turkey. Mevlut Cavusoglu has confirmed that civilian authorities regained the control over the situation. Jean-Marc Ayrault wished that Turkish democracy emerged from this trial stronger and that fundamental freedoms to be fully respected," French foreign ministry said in its statement.

Cavusoglu in return expressed condolences over recent terrorist attack in Nice and two ministers reiterated their country's commitment to fight terrorism.
Talking about the Turkish governments position following the coup d'etat, the expert said, I think the Turkish government is strengthened in this respect. The government enjoyed the support of the people who hit the streets and helped to stop this coup d'etat.

He said that it was a tactically perfect move by the Turkish president when he was calling on the Turkish people to hit the streets to fight against the military coup.

It was the first time in history that the president has called people to the streets, Bagc said.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup was taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to the streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country was returning to normal life.

At least 265 were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have been detained, according to the prime minister.
He added that France has found itself in a situation Russia had during the mid-1990s when terrorist attacks were happening in various parts of the country and the security services were hard put figuring out just when and where another such attack might happen.

We need to go where these terrorists are being trained and our Russian security agencies have done this before and with good results, he added.

Dmitry Gorovtsov, a member of the State Dumas security and anti-corruption committee, said that the French have simply loosened up after Euro-2016 even though they had been tipped off about possible attacks.

During the final game of Euro-2016 on July 10 security was extremely tight, thats why nothing happened then, but in this case it looks like they sort of chilled out and let their guard down, Gorovtsov said.



Why France?

When asked why the terrorists had chosen France as a target of their attacks, Alexei Filatov brought up the millions of migrants from North Africa who now live in France but have never become part of French society.

In a country with so many migrants like France, figuring out the perpetrators of a terrorist attack is almost a mission impossible. This is essentially a caste society where migrants from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco usually have low-paid jobs and can become instrumental in such attacks, he noted.

Filatov also said that this could have been an act of revenge for Frances role in antiterrorist operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria.

The civilized countries are trying to impose their rules on others by exporting revolutions to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Libya. The terrorists respond with attacks on their enemys soil. They want Daesh to be treated as an equal, he emphasized.

Dmitry Gorovtsov said that the French had failed to learn from previous such attacks.

After last years attacks in Paris President Hollande came to Moscow and President Putin suggested setting up an international antiterrorist front. Unfortunately our French colleagues ignored this, apparently due to pressure from Washington.

Gorovtsov added that after the tragic events in Nice, the French would keep tabs on foreigners coming to the country, even from the Schengen area.



The Nice attacker identified

Meanwhile, the driver of the truck in the Nice terror attack has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a French citizen of Tunisian descent who lived and worked in Nice. He was identified by fingerprints after his identification card was found in the truck.

According to local media reports, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had told police, guarding the promenade that he was delivering ice cream.

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, is reportedly the father of a three-year-old child, the media reported. Earlier in the day, police raided his house and arrested his ex-wife. According to the authorities, he had previously been held on a number of misdemeanor charges, but his potential radicalization had gone unnoticed by police.

On Thursday evening, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove his truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day on a Nice promenade killing 84 revelers and wounding dozens more before being shot dead by police.

What next?

France has declared three days of national mourning for the victims of the Nice attack. The Promenade des Anglais remains closed off and all public events in the city have been canceled. President Francois Hollande described Thursdays carnage as a terrorist attack and promised to ramp up the war on terror, including in Syria and Iraq.

The nationwide state of emergency has been extended for another three months.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Russian air carriers were provisionally barred from flights to Turkey amid a military coup attempt in the country.

"President Putin has instructed the [Russian] Transport Ministry and other corresponding agencies to take measures to inform passengers appropriately, to organize their transportation from Turkish airports, and to provide the passengers awaiting flights to Turkey in Russian airport with all the necessary assistance until the situation clarifies," he said.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that there has been no information on any Russian citizens getting hurt during the attempted military coup in Turkey.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Russian air carriers were provisionally barred from flights to Turkey amid a military coup attempt in the country.

"As political situation has deteriorated in Turkey, transportation of Russian citizens to Turkish cities by regular flights of Russian and Turkish companies were temporarily suspended. The restriction on the flights will remain until the situation clarifies," the statement reads.

However, the agency noted that Russian and Turkish airlines would continue evacuation of Russian citizens from Turkey.
PetroChina workers evacuated from South Sudan's Juba arrive in the Khartoum International Airport on Thursday. Li Ziheng / Xinhua

More than 210 Chinese have been evacuated from South Sudan since the cease-fire declared by President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar on Monday, after five days of clashes that left more than 300 dead, including two Chinese UN peacekeepers.

The evacuations began on Tuesday with planes reserved to pick up stranded Chinese, most of whom are employed by Chinese firms engaged in infrastructure, oil production and other service projects in South Sudan. On Tuesday, 50 Chinese, and on Wednesday 160 Chinese were taken to nearby countries such as Kenya and Uganda to catch connecting flights to China.

One-way air ticket prices soared to $1,000 per person, according to evacuees. Normally, round-trip tickets cost no more than $700.

The Great Wall Travel & Tourism, an airliner owned by an overseas Chinese, was involved in the evacuation.

Zhang Biao, 26, an employee of China Overseas Engineering Group Co, said he had planned to leave South Sudan capital city Juba on Sunday, but all business flights were suspended due to the large passenger demand. He waited until Wednesday to board a 50-passenger airplane and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, in the afternoon.

The Chinese embassy said it tried to maintain contacts with all Chinese in South Sudan during the fighting. About nine "temporary assembly points" were arranged across Juba to coordinate the evacuation.

As of Thursday, employees of Huawei, COVEC, China Railway No 10 Engineering Group, PetroChina, Beixin and Wuyi had been evacuated.

South Sudan has experienced civil conflicts since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. In December 2013, a civil war broke out between the government and opposition forces, lasting for 20 months.

An estimated 160 Chinese firms were doing business in South Sudan by June 2015. Approximately 1,000 Chinese - in addition to UN Peacekeeper troops - resided in South Sudan before the war broke out.

Contact the writers at panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn
News / National

by Staff Reporter

A delegation from the private sector will visit Mexico next week on a fact finding mission on how Zimbabwe can learn the best approach for producing grain through contract farming.Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe chairperson, Tafadzwa Musarara says Mexico is ranked as one of the countries with the best models of producing surplus grain in the world.He added that a delegation from the private sector will visit Mexico next week on a fact finding mission to study that country's contract farming model with a view to learning how it could be applied locally to support resettled farmers and boost grain production.According to the International Grain Council, Mexico is one of the world's biggest producers of grain and the country's maize production is forecast at 23.5 million tonnes this year.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to organize logistics of transportation to Russia of Russian nationals awaiting flights in the Turkish airports.

"On July 17, the Aeroflot flight 2134 will fly to Istanbul with no passengers, on [July] 18 Aeroflot 2142 flight will depart for Antalya empty as well," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

Meanwhile, some 4,000 individual tourists from Russia are staying in Turkey, while the number of organized tourists does not exceed 1,000.
In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel , Sergey Karaganov, a member of the Russian Foreign Ministrys Policy and Defense Council says that the risk of a hot war against the United States and Europe has been on the rise for nearly a decade with tensions approaching levels only seen at the height of the Cold War.

Karaganov said that statements by both sides attest to the dangerous state of the crisis and blasted the West for its continued saber rattling along Russias border with NATO moving to install a permanent troop presence in Poland and after weeks of massive war games culminating in June with a 30,000 troop show of force led by German soldiers on the 75th anniversary of the Nazi invasion.

"The Russian media is more reserved than Western media, though you have to understand that Russia is very sensitive about defense. We have to be prepared for everything. That is the source of this occasionally massive amount of propaganda," he said. "But what is the West doing? It is doing nothing but vilifying Russia; it believes that we are threatening to attack. The situation is comparable to the crisis at the end of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  The US authorities fully support the elected government of Turkey amid an attempted military coup, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.

"I spoke this evening to Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and emphasized the United States absolute support for Turkeys democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions," Kerry stated on Friday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  "We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms  and support for the democratically elected civilian government," Clinton said on Friday.

All parties should work to avoid further violence and bloodshed, and the safety of American citizens and diplomatic missions must be ensured, she advised.
OReilly asked Trump if he would he pressure NATO to step up the fight against Daesh if he were elected President, remarking that the United States has "to mobilize NATO to wipe ISIS off the face of the Earth."

Trump replied, "That would be just fine," adding, "Were supporting NATO and we should at least get something out of it. Getting rid of ISIS and getting rid of this cancer that were watching all over the world, that certainly would be a good thing for NATO to be involved in."
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  In a brief statement on Friday, US President Barack Obama called on all parties to avoid violence and reiterated his support for the Erdogan government.

The United States should take a stronger stand in support of the Turkish government because what we see is an attempt to overthrow the elected government, a participant in the protest on Friday night told Sputnik.

Earlier on Friday, Turkey was rocked by an attempted military takeover in the capital Ankara and the countrys largest city Istanbul. However, thousands of people poured out on the streets reportedly protesting the attempted coup.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed with 298 people on board on July 17, 2014, in eastern Ukraine, while en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, leaving no survivors. Kiev and independence supporters in Ukraines southeast have blamed each other for the downing of the MH17 plane.

"In October 2015, we welcomed the findings of the Dutch Safety Board in its final report on the cause of the MH 17 crash. This report validated that MH 17 was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Our own assessment has not changed  the missile was fired from territory controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine," the statement read.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A stranger from a car engaged fire on a group of people, who attended a party near the Californian town of Bakersfield, wounding 14 partygoers, The Los Angeles Times newspaper reported citing Kern County Sheriffs Department.

The newspaper added citing local officials that two victims of the incident that took place at 0:55 local time (07:55 GMT) were in critical conditions.

According to the newspaper, the investigating into the incident is ongoing.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Thursday night, a truck rammed into a large crowd that was celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.

"Mike Pence will never be afraid to speak the name of our enemy  radical Islam, radical Islamic terrorism. You saw it the other day with the truck [driver] screaming out of the window, you heard what he was screaming. You saw it in St. Bernandino. You saw it at the World Trade Center," Trump said at the press conference in New Jersey making an official announcement of his choice.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Obama held a meeting with security and foreign policy experts on the situation around the military coup attempt in Turkey.

"The President instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US servicemembers, and their dependents," the statement said.
LOS ANGELESThe MyFreeCams model known as WhoreNickels is used to criticism for her unconventional shows, but some are saying one of her latest went too far.

WhoreNickels, aka Maggie Nickels, on July 7 performed a show on MyFreeCams.com she titled InternetPopo that entailed her dressing up as a police officer. Standing in front of a computer-generated background that simulated a squad car and yellow police tape, WhoreNickels during one sequence solicited tips for Dont Beat People of Color vs. Beat People of Color.

A screenshot of the show circulated on social media in the hours and days following, sparking outrage in the cam community and prompting some models to call for WhoreNickels to be banned by MFC, citing violations of the sites posted Rules and Guidelines prohibiting abusive, inflammatory, or racist language.

Yes, I am definitely aware of it, Nickels told AVN Friday. It was unexpected because I had actually planned for it to be a show where I dressed up as the internet police and the entire point of the show initially to me was to satirize people who were overly sensitive on the internet.

I had this whole plan to dress up as a police person and I was actually looking for a fugitive going by the name of WhoreNickels, talking about all the horrible things this fugitive had done and I was looking for her.

So I started the show and a lot of people reacted. They got really outraged about it. That was the whole point of the show was that people get really easily offended on the internet.

No one was actually beaten during the show. But the swift and strong negative reaction to the overtly racial themes she was using struck a chord.

The show happened on the same night that five Dallas police officers were fatally shot during a protest over recent police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota. But Nickels said she was on cam at the time the news in Dallas was breaking and didnt know about the tragedy unfolding.

At the beginning the show had nothing to do with people of color, Nickels said. It had nothing to do with police brutality. One of my members said, dont you know these police officers were shot in Dallas? I had no idea because I was on cam.

Once Nickels was informed of what was happening in Dallas, she said she pivoted toward it in her live show.

I think its really important to push the boundaries of discussions. Im a satire artist. Whether or not Im actually racist is irrelevant to the argument. I exist on MyFreeCams in order to challenge people and engage people on a real level, Nickels said.

Judging by how much of a reaction I got its a very important thing. People want to have these difficult conversations.

But many models have taken issue with Nickels and MyFreeCams, one of the largest live-cam sites in the world. One of the most vocal models was Norma Chomsky, whose tweet about the WhoreNickels show on July 8 received 271 retweets and more than 500 favorites.

Chomsky (@normachomsky2) tweeted, Unfortunately, Im relying on my income from MFC until the end of this month, but consider this my notice, attaching an additional screen-cap describing her disgust.

She said she brought the matter to the attention of two MFC execs, including the owner Leo, at a model meet-up event at Exxxotica in Chicago.



This show violated the rules of MFC which prohibit, abusive, inflammatory, or racist language, Chomsky wrote.

She added, These high profile incidents DEFINE the community of MFC and overshadow the less visible, under compensated, incredible work of other models. Permitting hate shows draws a specific audience and we can see the effects of that clearly-top models are white, skinny, cis, het girls and lower ranking models are abused by trolls seeking to destroy fat, dark skinned, alternative, and queer girls. MFC is owned by a white man that profits off the backs of women and his staff gleefully and conveniently turn a blind eye to profitable, racist shows. This is not a community I can continue to be a part of.

Chomsky at post time had not responded to a request for additional comment.

But many others have taken to social media to state their objections to WhoreNickels show and their dissatisfaction with MFC for permitting it.

MFC model Georgie Sparks (@GeorgieSparksss) on July 7 tweeted, if you think anything about what whorenickels does in her shows is okay, unfollow me. idgaf if it's not against the rules. she's vile.

Sadie Marie (@thesadiemarie) on July 7 tweeted a clip of WhoreNickels show with the message, Can MFC step up and perma ban this cunt? Whore Nickels is the Trump of MFC.

MFC member SugarHi (@PosterOfAGirrl) posted a Tumblr blog entry about her thoughts.

There is no doubt that Maggie is a creative and talented cam model, she uses technology in her room that has never been seen on cam sites before, SugarHi wrote on Tumblr. She is able to create characters and entertains people to such an extent that participation in her room is huge. I was a fan of hers.

However it seems that simply being entertaining wasnt enough for her. Maybe she felt she wasnt making enough money, I dont know. Regardless of her intent, her actions have consequencesconsequences which she doesnt seem to care about.

SugarHi later continues, When she performs as a police officer and accepts tips to either beat a person of color or not beat a person of color; whether she is racist or not she attracts racists to her room and gives them a platform to express their opinion. She calls it satire, but its not. Satire uses humor to expose truths or revelations, her shows dont do that. Her shows are about creating shock, creating shock to make money. Im not against making money, in fact in the past Ive tipped Maggie, howevermaking money at someone elses expense is just wrong. Making money in an offensive and racist way is wrong.

Having said all this, Im having trouble blaming Maggie for ALL of this. I actually put a lot of the blame on MyFreeCams. MFC has rules in place that specifically say no harassment of members/models and no racism. Yet Maggie (and others) has broken these rules multiple times and MFC has allowed it to happen. Theyve set a precedent that they are ok with this type of behavior from its models.

In an exclusive statement Friday in response to the controversy, a spokesperson for MyFreeCams said:

On July 7, 2016, the model WhoreNickels broadcasted a controversial performance on MyFreeCams.com in which she dressed in a police officer costume and asked her audience to help decide whether she should or should not Beat a Person of Color.

There is no question that her performance contained racist and inflammatory content.

There was significant debate within the MyFreeCams community, among our members, models, and employees, about whether her performance constituted a violation of our Community Guidelines. Thank you to everyone that contributed to the conversation with various points of view.

Many felt that the racist nature of the performance must be taken literally and immediate action should be taken to protect the community, particularly during such a sensitive time in race relations. However, others pointed out that the model had a history of artistic performances and that this particular performance was clearly satire - defined as "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

The MFC statement continued, Artists have long used satire to bring much-needed attention to controversial issues in an effort to educate and inform the public, often when the issues are too sensitive to be confronted directly.

Before MyFreeCams launched in 2004, webcam sites were porn sites, and webcam models performed specific sex acts according to specific rules. We have worked tirelessly to change that - by nurturing an environment that empowers models to be independent, to be creative, to be innovative, and to be themselves.

One of the core principles of our community is that models are artists, and that their expression deserves the same level of respect and protection as the works of a writer or stage actor. Being a webcam model does not disqualify a person from the freedom of artistic expression. Not all art is good or well-understood; nor does one have to agree with it in order to believe it must be protected.

It is this reasoning that led members of our Community Standards team, who watched the performance as it was happening, to ultimately decide that WhoreNickels was using her artistic performance to bring light to the issue and therefore was not violating the spirit of our Community Guidelines. The team did not take any action against the model, even in the face of complaints and threats. It took courage and level-headedness during what must have been a very stressful time.

To those that respectfully disagreed with their actions, we would like to thank you and tell you that your voice was heard and you are an integral part of the conversation helping shape the future of our community.

Nickels, who is a 24-year-old former pre-school teacher from California who cams from Nevada, said the InternetPopo show is probably one of the less offensive shows Ive done.

A full-time cam model on MFC since last October, Nickels has also performed shows dressed as Osama bin Laden, Jesus, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Stephen Hawking, among other famous personalities.

Gone are my days where I can sit as a cam girl and expect money for being pretty. I have to engage my audience, Nickels said.

First and foremost Im an entertainer and Im an artist. Im promoting discussion and engagement is my job. Sometimes the engagement is positive and sometimes its negative, but its really about encouraging participation in whatever form it comes.

Nickels has dressed up as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump four or five times since January. She said she reads transcripts from his speeches trying to convert people to Trump during these shows; shes taken similar approaches with Clinton and Sanders skits.

She did three consecutive showsApril 21-23dressed as Osama bin Laden.

When I was dressed as Osama, I did a game called 911 Jenga. For 911 tokens, I would knock down two Jenga towers. That got people really upset, Nickels said, noting that not all of my shows are political.

A lot of them are fairly run-of-the-mill.

But Nickels said her politically themed shows are very, very popular.

I usually have a lot more people viewing my political shows and my satire shows. For this most recent one on July 7 I got 130,000 impressions on my Twitter that day. So they get a lot of attention. That was definitely the most controversial one in terms of the reaction, but maybe not in terms of what I would consider the most controversial.

Nickels added, Im not afraid to push the envelope. In some cases if you dont go too far, youve not gone far enough.

Despite the current backlash, she said she doesnt want to suppress what kind of show she may do in the future.



I dont like to put limits on my art or my creative freedom. Thats something I appreciate about the MyFreeCams platform and is they really strive to preserve freedom of speech and creative expression. This is one of the only places on the entire internet where you can have that much creative expression.

Whether its political or satire, I try not to my put any constraints on the possibilities of my shows. Im not doing anything illegal or violent.

Nickels said that no one from MyFreeCams has talked to her about her shows.

A lot of models and some users have laid out their opinions, she said. It doesnt bother me, you get used to it. If you cant have difficult discussions and cant be present for thatyou need to be able to let people vent. You need to be able to let people have different opinions. You cant try to silence either side of the argument or the conversation. Ive become in many ways a straw man for racism and sexism. Ive been lampooned for both. Ive been accused of internalizing misogyny. Whatever it is I think it its really important to have these discussions.

Adult industry attorney Marc Randazza, managing partner of the Randazza Legal Group, said cam girls are afforded the same First Amendment rights as porn producers.

There is no distinction between a cam girl and an adult film producer when it comes to First Amendment protection, Randazza told AVN Friday. As far as obscenity goes, I don't think any of this would be considered to be obscene at all. Obscenity is content that fails the Miller Test. Obscenity is not content that upsets somebody.

Nickels suggested that many who protested her police-themed show didnt watch it or only saw a portion.

My members see the whole context. They are much more understanding in general. Most of the feedback in general came from people who only saw a screenshot of the show and they draw their own conclusions from a very limited bit. Its like the online version of Telephone.

The screenshot circulating was misleading, she claimed.

A lot of people said I was beating a black person. I was actually pretending to beat my dog. It was this whole schtick. The dog was WhoreNickels accomplice and I was trying to get information out of the dog. Someone said they called SPCA animal services on me. It didnt really happen. My members and my users understand its satire. Most of the reaction came from people who maybe watched five minutes of the show or saw the screenshot of it and heard second-hand information.

Regarding accusations that she broke the Rules and Guidelines set forth by MFC on July 7, Nickels said, Ultimately I dont put much stock in other peoples analysis of the rules. If MyFreeCams tells me to stop, I will.

She said one of her upcoming shows is going to be a 48-hour cam-athon when she will dress up like a Venezuelan miner trapped inside a coal mine.

Only tips will able get me out and rescue me, Nickels said.
In Baltimore, the FBI warned that members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang had plotted to ambush officers before a deadly police involved shooting in West Baltimore when four officers came under fire from a 33-year-old man with a self-assembled, high-powered long gun. The police returned fire fatally wounding the suspect, but no officers were injured in the ambush.

"Were lucky we dont have four dead cops today," said Baltimore Police spokesperson TJ Smith. "If this was a successful ambush, then we would have had to plan right now for four funerals."

The gunman, identified as Dayten Ernest Harper, was armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle with armor-piercing rounds according to Baltimore's WJZ News.

The incident follows the deadly police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota spurring nationwide outrage as people looked on in horror as the unjustified killings were videotaped  including a Livestream by Philando Castiles girlfriend who watched narrated the video as her boyfriend bled out from three gun shots to his chest.

Protests ensued in the wake of the killings led by predominantly by Black Lives Matter, but a peaceful demonstration in Dallas turned tragic when a gunmen took aim at police officers killing five and wounding a dozen others in the deadliest strike against cops nationwide since 9/11.

The shooter told police that he was out to kill cops to avenge the deaths of innocent black men across the country who had been wrongfully slain at the hands of aggressive, sometimes racist, cops.

There have been a spate of other incidents where police officers have been ambushed across the country since Dallas with a call to arms made via social media to "kill all police" as part of a "police purge" leading to an FBI Situational Information Report (SIR) warning. The already tense situation between cops and protesters has gotten worse in recent days with a group identifying itself as the New Black Panther Party defiantly carrying long-guns and weapons at the front of protest lines in states where open carry is permitted.
"Military coup has no place in Turkey. Disputes cannot be solved with guns. Events continue to unfold, and the situation is still far from stabilization," Tusk said adding that the "key question is what Turkey will come out of this crisis. Consequences will be crucial for the region and for the relations with the EU. Our hope is to keep Turkey as a key partner in all dimensions."

The summit has addressed the issue of cooperation in the security sphere in relation to the situation in Ukraine, the North Korean nuclear program and the South China Sea dispute, Tusk underscored.

"I hope the summit created a positive momentum to finding an agreement on the South China Sea issue. Still, it is not so easy to agree with our Chinese partners on this issue. But these talks are promising," he said.

"We also addressed the global challenge of migration. Strengthening security cooperation has also been central. Ukraine, North Korea and South China Sea have been discussed," Tusk added.

Earlier, it was reported that the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit successfully concluded in the Mongolian capital and two final documents were adopted.
ULAANBAATAR (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko  "This was a very special summit. Because it was about connectivity, about showing unity in difficult times," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters.

Earlier, it was reported that the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit successfully concluded in the Mongolian capital and two final documents were adopted.
ULAANBAATAR (Sputnik)  The West has suffered damages of about $100 billion because of sanctions against Russia that were imposed in connection with the situation in Ukraine, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.

"According to estimates of international experts, in recent time, the countries that have imposed the sanctions have lost about $100 billion," Medvedev said, adding that most of the participants of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Mongolia that he talked to agree that the measures harm economic relations.
NICE (Sputnik)  According to Molchanov, eyewitnesses said that two of the five Russians were killed in the attack, however the French side has not confirmed that information.

On Thursday night a truck rammed into a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice on the French Riviera. At least 84 people, including children, were killed and dozens of others were injured.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry announced that Turkey had closed crossing points at the border with the country amid the ongoing military coup attempt.

"We expect the official statement by the Turkish authorities, when the situation in the country is back to normal," he said.

In the early hours of Saturday morning the Turkish government came under siege by a faction of military forces who sought to end President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule, claiming that the leader drifted away from the country's long-held secularist values.
"Rosturism recommends Russian citizens staying in the Republic of Turkey to remain calm, not to panic, not to leave the resort areas and places of residence, to refrain from guided tours, not to take part in rallies and demonstrations, to avoid crowded area," the statement read.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Embassy in Turkey said that it had no information on Russian citizens injured during the events surrounding the attempted military coup in Turkey.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a group of servicemen attempted a military coup d'etat in the country. Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Turkey said that it had no information on Russian citizens injured during the events surrounding the attempted military coup.

"According to preliminary reports of the ATOR, not more than 1,000 of organized tourists from Russia are currently in Turkey. Based upon the information provided by transport operators, about 4,000 individual tourists could be in Antalya and Istanbul," the statement said.
"I condemn in the strongest terms any attempt to change the democratic order of Turkey through the use of force . The democratic institutions of Turkey and the constitutional order must be respected," Steinmeier said.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier also called on Turkish government to safeguard the OSCE common values and principles.

"I call on the Turkish Government and democratic institutions to exercise restraint in the aftermath of last nights events. Rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights and freedom of the media must be upheld even in difficult times. We stand ready to support Turkey in safeguarding the common values and principles that constitute the cornerstone of the OSCE," Zannier said.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country is returning to normal life. Over 180 were killed and 1470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have been detained, according to the prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the source, emergency flights might be organized to bring Russian tourists back home as regular flights between Russia and Turkey were provisionally barred.

"The Russian Emergencies Ministry are ready to evacuate the Russian tourists currently holidaying in Turkey, if necessary. They have already requested the ATOR for accurate number of tourists staying at the country's resorts and asked for the lists," the source said.
Military Coup Underway In Turkey

Trending News: Can't Figure Out What The Hell's Going On In Turkey Right Now? Read This

Why Is This Important?

Because tanks and jets occupying a capital city so close to Europe just doesn't happen every day.

Long Story Short

A well orchestrated military coup is underway in Turkey with tanks roaming the streets of Istanbul and jets flying over the capital Ankara. No change of power has been announced, but we'll keep you updated.

Long Story

(Update: It appears like the coup attempt was a failure. Turkish government forces have rounded up nearly 3,000 military personnel, according to Prime Minister Binali Yildrim, and the rebels are reportedly no longer capable of taking over. In the coup, the PM says 265 were killed and 1,440 people were wounded.)

Right now at the time of writing, tanks are blocking the Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul  one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Gunfire is being fired off in the streets. Jets are flying overhead. Essentially, the country of Turkey, known as the bridge between Europe and the Middle East, is in chaos.

The news is fresh, so no one knows exactly what's going on. And that's amplified by the fact that social media has been shut off in the country and the public broadcaster's signal has been cut (update: it's since been turned back on). But according to reports, it looks like the people behind the coup is a group within the military that is fed up with the way things are going. In their words, they says they did the coup to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated, as quoted by TIME.

The government, as spoken for by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim admits there was a coup "attempt," but won't say they've lost power. "The government elected by the people remains in charge," he said, according to Newsweek. "This government will only go when the people say so."

The leader with more of the power in Turkish democracy, President Tayyip Erdogan, is doing fine. He just wants the people to take to the streets and take the country back. Yeah, chaos.

BREAKING (via @Reuters): Turkey's President Erdogan in a secure location, urges people to take to the streets.  Mic (@mic) July 15, 2016

So, what do we make of something like this on our side of the pond? Well, it's like an attack on the red keep in Game of Thrones, but in real life. If that's too fantastical for you, the guy that President Erdogan is blaming for orchestrating the coup is living in exile in Pennsylvania of all places. In addition, Turkey is one of America's greatest strategic allies, particularly in NATO, where it controls the second largest military of the Western alliance. Turkey is also super important if we want to destroy ISIS (we do). Oh, and we have a bunch of nukes there.

The US has nuclear weapons inside Turkey. Scary;https://t.co/wr1sQaRJBv  Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) July 15, 2016

President Obama has been alerted of the situation, and is trying to sort things out before making a statement  it's not like he had enough to worry about considering the police shootings, gun control, the Nice truck attack etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

For some context, things haven't been going too great in Turkey lately and something was probably bound to erupt. In recent months there have been terrible bombings in both the capital Ankara and Istanbul by two different groups. One is ISIS, you know them. The other is a radical offshoot of the Kurdish Peshmerga  the same guys (and gals) who are doing the dirty work for us on the ground against ISIS In Iraq and Syria.

I'm definitely no expert, but historically Turkey's military has been very strong and made its strength felt. It's always maintained that if things far too much astray from the secular democracy, it'll launch a coup. Now, there's pretty much nothing less democratic than a coup  so there's that. But just a little context.

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Who's in control of Turkey?

Disrupt Your Feed

The world hasn't felt this apocalyptic since the Arab Spring.

Drop This Fact

Turkey has also been set off kilter after taking in over 2.5 million Syrian refugees, and that's just the numbers from the end of 2015.
Earlier in the day, a helicopter with eight alleged coup supporters on board landed in Alexandroupolis. Turkey asked Greece to return them. The Greek authorities replied that they will return the helicopter but will apply general procedure to the detained passengers who intend to ask for asylum in the country.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
"So whatever the difficulties are, they have to respect the democracy, human rights and the rule of law," the lawmaker said.

The former PACE headalso stressed that the attempt of coup d'etat in Turkey must be strongly condemned as change of power in the country may only take place through democratic procedures.

"What happened in Turkey is unacceptable because you can never take control over country by force and so that has to be strongly condemned. It could be only through democracy that you can be entitled to have control of a country," Brasseur told Sputnik.

She added that "there is of course a lot to blame Mr. Erdogan for" as he curtailed some of the fundamental freedoms in the country but "he is the legitimate president."

"So we have to condemn very strongly these attempts of coup d'etat," she pointed out.

In total over 180 people were killed and 1,470 injured during the attempt to overthrow Turkish government, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the Turkish prime minister.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Saturday, R-Sport agency obtained a copy of the letter sent by Head of the USADA Travis Tygart to president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach in which he requested to suspend Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees from participating in 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"I consider this a kind of provocation. The letter, its leakage to the media, it is all a special move to see how will the IOC and the WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency], and the Russian side will react. Under no circumstances we should boycott [the Olympics]. We have to fight and defend our rights," Svishchev told R-Sport.
However, it wasn't issued, for in order to do that the council needs a unanimous decision by all 15 members. UNSC diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity that Egypt argued that the UN Security Council should not be determining whether a government had been democratically elected. Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup was taking place in the country.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to the streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country was returning to normal life.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  He added that the spacecraft was expected to dock the International Space Station at 3:22 Moscow time (00:22 GMT) on July 19.

"The launch of Soyuz with Progress MS-03 was carried out according to the schedule," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti.

The freighter will deliver over 2.4 metric tonnes of food and equipment to the station.
Theres really no other way to put it. Scott Zeron is optimistic when it comes to driving Marion Marauder.

The Canadian-based trotter drew post six in his $153,250 division of Saturdays (July 16) Stanley Dancer Memorial for three-year-old male trotters at the Meadowlands Racetrack and will not have to contend with Hambletonian favourite Southwind Frank, who is in the opposite division. Marion Marauder finished second to Southwind Frank four times last season.

Marion Marauder is the 5-2 morning line favourite in his Dancer division, with Jimmy Takter-trained Bar Hopping the 3-1 second choice from post nine in the 11-horse field that will go 1-1/8 miles.

I think the Stanley Dancer looks great, Zeron said of the prep race for the $1 million Hambletonian on Aug. 6 at the Meadowlands. He couldnt be coming into the race any better. Last week when we were just in an overnight to make sure he got prepped for the Dancer, he finished guns a blazin, splitting horses. I didnt have to pull the earplugs and he was as strong as hes ever been going across the wire. Im excited, and hes lightly raced so hes fresh.

Marion Marauder has won three of four races this year, including the Goodtimes Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack on June 18. A week ago, he started from post nine in a three-year-old open at the Meadowlands and stormed home from last place in :26.3 to finish second-placed-first when Jack Vernon made a break and was eventually placed ninth.

Owned by (Marion) Jean Wellwood and Devin Keeling and trained by Mike Keeling & Paula Wellwood, Marion Marauder has won four of 17 career races and earned $404,862. As a two-year-old, he won once in 13 starts but finished second five times and third three times.

Last year he had a few quirks, Zeron said. He didnt like going up to the gate. If he did, you had to follow another horse and then slide him onto the gate at the last second. So that was the main reason we never positioned him in a winnable spot last year. He was always a little too far back. We did what we had to do with the quirks we were working with.

Those issues have been resolved this year, not to mention the fact that Marion Marauder has gotten substantially bigger.

I dont usually see a big difference from (ages) two to three, Zeron said. Not a lot of them get a lot of size and mass to them like Ive seen him do this year. Thats going to be a great thing, were going to need that for two heats in the Hambo.

Since the Stanley Dancer attracted 11 starters in each division, it will be contested at 1-1/8 miles rather than the traditional one-mile distance. That added distance is another reason Zeron feels good about his horse.

I think it helps me, said Zeron, who leads all drivers at the Meadowlands in wins with 70 this year. If he was a stone cold frontrunner I think itd be terrible. But the fact that my horse likes coming off the pace, its good. The further he goes in the mile, the better he picks up his speed. Its better suited to me.

Obviously having trailers is never a good thing but Im perfectly fine with the extra eighth. Im not worried about it being harder for him to win. I feel like its a little easier for him to win.

Of course, its not like Zeron would complain if Marion Marauder got out front.

But so far I like him a little bit better following the helmet, he added. I almost feel like he slowly starts to build up his speed the further in the mile he goes. His last quarter is always going to be his best quarter.

Zeron has driven Marion Marauder in eight of his career starts, including second-place finishes to Southwind Frank in last years William Wellwood Memorial and Breeders Crown.

So far the trips have been working out, Zeron said. Were being patient with him, trying to have him in the right situation heading home, and hell always give you everything hes got. Its always nice driving a trotter whos good gaited, well mannered and lets me do whatever I want with him. Hes very easy for me to drive.

As for not getting another shot at Southwind Frank in the Stanley Dancer, Zeron is not complaining. He hopes it will materialize a few weeks down the road. Southwind Frank, trained by Ron Burke and driven by Yannick Gingras, is the 6-5 morning line favourite in the first of the two Dancer divisions.

Any time you can miss one of the favourites, its good for all of us, he said. To beat Southwind Frank, if we have to do it on Hambo Day than thats the time well try to do it. But its perfectly fine hes in a separate division. By the same token, my horse isnt a frontrunner. Im not saying he cant do it, but horses like Southwind Frank, when theyre in a race they push it and thats always a good thing.

It seems everything about Marion Marauder is a good thing where Zeron is concerned.

Hes given me no inkling as to why he would be not capable of winning (on Saturday) and I feel like hes only gotten that much better every start hes raced this year, he said. The extra eighth should be suited for him. Everything is prepping into solid form for the Hambo and Im excited about it.

Its not hard to tell.

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.
On a program that featured four $100,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes Finals for two-year-olds, Every Way Out and Ariana G stood out as the dominant winners at The Meadowlands on Friday night (July 15).

Every Way Out won the colt and gelding pace by four and three-quarter lengths over Deo Galileo. Firefox Hanover was third.

The son of If I Can Dream led at every call, cutting out fractions of :28, :56.3 and 1:24.4, before sprinting home in :27.4 to record an easy 1:52.3 score for driver Tim Tetrick, trainer Dylan Davis and owners Howard Taylor, Abraham Basen, Edwin Gold and Thomas Lazzaro.

As the 1-9 public choice, Every Way Out returned $2.10 to win and stayed perfect in three starts.

He's got a pretty big motor, said Tetrick. Every time I asked him, there was plenty left.

There was plenty left in Ariana Gs tank as well, as she rolled by seven lengths over Evelyn in 1:53.4 for her second win in as many starts in the filly trot. Feed Your Head was third.

The daughter of Muscle Hill, driven by Yannick Gingras and trained by Jimmy Takter, came uncovered around the far turn and blew her foes away as the 3-2 second choice, returning $5 to win. She is owned by Marvin Katz and Al Libfield.

Checkmate Time, the 6-5 favourite, got jammed up at the three-eighths and went off stride, finishing far back.

In the colt and gelding trot, What The Hill ($17.80) emerged victorious along the rail in deep stretch for driver Andrew McCarthy and trainer Ron Burke, scoring by a head over King On The Hill in 1:55.2. Fly On was third. The maiden-breaking Muscle Hill colt is owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC, Our Horse Cents Stables, and J And T Silva Stables LLC.

Designated Drinker (by If I Can Dream) blew up the toteboard in the filly pace, gunning down 1-5 favourite Livinginthedream in 1:55.2 to record her first win by a neck for owner/trainer/driver Chris Lems at odds of 40-1, paying $82.40 to win. Wonderful World was third.

Lems picked a great time to record his first career driving win at the Big M.

It could not have come at a better time, said Lems.

LITTLE EXTRAS: Jeff Gurals Little E LLC owned a half-dozen of the trotters in the NJSS finals.  The fifth race 20-cent Jackpot Super High Five did not have a single-ticket winner, upping the carryover for the next program to $35,773.41.  All-source wagering on the 14-race program totalled $2,590,736, which represents an increase of $193,482 over the corresponding card from last year, which had 13 races.  Saturday nights huge Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace Night program has an early post time of 6:30 p.m. In addition to a star-studded stakes slate, the card also features a mandatory payout of the late Jackpot Super High Five, which has a carryover of $267,769.

(With files from Meadowlands Racetrack; Photos courtesy Lisa Photo - Top left, clockwise: Every Way Out, What The Hill, Designated Drinker, Ariana G)
Dale Sweet has been a Standardbred owner for more than four decades, with a penchant for the trotting gait. The 70-year-old Toledo, Ohio resident was in the Scioto Downs winners circle on July 15 to celebrate his Ohio Sires Stakes third-leg winner Overdressed, who bested nine rivals in 1:56.3.

Three $40,000 OHSS contests for sophomore trotting colts were featured on a mild and pleasant Friday evening at the five-eighths mile, central Ohio oval.

The win was the Full Count geldings second in OHSS competition this season. Conditioned by Miles Wollam for Sweet and co-owners G&B Racing of New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, Overdressed had won the first leg of this series on June 4 at Northfield Park in 1:57.3 with Kurt Sugg in the bike.

Dale, who retired from the furniture upholstery manufacturing industry at age 50, has spent 20 years utilizing the talents of Ohios trotting magician Marty Wollam, and for the past several years has also had horses in training with Miles, Martys son.

I try to keep things in the family, Sweet laughed, before turning serious. Miles certainly comes from good stock and is a terrific horseman in his own right. The Wollams run a strong, organized operation and their horses come first. Theyre easy on their babies and always have the horses best interests at heart.

Sugg was back in the bike behind the gigantic trotter Friday for Overdresseds fourth victory of 2016 in seven starts. The brown gelding upped his seasonal earnings to $68,762 and his career earnings to $120,579 en route to his fifth lifetime triumph.

Miles put ear plugs in [the horse] tonight, Sugg revealed. The other horse [The Next Triumph] had a pretty surmountable lead at one point, but my horse really dug in to catch him.

Sugg wasnt joking.

The Next Triumph (Ronnie Wrenn Jr.) had moved first up via urging from his driver near the :57 half and quickly took the lead from Laser Leo (Kayne Kauffman). The Triumphant Caviar colt then drew away from his rivals by four lengths and appeared poised for his sixth victory of the year at the 1:25.2 three-quarter marker. Overdressed, the 2-1 favourite, then exploded out of the turn to overtake his rival and prevail by a length at the wire. Chips So Fast (Chris Page) and SR Rader (Ryan Stahl) finished in a dead-heat for third-place honours.

Marvin Raber of Baltic, Ohio bred Overdressed, who is a full brother to OHSS winner Dark Roast.

MJB Got Faith, the even-money favourite, did not disappoint his backers as he won the first OHSS division easily in 1:55.3 for driver Kayne Kauffman.

This colt is very versatile -- he can leave or you can sit with him and he pretty much does anything you ask him to do, Kauffman noted.

The son of Trainforthefuture was under wraps as he trotted confidently through panels of :28, :57.2 and 1:26.3 to score his fourth win of 2016 and the ninth of his career. Emerald Chip (Josh Sutton) was second-best, while Andis Unreal (Chris Page) picked up show honours.

Owned by Breana Carsey of Connersville, Indiana, and bred by Gbw Breeding Farms of Ohio, MJB Got Faith has $239,600 in his career coffers.

The final OHSS test saw Kayne Kauffman back in the winners circle, this time with 5-1 upsetter Wegoferdaprize, a son of And Away We Go who is conditioned by Jessica Millner for the Curran Racing Stable of Red Hook, New York.

The only instructions I got was to win the race, Kauffman laughed. This was the first time I had sat behind this colt, so I really didnt know him, but I was impressed that he was able to trot as fast and as well as he did.

Kanthanka (Aaron Merriman), the 4-5 favourite, had led the field of 10 through splits of :27.4, :57.4 and 1:25.3 and looked like a sure winner before Wegoferdaprize used a :29.3 final brush to prevail over his rival by a whisker. Another Breath (Sandy Beatty) finished third.

Bill Troyer of Ohio bred Wegoferdaprize, who upped his seasonal earnings to $38,420 and his career purse account to $49,525. He was a $6,500 yearling purchase at the August 2014 Blooded Horse Sale.

(With files from OSDF)
Bring A Friend rolls into Saturday at three Ontario tracks including Hiawatha Horse Park, Hanover Raceway and Mohawk Racetrack. Each track has organized a fun-filled evening to provide race fans and guests with an unforgettable racing experience!

Racing gets underway at 7:00 p.m. at Hiawatha Horse Park in Sarnia, Ontario. Free tips sheets and programs will be provided to the first 50 guests along with prize draws for rides in the starting gate car. There will also be draws for Hiawatha Horse Park swag and gift cards to The Driving Range at Hiawatha. The I Love Canadian Harness Racing Fan Club will offer an on-track Pick 3 Survivor Contest and give away free Trot magazines and posters! Winner of the Pick 3 Survivor Contest will receive a $50 prize package.

To view entries and program pages for Hiawatha, click one of the following links:

Hiawatha Horse Park: Entries -- Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)

In conjunction with Hanover Raceway celebrating its 52nd year of racing, it will also be celebrating its fourth consecutive year participating in the Bring A Friend promotion. Gates will open at 6:15 p.m. with first race post time scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Hanover Raceway will offer prize draws for rides in the starting gate car and a chance to take part in a winners circle presentation. Special prizes will also be available for all members and their friends!

To view entries and program pages for Hanover, click one of the following links:

Hanover Raceway: Entries -- Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)

Mohawk Racetrack in Campbelleville, Ontario will open their gates at 6:30 p.m. to get the Bring A Friend promotion started. The first 50 members and friends who sign in at the Bring A Friend registration table will receive a free program and a free $2 bet. Customer service reps will also be available trackside to help newcomers with betting.

To view entries and program pages for Mohawk, click one of the following links:

Mohawk Racetrack: Entries -- Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT)

If you and your friends cant make it to one of these three tracks on Saturday, its not too late to take part! Bring A Friend will continue on Sunday at Truro Raceway, Century Downs Racetrack & Casino, Clinton Raceway and Rideau Carleton Raceway.

Dont forget to sign in at your tracks Bring A Friend Registration Table. Those who sign-up will be entered into two exclusive draws for a $100 gift card to any Canadian harness racetrack and a $50 I Love Canadian Harness Racing Fan Club Prize Package.

Lets expose some new people to the sport and industry we all love. We can share our passion for harness racing while enjoying a great day at the track! See you there! Here are some tips on how to have a great time at the track with your friends.

Dont forget to capture your Bring A Friend memories on your smartphone or camera and enter your photos in Julys Zoom Contest. We want to see your best snaps of you and your guests enjoying your time at the track! Whether its reading the program, watching the races or making a bet, show us how much fun you had at the track.

Zoom contest details can be found HERE. Deadline for submissions is July 25.

To view a detailed list of the activities taking place at each track this weekend, click HERE.
J-POP SUMMIT 2016, one of the world's biggest Japanese pop culture events, announces a dynamic showcase of inspired Japanese fashion at this year's festival. This year, the J-POP SUMMIT gathers a colorful vanguard of edgy and unique Japanese fashion labels and purveyors.

J-POP SUMMIT 2016 will take NEXT Saturday and Sunday, July 23rd and 24th at the historic Fort Mason Center located in San Franciscos Marina district. Highlights of this years programming include

SOUSOU- modern Japanese style clothing brand

6%DOKIDOKI- vivid kawaii brand

Sebastian Masuda- Guest of Honor and fashion visionary and 6%DOKIDOKI founder

UNA - pop star and fashion model, for a special live performance.

Details are available at: www.j-pop.com/fashion-line-up.

J-POP SUMMIT is also proud to welcome AOI Clothing, a contemporary brand creating apparel founded on the concept of Euro-Asian design.

There also will be a dynamic live MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Stage and a collaborative display and pop-up boutique  Harajuku Chaos that will showcase a further array of popular fashion brands.

J-POP SUMMIT TO SHOWCASE COLORFUL JAPANESE FASHION TRENDS AND EDGY APPAREL BRANDS AT THIS MONTHS EXPLOSION OF POP CULTURE

The San Francisco Bay Areas Premiere Japanese Pop Culture Event Celebrates Harajuku And Kawaii Fashion with Guests of Honor and Unique Opportunities to Purchase Products from A Dynamic Array of Fashion Brands

San Francisco, CA, July 15, 2016  J-POP SUMMIT 2016, one of the worlds biggest Japanese pop culture events, announces a dynamic showcase of inspired Japanese fashion at this years festival.

J-POP SUMMIT 2016 will take place Saturday and Sunday, July 23rd and 24th at the historic Fort Mason Center located in San Franciscos Marina district.

This year, the J-POP SUMMIT gathers a colorful vanguard of edgy and unique Japanese fashion labels and purveyors. Highlights of this years programming include workshops, exhibits, apparel items and accessories available for purchase from modern Japanese style clothing brand, SOUSOU, along with a variety of other handpicked items and brands from Japan including the vivid kawaii brand, 6%DOKIDOKI located at the MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Area. Details are available at: www.j-pop.com/fashion-line-up.

The Festival also will celebrate the return of Guest of Honor and fashion visionary, Sebastian Masuda, art director and an extremely influential artist for Harajuku kawaii culture, for a special series of events and attendee meet-and-greet sessions, as well as rising pop star and fashion model, UNA, for a special live performance.

J-POP SUMMIT is proud to welcome AOI Clothing, a contemporary brand creating apparel founded on the concept of Euro-Asian design. There also will be a dynamic live MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Stage and a collaborative display and pop-up boutique  Harajuku Chaos  that will showcase a further array of popular fashion brands.

J-POP Summit / MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Guests of Honor include:

UNA

UNA made her debut in 2013 and has since been around the world with her live music shows. As a model, her very cool and edgy original style has made her the new It Girl of Harajuku, garnering tremendous media attention and fan support. More details at: www.j-pop.com/guests/una-2016/.

Sebastian Masuda

Sebastian Masuda is an art director and an extremely influential artist for the Harajuku kawaii culture. He is the successful producer of a brand and shop in Harajuku called 6% DOKIDOKI, and is also famous for being the art director for Kyary Pamyu Pamyus PON PON PON music video. His recent work includes directing KAWAII MONSTER CAFE in Harajuku. He currently lives in New York and has been working on a project called TIME AFTER TIME CAPSULE aimed toward year 2020. Join us and be a part of his latest art movement!! More details at:

www.j-pop.com/guests/sebastian-masuda.

Additional details on J-POP SUMMIT 2016 fashion programming follows below:

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Area

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON is a project that spreads Japanese pop culture to the world - including fashion, music, anime, food and more. J-POP SUMMIT attendees can browse and purchase handpicked items from Japan at the MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON Area. Among its interesting products, Kendama from Yamagata, Japan is a must-see. This Kendama is produced by ASOBEAMS which is a collaborating brand of the top Japanese apparel brand, BEAMS and talent agency, ASOBISYSTEM which Kyary Pamyu Pamyu belongs to. Also do not miss a special appearance and photo session by artist and model UNA at the booth. More details on MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON are available at: www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp.

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON will also hold a special lottery event entitled MOSHI MOSHI LOTTO at their area during J-POP SUMMIT to give away a trip to Japan and other exciting prizes. More details: http://member.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/2016event#jpop

Other interesting brands that attendees can discover in this area include:

AEON

AEON is setting up a special photo booth in the MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON area. Attendees are invited to don a Yukata robe and take a photo in front of ONE PIECE character graphics!! Fans can get the photo printed right away by posting it on social media using #ENJOYAEON.

HARAJUKU CHAOS

Tokyos vibrant Harajuku district continues to give rise to an abundance of complex and unique fashion trends full of a diverse range of culture. ASOBISYSTEM, which delivers Japanese culture from Harajuku, teams with GAS AS INTERFACE to hold the first installment of a new, collaborative project called HARAJUKU CHAOS. The booth at J-POP SUMMIT will be stocked with Chaos wears and products featuring a logo designed by 3 up-and-coming artists that include graphic designer and painter, Naoki Sand Yamamoto of the brand SAYHELLO, art director Yoshirotten, and illustrator Esther Kim.

More details are available at: www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/12743.

6%DOKIDOKI

Legions of Japanese fashion fans are already familiar with the colorful and visually provocative pop products from 6%DOKIDOKI. Don't miss out on the many kawaii goodies that are usually sold exclusively in Japan!

More information at: http://dokidoki6.com/

MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON STAGE

Time & Place: 1:30-2:20 pm on the J-POP SUMMIT Main Stage on Saturday, July 23rd

ASOBISYSTEM model and pop artists, UNA, makes a triumphant return to J-POP SUMMIT for a special live performance. During the program, attendees also can enjoy a fashion discussion led by UNA with a special appearance by Sebastian Masuda.

SOUSOU Kyoto San Francisco

SOUSOU Kyoto Introduces Japanese classic "Tabi" work shoes and kimono inspired clothing with vibrant patterns. While SOUSOUs design are modern and bold, they are also dedicated to preserving the best of traditional technique by actively working with skilled Japanese craftsmen and time tested materials.

Shop online at http://www.sousouus.com. During J-POP SUMMIT, SOUSOU San Francisco will open a pop-up shop for two days and host special workshop sessions. They also will offer exclusive J-POP Summit campaigns at their booth including a10% discount for Furoshiki and Tenugui purchased and special giveaway for free SOUSOU ceramic plate for purchases over $50.

SOUSOU Workshop

Title: Wrap things up! Tenugui and Furoshiki Workshop

Place: SOUSOU San Francisco Booth: C 12

Times: 12pm, 2pm, 4pm (both days).

Come see the demonstration of centuries old Japanese wrapping cloths, "Furoshiki" and "Tenugui. Learn the multiple uses, such as gift wrap, bento box cover, and more!

AOI Clothing

AOI Clothing is a Japanese/French fashion brand based in Paris. Antique kimono fabrics are recycled in contemporary designs delivering a unique concept of Euro-Asian ready to wear apparel. The brands concept first resides in the principle of mixing. KOKONTOZAI is a Japanese idiom that illustrates the union between East and West, antique and modern. Traditional patterns and fabrics mixed with contemporary lines and shapes, eastern and western codes join into a timeless and universal creation.

Additional information is available at: www.aoiclothing.com/gb/.

About J-POP SUMMIT

J-POP SUMMIT is one of the worlds biggest Japanese pop culture events, held every summer in San Francisco, CA. By introducing the latest in Japanese music, fashion, film, art, games, tech-innovations, anime, food, as well as niche subcultures, the festival has become a landing platform for new trends from Japan.

Official website: www.j-pop.com

Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JPOPSUMMIT/featured
Following an 18-hour search, police have arrested a man suspected of killing three people and injuring a fourth at a Woodland home Friday night.

According to a Clark County Sheriffs Office press release, Washington State Patrol troopers and Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies arrested Brent Luyster, 35, at around 4:15 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of Abernathy Creek and Ocean Beach Highway, just west of Stella.

Luyster was awaiting an Oct. 17 trial in Cowlitz County for allegedly pistol whipping his ex-girlfriend May 16. He was out on bail, which he posted a month ago.

At about 10:30 p.m., Woodland police were called to a possible shooting and found a woman with a gunshot wound to her face. The woman drove herself to the Arco gas station on Lewis River Road in Woodland, according to the Clark County Sheriffs Office.

The woman, who was taken to a hospital, told deputies she and others had been shot at a residence at 4006 N.W. 417th St., which is on the Clark County side of the Lewis River east of Woodland off of N. Hayes Road.

Members of the Clark County Sheriffs Office and Southwest Regional SWAT responded and reportedly found two men dead outside the residence and a woman dead inside the residence. Police did not release names of any of the victims.

Staff at the gas station said Saturday the woman drove up in her red car, screaming. She was bleeding profusely from her face. They said a customer told staff to call police and to get towels for the wound.

Clark County sheriffs detectives, Woodland police and the Regional Major Crimes Unit are investigating, but released few details about the shootings Saturday afternoon. Some of the victims family members have been notified.

Law enforcement immediately began searching for Luyster, a skinhead covered in neo-Nazi tattoos, was authorities described as armed and extremely dangerous.

He was arrested without incident.

Were really pleased it ended peaceably, said Clark County Sgt. Fred Neiman on Saturday.

Luyster pleaded not guilty in Cowlitz Superior Court May 25 to allegations that he pistol-whipped his ex-girlfriend and fired at Cowlitz County sheriffs deputies during the May 16 incident. He faces charges of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree assault and felony harassment.

Luysters 32-year-old ex-girlfriend called police at 3 a.m. May 16 to report that she had awakened to Luyster hitting her in the head and face with a pistol at his house at 123 Solo Drive. According to the ex-girlfriend, he grabbed her hair and dragged her down the hallway.

Deputies found her bleeding from the head. When they approached Luysters house, deputies heard shots fired from the woods nearby and believed Luyster was shooting at them, according to a press release. He eventually surrendered.

Judge Michael Evans set bail at $90,000, and Luyster posted it on June 7. It appears Judge Marilyn Haan had previously set bail at $150,000.

The girlfriend later told police she feared Luyster, who was out on bail by then, was trying to look for her and the child they have together.

Police dont believe anyone besides the victims and the killer were in the home at the time of the crimes.

The Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism and other bigotry, identified Luyster and his brother Robert A. Luyster as white supremacists.

A Confederate flag flies atop the Woodland home and neighbors suspected the homes renter also was a white supremacist. Clark County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Fred Neiman said he didnt have knowledge of any criminal or white supremacist activity at the home.

Two homes are located north and south of the property, both downhill from the home. Their residents, all friends, gathered over cigarettes Saturday afternoon at one of their homes on Backman Road. They swapped memories of what they heard and saw Friday night, and recalled a testy relationship with the homes renter.

Lisa and Jeff Daniels, who live south of the property, said they were flipping through channels in their bedroom Friday night when they heard what sounded like a cluster of gunshots.

Jeff Daniels recalled the sound, which came at about 10:15 p.m.: Pow, pow, pow. He guessed he heard between three and four shots.

We didnt act on it because its not abnormal around the area, Jeff Daniels said.

Our thought is always, hope they get that coyote! Bonnie Peterson said.

About 10 minutes later, they reported a small red car leaving the property.

Peterson described the renter, whom neighbors said was in his mid-30s, as angry and violent  the odd egg of the neighborhood. Petersons home and the home where the bodies were found are two of four homes along a half mile stretch of private road.

Neighbors described the home as a double-wide manufactured home, with a fenced off carport (like a shed) and a trailer.

Neighbors said they called police to the property two or three times last summer for complaints about the renter shooting off what sounded like a clip of bullets from a semi-automatic gun and for domestic violence complaints. By winter, though, things had calmed down and the renter became friendly. However, he had recently put up several No trespassing signs at the property.

We all wanted to get along, Lisa Daniels said.
RAINIER  Rainier business owner Carrie Frank was heartbroken when she first heard about last months massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 and injured 53 others. While watching TV coverage, Frank said she decided to act.

Frank, the owner of Glaze, Gifts & Giggles, a paint-your-own pottery shop, prepared more than 100 mugs for community members to paint at her shop, for free. Each Cup of Love mug face bears the name of an individual victim, which Frank plans to send to the families of victims and survivors.

It makes me feel good that were able to help make something that those families will be able to use daily that reminds them of the person they love, said Lexi Vanderford, who helped paint the mugs.

Vanderford brought her 2-year-old twin boys, Aiden and Tate, and 5-year-old Preston to help paint, too.

The paint-a-thon began last week, with community members gathering at the shop. Mugs were painted with a bubble technique, which Frank says makes it easy for everyone to paint.

Painters use a straw to blow air into a cup of paint mixed with a small amount of soap and water. The bubbles that form are then transferred to the mugswhen they pop, they leave behind paint in effervescent patterns. The mugs will be painted with all the colors of the rainbow to represent the LGBT pride flag, because Pulse is a gay hangout.

They had a blast. The two-year-olds just love it, Vanderford said.

While the twins are too young to understand what the mugs were for, Vanderford said she explained to her son Preston that the fun project was part of a good cause.

He knows what the project is about and understands that were trying to help people, Vanderford said.

Frank said shes spent nearly $800 of her own money on the project and she isnt making a penny from this. She was able to get donated mugs for the project, as well as donated ceramic hearts, which are glazed and placed within the mug on the bottom.

J.C. Penney of Kelso has also agreed to let Frank ship the mugs using their company shipping account, something Frank said would cost nearly $500 to do on her own. She still has not set a shipping date.

Frank also had a vision of including rainbow colored candy with each mug to add some sweetness to the project. After making many phone calls, help came from an unexpected place: The Jelly Belly Candy Company.

Frank said she was initially put off from asking the company for help because it requires organizations asking for donations to be a registered non-profit with 501(3) status in either California, Wisconsin, or Illinois, where the companys factories are located.

She decided to call despite her reservations and was greeted by employees receptive to her project. One manager especially helped Frank obtain sweet treats to fill each mug.

Her heartstrings were pulled, just like mine, Frank said. When the employee called back to let her know that she gotten the donation approved, Frank could tell. I could hear in her voice that the answer was yes.
Like pigeons and hens, Bears too can recognise photos without knowing the nature of image

You will be astonished to know but a team of researchers has found that bears can recognise real life objects on the screen. American black bear named Migwan was able to identify real life objects like food, humans, or photographs which were later displayed on the screen of a computer.

Scientists have previously found such traits of picture-object recognition in hens, pigeons, tortoise, horse and rhesus monkeys, but it was unknown in the case of bears yet. Picture-Object recognition is the ability of an animal to recognise or respond to a picture and the real life objects in a similar way.

Researchers from the Oakland University examined an 11-year-old female American black bear named Migwan that lives in Detroit Zoological Society. Study authors showed several images of humans and other objects to Migwan and examined whether she recognised them or not.

At first go, the research team showed all new objects and the showed photographs of those objects to test if she recognised them? Then the order was reversed, this time photographs were shown before the objects.

It was found that in case familiar objects, the bear was able to recognise them in photographs presented on the computer screen. Lead study author Zoe Johnson-Ulrich said, Bears can transfer learning with real objects to photographs of those objects presented on computer screens.

Photographs shown to Migwan included images of humans, food, other bears, animals, and some other objects.

Scientists further added that although bears can recognise how a photo looks but they might not recognise the nature of photographs and how to behave differently according to different photographs.

The study will also help in understanding behaviour of bear towards real life object by just showing the photographs to them as photographic stimuli use familiar images, said co-author of the study Jennifer Vonk.

Moreover, previously Migwan had received training with photographs of food from her diet.

The study appeared in the journal Animal Cognition.
The Yulieski Gourriel sweepstakes has a winner. The Houston Astros reached an agreement with the Cuban infielder on a sizable 5-year, $47.5 million deal Friday afternoon.

Gourriel had suitors from all over the MLB. In addition to the Astros, the Dodgers, Yankees, Padres, Giants, Angels, and Mets were all interested in procuring his services. The 32-year-old has not played competitive baseball this season, so he will almost assuredly need a stint in the minor leagues before he is ready to join the big league club.

However, Gourriel promises to be a significant addition to the Astros once he reaches the MLB. He has played in three World Baseball Classics on the Cuban team, and was always one of the more electrifying players at the events.

Gourriel figures to slot in at third base for the Astros, which should give them an upgrade over current starter Luis Valbuena. Through his 15-year professional career in Cuba and Japan, Gourriel slashed an impressive .335/.417/.580.

However, Gourriels arrival would seem to put a block on one of the organizations best prospects, infielder Alex Bregman. Bregman, last years No. 2 overall pick, has lit the minor leagues on fire with his hitting. He is currently at AAA Fresno, where he is batting .389 with five home runs, three doubles and 14 RBIs in eight games since his promotion from AA Corpus Christi.

Bregman has mostly played shortstop in the minor leagues, but with Carlos Correa occupying that slot in the big leagues, he was making the transition to third base in preparation for his big-league call up. But his major league future is murkier with Gourriel now in the picture.

The Astros have rebounded from a disastrous start to the 2016 season, and with one or more stellar hitters on their way, Houston has to like its chances at a second-consecutive playoff birth. There may be a debate regarding who should be manning third for the team, but the options of Bregman and Gourriel make for an embarrassment of riches  a good problem to have for a team readying for the stretch run.
Turkey: Mass arrests after coup bid quashed, says PM

Reuters Image caption Erdogan supporters have been celebrating the surrender of soldiers in Istanbul

BBC Online: Some 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested over an attempted coup that is now over, says Turkey's PM Binali Yildirim.

In a night he called a "black stain on Turkish democracy", he said 161 people had been killed and 1,440 wounded.

Explosions and gunfire were heard in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere overnight and thousands of Turks heeded President Erdogan's call to rise up against the coup-plotters.

It is not clear who is behind the coup.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed a "parallel structure", in a clear reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric he accuses of fomenting unrest.

However, in a statement, Mr Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events, saying he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey".

The attempted coup happened because Turkey is deeply divided over President Erdogan's project to transform the country and because of the contagion of violence from the war in Syria.

President Erdogan and his AK Party have become experts at winning elections, but there have always been doubts about his long-term commitment to democracy. He is a political Islamist who has rejected modern Turkey's secular heritage. Mr Erdogan has become increasingly authoritarian and is trying to turn himself into a strong executive president.

From the beginning Mr Erdogan's government has been deeply involved in the war in Syria, backing Islamist opposition to President Assad. But violence has spread across the border, helping to reignite the fight with the Kurdish PKK, and making Turkey a target for the jihadists who call themselves Islamic State.

That has caused a lot of disquiet. Turkey has faced increasing turmoil and the attempt to overthrow President Erdogan will not be the last of it.

Events began on Friday evening when tanks took up positions on two bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, blocking it to traffic. Troops were seen on the streets and low-flying military jets were filmed over Ankara.

Shortly after, a faction of the army released a statement saying that a "peace council" was running the country, and it had launched the coup "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms".

President Erdogan was in the south-west holiday resort of Marmaris at the time. He made a televised address, via his mobile phone, urging people to take to the streets to oppose the uprising.

He then flew on to Istanbul, saying Marmaris had been bombed after he left.

In a speech at Istanbul airport, Mr Erdogan said: "What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price."

The Turkish parliament and presidential buildings in Ankara were attacked. At least one bomb hit the parliament complex. MPs were believed to be hiding in shelters.

Gunfire was also heard outside Istanbul police headquarters and tanks were said to be stationed outside Istanbul airport.

Broadcaster CNN Turk was temporarily taken off air after soldiers entered the building and tried to take it over. CNN Turk later tweeted a photo of soldiers being arrested by police.

Mike Baddeley, on holiday in Marmaris, said he was woken by "a very large explosion, followed by, it seemed like one or two helicopters flying above our heads... with machine gun fire".

In the morning, he saw armed men in military fatigues walking around the hotel, but no further violence.

There were reports of fierce clashes in Taksim Square in the centre of Istanbul, and gunfire and explosions were heard near the square.

One of the helicopters being flown by rebels was shot down by government troops in Ankara.

Sporadic gunfire was still being reported in some areas by morning.

Prime Minister Yildirim said the situation was now "completely under control" and the government's commanders were now back in charge.

Earlier, the acting military chief of staff Umit Dundar said officers from the air force, the military police and armoured units had been mainly involved in the coup attempt.

He said that although the chief of staff had been rescued, several military commanders were still being held hostage.

Greek police say a Turkish military helicopter landed in the north of Greece on Saturday with eight men seeking asylum. Most were in military uniform and were believed to have been involved in the coup attempt, Greek TV reported.

Earlier, some 200 unarmed soldiers left Turkey's military headquarters in Ankara and surrendered to police, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Dramatic images showed dozens of soldiers walking away from their tanks with their hands up on one of Istanbul's Bosphorus bridges.
IS claims Nice massacre as France mulls security failings

Forensic officers stand near the truck that an attacker used to plow through people who had gathered to watch fireworks Thursday night in Nice, France.

AFP, Nice (France) :The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack in which a Tunisian drove a truck through a crowd in Nice, killing 84, prompting hard questions in France over security failures.In a statement via its Amaq news service IS said one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack on Thursday night "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)". Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into crowd of people in the Riviera city who were celebrating Bastille Day -- France's national day. Police said he had no known connection to jihadist groups.French President Francois Hollande met with his defence and security chiefs and cabinet ministers as criticism from the opposition and media mounted over security failings after the third major attack in France in 18 months. "If we are at war, as the government tells us, then the currency of war is intelligence, learning from experience, analysing failures and victories," wrote Yann Marec in an editorial for the southern region's Midi Libre newspaper.He was one of several calling for action, and not merely "the same old solemn declarations" from the government, as Le Figaro daily said. Some 30,000 people had thronged the palm tree-lined Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night to watch a fireworks display with their friends and families, but the night turned to horror as the truck left mangled bodies strewn in its wake.Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people still fighting for their lives.Four more people linked to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel have been arrested. The driver's estranged wife is also being held by police.IS also claimed responsibility for November 13 attacks in which 130 people were killed in Paris, while gunmen in January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo weekly and a Jewish supermarket were linked to both IS and Al-Qaeda.The massacre has once again shaken the country to its core, and prompted questions about the effectiveness of security measures with the country already under an eight month-long state of emergency.
Attempted Turkey coup threatens US fight against IS

Turkey\'s police patrolling a street in Ankara.

Reuters, Washington :The attempted military coup in Turkey could hamper the United States in its war against Islamic State in Syria and undermine other U.S. goals in the Middle East by weakening democracy and sparking prolonged instability in the NATO pact's only Muslim member.With the Turkish military and security services apparently split as gunfire and explosions rocked both Istanbul and the capital Ankara on Friday night, the United States made clear it was siding with the government of President Tayyip Erdogan. Relations between Erdogan's government and the U.S. administration have been rocky, but he has broadly cooperated in the fight against Islamic State."The United States views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey," Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. He later stressed Washington's "absolute support" for the democratically elected government during a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.Whatever the outcome, analysts said, the U.S. ally now faces a period of political and economic instability. That could divert the Turkish military and security services from stemming a recent series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, fighting a Kurdish insurrection and shutting off the flow of foreign militants across its border to and from Syria."From the U.S. perspective, the worst case scenario might be an ineffective coup that pitches Turkey into a prolonged power struggle," said Blaize Misztal, the national security director at the Bipartisan Policy Center."Even a quickly executed coup which met little resistance would be destabilizing, but a partial or unsuccessful coup would lead to much more instability ahead."Turkey, the bridge between Europe and the Middle East, has NATO's second-largest army after that of the United States, and is the region's largest economy. Despite a history of military coups, the country of 75 million people is the region's oldest democracy, and has helped provide stability in southeastern Europe and the Middle East."This could be one of the most critical challenges of the Obama administration. A stable Turkey is crucial to American interests in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus," said Bruce Riedel, of the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst. "A democratic Turkey, even if flawed, is essential to any hopes of political reform in the Middle East."Turkey is host to important U.S. and NATO military facilities. They include Incirlik Air Base, from which U.S. fighters and drones hit Islamic State in neighboring Syria, a CIA base from which the agency has been supporting moderate Syrian rebel forces, U.S. listening posts and an early warning radar for NATO's European missile defense system.Turkey was scheduled to attend a meeting near Washington next week of the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition, although it was unclear if the attempted coup would affect that.U.S. officials have criticized Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism, Turkey's support for Islamist opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the slow pace in sealing its border with Syria to foreign fighters.
Who is Lahouaiej Bouhlel?

BBC Online :

French prosecutors have confirmed that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was behind the wheel of the lorry that ploughed into people celebrating Bastille Day on the seafront in Nice on Thursday, killing scores of people.

The 31-year-old Tunisian delivery man was identified by his fingerprints after his driver's licence, mobile phone and credit card were found inside the vehicle by police who shot him dead.

Lahouaiej Bouhlel was totally unknown to the intelligence services, but Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said he was a "terrorist without doubt linked to radical Islamism in one way or another".

Tunisian security sources told BBC Arabic that Lahouaiej Bouhlel was from the northern town of Msaken, about 10km (6 miles) outside the coastal city of Sousse.

He had relatives who still lived there and visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago, the sources added. Lahouaiej Bouhlel was married with three children, although he no longer lived with his wife, who was detained for questioning by police on Friday. A woman who knows the family told the BBC that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was thrown out of their home in the Le Ray area of Nice more than a year ago after allegedly beating his wife.

Several neighbours in the four-storey block of flats in the Abattoirs area where he subsequently moved described him as "quiet" and a "loner" who did not even respond to their greetings.

He had a van parked nearby and would often be seen climbing the stairs to his first-floor flat, carrying his bike.

He also did not seem overtly religious. Locals said he was often seen drinking beer and never attended the small mosque near his block of flats.

Anan, who lived on the ground floor, said she was suspicious of him because he was "a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye".

One woman recalled that he was nice to her and helped her all the time. But, she said, his behaviour was sometimes "strange". He once asked to rent her mailbox and that when she refused he had called her "nasty", she added. When she learnt of the attack, she immediately wondered if he might have been involved.

On Friday morning, investigators and forensic experts raided his flat and seized a telephone and computer.

Prosecutor Francois Molins told a news conference that Lahouaiej Bouhlel had been in trouble with police between 2010 and 2016 for threatening behaviour, violence and petty theft.


Protest meeting of ZHMCH held

Chittagong Bureau :

A protest meeting of the Dr Zakir Hossain City Corporation Homeopathic Medical College & Hospital(ZHMCH) was held on July 12 last at its auditorium with Principal Dr. Md. Nurul Amin in the chair.

The meeting protested the news item published against the ZHMCH in a national Bengali daily recently regarding non-compliance of Homeo Board's rules and regulations . In the meeting, teachers, officials of the college presented their respective statements.

The meeting was told that a vested quarters in conspiring against the college and all the teachers, officials irrespective of caste and creed expressed consensus to remain aware against the conspiracy of the vested quarters.

The meeting termed the news that published is false and motivated and demanded exemplary punishment of the vested quarters, a college sources said.


TTC to be built at each UZ: Minister



Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam said on Saturday the government has a plan to set up Technical Training Centre (TTC) at each Upazila to build efficient workers to create overseas employment.

"Technical Traning Centre will be built at each Upazila to make efficient workers for overseas employment. The training will help increase their salary as well as reputation of Bangladesh abroad," he said after paying visit to Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Women Tenchnical Training Centres at Darus Salam area here.

"Many workers who have got training from the technical training centre are now getting jobs abroad and working with reputation," he also said, adding that it is needed to increase language skill of the overseas workers.

The minister visited the training sessions of different trade such as garments, computer, architecture drafting, dyeing, printing, block-batik, electronics, industrial house-keeping and housemaid house-keeping.

He was accompanied by ambassador of Bangladesh in Saudi Arabia Golam Masih, Director General (DG) of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, Selim Reza, and DG of Wage Earners' Welfare Board Gazi Muhammad Julhash.




Defusing migration

Peter Sutherland :

Voters in the United Kingdom have done the unthinkable, choosing to leave the European Union - a truly noble project that, whatever its shortcomings, has promoted peace and stability across the continent for more than a half-century. Markets have tumbled, Britain's prime minister has announced that he will resign, and the UK is more divided than ever. And the consequences - for the UK, the EU, and the world - may be just beginning.

The "Brexit" vote represents a triumph of fear over reason. "Leave" campaigners mendaciously and recklessly capitalized on popular distrust of the ruling elites and discontent about growing inequality and rapid social change to advance their own interests. In a relentless anti-immigration campaign, the Brexiteers, together with tabloid media, peddled distorted facts and outright lies about the impact of migration, thereby convincing fearful and frustrated voters that immigration and the EU, which requires freedom of movement among member states, are responsible for virtually all of Britain's social woes. Many of the Leave campaign's leading actors have been antagonistic toward the EU for decades.

It is a trend that can be seen in much of the developed world. Populist demagogues are arguing that migration is draining national resources and eroding national sovereignty. The only way to regain control, they claim, is to batten down the hatches and retreat from international alliances, behind national borders.

It is not that all of the those who voted to leave the EU, or others around the world who also feel left behind, were acting simply out of intolerance and extreme nationalism. But many have embraced the ludicrous story, served up by the populists, that their countries are being overrun by migrants, who will exacerbate the social and economic challenges that they face. In Europe, the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean - fueled largely by the forced displacement of people fleeing war and criminal violence - has heightened such concerns in recent months.

A cool-headed debate on migration first requires challenging the corrosive narrative promoted by xenophobes. The truth is that, far from being a drain on a country's budget, migration can inject new dynamism into aging host societies. While integrating migrants undoubtedly presents challenges, they can be overcome.

But, so far, the positions taken by some members of the international community, especially the EU, have undermined an adequate collective response to the refugee crisis. And yet the EU has suffered a failure not of its institutions, but of many of its member states. In fact, the European Commission has proposed largely appropriate responses to the crisis, and many member states, especially Germany and Sweden, have responded adequately.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in particular, has urged EU members to show human decency and abide by their international obligations to protect asylum-seekers. Yet leaders in other EU member countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, have not demonstrated anything close to constructive leadership.

Around the world, 250 million people are living outside their countries of origin. Sixty-five million were displaced by conflict, natural disaster, and other dire circumstances. So far this year, some 227,000 people have reached Europe by land or sea. Nearly 3,000 more have drowned in the Mediterranean while attempting to reach safety. Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees are still stranded at the edge of the continent.

It is a humanitarian crisis. Yet many wealthy states have yet to live up to their obligations and to fulfill even their limited pledges on resettlement. As the Brexit vote makes painfully clear, it is time for the international community, and especially the EU, to change its approach to migratory flows, or it could face even higher costs.

Crucially, no one is arguing in favor of uncontrolled migration. Instead, advocates of migration, including me, promote protection for refugees and managed flows of people by making legal pathways more accessible. This will require international-level cooperation, backed by the right national and local measures.

Such an approach would involve improved border controls, but its focus would extend far beyond limiting migrant inflows to include creating opportunities and providing enough resources to public services to mitigate the new arrivals' impact and ensure that local residents are not disadvantaged by welcoming migrants into their communities. Germany recently adopted new measures to provide language training and facilitate the integration of refugees. In Canada, communities can embrace new arrivals through private sponsorships.

Research shows that the initial investment can be recouped in as little as five years, thanks to the increase in economic activity brought about by the newcomers. The key is to enable legal migration. That way, instead of allowing smugglers and exploitative employers to pocket billions at the expense of migrants, states can collect more taxes through formal employment.

A bold new vision, bolstered by committed leadership, is urgently needed to tackle these complex issues, offering reassurance to voters and thus preventing more countries from turning inward and jeopardizing decades of multilateral progress on human rights. As the ripple effects from the British referendum are demonstrating, no country - not even the UK - is an island in today's globalized world.

There is reason for hope. The fact that Britain's younger generation voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining in the EU suggests that traditional perceptions of national identity and sovereignty do not have the same emotional hold on millennials as they do on older generations. Brought up with greater access to the outside world through travel and the Internet, young people are more at ease with cultural diversity and multiple identities. They also have a better understanding of the opportunities that globalization offers, even if youth employment remains a chronic problem in many countries.

Like Britain's young people, we must look to the future, not the past, and embrace international cooperation, not isolationism. The task of devising innovative solutions is daunting, but a better approach to migration - one that benefits everyone involved - can be achieved. The alternative is too costly, in human, political, and economic terms, to consider. Fear must not win the day.



(Peter Sutherland, United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration and Development, is former Director General of the World Trade Organization, EU Commissioner for Competition, and Attorney General of Ireland).

Courtesy: Project Syndicate


Coup bid an act of treason: Erdogan

Al Jazeera News :

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken defiantly to crowds of jubilant supporters in Istanbul, vowing to stay in power hours after an army faction dramatically tried to topple the government.

Erdogan's arrival in Istanbul from the coastal city of Marmaris came after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told broadcaster NTV on Saturday that the situation in the country was "largely under control".

The army's acting chief of staff, Umit Dundar, told a news conference that 104 coup plotters had been killed. He said that 90 other people had been killed in violence, adding that 47 of them were civilians.

Yildirim told a news conference that 1,440 people had been injured and 2,839 military personnel had been detained. The permanent

army chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, was freed by government forces having been held hostage at an army base in Ankara for a period, an official told Al Jazeera. Speaking at a news conference, Erdogan said the attempt to push him from power was "an act of treason" and that those behind the plot would "pay a heavy price". He said he intended to stay with his "people" and not go anywhere. "Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been told they bombed the locations where I was," he told reporters. "I assume they thought I was still there when they bombed those places." Speaking to thousands of supporters outside Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed "the people's guns against the people.

"The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said. "This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything." As he spoke, live footage showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air.

"Clearly the cleansing of the military from those elements who joined or supported the coup is already under way," Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said.

"This is going to continue for days to come, and I think there are probably going to be tribunals within the military to see who supported the coup."

Greek officials said a Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupolis, close to the border, and that eight people had claimed asylum. Turkey's foreign minister said the government had requested their extradition. There were still pockets of resistance in the capital Ankara into Saturday morning, an official told Al Jazeera. In Ankara, jets dropped bombs over the Bestepe district, where the presidential palace is located, with plumes of black smoke seen rising early on Saturday. There were also reports of an explosion at the parliament building in the capital. Al Jazeera's Ece Goksedef, reporting from Ankara on Saturday morning (9am local time, 06:00 GMT), said the city had been quiet for several hours.

Military jets were still in the sky above the capital, but there has been no sound of fighting, Goksedef said, adding that there were only a few locations in the country where the coup plotters were holding out.
Turkey`s bloody coup fails

265 killed; 1440 injured; 2839 arrested: 250 surrendered; 8 top Generals flee to Greece; Jets used by rebels shot down: People take to street in support of civil govt:Presidential palace bombed

People stand on a Turkish army tank in the capital Ankara (Left). A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. Internet photo

News Desk :Some 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested over an attempted coup that is now over, says Turkey's PM Binali Yildirim, according to agencies.Out of 265 people killed, 161were government forces and civilians. "Systemic operations are complete" against the attempted coup but mopping up measures could still take hours, Hakan Fidan, head of the country's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said, according to a government official.People have taken to the streets of Istanbul, lining the sides of major roads and holding the red and white Turkish flag in support of the civilian government and against the coup attempt.The army's acting chief of staff, Umit Dundar, told a news conference that 104 so-called coup plotters and at least 47 civilians had been killed. Yildirim told a news conference that 1,440 people had been injured and 2,839 military personnel had been detained.Prime Minister Yildirim said the situation was now "completely under control" and the government's commanders were now back in charge.Earlier, the acting military chief of staff Umit Dundar said officers from the air force, the military police and armoured units had been mainly involved in the coup attempt.He said that although the chief of staff had been rescued, several military commanders were still being held hostage. Eight military personnel involved in the coup attempt fled to Greece by helicopter, seeking political asylum. Greece says it is considering Turkey's request for their extradition.Earlier, some 200 unarmed soldiers left Turkey's military headquarters in Ankara and surrendered to police, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Dramatic images showed dozens of soldiers walking away from their tanks with their hands up on one of Istanbul's Bosphorus bridges.Explosions and gunfire were heard in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere overnight and thousands of Turks heeded President Erdogan's call to rise up against the coup-plotters. It is unclear who was behind the coup. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed a "parallel structure", in a clear reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric whom he accuses of fomenting unrest.However, in a statement, Mr Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events, saying he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey".The attempted coup happened because Turkey is deeply divided over President Erdogan's project to transform the country and because of the contagion of violence from the war in Syria.President Erdogan and his AK Party have become experts at winning elections, but there have always been doubts about his long-term commitment to democracy. He is a political Islamist who has rejected modern Turkey's secular heritage. Mr Erdogan has become increasingly authoritarian and is trying to turn himself into a strong executive president.The permanent army chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, was freed by government forces having been held hostage at an army base in Ankara for a period, an official told Al Jazeera. Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul after arriving to the capital from the coastal city of Marmaris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attempt to push him from power was "an act of treason" and that those behind the plot would "pay a heavy price".He said he intended to stay with his "people" and not go anywhere."Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been told they bombed the locations where I was," he told reporters. "I assume they thought I was still there when they bombed those places."Speaking to thousands of supporters outside Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed "the people's guns against the people"."The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said. "This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."Turkish president Erdogan says army faction attempted coup - complete speechAs he spoke, live footage showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air."Clearly the cleansing of the military from those elements who joined or supported the coup is already under way," Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said."This is going to continue for days to come, and I think there are probably going to be tribunals within the military to see who supported the coup."Greek officials said a Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupolis, close to the border, and that eight people had claimed asylum. Turkey's foreign minister said the government had requested their extradition. There were still pockets of resistance in the capital Ankara into Saturday morning, an official told Al Jazeera.In Ankara, jets dropped bombs over the Bestepe district, where the presidential palace is located, with plumes of black smoke seen rising early on Saturday.There were also reports of an explosion at the parliament building in the capital.Al Jazeera's Ece Goksedef, reporting from Ankara on Saturday morning (9am local time, 06:00 GMT), said the city had been quiet for several hours.Military jets were still in the sky above the capital, but there has been no sound of fighting, Goksedef said, adding that there were only a few locations in the country where the coup plotters were holding out.People stand on a Turkish army tank in the capital Ankara [Tumay Berkin/Reuters]The prime minister said the military had been ordered by the presidency to shoot down planes hijacked by those involved in the coup attempt and that jets had been scrambled.Officials said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by anti-government forces over Ankara.
Killer of innocent people can't be a Muslim: Hanif

Jhenaidah Correspondent :

Awami League Joint-Secretary Mohammad Hanif, MP, said, the people of Bangladesh know it well who are the real friends of the common people.

He said, those, who claim themselves as the friends of the Muslims, are in fact enemies of the Muslims as well as Islam. To combat terrorism and militancy, the common people, especially the Imams and the religious minded people, can play an effective role.

The AL leader said this while addressing a workshop titled 'Call of Islam Combating Terrorism and Militancy' organised at

Jhenaidah Shilpakala Academy auditorium on Saturday. Hanif as the chief guest attended the workshop presided over by Deputy Commissioner Mahbub Alam Talukder.

He said, the evil forces opposed the independence of the country in 1971. The opposition party leaders have been assisting them in creating anarchy when the country was attaining prosperity.

The chief guest said, the attackers and killers of the innocent people are receiving supports of the opposition party leaders.


Charge-sheets framed against 23 S'pore returnee militants

M Faruque Hossain :

Police have framed charge-sheets against 23 out of 32 Bangladeshi expatriates who were deported from Singapore for their involvement in militant activities.

Charge sheets will be submitted against them very soon, said Counter Terrorism and Trans-national Unit (CTTU). Most of them have link with Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a banned militant outfit.

CTTU sources said, they stayed in Singapore about four to eight years. They were involved in terror activities during their stay in Singapore. Two separate cases were filed against them with Uttara (East) Police Station and Rampura Police Station.

A case was filed with Uttara (East) Police Station against 15 people for their link with ABT in anti-terrorism Acts. They have been interrogated by the ditectives.

They admitted their allegiance to ABT Chief Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani, who is now in jail on charge of killing blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013. But their link with so-called Islamic State was not found. Singapore government deported five Bangladeshis on April 29. The five were Mizanur Rahman Galib alias Galib Hasan, 38, from Brahmanbaria, Md Rana Miah Pilot, 29, Bogra, Md Tanzimul Islam, 24, Chandpur, Md Masud Rana alias Sentu Khan, 31, Pabna, Md Alamgir Hossain, 31, from Meherpur.

They all went to Singapore between 2007 and 2011 with working visas. Singapore government sent them back on the charge of their link to terror activities. The police arrested them all after their return to Bangladesh. Later, a case was filed against them in anti-terrorism Acts. The CTTU sources said that in primary investigation their involvement in militant connection has been proved.

Those who came back from Singapore last year were Aminur, Abdul Alim and Shah Ali from Tangail, Nurul Amin, Mahmudul Hasan and Golam Jilani from Comilla. Jafar Iqbal from Brahmanbaria, Ashraf Ali from Pabna, Akram Hossain from Jhenaidah, Abdul Alim from Chuadanga, Saiful Islam from Dhaka, Alam Mahbub from Kurigram, Dollar Pervaz from Chapainawabganj and Mohammad Jasim from Munshiganj.

The investigation team sources said they admitted that they were supporters of Mufti Jasim Rahmani, the Chief of ABT before they left the country. They were motivated in extremism after they had reached Singapore. But neither the Singapore government nor the Bangladeshi government found their involvement in subversive activities.

The detectives recovered Jihadi books written by Rahmani from under their possession. They were fond of reading Jihadi books and listening to him.

During interrogation, they told police that every Sunday they used to gather in a mosque named Masjid Angulia on the Serangoon Road in Singapore. In the mosque, they watched Jihadi videos and took part in discussion. They also discussed how they could recruit other Bangladeshis working in Singapore to strengthen the group. They also inspired the new members for taking part in various activities of the organisation.

The detective sources also said they collected money for their organization from various sources. They collected money from Bangladeshis living in Singapore in the name of developing mosques and madrasas.

They told their co-workers that they would send money to Bangladesh for the development of mosques and madrasas. Not only that, they also spent a portion of their earned money for the organization. During investigation, it was found that they became radicalized during their stay in Singapore but they did not have any militant connection before leaving the country for Singapore. They joined the militant organization after reaching there.


US remains top export destination

Kazi Zahidul Hasan :The United States of America (USA) remained the top destination for Bangladesh's exports in immediate past fiscal, followed by Germany, the UK, Spain, France, Italy and Canada.In the fiscal year 2015-16, Bangladesh's exports to the USA stood at US$ 6.20 billion or 18.17 per cent of total exports, registering 7.55 per cent year-on-year growth, according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).Besides, its exports to Germany totalled US$4.98 billion, the UK US$3.80 billion, Spain US$1.99 billion, France US$1.85 billion, Italy US$1.38 billion and Canada US1.11 billion during the period under review."The USA has been the single largest buyer of Bangladeshi goods over the years as the American buyers prefer local products due to their cheaper prices," Abdus Salam Murshedy, President of the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) told The New Nation on Saturday."Our exports to the market valued at US$6.20 billion in the last fiscal and 90 per cent of its purchase was garments item," he added.When asked, the EAB President said, "Our shipments to the American market registered nearly 8.0 per cent year-on year growth which is 'not bad' if we consider the current condition of the US economy and the tariff imposed by the US authorities on Bangladeshi goods".The US government is charging an average tariff of 15.8 per cent on goods imported from Bangladesh."At present, the USA is offering preferential tariffs or zero tariffs to many of LDCs. But it been denied the facility to Bangladesh, hindering its shipments growth to the country as well as smooth bilateral trade relations between Dhaka and Washington," he noted.The EAB leader also said such a trade policy of the US government is also depriving the US consumers from getting cheaper goods from Bangladesh. "Our exports can even grow at a faster pace if the USA takes Bangladesh as a preferential trade partner or grant the duty-free access to local exportable especially the RMG items," he said. Murshedy said the suspension of Bangladesh's GSP privileges by the US government is yet to leave any adverse impact on its exports because the facility was eligible for 4,800 local products which had negligible contribution to Bangladesh export basket.In June 2013, the US government announced a temporary suspension of Bangladesh's GSP privileges questioning labour rights and workers safety in the country. The EAB leader, however, urged the US authorities to restore the GSP facility for Bangladeshi goods as the local entrepreneurs have already improved the workplace safety in line with the suggestions given the US authorities."The US move to restore GSP facility and duty-free access of local apparels could lead the Dhaka-Washington bilateral relations to a new height," he observed.
EC`s smart NID card project falters

UNB, Dhaka :The Election Commission has failed to initiate the distribution of smart national identity cards (NIDs) among citizens despite its plan to complete it by June last.EC officials now say the Commission will soon start the distribution of machine readable cards to replace the existing laminated ones, but there is no timeline to launch it."We'll start the distribution of smart cards very soon, but there's no specific date," said EC Secretary Sirajul Islam.The EC will provide the high security featured cards in Dhaka and Panchargarh or any northern district first. "It'll take at least 18 months to complete the distribution work," he told UNB.In January 2015, a French digital security company, 'Oberthur Technologies', got the Tk 796-crore contact for production and distribution of 90 million smart NID cards with 25 security features within 18 months.The firm was scheduled to start the smart NID card production in September 2015 with a target to produce six million cards a month.As the Commission failed to distribute the smart cards within the stipulated time, the IDEA project period was extended to December 2017 from the July 2016 a few months back.A team of the World Bank, the co-financer of the project, also reviewed its overall progress in June last.Besides, an EC team, led by EC Secretary Sirajul Islam, has recently visited France to gather knowledge about the production and distribution of smart cards.The 10-digit smart cards will be distributed free under the EC's Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) project.
Masterminds identified, says Home Minister

Video footages to be sent to FBI lab: Hasnat, Tahmid now being interrogated: DMP Commissioner

S M Mizanur Rahman :

The masterminds behind the deadly terror attacks in city's Gulshan Cafe and near Sholakia Eidgah of Kishoreganj district have been identified, claims Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Saturday.

"The masterminds and instigators of the terror attacks in the city and Sholakia have been identified. Action will be taken against them as per the regular law," he told journalists at his Secretariat office. He, however, said that the names of perpetrators of the terror attacks would not be disclosed right now for the sake of investigation. Replying to a query about whether the USA wanted to send soldiers to Bangladesh, Kamal said, "The USA didn't make such proposal."

"But the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal during her visit to Dhaka assured us that her country would always remain beside Bangladesh," he said.

Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia claimed that significant progress has been made in the investigation into the deadly terror attack in city's Gulshan Cafe.

"As significant progress has been made in the investigation, we have already launched a drive to net the masterminds, financers and the criminals involved in giving shelters to the terrors," he told journalists at a press briefing at the DMP media centre in the city on Saturday.

He said they have also obtained information that who has given shelters to the terrors and had regular contacts with them.

"It is not possible for only five to six militants to carry out this atrocity on their own, they were recruited and trained, he said, adding that the all of the assailants were Bangladeshi citizens and they were recruited and trained here. When asked about the whereabouts of detained Hasnat Karim, a British citizen, and also former teacher of North South University and Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student at the University of Toronto, the DMP Commissioner said they are still in the stage of interrogation."

"Ask our investigation officers to know about the whereabouts of Hasnat Karim and Tahmid Hasib Khan. They could say about them," he said. An amateur video shot of the cafe during the siege brought Hasnat at the centre of speculation on social media with many asserting that he had link with the attackers. North South University had reportedly removed him over links with the extremist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Tahmid Hasib Khan, a student at the University of Toronto, is a permanent resident of Canada. Son of businessman Shahriar Khan, his family said he arrived in Dhaka the day before the attack and was in the upscale cafe to have Iftar with his friends. Meanwhile, according to intelligence sources, video footages collected from the Gulshan area during the attack will be sent to the laboratory of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a domestic intelligence and security service of the United States.

As the video footages collected from the city's Gulshan area are illegible, the footage will be sent to the FBI lab to identify the persons. The FBI lab equipped with high technology will be able to detect the persons seen passing by United Hospital on the dreadful night, sources said. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a New York-based rights body on Saturday urged the Bangladeshi authorities to guarantee all the due process rights of two detainees -- Hasanat Karim and Tahmid Khan -- who had been held hostage by armed gunmen during siege on the Holey Artisan Bakery.

The two men were initially held for questioning by authorities but have neither been charged with nor released. All the hostages, except Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released on July 3.

Their families have had little or no official information about their safety and whereabouts since then. They have been allowed to send medicines and clothes, but are unsure if those were delivered to the detainees, said the rights body in a statement.

The detainees have not been produced promptly before a judge, a right enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a party, it said.

"The attack on the cafe was a horrific event, and the authorities should conduct thorough investigations by questioning those held hostage - but they must do so in a rights-respecting manner," said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

"Karim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately."

"The authorities holding Karim and Khan are bound by Bangladeshi law and international law to ensure that both men are accorded their full due process rights, including the right to a lawyer and the right to be produced before a magistrate, both of which are key in ensuring their physical well-being and freedom from custodial abuse," said Adams.

One of the suspects Mohammad Shaon, also the cook's assistant of the cafe, held during the July 1 terrorist attack, died in police custody at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
World reaction

Al Jazeera News :

An army group in Turkey declared a coup and martial law late on Friday, saying they had "taken control of the country". But thousands of peopled heeded a call by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, taking to the streets to oppose the toppling of the government.

Turkish officials said on Saturday that more than 2,800 military personnel had been detained over the arrested coup that had failed. Here is a selection of statements and reactions from Turkey and leaders around the world.

In a TV statement, the army group had said: "Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue."

In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a FaceTime call to broadcaster CNN Turk, said he remained the leader of the country and the head of the army and called for people to take to the streets against the coup. "We will overcome this," he said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by a presenter. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price. "I have never recognised any power above the will of the people," he said.

Speaking to thousands of jubilate supporters after arriving in Istanbul later on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed "the people's guns against the people.

"The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said. "This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm. The UN is seeking to clarify the situation.

US President Barack Obama urged all parties in Turkey to back the "democratically-elected" government. Detailing a call between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who in Russia for talks on Syria, the White House said both agreed "all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed". In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry reiterated its readiness for joint constructive work with Turkey's legitimate leadership. "The aggravating political situation against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability," it said.

Russia also called on its citizens in Turkey to stay indoors amid uncertainty about whether a military coup is taking place.

Britain's new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was "very concerned about the situation unfolding". He directed Britons to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, which advises "to avoid public places and remain vigilant" until the situation becomes clearer.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, said "coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail," on Twitter. "Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative," Zarif added in another tweet.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault condemned the attempted coup, saying he hoped Turkey's "democracy will emerge strengthened". "The Turkish population showed its maturity and courage by committing to the respect of its institutions. It paid the price with many victims," he said in a statement.

Former Turkish President Abdullah Gul told CNN Turk that "Turkey is not a Latin America country ... I'm calling those who attempt to overthrow the government should go back to their barracks."

Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Al Jazeera: "Turkey is a democracy ... I don't think this attempt will be successful." His voice shaking, he added: "There cannot be any attempts to destabilise Turkey. We're facing so many crisis in Syria and other regions, it's time to have solidarity with the Turkish people ... At this moment people in different cities are in the streets, the squares [protesting] against this coup d'etat attempt." The head of the largest opposition party in Turkey, Kemal Kalicdaroglu, of the centre-left People's Republican Party (CHP), has come out against the coup in a series of tweets, saying the country has "suffered a lot" in past military takeovers.

The democratic order in Turkey must be respected and all must be done to protect lives, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Twitter. Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also condemned "any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force".

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed the "strong support" of democracy by the Turkish people. "I welcome the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey," Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

European Council President Donald Tusk called on Saturday for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order. "Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," Tusk said at a regional summit in Mongolia. "We call for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order," he said.

Slovakia, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, said it was following events and coordinating with EU partners. "Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has been in intensive contact all evening with EU high Foreign Affairs representative Federica Mogherini and other European colleagues," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "He has also been in contact with partners in the Turkish government with the aim to clarify the situation in Turkey and discuss steps that the EU should take with the aim to maintain and support democracy and stability in the country." India's foreign ministry said it was closely following the developments in Turkey. "India calls upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed," the ministry said in a statement.

Qatar "expressed its strong denunciation and condemnation of the military coup attempt, lawlessness, and violation of the constitutional legitimacy in the Republic of Turkey", according to a foreign ministry statement.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus as word got out that there was an attempt to topple Erdogan, according to a Reuters news agency report. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in the government-held section of the divided city of Aleppo.

But a Turkey-based Syrian opposition group congratulated the Turkish people for stopping an attempted army coup. In a statement, the Syrian National Coalition said that Turkey protected its democratic institutions "in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will".

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was briefed on the coup and the country's military forces were holding emergency meetings, according to government officials.

Bulgaria bolstered its patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and appealed to Bulgarians to restrain from travelling to Turkey, the government press office said in a statement. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov held talks with the security and intelligence services on the situation in Turkey, while the foreign ministry urged Bulgarians already in Turkey to stay indoors and avoid any public places.

Mexico's foreign ministry advised its citizens in Turkey to remain indoors, as it warned against travel to the country until the situation was clear.

The Turkish lira fell heavily after the coup attempt was launched, as much as 5.5 percent against the US dollar.
Stop syndication of manpower export to Malaysia

A GROUP of recruiting agencies as reported initiated moves to send workers to Malaysia through syndication although the country's labour market is still closed for foreign workers including Bangladeshis. It was reported in an English daily on Saturday. It said quoting concerned recruiting agents that the syndicating recruitment agencies could put the country's one of the important labour markets in uncertainty and also increase the cost of migration for the workers. It also said, aiming to manpower export to Malaysia, the group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Malaysian private agency and has already set up medical centers for conducting medical check-ups of Malaysia-bound workers. Officials in Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur, however, said that they were not informed about such syndication. They also said that Malaysian government has not yet conveyed any formal decision about lifting ban on recruitment of foreign workers including Bangladesh.As per the MoU, according to the report, the core group so formed is trying to open the Malaysian labour market for the greater interest of the country. "Nothing will be secret. If workers start going to Malaysia, all government agencies will know it", said one official of the group.Malaysian government had suspended recruitment of all foreign workers, including those from Bangladesh, since February last. So no worker was getting immigration clearance for Malaysia from the Bureau of Manpower of the government. When the suspension would be withdrawn, after a detailed discussion between the two governments the modality of medical test for Malaysia-bound workers would be finalised. The question thus comes is why there is a hurry to sign a MoU with a private organisation of Malaysia by a group of Bangladeshi recruiting agent. Most of the Bangladeshi recruiting agencies have bad reputation for their fishy activities in performing manpower business. In general the rural youths of Bangladesh tend to go abroad to earn money in exchange of physical labour. They lack that smartness to encounter the lust of maximum recruiting agents. Manipulations are done mostly in the name of medical test. After so-called medical test the recruiting agencies create pressure on foreign-bound workers to pay money in advance. It takes time for their actual travel to the employers' country. This is the common picture of manpower business. We fear the same thing is going to be repeated in this case. It is the responsibility of the government to deal with the reopening of Malaysian labour market. Why private agency should sign MoU and should manipulate the process before formalities are completed at government level? Moreover, any sort of monopoly in this sector will create extra-financial burden for the workforce willing to go abroad. So, this business syndication should be stopped immediately.
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They came from afar to honor the life of the 37-year-old killed by Baton Rouge police in early July, but the mayor of BR was again a no-show.

Several hundred people, including Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, gathered at Southern University Friday morning for a 2.5-hour memorial service honoring Alton Sterling, the 37-year-old father of five who was shot and killed by police officers at point blank range at a Baton Rouge convenience store July 5.

Kip Holden, the embattled mayor of Baton Rouge, however, was noticeably absent. We need our elected officials to stand up, to show up and to speak up, Richmond said, a veiled reference to Holden, who has been heavily criticized for his insensitivity toward the Sterling family and who is currently challenging Richmond for Congress.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and President Barack Obama both sent representatives to the service. The family personally thanked Gov. Edwards in the program.

On Thursday, Alton Sterlings 15-year-old son Cameron participated in a town hall hosted by President Obama. Two days before, while he was en route to a memorial in Dallas for the five officers killed in an ambush during a protest against police violence, the president also called Alton Sterlings aunt to express his condolences.

Holden has consistently argued that it would be inappropriate for him to reach out to the Sterling family, and although the event was open to the public, Holden was not directly invited, according to Sterling family spokesman Gary Chambers, who served as the memorials master of ceremonies. Like Sterling, Holden is from the close-knit community of Scotlandville, a predominately African-American pocket of North Baton Rouge. This is an election year for a new mayor, state Sen. Yvonne Dorsey told the audience. You may clap.

During the service, both Sharpton and Jackson praised the Black Lives Matter movement for shining a light on the mistreatment of African-American men by law enforcement. The shooter in Dallas wasnt trained by Black Lives Matter, Jackson said. He was trained by the military.

Sharpton argued that the movement was about ending wickedness, not about scapegoating all police officers. He also praised the city of Baton Rouge, noting that it was Baton Rouge  and not Montgomery  that hosted the nations very first bus boycott, which was organized by the late Rev. T.J. Jemison in 1953. This is the birthplace [of the civil rights movement], Sharpton said to raucous applause.

Although the nations most famous African-American activists served as the memorials headliners, the most stirring remarks were delivered by someone who was not even listed on the program. Abdullah Muflahi, the owner of the Triple S convenience store where Sterling was killed, gave an impromptu and emotional eulogy to his friend, whom he described as the definition of Southern hospitality. Muflahi was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation, and at times, struggled through tears.

Take your time, members of the audience implored, wise advice for both Muflahi and for a city still reeling from a senseless killing.
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

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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.
Since July 1, body cameras have been part of the uniform for deputies with the Union County Sheriffs Office, Sheriff Scott Harvel announced Wednesday.

In a news release by Harvel, he said deputies will be required to wear the recording devices at all times while on duty and activate the body-worn cameras during any interaction with the public.

The decision to equip sheriffs deputies with body-worn cameras is a measure to promote professionalism, accountability and transparency during interactions with the public, the release read. Body-worn cameras will record an unbiased account of the citizen contact and accurately document their encounter with law enforcement.

Harvels release went on to say that body cameras will be an aid in the collection of potential evidence and a tool to evaluate the performance of the deputies during public interactions.

Body worn cameras may also have a profound effect that could potentially deescalate a hostile encounter with a citizen when the citizen is aware that they are being recorded, he said in the release.

Other police departments in Southern Illinois have used body cameras in the past  Christopher, Zeigler, Buckner, Ina and Sesser. The Johnston City Police Department has used the cameras in an experimental phase, and will soon equip all its full-time employees with the technology, Chief William Stark said Friday.

Stark said the department hasnt rolled the equipment out completely, as it is still in the purchasing phase. But, he said the experimental phase worked out well.

It is common sense if you ask me, he said. The body cams, along with the in-car dash cameras, tell the whole story.

Stark said the cameras are supposed to be running all the time and any time an officer comes into contact with a person, they should turn it on. The camera will then record from 30 seconds before the button was pushed to activate the camera.

He said the law change at the beginning of 2016 says the police dont have to tell individuals when they are filming them. He said when individuals speak with a police officer, the expectation of privacy is gone.

Williamson County Sheriff Bennie Vick says his deputies dont use the cameras, but cameras are used in the jail.

He said the expense of maintaining the records, answers Freedom of Information Act requests, and finding a secure way to keep the records would be cumbersome. However, he does think the technology is useful.

I think they are very useful to police officers, Vick said. There are a lot of gray areas in the statute, but overall I think they serve a good purpose for all.
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Azerbaijan is seriously concerned and appalled by the events happening in brotherly Turkey, says the statement issued by Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry July 16.

This is a coup attempt by a group of people against the government, elected by the Turkish people by democratic means, says the statement. Turkish people and the state opposed it demonstrating the unity and equality.
Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has left Istanbul for Ankara, the TRT Haber news channel reported July 16.

Erdogan arrived in Istanbul July 16 in the morning and stayed in the building of the Istanbul Ataturk International Airport for a long time.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the coup attempt have been arrested.
The Dutch national rail authority has signed a 800-million-euro ($885 million) deal with French transport giant Alstom to buy 79 new high-speed trains, set to go into service by 2021.



"Dutch Rail and Alstom have concluded a contract for delivery of 79 high speed Intercity trains capable of a speed of 200 km/h (120 miles per hour)," Dutch Rail (NS) said in a statement.



"The value of the contract is worth more than 800 million euros (885 million), the statement said, adding the new trains will put 25,000 new seats on the lowlands country's extensive rail network.



The new trains are based on Alstom's "Coradia-design" of which 2,400 trains have already been sold to customers in other countries.



Service is scheduled to start on the line between Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the southern city of Breda in 2021.



"Alstom is the best fit for Dutch spending requirements," the Dutch rail operator said.



The new trains will be fitted out with the latest technology including wifi, television screens beaming travel information, power and USB connections and intelligent LED lighting.-TradeArabia News Service
Republican Donald Trump's choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate on Friday helped bolster support among some conservatives skeptical about his policies, a crucial step as he prepares to accept the party's nomination next week.



Some conservatives who had fought against Trump's ascendancy in the Republican nominating race welcomed his announcement that he had picked Pence, a well-known social and evangelical conservative.



The Club for Growth, a conservative economic group, had sharply criticized Trump's support for protectionist trade policies.



On Friday, the group noted that as a member of the House of Representatives, Pence had been a strong voice for "free markets and economic liberty" at a time when the Republican leadership had been weak on these issues.



"Today's news gives a similar hope that Mike Pence will be effective in pulling the Republican ticket toward economic conservatism and limited government," the group said.



Other conservatives were also heartened by Trump's VP pick, which the businessman announced in a tweet ahead of a joint appearance in his hometown of New York on Saturday.



"Pence is a principled conservative, man of faith, and talented messenger for Republican ideas," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "His addition to the ticket will bring even more excitement to the voters who are eager to put a Republican in the White House and deny a third term for President Obama's liberal agenda."



Trump, 70, chose Pence, 57, over two politicians he considers friends and close advisers, former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, 73, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, 53.



Pence is viewed as a safe choice for Trump. The Indiana governor's low-key demeanor is a contrast to that of the bombastic real estate developer. And he could take the fight to the Democrats in the months leading up to the Nov. 8 election without upstaging Trump.



He and Trump will have to smooth over some policy differences. Pence has said he does not support trade protectionism or a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, two policies that are central to Trump's campaign message.



In his first public remarks after Trump announced his running mate, Pence appeared to soften his opposition to a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country after he called it "offensive and unconstitutional" in a tweet last December.



"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the US," Pence told conservative Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.



"We have no higher priority than the safety and security of the American people," Pence said, adding that he suspended a Syrian refugee program in Indiana after a shooting rampage last year in San Bernardino, California.



Pence also said he "absolutely" backed Trump's promise to build a wall between the US and Mexico to stem illegal immigration and make Mexico pay for it.



"I am very humbled, very grateful": Pence arrives at Trump Towers



Trump said Pence had done a great job in Indiana and that of all the people he had interviewed for the job, "there's nobody that agrees with me fully on everything."



Pence's selection was slammed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign.



"By picking Mike Pence as his running mate, Donald Trump has doubled down on some of his most disturbing beliefs by choosing an incredibly divisive and unpopular running mate known for supporting discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families," said Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta.



Trump had faced a midday Friday deadline to announce Pence because the governor had to declare by then whether he would be on the ballot in his home state for re-election.



Trump had postponed his announcement, which had been planned for Friday, out of respect for the victims in Nice, France.



An attacker in a heavy truck drove into crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing at least 84 people and injuring scores more in what President Francois Hollande called a terrorist act.



Trump is set to be formally nominated as the party's candidate for the presidential election at the convention, which opens in Cleveland on Monday. Traditionally, the vice presidential choice is used to build enthusiasm among party loyalists.



The Republican National Committee expects the convention to draw 50,000 people to the Ohio city, whose population is about 390,000. US authorities were preparing for the possibility of violence, whether from demonstrators or planned attacks.



The Cleveland conclave and the Democratic Party Convention the following week in Philadelphia have been given the status of special national security event by the federal government for the first time, and security will be heightened, said Republican Party spokesman Sean Spicer.



The Department of Homeland Security will send more than 3,000 personnel to each convention, Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Thursday, speaking before the Nice attack. No specific or credible threat to either gathering has been reported, he said.-Reuters
Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt which collapsed after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.



More than 160 people were killed, including many civilians, after a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and others seized a major bridge in Istanbul.



Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.



"They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, who also saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."



One government minister said some military commanders were still being held hostage by the plotters. But the government declared the situation fully under control, saying 161 people had been killed and 2,839 had been rounded up from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who had formed "the backbone" of the rebellion.



A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major U.S. ally while war rages on its border.



However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a NATO member that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.



Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.



Addressing a crowd of thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, Erdogan said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.



Erdogan, a polarising figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.



"They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there."



Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.



While loved by his supporters, Erdogan's conservative religious views have also alienated many ordinary Turks who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protest demanding more freedom.



SMART PHONE ADDRESS



In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it, frequently targeting Twitter and Facebook.



Erdogan addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so viewers to the network could see him.



He said the "parallel structure" was behind the coup attempt -- his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.



Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.



Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.



About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.



Earlier, around 30 pro-coup soldiers had surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.



They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.



Neighbouring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the country's police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.



LAWMAKERS IN HIDING



The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait that links Europe and Asia in Istanbul.



Maritime authorities shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers "for security and safety" reasons, shipping agent GAC said.



In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers were hiding in shelters inside the parliament building, which was being fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition deputy told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.



A senior Turkish official said later on Saturday attacks on the parliament had "largely stopped".



A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.



Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.



"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".



European Council President Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns.



Erdogan has had often prickly relations with the EU, which worried about some of his actions including raids on Turkish media. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Paris "hopes that Turkish democracy will emerge reinforced by this test and that fundamental liberties will be fully respected".



FLIGHTS RESUME



Flag carrier Turkish Airways resumed flights on Saturday, Erdogan said. Malaysia Airports, the operator of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul's second airport, said it would continue to process flights in and out of Turkey.



Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.



TRT went off the air shortly afterwards. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.



Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.



Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.



After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.



Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. However, opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.-Reuters




US.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen on Saturday denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup in Turkey and said he condemned "in the strongest terms" the attempt to topple the government.



Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the government have said that Gulen's followers in the military were responsible for the attempted take-over on Friday night and early Saturday morning.



The government accuses Gulen of trying to create a "parallel structure" in the police, judiciary, media and armed forces, aimed at taking over the state, a charge the cleric denies.



"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," Gulen said in a statement.



"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."



The cleric has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years.-Reuters
The UAE Space Agency is celebrating its second anniversary, reflecting on its remarkable achievement since its establishment, said a top official.



These successes include developing and integrating the UAE national space sector, launching the agencys strategy and signing several important MoUs with prominent global space industry players, remarked its chairman Dr Khalifa Al Romaithi.



"With our solid foundation, we reaffirm our absolute commitment to the nation, and to raising the UAEs profile within the global space sector. We are determined to fulfil the leaderships decision to become a leading nation in space sciences, and to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the UAE by reaching Mars," stated Al Romaithi.



Since our foundation, we have worked to realize the vision of our national leadership for this sector, which took form in 1973 when Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan met with a Nasa delegation. The governmental vision, care and support offered to the Space Agency serves as motivation for all those leading our various projects to continue to work towards the established goals, he added.



Established under federal law, it has a mandate to organize, regulate and support the national space sector. It also encourages the development and use of space science and technology in the country, and advises the sector in this regard.



During this relatively short period, the agency has gone to great lengths to develop the national space sector in the UAE. These efforts have included formulating the UAE national space policy, which is currently being reviewed by relevant parties, and finalising the space strategy.



Also, the space agency has successfully established relationships with several global space industry organizations and agencies that have a common vision for space exploration. This includes signing MoUs with Nasa and the national space agencies of France, Russia, Japan, China, and the United Kingdom, among other.



The space agency was also successful in gaining membership to the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, thus making the UAE the first Arab country to join the prestigious global organization.



Al Romaithi said the agency attracted global attention and strengthened the national standing in the international space community with the organization of a mission to observe and study the entry of an artificial space debris into the Earths atmosphere in November last year.



The mission, which was a joint project with the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomy Centre and the Nasa, represented a unique opportunity for scientists due to the limitations on precisely predicting the time and place of entry into the atmosphere.



This facilitated global development of orbital forecasts and studies of near-earth objects, such as asteroids, meteors, satellites and debris, stated Al Romaithi.



"Despite being recently established, the successes achieved by the UAE Space Agency in this short period have put it on the right path for catching up with its counterpart agencies in the global space sector," he added.



Lauding the agency on its anniversary, Yahsat CEO Masood M. Sharif Mahmood said since inception, the agency had been instrumental in raising its nation's profile as a pioneering member of the global space community by developing and nurturing home-grown talent, and by leading and encouraging the exploration of new horizons.



Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, the director general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) said: The UAE Space Agency was able in just two years to achieve a number of accomplishments that have reinforced the UAE's role in the global space community."



"Locally, it has also played a key role in developing a space strategy and regulating the space sector," he added.



Bernie Dunn, the president of Boeing (Mena and Turkey), said: "This year Boeing celebrates its Centennial and is looking forward to the next 100 years with great anticipation. We see space exploration as an important frontier for Boeing and the UAE."



"We are proud to see the progress made and the partnerships established. We see great opportunity to accelerate planned activities and work together to shape the future of space exploration and the journey to Mars," he added.



Thuraya chief executive Samir Halawi said: In the past, Arab scientists observed the stars to learn more about the world around them. This tradition continues with the pioneering and comprehensive approach of the UAE Space Agency.



"The UAE has developed a new path for contributing to humanity. The UAE Space Agency was founded to build bridges with the worlds leading space agencies, since sharing scientific knowledge and the spirit of cooperation will create a lasting legacy," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Turkish Airlines resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport on Saturday following a failed coup attempt while some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights.



Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt. Television images late Friday had shown tanks parked in front of the airport.



A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said flights had now returned to their normal schedule from Europe's third largest hub, though delays were to be expected.



Turkish budget carrier Pegasus said its flights were also experiencing minor delays.



The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late on Friday had caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and cancelled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk.



British Airways said in a statement it was halting all flights to Turkey on Saturday and one on Sunday as a precaution.



"The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so."



Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.



EasyJet said its advice from British authorities was to continue flying, although it was monitoring developments.



The attempted coup follows a series of bombings that hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country.



The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 percent in April, data showed on Friday, the biggest drop in 17 years.



The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around $8 billion.



German airline Lufthansa cancelled all its flights to Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday and pared back the number flights to holiday destinations Bodrum and Antalya.



TUI which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday companies, said its flights to Dalaman, Antalya and Izmir were operating as normal.



Tour operator Thomas Cook said most German guests who had booked a holiday to Antalya or Bodrum had taken their flights on Saturday. It said flights from the UK were operating as normal but, given the circumstances, free cancellations or amendments were possible for customers due to fly to Turkey this weekend.



Russia also suspended passenger flights to the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency said.



Turkish and Russian officials had met this week to discuss the restarting of charter flights between the two countries and tourism security after relations soured following Turkey's downing of a Russian jet last year.



State airline EgyptAir also cancelled all flights on Saturday to Istanbul, the company said in a statement. The company, which has 14 flights to Istanbul per week, did not say when they were expected to resume.



All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for Saturday had been cancelled, according to Sofia airport's website.-Reuters
Grownup Stuff

Patio talks at trails

The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center (NHTIC) is once again hosting summer afternoon programs on pioneer and Wyoming history. These short interpretive programs, ranging from 20-45 minutes, are free and open to the public.

July 23, 1 p.m. Martins Cove and the Handcarts of 1856: In 1856, five different groups of immigrants from Europe pulled handcarts from Iowa City, Iowa to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Three of the groups made it without much trouble; however the last two groups were caught in winter storms with little food. Join us as President Bushman from the Mormon Handcart Historic Site shares these stories and more regarding the Handcarts of 1856.

July 24, 1 p.m. Navigating the Plains in the 1800s: Join us as Kevin Reddy, Living Historian and re-enactor, shares the intricacies, methodology and science of land navigation in the 1800s. Kevin will provide a sound perspective of the transportation corridors, including migration and commerce along the pioneer route known as the Great Platte River road.

July 30, 1 p.m. Native American Spiritual Traditions: Stop in and help us welcome back Willie Leclair, Wyoming's resident ambassador for the Eastern Shoshone people! Willie brings articles of worship and describes their significance as he explains a Shoshone spiritual perspective on the world and the human being's place in it. This is a wonderful opportunity to interact with a Shoshone cultural interpreter!

July 31, 1 p.m. Pioneer Doll Making: During the early days of America, children often played with dolls. Dolls could be soft and cuddly, such as a rag doll or made from other items found in the home. Dolls were easy to make and were generally made from scraps of fabric already available. Since these dolls were homemade, surely no two were ever the same! Join NHTIC volunteer Jean Smart as she illuminates the most popular of these early American pastimes.

For more information, please contact Jason Vlcan at (307) 261-7780.

Independent film screening

The Natrona County Library's Independent Film Series will feature "Marie's Story" on Tuesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the Crawford Room. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Synopsis: Based on true events, "Marie's Story" recounts the inspiring life of a young girl born deaf and blind and the courageous journey of the nun who helps her learn to communicate with the world around her. At the turn of the 19th century, a humble artisan and his wife send Marie, their deaf and blind fourteen-year-old daughter, to the Larnay Institute in central France, where an order of Catholic nuns manage a school for the deaf. There, the idealistic Sister Marguerite sees in Marie a unique potential, and vows to bring the wild girl out of the darkness.

Final free lecture at fort

Fort Caspar Museum is pleased to announce its annual free summer lecture series for 2016. The lectures will be held on seven consecutive Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. Each presentation will focus on a different Impression on Wyoming, from past to present and from east to west. These free programs are funded in part by the Fort Caspar Museum Association and the Wyoming Humanities Council.

Each lecture will take place in the Multi-Use Room at Fort Caspar Museum. The programs are adult focused and will last approximately 60 minutes, including the lecture and a discussion opportunity. Most of the talks will feature a PowerPoint presentation, and if the speaker has published on a relevant topic, the lecture will conclude with a book signing.

Here are the dates, speakers, and their topics for the other free summer lectures:

July 20, John Farr will present Wyoming: Sheepherders State.

For more information, contact the museum at 235-8462 or check the Fort Caspar Museum website, www.fortcasparwyoming.com. Fort Caspar Museum is located at 4001 Fort Caspar Road.

Republican legislative and commissioner debate

The Natrona County Republican Party and the Natrona County Republican Women will be hosting a Republican primary Legislative and County Commissioner debate on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, at the Ramkota in the Theatre Room.

It is open to the public. The doors will open at 6 p.m., and the debate will start at 6:30 p.m. We will be doing the Legislative Debates first for House Districts 37, 56, 57 and 58; followed by the County Commissioner candidates. Each House District will take approximately 30 minutes and the commissioner candidates will be 30 minutes and start approximately at 8:35 p.m.

Questions can be submitted to chairman@natronagop.com or there will be an opportunity to drop them in a basket the night of the debate. No questions from the floor and no personal attack questions -- issue questions only. The moderator will be Brian Scott Gamroth, Natrona County state committeeman.

Wyoming Blues Challenge

Calling all Wyoming Blues Bands and Solo/Duo Blues acts. Here's your chance to represent Wyoming in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge. Prelims will be held on August 7 at the Alibi Pub in Laramie and August 20 at the Attic above the World Famous Wonder Bar in Casper. Finals will be held on September 18 in the ballrooms at the Parkway Plaza. If you think you have what it takes, contact Rick Davis at wyomingblueschallenge@gmail.com to get rules and receive your entry information.

New displays at senior center

What is Zentangle? Zentangle is a fun, relaxing ,easy method of drawing that creates structured images.

Visit the Senior Center at 1831 E. 4th St. to view this fascinating display of amazing drawings by local artists. Also featured is a collection of Japanese collectibles including pottery, clothing, dishes and more.

For more information, call 265-4678.

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

Downtown walking tours

Casper Theater Company will present two downtown walking tours this summer. All tours are $25 per person and reservations are required.

The Casper Ghost Tour will begin at 8:30 p.m., on Thursdays and Fridays through July 29. The Ghost Tour guide will provide you with information on downtown hauntings in buildings, alleys, and businesses. She will take you on a 90-minute tour through the alleys of downtown talking about strange phenomenon seen by citizens, business owners and employees of several locations in the downtown area. You will learn about some locations such as Eggingtons, Wonder Bar, Wolfords, Lou Tauberts, the Downtown Parking Garage, the two movie theaters and much more. Tickets are $25 per person and a reservation is needed by calling 267-7243.

The Sand Bar Tour will be a murder mystery walking tour. The tour guide will take you for a walk on the Sand Bar at 7:30 p.m., where you will come upon a victim of the times. There will be characters to will meet all of which had a motive. Each character will talk with you and tell you about their life on the Sand Bar, businesses, painted ladies, bootleggers, and gamblers. All will culminate at the end to find out Who Dun It? Tickets are $25 and the tour runs two weekends, Friday and Saturday, September 9-10 and 16-17. Reservations are required by calling 267-7243.

If you have any questions about either tours please call Casper Theater Company at the above number, or email us at caspertheatercompany@gmail.com Our website is www.caspertheatercompany.net

Submit to miniature show

ART 321/Casper Artists Guild would like to invite all artists to submit entries in our 22nd Annual International Miniature Art Show 2016. You can find the specifications on entries and entry forms by visiting our website at art321.org and looking under Exhibits.

Fees and entries are due July 30, 2016. The show opens to the public on August 4, 2016, and closes August 27, 2016.

Cash awards and ribbons will be given. Size of cash awards will depend upon number of entries.

Dr. Valerie Innella Maiers is the show judge. She teaches art history and museum studies in the Visual Arts Department at Casper College.
Helping Others

Make fleece blankets

The Fleece Blanket Project provides a time of fun and fellowship while working on a community service project to benefit others. The group will be meeting at First Christian Church, 520 CY Avenue, Saturday, August 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday, September 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This informal group welcomes volunteers of all ages from churches, agencies, and groups, as well as anyone who would like to help cut and tie fleece to make blankets to be given to the homeless and those in need in Natrona County.

To date, volunteers have made 190 blankets which were given to individuals and agencies that provide help to those in need of warmth and comfort. In addition to volunteering your time, you may donate fleece (2 yards each of two complementary colors/patterns). Bring sharp scissors if you have them or just come and tie! Parking is in back of the church. If you have any questions, please call First Christian Church at 234-8964.

QPR training July 18

Learn to save a life in as little as 90 minutes. The Prevention Management Organization of Wyoming in partnership with the 12-24 Club and the Natrona County Suicide Prevention Task Force is offering this FREE training on Monday, July 18 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. a the 12-24 Club (500 S. Wolcott). QPR will teach you to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. For more information, contact Anna Edwards at 472-5991 or email him at aedwards@pmowyo.org

Blood donors have chance to win Ranger

Blood Donors who give at United Blood Services blood center or blood drives through September 9, 2016, will be automatically entered to win a 2016 Polaris Ranger 900XP in the Rollin Up for a Ranger Giveaway.

We are excited to offer this giveaway particularly now because donations have been down, said Jennifer Bredahl, regional donor recruitment cirector, United Blood Services. We encourage new and existing donors to participate in this fun promotion to ultimately save lives and to ensure our supply is strong enough to respond to any emergencies or traumas.

To make an appointment please call 877-827-4376 or go to www.UnitedBloodServices.org.

To save time, donors can now fill out their Fast Track Health History Questionnaire online at www.UnitedBloodServices.org the day of their donation. To donate blood, volunteers must be at least 16 years old (16 year old donors need a minor donor permit which is available online) and be in good health. Must be 18 years or older to win. Offer applies to participating United Blood Services blood centers and mobile blood drives operated within Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

Thanks to Blue Envelope

Pathfinder Boat and Fishing Club would like to thank Blue Envelope Health Fund for their donation of an AED. This piece of equipment will be housed at Pathfinder Marina and would be used in a life saving event. The board and members of Pathfinder Boat Club thank you for your generosity.

Suggestions for food bags

The Wyoming Food for Thought Project is now providing weekend food bags to nearly 600 children in Natrona County weekly. While all donations are appreciated and used, this year the staff has compiled a list of things to donate monthly, in order to stock the shelves of the pantry at the program center.

Here is a list of suggestions for the entire year: July, canned vegetables; August, Chef Boyardee products; September, pork and beans; October, cereal; November, soup; December, canned chili.

Donations can be dropped off any time at Food for Thought drop site locations, which include Great Harvest Bread, eastside WAC, Reliant FCU, Mary Ann's Beans, Casper College Library, Aspen Ridge Dental, and the Food for Thought Program Center, 900 St. John St.
Editor:

Tom Sawyers new best friend is our own David Calar. Everyone remembers Mark Twains character -- lived with Aunt Polly, got into trouble, had to whitewash her fence. Well, just like Tom Sawyer, our local EAA Chapter 420 decided to host Young Eagles Day, a 501(c)(3) organization that provides opportunities for young people to experience a ride in a private airplane, tour the FAA tower, Airport Fire House, see the Collings Warbirds and Wyoming Air National Guard C-130.

The great thing about Dave is that you just have to say Dave, Eddie Good says that we can use Hangar 1 for the event. Do you think we should mop the floor? And the next morning the entire hangar is mopped, clean and ready to go. Or Dave, we are thinking about having a pancake breakfast and Dave will run out, buy all of the fixins and whip up breakfast for several hundred people.

The Collings Foundation flew in a P-51 Mustang, B-25, B-17 and B-24 Liberator. While they were here, they needed a special tool, so Dave took a few measurements, roared off to his secret shop, and 45 minutes later, fabricated a new tool that was better than the original.

A more generous person than David Calar, you cannot find.

Many thanks to Dave for continuing to organize and grow the Event. Thanks also to the Tower for topnotch air traffic control, Mike Hendershot and the Public Safety folks for tours, all of the pilots that volunteer their time and airplanes, the local Civil Air Patrol, Airport Staff, Labett, Atlantic Aviation, the Wyoming Air National Guard, and everyone else that volunteered their time, effort and capital. What a fun event!

Dave has already agreed to host the EAA Ford Tri-Motor tours later this summer August 25  28th Hangar 1, Casper Airport. Riding in the Ford Tri-Motor is a step back in time and fun for the entire family. This fall, Dave will be sponsoring the Glendo EAA fly-in.

Ahhh Dave, do you know how to clean gutters? Mine are full of leaves 
JACKSON  The mother of a teenager found dead near a popular hiking trail is criticizing the Teton County Sheriff's Office's investigation, saying there should be charges filed.

Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue ruled that 16-year-old Kayden Tapia died of a genetic heart condition and no charges were filed in connection to the death.

Tapia was found June 14 on the Snake River dike.

His mother, Stephanie Hurst, said she believes her son was smoking marijuana with his four friends at the time of his death. Witnesses who found Tapia's body saw the four boys leaving the scene.

The boys were interviewed and released. Hurst said they should face charges for not calling 911.

The sheriff's office says no charges were warranted.
BILLINGS, Mont.  Accident-prone tank cars used to haul crude oil and ethanol by rail could remain in service for another 15 years under federal rules that allow companies to phase in upgrades to the aging fleet, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Transportation officials and railroad representatives have touted the rules as a key piece of their efforts to stave off future disasters, following a string of fiery derailments and major spills that raised concerns about the crude-by-rail industry.

Yet without mandatory, periodic benchmarks for meeting the requirements, the decision to upgrade to safer tank car designs is left entirely to tank car fleet owners, and may be driven by market factor influences, not safety improvements, NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said in a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Transportations Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Tom Simpson with the Railway Supply Institute, which represents tank car manufacturers and owners, said the industry is committed to putting stronger cars in place. Members of the group will meet deadlines for replacing or upgrading the cars, he said, noting that demand for rail cars has eased after crude-by-rail shipments decreased over the past two years in response to lower oil prices.

The need to modify or install new cars isnt as urgent as when the rule was issued, Simpson said.

In recent years, accidents involving the older cars have occurred in Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, Illinois, West Virginia and Canada.

The most notable was in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, where 47 people were killed when a runaway oil train derailed in 2013. During the most recent accident last month in Oregon, 42,000 gallons of crude oil spilled, sparking a massive fire that burned for 14 hours near the small town of Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge.

Cars built before the rule was enacted do not have to be fully replaced until 2029, although most would have to come off the tracks sooner.

Just over 10,300 stronger tank cars mandated by the new rules are available for service, according to figures obtained by The Associated Press from the Association of American Railroads.

Thats equivalent to roughly 20 percent of the 51,500 tank cars used to haul crude and ethanol during the first quarter of 2016.

Transportation Department Press Secretary Clark Pettig said in response to the NTSBs criticism that the schedule to retrofit older cars was locked in by Congress in a transportation bill approved last year. The Congressional deadline represents the absolute last moment to meet the new standards, Pettig said.

We agree with NTSB that industry should work to beat those deadlines, he said.

A Wednesday meeting was planned in Washington, D.C., where government and industry officials were set to update the safety board on progress addressing the issue.

Safety board member Robert Sumwalt told the Associated Press that federal regulators need to set milestones to hold the industry accountable.

Theres been 28 accidents over the past 10 years. Thats almost three accidents a year, Sumwalt said. Unfortunately, history shows we probably will have more accidents involving flammable liquids.

A bill from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and other Democratic lawmakers would offer tax credits for companies that upgrade their cars during the next several years.

Communities near train tracks, like Mosier, Oregon, must be confident that companies are using the safest tank cars possible, Wyden said.

The railroad association said only 700 of the least resilient model of the older-style tank cars remain in service. Most of the cars in current use have at least some improvements, such as shields at either end of the car to help prevent punctures during derailments.

Transportation officials cautioned, however, that thousands of idled legacy cars could quickly come back online if oil prices rise and shipment volumes rebound.

Most tank cars are owned or leased by companies that ship fuel by rail, not the railroads themselves.

Every tank car carrying crude or ethanol needs to be upgraded or replaced, said railroad association spokesman Ed Greenberg.
CHEYENNE  Mandatory military service for all young people would boost the armed forces and could help bridge the nations political divisions, a former U.S. Marine running for Wyomings lone U.S. House seat said Thursday.

Jason Senteney proposes to require all Americans over 18 to serve in any branch of the military for at least two years. Part of their pay during that time would automatically be saved for education or other needs upon return to civilian life, he said.

Nobody would be forced into a combat role, and those unable to serve in the military would work on civilian infrastructure projects.

It would build a sense of pride nationwide, said Senteney, a Republican. Somewhere along the lines, I think, that has gotten lost. A lot of people dont serve their communities any more or even serve their countries anymore.

Those who refused to serve would be unable to ever collect welfare, Medicaid or unemployment benefits.

A state corrections officer in Torrington, Senteney served four years in the Marines over three stints in the late 1990s and early 2000s. His role in the Marines prohibits him from disclosing where he was deployed, he said.

Senteney estimated his proposal would boost the nations active-duty military, from around 1.4 million to 15 million. Of those, about 3 million would be ready for combat, Senteney said.

Such a large force would deter not only international terrorist organizations and state adversaries but also lone-wolf-type terrorists at home, he said.

If somebody knows that the majority of the people  whatever the venue, whether its a gun-free zone or not  are militarily trained, I believe its a great deterrent, Senteney said.

The $75 billion cost could be covered in part by holding defense contractors more accountable for their costs and by reducing foreign aid and subsidies, he said.

Nine Republicans and two Democrats are running to replace Republican Rep. Cynthia Lummis, whos not seeking re-election.

Senteneys proposal is typical of huge ideas on the Republican side of the race that have little chance of passing, Democratic candidate Ryan Greene said. Fewer than 1 percent of bills brought by freshman congressmen pass, he said.

Its got good intent. But what these guys are doing now out there on the trail is just big talk and big promises, Greene said.
Editor:

A story in the July 11 Casper Star-Tribune headlined Candidates weigh expansion featured Donald Bellamy as a candidate to represent central Casper in the Wyoming Legislature. Among his concerns is the Affordable Care Act, which he opposes because of fines imposed upon people who do not have health insurance, when many of the folks who forgo purchasing insurance simply cannot afford it.

Is that so!

In typical Republican fashion, Bellamy reads affordable as unaffordable, reversing reality by illusion.

I have a sister in Montana, low-income and self-employed, who at first walked like a Republican until she faced paying fines for not being insured. When she did the paperwork for Affordable Care, she discovered herself greatly rewarded for doing so. Her net income after taxes jumped up about 20 percent after all was said and done, and she has health care insurance at age 61 for the first time in her life.

While not all persons fit into my sisters shoes, small-business concerns have a different issues under Affordable Care. However, myself, having worked for a large business concern, BNSF railway, now retired, have had very good health insurance as part of job benefits. The root of this disparity in health insurance coverage is, in part, the consequence of Republican politicians who love to create disparity in the U.S. economy because of their big noses, which inhibit economic vision, creating economic illusion, the rich provide the well-being of the American economy. Is that so!
A proposed settlement filed in Trico Electric Cooperatives pending rate case would add an estimated $2 per month to the average home bill, by boosting its basic monthly charges 60 percent to $24 while lowering usage-based energy charges.

The proposal by Trico and the staff of the Arizona Corporation Commission would also cut the rate at which customers with new rooftop solar-energy systems are reimbursed for the excess power their systems produce.

The settlement also would add to all residential and small-business customer bills a so-called demand rate  based on the customers highest monthly usage  though the rate for that charge would be zero.

The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a meeting Tuesday in Tucson to gather public comment on the proposed Trico settlement, which the full Corporation Commission is expected to consider for approval in August. No other parties to the case have signed onto the settlement.

Trico is a nonprofit, member-owned corporation providing electric service to about 40,000 customers in rural areas of Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. The co-op last had a rate increase in 2009, when rates went up an an average of 6.6 percent.

The increase Trico is requesting amounts to an annual revenue increase of about $2.3 million, or about 2.6 percent, and a $2.05, or 1.75 percent, increase in the typical home customers monthly bill.

Trico CEO Vin Nitido said the increase is needed to make up for costs that have risen since the last rate case, which was based on 2007 cost figures.

Nitido said the revenue shortfall is almost entirely due to customers with rooftop solar installations, who because they generate most or all of their electricity dont pay for the fixed costs of energy, such as transmission and distribution, that are included in charges for each kilowatt-hour of energy used.

Trico figures those roughly 1,500 solar customers cost the company, and in turn other non-solar customers, about $80 per month in unrecovered fixed costs, or about $2 million a year.

Under the settlement, Trico is proposing to cut the net-metering rate, at which solar customers are reimbursed for excess power production, from the current full retail rate of about 12 cents per kilowatt hour to 7.7 cents per kWh. The new rate would apply to customers whose solar systems were approved for connection by the end of last May.

The lower reimbursement rate would reduce the estimated average subsidy of solar customers to about $60 per month, Nitido said.

We think thats a reasonable approach, given that weve been seen a huge influx in applications, and its a number we thought made sense and would continue to promote solar while mitigating the cost shift, Nitido said.

The electric co-op also wants approval to adjust that rate within 18 months, without having to file a whole new rate case, based on an ongoing Corporation Commission study of the value of rooftop solar.

During contentious hearings in that study case, utilities have argued that solar is worth little more than the avoided cost of fuel, citing extra grid costs, while solar advocates say its worth as much or more than traditional generating resources especially when factoring in societal benefits such as reduced air pollution.

The idea behind the zero demand charge is to give customers information about how their bills would look with demand charges, Nitido said. It gives us time to educate folks on how to manage their own (power) loads to minimize their bills, he said.

But though demand charges are common for commercial accounts, they have never been mandated for residential customers in Arizona.

And when UNS Electric proposed a mandatory, across-the-board demand-charge rate for home and small business customers  at the urging of the Corporation Commission staff  it touched off a storm of opposition.

UNS later backed off its support of the across-the-board demand-charge plan but still wants to force newer rooftop solar customers onto a demand rate. That case is expected to go before the full commission in the next month or so.

A solar-industry representative said the Trico proposal for a demand charge is surprising, though the rate is set at zero, given the outpouring of opposition from ratepayers and consumer advocates in the UNS case.

The idea of a zero-dollar demand charge is too cute by way more than half, said Court Rich, a Phoenix attorney representing the Energy Freedom Coalition of America. Its not going to educate consumers at all, its just the camels nose under the tent.

Consumer advocates have opposed residential demand charges, contending that customers would have trouble understanding their impact.

Tricos request for a higher fixed monthly charge is part of a trend of utilities looking to collect more of their fixed costs such as transmission from fixed charges, rather than usage-based rates.

In its pending rate request, Tucson Electric Power has proposed doubling the fixed monthly residential customer charge to $20 from $10 currently. UNS is seeking to hike its basic charge to $15 from $10 currently.

At $24, Tricos monthly basic service charge would be among the highest in the state.

Consumer advocates including AARP say higher basic monthly charges create an unfair burden on poorer customers because it lessens their ability to control their bills through conservation.
Growth in Arizonas aging population means a current and projected shortage of caregivers for the elderly.

The largest state-approved center for training caregivers and certified nursing assistants in the state is based in Tucson. The not-for-profit CareGiver Training Institute, 710 South Kolb Road, building No.4, graduates about 220 people per year. Its a number that is projected to grow.

The average salary for certified caregivers in Southern Arizona is $10.06 per hour, or $21,000 per year.

Graduates of the 14-year-old school have included refugees, single parents and local residents who never graduated from high school.

Starting Aug. 1, the school will add an assisted-living manager curriculum to its roster of courses.

The Star spoke with CareGiver Training Institute CEO Jayne Hack last week about the need for caregivers, qualifications for the job and whether graduates are able to increase their salaries.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

Are all caregivers who work in assisted-living centers and nursing homes state certified as caregivers?

If they are performing the duties of a caregiver, then they need to have taken a state-approved training program and successfully completed the state test.

What about people who work for in-home care agencies  should consumers assume that they are certified by the state?

Never assume, always ask for proper credential verification.

What does the certification process entail?

This 116-hour training course is offered at various schedules and includes a state test which, if successfully completed, will provide a certificate to work as caregiver in Arizona. You will be certified in personal-, supervisory- and directed-care levels.

The curriculum for training caregivers has been approved by the Arizona Nursing Care Institution Administrators (NCIA) Board. All training courses include lecture, skill development and direct care. Included in those hours are 16 hours of medication management. Some online work will be required.

Caregiver training fulfills all requirements for the NCIA board to earn a caregiver certificate and sit for the state exam.

How much does it cost for a student to go through the training, and are there loans available?

The cost of the program is $1,110, and loans and scholarships are available. Also, we work with Pima County One-Stop for financial-aid assistance.

You said the average salary for certified caregivers is $10.06 per hour. Do you have students who graduate and go on to earn more than that?

Our students are a premium for the industry partners due to the quality of education that they acquire.

Most of our students range from $11 to $15 per hour. We offer resume writing and have industry partners meet our students at a Get that Job class.

What are the demographics of your students?

Seventy percent are low income based on HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) client eligibility income limits; 70 percent identify as ethnic minorities  50 percent Hispanic, 11 percent African American, 4 percent Native American, 5 percent other; and 39 percent are single heads of household.

The CareGiver Training Institute is the only health-care training program in Tucson that accepts applicants without a high school diploma or GED  20 percent of our registrants on average each year, including refugees.

Do you have one caregiver training program or are there different levels?

Caregiver training programs are one class inclusive of all three levels. Students take one caregiver class that is 116 total hours. The state minimum is 104 hours.

Some local assisted-living homes and nursing homes report difficulties in finding qualified caregivers to fill jobs  does that sound accurate to you?

Yes, there is a major gap between qualified caregivers and the employers looking to hire.

If someone is hiring a private caregiver, is there anywhere online for them to check whether the person they are hiring is certified by the state?

Tell us about your new assisted-living manager program.

It is a 40-hour course so that caregivers can advance in their career path and become a manager. With this certification, they will be able to open their own facility. Our first class will be from Aug. 1 to to Aug. 5. You cannot open a facility without that credential. In the past, people had to go to Phoenix to get this training.

Becoming a manager is a way for certified caregivers to earn higher salaries.

What could entice more people to become caregivers in Southern Arizona?

Educating them of the opportunities in the health-care industry. Giving is always a blessing and the rewards outweigh the responsibilities.

Its not an easy job. But with the right patient you can live with them, not pay for housing, be their caregiver. In this community there are people who dont want to be in a facility, they want to be in their home.

What do your graduates say about working in a facility?

It depends on the facility. In some places they are overworked and there is not enough help. Ive been a supervisor, and I always suggest that facilities buddy-up caregivers. There is camaraderie in working together.

What kind of a person makes a good caregiver?

Compassionate is the only real word. Personality, hygiene and personal appearance are also important. If you are going to care for someone else, you should show good self-care.
Q: I have tried in vain to get a refund from American Airlines. On a recent flight back to Bermuda, my 7-year-old daughter and I experienced hours of delays caused by weather. Finally, our flight was canceled, and chaos ensued.

The line to see an agent was two to three hours long, and I was carrying a sleeping child. Agents were yelling, Call American Airlines! I had an international cellphone, but called and was told there was a wait time of two hours. Then the agents were yelling at the crowd to use AA.com to rebook their flights.

I turned on the data on my phone, clicked on AA.com, and it said my booking reference did not exist.

There were seats on the next days flight, so we paid $2,157. I waited an hour for a taxi in the rain. I was carrying a child. I checked into a hotel, which took 90 minutes, as so many passengers were stranded.

The following day, I still couldnt get near an agent. The lines were hours long. I also still couldnt get through to American by phone. Hold times were more than two hours.

I checked in, and once through the gates, finally found an agent. I explained it all to her. She said that American had booked me on a flight later that day. I explained that I had had zero communication about the rebooking. She said to take it up with customer service.

I have been trying to deal with customer service since January. I eventually discovered that the airline refunded me $74 for each ticket! I am seriously out of pocket. I understand the bad weather thing; however, I was told to rebook my tickets on AA.com. I did that.

The agent whom I spoke to that day canceled the flights American had put me on, as they were much later in the day. I would like American to refund me the money I am out for the rebooking.  Pamela Doherty, Pembroke, Bermuda

A: What a nightmare! Your initial flight delay was caused by weather, and unfortunately, your airlines contract of carriage  the legal agreement between you and the airline  says that the airline owes you nothing for the inconvenience.

Is that right? No, but when you buy a ticket, you agree to those terms, and they cant really be renegotiated after a flight delay.

Heres where your problem happened: A representative told you to rebook your flight, and you took that to mean you should buy new tickets on American. Thats not how it works. The airline will rebook you on the next available flight at no charge. Instead, you made a brand-new reservation and then asked to be reimbursed.

If this ever happens to you again, your best option is to wait and let the airline rebook you. Otherwise, you could spend a lot more money, and you might not get a refund.

You could have appealed this to an executive at American Airlines. I list their names, numbers and email addresses on my consumer-advocacy site: elliott.org/company-contacts/American
Embarrassing but true, Im smack in the middle of my 40s  thats not the embarrassing part, FYI  and I only just donated blood for the first time.

I cant believe I waited so long.

Like a lot of people, Im no fan of needles. Also, Im still traumatized by the fact that once I had blood drawn, and the vial stopped filling halfway through.

Huh, the phlebotomist said at the time, calmly switching arms. I was not so calm. In fact, it freaked me out enough to avoid voluntary bloodletting for all these years.

But when I heard the Bloodmobile was going to be right there in the parking lot at work at the same time I was, how could I not? I decided to just suck it up. Well, let the Red Cross suck it up, actually.

I made a point of telling the kids what I was doing and why. Good citizen indoctrination starts early with toddler basic training  no smearing boogers on walls, no going to the bathroom wherever you want  and then progresses into stuff like this, that its everyones responsibility to positively contribute to society, even if its a small thing because little gestures make a difference, too. So dont be a weenie about a needle.

The day of my appointment, I chose my outfit carefully, nothing constricting, all-natural fabrics. I did a spin in front of my husband. Im wearing an outfit thats comfortable to pass out in  just in case.

When my appointment time rolled around, I strolled up to the Bloodmobile, ready to bleed. The giant RV reminded me of the fancy-dancy Barbie camper that had a hallowed place in the corner of our playroom for many, many years. Except, the Bloodmobile wasnt pink and purple and didnt have a big-screen TV or a blowup pool or even a pop-up roof with adjustable hammock. (Barbie does my kind of camping.) And, of course, the Barbiemobile didnt have recliners equipped with pull-out armrests or bags full of blood. Wait, the Bloodmobile is nothing like the Barbie RV (say that three times fast). Why did it remind me so much of a Barbie toy? Ah yes. Thats right  the smell. They both share that same eau de Mattel, which is the distinct aroma of Band-Aids.

After filling out forms which asked if I was on these medications that I recognized from those rare occasions when I dont fast-forward through the commercials on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, it was time to get pumped. The bloodletting went fast, which I credit to the hard-driving heavy metal music pounding through the RV. That probably gets blood flowing much faster than Barry Manilow plus it doesnt trigger the gag reflex. Naturally, I took a selfie with the needle stuck in my arm and another pic of my donation, which I immediately texted to my oldest child.

And for my exceedingly minimal time and effort, I received a snack-bag of mini Oreos, well, two bags actually but it was an accident, I swear, and a profound sense of satisfaction  for not passing out and for knowing that such a small contribution could very well make a huge difference. According to the thank-you phone call from the Red Cross, my donation could save up to three lives.

No. 3 even informed me he wants to be a blood donor. Parenting mission accomplished.
The Jewish History Museum at 564 S Stone Ave., left, is next to the Holocaust History Center, background, which is currently under renovation. The center will have stories of Holocaust survivors and their families along with other programs. The museum itself was the first synagogue in the Arizona Territory, The photo was taken on Thursday, October 8, 2015, in Tucson, Ariz. A.E. Araiza/ Arizona Daily Star
ITS A FACT! THEYRE WEARING EM RIGHT NOW; AND WITH SHORT SKIRTS

It may amuse, startle or enrage male readers to learn that the fashionable female young person is usurping masculine hose. There has been an advance in the price of full-length female hosieryowing to the war or somethingand the male sock has been found to be better quality, cheaper and just awfully cool and nice, declare these resourceful young women. Besides, you can almost never tell the difference.

Short skirts are shorter than ever just now. With the appearance of the make half-hose there has been apprehension felt in the more prudish circles over the alarming possibility of a gap or hiatus in the female costume. To be blunt about it, the top of the hose and the bottom of the skirt are seen to be at a remove of several inches. In this interval there is exposed to the night air and to the polite wonder of those about, a small portion of the wearers bicep, be it spare or plump.

It is very friendly of the women to help make the warm weather more tolerable. Men cant walk the streets in bathing suits with any seemliness, but it will please them to see other mens wives and sisters in relief from the heat. You go down the street any hot day and here comes a young woman with the northern exposure mentioned and you feel refreshed. You do at least if you get a good look.
PHOENIX  A Tucson man accused of plotting a terrorist attack on a metro Phoenix motor vehicle office has been transferred to another jail after being assaulted by other inmates.

Phoenix TV station ABC15 reported Friday that 18-year-old Mahin Khan was attacked in a Maricopa County jail on July 2.

Khan's lawyers say he suffered minor injuries, was evaluated at a hospital and now is in segregated housing at the Lower Buckeye Jail.

Khan is accused of asking a suspected militant for help making a pipe bomb in a plot to blow up an MVD office. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday and remains jailed pending a July 19 bond hearing.

County sheriff's officials say Khan originally declined to be placed in voluntary segregation and was put in medium-security general population housing.
PHOENIX  The organizer of a bid to quash a new state law easing rules on anonymous dark money donations in political races has folded his tent.

Rep. Ken Clark, D-Phoenix, said Friday he will not be able to get the required 75,321 valid signatures by the Aug. 5 deadline.

In fact, Clark said his approximately 300 volunteers have so far collected only about 20,000 names on petitions. And of that, he said a preliminary review shows only about 16,000 are valid.

Clark said the defeat came down to a lack of money.

The general public understands that dark money is bad, he said. But we were not able to convince the larger money donors to come in and help up pay for petition gatherers.

And Clark said that, as popular as he believes the issue is, an all-volunteer effort was bound to fail.

Everybody on Facebook is distracted with Bernie and Hillary and Trump, he said. It is incredibly difficult to break through that cacophony.

The result is that SB 1516 will take effect as scheduled Aug. 6.

Under current law, any group that spends money trying to influence a campaign has to disclose those expenditures.

The law says if the organizations total spending on political issues is less than half of its budget, it need not disclose its donors. But it allows both the secretary of state and the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to demand that groups open their books to ensure compliance.

SB 1516 changes that to say if a group gets classified by the Internal Revenue Service as social welfare organization, it is presumed exempt from having to reveal the true sources of its dollars.

Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Phoenix, said the Internal Revenue Code aligns with Arizona law, with that 50 percent limit to get social welfare status.

But Clark said the IRS, unlike state agencies with oversight authority, does not actively police these groups to ensure they are, in fact, living within those limits.

And theres something else.

While federal law says social welfare groups cannot spend more than half their money trying to elect candidates, there is no cap on how much of their budget they can spend trying to approve or defeat ballot measures. Clark said with SB 1516, groups could theoretically spend all their money from anonymous donors to run commercials designed to get Arizonans to vote one way or the other on ballot issues.

The amount of anonymous donations in the last election was close to $11 million.

In the governors race alone, the $5 million spent on the general election by Republican Doug Ducey and Democrat Fred DuVal was eclipsed by the $9 million others spent trying to influence the race.

Two Republicans got elected to the Arizona Corporation Commission with $3 million spent on their behalf by two outside groups. Arizona Public Service, the states largest electric utility that is regulated by the commission, has refused to confirm or deny whether it was the source of any of that cash.

Mesnard said during the legislative debate he does not have the same fear of anonymous donations as Clark.

A message is a message, he said.

If its important to you to know whos behind the message and you dont know whos behind the message, then disregard it, he said. But if its not important to you and you want to focus on the message itself, then theres no harm done.

And Mesnard said he believes that sometimes too much disclosure is a bad thing.

The end result is a registry of every person and who they donated to, he said. I think that is entirely dangerous.

Clark, who led the unsuccessful legislative fight against the bill when it was approved along largely party lines earlier this year, said he is not giving up. He said the next step is to build a coalition to come up with new statutes designed to ensure that voters know the true source of money behind political campaigns and commercials.

He likely would have an uphill fight. The chances of the Republican-controlled Legislature requiring more disclosure are virtually nil.

It was Secretary of State Michele Reagan, also a Republican, whose staff crafted whats in SB 1516, pitching it as a clean-up of current campaign finance laws. And any moves to force more disclosure will get a fight from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry which has argued that laws compelling groups involved in political campaigns to identify their donors would chill First Amendment rights.
A herd of pronghorn  commonly known as antelope  in the Sonoita-Elgin area has grown from fewer than 100 animals in 2012 to more than 300 today, state wildlife officials report.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department and the Arizona Antelope Foundation rebuilt the herd by employing grasslands restoration, fence modifications, predator control and translocations of pronghorn from healthy herds elsewhere, said department spokesman Mark Hart.

Game and Fish records note that there were 81 pronghorn in the area in 2012 when the Antelope Foundation received a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for grasslands restoration projects there.

Hart noted that Game and Fish officers and foundation volunteers recently counted 318 pronghorn in the area.

The restoration work included removal of mesquite trees and prescribed burns. Predator control involved trapping or shooting more than 100 coyotes.

The predator control is very targeted, limited in duration and specific to the time of year when fawns are being born, Hart said. They are very vulnerable then, soon after birth.

The largest translocation of pronghorn brought 41 of the animals from New Mexico in 2014. We swapped out Goulds turkeys from Arizona in exchange for the pronghorn, Hart said.

Fence modifications were another element in bolstering the pronghorn population.

Pronghorn antelope are the fastest land animal in North America, capable of running up to 60 miles per hour (but) they are hesitant to jump over objects, according to a Game and Fish news release. As part of the project, many area landowners agreed to barbed wire fence modifications involving removal of the bottom strand and replacement of it with a smooth wire placed 18 inches off the ground. The modifications enabled the pronghorns to go under fences and move more freely throughout the area.
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.
Music guru Molly Meldrum is recovering in hospital in Melbourne after a fall in January flared up on Lindsay Foxs cruise in Greece.

Meldrum, 73, was injured in January when he fell over in Thailand and dislodged a vertebrae in his spine.

Dr Brian Pliatsos told the Herald Sun. He is currently in a Melbourne Hospital under the care of a team of expert specialists who report that he is stable and in good spirits.

Molly will require some further specialised testing and evaluation and a period of rest, and will not be in a position to make any official statements during his convalescence.

I want to assure everybody that his prognosis is excellent and ask that his privacy be respected pending a full and proper recovery.

The tests will show if Meldrum needs surgery or can return home.
Help India!

By TCN News,

New Delhi: A group of journalists met here on Friday and jointly condemned the arbitrary arrest and harassment of journalists in Chhattisgarh. Journalist from Dantewada, Prabhat Singh, addressed the press conference, organized by the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ). Senior journalists Geeta Seshu, Sujata Madhok and Saba Naqvi were part of the panel at the press conference.

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Delhi Union of Journalists called for an immediate release of all arrested journalists and withdrawal of cases against them. It regretted the impunity to police and security forces and demanded restoration of accountability and rule of law in the state.

Prabhat Singh,31, was released on bail on June 26, 2016 after spending 3 months in Jagdalpur Central Jail. He was charged under the Sections 67, 67 (A), 292 IT Act. Singh had been exposing various scams and corruption related to government schemes, policing and civil rights violations in the Left Wing Extremist areas of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.

According to Prabhat, on March 21, 2016, he was abducted by policemen in plainclothes from his office in full public view. He was detained in Parapa police station through the night but shown as arrested the following day from Jagdalpur. He claims he was roughed up during the said illegal detention and the police asked him to start writing reports in favour of Bastar Inspector General SRP Kalluri. Following a pattern observed in similar naxal cases, he was also forced to sign a number of blank documents and others of unknown content. He was not allowed to consult or meet with his lawyer. He was also threatened that he could be implicated in Naxal-related cases.

He alleged that he was strip searched and subjected to further humiliation in jail upon his entry.

The case against Prabhat was filed on the basis of a private complaint by members of a now-disbanded group known as the Samajik Ekta Manch (SEM). He was charged with making obscene comments on a private whatsapp group. As per media reports, SEM was a vigilante group set up with the support of Kalluri. There have been several other complaints against the groups activities.

In a WhatsApp group, members of a police-backed group called me anti-national because we had demanded a law to protect journalists in Chhattisgarh, said Prabhat Singh.

Singhs arrest and incarceration had been widely covered in the national and international media and noted by the Committee for Protection of Journalists. He has been writing and reporting in a conflict area and his arrest had been described in the media as an extension of the police excesses in conflict zones with a chilling effect on free speech and reporting. Earlier such treatment had been noted in the cases of villagers, activists, human rights defenders and others in conflict areas.

Singh is the fourth journalist to have been arrested in Bastar. Deepak Jaiswal of the local Hindi daily, Dainik Dainandini, was arrested on March 26, 2016 when he tried to cover the proceedings in Singhs case at the district court in Dantewada. In late 2015, two other journalists Someru Nag and Santosh Yadav were arrested, leading to public protests by journalists in the state capital, Raipur.

The judiciary needs to be held accountable for not protecting journalists too, said Sujata Madhok. There has to be special protection and a law for journalists. This is because media houses and owners may not always back their reporters

Incidentally, Singh had also been part of a delegation of journalists that officially presented a memorandum to chief minister Raman Singh calling for a law to protect journalists.

Id met with Prabhat while he was in jail and later met with chief minister Raman Singh but we are yet to see any response from the government, said senior journalist Saba Naqvi, adding, Local journalists in such areas make it possible for news to reach the world and their independence is crucial.

Malini Subaramanium (a contributor to the news webstie Scroll.in) was forced to leave Bastar after she reported on oppression of tribals in February 2016, including allegations of rape and sexual violence by security forces.

The Editors Guild fact-finding team has found clear violations of laws and harassment of journalists in Bastar, making fair and impartial reporting hazardous.

When a fact-finding team of the Editors Guild went to find out about these cases, the CM met with us but Kalluri did not want to. He responded by saying that he was in an encounter, said Geeta Seshu. We have to question where does this kind of impunity and arrogance stem from by which journalists are attacked? The demand for a law to protect journalists has come from the ground and cannot be ignored.
Help India!

By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

Boston/Srinagar  In an email conversation with Mehboob Makhdoomi, Expert on Kashmir situation and Socio-Political commentator from Harvard, American linguist and political activist Prof. Noam Chomsky compared the conditions in Kashmir to that of Palestine.

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He called the current development in Kashmir as shocking and termed the discussion between Kashmir and the rest of the India as hysterical. He wrote that he has discussed this topic(Kashmir issue) in India in the past, where it aroused hysteria so much that his hosts insisted on police protection for several weeks of rest of his stay.

Earlier in July 2015, Chomsky advocated that Indian army should move out of the Kashmir. Indian Army should leave Kashmir. Kashmir has had an awful story, especially since late 80s after that fake election and that there have been horrible atrocities, said Chomsky.

In the recent conversation, he had said, the reason Palestine has been his priority is because of the crucial role of the United States, which means that the activists in the US can do something about it, which may not happen when in case of Kashmir.

He has also called the atrocities of Army in the Valley has a superficial gesture. Chomsky said that he would have to do same on Kashmir, what he does for Palestine.

In the past, Chomsky has urged for a common federal arrangement by India and Pakistan for Kashmir, so that semi autonomous regions could loosely federated with each other.

The valley is tense after Burhan Wanis death on July 8. In subsequent protests, 44 have lost their lives, along with thousands injured. Curfew is in effect in most of the areas of Kashmir.
Help India!

By Siddhant Mohan & Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net

Srinagar  After banning mobile internet in Kashmir, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has now stopped Cable TV reception in the Valley. The ban started early Saturday morning.

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The reason behind the decision is to put a halt on local coverage of the events being taking place in the valley, as these channels were the only sources of the real time news after internet and mobile services, except BSNL postpaid, had been cutoff since Thursday. Direct to home satellite TVs have not been affected by this lock down.

In addition the J&K police also cracked down on local newspapers. On Friday midnight, police also raided printing presses situated in greater Kashmir.

Not only did they stop printing, they also seized already printed copies of the newspapers. Raids and seizing were done without any charges told but sources inform that this was done to stop the news circulation in the valley.

Police also raided corporate office of valleys largest newspaper Greater Kashmir arresting two employees and one press foreman. They stopped printing of Greater Kashmir and even took out the printing plates from the machine.

A story on GK website reads, Cops misbehaved with the employees present there and snatched their cell phones. The employees who tried to resist were beaten up by the policemen.

Sources inform that more than 120,000 copies of the published newspapers have been seized by the police.

Police also raided Srinagar based KT Press, which publishes some of the major newspapers of the valley including Kashmir Times, Kashmir Monitor, Brighter Kashmir, Kashmir Reader, Kashmir Observer and Mission Kashmir. Police also arrested staff at KT Press.

Rising Kashmir is the second-largest newspaper in the valley. Police seizes printed copies of the Rising Kashmir early on Saturday morning.

Forces also stopped the distribution of newspapers. Firdaus Ilahi, a local journalist from Srinagar, told TwoCircles.net, Police was deployed outside major newspaper distributing agency in Srinagar to stop the distribution of newspapers.

A news hawker said on the condition of anonymity, By the time we reached to collect copies, they had already seized the printed edition. When we asked Why, they started misbehaving.
Help India!

By Devanik Saha

With a wound that refuses to heal on her shoulder, nine-month-old Ruksana lives with her parents  and hundreds of others patients from across India  on the footpath outside the Metro station of Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). After waiting six months amid the noise, dust and traffic, they finally have an appointment with an AIIMS doctor  a year from now.

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Ruksana, a quiet, unsmiling child with kohl-lined eyes, and her parents journeyed about 1,023 km from East Champaran, Bihar, for medical help. They embody recently released data  from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)  that 48 per cent of overnight trips made by millions of Indians from rural areas (25 per cent in urban areas) are for medical purposes, their journey reflecting the growing failures of the public health system in the worlds fastest-growing economy.

More than half of Indias rural population uses private healthcare, which is four times as costly as public healthcare, and can cost the poorest 20 per cent of Indians more than 15 times their average monthly expenditure, another NSSO survey found last year.

Ruksanas father, Mohammed Kalimuddin, 38, is a farmer. He has spent Rs 60,000 ($900)during the familys six-month-sojourn in Delhi. That includes Rs 24,000 on failed medical treatment. Since Kalimuddins average annual earnings are no more than Rs 40,000, the gap has been bridged by his savings.

People like Kalimuddin make the journey to Delhi because they are rarely assured of quality healthcare near home. More than 90 per cent of the treatment for childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia in Bihar  the leading causes of death among Indian children  was found to be incorrect, IndiaSpend reported in February 2015.

Healthcare expenditure pushes families into debt

Kalimuddins story is shared by several other families who live outside the AIIMS Metro station, as they try to reach a doctor. They do not have money to stay in a hotel or rent a room. The money spent by Kalimuddin is almost four times the average expenditure of Rs 15,336 per health trip, as the NSSO reports.

Up to 86 per cent of the rural population and 82 per cent of the urban population is without health-expenditure support, and about 12 per cent of the urban and 13 per cent of the rural population got health insurance through the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (National Health Insurance Scheme) or similar plans, IndiaSpend reported in July 2015.

Inadequate public healthcare and healthcare expenses push an additional 39 million people back into poverty in India every year, a Lancet paper said.

Greatest proportion of medical migrants from Bihar

More than half of overnight trips in Kalimuddins state  581 of every 1,000  Bihar, were for medical reasons, sixth-highest among all Indian states and union territories. West Bengal (633/1,000) and Assam (599/1,000) were the states that reported the highest number of trips made for medical reasons from their rural areas.

In contrast, 211 and 250 of every 1,000 trips from rural areas of Delhi and Meghalaya were for medical purposes, the lowest in India.

With 104 million people, Bihar is Indias third-most populous state, and has the third-highest percentage of people (33.7 per cent) living below the poverty line. After Bihar, the largest numbers of such people are in Chhattisgarh (39.9 per cent) and Jharkhand (36.9 per cent).

Although 18 states with poor health indicators  called high-focus states  increased health spending in anticipation of cutbacks on centrally sponsored health schemes, smaller states have cut health spending because they did not have the money, IndiaSpend reported in February 2016.

The northeastern region requires over eight lakh additional hospital beds to tackle the inaccessibility of healthcare services for the rural population, according to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Public Health Foundation of India.

Indias poorer states have health indicators that are worse than many nations poorer than them, and Indias healthcare spending is the lowest among BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations, as are its health indicators.

Struggling: Public health infrastructure in India

The medical migrants outside AIIMS and the journeys they make reflect the low priority India accords to healthcare. Some indicators:

* Of 4,000-odd multi-crore infrastructure projects in the country, only nine (0.21 per cent) are in the health sector, IndiaSpend reported in December 2015.

* Public-health centres across Indias rural areas  25,308 in 29 states and seven union territories  are short of more than 3,000 doctors, IndiaSpend reported in February 2016.

* There is an 83 per cent shortage of specialist medical professionals in community health centres (CHCs), IndiaSpend reported in September 2015.

* India has seven doctors for every 10,000 people, according to a 2012 WHO report. The ratio should be 1:600.

* Over the last two years, the money allocated for key centrally-sponsored social schemes  Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and National Health Mission  declined 10 per cent and 3.6 per cent.

The plan: Outsource healthcare

Currently, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog is working on a vision document on public health. Some salient features:

* All rural MBBS doctors should be trained as family physicians with the government paying for each patient so treated.

* Incentives to low-cost private alternatives, such as NGO-run institutions and missionary-run hospitals, to bolster government-run institutions.

* Promote competition between private and government hospitals at the secondary level, which involves services of medical specialists, while primary centres are usually single-physician clinics, usually with facilities for minor surgeries.

In a meeting in April 2016, the NITI Aayog called for outsourcing primary healthcare to private doctors.

It does not appear that journeys like Ruksanas will end any time soon.
Help India!

By Mohammad Rafay Qadri for TwoCircles.net,

Inspired by the character of Manisha Koirala in the Bollywood film Lajja, Rana Ayub decided to transform into Maithili. Surname Tyagi was also added to give an insight of perplexing Brahmin identity. It was to hide various caste-based statuses among Hindu religion and to do dubious proof investigation.

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For this reason, Maithili Tyagi was born who was unaware that one day she will become the nightmare of Modi-Shah regime in power.

Gujarat Files takes into account the entire scenario of 2002 riots and post riot cases, focusing on encounter deaths. There were several high-profile encounter deaths in Gujarat between 2003 and 2006. Those who were killed for law or against the law included Samir Khan Pathan, Sadiq Jamal, Ishrat Jahan, Javed alias Parnesh Pillai, Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsi Ram Prajapati.

Gujarat Files is among the finest examples of investigative journalism. This book gives readers a clean and misty understanding of complex situations, provided by the lens of a spy camera and spy microphone both of which were freely used in a long drawn sting operation. Rana Ayub disguised as Maithili, a purported US-based filmmaker, was able to interview officials one-by- one. Acting as a catalyst is help of Mike (name changed), a foreigner, whom Rana Ayub managed to put as an assistant. Various high ranked IAS and IPS officers were carefully questioned by Maithili. Not only senior officials including G.L. Singhal and Rajan Priyadarshi, who headed the states anti-terrorism unit, P.C. Pande, commissioner of police of Ahmedabad during the 2002 riots, but also senior bureaucrat Ashok Narayan, then additional chief secretary (home), as well as former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, who is now in jail for the riot charges.

The brave investigation of Ayub proves the fact that how the systems of governance as tough as of police are used as tool by the people in power. Readers are also shown the glimpse of caste-based politics as proved by Rajan Priyadarshi who was the Gujarat ATS Director-General in 2007. This man has admitted that a Dalit officer can be asked to commit cold-blooded murder because he has no self-respect, no ideals. He further stated despite holding the position of IG, Border Range of Gujarat, how he was refused for the hair cut by village barber due to his caste.

Apart from corrupt and power-thirsty officials Ayub has carefully mixed the taste of real life heroes into the book. Rahul Sharma, Rajnish Rai, Satish Verma and Kuldeep Sharma were few officials who were adept to show eyes in front of power stricken people like Modi and Shah. These officers were heroes but not frankly for the junior and senior officers of the police department. Rahul Sharma was then SP and had responded vigorously to control the violence and was able to save 400 madrassa students. These were officers who had tried to keep up the flag of justice at a time when justice was at its lowest ebb in Gujarat. Ayub also revealed how Kuldeep Sharma, the man who was to be DG of Gujarat, was denied his promotion simply because he started an investigation against the then Home Minister Amit Shah. Later, he was transferred to Sheep and Wool department.

Ayub had kept the humour alive with her delicious tastes for dishes she used to enjoy with Mike at Gujarati Restaurants. Mike was a tall and young French lad brave enough to catch the crucial points of investigation. She also displays how they both managed to get hostel at Nehru Foundation, enjoyed parties, lunch and dinners on invitations from the families of officials. Mike also went away in the last with a note reading Pyari Maithili Apna Khayal Rakhna.

Luck was also equally important in Ayubs daredevil investigation. At some points in the book, it gives us severe stomach ache and a scary feeling. Like, once Maithili was saved when a constable standing close to the checking point escorted her from the other entrance. Otherwise, the metal detector could have caught her hidden camera. It was during a visit to cinema hall with Usha Rada, Gujarats famous woman cop.

Similar to it Ayub (Maithili) was saved by luck at P.C Pandes bungalow when an official who knew Maithili as Rana Ayub was stepping out of his bungalow just three houses away. Later, Ayub washed her sweat all over the face for being lucky.

Apart from it we cannot deny Ayubs fair role for investigating in Haren Pandayas murder. Wife of this minister was shocked as Maithili told her about a Muslim identity in Ramdan and refused tea. Later, both of them became friends and are enjoying their friendship till date.

It cannot be said for sure the book will be able to correct the prejudiced opinions. Hence, we cannot also deny the truth hidden behind the pot full interviews of so many high ranked officials. There is a great message for youth warning them about the violation of rules and regulations by the IAS and IPS officers on behest of powerful leaders. They follow orders because not doing so would seriously jeopardize their careers.

It is stupefying how easily Ayub was able to meet officials wearing a hidden camera in her clothing. We cannot ignore her courage. Gujarat Files is an open account of discussion between Rana Ayubs Maithili Avatar and officials leaving on the readers the decision to justify the truth. The truth which has not been revealed till date.

(Author is a freelancer who is also pursuing Economics Honors at Department of Economics, Aligarh Muslim University. He tweets @RafayQadri )


On the evening of Friday 15th July, reports of soldiers on the streets, Military planes flying low and tanks blocking bridges over the Bosphorus Straits emerged from Turkey. Soon after this, on national television, a faction of the Turkish military declared that a peace council was now ruling the country, and that those involved in this apparent coup were doing so in order to restore democracy and constitution order to their country. However, the coup was suppressed and overcome relatively quickly by a combination of pro-Government forces, police officers and civilians, and by Saturday 16th July, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey and founder of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), announced that the government was control of the state.

World leaders, including Barack Obama, Theresa May and President of the European Council Donald Tusk have spoken out in their support of Turkeys democratically elected government. However, despite this apparent victory for democracy, it is highly possible that the coup will act as a catalyst for Erdogans government to further erode democracy in the Turkish state.

The road to democracy?

Since assuming office in August 2014, President Erdogan has been criticised numerous times for his authoritarian tendencies. He has reduced significantly the power of the Turkish military, a highly secular institution which has previously intervened to defend against perceived threats to Turkish secularism, a principle upon which Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, an army officer, founded the Turkish Republic in the early twentieth century.

President Erdogans Islamist-rooted ideology therefore contrasts greatly with the militarys unwavering secular stance. Further to this, over recent years he has cracked down on government opposition, imprisoning critics and reporters, closing anti-government outlets such as the newspaper Zaman, forcing other news outlets to publish pro-regime propaganda.

In March 2016, after the bombing of Ankara, the capital of Turkey, Erdogan stated that there was no difference between a terrorist holding a gun or a bomb and those who use their position and a pen to serve the aims [of terrorists], as he extended the legal definition of terrorists to include MPs, activists and journalists.

Legislation has also been passed depriving parliamentary deputies of immunity from prosecution, allowing Erdogan to prosecute opposition politicians. Indeed, according to the Economist, early in his career Erdogan compared democracy to a train; he stated that you get off when you have reached your destination.

The power of the people

President Erdogan has indirectly accused US-based ceric Fethullah Gulen of inciting the coup, attributing the events to parallel structures seeking to topple the government. However, this is questionable, as he is essentially saying that a secular military has carried out the bidding of a prominent religious figure. In the aftermath of the coup, Erdogan has begun a purge of the Turkish judiciary, dismissing 2,745 judges and arresting 10 members of the Council of State, the countrys highest administrative court.

Indeed, in a statement he announced, This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army, hundreds of whom have already been arrested by pro-government forces. There have also been talks of the death penalty being reinstated for the perpetrators of the attempted coup. On the evening of Friday 15th July, President Erdogan urged the Turkish people to take to the streets to oppose the uprising; they did just this, showing undeniably the potential power of the people, something which may worry the President in the long-term, potentially leading to further crackdowns on freedom and civil liberties.

This failed coup appeared to stand for the restoration of Turkish democracy. But one thing is for sure; regardless of whether this is seen as a success or failure by the government, it will be a severe blow to this democracy.
Ill be excited about Star Wars for the next few years. This year, well have Rogue One, and after that well get Episode 8, continuing the stories of Finn and Rey, then after that well get young Han Solo, and after that well return to Finn and Rey for Episode 9, and after that, well, Im not sure. And that terrifies me.

We were all so preoccupied worrying about whether or not Episode 7 would be any good, then preoccupied losing our minds over how amazing it was, that none of us stopped to worry about what Disney has planned in the long term.

Disney is a corporation, and no doubt are big fans of huge sums of money, and I dont blame them. Episode 7 made $2 billion, Episode 8 will make another $2 billion or near enough, and Episode 9 after that, so why would they stop there?

Theyve got a sure thing with Star Wars. Its massively popular and millions of people will flock to any Film bearing that title, and its timeless, so why would they ever stop? After Episode 9, there could easily be an Episode 10, and since Star Wars films come in packs of three, itll be followed by 11 and 12, and 13, 14 and 15 after that. Theres no conceivable way it will ever end, and diabolical Disney knew this even before they signed the papers to buy Lucasfilm, while we were all busy concerned with the short term and Episode 7.

I liked the ending provided by Return of the Jedi. The Rebels defeated the Empire. Han and Leia got together. Luke and Vader made peace. Everything was wrapped up in a nice, neat bow. And then thirty years later, they continued the story, so theyll have to create a new ending and a new neat bow at some point  or will they?

Think about it. Star Wars is immortal. Star Wars will outlive everyone on the planet right now. Well all die, but there will still be filmmakers and there will still be Star Wars fans in the world, so Star Wars will live on.

The question is, what are they doing in these films? The story started in Force Awakens will end with Episode 9, and Episode 10 faces the burden of starting a new story.

Thing is, traditionally Star Wars trilogies are standalone three-part stories with huge time leaps between them. There was thirty years between making Episodes 6 and 7, so all the actors had aged thirty years and could play older versions of their characters introducing the younger characters into their world, thus beginning a new story while remaining a continuation of the earlier films.

Disney wont wait thirty years to make Episode 10. Theyll wait two, which is how long itll take to make it. So, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac will look exactly the same. Are they going to complete their own quest and then immediately turn around and get some other kids six years younger than them started on their quest?

And then a few years later, those new kids will help ever newer kids begin their quest?

Do you see what Im saying? As long as todays cast are still around, will they be in the films? Will Finn be in Episode 32? Or are they going to create time jumps with aging makeup and CGI? Thatd be so weird.

And when will it end? Thats the bigger question. Even if they can keep making them, when will they stop? I guess never, and I think that was the plan all along. They forfeited the Episode VII moniker and just went with Star Wars: The Force Awakens  which really grated with me because thats what Star Trek titles do, not Star Wars titles  and I think they gave up on the numeral system because itd look silly in a thousand years when theyre still churning out these movies and they have ridiculous titles like Star Wars Episode MCMLXXVII: Fall of Ren.

I dont want to die and not know how Star Wars ends. I will, but I find some solace in knowing that Disney will never die and theyll never stop turning out Star Wars films, so therell never be a definitive ending Im missing out on.

Theres bigger things to worry about in the world  the Middle East, for one  but come on, this is quite concerning, no?
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke invites the public to attend Saturdays main memorial service, Chattanooga Remembers, to honor the four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Sailor who were killed by a gunman on July 16, 2015. Mayor Berke will join local representatives of both the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy in leading a special ceremony, which will take place at Rosss Landing on the Riverfront.



The weeks and months after the attack have been a time for us to come together to heal, as one community, said Mayor Berke. This Saturday we will take another step forward in that process, by honoring Chattanoogas Fallen Five and their families on the year anniversary of that tragic day.



The Chattanooga Remembers ceremony will feature military customs and traditional honors, including Manning of the Rail, Presentation of Colors, and a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Mayor Berke will issue a proclamation and read aloud the names of each of our fallen five - Lance Cpl. Squire Skip Wells, Sgt. Carson Holmquist, Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith.



Its important we come together on July 16. If theres anything this last year has shown us its that, during our darkest days, Chattanoogans show our true character, said Mayor Berke.



The public is encouraged to arrive and secure a spot as early as 10 a.m., at which time the 572nd Air Force Brass Group will perform patriotic music. At 10:40 a.m. the official ceremony will begin. At 11 a.m. - the approximate time the first shots were fired - the USS Chattanooga bell and church bells across Chattanooga will ring. Immediately following, the public will be invited onto the pier at Rosss Landing to toss flower petals into the Tennessee River in tribute to the fallen five.



For more information and to see all the events commemorating the one-year anniversary of the July 16 attack, visit chattanooga.gov/noogastrong.


Chattanooga City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem will host a District 9 Summit Meeting on Saturday, July 23, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Second Missionary Baptist Church, 2305 E. 3rd St., Chattanooga, Tn. 37404. 3rd St., Chattanooga, Tn. 37404.







The agenda will cover the status of previous priorities as well as new priorities for community improvements. There will be discussion regarding Blight Reduction in the City from the Economic and Community Development department, the McCallie Center for Inner City Boys, public safety and local law enforcement, and community and residents concerns. Refreshments will be served.





For more information regarding the District 9 Summit, contact the Council Office at 423 643-7170.




For the past thirty years Chattanooga State Community College has provided adult education services to the citizens in Hamilton County. As of July 1, the Tennessee College of Applied Technology Athens has been entrusted and challenged by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to continue offering these services.

"Times of transition and change bring about a plethora of questions and concerns, and in regards to Hamilton County adult education, the primary concerns revolve around accessibility and quality of services for citizens in need of the diploma necessary for entering the workforce or earning a postsecondary credential," officials said.



In light of these concerns, Stewart Smith, director of the TCAT Athens, said, The TCAT Athens is committed to providing quality education services to the citizens of Hamilton County. We appreciate the years of quality service that Chattanooga State has provided in Hamilton County, and we intend to work with them in providing a direct pathway for our graduates to become their graduates.

"The TCAT Athens has a proven track record of providing quality services leading to a high success rate in graduates earning their high school equivalency diploma in Rhea, McMinn, and Meigs Counties, and is now focused on bringing this same level of success to Hamilton County," officials said.



District 4 is comprised of the 10 counties making up the Southeast region of the state, with Hamilton County representing nearly half of the total potential to serve. Hamilton County is by far the largest population in the region and as such will receive the lions share of available funding, said Mr. Smith. Funding has been utilized to hire an assistant district coordinator and support and instructional staff whose primary focus will be on Hamilton County. In addition, Hamilton County will be the central location for ESL classes.



"AE District Coordinator Leslie Travis has worked diligently putting together a team of qualified professionals to develop a strategic plan to ensure that the citizens of Hamilton County receive quality preparation to successfully pass the high school equivalency exam (HiSET), which are still being offered at Chattanooga State," officials said.

Beginning on July 11, we will have classes at the Eastlake Salvation Army location on 28th Street, The American Job Center at the Eastgate Town Center on Brainard Road, and in Soddy Daisy, said Ms. Travis. The TCAT Athens continues to pursue additional locations within the community to expand the offering of services, focusing primarily on locales accessible by way of public transportation in areas with the highest concentration of need.



We ask the community to please remain patient as we seek to ensure that services offered in Hamilton County are of the highest quality. Rest assured that we will do our best to move the process along as quickly as possible, said Ms. Travis.

All adult education teachers and staff will be attending a statewide training in Memphis the week of July 17. The purpose of this training is to bring all eight Districts together in order to better understand the goals of the restructuring and to enable each adult education representative to successfully provide quality services in each community, according to officials. New student orientation will begin on Aug. 1 across the District 4 area, which includes: Hamilton, Marion, Sequatchie, Grundy, Bledsoe, Rhea, Meigs, McMinn, Polk, and Bradley Counties.



"Adult education takes a collaborative effort, and the TCAT Athens will work tirelessly to partner with individuals, business and industry, education and governmental entities in Hamilton County to develop the most effective plan to provide quality services," officials said.

Anyone interested in partnering with the TCAT Athens or receiving adult education services can call the toll free number, 1-844-688-7944. "The Tennessee Adult Education District 4 Facebook page will be frequently updated with dates and locations, making it a great resource to remain current on adult education in District 4," officials said.
Have the Alaskan Bush People pulled a con job on America? It seems they may have left some tracks uncovered in the latest allegations.Multiple reports for months have shed a suspicious light on the Brown family who've successfully branded themselves as being a well-organized Wolf Pack who subsist on mostly natural resources and their own abilities to survive in the Alaskan bush country.

Ami Brown's mother the center of a calculated plot?

Another report places the Browns directly under scrutiny after some digging into the recent storyline revolving around the clan's matriarch, Ami Brown.

Her 83-year-old mother, Earlene Branson, had a dying wish to see her daughter and attempted to visit her in Alaska only to discover she  and the rest of the family  weren't in the state. The 9-member clan had gone on vacation to Hawaii.

A sleuth put together some interesting information that practically discredits the Browns and Ami's estranged family. The world of social media is a powerful tool and Ami's brother, Les Branson and cousin, Charles Gilbert, reportedly belonged to manyAlaskan Bush People Facebook fan pages. They made it known back in June that Earlene was planning a trip to Alaska.

When Earlene made her journey all the way to Alaska when the Browns were gone, a local who belonged to one of the show's Facebook pages, had a barbecue for her so that she wouldn't leave without having some kind of hospitality before heading back home to Texas.

Facebook administrator grows suspicious

It seems that Earlene  affectionately known as Memaw  was used in a publicity stunt. An administrator on one of the fan pages reveals that the goal here was playing on people's emotions. Not only were the Browns aware Earlene was going to visit Ami, but Les already knew the Wolf Pack would be in Hawaii.

But wait, there's more. Gilbert financed Earlene's trip to Alaska, but it appears he was with the Browns in Hawaii when he was supposed to be taking her back home. Ami's cousin wrote an odd post that he needed to hypothetically know the quickest way to get from Maui back to Juneau. The post has been deleted. In addition to that, Les Branson and Charles Gilbert removed themselves from the Facebook pages they once belonged to.

More lies

If none of this is enough, Ami has been in contact with her mother the last 30 years. Claims are being made that Ami and her husband, Billy Brown, were in on the scheme, too. They were all part of convincing the public that there would be a reunion between Ami and her mother. Twila, Billy's long-lost daughter, was a member on one the Facebook groups. She was aware of Earlene's visit to Alaska and was with the Browns in Maui.

The Browns have been accused of lying about the true relationship of other family ties, such as Billy Brown's own storyline involving his estrangement from daughter, Twila. Other sources have come forward saying that the Browns secretly spend their nights at a hotel in Hoonah, Alaska when not taping the show.

In all, this story just doesn't add up. Is the Alaskan Bush People one big con job?
Actor loses role because of unclear attitude over Taiwan Updated: 2016-07-16 07:03 By Yang Wanli(China Daily)

A mainland Chinese director is changing a main actor in her new film after netizens renewed calls to boycott the movie over the actor's support for "Taiwan independence".

The crew released an announcement on Weibo on Friday, saying that they will change cast member Leon Dai, since the actor didn't show a "clear" attitude toward whether he is a supporter of "Taiwan Independence".

The announcement said that there is no border in the arts society, but artists should maintain emotions for where they are from and the people who support them, and no hesitation can be allowed on this matter.

"I will never forget my identity as a Chinese person. To me, the State and national interests take precedence over anything else," said director Zhao Wei on her Weibo.

Dai was criticized for having participated in activities advocating "Taiwan independence".

Ma Xiaoguang, the mainland's Taiwan affairs spokesman, said last year that the central government never allows people on the mainland to make money supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist activities, or destroying relations across the Taiwan Straits.
US must adjust Asia strategy to fight terrorism Updated: 2016-07-16 09:03 By Shi Zhiqin & He Yun(China Daily)

US President Barack Obama, surrounded by US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (L) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USMC General Joseph Dunford, Jr., (R) delivers a statement from the Roosevelt Room on Afghanistan at the White House in Washington US July 6, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The United States needs to recalibrate its strategic priorities and put the Middle East back on the top of its foreign policy agenda to counter Islamic extremism.

The root cause of rising terrorism in the Middle East in recent years has to do with US President Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia" strategy. The strategy and the US troops' withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf created a huge room for the rise of terrorism and civil wars in the region.

The "pivot to Asia" strategy is influenced by multiple factors. First, the shale gas revolution helped the US realize its dream of energy independence. Since the importance of oil has declined for the US, the Middle East has lost its strategic magnetism for the Americans. Second, the pivot strategy is based on the concept that East Asia is emerging as the economic center of the world and therefore should be the focal point of US foreign policy. Third, the US perceives the rapid rise of China as a threat, and China's territorial disputes with some neighbors in the South China Sea have given the US an excuse to shift the majority of its naval forces to the West Pacific.

The shift in US naval forces has reduced their presence in the Middle East. Even while the US Navy was bombing Islamic State group targets in Iraq, the US Central Command approved the decision to withdraw the only aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf even though the Pentagon's formal military requirement is to keep at least one such vessel there at all times.

The US-led invasion of Iraq created a fertile ground for civil war and religious extremism in the Middle East. The Syrian civil war and the US' decision to withdraw troops from Iraq left the region further wide open and enabled the IS group to take control of large swathes of land both in Iraq and Syria. The IS has now become the most complicated foe for the US, not only because of its military success in the region, but also because its ideological appeal extends far beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria.

The "pivot to Asia" strategy hasn't worked well in the Asia-Pacific region either. The US has not been able to curb the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear ambitions. Also, US intervention in regional territorial disputes is fueling tensions between Washington and Beijing. And although the building of artificial islands has strengthened China's claims in the South China Sea, the US Navy's and spy-planes' frequent reconnaissance missions into China's maritime economic zone have heightened the risk of a military conflict.

To avoid a conflict, therefore, the US and China should stop playing zero-sum games and instead work together for global welfare. This will allow the US to reduce its military presence in Asia and deploy its forces in the Middle East, reassuring its traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.

By shifting its strategic priorities to the Middle East, the US will not only be able to protect the key interests in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but also check the rise of sectarianism and extremism in the region that pose the greatest challenge to its security.

The Middle East is also an important part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. President Xi Jinping's recent visits to Iran and Saudi Arabia demonstrated China's interest in a stable and peaceful Middle East. So China should continue to play a constructive role in the region and work with the US to bring reconciliation there, as it did in facilitating the Iran-US nuclear deal.

Shi Zhiqin is former dean of Tsinghua University's Department of International Relations, director for the Center for the Study of the New Silk Road and a resident scholar at Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, and He Yun is a Fulbright scholar and researcher at Tsinghua University.
Time for ASEM to play its essential role Updated: 2016-07-16 09:03 By Shada Islam(China Daily)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang addresses the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit in Ulaanbaatar on July 15, 2016. [Photo/provided to China Daily]

The Asia-Europe Meeting is the right platform for a conversation on shared global challenges. With Britain's exit from the European Union, the world economy in poor shape, growing inequalities and discontent with globalization on the rise, the two-day meeting of Asian and European leaders in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, from Friday has acquired greater importance.

Add to the list the increasing disconnect and mistrust between governments and citizensespecially between leaders and youthsrising populism, fears of uncontrolled immigration and terrorism and it will become clear that leaders at ASEM have their hands full.

Asian leaders and policymakers may believe most of these issues apply only to Europe. The truth is otherwise. Brexit has highlighted the strength of these and other preoccupations among Britons (and other European voters), but many people across the world also share them.

Asia is as unequal a continent as is Europe. Both continents have winners and losers of globalization and both face threats from terrorists. Populist politicians may be making headlines in Europe but they exist in Asia, too. So leaders in both Asia and Europe need to build stronger connections with youths and respond to their worries about education, jobs, exclusion and marginalization.

ASEM offers a unique platform for an open, no holds-barred high-level brainstorming on such issues. In fact, it is the need for such conversations that led to the creation of ASEM 20 years agoand such conservations are likely to make ASEM geo-strategically relevant again.

The emphasis of ASEM stakeholdersincluding policymakers, members of parliament and civil society, academics and think tank representatives, as well as youths and business leadersshould now be on new ideas and increased connectivity as part of a potent new recipe for injecting new energy and dynamism into ASEM.

Interestingly, China's focus on connectivitythrough transport links, educational ties and digital information highwayshas revitalized ASEM discussions, which now needs to be taken further. Transforming ASEM into a network of ideas and initiatives will give Asia-Europe ties a geo-strategic raison d'etre which it has lost over the past two decades.

Asia-Europe connectivity is now a fact of life, and reinforcing it through stronger institutional, infrastructure, digital and people-to-people linkages is emerging as a central element of efforts to rejuvenate ASEM.

ASEM has met many of its original goals by providing Asian and European leaders with opportunities to better know each other, encouraging greater people-to-people understanding and providing the two continents with avenues to explore new areas of cooperation in political, economic and social fields.

Also, meetings among business leaders, parliamentarians, academics and civil society membersand young leadershave allowed ASEM to enhance Asia-Europe understanding and upgrade the quality and diversity of inter-continental conversations.

While these connections are important, ASEM can do much more by playing a more central role than it has so far in generating, nourishing and disseminating new ideas about living and working together in a globalized world.

This requires the setting up of an "ASEM Brains Trust" or network of think tanks, which can transform ASEM into a market place for ideas and initiatives. Proposals and ideas generated by such a network should be fed directly into the work of senior ASEM officials and the activities of other stakeholders. Such tasks could be performed by an ASEM coordination center that has been recommended by Mongolia.

This combination of ideas and connectivity allowing for a permanent circulation and exchange of thoughts, knowledge, experience and expertise could revive ASEM. And the summit in Ulan Bator should revive ASEM so that it can help increase Asia's and Europe's understanding of a complicated and turbulent world.

The author is policy director of Friends of Europe, a leading think tank in Brussels.
Happy Birthday, Sister Cities Mary Kane (center), president and CEO of Sister Cities International blows birthday candles marking the 60th anniversary of her organization at a reception in the Chinese embassy in Washington on July 15. To her left is Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and to her right is Minister Li Kexin of the Chinese embassy. More than 400 people from around the world attended the reception. Chinas cities and provinces have set up 2,315 pairs of sister-ship relationship in 134 countries, including 258 pairs with localities in the United States. The reception on Friday also featured photo shows and performances. Chen Weihua/China Daily
Japan told to avoid interfering in dispute Updated: 2016-07-16 06:46 By ZHAO HUANXIN/ZHANG YUNBI(China Daily)

Premier Li Keqiang told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday that Japan should "be cautious in words and actions" and should not "hype and interfere in the South China Sea issue".

The meeting took place at Japan's request on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting summit, which is being held on Friday and Saturday in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital.

Observers noted that Li made the comments after Tokyo publicly pressed Beijing to accept Tuesday's ruling in an arbitration case on the South China Sea dispute that was unilaterally initiated by the Philippines.

Li told Abe that the two sides should properly manage and control differences, and he said Japan is not a country directly involved in the South China Sea dispute, according to a news release by the Chinese side after the meeting.

Abe said that although difficulties still cloud China-Japan ties, Tokyo hopes to reinforce exchanges and cooperation and properly manage differences, the release said.

Li said China's stance on the South China Sea conforms with international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The declaration, signed in 2002 by China and all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, calls for peaceful resolution of disputes through consultation and negotiation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Friday that Japan "has reacted with greater excitement" to the arbitration case than other countries in the region.

Tokyo knows clearly its "inglorious past in the South China Sea", Lu said, referring to World War II, when Japan illegally seized China's islands and reefs there.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said Tokyo has stirred the South China Sea issue as it seeks alignment with ASEAN member states to antagonize China and boost its military presence in the South China Sea.

Yang Bojiang, deputy director of the Institute of Japan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said one of the problems threatening the long-term development of Sino-Japanese ties is Japan's involvement in the South China Sea issue.

"If Japan's interfering actions cross China's bottom line, the country will certainly take powerful countermeasures," Yang said.

Contact the writers at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
Talks, not tension, way to solve regional problems Updated: 2016-07-16 08:45 By Luis Liu and Wang Hui in Hong Kong(chinadaily.com.cn)

Tung Chee-Hwa,,Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, addresses keynote speech at the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on July, 15 2016.[Photo by Roy Liu/ China Daily]

Working together, building trust and friendship and not conflict is the way to solve territorial problems and move forward, said Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR.

Addressing the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement on Friday in Hong Kong, Tung said the decision issued in The Hague on July 12 is not only incorrect but also complicates the situation and may lead the region to a crisis of enormous consequence.

The two-day event is the first major international forum held after the Arbitral Tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday in favor of the Philippines in a South China Sea arbitration case it unilaterally filed against China.

"We need to realize that we live in a troubled world. The only area that holds promise for growth and stability is in the vast Asia-Pacific," Tung said.

The forum, jointly organized by the Chinese Society of International Law and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, focused on four topics covering substantive and procedural issues of the maritime dispute settlement.

More than 200 legal professionals, academics and government officials from around the world shared their views on the law of the sea and discussed a proper means of resolving maritime disputes.

Li Shishi, president of Chinese Society of International Law, said the settlement of maritime dispute requires the political consensus of the governments and the contribution of scholars in order to forge consensus.

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Anthony Carty, a professor at Tsinghua University, and Abdul G. Koroma, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, both questioned the Arbitral Tribunal's ruling.

"The tribunal had unreasonably interpreted the definition of island and had come up with a very peculiar doctrine of assessing geographical features," said Carty, adding that "the ruling had made the situation much worse".

"It is questionable whether the Arbitral Tribunal was entitled to render an award in the particular case as China had already made the declaration in 2006 excluding issues of territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation from the compulsory dispute settlements by any tribunal," said Koroma.
Evacuations underway amid S. Sudan cease-fire Updated: 2016-07-16 07:51 By Pan Zhongming and Fiona Guo in Nairobi(China Daily)

PetroChina workers evacuated from South Sudan's Juba arrive in the Khartoum International Airport on Thursday. Li Ziheng / Xinhua

More than 210 Chinese have been evacuated from South Sudan since the cease-fire declared by President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar on Monday, after five days of clashes that left more than 300 dead, including two Chinese UN peacekeepers.

The evacuations began on Tuesday with planes reserved to pick up stranded Chinese, most of whom are employed by Chinese firms engaged in infrastructure, oil production and other service projects in South Sudan. On Tuesday, 50 Chinese, and on Wednesday 160 Chinese were taken to nearby countries such as Kenya and Uganda to catch connecting flights to China.

One-way air ticket prices soared to $1,000 per person, according to evacuees. Normally, round-trip tickets cost no more than $700.

The Great Wall Travel & Tourism, an airliner owned by an overseas Chinese, was involved in the evacuation.

Zhang Biao, 26, an employee of China Overseas Engineering Group Co, said he had planned to leave South Sudan capital city Juba on Sunday, but all business flights were suspended due to the large passenger demand. He waited until Wednesday to board a 50-passenger airplane and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, in the afternoon.

The Chinese embassy said it tried to maintain contacts with all Chinese in South Sudan during the fighting. About nine "temporary assembly points" were arranged across Juba to coordinate the evacuation.

As of Thursday, employees of Huawei, COVEC, China Railway No 10 Engineering Group, PetroChina, Beixin and Wuyi had been evacuated.

South Sudan has experienced civil conflicts since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011. In December 2013, a civil war broke out between the government and opposition forces, lasting for 20 months.

An estimated 160 Chinese firms were doing business in South Sudan by June 2015. Approximately 1,000 Chinese - in addition to UN Peacekeeper troops - resided in South Sudan before the war broke out.

Contact the writers at panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn
Four men arrested over Nice attack Updated: 2016-07-16 19:12 (Xinhua)

PARIS - Four men have been arrested by Saturday over the terrorist attack in Nice that killed at least 84 people, local media quoted judicial sources as saying.

Among the four men linked to the killer, one was arrested Friday and three others on Saturday morning. The driver's ex-wife has also been arrested.

At around 10:30 pm (2030 GMT) on Thursday, 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a truck into a crowd celebrating the French national day in the southern city of Nice. At least 84 people were killed.
So-called Islamic State claims responsibility for Nice attack, five held Updated: 2016-07-16 19:28 By Chris Peterson in London and Angus McNeice in Nice(chinadaily.com.cn)

Self-proclaimed Islamic State claimed responsibility for the terror attack in the French Mediterranean city of Nice, which killed 84 and injured 202 during a firework display to mark France's Bastille Day latelast Thursday night.

In Paris the Public Prosecutor, Francois Molins, said five people associated with Mohamed Lahouaief Bouhlel, the truck driver who mowed down men, women and children before being killed in a gun battle with police, had been detained and were being interrogated.

Self-proclaimed Islamic State, through its news service Amaq, claimed responsibility for the attack, describing Bouhlel as one of its "soldiers," and said France was a target because of its role in attacking IS targets in Syria and Iraq.

Police also arrested Bouhlel's ex-wife in the hours after the attack, one of the five in custody..

Officers found two automatic pistols, two Kalashnikov assault rifles, two US-made M16 rifles, ammunition and a grenade in the cab of the rented truck, which came to a stop riddled with bullets after careering and zigzagging through the crowds for two kilometres along the chic Promenade des Anglais.

They also found a mobile phone and identity documents, and Molins said intelligence services were carefully sifting through the data found on the mobile phone.

Of the injured, 52 were listed as critical and of that group, 25 are on life support, hospital officials said.

The Chinese consulate in Marseilles, along the Cote d'Azur, told China Daily that two Chinese nationals injured in the attack are still being treated in hospital but are stable and out of danger.

Tuo Yannan in Paris also contributed to the story.

Contact the reporter at chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
Nick Wilkinson, candidate for the 10th District State Senate seat, said the main reason he is running is because we need balance.

East Tennessee is a place that believes in balance.  We are common sense people in the Southeast, he said. We need people who are reasonable, who can work together to collaborate.

Mr. Wilkinson spoke to the Chattanooga Civitan Club on Friday, the first day of early voting for local races, which will be held from July 15 through July 30. The Democratic Primary is Aug. 4.

He said he believes the city of Chattanooga is a blueprint for how good things can happen in the state of Tennessee.

Im running because I believe our children should have the opportunity to succeed.  I believe working families should be able to get ahead instead of tread water, he said. I believe neighborhoods should be loud, and their voices should be heard.

Mr. Wilkinson went on to give a brief account of his history growing up in Brainerd Hills and his work in the field of education.

I firmly believe teachers are the backbone of an education, he said. And were not necessarily paying the teachers what we should be right now.  They really are the fabric that holds a lot of our schools together, and we should let them know that.

He told Civitan members that after moving on to the world of finances and investment, he eventually found himself leading the citys Office of Economic Development for Mayor Andy Berke.

He says he was forefront in the citys efforts for the Volkswagon expansion, which has created 2000 jobs200 of which are in research and developmentand that he works solely to make sure Chattanoogas tax payers are protected. During the last four years, he said the citys unemployment rate has gone from 7.8 to 4.1 percent.

Though Mr. Wilkinson spoke proudly of the incredible wage growth the city has seen, he explained that he understood how that could be a challenge for some business owners and discussed his Growing Small Business Initiative, which allows small businesses to qualify for a cash incentive to try to encourage high-growth companies.

When a community can come together, we can really make incredible things happen, he said.

Mr. Wilkinson explained that people want to see a focus on education, healthcare, and new jobs. He said they want to see their neighbors protected and that people shouldnt have to choose between basic necessities, such as rent, and keeping their families healthy.

We should do better than that, he said. We care about each other enough.

When asked about whether or not he would be a party man, Mr. Wilkinson responded that he would be working for all of the constituents of the 10th district, not just the ones who had voted for him.

For me this is about making a difference in Chattanooga, he said. Chattanooga has had incredible history of bipartisan willingness to come together and work.

Mr. Wilkinson also took some time out of his presentation to encourage community members to go out and show support for the five heroes (who) lost their lives last year during the July 2015 shootings. He said he will be running in the Chattanooga Heroes Run on Saturday.

Our city proved that we can come together and not be divided during a time of crisis, he said. It is an example of our character.

You can find more information about Nick Wilkinson on his website at www.nick4tn.com.
Real estate developer group Riverview Partners, LLC announces their latest conversion in downtown Chattanooga; converting an abandoned warehouse into a state-to-the-art self storage facility.



Main Street Climate Storage is located in the heart of downtown Chattanooga on 1420 Carter St. "A few blocks away from the Westside Recreation Center, Chattanooga Convention Center, and Finley Stadium, this property is more than convenient for you," officials said.



Main Street Climate Storage uses features such as 24 hour gate access, discounts, and extended office hours.



The property manager, Sabrina Painter, can be reached at 423-803-1609.
A New TOD Could Be Moving In Next To Belmont CTA Stop

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jul 15, 2016 9:31PM



Rendering of Lakeview Transit-Oriented Development / Design Studio 24 LLC

Another transit-oriented development could be heading to Chicago's North Side, this one in Lakeview, right next to the Belmont CTA station.

Representatives from the development group GW Properties took their proposal to the Central Lake View Neighbors organization earlier this week. Their vision: a six-story, mixed-use building immediately next to the Belmont stop (937 W. Belmont Ave.) with retail on the two lower levels, and residential and/or office space on floors three through six. The developers are reportedly looking for a change to local zoning rules to accommodate the height of the building.

Some of the additional specifics are yet to be finalized, pending consideration of neighborhood input.

The proposed TOD would encompass the vacant lot that runs along the CTA tracks plus the neighboring building, which is now empty. Previous tenant Fashion Tomato moved just east along the same block in April.

Per usual TOD regulations, the building would not have any parking spaces for vehicles. According to a flyer that targets potential retailers, developers are aiming for a summer 2017 delivery.

The site is just two blocks west of the so-called Target Express development, which will become the neighborhoods first TODand if youre so inclined, the old neighborhoods final death knell: the space was formerly inhabited by the punk-and-goth outpost The Alley.

TODs have similarly made news in Logan Square and Wicker Park. Nominally intended to increase housing density near CTA stations and provide cheaper rents for non-motorists, some such projects in those neighborhoods have seen rates sharply spike.

[H/T Curbed]
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'Chicago P.D.' And 'Fire' Are Casting For Local Extras And Featured Roles Sunday

By Gwendolyn Purdom in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 15, 2016 9:40PM



Photo: Facebook

Maybe the reason Chicago P.D. and its fellow Windy City-centric dramas didn't nab the Emmy nods its fellow Chicago-tied shows did is because the NBC shows have yet to find their real star.

Chicago area residents looking to change that just might get their chance in the coming days as casting and filming for new episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and newcomer Chicago Justice gets underway. Tail Sticks Casting will hold an open casting call for all its Chicago offerings in Portage Park on Sunday, according to a Thursday post on the company's Facebook page. The shows are seeking all types of background extras, children and babies (twins and other multiples, especially), real police, real EMTs, real nurses, real lawyers, real nurses, real military personnel, amputees and "gangbanger/bad guy types" (Editor's note: How's that for cringe-inducing language?).

Actors looking for more substantial roles can submit photos and personal identification information to be considered for a handful of featured roles (Internal Affairs agents, Asian family members, "man in hat") set to start shooting next Wednesday, July 20. More details can be found here.

The open call will run Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Biago Events (4242 N. Central Ave.) in Portage Park.
Pitchfork Day 1: Stoners Love Broken Social Scene And Carly Rae Kills

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 16, 2016 3:09PM

The 2016 edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival got off to a sleepy, soggy start as rain greeted attendees Friday afternoon. We noticed that the grounds were still filling far earlier than usual, though, and we suspect the reason was Carly Rae Jepsen. People came eager to see the Canadian pop princess in person and see if the hype was worth itand they were well rewarded.

Jepsen's style of music is universal, and as we surveyed the crowd during her set, we could see the mix of already-fans dancing and new wide-eyed Carly converts. Her music blends decades, with a heavy nod towards the '80s and '90s (including a new haircut that reminds us of Joan Jett), and she brings a confidence and maturity to the music that makes it irresistible. Late in the set she was joined by Blood Orange's Dev Hyne's on "All That," but other than that, Jepsen's Pitchfork set was all her show. Closing with the one-two punch of "Call Me Maybe" and "I Really Like You" left the crowd smiling and exhausted. Jepsen herself even took a moment at the side of the stage to take in her band as they closed out the set with a final instrumental coda.

Broken Social Scene was the biggest draw of the day though, packing the field tight with bodies. The band has a special Chicago connection, and leader Kevin Drew told the crowd they spent a year here recording 2010's Forgiveness Rock Record and hanging out at Damen and Division. The Canadian collective had just played their first show in the States in five years the night before, at Metro, and anticipation was high for their set. So was the crowd; choking clouds of weed smoke were everywhere. The band delivered a strong first half of their set, with members jumping from instrument to instrument, adding in horns when needed, and exercising their musical dexterity in an impressive fashion, particularly on early highlight "7/4 (Shoreline)." About halfway through, BSS, played a new song that obviously still needs a bit of work, and they never quite caught their footing again. Not that the zonked-out crowd minded.

And what a difference a proper main stage makes. In previous years Beach House has historically left us unimpressed at Pitchfork, their sound drifting away under the midday sun. But on Friday, under cover of night and with the benefit of the massive sound system of the Green Stage, their set was an appropriately epic close to the evening. Their sound can be so delicate it needs the proper setting and mood for them to be truly effective, and last night offered them the perfect tableau for that.

Of the fest's up-and-coming acts, Shamir gave the most explosive breakout performance, an extended dance party with roots in Minneapolis funk and club culture. When Shamir Bailey played the fest last year, he experienced some pacing problems, but he announced at the outset he was playing without a setlist, so everyone would be surprised to see where things went. This worked out well, and Shamir was a confident force onstage, with an impressively tight backing band. At one point he addressed the crowd, unafraid to bite the hand that feeds him, telling them the one thing he noticed at every festival he played is that "There's always more of you out here than there are in VIP so let's give it up to the REAL music consumers." He closed his set by leaping into the crowd. If Pitchfork books Shamir again, he's earned a right to one of the main stages.

Chicago's Twin Peaks delivered what could be considered the other breakout set of the day. Vocalist and guitarist Cadien James entered the stage on a wheelchaira nod to when he played the fest with a broken ankle in 2014and immediately jumped out, laughing and saying, "Just kidding!" Twin Peaks has grown immensely since that 2014 set, benefitting from years of touring and getting ever tighter. Their live sound is manic and rawin contrast to their records, which have become more polishedand Friday afternoon's set was a wild rock-and-roll party everyone was invited to. One sign held high above the crowd said it all: "The whole world can fuck off because I'm listening to Twin Peaks."

Related

* Photos: Pitchfork Performers And Fans Show Us Their Best Fest Fashion


People offer flowers to the victims near the site of the terrorist attack in Nice, France, July 15, 2016. The death toll rises to 84 from an attack in which a truck rammed into a crowd marking the French national day in Nice. French President Francois Hollande said "the terrorist character" of the truck attack cannot be denied. He announced an extension of a state of emergency for three months in the country. [Xinhua/Xu Jinquan]

This time it was Nice. During celebrations for the French National Day in the cosmopolitan Promenade des Anglais, 31-year-old truck driver and perpetrator Mohamad Lahouaiej Bouhel had other plans and implemented his mass killing instinct. Embracing the outrageous ideas of terrorism he decided to spread pain, sadness and terror to victims, and critically injured people and their families, ordinary pedestrians and the international community.

In Europe, Paris and Brussels had been hit only a few months before Nice. Other cities of the world, including Istanbul, also were targets lately. Cynically, news about terrorist attacks tends to be now routinized in the media discourse. Wishes for the avoidance of similar terror acts in the future are not sufficient. The Nice atrocity will hardly be the last one as the recent history outlines. It is better to be prepared for the worse than to prefer the convenient way of self-delusion.

There is a common denominator in the perception of most analysts following the Nice drama. In their view of the majority, France is frequently under attack for two main reasons. The first is that its ideals represented in its national motto - liberte, egalite, fraternite - are an anathema to extremists. And the second is that the countrys secularism largely influences living conditions of Muslims. The ban of the burka is a characteristic example in that regard as it increases tensions and can alienate Muslim communities.

Nevertheless, an orthodox and rational analysis does not always provide an efficient explanation for the rise of terrorism in the modern era. That is because terrorism itself is not an orthodox and rational phenomenon, which can be easily interpreted. The ones who are involved in terrorist attacks do normally have a deeper cause they possibly believe they are serving by killing innocent citizens. Obviously, this is related to the traditionally interventionist character of French foreign policy in the Middle East and Africa. The man responsible for the Nice massacre was a terrorist of French-Tunisian origin. Is it a coincidence that Tunisia is one of the countries providing the Islamic State with fighters in Africa? This question needs to be carefully answered noting that France is in war with the Islamic State.

Additionally, the role of the police and the intelligence services should be examined. Although France was in a state of emergency on the night of July 14, it seems that police officers had not been particularly efficient in blocking the access of heavy cars and trucks to gathered people along the Promanade des Anglais. Although their job had been excellent during the EURO 2016, a momentary weakness can cause tragedy. Terrorists do not strike when expected. They are looking for appropriated opportunities and they surprise authorities.

As far as the role of intelligence services is concerned, the specific background of Mohamad Lahouaiej Bouhel needs to generate serious concern. The terrorist had been known to the French police for common law crimes such as theft and violence. But it seems that he later became radicalized, endorsing the methods of the Islamic State and practically applying them. Does this mean that intelligence services need now to reconsider their dogma and also pay attention to persons who do not  at first glance  give the impression of being extremely dangerous? The answer is rather positive, at least in specific cases. Although such a reorientation will be difficult, time-consuming and expensive, it could be a remedy to the Islamic State strategy, locating its extreme supporters at grassroots level.

All in all, the Nice attack demonstrates that terrorists  inter alia members of the Islamic State  are able to invent every possible means to spread chaos among innocent citizens. While the Islamic State is being militarily defeated in Africa and the Middle East by an international coalition, it takes revenge by organizing terror acts in various parts of the world. The will of retaliating cannot be easily prevented, even if intelligence services increase their level of cooperation among different countries. The historical record of Palestinian attacks against Israel is not encouraging. By contrast, it shows that terrorists can emerge as Lernaean Hydra heads.

For the coming months  if not years  Europe will have maybe to live with the nightmare of terrorism being a Damoclean sword.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a lecturer at the European Institute in Nice.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
HA NOI  Some banks have reported good business performance results in the first half of the year thanks to high credit growth.

Vietinbank on Monday reported a profit of VN4.273 trillion (US$190.75 million) in the first six months, up 10.3 per cent against the same period last year.

Vietinbank General Director Le uc Tho said the banks total assets also increased nine per cent to reach VN850 trillion by the end of June.

In the January-June period, the bank mobilised VN780 trillion, up 9.6 per cent, while its outstanding loans were worth VN729 trillion, up 7.7 per cent, Tho said, adding that the banks return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) by the end of June were 1.1 per cent and 11.5 per cent, against one per cent and 10.3 per cent, respectively, in the same period last year.

Last week, Vietcombank also announced that it earned nearly VND4.2 trillion in pre-tax profits in H1, up 38 per cent over the same period last year.

Vietcombank General Director Pham Quang Dung said that the H1 profits represented more than half of the target the bank had set for 2016.

As of June 30, deposits at Vietcombank reached VN535.2 trillion, up 6.7 per cent over the end of last year. Its outstanding loans totalled VN437.6 trillion, increasing 10.8 per cent over the end of 2015.

Dung said the bank maintained its leading position in the domestic market in terms of foreign currency and bank card services, while attaching special importance to international credit activities.

The bank saw progress in non-performing loan settlement and ensuring the capital adequacy ratio, Dung said.

Previously, BIDV had also announced its pre-tax profit of VN3.6 trillion in H1, up 20 per cent year-on-year. The surge was thanks to the high credit growth of 26 per cent against the same period last year.

With a credit growth of 18 per cent, TP Bank also reported a profit of VN205 billion after making provision for risky loans.

In a recent survey conducted by the State Bank of Viet Nam, commercial banks were also optimistic about prospects of their performance in the second half of this year. According to the survey, a total of 86.5 per cent of the respondents expected better results in 2016 than last year, of which 29 per cent anticipated significant improvement.

Value of banking assets touch $340b

The total assets of commercial banks by the end of May rose 4.26 per cent to touch VN7,630 trillion ($340.62 billion) against the end of last year.

According to the latest statistics provided by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), the assets also increased by VN104 trillion, as compared with the previous month.

All commercial banks, except social policy banks, witnessed an increase in assets. Among them, State-owned commercial banks posted the largest increase of VN58.6 trillion, with their assets valued at VN3,400 trillion.

Joint-stock commercial banks came second, reporting an increase of VN32 trillion to reach VN3,000 trillion in assets by the end of May.

Only social policy banks saw a marginal decline of VN1.2 trillion in assets in the period.

The central banks also reported that the charter capital of the entire banking system rose by 2.93 per cent against the end of last year to touch nearly VN595 trillion.

The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of the banking system reportedly reached 12.68 per cent by the end of May, down marginally from 12.76 per cent at the end of April, but significantly higher than the secure level of nine per cent stipulated by the central bank.

The ratio of short-term funds to medium and long-term loans at the end of May marginally rose to reach 31.42 per cent from 31.22 per cent in April. - VNS
HCM CITY  A European delegation comprising 30 business executives from environmental and water technologies companies met their Vietnamese counterparts in HCM City on Thursday to network and explore business opportunities.

Speaking at the event, Vo Tan Thanh, director general of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HCM City, said the EU has been one of Viet Nams most important trade partners for the past two decades.

Bilateral trade last year was worth US$41.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent.

Since European and Vietnamese products and services are more complementary than competitive, the two sides could continue to increase trade, Thanh said.

Talking about water and the environment, he said in recent years combating global warming and protecting the environment had been among the most significant concerns the world over, including Viet Nam, he said.

Viet Nam had to deal with many disasters caused by El Nino and climate change, he said.

Therefore, both our Government and people are trying their best to build a green economy and ensure sustainable development.

With its strengths in technology, The EU is a significant partner for us in this.

Tom Corrie, deputy head of the co-operation and development section at the EU Delegation to Viet Nam, said "it is now an interesting time to do business in Viet Nam."

"Its economy is very dynamic, growing at 6-7 per cent a year," he said, adding that free trade agreements, in particular the EU-Viet Nam FTA, which takes effect in 2018, would create opportunities for businesses in the two countries to work together.

The business mission came to HCM City as part of the EU Business Avenues in South East Asia programme (EUBA) to help SMEs tap business opportunities in the fast-growing region.

The programme will see 20 targeted week-long business missions to Southeast Asia for up to 1,000 European SMEs in a range of sectors over the next five years, with the inaugural mission focusing on environmental and water technologies visiting Singapore and HCM City.

In HCM City, the visitors introduced a broad range of solutions to address the acute problems faced in Asia  the lack of clean water and environmental degradation.

Tran Thi Hieu Hanh, deputy director general of the citys Department of External Relations, said "HCM City always welcomes and creates favourable conditions for foreign investors to invest and do business in the city".

The event was organised by the VCCIs HCM City branch, EUBA and some other partners. - VNS
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The 2014 Nobel laureate Malala Yousafza, warns the world could lose future generation as the young generation, especially girls, are facing many challenges related to the refugeehood.

In Rwanda since Wednesday, Malala says international donors and all countries should make education a priority and should invest in refugee children.

She made the remarks Thursday while visiting Mahama refugee camp hosting over 49,000 Burundian refugees.

Her regional tour started at Dadaab Somalis refugee camp in Kenya, on Tuesday.

It is in part to advocate for refugees in Africa under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

While in Kigali, Malala met Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and other government officials on Wednesday, before visiting Mahama camp, in eastern Rwanda.

In the camp, the 19-year-old girl freely interacted with refugee children and women listening to their stories, challenges and future ambitions.

All the refugee children need, according to Malala, is quality education.

"Education is the only tool that can empower them but unfortunately in this refugee camp there are many students who cannot have access to education," she said.

Malala said the refugee girls especially in camps face many challenges such as sexual violence, poverty-but their voices need to be heard and their rights respected.

"Raising the voice for the young girls whether they are refugees or not is very important, the international community, media, leaders need to give importance to the voice of young girls, their voice matters, they are also individuals and human beings," she said.

There are over 15,000 refugee children in Mahama camp studying in nearby primary and secondary school but more than 2,700 do not have chance to go to school.

Accompanied by her father and government officials, Malala said she was impressed by the courage and ambitions after listening to the refugee girls.

But she noted it was unfortunate that some refugee children are not able to acquire quality education due to limited funding.

There are over 60 million refugees of whom 22 million are not able to go to school, according to the UNHCR.

The Pakistani activist for female education rose to international fame in 2012, when she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for her criticism of the Taliban and advocacy of girls' education.

She celebrated her birthday last year by opening a girls' school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The 2013, 2014 and 2015 issues of Time magazine featured Malala as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World."

Aged 17 at the time, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.

July 12 was declared "Malala Day" by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2013 to coincide with her birthday.

Refugee girls expressed hope that Malala's advocacy would make their voices heard.

Rwanda Government officials and UNHCR also believe Malala's visit could bring more funders on board to support education for refugees.
The Saigon Cable Television (SCTV) said it would broadcast television programmes using the 4K standard in Viet Nam this September, the first of its kind in the country.  Photo thoibao.today

HA NOI  The Saigon Cable Television (SCTV) said it would broadcast television programmes using the 4K standard in Viet Nam this September, the first of its kind in the country.

SCTV will initially apply the 4K standard on one channel and then on others, and on content produced by both Vietnamese and foreign channels.

The test will commence in September and the audience will enjoy the new standard next year. This plan will make Viet Nam one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to introduce 4K-standard television programmes.

During the trial period, SCTV will provide free 4K services.

However, to benefit from the new technology, the viewer must use SCTV television services, have a 4K TV set and a new digital set-top.

In the future, 4K standard will be not only be provided on cable TV channels, but also via satellite television or on the Internet in the form of on-demand content.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam ICT COMM 2016, an exhibition of information and communication technology products, will be held here from July 20 to 22. This was announced at a press briefing in Ha Noi on Thursday.

The exhibition will showcase information and communication technology products, telecom services, Internet services and applications, as well as games, software, electronics and ancillary industries. Some 150 exhibitors will take part in the event, including foreign and Vietnamese IT companies such as Ericsson, Frost and Sullivan, SimiTri Group and VNPT, as well as FPT, Google, Microsoft and Apple, besides Runsystem, GlobalSign APAC, Vietnamese FPT, and Vinaphone, in addition to Mobifone, Viettel and CMC.

Hundreds of businesses from foreign countries and territories will introduce more opportunities to develop co-operation among businesses.

There will also be seminars on developing mobile phone apps, network security, job-oriented consultations and ICT resource training.

The president of Ericsson Vietnam and Myanmar said this forum aimed to discuss how digital ICT transformation could be pushed in Viet Nam in the most effective way. VNS
Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan urged enterprises to send recent reports on 4G testing results as the Government had policies to accelerate the licensing for 4G this year. Photo angiang.gov.vn

HA NOI  Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan urged enterprises to send recent reports on 4G testing results as the Government had policies to accelerate the licensing for 4G this year.

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) held a review meeting for the first half of this year early this week.

Previously, many enterprises and localities have proposed to the ministry to grant 4G licence soon as the technology is a foundation for cities and provinces to implement e-Government, Internet of Things (IoT) and modern information systems.

Three Vietnamese telecommunication giants including Viettel, VNPT and MobiFone have piloted the technology. The pilot is expected to end on October 23.

However, due to actual needs, the Viet Nam Telecommunication Authority (VNTA) under MIC has asked companies to send testing reports earlier.

Therefore, the department will co-operate with enterprises to evaluate quality and then give instruction for enterprises to complete documents for licenses.

Also at the meeting, the ministry reported that the revenue of the Vietnamese telecommunications sector was VN93.5 trillion in the first six months of this year.

There were 84 million 2G subscriptions in total nationwide by the end of June, and 38 million 3G subscriptions.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Information and Communications, the number of 2G subscriptions has decreased while the number of 3G subscriptions saw continuous growth.

The ministry also reported that the total number of .vn domain names is 366,000. Meanwhile, there are 40,000 newly-registered Vietnamese domain names, bringing the total number of Vietnamese domain names to 900,000.

In the first five months of this year, the export revenue of telephones and components reached $14.3 billion, increasing by 19 per cent.

Export revenue of electronics, computers and components hit $6.38 billion in the first five months, up 6 per cent year-on-year. - VNS
KIEN GIANG  Hundreds of hectares of rice have been destroyed by mice, with as much as 90 per cent damaged in some fields, in Kien Giang Provinces Giang Thanh District.

Pham Hoa Binh, who grows 2ha of summer-autumn rice in Tan Khanh Hoa Communes Tan Khanh Hamlet, said more than 90 per cent of her rice fields had been lost, even after setting out poisonous baits and destroying underground areas where mice are living.

She had also tried to create loud noises by beating together two pot lids to scare the mice.

Her losses totalled VN30 million (US$1,300), which included costs of rice seeds, fertilisers and pesticides for growing the summer-autumn rice crop.

Nguyen Van am in Vinh ieu Commune said mice had destroyed half of his 6-ha rice fields, resulting in a very low yield.

After my family harvested the field, farmers living nearby came to my fields and caught nearly one tonne of mice, he said.

Many farmers in the district had to abandon their rice fields because of the mice infestation.

Farmers in Giang Thanh District have grown 15,800 ha of early summer-autumn rice and 20,970ha of the summer-autumn rice, according to the districts Plant Cultivation and Protection Station.

Danh Sal, head of the districts Plant Cultivation and Protection Station, said mice had destroyed 520 ha of summer-autumn rice in the district.

Sal said the summer-autumn rice had been sown at different times this year, resulting in scattered harvests. Farmers usually protect their fields when they start sowing by putting out mouse traps or using other measures.

Sal said that farmers were told not to use electric mouse traps to catch mice, but they continued to do so.

In June, a 32-year-old farmer in Vinh Phi Commune was electrocuted after his foot was caught in the electric trap that he had placed in his field. VNS
HCM CITY  Amanda Huynh, a Vietnamese lawyer working in France, sold three of her 40 paintings on Thursday for US$9,000, half of which will be contributed to poor students through her Amanda Foundation.

The female lawyer, writer and painter also introduced her book Lam, which features several of her stories together with her paintings, in an exhibition organised in HCM City.

The work features stories about her life in France.

Amanda Huynh was born in Nha Trang and graduated from the HCM City University of Law in 2005.

One year after, she studied at the Capitole I University in Toulouse and later received her Ph.D degree in economic law in 2010 at the same school. She became a lawyer in 2011.

With her love for art, she has produced 1,000 works of various types and materials.

In 2013, she was named Young Talent of Art 3F in Europe. Her artworks are displayed in several exhibitions and galleries in France and Dubai.  VNS
HA NOI  The National Election Council (NEC) convened its seventh session - its last plenary meeting - in Ha Noi yesterday under the chair of National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, head of the council.

The function focused on discussing a draft report on the outcomes of the general election of deputies to the 14th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for the 2016-2021 tenure, and a report on the verification of the eligibility of elected NA deputies.

Addressing the event, Ngan said the Council Office had made the draft report on the election results based on reports from relevant bodies.

The official report will be concluded at the July 18 session and will then be presented at the first session of the 14th NA.

According to her, the general election, which took place on May 22, selected 496 deputies to the new legislature.

However, during the verification of elected deputies qualifications, one was under investigation. The NEC rejected the election of Trinh Xuan Thanh, former vice-chairman of the southern Hau Giang Province, as a National Assembly (NA) deputy for several wrongdoings.

Nguyen Hanh Phuc, NA general secretary and chief of the NEC Office, said members of the NEC unanimously agreed to withdraw Thanhs title as NA deputy. He is the only one whose election has not been approved.

As a result, the 14th National Assembly has 495 eligible deputies whose term is from 2016 to 2021.

The result will be reported to the first session of the 14th NA, which is expected to convene on July 20.

The NEC decision came after the Party Central Committees Inspection Commission on Monday said Thanh, also former chairman of PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), had to take responsibility for the loss of more than VN3.2 trillion (US$142 million) of the corporation during the time he was in charge, due to negligence and lax management.

The commission also said Thanhs promotion to several high positions in the Industry and Trade Ministry and in Hau Giang Province was improper.

Thanh made headlines in nationwide media after he allegedly put an official plate on his luxury Lexus car, which he claimed was not his. He later said he had borrowed his friends car to commute to work due to the provinces financial difficulties. The friend then turned out to be Thanhs driver, who earns about VN3 million (US$130) per month.  VNS
ULAN BATOR  Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has emphasised connections as a major focus of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) during the 11th ASEM Summit that opened in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, yesterday.

He underlined the need for ASEM countries to take advantage of opportunities for partnership and connectivity in the digital era, as well as the new waves of international trade and investment and the fourth industrial revolution.

ASEM countries should focus on investing in infrastructure projects, increasing trade and financial exchanges, and developing information technology and human resources, he said.

Meanwhile, the forum should continue fortifying regional and sub-regional links, including the Mekong-Danube co-operation, to narrow the development gap between countries and enhance the capacity of developing members, which will strengthen people-to-people contacts within the Asia-Europe Foundation.

He noted that over the past two decades, ASEM had carried out its strategic vision for international co-operation and connection, and has become a bridge linking countries, civilisations, businesses and the people of Asia and Europe.

The PM suggested that the forum rejuvenate and enhance the effectiveness of partnerships towards a new level in the world, in terms of dialogue and co-operation in the 21st century, contributing to peace, stability, security and sustainable development on both continents and the world.

Meanwhile, ASEM dialogue and cooperation should be closely geared towards sustainable development goals, especially the targets of poverty reduction, ensuring social welfare and the response to global challenges, he said.

The PM pointed to an immediate priority of joining hands in international efforts to realise the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as the continuity of implementing the ASEM dialogue on sustainable development, which are key solutions to motivate the effectiveness of the partnerships.

ASEM should also design specific programmes and projects to speed up the operation of professional co-operation groups on education and human resources development, natural disaster response and sustainable management of water resources, he said.

He also highlighted the need to strengthen efforts to engage the youth and businesses, especially small- and medium-sized firms and startups in ASEM, to initiate and implement new ideas to improve the self-reliance and benefits of people on both continents.

He also pledged that Viet Nam would work hard in joint efforts to elevate ASEM co-operation and foster partnerships and affiliation mechanisms among Asian-European economies through the ASEAN Community, as well as the existing bilateral and multilateral partnership mechanisms.

He lauded ASEM members support for Viet Nams initiative on creative education and human resource building for sustainable development in 2017, which was launched during the 11th ASEM Summit.

Later the same day, PM Phuc and other ASEM leaders joined Mongolias Naadam Festival, which was recognised by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

Sideline meetings

Also yesterday, Prime Minister Phuc had bilateral meetings with leaders of Asian and European countries on the sidelines of the 11th ASEM Summit .

At a meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Juha Sipila, Phuc said he appreciated Finlands policies to encourage its enterprises to increase investment and business in Viet Nam.

He pledged to create more favourable conditions for Finnish investors in the fields where Finland has an advantage and Viet Nam has a demand like green technology, renewable energy and education.

He asked Finland to continue its ODA to Viet Nam, particularly for environmental, climate change and institutional improvement projects, and to help Viet Nam access loans from the International Development Association (IDA)  a World Bank fund  beyond 2017.

The Finnish PM agreed to intensify co-operation with Viet Nam in the areas of energy, information technology, and education and training.

While meeting Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann, the Vietnamese Government leader suggested both sides co-ordinate to organise activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

President Johann Schneider-Ammann confirmed that Viet Nam continually remains a priority in Switzerlands ODA policy, while agreeing on the early completion of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Viet Nam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

He vowed to provide Viet Nam with preferential treatments similar to those for Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

PM Phuc also had a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart, Lee Hsien Loong, during which they discussed measures to boost the two countries strategic partnership and exchanged notes on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

He invited his Singaporean counterpart to attend the 20th founding anniversary of the Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Binh Duong in mid-September, saying that the latters presence at the event would be significant for bilateral relations.

Talking to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, PM Phuc spoke highly of the diverse business activities of Thai enterprises in Viet Nam.

PM Chan-o-cha, in turn, committed to encouraging Thailands major companies to intensify their investment in Viet Nam while paying attention to Viet Nams interests.

They agreed to step up joint governmental meetings to discuss specific co-operative measures.

In addition, PM Phuc and President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye reached a consensus on intensifying the two countries trade and economic ties, seeking measures to ensure a trade balance by reducing Viet Nams trade deficit and encouraging more Korean businesses to invest in Viet Nam in the fields of high technology, energy and transport.

The Korean leader stated that as Viet Nam is the countrys leading development partner, Korea will share its experiences with Viet Nam in developing new-style rural areas and help Viet Nam organise the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) year in 2017.

They agreed to discuss and sign a Viet Nam-Korea framework credit agreement for 2016-20, and increase the ODA provision for projects on green growth and climate change response.

At a meeting with his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, PM Phuc expressed his hope that German investors would prepare for opportunities brought by the pending Viet Nam-EU free trade agreement (EVFTA).

Chancellor Merkel lauded the Vietnamese Governments facilitation of the Viet Nam-Germany University, and expressed hopes for intensified co-operation in education and training.

Talking to Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Vietnamese leader affirmed that Viet Nam treasures and wishes to further strengthen its relations with EU nations, including Malta.

He stated that although the two countries set up their diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago, their economic and trade co-operation has yet to meet the two countries potential and needs to be boosted further.

Both PMs agreed to create favourable conditions for the two countries enterprises to intensify co-operation in the fields of finance, banking, insurance, logistics and maritime transportation.

The two PMs then witnessed the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of income tax evasion between the two Governments.

At a meeting with his Polish counterpart, Phuc lauded the countrys improved position in the European Union and in the world, and its contributions to ASEM efforts to address global challenges.

He said Viet Nam welcomes Polands efforts to boost connections between the EU and ASEAN, as well as to support sub-region co-operation projects, particularly the Mekong-Danube collaboration.

PM Phuc thanked the Polish Government for the favourable conditions Vietnamese expatriates have received while living in the country, adding his hope that the support will continue in the long-term.

Viet Nam is committed to the efficient use of a 250 million euro credit packet funded by Poland, the Vietnamese PM noted.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands supports Viet Nams access to loans from the IDA after 2017.

Phuc said he is pleased with the signing of bilateral strategic partnership agreements on climate change response, water management, agriculture and food security.

He added that Viet Nam is willing to assist Dutch enterprises to invest in the sectors of shipbuilding, energy and logistic services in Viet Nam. The authority support will also come to the development of judicial co-operation and in building relationships between the two countries localities.

The two PMs agreed to convert the outlook and recommendations of the Couu Long (Mekong) Delta Programme into specific measures.

At another meeting, PM Phuc and Indian Vice President Mohammad Ansari expressed their wish to deepen bilateral ties following the impressive progress of the two countries strategic partnership.

Conversing with New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully, Phuc proposed that New Zealand facilitate the completion of administrative procedures that will open more opportunities for Vietnamese fruit to enter their market.

McCully said New Zealand will support Viet Nam in organising the 2017 APEC Summit and invited the Vietnamese PM to visit his country soon.

PM Phuc also had a brief conversation with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, in which both sides were pleased with the growing ties between Viet Nam and the EU.

On July 15, PM Phuc met with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, and congratulated him on the victory of his Liberal Democratic Party in the recent parliamentary election.

Viet Nam looks to Japans support for its access to IDA loans, PM Phuc noted.

Abe said Japan highly values its partnership with Viet Nam and will implement agreements secured by both sides in the recent visit of the Vietnamese PM to Japan.

At these meetings, leaders of ASEM countries said they support the peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Sea in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), for freedom, security and safety of navigation and overflight in the waters.

Earlier on Thursday, Phuc had a meeting with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith during which the two reached a high consensus on the work to continue cementing, maintaining and ratcheting up special solidarity and comprehensive co-operation between the two countries during their meeting in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

PM said Viet Nam would work together with Laos in unblocking obstacles facing Vietnamese investment projects in Laos so they can quickly work to aid the host countrys national development.

He also proposed relevant ministries and agencies of the two countries discuss a plan to encourage Japans participation in the building of the Vientiane-Thanh Thuy-Ha Noi Expressway.

PM Sisoulith assured that the Lao government would work together with the Vietnamese counterpart to ensure Vietnamese-invested projects in Laos would be carried out efficiently.

While speaking highly of Laos role as the Chair of ASEAN in 2016, PM Phuc expressed his hope that the two countries would collaborate closely with each other and with other ASEAN member states to ensure ASEAN has a single voice in regional issues, especially the East Sea issue.

On the occasion, PM Sisoulith invited PM Phuc to visit Laos. As the invitation was happily accepted, both sides will arrange the visit at a convenient time.

Ministerial meetings

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh met with the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Ireland and the Swedish minister of education yesterday within the framework of the 11th ASEM Summit.

Receiving French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minh extended profound condolences to the French Government and people, and the families of victims of the terrorist attack in Nice on Thursday.

Viet Nam appreciates the French Parliaments ratification of the Viet Nam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and wishes that France will support the early signing and ratification of the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement, Deputy PM Minh said.

Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that French President Francois Holland will visit Viet Nam in September, adding that this visit will help intensify the two countries strategic partnership in all fields, especially in economics.

The Vietnamese Deputy PM affirmed that the Government is willing to facilitate Frances investment in high technology, infrastructure, energy, transport, aviation, health, agriculture and the environment.

He asked France to maintain its ODA provision for Viet Nam and help Viet Nam gain access to loans from the World Banks IDA beyond 2017.

Talking to Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Minh stated that Viet Nam will create more favourable conditions for Italian enterprises to expand their investment in the fields of manufacturing, garment and textiles, footwear, wood processing, the support industry, construction materials, energy and food processing.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea issue.

At his meeting with Swedish Minister of Education Gustav Fridolin, Minh welcomed the Swedish Prime Ministers proposal on the establishment of a strategic partnership in education-training and science-technology.

He suggested Sweden support Viet Nams access to IDA loans as well as the World Banks building of a suitable repayment plan to help Viet Nam have a sustainable repayment capacity.

Meanwhile, at the meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan, Minh welcomed the Irish Presidents visit to Viet Nam slated for late 2016 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

He spoke highly of the National Strategy on Development Cooperation with Viet Nam in the 2011-15 period initiated by the Irish Government, adding that he is willing to co-operate with Ireland in building and implementing the strategy for the next five years.

The Irish minister expressed his hope that the two countries will intensify co-operation in the potential areas of culture, education and agriculture, and that Viet Nam will help Ireland expand its exports to the country and Southeast Asia.  VNS
HA NOI  Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong has urged the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau to develop agro-forestry towards industrialisation and modernisation.

He made the call during a working session with local authorities yesterday as part of his two-day visit, which began a day earlier, to inspect the implementation of the Resolution adopted by the 12th National Party Congress and another by the 13th provincial Party Congress.

Lai Chau must continue investing in infrastructure and new rural construction and reducing the number of poor households, he said, adding that it must also focus on ethnic and religious work, crack down on drug crimes and maintain political security and social safety and order.

On the occasion, the Party leader suggested that the province improve personnel work and develop human resources while launching more external activities, partly by increasing co-operation with Chinas Yunnan Province and northern Lao localities.

Currently, ethnic minorities make up 87 per cent of the local population. With the goal of ridding its status as an especially disadvantaged province, Lai Chau has built new models of high-yielding rice and tea cultivation.

All 96 communes now have proper road access to town centres, while 84 per cent of households have been connected to the national power grid and 75 per cent of the rural population has access to clean water.

A number of major hydropower plants, such as Lai Chau, Ban Chat and Huoi Quang, have been built.

The provincial Party Committee has devised an action plan in which three key programmes have been identified, focusing on agriculture, new rural construction and the improvement of human resources and the grassroots political system.

A programme on building new-style rural areas will continue.

On Thursday, the Party chief paid a working visit to Ban Bo Commune.  VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Health plans to expand the family doctor model to 80 per cent of provinces and cities nationwide by 2020, participants heard at an online conference yesterday.

"Priority will be given to establishing the family doctor model at the grass-roots level, including in commune health clinics offering family medicine, private family-doctor clinics and family-doctor clinics operating under State-owned general hospitals," Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said at the event.

The model will provide continuous basic healthcare services to families, individuals and the community in an effort to improve the quality of primary healthcare and to reduce hospital congestion, Tien said.

She said the model had faced several challenges due to a shortage of funding sources and human resources specialised in family medicine. There are still only a few private family-doctor clinics available as the model has not attracted investment from the private sector.

Many people still do not know much about the model and the role of a family doctor in providing primary healthcare for the community.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu uc am said the health sector should strengthen the capacity of primary healthcare, including health exams, treatment, consultations and preventive medicine, at health clinics in mountainous, remote, border and island areas.

am also asked the health ministry to develop the healthcare system at the grass-roots level along with the family doctor model and propose financial resources and priorities for the expansion of the countrys grass-roots healthcare system.

At the event, participants agreed that the family doctor model should be integrated with the countrys 14,000 commune health clinic system.

The health sector suggested that provinces and cities should pay more attention and call for further investment in expanding the family doctor model based on their existing commune health clinic system.

Provincial health departments have been requested to study the status of commune health clinics and local demand to develop a strategy for expanding the model in their localities.

Medical universities have also been asked to increase the number of training courses offered on family-doctor medicine. The community should have greater awareness of the family doctor model and its benefits to encourage people to use the services of family doctors.

Statistics from the health ministry showed that 336 family-doctor clinics, including six private clinics, have been established in six provinces and cities nation-wide by June 2016. They provide basic healthcare services, including services covered by the health insurance fund.

Three years after rolling out the family doctor plan, family-doctor clinics have shown remarkable results in providing services related to health exams and treatment, rehabilitation and patient management for people and families in the community.

Some clinics, such as the Thanh Cong Private Clinic and the Family Doctor Clinic at the District 2 Hospital in HCM City, have received positive feedback from patients and health managers in the application of e-medical records and clinic management software and the regular provision of online consultations.  VNS
HCM CITY  City officials at a workshop yesterday in HCM City urged passage of a new regulation that would separate the sale of food additives and industrial chemicals within shops to prevent the sale of fraudulent or banned substances.

At the workshop on chemical abuse in breeding and food processing, Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy head of the citys Department of Health, said that food additives were sold alongside industrial chemicals at many shops, causing confusion for city inspectors who have oversight of such goods.

Some of the sellers also are not knowledgeable about usage of these chemicals and sometimes are not even aware of the differences between the substances, according to the Health Departments food safety and hygiene division.

Kim Bien Market, the chief market for such substances, sells many kinds of chemicals and additives, with a total of 17 traders. Some of the chemicals are banned from trade by the government.

Hung said the Department of Trade and Industry had been told to improve monitoring of illegal sales at the shops at Kim Bien Market.

Besides strict oversight of banned substances, the city will also expand safe food chains as the city buys 70 per cent of its food products from other provinces.

Phan Xuan Thao, head of the citys Animal Health Division, said that consumers should not be overly concerned about food safety as the quality of pork, beef, buffalo and poultry meat was ensured as the division monitored slaughterhouses at 24 establishments that meet standards.

Meat from provinces such as ong Nai, Binh Thuan and Vung Tau has been checked and found safe, he said.

Meat sold at traditional markets also meets standards because their management boards usually maintain strict control of trading.

Problems occur at illegal small markets near streets, especially areas with a lot of workers, he said, adding that it was difficult to ensure quality and control.

About 85 per cent of consumers in the country buy food at markets, including small markets, according to the Viet Nam Retailers Association. The rest buy food at supermarkets and convenience stores.

Thao suggested that the city call for investment from the private sector to sell food at cheap prices for workers.

Pham Thi Huan, director of Ba Huan Co. Ltd, a manufacturer of safe eggs, said that workers found it difficult to access safe meals provided by food caterers and their company kitchens.

This is harmful for the health of workers at industrial parks and processing export zones. They should step up management of food safety and hygiene at these areas, Huan said.

The city has 280,000 workers at industrial parks and processing export zones that use processed meals by food caterers every day, according to the city Food Safety and Hygiene.

Five food poisoning cases have occurred in the area since 2012, including one case in which 49 people were hospitalized for treatment.

Of the five cases, 80 per cent were because of contaminated food. Food processing, transportation and storage failed to meet hygiene regulations.

Some vegetables and meat provided to kitchens were also deemed unsafe.

The price for a meal at such places are between VN10,000 (US$0.4) and VN13,000.

A law with severe penalties for violators of food safety and hygiene will come into effect next year. Violators could be sentenced up to 20 years in jail. VNS
 Flash

The US Congress has released a previously classified section of the 9/11 report that suggests Saudi Arabia's potential role in the attacks.

The report says some of the 9/11 hijackers had contact with individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government, before giving a list of alleged links.

However, in releasing the information, the US says no links between the Saudi government and the hijackers have been independently verified.

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest says they've declassified this section of the report for the sake of transparency.

"What you'll find when you take a look at the document is that it will confirm what we have been saying for quite some time, which is that this material was investigative material that was reviewed and followed up on by the independent 9/11 Commission that was formed outside of the U.S. government to take a look at the attacks of 9/11. And the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission is, or was as they wrote, they found quote --- no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded al Qaeda."

15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

Many US officials who opposed declassifying the information say they worry the move will damage diplomatic relations with a key US ally in the region.

However, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US says they welcome the release of the information.
ANKARA  Elements of the Turkish military backed by tanks staged an attempted coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, sparking bloody clashes in major cities.

It was unclear who was in control of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people as the soldiers took to the streets and multiple explosions rang out overnight in the countrys two biggest cities.

Erdogan and his government predicted that the move would fail and called for supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to come out onto the streets.

Looking shaken, the Turkish leader appeared on television from an unknown location insisting he was still in power and vowing the putschists would pay a "very heavy price".

"I certainly believe that coup plotters will not succeed," he said, speaking on a mobile phone via FaceTime.

An AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul and state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the parliament in Ankara had been bombed.

The sound of fighter jets flying over Istanbul and Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late on Friday and they could still be heard in the early hours of Saturday.

World leaders called for calm, with US President Barack Obama urging support for the government which he said had been elected in democratic elections.

Heavy price

State broadcaster TRT said the troops behind the putsch had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland".

"The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," the statement said.

It said the coup had been launched "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted".

It was not yet clear whether the attempted takeover had widespread backing in the military, or rogue elements within it. No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions.

A group of soldiers raided the Dogan Media Group, one of Turkeys largest private media organisations, the CNN-Turkey channel which it owns said.

The government received expressions of support from members of the political opposition, including the leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

A presidential source said that Erdogan, believed to have been holidaying by the Aegean when taken by surprise with the coup attempt, was about to land in Istanbul in his plane.

A history of coups

Turkeys once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogans critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkeys secular roots -- but the president was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

The Turkish strongman urged people to rally in his support, prompting hundreds of supporters to gather in Turkeys three main cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, AFP correspondents said.

"I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people," he said.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, while others celebrated. Fighter jets could be heard flying over the city.

"We are angry at the military because they are killing us, they are killing civilians," one protester said, asking not to be named.

But other Turks were welcoming news of the coup.

"Turks are on fire," Fethi Karabas, a 27-year-old tour guide in Taksim Square, said.

"We have hope now," he added. "Turkey has been in a very polarised state for almost 15 years now... This is the manifestation of all that anger."

Global concern

Erdogan also blamed the events on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy who he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But Gulens Hizmet (Service) movement angrily denied the claim, saying "we condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey."

Reports said that flights into Istanbuls main international airport had been halted. The Bosphorus bridges were closed in both directions and completely empty of traffic.

The coup plotters sought to reassure the international community, saying in their statement: "All our international agreements and commitments retain their validity."

It added: "We hope our good relations will continue with all countries in the world."

But there was a flood of concerned reactions from around the globe, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini calling for "restraint and respect for democratic institutions".

Obama has been briefed, while the Kremlin said it was "deeply concerned" by the developments.

"Everything must be done to protect human lives," said a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  AFP
Flat glass products and solutions major India is in the process of investing around Rs 1,800 crore till next year. A senior official said that the company has fast-tracked some of its investments as the confidence levels are improving with the better business sentiments.
Last month, telecom operators in Gujarat got an unusual diktat from district magistrates (DM): Stop internet access and bulk short messaging services (SMS) for a month. Reason: Students have to be stopped from cheating during exams.
Less than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Teslas state-of-the-art factory in Fremont, California, his government has invited American electric carmaker to set up a manufacturing hub for South and South East Asia in India.



Nitin Gadkari, minister of road transport and highways, who visited the companys San Francisco factory on Friday, offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate exports, an official statement said.



The minister offered to promote joint ventures between the global leader in electric car technology and Indian automobile companies to introduce pollution-free road transport in India.



Gadkari not only showed interest in electric cars but also battery-powered commercial and public vehicles. He said Indian government was committed to encourage pollution-free transport by providing incentives to bio-fuel, CNG, ethanol and electric vehicles.



The official statement quoted a senior executive as saying, the Indian governments offer would be considered at an appropriate time.



Replying to a query from the highways minister regarding manufacturing of electric trucks, buses and two-wheelers, said they plan to manufacture trucks and pick-up vans but not buses and two-wheelers. team evinced interest in knowing about subsidy on electric vehicles in India.



Gadkari asked the company executives to outline their proposal for entry into India.



As part of his Silicon Valley visit last year, Modi had toured Tesla factory in California. Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed Modi the cutting-edge robotic auto assembly plant.



The PM was also shown the inside of a lithium-ion battery pack, which powers Teslas cars.



Musk and Modi had said they saw batteries and solar panels as the future of electricity generation in India. Musk, also CEO of SpaceX, had said, just like India skipped landlines and went straight to cell phones, it could skip traditional grid power and adopt distributed solar and battery packs.



Even though Tesla cars have become quite popular among some of the wealthiest Indians, there is still no infrastructure of electric cars in India. According to analysts, there was a huge potential for Teslas batteries combined with solar panels in India. Teslas grid batteries have also found overwhelming demand across the world.



Given high local demand, a Gigafactory in India would probably make sense in the long term, Musk had told reporters after Modis visit. Electric cars use lithium ion batteries and a manufacturing facility for such batteries is called Gigafactory.



Indian carmakers have also shown keen interest in partnering with Tesla to popularise electric cars and develop infrastructure. On the other hand, In China, Tesla has 15 stores and there are about 350 Superchargers and more than 1,600 destination chargers.



On Thursday, Musk, announced that he was close to releasing Top Secret Tesla Masterplan, Part 2. The new corporate manifesto is likely to connect the dots between Teslas myriad projects, including its proposal to acquire solar installer SolarCity Corp. Teslas website, which historically has focused on clean transportation, now said the mission was to accelerate the worlds transition to sustainable energy.



Speculation about the future of the company  a potential green conglomerate that integrates rooftop solar, energy storage and increasingly autonomous, fully electric cars  has sparked imaginations of analysts and boosted confidence. Thats despite a customer using Teslas Autopilot driver-assist technology being killed in a crash in Florida, subsequent safety and possible securities investigations, the defection of a manufacturing executive to Facebook and missing yet another sales target.



In August 2006, Musk published The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan, which laid out the rationale for building increasingly affordable electric cars while also providing zero-emission electric-power generation options. But its not just about the cars. Tesla has always focused on the vehicles as well as their fuel  in this case their growing network of Supercharger stations and efforts to increasingly clean the electric grid that powers them.



And while the mission of the company has historically been to accelerate the advent of electric transportation, Teslas website now said the mission is about sustainable energy.



Tesla is not just an automaker, but also a technology and design company with a focus on energy innovation, says the website.



In a call with analysts last month, Musk talked about the need for the Tesla Powerwall for the home to be designed in tandem with solar panels, as one integrated, Tesla-branded system. He was as bullish on solar as he has been on electric cars.
Merchandise exports rose in June after 18 months of decline, the longest fall in recent times. Exports rose 1.3 per cent to $22.57 billion, against $22.28 bn in the same month a year before, government data showed on Friday.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim today said 265 people were killed, including 104 coup plotters in the coup attempt against the government, with 2,839 soldiers now detained on suspicion of involvement.

Yildirim, speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara and flanked by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt, also described the putsch bid as a "black stain" on Turkish democracy. He added that 1,440 people had been wounded.

The toll 161 did not include the assailants, he emphasised. Turkey's acting army chief Umit Dundar had earlier said 104 putschists had been killed.

Yildirim blamed the coup attempt on the supporters of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara has for years accused of working to overthrow the authorities and wants to see brought to justice.

The United States has shown little interest so far to Turkey's requests for his extradition.

"Fethullah Gulen is the leader of a terrorist organisation," the premier said.

"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, soon after he landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport earlier Saturday, said the resort town of Marmaris in southwestern Turkey was bombed as the attackers thought he "was still there".

He blamed the ongoing coup attempt in his country on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the US state of Pennsylvania.

The Turkish leader also revealed that his secretary general was taken away. "What are you going to do with my secretary general?" he asked.

Binali Yildirim said the situation was largely under control and 130 people had so far been arrested, the BBC reported.

He has ordered the military to shoot down aircraft being used by coup plotters, the BBC reported.

Earlier, one of the helicopters being flown by forces involved in the coup attempt was shot down over Ankara.

A no-fly zone over Ankara has been declared.

However, the whereabouts of the military chief of staff remains unknown and sporadic gunfire is still reported in major cities, BBC noted.
02:50 Government introduces industrial relations bill The Labor government has introduced an industrial relations bill, which may fulfil their election promise to increase wages and give workers...

Australias largest lottery has been drawn 00:53 Australias largest lottery worth $160 million has been drawn with three winners.

Coalition extends support for first home buyers 02:35 The Coalition has doubled down on its policy to allow first home buyers to access their superannuation to afford a home by extending the policy...

Buyback plan for flood-prone homes in the Northern Rivers 00:42 A voluntary buyback plan has been introduced for 2000 homeowners in the flood-prone area of Lismore and other areas in the Northern Rivers.
WATERLOO  The Bible tells Christians to feed the hungry. Thats just what six area churches have done for 15 years with the Waterloo Community Meals program.

The Rev. Karen Larson, whose Kimball Avenue United Methodist Church has hosted the free meals all 15 years, said the program is a clear sign the six churches involved all really care about Waterloo.

Were told to care about each other. You know, you never can have too much love or too much caring, especially nowadays, Larson said.

The churches officially celebrated the 15-year milestone this week at the regular Monday night dinner. There was no formal commemoration  just the addition of cake and ice cream to the menu.

There was no need to interrupt the activity and conversation of many regulars. After all, the programs motto is serving others.

So, like any other Monday, thats what they did.

About 150 people attended the weekly get-together. In all, its estimated the churches  Kimball Avenue United Methodist, First United Methodist, Linden United Methodist, First Congregational, Unity Presbyterian and Zion Lutheran Church  have served nearly 150,000 meals. The churches rotate responsibility for the meals, served from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

We dont publicize it, but everybody knows about it, said Dave Hamilton, president of the Community Meals board and member of Zion Lutheran Church.

Volunteers smiled and exchanged pleasantries with familiar faces throughout Mondays dinner.

Tim and Tina Parker of Waterloo sat at a table with a half-dozen friends. The people are the reason theyve returned each week for 15 years. When the program began none at their table knew each other, but a bond was soon forged.

Now, as their friend Annette Rechenberger said, they come as much for the social aspect as for the meal.

Probably come as long as they have the meals, Tina Parker added.

Their sentiment was echoed across the dining hall.

Diana Hawker, a member of the Community Meals board and congregant at Zion Lutheran Church, said attendance has been steady. It seems like anytime someone leaves another person shows up.

The neat thing is it brings you so much closer to those people that its absolutely wonderful, Hawker said. It gives us a way to meet other people and share in their lives.

About a dozen people are needed to serve each weeks meal, and board members said theyre never wanting for help.

Its great local mission work, Hamilton said. To me, its reaching people in our own community. Thats who I want to help first.

Few anticipated the program would last this long, but its clear its still going strong. Thats due to the volunteers and the support from organizations like Guernsey Charitable Foundation, Panera Bread, Brown Bottle, Gilbertville Locker and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.

And those groups are happy to be a part of it.

We are blessed by these volunteers, said Mike Knipp, development director for the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. The power of these people and this group of people staying together for the mission of feeding people is a wonderful thing.
WATERLOO -- A man reported Thursday being attacked and assaulted by multiple juveniles in an incident similar to several recent attacks.

The victim reported being attacked by a group of kids while he was walking on West Eighth Street near Wellington Street.

According to reports, a group of black males came from a porch of a house on the 800 block of West Eighth Street, assaulted him and knocked him to the ground multiple times.

Police say the attack is similar to other ones in the area in recent weeks.

"There's nothing to say definitively it is or isn't (related) but we're looking into that," said Capt. Dave Mohlis, of the Waterloo Police Department.

Mohlis said police have contacted the owners of the building where the assailants came from. The case is under investigation.

The incident comes after three similar reported incidents in about two days and four attacks on cyclists or pedestrians since July 6.

In a separate incident, the Grundy County Sheriff's Office is investigating a report of a man exposing himself in the city of Dike about 7 a.m. Friday to a female was jogging on a trail underneath the U.S. Highway 20 overpass. The man is described as a white male, in his 30s, with a thin build and short brown hair.

Anyone with information is asked contact the Grundy County Sheriff's office, 824-6933.
 Flash

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday that his holiday resort was bombed as soon as he left, vowing to finish the operation against coup plotters to keep the army "clean."

In televised remarks delivered soon after he landed at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, the president said the resort town of Marmaris in southwestern Turkey was bombed as the attackers thought he "was still there."

Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the plotters in the military, saying "Our army is clean and no one can harm it."

He blamed the ongoing coup attempt in his country on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"They are getting their order from Pensilvania," Erdogan said.
DES MOINES --- Some of the nations governors worry federal lawmakers do not trust them enough to include wiggle room for states to tweak new federal laws and programs.

That was one of the messages governors conveyed to U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley during this weekends summer meeting of the National Governors Association.

Pelosi and Grassley, Iowas senior U.S. Senator, appeared at the event to address state and federal government relationships.

The governors asked the Congressional representatives how they can better strike a balance between accountability and flexibility for states with new federal laws. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said sometimes governors get the feeling federal lawmakers do not trust states to properly implement federal programs.

I wouldnt back away from the word accountability, and you arent either, Grassley said during his appearance on Friday. I hope Im never one of those that says I dont trust the states.  You cant make policy in Washington, D.C., that fits New York like it does Des Moines.

Pelosi said the question of states flexibility is the one she has received most over the years from governors, and that she does not want governors to feel as though they are not trusted by federal lawmakers.

Its not even a question of trust. Its a question of the purpose of the (federal) funds that go out, Pelosi said during her appearance Saturday. If you think for a minute its about a lack of trust, then lets address that. 

That is the classic question.  Clearly we have not addressed it sufficiently because it continues to raise its head.

Grassley suggested part of the issue may be that governors and the impact to states rarely are considered when federal policy is being crafted.

Maybe not at all, but at least not very often does the impact on states get much attention (in Congress), Grassley said. You want me to give you advice. I dont have any. But be aware of it and be active.

When asked on what issues governors could work with and help federal lawmakers on a bipartisan basis, both Grassley and Pelosi mentioned infrastructure.

I always come back to infrastructure because no matter what we have done, and we have done some good things, we have to do more, Pelosi said. Science and technology are moving so quickly.

Grassley said governors would be well-served to urge federal lawmakers to approve federal infrastructure spending in a timely fashion.

Put the pressure on us to make sure thats fully funded, Grassley told the governors.
DES MOINES  While they agreed no solution will fit every state, many of the governors who are in Iowa for this weekends summer meeting of the National Governors Association said they can learn from successful programs in other states.

Utahs governor spoke about a program to reduce poverty; Virginias governor discussed steps taken there to prevent cyber attacks; Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, the events host, talked about Iowas program that helps provide housing and employment for retiring veterans.

The governors then spent the day discussing topical issues like opioid overdoses and foreign trade.

A total of 16 governors attended Saturdays sessions. There was a near-even bipartisan mixture, with nine Republicans and seven Democrats.

A bipartisan group of governors expressed strong support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed international trade deal that has become a political issue in the U.S.

The governors in support of the trade deal  including Branstad, Iowas Republican governor  said it will benefit states economies.

Its not perfect and I accept some constructive criticism that maybe we can do better, but lets continue to break down these (trade) barriers, Branstad said, adding that half of Iowas economy is business exports.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said he approves of the trade deal because it will create American jobs. He said opponents of the trade deal are putting their heads in the sand like an ostrich.

I look at this simply as a job creator, McAuliffe said.

Both of the major party presidential nominees, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, said they opposed the trade deal.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, said he believes the debate has been polluted by politics.

I dont understand why we cant sit down and come together with a compromise and move forward, Herbert said.

In the wake of multiple recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. and across the globe, governors said keeping their states people safe is their primary responsibility.

One thing I can say, I think we all understand is that public safety is really not a partisan issue, Herbert said. The proper role of government is to keep us safe.

Branstad noted governors Mark Dayton of Minnesota and Brian Sandoval of Nevada planned to attend this weekends governors meetings, but instead remained in their home states to attend to incidents.

My advice to a governor is whenever you have an incident, be it a natural disaster or something else that happens, its important for the governor to be there to reassure the people and help local authorities and others in law enforcement protecting the publics safety, Branstad said.
DES MOINES --- Two potential running mates for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton were in Iowa on Saturday, but neither offered so much as a peep on the subject.

Tom Vilsack, the U.S. ag secretary and former Iowa governor, and John Hickenlooper, the governor of Colorado, were in Des Moines for the summer meeting of the National Governors Association. Both have been named in national reports as possible selections as Clintons running mate.

Vilsack has served as U.S. ag secretary for the entire tenure of President Barack Obama, and is a longtime friend and political ally of Clinton.

Hickenlooper was one of several high-profile Democratic officials who recently met with Clinton at her Washington, D.C., home, according to a CNN report.

Vilsack and Hickenlooper both declined to comment about being potential Clinton running mates when asked by reporters Saturday.

Vilsack referred such questions to the Clinton campaign, and said because his trip to the governors meeting was for official business, he is prohibited from commenting on campaign issues.

Hickenlooper declined to comment on a series of questions about Clintons choice of a running mate.

Vilsacks and Hickenloopers names have emerged recently in national coverage of Clintons campaign, joining high-profile running mate candidates like U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Time Kaine of Virignia, and U.S. Sec. of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro.

Vilsack is viewed by Democrats as a safe and solid pick as a vice presidential candidate, but not an exciting one.

Hes also seen as an extremely competent, policy-oriented public servant with a big heart and a deep concern for public education. Vilsack would come with barely any controversies and is essentially guaranteed to not make any of his own during a campaign, wrote Pat Rynard, a former Democratic campaign staffer on his political website Iowa Starting Line.

Hickenlooper has befriended and held fundraisers for Clinton in his Denver home. While Hickenlooper would not comment on being reported as a potential Clinton running mate, during a brief interview he commented on the presidential race and the upcoming Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

Hickenlooper said he thinks Clinton will rally Democrats --- including many of Bernie Sanders supporters --- behind her candidacy because of what he sees as one of Clintons greatest strengths: her ability to unify.

Sec. Clinton is one of those people, shes got great social skills in terms of reaching out to people and making them feel heard, assuring them that their points of view will not be forgotten, Hickenlooper said. Shes a very, very gifted person at finding compromise, bringing people together and figuring out how do you keep moving forward.
By The Associated Press Jul. 15, 2016 | 10:20 AM | FRANKFORT, KY

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul will skip the Republican National Convention next week.

The ophthalmologist and former presidential candidate is running for re-election in Kentucky. He is scheduled to perform pro bono eye surgeries in Paducah on Tuesday and has scheduled a number of town hall events throughout Kentucky on Wednesday.

Paul was one of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's harshest critics on the campaign trail, once referring to him as an "orange faced windbag."

But since ending his presidential campaign, Paul has repeatedly said he will support Trump's candidacy for president. The two men both spoke to the National Rifle Association annual meeting in Louisville in May.

Paul faces Democrat Jim Gray in the November election. Gray is the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky's second-largest city.
Shenyang CCC launched the "Love 365" program, calling all the Christians in the city to donate one yuan a day to help the poor since February 8 this year, the first day on the lunar calendar.



After a few months since the program began, a CCD reporter visited the church in Shenyang on July 10 to see what progress is already being done due to the program. Upon arriving, the reported discovered that the local churches responded to the proposal in different ways.



For example, the believers of Dongguan Church gave donations ranging from coin changes to hundreds of yuan, placing them into the special alms box.



Xinggong Street Church places an alms box at the entrance to the chapel with its introduction attached on the bulletin board located in the church's yard.The church also dedicates the first Sunday donations of every month to the fund for the poor.



The raised funds will be used to solve the difficulties of believers and help the vulnerable group in the society through the help of CCC&TSPM.

Shenyang CCC launched the "Love 365" program, calling all the Christians in the city to donate one yuan a day to help the poor since February 8 this year, the first day on the lunar calendar.



After a few months since the program began, a CCD reporter visited the church in Shenyang on July 10 to see what progress is already being done due to the program. Upon arriving, the reported discovered that the local churches responded to the proposal in different ways.



For example, the believers of Dongguan Church gave donations ranging from coin changes to hundreds of yuan, placing them into the special alms box.



Xinggong Street Church places an alms box at the entrance to the chapel with its introduction attached on the bulletin board located in the church's yard.The church also dedicates the first Sunday donations of every month to the fund for the poor.



The raised funds will be used to solve the difficulties of believers and help the vulnerable group in the society through the help of CCC&TSPM.

Shenyang CCC Launches "One Yuan A Day" to Help the Poor
The original site was designed by S. Abbas Raza in 2004 but soon completely redesigned by Mikko Hypponen and deployed by Henrik Rydberg. It was later upgraded extensively by Dan Balis in 2006. The next major revision was designed by S. Abbas Raza, building upon the earlier look, and coded by Dumky de Wilde in 2013. And this current version 5.0 has been designed and deployed by Dumky de Wilde in collaboration with S. Abbas Raza.
Scott Atran in the New York Review of Books:

Mass murder has again been visited upon France and shaken the world. Again ISIS has claimed credit, though this time the link to the group seems confusingly ambiguous, feeding new fears in the West about random violence by alienated or radicalized Muslims anywhere. It raises the urgent questions: What does the attack tell us about the changing face of jihadist violence today? And how might our own response, in turn, be contributing to it?

The local driver of the truck that mowed down at least eighty-four people, including ten children, and wounded more than two hundred, on the Nice waterfront Thursday was a Tunisian citizen residing in France. He had a police record for road rage and wife beating, but was not on a terrorism watch list and had no known jihadi affiliations. Yet supporters of the Islamic State immediately celebrated his actions on social media, and French President Francois Hollande directly linked the attack to Frances war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

And on Saturday, the ISIS media outlet Amaq formally claimed the Nice truck driver as one of its soldiers who answered the call to kill anyone from a country in the coalition against it. Such formal claims have, until now, never been merely opportunistic but refer to those who have either sworn allegiance to ISIS (like the Orlando shooter) or have actually been involved in an ISIS plot (like the Paris and Brussels attackers).

All of this suggests that trying to pin down a direct ISIS connectionwhile ramping up operations against ISIS in Syria and Iraqmay be missing the point.

More here.
Discover Wisconsin tries out the fair

The popular half-hour television show that highlights Wisconsin cities is airing a segment on Chippewa Falls June 3 and 4, 2017, and the crew stopped by the fair Wednesday and Thursday to kickoff the filming.

Mariah Haberman, Discover Wisconsins host and brand manager, was there Thursday, and said even though the weather wasnt great, they were impressed with the turnout.

We could tell there was a lot of community support, and I think it was a really neat kickoff, Haberman said. Sometimes you go on shoots and you have to try a little harder to make things good but we did not have that here, it was fun the second we showed up.

Haberman met a woman named Kathy, who taught her how to make funnel cakes. She made one herself and even got to serve a few people.

She spent 45 minutes trying to win a giant duck (in which she succeeded) and got some Go Pro footage of her and another producer riding the Firestorm.

Theyll return later to film different areas of the Chippewa Falls area, which Haberman said include Loopys in the town of Wheaton, several parks, Pure Water Days, Oktoberfest and of course, Leinies.

I got a small taste of the town with doing my shoot (Thursday), but Im really excited to come back, Haberman said. Leinies has been on my bucket list a long time so Im really eager to come back with the crew and finish filming.

Sheriffs department shows off drones

The Chippewa County Sheriffs Office brought their drones to the fair Thursday to provide demonstrations and inform the community how they are being used.

The deputies worked with drone-enthusiast Terry Bowe of Chippewa Falls so the community can better understand the purpose of drones by giving two demonstrations.

Its law enforcement working together with enthusiasts to erase stigma stemming from medias attention and bad connotations of drones in government use, Bowe said.

Bowe is involved in several local R/C flying clubs, and said the department reached out to him. While recreational drones and governmental drones are governed by different FAA rules, the principles are the same.

Chief Deputy Chad Holum said the sheriffs office was one of the first agencies in west central Wisconsin to start using drones three years ago, originally for safety concerns.

If we could put a drone in an area we didnt see fit to send an officer, wed rather damage a drone than injure a person, Holum said.

Now, three officers are trained to use the drones from everything to traffic stops, criminal investigations and search and rescue missions.

We take advantage of them every time we can, Holum said. The best success weve seen is in search and rescue. You can put a drone up much quicker than assembling a land search.
Sheriff-to-be reiterates need for regional jail in Brown County

As Brown County considers the possibility of building a new regional jail, Chief Deputy Dave Lunzman reminded commissioners of why it's needed.
The easy, electric chemistry of the four leads in Paul Feigs Ghostbusters acts like a firewall against the supernatural and the adolescent, alike, in this spirited reboot of the 1984 original.

Ghouls and anonymous internet commentators  who have flocked to their thumbs-down buttons ahead of the films release  share plenty of characteristics. Each is likely to drool and quickly disappear when you turn on the lights. Feigs Ghostbusters aint afraid of either.

Why should he be, anyway? In his corner he has the best comic actor of the decade, Melissa McCarthy, the klutzy wit of Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live standout Kate McKinnon and the big-screen breakthrough of Leslie Jones, the films secret weapon.

His Ghostbusters makes some winks to the uproar that preceded his gender-swapping film, but it mostly steers straight ahead, too busy being funny to worry much about misogynist detractors. It does, however, pay a lot  too much  attention to placating Ghostbusters fans with the familiar showdowns and iconography of the original two films.

I was proudly raised on Bill Murray comedies, but the preciousness many have over a Ghostbusters remake is nevertheless mystifying. This isnt Stripes were talking about here. Its not even Meatballs. Ivan Reitmans Ghostbusters  equal parts spectacle and deadpan, inspired by Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein  was good, all right, but it wasnt some sanctified ground never to be trod on again. It already spawned a mediocre sequel, after all.

Here, the iconic ambulance has been traded for a borrowed hearse, and cameos from original stars (excepting Harold Ramis, who died in 2014) have been awkwardly forced in. The team, once assembled, is astonished at the sky-high rent required for the originals firehouse and instead relocates to a Chinatown office above a takeout joint. (The films New York overall is refreshingly authentic.)

After an early ghost sighting (featuring an excellent Zach Woods) and the familiar synths of Ray Parker Jr.s theme, screenwriters Feig and Katie Dippold bring the foursome together.

Wiig is a physics professor trying to make tenure at Columbia, but shes disgraced by her latent belief in the paranormal. Her old friend, Abby (McCarthy, reliably solid if somewhat restrained), has stayed on the case, though, with her eccentric gizmo-making sidekick, Jillian (McKinnon). The bug-eyed, fizzy-haired McKinnon is like a blowtorch of steampunk fire to the movie.

Jones, who plays a subway worker, might have been expected to be the broadest performer of the bunch, given the knockout punch of her SNL appearances, but her character is impressively grounded. Shes the best of the quartet, though Feig doesnt give her enough to do later in the film.

Murray, Ramis et al excelled at finding laughs when nothing was happening, without seeming to be trying at all. Feigs film never has that anything-can-happen feeling, and it suffers for it. I wish he had let his talented cast truly loose.

Big-budget special effects are the enemy of comedy: They suck the air out. In a sense, this Ghostbusters, which swells to a bloated CGI finale in Times Square, has overpowered one Hollywood specter  sexism  only to be stifled by another: the all-powerful force of franchise-making.

Still, the freewheeling and funny solidarity of the four leads win out in the end, even if Feig shows more timidity than he did in Bridesmaids, The Heat or Spy. Chris Hemsworth, playing a ditzy secretary, is one of the most clever stereotype reversals: Hes the office eye candy.

It feels a little like this Ghostbusters was a cultural test that we (not the movie) have already failed. Feigs film may be a feminist milestone: a big ol popcorn movie taken over by women (something that should have happened long ago and engendered far less vitriol). But its also simply a breezy good time, one that just happens to culminate with four very funny ladies shooting a monster in the balls.

Ghostbusters

RATED: PG-13 (for supernatural action and some crude humor)

WHEN: Opens today

WHERE: Century 14 Downtown, Century Rio 24, Cottonwood, Starlight Cinema 8 (Los Lunas), Premiere (Rio Rancho), Regal Santa Fe Stadium 14 (Santa Fe)

3-D: Century 14 Downtown, Century Rio 24, Cottonwood, Starlight Cinema 8 (Los Lunas), Premiere (Rio Rancho), Santa Fe Stadium 14 (Santa Fe)
The countys Executive Committee will consider whether to hold a special County Board meeting on the so-called wheel tax in a meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The meeting will be in room 302 of the county Courthouse, 711 N. Bridge St., Chippewa Falls.

The yearly $10 per vehicle registration fee is being used to reduce a deficit in the winter road maintenance fund. The fee, which started in 2015 and is scheduled to go on for up to five years, has been unpopular among several County Board members.

The countys Highway Committee has looked at the wheel tax at meetings May 25 and June 29. The committee decided to have staff come up with a report on how to sustain the winter maintenance program.

A July 14 letter to the Executive Committee by County Administrator Frank Pascarella says the estimated year-end winter maintenance fund balance (depending on the weather) could be a positive $60,000.

But the Highway Committee hasnt decided on how much the winter maintenance fund balance should be, although it has been talk of an amount between $500,000 and $750,000.

The consensus of the Highway Committee was to keep the tax in effect for 2017.

A presentation by county staff is being prepared for a Wednesday, July 27 meeting of the Highway Committee. That committee could then decide whether to recommend the county board hold a special meeting on the tax.

Jailer update

Pascarella is also scheduled to give the Executive Committee an update about a dispute that started on Dec. 12, 2012 when the county removed whats called protective status for five jail employees.

The jobs include the jail lieutenant, sergeant, jailer, transport officer and Huber officer.

Employees without protective status receive retirement benefits as general county employees, and not as members of law enforcement. Workers with protective status can retire earlier than other employees.

Protective workers who are reclassified as general employees may keep this status, but newly hired employees face higher retirement ages.

A decision by an administrative law judge on Jan. 7 for the most part sided with Chippewa County. That ruling said the jailers are not protected, but said the Huber and transport officer should be.

But a March 24 written decision by the Wisconsin Employee Trust Funds Board the county received July 7 said all five positions should not have protective status.

State law says to win protective status, the employee must be in active law enforcement or firefighting. The law continues: The duties require frequent exposure to a high degree of danger or peril and also require a high degree of physical conditioning,

The Trust Funds Board said the positions dont qualify for protective status under that definition.

That decision can be appealed by the jailers to Dane County Circuit Court. But an appeal faces long odds, Pascarella wrote July 13 to the Executive Committee.

Social media

On a different topic, Executive Committee members will be briefed on the county possibly becoming involved in social media.

This is not unusual for law enforcement agencies in the county. Both the Chippewa Falls and Stanley police departments post are regular users of Facebook and Twitter.

Pascarella said he plans to see how the Executive Committee feels about social media by asking 10 questions. Among those questions are: Do you understand what social media is and what its purpose is? and If social media is implemented, would you support funding additional personnel to manage this county-wide program?


TIMBERON  Gov. Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency Friday in response to the Timberon wildfire that has scorched more than 260 acres in Otero County and destroyed 67 structures  including an estimated 30 homes  and numerous vehicles.

The declaration of a state of emergency enables the county to order and pay for additional resources to deal with this emergency.

First responders continue to work around the clock to keep the fire at bay and keep the people of Timberon safe, Martinez said in a statement. At the state level, weve activated our Emergency Operations Center, made available all state resources, and requested federal assistance. And now  we can help the county secure funding to pay for additional resources.

A Pecos Zone Type III Team assumed command of the Timberon Fire on Friday and reported that it was 14 percent contained, according for the New Mexico Fire Information website, nmfireinfo.com.

Containment lines were holding, and no changes to the fires size or activity were reported. Cooler temperatures and higher humidity were helping firefighters with suppression efforts, according to the website.

An update provided by fire incident commanders says that approximately 30 vehicles were destroyed or damaged, including 14 recreational vehicles.

Crews are constructing and improving fire lines and removing debris and dangerous trees in the burn area, which is about 25 miles southeast of Alamogordo.

I dont know what sparked the fire, but whatever it did, its a horrible situation, Otero County Commissioner Ronny Rardin told the Alamogordo Daily News. Im praying for them and the firefighters that they can help those people up there, and were here to support them with whatever we can. We just feel helpless; you just dont know what to do in these kinds of situations.

The fire started Wednesday, and its cause is under investigation. No major injuries have been reported.

Fire management team spokeswoman Beth Mitchell said that crews have a line around the fire but that it hasnt been widened and strengthened enough to deem full containment. Approximately 160 personnel from as many as 16 fire agencies were on scene.

Previously, fire officials said that exploding propane tanks were preventing firefighters from confirming the total number of structures lost. Power lines were also down in the area.

Otero County emergency officials continue to encourage evacuations. The evacuation center is the Cloudcroft High School. The Red Cross is managing the evacuation center, according to the website.

Martinez flew over the area Thursday and Friday, and was scheduled to attend a community meeting Friday evening at the Timberon Volunteer Fire Department.

NM latest fire restrictions

Bernalillo County and the Mountainair, Sandia, Mount Taylor and Magdalena Ranger Districts announced fire restrictions until further notice.

Prohibited:

Building or maintaining a fire, campfire, charcoal, coal, or wood stove

Explosives, fireworks, or any pyrotechnic device

Smoking, except in a vehicle or building or an area that has no vegetation such as a parking lot

Chainsaws or other equipment powered by a combustion engine (prohibited from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.)

Welding or operating a torch with an open flame

Using a motor vehicle off of National Forest System roads, except in developed campgrounds and trailheads and areas within 10 feet of the roadway where there is no vegetation

Discharging firearms: Violations are punishable by a fine of $5,000 for individuals, $10,000 for organizations, and/or six months of imprisonment.
Everyone knows teenagers say and do stupid things. Sometimes, really stupid things.

And unless youve kept the teenager in your life under a rock they also text each other way too much.

A criminal case in Massachusetts highlights how both those behaviors  thoughtless actions and texting out every thought in ones head  can come back to haunt a person.

Please talk to your kids about this.

In July 2014, a young man named Conrad Roy committed suicide by hooking up a hose to a portable generator and snaking it inside the cab of his truck.

Conrad, 18, was a troubled kid who had been under mental health treatment for nearly five years. He had tried to commit suicide in 2013 and was hospitalized.

His longtime girlfriend was a pretty, young 17-year-old named Michelle Carter.

Investigators found extensive discussion of suicide between Conrad and Michelle, documented in voluminous text messaging records.

Conrad seemed to almost constantly talk about taking his own life. Michelle, according to texts contained in court documents, seemed to encourage him at every step and mock him when he failed to follow through.

On July 12, 2014, at about 4:30 a.m. Michelle wrote to Conrad about his destructive thoughts.

So I guess you arent going to do it then, all that (planning) for nothing.

Conrad wrote back, I really dont know what Im waiting for  But I have everything lined up.

Michelle answered, Its probably the best time now because everyone sleeping  Just go somewhere in your truck. If you dont do it now youre never going to do it.

She cryptically added, And u can say youll do it tomorrow but you probably wont.

The next day, July 13, 2014, Conrad loaded his portable contraption into his truck and headed for an isolated section of a K-mart parking lot.

Investigators discovered that, while he was locked inside waiting for the carbon monoxide to take his life, he had been talking on the telephone with Michelle. Two separate telephone calls lasted nearly an hour and a half.

At one point, Conrad panicked and got out of the truck. His girlfriend urged him to get back in and get it over with.

Conrads body was discovered by police the next morning, his cellphone by his side. Even then, Michelle kept up her incriminating texting.

To her friend, Samantha Boardman, she wrote, I helped ease him into it and told him it was okay. I was talking to him on the phone when he did it. I could have easily stopped him or called the police but I didnt.

Michelle compounded her troubles by lying to investigators about her conversations with Conrad and erasing a selection of their text messages.

Even when she knew she was in dire trouble, Michelle could not stop texting her girlfriend.

Sam, (the police) read my messages with him Im done. His family will hate me and I can go to jail.

Prosecutors took the case to a grand jury and ultimately to juvenile court where they charged Michelle with manslaughter for encouraging the suicide.

For the last two years, her defense team has worked to have the charges dismissed, arguing that Michelle was miles away from the death scene, and that while her text messages were provocative, they were protected speech under the First Amendment. Their final attempt failed.

In its definitive ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Court concluded, Although not physically present when the victim committed suicide, the constant communication with him by text messages and by telephone leading up to and during the suicide made the defendants presence at least virtual.

Later this month, Michelle  now 19 and out on bail  is expected to enter a plea at her first pretrial hearing.

This case is full of what ifs and if onlys.

What if Michelle had warned Conrads parents about his state of mind? If only she had hung up with him and called the police.

The case is also full of important life lessons for young people. Chief among them, how bad judgment, exercised over a relatively short period of time, can ruin  and even take  a life.

It is clear weve lost the art of meaningful face-to-face conversation. It has been buried by the Internet, social media and the ever present tapping sound of keyboards. That laser focus so many people have on their computer screen these days can supplant common sense.

When a person speaks of suicide, it is not time to text a response. It is time to speak with the loved ones to whom the person may not be fully confiding. It is time to get that person some serious mental health help.

Why didnt Michelle Carter understand this? How many other young people might do the same thing?

Have a conversation with your kids, please.

DianeDimond.com; email to Diane@DianeDimond.com.
A shotgun-armed man robbed a southwest Albuquerque bank this afternoon and made his getaway on two wheels, the FBI says.

The robbery took place around 1:40 p.m. at the BBVA Compass Bank branch at 9500 Sage SW.

According to the FBI, the robber  described a black man, about 6 feet tall and 180 to 200 pounds  came into the financial institution and demanded money from a teller, who gave him an undisclosed amount of cash.

The robber left the bank on a bicycle, the FBIs news release reads.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to call the FBI at (505) 889-1300 or Albuquerque Metro Crime Stoppers, anonymously, at (505) 843-STOP.
SANTA FE  A former state lawmaker who wants to run for a seat on the Public Regulation Commission has filed a lawsuit claiming New Mexicos signature requirement for independent candidates is too high, unconstitutionally blocking access to the ballot.

Bob Perls of Corrales sued the secretary of state in state District Court on Friday, saying state law is unusually inhospitable toward independent candidates and should be struck down.

Perls wants to run for the PRCs Albuquerque-area District 1 seat in the Nov. 8 general election. But Secretary of State Brad Winters office rejected his candidacy after he failed to submit the required number of signatures.

Perls said he turned in 1,350 voters signatures on his nominating petitions. The requirement was 3,643  about three times as many as minor party candidates had to collect, nearly five times as many as Democrats had to turn in, and eight times as many as required of Republicans, under the law.

That was a tremendous hurdle to Mr. Perls candidacy, an unconstitutional barrier to the ballot that plaintiff could not meet with his available resources, the lawsuit says.

New Mexico has one of the toughest signature requirements for independents in the nation, according to the lawsuit. Perls was required to submit signatures equal to 3 percent of the last gubernatorial vote in the district, in 2014.

The additional requirements create a tremendous barrier to ballot access and have the effect of discouraging independent candidates from trying to run, the lawsuit said.

New Mexico didnt even allow independent candidates to run for office until the Legislature changed the law in 1977  after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states must have procedures for independent candidates, and after independent presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy sued New Mexico in 1976 and won.

At first, the signature requirement was 5 percent of the last gubernatorial vote; that was lowered to 3 percent in 1991.

According to ballot access expert Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, very few independent candidates have qualified for the ballot in New Mexico over the past four decades.

There have been three presidential candidates, but no independent for any statewide office, including governor, according to an affidavit from Winger that was filed with the lawsuit. There have been two independent candidates for U.S. House and 17 for the state Legislature.

From 2001 to 2014, New Mexico had fewer independent and minor-party candidates for partisan state and federal offices than any other state except North Dakota, Winger said.

The Libertarian Party sued in federal court in 2006, claiming New Mexicos requirement for two rounds of petitioning  one to get a minor party qualified and another to get its candidates on the ballot  violated the U.S. Constitution. It lost the case.

The Perls lawsuit contends the state Constitution provides broader protections than the U.S. Constitution in election law.

I hope this case will force the Legislature to rewrite the election statutes in a way that is fair to all parties and candidates so that all elections have a better chance of being competitive, giving more voters more choices, increasing voter engagement and ultimately improving the quality of candidates and the functioning of local and state government, said Perls, who served in the state House from 1993 to 1996.

The only candidate on the PRC District 1 ballot is Cynthia Hall.
INDIANAPOLIS  As a conservative talk-radio host in the 1990s, Mike Pence described himself as Rush Limbaugh on decaf.

Two decades later, Pence is the unflappable conservative governor of Indiana picked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump as his running mate.

Where Trump is impulsive, Pence is cool-headed. Where Trump makes conservatives suspicious, Pence has credibility. And where Trump struggles to draw evangelical Christians, Pence is well-regarded by them.

A favorite quote highlights how Pence might smooth some of the sharp corners of the Trump campaign and its supporters.

Im a conservative, Pence says. But Im not angry about it.

The former congressman is also a proven fundraiser with close ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and their network of wealthy donors, many of whom have been dismissive of Trump.

One thing you can say about Mike Pence is hes got a very calm, steady demeanor that in some ways is a little Reaganesque, said Christine Mathews, a Republican pollster for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Hes a counterbalance to Trump in that way.

Trump announced on Twitter on Friday morning that he had selected Pence as his running mate, capping a wild 24 hours of speculation interrupted by the truck attack in Nice, France, that left scores dead.

Not so long ago, their relationship was a little awkward. Trump met privately with Pence before Indianas primaries, seeking his endorsement. Instead, Pence, under pressure from national conservatives, tepidly endorsed Trumps rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, while still lavishing praise on Trump. Trump won that primary. Before the night was over, Cruz had quit the race.

For Pence, a former six-term congressman, Trumps selection offers a return to national politics after his embrace as governor of conservative social issues sidelined his own presidential ambitions. Pence describes himself as a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order. In 2015, he provoked a national backlash after signing a law that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

Even some Indiana Republicans have questioned his decisions, suggesting Pence has at times seemed more interested in appealing to national conservatives than doing whats best for the state. Pences support of the states religious objections law led to a revolt from the business community, which joined gay rights advocates in successfully pushing for changes to the law.

Raised in Columbus, Ind., in an Irish-Catholic family, Pence revered the Kennedys growing up and has said he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. He later identified as an evangelical Christian and was inspired to join the Republican Party by former President Ronald Reagan, whose happy warrior rhetorical style Pence has since tried to emulate.

After attending Hanover College, Pence graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1986. He met his wife, Karen, around the same time and twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress before taking a job at Indiana Policy Review, a conservative think-tank.
WASHINGTON  After frenzied, final decision making, Donald Trump announced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate Friday, adding an experienced politician with deep Washington connections to the Republican presidential ticket.

Trumps pick was aimed in part at easing some Republicans concerns about his temperament and lack of political experience. Pence spent six years in Congress before being elected governor, and his demeanor is as calm as Trumps is fiery. While some conservatives are skeptical of Trumps political leanings, Pence has been a stalwart ally on social issues.

Yet Pence is largely unknown to many Americans. And his solidly conventional political background runs counter to Trumps anti-establishment mantra.

The two men scheduled a news conference for today in New York to present themselves to America as the Republican team that will take on Hillary Clinton and her Democratic running mate in November. The duo will head to Cleveland next week for the Republican National Convention.

As Pence arrived for a private meeting with Trump on Friday, he told reporters he couldnt be more happy for the opportunity to run with and serve with the next president of the United States.

In choosing Pence, Trump appears to be looking past their numerous policy differences. The governor has been a longtime advocate of trade deals such as NAFTA and the Trans Pacific Partnership, both of which Trump aggressively opposes. Pence has also been critical of Trumps proposed temporary ban on foreign Muslims entering the United States, calling the idea offensive and unconstitutional.

The reaction to the Pence choice from Republican officials was overwhelmingly positive  no small feat for Trump given how polarizing he has been within his own party.

It was a pick that clearly shows he is pivoting to the general election, said GOP chairman Reince Priebus, who was in the midst of an interview with The Associated Press when Trump announced his decision. He is choosing a person who has the experience inside and outside Washington, Christian conservative, very different style that I think shows a lot of maturity.

Pence, a staunchly conservative 57-year-old, served six terms in Congress before being elected governor and could help Trump navigate Capitol Hill. He is well-regarded by evangelical Christians, particularly after signing a law that critics said would allow businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

Clintons campaign moved quickly to paint him as the most extreme pick in a generation.

Clinton spent Friday holding meetings in Washington about her own vice presidential choice. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a favorite of liberals and one of the Democrats most effective Trump critics, was seen in a car that left Clintons home.

Trump spent weeks weighing vice presidential contenders, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and only zeroed in on Pence in recent days. In fact, the selection process appeared on the verge of sliding out of control in the final hours before the announcement, sparking speculation that Trump might be changing his mind.

Trump offered Pence the job on Thursday.

Paul Manafort, Trumps campaign chairman, strongly rejected suggestions that the candidate considered changing his mind about Pence.
PORTLAND, Ore.  An Oregon man accused of groping a 13-year-old girl during an American Airlines flight has been indicted on a charge of abusive sexual contact.

Chad Camp, 26, of Gresham pleaded not guilty at a brief hearing Friday afternoon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman scheduled Camps two-day trial to start Sept. 6 at the federal courthouse in Portland.

Camps lawyer, Steve Lindsey, told the judge he plans to seek his clients pre-trial release at a later date.

Camp has been in jail since FBI agents arrested him following a June 16 flight from Dallas to Portland International Airport.

The criminal complaint said the unaccompanied minor was sitting in the window seat and Camp took a middle seat. Because the plane wasnt full, a flight attendant suggested Camp move to an empty aisle seat.

He declined.

Authorities said a flight attendant later noticed the mans hand in the victims crotch area, and a tear running down the girls cheek. The attendant separated the two, sending Camp to the 30th row and the girl to row 8.

A witness told investigators that Camp consumed four mixed drinks in one hour at an airport bar before the flight, and it was revealed in court last month that Camp has a record of substance abuse.

Besides the criminal charge, Camp has been hit with a civil lawsuit.

A lawyer representing the girls family seeks $10 million from Camp and American Airlines, alleging the incident caused the girl extreme fear and psychological trauma.

American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said after the lawsuit was filed that the airline continues to cooperate with the FBI investigation.
Once upon a time, we had a serious debate in our community about whether or not to require uniforms for our students. We also had long-winded debates about the silvery minnow and the Rio Grande. And, in that same once-upon-a-time, there have been serious discussions about teen curfews and red-light cameras.

How times have changed.

Those once-upon-a-time issues were  and probably are  important, but they almost seem trite when we view the problems were faced with today.

School uniforms versus five police officers gunned down in Dallas. How do red-light cameras hold up when compared with mass killings in Nice, France, and Orlando, Fla.  apparently done in support of radical Middle Eastern terrorists?

We are living through some extremely difficult times right now, and even in New Mexico, folks are tremendously impacted by such violence and anger.

We dont know what we can do, we dont know what to do with our frustrations and fears, and we cannot quite grasp how these events have overtaken our everyday lives.

Oh, how we pray for the luxury of a good debate about school uniforms. How we wish the amount of rainfall and the upcoming monsoon season were primary in our thoughts. We were thinking that another debate about the silvery minnow almost sounds like fun.

Again, the times have changed. Todays problems seem more menacing, and the solutions seem more complex and difficult to attain, but our lives go on.

Like you, we are struggling for answers, wishing there was more we could do and trying to keep our frustrations under control.

Americans are wise enough to understand that painting the individuals who are part of a large faith group or part of a minority with the same broad brush and making sweeping generalizations is wrong. We know that a few bad actors and evil people do not mean everyone in their group is the same.

We do not like the radical Islamic terrorists who seemingly want to kill anyone and everyone who believes differently from them. We must stop these evil people.

But we are also intelligent and discerning enough to understand that those terrorists do not represent most of the Muslim community.

We also have no use for rogue police officers who abuse their power and kill too easily. There is no justification for that kind of evil.

But those very few do not define police officers as a whole. Cops put their lives on the line every day to protect us and they do an amazing job in the most difficult situations.

We salute our policemen and policewomen, and honor their service.

Americans know better than to generalize about groups of people. We must use labels sparingly  and be conscious of others use of labels.

But we must also fight for what is right and not let those committing these evils continue.

This seems to be our world today, and past debates about silvery minnows and school uniforms are not fairy tales, but were part of a different era. We dont want to accept todays problems as the new normal and we believe times will get better.

We must find officials with a special brand of fortitude, integrity and patience to guide us down the right path.

And we offer our prayers to the victims and their families.

Contact the Ryans at ryan@abqjournal.com.
Emotions ran high at Wednesdays Rio Rancho Governing Body meeting as councilors, residents and the mayor spoke out for and against an ordinance that would raise the salaries of elected officials, starting in 2018.

But, after an hour discussing the ordinance, the governing body adopted the first reading of the ordinance by a 4-2 vote. Councilors Dawnn Robinson and Dave Bency voted against the measure.

The higher salaries would take effect with officials elected in 2018 and after.

Before discussing the ordinance, Mayor Gregg Hull responded to the first of two residents in the meetings public comment section who spoke out against the raise.

If your employer said, Hey, and you asked for a raise and he said, no, how would you handle it if your employer said, I want you to work double the time that youre currently working and move from a part-time position to a full-time, and a large array of extra added responsibilities, but said, Oh, by the way, youre still going to get part-time pay?' he said.

How would you respond to that as an employee? Would you contact New Mexico Workforce Solution and file a grievance? Hull asked. Im just curious.

According to the proposed ordinance, the mayors salary would be established as the most current estimate of median household income for Rio Rancho in 2018 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau  which, according to 2014 census information, would increase from the current annual salary of $30,402 to $59,243.

The annual salary of city council members would be 28 percent of the median household income in 2018, increasing to $16,588. City councilors elected in 2014 (Districts 2, 3 and 5) currently earn $15,201, while councilors elected this year (Districts 1, 4 and 6) earn $16,127.

The municipal judges salary would also increase from $69,347 to $70,000 and would require, prior to the 2022 election of a municipal judge, the governing body to review the judges annual salary and approve any adjustment at least 11 months prior to Election Day.

In March, residents voted against a proposed charter amendment to raise pay for the mayor and city council. It would have increased the mayors annual salary to the citys 2018 mean household income, which, based on 2014 census information, would have grown to $74,099, and city council members to $25,934. Those, too, would have begun for newly elected officials beginning in 2018.

Paula Nellessen, an adjunct instructor at CNM, said the proposed ordinance was an insult to voters who voted against a pay raise in March.

We have such an issue in this community and nationwide with trying to get voters out to vote and to say your vote counts. And when I read this today, I thought No, youre just telling everybody it doesnt,' Nellessen said.

Nellessen responded to the mayors question, saying that, although her position with the school was technically part-time, her work load was anything but.

Im constantly asked, Oh Paula, by the way, can you take on this, can you do this? I do a lot of work that even some of the full-time instructors do not do, but I do not get paid for that, she said. I make $30,000 to $35,000 less than what a full-time instructor does, but Im doing the same, if not more, work.

Councilor Shelby Smith, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Marlene Feuer and Cheryl Everett, said that, although the issue was a political hot potato, it needed to be resolved.

Smith said the recent decisions made by voters to increase the mayors responsibilities to a full-time position, but not to increase the pay narrows the citys options for future residents hoping to become elected officials.

In essence, weve created a monster, Smith said.

Feuer defended the increase, saying that, when residents voted against the pay raise, they handed responsibility for the issue back to the governing body. She agreed with Smith that not increasing the mayors pay limits the citys political hopefuls.

Lets talk about who is willing to consider running for mayor in the City of Rio Rancho  you have to either be financially independent or retired, but we have 70 percent to 80 percent of our electorate that are young and smart and capable, and have to work, she said. They cant make this kind of decision with that money.

Bency and Robinson both cited the March vote in their decisions to vote against the ordinance.

Our councilors are paid the lowest in the state and our mayor went from part-time to full-time  I believe he deserves a raise, Robinson said. However, I believe more strongly in listening to the voters voice. Its only been three months.

The ordinance will be presented again to the governing body at a future meeting for its second reading.
COALDALE, Colo.  Strong winds and lower humidity drove a wildfire Saturday that has chased residents from 140 homes in Coaldale, about 80 miles west of Pueblo.

The U.S. Forest Service said a few rain showers are expected this weekend, but they wont significantly reduce fire danger.

A number of the evacuated homes are near where firefighters are working Saturday to contain the 25-square-mile blaze. Residents have been told it could be a week or two before they can return.

Jose Acosta, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Blue Team, said Saturday that firefighters were working hard to keep the wildfire in check.

We have quite significant winds. Structure protection is under way, he said. Those structures include homes and a large TV and radio tower they are protecting.

People began evacuating July 10 after the fire flared up from a lightning strike several days earlier in the rugged Sangre de Cristo Wilderness.

Fort Carson Emergency Services and local agencies were called out Saturday to fight a small fire at Fort Carson that started on a training range. The fire was quickly extinguished and limited to five acres.

Crews have contained other fires in the state, including one that destroyed eight homes in the mountains near Boulder, where evacuees have been allowed to return.
Concerned about the choices in the forthcoming elections? Do not be discouraged. In our gerrymandered 3rd Congressional District, the August primary offers a distinct choice.

Ron Kind is a Harvard graduate, the incumbent attorney of 18 years in Congress. He leads the conservative New Democrat Coalition. He voted for preemptive war in 2002. Iraq did not threaten us and was nearly destroyed during the first Iraq War in 1991. We continued to bomb Iraq through the 90s, destroying its infrastructure. Then we invaded Iraq in 2003. Years of persistent bloodshed have followed. Millions are dead. Millions more are wounded and millions wander in the desert. Migrants look for drones and flee ISIS.

Enter Mr. Myron Buchholz, a breath of cool air in this overheated summer of discontent, a tower of integrity from the Great Plains of North Dakota. Myron is tall, imposing and intelligent. Multi-talented and a teacher, he is an historian and does not deny inconvenient facts. He taught history for 16 years in North Dakota and 18 years at Eau Claire Memorial through 2015. His students and associates admired him and the Eau Claire Chamber of Commerce gave him its Honored Educator award for his depth of information and leadership.

Myron is a recent widower. Daughter Amanda, a West Point graduate, served two tours in Iraq. Myron was opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a political soldier but marches to a different drummer. He continues his opposition to war and protests locally and in Washington. He understands the doubt, despair and cynicism that marks the current campaigns and will replace uncertainly with foresight and optimism.

Myron will add courage, economic and common sense to Congress. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership and is convinced it will be a disaster, not evil as war but a mortal wound for the dwindling middle class, the working men and women of America. He will level with you, eyeball to eyeball. There will be no evasion. Your choice will be distinct.
LUXEMBOURG  U.S.-Turkish tensions escalated Saturday after a quashed coup in Turkey, as the countrys leader bluntly demanded the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric he accused of orchestrating the violence. Another senior official directly blamed the United States.

After strongly supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when it seemed his government might topple and then opening the door to sending home the cleric, a stung Obama administration fired back at its NATO ally.

Public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Turkish counterpart, according to the State Departments readout of their telephone call.

The back-and-forth occurred against the backdrop of Turkey closing its airspace, effectively grounding U.S. warplanes that had been targeting Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

At the center of the controversy stood Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen quickly condemned Friday nights coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. Erdogans government said Gulen directed the coup all the same.

In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey had never rejected a U.S. extradition request for terrorists. Addressing Washington, he requested the handover of Gulen and said, If we are strategic partners, then you should bring about our request.

Although he didnt outline any threat, Erdogans emphasis on U.S.-Turkish counterterrorism cooperation raised the prospect of a prolonged closure of the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey if he didnt get his way. The Pentagon said it was trying to get permission to resume air operations from the base, while adjusting mission operations in the meantime.

Suleyman Soylu, Turkeys labor minister, went further than Erdogan, suggesting the U.S. was behind the coup.

In their second call in as many days, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu told Kerry the government was in control of state institutions.

Kerry reiterated U.S. support for Turkeys democratically elected government, according to the State Department readout, and urged authorities to respect the rule of law and safeguard civilian life as they respond to the coup attempt. Kerry also said Turkey needed to respect due process as it investigates those it believes were involved in the plot.

Earlier, on a visit to Luxembourg, Kerry told reporters the U.S. would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if the Turks provided evidence of wrongdoing. Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government, but Washington has never found the claims compelling.

We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen, Kerry told reporters. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey was preparing a formal extradition request with detailed information about Gulens involvement in illegal activities. He said the coup attempt was seen as one more thing to add to an already extensive list.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey and sharply rejected any responsibility or knowledge of who might be involved.

At a news briefing Saturday in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the cleric noted that he has been away from Turkey for more than 15 years and would not have returned if the coup had succeeded. He cited greater freedoms in the United States as a reason.

In brief, I dont even know who my followers are, the frail-looking cleric said through an interpreter. You can think about many motivations of people who staged this coup.

The coup failed after appearing not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military. Turkeys main opposition parties, too, condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

Kerry said the U.S. had no indication beforehand of the coup attempt, which began as he and Russias foreign minister were in a Russian government villa in Moscow, locked in negotiations over Syria.

If youre planning a coup, you dont exactly advertise to your partners in NATO, Kerry said. So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event.

___

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Dominique Soguel in Istanbul, and Michael Rubinkam in Saylorsburg, Pa., contributed to this report.
TIMBERON, N.M.  Crews have gained more control of a southern New Mexico wildfire that has destroyed more than 40 homes.

Fire officials said Saturday that the fire in the mountain village of Timberon is about 40 percent contained.

The blaze has charred nearly 270 acres since it started Wednesday.

Gov. Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency Friday to free up resources to fight the fire.

Fire spokeswoman Linda Wallace says the blaze has destroyed 70 structures, including 44 dwellings, and numerous vehicles.

Residents who live within the fire perimeter are being allowed to retrieve items from their homes under escort.

Wallace says crews are reinforcing lines around the fires perimeter, taking down hazardous trees and putting out hot spots.

The cause remains under investigation.
Sony PIX gives fans and viewers, an exclusive opportunity to watch Ghostbusters a day prior to the premiere in India through a special midnight theatrical screening.

Are you a fan of the paranormal? Do you fancy a spooky ghost movie with a comic twist? Look no further. Sony PIX, Indias premium Hollywood movie and blockbuster channel promises utmost AMAZEMENT and gives you a golden opportunity to watch the mid-night show of the hilarious ghost movie Ghostbusters in a theatre with PIX MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS onThursday, 28th July 2016. Sony PIX will host a special exclusive screening for 800 PIX fans across 5 cities and 5 theatre screens one day before its official release date. This being a late night show, an unparalleled experience awaits you.

To create excitement among the fans, Sony PIX will run 8 days contest from Monday, 18th July on the channels Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ SonyPIX as well as on air. 800 lucky winners are in for a treat as they get to attend the exclusive midnight screening of Ghostbusters. The contest winners across 5 cities - Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kochi, will be gratified with couple invites to the movie. So gear up to bust the ghosts before anyone else in India with the exclusive midnight screening of Ghostbusters. Stay Amazed with Sony PIX for a chilling and memorable experience.

PIX MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS is a unique proposition for the viewers to exclusively watch the premiere of the latest Hollywood movies before their theatrical release in India. Its not a simple movie show, but an exclusive experience hosted by Sony PIX to amaze movie lovers. The channel has previously hosted PIX MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS for Insidious: Chapter 3.
After a dismal run for over three years, corporate earnings growth finally appears poised to pick up. In a time of global uncertainties, this will be a much welcome cushion for the stock market. moneycontrol, Indias number 1 financial portal unfolds a month long property to track all the earnings action. Earnings season can be a time of heightened volatility and trading volume in the markets as investors react to the onslaught of news and new information about companies. With this high level anticipation and speculation mounting up amongst investors, moneycontrol, through its month long property will provide information to investors for keeping up-to-date on their investments. This timely update will help investors follow the earnings performance of their companies and accordingly make informed decisions.



Rubeena Singh, COO, moneycontrol adds, With short term investors being the first ones to get affected during the earnings season, moneycontrols Earnings Season special is all set to ensure its users are constantly equipped with the correct information on various companies. An in-depth analysis of company results by experts, makes this platform the go to place for any and every information related to the earnings season. According to speculations, 2016 seems to be a challenging year for corporates in Asia, hence we look forward to our users benefiting from the in-depth analysis being shared on moneycontrol by leading experts from various sectors of the market.

Crucial phases of the financial year like the Earnings Season gets investors and industry experts in a frenzy anticipating the results of various public trading company. In its endeavour to give users and investors an in-depth knowledge and awareness on the earnings season towards the end of every quarter, moneycontrol takes the initiative of providing intensive guidance with a three step content plan:

 Earnings Preview: Renowned industry analysts often determine estimates even before the numbers are declared. This section on the property will primarily look into speculations on the quarterly revenues, operating margins and net profit figures of the Nifty 50 companies.

 Earnings Copy: As soon as the companies reveal their final results, moneycontrol will presents a summarized article for each company based on their press release dispensing an overview of their earnings when disclosed.

 Earnings Review: After the earnings disclosure of each company, the brokerages further scrutinize the earnings report. Basis this report, moneycontrol will then publish an overall review of the top nifty and actively traded companies.

A specially curated section on the property  Earnings Boardroom  will showcase interviews with the top management of various companies sharing their insights, thoughts and opinions on the numbers and the final report making it highly interactive for every moneycontrol user.



Link: https://www.moneycontrol.com/earnings/
Quality assurance Airmen ensure cargo aircraft are mission ready

Aircraft maintainers hold themselves to a high standard when performing their daily duties, because they know one mistake could lead to devastating consequences.



Kadena Air Base is home to six different airframes and a partner unit that hosts two additional airframes for cargo functions, the C-17 Globemaster III and the C-5 Galaxy, making quality assurance Airmen vital to flightline operations.



You usually have a maintenance section within an (air mobility squadron), said Master Sgt. Daniel Hegar, the 733rd AMS quality assurance superintendent. Since we are a partner unit, we rely on our host base. They provide us with everything we need for what we do for Transportation Command. Were the preferred method of how TRANSCOM moves equipment and people across the strategic Pacific Air Forces area.



The 733rd AMS quality assurance office ensures every cargo aircraft is mission ready at all times by checking the work done by maintainers. Frequent checks maintain a constant state of readiness for transportation, and the QA office performs a myriad of monthly inspections in order to accomplish the mission.



We get in 57 inspections per month, Hegar said. Its what we feel we are able to accomplish based on the requirements by Air Mobility Command maintenance policy, the traffic we have, and the manning we have. We inspect cargo aircraft for the Air Force and civilian (contracted with the military) sector. We have to inspect them before they go, since they are carrying U.S. troops and equipment.



Constant scrutiny by QA Airmen ensures the safety of not only the high-value cargo, but also the lives of those entrusted to carry it.



If we see something wrong, we ensure it is corrected, Hegar said. Here, every plane we launch is on a real-world mission. There are no training missions. Theres always real cargo out there going to people who need it. Its whats really cool about this job. Theres never a day where its pointless.



The instant gratification Tech. Sgt. Steven Lawrence, the 733rd AMS QA chief inspector, receives makes him proud to be a member of the team.



My favorite part of the job is being able to see your work immediately paying off, he said. I spot things which are not necessarily done often and help train and instruct the flightline guys where they may need refreshment on a task. Training them and seeing it pay off keeps our squadron alive and healthy.



Both Lawrence and Hegar are proud that their contributions guarantee a safe trip and speedy delivery.



Its good to know everything you touch has a real-world impact, Hegar said. It really gives you a feeling of purpose behind your work. You see things happen in the news where we send aid to someone thats real world; thats where you get enthused, like, yeah, our unit directly affected that.
France today began a period of national mourning for the 84 people who died after a terrorist drove his truck through a crowd in Nice as they watched Bastille Day fireworks.

President Francois Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people fighting for their lives following the attack in the Cote dAzur resort city on Thursday night.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel probably had links to radical Islam, but Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to make the connection.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the 31-year-old Tunisian was completely unknown to the intelligence services but that the assault was exactly in line with calls from jihadist groups to kill.

The attack left a scene of carnage on Nices picturesque Promenade des Anglais, with mangled bodies strewn over the palm-fringed walkway. At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead.

AFP reporter Robert Holloway witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, causing absolute chaos.

It was hurtling towards us and we had just enough time to yell at each other get out of the way!, he said.

Dramatic video footage showed police surrounding the heavily damaged truck and firing through the windscreen to kill the attacker.

The massacre again prompted questions as to why France is a persistent target for attacks and what can be done to prevent such unsophisticated assaults.

Investigators were building up a picture of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel; a man with a record of petty crime, but no known connection to terrorist groups.

His father said he had suffered from depression and had no links to religion.

From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted He would break anything he saw in front of him, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia.

We are also shocked, he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

Neighbours described the attacker, who lived in a modest district of Nice and worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings.

He and his wife had three children, but she had demanded a divorce after a violent argument, one neighbour said.

His wife was arrested on Friday and taken for questioning, a police source said.
A driver slowing for a kitten on the Dubuque-Wisconsin bridge over the Mississippi River caused two crashes involving five vehicles Thursday. No one was hurt, but traffic was backed up for over an hour.

The crash on the Highway 61-151 bridge linking Dubuque, Iowa to Wisconsin happened at about 4:40 p.m. in the northbound lanes close to the Wisconsin side, the Grant County Sheriffs Office said.

According to police:

Michelle Jones, 39, of Hazel Green, was driving in the left lane and saw a kitten on the bridge.

She slowed down, concerned that the kitten would cause a crash, said Sheriff Nate Dreckman. When she did this, she tried to shift gears (manual transmission) but the gear shift stuck between gears, so the car slowed when she tried to get it back in gear.

Bradley Collins, 36, and Amy Letcher, 35, both of Erie, Illinois, were in a Kia behind Jones, and Collins braked to avoid hitting Jones car. Clare Blum, 23, of Cassville, was in a Chevy Malibu behind the Kia, as she also slowed to avoid rear-ending the car ahead of her.

Cole Brandt, 21, of Hazel Green, was driving a pickup truck behind Blums Chevy Malibu, and his attempt to screech to a halt didnt work, as the pickup hit the Chevy Malibu, and the Chevy Malibu hit the Kia, but the Kia didnt hit Jones car.

In a separate crash, Monica Brester, 21, of Pewaukee, saw what was happening ahead of her and started to brake her Ford Escape to avoid hitting the other vehicles. Paige Powers, 23, of Platteville, was in a Chevy Cruze behind Brester, and couldnt stop in time, hitting the Ford Escape.

Of the six vehicles involved, Jones car, the one car causing the two crashes, wasnt hit.

The crash caused a very large traffic backup along the northbound lanes of Highway 61-151, from the Wisconsin side of the bridge back to the Dodge Street area of Dubuque, Dreckman said.

The crash remains under investigation; citations are possible. The kitten lived and was taken to the Dubuque Humane Society by Dubuque police.








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The attempt to overthrow the president and government of Turkey has failed. The military coup which started late Friday and quickly escalated to different parts of the country as military units took drastic measures to close key routes into Ankara and Istanbul. They also took control of all the state-run television stations.

The chaos created loads of clashes between those who were supporting the governments ideology and those who were pro military coup, the Peace at Home Council. They also issued a statement through the military claiming that all they wanted was to reinstall constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms as well as to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country.

This comes after the countrys biggest source of revenue, tourism, being crippled by various terror attacks. Some critics also blame President Recep Tayyip Erdogan authoritarian rule for eroding democracy and secular laws.

So far at least 194 people have been killed and 2,000 military personnel detained by the Turkish government as others continue to surrender. Likewise, 16 coup plotters were killed and the colonels and generals implicated in the coup fired. Though there is still some unrest in other parts of the country, order is being restored slowly.

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also addressed people in Istanbul earlier today, condemning the actions and stating clearly that, this government brought to power by the people is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything. 

Secretary of State Jon Kerry described the situation in Turkey as very fluid and offered his support for the democratically elected civilian government and institutions through the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The State Department also urged Americans in Turkey to stay indoors and avoid and collision or protest within the country.

European Council President Donald Tusk also called for a swift return of Turkeys constitutional order as it is a key partner of the European Union. The European Union fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law.
Increasingly, patients are coming to see Dr. Christopher Healy in distress.

Theyre not happy when they come in to see me, theyre really worried, theyre anxious, said Healy, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a practicing allergist.

The cause of their concern is cost: over the last few years, EpiPen prices have skyrocketed, leaving some Madison citizens with allergies struggling with a tricky cost-benefit analysis.

The most difficult part about this is that people are having to ask themselves, Am I going to spend this money on a life saving medication Ill probably never use, or do I take a risk and save that money? Healy said.

According to a recent PBS Newshour report, EpiPen prices have increased by 450 percent since 2004. At that time, EpiPens cost about $100 in todays dollars for a pack of two, while today they cost over $600. EpiPens expire after about a year.

Sheree Godwin, president of the Madison chapter of the Food Allergy Association of Wisconsin, Inc., an organization that provides information and support to over 400 families in the Madison area that struggle with food allergies, has witnessed families balk at rising prices.

I know of a few who have chosen not to fulfill their prescriptions, which is obviously something you don't want to see happen, Godwin said. It is a life-saving medicine and seconds count.

EpiPens is a brand name for epinephrine auto-injectors manufactured by pharmaceutical company Mylan. When individuals experience severe allergic reactions, epinephrine, or adrenaline, is injected through spring-loaded syringes to reverse the allergic effects. EpiPens are relatively easy to administer  they are injected into the thigh.

There were over 3.6 million EpiPen prescriptions in the US last year, far and away more than any other competing brand. The Auvi-Q, a similar device, was recalled in October 2015, and another device known as the Adrenaclick has only been prescribed minimally. There's a generic version, but the FDA does not consider it to be equivalent to EpiPen, and was prescribed less than 200,000 times in the last year, according to IMS Health.

Mylan cited multiple, important product features and the value the product provides as the reason for rising prices, according to PBS Newshour.

High insurance deductibles also contribute to high out-of-pocket costs, said Healy. Additionally, Healy recommends that individuals, especially children, have multiple two-packs -- one set for home, one set for school and one mobile set. This becomes a problem when insurance companies limit the number of EpiPens that can be bought in a year, Healy said.

Godwin has three children with allergies, meaning she needs about six sets of EpiPens at any one time; Godwin and her oldest daughter carry a set, there is a set at home and a set is required in each of her childrens classrooms.

Between Godwins insurance and occasional coupon offers from Mylan, she has been able to control costs, but realizes this is not the case for everyone.

Healy has had patients call him and ask for prescriptions so that they could get EpiPens for lower prices in Canada.

Patients are now looking at other ways to get the Epipen, even if it means looking outside the U.S., Healy said. Providers are encountering issues due to rising medical costs that we have not had to consider in the past.

In the face of these rising prices, the cheaper option is syringes. This requires purchasing epinephrine and syringes separately for about $20. While syringes would be significantly cheaper, they come with disadvantages, Healy said.

There are risks with drawing up and administering epinephrine, including patient dosing errors and needle sticks, Healy said. Additionally, time is lost preparing the epinephrine for use, which is critical when treating anaphylaxis, he said.

Healy has not yet prescribed epinephrine with syringes.

Megan Duncan, a graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison, is allergic to tree nuts and bee stings, and is not confident in her ability to successfully use a syringe in case of an allergic reaction.

The beauty of the EpiPen injector is that I dont have to look at the needle, I just have to close my eyes and aim for my thigh, Duncan said. I cant imagine being a parent and trying to get your kid to stay still, and you trying to stay calm while they're throwing up or cant breathe.

The higher costs have also affected local Emergency Medical Services.

In Dane County, its up to each Emergency Medical Services provider to decide whether to use syringes or EpiPens, said J. Timothy Hillebrand, EMS Coordinator for Dane County Emergency Medical Services. When there are volunteers serving with EMS, its more likely that those providers will purchase EpiPens, as they are easier to administer, Hillebrand said.

When EpiPens are used, the cost is passed on to the user when the patient is billed for supplies. However, if the EpiPen is not used before it expires, the EMS department ends up paying for the EpiPen, increasing cost of operations, said Hillebrand.

Its one of those increases in medical costs that we have to deal with, Hillebrand said. Unfortunately the end user ends up paying for it.

Healy hopes for a new generic alternative to EpiPen.

I just worry that there will be a bad outcome at some point because someone hasn't been able to get their EpiPen, and then well be forced to look in hindsight at ways to remedy this situation, Healy said.
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- The Western district of the Methodist church has elected an openly gay bishop despite the denomination's ban on same-sex relationships.

The Rev. Karen Oliveto was elected late Friday night at a meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, of the church's Western Jurisdiction. Oliveto is pastor of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She is the first openly gay bishop in the 12.7 million-member denomination.

The United Methodist Church is deeply divided over LGBT rights. Church law says same-gender relationships are "incompatible with Christian teaching." But several regional districts are openly defying the prohibition by appointing gay clergy and allowing same-sex weddings in churches. Some instances have led to trials under the church legal system.

Oliveto's election could draw complaints that will prompt a review under church law.
A Demopolis police officer crashed into a Confederate Monument while on patrol early Saturday morning.

Demopolis Police Chief Tommie Reese said the incident "was an accident and nothing else," but it remains under investigation.

The officer, who wasn't injured, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

The monument is located in the intersection of North Main Avenue and West Capital Street. The memorial was erected in 1910 by The Marengo Rifles Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and dedicated to "Our Confederate Dead."

The statue at the top of the monument appears to have been knocked off in the crash.

Demopolis Mayor Mike Grayson also confirmed on Facebook that the monument was damaged but didn't provide specifics.

The mayor is calling "for everybody that loves Demopolis" to gather with him at the monument for meeting for "prayer unity in our community peace and understanding." The meeting is set for Monday at 5:30 p.m.

"I would hope that we could get 1000 people in the street for the purpose of good," he wrote. "This is a demonstration not so much to protest anything but to promote."

Below is an image of monument before the crash:
Alabama Tourism Department Tourism Director Lee Sentell is safe despite a possible coup in Turkey.

Gov. Robert Bentley tweeted he received a call from the Sentell, who was supposed to attend United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization meetings Friday.

UPDATE: I just received a call from our Tourism Director Lee Sentell. He's Safe. Thank you for your prayers, Alabama. #TurkeyCoup  Governor Robert Bentley (@GovRBentley) July 16, 2016

Tourism department officials were unable to get in contact with Sentell earlier as details about the Turkey coup started to emerge. The last time officials spoke Sentell was two days ago, WSFA reported.
ABC Coke.JPG

View of ABC Coke's coal storage area. (EPA photo)

((EPA photo))

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has denied petitions from Birmingham-based environmental group Gasp challenging air pollution permits for the Walter Coke plant in Birmingham and the ABC Coke plant in Tarrant.

The Title V permits were issued in 2014 by the Jefferson County Department of Health, which administers the Clean Air Act in Jefferson County, and Gasp has challenged the permits in multiple venues since.

In this petition, Gasp had argued the permits allow air pollution, dust and "obnoxious odors" inconsistent with Alabama's EPA-approved State Implementation Plan for the Clean Air Act, and that by redacting emissions data during the public comment period, the JCDH did not provide the public a meaningful opportunity to comment on the permits.

The EPA rejected those claims Friday in a 16-page letter signed by Administrator Gina McCarthy, noting that the petitioners failed to meet their burden of showing that the permits were inconsistent with the law.

"EPA has determined that Gasp has not demonstrated the need to include additional requirements in the permits and denied the petitions," EPA spokesman James Pinkney said in an email to AL.com.

Gasp executive director Michael Hansen said Friday that the group was still reviewing the details of the EPA's response to its petitions, which were filed in 2014.

"While it's obviously disappointing anytime a request is denied, the EPA's detailed explanations will serve as an important lesson to our organization going forward and will serve to make us better prepared to advocate for clean, healthy air for everyone who lives, works, and learns in the greater Birmingham area," Hansen said in an email.

The group pursued multiple avenues to protest the Title V air pollution permits issued to ABC Coke and Walter Coke in 2014, including multiple appeals to the Jefferson County Department of Health.

Last year David Ludder, an attorney representing Gasp, was removed from a Board of Health meeting when the board accepted a judge's recommendation to deny Gasp an appeal hearing of the ABC Coke permit which had already been issued.

Jonathan Stanton, director of environmental health services for the JCDH, said the department operated in accordance with the law.

"The Jefferson County Department of Health reviews permits following strict federal guidelines; when there is a question, our organization cooperates by adhering to the direction of the legal process," Stanton said. "In this matter, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rendered its final ruling."

The facilities in question, Walter Coke and ABC Coke are less than two miles apart in the north Birmingham/Tarrant area. Some areas near the two plants have been designated as an EPA Superfund site.

Walter Coke and Drummond Co., which owns ABC Coke, were listed among five "potentially responsible parties" for pollution in the Fairmont, Collegeville, Harriman Park, and North Birmingham communities as well as Five Mile Creek that make up the 35th Avenue Superfund Site, sometimes called the North Birmingham site.

In 2013, the EPA and JCDH released an air toxics risk assessment for those communities and found the results to be "within EPA's acceptable risk range for air toxics, but is at the high end of the range."

The EPA originally believed the pollution problems in north Birmingham were mostly related to airborne sources, but later discovered that contaminated soils, brought in from heavy industrial operations as fill dirt, also played a role.

"Initially we thought it was just an airborne event from stacks in the neighborhood," EPA on-scene coordinator Rick Jardine told AL.com last year. "It was horrible back in the day, with zero opacity, you couldn't see across the street, people's clothes getting dirty when they hang them on the line.

"It's not that way anymore. It's not a perfect world, but it's much, much better."

Soil samples analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control showed levels of arsenic, lead and hydrocarbons that could lead to health problems, especially in children, who may ingest dirt while playing outside.

EPA is still sampling soil at residential properties for potential contamination and removing soil from the sites with highest concentrations of pollution.
A former Abbeville daycare owner was arrested again this week and accused in the aggravated abuse of six more children while they were in her care.

Mary Malone Clark, 71, was arrested Thursday and charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, court records show. She was released from the Henry County Jail after posting $60,000 bond.

One of her employees, Dixie Marie Lane, 35, of Abbeville was also arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated child abuse.

Clark and Lane were both arrested in June on one count of the same charge.

According to court records on the new charges, the day care workers are accused of abusing six children, who range in age from 2 to 7, on numerous occasions from May 2014 to May 2016.

The alleged abuse included beating or choking them with a belt, making them lick up spilled drinks and making them sit in wet pants all day.

Clark is the former owner the J & M Daycare in Abbeville.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources told the Dothan Eagle that the day care was shut down by authorities. Clark volunteered her day care license on May 18.
Two men who robbed the Family Security Credit Union earlier this week on Tuesday (July 12) are being sought after by the Mobile Police Department.

On Friday (July 15) afternoon the Mobile Police released surveillance video footage of the two suspects leaving the bank after the robbery.

Police said officers responded to the Family Security Credit Union in the 5400 block of Highway 90 just before 1 p.m. on July 12th. Someone from the bank told police that two unknown men entered the bank and slipped the tellers a note demanding cash. After collecting the cash the men fled the location in an unknown direction.

At the 1:17 mark in the video above the suspects can be seen leaving the bank with an armload of cash. Police ask anyone with information on this crime to contact the Mobile Police Department at (251) 208-1700.
A Gulf Shores man was killed Friday night when he was thrown from the motorcycle he was operating, according to Alabama state troopers.

John William Bryan, 32, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash occurred at 10:20 p.m. on Alabama 181 near the five-mile marker, about three miles east of Fairhope.

Troopers say Bryan lost control of the 2015 Yamaha motorcycle he was operating and was thrown from the vehicle.

The crash remains under investigation.
By William J. Canary, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, and Joe Morton, chairman and president of the Business Education Alliance of Alabama, and Alabama's 36th state superintendent of education.

Whether it's becoming a doctor, teacher, lawyer, pipefitter, welder, or automobile assembler, education is the key to filling tomorrow's jobs. We support the State Board of Education in its duty to select our next state superintendent of education and firmly believe it is the decision of the nine-member board to select the best person from those who have submitted applications.

While in no way are we trying to influence the vote or the final selection, we do believe that any select group of candidates interviewed for the job should be asked in a public forum a group of questions that will give insight into how a new state superintendent of education will lead public education in the years to come.

The following list of pertinent questions is essential so the public, those in the education community, members of state government, the Legislature, and the business community can be informed about the candidates:

The Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) was created to enable every student in Alabama public schools to read, at a minimum, at grade level by the end of the third grade.

Once a student can read well he/she is much more likely to perform better in other subjects, especially in the critical areas of math, science, and technology. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is critical to Alabama's economic success, and Alabama students must be proficient in STEM-related subjects.

From 2011-2015, Alabama's high school graduation rate increased from 72 percent to 89 percent. The Alabama Department of Education released data on the 2015 graduates that revealed only 70 percent of those in the 89 percent graduation rate demonstrated readiness to go to college or were on a pathway toward a career.

Under normal circumstances, educators, parents, and the community usually agree that the better the quality of a school's teaching staff, the better chance each student has to be successful. A way to measure teacher quality is through an annual evaluation.

No state in America can experience economic growth without a successful system of public education. Any successful educational system prepares students for success beyond high school, be it a job, continued education or both. Career and technical education is essential to all students being prepared for life.

Alabama education must improve. As the old saying goes, you're either making progress, stagnant, or losing ground. We join the State Board of Education in wanting public education to make progress. The next generations of Alabama business leaders and employees are being educated now, most of them in public schools.

It is imperative that the candidate who is selected is the very best person to guide and lead our public school teachers, administrators and most importantly, our students to educational success.
Turkish military officers who participated in failed coup become a source of tensions between Greece and Turkey.

Athens, Greece  The presence of eight Turkish military officers on Greek soil is producing tension between the two regional rivals.





Turkey demands their extradition as it tries to round up the planners of an attempted military coup on Friday against the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Sources in Greeces Public Order Ministry confirmed to Al Jazeera that the mid-to-low-level officers  majors, sergeants and sergeant-majors  have applied for asylum in Greece, handing the government a political hot potato.

The procedures foreseen in international law will be adhered to, said a statement issued by the government on Saturday.

However, it is very seriously taken into account that the men stand accused of a breach of constitutional legality and an attempt to dismantle democracy, the statement read.

Hours later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu turned up the pressure, saying Greece had already agreed to extradite the men. This produced a denial from his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias.

The men flew a Black Hawk helicopter to the Greek town of Alexandroupoli a few minutes before noon local time on Saturday, after it was clear that the coup had failed in the face of popular opposition on the streets of Turkey.

READ MORE: Turkey PM  Attempted coup in leaves 265 dead

Two Greek F16s guided the helicopter to the airport in Alexandroupoli, where the men were taken into custody.

They wore Turkish military uniforms but no insignia, said police spokesman Loukas Krikos. They said they wanted to apply for asylum and were taken into custody.

A source in the Public Order Ministry said: The legal procedure now involves the men deposing themselves before a magistrate. That is scheduled to happen [on Sunday].

The head of the Greek Asylum Service told Al Jazeera she has not yet received any official documentation of the mens application.

Our Alexandroupoli office is in touch with police, and we are aware of the mens wish to apply, said Maria Stavropoulou. We wont be receiving these applications until Monday morning.

Once the applications are in, it will be the asylum services job to interview the men and assess the strength of their cases  a process that can take months, as Greece is also currently considering thousands of asylum applications from refugees.

Greeces stance may be partly influenced by whether the US agrees to extradite Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, sought by Turkey as a possible mastermind of the coup.

It may also be influenced by the European Unions desire to keep intact a March 20 agreement with Erdogans government to control the flow of refugees to Europe and to readmit those who arrive on Greek shores.

EU Council President Donald Tusk issued an unequivocal statement on Saturday: The EU fully supports the democratically elected government  and the rule of law, he said. We call for a swift return to Turkeys constitutional order.

The Greek and Turkish militaries have made arrangements for the helicopter to be returned, a statement from the Greek joint chiefs said.
Thermopylae, Greece  Akram al-Majidi lifted his left arm to show the skin disfigured by severe burns after a car bomb exploded outside his shop in Baghdad in 2008.

The flesh, once on the outside of his forearm, was pushed to the other side, leaving just a thin layer of scorched skin on top of his radial bone.

Akram, 34, says his life was simple in Iraq. He owned a bakery, preparing special cakes for weddings, birthdays and other occasions.

Im left-handed. I wrote, ate, made cakes  all with my left hand, Akram tells Al Jazeera in his familys tiny room in a bankrupt and deserted hotel converted into a refugee camp for hundreds of people in Thermopylae, central Greece.

After receiving death threats earlier this year from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS), the Majidis decided to pack their bags and flee to Europe. Four months ago, they arrived in the Aigli Hotel, an abandoned hot springs resort.

Though they have applied for a relocation programme to get asylum somewhere in Western Europe, the process has moved slowly and they havent heard back from the United Nations in months.

Surrounded by vast mountains, the location remains a popular retreat for Greeks and tourists alike. A German couple swim in the stream on the edge of the hotel grounds. A pair of Syrian children swim nearby, laughing and leaping into the water from the top of a small cliff.

Yet back in the hotel, many residents complain of poor living conditions, overcrowding, inadequate food and little access to healthcare.

The forceful smell of sulphur permeates the rooms of the old hotel, which sits about 15 kilometres from the nearest town. The location is difficult for asylum seekers, most of whom are penniless after months in the camp and cannot afford the bus fare or a taxi to town.

Trapped in Greece

Akram lives with his wife and four children in the one hotel room.

He says that in Iraq, local armed groups that later became loyal to ISIL targeted him personally in the attack.

He lifts up photos of his old home in the Iraqi capital. Graffiti scrawled in spray paint across the white wall reads: The Islamic State [ISIL] remains and blood wanted.

Another photo shows his cake stand on fire as a result of the bombing, with huge plumes of smoke billowing above and nearby cars also set ablaze.

Although the Majidi family managed to cross the Mediterranean before the deal between the European Union and Turkey to halt the flow of refugees to Western Europe, they now find themselves bottlenecked in Greece along with another 57,000 refugees and migrants, unable to continue their journeys.

After that deal, countries across the Balkans sealed their borders to refugees and migrants.

In a recent visit to the doctor, Akram was told he needed to continue extensive medical treatment on his forearm.

But its been almost two months and I havent had any treatment, he says.

Enduring the sharp pain of nerve damage and incessant twitching, he is often unable to sleep. The doctor only gave me painkillers. Its especially bad at night. I can wait [for registration], but I need treatment now.

His wife, Eman, who used to be a teacher in Baghdad, says they left their country in search of human rights.

Tell me. Where are the human rights?

Slow registration

Asklipios, a camp administrator who did not provide his last name, says there were 432 registered residents  mostly Syrians  as of late June. The 87-room hotel, he explains, belongs to the local municipality.

There are no permanent doctors, but three nurses work there on a daily basis. The conditions are good here, he says plainly, adding that most of the residents are families and almost half are children.

Those who arrived in Greece after the EU-Turkey agreement are left with the options of applying for asylum in Greece or voluntary deportation to Turkey.

Much like in camps across the country, however, residents are frustrated by the long wait to register for asylum while living in difficult humanitarian conditions. Many complain about the food, which is provided by the Greek army.

Greek government spokesperson George Kiritsis says the government wants to expedite the asylum application process.

There are many people who are in the islands and mainland Greece waiting for their applications to be processed, he tells Al Jazeera, explaining that the government aims to improve living conditions in the meantime.

Yet the governments lethargic pace has prompted criticism. Last week, the European Asylum Support Office expressed concern about the slow pace of asylum registration.

We are living in a prison

Abdulsalem Yousef, who lives in a cramped room with his wife and six children, sustained a head injury from shrapnel in Syrias Homs before fleeing. From Turkey, he set sail in a crowded dinghy and arrived on a Greek island four months ago.

Lifting his hat to show the large bulbous lump on the back of his head, Abdulsalem explains that he suffers from chronic headaches and has been waiting for weeks to receive medical treatment.

The doctor only saw me for a few minutes and told me to take Ibuprofen every few hours, he tells Al Jazeera.

We are living in a prison here because no one has money and the city is so far away, he adds. If you miss the food distribution time, then you have nothing to eat.

A Greek army truck pulls up, stops and reverses towards the food distribution tent. Families come out to receive their rations. Children unsuccessfully plead with soldiers for extra portions.

Taref Zeno, who was an electrician back in Aleppo, held up a small can of powdered milk. This is supposed to last three days for my whole family. We thought Europe was more humane than this, he tells Al Jazeera.

Turkey made it very easy for us to flee; but then they made a deal that leaves us stuck here.

Hiding refugees

Nasim Lomani, a 35-year-old member of the Athens-based Solidarity Initiative for Political and Economic Refugees, criticises Greeces policy approach as based on hiding refugees, [so they] cannot be seen in the public.

Explaining that most refugee camps are located outside of the city, he says: This plan is not only anti-refugee because the conditions are horrible  Its also fake as an idea because it will collapse very soon.

A group of men sit on plastic lawn chairs in the hotel lobby and argue while they watch the news on an old television. Several children recite the English alphabet in unison in a waiting area turned into an impromptu classroom.

Outside, people hang laundry from their balconies under the smouldering summer sun. An old man sits in the stairwell to avoid the sunlight as he reads a book.

Back in his room, Akram tidies up as his wife makes the bunk beds. Solemnly, he says they have no choice but to continue living here for the time being.

My house is gone. My store is gone. My car is gone. Theres nothing left for me in Baghdad. And its worse than the days of the American occupation, he concludes.

Follow Patrick Strickland on Twitter: @P_Strickland_
Hundreds of people have gathered at a makeshift memorial in the French city of Nice to honour the victims of a devastating lorry attack on the countrys national holiday that killed at least 84 people.

In Nice, the seaside streets that would normally be bustling on a summer weekend are near-deserted, with grieving residents making their way to the the area where the lorry mowed through revelers to lay down flowers in memory of the dead.

At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead, as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany.

France declared three days of mourning following the attack on Bastille Day.
The judges have spoken: China has no legal basis for its claims to sovereignty over the South China Sea. Chinas nine-dash line territorial claims, which cover most of the South China Sea, will not be recognised under international law.

Vietnam and the Philippines have historically administered most of the rocks and reefs in the South China Sea, but in recent years China has aggressively pursued territorial claims in the area.

Since 2012 China has engaged in large-scale land reclamation efforts on islands it controls.





The July 12 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration resolves a case brought against China by the Philippines under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. There are no enforcement provisions in this convention, so there is nothing to prevent China from continuing to expand its presence in the South China Sea.

Aggressive actions

But Chinas aggressive actions have alienated all of its maritime neighbours. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei all dispute Chinas expansive interpretation of its maritime borders.

The South China Sea is thought to harbour large reserves of oil and gas, but these are mainly located in undisputed coastal areas, not far out at sea.

ALSO READ: Hague ruling could spark China-Japan row

And while the South China Sea is strategically important to China, all countries in the region share Chinas interest in keeping it open.

Chinas true interest in the South China Sea has much more to do with history and politics than with oil and security. The South China Sea dispute is not about Chinas interpretation of international law. Its about Chinas interpretation of itself.

From the Ming to Xi Jinping

Chinese politicians and China scholars like to pretend that China is a timeless civilisation that dates back past the dawn of history.

But the real roots of modern China can be found in the Ming dynasty that unified the Chinese empire under Chinese rulers nearly eight centuries ago, in AD 1368.

It was then that China recognisably assumed more or less its modern borders. Perhaps more importantly, it was under the Ming dynasty that China first encountered the Western world, emerged from feudalism, and formed many of the basic social structures that persist to today.

Chinese politicians and China scholars like to pretend that China is a timeless civilisation that dates back past the dawn of history. by

Ming China had no serious challengers among its neighbours. Unlike Europe, where many small states vied for territory  and survival  China reigned supreme over its region.

Ming China had no need for well-defined borders because all of East Asia was to some degree under Chinese control, contained within Chinas tianxia or system of rule.

When the first Portuguese adventurers reached the mouth of southern Chinas Pearl River Delta in 1513, this system began to break down.

At first the Portuguese were treated as just another minority group. Over time, the Western powers (and Japan) became more aggressive in asserting territorial claims.

Though they never conquered China itself, the Western colonial powers did carve up most of Southeast Asia.

They also carved up the oceans. Vietnams maritime claims in the South China Sea are based on old French colonial claims, and the Philippines traces its claims back to the Spanish colonial period.

Contemporary borders

Though the countries of Southeast Asia have every right to their contemporary borders, it still irks many Chinese people that those borders were drawn by others, mostly without Chinas consent.

ALSO READ: Chinas aggressive posture in South China Sea

The maritime borders of the South China Sea were set in stone (as it were) by strong Western countries at a time when China was too weak to contest them.

Now the Western powers are gone and China is the strong one, once again surrounded by a panoply of relatively weak neighbours, just as it was 500 years ago.

This must be very frustrating for Xi Jinping and the rest of Chinas contemporary leaders. It is certainly frustrating for Chinese nationalists. But for good or for bad the borders are what they are.

Many Chinese people, perhaps the majority, feel that their country has been unfairly treated by history. They are probably right.

China is a great and ancient civilisation that experienced its weakest period just as the map of the world was solidifying into its current form.

Nonetheless, no one in Asia today wants to reopen the question of borders, not even China.

No one in Asia today wants to reopen the question of borders, not even China. by

China has pushed its maritime claims over uninhabited rocks and reefs. It has gone so far as to install people on those rocks and reefs. But it has made no move to contest already-populated islands.

China may have been unfairly treated by history, but so were many other countries.

China may spend billions of dollars to populate artificial islands in the middle of the ocean. But it wont change Chinas history, and it wont do much for China today.

China refutes the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has vowed to ignore it.

The world shouldnt pay much attention if it does. China will make no friends by changing itself from a historical victim into a contemporary bully.

Salvatore Babones is a comparative sociologist at the University of Sydney. He is a specialist in global economic structure.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
When people of all persuasions stood against it, they turned a dark night into a bright morning for Turkish democracy.

Galip Dalay is an IPC-Mercator Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Turkey knows this enterprise very well. It recognises these scenes. The country remembers well the consequences and pains of each past coup; in 1960, 1971-1973, 1980 and 1997. The wounds are still fresh in peoples minds.

One thing they all know is that no one, except for a small group of putchists and their collaborators, emerged victorious from those coups. Even those segments of society that had supported military takeovers of power prior to them ended up bearing the brunt of each one. They caused pain, squandered lives and blackened the future.

That was why when a faction of the military, believed to be affiliated with the Gulen movement, led by the US-based scholar Fethullah Gulen  which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey  attempted to stage a coup against a democratically-elected government, all parties in the parliament and people from all walks of life and persuasions came forward to reject it.

From a dark night, a bright morning

It was a dark night but it brought a bright new morning for democracy in Turkey.

It was dark because even in todays highly-connected and transparent world, a small group of putchists driven by a narrow agenda were able to plant bombs in the national parliament, briefly take over TV channels and news agencies and kill civilians as well as officials.

The bombing of the national parliament and presidential palace has no precedence in Turkish history.

Now Turkey has an opportunity to use this plot as a means for national reconciliation. There has been a societal and political consensus in rejecting the attempted coup and the government should take comfort from this. by

Though we use the word coup to describe what took place yesterday, this is for the sake of convenience. It was, in fact, more than a coup. Most of what happened yesterday has no parallel in Turkeys previous ignominous coup detats.

It was more like a terrorist campaign conducted by a small group of people aiming to maximise the levels of horror by hitting their targets indiscriminately. So many people have lost beloved ones as a result.

But this night has led Turkey into a bright day. The people of Turkey proved courageous. They came out on to the streets and demanded that political disputes be settled through political means and democratic procedures.

The vast majority of people of all political persuasions rejected this violent campaign, and all of the political parties represented in parliament opposed it.

IN PICTURES: Turkey coup attempt

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called upon people to remain defiant and steadfast in the face of these invaders. People positively responded. As a result, the coup attempt hasnt survived even for a day.

Rejecting the coup has now become Turkeys new common denominator. Given the political polarisation of recent years, yesterday became a rare symbol of national unity for Turkey.

The threat of the Gulen movement

In addition, yesterdays failed coup has revealed the danger posed by the Gulenists. Now the world knows what Turkey means when it describes this group as a state within a state that poses a threat to Turkeys democracy, its politics and its people.

Those involved didnt only defy the demands and aspirations of the people, but the decisions of their superiors. The vast majority of the military was not with them.

TIMELINE: How the coup attempt unfolded

One of the factors that probably motivated those involved to undertake this act now is the upcoming Supreme Military Council meeting on August 1, 2016, which was expected to lead to a major reshuffling in the militarys higher echelons. A long-awaited purge of the Gulenists was anticipated.

In addition to this, there were reports that the judiciary would launch an investigation into the military wing of the Gulenists. This may have unnerved them, leading them to make hasty decisions about the timing and nature of this ill-prepared and ill-conceived coup attempt.

It now seems highly likely that the government will engage in a full purge of their network. In fact, a wide segment of society and the political class is demanding it.

An opportunity for national reconciliation

Now Turkey has an opportunity to use this plot as a means for national reconciliation. There has been a societal and political consensus in rejecting the attempted coup and the government should take comfort from this.

While remaining committed to deconstructing the Gulenist network, it should also take steps to initiate a nationwide process of reconciliation. What started as a menace can turn into an opportunity.

This act will also consolidate the rank and file of the Justice and Development Partys (AK party) base as all of the current and previous elites of the party have shelved their differences and adopted a united stance against it. The AK party is likely to emerge stronger and more unified.

More than two and half years ago, I argued in one of my pieces for Al Jazeera that democracy cannot flourish in Turkey if the Gulen movements parallel structure is not dismantled. Yesterdays events have confirmed this.

Now that the people have defeated this coup attempt, the politicians should remain vigilant and hold these perpetrators and their wider networks to account. Anyone supporting democracy in Turkey should support them as they ensure that such coups have no place in the countrys future.

Galip Dalay is a senior associate fellow on Turkey and Kurdish Affairs at the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, and research director at Al Sharq Forum.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The latest play by Zeina Daccache aims to push the government to reform the law for mentally ill prisoners.

Beirut  When Zeina Daccache first set foot in Beiruts Oum el-Nour drug rehabilitation centre 15 years ago, most of the guests were middle-aged former fighters who participated in Lebanons civil war and still had vivid memories of it.

She approached them with an unusual proposal: to make theatre. Daccache has since become known as a pioneer of drama therapy throughout the Arab world, producing the internationally acclaimed plays 12 Angry Lebanese (2009) and Scheherazade in Baabda (2012).

Her latest play, titled Johar  Up in the Air was performed in Lebanons notoriously tough Roumieh prison throughout June, and is part of a broader EU-funded project pushing to reform the countrys penal system. For Daccache, it is all part of her larger goal to use theatre as a tool to spur social change.

I loved the idea that non-actors could be actors, and I wanted to do theatre for a cause, Daccache told Al Jazeera. I was tired of doing art for the sake of it. I wanted to give voice to those who had something to say.

Daccaches methods combine theatre studies with what she learned from working as a therapist over the years. She began working with drug addicts in 2002, and spent seven years working with the NGO Oum el-Nour. She later pursued further studies in drama therapy in the United States.

But the concept of 12 Angry Lebanese  a play that, like her latest project, Johar, aimed to connect the audience with the inmates of Roumieh  was initially met with skepticism from Lebanese authorities.

It was 2007, right after the war with Israel, and the government did not consider theatre a priority  especially in jail, Daccache said. But I kept knocking on doors and, one year later, my request [to begin drama therapy inside the prison] was approved. Several different bodies, including the head of police, the general prosecutor and the interior ministry, had to green-light the request.

Daccache, who offers drama therapy through her NGO, Catharsis, said there are many different techniques involved. At first you do warm-up exercises to trigger emotions and imagination. Then you make them enact the moments they have been through or future situations they would want to live.

READ MORE: Theatre  a cure for Lebanons sectarian tensions?

Her adaptation of Reginald Roses script for Twelve Angry Men went a step further, transforming the inmates into their own judges in a dramatic role reversal. Being onstage helps inmates to face the public as well as their own fears, she said.

This play reflects the reality of society in Lebanon, its prejudice against the other, Daccache said. I wanted to do this role reversal so that also the inmates would understand how people perceive them.

After participating in the play, some inmates who previously blamed society for their problems emerged with a desire to work on themselves, she added.

Youssef, an inmate who performed in both 12 Angry Lebanese and Johar, said acting has been a turning point in his life. I was isolated and did not interact with other inmates. Then I started acting and everything changed, he said. Fernando, another actor in Johar, added: Everyone needs psychological rehabilitation, and the play is offering us the chance to come to terms with ourselves and what we did.

The show triggered a change in the vision of prisoners and of what is crime. by Zeina Daccache, pioneer of drama therapy in the Arab world

Since 12 Angry Lebanese was first performed, a documentary chronicling its inception has been screened in 74 countries and won eight international awards. The play has also been credited with helping to bring forward legislation to reduce sentences for good behaviour.

The show triggered a change in the vision of prisoners and of what is crime, Daccache said.

Inmates from Roumieh who were released in the years after the play was first performed were subsequently invited to share their stories in schools and at events. At one performance, Daccache said she noticed a girl crying in the audience: She told me the man who had killed her father was one of the actors on stage.

Scheherazade, performed in the female prison of Baabda in 2012 and distributed as a documentary the following year, shed light on the oppression faced by women in Lebanon  while Daccaches latest play, Johar, aims to push the government to reform a law dating back to 1943, which stipulates that someone who is mentally ill and commits a crime must be detained in the prisons psychiatric unit until cured.

Of Lebanons 23 jails, only Roumieh is equipped with such a facility, known as the Blue Building. They call it a psychiatric unit but there are no doctors inside, no nurse, no medicines  apart from the ones brought in by the civil society, Daccache said. If they can only be released if cured, whereas mental illness can only be managed, this results in practice in a life sentence.

Catharsis has worked in collaboration with members of the Lebanese parliament and foreign judges to draft new legislative proposals, which are currently in the process of being submitted to parliament for discussion.

Ghassan Moukheiber, a member of parliament who has participated in the drafting process, told Al Jazeera that while attempts at reforming the law have been made in the past, they have failed in the absence of a strong campaign pushing for such change.

The awareness campaign launched by Catharsis and its ability to come up with concrete political recommendations are a good recipe for success, Moukheiber told Al Jazeera. Reform is easier when it is focused on single codes.

When it came to staging Johar  since mentally ill patients could not represent their own stories on stage  Daccache said she chose instead to involve another group of inmates who also have no future prospects: those who face a life sentence.

All of the actors in Johar, which was performed inside Roumieh for members of the public, are serving life sentences. As with 12 Angry Lebanese, Daccache is working on a documentary about the play.

While representing their own plight on stage, the actors also gave voice to the inmates in the Blue Building. After initially deriding these inmates as crazy, they hear a story that elicits their sympathy: that of a Blue Building inmate who develops a deep devotion to his donkey, Johar  the mans only friend in a village that shunned him.

Husain Jafar, one of the actors in Johar, believes that all inmates deserve a second chance.

People who have been locked up here for 20 or 30 years will think about it 1,000 times before committing a mistake again, he told Al Jazeera. The play gave us hope to see our right to a second chance recognised.
Al Jazeera visits Srinagar to find out why Indian-administered Kashmir is witnessing its worst violence in years.

Indian-administered Kashmir is witnessing some of its most violent protests.

More than 30 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in clashes with security forces in the past week following the killing of popular rebel leader Burhan Wani, 22.

After Wanis death, young people, who constitute the largest chunk of Kashmirs population, have taken to throwing stones in protest on the streets and using social media to tell their stories.

Demonstrations continue despite heavy a security presence and a shutdown of mobile Internet and phone services.

Al Jazeera went to the streets of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, to meet some of those involved.

Sameer Ahmad Bhat, 23, cricket player

We are forced to hurl stones at them. They incite us. I will continue to throw stones at them until they stop inflicting such atrocities on us.

The youth is really frustrated. Today, if I am with someone, I dont even know if that person will be alive or be martyred tomorrow at the hands of the security forces. Why do they fire at us? Elsewhere in the country, protesters are dispersed with water cannons. Why are bullets and pellets used in Kashmir?

In the past few days, lots of boys have lost their eyes because the security forces are using pellets on them. Hundreds are in the hospital with serious injuries.

That is why I say we are forced to hurl stones at security forces.

Farzana Sayed, 26, journalist

I am doing a story on people injured in clashes with the security forces. But its been hard to go the hospitals with the prevailing situation. I have had to do a lot of my interviews over the phone, and I am filing my stories on text message. There is no other way to do things right now.

Peoples core issues are not being resolved.

Were always waiting for an opportunity to participate in a debate about Kashmir, but we dont get to debate in more peaceful times, which is the basic reason this is happening. Because you [Indian officials] dont address the core issues at the time you are supposed to.

Successive governments have failed in their attempts to engage the youth. Maybe they dont give a damn about what happens to the common person. They debate the problems of the stone throwers, only when there is agitation.

Aaqib Hussain, 25, doctor

What we are seeing in Kashmir now isnt anger  It would be wrong to call it anger. We are fighting a political war. This is peoples aspiration to a right of self-determination. And it gets manifested from time to time. When the armed struggle for self-determination was dipping, Burhan Wani came as a new hope. In him, our generation had a new armed guerilla icon. Our movement has entered a new phase. Support for an armed struggle has grown. The youth is getting attracted to guns again.

Essar Batool, 28, activist

It is that gaze that just follows you around. Passing lewd remarks, catcalling  It has happened to almost every one of us.

People say: What is the difference? Havent you ever been molested or assaulted by a civilian? Yes, but the thing is, you know  a soldier has a gun. Burhan challenged the whole narrative of a Pakistan-sponsored insurgency, because he was a Kashmiri, he never crossed the border, he picked up arms here and he never went for training to Pakistan. Everyone thought of him as a son. When he was killed, that really angered everyone, young and old.

Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, 28, writer and activist

The dignity of the youth has been crushed by state institutions and police brutalities. Their demands, whether political, economic, educational or cultural, have been sidelined.

There is no mechanism to redress the issues of the youth by the state or its institutions.

So they have taken to guns to fight the state for their right to self-determination. As pacifists, we are trying to teach our youth that they can address these issues through peaceful means.

We are using social media to generate awareness about the Kashmir conflict because its one of the forgotten conflicts in the world.

Follow Neha Tara Mehta on Twitter: @nehataramehta
Police arrest five people as ISIL claims responsibility for the attack that killed 84 people on Bastille Day.

Five people have been in arrested in France in connection with a lorry attack that killed at least 84 people in the city of Nice, as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the carnage on the countrys main national holiday.

The Paris prosecutors office said on Saturday that police had arrested five people believed to be linked to Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the man suspected of ramming a lorry on Thursday night through a large crowd celebrating Bastille Day. Bouhele was shot dead by police.

One of the men being held was arrested on Friday and four others on Saturday morning, a judicial source told AFP news agency. The estranged wife of the Bouhlel is also still being held by authorities.

GALLERY: Mourning for Nice

The arrests came as ISIL, also known as ISIS, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State, Amaq, an ISIL-linked website, said on Saturday via its Telegram account.

He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State, the statement said, using a different name for ISIL.

IN PICTURES: A night of carnage in the French Riviera

French authorities said they were checking the claim.

Al Jazeeras David Chater, reporting from Nice, said there was still no evidential trail that linked the suspect to ISIL.

Authorities are nowhere near yet establishing that he was a so-called soldier of ISIL, he said. They [ISIL] might have claimed the attack but no connection has yet been found between the armed group and the driver, Chater added.

Hes more being described as a loner; psychologists called him as man who wanted to go from zero to hero; he wanted to establish himself but, looking at his past, he was very much a manic depressive, apparently, who had violent feats and rages.

READ MORE: Who was the driver in the lorry attack?

France has declared three days of national mourning for the Bastille Day massacre, in which the lorry careered for hundreds of metres along the Promenade des Anglais seafront, slamming into families and friends after a firework display marking the anniversary of the 1789 revolutionary storming of the Bastille.

The attack also injured more than 200 people and left the area strewn with bodies, including many children.

Speaking from Nice on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said about 50 people were in a critical condition, still between life and death after the attack.

Bouhlel, 31, was originally from Tunisia. Authorities said he was married with three children. He was known to French police, but not to intelligence officials.
Qandeel Baloch found dead in family home after being asphyxiated by her unrepentant brother.

Karachi, Pakistan  Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch, who was known for her daring posts, has been killed by her brother.

Police on Saturday told Al Jazeera that Balochs father, Mohammed Azeem, had filed a case against his son Waseem Azeem. The father also testified against another of his sons, who works in the army and reportedly encouraged his sibling to carry out the killing.

Waseem was in the family home in Multan when Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, died.

Both sons went missing as news of the killing spread.

But late on Saturday, Waseem was found some 100 kilometres from Multan in Dera Ghazi Khan and arrested. Police presented him with his face covered during a press conference, during which he said he killed for honour and had no regrets.

Nabila Ghazzanfar, a Punjab Police spokeswoman, said that the initial post mortem showed that the 26-year-olds nose and mouth had been pinned shut before she died, blocking off her airways.

READ MORE: Pakistanis on Qandeel Baloch  The problem is society

Baloch divided opinion in Pakistan, a largely conservative nation, as she appeared on television to speak about female empowerment, often dressed in non-traditional, revealing clothes.

She began her career by auditioning on Pakistan Idol and soon after launched a social media enterprise, posting videos that went viral.

On her final, July 4 post to her Facebook page, which has almost 800,000 fans, she wrote: I am trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people who dont wanna come out of their shells of false beliefs and old practices.

Her apparent honour killing has caused outrage.

Honour killings are epidemic

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who won an Oscar for a film about honour-based violence, told Al Jazeera that such attacks were an epidemic.

Im very shaken up today. Activists in Pakistan have been screaming hoarse about honour killings; it is an epidemic, it takes place not only in towns, but in major cities as well.

What are we going to do as a nation?

Chinoy added that an anti-honour killing bill should be passed.

Its upon the lawmakers to punish these people. We need to start making examples of people. It appears it is very easy to kill a woman in this country  and you can walk off scot-free.

OPINION: Pakistans honour killing epidemic

During screenings of Chinoys recent documentary Girl in the River, in which a father tries to kill his daughter, she had heard people cheering for the father.

It is a mindset we have to change, she said.

After the release of a recent music video in which Baloch starred, the celebritys ex-husband Aashiq Hussain revealed intimate details of their relationship.

The story of her personal life was scrutinised in the media. She was pitted against clerics and her former husband, and cried publicly about the torture and abuse she suffered during the short marriage.

Last month, she posted a series of selfies with a leading cleric, Mufti Abdul Qavi  a member of the moon-sighting committee  again causing a furore. During their meeting, the cleric reportedly proposed. A video shows Baloch sitting on the clerics lap, while photos show her wearing his traditional wool cap.

She was more than Kim Kardashian

Fasi Zaka, a radio show host, told Al Jazeera: She was the most self-exposed person, and what was different about her is that she was from a poor background. She did all this on her own. She is much more than Kim Kardashian, she went against the norms of society  and went on do what she wanted, on her own terms.

Mufti Naeem, a conservative, vocal cleric, condemned the killing.

Her personal life was her business, and killing someone is haram [not permissible in Islam], he told Al Jazeera. The brother must be punished  we cannot have any more murders in the name of honour.

Sherry Rahman, a senator and outspoken advocate for the rights of women and minorities, called for the national assembly to pass an anti-honour killing bill.

She said: Assuming that Qandeel Balochs brother will probably be arrested and punished for murder because of the high-profile [nature] of the case, the fact remains that an essentially right-wing government is sitting on vital amendments in the Pakistan Criminal Procedure Code that would disallow justice to be privatised for crimes against women.

Vigils were held in Lahore and Karachi.

Natasha Ansari, who helped organise the Karachi event, said the media should have acted more responsibly when covering stories about Baloch. In a country where lives are easily at risk, media has responsibility to protect them instead of making tabloid issues out of them.

She was killed because she said and did things that made people feel uncomfortable and angry, said Erum Haider, a Karachi native and PhD student at Georgetown University. We feel that there is no value to a womans life if she doesnt live in a particular way  in the bounds of what a conservative, patriachal society expects of you. Were here to protest that.

Nida Kirmani, who teaches sociology at Lahore University, said: [She was] a woman who was living life on her own terms, she wasnt afraid  she was fun, loud, bold, brash and beautiful  we would like to drown out those voices who think she deserved it because of the way she was behaving.

Follow Alia Chughtai on Twitter: @aliachughtai
Serbia announces intent to beef up border patrols as the number of refugees grows due to Hungarys border controls.

Serbia will form joint army and police patrols to stem the flow of refugees and migrants, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said.





Speaking on Saturday, Vucic said Serbia cannot become a parking lot for refugees and migrants heading to Western Europe.

The number of refugees and migrants has grown since Hungary introduced harsh new border controls, leaving thousands bottlenecked on the Serbian side of the border in recent weeks.

We will form joint army and police teams to protect our border, Vucic told reporters, but failed to mention how many troops would be involved.

An estimated 2,669 refugees and migrants  including Afghans, Pakistanis and Syrians  are currently in Serbia, Vucic said.

Vucic threatened that refugees and migrants entering Serbia without documents  and who havent applied for asylum  will be expelled from the country within 30 days, adding that the country can accommodate between 6,000 and 7,000 asylum seekers.

More than a million refugees and migrants reached European shores by boat in 2015, according to the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR.

READ MORE: Refugees in Bulgaria endure extortion, robbery, violence

Nearly 240,000 people have made the journey across the Mediterranean so far this year.

Serbia lies on the Balkan route crossed by hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and economic devastation since last year on their way to Western Europe.

Although the route was effectively closed in March when the European Union and Turkey reached a deal to halt the flow of refugees to Europe, many people continue to make the treacherous journey, usually with the help of human smugglers.

Serbian authorities said recently that 102,000 refugees and migrants had been registered since the start of the year  more than 500 a day.

Push backs

The UNHCR has expressed concern over allegations that Hungary has been using push backs  a practice barred under international law  to keep refugees and migrants from crossing into Hungary from Serbia.

An estimated 1,400 refugees and migrants are stuck on the Serbian side of the border due to new Hungarian measures.

In September 2015, Hungary built a razor-wire fence along the 175-kilometre border in order to stem the flow of refugees and migrants.

We are deeply concerned about further restrictions by Hungary leading to push-backs of people seeking asylum and reports about the use of violence and abuse, UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said in a statement.

READ MORE: Hungary  three villages and the fence that divides them

Introduced last week, Hungarian forces can detain and expel any refugee or migrant found within eight kilometres of the border without a legal process.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the measures, saying they violate international law.

In a report released earlier this week, HRW detailed allegations that Hungarian forces have used violence and force against refugees and migrants.

The report quoted an unidentified man as saying: I havent even seen such beating in the movies.

Five or six soldiers took us one by one to beat us. They tied our hands with plastic handcuffs on our backs. They beat us with everything, with fists, kicks and batons. They deliberately gave us bad injuries.

Lydia Gall, HRWs regional researcher, said that the abuse of asylum seekers and migrants runs counter to Hungarys obligations under European Union law, refugee law and human rights law.
Pro-government forces make advances in northern Latakia as the US and Russia agree to cooperate against al-Nusra Front.

Syrian government forces have taken control of a major town in the coastal province of Latakia, as fierce fighting continues in areas across the country.





The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regained control of Kinsabba on Saturday as Russian air strikes backed them.

Syrian journalist Eyad al-Hosain, who is embedded with the troops, said government forces now control Kinsabba and the hills surrounding it, southwest of the city of Jisr al-Shughur. He wrote on his Facebook page that the battle lasted 12 hours.

Syrian government forces first captured Kinsabba in February after it was held by rebels for weeks.

Rebels, including members of al-Qaedas branch in Syria, regained control of the town on July 1.

In the divided city of Aleppo, air strikes killed at least 20 civilians, including five children, in the eastern, opposition-held neighbourhoods.

READ MORE: Where next for Russia in Syria?

The Syrian conflict started as a mostly unarmed uprising against Assad in March 2011, but it quickly evolved into a full-scale civil war.

An estimated 280,000 people have died throughout the five-year conflict, the Syrian Observatory estimates.

US-Russia cooperation

The continued fighting came one day after US Secretary of State John Kerry said his country and Russia agreed to cooperate in Syria against the al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda.

Kerry said the details of the agreement define specific, sequential responsibilities all parties to the conflict must assume with the intent of stopping, all together, the indiscriminate bombing of the Assad regime and stepping up our efforts against al-Nusra.

Syrian rebel groups, including the Free Syrian Army, insist there is no military cooperation with al-Nusra.

Syrian journalist Mahmoud Al Basha said al-Nusra has tried to mix with other rebels as part of a strategy.

OPINION: Syrias deadly spillover

They will be among these groups, so it will be very difficult for air strikes  and Western countries bombing them and targeting them, he told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr, reporting from Gaziantep in neighbouring Turkey, says targeting the armed group wont be easy.

In some areas, al-Nusra shares territory with the opposition and is embedded with them on the battlefield, she said. In other areas, al-Nusra has local alliances with factions that are backed by the US and some Arab countries.
Groups of civilians attacked surrendering troops who took part in a failed coup attempt in Turkey, punching and kicking soldiers who needed protection by armed police.

As residents of the capital Ankara and the countrys biggest city Istanbul woke on Saturday morning to news that the coup attempt had failed, relief turned to anger at the troops who had brought tanks on to the streets in a bid to take power.

In Istanbul, troops who had deployed with several tanks on the Bosphorus Bridge on Friday night were attacked by a large and angry crowd on Saturday morning after handing over their weapons.

Police were forced to intervene and some shot into the air to protect the surrendering soldiers from crowds of angry men who rained down punches, kicks, and blows from sticks as alleged coup plotters were herded on to police buses.

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters to take to the streets late on Friday to defy the military faction that was trying to depose him.

Images of chaotic scenes were also shared on social media of troops being disarmed by police at the offices of the CNN Turk television channel and being attacked by what appeared to be the stations staff.

The armys Acting Chief of Staff Umit Dundar told a news conference that 104 coup plotters had been killed. He said that 90 others had also been killed, adding that 47 of them were civilians.
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All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

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An army group in Turkey declared a coup and martial law late on Friday, saying they had taken control of the country. But thousands of peopled heeded a call by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, taking to the streets to oppose the toppling of the government.

Turkish officials said on Saturday that more than 2,800 military personnel had been detained over the arrested coup that had failed.

Here is a selection of statements and reactions from Turkey and leaders around the world.

In a TV statement, the army group had said: Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue.

Live Blog: Coup attempt in Turkey

In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a FaceTime call to broadcaster CNN Turk, said he remained the leader of the country and the head of the army and called for people to take to the streets against the coup. We will overcome this, he said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by a presenter. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price. I have never recognised any power above the will of the people, he said.

Speaking to thousands of jubilate supporters after arriving in Istanbul later on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed the peoples guns against the people.

The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge, Erdogan said. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for calm. The UN is seeking to clarify the situation.

US President Barack Obama urged all parties in Turkey to back the democratically-elected government. Detailing a call between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who in Russia for talks on Syria, the White House said both agreed all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Watch: Rolling coverage of coup attempt in Turkey

In a statement, Russias foreign ministry reiterated its readiness for joint constructive work with Turkeys legitimate leadership.

The aggravating political situation against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability, it said.

Russia also called on its citizens in Turkey to stay indoors amid uncertainty about whether a military coup is taking place.

Britains new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was very concerned about the situation unfolding. He directed Britons to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, which advises to avoid public places and remain vigilant until the situation becomes clearer.

Irans Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, said coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail, on Twitter. Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative, Zarif added in another tweet.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault condemned the attempted coup, saying he hoped Turkeys democracy will emerge strengthened. The Turkish population showed its maturity and courage by committing to the respect of its institutions. It paid the price with many victims, he said in a statement.

Former Turkish President Abdullah Gul told CNN Turk that Turkey is not a Latin America country  Im calling those who attempt to overthrow the government should go back to their barracks.





Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Al Jazeera: Turkey is a democracy  I dont think this attempt will be successful. His voice shaking, he added: There cannot be any attempts to destabilise Turkey. Were facing so many crisis in Syria and other regions, its time to have solidarity with the Turkish people  At this moment people in different cities are in the streets, the squares [protesting] against this coup detat attempt.

The head of the largest opposition party in Turkey, Kemal Kalicdaroglu, of the centre-left Peoples Republican Party (CHP), has come out against the coup in a series of tweets, saying the country has suffered a lot in past military takeovers.

The democratic order in Turkey must be respected and all must be done to protect lives, German Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman said on Twitter. Germanys Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also condemned any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed the strong support of democracy by the Turkish people. I welcome the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey, Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

European Council President Donald Tusk called on Saturday for a swift return to Turkeys constitutional order. Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law, Tusk said at a regional summit in Mongolia. We call for a swift return to Turkeys constitutional order, he said.

Slovakia, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, said it was following events and coordinating with EU partners. Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has been in intensive contact all evening with EU high Foreign Affairs representative Federica Mogherini and other European colleagues, the foreign ministry said in a statement. He has also been in contact with partners in the Turkish government with the aim to clarify the situation in Turkey and discuss steps that the EU should take with the aim to maintain and support democracy and stability in the country.

Indias foreign ministry said it was closely following the developments in Turkey. India calls upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed, the ministry said in a statement.

Qatar expressed its strong denunciation and condemnation of the military coup attempt, lawlessness, and violation of the constitutional legitimacy in the Republic of Turkey, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syrias capital Damascus as word got out that there was an attempt to topple Erdogan, according to a Reuters news agency report. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in the government-held section of the divided city of Aleppo.

But a Turkey-based Syrian opposition group congratulated the Turkish people for stopping an attempted army coup. In a statement, the Syrian National Coalition said that Turkey protected its democratic institutions in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was briefed on the coup and the countrys military forces were holding emergency meetings, according to government officials.

Bulgaria bolstered its patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and appealed to Bulgarians to restrain from travelling to Turkey, the government press office said in a statement. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov held talks with the security and intelligence services on the situation in Turkey, while the foreign ministry urged Bulgarians already in Turkey to stay indoors and avoid any public places.

Mexicos foreign ministry advised its citizens in Turkey to remain indoors, as it warned against travel to the country until the situation was clear.

The Turkish lira fell heavily after the coup attempt was launched, as much as 5.5 percent against the US dollar.
Nearly 3,000 soldiers arrested and 2,700 judges fired as Turkey begins punishing those linked to attempted coup.

Turkey has begun a purge of soldiers and judiciary officials allegedly connected to an effort to topple the government, one day after a failed military coup attempt.

By Saturday evening, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had detained 2,839 military personnel, with the number of arrests expected to rise, according to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Turkeys top judicial body, the HSYK, dismissed 2,745 judges on Saturday, according to Turkeys Anadolu news agency.

Additionally, a senior Turkish official told Al Jazeera that at least two judges from Turkeys constitutional court and 10 judges from the HSYK had been detained.

Turkey: Crowds attack troops after coup attempt

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that the judges were detained based on financial transactions and communications between the individuals in question and the putschists, but added that detention did not necessarily mean conviction.

Another senior official, also speaking anonymously, told Al Jazeera that a top army general was also detained over his alleged involvement.





General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, has been detained, he said.

Our sense is that the would-be junta had made preparations for some time. They had determined which military officers would take over as governors, heads of government agencies  but they were forced to rush due to the upcoming Supreme Military Council meeting, he added.

The coup attempt began at around 19:30 GMT on Friday with the partial closure by troops of two major bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul.

Their immediate goal was to seize control of key areas like the Bosphorus Bridge or Taksim Square. In Ankara, they tried to storm the Presidential Palace, the Prime [Ministers office], the National Intelligence Organization and the Parliament. They also attempted to take down the satellite infrastructure and, in some areas, seized control of telecommunications hubs.

Another official told the Associated Press news agency that Ozturk was one of the masterminds of the coup.

Coup attempt quashed

A total of 265 people were killed in the attempted coup that played out overnight across Turkey, Yildirim said earlier Saturday, among them 161 government forces and civilians.

Defence Minister Fikri Isik said on Saturday that the coup attempt had been quashed and that no area was out of the governments control.

But Isik also told reporters that it was too early to say if the threat of the coup was completely eliminated, and urged government supporters to take to the streets again.

Systemic operations are complete but mopping up measures could still take hours, Hakan Fidan, head of the countrys National Intelligence Organization, said, according to a government official.

As a sign of defiance and a rare show of unity across party lines, Turkeys parliament convened in Ankara in the parliament building that had been damaged during the coup attempt.

Members of all four political parties represented in the parliament  which all opposed the coup attempt  attended the session.

The opposition used the opportunity to call for a strengthening of democracy in the country.

Erdogan demands extradition of Gulen

Erdogan has blamed the coup attempt on US-based religious leader Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic preacher and one-time ally who fell from Erdogans good graces for allegedly orchestrating a corruption scandal in 2012 and running a parallel state.

In Istanbul on Saturday, Erdogan urged the United States to extradite the preacher.

The United States, you must extradite that person, he told thousands of supporters.

Gulen told reporters on Saturday in Pennsylvania that the attempted overthrow may have been staged, and urged the Turkish people not to view military intervention in a positive light.

Turkeys coup attempt captured in dramatic images

There is a slight chance, there is a possibility that it could be a staged coup, he said. It could be meant for court accusations and associations.

Gulen said democracy cannot be achieved through military action, but criticised the Erdogan government.

It appears that they have no tolerance for any movement, any group, any organisation that is not under their total control, he said.

Military aircraft in Turkey were hijacked by so-called coup plotters during the overnight events and, according to government officials, used to attack key buildings, including the parliament building.

People took to the streets of Istanbul on Saturday, lining the sides of major roads and holding the red and white Turkish flag in support of the civilian government.

I welcome the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected [government] of Turkey, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.

The Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) appealed for restraint.

All those that carry responsibility must adhere to the rules of democracy and the rule of law and must prevent any further bloodshed, said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who serves as chairman of the OSCE.

Amnesty International urged Turkey not to use the death penalty against detained putschists after government supporters chanted during demonstrations for the use of capital punishment.

The attempted coup was carried out by a group within the military acting outside of the chain of command, the presidents office said earlier in the day.
Government says 2,839 military personnel detained as coup put down despite pockets of resistance holding out in Ankara.

A total of 265 people were killed in an attempted coup that played out overnight across Turkey, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday, among them 161 government forces and civilians.

The armys acting chief of staff, Umit Dundar, told a news conference on Saturday that 104 so-called coup plotters and at least 47 civilians had been killed.

Systemic operations are complete against the attempted coup but mopping up measures could still take hours, Hakan Fidan, head of the countrys National Intelligence Organization said, according to a government official.

People have taken to the streets of Istanbul, lining the sides of major roads and holding the red and white Turkish flag in support of the civilian government and against the coup attempt.

Yildirim told a news conference that 1,440 people had been injured and 2,839 military personnel had been detained.

LIVE BLOG: Click here for regular updates on the unfolding situation in Turkey

The permanent army chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, was freed by government forces having been held hostage at an army base in Ankara for a period, an official told Al Jazeera.

Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul after arriving at the capital from the coastal city of Marmaris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attempt to push him from power was an act of treason and that those behind the plot would pay a heavy price.

He said he intended to stay with his people and not go anywhere.

Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been told they bombed the locations where I was, he told reporters. I assume they thought I was still there when they bombed those places.

Speaking to thousands of supporters outside Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed the peoples guns against the people.

The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge, Erdogan said. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.





As he spoke, live footage showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air.

GALLERY: A night of dramatic images from across Turkey

Clearly the cleansing of the military from those elements who joined or supported the coup is already under way, Al Jazeeras senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said.

This is going to continue for days to come, and I think there are probably going to be tribunals within the military to see who supported the coup.

Greek officials said a Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupolis, close to the border, and that eight people had claimed asylum. Turkeys foreign minister said the government had requested their extradition.

Bombs dropped on Ankara

There were still pockets of resistance in the capital, Ankara, into Saturday morning, an official told Al Jazeera.

In Ankara, jets dropped bombs over the Bestepe district, where the presidential palace is located, an plumes of black smoke were seen rising early on Saturday.

There were also reports of an explosion at the parliament building in the capital.

Al Jazeeras Ece Goksedef, reporting from Ankara on Saturday morning (9am local time, 06:00 GMT), said the city had been quiet for several hours.

Military jets were still in the sky above the capital, but there has been no sound of fighting, Goksedef said, adding that there were only a few locations in the country where the coup plotters were holding out.

The prime minister said the military had been ordered by the presidency to shoot down planes hijacked by those involved in the coup attempt and that jets had been scrambled.

Officials said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by anti-government forces over Ankara.

WATCH: Our rolling coverage of the latest developments from Turkey

Erdogan said that the attempted coup was the work of supporters of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who the president has long accused of attempting to use his followers in the judiciary and military to overthrow the government.

Gulen condemned the bid to overthrow Turkeys leader, saying governments should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force, according to a report by the DPA news agency.

Earlier, thousands of people had heeded a call from the president to take to the streets and protest against the attempted coup. A similar message was received later in the day by many people in Turkey via SMS message, agencies reported.

We will overcome this





Late on Friday, sections of the army had officially declared a coup and martial law, saying they had taken control of the country as Istanbuls main airport was closed and fighter jets were seen in the skies.

Turkeys national intelligence agency MIT was targeted by hijacked helicopters but the coup attempt was foiled, its spokesman told NTV television.

Yildirim also told NTV that a no-fly zone had been declared over Ankara.

News of the attempt first broke when army factions blocked bridges, fighter jets were spotted in the skies and gunfire and loud explosions were heard in Istanbul, the countrys biggest city, and in Ankara.

The headquarters of state-run broadcaster TRT World were taken over and a presenter read out a statement from the group behind the plot, which she later said she was forced to do at gunpoint.

READ MORE: How the world reacted to events in Turkey

We know they have been acting outside the chain of command, Cemalettin Hasimi, a government spokesman, told Al Jazeera, referring to the sections of the army behind the coup attempt.

In Gaziantep, a city in the south, Al Jazeeras Zeina Khodr reported that supporters of Erdogan had quickly taken to the streets after he appeared on CNN Turk television urging them to do so. Cars could be seen streaming towards the airport, honking their horns.

We will overcome this, Erdogan had said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by a presenter.
Turkeys President Erdogan defiant after a night of high drama during which an army faction tried to topple him.

A section of the Turkish army launched an attempt to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday night. This is how it unfolded:

19:30 (GMT)  Reports that two major bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul are closed, causing major traffic congestion. Army units are seen moving through the city. Images circulate on social media of cars and buses backed up on roads in the city and troops deployed on the Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.

19:50  Fighter jets and helicopters are reported in the sky over the capital, Ankara. Helicopters seen over Istanbul. Reports of gunfire in Ankara.

20:00  Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announces that unsanctioned military activity is under way. He calls for calm and says government forces will do what is necessary to restore order.

21:00  The chief-of-staff of the Turkish military is among hostages held by coup plotters in Ankara, state-run news agency Anadolu reports. A correspondent with Turkish state broadcaster TRT tells the Reuters news agency that troops have stormed the station.

21:15  Statement read on state-owned TRT says military has completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order. A new constitution is to be prepared. The statement accuses the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of eroding democracy. A curfew is announced and martial law is to be imposed across the country. The TRT news anchor who read out the statement will later say that she was forced at gunpoint to make the announcement.

21:30  Turkish PM Yildirim denounces the coup attempt on Twitter, saying the uprising will be suppressed even it it means fatalities. President Erdogan urges the public to take to the streets to protest against the coup. We will overcome this, Erdogan says in a video call to a mobile phone held up to a camera by a CNN Turk presenter. The coup plotters will pay a heavy price, he says.

22:00  Witnesses report that a military helicopter opened fire over Ankara and tanks are deployed at parliament buildings in the city. Explosions are reported and a member of parliament says people are sheltering inside the building. Turkish justice minister says loyalists of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen are behind the attempted coup.

23:00  Turkish fighter jet is reported to have shot down a military helicopter used by coup plotters over Ankara. Anadolu news agency reports that 17 police officers killed.

23:50  Explosions heard in Istanbul. Prime Minister Yildirim says situation under control in the country, and blames supporters of the exiled preacher, Gulen. A US-based organisation linked to Gulen denies any involvement.

00:20  Erdogan arrives in Istanbuls Ataturk Airport . Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the airport, the president says the plotters have pointed the peoples guns against the people and their attempt to seize power will fail.

00:30  Reports of more explosions at parliament buildings in Ankara while troops are reported to have started to surrender in locations in Istanbul. Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala says the coup attempt has been neutralised.

00:45  Soldiers surrender weapons in Istanbuls central Taksim Square after being surrounded by armed police units loyal to the government.

02:00  The presidents office says at least 60 people killed and around 130 anti-government forces arrested.

Daybreak  Images are broadcast of scores of troops with arms raised surrendering on a bridge in Istanbul. The government says more than 700 have been arrested and the coup attempt has failed.
Al Jazeera asks young Turkish citizens about their views on the coup attempt and their expectations for the future.

A Turkish army faction that dramatically tried to topple the government has met strong resistance from the public and the rest of the army.

Rebel soldiers attempted to use tanks, fighter jets and attack helicopters to overthrow the government overnight on Friday, killing civilians and other members of the army.

Live footage later showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering in various parts of the country, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the insurrection a stain in the history of democracy at a news conference on Saturday in Ankara. He raised the death toll in the clashes to 265, at least 47 of which were civilians. Another 1,440 people were wounded and 2,839 military personnel had been detained, he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a mobile phone text message to the public urging them to take to the streets against the coup plotters.

There were reports of citizens killing soldiers in various cities in Turkey after people took to the streets.

The government blamed the attempted coup on backers of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom the president has long accused of attempting to use his followers in Turkeys judiciary and military to overthrow the government.

Al Jazeera asked Turkish citizens about their views on the coup attempt and their expectations for the future.

Ugur Ustun, 35, engineer, Zonguldak

It is inspiring to see a nation hitting the streets against army members who try to form a military dictatorship, just like they did against political tyranny in the Gezi protests [massive anti-government protests of 2013] three years ago.

Regarding any possible political developments in the country, my two biggest fears are military law and Sharia law. And yesterday a coup attempt driven by an Islamic cleric has been abolished by the will of the people and the political leaders they elected. It was touching to see MPs of different political parties united in the parliament, especially in a country so deeply divided on the political scene.

Meanwhile, some political sceptics around me express their concerns on the truth behind the coup attempt, believing this is a staged play to start a witch-hunt against Erdogans rivals. Prior to the attempt, a major topic of discussion in Turkish politics was a possible change towards a presidential system from the current parliament system. I believe this attempt will play into the hands of Erdogan. He is a master of populist rhetoric and he will use this failed attempt to his advantage.

Pinar Arslan, 33, architect, Istanbul

I dont know what to think about such a coup attempt, an action that was so obviously going to fail. It didnt seem like it was an act, but it didnt seem real at all either.

There are people who see what happened as a gain, or express gratification over it. However, the situation is getting worse each day for people who have no chance to expect a better future either from the powers backing the coup or the ones against it. I feel no hope for the country after seeing people indiscriminately lynching low-level soldiers who dont know anything about what is going on  and then continue with their lives normally in the morning.

It is obvious where the country is heading after Recep Tayyip Erdogan changes the system of the country to a presidential system. And it will be time for people like us to leave this country and live somewhere else.

Ali Halit Diker, 32, editor, Istanbul

I am still in shock. I cannot believe this is happening in 2016. I am following the news on TV and the internet simultaneously to grasp what is really going on. On the internet there is news about soldiers being beaten, killed and thrown off the Bosphorus Bridge, but there is news about that on TV. I also found it dangerous to call people on to the streets. We have to be calm and stay unified. Let the officials handle things. Im very stressed. I hope everything calms down soon.



Gulin Rahvanci, 32, public relations agent, Istanbul
One year after the historic nuclear deal, Iranians are still waiting for the post-sanctions economic boom.

It has been a year since Iran signed its nuclear deal with major world powers  a reduction in its atomic capabilities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani promised economic prosperity, more jobs, more choice, lower prices and greater opportunities, but one year on, he is under pressure to deliver.

On paper, it has worked. The International Monetary Fund is predicting 4.0-5.5 percent growth for Iran this year  a big increase on its pre-deal estimate of 1.5 percent.

But actual progress has been slow. Much was made of Irans return to the oil market, but with oil prices so low, the returns havent been great.

That resulted in a lack of confidence among Iranians about the future of their economy, and in many cases their business prospects too.

International firms are still hesitant about doing business in Iran, because of problems with the banking system, and the fact that not all sanctions have been lifted  just the nuclear-related ones.

So what has changed in Iran, and what has not changed in the past year? And why are Iranians less optimistic about their countrys economy than they were a year ago?

Counting the Cost talks to Abhishek Deshpande, the chief energy analyst at Natixis Bank in London, who explains what Iran has managed to achieve with the money it has made since returning to the energy markets. We also speak to Andreas Schweitzer, who has been investing in Iran since 2009 through his business Arjan Capital. He discusses the challenges facing businesses  both Iranian and international  trying to establish themselves in the Iranian marketplace.

Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016





Hosted by the White House and US State Department, and held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, the Global Entrepreneurship summit (GES) 2016 aimed to bring together hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world  putting all the right people in the right place to make business opportunities happen.

In part two of Kamahl Santamarias trip to Palo Alto, we focus on socially-responsible entrepreneurship  a new wave of young people who want to make money and be successful, but want to do it in a way which actually makes a tangible difference.

Reporter Tarek Bazley brings us the story of a simple solar-powered light fixture that is making life easier for people in Kenya, and the company behind it which wants to ensure its product is affordable and available to those who need it.

In a feature interview, Kamahl Santamaria speaks to Daniel Lubetzky who has founded five different businesses, all with a socially-responsible purpose  from creating healthy snack foods for American kids, to bringing together Israeli and Palestinian business people.

Kamahl also meets 11-year-old Hamish Finlayson from Queensland, Australia. Hamish has autism, and has designed no less than four smartphone apps to alert people to issues surrounding the environment, and autism itself.
It matters little what they are called  walls, barriers or fences  the intention is the same: to redefine human relations into us and them.

The Walls of Shame series is about division, and about the barriers that men erect, in calculation or desperation, to separate themselves from others, or others from them. When diplomacy and conciliation fail, this is the alternative, and not since medieval times have walls been so in demand around the world.

Tens of new walls, barriers and fences are currently being built, while old ones are being renovated. And there are many types: barriers between countries, walls around cities and fences that zigzag through neighbourhoods.

This series looks at four examples of walls around the world. It examines the lives of those who are living next to them and how their lives are affected. It also reveals the intention of the walls designers and builders, and explores the novel and artistic ways walls are used to chronicle the past and imagine the future.

Taking its name from John F Kennedys reference to the Berlin Wall in his state of the union address in 1963, this series examines four walls: the one on the American-Mexican border, the West Bank wall, the Spanish fence around Ceuta, and the walls inside the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Fortress Europe: The Spanish-Moroccan border

The city of Ceuta is the southernmost outpost of fortress Europe. Yet it is on mainland Africa  opposite the Strait of Gibraltar. It is one of the last vestiges of Spanish rule in northern Morocco.

Madrid insists that it will never relinquish control and has cordoned it off  prompting comparison with other walls of shame.

However, there are growing demands for a more constructive approach to the problem of illegal immigration. One man started a grassroots initiative that proved much more successful than walls and fences.

But within the town of Ceuta is another divide  a social division that is religious and economic  between the wealthy Christian Spaniards and their poorer Muslim compatriots of Moroccan descent.

This episode of Walls of Shame first aired in November 2007.

Update: 2015 was the deadliest year on record for migrants and refugees attempting to get into Europe. More than 3,700 people died  the majority on sea crossings between Libya and Italy or Turkey and Greece.

Almost 10 years ago, when the film was first broadcast, the number of migrant deaths on Spanish territory had reached its peak. The worlds media only started to take notice when the drowned bodies of African migrants began washing up on the tourist beaches of the Spanish Canary islands.

Spains response was to stiffen its border security, but despite all the effort and expense spent on beefing up its borders, migration is on the rise.

Migrants, hoping to be among the lucky few to reach the other side, have often rushed the border fence  sometimes with tragic consequences. On one occasion in Ceuta in 2014, at least 14 African migrants drowned when trying to swim from Morocco to Spain.

Those who made it alive were deported back to Morocco, on the other side of the wall.

Today, this no longer an issue isolated in a faraway Spanish enclave. The number of people hoping to reach Europe has swelled by a huge wave of refugees from wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thousands of people are testing Europes borders, by the sea from Libya to Italy, and from Turkey to Greece, and then continuing over land to Europes more affluent countries.

In response Europe is building more walls. Today there are five existing fences across the continent, with at least another six either in construction or scheduled to be built.

Most of these walls separate EU nations from countries outside the European Union, but some fences are planned between member states  a move that is against the spirit of the EU, according to the its foreign policy chief.

Europe was built on the idea that walls have to come down. It was built on the idea of coming together. Of overcoming differences. Of united. Walls are never the solution, said Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative, Foreign Affairs.

Without a political solution in sight, migrants and refugees remain undeterred, taking on increasingly dangerous routes into Europe.
In light of the multitude and severity of troubles being caused in the Middle East by ISIS, particularly in Iraq and Syria, where that group is based, it is only natural for the United States to consider Iran as a potential ally in confronting the threat. The most basic consideration, of course, is the fact that Iran has a powerful first-world military headquartered in the region and the means to deploy it to the nearby areas where it would be needed. Additionally, ISIS, being a Wahhabi Sunni Islamic organization comprising mainly Arabic people, find themselves at odds with the majority-Persian Shia-style Muslims of Iran, who have reason to feel threatened by the rapid advancement and empowerment of ISIS.

What is particularly interesting to note is that prior to 1979, the United States would likely have never questioned enlisting Iran's aid in this battle. For the majority of the 20th century, the U.S. and Iran enjoyed close, friendly relations, with the shah of Iran benefiting from his country's alliance with the powerful Americans, while the Americans enjoyed cordial ties with a major Middle Eastern power situated near their Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union. The friendship between the United States and Iran would almost certainly have lent itself perfectly to the formation of an American-Iranian coalition against so obvious and so mutual a threat as ISIS, a group that would be unlikely to survive the perfect storm of precision air raids from the U.S. and powerful ground incursions by Iran.

Alas, things have changed in the three decades since the Islamic Revolution. In 1979, the shah of Iran was overthrown, ending a tradition of secular monarchy that had held in that country for over 2,500 years. What took its place was Iran's Islamic Republic, a fundamentalist Muslim regime that demands conformity to religious law and has become openly hostile to the United States. This is ironic, because while Iran's government has regressed so that it now arguably languishes in a historic dark age, the people of Iran who are subjected to it are more progressive and free-thinking than ever. A majority of Iran's population is constituted of young people under the age of 35, who actually admire the United States and its ideals of liberty and democracy and would be generally amenable to resuming the friendship that existed between the two nations before 1979. Their government  over which they themselves have next to no direct control, despite the existence of an elected figurehead Iranian "president" who is almost totally impotent to enact actual policy  considers the United States a hated enemy. They do not.

This currently prevailing dynamic between the United States and Iran  and between Iran's government and its people  makes any American-Iranian collaboration unwise, even in light of the mutual threat posed by ISIS. Iran's use of ground forces against ISIS  the most solid contribution it could potentially make  would put its government in the position of legitimately projecting military power into Iraq and Syria, an opportunity it would surely use to its advantage. The potential is strong for Iran's regime to destabilize Iraq's already fragile government and reshape it from a secular administration into an Islamic theocracy. Meanwhile, in Syria, Iran may well choose to bolster President Assad's position and secure him as dictator, or  perhaps worse yet  install a new ruler of Iranian choosing.

Any of these scenarios would be a disaster for the West and the Iranian people alike, as they would serve to advance the interests and goals of a brutal and repressive regime that in no way represents its own progressive population. Worst of all, the cooperation of Western superpowers would legitimize that regime.

It is imperative also that the United States take care not to allow Iran to use its potential assistance as a bargaining chip in diplomacy. There are critically important negotiations ever ongoing concerning the attempts of Iran's regime to acquire nuclear weapons, and the temptation for their government to promise support against ISIS in exchange for less stringent attention from the U.S. and the world community is strong. The two issues must be kept separate; Iran's help is not the boon it may appear to be.

However, it should never be questioned that Iran  an ancient, venerable civilization with glory in its past and future far outshining its current-day difficulties  has every right to empower and strengthen itself. It is only the rulership of its present regime that makes it necessary to contain Iran in the moment. Fortunately, there is hope that this can change. There are those who would advocate drastic action to this end on part of the West, including military intervention and the use of economic sanctions against Iran, but both of these ideas would be disastrous if implemented, as ultimately they would only hurt the people they seek to help: the citizenry of Iran. Moreover, such direct involvement by the West in the politics of Iran  which is, in the end, the business only of that nation and its people  is unnecessary as well as potentially counterproductive.

As previously noted, Iran's people are largely young, progressive in their ideologies, and unsympathetic to the myopic religious extremism of their government. Their open-armed embrace of modern technology has equipped them with powerful tools, which arguably caught even their brutal regime off guard with the advent of the hugely popular Green Movement and its successful use of social media and other 21st-century communications technologies. Such advances should continue to be encouraged as the strongest and surest means of enabling Iran's people to share ideas, discuss their place in the world, and ultimately  of their own will and accord  decide that it is time to sweep away the repressive regime under which they currently suffer.
In 20th century history, Franklin Delano Roosevelts presence looms large. Forever cast in the lead role as the New Deals man of the people, Roosevelts policies have long been credited with pulling Americans out of the Great Depression. His fabled fireside chats and comforting rhetoric during the darkest days of war united a nation and inspired a generation. Alongside his British and Russian counterparts, Roosevelt is hailed as having masterminded the defeat of Hitler and the ruthless German Nazi war machine. Indeed, FDRs persona borders on the mythical, yet critical flaws mar even this giant of history. Case in point: Roosevelts blind enchantment with Russian dictator Josef Stalin.

Roosevelt believed he had a special rapport with Stalin, despite the obvious disparity in fundamental ideologies between the two. Roosevelt was under the dangerous illusion that he knew how to handle Stalin, when in fact it was Stalin who knew how to play Roosevelt. In the dynamics of the Big Three -- Roosevelt, Stalin and Winston Churchill -- it is Roosevelt who emerges as what some would describe as a Soviet sympathizer. Roosevelt, along with trusted advisors such as Harry Hopkins and Henry Dexter White, was downright charmed by Stalin, whom he affectionately called Uncle Joe. Roosevelt was of the firm belief that, in time, he could transform the tyrant into a Christian gentlemen. Toward that end and before critical discussions at Yalta about postwar world order commenced, Roosevelt wedged Churchill out of the conversation so that he might meet with Stalin alone. The result: though Roosevelt persistently voiced great distaste for the British Empire, his unabashed attraction to Stalin enabled the rise of a new and dangerous Soviet empire.

For those supporters -- mainly on the left -- keen on preserving the myth that FDR had the upper hand in his dealings with Stalin, youre in luck. After more than seven decades, conventional wisdom continues to turn a blind eye toward the true nature of the relationship between the two leaders, focusing instead on trivialities such as Churchills naughty document, credited by many as providing the mechanism for carving up postwar geopolitical boundaries.

To many, Roosevelts alleged enchantment with the dictator remains a clever ruse, a public display of master stagecraft. After all, he once told Orson Welles that they were the two greatest actors in the world. But 70 years of history hence, we can recognize that FDRs fond words for Josef Stalin go well beyond politics or war. As historian Paul Kengor astutely writes in Dupes: How Americas Adversaries Have Manipulated Progressives for a Century:

The President very often used words of eye opening personal affection. Only three months after Pearl Harbor, for example, FDR wrote a note to Winston Churchill in anticipation of his first meeting with Stalin. I think I can personally handle Stalin better than your Foreign Office or my State Department, FDR boasted to Churchill on March 18, 1942. Stalin hates the guts of all your people. He thinks he likes me better.

Some aim to protect the FDR myth -- that Roosevelt genuinely believed in his ability to shape and influence Stalins thinking -- by suggesting that failing health and exhaustion from the war, may have clouded his judgment, causing him to develop a myopic view of the Russian tyrant. Few would argue that fatigue would not have contributed to the state of Roosevelts mind, though Churchill also suffered from fatigue, but without the same lack of judgment. Yet Roosevelt also rejected the warnings from some of his closest advisors.

As far back as 1941, Roosevelts former Soviet Ambassador William Bullitt, Jr., who had his own Bolshevik romance but later came to his senses, tried to warn Roosevelt that Communists in the United States are just as dangerous enemies as ever, and that his policies were wishful thinking. In return for his candor, Bullitt received this wishful reply from the president: I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of manI think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask nothing in return, noblesse oblige, he wont try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace.

Unlike the president, Prime Minister Churchill held his nose and dealt with Stalin only when necessary and with grave reservation. He did not relish his dealings with the devil, nor did he welcome any personal challenge to find Uncle Joes good graces. He was under no illusions that he (or anyone else) could change Stalins nature. Churchill, to his abundant credit, wanted the Allies to capture Berlin, to defend Prague and the rest of Eastern Europe, and he urged Allied forces to meet the Red Army as far east as possible, which meant capturing the key capitals. Churchill understood that the wholesale offering of Berlin -- the crown jewel of Europe -- would give Stalin the upper hand in postwar power. Yet Roosevelt defended Stalins honor and called for Eisenhower to avoid any contact with Russians, handing over Berlin as merely a symbolic gesture. Thus did Eisenhower and his generals turn a blind eye to what would become the rape and slaughter of more than 11 million people at the hands of the liberating Soviets.

Relinquishing Berlin to the Russians was not only a grave error, demonstrating Roosevelts alarming lack of history, geography, and common sense, it was, as British historian Antony Beevor notes, clearly unthinkable that the Western Allies simply could not hope to push back the Red Army, to their original borders. Failing to do so emboldened the Russians to not only snatch the crown jewel as a strategic target, but also positioned them to topple other Eastern European governments. Likewise, as a result of Roosevelts policies that were passed down the line of command through Marshall and Eisenhower on the battlefield, the Soviets found, outside Berlin, the resources needed to begin amassing the nuclear arsenal that would figure prominently in the coming Cold War with the U.S.

Still, despite warnings from William Bullitt, Winston Churchill, and even General George S. Patton, Roosevelt maintained there was nothing he could not do with the misguided Russian tyrant.

While the myth prior to the end of WWII might have held truths that reflected the facts about Roosevelts presidency and his efforts to hold a country together through difficult times, there is no excuse for his naivete (or perhaps hubris) in dealing with Stalin, which resulted in the devastating betrayal of the people of Berlin, Eastern Europe and even the U.S. Roosevelts uplifting rhetoric helped Americans endure a treacherous moment in our collective history as we sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers for what most believed to be the true cause of freedom. Yet Roosevelts myth of Stalin as a trustworthy partner in postwar Europe was born of illusion, or a delusion, and here are the facts. Stalin broke every agreement he had made, he slaughtered the lives of tens of millions of people in his scourge of German, Polish, and Ukrainian citizenry in the newly occupied lands, not to mention the utter horrors that occurred back in his own gulags where millions more were taken prisoner, including twenty thousand Allied POWs.

We do not need a slanted storyteller to make the case for Roosevelts self-deception. Roosevelt himself recognized his mistake -- albeit too late -- as noted by former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Averell Harriman: On March 23, 1945, Roosevelt confided to Anna Rosenberg, a well known businesswoman and public official during the war, Averell is right. We cant do business with Stalin. He has broken every one of the promises he made at Yalta.

But where was the surprise? How else could Roosevelt have imagined the outcome, trusting a man who had already killed tens of millions of his own people to establish his coming empire? What good were Roosevelts words when his basic judgment would allow a monster like Stalin to feed on the millions of innocents in Eastern Europe and enable the Cold War?

As historian Kengor concludes, [FDRs] appraisal of Stalin was one of the most naive assessments of any major foreign leader in the history of the American presidency. When the facts so undermine this narrative or myth, it is rightfully time for that myth to be replaced for a more precise explanation, as will be the case with Roosevelt.

Myths are not lies. And they are not created to deceive, but rather to communicate a higher truth. This does not mean they are factually accurate or meant to last forever, a point missed by many ideologues even in academia. And while academia, tries to limit itself to the empirical evidence (what can be known) or to know how to interpret facts, these facts require a context, or in the case of story, a real-world narrative.

As we revisit the triumphs and blunders of the 20th century, Roosevelts naive relationship with Stalin and the horrific Cold War legacy that resulted are evidence of a very costly enchantment.

Robert Orlando is the writer and director of Silence Patton
It stretches back into the law that governed Rome across its empire. In Latin the phrase is ubi jus, ibi remedium. It spread into Europe with the Roman Empire. Particularly with regard to the formation of our own law, it spread into English law.

In our own law, as set out by our Supreme Court, it was early enshrined by Chief Justice John Marshall as passing down to us from the English law. In the famous case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803, Marshall said:

[I]t is a general and indisputable rule, that where there is a legal right, there is also a legal remedy by suit or action at law, whenever that right is invaded. ... [For] it is a settled and invariable principle in the laws of England, that every right, when withheld, must have a remedy, and every injury its proper redress.

Let's apply this to our current scheme of immigration law and ask: who is it that is injured by what has gone on with illegal immigration in these last years? Who is it that is injured when a company, particularly one that employs many workers, gets rid of its American workers and replaces them with illegal aliens? Who is injured when contractors  let us say in fields like landscaping and construction  hire for the most part illegal aliens? The answer, of course, is the American workers who are thus illegally displaced, and the honest businessmen who refuse to hire illegal aliens in their companies when they have to bid for work vis-a-vis competitors who are quite willing to hire illegal aliens who will accept wages that would not bring American workers to their work force.

You might think, correctly, that this illegal. After all we have laws, you might say, about wrongful discharge, and it surely must be wrongful to fire people in order to replace them with illegal workers and to compete in the marketplace by illegal means. Surely, you would say, there is a remedy. In this regard, consider something further that John Marshall said in Marbury v. Madison:

The very essence of civil liberty certainly consists in the right of every individual to claim the protection of the laws, whenever he receives an injury. One of the first duties of government is to afford that protection. ... The government of the United States has been emphatically termed a government of laws and not of men. It will certainly cease to deserve this high appellation, if the laws furnish no remedy for the violation of vested legal rights.

With this in mind, consider what the federal government has enacted by way of pre-emption of the laws in the states with regard to the use of illegal immigrants as part of the wrongs perpetrated upon American workers and honest American businesses.

During the latter years of the last century, Congress enacted reforms to the federal immigration law. The part of this enactment with which, in light of the above, everyone should be concerned is now in the United States Code at Section 1324a(h)(2), where it mandates the federal pre-emption of:

... any State or local law imposing civil or criminal sanctions (other than through licensing and similar laws) upon those who employ, or recruit or refer for a fee for employment, unauthorized aliens.

This provision flagrantly robs the American workers and businesses injured by the use of illegal alien workers of any remedy for the wrongs perpetrated against them against those entities that wrong them as private citizens. They may not take to court those who choose to wrong them. They must be dependent only upon what the present occupant of the Oval Office chooses to do by way of public enforcement through federal agencies. We have seen that he, in the words of John Marshall, has chosen on this topic to make the United States a government of men rather than of laws, although there is a least one federal judge who has tried to reverse this unconstitutional tide.

Since this pre-emption in federal law, it has become a mantra in the alternative media that there is an unholy alliance of large companies wanting illegal cheap labor and politicians wanting to increase illegal voters to enhance their electoral power, right out of An American Tale.

There have been cases involving state authorities trying to complement the federal ineffectual enforcement, particularly by Arizona, which has been particularly hard hit, and they have had some success. To a limited extent, states have been allowed to complement federal immigration law as regards penalties against illegal workers as opposed to those who employ or provide them illegally. There have been some successful efforts by private persons representing classes of American workers to get around this federal pre-emption by use of the RICO statute, with its private enforcement provision from the federal level. But on the whole, those who are wronged have been deprived of any effective remedy. This is nothing less than a wholesale collapse of the rule of law.

We have not seen any pronouncement by a presidential candidate that he intends to do something about this destruction of the rule of law in the area of illegal immigration despite the focus of the one candidate on the issue of illegal immigration by means of which he seized public attention, aroused a large segment of the citizenry and has been able to maintain and expand upon that attention.

Let me make a modest suggestion: if it were proposed that this be changed to restore the enforceable right of which those who have been deprived of their fundamental rights, not only would it complement the erection of a wall, but in some ways, it would be more effective. Let us suppose, for example, that a leaf were taken from Teddy Roosevelt and, modeled on the antitrust laws, those wronged were given the right to go into court and sue the employers who wrong them and those who also wrong them by providing the illegal aliens who harm the wronged Americans to the employers, and sue for treble damages and attorney fees and expenses, it would dry up the problem in a few years as the employers and conveyors of illegal aliens faced the exposure to such liability. In order to make this work, it would be necessary to make eVerify mandatory and enable potential plaintiffs to use the Freedom of Information Act to determine for purposes of filing suit the true status of those illegal workers by whom they had been displaced or by whose use they were put at an illegal competitive disadvantage.

It would be a lot cheaper than the wall, because the plaintiff's bar would weigh in and might even support such a candidate rather than those they have supported in the past.
The recent referendum in Britain, aka Brexit, might be a case study in poetic justice. David Cameron, the unctuous PM who sponsored the exit referendum, never expected a majority yes vote. Cameron is a typical political weasel, now a cake-and- eat-it casualty. He played to the crowd with talk about Brit sovereignty, never believing that the lumpen proletariat would actually jump the EU ship.

The people have spoken. Cameron is out of a job and globalism is on the ropes for a change. Call it a declaration of independence. Better still, call Brexit the birth of a nation.

If the EU exit vote says anything, it suggests that national sovereignty matters more than supra national or NGO tyranny. The immigration issue is an illustration.

In Europe, unelected EU Commissioners, Junckers politburo, decide number and nationality of migrants who must be accepted by member states. In America, while numbers may be smaller, all migrants are laundered through UN agencies or NGOs, none of which are accountable to the American people. The Yankee electorate, like Europe, has little to say about who comes, goes - or pays.

Globalism, open borders, the welfare state, and the Islamic jihad have created a witchs brew of national insecurities.

Few will admit it, but terror, Islam, and the Muslim small wars have done what conventional attack could not. Europe is now at risk from within and without. Indeed, the EU may collapse long before any meaningful number of Muslims can be assimilated. Paradoxically, tolerance and assimilation is the fairy tale that rationalizes Sharia imperialism and immigrant tsunamis.

The Marquise de Pompadour captured the cost of both ancien regimes and the revolution, Apres nous, le deluge!

The globalism chimera in Brussels seems to have reached that tipping point. Most Eurocrats, like their UN counterparts, are the otherwise unemployed political deadwood from social or autocratic democracies. Jean-Claude Juncker, former PM of Luxembourg (population 0.5 million), is the archetype. As with non-profits and NGOs, such privileged elites do not answer to any constituency except committees of their own making.

Even legendary non-profit institutions, like the Red Cross, succumb to root rot in the globalist commune. As with many international charities, Red Cross humanitarians take better care of themselves today than they do disaster victims. Even die-hard socialists seem to have given up on such clueless, if not in-bred, transnationals.

Speaking of vacuity, Barack Obama and Joe Biden presume to lecture the English on the hazards of national soveignty before and after the Brexit vote. Obama threatened to put Britannia at the end of the queue. Vice-President Biden, before the egg on the presidents face could dry, suggested that the Brit establishment didnt necessarily have to honor the mandate of voters.

Such globalist arrogance is manifest in Brussels. At the moment, a cabal of Euro strategic storm troopers is actually arguing for an EU Army, as if the NATO legion werent dangerous enough. For the past two decades, NATO and the US State Department have been playing nuclear chicken with the Russians.

At the same time, Brussels cant protect itself from Islamists at home. Hard to believe that a Schengen army in Europe would be any more effective or economical than the hapless Frontex border scouts.

Withal, our English cousins have fired a shot across the bow of a least one globalist goliath and laid down a marker for national sovereignty everywhere, especially America. The echoes of Brexit are sure to be heard in the 2016 American presidential election.

England is the mother of parliaments and the father of modern democracy. Both America and England were products of the Enlightenment. National independence and democracy were probative values then and they remain so today. All of Americas founding fathers were in fact enlightened Englishmen.

Locke, Smith, Hume, Darwin, and Burke too were rational humanists, men who believed that national independence and pragmatic empiricism were virtues. Charles Darwin and Adam Smith, in particular, argued that individual and national freedom were, not simply morally appropriate and natural, but necessary too in a bio-economic world where true progress has measures of effectiveness -- concrete achievements, winners and losers in large and small ways.

Today, words like success, victory, and winning have been stricken from the public square in favor of communal rhetoric and politicized egalitarian hokum. The world of political correctness is now one whose function is to prevent thought or discussion (or remedy) for unpleasant realities. Islam is an example.

Alas, English and America democracies were fashioned at a time where empirical meant factual, skeptical meant objective, and liberal actually meant progress, not fantasy. The real world, then and now, is a competitive, yea sometimes a lethal contest between ideas, individuals, institutions, and frequently nations. The fittest survive.

A world of winners would be absurd without losers. Life, reality, and people are frequently unpleasant.

To be a hero is, by definition, exceptional; if everyone were heroic, no one would be a hero. Opportunity, or fair competition, might be noble goals. Equality, on the other hand, of individuals or nation states is just so much civic drivel. We are diverse because we are different. In many cases, diverse is the polite euphemism for weak and unequal.

Post-Brexit ironies abound. Losers are calling for a new vote. The worst are asking for an outright ban on referendums. Quasi- nationals like Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are talking separation from the UK. Alas, Scots and Irishmen value the dole as much as much they do a good tipple. Brussels is unlikely to pick up those Celtic bar tabs.

Globalism has been found wanting because dreams of homogeneous empire are always impractical schemes. In the end, empire requires autocratic and arbitrary measures to survive. Rome lasted as long as it did because, early on, it had good engineers, extra-virgin olive oil, and ruthless legions.

There are many euphemisms for empire today. The most pernicious might be Parag Khannas connectography a globalist theory that sees urban centers, nee big cities, replacing Westphalian nation states. The beads on this daisy chain are to be connected by trade. Khannas dream world is not much different than Chinas Silk Road, the one belt, one road project.

These trade and infrastructure visions tend to confuse connectivity with consensus, integration with intelligent design. Facebook is an example. Zuckerbergs vision is to have the world on his social network. Qui bono?

If you gave plebs of the world a choice of potable water, central heating, pizza, a flush toilet, housing, and literacy -- or a personal computer; do trade trolls like Khanna really believe that the consensus choice would be a smart phone?

Any connectographs or silk thruways that run through the Muslim world are sure to be toll roads too, if not free fire zones. Islam knows too well that consumerism and commerce are the cutting edges of the imperial sword.

Empire fails because it is always at odds with common needs and true diversity; that species of tribalism, or local solidarity, which drives all genuine human competitive enterprise. Or as one ward healer put it, All politics is local. UN membership has expanded exponentially since 1945, creating the misfired meme of national equality. Somalia is the equal of Sweden in the same sense that a goat is the equal of a Volvo.

The EU and NATO continue to expand nonetheless, channeling the menace of the now defunct Warsaw Pact. The EU began as a benign economic condominium too. That consortium is now being undone by autocratic pipe dreams, political/military over reach at home, and appeasement abroad.

Tragically, EU imperialism (aka humanitarian intervention) has now destabilized the Levant, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. The refugee crisis in not just blowback or poetic justice anymore. The Levant, the Islamic State, and Europe are now joined by an umbilical cord of bad policy. Today, Washington and Brussels are the official sponsors of Mohammads backpack jihad.

Globalism is indeed the new imperialism. Empire now comes dressed as a Muslim pilgrim, a humanitarian, or a trade troll. Like other Utopian illusions; the EU, the UN, the sharia Ummah, and those globalist trade mirages will suffer the same fate as the Internationale and the Thousand Year Reich. How much carnage comes before then is anybodys guess. For now, Brexit appears to be the ghost of Christmas future.

If global government were possible today, the end of national and local democracy would begin tomorrow.

G. Murphy Donovan sometimes writes about the politics of national insecurity.
Perhaps Donald Trumps most attractive trait to his diehard supporters, and even those of us who are less enthused, is his stubborn refusal to bow to leftist political correctness (PC). So it is predictable that those Republicans still clinging to the Never Trump mantra would attempt to attack this broadly popular facet of his campaign.

This occurred most recently in a piece by National Reviews David French, the erstwhile pick of some Never Trumpers as an alternative presidential candidate -- an offer which French wisely refused. But French still appears all in to oust Trump, attacking Trumps frequent crudity as merely providing ammunition to the other side. But while Trumps overactive mouth and undisciplined campaign continue to cause problems, his refusal to play the lefts game of guilt, regret, and recrimination over minor stumbles and alleged insensitivity to this group or that, remains a great strength.

As with critics on the left, French focused largely on Trumps missteps last week, which should have been a great one for his campaign, but ended up something less than that. It began with Hillary getting off the FBIs hook but taking a verbal bashing from Director James Comey. For Trump this was the best of both worlds. Hes better off with Hillary in the race and Comey fed him plenty with which to attack the Democrat. But by the end of the week Trump was fending off attacks from Hillary, the mainstream media and even fellow Republicans for his own mistakes, thanks to a lazy tweet, and a not smart comment about the merits of Saddam Hussein.

Ive wondered before if Trump really knows what it takes to win, and last week did nothing to answer doubts in that regard. Comeys action was disastrous for the country, but for Trump just what he needed. Trumps political prospects are better against Hillary, whose negative ratings rival his own, and who is demonstrably more corrupt and dishonest. Plus, supposedly Trump has both the combativeness and chutzpah to take her on when other Republicans might not. Comeys reprieve, accompanied by an incongruous litany of all the reasons the reprieve should not have been granted, has provided Trump with a clear template for attack until November, though Trump now seems to be backing off somewhat, claiming in a recent interview that audiences were tiring of the topic.

To the extent that Trump did attack Clinton last week, he was almost immediately derailed by counterattacks on his campaign for putting out that lazy tweet which appeared to have anti-Semitic overtones. Evidently a Trump staffer found a graphic juxtaposing Hillary, stacks of money, and a Star of David on a white supremacist website, and forwarded it up through Trumps organization (such as it is) where it was innocently put to use, without anti-Semitic intent. Still, this drew predictable demagogic attacks from Democrats, including Clinton, and helped divert attention from her blatant criminality and corruption. Trump worsened the messaging with his baffling praise of Saddam Husseins counter-terror credentials.

The tweet -- once the origins of the graphic became clear -- could be clearly interpreted as anti-Semitic, and subject to reasonable criticism. Trumps campaign realized this and took the image down, explaining that they interpreted the image as a sheriffs star.

But Trump, as is his wont, refused to back down, and in this showed both good and bad aspects of his character and that of his campaign. He took issue with his own campaigns decision to delete the image, then further confused the issue -- and was made to look rather silly -- by comparing the six-sided star not just with a sheriffs badge, but with its use in the animated kids film Frozen. This provided the mainstream media much joy and opportunity for mockery. But then a strange thing happened -- the issue mostly died.

Its ludicrous to believe that Donald Trump is an anti-Semite, considering that his obviously beloved daughter married an observant Jew, converted, and that Trumps grandkids are Jews. And Trump, however awkwardly, simply refused to give an inch on the issue. No apology for alleged insensitivity, no mea culpa for perhaps harboring hidden prejudices, no promises to atone for a sin he did not really commit. These are all things which Republicans usually do when faced with a liberal PC attack with the result of feeding a controversy rather than putting it to rest. And this week Trump is polling much better despite the supposed controversy.

Conservative critics of Trump, like French, would have us believe that Trumps verbal insensitivity only aids the lefts PC agenda. His brief against Trump includes not only the tweet with the Jewish star, but Trumps comments on women, illegal Mexican immigrants and his bashing of a Mexican-American jurist who is presiding over a lawsuit against one of Trumps businesses.

But these are largely straw man arguments. Trumps insulting comment about Carly Fiorina was not politically incorrect. It was ungentlemanly and rude, and would have been so regarded well before PC existed. The Star of David insult to Jews is simply a false accusation caused by arguable stupidity within the Trump campaign, but little else. Trumps comments about the Mexican-American judge were also not an example of political incorrectness, but Trumps tendency to personalize everything. If Trump had sound reason to believe the judge has it in for him, he would have had his lawyers file a motion for recusal, but Trump never did this, still hasnt, and wont. His comment reflected not racial insensitivity so much as Trumps highly litigious nature and persecution complex.

Trumps comments about some Mexican illegals being criminal were politically incorrect and insensitive. But they were also demonstrably true -- he never said all or even most such people were criminal. Not backing down on this took some political strength, endeared Trump to many followers, and undermines political correctness in general. After all, PC is about hiding uncomfortable truths behind feigned politeness. Trump didnt.

In all these examples Trump reveals himself as an often unpleasant, thoughtless, and even childish man. Only the comment about illegal Mexicans is technically politically incorrect, as opposed to being just stupid or rude, but Trump deserves credit for not caring one way or the other, at least as far as the PC police are concerned. Political correctness in all its forms sacrifices truth and evidence for acceptable political dogma, which makes it the antithesis of liberty and democracy. Now it extends far beyond politics to all manner of personal interaction and reaction which Trump simply ignores. He appears not to be a very nice man, but he is an antidote to PC and thats why many like him.

French argues that Trumps unapologetic crudity actually hurts the effort to undermine leftist PC, and that the proper way to go about it is through reasoned argumentation that reinforces objective as opposed to leftist truth. That sounds great, but its been tried and doesnt work. The conservative movement has attempted for two generations to arrest the growth of political correctness with no success. Indeed, on all measures it has worsened to the point where terms like micro-aggression are part of everyday usage, and thought police now dominate campuses and workspaces.

Traditional conservatism has failed to defeat political correctness. Trump is thick with faults, but his refusal to give an inch on this issue is not one of them.
Just so were clear, heres the lefts narrative on the police in America: theres widespread and institutionalized racism inside Americas law enforcement agencies, and black Americans are especially targeted. This racism has led to the deaths of a disproportionate number of innocent black Americans. In order to stop this heinous activity, we need more gun control legislation, more wealth redistribution, more job and education programs, and thus Americans need to elect more Democrats.

Heather MacDonald (more than once), Larry Elder (more than once), and a host of others have provided mountains of evidence that prove beyond any reasonable doubt that there is no widespread special targeting of blacks by U.S. law enforcement. In addition to the crime statistics, consider: of the 50 largest cities in the U.S., 30 percent have a black police chief. Of the 50 largest sheriffs departments in the U.S., 12 percent were led by black Americans. (Remember, blacks are about 13 percent of the U.S. population, and sheriffs are usually elected.)

Barack Obama, the U.S. president and commander-in-chief of the U.S. military -- the largest, most powerful military in the world -- is a black man. The U.S. attorney general -- the chief law enforcement officer and chief lawyer of the U.S. government -- Loretta Lynch, is a black woman. The previous U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, is a black man. No doubt there are racists within U.S. law enforcement -- as there are in almost any agency, institution, or organization in America -- however, there is no way a nation achieves the racial diversity detailed above if widespread, institutionalized racism exists.

In spite of this information, whenever the national conversation turns to confrontations between white cops and black suspects, the narrative at the beginning of this piece -- the narrative of Black Lives Matter -- dominates the mainstream media. Remember, the Black Lives Matter movement gained national attention because of a lie. Black Lives Matter was founded after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. However, the movement became known nationally after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.

After Browns death, the supposed gesture and words of surrender by Brown -- Hands Up, Dont Shoot! -- became a frequent rallying cry for those protesting Browns death. However, after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, it was concluded that Brown didnt have his hands up and didnt cry Dont shoot when Officer Wilson shot him. Even liberal apologist Jonathan Capehart had to admit that, Hands up, dont shoot was built on a lie. Nevertheless, as we see today (scroll about one-third the way down), the narrative continues.

One of the reasons the deceptive liberal narrative about black lives is so doggedly defended and regularly repeated is that the truth about the very real suffering in the American black community runs counter to modern liberal dogma. The biggest reason for the rampant lawlessness and poverty that is so prevalent in the black community is the breakdown of the family.

It has been widely reported for years now that the out-of-wedlock birth rate among American blacks is over 70 percent. Almost always, mothers are left to raise their children alone. In U.S. cities, where the violence and poverty among U.S. blacks is most pronounced, the out-of-wedlock birth rate is even worse. For example, in Chicago about 80 percent of black children are born to single mothers. Today, only 17 percent of American black teenagers reach age 17 in a family with their biological parents married to each other. In no state in the U.S does black family intactness exceed 30 percent.

Social science is finally revealing what sound morality and good common sense always told us: Children of single mothers do worse in almost every metric measured: school achievement, poverty, crime, emotional well-being, drug use, delinquency, violent behavior, and so on. These negative outcomes are even worse for black children born to single mothers. Millions of black youths -- because of the frequent absence of fathers -- are growing up poorly disciplined, poorly educated, and poorly churched.

Thus, gangs and crime have become far too common in the black communities of America. Sadly, these broken and vulnerable black families typically live in the most dangerous parts of our nation. From the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, until the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011, there were 4,485 U.S. casualties. The city of Chicago alone had 4,265 murders during the same time period. Perhaps the most shocking statistic of all when it comes to black Americans and violence is that black men in the U.S. are half as likely to die if they are in prison than if they are not.

However, easily the most dangerous place for a black child in America is the womb. This is horrifically sad when one considers that a mothers womb should be one of the safest places in the universe. Since the Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973, abortion has killed more black Americans than crime, accidents, cancer, heart disease, or AIDS. Since 1973, abortion has taken the life of more black Americans than any other single cause of death. Again, in U.S. cities, these numbers are even more staggering. In New York City, in 2012, more black children were aborted than were born.

As Mother Teresa warned us, the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? Thus, we should not be surprised that, where there is rampant abortion, there is also rampant violence. In spite of all of this, Black Lives Matter and their liberal apologists refuse to stand up for black children in the womb.

As I have often said, after our relationship with our Creator, the most important relationship in the universe is the relationship between a husband and his wife. Any other type of union is a perversion of one of the oldest truths in the history of humanity. Such a conclusion is in direct opposition to the pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, pro-big-government -- which could all be summed up as the anti-family -- agenda of todays American left. For decades now, modern American liberals have waged war on the family. They have lied about sex and sexuality, about the importance of mothers and fathers, about marriage, and about life in the womb. The rotten fruit of these lies is widespread death and destruction. It is the politics, policies, and practices of liberalism that have robbed Americas black communities of peace and prosperity and turned our police officers into targets.

Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

www.trevorgrantthomas.com

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com
More than a month after the shooting at the Orlando night club Pulse - and more than a month after the narrative about a "hate crime" rather than an Islamic terrorist attack was created - the FBI announced that they can find no evidence that the shooter, Omar Mateen, targeted the club because it was a gay hangout.

Washington Post:

While there can be no denying the significant impact on the gay community, the investigation hasnt revealed that he targeted Pulse because it was a gay club, a U.S. law enforcement official said.

Soon after the shooting in the early morning of June 12, top U.S officials such as the FBI director and U.S. attorney general described it as both a hate crime and an act of Islamic terrorism. The shooting rattled the gay community, which felt singled out by Mateen.

People often act out of more than one motivation, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in the days after the attack. This was clearly an act of terror and an act of hate.

A month later, though, a complete picture of what motivated Mateen remains murky and may never be known since he was killed in a shootout with police and did not leave a manifesto. Officials said there is no evidence thus far that Mateen, 29, was gay or that his attack was motivated by homophobia.

The assessment is based on interviews and an examination of his computer and other electronic media.

After the attack, speculation surfaced that Mateen was gay as people came forward to say they had seen him at the club previously and had contact with him on gay dating apps. One man told the Spanish-language television network Univision that he had slept with Mateen.

Even Mateens first wife, Sitora Yusufiy, raised the possibility that Mateen was possibly gay but conceded it was a suspicion and nothing more. His current wife did not think he was gay, according to a person familiar with the case.

The FBI, however, has been unable to verify that Mateen used gay dating apps and instead has found evidence that Mateen was cheating on his wife with other women.

Officials said there is nothing to suggest that he attempted to cover up his tracks by deleting files. They also added he did not make gay slurs during the shooting spree inside the club, based on witnesses.
French authorities are covering up evidence that many victims of the Paris terrorist attacks at the music hall were brutally tortured to death by the attackers.

The following is not a pleasant read. Please be warned that the descriptions of torture are graphic.

Daily Caller:

An inquiry conducted by the French National Assembly has revealed that French authorities suppressed eye-witness reports that Islamic State terrorists brutally tortured and mutilated victims at the Bataclan music hall during last Novembers attacks in Paris. ISIS terrorists reportedly gouged out victims eyes, castrated men, disemboweled several people, and stabbed women in the genitals, among other horrific crimes. To make matters worse, investigators told the assembly that they believe the torture and mutilation of bodies was recorded on video to potentially be used in ISIS propaganda videos. In response, French medical staff did not initially release the bodies of those who were tortured to their families. Additionally, the assembly committee in charge of the investigation found that some French authorities intentionally suppressed reports of torture. The President of the committee, Georges Fenech, read out a letter he received from one of the torture victims for the record. On the causes of the death of my son A., at the forensic institute in Paris, I was told, and what a shock it was for me at that moment, they had cut off his testicles, had put them in his mouth, and he was disemboweled, said the fathers letter.  I found that he had no right eye. I made the remark; I was informed that they had punctured his eye and sliced down the right side of his face, where there was a very large hematoma that we could all see. After reading the letter, Fenech interrogated Paris chief of police Michele Cadot and other officials as to why some French authorities were denying the torture allegations despite eye-witness reports. Cadot said that because police found no knife or other sharp device at the scene, that they could not assess the veracity of the claims. Another official claimed that some of the bodies were mutilated at the Bataclan due to explosions. Fenech pushed authorities on the question, asking if automatic weapons and explosions would have the ability to put a mans testicles in his own mouth. The authorities responded that they did not have any information on that question.

Yet another indication that Western governments do not trust their citizens with the truth about Islamic terrorism. There is no reason for the French authorities to withhold this information. Their excuses for not releasing the full story of what happened during the attacks are incredibly lame.

It's reminiscent of the U.S. government's efforts to play down the "jumpers" from the World Trade Centers on 9/11. Dozens of people leapt from the upper stories of the buildings, preferring that death to death by fire and smoke. But the U.S. government quietly asked the networks to stop showing video depicting the jumpers, ostensibly because they believed that it would be too upsetting.

Stop treating us like cowering children. There is no earthly reason to spoon-feed the public information about Islamic terrorist attacks. Wanting to avoid arousing animosity toward Muslims is not a reason; it's an excuse.

There are political reason to keep the public in the dark about the torture of victims, most notably it will arouse the public to put pressure on government to be more aggressive against ISIS. The French don't want that, which is why they covered up the savagery of the attackers at the music hall.
Most Muslims in the world are radicals.

They  the truly radical Muslims  live by a flexible, relativist interpretation of Islam (surrender to the will of God), rather than by strict adherence to the Koran, the central, religious document for their religious life. For the radicals, the Koran is not their stand-alone, guiding document for jurisprudence or commercial purposes. These more flexible Muslims are the true Islamic radicals, and they make up the secular, majority Muslims.

They are radical in the same way that Episcopalians are radical (aka liberal) in the eyes of, say, Pentecostal Christians.

The minority of Muslims who support, and use, violence against infidels follow original, literal Islam. Theyre not Islamic terrorists  theyre legacy, Koranic literalists who use terror as a tactic to promote the conversion of non-Muslims who must convert to Islam or die.

Pure Islam is not a religion of peace and was never designed to be a religion of peace.

Instead, Islam is a religion that uses terror to enforce a dogma that defines behavioral practices that comply with the Koran and that define the regulations of daily life.
When Donald Trump opined that we should stop all Muslim immigration "until we can figure out what is going on," perhaps he stumbled on something we have yet to recognize: that radical Islam...isn't. Much is being made (with good reason) of President Obama's failure to use the words "radical Islamic terrorism" when describing the horrific act in Orlando and other terror attacks here in the U.S. Even yesterday's atrocity, the brutal murder of at latest count 80 civilians, who were run over by a French citizen of Tunisian descent, using a 5-ton cargo truck, has yet to elicit those words from President Obama.

However, our focus may be a bit off here. Perhaps the problem isn't radical Islam. Perhaps the problem is Islam in its entirety. As horrific as this brutal mass murder was, at what point does a radical politico-religious extreme become a mainstream religious belief?

There are some interesting surveys out there regarding Muslim attitudes by the Pew Research Center. The findings were interesting, especially when we examine them against a definition of "radical" or "extreme" that presupposes a locus at the end of a politico-religious spectrum and a population of less than 1 percent of the total population surveyed.

Here are some of the findings:

As of 2010, there were 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, or 23% percent of the population.

Latest estimates put Muslims at just under 1% of the U.S. population at 2.75 million, 63% percent of whom are immigrants.

Pew projects that by 2150, U.S. Muslims will outnumber American Jews, becoming the second most populous religion at 2.1% of the U.S. population, a little more than double today's share. Extrapolating forward, we are talking over 5.5 million Muslims in the U.S.

Taken by themselves, those numbers would cause little concern. However, Muslim attitudes both in the U.S. and worldwide should give us all pause. A Washington Post article regarding Muslim attitudes toward homosexuality ("Here are the ten countries where homosexuality may be punishable by death") notes that Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, all U.S. allies, have death penalty statutes regarding the practice of homosexuality. Abhorrent to Americans as that may be, it's difficult to paint that viewpoint as "extreme," when it is the legal position of duly constituted governments, some of which are U.S. allies in the war on "radical Islamic terrorism."

Closer to home, the Pew study looked at the opinions of Muslims residing in the United States. One interesting finding:

More generally, Muslims mostly say that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians in the name of Islam are rarely or never justified, including 92% in Indonesia and 91% in Iraq. In the United States, a 2011 survey found that 86% of Muslims say that such tactics are rarely or never justified. An additional 7% say suicide bombings are sometimes justified and 1% say they are often justified in these circumstances.

Using these percentages, coupled with the current Muslim population, that's 25,000 U.S. Muslims who believe violence in the form of suicide bombers is often justified in support of Islam.

Polls may show that a clear majority of Muslims abhor ISIS violence, but until they actively do something to reform the clear plurality of Muslims who support it, innocent men, women, and children will continue to be murdered by this theocratic terrorist element that is by no means looked at as "extreme" by a goodly part of the Muslim world.

Whatever happens, our Republic, with its protections for individual liberty, especially religious liberty, will have to come to grips with this, sooner rather than later. Maybe Trump is right. Maybe we should halt all Muslim immigration until "we figure out what is going on," and those so-called, "moderate Muslims" nudge their politico-military-religious construct towards meaningful reformation.

Mike Ford is a retired infantry officer with experience in counterterrorism in Central America, Southwest Asia and as an instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center at Ft. Bragg, N.C.
GOP organizers are apologizing to mega-donor Sheldon Adelson for sending a letter begging for cash that misrepresented some of the information.

The convention starts Monday, and organizers are still millions short of their fundraising goal.

Organizers sent the letter to Adelson last week, but four of the five signatories on the letter never saw it. And some of the companies they claim had pulled their financial support from the convention had never pledged funds in the first place.

Politico:

The letter, obtained by POLITICO on Thursday, outlined two dozen major corporations  Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Duke Energy and Apple, among them  that it claimed had backed out a combined more than $8.1 million in pledged donations in recent months. But on Friday, Emily Lauer, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee, acknowledged to POLITICO that the list of lost donors in the letter to Adelson was inaccurate  and that the committee has now reached out to Adelsons aides to apologize. Some of what were referred to as pledges were actually expectations based on pledges made to previous conventions, while a handful had been withdrawn, David Gilbert, the CEO of the host committee, said in a prepared statement. Lauer also said that Gilbert was the only one of the five named signers of the letter that had actually seen the document, which blamed negative publicity around Trump for its financial shortfall, before it was sent. One of the signatories who never saw the letter was Christopher Kelly, a partner at Jones Day, the prominent law firm where Trumps top election lawyer, Don McGahn, is also a partner, and where Trump has held meetings while in Washington D.C. The other signatories were Christopher Connor, executive chairman of The Sherwin-Williams Co., Alexander Cutler, chairman and CEO of the Eaton Corporation, and Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp. None of the four responded to a request for comment. Lauer said the letter came about because the last 10 percent of fundraising  the group has raised $58 million of its $64 million goal  is typically the most challenging and must be secured quickly close to conventions. Our staff approached a very generous donor that has a history of supporting host committee efforts and asked for a contribution, she explained. After initial discussion with Mr. Adelsons staff, they requested very specific information, at a late hour in the day, and indicated the need for an immediate response and so the host committee, with input from our planning partners at the RNC [Republican National Committee], provided the information in a letter that was address to Mr. Adelson and his wife. Lauer added: Part of that expedited, late-evening process included the decision by our host committee CEO to include the names of our co-chairs as signatories. The co-chairs, however, did not have knowledge of the letter being sent.

Just how bad is the fundraising problem for Donald Trump? According to FEC records, the joint Clinton/DNC fundraising effort over the last three months has raked in $82 million, $21 million of that earmarked for her campaign.

The Trump/RNC effort raised $32 million, but only $2 million of that will go into the Trump campaign coffers.

The two fundraising joint committees in which the presumptive Republican nominees campaign and the RNC are participating  Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again Committee  raised $32.4 million between their formation in late May and the end of last month, according to their FEC reports. Of that, Trump Victory transferred only $2.2 million to Trumps presidential campaign committee, as compared to $10.1 million to the RNC, though $5.8 million of that went to funds that cant be used for campaign activity, and are earmarked instead for the partys buildings and legal and convention expenses. Trump Victory didnt transfer any money at all to the 11 state parties participating in it. Meanwhile, Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which comprises only the Trump campaign and the RNC, did not transfer any money to either.

Even if you believe the fantasy that Trump really doesn't need a lot of money to win, the same can't be said for state parties that are being starved for cash because of the toxicity of the nominee at the top of the ballot. Only 14 donors gave the maximum to the joint committee  an alarming statistic when you consider that hundreds have given the maximum to Clinton.

Maybe Trump's fundraising will take off and he can make a serious dent in Clinton's cash advantage. But to date, there is zero evidence that it will happen, leaving Republicans hoping that Trump's celebrity will make up for a shortfall of several hundred million dollars.
The 28 pages redacted from the Joint Congressional Committee report on 9/11 doesn't contain any "bombshells," as almost all the information relating to the Saudi government's potential involvement in the attack had been leaked earlier.

But the hints and whispers of the culpability of the Saudi government are not the whole story. What emerges from the redacted documents is a picture of U.S. intelligence backing down from fully investigating Saudi links to the attacks as well as possible Saudi intelligence links to Osama bin Laden.

Daily Caller points out the highlights from the documents:

Perhaps most damning, the report found senior al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaida, who was captured in the U.S. in 2002, had phone numbers tied to the same company which managed a Colorado residence of the Saudi ambassador the U.S. Zubaida also had a phone number for a bodyguard at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C. The finding found the intelligence community did not adequately focus on the Saudi connection to al-Qaida and called this lapse unacceptable, given the magnitude and immediacy of the potential risk to U.S. National Security. While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government, the report says. The report found two of the 9/11 hijackers, al-Midhar and al-Hazmi, received financial assistance from a man named Omar Al-Bayoumi. The report found the FBI received numerous reports from individuals in the Muslim community.alleging that al-Bayoumi may be a Saudi Intelligence officer. Baymoumi was found to have received a salary from a company connected to the Saudi Ministry of Defense and that reportedly had ties to Usama bin Laden and Al Qaida. Hazmi and Midar also reportedly received support from a man named Osama Bassan. Bassan lived across the street from the hijackers and made a comment to an FBI asset that he did more than al-Bayoumi for the Hijackers. Furthermore, according to a CIA memo Bassan reportedly received funding and possibly a fake passport from Saudi Government officials. Beyond direct ties to the hijackers, the report also found that individuals associated with the Saudi Government in the United States may have other ties to Al Qaida and other terrorist groups. These connections included a mosque in Culver City that acted as a money laundering front for al-Qaida and the Saudi government.

No doubt the Saudis are alarmed that their dirty laundry has been aired for all to see. At the very least, there is a faction in Saudi intelligence that supports al-Qaeda and is anti-American. At worst, Saudi intel has been giving "plausible deniability" to the Saudi leadership to play both ends against the middle; working closely with the U.S. to eradicate extremism (which most intelligence sources say they have been doing since 9/11) while supporting terrorists out to damage U.S. interests and citizens.

It would be interesting to see if the Bush White House was involved in limiting the investigation into Saudi Arabia's role in 9/11. There's history there that needs to be clarified. So far, there's no evidence of any interference by administration officials. But the speculation cannot be dismissed.

A slew of lawsuits against the Saudis are now expected from the families of 9/11 victims. But it's hard to see how any information in these missing 28 pages of documents will lead to a successful prosecution of those suits. There just isn't any definitive proof of Saudi government involvement in the 9/11 attacks  at least, proof that could stand up in court.
Nearly 200 people were killed in the failed coup attempt in Turkey yesterday, with hundreds wounded and nearly 3,000 military personnel arrested. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised "retribution" against the coup participants who apparently never numbered more than a few thousand.

As bloody as the coup attempt was, the chances of success were slim. The plotters gambled that once begun, a large part of the Turkish military would either remain on the sidelines or join them.

They lost.

Jerusalem Post:

Erdogan broadcast from his smart phone a statement to the people, tweeted to his supporters and relied on the media, even those whom he deathly hates, to spread his message in the critical first hours of the coup attempt when uncertainty gripped the country.



In this respect, the attempt was reminiscent of the failed coup by the national guard and the Greek military junta in 1974 against the rule of Cyprus President Archbishop Makarios III. Makarios succeeded in sending out a weak radio signal saying that he was alive. Voice of Israel radio monitor Miki Gordus received the signal and broadcast the message to the whole world. As a result of that failed coup, the Turkish army invaded and partitioned Cyprus into two parts. In the case of Turkey, it seems that those involved - apparently relatively low-ranked officers - would not have succeeded in their operation even if Erdogan would not have been able to deliver his broadcast. The rebellion initially appeared to be going by the book. The rebels gained control of the bridges over the Bosphorous Strait in Istanbul, which connect Europe and Asia, as well as major junctions. Pilots involved in the plot bombed the parliament building in Ankara, the MIT intelligence agency's headquarters and military forces, including tanks near the presidential palace. They even took control of the Turkish broadcasting authority and forced the newscasters to read their statement that they had taken over the government of the "traitor" Erdogan and were changing the Constitution. However, it appears that the number of soldiers in their command - only a few thousand - was insufficient to complete the job. In Turkey's previous four military coups since 1960, tens of thousands of soldiers took part, if not the entire army. This time, the rebels kidnapped the chief of staff and a number of other senior commanders, who have since been freed, but most importantly they failed to capture Erdogan, who was vacationing at a Marble Lake resort. Capturing the Turkish leader was possibly the first thing they should have done.Erdogan succeeded in broadcasting his remarks to the people, calling on his supporters to take to the streets, and they answered his call. They blocked the rebel soldiers' path and together with the police, which remained loyal to Erdogan, fought them and took many of them prisoner.

The rebels seized strategic points, temporarily captured key media centers, and surrounded parliament. But in addition to their failure to grab Erdogan, the plotters didn't have the manpower to hold their positions from even the police, who remained loyal to the government.

It's hard to know what was in the minds of the rebel leaders. In hindsight, the attempted coup looks amatuerish and not very well thought out. That said, they sure put a scare into Erdogan's Islamist government. The coming purge of the military will be bloody, and the dragnet for coup sympathizers will almost certainly sweep up some who are innocent.

The instability comes at the absolute worst time for Turkey as they are beset by Kurdish and Islamic State terrorists while the government takes on a low level insurgency by the Kurds. The coup attempt won't help Turkey's flagging tourist industry which has been severely damaged by several high profile terrorist attacks.

But it's the political ramifications that will be most significant. Erdogan is likely to accelerate his plans to change the constitution from a parliamentary based government to a presidential one. He will accumulate even more power and speed up his plan to make Islam the dominant force in government and culture.

And with the military now in shambles, there will be no one to stop him.
The World Heritage Committee, the cultural arm of the United Nations is currently meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, for its 40th session. The committee, which meets every year to discuss ways to preserve the worlds cultural and historical treasures as well as to review new sites nominated for the World Heritage Site designation, announced the addition of the 9 new cultural sites to its growing list. Let us take a brief look at the nine sites.

Dolmens of Antequera, Spain

These are three ancient dolmen sites are located just outside Antequera, in Andalusia in southern Spain. The three dolmens the Menga and Viera dolmens and the Tolos of El Romeral were built during the Neolithic and Bronze Age out of large stone blocks to form chambers where the dead were buried. There are many dolmen sites scattered across the world. The dolmens at Antequera are one of the largest known ancient megalithic structures in Europe. Aside from the dolmens, two natural monuments: the Pena de los Enamorados and El Torcal mountainous formations, are also included within the property.

Photo credit: www.axalingua.com

Photo credit: tuhistoria.org

Photo credit: tuhistoria.org

Archaeological Site of Ani, Turkey

The mediaeval city of Ani was once a flourishing capital of the medieval Armenian kingdom of the Bagratides during the 10th and 11th centuries CE. It was an important crossroads for merchant caravans plying the Silk Road. The city had hundreds of residential, religious and military structures built up over the centuries by Christian and then Muslim dynasties. The Mongol invasion and a devastating earthquake in 1319 marked the beginning of the citys decline. See more: The ruined churches of Ani

Photo credit: Romel Jacinto/Flickr

Photo credit: Ggia/Wikimedia

Nalanda University, India

The ancient Nalanda Mahavihara or University in the State of Bihar, in north-eastern India, was established in the 5th century BC and was one of the most important centers of learning until the 13th century CE. At its peak, the school attracted scholars and students all the way from Tibet, China, Korea, and Central Asia. At Nalanda, scholars studied Buddhism, logic, Sanskrit grammar, medicine and ancient Hindu scriptures such as Vedas and Samkhya.

Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by the invading Muslim dynasties and it was eventually abandoned and forgotten. Nalanda is now a notable tourist destination.

Photo credit: Rajneesh Raj/UNESCO

Photo credit: Hideyuki KAMON/Wikimedia

The campus of the Nalanda University. Photo credit: Cpt.a.haddock/Wikimedia

Archaeological Site of Philippi, Greece

The ancient walled city of Philippi lies at the foot of an acropolis in the present-day region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It was founded in 356 BC by the Macedonian King Philip II, the father of the Great Alexander. The city developed as a small Rome with an ancient theater, the Forum and the commercial market, the palaestra, the islands with private houses and early Christian churches.

Photo credit: MrPanyGoff/Wikimedia

Photo credit: MrPanyGoff/Wikimedia

Gorham's Cave Complex, UK

The steep limestone cliffs on the eastern side of the Rock of Gibraltar contain four caves with archaeological and paleontological deposits that provide evidence of Neanderthal occupation over a span of more than 125,000 years. Gorham's cave is one of the last sites that we know were occupied by Neanderthals. After that, anatomically modern humans were the only hominid walking the earth.

Photo credit: Clive Finlayson/Gibraltar Museum

Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia

Nan Madol is a series of 99 artificial islets off the south-east coast of Pohnpei that were constructed with walls of basalt and coral boulders. These islets harbour the remains of stone palaces, temples, tombs and residential domains built between 1200 and 1500 CE. These ruins represent the ceremonial centre of the Saudeleur dynasty, a vibrant period in Pacific Island culture. The huge scale of the edifices, their technical sophistication and the concentration of megalithic structures bear testimony to complex social and religious practices of the island societies of the period.

Photo credit: Takuya Nagaoka/UNESCO

Stecci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards

This series of property consist of 30 sites spread over four countries  Bosnia and Herzegovina, western Serbia, western Montenegro and central and southern Croatia. They represents cemeteries and regionally distinctive medieval tombstones, or stecci. The tombstones of the cemeteries, which date from the 12th to 16th centuries CE, feature a wide range of decorative motifs and inscriptions that represent iconographic continuities within medieval Europe as well as locally distinctive traditions.

Photo credit: Adnan Sahbaz/UNESCO

The Persian Qanat, Iran

Qanat, or water canals that run along underground tunnels for dozens of kilometers and bring water from aquifers to the arid desert, are ubiquitous in Iran. The eleven qanats representing this system include rest areas for workers, water reservoirs and watermills. The traditional communal management system still in place allows equitable and sustainable water sharing and distribution.

Photo credit: S.H. Rashedi/UNESCO

Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, China

Located on the steep cliffs in the border regions of southwest China, these 38 sites of rock art illustrate the life and rituals of the Luoyue people. They date from the period around the 5th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. In a surrounding landscape of karst, rivers and plateaux, they depict ceremonies which have been interpreted as portraying the bronze drum culture once prevalent across southern China. This cultural landscape is the only remains of this culture today.

Photo credit: Zhu Qiuping/UNESCO
The United States of Americas FCC, Federal Communications Commission, is currently conducting an auction for licences allowing cellular network operators access to nationwide 600 MHz wireless spectrum. This particular auction is complicated by the fact that the spectrum is currently in the hand of a number of television broadcasters. The FCC is having to navigate the tricky waters of ensuring these broadcasters raise enough cash to make it worth their while in selling on the licences, whilst simultaneously ensuring that the smaller US carriers are able to afford spectrum without the larger carriers with deeper pockets outbidding them for all available spectrum. In order to manage this, the FCC is staging a complicated auction process and the first round has completed. This consisted of a reverse auction, whereby television broadcasters competed in order to release spectrum back to the FCC. The FCC then repacks the airwaves ready for auctioning off this spectrum to cellular network operators.

The second stage of the auction is due to start in mid-August 2016. Back in June, the FCC stated that it had 126 MHz of spectrum to be resold and the price was a hefty $86.4 billion. However, industry analysts have put doubt on this figure claiming that carriers may not be willing or able to pay this much for the spectrum. Today, the FCC has explained that it has received the upfront payment necessary to bid from 62 companies and individuals, which must amount to half of the opening bid in order to compete. Originally, 100 entities had indicated they were prepared to bid but approximately one third declined to put up the initial sum. Those companies remaining include three USA nationwide carriers, AT&T, T-Mobile US and Verizon Wireless: Sprint dropped out of the auction some time ago. Other companies include Comcast and Dish Network. It is understood that if these 62 companies do not pay the full $86.4 billion, the FCC may hold another broadcaster bidding round and could sell off less spectrum.

How realistic is it that the auction will not raise the full $86.4 billion? Investment analysts have doubts over this and for a number of reasons  some domestic, such as it being an election year in the US. There are other factors at play including the British vote to leave the European Union causing the debt markets to suffer from some instability, which reduces the ability of all companies across the world to raise funds to pay the license fees. Should the $86.4 billion not be raised and another round of auctions is held, the overall process is likely to continue way into 2017.
If you own the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 from AT&T, then you should have an update waiting for you on your tablet. Today, AT&T and Samsung began rolling out Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow to the Galaxy Tab S2. This brings it to the latest version of Android  at least until Android 7.0 Nougat comes out in a few months. This comes a little over a month after the Verizon variant of the Galaxy Tab S2 was updated to Marshmallow.

The update to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow will bring plenty of changes to the tablet. Of course, the biggest change is definitely going to be Google Now on Tap. What this means is that from anywhere in the OS, you can long-press the home button and get information about what is currently showing on the display. So say you are reading an article about UFC 200, where a number of the fighters are mentioned. Google Now on Tap will give you information about UFC 200, as well as the Wikipedia pages for each of the fighters (or athletes if youd rather go that route). Giving you a one-stop-shop for getting all the information you could need. In addition to that, Marshmallow brings Doze, which will give you even better standby time. Doze is a bigger deal on tablets, seeing as you dont use tablets as much as smartphones  nor do they typically have connections to voice and data networks, although this version does connect to AT&Ts LTE network. Doze has been said to practically double the standby times on most tablets. Which can be a pretty big deal, especially if you dont use your tablet all that much.

Those that do own the Galaxy Tab S2 over on AT&T, you should be able to head into the Settings, then tap on About Tablet, System Updates and Check for Updates. The update should be available, but be warned, itll be a large one. So its a good idea to be connected to WiFi while you are updating your Galaxy Tab S2. Of course, if you have unlimited data, then theres no reason not to use LTE, since you wont be hitting a data cap.
HTC might be considered to be a smartphone manufacturer in distress, but the business does more than sell smartphones. HTC has seen success with its virtual reality brand, Vive  the recently opened Ghost Train ride at British Thorpe Park uses the HTC Vive virtual reality headset to wow and scare riders. In the smartphone arena, HTCs flagship device for 2016, the HTC 10, is considered to be one of the finest smartphones available this year but is positioned in a very competitive market, facing the Samsung Galaxy S7 and (perhaps of more relevance) Samsungs mighty marketing budget. Weve also seen how HTC is preparing the HTC Desire 10, which looks similar to a cut down variant of the HTC 10.

Last week, struggling smartphone and virtual reality manufacturer, HTC, announced that their former Chief Executive Officer, Peter Chou, is leaving the business. This week the company has announced a number of changes for the European business, chiefly the departure of Peter Frolund, the former executive in charge of the UK operations is moving across to head HTCs Vive brand with responsibilities for European sales. Peter had headed up the UK HTC operation since 2013. He will be replaced by Greig Williams, who is also taking on the role of European sales Vice President. Greig is a former Microsoft Mobile Vice President. Greig has twelve years of experience obtained at Nokia across Europe before being transferred across to Microsoft Mobile. HTCs press release explained that they were pleased that Greig would be joining the business as his considerable experience should be beneficial to the business.

Greig appears to have his hands full as he joins HTC. Whilst the company has seen some success with the HTC Vive headset and has one of the better 2016 flagship devices so far, the business is facing a difficult headwind. HTCs products are often considered too expensive to be considered competitive. HTCs Sense software works well on Android devices, but HTC has in the past explained that rolling out monthly software updates was unrealistic and even went to the lengths of removing the date of the software version from its devices. However, whilst the devices are not perfect they are certainly compelling: it would be good to see what fresh blood at HTCs European operations can do.
Samsung, the South Korean multinational conglomerate, is the latest company showing a positive interest in the growing electric car market. To strengthen its foothold in the electric automobile segment (while continuing development of batteries for electric vehicles), Samsung is reportedly in talks to acquire a stake in BYD Co. For the uninitiated, BYD Co Ltd is a Shenzhen Chinese car manufacturer, specializing in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and batteries. Founded in 1995, BYD stands for Build Your Dreams, is backed by Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and is a major player in Chinas electric car and battery markets. China is currently the largest market for electric vehicles, surpassing the United States in 2015, and the automobile market in China is a magnet for technology companies looking to invest and step into the newly emerging sector.

This move by Samsung follows a global trend of the main technology companies expressing an increasing interest in the next-generation automobile industry, mainly electric and self-driving cars. Rivals like Apple and Google are already developing their infrastructure to capitalize the shifting automobile market. According to Samsung, this deal will be crucial to developing and improving their car chip business. Samsung has denied the deal has any relationship to Samsung SDI, its separate lithium-ion battery manufacturing entity in which Samsung holds a 20% stake, but in the wake of the BYD Co. and Samsung news, shares in SDI rose by 8% in speculation that SDI might supply batteries to BYD Co.

Samsung has declined to disclose the details of the deal until finalization, but according to the Korea Economic Daily, Samsung is buying shares worth $449 million (3 billion yuan). This amounts to a 4% stake in BYD, although this is yet to be confirmed. In spite of the Chinese automobile giant confirming the participation of Samsung in a private exchange of stock. Samsung has also confirmed that it has no intentions of participating in the management of BYD Co going forward, although the acquisition is expected to help Samsung recover from the setback it experienced in June 2016 when it was denied certification for car batteries, as it failed to meet certain requirements.
Verizon has been in the news lately as their new plans went into effect on July 7th, 2016. Which led to many critics, including T-Mobile, voicing their opinion on whether they thought this was a good move or not. There were even a few disgruntled customers talking about leaving Verizon and jumping to AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint. As it turns out, according to Verizon nearly 95-percent more customers signed up for the new plans than they did when they introduced Share Everything in 2012. Lou Ambio, Verizons executive director of consumer pricing, stated that They love the value of the plans. I think the value prop has resonated better than ever before.

Verizon could not give accurate numbers, but the numbers they provide indicate that these are Verizons most popular plans  better than the Share Everything plan in 2012 and the Verizon Plan released in 2015. Equipment matters too  back in 2012, when the Share Everything Plan was introduced, Verizon had about 47-percent of its 88.8 million postpaid customers owning a smartphone. In 2015, Verizon was up to 103.7 million postpaid customers, and 70.6-percent owned a smartphone. More smartphones equate to more data consumption, which is exactly what Verizon is banking on to increase profits and why they added some data to each plan  along with a price increase.

Verizon said that the new plans offer 30-percent more data on average, but also admits the plans are slightly more per month. With Verizons current 107 million retailed postpaid customers, 85-percent of those customers are sporting smartphones. These type of numbers make customers think about upping their data bucket  now knowing they can rollover data for up to one month. Ambio says that the lower cost per gigabyte appeals to data users and so far Verizon is extremely happy with the mix of customers on the plans  he stated that they are meeting expectations. Verizon does not force existing customers off their current plan so if you are happy with what you have and what you are paying, then you can keep your plan until you decide to switch. Ambio said, We have not done forced migration. We have customers on plans that are years and years old. This is a good thing if you found something you like, but Verizon is betting that once you get that smartphone and start to realize how significant data is, you will eventually want to switch to a new plan.
With its decision to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom has a rare opportunity to turn away from isolationism and strengthen world trade. The Brexit vote was widely seen as a narrow choice between European collectivism and British nationalism. But a third choice exists for the U.K.: creating an alliance of northern European nations.

A new Northern Union trade and security alliance would include nations that, like the U.K., bristle at the E.U.s suffocating bureaucracy and its endless demands for cash. Finland, for example, bleeds money to subsidize the E. U.s spendthrift southern members and Brusselss never-ending schemes for rescuing the Euro. The nearby Scandinavian countries wonder why they should stay in the E.U. if the U.K. is no longer in the club. In fact, one Scandinavian country already goes it alone: Norway has unrestricted free trade via the European Economic Area (EEA) and maintains its own currency, in high demand worldwide. Iceland followed Norways path until beginning negotiations to enter the E.U. in 2010, but the tiny island republic, just emerging from bankruptcy, has wisely broken off negotiations with Brussels. Iceland isnt averse, however, to forming a security partnershipespecially one that offers an alternative to joining a 27-state behemoth. The Dutch, like the Finns, grudgingly pay their ever-rising dues to the E.U. But what if the Dutch could find a way out of the Brussels trap? What if this new way were free of national chauvinism and consistent with a constructive strategy of global outreach?

Even Scotlands separatist movement would lose much of its escapist appeal if Edinburgh were to join with Dublin, Belfast, Cardiff, and London in a Northern Union. Fresh courage is being felt in Ireland. American firms continue to take root there as they seek to avoid the high taxes back home that put them at a disadvantage against their East Asian competitors. Though Dublin has never been shy about pocketing European funds, Ireland fears that Brussels might wipe out its tax advantages.

Small nations, such as Estonia, along with regions of existing countries, such as Flanders in Belgium, might also find reason to join a Northern Union. How much more hopeful would Flanders be about its future if it could break away from the Belgian federation (and from clueless Wallonia) and join a new economic and security union?

The German state of Hamburg would also be a candidate for membership. Today, Hamburg not only must pay taxes to Brussels; it also dishes out hefty sums to other German states such as Bremen and Saarland to help pay for their wasteful spending. Residents of this city-state at the mouth of the Elbe feel a mixture of anger and despondency. However, if Hamburg were to become the Northern Unions gateway to Europe, its new position might rekindle the citys Hanseatic spirit. From 1664 to 1864, Hamburgs westernmost borough, Altona (population 250,000), served as Denmarks continental port. If Hamburg joined a Northern Union, the citys north German neighbor, Schleswig-Holstein, would quickly follow suit. With its Danish minority (plus its highly prized dowry, the Kiel Canal), Schleswig-Holstein would be warmly welcomed.

And no one would accuse Hamburg and Schleswig-Holsteins 4.5 million Germans of heading back into a dark and dangerous past. With independence from Germany, they would be a minority within a larger federation, with no nationalist ambitions. They could pursue their dreams of economic success and prosperity without being shamed or slandered by the nomenklatura who rule in Brussels. Though historical comparisons have their limits, one cant help but think of the ethnically German Baltic cities of Danzig, Elbing, and Thorn that, in 1454and for nearly 350 years thereaftertook shelter under the crown of the Polish-Lithuanian Rzeczpospolita to escape the exploitation and violence of their compatriots, the Teutonic Knights.

No region should be forced to remain part of a suffocating, undemocratic European Union whose intrusive controls they firmly reject. The U.K.s breakaway wont cause the long-term chaos that many predict. On the contrary, it will, I believe, reenergize much of the global economy that has been stagnating under the E.U.s rigid influence. The Brexit vote has a clear explanation. Its not only that the U.K. dislikes pouring money into Brusselss bottomless barrels; its that the E.U. bureaucratic monster has proved resistant to any reasonable change of course. Internationally minded Brits resent that keen competitors such as Switzerland, Australia, or Canada can import talented people from anywhere around the globe, while at the same time retaining the power to defend their borders. In short, the U.K. wanted its sovereignty back.

Could a Northern Union of the U.K., Ireland, Flanders, the Netherlands, Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia, along with the German states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, have any hope of succeeding? Sure. The multicultural Northern Union would stretch across a land area of 3.83 million square kilometers (the worlds eleventh-largest political entity) with a population of 120 million (the worlds seventh largest, most of whom speak English as a first or second language). This population is the demographic equal of three Canadas or five Australias, whose economic effectiveness and smart immigration policies the Northern Union would seek to emulate. The N.U. would have a $5.7 trillion economy, the worlds fourth largest.

With the exception of Sweden and Finland, all prospective members of the Northern Union belong to NATO. With British nuclear arms as its backbone, the N.U. wouldnt be intimidated easily. Two N.U. aircraft carrier groups, for assuring the freedom of the seas, would be affordable, too. With a common currency and its wealth of oil, gas, and hydropower, along with abundant shale gas, the N.U. 11 would vie with Japan for the global economys bronze medal, behind the United States and China.

The formation of a Northern Union would create a friendlybut determinedrival for the Brussels regime. The E.U. would lose 7 billion a year in contributions. The northern rebels could run their own lean administration with a fraction of that outlay and use the remainder to improve their global competitiveness. Forced to compete themselves, E.U. nations would thus begin to implement real economic reforms. Instead of vengeance from an abandoned E.U.feared by those who opposed BrexitEurope would see real progress in regaining the self-healing power of economic advancement, which has long been crippled by endless subventions and E.U. bailouts.

With the formation of a Northern Union, a significant number of European nations may come together again, not under an undemocratic mega-bureaucracy, but as a union of free and prosperous states. This new union will have learned an important lesson: a divided continent of former enemies does not necessarily have to be governed by a Europa uber alles in Brussels. Little Switzerlandrich and secure, with four distinct language cultureshas known this secret for centuries.

Photo by fpdress/iStock
(ANSA) - Rome, July 15 - Italian leaders on Friday voiced grief and support for France in the wake of yesterday's deadly terror attack in Nice that killed at least 84 people.

President Sergio Mattarella mourned the Bastille Day massacre and said Italy and the international community would not give in to terror.

"The horror, the grief of France are our horror, our grief.

The dead in Nice, of whatever nationality, are our dead," Mattarella said.

"We will never give in to those who preach and practice the culture of death," the president added.

"Along with...the entire international community (and) especially the European Union, we will continue to affirm our commitment against violence and terrorism and to uphold the values of freedom, equality and brotherhood celebrated in France on July 14".

Premier Matteo Renzi also expressed Italy's commitment to standing with France.

"Today more than ever before, we stand with our brothers across the Alps," the Italian premier said.

Terrorists "will never win" athough the images of the Nice massacre "continue to reverberate in our heads and hurt us", Renzi wrote in his online newsletter earlier in the day.

French and Italian flags flew at half-mast outside the premier's office in Rome's Chigi Palace to in sign of mourning and solidarity.

Civic flags were also flown at half-mast in Milan.

Rome city hall will be lit up with the colours of the French flag on Friday night in solidarity with the victims. Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has sent messages of condolence to her counterpart in the French Riviera city Philippe Prada and to the French ambassador in Rome, Catherine Colonna.

Pope Francis on Friday expressed his solidarity with France and the victims of Thursday evening's terrorist attack in Nice, condemning "every manifestation of homicidal folly, hatred, terrorism, and attacks against peace". "We have followed during the night, with the greatest concern, the terrible news which has come from Nice," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.


The SAA and Mango flights carried 300 passengers from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Boeing 737-800s using a blend of 30 percent aviation biofuel produced from Sunchem's nicotine-free tobacco plant Solaris, refined by AltAir Fuels and supplied by SkyNRG.

"SAA is committed to a sustainable future and this flight highlights the bold steps we are taking to protect and preserve our environment while creating opportunities for the economic development of our people," said Musa Zwane, acting CEO of SAA. "We are pleased to join the ranks of global airlines who have made a commitment to a better and cleaner way of flying."

"It is fitting that on our 100 year anniversary we are flying on fuels that not only power the flight, but ensure a sustainable future for our industry," said Miguel Santos, managing director for Africa, Boeing International. "This project is a great example of environmental stewardship that delivers economic and health benefits to South Africa."

In 2013, Boeing and SAA launched their sustainable aviation fuels collaboration and in 2014, Project Solaris became the first focus project that converted oil from the Solaris plant seed into bio-jet fuel. In 2015, farms in Limpopo Province of South Africa, from which the biofuel for today's flights was sourced, achieved certification from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), one of the strongest sustainability standards in the world. RSB certification provides a model for expansion of Project Solaris to larger scale production. The initiative also focuses on South Africa's goals for public health, rural development and economic and employment opportunities for farmers by increasing production of Solaris and other feedstocks on under-utilized land.

The partners today also launched a stakeholder and sustainability plan called the Southern Africa Sustainable Fuel Initiative (SASFI) to ensure a long-term domestic fuel supply for SAA and other regional fuel users. The goal is to scale-up over the next several years to gain additional biofuel capacity. If successful, farmers will be able to tap into local and global demand for certified feedstock without adverse impact to food supplies, fresh water or land use.

Studies have shown that sustainably produced aviation biofuel emits 50 to 80 percent lower carbon emissions through its life cycle that fossil jet fuel. Airlines around the world have conducted more than 2,500 passenger flights using various forms of aviation biofuel since it was approved for commercial use in 2011.


HNA will take an 80% stake in the Swiss-based company through its HNA Aviation division. Mubadala retaining the 20% balance.

Mubadalas aerospace and engineering chief, Homaid Al Shemmari said the company has found an ideal partner to continue the development of SR Technics.

We remain fully convinced of the long-term potential of SR Technics, and will remain actively involved through our stake and our representation on the board, Shemmari said.


YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian citizens, who are currently in Turkey and need support, must apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Armenian Foreign Ministrys Spokesman Tigran Balayan posted a note in Twitter, reports Armenpress.

The Armenian citizens, who are now in Turkey and need support, must apply to the Armenian MFA. Other country doesnt represent our interests in Turkey, he writes.

On the evening of July 15 the military made a military coup attempt in Turkey. According to the preliminary data, more than 60 people were killed, hundreds of wounded, 754 were arrested.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh says Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime for 23 times in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijani contact line.

The Ministrys announcement reads: Overnight July 15-16 the Azerbaijani side made 23 ceasefire violations by firing more than 170 shots from various caliber weapons and nearly 35 shots from sniper rifles at the Armenian positions in Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The Defense Army forces refrained from taking counter measures and continued conducting the reliable protection of the military positions.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Hulusi Akar who has been taken hostage by the initiators of the coup d'etat, has been released from hostage, Hurriyet reports.

It has been found out that he was removed from the headquarters of the Turkish Armed Forces to the Aknclar Base where the initiators of the coup used as one of their centers to command their attempt.

Akar was taken to an unknown place. His health is believed to be fine.

Earlier it was reported that Hulusi Akar has been killed.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. According to the preliminary data, Armenian citizens or Armenians did not suffer in the Turkish military coup attempt, the Armenian MFA says. It also informs that Armenian citizens, who are currently in Turkey and need support, must apply to the Armenian MFA.

The Armenian MFA has set up a hotline for the Armenian citizens suffered from the events in Turkey, the MFA Spokesman Tigran Balayan says. The Armenian citizens can call at +374 60 620552 phone number, reports Armenpress.

Earlier it had been reported that shooting was heard in Turkish capital Ankara, military helicopters and jets were flying over the city. Turkish PM Binali Yildirim announced that a coup attempt took place in Turkey. There is information that one of the helicopters fired at the building of national intelligence. 90 people were killed in the Turkish failed military coup.The number of wounded reaches to 1154. 1563 members of the Turkish armed forces have been arrested, 5 generals, 29 colonels were dismissed from their posts for the coup attempt.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim provided new information about the number of deaths and wounded at the military coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, reports Anadolu.

This rebellion has been suppressed, 161 pro-governmental forces were killed, till now there are 1440 wounded. 2839 soldiers, including also senior officials are now detained, Yildirim said.

Earlier acting Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed forces announced that 104 coup supporters were killed during the clashes.
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According to state law, fines, penalties, and license money shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools ... . An exception is fines for overloaded vehicles. Seventy-five percent of those funds go to state highways; 25 percent go to the county general fund where the fine or penalty is paid. Fifty percent of money forfeited or seized in enforcing drug laws goes to counties for drug enforcement. Vehicles seized in drug law cases may be used by law enforcement agencies or sold with the proceeds going to schools.

County Court

Traffic Sentences

Roger Foster, 60, Madison, over axle weight, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Matthew Schumacher, 39, 2712 30th St., traffic signal violation, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Concepcion Hernandez, 42, 2223 25th St., speeding, 69 mph in a 55 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Blademer Aleman, 50, 3822 14th St., speeding, 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Debbie McCarthy, 58, Omaha, speeding, 83 mph in a 60 mph zone, $200 fine and $48 court costs.

Steven Fendrick, 42, 354 16th Ave., animal at-large and offensive animal activity, $50 fines and $48 court costs.

Jose Ramos-Fleitas, 28, Columbus, over limit on fishing permit, $200 fine and $48 court costs.

Sherrie Schmid, 51, Omaha, no operator's license, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Margaret Mattern, 22, Lincoln, speeding, 75 mph in a 66 mph zone, $25 fine and $48 court costs.

Pamela Shanle, 54, 174 16th Ave., failure to yield right of way and no seat belt, $50 fines and $48 court costs.

Jami Gillig, 38, Schuyler, failure to yield right of way, $25 fine and $48 court costs.

Carlos Triana-Rios, 18, 2566 29th Ave., No. 9, speeding, 54 mph in a 35 mph zone, and no seat belt, $150 fines and $48 court costs.

Felicia Case, 26, 566 16th Ave., no valid registration and no operator's license, $100 fines and $48 court costs.

Todd Andru, 51, Wolsey, South Dakota, speeding, 75 mph in a 65 mph zone, $25 fine and $48 court costs.

Elier Oruna, 27, 2723 14th St., A-3, speeding, 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Elier Pereira, 44, 3461 53rd Ave., No. 4, speeding, 50 mph in a 35 mph zone, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

John Oltmer, 54, Madison, over axle weight and overweight on capacity plates, $450 fines and $48 court costs.

Tori Brazee, 23, 1809 27th St., no valid registration, $75 fine and $48 court costs.

Francisco Corona, 18, Schuyler, speeding, 69 mph in a 50 mph zone, $125 fine and $48 court costs.

Criminal Sentences

Steven Fendrick, 42, 354 16th Ave., animal at-large and offensive animal activity, $50 fines and $49 court costs.

Aziz Sumo, 30, Fargo, North Dakota, driving under suspension, $50 fine and $49 court costs.

Cristina Roman-Serrano, 36, Madison, no operator's license, five days in jail and $49 court costs.

Edgar Flores-Palomo, 33, 22755 310th Ave., number of animals violation and no proof of rabies vaccination, $50 fines and $49 court costs.

Roman Coria, 19, 1855 Sunset Lane, possess/consumer open container of alcohol, $50 fine and $49 court costs; number of animals violation, $25 fine and $49 court costs.

Cathrine Sorrells, 35, 2565 47th Ave., No. 5, driving under suspension, $75 fine and $49 court costs.

Jared Wagner, 29, 2015 14th St., disturbing the peace, $350 fine and $49 court costs.

Lance Barcells, 20, 165 S. Sixth Ave., attempt of a Class IV felony and driving under suspension, 60 days in jail, credit for one day already served, $75 fine and $49 court costs.

Morgan Fajman, 19, 856 17th Ave., contributing to the delinquency of a child, possession of K2 or marijuana-one ounce or less, theft-unlawful taking and theft-unlawful taking $500-$1,500, 18 months probation and $49 court costs.
The Turkish president is back in Istanbul, met by supporters. For hours he flew over the country, waiting to see the situation evolve. Mystery surrounds the coup attempt, and its masterminds. About 90 people die in clashes and 1,200 are wounded. Some 200 soldiers who took part in the operation are arrested. International community is concerned.

Istanbul (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul late last night after police and loyalists stopped an army group from taking over the country.

Surrounded by supporters, he spoke on live national television to say that the coup attempt was an "act of treason" and the army must be cleansed.

For Turkey, the last hours have been the most difficult of the past 13 years since Erdogan took power.

On a private plane, the president flew over the country for a long time, frantically seeking asylum in Germany and Britain  which was denied and called on his supporters to "fight for democracy".

According to early reports, the coup attempt  which was not backed by opposition parties  left 90 people dead and nearly 1,200 wounded.

Sporadic rounds of gunfire were heard throughout the night and early morning in several Turkish cities.

So far at least 200 soldiers, who participated in some form to coup, surrendered to police. Simple privates, they gave up once they realised that police had foiled the operation.

A Turkish government official said that the security services had arrested 1,563 soldiers. Prime Minister Binali Yildirin confirmed that the situation is largely under control.

At the same time, the Turkish parliament met in special session this morning to Ankara to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, the whereabouts of the military chief of staff, Gen Hulusi Akar, are still unknown. Reports ha indicated that he had taken hostage by rebel soldiers, but this has not been confirmed.

General Umit Dundar, commander of the 1st Army, has been appointed acting chief of staff.

For a few hours the coup plotters held Istanbul airport, suspending its regular activities. As soon as the emergency was over, normal operations resumed.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the coup attempt "was foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity. Our president and government are in charge".

What is more, the "Turkish Armed Forces were not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety. It was conducted by a clique within the armed forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation."

It is unclear who led the coup or how much support it enjoyed in the country and the Armed Forces. The group earlier declared itself as a "peace council" to restore democracy and uphold rights that Erdogan had trampled.

Initially, the president blamed his old ally, now nemesis, Fetullah Gulen, who is in exile in the United States, for orchestrating the coup.

However, in a statement, Mr Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events. "I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," he said.

For several hours, the international community took a wait and see attitude, until today, when various capitals issued official statements.

US President Barack Obama urged support for the government which they said had been democratically elected.

NATO, of which Turkey is a member, called for "full respect" for Turkey's democratic institutions.

European Council President Donald Tusk said the country was "a key partner for the European Union".
Communist officials launch a campaign of intimidation against a community in Central Guizhou Province. The aim is to force its members to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, the mainlands state-controlled Protestant Church. Taking ones children to church can lead to a law suit.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  Chinese authorities have launched a campaign of intimidation against a Protestant Church, threatening to sue its members and bar their children from college, this according to ChinaAid, a Texas-based group that advocates for human rights in China.

According to the group, parents who attend the Huaqiu Church, a house church in central Guizhou province, were told that if they didn't stop bringing their children to church, the latter would not be allowed to attend college or to a military academy.

In addition, parents were told that if they continued to bring their underage children to church they would be sued.

Rev Mou, head of the Huaqiu Church, said a notice detailing these rules was sent to local schools.

"They intend to cleanse us and ask us to join the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, he explained. The latter is China's state-approved Protestant Church.

As part of the campaign, the Church has been prevented from holding Sunday services over the past two weeks. "Huaqiu is in a dark place," Mou lamented.

In recent years, China has used an iron fist against religious groups, especially Christians whose numbers have been growing exponentially.

In three years, the authorities have also demolished or removed the crosses to more than 1,500 churches in the province of Zhejiang.

Pastors and lawyers who oppose the campaign have been imprisoned on false or specious charges.
Wilson Wazir Masih, a Christian, and Gormeet Singh, a Sikh, have become maliks, tribal elders. They represent some 30,000 people who can now legally press for their social, education, and health rights.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies)  For the first time in the history of Pakistan, Pakistani authorities have recognised two members of religious minorities, a Sikh and a Christian, as tribal leaders in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).

This will allow members of the two minority groups, about 30,000 people, to press for their social, educational, and health rights.

Wilson Wazir Masih is Christian and Gormeet Singh is Sikh. Both are now malik, a Pashto term that means tribal elder.

This entitles them to a government salary, but above it allows them to participate in the jirga (local councils) to settle disputes or hear petition brought to the authorities. Local and federal government officials are required to consult them.

This is the first time that such a privilege is granted to members of the Christian and Sikh minorities.

FATA is located in north-western Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan. Most of its 10 million residents are ethnic Pashtun.

For years, it has been fertile recruiting ground for the Taliban, who have applied repressive measures on residents like religious tithes.

The presence of Islamic militants has forced thousands of people to flee and seek refuge in other parts of Pakistan.

Masih said that he hopes the new measures will change his communitys circumstances for good.

Our people have now become part of the societys fabric in FATA, Masih said.

We will now get all the jobs reserved for minorities in FATA, and our children can be admitted to colleges, universities, and other professional institutions.

Thanks to this recognition, Sikh and Christian communities can in fact be considered as legal residents within the region, and members will be able to apply for scholarships, jobs, services, and assert their rights.

We can now get drinking water, schools, and other amenities for our communities, Singh added.

Abdul Razzaq Afridi, a Pashtun tribal leader in Khyber, is happy that the lot of FATAs religious minorities is improving as militant violence recedes and Islamabad attempts to gradually implement long-awaited reforms.

We would like to have good relations with minorities and would also like them to have a better life in our homeland, he said.

Now the government must follow up on its announcements and make sure the minorities are represented and that they can enjoy their rights in peace.
by Pierre Balanian

As local residents are removed, Islamic State fighters begin digging in ahead of an Iraqi army attack. In al-Shirqat, resistance groups blow pole with the caliphate flag.

Kirkuk (AsiaNews) - Daesh, the so-called Islamic State (IS), yesterday began expelling residents from al-Zab, in al-Hawija district, 85 km south-west from Kirkuk, in northern Iraq. Along with many other towns and villages south of Kirkuk, al-Zab has been occupied by the caliphate since 10 June 2014.

Within hours, the area was almost completely cleared of its inhabitants, forced into the open desert in Iraq hellish summer heat.

Expellees were not allowed to take anything heavy. In haste, with no regard for women, the elderly or children, just about everyone was evacuated under death threats, abandoning homes, fields and shops.

The order was for everyone to leave the city and once removed, the people were left on their own. Many tried to settle in the desert whilst others found refuge in the surrounding villages.

The last to leave said that IS men were digging tunnels and galleries around town, filling them with oil, which suggest that IS plans set on fire to them when Iraqi troops move in to liberate al-Zab.

Until recently Daesh had used civilians as human shields in the territory it holds. Now this appears to be changing as it accuses allied forces that continue bombing its command and control centres and weapon depots of environmental damage. The enormous amount of flammable material placed around weapon depots is evidence of that.

Al-Zab is located in al-Hawija District. It holds the largest number of Daesh fighters (pictured) since it is main transit point to the al-Shirqat District, which is in the north of the Sunni province of Salah El Din.

Daeshs scorched earth policy seems to be delaying but not stopping the progression of Iraqi troops in the oil-rich province.

The group is also facing a hard time in al-Shirqat District. Someone blew up the pole displaying its flag in the city centre.

Jabbar Al Maamuri, one of the leaders of Al Hashd el Shaabi (popular mobilisation unit, the militia set up in response to the call for holy war against the Islamic State, launched by Ayatollah Al Sistani on 13 June 13, 2014, three days after Mosul fell into Daeshs hands), spoke this afternoon about serious problems among Daesh leaders in al-Shirqat.

The removal of the symbol of the Islamic State in the heart of a town completely under their control is "a clear message that they are living on borrowed time," al-Maamuri said.

The terrible crimes and increasingly inhumane punishments inflicted on locals over the past three months has driven away even those who had initially supported the so-called Caliphate.

Daesh leaders now avoid moving around al-Shirqat alone. Inside the town, resistance groups have sprung up lately, carrying out attacks against members of the terrorist group, whilst on walls graffiti with anti-IS slogans have begun to appear.
For drug lords, women blend more easily into crowds and go unnoticed to law enforcement. In the central province of Bolikhamsay alone, police stopped a hundred female couriers, including some who were pregnant. The women are usually aged 30 to 50. More Laotians are ending up in Thai prisons, twice as many as Burmese and Cambodians.

Vientiane (AsiaNews)  Women increasingly appear to be taking part in the illegal drug trade in Laos, as drug lords find they make good smugglers because they blend into their surroundings, RFAs Laos Service reported.

Exact numbers are hard to come by, but a Lao police official told RFA that Lao authorities have noticed a sharp increase in the number of women arrested for drug offences, especially involving amphetamines.

In central Laos Bolikhamsay province alone, police have arrested about a hundred women on drug charges.

Women become drug traffickers because they seem to go about their business unobserved, a Lao law enforcement official told RFA on condition of anonymity.

There are women involved in many more drug cases this year, with around 100 women arrested in drug cases. Most of them were retailers.

The surge in women drug traffickers had gone largely unnoticed until recently as they go about their business in Laos without raising suspicion.

Most of those arrested are between 30 and 50 in age, and come from ethnic minority communities in Laos, and many are pregnant.

It is difficult to help women stay out of the illegal drug business because they come from poor families, so they get used as drug smugglers and traffickers, the official said.

More women from Laos are arrested in Thailand than from other ASEAN countries. According to the Thai government, the number of Lao female prisoners now stands at 1,352 while female Burmese and Cambodian prisoners stand at 581 and 552, respectively.

Laos is known for the Golden Triangle, on the border with Myanmar, the main source of heroin and methamphetamine for the Asian market.

It also is the second largest area (350,000 km2) for opium production, after Afghanistans Golden Crescent.

In view of the situation, Lao Prime Minister Thonon Sisoulith is pushing his countrys citizens to join in the fight against illegal drug use and trade.

Last month, Thongloun set fire to a cache of drugs seized by authorities. The latter included more than 4.3 million tablets of amphetamine-type tablets, as well as dry cannabis, methamphetamines, and other synthetic drugs.

He described the drug trade as an obstacle to national social and economic development, and an important source of crime and corruption.
The Russian Orthodox Primate extends his condolences to the families of the victims, calling for reflection on what is happening to the human race".

Moscow (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Kirill, the Patriarch of Moscow, has added his voice to condemn the Nice attack and extend his condolences to the families of the 84 people who were killed, including ten children, on Thursday, Bastille Day. One of the dead was a Russian citizen.

"A terrible terrorist attack, an insane act of terror occurred in Nice," the patriarch said ahead of a Holy Synod meeting in Moscow.

All of us have to ponder over what is happening to the human civilisation, the human race," he lamented.

Killing civilians has always been considered a crime, and here the murder of innocent people is the main method of waging a war, he noted.

"I am strongly convinced, he added, that a true answer to a question of what contemporary terrorism is like and what it means can only be given in the light of the religious understanding of the current state of modern humanity.

The meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church chaired by Patriarch Kirill began with a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice. (N.A.)
SCHUYLER  The city of Schuyler received several applications for the soon-to-be vacant police chief position, but the process to fill the job could take another three to four months.

City Clerk Mary Peschel said 13 packets for the position were sent out with seven returned by Friday's deadline. Only one applicant is from outside the state, with the rest residing in Nebraska.

Schuylers civil service commission will conduct the initial round of interviews and set a date for the written test at least 60 days after Friday's application deadline to give candidates time to prepare.

Steve Bailey and Jeff Reinecke, who are on the commission, said one thing theyll be looking for in a candidate is a willingness to move to Schuyler.

Weve always liked when people are visible and live in the community, said Bailey. Its nice if they work in the community and also live in the community."

Lennie Hiltner, who has been the Schuyler police chief since November 2002, lives in Columbus. Hiltner announced last month that he is stepping down July 23 after 17 years with the department to pursue a career outside law enforcement.

In selecting a replacement, Reinecke said the commission will be looking for someone with experience in communities similar to Schuyler.

I think (Hiltner) did a good job with the diverse community, said Reinecke. Some sort of experience in dealing with a diverse population is important.

Based on the interviews and written exam results, the commission will advance its top choices to Mayor David Reinecke, who will conduct a second round of interviews before submitting a name to the city council for final approval.

At a meeting last month, the mayor recommended Schuyler Police Officer Drew Behn serve as the interim police chief during the applicant review process.

The city council is expected to vote on that recommendation at its meeting Tuesday night.
Immigration has always been a political hot potato in Australia and is set to become even more so due to the recent election failing to result in any party getting a majority to run the country.It means that the party with the most seats, the Liberals led by Malcolm Turnbull, has to negotiate with smaller and less popular political parties in order to govern and there is concern that they could influence key policies such as immigration. The issue has already resulted in some tough talking, including from Pauline Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party which wants to ban Muslims from immigrating to Australia.One Nation wants immigration levels limited to the number of people moving out of the country so that for every person that leaves, one person can come in, and also wants all new citizens to pass an English test and not be granted social security for five years.Under the Islam policy section of its website, One Nation has called for a halt to Muslims moving to Australia, including refugees. The party also wants temporary protection visas reduced from three years to two years and all refugees to undergo a health check.On top of this Bob Katter, an independent MP, told a media conference that he believes that immigration should be limited. But he also called for the migration debate to be 'deracialised' and instead it should be looked at from a purely economic point of view.'The government has been bringing 620,000 people into Australia each year, into an economy that's only got 200,000 jobs and over 200,000 school leavers,' he said, adding that he believes that half a million people are forced into unemployment benefit each year as a result of the current immigration policy.'The issue is you are bringing in mass numbers that the country can't possibly absorb. I am saying a reduction of all immigration to Australia to virtually nil, except for those people who are persecuted minority groups. And clearly, they are, and I name them again, the Sikhs, the Jews, and the Christians, Christians in the Middle East,' he added.
My husband and I applied for my 820/801 in January of this year and we're still waiting for it to be granted (not surprising).



Due to not wanting to be apart and the fact I could get WHVs here, we're living in Australia now but long term it has always been our intention to go back to the UK where my family are.



We currently have no idea how long it will take us to get back to the UK because he's just finished a degree and I've just started a year's contract in a new job. My parents are also planning to come to Australia to visit in August 2017 so we won't be leaving before then, by which time I'd hope I'll be on TR.



What I want to know is what happens if I leave Australia before applying for PR or before my PR is granted? If, in the future we decide we want to move back here would that negatively affect things? Or would it make it difficult for me to visit?



Obviously the ideal would be to get my PR or even citizenship but I'm not sure we'll be here that long.
According to company insiders who have chosen to remain unnamed, Jaguar is pondering whether to turn the next XJ into a Porsche Panamera competitor. This would mean a shift from its current position, of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival. The difference between the two areas of the market segment would mean changing the shape of the XJ, as well as an altered road behavior.As the Australians at Car Advice note, Jaguar's XJ is on par with the Porsche Panamera by weight, and the British model is lighter than the equivalent Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Maserati Quattroporte models.The mass difference between the XJ and the S-Class is clearly a favorable point for the British model, but if Jaguar wants to compete with Porsche, the brand is expected to make the XJ even lighter.At the time of its market introduction, the XJ was one of the first models in the segment to be available with an aluminum body. The innovative approach allowed Jaguar to provide a lower weight, thus providing improved fuel economy and dynamic behavior.On the other hand, rival automakers have caught up with Jaguar on the lightweight part, even if their models are not on par with the XJ. This would mean that the British brand would have to go the extra mile to make the next generation even lighter and agiler.On the other hand, Jaguar is set to introduce hybrid technology in the next XJ, since all the other models in the segment feature some form of hybridization. The brand from Coventry will have to come up with a system that will improve fuel economy and performance while keeping weight down, a difficult task.We must note that the information regarding the shift of the Jaguar XJ' market positioning is a rumor that comes from an unnamed insider. This means that the brand might change its mind by 2019, or that Jaguar could develop a different body style for the XJ on top of the saloon
AMG

SUV

If we remember correctly, his G63 arrived in 2013 , being one of the first in America. But now, the fellow let all his Instagram followers know that he upgraded to a G65. It's not like he can't afford it, with all his movie deals and all, but buying two of the same thing is never smart. Did we mention that it will do 10 miles per gallon at best?We are intrigued and horrified!For those of you who don't know a thing about Mercedes and how the German luxury operates, there are two hardcore AMG engines for big cars, a 5.5-liter V8, and a 6-liter V12. The larger of the two seems more exotic, but it's a bad choice.Filled with technology from 1990, the V12 is heavier, less efficient and kind of pointless. While on paper the G65 makes more power than te G63, the vehicle is slower to 60.But this kind of ride is as much about the lifestyle statement as it is about going off-road. So Kevin probably ordered it just because he didn't want the sameas Kim Kardashian In his Instagram post, the comedian thanks "Macgyer and Chris @stealthmotorworks for doing a hell of a job on my G65 ....Shit came out super dope!!!!"Is it really that special? A black-on-black G-Wagon is probably what Kanye West has too. You'd have to get real close to notice the V12 badge or the Forgiato badges on the wheels. And even then, people won't believe that this is, in fact, a $300,000 ride.The $231,000 Bentley Bentayga, while arguably less capable off-road, is more luxurious inside. Also , while less powerful, it's also a full second faster to 60mph and corners much better.
16 July 2016 10:20 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan is seriously concerned and appalled by the events happening in brotherly Turkey, says the statement issued by Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry July 16.

This is a coup attempt by a group of people against the government, elected by the Turkish people by democratic means, says the statement. Turkish people and the state opposed it demonstrating the unity and equality.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
16 July 2016 02:50 (UTC+04:00)

Turkeys military has left the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, captured earlier in an attempted military coup, Turkish media reported.

Civilians, who earlier took to the streets to support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have taken up the airport.

Reports suggest that tanks withdrew from the airport.

A criminal case has been launched with regard to the military men who carried out the coup attempt.

Earlier, Turkish media reported that a military coup attempt took place in the country.
There are two workshops being held in Columbus on Aug. 18 at Pinnacle Bank, 210 East 23rd St. In the morning there will be a Landlord/Tenant Cash Lease Workshop, and in the afternoon there will be a Flexible Cash Lease Workshop.

The Landlord/Tenant Cash Lease Workshop will be offered at 9 a.m. It is designed to help landlords and tenants put together a lease that is right for both parties, and help maintain positive farm leasing relationships.

Topics for discussion at the leasing workshop include:

 latest information about land values and cash rental rates for the area and state;

 lease communication, determining appropriate information sharing for both the tenant and landlord;

 lease termination, including terminating handshake, or verbal leases;

review of common lease provisions with emphasis on common provision questions;

 legal issues related to land ownership -- basic ownership structures and what they mean;

 business structures/entities and how they affect ownership -- a quick look at how entity ownership affects legal and financial risk management;

 ownership transition; and

 state/federal resources for beginning farmers and ranchers  basically the NE Beginning Farmer Program and the federal direct and grant farm ownership program.

Other topics, like irrigation systems, hay rent, pasture rental agreements, and grain bin rental will be covered as time allows.

The Flexible Farmland Lease Workshop will be offered at 1:30 p.m. Flexible leases provisions are gaining popularity. The goal is to give participants information and education about what a flex lease is, how to set up a flex lease, and a review of common flex lease provisions.

UNL Extension educators will present these workshops. It is very helpful if both the tenant and landlord can attend together. It is also helpful if the spouse attends. Everyone is welcome to one or both workshops.

The free workshops are sponsored by the Nebraska Soybean Board and the North Central Risk Management Education Center. Refreshments and handouts are provided.

Registration is requested. To register for the Columbus workshop, contact the Platte County Extension Office at 402-563-4901. Register by Aug. 15 to ensure that there are enough handouts and refreshments.

The workshops have been held extensively across Nebraska for the past few years with over 3,300 attending. The vast majority of both landlords and tenants find the information to be very helpful in improving communications, setting rental terms, and learning about the use of flex lease provisions. As crop budgets tighten, it is even more important to attend and listen to the latest discussion about leasing issues.
16 July 2016 14:30 (UTC+04:00)

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is condemning the coup attempt in Turkey, calling on all parties to respect democratic order and avoid further bloodshed, The New York Times reported.

Steinmeier said in a statement Saturday that Germany is "deeply concerned" about the developments overnight.

He says he condemns "any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force."

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Related Info

WILDFIRE-THEMED HACKATHON EVENT



Kern Innovation & Technology Community is organizing a hackathon starting at 6 p.m. Aug. 5 at MESH Cowork, 2005 Eye St., Suite 4. It will conclude there at 9 p.m. Aug. 7 after presentations and a closing ceremony.



Tickets cost $5 per person.



Half of the events raffle ticket proceeds will go toward All for One Movement, an organization formed to help people affected by the recent Erskine Fire in the Kern River Valley area. The other half is for winning teams, along with trophies.



The event is sponsored by KIT Community, Mershon Enterprises, MESH, Creative Cowork, Ponce de Leon Enterprises and All for One Movement. The hackathons organizers are seeking volunteers and additional sponsors.



For information on the event, send an email with the subject line Tech FTW to contact@followthefox.org.
It happened after Sandy Hook.

It happened after San Bernardino and Orlando.

It happened last week after Dallas.

Whenever a spoiled young nut job, wannabe Islamic terrorist, or disturbed cop-hater goes on a mass killing spree, liberals and their choir members in the mainstream media can be counted on to react in the same ignorant, knee-jerky way.

It was the gun's fault.

It doesn't matter if the weapon was a handgun, an assault weapon look-alike, or a deer rifle.

It's never the evil or insane individual who was responsible for the slaughter of innocents. It was the gun.

Gun control is always the liberals' off-the-shelf solution for ending mass murders, the deadly gang wars in Chicago and suicides.

For decades they have demanded stricter gun laws or dreamed of outlawing guns altogether.

Liberals hate everything about guns (unless their body guards are packing them) and don't trust ordinary people to own them or use them.

They'll never understand why our Constitution protects individual gun ownership. (Hint: It's not to protect our right to hunt squirrels.)

Liberals like Hillary Clinton and President Obama would throw the Second Amendment overboard in a Washington minute if they could.

What anti-gun nuts have turned to lately in their fight against gun violence and mass killings is the idea of "ammo control."

Restricting the size of magazines or the number of cartridges a pistol or rifle can hold is the liberals' latest "magic bullet."

A liberal friend of mine recently tried to persuade me that ammo control was a good idea.

"OK," I said, "let's accept your premise. Let's say we restrict my shotgun's capacity to just three shells.

"If I went into a movie theater to kill people, how many times do you think I could reload before someone could stop me? Three? Four?

"Therefore, in effect you're telling me it's OK for someone to be able to kill nine or 12 people, but no more. You're not doing anything to prevent mass murders.

"All you're doing is putting a limit on the number of dead. So killing 30 people is not OK, but killing 12 is? Would you like to choose the 12 people?"

He didn't answer.

Gun control. Ammo control. Knife control. Bomb control. Rock control.

They won't stop people killing each other in ones, twos or dozens. They won't stop the gang murders in the big cities.

Murder rates in 20 cities like Chicago and Baltimore and L.A., where young black males in gangs murder each other every weekend, have spiked recently.

But gang control, not gun control, is what's needed in those dangerous urban places, which account for about half of the country's annual homicide total.

Despite all the media and political attention given to the killing of six cops in Dallas and the killings of black men by cops in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis, Americans are not murdering each other today as much as they used to.

The rate of homicides per 100,000 Americans fell almost by half between 1993 and 2013, from 7.0 to 3.6. Meanwhile, during that same period the number of guns owned per capita went from .95 to 1.45.

No one really knows for sure, but America has an estimated 350 million guns within its borders.

About 12,000 of those weapons on average are now used in homicides each year -- down from 18,000 in 1993.

According to my calculator, that means about .99996571 percent of the guns in America's collection will not murder a single person this year.

Twelve thousand dead is still too many. But controlling guns won't bring down that toll. Controlling the humans who pull their triggers will.
Fishing Restrictions for Oregon Coast's Deep Waters Start Friday

Published 07/12/2016 at 5:41 PM PDT - Updated 07/12/2016 at 5:43 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Oregon Coast)  Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has closed one portion of grounfish angling along the Oregon coast as of this Friday. Fishing outside the 20-fathom line will be closed in order to protect yelloweye rockfish, which are more common in deeper waters.

Populations of yelloweye rockfish along the entire west coast were declared overfished in 2002 by the National Marine Fisheries Service. They are currently managed by the federal government and a rebuilding plan that is hoping to restore populations by various means of protection, including limiting harvests.

Unusually high bycatch rates in the central Oregon coast all-depth halibut fishery and high effort in the bottomfish fishery so far this year have led to increased yelloweye rockfish encounters. In addition, the rate of voluntary descending device use has dropped from 80 percent in recent years to 60 percent in 2016. As a result, estimated mortality from catch-and-release is higher than expected, putting Oregons recreational fisheries on track to exceed the 2016 harvest limit before the end of the year.

The fish generally live in much deeper waters, which makes the 20 fathoms dividing line useful: they normally live beyond that barrier. This reduces the catching of yelloweye rockfish, while it allows anglers to continue fishing for popular targets such as black rockfish and lingcod.

Also, fish caught in these shallower waters inside that line are more likely to survive after being released, according to ODFW marine fisheries manager Maggie Sommer.



Due to their endangered status, yelloweye rockfish cannot be retained by anglers and must be released if caught. ODFW encourages marine anglers to release all prohibited rockfish by using a descending device to safely return the fish to depth.

Sommer noted that even fish which appear severely bloated can survive after being released at depth. This practice also helps keep the fisheries open by reducing the percentage of released fish that fishery managers count as dead. The drop in descending device use was likely the tipping point for this decision by ODFW. If the use of the device had remained at 80 percent this year instead of dropping, the projected mortality rates would've remained at an acceptable level and the restrictions would not have occurred.

Using a descending device helps save fish and increases anglers fishing opportunities.

This is another way that anglers can help us to recover the yelloweye population and keep these fisheries open, said Sommer.

She noted that there are several types of descending devices that can be purchased at tackle shops. ODFW has distributed some of the devices provided by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission free of charge to help encourage their use, and has a limited number more to hand out on the summer all-depth halibut days, when many anglers likely to encounter yelloweye rockfish in deeper waters are concentrated at boat ramps and marinas.

We hope that by limiting the fishery to inside the 20-fathom line we can keep anglers fishing this year by keeping them out of areas where yelloweye are most common, said Sommer. Our goal is to return the sport groundfish fishery to all-depth in October as originally planned if at all possible. Increasing use of descending devices can help us get there.

At this time, the 20-fathom restriction is in place through the end of 2016 until further notice.

The central Oregon coast nearshore and summer all-depth halibut fisheries will remain unchanged. Halibut seasons are set by the International Pacific Halibut Commission and the National Marine Fisheries Service, and cannot be changed in-season due to bycatch concerns under current federal rules. In public meetings on the 2017 halibut and sport groundfish fisheries to be held later this summer, ODFW will be seeking input on modifying the Pacific Halibut Catch Sharing Plan to allowing for in-season changes in the future.

Waypoints for the 20-fathom line may be found on the ODFW website at www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/regulations/sport_fishing. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours











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The following editorial first appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star.

State officials insist that theres no contest between the state brand and the slogan for tourism.

But if there were, Good just ran Nice across the rassling ring and smashed its head against the turnbuckle. Nice is out cold. Good is strutting around the ring, arms raised in victory.

Good, you may have guessed, refers to Nebraska the Good life, the '70s phrase that has taken root in the state psyche.

Now it lives on in Nebraskas new unified state brand: Nebraska. Good Life. Great Opportunity.

Nice is Nebraskas scandal-tainted, multi-million-dollar albatross of a tourism slogan: Visit Nebraska. Visit Nice.

In comparison, the new state brand was developed by Lincoln-based Firespring for $62,500.

From the beginning, Firespring President Dave Snitily said, people voiced an attachment to The Good Life slogan.

Gov. Pete Ricketts and Courtney Dentlinger, state economic development director went with it.

It captures the essence of Nebraska, Dentlinger said. Ricketts said the new state brand reflects how Nebraskans feel about themselves.

Theres no doubt that the new state brand will fare better in the court of public opinion than the controversial tourism slogan referring to Nebraska nice.

In the first place, Minnesota already owned the phase, more or less. Theres even a Coen brothers movie with the title Minnesota Nice.

And in the second place the Nebraska nice slogan is now stained by the scandal of a $4.4 million cost overrun by the advertising firm that helped develop it.

It looks like its on its way out. "It's turned into more of a joke," Nebraska Travel Association President Todd Kirshenbaum said earlier this year. In Iowa they sell a T-shirt that says, Nebraska: Nice try.

And some are championing use of the good life phrase for tourism. "I have been a strong proponent for returning Nebraska to 'the good life' for years," said Kevin Howard, director of the Alliance Visitors Bureau. "It resonates with the citizens of the state of Nebraska."

The phrase still adorns some highway welcome signs at the states borders. A Facebook page Nebraskans for keeping The Good Life slogan has more than 12,000 members. Needless to say, the page was humming this week.

Ricketts said the good life phrase is flexible enough to be tweaked for specific purposes. The Roads Department, for example, plans to use Good Life. Great Journey.

When he unveiled the new brand, Ricketts paraphrased a quote from the John Steinbeck novel, East of Eden that goes No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us. Its hard to argue that the quote does not apply to the new state brand.
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Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard J.J. Redick is selling his Austin estate.

The 10,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style mansion is set on more than one acre of land in the prestigious West Lake Hills community. It has six bedrooms, nine baths and a number of notable entertaining spaces, including a media room, two bars and a private office.

RELATED: Woodlands mansion with 3-story closet going to auction

Cami Wright Interiors designed the space, which has a curious wine storage room outfitted with brick-arch storage shelves. Other standout spaces are the dining area with a brick ceiling and the elegant grand foyer.

Outside, Hill Country panoramas can be enjoyed from the infinity-edge swimming pool. There's also a fully equipped, enclosed summer kitchen with a separate lounge. A cabana with a fireplace and tech connections offers a full view of the outdoor dining area, pool and the lush green background.

SEE ALSO: NFL star Adrian Peterson lists estate in The Woodlands for sale

Engel & Volkers Austin listing agent Kathryn Scarborough, who represents the sellers, says that the Redicks love Austin  they have friends there and enjoy the city. She explains that the family will stay in Austin but are searching for a home that better suits their current lifestyle.

The home has been featured on the cover of "Modern Luxury" magazine and has already been reduced from $5.3 million to $4.995 million.
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SAN ANTONIO  Dr. Thomas Jeneby, a local plastic surgeon, is becoming well-known for his work in breast augmentations, liposuction and tummy tucks  all of which he broadcasts on his Snapchat and Facebook Live.

The San Antonio physician, who has been practicing for 14 years, is being sought after by clients for this new feature of his because many people want to see their surgeries and like the appeal of being featured on social media, Jeneby said.

RELATED: Rose McGowan blasts film critic who bashed Renee Zellweger's appearance, possible plastic surgery

The social media portion of his practice has become so popular that theyve hired a full-time social media expert to handle video recording the surgeries, he said.

The Facebook Live videos offer an opportunity for Jeneby to educate viewers on the procedures he does, as well as wash away any worries of surgery for those potentially interested in getting work done on themselves.

Its great for marketing but its wonderful for alleviating fears and patient education, he said.

RELATED: As more millennials undergo plastic surgery, safety concerns rise

So far, the doctor has shared about 50 Snapchats of his work and 20 Facebook Live videos, with the latter receiving much more response from the public. He said his Facebook Live videos reach about 17,000 people within the first hour and have reached more than 24,000 people within a day.

Theres a lot of interplay between commenters and the doctor, who is very encouraging to those who are interested in getting surgery.

His most commonly performed work is the Mommy Makeover, which typically includes breast augmentation with liposuction or tummy tucks. When it comes to breast augmentations, his adjustable implant has become very popular, as it allows women to increase their breast size even further  if desired  after surgery by allowing doctors to inject more saline into breast implants.

RELATED: Social media: Meg Ryan doesnt look quite like her old self at Tony Awards

Those interested in having their surgeries broadcast on Facebook and Snapchat must sign three forms that pertain to the release of pictures, modeling and social media posts, Jeneby said.

His office is located at 7272 Wurzbach Road, Unit 801. His office can be contacted at 1-888-353-6329.

Jeneby has previously worked in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite
For decades, Alamo visitors have walked up to the library on the grounds that is open by appointment only to researchers, then turned back around.

Now, with a full rehabilitation of the 1950 structure under way, the former library built by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas is being turned into exhibit space that could open to visitors as early as this winter.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Courtesy, Governor Greg Abbott / courtesy Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tony Gutierrez, STF / Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott was discharged from a San Antonio military hospital Friday, just over a week after he sustained severe burns on a vacation trip to Wyoming.

The governor received second- and third-degree burns to his lower legs and feet on July 7 after being scalded while on family trip to Jackson Hole, according to his office.
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The TV chef said he was willing to "do anything" to see that the new tax on sugar-rich fizzy drinks will be introduced

Jamie Oliver has urged Theresa May to follow through on a pledge by the previous government to introduce a sugar tax.

The TV chef said he was willing to "do anything" to see that the new tax on sugar-rich fizzy drinks, announced in former Chancellor George Osborne's last Budget, will be introduced from April 2018.

The 41-year-old made the appeal in a short video filmed as he guest-edited the Huffington Post UK.

He said: "Theresa come on, we need you, please. I know you've got my cookbooks, so I know you cook. And if you cook there's a chance that goodness is in there. And the good will prevail."

He then blows her a kiss down the camera lens, adding: " Please. What do I have to do Theresa? What do you need from me? I am there. I will do anything."

Under the last government's plan, d rinks with 5g of sugar per 100ml will face a lower rate of tax while those with more than 8g per 100ml will face a higher rate but t he rates of tax have not yet been set.

The move is expected to raise more than 520 million which will be used to double the amount of funding for sport in every primary school, with secondary schools encouraged to offer more sport as part of longer school days.

But it is unclear whether David Cameron's long-awaited national childhood obesity strategy , which was delayed last year, will be published as expected this summer.
The fashion world's endemic problems - its elitism, racism and destructive focus on skinniness - won't be news to anyone. But what might be surprising to most is to hear the industry's shallowness highlighted by someone at its very heart. Three years ago, Cameron Russell, probably the closest thing America currently has to a supermodel, took the stage at the prestigious TEDx series of talks, and delivered a nine-minute lecture in which she said her success was the result of "winning the genetic lottery" and called herself a "pretty, skinny, white woman" who was a beneficiary of a "legacy of gender and racial oppression".

She urged women to let go of the fantasy that beauty equals happiness: "If you ever think, 'if I had thinner thighs and shinier hair, wouldn't I be happier?' you just need to meet a group of models. They have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes and they are the most physically insecure women, probably, on the planet."

The talk was discussed around the world, far eclipsing (in terms of views online) equally intelligent efforts by the likes of Colin Powell (proving part of Russell's thesis perhaps). It also caused murmurs on both sides of the Atlantic, with ABC News among those wondering if she wasn't using the very privilege she was speaking about to bite the hand that feeds her.

Russell, after all, has made a fortune climbing to the very pinnacle of her industry, fronting advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Armani and Prada; she has displayed her million dollar legs for Victoria's Secret and was shot by Steven Meisel for the cover of Italian Vogue - one of the most sought after spots in modelling.

"A lot of newspapers did point out those things and I did hear that hand that feeds phrase," says Russell, who is sitting on the stoop outside her home in Brooklyn on a sweltering June night.

"But people in the industry watched it and told me they thought it was very balanced and fair and said things about the fashion industry which were true in the larger sense as well. After the talk I was invited on CNN to speak about it and I was sitting right across from a Tea Party senator and I told him 'it's easy for me to talk about race because I got where I am because of how I look'. Whereas it's more difficult for a senator to talk about race because they also feel quite strongly, rightly so perhaps, that they also worked quite hard to get where they are.

"In modelling you might work hard to lose five pounds around your waist, but it doesn't really count how hard you work overall unless you are skinny. In that sense, fashion is a really clean and simple forum to speak about issues of privilege; it's pure, distilled privilege, which can help us to think about the influence of privilege in all areas of life."

You tend to believe Russell when she speaks about these issues, not only because of her passion and because she's drop-dead gorgeous and you're hypnotised, but because her own privilege was so multi-layered.

She grew up in Massachusetts in a family of some means. Her mother, Robin Chase, now one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the US, is the co-founder of the car-hire club Zipcar. Her father is an engineer and chief executive officer of GoLoco, a car-pooling and social networking company.

"I grew up with two really nerdy parents in a progressive, activist, feminist household, even though we never used those words really. We understood that men and women were equal. When I was 12 my mother started Zipcar and that was spectacular. I didn't realise at the time how unusual it was for a woman in her 40s with three children under 12 to start a company, until I moved to New York a few years later and learnt about who aspired to be entrepreneurs and realised it was mostly young, white men."

In 2013, the year Russell gave her Ted talk, Chase was part of the $500m sale of Zipcar to Avis, but before that she had a hand to play in her daughter's career.

"I had been scouted a few times as a teenager and then visited New York and got scouted a few times on the street. My mom had interviewed someone who ended up working for the Ford modelling agency and she called him to ask if it was a good idea. They ended up signing me."

The modelling world has its fair share of predatory agents and lecherous photographers. Russell tells me that this is a reflection of broader society, but it is probably worse in fashion.

"You can ask any 16-year-old girl what it's like being her and she'll probably mention street harassment. I was an assertive 16-year-old, I had the confidence to walk off a couple of jobs when I didn't feel comfortable. I will say that working in fashion over a few years probably degraded that confidence that I came in with. It does that to all women, I think."

During her Ted talk Russell had images of herself flash up on the screen to demonstrate the falseness of the imagery that sells clothes. In one shot, she was pouting and bronzed, a cover model goddess, in the next she was a fresh-faced child, hanging out with her friends. The punchline was that the shots were taken in the same week.

"I felt, at 16, that I was consenting and I was confident. But I learned how to be sexy before I even had sex. That's a funny thing. And another funny thing was that I was never one of those girls who pored over fashion magazines. I remember doing a test for my first shoot and when I stood on the little 'x' I just gave a huge smile because that's what you did when a camera was on you; I had no idea that you had to be serious. One of the biggest misconceptions is that the pictures are retouched and none of the girls are that skinny, but if you're 15 or 16 the likelihood is that is really your body."

As a young person, she was fascinated with politics, and true to her description of herself as a preternaturally confident girl, Russell wanted to become president when she was growing up. When she was nine she met Bill Clinton and as a teenager she volunteered on several Democratic campaign trails. After that she studied economics and political science at Columbia University, while modelling for international fashion houses at the same time. She remains politically switched on and has been following her country's presidential race closely.

"Leaving Trump aside for one moment, I support Hillary and will vote for her, but I wish she had people close to her who were urging her into more progressive stances. I love that Bernie was a candidate who got Americans to embrace socialism on a national scale. There are also reasons why he wasn't a spectacular candidate. I love Elizabeth Warren - she would be an incredible VP. Hillary's ties to Wall Street are her big problem and Warren would be a great balance for that."

There is a paradox to a lot of Russell's patter in that even the interview we're having is part of the problem she's complaining about: I am speaking to her, first and foremost, because she's beautiful and a highly successful model.

However, like a Miss World contestant with a valid opinion on world peace, she seems to think she can work within the system. She never thought about quitting modelling in order to be taken more seriously, for instance, she says.

But she says that the power of her good looks has a bearing on many social and professional interactions.

"Sometimes it's totally frustrating to have people react in such a big way - positively or negatively - to how I look. But that is also a great barometer for me to decide if someone is genuine. Why do they want to connect with me, to work with me, to speak with me even. If it's 'because I'm a model' I am super quick to read that."

How did she know that was not the case with her boyfriend, a cinematographer named Damani Baker, with whom she has been together for a few years.

"We met after I wrote a short script for a climate change video. We worked together on that as a creative project and met each other as equals."

I can sort of feel her reading me a bit when I ask her if she gets to keep the clothes and if she sees a lot of puking and eating disorders backstage at catwalk shows.

Only sometimes does she get free stuff, she tells me, and as for eating disorders "I'm not a clinician, so I'm not entitled to say, but obviously weight and therefore food are preoccupations".

She ate Burger King all the way through school and college, without gaining an ounce and her whippet-like metabolism is still mercifully keeping everything in check.

Despite her depiction of herself as an interloper in a world of superficiality and image, she says that there are certain items of clothing that make her come over all covetous.

"I think there is an assumption that when we're talking about fashion that it's high fashion. Even though I don't wear it a lot, I have a sweater my mom made for me and it's very hot to wear, so only suitable for deep winter. But it is my most valued piece."

I choke a little as I picture a wardrobe of unloved Versace and Prada and she tosses me a bone: "In terms of high fashion it's interesting when you play a character. It's interesting in a filmic sense, I'm thinking of a video I did for Prada when we were in a dark studio and we went outside and had to pretend to audition for an old film. And I did feel swept up in the romance and the look."

Climate change is a pet cause of hers and last year she called upon her fellow supermodels to march across Brooklyn Bridge to raise awareness for climate change.

The supermodels came out in their droves, and Twitter and Instagram went into meltdown. Lily Donaldson, Bella Hadid, Stella Maxwell, Grace Bol, Barbara Palvin, Toni Garrn and more broadcast the climate march to a combined six million people on their social media accounts.

She says the biggest misconception about models is that they are thick, but I would have thought it was that they were humourless. With the notable exception of Jennifer Lawrence, there aren't many gorgeous, witty people on the public stage.

You imagine they never had to try as hard as the rest of us in the banter stakes.

Cameron does have a sense of humour. We get talking about public art in New York and I mention in passing to her a prominent street artist, who still takes commissions, but, famously, insists on being paid in cocaine.

"I think it's fabulous that in this day and age in Manhattan you still have someone operating outside the capitalist system," she responds.

Quite.
Soft touch: if Hillary Clinton became US President she may not take a hardline on Isis

As political leaders across the world swear to engage in total war against Isis in the wake of the massacre in Nice, not enough notice is being taken of the fact that the long-term prospects of the group will be boosted if Hillary Clinton is elected as the next US President.

President Obama and the Pentagon have been giving priority to first weakening and then eliminating Isis, and have been having a fair measure of success. The Iraqi army backed by US-led air strikes have recaptured Fallujah and the self-declared Caliphate has suffered a series of defeats in both Iraq and Syria.

But Hillary Clinton's expected choice as Defence Secretary, Michele Flournoy, has just co-authored a report by the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington that recommends that the destruction of Isis should no longer be the overriding objective of the US in Syria, but that equal priority should be given to taking military action against President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian Army.

A new pro-US armed opposition would be built up to fight Assad, Isis, al-Nusra and other al-Qaida clones, a process that the report admits could take years - and "during that time the dangers posed by Isis will remain". This is not a marginal opinion among hawks in Washington, as a recently leaked memo from 51 serving State Department officials argued very much the same thing.

Instead of focusing on fighting one war against Isis and al-Qaida until it is won, the report recommends also taking military action against Assad but without destroying the Syrian state, and this demonstration of US military strength is expected to deter Russia and Iran from further engagement in Syria

The study is reminiscent of the battle plan of a First World War general, full of certainties about how enemies and allies will respond to an attack when in reality their response is unknown.

The report recommends that "the United States should also be willing to increase its use of military coercion and be willing to threaten and execute limited military strikes against the Assad regime in order to protect these actors while signalling to all of the key external actors in Syria, including both its Middle East partners as well as Russia and Iran, that it is willing to get more engaged".

Keep in mind that the civil war in Syria and Iraq involves many confrontations, but the most important struggle is a sectarian one between Shia and Sunni.

Yet the authors of the report are under the impression that the Shia in this part of the Middle East, who see themselves as fighting a battle for their very existence, will pack up and go home because of some "limited" American air strikes

The concept of the CNAS report is eerily similar to the plot of Graham Greene's novel The Quiet American, in which the undercover CIA agent Alden Pyle is seeking to create a pro-American "Third Force" in Vietnam that will be an alternative to communism and colonialism.

In Syria, other players are to remain curiously passive while they wait for the US to reconstruct the political landscape to its liking.

Overall, the report makes the classic blunder of assuming opponents will quail before limited threats when it may be more likely that they will respond with some counter-move of their own.

The world may soon regret the passing of the Obama years as a Clinton administration plunges into conflicts where he hung back.

He had clearly learned from the outcome of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya in a way that she has not. He said in a speech on terrorism in 2013 that "any US military action in foreign land risks creating more enemies" and that the Washington foreign establishment's tendency to seek ill-considered military solutions was self-defeating.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates would write that when Hillary Clinton was pushing for bombing Libya in meetings in 2011: "I would ask, 'Can I just finish the two wars we're already in before you going looking for new ones?'"

All this is good news for Isis and al-Qaida, whose spectacular growth since September 11 is mainly due to the US helping to spread the chaos in which they flourish.

Obama could see the risks and limitations of military force, but Clinton may play straight into their hands.
Bombardier's much-anticipated C Series jet has made its debut, with its first customer Swiss Air flying a CS 100 from Zurich to Paris

Bombardier's much-anticipated C Series jet has made its debut, with its first customer Swiss Air flying a CS 100 from Zurich to Paris.

Wings made in Belfast by around 400 of Bombardier's 5,000-strong workforce bore the craft on its journey, culminating in a safe landing at Paris Charles de Gaulle at 2.33pm yesterday.

Michael Ryan, vice-president and general manager of Bombardier in Belfast, said: "This is another major milestone in the C Series aircraft programme.

"The advanced composite wings for the C Series aircraft, produced using a patented process developed by our Belfast engineers, represent a step change in aircraft wing design and manufacture, and our employees and supply chain should be justly proud."

Before yesterday's successful flight, there had been some turbulence for the C Series project. It was launched two years later than expected, and $2bn over-budget - resulting in the Canadian company negotiating a $1bn funding boost from the regional government in Quebec.

Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey, who is a vice chairman of Westminster's all-party parliamentary group on aerospace, said he was impressed with the craft after exploring it during Farnborough Air Show, which took place this week.

"The windows are bigger than its Boeing 737 and Airbus A 319 competitors," he said. "It has super-efficient engines, much bigger locker space and more room per passenger per seat."

He said his party had first become involved with the C Series 14 years ago when he lobbied the then-Chancellor Gordon Brown for financial support.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton said: "This success affirms Northern Ireland's critical role in the successful execution of the C Series programme spanning a period of eight years since its launch at Farnborough Air Show in 2008."

The C Series has now attracted 370 orders, including an order for 125 C S100 from Delta Airlines in the US announced in April.

While many manufacturers were unveiling new orders during Farnborough Air Show this week, there were no new deals for Bombardier. But its president of commercial aircraft Fred Cromer has said he is confident more orders will come over the remainder of this year.
A Belfast couple's campaign to save their dog after he was seized by Belfast City Council has raised over 5000 in less than 24 hours.

Joanne Meadows said she was shocked on Friday when police officers and council workers arrived at her home and took Hank away, and turned to Facebook to vent her heartache.

"To whoever reported Hank to the council for 'looking like a pitbull' - thank you so much for not even giving me the courtesy of speaking to me first," she wrote in a post that was shared thousands of times across the world.

Joanne has launched a social media campaign to save Hank, and more than 15,000 people have liked the page.

They have also set up a crowdfunding page to help raise money for their legal costs.

The online appeal has raised over 4,545 in less than 24 hours.

Joanne's partner Leonard Collins posted: "Hank was taken from my home by 8 police officers and 4 dog wardens. He has been condemned to die because he looks like a pitbull.

"Our only legal recourse is to fight this in the courts. We will do anything to save Hank, he is a much loved part of our family. He is more than a pet. The best chance at returning Hank to his home is to prove that he is not dangerous, this is costly due to the need for professional opinion."

He also has thanked everyone who had shown support.

He added they do not plan to speak to the media until they have consulted with a lawyer.

Expand Close A campaign has been launched to save Hank the dog / Facebook

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Whatsapp A campaign has been launched to save Hank the dog

"Joanne and I are both overwhelmed with the genuine compassion that is being expressed", he said, "We are sorry that we haven't had the opportunity to get back to everyone but we do very much appreciate you reaching out," he posted on the Save Hank page on Facebook.

"We are aware of all of the support and pressure groups and before we speak to them or the media regarding Hank we feel it is prudent to meet with our legal counsel.

"This should be happening early next week. The same goes for blood testing issues, this will be discussed with our solicitors.

"Joanne and I have always been aware of the discriminatory nature of BSL legislation but recent events have solidified our opinions on the matter.

"Eight police officers and four dog wardens removed Hank from my home yesterday, three days after a warrant was signed by a judge."

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A spokeswoman for Belfast City Council said: "The council has a statutory duty in relation to the enforcement of the Dogs (NI) Order 1983 as amended. The dog known as Hank has been taken in for assessment, and it would be inappropriate to comment further while this assessment is ongoing.

"We would like to assure those who have expressed concern about the dog's welfare that he is being well looked after and his needs are being met."

Two years ago, a campaign to save a Belfast dog named Lennox hit the headlines around the world.

Lennox was seized by Belfast City Council in 2010 as an "illegal pit-bull terrier type" dog, and was put to sleep in 2012 following a lengthy legal battle.
Pacemaker press 16/07/2016. Shots have been fired through the windows of a house in Tollnamona Court in West Belfast. The shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture Mark marlow/pacemaker press

Pacemaker press 16/07/2016. Shots have been fired through the windows of a house in Tollnamona Court in West Belfast. The shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture Mark marlow/pacemaker press

Pacemaker press 16/07/2016. Shots have been fired through the windows of a house in Tollnamona Court in West Belfast. The shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture Mark marlow/pacemaker press

Pacemaker press 16/07/2016. Shots have been fired through the windows of a house in Tollnamona Court in West Belfast. The shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture Mark marlow/pacemaker press

Three people including a young child have escaped injury after shots were fired at a house in West Belfast. The shooting incident happened in Tollnamona Court in the early hours of Saturday.The child, along with a man and woman, were uninjured after shots were fired through the front window and door of the house. Mandatory Credit - Picture by Justin Kernoghan

A man, woman and child have survived after shots were fired at a house in the Tollnamona Court areas of west Belfast

The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The PSNI say that they received a report that a number of shots were fired through the front window and door of the house at around 2.40am.

A man, woman and child who were upstairs in the house at the time of the shooting were not injured.

Detective Sergeant Keith Wilson said: We are currently working to establish a motive for this incident and I would appeal to anyone with any information to contact detectives at Musgrave on 101.

Sinn Fein councillor Emma Groves has condemned the shooting.

"An elderly couple and their grandchild was in the home at the time of the shooting and thankfully no one was hurt," she said.

"Anyone with information about this incident should bring it forward to the PSNI."
The heartbroken father of a Royal Irish reservist who died suddenly has paid a moving tribute to his son, saying he was "incredibly proud" of him.

Up to 1,000 mourners turned out yesterday at his funeral to say a final farewell to Andrew McFarland.

Lance Corporal McFarland, a father-of-three, passed away on July 12 at his home in Ballymena. Described by devastated colleagues as "the epitome of the Irish warrior", he had received commendations and survived being shot at.

The 32-year-old was buried with military honours.

L/C McFarland's father Allan said his son was a one-off.

"He received several commendations for saving his colleagues," he said, referring to his son's two tours in Afghanistan.

"There are photos and messages to him in the war museum in London.

"It was his ambition from a young age to serve in the Army, I have always been incredibly proud of him.

"This week has been very hard on all the family - particularly his mother."

He said his son's friends and colleagues have been sharing photographs of him on Facebook in remembrance, one of which has been liked 14,000 times.

"He was a one-off. When he was shot during an ambush in Afghanistan, the bullet passed through the magazine of his gun and ended up in his pouch - he immediately popped up and fought on, he had no fear in him," his father said.

"I have that magazine and will always keep it," he added.

L/C McFarland had earned a distinguished military record through service in Afghanistan, and also at the London Olympics in 2012.

Most recently he had been serving on the Guard of the Army Reserve Centre in Lowfield Camp, Ballymena.

His colleagues described him as having "epitomised everything that a reservist in 2 R Irish should be; a hugely respected and operationally experienced soldier".

Commanding officer Lt Col David Kenny said the local regiment are devastated by L/C McFarland's death.

"He was always volunteering to be the point man in Afghanistan and putting his brother soldiers before himself," he said.

"But our loss is nothing compared to that of his family; and our thoughts and prayers are with them, especially his wife, Gemma, and his children, Tamzin, Scott and Jay."

Cpl Powers, Guard Commander in Ballymena, said the world will be a "worse place" without him.

"Andy McFarland was loved by his colleagues and peers alike," he said.

"He was always there to lend a hand when someone needed help.

"I could not have maintained the high level of standards that we have without him as my guard second in command. But most of all he was my friend and I loved him like my own brother."

His family requested that those who wished to make a donation in his memory do so to Combat Stress, a charity which helps to support soldiers.

Just two years ago Mr McFarland was among a modern day 'Band of Brothers' from Ballymena - all former soldiers or reservists - who took on the demanding Five Peaks Challenge conquering some of the highest peaks in the UK to raise money for ABF The Soldiers' Charity.

Royal Irish veteran turned UUP MLA Andy Allen was among the hundreds of mourners at the funeral yesterday.

"It is important that all soldiers are made aware that there are support services to help them through any difficult time," he said.

"There is Combat Stress, my own organisation (Andy Allen Veteran Support) which provides counselling services, but it is vital that there is a joined up approach to help people.

"We see people every day from a range of backgrounds who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Falklands and all over."

Mr McFarland is survived by his wife Gemma, children Tamzin, Scott and Jay, his parents Betty and Allan, and his siblings Derek, Amanda and Scott.

The Combat Stress 24-hour helpline can be contacted on 0800 138 1619, and Andy Allen Veteran Support can be contacted on 028 9074 7071.
A 28-year-old man has been charged with possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

A 28-year-old man has been charged with possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

The charges come following the discovery of a viable device in north Belfast on Thursday.

Detectivex from Reactive and Organised Crime at Musgrave Street PSNI station have charged the 28-year- old man with possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

A 29 year old female has been released pending a report to the PPS.

The man is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court on Monday July 18.

As is normal procedure all charges will be reviewed by the PPS.
Theresa May has said that while she is willing to listen to Nicola Sturgeon's thoughts on Scotland having a different relationship with the EU to the rest of the UK, a second independence referendum is not on the cards.

After the Prime Minister met Scotland's First Minister in Edinburgh in one of her first engagements, she said she looked forward to more "constructive and positive discussions".

Ms Sturgeon indicated she had received an assurance from Mrs May that Westminster would be "open and flexible" over the Brexit process.

Asked if Scotland could have a different relationship with the EU, Mrs May replied: "I want to get the best possible deal for the UK, but I'm willing to listen to options. I've been very clear with the First Minister that I want the Scottish Government to be fully engaged in our discussions and our considerations."

And asked if she would authorise a second referendum, she said: "I think the question is, should there be another referendum? As far as I'm concerned the Scottish people had their vote. A very clear message came through, and both the UK and the Scottish Government said they would abide by that.

"We now have the challenge though, as a United Kingdom, to ensure that we get the best possible deal for the whole of the United Kingdom.

"I'm very clear that the Government I lead will be for all parts of the United Kingdom and for all people."

Speaking after the meeting, Ms Sturgeon said: "I was very pleased that Theresa May said that she was absolutely willing to consider any options."

Mrs May said she was keen to visit Scotland so early in her tenure as Prime Minister to demonstrate how "very important" the country is to her.

"When I stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street on Wednesday, I made clear that I believe in the United Kingdom," she added.

The European Commission has said it will not hold Brexit negotiations with any part of the UK until the Prime Minister triggers withdrawal under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

The Prime Minister confirmed she had discussed the timescale for initiating the mechanism with Ms Sturgeon.
An investigation has begun into the suspicious death of a mother-of-four from Newtownards whose body was found in her home two days after she attended an Eleventh Night bonfire.

Detectives are appealing for witnesses who may have seen Joanne Thompson (33) at the bonfire at Dakota Avenue in the West Winds estate.

Ms Thompson's mother found her lying face down on her bed in her home on Old Mill Court on Wednesday morning.

She had moved to the town centre just six months ago from West Winds, where the rest of her family lived.

Neighbours in Old Mill Court said they were shocked by the news.

They added the area was considered a quiet part of the Co Down town.

Harry McMullan (79), who lived next door to Ms Thompson, raised the alarm with the emergency services.

He said Ms Thompson frequently offered to help him with errands.

He added: "She was a lovely girl who would have done anything to help anyone.

"She was a good girl who kept herself to herself and didn't mean any harm to anyone.

"I've lived here for 40 years and I haven't seen anything like this before."

A teenager was slashed with a knife at the same bonfire, and residents in the estate said there were several fights on the night.

However, it is not known if the events are connected or whether Ms Thompson was involved in any of them.

Homemaker Joanne was a trained hairdresser who was also qualified in catering.

She is understood to have separated from her partner Michael, and is survived by her sons Jamie, Carter, Curtis and Micka.

The children were not in the house at the time.

Detective Inspector Chris Wilson said: "We are making enquiries into events leading up to Joanne being found and are making two specific appeals for help from the local community.

"The first is to people who attended a bonfire in the West Winds estate at Dakota Avenue on the Eleventh Night. We want to hear from anyone who witnessed any disturbance or altercation at the bonfire.

"The second appeal is to anyone who noticed any activity around Joanne's home at Old Mill Court between 9pm on Tuesday, July 12 and 11am on Wednesday, July 13.

"We are making a number of enquiries and studying the findings of a post-mortem examination. I would ask anyone with information about Joanne to contact the incident room at Newtownards police station on the non-emergency number 101.

"People can use the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if they want to provide information anonymously."

Independent councillor Jimmy Menagh said the news had stunned people in the tight-knit community.

"It was very shocking to hear the news," he said.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the family at this tragic time.

"If anyone has any information that might help I urge them to take it straight to the PSNI."
A probe has been launched into the incident

A family have escaped injury after a number of shots were fired at their home in west Belfast. It was reported that the shots were fired through the front window and door of the house in Tollnamona Court in the early hours of Saturday morning.  Matt Mackey / Press Eye

A child has escaped injury after shots were fired at a house in the middle of the night.

Detectives are investigating the shooting incident in Tollnamona Court in west Belfast in the early hours of Saturday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.

It was reported that a number of shots were fired through the front window and door of the house at around 2.40am.

A man, woman and child who were upstairs in the house at the time of the shooting were not injured.

Detective Sergeant Keith Wilson said: "We are currently working to establish a motive for this incident and I would appeal to anyone with any information to contact detectives at Musgrave on 101, quoting reference 176 16/07/16.

"Information can also be given anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
A Queen's University professor has been honoured with one of Spain's highest accolades for outstanding contributions to the Spanish language.

Professor Isabel Torres is head of Spanish and Portuguese at Queen's and specialises in Spain's 17th century Golden Age of literature.

She has now been elected as a member of the Royal Spanish Academy, the national body responsible for setting official standards in the Spanish language.

Professor Torres will now be recognised as a 'miembro correspondiente extranjera de la Real Academia Espanola' (International Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy).

Professor Janice Carruthers, head of the school of modern languages at Queen's, said: "This is a wonderful honour for Professor Torres that recognises the international impact of her research. We are delighted that her work has been celebrated with such a prestigious accolade."

In addition to Professor Torres's roles at Queen's, she is executive editor of renowned international journal The Bulletin Of Spanish Studies, which she recently established at Queen's as one of its two UK bases. She is also president of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Her most recent publications include the 2013 book-length study Love Poetry In The Spanish Golden Age: Eros, Eris And Empire, and a co-edited volume of essays, Spanish Golden Age Poetry In Motion: The Dynamics Of Creation And Conversation, which was published the following year.

Last year Professor Torres hosted international conference Imaginary Matters at Queen's.
Police have received an average of three animal cruelty reports every day since 2011.

Almost 6,000 incidents were logged between January 2011 and May this year, with more than a third of cases related to the mistreatment of dogs or cats.

There were 799 cruelty reports last year alone, including cases of animals being attacked with pellet guns, crossbows and other weapons. Despite the high number of incidents, just 161 people were arrested in the same period.

The figures, obtained by UTV, come after the Belfast Telegraph reported on the case of a cat that was treated for burns after it was caught on an Eleventh Night bonfire in Antrim that was set on fire by people who apparently knew the animal was there.

The cat's owners said they had been told that bystanders begged the bonfire builders not to light the fire, but they were ignored.

While the cat's whiskers were burned off and fur all over its body was singed, it is expected to make a full recovery.

Other animals that have recovered despite terrible abuse include greyhound Norman, who was found with his ears cut off so that identification tattoos could not be used to trace his owners. He later found a loving home.

Jack Russell cross Milo, meanwhile, was found by police who suspected he had been fed a cocktail of drugs, including cocaine, by his owner.

He was rehabilitated at the Crosskennan Lane Animal Sanctuary and found a new life with doctors Chris and Kathy Wilson, from Rosetta in Belfast.

The couple first encountered Milo at Assisi Animal Sanctuary, in Newtownards, where he had been sent for rehoming, and immediately became "smitten" with the dog.

While rehabilitation helped turn Milo's life around, he can still be nervous and afraid in front of strange men.

"Chris is the only man he has met so far that he hasn't been afraid of, so we feel that he chose us," Kathy explained. "We think that he's remarkably well-balanced. He's so friendly and loving, but he doesn't like raised voices."

The USPCA said it has seen "terrible, tragic" cases at its Newry animal hospital, including a cat that had been injured with a crossbow by a group of young people.

"These poor, defenceless animals suffered at the hands of young people just basically looking for an extra laugh in the day," development manager Colleen Dowdall added.

"It's certainly not a laugh for the animal, or for the owners of the animal."

USPCA vet Megan Anderson said that staff at the animal hospital had seen quite a few bullet wounds in the past couple of months.

"You just have the same reactions that the owners have - 'how could you do something like that?' - and it's frustrating when you can't get to the bottom of it," she explained.
'The medicines recovered were of Lithuanian and Russian origin and included pills for the treatment of infections and heart conditions and for pain relief'

A Lithuanian woman has been convicted of selling illegal prescription medicines from her convenience food store.

Birute Sliogeriene (54) was fined 150 plus a 15 levy at Armagh Magistrates' Court.

The defendant pleaded guilty to three charges concerning the sale of unauthorised pharmacy and prescription-only medicines over a 12 month-period between 2014 and 2015.

The court heard that enforcement officers from the Department of Health's Medicines Regulatory Group visited the Upper English Street shop in Armagh in September 2015, seizing more than 2,500 tablets on open sale.

The medicines recovered were of Lithuanian and Russian origin and included pills for the treatment of infections and heart conditions and for pain relief.

Peter Moore, senior medicines enforcement officer with the Department of Health said: "If you buy medicines from unregulated high street sources like this, you very well may be receiving a product that is unlicensed, fake or could react adversely with any other medication you take.

"People should only take prescription-only medicines after an appropriate consultation with their GP or other healthcare professional, and they should also source them from a registered pharmacy."

Professor Mike Mawhinney, head of the Medicines Regulatory Group, added: "The range of medicines on offer for sale in this case poses a significant risk to public health.

"The department will continue to be vigilant and proactive in the regulation of medicines and maintaining public safety.

"To this end, we will continue to conduct further inspections across Northern Ireland and take action where necessary."
James Brokenshire leaves 10 Downing Street where he was appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on Thursday

New Secretary of State James Brokenshire has warned against any return of a "hard border" between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

On his first full day in office, the man who has replaced Theresa Villiers at the Northern Ireland Office also stressed it will be a key part of his role to "get the best deal" for Northern Ireland as the UK exits the European Union.

The MP who had wanted the country to remain in the EU - unlike Mrs Villiers who was a strong Brexit campaigner - is expected to make his first visit to the province as Secretary of State early next week.

And as the final touches to new Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet were being made yesterday, Martin McGuinness admitted he had never heard of Mr Brokenshire, a former Immigration Minister, before his appointment was announced on Thursday.

"But I always work on the basis that we have to play the hand we are dealt with," the Deputy First Minister said.

"He is the representative of the British government in relation to the position of Secretary of State and we will work with him, but it has to be on the recognition by both him and the Prime Minister that the people of the north voted to remain."

Mr McGuinness and First Minister Arlene Foster had separate telephone calls with Mr Brokenshire as well as Mrs May on Thursday.

Then Mr McGuinness underlined his argument that any hardening of the border would "gravely undermine" the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Brokenshire said: "We certainly don't want to see a return to the border of the past.

"We don't want to see that hard border coming into place and I think there is a real sense of commitment between the UK Government and also the Irish government to work together very closely so we don't see that returning."

During the referendum campaign, Mrs May had indicated she expected some form of border control would be required in Ireland if people in the UK voted to leave the EU.

But the new Secretary of State said the common travel area pre-dated UK membership of the common market and he had already held talks with Irish Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

"We now need to respect the view from across the United Kingdom that the UK should leave the EU and to get the best possible arrangements for Northern Ireland. That's the key part of my role," he told RTE.

On whether the millions of pounds of EU subsidies paid to Northern Ireland farmers will be maintained by Westminster in the aftermath of Brexit, Mr Brokenshire said ministers were "looking very closely" at the issue. And he said he believed that the rights of EU citizens living in the UK could be guaranteed after the country has left the European Union - but only if the rights of UK citizens living in the remaining EU member states were similarly respected.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has described how officials worked through the night helping British people caught up in the crisis in Turkey.

The attempted military coup and unrest is believed to have left more than 250 dead and 1,440 injured, with 2,839 military personnel detained by the authorities.

Mr Johnson, who is only days into his new job, said the Foreign Office was "in what Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service calls 'crisis mode'" when he arrived there on Saturday morning.

He said "dozens of people had been up all night, calmly monitoring screens and coolly assessing fresh information", and some of them had worked consecutive shifts without sleep as they dealt with the needs of UK nationals abroad.

In a column in the Sunday Express, Mr Johnson, who has Turkish ancestry, wrote: " Most of the officials - as you would expect - were working on the unfolding crisis in Turkey, where the failed coup had myriad implications for this country.

"To take one example: at about 3am yesterday morning we realised that there was a party of British passengers who were changing planes at Istanbul's massive Ataturk airport.

"They were stuck airside as the coup attempt began, and their onwards flight was grounded. Turkish president Erdogan was apparently planning to land at that airport and restore his authority. What if the rebels decided to attack the airport?

"Someone needed to get through to the party and, as so often happens, the UK happened to have a diplomat on the spot. A UK official also transiting through the airport and trapped airside at Istanbul was able to meet up with the party and provide an immediate link to London.

"Elsewhere in Turkey - at the resorts and the big transport hubs - UK consular staff were out, many in hi-vis jackets, providing information and travel advice, just as they had been doing in Nice only hours earlier.

"As I talked by teleconference first to the Turkish foreign minister and then to our staff in Istanbul and Ankara, I was filled with amazement at the reach and reputation of this country around the world."

Meanwhile, the Government's Cobra emergency committee will meet on Sunday morning as officials agree to keep travel advice to the country "under review".

Downing Street said the National Security Adviser chaired a meeting of senior officials on Saturday to discuss the potential repercussions as the Turkish government began cracking down on its opponents.

The Turkish government purged 2,745 judges seen as loyal to an exiled cleric the country's president blames for the failed coup.

The Foreign Office updated its travel advice, saying the situation appeared to be calming but remained potentially volatile.

Consular staff are continuing to provide assistance to those affected by airport closures and Foreign Office staff are in close contact with the UK's largest travel association Abta.

Britons were advised to avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant, although the country's coastal resorts did not appear to be significantly affected.

Flights to and from Turkish airports were "returning to normal", the Foreign Office said.

US president Barack Obama pledged to work with the Turkish government to help maintain safety and called on it "to act within the rule of law" and avoid actions leading to further instability.
A former police officer who raped two women has been jailed for 18 years

A former police officer who raped two women has been jailed for 18 years.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Jeffrey Howard Davies (45) thought he was "untouchable" when he carried out the sex attacks - with his victims too scared to speak out for over 10 years.

However, the depraved past of the married father-of-two caught up with him when they finally broke their silence after learning of Davies' conviction for attacking other women.

He was sacked from South Wales Police three years ago after being jailed for sexually assaulting two women in 2010.

During his trial, jurors were told Davies conned a vulnerable woman into thinking she was going to a police station, but instead drove her to a dark mountain top before raping her.

The second victim, who also cannot be named, was violently attacked in her own home by a drunk Davies.

As well as the 18 years behind bars, he will also be on the sex offenders' register for life and has been banned from ever working with children.
A tank moves into position in Ankara as people attempt to stop the coup attempt (AP)

THIS is the moment soldiers blocking a bridge in Turkey held up their hands in surrender hours after staging a military coup.

Turkey's president has told the nation that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

At least 161 people were killed in the country's overnight military coup attempt, it has been announced, while more than 1,400 people were wounded in the chaos.

More than 2,800 people have been detained.

Most of those arrested were from lower military ranks, an official said.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency said all soldiers involved in the attempted coup at the military headquarters in the capital, Ankara, have been taken into custody.

The report said anti-terrorism police will now conduct a "detailed search" at the headquarters.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned coup supporters that "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey", according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office.

"Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the night as a "dark stain for Turkish democracy" and pinned blame for the attempted coup on the "parallel terrorist organisation".

That term is used by authorities to describe the movement of US-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen.

"They will receive every punishment they deserve," the prime minister said, noting the perpetrators were now in the hands of the justice system.

News agency Anadolu said military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar is taking over the command of the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

Fighting continued throughout the morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex.

Television footage showed images of destruction at the parliament, which according to a politician was targeted by three bombs, with broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Mr Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the south-east.

Turkey, a Nato member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq.

A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Addressing supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Mr Erdogan told the crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52% of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Justice minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings, according to the Anadolu news agency.

"There is nowhere they have proper control," Mr Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

At the Etimesgut armoured units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the attempted coup were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police, it was reported.

Meanwhile, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said Turkey has demanded the extradition of officers who went to Greece, NTV television reported.

Greece's defence ministry said seven military personnel and one civilian landed there in a Blackhawk military helicopter and asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry.

Anadolu quoted Mr Cavusoglu as saying that "we have demanded the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers who fled to Greece by helicopter".

Mr Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got under way, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late on Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated".

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," General Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Mr Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara.

The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest against the attempted coup, and that some people had been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

Special forces police appeared to be deployed in the grounds of the parliament complex, just across the street from the military headquarters.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities.

In his TV address, Mr Erdogan also blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Mr Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt had been repelled. The senior official told the Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country.

Later, Anadolu said a top body overseeing judges and prosecutors had dismissed 2,745 judges across the country.

The agency said the emergency meeting of the Judges and Prosecutors High Council was held just hours after Turkish forces quashed the attempted coup.

The report said the meeting was called to discuss disciplinary measures against members suspected of links to the movement led by Fethullah Gulen.

AP
French Republican guards lower the French flag to half-mast at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris

The scene at the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the town hours after deadly attack

The bullet-riddled truck used by the attacker. (Photo by Patrick Aventurier/Getty Images)

Northern Ireland holiday makers have spoken of their escape from terror after a truck driver ploughed through crowds along the French Riviera seafront killing at least 84 people.

Coalisland man Damien Hughes (59) was just yards from the Nice seafront when the terrorist struck.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph last night, he said: "I'd been to the firework display. After it was over, I and a couple of friends went to the old town of Nice just a block away from the Promenade des Anglais.

"We were sitting outside one of the Irish bars there when crowds of panicked people began to stream in from the seafront.

"The police told us to get inside the bar and stay there.

"From the window, I could see distressed men and women running, some of them with frightened, distressed children.

"People said there had been some kind of shoot-out with some terrorists on the promenade. That's when I knew things were much more serious."

Mr Hughes said it was only a matter of sheer luck that he was not caught in the terror attack itself.

"It all happened only about 100 yards from me," he said.

"I've been thinking about that today.

"It's terrible to think of families taking their children to watch a fireworks display, the kids had probably been looking forward to it for weeks ... and then this deliberate attack on liberte, egalite and fraternite.

"That was what the terrorist wanted to destroy."

Last night the killer was named as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a man of French-Tunisian origin who was not known to intelligence services.

He is said to have pulled a gun from the cab as part of the premeditated attack before being shot dead by police, with people fleeing into the sea in a bid to escape.

Hundreds of people were injured in the deadly attack while around 50 people are still fighting for their lives.

France has declared three days of national mourning following the atrocity

Co Antrim mother Zoe Tisdale (37), who is on holiday in the French city with her husband and two young children, described the moment they heard gunshots - and how they were only 200 yards from the 25-tonne truck when it ploughed through hundreds of people along Nice's seafront.

Zoe, from Ballyclare, was celebrating Bastille Day with her husband, Andrew (52) and their two children, Molly (11) and nine-year-old Finn on the beach at the Promenade des Anglais when the killer struck.

"We were making our way off the beach and on to the promenade when all of a sudden we heard gunshots and then people started running, screaming, shouting and all we could do was follow the crowd," she said.

"We knew something was not right as people ran into the side streets. All we knew is that we had to find a safe place and off the main area, we knew something bad had happened.

"We went up back streets with crowds and we were running next to French people and tried to ask them what was happening and a lady kept shouting 'shooting'. I felt we were in such danger and fleeing for our lives, we had to get the children safe."

Zoe described how the evening turned from a relaxed, friendly atmosphere to carnage in the streets on the French Riviera.

"All of a sudden people were panicking and no one knew what was happening, where to go or what to do," she said.

"We didn't realise what happened until we got back to the apartment and checked Twitter and saw all the pictures and we realised how lucky we were, that things could have been a lot worse, that we were involved in a horrific experience.

"Molly and Finn were very upset and we had to try and keep calm for them.

"Molly had flip-flops on and she had to take them off and run in her bare feet as we had to run so fast.

"We are still in shock and slept together in the one room as we wanted to be together. It seems a bit surreal and we know how lucky we have been."

The family, who are staying in Nice until Tuesday, returned to the promenade yesterday to lay flowers for the 84 people killed.

SDLP councillor Shauna Cusack from Londonderry had been visiting Nice with friends for a break and said she felt someone was watching over her after she changed her plans to go to the Promenade des Anglais at the last minute.

"We were watching the fireworks across the bay from where the attack actually happened, it was a lovely evening, but we went back to the hotel and couldn't believe what had transpired just a few miles down the road. It was just unbelievable," she said.

"It was where we had actually planned to go that evening, we'd planned to go back there for our last evening to watch the fireworks and join in the fun.

"We changed our mind at the last minute because there was a firework display being held locally, otherwise God knows what could have happened.

"Someone was looking after us.

"It's really hard to fathom, to take in the tragic loss of life for no reason."
Tell the truth: the Pheme project began in 2014 and is designed to show reporters whats true and whats made up

Both the bookies and the pollsters predicted the outcome of the European Referendum incorrectly, but do you know who got it right? Twitter.

According to analysis from Pheme, of the 291,000 tweets where a vote was expressed, leave votes outnumbered remain significantly - and that's not even Pheme's main aim.

Named after the Greek goddess of fame and rumours, the project, which began in 2014, is designed to assess online rumours, to help journalists determine what's true and what's made up.

"Professor Rob Procter (now at Warwick) and I were discussing the manual analysis his team did with the Guardian on analysing rumours circulating during the England riots in 2011 - for example, that the London Eye was on fire," says Kalina Bontcheva, Professor of Text Analytics at the University of Sheffield, who works on Pheme.

"My background is in automatic text analysis, so we discussed how rumour analysis and detection can be automated or, at least, support be offered to decision makers to help them with the process."

The Pheme dashboard uses a set of past rumours, which are manually assessed by journalists as to whether they are true, false or unconfirmed.

Natural language processing techniques are used to assess tweets for things like positive or negative sentiment, locations, organisations and hashtags, then an algorithm determines whether that tweet supports, denies or questions a particular rumour.

"Then another machine learning algorithm tries to determine overall veracity," Bontcheva explains. "This may not always be possible with high confidence, in which case, the journalists themselves can make that judgement based on the automatically collected evidence."

Due for completion in early 2017, the partnership has brought together nine teams from universities and research groups in the UK, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Kenya and Switzerland, and has so far examined rumours that circulated during shootings in Ferguson and Ottawa in 2014, as well as the Germanwings crash last year.

"We have also just initiated studies of some hoaxes and conspiracy theories that circulated during the referendum, but this is still in early stages," Bontcheva says.

With news now a 24-7 business and social media sites increasingly becoming an indispensable source for journalists, Pheme could prove useful.

"Determining fact from fiction online is in many ways harder than ever, with false information able to spread far and wide within seconds on platforms like Twitter - particularly in breaking news situations," says the Press Association's social media editor, Stephen Jones.
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Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad looks on during a rally in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, March 27, 2016.

A proposal by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to launch a new party could attract people who are unhappy with corruption allegations surrounding the current PM and who question Najib Razaks leadership of the ruling party, analysts told BenarNews.

The plan announced this week by Mahathir could work because those looking to break from the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) may find existing opposition parties unappealing and not easy to connect with, Wong Chin Huat, who heads the political science and social science unit at the Penang Institute, told BenarNews.

Some people will complain about having another new party [but] with time, they will realize that perhaps only another splinter party can take another chunk out of UMNOs support base. The last splinter party, the Peoples Justice Party (PKR), may have reached its maximum for now, he said.

Sivamurugan Pandian, a political analyst at Universiti Sains Malaysia, agreed, saying a new party might recruit members who believe in its goals.

It should also depend on what is the struggle of the political party. If it is beyond something which we have already seen in the existing parties, then people might be interested in looking at what it has to offer, the professor told BenarNews.

The biggest challenge is to mobilize nationwide support, Sivamurugan said.

Mahathir, who served as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and leads the Save Malaysia movement that aims to remove Prime Minister Najib from office, announced Thursday that efforts were under way to form a new party that would contest Malaysias 14th general election. While scheduled for 2018, recent local election wins could lure Najib to call an early election for next year, observers have said.

Opposition reacts

Mahathirs proposal is leading to calls for cooperation from other opposition leaders.

Pakatan Harapan (PH), the existing opposition bloc, consists of PKR  led by jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim  the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the National Trust Party (PAN). A faith-based party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), split from the bloc in June 2015, insisting that it would act as a second opposition bloc against Najibs ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

An opposition bloc that is united and strong does not have to be in a formal coalition. It can be Pakatan Harapan consisting of more than the current three parties, it could be Pakatan Harapan plus plus, PHs secretariat chief, Saifuddin Abdullah, said in a statement issued Friday, according to Malay Mail.

A PKR leader responded positively to the proposal.

We discussed many things with him and we agreed to move toward cooperation to have a coalition with all the opposition parties in Malaysia, PKR Vice President Chua Tian Chang told Agence France-Presse.

Mahathir says no to leading new party

Speaking to reporters after a three-hour meeting in Putrajaya with several opposition leaders and former UMNO members, Mahathir, 91, on Thursday dismissed calls for him to lead the new party or to be a candidate in the next general election.

I think there is a need for a new party to be formed, to represent people who are not yet in the group but wish and have the same objective as this group, he said.

Malaysias longest serving prime minister, Mahathir has campaigned against Najib over allegations of corruption against the prime minister, including reports that nearly U.S. $700 million was funnelled into Najibs personal bank accounts through entities linked to state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib has denied any wrongdoing or that he used any of the money for personal gain. In January, Malaysias attorney general cleared the prime minister of potential corruption charges, saying the money was a donation from Saudi Arabias royal family.

Few UMNO members expected to join

Azizuddin Mohd Sani, a professor of politics and international relations at Universiti Utara Malaysia, predicts that only a few UMNO members will join the new party despite Mahathirs huge influence nationwide.

The question remains whether this party will receive support from the people, he told BenarNews. This really is how this new party can contribute to the people.

Meanwhile, political analyst Mohamad Redzuan Othman predicted that the new party would not last for long because, in his view, Mahathirs only aim is to remove Najib from office. If that objective were to be achieved, Mahathir would re-join UMNO, similar to what he did when his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was forced to resign as prime minister in 2009.

He needs a new party because his objective is different than DAPs and PKRs. Removing Najib is the sole objective, the analyst told BenarNews.
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Community members, black and white, police and civilian, joined together Friday night at the YWCA Carlisle to grieve and heal from violence in the community and violence that has consistently made headlines.

We gather tonight to remember and honor the lives that have been lost to violence over the last month; from the attack on the LGBT community in Orlando to the shooting deaths in the African American communities across our country to the assassinations of Dallas police officers protecting our rights to peaceful protest, said Laura Masgalas, program director at the local YWCA.

Josh Crain, pastor at The Meeting House, delivered a message of self-reflection and understanding.

What I want say tonight is not political, Crain said. ... What I find often happens is when you mention something a bit controversial, people will try to put you in a category so they can quickly dismiss everything you have to say.

He stated that he will never know what it is like to be a minority, just as he does not know what it is like to be a police officer, but he understands what it is to be a father and a friend.

So, while I dont know what its like to live in either of these spaces, I do know what we have to have for one another is empathy, Crain said. The world all around us will tell you that we have to choose between different groups. Are you loyal to the black community or are you loyal to the law enforcement? That is a lie that we have to reject. I refuse to choose between those two.

Crain said society needs to acknowledge its faults when it comes to race.

While some would reject the idea of self-reflection, Crain embraced it.

Its not loyalty to a family or a country to refuse to examine your mistakes, Crain said. It is only through examining your mistakes, grieving your mistakes that you can hope to overcome them and make them better.

I love our country, but we have to be honest that we continue to have major racial problems in our country, and it is not disloyal to our country to say that, he added. In fact, it may be the most loyal thing to do to point to our short comings and say we can do better.
ANKARA, Turkey  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left at least 17 dead and scores wounded.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts continued to ring out in the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning, including a bomb that hit the parliament complex.

Speaking on national television from Istanbul, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, said more than 120 arrests were made.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Istanbul's Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got under way, his office had declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers blocked entry to Istanbul's airport, where four tanks were stationed, according to the private Dogan news agency. Two other tanks and a military vehicle were stationed in front of the VIP terminal. Dogan said the soldiers had entered the tower and stopped all flights.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Private NTV television reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover as shots rang out.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers.

During the fighting, 17 police officers were killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara, Anadolu said.

An official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital in Istanbul said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds, but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Earlier, Nuh Yilmaz, a spokesman for Turkish National Intelligence told CNN Turk the coup attempt had been quashed, adding that military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was back in control. However, Erdogan raised doubts about that during his address, saying, "I don't know what the situation is concerning our chief of military staff."

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

ANKARA, Turkey  Turkish officials said Saturday morning the government had appeared to have repelled an attempted military coup following a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left at least 17 dead, according to state-run media.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an interview over FaceTime with the CNN Turk station, dismissed the military action as "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces." His office declined to disclose his whereabouts, saying only that he was in a secure location.

Turks took to the streets of cities across the country waving national flags throughout the attempted coup to show their support for the government.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Earlier, Nuh Yilmaz, a spokesman for Turkish National Intelligence told CNN Turk the coup attempt had been quashed. Yilmaz added that Gen. Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, was back in control and "everything is returning to normal."

The chaos, included a reported bomb explosion at the parliament, capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake up and a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media.

Critics also have blamed Erdogan for taking a hard line on Turkey's Kurdish rebels after the collapse of peace efforts, leading to deadly clashes that have increased military casualties. His government has also come under scrutiny for allegedly tolerating the flow of fighters and weapons to rebel groups fighting the government in Syria in the early years of the civil war there, fueling the growth of the Islamic State group. That policy, according to analysts, backfired when Turkey took on a more active role in the U.S.-led coalition against the extremists, who have since been blamed for a series of deadly bombings on Turkish soil.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers blocked entry to Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport, where four tanks were stationed, according to the private Dogan news agency. Two other tanks and a military vehicle were stationed in front of the VIP terminal. Dogan said the soldiers had entered the tower and stopped all flights.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Private NTV television reported that one helicopter was shot down.

"The military commanders have made it clear that the coup plotters violated the chain of command," presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told NTV. "The people have shown that they stand in solidarity with democracy and the elected government."

But the sounds of explosions and continued to ring out in the capital.

During the fighting, 17 police officers were killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara, Anadolu said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had called Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to express his government's "absolute support for Turkey's democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions." NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said he spoke to Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

During his FaceTime interview, Erdogan reached out to his supporters to take to the streets to shore up the government.

"Let us gather in our squares, at our airports as the people and let that minority group come upon as with their tanks and artillery and do whatever they wish to do," Erdogan said.

Turks appeared to heed that call early Saturday marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in the capital, Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover as shots rang out.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers.

Turkey's state-run news agency said military helicopters attacked the headquarters of TURKSAT satellite station on the outskirts of Ankara and the Ankara police headquarters.

A dozen tanks were seen moving toward a palace used by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers. When a car tried to stop one of the tanks, the tank rammed through the vehicle. Those in the car escaped.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

ANKARA, Turkey  Members of Turkey's armed forces said they had taken control of the country, but Turkish officials said the coup attempt had been repelled early Saturday morning in a night of violence that left at least 17 dead, according to state-run media.

Explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and coup supporters erupted in the capital throughout the night and Turks heeded the president's call to take to the streets to show support for his embattled government.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported a bomb hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara. CNN-Turk television reported some police officers and parliament workers were hurt in the bomb attack.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an interview over FaceTime with the CNN Turk station, dismissed the military action as "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces." His office declined to disclose his whereabouts, saying only that he was in a secure location.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated."

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the state-run Anadolu news agency said. Private NTV television reported that one helicopter was shot down.

By Saturday morning, Nuh Yilmaz, a spokesman for Turkish National Intelligence told CNN Turk that the coup had been quashed, adding that small groups were still active.

During the fighting, 17 police officers were been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara, Anadolu said.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

ANKARA, Turkey  Members of Turkey's armed forces said they had taken control of the country Friday as explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and coup supporters erupted in the capital. Turkey's president remained defiant and called on people to take to the streets to show support for his embattled government.

Turks appeared to heed that call early Saturday marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul waving Turkish flags, according to television footage. Crowds also gathered in the main square in the capital, Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover as shots rang out.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey blamed on the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has included a government shake up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Erdogan, in an interview over FaceTime with the CNN Turk station, dismissed the military action as "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces." His office declined to disclose his whereabouts, saying only that he was in a secure location.

"I'm making a call out to my people. ... Let us gather in our squares, at our airports as the people and let that minority group come upon as with their tanks and artillery and do whatever they wish to do," Erdogan said.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters. Private NTV television reported that one helicopter was shot down.

Others appeared to confirm that the military was not unified in its actions.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

A NATO official at alliance headquarters in Brussels told The Associated Press early Saturday that "we're following events closely," but said he had no other comment. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Nothing in NATO's founding 1949 Washington Treaty says anything about intervening in the internal or political affairs of an alliance member, and Turkey kept its NATO membership following past military coups.

The action began Friday night, with fighter jets buzzing overhead, gunfire erupting outside military headquarters and vehicles blocking two major bridges in Istanbul.

The coup leaders said they had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated."

"All international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue," the military said in the unnamed statement.

Soldiers blocked entry to Istanbul's main Ataturk Airport, where four tanks were stationed, according to the private Dogan news agency. Two other tanks and a military vehicle were stationed in front of the VIP terminal. Dogan said the soldiers had entered the tower and stopped all flights.

Turkey's state-run news agency said military helicopters have also attacked the headquarters of TURKSAT satellite station on the outskirts of Ankara and the Ankara police headquarters.

A dozen tanks were seen moving moving toward a palace used by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers. When a car tried to stop one of the tanks, the tank rammed through the vehicle. Those in the car escaped.

Erdogan told CNN Turk he didn't believe the coup would succeed, adding: "There is absolutely no chain of command here. Right now the chain of command has been put on hold."

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.

"We have no reason to think we've been fully blocked in #Turkey, but we suspect there is an intentional slowing of our traffic in country," the company said in a statement posted on its official public policy account. A spokesperson would not elaborate.

Access to social media has been obstructed during previous periods of political upheaval in the country, according to some Internet watchdog groups, although Turkish authorities have denied involvement and suggested that technical problems were to blame.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says that 17 police officers have been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.

Loud explosions were heard earlier in Turkey's capital after the military said it seized full control of the country.

But government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to play down reports that the military was in control. Erdogan called for citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, and said the coup attempt would be unsuccessful.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

Turkey's Istanbul-based first army commander says the soldiers involved in an attempted coup "represent a small group" and "there is no cause for concern," according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

An earlier statement attributed to the military said that Turkish armed forces have "fully seized control" of the country.

But First Army Commander Umit Dundar told Anadolu that "we are working to solve the problem here. They represent a small group within the First Army Command. There is no cause for concern. We are taking the necessary precautions with (soldiers) who have not joined them and remain within the military chain of command."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government.

Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

ANKARA, Turkey  Turkey's armed forces "fully seized control" of the country Friday, according to a statement from the military published by a Turkish news agency, as gunfire was heard outside military headquarters, fighter jets buzzed over the capital and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. The prime minister, however, said there was an "attempt" at a coup.

Soldiers blocked entry to Ataturk Airport where four tanks were stationed, according to the private Dogan news agency. Two other tanks and a military vehicle were stationed in front of the VIP terminal. The report said the soldiers had entered the tower and stopped all flights.

News reports said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was safe and would make a televised statement soon.

The military said it seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated."

The military statement went on to say that "all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue."

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a group within the military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup.

Yildirim told private NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt," when asked if there was a coup. Yildirim didn't provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any "initiative that would interrupt democracy."

"We are focusing on the possibility of an attempt (coup)," Yildirim said. "There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy."

Military jets were heard flying over Ankara and Istanbul. Gunfire was heard outside Turkey's military headquarters in Ankara, while media reports said ambulances were seen out front.

"There are certain groups who took the arms trusted to them by the state and pointed them toward state employees," Yildirim said. "We shall determine soon who they are. Our security forces have acted against these groups."

The Dogan news agency says one-way traffic on the Bosporus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges were blocked. Video footage showed the bridge being blocked by military vehicles.


For Immediate Release, July 16, 2016 Contact: Katie Davis, (801) 560-2414, kdavis@biologicaldiversity.org Conservationists, Tribes Call on Obama Administration to Support Bears Ears National Monument Hearing Comes as Demand Grows for President Obama to Protect Tribal,

Public Lands Heritage Before Leaving Office BLUFF, Utah The Center for Biological Diversity has joined the tribal communities of southern Utah in asking for permanent protection of the Bears Ears area during todays visit to Bluff, Utah by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie. Hundreds of supporters from across the region are expected to attend the public hearing to express overwhelming support for the designation of Bears Ears National Monument. Todays public hearing comes as congressmen Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduce legislation in the House  legislation that has been roundly denounced by conservation and native communities  designed to appease supporters of the proposed national monument designation. Calls for President Obama to take executive action to protect Bears Ears have been mounting amidst reports of rampant and ongoing grave robbing, destruction of ancient artwork and looting of archaeological sites. The area is also threatened by destructive land uses, such as oil and gas development, mining and unsustainable off-road vehicle use. We thank Secretary Jewell and Undersecretary Bonnie for taking the time to come and hear directly from the local community in Utah about why action is necessary to preserve this place of immense cultural and ecological importance, said Katie Davis, public lands campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. For every person at this hearing supporting the Bears Ears proposal, there are thousands more across the country looking to the president to be a leader in protecting this national treasure. The request for the 1.9-million-acre national monument designation is supported by all the tribal governments in the region, local grassroots Navajo and Ute people and the vast majority of the citizens of Utah. Recent polling showed that 71 percent of Utahns support a Bears Ears National Monument. The Center remains committed to working toward permanent protection of large, public landscapes across the West from extraction and development and supporting tribal-led efforts to preserve areas of cultural importance. In addition to working to secure designation of Bears Ears National Monument, the Center supports the campaign for the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument. Together these proposals would bolster President Obamas conservation legacy by linking protected, public wild spaces across the Colorado Plateau for the benefit of wildlife and future generations. The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Dear Editor:

I am writing in regards to the recent articles and letters about the proposed anti-discrimination ordinance in Carlisle.

Arguments against this ordinance range from ignorance regarding existing laws (local, state and national levels), to the belief that this is akin to legislating morality. For those who feel that this ordinance isnt needed, [Councilperson] Flowers ... says she is aware of several instances of discrimination affecting LGBT residents in the Carlisle region. (6.16.06) There are many who live in fear, knowing that  at any time  their home, or job could be ripped away. Should we not protect against this fear of discrimination?

We MUST protect the rights of those who remain, without this ordinance, vulnerable. We cannot change the past. But, we can learn from it.

As far as the ordinance characterizing those within the LGBTQ community as victims and weaklings, It is not weak, nor victimizing, to request a level playing field. If that were true, we would not have held vigil, 200+ strong (supported by allies and friends), in front of the Old Courthouse, standing together, strong and ready for real change.

One of the things that I love about Carlisle is the balance between old and new, historic mindfulness and forward-thinking. We have the opportunity to stand with 36 other communities in Pennsylvania who are already affirming that ALL should have the same rights, without regard to orientation or gender identity.

Mary Ann Parks

Carlisle
Dear Editor:

Carlisle Borough Council is to be commended for its desire to make every member of the human family feel welcome with the Anti-Discrimination Ordinance. Its goal is laudable, but let us seek community consensus on the method.

As the ordinance notes, we currently enjoy a widely practiced and recognized attitude of tolerance and accommodation among all people. This was evident in our recent public prayer vigil for the Orlando shooting victims, and its threads are interwoven into the fabric of everyday life in Carlisle. How can we build on this?

The ordinance delegates immense enforcement power to an unelected body. It establishes a Human Relations Commission, with whom residents file complaints. The accused cannot plead not guilty, but must write a recollection, then submit to mediation. If no mutually acceptable resolution is reached, the HRC may escalate to hearings and subpoenas, and pressure the accused by persuasion, conference, and conciliation to adopt a solution it deems appropriate.

While judges have law as an objective standard, the HRC and mediators have none, nor professional requirements. What will guide their decisions? Will accusations be public?

Councils admirable goals could be better advanced through other methods, perhaps not legislative. Recent discussions at Dickinson College, following student protests, resulted in increased understanding and empathy among groups which had not previously known each other well. Perhaps these discussions could be a model for the borough at large.

Mayor Tim Scott described our amiable pluralism well when he characterized our beautiful Amani festival as a community of neighbors and friends, eager to celebrate the rich array of cultures that unite us here in the Borough of Carlisle.

Borough Council is to be saluted for their desire to build on this unity. Let us continue public discussion to find the best method.

Angela Smith

Carlisle
Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to have Happiness Department

Published: July 16, 2016

Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to have Happiness Department that will work as knowledge resource centre on the subject of happiness on the lines of Bhutan.

Decision to set up Happiness Department was taken by the state cabinet meeting presided by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Key Facts

The Happiness Department will will work under a working committee headed by a chairman. The committee will evaluate the states gross happiness.

The department will prepare guidelines for coordination between different departments like women and child development, health, and sports for propagating happiness in the state.

It will prescribe action plan and activities for experiencing happiness by identifying and defining the parameters of happiness and efficiency.

It will also undertake constant researches and surveys for expanding means happiness and improve norms to assess them. It will publish reports pertaining to status of happiness.

Bhutan is the first country in the world to come up with the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH). It has fixed standards of living, education, good governance, health and psychological happiness among the various parameters that make its citizens happy.

The World Happiness Report 2016 published by the United Nations ranks India at 118th position among 156 countries.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016

Topics: Happiness Department  Madhya Pradesh  States

Latest E-Books
Union Government launches Transforming India website

Published: July 16, 2016

The Union Government has launched Transforming India Website (www.transformingindia.mygov.in), a repository for sharing the impact of various governance initiatives with citizens in real-time.

It was launched by the Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology and Law & Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi.

Key Facts

The website provides community based platform facilitates for two-way communication between the government and citizens.

It is also a social platform on which users can share their opinions about various initiatives of the government.

The key facet of the website is to promote accountability in major national initiatives, act as a repository of major policies and decisions of Union Government.

It also seeks to provide a central platform to citizens for sharing of transformational changes that they see around themselves.

This website will provide information in a user-friendly format that will enable citizens to view the content in the form of Infographics, e-books, performance dashboard.

It will also present information in videos, daily news corner etc. format and engage with the content by comments and sharing the content through Social Media.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016

Topics: E-governance  Information Technology  National

Latest E-Books
Salai Yaw Aung, member of the ABSDF central leading committee, told KIC News that armed groups in Karen State have a responsibility to explain the peace process to the community.

They should know about their rights he said. Everyone needs to participate in this peace process.

He said some political parties and civil society organisations understand all of the levels of the peace process, but others need more information.

Saw Kyaw Naing, who helped organize the public discussion, said its important for young people to get involved. Youths also need to actively participate in this peace process and be aware of related news and information.

During the event, representatives talked about the joint ceasefire monitoring committee in Karen State.

They explained the implementation of the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) and the frameworks for political dialogue that was finalized on 15 December 2015.

Last year, the ABSDF signed the NCA with eight other groups. The former Thein Sein government only allowed 15 groups to take part, excluding 6 other groups. Mainly for this reason, seven groups that were invited refused to sign.

The ABSDF signed an individual ceasefire with the government on 5 August 2013; the fourteenth armed group to do so.

Formed by student activists that fled to the jungle following the 1988 uprising, the armed group's core membership is mainly derived from city centres.

Reporting by Nan Wai Phyo Zar for KIC News

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by BNI staff
SNLD MP from Lashio District Sai Wan Leng Kham explained the event that was convened in association with the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network (MEE Net) evaluated possible implications of large scale dam projects.

Although electricity is needed, Sai Wan Leng Kham said, consideration needs to be given to minimize the disadvantages these projects can have for the community.

For example, if the Mong Ton dam one of the tallest dams in Southeast Asia goes ahead there will be extensive flooding over a large section of eastern Shan State. The dam is to be built by a consortium of firms led by China Three Gorges Corporation.

Sai Wan Leng Kham said: There arent any policies that concern electricity in Burma. We can try to find methods from this workshop to submit policies and laws related to electricity in parliament.

The Action for Shan Rivers (ASR) sent an open letter to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi criticizing four dams proposed on Namtu/Myitnge River in northern Shan State. One includes, the Middle Yeywa dam (700 MW) financed by Norways state-owned SN Power in Nawng Khio Township.

ASR's new report Save the Namtu River said there were serious concerns about the findings of the pre-feasibility study for the dam projects after it failed to account for ongoing conflicts in northern Shan State by indicating that no major barriers existed for the planned projects.

North of the Upper Yeywa dam site, the Burma Army has been launching extensive offensives against Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army, including airstrikes.

Norway a major donor of the countrys peace process, according to the report is investing in contested areas of northern Shan State.
Evidence shows Bradley Glen Turner killed Bobby Lee Graham Jr. during a knife fight under a bridge on Nov. 19, 2014, just off of Highway 32 in St. Francois County.

Turner was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the killing of 27-year-old Graham. A three-day trial in May ended with convictions for armed criminal action and the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter.

On July 15, Circuit Court Judge Wendy Wexler Horn sentenced Turner to serve 35 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

He was sentenced to 15 years on the voluntary manslaughter charge and the judge gave him 20 years for armed criminal action, said St. Francois County Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin.

Horn also ordered that Turner serve the sentences consecutively, which means he will be required to complete one sentence before beginning the second.

Mahurin said Ben Campbell, the assistant prosecuting attorney who tried the case, did a wonderful job.

Campbells case against Turner was based on witness testimony by numerous law enforcement officials and forensic experts, people who knew Turner and Graham, video recordings and other evidence.

Ryan Martin, Turners defense attorney, presented evidence suggesting that Turner killed Graham in self defense. In addition, Turner testified in his own defense, describing a series of circumstances with Graham that escalated to the point where he believed he was fighting for his life.

After deliberating for four hours on the third day of trial, the jury reached a verdict. For count one the jury found Turner guilty of voluntary manslaughter; for count two the jury found him guilty of armed criminal action.

According to section 565.023 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, a person commits the crime of voluntary manslaughter if he causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder in the second degree  except that he caused the death under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause.

Voluntary manslaughter is a class B felony.

We were pleased with the sentence, Mahurin said. Our thoughts go with Grahams family so that they may start the healing process.
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This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With construction dating back six years, restoring the century-old Dome Building has been a slow and intricate process.

Attention has turned to the interior of the building, and by this time next year the project should be complete  just in time to celebrate Canadas 150th birthday and the Provincial Exhibition of Manitobas 135th anniversary. It just so happens that the City of Brandon will also be celebrating its 135th year.

The amount of work and effort thats gone into it at this point is huge and  it feels good to people in our organization, said Ron Kristjansson, general manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.

Bruce Bumstead/The Brandon Sun The mirror image of the Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. II is reflected in parking lot puddles at the Keystone Centre earlier this week. Restoration work on the historic building should be complete by this time next year  in time to celebrate Canadas 150th birthday, and the 135th anniversary of the founding of the City of Brandon and Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.

Restoring the Glory fundraising campaign has passed the $4-million mark

of the $7.2-million goal. Kristjansson said there are a few sizable donations and fairly big grants he is awaiting approval on.

Its looking very positive, he said. We sent in another two grants, one to the Canada 150 program, and one through Parks Canada because of the heritage site.

With the recent federal and provincial elections, there has been a bit of a delay as grant programs and processes are clarified, Kristjansson added.

The lengthy project has been phased in over the years, with work completed as funds become available.

Its been a long project, but we werent in a position to go ahead with parts of it until we had funding, Kristjansson said. Weve been very budget-conscious on it and managed to stay under budget on everything that weve completed to this point.

Known as Dominion Exhibition Display Building No. II, it was built in 1913 for the Dominion Fair. It was designed by Walter H. Shillinglaw and David Marshall, two prominent Brandon architects. Its the last building standing in Canada that was built specifically for the Dominion Fair. The structure is both a national and provincial heritage building.

Weve got brand-new replica heritage doors and entranceways built, Kristjansson said. So the only thing left to do on the outside is give it a final coat of paint  and some landscaping around it.

On the interior, electrical work and insulation still need to be completed, as well as interior walls, office space and washrooms. Insulation will be installed on the outside of the upper roof, to preserve the look of the interior open beam construction.

Once complete, Provincial Ex staff will move in, and will also rent out space for other not-for-profit, agricultural organizations. In addition to meeting rooms and event space, there will be an interchangeable, interactive display area.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
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This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A long-term agreement on federal funding for health care with as few strings attached as possible is the kind of new federal-provincial health accord Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen would like to see.

As the premiers prepare for their annual summer gathering in Whitehorse next week, talk ramped up about what provinces hope for in a new health care accord. The issue will be a key agenda item at the meeting, as the provinces try to generate a unified position to present to Ottawa.

The critical elements for Manitoba are longevity and flexibility so each province can address its own needs.

Whether its for 10 years or a number slightly less or slightly more than that, the important thing is that we dont want to be doing this every year, Goertzen said in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press. We need long term flexible funding as opposed to pigeonholing funding.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told the Canadian Press this week any additional health-care funding will be focused on achieving transformative and measurable improvements in priority areas, like home care and mental health.

In a emailed statement Friday, Philpott said she has had good discussions with the provinces and that no decisions will be made until areas for health care reform are identified.

Our goal is to ensure that our health care system meets current and future needs more effectively and at a lower cost, and to improve the health of Canadians, she said.

The current accord, negotiated in 2004, expires in 2017. That agreement saw Ottawa increase health funding to the provinces by six per cent each year, with no strings. It has meant over the last decade, Manitobas federal health dollars grew from $813 million to $1.3 billion. The former Conservative government implemented a plan  without much, if any, input from the provinces  to set future health funding growth at the three-year average of growth in the GDP, with a minimum of three per cent each year.

Philpott wants a new accord with the provinces by the end of December and thus far the message the provinces are getting is that a three per cent increase is still what Ottawa has to offer.

Goertzen said that would mean Manitoba sees a $39 million increase in federal health dollars next year instead of $78 million. For Ottawa, it would reduce their transfer to all provinces from almost $2.2 billion to $1.1 billion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised last fall to spend $3 billion on home care improvements, including palliative care, over four years starting immediately. That money was not in this years budget, with Finance Minister Bill Morneau saying it is awaiting a deal with the provinces.

 Winnipeg Free Press, with files from The Canadian Press
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This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After 33 years, Brandons Trails West Inn is changing hands.

Owner and manager Heidi Howarth says the decision to sell the local hotel and live music hot spot came down to the right offer at the right time.

It wasnt something I searched for for a long time. I dont think there was a planned date, Howarth said. The opportunity came  and I just came up with, Well, maybe now is the right time.

Bruce Bumstead/Brandon Sun Trails West Inn owner and manager Heidi Howarth is looking forward to the next phase in her life after selling the business to a Winnipeg- based business group that includes Gary Lai.

Howarths family purchased the business in 1983 from Trails West founder Jim Campbell when the future of the hotel and bar seemed uncertain.

Under the direction of Howarth  who started managing the hotel and booking shows in her early 20s  The 40 has become one of the citys premiere live music joints.

The nightclub celebrated its 35th anniversary just last month and Howarth says putting together a slideshow for the event brought back many forgotten memories.

Its a little bit sad when I think of all the memories, she said. You forget some of them and it makes you go Wow.

Despite the nostalgia, Howarth says she is ultimately happy with the sale.

The new owners are based out of Winnipeg and already own eight hotels in Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario, as well as several Panago Pizza and Qdoba Mexican Eats restaurants.

I just feel really comfortable with them as owners taking over, Howarth said. You have to have people who know the industry or are involved to purchase a hotel.

Leo Ho is a partner in the new Trails West ownership group and a former Westman resident. When Hos family immigrated to Canada, they settled in Swan River before moving to Minnedosa.

My first business was the Prairie Pantry in Minnedosa, that was 21 years ago now, said Ho, who also graduated from the computer sciences program at Brandon University. Im happy to be back in Brandon  its where I come from.

Ho and his partners take ownership of the Trails West on Aug. 7, and he says the end goal is to franchise the hotel after it has been renovated and the attached beer vendor expanded. Construction is expected to begin this winter when business is slower.

While Ho has experience running a lounge, taking on a full-fledged bar will be a new experience.

Were trying to diversify our business, thats why we bought a bar, he said. I think it will be interesting theres a lot of learning to do  but were fast learners.

Howarth has offered her expertise to the new owners while they get the hang of things.

She told me shes not going to take off to the Bahamas or Mexico  so Im happy to hear that, Ho said jokingly.

Ho expects to be in Brandon at least once a week, while his business partner, Gary Lai, will be taking on the more hands-on position of general manager.

As for Howarth, 59, the next chapter entails focusing on her own music, spending time with her five grandkids and travelling  not to mention lending a hand at another family business in British Columbia.

I dont call it retirement. I just call it a new style of living, she said.

 ewasney@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @evawasney
Opinion

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This article was published 15/07/2016 (2295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This is the follow-up to a two-part column logged during my time touring through the United Kingdom and Europe.

NETHERLANDS  First of all, thanks to those who took the time to drop me a note after last weeks column. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the U.K. and Europe.

As our second week drew to a close, our crew took a hop across the channel to Holland, Germany, France and finally Belgium. Aside from a few language barriers (which were conveniently handled by an app on the iPhone) we were landed, through passport control and in business.

Once in the Netherlands, I quickly noticed that movement throughout EU countries was much easier than I had ever anticipated. The airport is chalk full of EU-specific stations, allowing for ease of travel among the countries of the union. Express lanes, quick scan passport services and EU fast pass depots were just a few of the options European travellers had to speed up their entrance into another country. I thought of taking a pic or two of the process, but Dutch airport police were quick to point out the fact that taking photos at that point is strictly forbidden. Needless to say we respected their wishes.

Our time in Holland found us in and around the city of Lichtenvoorde. A very idyllic Dutch locale of approximately 20,000 people. There is clearly wealth present and by all accounts had a much more conservative viewpoint on the European Union than other more liberal centres. They also had fallen victim to the closure of one of their manufacturing plants the week before, so optimism was a bit low, with many local residents feeling their operations were better suited to countries outside the European Union  countries operating with less overhead and fewer restrictions on production. The Dutch papers echoed that sentiment.

The Netherlands is clearly pondering whether an exit from the EU would benefit them  mostly due to the costs involved with EU membership, while trying to compete with more dominant economic players.

Whether Nexit is just wishful thinking for the Netherlands or it actually becomes reality will be interesting to see, but for the moment at least it appears to be business as usual for the Dutch.

Looking east, the true benefactor of a revamped EU (especially from an economic standpoint) may be one of those aforementioned bigger players  Germany. Long quiet on many fronts since the Second World War, Germany is looking to take on a bigger role in the revamped union.

Aside from London, which is one of the most diverse cities in the world, Germany as a country seemed to have a highly diverse population, in part due to welcoming more than one million refugees in 2015. While there are distinct differences in culture from country to country, the passing back and forth in this area of Europe was seamless  clearly speaking to the one nation style of leadership, and the diversity that style brings with it.

Obviously there are security concerns with completely free movement, but in the short time we were there it did make for much easier travel.

A European Union that doesnt list the U.K. as a member means Germany stands to build a stronger economic case for itself, while striving to avoid the same social class concerns stoking the fire right now in the United Kingdom.

As one of the largest centres in the union, post-Brexit, it should allow the Deutschland economy to take full advantage. It should also continue to trigger the upward migration of residents to Germany due to social and political upheaval in places like Turkey and Eastern Europe.

Finally, the fact that Germany relies on such an export-driven economy suits the EU style. Having a common currency (however weak currently) and access to an ever-growing workforce positions the country well in a union without the U.K.

Overall, we encountered a wide range of viewpoints on the next step for both the European Union, as well as the United Kingdom. It was an absolute pleasure to take in so many different cultures and see, listen and learn. Sometimes we were a fish out of water, other times we looked completely comfortable with the swim.

In either case, to be in Europe and the U.K. right now was a tremendous opportunity, a rare chance to witness items of historic significance taking place. I will never forget it.
Opinion

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This article was published 15/07/2016 (2295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last week was a terrible period for race relations in the United States. On Tuesday in Baton Rouge La., a black man, Alton Sterling, was killed by a white police officer. He was pinned to the ground by officers at the time.

One day later in suburban Minneapolis, another black man, Philando Castile, was killed by a police officer. He was shot during a routine traffic stop. He told the officer he was carrying a weapon. Castile was reaching for his licence and registration, as instructed, at the time the officer commenced shooting.

Castiles girlfriends four-year-old daughter was in the back seat of the car throughout the episode.

Protests and parades began across the nation, including in Dallas. At the parade in Dallas, which started out peaceful and constructive, a black man, Micah Johnson, opened fire on white police officers, killing five and wounding an additional seven.

A standoff ensued. During the period of negotiation with Dallas police, Johnson stated he wanted to kill law enforcement officials, especially white officers.

Johnson was killed by Dallas police during the stalemate. Police sent in a remote-controlled bomb robot that exploded upon reaching Johnson.

Subsequent searches of Johnsons property revealed caches of weapons, bomb-making materials and ammunition.

Race is both the third rail and the original sin in U.S. politics and history. If you touch it, your political career is over. As such, politicians prefer to live with catchphrases and easy mottoes.

Race permeates politics right now, even so far as the presidential election in which one candidate has labelled himself the law and order choice. The other major candidate, pandering to her supporters, tweeted Black Lives Matter. In other words, both are doubling down on their positions.

We should not devote too much weight to comments made by Johnson during his negotiations with police. Clearly he was a deeply disturbed man who  troubled by the unjustified killings of two black men  was unhinged, filled with racial hatred and capable of mass murder.

Johnson, a former military man who had served in Afghanistan, clearly had access to an arsenal of weapons and understood military tactics.

The sad reality is black men are being disproportionately killed by police. Why? There could be any number of reasons and to guess at them would be to play amateur psychologist.

Rather than try to overcome generations of racial hatred and injustice, the reality is that it is incumbent upon all of us to strive toward a more peaceful future. We must figure out a way to cross the racial divide.

We start, I believe, with a renewed focus on racial tolerance and understanding. Frankly, race relations between black and white in Dallas were a hallmark of that progressive community prior to last weeks tragic events.

If progress can be made in the Deep South, then it can be made anywhere. There are short-term and long-term remedies. In the short term, police officers everywhere must manage their use of deadly weapons and tactics more prudently. The vast majority of police officers are already highly judicious in their practices  this should be the absolute rule.

Training and racial tolerance must be the order of the day. This includes hiring more people of colour. At the same time, community policing models in which officers are part of the community in which they work are vitally important. Police must understand themselves to be part of the community.

Concurrently, communities will learn to trust and work with the police in such a model. While it wont be perfect, we must all strive to reduce this violence.

Finally, there must be a reduction in the number of guns on U.S. streets. Police officers live with the sad reality that an innocent traffic stop could become a fatal encounter. Police often see the worst in our society and, quite justifiably, prepare themselves accordingly. This is understandable but potentially deadly.

In the short term, there will be little progress until Americans finally come to terms with race and their love of guns. As we saw this past week, and will continue to see, guns and hatred are a toxic combination.
Opinion

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This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KITCHENER, Ont.  To say that Theresa May has taken on an almost impossible challenge in becoming Britains prime minister is the understatement of the century. The country she will lead is in meltdown.

Not since the grimmest days of the Second World War, when it was threatened with invasion and occupation, has the United Kingdom been gripped by such an existential crisis, one that could actually destroy it. And not since then has it so badly needed someone who could save it.

In the aftermath of last months Brexit vote to pull out of the European Union, Britain is divided, confused, frightened, angry and supremely unhappy. Politically, economically and socially, it is mired in disarray.

There has been a leadership vacuum. David Cameron, the foolish Conservative prime minister who called and lost the needless Brexit referendum, has resigned in disgrace. Feckless opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn faces an open revolt from his Labour Party. Having won the battle to pull the U.K. out of the EU, leading Brexit campaigners Boris Johnson, a Conservative, and Nigel Farage, of the hard-right UK Independence Party, cravenly surrendered any responsibility for making the change happen.

No wonder British banks have lost a third of their trading value. No wonder the value of the British pound has plunged to a 31-year low. No one on either side of the English Channel has the remotest idea what the new relationship between Britain and its EU neighbours will be or how long it will take to establish it  one estimate is six years. And oh, by the way, the U.K. itself is at risk of falling apart, with Scotland and Northern Ireland mulling their own exits from the political union.

This, then, is the bruised, staggered and fumbling country May is taking over. Canadians, acutely aware of their countrys long-standing cultural, economic and military ties to Britain, will wish her success. Our interests, and the interests of the democratic western world, will be served best if this happens.

May comes to the job with sterling political credentials. As the Conservative governments home secretary for the past six years, she has been responsible for the internal affairs of England and Wales, a portfolio that includes immigration, citizenship, policing and national security. She is seen as competent, understated and, at times, authoritarian. But is this enough?

Exceptional times demand an exceptional leader. It remains to be seen if May is such a rare individual. Yet there are indications she might be. When fellow Conservative Kenneth Clarke disparaged her as a bloody difficult woman, May coolly replied, We have had one running the country before. We need another now.

Already May has brought a welcome clarity to at least one big issue. There will be no attempt to reverse the referendum results. The people have spoken. May will negotiate Brexit.

The interests of Britain and Europe would be served best if May delivers the least extreme exit. If Britain can follow the Norwegian model, it will enjoy access to Europes single market while agreeing to the free movement of people from EU countries and contributing to the EUs budget. But will the EU members Britain has spurned agree? And as she negotiates Brexit, May will also have to find a way to keep the United Kingdom united.

Throughout British history, strong, capable politicians have emerged in moments of supreme trial, politicians who didnt just manage but led. Winston Churchill was the epitome of such a national saviour in the Second World War. We hope May turns out to be such a leader in these distemperate times.

 The Waterloo Record, July 13, via The Canadian Press editorial exchange
Opinion

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This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By any standard, Thursday night was an awful evening for anyone paying attention to breaking news.

Reports began surfacing that evening of dozens of people killed in Nice, France, when a large truck plowed into a crowd of revellers watching the fireworks display celebrating Bastille Day along the Promenade des Anglais. The driver of the vehicle, identified as a French-Tunisian citizen, travelled about two kilometres down the promenade, swerving all over the road in an apparent attempt to hit more people.

The images coming out of Nice are horrific.

Its estimated that about 30,000 people were on the Promenade des Anglais at the time of the attack, according to a report by the BBC. As of Friday afternoon, the number of deaths stood at 84 individuals, with many more injured  some critically. Many of the victims were children. Several tourists were also among the dead, including two American citizens, a Ukrainian, a Russian, and a Swiss woman. There were mixed reports of perhaps one or two Canadians among the dead or injured as well.

France has been under a state of emergency since last Novembers attacks in Paris that were carried out by ISIS militants, and in which 130 people were slaughtered. That state of emergency has now been extended by three months.

In fact, France has been targeted often by radical Islamic groups over the last few years, including three days of horror in January 2015, that began with a bloody attack on the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by Islamic terrorists that left 17 people dead.

These kinds of evil acts are enough to enrage even the most moral of any of us. All too often we see images flash across our screens of innocents dead and dying in the streets, and carnage tearing apart neighbourhoods. Reactions vary from feeling heartbroken, to fear, to reactionary anger and rising aggression in opposition to these attacks upon our freedoms.

In the immediate aftermath of the breaking news out of Nice, there were just as many commenters suggesting that Western powers destroy all Muslim populations and their children as a means to end attacks on innocents, as there were mourners expressing their heartfelt sadness.

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump seemed to echo those thoughts of hatred when he said This is war, during an interview on Fox News. He also suggested that NATO should be used for a purpose,  to fight the cancer that is the Islamic State.

More local comments here in Canada wrongly suggested that our country would soon be going the way of France, because the federal government is letting in too many refugees and immigrants  even though the driver in the attack in Nice was a French national.

Trump is quite right  this is a war. A war on our principles, freedoms and Western values of democracy. How can the West fight such an enemy without becoming as dark and disturbing as those we seek to stop? How can we respond to such terrorism and hatred? Being weak and passive will not stop bombings and terror attacks, but meeting slaughter with slaughter does not make us a better or more just society.

Is it actually possible to love our enemies in the face of so much hate? To date, bombing the Middle East back to the stone age has done little to make Western countries safer. All it has done is create more jihadists bent on suicide missions in crowded night clubs and other public settings.

Besides, the whole point of terrorism on the West is to force us to give up our freedoms, spend money on anti-terror policies, and bleed our budgets dry with military engagement.

Without doubt, Europe, Canada and the United States must take action to curb terrorism. But lets do it with better intentions than mere vengeance.
Gerry Adams has said his position as leader of Sinn Fein is always up for debate, but he will not be stepping aside any time soon.

The party is holding an event in Dublin this afternoon - to discuss its future.
Update 12.30pm: There are reports that Turkey's government is considering reinstating the death penalty, following last night's violence.

Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002 - but it had not been used as a form of punishment in the country since 1984.

Sinn Fein MEP Lynn Boylan has said if Turkey reintroduces the death penalty, the country will not be allowed to join the EU.

Update 12pm: Media reports that Turkey officials have asked Greece to extradite the eight coup plotters who fled across the border in a military helicopter.

Update - Turkey has asked Greece to extradite eight coup plotters who fled across the border in a military helicopter  Sky News Breaking (@SkyNewsBreak) July 16, 2016

British Airways has cancelled all flights into and out of Turkey for today.

Update 11.10am: Media reports state that a Turkish military helicopter has landed in Greece and eight men on board have requested political asylum.

Update 10.50am: 194 people are now confirmed to have died in an attempted coup military coup in Turkey.

Reports this morning are suggesting that the death toll may rise to 200 in the coming hours.

Update 9.15am: Tourists that may be planning to travel to Turkey have been told that they are welcome to change their plans.

Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA said, The Irish Travel Agents Association are monitoring the situation in Turkey in close partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

ITAA member agents are striving to keep customers informed and facilitate anyone who needs to change their travel plans.

For anyone with concerns about family or friends currently in Turkey, the Department of Foreign Affairs can be reached on, 01 418 0200.

Earlier: Over 1,500 military personnel have been arrested after a failed coup in Turkey which has left at least 90 people dead.

Turkey's president has told the nation his government is in charge.

It is after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire.

Officials say the coup failed as Turks took to the streets to confront troops.

Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said there will be consequences: This is a riot, this is a betrayal of our country and they are going to pay for this.

This government came to power with a mandate and a majority.

Here in Ireland, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan TD, is calling for restraint and respect for democratic institutions in Turkey, following last evening's unrest.

He is urging Irish travellers to avoid non-essential travel to Turkey in the context of the unsettled and fluid situation.

Speaking from Ulaanbaatar where he is attending a Europe-Asia (ASEM) Summit, Minister Flanagan said: "My first concern is for the safety of Irish people travelling to Turkey and those who are already in Turkey. Many thousands of Irish people holiday there each year.

"Until we know the situation is calm, we are strongly advising Irish citizens planning to travel to Turkey avoid non-essential travel.

"The Irish embassy in Ankara is providing consular assistance on the ground in Turkey. Any citizens who have concerns can call our consular services on 01 408 2000.

"My department's updated travel advice for Turkey is available at www. dfa.ie/travel .

Updates will also be tweeted from @dfatIrl and @dfaTravelWise, and are also available through the department's free TravelWise smartphone app. "
Update 3.25pm: The French Interior Minister has said the man responsible for the attack in Nice had been radicalised very recently.

Later, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Bouhlel was not known to the security services, adding: "We are faced with a new type of attack."

And the news channel iTELE said investigators have been told by those under arrest that he recently brought up IS, which he had not done previously, and he had stopped drinking alcohol.

A neighbour of Bouhlel's said he did not believe he was involved with Islamic State.

Speaking outside the high-rise block of flats on Boulevard Henri Sappia, where the suspect had previously lived with his family, Samiq, who did not want to give his surname, said the 31-year-old was not a devout Muslim.

The 19-year-old, who used to play football with Bouhlel, told the Press Association: "I never saw him going to the Mosque. He was not a Muslim. During Ramadan I saw him smoking."

Asked if he thought his neighbour, who he said had moved three years ago but returned often to visit his family, carried out the attack on behalf of the extremist group, he said: "I never heard him speak about extremism, I cannot believe that he was a member of Islamic State."

He said people thought Bouhlel had psychological problems.

"He was a little bit crazy," he said, but the teenager added that he was shocked by what had happened.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she knew Bouhlel's wife and described her as a "really lovely woman, who doesn't deserve all this".

She added: "She was quiet, she stayed at home with her children. She was a bit naive, she never went out."

The waterfront promenade in Nice was due to re-open at midday on Saturday for the first time since Thursday's attack.

Update 2.30pm: The French President has addressed the nation after the deadly attack in Nice, France.

Update 11.30am: An Irish man believed to have been injured in Thursday's terrorist attack in Nice has been located safe and well.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said it has no reason to believe an Irish person was caught up in the Nice terrorist attack.

Concerns had been raised about a Galway man believed to have been injured in the Bastille day incident - when a man drove a lorry through a crowd of thousands of people.

However in a statement the Department says there is no longer cause for concern in the case.

Update 10.35 am: The man who drove a truck into a crowd in the French city of Nice is a "soldier" of Islamic State, the group's media outlet said.

The Aamaq news agency cited a "security source" as saying the attacker "carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of coalition countries fighting the Islamic State".

The statement did not name the attacker, and the language implied that he may have acted independently. There is no evidence IS was involved in planning the July 14 attack.

The attack killed 84 people and wounded 200. The driver was identified as Mohamed Bouhlel, a Tunisian known to authorities as a petty criminal.

Earlier:French police have arrested three people in Nice in connection with their investigation into the Bastille day attack that killed at least 84 people.

A lorry ploughed into crowds watching a fireworks display on the seafront on Thursday night.

Authorities are trying to work out if the 31-year-old driver - who was shot dead by police - had any accomplices.

A Galway man is said to be one of 52 people who are in a critical condition following the attack.
Update - 7.45pm: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the United States to extradite a Muslim cleric he accuses of being behind Turkey's failed coup attempt.

In a televised speech on Saturday night, Mr Erdogan said as Turkey's strategic partner Washington should meet the demand for the extradition of Pennsylvania-based Fethullah Gulen.

Mr Erdogan said Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for "terrorists" by the United States.

A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey "has been preparing a formal application with detailed information about Gulen's involvement in illegal activities. After last night we have one more thing to add to an already extensive list".

Earlier: The Turkish government has purged 2,745 judges seen as loyal to an exiled cleric the country's president blames for a failed coup.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's crackdown against alleged opponents began with the detention of 10 members of the highest court - part of a wider apparent effort to root out judicial officials with supposed links to Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said he would entertain an extradition request for the cleric Mr Gulen but that Turkey would have to provide evidence that he was behind the attempt to overthrow the government.

The development came as The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have urged caution if travelling to Turkey.

They advise Irish citizens in Turkey or intending to travel there to exercise a high degree of caution and strongly recommend obtaining comprehensive travel insurance.

Internally, there has been serious disruption to public transport, including international and domestic air travel.

People carry a man, wounded during firefight between police and the army, in Istanbul, today. Pic: AP

Istanbul airport is reportedly closed until 9pm and travellers are advised to check with their tour operator or travel carrier for updates.

The department strongly advise against travel to border areas between Turkey and Syria.

Anyone intending to go to the region is also advised to register with the department so they can contact people in the area if needed.

The fallout from the coup, which left 161 people dead and 1,440 injured, with 2,839 military personnel detained, continued as five warships which reportedly set sail during the attempt returned to their port in north-west Turkey.

Supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who were staging a protest against a coup, clash with Turkish journalists near the Turkish military headquarters, in Ankara, today. Pic: AP

The Anadolu agency said it was unclear whether a missing navy fleet commander, admiral Veysel Kosele, was aboard one of the ships.

Meanwhile, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu demanded the extradition of seven officers and one civilian who landed a military helicopter in Greece, seeking political asylum.

Mr Cavusoglu described them as "treacherous" but Greece said it would consider their asylum requests after handing back the Blackhawk helicopter "as soon as possible".

Meanwhile, hundreds of Turks with flags gathered outside parliament in Ankara to protest the coup attempt.

At an emergency parliamentary session, prime minister Binali Yildirim declared July 15 "a festival for democracy" and said of the plotters: "These are not soldiers, they are ravenous terrorist butchers in uniforms".

Mr Erdogan, who as the coup was under way addressed the nation via a video link to a smartphone held by a TV presenter, suggested that plotters will be treated similarly to terrorists and "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey".

"Those who stain the military's reputation must leave," he said.

"The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

German chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the coup attempt, saying it was "tragic that so many people paid for this coup attempt with their lives".
Turkey's president has told the nation that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

A total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across the country as the government cracked down on the attempted coup, a senior Turkish official said.

Most of those arrested were from lower ranks, the official added.

The number of dead in the attempted coup has risen to around 90 with 1,154 wounded, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned coup supporters that "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey", according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office.

"Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

Anadolu said military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar is taking over the command of the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

Fighting continued throughout the morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex.

Television footage showed images of destruction at the parliament, which according to a politician was targeted by three bombs, with broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Mr Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the south-east.

Turkey, a Nato member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq.

A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Addressing supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Mr Erdogan told the crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52% of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Justice minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings, according to the Anadolu news agency.

"There is nowhere they have proper control," Mr Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

Turkey's police chief, Celalettin Lekesiz, said 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command. The police chief said clashes at the command were continuing but "are about to come to an end".

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

At the Etimesgut armoured units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the attempted coup were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police, it was reported.

Mr Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got under way, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting, Anadolu reported.

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late on Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated".

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," General Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Mr Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara.

The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest against the attempted coup, and that some people had been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

Special forces police appeared to be deployed in the grounds of the parliament complex, just across the street from the military headquarters.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities.

In his TV address, Mr Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Mr Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told the Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country.
A resolution to the weeks-long deadlock among producers, distributors and theatres seems to have been found. In a...
SHANGHAI: The value of Chinas yuan against its major trading partners fell to the weakest level in more than a year...
The life of Canberra's most senior Ngunnawal elder has been made into a film.

"Aunty" Agnes Shea, 84, has been a driving force in the ACT's reconciliation movement.

The ACT's most senior Ngunnawal elder, Aunty Agnes Shea, with documentary director Pat Fiske. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

Crowds of family, friends, cast and crew gathered at the Tuggeranong Arts Centre on Saturday for the premiere of the documentary about her life and legacy, Footprints on Our Land: Aunty Agnes, Ngunnawal Elder.

The octogenarian, struck down with pneumonia, demonstrated the resilience that inspired Pat Fiske, of Bower Bird Films, to create the work.
Coca-Cola Co. is planning to sell packaged arabica coffee beans to Brazilian consumers as the world's largest soft-drink producer expands in breakfast beverages.

The Atlanta-based company will sell packaged beans through a local tea brand it owns called Leao as it seeks further diversification, Coca-Cola's Brazil unit said Thursday. Coca-Cola has a partnership agreement with coffee exporter Tristao Companhia de Comercio Exterior, which will acquire and roast the beans. The company didn't provide the deal's financial details.

Coca-Cola is concentrating on the breakfast sector. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Coca-Cola, which for more than a decade has expanded to other products including juice, tea and mineral water, is now advancing into coffee and milk as it seeks a broader portfolio of breakfast products, said Sandor Hagen, vice president of new businesses at the company's Brazilian unit. The company is concluding the acquisition of dairy products maker Laticinios Verde Campo in Minas Gerais, Brazil, as part of the strategy.

"Those were the two last frontiers in the beverage sector," Hagen said in a telephone interview.
Turks are overly familiar with military coups. Their modern state was built on the legacy of an army general, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He died 35 years ago but remains the greatest influence on Turkey: he forged a secular, Westernised, democratic nation that is arguably the region's most successful, if not stable.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, governments occasionally deviated from Ataturk's vision, usually to try to dilute Turkey's secular culture and give more statutory power to Islamic clerics. It was these attempts to weaken the keystones of Ataturk's Turkey that prompted the military to intervene  most recently in 1997. In most instances, most Turkish people, at least those in urban areas, supported these coups; after all, the military was acting as the guardian of the national legacy that the population held dear.

The great divider? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Yet not all were content. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power largely because of his popularity in Turkey's more-religious rural areas. Over the past decade, the Erdogan government has gradually brought the state closer to Islamic institutions. Tensions among secular civilians and troops have been rising, though Erdogan has protected against a coup by ensuring that key officials  in government and the military  are firmly loyal to him. The executive government's power has grown while parliament's has weakened.

We remain uncertain of the motivations behind Saturday's failed coup. Erdogan blames exhiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has exercised significant control over the police from afar. The military forces behind the coup might also have been secularists battling for power against Erdogan loyalists. The truth will likely become apparent soon.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called for calm and restraint in Turkey after an attempted coup that experts warn could distract from the fight against Islamic State terrorists.

Mr Turnbull says Australia supports President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's democratically-elected government and is calling on all sides to show respect for the country's democratic institutions.

In a speech in Singapore on March 13, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop fundamentally contradicted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's world view. Credit:AAP

"The attempted coup in Turkey this morning is of great concern," he said in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday.

"We urge all parties to show calm and restraint.
Tony Abbott still "yearns for justice" for those killed in the missile attack on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, two years after the atrocity that ushered in the darkest and most difficult days of his prime ministership.

While Mr Abbott now concedes the culprits may never face trial, he hopes a criminal investigation into the disaster  expected to report in coming weeks  will lead to some solace for grieving families in Australia and abroad.

"I grieve with those who continue to grieve and I yearn for justice with those who continue to yearn for justice," Mr Abbott told Fairfax Media in an interview before the second anniversary of the attack on Sunday.

"I think justice, ideally, would be identifying people who could be brought to trial. That, I suspect, might be more than can be hoped for.
Australians in Turkey are being warned to stay indoors amid the chaos and confusion of an attempted military coup.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued emergency travel advice amid fighting in Istanbul and Anakara.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government is monitoring the situation closely.

"We are in contact with the Australian Embassy in Ankara and I have spoken this morning with our Ambassador James Larsen as we seek to determine the facts as the situation unfolds. It is currently highly fluid," she said.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are officially uncoupled, over two years after they announced their separation.

A judge finalised their divorce in Los Angeles on Thursday, after the couple reached a divorce settlement in May.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin attend the 3rd annual Sean Penn & Friends HELP HAITI HOME Gala on January 11, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. Credit:Getty

The judgment provides few details, but states neither Paltrow or Martin will pay spousal support.

The actress and Coldplay frontman have two children together, Apple, 12, and Moses, 10.
Fred Nile's Christian Democratic Party says it is concerned hate speech on social media could impact on a plebiscite on same-sex marriage, in the wake of homophobic election material urging Chinese Australians to vote for the CDP.

The CDP doubled its vote, and said it had out-polled the Greens in seven NSW seats, on the back of an election campaign that targeted Chinese Christian churches with opposition to the Safe Schools program and same-sex marriage.

Fred Nile's party urged Chinese Christian churches to make a stand on same-sex marriage.

But CDP federal director Greg Bondar said his office hadn't authorised controversial Chinese messages that spread across the social network WeChat and were handed out at a booth in Bennelong. One arrived in his letter box.

"I don't want this kind of stuff coming out when a plebiscite is on, without any control, because it then does become dirty, it becomes a bit of a slinging match," Mr Bondar said.
The Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang clubhouse was the target of a firebomb attack in Brisbane's CBD Saturday night.

About 11.10pm, police were called to the clubhouse on Frodsham Street, Albion, after reports of a fire.

The Rebels' Albion clubhouse was the target of a firebomb attack. Credit:Shannon Marshall-McCormack

Initial investigations suggest an accelerant was thrown at the building, with no-one injured and no major structural damage.

The clubhouse has been targeted in the past. In 2007 it was destroyed by fire and in 2012, after being rebuilt, was peppered with gunshots.
Illustrations of sections of hospital and surgeon's quarters at Moreton Bay- 1838. Credit:Queensland State Archives, Digit "The reason I used the term 'shackled' was because they were tied to a very strict system, tied to the officials and tied to severely judged by society," Dr Harrison said. "They were considered the lowest of the low, females were not considered much at all and if they didn't live up to expectations of society, they were totally condemned." Ms Harrison spent years researching the female convicts of Moreton Bay. The Moreton Bay settlement, run by New South Wales officials, was established in early 1825 and was a triangle of defendable and inescapable land bound on two sides by the Brisbane River.

Male convicts were sent up to the remote area in 1825 in a bid to isolate those who continued to reoffend and in 1826 the first female convicts arrived. University of Queensland honorary research fellow Dr Jennifer Harrison. When Ms Rigby was shipped up aboard the Isabella in 1830 she joined 18 women already living at the settlement among more than 1000 men. She also rejoined her husband George Page, who had been sent to the settlement for stealing four years prior. John Oxley was Surveyor General of New South Wales in 1823 when, under orders from Governor Brisbane, he sailed into Moreton Bay, looking for a suitable new site for a convict settlement to be established. Credit:State Library of Queensland

Dr Harrison said the penal colony had been in its early stages when Ms Rigby arrived. "It was very basic in 1826, they had built the commandant cottage, they had built a couple of other houses, some were still in tents," she said. "We got everything from petty thieves to murderers but until 1829 there were only three female convicts here and then from 1829 they started coming in more frequently. "The streets were barely laid out, there was a track going through Queen Street and in 1829 they began building the Female Factory, which is where women were housed during the first seven years, at the present site of the GPO in Queen Street." The women would wake each morning and work in various roles, from laundresses to maids, to servants and when the boundary of the penal settlement was extended, they were sent to perform farm duties as well.

"In the morning at daybreak there was a bell and they would get out of bed, have a meal and go off to work," Dr Harrison said. "The male convicts used to kick up a lot of the fuss because they had to do the hard work - females had to pick the corn and were segregated from male convicts. "They were supervised the whole time and had to live in the Female Factory, they were supervised by a matron and if they went to the doctor they had to have military guard. "One of benefits of being a convict was they had good medical attention, the idea was to keep them working but they ran out of things to do." Ms Rigby worked in various roles at Moreton Bay before she was sent back to Sydney and reunited with her husband in 1837, but that was not the last time the colony would be her home.

Less than three months after returning to Sydney she was convicted again for stealing two hats and was sentenced to seven years at Moreton Bay. Dr Harrison said Ms Rigby was likely influenced by one of two factors - alcohol or bad company. "It was the drink - in those days you could make a drink out of raw vegetables - and bad companions," she said, "The fellows would often steal and they wouldn't be caught but the woman would be caught trying to sell the goods." During Ms Rigby's second and final stint at Moreton Bay she became a servant to the assistant colonial surgeon David Ballow, a man who had been put in charge of ensuring the area was ready for free settlers due to arrive to Brisbane by 1842.

In 1840 Dr Ballow requested Ms Rigby's sentence be reduced given her "exemplary conduct" and, finding herself a free woman once more, she decided to remain at the settlement, the only and first female convict to do so. The Moreton Bay penal settlement was closed in 1839 and each woman was sent on her own way, Dr Harrison said. "Even though some were given certificates of freedom for their colonial crimes, some were still under their sentence for their overseas crime," she said. "Some had to go back into the Female Factory in Sydney, others were freed, a lot were given remissions once they went back to Sydney, their colonial crime was forgiven." Ms Rigby resided in a hut near Queen Street and died on October 10, 1853, aged 59 after over-exerting herself at a wedding party.
They came to celebrate French culture, but found themselves closing their teary eyes for a minute's silence.

A sombre mood settled over the Bastille Day French Festival at the State Library on Saturday, as Melbourne's French community mourned the 84 dead and 100 injured in the Nice attack.

France's ambassador to Australia, Christophe Lecourtier, reflects on the Nice attacks at the Bastille Day French Festival in Melbourne.

"France is experiencing another nightmare," France's ambassador to Australia, Christophe Lecourtier, told the crowd.

"Today is a day of mourning and it also a day of anger. And it is the third one in less than 18 months."
A 28-year-old Dallas man has been charged with one count of murder over the death of Rahat Khan following a shooting last Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to Millewa Crescent in Dallas shortly before 5.30pm on July 12.

Rahat Khan died in Dallas after he was shot on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old's friend had driven him to the spot from where he was shot in search of help,

However the Dandenong man, who was originally from Afghanistan, died at the scene.
Melbourne's Turkish community has been rocked by the attempted military coup against the Erdogan government, with hundreds gathering in Broadmeadows on Saturday in a show of strength against the attacks.

As news of the event continued to emerge throughout the day, an estimated 300 people gathered at the Hume Learning Centre to publicly condemn the coup, which has reportedly killed at least 90 people and led to hundreds of arrests.

Members of Melbourne's Turkish community meet outside Broadmeadows Library in Melbourne, in support of Turkey's president after a failed coup attempt in Turkey. Credit:Luis Ascui

"We are a freedom-loving people," said Kazim Ates, who helped organise the snap rally. "We want the democratic process to be protected in Turkey and not be breached every once in a while by anti-democratic forces."

Almir Colan, a director for the Australian Centre for Islamic Finance, said he was shocked that there had been an apparent attempt to overthrow the government, describing it as "a dream for ISIS".
Nice: It was an overworked waiter, a busy restaurant, a scouts meeting and a last-minute flight delay that mourners gathered at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice were thanking on Friday.

As tourists and locals made their way to the promenade to add to the growing number of floral tributes, many recounted their own near misses as they absorbed the carnage some had seen and escaped not even 24 hours before.

People gather at a makeshift memorial to honour the victims of the Bastille Day attack in Nice on Friday. Credit:AP

Fifteen-year-old Ellisiv and her mother and sister were dining at a restaurant and watching the Bastille Day fireworks further up the promenade when 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel began his murderous two-kilometre drive down the seaside path that would kill 84 people and leave 200 injured.
Bou Rachana, the widow of murdered Kem Ley, now fears for her own safety. Credit:Craig Skehan The timing of Ley's death was ominous. Only two days before, he had been heard on a Khmer-language program conducted by Voice of America radio calling for further parliamentary and other scrutiny of the extensive business interests of Hun Sen's family. Ley directly commented on a recent report by the London-based international watchdog organisation Global Witness detailing the extent of company holdings. The Global Witness report  Hostile Takeover  said relatives of the prime minister had significant shareholdings in companies with $US200 million in capital and this was just the "tip of the iceberg". The body of government critic Kem Ley is covered by the Cambodian flag and flowers at a funeral ceremony in Phnom Penh. Credit:AP "Doing business with companies that are owned or controlled by the country's ruling family not only raises questions. It also carries significant legal, financial and reputational risk," the report stated.

One of Hun Sen's daughters described the Global Witness report as "lies and deceit". Bou Rachana arrives at the scene where her husband was shot dead in Phnom Penh. Credit:AP At Phnom Penh's Wat Chas Buddhist temple, there continues to be a steady stream of people coming to pay their respects to Ley, kneeling down and praying before his body draped in the Cambodian flag. Others lay flowers before framed portraits of Ley, who studied medicine but found a calling as the nation's conscience. Kem Ley spoke out on issues ranging from official corruption to the importance of education. Credit:AP

Among mourners at the temple this week was Australia's ambassador to Cambodia, Angela Corcoran, who met with Ley's pregnant widow, Bou Rachana. The Cambodian Australian Federation has offered to help the widow, who says she now fears for her safety, to seek political asylum in Australia along with her four young sons. Cambodians show their grief outside the service station where Kem Ley was shot dead. Credit:AP Given past political assassinations in Cambodia, often blamed on security forces and groups associated with the government, many members of the public were quick to suspect foul play this time around. "I don't believe what the suspect said," a 24-year-old law student named Rattana told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper. "It seems like a play that has been performed for us to watch.

A mourner at the Buddhist funeral rites for commentator Kem Ley. Credit:Craig Skehan "The authorities just wanted to calm us down for a short while." A common view is that such killings can serve as a warning to others not to tread on the wrong toes. A photo of Oeut Ang, the accused killer of Cambodian commentator Kem Ley, makes the front page of the Phnom Penh Post. Credit:Craig Skehan Hun Sen was quick to condemn the murder and maintain that given Ley's public standing, it would not have been in the government's best interests to arrange for his assassination.

While there is logic in this, it is widely understood in Cambodia that a person can be liquidated with a "nod and a wink" by dark forces, connected to the criminal underworld for example, without the need for direct official involvement. There is also the possibility the killing was carried out at the behest of lower-level members of the ruling regime without sanction from on high and that Hun Sen could see it as a political blunder. Others feel that ultimately it could well have been decided on high that Ley  and his rising popularity  was becoming too much of a threat with municipal elections next year and national elections in 2018. The man accused of the murder, a stony-faced 44-year-old, has been charged under the unlikely Khmer name he gave to investigators, Chuob Samlab, which translates as "Meet Kill". This is despite young tech-savvy Cambodian "smart phone detectives" identifying him as Oeut Ang, a former soldier from a quiet village near Cambodia's border with Thailand who spent a period as a monk. Calls have been made for surveillance camera footage from the service station coffee shop, where Ley often met with associates, to be made public.
Donald Trump will be hoping to get the much-talked-of 'bounce' he needs in the polls after the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Credit:AP Next week, we all go to Cleveland  for what? The GOP  the Grand Old Party  is on the verge of anointing as its presidential candidate a man whose autocratic instincts move him to praise dictators and tyrants, who has no respect for the First Amendment, is a practiced liar, a misogynist, a religious bigot, a racist and an anti-Semite. Trump has closed the gap with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in recent polls. Credit:Pete Marovich/Bloomberg Some say he's a buffoon, others a demagogue.

He's winning endorsements from the Ku Klux Klan and the white supremacists that have been on the rise since an African-American was elected president in 2008. A Republican Party colleague likens Trump to Mussolini and Hitler; another describes him as "the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency". A candidate described in New Republic as an "obscene figure", Trump boasts about the size of his manhood  and the use to which he has put it. And he seems to revel in the revulsion he causes in the party's establishment. White working class ... has seen dramatic declines of income and societal status. This is precisely the demographic that most strongly supports Trump. Larry Martinez, political scientist This promises to be a convention like no other. Trump says he wants showbiz  nightly features are expected to include presentations on the horror of the Benghazi attack on US personnel and the sex life of former president Bill Clinton. The speakers' line-up is something of an embarrassment. The week after next, the Democratic convention in Philadelphia will feature a sitting President and his Vice-President, the first lady, a former president and an army of big political and celebrity names. What's Trump got?

"It'll be like a hostage video of people forced on stage," says Republican strategist Rick Wilson. Apparently every member of the Trump family will speak, but the two living former Republican presidents are giving the convention a pass, as are the last two GOP presidential nominees and a swag of other big Republican names that would add political and social froth to a convention. Astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission, is scheduled to talk  which could heighten any sense that the convention is off the planet. And perhaps the biggest political name on the list is former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani  yawn. In completing the surrender of the party to Trump, the GOP platform is being finalised in the days before the convention  a document that looks like being even more right-wing than Trump's populist swag of policies and the platform on which the 2012 convention signed off. Turning back the clock, the 2016 draft deems coal to be "clean" energy and bars women from military combat. It adopts a strict traditional view of the family and child rearing. It demands that members of Congress use religion as a guide to legislation and that the same-sex marriage decision of the Supreme Court be overturned by constitutional amendment.

The draft also contains Trump's language in opposing global trade pacts and embraces his plan for a wall to be built on the US border with Mexico. There's still talk of forcing a formal vote on the Trump nomination, more in the hope of at least embarrassing him and the party, as opposed to robbing him of the nomination which won the support of more than 13 million primary voters. The convention unfolds amidst tight security. Thousands of protesters are expected to descend on Cleveland and, in the wake of massacres in Orlando and Dallas and an apparent terrorist attack in France, holding cells for 1000 prisoners have been identified; courts are to be open for 20 hours a day and judges are rostered to work 10-hour shifts. But all is not gloom and doom  an art installation called Everything She Says Means Everything is working to have 100 naked women outside the convention centre and a bus filled with 21 nuns is on its way to town to serve lemonade to the protesters. They said Trump couldn't win the primaries  he did, causing 16 grown men and women to curl up and die politically in the face of his insults and harangues. This convention is the next hurdle  most expect the candidate's insatiable ego to go rogue and botch it  but maybe it won't.

And then there'll be the grinding campaign through to November  during which anything can happen. If Trump tanks, the ticket tanks  only a tiny handful of Americans depart from the order of the party ticket when they cast their vote. And already there's intense speculation on how the party might recover  and reconcile with Republican voters who understand that they have been conned by a party establishment that thought them to be ideologically committed. But their support for Trump shows that's not the case  they were just self-interested. They are against trade deals and migration because they see their jobs disappearing. They don't support cuts to Social Security and Medicare, because those are their retirement safety nets. And they like his isolationist thinking because they don't want their kids dying in foreign wars  like the 5000-plus who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. But an important aspect of this chaotic moment is little acknowledged. Virtually all the campaign analysis and commentary resonates within the envelope of an American political process as it has played out down the years  two parties; one winner, one loser; get over it!

It's the same in Britain  a different political process, true; but similar outcomes were manifest before we knew what Brexit meant. Go back to the unlikely appointment of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the opposition UK Labour Party in 2015. He was installed as parliamentary leader by Labour's rank and file and union votes, but from the get-go his relationship with his parliamentary colleagues was toxic. Something similar just happened with the British Tory Party. In the House of Commons both sides opposed quitting the European Union, but Conservative Brexiteers Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom appealed over the heads of their politician colleagues to an anti-EU constituency that was a very different slice of British society to that which traditionally votes Conservative. They won, but on marching back into the Commons to claim the Tory leadership they were rebuffed. "Sorry, but no  we'd prefer one of us," they were told. Donald Trump's campaign for president is the same game  and because the electoral college which appoints the US president is based on the popular vote in each state, Trump does get to ask the people.

Brexit was a fantastic go-round in which fringe dwellers in the political process  think Nigel Farage and his UK Independence Party  could circumvent conventional political process and campaign in the same base manner as Trump does, to pull off an unlikely victory with the support of separate chunks of the Tory and Labour constituencies. In the jargon of our time, they cut out the middlemen. They revealed parties that had been cornerstones of the political process to be hollowed-out and of less lasting value than ascribed to them by conventional wisdom  the Tories continue to govern, but must implement a Brexit policy with which they don't agree; Labour MPs are trying to dump Corbyn, gutting the party's power to project itself as a useful entity and rendering its policies meaningless. A process is unfolding  and it needs a name. Think of the disruptive force of Uber and the taxi industry. In politics too, it's all about cutting out the middleman and allowing a consumer/voter to get to a guy/politician who will pick him up  or in the case of the Brexiteers and/or Trump, to respond to long-held grievances that for years have been fobbed off by parties that have claimed voter loyalty, but at the same time stuck to agendas that served the interests of their donors. Actually, a name has been borrowed from economic research on the impact of new technology and its elimination of middlemen  as in the disappearance of record and video stores with the advent of online streaming of music and films.

It's called "disintermediation". Perhaps an early iteration was Barack Obama's 2008 campaign  he was the Uber candidate with his internet-driven micro-donations and data analytics that built a winning coalition vote by vote, abandoning the traditional reliance on television advertising and treating the nation like a local council ward  in which the issues and interests of voters were addressed on an individual basis. That Trump is a Republican candidate is of little moment  he treats GOP orthodoxy with contempt and he might just as easily have been a Democratic candidate, in the same way that the blow-in Bernie Sanders was. Larry Martinez, a political scientist at California State University, explains what's going down  the internet has made it much cheaper to raise funds and to get a message to voters "in essence, disintermediating the role of the political parties". As he sets it out, elected members of Congress are being disintermediated by lobbyists in what he describes as a "political-industrial complex", a rigged game in which the commercial interests of lobbyists, on whom members of Congress depend for funds, effectively trump the traditional role of the political parties  leading to the rising disgust of voters, who feel left out. "[They're] now identified as Joe and Jane Sixpack, the white working class which has seen dramatic declines of income and societal status. This is precisely the demographic that most strongly supports Trump," Martinez writes.

"Without labour union support, working class whites are threatened both by immigrants who compete most directly for those same low-skilled jobs and the rising economic clout of African-Americans who previously were excluded from the business mainstream by discriminatory laws and practices." Chancing upon the political stage at a point where, since 2007, there has been a doubling of Republican support "for new ideas, a different approach, a candidate with no Washington experience", Trump responds to that frustration which, Martinez argues, is intensified by feelings in the white working class that without money, they are excluded from this newly commercialised political-industrial complex of congressmen and lobbyists. Boston University social scientist Tom Whalen sees chaos ahead: "[Trump may] be delivering the death blow to the American political party system  he's certainly rewriting the playbook." All this is why the Trump campaign is mesmerising  is it a slow-motion train wreck or the creation of a whole new approach to managing national affairs in which political parties might become irrelevant? We hold our breath  will Trump get the much-talked-of "bounce" he needs in the polls coming out of the convention?

In the RealClearPolitics average of national polls, Trump has never been in the lead. But at four points in the last year he has come to within a hair's breadth of Clinton, most recently in mid-May. And this week, in the aftermath of the FBI's damning report on Clinton's email server, her support had dropped to the extent that Trump is back within the margin of error in most polls  just three points behind her. On average, Democratic nominees get a post-convention polls bounce of about 6 per cent; Republicans, about 5 per cent. Can Trump unify the party? Or is that question now out of date, irrelevant in a new political world? He has spent much of his campaign picking fights with the GOP establishment and while many of them have sworn off helping to make him shine at the convention, he hasn't asked too many of them to pitch in. But in these parallel universes, where the Uber driver Trump competes against traditional Republican taxis, the election dynamic still comes down to a candidate winning the hearts and minds of a handful of independent or swing voters in a handful of electorates.
The autopsy of the gunman who massacred 49 people in a Florida nightclub attack last month revealed he was HIV-negative and likely a long-term user of steroids, two US law enforcement officials said.

The revelation comes as FBI agents continue to scour the background of Omar Mateen for clues as to why he launched his June 12 rampage at Orlando's Pulse nightclub.

The 29-year-old had became radicalised in recent years, FBI officials have said, and pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants during his attack.

Federal investigators are not sure if steroids played a role in the shooting. A medical examiner found evidence of physical changes to Mateen's body that were consistent with long-term steroid use, the officials said, and is seeking to confirm that assessment through further testing.
Lahore: Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch has been allegedly strangled by her brother in what appears to be an "honour killing", shocking the nation.

Baloch's raunchy social media photos challenged social norms in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country.

Baloch received multiple death threats and suffered frequent misogynist abuse, but continued posting provocative pictures and videos.

In Facebook posts, she spoke of trying to change "the typical orthodox mindset" of people in Pakistan.
Once his 27th Battalion has left Gallipoli and got to the Western Front, Russell fights well, but truly pours his passion  in down-times, when the 27th is relieved from front-line duties  into les filles Francaises in the towns behind the lines, not to mention drinking enough wine and champagne to float a battleship.

Every week while away, Russell Bosisto, a 19-year-old South Australian from a warm and loving family, writes loving letters to his parents, Ernest and Annie, and frequent postcards to each of his five elder sisters. And they all adore him in turn, having sent him away with a beautiful fountain pen that he always has on him so he can write those missives, and a handcrafted and engraved silver identity disc, which he treasures.

Over the years, writing books with a military theme  Nancy Wake, Kokoda, Tobruk, Gallipoli, etc  I've come across stories that have moved me, and even reduced me to tears. But the one that gets me most is the story of a World War I Digger who fought in the battle of Pozieres  the centenary of which is next Saturday.

Gunners of the Australian Siege Artillery Brigade ramming home a shell in a 9.2 inch breech loading howitzer on a hot summer's day. The batteries of this brigade were among those that supported the I Anzac Corps at Pozieres. Credit:Australian War Memorial

I kid you not: 98 per cent of "Boss's" army pay is spent on wine, women and song, and the rest of it, as the saying goes, he wastes!

But Boss doesn't care. And he doesn't care either, when he regularly gets thrown into military prison for a few days for his trouble. He knows he will be let out if there is a big stink on, and he won't miss out.

It's just that he hadn't figured on the particular stink being this big.

When, with the battle well underway, the 27th Battalion is about to go over the top at Pozieres, Boss is indeed there, having been released two days early from a fortnight's stint of "Field Punishment No. 2"  heavy labour  for having been found with grog in his kit. German flares fill the night sky, and the shells are bursting and the German machine-guns have unleashed their shattering chattering. Now, just before he goes over the top, this only son writes to his beloved father. There is, of course, to be no retreat, and the only way out of here is to go forward, Dad. He also asks his father not to read the letter to the rest of the family and to prepare them for what might happen. His mates are doing the same. But now, the letters gathered in, their jaws set, their bayonets fixed, their hearts in their mouths ... the time has come.
CNN Turk has resumed broadcasting after soldiers halted its live coverage of the Turkish coup from its Istanbul studio.

"That's it, we now have to go," the presenter said in the live broadcast, after soldiers apparently entered the studio control room.

The network continued broadcasting footage of the empty studio, with reports that sounds of a gunfire and fighting could be heard in the background.

Then in extraordinary scenes, an employee inside the office began broadcasting footage on Facebook Live of armed soldiers in military fatigues escorting employees down stairs in CNN Turk studio offices. Employees appeared to be arguing heatedly with soldiers, who did not draw their weapons in the footage, as groups of employees and military moved throughout the building.
Liu Zhenmin, a vice-minister for foreign affairs, accused a former Japanese president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea of manipulating "the entire proceedings" behind the ruling. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida responded on Friday, saying there was no problem with the Japanese judge's involvement, Kyodo News reported.

Earlier this week, China warned Japan to stop intervening on the South China Sea issue after an international court rejected China's claims to more than 80 per cent of the waters.

Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met on the sidelines of an international meeting in Mongolia as Asia's two largest economies try to repair a relationship fractured after Japan sided with the West in the South China Sea dispute.

"China sees the West as trying to obstruct its development," said Bonji Ohara, a research fellow at The Tokyo Foundation think tank and a former military attache in Beijing. "They see Japan as acting on behalf of the West to thwart China. So it's hard for China to seek better relations."

Workers chat near a map of South China Sea on display at a maritime defence educational facility in Nanjing, showing the nine-dash line claiming most of the area for China. Credit:Chinatopix/AP

Eight months since the last meeting between Abe and Li, a failure to ease animosities not only threatens Japan's biggest trading relationship, but increases the risk of a military clash over rival claims to uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Japanese fighter jets scrambled against Chinese jets nearing its airspace a record 199 times in the April-June period, an increase of 85 on the same period last year.

For Abe it could also mean that what seemed like a diplomatic coup 18 months ago has slipped through his fingers. Then, the two countries issued a statement acknowledging differences of opinion over ownership of the East China Sea islands before a summit between Abe and President Xi Jinping.

After the Hague tribunal issued its ruling on the South China Sea on Tuesday, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida angered China by releasing a statement underscoring the tribunal's verdict as "final and legally binding" on the parties to the dispute.
Claiming that they had attempted to assassinate him by bombing the costal resort where he had been taking a break, he laid all the blame at the feet of the Gulen movement, an elaborate network of thousands of people embedded across government departments and loyal to Fethullah Gulen, a 79-year-old cleric and former Erdogan associate who lives Saylorsburg, a small town in the US state of Pennsylvania.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a dramatic return to Istanbul from a summer holiday retreat claiming that the coup had been put down, but on a night of violence and intrigue, the identity of the perpetrators remained unclear  even as Erdogan warned that they would pay the "highest price".

Washington: Stunning as it is, Friday's attempted coup in Turkey is not unexpected because the military have always reserved the right to step in, issuing course correctional warnings or taking over when they conclude that government action, or inaction, threatens the national interest.

The coup attempt, with or without the backing of the top generals, leaves Erdogan's power uncertain at a time when the country is beset by crises - a wave of deadly terror attacks launched by the so-called Islamic State; a wave of hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring over his borders with Iraq and Syria as they flee the war ravaging those countries; and a resurgent and bloody bid by Turkey's significant Kurdish minority for autonomy in their south-eastern territory. All of this has unfolded as Erdogan causes anger and distrust with absurd autocratic behaviour as he attempts to fold much of the executive powers of running the country into the post of president  which by tradition and law, is a titular office.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used Facetime to speak to the Turkish people. Credit:Getty Images

Given all that, there was a bit of irony in the name under which the coup leaders plotted  they called themselves Peace at Home, which is taken from a line used by the founder of the modern and secular Turkish state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk when he said: "We work for peace at home, peace in the world. Funny enough, Erdogan opted for something similar when he came to power in 2002, dubbing his foreign policy as "zero problems with neighbours".

It didn't work for the coup plotters; just as the outcome of Erdogan's regional fumbling has problems with pretty well all his neighbours.

That huge crowds poured into the streets, seemingly thwarting an effort by elements of the military to take control of key cities and precincts, seemed to confirm that the president remain in power. That some senior military officers and leaders of the opposition political parties condemned the coup bid suggested that the president might well ride out the crisis.
In Turkey, the Gulenists operate under the name Hizmet, or Service, and they claim their objective is democratic accountability. But they are so entrenched across government that Erdogan blames them for everything  this week, it's the attempted coup; in 2013, it was for manipulating the police, prosecutors and the judiciary to expose rampant corruption, involving some of Erdogan's family and some of his closest associates. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blaming supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen for the coup attempt. Credit:AP Perhaps the best parallel by which the Gulen-Erdogan relationship can be explained is the deal between the House of Saud and the Wahhabi Islamic sect in Saudi Arabia, by which the shared responsibility for different sections of government mutually reinforces the two power bases. But while the Saudi deal holds, the Turkish deal fell apart, turning the best of friends into sworn enemies. Supporters of President Erdogan chant slogans at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul on Saturday. Credit:Getty Images

Gulen, 79 years old and a diabetic, runs an international Islamist network purportedly operating in more than 150 countries, including Turkey where it focuses on educating young Turks to take their place in the judicial and police services, in particular. Gulen fled to the US in 1999 and was tried in absentia for conspiring against the then secular Turkish state. Part of the evidence was a video in which Gulen tells supporters: "You must move in the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing our existence, until you reach all the power centres You must wait until such time as you have gotten all of the state power". People try to stop a Turkish police armoured vehicle carrying soldiers that participated in the coup and surrendered on Saturday. Credit:AP In a 2009 cable, made available through WikiLeaks, former US Ambassador James Jeffrey reports that in Turkey, the Gulen political agenda is seen as "possibly insidious". Elsewhere, Jeffrey describes the movement as "having perhaps millions of followers, [is] worth perhaps billions, and with a presence, often through its high-achieving schools, in 150 countries". The movement operates 135 charter schools in the US; and in Turkey, it has eight universities, dozens of private schools and hundreds of "cramming" centres that prep youngsters for vital university entrance exams.

Gulen has ignored several Fairfax Media requests for an interview. But in a rare encounter with the BBC early in 2014, Gulen denied Erdogan's charge that he was the instigator of the sensational corruption probe in Istanbul. It was a curiously unrevealing encounter, in which Gulen opted for sarcasm to make his point: "People in the judiciary and the police carried out investigations and launched this case, as their duties normally require. Apparently they weren't informed of the fact that corruption and bribery have ceased to be criminal acts in Turkey." Analysts describe Gulen's organisation, funding and influence as "formidable" and there are detailed accounts from within the police force of how jobs, pay and promotions are controlled by his associates. Erdogan reluctantly acknowledged that from the start, his government was based on an informal deal in which the quid pro quo was that Hizmet won a significant footing in the bureaucracy, particularly in law and order and the judiciary, and in return, Gulen used his considerable business and diplomatic connections to open doors for Erdogan, at home and abroad. The movement has been something of a sophisticated attack dog for Erdogan's AKP. As explained by the Turkey analyst Halil Karaveli, Erdogan needed its well-educated members and supporters to help run the country  especially the police and the judiciary. That was the deal  if Gulen endorsed the AKP and its candidates, he would get effective control of swathes of the bureaucracy.

But over time Erdogan became distrustful  and guerrilla war ensued. As prime minister at the time, Erdogan set about purging Gulenists from party lists. Then he wanted them weeded from the bureaucracy. The Hizmet university prep centres were deemed to be a threat to the national good and ordered to close. Writing in Foreign Affairs, Karaveli explains: "The Gulen movement retaliated by supporting a corruption probeagainst several cabinet members and businessmen with close ties to the government. So it was something of a cathartic moment in Turkish history when, in February 2014, a session of Erdogan's National Security Council, which included the top generals, voted to list the Gulen movement as a threat to national security. Reportedly declaring 'total war' on the movement they approved the purging of government agencies of Gulenists. And weeks later Erdogan declared himself to have been naive to allow the movement to acquire so much power. In January 2014, a government insider told the The Telegraph in London that Erdogan worried that the loyalty of Hizmet members on his payroll lay more with Gulen than with Erdogan. "He fears they are plotting to destroy him," the paper was told. "He feels threatened."

After Erdogan met with European leaders early in 2014, a senior EU official in Brussels told The Guardian: "He was gripped with this obsession of killing the parallel state, as he called [the Gulen movement]." In an overwrought victory speech after local government elections in March 2014, Erdogan warned that he was after Gulenists, declaring: "We'll walk into their dens They will pay for this." Gulen and his defenders claim he has no interest in political power. Writing in Foreign Affairs, Gulen associate Y. Alp Aslandogan argues that Gulen could not have stacked the judiciary with his followers because so many powerful figures had stacked it before him. He writes: "In their projects focused on education, health care, humanitarian assistance and intercultural dialogue, [the movement] is driven by intrinsic rewards alone." But the writer and Gulen associate Huseyin Gulerce acknowledged a clash of ideas and ideals between Gulen and Erdogan when he told The New York Times that Gulenists shared many of the complaints of the Gezi Park protesters  the then prime minister had become too powerful, too authoritarian and has abandoned the democratic reform agenda that underpinned Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union.

"This is not a group that Mr Erdogan is not familiar with," Gulerce said at the end of 2013. "He knows all of us personally; from the time he was mayor of Istanbul. He has known Mr Gulen personally for 20 years." Gulen insists he is without power in the Turkish equation. But he too seemed overwrought in a December [2013] sermon, in which he inveighed against Erdogan. Without naming the prime minister, Gulen lambasting those "who turn a blind eye to the thief while punishing those who prosecute the thieves." And he climaxed with a plea to God to "consume their homes with fire, destroy their nests, and break their accords." When I talked to Ersin Kalaycioglu, a political science professor at Istanbul's Sabanci University, he observed that in the past Erdogan would not allow criticism of the Gulenists. "Now he wants us to believe that he was naive and deceived  only a person with no intelligence can be expected to believe that." In 2006, Erdogan arranged Gulen's acquittal on the previous regime's charge that Gulen had attempted to take over the state. Now, the prime minister had changed his mind, unsuccessfully demanding that the US extradite Gulen back to Turkey to face accusations from his former comrade, Erdogan, that are remarkably similar to those Gulen faced from the generals in the 1990s  that he infiltrated government agencies with a view to taking over the state. Trying to unravel the Erdogan-Gulen conundrum, Istanbul based writer Suzy Hansen writes: "If a [president] can co-opt the laws and the media, and if a self-interested group can prosecute trials of dubious legality, and if citizens have no where to express themselves but in the streets, then the state institutions are broken."
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has led a chorus of international leaders in condemning the attempted military coup in Turkey on Friday night.

Ms Merkel said Berlin stands by those who defend democracy, but added Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must now observe the rule of law to deal with the coup's supporters.

"It's tragic that so many people died during this attempted coup," Ms Merkel told reporters in Berlin. "The bloodshed in Turkey must stop now."

She said it was the right of the Turkish people to choose their political leader in free elections, and that political change should only be achieved within the framework of political institutions.
Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic by soldiers. Credit:Getty Images Mr Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania, denied any connection with the coup, which petered out on Saturday morning after a night of violence in the country's two biggest cities, Istanbul and Ankara. "You can think about many motivations of people who staged this coup. They could be sympathisers of the opposition party. They could be sympathisers of the nationalist party. It could be anything," he said. Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde after an attempted military coup. Credit:Getty Images A Turkish official said the death toll from the coup had risen to 265, including 161 mostly civilians and police officers, and 104 coup supporters. Nearly 1500 people were left injured.

Authorities ordered 2745 judges and prosecutors be detained, broadcaster NTV said, and officials are promising to extend the purge. As well as banning incoming flights from Turkey, the FAA issued a notice banning US commercial and private aircraft from flying to Turkey. Qantas is offering the chance for passengers travelling to or from Turkey via Emirates between July 16 and 19 to reroute travel, hold it in credit or change destination to eligible passengers . In the wake of the attempted coup, Emirates cancelled flights between Dubai and Istanbul on Saturday, while Virgin Australia's partner, Etihad Airways, suspended flights between Abu Dhabi and Istanbul. Mr Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

He said those responsible would pay a heavy price. Arrests of officers were under way, he said, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military. He said some military personnel were taking orders from Mr Gulen, whose movement he called an armed terrorist organisation. But Mr Gulen condemned the uprising and denied any involvement, saying: "Governments should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force." Soldiers who used tanks to blockade the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul surrendered and were photographed walking towards a group of Mr Erdogan's supporters with their hands up.

The head of Turkey's armed forces was taken hostage by his own soldiers during the attempted coup, and an acting chief of military was appointed. However, a senior Turkish official told Reuters military head Hulusi Akar has since been rescued. Earlier on Saturday, Mr Kerry said the US anticipates having "some discussion" with its NATO ally Turkey about extraditing Mr Gulen. "We invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny, and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately," Kerry said. Istanbul's international airport has reopened with Turkish Airlines resuming flights on Saturday. Some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights. The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late on Friday caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and cancelled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk.

Reuters is quoting Greek military sources saying an anti-government group at Turkey's Golcuk naval base has taken over a frigate, holding the head of the Turkish fleet hostage. And a Turkish military helicopter landed in Northern Greece and the eight men on board have been arrested, according to the Greek Police Ministry. The eight arrested men have requested political asylum, the Greek Police Ministry said, but Turkey is demanding their return. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said they would consider the death penalty to punish the coup plotters. He said the death penalty was not in the country's constitution, but Turkey would consider legal changes to "make sure this doesn't happen again".

Mr Erdogan said those behind the "act of treason" would be held responsible. His government has moved swiftly to "clean up the army" and detain more than 2839 soldiers involved in the attempted uprising. The country's head of armed forces was taken hostage, a military helicopter was shot down, tanks opened fire around Turkey's parliament building, bridges out of Istanbul were blockaded, and rebels stormed a news service during the bloody attempted coup. But shortly after Mr Erdogan took to mobile app FaceTime to urge supporters to take to the streets, the uprising started to lose momentum. A total of 17 police officers were killed in the fighting when their offices in the Turkish capital of Ankara were fired on by a helicopter being used by the military faction trying to seize power.

Mr Yildirim said a group within the country's military attempted to overthrow the government and security forces were called in to "do what is necessary". "Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Mr Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV on Friday, local time. "The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so." Those behind the attempted coup would pay the highest price, he added, as a no-fly-zone was declared over the Turkish capital Ankara. The military said in a statement, sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, that the armed forces had taken power in the country to protect the democratic order and to maintain human rights.

All of Turkey's existing foreign relations would be maintained and the rule of law would remain the priority, it said. One senior Turkish government official said the military faction behind the coup had taken control of some tanks and ordered its forces to try and take over the streets. Footage on local television channels showed military vehicles blocking bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul and tanks deployed at the city's main airport. In the capital Ankara, warplanes and helicopters roared overhead. A Reuters journalist heard gunshots.

The office of broadcaster CNNTurk was stormed by insurgents, but the news service has since resumed its regular programming. A Turkish official who did not want to be named said soldiers had been deployed in other cities in Turkey, but did not specify which ones. Dogan News Agency reported the national police directorate had summoned all police to duty in Ankara. Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State. It is a principal backer of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, and host to more than two million Syrian refugees.

The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a message to Australian citizens in Turkey, repeating the French and US calls for people to stay indoors. "There are reports of unauthorised military movements in Ankara and Istanbul and gunfire. Bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul are closed. Airport operations have been disrupted, including at Istanbul's Ataturk airport," DFAT said. "Confirm your flight's status before travelling to the airport so long as it is safe to do so. You should stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel. Avoid any large gatherings or demonstrations. Follow the directions of local authorities. "We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in Turkey overall and to reconsider their need to travel to Istanbul and Ankara. Higher levels apply in some parts of Turkey." Flights to Turkey from Australia (via other destinations) are still operating today.
Where are the Phillies' players from 2008 World Series title team?

The 2022 Phillies are back in the World Series against Houston but where are the members of the 2008 team?
Rollatainers Ltd, a company that is into packaging and food service, is in an advance stage of negotiations to sell off its packaging business.
Chennai-based Corporation Ltd (NLC), a Navratna PSU, has expressed interest in establishing a 300 Mw solar power plant in Odishas Balasore district. While the project cost has not been disclosed, industry estimates put the cost of installing 1 Mw solar capacity at about Rs 7 croreRs 8 crore.
Chennai-based Corporation Ltd (NLC), a Navratna public sector undertaking (PSU), has evinced interest in establishing a 300-Mw solar power plant in Odisha's Balasore district. The cost of setting up the plant is not known though creating 1 Mw solar capacity entails an investment of Rs 7-8 crore.
In more trouble for the promoter of defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, a metropolitan court in suburban Andheri here today issued a non bailable warrant (NBW) against him in a case of cheque bouncing filed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Earlier, on May 7, 2016 Magistrate A A Laulkar had directed Mallya to appear before the court today failing which the court wouldissue a NBW against him.

The NBW was issued following Mallyas non appearance today. The court was hearing applications filed by AAI against M/s. Kingfisher Airlines in connection with two cheques of Rs 100 crores which were dishonoured by Mallyas airline.

The two applications filed by AAI sought cancellation of permanent exemption from court appearance granted to Mallya, who has since left the country amid an outcry over Kingfisher airline defaulting on repayment of over Rs 9,000 crore to the banks, and sought an arrest warrant against him.

Earlier, AAIs lawyer had argued in the court that in view of cancellation of Mallya's passport, his lawyer may not be able to produce him in the court if the court orders so. Meanwhile, a Delhi court today fixed August 6 for hearing a cheque bounce case against Mallya by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).

The court, which had summoned Mallya as accused, fixed the matter for the next date after it was told by the counsel appearing for the businessman that its summoning order had been challenged before the High Court (HC).

Earlier, the trial court had summoned Mallya as accused following a complaint by DIAL, which operates the capitals Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), claiming that a cheque for Rs 1 crore issued by Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) on February 22, 2012 was returned to them a month later containing remarks fund insufficient.

DIAL had filed four cases in June 2012 against Mallya over Kingfishers cheques totalling Rs 7.5 crore not being honoured. The grounded Kingfisher airline had issued the cheques towards payment for services availed by them at the IGI airport in New Delhi.
exported less than 10 million tonnes of petroleum products for the first time after three quarters, mainly because of increased demand at home.
Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released today, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said here.

"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today morning at 1030 hrs IST," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

"Both have spoken to their families. Sharma's wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," Swarup added.

The duo  Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka)  were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.

Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act".
The Police arrested an arms smuggler and seized 20 pistols from him at a place under East Colony police station area of Bihar's Munger district.

Superintendent of Police Ashish Bharti said the police had got a tip off that one Rohit Kumar, an arms smuggler, was expected to deliver automatic pistols to a person named Sonu at a place behind Jamalpur railway station of the district.

On getting the information, a joint team of the Special Task Force (STF) and local police raided the place and arrested Kumar.

The arrested smuggler, a resident of Sadipur locality under Kotwali police station, would be sent to jail, the SP said adding, the pistols were unassembled.
To strengthen your mind, you may first want to exert your leg muscles, according to a sophisticated new experiment involving people, mice and monkeys. The study's results suggest that long-term endurance such as running can alter muscles in ways that then jump-start changes in the brain, helping to fortify learning and memory.
The Gujarat government today appealed to the Centre to conduct the Eligibility-cum -Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS course in regional languages for the benefit of students.

Speaking at the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council (ISC) here, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said conducting the test in regional languages will benefit students. The same demand has earlier been raised by some other states.

She also laid emphasis on the need for having more coastal police stations in Gujarat to fill the gap in the coastal policing, given its proximity to Pakistan.

She urged the Centre to consider its request for financial assistance for setting up a forensic laboratory.

Patel said her government was in complete agreement with the recommendations made by Justice M M Punchhi Commission, which was formed to look into the new issues of Centre-State relations keeping in view the changes that have been taken place in the polity and economy of the country.

She, however, said that the Centre should take into consideration the views of the state government and "take necessary actions to achieve the goal of co-operative federalism".

On the use of Aadhaar, she said Gujarat has already enrolled 91.26 per cent adult population under the scheme. For covering the remaining adult population, the state government has set up 560 permanent enrolment centres.

"We have also constituted a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Cell in the Finance Department to oversee both, Aadhaar seeding and also the flow of financial benefits to the beneficiaries' accounts through DBT.

"The state government will meet the deadline set by Government of India towards transferring all Government subsidy/ benefits through DBT by March 31, 2017," she said.
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Intermittent are lashing parts of Northern India since last night.

Delhi, including high altitude areas and other parts of Uttarakhand are witnessing heavy showers.

Almost all major rivers in the state are in spate. In Haridwar, the River Ganga is flowing near the danger mark.

People living in low lying areas in Uttarakhand have been asked to move to safer places.

Excessive have also caused water logging in Delhi.

The MeT Department has issued a warning of heavy rain at scattered places in all the districts of Uttarakhand in the next 48 hours.

The Harish Rawat Government has issued an advisory to all the District Magistrates asking them to be vigilant and to take all precautionary measures for the safety of the people.
Saturday marked the third anniversary of the mid-day meal tragedy in . As many as 23 children had died after eating contaminated food at the Gandaman-Dharmasati Primary School in the Saran district of the state. The victims came from all communities, defying the typical narrative of caste-based rights violations of the poor in .
Making it clear that no court orders are required to protect government or public lands and it was the responsibility of Collectors, directed Tamil Nadu government to examine it and entrust it to officers concerned for more effective mechanism at district level.

The First bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan gave this direction on a petition by one P Rajendran, seeking a direction to Tiruvallur District Collector and revenue officials of Ponneri taluk,to remove all encroachments on lands at Periayakavanam village.

The bench said it is the Collectors' responsibility to ensure that public land is protected and not encroached upon and does not require orders from the Court.

The HC said it would like the Chief Secretary to look into it and entrust it to officers concerned for more effective monitoring at district level to ensure protection of the land and work out methodologies to deter enroachments.

The matter relates to 13.75 acres of poromboke land in the village near a river. Though pattas were given by Tamil Nadu Refugees and Rehabilitation Department in 1971 for Burmese refugees to build homes, none occupied it as it was agriculture land and there was no infrastructure or transport.

Cattle were grazed there and a portion of it was used as a graveyard with no damage to the lands and the river.

Mahadeven alleged anti-socials had formed an association, encroached onlands with indirect support of the Government machinery and indiscriminately damaged the river bunds.

Earlier the Bench in an interim order had directed authorities concerned, including the Collector, to look into the issue to ensure that the land is allotted only to the allottees and not some third parties and to take up the exercise within two months and submit a report before it.
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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J said that the provision in the draft Centre State Investment Agreement (CSIA), which is proposed for effective bilateral investment protection, permitting the Centre to unilaterally deduct any dues that the Central Government transfers to States, is "completely unacceptable". While the Chief Minister did not attend the Inter-State Council meeting held in New Delhi, State Minister for Finance O Panneerselvam represented the State.

In a written speech circulated among the Chief Ministers of States, Union Territories and the Union Ministers participated in the 11th Inter-State Council Meeting, held for the first time after 2006, she said that the present central government is guilty of indiscriminately resorting to levying of cesses and surcharges.
Karnataka plans to tap non-resident Kannadigas to set up and technology units in the state in its revised start-up policy, mirroring efforts by rival states Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Come August and East India may see a first-of-its-kind initiative in the zone, when the automakers will start transporting cars through the coastal shipping route.
Raising the concerns of over a million paddy farmers in Odisha, Chief Minister on Saturday made a strong plea to the Union government to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy.
Prime Minister today said states should leverage 96 per cent adult enrollment in the Aadhaar programme and use that to reduce kerosene consumption. Surprisingly, he praised the prompt efforts of the government of Karnataka, run by rival Congress, for snapping up 75 per cent of the subsidy as direct grant to the state.



He urged others to follow this example. Education was the other issue he flagged in securing the cooperation of the states to roll out uniform politics, especially in primary education.The PM's speech, at the Inter State Council, however, had no mention of the restructuring of discom debts or UDAY, which is where the political support of the states is most needed, as the restructuring will have to factor in the issue of power tariff and subsidies.



Citing kerosene as an example where states can use Aadhaar to their advantage he said: "Electricity connections are increasing in villages. The Union Government will provide 5 crore new cooking gas connections over the next three years. The supply of LPG will further increase. All these efforts have a direct bearing on the consumption of kerosene. Recently, the Chandigarh administration declared the city a kerosene-free zone. Now, the Union Government has launched a scheme, under which, if there is a reduction in the consumption of kerosene by a State, the Centre will disburse 75 per cent of the resultant savings in subsidy, as grant to that State. The Government of Karnataka, while moving swiftly on this initiative, has sent its proposal to the Petroleum Ministry. This has been accepted and the grant has been disbursedto the State Government. If all states decide to reduce kerosene consumption by 25 per cent, and actually do so, they can receive about Rs 1,600 crore as grant this year".



The PM's speech had copious references to Bharatiya Janata Party icons including Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Swami Vivekanand and former NDA Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but he stayed away from contentious political references or referring to ongoing feuds with states, including Delhi, Bihar and others which have consistently attacked the centre for emasculating their powers.



The agenda of the Inter State Council, which is meeting for the first time in ten years, (the last meeting was in 2006, during the United Progressive Allianceregime) had the M M Punchhi report on division of administrative and other policy formulation powers as the most important item on the agenda. The PM said that states have never been as financiallyempowered as they are today.



"With the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the States' share in central taxes has increased from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. This means that States now have greater financial resources to utilise in accordance with their requirements. I am happy to share that the total amount received by States from the Centre during 2015-16 is 21 per cent higher than the amount received in 2014-15. Similarly,Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies will receive Rs 2.87 lakh crore during the period of the 14th Finance Commission, which is substantially higher than last time."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said states should leverage 96% adult enrolment in the Aadhaar programme and use it to reduce kerosene consumption. Surprisingly, he praised the prompt efforts of the government of Karnataka, run by rival Congress, for homing in on this and snapping up 75% of the subsidy as direct grant to the state. He urged others to follow this example. Education was the other issue he flagged in securing the cooperation of the states to roll out uniform policies, especially in primary education.
Right ahead of the scheduled banking employees' strike, United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) said that it is going to announce names of 7,000 on July 19.
Government steps in to address concerns of Spinning Sector due to rising cotton prices CCI to sell cotton stock to spinning mills in MSME category only The recent spurt in cotton prices has resulted in higher input costs for the spinning sector in India. In view of this situation, the Government reviewed the situation and decided the following: Cotton Corporation of India will sell its existing stock, purchased under MSP, to spinning mills in the MSME category only.

This would be based on firm indents by such MSME spinning textile units registered with the Office of Textile Commissioner.
Vice President and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasnia met here in the Mongolian capital and discussed bilateral and issues of mutual interest.

The two-leaders met on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Summit here.

Details of their discussion were not available.

Ansari had briefly interacted with Hasina during the summit.

The Vice President also held separate bilateral meetings with Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivasand, Prime Minister of Lithuania Algirdas Butkevicius. He held a bilateral meeting with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.

Ansari held talks Prime Ministers of Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam on Friday.

At the first day of the ASEM Summit, Asian and European leaders condemned the terror attack in the French city of Nice and reiterated the need to tackle terrorism.

During the Summit, the leaders also talked about the South China Sea issue, days after a UN-backed tribunal struck down China's claims of "historical rights" in the disputed waters in a case brought by the Philippines.

They also voiced their opposition to the use of force and the need for freedom of navigation in waters.
It was one of the fastest civil settlements in the history of corporate malfeasance, coming together in six months instead of the years usually required for such complex negotiations. But the path to Volkswagen's $15 billion deal last month with American officials and car owners over the company's diesel deception was fraught with pitfalls, including clashing egos and cultures, arguments over mathematical formulas and frayed nerves from late nights and lost weekends.
The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.

The Islamic State group claimed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a "soldier" today, but what is known so far about Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in Islam.

The 31-year-old was born in Msaken, a town in Tunisia, but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbours described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

In a news conference yesterday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

Bouhlel had had a series of run-ins with the law for threatening behaviour, violence and theft over the past six years. In March, he was given a six-month suspended sentence by a Nice court for a road-rage incident.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed "no radicalisation whatsoever," and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel was never placed on a watch list for radicals.

Records show that the 19-metric-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on July 11 and was overdue on the night of the attack.

About 25 minutes before the July 14 fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city centre.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.

"It was such a nice atmosphere before this started," recalled Sanchia Lambert, a tourist from Sweden who had come to visit family in Nice.

Her husband, John Lambert, said the couple was almost struck by Bouhlel. "I saw his face," Lambert told The Associated Press. "He was totally focused.
Jets bombed near Turkey's presidential palace in Ankara today as an army faction attempted to bring down the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Plumes of black smoke were seen rising over the Bestepe district where the palace is located, NTV television reported.
More rich Asians are asking private banks to manage their wealth amid increasing volatility in financial markets, a new survey shows, in an encouraging sign to firms such as UBS Group AG and Credit Suisse Group AG that are expanding their businesses in the region. About a quarter of high-net-worth investors in Asia were clients of private banks as of May, up from 10 per cent three years ago, according to the study released this week by Singapore-based East & Partners Asia Pte. The proportion of those managing their own wealth dropped to 52 per cent from 70 per cent in the same period. That ...
India today called upon all the sides in Turkey, which has witnessed violence after an attempted military coup, to support democracy and mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed even as it advised its nationals to stay indoors.

"We have been closely following the developments in #Turkey India calls upon all sides 2 support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

India also asked its nationals in the country to avoid public places and remain indoors until the situation becomes clearer in the backdrop of the attempted military coup.

"Indian nationals in Turkey : Pl avoid public places and stay indoors. Helpline : Ankara: +905303142203 Istanbul: +905305671095," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

Forty-two people, 17 of them police and civilian, in clashes in the Turkish capital of Ankara as groups inside the army attempted to bring down the government.
France is in the line of fire. Of the 16 terrorist incidents that took place in Western nations this year, five were in France, including the deadliest one - Thursday's apparent lone wolf attack in Nice, which killed at least 84 people.
The Rs 50,000-crore domestic chicken sector has urged the government to ensure a level-playing field to protect their interests, after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled Indias ban on import of meat and eggs from the US was inconsistent with international norms.
The Amarnath Yatra which remained suspended for few days resumed from Jammu on Saturday.

The yatra was suspended as people across the Jammu region observed a bandh and organised demonstrations to express solidarity with the protests after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani.

At least 10,000 Amarnath pilgrims were earlier stranded in Jammu city as authorities did not allow movement to Pahalgam and Baltal.

The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar highway was earlier disrupted for three hours as pilgrims held a demonstration after police stopped their vehicle movement during the day.

Over 800 pilgrims, who were stranded at Nunwan Pahalgam for last one week, were allowed to leave for Jammu late last night.

Over 9,100 pilgrims performed darshan at holy cave by last evening. With this, the total number of pilgrims paying obeisance to Ice Lingam in cave shrine during last 14 days of yatra has touched the figure of 1.65 lakh.
It has been more than a year since Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck announced their split, but the estranged couple are reportedly putting their divorce on hold.

Channel.24 quoted a source close to Garner, 44, as saying "Jen mentioned that the divorce was going through very soon, and then a few weeks ago, things changed. It does not seem to be moving in that direction."

"Jen seems to still be in love with Ben but doesn't allow her mind to go there. She just focuses on the kids," the insider added.

The 'Alias' actress and 43-year-old Affleck are still living together with their children in their five-bedroom mansion and it is said that the actor is keen to get their marriage back on track.

However, another source said, "If it was up to Ben, they would be together. He feels like he can't live without Jen."

"They were never in a rush to file. This was always the plan," the insider added.

Garner and Affleck, who shares three kids together, announced last year that they are parting ways after 10 years of marriage.
Days after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti appealed to the parents to stop their children from participating in violent protests over the killing of militant Burhan Wani, Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that the youth of Kashmir should not get misguided by 'protagonists of terrorism" who are sacrificing themselves for what has been described as a freedom fight.

"I think it is important for them to realize that they should not get misguided by the so-called protagonists of terrorism who are sacrificing them at the altar of what they subjectively describe as a freedom fight; at the same time they have ensured that their own children are lodged in safe havens," he said.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed 'vested interests' for the unrest in Kashmir and promised to work out a mechanism to ensure a dignified living for the kin of victims of violence.

At least 37 people, reportedly, fell victim to the clashes between protesters and security forces after Hizbul Mujaideen commander Burhan Wani was gunned down in Kashmir in an encounter.

Singh further said that we live in an evidence based era and the "awakened" youth should pose questions to those who influence people to join Jihad.

"We live in an evidence based era; our youth has awakened enough to ask questions. The question that common youth of Kashmir ought to ask is those who ask me to join this so-called war for freedom or jihad is where are their children? Have their children already joined these ranks!" he said.

Lashing at out Pakistan for the hatching out conspiracy against India, he asserted that Indian government and Indian people at large are ready to face any kind of terrorists.

"Pakistan has always been trying to fish in the troubled waters of Jhelum and the conspiracies have been hatched in Islamabad, but I can tell you with all the confidence in my command that the security agencies of India, the Government of India, the society of India at large is ready to face any kind of terrorists," he told the media here.

Burhan Wani an Internet-savvy Kashmiri terrorist was a resident of Dadsara village in south Kashmir's Tral area. He left his home in 2010, days before taking the Class 10 examination to join the region's frontline indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujaideen.

He soon rose to become its district commander and figured in the list of most wanted militants.
Listing a four-point agenda for discussion at the 11th Inter-State Council meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that Centre is committed to realize the equitable development of all states.

Welcoming all participants, Singh said the fact that the Inter State meeting was being held after a gap of 10 years highlighted the BJP-led government's philosophy of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'.

Emphasizing that states should actively participate in the formulation of development related policies and their implementation, Singh said states should indulge in a healthy competition and adopt each other's best practices.

"In this meeting we will discuss on four agenda items which is of common interest to all," he said.

"First, we will discuss the status Justice MM Punchhi commission's recommendations and way forward. Justice MM Punchhi commission had submitted report in 2010 which had 273 recommendations...Second agenda is that the schemes launched by the government should reach the targeted beneficiaries. Aadhar can be used for it. Adhar already has already benefitted in many schemes," he added.

He said the third agenda would be to discuss on improving quality education with a focus on learning outcome.

"Fourth is, internal security with focus on intelligence sharing and coordination for combating terrorism, insurgency and also on police reforms and modernization," he added.

Singh said Prime Minister Modi had given a new direction to Centre-State relations since assuming power in may 2014, citing the scrapping of planning commission and constituting the Neeti Aayog.

"It is matter of great fortune that our Prime Minister has himself been a chief minister for 12 years. He has given new direction to relations between the states and the Centre," he said.

"The nation's development is not possible unless there is equitable development in all states. There should be a healthy competitive atmosphere between states where they adopt each other's best practices. This healthy competition is part of development framework," he added.

According to reports, the chief ministers of non-BJP states are expected to corner Prime Minister Modi and are expected to question Centre government on the spirit of federalism, following political crisis in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

It will be interesting to note whether the chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states voice their support for the long-pending bill as the government has reached out to the grand old party for passage of the GST in the Rajya Sabha where it does not have a majority.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi is likely to seek Chief Ministers' feedback and support for the GST.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday said that Japan should stop hyping up and interfering in the South China Sea issue and urged that the two countries should properly manage their differences.

Premier Li made the remarks in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the ongoing 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in UlanBattar, Mongolia, reports Xinhua.

Prime Minister said that China's stance on the South China Sea issue is completely in line with international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

He added that since Tokyo has no direct involvement in the South China Sea issue, it should "exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering in" the issue.

The Chinese Premier also called on both sides to step up exchanges on the East China Sea issue via dialogue and consultation based on the four-point principled agreement they reached in November 2014, so as to stave off misinterpretation and miscalculation.

On bilateral relations, Prime Minister Li said China-Japan relations have in recent year embarked on a course of improvement, but the pace is slow and is from time to time disturbed by complications.

He urged both sides to keep a strong sense of responsibility, and steadily push ahead China-Japan ties on the basis of the reality and long-term strategic consideration.

On his part, Prime Minister Abe said that despite existing difficulties in the relations between the two countries, the Japanese side hopes to expand exchanges and cooperation with China, properly manage differences, and push forward bilateral ties in pursuit of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.
Rejecting Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki's request to provide some time in regard to holding the floor test to prove the majority of the Congress Party, acting Governor Tathagata Roy had yesterday scheduled the floor test for today.

Tuki, addressing a letter to the Governor had sought at least ten days time from for the floor test.

But Governor Roy declined his request stating that in the view of upcoming monsoon, which might lead to rainfall and landslides the deferment of floor test will be difficult.

"I thank you and your Home Minister for your kind visit to the Raj Bhawan on 15.7.2016 at 1 p.m. I congratulate you on your resumption as Chief Minister in obedience of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's orders. I have given my most careful consideration to your request for not summoning the state legislative assembly for the purpose of proving your majority on the floor of the House," the letter said.

"I regret I am not in a position to agree with your submission made in your above letters and during our meeting. You appear to have contended that the notice given to you for summoning the Assembly is too short, for certain reason," it added.

Governor Roy further said that with the means of transport and communication now available, he does not see much difficulty in the MLAs attending a session of July 16.

"Monsoon will not abate as day go on but will intensify. These may lead to landslides and/or heavy fog in the coming days. Thus it is quite possible that granting more time may worsen things," he added.

"I do not consider this to be a serious objection at all. We all do things on holidays when circumstances so warrant," he added.

Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Itanagar near the Assembly ahead of the floor test.

A Congress Legislative Party leaders meeting has been scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. in Itanagar to discuss the matter.

The Governor's directive came a day after the Supreme Court, in a historic verdict on Wednesday, restored Tuki as Chief Minister, a position he lost last December when Congress rebels, backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), staged a coup.

The Governor, however, said that he would consult the legal experts and take advice of the Advocate General, and then he would decide a proper date.

The Governor, who recently took additional charge of Arunachal Pradesh after J.P. Rajkhowa went on leave due to ill health, on Thursday officially reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister.

He has also asked the Chief Minister to call the Legislative Assembly session immediately and prove his majority no later than July 16.

An official statement from the Governor's secretariat said in order to ensure that the proceedings of the assembly take place peacefully and appropriately, the sessions shall be video-graphed.

"The Governor emphasised that the conduct of the proceedings, including the videography, in the House shall strictly follow the principles laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its order dated May 6, 2016 in the matter pertaining to the matter of imposition of President's Rule in the State of Uttarakhand (SLP C 11567/2016) Union of India Vs Harish Chandra Singh Rawat," the statement added.

A five-judge constitution bench had pronounced the verdict on a bunch of petitions dealing with discretionary powers of the Governor to summon or advance the assembly session.

Stating the Governor's direction on conducting the assembly proceedings is unconstitutional, the apex court set aside all steps and decision taken by the legislative assembly pursuant to the Governor's December 9th last year order and said they are unsustainable.

Tuki-led Congress government was dismissed following days of turmoil after 21 of its 47 legislators rebelled against the chief minister.

Eleven BJP MLAs backed the rebels in the bid to upstage the government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday appointed Justice KN Keshavanarayana, Retired Judge of Karnataka High Court, as a one man Commission of Inquiry in the Deputy SP Ganapathy suicide case.

The Commission of Inquiry shall submit its report in six months and it shall exercise all the powers under Commission of Inquiry Act 1952 and under the Code of Civil Procedure to conduct the inquiry into the incident.

The Commission will inquire into incidents leading to Ganapthi's suicide and the role of Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, ADGP (Intelligence) A M Prasad and IGP Pranab Mohanty who the deceased officer accused of causing mental harassment.

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A 33-year-old Croatian man was found dead at a hotel in Delhi's Mahipalpur area today.

The injuries found on, Nenad Kresoja's, body seemed self inflicted, said sources.

A Central Forensic Sciences Labortory (CFSL) team has reached the site and conducting investigation to gain further insight into the matter.

Croatian Ambassador to India Peter Ljubicic has also visited the scene of crime.

Kresoja, who used to work at a school in Croatia, was in India on a tourist visa. He had visited China and Nepal before coming to India.

His body has been sent for a post-mortem.

Sources say, the incident appears to be a case of suicide.
DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, one of the premier asset management companies, has launched the "Take control of your finances'' campaign under the aegis of 'Winvestor'- an investor education initiative empowering women to take independent and informed investment decisions.

The program aims at encouraging men and women to 'Take a pledge', to inspire women to make their own investment decisions. One can take the pledge at www.iwinvest.in. After taking a pledge, women can also register for a free counselling session on investment planning with an expert investment advisor, to equip themselves with knowledge related to investment choices and to empower themselves with a suitable financial plan. Women, as well as men, can also encourage other women to register for the session.

Commenting on this initiative, Aditi Kothari Desai, EVP, Head - Sales and Marketing, DSP BlackRock Investment Managers Pvt. Ltd. said, "The campaign reinforces our commitment of promoting an ecosystem where women are passionate about their long-term financial goals and are equipped to manage their investments well. This is not a women-only movement, this is part of a larger campaign that is also being supported by men from all across India. Through this campaign, we hope to influence a behavioural shift towards the involvement of women in investment decision making."

DSP BlackRock is also actively supporting underprivileged women to take their first steps towards learning how they can start to manage their own money, through its associations with some of India's leading NGOs including Sanchayan and Parinaam. These organizations work tirelessly to spread financial literacy among underprivileged women across India.

According to leading industry reports, more than 50% of working women depend on their spouse and/ or parents for their investment decisions. The reports also suggest that women don't feel comfortable taking investment decisions independently as they are reluctant to take risk and at times are unaware or lack confidence to make investment decisions by themselves.
Turkish ambassador to India Burak Akcapar said on Saturday, that the Turkish people have chosen to stand behind democracy and will not accept otherwise, adding that the coup by the Military clique had failed due to the firm stand by the people.

"It is obvious (the) Turkish people stand behind their democracy and democratically elected representatives. Turkish people will not accept any preposition as to who should rule the country," the envoy told ANI.

While commenting on the ongoing crisis in Turkey, Akcapar said there was a failed attempt by a section of the armed forces to overthrow the democratically elected government of the country.

"There was an attempted coup aiming at overthrowing the democratically elected government of the Turkey. But that coup attempt failed because of the firm stand of the Turkish people who have taken to the streets and taken control of the situation in addition to of course, the Turkish security forces," said Akcapar.

He pointed out that it was only a small clique of the Turkish armed forces and not the army as whole that was involved in the coup.

He added that the Turkish Government has taken control and normalcy has started to come back in the region step by step. The Ataturk airport has also been opened.

The coup started on Friday night when military personnel blockaded the two bridges that cross the Bosphorus straight connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Uncertainty followed as the military issued a declaration it had seized control of Turkey.

However, supporters of the country's elected president and armed forces took to the streets to counter the putschists.

So far, around 60 people have been killed and hundreds have been injured in the violence.

Early on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plane landed in Istanbul and he asserted that the coup had been repelled and he remained in charge.

In a live TV address after his arrival at Istanbul Ataturk airport, where he was welcomed by crowds, Erdogan said the uprising was an act of "treason" and that those responsible would pay a "heavy price".

Apparently the coup was conducted by a section of the military as some top commanders took to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.
Calling upon states to be vigilant and updated and to focus on intelligence sharing for strengthening internal security of the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked them to hold discussions on challenges and how to deal with them.

"We should today hold discussion on challenges faced by the internal security of the country, how to deal with those challenges, and how can we help each other in this regard," said Prime Minister Modi, while addressing the meeting of Inter-State Council here.

He pointed out, "Internal security cannot be strengthened unless we don't focus on intelligence sharing, for which we will have to be alert and updated."

Underlining the importance of the platform provided by the 'cooperative federalism' to hold talks for the welfare of people, to solve their problems, and to take decisions through mutual consultations, the Prime Minister said, "Through mutual consultations, we will not only strengthen the Centre-state relationship, but also ensure better future for the citizens of the country."

Lauding the effort made by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in holding the council's meeting after a gap of 10 years, he said, "Since 2006, the meeting of Inter-State Council has not taken place, and I am happy that the Home Minister has made an attempt to restart this process."

"Last year, he had called five meetings of the regional councils and as a result of that we are assembled here," he added.

The Prime Minister said the country's development is possible only when the Centre and the state governments walk together, shoulder-to-shoulder.

Talking about funds allocated to the states, Prime Minister Modi said, "I am happy that in 2015-16, the states have received 21 percent more funds from the Centre as compared to 2014-15."

"Under the 14th Finance Commission, panchayats and local units will receive Rs. 2.87 crores, which is too big. Besides, effort is being made to provide the states around Rs. 40,000 crores deposited in banks by making certain amendments in the existing Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA)," he added.

Quoting Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, he said, "Dr. Ambedkar has said the path of reforming society is as tough as the path leading to heaven. In this path, there are more critics than friends."

Accenting on the youth power of India, Prime Minister Modi said, "The strength of India is its youth. More than 30 crores children are in the stage to go school. Thus, we have capacity to provide skilled manpower to the world."

He said the Centre and the states should work in tandem to provide an environment to the children, where they could hone their skills as per today's requirement.

Swami Vivekananda used to say "the purpose of the education is character building and expanding wisdom so that one can stand on his feet, he added.
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma, who is basking in the success of her recently released film 'Sultan', has said that she turned down Imtiaz Ali's 2015 movie 'Tamasha' because the focus was too much on the male protagonist.

On being asked if has any regrets of turning down the film, Anushka, 28, said though she had not seen the movie, she felt that had she done it, she would have been praised.

"I have no doubt that if I did the film I would be praised. Any actor in an Imtiaz Ali film will always be good for he is a good director and is very good with his actors," she said.

Actress Deepika Padukone, however, got the role of female lead opposite Ranbir Kapoor.

Imtiaz Ali's directorial, which received Filmfare nominations for direction, music and performances of the lead actors, made average business at box-office.
San Francisco (California), July 16 (ANI): Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari visited the Tesla factory near here on Friday and offered to promote joint ventures between the global leaders in electric car manufacturing and the Indian automobile companies with a view to introducing pollution free road transport in India, especially commercial and public motor vehicles.

Gadkari said the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was committed to encouraging alternate pollution free transport in the country by providing incentives to bio-fuel, CNG, Ethanol and electric vehicles.

He proposed to the Tesla senior executives to make India their Asia manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of their vehicles to South and South East Asian countries.

Senior executives at Tesla admitted that their manufacturing hub has to be outside the United States to tap markets in the rest of the and appreciated the Indian offer of cooperation, which they said will certainly be considered at the appropriate time in the future. They said India will definitely be a market for their next generation low cost sustainable model-3

Replying to specific queries from Gadkari regarding manufacturing of electric trucks, buses and two wheelers, the Tesla team said they have future plans for trucks and pick up vans, but not for buses and two wheelers. They evinced keen interest in knowing whether there was any subsidy on electric vehicles in India. Gadkari asked Tesla executives to outline their proposals for entry into the Indian market.

Gadkari was informed that 400,000 advance bookings have been done for Tesla's model X. There were some bookings from India as well, but they refused to disclose the number.

Gadkari apprised Tesla executives of the progress Indian automobile manufacturers have made in the field of electric vehicles and exuded confidence that very soon the Indian market will become very competitive in this sector.

The minister and accompanying senior officials took a round of the sprawling Tesla manufacturing unis and saw the cutting edge robotic auto assembly plant.

Gadkari inquired about the battery packs that can store energy from the power grid and from solar panels.

He was told that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Tesla, too was keen to know how batteries and solar panels could be the future of electricity generation for India, particularly in rural areas. Gadkari was told that Tesla was inviting suggestions for locations in India for demonstrations.
After falling consecutively for 18 months, India's merchandise exports grew in June witnessing a hike of 1.27 percent in the month.

Exports in June were USD 22.5 billion compared with USD 22.2 billion in the year ago period while imports declined 7.33 percent to USD 30.6 billion from USD 33.1 billion in June 2015.

Meanwhile, the trade deficit widened to USD 8.1 billion vis-a-vis USD 6.27 billion in May.

The Commerce and Industry ministry in its statement said, "For the first time after a gap of 18 months, exports in June 2016 have recorded a positive growth of 1.27 percent."

18 out of 30 exporting sectors showed growth in shipment with handicrafts leading the pack with a whopping 91.98 percent increase.

Also, the gold imports declined almost 38.5 percent to USD 1.2 billion last month.

On the other hand, the data released by RBI showed exports worth USD 13.4 billion and imports of USD 7.9 billion in May.
In a joint statement issued by the Hurriyat Leadership, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik have extended protests and complete shutdown for the next 72 hours starting from today morning till Monday evening.

"On 16th of July, the people are appealed to observe protests after Maghrib prayers and raise pro freedom slogans of right to self determination," the statement said.

"While continuing the protest strike on July 17, the people of the valley are asked to visit the families of recent martyrs and injured in order to pay tribute to their courageous roles in the on-going freedom struggle of Kashmir," it added.

Furthermore, on July 18, the people of Kashmir will organise a freedom march on their respective district headquarters.

"Hurriyat leadership and Kashmiris are thankful to the Government and people of Pakistan for their unflinching support for the freedom struggle of Kashmiris. We welcome the call from Government of Pakistan call to observe July 19 as 'Black Day' to apprise the world about the ongoing genocide of Kashmiris by Indian forces and to aware them about the struggle of Kashmiris for right to self determination," it added.

In resolve to the black day call, the separatists appealed to the people of Kashmir and Kashmiris living abroad to observe July 19 as 'Black Day'.

The shutdown call comes in wake of protests following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani earlier on July 8.

At least 37 people have died in the protests following Wani's killing last week.

India has slammed Pakistan for glorifying terrorists and also for declaring Wani a martyr.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Vikas Swarup yesterday said India completely and unequivocally rejects in the entirety the decisions adopted by the Cabinet of Pakistan on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

On the call of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Federal Cabinet yesterday decided that the country will observe July 19 as 'Black Day' against the Indian "barbarism in the Kashmir Valley."

Prime Minister Sharif said that Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support for Kashmiris in their just struggle for "right to self-determination."

He added the "Indian brutalities" will give impetus to the freedom struggle, which even the seven hundred thousand Indian soldiers deployed in Kashmir could not suppress.

He went on to call the 22-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen leader as "martyr" of the independence movement.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Ministry has said that its citizens in Turkey are safe and not harmed by the events unfolding in the Turkish capital of Ankara and Istanbul.

Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Mahishini Colonne in a tweet said that according to the Lankan Embassy in Ankara there was no harm to the Sri Lankans living in Turkey.

"Incidents in #Turkey: SL Embassy Ankara says no harm to #SriLankans. Embassy in touch. Incidents confined to Ankara & Istanbul," Colonne tweeted.

A military group has attempted a coup against the Turkish government and at least 42 people, including police officers, have reportedly been killed by gunfire in Ankara.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said the "situation in the country is largely under control" after elements of the Turkish military backed, by tanks, staged an attempted coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, sparking bloody clashes in major cities.
The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) on Saturday consulted lawyers and constitutional experts for legal complications in the process of forming a new government, after toppling the incumbent CPN-UML-led government through a no-confidence vote.

Top leaders of both parties including NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN MC Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had met the legal experts at the NC Parliamentary Office in Singha Darbar for around two hours this morning, reports the Himalayan Times.

The meeting took place as many lawyers have been airing the view that forming a new government before electing a new House of Representatives through fresh elections might be complex as per the Constitution.

Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli had also earlier cited Article 298 of the Constitution, which reads: "The Council of Ministers existing at the time of commencement of this Constitution shall remain until the transformed Legislature-Parliament constitutes a new Council of Ministers;" post which he decided to go through with the floor test instead of resigning from his post.

As per Article 298 the government will remain until next parliamentary elections take place.

However, the lawyers consulted today told the parties, that the Article 298 under the chapter of the 'Transitional Provisions of the Constitution' still can be applied in order to form the government, before the nation holds the election to the House of Representatives as stated in the Constitution promulgated last year.

The suggestion apparently contradict claim of other lawyers who argue that the Article cannot be applied as it categorically mentions that the transitional government should be formed within seven days from the date of the commencement of the Constitution if the Parliament is not in recess, or within seven days from the date of commencement of the Parliament session if the Parliament is in recess.

They argued that neither can the Article 76, which has provisions on constitution of Council of Ministers from the House of Representatives, be applied as election to the House of Representatives has not been held.
A metropolitan magistrate's court in suburban Andheri on Saturday issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against liquor baron Vijay Mallya in a cheque bounce case.

The court had in May reserved its order on applications filed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) seeking an arrest warrant against the industrialist.

AAI has filed two cheque bouncing cases against Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines in the court. The two cheques worth Rs. 50 crores and Rs. 57 crores respectively were dishonored in year 2012.

In last hearing, the court had asked Mallya to remain present during the hearing of the said case but he was absent today as well.

The lawyer, who appeared for Mallya, told the court the Mallya's passport is revoked and hence he cannot come and the matter should be heard without him.
An explosion took place in the outskirts of Kabul on Saturday with preliminary reports suggesting that at least one policeman has been killed and two others severely injured.

The administrative chief of Bagram city, Ahmad Shafi said the incident took place after a magnetic bomb was detonated in a police vehicle, reports Khaama Press.

Shafi said that investigation was underway but did not specify anything regarding the casualties.

However, another official said that a policeman has been killed

and two others were wounded in the explosion.

So far, no group including the Taliban militants has claimed responsibility behind the incident.
Turkish Prime MinisterBinali Yildirim said that 2,839 members of Turkish army have been detained. They range from ordinary soldiers to high-ranking officers, after the country weathered the worst of an attempted coup by an army faction to oust a civilian government.

Yildirim said that coup was a black stain on Turkish democracy while addressing the media in Ankara today.

On being asked if re-introducing the death penalty was an option for dealing with coup-plotters,Yildirim said the Turkish government will consider legal changes, reports the Guardian.

More than 90 people died, including 47 civilians, and 104 "coup plotters" had been killed the officials said.

According to latest report, Turkish military personnel have landed in Greece and requested political asylum.

Greek Police Ministry has said that they have arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis at midday today.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu following the report has demanded the return of eight military personnel after the failed coup.

Meanwhile, British Airways has cancelled all flights to and from Turkey in wake of the matter.

Reports suggest that Turkish maritime authorities have shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers for security and safety reasons.
Pakistan's social media star Qandeel Baloch has been shot dead in Multan today.

The area's RPO told The Express Tribune, "Baloch was killed by her brother over honour in Muzaffarabad's Green Town area."

Baloch had not disclosed her location due to the security threats, the official added.

The 26-year-old model-actor had earlier claimed that she was receiving death threats and had sought security.

However, following "no response" from the interior ministry on her application for getting personal security, the social media starlet was planning to settle down abroad after Eidul Fitr, citing security threats in the backdrop of her recent scandal with Mufti Abdul Qawi as the reason.

"I know I will not be provided security and I am not feeling secured here so have decided to move abroad with my parents after Eidul Fitr," Qandeel said earlier.

Qandeel had recently taken the internet by storm as she shared a couple of selfies and a video of herself with Mufti Qawi, a former member of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee.

Some days back she starred in a Pakistani music video, 'Ban,' by Aryan Khan featuring twerks, a slashed bodysuit and lots of laces.
President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) to launch a major offensive against the loyalists of ISIS terrorist group in country's eastern Nangarhar province.

Ghani addressing the Afghan forces during a visit to Nangarhar province yesterday said the main purpose of the annual Shafaq military operation would be to eliminate the loyalists of the terror group from the region, reports the Khaama Press.

The Shafaq military operation currently being conducted across the country would be Nangarhar province from next week.

Ghani ordered the 201st Silab Corps of the Afghan National Army to completely root out the terrorists from Nangarhar.

He cautioned that the enemies of Afghanistan are still plotting destructive activities.

His remarks come as the ISIS loyalists and other insurgent groups have been attempting to expand foothold in the country.
South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was pelted with eggs and water bottles after angry protesters demanded scrapping of a decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile defence system in their hometown.

The residents in Seongju were over the joint Seoul-Washington decision to install the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (Thaad) in their town this year to deter North Korea, reports the Guardian.

Around 3,000 people yesterday, surrounded a bus that Hwang had taken refuge saying they would not let him go until he promised to retract the decision.

Seongju witnessed third consecutive day of protests where residents said that the Thaad deployment will ruin the town's economic mainstay, melon farming, and cause health and environmental hazards.

"We apologise for not giving you prior notice," the Guardian quoted Prime Minister Hwang as saying to the gathered protesters.

"The government will do its best so the residents can live their daily lives without any concern," added Hwang.

His speech was cut short as the crowd started pelting Hwang with eggs and water bottles.

Hwang's visit to Seongju comes after President Park Geun-hye, told government officials to address concerns of the residents over Thaad.

She also called for an end to "needless" squabbling within the country over the issue.

South Korea and the U.S last week revealed their decision to deploy Thaad in southern town in the wake of a series of missile and nuclear tests by North Korea.
Following the death of Pakistani model, Qandeel Baloch, an upset Rakhi Sawant condemned Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and said he should take lessons from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

"Beti Bachao na ki beti hatao," she told ANI, adding, Sharif should learn how to save girls from Prime Minister Modi.

"I am grateful that Modi is our Prime Minister, he not only believes in the ideology of 'Beti Bachao' but also makes a lot of efforts to practically implement it. He has made several laws for safety and empowerment of women in the country and that is commendable," she added.

"I feel because she used to post her sensual pictures on social media she got murdered or may be because she used to love Indian celebrities," Sawant said.

"She was a fan of Virat, Shahrukh, Kareena and also of mine. Even she used to look up to Narendra Modi. Why did her brother murder her? Is it because she used to love India and Indian celebrities?," said Sawant, adding, "is it a crime to like Indians?."

Baloch was allegedly killed by her brother in an apparent 'honour killing' in the province of Punjab in Pakistan on July 16.

The 26-year-old recently stirred a controversy by posting her pictures on the social media, including one with a Muslim cleric.

"The reason of this murder could also be the outcome of her alleged affair with a Muslim cleric, but even if it is so, do girls in Pakistan not have a right to live life on their own conditions?," she questioned while making comments about the status of women in the Muslim nation.

Alleging that Baloch's family had harassed her before killing her, Sawant demanded a thorough probe into the matter and appealed to Sharif to take stringent action against the guilty.
Petrochemical major Reliance Industries posted first quarter earnings expectations on Friday with the highest ever standalone profit at Rs. 7,548 crore, growing 4.4 percent compared with preceding period.

The company's revenue on standalone basis increased seven percent to Rs. 53,496 crore during the quarter from Rs. 49,957 crore in the preceding period, aided by refining .

"We maintained earnings growth trajectory in Q1. We continued to harness the power of our integrated energy and materials portfolio," said Chairman and Managing Director Reliance Industries, Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani.

The refining delivered another record performance and achieved industry leading gross refining margin. Gross refining margin surged to USD 11.50 a barrel for the quarter ended June 2016 from USD 10.8 a barrel in March quarter.

However, the profit was estimated at Rs. 6,500 crore and gross refining margin at USD 9.8 a barrel for the quarter, according to average of estimates of analysts polled by CNBC-TV18.

The company said the benchmark Singapore complex margin averaged USD five a barrel in Q1FY17, declined compared to USD 7.7 a barrel in Q4FY16 on the back of weak light distillate cracks and sharp decline in fuel oil cracks.

However, middle distillate cracks remained firm with recovery in gasoil cracks. Operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) rose by one percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs. 10,817 crore in Q1.

Refining income increased 21.4 percent sequentially to Rs. 48,946 crore with its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) showing 3.4 percent growth but margin declined 240 basis points. Revenue from its petrochemical business came in at Rs. 19,409 crore for the April-June quarter against Rs. 19,548 crore in January-March period.

Reliance's consolidated net profit increased 2.4 percent sequentially to Rs. 7,089 crore and revenue grew by 8.9 percent to Rs. 64,990 crore in the quarter gone by. Outstanding debt stood at Rs. 1,86,692 crore as of June compared to Rs. 180,388 crore as of March 2016, Reliance said, adding cash and cash equivalents were at Rs. 90,812 crore compared to Rs. 89,966 crore in same period.
Salman Khan, who is being praised for his excellent portrayal of a wrestler in 'Sultan', has lauded the trailer of Akshay Kumar's upcoming flick 'Rustom'.

"I saw the trailer of Rustom and it is Fabulous," Salman told media during a success meet of 'Sultan'.

Both Akshay and Salman had worked together in the 2004 film 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' and their bromance was much appreciated by viewers.

The three-minute ' Rustom' trailer, with a backdrop of 1959 Mumbai , puts forward the basic points that the film would cover.

The movie, which is inspired by the sensational Nanavati case, wherein a naval officer was tried in court for killing his wife's lover. carries the tag line '3 shots that shocked the nation. The film would explore several other angles that were not the part of the original case.

Directed by debutant Tinu Suresh Desai, 'Rustom' will release in theatres on August 12.
Defense expert Uday Bhaskar on Saturday said Turkey is still not coup proof.

Bhaskar said that though the government of President Erdogan has gradually regained control, there are still reports of some helicopters dropping bombs, and one of them had even fallen outside the parliament complex.

"As far as the domestic politics of Turkey is concerned, it also has implications on the entire region. I think at this point, as we are speaking, it appears that President Erdogan and his government have been able to gradually regain control, but there still are some reports about some helicopters that are dropping bombs, and one of them has fallen outside parliament," Bhaskar told ANI. He added that the situation is a bit turbulent as many civilians and police officers are supposed to have lost their lives.

Bhaskar further said, "So, to that extent, it has been fairly bloody, but as of now, as we speak, it appears that President Erdogan and his own government have been able to foil the coup."

"The fact is that Turkey is still not coup proof, I think that is a very very serious challenge for the internal dynamics of Turkey," Bhaskar added.

"So, I think the challenge of President Erdogan will be to deal with the internal structural problems that we are now seeing," he said.

About 60 people have been reported killed and over 120 injured during the attempted military coup. The United Nations has said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern with the fast-moving developments in Turkey and has appealed for calm, non-violence and restraint.

In a statement issued in New York, the U.N spokesman said, "At this moment of uncertainty in the country, the Secretary-General appeals for calm, non-violence and restraint. Preservation of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, remain of vital importance."

"The Secretary-General underscores that military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable. It will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy," the spokesman added.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, "Just spoke to Turkish FM. I call for calm, restraint and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution."

The United States has called on all parties in Turkey to support President Erdogan's government against a coup attempt.

Speaking jointly after talks in Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said they hoped that stability would prevail in Turkey and bloodshed would be avoided.

Meanwhile, India has called upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot, and avoid bloodshed.

Turkey has a history of coups with governments ousted on three occasions in the last decades by full military coups.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the "situation in the country is largely under control". He said a curfew was announced, and other security forces had been called in to "do what is necessary". He said 130 soldiers detained in the coup attempt.
The United Nations and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have recently issued statements to reiterate that they are not connected to or involved with the temporary arbitral tribunal established for the South China Sea dispute, brought unilaterally by the Philippines.

The spokesperson of UN Secretary-General had earlier stated that "the UN doesn't have a position on the legal and procedural merits of the case or on the disputed claims," reports People's China Daily.

The UN's official account on Sina Weibo, a Chinese social networking site, posted that the tribunal has nothing to do with the UN.

"The ICJ, located at the Peace Palace, is the principal judicial organ of the UN, which was established in accordance with the UN Charter," the post said.

The Peace Place is built to house the Permanent Court of International Justice, the predecessor of the ICJ, by the Carnegie Foundation. The UN donates to the foundation annually for using the building, the post explained.

"Another tenant of the Peace Palace is the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) established in 1899, but it has no correlation with the UN," the post further pointed out.

Former ICJ Judge Abdul Koroma futher said that the temporary tribunal is not an UN institution and the PCA is not a court in a real sense.

"Many people who are not familiar with the situation would confuse the tribunal with the ICJ who shares the same office building," Koroma noted.

The PCA is merely an international mediation agency that allows arbitration for non-state entities and individuals.

With this the UN and the ICJ, both have distanced themselves from the South China Sea arbitration award saying they have no involvement in the case.
At least 26 people, including five children, who were injured in the truck attack in France's NIce on July 14, are currently on life support, French Ministry of Health said in a statement on Saturday.

After a 31-year-old Tunisian man drove a truck ramming into crowds of people celebrating the French national day and killed at least 84 people, a total of 303 people have been sent to different hospitals in Nice and five cities nearby, Xinhua news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

According to the ministry, 121 patients wounded in the attack, including 30 children, are still being treated in hospital. Twenty-six of these 121 wounded people are currently on life support.
A Mumbai-based NGO on Saturday demanded strict action against veteran Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor over his train 'stunts' while on a short commute for promoting a teleserial Thursday.

Sahas Foundation president Sayed Furqan Ahmed lodged a complaint with Railway Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik pointing out that the actor's actions set a bad precedent, were highly condemnable and punishable under the Indian Railways Act.

Ahmed said it was disheartening to see Kapoor, an inspiration to youngsters with his on-screen image, behaving in an irresponsible manner, especially in view of the ever-increasing casualties among youth travelling on footboard, surfing or performing dare-devil stunts.

"He should apologise publicly not only to railway commuters but also the family members of the youth who have lost their lives... for, he inspired others to imitate him of leaning out of a running train and footboard travel, both causing deaths every year," Ahmed said in his plea to Kaushik.

Besides, he added that enormous amount of tax-payers money is spent on promotions/advertising to spread awareness and deter youngsters from performing such evil acts resulting in unintentional suicides.

He urged police take action against Kapoor and the organising agency to give a clear message on commuters' safety and save lives.

On Friday, the Western Railway (WR) sought an explanation from the production house, Market Men Consumer & Events Pvt Ltd on Kapoor's stunts.

"Inspite of the terms and conditions to adhere strictly to safety and security during shoot, Anil Kapoor allegedly seems to be leaning from the footboard of a local train during a promo shoot on July 14," a WR official said, adding it was clearly observed from videos and photo uploaded on various social media networks.

Last Thursday, Anil Kapoor undertook a short local train journey from Churchgate station accompanied by hordes of fans and mediapersons in tow, to promote his upcoming television action-drama series, "24: Season 2".

An adaptation of the popular American TV series "24", it will mark his return to the small screen in the role of Jai Singh Rathod, to be aired on Colours channel from July 23.

The official explained that by leaning out of the running train from the footboard, the actor could inspire youngsters to perform similar stunts.

Beset with many such instances in the past when youngsters performing dare-devil stunts have been killed or permanently maimed, the railway authorities has regularly campaign for safety and security during train commutes.

Besides his live action, Anil Kapoor also interacted with local train commuters and shared photos of his commute on social media sites.

--IANS

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Sri Lankan investigators on Saturday arrested an Army Intelligence Unit official over the murder of a popular editor, Lasantha Wickremetunga, police said.

The arrest came months after police sought public assistance in tracking down the suspects connected to the killing, Xinhua news agency reported.

In February, the police released sketches of two suspects.

Wickrematunge was the founding editor of the privately-run Sunday Leader newspaper. He was shot dead in January 2009 by a group of unidentified men in a high security zone.

He was a staunch critic of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who denied any role in the editor's killing.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who took power in January 2015, had reopened investigations into Wickremetunga's murder, vowing to commence a thorough probe and arrest all those involved in the killing.

--IANS

py/mr
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday honoured Super 30 founder Anand Kumar with the prestigious Lakshmipat Singhania - IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award, at a function organised here.

The mathematician was honoured for successfully running Super 30 which has helped hundreds of students from underprivileged sections of the society to successfully chase their IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) dream since its inception in 2002.

Super 30 hunts for 30 meritorious students from among the economically backward sections of the society and shapes them for IIT.

"It is a big honour. Every award makes me realise the huge responsibility associated with it. Awards work as great encouragement and I will continue working with greater zeal," Kumar told reporters.

IIM Lucknow gives the award for outstanding contribution in different fields every year.

Other recipients of the award include former Wipro head Azim Premji, Infosys head N.R. Narayana Murthy, Tata Group's Ratan Tata and many others.

--IANS

av/pgh/bg
The word "fire" was heard on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of crashed EgyptAir flight MS804, the Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee reported on Saturday after data analysis.

The report said the CVR's recording before the occurrence of the accident mentioned a "fire", but it is still too early to determine the reason or the place where that fire occurred.

EgyptAir Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, went missing from radar screens on May 19 en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Egyptian military later announced personal belongings of victims and small pieces of the plane wreckage found in the Mediterranean Sea 290 km north of the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt.

The committee said in Saturday's statement that it had studied a large number of data of the CVR and the flight data recorder (FDR) and synchronised between the two, noting the data analysis process still continues.

"Additional work on the CVR, the FDR and the recovered debris is continuing," Xinhua news agency quoted the committee as saying.

The committee said that French vessel Lethbridge John, which was hired by the Egyptian government to locate and pick up debris and body remains, arrived on Saturday at Alexandria seaport after its mission is accomplished.

The vessel managed in June to find and pick up the doomed flight's CVR and the FDR that were later taken for repairs in Paris and then returned to Cairo.

Probe into the tragic fall of EgyptAir Flight MS804 still continues with all theories on the table, including a terrorist bomb and a severe technical failure, yet without a strong clue for any.
Celebrations continued on Saturday on day two of the release of Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel as his cavalcade toured Gujarat.

Hardik Patel is scheduled to remain out of Gujarat for six months starting from Sunday in line with a condition imposed by the Gujarat High Court.

His lawyer filed an undertaking before the Sessions Court in Ahmedabad that Harik Patel would live in Udaipur in neighbouring Rajasthan.

The court allowed him regular bail last week in two sedition cases on the condition that he would be away from Gujarat for six months.

Hardik Patel started his day on Saturday by visiting his hometown Viramgam, where he was welcomed by Congress legislator Tejashree Patel.

He then went to his school and finally to his home, where his family accorded him an emotional and traditional welcome, joined by his friends and supporters with heaps of rose petals.

He spent only 20-odd minutes with his parents and sister. Then the 23-year-old prayed at a shrine in his house, before heading for his next leg of a whistle-stop tour of Saurashtra.

It is in this region, like in North Gujarat and Surat, that the Patel community men and women kept the agitation afloat when Hardik Patel was in jail for the last nine months.

His supporters across Saurashtra gave him a traditional welcome amidst dances and chants of "Jai Sardar, Jai Patidar".

At some places, community members organized blood donation camps to weigh him in blood.

The warmth and excitement at every stop of his 2,100-km, two-day road show was similar to what is reserved for megastars or veteran politicians like Narendra Modi.

Hardik Patel reiterated that the agitation for Patidar job quotas would continue with new rigour and would remain apolitical.

Asked if he would join the Aam Aadmi Party, whose leader Ashutosh was in Ahmedabad on Friday night but could not meet him, Hardik Patel said: "It is a rumour."

Hardik Patel was expected to continue his roadshow with the final stop in Rajkot around 3 a.m. where he is likely to be welcomed by his supporters despite prohibitory orders under Section 144 against gathering of four or more people at public places.

--IANS

desai/mr
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has begun a three-month drill to test the new structure of its armed forces following the military reforms announced last year, officials said on Saturday.

Brigades from five commands that have emerged from the reorganisation of the PLA are taking part in the manoeuvre that began on Friday and will conclude in September, EFE news reported.

The drill seeks to help reshape the army's training system and strengthen its capacity to operate throughout the country.

As part of the reforms, the seven regional commands of the PLA in the country were dissolved and regrouped into five around the beginning of this year.

Following the reshaping, one of the priorities of the drill will be evaluate the efficiency of the commanders to lead operations, China.org quoted Wang Zhian, chief director for the manoeuvre, as saying.

The randomly selected participating brigades will also switch roles of attack and defence, Wang added.

These manoeuvres, initially scheduled for May but postponed to give more preparation time to the soldiers, begin at a moment of tension between China and its neighbours owing to territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

--IANS

ksk/vm
Congress leader K. Muraleedharan on Saturday said the party needs a "major surgery" in Kerala, following the rout in the recent assembly election.

"The defeat at the hustings was not a small one. The party is virtually crippled and minor treatments won't help. A major surgery is required," Muraleedharan said at a Congress meeting here, hinting at the discontent that has been brewing in the party since its defeat in the election.

Muraleedharan, who is son of the late Congress leader K. Karunakaran, said the party has been ineffective beyond the Assembly.

"Outside the Assembly, Congress is unable to make any impact. No serious protests are being organised by the party," he said.

Observers here point out that Muraleedharan's anger possibly has its roots in the unexpected defeat of his sister Padmaja Venugopal from Thrissur -- which has been their father's bastion for decades.

Observers further said that state Congress President V.M. Sudheeran has been under fire for the party's defeat. Sudheeran was appointed the party chief in Kerala by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in February 2014. His elevation had jolted both the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, the leaders of the two factions of the party.

After the Congress's defeat, there has been a constant clamour for Sudheeran's ouster. Some suggested that he should seek an honourable exit by resigning from the post. However, Sudheeran is still holding on to the post.

"The party high command had put the entire responsibility on the state leadership and they are responsible for the defeat," senior party legislator V.D. Satheesan said in this context.

--IANS

sg/bim/bg
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday the attempted military coup the previous night to overthrow the government constituted a "black stain for Turkish democracy".

In a televised address to the nation, Yildirim called the coup plotters terrorists, but said the nation has answered their attempt effectively, the Guardian reported.

Yildirim said that 161 people were killed and 1,440 injured in the coup attempt.

Some 2,839 members of the armed forces, ranging from ordinary soldiers to high-ranking officers, have been detained, the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

Yildirum said the police and security forces risked their lives to restore order.

"Turkish law will now deal with coup plotters, they will be punished accordingly," the Guardian reported quoting Yildirum as saying.

Asked if re-introducing the death penalty was an option for dealing with coup plotters, Yildirum said the Turkish government will consider legal changes, the daily noted.

"The nation will never forget these people who committed treason," he said.

"The first stage of the coup is over," the Prime Minister added.

Yildirum is set to hold a parliamentary meeting later in the day.

--IANS

ksk/vm
The Union Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) is ready to support the West Bengal government to upgrade state's industrial parks and the leather park, its Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said on Saturday.

"It may even consider a package for this," he said, according to a statement issued by CII.

Once the Amritsar-Kolkata Dedicated Freight Corridor becomes operational - most probably by March 2019 - there will be a sea change in the state's industrial climate, said Abhishek.

DIPP, a central Government arm is responsible for formulation and implementation of industrial policy and strategies for industrial development.

According to the statement, DIPP and World Bank have released a report on Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms. In the report, West Bengal ranked 11th behind its peers such as Jharkhand, Odisha and even Uttar Pradesh.

"DIPP is there for help. We know entrepreneurship needs a helping hand, and we are ready to help you in things like setting up incubation centres, world-class training, patent facilitation, etc," said Abhishek.

In order to strengthen startup ecosystem, the department will soon launch online service for providing free training in how one can start a company, prepare project reports and pay taxes. In attempt to give the start-up moment a contemporary look, it will hire director from a start-up, the statement said.

--IANS

bdc/vd
The stage is set for monsoon session of parliament beginning Monday with the government in an optimistic mood over the possibility of passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill even as all eyes are on Sunday's all-party meeting.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has called an all-party meeting on Sunday, a day before the session begins.

After senior ministers including Arun Jaitley (Finance) met Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and his deputy Anand Sharma on Thursday, the governments' floor managers and even others are optimistic that things would sail in smoothly in both houses of Parliament especially the upper house where the numerical strength of Congress has so far stalled the GST bill.

"We expect Congress leaders to speak up their mind on GST and other matters in tomorrow's all-party meeting. But we are hopeful," a key floor manager for the goverment told IANS.

That Congress has an upper hand and all eyes will be on its moves was evident when Biju Janata Dal leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said: "We expect less of acrimony. But on GST it all depends on Congress. A section of Congress also seems in favour of the GST."

There is no final word from the Congress yet on government's fresh proposals although government side claims the meeting between Jaitley and Azad and Anand Sharma went down well.

The Congress, which originally piloted the GST Bill, has said it is still in favour of the same.

The changes it has demanded include putting a cap of 18 percent on GST rate in the constitution amendment bill. The government apparently is willing to consider putting a cap in the main bill and not in the constitution amendment bill.

BJD leader Mahtab said "even regional parties will not mind if the 18 per cent cap is put only in the main text of the bill so that it can be changed if necessary".

However, lot of skirmishes are expected in both houses as during the session which ends on August 12 as there are many other issues wherein the government can find itself cornered like the violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Other issues where the opposition and ruling sides can be seen at logger heads could be cases related to Ishrat Jahan and Lt.Col. Shrikant Purohit, and alleged attempts to "communalise" Uttar Pradesh .

This session also happens to be first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out the reshuffle.

The real test of his new floor managers and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar will be in Rajya Sabha where there are over 40 pending bills including the GST.

In the recent biennial elections to Rajya Sabha in June, the BJP-led NDA strength has gone up to 74 with five additional seats while Congress has lost three seats and seen its tally go down to 60.

The government also needs two-third majority in the Rajya Sabha to pass the constitutional amendment bill to roll out GST. To muster 163 members in the 245-member house, the government will need support of all regional players, like the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, JD-U and others to vote to make it 163.

Among regional parties, Samajwadi Party has 19 members, AIADMK 13, Trinamool 12 and BJD 8.

Nitish Kumar's JD-U has 10, Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal has 3 and Mayawati-led BSP's 6, Communist Party of India-Marxist 8, CPI-1 and DMK 4.

Of the 10 bills expected to come up in Lok Sabha during the 20-day sittings are: the Consumer Protection Bill 2015, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill 2015, and the Lok Pal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Bill.

The government will also have to replace an ordinance that was promulgated to amend the Enemy Property Act as well as another one on the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET), government sources said.

--IANS

nd/ps/vd
When cows are happy, they produce more nutritious milk with higher levels of calcium, new research suggests.

The researchers found that daily infusions with a naturally-occurring chemical commonly associated with feelings of happiness increased calcium levels in the milk of Jersey cows that had just given birth.

The results, published in the Journal of Endocrinology, could lead to a better understanding of how to improve the health of dairy cows, and keep the milk flowing.

Demand is high for milk rich in calcium and dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt are primary sources of the mineral.

But this demand can take its toll on milk-producing cows as evident from the fact that a large number of dairy cow population suffers from hypocalcaemia -- in which calcium levels are low.

A team of researchers led by Laura Hernandez from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US investigated the potential for serotonin (a naturally occurring chemical commonly associated with feelings of happiness) to increase calcium levels in both the milk and blood of dairy cows.

The team infused a chemical that converts to serotonin into 24 dairy cows, in the run up to giving birth.

Half the cows were Jersey and half were Holstein -- two of the most common breeds. Calcium levels in both the milk and circulating blood were measured throughout the experiment.

While serotonin improved the overall calcium status in both breeds, this was brought about in opposite ways.

Treated Holstein cows had higher levels of calcium in their blood, but lower calcium in their milk (compared to controls).

The reverse was true in treated Jersey cows and the higher milk calcium levels were particularly obvious in Jerseys at Day 30 of lactation -- suggesting a role for serotonin in maintaining levels throughout lactation.

"By studying two breeds we were able to see that regulation of calcium levels is different between the two," Hernandez said.

"Serotonin raised blood calcium in the Holsteins, and milk calcium in the Jerseys. We should also note that serotonin treatment had no effect on milk yield, feed intake or on levels of hormones required for lactation," she noted.

--IANS

gb/vm
The Indian government has done well to airlift out nationals stranded in South Sudan. Operation Sankat Mochan, co-powered by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and the Indian Air Force (IAF), demonstrated a decisive ability. Decisive because in a similar situation, when Indians expected comparable assistance, the then Manmohan Singh government waffled.

Most Indians gave up on New Delhi and scampered to neighbouring Uganda, south of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Those invested in South Sudan's land, the odd hotel, or a supermarket, wouldn't have left, anyway. Even this time around, the Indian nationals who've chosen to eject are ground workers contracted by multilateral agencies or ONGC Videsh.

There's good reason for India to do more than airlift a few hundred migrant workers. Beyond good optics and aggressive Facebook diplomacy by Gen. V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, who led Sankat Mochan, lie two key economic interests.

The first pertains to oil.

Our investments via ONGC Videsh, at $135 million in 2003 -- once the government's largest gamble of foreign direct investment -- cannot be left to our Chinese partners. The aggregate of our oil investments since then, as per the Indian foreign ministry, is now $2.5 billion, spread over South Sudan and Sudan.

ONGC Videsh has 25 per cent participating interest in Greater Nile Oil Project Block 1, 2 and 4, in consortium with CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and Sudapet of Sudan. It also has 24.125 percent participating interest in Block 5A in consortium with Petronas and Sudapet.

The Chinese control even the smallest part of the value chain. We clearly need to hold fort and safeguard our interests. But while we have been evacuating, Beijing looks a little more composed. Their evacuation numbers, as a percentage of total migrant workers, is a lot lower.

Our second economic interest lies in South Sudan's arable land, water and minerals.

Once the dust has settled down, these will remain a case of private investment and technology transfer as much as balancing out the near colonization of the country by the Chinese juggernaut of state-owned enterprises.

An important question remains whether the government heeded the clarion calls too quickly. The role played by social media, particularly Facebook, is case in point. It is an open secret that President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Vice President Riek Machar Teny don't want to run the government together.

It is Machar's rebellion that had caused the specter of evacuation even last time around. This time, under pressure from international interlocutors, the two agreed to meet at Mayardit's presidential palace. But before long, a spokesperson for Machar put up a Facebook post claiming that his boss has been taken hostage.

Hell broke loose in the Machar camp and a convoy of personal security guards, owing personal allegiance to him -- and not the institution, per se -- tried to storm in. Rumours flew around and it didn't help one bit that even ambassadors of South Sudan in different world capitals fanned the fire depending on which of the two leaders they owned allegiance to.

For a country that has celebrated only its fifth independence day, democratic institutions are far weaker than tribal ties. Rivalries between the Dinka and the Nuer are far too deep seated to be replaced in the immediate future. Under intense pressure to make up, Machar and Mayardit, both from opposing tribes, have now declared a joint ceasefire.

But most observers know that the two leaders say the right things only for external consumption. So, here's the point. Irrespective of how much social media platforms inflate the actual instability of the ground, Mayardit controls over 200,000 troops. Machar's forces are less than 2-5 per cent of this number. Plus, the international peacekeepers are obviously behind the ruling president.

Mayardit is an unreliable partner. In August 2013, he left Rashtrapati Bhavan high and dry and cancelled a visit to India at the last minute. In comparison, the frequency of his trips to Beijing are a part of public record. Mayardit finally came around and addressed the India-African Summit in New Delhi last year.

Real politick demands that India works with the ruler of South Sudan, irrespective of who he is. Here the task is cut out for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj -- she could even redeploy Gen. V.K. Singh to Juba. The former army chief had visited Mayardit once before Sankat Mochan. The terrain now is our oil fields -- we shouldn't let them go on a platter.

(Rohit Bansal is Group Leader with Reliance Industries. He and travelled to and reported from South Sudan on numerous occasions. The views expressed are personal. Twitter @therohitbansal)

--IANS

rohitbansal/ap/vm
The Islamic State (IS) on Saturday claimed responsibility for the terror attack which killed 84 people in the French city Nice as five suspects linked to the killer were arrested.

A statement in the IS group affiliated Amaq news agency said one of its "soldiers" drove the heavy duty truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on Thursday night, BFMTV reported.

"He did the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition that is fighting the IS," said the announcement by the jihadist outfit.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was known to the police as a petty criminal but was unknown to intelligence services, the prosecutor said. He was not known to be a radicalized Muslim.

But Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the man was linked to radical Islam and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said the attack bore the hallmarks of jihadist terrorism.

French authorities meanwhile said five people believed to be linked to the truck driver were in police custody, including his estranged wife.

Three arrests were made on Saturday and two on Friday, Le Monde reported.

The man who drove the truck through thousands of people massed at the seafront has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31. He was shot dead by police.

French President Francois Hollande, who has called the attack "an undeniable terrorist nature", has moved to extend a state of emergency by three months.

Prosecutors said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian, drove the truck for about two kilometres along the promenade targeting unsuspecting people who had been enjoying fireworks and music.

BBC reported that of the 84 dead, 10 were children. Another 202 people were injured, with 52 of them in critical condition. Twenty-five were said to be on life support.

Some 30,000 people were on the Promenade des Anglais at the time of the attack.

Among the dead were residents of Nice and foreign tourists, among them three Algerians, a teacher and two schoolchildren from Germany, three from Tunisia, two Swiss, two Americans, a Ukrainian, an Armenian and a Russian.

Sixteen of the dead remained unidentified, BFMTV said.

BBC said there was a visible security presence in Nice on Saturday morning. Soldiers patrolled the front of the main train station in Nice.

--IANS

py-mr/vd
Social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi's condition continues to be "very serious" requiring life support, a doctor at the hospital where she is being treated said on Saturday.

"She is conscious but very serious. She is having respiratory trouble and her kidneys are not functioning properly. There is bacterial infection in her blood," the doctor said.

The 90-year-old has been undergoing routine dialysis.

She suffers from various ailments and was put on non-invasive ventilation on Thursday after her condition worsened.

The writer, who was honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 1996, has been undergoing treatment at a hospital here for about two months now.

--IANS

sgh/kb/bg
US President Barack Obama on Saturday reiterated "unwavering support" for the democratically-elected civilian government of Turkey in the aftermath of a coup attempt.

Obama made the remarks at a White House meeting with his national security and foreign policy advisers, where he received an update on the situation in Turkey, where reportedly over 200 people were killed and over a thousand others were wounded in the military coup attempt on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The President's advisers apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground, and the President reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey," the White House said in a statement.

Obama instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts "to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US servicemembers, and their dependents," the statement said.

So far, there has been no report that any Americans were killed or injured in the violence.

Obama and his team "lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

Obama also "underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism", it added.

The White House meeting was held amid reports that the Turkish government sealed off the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, where US forces launched the air strikes against the terror group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Turkey is a NATO ally and part of the US-led coalition fighting againt the IS.

Meanwhile, Turkey blamed a US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for the attempted military coup, while demanding Gulen's extradition by the US government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated a call for Obama to hand over Gulen.

"Please meet our request if we are strategic partners," Erdogan said in remarks delivered in Istanbul.

Speaking earlier in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider the extradition request for the cleric on condition that Turkey proves Gulen's wrongdoing.

--IANS

lok/
Those feeling the 'Bern' were willing to go to the end of the earth for Bernie Sanders, but not for Hillary Clinton.

"Bernie or bust" was the chant of the "betrayed" as a still smouldering Democratic Socialist gave a tepid nod to his rival a month after she doused his fiery revolution.

Now feeling the burn, many a Sanders supporter declined to fall for Democratic "Unite Blue," or "Vote Blue No Matter Who" as Bernie went 'Hernie' standing "Stronger Together" with Hillary, the Democratic presidential nominee to be.

But others were willing to go the distance and beyond. Throwing judicial caution to the winds, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 83, elevated to the Supreme Court by then President Bill Clinton, gave an emphatic thumbs down to Republican Donald Trump.

She labelled Trump an egotistic "faker" lacking in intellectual rigour, leaving legal eagles aghast with the Manhattan mogul demanding that she quit over her "inappropriate" comments, saying her "mind was shot".

"Mr Trump is right," said the venerable New York Times, which has endorsed the former first lady even as it suggested the billionaire would be a disaster in the White House.

In the midst of a Twitter war, Ginsburg offered an apology of sorts, admitting her remarks were "ill-advised" and regrettable and promised to "be more circumspect" in the future.

It was a familiar "sorry, never again" refrain like the one from the former secretary of state for using a private email server while in office or her husband and Attorney General Loretta Lynch for their "chance" chat on her plane about their grandkids in the midst of an FBI probe.

After quickly dittoing FBI Director James Comey's decision to upbraid but not prosecute Hillary Clinton for her "extreme carelessness" in handling classified information, Lynch again stonewalled all questions from House Republicans about "abdication of her duty".

But all the President's men and women could not save the lady in Democratic blue. "Wounded" by the email saga, as the Times put it, Clinton saw her lead in the polls evaporating with a NYT/CBS News Poll finding her and Trump in dead heat at 40 percent.

As the White House race tightened, Trump scored another triumph with the rules committee of next week's Republican National Convention asking the "Dump Trump" movement to put up or shut up with a ruling against a "conscience vote".

Building bridges with the Republican establishment ahead of the July 18-21 Cleveland, Ohio, convention that would anoint him as the party's new standard bearer, he let the draft party platform tilt to his right on social issues like abortion and LGBT rights.

But the author of "The Art of the Deal", had his way on his pet wall on the border with Mexico and a call for "special scrutiny" of immigrants from "terror sponsoring countries" - though a far cry from a temporary ban on all Muslims.

Then he picked up Indiana Governor Mike Pence, 57, a soft-spoken and seasoned conservative who had endorsed his closest rival Ted Cruz during the primaries as his running mate in a bid to help unify the divided party.

"I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate," tweeted the unconventional candidate about his fairly conventional pick in a very unconventional fashion.

Meanwhile, in keeping with its tradition, a 112-year-old Connecticut soft drink company released two specialty sodas named for the two most unpopular candidates -- Hillary Hooch for Clinton and Trump Tonic for 'The Donald'.

With a bolder flavour than traditional grape soda and a bit more acidic, Republican red Trump Tonic comes with the slogan, "Make America Grape Again".

Hillary Hooch, a berry soda is stamped "CLASSFIED" in bold red. But like the contents of her emails, the ingredients are not all that secret to any hacker.

"It's not sure exactly what it wants to be," jokes general manager Rob Metz. "So we've got some strawberry in there, we've got some blue raspberry in there and we added a bunch of lemon for bitterness."

In a bit of a twist this year, both sodas are also available with blank labels so people can write in candidates if they wish. Some customers have penned in Bernie Sanders' name. Others have put 'None of the Above' on their labels.

As Barack O'Berry outsold both John McCream in 2008 and Cream de Mitt in 2012, the company will also be conducting a highly unscientific straw poll to track the presidential race giving crystal gazers a new pastime -- bottle watching.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

--IANS

ak/vm
Congress legislator Pema Khandu, son of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, is all set to become the next Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh after incumbent Nabam Tuki resigned.

Tuki and Khandu met Governor Tathagata Roy on Saturday. Tuki tendered his resignation as the Chief Minister. Raj Bhavan spokesperson Atum Potom said the Governor had accepted his resignation.

Earlier, Tuki resigned as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, paving way for Khandu's election.

Tuki, reinstated as the Chief Minister following a Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday, proposed the name of Khandu as the next CLP leader.

The proposal was supported by all the 44 legislators, including 15 Congress and 29 dissident Congress legislators who had joined the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) in February.

The 44 legislators also include former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who unseated Tuki and became the Chief Minister in February.

"It's a big victory for the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh," Tuki said after leaving the Raj Bhavan.

"The recent crisis was started by the BJP. However, all their evil designs have failed as the Congress has been able to put its house in order. I hope it will be big lesson for the BJP," he said.

Khandu said: "Tuki has tendered his resignation and I have handed over to the Governor the list of 44 legislators supporting me as the Chief Minister.

"The Governor said he would go by the formalities and let us know about the next move."

Khandu, a graduate from Hindu College in Delhi, was inducted in the Tuki ministry in 2011 after his father died in a plane crash in Arunachal Pradesh.

He was later given the portfolio of Tourism and Water Resource Development department. Khandu, however, resigned from the Tuki cabinet in 2014.

Asked about his swearing in ceremony, Khandu said he was waiting a response from the Governor. "I hope the swearing in ceremony will take place in a day or two," he said.

After the return of the 30 PPA legislators to the Congress on Saturday, the strength of the Congress has become 45, which includes the Speaker, Nabam Rebia.

The Congress also said it has the support of two Independent legislators. The effective strength of the Arunachal assembly is 58 now.

Earlier, Governor Roy reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister following the Supreme Court judgment and asked him to take the floor test to prove his majority support.

Tuki urged the Governor to defer the session by 10 days but Roy refused.

--IANS

ah/mr
Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday charged the central and the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and with "utter failure" to maintain law and order and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take immediate steps to understand the mindset of youths in the state.

"It's more than just a law and order problem. Both the centre and the PDP-BJP government in the state failed to take appropriate actions. Central intelligence agencies also failed to predict the kind of protest and violence," BJD floor leader in Lok Sabha Bhartruhari Mahtab told IANS here.

He said the Prime Minister should take note that all efforts to reach out to the youth as the "packages" have not convinced them.

"There needs to be proper understanding of the issues and mindset. It seems the packages have not convinced the youths there," he said and added for almost three-four days the state government and also the centre "failed to act" in the state.

"All these issues need to be discussed in the monsoon session of parliament beginning on Monday," he said.

Mahtab said the BJD is strongly in favour of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill and they "welcome the meetings between senior ministers and Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma to break the impasse".

The political developments in Arunachal Pradesh on the backdrop of Supreme Court's recent ruling reinstating a dismissed chief minister would be another major issue to be discussed during the session, he said.

"Opposition parties should raise all these issues and I would like government to facilitate detailed debate on them," Mahtab said.

--IANS

nd/vd
Police on Saturday said Pune's multi-millionaire Datta D. Phuge was beaten to death by his son's friends after luring him to a fake birthday party because Phuge reportedly owed them Rs.150,000.

Known as 'Pimpri Goldman', Phuge was attacked with a sickle, swords, knives and rods and then bludgeoned to death with large stones near Dighi here on Friday morning, shocking Pune, particularly its wealthy lot.

Moving swiftly, police apprehended five of the accused, all youths, based on the statement of the victim's 21-year old son Shubham D. Phuge. Another four were arrested on Saturday. A manhunt is on for at least three other accomplices.

All the nine accused were produced on Saturday before the Khadki magistrate who remanded them to police custody till July 21.

The five nabbed on Friday are Amol alias Balli K. Pathare, 24, Shailesh S. Walke, 26, Vishal D. Parkhe, 32, Nivrutti alias Balukishan Walke, 35 and Pramod S. Dholpuria, 23.

According to police, around 10 p.m. on Thursday night, one of the prime accused, Atul Mohite, organised a fake birthday party and gave a reminder call to Shubham asking him to bring his father for the bash.

Mohite also told Shubham to pick up 10 biryani parcels and two cigarette packets en route to the party.

Shubham conveyed the message to his father and went to pick up the food parcels in his car with a friend, Rohan Panchal.

When they came to the party spot, they saw Mohite and others attacking his father. Shubham started screaming for help.

But it was too late. A profusely bleeding and hideously mangled Phuge, who had been brutally attacked, was breathing his last in that isolated spot.

Stunned by the turn of events, Shubham and Panchal called the police control and informed them even as Mohite and around 10 others escaped in the darkness.

Later, Shubham and Panchal lodged a complaint with police. Phuge's wife Seema, a former municipal corporator, also reached the spot.

Investigations revealed that the motive behind the heinous crime was the Rs.150,000 Phuge was allegedly supposed to return to the accused.

Given his penchant for a flashy lifestyle, Phuge usually moved around with armed private bodyguards. It is not clear why they were not with him that fateful night.

In late 2012, Phuge shot into the limelight after he stitched an opulent Rs.10 million 22-carat pure gold shirt which came decorated with six glittering Swarovski crystal buttons and an accompanying flashy gold belt in a matching design.

Besides his primary business of lending money, he ran the Vakratund Chit Fund Pvt Ltd with his wife. There had been complaints of financial misappropriation against him in recent times.

His golden shirt was billed the most expensive shirt in the world, weighing around 3.5 kg pure gold and stitched by Ranka Jewellers of Pune.

The shirt had over 14,000 gold flowers intertwined with 100,000-plus spangles sewn on a base of fine velvet. It was said to be comfortable and easy to wear -- like normal clothes.

--IANS

qn/mr
Megastar Salman Khan hit out at fellow actor Ranveer Singh, who was seen dancing with the audience in a Paris heater where "Sultan" was being screened, saying he was not watching the Salman-starrer but making people watch him instead.

Asked if he had seen Ranveer's video, Salman said: "I saw that and I am going to break a chair or something on his head. Watch a film... don't start dancing and disturb the film."

"I was like 'what is this'. I said he is not watching 'Sultan', he is making people watch him there. We should have charged money for that."

A video of Ranveer watching "Sultan" in an Indian single screen theatre in the French capital along with some audience and dancing in front of the screen had gone viral in no time.

--IANS

uma/vd
Sri Lankan Prime Minister expressed his support for Turkey's elected government on Saturday as a coup attempt had been squashed by authorities earlier in the day.

Wickremesinghe said in a statement that foiling an attempt to overturn a democratically-elected government through a military coup would please all people who valued democracy, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said he was happy to note that the President and Prime Minister of Turkey had been able to preserve democratic rule and assured the support of Sri Lanka and its people.

At least 2,800 military officers have been detained throughout Turkey after suspected coup plotters attempted to overthrow the government late Friday, using tanks and helicopters and blocking bridges and taking over some media outlets.

The Turkish government said on Saturday evening that the coup attempt had been thwarted and the situation was under control.

Over 200 people have been killed in the attempted coup, reports said.
Thousands of tourists who were caught up in the turmoil in the Valley have left, dealing huge blows to the tourism industry. But some of the tourists said they will be back.

On Saturday, the ninth day of unrest in the valley following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, the otherwise busy markets and roads in the Dal Lake area were devoid of people.

Shikaras or Kashmir's houseboats are parked on the banks. Hotels which otherwise are full during this time of the year -- the peak tourist season -- are devoid of guests.

The hotels on the boulevard that otherwise remain full during this time of the year - the peak tourist season - are without guests.

The tourists who were here when the troubles began have left the Valley, many without touring resorts like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other cites.

"Most tourists have left by now," moans Mehmood Shah, Director of the Jammu and Tourism Department.

"The hotels are vacant. More than 90 per cent tourists have left. There are no incoming tourists as well. We made arrangements for those who were stranded here," Shah told IANS.

In Srinagar, where major areas are under curfew, the tourism sector has been hit hard.

"This is the best time of our business. We have no hope of making any profit now. We have cancelled at least 30-35 bookings till August," Sarmad Khan, a hotelier, told IANS.

"Many who were here left even without seeing any other place. This is a big loss to the industry," he added.

As the violence sparked by Wani's killing escalated, tourists were seen rushing to the Sheikh-Ul-Alam International Airport here to catch flights.

Some tourists can, however, still be seen strolling in the parks around the Dal Lake.

"We were stranded for four days. We came to Srinagar on Tuesday as we had bookings. We took the risk and came," said one tourist to IANS.

Another tourist volunteered: "We did not see anything but curfew as well as violence. That's why we are leaving."

Shopkeeper Mohammad Ashraf said that July-September were the best time for anyone to visit the Kashmir Valley because of favourable weather.

"It is very sad that we lost many people during last six days. How can we open our shops when our own children are dying?" Ashraf said.

Surprisingly, the tourists are not taking back only bad memories: curfews, shutdowns and violence.

"The best part about the last six days has been the way locals treated us here," Arun Chatterjee from Kolkata told IANS.

"My family and I were on a houseboat with locals. They were so good and sympathetic to us that I feel our trip is complete," he said.

"We will always want to come back and enjoy the scenic beauty apart from its Kashmiriyat," Chatterjee added. "We pray for peace here."

--IANS

ruwa/mr/bg
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Saturday announced that a total of 754, mostly military officers, were detained over charges of an attempted military coup.

This doubled the figure at 336 announced by sources from the Interior Ministry earlier on Saturday, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Anadolu Agency said those who were detained were members of the so-called pro-Gulenist terror organisation.

It was believed that there are high-ranking officers among the detained.

English roadcaster CNNTurk said four of them were generals and 29 of them were colonels.

Justice Minister Bozdag had informed that state prosecutors in all 81 provinces have already launched investigations over the coup attempt that started on Friday night, saying "Detentions are mostly taken place in Ankara and Istanbul but there are other detentions in many other places of Turkey."

At least 60 people were killed in overnight clashes when people took to the streets defying the military to take over the country, Hurriyet Daily News said.

According to state prosecutor, 42 were killed in capital Ankara including 17 policemen.

--IANS

ksk
The death toll in Turkey's attempted military coup has risen to 90 with the number of injured going up to 1,154, state-run Anadolu News Agency said on Saturday.

A prosecutor said 42 people were killed in capital Ankara's Golbasi district.

The coup plotters killed 17 policemen in an attack on the Golbasi Special Forces Department headquarters.

Two employees were killed at the Turkish satellite operator TURKSAT also located in the same district, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Meanwhile, police have detained 1,563 people over coup charges.

Broadcaster CNNTurk said four of them were generals and 29 of them were colonels.

Brigadier General Ekrem Caglar, chief of the staff operations of the 3rd Army has also been detained, officials added.

--IANS

ksk/bg
Two Indians kidnapped in Nigeria last month were released on Saturday, the government announced.

Mangapudi Srinivas and Kaushal Anish Sharma, abducted on June 29 from Boko in Benue state, were freed at 10.30 a.m. IST, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Stating that both released persons had spoken to their families, Swarup said Sharma's wife thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for ensuring his safe release.

Srinivas and Sharma were on their way to work at the Benue Cement company, owned by the Dangote Group, when they were kidnapped.

The Dangote Group is a Nigerian multinational industrial conglomerate, the largest in West Africa.

--IANS

ab/mr
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to waive off farmers' loans.

Taking part in a meeting of the Inter-State Council chaired by Modi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader also raised the issue of surging pulse prices in the country.

"I demanded that loans of all farmers be waived by Centre, give adequate crop prices (to the farmers) by implementing (M.S.) Swaminathan report," Kejriwal tweeted.

"Also, I raised the issue of increasing dal (pulse) prices due to large-scale hoarding by a few traders," he said.

The Chief Minister asked the Centre to give Delhi its due as per the 14th Finance Commission formula, which he said came to Rs 5,000 crore.

The Kejriwal government in Delhi has been at loggerheads with the central government over various issues of governance.

--IANS

am/mr
They exemplify grit and courage, proving that nothing is impossible for the fairer gender. And now these six valiant women officers of the Indian Navy are back from their gruelling sea expedition from Mauritius.

On Thursday evening, they anchored their craft INS Mhadei on Goan soil at the INS Mandovi. It was part of the practice run ahead of their voyage across the world scheduled next year.

They appeared a bit done in by the tricky turns of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea riled up by the monsoon, which repeatedly assaulted their craft day in and day out. But according to team leader lieutenant Vartika Joshi, this was just the kind of trial and challenge they were looking for.

"We chose this time of the year so that we could encounter the rough weather during our training and therefore are prepared for it during our circumnavigation. The sea was quite rough and it was very heavy, but that was the aim," Joshi told IANS soon after the sailors docked their craft.

Besides Joshi, the all-women crew of the boat included Lieutenants B. Aishwarya, P. Swati, Pratibha Jamwal, Vijaya and Payal Gupta.

The voyage from Port Louis in Mauritius -- where they had gone for training and conditioning, across 5,000 nautical miles -- took 16 days and nights. The nights, Joshi claimed, were particularly challenging.

"At night, when you have a problem with the boat, you try to repair that. Finally when things work out, you get that relieved feeling," Joshi said when asked about the team's trials during the journey.

But it's the next big journey which the team has set its sights on -- the circumnavigation of the globe. The feat is so rare that a fewer number of adventurers have accomplished it, as compared to those who have conquered Mount Everest, said Joshi.

But there's in-house experience at hand.

Commander Dilip Dhonde, who a few years ago circumnavigated the globe using the same INS Mhadei, was there to see Joshi and her team off the sailing boat and offer them the much-needed tips.

"It makes me happy and proud to see this young team of officers attempt the feat," Dhonde told reporters.

But there's still one sailing race which the team is expected to participate in before the global circumnavigation in August next year.

Earlier, the team had also sailed in 2014 from Goa to Port Blair and last year from Goa to Vizag for the International Fleet review and back as part of training for the final circumnavigation attempt.

According to Joshi, adventure is one thing but serving the Indian Navy and sailing are their way, and the navy's way of promoting women's empowerment.

"Navy backs women empowerment. The women in the armed forces are best examples of empowerment. This is a great way to show the world that women can do all this," she said.

All one has to do is "follow your dreams".

(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan.n@ians.in)

--IANS

maya/bim
On Saturday, the Congress exhibited rare nimble footedness to replace Nabam Tuki with Pema Khandu as its chief ministerial candidate in . The change in leadership spurred a rebellion against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-supported Kalikho Pul, with Khandu claiming he has the backing of as many as 47, including two independents, of the 58 legislators in the state assembly.
chief minister Nabam Tuki on Saturday stepped down as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, effectively relinquishing his position as CM, media reports said. Wire agency ANI quoted Congress MLA Kaming Dolo as saying that Pema Khandu was to be elected the new CLP leader of the north-eastern hill state.
Reiterating that the Supreme Court's verdict to reinstate the Congress Government in was not a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Saturday said the Centre had nothing to do with recent political developments in the state, adding that the changing of chief ministerial candidate was their internal decision.

"The Government of India has got nothing to do with the events transpiring in . When the situation deteriorated there, the Centre decided to impose President's Rule based on the Governor's report. That is the only way in which the GOI is involved," Rijiju told mediapersons here.

"The decision of the Congress to choose a new leader in is their internal matter. There are some reports that say the Supreme Court's verdict was a setback to the Centre, which is not true. It was not a BJP Government, the BJP was just supporting from outside. Our decision (earlier) was to support any non-Congress government. We have got nothing to do with Congress changing its chief ministerial candidate," he added.

Ahead of the floor test, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) decided to change the guard in the sate from Nabam Tuki to Pema Khandu.

The Supreme Court, in a historic verdict on Wednesday, reinstated Tuki-led Congress Government and quashed the actions of the Governor post December 15 last year.

In December last, Congress rebels, backed by the BJP, staged a coup and ousted Nabam Tuki as chief minister.
Pema Khandu emerged as the new star on the northeastern horizon when he was elected leader of the Congress in in a dramatic turn of events for the beleaguered party fighting to save its government.

Son of late Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a chopper crash in 2011, the 37-year-old graduate from Delhi's prestigious Hindu College had an early entry into governance after his father's demise.

And in five years, he has emerged as the chief ministerial prospect after Supreme Court's intervention that changed the course of in the state with dissidents returning to Congress.

Khandu was today chosen as the new leader of Congress Legislature Party after 44 party MLAs unanimously elected him in the place of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, who was restored to the post only two days ago after the apex court verdict.

Khandu, who hails from Tawang, bordering China, first entered the assembly in 2011 to fill the vacancy caused by his father's death.

His election as MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency was uncontested and he was soon included in the state government as Cabinet Minister for Water Resource Development and Tourism.

He had joined the Congress in early 2000 and became Secretary of Congress Committee in 2005 and President of Tawang District Congress Committee in 2010.

Khandu was re-elected unopposed from Mukto in the 2014 assembly elections.
Two persons were arrested from Jharkhand for allegedly transferring money fraudulently from the bank account of a senior doctor at RML Hospital here to their own account, police said today.

Last month, Manish Rai, a BTech, and his associate Sawan Verma, a graduate, contacted Dr Dinesh Kumar, head of Pediatric Cardiology at RML Hospital, posing as a bank officer and got his credit card details by claiming that it has been 'blocked', said Ravindra Yadav, Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Police.

They then withdrew Rs 30,000 from his bank account and transferred to it their account at an SBI Branch in Jharkhand using an e-commerce website, the officer said.

Following the doctor's complaint, an investigation was initiated and the two accused were arrested on July 12 from Deogarh in Jharkhand, Yadav said.

It was found that the bank account in Jharkhand was opened in the name of Sawan. Manish used it in return for a commission to Sawan and his uncle Vishnu Pratap who was also involved in the fraud, the officer said, adding efforts are on to arrest Vishnu.
Two Naxals carrying a bounty of Rs one lakh on their head along with seven armed militia members of the banned CPI (Maoists) today surrendered to the police citing harsh treatment from their leadership.

Muvvala Krishna alias Ganesh (25) and Sindri Nagesh alias Sanyasi Rao (26), both native of Chintapalle mandal, who have allegedly been involved in several crimes including murder and exchange of fire with security personnel, turned themselves in to police, Superintendent of Vizag Rural Police Rahul Dev Sharma told reporters here.

Others who surrendered were A Neelakantham (32), Korra Satyanarayana (30), P Kameswara Rao (30), K Kumara Swamy (23), V Nagaraju (22), T Madhava Rao (32) and V Subbanna (29), the officer said.

The ultras had joined the Naxal movement, but later they realised that there was a leadership crisis and work pressure and hence surrendered, said Sharma.

To a question, he said there were no reports of Maoists being equipped with or manufacturing rocket-propelled grenades.
Police today seized about 60



kg of ganja from a car and arrested three persons in this connection from near Tatanagar station under Bagbera police station of the steel city today, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that a big consignment of narcotics was being unloaded from a four-wheeler, a police team conducted a raid and searched a vehicle.

Around 60 kg of Ganja stuffed in two air bags were seized and three persons identified as Mohan Kumar Jaiswal, Aatish Singh and Ravi Kumar Singh, all residents of Jojobeda under Telco police station here were held, police said.

The three were transporting the narcotics to Madhya Pradesh.
Eight persons were killed when an elevator fell from the 18th floor of an apartment building under construction in east China's Shandong Province, officials said today.

There were eight persons in the elevator when it fell from the 18th floor of the apartment building under construction in Longkou City yesterday evening, local government said in a statement.

They were immediately rushed to hospitals but none survived, state-run Xinhua agency reported, citing the statement.
BSP aspirant from Burhana Mohammad Arif Zola has been rescued five days after he was reportedly abducted, police said today.

According to the police, Arif (40) had left his house on his own due to financial issues and returned because of increasing police pressure, but there was speculation that his relatives have paid a ransom of Rs two crore to his abductors.

SSP J Ravinder Gaur said on July 12, Arif had left his house for Mehrauli, where he stayed for two days before leaving for Chandigarh first and then Panipat.

Seeing the of his abduction on television, he feared arrest and arrived at his brother Irfan's house in Delhi from where he informed his relatives of his whereabouts, he said.

The relatives informed the police following which they secured Arif from Delhi late last night, said the SSP.

Arif was brought to Meerut by a police team this morning.

He has reportedly told the police that on the day of the incident, two children had come to him and made him sniff a biscuit after which he fell unconscious.

Subsequently, the abductors took him to an unknown place. Last night, he somehow managed to give his abductors the slip and arrived at his brother's house in Delhi, said the SSP.

Arif was later questioned by police.

The of his abduction surfaced on July 12. His car was found parked in Dabka village under Kankarkhera police station here. A mobile phone and the car keys were recovered from it.

Police had formed a 21-member team to crack the case. The police team had enquired at a few hotels in connection with the incident.
Air raids on rebel-held districts of Syria's battleground second city of Aleppo killed 19 civilians including children today, a monitor said.

"Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another young girl was killed in the Maadi district, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria for its information, warned that the toll could rise due to the number of critically wounded.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said helicopters and fighter jets were still circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel bombs -- crude, unguided explosive devices -- had been dropped on several areas.

At least one barrel bomb struck just outside the hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood, the correspondent said.

The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in February between government forces and non-jihadist rebels does not cover Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front which has a strong presence in many rebel-held areas.

The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and around Aleppo.

Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of the city, prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.

According to the UN, nearly 600,000 people are living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.
Air raids on rebel-held districts of Syria's battleground second city of Aleppo killed at least 25 civilians including children on Saturday, a monitor said.

The death toll steadily rose throughout the day as bombardment rocked the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven were killed in Fardous neighbourhood," the monitor said.

Seven others, including children, were killed in several other rebel-controlled neighbourhoods  among them three in the Salhin district, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across for its information, said the air strikes were likely either Russian or regime warplanes.

"At least 20 people are still under the rubble," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian state news agency SANA, for its part, reported that one person was killed and nine were wounded in rebel rocket fire on government-controlled parts of the city.

An AFP correspondent in eastern Aleppo said helicopters and fighter jets were still circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel bombs  crude, unguided explosive devices  had been dropped on several areas.

A hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood was hit in the bombing, wounding some of the staff and patients inside.

"All kinds of weapons were used to bomb the hospital, from midnight until about 11:00 am. Now it's unusable," Mohammad Kheir, one of its doctors, told AFP.

"There were some injuries among the medical staff but thankfully they are only light wounds."



A crying woman clad in a black robe desperately grasped the leg of a bloodied young man as doctors treated him on the hospital floor.

Twisted metal frames and damaged medical equipment lay strewn across the room, some next to small pools of blood.

The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled government- controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

It was once Syria's commercial powerhouse but has since been ravaged by the country's five-year war.
Vice President Hamid Ansari returned home tonight from Mongolia where he attended the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit and held a number of bilateral meetings with leaders from the region.

During the visit, Ansari, who was the lead speaker for the Plenary Session on Promoting ASEM Partnership for Greater Connectivity, made a strong pitch for the need to isolate sponsors and financiers of terror and urged the leaders to go beyond condemnation to practical action.

The ASEM meeting also deliberated upon issues arising out of recent developments affecting the Korean Peninsula and maritime security, including preservation of global commons in accordance with the international conventions.

Ansari, during his stay in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, also held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

Ansari and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today met in the Mongolian capital and discussed bilateral and mutual interest issues.

The Vice President also held separate bilateral meetings with Prime Minister of EstoniaTaavi Roivasand Prime Minister of LithuaniaAlgirdas Butkevicius. He held a bilateral meeting with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.

Ansari yesterday held talks with the top Mongolian leadership and the Prime Ministers of Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEM comprises of 53 entities - 51 countries from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies - the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. It represents around 62.3 per cent of the world's population, 57.2 per cent of the global GDP and almost 60 per cent of the world's trade.

India's engagement with ASEM began in 2007 and has since actively participated at the Summits level and Foreign Ministers' Meeting held biennially.
Vice President Hamid Ansari today unveiled a stone statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Pethub Monastery in the Mongolian capital which is seen as symbol of India-Mongolia cultural and spiritual ties.

After unveiling the statue of the 'Father of the Nation', the Vice President also went around the monastery founded by former Indian ambassador Kushok Bakula Rinpoche.

Pethub Monastery, seen as symbol of India-Mongolia cultural and spiritual ties, was inaugurated in August, 1999 by Indian Vice President Krishan Kant.

Rinpoche named his monastery as 'Pethub', which in Tibetan means a model or exemplary. The name is drawn from the main monastery in Ladakh which is also known as Spituk Monastery and is over 800 years old.

He founded the monastery after feeling an urgent need to revive Buddhism in the country and for establishing it, Rinpoche chose a tract of land in the city so that it becomes more accessible to the people.

Last year, Prime Minster Narendra Modi also visited a monastery in the Mongolian capital and handed over a Bodhi tree sapling to its chief abbott.
Leaders from Europe and Asia, including Vice President Hamid Ansari, today condemned international terrorism in all its forms and manifestations at a summit in the Mongolian capital and pressed for the need to bring to justice those responsible for such attacks.

The leaders gathered at the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, "endorsed a Special Statement on International Terrorism that strongly and unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes," said an official statement.

They "underlined the need to bring to justice those responsible for the attacks, in accordance with the Charter of the UN and other obligations under international law," it said, referring to the terror strikes in ASEM member states, most recently in the French city of Nice.

Vice President Ansari, who was the lead speaker for the Plenary Session on Promoting ASEM Partnership for Greater Connectivity, made a strong demarche on the need to isolate sponsors and financiers of terror and urged the leaders to go beyond condemnation to practical action.

"Leaders supported his call for strengthening of the international legal regime against terrorism, notably through the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, principally mooted by India in 1996 and currently under negotiation at the UN," the statement said.

At the end of the two-day Summit, the leaders endorsed two main documents - the Ulaanbaatar Declaration and the Chair's Statement.

"The Ulaanbaatar Declaration is a visionary document that underlined the Leaders' commitment towards revitalising ASEM into its third decade and promoting further connectivity, mutually beneficial, tangible partnerships and cooperation between Asia and Europe," the statement said.

It said the Chair's Statement focused on the deepening of Asia-Europe inter-connectedness, shaping and forging of multi-layered links, and mutually beneficial cooperation for peace and development, addressing regional and global challenges and promotion of effective multilateralism.

The ASEM meeting also deliberated upon issues arising out of recent developments affecting the Korean Peninsula and maritime security, including preservation of global commons in accordance with the international conventions.

In his address, Ansari focused on connectivity in all its



dimensions - institutional, digital, physical, economic and socio-cultural.

He underlined its importance not only as an enabler for development, but a powerful tool that must be utilised for encouraging grater people-to-people exchanges, facilitating trade and investment, building energy and academic networks, and connecting the hearts and minds of the people.

Other important outcomes for India included the welcoming by leaders of the 6th Heart of Asia/Istanbul Process Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan to be held in New Delhi in 2016.

India's initiative towards tackling Climate Change, the International Solar Alliance was also appreciated.

Leaders also welcomed India's active role in shaping the discourse on working methods of ASEM and the focus on tangible areas of cooperation, including identification of the 20th area as 'youth exchanges' to coincide with the 20th Anniversary of ASEM, the statement added.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Ansari also met with the leaders of Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

He also held wide ranging meetings with top Mongolian leaders including President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, Parliament Speaker M Enkhbold and Prime Minister Jargaltulga Erdenebat and underlined the close and special relations shared by the two countries. They discussed all matters of bilateral interest as well as regional and global developments.

ASEM comprises of 53 entities - 51 countries from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies - the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. It represents around 62.3 per cent of the world's population, 57.2 per cent of the global GDP and almost 60 per cent of the world's trade.

India's engagement with ASEM began in 2007 and has since actively participated at the Summits level and Foreign Ministers' Meeting held biennially.
The Southern India Mills' Association today thanked Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani for actively considering their plea to sell cotton only to the actual users.

In a communication to Irani and textile ministry officials, SIMA Chairman M Senthilkumar hailed the 'proactive decision', which, he said, would bring stability in the cotton price during the off season.

Moreover, the decision of selling balance quantity of cotton available with Cotton Corporation of India only to the MSME category spinning mills would bring some stability in prices and also meet raw material needs of smaller mills.

The spot price of benchmark cotton variety Sankar-6 has increased over 45 per cent from Rs 33,000 per candy in April and is ruling now at Rs 48,000 resulting in an increase of Rs 60 per kg of clean cotton used for combed count yarns, he said.

In view of the textile industry's pleas, Irani today directed CCI to sell the entire balance quantity of cotton available with it only to MSME category spinning mills registered with the office of the Textile Commissioner.

Senthilkumar said it appeared the Ministry might also direct CCI to sell its cotton only to spinning mills in the future.
Two Yemeni nationals were questioned by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad here today and subsequently released, sources said.

As per the ATS sources, the two Yemenis, aged between 50 and 55, have been staying in Kausarbaug area of Kondhwa here with three of their relatives for the last one month.

"They have come here for medical treatment and have been living in a rented accommodation. ATS had kept a watch on these people. Today two men were brought to the ATS office for questioning and after five hours of questioning, they were released," said an official from ATS on the condition of anonymity.

When contacted, Maharashtra ATS chief Atulchandra Kulkarni confirmed that some people were picked up for questioning.

"Generally people are picked up and questioned on the basis of specific information received and they are released after getting answers," he said, without revealing any details.

Few days back, ATS had arrested a 31-year-old man, a resident of Parbhani in central Maharashtra, for alleged ISIS links.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced a grant of Rs 14 crore for the distant marketing and export of kinnow so as to ensure remunerative prices to the growers in the state.

Addressing the progressive kinnow farmers and exporters during a workshop on pre and post harvest management in kinnow, Badal said here that the state was committed to provide requisite infrastructure and marketing support to the kinnow growers so that they could compete with their peers not within the country but in international markets also.

Responding to the issues raised by the kinnow growers and exporters, the Chief Minister assured them that he would soon take up the matter with the Union Ministry of Agriculture, to grant permission for fungicide laden wax to be used for waxing the kinnows as per international standards to qualify for export of their produce in the global market.

Likewise, the Chief Minister also assured the local kinnow producers and exporters that he would soon take up the issue of getting special air conditioned rakes sanctioned from the Ministry of Railways and impress upon the Railways Minister to sanction these AC rakes well in advance before the onset of marketing season of kinnow so as to enable them to market their produce to the distant places, especially in southern parts of the country.

The Chief Minister also called upon the farmers to further enhance export potential of kinnow to fetch better prices of their produce.

Badal also said that Punjab Kisan Vikas Chamber had been set up at Mohali with an investment of Rs 20 crore on the pattern of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM to give suggestions and recommendations on various issues related to agriculture and allied farming like animal husbandry, bee keeping, fishery, horticulture etc to make the agriculture profession economically viable and financially sustainable.

Badal further said that a need was felt to have such organisation since long to provide an interactive platform to the farmers so as to enable them to take up their issues at an appropriate level for the quick resolution to their satisfaction.

On the occasion, Badal announced to send group of progressive farmers in horticulture, agriculture and allied farming abroad so as to enable them to update their knowledge about latest techniques in these fields besides enhancing the export potential.

In his address, MD, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation K S Pannu said that Punjab has nearly 20,000 kinnow producers in the state producing quality kinnow in the areas of Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Muktsar and Bathinda.

He said 5,000 metric tonne of kinnow were exported to Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Dubai from the state during last year.

"We have fixed an export target of at least 15,000 MT during the current year," he added.
roastpork said: They're both Semites so the only difference is one of religion, so what's your point? Maybe the royal family converted a long, long time ago; and who gives a ****.:wacko: Click to expand...

The point is the difference in motives. Who benefitted by 9-11??Did the Muslims benefit? No. Did the Jews benefit? Yes. Very much so. First they consolidated all our intelligence agencies and put a Jew, Chertoff in charge. Then, based on information provided by said intelligence, we went to war and invaded Iraq and Afganistan.
Actor Varun Dhawan says his upcoming romantic-comedy "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" is set in a world which is completely different from "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania".

The 2014 hit, starring Varun and Alia Bhatt, was a love story between a young feisty Ambala girl and a carefree Delhi boy.

The 29-year-old "Badlapur" actor says they are taking the movie ahead like a franchise but the characters are new.

"It's a totally different world. Badrinath is a boy from Jhansi and it is about him and his 'dulhania' (bride) and the issues they go through. I can't talk too much about it but its different (from Humpty). It is just the same cast, it's a love story and we are taking it ahead," Varun told PTI.

The actor also praised Alia and said "she has evolved tremendously as an actress."



Meanwhile, the actor is excited for the sequel of David Dhawan's hit comedy, "Judwaa", which starred Salman Khan in a double role.

"It is still in the scripting stage, so by next year we should get going with that. All I will say now is 'Judwaa 2' is a big responsibility for me," he said.

David, who directed the Salman-Karisma Kapoor starrer, will also direct the sequel. The father-son duo last worked together in 2014 romantic-comedy "Main Tera Hero".

The actor will be next seen in "Dishoom", releasing on July 29.
Normal life here was hit by a 10-hour bandh today against the killing of one person in Friday's clash between police and protesters demanding shifting of proposed AIIMS in Assam from Changsari to here, about 130 km from Guwahati.

The spontaneous protest saw markets, shops, educational institutions closed and the people also did not allow vehicles to ply during the bandh, which began at 8 am, official sources said.

There were reports of some agitators pelting stones on vehicles, including media vans, they added.

Ministers Chandra Mohan Patowary and Keshab Mahanta were rushed by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to Raha along with MLAs Rama Kanta Deuri and Piyush Hazarika to meet the protestors and the victim's family.

The ministers handed over ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of the victim and said the government would immediately provide a job to his wife.

The protestors demanded that Raha be declared the place for setting up of AIIMS, to which Patowary said the proposed site would be finalised by the Centre.

The Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of the victim. He also financial aid of Rs 50,000 each to the 20 injured.

He appealed people to maintain law-and-order in the area, while a one-member inquiry commission headed by Additional Chief Secretary Rajib Bora has been ordered to probe the incident in which the injured included two additional superintendents of police.

Meanwhile, the victim's body was taken to his native village where his last rites were performed, the sources added.
Answering nature's call was once a nightmare for Rashida Begum, who had to creep around the jungle for a suitably private spot. Her home had no toilet, like the thousands of others in her crowded cluster of farming villages outside the capital.

In just over a decade, that's all changed, in her neighbourhood and many others.

Through a dogged campaign to build toilets and educate Bangladeshis about the dangers of open defecation, the densely populated South Asian nation has managed to reduce the number of people who defecate in the open to just 1% of the 166 million population, according to the government, down from 42% in 2003.

"Once it was our habit to go to the fields or jungles. Now, it is shameful to us," Begum said in Bormi, a cluster of poor farming villages just outside Dhaka, the capital. "Even our children do not defecate openly anymore. We do not need to ask them; they do it on their own," Begum added.

Bangladesh's success in sanitation, which is something so far unattained by its wealthier neighbour to the south, India, came from a dogged campaign supported by 25% of the country's overall development budget.

"The government has made a huge commitment," said Akramul Islam, director for water, sanitation and hygiene of the development NGO Brac. "The government decided that funds should go to the extreme poor who do not have latrines. So that basically gives a big push from the public sector for spending on sanitation."

The government's engineers also partnered with village councils and charities to spread the message on how toilets are key to better health. Rising incomes moving from an average of $1,154 in 2012-13 to $1,314 in the last fiscal year, according to the World Bank, also helped to drive demand, Islam said.

Activists say small-scale surveys show that the campaign has improved public health, though there are not yet any government statistics to prove it more broadly.

"We see clearly that there is a decline in waterborne diseases and diarrhoea-related diseases, so there is a clear link there," Islam said, while acknowledging that the improvement was something "we have to study."

Begum said her children have had no stomach illnesses since she installed an in-house toilet.

Open defecation is considered a major public health menace, causing childhood diarrhoea, parasitic worm infections and other scourges that contribute to childhood stunting, malnutrition and tens of billions of dollars in lost productivity every year. Diarrhoea-related diseases kill 700,000 children every year in India alone, most of which could have been prevented with better sanitation.

About half of Nepal's 30 million people and about 20% of Pakistan's 182 million also do not have facilities at home.
The BJP today appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to defeat the evil designs of the anti national elements who have vitiated the peaceful atmosphere in the state particularly in Kashmir valley.

"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have to defeat the evil designs of anti-national elements, who have vitiated the peaceful atmosphere in the state, particularly in Kashmir valley, which has also disturbed the annual Amarnath Yatra," BJP National Vice President and in charge for Jammu and Kashmir Avinash Rai Khanna said.

He said the party at the national level is keeping eye on the entire situation and the Union government has assured to provide every kind of help to the state government for restoring peace and normalcy.

Khanna was speaking during a core group meeting of the party to take stock of the developments arising after the ongoing turmoil in valley.

The party leaders discussed the current situation related to law and order and smooth conduct of Amarnath Yatra.

Senior BJP leader and MoS in the PMO Jitendra Singh briefed about the discussions held during the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent high level meeting on Kashmir and said that the Union government is keeping vigil on the developments in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that review meetings on daily basis are held at New Delhi to discuss the latest situation in the state.

BJP state president and MLA Sat Sharma, on behalf of the state unit of BJP, appealed the people of Kashmir in particular to maintain peace and harmony and extend every possible help in ensuring that there is no further violence or law and order problem.

Khanna, when asked about the separatists' call for



boycott of the forthcoming elections, said people should participate in elections in large numbers and vote according to their will.

"I think people should vote according to the work done by this government," he said adding when democracy is there, development will happen.

Creating hurdles in the democratic system would not be in the interest of this state," he said criticised the putting up of posters calling for a boycott of elections.

On the allegation levelled by NC on withdrawal of security to his party leaders, the BJP leader said "security is not taken away on vindictiveness."



It works on the basis of reports of security agencies and not seeing who the person is or to which party he belongs to, Khanna said.

The Anantnag Lok Sabha seat fell vacant in June last after Mehbooba won the assembly bypolls and vacated it to become the Chief Minister. The bypolls for this seat would now be held on April 12



The Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, for which the bypolls will be held on April 9, was vacated by former PDP leader Tariq Hamid Karra who had resigned last year in September in protest against alleged "brutalities" on Kashmir protesters.
New British foreign minister Boris Johnson today vowed to defend the country's sovereignty of Gibraltar, whose future was thrown into question after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

"The people of Gibraltar have repeatedly and overwhelmingly expressed their wish to remain under British sovereignty and we will respect their wishes," Johnson said following a meeting with Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

"I reassured him (Picardo) of both our steadfast commitment to Gibraltar, and our intention to fully involve Gibraltar in discussions on our future relationship with the EU."



The tiny rocky outcrop on Spain's southern tip has long been the subject of an acrimonious sovereignty row between London and Madrid, which wants Gibraltar back after it was ceded to Britain in 1713.

Immediately following Britain's vote last month to quit the EU, Spain said the "Spanish flag is much closer to the Rock".

Many of the 33,000 inhabitants of the Rock are now worried that it will be at the mercy of Madrid without the protection of the EU, which has had to intervene in the past to ease rows between the two, particularly over the flashpoint border crossing.

Gibraltar is also concerned about its flourishing economy, which depends in large part on its access to the EU's single market.

Johnson pledged that the government "will not enter into any process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

"We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard Gibraltar, its people and its economy including maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain Border," he said, in a Foreign Office statement.
Brazil said it will bolster security for next month's Olympics in Rio following the truck attack in the French city of Nice.

Brazil's interim president Michel Temer held an emergency meeting with his intelligence chief and members of his cabinet late last night to weigh the next steps after the Nice attack, which killed at least 84 people.

As he left the meeting, intelligence chief Sergio Etchegoyen said new security measures would include extra checkpoints, barricades and traffic restrictions.

Brazil had already planned to deploy 85,000 police and soldiers to provide security for the Olympics  running August 5-21  double the number used in the 2012 London Games.

Heightened fears, heightened security

Etchegoyen said fears over security at the Rio Games had "gone up a notch" after the attack in Nice, where a Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne white truck into a huge crowd gathered to watch the annual Bastille Day fireworks display on Thursday, leaving a gruesome trail of bodies in his wake.

"We're trading a little comfort for a lot more security," he told a press conference at the presidential offices.

Brazilian intelligence officials met with French counterparts for a briefing on the Nice attack, he said.

Defense Minister Raul Jungmann expressed "worries" over the Nice attack.

"This worry will translate to more checkpoints, security, staff and procedures being put in place," he told reporters at an air force base near the Rio airport.

Jungmann said Brazil is corresponding with all 106 countries sending representatives to the event's intelligence center.

"As of now, none of these countries have informed us of a potential or concrete threat of a terrorist attack in Brazil," Jungmann said.

Brazil is already on alert after the French military intelligence chief said France had been informed of a planned terror attack on its team at the Rio Olympics.

In June, Brazil's intelligence service said it had detected Portuguese-language messages linked to the Islamic State group on an online forum.

An even more explicit warning came after bloody attacks in Paris in November, when a French jihadist tweeted that Brazil was the "next target."

Jungmann said officials will supervise the Olympic delegations based on the security threat they face, with countries including the United States and France labeled as high-risk.

"The dozen or so countries in that group will have special accompaniment," Jungmann said.

Simulation exercises

Security services staged simulation exercises in Rio to test counterterrorism response plans.

Another exercise on "confronting external threats" is planned for today at the railway station in Deodoro, one of four Olympic zones in Rio along with Maracana, Copacabana and Barra da Tijuca.

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Olympic organising committee president Carlos Nuzman met with federal and regional government officials to assess plans, notably discussing a potential increase in street blockades.

France's Clement Sordet, who lives in Nice, sported the message 'Pray for Nice'.

"My thoughts are with the families and the victims. I woke up at 4am and tried to find out what had been going on, mainly on the radio," Sordet said at the end of his round.

"The attack happened less than 500 metres from where I live. My girlfriend's family come from there.

A minute's silence was also observed at Roscoff, on the

Brittany coast on the first day of the Tour de France sailing regatta, which finishes on July 31 in the stricken Riviera resort of Nice.

The attack cast a pall over France's quarter-final Davis Cup clash in the Czech Republic.

"We woke up in sadness. We are all affected so much," France captain Noah, on the verge of tears, told journalists before the tie in the eastern Czech town of Trinec.

The French tennis great described the Bastille Day massacre as a heavy blow "for us, for our country, for all who are trying to give happiness."
British nationals in Turkey are being "strongly" advised to stay indoors after 161 people died in a failed military coup in the country, the UK Foreign Office said today.

UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson tweeted that he was "very concerned" by the events in Turkey and said the British Embassy was "monitoring the situation closely".

More than 2.5 million Britons visit Turkey every year.

"The situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are re-opening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara. Some flights to airports in Turkey are being diverted or cancelled," the latest advice from the Foreign Office reads.

It adds: "The road between Marmaris and Icmeler remains closed, following earlier reports of gunfire between the resorts of Marmaris and Icmeler. We strongly advise you to stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant.

"If you are due to travel to or from Turkey over the next few days, you should closely monitor our travel advice and check with your airline or tour operator before travelling."



Some flights from Britain to Turkey have been diverted or cancelled and those due to travel should check with their airline or tour operator.

UK holidaymakers in Marmaris town in Turkey have described hearing gunfire in the streets and an explosion.

According to estimates, around 50,000 people from Britain may be currently on holiday in Turkey from the UK.

Among those affected from the UK include 41 students and seven members of staff from the Arthur Terry School in Birminghamwho are stranded at Istanbul airport, where they were due to get a connecting flight to South Africa.

The school said in a statement that its students are safe and being accompanied by both the staff and a member of the British Embassy.

The attempted coup, which now appears to be over, began on Friday evening when tanks took up positions on two bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, blocking traffic.

Turkish officials said the attempt to seize control of the country by a faction of the armed forces is now over and 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested.
A 46-year-old businessman, allegedly abducted by some persons in Tirupur district was let off after he told them that he was deep in debt and could pay them only a small fraction of the ransom amount they demanded.

Six persons, disguised as policemen, allegedly accosted Arumugam as he was returning home last night and took him inside a car on the pretext of an enquiry. They then sought details of his property and demanded that he pay Rs 6 crore as ransom, police said.

However, when the businessman told the accused that he was already in debt of Rs 2 crore and can pay only Rs 5 lakh, they tied him up and dropped him near the Salem-Villupuram border.

Arumugam managed to free himself, reached a tollgate this morning and contacted a nearby police station, police said said, adding he has lodged a complaint claiming that some persons had earlier threatened to abduct him.
A garment businessman was shot dead by three unidentified bike-borne assailants in Sadar Bazar area here, police said.

Sanjeev Jindal, 38, was on his way home after locking his shop last night when the three armed men waylaid him and opened fire in the old Gurgaon area.

The men fled the spot after three to four bullets hit Jindal who was shot at point-blank range.

The victim is said to have died on the spot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

The entire incident of firing has been recorded in a CCTV camera installed at adjoining shops in the area, according to Sumit Kumar, DCP (West) Gurgaon.

"We are examining the CCTV footage to ascertain the identity of the accused persons. Preliminary investigations suggest that it is a matter of personal enmity. The accused may have been hired by someone else as a matter of contract killing. We are investigating the case with all possible angles," Kumar said.

A murder case has been lodged against the three unidentified persons in Gurgaon City Police station under relevant provisions of the IPC.

Meanwhile, several businessmen and shop owners protested against the Gurgaon Police at Sadar Bazar area demanding speedy arrest of the accused. The market remained closed for a day today to show solidarity with the deceased's family.

"This is not the first time when an open shootout has happened in Sadar Bazar as in the past also, businessmen in Sadar Bazar have been targeted by fearless criminals who generally do not hesitate to violate laws," Bablu Gupta, President of Sadar Bazar Vyapar Mandal said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today voiced protest against imposition of President's rules in states on "frivolous grounds" and demanded Centre consult states concerned before appointing Governors.

Speaking at Inter-state Council meeting here today, Kejriwal also demanded that Rs 5,000 crore be given to the state by the Centre as the national capital contributes Rs 1.5 lakh crore to the Union Government's kitty in taxes



"Inter State Council should pass a resolution that chief ministers be consulted before appointment of Governors and Lt Governors in their respective states, and President's rule can only be imposed in any state if the government loses majority in the Assembly and not on any frivolous grounds by misusing the office of Governors appointed by the Centre," the Delhi Chief Minister said.

At the meeting, Kejriwal urged the Central government to grant approval to the Bills sent by the Delhi Assembly so that people of the capital could get benefit of the welfare scheme.

Speaking on farming issue, he also said that Centre should waive off all the debts of farmers across the country to reduce their sufferings, demanding implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report and adequate funds to states so that problems faced by farmers could be resolved at the earliest.

The Delhi Chief Minister said that allegations of rise in prices of pulses due to hoarding at the Mundra Port should be probed with all seriousness, since it is being reported that pulses being imported from countries like Mozambique are being sold at a higher price in India.

He asked the Central government to remove the No Detention Policy from the RTE Act, since it is "harming" the interests of the students.
Ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting Monday, top Congress leaders today met party chief Sonia Gandhi and her deputy Rahul Gandhi to chalk out its strategy on crucial issues, including the GST bill.

The meeting held at the residence of Sonia Gandhi was attended among others by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, party's deputy leader in upper house Anand Sharma and chief whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge could not attend the meeting as he was out of station.

The Government had yesterday reached out to Congress to seek its support for the passage of GST bill which is pending for a long time and sought the principal opposition party's support on the issue.

Sources said Congress is seeking to corner the government and the BJP in both houses on the Arunachal issue in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement reinstating the Congress government as on December 15, 2015.

The top party leaders are learnt to have discussed the party's stand on various issues.

The Monsoon session starts on Monday and the government has convened an all-party meeting on Sunday to seek the support of opposition parties in passage of pending legislations.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has also convened an all-party meeting on Sunday evening for support of all parties for smooth functioning of Parliament.
Congress lauded the role of security personnel in dealing strictly with stone-pelters and said the country stands firmly behind the security forces.

"We laud the role of the security forces in dealing strictly with the separatists and stone-pelters. The people stands firmly behind the security forces and the Army," J&K Congress leaders said in a statement here.

They said J&K is an integral part of the country and any attempt by Pakistan or separatist forces to disrupt peace and harmony should not be tolerated.

At a meeting, Jammu and Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) expressed serious concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the Valley resulting into disruption of Amarnath Yatra.

The meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Sham Lal Sharma, senior vice president JKPCC

They expressed serious concern over the disruption of Amarnath Yatraand held BJP responsible for deteriorating law-and-order.
Traffic woes gave a harrowing time to commuters in the national capital today as heavy rainfall led to water-logging in several areas and long tailbacks of vehicles on major roads, while a blame game ensued among the civic agencies over a lack of preparation for the monsoon.

Several parts of the city were heavily inundated but South Delhi was among the worst-hit and reeled under severe traffic congestion.

Residents and commuters faced a tough time as the mouth of flyovers, underpasses and low-lying localities such as Sangam Vihar were flooded due to water-logging.

"Fortunately, it was a weekend and the water accumulated on major stretches had reduced significantly by the peak hours. Had it been a weekday, things would have gone worse," Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sandeep Goel said.

Traffic was thrown out of gear near AIIMS, IIT-Delhi, Ashram-DND flyway, Moolchand underpass, Jasola, Badarpur, Panchsheel, Yusuf Sarai, Adhchini, South Extension and on several stretches of the circumferential Ring Road.

Amid the troubles faced by Delhiites, BJP-led municipal corporations and the Public Works Department, which is under the AAP government, traded charges over desilting of drains.

Leader of the House in South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Subhash Arya claimed the civic body had cleaned all drains under its jurisdiction while the problem was due to uncleaned drains falling under the jurisdiction of the PWD.

"All the (drains) under SDMC have been properly cleaned and silt had also been removed. The bigger drains, which the smaller ones ultimately join, fall under the jurisdiction of PWD and they were not desilted, and turned out to be the major cause of waterlogging," he said.

North Delhi Mayor Sanjeev Nayyar also blamed the PWD for the chaos caused by waterlogging.

Commuters, who tried to take diversions from the arterial stretches, ended up being stranded in areas like Safdarjung Enclave, Defence Colony and Lodhi Colony, said a transport department official.

Reacting to the allegations, a government official said, "It was observed that the problem of water-logging occurred because of lot of flow of silt and sludge from the MCD drains, which are upstream of PWD drains.

"Despite the large claims of all the three Municipal



Corporations that they had completed the pre-Monsoon desilting work, it was seen that a lot of silt was coming from the municipal corporation drains, thus reducing the capacity of the PWD drains, resulting in overflowing of the drains and causing water-logging at many places," the official added.

However, the SDMC claimed that it had removed nearly 44,000 metric-tonne of silt from 265 drains wider than four feet and around 29,000 metric-tonne from over 18,000 nallahs (drains less then four feet width) before monsoon.

Water-logging at the mouth of the Indraprastha Flyover continued till noon, due to which the traffic coming from Rajghat and the elevated Ring Road had to be diverted. The problem was caused by sewer leakage, which appropriate civic bodies should look into, the official said.

The major road stretches that witnessed traffic snarls for long hours include the Ring Road stretch near Sarai Kale Khan, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Aurobindo Marg, the Outer Ring Road stretch covering Hauz Khas, Greater Kailash, Nehru Place and Modi Mill, and Mathura Road, officials said.

Other parts of the city which witnessed chock-a-block due to water-logging included central Delhi areas like Paharganj and IP Estate; north Delhi areas like Malka Ganj, Bara Hindu Rao, Baraf Khana and Azad Market; areas in West Delhi included Naraina and Punjabi Bagh; and near Delhi Secretariat, Vikas Marg, Nand Nagri and Anand Vihar in the east.
Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) is ready to support the West Bengal government in upgrading its industrial and leather parks.

"It may even consider a package for this," DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek was quoted in a CII release today.

"In his view, there is no reason why West Bengal will not become one of the principal hubs of industrial growth in the country," the release said.

Once the Amritsar-Kolkata Dedicated Freight Corridor becomes operational, most probably by March 2019, there would be a sea change in the state's industrial climate, Abhishek remarked.

"Bengal, where you get the best of talents and wherewithals, has in the past pioneered and spearheaded many historic movements," he said.

"DIPP is there for help. We know entrepreneurship needs a helping hand, and we are ready to help you in things like setting up incubation centres, world-class training, patent facilitation etc," Abhishek said in the statement.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) occurs due to malfunctioning of the electrical system of the heart causing the heart to beat at a very fast rate, which can result in a reduction or even complete cessation of its ability to pump any more, Dr. Suvro Banerjee, a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, said at a cardiac arrest awareness programme today.

What makes the condition particularly unique, and therefore dangerous, was that the cardiac arrest leading to backout or death may happen all of a sudden, the prominent physician told a press conference here.

He said SCA often strikes people, who are unware of any possible symtoms and indications of heart diseases, and reminded that people who have had a heart attack in the past or have a history of premature, unexplained deaths due to cardiac arrest in the family or those with congenital abnormalities are especially at risk and should be evaluated without delay.

He was addressing the press conference as part of the awareness campaign by Apllo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata, which has an information centre in the steel city.

Stating that former President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam and Dempo's Brazalian striker Cristiano Junior had died of SCA, Dr Banerjee said Insertable Loop Recorder (ILR) and Electrophysological studies are some tests that can help us in this direction while an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) can help address the challenge of a SCA.

Asked about chances of survival due to SCA, he said it was only 5 per cent outside hospital.

He said the number of deaths due to SCA ranged between 2.5 lakhs to 4.5 lakhs per annum in US whereas we (in India) did not have any data regarding death caused by SCA.

The A leading healthcare services hospital in Eastern India, has taken initiative to raise awareness level among people of the steel city about the menace of which could prove fatal if ignored.
Egypt today blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution backed by the United States condemning the attempted coup d'etat in Turkey, diplomats said.

The United States, following consultations with officials from key NATO ally Turkey, had proposed a draft statement calling on "all parties in Turkey to respect the democratically elected government of Turkey."



But Egypt, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, objected.

Its relations with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been particularly tense.

Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the Egyptian army in 2013.

The Turkish leader has denounced that move as a "coup d'etat," drawing the wrath of the Egyptian general behind the ouster, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.

During the UN debate, Egypt argued that it was "not for the Security Council to decide whether the government is democratically elected," and it demanded that the relevant language be deleted, a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite US insistence, Egypt would not budge.

Turkey and several Security Council members including the United States worried the statement would have been too weak without wording explicitly supporting the Turkish government.

"So there won't be any statement," the diplomat said.

Such Security Council resolutions require unanimous approval from the 15-member group.

The brief draft statement had "condemned the violence and unrest in Turkey and stressed the urgent need for an end to the current crisis and return to the rule of law."



It called on all parties to "show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan battled to regain control over Turkey today after a coup bid by discontented soldiers, as signs grew that the most serious challenge to his 13 years of dominant rule was faltering.

After hours of chaos and violence unseen in decades, Erdogan ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours and making a defiant speech cheered by hundreds of supporters.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late last night and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

After a night of drama and bloodshed, at least 90 people had died and more than 1,150 people were wounded, according to state-run agency Andalou.

Officials insisted the putsch bid was falling apart with over 1,560 officers held and close to 200 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military HQ surrendering.

Crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appeared to have turned the tide, defying orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

The strongman denounced the coup attempt as "treachery", saying he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end".

"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."



Turkey's parliament, which had been targeted by coup plotters and received extensive damage, was meanwhile holding an extraordinary session, broadcast live on television, while special forces were reportedly securing the headquarters of the military chief of staff.

Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

As a helicopter flew over the famed Taksim Square, scene of massive anti-Erdogan protests three years ago, the crowd began to boo, shaking their fists at the night sky before they were shot at by the soldiers.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."



The sound of F16 fighter jets screaming low over the capital Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late Friday, with troops also moving to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.
A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets was waging a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today, but the strongman returned to Istanbul defiantly claiming to have regained control.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late yesterday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people.

With officials insisting the takeover bid was falling apart, officials said 60 people have been killed and 754 detained in a night of violence in Turkey's major cities.

Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul that they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.

Erdogan predicted that the putsch would fail and crowds of supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came out onto the streets to try to block it.

After hours of chaos unseen in decades, the president ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours where he made a defiant speech and was greeted by hundreds of supporters.

Erdogan denounced the coup attempt as "treachery" but said he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end".

"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said at the airport. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."



The sound of F16 fighter jets flying over the capital Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late Friday, with troops also moving to block the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.

As protesters took to the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving tens wounded.

Soldiers also opened shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's famous Taksim Square, injuring several.

Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara, while the parliament was also bombed.

Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.

World leaders called for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government which they said had been elected in democratic elections.

The night of drama and bloodshed brings new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.

With uncertainty over the fate of Turkey's top general



Hulusi Akar - reportedly taken hostage - General Umit Dundar, commander of the First Army, has been appointed as acting chief of staff, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

After the initial dramatic military movements, state broadcaster TRT said the troops behind the putsch had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland".

"The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," the statement said.

It said the coup had been launched "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted".

No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions although Yildirim claimed a key pro-coup general had been killed.

Turkey's once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan's critics have long accused him of undermining Turkey's secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but the president was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

The Turkish strongman urged people to rally in his support, prompting hundreds of supporters to gather in Turkey's three main cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, AFP correspondents said.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

As a helicopter flew over the famed Taksim Square, scene of massive anti-Erdogan protests three years ago, the crowd began to boo, shaking their fists at the night sky before they were shot at by the soldiers.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."



But some Turks were welcoming news of the coup attempt.

"Turks are on fire," Fethi, a 27-year-old tour guide in Taksim Square, told AFP. "We have hope now," he added. "Turkey has been in a very polarised state for almost 15 years now... This is the manifestation of all that anger."



Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania"  a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy who he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the president's former ally denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," he said in a statement.

Turkish airlines said flights to Istanbul's main airport had resumed after a night-long shutdown. The Bosphorus bridges remained closed.
Four Naxals were killed in an encounter in the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh today, police said.

Inspector General, Bastar range, SRP Kalluri told PTI that Naxals opened fire on a joint team of district police and the CRPF in a forest near Tumrel village, under the Pamed police station jurisdiction.

The two sides exchanged fire for nearly two hours after which the Naxals fled. Bodies of four Naxals were found during search of the area, along with a rifle and a pipe bomb.

The slain ultras were yet to be identified, the IG said.
France today began a period of national mourning for the 84 people who died after a "terrorist" drove his truck through a crowd in Nice as they watched Bastille Day fireworks.

President Francois Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people fighting for their lives following the attack in the Cote d'Azur resort city on Thursday night.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel probably had links to radical Islam, but Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to make the connection.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the 31-year-old Tunisian was "completely unknown" to the intelligence services but that the assault was "exactly in line with" calls from jihadist groups to kill.

The attack left a scene of carnage on Nice's picturesque Promenade des Anglais, with mangled bodies strewn over the palm-fringed walkway. At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead.

AFP reporter Robert Holloway witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, causing "absolute chaos".

"It was hurtling towards us and we had just enough time to yell at each other 'get out of the way!'," he said.

Dramatic video footage showed police surrounding the heavily damaged truck and firing through the windscreen to kill the attacker.

The massacre again prompted questions as to why France is a persistent target for attacks and what can be done to prevent such unsophisticated assaults.

Investigators were building up a picture of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel; a man with a record of petty crime, but no known connection to terrorist groups.

His father said he had suffered from depression and had "no links" to religion.

"From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... He would break anything he saw in front of him," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia.

"We are also shocked," he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

Neighbours described the attacker, who lived in a modest district of Nice and worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings.

He and his wife had three children, but she had demanded a divorce after a "violent argument", one neighbour said.

His wife was arrested on Friday and taken for questioning, a police source said.
Negotiations on the first contract between Linn-Benton Community College and its part-time instructors have hit sticking points that both sides say they hope can be solved this summer.

The bargaining teams for the college and the LBCC Part Time Faculty Association will have their next session at 5 p.m. Monday in the Calapooia Center board room. The following session will be 5 p.m. Aug. 16.

Negotiation meetings are open to the public and association members have been encouraging attendance.

Certified a year ago, the PTFA represents about 300 members, although only about 200 are teaching during any given term.

The association began negotiating with college representatives in November for the first contract for their members. The two sides have agreed on seven of the 31 articles in the contract proposal.

To wrap up the negotiations before the end of this academic year (June), we had proposed a generous package deal for the remaining 24 articles, said Tak Suyama, chairman of negotiations for the PTFA and past president of the association.

Suyama said the association gave the college what they wanted for 21 of the articles, but held firm on issues involving salary and job security.

The college rejected this compromise package deal and gave us a counter package that included all of what they wanted for all articles and lowered the salary from what they had previously proposed, he said.

He added the colleges most recent proposal included an agreement to pick up Public Employee Retirement System costs, but said thats not relevant because most association members dont qualify.

PTFA members say by their calculations, they are paid about $12 per hour, which their research indicates is the lowest pay rate among comparable community colleges in Oregon, such as Lane and Chemeketa.

Suyama said the $12 figure comes from surveying members to find how much time instructors spend preparing for class, attending meetings, grading work and participating in training sessions. That averages to about 4.5 hours.

Put that total up against the $595 paid per credit hour and the 11 weeks in each term, he said, and you get $12 an hour. By 2018, in some places, that will be minimum wage, although many of the association members hold masters or doctoral degrees.

I teach and do everything the full time faculty would do: faculty meetings, strategic goal planning, curriculum development, etc., said Miranda Dudzik, president-elect of PTFA. The difference is, if I were a full-time contracted person  I only made 74 percent of that.

Job security is an even bigger issue, however, the members said.

College is supposed to be about innovation and critical thinking, Suyama said, but members worried about losing their jobs are less likely to take risks in their teaching.

Its just going to be a cookie-cutter, fast-food education service center, he said. Thats very antithetical to, I think, the idea of higher education.

Dudzik said part-time instructors are expected to meet with students, participate in training and work on improving their skills. But unlike full-timers, they are not actually paid for anything outside the in-classroom time.

If were paid to deliver fast-food education, how are we improving ourselves as educators? How are we supposed to keep up on the most current topics in our disciplines and keep up on changes to the world? she asked.

College officials have not responded directly to the associations positions but issued a statement through Dale Stowell, executive director of Advancement/Foundation, saying they are committed to negotiating a contract that brings compensation for part time faculty into alignment with our comparator institutions and clearly defines the key terms and conditions of employment that are important to both the college and part-time faculty.

The statement said the college spent 63 percent of its 2014-15 budget on instruction and instructional support, and that part-time compensation accounted for 8.4 percent of the general fund.

College officials and the PTFA disagree on the part-time workload: The association estimates two-thirds of the faculty are considered part time, while the college says fewer than half of the credits are taught by part-timers.

The statement from college officials says its goal is to remain competitive in the labor market, attracting and retaining skilled employees while staying within its resources.

It states, We at LBCC value and hold in high regard our excellent part-time faculty members, and says the college is committed to negotiating a contract that reflects those values.

However, PTFA members say rejection of the most recent offer makes them feel anything but valued. In fact, Dudzik said, theyre angry as hell.

I dont want to defect to Lane or Chemeketa, she added. I love this college. I love my colleagues. I love my students. Its so discouraging, so disheartening, to know how much passion I have for this college and my colleagues, and the college doesnt seem to have any interest in making sure that I want to stick around.
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a petty criminal prone to depression and violence who smoked, drank and never went to the mosque, according to neighbours and family.

The Tunisian delivery driver, who on Thursday evening smashed a 19-tonne lorry into a crowd killing 84 people, including 10 children, had shown no overt signs of radicalistaion.

The Islamic State group, in claiming the attack today, said he was a "soldier" who had responded to "calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".

But authorities said he had not been flagged for links to radical Islamic ideology.

The 31-year-old "seemed to have been radicalised very quickly from what his friends and family" have told police, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said today.

Speaking outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia, the attacker's father said he had suffered from depression and had "no links" to religion.

"From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... He would break anything he saw in front of him," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said.

"We are also shocked," he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

"He didn't pray, he didn't fast, he drank alcohol," his father said. "He even took drugs."



After Thursday's attack on people who had just enjoyed a Bastille Day fireworks display on Nice seafront, his neighbours in a working-class neighbourhood of the city told AFP they had little to do with him.

They portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not return greetings when their paths crossed.

One neighbour in his four-storey block said she had concerns about him, describing him as "a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye".

However, another said she had become friendly with him after they struck up a conversation one day in the stairwell when he was looking to buy some cigarettes.

According to her he was teetotal and refused to drink a glass of wine with her, saying: "No, I don't drink."



The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said he asked to rent her letter box from her.

"I don't know why. I found it strange, quite frankly," she said, adding that she turned down his request.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was often seen drinking beer and never attended the small mosque near his home, other residents of his home district told AFP.
Fxkart.Com, the online aggregator of foreign exchange dealers, has announced its launch in Punjab, promising to give money changers much better volumes in transactions which are "smooth and transparent".

The startup also announced entering into a strategic partnership with a leading B2B travel portal to enable their nearly 20,000 travel agent network make hassle-free forex booking for their customers.

"If you see Punjab market and why we are interested in it, there is a lot of volume, it beats a city like Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai in categories including where students go abroad for study purpose, people travelling for leisure and even emigrating.

"The kind of remittances happening from Punjab to countries like Canada, the US, New Zealand and Australia is huge," Fxkart.Com CEO Abdul Hadi Shaikh, said here.

Shaikh said in the current scenario, customers while doing their foreign remittances abroad for remitting education tuition fees, maintenance of relatives abroad etc have to call up multiple dealers for their requirement.

"Currently customers find it a hassling process to actually know what the correct forex rate in the market is. Fxkart.Com provides all this information to the consumer on a simple web platform for free. We help consumers get the best forex deal instantly and also help in instantly locating the cheapest and nearest dealer in the city, bringing accessibility to the traveler/tourist to book forex with a click," he said.

"The biggest advantage of this app/web portal is that the customers can compare rates at transit locations too and if the rate is better they can easily book and order it to have it delivered at the place of their choice," he said.

Shaikh said the company also provides forex advisory for the convenience of the consumer through a chat option.

"We make the transaction process very smooth, transparent, there is no ambiguity and no last minute change of rates and we follow every rule as per RBI guidelines," he said about the nearly 18-month old company.

He said Fxkart.Com wants to get the Punjab based money changers to come on their platform as well.
A 14-year-old girl was abducted from her house in Etah and kept in confinement, following which an FIR was filed against four persons.

The girl, a resident of Saray Agahat village in Nayagaon, was abducted by a gang of four men on July 2 from her house.

She was confined at a house in Jay Singhpur village here but she managed to escape from the clutches of the kidnappers and reached her house.

According to police, an FIR was filed yesterday against four persons, one of whom was identified as Shabaz, in connection with the abduction and wrongful confinement.
All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation (GJF) today said it will conduct workshops in 60 cities across the country to create awareness among jewellers on norms of excise duty implementation and other trade related practises.

"There is lot of confusion among jewellers related with the excise duty norms, administrative matters and maintenance of records. We will organise workshops in 60 cities across the country and clarify and discuss issues related with excise duty implementation," GJF Director Ashok Minawala told reporters here.

He said the government has accepted most of the recommendations of the Ashok Lahiri High Level Committee, which is easier and simple pertaining to the excise duty.

The Ashok Lahiri was set up to suggest steps to sort out taxation problem being faced by the jewellery trade and industry.

Accepting of recommendations, the government increased Small Scale Industry (SSI) exemption limit to Rs 10 crore from Rs 6 crore, waived the levy on sale of traded goods and relaxed various procedural norms.

The Finance Ministry said no excise audit will be carried out for the first two years for units whose duty payment is less than Rs 1 crore (that is turnover of manufactured goods less than Rs 100 crore).

"Many important issues such as no summons or visit without Commissioner's approval, optional scheme, has been accepted by the government for the betterment of the trade. This will boost trade sentiment as the industry was eagerly awaiting the clarifications on the levy of excise duty," Minawala added.

The workshops will address issues such as excise duty levies without input, capital goods tax credit with credit, no excise duty may be payable on the sale of traded goods, records maintained for state VAT and other private records, showing details of inputs, stocks, manufactured goods, sold or exported goods, among others, to be accepted for excise purposes, he said.

"We will also guide traders on stock details to be maintained on weight, movement of jewellery, transit checks, excise duty on value additions in case of converted jewellery," he added.

About 15-10 per cent jewellers, which do 80 per cent of the business in the industry, will come under the excise net.
Goa Congress has decided to hold a joint meeting on July 18 with its Legislative wing and State (Pradesh) Committee to take a call on forging an alliance with like-minded parties for the upcoming Assembly elections.

"The meeting will be chaired by Pradesh Congress Committee President Luizinho Faleiro. All the frontal organisations of the party, Pradesh Congress committee and legislative party members will deliberate on the issue of alliance for upcoming polls during the meeting," Congress Goa spokesman Sunil Kawathankar told PTI.

He said during the visit of AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh to the state in mid-June month, the discussion on pre-poll alliance with like-minded parties was initiated.

"On Monday we are going to take forward the discussion wherein opinion of all the members would be recorded and sent to party high command," Kawathankar said.

A large group of Congress legislators including Vishwajit Rane, Jeniffer Monserratte, Digambar Kamat, Pandurang Madkaikar, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco and others have already publicly voiced their demand to go for an alliance.

Rane had threatened to quit the party, if Congress wants to go alone for the upcoming Goa State Legislative Assembly elections.

The Congress which faced a humiliating defeat in the 2012 Goa polls is now gearing up for elections due before March 2017.
Sri Lankan opposition party JVP today accused the Maithripala Sirisena government of failing to stop the large number of Indian trawlers and compromising on the fishermen issue on which the livelihoods of the people in Northern areas depend.

"These are the resources of our northern people. They have no other livelihoods such as employment in big factories," Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the JVP who is also the chief opposition whip in parliament, said in Jaffna.

He said the government was incapable of stopping the large number of Indian trawlers who breach the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and do fishing in Sri Lankan waters.

"Not only they (Indians) do illegal fishing they destroy the environment," Dissanayake said referring to bottom trawling techniques used by the Indians.

"We now understand that the government is to allow certain days of a month with an exclusive zone for the Indians to do their illegal fishing. This must be stopped," he added.

Several days ago the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in answer to Dissanayake in parliament has said that the government was looking at alternate ways to stop bottom trawling by the Indians.

He said the views of Sri Lankan fisher community would be sought in arriving at any solution.

The issue of poaching by both sides, mostly by the Indians in Sri Lankan waters, has been discussed at very highest levels between the two governments.

The JVP also remains opposed to the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement (ETCA) between the two countries.
Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, whose 48-hour deadline to leave Gujarat ends tomorrow, today held road shows at several places in Saurashtra region and got a grand welcome in his home town Viramgam in Ahmedabad district.

The 22-year-old Patidar leader, who will leave for Udaipur in Rajasthan tomorrow, where he will stay for the next six months, told reporters at a road show that he was not interested in politics and working for his community is what matters to him the most.

After stepping out of the Lajpore Jail in Surat around 11 am yesterday, Hardik had said that he would continue his agitation to get reservation for his community under the OBC quota. During his road shows today, he once again made it clear and said they have prepared a plan to revive the stir.

After his arrival in Ahmedabad from Surat last night, he was greeted by hundreds of supporters. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members and leaders, including Ashutosh and Kanubhai Kalsariya, tried to meet Hardik, but could not do so due to the huge crowd around him.

"Our attempt to meet Hardik was not successful due to huge crowd that turned out to greet him late night as he reached Ahmedabad," an AAP member said.

This morning, Hardik reached his hometown Viramgam, where he offered prayers at the temple of his family deity and met his family members. He was given a hero's welcome by the members of his community.

Hundreds of supporters accompanied him as he left for Sarangpur in Botad district, where he prayed at Lord Hanuman temple. At Lathidad village on the way, villagers weighed him in donated blood on a weighing scale as a show of solidarity. They also gifted him a sword.

Speaking to reporters on the way, Hardik, who was nine months in jail in connection with two sedition and one arson- related casea during the agitation, said he is not a political person.

"We are receiving amazing support. Thousands of people have turned up. I carry the trust of our community members and I am working for their cause...I am not a political person and politics is not important for me, what matters is our work for our community members," he said.

Late this evening, Hardik reached Khodaldham in Rajkot



district, where he offered prayers at a temple before reaching Rajkot, where he held a road show. The district administration imposed section 144, banning large gatherings in Rajkot as a precautionary measure to avoid any law and order problem.

Members of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS), an organisation led by Hardik, said he will continue with his road show tomorrow at Patan before leaving for Udaipur, where former Congress MLA of Rajasthan Pushkarlal Patel, invited him to stay at his house during his stay outside the state.

While granting bail to Hardik in two sedition cases last Friday, the HC had asked him to stay outside Gujarat for the next six months.

Hardik's mega rally on reservation held in Ahmedabad on August 25 last year had sparked violence killing ten people, including a policeman besides causing damage to public properties and vehicles across Gujarat.
Haryana today asked the Centre to sanction an India Reserve Mahila Battalion to deal with women agitators and also sought financial and technical support for modernisation of the state's police force.

Speaking at the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held after 10 years, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar sought funds to purchase equipment for regional forensic science laboratories.

He said the state government has adopted a transparent policy for the recruitment of constables and inspectors, and the processes for hiring 5,000 general-duty male constables, 1,000 constables under the ex-servicemen category and 1,000 women constables were underway.

As a result of this, he said, the percentage of women in police would increase from six to eight and thereafter, within a year, "we shall increase this percentage to ten."



The state government has set up women police stations at all district-headquarters. Women complainants were now more comfortable in narrating their grievances before lady cops and majority of them want their problems enquired into at women police stations.

"Encouraged by the response, we have recently taken a decision to open help desks at all police stations at the sub-division level to expand their reach," he said.

"The central government may consider sanctioning India Reserve Mahila Battalion for law-and-order duties in Haryana," Khattar said, adding that Haryana has faced a lot of protests, which included women agitators, due to its proximity to the national capital.

Referring to cybercrimes, he said the state was in the process of establishing a state-level cyber-crime branch in Gurgaon which will have specially-trained experts to crack such cases and thus the need to substantially increase the central allocation under modernisation of police force scheme.

He said Gurgaon and Faridabad are two mega cities that need a major push under this comprehensive scheme for which the state needs financial and technical help from the Centre.

Police housing should be re-included as one of the



components while allocating funds under the MPF scheme, the chief minister said.

"I request the central government to provide funds to purchase equipment for these regional forensic science laboratories," he said.

He also sought technical and financial support from the Centre for police modernisation in Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The state government is preparing a thematic scheme for the next three years that is 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20 and soon this would be sent to the central government.

Haryana government had notified the Haryana Police Act on June 2, 2008 for amendment and consolidation of law concerning management. This Act focuses on six distinct directions given by the Supreme Court. "We are analysing the Model Police Bill, 2015 to present our views to the Central Government," he said.

Khattar said the state was in the process of strengthening its intelligence machinery down to the grass-roots level.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today issued notice to HPRIDC in a matter related to the construction of the Theog-Hatkoti road in Shimla district and directed it to monitor the progress of the project.

The court also directed the committee constituted by Himachal Pradesh Roads and Other Infrastructure Development Corporation (HPRIDC) to submit a compliance report every two weeks.

It further directed the contractor to do the needful and make all possible efforts to take the contract to its logical end and cautioned that any deviation shall be viewed seriously.

The orders were passed by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan on a public interest litigation on the delay in the project.

During the hearing, Devinder Chauhan Jaita, the lawyer for the petitioner, told the court that work needs to be carried out immediately at certain points.

The court directed the contractor to do the needful.

Louis Berger Group, the consultant to the project, told the court that World Bank funding for the project was extended up to June 30, 2017.
Normal life was thrown out of gear in Himachal Pradesh as heavy rains lashed some parts of the state triggering landslides while a 20-year-youth was killed after a huge rock caved in upon him.

A 50-mt stretch of Katola-Prashar road near Baggi in Mandi district was breached due to heavy rains and a large number of tourists on way to Prashar lake remained stranded for several hours.

However, the road has been temporarily opened for light vehicles, PW department officials said.

A 20-year-old youth, identified as Bhupendra, son of Puran Chand was buried alive under the rock which suddenly caved in after rains at a village near Jhakri in Shimla district, 145 km from here today, police said.

A graveyard at Kundia village in Paonta Sahib area was submerged after heavy rains and some newly dug graves had to be covered by tarpaulin.

Meanwhile, the 1,500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri project, 412 MW Rampur Project and 1,200 MW Karchham Wangtoo project in Shimla and Kinnaur district which were shut down due to alarming rise in silt level, resumed generation today as the silt levelcame down below permissible level of 4,000 ppm.

The power stations of these projects were shut down to avoid damage to turbines and heavy machinery as the silt level ranged between 8,000 and 27,000 ppm.

Heavy rains lashed some parts of the state and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district was wettest in the region with 87 mm rains while Jogindernagar and Shimla recorded 59 mm and 49 mm rains respectively, followed by Nahan 41 mm, Kheri 34 mm, Palampur 24 mm, Jubbarhatti and Bajaura 20 mm, Baijnath 19 mm, Rohru 18 mm, Manali 16 mm, Dalhousie 15 mm, Mandi 14 mm and Bhuntar 11m.

The maximum temperatures dropped by few notchesand Una which was hottest in the region, recorded a high of 32.4 degrees Celsius while Sundernagar and Bhuntar recorded maximum temperature at 30.6 degrees Celsius, and 28.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Dharamsala 27.2 degrees Celsius, Solan 25.5 degrees Celsius, Nahan 25.2 degrees Celsius, Shimla 21.4 degrees Celsius and Kalpa 17 degrees Celsius.

There was no significant change in minimum temperatures and Kalpa, Dharamsala and Manali recorded a low of 15 degrees Celsius, 15.8 degrees Celsius and 16 degrees Celsius while Shimla recorded minimum temperature at 16.8 degrees Celsius.

Keylong in tribal Lahaul and Spiti district was warmer with minimum and maximum temperatures staying at 16.9 degrees Celsius and 30.3 degrees Celsius while Una was hottest during the night also with a high of 27.5 degrees Celsius.

The local MeT office has warned of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in the state tomorrow and also predicted rains or thundershowers at most places in lower, mid and higher hills over next six days from tomorrow onwards.
Linn County's $1.4 billion lawsuit over how the state of Oregon has managed forest trust lands got its first day in court this week, and a couple of themes started to come into focus.

First: This first day of court, in which Judge Daniel Murphy heard a barrage of motions from all sides, will be followed by many more days in courtrooms, and in different courtrooms throughout Oregon.

In fact, one of the issues that was aired in this week's hearing was whether the case should be heard in Linn County Circuit Court or just head to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Linn County officials have said in the past that their preference is to have the case heard locally, before a jury. There might be strategic reasons for the plaintiffs to do that, but the fact of the matter is that any verdict in the case is a good bet to be appealed, to the Court of Appeals and then to the Oregon Supreme Court, considering the importance of the issues at the heart of the case.

Another key theme emerged from this week's hearing: The question of how you define the phrase "greatest permanent value" (and who gets to define it) is at very heart of the suit. To understand why, you need a little background: The lands in the suit were conveyed to the state from the counties decades ago, with a promise that they would be managed for the "greatest permanent value." Linn County's position is that the phrase means that the lands were to be managed for the economic benefit of the counties, and that means the lands should be managed to maximize a sustainable timber yield.

But in the years since the lands were conveyed, the state has moved toward a broader definition of "greatest permanent value," emphasizing other uses of the land (clean water, recreation and wildlife habitat projects. for example) in addition to logging.

Linn County argues that the state's broader definition has cost the 15 counties that contain at least some of these lands hundreds of millions of dollars from logging revenue. In addition, the county argues that the state's initial promise regarding "greatest permanent value" amounts to a contract, and so the lawsuit is essentially a breach-of-contract lawsuit.

You can be certain that the case will grow more convoluted as it progresses, but those are the issues at the heart of the case.

Judge Murphy also must contend with a variety of parties who want to intervene in the case, but that also is to be expected in a case of this import. It was interesting to see environmental groups protest the fact that some wood-products companies and advocates (the Oregon Forest Industries Council, Hampton Tree Farm, Stimson Lumber Co. and the Sustainable Forest Fund) have agreed to help pay up to $125,000 of Linn Countys legal fees. (County taxpayers are not footing the bill for the lawsuit, since its attorneys in the case are handling the case on a contingency basis.) But that issue is a nonstarter in the courtroom, and surely the environmental groups don't want to suggest that parties with an interest in these issues shouldn't be allowed to participate in the case.

Murphy has set another hearing in the case for Aug. 17 and tentatively has set a trial date in the case for spring 2017. Setting such an early trial date may well be a burst of optimism on the judge's part. (mm)
In a shocking incident, a homeopathy doctor today allegedly opened fire at a man leaving him critically injured at Indradhanu Market under Nayapally police station limit in the state capital here, a police officer said.

The victim identified as Maheswar Routray, a CESU staff, has been admitted at the SCB medical college hospital in Cuttack. His condition is stated to be stable. He sustained bullet injuries on his left leg, the officer said.

The police have arrested accused doctor Biswabhushan Pradhan and his revolver has been seized.

"I was urinating near a heap of garbage close to the clinic. The doctor objected to this to which I replied that I wouldn't have urinated here if the place would have been clean. He got furious over my reply and fired at me," an injured Routray told reporters at the hospital.
Two days after he underwent a surgery for a leg fracture at a hospital here, iconic Tamil actor Kamal Haasan today said he was on the path of recovery.

"I stood up, sat and soon I will walk and come to thank you all. No words to thank you for your love, yours Kamal Haasan," he said.

The 61-year old actor tripped from the stairs of his office and suffered a fracture in his right leg here in the wee hours of July 14. He was operated the same day and was advised to be in the hospital for a few days.

Profusely thanking his fans and well wishers for their kind enquiries, the actor said they stand up for him in his moments of trouble even before he does it for himself.

"Be it a mishap or trouble, the love showered by fans, friends and well-wishers is amazing. What else could I say," he said in a voice message from a private hospital here that has gone viral in social media.

Quipping that he did nothing to deserve so much love, Haasan said he had only reciprocated it by doing myriad roles in movies.

"I am indebted to let you know whatever happens to me, good or bad. Successes and accidents are not strange for me," he said in chaste Tamil.

He said although he had learnt many lessons by overcoming hurdles but "I forgot to learn a lesson and this accident is proof for it."



"When thousands of fans and work are waiting, this mishap need not have happened. However, with the help of good medicos and support of my small family, I will get well soon, I will come," he said.

The actor had recently returned from the US where he had gone to film his latest directorial venture "Sabash Naidu", a trilingual comedy flick, also starring popular comedians Saurabh Shukla and Brahmanandam.

The "Vishwaroopam" star, who will be seen sharing screen space for the first time with his daughter Shruti Haasan in the film, had taken up direction of the movie after the original director Rajeev Kumar fell ill.
The alumni association of IIT-Kharagpur is organising a welcome programme for hundreds of new students ahead of their joining classes, which is a first-of-its-kind event being organised in the IIT system.

Organised by the IIT-Kharagpur Alumni Foundation (India), the official alumni association of IIT-Kgp, events have been scheduled at various locations in the country for both the new joinees and passing out students this year.

The Kolkata chapter of the foundation hosted the event today at the city extension campus of the IIT.

"The objective of 'Swagatam KGPians' is to welcome the fresh passing out students from IIT Kharagpur who have sought employment in Kolkata as well as the successful JEE students who have decided to join IIT Kharagpur this year," said Sujata Roy, Vice President, IIT Kharagpur Alumni Foundation (India).

He said the first year students, who will join classes on July 22, will be provided a glimpse of life that they are getting into and get a feel of the do's and don'ts in the next four years of their life.

"This event is unique in a way that a student, yet to join IIT Kharagpur, gets to meet and interact with a large diverse group of KGP alumni," said Amit Bhutoria, secretary, IIT-Kharagpur Alumni Association Kolkata.

Ramachandran said: "Digital cinema technology has advanced



incredibly over the past several years to become a formidable force in the film industry. Festivals like IIT Techfest allow technicians to better navigate this new landscape, by continuing to nurture innovations, talents, technologies and cultures on a global level."



"Qube Cinema shares Techfest's vision for continued ideation and innovation development," Ramachandran added. "We do this each and every day by creating products which strengthen the relatioship between filmmakers internationally, and offering unique services to aid the distribution of film product to the far corners of our industry."



Qube is also the presenting partner for Rakesh Sharma's keynote at IIT Techfest. Ashok Chakra-awardee Sharma became the first Indian to go into space when he flew aboard the Soyuz T-11, launched on April 2, 1984, as part of the Intercosmos programme.

Delegates can also look forward to a Qube Cinema presentation of TVF Tripling, which will see the team behind the blockbuster web series.

About Qube Cinema:



Qube Cinema is a leading international manufacturer and provider of end-to-end digital cinema technology and mastering solutions. Qube Cinema draws on decades of experience in cinema and provides a seamless digital environment for exhibitors, filmmakers and post-production companies with DCI-compliant products that are flexible, reliable and highly cost-effective.

For further information, visit http://www.Qubecinema.Com



About IIT Techfest Born in 1998 with the motto of promoting technology, scientific thinking and innovation, Techfest has surpassed 19 golden years of creating an unmatched aura of a science and technology spectacle year after year at the IIT Bombay campus at Powai, Mumbai. It is today well established as Asia's largest science and technology festival with more than 165,000 people in attendance and a reach of over 2,500 colleges across India and over 500 overseas. In its endeavour to provide an international platform for the youth to showcase their talents and skills in fierce competitions, displaying cutting edge technology and research from all over the globe, having world renowned personalities motivate the youth and promoting solutions to alleviate the common man of his banal yet significant problems, Techfest strives for one and all to get inspired and look up to. http://www.Techfest.Org



For further information, please contact:



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Photo:



http://mma.Prnewswire.Com/media/449970/PRNE_QUBE_Logo_Logo.Jpg Source: Qube Cinema .
Jharkhand today asked the Centre to include children of 5-18 age group under the Right to Education, a move Chief Minister Raghubar Das said will help curb child marriages.

Das, who took part in the 11th Inter-State Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, also suggested that information related to skill development may be included in Class VIII curriculum so that children can gain expertise in their area of interest by the time they complete Class XII.

He also pressed the Centre to connect the madarsas in the state with modern education system.

"Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, children between the age group of 5-18 years can be included. Its direct benefit will be that children will compulsorily complete their education till intermediate (Class XII).

"It will also help in skill development of children and put an end to child marriages," Das suggested.

At present, children between 6 and 14 years of age are entitled to get free and compulsory education as per the central Right to Education Act.

On the security scenario in Jharkhand, the chief minister said in 2015 Naxal incidents in the state reduced by 14.89 per cent in comparison to 2014, and this year till June, there has been a reduction of 36.64 per cent.

Das also suggested that provisions for education till Class XII should be made in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas.

"Information related to skill development should be included in the curriculum of Class VIII so that till the time the child completes Class XII, the child can gain expertise in his area of interest. As a result, the youth can be employed," he said.

Citing the low college-population ration of 8:100,000 in Jharkhand, which is much lesser than the national average of 26:100,000, the chief minister stressed the need for opening new Universities in the state and sought the Centre's assistance in setting up of new institutions.

Observing the "challenge" in connecting education with employment, Das said emphasised on the need to connect education institutions with industrial units.

Speaking about the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), which is being vigorously pushed by the Centre, Das said the scheme is not progressing as per expectations and blamed the lack of banking facilities in the state.

Giving an example, he said only 11 bank branches have been opened against the target of 137 till June 30.

He said his government also agrees with every provision of Punchhi Commission report on the Centre-State relations in the directive of co-operative federalism.
India were made to toil hard on day three of the second practice match, as West Indies Board President's XI defied the bowling to reach 104 for three at lunch here today.

The visitors had finished their first innings on day two at 364, after bowling out the hosts for 180 on the first day.

Shardul Thakur (0-11) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-25) started the day's proceedings, and the Mumbai pacer got some movement immediately.

Thakur was on the mark with his line and length, just as in the first innings and troubled the batsmen. However, unlike day one, he wasn't able to garner any success in the five overs he bowled.

Jadeja, meanwhile, bowled from the end opposite to the one from where he had sent down 13 overs in the first innings and had finished with 3-16. As such, he struggled with the cross wind across the stadium, and was taken for runs by the two batsmen.

Opener John Campbell stepped out and smacked him for two sixes, and thereafter Ravichandran Ashwin (2-38) was re-introduced into the attack.

The left-arm spinner didn't get any rest though, as skipper Virat Kohli deployed him from the same end as in the first innings. And it paid immediate dividends as Jadeja got his man, with Campbell caught at mid-on by KL Rahul.

At the other end, Ashwin continued to trouble the batsmen with his bounce and turn, whilst bowling to an attacking field. But Shai Hope (17) and Jermaine Blackwood (20 batting) defied him for nearly five overs.

In the end, the wicket did come off a brilliant turning ball, with Hope caught by Kohli at leg slip in the 26th over of the innings.

Mohd. Shami (0-17) returned thereafter to bowl a four-over spell, while Amit Mishra (0-11) was deployed as well. But Blackwood, in company of Vishaul Singh (17 batting), managed to bat on for nearly 17 overs and put on 34 runs for the fourth wicket going into the break.

Earlier, on the second day, Jadeja continued his impressive form as he followed up his three-wicket spell in the first innings with a fine half-century.

Besides Jadeja, KL Rahul hit 64 off 127 balls and Kohli made 51 off 94 balls, as the visitors ended their first innings in 105.4 overs.

Jadeja hit a superb 61-ball 56 down the order with the help of eight boundaries.

At stumps on day 2, the hosts were placed at 26 for one in eight overs.

(REOPENS DEl 77)



The only blemish in Kohli's near flawless innings was a dropped chance by Southee off his own bowling in the 28th over, that too after smacking the pacer for boundaries of consecutive balls.

Dhoni made 21 off 24 balls with a boundary and a six before a complete breakdown in communication with Kohli led to his run out.

But by then the job was almost done and Kohli in Kedar Jadhav's (10 not out) company brought up the winning runs to pile misery on the Kiwis, who are yet to taste a victory in the tour.

Earlier, Pandya (3/31), who was handed over his ODI cap by legendary Kapil Dev, opened the attack along side comeback man Umesh Yadav (2/31) as the duo wreaked havoc in the initial overs to rattle the Black Caps innings.

Besides Pandya and Yadav, leg-spinner Amit Mishra too shone with the ball with figures of 3 for 49.

Opting to bat after winning the toss, India witnessed a dream start as they reduced New Zealand to 43 for four in 10.4 overs.

Debutant Pandya gave India the first breakthrough in the final ball of the second over when he removed out-of-form Martin Guptill (12).

Struggling for runs throughout the tour, Guptill hit Pandya for three boundaries in the same over before the right-arm medium pacer took his revenge, inducing an outside edge as the batsman jabbed at a length delivery and Rohit Sharma did the honours at the second slip.

Much was expected from New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (3) but he too perished soon, slashing a wide delivery from Umesh straight to Mishra at third man boundary in the 7th over.

It was a gem of a delivery from Umesh, which pitched on good length outside off and moved slightly to get an outside edge and Dhoni did the rest behind the stumps.

Returning to action after change of ends, Pandya dismissed Corey Anderson (4), but the credit for the wicket should go to Umesh, who pulled off a superb catch at mid-off.

An over later, Pandya picked up his third wicket of the day in the form of Luke Ronchi, who flicked one straight to Umesh at mid-on as New Zealand slumped to 49 for five at the end of the 13th over.

While his colleagues looked completely out of sorts, opener Latham resembled a picture of patience and compact batting. The left-hander was hardly troubled by the Indian bowlers as he held one end together looking for support from the other side.

Earlier, Smith won a fine toss as their openers Matt



Renshaw and David Warner played with a positive intent and cruised to 50 for no loss in 9.3 overs.

But after spin was introduced at both ends in the 10th over, Ravindra Jadeja (1/49) struck in his first over with David Warner (19) offering a simple return catch to the left-arm spinner.

Renshaw's first 24 runs came only in boundaries as once he cleared a fielder the ball would race past the rope.

Seventh over and Aswhin came in with his bunny' Warner at the opposite end but without any immediate effect.

At the other end, Warner took his time and hit his first boundary after 22 balls with an elegant cover drive off Yadav.

With Warner looking to break free, Kohli employed spin attack at both ends and Jadeja was welcomed by the Aussie vice-captain with another crunching drive.

The next ball, a juicy full-toss and Warner offered Jadeja a return catch for the first breakthrough for India.

In the middle of a fine run, 20-year-old Renshaw looked to complete a third half-century in as many Tests, before falling six runs short.

Yadav produced the breakthrough before lunch in his second spell when Renshaw guided to Kohli at first slip for a soft dismissal.

Ashwin too opened his account after India brilliantly used the DRS to dismiss Shaun Marsh (2) as India struck twice in 2.4 overs before lunch.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility today for the truck massacre in Nice, as France highlighted the "extreme difficulty" of preventing such attacks amid tough questions over security failures.

In a statement via its Amaq service, IS said one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".

Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, on Thursday night ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd of people who had been watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city, killing 84 and injuring around 300.

After crisis talks in Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted that IS had recently repeated calls for supporters to "directly attack the French, Americans, wherever they are and by whatever means".

"Even when Daesh is not the organiser, Daesh breathes life into the terrorist spirit that we are fighting," he said, using an Arabic name for IS.

In the wake of its third major terror attack in 18 months, the French government faced searing criticism from opposition politicians and newspapers demanding more than "the same old solemn declarations".

Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front party, called on Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to step down.

"In any other country in the world, a minister with a toll as horrendous as Bernard Cazeneuve -- 250 dead in 18 months -- would have quit," she said.

Cazeneuve defended France's security efforts, saying the country was facing "a new kind of attack" which highlighted "the extreme difficulty of the anti-terrorism fight".

Speaking as France began three days of mourning today, he said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel "had not been known to the intelligence services because he did not stand out... By being linked with radical Islamic ideology".

The interior minister pledged to boost the presence of security forces across the country and called on willing "French patriots" to join the country's operational reservists -- currently made up of 12,000 volunteers.

Police said today they had arrested four more people linked to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, in addition to his estranged wife who was taken into custody yesterday.

Cazeneuve said the father-of-three "seemed to have been radicalised very quickly, from what his friends and family" have told police.

"We are now confronted with individuals open to IS's message to engage in extremely violent actions without necessarily having been trained or having the weapons to carry out a mass (casualty) attack."



At least 10 children and adolescents were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany.
The Islamic State group claimed today that the Tunisian man who barreled his truck into a crowd in the French resort city of Nice was a "soldier" of the group.

It's the first claim of responsibility for an attack that claimed 84 lives at a July 14 fireworks display for France's national holiday.

The claim - circulated on social media by a outlet affiliated with the group - didn't name Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who authorities say was behind the wheel as a truck crashed into revelers Thursday night.

But the statement quoting an IS security member said the man was following calls from the group to target citizens of countries fighting it.

The veracity of the group's claim couldn't immediately be determined, but French officials didn't dispute it.

What is known publicly about Bouhlel so far suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in the group's ultra-puritanical brand of Islam. But, in a statement to reporters, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve hinted that Bouhlel may have had a last-minute adoption of a more extremist worldview.

"It seems he was radicalised very quickly," Cazeneuve said following a ministerial meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

It's also unclear whether or not Bouhlel, who was shot dead by police that night, had been acting alone.

The Paris prosecutor's office said today that five people are in custody following the attack. The identities of most of those taken into custody were not clear. But neighbours in the Nice neighbourhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated Press that his estranged wife had been taken away yesterday by police.

The claim of responsibility came as French security chiefs met in Paris and as Nice's seaside boulevard, the famous Promenade des Anglais, was slowly coming back to life.

A makeshift memorial of bouquets, candles and messages had been set up near one end of the expansive avenue.

"It's satisfying to see life coming back," lawmaker Eric Ciotti told France's iTele broadcaster from the promenade. "It's a sign that life is coming back even if, naturally, nothing will erase those images of horror... Never since World War II has Nice ever seen such horror."



The suffering is far from over. Two days after the atrocity, many families are still hunting for missing loved ones, going from hospital to hospital in an effort to find people who've disappeared in the chaos of the truck's rampage Officials said 202 people had been wounded in the attack, with 25 of them on life support as of late yesterday.

France today began three days of national mourning in homage to the victims - although that hasn't stopped politicians from sniping at each other over who bore responsibility for the failing to stop the attack.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today called on Union Minister Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of state for Energy and Coal, Piyush Goel in Delhi to discuss issues related to the state.

During the meeting with Goel, Das urged him to direct DVC to end the five-hour power cut in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Ramgarh, Chatra, Bokaro and Koderma districts of the state as resentment has been prevailing among the people of those district affecting the law and order, according to an official release here.

The Chief Minister also urged Goel to ensure quick repair of machines following breakdown and deployment of adequate employees to ensure uninterrupted power supply during nights.

Besides, he also appealed to him to instruct DVC to allow work of Jharkhand State Electricity Board employees where DVC did not have their staff.

Goel assured him to take up the issues with officials concerned.

Responding to Das's appeal to set up Railway Zonal Office at Ranchi, the Railway Minister assured him to appoint a Nodal Officer, who will visit the state every fortnight to function as a bridge between the Railway Ministry and the state government.

It has been decided to form a Task Committee involving the officials of the Union government and state government.

The Railway Minister asked Das to issue environment related clearance for construction of railway bridge in the state, the release said.

Das also urged the Railway Minister to run Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Ranchi-Mumbai (LTT Super fast Express), Hatia-Yashwantpur, Ranchi-Alipurdwar (Guwahati Express) and Hatia-Pune express daily.

Das was accompanied by Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, Rajbala Verma and other top officers of the state government.

(Reopnes CES 17)



Praising people for supporting demonetisation and urging them to fight against blackmoney, corruption and bad governance, Das asked the people aware of digital transactions to teach five other persons about it.

In his speech, Urban Development Minister C P Singh said khadi is an indicator of "swadeshi, swa-rozgar and swabilamban" (inland, self-employment and self-sustenance).

Gandhi's dreams would be fulfilled when every Indian wears Khadi, he said.

Noted social worker Ashok Bhagat said that khadi would play a big role in providing employment to people in villages.

Jharkhand Khadi Board Chairman Sanjay Seth said the fair has eleven hangers, more than 550 stalls, free wi-fi zone and to encourage cashless transaction and PoS machines were also installed in the fair.
The Kerala government today offered help to the family of Rajat Menon who was allegedly killed in a scuffle with two teenagers in east Delhi last month.

Kerala Minister for Ports, Ramachandran Kadannappally, gave the assurance when he visited the family at their residence in Mayur Vihar Phase III.

"We have already taken up this matter with the central government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the probe," the minister told reporters.

The 13-year-old Keralite died on June 29 after a scuffle with two teenagers near his house.

Police have registered a case of murder and apprehended the two juveniles in connection with the incident, which triggered outrage among locals and a mob set afire a pan shop owned by the family of the accused brothers.

According to the police, Rajat, a class IX student, had left home in the evening on the day of the incident but did not return. Later it emerged that he had a fight with two teenagers, both sons of a local paan shop owner, according to police.
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Anshu Gupta has said that the kind of change needed in India is not happening as he pushed for out of the box thinking to address the challenges being faced by common man.

"The kind of change we need in India is not happening," he told a group of Indian-Americans during an interactive session in McClean, Virginia, a posh suburb of Washington DC.

The winner of the 2015 award, also known as Nobel of India, Gupta is currently on a lecture cum interaction tour of the US during which he is slated to visit a number of cities including Boston, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

These events are aimed at engaging various communities in a conversation addressing social issues in India, including rural development, women's empowerment and better management of resources.

Founder of Goonj - a New Delhi based non-profit, Gupta emphasized the "non-issues" in his conversation with the audience.

"Clothing has still remained a non-issue. None of the big development agenda around the world including MDG or the more recent SDG talks about clothing. More deaths happen due to the severe winter weather. How come winter is not considered a disaster?" he questioned.

He also touched upon the topic of internal migration within India, saying "slums are not extensions of cities, but extensions of the villages."



"If we provide the right support and resources for villages to be self-reliant, there will be no need for villagers to migrate to cities. They will have options to migrate by choice and not by compulsion," he said.

Goonj, he said, utilizes the growing mounds of urban waste as a tool to trigger large-scale rural development work.

Gupta said the Goonj model is dismantling the traditional model of a cash-based economy, and replace it what they refer to as a "trash-based" economy, which barters manual labor (of beneficiaries) with urban reusable material.

"In my model of social entrepreneurship we regard each member as a stakeholder," said Anshu. "There is a pooling of resources, where everyone has something to gain from.
A knife-wielding man killed a nurse and injured four others today at a hospital in south China's Guangdong Province.

The knife attack occurred at a urology hospital in Huizhou City.

The 26-year-old suspect, surnamed Lai, has been controlled by police.

The nurse was killed while a security guard and three other medical workers were injured. The injured have been hospitalised and are in stable condition.

The suspect's motive was not known and police were investigating the case, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

Attacks on medical personnel by patients and their relatives have become common in China.

The government has ordered stepping up of security in all hospitals in the country.
Stating that Left Wing Extremism poses the biggest threat to the internal security of Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the state government conducts regular anti-Naxal operations in the inter-state border areas to contain the menace.

Participating in the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council here, Patnaik lamented the meet was convened after a gap of 10 years and advocated for meeting at shorter intervals to deliberate on issues concerning Centre-state relations.

Patnaik expressed his reservations on the introduction of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for disbursal of pensions.

He said Odisha has 44 lakh pensioners and many of them reside in the remote parts of the state.

The state's pension distribution system entailing a fixed-day approach for disbursal at the Gram Panchayat headquarters has been appreciated widely, he said.

Patnaik urged the Union government to ensure balanced and equitable deployment of Central forces among the states in order to prevent cross-border spillage of Maoists.

He also impressed upon the Union government to restore the earlier funding pattern under modernisation of police force.

The Chief Minister stated the recommendations of Punchhi Commission on Centre-state relations have been duly considered by Odisha and its views were furnished to the Central government last year in April.

He added Odisha has accepted majority of the recommendations barring a few which "impinge" upon state's autonomy.

He mentioned Odisha has decided to use Aadhaar as an identifier for providing subsidies, benefits and public services and has already set up a State Resident Data Hub for storing Aadhaar information of residents of Odisha.

The Chief Minister reiterated his concern at the Union government declaring Polavaram project as a national project despite its serious consequences on the livelihood of a large number of tribal families in Odisha and repeated requests of the state to the contrary.

He claimed this is a clear case of conflict of interest and against the principles of fair play and desired the Council should take note of such critical issues having inter-state ramifications and evolve an institutional mechanism to settle such disputes in a time bound and effective manner.
The Maharashtra government has demanded compensation of Rs 14,000 crore over the possible loss of revenue after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill.

Speaking at the Inter-State Council meeting held here, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state was expected to lose revenue of over Rs 14,000 crore if the GST bill was passed and the state should be compensated over a period of five years.

He also demanded levying additional one per cent more GST in states with a flourishing manufacturing sector to compensate for the loss of revenue.

The Chief Minister stated that in order to combat the menace of ISIS and Naxals, the state has taken several "successful" steps, including starting over 318 inter-state operations with the Chhattisgarh and Telangana governments.

He said his government was not in favour of Justice M M Punchhi Committee recommendations of uniform number of representation of states in the Rajya Sabha and back the existing system.

The Punchhi Commission was formed to look into contemporary issues of Centre-State relations keeping in view the changes that have been taken place in the polity and economy of the country.

Fadnavis said by the end of 2018, over 28,000 Panchayats in the state will be connected with wi-fi services. He said since May 1, Gram Panchayats, health centres and schools of five hamlets in Nagpur district have been provided with internet connection with a speed of 10 mbps.

By 2016-2017, 776 Gram Panchayats will be provided with similar service, he said.

The Chief Minister also claimed to have covered 100 per cent registration of Aadhar cards while 73 per cent of the total population has opened 'Jan Dhan' bank accounts.

Highlighting the digitisation of state services, Fadnavis noted that since January this year, over 156 public services have found their presence online through "aaple sarkar" portal.
A local court has sentenced a man to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, while his mother to seven years in an abetment of suicide case.

District Judge Mridula Bhatia convicted Neeraj Mehta (35) and his mother Sunita Mehta (64) under IPC section 306 (abetment of suicide) to 10 and seven years jail term, respectively.

The duo were also awarded three years rigorous imprisonment under IPC Section 498-A (domestic violence). Both the sentences will run concurrently.

Additional Public Prosecutor APP Buleshwar Hinge told the court that Neeraj was married to Neha in 2009 and had two children. He worked as area Manager with a Pizza outlet.

According to prosecution, the in-laws of the victim harassed her on several occasions and tortured her as a result of which she committed suicide on September 28, 2014, by hanging herself at their residence in Nerul in Navi Mumbai.

Taking a serious view of charge of abetment of suicide, the Judge noted, "The prosecutor has submitted that the death was admittedly unnatural and not accidental. The conduct of the accused throws grave suspicion. The accused did not immediately rush the deceased to the hospital nor did he call an ambulance."



The court said that the accused chose to walk to the family doctor and did not inform the doctor that his wife had hung herself.

"The accused being educated, should have on his own rushed her to the hospital and should have not wasted time," the Judge observed.

The prosecution has successfully proved the case beyond any reasonable doubts, and hence the accused need to be convicted for the offences they committed, the court said.
A man was killed while his brother injured when their car rammed into a stationary truck near Chalar village on Delhi-Haridwar National Highway, police said today.

The incident took place last evening when two brothers, identified as Rajesh Goel and Atul Goel were returning home after taking bath in Ganga in Haridwar, police said.

While Rajesh was killed, Atul was rushed to a hospital in serious condition, after their car collided with a concrete-laden truck on the highway.

A case has been registered against the absconding truck driver, they said.
A sergeant major attached to the Sri Lankan army intelligence has been arrested over the 2009 murder of the editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, police said today.

Lasantha Wickrematunga was attacked by an unknown group in broad daylight on in January, 2009 as he was driving to his Colombo suburban office.

The group who had given chase to his car in motorcycles had attacked him with sharp weapons. He succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

Wickrematunga was fiercely critical of the then president Mahinda Rajapaksa's government.

Rajapaksa's all-powerful younger brother, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had filed legal action for defamation against Wickrematunga at the time of his murder.

The investigation was revived after Rajapaksa lost the presidency in January, 2015 to Maithripala Sirisena.

The investigators have already arrested six military personnel before the latest arrest.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq followed his first-innings hundred with a duck as England fought back on the third day of the first Test at Lord's today.

At tea, Pakistan were 111 for four in their second innings -- a lead of 178 runs.

A becalmed Younis Khan, who played several exaggerated leave shots, was 19 not out off 86 balls.

But Asad Shafiq had kept the scoreboard ticking over with an unbeaten 29 off 46 balls including five boundaries.

Saturday's second session saw England all-rounder Chris Woakes follow his Test-best six for 70 in the first innings with two wickets.

Pakistan were 40 for one at lunch after Mohammad Hafeez had carelessly fallen for a duck in cutting Stuart Broad straight to Joe Root at second slip.

But they lost opener Shan Masood soon afterwards when the left-hander, once more fallible outside off stump, flat-footedly edged Warwickshire paceman Woakes to England captain Alastair Cook at first slip.

Azhar Ali (23) then fell lbw to a desperately tight umpire's call as Woakes reduced Pakistan to 59 for three.

Misbah, in his maiden Test knock at Lord's, had made 114 in Pakistan's first innings.

But on Saturday he fell for nought when he hoisted off-spinner Moeen Ali legside and Alex Hales, running round to the mid-wicket rope, held a good catch.

Pakistan had never previously lost a Test when Misbah had made a hundred and never won one when he had made a duck.

With conditions set fair on a sunny day at Lord's and more than two days left in the match, something had to give.

Younis, on 11, was given out lbw by umpire Joel Wilson after a prolonged and theatrical appeal from fast bowler Steven Finn on his Middlesex home ground.

But a review showed the ball missing leg stump and Younis survived.

Shafiq then seized on a loose ball to cut Finn for four.

Earlier, leg-spinner Yasir Shah took six wickets as England were bowled out for 272 -- 67 runs behind on first innings.

Shah's haul of six for 72 was the best return by a



visiting spinner against England at Lord's since Sid Pegler's seven for 65 for South Africa back in 1912.

Variations in pace and flight saw Shah repeatedly pose problems on an unresponsive pitch.

If Pakistan's batsmen could give him enough runs to play with in a second innings, Shah was likely to be an even greater threat on a wearing surface.

England resumed on their overnight 253 for seven, after Shah induced a middle-order collapse on Friday.

They added just 19 more runs Saturday before they were all out.

Wahab Riaz cleaned up Broad before Finn went the way of several top-order batsmen in falling lbw to Shah.

The innings ended when last man Jake Ball was run out by a distance in trying to keep Chris Woakes on strike.

Woakes finished on 35 not out to emphasise his all-round credentials.
Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav today accused the Modi government of failing to "expose" Pakistan internationally over the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also attacked the BJP over its "inability" to provide credible governance in the troubled state where the party is in power with the PDP.

"The BJP and the PDP, after fighting against each other bitterly in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, decided to forge an alliance. The performance of the Mehbooba Mufti administration has left much to be desired, resulting in dissatisfaction among the people," he said.

He said Pakistan was waiting for such an "opportunity" to fish in the troubled waters.

"Now the situation in the state has become a matter of grave concern," Yadav told reporters here.

"While the J-K government's incompetence has been obvious, we are particularly disappointed with the Modi government which has failed to expose the role of Pakistan on the international forums.

"There have been no serious attempts to explain to the world the role played by the neighboring country in fueling tensions in the restive state," he said.

He said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, is "working tirelessly" to ensure the world is "fooled" into believing Islamabad only has bona fide intentions.

"We demand the government convene an all-party meeting on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. This will enable political outfits across the country to do their bit in defusing the crisis," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Yadav was in the city to participate in a meeting of his party, which will be held in Phulpur near here tomorrow and attended among others by Bihar Chief Minister and party president Nitish Kumar.

"We are yet to emerge as a force to reckon with in Uttar Pradesh. But our support base is rapidly expanding in the state. We may form alliances with like-minded parties for the upcoming Assembly elections and rest assured Janata Dal (United) will make its presence felt here," he said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today stressed on the need to check the misuse of social media and adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to check radicalisation.

Chouhan, who was here to participate in the Inter-State Council meeting, also sought better intelligence sharing, "trust and coordination" between the Centre and state governments and emphasised upon immediate establishment of National Intelligence Grid or Natgrid.

"The misuse of social media needs to be checked and there has to be a real-time intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism between the Centre and the states," he said, adding Natgrid must be made functional without any delay.

He also favoured a multi-disciplinary approach to check radicalisation which is fast emerging as serious challenge globally in internal security scenario.

Chouhan asked the central government to do away with a mandatory provision of "advance payment" by the state governments before seeking Central Para-Military Forces from the Centre to maintain law and order.

Speaking about the intelligence sharing mechanism, he said there was a need for constant dialogue, trust and coordination among intelligence officers of the Centre and the states.

Chouhan also expressed his reservations on no-detention policy, under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

There should be board examinations for Class V and VIII level, he said, adding the state has forwarded its suggestions to the Human Resource Development Ministry in this regard.

The no-detention policy mandates that no child shall be held back in any class or expelled from school till the completion of elementary education.

Chouhan also suggested setting up of "Institutes for Nurturing Gifted and Talented Children" to help children with exceptional abilities in honing their skills.

Citing the use of Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, which has helped his government to save over Rs 900 crore by checking duplicate beneficiaries, he said "there has been saving of Rs 917 crore--Rs 900 crore by checking 40 lakh duplicate students who were taking government scholarships and Rs 17 crore by removing the names of 70,000 duplicate beneficiaries taking pensions.
Jammu and Kashmir government today said there were no attacks on minorities or pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra during the protests against the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani in the Valley and the situation has been brought under control to some extent.

"We have to some extent controlled the situation (in the Valley). Fortunately no attacks on the members of minority community or Yatra have taken place," Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said after holding a meeting of core group of BJP leaders to review the law-and-order situation in the state.

To a question on the attacks on Jammu-based vehicles particularly petrol tankers in Kashmir, he said some vehicles might have got caught in the stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir.

Singh accused Pakistan of trying to "foment" terrorism saying by exploiting the ongoing unrest which started after the killing of Wani during an encounter with security forces on July 8.

"Threat perception from Pakistan side still remains as it is trying hard to push terrorists from across the border. Pakistan and ISI are trying to foment terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir," Singh said.

He charged Pakistan with "directly" interfering in India's internal matter by raking up Kashmir issue at United Nations, and said "their Prime Minister is interfering into India's internal affairs."



During the meeting, Singh said, issues like situation in Jammu and Kashmir, resumption of Amarnath Yatra, measures for the restoration of peace and BJP's role and the feedback of the Centre were discussed.

Asked about the allegation of Opposition parties that the government has failed to handle the situation in Kashmir Valley, he said "Opposition should remember in 2010, protests went far and for a long period and many people were killed.

"Separatists are trying to take advantage of the situation; Pakistan is trying to take advantage of the situation, as terrorists are attacking our security forces and police personnel after taking cover of the mob. Police camps are being targeted. All these are crisis situation and right now the priority is to bring back peace in the Valley," he said.

Stressing that only restoration of peace would ensure that there is no more bloodshed in the Valley, the deputy CM said that most of the civilians were killed on the first day of the protests after the killing of Wani.

"Most people were killed on the first day of the agitation because of the reaction (to the killing of Wani). Police and security forces were attacked. The deaths that took place were of those who sustained injuries on the first day. The situation was brought under control in the next two, three days," he said.

Singh also said that thousands of stranded Amarnath yatris were evacuated and the pilgrimage has restarted.

He said the state and central governments and other security agencies are monitoring the situation. They have to maintain the law and order and also ensure that Pakistan and its agencies do not take advantage of the situation.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice T S Thakur today said that there should be no room for leniency for unprofessional conduct in legal profession.

Delivering the key note address at a national seminar on continuing legal education and its benefits at the Jharkhand Judicial Academy, here, he called upon the lawyers' fraternity to take stern action against those involved in unprofessional conduct in the profession.

Justice Thakur said "what do we do in such cases? Suspend them for six months or one year. But we have to be ruthless, throw them out, don't allow them to practice. One such black sheep brings disrepute to the entire profession."



He said while quality legal education was required, it was also equally important to see how strict the system was with those involved in unprofessional conduct.

Besides, he also asked the lawyers to remain updated through constant education and training in the wake of the possibility of foreign law firms likely to be allowed entry into the country.

Advocating the need for regulated entry into the profession of lawyers, Justice Thakur said "there could well be around 20 million lawyers in the country. The question is how many do we really need.

"Can we accommodate them all? Lack of jobs and engagement for so many people entering the profession lead to malpractice.

"Some depend on becoming oath commissioners, others try to sustain themselves by becoming notaries. Some look for bail matters.

"And still others indulge in all sorts of brokering and other malpractice. Being a law graduate is one thing. But there needs to be some regulation and training before one could make entry as a professional lawyer."



On a lighter note, the CJI asked as to why lawyers fared poorly in the 'marriage market'.

"Engineers, doctors and IAS are in great demand because it is not easy become one. But anybody can become a lawyer... that is why they don't get good market," he said.

He also called upon the young lawyers to be prepared for the times to come.

"We are in a globalised world. If you are not update, if your service is poor, you will simply disappear.

"What happened to the small shopkeepers in the face of malls? They disappeared. Therefore, you have to constantly upgrade yourself," he said.

The CJI also said that today's litigants have higher expectations from the lawyers on several counts.

"Gone are the times, when the lawyer would argue in English and the litigant only knew whether he won or lost the case.

"Today, they are aware of how you present the facts, how you are arguing, they will know whether the judge respects you. And, they are not willing to wait for 20 years," said the CJI.

Talking about the judicial academy in the state, Justice



Thakur said the institution will help judiciary by imparting training to those working in the field.

At the same time, he called for making optimum use of infrastructure provided by the state government, saying "if the infrastructure remains under-utilised, it would be a criminal waste of the investment that the state has made."



"You must always be conscious of the fact that the investment that has gone into the academics is by some way neglecting the state's obligations towards equally pressing needs of the people, that is to say drinking water, basic health requirements in the rural areas," he said.

The CJI also recalled the plight of Dana Majhi, a tribal from Odisha, who had to carry his dead wife on his shoulders for 10 kilometres because of lack of facility.

"There are health conditions in the country and the basic facilities are so poor. There are demands on the public exchequer. Similarly drinking water and schools are demanded. So when the government spares money for our infrastructure, it to an extent, neglects pressing demands of these people. Therefore, we should be constantly trying to make the best use of the infrastructure that has been provided," he said.
Director Birsa Dasgupta, currently shooting in Istanbul with his team, which includes West Bengal IT minister Bratya Basu, today said that they faced no problem and the situation there is normal after the attempted military coup in Turkey.

"We had shooting yesterday. Today is our off day. From tomorrow we will again start shooting. We are all safe and faced no problem," he told a Bengali TV channel from Istanbul.

Dasgupta said there are 30-35 people from Kolkata in his team including Basu, also a theatre and film personality. "Apart from Bratya Basu, others included film actors Yash, Mimi Chakrabarty and Gourab Chakrabarty", Dasgupta said.

He said today the situation is normal in Istanbul where the people were on the streets shouting "We want democracy".

The director said around 20-25 days of shooting are left.

(Reopens CES002)



Actor Yash tweeted, "Thank you Istanbul for making us feel like home, nothing to worry about..."



The shooting unit has been in Istanbul since July 10 and Basu joined them on Friday, few hours prior to the coup attempt.
US President Barack Obama today reaffirmed US' "unwavering support" to the democratically- elected government of Turkey even as he called on the country's leaders to respect "the rule of law" after a military coup attempt.

Obama's message came after an update from his national security and broader foreign policy team on the situation in Turkey, the White House said.

The meeting was initially scheduled to be in Situation Room which was later changed to a conference call. During the conference call, President's advisors apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground.

"The President reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey," the White House said.

According to the read out, Obama instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US service members and their dependents.

"While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the President and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the White House said.

"The President also underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism," the readout said, adding that Obama requested continued updates, as the situation warrants.
US President Barack Obama convened a situation room meeting with his top national security advisors to discuss the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey, the White House said on Saturday.

"The President will convene a meeting with his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey," the White House said in a brief update of Obama's daily schedule.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has survived the coup but the situation remains tense as the violence has killed over 250 people.

During the coup, Obama offered support for Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all sides to "avoid any violence or bloodshed."

But there were rising concerns of a government crackdown on Erdogan's opponents.

Even before the violent coup attempt, Obama had expressed concern over Erdogan's handling of the media and the rule of law.
One person was arrested for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans when supporters of a front took out a march here in support of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

The march was taken out yesterday from Science College here and some persons present in the rally raised pro-Pakistan slogans, police said.

The footage of the march telecast by a few TV channels showed protestors under the banner of 'Popular Front of India' demanding that Bihar government intervene and speak to the Centre on Zakir Naik issue.

They also alleged that the "crack down" on Naik and Owaisi was a "concerted effort to silence the voice of Muslims leaders in the country."



Police swung into action and arrested one person identified as Taufiq in connection with the rally, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj told PTI today.

Director General of Police P K Thakur said the footage was being scanned to collect evidences.

Bihar police are also coordinating with central intelligence agencies to probe the case, he said.

Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal and the SSP said no prior permission was taken for the rally.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP used the issue to hit out against the Nitish Kumar government.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi in a statement here claimed that the raising of pro-Pakistan slogans and eulogising Zakir Naik proved that the Nitish Kumar government had "increased the courage of such elements."



"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should answer how a rally was taken out in Patna in support of Zakir Naik who has been banned due to his provocative speeches in Britain, America and Canada.

"People have not forgotten that terrorist modules had come to light in Darbhanga, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur three years ago under Nitish Kumar's rule. Also Bihar police had handed over terrorist Yasin Bhatkal to National Investigation Agency without interrogating him after his arrest from Raxual," he said.

"The lax approach of the state government had resulted in bomb blasts in Bodh Gaya and explosions at a rally of then Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi in 2012 at Gandhi maidan in Patna in which seven persons lost lives," the BJP leader added.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today condemned a botched coup bid by Turkish army and expressed Pakistan's 'abiding interest' in a democratic, peaceful and stable Turkey.

"I strongly condemn the attempt to undermine democracy by a failed coup in the brotherly country of Turkey. We deeply admire the resolve of the brave and resilient Turkish people, who stood up against the forces of darkness and anarchy to express their support and commitment to democracy," he said in a statement.

Sharif expressed complete support and solidarity with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the democratically-elected government of Turkey, and the democratic institutions of the country.

He said Pakistan reaffirms its 'abiding interest' in a democratic, peaceful and stable Turkey.

"We wish to convey our prayers and good wishes for President Erdogan's well-being and welfare of the people of Turkey as well as the unity of the Islamic Ummah (community). We highly value our strong and historic ties with Turkey," he said.

Pakistan deeply appreciates President Erdogan's steadfast support as also the support of the people of Turkey to Pakistan on all occasions, whenever the need arose, Sharif said.

"I wish to reaffirm full support of the government and people of Pakistan to the elected leadership and government and the people of Turkey," he said.

Separately, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan stands by the people and the government of Turkey.

"We support the will of the people reflected in the democratic system and the democratically elected leadership of Turkey," he said.

Pakistan condemns the attempt to undermine democracy and rule of law in Turkey, he said, adding Pakistan hopes peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey.

Earlier, Tariq Fatemi, Special assistant to the Prime Minister, called the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to express support. The latter thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for showing resolve to stand by democracy in Turkey, saying "this is what we expected from a brother country", according to the FO.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve today called on citizens to become reservists and help boost security forces in the wake of the country's latest terror attack.

France's "operational reservists" include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.

"I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve," said Cazeneuve.

His call comes after the government has been criticised for not doing more to stop attacks.

French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that reservists would be called upon to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes.

The operational reserve is currently made up of 12,000 volunteers, 9,000 of whom are within the paramilitary police and 3,000 in the regular police force, said Cazeneuve.

"We are going to reinforce the presence of security forces across the country," he added.

He said the number of security forces deployed to protect the population was nearly 100,000, including 53,000 police, 36,000 para-military police and 10,000 soldiers.
Around 100 activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) were today taken into preventive custody for taking out a procession in support of controversial televangelist Zakir Naik and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in the district.

The PFI procession organised in protest against the alleged media trial of Naik and Owaisi was taken out without permission, Superintendent of Police, P Murugan, said.

The activists were taken into custody at Patna chowk under Barharwa police station and set free on PR bond later in the evening, he said.

About 150 PFI activists were taken in preventive custody in Pakur district for similar reason on Wednesday.
A court here today remanded in police custody till July 21 the seven persons arrested in connection with the sensational murder of businessman Datta Phuge, known as 'goldman' for wearing a shirt made of the precious metal.

Dighi police produced nine persons in Khadaki court and magistrate J C Dhengale remanded seven of them in police custody. Two were sent in judicial custody as their identification parade was yet to be done.

Amol Pathare, Shailesh Walke, Vishal Parkhe, Nivrutti Walke, Prem Dholpuria, Atul Mohite and Sushant Pawar were remanded in police custody, said the investigating officer Navnath Ghogare.

According to the police, at least twelve persons attacked Phuge with sharp weapons on an open ground in Dighi near here on late Thursday night and killed him on the spot in front of his 22-year-old son, Shubham.

Phuge shot to fame some years ago when he gifted himself a gold shirt worth over Rs one crore and wore it in public, earning himself the sobriquet 'goldman'.

During the arguments, prosecutor Kishor Shahane demanded a 14-day police custody. The police had to find out the main conspirator and the exact motive, Shahane told the court.

Police suspect that a monetary dispute led to the murder, as Phuge was in the business of money lending and chit-fund.

Shahane also told the court that police wanted to recover the weapons used by the accused and the clothes they were wearing at the time of the incident.

"The accused are not cooperating and giving vague answers," the prosecutor said, adding that some of the accused who were on the run were also to be traced.

B A Aloor, one of the defence lawyers, argued that police had seized the weapons from the spot and the main conspirator too had been arrested, so there was no need for police remand.
With an aim to impart global level education through e-learning, smart class and remote lecture concepts, city-based educational firm Simply Say today conducted a seminar here to exchange ideas for the transformation of the sector.

"The company aims to provide world class faculties, lectures and course content to the students on a very economic model through e-learning concepts," company's director, Sharad Sharma told reporters.

The concept and theme behind the seminar was to showcase how to combine the benefits of traditional classroom and internet evolution, he said.

The company has partnered with India 3-2-1, a US based think tank with the mission to create a forum for exchange of ideas which will contribute to the ongoing transformation of India into the fully developed nation.

A remote lecture was also delivered online from the US by eminent international trainer and course director, Van Carpenter and India 3-2-1 CEO, M Lalit on the occasion.

The seminar was attended by heads of number of prominent educational institutions of the city.
TV drama "Sherlock" creator Steven Moffat thinks that the upcoming series of the hit drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, could be the last as its stars have busy Hollywood careers.

Moffat, the executive producer of the BBC One show, said he was "amazed" that the corporation had managed to secure Cumberbatch, who plays the eponymous detective, and Freeman, his sidekick Doctor Watson, for a fourth series, which is expected to air in early 2017, reported the Telegraph.

"I don't know how long we can keep it going. I'm personally willing but I'm hardly the main draw. I would be moderately surprised if this was the last time we ever made this show. But it absolutely could be," he said.

"Sherlock", a modern day-set interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about of the famous fictional detective, has become one of the BBC's most popular programmes, amassing a cult following, and has nominated for six Emmy Awards.

A Victorian-themed special episode, which aired in the New Year, was seen by more than 12 million viewers on BBC One.

The producer said that both Freeman, who starred in the "Hobbit" films, and Cumberbatch, who was nominated for an Oscar for playing Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game", do the show for their fans.

"We do have two film stars in the programme. They haven't needed to do these jobs for a very long time. They're coming back because they want to.

"I'm amazed that we've got this far. I thought that once they had become extremely successful, we would only get to do one more series.

"There's never going to come a time when we do a longer run, because this is what the series has become. It's an occasional treat where you get three movies. It's how it works."



Moffat said that if the pair's schedule became too hectic to commit to future series, the corporation could return to the show years down the line.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh today called upon farm scientists to speed up efforts to transfer technologies from the lab to the grassroots level in an effort to double farmers' income in the next five years.

Addressing the 88th Foundation Day of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) here, Singh said, "Our government has targeted doubling farmers' income by 2022. We will focus on not only agriculture but allied sectors to achieve this goal."



Stating that integrated farming is solution for raising farmers' income, the minister said the government will promote this in 101 ICAR institutes spread across the country and showcase farmers its benefits.

"A family can save up to Rs 3 lakh a year by doing integrated farming," he said.

Emphasising on the role of technology in raising the farm output, the minister said, "We have to speed up efforts to transfer the technology from lab to land. I urge all scientists and institutes to focus on this and ensure marketing of new products in a big way."



He also said allied activities like poultry, fishery and dairy will be the focus area for supplementing the farm income.

Three ministers of state for agriculture Parshottam Rupala, S S Ahluwalia and Sudarshan Bhagat, and ICAR Director General Trilochan Mohapatra were present.

These ministers also gave away 2016 ICAR awards in 19 categories to 119 scientists, farmers and journalists.

It may be noted that the award ceremony saw some lack of staff coordination and preparedness, with officials scrambling to find the recipients concerned for their awards.
Asserting that India cannot ignore what is happening across the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said terrorism should be put down with an iron hand keeping politics aside in the interest of national security.

Addressing Chief Ministers at a day-long meeting of the Inter-State Council, he asked the states to focus on intelligence sharing which will help the country stay "alert" and "updated" in countering internal security challenges.

In his concluding remarks, the Prime Minister touched on law and order and emphasised that both the Union and State governments in India cannot ignore what is happening across the world today.

"On this issue, he urged all concerned to keep politics aside and keep national security paramount," the PMO said releasing his concluding remarks.

The Prime Minister's statement comes in the wake of series of terror attacks in some countries, including in France.

The meeting, held after 10 years, saw several state Chief Ministers, including Punjab, ruled by Akali Dal-BJP coalition, were sharply critical of the Centre accusing it of "usurping" state's powers.

The Prime Minister told the Chief Ministers that "we should focus on how we can make our country prepared to counter challenges to our internal security".

Modi said internal security cannot be strengthened until and unless the states and the Centre focus on sharing intelligence.

"We have to remain alert and updated always," he said.

Chief Ministers of all states, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and several Union Ministers are members of the Inter-State Council.

The Prime Minister said the meeting of the Council would deliberate on internal security challenges and how to counter them and how states the states and the Centre can cooperate.

"With close cooperation, we will not only strengthen the Centre-State relations but make a better future for the citizens," he said.

Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP) J Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Mehbooba Mufti (Jammu and Kashmir) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) did not participate in the meeting.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who often attacks Modi, was seen shaking hands with him with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar watching it with a smile.

The Prime Minister stressed on maintaining a visible



presence of police forces, and underscored the importance of a good CCTV network in curbing crime.

Modi said privately installed CCTVs are also extremely useful in this regard and also spoke of the importance of Inter-State Coordination to curb unlawful activities.

Speaking on the Punchhi Commission's recommendations, the Prime Minister said that the deliberations today marked a good beginning.

He said that discussions on the subject will continue, and as consensus evolves on the recommendations, the process of implementation will follow thereafter.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness at the near-total acceptance of Aadhaar as a tool to promote good governance and transparency. He said there are significant savings to the exchequer as a result of Aadhaar.

In his speech, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the Centre of "usurping" states' powers and indulging in a "constitutional rampage" by quietly shifting subjects from the 'State List' to 'Concurrent List' and then to 'Union List'.

Badal said states were being reduced to "mere beggars" as their rights and authority were being "usurped" by the Centre in violation of the spirit of Constitution.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suggested that post of Governor be abolished, saying the existing federal democratic structure of the country does not warrant continuance of the gubernatorial post.

Kumar's remarks at the Inter-State Council meeting came against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's severe criticism of the Arunachal Pradesh Governor in a recent verdict and some opposition-ruled states accusing Governors of working politically at the Centre's behest.

"Existing federal democratic structure does not warrant continuance of the gubernatorial post. However, if it is not possible to do away with it, then our opinion is that provisions relating to the appointment of Governor must be clearly defined and made transparent," he said.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh batted for close cooperation between states and the Centre, saying without it, development projects are bound to suffer.

Singh said the NDA government's main focus was to promote federalism--be it cooperative federalism or cooperative federalism through competitive federalism.

"We want that the Centre and states, through close and active cooperation and collaboration, formulate development- related policies and implement them.

"It is quite natural to have an adverse impact on execution of development projects if there are differences of opinion between the states as well as between the state and the Centre," he said.
Prime Minister on Saturday asserted that India cannot ignore what is happening in the world and urged all concerned to keep politics aside in tackling terrorim in the interest of security.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Inter State Council which felt that terrorism should be put down with an iron hand.

Addressing Chief Ministers at a day-long meeting of the Inter-State Council, he asked the states to focus on intelligence sharing which will help the country stay "alert" and "updated" in countering internal security challenges.

In his concluding remarks, the PM touched on law and order and emphasised that both the Union and State governments in India cannot ignore what is happening across the world on Saturday.

"On this issue, he urged all concerned to keep politics aside and keep security paramount," the PMO said releasing his concluding remarks.

The statement comes in the wake of series of terrorist attacks in some countries, including in France.

The meeting, held after 10 years, saw several state Chief Ministers, including Punjab, ruled by Akali Dal-BJP coalition, were sharply critical of the Centre accusing it of "usurping" state's powers.

The Prime Minister told the Chief Ministers that "we should focus on how we can make our country prepared to counter challenges to our internal security".

Modi said internal security cannot be strengthened until and unless the states and the Centre focus on sharing intelligence.

"We have to remain alert and updated always," he said.

Chief Ministers of all states, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and several Union Ministers are members of the Inter-State Council.

The Prime Minister said the meeting of the Council would deliberate on internal security challenges and how to counter them and how states the states and the Centre can cooperate.

"With close cooperation, we will not only strengthen the Centre-State relations but make a better future for the citizens," he said.

Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (UP) J Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Mehbooba Mufti (Jammu and Kashmir) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) did not participate in the meeting.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who often attacks Modi, was seen shaking hands with him with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar watching it with a smile.
Thousands today massed in an Istanbul district waving Turkish flags in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he survived a coup, an AFP correspondent said.

The people gathered in the district of Kisikli on the Asian side of Istanbul, where Erdogan has a home, responding to a call from the Turkish strongman to come out in force in his support.
Inmates burnt down two buildings at a southern Thai jail during a six-hour riot that left three prisoners dead and several officials injured, authorities said today.

The mutiny broke out yesterday afternoon when nearly 100 prisoners in southern Pattani province set fire to the jail's cooking quarters, according to a military spokesman.

He said the prison warden tried to control the rebellion but was pummelled by stones and called for police reinforcement.

Around a hundred officers arrived at the scene and quelled the rioters before midnight, by that time a second building had been burned down and three prisoners were dead, said Thanongsak Wangsupa, the provincial police commander.

"Three prisoners were killed before police stormed the prison," he told AFP, adding that the men died in a brawl with other inmates.

Two prison staff sustained injuries, he added.

After the riot, the prisoners handed authorities a written list of 14 demands, including requests for more family visits and freedom to watch the on television.

They also called for a change of command at the prison, which houses around 1,800 inmates, and the ability to receive food from relatives.

"All of their demands are illegal and none will be complied with," Thanongsak told AFP.

Pattani is one of three southern provinces in Thailand wracked by a years-long battle between Muslim separatists and the Buddhist-run state.

More than 6,500 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in near-daily shootings and bomb attacks since 2004.

The area is governed by emergency laws and awash with state security officers, who rights groups have accused of torture, extrajudicial killings and other abuses.
The army on Saturday gunned down three heavily-armed and foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

The group of was attempting to infiltrate into the Indian territory from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a Defence Spokesman said here.

The troops spotted and traced their movement in Saujian area of Poonch and kept tightening the cordon around them, leaving no escape route, he added.

A massive search operation was on for 36 hours which led to exchange of fire resulting in all the three being killed, he said.

The spokesman described it as a "flawless surgical operation" executed by the army ensuring neutralisation of all the terrorists and no casualty on their side.
Three Indian-origin scientists have been accused of a scientific fraud in Singapore for falsification of their research data, a media report said today.

The trio at the centre of the scandal are Professor Ravi Kambadur, an India-trained New Zealander who was with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Dr Mridula Sharma, who was associate professor at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and former NTU researcher Sudarsanareddy Lokireddy.

Their work at the Singapore research institutes focused on myostatin - a protein that regulates muscle growth in humans and animals, whose suppression the researchers claimed could keep people in "fat-burning mode" and let them shed kilos.

The research was led by Prof Kambadur, whose joint appointments at NTU's School of Biological Sciences and the Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences have been "terminated", The Straits Times reported citing NTU.

Prof Kambadur, 54, was set to make waves in the world of biomedical research, as leader of one of the four teams awarded up to SGD10 million each in research grants in 2009.

Dr Sharma is no longer at NUS and Dr Lokireddy has had his PhD from NTU revoked.

NTU said its investigations in December last year led to three myostatin papers published in 2011 and 2012 being retracted.

Two other papers were corrected and another withdrawn prior to publication.

Three more papers published from 2012 to 2014, based on research funded by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), are now being retracted from the journals Molecular Endocrinology and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Retraction Watch, a website that monitors retractions of scientific publications, reported that the falsifications also happened in Dr Lokireddy's NTU doctoral thesis.

In 2012, his team reported a discovery of reprogramming skin cells to help slow loss of muscle mass in the elderly.

They had found that by blocking the protein myostatin, muscle growth could be enhanced and fat utilization in the body could be increased.

The researchers also said this could reduce obesity without the need for strenuous physical activity, and indirectly protect against type-2 diabetes, of which obesity is a main cause.

The research is now being called into question after investigation by NTU said that data from laboratory experiments had been falsified, the report said.

NTU said that "disciplinary proceedings" are being taken against other researchers and that Prof Kambadur's research students will be re-assigned to appropriate supervisors.
A four-year-old boy missing after the Nice truck attack has been found dead, raising to four the number of Tunisians killed in the French tragedy, the foreign ministry said today.

Another five Tunisians are still missing following Thursday night's attack that killed 84 people in the southern French resort city and was claimed today by the Islamic State jihadist group (IS).

The ministry said the boy was found dead in hospital. His mother was among the other three identified Tunisian victims.

Nice is just an hour's flight from Tunis, and the city is home to many Tunisians.

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, the driver of the truck that ploughed into a Bastille Day crowd in the city, was himself of Tunisian origin, from Msaken near Sousse.

Tunisia "forcefully" condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with France against the "scourge of terrorism".

It also said it was opening a judicial inquiry into the attack.

Tunisia, like France, has faced a series of jihadist attacks in the past year, killing dozens including 59 foreign tourists.

The country has been under a state of emergency since November 2015.

Tunisian and French citizens are among the top nationalities who have joined jihadist organisations including IS.
Turkey today detained a member of the country's top court after a bloody coup attempt aiming to oust the government, local media reported.

Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into custody, the private NTV television reported, without specifying what he was accused of.

Earlier, the judicial authorities said that some 2,745 judges across the country would be dismissed in the wake of the coup.

This also came in addition to the arrests of several senior military figures including 2nd army generals Adem Huduti and Avni Angun, Turkish media said.

The government said that in all almost 3,000 soldiers had been arrested in a major purge of the armed forces.
Turkey's regional allies today condemned a deadly but foiled coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.

Key regional powers Iran and Israel, which have both had strained relationships with Erdogan's government, condemned the putsch that began late last night.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif spoke with his Turkish counterpart three times since the crisis began.

On Twitter, he hailed the Turkish people's "defence of democracy & their elected government" which he said "proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail."



"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey," Zarif tweeted late yesterday.

"Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."



Israel, which last month approved a deal to restore ties frozen after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010, also condemned the coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel," said foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.

With the exception of Qatar, Iran's Arab foes in the Gulf made no comment on the events in Turkey besides advising their citizens to stay off the streets.

In a telephone call with the Turkish leader, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani "congratulated (Erdogan) on the support of the people of Turkey on his rule against the failed military coup," the official QNA agency reported.

Sheikh Tamim "strongly condemned this failed attempt and voiced... (Qatar's) solidarity with Turkey... In all measures it takes to protect constitutional legitimacy, enforce the rule of law and preserve its security and stability."



Gas-rich Qatar is Erdogan's closest Gulf ally, sharing his sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood that formerly ruled Egypt and which is outlawed in other Gulf Arab states.

Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, who have friendly ties with Qatar as well as Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party "condemned the failed coup attempt" and "congratulated the people and the Turkish leadership for successfully protecting democracy."



Turkey has recently obtained several compromises from Israel over Gaza including authorisation for Ankara to build a hospital.

Today, activists -- notably those linked to Hamas -- called for demonstrations in solidarity with the Turkish government.

Erdogan called on his supporters today to remain vigilant, warning of the risks of a fresh flare-up of violence even as his forces regained control.

In Khartoum, President Omar al-Bashir condemned "the attempted coup in Turkey and the disturbance of security and stability in the country.
A Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece on Saturday carrying eight men seeking asylum after a coup bid, Greek police said.

The Black Hawk helicopter landed after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in Alexandroupolis in the country's north.

Seven of those on board were in military uniform and all are believed to have been involved in the attempted putsch, ERT TV said.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara had asked Athens to send back the eight coup plotters.

"We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible," Cavusoglu was quoted as telling HaberTurk television.

According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, "the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey".

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on early Saturday expressed his "support for the democratically elected" Turkish government.
Eight Turkish military personnel who fled Greece by helicopter after yesterday's failed coup took no part in the putsch, their lawyer said today, although a Greek government spokeswoman contradicted their account.

The eight, who have claimed asylum in Greece, arrived by military helicopter today after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in northern Alexandroupolis.

Seven of those on board were in military uniform, ERT TV said.

"They were in Istanbul with the order to transport the wounded. They didn't know what was happening exactly," Greek lawyer Ilia Marinaki told reporters.

"On Saturday morning, when policemen started shooting against them, they decided to leave."



Marinaki added that the soldiers -- all married and in their forties -- were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families' lives.

Athens Agency said the group was made up of three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara had asked Athens to send the eight back following yesterday night's challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule by discontented soldiers in which more than 250 people died.

"We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by HaberTurk television.

Around 300-400 members of the Muslim minority of Greece, meanwhile, staged a demo outside Alexandroupolis airport calling for the "traitors" to be sent back, an AFP photographer witnessed.

According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, "the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey".

"As far as the asylum-seekers are concerned, we are going to proceed according to international law" Olga Gerovasili, the Greek government spokeswoman, said.

She said Athens was "in constant contact with the Turkish authorities," and would take into account the fact that "the asylum-seekers took part in a coup against the Turkish constitution".

The eight were due to appear before a Greek prosecutor tomorrow.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today expressed his "support for the democratically elected" Turkish government.
Two members of the Naveen Khati gang wanted in murder and carjacking cases have been arrested, police said today.

The accused Rajesh and Neeraj who were involved in several criminal cases including murder, were caught by a Special Cell team near Surakhpur-Mitraun Road in Najafgarh last night, DCP (Special Cell) Sanjiv Yadav, said.

Rajesh and Neeraj, who belonged to Naveen Khati gang were wanted in two cases of murder and several cases of carjacking.

Alongwith other gang members, they had murdered one retired Head Constable of Delhi Police, Mehtab, who was grand-father of gangster Ravinder Bholu, said the officer.

They had also murdered one Janakraj, father of Bholu gang member Dinesh alias Mogli. Special Cell was using human intelligence and technical surveillance for last three months to catch the duo.

Mogli was allegedly involved in the murder of four persons on the new year eve in 2014, including Rajesh's cousin Sudhir and Manish Khati, brother of gang-leader Naveen Khati, he said.
suspended its world heritage meeting in Istanbul in the wake of Turkey's attempted military coup, the organisation said.

"The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee is suspended until further notice," the Paris-based body said in a statement on its website.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

The meeting, which began last Sunday, was deciding whether to give world heritage protection to 29 sites across the world.

The most headline-grabbing of its discussions centred on whether it would list some of the Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier's most iconic modernist buildings.

A decision had been expected on Sunday.

has twice rejected previous bids to give its protection to Le Corbusier's utilitarian concrete buildings, which had a huge impact on urban planning across the planet.

Seventeen of his projects, stretching from La Cite Radieuse housing project in Marseille, France, to the city of Chandigarh in northern India, which he laid out, were being considered.

While his stark designs were revolutionary, in the years following his death in France in 1965 they were also blamed for urban alienation.

Le Corbusier's legacy has been further complicated by revelations about his political views, with biographers claiming he was "an out-and-out fascist" and anti-Semite who collaborated with France's wartime puppet Vichy regime.

Despite the claims, the architect, whose real name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition in Paris last year.
The US has called for reducing rhetoric and violence in Kashmir, a day after Pakistan termed slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani as a "martyr" and said July 19 will be observed as "black day" to protest "atrocities" against Kashmiris by Indian security forces.

"It is a situation where we need all parties to this to reduce the rhetoric, reduce the violence, get back to a situation where they can have dialogue," State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at her daily conference yesterday.

"Obviously we're gravely concerned about this situation. We're gravely concerned about the violence," she said.

Trudeau was responding to questions on the decision of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's declaration to observe July 19 as "Black day" in support of the killing of Burhan in an encounter in Kokernag on July 8 by Indian security forces.

At least 38 people have died and over 3100 others, including 1500 security men, injured in the week-long clashes following Burhan's killing in an encounter in Kokernag.

Trudeau said the US would not support any call for increasing tension in the region.

"I wouldn't say that any call for increasing tension or increasing rhetoric is something that we would support. We've been very clear on our position on this. But again, it would be the government of that minister to speak to his remarks," the spokesperson said in response to another question.

Addressing a special cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Kashmir, Sharif yesterday termed the "movement of Kashmiris as a movement of freedom".

"The Prime Minister termed Burhan Wani as martyr of independence movement," Radio Pakistan reported.

The cabinet decided that "black day" will be observed on Tuesday (July 19).

Pakistan also briefed the ambassadors of African and Middle Eastern countries over the tense situation in Kashmir.

Thousands of people rallied in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok) yesterday to protest the deadly clashes between the people and Indian security forces in Kashmir.
The US military command in Europe has ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures following the attempted military coup there, a US military source said today.

The US military has around 2,200 service members and civilian employees in Turkey, which is a NATO member and a crucial regional partner for Washington.

About 1,500 of them are stationed at Incirlik, the military base in southern Turkey from which American warplanes have launched bombing missions against the Islamic State group.

US forces in Turkey were now at the "Delta" force protection level, such as is invoked when a terrorist attack is taking place or appears imminent, the American defense official said.

"We are firmly committed to making every possible effort to ensure the safety and security of our service members, civilians, their families and our facilities," the official said.

At the Delta level, all non-essential activities are suspended and all resources placed in defensive positions in case of attack.

An American military official had confirmed late Friday that operations against the Islamic State group were continuing from Incirlik despite the attempted coup.
Secretary of State John Kerry said today that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen."



Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.

He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the Thursday's boody coup attempt, although he has denied any role and condemned the miliary uprising "in the strongest terms."



Kerry who spoke late yesterday to his Turkish opposite number Mevlut Cavusoglu by telephone, said: "We haven't received any request with respect to Mr Gulen.

"And obviously we invited the government of Turkey as we always do to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."



And, standing alongside Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn outside the country's foreign ministry, he added: "I'm confident that there will be some discussion about that.
The US has thrown its weight behind the democratically-elected government in Turkey amidst reports of a military coup in the country which is a key NATO-ally of America.

US President Barack Obama spoke over phone with his Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the unfolding events in Turkey.

"The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said in a statement yesterday.

In a statement, Kerry said the US viewed with "gravest concern" events taking place in Turkey.

"We are monitoring a very fluid situation," he said.

"I spoke this evening to Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and emphasised the United States' absolute support for Turkey's democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions," Kerry said.

He urged all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel and civilians throughout Turkey.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg said he had also spoken to the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"I am following events in Turkey closely and with concern. I call for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution. Turkey is a valued NATO Ally," he said.

In a separate statement, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, said seizing power from a democratically elected leader is always to be deplored.

"But we must remember that (Turkish President) Erdogan's own history is one of abusing power by reversing election results, cracking down on the country's once-free press, and scapegoating his most credible opponents with outlandish lies," Rohrabacher said.

"Moreover, as an Islamist himself, he has been moving perilously close to mandating Islamic values and jeopardising Turkey's history of religious freedom and tolerance," he said.

The Pentagon said it was monitoring the situation in Turkey.

"We are monitoring the situation in Turkey closely and are taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, civilians, their families, and our facilities," said a Department of Defense official.

"As of this time, there has been no impact to Incirlik Air Base and counter-ISIL air operations from Incirlik continue," the official said.

Turkey's armed forces have said it "fully seized control" of the country to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms in the country.
The Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for the US-based cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt, US Secretary of State John Kerry said today.

But he said Turkey's government would have to prove Fethullah Gulen's wrongdoing.

Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn't yet requested that the United States send home Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999.

Gulen has harshly condemned the attempted coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on the cleric, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

"We haven't received any request with respect to Mr Gulen," Kerry told reporters. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen.

And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."



"I'm confident there will be some discussion about that," Kerry added.

President Barack Obama today was briefed on the latest developments by his national security and foreign policy advisers. The White House said afterward that Obama reiterated the US' "unwavering support" for Erdogan's government, which he had done yesterday.

The White House also lamented the high death told and said it had no indications as yet that any Americans had lost their lives in the coup attempt.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.
Normal life was affected in this steel city of Odisha today due to a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) protesting an alleged bid to disrupt Lord Jagannath's Bahuda Yatra here.

Shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and educational institutions remained closed during the 12-hour shut-down called by the VHP in wake of protests and road blockade staged by a group during the return car festival on July 14.

Road traffic was also affected as vehicles including city buses remained off the roads during the bandh, supported by BJP. VHP activists blocked roads at different places by burning tyres, the police said.

The bandh remained by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the city, Superintendent of Police (Rourkela), Anirudh Singh said.

Security personnel in strength were deployed as a precautionary measure in order to prevent any untoward incident, he said.

Over 40 were taken into custody as a preventive measure, the police said.

Meanwhile, prohibitory orders imposed under section 144 of the CrPC from Ambedkar Chak at Uditnagar up to Madhusudan Marg remained in force, they said.
The West Bengal government was working towards drafting a policy on organic farming, Agriculture Minister Purnendu Bose said here in Nadia district today.

The government would like to form a board with all stakeholders which will work towards drafting the policy, the minister said at a state level conference on Organic farming.

Bose was speaking at a conference at Kalyani Ritwik Sadan, organized by' Bio Parivar, an NGO involved in organic farming since 2000.

The organization has been experimentally using homeopathy and herbal plants to raise production in various crops and vegetables.

Bose commented the use of homeopathy in agriculture was unique in West Bengal.

"It was first adopted in Germany and this is probably the first time in West Bengal. I am eager to see the grown paddy in the fields later on," Bose said.

Nitin Kumar Saha, Secretary, Bio Parivar said they had been experimenting on a number of farm lands in Nadia which yielded remarkable results.

The conference was supported by West Bengal government, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswa Vidyalaya (BCKV), various departments of state.
Tahar Mejri looks exhausted as he stumbles out of the children's hospital in Nice where he went in desperate search of his four-year-old son, Kylan.

"I have called everywhere, police stations, hospitals, Facebook and I can't find my son. I have been looking for him for 48 hours," he told AFP.

"My wife is dead, where is my son?"



Mejri is one of hundreds whose life changed in an instant when a truck careered into Bastille Day crowds in Nice on Thursday.

A few hours later his search came to an end at the Pasteur Hospital in the north of the city where he learned that his son was dead.

Earlier, he told AFP he could not understand why Nice's famed Promenade des Anglais -- from where thousands of people had watched a fireworks display -- had not been closed to traffic.

It was, but 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel smashed through onto the pavement in the truck, leaving police helpless to stop him from killing 84 and injuring around 200.

"Everyone was there, old people, babies," Mejri raged.

Abandoned dolls and pushchairs were among the debris left along the promenade after the driver was shot dead by police.

Ten children and teenagers were among the dead and another five children were still fighting for their lives alongside dozens of critically injured adults.

Thirty children were hospitalised at the Lenval Foundation paediatric hospital where a unit of psychologists has been working alongside doctors to deal with the flood of trauma.

"There were a lot of head injuries and fractures," said hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Simpson.

Two of the children admitted to the hospital died shortly after the attack.

Simpson said the youngest victim being treated was six months old.

Also in the hospital was an eight-year-old boy who had yet to be identified.

Romanian authorities said three of their citizens were missing, and one of them might be the boy at Lenval.

"We are used to receiving a lot of children at the same time, but this, has been hard to manage. It is the psychological aspect," said Simpson.

At Lenval, families dropped in sporadically to see trauma counsellors.

One man accompanied his 13-year-old daughter and ex-wife who had been to see the fireworks display and got caught up in the chaos after the attack.
Congress today dubbed the revelations coming out in veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva's book as 'tools' used to market her book, wondering why enlightenment dawned on her after decades of long political career.

"We live in the new age of marketing. To sell a book, many things are needed to be said and many things are actually said or made to be said, which compromise with history and economical with truth, or a new found definition of facts.

"The important issue that surprises all of us is - why does this enlightenment come after 30 years of continuation in office and a long political career," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

He, however, said he leaves it to the "inner wisdom and call of conscience of the person stating the facts as also to the innate wisdom of the friends in media" who have seen such instances in the past.

"We do not believe that there is any more need to comment on the Book more than this," the Congress leader said.

Alva today said she was "pained" to see attempts to create "controversies" over her book 'Courage and Commitment', asserting she has not attacked party chief Sonia Gandhi in it.

The decision by then Narasimha Rao government to appeal against a Delhi High court order quashing the Bofors case linking Rajiv Gandhi had deepened Sonia Gandhi's suspicion over Rao, escalating friction between the two, Alva said in her book.

In her book, which is an account of her chequered political life, she said following the decision, she was asked by a furious Sonia whether Rao wanted to send her to jail.

Meanwhile, Surjewala in reply to another question favoured registering a case against any individual or organisation that does anti-India work and asked both central and state governments to act stringently against such people or bodies.

On the question of Haryana chief minister buying a luxury car, he said what is most surprising and shocking to not only all 'Haryanavis' but the entire country was that while Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar sought to purchase a vehicle - Land Cruiser of Rs 1.5 crore out of public exchequer's funds.

"He has the audacity to feign complete ignorance. When a Chief Minister says he is not even a party to purchase of vehicle for his security, what would be the state of governance in that State?," he asked.

"A Chief Minister who swears day in day out, and BJP who swears day in day out, to end VIP culture and simplicity in public life, when he uses public exchequer's money for such ostentatious objects of luxury, then it is for people to judge the conduct of such a Chief Minister as also the Government," he added.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today promised to end the contractual system of appointment of teachers if the party is voted to power in the state.

Interacting with teachers at a 'Coffee With Captain' event here, he said, "You all should have been absorbed but the government changed and the Akalis didn't look into it. I am against contractual recruitment of teachers, we will ensure to get rid of this system."



Over 2,200 teachers of primary, secondary schools and colleges from more than 18 districts participated in the event, a release by poll strategist Prashant Kishor's I-PAC team said.

When a member of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Union raised the issue that contractual teachers be regularised, Amarinder said Congress government had started this on a temporary basis when there was shortage of funds.

He said teachers should be posted in their villages and ensured that basic requirements of school children will be met.

Amarinder said he would do whatever is required to "fix" the education system and ensure that proper education is provided in government schools on par with the private ones.
The final leg of an unprecedented world tour by a solar-powered plane was postponed due to the pilot's health, he said in a message on Twitter.

The Solar Impulse 2 had been scheduled to leave Cairo for Abu Dhabi.

"I'm sick. Stomach upset. I prefer to postpone the take-off @solarimpulse. I cannot go flying for 48 hours in that shape. Sorry," Bertrand Piccard wrote on Twitter yesterday.

The aircraft had arrived in Cairo on Wednesday after a two-day flight from Spain, finishing the 3,745 kilometre (2,327 mile) journey with an average speed of 76.7 kilometres an hour.

It had earlier landed in Seville after completing the first solo transatlantic flight powered only by sunlight, flying through the night with energy stored in its 17,000 photovoltaic cells.

The plane is being flown on its 35,400-kilometre (22,000 mile) trip in stages, with Piccard and his Swiss compatriot Andre Borschberg alternating at the controls of the single-seat plane.

"So Piccard was not feeling well yesterday. Was much better this morning. And then again tonight things got a bit worse. So we took the decision... It's not an easy decision but it's a wise decision for safety reasons," Borschberg told journalists who had assembled to watch the plane taking off in Cairo.

The Solar Impulse 2 embarked on its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015.
Maritime authorities shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers on Saturday "for security and safety" reasons, shipping agent GAC said, after what the government said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military.

The Bosphorus is one of world's most important chokepoints for the maritime transit of oil with over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also ships vast amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.

On Saturday, forces loyal to the Turkish government fought to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt, following violence and clashes in Ankara and Istanbul.

Shipping agent GAC said some cargo carriers such as bulkers were still being allowed to travel through the Bosphorus which divides Istanbul into European and Asian sides.

A Reuters witness reported seeing no traffic at the southern mouth of the strait at daybreak.

Several Russian oil trading sources said they had not yet received notifications from shipping agents regarding traffic disruptions.

A spokesman for Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft said the main Black Sea port of Novorossiisk was operating normally and had enough tankers near the port to continue loading operations uninterrupted until July 25 regardless of what happens in the Bosphorus.

Turkey is also shipping significant volumes of oil from the Caspian Sea region and countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan via its territory directly to its export terminals on the Mediterranean like the port of Ceyhan bypassing Bosphorus.

A BP-led group operating oil and gas pipelines running from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia said there have been no disruptions to shipments.

"As of this morning, there were no disruptions, both pipelines are working normally," BP-Georgia said.

A source at Azeri state energy company SOCAR also told Reuters oil shipping to Ceyhan was uninterrupted.

Iranian Mehr news agency said Iran had temporarily stopped exports of petrochemical products to Turkey due to border closure between the two countries.

Oil shipments through the Turkish Straits has decreased over the past decade as Russia shifted flows towards the Baltic

ports. The Baltic ports currently operate well below capacity, which means Russia could divert flows away from the Black Sea in case of prolonged disruptions.

Only half a mile wide at the narrowest point, the Turkish Straits are among the world's most difficult waterways.

About 48,000 vessels transit the straits each year, making this area one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints, according to the US government.

Commercial shipping has the right of free passage through the Turkish Straits in peacetime, although Turkey claims the right to impose regulations for safety and environmental purposes.
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Take a look at Corpus Christi's $125 million bond program in 2022 election

There's more than political hopefuls appearing on this year's crowded ballot. For Corpus Christi residents, there's also $125 million.
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3 earn degrees from Arkansas university

Paige Hermansen, Brianna Maldonado and Amanda Marcum of Corpus Christi at the University of Arkansas graduated at the end of the spring 2016 semester.

Hermansen earned a bachelor's degree in English, Maldonado earned a bachelor's in business management and Marcum earned doctorate of law, officials said.

Updated species website launches

A new version of the Gulf of Mexico Species Interaction Database website, gomexsi.tamucc.edu, launched this summer, officials said.

The updated website includes a larger volume of data than in the previous version of the site released more than two years ago. The website also is now available in Spanish.

The GoMexSI project, out of the Center for Coastal Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, is a database for fisheries managers, educators, students and researchers to gather information about species interactions in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the first, and remains the only database of its kind that catalogs Gulf species interactions.

The project now has more than 74,000 accessible digital records of species interactions. The data comes from a variety of sources including abstracts, contributed data sets, proceedings, unpublished manuscripts, peer-reviewed literature, theses and government reports.

Anyone who has collected species interaction data over the years, and have not yet cataloged that information online, please consider contributing data to the GoMexSI project. Learn more at http://gomexsi.tamucc.edu/.

Gary Friudenberg earns his degree

Gary Friudenberg, of Corpus Christi, graduated in fall 2015 from Bismarck State College with an associate in applied science in electrical transmission system technology. Fall graduates were eligible to walk in the college's 76th commencement ceremony on May 13, which Friudenberg chose to do.

School to launch negotiation center

The College of Business Administration at Texas A&M University-Kingsville will launch a new Center for Negotiation, officials said.

The center will not only help educate its undergraduate and graduate students, but anyone who wants to be better at negotiating. It is the only such center in the state  and one of a few in the nation  to concentrate on negotiating from a business perspective, officials said.

The executive director of the Center for Negotiation will be John Cicala, A&M-Kingsville associate professor in the Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems. Cicala has taught negotiations at the university level since 2004.

Dorenkamp makes dean's honor roll

Wichita State University announced Ashley R Dorenkamp, of Corpus Christi, is one of 2,500 students who were on the WSU dean's honor roll for spring 2016.

To be included on the dean's honor roll, a student must be enrolled full time (at least 12 credit hours) and earn at least a 3.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale, officials said.

Kingsville dean named to board

Albert Ruiz, dean of the College of Education and Human Performance at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, was named to the board of directors of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, officials said. He will represent the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities during his three-year term.

Ruiz is an alumnus of Texas A&M-Kingsville, earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in Javelina Nation. He received his doctorate from University of Houston.

As a board member, Ruiz will share in the fiduciary and policy-setting responsibilities of the association, including approving the yearly budget, approving the annual audit, guiding the association's work on accountability issues, officials said.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
Contributed photo VFW Post 8932 Post Commander Henry Escobedo (right) reads the objectives of the commemorative program to post members, including Abel Garcia (from left) and Tholin F. Crosby.

SHARE Contributed photo Josephine "Jo" Cornelia Pow Hurd Contributed photo Driscoll Children's Hospital's Donor Wall of Honor Contributed photo The Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan recognized Coastal Bend Troop Support in May with a plaque for the group's efforts to support the men and women serving in the armed forces.

VFW post honors Vietnam veterans

Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8932 in Flour Bluff marked Independence Day by honoring its Vietnam War Veterans in observance of The Vietnam War 50th anniversary Commemorative Partner Program, officials said.

Post Commander Henry Escobedo led the ceremony with the Pledge of Alliance and the reading of the objectives of the commemorative program that will be observed until Nov. 11, 2025. Vietnam veterans were presented with a proclamation signed by the president of the United States and a commemorative lapel pin. Escobedo honored 40 veterans with a sharp salute thanking them, and their families, for their service, their valor, and their sacrifice on behalf of the nation.

Longtime volunteer celebrates 100th

Josephine "Jo" Cornelia Pow Hurd celebrated her 100th birthday July 10 with a celebration at Church of the Good Shepherd. She was born in Maylene, Alabama.

In 1939 she married Robert Henry Hurd of Bessemer, Alabama. They have two daughters, three grandsons, two daughters-in-law and two great-granddaughters.

In 1949 she and her family moved to Texas.

She volunteered for the Mothers March of Dimes for many years in Kilgore and Corpus Christi before moving to Houston. While living in Houston, she served 45 years as a volunteer at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Auxiliary assisting in the pathology lab. Pow Hurd also served two terms as Auxiliary president and 20 years as editor of their newsletter.

She also has been named Health Sciences Volunteer of the Year by the mayor of Houston.

45 area nonprofits in on Day of Giving

The 2016 Coastal Bend Day of Giving announced that 45 area nonprofits will participate this year, and that $725,000 in matching grants has been pledged by 24 local funders, officials said. The amount donated will be matched and doubled.

The 2015 Coastal Bend Day of Giving raised more than $1.93 million, allowing remarkable benefits to Coastal Bend residents as reported from participating nonprofits.

The 2016 Day of Giving will be Nov. 15, 2016, according to a news release.

Group rededicates Driscoll donor wall

The Driscoll Children's Hospital Development Foundation recently celebrated the rededication of the Donor Wall of Honor in the main entrance of Driscoll Children's Hospital.

In addition to publicly honoring and thanking donors, the Donor Wall of Honor represents the community spirit of giving needed to sustain a children's hospital. Donors' names will be added annually and will remain permanently on the Wall of Honor.

"The philanthropic support for Driscoll Children's Hospital makes our donors part of a special community of donors who share the dedication to pediatric health," said Martha Avery, vice president, Development.

Compiled by Natalia Contreras
GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Teresa Saldivar performances a dance to "La Zandunga" during the third annual Mexican-American Studies program "Get More, Get MAS!" on Friday at Del Mar College.

SHARE GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Dancers from Team Dance perform a dance to "El Jarabe Tapatio" during the third annual Mexican-American Studies program "Get More, Get MAS!" on Friday at Del Mar College. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Lia Araiza-Ortiz from Team Dance performs to "La Botella" during the third annual Mexican-American Studies program "Get More, Get MAS!" on Friday at Del Mar College. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Josie Valdez claps along as Team Dance perform to a song during the third annual Mexican-American Studies program "Get More, Get MAS!" on Friday at Del Mar College. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Contestants from the 57th annual Fiesta de Las Flores dance to music during the third annual Mexican-American Studies program "Get More, Get MAS!" on Friday at Del Mar College.

By Beatriz Alvarado of the Caller-Times

Adorned in a Tehuana headdress, Teresa Saldivar mourned the death of a Zapotec woman's mother.

It may seem morbid, but "there's light in this dance," she said of the traditional Mexican waltz from the state of Oaxaca that's dubbed "La Zandunga."

"She's remembering her mother," Saldivar said. "Her graces. Her beauty."

Saldivar performed the waltz and other deeply-rooted Mexican dance routines with a group of young dancers during Del Mar College's Mexican-American Studies program's "Get More, Get MAS!" third annual summer seminar.

The event will spill into Saturday at the Del Mar College Center for Economic Development. It will feature presentations on topics including improving communication in health care for Mexican-Americans through the use of effective interpreters and immigration issues in higher education.

The Mexican-American Studies degree has been offered at Del Mar College since 2011.

Elizabeth Flores, who is a political science professor at Del Mar and serves as the Mexican-American Studies program coordinator at the college, said the degree is valuable given the demographic changes in the country.

"It's very practical to take the courses regardless your profession," she said of the growing Hispanic population in the nation. "Whatever occupation you're in, in whatever region, there's a pretty good chance you are going to have Hispanics as your clients, students and customers."

Flores credited Maria D. Salinas, who is a Del Mar professor emeritus of English, and other faculty for jointly spearheading the program.

Salinas said she offered to help coordinate the initiative because of the value in perpetuating the cultural identity of every heritage.

"We are a Hispanic serving institute," she said of Del Mar. "We should be addressing our culture for our Hispanic community. We need to learn about our heritage, and it's important to know our roots."

Twitter: @CallerBetty
Associated Press photo

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By Fares Sabawi of the Caller-Times

Border Patrol agents found 11 undocumented immigrants in a locked refrigerated transport trailer Friday morning at the Falfurrias checkpoint, according to a news release from the agency.

When the agents questioned the man driving a tractor-trailer at the checkpoint, he became visibly nervous, according to the release. Upon further inspection, agents found the 11 people in the cargo area, which was locked and set to 52 degrees.

The immigrants were from Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador.

The driver, a U.S. citizen, was arrested and referred to the Rio Grande Valley Prosecutions Office, the release stated.

Twitter: @Caller_Fares
Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Zelimah Niles, 6, holds her cat Yeyo and sits next to the air conditioner while watching television in her home on July 7 in the Tierra Grande colonia on the edges of Corpus Christi and Bishop in Nueces County. Her and her brother don't get to play outside unless they go to town and visit a playground due to the large number of mosquitoes around their home.

SHARE Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Jessica Niles talks about the difficulties her family is facing in their home at the Tierra Grande colonia on the edges of Corpus Christi and Bishop in Nueces County on July 7. Their old mobile home is a breeding ground for animals and mosquitoes and high grass is a constant battle, while they mow often, the grass on abandoned properties around them attract mosquitoes and a large pit adjacent to their property has been filled with water since heavy rains weeks ago. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times A large pit on the property next door to the Niles family at the Tierra Grande colonia has been filled with water since heavy rains weeks ago. This was the view of the pit, which was once a watering hole. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Kaleb (left), 5, and Zelimah, 6, Niles play in the living room of their mobile home at the Tierra Grande colonia on the edges of Corpus Christi and Bishop in Nueces County on July 7. The children spend all day indoors and often roughhouse because they have a lot of energy and can't go outside and play, said their mother, Jessica Niles. Their property has a mosquito problem due to high grass and brush on abandoned properties and a pit on the adjacent property that has been filled with water for weeks. Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Jessica Niles bought this pool for her children at the beginning of summer, but the children have been unable to use it. She said mosquitoes keep the children indoors at their home at the Tierra Grande colonia on the edges of Corpus Christi and Bishop in Nueces County. Related Photos Zika concerns grow in area colonias

By Julie Garcia of the Caller-Times

There are hours of the day where Jessica Niles and her children can't stay in their trailer.

There's no central air conditioning in the two bedroom trailer, which sits in the Tierra Grande colonia on the edges of Corpus Christi and Bishop in Nueces County. With only two window A/C units in the living room and master bedroom coupled with two fans, it feels hotter inside than it does out in the 100 degree plus heat.

But going outside isn't an option either with scorching temperatures, standing water and mosquitoes. Next to her property is what was once a watering hole for farming and livestock is now a stagnate pond with a mossy, oily sheen on the surface.

"I keep the kids inside. I hardly let them go outside because of the mosquitoes," said Niles, 36. "Usually they just watch TV, color or play with their toys. Sometimes we will go grocery shopping, run errands or maybe go to the parks in Corpus, just to go somewhere."

Niles knows her 6-year-old daughter Zelimah and 5-year-old son Kaleb would rather run around outside or swim in a kiddie pool than sit in a cramped living room all day. Neither of them take naps, she said, and their hyperactivity runs rampant with little active play.

Her husband, James, is the sole breadwinner with a full-time job at a nearby cotton gin.

Providing for themselves, two elementary-aged children and a teenager, the couple has no extra funds to fix problems in their trailer or repair the second trailer on their property which was destroyed by flooding years ago.

As summer drags on concerns about mosquito-borne Zika virus are high, especially in the colonias where many people usually own their property, but do not have access to the services in nearby cities and towns. Many residents work in the agriculture industry and live on $10,000 or less a year.

Prone to flooding and plagued with high grasses and trash in drainage ditches, Tierra Grande is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes after moderate to heavy rains. With no reliable drainage, water can stagnate in pools for weeks.

"When we moved here, the place used to be a dump," Niles said. "There's a big difference here in the county compared to the city. They think, 'Oh, they can handle their own.'"

Education as a weapon

Dr. William Burgin said it's not a matter of "if" Zika will be detected in the Coastal Bend, but "when."

"We have the mosquito that carries it. It bites all day long," said Burgin, health authority for the Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District. "The big concern is that the individuals in poorer areas are in (mosquito) breeding areas. It'll be the poor people. In the colonias, they will be the hardest hit."

Texas has had 64 reported cases of Zika virus as of Friday. That count includes three pregnant women, one infant infected before birth and one person who had sexual contact with a traveler, according to TexasZika.org.

The first infant diagnosed with Zika-related microcephaly in Texas was born in early July in Harris County, according to a Harris County Public Health news release. The mother had traveled to a Latin American country and was tested for Zika but received inconclusive results. Doctors presume the mother contracted the virus while traveling.

The health district held a health fair concerning mosquitoes in April in Robstown and has since held meetings in rural parts of the county in an effort to educate the public.

"The majority of questions were about Zika," said Dr. Dante Gonzalez, lead public health administrator in the protection division. "We told them if you don't want it to be here in the Coastal Bend, you have to be preventive. If you have tires sitting in garages, in yards, you have to flip all the water out."

Gonzalez said mosquitoes are really good at what they do. They are quiet, plentiful and reproduce exponentially. He said if people prevent the conditions that breed mosquitoes, they can protect themselves from the diseases they carry.

But in the colonias where trash pickup is not guaranteed throwing out old tires and keeping tidy is not as easy as all that.

"Colonias are a real problem. They don't have things to take advantage of," Burgin said. "They don't share information. They're really segregated out there. "

Plan of attack

The Nueces County public works department has three vector control technicians who check about 20 mosquito traps in the rural areas and everywhere outside of the city limits of Corpus Christi and Robstown. Traps are checked Monday through Friday.

One type of trap attracts the two types of mosquitoes that could potentially carry Zika, West Nile and Dengue fever. Public works director Glen R. Sullivan said as soon as there were confirmed Zika cases in the country, Nueces County ordered the specialized trap.

While the traps are monitored for genus and species and samples are sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services for testing, the number of mosquitoes in the traps are also important. Once a trap yields an elevated number, Sullivan said the sector it is in receives mosquito spraying that night.

The county is divided up into six sectors and the traps are spread out among them. The spraying continues in the sector, or sectors, every evening until the number of mosquitoes in the traps goes down, he said.

If a mosquito sample sent to the state comes back positive for an arbovirus, Sullivan said the spraying intensifies nightly in that sector until "a clean bill of health" comes back.

Sullivan said there is no extra mosquito spraying in colonias, which are known to flood easily and take time to drain. It all depends on the mosquito count in traps or if any samples come back positive with a virus. Larvicide is placed in ditches with standing water, he said, which will prevent larvae from maturing.

Niles relies more on dragonflies to eat mosquitoes than the county to spray her dead end street.

"When they do come and spray, it's on the main streets. Why not out here?" Niles asked. "I haven't seen any spray trucks. I pay my taxes, too."

Help wanted

Living in a colonia can be dangerous, said Juanita Lopez with the South Texas Colonia Initiative. But once the property is bought, there's not much residents can do.

"What can they do? They bought the land. They live there. I don't think a lot of them think that far," Lopez said. "What if something happens? They go one day at a time."

Juanita and her husband Lionel Lopez have long advocated for better living conditions in the colonias. They meet regularly with area and state leaders to find solutions to flooding, drainage and road problems, but try to go to people's homes at least once a week.

"They don't have any help," Juanita Lopez said.

County Commissioner Joe A. Gonzalez said help is available for the colonias, but the county is not responsible for all aspects of mosquito prevention.

"We're spraying, but we're not putting traps in certain areas," he said, referring to colonias where flooding can make it difficult for trucks to drive through. "We can clean all we want inside the colonia(s), but we need to work together."

Gonzalez said several cleanups have been conducted, but tires continue to be a big issue. By working with De-Go-La, a nonprofit resource conservation and development project that services 16 South Texas counties, he hopes to find funding to remove tires from colonia properties. He said numerous workshops have helped and information is available to residents.

"It's not like we're not doing anything. We're trying to make it better," he said. "We try to take care of issues, but there are so many issues, we had to list the 10 priority issues, then work that down to five. We're working right now on one and two, and that will take probably a couple years."

Twitter: @Caller_Jules
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The news about Texas' growth and prosperity just doesn't make sense. It was the third-fastest-growing economy among the states last year. And last week Secretary of State Carlos Cascos reported gleefully that business startups for the first half of this year are up by 10 percent. The state also had the fifth-fastest population growth last year.

And last year was a down year. Oil prices continued to fall  good news only at the gas pumps in oil industry-dependent Texas. Yet, still there are a lot more people and businesses.

More people and businesses means more for state government to do. Texans look askance at government growth. But for it to shrink when the state is growing makes no sense  no logical sense, but perfect orthodox political sense.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus have directed state agencies to cut their budgets 4 percent  in other words, do more with less. The cliche fits because government agencies won't have the option of maintaining a status quo baseline of service. Population growth means growth in demand for the agencies' services.

Abbott, Patrick and Straus didn't address that challenge. They stuck with platitudes: "Limited government, pro-growth economic policies and sound financial planning are the key budget principles responsible for Texas' economic success," they wrote.

We agree with that. But shrinking government while everything else is growing is not sound financial planning. It's pound-foolishness.

Limited government sounds great as a phrase. Putting people out of work while providing less service to more people does not. It ruins the cachet of "limited government." But to ignore it is to be untruthful by omission.

The Legislature is projected to have $10 billion less to spend because of the oil downturn. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget. That would be an OK cover story for the 4 percent cuts if state leaders weren't considering another foray into cutting taxes like they did in the 2015 session.

The directive includes some key exemptions  public school funding, border security, Child Protective Services and mental health resources. All but border security already are scandalously underfunded. Other exemptions include Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, public employee pensions and bond debt service.

In the last session the Legislature made what amounted to an $800 million political statement against the Obama administration by expanding the Department of Public Safety to address border security. Anti-Obama state leaders never could show convincingly that the federal government wasn't doing enough or that the DPS infusion would make a difference. But it's a generous hiring program and those jobs are safe from budget cuts thanks to Abbott, Patrick and Straus.

With all these new businesses and residents, if the Legislature expands state government enough to accommodate the growth, Texas still would have limited government. If the three top officials want Texas to remain pro-growth like they said in their joint statement, they'll need to let state government grow enough to accommodate the growth. Their 4 percent directive is 180 degrees in the wrong direction.
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While the Port of Corpus Christi is undoubtedly a centerpiece in the South Texas Coastal Bend's economy, some may not fully understand the port's role as steward of the region's industrial maritime assets or its underlying strategy for driving industrial economic growth.

Recently, retired refinery plant manager Ralph Coker criticized the port for its bid to purchase certain Sherwin Alumina assets being auctioned in bankruptcy court. Mr. Coker asserted that the port would be better served by offering incentives to refiners rather than operating an alumina plant. He is partially correct. The port should not be in the alumina smelting business, and its $20 million offer was to purchase only Sherwin's port assets. It was not a bid for Sherwin's alumina smelter, and a phone call to the port could have confirmed this.

Mr. Coker is also correct in that the Port of Corpus Christi Authority is a public entity  though, unlike many public agencies, the Port Authority is run as a business. An independent political district of the State of Texas guided by the Texas Water Code, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority is governed by a Board of Commissioners who are appointed by city (Corpus Christi) and county (Nueces and San Patricio) elected officials. The purpose of the Port Commission is to establish policy, provide oversight and governance, and, of course, make sound fiscal decisions on how the port should spend its hard-earned capital. Typically, port commissioners are seasoned business professionals and community leaders with vast professional experience from which the port benefits.

As Mr. Coker points out, the port generates nearly 100 percent of its revenues from wharfage and dockage fees. These are small fees (pennies per ton) assessed on the $75 million worth of goods that move through the port each day, and "parking charges" for the vessels that carry the goods. What Mr. Coker didn't mention is while the port has tax authority (yes most Texas ports can assess taxes on local residents like the Port of Houston does), it has never taxed Coastal Bend residents in its 90-year history. Instead the port uses operating earnings as a source of capital, and recently issued favorably priced public-sector municipal bonds to fund some of its larger capital projects.

For any healthy business, its assets must generate sufficient returns so as to reinvest in the business. The port's assets are its infrastructure  docks, piers, rail, roads, and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The Journal of Commerce recently reported that most ports do not generate adequate returns on their invested capital, particularly in the highly competitive South Atlantic and Gulf Coast markets. Wall Street rating agencies believe a 10 percent return on invested capital is the target metric of fiscal health for a public port. Yet the Port of Houston returns a mere 4 percent on invested capital  and with its tax dollars! The Port of Corpus Christi yielded an 8.8 percent return in 2015 and is on the way to 10 percent.

Over the past 10 years the Port of Corpus Christi made tremendous efforts to attract additional industrial investments in the region. The result is a larger customer base and a reduced reliance on single industry users for its fees. While the port's offer to acquire Sherwin's port assets in a sale/lease-back structure may appear unorthodox to Mr. Coker, it is this type of creative thinking on how to invest its capital that makes the Port of Corpus Christi Authority so unique. Businesses that do not evolve and adapt to changing economic climates ultimately wither and fade away.

The Port of Corpus Christi celebrates its 90-year anniversary in 2016 by enjoying its highest year of revenues  without taxpayer dollars  an example of how a business should be run.
Friday, July 15, 2016 at 11:19PM

You no longer have to just pick between material light or material dark, there are now multiple themes to choose from as the background of your Google Keyboard on Android. Android N will be introducing themes but if you arent playing around with the developer preview yet, you can start by customizing your keyboard first. Aside from picking one of the preselected themes (there are blacks, reds, pinks, blues, etc.), you can also use a photo of your choice to act as your keyboard background. With features like this, Google is looking to compete with third-party launchers and keyboards that offer variety, too. Unfortunately, it isnt on the Google Keyboard on iOS yet. But we wont be surprised if Google brings the update there soon.

Some of the other new features include additional languages for gesture typing and suggestions, the inclusion of recently used emojis in the suggestion strip, support for Android N, and bug fixes such as including passwords with Talkback and missing key labels. You can download the app from this link.
They didn't come cheap, at $7000 each, Synergy partner Robert Kennedy said. But, like the rest of the activity-based working layout, from meeting rooms with whiteboards and wireless TVs to a ping-pong table and fully-stocked complimentary bar, they have been embraced, he said.
Vietnams leather and footwear industry is trying to move up the global value chain to seize the potential benefits of new-generation free trade agreements.

Vietnams leather and footwear industry has grown significantly in recent years to become the country's third largest foreign exchange earner after crude oil and garments and textiles.

The industry has annually accounted for 8-10 percent of the countrys total export value, according to the Light Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Last year, the Southeast Asian country earned $14.88 billion from exporting leather and footwear products, a 15.8 percent jump from the year before.

Vietnam is ranked fourth in the world for footwear exports after China, India and Brazil, selling products such as sneakers, canvas and leather shoes to more than 50 countries and territories, including the European Union, the United States and Japan.

The industry currently exports up to 90 percent of its output, said Diep Thanh Kiet, vice chairman of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (Lefaso), referring to the industrys heavy reliance on foreign markets.

Statistics show leather and footwear exports expanded 7 percent in the first half of this year, much lower than the 16 percent jump in the same period last year.

The government has revised down this years export target to $16.5 billion from the previously estimated $17.4 billion.

Industry experts said the unprecedented decision by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union, or Brexit, will probably slow growth in the E.U. zone as well as the global economy, taking its toll on Vietnams sector in the years to come.

Vietnams leather and footwear companies need a shake-up so that they can seize the opportunities offered by new-generation free trade agreements, including the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The industry must proactively cope with shortages in materials and high-quality labor [] to make unique Vietnamese products, the government's online news portal quoted Kiet as saying on Thursday at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City.

Team up in face of daunting challenges

Vietnam currently has around 800 leather and footwear manufacturers, mainly located in the southern part of the country.

Noticeably, although locally-owned firms heavily outnumber foreign-invested companies, accounting for 77 percent of the total, they make up only 35 percent of the countrys leather and footwear exports.

Local companies are not only struggling to enter foreign markets but also missing out on the domestic market.

Vietnamese consumers buy some 150 million pairs of footwear per year, but the industry meets only 40 percent of the demand.

Employees work at a shoe factory in Sichuan Province, China. European shoemakers will drop their call for an extension to import tariffs on shoes from China and Vietnam, instead seeking strict monitoring of imports. Photo by Reuters.

One of the biggest challenges that the industry is faced with is a shortage of materials.

Like the textile and garment industry, Vietnamese leather and footwear companies have to import most of their raw materials such as leather and canvas from overseas.

Vietnam's supporting industries are weak, putting the countrys manufacturing sector, including the leather and footwear industry, at risk of missing out on the benefits of free trade agreements.

The TPP, for example, with a mechanism called the rules of origin, will only benefit companies either importing materials from within the TPP community or sourcing them at home.

At a conference co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Lefaso on Thursday to promote the growth of the leather and footwear industry, experts suggested local companies team up with each other to form a domestic chain that will allow them to source materials at home and sell products through local retail outlets.

The process of taking over the domestic market will gradually prepare Vietnam's leather and footwear firms to move up the global value chain, said Lefasos vice chairman.

Currently around 70 percent of Vietnamese companies still remain focused on labor-intensive cutting and sewing and do sub-contracting and outsourcing work for foreign companies.

The industry is yet to get involved in design or other upstream activities.

Lefaso is about to launch a center to connect enterprises in the industry including machinery suppliers, material producers and manufacturers in an attempt to help Vietnamese companies to enhance their competitiveness both in the domestic and international markets.

The Vietnamese government has also worked on a plan to spur the development of supporting industries, said Pham Anh Tuan, deputy director of the Heavy Industry Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The long-term plan is for Vietnams support industries to grow rapidly to meet 70 percent of the demand by 2030, and to double the number of suppliers to 2,000.

Related News:

>Vietnam to shake up supporting industries to seize TPP opportunities

>Vietnam's textiles: Low productivity could eat up TPP benefits

>TPP offers promising new world for Vietnam's textiles sector

>Vietnam to ratify TPP trade deal by August 9
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.

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The jockeying for cab clients seems to be getting increasingly fierce.

Vinasun, the second biggest taxi firm in Vietnam, has got the go-ahead to launch its own app for hailing minicabs, in an explicit gesture to fight back low-cost ride-hailing services like Uber and GrabTax, which have enjoyed significant growth in Vietnam.

The Ministry [of Transport] has allowed Vinasun, after Grab Taxi, to launch the hailing app to connect with passengers," Le Hoang Minh, vice director of the Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Transport, said Thursday. We encourage transport companies to apply new technologies to make it more convenient and safer for their passengers, he said.

Vinasun, which has around 6,000 cabs and operates chiefly in Ho Chi Minh City, will offer the ride-hailing services with a fleet of 200 minicabs without roof signs, including seven-seat Fortuners and four-seat Camrys.

Passengers using Vinasuns ride-hailing app can easily recognize their minicabs with stamps of Vcar, Vinasun's luxury version. They will be offered the option to fix the price at the beginning of a journey rather than rely, more traditionally, on the taxi meter. According to Vinasun, passengers using the apps for traditional taxis or minicabs pay the same prices.

Vinasun taxis operating in Ho Chi Minh City. File photo.

Vinasun's unmarked Vcar service, in the early phrase, will operate in Ho Chi Minh City and nearby provinces of Can Tho, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa, and Dong Nai and the central city of Da Nang.

High-tech Grab Taxi, a Malaysia-based company, has been running a hailing app on a trial basis in five Vietnamese cities using both traditional taxis and unmarked minicabs.

Ta Long Hy, Vinasun's vice chief executive officer, said that the Vcar service is based on the company's taxi-hailing app, and users can easily download the app to their mobile phone.

When hailing a cab, all passengers need to do is set their pickup location and enter destination, and the app can estimate how much the trip will cost," Hy said. "[Our system] will store all information about the trip history. If passengers leave something behind, getting it back is pretty much easy. They can also easily file a complaint, Hy said.

Vinasun has planned to expand its Vcar fleet to 500-700 minicabs, according to the company's executives.

Vinasun Group has been listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange since 2008, and expects VND4.4 trillion in revenues ($197 million) this year.

Last year, Vietnamese transport authorities promised to formulate a legal framework for ride-sharing services after traditional taxi companies spoke out against increasingly stiff competition from ride-hailing services like Uber.
More cafes go "decaf". More barbers offer the no-cut. Risks bubble.

Photo by VnExpress/Quoc Thang

Illegal in Vietnam, prostitution can still be found all over the country's biggest cities, with those controlling it coming up with countless ways to dodge the law and authorities seemingly helpless to stop its unchecked development.

There are shops in Saigon with cafe signs above them, but they won't take a drinks order. After some exchanges, girls show up grinding, sitting on and rubbing clients thighs. That was the insight given by an anti-prostitution official in Ho Chi Minh City.

At a recent conference to evaluate the city's efforts to curb what the authorities call "social evil" over the last six months, Tran Van Ngoi, a social affairs official in District 12, said that the number of so-called cafes offering girls had surpassed what inspectors are capable of checking. Along just a few kilometers of highway in his district, there are some 40 cafes that offer prostitution services, marked by two coconuts and a colored light at the front.

He said the cafes dont do drinks, and there also barber shops full of girls but void of scissors and clippers, where female staff only offer massage sessions.

In central HCMC, prostitution has abandoned the streets and moved indoors, rendering most inspection efforts useless, said Le Thi Phuong Cham, another social affairs official in District 1. As it goes underground, prostitution is spreading across the whole city, said a representative of Cu Chi Districts social affairs agency.

According to Nguyen Thanh Huyen from HCMCs Police Department, prostitution rings have gone online and are using social networks like Facebook and Zalo to woo clients. Sex tourism is also showing signs of returning.

HCMC has 17,545 businesses offering services likely to attract prostitutes such as clubs, bars, beer clubs and cafes.

As prostitution continues to grow, authorities are struggling to get a handle on it because as soon as they close down one brothel, others are alerted and shut down. A license revoked here will become another license issued there.

In the first half of 2016, inspectors checked 2,767 businesses and found more than half of them had violated regulations, fining them nearly VND11 billion ($500,000).

In 2013, Vietnam abolished compulsory rehabilitation for sex workers, slapping fines of $25 to $100 on them instead. The reason for the increase seems to be prostitutes returning to the streets after being encouraged to abandon their jobs and being given VND5 million ($240) for vocational training. The range of jobs available from this is narrow, and most of them pay a lot less than prostitution, according to a representative from HCMCs Women's Union.

Concluding the conference, Huynh Thanh Khiet, vice director of the city's Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said that the increase in prostitution was due to legal policies that do not give officials authority to punish prostitutes who don't pay their fines.

The city looks to compel all businesses offering services that could be linked to prostitution to sign an agreement not to do so and hang it on their shop fronts.

Vietnam's abolition of compulsory rehabilitation for sex workers in 2013 has since sparked fierce debates among researchers, officials and lawmakers on whether the country should legalize sex work.

Proponents of legalizing prostitution in Vietnam say the move is critical because it could significantly reduce the transmission of HIV among sex workers, citing studies that indicate that in places where prostitution is illegal, sex workers are more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases.

They also say even though Vietnam has declared its war on prostitution, it has continued to thrive anyway. The intent is not to stem prostitution, but to better manage it.

But those in the opposing camp are adamant that prostitution is an emblem of moral decadence and is strongly associated with organized crimes such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and money laundering.

Prostitution has been regulated by law in about 70 countries, including regional neighbor Singapore. The United Nations Development Program said in a report that sex is legally tradable in several countries in ASEAN, while all other activities such as soliciting prostitution or organized prostitution are not allowed.

Vietnam admits the presence of 33,000 sex workers, 2.6 percent of whom are HIV positive, according to official figures. Unofficial figures say there are 200,000 sex workers in Vietnam, 40 percent of whom are said to be HIV positive.

Of the estimated 250,000 Vietnamese suffering from HIV/AIDS, female sex workers are among the three most vulnerable groups, along with drug users and homosexual men.
Welcome to SwanseaOnline - your home for the best news, sports and what's on coverage of the city.

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Prepare to be bombarded with sound, chaos and color.

Dong Xuan Market

Established in 1889 during French colonial times, Dong Xuan Market is the oldest market in the city and has found a place in the hearts of many of its residents. Locals have grown up with it, and just a few steps from the Old Quarter, customers can easily buy clothes, electronic goods and thousands of other items here.

Dong Xuan is regarded as a local weekend vacation spot for food lovers because of the enormous amount of desserts, snacks and treats it has to offer. There are many ways to satisfy your hungry stomach here, from the famous pho to the tasty grilled pork noodles, or alternatively, banh mi is always available upon request.

Long Bien Wholesale Market

Out in the open, you will be amazed by the sheer quantity of products at the market, because everything is on a wholesale scale. The scene here is quite fascinating to watch. Closed during the day like Dong Xuan Market, Long Bien Market opens at 10 p.m.

The market is most crowded at midnight and only returns to a relatively peaceful atmosphere after 5 a.m. If you are a chef looking for high quality ingredients, look no further, because Long Bien Market is where all the freshest products can be found before they are shipped out across Hanoi.

But make sure to bargain well for the best price and avoid goods of unknown origin. There are also plenty of snacks and delicious dishes available around to quell your midnight hunger.

Quang Ba Flower Market

An entire market dedicated to flowers and plants? Why not? Located to the north of Hanoi, near West Lake, Quang Ba Flower Market is an ideal place if you are looking for something to brighten up your house. Even though it opens in the early morning, the market is still packed with people. The atmosphere here drowns you in awe. The laughter, the shouting and the colors combine to make you feel like you are in the middle of an ancient Persian bazaar.

One of the best times to visit the market is during the Tet festival when the market is flooded with a spring spirit and rows upon rows of pink cherry blossom trees. Also, you wont have to deal with the summer heat.

Related news:

> A Khmer bazaar at the heart of Saigon

> Morning workout at a Hanoi market

> Saigons night food market scene
Mazda has just revamped the 3 compact hatch/sedan in its home market, where it is sold under the Axela name.



Previewed by a leaked image a couple of months ago, the compact model has a lightly revised front fascia, with a fresh grille, repositioned badge and new headlights. At the other end, changes are even more subtle and can be noticed at the reshaped bumper, which has been tweaked around the reflectors.

Inside, the 2017 Axela/Mazda3 has gained a different steering wheel and tweaked metal trim on the doors and dashboard, while better equipped models benefit from electronic parking brake. The head-up display has been also upgraded, as the info is shown in two levels, and versions equipped with seat memory function can save the position and angle of the HUD.

Higher-spec trim levels will get adaptive LED headlights with glare-free high beams and wide-range low beams that operate at speeds of 40 km/h (25 mph) or higher and at 40 km/h (25 mph) or lower, respectively. They also feature a Highway Mode, which allows the driver to see for greater distances at 95 km/h (59 mph) or more. The appropriate block of LEDs is turned off once headlights of oncoming vehicles, or taillights of the vehicles ahead, are detected.

Mazda has upgraded the Advanced Smart City Brake system, which detects vehicles and pedestrians. The technology, which uses a forward-sensing camera instead of the infrared laser sensor, operates between 4 and 80 km/h (3-50 mph).

Moreover, the facelifted Axela/Mazda3 is the first model in the brands range to come with the G-Vectoring Control system, which improves driving dynamics by using subtle cuts in engine torque delivery. The technology provides more effective control in every situation, from everyday driving to collision avoidance maneuvers, offering driver confidence and peace of mind, as the manufacturer explains.

The engine lineup in JDM includes a 1.5-liter SkyActiv-D turbodiesel (new for Japan), which can be connected to a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission, sending power to the front wheels and joining the upgraded SkyActiv-D 2.2-liter diesel and the SkyActiv-G 1.5-liter petrol mill, availabe with either FWD or AWD.

Prices kick off from 1,760,400 Yen ($16,855) and top out at 3,310,200 Yen ($31,695), while the Axela Hybrid, which is only available as a four-door, can be had from 2,473,200 ($23,680).

In Europe, the 2017 Mazda3 will arrive later this year with a powertrain lineup that includes the 100 PS SkyActiv-G 1.5, 120 PS and 165 PS SkyActiv-G 2.0, the 105 PS SkyActiv-D 1.5 and 150 PS SkyActiv-D 2.2, mated to a six-speed manual or an automatic gearbox.

PHOTO GALLERY
The Ottawa International Animation Festival is just around the corner, and it promises to be an extra-special edition because the biggest and oldest animation event in North America is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The festival runs September 21-25.

The festival announced this week the official selections for its short and feature film competitions. From a total of 2,311 entries, Ottawa selected 111 short-form animation projects and 7 feature films for competition, in addition to 49 shorts for panorama screenings representing Canadian, international, and student animation.

This is my 25th year with the OIAF and I cant recall a more challenging selection process, said Chris Robinson, artistic director at OIAF. Many good filmswhich in another year might have been selecteddidnt make the cut. Thats a great compliment to those that did and a greater one to the current state of international animation.
Photo: The Canadian Press

If it turns out Benn Millman is the last Canadian on the American quiz show "Jeopardy" for the foreseeable future, the B.C. man will look back at his appearance with pride, despite hitting the buzzer too quickly on a TV trivia question.

Millman, who lives in Port Moody, says he was the last Canadian applicant to squeak in after the show stopped accepting online applications over a change in Canada's privacy laws.

Millman says he was just reaching the 18 month expiry date on his application to be on the show.

"I have a sneaking suspicion they called me because just as I was exiting the system they saw I was Canadian," he said, although he added officials with the show didn't officially confirm that he was the last person from Canada to be a contestant.

The show confirmed that Millman was the last Canadian contestant for this season, but said other Canadians were in the pool of contestants and may be picked for next season. The show's publicist couldn't be reached for comment.

A note on its website from host Alex Trebek, who was born in Ontario, says they are in the process of bringing their online test site into compliance with Canadian privacy laws and hope to start testing and doing follow-up auditions with a focus on Canada later this year.

Millman, 36, answered the final jeopardy question correctly on the show that aired Wednesday, but he needed $200 more to outbid his competitor for the win.

He says his big miss was hitting the buzzer on the last name of the TV family in "Everybody Loves Raymond," starring comic Ray Romano.

"You're sitting there and you think 'Romano' and before your brain has a chance to shut that down your spinal cord has already made you press the button, and you go, 'Oh wait, no,'" he said with a chuckle. The answer is Barone.

Millman says there was no absolute way to prepare as a contestant, but he did review American trivia and hoped that he got some categories that matched up with what he knew.

"I have to look back on this with pride and say I still made it."

Millman is a banking operations manager with one of the big five banks, but is on a disability leave.

He says he wanted to use the opportunity on TV to talk about mental-health issues.

"I want other people to know that depression hits in people you wouldn't expect, you know people who can ham it up on TV and have a bit of personality and answer questions."

Contestants are asked to give five different stories to use as banter with Trebek, and Millman says he asked to talk about mental illness. Instead, Trebek questioned him about his time carrying an Olympic torch leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Millman adds that perhaps the mental-health question would have been brought up if he had won.

"It's a good story for a returning champ," he said.
The pig carcasses the Taiwanese company dumped into Saigon River on Friday. Photo by VnExpress/Van Tram

The firm is fingered in an alleged once-in-two-decades fish death.

Police in the southern province of Binh Phuoc have caught a Taiwan-invested animal husbandry company discarding hundreds of pig carcasses into upstream Saigon River, causing serious environmental pollution that was blamed for massive fish deaths earlier this month.

On Friday, Viet Phuoc company, whose legal representative is Li Kuo Hui, confessed to dumping hundreds of pig carcasses into the upper reaches of Saigon River, which provides sustenance to millions in the region. The Binh Phuoc provincial environmental police, acting on tip-offs from local residents, launched a surprise inspection on that day and caught Viet Phuoc in the act.

According to the company, it is raising around 27,000 pigs; 10 of which die on a daily basis due to stampede. Viet Phuoc representatives said it had to dump the carcasses into the river because its incinerator has broken down recently.

At the time of the inspection, the carcasses were decomposing and stinky, attracting clouds of flies, the police said.

Locals said on July 6-10, they found dead fishes weighing up to three kilograms floating in the waters surrounding the pig farm. Such fish deaths have never happened over the past two decades, the locals said.

The inspectors have collected samples of the farm wastewater and the Saigon River for further analysis. But they stopped short of any further action to be taken against the Taiwanese company.

Dong Nai River, which is the longest to run exclusively within Vietnam, provides water for nearly 20 million people of 11 provinces and cities, including HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An and Tay Ninh, living along it. Half of them are HCMC citizens.

Saigon River, 256 km long, is one of the main tributaries of Dong Nai River, flowing into Dong Nai River in Nha Be District. It starts in hill areas of Binh Phuoc Province's Loc Ninh District, which borders Cambodia.

It is the city's main source of water supply, main waterway that facilitates a lot of trade and commerce, and hosts important facilities, including the Saigon Port, a busy container port network, and Thu Thiem Tunnel, one of the longest cross-tunnel in Southeast Asia.

In late June, Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, the Vietnam unit of Taiwanese conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group in Ha Tinh Province, admitted its $10.6 billion steel plant had been responsible for the massive fish deaths along the central Vietnamese coast. It pledged $500 million in damages.

Related news:

> Mass fish death cause identified, results yet to be announced
He is also facing strict sanctions by the Communist Party.

An embattled senior official has been stripped of his lawmaker-elect status after the Communist Party held him accountable for massive losses at a major state-owned oil corporation and rebuked him for illegally using government license plate on his private luxury car.

Trinh Xuan Thanh, former vice chairman of the Hau Giang provincial government, was the only lawmaker-elect to be dismissed before the newly-installed National Assembly, Vietnam's legislature, convenes its first plenary session next week, Nguyen Hanh Phuc, the chief of staff of the National Election Council, said Friday.

Last May, around 69 million Vietnamese cast their vote to choose representatives for a 500-seat National Assembly. Thanh was elected along with other 495 candidates.

The National Election Council meeting chaired by Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman of the National Assembly, on July 15. Photo by VnExpress

Thanh's dismissal came after the Communist Party's Central Inspection Commission on July 11 announced that Thanh, a party member, would have to bear responsibility for the losses PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC) incurred between 2007 and 2013, when he was its chairman.

He had already "voluntarily" withdrawn from the re-election race for the position of the provinces vice chairman after his alleged misuse of an official plate on his private luxury car raised public hackles, prompting an investigation.

Thanh is in the spotlight for three reasons. First, he used a blue license plate on a private Lexus LX570 that should only be used by government-owned vehicles. Second, PVC, where Thanh was chairman from 2007 to 2013, incurred heavy losses under his leadership. Third, it is still not clear why he has continued to be kicked upstairs despite his track record.

Following the public outcry, Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong ordered a probe into his promotion process.

In its statement, the Central Inspection Commission held Thanh, as PVC chairman during the 2007-2013 period, accountable for dereliction of duty and violations on economic management, resulting in losses of more than VND3.2 trillion ($142 million), according to Vietnam News Agency.

The commission proposed strict punishment against him.

Related news:

> Vietnamese official quits election amid luxury car scandal

> "Borrowed" luxury car lands Vietnamese government official in hot water


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This week I have the thankless chore of painting the upstairs guest room, changing its color from flat white to the pastel teal of Miras pick. We had put off upgrading this room for years because it is out of the main flow of our house and as they say, out of sight, out of mind. Now the time has come for a modification. So as my wife reclines in her Pasadena chaise longue, I will grumble the chore away.

As many of you know the task of painting a room starts off fun at the beginning as your roller quickly changes the landscape in swaths of contrasting color. After a while, however, you realize that there are still three more walls to go, not to mention the taping required over all outlets and switches and window sills. Nevertheless, the smell of a freshly painted room is one to behold, and a reward to the undertaking.

Originally painting ones home was only for the wealthy folk. The Egyptians painted the Pharaohs tombs around 1500 BC, importing pigments from as far away as India and China. As history moved forward, they passed their skills on to other cultures such as the Romans who decorated many a house with colors that were obtainable at that time.

Most of the pigments in use were either red-brown earth hues, blue copper ore variations or those of biological origin such as secretions from selected animals such as butterflies and mollusks. Tyrian purple for example, also known as royal purple, was made from the mucus of the Murex snail, quite hard to secure and only affordable by the rich. Those in the middle class were relegated to colors obtained from smoke, soil, egg yolks or even animal blood.

When the Roman Empire fell around 400 AD paint making become a lost art. The English re-established the techniques during the Middle Ages and used paint to decorate their important buildings such as churches or courts. Commercial manufacture of paint commenced in Europe and the United States of America around the 1700s but it was a highly manual operation. Many hours were spent grinding and preparing the pigments and mixing them with an organic binder. The earliest known paint mill in the United States, dating back to around this time was operated by Thomas Child, an Englishman who decorated many a home in Boston with exterior coloring.

Just after the Civil War a patent for the first prepared, or ready-mixed paint in the U.S. was granted to D.R. Averill, of Newberg, Ohio. Looking at his patent today it reflects the start of the toxic industry:

 take two hundred pounds of the oxide of zinc, in a dry state, and grind it in twenty gallons of linseedoil, and mix in five pounds of the acetate of lead with ten pounds of the sulphate of zinc in a sufficient amount of water.

Prior to that, paint purchasers bought only the type of pigment they required and then blended it at home with oil and turpentine. In the late nineteenth century the availability of large-scale manufacture of linseed oil from the flax plant and pigment-grade zinc oxide allowed large scale paint manufacture.

Sensing a business opportunity, Henry Sherwin, a bookkeeper at a grocery store in Cleveland, Ohio moved into partnership with a wholesale paint operation in 1866 with the sum of $ 2,000 he had frugally saved. After working three years at Truman Dunham & Company Sherwin discovered that his partners were more interested in the manufacture of linseed oil than in the production of paint. By February 1870 the company folded and Sherwin, with two others (enter Edward Williams) invested $15,000 for equal shares in what became Sherwin Williams & Co. The company prospered and in its first year reported sales of almost half a million dollars.

Both men spent ten years trying to perfect a formula where fine pigment particles would remain in suspension with the linseed oil. In 1880 they succeeded in developing a mixture that far exceeded the quality of all paints available at the time calling it Painters Prepared Paint. According to the S-W website, the paint came to market with an inflexible money back guarantee right on the label promising to cover more surface, work better, wear longer and look better. Professionals bought it and homeowners liked it. By 1905 the Cover the Earth logo was unveiled.

Just after WWII Sherwin-Williams released Super Kem-Tone, a water-based latex paint that allowed easy clean-up with no messy solvents. It is the standard you buy today. Interestingly, the paint roller was invented in 1940 by a Canadian, Norman Breakey of Toronto and called the Roller-Koater.
USDA Rural Development State Director Bobby Goode announced funding for five Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) projects in Tennessee. These projects will help connect rural communities with medical and educational experts in other parts of the country, increasing access to health care, substance misuse treatment and advanced educational opportunities.

Funding DLT projects is important because the program ensures rural residents and businesses with access to modern, 21st Century communication technologies, Mr. Goode said. Additionally, the program helps rural communities to compete in a global economy.

USDA is awarding $23.4 million in grants to support 45 distance learning and 36 telemedicine projects in 32 states. In Tennessee alone, nearly $1.07 million will be used to fund various DLT projects across the state.

The following recipients and their respective counties were selected to receive funding:

 Chattanooga Hamilton County Hospital Authority  Hamilton County

 Tennessee Rural Education Association (receiving two grants)  Polk and Marion Counties

 Carey Counseling Center, Inc.  Obion County

 Mountain States Health Alliance  Johnson County

Some of the awards will help communities provide services to address opioid misuse, a problem that is especially prevalent in rural areas. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is leading an interagency effort to address the rural opioid crisis. On June 30, Vilsack hosted a town hall meeting in Abingdon, Va., to address how the crisis is affecting rural America and parts of Appalachia, and while there he announced funding for five DLT projects in rural Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia to respond to the issue.

USDA Rural Development has provided $213 million for 634 DLT projects in rural areas nationwide since 2009. USDAs Rural Utilities Service, which administers the DLT program, also offers infrastructure programs that bring broadband, safe drinking water and improved wastewater treatment facilities to rural communities.

USDA Rural Development is moving investments to rural America with housing, business and infrastructure loans and grants to create jobs and strengthen rural economies with an emphasis to assist areas of persistent poverty. Since 2009, the agency has assisted more than 1.5 million Tennessee families and businesses in 230 communities in all 95 counties of Tennessee, investing more than $6.6 billion through affordable loans, loan guarantees, and grants.

For more information on USDA Rural Development programs available in Tennessee contact the State Office at 615-783-1300.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces

There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

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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

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What better than Pokemon Go to inspire a roomful of entrepreneurs and creatives looking for a spark?

G. Andrew Meyer, creative lead, global marketing at Facebook and Instagram, spoke at Glappitnova in Chicago on Wednesday said he hopes a social justice advocate somewhere takes a cue from the augmented reality game that spiked to popularity in the last week.

"My mind is blown. For something like that to take off is really inspiring, because you think, 'If I have a great idea, maybe it can catch fire,'" Meyer said. "Maybe you don't have people running around looking for Pikachus and throwing balls, but maybe you can do some good things too. I want someone to make it happen that can create social justice and solve issues."

Meyer spoke at Moonlight Studios during The Big Night showcase, a centerpiece of the Glappitnova festival that celebrates entrepreneurial and artistic communities. Founder Nick Brown said the festival, which wrapped Thursday, plans further expansion after debuting events in Iowa, Guatemala City and San Francisco this week.

Meyer said his company is watching with interest as millions hunt for Pokemon Go virtual creatures using their smartphones.

"The culture of Facebook is very entrepreneurial, very startup-ish, even though we're massive,' he said. "We're obsessed with (Pokemon Go). We're learning behaviors, and what resonates with people, and what kind of utility people are looking for."

The event also featured a local artists showcase and speakers including poet Harold Green, Techweek CEO Amanda Signorelli and "Cutthroat Kitchen" winner chef Golden Moore.

Speaker Jeremy Klein, founder of TableSavvy, an app providing last-minute reservations at discounts, encouraged persistence.

"When people tell you you have to be resilient, it's the biggest understatement in the world. You deal with 99 percent rejections," he said. "You really believe in this and you take your next steps and get shot down.

"But, all it takes is one crazy person to believe in you and take a chance on you."

During the investing panel, CandidCup founder Thomas K.R. Stovall noted that Chicago requires its entrepreneurs to put in work before they get investments.

"Chicago is a good city to build in if you're not afraid to lead," Stovall said. "Chicago is an evidence city. Everybody kind of looks to see what you're doing already.

If you go to people for help early on, it's not like Silicon Valley, where if you've got an idea on a napkin they'll write you a big check. Everybody's more like, 'That's a great idea. Check back in three months and let us know what you've done, and then we can talk about it.' So there's not help getting started. You got to get out there and get your hands dirty and go build some stuff.

But, he noted, once you step out there, people take notice.

"Chicago is a really big city that operates more like a small town. If you get out there and lead, a lot of people will follow very quickly."
Dannon, the yogurt-maker owned by French food giant Danone, said its parent company's $10 billion acquisition of WhiteWave Foods Co. may help speed up a push to rid GMOs from its products.

On Thursday, Dannon unveiled its first yogurts without genetically modified organisms and pledged to put labels on products that do have GMOs by next year. The WhiteWave purchase, announced last week, should help the company move faster to scrub its supply chain and adopt more natural ingredients, said Dannon Chief Executive Officer Mariano Lozano.

WhiteWave's Silk brand is the best-selling soy milk, and it offers a range of dairy and organic foods such as Horizon milk, Wallaby yogurt and Earthbound Farm salads. The acquisition by Danone wasn't related to Dannon's GMO pledge, and the transaction may take four to six months to complete. But Lozano sees the tie-up as furthering Dannon's GMO goals.

"It will only help us accelerate this journey," Lozano said in an interview.

In taking a stronger stance against GMOs, Dannon is tackling a contentious issue. Much of the food industry has contended that GMOs are safe and that labeling them will only drive up costs for consumers, but consensus has grown in recent months that a national policy is needed. Congress just passed legislation that would let companies choose among three options for labeling GMOs in products -- text, a symbol or an electronic link -- and sent the bill to the president.

In April, Dannon said it would start adding labels to its packaging to show consumers if the products contained GMOs. But the idea is to go further and remove as many GMOs from the process as possible, Lozano said.

The company is examining its supply chain to make sure each step contains non-GMO ingredients, from the planting of seeds to the consumer picking up the packaged yogurt at the grocery store. Soon Dannon products will contain more "ingredients we can actually pronounce," Lozano said.

Dannon has vowed to label GMOs on all its products by 2017. The second step is to make sure that all the milk used for its flagship brands will come from non-GMO-fed cows.

Lozano said 80,000 acres of farmland will be devoted to the effort, as well as 45,000 cows. Currently, only 1 percent of U.S. cropland is dedicated to organic farming, according to Dannon.

This pledge will bring additional costs, Lozano said. But it's working to offset the expenses, he said.

"This does not come for free," Lozano said. "But what is more important for us is to reach a critical mass after this learning curve."

The investment will help the company target millennials, an increasingly key consumer group that pays close attention to ingredients.

"When they see value, they're open to pay more for that," Lozano said.
Take a good, long look at the next big Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The cast and crew from Rogue One helped kick off the three-day Star Wars Celebration in London with a massive offering of brand new, never-before-seen images during their official panel. Plus, the cast nervously shared lots of new character details. This new film is finally beginning to take shape!

Host Gwendoline Christie (who previously donned the silver armor of new Star Wars character Captain Phasma), started off by welcoming director Gareth Edwards, executive producer John Knoll, head of story Kiri Hart and Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy to the stage. Very little is known about the next Star Wars film apart from the simple plot, which revolves around a group of rebels who are tasked with stealing the plans to the yet-to-be-revealed Death Star. The film is set between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope.

On stage the crew chatted about the feel of Rogue One. Knoll called it a caper and said he was inspired by films such as Oceans 11 and The Guns of Navarone. They were looking for that caper-type vibe when a group of people come together to accomplish something larger than life, he said.

Edwards revealed that the beach location previously revealed in an earlier teaser trailer was shot in the Maldives and is supposed to be a planet called Scarif. It was by far his favorite location: Sometimes you gotta take one for the team, Edwards joked.

The director also said he used the Maldivian army to stock his Stormtrooper legion, and was shocked to find out that very few of the actors had actually seen Star Wars.

The crew was later joined by the full cast of Rogue One including: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Donnie Yen and Forest Whitaker. Then, the dance of describing this story without revealing too much, began. Heres what we learned.

Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso. (Lucasfilm)

Felicity Jones (Jyn Erso)

Main character Jyn is allegedly a lot different from the former franchise heroes of Rey and Luke. Shes not a character who is asking, Who am I? and Where have I come from? We know that about her, Jones explained. We know where shes come from. And that fact propels the story. And thats the beginning is to find out what her reason is and whats her course.

Diego Luna as Captain Cassian Andor. (Lucasfilm)

Diego Luna (Captain Cassian Andor)

Lunas character has been seen next to Jyn in most of the earlier released images. Thats because hes a part of the rebellion. He works for the rebellion in intelligence, Luna said. [As] the team grows, like any team, theres friction and its Cassian that keeps them together.

And his best friend is an Imperial droid named K-2SO, played by actor Alan Tudyk.

Alan Tudyk was not in a droid suit for his "Rogue One" character K-S20, but a motion-capture suit. (Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images)

Alan Tudyk (K-2SO)

Before the cast began speaking, a behind-the-scenes video (which you can see above), with Tudyk in a motion-capture suit, was screened. Thats because hes playing a 6-foot-tall droid. But hes not your typical droid: In a little clip with K-2SO, someone hands the droid a bag and he just kind of drops it to the floor.

Hes not your go get the bags droid, Tudyk explained. Formerly an Imperial droid, [when] Cassian reprogrammed him, and he did a data wipe when he reprogrammed him, hes not all there. He speaks his mind and says things that could be very unsettling. If you know any old people, its like that. He says whatever he thinks.

Riz Ahmed as Bodhi Rook. (Lucasfilm)

Riz Ahmed (Bodhi Rook)

Christie pointed out that the character played by Ahmed, whos currently gaining fame on HBOs The Night Of, is wearing an Imperial patch but that hes a member of the rebel team, Whats going on there?

Bodhi is a pilot and he works for the Empire to make a living, Ahmed said. People work various organizations and they dont agree with everything they do. You dont have to get judging. Hes kind of questioning things. The city that hes from is actually an occupied planet, and its the actions that hes involved with there that make him question his career counselor.

Donnie Yen as Chirrut mwe. (Lucasfilm)

Donnie Yen (Chirrut Imwe)

The character has been spotted in stills fighting, outnumbered by a group of Stormtroopers. I play a blind warrior, Yen said. I cant see but I can feel with my heart and I believe in the spiritual of the force. We [referencing Jiang Wen] are the baddest fighters. Its character-based, and we are very good friends.

Jiang Wen as Baze Malbus (Lucasfilm)

Jiang Wen (Baze Malbus)

Wen didnt have much to say and warned that English wasnt his first language. But what he did say, he made it large. He has a huge gun, Wen said. He has a weapon, the weapons are very huge. I have a gun, a huge gun. Emphasis on big and gun.

Forest Whitaker discusses watching "Clone Wars" to discover his character in "Rogue One" Saw Gerrera. (Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images)

Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera)

Whitaker is playing a character that was previously introduced by George Lucas in Clone Wars. But this is the characters first time as a live-action being.

Hes a guerrilla fighter, Whitaker said. Hes been controlling a group of rebels that are [very] extreme. There are a series of different rebel groups coming together [to form an] alliance. However, Whitaker said his characters group gets things done by any means necessary.

He will do what he needs to do to save the world. He was trained by guerrilla fighters and the Jedi as well, Whitaker said.

Mads Mikkelsen talks about his character Gal Erso at Star Wars Celebration in London. (Ben A. Pruchnie / Getty Images)

Mads Mikkelsen (Gal Erso)

After much speculation online, Mikkelsen confirmed that his character is Jyns father. But theres more: Hes a scientist and he, at one point, invented something so beautiful, something so fantastic that it might change the universe. Our guess? The character could be the J. Robert Oppenheimer of the Star Wars universe.

Ben Mendelsohn in character, and in costume at Star Wars Celebration in London. (Ben A. Pruchnie /Getty )

Ben Mendelsohn (Director Orson Krennic)

Mendelsohn showed up in character, big white cape and all. But despite the fanfare, he was hesitant to say anything much about this new villain. When asked how his big bad will be different, he said: Hes an Australian kind.

We do villainy very well. He is smarter, I think, than most of his predecessors. Hes more inventive, He's perhaps a little sexier than some of them. Not quite as sexy some of the others. he said.

One more shot of Ben Mendelsohn on stage at Star Wars Celebration, in character. (Ben A. Pruchnie / Getting Images)

And to top off the new images and character details, the panel also released the first poster for Rogue One, which shows the assault on paradise Edwards previously described. Voila:

First poster for "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." (Lucasfilm/Disney )

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set to hit theaters on Dec. 16.
Seven years ago, a 19-year-old saxophonist from Normal, Ill., surprised at least one listener with a prodigious performance at the Jazz Showcase in a band led by drummer Winard Harper.

Though Harper not surprisingly commanded attention with his outsized persona as soloist and driver of rhythm, Adam Larson offered music of considerable impact and complexity.

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On Thursday night, Larson returned to the Showcase, this time leading a band of his own as a New York-based musician who clearly was making good on the promise of that memorable night in 2009. Though Larson still needs to hone and vary the character his work, he's headed in the right direction.

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From the outset, Larson embodied the impetuousness of youth, exulting in big solos, bold statements and an apparently unquenchable desire to play as much as possible. Though this much relentless energy can become repetitive over time, there was no denying the throaty, wide-open appeal of Larson's sound, the luster of his tone and the ample nature of his vibrato. Nearly everything about this playing was appealing, including the profile of the tune itself, the saxophonist's "Good Day Without You," from his "Simple Beauty" album.

Larson, who focused on original compositions during the evening's first set, turned to New Orleans for inspiration in his "First Step." Riding a second-line beat established and enriched by drummer Chris Smith and bassist Clark Sommers, Larson produced one bounding, exuberant riff after another.

Had Larson been parading down Frenchmen Street in the Crescent City, his hyperactive performance  in which every phrase was italicized, every gesture underlined  would have been just right. In an intimate room such as the Showcase, it was a tad overwrought, but better too much enthusiasm than too little.

Fortunately, Chicago pianist Rob Clearfield counterbalanced Larson's zeal with glistening, intricately conceived solos of his own. Though typically an understated player, Clearfield on this occasion was all over the piano, his right hand firing off flurries of fast-moving notes.

The onrush of sound and ideas continued unabated in Larson's "McWendel," from his "Selective Amnesia" album, the saxophonist throwing off pitches like fireworks. Once again, Clearfield provided welcome counterpoint, turning to electronic keyboard to shape the heady, other worldly soundscapes at which he's so proficient. His strange harmonies, off-kilter rhythms and wandering melody lines gave listeners something to ponder beyond Larson's eruptions.

Just when one was beginning to doubt that Larson ever might catch his breath, he offered the sole ballad of the set, his "Gratitude," which firmly established that he's not totally afraid of quiet. Crafting a darkly muted tone and taking time between phrases, Larson showed a less-is-more sensitivity that suited him. The questing lines he sculpted in the middle register of his tenor and the fragile ones he whispered up high fared quite well alongside Clearfield's poetic ruminations on keyboard.

It didn't take long, of course, before Larson was back to storming the heavens, referencing classic bebop in his "Indemnification Blues." Here was some of his most nimble playing, the saxophonist balancing fervor with content.

Larson obviously has a lot to say, and the technical aplomb and intuitive creativity with which to say it. Now he needs to expand his expressive palette and cut back on opening so many of his compositions with solo statements.

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A little more reserve and control would deepen his already effective art.

Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.

hreich@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @howardreich

When: 8 and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 4, 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday

Where: Jazz Showcase, 806 S. Plymouth Court

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Tickets: $20-$35; 312-360-0234 or www.jazzshowcase.com

MORE FROM HOWARD REICH:

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Lori Sapio plays with daughters Oona, 1, left, and Viola, 3, at their Chicago home July 14. Sapio, who is a professional photographer and a mother of two, planned to stay home with her kids but went back to work days later. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Trading in an overbearing boss, a killer commute and a gray cubicle to become a stay-at-home parent may seem as if you've won the lottery.

It felt that way for Jessica Spentzos, who had been a special education teacher for 12 years, had a 3-year-old son and was nine months pregnant with her second child.

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After a 45-minute commute from her high-stress job, Spentzos had just minutes to play with her son and put him to bed before she did chores, prepped for the next day and fell asleep at 1 a.m.

So when she and her husband decided that she would stay home, the South Barrington, Ill., woman was elated.

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"It was like my golden ticket; my husband was my hero," Spentzos said.

But it wasn't too long before staying at home with two small children wasn't as wonderful as she'd thought it would be.

"Things got real very fast," she said. "I became their slave, and I became very isolated, and it became very lonely. I felt lost."

She's not the only one.

A recent Gallup survey found that stay-at-home moms in the United States are more likely than working moms to experience sadness and anger. Twenty-eight percent reported depression when asked how they were feeling the previous day, compared with 17 percent of the employed mothers. And 41 percent of the stay-at-home moms worry, compared with 34 percent of the working moms, the study found. Sixty-three percent of the employed mothers said they were thriving, compared with 55 percent of the moms who stay at home.

And while staying at home with your child is generally a choice that parents make willingly, psychologists said it's difficult to predict how happy  or unhappy  this choice will make them prior to actually doing it, even if it seems like a good idea at the time.

"There are so many unexpected changes and stressors for new moms, it is difficult for anyone to predict how they will feel once they have the baby," said Karen Kleiman, founder and director of The Postpartum Stress Center, and author of several books on postpartum depression. "Some women who expect to love being home, find they are bored and resentful. Others say they never imagined it would feel so good to be home."

Lori Sapio said she is not the stay-at-home type of woman. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Either way, Kleiman said, most women who make the decision to stay home, are surprised that staying home with their children can exacerbate the stress of having children. Even the joys of being with your children are offset by feelings of guilt and inadequacy, she said.

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"Many women who feel competent in the workplace report that they unexpectedly doubt themselves as they navigate this uncharted territory," Kleiman said.

There are ways to ease the transition, said Diana Lynn Barnes, a licensed psychotherapist with The Center for Postpartum Health in California.

Making a connection with other new mothers is essential, Barnes said.

"In this way, women begin to build a sense of community, which lessens feelings of isolation," she said.

But some women never adjust.

Spentzos has been home with her children for 2 1/2 years, and she has volunteered at her son's preschool and throughout her community. But she's still not happy at home.

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"The years went by, and every five minutes, I think about going back to work," she said. "Most people would do anything to stay home, but I feel empty."

For Lori Sapio, the answer was to give up the stay-at-home mom life ... quickly.

Just 10 days after having her first child, the photographer felt as if she were going crazy, so she grabbed her camera and started booking shoots, despite her plans to surrender her career to stay home with her daughter.

Lori Sapio with daughters Viola and Oona. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

And when her second daughter was born, Sapio lasted just five days of her planned three-month maternity leave before she returned to work.

"I'm obviously not the stay-at-home type of woman, and it's OK," she said.

Should you decide to stay at home though, Carly Snyder, a reproductive and perinatal psychiatrist in New York, said there isn't a timeline on how long it should take you to adjust, but you should do what makes you happy.

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"Barring financial reasons for returning to work, the choice should be based on whether a woman feels she will be happier working inside or outside the home  I don't believe either option changes how good a mom someone is; it is just a question of how one wants to partition their time and their energy, and what will make them feel most accomplished and happiest at the end of the day," Snyder said.

There's no correct answer in parenting, she said.

One woman told her that she was a stay-at-home mom and her children were annoyed that she was always home. Her daughter worked, but her daughter's children complained that their mother wasn't home after school.

"There is no right answer, just the best answer for each mom and her family," Snyder said.

Danielle Braff is a freelancer.

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Protesters against police violence march north on King Drive from Washington Park on July 15, 2016. (Terrence A. James / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Fueled by anger over two recent fatal police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, Chicago-based activists organized a protest at the site of one of the city's controversial police use-of-force incidents.

More than 100 demonstrators gathered at 51st Street and King Drive on Friday night to honor Alton Sterling, who was shot and killed in a struggle with police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile, whose girlfriend broadcast the gruesome aftermath of his traffic-stop death in Falcon Heights, Minn., last week.

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"We wanted to hold space to talk about how this isn't just an issue of a few bad apples," said Page May, a member of Assata's Daughters, a Chicago-based activist group. "And this isn't an issue that we think can be reformed or fixed with more policies."

May added, "This is a space to share and yell and feel our rage for the lives lost recently ... those whose deaths, suffering and struggles are so often ignored."

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Protests have been held in several cities nationwide following the shooting deaths of Sterling and Castile. Those shootings were followed by the sniper killing of five officers and the wounding of seven more in Dallas during a protest over police brutality.

Friday's protest was held in Washington Park, where Ronald Johnson III, 25, was fatally shot in 2014 as he was fleeing Chicago police officers.

The primarily youthful crowd chanted, "You can't stop the revolution!" as they marched with raised fists and signs, including one that read, "Stop killing black people."

The marchers swarmed the northbound lanes of King Drive with a loose police escort of a half-dozen officers on bicycle.

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Demonstrators on Friday complained about an ordinance proposed by Ald. Edward Burke that would expand hate crime laws to include violence against police and other first responders. Critics of the so-called Blue Lives Matter ordinance say the proposal seeks to stymie movements advocating for more police accountability.

Camesha Jones urged rally attendees to sign an online petition against the ordinance with her group The Bluest Lie Collaborative.

"Hate crime laws are supposed to protect marginalized people," Jones said. "Police officers aren't marginalized. Police officers are the most protected public servants in the country."

Several people called for an overhaul of the Chicago Police Department, read poetry, delivered speeches and told personal stories.

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"What this is coming to is a military police dictatorship, where the people have less protections and police can wage war against us with impunity," Jones said.

tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @_TonyBriscoe
An iconic all-night South Loop diner exploded in gunfire Saturday as an early morning quarrel turned into a shootout, authorities said.



No one was injured in the shooting inside the White Palace Grill in the 1100 block of South Canal Street, according to Chicago police.



About 6:30 a.m., two men were arguing when they both pulled handguns and fired at each other, police said. No one was struck, but several windows in the business, including in a glass vestibule, were shot out.



It was unclear how many customers were inside at the time.



Just hours later, the shooting did not appear to have slowed business as more than a dozen diners were eating in booths as a waitress spoke with two Chicago police officers.



A man who described himself as a manager declined to comment. "I've told the police, I've told everyone. I don't want to talk about it anymore," he said, as wait staff served diners around him.



A mainstay at the intersection of Roosevelt Road and Canal Street since 1939, the old-school White Palace diner is a frequent stop for late-night barhoppers that over the years has served celebrities such as U2 singer Bono and Bulls legend Michael Jordan.



No arrests have been made in the shooting.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, left, and American Airlines CEO Douglas Parker at O'Hare International Airport July 15, 2016, to announce that major airlines have agreed to build up to nine new gates as part of a modernization plan. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

In a move that could reduce passenger delays, the major airlines operating out of O'Hare International Airport have agreed to not only add up to nine gates but also a more ambitious plan to rebuild Terminal 2.

The CEOs of the major rival O'Hare airlines  United and American  were on stage at a news conference at O'Hare Friday, along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D), all enthusing about what the multibillion dollar expansion could do for the city's economy.

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"New York, London, Berlin, Beijing  watch out, Chicago's coming for you," Emanuel told reporters.

Although many new runways have been built under a long-term expansion of the airport, a deal on new gates has eluded the city and airlines, with dominant carriers United and American worried about making way for too much competition.

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But more gates are crucial to improving on-time arrivals and departures at O'Hare, according to the airlines and transportation experts. Even with the new runways opened or under construction under the O'Hare Modernization Program that has cost about $4.4 billion to date, the nation's second-busiest airport can only handle so many flights; right now there aren't sufficient parking spaces for planes to load and unload passengers in a timely manner.

That's one of the reasons why O'Hare continues to struggle with some of the longest flight delays among major U.S. airports, making an airport that's a key driver of Chicago's economy a less attractive option to both international and domestic fliers.

O'Hare is the nation's second busiest airport after Atlanta, but no longer ranks among the world's 100 best, according to passengers surveyed for the 2016 World Airport Awards. Wait times were the main complaint.

The current Terminal 2 layout is congested for both planes looking to arrive or depart, and for customers waiting for their flights, said DePaul University transportation expert Joseph Schwieterman.

"It creates a claustrophobic experience," Schwieterman said. He said the design worked well 40 years ago, but now causes delays for flights due to the awkward layout, and even a minute's delay can cause lengthy repercussions.

A new terminal "will lift the whole traveler experience by eliminating the cramped conditions fliers now face," Schwieterman said.

Up to nine gates will be added to the 25 now at Terminal 5, with design to start next week and the gates opening in 2019, Evans said. The $300 million cost will be paid for with existing passenger facility charges  the fee tacked onto each airplane ticket.

The second part of Emanuel's plan for O'Hare is much bigger: the demolition and reconstruction of Terminal 2, at a cost of billions of dollars. How to pay for this still has to be worked out with the airlines, as well as the exact configuration of the terminal  six proposals were on display at the news conference. Both Evans and Emanuel said it would not involve taxpayer dollars, however, higher fees could be passed on to airline customers, Schwieterman said.

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Evans said negotiations for the new agreement will continue over the next 18 months. Evans also said the airlines are "very supportive of the project," which will allow both the hub airline and other airlines to grow.

"We are all very mindful this is a historical opportunity to get it right for O'Hare," Evans told reporters after the announcement. She said this means all parties will be "very careful" in deciding which configuration to select.

Nine new gates at O'Hare

Amenities in the rebuilt Terminal 2 could include a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility, a departure hall with additional space for TSA passenger screening, concessions and passenger amenities, city officials say.

The revamped central terminal also could include new concourses to be constructed to the west as airline passenger demand grows.

Space is being made for the terminal expansion through the demolition of old structures and runways in a $1.3 billion project to add a sixth east-west runway the mayor announced in late January. That project, which Evans said would not be built for another eight to 10 years, also includes new taxiways and de-icing pads. In addition, there are plans to build two new hotels at the airport.

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When that work was announced, Emanuel and Evans conceded that new gates would be crucial but were not part of that plan. But they contended the removal of old runways and structures laid the groundwork to make a deal on new gates.

Emanuel said in an interview that the notion of leaving the airport as it is now is not an option.

"The real choice is not does this happen or not, but which plan happens," he said. He said that the airlines need both efficient runways and an efficient and effective terminal, and the city has been keeping them pointed toward that goal.

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"You build a 21st century airport, you're going to have happy customers because the experience will be world class," Emanuel said.

He noted that O'Hare is growing exponentially, so it gives the airlines a lot of strength and capacity. "Every new gate is a gateway to the world and the world to Chicago."

"There's no debate  it's time to start planning for the future of O'Hare. While the old antique charm may work at Wrigley Field, it's not quite the same at an airport," said American CEO Doug Parker.

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Durbin said he spends a lot of time at airports and knows the renovations are needed: "The future of our economy depends on O'Hare."

Evans said noise would be unaffected by the plans. She noted that planes are getting quieter and the noise footprint continues to get smaller.

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Selena Brodnax, 20, is a special-needs woman who went missing July 11, 2016, in south suburban Flossmoor. (Flossmoor Police Department)

Police are asking for the public's help locating a woman who went missing four days ago in south suburban Flossmoor.

Selena Brodnax, 20, was last seen leaving her home about 9:35 p.m. July 11. She got into a large dark-colored vehicle, police said.

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Police said Brodnax is a special-needs person, on medication and is currently a ward of the state of Illinois.

Police believe Brodnax may be in the Kankakee area or Chicago.

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She is described as a black woman with a medium complexion, black hair and brown eyes. She is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighs about 202 pounds, police said.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Flossmoor Police Department at 708-957-4500.
With their families behind them, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence are cheered on by delegates at the close of the final day of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

The Illinois Republican delegation heading to Cleveland for the party's national convention is a group of mostly political newcomers as atypical as the candidate they intend to help nominate  Donald Trump.

The state's top Republicans, including self-described leader Gov. Bruce Rauner, plan on skipping the event. And the delegation is largely made up of first-time, little-known political activists inspired by Trump, rather than the traditional collection of familiar-name establishment types.

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A few of the Trump delegates elected in the March 15 primary have told state GOP officials they're not attending  either out of concerns about the cost or complaints about top state officials snubbing the presumptive nominee.

Also among the group of 69 delegates allotted to Illinois are the 15 who were elected to support former Trump rivals Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and John Kasich, the host-state Ohio governor who doesn't plan on setting foot inside Quicken Loans Arena.

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It all adds up to a lot of questions. The typical delegation breakfasts will be held, and post-session bar excursions are planned. But for a state that hasn't voted Republican in a presidential year since 1988  and now facing an unconventional candidate at the top of the ticket  the delegates are gathering in an atmosphere of unprecedented uncertainty rather than in a spirit of unity.

"I really want to see the party come together. I want to see us leave Friday with a sense of unity and a common goal to defeat Hillary (Clinton) in November," said Mark Fratella of Elmhurst, an elected Trump delegate.

"I think the sooner that some of these  quote 'establishment' unquote  Republicans are able to maybe eat a little crow and bite their tongue, the better off we'll be as a party," added the first-time delegate.

If there is a viable Trump rallying cry within the Illinois delegation, it's the frequent reference by his supporters that a Republican loss equals a victory for Clinton. The former Democratic senator and secretary of state continues to be a polarizing figure with trust issues only magnified by recent FBI conclusions about her private email use that ran counter to several of her previous public statements.

"We all need to come out with arms locked knowing that we can't let Hillary Clinton be the next president," said state Rep. John Cabello, R-Machesney Park, and an at-large Trump delegate. "It'd be four more years of Barack Obama, and we need to make sure our nominee, Donald Trump, would be unified with all Republicans behind him."

But Pat Brady of St. Charles, a former state GOP chairman and an elected Kasich delegate, has no intention of supporting Trump.

"The endgame for me is I am formally and vocally opposed to Donald Trump being the nominee of our party for a lot of reasons, primarily because he's not a Republican," Brady said.

"I don't want to see Hillary Clinton as president, but I can't imagine a minute of Donald Trump as president. Hillary Clinton we can beat in four years," he said.

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While Republicans in the state celebrated six years ago when then-U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk captured the Senate seat vacated by Obama, and again in 2014 when Rauner gained the governor's office, this year's GOP prospects are uncertain at best.

Kirk is seeking re-election, but faces the state's traditional large Democratic presidential-year turnout in a challenge from two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates.

Kirk had vowed to support Trump as the nominee, but repealed his endorsement amid the presidential contender's criticism of women, minorities and the disabled. Like Rauner, Kirk won't attend the convention.

But when asked last week about Indiana Gov. Mike Pence serving as Trump's running mate, Kirk quickly backed the former congressman, with whom he had served. Kirk went so far as to open the door to re-endorsing Trump with Pence on the ticket before a campaign aide told Bloomberg News that the Illinois senator would not back the presumptive nominee regardless of running mate.

Rauner in recent days has refused to discuss his absence from the convention or what he plans to do while Republicans meet in Cleveland. While the governor has pledged to support the GOP ticket, staff have said Rauner is not "formally endorsing" Trump for the nomination.

Kirk and GOP legislative candidates will try to employ the strategy that all politics is local." But there are concerns about Trump's effect on Republicans down the ballot. While Trump could help Downstate Republicans take on Democratic legislative targets, he could hurt suburban GOP hopefuls.

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Rauner has pledged to use his personal financial resources to help Republican legislative candidates erode the Democratic supermajorities in the Illinois House and Senate. And while an 18-month budget and ideological stalemate got a six-month reprieve with a temporary spending plan, even Rauner has acknowledged that Republicans could lose GOP House seats in the fall.

"This convention is so Trump-centric and so Trump-focused and Trump has caused all these problems that I think  there's a whole lot of people who don't support him but support our down-ticket folks," Brady said.

"It's a unique year and I think this year we can clearly make that distinction between Trump, who's out on his own, and the rest of the people who have been solid Republicans for a long time," he said.

Fratella, the Trump delegate from Elmhurst, acknowledged Trump plays to different demographics in different parts of the state, but said a strong showing of unity behind the presidential candidate can affect all parts of the ticket.

"If people do see some unity at the top of the ticket, that can trickle down to the local races because we've got some (state) Senate and House races that we really could pick up and maybe reduce (Democratic House Speaker Michael) Madigan's hold on the General Assembly," he said.

There are a few Republican elected officials headed to Cleveland. For House GOP leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, the convention provides an opportunity to meet with influential fundraisers to help the Republican effort against Madigan.

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Only a few of the Republicans in the state's congressional delegation are expected to attend, including U.S. Reps. Peter Roskam of Wheaton and Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

An officer directs traffic amid preparations for the arrival of visitors and delegates for the Republican National Convention on July 15, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Dominick Reuter / AFP/Getty Images)

"I've always been excited to go to the convention," Davis said in a statement. "It's part of being a Republican leader in our state. And it's not just about who's going to get the nomination for president. It's about getting together with Republicans nationwide and in the state of Illinois to make sure we keep Republican seats and win more."

State GOP officials said a "handful" of elected delegates have said they can't go and the party is working with the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee to fill the spots with elected alternate delegates. State party officials said the number of delegates who won't attend  about five  is not any more than past years.

Some Trump delegates opted not to go after voicing displeasure that top Republicans are bypassing the event and being disrespectful to the party's presumptive nominee. For others taking a pass, there's the reality of paying upward of $3,000 or more for a week in Cleveland.

Ultimately, despite a desire to project unity, there are some private concerns within the GOP about how some of the Trump delegates, new to the process and reveling in the maverick nature of their candidate, will react to those in the delegation who backed other contenders.

"Personally, I don't have a problem with any candidate anybody supports," Fratella said. "But within our own delegation, there are still going to be those people who aren't going to let go of the hope that they can stop Trump from getting the nomination."

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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, leave a meeting with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday at Trump Tower in New York. (Evan Vucci / AP)

INDIANAPOLIS  In many ways, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is the antithesis of Donald Trump  a deeply religious man who prides himself on not running TV attack ads while regularly proclaiming, "I'm a conservative, but I'm not in a bad mood about it."

Described by one prominent state Republican as a "happy warrior," Pence is a politician whose polished, milquetoast brand stands in such a striking contrast to the brash, turbulent Trump that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's decision to elevate him to his vice presidential pick left many in Indiana stunned despite days of strong signals it was going to happen.

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"People are so shocked and floored that Mike Pence was even a possible contender to line up with Donald Trump, given the type of personality he has," said Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, a local conservative TV and radio commentator who noted the "big-time irony" in Pence, the self-styled positive campaigner, pitching himself as the right fit to join forces with the divisive Trump.

Outside his home state, the Pence pick is considered a way to bring along evangelicals and a hesitant GOP establishment, particularly congressional Republicans, even as it adds a seasoned smooth talker unlikely to commit many unforced errors.

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Inside Indiana's Statehouse, Republicans said Pence will bring the ticket a dollop of Midwestern common sense and balance out Trump's oft-toxic tone. Democrats viewed Pence as a political opportunist while seeing an opportunity to take the governor's office, with Republicans scrambling to find a replacement. And both sides have a measure of fear that Pence's selection means Indiana's recent culture war battles will be rerun on the national stage.

That's because in the past year, Pence has been a divisive figure in his own right  at least in Indiana.

The governor backed a so-called religious freedom measure that allowed residents and businesses to ignore state laws that conflict with their religious beliefs. Signed during a private ceremony with religious leaders, the law immediately drew fire nationwide as the state effectively had sanctioned discrimination against gays, prompting "Pence must go!" yard signs to crop up throughout Indiana.

Pence and his evangelical allies insisted the law protected religious rights, but it led to a strong backlash from businesses, fierce opposition from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, cancellation of conventions and concerts, and boycotts and travel bans to the state. He ultimately backtracked, passing "fix" legislation that made it clear the law couldn't be used to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

But damage had been done, and some Republicans and Democrats worried that a new round of national coverage of Pence's time as governor would lead to more stigma.

"I do not relish seeing some of the social issue catastrophes revisited. Those aren't debates of which we were very proud," said Scott Pelath, a Democratic lawmaker from Michigan City who speaks with a distinct Chicago accent and serves as minority leader of the Indiana House. "Many of us don't believe they reflected well on Indiana, and all that stuff is going to be dredged back up and will be back in the national news again with Mike Pence on the ticket."

Conservative with Chicago ties

Pence's family has roots in Chicago. In a 2014 speech to the City Club of Chicago, Pence said he owed "a debt of gratitude to Chicago," noting that his grandfather arrived at Ellis Island in 1923, took a train here and drove a bus for nearly 40 years. His parents, he said, grew up on the South Side, near 55th and Honore streets.

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Pence also noted how especially meaningful it was to be speaking during December, the time of year he often traveled to Chicago as a child.

"It's very personal when I'm in this city. I feel very at home. My story is I was raised by two big-city kids in a really small town in southern Indiana," said Pence, who grew up in Columbus, Ind. "Particularly this time of year, the Pence family would find themselves in the back of a station wagon making the long trip up what was then Highway 31 to the South Side of Chicago to hearth and home and family and friends. It's a blessing to be here this time of year with all of you and reflect on those deep memories."

But Pence also has been known to rib Chicago and Illinois over what he has characterized as fiscal mismanagement and political dysfunction. In the same speech, he noted Indiana-purchased billboards in Illinois that read, "Caution high taxes ahead" and "Attention tax drop. State line 16 miles ahead," as the Chicago audience laughed.

Pence got his political bearings as a conservative radio host, with "The Mike Pence Show" carried on stations throughout Indiana. Looking back on those seven years behind the microphone, Pence often has described himself as "like Rush Limbaugh but on decaf."

A sign of the intense new scrutiny that will be paid to Pence: the radio frequency in Rushville that once served as his show's home base has been inundated with calls from reporters and political operatives for tapes and transcripts. (The station has changed ownership a few times in the past decade or so, and records of the show are no longer at the station, a representative said.)

After building popularity and name ID on the airwaves, Pence was a shoo-in to win a south-central Indiana congressional district. In the House, Pence was an early voice that challenged party leadership from the right, before the tea party wave took hold in 2008.

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He rose to chairman of the Republican Conference, and his media background served him well as he frequently appeared on cable news shows to argue for conservative viewpoints. While Pence was viewed as ambitious inside the beltway, he also frequently criticized the D.C. establishment once he no longer was part of it.

"I served in Congress for 12 years, and if I only had 12 years left to live, I'd want to live it as a member of Congress," Pence once deadpanned. "Because that was the longest 12 years of my life."

Hoosier Democrats argue Pence's obvious audition for the Trump ticket while running for a second term as governor removed any doubt he valued his own political rise over serving the state. They also argue he has now skated on a tough re-election fight against Democrat John Gregg.

Gregg, who served as speaker of the Indiana House from 1996 until retiring in 2003, lost to Pence by 3 percentage points four years ago. Polling had the two in a neck-and-neck race this time.

"Indiana is a Republican state. He has a $2 billion surplus, he has supermajorities in both chambers and the office was literally handed to him by the most popular Republican governor in over a generation  and he was going to lose. That failure would have been on him," Gregg said after a luncheon Friday in Indianapolis.

"If the Trump presidency sputters and doesn't take off, there will be no shame for him now, and he can live and continue to be an opportunist somewhere else," Gregg said while an opposition campaign operative shot video of his every move. "Maybe he'll get one of those Fox News shows."

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Trump ticket

Just what Pence brings to the ticket was a matter of home-state debate.

Jim Brainard, longtime mayor of Carmel, an affluent suburb north of Indianapolis, served as co-chair of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's Indiana campaign. Brainard said he opposes many of Trump's stances, including barring Muslim immigrants, not being inclusive toward Hispanics and a lack of interest in preserving environmental resources.

But in a swipe at fellow moderate Republicans who aren't getting behind Trump and are sitting out the upcoming week's national convention, Brainard said Republicans should push to improve the businessman's candidacy. Pence will help on that front, he said.

"(Trump) is the Republican candidate now, and people who care about our country need to help him in areas where he may not have much experience," Brainard said. "There is no question his success is as a businessman, but he needs a lot of help on the legislative and governmental side, and that's why I think Gov. Pence is a good choice for him, because he's served in Congress in a high-ranking position and as governor of a successful state."

Like Democrat Pelath, Brainard said he worries Pence's candidacy will draw attention back to his social stances, including the religious freedom bill and legislation preventing genetic abnormality abortions that is being challenged in court.

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But Republicans also noted Pence's candidacy would draw positive attention to the state's surplus, balanced budgets and business-friendly tax climate. And, they said, he'll help balance out Trump's at-times toxic tone.

"He is a happy warrior," Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb said. "He is a man of unimpeachable character and integrity, which is exactly what is needed right now."

But where Republicans see strength, Democrats see a liability.

"You're not going to hear much beyond boilerplate Republican rhetoric from Mike Pence, and I think the problem with that ticket is when you have Mike Pence just stating the time-honored Republican platitudes and that contrasts with Donald Trump, who is willing to say anything on any given day," said Pelath, the Democratic leader. "I think it's actually going to expose, even more deeply, how Donald Trump has completely obliterated what was once the party of Lincoln."

Republican pride

Minutes after Trump tweeted Friday that Pence would be his running mate, an attorney walked across an ornate Statehouse hallway to deliver paperwork to the secretary of state's office withdrawing him from the governor's race.

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That set off 20 minutes of political theater.

Soon after, Holcomb dropped from the race for the state's No. 2 job to run for governor. A representative for U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks then filed to remove her from a re-election bid to instead run for governor. A few minutes later, U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita did the same.

While Rokita said Pence would bring "Hoosier common sense" to the nation, he seemed at a loss to reconcile Pence's aversion to negative campaigning with Trump's bombastic style.

"What's negative campaigning these days, right? These are pretty unique times with the personalities in our politics. In fact, presidential politics these days have become a cult of personalities, let's be honest," said the Republican from west suburban Brownsburg.

Holcomb, an eight-year protege to former Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed lieutenant governor in February, also had a tough time explaining why a conservative with Pence's reputation sought out a spot on the Trump ticket.

"Politics at times is a humorous sport," he said. "Aristotle said the secret to humor is to surprise, and we've had plenty of surprises in 2016."

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Mourners carry the coffin of a man who died during the coup attempt at a funeral ceremony at Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, Turkey. Support from the highest ranks in the army helped keep President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in power. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images)

The sprawling nation of Turkey is one of the United States' most important and most critically strategic allies, straddling the divide between the Middle East and the West.

As the only majority-Muslim member of NATO, Turkey has lent its soil to U.S. air bases, supported American military operations in key conflicts  such as Syria today and the Balkans in the 1990s  and served, until recent years, as a rare friendly interlocutor between Muslim nations and Israel.

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But Turkey has also been a complicated and prickly ally, and more so as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan deepened his autocratic hold on power.

Turkey's stability and the friendliness of its military toward the West are also of vital importance to the U.S. and for countries throughout Europe.

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Turkey has been a NATO ally since 1952, and U.S. warplanes have used the Incirlik Air Base in the south during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

An estimated 1,800 U.S. military personnel are assigned to the base and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the capital.

With the conflict in Syria, Erdogan was hesitant to partake in military action in the early months of the U.S-led effort against Islamic State militants. For Erdogan, the greater goal was ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Erdogan was accused in some U.S. circles of turning a blind eye towards Islamic State.

However after a series of high-profile suicide attacks in Turkish cities, Erdogan agreed a year ago to allow U.S. warplanes fly combat sorties from Incirlik.

Since then, the intensity of the U.S.-led air war in Syria increased sharply because the flight time into Syria has been drastically reduced compared with using other, more distant U.S. bases. The Pentagon in March ordered military family members to leave Incirlik due to a uptick in terror attacks and the risk that they posed to Americans at the base.

Turkey has also begun to clamp down on smuggling routes along its 500-mile border with Syria that Islamic State militants use to move fighters, money and weapons -- especially along a porous 60-mile stretch known as the Manbij Pocket.

Thousands of foreign fighters have slipped across the border amid the maze of supply lines that go through Turkey to join the various militant factions in the multi-sided Syrian war.

The U.S.-led coalition, with Turkey's help, is in the midst of a massive, months-long operation to close the Manbij Pocket. Since the operation began, coalition warplanes have launched about 400 airstrikes to support ground forces known as the Syrian Arab Coalition to push the last remaining Islamic State fighters from the area.

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The complications for Turkey, however, and Erdogan especially, persist. Erdogan sees Turkey's greatest enemy as Assad, who has generally managed to hold on to power, and the array of armed Kurdish forces, some of whom have proven to be the United States' best-trained allies in fighting Islamic State. Erdogan sees most of the armed Kurdish groups as terrorists and chafes at their relationship with the U.S., which only regards one faction -- the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)-- as a terror group.

Instability in Turkey introduces yet another element of uncertainty into the U.S. fight against Islamic State, Nicholas A. Heras, a Middle East researcher and the Bacevich fellow at Center for a New American Security, a think tank in Washington.

"We don't know if a coup government would honor the agreement the U.S. worked out with Turkey" which has allowed the U.S. military to work with Kurdish militants in northern Syria to push back Islamic State fighters, Heras said. The Turkish military has fought against a Kurdish independence movement inside the country for years and getting Turkish officials to allow the U.S. to arm and train Kurdish militants in northern Syria was a major diplomatic challenge. A new set of leaders in Turkey could upset that balance, Heras said.

"The ball would be in the court of the coup government, they would have to determine if they would continue," he said.

One major challenge will be whether the U.S. could continue to provide billions in military and counterterrorism funding to Turkey under a new government. Under U.S. law, if a coup government took power, the U.S. wouldn't be able to provide military aide, Heras said.

"Turkey is the essential state in the counter ISIS fight on the ground," Heras said, using an alternative acronym for Islamic State. Getting locked out of the Incirlik base would be a major setback in the U.S. effort against Islamic State.

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Turkey has also been instrumental in absorbing the brunt refugees from Syria and Iraq. More than 3 million are believed to be living in Turkey, and many more cross its borders.

As such, Turkey's geographic position and its flexible government have served as something of an escape valve for besieged nations on both sides of the exodus.

Geography both blessed and cursed Turkey. As the vast Ottoman Empire, what would become Turkey was for centuries a prosperous crossroads for merchants bearing silk and spices and other riches, flourishing under Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century.

And it was the site of brutal battles of conquest and territorial supremacy waged with Persia and the Christian armies of Spain and Venice.

Modern Turkey emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and the ashes of World War I. A nationalist leader named Mustafa Kemal, known as Ataturk, or "Father of the Turks," molded the nation, and its military, based on a staunchly secular Islamic faith and a deeply held Turkish national identity.

Erdogan's recent move toward a more prominent presence of Islam in Turkish life and in the government may have made the army increasingly nervous. The army has also been empowered by Erdogan to fight, largely carte blanche, a large and restive Kurdish minority, some of who have taken up weapons against Ankara.

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Staff writer Brian Bennett in Washington contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States and Russia have agreed on "steps" that will reduce violence in Syria. But he wouldn't detail those steps.

Kerry spoke to reporters as he finished more than 10 hours of negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

They have been discussing possible military cooperation against the Islamic State and particularly al-Qaida in Syria.

Russia backs Syrian President Bashar Assad. U.S. supports rebels fighting against him.

But Kerry on Friday struck a conciliatory note.

He said both Assad's forces and the Nusra Front, al-Qaida's Syrian franchise, have been responsible for a deteriorating truce. He said other opposition forces, too, have sometimes been culpable in violations.

Associated Press
Hundreds of law enforcement officers stand at attention during the funeral of bailiff Joseph Zangaro, Friday, July 15, 2016, at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center, in Benton Harbor, Mich. Zangaro was killed by a jail inmate during an escape attempt Monday, July 11, at the courthouse in St. Joseph, Mich. (Don Campbell / AP)

BENTON HARBOR, Mich.  Hundreds of law enforcement officers have attended a celebration of life service for one of two bailiffs slain after an inmate tried to escape from a southwestern Michigan courthouse.

MLive.com reports that about 1,500 people gathered Friday at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center in Benton Harbor to remember 61-year-old Joseph Zangaro.

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Zangaro and 63-year-old Ronald Kienzle were killed Monday in Berrien County Circuit Court in St. Joseph. Both were retired police officers.

A handcuffed Larry Darnell Gordon disarmed Deputy James Atterberry Jr. during a fight and shot him. Zangaro and Kienzle were shot in a public hallway.

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An honor guard fires a volley during the funeral of bailiff Joseph Zangaro, Friday, July 15, 2016, at Lake Michigan College's Mendel Center, in Benton Harbor, Mich. Zangaro was killed by a jail inmate during an escape attempt Monday, July 11, at the courthouse in St. Joseph, Mich. (Don Campbell / AP)

A woman also was shot in the arm. Hostages were briefly taken before Gordon was fatally shot by other bailiffs.

Services will be held Monday at the Mendel Center for Kienzle.

Associated Press
NEW YORK  At a news conference to introduce his newly announced running mate to his supporters, Donald Trump took the stage alone Saturday morning and then spent 28 minutes talking about all sorts of things with only brief mentions of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

In those moments, Trump described Pence as his "partner" and his "first choice," despite media reports that the presumptive Republican nominee was uneasy with the selection. Trump noted that Pence "looks very good" and has an "incredible family," plus the two of them are "law and order candidates" who can defeat a "weak" Hillary Clinton. Although Trump was unscripted for most of his remarks, he usually carefully read from a script whenever referencing Pence and sharing statistics from Indiana. He repeatedly noted that he "won big" in Indiana's Republican primary, even though Pence didn't endorse him.

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"If you look at one of the big reasons that I chose Mike  and, one of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest," Trump said. "So many people have said: Party unity. Because I'm an outsider. I don't want to be an outsider."

But most of Trump's focus on Saturday morning was not on Pence. Trump reacted to the recent attack in France and the failed coup in Turkey, repeatedly attacked Clinton, his presumptive Democratic opponent, touted his primary victories and called for religious leaders to be allowed to endorse presidential candidates. Sometimes he would transition back to the purpose of the news conference by saying things like: "Back to Mike Pence..."

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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump introduces Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate July 16, 2016, in New York. (Evan Vucci / AP)

After 28 minutes, Trump called Pence onstage. In a six-second interaction, the two men shook hands, and Trump patted Pence on his left shoulder. As Pence took his place behind a lectern labeled "TRUMP," the presumptive Republican nominee used his right thumb to point at Pence, then applauded and left the stage.

In speaking for about 12 minutes, Pence was scripted and prepared, patiently waiting for applause at the appropriate times. He introduced himself to the small crowd of invited guests  and, more importantly, viewers at home  describing himself as "a pretty basic guy: a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." Pence praised God for bringing him this opportunity and his family for supporting him.

He described Trump as a "good man" and touted several of his campaign promises. He said he was "deeply humbled" to be at Trump's side, but also made clear that he received the call from Trump on Wednesday, even though the presumptive nominee publicly said he was undecided up until late Thursday evening.

"Donald Trump understands the frustrations and the hopes of the American people like no leader since Ronald Reagan. The American people are tired," Pence said. "We're tired of being told that this is as good as it gets. We're tired of having politicians in both parties in Washington D.C. tell us: We'll get to those problems tomorrow."

Presidential hopefuls will often pick running mates who can help them win swing states, appeal to a certain voting demographic or fire up the base if their pick didn't become the nominee. With Pence, Trump gets a partner who can lock down the votes of conservatives who make up the party's base without overly exciting them or casting even a trace of a shadow on Trump's dominating personality. Pence is a nice Midwestern guy, the sort who doesn't seem to like to go negative or make news.

Pence's first lengthy comments about being named veep came during a friendly  sometimes uncomfortably friendly  interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News on Friday night. The interview introduced or reintroduced Pence to conservatives, while showcasing all of the reasons why Trump's campaign chief, Paul Manafort, was pushing for his boss to pick Pence.

"It has been very humbling, very overwhelming," Pence said with a subtle smile as he described accepting Trump's offer. "When I called my mother and told her that we had accepted Donald Trump's selection as vice president, there were tears on both ends of the call. This is a tremendous honor for our family."

Pence praised Trump as "the people's choice" who "understands the anxiety and the aspiration of the American people like no leader since Reagan." He chuckled off attacks from Democrats, many of whom consider him "extreme," and said that he's "a conservative but I'm not in a bad mood about it." And he willingly jumped on board with Trump's controversial campaign promises, including a few that he had previously opposed.

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"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States," Pence said, even though he had previously tweeted that Trump's original call for a ban on nearly all foreign Muslims "offensive and unconstitutional."

When Hannity asked if Pence wants to build a wall on the southern border, Pence responded: "Absolutely."

"Is Mexico going to pay for it?" Hannity asked.

"Absolutely," Pence said.

Then there's the war in Iraq, which Trump has claimed that he always opposed, despite making comments to the contrary at the time, and which Pence aggressively supported while in Congress.

"Well, look, I think reasonable people can differ on whether or not we should have gone into Iraq," Pence said, then stealthily launching into an attack on President Obama.
WASHINGTON  Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton held a series of meetings with potential vice-presidential picks and her top aides at her home in Washington on Friday, a sign that she is preparing to make a decision as her party's convention nears.



Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) was spotted being dropped off at Clinton's home and remained there for about an hour, according to CNN and NBC News. A person familiar with that meeting confirmed that Warren did meet with Clinton.



The same networks reported that Clinton also met at her home with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, whose name has been less prominent on Clinton's list of potential running mates. Clinton also met with Hickenlooper while campaigning in Denver late last month, and he later told reporters that the vice-presidential search "briefly" came up.



Clinton also met behind closed doors Friday with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, another potential running mate, according to two other people familiar with the meetings.

Clinton's campaign confirmed late Friday that she held meetings regarding a running mate but did not publicly discuss contenders. The former secretary of state was seen leaving her home around 5:40 p.m., by which time the meetings had apparently wrapped up.



On Thursday, Clinton campaigned in Northern Virginia with Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.), who is also being vetted as a potential vice-presidential pick. The two traveled to Annandale in the same motorcade but not the same car. It is unclear whether Kaine and Clinton also met privately Thursday about the search, but according to a Kaine aide, the senator spent Friday in Richmond.

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Warren campaigned with Clinton in Cincinnati in June. And Castro has been a regular surrogate for Clinton, campaigning with her and on her behalf throughout the Democratic primaries.



Several other names have surfaced as possible Clinton running mates, including Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey; Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-California; and James G. Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral.



The activity at Clinton's home in Washington came on the day that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump named Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.



Karen Tumulty and John Wagner contributed to this report.
Residents block road in Kachpar village

13:43 The central road sector of Khachpar remains closed; the residents refuse to open the road. Deputy Governor Muradyan and bus line owner Volodya Fanarjanyan have arrived at the site of the action. According to the action participants, at the moment they are trying to put pressure on the village headman of Hayanist. Yet, they say, the village headman has no connection with their action. The citizens are not going to make any concessions; they are demanding to solve the issue of transport in their community. 12:28 At the moment the residents of Khachpar village of Ararat marz have blocked the road. To remind, the residents of Hayanist village of Ararat marz initiated protest action in Getashen district, demanding to solve the issue of transport serving the route to Yerevan. As the organizer of the action Anna Harutyunyan notes, there is no transport from Getashen district to Yerevan, People have to walk 2 km every day for transport. We are demanding from the leadership of N35 bus line to serve also Getashen district. The resident marched from Getashen district to neighboring Khachpar village, where the last stop of N35 bus is stationed and presented their demand. At the moment, according to one of the residents, the owner of the bus line threatens the action participants.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, shown in 2013, has drawn criticism from the left and right for her comments about presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, for which she has apologized. (Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post)

In her 23 years on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has created a legacy of important opinions ranging from protections for the mentally disabled to gender discrimination to the use of international law. That legacy, however, is in jeopardy after a series of statements by Ginsburg criticizing Donald Trump and clearly opposed his candidacy for the presidency. In addition to labeling the Republican a "faker" and calling for him to turn over his tax returns, Ginsburg criticized Republicans in Congress for impeding President Barack Obama in his final year in office and all but endorsed the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland for the high court.

While thrilling for many on the left, Ginsburg's tirade was a facially unethical act and she has since apologized. Unfortunately, her statements are part of a checkered history of unethical conduct on the court. Indeed, a majority of Supreme Court justices have been accused of ethical violations, but they have created a type of immunity from the ethics code that is binding for lower court judges but not for the Supremes. Ginsburg's apology should not detract attention from the need for creating an enforceable ethical code for the justices.

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Ironically, Ginsburg mocked how Trump "really has an ego." Yet there was no small degree of ego in her comments. She was fully aware that Canon 5 of the Code of Judicial Ethics says judges shall not "make speeches for a political organization or candidate, or publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office." Ginsburg has long been criticized for her penchant for speaking to ideologically supportive groups about issues before the court and hot-button topics. She embodies what I have called the age of the "celebrity justice." Justices are increasingly embracing public personas and maintaining a type of ideological base in organizations on the right and the left. Where justices once spurred public speeches and spoke only through their opinions, various justices now go on speaking tours and hold media interviews like judicial rock stars.

The Supreme Court has long maintained that the Code of Judicial Ethics applies only to lesser jurists. Since the Supreme Court is expressly created by the Constitution rather than Congress, the justices maintain that the ethics system is the creation of Congress and enforced by lower court judges through their judicial conference. While insisting that they follow ethical principles, the ethics code remains merely advisory for the Supreme Court justices who claim to be the sole judges of their own conduct. That means the court is the only part of our federal government without an enforceable ethics code.

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Instead of showing that they can voluntarily hold themselves to a higher standard, the justices have often honored the ethics code in the breach. At least five of the current justices have been accused of violations that would have been deemed ethical breaches for any other jurists. This includes three members (Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito) who have been accused of having financial interests in dozens of companies appearing before the court. The late Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Alito have all been accused of attending political fundraisers  something considered a serious violation for federal judges. Alito has repeatedly been criticized for attending political fundraisers but simply responded by saying that "it's not important." Justices also have accepted private plane travel and free trips that have raised ethical concerns.

They also have been accused of expressing political opinions. Alito was legitimately criticized in 2010 for expressing his disagreement with statements that President Obama made in a State of the Union address. Alito's shaking of his head and mouthing "not true" was viewed by many as highly inappropriate and a violation of the long-standing tradition of justices attending addresses. Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor shocked many when she reportedly exclaimed, "This is terrible" when CBS called Florida for Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. She later voted to effectively give the state (and the election) to George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore. Yet Alito was responding to a criticism of the Supreme Court for its decision in Citizens United and O'Connor's comment came in a private dinner party.

In the context of these violations, however, Ginsburg's conduct stands out as nothing short of breathtaking. Even Democratic leaders denounced her statements. When this republic began, our courts were littered with political hacks who owed allegiance to Federalist or Jeffersonian interests. Our courts were merely extensions of politics by judicial means. One of our great achievements was the adoption of judicial ethical principles that maintained strict political neutrality and separation on the federal bench.

What Justice Ginsburg did was neither noble nor commendable. Her foray into politics undermined the integrity of the court and tarnished what was an inspiring judicial career. Congress should use this controversy to finally reform the court, including the establishment of an enforceable system of judicial ethics for our highest court.

Jonathan Turley is a law professor at George Washington University, where he teaches a course on the Constitution and the Supreme Court.
Three Chicago police officers walk by pictures demonstrators taped to the wall of Chicago police union headquarters on March 31, 2016, in Chicago. Demonstrators were protesting the hiring of Jason Van Dyke, the officer charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, as a janitor, and said the pictures were all of individuals that were shot by Chicago police officers. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

More than 20 months after Laquan McDonald was shot to death by a Chicago police officer, a Cook County Circuit Court judge finally announced that an independent prosecutor will be appointed to investigate whether police officers, and possibly others, orchestrated a cover-up.

The video of McDonald's death in October 2014 is seared in the memory of anyone who's seen it. In it, the 17-year-old walks aimlessly away from police when, suddenly and inexplicably, he is felled by 16 bullets, allegedly by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

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Warning: This video contains graphic content. Chicago officials released the police dash-cam video of the October 2014 fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, 17, by a Chicago police officer. The Chicago Tribune edited this version only for length. (Chicago Police Dept./Handout)

Officers at the scene wrote reports that, to put it charitably, don't square with the video: McDonald was acting "crazed;" he was shot as he "swung (a) knife toward the officers in an aggressive manner;" McDonald, with a knife in his hand, "raised his right arm toward Officer Van Dyke as if attacking Van Dyke;" McDonald "fell to the ground but continued to move, attempting to get back up, with the knife still in his hand."

So it's worth asking: Why has it taken so long to begin an investigation of the officers who wrote the reports? It can't be that the facts are complicated. The falsity of the reports is obvious to anyone in a position to watch the video.

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But for 18-plus months, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez let this matter ride. In May, Alvarez recused herself from any prosecutions related to McDonald's death. Since then, we have been anxiously waiting to learn whom the Cook County judiciary will name to take over this prosecution. Inaction continues as the weeks roll by.

If the police officers who wrote these false accounts had had their way, future generations would view Laquan McDonald as a violent aggressor who brought about his own death in the course of a criminal attack on officers. Based on the false reports, police supervisors initially ruled the homicide justifiable. Absent the video, the reports of sworn members of the Chicago Police Department would have continued to be accepted as the "truth" about McDonald's death, no serious questions asked.

Lies in police reports sometimes persist for decades. For many confessions that notorious police Cmdr. Jon Burge and his men elicited with torture, there were police reports and courtroom testimony confirming that the confessions were "voluntary." The phony official versions kept dozens of men unjustly in prison for years.

Lies in official police reports are the instruments by which police misconduct is concealed and denied. Official lies tear at the fabric of our community. They fuel frustration and breed despair. In a different way, the blatant efforts to cover up the way Laquan McDonald died are as horrific as the homicide itself.

McDonald's homicide laid bare a host of deep problems in the Chicago Police Department: an ineffectual disciplinary system, a pervasive police code of silence and a culture of racism, among others. McDonald's homicide is our city's teachable moment. If, as it appears, Chicago police initiated a cover-up of a police-related murder, then Cook County officials have no business sitting idle. Our criminal justice system should respond to alleged official wrongdoing  swiftly and decisively.

Locke E. Bowman is executive director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center at Northwestern University School of Law. He is one of the lawyers representing the petitioners for appointment of a special prosecutor in connection with the Laquan McDonald shooting.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who Donald Trump just announced as his running mate, is not just a good choice. He's about the best choice Trump fans could hope for  at least based on what we know about the Indiana governor so far.

The Republican Party remains divided, with many party actors, including high-profile politicians, rejecting the reality-star nominee. So divided, in fact, that it seemed possible that Trump might be stuck with a scandal-ridden, unpopular retread (such as Newt Gingrich or Chris Christie) or some obscure figure without any obvious presidential credentials. Instead, with Pence, he winds up with someone who wouldn't have been a surprising choice for Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio or Scott Walker, if one of them had been the Republican nominee.

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I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2016

Pence will bring to the ticket both conventional qualifications for office (he served six terms in the House of Representatives, and was elected governor in 2012) and a record as a solid mainstream conservative. Very few Republicans will likely have any significant problems with him on any major policy question. If the main electoral imperative in running-mate selections is to Do No Harm, Pence appears to fit the bill.

Yes, Pence has opposed several of Trump's signature positions, including on trade. That's to be expected for any mainstream conservative Trump might have picked. There's no evidence voters care about such things.

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Moreover, for Republicans who are skeptical of Trump but open to being reassured that he'd be a normal Republican president, Pence is about as good a signal as Trump could possibly send. And for the media and anyone else looking for evidence that Trump could act responsibly in office, Pence would fill that role.

This is especially true when you compare Pence with the other finalists for the job. Gingrich is unpopular, has a history of scandals, and proved himself awful at governing when he was House speaker for a brief period.

Christie is unpopular in his home state and still has the bridge scandal kicking around. He also, fairly or not, acquired a reputation over the last few months as a spineless lackey for Trump, an image that would have reinforced the impression that Trump couldn't deal with independent politicians.

Pence, by contrast, endorsed Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination. In choosing him, Trump pays lip service at least to uniting the party. Granted, it's normal for a presidential nominee to give those assurances, but it's a "normal" Trump has repeatedly fallen short of (such as in his continued attacks on New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association).

The necessary caution with Pence is that the national media has not closely scrutinized him, so we won't know yet what they and the Hillary Clinton campaign might turn up on him. And, no, Trump's campaign can't be trusted to have done a thorough job of vetting, even after hiring experienced Republican operatives for that purpose. And we don't know how Pence would actually perform on the campaign trail. Fellow Hoosier Dan Quayle looked OK on paper before he was selected, but he quickly turned out to be a dud.

Some pundits thought Gingrich would be a stronger veep choice, because Gingrich  glib and shameless  would be unbridled at defending Trump. But that gets it all wrong. As I've said, the question isn't about how the running mate does at defending the nominee. It's whether the nominee has to defend the running mate. Based on what we know so far, Pence would need less defending than Trump's other top options.

Bloomberg View

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist covering U.S. politics.
Dr. Francis Townsend, from left, the Rev. Gerald Smith and Father Charles Coughlin are shown at the convention in Cleveland in July 1936. (ACME)

With many voters desperate for an alternative to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, it should be noted that third parties can generate more heat than light.

Case in point: the run-up to the 1936 presidential election, when a handful of political oddballs formed the Union Party and proceeded to demonstrate how wondrously inappropriate the name was. The problem was that the only thing they shared was a loathing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was up for re-election. Beyond that, their egos took over, and they spent less energy supporting the candidate they'd chosen than bad-mouthing one another.

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"It used to be that first Gen. (Hugh Samuel) Johnson would shout invectives against Huey Long and Father (Charles) Coughlin," the Tribune's "A Line O' Type Or Two" columnist observed in March 1935. "Then Father Coughlin would excoriate Gen. Johnson. Then Huey Long would leap up and tear the hides off everybody and everything. But now they all talk at once and the air is so full of fur it's hard to make out what any of them are saying."

Hugh Samuel Johnson, a retired general and a Roosevelt adviser, symbolized everything the Union Party's founders thought was wrong in Washington.

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Each of the founders had his own interests.

Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest who had a popular radio show, had supported FDR four years earlier with the slogan "Roosevelt or Run." Breaking with the president, he rephrased it as "Roosevelt and Ruin." Coughlin, who was based near Detroit, also preached that the Jews were the cause of the country's ills  which in those Depression years were considerable.

Louisiana Sen. Huey Long, circa 1935. (ACME)

Long was a flamboyant Louisiana senator who was nicknamed "The Kingfish" and dreamed up a third-party run against Roosevelt. During one of his famed filibusters, Long took minutes off the clock by bringing a frying pan into the Senate and demonstrating how to cook lobsters, Louisiana-style.

Long created a rival to Roosevelt's New Deal and called it the "Share Our Wealth" movement. It advocated soaking the rich and giving all families a guaranteed annual income of $2,000. Long's motto was "Every Man a King," and he sold it with a folksy delivery that belied the virtual dictatorship he'd created in Louisiana. He also could be eloquent on the stump.

Addressing a crowd of poor farm families in 1928, he said: "Where are the schools that you have waited for your children to have, that have never come? Where are the roads and highways that you send your money to build, that are no nearer now than ever before? Where are the institutions to care for the sick and disabled? Your tears in this country have lasted for generations. Give me the chance to dry the eyes of those who still weep here."

In August 1935, Long announced his candidacy for president  hedging it with enough "ifs" that he could drop out should he judge it wasn't his year. He never had to make that decision. On Sept. 8, he was shot by an assassin, the son-in-law of a political enemy; he died two days later.

At Long's side was the Rev. Gerald L.K. Smith, a Protestant minister who doubled as a Long bodyguard. At Long's memorial, Smith said The Kingfish's last words were: "God, don't let me die. I have so much to do." That electrified the enormous crowd, and Smith took over the "Share Our Wealth" movement.

The final member of the Union Party triumvirate was Dr. Francis Townsend of California, who had attracted an audience of senior citizens by advocating old-age pensions, akin to Roosevelt's Social Security system. His followers were organized into Townsend clubs, whose 5 million members were the potential foot solders of a third party.

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For months after Long's death, Smith, Coughlin and Townsend warily circled each other, like boxers feeling out their opponents. Finally they agreed that the candidate of the Union Party would be William Lemke, a U.S. Congressman from North Dakota. His problem was that he paled next to the party's flamboyant founders.

Congressman William Lemke, Union Party candidate for president, attracts an attentive audience in Milwaukee in 1936. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)

In July, he came to Chicago for a Union Party meeting with Smith and Townsend. The Tribune described him as having "reclined shoeless last night on a hotel bed and expounded his views, which were interrupted now and again by political oratory of the Rev. Mr. Smith who is trying to fill the late Huey Long's boots as oracle of the Share-the-Wealthers."

Still, Coughlin was confident the party would win. He forecast that neither Roosevelt nor Kansas Gov. Alf Landon, the Republican candidate, would have a majority in the Electoral College. That would throw the election into the House of Representatives, where Coughlin said Lemke would win.

His associate Townsend couldn't devote himself full-time to fulfilling Coughlin's rosy prediction. His schedule was complicated by legal problems. Charges of financial irregularities had brought Townsend a contempt of court citation.

Townsend had been accused of fraud by an ousted regional leader of his organization, who demanded an accounting of $1 million allegedly missing from the organization's funds. Eventually, a judge postponed the case "to allow Dr. Townsend to keep speaking engagements in New England."

Coughlin, too, had other things on his mind. He was under fire for politicizing his pulpit. When Coughlin's superior went to Rome, he told the press he would answer prelates asking "what all the hullabaloo is about" by painting "a pretty picture of what Father Coughlin was doing."

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Throughout the campaign, accusations of infidelity were exchanged by party factions. A vice president of Townsend's organization denounced Coughlin for attacking Roosevelt, whom he called a communist. That forced Townsend to say that the vice president would resign "in the near future."

In the midst of the infighting, party activists had to acknowledge that their chances of winning were slim. Calling Lemke "not the best man in the nation," Townsend announced he would vote for Landon. He justified that by saying that a second term for Roosevelt would be "the most disastrous thing that would happen to the nation."

The voters didn't think so. Roosevelt won by an enormous margin. As third parties often do, the Union Party finished third. Yet it wasn't alone in misjudging the public's mood. The Literary Digest magazine announced Landon would win, based on a survey of people such as its readers  a classic sampling error that caused the upscale publication to fold, just as the Union Party soon did.

rgrossman@chicagotribune.com
In the early days of his candidacy for president, Donald Trump earned the nickname "Sideshow Donald." No more.

The presumptive Republican nominee is the main event at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off Monday. Barring an overthrow of the convention nomination process from Republicans who oppose his candidacy, Trump will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night center stage at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

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The bombastic real estate mogul doesn't have the experience or intellect to be president. He has offered empty and offensive policy proposals  big applause lines on the campaign trail but alarmingly incoherent as a governing philosophy. He has promised to build "a great, great wall" with a "big, very beautiful door" on the nation's southern border  and to make Mexico pay for it. He's mocked U.S. Sen. John McCain's service as a prisoner of war, ridiculed a disabled reporter, alluded to another journalist's menstrual cycle, disparaged rival Carly Fiorina's appearance and demonstrated a frighteningly shallow understanding of international affairs.

All of that explains the continued rumblings of mutiny within the Republican Party. It also explains why Trump is the millstone that Democratic campaign operatives want to tie around the necks of down-ballot Republicans across the country.

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(Scott Stantis)

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this month launched a national ad campaign that targets vulnerable Republicans  including U.S. Rep. Robert Dold, who represents Illinois' 10th District  by linking them to Trump.

"Whether House Republicans stand with Donald Trump or refuse to stand up to him, the point is the same: They are putting their party over our country and have betrayed the values and standards that Americans hold dear," U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who is the DCCC chairman, said of the ads.

Yes, Trump casts a long shadow. But the ads are a stretch, especially in Dold's case.

Dold has said forthrightly and repeatedly that he would not support Trump and would likely write in a candidate for president in November. He's not alone. The Cook Political Report found that incumbents in tight re-election campaigns are more likely to distance themselves from Trump than those in safe districts. Dold's seat is among the most hotly contested nationwide.

Democrats would also like to catch Republican congressional candidate Tonia Khouri in the Trump will-she-or-won't-she trap. Khouri, a Republican running in the 11th Congressional District against Democratic incumbent Bill Foster, hasn't taken the bait. But really, who cares? Does it matter how often or how loudly candidates repudiate Trump?

Guilt-by-association tactics are a tried-and-true campaign strategy. Smearing a candidate through alleged connections is a cheap pivot away from the nation's pressing problems  stagnant wages, out-of-control debt, civil unrest, terrorist threats here and abroad, the potential of a nuclear Iran, to name a few. Where a candidate stands on those issues ought to be far more important to voters than whether the candidate openly denounces Trump.

Republicans are in a tricky spot, and the DCCC is trying to exploit it. As much as they might like to distance themselves from Trump, Republicans know that if their presidential candidate loses badly, he could take others with him. Democrats benefit if Republican voters stay home. That's the dilemma GOP leaders face when deciding whether to endorse Trump. It's the same dilemma faced by candidates who are goaded to denounce him.

Last month, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk caved to pressure from his Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who'd criticized him for saying he'd support whomever the GOP nominated for president. Kirk's campaign released a statement saying Trump didn't have the temperament to be president.

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Sen. Mark Kirk, speaks to his supporters after he was declared a winner in his primary against James Marter, in his HQ in downtown Chicago, Tuesday March 15, 2016. Kirk will face Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth in the Nov. 8 election. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

But Kirk had kind words for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a former House colleague tapped Friday as Trump's vice presidential pick. That's all it took. Duckworth's defenders sliced into Kirk, Trump and Pence in a guilt-by-association tirade.

Are Kirk's views on Trump or Pence a top priority for voters? No. Kirk vs. Duckworth is one of the most heated races in the country. It could determine whether Republicans keep their grip on the U.S. Senate or lose it to Democrats. Voters should be learning the candidates' positions  on trade, immigration, spending, entitlement reform 

We can spend these final months grilling candidates about their ties, real or imaginary, to Trump. Or we can spend the rest of the campaign season focusing on issues that separate and distinguish those running for office.

Trump will have his moment this week at the convention. It seems likely he'll appear at the top of the ticket. Leave him there.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
People place flowers on the Promenade des Anglais at the scene of Thursday's truck attack, prior to a minute of silence in Nice, southern France, Monday, July 18, 2016, to honor the victims of the Bastille Day attack. (Claude Paris / AP)

Sept. 11 will mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks that shook this country and bombastically exposed a war that one side already had been waging for decades. It is a war without obvious end. Thursday night's murderous rampage in Nice, France, by an armed man in a truck was the lunatic act of an individual  and another battle in that war, which pits the civilized world against the forces of terror.

It's a shock to think how long this era of mayhem has lasted: America fought in Vietnam for a decade, and won World War II in less than four years.

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Yet the West's war on terror endures. Terror attacks that started in the late 1960s and early 1970s gradually intensified, and should have provoked a muscular response. Mostly, though, Western governments repeatedly cleaned up the damage as best they could and looked away. Until 9/11.

The battlefields of the past year span the globe: from Iraq and Syria, where a U.S.-led coalition targets the asymmetrical army of Islamic State, to Paris, where an organized cell of Islamic State adherents killed 130 people. The trail leads to America, too  to San Bernardino, Calif., where a married couple killed 14, and Orlando, Fla., where an apparent Islamic State sympathizer murdered 49 people in a dance club.

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Fifteen years. Numerous foes, including al-Qaida and its offshoots. Hundreds of terrorist attacks against innocent people worldwide, from Baghdad and Istanbul to Fort Hood, Texas. The victims have been shot, blown up by suicide bombers, beheaded, stabbed, murdered by airplanes used as missiles and now run down with a truck  all with what aim in mind? To sow fear, express anger. To murder and maim, using a twisted view of religion as motivation.

If there was any hope for Americans that living with the security precautions of our age guarantees some level of protection against another 9/11-style jihadi attack, the recent incidents, including San Bernardino and Orlando, show how vulnerable citizens remain. Obvious targets like the air transportation system can be fortified. But a committed villain can strike almost anywhere, anytime. Randomness can be as fearsome a weapon as a rifle. The carnage in Nice is another reminder of that.

Video from a witness shows the white truck that killed 84 people in Nice, France, July 14, 2016, when it plowed through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day. (Richard Gutjahr / ARD - Public German TV) (Chicago Tribune)

French authorities say the Bastille Day attack fits the pattern of a terrorist act, though the investigation is still in its early stages. The perpetrator, a Tunisian living in France, barreled his truck along a seaside boulevard filled with spectators for an evening fireworks show. He died in a gun battle with police. Did he have ties to a terror group? We'll see.

Is there an appropriate response for Americans beyond wondering what the world has come to? There is. It's to condemn the evildoers and commit to defeating them. A small part of that is recognizing that the fight against radicalism will last a lot longer than any of us may have anticipated.

In 2016, the focal point of Islamist extremism is Islamic State and its sympathizers. Before that group there was al-Qaida and its affiliates, which remain active. There will be others, and there will be copycats. It will take years, in all likelihood, to wipe out Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It will take longer, perhaps decades, to extinguish global extremism.

Stamping out a cancerous ideology requires focus and patience and resolve. There is a long road ahead before peace returns. This is what the marauding slaughter in Nice teaches us.

Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
A Chicago man has been charged with robbing a 25-year-old Aurora man at gunpoint during a drug deal in March in Aurora, according to police.

Donnie Davis, 43, of the 7200 block of South Philipps Street, Chicago, was arrested Tuesday and charged with armed robbery, according to Aurora police reports.

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Davis allegedly stole $300 in cash at gunpoint from a 25-year-old man he knew at about 12:40 p.m. March 29 during a drug transaction inside the other man's home in the 100 block of North Kendall Street, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said in an email.

Davis was arrested Tuesday in the 800 block of John Street, according to Aurora police reports.

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He is scheduled to appear next at 9 a.m. July 29 in Kane County Circuit Court in St. Charles.

Davis pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges in April 2015, but was sentenced to 25 days in county jail plus 12 months of conditional discharge, Kane County records show.

He was sentenced to six years in state prison for 1991 charges of aggravated battery with a firearm, records show.

In 1990, he was sentenced to three years is prison for felony burglary and possession of burglary tools.

He has also previously been convicted of home invasion, possessing or selling a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor marijuana possession, records show.

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
Aurora University students Erica Brown, left, and Christine Williams, right, will be going to the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, respectively. (Erica Brown/David Sharos / Handout)

Two Aurora University students will get a taste of real-world politics by attending the upcoming Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Christine Williams, 19, of Chicago, double majoring in political science and business administration, and Erica Brown, 21, of Pontiac, majoring in criminal justice and minoring in homeland security and psychology, will get a chance to be at the conventions as part of a program through the Washington Center  an independent, nonprofit organization that offers students opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C., for academic credit.

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"This is the first time we've been invited to send students here from Aurora University, and we couldn't be prouder," said Alicia Cosky, dean of faculty development. "We received a brochure from the Washington Center, and a faculty member from the history department worked with me and organized a small committee for the nominating process. It was something that fell into my lap, and I couldn't be happier."

Cosky said faculty members nominated a pool of about 40 students to attend the Washington Center's National Political Convention Academic Seminar. Based on essays submitted and feedback from faculty, Williams and Brown were chosen, Cosky said, because of "the reasons they gave for wanting to go."

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"These two students really stood out, and we had some concerns about Christine, given she's only 19, but after speaking to some faculty members, we were convinced she'd do great," Cosky said.

Cosky shared Williams' application letter, which speaks of her desire to break away from the environment where she grew up.

"When I first saw the message about the opportunity to attend the National Convention, my eyes got big and so did my heart," Williams wrote. "I did not grow up around politics, nor was I born into a political family. I actually come from the Austin neighborhood, where opportunities are limited for those living there. Many people from this neighborhood end up going to jail, getting killed, or experiencing harsh remarks from people who did not quite understand the boundaries that were set in the community."

Williams, who spoke by phone from Philadelphia, said she has never ridden in a plane in her life and specifically asked to go to the Democratic Convention "so I could travel farther from home than Cleveland."

"I've received credentials to work in the access hall and plan to see Hillary (Clinton)," Williams said. "My goals are to find out more about the political process and connect with people across the country in the hopes of building lifelong friendships. I'm actually hoping to run for political office someday."

Brown's essay spoke about her desire to be a police officer and learning more about the political system.

"My intention is to serve a community by becoming a police officer in the western suburban Chicagoland area," Brown wrote. "I want to attend the Republican National Convention academic seminar to deepen my understanding of America's political processes and better prepare myself to provide the highest level of service possible to the citizens I will serve in the future."

Brown said in addition to the convention, students in the program at either convention must attend classes during the day, interview six people, complete daily journals, write two essays and share their experiences with students on campus later this year.

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"I've taken classes in homeland security and intelligence and terrorism and hope to interview someone from the Secret Service," Brown said. "In our journals, we have to analyze and connect the day's events. During the academic seminars, we learn about U.S. politics  how the election process operates and why it's a big deal. I got my placement notification, and I'm going to be working in the security aspect for my field work."

Neither student expressed any strong leaning toward the presumptive candidate for either party. Brown said throughout her life she has leaned more toward the Republican side but that she remains "undecided, and my decision is often about if I like the person or not."

Williams reiterated she "did not grow up in a political family" but indirectly gave a nod to Clinton.

"There are a lot of things about the political process and candidates I'm not sure about, but I think it would be nice to have a female president," she said.

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
The West Aurora School Board has approved the sale of the 80 S. River St. property to the city of Aurora. (Steve Lord / The Beacon-News)

The city of Aurora and the West Aurora school board made moves recently toward finalizing the land-swap deal between them and Dreyer Medical Clinic.

Aldermen on the City Council finance committee have recommended a development agreement between the three entities. The agreement will be the final step toward a deal where the West Aurora School District ends up with the former Dreyer Medical Clinic building at 1870 W. Galena Blvd., and the city ends up owning the building at 80 S. River St., where West Aurora's administration building was for 92 years.

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The building at 1870 W. Galena Blvd. will end up as the early childhood development center for West Aurora schools. It will be part of a three-building campus that also includes a new administration center for the school district and a technical education center.

West Aurora is paying $600,000 for the former Dreyer building, a reduced rate from the market cost. To make up for some of that reduced cost, Dreyer will get $150,000 in tax rebates.

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The West Aurora school board has approved its participation in the deal, as well as the sale of the 80 S. River St. property to the city. With the unanimous recommendation by the finance committee, the full City Council will consider the measure in about two weeks.

"This is the culmination of the arrangement made in November 2015," said Bill Wiet, Aurora's chief development officer.

West Aurora already has moved into its new administration center at 1877 W. Downer Place, just to the south of the former Dreyer building.

It all became possible after Dreyer, part of the Advocate Health system, moved into its new 75,000-square-foot facility at 2285 Sequoia Drive on the northwest side of Aurora.

Aurora officials hope they will not own the 80 S. River St. property for long. They are marketing it for redevelopment in a part of town that has undergone significant changes. It sits near the new Aurora Public Library downtown, and along River Street, which recently was reconfigured as part of its conversion to two-way traffic.

Also, there are several redevelopment plans percolating about two blocks south in an area expected to become a new historic district, city officials said.

slord@tribpub.com
A month and a week after Yorkville police began investigating the possible theft of as much as $200,000 from the Kendall County Food Pantry, the nonprofit is making big changes

A month and a week after Yorkville police began investigating the possible theft of as much as $200,000 from the Kendall County Food Pantry, the nonprofit is in the process of some big changes.

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The panty is accepting a proposal from a group of prominent community leaders to immediately assume the administration of what will soon be called the Kendall County Community Food Pantry, the organization announced Friday.

Greg Witek, the Little Rock-Fox fire chief and KenCom executive board chairman, will also lead the new 12-member board.

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The old board, which handled finances, is the part of the food pantry's operation that is facing potential legal trouble, Witek said. In order to ensure the pantry's services remain untouched, the current board accepted the proposal from the newly-forming corporation to take over its operations.

"Any legal troubles that pop up will be attached to the previous corporation, which won't be running the food pantry at that point," Witek said. "It's a way for the old board and the new board to carefully insulate the part of the food pantry that serves the public."

The future board doesn't yet have plans to replace Maria Spaeth, who resigned as the pantry's executive director in June. Spaeth died of a prescription drug overdose weeks after she resigned, according to the DeKalb County Coroner's Office.

Spaeth's husband, Ken Spaeth, resigned from his position as treasurer for the pantry on the same day as his wife, June 7, a pantry official said.

In the meantime, Jeff Young, who teaches eighth-grade social studies at Yorkville Middle School  but lives in Naperville  has served as the pantry's interim director during what was supposed to be his summer break. He's optimistic about the new leadership, and plans to keep volunteering and bringing his students in to help sort cans and other goods.

"It's hard to argue with these credentials," Young said.

The new leaders will implement new legal, accounting, and accountability systems, according to a news release.

Besides Witek, Kendall County Community Food Pantry Board members will include Dwight Baird, Kendall County sheriff; Rick Bill, Operations Management, Kendall County Food Pantry; Stan Free, executive vice president, First National Bank; Gail Johnson, Oswego village president; Jackie Kowalski, Millbrook village president; Fred Kreinbrink, operations manager, City of Naperville Electric; Becky Morphy, board chair, Fox Valley YMCA; Larry Nelson, CEO of Nelson Multimedia and KenCom Finance chairman; Tandy Pinter, Operations Management, Kendall County Food Pantry; Steve Steinwart, president, Meadowvale Dairy; and Grant Wegner, retired chief judge and counsel to Mahoney, Silverman & Cross Law Firm, according to the news release.

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"We are excited and proud that such a prestigious group of community leaders have taken on the very urgent cause of food assistance for our community and look forward to finalizing the transfer of pantry operations," reads the news release. "Changes to the website, social media pages and more will be coming in the near future."

The name change was technically necessary to establish a new nonprofit, but the past and future boards made the change as slight as possible, and are tweaking the logo just enough so that people don't think the services the pantry provides will be any different, Young said.

"That was the only way we could get a clean break and still maintain the current feel for clients and volunteers," Young said.

The pantry listed $404,801 in revenue and $336,635 in expenses for the 2014 calendar year, according to a Form 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

Although the pantry hasn't lost any significant donors and has kept up its services in the wake of the police investigation, the inner turmoil hasn't been easy on its volunteers.

"The whole thing has been traumatic," Young said. "Especially when it first broke, no one knew what was going on. You hear about a search warrant. You hear about stuff like that, you need some representation."

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He, and other volunteers, have also struggled to come to terms with the death of a long-time colleague and friend.

"No matter what, Maria Spaeth did a lot of good things in the community," Young said. "Every day I go around with this disbelief, anger, remorse and then sorrow and then it starts again with disbelief. Part of this will affect me, and I'm sure other people, other volunteers feel the same way, for certainly a very long time."

From what Young can gather, the theft is related to someone using pantry funds to pay bills that were not pantry bills, he said. His feelings about that are almost impossible to explain, he said.

"This is a gut-wrenching thing to go through," Young said. "Those emotions become very confusing."

Tax forms state the organization is run by 90 volunteers.

The pantry has never had a paid employee, and there are no plans to start, Witek said. Yorkville police have assured Witek that no volunteers currently involved with the pantry are implicated in their investigation, he said.

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The Spaeths resigned the day before school let out for the summer, which is the only way Young was able to step in when he did, he said. Especially since Maria Spaeth's death, Young has concentrated on pushing aside the things he's upset about and make sure he's doing everything he can to help move the pantry forward, he said.

"It became tunnel vision for me," Young said. "The goal was to keep the pantry running, open and servicing the community and that's a great cause. I just put my focus in a tunnel."

But he placed the most credit on the pantry's volunteers, who have pushed through whatever emotions they are experiencing to make sure people who need food get it.

"I am personally humbled by the strength and compassion of this fine group of citizens," Young said. "Our donors and our volunteers who work so hard to fight hunger in our community. People stepped up."

hleone@tribpub.com

Twitter @hannahmleone
A kayaker navigates his way through a course on the Fox River in Yorkville that was part of the Ribs on the River and Illinois Whitewater Fest Saturday. (David Sharos, The Beacon-News)

Yorkville transformed itself into "Porkville" Saturday as the annual Ribs on the River & Illinois Whitewater Festival took over the city's riverfront.

"Today we're celebrating all things pork  which isn't far from 'York'  so why not just have fun with it for a day?" said Shay Remus, the city's superintendent of recreation.

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Ribs on the River, a summer celebration involving food, beer, cardboard boat races, children's activities and music, dovetailed nicely with kayaking events held on the Fox River, which Remus said draws "white water enthusiasts from all over the country."

In years' past, home cooks would square off against one another in a rib cook-off, but this year the Knights of Columbus are handling all of the food and they're showcasing a new restaurant as well.

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"We also have a newly opened business named Southbank Original Barbecue, which will be offering a rib sampler to visitors," she said.

Those who turned out for the ribs Saturday afternoon seemed about even with those trying their hand at navigating the whitewater course on the river.

John Konecny and his son Zakary, 14, of Yorkville, said they have been coming to the fest annually for years.

"I really like supporting the Knights of Columbus, and the music and the food here are good," John Konecny said. "There used to be multiple rib makers here, but these are good, too."

Konecny said he owns a kayak but has yet to try it out in whitewater portion of the event. His son said he has no problem tagging along with dad, but also likes checking things out with his pals.

"My friends usually come here and we hang out," he said. "Sometimes we go out in the river with lifejackets on since it's really shallow here and you can walk."

Melanie Hamilton, of Geneva, said she came to see her daughter lead a Tae Kwon Do demonstration but had other things on her mind as well.

"I love ribs," Hamilton said without any qualms. "I plan to spend the entire day as it's beautiful outside and this is a great thing for families."

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Jim and Janet Boe, formerly of Naperville and now living in Yorkville, chose a table overlooking the Fox River. Jane Boe described the setting as "beautiful" and said she likes the small town environment.

"Ribfest in Naperville was a much bigger thing when we lived there, but I like having these small-town, community-based sort of events," she said.

Brian Lemmon and his wife Jessica, of Burlington, brought their son Bodie, 7, along for some fun on the river.

Brian Lemmon said he took a few lessons at a local kayak shop but this would be the first time he has tried competing.

"There were about 14 gates you had to go through, and I don't know what my time was yet," he said. "I'm guessing I was in there maybe three to four minutes. I think I need to work more on my 'surfing,' which is what you see guys doing when they first come out of the gate."

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Upset over the recent fatal shooting of Dallas police officers, Yazmin Cohns, 10, wanted to do something to help their families.

So, the Park Forest girl set up a Kool-Aid stand on two recent afternoons when temperatures were around 90 degrees.

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She raised $50 after offering Kool-Aid for 25 cents a cup.

"All of the money I raised will be going to the Dallas families," Yazmin said.

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Like Yazmin, a couple of other Park Forest youngsters also were moved by the shootings. They also set up refreshment stands to raise money for the officers' families, Park Forest officials said.

The youngsters raised similar amounts of money, said Park Forest Police Chief Pete Green.

Green said police appreciate the children's efforts.

"This shows that people really appreciate what we do," said Green, who added that his department would make sure the donations get to Dallas.

On July 7, Micah Xavier Johnson shot a group of people, killing five police officers and injuring seven other officers. Two civilians also were injured. The incident ended after police detonated a bomb, killing Johnson, who was reportedly angry over police shootings of black men.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"(Yazmin) saw this on the news and immediately she was incredibly concerned," recalled the girl's grandmother, Anita Cohns. "When Yazmin heard this story, she had difficulty understanding what was going on and why someone would do such a terrible thing. She asked us a bunch of questions on what was happening and why. Any time a child reaches out to you for an explanation, it is extremely touching. You know that what happened really affected them."

Aside from her grandmother, Yazmin lives with her father, Rodney, and her sister, Ashley, 3.

Yazmin set up the stand just outside their home on the 500 block of Wildwood.

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"We started out very early in the afternoon, so it was slow at first, but as the time progressed, we got a lot more customers," said Cohns about the first day of the fundraiser. "Everyone who stopped also gave more than the requested amount of 25 cents, which was really nice of them. Some cars even parked and stopped just to donate money to the cause."

Cohns said she was "extremely proud" of her granddaughter's efforts.

"(Yazmin) is very helpful in every aspect of her life and always looking for ways to help other people," she said.

Kelly White is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Cook County Sheriff's police hosted a camp Thursday for about 35 children from Robbins, Posen and Ford Heights. Through an organization called CircEsteem, the kids learned self-esteem building skills through circus activities. (Cook County Sheriff's Office / Daily Southtown)

Against the backdrop of a country dealing with a variety of issues related to the relationship between police and minorities in the wake of a few high-profile shootings, a few dozen children from Robbins, Posen and Ford Heights spent Thursday having fun with the Cook County Sheriff's police.

About 35 kids, ages 8 to 14, participated in a free field trip to the CircEsteem program offered to at-risk youth by the Cook County Sheriff's Office, according to press secretary Sophia Anasari. Circus-related activities were used to build self-esteem.

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According to the website http://www.circesteem.org, the mission of the group since 2001, "has been to unite youth from diverse, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds and to help them build self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice of circus arts."

Some of the skills taught included juggling, trapeze, a gym wheel and a yo-yo-type juggling prop called a "diablo."

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One 9-year-old girl said she was afraid to try the activities because she thought she couldn't do them, according to Sgt. Tangenise Porter, the youth services director.

"She tried all four, and did pretty well," Porter said. "She felt good about it."

The program stems from an ongoing truancy initiative, Porter said. A few years ago, sheriff's police began "knocking on doors" in Robbins to reach parents and teachers in an effort to understand the obstacles keeping children from attending school. As a result, attendance started increasing, she said.

Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"We decided to reward them with a leadership academy camp," which teaches life application skills, conflict resolution and critical thinking, she said.

Because the students who attended did very well, the sheriff introduced Camp Nabad, a week-long summer camp of field trips, including the trip to CircEsteem, which was held at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago. Children are able to take the skills they learn from the leadership camp and apply them to Camp Nabad, Porter said.

"We don't want to see them once and that's it," she said.

The Sheriff's Office offers activities about every three months in order to "develop relationships with guys on patrol who are out in those areas where we are responsible for policing," she said.

When the youths have problems, they have reached out to the police "as a resource and tool" for help, she said. However, not only the children are benefiting.

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"We learn from these young people every time we engage them," the sergeant said. "It's an opportunity for us as well. We grow from each other."

Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
These days, I wonder how south suburban residents will vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Lacking resources to conduct any scientific polling of the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the Southland, I have to rely on anecdotal evidence. This is dangerous, as you know, because the opinions of a vocal minority can skew the true feelings of the silent majority.

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I can make some assumptions. Illinois is a blue state, with Democrats holding supermajorities in the legislature. The expectation is that Illinois will safely deliver its Electoral College votes for Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

However, I still think it matters what people in the area think of the nominees and how they'll vote in the election. In the age of Facebook, people can directly influence the votes of friends and family in other states.

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The opinion of a voter in Blue Island might affect the decision of a cousin in Cleveland, Ohio  a key swing state in the upcoming election and site of this week's Republican National Convention.

A year ago, few could have imagined a ticket consisting of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president and Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate.

Years from now, historians will chronicle this fascinating chapter in American history with the clarity of hindsight. All a daily newspaper columnist can do is his best to make sense of the moment. I think it comes down to answering a simple question.

What will south suburban voters do in November?

I have good friends and family members who are die-hard Republicans. Some are entrepreneurs and small-business owners, living the American dream. They're the kind of people who always vote Republican in presidential elections.

Yet this year, I know many of them can't stand the thought of Trump as president. They join the likes of many establishment Republicans, including the former presidents Bush and 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who refuse to support their party's nominee.

Still, their anti-Hillary sentiment is strong. They despise the thought of another Clinton in the White House. They can't bring themselves to vote for either major-party candidate, but they still have options.

Some say they'll stay home and not vote at all. I don't agree with this option. I encourage everyone to vote. You have to choose, even if you aren't enthusiastic about either choice.

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Others say they'll vote for third-party or independent candidates, or write in their choice. Fair enough. I can respect that decision. I'd be interested to hear from readers considering this option. I wonder how many of these votes are really for the candidate, as opposed to protest votes against the major-party nominees.

There are plenty of other important reasons for Illinois voters to cast ballots in November. There's a tightly contested race for U.S. Senate between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Tammy Duckworth. Pending the outcome of a legal challenge, the Independent Map Amendment may appear on ballots, giving voters a chance to have a say in whether Illinois should change the way political districts are drawn.

There will be elections for the U.S. House of Representatives, the Illinois House, many seats in the state Senate and other offices. I realize many of these elections are uncontested or their outcomes are already assumed, but I believe all votes matter.

A single vote usually doesn't decide an election, but the margin of victory could influence how that candidate votes on legislation or leads while in office. Turnout might also determine the course of future elections.

I know some Democrats also refuse to vote for Hillary. I know passionate supporters of Bernie Sanders who will vote for Green Party nominee Jill Stein. I don't personally know of any Bernie backers who will vote for Trump, though I suppose it's possible.

While some will stay home and others will cast votes for different candidates, I think many voters are still struggling with the choice between Trump and Clinton.

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Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Some Trump enthusiasts like how he's a Washington outsider who speaks his mind. Many find his thoughts about immigration, national security and the economy appealing.

Clinton supporters often cite her qualifications, experience and temperament. Others will vote for her purely on the basis of her gender.

While Trump and Clinton each have supporters, I think many will cast votes against the other candidate. Trump will get votes from people who can't stand Hillary, and Clinton will receive support from voters who can't stomach the thought of Trump.

Of course, for-and-against factors are true of every election. But with the conventions coming up, and the general election less than four months away, I'd like to take the pulse of Daily Southtown readers and ask what they plan to do in November, and why.

Let me know in the comments section online or via email, snail mail or Twitter. I may use your comments in a follow-up column.

tslowik@tribpub.com

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People gather by the controversial mural painted by artist Dave Powers in Elgin last May. Many were upset by the mural which is very similar to a photograph taken in Indiana of a lynching of two black men. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Public art helps create a shared space that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also expresses the values of a community and catalyzes conversation on social issues. The visibility which allows it to perform such an important role can also provoke impassioned responses  sometimes angry, sometimes enthusiastic.

Public works of art are rarely universally admired. This is how it should be. We all interpret art differently and read different meanings into it. But how should government officials respond when a portion of a community demands the removal of a work, which  whether rightly or wrongly  they perceive as offensive? This is the question raised by the mural "American Nocturne," which had been on display for years in a plaza in downtown Elgin. Only very recently did Elgin residents find out that the group of people "American Nocturne" depicted was based on a group in a 1930s photograph of a lynching in Marion, Ind.

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Understandably, community members, who had lived near the mural unaware of its sinister subject matter, felt deceived. To them the mural became identified with its subject  the hate and violence implicit in the mob of onlookers at the lynching was not something they wanted in their midst. City officials quickly responded to public sentiment by moving the mural to a less public location. Emotions were stirred to the point that many wanted the mural destroyed. It now has been temporarily stored out of public view.

When the government is about to destroy a work of art (or at least relegate it to some locked storage space), the specter of censorship is raised as a question of law and also of policy. The legal question: Does the First Amendment permit government officials to remove public art? And the policy question: Would it serve public interest to do so?

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In this case, the city of Elgin has claimed the mural as government speech, therefore city officials can freely discriminate against the message, which it could not do if the work was private.

However, the test to classify something as government speech is not whether it is government-funded. Rather, it is whether an ordinary and reasonable observer perceives it to be an expression of the values and ideas of the government.

It is doubtful that this is the case with "American Nocturne." The mural is not associated with a government building, and its content, according to City Council member Toby Shaw, "was not discussed prior to the city contracting for the mural." The available documentation suggests the mural was entirely the expression of the artist, David Powers, and four young Judson College students who worked with him to paint the piece.

First Amendment issues aside, does the display of the mural serve the public interest? In this time of exacerbated tensions around race and police violence, should Elgin retain a public work that reminds us of the darkest and most despicable materialization of racism  a public lynching?

Let us consider the alternative: removing historic violence from public view and thereby keeping it away from contemporary public conversation. This option is unlikely to help us move forward as a nation facing deep historical wounds. And move forward we must, so we need to come to terms with the fact that seemingly normal people, less than a century ago, could watch a murder and that they could be, as mere spectators, fully complicit in that murder.

As we are witnessing via the internet, with horror, sadness and outrage, the police shootings of African-American men, the questions "American Nocturne" raises are more topical than ever. Rather than respond to the controversy with censorship, the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, now responsible for deciding the ultimate fate of the mural, should use the occasion to engage the community in an ongoing conversation about the history of racial violence and its contemporary legacy.

Svetlana Mintcheva is the director of programs for the National Coalition Against Censorship.
Jerome Murry of Elgin is sentenced to five years in prison. (Kane County State's Attorney / Handout)

An Elgin man is heading to prison for five years for his role in a 2014 gang fight, the Kane County state's attorney's office said.

Jerome M. Murry, 27, of the 200 block of Chaparral Circle, pleaded guilty in May to mob action, a class 4 felony, and was sentenced Friday by Kane County Circuit Judge Donald Tegeler, according to a news release.

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Murry's fellow gang members were leaving a store in the 100 block of Kimball Street one night in August 2014 when they got into a brief argument with two members of a rival gang, the release stated. Murry's friends left to find him and returned to the store, where a fight started, the release stated.

Tegeler cited Murry's extensive criminal history, which includes 18 convictions  three of them felonies  on a variety of violent and nuisance offenses, the release stated. He was eligible for an extended prison term because of his criminal history.

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Murry receives credit for 209 days served in custody.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
A sign belonging to the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League posted a block away from the intersection of Davis Street and Ridge Avenue in Evanston was vandalized while the group demonstrated in the area around the intersection. (Lee V. Gaines, Pioneer Press)

Motorists and others traveling through highly trafficked intersections in Niles, Evanston and Lincolnwood Wednesday passed through a gauntlet of images on poster boards purporting to show aborted fetuses in various stages of development.

The posters were part of a series of demonstrations held in the Chicago area by the Pro-Life Action League between July 8 and July 14. The rallies marked the league's 17th annual "Face the Truth Tour," and the demonstrations occurred roughly a week after the Supreme Court issued a ruling that a 2013 Texas law placed an undue burden on women trying to end a pregnancy in the state. Opponents of the Texas law said it was designed to close abortion clinics and was also medically unnecessary, while proponents argued that it was intended to protect the health of women. Following passage of the law, the number of abortion clinics in the state fell from 41 to 19.

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Executive Director of the Chicago-based Pro Life Action League, Eric Scheidler, said the recent ruling "is a signal we have a lot more work to do to education the general public."

Standing on street corners with signs claiming to show aborted fetuses is an action Scheidler said those who are disappointed with the decision from the country's highest court can take to express their "indignation at seeing democracy undermined by these unelected and life-serving judges."

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Scheidler claims that while public opinion on social issues like same-sex marriage has changed drastically in the past couple decades, Americans remain divided on abortion.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center between in March of this year found 56 percent of U.S. adults felt abortion should be legal in all or most cases. 41 percent said it should be illegal all or most of the time.

"Polling has consistently shown that 7 in 10 Americans support safe and legal access to abortion -- across all party affiliation and background," wrote, James Owens, states communication director for NARAL Pro-Choice America, a nonprofit that advocates for expanded access to abortion, in an email.

"While these rights have been under constant assault by a vocal minority that wants to impose their worldview on the rest of America, the Supreme Court and majorities of our neighbors across the country continue to side against them," Owens wrote. " I don't know anything about the protesters you saw, but I did see thousands of folks from all walks of life rally at the Supreme Court just a few months ago to support the reproductive freedom of all Americans."

Chicago resident Lydia Marie Farmer, 53, says she has demonstrated against abortion with various anti-abortion groups between 30 and 40 times over the past 16 years. Farmer stood at the corner of Ridge Avenue and Davis Street in Evanston Wednesday holding a poster nearly as tall as she is alleging to show the remains of a fetus aborted eight weeks into a pregnancy. She was flanked by roughly a dozen other people ranging in age from adolescents to senior citizens holding similar posters. Other members of the league passed out pamphlets to anyone who would accept them that included information about the league's position on abortion and a phone number for those seeking counseling from the group to call.

Farmer said that although she was raised a Christian, she was formerly pro-choice and it wasn't until she saw a televised debate between Carol Everett, founder of Texas-based Heidi Group and a Planned Parenthood representative that she changed her views. Everett advocates on behalf of the anti-abortion Farmer said she hadn't previously realized that "babies are literally babies inside our mother's wombs."

"Even as a Christian God had to change my heart about abortion," she said. Farmer, who believes abortion is wrong in all instances including rape, incest and ectopic pregnancies, said joining the anti-abortion movement has made her a more empathetic person.

"One of the misconceptions people have about this display is that it is done with aggression or anger. People who come out with a tour like this are, if anything, filled with joy," Scheidler said.

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A few motorists passing by honked their horns in support, but more often than not the reaction the group solicited was angry words shouted at the demonstrators.

A sign Scheidler posts a block away from every street corner rally warning motorists and pedestrians of "graphic abortion photos ahead" was vandalized by an unknown person who changed the message to read "grab abortion photos ahead 1$."

Scheidler said he respects members of the pro-abortion rights movement, but is dismayed by those who would poke fun at the cause.

Scheidler's 15-year-old daughter, Lucy, who also participated in the demonstration, said that although the bulk of the public reaction is often negative, she's also experienced gratitude from passersby.

"Someone did come up to me and said 'thank you for doing this.' The positive feedback keeps me going," she said.

Both Scheidler and Farmer said that while the northern suburbs of Chicago, and particularly Evanston, have historically been places where the group receives hostile feedback, that reaction has softened over the past decade.

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"We used to get a much more angry, volatile reaction than we do now," Scheidler said. "We've seen a change. People are more likely to talk rather than yell."

Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Evanston has taken another step forward in a major renovation of the Fountain Square area. (Bob Seidenberg / Pioneer Press)

The city has picked a preferred plan and put a cost on its renovation of Fountain Square, the city's town center, and areas around it.

Aldermen approved the preferred plan for the Fountain Square Renovation project at their Monday meeting and gave staff the green light to proceed with the development of contract documents for bidding.

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Officials have put a $5 million price tag on the project. Funding will be provided from the Washington National Tax Increment Finance fund, said city officials, David Stoneback, the city's public works agency director, Lara Biggs, bureau chief of city planning and city engineer, and Stefanie Levine, senior project engineer, in a memo to aldermen.

The project was initially budgeted for design and initial construction at $2 million in fiscal year 2016, they said.

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Additional funding of roughly $3 million will be needed to be budgeted in fiscal year 2017 and could be pulled from some of the city's other funds.

The preferred plan grew out of a community process where officials shared different options for renovating the Fountain Square area, which "has been the heart of downtown since 1854 and is critical to the City's identity," officials noted in their memo.

Renovations to the area are needed, with the existing plaza and fountain areas showing deterioration.

"Additionally the site's small size and configuration provide limited space and flexibility for public use, and the existing design is both outdated and generally unappealing within the context of the downtown's contemporary core," officials noted.

Improvements to the area include a zero depth water feature, etched glass Veteran's Memorial, permanent and movable seating, lighting, a new light pole and landscaping, officials said.

The project also calls for improvements around Sherman/Orrington between Grove and Davis, including "enhancing and enlarging the triangular landscape island within the block to create a flexible expanded pedestrian and shared street," officials said.

To achieve the island widening, the plan calls for the removal of one through lane of traffic on Sherman Avenue and one through lane of traffic on Orrington Avenue.

The project also includes infrastructure improvements, including replacing a 100-year-old 6-inch water main with a new 12-inch water main and the restructuring of the roadway between Church and Davis Street, officials said.

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Plans call for officials to complete design work and prepare construction documents by the end of the calendar year, bid the project for construction in early 2017 and start construction in spring 2017 as weather permits, said Stoneback. He said the hope is that the work can be largely completed in the 2017 construction season.

bseidenberg@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter @evanstonscribe
As of June 17, District 113 finally has a new superintendent.

It's been a bit of a winding road to replace George Fornero who announced his "retirement" in July 2014. In the intervening two years, the district hired a superintendent who was forced to resign and hired an interim superintendent who needed his own (brief) interim while he sorted out his Illinois license requirements.

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In the end, the school board has chosen an internal candidate who wasn't even working for the district when this whole process began.

Christopher Dignam, who served last year as Deerfield High School principal, is well suited to be the new superintendent of a district like ours. While he hasn't had previous experience in the role, prior to coming to District 113 Dignam served as principal of Lane Tech, which actually has more students than the combined enrollment of Deerfield and Highland Park.

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My first memory of Dignam came not too long after he'd been announced as the new principal of Deerfield. I was at Lane Tech for a Science Olympiad competition. At the time, I was impressed by the clear and widespread adoration the Lane Tech community showed for him at this interscholastic competition.

What impresses me the most now is that Dignam remembered that I was there when we talked more than 15 months later.

Dignam doesn't initially come across as a visionary, a stated desire by District 113 in its next superintendent. However, lurking beneath is a man with big ideas and the administrative acumen to see them successfully implemented.

Already he has begun to tackle one such area, the school calendar and school schedules. Aligning school schedules would allow the sharing of faculty members between the two schools, and would offer clear financial savings, while also doing right by those teachers. The more intriguing outcome would be the ability of students to take classes at either school.

This would allow for the further nurturing of unique Deerfield and Highland Park program identities, which Dignam supports, while not limiting interested students from the other high school.

What will be consistent across both high schools under Dignam is a commitment to 21st century education, including multidisciplinary courses, data literacy, and a firm commitment to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) education.

In education it is a prerequisite to say that you are doing something for the students, even when it's really a different party who is benefiting more. Yet when Dignam says it, it doesn't just seem like lip service. That's because he backs up his actions with a firm belief in student empowerment and voice.

It's this ability to back-up big ideas with small concrete and achievable actions that give me hope that Dignam will be able to guide our district successfully for many years to come.

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Lane Young is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.
John Wnek of Antioch helps his son, David, 11, into the Dumbo the flying elephant ride during the Antioch carnival day for children with special needs. (Sheryl DeVore, Lake County News-Sun)

Four-year-old Nathanial has epilepsy, which can't be controlled with medication. He has to wear a helmet to keep safe, and though his mom, Katie Yohe, said she'd love to take him to a fair or a carnival, she knows she can't.

Nathanial, however, attended his first carnival Friday in Antioch, where he rode a car, smiling all the while, and played a fishing game, which earned the Grayslake resident a prize and produced another smile.

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The Antioch Chamber of Commerce and a local amusement company sponsored two free hours of rides and games to give children with special needs, like Nathanial, and their families a chance to experience a carnival in a smaller, helpful and less stressful environment.

As Nathanial rode in a small car going around in circles, his mother said, "If we came to a regular carnival, there's no way he could do this."

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The amusement ride workers keep an eye on the children, added Nathanial's grandmother Bonnie Yohe. "He says 'stop' when he's done, and they stop," she said.

"This is one of the days that makes you think life is worthwhile," said Barbara Porch, the chamber's executive director, as she watched children and their families on the Ferris wheel, a small roller coaster and a flying elephant ride. At least 120 children and adults attended the carnival.

Porch was approached by All Around Amusement Inc., a Lockport-based company the chamber began working with last year to provide carnivals at its Taste of Antioch summer festival. The business offered to sponsor a free two hours for children with special needs before the regular carnival started later that day.

The company offers similar carnival days in other Chicago suburbs, and Friday's event was the first it has brought to Lake County, said Juanita Salerno, who owns the business with her husband, Robert Salerno.

Some children with special needs are unable to enjoy the carnival because of the difficulties of getting in and out of the seats quickly or because of other challenges, according to experts.

Juanita Salerno said she and her husband learned about children with special needs when their now-grown daughter, Amanda, was 3 years old and had to have blood transfusions at a hospital. Their daughter is fine now, but they didn't forget the children they met and their parents, she said.

Some children "probably never go to carnivals because it takes so long," Salerno said. Now Amanda Salerno comes to help at the events.

"You see the smiles," Amanda Salerno said. "Everything is focused on them."

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Mike Mortensen, of Lake Villa, who brought his daughter Chloe, 5, and son Cash, 3, with their grandmother, Heather Mortensen, to the carnival, said he's seen children get impatient at carnivals when they have to wait for children with special needs to get on the rides.

Chloe has a rare chromosomal disorder, is unable to talk and has trouble walking. At the Antioch carnival, the Mortensens rode the Ferris wheel together, and Chloe also caught a fish in a pond and won a prize.

"She's having a ball," Mortensen said.

Diane and John Wnek, of Antioch, have brought their twin sons, Tyler and David, 11, to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. David has cerebral palsy and is blind, John Wnek said.

It can be difficult at the amusement park, Diane Wnek said. "Some of the parents get upset and huff and puff that they have to wait," she said.

At the Antioch carnival, John Wnek took his time getting David onto the flying elephant ride, then stepped in to take the ride with him.

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"He loves this ride," Tyler said of his brother. "He likes going up and down."

John Wnek also rode the Scrambler with David.

"He loved it," Wnek said. "Dad? Not so much."

"This is really nice," he added.

Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
The GOP is getting organized for its convention in Cleveland, which begins Monday, but many Naperville Republicans are opting to stay home and put their efforts into getting the vote out for local races. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty)

Republicans from Naperville will be focusing on local elections rather than participating in their party's national convention in Cleveland this week.

None of the elected delegates for presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump hail from Naperville, nor do any of Illinois' at-large delegates. And Trump is not high on many Republicans' list for a leader.

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Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico, a Republican who welcomed Gov. Bruce Rauner to Exchange Club of Naperville's Ribfest earlier this month, said he will not vote for Trump.

"I am not a Trump supporter. I don't know what I'm going to do. I just can't vote for him," Chirico said. "I think he's too divisive. He's not, in my view, the kind of leader I want for this country. I want someone to bring our country together."

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With the ongoing racial tension in the U.S., as well as pressure against LGBT groups and other minorities, Chirico said Trump is not the man to lead.

"Some of that (divisiveness), in part, is created by strong rhetoric," Chirico said. "Having someone who is calmer can help diffuse those things."

Rather than attend the convention, many of the Republican Party faithful plan to shore up the ranks back home.

Naperville Township Republican Chairman Carl Schultz said he "mostly is concentrating local races" through grass-roots efforts. A few committeeman vacancies still need to be filled in the upcoming weeks so Republicans can begin work campaigning after the convention.

"I think it's important. There is an expectation that thousands of more people will be voting in November," Schultz said. "We had a pretty good turnout in the primaries."

He said reaching voters with one-on-one contact works far better than mailings, which can't answer voter questions.

"I certainly think people look at (fliers). ... Some read through it or save it for later, and some recycle it so it has no chance to be read," he said.

Schultz said the goal is to get voters to consider all the races on the ballot, not just the one for president.

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"Most people are going to vote on the top. We are hoping they might go all the way down the ballot," he said.

Another fear is that a dislike of both candidates might keep voters away.

Naperville Township Supervisor Rachel Ossyra said it is important that voters not stay home for November's election, even if they don't agree with the candidates at the top of the ticket. Votes still need to be cast in local races.

"Skip it and move on to the next one," Ossyra said. "There are 20 other elections on the ballot that are important."

"Your local quality of life is on the ballot," she said.

Ossyra, who was on the primary ballot as a delegate for Republican candidate Marco Rubio, said she is not supporting Trump for president.

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"I'm not going to be out campaigning for him, no," Ossyra said. "It doesn't fit my core values on many levels, in terms of diversity and policy toward people."

DuPage County Republican Chairman Brian Krajewski said don't expect the presidential candidates to view Illinois as much of a battleground compared to nearby states such as Iowa and Ohio.

On the other hand, he anticipates both parties will throw a great deal of money at the U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Mark Kirk and Democratic rival Tammy Duckworth.

"That will be an important race in Illinois. It has ramifications on who has control of the (U.S.) Senate," Krajewski said.

As far as the top of the ticket, "I am definitely supporting our presidential candidate," he said.

Krajewski, who likely won't attend the convention because of prior commitments, said Trump is getting support from an unlikely group  union workers, who traditionally vote Democratic.

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He said they philosophically side with Trump on the need for tighter U.S. security and they believe his business background will be better at turning the economy around. "For blue-collar workers, he's the candidate," Krajewski said.

He said also stressed the importance of grass-roots efforts, especially reaching the voters who have no party affiliation.

"People in the middle are who decides the races. It's the independents," he said.

The independent voters, he said, helped Barack Obama carry DuPage County in the last two elections.

"Democrats won the national level, Republicans on the local level," he said.

Krajewski said it also shows voters are happy with Republicans at the local level.

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"And that has much more impact on your everyday life," he said.

Genevieve Bookwalter contributed.

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
Naperville resident and Aurora University senior Kathryn Falcon talks with a principal from a Chicago school Friday during Golden Apple Scholars mock interviews at North Central College in Naperville. Falcon, a graduate of South Elgin High School, wants to return to Elgin School District U46 to work when she graduates. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)

College seniors studying education soon will start the process of sending out resumes and interviewing for teaching jobs in the 2017-18 school year.

More than 100 of them got a leg up on the process this week when mock interviews with administrators who might one day be interviewing them for real were held at North Central College in Naperville.

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For the past month, Golden Apple Scholars from across the state spent their mornings interning in summer school programs in Elgin, Aurora and Chicago and their afternoons at North Central learning skills that can be applied in the classroom.

Aurora University senior Kathryn Falcon said participating in the Golden Apple program has readied for what to expect and she is looking forward to student-teaching in the upcoming year.

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"College prepares you for an ideal environment. Golden Apple prepares you for the real world," the Naperville resident said.

Growing up in South Elgin and graduating from South Elgin High School, Falcon said working in a summer bridge program at a school on the south side of Chicago was a culture shock at first.

"You have to work with what you're given," she said.

Her goal is to take her degree in elementary education and minor in special education, with an English as a second language endorsement, back to Elgin School District U46.

She said former superintendent Jose Torres told her the district really likes homegrown teachers.

"I know U46; I grew up in U46. I really think I can make a difference," she said.

Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois awards scholarships to talented high school seniors and early college students who have the drive to be excellent teachers. In return, scholars sign five-year contracts to teach in high-need schools within seven years of earning an undergraduate degree and an Illinois teaching certificate.

Scholars not only receive tuition assistance up to $23,000 but 700 hours of professional development, job assistance and mentoring during the early years of their teaching careers.

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The month-long summer institute at North Central College concluded this week with mock interviews.

Jozel Shwatal, scholars program associate director, said 63 guest administrators were on hand to conduct three rounds of mock interviews with the 107 scholars. Each 20-minute session included 10 minutes for the interview and 10 minutes of feedback from the administrator.

Besides concrete feedback on ways to improve their interview skills, the scholars had the chance to talk to former Golden Apple Scholars who are now principals or in other leadership positions.

"You get to see a role model and realize, 'Wow, I could be doing that. That person had the same experience as me,'" Shwatal said.

Among the former scholars conducting interviews were Lisa Simoncelli-Bulak, principal at Benavides Kindergarten Center in Aurora, and Juan Suarez, coordinator of Title I services for Community Unit School District 300.

"I feel the Golden Apple program was a great program that sparked my passion for being a teacher," Suarez said.

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He said he finds joy sitting on the other side of the table and encouraging a new generation of teachers. "It's a way for me to give back to an organization that gave me so much," he said.

Suarez, who grew up attending District 300 schools, went to college to become a teacher so he could return to District 300. He taught English as a second language at his alma mater Dundee-Crown High School before stepping up as Title I coordinator.

Nurturing homegrown teachers who know and understand their districts is important, Suarez said.

"Our superintendent really believes in that," he said. "It's another reason to give back to my community."

Aimee Zepeda, who grew up attending Gates Elementary in Aurora, said she too wants to return to Aurora as a be a bilingual teacher when she finishes college.

"I feel like there is a much greater need in Aurora than where I live now (in Roselle)," she said.

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Zepeda said her first interview with an administrator showed a bit of a deficiency.

"I really need to get more up to date with technology," she said. "Overall, I really feel the interview process has been all very positive."

Waubonsie High School alumna Rebecca Williford, of Naperville, said was told she needed to go deeper into her responses and reflect back on situations she's experienced in the classroom. She planned to apply that first critique in her next two interviews.

"It was good to get feedback," she said.

Scholar and college graduate Madeline Collins, who took a year off to study abroad in Australia, participated in the internship and scholars' summer institute at North Central, but not the mock interviews. That's because Collins already interviewed for a job and will start teaching at Mill Street Elementary School in Naperville.

Although a bit nervous starting her career, Collins said Golden Apple prepared her well for her first teaching assignment in Naperville School District 203.

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She said she is fortunate the district also offers so much professional development for its new teachers.

"I am excited. I got to see my classroom yesterday," the future special education resource teacher said.

subaker@tribpub.com

Twitter @SBakerSun1
The first two blocks of Naperville's Riverwalk were built in 1981, a gift for the city's 150th anniversary.

That small idea did what no one could have imagined 35 years ago: It transformed a beleaguered downtown reeling from economic recession and abandoned by customers lured to the Fox Valley Mall into what is now a shopping, dining and recreational mecca. It's huge regional draw will get even larger this year with the addition of the Water Street District, a multimillion-dollar hotel/retail/dining complex now under construction.

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"There's no question (the Riverwalk) was the turnaround of downtown Naperville," said Mayor Steve Chirico of the 1.75-mile linear park. "The revival of downtown was a straight line. That was a brilliant, borderline-genius decision."

Before the Riverwalk was built, the west branch of the DuPage River was lined by a dirt path and retaining wall and surrounded by public works facilities, lumber businesses, electrical storage buildings and junkyards. Naperville leaders considered moving city hall out of downtown.

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Former Mayor George Pradel remembers using the river as a car wash in pre-Riverwalk days, when Naperville's population was a fraction of what it is today.

"We used to take our cars and drive them right there in the river and wash them," Pradel said.

Reimagining the riverfront

The landmark park also changed the life of young landscape architect Richard Hitchcock. Just 28 at the time he started working on the Riverwalk, it would end up launching a career in which he has designed similar projects around the country.

As he remembers, Naperville's riverfront at the time was "intensely ugly, and it occupied the prime real estate in town."

Hitchcock, a Naperville native, said it was a unique set of circumstances  the sesquicentennial, a recession that left out-of-work professionals with time to donate and prominent Naperville businessmen wanting to do something for the city  that helped the plan come together.

He signed on, he said, to get the professional experience he needed to start a business during a recession. Other residents donated their time laying bricks and doing other work; like Centennial Beach, built 50 years earlier, it was a project that united the community.

It helped that Naperville's population was just 26,000 and that there were fewer political regulations and required permits that might hamstring a similar effort today, Hitchcock said.

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"I was intensely interested in downtown Naperville and had this opportunity to do a cool park," Hitchcock said. "Naperville is a poster child for why intact downtowns that have some assets and have solid resources on the perimeter can flourish again."

It was 'my skyscraper'

The riverwalk's shepherd's crook light posts, brick walkways and other streetscape designs still permeate downtown, said Charles George, who served as the project's lead architect. He remembers traveling to southern Illinois and Indiana to research design ideas for the covered bridge.

Rotary Hill at the time was a mound of dirt, destined to become an overpass to relieve congestion on Washington Street, George said.

"We decided we wanted to do something and we did it," he said. "The people think of the riverwalk as their own in a personal sense because they actually worked on it."

Some architects design a skyscraper to commemorate their life's achievements, George said.

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"After 25 years, I realized my skyscraper was the Naperville Riverwalk."

The two men credited with the Riverwalk concept and making it their personal mission to see it through to completion are Chester "Chet" Rybicki, who served as mayor from 1975 to 1983, and businessman Jim Moser.

Their collaboration established a private-public partnership that raised the more than $1.5 million needed to do the initial work, including reconstructing the bulkhead wall, improving Veterans Plaza and creating a Grand Promenade.

A bronze statue of the two men was erected along the Riverwalk at Water and Main streets in 2006.

Downtown rebounds

As the years passed, urban shopping malls began falling out of popularity and shoppers began seeking out city downtowns that had a retail base of stores and restaurants, such as Naperville's. Many people lured to the Riverwalk stayed to check out the downtown, creating a customer base.

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Hitchcock said Naperville's center might have been resuscitated regardless of whether the Riverwalk was built, but there's little doubt that the waterside path sets the suburb apart.

"Would Naperville have been prosperous? I suppose so. But what would the brand be?" Hitchcock said.

Katie Wood, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance, said the Riverwalk is one part of the entire experience that makes up downtown. It helps sell the shopping/restaurant district to perspective businesses eyeing a move.

"We appeal to all age groups and all day points. We are going from early morning breakfast into the wee hours," Wood said.

In a sign of how much the riverfront landscape has changed since its junkyard days, the first phase of the Water Street District retail/restaurant complex  the centerpiece of which is the 520-room Hotel Indigo  is to open along the west branch of the DuPage this fall. Wood said she's already booked a block of rooms at the hotel for her son's upcoming wedding.

"To look out on the Riverwalk and go on a long walk in the morning ... wow," Wood said.

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gbookwalter@tribpub.com

Twitter @GenevieveBook
Vote for Independent Map

I am one of the many Illinois citizens who circulated an Independent Map petition to my friends and neighbors. Some 564,000 citizens signed the petitions, expressing their frustration that Illinois politicians in both parties have rigged the redistricting system. State politicians are clearly more interested in their own personal careers (holding on to their seats) than they are in representing the needs of the citizens and the state. It is well beyond the time to end this incumbent protection system that the politicians have created. You can help end this manipulation of the democratic process by voting for the Independent Map Amendment this fall.

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David Curtis, Naperville

Immigration must be legal

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I agree that our country was founded by, and built by, people of all nationalities, but remember those now immigrating must be here legally.

Gail Frank, Naperville

Share your views

Submit letters to the editor via email to suburbanletters@tribpub.com. Please include your name and town of residence for publication. Please include phone number and email address for confirmation. Letters should be no more than 250 words.
Phillip Brooks took first place for his fashion business during the Oak Park Library's first ever Teen Entrepreneur Academy competition July 14. (Steve Schering / Pioneer Press)

As a teen spending his summer days at the library, Phillip Brooks found just the perfect way to begin pursuing a career in fashion.

"One of the YOUMedia instructors said we could give you the resources to make your own designs," Brooks said. "From there, I made T-shirts every day. I would go places like Macy's and see the different brands, and I thought I could have a brand with my name on it right next to Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren."

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Presenting his King Wear Royal Apparel brand in front of a panel of professional judges July 14 at the Oak Park Public Library earned Brooks first prize among 11 other local teens.

"It's incredible," Brooks said after the competition. "It's really going to help me expand my brand. I plan to create a new line, and this will help with that."

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During the Oak Park Public Library's first ever Teen Entrepreneur Academy competition, the teens presented their business idea and business plan and took questions from the judges.

Tommy Pasternak, who tied for third place, presented his plan to deliver healthy meals to families in Oak Park and River Forest, which would begin with customers selecting their type of meal online.

"I would have to compete with fast food, but I think this would be a good alternative to that," Pasternak said. "I feel I can come in with this business and create meals people like."

Nadav Kertcher hopes to use his technological talents to help people save money by building and designing computers specifically for them.

"[Traditional computers] cost way more than they should," Kertcher said. "I could help them build a computer for hundreds of dollars less. I would target clients who are college students in need of a computer."

Abby Doyle brought forward her pet and child daycare service, which she says would allow parents to enjoy time away from home worry free.

"I can be like a mother's helper," Doyle said. "I would want to get toys to play with the kids and market through fliers and business cards."

Kayla Matthews and Lyla Stanislaw teamed up to propose K and L's baked treats, with the ultimate goal of opening a cafe to serve their creations. The duo was rewarded with a tie for third place.

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"They're baked goods with high quality ingredients, but at a reasonable price," Stanislaw said. "We would sell to local businesses and at the farmer's market first. We would save up for renting our own storefront."

Matthews said the duo would focus on marketing their business locally while using custom-made packaging to display their logo.

Sai Rothleutner planned to create safe spaces for black youth to spend time socializing and educating themselves.

"I would work in neighborhoods and communities with underserved black youth and operate out of a safe place like a school or a library," Rothleutner said. "I would start the business in roughly three to four years and focus on raising startup costs."

A sibling issue had Elisabetta Galavotti looking for an idea for her and her sister to share their cellphone, while also maintaining privacy for each of them.

"We'd constantly argue about apps, texts and storage," Galavotti said. "I thought to create an app where I can sign in and out different users with a passcode. It also has potential for the business world as my parents have two phones each."

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Also sticking to cellphones was Samay Velegar, who ran into a problem sharing a charger with his family during a trip to London.

"A green family phone charger can charge multiple phones at once," Velegar said. "I figured solar would be the most convenient energy source. My prototype can charge six phones at once with a main solar panel in the middle."

Jonas Polanco, who took home second place, wanted to use his experience with 3D printing to help parents create the perfect toys for their children.

"Toybot is a website where you send me your custom designs and requests," Polanco said. "I will look them over, make sure there's no flaws, model it, print it and ship it to your house. Our mission is to give customers complete control over the project."

Logan Maue saw trips to his grandfather's property as a way to appeal to those in the city looking for a little fun outdoors.

"My mission is to provide young kids the chance to see the stars," Maue said. "You bring your tent for the weekend. I want to make it where my company is eco-friendly and eventually provide activities."

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The teens met with a library representative for two hours each week for five weeks prior to the competition to help create their business plans and launch their ideas. Competitors were judged based on their creativity, product presentation, feasibility and effort put into their pitches.

sschering@pioneerlocal.com

Twitter: @steveschering
A pastor and a high-ranking Gary police officer spoke in support of an 18-year-old East Chicago man sentenced to five years July 11 for rape involving a 7-year-old.

The Rev. Edward Sims said he baptized Kioree Kayg Shermon and has known him for 13 or 14 years.

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"He's a good kid. I've watched him grow up," Sims said. Sims said his heart was heavy over the situation. He described Shermon as "a model worshipper."

"What he's charged with is not in his character," Sims said.

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Gary police Commander Kerry A. Rice said he's known Shermon for about 12 years and met him when his family rented a home from Rice. Shermon was involved in the department's Explorer program for children interested in learning more about law enforcement and was a model student, Rice said. "He's a very good kid, not in trouble," Rice said.

Rice said in his 25 years on the police force, he'd dealt with good people and bad people. "He's one of the good people," Rice said. He said the state's interest would not be best served in locking up Sims.

Deputy prosecutor Nadia Chivers challenged both witnesses. She asked Rice how often he testifies on behalf of rapists and whether he was aware Shermon admitted to forcing the 7-year-old to perform a sex act not once, but three times starting in a Merrillville home July 3, 2015.

Rice said he was aware of the allegations.

"It's beyond allegations. He admitted it," Chivers responded.

The child's mother said the crime occurred in front of a 2-year-old, and that Shermon bribed the child with a juice box and an Xbox controller. "He stole her childhood," the mother said. She questioned the long-term impact of the crime on her child.

"You don't want him to go to jail, but what about (the victim)," the mother said. "It's just sick."

Defense attorney Adrian Guzman said Shermon has strong family support and completed his high school education. Guzman said Shermon has no prior criminal record.

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Chivers said the plea agreement was the result of extensive negotiations and spared the victim from having to testify at trial.

"What you see before you is a child predator," Chivers told Lake Superior Court Judge Salvador Vasquez. Chivers said Shermon admitted to two other incidents were he propositioned the child for sex acts and called the testimony of the pastor and police officer "an embarrassment."

Vasquez imposed the sentence outlined in the plea agreement, which calls for Shermon to serve three years in the Indiana Department of Correction, followed by two years on probation.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't know if you are," Vasquez said. "You are a predator. The state is right."

Shermon had faced three to 16 years on the charge.

Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Kylie Dunlap, 14, of Crown Point, reads an something she wrote during SlamCamp, held recently at the Michigan City Public Library. (Donna Rowland / Post-Tribune)

Despite its similarity to regular school  which isn't that distant of a memory for most kids right now  students attending this summer's SlamCamp at the Michigan City Public Library, had lots of fun while reinforcing academic concepts for next school year.

"SlamCamp is a week-long program of writing, performance, music, and arts activities for middle schoolers," said Bethany Lee, co-director of the camp and assistant professor of English at Purdue Northwest.

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Sponsored jointly for the past five years by Purdue University Northwest's English Department and the Michigan City Public Library, this year's session had 29 middle-schoolers from LaPorte, Michigan City, Valparaiso, Highland, Hammond, and other Northwest Indiana cities.

SlamCamp was modeled after Chicago's annual "Louder than a Bomb" event, which brings high-schoolers together for an original slam poetry competition. Chicago poet and performance artist Kevin Coval, who coordinates that event each year, met with Lee and several others five years ago to brainstorm ways of bringing the program's success to kids in Northwest Indiana..

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Over the next few months, Lee worked with Robin Kohn, the library's public relations director, fellow PNW professor Sarah White and several student English majors to hone ideas.

"Along the way, we realized that middle-schoolers were far more underserved than high-schoolers," she said, "so we decided to target that age group. We chose to create a summer program because so much skill loss occurs with kids over the summer."

Kohn, who serves as SlamCamp's logistics coordinator, said they wanted to make it as inexpensive as possible, thus making it available to all students. In addition to PNW and the library, sponsoring organizations included the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Ivy Tech Community College, the Chancellor's Diversity Fund, and PNC's Diversity Makes a Difference Initiative.

"It's very rewarding to see a group of kids so different become a cohesive group working, laughing, having fun, but also gaining some insight to their own talents as performers and writers," Kohn said. "I'm proud to have been a part of that from its inception."

Lee said the week included a wide range of activities, including a field trip to view current exhibits at The Lubeznik Center for the Arts, language games such as Cliche Dodgeball, the writing of poems, short stories, memoir pieces and song lyrics, activities encouraging family, diversity and culture, physical and mental games like Steal the Bacon, writing crafts such as collage love poems to inanimate objects, acting improv, friendly small-group competition and reading and sharing before large groups.

"We try to keep the campers busy and constantly thinking about new ideas and things to write or create," she said, adding that campers received lunch and snacks every day, as well as a T-shirt and bag full of writing supplies.

"The week is capped off with a performance and competition event that gives campers an opportunity to meet and interact with a special speaker, as well as to share their own original writing from throughout the week, and to compete for prizes."

This year's guest speaker was Chicago poet and rapper ADD-2 who encouraged the students in their creative endeavors before presenting some of his own poetry and rap lyrics.

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"It takes a lot of bravery to be on stage with strangers," said Andre DiJuan Daniels.

Lee said many of the campers gained confidence in their writing and performance skills, while discovering the joy of writing and language over the course of the week.

"So many kids see writing as a chore, but when you come to them with more creative possibilities, they really blossom. I saw one of the younger kids who I know hasn't received much academic encouragement just light up when someone told her she'd written a good poem. She was genuinely shocked. She then wrote probably a dozen poems over the course of the next day and wanted to share them all immediately."

Lee said Northwest Indiana is full of amazing artists, musicians, actors, performers, creative writers and other talented professionals, and what they all have in common is that they are mentally engaged and active in their communities. She said she's incredibly happy to be a part of helping to continue that tradition into the next generation, "even in a very small way."

"We've had campers go on to participate in other writing and arts projects as high schoolers," she said, "and though I can't say that SlamCamp has any direct influence on those amazing kids, I feel we can at least say we once gave those campers an opportunity and an outlet to exercise those skills, if only for one week. That makes me proud."

Donna Rowland is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
A volunteer firefighter with the South Haven Fire Department has been put on unpaid leave while authorities investigate an allegedly racist post to his Facebook page.

The department learned of the post late Wednesday and the firefighter was put on leave immediately, Deputy Chief Brandon Cotton said.

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Cotton did not know how long the man had been with the department.

A Georgia resident who saw the post contacted the department, Cotton said, adding the fire department and Portage Township "absolutely do not tolerate any type of activity of this nature. We proudly represent all members of our community."

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The firefighter will remain on suspension until there is an internal review of the matter, Cotton said, and if the accusations are proven to be true, the firefighter will be terminated immediately through due process.

The Porter County Sheriff's Department has been called in to assist with the investigation. Sgt. Jamie Erow, the department's public information office, said their role in the process is to find out where the post originated from, the internet provider address, and whether the firefighter's phone was hacked and if so, by whom.

"While the opinion of individual members of this department are not the opinions of the South Haven Fire Department, we understand members are still linked to this department," Cotton said, adding he did not know when the investigation would conclude, but the results will be made public.

Portage Township Trustee Brendan Clancy, whose purview includes the fire department, said the department does so much good in the community and regardless of whether the firefighter made the post, "it's disappointing because it's out there."

He is waiting to find out more from the investigation.

'If it's anything negative like that, we just don't tolerate it. It's not what we do," he said. "If it's true, he's not going to be a member of the South Haven Fire Department. If it's true, it doesn't speak for all men and women of the South Haven Fire Department or Portage Township."

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, left, and Lake County Sheriff John Buncich discuss a new anti-gang initiative and agreement between counties at the Lake County Sheriff's Department on Friday in Crown Point. (Suzanne Tennant / Post-Tribune)

Two counties' top cops say gangs and guns do not see borders on a map and it will take a combined effort by law enforcement to prevent the further spread of both.

Lake County Sheriff John Buncich, in a news conference Friday in Crown Point with Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart, said his department has identified about 2,000 gang members in Lake County. Several thousand gang members move freely back and forth between the two counties, they said.

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The two men came together to announce the rollout of a Gang Prevention and Intervention Plan for all of Lake County, developed with the assistance of law enforcement officials in both counties and the latest research on gang violence prevention.

"Through our conversations we have come to realize Cook County's problems and Lake County's problems are pretty much the same," Buncich said.

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Gangs and guns are No. 1 on the list.

"Guns, as you all know, are everywhere," Dart said.

Guns from Indiana are the No. 2 source of guns found at Chicago crime scenes behind guns purchased in Illinois, Dart said.

Buncich said gun shows remain a problem in Lake County. He said he has butted heads with the county's Board of Commissioners over the use of the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point for shows.

"We know where they are coming from. The question is what do we do about it," Dart said.

Buncich said plans call for working more closely with the community through clergy and educators to try to get a handle on growing gang membership. The partnership will include the development of a joint strategy to combat gun trafficking and gang activity across the Illinois-Indiana border and a strategy to reduce the number of youths involved in gangs in the two counties.

Plans also call for sharing data and information more efficiently to track and capture criminals and pinpoint problem areas, and participating in the Cook County Gun Violence Task Force, among other measures.

Dart said the cooperation between the two departments is "unfortunately not the norm" in law enforcement, but the results have been really good. Both counties' drug and gun units have been working together for years.

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"The issues going on around the nation starts with us in law enforcement being out in the community in an open way, a nonconfrontational way, not just at crime scenes," Dart said. Those types of relationships must be established and do not happen overnight, nor will they come about if the only interaction in the community is arresting people, he said.

Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post Tribune.
Harley Hart was born June 23 with trisomy 18, a chromosome disorder leaving her with three 18th chromosomes in a cell instead of two, which is normal. The extra chromosome results in congenital malformations and an unknown life span. The baby is in the neonatal intensive care unit at Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point. (Courtesy of Hart family)

John and Jill Hart kept comforting each other when they mentioned their newborn's future. Or, more likely, her lack of one.

As Harley slept in the neonatal intensive care unit at Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point, her parents grabbed some lunch and pondered the many unknowns of her life.

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Harley was born prematurely June 23 with trisomy 18, a chromosome disorder leaving her with three 18th chromosomes in a cell instead of the normal two. The extra chromosome results in congenital malformations and an unknown life span.

"The nurses call her a miracle baby," John told me while sharing photos from his cell phone.

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Trisomy 18, also called Edwards syndrome, is much more serious than the more commonly known trisomy 21, or Down syndrome. Developmental delays are typically more severe and the prognosis includes a much shorter life span, with most babies not surviving their first year. Some do, most don't.

"We were told she would not be born alive and, if she did, she would have major birth defects," said John, who works at ArcelorMittal's Burns Harbor plant.

The Cedar Lake couple have resigned themselves to the fact their ages  he is 43, she is 40  prompted the high-risk pregnancy and, likely, Harley's abnormality.

"We'll never know for sure," said Jill, whose pained face said more than any words could about their situation.

The couple found out about Harley's fate during Jill's pregnancy. After taking a test, they got a call from a doctor while in their car in a parking lot.

"Trisomy 18?" John asked.

"What's that?" Jill asked.

They had to Google it, something they don't want any other parents to have to do. The first description read, "A very low rate of survival, resulting from heart abnormalities, kidney malformations, and other internal organ disorders."

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"It was awful, with no hope offered and just worst-case scenarios," Jill recalled. "We were somewhat prepared for Down syndrome, but we had no idea about trisomy 18."

"We were scared out of our minds," John said.

"We still are," Jill added.

From their first consultation with medical professionals, the couple received conflicting opinions on what they should do with their future bundle of joy. Some medical professionals were supportive of their decision to keep their baby despite the dire prognosis. Others suggested an abortion, in no uncertain terms.

Their personal dilemma reflects a divisive public issue in our state regarding abortions.

Last month a federal judge blocked a law signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence that would have banned abortions sought because of a fetus' genetic abnormalities. The judge ruled, and rightly so, that the state does not have the authority to limit a woman's reasons for ending a pregnancy.

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"We're both pro-choice on this issue but it's simply not our choice with Harley," John told me.

Before Harley's delivery, the couple wrote a birth plan, a highly detailed plan explaining their wishes if things went wrong and how much they wanted medical science to keep their baby alive.

"We wanted everything possible done to keep her alive, unless she was not breathing and had no heartbeat," John said.

With parents of trisomy 18, and the lesser known trisomy 13, they're often torn between being afraid their baby will die and nearly as afraid their baby will live. The Harts are coming to grips with this dilemma despite Harley's life span, whether it's one month, one year or five years.

"We're taking it from day one to week one to month one to year one," John said.

"There's always hope," Jill said, again becoming emotional.

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You'd never know the Harts have been together for only a few months. They met online last September, conceived Harley in October and got married in November.

"It all just worked out," said Jill, who has a 20-year-old daughter.

"I knew from day one," added John, who has two teenage boys.

The new blended family has had to deliberate several life-or-death decisions in a very short time.

"It wasn't that many years ago that trisomy 18 babies were not treated at all and, in some cases, not even fed," said John, a former EMT who understands the complex medical jargon. "But I still get choked up when I read about trisomy 18. It seems pretty dismal."

In between visiting Harley in the NICU and working at the mill, he is still fixing up his daughter's new room.

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"She was born a month early and we just didn't know if she would come home," he said.

Harley's most serious and immediate health problem are her heart defects, similar to 90 percent of all babies born with trisomy 18. Yet her parents are hoping she can come home sometime this month if her weight gets to four pounds. She was born at three pounds, three ounces. She has since gained 11 ounces.

Post Tribune Twice-weekly News updates from Northwest Indiana delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

"She's getting better every day," Jill said.

With trisomy 18 babies, it's not what parents teach them in their shortened lives. It's what the babies teach their parents, I've been told. Love, patience, compassion, and the joy of each new day together.

"It's a profound learning experience of the heart," states a care book for families that the Harts found online at Trisomy.org.

John's Facebook cover photo shows an adorable image of Harley with the words, "Trisomy is a diagnosis, not a prognosis." They're living this hopeful attitude in spite of the fatal outcome of 90 percent of trisomy babies, according to research at Trisomy.org.

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"Why can't Harley be in that 5 (percent) or 10 percent?" asked John, wiping tears from his eyes. "We're taking Harley home to live, not to die."

jdavich@post-trib.com

Twitter@jdavich
Popular McCracken Middle School Band Director Chip De Stefano last month was awarded with the 2016 Skokie Award For Artistic Excellence.

Anyone who has followed De Stefano's journey at McCracken knows that accolades and awards are not unfamiliar to him.

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Few middle school bands, for example, have performed at the prestigious international Midwest Clinic, but McCracken's Symphonic Band under De Stefano has been there twice, the last time in 2013.

The Symphonic Band under De Stefano has received first division ratings at all division and state organization contests of the Illinois Grade School Music Association, performed multiple times at the Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference and the University of Illinois Super State Band Festival and more.

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He recently answered a handful of questions from the Skokie Review.

Q: Is there other work you do besides being McCracken band director?

A: I also work part-time at the University of Chicago as the director of their Wind Ensemble as well.

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: My dad was in the military so we moved around a lot. We spent most of my school age years in Illinois and Texas, but I graduated from high school in Boise, ID. I went to Northwestern University as a trombone performance major in 1990 and have been here ever since.

Q: How long have you worked in Skokie?

A: I just finished my 20th year at McCracken.

Q: What book are you currently reading and what book would you like to read next?

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A: The next book I can't wait to read is "The Artistry of Teaching and Making Music" by Richard Floyd who just retired as the Texas State Director of Music and is a living legend in our field.

Q: As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A: I've known that I wanted to be a band director and professional musician since I was in sixth grade.

Q: Do you have children?

A: Yes, Susan and I have four great kids  and, yes, they are all in their schools' bands: Brian, trombone, Kristen, percussion, Clara, French horn, and Joey who will be starting a yet-to-be-decided instrument in the fall.

Q: Words of wisdom?

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A: One of the messages that has consistently resonated with the kids over the years is that no one cares about ordinary. So we spend each day working hard to try to make our worst day better than everyone else's best day. If we do that, we'll be pretty successful in whatever we try to accomplish.

 Pioneer Press staff

Shout Out is a weekly feature where we get to know and introduce our readers to their fellow community members and local visitors throughout suburban Chicago.
Shares of Bank of Communications rose in Shanghai yesterday after reports suggested that its overseas advisory arm in Hong Kong may launch an initial public offering.

BOComs shares added 0.36 percent to 5.62 yuan (84 US cents), due to reports of a possible IPO by BOCom International Holdings Co, a unit of Chinas fifth-largest lender.

The company is considering listing by the first quarter of next year to raise about US$200 million, according to Bloomberg News and Beijing Business Today. BOCom and BOCom International didnt immediately return comment to Shanghai Daily.

The deal would make the lender, which is part-owned by HSBC Holdings, the first of five biggest Chinese lenders to list an investment-banking unit. BOComs annual report showed the units profit was HK$350 million (US$45.1 million) last year.

The spin-off was seen as BOComs attempt to seek higher valuation and a broader channel of fundraising, analysts said.

Its a hard option for banks to split business to raise funds under current market situation and cooling profit growth, said Lu Suiqi, vice dean of the Department of Finance at the School of Economics at Peking University.

The Industrial Bank, China Citic Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank have, or will, split their credit card units or wealth management business with an eye toward a potential IPO.
China has established an automotive cyber security committee to ensure the safe running of intelligent, connected and electric cars.

The founding of the committee was announced on Thursday at an ongoing international automobile technology forum in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province and a cradle of China's automaking industry.

"The committee has been established as a platform to pool resources, carry out research and work out standards, policies, laws and regulations to defend cyber security in automobiles," said Zhang Jinhua, vice secretary-general of the China Society of Automotive Engineers.

The committee is headed by Li Jun, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and technical chief of Changchun-based FAW Group Corporation.

Cyber safety has become crucial in the automotive sector as cars are becoming intelligent and interconnected. Many automakers have partnered with Internet companies to intensify cyber security.

General Motors Co. announced in March it was acquiring Cruise Automation, hoping to accelerate its development of autonomous vehicles by using Cruise's software talent and rapid development capability.

The safety of ever-more high-tech cars has also caught the attention of worldwide IT specialists, particularly after a fatal Tesla crash in Florida in May.

"Intelligent cars are vulnerable to hackers' attacks when they are connected to the web," said Wang Yingmin, chief engineer of Datang Telecom.

Under such attacks, he said, cars may receive false orders leading to sudden braking, speeding or swerving that may threaten human lives.

Similar threats also come from electromagnetic and ultrasonic interferences, said Wang.

"It's easy to restart your smart phone, but what if your intelligent car breaks down on the fast lane of an expressway?" questioned Zhao Fuquan, an auto specialist from Tsinghua University.

Auto cyber security has caught the attention of the Chinese government, according to Chen Chunmei, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"We are working on blueprints of intelligent and connected vehicles, which will cover their roles in mitigating traffic congestion and reducing risk of accidents, as well as intensified cyber security to ensure their safe running," she said.

The blueprints will be published at "an opportune time," according to Chen.

"We're doing our best to predict cyber attacks," said Li Jun, head of the new committee. "Auto cyber security needs common rules, which is a global issue that calls for concerted efforts from regulators and industries from all countries."

David Schutt, chief executive officer of the U.S. Society of Automotive Engineers, said Chinese have a lot of talent, enthusiasm and professionalism in science and engineering, and that he hopes China would therefore share its own technology and know-how in auto cyber security.
China's central government has contracted independent environmental inspectors for the first time to supervise local governments.

Four teams were dispatched to Inner Mongolia and Ningxia in the north, and Jiangxi and Guangxi in the south this week. Four more teams will set off soon for Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu and Yunnan provinces, according to the government sources on Friday.

Inspections will last around a month and the major tasks are to assess the implementation of central government environment policy and control of serious environmental problems.

Inspectors will hear briefs from provincial and city environmental regulators, interview officials, carry out field investigations and talk to concerned members of the public.

Their reports will be submitted to the Organizational Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee as a key aspects of the performance assessment of senior officials.

They will share their findings with local authorities and pass on leads in any possible graft cases to discipline inspection agencies.

Local governments are required to work out a plan to correct the problems exposed by inspectors and submit it to the central government within 30 days, followed by a progress report six months later.

The decision to use independent inspectors was made in July last year to address worsening environment problems.

From Dec. 31 in 2015 to Feb. 4, the first team in north China's Hebei Province, processed nearly 3,000 complaints from the public which led to closure of 200 polluters and detention of 123 suspects. About 60 officials were punished.

Independent inspectors will be sent to all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities within two years.
Troops from the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday kicked off a drill that will last until September and aim to boost their "trans-regional" capabilities.

Seen as one of the key maneuvers after the establishment of the PLA's new command structure, the event will see mixed army brigades sent from each theater command separately confront a PLA troop posing as the enemy.

Where as the selection of brigades taking part in the drill would have been based on recommendations in the past, they were randomly selected this time, giving more troops chance to participate, according to chief director Wang Zhian.

Wang said commanders' efficiency will be a greater part of evaluation of this drill, and the opposing sides will switch roles of attack and defense instead of each playing a single role throughout.

The drill will be tougher than previous versions, involving more nighttime maneuvers and harsher requirements for live-fire assaults.

The schedule was pushed to July from the usual May to give troops more time for preparatory training.
China had barred 42,000 welshers from taking positions with companies as of June amid efforts to promote good faith among businesses, the country's commerce regulator said on Friday.

Since December, Chinese courts have blacklisted people who are financially capable of serving their debt obligation but don't. They have been sharing that information nationwide on a disclosure website barring these people from becoming any companies' legal representative, board director or supervisor, among other positions.

Regulators are putting more efforts into scrutinizing companies' creditworthiness and will disclose the identity of welshers to make sure they pay a price for dishonest behavior, said Zhang Mao, head of the State Administration for Industry & Commerce.

The average number of daily visits to the website used for referencing businesses' and people's creditworthiness has surpassed 40 million, Zhang said. "The system is gaining influence and dishonest companies and people are feeling the pinch."
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A dump-site landslide that killed 73 people and left four others missing in Shenzhen in December was an "extraordinarily serious" safety accident caused by human errors, a report by a State Council investigation team said Friday.

After nearly seven months of investigation, the team concluded that the accident was caused by the improper storage of construction waste, and lack of an efficient drainage system in the landfill site.

The disaster was a safety accident due to dereliction of duty, rather than a natural geological movement, the report said.

As of Jan. 14, 2.78 million cubic meters of waste soil had been removed from the dump site. Seventeen people injured in the incident had received treatment, and 4,630 employees in 90 companies affected had been relocated.

The team identified 110 people with various levels of responsibility for the landslide, 53 of whom have been put under "coercive measures." "Coercive measures" may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention and arrest.

The report recommends that the license of Shenzhen Yixianglong, the company managing the dump site, be revoked and company executives be banned from executive posts in the sector.

The other two companies responsible for the accident should face fines and other punishments, the investigation concluded.

The accident on Dec. 20 destroyed 33 buildings with direct economic losses at 880 million yuan (132 million U.S. dollars).

Overloaded dump site

The Hong Ao landfill received construction waste such as mud and residue soil. It had a planned storage of 4 million cubic meters and a maximum stack height of 95 meters. When the accident happened, its actual storage reached 5.83 million cubic meters and the waste heaps stood as high as 160 meters, seriously exceeding the standards, according to the report.

There was no effective drainage system at the site, resulting in surplus water and a soft and slippery surface beneath the waste piles.

Furthermore, Yixianglong staff had taken the wrong measures to deal with cavities and the expansion of some heaps before the landslide. They had never issued any warnings nor reported anything to local authorities, which delayed the evacuation.

The investigators excluded geological and meteorological factors such as earthquakes and rainfall.

They also found that the Hong Ao landfill site had been constructed and operated without construction and environmental impact assessments.

Dereliction of duty by authorities

The report exposed lax safety management and the absence of supervision by local authorities.

Some residents had even reported hazards at the site, but the Shenzhen municipal government and other authorities failed to investigate the complaints.

The investigation exposed corruption by some officials including Xu Yuan'an, head of the urban management bureau in Guangming New District.

"Xu shoulders important responsibilities for the accident," said the report, adding he had traded power for money, unscrupulously taken bribes from Long Renfu, boss of the Shenzhen Yixianglong and personally approved the dump site.

Xu committed suicide by jumping from a building during the investigation, the report said.

The team made suggestions for improving government supervision to prevent such tragedies.

Responsibilities must be clearly delineated, safety management in urban regions must improve as must risk control.

The team urged governments to improve urban management, enhance supervision over urban dump sites, strengthen emergency management, and tighten safety requirements.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for joint actions against terrorism to root out the global scourge following a deadly truck attack that claimed more than 80 lives in Nice, France, on Thursday.

Speaking in an informal meeting during the 11th Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator, Li said Asia and Europe are enjoying peace and stability in general terms, but outstanding security challenges, both traditional and non-traditional ones, remain on the two continents.

In particular, he said, terrorism poses a common threat for all countries in the region.

Li's remarks came two days after a truck rammed into a crowd marking the national day of France in Nice on Thursday evening, leaving at least 84 people dead.

The driver of the truck, identified as a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian origin, was shot dead by French police and arms and grenades were found inside the vehicle. French authorities have yet to determine whether he acted alone.

"Countries must join hands to counter terrorism and build a truly open, inclusive society, in order to wipe out the hotbed for terrorism," said the Chinese premier.
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Chinese PremierLi Keqiang(C, front) delivers a speech during the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday condemned a terrorist attack in the French city of Nice and called for strengthened economic and trade cooperation among regional countries, at the 11th Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital.

During bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit with Li, Russian and Cambodian leaders voiced support for China's stance on the South China Sea. The Chinese premier also met with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, at the latter's request.

CONDEMNATION OVER TERRORIST ATTACK IN FRANCE

Li began his speech at the ASEM gathering by extending condolences to the victims of an overnight attack in the French city of Nice and their families. At least 84 people were killed by the deadly truck attack on Thursday night. France declared three days of national morning beginning on Saturday.

"The Chinese government and people stand with the French people and strongly condemns the terrorist attack," said Li, who called for unity and cooperation from the international community to combat terrorism.

Li noted that Eurasia faces some severe challenges, especially knotty problems such as terrorism and the refugee issue, urging efforts from all parties in preventing new breeding grounds for turmoils and safeguarding world peace and regional stability.

Li said China always acts as a promoter of world peace, the international order and rule of law, and a keeper of regional peace and stability. "All sides should jointly safeguard the post-World War II international order, abandon the Cold-War or zero-sum mentality, and strive to make the international order and global governance system more and more fair and justified."

China, Li stressed, always advocates that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, should conduct themselves in accordance with the laws and rules, oppose double standards and reject misinterpretation of international law, obey rules agreed in the region, and resolve disputes in a peaceful manner and through political means rather than incite conflicts or confrontation.

BOOSTING TRADE, CONNECTIVITY IN EURASIA

Li suggested Asia-Europe cooperation be guided towards a more pragmatic direction, and economic and trade cooperation be enhanced in particular.

The Chinese premier said he looks forward to the resumption of the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting next year after a 10-year hiatus. He called for joint efforts to speed up the establishment of an open and inclusive megamarket across Asia and Europe and facilitate free trade and investment.

The premier called on regional countries to enhance connectivity, vowing efforts to give full play to the role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund in investment and finance.

On China's economy, Li said its performance in the first half of the year was steady and in line with expectations. China is confident of achieving its main full-year development targets, he said.

Official statistics showed China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2016 to reach 34.06 trillion yuan (5.08 trillion U.S. dollars).

Despite continuous downward pressure, China's current government debt ratio is low while household savings rate is high.

Li said that as China has ample policy tools, the country has the confidence in ensuring medium-high economic growth rates so as to take the economy to medium-high levels of development.

RUSSIA, CAMBODIA SUPPORT CHINA ON SEA DISPUTES

The issue of the South China Sea was among the topics discussed during Li's meetings with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, and his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

Medvedev said Russia opposes internationalization of the South China Sea disputes or any interference from forces outside the region.

The Russian side supports the China-initiated principles of resolving the disputes, Medvedev said, calling for bilateral negotiations and consultations between directly relevant parties to solve the issue.

For his part, Hun Sen said Cambodia will continue to remain objective and impartial on the South China Sea issue.

Cambodia, he said, is willing to work with all parties to keep up the friendly cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.

Li said China will stick to the approach of settling the South China Sea disputes via dialogues and consultations between countries directly concerned, while defending regional peace and stability as well as freedom of navigation in collaboration with ASEAN member states.

Earlier this week, a Hague-based ad hoc tribunal's arbitral denied China's long-standing historic rights in the South China Sea in an arbitration unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine administration. China has said the award is invalid and will neither accept nor recognize it.

So far, at least 70 countries and 230 political parties or organizations have expressed understanding and support for China's stance on the South China Sea disputes.

CHINA, JAPAN PMs MEET ON TROUBLED TIES

Li also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the latter's request in Ulan Bator. The Chinese premier urged the Abe administration to take active and friendly policies towards China.

Li said China-Japan relations have in recent years embarked on a course of improvement, but the pace is slow and is from time to time disturbed by complications.

He urged both sides to keep a strong sense of responsibility, and steadily push ahead China-Japan ties on the basis of the reality and long-term strategic consideration.

Both sides should act on the consensus that China and Japan are cooperative partners instead of threats to each other, and support each other's peaceful development, he added.

The premier suggested the two countries resume dialogues and communications step by step in the spirit of equality and mutual respect, to add to the positive facets in bilateral ties.

Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should "exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering in" the issue, Li said. He called on both sides to step up exchanges on the East China Sea issue via dialogues and consultations in a bid to avoid misinterpretation and miscalculation.

For his part, Abe said despite existing difficulties in the relations between Japan and China, the Japanese side hopes to expand exchanges and cooperation with China, properly manage differences, and push forward bilateral ties in pursuit of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.

He hoped the two countries could resume high-level economic dialogues and facilitate bilateral cooperation in the fiscal and financial sectors, as well as in energy conservation and environment protection.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is safe and the coup attempt by a small group of soldiers was "unsuccessful," said a statement posted early Saturday on the website of the president's office.

In his appearance on CNNTurk via a reporter's mobile phone, Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"This is an act encouraged by the parallel structure." he said. "I believe that this act will have the necessary punishment that will be given by our nation."

The president was referring to the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"I will be at the squares as well either in Istanbul or Ankara," Erdogan said in remarks delivered later on NTV.

There were reports of jets flying low over Ankara, Turkey's capital, and Istanbul, the country's largest city, on Friday night.

In Istanbul, the gendarmerie closed the two bridges that connect the city's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, with tanks reported on the bridges.

Tanks were sent as well to Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Friday night, where all flights were canceled.

Dogan News Agency reported that Ankara Police Department urged all staff on duty as extensive security measures were taken around the Turkish General Staff in the capital.

In other developments, Turkish soldiers were leaving the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul early Saturday morning, while some Turks were walking toward the airport, the Hurriyet daily said.

It said supporters of Erdogan were among the throng, as the leader had urged people to gather at squares and airports to protect democracy.

Three people were injured early Saturday morning in Istanbul when people attempted to cross a bridge over the Bosphorus, CNNTurk said.

It was not clear who fired the shots as the throng were trying to cross into the European side of the metropolis, the network said.

On Friday night, the Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the Bosphorus as word of a coup attempt spread.
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Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, early Saturday expressed concerns over the coup attempt in Turkey.

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount," Zarif said.

The Iranian foreign minister urged solidarity among the Turkish people, saying that "unity and prudence are imperative" for his neighboring country in the face of regional perils.

Also on Saturday, Secretary of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said that "We are cognizant about the current situation in Turkey, and we consider instability in Turkey as the instability of our own country," Tasnim news agency reported.

"All the ground and aerial borders of Iran is under full control, and comprehensive surveillance is underway in the border areas," Shamkhani was quoted as saying.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
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Turkish people throw stones to tanks in the city center of Ankara, Turkey on July 15, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy. (Xinhua/Zou Le)

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

According to the military statement, reported on NTV, the military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and rule of law.

The statement said that all our international agreements and commitments is continue to be kept valid.

"We hope that our good relations with all countries of the world will be continued," the statement said.

President Erdogan's office website said he is safe and and that a coup attempt by a small group of soldiers was "unsuccessful."

In his appearance on CNNTurk via a reporter's mobile phone, Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"This is an act encouraged by the parallel structure." he said. "I believe that this act will have the necessary punishment that will be given by our nation."

The president was referring to the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"I will be at the squares as well either in Istanbul or Ankara," Erdogan said in remarks delivered later on NTV.

Shortly after Erdogan's statement, soldiers started leaving the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, while some Turks walk toward the airport, the Hurriyet daily said.

It said supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among the throng gathering there.

Reports earlier said that tanks were sent to the airport, where all flights were canceled.

In Ankara, helicopters could be heard hoving above. There were also reports of gunshots and explosions heard in the capital.

There were also reports of tanks being deployed outside the Turkish parliament.

On the capital's Kizilay Avenue, Xinhua reporters saw a large crowd gathering, some throwing rocks on tanks passing by and calling for peace.

On Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told local media that there has been a coup attempt.

"This is a mutiny attempt; we will not let it win," Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim as saying. "Those who are doing this will be punished in the hardest way."

Meanwhile, NTV reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was taken hostage by a group of soldiers.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the coup attempt is unlawful and Ankara and Istanbul public prosecutors have launched an investigation, Milliyet News reported.

"The coup of some armed forces was made without command," Bozdag said. "It is time we show our attitude to democracy."

In Istanbul, the gendarmerie closed the two bridges that connect the city's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, with tanks reported on the bridges.
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People gather near destroyed vehicles in Ankara, Turkey, July 16, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said on July 15 that the armed forces have fully seized power in the country. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government is in charge and he is in power, after the country is smarting from a coup attempt overnight.

In his second speech delivered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in less than two hours, the president said the armed forces do not and cannot rule Turkey.

Soldiers on a bridge that links Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait have surrendered to the police, Turkish media reported.

The Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the strait as words of a coup attempt spread on Friday night.

In his first speech, Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against coup plotters to keep the army "clean."

As many as 754 members of armed forces have been detained across Turkey, state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing official.

Sporadic gunfires can still be heard in central Istanbul, but no more explosions and the roaring of jets overhead, a Xinhua reporter said.

Things are reportedly returning to normal in Ankara, Turkey's national capital, where at least 60 people were killed in the chaotic coup attempt, according to the prosecutor's office.
Workers assemble lithium batteries in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. The electric-car industry gives a boost to the battery manufacturing sector. [Photo/China Daily]

Companies see supply-side changes playing bigger role

Both international and local companies said on Friday they were expecting China's supply-side structural reform to play a bigger role in stimulating the country's foreign trade in the second half of the year.

The supply-side structural reform aims at cutting low-end industrial capacity while increasing high-tech production.

Richard Loi, president of UPS China: "Chinese businesses therefore must innovate and come up with products that satisfy the needs of today's consumers."

Eager to enhance its earnings ability, Loi said UPS will continue to expand its China-to-Europe rail service this year as the growing trade between China and the European Union was expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020.

Feng Jianfeng, president of OSell, a Chongqing-based cross-border e-commerce platform, said that even though trade data showed that foreign orders for China's manufacturing sector shrank in the first half, the continuing supply-side reform could offer more practical measures to stabilize the economy in the second half.

The company plans to set up 50 interactive overseas stores in two years to build a communication and trade barrier-free passageway between 50 international trading centers and 50 Chinese industrial cities.

China's economy grew 6.7 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier. The National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday that although the economy still faced downward pressure, the first-half performance laid a good foundation for achieving the government's full-year growth target of 6.5 percent to 7 percent.

Nomura Group, meanwhile, said it had revised up its forecast for China's GDP growth this year to 6.5 percent from 6 percent previously.

Zhang Shuquan, president of Shenzhen BAK Battery Co Ltd, said the economy will achieve stabilized growth levels in the second half of the year as more technology-driven businesses emerge.

"We are optimistic about the future development of the Chinese economy, which will feature more technology- and innovation-driven businesses," Zhang said.

BAK, a leading new-energy company whose core business includes lithium batteries and electric vehicles, said its sales would dramatically increase to about 5 billion yuan ($748 million) this year, said Zhang.

The Shenzhen-based company said it had teamed up with several big domestic and overseas vehicle manufacturers to provide new-energy power solutions.

"The new-energy power industry is booming in China as public willingness about buying efficient electric vehicles has increased significantly in recent years," Zhang said.

Jing Shuiyu in Beijing contributed to this story.
Wang Chao, founder of Kaiyun Motor Co, speaks at the forum "The New Generation of Transportation", held by Geek Park, in Shanghai, July 15, 2016. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

A new wave of car making has hit China following Tesla's entry into the Chinese market and the government's policies to boost electric cars.

At a forum held by Geek Park, one of the country's leading tech communities that gathers geeks, developers and investors, in Shanghai on Friday, Daniel Kirchert, chief operating officer of Future Mobility Corporation Ltd (FMC), said electric vehicles will be the solution for future and the company will launch its first product before 2020 that can rival Mercedes Benz, BWM and Audi.

FMC was cofounded by luxury carmaker China Harmony Auto Holding Ltd, Apple Inc supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Company Ltd and internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, drawing on the strengths of internet technologies in car making. Before joining FMC, Kirchert was head of Infiniti Motor Co in China.

Zhu Weidong, assisant to the chairman of SAIC Maxus, speaks at the forum "The New Generation of Transportation", held by Geek Park, in Shanghai, July 15, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"China will absolutely be the world's largest electric vehicle market in 2016. The Chinese automotive industry has enormous opportunities to take the lead in combining electric vehicle technologies and seamlessly connected self-driving technologies," said Kirchert through a video clip delivered to the forum.

Wang Chao, founder of Kaiyun Motor Co, viewed a vast market for electric vehicles, estimated at 150 million to 200 million units annually, taking into account the demand for pedicab and that for delivery of food, vegetables, daily necessities and even materials for home decoration.

Known for designing a children's SUV for his son, Wang stressed the importance of happiness brought by technologies to users. "In the era of electric vehicles, no one has the absolute advantage," he said. "We compete with one another to see who is able to transmit happiness to the users via our designs," he added.

Starting to engage in the design and R&D in new energy cars in 2013 and setting up a factory in North China's Hebei province last year, the company released its first electric pickup "Pickman" in May this year, priced at 23,800 yuan ($3,557).

Wang welcomed more geeks to join his team to discover unmet demand for electric vehicles and bring about new ideas in car making.

Zhang Jianzhong, vice-president of NVIDA and general manger of NVIDA China, speaks at the forum "The New Generation of Transportation", held by Geek Park, in Shanghai, July 15, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The automobile industry is transforming from the model of "business to customer" (B2C) where the car manufactures make large-scale production of vehicles and market them to the customers, to "customer to business" (C2B), where users' participation becomes an essential part of car making and their individual demand is taken into full account, said Zhu Weidong, assistant to the chairman of SAIC Maxus.

During the first phase in making its SUV D90 concept car, more than 1,000 users participated in its offline survey and over 300,000 users took part in the test driving of competitive products via its interactive platform, putting up suggestions for the product's 18 specifications, according to Zhu.

Based on the customers' feedback, D90 has made all seats except the driver's seats movable to offer larger, flexible room for passengers.

The company will allow users to engage in the adjustment of 60 specifications including inner decoration and the original chassis and the suspension system in the next step, he said, revealing that D90 will be launched onto the market in September 2017.

As more and more companies engage themselves in the research and development of self-driving cars, NVIDA, a global leader in visual computing, wishes to apply its graphic and deep learning technologies in self driving, according to Zhang Jianzhong, vice-president of NVIDA and general manger of NVIDA China.

One of the key links in self driving is to identify environment around the car, said Zhang. NVIDIA has developed a virtual network called DRIVENET, which has a high accuracy of graphic identification. And its deep learning server DGX-1 can help self-driving car manufacturers to collect and test data with its strong computation capacity equivalent to 250 CPU servers, Zhang introduced.

At the forum, Geek Park unveiled its list of Most Expected New Forces of Car Making for 2016 based on capital strength, human resources, technical innovation and geek spirit. The list includes FMC, Le Super Car, the electric car branch of LeEco Holdings Co and electric vehicle start-ups Chehejia and NextEv.
The interior of a Tesla Model S is shown in autopilot mode in San Francisco, California, US, April 7, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

CHANGCHUN -- China has established an automotive cyber security committee to ensure the safe running of intelligent, connected and electric cars.

The founding of the committee was announced on Thursday at an ongoing international automobile technology forum in Changchun, capital of Jilin province and a cradle of China's automaking industry.

"The committee has been established as a platform to pool resources, carry out research and work out standards, policies, laws and regulations to defend cyber security in automobiles," said Zhang Jinhua, vice secretary-general of the China Society of Automotive Engineers.

The committee is headed by Li Jun, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and technical chief of Changchun-based FAW Group Corporation.

Cyber safety has become crucial in the automotive sector as cars are becoming intelligent and interconnected. Many automakers have partnered with Internet companies to intensify cyber security.

General Motors Co announced in March it was acquiring Cruise Automation, hoping to accelerate its development of autonomous vehicles by using Cruise's software talent and rapid development capability.

The safety of ever-more high-tech cars has also caught the attention of worldwide IT specialists, particularly after a fatal Tesla crash in Florida in May.

"Intelligent cars are vulnerable to hackers' attacks when they are connected to the web," said Wang Yingmin, chief engineer of Datang Telecom.

Under such attacks, he said, cars may receive false orders leading to sudden braking, speeding or swerving that may threaten human lives.

Similar threats also come from electromagnetic and ultrasonic interferences, said Wang.

"It's easy to restart your smart phone, but what if your intelligent car breaks down on the fast lane of an expressway?" questioned Zhao Fuquan, an auto specialist from Tsinghua University.

Auto cyber security has caught the attention of the Chinese government, according to Chen Chunmei, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"We are working on blueprints of intelligent and connected vehicles, which will cover their roles in mitigating traffic congestion and reducing risk of accidents, as well as intensified cyber security to ensure their safe running," she said.

The blueprints will be published at "an opportune time," according to Chen.

"We're doing our best to predict cyber attacks," said Li Jun, head of the new committee. "Auto cyber security needs common rules, which is a global issue that calls for concerted efforts from regulators and industries from all countries."

David Schutt, chief executive officer of the US Society of Automotive Engineers, said Chinese have a lot of talent, enthusiasm and professionalism in science and engineering, and that he hopes China would therefore share its own technology and know-how in auto cyber security.
Marcel Fuchs, United Airlines' vice-president of Atlantic and Pacific sales, presents inaugural flight certificates to a family from Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.[Photo/China Daily]

Passengers heading to San Francisco from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China can now fly nonstop from the city since United Airlines Inc launched its direct flight service on Fridaya first between the two cities.

The airlines will operate Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners on the route, offering flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The first flight that took off from Hangzhou was full. On average, United Airlines has seen more than 80 percent of its seats taken for all US-China flights, and the percentage is still growing.

"We chose Hangzhou based on the emerging middle class and the rapid economic growth of the city," said Marcel Fuchs, United Airlines' vice-president of Atlantic and Pacific sales.

"There are more than 1,100 e-commerce companies in Hangzhou and many of them have business connections with US partners. The new route will connect the city with Silicon Valley."

Li Hong, director of the Hangzhou Tourism Committee, said: "Last year, more than 30,000 tourists from Hangzhou visited the US, surging 30 percent over the previous year, and most of them chose to fly from Shanghai."

"There is a great growth potential in the number of tourists after the launch of the direct flights. The new flight provides convenience for visitors from Hangzhou to travel to the US West Coast and North America," she said.

Last year, the US government granted 2.7 million tourist visas to Chinese nationals. United Airlines is bullish about the huge demand for air travel between the two countries, and it expects a continuing 10 percent annual growth in the number of Chinese tourists traveling to the US.
The increasing share of the services sector in gross domestic product shows that the transition to a services- and consumption-driven growth model continues to strengthen, the National Bureau of Statistics indicated on Friday.

The country's GDP grew 6.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, still within the government's targeted range of between 6.5 percent and 7 percent for the year.

"The nation's economic restructuring continues to improve and the services sector has been playing a greater part in fuelling growth," said NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun.

Sheng attributed the accelerating development of the services sector to higher demand for services, coupled with the upgrading process of industries. Consumers' higher demand for better services had already become a key element of the economic rebalancing.

"The greater role the services sector has played in the economic growth is quite natural when the economy has entered a state of new normal," Sheng said. New normal means an economic pattern featuring slower but quality growth.

The services sector expanded 7.5 percent in the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year.

That compared with the primary industry that grew 3.1 percent for the same period and the secondary industry, which expanded 6.1 percent in the first half.

The added value by the tertiary sector accounted for 54.1 percent of GDP in the first half, which was 1.8 percentage points higher than the same period of last year, and 14.7 percentage points higher than that of the manufacturing industry, data from NBS showed.

The promising data were in line with that of China's financial sector, where lending to businesses in the service sector "gathered pace" in the first half of this year, said Sheng Songcheng, the head of the surveys and statistics department at the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

By the end of June, outstanding loans in the services sector increased by 12.4 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, data from the central bank showed on Friday.

Niu Li, director of macroeconomics at the State Information Center, said that the expansion of the services sector has become a major growth engine in recent years and will continue to sustain economic growth.

"What we need to be worried about is the overcapacity problems that have yet to be solved, which has made the restructuring process not as smooth sailing as it might have been and might affect the third quarter's economic growth," Niu said.
Tencent Holdings Ltd said on Friday that it will merge its QQ music service with China Music Corp, a move combining some of the country's most popular streaming music platforms to build a giant in the digital music market.

The merger will give the Shenzhen-based internet giant the majority stake in the newly formed entity, which is looking at an initial public offering in the future, according to a Tencent statement.

Under the agreement, the new company will run services including Tencent's flagship QQ music and CMC's Kugou and Kuwo, all of which "will continue to manage their existing brands and operations independently".

The Hong Kong-listed Tencent didn't reveal the financial details of the merger. But a report from the Wall Street Journal said that Tencent was buying control of CMC in a deal that valued the target company at $2.7 billion.

According to Tencent's statement, Tencent Vice-President Pang Kar Shun will become the chief executive officer of the new entity. Xie Guomin and Xie Zhenyu, co-chief executive officers of China Music Corp, will become co-presidents of the new company.

Analysts said that the merger will make the new entity the dominant player in the digital music market not only because QQ music, Kugou and Kuwo are the top three most-used music streaming services in China, but also because the three together will be able to build up a large licensed music library.

"The competition in digital music in the end is the competition for the intellectual property rights of music. Via the merger, Tencent and CMC can open the music IP pool to each other, which will eventually cut costs in the cash-burning competition to obtain licensed music," said Xue Yongfeng, with Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys International.
Xue Wenquan, 78 years old, donated more than 1,600 watches and clocks to the Qingdao City Museum on July 15, 2016. Xue collected 1,500 wrist watches and 100 alarm clocks during his 60-year career as repairman. The antique collection will be exhibited in the museum in August, and it is expected to be on permanent display from next year. [Photo/IC]
Gu Weiqi (third from right) and her schoolmates before the graduation activity of Thames boat cruise in London, UK, July 12, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China has seen an increasing number of students enrolled abroad heading home for career development. As part of new series, we are going to share stories of some overseas returnees. We take a look at why they are coming back, the challenges they face and what their expectations are.

In this part, we share their thoughts on advantages of studying abroad.

Two days after terrorists attacked Bangladesh capital Dhaka and took several hostages on July 1, 2016, Kailey Xi forwarded a post on WeChat Moment commemorating the two alumni of Emory University who died in the assault.

"As both Bangladeshi and Muslim, Faraaz (one of the hostages) refused to run for his own life and leave his friends alone, although the kidnappers offered him the chanceI think what we learnt from the prestigious university is not how far we can reach in academic studies or how much money we can make after graduation; rather we've got a sense of mission to change the world for a better place," she wrote in a long comment.

Kailey, whose high school and college years were all spent in the US, now works for a private equity firm in Beijing.

She shared the same view in an interview on overseas returnees' career pursuit by chinadaily.com.cn.

"Big or small, we are taught to make a difference," she said. "What's more, I think I have become more tolerant of differences."

"Inclusiveness" was one word that cropped up regularly when we asked those who have come back from abroad about how they benefitted from studying overseas.

"I met many excellent people of different background. For instance, a schoolmate who had been a military commander even shared with us what leadership meant during a dangerous battle," said Guo Qun, an MBA graduate from Northwest University.

She thought such experiences made her realize that there were so many things worth experiencing and exploring, which also helped her make clear that consulting was the one profession she would like to pursue.

Gu Weiqi, an MBA graduate who will work as a strategic manager at an American company in Shanghai, shares Guo's view and appreciates the "international exposure" to different industries, products and agendas.
Conflict is not the way to solve territorial problems, and working together, building trust and friendship, developing mutually beneficial economic activities is the way to move forward, said Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR.

Addressing the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement on Friday in Hong Kong, Tung said the decision issued in The Hague on Tuesday is not only incorrect but also complicates the situation and may lead the region to a crisis of enormous consequence.

The two-day event is the first major international forum held after the Arbitral Tribunal appointed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on Tuesday in favor of the Philippines in a South China Sea arbitration case it unilaterally filed against China.

"We need to realize that we live in a troubled world. The only area that holds promise for growth and stability is in the vast Asia-Pacific region," Tung said.

The forum, jointly organized by the Chinese Society of International Law and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, focused on four topics covering substantive and procedural issues of the maritime dispute settlement.

More than 200 legal professionals, academics and government officials from around the world shared their views on the law of the sea and discussed a proper means of resolving maritime disputes.

Li Shishi, president of Chinese Society of International Law, said the settlement of maritime dispute requires the political consensus of the governments and the contribution of scholars in order to forge consensus.

Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Anthony Carty, a professor at Tsinghua University, and Abdul G. Koroma, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, both questioned the Arbitral Tribunal's ruling.

"The tribunal had unreasonably interpreted the definition of island and had come up with a very peculiar doctrine of assessing geographical features," said Carty, adding that "the ruling had made the situation much worse".

"It is questionable whether the Arbitral Tribunal was entitled to render an award in the particular case as China had already made the declaration in 2006, excluding issues of territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation from the compulsory dispute settlements by any tribunal," said Koroma.

Contact the writers at luisliu@chinadailyhk.com
A screen shot shows advertisements of dried mango imported from the Philippines on online shopping site Taobao.com.

An increasing number of vendors on China's online shopping site taobao.com have stopped selling dried mango imported from the Philippines since The Hague tribunal ruled against China in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

On the search page of the site, instead of the pictures of golden dried mango imported from the Philippines, many sellers put a map of China highlighting the South China Sea with words "I will never sell this product again. I am a small vendor and a Chinese, too."

"It's not for show. I mean it. No more imported snacks from the Philippines," said Jiajia, a snack vendor who declined to give her surname. "It's my own way to protest, and I will literately throw way the rest of the stock."

Jiajia, of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, has been running the shop specializing in imported snacks on taobao.com for three years. She had 2,977 sales of dried mango from the Philippines this month before she refused to sell them on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, many sellers of domestic dried mango changed the name of the product to "patriotic dried mango".

Mango from the Philippines has been touted as the best mango in the world, and the industry has provided many jobs for the locals. Dried mangos from the Philippines are popular in China and available in most major supermarkets.

Chinese tourists have also reacted to the ruling. Xu Xiaolei, spokesman for China Youth Travel Service, said a small number of clients requested to change their holiday destination from the Philippines to other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The Philippines is among the top-10 overseas holiday destinations for the Chinese. In the short term, I don't think tours to the country will be affected," Xu said.

Contact the writers at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn
A landslide that killed 73 people and left four others missing in the southern city of Shenzhen on Dec 20 was an "extraordinarily serious" industrial safety accident, according to a report issued on Friday by a State Council investigative team.

After nearly seven months of studying the accident at the Hong'ao dump site, the team concluded it was caused by the improper storage of construction waste and lack of a drainage system at the landfill site.

The team identified 110 people with varying levels of responsibility for the accident. Fifty-three of them could possibly be summoned to appear, be placed under residential surveillance, be detained or arrested.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Friday it had filed cases against 25 suspects.

The suspects include Meng Jinghang, former director of Shenzhen's urban management bureau, Chen Minfeng, a member of Guangming New District's Party Working Committee, and Peng ShuiQing, district director of the city's Urban Planning, Land & Resources Commission.

The investigative report recommends that Shenzhen Yixianglong, which managed the dump site, lose its licenses and company executives be banned from executive posts in the sector. Two companies held responsible for the accident should face fines and other punishments, the report said.

In addition to causing 73 deaths, the accident destroyed 33 buildings with direct economic losses at 880 million yuan ($132 million). "Landslides are a common risk at dump sites and dozens occur each year, but the size and the losses in Shenzhen's incident are very rare," a member of the investigative team said.

The team's report said the Shenzhen government neglected its management and supervisory duties, and the municipal bureaus of planning, construction, water resources, and environmental protection illegally permitted the dump site's construction.

The direct cause of the landslide was the dump's failure to build an effective drainage system, leaving the base of the waste piles saturated with water.

grace@chinadailyhk.com
Public telephones with shelters were once a common sight on city streets, and provided a way for people to keep in touch with friends and relatives. The photo (above) shows a mother using a public telephone to make a call in Sanya, Hainan province in 1993. But all this has changed.

Now, with the widespread use of mobile phones, public telephones on the streets wear a deserted look. Some of the shelters are used to avoid the sun and the rain, while others could soon be torn down. A woman (below) uses her mobile phone while standing near a public phone installation in Beijing on Friday.
Visitors who dress immodestly will not be allowed to enter Cambodia's famed Angkor temple complex, the agency that oversees the site said Thursday.

Long Kosal, a spokesman for Apsara Authority, which oversees the archaeological complex, said that beginning Aug 4, local and foreign tourists will be required to wear pants or skirts below the knees and shirts that cover their shoulders. Those not dressed appropriately will be required to change their clothes before being allowed to enter the temple site in northwestern Cambodia.

Long Kosal said the ban was implemented because "Wearing revealing clothes disrespects the temple's sanctity."
Tim Cook (back, 2nd R), CEO of Apple Inc., poses for a group photo with teachers and students at the Primary School attached to Communication University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 12, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Will you buy a 10-square-meter hallway in Beijing for 1.5 million yuan ($224,300)?

This seemingly absurd price was actually listed on the website of Homelink, the largest real estate agency in the capital. But why?

The hallway in Beijing's Xicheng district was shabby but it had independent property rightsand the children of the hallway's owner could seek admission to Beijing First Experimental Primary School, one of the best in the city.

The hallway is the latest example of the craze for buying houses near "good" primary schools. News of astronomical prices for such houses have been making headlines to the chagrin of parents. And since the average property price near the Beijing First Experimental School has reached about 150,000 yuan per sq meter, the hallway seemed a good bargain.

Although the news created an uproar and the Beijing housing authorities ordered Homelink to stop promoting "constructions that are not designed for living purpose", those who buy such properties often do not care much about their living conditions.

For parents who don't have connections but also don't want their children to study in "ordinary" primary schools near their homes, buying a house near a good school offers an expensive but easy solution to their problem. Cases of families selling their spacious houses to buy shabby properties near "good" schools are not rare, even though a "good" primary school does not guarantee good academic performance for a child.

Despite this, many Chinese parents don't want their "children to lag behind at the starting line". For such parents, compromising their living conditions is nothing compared to the prospect of sending their children to a "good" school. No wonder the demand for and prices of houses near such schools have continued to rise.

Perhaps the uneven distribution of education resources is to blame for the problem. The so-called good schools, which are limited in number, often get more government funds and resources than the rest. As a result, the problem refuses to die.

Earlier this year, the central education authorities announced a new policy to tackle the problem. Instead of going to the school closest to their community, children can now seek admission to several schools nearby. This gives the impression that parents now have a wider choice. But this has increased the worries for those who have bought houses near their target schools.

Besides, not all students can get admitted to a school of their choice that is within walking distance from their homes, because the school authorities will have to pick and choose candidates if there are more applications than the seats on offer. For instance, a person who bought a house near a school shortly before the admission season will be rated lower than those who have been living in the community for a long time. Also, a school can change its admission plan each year. All this creates a huge risk for people who have paid sky-high prices to buy a house near a "good" school.

Buying a house near a "good" school and managing to get a child enrolled in it are like gambling on a stock exchange, so people should weigh the pros and cons carefully before doing so.

The gap between the increasing demand for better elementary education and the limited number of "good" schools cannot be bridged in a short time. Still, the government should allot more funds for education and try to distribute education resources as equitably as possible. And providing better salaries for good teachers who serve in not-so-good schools could be one way of kick-starting this process.

The writer is an editor with China Daily. lifangchao@chinadaily.com.cn
US President Barack Obama, surrounded by US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (L) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff USMC General Joseph Dunford, Jr., (R) delivers a statement from the Roosevelt Room on Afghanistan at the White House in Washington US July 6, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The United States needs to recalibrate its strategic priorities and put the Middle East back on the top of its foreign policy agenda to counter Islamic extremism.

The root cause of rising terrorism in the Middle East in recent years has to do with US President Barack Obama's "pivot to Asia" strategy. The strategy and the US troops' withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf created a huge room for the rise of terrorism and civil wars in the region.

The "pivot to Asia" strategy is influenced by multiple factors. First, the shale gas revolution helped the US realize its dream of energy independence. Since the importance of oil has declined for the US, the Middle East has lost its strategic magnetism for the Americans. Second, the pivot strategy is based on the concept that East Asia is emerging as the economic center of the world and therefore should be the focal point of US foreign policy. Third, the US perceives the rapid rise of China as a threat, and China's territorial disputes with some neighbors in the South China Sea have given the US an excuse to shift the majority of its naval forces to the West Pacific.

The shift in US naval forces has reduced their presence in the Middle East. Even while the US Navy was bombing Islamic State group targets in Iraq, the US Central Command approved the decision to withdraw the only aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf even though the Pentagon's formal military requirement is to keep at least one such vessel there at all times.

The US-led invasion of Iraq created a fertile ground for civil war and religious extremism in the Middle East. The Syrian civil war and the US' decision to withdraw troops from Iraq left the region further wide open and enabled the IS group to take control of large swathes of land both in Iraq and Syria. The IS has now become the most complicated foe for the US, not only because of its military success in the region, but also because its ideological appeal extends far beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria.

The "pivot to Asia" strategy hasn't worked well in the Asia-Pacific region either. The US has not been able to curb the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear ambitions. Also, US intervention in regional territorial disputes is fueling tensions between Washington and Beijing. And although the building of artificial islands has strengthened China's claims in the South China Sea, the US Navy's and spy-planes' frequent reconnaissance missions into China's maritime economic zone have heightened the risk of a military conflict.

To avoid a conflict, therefore, the US and China should stop playing zero-sum games and instead work together for global welfare. This will allow the US to reduce its military presence in Asia and deploy its forces in the Middle East, reassuring its traditional allies such as Saudi Arabia and Israel.

By shifting its strategic priorities to the Middle East, the US will not only be able to protect the key interests in Saudi Arabia and Israel, but also check the rise of sectarianism and extremism in the region that pose the greatest challenge to its security.

The Middle East is also an important part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. President Xi Jinping's recent visits to Iran and Saudi Arabia demonstrated China's interest in a stable and peaceful Middle East. So China should continue to play a constructive role in the region and work with the US to bring reconciliation there, as it did in facilitating the Iran-US nuclear deal.

Shi Zhiqin is former dean of Tsinghua University's Department of International Relations, director for the Center for the Study of the New Silk Road and a resident scholar at Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, and He Yun is a Fulbright scholar and researcher at Tsinghua University.
Children learn how to farm during a school activity on a farm in suburban Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Health scandals in China in recent years that have made millions of people wary about the food they buy have created at least one other breed: city dwellers who rent plots of land to grow their own food and who can boast of having their own little piece of the good life.

But many of these city farmers have realized that the attraction of getting back to basics also has its unattractive sides, such as the hard, usually thankless, work needed to successfully grow crops. The result is that many plots have fallen into disuse and many of the formerly enthusiastic farmers have moved onto other interests.

However, there are cases of these farms being turned into thriving ventures. One such is Yifendi Farm, a cooperative run by Nanyuan Village in the Fengtai district of Beijing, set up in 2009.

The allotment, one of the first in Beijing and one of the biggest, covering more than 90,000 square meters, is divided into 500 allotments of 66 square meters for renting.

In 2011 it established another area of more than 100,000 square meters that was given the name Little Town Farm, not far from Nanyuan Village and divided into 400 allotments of 36 square meters each.

Apart from a restaurant, the farm has also built dozens of wooden houses for people to stay over, and game centers where children can play with farm animals, including peacocks, chickens and horses.

"People love farming, and there will always be a need for these things," says Shang Jincheng, an executive with the farm. "For a farm to retain customers the main thing is that it treat them well."

The two farms are very close to the city, which is a big advantage, he says, adding that tap water, farming tools, organic fertilizers and technician advice for customers is available free of charge.

Most of those in the two farms are loyal customers who have rented plots since it opened, Shang says.
Models present creations for Maison Margiela during the 20162017 fall/winter Haute Couture collection fashion show in Paris. [Photo by Francois Guillot/AFP]

Maison Margiela, Valentino and Saab wow the catwalks.

Paris couture week reached a creative climax Wednesday with strong showings from Maison Margiela, Valentino and Elie Saab.

Here are some of the highlights of the last of the fall-winter 2016 collections.

Maison Margiela

John Galliano continues to raise the profile of Maison Margiela.

In Wednesday's ever-creative show, the Gibraltar-born Briton went one step further in stamping the unique brand of Galliano Romanticism on the once-minimalist house.

These styles and artistry have been sorely missed on the couture calendar ever since the designer was deposed from the creative helm of Christian Dior in 2011, when an anti-Semitic rant by him was captured on video.

Abstractions based on Asian styles opened the show in a dropped wrap-around style Chinese red jacket with huge limp tubular arms.

It was, of course, worn with black stripper boots. But this is Galliano: the kinky boots, with purposeful irony, could well have been mistaken for a fisherman's wading boots - a detail that parodied the note of sensuality with panache.

Styles were eclectic, but held together by the sheer theatricality and exuberance of the soft lines of the silhouette.

The fashion industry's model-of-the-moment, Anna Cleveland, was included in the fashion musing to no surprise, and was deservingly given one of the most archetypal looks. She prowled with signature dramatic confidence and an exaggerated look of horror down the runway in a Napoleonic hat, with a voluminous 19th-century coat.

It prompted many a smile from the front row.

Judging by the maison's financial buoyancy since last year, the 55-year-old Galliano can proudly boast not only creative success in womenswear but a commercial one as well.
Pilgrims walk on the Way of Saint James near the village of Santa Catalina de Somoza, close to Astorga. [Provided To China Daily]

French Way takes you across country to Apostle's burial site.

About three hours into the day's hike, having just cleared the highest mountain point of the Camino de Santiago, I looked down into the valleys pockmarked with yellow and purple spring blossoms, and froze.

Surely that faraway black office tower, seemingly no bigger than the trail stones making my scarred feet scream, could not be where I was planning to arrive that same night. Guidebook check: It was.

Dejected, I struggled downhill into the next hamlet, El Acebo. I was barely past the first of its slate-roofed stone houses when my name - Giovanna! - rang out in the lilting Rio de Janeiro accent of a fellow pilgrim.

And that was my camino experience: 31 days of physical endurance through awe-inspiring landscapes, of contemplation punctuated by deep connections. It was a combination that reset my Type-A internal clock so that stopping to pick a poppy or a bunch of grapes, or to compare blisters with hikers from Seoul or Hawaii or Naples, became not only permissible but also imperative.

The "camino frances", or French way, is an 800-kilometer medieval pilgrimage route that crosses Spain from the Pyrenees at the French border to the purported burial site of the Apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Of several historical routes to Santiago, this is the most popular.

It's no wilderness hike: The longest stretch without crossing a village is 10 miles (17 kilometers) through farmland. How much solitude you get depends on when and where you start.
People surround a Turkish army tank in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

Turkish forces said they had taken power in the country "to preserve democracy and defend human rights,"the military said in a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was a failed attempt at a coup by an "unauthorised"move by part of the military, the BBC said.

Television footage showed tanks surrounding the airports at Ankara and Istanbul, and rows of military trucks and armed soldiers blocked the two bridges over the Bosphorous, linking Asian Turkey and European Turkey, the BBC reported.

Gunfire was heard in both cities and military helicopters as well as jet fighters flew low overhead.

The Turkish Anadolu News Agency reported the militarys Chief of Staff, General Hulusi Akar had been taken hostage in Istanbul along with a number of other loyal senior officers, but President Tayyip Erdogan was safe, it reported.

Turkey, as a secular republic, straddles east and west and is a key strategic member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Although secular, it has a significant Muslim population, and has faced a long-running rebellion from its Kurdish ethnic minority.

The military said Turkey would continue to recognise all international treaties and obligations, as well as membership of international bodies, the BBC said..

Turkey has been negotiating for membership of the European Union since 2005.

All international flights to and from Turkey have been suspended, the BBC reported.

To contact the reporter: chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com
BEIJING - The international community has shown great concern over a coup attempt in Turkey and urged for the non-employment of violence and a speedy return to civilian rule.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for calm, non-violence and restraint in Turkey, stressing that "military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable."

According to a statement issued by Ban's spokesman, "it will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy."

US President Barack Obama on Friday called on all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Britain's newly appointed Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said via his Twitter account: "Very concerned by events unfolding in Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely."

Greece follows closely the development in Turkey in the wake of reports on a military coup attempt in the neighboring country, Greek national news agency AMNA reported on early Saturday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has been briefed by the head of the Greek intelligence service, according to government sources.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said in a statement on Saturday that her government is monitoring the situation in Turkey closely, adding that "our priority is the safety of Australian citizens in Turkey. "

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday advised its citizens in Turkey to stay in their place and not to move out, after a military coup was announced there.

"Dear compatriots and visitors to Turkey, please stay in your place and avoid attending the crowded areas," a statement by the foreign ministry was cited by the country's official IRNA news agency.

"Hearken to and consider the announcements by the security officials of Turkey" for further developments following the coup attempt, the statement said.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.
Police vehicles block a road in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said on July 15 that the armed forces have fully seized power in the country. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed. [Photo/Xinhua]

ANKARA/Istanbul -- Turkey's acting army chief Gen. Umit Dundar said Saturday that 104 coup plotters have been killed and 1,563 soldiers detained.

"We're determined to cleanse the army of a parallel structure," the chief said in a televised speech soon after he was promoted from the rank of 1st Army Commander to replace Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage but later rescued in the coup attempt that swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the coup on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the US state of Pennsylvania.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"A military unrest has begun outside the chain of command around several cities of Turkey, mainly in Istanbul and Ankara," said Dundar.

"It has been understood that this unrest was an attempt of coup d'etat by a group of soldiers from different ranks who have nested inside the Turkish army," he added, noting that many commanders were taken to an unknown location.

The general spoke of the casualties inflicted upon the police, the army and the civilians.

"We have 90 casualties including 41 police and two soldiers," he noted.

"In Turkey the coup d'etat era is over in a way that it will not be opened again," he stated.

In remarks delivered early Saturday in Istanbul, Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the military plotters, saying "Our army is clean and no one can harm it."
ULAANBAATAR - China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Myanmar in support of the southeast Asian nation's economic development and improvement of its people's livelihood, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Saturday.

Li made the remarks when meeting with Myanmar President Htin Kyaw on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital.

China and Myanmar, which jointly put forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, have deepened good neighborliness based on the principles since they established diplomatic ties 66 years ago, he said.

"China respects Myanmar's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the development path that the Myanmar people have chosen independently in accordance with their national conditions," Li said.

China is ready to work with Myanmar's new government to grasp the big picture of bilateral ties for the long-term, stable and healthy development of their relationship, he added.

Li called on both countries to enhance high-level exchanges, increase mutual political trust, and outline the development of bilateral ties in the new era, saying China and Myanmar have highly complementary economies and great potential for cooperation.

"China is willing to dovetail development strategies with Myanmar and strengthen cooperation in such areas as infrastructure construction, education, healthcare and water conservancy projects to support the economic development and improvement of people's livelihood in Myanmar," he said.

Htin Kyaw, for his part, said Myanmar and China have long upheld the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence with bilateral relations continuously moving forward.

Myanmar's new government attaches great importance to developing ties with China and is willing to maintain high-level exchanges, the president said.

He said Myanmar is delighted to see China's achievements in economic and social development and is thankful to China's support and assistance.

Myanmar hopes for more investment from China to help the country improve people's livelihood and benefit the Myanmar people, he noted.
(L-R) Li Shishi - President, Chinese Society of International Law, John Anthony Carty - Professor, Tsinghua University, Michael Sheng-ti Gau - Professor, National Taiwan Ocean University, Myron Nordquist - Professor, University of Virginia, Sienho Yee - Professor, Wuhan University, Abdul Gadire Koroma - Former Judge, International Court of Justice, Chris Whomersley - Former Deputy Legal Adviser, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Stefan Talmon - Professor, University of Bonn and Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao - President, Institut De Droit International, Former Chairman of the ILC at the Special Panel on the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Republic of the Philippines during the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Disputes Settlement at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on July 16, 2016. [Photo by Parker Zheng/China Daily]

World renowned scholars and experts on maritime disputes and ocean law questioned on Saturday a ruling by The Hague's Arbitral Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that denied China's historical rights to the South China Sea, as a "wrong", "one-sided" and "political decision".

Myron Nordquist, a professor at the University Virginia, said a lot of things were wrong about the tribunal's award over the South China Sea dispute, particularly the fundamental flawed system to begin with.

Describing the arbitration as "one-sided", the veteran maritime law expert said a good award should be one with both parties' consent.

Nordquist made the remarks on the last day of a two-day forum in Hong Kong, titled the Public International Law Colloquium on Maritime Dispute Settlement. The high-profile seminar, organized by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center and Chinese Society of International law, attracted more than 200 law experts from across the world to discuss the issue.

"It is a bad decision politically and this is a political decision," Nordquist said.

"It is a matter of whether the Article 298 (which grants a nation the right to declare issues that it does not accept compulsory arbitration) was honored."

Nordquist also believes the award's decision to declare all geographic features within the South China Sea as rocks or low-tide elevations "is not going to be well-received".

The tribunal, in its ruling on July 12, declared that the Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba Island, was a rock, instead of an island, as it claimed. That has aroused questions and strong opposition from law experts.

"For example, Japan is going to be, in the end, unhappy with the way rock and island issue was handled by the Tribunal," Nordquist said. He cited the case of Okinotorishima, an island claimed by Japan and one even smaller than Taiping, as it might be put in an awkward position by the award.

Michael Sheng-ti Gau, a professor at the National Taiwan Ocean University, also questioned the award's decision on the rock and island issue.

"Taiping Island is internationally recognized by the academic world as island," Gau said.

"The Philippines carefully made their case around the delimitation by separating the issues into several portions. However, despite the effort by the Philippines, it is still in fact, undeniable, an delimitation issue when the Philippines petitioned to the tribunal over China's right to the South China Sea."

Given China's legitimate declaration in 2006 in Article 298 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the tribunal has no right to rule on territorial disputes and delimitation issues and the award is in fact an act beyond the Tribunal's authority, concluded Gau.

The Philippines has put the dispute to the wrong place to settle, as the tribunal, acting under the UNCLOS, has no authority to touch on issues relating to territorial sovereignty disputes, Gau stressed.
(Photo : NASA) Alleged "UFO" (blob of white) captured in NASA video

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True UFO believers and dyed-in-the-wool conspiracy theorists are accusing NASA of again covering up the sighting of a UFO by cutting a livestream from the International Space Station just as the UFO begins to descend into the atmosphere.



The latest in a series of outcries accusing NASA of covering-up the existence of intelligent aliens was triggered by a YouTube video by a poster with the handle, "Streepcap1." This person's YouTube channel is loaded with video clips showing alleged UFOs on the Earth, the Moon and Mars.



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Streepcap1's latest UFO video posted July 9 shows a blob of white descending into the atmosphere from space. The 1:45 seconds-long clip taken from a NASA livestream from the ISS has been viewed two million times and has got majestic, royalty-free music to jazz it up.



While saying this might be a UFO, Streepcap1 also says this sighting "could well be a meteor or the like." What he found queer, however, is that NASA cut-off the live stream when the UFO seemed to stop.



Some tweets said cutting the livestream was very "suspicious" while others wanted to see the aliens NASA seems to be hiding.



NASA, however, had an explanation for the livestream interruption. The livestream wasn't deliberately cut but was caused by the ISS passing out of range of the satellites that connect the ISS to the Earth, said NASA spokesman Daniel Huot.



"The station regularly passes out of range of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites used to send and receive video, voice and telemetry from the station," said Huot.



"For video, whenever we lose signal the cameras will show a blue screen or a preset video slate."



Streepcap1's video of the controversial "cover-up" can be viewed here.



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(Photo : Getty Images) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has categorically told Japan to stay away from South China Sea row after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempted to convince the Chinese leader to recognize the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

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China on Friday warned Japan against interfering in the South China Sea row, as Beijing continues to beef up its diplomatic efforts in the wake of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration's verdict on the maritime dispute.



Chinese Premier Li Keqiang communicated China's tough stance to Japan on the sidelines of a regional summit in Mongolia, according to Reuters. China has maintained a similarly tough stance against all other countries that are demanding that Beijing adheres to the ruling of the arbitration court.



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"Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering,"



Japan's news agency Kyodo reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had urged Li to respect the verdict on the South China Sea. Japan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura said Abe "reiterated the fundamental positions regarding the South China Sea" in his meeting with Li.



Kawamura added that situation in the South China Sea concerns entire international community and tribunal's verdict on 12 July is legally binding on all parties involved in the maritime dispute.



Earlier this week, Chinese state-owned newspaper China Daily claimed that nearly 70 countries support China's stance on South China Sea issue. India, one of China's regional rivals, was listed among these countries.



Lao and Cambodia's Prime Ministers have openly voiced support for China during the ongoing regional summit in Mongolia, the South China Morning Post reported.



China has categorically stated that it does not accept the verdict of Permanent Court of Arbitration, which has invalidated its claim over large portions of the South China Sea. The Chinese government claims that the verdict is a ploy by western countries led by America.



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Tagschina, Japan, South China Sea, China and Japan, Li Keqiang
(Photo : Getty Images.) Chinas anti-graft watchdog has revealed that two suspects who escaped the country have returned to face charges.

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Two Chinese ex-officials, who had fled the country after being named as suspects in corruption probes, have returned to China to face trail, China's anti-graft watchdog said on Friday.



The two suspects have been identified as Zhu Haiping and Guo Liaowum, according to Reuters. Zhu Haiping was a general manager of Shenzhen Yuwei Industry Co, before he fled to the United States in 1999 after being named as a suspect in a financial scandal.



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The second suspect, Guo Liaowu, was a deputy manager in Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Mining Co. He chose to flee to Australia as soon as his name surfaced in a bribery charge, according to a statement published on official website of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).



The foreign ministers of Australia and the United States have not confirmed the development.



Over the years, the Chinese government has stepped its efforts to nail corrupt suspects hiding in foreign countries. China is currently running an operation dubbed "Fox Hunt" to catch corrupt absconders.



The Chinese government has been pursuing the extradition of many suspects from many western countries. However, its extradition efforts have failed to yield the desired results. Last year, China called on the United States to start discussions on an extradition treaty.



The CCDI claims that up to 381 suspects involved in corruption charges have been extradited from more than 40 countries.



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Tagschina, Corrupation in China, Chinese Absconders, Chinese Corrupts
(Photo : IN) INS Sahyadri (top) and INS Kirch.

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The commanding officer of the Indian Navy's most powerful surface fleet says India is prepared to assist other Asian countries should their maritime security be threatened.



Rear Admiral SV Bhokare, YSM, NM, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), pointed out that India wants peace but we "want to help other countries if they are in trouble. But if any countries want our help in maritime security and humanitarian relief, we will come forward."



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As for the rising tensions in the South China Sea caused by China's militarization of its man-made islands and China's claim to own this sea, Adm. Bhokare said India is ready.



"When our ships sail out, it means we are ready to attack anyone who attacks us," he said.



As FOCEF, Adm. Bhokhare commands some 30 warships and auxiliaries of the Eastern Fleet based in Visakhapatnam, the capital of Andhra Pradesh State along the shores of the Bay of Bengal.



Among these warships are destroyers, stealth frigates, amphibious ships, anti-submarine warfare corvettes, missile corvettes, offshore patrol vessels, missile boats and tankers.



Currently, however, Adm. Bokhare is in Port Klang, Malaysia as commander of a four-ship Indian Navy squadron that has made ports of call in the Philippines, South Korea and Russia.



Adm. Bhokare's squadron will remain in Malaysia for four days. Under his command are the guided-missile stealth frigate INS Sahyadri (Captain K.S. Rajkumar); the guided missile corvette INS Kirch (Commander Sharad Sinsunwal) and the support ship INS Shakti (Captain Gagan Kaushal).



The squadron is on its way back to Visakhapatnam after taking part in the annual Malabar war games with the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Pacific Ocean.



During the visit to Malaysia, the Indian Navy ships will have professional interaction with the Royal Malaysian Navy towards further enhancing cooperation between the two forces.



Adm. Bhokare said India has carried out military cooperation and exercises with many countries around the world. He took over as FOCEF in October 2015.



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A US federal court turned down Rowan county clerk Kim Davis' appeal of the contempt charge she received, for which she had to spend six days in jail.

The court declined to nullify the contempt ruling against her for refusing to issue marriage licenses with her name on it to gay couples, while lifting the injunction against her.

Injunctions pending against her were dismissed because of the new Kentucky law applicable that does not require county clerks' name on marriage licenses.

The law was passed by state lawmakers earlier this year, and was to be applicable starting July 15.

Davis spent six days in prison last year for acting against court orders and refusing to issue licenses under her name, which she said violated her deeply-held beliefs.

Responding to the court's ruling, the American Civil Liberties Union said that it were in agreement with the court's contempt ruling even if the injunction was lifted.

Davis' lawyers welcomed the court decision which dismissed pending injunctions against her.

"This ruling completes Davis' victory over the injunctions obtained by the ACLU and solidifies the religious liberty accommodation provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and Governor Matt Bevin when they amended Kentucky's marriage licensing laws to remove the name and authorization of country clerks from marriage licenses issued by the Commonwealth," said a statement from Davis' attorneys from Liberty Counsel.
home Entertainment Candace Cameron Bure on racism in America: 'I want to be part of the answer'

Actress Candace Cameron Bure said white people can still have a compassionate heart and that "she wants to be part of the solution" amid America's ongoing issues of racial injustice.

The TV personality, who shot to fame for her role in "Full House," claimed it's still possible for a white American to care for colored people and other races.

"Doesn't mean I may not understand it from the personal level that you [Sunny Hostin] will, but I want to be part of the answer. I think we all do," said co-host Bure during a panel discussion for ABC's morning talk show "The View."

Former assistant United States Attorney Sunny Hostin, who acted as panelist for the show, just said that Bure doesn't have to contend with the same worries that black American parents have for their children growing up in the U.S.

The recent killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota that revived the Black Lives Matter protests also highlighted the daily threats black people face in America.

Bure shot back by staking claims that she also has black relatives and friends whom she cared for. While she conceded that she doesn't have to worry over police treatment on her two teenage sons, 16-year-old Lev and 14-year-old Maksim, it doesn't automatically mean her "heart isn't compassionate."

She added, "The bottom line is it starts with our communities. Each of us taking the responsibility on ourselves. Whether you're white, black, Asian, old, young, Christian, Muslim a whatever. And we deal with it together as a community, and have these conversations and invite people that maybe are out of our comfort zone in to have that conversation."

The discussion sparked from New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's controversial comments that blamed most of the murders of black Americans on the black people and accused the Black Lives Matter movement as divisive and "inherently racist."

Actor Omari Hardwick accused the NYC mayor for ignorance while NBC's "Late Night" host Seth Meyers blasted Giuliani and told him to "shut the f**k up."
home World Church response to new Russia law prohibiting evangelizing outside church

Russia's new law restricting religious freedom will take effect in a few days, but churches are not backing down and refuse to pull out their missionaries.

The controversial law, often referred to as the "Yarovaya laws" because of its author Irina Yarovaya, is a package of anti-terrorism measures that greatly impacts religious activity in the country.

Effective July 20, Christians and people from other religions will no longer be able to share their faith with others outside of church and other state-designated areas. Inviting friends to church, even through social media, email or text messages, will no longer be allowed.

Praying, preaching and distributing religious materials outside the designated areas will be prohibited.

House churches, which are prevalent in Russia, will no longer be able to meet, as the law bans places of residence from being converted into areas used for religious activity.

These are just some of the restrictions the churches will face as soon as the law takes effect.

Thomas J. Reese, chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the new laws are "deeply flawed" and will "repress religious communities, stifle peaceful dissent and detain and imprison people."

"Neither these measures nor the currently existing anti-terrorism law meet international human rights and religious freedom standards," Reese said in a statement.

If the law will be implemented strictly, it will have a huge impact on missionary activity. Joel Griffith from the Slavic Gospel Association said the measure could stop missionaries from doing their work save for those who are officially registered with a religious group or organization.

Griffith said they are practicing caution regarding the matter. The Slavic Gospel Association is discussing how to best approach the new law.

"Our whole ethos and purpose is to serve the Church," he said. "And our sole purpose for existence is serving those churches."

Sergei Ryakhovsky, head of the Protestant Churches of Russia, said having to secure permits to share one's faith outside designated areas is "not only absurd and offensive" but also paves the way for "mass persecution of believers for violating these provisions."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has also said its missionaries will remain in Russia, but they will "honor and obey the law."

"Missionaries will remain in Russia and will work within the requirements of these changes. The Church will further study and analyze the law and its impact as it goes into effect," the church said in a statement.
home US Dallas shooter Micah Xavier Johnson 'loved his country' but became 'disappointed' after military service, parents say

Dallas shooter Micah Xavier Johnson used to be a loving, outgoing person until he served in the U.S. military and became "very disappointed."

In an interview with The Blaze, Johnson's parents spoke up about their son and how serving in the military affected him.

His mother, Delphine, shared that Johnson had always been fascinated with the police as a boy, and as he grew up, he became "gung ho" about serving in the military, which he eventually did.

Johnson's military service lasted about six years and included a deployment to Aghanistan for several months. However, when he returned home, his experiences seemed to have turned him into a "hermit."

While he loved his country and wanted to take part in protecting it, his disappointment with the military ran deeply, his mother explained.

"The military was not what Micah thought it would be," she told The Blaze. "He was very disappointed, very disappointed. But it may be that the ideal that he thought of our government, what he thought the military represented, it just didn't live up to his expectations."

Johnson's father, James, said that after his military, Johnson showed an interest in the history of African Americans, although his behavior did not outwardly display hatred for white people.

James said he still has not come to grips with what his son did.

Johnson opened fire during a Black Lives Matter rally and killed five white police officers and wounded others. He said his actions were in response to the recent killings of black people by white police men.

A few days before the Dallas shooting, Johnson wrote on a website called Black Power about "whites" killing "innocent beings."

"Why do so many whites (not all) enjoy killing and participating in the death of innocent beings? Then they all stand around and smile while their picture is taken with a hung, burned and brutalised black person," his post read, according to The Telegraph.
home US 'God may have lifted up Donald Trump' to defeat Hillary Clinton, says Michele Bachmann

Former Representative Michele Bachmann believes Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is God's instrument to beat Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to save the U.S.

The former congresswoman of Minnesota and once a presidential hopeful in 2012 agreed that Trump is not a perfect candidate but even so, he's the only one who could beat Clinton in this fall's presidential election. Trump's election, Bachman said, would give Americans at least a "three percent chance" for a turnaround in contrast to Clinton's null chance. She made a strong case by pointing out that Clinton's only going to continue President Barack Obama's "pro-LGBT, pro-Islam and pro-abortion" legacy.

"I'll tell you what I kept thinking too, Jan, was the book of Daniel. The essence of the book is that the most high God lifts up who He will and takes down who He will," Bachmann told host Jan Markell on the radio program "Understanding the Times."

She added, "We may not have a perfect candidate but [Trump] may be the one, like the Book of Daniel a the most high God may have lifted up Trump, because very possibly, he's the only one that could defeat Hillary Clinton this fall. And if that's the case, it's good enough for me."

Bachmann also serves as a member for Trump's newly created evangelical executive advisory board. She reported that many Christian conservative leaders, who attended the closed-door meeting with the Republican candidate in New York last month, came out satisfied with Trump's pro-life and conservative agenda.

A new survey by the Pew Research Center released Wednesday, July 13 found that 78 percent of white evangelicals support the Republican candidate while 67 percent of atheists, agnostics or "nones" support Clinton. Pew highlighted the political significance of the study considering that the white evangelical Protestants and religious "nones" make up substantial voting blocks.

Bachmann urged the Christian voters to cast their vote in November and said that not voting at all may be worse than voting for an imperfect candidate.
home US Iowa retracts brochure dictating what churches can & cannot say about homosexuality

The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has retracted a previous statement about what churches are allowed to say about human sexuality in the pulpit.

The agency published a brochure explaining that churches and child care facilities run by churches, are subject to the transgender bathroom directive that prohibits discrimination based on sexual identity according to law.

This means churches are required by law to open women's bathrooms to transgender persons, according to the agency.

The brochure further explained that by the state's civil rights law, "publicizing that the patronage of persons of any particular sexual orientation or gender identity is unwelcome, objectionable, not acceptable, or not solicited" is considered as discrimination and is a violation of the law.

However, this interpretation would mean that Iowa churches will not be able to preach biblical views about sexuality and homosexuality on the pulpit.

The Fort Des Moines Church of Christ filed a lawsuit against the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, saying its interpretation of the law is in itself a violation of the First Amendment.

Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the church, said churches should have the freedom to preach what their faith dictates without threat from the government.

First Liberty Institute wrote a letter to the agency demanding that it retract its previous statement, saying it issued "a government mandate that [a] church violate its sincerely held religious beliefs under penalty of law."

"These regulations open the gateway for greater government interference into the realm of faith, including everything from church services to child daycare services in church buildings," First Liberty Institute said.

In a statement published on its website, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission apologized for the contents of the brochure, which has now been revised.

"The Iowa Civil Rights Commission has not done anything to suggest it would be enforcing these laws against ministers in the pulpit, and there has been no new publication or statement from the ICRC raising the issue. The Commission regrets the confusion caused by the previous publication," the agency said.
home US Pastor Jamal Bryant: 'Black Lives Matter' is the first movement not led by Church in the US

Pastor Jamal Bryant challenged the American clergy's obvious absence in the Black Lives Matter movement to take to the streets and join the fight for civil rights.

The megachurch pastor and founder of Baltimore's Empowerment Temple AME Church, also known for his active participation in the Black Lives Matter movement, raised his observations on the glaring absence of the Church during a discussion with other preachers and co-hosts of FOX's faith-based newly-launched show, "The Preachers."

"The thing that I really relish in this dialogue is historians long after us will footnote that this [Black Lives Matter] is the very first movement of civil rights in America not led by the Church," said the pastor before throwing out his challenge to fellow church leaders.

"I want to speak to clergy, black and white, if you want to heal America and change a generation, take your robe off and go hit the street corner and do something that is gonna change where it is that we are going," challenged Bryant.

Although not part of the show, another megachurch pastor previously talked about how pastors "led the way" in shaping America's history.

Speaking on another program, "Pathway to Victory," Robert Jeffress of Dallas' First Baptist Church said last month that pastors played a crucial role during the American Revolution, the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement.

Jeffress' chosen location for his church, the metropolis of Dallas, also played a role in the series of gun shooting violence that wracked the country when a black gunman shot down five white policemen during a Black Lives Matter protest held July 7.

The 25-year-old gunman, Micah Xavier Johnson, reportedly "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers" after the separate shootings by white cops of two African-Americans, Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge and Philando Castile of Minnesota.
home World Nigeria dancing a 'macabre dance of death' under Buhari government, said Nigerian Christians

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) criticized President Muhammadu Buhari's administration for its "lukewarm" response to the string of unprovoked killings against non-Muslims after another pastor died July 9.

The latest murder of a non-Muslim religious individual triggered CAN to speak out against the Buhari administration while calling on Christians in the country to "buckle up and be ready to defend themselves."

In its first official statement released Tuesday, July 12, CAN said it received "with rude shock and disbelief" the killing of Eunice Elisha, pastor at Redeemed Christian Church of God in Abuja, who met her death one early morning as she went around the neighborhood to preach.

With Elisha's neck slashed and stomach stabbed, the eldest daughter wailed that the perpetrators killed her mother "like a chicken" and just left her for dead.

Elisha's death joins the list of what CAN referred to as a "religious hatred motivated gruesome murder" as the organization remembered recent killings of 74-year-old Christian woman Bridget Agbaheme in Kano and Reverend Zakariya, brutally murdered by machete-wielding Muslim Fulani herdsmen in Obi LGA.

Christian leaders and human rights groups already expressed their fears that the relentless attacks of the Fulani herdsmen, buoyed by Boko Haram, could send the nation in a state of civil war.

"The Christian Association of Nigeria commiserates with the families affected by these mindless orgies of death and destruction as well as with the entire Christian community in Nigeria," said a statement by CAN.

The organization lambasted the Buhari government for failing to prevent non-Muslims from "assuming a dangerous dimension."

"You will agree with me that with these happenings and the lukewarm attitude by the authorities concerned toward putting an end to it, Nigeria is dancing a macabre dance of death, both for the nation and for its citizens," it added.

Premium Times shared the full statement delivered by Rev. Dr. Musa Asake, general secretary for CAN, the umbrella organization for Christian denominations in the country.
home World Turkey military coup news 2016: Army seizes power, but prime minister says government still in charge

Turkey's military said on Friday it had seized power, but the prime minister said the attempted coup would be put down.

If successful, the overthrow of President Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would be one of the biggest shifts in power in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies in the region.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the elected government remained in office. There was no immediate word from Erdogan. A source in his office said he was safe.

Airports were shut, access to Internet social media sites was cut off, and troops sealed off the two bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, one of which was still lit up red, white and blue in solidarity with victims of the Bastille Day truck attack in France a day earlier.

TRT state television announced a countrywide curfew. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking jointly after talks in Moscow, both said they hoped bloodshed would be avoided.

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State.

It is a principal backer of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, and host to 2 million Syrian refugees.

The country has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing. It's not just a few colonels," the source repeated.

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

In an statement sent by email and reported on TV channels, the military said it had taken power to protect the democratic order and to maintain human rights. All of Turkey's existing foreign relations would be maintained and the rule of law would remain the priority, it said.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara. CNN Turk also reported that hostages were being held at the military headquarters.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secular principles, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."

Those behind the attempted coup would pay the highest price, he added.
Conservative bishops in Canada condemn same-sex marriage vote

Conservative bishops in the Anglican Church of Canada have condemned the vote to allow same-sex marriage in as a "fundamental departure" from the Church's teaching.

In a statement, the seven bishops warn of serious "complications" in relations with the Anglican Communion as a result.

Hinting at the possibility of future division, they say the vote "imperils" their own relationship with the Anglican Church of Canada.

They criticise the process, which began in 2013 and which this week featured a wrong vote count that led to the initial "result" in General Synod being reversed, as "flawed".

Before the change becomes law, it has to go through a second reading at the next synod in 2019.

The bishops say the vote has "inflicted terrible hurt and damage".

Some bishops have have said they will go ahead with same-sex marriages immediately and not wait for 2019.

The conservative bishops warn that the vote "imperils" their full communion within the Anglican Church of Canada and with Anglicans throughout the world.

"We believe that our General Synod has erred grievously and we publicly dissent from this decision," they state, condemning it as "a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of the Anglican Communion on the doctrine of marriage."

They also criticise all expressions of homophobia.
Duggar family update: Reports on Josh on 'Counting On' are 'absolutely untrue', says source

Josh Duggar, the embattled son of Jim Bob and Michelle from "19 Kids and Counting," is back in Arkansas after his stint in the faith-based rehab facility Reformers Unanimous.

Josh became the subject of public ire last year after he was exposed for cheating on his wife Anna and, before that, molesting underage girls, including his sisters Jill and Jessa, when he was still a teenager. Because of this, many would rather not want him back on television, particularly in his family's new TLC show "Jill and Jessa: Counting On."

So when InTouch reported that Josh would be back on television for the second season of "Counting On," many fans objected.

"Josh will appear on the next season of his sisters' series," the source claimed. "The plan is for him to address everything he's done. What he has to say will be ratings gold, and TLC  and the Duggars  know it."

"Josh will cover everything and he will maintain the family line that God has saved his soul and guided him back to the right path," the source alleged. "But one thing you probably won't hear is that he's actually sorry, as he believes that external forces were to blame for his behaviour."

But before upset fans could file a petition to boycott the show because of Josh's reappearance, another source told PEOPLE that reports of Josh's comeback on TV are "absolutely untrue."

For now, it seems like Josh would continue focusing on rebuilding his marriage with Anna. The couple earlier released a statement on their family blog, saying that they are "working with a professional marriage and family counselor to take important steps toward healing."

"It isn't easy and some days are very difficult. It is a long road to rebuild trust and a truly healthy relationship," they wrote in May. "As the future unfolds, we are taking one day at a time and we are grateful for your continued prayers for both of us and our sweet children."
Franklin Graham helps fulfil wish of boy with terminal disease who wants to receive 10,000 birthday cards this August

Rev. Franklin Graham is tugging on the heartstrings of Christians from all over the world to send a birthday card to terminally ill Arizona teen Jacob Priestley, who is turning 14 this August 28.

Instead of asking for extravagant toys and lavish parties, all Priestley is asking for are caring words from strangers. "The gift of encouragement is priceless! Priestley...is getting ready to turn 14, and we can help make his birthday a happier one," Graham writes on his Facebook page.

"He's not asking for something expensive, but something most of us can probably do  just send a card to encourage him," he says. "I don't know Jacob personally, but I read that he has a terminal illness and loves to receive cards. His mother posted that she wanted to make his birthday super special and would like for him to receive 10,000 cards for his 14th birthday on August 28!"

Graham then quotes the Bible verse 1 Thessalonians 5:11, which says: "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up."

The evangelist is going to be one of the thousands who are going to send a birthday greeting to Priestley, and he hopes other people would follow suit by sending letters to P.O. Box 855, Queen Creek, AZ 85142.

Last year, Jacob asked for the same thing and he received over 8,000 cards on his 13th birthday. His letters came from people as far away as England, Australia, and even China. Even some prison inmates took time out to write him a happy greeting.

"They make me feel better and they just make me happy," Jacob told KWCH12 of the letters.

When Jacob's mother started the request on her Facebook page, she expected only relatives and friends to write to Jacob as well as a couple of hundreds of strangers. But she was floored when thousands of people showed compassion to her son by greeting him a happy birthday.
Pastor Perry Noble apologises for alcohol dependency, tells people to keep going to church despite his firing

Pastor Perry Noble does not want NewSpring Church to lose congregants even after he was fired for his alcohol dependency. He is thankful for the "unbelievable support" he has received from churchgoers this week.

At the same time, he expressed concern when many of the South Carolina megachurch congregants threatened to leave the church unless he is reinstated.

On his Facebook page, Perry shared a video telling his fellow Christians that he is thankful for their prayers, and that he is doing his best to get better.

"I want to say to everyone at NewSpring Church that I am sorry that I allowed a dependency on alcohol  I ran to it rather than to Jesus for my comfort, and that was wrong and I am sorry. I am going to do whatever it takes to make it right," he says.

Perry continues, "I am checking into a treatment facility, and I am going to work with some excellent people who are really going to help me take my next steps. I am serious about fighting for my wife and my daughter, and I am serious about following Jesus."

He understands that many are angry at the church over his dismissal, but Perry says he does not wish to cause any trouble. "If you love me, be at NewSpring this Sunday. And the next Sunday, and the next Sunday. I still love my church," he says. "God has gotten my attention. I am focused on getting better. I am not bitter. I'm going to get through this, we're going to get through this, and I still believe that NewSpring is going to reach 100,000 and beyond."

Perry also supports the appointment of Senior Pastor Clayton King, the leader of Crossroads Worldwide ministry, as his replacement. "He is a great man of God. He is a Godly father, he is a Godly husband," he says.
Zimbabwe pastor becomes local superhero in populist #ThisFlag fight against Mugabe regime

A Christian pastor in Zimbabwe is achieving hero cult status on social media and among the local populace after touchlighting a populist campaign to do something about the country's economic crisis.

Evan Mawarire was released from prison by Harare magistrates this week and has temporarily left the country on a prior engagement after learning that "groups of men" were hunting him.

He had been facing charges by public prosecutors of inciting public violence, subversion and even trying to overthrow President Mugabe after his peaceful #thisflag campaign against corruption and economic mismanagement took off on social media. The magistrates threw out the charges and released them.

The plight of Zimbabwe has attracted support from church leaders worldwide. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, currently does not wear a clerical collar and has said he will not wear it again while Mugabe is in power.

Pastor Mawarire wrote on Facebook after his release: "Fellow Citizens thank you for your concern for my safety and whereabouts. I am well and safe taking some time to recuperate.

"Unfortunately i have been unable to communicate via my phone as usual because the Police are still in possession of my phone.

"I am also reliably informed that groups of men have been apparently looking for me at my home and office. Currently I have travelled to attend to a previously arranged engagement outside the country and will be back home to my family and work soon and indeed all the other significant movements in Zimbabwe are not about one person. Take ownership of this work. I take my hat off for all your amazing efforts in building a better Zimbabwe.

"We will never be silenced. HATICHADA & HATICHATYA, ASISAFUNI njalo ASISESABI, FED UP & NOT AFRAID."

He also tweeted:

Im reliably informed that 'groups of men' are looking for me at home and office, we don't know who they are. Will update as we get more info  #ThisFlag E Mawarire (@PastorEvanLive) July 15, 2016

and

Thank u 4 your concern 4 my safety. Police still have my phone. Im traveling on prearranged work, can't wait to be back home #ThisFlag  #ThisFlag E Mawarire (@PastorEvanLive) July 15, 2016

According to BBC Africa, in spite of his lack of political experiece his campaign has won over Zimbabweans because they are fed up with so many existing politicians.

One UK Zimbabwean tweeted an image of Mawarire as superhero "Captain Zimbabwe".

"I did it with the younger generation of Zimbabwe in mind who might not understand what the struggle in Zimbabwe is about," Tawada Sibotshiwe told the BBC after sharing the picture on Twitter. "I did it so they can visualise the man who has inspired Zimbabweans to seek dialogue with their government in a peaceful manner."

I Present To You Captain Zimbabwe

.

Mawarire told Zimbabwe Independent that Mugabe had once been his hero.

"It's 23 years now since I met him. He was my hero then. Today I look back and say: 'What changed?' Either I grew up or he messed up big time for sure."

In a recent statement on the economic crisis, Zimbabwe's church leaders wrote that they were "concerned and alarmed" by the unfortunate unfolding events in their beloved country and saddened by the political, social and economic meltdown which has caused untold suffering of the masses.

"We are inspired by our call and mandate given to us by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to prophetically declare the Word of God and work for the common good for our communities," they said. "As Church and community leaders, we condemn brutality by the law enforcement agencies on citizens. We implore the Government to redirect the law enforcement agencies to uphold their constitutional role of protecting citizens instead of brutalizing them. The citizens' constitutional right to demonstrate and protest must be protected. In exercising this right, we implore citizens to always remain peaceful in their demonstrations."
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Set on 50 acres of land in Glen Rose, Texas is a stunning, rustic ranch listed at $1,500,000.

The Somervell County property has a 3,822-square-foot main house with four bedrooms and three baths. The structure is outfitted with reclaimed wood finishes, hand-distressed wood floors and a limestone fireplace. Stained concrete floors add a modern touch to the space.

Interior designer Andrea Campbell redesigned the kitchen area, adding custom cabinetry, a built-in coffee bar, multiple pantries and a commercial-grade range.

SEE ALSO: Country homes in Texas embrace modern design

Outside, on the sprawling expanse of land, is an air-conditioned, custom-built $30,000 chicken coop illuminated by a chandelier.

There's an outdoor living area as well as a 10-foot-deep heated swimming pool. Elsewhere, a 2800-square foreman's residence includes a separate entrance and driveway.

RELATED: Facts about Texas' most prominent, historic ranches

According to the listing, the ranch also includes "three stock tanks total, three barns, two wells, and a ranch foreman's residence with its own street address at 4005 County Road 2007. Twenty acres of the ranch are cultivated, with the other 30 acres bearing native grasses."

Shannon Houchin at Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty has the listing.
Regional Presbyterian leaders voted Saturday to accept the exit of two Houston-area congregations in an ongoing schism fomented by social issues including gay marriage.

On a voice vote, the Presbytery of New Covenant, governing body for 95 Southeast Texas congregations, agreed to dismiss Memorial Drive Prebyterian Church in Houston and Missouri City's Southminster Presbyterian, making them the 11th and 12th area churches to leave in recent years.
When Lee Carrier left for work on Monday morning, her St. Bernard, Fachi, was full of life. By 4 p.m., Carrier's dog walker called her and said Fachi was dead on the porch of her apartment unit.

Carrier, who lives at La Maison at River Oaks, west of downtown, said on Friday that the management told her that workers didn't know how her dog ended up outside.

RELATED: Officers save leashed puppy hanging from truck window

"A maintenance person entered my unit and changed the smoke alarm," Carrier said. "His story is that he saw my dog on the patio when he entered. I believe he put the dog on the patio, left him there and forgot about it."

Carrier said she contacted the apartment complex's managers last weekend to fix a smoke alarm in her unit. She said the management told her that she would have to be present for the update on the smoke alarm in case anything happens to her dog. She said an apartment complex employee changed the alarm anyway when she wasn't there.

"They've come up with several different stories; that's what's enraging me," Carrier said. "The management has come up with various scenarios like I left the door open and he must have snuck out and closed the door."

Mack Armstrong with Greystar said the matter has been investigated.

"We are saddened at the loss of the resident's pet that occurred on our property," Greystar said in a statement. "We have investigated the matter and confirmed that our staff had no involvement in the placement of the dog on the balcony. We again express our condolences for their loss."

Carrier said she's heard complaints from other tenants. She said the plan is to meet with other residents to see if they can take some sort of action.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is investigating the early Saturday death of a correctional officer in Abilene who was killed by an inmate.

Mari Johnson, 55, was found unresponsive in the kitchen area of the Robertson unit at 3 a.m. and given life-saving measures. She was transferred to the Hendrick Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. An Abilene resident, Johnson has worked as a correctional officer since 2009.
A woman was critically injured in a single-car accident overnight when she crashed into a pole in northeast Houston.

The collision, which wrapped her white Toyota Avalon around a post, happened in the 9300 block of North Wayside near Tidwell.
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.
No more flags of foreign countries posted on Facebook in a spirit of solidarity. No more empathic Twitter hashtags. No more empty statements by heads of government declaring that the terrorists have failed in their effort to turn us against one another. No more equally empty statements by other heads of government expressing their own countrys support for our ally in its time of grief. No more calls for love in the face of hate, or candlelight processions as a response to murder. No more clicking of tongues and shaking of heads over the horrible loss of lifeas if people had died in a one-off natural disaster, a hurricane or tornado or tsunamifollowed, after a few days, by a return to normal. Until the next time, of course.

No more attempts to psychologically analyze every new jihadistto probe his troubled family or professional life in an attempt to figure out what turned him to violence and extremism. No more reflexive reassurances that this has nothing to do with Islam, that a handful of bad guys have hijacked a peaceful faith, and that the great majority of the worlds 1.5 billion Muslims are, of course, peace-loving people who utterly reject this kind of action. No more slick pivoting to the subject of gun control, or American homophobia, or whatever other diversion seems useful under the specific circumstances. No more blaming of Europeans supposed failure to accept or embrace or integrate or employ Muslims, or of Muslims alleged poverty or hopelessness or frustration or alienation.

No more hand-wringing by journalists, as they stand mere yards from the bodies of the dead, about the possible backlash against Muslims (which never really materializes). No more declarations by U.S. officials that the mere mention of Islam in connection with Islamic terrorism is dangerous and counterproductive because it alienates the Muslim allies and Muslim communities whose help we need in fighting this problem that we dare not properly name. No more respectful TV interviews with representatives of Muslim civil-rights organizations that have been proven over and over again to be fronts for terrorism.

No more outrageous lies by government and media that, almost fifteen years after 9/11, keep so many Americans so outrageously in the dark about the world in which we live now. No more of the despicable day-to-day efforts by the same actors to keep those Americans who do get it in line, to instill in them an unholy fear that, if they dare to address the problem honestly, theyll be thrust forever out into the darkbeyond the realm of decent society, unacceptable, unemployable, unfriendable. No more societal tyranny by those who (because theyre cowardly, or feel powerless, or have no sense of responsibility to preserve the precious gift of freedom that their own forebears fought and died for and have bequeathed them, or are, inconceivably, unconcerned about the world their own children and grandchildren will inhabit) treat as enemies not those who seek to destroy them but those who dare to speak the truth about it.

No more ignorance. A couple of weeks ago, Adam Carolla recorded his podcastone of the most popular on the Internetbefore an Amsterdam audience. Carolla, an Angeleno, asked locals about life in the Netherlands. They painted a thoroughly rosy picture. He asked about religion. They depicted a near-utopian secular country free of reactionary faith. Poof! Down the memory hole went Pim Fortuyn, Theo Van Gogh, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Geert Wilders. And Carolla didnt challenge any of it. Then, just the other day, in an interview on Joe Rogans podcast (which is even bigger than Carollas), gay conservative Milo Yiannopoulos served up some basic facts that everybody in the U.S. would know by now if the mainstream media were doing its jobfacts about the levels of Muslim rape in Sweden, about the scale of antigay animus in Muslim communities, and about the systematic efforts by European governments to obscure these and other ticklish matters. Rogan, who is no fool, and who has interviewed hundreds of people in an effort to educate himself about the world, was shocked by all of it. (Wow! Wow! Wow!)

In the years after 9/11, major acts of Islamic terrorism in the West seemed to come along every year or so, leaving plenty of time in between to go back to pretending that everything was fine and to resume mouthing benign platitudes. Now theyre happening so often, one right on top of the other, that we can hardly keep track of them. The only upside is that its getting harder and harder to maintain that pretense.

The time for shock is over. The time for heaping up flowers and candles and stuffed animals at the sites of atrocities is over. The lies and ignorance and cravenness must end, and the simple facts must be faced. The free, civilized West has, for years now, been the target of a war of conquesta war waged in many forms (of which terrorism is only one) by adherents of a religion that preaches submission, intolerance, and brutality, and our leaders and media, with few exceptions, continue to play a game whose fatuity, fecklessness, and pusillanimity have become increasingly clear. After Nice, no more.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
CLEVELAND, Ohio - A high-rise apartment building planned for Euclid Avenue, in the core of downtown Cleveland, will include 187 residences and a rooftop deck featuring a small dog park.

The Cleveland City Planning Commission gave early design approval Friday for the Beacon, an apartment tower that local developer Stark Enterprises aims to build on top of a parking garage at Euclid Avenue and East Sixth Street.

Now the developer will head to the Board of Zoning Appeals, to get permission to erect a taller, more densely populated building than the current zoning on the property allows.

Stark hopes to start construction around year's end and to finish the project in late spring of 2018. If that timeline holds, the Beacon could be downtown's first built-from-scratch apartment high-rise since the early 1970s.

Other developers have turned existing office towers into housing during the center city's recent residential boom. There's talk about additional high-rise sites downtown.

And the city's University Circle neighborhood marked a milestone in June when First Interstate Properties and Petros Development Corp. broke ground for a $116 million, 280-unit building called One University Circle, on the former site of the Children's Museum of Cleveland.

The Beacon would perch atop the 515 Euclid Ave. garage, built more than a decade ago to support a residential tower. Reuven Dessler, managing partner of the investor group that owns the garage, formed a joint venture with Stark for the apartment project in late 2015.

"It's really exciting to be on Euclid Avenue," Rebecca Hegyes, Stark's director of development, told the planning commission Friday. "Given the corridor, the transportation systems, we feel very confident about the kind of resident we can attract there."

Stark expects to employ steel-frame construction instead of concrete, using lighter materials that will allow for a taller building. Designs show a 338-foot-tall structure, the equivalent of 28.5 stories high. There will be 19 residential floors, a gym tucked in the garage's basement and the rooftop deck with an enclosed party room.

Sixty percent of the apartments will have one bedroom. The rest will have two. Hegyes said it's too early to release pricing for the apartments. But in response to a question from a planning commission member, she estimated that the average rental rate might be $2.25 or $2.26 per square foot.

A single floor - the 21st - will have shallow, inset balconies, forming a cutout about three-quarters of the way up the tower. The developer hopes to illuminate the building in a way that highlights that cutout.

"We're looking for something that would give an iconic presence on the street front," Katherine Faulkner of Nadaaa, a Boston-based architecture firm, said during a Thursday city design-review committee presentation, a precursor to the planning commission meeting. "It is a tall building, but it's not a very tall building. Its budget is a modest budget."

The design-review committee asked Nadaaa and Westlake Reed Leskosky, the other firm working on the project, to explore ways to better integrate the new tower with the existing, glass-paneled garage. Committee members had mixed opinions about the tower's metal-clad facade, where six shades of paneling ranging from bronze to copper to near-silver will create an ombre effect.

"I like the pattern quite a bit," said Jodi van der Wiel, an architect who sits on the committee. "I think it's just the imagery is not doing it justice."

Committee member Jack Bialosky, Jr., another architect, encouraged the Beacon designers to push their boundaries. "I don't find this particularly iconic," he said. "It almost feels like your building's being camouflaged to me."

On Friday, planning commission members asked Stark to consider operable windows, since the current design shows floor-to-ceiling glass without openings. They also touched on the logistics of building a tower in such a tight space, since the 515 garage is flanked by historic buildings and busy streets.

Stark hopes to keep most of the 524-space garage open during construction. The garage was designed with an interior cutout that can accommodate a crane. It's likely that Stark will be able to put construction equipment there, minimizing disruption on the surrounding streets. The top two floors of the garage could function as a staging area for materials.

"If you've got the guts to build a new apartment building in the city of Cleveland, God bless you," said Fred Geis, a developer who sits on the commission.
MENTOR, Ohio -- A 76-year-old Mentor man died after he shot himself inside a gun shop Friday, police said.

Police and firefighters responded to a report of man with a gunshot wound at Point Blank Range and Gun Shop, 5957 Heisley Road, at 2:58 p.m., according to a Mentor police news release issued Saturday.

They found the man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The unidentified man was taken to TriPoint Hospital, where he died, the release states.

The man's identity had not been released as of Saturday morning.

"I am very heartbroken," gun shop owner David Holtz said in a phone interview with cleveland.com Saturday. "We are fully cooperating with Mentor police."

Holtz referred all questions to police.

Police will not say if the man was a customer or employee at Point Blank.

Details about the gunshot wound were not provided.

The shooting is still under investigation.

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cleveland police car.jpg

Five people were shot outside the Agora Theatre early Saturday, police said.

(File photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Five people were shot outside the Agora Theatre and Ballroom early Saturday, police said.

Investigators suspect multiple gunmen were involved in the shooting that happened around 2 a.m. in the 5000 block of Euclid Avenue, according to a Cleveland police news release.

One victim was taken to MetroHeatlh, two were taken to Cleveland Clinic and two others were taken to University Hospitals. Information about their conditions was not available Saturday morning.

It's unclear if the victims knew the shooter or if it was a random shooting. All victims and witnesses were uncooperative, police said.

The event was not believed to be related to the Republican National Convention, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said.

Damn Near Naked club promotions was hosting a party at Agora on Friday night, according to posts on Twitter.

Investigators found casings from three different caliber guns on the scene, Ciaccia said.

There was no mention of a possible motive.

The shooting remains under investigation.

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CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Cleveland Heights and Lakewood are lined with small businesses, each with their own story.

Some owners picked their neighborhood because they had roots there, others for the space. All chose to remain in their inner-ring suburb for specific reasons, whether they aligned with community values or valued strong connections with residents and other owners.

Cleveland.com headed out to find out what small business owners love about Lakewood and Cleveland Heights. Here's what they said:

Strong roots

Ben Ziska, co-owner of Guy's Pizza in Cleveland Heights, likes the mix of customers, young people and those who have boomeranged back to Cleveland Heights.

"It's a good blend of different segments of folks," he said. "There are certainly generations involved in the Cleveland Heights community."

Such was the case for Bridget Thibeault, who moved back to the Cleveland Heights area after living in New York and Chicago. She grew up a couple streets from Luna Bakery & Cafe, the pastry and coffee shop she opened five years ago at the corner of Fairmount Boulevard and Cedar Road.

"I was born here, my mom was born here," she said. "I love being part of a bunch of business owners that really care about the community and support local."

Shared ethics

Julie Hutchison, owner of Lakewood's The Root Cafe, a vegetarian eatery and coffee shop, opened her business on Detroit Avenue in 2009. She said she and husband Bobby Breitenstein chose the location because they already belonged to the community, which aligned with their business values.

"When we first opened we didn't know what to expect," she said.

She said Lakewood residents have been welcoming. She appreciates the programs that make people feel included in Lakewood.

"We love Lakewood because of the diversity here," she said. "It is a true community; people take care of each other."

A great community

Cleveland Heights' Laurie Warshawsky, who started Blush Boutique in 2010, said when a storefront becomes vacant in Cleveland Heights, almost immediately a new business will come in.

She said it's the area's history and the prime positioning for storefronts that keeps businesses coming to the area. Coventry Village was developed in the early 1900's, and is still a bustling, trendy district. She's developed personal relationships with frequenters of the store, she said.

"People are definitely still loyal to the stores they know," she said.

She said on Coventry, the businesses band together to lift up the street, and on top of that it feels safe to have a business in Cleveland Heights. Police walk by and check in with her.

Tom Kess owns one of the long-running restaurants in Lakewood: Angelo's Pizza. The business has been open for 35 years.

Kess said he's not a fan of his spot on Madison Avenue where he moved the business in 2002, even debating relocating the shop. However, he said he wouldn't move out of Lakewood, because although the city wasn't a consideration when he opened, it's a good town and great for delivering pizza.

"It's become a more desirable location," he said. "This is like down-home America."
WASHINGTON  Alzheimers disease symptoms can be managed with simple algorithms that include ruling out other physiologic concerns and making some lifestyle modifications, according to an expert.

These approaches are neither hopelessly complicated nor random, Richard J. Caselli, MD, said at Summit in Neurology & Psychiatry, held by Global Academy for Medical Education. Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same company.

Dr. Richard J. Caselli

Key to diagnosis and management is to understand the differences between Alzheimers, dementia, and nondisabling cognitive impairment. Alzheimers disease is the most common cause of dementia, but it is not synonymous with dementia, said Dr. Caselli, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Dementia is not memory loss alone but the disabling impairment of multiple cognitive functions.

Mild cognitive impairment typically means that a patient is still able to conduct his or her activities of daily living despite having memory (or other cognitive) problems.

Although it is possible for a traumatic event such as a family upset, hip replacement surgery, or an infection, to provoke signs of cognitive impairment, it is not usually down to one day where all hell broke loose and ever since then, [the patient] hasnt been the same, Dr. Caselli said. There are a lot of different reasons why a person can have cognitive difficulty, although with degenerative causes of dementia, it is a gradual onset problem.

Alzheimers disease has a lengthy preclinical phase and can take as long as 15 years (or more) to finally present with symptoms of memory loss after onset, he added.

Changes in behavior, sleep

Behavioral changes in the patient, such as increasing paranoia, delusional states, aggression, and agitation, are an especially problematic aspect of the disease, Dr. Caselli said. Medications such as atypical and typical antipsychotics are off label, but can be effective in helping to manage psychosis and agitation, he said. Antipsychotic medications carry black box warnings from the Food and Drug Administration for use in the elderly, highlighting an increased risk of sudden death, especially in patients with underlying cardiac problems. Dr. Caselli said that, anecdotally, he had not yet seen any such severe adverse events when using atypical antipsychotics in this population, but vigilance should nonetheless be maintained. He also mentioned that pimavanserin, a selective serotonin 5-HT2A inverse agonist, recently was approved for psychosis in Parkinsons disease, but that he so far has not had any personal experience with it.

Changes in sleep patterns also can offer clues to the type of dementia the patient may have. Pay close attention to the presence of any dream enactment behavior that may be a clue for REM sleep behavior disorder, which as been associated with Parkinsons disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, according to Dr. Caselli.

Addressing other medical concerns such as restless legs syndrome, hypersomnolence, or nocturia can help patients get better sleep, and in turn, improve their overall disposition.

Physiologic concerns

Comorbid medical conditions such as a urinary tract infection, cancer, or end organ failure, as well as postoperative states and polypharmacy, also should be considered as potentially contributing to altered cognition. Although the physical exam for a person with Alzheimers disease tends to be normal, there are some types of dementia that might present with visual loss, aphasia, Parkinsonism, or signs of motor neuron disease, Dr. Caselli said.

Particularly in late-stage dementia, if patients have experienced a fracture or recently have had surgery, an abrupt decline in status could indicate they are in severe pain. They arent going to be able to tell you that, though, and you will just have to be sensitive and attuned to that [possibility], Dr. Caselli said.

Neuropsychological, other tests

A variety of widely available formal and informal tests can help evaluate a persons orientation, learning and memory, and constructional and spatial abilities, such as accurately drawing the face of a clock. Language skills testing is important, particularly comprehension, which can be more subtle to detect but can prove key to the differential diagnosis and management.

Neuropsychological testing can reveal different patterns of cognitive impairment. For example, tests sensitive to mental or physical speed can help indicate whether a person has vascular dementia or Parkinsons disease, two forms of impairment that involve slower cognition. Contrast this with people in the beginning stages of Alzheimers, who tend to be much less affected on such tests, Dr. Caselli said.

The conventional wisdom is that brain imaging often yields little diagnostic information in Alzheimers, but Dr. Caselli showed examples of tumors, strokes, focal atrophy, and amyloid angiopathy, as imaged abnormalities interfering with cognition. Imaging in dementia is an important thing to do.
A handful of Turkish army members who participated in a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commandeered a helicopter and fled to Greece, authorities said on Saturday, but the euro zone country indicated the bid was likely to be rejected.

The aborted move to overthrow the Erdogan government stunned the world and left hundreds dead after forces loyal to the embattled president pushed back against the military putsch. After foiling his ouster, Erdogan fingered U.S.-based moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, and said he would formally request his extradition from the U.S. to face charges in Turkey.



CNN Turk tweet

The identities and leadership of the coup weren't immediately clear, but on Saturday, a Turkish Army Aviation Black Hawk helicopter landed in the International Airport of Alexandroupoli of northern Greece. The copter transmitted a distress signal that cited mechanical failure.



According to the Greek Aviation Authority, the helicopter was flying at very low altitude and approached from the east. Its crew made the first call on an emergency frequency within 10 miles from the airport of Alexandroupoli.

Greek authority's gave direct permission to the helicopters crew to approach the airport and provided all relevant meteorological information and the runway in use. At the same time, two Greek fighter jets took off to accompany the Black Hawk.

Yet the soldiers' bid for asylum appeared to end in the same failure as the coup. After the helicopter touched down, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu asked Greece to extradite the officers back to the country. In a tweet later on Saturday, Cavusoglu said the servicemen would be returned to Turkey:

Turkey tweet
Among Barbers influences were Classically inspired Ideal Busts such as those sculpted in the mid-19th century by Hiram Powers. However, Barber was less interested in prettiness and sought to create a design that met the needs of the U.S. Mint and demands of commerce.

The Liberty Head 5-cent piece of 1883 to 1913 was also targeted by survey respondents as being particularly dull and uninspired. It was another product of Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber.

Barbers coins are probably the ugliest," Florida collector Peyton Souder and her dad, Terry, said in our survey. "They lack any kind of inspiration considering that the designs of the other countries in the world were becoming more artistic in the late 19th century. Pictured above is a 1900 Barber quarter.

Charles Barbers designs for the dime, quarter dollar (reverse pictured above, at right) and half dollar are often singled out as being particularly boring, although admittedly they did wear well. His Liberty Head 5-cent piece (obverse pictured above, left) has suffered a similar assessment with todays collectors.

It seems that among U.S. coin designs, some are universally praised and some seem to enjoy consistent disdain from collectors.

From the soaring heights of Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1907 High Relief double eagle  considered by many to be the finest U.S. coin design  to the lowly Anthony dollar, the more than two centuries of coins produced by the U.S. Mint have seen high points and low points.

What follows is the result of an informal survey I conducted with more than 50 of my coin collecting friends. I asked a simple question: What is the least attractive U.S. coin. The results allow us to have a discussion on aesthetics and ways of seeing and helps us evaluate what design elements work on a coin (and what ideas dont work.)

The following is the second part of my look at the ugly of U.S. coins. Read the first part here.

Revisiting the classics

The U.S. coins that collectors consider classics today are what got the most mixed responses in my survey.

Many collectors singled out the Barber dime, quarter dollar and half dollar, first introduced in 1892, and the Liberty Head 5-cent piece of 1883 to 1913, as being particularly dull and uninspired. Both were the product of Mint Chief Engraver Charles Barber.

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Barbers designs fall in the tradition of Ideal Busts which represented the formal taste for Classical art in the mid-19th century. Hiram Powerss marble sculpture of Proserpine  the mythical wife of Pluto  had a thin narrative that would allow the artist to simply sculpt a beautiful, idealized woman. Powers and his workshop would sculpt more than 200 of these busts in various sizes with some modifications to meet demand for these popular sculptural objects.

Barber would turn to a similar Ideal Bust model for his coins.

Surprisingly, the Barber silver coins were the result of an open design competition that failed to yield designs that would meet the demands of striking (at least according to the U.S. Mint). Local newspapers reported at the time that just two of 300 designs submitted were deemed good enough to receive honorable mention. Rather than adopt any of the public designs, the Mint went with Barbers designs.

Upon their release, Barbers conservative designs were met with relative indifference, though the coins met the functional needs of mass production. As W.T.R. Marvin wrote in 1892 in the American Journal of Numismatics, The head of liberty is dignified ... but she can hardly be called a beauty. He also perceived a slight swelling on the back of the neck, that led one irreverent critic to remark she is going to have a boil, and another to say the throat is that of a gladiator.

As Cornelius Vermeule, author of the 1971 book Numismatic Art in America, concluded, Potentials of great numismatic art were scarcely realized, but a useful triad of coins emerged. The designs wear well and Vermeule admits that Barber was unsurpassed in the mechanics of creating a durable design of monumental validity.

Indian Head cent researcher Russell Doughty observed that the Barber design did not work equally well on all denominations, sharing, I greatly enjoy Barbers Liberty on the dime, but the design loses its appeal to me when stuck for quarters and half dollars.

Florida collector Peyton Souder and her dad, Terry, are less generous in their assessment, adding, Barbers coins are probably the ugliest. They lack any kind of inspiration considering that the designs of the other countries in the world were becoming more artistic in the late 19th century.

The Barber coins were introduced a few years after the debut of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, a representation of a sturdy Liberty if there ever was one. Coin World columnist Gerry Tebben captured what many think when he pointed out that, in Barbers Liberty, The gal looks like a guy to me and shes got all that stuff on her head, a freedom cap, Liberty coronet and a laurel wreath with a bow.

Tebben then conceded, as did Vermeule, that the reverse of the Barber quarter dollar and half dollar can be beautiful in higher grades. Coin World valuing analyst Tony Cass said, Barber spent too much time looking at French medals and coins rather than designing a truly classic series of coins, before concluding, The coins unattractiveness might be part of the reason why their prices seem to lag their rarity.

Keep reading our breakdown of the U.S. Mint's ugliest coins:

U.S. coins mentioned in this article:

Barber dime

 Coin Values estimates (as of July 20, 2016): 1892 AG-3 - $5.50; 1895-O AU-55 - $4,000; 1901 MS-66 - $1,250

 One of the most popular and challenging U.S. coin series is the Barber dime  not only because it's the work of the prolific and controversial Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, but because of the number of key and semi-key coins that comprise the 74-coin set. Read all about the Barber dime.

Barber quarter

 Coin Values estimates (as of July 20, 2016): 1893 AG-3 - $7; 1896-S AU-55 - $8,000; 1916-D MS-66 - $1,500

 Most Barber quarters were subjected to heavy circulation usage and show their excessive wear. Many of the low-grade coins were melted in the silver boom of 1979 to 1980. Read more.

Barber half dollar

 Coin Values estimates (as of July 20, 2016): 1892 AG-3 - $17.50; 1900 AU-55 - $425; 1907-S MS-64 - $8,500

 The first Barber half dollars were ejected from the coinage presses at the Philadelphia Mint at 9 a.m. Jan 2, 1892. Eight years later, the obverse hub for die production was modified for use on coins beginning in 1901. The difference is most readily seen in at Liberty's ear. Read more.
In 1900, Brazil honored the legacy of explorer Pedro Cabral with four silver commemorative coins, including this 4,000-real coin.

Although he was overshadowed by his contemporary explorers, Pedro Alvares Cabral today is regarded as a major figure of the Age of Discovery.

He was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator, and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. In 1900, Brazil honored his discovery with a series of coins, including a silver 4,000-real piece, the largest denomination in that commemorative set.

An example of the coin, graded Mint State 63 by Numismatic Guaranty Corp., is offered in Stacks Bowers Galleries Aug. 10 auction in Anaheim, Calif., during the American Numismatic Association Worlds Fair of Money.

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Though Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco Da Gama may still be more well known in modern times, Cabral ranks with them among the most important of explorers.

Cabral was appointed to head an expedition to India in 1500, following Vasco da Gamas newly opened route around Africa, a trip during which Cabral would become the first captain who ever touched four continents, uniting Europe, Africa, America, and Asia.

Instead of their intended destination, India, Cabral and his 13-ship fleet traveled far into the western Atlantic Ocean, landing on what would turn out to be Brazil.

Instead of an island, Cabral had discovered a new continent, South America, claiming an area of it for Portugal, and sending word to King Manuel I of the new territory.

With India still in their sights, Cabral and his explorers headed east, encountering danger and death along the African coast before a reduced traveling party regrouped and finally landed in Calicut. After meeting resistance there (and again being attacked), Cabral successfully traded with the Kingdom of Cochin before returning to Portugal with spices that would help lay the foundation for an empire that stretched from the Americas to the Far East.

Brazils independence from Portugal would eventually come in 1825, after fighting and political calculations, but by 1900 the nation was ready to celebrate the 400th anniversary of its discovery by the Portuguese explorer.

A total of four silver coins, the 400-, 1,000-, 2,000- and 4,000-real pieces, were issued for the celebration, with the largest denomination the rarest and most valuable of the set.

The two subtypes of the 4,000-real coin depict on the reverse a star with either 16 or 20 rays. The example in the auction in Anaheim is the 20-ray subtypes.

According to the auction firm, this coin has nice light to medium toning with underlying luster trying to peek through, and some blue and orange highlights beginning at rim. Quite sharp and attractive with only some bag marks.

The coin has an estimate of $900 to $1,200.
A total of 52 people in the entire state will represent Missouri Republicans, and six of those delegates will be from the 4th District, which includes Columbia and rural portions of mid and western Missouri.
'Wendell & Wild' is great to look at, not much fun to watch
July 6, 2016  Rachel Morrison smells the aroma of a red wine during a free wine tasting class at Doc's Wine, Spirits & More in East Memphis. "They really know the different aspects and characteristics of all wines," Morrison said. "They're very helpful. They helped me discover my inner wino." Doc's now faces new competition with grocery stores, who started selling wine on July 1. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE July 6, 2016  Doc's Wine, Spirits & More in East Memphis has its own exclusive brands from California, a wine academy, and other lures. Doc's now faces new competition with grocery stores, who started selling wine on July 1. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) July 6, 2016  Sommelier Brian Haeberle pours a glass of wine as he leads a free wine tasting class at Doc's Wine, Spirits & More in East Memphis. Doc's now faces new competition with grocery stores, who started selling wine on July 1. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

By Kevin McKenzie of The Commercial Appeal

If any small wine and liquor store in Memphis could clearly see the handwriting on the wall with grocery and big-box retailers beginning to sell wine in Tennessee, Wolfchase Wine & Spirits was one of them.

Wolfchase Wine & Spirits opened about 15 years ago as a tenant of the Costco Wholesale Corp. warehouse store in Cordova.

Often cited as the nation's largest wine retailer, Costco couldn't sell wine to its members in Tennessee until 2014, when a compromise with liquor retailers worked out in the state Legislature allowed food stores to begin offering wine this month.

"We knew it would impact us and it has, with them and their prices, it has definitely impacted my wine sales," said John Anderson, general manager of Wolfchase Wine & Spirits.

At the second Costco built in the Memphis area in 1999, at Winchester and Hacks Cross, the family owners of Southwind Wine & Spirits have hedged their bets.

A year ago they opened a second store, Doc's Wine, Spirits & More at Poplar and Kirby in Germantown, designed to compete with the new world of big box stores and grocery store chains.

A 28-tap growler station is available along with wine on tap and Doc's own private-label wines from California, South America and France at costs of $79.99, $12.99 and $7.99 a bottle. Wine and whiskey tastings are also offered along with a wine academy, loyalty cards, home brew supplies and more.

"This store was designed after the wine and grocery store law passed with the idea that this would be grocery-store proof," said Ryan Gill, general manager for the Southwind and Doc's stores.

The initial blending of grocery stores into the retail wine market hasn't been without its missteps and controversies.

At Walmart in Collierville, for example, a receipt clearly shows a $10.77 bottle of Clos du Bois wine being sold on July 4  a holiday when wine sales are barred.

"We are a responsible seller of alcohol and we take the responsibility seriously," said a statement emailed by Arkansas-based Wal-Mart spokeswoman Leslee Wright.

"However, in this situation we made a mistake. We're working with state authorities to ensure we're addressing their concerns."

The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, while not revealing company names, reports that it issued one citation for selling wine on July 4. A second citation issued under the unfair wine law was to a store selling a product with an alcohol by volume content above 18 percent.

Kroger Delta Division's gift of corkscrews to the first 50 customers at 34 West Tennessee stores on opening day drew protests from liquor retailers who said they are banned from offering giveaways.

However, ABC officials said nothing in state law prohibits either type of store from giving away certain items that can be sold at the store. Grocery stores can't offer wine tasting on the premises, while wine and spirits stores can.

The ABC is being called upon to rule on whether a handful of products meet the legal definition of wine. Shoppers, for example, may have difficulty finding a margarita using agave wine initially available at Costco.

The new law requires prices that are at least 20 percent above the wholesale price, and the ABC is investigating complaints that grocery or big-box stores dropped prices below the floor.

That may involve differences of opinion on whether "municipal inspection fees" should be added to the basic cost of wine. The ABC's position is those fees, as well as taxes and other charges wholesalers pass to retailers, should be included, officials said.

Fines for violations are $1,000 for a first offense, $2,500 for a second and up to $5,000 for more.

Gill said that Southwind Wine & Spirits saw an uptick on July 1 as customers showed their support when wine sales debuted at the neighboring Costco. That enthusiasm, however, is flattening.

For its 2015 budget year, Costco global wine sales reached nearly $1.7 billion, but the Issaquah, Washington-based company is unsure whether it's No. 1 because all retailers don't report sales, according to Bob Holler, a Costco buyer in Duluth, Georgia.

"At this time, Costco plans to continue renting space to the current liquor/wine retailers," Holler said by email.

Anderson said that Costco recognized that its wine sales would impact its tenants and has been willing to negotiate lower rents.

Originally, a Memphis cancer surgeon, Dr. Roy Page, owned the Southwind store while his wife, Nancy Page owns the Wolfchase store separately. Dr. Page died in 2010 and his children, Mark Page, Lisa May and Roy Page became owners of the Southwind store, Gill said. Mark Page's wife, Audrey, and Lisa May's husband, Keith May, own Doc's, he said.

"Costco is all about being able to offer everything to their customers," Gill said, and the giant retailer still can't sell the spirits available at the neighboring liquor stores.

"I knew all along my biggest nemesis is going to be next door, but they want us here because they want liquor to be here," Anderson said.
A Pakistani woman holds an oil lamp during a candlelight vigil for renowned social worker Abdul Sattar Edhi in Karachi on July 12, 2016 A gloomy Pakistan on July 9 bade farewell to its national hero Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of the country's largest welfare organisation who died July 8 in Karachi aged 92. / AFP PHOTO / RIZWAN TABASSUMRIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images

Abdul Sattar Edhi died last week.

I'm sorry to say I'd never heard of him. I only knew about his death because my son has a close friend who grew up in Pakistan.

Pakistanis everywhere mourned Edhi's death. He was the "Mother Teresa" of Pakistan. Or maybe Mother Teresa was the "Abdul Sattar Edhi" of India.

Like Teresa, Edhi and his wife, Bilquis, devoted their lives to serving the sick, the hungry, the homeless, the poorest of the poor.

They fed, clothed and sheltered tens of thousands of men, women and children. They found homes for thousands of abandoned babies.

They transported thousands of victims of accident, disease and terrorism. They ritually washed and buried thousands who died destitute.

Their foundation took in millions of dollars, but they lived sparingly in a two-room apartment in a teeming slum.

Edhi, who was known in Pakistan as "the Angel of Mercy," died at age 88.

His death affected my son's Pakistani friend. Because it affected her, it affected him and, by extension, me.

We all need more friends, and not just on Facebook.

Here in the age of the World Wide Web and worldwide terror, personal relationships might be all that can save us.

There have been more than a hundred terror attacks around the world since 130 people were killed Nov. 13 in Paris.

Some affected us more than others.

After the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, I started worrying about my niece, who was going to study for a semester in France.

I changed my Facebook profile photo to the image of the Eiffel Tower shaped like a peace sign.

After terrorists killed 14 people in San Bernardino and 49 in Orlando, I started worrying about my wife and children.

I sent notes of sympathy and support to friends in California and Florida.

I didn't have the same personal, visceral reaction after jihadists killed 41 people at an airport in Istanbul, or 22 at a cafe in Bangladesh; and 250 who were celebrating Ramadan in Baghdad in recent weeks.

I've never been to Turkey or Bangladesh or Iraq. I don't know anyone who lives or who is from those faraway places.

I need more friends. We all do.

When tragedy strikes our friends  whether they live in or look like people in Nice or Orlando, Dallas or Charleston, Baton Rouge or Ferguson  we don't just sympathize, we empathize.

We don't just feel angry or scared or sad for them. We share their anger, fear and sorrow.

That's what happens when friends of a different religion or race or economic status or sexual orientation are troubled or touched by tragedy.

When people we know, like, respect and admire are saying "black lives matter" or "gay rights now," or putting on a police uniform or a hijab, or standing on a bridge or sitting in a car stuck on a bridge, we listen to them.

We talk to them. We care and respect how they feel. We stand by them.

We don't blame or demonize them or people who look like or live near them. And we aren't swayed by political or ideological opportunists, or mainstream or social media reactionaries who do.

We know better.

The world I know mourned Mother Teresa's death in 1997. It barely noticed Abdul Sattar Edhi's departure a week ago.

That's a shame.

Edhi's world was bigger than ours. In 2005, for example, his foundation donated $100,000 to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"My religion is serving humanity," Edhi said then, "and I believe that all the religions of the world have their basis in humanity."

If you don't believe that, ask your friends from different religions and different parts of the world.

If you don't have any, start making some.

We need more friends. They do, too.
"To be, or not to be  that is the question."

Dan McCleary holds no elected office in Greater Memphis. Nor is he responsible for this community's public safety or economic development.

He's also not on the front lines of any current protest movement. But McCleary is every bit the activist  only his arsenal of choice contains the immortal words of William Shakespeare.

A native Memphian, McCleary is the founder and producing artistic director for the Tennessee Shakespeare Company. His mission, however, goes beyond merely producing Shakespearean plays. He is intent on incorporating the inclusive messages from the 16th-century poet and playwright to help today's society achieve shared experiences and learn to speak the same universal language.

He's already doing it with ninth-graders at 15 Shelby County public high schools, including Hope Academy inside Shelby County Juvenile Court. There, teenagers in orange-clad detention jumpsuits can be seen reciting lines from Shakespeare as a way to think through and resolve conflicts.

Last week, McCleary addressed the Memphis Rotary Club, and I came away from his splendid presentation with a belief that the reason our nation is in such turmoil is because we refuse to communicate with, and listen to, each other. In essence, we are not speaking the same language.

Perhaps the Bard himself can help.

"Shakespeare is everyone's birthright," McCleary told me after his Rotary presentation. "He was uptown, downtown, around town and underneath the town."

McCleary says Shakespeare firmly believed that his plays and the theater "should be for everyone because they are about everyone."

This highly complex guy, who lived from 1564 to 1616, wrote at a time when England was also in upheaval based mainly on classism and religious intolerance.

His works, however, represented the rich, the impoverished and the middle class. Europeans, Africans and Jews. Young, old, gay and straight. "He didn't judge others who were not like him. He embraced others who were not like him," McCleary said.

But 400 years after his death, we in America are doing just the opposite, because we don't take the time to communicate effectively. As a result, we insult each other  mostly through inartful language, but sometimes out of ignorance or outright contempt.

Then-senator Barack Obama did it in 2007 when, referring to small-town Pennsylvanians, he said they "cling to guns and religion."

Former Mississippi Senator Trent Lott did it in 2002 when he offered effusive praise to 100-year-old Strom Thurmond, who ran for president in 1948 as a staunch segregationist. "My state ... voted for him," Lott said. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

Joe Biden did it in 2007 when he described Obama as "articulate and clean," as if it was a surprise.

And Donald Trump has done it incessantly in 2016, including when he pointed out a black supporter at one of his rallies last month. "Oh, look at my African-American over here. Look at him."

Trump and his campaign staff considered the remark harmless, even endearing. But to many of us, he came across as a 17th-century slave owner in a 21st-century body.

All of which helps to explain how horrible we are at communicating with people who are different  either through race, age, gender or socioeconomic status.

Last Monday's community meeting at Greater Imani Cathedral and Christian Center, that came a day after a massive protest rally Downtown, was a perfect example of this utter lack of communication. Millennials at the meeting viewed with disdain the baby boomers in the room, many of whom carried the sanctimonious air of authority.

Simply stated, our unwillingness to understand each other's language  body or oral  creates the tensions that can result in some cops seeing danger at the first sight of a young African-American male.

It creates the fierce blowback to the phrase Black Lives Matter, in which Rush Limbaugh, Rudy Giuliani and their ilk call those in the movement racists and terrorists.

And it creates a dividing line between urban and rural, liberal and conservative, black and white, young and old.

Oh help us, dear Shakespeare.

And he can, insists McCleary. The playwright's enduring gift to humanity is his brilliant prose that captures the very essence of all of us  how we love, hate, protect and kill.

"When we learn the story of various (Shakespeare) characters, we have a shared narrative and a shared experience," McCleary said.

From "Hamlet" to "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Othello," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Much Ado About Nothing," Shakespeare is timeless because he gives all of us a voice.

And that is our challenge today  to better communicate with each other through shared experiences. It won't be easy. But if our society is to survive and prosper, we must try.

Finally, when I asked McCleary to identify the one Shakespeare line that would be most helpful to 21st-century America, he did not hesitate to quote Edgar from "King Lear."

"Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say."

Bravo.
July 10, 2016 - Black Lives Matter supporters stand together with their fists in the air while facing a line of police on the Interstate 40 bridge on Sunday night. Demonstrators brought traffic to a standstill on both sides of the bridge by about 7 p.m. as the estimated crowd on the bridge swelled to more than 1,000.

(Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

You can name a police chief. You can train patrol officers. You can open community centers. You can hire African American contractors.

Memphians can do all this fairly quickly.

But can we quickly get to the heart of what the Black Lives Matter movement strives for? Economic equality.

Probably not.

Even among the 221,000 black households in Greater Memphis there is income inequality. There are families who are well off. There are families that are desperate. Education is often the dividing line.

So I called one of the citys contrarian thinkers and asked: What should Memphis do?

We need to come out of denial, said Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr. We are going to have face some very inconvenient truths. At some point were going to have roll up our sleeves and fix our schools.

Throughout Memphis and America theres a clear sense the tense summer of 2016 has brought the country to a difficult crossroad.

We have Black Lives Matter, a movement that arose in 2012 following a series of men killed by police officers, and became a national movement striving to define a larger purpose beyond protesting police tactics.

And we have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the campaign trail, each tuned in to the protests, but unable to articulate a clear vision of where America goes from here.

The candidates rail at one another. They have big-picture ideas. But neither offers an answer for the dissolution in working-class neighborhoods across the country.

And so people are speaking up.

We heard this striving a week ago in Memphis after people massed on the Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River.

About 1,000 protestors shut down one of the nations prime arteries for freight trucks. When they had the attention of the city, its residents and leaders, the organizers met Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and interim Police Director Michael Rallings before a crowd in the Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith. If you followed the reports about this loud public meeting, youll know the mayor has 30 days to address the demands presented to him.

No doubt Strickland can name a new police chief, roll out racial sensitivity classes, unveil community centers, audit Public Works spending, plan for more city spending at black firms. And he can do all this by the middle of August.

What he cant do is settle what Quintin Patrick says he thinks is at the heart of the unrest: Jobs

Last Monday, Patrick, 31, had rounded up some 20 other young men to join him inside the boisterous community meeting at the cathedral. Afterward he got to the heart of the matter.

Gang bangers, thugs, theres a reason for that, Patrick told The Commercial Appeal. We aint got no jobs. These guys are on the streets. What we are going through, we are what this protest is about.

These are people wanting to be heard, said Whalum, pastor of New Olivet Baptist Church, located in the Buntyn neighborhood west of the University of Memphis. Any opportunity they have to get heard they take it.

But being heard in these settings, the cathedral, on the bridge, reflects the inadequacy of public education in Memphis, he said, contending many in the city dont understand citizenship and government.

They are ignorant, he said about the crowd in the cathedral. I dont mean that term in the pejorative sense. I mean they dont know how to take the steps to get issues that concern them resolved. I do think people came to that particular meeting because they felt Mayor Strickland was there and they thought that he on the spot could fix their problems, create jobs and fill potholes.

So whats the solution? Memphians, rich and poor, black and white, have to reinvigorate the school system, he said.

Despite recent efforts that have made Memphis the epicenter for public school reform in the United States, Whalum insists most of the graduates are no better off than before the effort began. He argues parents must be pushed to demand their children learn and graduate knowing what they need to know to succeed in life.

Its not just dropouts. Its the students graduating with a 3.5 GPA who cannot read on a grade level, said Whalum, who served two terms on the Memphis City Schools board. I know whats happening because I see them. I pastor a church with 3,000 members. They reflect the population of Memphis. We help them write letters of reference, hold classes on how to speak properly, do resumes, interview. Why arent they learning all this in school?

Whalum contends making the schools a Memphis institution again is the first step. In 2011, the Memphis school board surrendered its charter, opening the way for Shelby County Schools to absorb the city system. Memphians, he said, could reclaim reopen inner-city schools closed since the merger.

Having a school district that is owned by Memphis and funded by Memphians would do wonders for the psyche of the people of Memphis, he said. Remember perception is reality. Those kids were on the bridge because they think Memphis doesnt give a damn for them.

It is part of Memphis background noise: This is one of Americas poorest cities.

Almost everyone here knows this. Less understood is the change underway within the 221,000 black households that comprise half the population of Greater Memphis.

In the nine-county metropolitan area, the share of black families earning at least $75,000 per year has climbed, while middle-income households between $40,000 and $75,000 have decreased.

At the same time, the share of working families making $20,000 to $40,000 has risen, and the share of low-income households earning $20,000 or less has diminished, according to U.S. Census reports comparing 2014 with 2007.

That year, 2007, was the year before the financial crash. What the numbers suggests is the black upper middle class has made strides since the recession. By 2014, just over 17 percent of black families earned at least $75,000, compared to 13 percent before the crash.

Some of those families came out of the broad middle, which shrank as the upper class increased. At the same time, the broad middle  families earning $40,000 to $75,000  lost ground to the next lower income class, those earning $20,000 to $40,000.

By 2014, there were substantially more working families -- the households earning $20,000 to $40,000  than there were households in the broad middle. This was a reverse of 2007, when there more middle-income households.

Reports the Census: In 2014 in the metro area, 23.6 percent of black households were in the broad middle, down from 26.3 percent in 2007. Over the same years, the share of black households making $20,000 to $40,000 increased to 27.1 percent from 25.8 percent. At the same time, the share of households earning $20,000 or less slid to 32 percent from 34.3 percent.

What does all this mean? New jobs emerged, but the middle class shrank while educated blacks made strides. There were 3,000 more black families earning $125,000 or more in 2014 compared to seven years earlier.

But thousands of the new jobs offered part-time hours or lower pay. Families fell out of the broad middle. Within Memphis proper, average household income for all races plunged 12 percent to $37,100 between 2000 and 2014.

Today, efforts are under way in Greater Memphis to create 1,000 entrepreneurs, train 30,000 industrial workers, all before 2025.

Is it enough? Whalum doesnt think so.

Its too little too late, he said. We dont have 10 years.

The problem is, the middle class is shrinking throughout the country. But our political class has no good answer to the observation made by Quintin Patrick: We aint got no jobs.

As a city and a country we have a long way to go to pull out of this economic malaise.

Rev. Whalum is right. The turnaround begins in the home. And it begins with education.

Ted Evanoff, business editor of The Commercial Appeal, can be reached at evanoff@commercialappeal.com and (901) 529-2292.
SHARE Associated Press This undated photo provided by Quinn shows the micro apartment building Carmel Place in New York. This undated photo provided by Quinn shows the inside of a home in the micro apartment building Carmel Place in New York. (Monadnock Development via AP) This undated photo provided by Quinn shows the inside of an home in the micro apartment building Carmel Place in New York. (Monadnock Development via AP) This undated photo provided by Quinn shows the inside of a home in the micro apartment building Carmel Place in New York. (Monadnock Development via AP)

By Katherine Roth, Associated Press

NEW YORK  New York City's first "micro" apartment complex is open for business, challenging the limits of minimalist living. What the tiny dwellings lack in square footage, they try to make up for in amenities.

Carmel Place, a 55-unit complex that opened June 1 in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, represents the first time in decades that the city has allowed apartments to be built this small  ranging from 260 to 360 square feet. That's roughly the equivalent of a one-car garage.

It's the latest entry in a national trend toward smaller urban housing. The rise in single-person households  now nearly a third of New York City's households  and ever-higher rents led the city to approve the experimental project. Carmel Place got city land and a waiver from New York's 400-square-foot minimum on new apartments, set in 1987.

Frank Dubinsky of Monadnock Development, which built Carmel Place along with the Lower East Side People's Mutual Housing Association, said there would probably be more new micro-apartments in New York soon.

Compared to other modern buildings in its neighborhood, Carmel Place offers relatively modest rents, and services and amenities  such as multi-functional furnishings  that are aimed at making small-scale living a little easier. Architectural elements like 8-foot windows and nearly 10-foot ceilings are also meant to make small spaces more livable.

The complex of services and amenities were put together by a company called Ollie, its name inspired by the words "all inclusive."

"Just because people need a living room and a bedroom doesn't mean they need a designated living room and a bedroom. They just need the functionality of both rooms," explains Chris Bledsoe, co-founder of Ollie, which did design work on the apartment interiors as well. The firm nArchitects designed the interior and exterior of the building.

The amenities are meant to save tenants time and money, and create a sense of community, he said. Carmel Place is "a more plug-and-play living experience  one that solves a housing need for the next two years of someone's life, not forever. You don't need to buy your own furniture or hire a cleaning company. Everything is set to go," he said.

In addition to Internet and wi-fi, rent includes a weekly tidying service and a monthly deep clean, along with dog walking, dry-cleaning pickup and even a butler app called Hello Alfred, for customized errands. The nine-story complex also includes shared spaces.

Thirty-two of the units are market rate, with rents from $2,446 to $3,195. Another 14 apartments have rents set by affordable-housing programs topping out at $1,490 per month; 60,000 people applied for those in a lottery.

"In cities, space is at a premium, and the only real solution is to make living spaces smaller," said Lisa Blecker, spokeswoman for Resource Furniture, which provides most of the furniture included in the micro-apartment units.

The furniture  much of it made by the Italian company Clie  emphasizes slim lines and multi-functionality. The 9-foot-long sofa converts into a queen-size bed. A tiny cube of an ottoman transforms into dining chairs. A slim console table expands to seat 10.

Although the pieces are pricey  Resource Furniture's Swing wall-sofa-bed surrounded by cabinets costs between $10,000 and $15,000  Blecker says clients see savings in housing costs and "the realization that 350 square feet can feel luxurious if it's well designed with the right furniture."

Bledsoe said micro-apartments' convenience and affordability can be particularly appealing to young singles, empty nesters, long-distance commuters and baby boomers in transition or looking for an urban pied-a-terre.

Of course, tiny apartments in New York are not exactly new. Veteran appraiser Jonathan Miller estimates there are about 3,000 older apartments citywide that measure less than 400 square feet. And some real estate agents say New York's young professionals are increasingly seeking small studios, willing to sacrifice space to be near work and away from roommates.

Cities from San Francisco to Boston have OK'd some micro-apartments in recent years, seeking to address housing squeezes.
July 16, 2016 - (Left to right) Angelic Cathey and Mikelle Cathey hold signs as Ekpe Abioto plays a drum during a vigil honoring the late Darrius Stewart at New Direction Christian Church Youth Campus in Hickory Hill on Friday. Stewart, 19, was fatally shot by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling during a traffic stop on July 17, 2015. His death has influenced the protest movement in Memphis. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

By Katie Fretland of The Commercial Appeal

On the sidewalk outside Graceland in sweltering heat last week, Antonio Cathey cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Justice for Darrius!" A crowd of demonstrators echoed his call.

Four days earlier, at a protest in South Memphis against police violence, Peter Gathje, 59, held a sign that read "Black Lives Matter" and "Justice for Darrius."

The fatal shooting of Darrius Stewart, an unarmed black 19-year-old, on July 17, 2015 by a white Memphis police officer has been one of the catalysts behind recent protests in Memphis, according to interviews with local activists.

"Darrius Stewart belongs to Memphis, but also belongs to the world," said Earle Fisher, 37, of the Memphis Grassroots Organizations Coalition who marched in a massive demonstration on the Hernando DeSoto bridge on Sunday. "The same thing with Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd and all of the others. I don't think it can be ever erased what Darrius meant to the revitalization and rebirth and renewal of the black freedom movement in Memphis."

DeVante Hill, 24, said Stewart has "absolutely" been one of the contributing causes for protesting.

Hill embraced Stewart's father, Henry Williams, on Wednesday after Williams and attorneys announced a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the city, former police director Toney Armstrong and the officer who shot Stewart, Connor Schilling.

"We want to make sure we support this family and respect them and give them the attention that they deserve," said Hill of One Memphis One Vision.

Community organizer Jayanni Webster, 26, said it was obvious to her on the bridge during Sunday's protest that people had their own " very personal and traumatic experiences of abuse by Memphis police."

"Darrius Stewart's murder was a loud hurtful reminder that this is not just about national news, but our own city has to reckon with police terrorism locally," she said. "Many of us out there on the bridge have been calling for justice for Darrius for the past year. The result was no indictment and retirement for a murderous cop."

In November, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to present the case to a grand jury, and her recommendation was charges of voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. She said the grand jury declined to indict Schilling.

Schilling retired in March with line-of-duty disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The killing of Darrius Stewart was an awakening for many Memphians," said Lauren Williams-Batiste, 29, who protested in South Memphis following the recent killings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana, Ronnie Shumpert in Mississippi and Philando Castile in Minnesota. "We have faced systematic oppression through various institutions since the birth of the city. I'm almost certain justice for Darrius Stewart's death is on the hearts and minds of many protesters throughout Memphis."

Paul Garner, 27, brought a sign to the bridge on Sunday that read "Remember Darrius Stewart." On the back, it said "Who's next?"

Garner said the killing of Stewart brought the national conversation about police violence home to Memphis.

"It wasn't just a headline, another name in another city," he said. "This was a young man who went to school here, lived here, his family and his community felt it, and I think it shocked the conscience of a city who thought it couldn't happen here. People were able to witness the way disproportionate profiling and targeting of black bodies by police is tearing our communities apart."

The day after the bridge protest in Memphis, a meeting was held with protesters and city leaders.

"Why did the killing of Darrius not get the city to sit down for meeting?" Webster asked. "Where were the symbolic forums for this slain child? Why did it take thousands of Memphians?"

At a demonstration Tuesday in the 5700 block Mt. Moriah, Keedran "TNT" Franklin, 30, said Stewart sparked an uprising and will forever be remembered.

"If it wasn't for Darrius last year  and I hate that he had to leave in an untimely demise  I don't think we would have this much progress where you see street organization, different gangs out here actually unified," Franklin said.

Pamela Moses, who led a vigil at the National Civil Rights Museum earlier this month, said Stewart's mother has remained on her heart.

"I really feel that his death, the fact that his death, no justice has come from it, is what's got everybody fired up," Moses said.

Frank Gottie said he protests for Stewart and all people who have died from gun violence.

"That's why we're still out here," he said. "We still need justice for Darrius Stewart. We still want justice."

Ashley Cathey, 27, who too shouted Stewart's name at the protest outside Graceland, said Stewart has been a major influence on the protest movement in Memphis.

"We're out here in his behalf," Cathey said.

Cathey said she does not trust the official investigation of his killing.

"I think they're all in cahoots together," she said. "That's why we have to stand together as one."
JASON SZENES/epa Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks Saturday prior to announcing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate.

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By Ledyard King, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON  Former Gov. Jeb Bush can't bring himself to support Donald Trump. Sen. Marco Rubio said he's not planning to campaign with him. And at least a few GOP officials in Florida say they're even reluctant to cast a ballot for the real estate mogul in November.

Despite all that, Sunshine State Republicans heading to the GOP national convention that starts Monday in Cleveland say the party isn't divided and express no fears about an enthusiasm deficit for Trump in the nation's most important swing state.

"As Trump's finance chairman (in Florida), I can tell you over the past two weeks there's a palpable sense of growing momentum," said Tallahassee lobbyist Brian Ballard, who initially supported Bush for president and then switched to Rubio before finally getting behind Trump. "I feel very confident about coming out of the convention unified and in a great place for the fall election."

Some of Florida's other 99 GOP convention delegates  who on Wednesday will help nominate Trump as the party's presidential choice  voiced similar sentiments.

Brevard County Republican Chairwoman Barbara Davis, who initially backed Rubio, said the party is "100 percent" behind Trump. Charlotte County GOP Chairman Bill Folchi said he's "positive" Republicans are unified behind the presumptive nominee, dismissing anti-Trump forces as "not significant or substantial."

The Florida delegation to Cleveland is full of people who once supported another presidential candidate  most often Bush or Rubio  but have since pivoted to Trump.

Among them is Rep. Jeff Miller, who represents the western Panhandle. Originally a Bush supporter, the 15-year congressman campaigned with Trump in Virginia Monday and has endorsed the brash billionaire as someone "who has what it takes to shake up the status quo and entrenched bureaucrats in Washington, D.C."

Miller will attend the convention with some of the state's most powerful Republicans: Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Martin County Sen. Joe Negron, incoming president of the state Senate.

Scott and Bondi, early backers of Trump, have prime-time speaking slots in Cleveland.

Trump's crushing victory in March's GOP state primary makes it easier for Florida Republicans to embrace him, despite his harsh treatment of Bush and Rubio on the campaign trail. It also helps that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, public enemy No. 1 to many Republicans, will be the Democrat on November's ballot.

If history is any measure, Trump will need Florida to win the election. Since 1928, no Republican has won the presidency without winning the Sunshine State.

Winning Florida would boost Clinton's chances as well, but political handicappers say it's possible for her to win the White House without capturing the state's 29 electoral votes.

An analysis of several recent polls by RealClearPolitics shows the contest between Trump and Clinton in Florida is a toss-up, with roughly nine of 10 voters having made up their minds. That means turnout probably will determine who wins the state.

While not campaigning against Trump, Bush has made it clear he continues to hold little regard for the part-time Palm Beach resident.

"Donald Trump is barely a Republican (and) he's certainly not a conservative," the former governor told MSNBC in his first interview since Trump became the presumptive nominee. "I can't vote for Donald Trump and I can't vote for Hillary Clinton. It breaks my heart."

Rubio has been more circumspect about the presumptive nominee, whom he once called "a con man" on the campaign trail.

Though he acknowledges disagreeing with Trump on some issues  such as Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country  and has no plans to campaign with him, Rubio has cut a short video supporting Trump that will be aired during the convention.

Bush, once a revered figure among Florida Republicans, can afford to ditch Trump since his political career appears over. But Rubio is seeking re-election and will share the ballot with Trump.

"He's the nominee of the party," Rubio said this week. "He earned it. He didn't steal it. The voters chose him and I respect that decision. While I disagree with Donald on some issues, I disagree with Hillary (Clinton) on virtually every issue. And for me that's the choice."

Republican Carlos Beruff, the Manatee County real estate developer running against Rubio in the Aug. 30 Senate primary, dismisses Trump's critics as "a very small percentage of elite establishment Republicans that at the end of the day don't have many votes."

Beruff, was a delegate to the 2008 convention that nominated Arizona Sen. John McCain and the 2012 convention that nominated former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Neither candidacy generated the electricity of Trump's campaign, he said.

"The enthusiasm that has built up is far larger than anything I've seen in the 23 years that I have been actively participating in good governance," said Beruff, who is not a delegate this year but who is going to Cleveland. "I have never seen the energy out of people that I've seen with Mr. Trump. Like him or not, energy is energy."

Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking
SHARE Bob Williams/The Commercial Appeal files July 16, 1951  "Brigadoon" was proclaimed the best musical of 1947 by New York critics. The same fantasy, filled with bewitching romance and so Scottish a man can nearly smell the heather blooms, opens on July 16, 1951, at Memphis Open Air Theatre's second show of the summer season at Overton Park Shell. The barriers of time mean nothing to Marilyn Delaney and Wilton Clary, romantic stars of the show who find themselves in strange situations.

July 16

25 years ago: 1991

Work will begin as early as next week to complete construction of the luxury skyboxes in the downtown pyramid arena, officials said Monday. Memphis Mayor Dick Hackett and Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris last week signed a change order to the original contract for the $62 million building, authorizing the general contractor to complete the 26 skybox sites at a cost of $632,368. Hackett aide Paul Gurley said the city and county will pay for half the cost of the skyboxes, and Memphis State University will pay the rest.

50 years ago: 1966

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.  Evangelist Billy Graham said Friday "progress toward racial understanding is much greater in the South than it is in the North." "I think the South has a basis for solutions to their problems, but I don't see a solution to Northern problems in the foreseeable future." The evangelist made his comments during an interview here en route to his home in Montreat, N.C. "I don't think there is an ultimate solution until the love of God dominates the heart of people of both races."

75 years ago: 1941

NASHVILLE  Governor Cooper, in a formal statement, yesterday charged Silliman Evans, publisher of the Nashville Tennessean, with waging a "campaign of false insinuation and downright misrepresentation" against him for political purposes.

100 years ago: 1916

A call "to the patriotic men and women of America," to hold a new national convention of the Progressive Party in Chicago on Aug. 5 and continue the party's existence was issued in New Orleans last night by John M. Parker, vice-presidential nominee of the progressive convention held in Chicago last June.

125 years ago: 1891

NASHVILLE  Governor Buchanan and Warden Blevins left here tonight for Briceville, in Anderson County, in answer to telegrams from Superintendent of Prisons Wade, stating that the guards had been overpowered. Governor Buchanan will go among the rioters personally and endeavor to settle the difficulty amicably.
In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo, retired Episcopal Bishop Duncan Gray Jr., recalls for reporters some of the events surrounding the integration of the University of Mississippi, in Jackson, Miss. Gray Jr., a civil-rights advocate and retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, has died. The diocese says Gray died Friday, July 15, 2016, at his home in Jackson. He was 89. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

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By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss.  The Rt. Rev. Duncan Montgomery Gray Jr., a civil-rights advocate and retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, died Friday. He was 89.

Gray died at his home in Jackson after having been in hospice care, said one of his sons, Lloyd Gray of Meridian. He said a funeral will be at St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson, but plans were still pending.

As rector of St. Peter's Church in Oxford in the autumn of 1962, Gray called for calm as violence broke out in response to the court-ordered integration of the University of Mississippi in that city. Gray had been a chaplain on campus until 1961 and was known to students. According to Episcopal archives , Gray held onto the statue of a Confederate soldier near the main administrative building on campus and implored people not to riot.

In the pulpit of St. Peter's, Gray denounced racism.

"The seeds of anger and hatred, bitterness and prejudice, are already widely sown, and as Christians, we need to do our utmost to uproot and cast them out," Gray said in a sermon on Sept. 30, 1962, the day before James Meredith enrolled as the first black student, escorted by federal marshals.

A week later, Gray said in his sermon that all people in Mississippi should face up to their guilt in the violence that killed two people.

"You and I didn't go out there and throw the bricks and the bottles. You and I didn't go out there and fire the guns," Gray said. "Yet you and I, along with every other Mississippian, are responsible in one degree or another for what happened. We are responsible for the moral and political climate in our state which made such a tragedy possible.... The decent, respectable and responsible people of Mississippi have failed when events like those of last Sunday night can take place within our state."

Gray was the seventh bishop of Mississippi, serving from 1974 to 1993. His father, the Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray Sr., had been the fifth bishop, and one of his sons, the Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray III, was the ninth.

From 1991 to 1997, Duncan Gray Jr. was chancellor of University of the South, an Episcopal-run school in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was the subject of a 1997 book, "And Also With You: Duncan Gray and the American Dilemma," written by the Rev. Will Campbell.

Lloyd Gray, a former editor of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, said his father was a humble man who didn't seek attention for his work on civil rights.

"He just did what he thought a priest of the church ought to be doing," Lloyd Gray said.

Gray's wife, Ruth, died in 2011. Survivors include four children: the Rt. Rev. Duncan Gray III of New Orleans; Anne Finley of Adams, Tennessee; Catherine Clark of Nashville, Tennessee; and Lloyd Gray of Meridian, Mississippi; 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
SHARE Caleb Fair Cortez Chase

By Sydney Neely, sydney.neely@commercialappeal.com

Two Mid-South high school students who beat the odds to further their education will share their stories at a White House summit next week.

Caleb Fair from Hamilton High School in Memphis and Cortez Chase from Earle High School in Arkansas will board a plane to Washington, D.C. for the third annual Beating the Odds Summit hosted by first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday. They are two of 130 college-bound students from across the country selected who will attend.

The students selected to attend represent urban, rural, foster, homeless, special needs, and other youth who have overcome substantial obstacles to persist through high school and make it to a higher institution.

"I'm so excited," said Fair. "The first lady, how many people can say they've talked to her?"

The event is part of Michelle Obama's Reach Higher Initiative and Better Make Room campaign, an effort to empower every student in America to continue their education past high school.

The two Mid-South students will engage in workshops and panel discussions led by the U.S. Department of Education that will provide students with the tools and strategies they need to successfully transition from high school to the next level of their education.

Fair, 17, graduated as the salutatorian from Hamilton High School, where he led several organizations, including the National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America, and the Student Leadership Team. He will attend Morehouse College in the fall, where he will major in business administration.

In his personal essay, Fair said he poured out his heart about the struggles he dealt with in high school.

"Education now, is more important than ever," Fair said. "Now if you were to get a bachelor's degree, it's like a high school diploma."

Fair said he never had a problem completing schoolwork, but struggled against prejudice towards his sexual orientation daily.

"Throughout high school you're trying to find yourself," Fair said. "It took me almost two years to finally accept myself in high school, to be confident and constantly join organizations."

Chase, who lives in rural Earle, Arkansas, said he hopes to learn how to become a better student in college during his visit to the White House.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Chase said. "I'm hoping to gain advice from the first lady."

The 17-year-old will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall, and will major in international business.

Chase plans to bring the skills he learns in college back to his hometown to help with conflict resolution, problem-solving, and community development  particularly the teachers, staff, and students at Earle High School.

Fair and Chase were active in The College Initiative, a Memphis-based nonprofit that provides more than 800 local and national high school students with college assistance.

Gabriel Fotsing, the founder of The College Initiative, said they were very fortunate to have Fair and Chase as a part of their program.

"We are very excited about what's next for these students," Fotsing said. "I'm extremely proud of them.".
July 16, 2016 - Briana Perry, a member of the coordinating committee of Black Lives Matter Memphis, speaks during a panel discussion at Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church during a social justice organizational fair. Panel members included, from left, Tami Sawyer, Perry, Renae Taylor, Ashley Caldwell and Courtney Anderson. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Participants in the Black Lives Matter movement put on a low-key panel discussion at a Whitehaven church Saturday that touched on a wide range of issues in the African-American community, from attitudes toward gay people to black-on-black crime.

The event took place at Abyssinian Baptist Church, whose pastor, Rev. Earle Fisher, is one of the leaders of the local movement that grabbed the city's attention last weekend when protesters blocked the Hernando DeSoto bridge over the Mississippi River for nearly four hours.

Saturday's discussion offered a public airing of one of the big questions posed by the bridge shutdown: what's next?

The Black Lives Matter movement formed in response to killings of black men by police. But with multiple leaders and sometimes competing groups, the movement is still defining itself and its goals.

A moderator asked the panelists to give specific calls to action. Panelists mentioned possibilities including spending money with black-owned businesses.

Tami Sawyer, 34, called for people interested in social justice issues to vote, to create political action committees and to run for office. Sawyer is the director of diversity and cultural competence for Teach for America Memphis and is challenging Rep. John DeBerry Jr. for a seat in the Tennessee Legislature.

Panelist Ashley Caldwell, 26, with the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, said people interested in supporting Black Lives Matter should join an existing organization.

"Instead of scattering out and starting more and more efforts," she said.

Blocking the bridge was illegal, though police didn't arrest anyone. Several panelists said activists shouldn't worry about following all laws.

"You cannot challenge law and be compliant at the same time," Caldwell said to applause from the audience of about 80 people. "So when people want to demonize people who are taking political action it always goes to 'Oh, it's just a bunch of criminals.' 'Oh, I care about this, but you should be law-abiding. Tell me one movement that has happened in our country  even the founding of our country  that was law-abiding."

The moderator and five panelists were mostly young and all African-American. All were female, except Andrea Taylor, a 41-year-old transgender person who identifies as "nonbinary," or having both male and female characteristics. Taylor said the African-American community sometimes shows little empathy toward people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. "You can't be into liberation and be selective," Taylor said, and others agreed.

Since the bridge shutdown, Black Lives Matter activists have launched protests at sites including Graceland as well as The Commercial Appeal. The panelists Saturday didn't discuss specifics of future protests.

They did talk about black-on-black crime. Many critics have argued that in terms of sheer body count, this is a bigger problem than killings by police, both in Memphis and nationally.

Caldwell said she doesn't condone killings, but said she's tired of hearing people bring up black-on-black crime immediately in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. She was one of several panelists who criticized a statement by interim Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings, who is African-American, and who during the bridge standoff asked the community for a 30-day moratorium on killings.

"It was saying, 'Well, we'll actually take your considerations to heart when you stop killing each other," Caldwell said. "It seemed like a way to exploit crime in the black communities in order to justify your ignoring us for so long."

Sawyer asked the audience, "Raise your hand if you've ever murdered somebody." No hands went up. Then she asked people to raise their hands if they've ever experienced oppression, like profiling by the police. Lots of hands went up. "Look around," she said. "That's the story."

The panel talk was one of a series of events this weekend in memory of Darrius Stewart, an unarmed black 19-year-old shot and killed in July 2015 by a white police officer in Hickory Hill. The circumstances of the shooting prompted the local district attorney to seek criminal charges against the officer, but a grand jury declined to file them. Stewart's family has filed a civil suit.

A culminating memorial event for Stewart is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at Abyssinian Baptist Church, the same church where the panel was held, said Fisher, the pastor.
July 15, 2016 - During a Friday evening vigil honoring her son, Darrius Stewart, Mary Stewart pours green liquid at the spot where Darrius was fatally shot last year at New Direction Christian Church Youth Campus in Hickory Hill. Stewart, 19, was shot twice by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling during a traffic stop on July 17, 2015. Stewart's family announced this week that they have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, former police director Toney Armstrong and Schilling. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE July 15, 2016 - Omar Baruti, 68, performs a ritual during a vigil honoring the late Darrius Stewart at New Direction Christian Church Youth Campus in Hickory Hill on Friday evening. Stewart, 19, was fatally shot by Memphis police officer Connor Schilling during a traffic stop on July 17, 2015. Stewart's family announced this week that they have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, former police director Toney Armstrong and Schilling. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) Related Coverage Department of Justice declines to prosecute officer in Darrius Stewart case

By Daniel Connolly of The Commercial Appeal

Mary Stewart poured out a green liquid on a spot on the front lawn of a church in Hickory Hill on Friday evening, saying she believed this was the spot where her son, Darrius Stewart, an unarmed African-American teenager, had been fatally shot nearly one year ago by a white Memphis police officer.

The case had prompted the local district attorney to call for criminal charges against the officer. But a grand jury didn't agree, and the family and other supporters are still pursuing remedies. The family announced a civil suit just this week.

As the teen's mother spoke at the ceremony, a drummer softly pounded a drum with African-style beats while another man played a kalimba, a handheld instrument with metal tines. The event marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Darrius Stewart, an unarmed African-American 19-year-old who was shot by a white Memphis police officer.

"And I'm not praying for the police. They better pray for themselves," Mary Stewart said at one point. Her words brought shouts from the crowd of about 60 people. "Say his name  Darrius!"

She continued. "They better pray that God have mercy on them for all this bloodshed."

The people had come to the youth campus of the New Direction church in Hickory Hill for the dedication of a tree and plaque installed in the teen's memory. The event was part of the broader Black Lives Matter movement.

The tree on the front lawn of the church campus serves as a memorial to Stewart's death and life, said Stacy Spencer, senior pastor of the church. Later he prayed for an end to similar incidents. "And that every person who was responsible for covering up this murder will be brought to justice."

The July 17, 2015 shooting came roughly one year after the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and resulting unrest there. The Stewart case triggered protests in Memphis and it raised questions about the legal process for investigating shootings by police officers, particularly about the secrecy surrounding investigators' findings. Many of those legal questions are still unresolved.

Police have said Darrius Stewart was a passenger in a car that was pulled over for a minor violation near 5799 Winchester, and that during the stop, a white Memphis police officer, Connor Schilling, learned Stewart had outstanding warrants. Schilling then tried to arrest Stewart. The two struggled, police said, and the officer shot Stewart.

A video showed parts of the incident, including the two tussling on the ground before the shooting.

On Friday, the teenager's mother disputed parts of the story, saying for instance that the warrants issued for her son's arrest had been generated by a woman with a history of lying. Stewart had two outstanding warrants, including one that accused him of raping two 4-year-old boys in Iowa City, Iowa, when Stewart was 13.

Last year, District Attorney Amy Weirich asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look into the shooting case. But under state law, all TBI records are sealed from public view.

The TBI completed a report and sent it back to Weirich, who recommended Schilling be indicted on charges of voluntary manslaughter as well as using a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony. However, in November a grand jury declined to indict the officer.

Meanwhile, the investigative file stayed sealed. In December, Shelby County Chancellor James R. Newsom III ruled the file could be opened, and reporters with The Commercial Appeal reviewed it.

Some witnesses quoted in the report said Stewart was fleeing or turning away when he was shot.

At least one witness also reported seeing Stewart and the officer wrestling on the ground before the shooting. The police officer told investigators he was in fear for his life.

Rather than stay with the department, Schilling sought to retire on disability due to due to post-traumatic stress disorder which a union representative attributed to the shooting.

State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis and Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown backed a bill that would require the TBI to investigate all officer-involved shootings and disclose its findings to the public. But the bill failed in the Legislature this year.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said this week that the federal government is still investigating the Stewart case. And Stewart's family this week announced a federal lawsuit against the city, former police director Toney Armstrong and Schilling.

Steven Bradley, a 43-year-old pastor with the organization Black Positive, gave an emotional talk at the Friday night tree dedication. "We will not stop until justice is served. One way or another. Nonviolently, or whatever we got to do to get what we want."

He continued, "And we're gonna go find this murderer and make sure he gets brought to justice."

No one seemed ready to take him up on it.

Also Friday night, several people gathered in front of the National Civil Rights Museum for a vigil around 7 p.m. Candles were lit near photos of Darrius Stewart, as well as Alton Sterling, who was killed by police in Louisiana, and Philando Castile, killed by police in Minnesota.

The group bowed their heads for a moment of silence.

Travis Pickens, 34, expressed a message of nonviolence for all people.

"It's 2016," he said. "We're still living like its 1954."

Pickens wife, 34-year-old Tracey Pickens, said as a mother of a teenage son who is close to beginning to drive, "A simple traffic stop could probably get him killed."

"That scares us a lot," she said.

Staff writer Katie Fretland contributed to this report.
July 15, 2016 - Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby addresses the media at the DeSoto County courthouse after a Friday morning hearing where Quinton Tellis entered a not guilty plea in the Jessica Chambers case. Tellis is charged with capital murder, and several national and regional media outlets requested access to the courtroom for the Friday morning proceedings. (Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE Quinton Tellis walks into the DeSoto County Courthouse to enter a plea Friday, July 15, 2016, in Hernando, Miss. Tellis has pleaded not guilty in the 2014 burning death of a Mississippi woman. Panola County District Attorney John Champion said charging Tellis ended a lengthy investigation into the grisly burning death of the 19-year-old, who died in a Memphis hospital hours after being found near her burned-out vehicle on a road not far from her home. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

By Ron Maxey of The Commercial Appeal

They wanted early access, as early as 7 a.m. if possible.

Though she wasn't directly involved in any way, DeSoto County Circuit Clerk Dale Kelly Thompson says that was the talk among clerks at the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando. National media needed to be inside early to set up for the initial court appearance of Quinton Tellis, charged with capital murder in the 2014 burning death of Jessica Chambers.

"They won't get in before 7," Thompson noted. "There won't be anybody in the courthouse before then."

It was a taste of the media attention that's likely when Tellis goes to trial for the Panola County teen's death, a horrific crime that riveted the rural community of Courtland, about 70 miles south of Memphis, throughout the 14-month investigation leading to Tellis' February indictment. Authorities said Chambers had burns over 98 percent of her body when she was found beside her burned-out vehicle on a road not far from home shortly before Christmas.

Tellis has also been charged with first-degree murder in Monroe, Louisiana, for the torture and stabbing death of an exchange student whose debit card he pleaded guilty to using. After the Chambers trial, Tellis will return to Louisiana to begin serving a 10-year sentence on the debit card charge, regardless of what happens in the two murder cases.

In Mississippi, CNN and NBC were among the media outlets that received permission to have cameras at last Friday's hearing, where Tellis pleaded not guilty through attorney Darla Palmer before being quickly whisked away to the DeSoto County Jail. The Associated Press and the Clarion-Ledger newspaper of Jackson also were there.

The trial, moved to DeSoto from Panola County, is set tentatively for September, but District Attorney John Champion said earlier he doesn't expect it that soon because of the lengthy discovery process. He believes next spring is more likely.

Whenever it gets underway, the level of attention is likely to grow beyond the already-strong scrutiny hinted at in Friday's hearing.

"I think it will be one that will generate a lot of National Enquirer-type of interest," Curtis Wilke says of the case that has both generated cover stories in old-school print publications like People magazine and created a cottage industry among online sleuths investigating the case. More than 150,000 people have "liked" the Justice for Jessica Facebook page maintained by Jessica's older half-sister, and a host of online sites have discussed clues, suspects and possible leads endlessly.

Wilke, a former Clarksdale Press Register and Boston Globe reporter, now is an author and teaches at the University of Mississippi. He also has a feel for some of the higher profile criminal trials in Mississippi history.

"I don't remember another 'ax murder' kind of trial in Mississippi, and this one has some of those kinds of elements," Wilke said, "so it's going to draw some attention."

He thinks the trial will rank with some of the Civil Rights era trials among the state's most famous courtroom dramas. As details of the slaying and what led to it emerge in testimony  a motive has never been discussed  the public in Mississippi and beyond is likely to hang on to every word.

"I think having that kind of attention, especially if there are cameras in the courtroom, definitely changes the dynamics of the trial," said Wilke, who covered the third trial of Byron De La Beckwith in 1994 for the 1963 shooting death of Medgar Evers. De La Beckwith was convicted and died in prison in 2001. "I'm not saying it changes the outcome, but people tend to put on a show."

The judge didn't allow cameras in the courtroom for the De La Beckwith trial, Wilke said. The press was kept in the balcony.

"They handled that one well," he said of management of the Hinds County trial. "DeSoto County could probably take some lessons. The press had to be credentialed to get in the courtroom, but then the bailiffs would give us kind of preferential treatment."

Champion, the district attorney whose office will prosecute the case against Tellis, said cameras or not, it won't make any difference to him.

"Not at all," Champion said. "I don't pay attention to media attention. I don't mean that ugly, but I don't pay attention to media.

"I understand there has to be a balance between what I do and what the media does, and I certainly respect that, but nothing I do is influenced by the media, period."
Old Dominick's new release marks a first in Memphis since Prohibition

Old Dominick Distillery will make history with the release of its first Straight Tennessee Whiskey. Here's the story behind the new release.
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Jeremy Durham, the wayward, embattled and disgraced Williamson County lawmaker, escaped accountability from his colleagues who failed Wednesday to recommend his expulsion from the Tennessee House of Representatives even though they agreed that he deserved to go.

The committee charged with investigating Durham, R-Franklin, instead, decided to leave it up to the voters who will be casting ballots in the Aug. 4 primary election. Really?

Committee members took the cowardly route and shirked their responsibility. They evaded a path that would have required the challenging task of calling the House into special session to vote on the legislator's expulsion. However, it would have been the right thing to do.

If any silver lining can be found in this situation, it is that the committee agreed to release Attorney General Herbert Slatery's independent investigative report. That report paints the portrait of a depraved predator who frequently used his power and influence to demean and harass women and tried to coax them into having sex with him.

In at least one case, according to the report, he succeeded. A 20-year-old college student identified as Jane Doe No. 38 told investigators Durham and she had sex three times  twice at his office and once at his home.

Despite making the case for Durham's expulsion, the committee stopped short, writing in a memo to House Speaker Beth Harwell this baffling sentence: "While the conduct described in the report justifies expulsion, it is ultimately the voters of the 65th Representative District who will decide who best represents their principles and values in Nashville."

Harwell appointed the committee Feb. 4, not long after she had asked Slatery to conduct an independent investigation and called on Durham to resign. The committee is composed of Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads, chairman; Rep. Andrew Farmer, R-Sevierville; Rep. Billy Spivey, R-Lewisburg; and Rep. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis. All but Spivey signed the report because he did not want the report released publicly.

McDaniel's explanation of the committee's recommendation is one of pure political expediency: "I think it would be very difficult to get members back for a special session ... simply because I do not think we could get them back for a special session."

That's not leadership. That's cowardice.

Durham's bad behavior cast a dark cloud over the entire 2016 legislative session. On Jan. 28, Harwell called for the independent investigation by Slatery's office, which interviewed 78 people, including 22 women who say Durham acted inappropriately against them over a period of several years.

After Slatery's initial recommendations were released in April saying women were at risk, Harwell banished Durham from legislative offices and limited his access to staff. On Wednesday, she said: "This may be one of the few times in his life he has been held accountable. This will be made public." Durham, who announced Thursday that he will suspend his re-election campaign, is not being held accountable by his colleagues on the committee who had the power to do something.

The once powerful majority whip did everything he could to stymie the AG's investigation.

Of course, Durham could have done the honorable thing months ago and resigned, to preserve his own dignity and that of his family. His conduct is a disgrace to Tennessee. Even worse, the report details that people knew about his behavior and did nothing.

 The Tennessean
Between 1965 and 1967, urban riots erupted in cities such as Chicago, Newark, Los Angeles and Detroit.

African-Americans fed up with the devastating effects of racial inequality had had enough. The riots shocked the nation, including the then-occupant of the White House, President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Johnson commissioned a National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, chaired by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner Jr., to examine the causes of the riots.

On Feb. 29, 1968, the commission (known as the Kerner Commission) issued its report, warning that racism was causing America to move "toward two societies, one black, one white  separate and unequal."

As individuals vested in different aspects of the Black Lives Matter movement staged protests in Memphis and across the nation last week, it is important to reflect on what the Kerner Commission said.

While many of the young people staging protests probably are not familiar with the report, what it said in 1968 and what is happening more than 48 years later underpins their frustration with the way things are for too many African-Americans in the country's inner cities, commonly called ghettos in Kerner's day.

It can be argued that not much has changed.

In regard to racial inequality, the Kerner report said there was a clear pattern of social and economic conditions that kept African-Americans trapped in poverty  repressive and overly aggressive policing; failing public schools; high unemployment or over- representation in jobs that paid a barely livable wage, and under-representation in skilled or professional jobs; substandard housing; high poverty rates and a dearth of economic development projects in the inner city.

If you listened carefully to what the various protest groups said last week, they were saying the same things Kerner said 48 years ago.

In 2016, that divide also is aggravated by class and economics. African-Americans who have been able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by a society that has tried to be more inclusive have moved out of inner-city neighborhoods and into more upscale sections of town.

The poor have been left behind in decaying areas, where blight and crime rule the day.

Who is to blame? Is it the individuals who have failed to take the necessary steps to make better lives for themselves and their families? Is it a system that refuses to acknowledge the detrimental effects of institutional racism, how it can be a barrier to social and economic advancement for African-Americans? Is it social services systems that provide those living in poverty with enough aid to subsist, but not enough assistance to climb out of poverty?

The answer is yes to all three questions.

Multiple agencies and nonprofit organizations have programs in the place to try to make a difference, but in many metropolitan cities, including Memphis, nearly 30 percent of their citizens live in poverty and the numbers are not improving.

The Kerner Commission chastised the news media for doing a lousy job of documenting the conditions in America's African-American "ghettos," and that, to some extent, explains why the riots caught the country off guard.

Since the report was issued, the media have done a better job of diversifying their newsrooms and documenting the conditions faced by those living in poor neighborhoods.

And that is underpinning the frustration and anger displayed last week: The Kerner Commission documented the racial inequalities existing in America, and more than 48 years later, the protesters cannot see much change.

While we think conversation is more productive that confrontation, it is important to keep in mind that the Black Lives Matter movement is about more than white police officers killing black men.

Opportunities for African-Americans have increased, a fact that is reflected in business, government and education.

However, the conditions that sparked the riots in the late 1960s still are too prevalent today.
SHARE Mauricio Calvo is executive director of Latino Memphis.

By Mauricio Calvo, Special to Viewpoint

Latino Memphis stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Black lives matter not only to African-Americans, but to all of us.

We remain committed to the idea that every life is sacred and every individual deserves to be treated with dignity regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Unfortunately, we know that people of color are routinely victimized by law enforcement through racial profiling and, sadly, that this often leads to the use of excessive force where none is warranted. The deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Darrius Stewart and Luis Soto at the hands of police are sobering reminders of this fact, and our deepest sympathies are with the families and friends of these men.

We also mourn the officers who lost their lives in the horrific attack in Dallas while upholding and protecting our fundamental right to protest. Our nation must work together to prevent this kind of attack from ever occurring again and to stop the unacceptable pattern of unjustified deadly force and racial bias that occurs too often in many police departments.

Indeed, long before the events of the past two weeks, the Dallas Police Department made and began carrying out a highly visible commitment to community policing, to transparency and to alternatives to force. That commitment had begun to pay off, in lower crime rates and improved community relations.

Latino Memphis has long been a partner to the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff's Department and the FBI, and will continue to work with law enforcement to enact similar policies. We believe that it is possible to be both pro-police and anti-police violence.

Similarly, saying "Black lives matter" is neither a racist nor an exclusionary slogan. Rather, it's a cry for awareness and action in response to the obvious and unfortunate reality of our past and present. It is a cry to pause, to reflect, to become aware and then to take action.

It is not different from saying that "we support our troops," or wearing pink for cancer awareness.

Black lives matter not only when African-Americans interact with law enforcement. They matter when we fail to provide adequate education. They matter when we still have barriers for people accessing health care. They matter when we have substandard housing and low-paying jobs. They matter when we perpetuate generational poverty.

This is not something the government can fix alone. Every individual needs to address racism within themselves and their communities, and to commit to working toward change. Yes, we need marches and we need dialogue, but most important, we must care for one another and take action, from wherever we are, to prove that black lives do matter.

Given our city's history, we know that there is a long and difficult road ahead, but it is a road we hope all Memphians are willing to take. We at Latino Memphis stand beside our black brothers and sisters in the fight for racial equality, and commit ourselves to this necessary work of building a more equitable and just city free from racism, discrimination, violence and inequality.

Mauricio Calvo is executive director of Latino Memphis.
SHARE Melvin Jones

By Melvin Jones, Special to Viewpoint

A June 18 editorial in The Commercial Appeal ("Minority contract goal should not derail bridge plan") discussed plans to light the Harahan and Hernando DeSoto bridges.

The newspaper addressed businesses owned by minorities and women (MWBE) being denied an opportunity to participate. The project is being handled by the Downtown Memphis Commission. The DMC's Equal Business Opportunity (EBO) policy requires a good-faith effort to spend 20 percent with MWBEs.

A dispute was created because the anonymous donor of $12 million for the lighting project did not plan to spend any of the funds with MWBEs.

The lighting project is a public works project on a public structure. The source of the funding does not change the essence of the project. Public projects on public structures require full and equal opportunities for all.

Mayor Jim Strickland, by the nature of his job, is the chief contracting authority for the city of Memphis. He appoints the DMC board and is obliged to influence, direct or ensure that board activities are consistent with all laws and public policy. The DMC's EBO policy is based on the city's disparity study, of which Strickland has pledged full and aggressive implementation.

In our view, this is Strickland's decision, and the DMC is merely the implementing agency and scapegoat.

So, the proper question is: Can the mayor ignore statutes, ordinances and the DMC's EBO policies and allow a donor to privately select vendors and exclude African-Americans? If we operate under the rule of law, the answer is no.

The promise that the completed work will be pretty, enhance the prestige of the donor and polish the image of Memphis does not change the law.

Will the mayor follow the law or bow to the donor? In our view, it is totally in the hands of the mayor to ensure the proper selection of contractors. The donor has no power not given by the mayor, and he is constrained by the rule of law.

Would the mayor allow any city agency to select the Islamic State group to complete the work? He would not. When the donor presented an all-white slate of contractors, which demonstrated complete bias and total exclusion of African-Americans, the mayor was obliged to advise "that will not happen."

The fact that the money is donated does not provide the privilege to discriminate or justify racism. "Free" money is not free when it purchases character and violates the rule of law. Let's not become blinded by the bright lights on bridges. Stay true to who we are and are striving to be  inclusive.

In an inclusive city governed by laws, he who owns the gold does not make the rules. If the mayor is devoted to all of Memphis, inclusion is never an afterthought, nor negotiable.

The purchasing practices of Memphis continue to keep money out of African-American businesses by refusing to require inclusion of African-Americans in all projects. Discriminatory practices must not be allowed merely because a donor wishes to maintain historically racist practices and because he or she has the financial wherewithal to dictate to the mayor.

The mayor and the DMC must hold firm. The mayor pledged all of the above throughout his campaign.

From the very start of the lighting project, the mayor was aware of what is in effect the donor's no-blacks-allowed policy. The mayor's approval of this policy placed the DMC in a difficult position. Before this, the DMC had an excellent reputation for inclusion.

Fortunately, the DMC board urged the DMC staff to apply the Equal Business Opportunity policy. Memphis should closely watch their actions and results.

Mayor Strickland and Joanne Massey, the city's director of the Office of Business Diversity & Compliance, were asked repeatedly to adhere to the mayor's pledges to the African-American community and require the inclusion of African-Americans. All requests were ignored by both public servants.

There are many black-owned businesses ready, willing and able to provide goods and services for the bridge lightings. African-Americans could handle the entire project. The most prominent black female business in Memphis can supply the light fixtures and bulbs. One of the largest black contractors in this specialty is waiting to engage.

Finally, a black distributor who enjoys a relationship with Philips Lighting (the primary vendor) has received no opportunity to compete. These businesses and others merely sought from the mayor the opportunity to compete. He said no.

Finally, the donor selected a firm from Arkansas as the contractor, while no African-American was considered for any part of the work. They perhaps assumed that no black firm has done this type of work. Who did they ask? How did they arrive at this assumption?

This type of pre-emptive elimination of black firms perpetuates a self-fulfilling prophecy where there will never be a black firm that can do this work, or any other specialized project, based upon false assumptions.

Until the donor and Mayor Strickland fully embrace inclusion, the Memphis economy will be the biggest loser.

Melvin Jones is executive director of the Business Contracting Consortium and a Downtown Memphis Commission board member.
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By Eli Lake

After the horror at Nice, perhaps the most depressing comment came from France's prime minister. Calling for unity in the face of terror, Manuel Valls observed: "Times have changed, and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm."

If this sounds like resignation, it shouldn't. Valls is no squish. After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, he told the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that accusations of "Islamophobia" were too often used to silence legitimate criticism of political Islam.

What's more, France has been under a state of emergency since November, when Islamic State operatives went on a murder spree in Paris. In practice this has meant the state has monitored the communications of thousands of young Muslims, searched their homes and businesses without a warrant and used its national army to defend soft targets.

Then there is the broader war in Syria and Iraq. The French are only one nation participating in the campaign against the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliphate. In recent months this effort has seen some success. Just this week coalition airstrikes appear to have killed the Islamic State's minister of war, Omar Shishani. Last month, coalition forces liberated Fallujah in Iraq.

And yet none of this was able to stop a petty criminal named Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel from driving a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day. Some of this is because of the nature of jihad these days. Both al-Qaida and the Islamic State have encouraged smaller-scale attacks in the West that can be executed without planning or coordination from a wider network. While no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack in Nice, and the authorities are still investigating the killer's motivations, the Islamic State in particular has encouraged its supporters and sympathizers to conduct this kind of mass murder.

As the New York Times' Rukmini Callimachi reported in March, the Islamic State still encourages larger scale attacks but as the French security blog Kurultay concluded, they also encourage "isolated actions of self-radicalized people, who have absolutely no direct contact with ISIS, and yet who will consciously act in its name."

This approach is not an accident. Michael Smith II, chief operating officer for Kronos Advisory, which monitors the Islamic State online, told me this is a major emphasis of the Islamic State today. "Their leader has explicitly stated 'you are compelled to pledge allegiance to me and this allegiance is affirmed with action, not just words,'" he said. This means one of two things, Smith said. Either emigrate to the new caliphate and fight in the Middle East, or wage jihad in your home country.

That's just the Islamic State. The same kind of inspired terrorism has become a trend for other groups as well. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula began to foment these kinds of attacks in July 2010 when it began to publish its English-language online magazine, Inspire. Since last fall, in what some have called "the stabbing intifadah," Israelis have been menaced by a wave of Palestinians wielding knives and guns and ramming vehicles into civilians.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an expert on radical Islam, told me that all of this highlights that military gains against the Islamic State do not diminish the broader threat of Jihad. "The ISIS self-professed caliphate is collapsing," he said. "This is going to really hurt the organization, but jihadism itself continues to gain power. It's a much bigger problem than just ISIS."

That problem is not going to go away, even as the military campaign against the Islamic State begins to succeed. The war on terror will be with us for the foreseeable future, and so will the war the terrorists wage against us.

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg View columnist.
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By Ramesh Ponnuru

Once again, 2016 is making us rewrite the political rulebooks. We learned in May that you can win the Republican presidential nomination while saying that the Iraq war was based on a lie and praising socialized medicine. Now we're seeing that you can get the vice presidential nomination by being a red-state governor so politically weak that your endorsement doesn't matter in your own state's presidential primary and you are at risk of losing re-election.

Weakness may even have been a recommendation for Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana and Trump's pick. He meets what is probably an important Trump criterion for a running mate: He will not overshadow the boss. Newt Gingrich, who was also under consideration, is an interesting figure in his own right. Pence won't draw the same attention Gingrich would have. Political weakness also made Pence interested in taking the job. It's no accident that Trump's reported list contained no one with a thriving political career.

Pence's selection also shows that social conservatives remain a powerful force within the Republican Party. During the primaries Trump did relatively poorly among voters who consider themselves "very conservative," and in many states he also underperformed among evangelical Christians. The fact that he won anyway, even with a very liberal record on social issues, led some analysts to suggest that social conservatism had lost its grip on the GOP.

That turned out to be wrong. Trump has courted social conservatives more insistently than he has any other element of the Republican coalition. He has come out against Roe v. Wade, same-sex marriage and government funding for Planned Parenthood. He released a list of possible judicial nominees designed to keep social conservatives, above all, happy. Last month he held a well-publicized meeting with social conservatives to build bridges.

It's true that social issues are not a priority for Trump, and that the sincerity of his newfound positions is questionable. But social conservatives are used to backing flip-floppers, from George H. W. Bush to Mitt Romney, and used to backing candidates who have different priorities than they do. Trump's nomination isn't a sign of health, exactly, for this pillar of the party. It certainly suggests that Republicans don't vote on character the way social conservatives used to urge them to. But their clout in Republican politics does not seem to have declined.

Compare this bloc with the economic conservatives at the Club for Growth. They haven't gotten Trump to adjust his positions nearly as much for their sake. He remains proudly at odds with them on trade and entitlements, and uninterested in their mantras of limited government and free markets. Foreign-policy hawks, meanwhile, haven't just seen Trump reject their ideas. He rejects them personally, using them as foils.

And now social conservatives have gotten a veep pick more identified with them than with any other part of the party. Pence is a conservative on all issues, but as a congressman he led the fight to take federal funds away from Planned Parenthood. Some social conservatives are nonetheless unhappy with Pence: They think he did a poor job of defending a religious-liberty law in Indiana, and then caved to liberals by agreeing to weaken it. But Pence, overall, has a good reputation on the social right.

If social conservatives greet Trump's selection of Pence warmly, it won't just be because they think it would give them a seat at the table in a Trump administration. (Who knows what role Pence would really play in one?) It will also be because it means that for all the obituaries that have been written about their influence, they still matter.

Ramesh Ponnuru, a Bloomberg View columnist, is a senior editor for National Review.
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I mentioned in this mornings ToryDiary that the governing party in Turkey, the AKP, was still technically an ally of the Conservatives via its membership of the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists. That, I noted, was already an uneasy relationship given Erdogans seizure of critical newspapers, jailing of journalists and general increasing authoritarianism, and would become even more uncomfortable if he responded to the coup attempt with further repression.

Sadly, if unsurprisingly, that now seems to be precisely the kind of response he has in mind. The Turkish President has already stated that the coup is is a blessing from Allah, because it will allow us to purge the military, and he has sacked 2,700 judges so far today  suggesting reprisals will extend well beyond those soldiers who actually rebelled.

Interestingly, I also gather that the AKP could face suspension from the AECR. I understand that even before the coup attempt an investigation had already been launched to judge whether Erdogan et al are still compatible with the organisations values. A fact-finding mission will be visiting Turkey to judge whether the AKP still meets the principles of the Reykjavik Declaration, which established the AECRs founding principles, and if it is found in breach then suspension proceedings will begin.

I imagine the AKP will particularly struggle to fulfil points four and five of Reykjavik:

4. AECR understands that open societies rest upon the dignity and autonomy of the individual, who should be as free as possible from state coercion. The liberty of the individual includes freedom of religion and worship, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement and association, freedom of contract and employment, and freedom from oppressive, arbitrary or punitive taxation. The freedom, inherent dignity and autonomy of the individual are among the highest values of modern society. AECR strongly supports governments that protect the liberty, human dignity and autonomy of its citizens in all respects. This liberty includes the right to hold political and religious beliefs and the right to express and manifest these within the bounds of international law. 5. AECR recognises the equality of all citizens before the law, regardless of ethnicity, sex or social class. It rejects all forms of political extremism, authoritarianism and racism. All individuals are equal before the law, without exceptions. AECR firmly rejects all political ideologies and systems that do not respect this equality, and it recognises the dangers of allowing these room.

Organisations that stretch across national boundaries and co-ordinate between different political parties inevitably run rather slowly, but we could be rid of the embarrassment of having Erdogan as an ally of the Conservatives before long.
Photo by Sara Anne Corrigan The prayer box and the large sign advertising its presence.

SHARE Photo by Sara Anne Corrigan Ray Vanover in front of the church's recently installed prayer box. Vanover collects prayer requests from the box twice every day.

By Sara Anne Corrigan

It is a clever marriage, if you will, between some very old and very new communication technologies  a weatherproof metal mailbox, like those increasingly rare big blue U.S. Postal Service boxes, and the Internet.

Ironically, it's the metal mail box that is the newest tool in outreach efforts at Mount Vernon Community Church-Black's Chapel United Methodist Church.

"It's a prayer box, a place to leave prayer requests," said Ray Vanover, who collects the "mail" deposited there twice a day.

People in the community are encouraged to write down and drop off their prayer requests any time of night or day. Names or church affiliation are not required.

Requests coming in daily

The bright red box, fabricated by Terry Gottman of Mount Vernon's Gottman Electric Co., was installed in the parking lot near the main road in front of the church at 1800 W. Fourth St., Mount Vernon, Indiana, about two months ago. The idea was to make it visible from the street and easily accessible for drive-thru "deposits."

The prayer box joins the church's website (blackschapelmv.org) and a Facebook page as outreach tools and depositories for prayer requests in the community.

The requests seem to come in almost daily, if small in number. People are using the prayer box.

The congregation supports an active prayer circle, Vanover said. They meet twice a week at the church for group prayer services, but they also work remotely from their homes via a "phone-tree" arrangement.

Vanover is at the hub.

When he collects a prayer request he responds immediately, with a couple of phone calls explaining the request (and sometimes emailing photocopies) and then the message gets spread to others by phone.

"The volunteers take immediate action," he said. "The process takes about 10 minutes," he said, allowing that there are from 10 to 20 volunteers available at any given time of day or night.

The group meets to pray together at the church on Tuesday mornings and Thursday evenings, Vanover said, but members of the prayer circle also work independently. Some start their mornings out with prayer, some are awake late at night, praying:

"Not everyone can travel (to and from church) but everyone can pray," he said.

No request too small

The point is this: They are praying, praying specifically for those who have sought comfort through prayer requests. Those requests can range from family or relationship problems to health or job concerns, any problems at all, Vanover said, adding "no request is too small."

And the prayers never cease. Requests never expire or drop off the end of a list, he said.

MVCC pastor John Motz brought the idea of an outdoor, accessible to the public prayer box to the congregation about a year ago, Vanover said. He had heard of a similar scenario in another part of the country. The congregation warmed to the idea immediately.

"We all know the need (for intercession) is out there,": he said. "People may not be coming to church, but when they face a crisis, they often turn to God. We just felt that we wanted this additional way to reach out to these people.

Small country church grown up

MVCC is not a large congregation, said Nancy Hasting, who has been a member since 1979 when she and husband Mike were married in the old Black's Chapel UMC. Membership hovers around 70 to 75 people with 50 or so attending regularly, she said. Black's Chapel got it's name from the family who hosted the first meetings in what is now western Black Township back in 1849. The family donated land there for a proper church in 1881.

The congregation merged with another small country church, The Prairie Church, in 1936 after a fire destroyed the Prairie Church facility. The Black's Chapel congregation lost their little church to highway construction in 1955 and moved to a site on Bald Knob Road. Services were first held there in 1956. In 1994, Black's Chapel merged with Zoar UMC.

Black's Chapel was still a small country church then, Hasting said.

"But our location (was a problem)," he said. "Our minister showed us the future; we were beginning to outgrow our space a little bit, and adding on to it was going to cost a lot of money. And we'd still be out in the middle of nowhere."

So they decided to move closer into town.

A merger in 2009 with St. John's UMC in Caborn accelerated the need for more space. The former Keck Ford dealership property, just west of town, on the main highway, had been on the market for several years, Hasting said, and the congregation had looked at it, but felt the price was out o their range. Then the price was reduced.

The Mount Vernon Community Church  Black's Chapel, held its first church service there on Easter Sunday, 2012.

The Mount Vernon Community Church  Black's Chapel United Methodist Church, is at 1800 W. Fourth St. in Mount Vernon.

Regular Sunday services are at 10:30 a.m.

The red prayer box is set in the front parking lot, out near the road.
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EVENTS

The Men of Zion: will present its annual Men's Day Program at 10 a.m. Sunday. The Rev. Zachary Lee, pastor of the Mount Paran Missionary Baptist Church, East St. Louis, Illinois, will be the speaker. The Men of Zion will also have its annual Laymen's Breakfast at 9 a.m. Saturday. Brother Dei Marlon Scisney, member of Memorial Baptist Church, will be the guest speaker. Breakfast is open to men, women, boys and girls. Both events will take place at Zion Missionary Baptist Church, located at 1800 S. Governor St.

The Summer Speaker Series: at Aldersgate United Methodist Church continues with Dr. Bashar Mourad from 9:45-10:45 a.m. Sunday at the church, located at 5130 Lincoln Ave., in room 214. Mourad will discuss the Muslim observance of Ramadan and other traditions in the Muslim faith. He is a nephrologist with Ohio Valley Nephrology Associates and a member of the Islamic Center of Evansville. Future speakers, always from 9:45-10:45 a.m. in room 214 at the church, include attorney Megan Alvarez about immigration on July 24; University of Evansville professor Wes Milner about the Syrian conflict on July 31 and the Rev. John Trnka, retired UCC minister, and Camille Davis, with Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment, about affordable housing on Aug. 7.

Fifth Anniversary Banquet: for the Rev. Richard Pollard Sr. and Novella Pollard, 6 p.m. July 23 at Greater St. James Community Recreation and Education Center, 484 S. Governor St. Tickets are $20 per person. Call 812-425-7771 for tickets.

Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand: will offer a "Private/Personal Retreat" at Benedictine Hospitality Center at Kordes Hall on the grounds of Monastery Immaculate Conception. The retreat will start at 7:30 p.m. July 24 and end at 10 a.m. July 31. Cost is $575 and includes meals and a private room. For more information or to register, call 800-880-2777 or 812-367-1411, ext. 2915, or visit thedome.org/programs. Registration deadline is Wednesday.

Saint Meinrad Archabbey Library Gallery: St. Meinrad, "The Twelve Great Feasts" by Chicago artist Joseph Malham, through Aug. 31 (free). For library hours, call 812-357-6401 or 800-987-7311, or visit saintmeinrad.edu/library/hours/.

Teaching from the Book of Revelation: 11 a.m. every Sunday until completion at Church of God of Prophecy, 3407 Bellemeade Ave. Speaker is Bishop William Gaddis (free). Call 812-459-2359.

The Mighty Acts of God in Zion: The Storyline of the Bible: 7-8 p.m. on Tuesdays in the fellowship hall of St. Ananias Orthodox, 4411 Washington Ave.

Old Friendship Church Celebrate Recovery Program: 7 p.m. on Fridays at Oak Hill Christian Center, 4901 Oak Hill Road.

Traditional Roman Catholic Latin Mass: 3 p.m. every Sunday at St. Paul's Chapel, 629 E. Louisiana St.

"Answers to Your Bible Questions": 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday through September at Gospel of Peace Assembly, 3225 Washington Ave. Call 812-402-0066.

bible school

Vacation Bible School: for children ages 3, up to entering grade five, 6-8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday at Salem United Methodist Church, 6311 Kratzville Road. This year's surf-themed event, "Surf Shack: Catch the Wave of God's Amazing Love," will include crafts, lessons, music, games, science experiments and more. Registration can be made by calling 812-423-7639. Families may also register children the first night of attendance.

Vacation Bible School: "Proof Pirates, Finding the Treasure in God's Amazing Grace," for kids in pre-K through grade six, 6-8 p.m. Monday through Friday at Heritage Baptist Church, 1900 Lodge Ave. For more information, call 476-7640.
Here are 15 things you can do this Halloween weekend in the Tri-State

Looking for something to do in the Tri-State this Halloween weekend? Check out our list of activities.
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The agency that promotes tourism in Fair field County and northwestern Connecticut has suspended most operations this month and could soon shut down completely after losing 100 percent of its funding from the state.

State budget cuts proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and approved by the General Assembly this year cut $1,168,112 in funding that had been spread over the states three regional tourism districts.

The Western Connecticut Convention and Visitors Bureau lost $420,000 in annual funding from the state with the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, according to Chairman Dan Bolgani. Its total budget is only $500,000, with the difference coming from grants and private funding.

The agency, which employs four people and provides marketing, advertising, websites, newsletters and research promoting tourism the region, and arranges trade shows and tours for local attractions as well.

Bolgani said most of its operations have been suspended, as regional tourism advocates make a last-ditch attempt to get the state to reconsider.

Tourism is an economic driver, Bolgani said. Its an investment, not an expense. We expected state budget cuts, as did many other entities in Connecticut, but were confused as to why we were one of the few entities with a 100 percent cut. We are an organization with 30-plus years of expert regional knowledge. We have a proven track record. Now, in the busiest season, weve come to a dead halt. We have so much in play at the moment.

With this new budget cut, he said Connecticut will be one of the only states in the country that does not have publicly funded regional tourism bureaus.

I understand the governor needs to do what he has to do, but tourism is an investment for the state, said Irene Dickson, a Norwalk representative on the bureaus board. For every dollar spent in marketing and advertising, it generates $10 in tax revenue.

Betty Cordellos, owner of Connection Tours in Fairfield, is worried about the effect on her small business.

As a niche tourism business owner since 1997, I rely on the business-to-business pipeline that the bureau provides to reach our target audiences and markets across the country, Cordellos said. Its a valuable and free resource for attracting new business that I dont have staff or budget to reach.

Howard Lasser, executive director of the Brookfield Craft Center, said, I do think (the budget cut) will impact this region, particularly in the fall when the people come up from the city and surrounding areas for leaf peeping. We do get a lot of carriage trade from that in our retail shops, I hate to think it will be significantly impacted, but it could be.

The craft center has not received direct marketing or advertising support from the bureau in recent years, but still benefits from tourism, said Lasser.

Besides Fairfield County, the Litchfield Hills is the other region that received support from the western tourism bureau.

Brigid Guertin, executive director of the Danbury Museum, said money spent on tourism promotion for the region trickles down to local businesses and cultural attractions, such as her museum.

It was a shock to hear the news, Guertin said. The western bureau has always been excellent in increasing tourist interest. They have been crucial to our success.

Bolgani said the bureau is on life support from its private funds until alternate funding is found, which seems unlikely.

Bolgani plans to discuss the matter with the Office of Tourism and the Office of Policy and Management, but is not sure the argument will fall on the right ears.
BRIDGEPORT - Mayor Joe Ganim on Saturday announced that The WorkPlace, a nonprofit organization based in Bridgeport, has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant by the U.S. Department of Labor for its efforts to prepare women inmates at the York Correctional Institute for release.

The York facility, womens prison located in Niantic, and The WorkPlace has worked in partnership with the state Department of Corrections and the City of Bridgeport preparing inmates for release and helping with job preparedness once exoffenders are released and back in community. Specifically, The WorkPlace will use the grant to conduct the Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release Program. This two year project at York will serve 125 female inmates in a 20-town region.

This awarding of this grant is a huge boost that will help a key piece of our local second-chance initiative, said Ganim. The WorkPlace, under the direction of Joe Carbone. has been a leader for years helping inmates prepare for release and all the burdens they will face post incarceration, and their work has great positive impact on our community. I know personally that there is a stark difference in the mentality it takes to succeed in prison and then transition back to the outside world. Without help, many fail and end up right back in prison which tears apart families and communities and is extremely costly for taxpayers. In Bridgeport alone we have more than 1,000 returning citizens coming back from incarceration every year, and many are women.

We want them to be ready to reenter the work force with both the skills needed to succeed and the confidence that they are supported by family, friends, and their community, Gamin said.

Ganim ran Bridgeport from 1991 until 2003 when he was convicted of federal corruption charges. He spent seven years in prison, but waged a successful comeback last year in part by portraying himself as the candidate of second chances. And Bridgeport certainly has plenty of people in need of them. An estimated 1,100 prisoners are released into Connecticuts largest municipality annually.

In early June, Ganim, business and non-profit leaders announced an effort to help those individuals secure employment. It involved not only pro-actively lobbying private companies to take a chance on ex-cons, but to set up a pot of money that would help pay for the first six to eight weeks of their salaries. On Tuesday, the City Councils budget committee Tuesday unanimously tabled committing $50,000 to help ex-felons find employment.

The grant announced Saturday is a boost for the second-chance initiative.

The WorkPlace was one of only 10 applicants nationally who were funded. This is their fourth grant award in the reentry sector in the last year. The funds will be matched with three federal Second Chance competitive grants secured by The WorkPlace, Inc., the region's local Workforce Investment Board and Career Resources, Inc., the founder of the Bridgeport Reentry Collaborative and the operator of the American Job Center.

Carbone, president and CEO of The WorkPlace, said, We are grateful for the opportunity to provide gender-focused, intensive workforce development services, along with connections to other resources to prepare female inmates for employment with the necessary supports upon release. Im grateful to all our partners who helped us prepare this proposal including, Career Resources, Mayor Ganim and the city of Bridgeport as well as the Connecticut Department of Correction, Commissioner Scott Semple.

The program will provide female inmates with gender-focused intensive workforce development and training. Participants will have the opportunity to earn employer-recognized credentials such as the National Retail Federation Customer Service and Sales, OSHA-10, ServSafe Food Handler, and the American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED certifications. Courses preparing participants for these credentials will be offered both pre- and post-release. Program staff will facilitate the formation of post-release peer groups that can function as both job clubs specifically discussing employment issues and as sources of support for participants facing other re-entry issues.

Employment development specialists/case managers will assess participants literacy and numeracy, educational level, work experience, and soft skills to develop individual service strategies. Following assessment, each participant will receive an Individual Employment Plan, which will guide both pre- and post-release activities. Career Resources will use the funds to develop a comprehensive community reintegration program with the help of the 40-member organizations of the Bridgeport ReEntry Collaborative. Specifically, the funds will be used to help establish a pilot entrepreneurial training center for returning citizens in space donated by The Regional Network of Programs on Bond Street.

They will further be used to establish a subsidized employment program in support of the fifteen local employers who publicly committed to hiring returning citizens under the Bridgeport Second Chance Promise compact.
Louisiana starts a trade mission to Cuba

In an effort to find opportunities to export agricultural goods to Cuba, Louisianas Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is heading a business mission to the island.

According to the commissioner possible trade relations with Cuba would translate into 300 or 400 million dollars a year for Louisiana.

Strain said that Louisiana would predominately be exporting rice, soybeans, wheat, poultry and more.

There are so many opportunities there. They need fertilizers, they need everything and we are the logical and most logistical port. The Port of New Orleans, the Port of Baton Rouge, the Port of Lake Charles to make that happen, said the US official as cited by local media.
Windber-Portage renew rivalry in Week 10 Heritage-WestPAC crossover

Check out what to watch on Friday night in Somerset County as the high school football regular season comes to a close in Week 10.
Check it out: Fun things to do this weekend in Lake County

This list of weekend entertainment includes festivals, Vet Fest and the premiere of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' on a local stage.
Opinion Psychology

Its not enough for us to survive terrible experiences. Now were supposed to thrive because of them. Nonsense. Victims of trauma dont need to add a sense of failure to their burden.
The fight to take over the title of Australia's top Lebanese beauty queen from Salim Mehajer's younger sister Mary Mehajer is on.

Eight Lebanese-Australian women will compete in the Miss Lebanon Emigrant Australia beauty pageant on Sunday in Sydney, vying for a chance to represent Australia in the annual Miss Lebanon Emigrants global competition in Lebanon later this year.

Ms Mehajer was controversially crowned Miss Lebanon Australia in May amid reports that her influential brother, Auburn's former deputy mayor, may have had a part in swaying the results in her favour.

Scroll down foe video

Eight women will compete in the Miss Lebanon Emigrant Australia beauty pageant on Sunday in Sydney to steal the title of Australia's best Lebanese beauty queen from Salim Mehajer's younger sister, Mary (pictured)

Among the group of women trying to end Ms Mehajer's reign are Gabriella Jabbour (left), 21, and Natalie Mansour (right), 16.

The women lining up to take over Ms Mehajer's reign vary in age from as young as 16 to the mid-20s.

Rita Sarkis, 23, was born in Lebanon but moved to Australia two years ago and has a Bachelor of Banking and Finance.

In her biography, Ms Sarkis said she is passionate about TV presenting and has been in front of the camera since she was 10 years old.

Natalie Mansour, 16, describes herself as 'very friendly and kind hearted.'

'I would love to represent the Lebanese community in Australia. I was born and raised in Australia with a combined Lebanese and Portuguese upbringing, I strongly believe that the beauty of all cultures is what makes Australia unique,' she said.

She hopes to become a police officer after receiving a Bachelor of Policing/Criminology.

Rhonda Elbazi, 19, is studying to become a primary school teacher and is the eldest of three children.

Ms Elbazi said she likes to keep herself busy and participates in swimming, gymnastics and dancing. She was also a cheerleader for her high school and likes sport.

Rhonda Elbazi, 19, (pictured) is studying to become a primary school teacher and is the eldest of three children

Suzie Merheb, 24, (pictured) has a double major in Music and Media Communications and Journalism from Macquarie University

'I am strong willed in every way possible. When I set myself goals I will do everything I can to achieve them. I am also a very bubbly and friendly person who you will always catch with a smile across her face,' she said.

Najah Ghamrawi, 18, wants to become a secondary teacher and work in third world countries.

She said she is very optimistic and competed in Netball at the state level.

'Being Lebanese Australian has enabled me to share two very diverse and wide cultures that are amazing in their own ways. Having the privilege to be able to carry on the rich culture of Lebanese heritage and history throughout my life and experiences whilst living in a beautiful country is definitely something I take pride in.

Mary Mehajer (left) was controversially crowned Miss Lebanon Australia in May amid reports that the pageant was rigged

Safaa Ammoun (left) and Najah Ghamrawi (right) are among those competing in Sunday's pageant

Suzie Merheb, 24, has a double major in Music and Media Communications and Journalism from Macquarie University and said that she loves to travel and has modelled for magazines within Australia and overseas.

'My goal in life is to become a TV presenter/host, and build my name into its own brand which will include a clothing and an organic cosmetics line as I am passionate about animal cruelty!' she said.

Gabriella Jabbour, 21, is studying to receive a Bachelor of Teaching in Religious Education and English who says that she is 'outgoing and optimistic' and can get along with anyone.

Safaa Ammoun and Joanna Chami are also competing in the pageant. Neither submitted a profile to the Miss Australia Emigrant Australia contestant announcement on Facebook.
Fragrant and zippy as a fresh bowl of summer raspberries  the ace in this weeks pack

Pinot Noir is a woodland sprite of a wine with the gift of nimble pleasures and elegance beyond compare.

This flighty red shows its highest order of finesse in Frances Burgundy.

Top billing includes Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Armand Rousseau, Leroy, Dujac, Dugat-Py and more. Trouble is, they are not cheap.

If someone else is buying, dive into these or seek out the best of New Zealands Otago and the USAs Oregon.

But head deeper off the beaten track to find bargain Pinot with informal bottles balancing value with quality. Pinot Noirs light body makes it a winner with light picnic bites, and youthful bottles can even be served chilled  think of it like butch rose.

You should expect a cascade of summery red fruit from the best bottles  watch out for hard acidity, which can be a pitfall in rockbottom cases.

Southern France has a few decent value options, such as Aldis Vignobles Roussellet Pinot Noir (12.5 per cent)  just 4.39 for a quaffable summery sip.

Romania, too, has some drinkable Pinot that wont break the bank, such as Waitrose Romanian Pinot Noir 2015 (13 per cent) for 5.99.

But for the best balance of value with quality, Chile is still your best bet  Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir 2015 (13.5 per cent) is a cherrylike gem in Asda for 6 on offer, or Sainsburys Taste the Difference Chilean Pinot Noir 2015 (14 per cent) is a bit more fleshy and deep  on offer at 7.

And if you want to go up through the gears, German Pinot  known as Spatburgunder  can be superbly deft, or seek out the surprise option from the Wine Society below from Canada.
The proposed Buddhist Tourism Circuit scheme is likely to get a fresh impetus following Bihars Nalanda Mahavihara being awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag on Friday.

The Indian government has already sanctioned Rs 1,500 crore to promote religious tourism under three schemes  the Ramayana, Krishna and Buddhist Circuit.

The prestigious UNESCO title to Nalanda, a great 5th Century monastery, gives it a legally protected status under the Geneva Convention; plus, it entitles it to funds from UNESCO World Heritage Fund for conservation and promotion.

An Extended Dharmayatra or Sacred Circuit Retracing Buddhas Footsteps has been identified by the Ministry of Tourism

An Extended Dharmayatra or Sacred Circuit Retracing Buddhas Footsteps has been identified by the Ministry of Tourism.

This 10- 15 day tour includes visits to: Bodhgaya (Nalanda, Rajgir, Barabar caves, Pragbodhi Hill, Gaya), Patna, Varanasi, Kushinagar and Piparva alongwith a day-trip to Nepals Lumbini.

India receives thousands of Buddhist pilgrims annually from 30 countries including Vietnam, Loas and Thailand.

India receives thousands of Buddhist pilgrims annually from 30 countries including Vietnam, Loas and Thailand

RS Fonia, Joint Director General, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), told Mail Today: Nalanda will be developed as a star tourist attraction. Currently, the 23 hectares site has major encroachments, in terms of agricultural fields, settlements and pucca constructions. These will be removed. The whole area will be demarcated.

Better facilities for the tourists will be made by maintaining international standards. This includes setting up of signage, facilitation centres, toilets, CCTV cameras, etc. The Nalanda Archaeological Museum, which houses 13,463 antique recoveries made from Nalanda and Rajgir excavation sites, will be upgraded further, he said.

An image of Kusinara temple in Uttar Pradesh

The site will be maintained as per the rules of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pictured historical ruins of Sarnath

It will be developed into an educational and research hub.

The site will be maintained as per the rules of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, he added.

ML Srivastava, Vice- Chancellor, Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, added: Plans are afoot to connect all the notified Buddhist sites by rail, road and air. Airstrips will be developed in Bodhgaya. New flights will be launched for the convenience of the tourists, for which talks are on with Pawan Hans. Three ministries - that of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation are involved in the project.

Senior officials said that NK Sinha, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, who is from the Bihar IAS Cadre and had once served as the District Megistrate of Nalanda years back, is taking keen interest in the development project.

Nalanda is a part of the international Silk Route platform as well.

Following the encouragement of the UNESCO tag, ASI will now go in for further excavation of the Ancient Remains of Nalanda Mahavihara.

Dr. RS Fonia said: Currently, only 6 km of the core area of Nalanda has been excavated. However, the known limits of the ancient university extends over 150,000 sq.m.
After Nawaz Sharifs government on Friday decided to label Wani a martyr and mark July 19 as a black day of mourning, India hit out at Pakistans continued glorification of terrorists.

The Pakistan government came under pressure to support slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and to celebrate him as a martyr, former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar has said.

But its decision to do so was not wrong because every Kashmiri considers him a martyr, Khokhar, who is in China to attend a conference, said when asked about the renewed strains in India-Pakistan ties following Wanis death and Islamabad deciding to commemorate the Hizbul terrorist.

Pakistan's former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar justified the country's decision to call Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani (pictured above) as a 'martyr'

Asked whether Pakistans decision to do so was right, Khokhar said: In the beginning our reaction was low-key, but the government came under pressure from the media after that. It is very difficult for the present government in Islamabad, to try and cool it because of the emotive aspect of the whole thing.

The Kashmir dispute is the core problem between India and Pakistan and is an emotive issue on both sides, he added.

Khokhar said he did not see any real issue if Burhan Wani has been described as a martyr, adding that both countries at the same time must not allow these things to get out of hand.

A lot depends on how India handles the situation inside Kashmir. The ball is in Indias court. Pakistan wont aggravate or play up, but we also have a certain obligation because there is a dispute between India and Pakistan."
With Italys banking system in crisis, the Spanish and Portuguese economies struggling and talk of other EU membership referendums across the continent, many savers might be tempted to Brexit their European investments.

But experts say there are plenty of opportunities for those willing to hold their nerve. Despite a torrid time on the continent in recent years, funds which invest there have done remarkably well.

The average Europe fund has returned a respectable 23 per cent over the past three years.

But with so much uncertainty, fund managers are taking very different approaches to investing.

John Bennett, manager of the Henderson European Selected Opportunities fund, has been cautious all year.

The average Europe fund has returned a respectable 22.5% over the past three years. But with so much uncertainty, fund managers are taking very different approaches to investing

A defensive strategy means he has large investments in healthcare firms such as Novartis and Roche, which tend to do well regardless of the economy, and oil giants, which benefit from a stronger dollar and a rising oil price.

He also likes strong multinational firms including consumer giant Henkel, Nestle, and data firm Relx. While Bennett is not particularly worried about the UK he is concerned about some of the weaker EU economies such as Greece, Portugal and Italy.

The banking sector, in particular, is cause for concern as he thinks their capital buffers are not strong enough to stand a recession.

Bennett says: The truth is we are in unchartered waters. Our biggest concern at this stage is that the vote catalyses a European recession.

Mark Nichols, European portfolio manager at Threadneedle, is looking for businesses with high barriers to entry  that is, where other firms cant easily compete. Nestle, for example, is the only company that makes KitKat.

Yes there are other companies which make chocolate bars but its about the brand, the heritage, the marketing and slogan  people want a specific product, he says.

Nichols also likes family-owned businesses because they tend to invest in their business for the long-term rather than just worrying about next quarters figures.

He likes drinks business Campari, which is still 51 per cent owned by the family that founded it in 1860.

He says: Its the only company I know where the boss remembers being shown around the distillery by his granddad when he was five years old. That means he knows the business.

Those concerned about the outlook for Italy should be concentrating on where the firm does its business not where it is headquartered.

WHAT 1,000 INVESTED IN EUROPE RETURNED OVER THREE YEARS

Just 19 per cent of Camparis sales are from Europe, some 43 per cent come from the US. The firm has been on a major acquisition programme since 1995 too, and has increased its portfolio of brands from just two to more than 50.

The most recent purchase was that of Grand Marnier last month. Nichols also likes other drinks firms such as Pernod Ricard, because they have a reliable demand for their product regardless of the economic environment and consumers who are loyal to their brand of choice.

Another firm he likes is Italian online banking business Fineco, which offers stocks and shares trading and financial advice.

The banking sector in Italy is far more fragmented than the UKs, with hundreds of local institutions rather than a handful of giants. Fineco is trying to tap into a shift to online by offering a low cost one-stop shop for peoples finances.

The firm is looking to expand its range of services to include mortgage broking and there is talk of expanding outside of Italy too.

James Sym, manager of the Schroder European Alpha Income fund, is feeling optimistic about Europe.

He says: Some people might be thinking Im a fund manager, get me out of here! or heading to safe haven stocks, but the shares prices of these companies is up. If you go slightly riskier its a real buying opportunity.

That's not to say hes buying ailing local banks but he has taken the opportunity to add to French insurer Axa, whose share price has dropped around 25 per cent this year.

He also rates Italian bank Intesa Sanpaola which he believes is the strongest bank in the country and has enough capital to withstand any problems.

Part of Syms optimism comes from the slower recovery that Europe has seen. While the stock markets and many of the companies in the US and UK are back at pre-financial crisis levels, Europe still has some way to go.
O2S BOSS has quit after a merger with rival Hutchison failed and plans for a management buyout were blocked.

Ronan Dunne, who has been chief executive of the mobile phone giant since January 2008 and worked at the firm for 15 years, will leave in September.

Spanish giant Telefonica, which owns O2, abandoned plans to sell the firm to Three owner Hutchison after it was blocked by the EU competition watchdog in May.

Telefonica has since been figuring out what to do with the O2 telecoms business.

Out: Ronan Dunne, O2's boss since January 2008, has quit after Spanish giant Telefonica, which owns the firm, abandoned plan to sell it to Three owner Hutchison

It was rumoured Dunne was considering a management buyout of the 8.5billion UK firm, and had held talks with private equity companies to back him.

Telefonica, however, decided against the sale and has taken the firm back into its main business.

Instead it has hired bankers to look at a potential float and is waiting for stock market conditions to improve.

Dunne, 52, is the UK telecommunications industrys longest-serving chief executive and despite his failure to buy-out the mobile firm he is well respected in the industry.

Eddie Murphy, telecoms analyst at Priory Consulting, said: Overall Dunne can look back with satisfaction on his time at O2. More recently a lot of things didnt go to plan but they were not all in his control.

Dunnes salary is not disclosed as he is not a board member and he will not receive a golden goodbye payment since he has decided to leave the business.

Dunne said: The decision to consolidate Telefonica UK represents an important and positive milestone for the business and marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for O2.

O2s chief financial officer Mark Evans replaces Dunne. Evans joined O2 in January 2012 and has overseen the running of the mobile network giffgaff brand, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telefonica.

He is chairman of Tesco Mobile and non-executive director at Hiscox.
WHAT DOES IT DO?

Invests in big blue-chip firms with the potential to grow steadily.

Theres a bias towards FTSE 100 firms with consumer and financial stocks accounting for more than half the portfolio.

WHAT DOES THE MANAGER INVEST IN?

Manager Steve Davies likes companies set for a recovery.

That means businesses which are out of favour but where there are catalysts for change such as management change or an industry shake-up.

Banking stocks, having been out of favour since the financial crisis, are some of the biggest investments in the trust, including Barclays.

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS THINK?

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: This trust has a quality manager but because it holds a lot of financial stocks and other economically sensitive companies it has been hit hard by Brexit  its down 1.4 per cent over the past month.

'But if youre looking for a contrarian play this could be it.

WHAT DO THE EXPERTS LIKE?

This trust has almost doubled savers money over the past five years and returned an incredible 468 per cent over ten years.

For those investors who prefer funds to trusts, Davies also manages an open-ended equivalent of this portfolio.

AND ARE THERE ANY DOWNSIDES?

Investing just after a trust has taken a hit can represent a good opportunity if the trust is otherwise strong, with a good manager.
Gatwick struck a blow in its bid to win the war for a second runway as it secured 200m from investors and the support of the London Mayor.

Britain's second busiest airport announced it would pump cash in to expanding its north and south terminals, bring in new shops, bigger immigration halls and have more gates for airplanes.

The investment was unveiled by the capital's mayor Sadiq Khan who gave Gatwick a further boost by calling on the Government to choose the airport as the home to a new runway.

It escalates the war between Gatwick and Heathrow over which should be expanded to boost the UK's airport capacity.

Bid: A jet awaiting takeoff at Gatwick. The airport announced it would pump cash in to expanding its north and south terminals, bring in new shops, bigger immigration halls and have more gates for airplanes

A report by Sir Howard Davies recommended building at Heathrow to improve the UK's airport capacity. It was hoped the publication of the Davies report would solve the crisis.

In February former Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said that he hoped the Government would finally make its choice by the summer.

Asked this week about the decision, new Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested no decision would be made until the Cabinet had reviewed the report.

The announcement by Gatwick comes a day after Heathrow launched an attack on Gatwick that attempted to torpedo its case for a second runway.

It produced a 20-page presentation in which it claimed Gatwick had lost 12 long-haul routes in six years, seven of which were to emerging markets including Mexico City, Beijing and Jakarta.

In that time Gatwick had only gained eight, Heathrow's report claimed. Gatwick dismissed the claims.

Backing Gatwick, Khan said: 'The new Prime Minister [Theresa May] has a very important decision to make regarding new airport capacity, and I urge her to rule as swiftly as possible in favour of a second runway at Gatwick, which would bring substantial economic benefits.'

Rival: The announcement by Gatwick comes a day after Heathrow launched an attack claiming Gatwick had lost 12 long-haul routes in six years

The funding for Gatwick comes from private equity backer Global Infrastructure Partners. It brings the total investment over the coming five years to 1.2billion.

A quick decision on expanding the UK airport capacity is considered crucial to ensure continued economic growth following Brexit. The battle between the two airports is fierce.

Heathrow looked like it was a shoo-in following the Davies report but they face a new hurdle as the Prime Minister's constituency is in Maidenhead under the flight path of Heathrow.

Gatwick might have the support of the mayor but it will have to overcome some hurdles. Heathrow will invest over 3billion at the airport, which is three times what Gatwick will spend over the same period.

Gatwick's railway station is also bursting at the seams. Commuters already suffer one of the worst railway lines in the country, the Brighton main line.

Gatwick expansion will add 90,000 extra passengers a day to a line that is already at capacity.

A Heathrow spokesman said: 'Britain leaving the EU means that Heathrow expansion is more vital than ever.

'It will allow British exporters to trade with all the growing markets of the world, strengthening Britain's position as one of the great trading nations.'
Trouble: Stanley Gibbons has had a torrid time amid weak sales caused in part by a slow down in China

STAMPING DOWN The boardroom shake up at Stanley Gibbons continued yesterday as chief executive Mike Hall and finance boss Donal Duff left the stamp seller.

The dealer has had a torrid time amid weak sales caused in part by a slow down in China.

Its new auditors BDO have said past accounts overstated revenues.

Shares tumbled 7.5 per cent or 0.75p to 9.38p. The business is relocating back to the UK from Jersey.

GLOBAL REACH John Lewis will continue its march across the globe by opening stores in Australia for the first time. The retail giant has agreed a deal to open six shop-in-shops with leading Australian department store Myer.

The first will open before the end of this year, on the outskirts of Sydney.

GOOD GROWTH HomeServe says it is on course to deliver good growth this financial year.

Highlights for the home emergency and repairs business in the first quarter included signing a partnership with Dee Valley Water, which serves more than 250,000 customers in North East Wales and North West Cheshire.

BHS SCANDAL The latest documents released from the BHS inquiry by MPs revealed Sir Philip Greens legal advisers Linklaters claimed Dominic Chappell, who bought BHS for 1 last year, broke the terms of a sale agreement by failing to invest his own money in BHS.

Chappells Retail Acquisitions borrowed 5million, secured against BHSs warehouse in Warwickshire, which was contrary to the clear commercial understanding, claimed Linklaters.

CANCER BOOST British medical charity MRC Technology has netted $150million by selling part of its royalty interest in a successful cancer drug.

The charity said on Friday that a private equity fund managed by DRI Capital had acquired a portion of its royalty entitlement on Keytruda, one of a class of new treatments that stimulate the bodys immune system to fight cancer.
Algy Cluff founded and runs Cluff Natural Resources

Oil tycoon Algy Cluff is calling on the Government to create a sovereign wealth fund to save the North Sea industry and invest in a gas supply for the country after Brexit.

Cluff, who founded and runs Cluff Natural Resources, wants the Government to take charge and invest in the face of the weakened oil price.

He wants the Government-launched Oil and Gas Authority to be able to take equity stakes in companies that want to explore to fund them like an investment or sovereign wealth fund.

Norways government created an investment fund to re-invest the money it raised from the North Sea oil boom.

The fund has become the largest state-owned fund in the world valued at more than 660billion with investments in 9,050 companies.

Cluff added: George Osborne has done nothing to encourage those who want to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea.

'He has assisted the major oil companies who have just sold out to private equity firms who have no interest in exploration or investing in the North Sea.

We dont want handouts. But there could be options such as a rebate on the cost of exploration such as they have done in Norway.
Those holidaying abroad this summer face the prospect of huge mobile phone bills on top of extra costs caused by the weak pound.

Just checking social media and your emails regularly during a two-week period could lead to hundreds of pounds of extra costs  despite an EU deal to bring roaming costs down that came into force earlier this year.

In some popular holiday destinations outside Europe, roaming costs from many providers are so high that it would cost you 10 merely to check your Facebook status once  let alone streaming videos or using your mobile for useful services such as TripAdvisor or for maps to help you navigate your holiday destination.

Good advice: Louise Croft relies on hotel wi-fi and apps such as Skype to ensure she keeps communication costs down when travelling

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at comparison website uSwitch, says that even caps designed to protect holidaymakers from mobile bill shock are not enough, because it is simple to opt out just by sending a text message, and most of us have become accustomed to internet on demand.

He says: Networks will limit your mobile data usage abroad to around 40, but its not fail-safe, because you can easily opt out of data roaming caps, and charges for calls and texts are not capped.

In some countries, roaming costs are so high, youd eat through that 40 cap so fast it might be tempting to opt out without realising the consequences.

There are ways to stay connected while abroad without suffering huge bills if you are willing to put in a little bit of time and effort.

These include making the most of special packages from your current provider, downloading apps that allow you to make the most of wi-fi calling and offline services, and finding a local SIM that will allow you to surf the web at a fraction of the price offered by your UK provider.

I BOUGHT A LOCAL SIM CARD FOR MY TRIP - AND IT COST ONLY 8 Blogger Louise Croft is horrified by the high roaming charges levied by some mobile providers. Although her mobile contract is with GiffGaff, a smaller mobile provider that she says gives her more flexibility, she buys local SIM cards to ensure she can keep in contact while abroad. Louise from Poole in Dorset, says: Local SIMs can be cheaper and I find them easy to buy at airports. Recently, she travelled to Egypt and got a whole week of unlimited 3G usage by buying a local SIM for around 8. Thats far cheaper than using a UK SIM, she says. Louise, 26, who also works as a freelance public relations consultant, relies on hotel wi-fi and apps such as Skype to ensure she keeps communication costs down when travelling. She says: I use WhatsApp and Viber, depending on the country, and I think TripAdvisor has good offline content as well.

Doku says: Roaming costs vary dramatically across the world and between providers, so check with your network what youll pay and what add-ons are available before you jet off. There are still alternatives to bill shock if your network is not offering any appealing roaming deals.

Cheaper costs in Europe

If you are holidaying on the Continent, you will benefit from the recent fall in mobile phone roaming tariffs imposed by the European Commission.

This is unlikely to change in the short term, despite the Brexit vote, and means the maximum that your provider can charge you to check your email is around 4.3p a megabyte, while phone calls are capped at around 4.4p a minute. These caps are subject to currency fluctuation.

Roaming charges within the EU are forecast to disappear altogether by the middle of next year, but Brexit means this is now far from certain for Britons. BT has already said that the outcome of negotiations between the UK and the EU may affect costs in the long term, suggesting customers could end up paying more.

...And further afield

Outside the EU, roaming charges can be far higher. For example, Virgin Mobile charges 5 a megabyte to use the internet in popular holiday destinations such as Thailand and Australia, while O2 charges 6 a megabyte in Thailand. Given that it takes around two megabytes of data just to check your Facebook updates, these charges soon mount up.

Some providers have introduced attractive bundles to make roaming abroad more cost-effective, but you may need to buy them in advance. Vodafone recently introduced free roaming for customers in 40 countries, but current customers will have to upgrade to get this benefit.

Beach call: Using data abroad can be costly, but there are ways to keep bills in check

Three offers a Feel at Home deal to all of its customers, allowing them to take their current entitlement of minutes and data abroad for free to many destinations, as does Tesco Mobile with its Home From Home deal, in place until early September.

Holiday bolt-ons

Providers such as Virgin and EE offer passes that can give you cheaper data while abroad.

EEs pass for Europe offers unlimited texts and calls and 500 megabytes of data for 4 a day, while for 1.99 a day O2 customers travelling to Europe can receive unlimited data, plus 120 minutes of calls and 120 texts.

These packages can offer better value than simply using your phone as usual, but the costs can still spiral if you use your phone in the same way as you do at home.

Free wi-fi and apps

Gary Luther, at telecoms company CCS, recommends that most holidaymakers switch off their mobile internet altogether. He says: Switch data roaming off before leaving the UK and only switch it on as and when required while abroad.

Utilise free wi-fi while data roaming is switched off, and try to download any information or content you may need before leaving.

Using apps such as Skype, Whats-App and Facetime allows you to use your phone for free over a wi-fi connection. Skype permits you to call another Skype user for free, or call landlines or mobiles abroad cheaply, while WhatsApp lets you send free text messages to other users. Facetime is a free service for Apple users and works over wi-fi.

When you venture out of your hotel, consider using apps such as CopilotGPS, which allows you to download maps before you go and then use the app without using data. You can also use the wi-fi in your hotel to download guides to various cities on TripAdvisor, and again use them, and the maps associated with them, offline.

In some popular holiday destinations costs are so high that it would cost 10 to check your Facebook status

Buy a local SIM

If you do want to use your mobile phone to check your email or the internet while travelling away from wi-fi, a third option is to buy a local SIM card and fit it into your phone. As long as your phone is unlocked from its network, you can insert any SIM card into it and it will work.

Dave Dean, who runs travel technology information website Too Many Adapters, says that a local SIM is nearly always a cheaper option, unless you are able to use the minutes on your existing contract while abroad.

He says: Local SIMs are your best bet in most of the world. Youll typically get a useful amount of calls, texts and data for between 10 and 20, depending on where youre going.

There is more information on his website on how to get a SIM in different destinations, as well as the cost of internet, calls and texts from these local SIMs.

Dean says that airports and local stores are some of the best places to find local SIMs, and once you have one you can usually top it up at convenience stores.
Advertisement

Boeing, creator of some of the world's most iconic aircraft of the 20th century, commemorated its centennial Friday.

The company celebrated with an all-out display of its airplanes from years gone-by to the most modern in aviation at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

Hundreds came out to marvel at the decades of planes put on display by Boeing.

The widow of William Boeing, Jr and daughter-in-law of company founder William Boeing, June Boeing, 90, attended the ceremony.

'I always thought I was his first love. And soon after we were married, I found out I wasn't,' she told Geek Wire.

'The Boeing Company was his first love.'

Boeing, creator of some of the world's most iconic aircraft of the 20th century, commemorated its centennial Friday at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington

Nikita Ezhunov (pictured, right), 14, of Russia, sits inside a North American Aviation, B-25D Mitchell and aims its turret at he centennial

The company celebrated with an all-out display of its airplanes from years gone-by to the most modern in aviation at the museum

Hundreds came out to marvel at the decades of flight put on display by Boeing. The 747 and other Boeing 7-Series jets are pictured on the runway during an event

An amphitheater was erected at the museum to accommodate 2,000 people at a time, but the museum expects by Sunday 100,000 people will have had the chance to come up close with these feats of aviation.

Despite the jovial celebration, the company is facing multiple challenges to remain at the forefront of global aerospace innovation.

At the top of the list is European arch-rival Airbus, which has topped Boeing in commercial orders in recent years and made inroads into the American market by building planes on US shores.

Boeing also faces tough going in defense, having lost a US contract for the long range strike bomber to Northrop Grumman, and another from the US and allies for a joint strike fighter to Lockheed Martin.

That leaves Boeing with only the delay-plagued KC-46 tanker program for the US Air Force, a deal it controversially wrested out of Airbus' hands.

'Boeing's biggest challenge is Airbus,' said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute. 'Whether Boeing keeps up or beats Airbus will determine the future of the company.'

An amphitheater was erected at the museum to accommodate 2,000 people at a time, but the museum expects by Sunday 100,000 people will have had the chance to come up close with these feats of aviation

Despite the jovial celebration, the company is facing multiple challenges to remain at the forefront of global aerospace innovation

At the top of the list is European arch-rival Airbus, which has topped Boeing in commercial orders in recent years and made inroads into the American market by building planes on US shores

To stay strong in defense, Boeing must beef up its operations in maintenance of military vehicles, analysts say.

In space travel, another longtime core activity, Boeing faces upstarts like SpaceX, which has been aggressive on price.

'Technologically they are positioned, but they are not well positioned in terms of pricing' in space travel, said Marco Caceres of Teal Group.

'They are going to have to figure out how to become leaner, or otherwise they won't be able to compete for much longer.'

Boeing insists it will stay at the top. Chief executive Dennis Muilenburg told USA Today in June that it is building a rocket that will let man set foot on Mars.

Historic aircraft do a flyby near a lineup of Boeing 7-Series jets during the centennial event

Airplanes, including a P-51B Mustang (pictured, lef), and a Cathay Pacific 747 Cargo plane (pictured, top) sit parked on display Friday

A World War II era P-51 Mustang fighter plane stands in front of a modern 747-8 freighter and a 757 passenger jet at The Boeing Company's centennial celebration

An Emirates jet sits on the runway behind a FedEx plane and others at the centennial event in Seattle on Friday

Despite the celebrationg, Boeing is facing tough challenges in defense, having lost a US contract for the long range strike bomber to Northrop Grumman, and another from the US and allies for a joint strike fighter to Lockheed Martin

'It's about 50 per cent bigger than the Saturn V that took humans to the moon,' he said.

Boeing also faces obstacles on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have sought to block a controversial contract to sell some $25 billion in planes to Iran.

That came after a lengthy fight over the Export-Import Bank weakened an institution that has long supported Boeing.

Still, analysts say Boeing continues to have cache as a 'global icon,' as Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia put it.

Boeing also faces obstacles on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have sought to block a controversial contract to sell some $25 billion in planes to Iran

That came after a lengthy fight over the Export-Import Bank weakened an institution that has long supported Boeing. Still, analysts say Boeing continues to have cache as a 'global icon,' as Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia put it

Boeing employees and guests watch historic aircraft flyby at the centennial event

Ray Conner (left), Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO, speaks as Dennis Muilenburg (right), Boeing Chairman, President and CEO, looks on during ceremonies

Boeing had revenues of $96 billion in 2015 and has a multi-year backlog of orders for a civil aviation market that it believes will be worth nearly $6 trillion over the next 20 years.

First founded July 15 in 1916 in Seattle by William Boeing as the Pacific Aero Products Co., Boeing has evolved into the biggest exporter in the United States.

The company grew rapidly during and after World War I, expanding into air transport, but was broken up by the US government in 1934 on antitrust grounds. William Boeing sold his holdings in the company.

The company's ability to survive without its founder positioned it for growth when World War II sparked huge demand for its B-17 and B-29 bombers.

Strong US military demand for the subsequent B-47 and B-52 bombers boosted Boeing during the Cold War.

Growth was then fueled by a succession of popular commercial planes unveiled in later decades, especially the famous Boeing 747. But today's competitive landscape also includes smaller rivals, such as Canada's Bombardier and China's Comac.

Boeing founder William Boeing is pictured during a video presentation before thousands of visitors at the centennial
and is offering free meals to officers after word spread the restaurant didn't want law enforcement to dine there

The owner of a Washington state restaurant is apologizing and offering free meals to law enforcement officers after word spread the restaurant did not want officers to dine there.

Xuechuang Li, the son of the of the owner of Lucky's Teriyaki, said it was all a misunderstanding and apologized for the incident.

Lucky's Teriyaki has since invited officers to have a free meal on Monday at the restaurant in Sedro-Wooley, about 70 miles north of Seattle, KCPQ-TV reported.

Scroll down for video

The owner of Lucky's Teriyaki in Washington state broke down in tears (pictured) and apologized after word spread the restaurant did not want law enforcement officers to dine there

The owner's son apologized, and law enforcement members will get free meals Monday at the restaurant in Sedro-Wooley, about 70 miles north of Seattle

Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt's Facebook post (pictured) went viral on Thursday when he wrote four deputies had finished lunch at the restaurant on Thursday and were told not to eat at the restaurant anymore

The ordeal came to light after Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt confirmed the incident on Facebook, writing four deputies had finished lunch at the restaurant on Thursday and were told not to eat there anymore.

'I am not often speechless but today I was advised of an incident at the Lucky Teriyaki restaurant in Sedro-Woolley that completely took me by surprise,' the Facebook post read.

'Particularly on the heels of the United We Stand by our Law Enforcement event that was such an overpowering show of appreciation for our deputies and officers serving Skagit County.

'This afternoon 4 Skagit County Sheriff's office deputies were finishing up lunch at Lucky's.

'As 2 deputies went up to pay they were informed by the owner that he requested they not eat there anymore.

'They were told that other customers didn't like law enforcement there.'

The sheriff said his chief deputy later called the owner and confirmed the request, and was told to spread the word among law enforcement agencies.

During an emotional interview on Thursday, the owner used a translating app on his phone to explain an employee had misread the situation, and cited a language barrier contributing to the misunderstanding

The owner sits down and wipes tears from his eyes as his soon stands next to him. 'Yeah, I want police to coming,' the owner said during an emotional interview on Thursday

Xuechuang Li, the owner's son, apologized for the incident and said it was all a misunderstanding

'I understand a business owner has a right to refuse service if he wants to.I also understand that as customers we all have the right to find some other restaurant to take our lunch break in,' the post continued.

The post was shared more than 34,000 times and garnered more than 20,000 comments with some outraged customers calling for a boycott.

'It would be nice if the townspeople who support their law enforcement, stopped eating there too. Hit them in the pocketbook for being jerks,' Lisa Streator wrote in the comment section.

'They're (sic) loss. Look at all the people that won't go there now. Spread the word,' JoLinda Hall wrote.

On the restaurant's Facebook page, people were also quick to comment and show their anger over the incident.

'Truly sad,' Matthew Picket wrote. 'The worst part is that the cops would show up to protect and serve without batting an eye. I will never eat there and urge everyone to boycott as well.'

However, some people said others should not be so quick to vilify the business.

'It's quite sad that cops and their apologists are trying to ruin a business simply for trying to make a wise business decision,' Chris Larmore wrote.

'If a person went into any restaurant with an array of lethal and nonlethal weapons, they would be banned. If said person had immunity from the law then it would only strengthen the case against the person.

'Furthermore, a business owner has the right to deny any customer they choose. If that person(s) then decides to financially ruin the business via slanderous propaganda, then that is illegal.

'Police breaking the law...say it aint so...who would've thought.'

The sheriff's office's post was shared more than 34,000 times and garnered more than 20,000 comments with some outraged customers calling for a boycott

Meanwhile, Steve Waldrop wrote it was 'tragic' seeing the way 'people have taken up their pitch forks to vilify these people, with out really knowing the truth.'

'Predictable, but tragic none the less.'

During an emotional interview on Thursday, the owner used a translating app on his phone to explain an employee had misread the situation, and cited a language barrier contributing to the misunderstanding, KOMO News reported.

He said while the deputies were dining at the restaurant on Thursday, an employee noticed customers at another table had spilled some soup and water.

At the time, the employee could not understand why the customers were upset and thought if it was because the deputies were sitting at a table nearby, according to KOMO.

'Yeah, I want police to coming,' the owner told KOMO. 'He means welcome for police officers to come over here,' his son said.

On Friday morning, the sheriff wrote in a follow up post (pictured) that he had met with the owner and his son and said the incident had been resolved

During the interview, Li also told KOMO that his father had received death threats after the sheriff's Facebook post went viral.

On Friday morning, the sheriff wrote in a follow up post that he had met with the owner and his son and said the incident had been resolved.

'They apologized for the incident that made news yesterday, and expressed their desire to accept everyone to their business, including law enforcement officers associated with all offices and departments,' the post read.

'I told both father and son that I was appreciative and grateful for their willingness to once again welcome everyone to visit their restaurant.

'And that it was my hope that this matter can quickly be put behind us all.

'Thank you to all of the citizens who expressed support for law enforcement in Skagit County.
Patrick Mumford (pictured), 24, was stopped, tased and cuffed after mistaking him for Michael Clay, a man who had a warrant out for his arrest

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police officers wore body cameras as they approached a parked car with the intention of arresting Michael Clay, for whom they had a warrant.

In the car they found a man who they said fit the description of Clay.

When the young man inside refused to exit the car they eventually tased and cuffed him.

The only problem - the man in the car wasn't Michael Clay.

The white police officers had tased Patrick Mumford, a black man who did not have a warrant out for his arrest.

Mumford had just returned from a meeting with his probation officers when the incident, caught on the officer's body cameras, happened.

In the video, Mumford asks 'What did I do?' as he hunches over in the car with his arms wrapped around his stomach, police surrounding him.

The officers ask Mumford's name and he pauses, looking nervously at the officers around him before apprehensively saying, 'Ok, Patrick'.

An officer asks his name again and this time Mumford hesitates, seeming confused, and says: 'Uh...Patrick?'

'Stand up, put your hands on the car,' the officer says.

As Mumford begins to comply he asks, 'What happened?'

Police mistook him for Michael Clay, who did have a warrant for his arrest. Mumford had just returned home from a meeting with his probation officer

The officers asked Mumford's name and he paused, looking nervously at the officers around him before apprehensively saying, 'Ok, Patrick'

The officer again commands Mumford put his hands on the car but Mumford sits back down into the vehicle, again asking, 'What did I do?'

Then the cops begin grabbing at Mumford, attempting to pull him from the car as the 24-year-old repeatedly says: 'What did I do? Y'all didn't tell me what did I do.'

'You got a warrant,' the officer replies.

Mumford starts explaining he just came back from his probation officer and that she didn't tell him he had a warrant out for his arrest.

Mumford was on probation for a previous arrest for a non-violent first-time drug offense.

The officer again commands Mumford put his hands on the car but Mumford sits back down into the vehicle, again asking, 'What did I do?'

Then the cops begin grabbing at Mumford, attempting to pull him from the car as the 24-year-old repeatedly says: 'What did I do? Y'all didn't tell me what did I do'

Less than a minute elapses from the moment the officers approach Mumford to the time another officer is asked to tase the 24-year-old, who they still believe is Clay.

Mumford repeatedly asks for the officers to show him the warrant and they begin counting down.

'Three, two' and then the taser is deployed.

Mumford cries in agony as volts of electricity ripple through his body.

It's only when the officers finally have him cuffed and pressed against the hood of the police car do they check his ID and realize Mumford is not Clay.

The officer then tells Mumford that he should've given them his ID when they asked for it.

Less than a minute elapses from the moment the officers approach Mumford to the time another officer is asked to tase the 24-year-old, who they still believe is Clay

Mumford repeatedly asks for the officers to show him the warrant and they begin counting down. 'Three, two' and then the taser is deployed

'I don't know if you got a warrant, cause you're not who I'm looking for.

'When I ask you for ID because you look a lot like who I'm looking for that's [sic] living at this address, you give us ID,' the officer says to Mumford.

However, Mumford's attorney William Claiborne said the officers never asked the 24-year-old for his ID.

Claiborne, who said the problem is indicative of a much wider issue with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and incidents like this are common.

'What this speaks to is sort of the day in and day out stuff that goes on.

'The narrative is always that the suspect became uncooperative, but you know, Patrick wasn't uncooperative, they were the ones being aggressive,' Claiborne told CBS News.

Mumford was charged with misdemeanor obstruction for the February 1 incident.

Claiborne's firm released an edited and subtitled version of the 17-minute clip of body cam footage.

It's only when the officers finally have him cuffed and pressed against the hood of the police car do they check his ID and realize Mumford is not Clay

'When I ask you for ID because you look a lot like who I'm looking for that's [sic] living at this address, you give us ID,' the officer says to Mumford. However, Mumford's attorney William Claiborne said the officers never asked the 24-year-old for his ID

Claiborne, who said the problem is indicative of a much wider issue with the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department and incidents like this are common

He has made both versions available on his YouTube channel, Claiborne Firm.

Joseph Lumpkin, Sr., Chief of Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, shot back at the video, calling it 'misleading' and 'intended to be inflammatory'.

'The video released by the defense attorney was edited and omits significant portions wherein a relative asks the individual to be cooperative,' Lumpkin said.

The department released a 30-minute video from the perspective of the officer who used the stun gun on Mumford, which shows a relative telling the 24-year-old to cooperate with the officers.

'The narrative is always that the suspect became uncooperative, but you know, Patrick wasn't uncooperative, they were the ones being aggressive,' Claiborne said.

A video of the incident was posted to Claiborne's firm's YouTube page, but Joseph Lumpkin, Sr., Chief of Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, shot back at the video, calling it 'misleading' and 'intended to be inflammatory'

The department released a 30-minute video from the perspective of the officer who used the stun gun on Mumford, which shows a relative telling the 24-year-old to cooperate with the officers. It is unclear if Mumford will sue over the 'mistaken identity' incident

The Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department is not commenting further on the case.

The charge against Mumford has since been dropped, but Claiborne said police are trying to have his probation revoked.

In October 2014, Mumford pleased guilty to misdemeanor marijuana possession and felony of a controlled substance.

He is scheduled to have a hearing about his probation in September.

It is unclear if he will sue over the 'mistaken identity' incident.
An Australian teenager who narrowly escaped the Bastille Day massacre in France has been released from hospital with her torso covered in raw wounds.

Bronte Stuntz, 18, suffered the injuries fleeing the horrific terrorist attack in Nice on Thursday, which killed at least 84 people and left 202 in hospital.

She was one of three Australians injured in the attack.

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Australian teenager Bronte Stuntz, 18, has been released from hospital with raw wounds to her torso and back

Ms Stuntz suffered the injuries as she fled the attack in Nice, France, on Thursday

Ms Stuntz, from Sydney, thanked everyone who had helped her following the attack in a post on Facebook

Ms Stuntz told Channel Nine she was still reeling from the attack, which left her with raw grazes covering her shoulders and back.

On Thursday Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed three Australians had been injured in the atrocity.

Ms Bishop said: 'They have suffered minor injuries, seeking to flee the scene, to get away from the scene. We are working to provide consular assistance to all three.'

One of the Australians is understood to have been injured while holidaying on a Topdeck party tour, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Ms Stuntz posted this note on Facebook after she narrowly escaped the Bastille Day massacre

Australian tourists have described the horrific scenes they encountered as they fled the scene.

Callum Ramstadius, 20, told Daily Mail Australia he saw a large truck ploughing through revellers on the beach.

He said: 'We were heading back across the road to the beach we heard screaming and a massive crowd of people running towards us, so we had to jump down stairs over people onto the beach.

'That's when we saw the truck fly past honestly running down so many people.

'Originally while we were standing on the beach we thought it was an accident but then there was five minutes of constant gunshots.

'People were running in every direction on to the beach including swimming away.'
But Prime Minister refuted claims saying it was not a coup but an uprising and Turkey wouldn't allow any 'initiative that would interrupt democracy

Turkish military issued a statement saying that it had 'fully seized control' of running the country

Flights have been suspended, social media shut down and bridges closed

President Obama has called on Turkish citizens not to revolt but to support their democratically elected government

US citizens are warned to seek immediate shelter after reports of bombs going off and gunfire in the capital Ankara

Blast reported as President Erdogan emerged from vehicle at the airport welcomed by a crowd of thousands of civilians

They believe it may be a sonic boom from a low-flying aircraft

An LA attorney who has family trapped at Ataturk airport, Istanbul, says they report hearing a 'loud explosion sound' at the airport

Turkey has declared martial law amid an attempted coup by the military

US citizens in Turkey are warned to seek immediate shelter amid a bloody military coup as President Barack Obama called on the Turkish people to support their elected government.

Turkish military has killed 17 police officer in the army's bid to overthrow the Islamic government of Recep Erdogan as the country declares martial law and a curfew for citizens.

Elsewhere troops have opened fire on civilians attempting to cross the river Bosporus in Istanbul in protest to the military coup, while a bomb has hit the parliament building according to the state's press agency as the security situation in the country becomes more perilous

The US Department of Bureau of Consular Affairs are urging Americans in Turkey to stay where they are and not to attempt to go to the US embassy or consulates.

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President Barack Obama is urging all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the Justice and Development Party (AKP)

US citizens in Turkey are being warned to seek immediate shelter after reports of bombs going off and gunfire in the capital in an attempted coup by the military

Martial law and a curfew has now been declared in the country as tensions between the government and elements of the Turkish army boiled over into political unrest and violence on the streets of Ankara (Supporters of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul)

All flights in and out of Ataturk Airport were suspended, while military aircraft have been seen flying over Ankara, the capital. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said all US inbound flights from Istanbul that were in the air prior to the airport's closing would be allowed to land in the United States as planned.

An LA attorney, who has family trapped at Ataturk Airport, told DailyMail.com exclusively that her loved ones heard an 'explosion sound of some type.'

'They think it's either bomb or sonic boom of low flying aircraft.'

She added that her family, along with many other travelers, were stuck in the gate and the hallway at the airport.'

Her family have been advised by the State Department to stay at the airport and 'follow the directions of airport authorities.'

There have also been reports that social media is currently suspended.

Security forces in Istanbul have blocked two bridges connecting the Anatolian side to the European side of the city.

Americans were also warned to avoid areas of conflict and places with military or security forces.

U.S. troops in Turkey have not been affected so far, a spokeswoman for U.S. Air Forces in Europe said in a statement.

'We are aware of media reports of the attempted coup in Turkey. Currently, this has no impact on Incirlik Air Base.'

President Barack Obama is urging all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

He has urged them to avoid violence or bloodshed amid the military takeover of the key NATO ally.

Obama discussed the developments by telephone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was traveling in Moscow for separate meetings with senior Russian officials on Syria.

In a separate statement, Kerry said the U.S. viewed the 'very fluid situation' in Turkey with the 'gravest concern.'

Kerry said he had stressed in a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu the United States' 'absolute support' for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions. Kerry said he urged all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions, personnel and civilians across Turkey.

He also urged U.S. citizens in Turkey to stay indoors and to be in touch with family and friends.

The uprising began in Ankara when two busloads of soldiers burst into the headquarters of state run TRT news agency, taking news off the air and replacing it with a stream of weather forecasts.

The head of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP), Binali Yldrm, then revealed a group of soldiers were attempting to kidnap him and other members of his party.

Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout in the Taksim Square in Istanbul as Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim confirmed the Turkish military was involved in an attempted coup d'etat

People react against military coup attempt in front of Ak Party's headquarter in Karabuk, Turkey

After several hours of protests, protesters began clashing with troops amid reports that civilians have been shot by soldiers

A man lay down in front of a tank on the approach to Ataturk airport in Istanbul as citizens took to the streets to oppose the military coup

He called on Turkish citizens to take to the streets to defend him, during a phone call with CNNTurk.

The Turkish military issued a statement saying that it had 'fully seized control' of running the country.

But Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would never allow any 'initiative that would interrupt democracy.'

'This cannot be called a coup for the moment. This is an uprising,' he said, according to the Hurriet Daily News. The Prime Minister added that group within the military had taken action outside the chain of command.

FOREIGN OFFICE HELPLINES If you are in Ankara and urgently need help, call +90-312-455-5555 or +90-312-455-5555. If you are in Istanbul and you urgently need help, call +90-212-335-9000. If you're in the US or Canada and concerned about an American national in Turkey, please call 1-888-407-4747. Advertisement

The US Embassy in the Turkish capital released a statement urging Americans to let their loved ones know they are safe.

'Shots have been heard in Ankara and both bridges in Istanbul, Bosphorous and Fatih Sultan Mehmet, are now closed,' the statement read.

'The Turkish Government states that elements of the Turkish army are attempting an uprising, security forces are taking action to contain it, and some buildings are under blockade.

'We urge U.S. citizens to contact family and friends to let them know you are safe. We have seen reports that social media is blocked, but you can contact friends and family by email, telephone, or SMS.

'We encourage U.S. citizens to shelter in place and do not go the U.S. Embassy or Consulates at this time.'

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has arrived at the Ataturk airport to be greeted by thousands of civilians as witnesses at the airport describe hearing a 'loud explosion' sound. It is believed to have been a sonic boom.

Earlier, Erdogan used FaceTime to talk to a journalist on a privately run TV station to stress he was still in control of the country and warned of retaliation.

He said the uprising attempt was being run by a minority within the armed forces and said it would be met with the 'necessary response'.

The US Department of Bureau of Consular Affairs are urging Americans in Turkey to stay where they are and not to attempt to go to the US embassy or consulates

On FaceTime, he said: 'I certainly believe that coup plotters will not succeed. I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people.'

State-run Anadolu Agency reports that Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar is being kept as a hostage.

Ambulances have been spotted outside Turkey's military headquarters while police have called in their officers.

Eyewitnesses have reported attack helicopters firing machine guns in the capital Ankara in a bid to depose the Islamic government.

Also there are reports of that a Turkish Air Force F-16 has shot down a Sikorsky helicopter over Ankara.

The government claimed the jet destroyed the helicopter which had been 'hijacked by coup plotters'.

The military said they have taken control in order to protect human rights, however, prime minister Binali Yildirim said only a 'faction' was involved.

In a statement, reported by Dogan agency, the army faction said that they took action 'to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated.'

President Barack Obama (pictured in Nice, France) discussed the developments in Turkey by telephone with Secretary of State John Kerry

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. viewed the 'very fluid situation' in Turkey with the 'gravest concern'

The military said that 'all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue.'

The statement was read over TRT television by a news anchor in the name of a so-called 'peace council,' according to a local resident.

The Istanbul based first army commander Umit Dundar claimed those involved in the coup 'represent a small group' claiming 'there is no cause for concern'.

He told the Anadolu state-run news agency: 'We are working to solve the problem here. They represent a small group within the First Army Command. There is no cause for concern. We are taking the necessary precautions with (soldiers) who have not joined them and remain within the military chain of command.'

Unrest has been brewing in Turkey for months.

Back in March this year, the Defense Department ordered the evacuation of hundreds of military and civilian dependents from Turkey.

Around 700 spouses and children at Incirlik alone were ordered to leave amid fears of violence breaking out between political factions.

'We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism,' Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command, said at the time.

The total U.S. military force deployed at Incirlik has grown to nearly 2,500, up from about 1,300 last year, after the Turkish government agreed to let U.S. combat aircraft use the base as a key staging area for air strikes on Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Yet the base's prominent role in the fight against the Islamic State group also raised new security concerns.

In July, worries about extremists targeting U.S. troops and their families prompted military officials to lock down the base.

Turkey is also a popular destination for American tourists, with thousands visiting the country's historical sites, beach resorts and cultural spots every year.

Turkish intelligence sources said the coup had been repelled although heavily armed troops continued to guard the streets

Eyewitnesses have posted photographs of a large explosion in the capital Ankara amid the Turkish military takeover

But numbers have declined in recent years due to political tension, both with Russian and from within the country itself, and multiple terrorist attacks.

In January this year, in Istanbul, an ISIS suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest killing 10 Germans in one of the country's busiest tourist spots, the Sultanahmet District. While a suicide bomber also targeted a popular shopping street later this year killing five.

Then last month, Ataturk airport was hit by a triple suicide bombing, which killed 45 people and left as many as 240 wounded in another attack linked to ISIS.

In April, the United States warned citizens to refrain from visiting popular tourist areas such as Antalya and Istanbul after 'credible threats' of violence.

Last month, the department of travel warned that: 'Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations.

'Throughout Europe extremists have targeted large sporting events, theaters, open markets, aviation services, transportation systems, and public venues where people congregate as well as religious sites and high-profile events.

'U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal security plans and remain vigilant at all times.'
Security measures for the event in the north of France are being boosted

The terror attack in Nice on Friday has sparked fresh security concerns ahead of the 100th anniversary commemorative services on the Western Front.

Thousands of Australians are expected to attend the major services to remember those who died in the battles of Fromelles and Pozieres next week, alongside Governor General Peter Cosgrove.

Australian and French Authorities have compiled a security heavy plan, where police will be out in force, roads will be closed and attendees will have to be approved by the government before they are issued a ticket.

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Thousands of Australians are expected to attend a memorial service at Pheasant Wood cemetery (pictured) for the centenary of the battle of Fromelles

Counter-terrorism professor Greg Barton said using something everyday like a truck as a weapon had brought a new level of complexity to an already difficult security situation

While there are no immediate plans to amend the existing plan, Counter-terrorism professor and chair in global Islamic politics at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation Greg Barton told the Australian that the use of a truck as a weapon has added a new layer to an already complex situation.

He said using something as simple as a truck left police on the back foot, giving them no reason to suspect anything was amiss until it was too late.

'There is just nothing to stop them,' he said.

Even more concerning is security measures were in place in Nice on the day. It is reported that the area had been cordoned off to vehicles, bags were checked and huge numbers of police were assigned to the area.

However the Washington Post reported the barriers were flimsy, the police were not well spread out and the bag checks were inconsistent.

Professor Barton said intelligence was the only way to combat these attacks, which are increasingly carried out by lone wolves. He urged anyone who comes across information about a plan, or illegal activities, to tell authorities.

Governor General Peter Cosgrove will attend a separate service at VC Corner (pictured) on Tuesday
Joining a supermarket queue on the left, or behind someone with a full trolley, could be the key to getting through the tills quickly.

The claims come from consumer group Which? after it sent researchers to test checkout speeds on the high street.

It accused Asda of having the longest supermarket queues, with delays approaching 13 minutes at the busiest times. The stores average waiting time was four minutes and 52 seconds before any items were scanned.

Joining a supermarket queue on the left, or behind someone with a full trolley, could be the key to getting through the tills quickly

Tesco was the quickest at an average of two minutes 43 seconds, closely followed by Morrisons at two minutes 47 seconds, and Sainsburys at three minutes ten seconds.

Which? also made some suggestions which might speed up getting through the checkout.

While many customers do not like using self-service tills, the consumer groups researchers said they are quicker, despite having to deal with automated warnings about unexpected items in the bagging area.

It said there is some evidence to suggest shoppers instinctively join queues on the right of a bank of tills. As a result, it said it might be worth trying those on the left.

The findings accused Asda of having the longest supermarket queues, with delays approaching 13 minutes at the busiest times

The group also advised it is not necessarily a mistake to choose a queue with full trolleys. It said the time it takes to pay means that six people each with a small number of items in their basket will take a similar amount of time to two people with full trolleys.

It said there is also merit in choosing a single serpentine line which leads to a bank of tills, on the basis there are studies suggesting it feels quicker and fairer. A survey of 1,239 Which? members found queuing was the biggest frustration when shopping.

Around three-quarters said seeing staff not serving customers when there was clearly a long queue was their top gripe.

This was followed by shoppers who skip the queue (72 per cent), queues without a clear system (66 per cent), people who slow a queue down (46 per cent) and staff not apologising for a long queue (9 per cent).

The editor of Which? magazine, Richard Headland, said: Brits may have a reputation for queuing but weve found it is the main bugbear for shoppers. Our top tips could help you save time at the checkouts, from choosing a till in the left-hand lane to queuing behind full trolleys.
Australian tourists have been warned not to travel to Turkey after troops launched a military coup to overthrow the government.

On Saturday the Turkish military announced it had overthrown the government of Recep Erdogan, with martial law declared in the country and reports that 17 police officers had been killed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a warning following the announcement, urging Australians to exercise a high degree of caution if they had to travel to Turkey.

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Martial law has been declared in Turkey after a military coup was launched to topple the government

The warning read: We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in Turkey overall and to reconsider their need to travel to Istanbul and Ankara.

Higher levels apply in some parts of Turkey.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said there were reports of an attempted military coup with gunfire ringing out in capital city Ankara and Istanbul.

DFAT has issued a travel warning to Australians heading to Turkey. There are reports of fighting in Istanbul, Ankara and flights have been cancelled at Ataturk Airport

Bridges across the Bosphorous in Istanbul are closed and airport operations have been disrupted, including at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

DFAT stressed that Australians should stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel and any large gatherings or demonstrations.
One of Britain's top free museums has sparked fury by revealing plans to start charging families.

The Science Museum, which has been free to visitors since 2001, is to charge admission to one of its largest and most popular exhibitions.

From October, families will have to pay 22.50 to visit the highly popular Launchpad gallery, which has been renamed and made 60 per cent larger as part of a 6million revamp.

Single adults will pay 8 per adult and a child's ticket will cost 6. An annual pass for a family of four will cost 39, 14 for an adult and 10 for a child

The attraction is a firm favourite among children aged between seven and 14 and contains dozens of interactive exhibits and experiments as well as live demonstrations.

London's Science Museum in Kensington has caused outrage after revealing it will start charging families

The Launchpad gallery dominates the museum's third floor and is, for many families, one of the main reasons to visit.

It has now been rebranded Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery, with 50 new exhibits including a giant interactive display of the solar system, a showspace allowing for 120 visitors with live displays featuring explosions and rockets. Running costs are expected to come in at 1million a year.

The museum claims the extra revenue generated from the 'modest' charges will allow for more free school visits.

But there are fears some families, particularly those from outside London who have already paid travel costs, will be priced out. There are also concerns other national galleries and museums will follow suit.

The museum has been free since 2001 as part of a Labour drive to widen cultural access.

Yesterday families on a day out to the Science Museum told of how the admission costs would make them think twice about visiting again.

Nicola Hill, 45, from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, who was visiting the museum with her eight-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, said: 'That's very disappointing. It's quite expensive.

'It seems a shame as we're trying to get children into science and it's a shame to cut off inspiring children because people wouldn't pay that kind of money.

The Science Museum in London has been free to visitors since 2001, but from October families will have to pay 22.50 to visit Launchpad gallery (pictured)

'For that kind of money people would go to Legoland. I wouldn't pay that.

'We've come in today by train, and now we're going for a meal and if you add on a cost for the museum it becomes too expensive.

'It's a shame because the interactive bits are what gets them into science.'

Andrea Lloyd, 36, from Essex, who was visiting the museum with her four-year-old son, explained that going into the museum with young children is only viable for just a short amount of time and that introducing a price would put her off from visiting the attraction.

'What's good at the moment is that they only want to be there for a couple of hours, but if it cost 22, we probably wouldn't come,' she said.

The Launchpad gallery dominates the museum's third floor and is, for many families, one of the main reasons to visit

'You wouldn't take young kids there because they wouldn't want to stay for long. The fact that you can just pop in for a couple of hours is really good.

'It would be a shame if young children didn't get to experience it because of the cost.'

Vicky Cliff, 30, and her husband, John, 37, were visiting with their two-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.

'We are down today because our son starts school in September,' said Mrs Cliff.

'From our perspective, we've considered home educating our son and that is something that would be an issue because people depend on museums to help them learn and see things.

'It would definitely have a negative effect on a lot of people.' Her husband added: 'We wouldn't have bothered if it was that much.'

The Launchpad Gallery is a firm favourite among children aged between seven and 14 (Pictured The Large Hadron Collider Exhibition at the museum)

Ian Blatchford, group director at the Science Museum, said: 'Ensuring our visitors understand the science that shapes our lives and inspiring the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians are at the heart of our mission.

'Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery embodies that core purpose, providing the spark of curiosity for the young people of today to wonder the world better.'

Toby Parkin, curator of the new exhibit, said: 'The Science Museum opened the world's first national gallery dedicated to children in 1931.

'Since then, scientists, engineers and even Royal visitors have been inspired by the amazing scientific phenomena revealed in our interactive galleries.'.

Kate Williams, editor of the Mumsnet parenting website said: 'Mumsnet users absolutely love the Science Museum as a destination for kids, and for those on tight budgets the introduction of a charge for this specific area will probably be disappointing.

'There's a lot of sympathy, though, for the expense incurred by museums in mounting these specialist exhibitions and areas, and a general feeling that some visitors could probably afford to be a bit more generous with their voluntary donations.'




A shocking road rage attack which saw a motorist rammed from behind then physically assaulted has been caught on camera.

The incident, which happened in the northern Brisbane suburb of Albany Creek at 2.30pm on Friday, unfolded after the victim was struck from behind then cut off in the middle of the street.

The attacker, dressed in a blue shirt and sunglasses, unleashed a torrent of abuse at the victim before taking his keys out of the ignition and storming off with them.

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The man who rammed into a motorist from behind, attacked him then stole his keys and took off with them

A Queensland police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they are not investigating the incident because a complaint has not been lodged.

Footage of the attack, which appears to have been captured on a mobile phone, was later posted on social media by the victims daughter.

She said she is distressed at the attack because her father going through a number of medical issues.

I am trying to convince my Dad to go to the police tomorrow but he is reluctant as most of the time people just get a slap on the wrist, the post reads.

The footage has been viewed 50,000 times and met with an outpouring of outrage from commenters.

What a disgusting human being I'm so sorry this has happened to your dad, wrote one commenter.
They eventually divorced, and Esparza, who had moved to France, was arrested in 2012 on trip back to the US

Because they were married she had spousal privilege, and case went cold

Esparza married Van after police started investigating him, although her current husband claims she was forced into the sham marriage

But Van, with the help of his friends, rear-ended Ramirez's car before kidnapping him and killing him with a meat cleaver, prosecutors said

She complied when Van told her to point Ramirez out at a bar, thinking her boyfriend would 'rough him up' at the very worst, she told grand jury

Esparza told her boyfriend at the time, Gianni Van, that Ramirez raped her

Norma Esparza, 41, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in death of Gonzalo Ramirez as part of plea deal to testify against other suspects

A psychology professor who claims she merely pointed out her alleged rapist to her ex-boyfriend, who carried out a revenge murder plot in 1995, has been sentenced to six years in prison on Friday.

Norma Patricia Esparza, 41, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, but claims she was pressured into identifying her rapist to her then-boyfriend Gianni Van, not realizing he was capable of murder.

Gonzalo Ramirez was found dead on April 16, 1995 with a cracked skull, two nearly severed fingers, and large cuts over his head, shoulders, back and arms from a meat cleaver, forensic examiners said.

Norma Patricia Esparza, 41, was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday following the killing of her alleged rapist, Gonzalo Ramirez, in 1995

Norma Patricia Esparza, 41, claims she merely pointed out Ramirez (left) to her then-boyfriend Gianni Van (right), who then kidnapped him and killed him with a meat cleaver according to prosecutors

Esparza, who reached a plea deal in 2014, was sentenced today in Orange County Superior Court, where she agreed to testify against two other suspects in exchange for the six-year sentence.

The psychologist, who worked as professor in Switzerland as well as a consultant for the World Health Organization, rejected a plea deal last year that would have given her a three-year sentence.

But Esparza changed her mind hoping she could be reunited with her four-year-old daughter.

Her defense attorney Jack Earley told CBS: 'There was inherent risk in going to trial.

'The question is do you take those risks, and if you do, would you take them for yourself and do you take them for your child?'

Esparza said Ramirez raped her after the two met at a bar while she was a student at Pomona College in Claremont, California.

She later told Van about the rape and they went back to the bar accompanied by several of his friends, including Kody Tran, Shannon Gries, and Gries' girlfriend, Julie Rojas.

When Van demanded that she point and identify Ramirez, Esparza complied thinking 'the worst that would happen is that he would rough him up,' she told the grand jury.

Instead, her boyfriend, with the help of his friends, rear-ended Ramirez's car before kidnapping and killing him, according to prosecutors.

Esparza said she saw the men hit Ramirez's truck and pull him into their van, but she and Rojas then drove away in another car, according to their accounts to the police.

About an hour later, Esparza was summoned to an auto shop owned by Kody and Diane Tran, where she saw Ramirez hanging from the ceiling covered in blood.

Esparza did not witness Ramirez's killing, her attorney said.

Esparza, who reached a plea deal in 2014, was sentenced today in Orange County Superior Court (pictured), where she agreed to testify against two other suspects in exchange for the six-year sentence

Ramirez was found dead along a road in Irvine, California, and Van was charged with murder shortly after, according to the OC Register.

But Esparza was forced into a sham marriage with Van to keep her from testifying, according to her current husband Jorge Mancillas.

The case went cold for years before Esparza and Van divorced.

In a 2013 interview with NBC, she said: 'It just hurts me so much that I had been raped, and here he [Van] is, instead of consoling me, he destroyed the rest of my life.

'You know, the abuse was difficult, the rape was difficult, but dragging me through that night, it haunts me.'

She moved to France, became successful, and started her own family with Mancillas before she was arrested in October 2012 on a trip back to the US.

The case received a wave of outcry from sexual assault victims' advocates, who said the case sent a chilling message to rape survivors. Pictured, her supporters outside court

The case drew international attention after Esparza's arrest prompted an outcry from sexual assault victims' advocates, who said the case sent a chilling message to rape survivors.

Esparza pleaded guilty and testified against Van, who was sentenced last year to life without parole.

Esparza's friend Eloisa Martinez said outside court Friday that she hoped the case would encourage more victims to report rape to authorities. She did not bring her assault allegations to police when she was a college student.

'I truly believe had she said something when it happened, maybe she wouldn't be here today,' she said.

Co-defendant Diane Tran also was sentenced Friday to four years in prison but freed based on time already served.
Theresa May hosts a reception for the Police Bravery Award in the garden of 10 Downing Street on Thursday

What extraordinary times we have been living through. And what a tribute to the strength and stability of our democracy.

Consider what's happened in just three weeks. Despite virulent scaremongering from political and economic elites, the people voted to throw off the yoke of the EU, the PM and much of his Cabinet were toppled and a new leader has been chosen, who has in turn put together a fresh government which is now planning our post-Brexit future.

It's worth pointing out that such a dramatic change would be impossible in the undemocratic EU, where all 28 states have to agree to any major reform.

Yes, it's been a very British, peaceful revolution. Such a rapid, seismic shift would have been unimaginable in most European countries without riots in the streets. Yet here, we have seen the removal of a political class without so much as an egg being thrown.

Metropolitan, mainly public school educated and oozing a sense of entitlement, they ruled for six years but lost connection with voters who felt increasingly alienated from a Westminster that was deaf to their concerns, especially over immigration.

Instead of genuine policy, gimmickry, spin and eye-catching but empty initiatives became the order of the day.

We profoundly hope that Theresa May will be the antithesis of all this and particularly welcome what promises to be the return of considered cabinet government. As Home Secretary, she proved that her strength is working hard and quietly getting things done rather than generating flashy headlines.

But the vicar's daughter has steel. She has purged Mr Cameron's 'chumocracy' and built a cabinet of talents from across the Tory spectrum. And she has served notice that her top priority will be to redress some of the deep social and economic imbalances that have been allowed to fester in recent years.

The Mail has long argued the exorbitant salaries of the City's plutocracy have been deeply socially corrosive. We should never forget their greed and bonus-fuelled recklessness led to the crash.

Rewarding them for failure, while ordinary workers bear the brunt of the austerity they caused is, frankly, offensive.

So we applaud Mrs May for her pledge to wage war on corporate greed and give shareholders more say in directors' pay.

The new Prime Minister speaks to the media outside her official residence, 10 Downing Street on Wednesday

But many challenges lie ahead. Infrastructure projects have stalled, migration is frighteningly high and the markets, spooked by those who disgracefully persist in talking Britain down, need reassuring that we can forge new trade relationships with the rest of the world. Significantly, Canada said yesterday that it wants just such a deal.

Of course, there are risks. One is Boris Johnson who, justifiably, has his critics. But as Foreign Secretary he has a chance to reinvent both himself as a serious politician and a department which is not fit for purpose and needs dragging into the 21st century.

At International Development, Priti Patel can reform the foreign aid programme, which is now synonymous with scandalous waste, funding despots and politically correct posturing by Mr Cameron. It is a running sore in the party and needs to be redefined.

And in David Davis, if he can rein in his self-destructive impulsiveness, we have exactly the independent, battle-hardened Eurosceptic to make Brexit a success.

Thanks to the speed of the May revolution, ministers can spend the summer formulating the strategies to take this country forward. Their mission  in the words of their one-nation prime minister  is simple.

'We must make Britain a democracy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few'.
After a long day on her feet at work, Hansel Andrayas was looking forward to going home. It was dusk and shopkeepers in the seaside town of Leigh-on-Sea were pulling down their shutters as the 48-year-old started to walk the short distance to her car, carrying the handmade red leather handbag that her daughter had given her.

Along with the usual paraphernalia  perfume, make-up, a hairbrush  the bag contained treasured photographs of her three children and two grandchildren. There was also 500 in cash that she had intended to take to the bank at lunchtime to pay her mortgage, but she had run out of time.

Seconds later, as she was momentarily distracted by a mobile phone call from a distressed friend, two muggers on a moped seized their opportunity  mounting the pavement and making a grab for her handbag.

Drive-by: The Vespa moped swerves across the road as the riders approach the man walking with his mobile

Instinct kicked in and Hansel held on. She was dragged across the pavement, leaving her with a cut and bruised face, and her right arm  already weak from a road accident injury  became entangled in the bag's strap. Tendons and nerves tore as the attacker, hidden behind a helmet, continued to pull until he prised the bag from her.

Such a brutal and opportunistic attack has left the shop assistant with life-altering injuries. She is blighted by severe pain in her arm, and is afraid to leave the house. Her self-esteem is in shreds and she is suffering from depression.

'I remember the pain and feeling so violated and shocked, feeling the blood pour down my face, thinking how it was dripping onto my uniform,' recalls Hansel. 'What happened has made me a shell of the woman I was. I feel scared all the time.'

Yet what happened here in Essex is not an isolated incident but part of a country-wide crime wave that is spiralling out of control. Muggers on mopeds  some as young as 12 and often armed with weapons such as knives and hammers  are carrying out soaring numbers of 'snatch-and-grab' ride-by robberies.

In London, these are now an everyday occurrence, with figures showing a 1,150 per cent increase, from 372 in 2011 to 4,637 in the past 12 months alone. And the true figure is likely to be far higher, as many victims do not bother to report the crime.

Just last week, footage emerged of two men on a scooter brazenly mounting the pavement in daylight to swipe a phone out of a man's hand in Muswell Hill, North London.

And one teenage moped gang last year was jailed for committing 46 offences in 11 days, targeting women  including one who was heavily pregnant  and punching a number of victims in the face.

These robberies disproportionately affect women as they tend to keep valuables in one place  their handbags. And they're becoming a growing concern for the entire country.

Approach: At the last moment, one of the scooter riders surprises the man by reaching out with his arm

In April in Harlow, Essex, an 84-year-old woman was pushed to the ground and robbed by two teenagers on a moped who stole her bag. She suffered multiple injuries to her wrist, face, hands and body.

In Manchester, a woman in her 70s was punched in the face and thrown to the pavement in May by two men on a moped who stole her handbag and gold bracelets. A few days later, two women and a young boy were attacked in a similar way, but this time one of the men used pliers to try to cut bangles off his victim's wrist before being thwarted by a brave passer-by.

In Newcastle, police are hunting for two moped-riding robbers who stole from their victims at knifepoint in a spate of attacks in October last year, and in Sunderland, a 60-year-old charity worker was sprayed in the face with a 'noxious liquid' in November 2014 by two moped-riding robbers as they stole 700 raised by the Age UK charity which he was taking to the bank.

Last July, in the small West Midlands town of Cradley Heath, a 59-year-old woman's handbag, containing a lock of hair from her recently deceased mother, was snatched.

So what has triggered such a rise in this appalling crime, and why do criminals feel free to act so brazenly and with impunity? And why isn't more being done to prevent Britain turning into a country where it is no longer safe to walk the streets without fear of being mugged every time you use your mobile phone?

Ever since the advent of expensive smartphones, muggings have been on the rise. With a typical iPhone worth around 500, it is easy money. A stolen handset can fetch around 150 on the black market, with most being sold to criminal gangs who transport them to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.

Even more worryingly, a new iPhone packed with personal information that could be used for identity theft, such as passwords and payment details, can be worth up to 1,000.

Strike: The rider on the scooter, which has no number plate on the back, tries to grab the man's smartphone

And for criminals intent on getting their hands on our valuables, mopeds are one of the easiest ways to escape without being caught.

They are quick, relatively straightforward to steal (most vehicles used in muggings are stolen ones) and can go where cars cannot. Indeed, Scotland Yard reported a 31 per cent rise in the theft of mopeds and bikes in London last year  to around 30 a day.

However, there is an even more disturbing reason why the problem has reached pandemic proportions: police are simply no longer prepared to pursue attackers on mopeds.

In 2014, teenager Henry Hicks died while being chased by police on his moped in Islington, North London. The 18-year-old, who was carrying multiple mobile phones and seven bags of skunk cannabis, careered away from police in a high-speed chase before crashing at a junction. Hicks had been stopped and searched at least 71 times between 2011 and 2014. The officers involved in the chase are now facing a disciplinary procedure.

As a result, police are now too fearful to give pursuit of anyone on a moped  and criminals know this only too well. A senior police source has confirmed this to the Mail, even though police are reluctant to comment officially. Victims have also provided anecdotal evidence of being told by officers that 'health and safety fears' mean they are not allowed to follow muggers.

Reports that officers were no longer chasing gangs on mopeds first started to emerge last year in the aftermath of Henry's death.

But the stance has become even more entrenched since it was announced last month that the four officers involved will face gross misconduct hearings. As one police officer explains: 'Those who chased Henry Hicks are facing disciplinary action and dismissal. No one wants to risk this happening to them so we are no longer following people fleeing on mopeds or motorbikes.'

Last year, police were told not chase if a rider wasn't wearing a helmet. They were asked to weigh up the seriousness of the crime or decide if there was a threat to life.

Failure: The moped rider is unable to take hold of the smartphone, with the mobile instead falling to the floor

Since Henry's death, moped-enabled muggings, committed largely by offenders aged 13-25, have rocketed, quadrupling in the past year alone  from 1,074 to 4,637  as criminals feel they can pounce without recrimination.

Lawyer Jessica Learmond-Criqui is chair of the safer neighbourhood panel for her home in affluent Hampstead, North London, which has seen a spate of 'pitiless and ultra-violent' robberies and muggings.

'Following the death of Henry Hicks, it became widely known in the criminal fraternity that police will no longer give chase,' she says. 'Moped-enabled crime is highly organised and often well choreographed in that they will go out in convoy, looking out for each other. It is on the increase, and is turning into a problem for the whole country.'

For Hansel, a British-born single mother of Turkish-Cypriot descent, the aftermath of the attack in October has been deep and far-reaching.

'I have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, I can't sleep and I have panic attacks. I feel like I can't face anybody. It doesn't help that I feel like the police didn't take it seriously. No one came to take my statement for a week.'

Others to have fallen prey to this crime include philosophy teacher and author Tricia Voute, 50. In May last year, ride-by thieves mounted the pavement as she sat typing at a cafe in Highgate, North London, stealing a laptop and memory stick containing the only copy of her 110,000-page second novel. 'It was four years' worth of work that I lost in an instant. I've not been able to face trying to re-write it,' she says.

'It was such a brazen thing when the motorcycle mounted the pavement. There were two people on it and the man at the back casually leaned down and swiped it. I ran after them screaming like a mad woman, but it was no use.'

Like Tricia, TV producer Charlie Brades, 30, was targeted in broad daylight by thieves who again rode on to the pavement in Hackney, East London.

'I was walking to work at 9am while texting my friend when a couple of guys on a moped mounted the kerb,' she says. 'They wore helmets with dark visors. They had gloves on and were in full leathers. Suddenly, this gloved hand reached out and snatched my phone. I stood there and screamed. I was in shock.'

Charlie's Samsung Galaxy smartphone was taken, along with the case she carried it in, which contained her bank cards and house keys  keys that she had to pay her landlord 200 to replace.

'It really shook me up,' says Charlie. 'It was 9am. You don't expect to be mugged at that time of day.

'I wasn't physically hurt but it left me in bed for days with stomach pains. I think it was the shock and stress.

'The police came quickly but the officer told me they weren't allowed to chase muggers on mopeds anymore. It has made me scared ever to use my phone in public again.'

High-profile victims include children's food writer Annabel Karmel, 59, who was mugged in broad daylight in 2014 by moped robbers who ripped a 12,000 gold Rolex from her wrist in Hampstead, North London.

With the exception of the Metropolitan Police, forces around the country unanimously said they were unable to provide accurate figures for offences of this nature as crime is not generally categorised in terms of whether a moped or bike was involved.

As the Vespa drove away, another pair were also spotted on a scooter (circled), apparently keeping look-out

However, substantial anecdotal evidence  along with information from local newspapers and social media  shows there to be a growing problem affecting the whole country.

So bad are things in London, particularly in the northern boroughs of Camden and Islington, that the use of drones is even being considered to track offenders.

Meanwhile, the police advise that if you have to use a mobile phone in public, do so discreetly with your back to the wall to prevent someone coming up behind you.

They also warn never to text while walking, make sure your phone is insured and has all of its security features enabled, and always try to be aware of your surroundings.

For Jessica Learmond-Criqui, who speaks to new robbery victims every day, a lot more needs to be done.

'There is supposed to be a basic contract in the UK between citizen and state,' she says.

'We pay our taxes and the state keeps us safe. This contract is not being fulfilled.

'Our communities are living in fear. At the end of the day, why shouldn't you feel safe to send a text message on your phone, to have an expensive handbag on your arm or a Rolex on your wrist? You should not have to feel worried or conscious about these things.
Two of the most outspoken supporters of Britains membership of the EU quit the Government last night, as Theresa May continued the shake-up of her top team.

Business minister Anna Soubry, a rising star who had been tipped by some for a move to the Cabinet, resigned when she was not offered promotion.

And pensions minister Ros Altmann, a former consumer champion who was brought into government by David Cameron last year, also quit.

Outspoken Remain supporters: Business minister Anna Soubry (left) resigned when she was not offered promotion, while pensions minister Ros Altmann (right) also quit the Government

The two were both prominent backers of the Remain campaign during the referendum, with Baroness Altmann warning that leaving the EU would be a disaster for pensions.

Miss Soubry fought back tears at a pro-EU rally in Westminster last month, when she told the crowd that the vote to leave the Brussels club had been a terrible mistake.

Last night she said she wanted to be free to speak out about the positive benefits of immigration and the EU.

Miss Soubry was known for her confrontational style, and once had to apologise to Ukip leader Nigel Farage after saying he looks like somebody has put their finger up his bottom and he really rather likes it.

Theresa May continued the shake-up of her top team as two of the most outspoken supporters of Britains membership of the EU quit the Government last night

Meanwhile, Mrs May moved to offer plum jobs to two Brexit supporters.

Defence minister Penny Mordaunt, who was a prominent figure in the Vote Leave campaign, was made employment minister at the Department for Work and Pensions.

And police minister Mike Penning, another Brexit supporter, was moved to the Ministry of Defence, where he replaces Miss Mordaunt as Armed Forces minister.
Kevin Courtney was yesterday installed as the new general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, which has threatened strikes in the autumn term

A militant teaching union has elected a new chief who yesterday vowed to mobilise parents to take part in classroom walkouts.

Kevin Courtney was yesterday installed as the new general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, which has threatened strikes in the autumn term.

His predecessor, Christine Blower, was the most militant leader the union has ever seen and once boasted of leading more strikes than any other NUT leader of the past 30 years.

Mr Courtney was in favour of the strike this summer which forced four in five schools to close or axe lessons in some areas.

He has previously said further strikes could be on the table in the autumn, but following the appointment of new education secretary Justine Greening he said all things are up for review.

He said the union would be seeking talks with her and the outcome will be very important in deciding the shape of our future campaigning.

He told the Times Educational Supplement yesterday he wanted to link up with parent groups who are critical of government policy and encourage them to join in on demonstrations.

Courtney's predecessor, Christine Blower, was the most militant leader the union has ever seen

Mr Courtney, 57, from Pontypridd, attended Imperial College London before teaching physics at Camden School for Girls, a state school in north London that has educated many children of the liberal elite.
Although he injured no-one, 'boyracer' David Marsh was banned for life in 1980 for recklessly leading police on a 50-mile high-speed chase from Stoke-on-Trent to Derby

A motorist who lost his licence 36 years ago can finally get behind the wheel again - after highlighting how his crazy four-decade punishment was six times worse than actual killer drivers.

Although he injured no-one, 'boyracer' David Marsh was banned for life in 1980 for recklessly leading police on a 50-mile high-speed chase from Stoke-on-Trent to Derby.

In contrast, infamous 'Snapchat' killer Addil Haroon, 19, was recently only banned for six years despite photographing his speedometer at 142mph and ploughing into victim Joseph Brown-Lartey, 25.

When Mr Marsh was banned he was 25, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister and the Iranian Embassy in London had just been stormed by the SAS.

Now four decades later the 62 year-old has finally had his disqualification overturned - by stressing how his ban for recklessness was six times more than that handed to dangerous-driving killers like Haroon.

And yesterday(Fri) even the AA wished Mr Marsh, of Milton in Stoke-on-Trent, well - praying his 36 years off the road has cured him of his dodgy driving.

An AA spokesman said: 'One hopes this ban would have taught him to improve his attitude and keep his nose clean.'

At his hearing married father-of-four Mr Marsh told North Staffordshire Justice Centre how he was a 'boyracer' in his youth but was now a sensible grandfather.

He explained: 'When I was younger I was a bad lad. I was stupid. I was 25 when I was disqualified for life.

'I received the lifelong disqualification in 1980 after the police chased me from Longton to Derby and I went through road blocks and everything but never hurt anybody.

'Now my boy-racing days are over. I am 62 and nowhere near as stupid as I was.

'I do not work as I am not very well, having had a triple heart bypass. I also have sleep apnoea and diabetes.

'I can't get around very well and I have to rely on people taking me to appointments. I attend appointments at the doctors and at hospitals all the time.

'I just can't walk very far. I have to go on a bus or my missus will take me. I am looking for independence.

'I have seen people do a lot worse and get a lot less. But I am now glad I can apply for a licence.'

Mr Marsh was disqualified from driving for life after taking police on a mindless chase across the Midlands.

But after keeping out of trouble for years Mr Marsh has now successfully applied to the courts to have his disqualification overturned.

It means Mr Marsh can now apply to the DVLA for a driving licence to return to the - if somewhat unfamiliar - UK road network.

He added: 'I hope the magistrates agree I have been punished enough and give me a bit of a chance so I can get around a little bit.

'It would be nice to be able to take my grandchildren out and be a bit more mobile.'

The court heard David no longer wants to 'rely on people to run him about'.

His lawyer Mark Bromley said: 'When is a man entitled to another chance? To be off the roads legitimately for 36 years is long enough.'

Magistrates said David has an 'unenviable record' - after hearing he had been caught attempting to illegal return to the road in 2002 and in 2008 - but accepted he had been disqualified for long enough.

He may need to provide medical reports or take a test before he is allowed to drive again.

Mr Marsh's 36 year ban for reckless driving is six times more than a court issued 'Snapchat' killer Haroon.

Joseph Brown-Lartey, 25 was killed instantly when crazed driver Addil Haroon's Audi A6 ran a red light and ploughed into him in November 2014.

Mr Brown-Lartley's Audi A5 was completely torn in half by the impact and he died instantly.

The previous day boasting Haroon, 19, posted a picture of his speedometer at 142mph boasting he had driven from Leeds to Rochdale in just 11 minutes.

Last year his victim's family were furious when Haroon was only jailed for six years and banned for six years for death by dangerous driving.

And on Monday this week the shocking mangled wreckage of Mr Brown-Lartley's Audi was paraded past the Houses of Parliament in the 'Justice for Joseph Campaign'.

The campaign by his grieving family, supported by anti-speeding charity Brake, is calling for the government to impose stiffer sentences.

The serial driving offender sped through a red light and smashed into serving 26 year-old Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers soldier Adam Hancox's Ford Ka at 60mph, killing him immediately.

Mohammed was jailed for 10 years and initially banned from driving for 12 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court last year following the fatal crash in November 2014.

But immediately Mohammed, of Smethwick, West Midlands, claimed the driving ban was too long and took the case to the Court of Appeal in London.

And Lord Justice Gross cut the disqualification by one year - reducing the ban to 11 years to take account of time Mohammed served in prison before he was sentenced.

Giving judgment, he said Mohammed had a long record of driving offences and had been banned on multiple occasions.
Roger Ailes's attorneys have asked for the sexual harassment case against him moved from New Jersey public court to private arbitration in New York

Roger Ailes has filed court papers attempting to move the sexual harassment lawsuit with former host Gretchen Carlson from public court in New Jersey to private arbitration in New York.

In his filing, lawyers for Ailes say that Carson has launched 'a carefully orchestrated publicity attack' in an attempt to 'besmirch Mr. Ailes's reputation so that he will pay her an exorbitant settlement.'

But attorneys for Carlson have fired back and accused Ailes of 'judge shopping', saying he also filed motions in New Jersey and arguing the move is because he 'decided that he doesnt like the judge assigned to this case.'

A spokesman for Fox News has denied this is the case, and in fact accused Carlson of doing the same thing.

Ailes argues that Carlson's contract with Fox states that any dispute with her employer must be held in a private arbitration court in New York, which is where she worked and the firm is based.

His lawyers accuse Carlson of suing Ailes, rather than Fox News itself, in an 'obvious' attempt to get around the arbitration clause and have the case heard in public instead.

The lawyers go on to argue that since Carlson is not from New Jersey, was not living or working there at the time the alleged harassment took place, and was not employed there, it does not make sense for the case to be heard there.

However, the papers do admit that Ailes initially filed papers asking for arbitration to take place in the state, but now wants those proceedings moved to New York.

The lawyers say the papers were filed under diversity jurisdiction, a legal process by which a case between two people from two different states can have their case heard in a neutral third state, to avoid the possibility of bias.

Carlson's 'primary residence' was in Connecticut at the time of the allegations, the papers note.

Meanwhile lawyers for Gretchen Carlson say that Ailes is attempting to 'judge shop' after taking a dislike to the justice that was appointed to oversee the case in New Jersey

Susan Estrich, Partner at Quinn Emanuel, the firm representing Ailes, said: 'Gretchen Carlsons attorney has led a concerted smear campaign to prejudice the rights of Roger Ailes in this case.

'Her attempt to game the system so as to avoid the arbitration clause for her clients baseless allegations is contrary to law and unsupported by the facts.

'Accordingly, we have taken the following action today: We have filed papers in the federal court in Manhattan to compel the arbitration of Carlsons claims in New York City at the American Arbitration Association, as required by her Employment Agreement.

'At the same time, we have asked the federal district court in New Jersey to transfer the case to federal court in Manhattan, where it can be consolidated with the case we filed today.

'The court in Manhattan is the proper place to compel arbitration because (1) Carlson worked at Fox News in New York City, (2) her employment agreement requires arbitration in New York City, (3) she has based her claims solely on New York City law and (4) neither she nor Mr. Ailes resides in New Jersey.'

Nancy Smith, Ms. Carlsons attorney, said: 'After invoking jurisdiction of the New Jersey federal court and filing a motion there, Mr. Ailes decided that he doesnt like the judge assigned to this case and he illegally is attempting to judge shop by now seeking to move the lawsuit to another jurisdiction.

'We feel confident that the law will not allow such maneuvering.'

Carlson claims that during her time at Fox News she was sexually harassed by Ailes, and eventually fired from the company after she refused to sleep with him

A Fox News spokesman added: 'Were trying to get this to the court where it belongs  if anything, Gretchen Carlsons lawyer was attempting to judge shop by having this heard in her comfort zone of state court in Bergen County, where neither Roger nor Carlson reside.

'This is the latest false statement she has made. She has tried to rig this case to deny Mr. Ailes the agreed-upon forum, which is arbitration.'

Carlson alleges that during her 11 years with the network Carlson sexually harassed her before terminating her contract last month when she refused to sleep with him.

She alleges that pair had a conversation last September in which Ailes told her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'

Carlson is requesting compensation for her mental anguish and punitive damages in her suit, and asking for a jury trial.
A woman has been caught allegedly driving six times over the legal alcohol limit with young child in the car.

The 41-year-old woman crashed into a fence on Moggill Road about 3.45pm Friday before allegedly fleeing the scene.

The woman was found at a nearby property at 5.30pm, where she allegedly returned a breath alcohol concentration of 0.32 percent.

A woman has been caught allegedly driving six times over the legal alcohol limit with young child in the car

The woman is set to front Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 5 charged with driving under the influence of liquor.

It was later revealed the woman had a seven-year-old child in the car at the time of the crash, reports Brisbane Times.

Police are urging the public to come forward if they have any information relating to the incident.

An alcohol reading of 0.15 carries a maximum prison sentence of 9 months and a $3,300 fine.
Fans forked out up to $140 to attend the World Wide Wake Up seminar

He also claims that the world is run by shape-shifting reptile humanoids

The world is controlled by a global government that manipulates the weather and creates natural disasters to control the population, and America is behind 9/11 and responsible for ISIS.

Vaccination is 'destroying our children's immune systems' and poisoning them with chemicals, while 'reality is just an illusion.

These are just some of the dozens of outlandish conspiracy theories David Icke touches on during his 12-hour long seminars, one of which was held in Sydney on Saturday.

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Conspiracy theorist David Icke (pictured) is selling out 12-hour seminars in Australia

Hundreds of people have packed into Sydney's Town Hall (pictured) to listen to conspiracy theorist David Icke speak for 12 hours

Icke believes the 9-11 attacks were an inside job

He has said 'reality is an illusion' and a 'hologram'

Others include the claims that the elite members of society are currently manufacturing a race war, that climate change is not real and Al Gore is a 'liar', and that 'world changing events' are 'manipulated'.

'World changing events are planned and designed to manipulate society into place', Icke said on Saturday.

He focused on his theory that the September 11 attacks were orchestrated by the American government as a justification for invading the Middle East, and says the 'global government' is actually responsible for ISIS.

An image of the planes hitting the twin towers was flashed up on a screen behind him, while another showing The Pentagon with the words 'Exclusive - ISIS headquarters located' written across it was shown later.

Icke also spent time discussing the idea that people are 'programmed' from birth to adhere to a certain way of thinking and that 'reality is an illusion, a hologram, a projection'.

'The world only exists in the way we perceive it, when we look at it.

'If you walk through fire and think you're going to get burnt, then you're going to get burnt.

'Flags of the real ISIS': Hundreds of people who paid up to $140 each have packed into Sydney's Town Hall to listen to conspiracy theorist David Icke speak for 12 hours

Conspiracy theorist David Icke speaking at his World Wide Wake up 2016 event at Sydney Town Hall

He claims vaccination is 'destroying our children's immune systems' and poisoning them with chemicals

Conspiracy theorist David Icke speaking at his World Wide Wake Up seminar on Saturday

Fans of the former BBC journalist have forked out up to $140 to attend the World Wide Wake Up seminar

'If you walk through fire in another state of mind you wont', Icke claimed.

He relied heavily on theories from George Orwell's 1984 and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, as well as citing The Matrix.

The former journalist also quoted Nikola Tesla, Dr Richard Day, and Albert Einstein.

He claims that the global government claims to microchip the entire population, and 'it wont be long before you won't be able to tell the difference between what's a computer game and what's reality.

'There will come a point where you won't be able to tell the difference,' Icke claimed.

Hundreds of people packed into Sydney's Town Hall to listen to conspiracy theorist give the lecture due to last for 12 hours.

Icke, who believes the 9/11 attacks in 2001 were an inside job and that the world is run by shape-shifting reptiles, was met with a standing ovation when he stepped on stage on Saturday morning.

Fans of the former BBC journalist have forked out up to $140 to attend the World Wide Wake Up seminar.

'He helps me to see the world clearer than other people,' Maz Bukhari told Daily Mail Australia while waiting in the line which stretched along George Street and around the corner from Town Hall.

People line up out the front of the David Icke World Wide Wake Up seminar at Sydney Town Hall

Alex Arathoon (pictured) from Sydney said he didn't believe in all Ickes theories but his claims that 9/11 was an inside job really resonates

Former journalist Maz Bukhari (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia Icke helped him see the world clearer than other people

The line for the World Wide Wake Up seminar stretched along George Street and around the corner from Town Hall (pictured)

'He is one of two people in history that really stands out to me', Bukhari, a former journalist originally from Pakistan said.

Alex Arathoon from Sydney said he didn't believe in all Ickes' theories but his claims that 9/11 was an inside job really resonates.

'I don't believe in all his theories because some are pretty outlandish,' he said.

'But with 9-11 there's so many holes in that story.

'What resonates with me is the pretext to the Iraq war.

'The truth will come out,' he said.

Many of the attendees cited their issue with the 'mainstream media' and their pursuit of 'the truth'.

'I'm fascinated with everything about David Icke,' Liz said.

'I just like to hear his stories about what's happening in the world.

'I'm so against mainstream I refuse to buy magazines and papers or watch the news.

'I think this is the way of the future,' she added.

Icke claims that the 9/11 attack was used to justify the war on terror, and takes issue with the timing pointing to the fact that there were military exercises going on when the planes hit the World Trade Centre.

The 64-year-old claims that the 9/11 attack was used to justify the war on terror

Crowds watch conspiracy theorist David Icke speaking at his World Wide Wake Up seminar in Sydney

'Brit Blair and Aussie Howard- Two of a kind-And both on fat salaries from JP Morgan': David Icke speaks at his World Wide Wake Up seminar

Icke hosted a seminar in Sydney Town Hall on July 16

Another of his more recent theories is rooted in the modern world's obsession with technology, which was discussed at his first seminar in Perth.

He believes there are three stages of the way smart technology is evolving.

Handhelds such as mobile phones are the first and the second are wearables such as watches and glasses.

Icke has also been vocal in his beliefs that there is a Babylonian Brotherhood - who are shape-shifting reptilian humanoids - controlling the world order.

Icke often shares memes like the one above on his Facebook page

DAVID ICKES' STRANGEST THEORIES In 1991 during an interview with BBC1 David Ickes declared he was the son of God.

In the same interview the former journalist also declared that the world would end in 1997.

Ickes believes that 9/11 was an inside job organised by the government to justify the War on Terror.

He claims world leaders including the British royal family are 'shape-shifting reptile humanoids'

Says the 'alien lizards' want to microchip everyone and run a global fascist government

Claims the 'reptiles' also abuse and sacrifice children Advertisement

The former journalist has previously claimed these aliens sacrifcie children for their cause.

He has previously called the British royal family shape-shifting lizard people - and said the goal of the Brotherhood is to create a microchipped race and fascist world government.

Icke described the concept that humans are alone on earth as insane, and that the 'ignorant' people that believe there are no extra-terrestrial species are 'programmed from birth'.

In a 1991 interview on the BBC, Icke claimed that he was the son of God and that the world would end in 1997.

He married his first wife Linda Atherton in 1971 - just four months after they met. They had three children together, a daughter and two sons.

Icke and Atherton divorced in 2001, the same year he married his second wife Pamela Leigh Richards.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted David Icke for further comment.
They may only be as large as a fingernail, but these gypsy moth caterpillars have managed to cause devastation so large that it can be seen from space.

As these satellite images show, trees across the Northeast have been stripped bare by millions of the critters feasting on their leaves.

Last year's dry spring, coupled with the recent stretch of dry weather, has helped to fuel the resurgence across parts of southern New England.

Devastation caused by gypsy moth caterpillars can be seen from space as they strip trees across southern New England bare of their leaves

The moths are having a bonanza year thanks to dry weather that has stopped a certain type of fungus spawning that typically retrains their numbers

Scientists say this year's crop of caterpillars is one of the largest they've seen since the '80s.

Gypsy moths originated in Europe, and are believed to have been brought to the region in the 1860s.

The critters are being blamed for stripping foliage from thousands of acres of trees in pockets across the region, often leaving behind nothing but barren branches.

Dry weather is a boon to the caterpillar, since it holds back a fungus that typically kills a lot of the creatures off.

Kirby C. Stafford, Connecticut's chief scientist, said; 'I suspect we're going to be facing a real issue next year.

'While oaks and other trees can often withstand a single defoliation, after getting slammed two years in row, we'll probably see a lot of tree mortality next year.'

In 2015, the gypsy moth caterpillar was blamed for munching away more than 175,000 acres in Connecticut alone, marking the first major outbreak in years.

Stafford said he expects this year's defoliation will be much worse, adding that he's received reports of caterpillars feasting on spruce and conifers, trees they typically avoid.

David Hanson, who runs a family farm in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, said this year's devastation in parts of his state reminds him of the gypsy moth assaults in the late 1980s.

The moth caterpillars caused widespread deforestation last year, and while experts say that most trees will be expected to survive this year's onslaught, without wet weather next year many will die

Gypsy moths originated in Europe, and is believed to have been brought to the region in the 1860s. The last major outbreak occurred in the 1980s

While the damage is not noticeable in some locations, he described areas where there isn't a single leaf on a tree.

Hanson couldn't see the blacktop on a road behind his farm because it was covered with bits of leaves left behind by the caterpillars.

'It's almost like you have to rake your lawn now,' he said. 'Some people are telling me they're raking their lawn because there's so much leaf litter on them from the gypsy moth damage.'

In Rhode Island, the state's Department Environmental Management recently issued a public warning about the increased risk of forest fires due to the defoliation.

State officials urged residents to avoiding sparking a fire while cooking outside, building a campfire or using fireworks.

Meanwhile, one Rhode Island allergist warned how the little hairs on the caterpillars can stick into people's skin and cause a 'histamine-type reaction' that could last for days or weeks.

This year's onslaught of caterpillars should end soon. They complete their feeding during late June to early July and then seek a place to pupate.

They then transform into a moth in 10 to 14 days. Females will lay one egg mass and then die.

Stafford said those hard egg masses can be found anywhere, including on vehicles and outdoor furniture.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, blamed an Islamic scholar in Pennsylvania for the coup attempt after he made a triumphant return to Istanbul announcing the military uprising had failed.

Explosions and gunfire erupted in Istanbul and Ankara, but Erdogan said the coup was orchestrated 5,000 miles away in a reference to his political rival Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in voluntary exile in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.

Gulen, 75, initially swung his millions-strong support behind Erdogan, who rose from the mayor of Istanbul to prime minister before he became the president in 2014.

But the two fell out over a massive corruption scandal in 2013 that cost the country $100billion in a campaign thought to be initiated by Gulen's followers against Erdogan's closest allies.

President Recep Erdogan (left) said the coup was orchestrated 5,000 miles away in a reference to his political rival Fethullah Gulen (right), who has lived in voluntary exile in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania since the late 1990s

Erdogan (center) has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains

The coup was reportedly led by Colonel Muharrem Kose, who had recently been kicked out of the army from over his links to Gulen (pictured, Turkish military stand guard near Taksim Square in Istanbul)

Trained as an imam, Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Supporters known as the loosely organized group Hizmet, meaning 'service', started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the US.

In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Critics, however, are skeptical of the group's widespread control and allegations have been made accusing Hizmet of trying to indoctrinate students into Gulen's movement.

Gulen backed the rise of Erdogan's AK Party until the government closed down a network of Hizmet's private schools, according to the BBC.

In 2013, Turkey's corruption scandal, thought to have been instigated by Gulen's followers, served a harsh blow to Erdogan's administration when three ministers resigned after their sons were implicated.

Fethullah Gulen, is a recluse Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, about 75 miles north of Philadelphia, but his influence extends around the world, with supporters firmly rooted in Turkey's political and military establishment

Erdogan has repeatedly accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, which has a population of about 1,100.

The president, who was on vacation in the resort town of Marmaris when the coup began, issued a statement to CNN tonight referring to a 'parallel structure' behind the coup, a reference to Gulen's followers.

Hours later, he touched down at Ataturk airport in a move that signaled the waning momentum of the military forces, reportedly led by Colonel Muharrem Kose.

Kose had recently been kicked out of the army from his position as head of the military's legal advisory department, over his links to Gulen. He was killed during the clashes with Erdogan's supporters, sources report.

Addressing the media in Istanbul tonight, Erdogan said those behind the coup were 'being told what to do from Pennsylvania' and warned they would pay a 'heavy price for their treason'.

Tanks and armored personnel carriers tried to seize strategic points in Istanbul and Ankara but were faced down by unarmed civilians (pictured, Erdogan's supporters in Istanbul's Taksim Square)

A man poses with the flag of Turkey in front of a car crushed by a military tank as people gather in Kizilay Square to protest the military coup in the capital city of Ankara

Turkey's parliamentary building was bombed as this picture shows the devastation from the explosive

Erdogan, pictured, was in the holiday resort of Marmaris when the coup began. He referred to a 'parallel structure' behind the coup, a reference to Gulen's followers

Protesters blocked the tanks from seizing the airport, which allowed President Erdogan to make his triumphant return to Istanbul in a move that signaled the military's waning momentum

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam, whose firm represents the Republic of Turkey, named Gulen and said there were 'indications of direct involvement'.

In a statement on his website, Amsterdam wrote: 'According to Turkish intelligence sources I have spoken with, there are indications of direct involvement by the powerful fugitive cleric Fethullah Gulen...

'We have attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed by this organization, however, at the same time, the Gulenists have been waging their own campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the elected Turkish government.

'The fact that now there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government is indeed a very alarming sign.'

Y. Alp Aslandogan, the president of The Alliance for Shared Values, a non-profit group affiliated with Gulen, said: 'We categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible."

The group issued a previous statement that said: 'For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy.

'We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.

Lawyer Robert Amsterdam, whose firm represents the Republic of Turkey, named Gulen and said there were 'indications of direct involvement' (pictured, people attempting to stop a tank in Ankara)

'We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible.'

Amsterdam also accused Gulen of 'unlawful conduct' last month, but a lawsuit against the cleric was thrown out by a federal judge, who said the allegations that he organized authorities in Turkey against a rival group did not belong in the US courts.

Some of the US schools started by Hizmet have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud.

One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement.

In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

During the coup on Friday, Turkish military killed at least 60 people - 17 of those police officers - in the army's bid to overthrow the Islamic government that lasted about five hours.

Elsewhere troops opened fire on civilians attempting to cross the river Bosporus in Istanbul in protest to the military coup, while a bomb hit the parliament building according to the state's press agency as the security situation in the country becomes more perilous.

Erdogan urged his supporters to ignore the curfew and take back control of the country.
A gym in Melbourne was shot last week in a suspected gang attack

There has been a spike in large scale drug busts connected to gyms

Gyms are attractive to Middle Eastern criminals for religious reasons

Bikie gangs are body-conscious and there is 24-hour access to gyms

Gyms and health clubs are becoming

Gyms and health clubs have become hot-spots for drug trafficking and organised crime, police say.

The prevalence of bodybuilding among outlaw motorcycle gangs and the rise of 24-hour health clubs has driven a spike in gym drug-busts.

Police believe the venues are attractive to Middle Eastern criminals, since their religion banned them from drinking, reports Daily Telegraph.

A large quantity of steroids seized from an inner city Sydney gym during a raid last year: NSW police believe gyms are becoming a hot-spot for organised crime

NSW Drug Squad Detective Commander Michael Cook said the infiltration of gyms can be traced to the 24 hour access.

'Organised crime gangs are infiltrating gyms and that falls back to the groups of people that attend gyms and the fact that they are accessible around the clock,' he said.

Mr Cook said part of the appeal also comes from an increased body consciousness among gangs, leading some of them to buy gyms as hangouts.

'Even outlaw motorcycle gangs are purchasing gyms although they often get a manager in to run them as there is a lot to running a business.'

Money seized during the same raid: The rise of 24-hour health clubs makes gyms an attractive setting to deal drugs

Last week, gunshots were fired into a newly opened Melbourne gym (pictured)

The incident is believed to be a gang related attack

Police believe part of the appeal of gyms for gangs is an increased body consciousness among gangs

There have been a number of large scale drug busts connected to gyms in recent years, including the arrest of a personal trainer at an inner-city gym in June last year.

The man, aged in his 20s, was arrested at the gym where he worked and charged with allegedly supplying and possessing a huge amount of steroids and the drug GHB.

Another 40-year-old man is awaiting trial for allegedly supplying large quantities of cocaine and steroids inside a gym.
Tobacco mogul Travers Beynon has given a rare and revealing insight into his hard-partying alter-ego the Candyman.

When hes not throwing $500,000 parties or bedding four woman at the same time, Beynon says he is a family man, fitness junkie and the driving force behind a $250million business empire.

Beynon told the Weekend Australian that despite his success many still pigeonholed him as the perma-tanned hulk who once walked his wife on a leash.

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Tobacco mogul and self-described 'Candyman' Travers Beynon lives by the motto 'work hard and play harder'

Beynon said that behind his public image of a hard-partying playboy was a serious businessman with a knack for making money

Beynon is a former AFL prodigy who earned a small fortune as a male model in the United States after he broke his back at 18 and gave up the sport.

He returned to Australia in the 90s where he invested in the Gold Coast property boom and kickstarted his parents tobacco business by giving them a $100,000 loan.

While many pegged him as a millionaire playboy who got rich from his parents, Beynon insisted this was far from the truth.

Im a legitimate businessman, Beynon told the Weekend Australian.

And the tall-poppy syndrome means people dont want to believe Ive done it the hard way.

The million-dollar tobacco magnate is picture in front of a marble statue at his Candyshop mansion on the Gold Coast

Beynon made a small fortune in the 90s as a male model in the United States. He is pictured in New York with a female companion

Beynon now heads Free Choice, a tobacco empire raking in more than $250million every year

With a business earning a quarter of a billion dollars every year, Beynons personal motto of 'work hard, play harder' took some living up to.

In the bedroom, four [lovers] is just another night, he said.

Its like trying to juggle paper balls in a storm with a blindfold.

Beynon lives life at a hectic pace and admitted some nights he needed to take a sedative just to fall asleep.

On the flip side, when the Weekend Australian visited Beynon for breakfast, he took a combination of six unspecified tablets in the morning just to balance out the effects of a big night.

Beynon acted out a mock gun battle during a $500,000 party at his Gold Coast mansion

Candyman Travers Beynon is surrounded by four women during a $500,000 party at his Gold Coast mansion

The former male model is rarely seen without an entourage of beautiful women by his side

The weekly parties that Beynon throws at his Candyshop mansion have gained notoriety across the globe.

A bash last December cost Beynon $500,000 and featured a massive fireworks display, exotic petting animals and a real-life elephant.

Beynon is busy planning his next blow-out, which his general manager has already earmarked $450,000 for.

Beynon caused a controversy when he posted a picture of him walking two women across the pavement

The father-of-four shares his bed with wife Taesha and live-in girlfriend Nisha. He is pictured with his youngest children Velacia and Serafina

Beynon lives at his Gold Coast mansion with live-in girlfriend Nisha, his wife Taesha and his four children Luciana, Valentino, Velacia and Serafina.

The only thing unusual about his three-in-a-bed relationship was societys reluctance to accept it, he said.

He said: How many guys are doing it behind their wives backs and judging me? Give me a break.

Im not hurting anybody.

The Candyman, pictured with wife Taesha (left), said he was open with his wife about his playboy ways

Taesha (left) is Travers Beynon's second wife. The pair have two young children together - Velacia and Serafina
Accused: Wolfgang Ballinger, former president of Cornell University's Psi Upsilon's Chi chapter was indicted on sexual assault and sexual abuse charges Thursday, based on accusations from Jan

The former president of Cornell University's Psi Upsilon's Chi chapter has been indicted by a grand jury Thursday on sexual assault and sexual abuse charges.

Wolfgang Ballinger, 21, of Ghent, New York, allegedly trapped a woman in his fraternity house bedroom in January and committed a series of sexual acts, including rape.

Ballinger, whose millionaire father owns New York's Webster Hall, previously pleaded not guilty to the accusations, NY Mag reported.

According to the alleged victim, Ballinger lured her into his Psi Upsilon bedroom at the Ivy-League university at around 2am on January 31.

She told him that she was 'not interested' in him and that she was 'too intoxicated' to have sex, court documents say.

He then allegedly locked the door and forced her to have sex and oral sex with him, as well as abusing her with his hands.

On February 4 Ballinger was arrested on three felony counts: attempted rape, a criminal sexual act, and sexual abuse, and held on a $50,000 bond.

The student, who is majoring at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, later pleaded not guilty to the allegations and was released without bail after giving a written promise that he would attend future court proceedings.

In the wake of the allegations, Cornell suspended Ballinger and banned him from campus. It also placed the fraternity on an interim suspension.

According to People, he sued the university in May for an internal review process that he claimed was both 'flawed and illegal'.

The lawsuit demanded a temporary suspension of the university's investigation into the attack, saying it did not 'provide the accused student a fair and reasonable opportunity to defend himself.'

It said Cornell had gone against last year's demands by New York legislators that universities 'give students accused of sexual assault a fair hearing' by not allowing him to have such a hearing or see investigators' files on his case.

The judge agreed to a suspension, barring the investigation from continuing until the next hearing in his case, which was at that point scheduled for June 30.

A Cornell University spokesman declined to comment on the case to NY Mag, because the case is still active.

Frat boy: Ballinger, who was studying hotel management, is alleged to have locked a drunk woman in his frat house room, ignored her protestations and forced her into sex and oral sex while abusing her with his hands

Ballinger's father is one of the four Ballinger Brothers who bought up and restored Webster Hall, the self-styled 'biggest nightclub in New York City,' and also owns a number of bars and clubs in the US and Canada.

Psi Upsilon is described by Cornellfrat.com, which ranks the university's fraternities as 'A very wealthy house with a great reputation on campus.'

'The brothers are said to be good-looking and fit the stereotypical boarding school-type persona,' it continues, adding that they 'are generally considered to be snobby elitists and not very down to earth.'

An arraignment for Ballinger has not yet been scheduled.
He now lives in the penthouse of one of New York's most famous towers - a glass obelisk towering over Manhattan and fronted with his own name in gilded gold lettering over the opulently decorated lobby.

It is fair to say that Donald Trump's current abode is all a far cry from the - relatively - modest Queens home where he grew up with parents Fred and Mary Anne, sisters Maryanne and Elizabeth, and brothers Fred Jr and Robert.

But despite its almost quaint charm compared with the excesses of Trump's current living quarters, it has still hit the market for $1.65million, being located in one of Queens' most expensive neighborhoods.

Donald Trump's boyhood home where he lived for an estimated four years with his parents and four siblings in the late 1940s has gone on sale for $1.65million

The Queens property, which has 2,000sqft of living space and six bedrooms, is luxurious by most people's standards but looks positively quaint when compared to Trump's current lifestyle

The Tudor-style property, located at 85-15 Wareham Place, in Jamaica Estates, is listed as the 1946 birthplace of the now-presumptive Republican presidential nominee, though it is unclear how long he actually lived there.

Public records seen by Newsday show that Fred Trump sold three properties on Wareham in the 1940s, when the family presumably moved in, but he was also busy building another property around the corner, where the family are thought to have moved in 1950.

The 2,000sq ft home has six bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, according to the listing from Laffey Fine Homes, though the owner might have to contend with it becoming an historic site if Trump wins the election in November.

The property, in Queens' Jamaica Estates, is listed as Trump's official birthplace on his birth certificate, meaning that if he is elected it will become an historic site

The property has six bedrooms, at one time occupied at one time by Fred and Mary Anne Trump, their sons Fred Jr, Robert, and Donald, and daughters Maryanne and Elizabeth

While the exact length of the Trumps' stay at the house is not known, it would have been no more than 10 years until Fred moved the family to a bigger property he built nearby

While the house is grand by ordinary standards, it is positively quaint compared to Trump's current penthouse apartment at the top of Trump Tower.

The home, estimated to be worth $100million, is covered with marble, gold-gilded walls and pillars, and has a ceiling covered in mirrors - inspired by the Palace of Versailles.

Decorated with French antique furniture, it is also adorned with plush carpets, statues of classical figures, chandeliers and frescoes of Greek myths, all designed by the legendary Angelo Donghia, known as 'the Saint Laurent of sofas'.

Trump now resides in a three-level, $100millon penthouse at the top of Trump Tower in Manhattan

The interior, which features mirrored ceilings, frescoes of Greek myths, and is coated with 24-carat gold, was designed by the legendary Angelo Donghia
Queensland senator-elect Pauline Hanson has told Malcolm Turnbull she refuses to back down on her controversial Islam policies during a private phone call on Friday night.

The One Nation leader, whose policies include a ban on building new mosques until a Royal commission into whether Islam is a religion or an ideology has been held and installing CCTV cameras in all existing mosques, said the Prime Minister called her to congratulate her on winning a Queensland seat in the upper house.

'He said 'you have every right to take your place on the floor of parliament, over half a million people voted for you' - and that is correct,' she told supporters in a video uploaded to her Facebook page.

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Queensland senator Pauline Hanson says she told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull she won't back down on her extreme policies on Islam

The Prime Minister called her on Friday night to congratulate the senator on her win. Pauline told supporters she had the 'ear of the Prime Minister' on their behalf

Ms Hanson said Mr Turnbull was 'taken by surprise' when she told him she would have four and possibly seven senators.

She told the prime minister, who before the election said she was unwelcome in Australian politics, she wanted to work with the government to 'get good legislation for the people'.

'But I also told him I will not back down on my issues to do with Islam,' she said.

'We have a right to protection in this country.

'We cannot back away from these views and we cannot just ignore a religion or an ideology that does not and is not compatible with the Australian culture and way of life.'

Ms Hanson said Mr Turnbull assured her border security was 'very big on his agenda' and the pair will meet when she travels to Canberra.

She added: 'I just want you to know I have got the ear of the prime minister now on your behalf because I'm working for you and it's very important, as I said to him, that we all work together to find the right answers.'
Parramatta Eels boss Steve Sharp has sensationally quit just hours after the NSW government announced it would sack the entire board of directors at the club.

Sharp wrote a letter to Eels members on Saturday evening confirming his resignation.

He said that 'persons with improper motives will always seek to gain control of our great Club and will by any means necessary attack, blackmail, or smear those in power to do so', according to the Daily Telegraph.

'Regrettably I will not be a part of that future but I trust that the State of NSW will be able to do what myself and the Board were unable to do and overcome the political, constitutional and organisational challenges that need to be addressed at the Club before handing it back to the members and a revamped, constitutionally elected Board,' he said.

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Parramatta Eels boss Steve Sharp (pictured) has sensationally quit just hours after the NSW government announced it would sack the entire board of directors at the club

Sharp's decision comes after Deputy NSW premier Troy Grant announced on Saturday morning he would sack the Eels board of directors as early as Monday.

Grant said the axe could fall on the embattled board within days and he would appoint a temporary administrator after the NRL club's plans to appeal some of the penalties for salary cap breaches.

The Parramatta Leagues club is under investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW and the government believes it has enough evidence to remove the board.

Grant will have the power to move should he receive advice from the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.

NSW Deputy Premier Troy Grant will move to disband the Parramatta Eels board after salary cap breaches and an investigation by Liquor and Gaming NSW

The Eels were fined $1million for the breach and were deducted 12 competition points

It was revealed that the rugby league team had broken the salary cap for three years, using under the table payments and dodgy tax invoices

'Obviously the news is terrible out of Parramatta,' Grant told Sydney radio station 2GB.

'If there's a call from the fans, the members, and the broader industry of registered clubs, then I will move onto it immediately, and as soon as that advice is at hand, make a determination and advise everyone.'

Grant described the Parramatta board as selfish.

'You've got to put service above self in anything that you do in public administration or administration of a body that's on behalf of others. I'm not sure that's being done,' he said.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg welcomed the move, saying via Twitter: 'Lots of questions & concerns re Eels. We strongly support any government move to make the Parramatta Eels strong. Players and fans deserve it!'

The NRL has already banned chairman Steve Sharp, deputy chairman Tom Issa and director Peter Serraro as part of the club's sanctions.

The government is now seeking a fresh start in removing the remaining directors.

NRL CEO Todd Greenburg spoke out in support of Deputy Premier Troy Grant's decision via Twitter

Mr Greenburg said there were lots of 'questions and concerns' about the embattled Parramatta team

The Eels announced their intent to appeal their fine and points deduction on Friday afternoon

The Eels on Friday announced plans to fight some of the sanctions, including a $1million fine and loss of 12 competition points.

It came as the club struck down three bids by separate groups to call an emergency general meeting to unseat the board.

Parramatta Leagues Club chief executive Bevan Paul said there were 'legal problems' with the proposals for an EGM and voted them all down.

The Eels were found to have engaged in $3million worth of systemic salary cap breaches since 2013 through the use of illegal third party deals, issuing false invoices and under-the-table player payments.

John Boulos, who was hired as permanent CEO in January this year, was fired as part of the team's punishment for breaching the salary cap

Football manager Daniel Anderson has also been deregistered in relation to the salary cap scandal
Video has captured the incredible moment a whale apparently tried to communicate with a group of kayakers after becoming tangled in fishing rope.

The juvenile humpback whale swam up to a tour group of 18 kayakers at Double Island Point on Queenslands Sunshine Coast on Wednesday.

The video shows the eight-metre whale swimming up to the group multiple times and rubbing against their kayaks before tour operator Tyron van Santen jumps in to help it.

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Video has captured the incredible moment a whale tried to communicate with a group of kayakers after becoming tangled in fishing rope (pictured)

The juvenile humpback whale swam up to a tour group of 18 kayakers (pictured) at Double Island Point on Queenslands Sunshine Coast on Wednesday

The humpback had a number of scars and wounds on its back (pictured)

The video shows the eight-metre whale swimming up to the group multiple times before tour operator Tyro van Santen (pictured) jumps in to help it

Mr van Santen said the whale indicated it needed help by raising its flipper, which had become tangled in rope, out of the water.

He also noticed the humpback had a number of scars and wounds on its back.

Out of nowhere a juvenile humpback whale pops up in the middle of the kayaks, he told Daily Mail Australia.

It kept coming back.

The whale moved onto its side and tried to show us its flipper three or four times.

Mr van Santen said he was blown-away at the animal's ability to communicate it needed help.

After untangling the whales flipper Mr van Santen realised that it had swallowed the end of the rope and possibly some other material.

After untangling the whales flipper Mr van Santen realised that it had swallowed the end of the rope and possibly some other material

Mr van Santen informed the Department of Parks and Wildlife, who monitored the whale (pictured) until Thursday, however it has not been seen since then

Mr van Santen said he was blown-away at the whales ability to communicate it needed help

As calmly as I could I took the rope off the whales flipper.

I followed the rope up to its mouth and thats when I realised it had swallowed it and possibly some other material, he said.

I knew at this stage I couldnt do much.
It comes after Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed at least 84 people in Nice

Officers arrested a man on Friday night and three others this morning

One man covered with a towel was

Four men believed to be linked to truck terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel have been arrested by anti-terror police during raids in Nice.

A suspect with his head covered by a towel was held by French police as part of coordinated raids as part of the investigation into the Bastille Day atrocity that left 84 dead and hundreds injured.

Three men were detained on Saturday morning along with a fourth who was held on Friday night. Bouhlel's estranged wife Hajer Khalfallah was being question by anti terror experts last night.

Scroll down for video

Raids: A man covered with a towel is apprehended by French police as the investigation continues two days after an attack

Arrests: An officer was spotted examining a vehicle just yards from where a man covered in a towel was apprehended by officers

It comes as ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly attack and described Bouhlel as a 'soldier of the Islamic State'.

Meanwhile sources have claimed on of those suspects arrested - a friend of 31-year-old Tunisian Bouhiel - has told investigators that he was radicalised very recently.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said father-of-three Bouhlel, who worked as a delivery driver in Nice rapidly descended into extremism after separating from his wife two years ago.

Authorities are investigating whether the he acted alone or with accomplices, and if his motives were connected to radical Islam.

The new arrests concerned the attacker's 'close entourage' and were made in two different areas of Nice.

Around 40 elite police officers were seen raiding a small apartment at Rue Miollis - north of the central station - where one man was arrested.

The arrests come after a video showed French police grappling with a second man, just moments after shooting dead Bouhlel on Thursday night.

Several officers were seen grappling with a man at the rear of the truck which drove for more than a mile targeting innocent tourists walking along the popular Promenade des Anglais in the city.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, there were conflicting reports about a possible second gunman.

Dead: Trucker terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel killed at least 84 people - including 10 children - after driving a lorry into a Bastille Day crowd

Carnage: The lorry driven by Bouhel was covered in bullet holes after French police shot at the vehicle when it was being driven in Nice

The new arrests come as ISIS claimed responsibility for the Nice terrorist attack and described Bouhlel as a 'soldier'

France has begun a period of national mourning for the 84 people who were killed following the attack in Nice.

Police raided Bouhlels home and held his estranged wife for questioning after he drove a truck into a crowd celebrating France's National Day.

Officers discovered two automatic weapons, ammunition, a mobile phone and documents in the truck, as well as fake weapons at his home.

Lair: Officers searched the last known home of truck terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in Nice, France

Promenade of terror: Around 40 elite police officers were seen raiding a small apartment at Rue Miollis (pictured) - north of the central station - where one individual was arrested

Bouhel was married with three children but it was reported that he and his wife were going through divorce proceedings.

The new arrests came as French President Francois Hollande met with the head of the armed forces and ministers after calling a meeting of his top security advisors in Paris.
A teenager who wrote about life living on a drought-affected station in a remote part of Australia has had her Facebook post go viral.

Lucy Bain, a 16-year-old student, lives on her family's 38,000 hectare property near Quilpie in central south western Queensland.

She took to Facebook to share the hardships of life in the bush after a woman visited her school and spoke to students about a drought in Cambodia to make them aware of the help Cambodian people needed.

Lucy questioned why people should donate money to drought stricken countries overseas when they could be helping Australians first.

Lucy Bain (pictured) , a 16-year-old student, lives on her family's 38,000 hectare property near Quilpie in central south western Queensland

'Well first of all, Cambodia is a poor country I know that. I'm not trying to say we shouldn't help them but as a country we need to fix our own backyard first,' Lucy wrote on her lengthy Facebook post.

'Secondly, it really ticked me off to hear how many times she (the visitor) had been to Cambodia to see their drought and told all of us at school that it's so much worse than Australia's when she had never been to Australia's own outback to see how bad it really is.

'Australians do lose their life, they lose families, they lose animals, they lose crops, they lose income, they lose farms and they have no way back. But apparently it's not that bad. In 2008, five farmers a week were committing suicide because of the drought.

'Banks take away farms without any thought about the families/generations of hard work that they also take away. And some, not all, people in the city have no clue.'

Lucy's Facebook post went viral, after she wrote about life n a remote location, the difficulties faced by her family and the disconnect and lack of understanding some people who live in the city have for people in the country

The story Lucy posted on Facebook is a mixture of fictional stories and events. She started the post of a farmer in a drought who is facing financial hardship, describing how he has to shoot his last 200 cattle when a truck refuses to take them to be sold because they are in such poor condition.

Lucy said that the woman's visit to her school made her realise how many people have absolutely no clue as to the hardships faced by Australian farmers.

She wrote that she wants to live in a country that supports its own citizens, as well as those overseas.

Her family has been through difficult times in the past few years, with drought affecting their property and the countryside turning from grass to dry dirt.

Lucy's family station near Quilpie in south western Queensland. She said she was motivated to write her post after a visitor to her school urged them to consider Cambodian people living in drought stricken areas, when she says many people in Australia face the same hardship

Lucy told the Courier Mail her father Carl started selling off their stock, after realising there would not be enough feed to keep the animals alive.

For two years, the Bain family had no income at all.

Lucy's mother Judith Bain said it was difficult to watch her husband go through this time and it was important to think about how to help people worse off than them.

'Weve got to do something to help ourselves and to help the next generation of kids who want to be on the land,' Ms Bain said.

'Its important to talk about it.
A newlywed mother said she didn't give the decision to take her son out of school for her wedding a 'second thought'

Mother-of-three Kerry Barry got a letter telling her that 13-year-old Mason could not have the day off just two days before she was due to marry partner Kevin Barry.

She said she was fuming' when Dowdales School in Barrow, Cumbria, refused the day off under 'special circumstances' and said she would be fined 60 if he went to the wedding.

But despite the threat from headteacher Julie O'Connor looming over her big day, the determined mother went ahead with her plans and decided to risk it all.

Speaking at the reception of her wedding, Kerry, 40, said: 'The day has been absolutely perfect. It is so good to have Mason here. I wouldn't have got married without him.

'The wedding has been perfection from start to finish. It is everything I ever dreamed of.

Mother-of-three Kerry Barry (pictured) with her new husband Kevin as the happy couple enjoy their big day despite the threat of a 60 school fine hanging over them.

DAY TO REMEMBER: (from left) Jack O'Donnell, 20, Kevin Barry, 50, Mason, 13, and Joe O'Donnell, 19 enjoy the big day.

Mother-of-three Kerry Barry got the letter telling her that 13-year-old Mason (pictured together) could not have the day off just two days before she was due to marry partner Kevin Barry

'All the boys are having a superb time and we are all looking forward to partying the night away as a family.

'I have no regrets at all about taking him out of school for the day. I didn't even give it a second thought.'

Mrs Barry had previously said she would be willing to go to prison in order for her son to fulfill his role as ring bearer on her big day.

She said: 'I couldn't believe it when I got the letter through - and at such short notice. It is absolutely shocking.

'I just don't understand what constitutes exceptional if his mum's wedding doesn't.'

Speaking before her big day she said: 'There is absolutely no way he is going to school. I don't care about the repercussions. I am willing to risk the fines and the prison time without a shadow of a doubt.

'It just wouldn't be a wedding without all three of my sons there.

She was 'fuming' when Dowdales School in Barrow (pictured), Cumbria, refused the day off under 'special circumstances' and said she would be fined 60 if he went to the wedding

'Tomorrow isn't just a celebration of my love and commitment to Kev but our love and commitment to the boys too. It is about all five of us being united as one family.'

'Two days before my wedding the school are saying he isn't allowed to go. It's his mum's wedding.

'All my family are coming up from Manchester with their kids for it but the school say my own son can't attend.'

Sanctions that can be imposed on the parents guilty of truanting children include a three-month jail sentence or a fine of 2,500.

Mrs Barry said it is ridiculous that schools have cracked down so severely on term-time absences, especially when just last Tuesday (July 5) the kids had a day off school due to the teachers strike.

She added: 'Some friends have told me maybe I should have sent a letter instead of texting but just last week I got a text from the school saying Mason didn't have to come in because the teachers were striking.

'So that's okay is it but for him to have a day off to be at his mum's wedding isn't? It is ridiculous.

'I can't tell you how many times I've had texts from Dowdales to say schools not on because of bad weather or because it's a teacher training day - all sorts.

'If that's the method of communication they're going to use to contact me then I am obviously going to do the same to contact them.

But despite the threat from headteacher Julie O'Connor (pictured), Mrs Barry, 40, took Mason out of school for her big day

'The crackdown on term time holidays and days off has gone way too far. I'm not taking him out of school for a trip to Chester Zoo, it's the most important day of my life.'

A spokesman for Cumbria County Council, the local education authority, said: 'Only the headteacher can decide if the reason given for absence is acceptable.

'If the headteacher decides that the reason given for absence is unacceptable, the absence will remain unauthorised.'

Dowdales School have declined to comment on the individual case in order to 'protect their students'.

A spokeswoman said: 'The safety and protection of students and their families is of paramount importance to Dowdales School and therefore it would be inappropriate to comment any further on this individual case.'

In 2013 the government tightened the rules which state that parents can be fined 60 for the unauthorised absence of a child.

Headteachers, who used to have discretion to agree up to 10 days holidays, must now only grant permission for a 'leave of absence' in 'exceptional circumstances'.

The National Association of Head Teachers published guidance saying only the bereavement of a close family member, a funeral or important religious observances count as exceptional.

The issue of taking children on holiday in term-time was back in the spotlight recently following a High Court judgement in favour of a father who took his daughter to Florida.
More than 100 plotters died compared to 160 police officers and civilians

Political leaders from across the globe have reacted in the aftermath of the failed military coup in Turkey.

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained and at least killed 250 after the Turkish army attempted an uprising against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 police officers and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he has spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's 'democratic elected government and institutions' after an overnight coup attempt.

Army personnel who had earlier blocked off Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge raise their hands in surrender as civilians and police take control

Up to 100 rebel soldiers surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge, pictured, after their failed uprising

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (left) and U.S. President Barack Obama were among the political leaders to show their support for the democratically-elected Justice and Development Party

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, pictured in Berlin today, condemned last night's attempted coup in Turkey

Supporters of President Erdogan held a rally outside the Turkish embassy in Berlin this afternoon

Germany has a large Turkish population, many of whom strongly support the current government

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to 'stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant.'

U.S. President Barack Obama issued a message urging all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government of President Erdogan - the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

He urged them to avoid violence or bloodshed amid the military takeover of the key NATO ally.

Obama discussed the developments by telephone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was traveling in Moscow for separate meetings with senior Russian officials on Syria.

In a separate statement, Kerry said the U.S. viewed the 'very fluid situation' in Turkey with the 'gravest concern'.

Turkey has closed Incirlik airbase in the south of the country following last night's attempted coup.

The US military has stationed A-10 warthogs and F-16s at the airbase to target ISIS in northern Syria.

The Pentagon is currently talking to officials in Ankara about reopening the airbase, which had a temporary power cut last night.

Secretary Kerry said: 'Turkey is a NATO ally and remains a committed partner in the coalition against ISIL. We expect that cooperation will continue, even as the government deals with this crisis.'

Turkey's foreign minister confirmed missions from Incirlik will resume as soon as operations against the rebellious soldiers have been concluded.

At least 500 people gathered in front of the Turkish consulate in Munich after attempted military coup in Turkey

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey and said Berlin stood by those who defended democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

'It's tragic that so many people died during this attempted coup,' Merkel told reporters in Berlin. 'The bloodshed in Turkey must stop now.'

Merkel said it was the right of the Turkish people to choose their political leader in free elections and political change should only be achieved within the framework of political institutions and the rules of democratic competition.

'Tanks on the streets and air strikes against the own people are injustice,' Merkel said.

The French foreign minister Ayrault added: 'The Turkish population showed great maturity and courage by defending its institutions.

'France hopes that calm can return quickly. It hopes that Turkish democracy will emerge reinforced by this test and that fundamental liberties will be fully respected.'

The rebel army faction - who call themselves the 'Peace Council' - said they were trying to overthrow the government to 'protect human rights' and restore democracy from Erdogan's AKP, which has repeatedly faced criticism from human rights groups and Western allies over its brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters.

However, Erdogan has blamed his old scapegoat, Fethullah Gulen for orchestrating the uprising. Muslim cleric Gulen, the president's rival who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, U.S. as the head of a billion dollar religious movement, has often been blamed for political unrest in Turkey.

The five hours of chaos began when two busloads of soldiers burst into the headquarters of the state-run TRT news agency, taking news off the air and replacing it with a stream of weather forecasts.

After launching the coup, the Turkish military imposed a curfew on civilians telling them to stay in their homes, but Erdogan called on supporters to ignore the order and take to the streets, which is thought to have caused the army to relinquish control.

A man lays down in front of a tank on the approach to Ataturk airport in Istanbul as citizens took to the streets to oppose the military coup

A man shot at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul is carried away by civilians early on Saturday

The exiled Syrian opposition has congratulated the Turkish people for halting an attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition says in a statement that Turkey has protected its democratic institutions 'in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will.'

It says the Turkish people value democracy and 'will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule'.

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned the coup attempt in Turkey, calling on all parties to respect democratic order and avoid further bloodshed.

Steinmeier said in a statement that Germany was 'deeply concerned' about the developments, and denounced 'any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force'.

Meanwhile, Iran said the attempted military coup was 'doomed to fail.'

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the 'brave defense by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government.'

Zarif said the events in neighboring Turkey prove 'that coup d'etat has no place and is doomed to fail in our region'.

President Erdogan has vowed revenge on those who tried to oust him in a bloody military coup that killed 42 people as his supporters clashed with the rebel forces in the streets of Turkey

Clothes and weapons beloging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt that have now surrendered lie on the ground abandoned on Bosphorus Bridge

Pakistan joined others in condemning the coup attempt, with an aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif praising the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.

The unrest in Turkey, which straddles Europe and the Middle East, is of concern to the West as it is on the frontier of the global battle with ISIS and has been used as a base to launch strikes against the terrorist group in Syria.

While the coup was successfully defeated, instability in the area could hamper efforts to tackle the extremist group which has been behind some of the worst terrorist attacks in recent history.

The coup will also be a blow for Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union.

Erdogan had demanded membership of the EU as the price for stemming the tide of refugees pouring over his country's borders into Europe. In exchange for the visa deal and 2.2billion in aid, he agreed to step up border controls, tackle people-smuggling gangs and re-admit failed asylum seekers who had entered Europe from Turkey.

Turkish politicians had argued that Turkey is 'a major European power' and with the exit of Britain, the EU will need to include the country as a member.

However, the unrest in the past 24 hours is unlikely to help its case as concerns over the stability of the country and its human rights record surface once again.
ISIS killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel sent his family 84,000 just days before his Bastille Day atrocity, his brother told MailOnline.

The Islamic fanatic persuaded friends to smuggle the bundles of cash back to his family in their hometown of Msaken, Tunisia.

Although Bouhlel had been sending small sums of money to his family, his brother admitted that they were stunned by the size of the 'fortune'.

Smuggled cash: ISIS killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel sent 84,000 to his family in Tunisia in the days leading up to his nightmarish attack in Nice

Family: His brother Jaber Bouhlel said the 31-year-old terrorist used to send small sums of money home to family Msaken, Tunisia, since he left his hometown and married in France. But last week he smuggled 'a fortune' back to relatives with friends who were visiting the country

Stunned: His father Mohamed Mondher today described Bouhlel, 31, as 'an angry and violent man'. He said he stopped talking to relatives and he took him to the doctor who prescribed medication for his depression

'Mohamed sent the family 240,000 Tunisian Dinars (84,000) in the last few days,' Jaber Bouhlel told MailOnline.

'He used to send us small sums of money regularly like most Tunisians working abroad. But then he sent us all that money, it was fortune.

'He sent the money illegally. He gave cash to people he knew who were returning to our village and asked them to give it to the family.'

He'd get angry and shout and broke everything in front of him. He was violent and very ill. Jaber Bouhlel

He added: 'My brother is not a terrorist.'

His father also insisted that Bouhlel was mentally ill and not a radicalised soldier as claimed today by ISIS.

Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel, whose son killed at least 84 people on Bastille Day, told how he suffered from severe depression in an interview with French TV BMF.

'From 2002 to 2004 he had problems that led to a nervous breakdown.

'He'd get angry and shout and broke everything in front of him. He was violent and very ill. We took him to the doctor and he was put on drugs.

Worry: Mr Mondher said Bouhlel (pictured) suffered a nervous breakdown between 2002 and 2004. He added: 'He'd get angry and shout and broke everything in front of him. He was violent and very ill.'

Home: Bouhlel's family home (pictured) is in a poor neighbourhood in Msaken, around 90 miles south of the capital city of Tunis

Scene: Crowds gather near the family home of truck terrorist Bouhlel, whose family told MailOnline today that he was mentally ill and violent but was 'not a terrorist'

Upset: Bouhlel's father said the family are 'in a state of shock' after hearing details of his attack. An aunt called to tell them Bouhlel had been killed by French police. Pictured, neighbours in Msaken

Killer: Bouhlel's father added: 'Whenever there was a crisis we took him back again. 'He was always alone. Always silent, refusing to talk. Even in the street he wouldn't greet people.'

Attackers: Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed 84 people in Nice on Thursday, grew up in Msaken - a Tunisian city just 12 miles from Sousse, where ISIS gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 tourists in June 2015

'Whenever there was a crisis we took him back again.

'He was always alone. Always silent, refusing to talk. Even in the street he wouldn't greet people.'

Mr Mondher said he had no contact with his son after he moved to France from their home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia.

'He didn't come back even when his brothers and sisters called,' he said.

He appeared bewildered as he insisted his son had 'no connection with religion. He didn't fast and keep Ramadan. He drank. He even took drugs.

'We're all in a state of shock at what's happened'

He confirmed that his son and his estranged wife, a French-Tunisian from Nice, were 'not on good terms'.

His brother Jaber also said he had not seen his brother for several years and the money had come as a complete surprise.

The family live in an impoverished neighbourhood in Msaken, some 90 miles south of the capital Tunis.

Msaken is also just 12 miles from the once-popular coastal resort of Sousse, where Tunisian ISIS gunman Seifeddine Rezgui massacred 38 holidaymakers in June 2015.

Defence: Of the fortune he sent home, the ISIS 'soldier's' brother admitted: 'He sent the money illegally. He gave cash to people he knew who were returning to our village and asked them to give it to the family.'

Distant: 'The last time he visited the family was in 2012. He came home to attend the wedding of our sister,' Jaber went on

Home: Jaber added: 'But really we had heard very little from him. 'My aunt called my father to tell her that his son had been killed by French police after his terror attack.'

'The last time he visited the family was in 2012. He came home to attend the wedding of our sister,' continued Jaber.

'But really we had heard very little from him.

'My aunt called my father to tell her that his son had been killed by French police after his terror attack.'

Jaber Bouhlel refuses to accept that his brother is a terrorist  despite his single-handed murder of 84 and the injury of over 200, many seriously, with some 18 people on life-support.

He said he hasn't questioned how his brother accumulated the cash fortune that he sent to his family.

'Mohamed sent us all of his savings, all of his worth in France. He had worked for eight years and this was the money he saved in France,' he said.

Childhood: Bouhlel left his family in Msaken, Tunisia, some years ago and moved to France where he married Hajer Khalfallah with whom he had three children and lived in Abattoirs, a northern suburb of Nice

History: Bouhlel was already known to police for a string of petty crimes including theft and domestic violence, but was not considered to be a terrorist threat. He was involved in a bar brawl in January

Target: Msaken is just 12 miles from the once-popular coastal resort of Sousse, where Tunisian ISIS gunman Seifeddine Rezgui (pictured) massacred 38 holidaymakers in June 2015

Bad apple: Bouhlel never prayed or attended a mosque, and hit his wife - with whom he had three children - and was in the process of getting a divorce, his cousin told MailOnline

He told how Mohamed became depressed following his separation from his wife and three children, now aged five, three and 18-months.

Bouhlel was already known to police for a history of petty crime, including theft and domestic violence, but he was not under surveillance as a terrorist threat.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed 'no radicalisation' whatsoever.

Bouhlel had never been place on a radical watch list, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said
Shocking footage shows bullets raining down from the sky as terrified people run for their lives on the streets of Turkey during last night's military uprising.

Nearly 50 civilians and 41 police officers were killed during a five-hour rebellion last night, which was eventually crushed by the ruling government.

Footage from the carnage on the streets shows how tracer bullets lit up the sky, flying above the heads of people running away, amid the deafening sound of the helicopter gunship.

Footage from the carnage on the streets shows how tracer bullets lit up the sky, flying above the heads of people running away, amid the deafening sound of the helicopter gunship

The people, who appear to be civilians, flee over the road in terror in the darkness, after many defied advice to stay indoors during the coup.

Other photos from earlier in the day show people running away from Bosphorus Bridge, where sixty rebels eventually put down their weapons and surrendered in the early hours of the morning.

Johnny Hogg, a former British journalist who now works for the World Food Programme and lives in Ankara, tweeted saying that large explosions were rattling the windows of his apartment.

As morning broke, he wrote: 'Light and heavy weapons fire still sporadically audible. First traffic in our street - couple of cars. Ankara much quieter now, although sporadic gunfire and jet in distance.'

Soldiers who have taken over the Chief of General Staff Headquarters, the last base held by coup supporters, have requested negotiations to surrender.

The rebel army faction - who call themselves the 'Peace Council' - said they were trying to 'protect human rights' and restore democracy from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, AKP.

But the coup was crushed within five hours and up to 100 rebel soldiers surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge after their failed and 120 people have been arrested in connection with the uprising.

Returning triumphantly to Istanbul, Erdogan told the gathered masses at Ataturk Airport that politica; opponent Fethullah Gulen was to blame.
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A picture of a man being splashed in the face with a wave of mud marks the start of the Mud Festival in Boryeong in South Korea.

Mud taken from the Boryeong mud flats, 200km south of Seoul, South Korea, and driven over to the Daecheon beach area, is turned into a Mud wonderland and is considered to be rich in minerals used to manufacture cosmetics in the country.

The festival was originally conceived as a marketing tool for Boryeong mud cosmetics in 1998 although over time has become a popular past time for visitors and locals in the area.

Six images represent some of the highlights of the festival which spans across two weeks in July including wrestling, mud pools and people painting their faces with the nutrient rich sludge.

Marking its 18th anniversary on July 15 the festival was hoped to allow people to learn more about the mud and the cosmetics that are made from it.

Although the festival was not without controversy, when a group 230 school children that attended the festival in 2009 developed a skin rash after contact with the mud.

But despite the backlash the festival continues and has been chosen the ultimate destination for those enjoying their summer in South Korean this year.

The festival will run from July 15 to July 24 and has been described as Korea's 'most popular summer festivals' hoping to draw in another crowd of over a million people to Daecheon Beach.

A picture of a man being splashed in the face (pictured) with a wave of mud marks the start of the Mud Festival in Boryeong in South Korea on the second day of the festival which started on July 15

A man has his face painted (pictured) with mud taken from the Boryeong mud flats, 200km south of Seoul, South Korea, which is driven over to the Daecheon beach area, to turn the area into a Mud wonderland

Marking its 18th anniversary the festival was hoped to allow people to learn more about the mud and the cosmetics that are made from it. Pools of the mud are part of the entertainment in the Mud haven (pictured)

Two men wrestle in nutrient rich mud which is said to contain properties beneficial for the skin

Tourists play in a mud pool during the Boryeong Mud Festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong in the festival which was started as a gimmick to encourage people to use mud cosmetics made from the area
She appeared at an Indigenous Art Fair where she was verbally abused

Controversial Queensland senator elect Pauline Hanson has been subjected to a barrage of verbal abuse and labelled a 'racist' by an Aboriginal elder.

Ms Hanson and her staff were met with criticism from Aboriginal elder Murrandoo Yanner of the Ganhalidda people in Queensland's Carpentaria region when she attended the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair on Saturday.

Now you are kicking the Muslims around, you are just a racist redneck with red hair, Mr Yanner said.

'Go away - go back to Ipswich and your fish and chip shop.

'You are intellectually dishonest and you are not welcome here.'

As Ms Hanson and her team walked away from the confrontation Mr Yanner was congratulated with cheers and clapping from the crowd.

A spectator caught the rant on camera and uploaded it to Facebook where it quickly went viral.

It attracted more than 10,000 views and 623 shares in two hours attracting comments like 'deadly uncle' and 'best think I have seen all day'.

Murrandoo Yanner told Ms Hanson she was a 'racist' - he is pictured here at a protest for Aboriginal deaths in custody

The Aboriginal elder slammed Ms Hanson in public at the Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair on Saturday

The controversial senator elect smiled and walked away as she was being called a 'redheaded racist'

One social media user said 'good on him for saying what he had to say'. Pauline did have some supporters on the thread.

'Im no fan of Pauline's politics, but goading someone out of a public event like this, while abusing them for being redneck with red hair isnt OK in my books. Wouldn't it have been better to have let her attend and have the chance to learn something, either from the exhibition or from talking to the people there?' one said.

Mr Yanner is well known for being outspoken about the rights of Aboriginal people and their culture and is currently the directer of the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.

Murrandoo Yanner, pictured, is an elder in the Carpentaria region of north Queensland
Russell Ingall shared the photo of the incident on the Gold Coast

The image showed motorist driving with children hanging onto the car

A V8 supercar champion has shared a photo of a hooligan driver who allowed three young boys to hang off the side step of his vehicle while driving.

Russell Ingall posted an image of the motorist who was caught in Surfers Paradise on social media on Saturday.

'How's this w****r,' he wrote on his official Twitter page.

V8 supercar champion, Russell Ingall, posted an image of a motorist driving with children hanging of the side of the car

'Driving around the streets of the GC [Gold Coast] with kids hanging off the side steps.

'Couldn't believe it.'

Queensland police are now making inquiries into the matter.

'Police are investigating this incident and that investigation is on-going,' a police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

Users on social media have since commended Mr Ingall on sharing the photo.

'Automatically should lose their license totally ridiculous,' Daz Lewis said.

'Licence loss at a minimum. If they are in charge of these children they are negligent,' Leon de Lore said.
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Defiant Turkish civilians reclaimed the country from their own military after helping to end a coup by the army to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called on people to remain on the streets today over fears over a fresh uprising.

Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and laid in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country, ignoring a curfew issued by coup plotters designed to allow the army to bring down the government unopposed.

President Erdogan called on people to take to the streets, leading to reports of groups of soldiers surrendering at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers.

There were unconfirmed reports of one soldier being beheaded by a mob of civilians on the bridge after a video surfaced online showing a crowd launching an attack on the downed man. However in the video the man is still alive and shows no beheading, though it is unknown if this happened after the footage ended.

This morning the President used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment.'

Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.

Throughout the night, supporters of Erdogan threw themselves in front of tanks at key landmarks to prevent the military from maintaining a stranglehold on the country, notably outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul, where some civilians lodged themselves under the wheels of tanks to stop them from advancing.

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup that killed at least 250 and wounded more than 1,500, with Erdogan vowing revenge for the bloody uprising.

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A civilian punches a Turkish soldier who took part in the failed military coup as he is led away by police having surrendered

Thousands of supporters of President Recep Erdogan congregated in Istanbul awaiting for him to address a major rally

Supporters of President Recep Erdogan clashed with journalists near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara following the coup

The President used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment'

Thousands of people congregated outside the parliament building in Ankara as a crisis meeting was held to discuss the attempted coup

Turkish Prime Minsiter Binali Yildirim briefed politicians on the attempted coup in the national parliament in Ankara

Senior members of the judiciary and chief of the military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar, centre, attended the emergency meeting

A relative of polie officer Nedip Cengiz Eker clings to his coffin during his funeral in Marmaris, Turkey following last night's coup attempt

Eker received a guard of honour from the Turkish navy and military who remained loyal to president Recep Erdogan last night

President Erdogan has described those who died protecting his government as martyrs while branding the insurgents as traitors

Hundreds of Turks have taken to the streets to ensure no fresh coup could take place after last night's uprising was defeated

A soldier cowers as he is confronted by plain-clothes police officers and civilians after the military surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge

People wave national flags as they march from Kizilay square to Turkish General Staff building to react against military coup attempt

A young girl joins police officers loyal to President Erdogan atop a tank abandoned by military personnel who surrendered

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup that killed at least 250 as Turkish President Erdogan vows revenge for the bloody uprising (pictured: Up to 100 rebel soldiers surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge after their failed uprising)

Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and laid in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country, ignoring a curfew issued by coup plotters designed to allow the army to bring down the government unopposed

There were unconfirmed reports of one soldier being beheaded by a mob of civilians on the bridge after a video surfaced online showing a crowd launching an attack on the downed man. However in the video the man is still alive and shows no beheading, though it is unknown if this happened after the footage ended

People wave Turkish flags as they stand around the Republic Monument in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey

Men wave flags as they stand on tanks as people walk on the Bosphorus Bridge after taking over the military position in Istanbul

A Turkish civilian whips soldiers with his belt after they surrendered to police on Bosphorus Bridge, a strategic landmark which was seized by the army during the coup

People climb on tanks after around a hundred soldiers occupying Bosphorus Bridge surrendered in Istanbul, Turkey

The President made his triumphant return back to Istanbul after his forces quelled the coup on Friday evening, as he warned that the members of the military behind the plot to oust him would pay a 'heavy price for their treason'.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that, while the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004, the country may consider legal changes to deter any such coup happening again.

The Greek police ministry said a Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece this morning and eight men on board, thought to be senior coup plotters, have requested political asylum. Turkey has asked for the men, made up of seven soldiers and one civilian, to be extradited back to the country.

The rebel army faction - who call themselves the 'Peace Council' - said they were trying to overthrow the government to 'protect human rights' and restore democracy from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, AKP, which has repeatedly faced criticism from human rights groups and Western allies over its brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters.

However, Erdogan has blamed his old scapegoat, Fethullah Gulen for orchestrating the uprising. Muslim cleric Gulen, the president's rival who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, U.S. as the head of a billion dollar religious movement, has often been blamed for political unrest in Turkey.

One bloodied soldier cowered underneath a coach as a mob started beating him on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge

The five hours of chaos began when two busloads of soldiers burst into the headquarters of the state-run TRT news agency, taking news off the air and replacing it with a stream of weather forecasts.

After launching the coup, the Turkish military imposed a curfew on civilians telling them to stay in their homes, but Erdogan called on supporters to ignore the order and take to the streets, which is thought to have caused the army to relinquish control.

Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar was taken hostage at the military headquarters in the capital Ankara after an attempt to bring down the government, but was rescued during the night.

One military official, Navy Fleet Commander Admiral Veysel Kosele, is currently unaccounted for and it is unknown whether or not he was part of the coup against President Erdogan.

Turkey's state-run news agency said five warships which reportedly set sail during the attempted coup have returned to their military port in northwest Turkey, but it is unclear whether or not the Admiral was abroad one of the ships.

After the uprising was crushed in the early hours of Saturday morning, Erdogan told the gathered masses at Ataturk Airport that those loyal to Gulen had 'penetrated the Armed Forces and the police, among other government agencies, over the past 40 years'.

'What is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a treason,' Erdogan said. 'They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.'

Soldiers, who surrendered following the defeat of last night's attempted coup, are loaded onto a bus following their arrest by police officers and civilians

A man lays down in front of a tank on the approach to Ataturk airport in Istanbul as citizens took to the streets to oppose the military coup

Civilians launch an attack on an armoured police car carrying Turkish soldiers who participated in the coup against President Erdogan

People celebrate on an abandoned military tank after they took over military position on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul

People shout at the soliders involved in the coup attempt who have surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge following their surrender

A soldier lies dead underneath rubble following the defeat of a military coup by Turkey's army to overthrow President Erdogan

Police officers arrest a soldier after he was attacked by a mob of civilians following the surrender of 100 rebels on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul

Up to 100 rebel soldiers surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge after their failed uprising. At least 2,863 connected have been arrested in connection with the dramatic coup which lasted approximately five hours.

New British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said on Twitter that he has spoken to Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu following the attempted military coup, adding: 'I underlined UK support for the democratic elected government and institutions.'

Explosions and gunfire erupted in Istanbul and Ankara on Friday night during the coup which killed at least 250 people in the army's bid to overthrow the Islamic government.

Elsewhere troops opened fire on civilians attempting to cross the river Bosporus in Istanbul in protest to the military coup, while a bomb exploded at the parliament building according to the state's press agency as the security situation in the country becomes more perilous.

Colonel Muharrem Kose reportedly led the Turkish military forces in the uprising.

Kose had recently been kicked out of the army, from his position as head of the military's legal advisory department, over his links to Gulen. He was killed during the clashes with Erdogan's supporters, sources report.

Civilians take cover outside the building of the General Staff, the final landmark still held by coup plotters who are in the process of surrendering to police officers

A Turkish policeman and other people stand atop of a military vehicle in Ankara after crushing the rebellion

Clothes and weapons beloging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt that have now surrendered lie on the ground abandoned on Bosphorus Bridge

The man then stood up and took off his shirt in an effort the present the tank from taking position in the airport

The police siege around the building of the General Staff, thought to be the final landmark held by coup plotters who are in the process of negotiating their surrender

As military took to the streets, Erdogan had urged his supporters to ignore a curfew and take back control of the country.

Tanks and armoured personnel carriers tried to seize strategic points in Istanbul and Ankara but were faced down by unarmed civilians who lay down in front of the heavy armour.

Police special forces headquarters was also hit and was razed to the ground. Other witnesses reported attack helicopters firing machine guns in the capital Ankara in a bid to depose the Islamic government.

There were also reports that a Turkish Air Force F-16 had shot down a Sikorsky helicopter over Ankara. The government claimed the jet destroyed the helicopter which had been 'hijacked by coup plotters'.

In Takism square, around 30 rebel soldiers surrendered following a gun battle with police loyal to Erdogan. A number of F-16 fighter jets had screamed across the square at low level blasting the area with a sonic boom.

During the night, both the civilian government and the military claimed they were in control of the country, with reports of sporadic gunfire and explosions.

In a statement, the army faction said that they took action 'to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated'.

The Turkish military has also long seen its role as safeguarding Turkey's secularist agenda, and has staged numerous coup's over the last 60 years when it feels the government's stance is moving too far away from that.

Civilians help police officers to arrest soldiers at Taksim Square in Istanbul after ordinary Turks helped to stop the attempted coup

People gather for celebration around Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, standing atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers

Meanwhile, Erdogan made it clear he believes rival Gulen is behind the attack.

Gulen's nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Shared Values, denies any involvement and condemned the actions of the Turkish military.

Gulen, 75, was initially a close ally of Erdogan, who rose from the mayor of Istanbul to prime minister before he became president in 2014.

But the two fell out over a massive corruption scandal in 2013 that cost the country $100billion in a campaign thought to be initiated by Gulen's followers against Erdogan's closest allies.

Trained as an imam, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains, which has a population of about 1,100.

The President, who was on vacation in the resort town of Marmaris when the coup began, issued a statement to CNN tonight referring to a 'parallel structure' behind the coup, a reference to Gulen's followers.

Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan ambush a tank as it attempts to seize ground in Turkey's capital city of Ankara

One man throws himself onto the front of a moving tank. Supporters played a key role in stopping the military from taking control

Turkish civilians throw a tarpaulin over a tank to stop it from seizing control of key locations in Ankara
Britain's departure from the European Union could be delayed to appease Scotland, Theresa May indicated yesterday.

Speaking after talks with Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh, the Prime Minister said she would not trigger the formal exit process until she had agreed a 'UK approach' with leaders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mrs May's visit to Scotland, just 48 hours into her premiership, was designed to underline her determination to keep the union together but has sparked fears among MPs of a slower Brexit process.

Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Bute House in Edinburgh

Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon met for the first time since entering No 10 today, travelling to Edinburgh for talks at Bute House

Mrs May placed the Union at the heart of her first address to the nation on Wednesday night and strengthening the bonds in the United Kingdom was on the agenda today

She warned Miss Sturgeon she would not sanction a second referendum on Scottish independence.

But she struck a conciliatory tone on Europe, saying she wanted to discuss the terms of Britain's exit with Scotland's first minister before starting formal negotiations with Brussels.

Downing Street last night denied Mrs May had handed a veto to Miss Sturgeon, who wants to keep Scotland in the EU.

But Tory MP Steve Baker, chairman of the group Conservatives for Britain, warned against allowing the SNP to delay Brexit.

'No region of the UK should be allowed to hold the rest of the country to ransom,' he said.

Fellow Tory backbencher Bernard Jenkin was also worried about Scotland slowing Brexit negotiations.

The former Andrea Leadsom supporter said the new PM had his 'unqualified support' but added 'I do believe the pressure will mount for us to move far more quickly on this.'

EU leaders, and some Tory MPs, are pressing Mrs May to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty immediately. This is the formal process for leaving the EU, which fires the starting gun on two years of negotiations.

But Mrs May has said she may not act on the issue until next year. Speaking after talks with Miss Sturgeon yesterday, she said: 'I've already said that I won't be triggering Article 50 until I think that we have a UK approach and objectives.

Ms Sturgeon greeted Mrs May at Bute House today as the new Prime Minister arrived on her first official trip since entering No 10

'It is important that we establish that before we trigger Article 50.'

Asked if Scotland could have a different relationship with the EU than the rest of the UK, Mrs May said: 'I want to get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom out of our negotiations for the UK leaving the EU, but I'm willing to listen to options.

'I've been very clear with the first minister today that I want the Scottish government to be fully engaged in our discussions and our considerations, and I will listen to any options that they bring forward.'

Miss Sturgeon welcomed her comments, saying: 'I was very pleased that Theresa May said that she was absolutely willing to consider any options that the Scottish government now bring forward to secure Scotland's relationship with the European Union, and that the process that now takes shape by the UK government will be open and flexible and that the Scottish government will be fully involved in that.'

A Whitehall source last night insisted Scotland would not be allowed to block Brexit, saying Mrs May's comments had been 'over-interpreted'.

The source added: 'The Prime Minister is talking, as she has before, about having a UK approach. She is willing to listen to options, but that does not in any way amount to a veto.'

The pair were due to discuss the Brexit result and Mrs May has placed protecting the union at the heart of her mission as Prime Minister

Mrs May met Miss Sturgeon in Bute House, where Britain's two most powerful women posed for photographs on the doorstep  prompting the first minister to post a message on Twitter, saying: 'Politics aside  I hope girls everywhere look at this photograph and believe nothing should be off limits for them.'

Afterwards, Mrs May told the Daily Mail: 'I don't see the need for a second independence referendum. The Scottish people voted in a referendum two years ago. They gave a very clear message.

'The Scottish government and the UK Government agreed to abide by the decision of the people. I don't there should be a second independence referendum.'

Miss Sturgeon has warned she could demand a second referendum in the wake of the EU referendum, in which a majority of Scots voted to stay in the EU.

A Downing Street spokesman last night said: 'The Prime Minister has been very clear that it will take time for the UK government to agree its position for the negotiations. This position has not changed. As part of this, we will of course want to engage fully with the Scottish government and listen to their views.'

Mrs May drew admiring looks from onlookers as she left Bute House this afternoon following her talks with Ms Sturgeon over Brexit and the Union
Labour's election co-ordinator Jon Trickett was forced to apologise

An ally of Jeremy Corbyn has been savaged after linking the failed coup in Turkey to Labour MPs' efforts to oust their party leader.

Labour's election co-ordinator Jon Trickett was forced to apologise and withdraw a tweet saying: 'Coup organised by a small group against elected leader fails because of lack of rank and file support.'

After Labour MPs criticised Mr Trickett's post, he said: 'Okay okay. Tweet deleted and withdrawn. Shouldn't tweet when feeling (ill). I apologise sincerely'.

Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP Neil Coyle tweeted: 'deeply insensitive. Death toll in Turkey is about 90 with over 1,000 injured according to BBC. My constituents affected.'

Whip Conor McGinn said: 'Have some sense of decency Jon. Dozens were killed overnight in Turkey. Not something to joke or point-score about.'

Former shadow cabinet member Michael Dugher tweeted: 'As death toll rises to 90, I'm sure @jon-trickett will reflect & realise this comparison is not clever & not funny.'

More than 2,800 Turkish rebels have been detained after their failed military coup against Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

Erdogan made his triumphant return back to Istanbul after his forces quelled the coup on Friday evening, as he warned that the members of the military behind the plot to oust him would pay a 'heavy price for their treason.'

The vast majority of Labour MPs are engaged in a battle to replace Mr Corbyn after most of his shadow cabinet resigned and 172 MPs backed a no confidence motion in him.

He withdraw a tweet saying: 'Coup organised by a small group against elected leader fails because of lack of rank and file support.' He is pictured at a Momentum campaign rally

But with Mr Corbyn securing a place in the new leadership contest without needing to gain MPs' nominations, his support among rank and file party members could see him remain in position.

Mr Trickett's comments came as leadership candidate Angela Eagle warned that Labour risks becoming the 'new nasty party'.

Ms Eagle borrowed Theresa May's famous 2002 description of the Conservatives as she called for action from the Labour leadership on 'abuse, misogyny, homophobia (and) anti-Semitism' affecting the party.

More than 2,800 Turkish rebels have been detained after their failed military coup against Turkish President Recep Erdogan

Her call came shortly after Labour's National Executive Committee suspended all local party meetings amid reports of intimidation, bullying and threatening behaviour, and just days after a brick was thrown through her own constituency office window in Wallasey on Merseyside.

The party has suspended its constituency party in Brighton and Hove and annulled the results of a recent election following accusations of abusive behaviour, an improper ballot and entryism by far-left activists.
She rose to fame for posting controversially raunchy videos and photos

A Pakistani social media celebrity whose raunchy selfies sparked outrage in the Muslim country has allegedly been strangled by her brother in an 'honour killing'.

Qandeel Baloch, 26, who was condemned by conservatives, was found dead near the city of Multan where she was visiting her parents during Eid on Friday, police chiefs said.

Police suspect Miss Baloch's brother Waseem of killing the model and said he is on the run. He had allegedly been threatening her to stop posting photos and videos on Facebook.

A Pakistani social media celebrity whose raunchy selfies sparked outrage in the Muslim country has allegedly been strangled by her brother in an 'honour killing'

Qandeel Baloch, 26, whose raunchy videos (pictured) sparked outrage in the Muslim country has allegedly been strangled by her brother Waseem in an 'honour killing'

Qandeel Baloch, 26, who was condemned by conservatives, was found dead near the city of Multan where she was visiting her parents during Eid on Friday, police chiefs said

'Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother. Apparently it was an incident of honour killing,' Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, said.

Miss Baloch had travelled with her family from the southern port city of Karachi to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Eid holiday.

'The brother was also there last night and the family told us that he strangled her to death,' Azhar Akram, another senior police official in Multan told AFP.

Up to 100 officers were gathered outside her family's home in Muzzafarabad, preventing neighbours from gathering. Five ambulances were also parked nearby.

The model shared hundreds of videos of her dancing in minimal clothing with her 123,000 Instagram followers.

Hundreds of women are murdered for 'honour' every year in Pakistan. The killers overwhelmingly walk free because of a law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderer - who is often also a relative.

The model's brother Waseem had allegedly been threatening her to stop posting photos and videos on Facebook and is now on the run

Miss Baloch had travelled with her family from the southern port city of Karachi to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Eid holiday

News of the murder was trending on social media in Pakistan, with liberal users calling for action, but some conservatives - including users identified as women - condemning Baloch's relentless self-promotion.

In one typical comment, Twitter user @JiaAli wrote: 'Someone had to do it. She was a disgrace.'

But Facebook user Zaair Hussain said: 'RIP Qandeel Baloch. You made us laugh, and you made us applaud... I think history will remember you as a provocateur, a living exhibit, a larger than life role - just as you would want to be remembered.'

Sharmilla Faruqi wrote on Twitter: 'She didn't conform to the norm, outspoken and unapologetic, silenced forever. Shocked and saddened at #Qandeel Baloch's murder'.

Miss Baloch shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking 'How em looking?' went viral.

Her defiance of tradition and defence of liberal views won her many admirers among Pakistan's overwhelmingly young population.

But in a country where women have fought for rights for decades, and acid attacks and honour killings remain commonplace, she was also reviled by many and frequently subject to misogynist abuse online.

Miss Baloch provoked controversy last month after posing for selfies with a high-profile cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi, who was sternly rebuked by the country's religious affairs ministry.

The pictures showed Baloch wearing her traditional lambs wool cap as she posed next to the cleric. Qavi later said Baloch had asked him for a meeting and they met in a hotel.

On Valentine's Day, she donned a plunging scarlet dress and posted a video message defying the country's president, who had issued a stern warning against the 'Western' celebration. The post garnered more than 70,000 'likes'.

'People are going crazy - especially girls. I get so many calls where they tell me I'm their inspiration and they want to be like me,' she told AFP at the time.

Miss Baloch shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking 'How em looking?' went viral

Last month, Miss Baloch hit headlines when she posted selfies with the Muslim cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi

Her defiance of tradition and defence of liberal views won her many admirers among Pakistan's overwhelmingly young population

She had reportedly spoken of leaving the country after Eid out of fear for her safety.

Filmmaker Sharmeemn Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary on honour killings won an Oscar earlier this year, slammed Baloch's murder as symptomatic of an 'epidemic' of violence against women in Pakistan.

Mr Obaid-Chinoy said the murder would make women feel less safe.

'There is not a single day where you don't pick up a paper and see a woman hasn't been killed,' the maker of 'A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness' told AFP.

'What is frightening is this is an epidemic... I really feel that no woman is safe in this country, until we start making examples of people, until we start sending men who kill women to jail.'

Obaid-Chinoy's film was hailed by Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who in February vowed to push through anti-honour killing legislation.
Tory MP Charlotte Leslie has called off her engagement to a BBC local radio presenter.

The 37-year-old vicars daughter met John Davell five years ago and the pair got engaged on Christmas Day 2014.

That same year the Bristol North West MP was famously photographed in a 'Baywatch' pose in a bid to raise awareness of the lifesaving efforts carried out daily on Britain's coasts.

Tory MP Charlotte Leslie has called off her engagement to a BBC local radio presenter. She is pictured posing as a 'Baywatch babe' in a bid to raise awareness of the lifesaving efforts carried out daily on Britain's coasts

The 37-year-old vicars daughter met John Davell (pictured) five years ago and the pair got engaged on Christmas Day 2014

It is with great sadness that John and I separated a few months ago, she said. We remain the very closest friends.

The news comes after she underwent emergency surgery last week because of a potentially life- threatening condition.

She had her appendix removed, but then suffered pleurisy and a pulmonary embolism, where a blood clot blocks the artery between the heart and lungs.

Mr Darvall, 48, was angered after being moved by BBC bosses from his morning spot in the run-up to last years General Election to avoid possible accusations of impartiality.

Its been a truly terrible year for twice-divorced Darvall, whose daughter Polly, 22, died in a car crash last November.

It is with great sadness that John and I separated a few months ago, she said. We remain the very closest friends
Garage boss said he asked to hire the biggest and most powerful lorry

Truck terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel demanded the 'heaviest and most powerful' lorry from a rental company so he could kill the maximum number of people, the garage boss has revealed.

The manager of Via Location told of the moment she came face-to-face with the ISIS killer when he hired the 19-tonne lorry which became a weapon of mass murder.

'The terrorist demanded the biggest vehicle we have,' she said. 'The heaviest, the most powerful, the most massive, to create the maximum number of victims.

'We only rent out lorries here, not weapons, not Kalashnikovs. We are all very shocked. We all live in Nice and are thinking of the families.'

The ISIS killer collected the deadly lorry from the Via Location premises (pictured) in a rural village surrounded by farmland about 30 minutes west of Nice

The manager of Via Location recalls the moment she came face-to-face with the ISIS killer when he hired the 19-tonne lorry

The vehicle was towed away after Bouhlel used it to kill more than 80 people during the Bastille Day celebrations on Thursday evening

At about 10:45pm, Bouhlel (pictured) drove the lorry towards the crowds of pedestrians with its headlights off, gradually picking up speed and zigzagging along the promenade

The 31-year-old Tunisian, described by ISIS today as a 'soldier', used his credit card and driving licence to collect the vehicle from the garage in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, 30 minutes west of Nice on Monday.

He was due to return the vehicle on Wednesday, 24 hours before he drove into crowds enjoying the July 14 Bastille Day celebrations on the Nice promenade.

Bouhlel did not have the correct driving licence to rent a lorry of that size, Le Figaro reported.

As the vehicle was a 19-tonne refrigerated lorry, he needed a 'C permit' licence, for which he would have required an extensive medical examination. 'C permits' expire every five years.

To qualify for one a driver must be at least 21 years old and have lived in France for at least six months, with a valid work permit.

The deposit for renting such a vehicle alone can run to thousands of Euros, and must be paid by credit card. The hire price is thought to be about 250 per day.

How the fanatic hired the lorry without this licence is unknown. MailOnline has sought comment from Via Location.

The firm's office, on an industrial estate surrounded by countryside, was locked up on Saturday as staff tried to come to terms with the tragedy.

Anti-terror police found Bouhlel's identification papers inside the bullet-ridden lorry cab after it was brought to a halt in a hail of gunfire on Thursday.

Several other Islamist killers who have carried out attacks in France and Belgium were also found in possession of identity documents after the atrocities.

The manager of Via Location hire company said: '[The terrorist demanded] the biggest vehicle we have. The heaviest, the most powerful, the most massive, to create the maximum number of victims'

The terrorist hired the lorry from the company just 30 minutes west of Nice before carrying out the attack

The 19-tonne lorry was towed away from the promenade in Nice after it was used to carry out the brutal attack

After collecting the refrigerated lorry, Bouhlel parked it in a suburban street on the eastern side of the city, inside the cordon that was set up for the evening's firework display.

He had parked inside the cordon for at least nine hours when he was spoken to by police whom he fobbed off by telling them he was delivering ice cream, it is claimed.

At 9:04pm, the drug-fuelled fanatic was caught on camera as he cycled up to the lorry and threw his bicycle in the back.

He drove in the direction of the famous Promenade Des Anglais, where the festivities were taking place.

Thousands of people had gathered on the boardwalk to enjoy the balmy weather and watch the firework display, among them hundreds of children.

At about 10:45pm, Bouhlel drove the lorry towards the crowds of pedestrians with its headlights off, gradually picking up speed and zigzagging along the promenade, mowing down scores of innocent people while screaming, 'Allahu Akbar'.

There were also reports that the deranged murderer was shooting from the cab of the lorry, leaving dozens dead and seriously injured by gunfire.

Zaharia Alexandru, who has lived in Nice for 26 years, was sitting in his car waiting for a friend when he saw the lorry speeding along the boardwalk.

'I heard lots of people screaming,' he said. 'I got out of my car and began trying to find my children, like everyone else was looking for their children. I was running about 10 feet behind the truck.

'There were lots of bodies. Many were already dead. Their skulls were shattered, you could see that.

Forensics officers and policemen looked for evidences in the truck on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera town of Nice

In the cab, police found two automatic pistols, two replica assault rifles  a Kalashnikov and an M16  a grenade and ammunition

'Everyone was trying to help the ones who were still alive.'

In an astonishing act of heroism, a passing motorcyclist raced up to the lorry and leaped at the cab in an effort to end the carnage.

It was not clear last night if he survived, though eyewitness John Cordwell, 66, a British expat living in Germany with a holiday home in Nice, said he believes the hero motorcyclist was killed.

'There was a motorbike that had been propped up on the verge and the body of the rider covered with a blanket, with his black leather boots poking out,' Mr Cordwell said.

'It was probably [the hero]. Who else could it have been? The motorcycle is there, he's lying next to it, dead.

'The motorcycle wasn't damaged. It wasn't hit by the truck, so we presumed it was this same man who confronted the truck driver.'

In the final stages of the atrocity, Bouhlel opened fire at three police officers outside L'Hotel Negresco, where hundreds of bloodied and terrified people had taken refuge.

The officers fired back, pursuing the lorry for another 300 yards, shooting repeatedly at the cab before it finally came to a halt outside the Palais de la Mediterranee.

By this stage it had travelled just over a mile, swinging back and forth between the road and promenade beside the sea.

Five police officers, including a woman, fired more than 60 shots through the windscreen and doors before carefully approaching the vehicle.

After collecting the deadly lorry, Bouhlel (picture) parked it in a suburban street on the eastern side of the city, inside the cordon that was set up for the evening's firework display

Thousands of people had gathered on the boardwalk to enjoy the balmy weather and watch the firework display, among them hundreds of children

After the shootout, Bouhlel's head was seen dangling from the window of the lorry cab. When the door was opened, his dead body fell to the ground.

In the cab, police found two automatic pistols, two replica assault rifles  a Kalashnikov and an M16  a grenade and ammunition.

Many families were separated in the chaos, leaving the heartbreaking sight of children's pushchairs scattered across the road. A little girl lay dead, covered only by an emergency blanket, with her doll lying alongside her.

Survivors grabbed beach towels and sheets to cover the dead, only leaving the killer's body exposed beside the lorry.
The once popular Turkish President faced a short but brutal recession that left hundreds dead last night as rebels fought against his increasingly authoritarian leadership.

But he still held enough sway to force the people onto the streets to face armed rebels that helped the government regain control within just five hours.

However, after bringing a decade of unprecedented growth to the nation since taking power in 2000, his grip is now slipping due to an economic slowdown mainly caused by the Arab Spring.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses during an attempted coup in Istanbul that left more than 200 dead before it was crushed in less than five hours

He convinced the people of Turkey to go out onto the streets and retake control of the country in the coup

As a member of NATO, civil war could mean NATO forces would be forced to support the government.

Placed in a strategically significant spot geographically, bordering with Syria, Iraq, Iran and Greece, its collapse could be disastrous for the West.

He has to balance his relationship with the West against attacks from ISIS, which have increased since American planes started taking off from Turkish soil.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces opposition from ISIS, the Kurdish PKK, and the secular groups who used to run the country but lost power as a result of the leader's pro-Islam reforms.

Attacks, as well as the financial crisis in Europe, with bordering Greece on the brink of financial ruin, have hit tourism and the economy in general, which is eating away at his support base.

Professor Tahir Abbas, a lead researcher with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said: 'With the civil war in Syria and the Eurozone crisis, he is caught between fire on one side and collapse on the other.'

Erdogan (pictured in 2002) has led the country since 2000 and oversaw a decade of economic growth

After last night's coup, Erdogan blamed Fethullah Gulen, who Prof Abbas says is a common scapegoat for whatever the president deems as 'attacks on the state'.

Gulen is the leader of a billion-dollar religious movement that used to have control of banks, newspapers, and other groups within Turkish society before Erdogan started dismantling his power base.

He has reportedly shut down banks, newspapers and universities linked to the group in moves to increase his authoritarian control over the country, silencing opposition.

Although Prof Abbas claims he is an unlikely culprit, describing Gulen as a 'quiet, mystic, sort of person, who is quite ill with kidney problems and lives in the US in self-exile'.

Social media users have even suggested that the coup was a conspiracy that Erdogan would use to seize yet more power.

Erdogan took control of Turkey in 2000 after the former coalition was forced to resign when the military, which has always maintained some independence from the state, threatened a coup.

The new President promised a more pro-Islam agenda, which would appease poorer and more traditional, conservative people within the more rural areas of the country.

Until 2014, it was illegal for any woman with a headscarf to teach in a school and university.

But this lead to tension with the more secular side of society, who previously had enjoyed preferential treatment, that lost out as a result of the power shift.

However, Erdogan won popularity with the promise of investment in public infrastructure and the opening up of the Turkish economy, which led to an average of a five per cent average GDP growth for a decade.

During that time, he increased his majority during elections but when Assad's rule over Syria started to collapse, as well as the European economy, Turkey - and Erdogan - were the first to suffer.

Turkey is a key ally of the West as it borders Syria, Iraq, Iran and Greece. Pictured is Erdogan shaking hands with Tony Blair in 2004

Turkey initially backed anti-Assad rebels - including what later morphed into ISIS - but Islamist fighters turned on the state when it became the launchpad for US-led airraids.

The government also faces opposition from the Kurds, a minority group split between various nations including Turkey and Iraq, and have created a violent rebel organisation called the PKK.

The PKK has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Turkey, which have intensified since the Kobani incident in 2015.

The Turkish government voted to support Kurds under siege from ISIS, who had taken the city, although tanks refused to go onto Syrian soil and Kurdish fighters eventually came to its aid.

Professor Abbas said: 'More than 40,000 people have lost their lives in battles between the Turkish state and the PKK in the last 20 years.

Professor Tahir Abbas (pictured) says that Erdogan still holds huge sway in the country and is unlikely to lose power after wiping out opposition

'Erdogan had started a peace process and offered them limited power but that all ended after the Kobani incident.'

In an election in 2015, Erdogan failed to win a mandate outright, with the opposition eating away at his power base amid turbulent times.

However, with terrorism becoming 'the new normal', the climate gave him a mandate to introduce increasingly authoritarian measures and regain control by by November.

Despite his censorship and brutal oppression of the opposition, Prof Abbas said he is still an ally of western nations, a country which has wanted to join the EU since the 50s and guards the gateway between East and West.

He said: 'No-one wants a civil war in Turkey as it is in a strategically significant place, very close to Russia and Syria - there are just too many international actors at play.'

Despite last night's coup, Prof Abbas believes he is still strong enough to hold on to power after his advice convinced people to go out on the streets and risk their lives to overcome it.

And after years of crushing his opposition, there are few prominent politicians left - even within his own AKP party - who could take his place.

'He is between a rock and a hard place, the west on one side middle east on the other, Russia. But in Turkey, he still has the unwavering, unquestionable support of at least 50 per cent of the population,' he said.

He added: 'Although the army has always been somewhat independent, the police are 100 per cent loyal to the state.

'I imagine that now he sees himself as an imperial president, in charge until 2023, the centenary of the birth of Turkey, when he can reinvent turkey in the way that Ataturk did 100 years ago.'

But the instability within Europe and the region, as well as the recession in the wake of his decade of boom, may cause his downfall.

Prof Abbas added: 'The economy is struggling because of terrorism, morale is low, traders are suffering. Those poor people were once poor were getting richer, but that has hauled.

'All these things that created a 21st century Turkey could lead to his fall.'
The Western district of the Methodist church has elected an openly gay bishop despite the denomination's ban on same-sex relationships.

The Rev. Karen Oliveto of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco was elected late Friday night at a meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, of the church's Western Jurisdiction.

Oliveto is pastor of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. She is the first openly gay bishop in the 12.7 million-member denomination.

The Rev. Karen Oliveto of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco was elected Bishop late Friday night

The United Methodist Church is deeply divided over LGBT rights. Church law says same-gender relationships are 'incompatible with Christian teaching.'

But several regional districts are openly defying the prohibition by appointing gay clergy and allowing same-sex weddings in churches. Some instances have led to trials under the church legal system.

Oliveto's election could draw complaints that will prompt a review under church law.

'Being a self-avowed, practicing homosexual is a chargeable offense for any clergyperson in The United Methodist Church, if indeed this is the case,' said Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, issued a statement regarding the results.

The openly gay Rev. Oliveto was elected Bishop despite the Methodist Church's official ban on same sex relationships

Oliveto is the co-author of the book Talking about Homosexuality: A Congregational Resource

'The Council of Bishops is monitoring this situation very closely. Our differences are real and cannot be glossed over, but they are also reconcilable. We are confident God is with us, especially in uncharted times and places. There is a future with hope.'

Oliveto has been a minister since 1989, first with San Francisco State University, according to Glide's website.

Oliveto is a pastor at the Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco (above)
Iran has attempted to launch a new type of ballistic missile based on North Korean technology, say American intelligence officials.

The missile is said to have been launched on 11 July near the the city of Saman, an hour west of Isfahan.

The test reportedly ended in failure when the North Korean BM-25 Musudan ballistic missile exploded shortly after lift off.

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Iran has attempted to launch a new type of ballistic missile based on North Korean technology. Pictured: Iran's successful launch of an Emad long-range ballistic missile in October

The maximum range of the missile is nearly 2,500 miles, meaning it could reach U.S. forces in the Middle East and Israel, reports Fox News.

The test comes two days before the anniversary of an historic nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers and is at least the fourth attempted launch since the deal was signed.

Iran is not banned from testing non-nuclear ballistic missiles under the nuclear accord but is barred from doing so under UN Resolution 2231.

The Resolution calls upon Iran 'not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.'

It took North Korea five attempts before it successfully put a Musadan missile in space prompting the US to deploy an advanced anti-ballistic missile system known as THAAD into South Korea.

The US head of Central Command, responsible for military operations in the Middle East, told Fox News that Iran continues to cause trouble in the region.

'Iran's behavior hasn't significantly changed as a result of the nuclear agreement,' said Gen. Joseph Votel.

After Iran's previous attempt to launch a missile in March, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the tests were 'not consistent' with the spirit of the agreement

'They continue to pursue malign activities, and they continue to foment instability in areas where we need stability so I remain concerned about that continued behavior.'

After Iran's previous attempt to launch a missile in March, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council that the tests were 'not consistent' with the spirit of the nuclear agreement signed with world powers.

The secretary general left it up to the Security Council to determine what, if anything, should be done in response.

His report did not clearly state whether the Iranian tests violated the provisions of the landmark nuclear deal signed in July 2015 in Vienna.

Under the agreement, Tehran agreed to curb its atomic program. Western powers accused Iran of using the program to develop a nuclear bomb, but Tehran always denied the allegation.

Iran's foreign ministry last week rejected Ban's report as 'contradicting the text of the agreement'.

It instead called for a report on 'America's failure to undertake its commitments in the deal, as all countries who have restored economic cooperations with Iran have acknowledged'.

Tehran accuses Washington of failing to reassure foreign companies and especially international banks planning to restore links with Iran.

The deal led to the lifting of sanctions in January. However, Iran's ballistic missile program was not covered by the agreement.

'While it is for the Security Council to interpret its own resolutions, I am concerned that those ballistic missile launches are not consistent with the constructive spirit demonstrated by the signing' of the nuclear deal, reads part of Ban's 16-page report, dated July 1.

'I am concerned by the ballistic missile launches conducted by Iran in March 2016.
This is the moment a blissful couple enjoy dancing the night away as they listen to jazz music in Nice.

The pair were captured on mobile phone footage smiling and laughing as they twirl around, with a crowd of on-lookers turning to watch their delighted antics.

But moments later their happiness was destroyed after a huge lorry mowed down scores of people in a terrorist attack on Bastille Day.

A happy couple were pictured dancing to jazz music in Nice just moments before the terrorist attack

Others celebrating Bastille Day turned to watch the carefree pair twirling around with joy

The crowd, pictured, focused on the stage and were completely unaware of the horrors that would follow

Uplifting music can be heard in the background as the crowd have no idea of the horrors that are soon to come.

Trucker terrorist Mohamed Bouhlel murdered 84 people after ploughing the 19-tonne lorry into the swathes of people celebrating.

The lorry swerved violently from side to side, zigzagging across the boulevard as the driver bore down on those trying to flee for their lives.

Witnesses said that bodies of victims began to combine with other debris in the lorry's wheel arches, slowing its progress.

Drug-fuelled jihadist Bouhlel screamed 'Allahu Akbar' as he mowed down his victims.

The deranged mass killer was also shooting from the vehicle  and is feared to have left dozens dead and maimed with gunshot wounds.

Some bodies lay in an area enclosed by bollards and street lamps where the lorry did not travel  suggesting the victims were shot.

Among the dead were father and son Sean Copeland, 51, and Brodie, 11, from Texas, who were on a 'dream holiday' with their family.

Russian student Victoria Savchenko, 21, was killed instantly when she was hit by the truck, while senior French police officer Emmanuel Grout, who was off-duty, was also slain by the vehicle.

Bouhlel was finally brought to a halt when he was shot dead in a hail of bullets by French police.

More than 60 shots were fired at the truck, which had travelled just over a mile along the promenade by the time it was stopped.

Also dead are Sean Copeland (right), 51, and his son Brodie Copeland, 11, from Texas (left) who were killed while on holiday in France

Victoria (right) was walking with her friend Polina Serebryannikova (left), 22, who described how she watched the student die instantly as she was hit

So far 84 people have been confirmed dead in the horrific terror truck, pictured, attack in Nice on Thursday

French President Francois Hollande said that as well as the 84 dead, some 50 people were 'between life and death' and 'many foreigners are dead'.

Two Armenians, a Ukranian and one Swiss national are among the dead, their foreign ministries confirmed, but they did not identify the victims.

Dozens of pictures have been posted on social media in a desperate bid to find loved ones who have been missing since the devastating terror attack in Nice last night.

People posted images of friends, brothers and sisters, mothers and numerous young people who they have been unable to reach since at least 84 people were killed in the southern French city.
Istanbul's most senior soldier has been charged with treason as eight leading members of the plot to overthrow the government have fled to Greece.

General Erdal Ozturk who commanded the Third Army Corps has been detained is is facing treason charges for his role in the aborted coup.

His men attempted to seize strategic locations across Istanbul last night when they were confronted by thousands of unarmed civilians who came out in support of Presdient Recep Erdogan.

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Rebel leader General Erdal Ozturk, pictured, has been arrested and charged with treason

General Erdal Ozturk, right, pictured here in Washington in October 2014 has been arrested and is facing charges of treason for his leading role in last night's coup against Turkish president Recep Erdogan

Ozturk, second left, is commander of the the Third Army Corps based in Istanbul according to reports

Erdogan has suggested the ringleaders could face the death penalty even though Turkey abolished capital punishment as part of its attempts to join the European Union.

Turkish officials have said 161 civilians have killed and 1,440 wounded.

Almost 2,900 troops have been arrested, including at least two generals.

Eight soldiers landed in Alexandroupolis today and tried to claim asylum in the EU state, after a coup in neigbouring Turkey that left more than 265 people dead.

Officials said 161 of the victims were mostly civilians and police officers, with 104 members of the coup.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu immediately demanded that the captain, two majors and five privates were returned 'immediately' to Turkey where they would face punishment.

Turkey has demanded the return of eight 'treacherous' rebels who have fled to Greece in a helicopter and requested asylum after last night's military coup

Two majors, a captain and five privates have landed in the EU nation in a military helicopter today, according to Turkish Dogan news agency

Greece's defense ministry confirmed that a Blackhawk helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the city of Alexandroupolis earlier Saturday

Greece claimed it would have to consider international laws before returning them, although it promised to send the helicopter back.

However, Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Greece has now promised to return the 'treacherous soldiers' to be punished in Turkey.

The news comes after Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said the nation would consider bringing back the death penalty to deal with them, after it was abolished in 2004.

The blackhawk helicopter landed in Greece today after a night of violence in Istanbul, where more than 1,500 people were injured.

Some 104 plotters were killed, while more than 200 people - at least 41 of them police officers and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.

Footage shows Greek officials leading the men out in handcuffs after they were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.

A spokeswoman for Greece, Olga Gerovasili, today said that they are in contact with Turkish authorities and will arrange 'the return of the military helicopter as soon as possible'.

As for the eight military passengers, she said: 'We will follow the procedures of international law.

'However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that (the Turkish military men) are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy.'

Greek police say that the eight arrested Turks include two majors, four captains and two sergeants first class.

This differs from Turkish sources that said they were two majors, a captain sand five privates.

Last night, the army had told people to stay indoors so that they could depose President Erdogan, but they were met by civilians who confronted them, defending the government.

Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and laid in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country.

President Erdogan called on people to take to the streets, leading to reports of groups of soldiers surrendering at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge.

There were unconfirmed reports of one soldier being beheaded by a mob of civilians on the bridge after a video surfaced online showing a crowd launching an attack on the downed man. However in the video the man is still alive and shows no beheading, though it is unknown if this happened after the footage ended

Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'

This morning the President used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment.'

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers.

Today, thousands of Turks were in the streets celebrating and rounding up the remaining soldiers, some of whom were publicly beaten by the crowds.
A New Hampshire woman is free after serving a three-year prison sentence for luring a co-worker to her apartment in 2012 as a sex offering for her domineering boyfriend.

Kathryn 'Kat' McDonough then helped him dispose of the co-worker's body after authorities said he strangled and raped the woman.

On Saturday, McDonough was released from the women's prison in Goffstown at 12.05am, according to corrections spokesman Jeff Lyons.

The now 22-year-old had pleaded guilty in 2013 to lying about the disappearance and death of 19-year-old Elizabeth 'Lizzi' Marriott, of Westborough, Massachusetts.

Kathryn 'Kat' McDonough, 22, (picutred in 2014) is free after serving a three-year prison sentence for her role in the 2012 rape and murder of 19-year-old Elizabeth 'Lizzi' Marriott

Marriott (pictured left, and right with her parents), was strangled to death after she refused to take part in a threesome with McDonough and her boyfriend Seth Mazzaglia

She testified against her boyfriend, Seth Mazzaglia, describing their sexual relationship marked by bondage and sadomasochism.

He was convicted of murder, and is currently serving a sentence of life without parole.

Marriott, who worked with McDonough at a department store, was killed only weeks after beginning her sophomore year as a marine biology major at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Her body has not been recovered.

McDonough first told investigators that Marriott died during rough sex between them using restraints.

After getting immunity from prosecution, she changed her story, saying Mazzaglia killed Marriott after she rejected him.

'You had the chance to do the right thing  to try to help, to do something heroic,' Marriott's father, Bob Marriott, said at McDonough's sentencing.

Seth Mazzaglia was convicted of murder, and is currently serving a sentence of life without parole

'Your failure in that moment is why Lizzi is not here to live out her life.'

During the trial, McDonough, who was on the stand for 10 days, testified that Mazzaglia demanded that McDonough find him a sex partner.

She said Marriott went to McDonough and Mazzaglia's home in Dover, thinking she was going to watch a movie or play a video game.

Instead, McDonough testified, Mazzaglia strangled the woman with a rope after she rebuffed his sexual advances and then raped her motionless body.

McDonough and Mazzaglia said they then used Marriott's car to transport her body and dumped it off of Portsmouth's Peirce island.

She also testified that Mazzaglia, now 33, was angry at her when she left him home for nearly two weeks without a sex partner while she attended theater camp and demanded she bring him another woman to join in their sexual escapades, which included bondage and discipline.

Mazzaglia's lawyers said McDonough was the dominatrix, a woman who made Mazzaglia her sex slave and was obsessed with finding another woman to dominate.

They said she lied and testified against him to get a more lenient sentence, however McDonough testified she was always the submissive in their relationship.

During cross-examination, McDonough began sobbing as she blurted out that she couldn't remember minor details from the night Marriott was killed.

She said the image of Mazzaglia strangling Marriott took over her mind.

When the witness was not visibly tearing up, defense attorney Joachim Barth challenged her outburst, asking 'You cry without tears, Ms. McDonough?' She did not reply.

In November 2014, McDonough was denied parole.

The parole board said she could apply again once she takes mental health classes and develops a better post-release plan that involves her living out-of-state.

McDonough pictured left and right during court in 2014 as she broke down crying after being asked how she felt after telling jurors how she pushed Marriott's body into the water and covered it with seaweed

Chairwoman Donna Sytek said, 'You got the deal of the century.'

McDonough told the board she'd had a lot of time to think about 'what a horrible, horrible thing it was. I allowed someone's life to end.'

As her release from prison neared, she planned to live with her father on the seacoast, however the parole board was concerned that she not live so close to the scene of the crimes.

Due to her notoriety, board members said, McDonough would have difficulty finding a job or even being in public near where the crime occurred.

But with the sentence served, she is under no obligation to follow the board's guidelines, and the board cannot impose any conditions on her, nor does she have to tell authorities where she will live.
A drunk off-duty police officer reportedly plowed his SUV into a group of pedestrians in Brooklyn, killing one man and injuring a further three - and then flashed his badge at the scene.

Rookie cop Nicholas Batka, 28, crashed into the victims, all in their 20s, on Bedford Avenue near N. 8th Street in Williamsburg shortly after 3am on Saturday.

Batka, who was driving a gray Dodge Durango, was taken to hospital in police custody.

He was speeding down Bedford Avenue when he lost control of the vehicle and struck two men and two women, police said.

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Rookie cop Nicholas Batka (pictured) plowed into four people in Williamsburg shortly after 3am on Saturday, killing one

Batka was speeding down Bedford Avenue when he lost control of gray Dodge Durango (pictured)

Batka, who has been with the NYPD for 18 months, is facing a number of DUI-related charges, a police spokesman told Daily Mail Online.

He was supposed to be reporting for duty at 7am. Police said he refused to take a breath test at the scene.

The victims have not been identified, but witnesses told the New York Daily News that three are from Boston and interning in the city. Three were said to be in serious condition in hospital..

Witnesses also described the horrific scene in the aftermath of the collision.

Ryan Carpenter, 27, had been walking home when he saw the scene of the crash and ran over to help.

He described the horror of trying to calm one of the screaming victims whose leg was seriously injured.

Police said he refused to take a breath test at the scene and will be facing a number of charges

One person is dead and the other three victims are in hospital in a serious condition after the crash

I ran over and this girls leg was in half, he told the Daily News. 'I took my shirt off and tried to stop the bleeding while trying to calm her. She kept screaming.'

An employee of the Bedford Gourmet Food Store, which is across the street from where the crash occurred, said the driver had tried to leave the scene.

[The driver] was trying to back out too and kept going into the building. People were holding the driver from leaving.

The officer also flashed his badge at the scene as he tried to get out of his car, witnesses told NBC New York.
The Australian license owner for children's clothing label Kardashian Kids has had a sole liquidator appointed by the Supreme Court of NSW after the company closed in early July.

The clothing range has not been available in Big W stores or online for several months, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Jupi 8, owned and directed by Bruno Schiavi, was the subject of legal action from creditor Pick Packers, a logistics company that provides warehouse and shipping services.

The Australian license owner for children's clothing label Kardashian Kids, by Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian (pictured) has had a sole liquidator appointed by the Supreme Court of NSW

The company, Jupi 8, closed in early July and the clothing range hasn't been stocked at Big W (pictured) for several months

Jupi 8, the company that owns the Australian license for the Kardashian Kids range (pictured) is owned and directed by Bruno Schiavi

There are believed to be more creditors including a media agency, which is said to have launched separate legal bid to close the company.

It's estimated the combined total of the creditor's claims is more than $80,000.

The Kardashian Kids label has not been stocked in Big W stores for the past few months.

The children's clothing range is no longer available in Big W stores or online (pictured)

As well as stocking the children's range (pictured) Jupi 8 also has the Australian license for the Kardashian Kollection and Rob Kardashian's Arthur George Loungewear range

Jupi 8 also owns the Australian license for the adults Kardashian Kollection range, Rob Kardashians Arthur George Loungewear range and the Kelly Osbourne clothing label 'Stories'.

The company also stocks Dr Rey Shapewear lingerie and MensFit underwear.

A Jupi 8 staff member told The Daily Telegraph the range would be in Big W stores again in August in time for spring.

The staff member also said that Jupi 8 still owned the license for the range and it was operating from an office site, instead of a shop in Surry Hills.

It's estimated the combined total of the creditor's claims against Jupi 8 are more than $80,000
A horse was found emaciated and oozing thick green pus from a severe wound on its neck after its owner failed to look after it as directed - because she had developed depression and had been 'dabbling' with drugs.

Rebecca Rowe and her partner Nicholas Holmes pleaded guilty to charges of failing to seek adequate veterinary treatment for their horse Star and have been fined $9,522.

The seven-year-old chestnut thoroughbred male had injured its shoulder and developed a severe infection that could have been life-threatening had RSPCA Victoria not intervened, the Cranbourne Leader reports.

A horse named Star (pictured) was found emaciated and oozing thick green pus from a severe wound on its neck after its owner failed to look after it as directed  because she had developed depression and had been 'dabbling' with drugs

Magistrate Gerard Bryant told a court that the couple's neglect of the horse was 'inexcusable'.

'It's abundantly clear from the photos that the horse was in distress,' he said.

'I do not imagine it would have been that difficult to say to inspectors 'I am strapped financially at the moment'.

'That doesn't appear to have happened, there doesn't appear to have been a call for help, just the systematic neglect of this animal.'

Rowe had organised a vet to come and look at her horse in January 2015 when she was given oral antibiotics and told to clean the wound regularly.

Rebecca Rowe and her partner Nicholas Holmes, have pleaded guilty to the charges of failing to seek adequate veterinary treatment for their horse Star, a seven-year-old chestnut thoroughbred male Dandenong Local Court (pictured) heard

Only four weeks later, reports were received by the RSPCA saying that the horse's wound was leaking blood and sebum and Rowe admitted that she had not cleaned the wound but had given the horse its antibiotics.

A notice was issued to the couple to get the horse treatment which was ignored and after two more visits inspectors from the RSPCA seized Star on February 26 2015.

The couple had initially resisted but once police arrived on scene they eventually complied, reported the newspaper.

Holmes had been in prison some of the time that the horse had been sick and believed Rowe had been taking care of it.

It is believed the de facto couple are now living in Tasmania and that Rowe owns horses in that state, despite receiving a total fine of $9,522  which include RSPCA Victoria (pictured) costs

The court heard that Rowe failed to look after it because an accident in 2013 when she broke her neck had caused the mother-of-three to lose her job and she had spiralled into a deep depression.

A court also heard that she had 'dabbled' in drug use.

The horse has since made a full recovery and is waiting to be re-homed at this time.

It is believed the defacto couple are now living in Tasmania and that Rowe owns horses in that state.

Rowe and Holmes were fined $2,500 each and ordered to pay the RSPCA's $4,522 costs.

RSPCA Victoria Prosecutor Daniel Bode said the case should serve as a reminder to all animal owners to provide adequate care.
More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after failed coup that killed at least 250 and wounded more than 1,500

overnment should be won by 'free and fair elections'

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Turkey's president has urged President Barack Obama to arrest the Pennsylvania-based cleric who is accused of orchestrating last night's failed coup.

Fethullah Gulen has been blamed for the failed coup attempt that killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 1,500.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and promotes the moderate Hizmet Islamic movement that advocates democracy and secular institutions and is popular with Turkey's upper classes.

Gulen has denied any involvement in the uprising and harshly condemned the attempted coup by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire.

The Obama administration said it would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if Turkey's government can prove Gulen's wrongdoing, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

The 75-year-old cleric left Turkey in 1999 just ahead of a treason charge.

'I call on the United States and President Barack Obama,' Erdogan said in Istanbul late Saturday, according to the New York Times.

'Dear Mr President: I told you this before. Either arrest Fethullah Gulen or return him to Turkey.

'You didn't listen. I call on you again, after there was a coup attempt. Extradite this man in Pennsylvania to Turkey. If we are strategic partners or model partners, do what is necessary.'

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured) has urged President Barack Obama to arrest the Pennsylvania-based cleric, who is accused of orchestrating last night's uprising

Fethullah Gulen has been blamed for the failed coup attempt by military officials that killed at least 250 people and wounded 1,500 more. People are pictured kicking a soldier who participated in the coup on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge on Saturday

Gulen (pictured) has been blamed for the failed coup attempt by military officials, but he has denied any involvement in the uprising and harshly condemned the attempted coup that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire

Erdogan has called on the U.S. to arrest Gulen, while the State Department said it would entertain a request to extradite him provided Turkey can prove his guilt in inciting the failed coup

Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in a Pennsylvania mansion and supports the moderate Hizmet Islamic movement that advocates democracy and secular institutions

The 75-year-old cleric left Turkey in 1999 just ahead of a treason charge. Gulen was also blamed for coordinating damaging corruption allegations that targeted senior ministers as well as Erdogan's son, Bilal, in 2013. Protesters attempt to take over tank in Turkey

The Obama administration said it would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if Turkey's government can prove Gulen's wrongdoing, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday

Obama was pictured out playing golf today while Erdogan consolidated his power after the coup and demanded that he arrest Gulen

Gulen was also blamed for coordinating damaging corruption allegations that targeted senior ministers as well as Erdogan's son, Bilal, in 2013.

However, Gulen insists that he had nothing to do with last night's uprising and suggested that Erdogan could have staged the attack himself in order to legitimize a fresh crackdown on the judiciary and military.

Already 2,745 judges and prosecutors have been arrested after the regime questioned their loyalty, while 2,839 soldiers have also been jailed.

He said: 'There is a slight chance, there is a possibility that it could be a staged coup. It could be meant for court accusations and associations. It appears that they have no tolerance for any movement, any group, any organisation that is not under their total control.'

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul overnight Friday, blocking key bridges.

From a cellphone, he delivered a televised address that called for huge crowds to come out and defend Turkey's democracy - which they did in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, facing off against troops who had blocked key Bosporus bridges that link the city's Asian and European sides

Groups of soldiers reportedly surrendered at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers.

On Saturday morning Erdogan used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment.'

Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.

Groups of soldiers reportedly surrendered at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers

Supporters of Erdogan light flares during a pro-government demonstration on Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government, but Washington has never found any evidence

Gulen, who lives in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, on a 26-acre compound called the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center (pictured), denied the allegations saying that 'it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt'

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul overnight Friday, blocking key bridges

From a cellphone, he delivered a televised address that called for huge crowds (pictured) to come out and defend Turkey's democracy - which they did in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, facing off against troops who had blocked key Bosporus bridges that link the city's Asian and European sides

The rebel army faction - who call themselves the 'Peace Council' - said they were trying to overthrow the government to 'protect human rights' and restore democracy from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, AKP, which has repeatedly faced criticism from human rights groups and Western allies over its brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters

Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'

Throughout the night, supporters of Erdogan threw themselves in front of tanks at key landmarks to prevent the military from maintaining a stranglehold on the country, notably outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul, where some civilians lodged themselves under the wheels of tanks to stop them from advancing.

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup, as Erdogan vowed revenge for the bloody uprising.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government, but Washington has never found any evidence.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that, while the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004, the country may consider legal changes to deter any such coup happening again.

Yildirim described the night as 'a black mark on Turkish democracy' and said the perpetrators 'will receive every punishment they deserve'.

He said July 15 will be remembered as 'a festival for democracy,' the day when those who carried out a coup against the people were hit by a coup themselves.

The Greek police ministry said a Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece this morning and eight men on board, thought to be senior coup plotters, have requested political asylum. Turkey has asked for the men, made up of seven soldiers and one civilian, to be extradited back to the country.

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup, as Erdogan vowed revenge for the bloody uprising. Pictured are protesters during a pro-government rally

Throughout the night, supporters of Erdogan threw themselves in front of tanks (pictured) at key landmarks to prevent the military from maintaining a stranglehold on the country, notably outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul, where some civilians lodged themselves under the wheels of tanks to stop them from advancing

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that, while the death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004, the country may consider legal changes to deter any such coup happening again. Yildirim described the night as 'a black mark on Turkish democracy' and said the perpetrators 'will receive every punishment they deserve'

The Greek police ministry said a Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece this morning and eight men on board, thought to be senior coup plotters, have requested political asylum. Turkey has asked for the men, made up of seven soldiers and one civilian, to be extradited back to the country. Pictured are protesters during a pro-government rally

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Obama also urged those in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed. Police officers (pictured) drive some of the tanks that were used by soldiers participating in the attempted coup, back to the Selimiye Army Base in Istanbul

People apprehend a Turkish soldier, (center in blue), that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge as 2,839 plotters were detained

The rebel army faction - who call themselves the 'Peace Council' - said they were trying to overthrow the government to 'protect human rights' and restore democracy from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, AKP, which has repeatedly faced criticism from human rights groups and Western allies over its brutal crackdowns on anti-government protesters.

Muslim cleric Gulen, the president's rival, who is the head of a billion dollar religious movement, has often been blamed for political unrest in Turkey.

President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey on Friday to support the democratically elected government in Turkey, a key NATO ally.

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Obama also urged those in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed.

Kerry told reporters: 'We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.'

'I'm confident there will be some discussion about that,' Kerry added.

Gulen, who lives in Saylorsburg, on a 26-acre compound called the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats.

His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

Workers inspect and clear debris after the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was bombed by rebel jets

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara after he was bombed by rebel F-16 jets as soldiers and tanks took to the streets and multiple explosions were heard throughout the night in the capital as well as Istanbul

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, 'in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.'

'Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,' he said. 'I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.'

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: 'As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.'

Elsewhere today the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has banned all flights from Turkey coming to America, and has also restricted all travel going the other way.

A spokesman said: 'The FAA is monitoring the situation in Turkey in coordination with our partners in the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves.'

The five hours of chaos began when two busloads of soldiers burst into the headquarters of the state-run TRT news agency, taking news off the air and replacing it with a stream of weather forecasts.

After launching the coup, the Turkish military imposed a curfew on civilians telling them to stay in their homes.

Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar was taken hostage at the military headquarters in the capital Ankara after an attempt to bring down the government, but was rescued during the night.

One military official, Navy Fleet Commander Admiral Veysel Kosele, is currently unaccounted for and it is unknown whether or not he was part of the coup against Erdogan.

Turkey's state-run news agency said five warships which reportedly set sail during the attempted coup have returned to their military port in northwest Turkey, but it is unclear whether or not the Admiral was abroad one of the ships.

Colonel Muharrem Kose reportedly led the Turkish military forces in the uprising.

Reiterating American support for Erdogan's government, Kerry (pictured) said the US opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process. He said the US had no prior indication of the coup attempt

A group of soldiers with an armored vehicle, involved in the attempted coup were neutralized by police after they tried to storm into Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey

Kose had recently been kicked out of the army, from his position as head of the military's legal advisory department, over his links to Gulen. He was killed during the clashes with Erdogan's supporters, sources report.

After the uprising was crushed in the early hours of Saturday morning, Erdogan told the gathered masses at Ataturk Airport that those loyal to Gulen had 'penetrated the Armed Forces and the police, among other government agencies, over the past 40 years'.

'What is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a treason,' Erdogan said. 'They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.'

Reiterating American support for Erdogan's government, Kerry said the US opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader.

He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process.

Kerry also said that US military cooperation with its NATO ally has been unaffected by the turmoil. 'All of that continues as before,' Kerry said.

He said the US had no prior indication of the coup attempt.

It appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government.

Turkey plays a key role in US-led efforts against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.




A young British holidaymaker has drowned after jumping into the sea off the resort of San Antonio in Ibiza.

The body of Tom Jarvis, 22, was found by coastguards early this morning in the small sandy cove of Cala des Moro, near the tourist hotspot Cafe del Mar.

The management trainee from Romford, Essex is understood to have died after going for an early evening swim with a friend on Friday.

Coastguards found the body of Tom Jarvis (pictured), 22, from Romford, Essex, early this morning in a small sandy cove in Cala des Moro, near the tourist spot Cafe del Mar

His companion alerted the police after coming out of the water just before 9pm on Friday night.

Mr Jarvis, who was described as a 'lovely, genuine guy', was found after a sea and land search last night also involving police, Civil Guard and Red Cross workers which resumed this morning.

A marine rescue boat called Calliope is understood to have made the discovery.

Police are now probing the circumstances leading to the death as part of a routine inquiry.

A Civil Guard spokesman said: 'We were alerted on Friday evening and a sea and land search launched involving us and other agencies including the coastguards.

'It appears he went out for a swim and disappeared. His body was recovered just before 9am this morning.

'A post mortem will now take place.'

A friend described him as 'one of the nicest blokes you could ever meet.'

Another called him a 'lovely, genuine guy.'

Stunned friends took to Facebook today to pay tribute to the drowned holidaymaker.

One girlfriend said: 'I hope you are raving it up there for us. Sweet dreams RIP Tom.'

Friend Sarah Newbold added: 'Such sad news. Rest in peace Tom.'

The Brit is thought to have also worked as a part-time DJ.

Pal Finch Hare wrote on Facebook along a line to a YouTube video of a favourite song of his and Mr Jarvis's: 'I'm f***ing gutted I'm not gonna be able to spin this one with ya man, we both went berserk over it.'

He was found after a sea and land search last night also involving police, Civil Guard and Red Cross workers which resumed this morning (file photo of San Antonio)

Another pal, disbelieving the posts he was reading, added: 'Feeling physically sick, come online and tell me it's one of your famously stupid jokes' - only to be told in reply: 'Sorry but this is no joke unfortunately.'

Friend Jordan King added: 'RIP Tom, a true legend, always the best people taken so early.'

The tragedy happened less than a fortnight after police in the same resort launched an air and sea for a Brit youngster reported missing by his friends - only to discover the following morning he was sleeping in another hotel.

Civil Guard divers were mobilised along with a police helicopter after the 20-year-old holidaymaker disappeared during a night-time swim off a beach off S'Arenal Beach in San Antonio.

His three pals called in cops around 3.30am on July 7 after he failed to reappear half an hour later.

They launched the rescue operation immediately fearing the worst.
A murder probe was launched in Dorset this morning after a brawl turned nasty and a teenage boy died from serious head injuries.

Police were called to reports of a punch up shortly before 1am outside a Tesco Express store and arrived to find the 17-year-old victim, named as Jack Gudge from Bournemouth, laid on the floor.

He was surrounded by a pool of blood and was immediately rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

Police were called to reports of a punch up outside a Tesco store (pictured) shortly before 1am and found the victim surrounded by a pool of blood

Four people, including a 15-year-old schoolboy, were arrested today on suspicion of murder and quizzed by detectives.

Emergency services arrived at the murder scene to find the 17-year-old victim unconscious on the ground and it immediately became clear he needed urgent hospital treatment.

Paramedics rushed him to Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead. A file was prepared for the coroner and the boy's family were informed of his death.

Police set up a cordon around the murder scene in Wimborne Road, Winton, and crime scene investigators could be seen combing the area for clues. Discarded clothing and medical equipment could also be seen outside the Tesco Express store.

Grieving friends and family have begun to express their grief, flooding social media with tributes to the popular school boy and leaving flowers and balloons outside the scene of his death.

The victim had suffered from serious head injuries and was immediately taken to Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after

Two men aged 27 and 21 and a 15-year-old boy, all from the Bournemouth area, and a fourth man were arrested today on suspicion of murder.

A spokesmen for Dorset Police said: 'Officers were called to reports of a fight outside Tesco Express on Wimborne Road in Winton at around 12.55am today, Saturday July 16.

Flowers have begun to be laid at the scene of the assault by grieving family and friends. The message above reads 'going to be missed by so many

Police officers were initially called to reports of a fight outside the Tesco store when they discovered the teenager who had suffered serious head injuries

'A 17-year-old boy was found unconscious with serious injuries and was taken to Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His next of kin have been informed and the coroner notified.

'The circumstances surrounding the boy's death are suspicious and a murder investigation, led by Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, has been launched.'

Grieving friends and family of the teenager have begun to express their grief on social media using the hashtag #RIPGudge

Police have arrested four people, including a 15-year-old schoolboy, on suspicion of murder and are being quizzed by detectives

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: 'Following the death of the boy enquiries are now underway to establish exactly what happened during the incident.

'I am appealing for anyone who may witnessed what happened or has any other information that may help with the investigation and who has not already spoken to police to contact us as soon as possible.'
Erika Mckevitt, of Ireland, was worried about her holiday plans in Turkey

British and Irish tourists are complaining about disrupted summer holidays to Turkey after a violent uprising that left 250 dead.

Airports around the world are advising passengers to contact their airlines to find out about flights after widespread cancellations to and from Turkey.

The Foreign Office has warned people to stay indoors after the rebellion, which left 47 civilians dead and thousands injured.

However, some holidaymakers have taken to social media to complain that the bloody coup has disrupted their travel plans.

One even used #prayforturkey - a play on the #prayfornice used by people showing solidarity with more than 80 killed in a terror attack in France - after her aunt had to cancel a trip.

Erika Mckevitt, from Ireland, wrote: 'Shocking whats happening in turkey its honestly like a second home to me and I've met some of the loveliest people there #prayforturkey.'

She added: 'My Aunty has just cancelled her holiday to turkey not looking good for me, two and a half weeks to go praying things change.'

The Association of British Insurers said anyone booked to travel to Turkey should contact their tour operator, travel agent, or airline for advice.

'If alternative arrangements are made you should be able to transfer your travel insurance to the new destination,' the group said.

'You should regularly check Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice. Anyone in Turkey should speak to their tour operator or airline for advice.'

More than 2.5 million UK tourists visit Turkey each year, but thousands are now stuck there, uncertain of how or when they will get home.

Lesley Adams, from Farnham in Surrey, took to Twitter last night after booking flights to Turkey at 9pm just as news of the coup was breaking.

'My small world problem? booking flights to Turkey at 9pm,' she tweeted.

Ms Mckevitt's tweet asked for people to think of Turkey using the #prayforturkey hashtag

Surrey woman Lesley Adams who took to social media to reveal she had just booked flights to Turkey when the coup began last night

Ms Adams' tweet on on social media about midnight Friday after news of the coup broke out in Turkey just after she booked flights at 9pm on Friday

'Should have known better when the world has taken a crazy pill #TurkeyCoup.'

London's Gatwick Airport is advising passengers to contact their airlines to find out about their flights.

'If you're due to fly to Turkey imminently, it's best if you check directly with you airline for information on flights,' the airport tweeted.

Haneen Alsaffar, from Newcastle, UK, tweeted about her disrupted holiday plans.

Haneen Alsaffar, of Newcastle in the UK, has had her Turkish holiday plans disrupted

Ms Alsaffar's tweet about last night's military coup in Turkey ahead of her holiday

Matt Borbon, 18, from Plymouth, had plans for a Turkish holiday before the coup broke out

'This coup in Turkey is SO inconvenient right before my holiday,' she said.

Another Twitter user, Matt Borbon, 18, from Plymouth in the UK, said: 'F*** Turkey ruining my holiday.

Eliot Higgins chose to holiday in Turkey to avoid the conflict his work often involves

'Lol I'm in turkey in 10 days!

'Shame I won't actually see anything.'

Eliot Higgins, founder of citizen journalism website Bellingcat and a visiting research associate at King's College London, joked he had gone to Turkey to get away from his normal work involving conflict.

'And to think, I came to Turkey on holiday to get away from all the conflict stuff I do,' he said.

Joao Correia, from San Fransisco in the US, tweeted: 'Last night i couldn't find my sons passport for our flight to Turkey

'Had it driven to the airport.

'Sometimes i wished I didn't try so hard.'
The mother of a 15-month-old baby boy diagnosed with three rare disorders says the worst thing about having a child with so many complicated condition is not knowing what is around the corner.

At eight-weeks-old Jake Webber's parents Katrina and Clayton knew something wasn't right when he didn't constantly have his hands and toys in his mouth like other babies his age.

After six months of testing, the Adelaide-born little boy was diagnosed with dysplasia, polymicrogyria and microcephaly  three rare, severe and probably genetic conditions.

Jake Webber, pictured, is fifteen months old. His mother has revealed the smiley baby has been diagnosed with three incurable and rare conditions which make parenting hard because she never knows what the future holds

His mum Karina, pictured, says she knew something wasn't right with Jake when he was eight weeks old and didn't 'put everything in his mouth' like other babies

The Webber family, Karina, Clayton, Jake and Sienna take a moment out of their hectic schedules for a family photo

'No doctors can say if he will ever be able to walk, if he will ever be able to talk or what the future will hold because every child with any of these conditions presents differently,' Mrs Webber said.

At 15-months the little boy has only just got the hang of being able to sit unassisted and has also just worked out how to self feed.

'At the moment it is frustrating because we don't know whether he doesn't understand how to do things or if the messages from his brain to his body aren't going through properly.

'He has a lot of free movement in his limbs but he can't do things like move his ankles independently.'

Jake can't roll over and can only communicate with his facial expressions. The family have bought splints for his legs to help train them to be able to stand so hopefully one day he will be able to get around unassisted.

'By three years my goal is that he will be walking on his own,' Mrs Webber said.

The adorable baby - pictured here with his big sister Sienna - struggles to send messages to his limbs to do thing many people take for granted like swap and object from one hand to another

The Webbers hope that Jake will one day be able to speak and walk on his own

Orthopaedics being fitted to Jakes legs to help train his muscles to be able to stand so he will hopefully be able to walk one day

'We often only think about the physical abilities as well but cognitive is so important I really hope he does learn to be verbal.

'At the moment he is really trying, he makes lots of noises and sounds.'

Jake has a big sister, Sienna, who is three-and-a-half, and adores him.

WHAT DOES EACH DIAGNOSIS MEAN FOR JAKE? Jake has currently been diagnosed with three conditions which have slowed down the way his brain and body develop and work together. Dysplasia - This usually shows up as a form of epilepsy in most children and affects one part of their body but with Jake multiple parts of his brain has been exposed. He hasn't had any seizures yet but it is thought it might lead to severe epilepsy in the future. Polymicrogyria - This literally translates to many small folds and means the surface of the brain did not develop the same as most people's. This condition can also cause seizures as well as delayed development and weakness in muscles. This is one of the reasons Jake hasn't got the physical or cognitive function of most other children his age. Because of this Jake may never be able to speak. Microcephaly - This means his head is smaller than the average lower-level size bracket. Because of the reduced size the brain cannot grow at the same rate as a person with a larger head. This could cause cognitive delay. The extent of this delay is not yet known for Jake. Advertisement

'Sienna loves her brother so much  and his face lights up whenever he sees her.

'It is amazing that a three-year-old can play with him without noticing that he is behind.

'She just plays in a way that he can join in  it is magic.'

This has helped him to become a very social child who loves other children and adults.

This is particularly useful when he has such a busy schedule meeting so many professionals for his therapies.

'He does therapy six days a week, and some times has three hour-long sessions each day.

'I can be in the car for six hours a day making sure he gets to all of his appointments.'

The list of therapies include Feldenkrais therapy twice a week, conductive education once a week, physio once a fortnight, occupational therapy once a fortnight, hydrotherapy weekly and speech therapy every six weeks.

'We then come home and spend between an hour and an hour-and-a-half doing therapy homework.

'Before children turn three millions and millions of neurons are being formed in their brains every day.

'We want to make sure we do as much as we can to make sure Jake forms as many strong neurological pathways as possible.'

Sometimes the benefits of these sessions can be seen very quickly.

'In one occupational therapy session Jake learnt how to reach his arm higher than his head.

'At the beginning of the session the occupational therapist noticed he couldn't raise his arm to reach the toy.

Jake only learnt how to self feed at 15 months - finally putting hours of work at the occupational therapist to use in a very coordinated effort which most parents 'take for granted'

The family try to make sure both of their children receive enough one-on-one interaction from each parent as well as enough time together

'He did some therapy with bowls of rice and by the end of the hour he touched the toy  that was an incredible moment.'

All of these therapies add up and can become very expensive.

'We spend $33,000 per year on therapies alone.

'The cost of having a child with disabilities is ridiculous.

'It is unfair that a group who is already struggling have this huge financial burden.'

The family recently had to buy a special chair for Jake which retailed at $11,000.

The therapies for Jake cost $33,000 per year. This doesn't include the equipment he needs to continue to grow

The Webbers use a room in there house as a therapy room to practice the exercises they learn each week

'We are so lucky to have the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme)  it is fantastic and we are grateful but at the moment it will only cover 2.5 hours of therapy.

'It frustrates me that the government allows therapy costs to be so high.

'For an adult to go to the physio it costs about $80  but it costs $175 per hour for children like Jake.'

Jake has orthotics for his legs to try to teach him to walk  but they need to be changed every six months. He has also been told that he will need a special walker which will cost the family another $5,000.

'We are so lucky that my mother is able to be with Jake twice a week  and that he can go to day care once a week so I can work  otherwise we wouldn't be able to make ends meet.'

Jake and his dad Clayton spending some quality time together - Jake is a smiley baby who loves to be social

The mother admits that the family has struggled since realising Jake had complications and wasn't developing at the same rate as other children his age.

'I hate to say it but we struggled in the early days  it was the worst time of our life.

'In the last two months I feel like we have finally coming to the level of acceptance  he is such a happy and beautiful boy and that's what he brings to the place.

'I feel like we are coming out the other side and things are looking up.'

The family have been careful not to let their complicated schedule with Jake get in the way of Sienna having her own time.

He has only recently learnt how to sit up by himself which is a huge thing for the family who believe it is a step closer to him being able to walk

Jake and his sister Sienna are close friends who 'light up' whenever they see each other

'We have our own little outings and try to spend a whole day together most weekends.

'We will go shopping together or to swimming lessons and she joins us with Jake in the therapy room at home.

'I try my guts out to make sure she doesn't miss out.'

The family thank their lucky stars that Jake is a 'healthy kid' in spite of his many complications.

'Apart from his visits to the neuro he doesn't spend a lot of time in hospitals or at the doctors,' Mrs Webber said.

Mrs Webber admits the diagnosis was hard on the family for a long time but says they are finally seeing 'the light at the end of the tunnel'

The family have a Facebook page for their son to keep everyone updated on his condition and how they can help.

They are currently undergoing genetic testing to see where his complications stem from and hope with that knowledge the doctors will know more about how to help him.

They are constantly amazed at Jake's reactions when he can finally do something  like when he realises his actions make the guitar play music  and say he always pushes really hard.
An 8-year-old Florida boy is dead after police say he accidentally shot himself in the chest with a handgun.

Christopher Scurry Jr. and his 12-year-old brother were in their home Friday with their 80-year-old great-grandfather when it appears Christopher shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, Port Orange police say.

Christopher had been playing with the gun in the kitchen, WESH reported.

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Christopher Scurry Jr. (pictured) is dead after police say he accidentally shot himself in the chest with a handgun

Christopher Scurry Jr. and his 12-year-old brother were in their home Friday with their 80-year-old great-grandfather when it appears Christopher shot himself with a 9 mm handgun, Port Orange police say

His brother performed CPR, but Christopher died at the hospital an hour later.

Their grandfather 'is bedridden and was unable to help', WESH reported.

Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi said it is unclear where Christopher found the gun, but the investigation is ongoing. No charges have been filed.

Grimaldi told the TV station: 'We're going to investigate this and try to find out exactly what happened. Right now, our thoughts and our prayers go out to the child and his family.'

Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi said it is unclear where Christopher found the gun, but the investigation is ongoing

The boy's cousin Satina Hearman (pictured) told Click Orlando : 'We just came back from a camping trip yesterday. All of us went on a camping trip for three days'

The boy's cousin Satina Hearman told Click Orlando: 'We just came back from a camping trip yesterday. All of us went on a camping trip for three days.'

A woman who identified herself as Christopher's aunt, Glenda Palmer, wrote on Facebook: 'Dear Lord but I don't understand why you had to take my newphew Lil Chris Scurry.'

Palmer said that the boy lost his father less than a year ago.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe (Photo: VNA)



At a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Juha Sipila, PM Phuc appreciated Finlands policies to encourage its enterprises to increase investment and business in Vietnam.





He pledged to create more favourable conditions for Finnish investors in the fields where Finland has an advantage and Vietnam has a demand like green technology, renewable energy and education, to serve sustainable development.

He asked Finland to continue its ODA provision for Vietnam, particularly in the environment, climate change, institutional improvement, and to help Vietnam in accessing loans from the International Development Association (IDA)  a World Bank fund  beyond 2017.

The Finnish PM affirmed to intensify cooperation with Vietnam in the areas of energy, information technology and education and training.

Both of them agreed to strengthen collaboration at international forums such as the United Nations and the ASEM.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann (Photo: VNA)







While meeting Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann, the Vietnamese Government leader suggested both sides coordinate to organise activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

He expressed his hope that Swiss enterprises will do long-term business and expand investment in Vietnam in finance and banking, insurance, high technology, the manufacturing industry, pharmaceuticals, farm produce processing and tourism.

President Johann Schneider-Ammann confirmed that Vietnam continually remains a priority in Switzerlands ODA policy, while agreeing on the early completion of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

He vowed to provide Vietnam with preferential treatments that are similar to those for Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also had a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong , during which they discussed measures to boost the two countries strategic partnership and exchanged notes on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Phuc invited his Singaporean counterpart to attend the 20 th founding anniversary of the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in Binh Duong in mid-September, saying that the latters presence at the event will be significant to the bilateral relations.

PM Lee stated that he always supports VSIP projects.

Talking to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, PM Phuc spoke highly of the diverse business activities of Thai enterprises in Vietnam.

PM Chan-o-cha, in turn, committed to encouraging Thailands major companies to intensify their investment in Vietnam and pay attention to the Vietnamese sides interests.

They agreed to step up joint governmental meetings to discuss specific cooperative measures.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the meeting with President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Geun-hye (Photo: VNA)



Meanwhile, PM Phuc and President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Geun-hye reached a consensus on intensifying the two countries trade and economic ties, seeking measures to ensure a trade balance by reducing Vietnams trade deficit, and encouraging more RoK businesses to invest in Vietnam in the fields of high technology, energy and transport.





The RoK leader stated that as Vietnam is her countrys leading development partner, the RoK will share experience with Vietnam in developing new-style rural areas and help Vietnam organise the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) year in 2017.

They agreed to discuss and sign a Vietnam-RoK framework credit agreement for 2016-2020, and increase the ODA provision for projects on green growth and climate change response.

PM Phuc thanked the RoK Government for its USD300,000 in aid for the central and Mekong Delta regions hit by drought and saline intrusion.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and German PM Angela Merkel (Photo: VNA)



At a meeting with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, PM Phuc showed his hope that German investors will prepare to anticipate opportunities brought by the pending Vietnam-EU free trade agreement (EVFTA).





He pledged to create all favourable conditions for Germany to expand investment in the manufacturing industry, high technology, green and renewable energies, infrastructure and logistics.

Chancellor Merkel spoke of the Vietnamese Governments facilitation of the operation of the Vietnam-Germany University, hoping for intensified cooperation in education and training.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Malta PM Joseph Muscat (Photo: VNA)



Talking to Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the Vietnamese leader affirmed that Vietnam treasures and wishes to further strengthen its relations with EU nations, including Malta.

He stated that although the two countries set up their diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago, their economic and trade cooperation has yet to meet the two countries potential and needs to be boosted further.

Both PMs agreed to create favourable conditions for the two countries enterprises to intensify cooperation in the fields of finance, banking, insurance, logistics and maritime transportation.

The Malta PM affirmed to help speed up the EUs signing and ratification of the EVFTA.

Malta is willing to act as a bridge for Vietnamese goods to approach European and African markets, he said.

The two PMs then witnessed the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of income tax evasion between the two Governments.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Polish counterpart Beata Szydo (Photo: VNA)



At a meeting with his Polish counterpart Beata Szydo, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded the countrys improving position in the European Union and in the world, and its contributions to ASEM efforts to address global challenges.

He said Vietnam welcomes Polands efforts in boosting connections between the EU and ASEAN as well as in supporting sub-region cooperation projects, particularly the Mekong-Danube collaboration.

Phuc thanked the Polish Government for the favorable conditions Vietnamese expatriates have received when living in the country, adding his hope that the support will continue in the long-term.

Both sides agreed to maintain delegation exchanges, particularly among senior officials, and that they might soon sign a financial pact.

Vietnam is committed to the efficient use of a 250 million EUR credit packet funded by Poland, Phuc noted.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands supports Vietnams access to loans from the International Development Association (IDA) after 2017, at a talk with PM Phuc.

The Vietnamese PM said he is pleased with the signing bilateral strategic partnership agreements on climate change response and water management, and on agriculture and food security.

He added that Vietnam is willing to assist Dutch enterprises to invest in the sectors of shipbuilding, energy and logistic services in Vietnam. The authority support will also come to the development of judicial cooperation and in building relationships between the two countries localities.

The two PMs agreed to convert the outlook and recommendations of the Mekong Delta Programme into specific measures.

At another meeting, PM Phuc and Indian Vice President Mohammad Ansari expressed their wish to deepen bilateral ties following the impressive progress of the two countries strategic partnership.

Conversing with New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully, PM Phuc proposed that New Zealand facilitates the completion of administration procedures that will open more opportunities for Vietnamese fruit to enter their market.

McCully said New Zealand will support Vietnam in organising the 2017 APEC Summit and invited the Vietnamese PM to visit his country soon.

PM Phuc also had a brief conversation with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker where both sides were pleased with the growing ties between Vietnam and the EU.

On July 15th, PM Phuc met with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and congratulated him on the victory of his Liberal Democratic Party in the recent parliamentary election.

Vietnam looks to Japans support toward its access to IDA loans, Phuc noted.

Abe said Japan highly values the partnership with Vietnam and will implement agreements secured by both sides in the recent visit of the Vietnamese PM to Japan.

At these meetings, leaders of ASEM countries said they support the peaceful settlement of disputes in the East Sea in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), for freedom, security and safety of navigation and overflight in the waters./.
A British nurse who invited a Tinder date out to Turkey only to get caught up in the country's failed military coup says she's glad to see the back of him.

Nicole Graham, 20, of South Shields, South Tyneside, invited her match to join her on the week-long holiday after her mother and sister were unable to make it due to a passport mix up.

But she was left disappointed when 22-year-old Phil Stephenson, of Darlington, County Durham, turned out to be a let down.

Miss Graham claims he has now left her with a 60 bar bill and taken her toothpaste after flying home from Turkey, where the country's military has been involved in an attempted coup.

She said: 'I thought Phil looked all right to begin with but I wish I had swiped left now.

Disappointing date: British nurse Nicole Graham (pictured), 20, who invited a Tinder date out to Turkey only to get caught up in the country's failed military coup says she's glad to see the back of him

'After we matched on Tinder he asked me if I wanted to go out with him on Friday night, so I explained I was going away. He told me he wished he could come with me, and I thought, why not?

'I asked him for 150 towards the holiday and we met at the airport the following day.

'I am a spontaneous, fun-loving girl. I am all about the banter, and I thought it was better than going on my own.'

But Miss Graham says that as soon as she met her date she found him to be 'ignorant' and began regretting asking him along.

She added: 'He was on his phone all of the time and did not seem interested in speaking to me. 'He was ignorant and full of himself and seemed to be taking himself way too seriously.'

Mr Stephenson has now flown home after revealing that relations between the pair soured.

He earlier told how he became holed up in a hotel after meeting Miss Graham on the dating app and flying with her to the tourist resort of Marmaris in what he calls an act of 'spontaneity'.

Phil Stephenson was holed up in a hotel after meeting a girl on the dating app and flying with her to the tourist resort of Marmaris

The 22-year-old, who works for a bed company, said: 'After I matched with her she told me she was supposed to be going on holiday the next day but that her mum and sister couldn't go.

'She asked me if I would like to go instead and I didn't think twice, I said yes, because that is the sort of person I am.

'Now I am caught up in the unrest - but if I am honest I am more scared of her.

'Everybody is talking about the coup, but life at the hotel is going on as normal.

'I thought it would be a laugh, and that the lass would be the same as me, spontaneous and up for a laugh.

'But I soon realised she wanted us to behave like a married couple when we had only just met.'

Mr Stephenson flew out with his date from Newcastle airport on Friday just before Turkish troops attempted a coup.

He says people at the hotel have heard gunshots and a helicopter has landed in Icemeler, which is close to the resort in southern Turkey.

He added: 'I want to come home and I've booked a flight for tonight, but if it settles down, I might stay for the rest of the week.

'It's not great between me and the girl though. Even on the plane over here I had my head phones in and she was annoyed about it.

'In the hotel room she moved the two single beds together. I was worried about what was happening and slept on the sofa.

'She has now gone slagging me off to people in the hotel, saying that I am ignoring her, and she has seen what I have said about her online. It's awkward.

'I thought we would be going out for wild nights, but she is more interested in romantic meals. It is definitely not wedding bells for me.'

Soon after the pair arrived at Dalaman airport in Turkey Miss Graham, an auxiliary nurse, realised that her date had taken a more serious turn for the worse when she heard about the failed military coup in the country.

She said: 'It is scary to think about what is happening, but all we have been told so far is not to leave the resort.

'I feel safe at the moment. I can't tell you how happy I am to see the back of Phil.

'He was really arrogant, and not wanting to interact with any of the guests. Some of them were coming up to me and asking me if I was OK, was I with that guy? It was embarrassing.

'Everything he has said is lies. I didn't pull the single beds together, because there weren't any, there was just one double bed.

The 22-year-old, of Darlington, County Durham, matched with the girl on Thursday and flew out to Turkey with her the following day

More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup that killed at least 250 as Turkish President Erdogan vows revenge for the bloody uprising

'There is no way I am interested in marriage or anything with him. All I was after was a bit of fun. I wanted to go out to the bars and make friends.

'Everything he has said is lies. He was just after the attention. Thankfully he is flying home this evening. He did not say goodbye before he left for the airport.

'Now he has gone I can enjoy myself - although he has left behind a 60 bar bill and taken my toothpaste.

'I have been criticised me for going on holiday with a guy I didn't know - but there's no way I would have gone through with it if it had been obvious he wasn't who he said he was.

'People meet on Tinder all the time.'

Miss Graham plans to stay in Turkey until next Friday despite the unrest, and says she has made friends with other people staying in her hotel.

Updated travel advice for Turkey said that there were 'widespread reports of gunfire and explosions in Ankara and Istanbul' as well as reports of shooting near the popular tourist resort of Marmaris.

A man lays down in front of a tank on the approach to Ataturk airport in Istanbul as citizens took to the streets to oppose the military coup

People shout at the soliders involved in the coup attempt who have surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge following their surrender

Hundreds of flights between Britain and the major holiday destination have been cancelled, with British Airways halting all flights, saying that they are now 'under review'.

There are currently 50,000 Brits on holiday in Turkey, according to The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta).

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who met with the Turkish Foreign Minister today, tweeted that he was 'very concerned' by the events unfolding, and advice to 'stay indoors' was re-iterated.

In the last 24 hours, 244 Turkish Airlines flights were cancelled, after the military blocked access to Ataturk Airport - which was surrounded by tanks - during last night's failed coup.

Customers affected by the cancellations are being offered a refund or the chance to rebook, while people currently booked for Sunday or Monday can rebook at no cost, subject to availability, the airline said.
Police are hunting for the driver of a white car involved in the firebombing of a Perth mosque as hundreds of worshippers prayed inside.

A vehicle was bombed and four others were damaged during an attack outside the Australian Islamic College mosque in Thornlie on June 28.

An anti-Islamic message was also spay-painted on the mosque's wall.

Police have released CCTV footage of what appears to be a white Toyota Corolla Seca driving past the college  once at 5.20pm and again an hour later - as they try to identify those responsible.

Western Australia Police believed that the occupants of the car may be able to assist in the investigation.

On the night of June 28, a Toyota Prado, Honda Legend, Volkswagen Passat and Toyota Corolla were left irreparably damaged and the Prado gutted and engulfed by flames.

Police have reason to believe an accelerant was used in the fire before the car exploded into flames outside the mosque.

Police have released CCTV footage (pictured) of what appears to be a white Toyota Corolla Seca driving past the college  once at 5.20pm and again an hour later - as part of an investigation into the incident

Public assistance for information regarding the vehicle fire and graffiti which occurred in Thornlie on June 28 at about 7.50pm has been requested by local authorities hoping to identify the offenders

Three people were seen running down and alleyway next to the college where they may have had a getaway vehicle parked.

Footage from the scene showed firefighters trying to extinguish the fire in the Prado which was parked on the kerb.

An anti-islamic message had been spray-painted on the wall behind the vehicle and read: 'F*** Islam'.

At the time, Yahya Adel Ibrahim from the college took to Facebook and wrote: 'This, undoubtedly is a criminal act of hate, but it is the act of a person or group not the greater whole.

As hundreds of worshippers prayed inside a Perth College mosque a vehicle was set on fire (pictured) while four others were damaged and an anti-Islamic message was left spray-painted on the mosque's wall

'Despite what just transpired, everyone stayed to finish their prayers refusing to give into the terror that had just occurred.'

Local Labor MP Chris Tallentire posted a photo on Facebook of himself at the scene.

'Muslim community of Thornlie, I feel sick that you have to endure attacks like this,' he said.

'The truth is that this was an attack on all of us.'

No one was injured in the incident and an investigation continues.

An Anti-islamic message had been spray-painted on the wall behind the vehicle and read: 'F*** Islam' (pictured)
Twin sisters who held hands in the first seconds of their lives can't stand being away from each other, two years after their odd-defying birth.

Jenna and Jillian Thistlethwaite were born on May 9, 2014 in Akron, Ohio after sharing the same amniotic sack - a condition that affects about 1 in 10,000 pregnancies and increases the chances of complications.

Their mother Sarah had spent 57 days on bed rest to minimize the risks and was relieved to give birth to two healthy girls.

The twins were born 45 seconds apart and as soon as the doctors held them close to each other, they clasped hands, stunning everyone in the delivery room.

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Jenna and Jillian Thistlethwaite were born on May 9, 2014 in Akron, Ohio after sharing the same amniotic sack and stunned everyone in the delivery room by grabbing each other's hand (pictured)

Two years later, the sisters (pictured) still can't stand being away from each other and don't like being separated when their parents take them to run errands

Two years later, the bond between the sisters has grown stronger than ever, their mother told People magazine.

'Sometimes if my husband goes to the store, he'll take one twin and I'll keep the other,' Thistlethwaite said.

'When that happens, they both get really upset and ask for each other. They're definitely really close. They're like two peas in a pod.'

Jenna and Jillian were born two days before Mother's Day in 2014 to Thistlethwaite and their father Bill.

Doctors had detected the monoamniotic pregnancy at 19 weeks during the third ultrasound. That day, the parents, who already had a one-year-old son named Jaxon, also found out their were having twins.

Their mother Sarah (pictured after the birth) had spent 57 days on bed rest to minimize the risks, as monoamniotic pregnancies increase the chances of complications

Jenna and Jillian (pictured with their mother) were born on May 9, weighing almost five pounds each at 33 weeks of gestation and spent some time in the neonatal unit before going home

As they grew up, the sisters developed distinct personalities. Two years on, Jenna is now the cautious one while Jillian is more of a daredevil

Even though their bond remains strong, Jenna and Jillian (pictured) have started to dabble in a bit of sibling rivalry and sometimes blame the other for their owns misbehaviors

Most twins have their own amniotic sack during the pregnancy. But monoamniotic twins, who are always identical, share the same one, which comes with additional risks.

Their umbilical cords can become entangled or compressed, or one of the cords can get wrapped around the other twin's neck.

Thistlethwaite took a leave from her job as an eight-grade math teacher and went inpatient at Akron's Children's Hospital. Her husband, a clinical director, went there every day after work from their home in Orrville.

Doctors told them they could deliver the twins at 32 or 34 weeks of gestation and the parents settled on 33 weeks.

Jenna and Jillian were born on May 9, weighing almost five pounds each after what was already a rare birth. But what they did during the first seconds of their lives stunned the doctors even further.

'Once they made sure they were OK, they held them up so mom and dad could see,' hospital spokeswoman Amy Kilgore, who was there for the birth, told Fox 8. 'As soon as they were side by side, they held hands. It gave me chills.'

'When they held them up and I saw their hands together... It's indescribable, really,' their father said.

The sisters, who were born premature, spent some time in the neonatal unit before going home.

By the time they turned 1, Jenna and Jillian kept grabbing each other at every opportunity while sitting together or during meals.

Two years on, they have developed distinct personalities. Jenna is the cautious one while Jillian is more of a daredevil.

If one of them starts crying, the other will try to comfort her by rubbing her back, hugging her or finding a pacifier.

But even though their bond remains strong, Jenna and Jillian have started to dabble in a bit of sibling rivalry.

'If Jenna does something bad, I'll ask her about it and she'll say, "No, Jillian did it!"' Thistlethwaite told People.
This is the harrowing moment a mother shouted 'my daughter, my daughter' after the lorry being driven by terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel crashed into a crowd of people in Nice - killing at least 84.

The disturbing footage shows the victims scream and shout while jumping out of the way as the white lorry careered into the helpless people who had gathered to celebrate Bastille Day.

At the start of the video - which shows a victims' eye view of the incident - people were watching a live band perform before the crazed driver sped towards them at around 40mph.

The distressing clip then shows the truck ploughing into scores of revellers on the famous Promenade des Anglais, killing at least 84 people and injuring at least 50.

This is the horrifying moment a lorry mows through a crowd of terrified pedestrians in Nice, southern France

People can be heard screaming as the rented vehicle came towards them, and a mother shouted: 'My daughter, my daughter' as she was unable to find her child following the brutal attack.

The footage, shot from the promenade, shows people frantically jumping out of the way to desperately avoid being struck by the lorry which was being driven by Bouhlel.

ISIS today claimed responsibility for the attack and described Bouhlel, 31, as a 'soldier'. A cache of weapons including hand grenades was later discovered inside the vehicle which he had rented.

French authorities shot the driver dead after the lorry continued for 1.2 miles down the promenade.

The lorry continued to travel towards the group of people who had gathered by the stage. A young man was standing on the promenade as the lorry came towards him (right)

Anti-terror police swooped in as the city was put on lockdown and residents were warned to stay indoors.

A front view of the lorry littered with bullet holes after police opened fire on the driver and shot him dead.

The video emerged on the same day police arrested four more suspects believed to be linked to truck terrorist Bouhlel during raids in Nice.

A suspect with his head covered by a towel was held by French police as part of the investigation into the Bastille Day atrocity that left 84 dead and hundreds injured.

Three men were detained on Saturday morning along with a fourth who was held on Friday night. Bouhlel's estranged wife Hajer Khalfallah was being question by anti-terror experts last night.

French authorities shot the driver dead after the lorry continued for 1.2 miles down the promenade

The attack happened in the Promenade des Anglais in Nice while victims were celebrating Bastille Day
The asbestos scandal at Perth's new children's hospital site has deepened amid fears particles found at the site may be more toxic than first thought.

Construction union CFMEU have issued a statement and said it had conducted scientific analysis of samples taken from the building site in Nedlands in the city's west.

'It confirms our worst fears by showing a more toxic content that first thought,' CFMEU WA state secretary Mick Buchan said.

Construction union boss Mick Buchan (pictured) says scientific analysis of samples taken from the building site in Nedlands in the Perth's west show particles found at the site may be more toxic than first thought

A general view of the Perth Children's Hospital. Construction is scheduled to be complete in October

'We call on the state government to act swiftly and to fully investigate how asbestos ended up on a children's hospital project.

'It is our view that (builders) John Holland cannot bury their head in the sand any longer and must take full responsibility.'

The building giant earlier defended the steps it had taken to help workers who were exposed to asbestos at the hospital, which is scheduled to open later this year.

'Workers were immediately offered the opportunity to have health tests and to have clothing and other items - including vehicles - tested,' the company said in a media release.

It said ongoing briefings by their industrial hygienist were provided to the workforce and information sessions were held.

Construction giant John Holland defended the steps it had taken to help workers who were exposed to asbestos at the hospital (pictured)

'Workers were immediately offered the opportunity to have health tests and to have clothing and other items - including vehicles - tested,' the company said in a media release (stock image)

One of the workers exposed to asbestos at the site said the building giant has provided no medical help.

The worker, named only as Matt, said he and other workers were angry that by Friday John Holland had still not organised for medical tests or counselling or told them whether their families should also be checked.

He said he had driven home in his car on Monday covered in dust that could have spread to a child seat and had hugged his two-year-old daughter when he got home.

'We were told we needed to get x-rays and get on a register but nobody has ... confirmed it and the boys were mostly angry because we thought we'd have people down there making sure we're alright,' he told ABC radio.

'We just go ahead and work with these materials assuming they are not dangerous because we assume we're being protected by the powers above not to let them in the country in the first place.'

JH project director Lindsay Albonica said on Thursday that the safety of workers was the company's first priority.

One of the workers exposed to asbestos at the site said the building giant has provided no medical help (stock image)

JH has defended its role in the scandal, saying Chinese company Yuanda, which supplied the roof panels, had provided certificates stating the 150 roof panels did not contain asbestos.

WA Building Commissioner Peter Gow announced on Friday that he would conduct an independent audit into the hospital project and Yuanda.

It is the second time in a week that Yuanda has been caught providing products containing asbestos in Australia, after the lethal material was found in gaskets at a Brisbane office tower.

There are now worries about dozens of major projects and more small ones around Australia that Yuanda has supplied to over the years, including Perth's unfinished new stadium.

'I am working with my colleagues at Worksafe and other authorities to examine what building materials were brought in by the subcontractor Yuanda, where they've been used and to make sure wherever they have been used that those buildings too are safe and suitable to use,' Mr Gow told reporters.
A Walt Disney World intern is back on the job after she was briefly fired for tweeting a photo of a sign telling employees how to respond to questions about alligators in the theme park's waters.

Shannon Sullivan was fired this week after posting the photo on Twitter, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The sign read: 'If guests ask whether there are gators in the water around Tom Sawyer's Island (or any other bodies of water), the correct and appropriate response is, "Not that we know of, but if we see one, we will call Pest Management to have it removed."'

This is the sign in question. Disney says it was unauthorized and goes against company policy. pic.twitter.com/vji05pcL6C  Sandra Pedicini (@SandraPedicini) July 15, 2016

A Walt Disney World intern is back on the job after she was briefly fired for tweeting a photo of a sign telling employees how to respond to questions about alligators in the theme park's waters. Shannon Sullivan was fired this week after posting the photo on Twitter. Pictured is a newly installed sign at Disney

Sullivan told her bosses that the sign was misleading. She said a manager confronted her Thursday about the tweet and told her that her program would be ending early. However, Sullivan was given her position back by Magic Kingdom Vice President Dan Cockerell. Pictured is an area of a beach at a Disney World hotel

It also asked employees to 'not say that we have seen them before'.

Sullivan told her bosses that the sign was misleading.

'I was very offended by it and I was pretty vocal about it,' Sullivan, a Disney College Program participant working in Magic Kingdom restaurants, told the Orlando Sentinel.

Sullivan told the Sentinel that a manager confronted her Thursday about the tweet and told her that her program would be ending early.

Disney said it does not know who posted the sign and no one else is being disciplined over the incident. The incident comes just a month after two-year-old, Lane Graves was killed by an alligator

Lane (pictured) had been paddling ten feet from the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the upscale resort on June 14 when he was attacked by the predator and dragged into the water

Her Disney identification was taken and she was escorted from the park.

Disney said the sign wasn't authorized and was removed.

Magic Kingdom Vice President Dan Cockerell personally offered Sullivan her job back on Friday morning, the newspaper reported.

She will return to work until later this month, when her internship was originally scheduled to end.

Disney employees are advised to tell visitors that parts of the theme park does attract wildlife and that guests should notify security when they see alligators.

Sullivan told the Sentinel that she knew she could face getting into trouble for sharing the photo on social media, but she said she had to choose between her 'morals and my integrity and what I believe in'.

Disney said it does not know who posted the sign and no one else is being disciplined over the incident.

The incident comes just a month after two-year-old, Lane Graves was killed by an alligator.

Authorities found his body 'intact' in the water 17 hours later. Pictured is an official during an ongoing search for two-year-old Lane in June

Disney employees are advised to tell visitors that parts of the theme park does attract wildlife and that guests should notify security when they see alligators

He had been paddling ten feet from the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the upscale resort on June 14 when he was attacked by the predator and dragged into the water.

His body was found 'intact' in the water 17 hours later.

Lane's father, Matt Graves, told authorities he was desperately trying to save his son when a second alligator attacked.

But even after fending off his own attack, Graves was unable to pry his toddler from the jaws of the first animal's grasp - and the creature disappeared underwater, taking the child with it.

Florida wildlife officials later announced that they had removed and killed five alligators from the lagoon - including the one they believe dragged the Nebraska toddler to his death, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The beaches have all since been reopened but a fence has now been erected and signs put up warning of alligators and snakes in the area.
As Theresa May clears out her cabinet of David Cameron allies removal vans were seen carting off the last remaining belongings of the former Prime Minister at Downing Street.

Mrs May has wasted no time in ridding herself of key members of her predecessor's administration by disposing of eleven key ministers, including Michael Gove, in one of the most brutal political re-shuffles in Britain's history.

Today the cull continued as the new Prime Minister axed a series of junior Cameron supporters across different departments of the Government.

Five removal vans were seen carting off the last of former Prime Minister David Cameron's belongings from 10 Downing Street today

As a removals workers clears out the last of Mr Cameron's things, new Prime Minister Theresa May clears out her cabinet of his allies

Mrs May has promised her cabinet will be more inclusive than the famous Notting Hill set, the group of privileged friends who ruled Westminster during Mr Cameron's tenure.

A series of high profile ministers have either resigned, including Chancellor George Osborne, or been banished to the backbenches as Mrs May asserts herself in her new role.

Mr Cameron and his long-time friends Mr Osborne and Mr Gove were seen looking gloomy as they were caught adjusting to life out of the spotlight this week.

As the former Premier shared a lunch with his family and his former Chancellor in a west London cafe, he may have been thinking about the logistics of moving his belongings into his new home.

Removal teams were seen lugging boxes onto five vans marked 'Cameron by storage' as the ex Prime Minister finally moved out.

As one clear-out finished another rolled on with Mrs May removing further key supporters of her predecessor.

Downing Street says arts minister Ed Vaizey, a friend of Cameron, has left the government. Ros Altmann, Cameron's minister for pensions, has also been dismissed

The government shuffle is in its fourth day Saturday as May fills out junior ministerial ranks.

It has also been announced that Dominic Raab, an ally of former justice minister Mr Gove, has left his ministerial post at the Ministry of Justice.

Removals men haul the Cameron's TV into the back of one of the five cans outside 10 Downing Street

Mr Cameron was seen looking gloomy as he shared lunch with his former Chancellor George Osborne in west London earlier this week. Pictured, one of the removal parked outside 10 Downing Street

As human rights minister, Mr Raab took the lead on controversial plans to scrap the Human Rights Act to replace it with a British Bill of Rights.

Hugo Swire said he was retiring from his role as a foreign minister hours after likening sacked allies of David Cameron to condemned prisoners sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution.

He tweeted yesterday: 'Not a good time to be a Cameroon. The tumbrils are rolling again!'

Tumbrils were carts used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the revolution.

Theresa May was hailed after appointing a Cabinet containing more State-educated ministers than at any time in Tory Party history

Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne were pictured looking glum outside a West London cafe as their closest political allies were culled

On Saturday, he tweeted a photo of the famous Looney Tunes cartoon sign-off 'that's all folks!' and said: 'I am retiring to the backbenches to join my friends.

'It's been an honour and a privilege to have served as a Minister in the Government since 2010.'

Foreign Minister James Duddridge announced that he was also leaving the Government, having been in post since August 2014.

He tweeted: 'Sad to be leaving a great team at the Foreign Office. More time in Southend and will also keep up with friends in Africa'.

Caroline Dinenage said she was also leaving her post at the MoJ but would continue in Government at the Education department.

She tweeted: 'Sad to be leaving my amazing team @MoJGovUK but excited about new challenges at @educationgovuk & continuing role with @WomenEqualities'.

Meanwhile, Philip Dunne was moved from the Ministry of Defence to become a minister of state at Health.

Nick Hurd was moved from International Development to become a Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Lord Price was appointed Minister of State at the Department for International Trade.

Among the Cameron allies to leave or be axed from their roles are Ros Altmann (left) and former culture minister Ed Vaizey

Foreign Minister James Duddridge announced that he was also leaving the Government, having been in post since August 2014.

He tweeted: 'Sad to be leaving a great team at the Foreign Office. More time in Southend and will also keep up with friends in Africa'.

The reshuffle are part of dramatic changes made by May, who has also placed leading proponents of a British exit from the European Union in charge of foreign affairs, international trade and EU negotiations.

All the same, the new PM has signaled she's in no rush to start exit talks.
Sarah Palin's son Track (pictured in 2008) has entered into a plea agreement after facing charges of punching his girlfriend in the face

Sarah Palin's son Track has avoided jail after being charged with punching his girlfriend in the face and drunkenly threatening to shoot himself with an AR-15 assault rifle.

The oldest son of the former Alaska Governor was arrested in a domestic violence case in January.

The 27-year-old Palin was charged with assault, interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime and possessing a weapon while intoxicated after the incident at the Wasilla home of his parents, where he lives.

But on Friday, Palin's attorney Kevin Fitzgerald said his client had come to an agreement the state in a special court for veterans, the Alaska Dispatch News reports.

The agreement involved the state dropping two of the three misdemeanor charges against Track: assault and the interfering with the report of a domestic violence crime.

'As a condition of his entry into that court, the state dismissed the first two counts, Fitzgerald told the Dispatch News.

'Track pled to misconduct involving weapons (in a fourth degree), concerning being under the influence and having a firearm.'

He will have to complete alcohol-related treatment as part of the agreement, Fitzgerald added.

Upon successful completion, the weapons misconduct charge will be expunged from his record.

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Track (pictured with his sister Willow), the oldest son of the former Alaska Governor, was arrested in a domestic violence case in which his girlfriend was afraid he would shoot himself with an AR-15 rifle

Otherwise, he will be handed a 180-day suspended jail sentenced and be placed under informal probation for two years, according to the Dispatch News.

Anchorage District Attorney, who oversees the local veterans court, told the newspaper that Palin is not getting any special treatment from the court and that the terms of the agreement are consistent with other similar cases.

He was arrested on the night of January 18 after his girlfriend told authorities she was punched in the face by Palin.

The charges were filed on the same day his mother Sarah Palin, who was the GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008, endorsed Donald Trump before primary voting began with the Iowa caucuses.

As media covered her son's arrest, she told reporters her son returned from Iraq 'a bit different' and blamed the incident on post-traumatic stress disorder.

She also used the opportunity to criticize the Obama administration's policies towards veterans for her son's problems.

The charges were filed the same day Sarah Palin (above, with Trump on January 19), the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate, endorsed Donald Trump before primary voting began with the Iowa caucuses

Court documents say the woman, Track's girlfriend of one year, had bruising and swelling around her left eye, and she said her right knee hurt after he kicked her there.

At the time, Palin family attorney John Tiemessen declined to comment on the matter other than to say in an email to the AP that respect for the family's privacy is appreciated 'as Track receives the help that he and many of our returning veterans need.'

Palin spent a year deployed in Iraq with the Army from September 2008.

When his mother was the GOP vice-presidential candidate in 2008, she spoke at her son's deployment ceremony in Fairbanks, one of the few trips back to Alaska while on the campaign trail that fall.

Palin enlisted in the Army on the sixth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

According to the three-page affidavit, both Palin and his girlfriend called 911 that night.

Police Officer Andrew Kappler wrote that he arrived at the Wasilla home and found Track Palin walking outside and talking on a phone.

The officer said Palin had an injury to his right eye and surrounding area, smelled strongly of alcohol and acted with escalating hostility, prompting Kappler to put him in handcuffs.

Police say a breath sample provided by Palin showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.189.

Later, Sarah Palin (pictured January 20) told reporters her son returned from Iraq 'a bit different' and blamed the incident on post-traumatic stress disorder

Track Palin (pictured with sister) pent a year deployed in Iraq with the Army from September 2008

The affidavit says other officers found the girlfriend hiding under a bed inside the home and crying.

The argument continued at the home, according to the affidavit, which says Palin struck the woman with his fist on the left side of her head near her eye.

She curled up in the fetal position because she didn't know what else he would do, the woman told police.

She said he then kicked her in the knee and threw her phone across the driveway, according to the court document. The woman said she went inside after getting her phone.

Inside, Palin held the rifle, with the barrel just away from his face pointed to the side, the affidavit states.

It adds that the woman told police Palin was yelling: 'Do you think I won't do it?'

The girlfriend 'was concerned that he would shoot himself and ran outside and around the house,' the affidavit says. 'She didn't see where Palin went, so she went inside and up the stairs, where she hid under a bed.'

It's not the first encounter with the law for Palin or other members of his family. In September 2014, he and other Palins were involved in a brawl that broke out at a party in Anchorage.
The three-year-old son of a police officer died after accidentally shooting and killing himself, police say.

The little boy, Gavin, was the son of Steamboat Springs, Colorado cop Michael Richard Stiles II and his wife, Joni.

The boy apparently found a gun and shot himself on Thursday, according to The Denver Channel. It's unclear if the gun used was a department issued weapon.

Adorable little Gavin Stiles, 3, above, apparently accidentally shot himself while inside his family's Colorado home on Thursday

Emergency crews responded to a 911 call at a house near Hwy 131 and County Road 14 in Oak Creek shortly after 8:30am and the boy was rushed to Yampa Valley Medical Center, reported the outlet.

Gavin was reportedly pronounced dead at 11:04am.

Authorities have not said how the boy got a hold of a gun.

His parents were home at the time of the tragic incident, according to Steam Boat Today.

The Routt County Sheriffs Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation are investigating the death, Undersheriff Ray Birch told the outlet.

Gavin was the son of Michael Stiles, above, and according to his Facebook page just celebrated his third birthday on May 8

The shooting reportedly took place at this home in Oak Creek, Colorado

'Some of you know that Joni and Mike lost three-year-old Gavin yesterday in an accident. It was completely unexpected and they are still reeling with understandable shock. There was no life insurance policy because no one plans to lose a sweet baby so soon,' the administrator of a GoFundMe page wrote.

The administrator, Tiffany Waters, added that a local funeral home had offered to pay the costs of a funeral.

'This is a tragic loss and our thoughts and prayer are with the family and the community,' Birch told the Washington Post.

'Its a tragedy in our family, and were focusing on the welfare of our employee and his family,' Police Chief Cory Christensen told Steam Boat Today.
Man identified by Smith as Vandemark's son fired as cop called for backup

Officer eventually fires one shot and Vandemark falls to the ground

Smith can be heard asking Vandemark to drop his gun to no avail

Bodycam footage shows the moment an Oklahoma police officer shot and killed a man after asking him repeatedly to drop his gun.

Rush Springs police officer Daniel Smith responded to a domestic violence call after 10 pm on July 6 after a woman later identified as Vandemark's girlfriend called 911, authorities said according to the Chickasha Express-Star.

She did not address dispatchers directly but they heard an argument during which she mentioned a man with a gun, according to the police.

A video released Friday shows how Smith asked Vandemark to drop his gun three times before he fired one shot, hitting Vandemark in the neck.

Rush Springs police officer Daniel Smith shot and killed Thomas Vandemark, 65, while responding to a domestic violence call on July 6. Police released bodycam footage of the shooting (pictured) on Friday

Smith, a veteran of the Oklahoma National Guard, served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, the Lawton Constitution reported.

The 12-minute video begins with Smith telling dispatch: 'Subject's got a gun.' He then yells in direction of the man: 'Let me see your hands.'

Smith removes his glasses and sets them on the back of a car. A voice can be heard in the background as Smith demands: 'Drop the f*****g gun' and then again, twice: 'Drop the gun.'

The angle of the camera shifts and a man, later identified as Vandemark, appears at a distance. Smith fires one shot and the man drops to the ground.

Smith informs dispatch that shots have been fired and the subject is down. He can be heard breathing heavily as he walks towards the body and pulls the man towards him to check his pulse, after which he asks dispatch to send emergency medical services.

Then, Smith grabs his own gun with both hands again as he orders other people to stay back. Several voices can be heard as he asks a woman to stay put and tells her emergency services are on the way.

Smith can be heard saying: 'Stay where you're at' several times before informing dispatch that more people are coming out.

'He came at me with a gun, stay where you're at, please,' Smith says.

The 12-minute video (pictured) begins with Smith telling dispatch: 'Subject's got a gun.' He then yells in direction of the man: 'Let me see your hands'

Smith asks the man to drop his weapon three times, to no avail. The angle of the camera shifts and a man, later identified as Vandemark, appears. Smith fires one shot and the man drops to the ground (pictured)

People in the background ask if they can come, with one woman saying she is medically trained, but Smith tells them to stay away. Someone asks if Vandemark is breathing and Smith replies: 'No, he's not. Stay where you're at.'

A man can be heard screaming: 'You just killed my f*****g dad!' Smith replies: 'Stay where you're at, please.'

He then asks dispatch to send backup. 'The subject's son is going up to his house to grab a firearm,' Smith says.

Six shots can be heard soon after.

More screaming follows, to which Smith says: 'You shut your mouth.' He then asks for backup again, telling dispatch: 'Give me more units, now.'

Smith informs other units who might respond to the scene to look out for a subject who went inside the house and fired several rounds.

He then tells dispatch he had to take cover behind some trees. Backup arrived around 10:10 pm, police said according to the Chickasha Express-Star.

Other officers can be seen arriving to the scene, prompting Smith to signal himself. He tells them he doesn't know where Vandemark's son went.

Then, Smith gives another officer his account of the scene that just unfolded. 'He came out from behind the truck. He was screaming at me,' Smith says, talking about Vandemark.

'I'd seen the pistol. Put it behind his back and he started stomping at me. I was at the back of my car. Fired one round.'

Rush Springs police chief Fred Payne identified the man killed in the video as Vandemark, a white male around 65 years old, Friday.

Vandemark did not comply when Smith asked him to show his hands and walked towards the officer despite several warnings to stop and let go of his gun, Payne added.

'If Mr Vandemark had complied, this situation would have ended totally different,' Payne said.

Vandemark died of a gunshot wound to the neck, The Oklahoman reported.

The Rush Springs police department found the shooting justified. Smith has been placed on paid leave pending a ruling regarding the shooting, KFOR wrote.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the shooting and will report to the district attorney's office, which will make a final decision.
A corner of Da Nang (Source: VNA)

Speaking at a Da Nang investment promotion seminar held in Singapore last week, Executive Director of Singlarity consulting company Michael Dinh said its consumers and partners want to find out about information technology, clean energy and investment in Da Nang hi-tech park.

Ben Lim, Director of Singapores Shado International Group, said the company is running a project in the central province of Ha Tinh and plans to launch an electric bus service in Da Nang.

As a long-time investor in Vietnam, Chairman of the board of directors of Kinderworld Ricky Tan revealed that the group has decided to build an international-standard education-services complex on a 32ha site in the city.

As the 34th member of the Association of International Educators, Kinderworld will bring more students from ASEAN, Singapore and the world to Da Nang, he said.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee Ho Ky Minh expressed the citys commitment to attracting foreign investment in high technology, information technology, tourism, trade and logistics.

Singapore is currently Da Nangs largest investor with 22 projects worth nearly USD782 million, mostly in manufacturing, real estate, construction and education.

Questions regarding investment costs, incentives, infrastructure and labour have been answered.

Vu Thi Bich Thu, Vietcombank chief representative in Singapore, pledged all possible financial support for Singaporean investors operating in Da Nang.

The event attracted more than 70 delegates representing the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce in Singapore, the Singapore Business Federation, the International Enterprise Singapore, the Young Entrepreneurs Society of Singapore and a large number of investors./.
The U.S. government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after an abortive coup attempt.

The news comes as the U.S. military has also suspended air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq from a base in southern Turkey, a U.S. official said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's order, issued late Friday, comes as the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Saturday instructed U.S. government employees to avoid Ataturk airport owing to reports of sporadic gunfire.

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Passengers wait after their flights were cancelled on Saturday at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey following a failed coup attempt

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's order, issued late Friday, comes as the U.S. embassy in Ankara on Saturday instructed U.S. government employees to avoid Ataturk airport owing to reports of sporadic gunfire

The State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said on Twitter that 'all airlines prohibited by FAA from flying to US from Turkey directly or w/stopover'

'All airlines prohibited by FAA from flying to US from #Turkey directly or w/stopover,' the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said on Twitter.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara added that security 'at Ataturk airport is significantly diminished and US government employees have been instructed not to attempt to travel to and from Ataturk airport.'

In reference to the FAA note, the embassy said that U.S. airline carriers 'are prohibited from flying to or from Istanbul and Ankara airports.

'All airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country,' the embassy said.

It advised U.S. citizens in Turkey 'to seek shelter in safe places,' avoid unnecessary travel and monitor media reports.

People wait at Turkish Airlines desk at Adolfo Suarez airport in Barajas, near Madrid on Saturday as Turkish Airlines cancelled their flights following last night's attempted coup in Turkey

Passengers wait at a Turkish Airlines desk at Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas airport on Saturday

The U.S. embassy in Ankara added that security 'at Ataturk airport is significantly diminished and US government employees have been instructed not to attempt to travel to and from Ataturk airport'

The warnings remain in place even though Turkish airports reopened following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pre-dawn announcement of victory over discontented army officers who mounted a bloody attempt to overthrow him.

Forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed the coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left at least 161 people dead and 1,440 wounded Saturday.

Authorities arrested thousands as Erdogan vowed that those responsible 'will pay a heavy price for their treason.'

The chaos came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey - a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group - that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule.

Staying in power by switching from being prime minister to president, Erdogan has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.

The government has also come under pressure from the millions of refugees in Turkey who have fled violence in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and a series of bloody attacks in Turkey blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels.

Meanwhile on Saturday, operations from the U.S. military Incirlik air base were suspended because of the closure of the airspace used by the missions, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

This file photo shows a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy Outsize Cargo Transport Aircraft landing at Incirlik air base in Turkey in 2015. The U.S. military has suspended air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq from a base in southern Turkey, a U.S. official said

U.S. forces 'were adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign,' he said, apparently suggesting missions against IS -- also known as ISIL -- could launch from other locations.

The Turkish authorities imposed a security lockdown at Incirlik on Saturday following an attempted coup d'etat by military officers overnight.

U.S. forces use Incirlik to launch bombing missions against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq. They have notably deployed drones, Prowler electronic warplanes and A-10 ground attack aircraft from the base.

An American official had said late Friday that anti-IS missions from Incirlik had not been affected by the coup attempt. But the closing of airspace changed that, Cook said Saturday.

While electricity to Incirlik had been cut off, generators had been able to maintain operations, and that flights could be launched once airspace reopened, he said.

'U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible,' Cook said.

People on a tank run over cars on a road in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday. Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim reportedly said that the Turkish military was involved in an attempted coup d'etat. The Turkish military meanwhile stated it had taken over control

Workers inspect and clear debris after the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was bombed by rebel jets, on Saturday in Ankara

People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge

The U.S. military has around 2,200 service members and civilian employees in Turkey, which is a NATO member and a crucial regional partner for Washington. Some 1,500 are stationed in Incirlik.

American commanders have placed all their forces in Turkey on maximum alert, suspending all non-essential activities.

Following efforts to account for all US personnel, Cook said, 'all indications at this time are that everyone is safe and secure.'

On Saturday, Turkish authorities were seeking to resume business as usual and Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport - shut down by the plotters - was gradually reopening.

But international carriers were preferring to wait and see before resuming a normal service.

Along with their U.S. counterparts, Russian airlines are currently not flying passengers to Turkey although they are repatriating vacationers back home.

Major European carrier Lufthansa, the biggest German airline, cancelled all flights to Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday.

British Airways went further and cancelled all its Saturday flights to and from Turkey 'in light of the events unfolding' there, a company spokeswoman said.

Lufthansa cancelled eight of the 10 flights scheduled between Germany and Turkey, including all flights to Ankara and Istanbul.

The two remaining flights will go to the resorts of Bodrum and Antalya, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

The German airline would decide later in the day whether to run flights on Sunday, he added.

Meanwhile, Putin asked officials to provide everything necessary for tourists awaiting flights to Turkey in Russian airports 'until the situation becomes clear.'

Russia's national carrier Aeroflot has cancelled its flights to Istanbul and Antalya on Saturday and Sunday.
2012 Opening Ceremony organiser: Danny Boyle clashed with the then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt over any inclusion of the Second World War

It was billed as the ultimate celebration of British grit and ingenuity, and included references to the feats of the Industrial Revolution and the foundation of the NHS.

But organisers of the Opening Ceremony at the London Olympics in 2012 refused to highlight Britains victory over Hitler as part of the near four-hour extravaganza.

In a BBC documentary to be screened tonight, Danny Boyle, the shows artistic director, reveals how he clashed with the then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt over any inclusion of the Second World War.

Mr Hunt, whose father, Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt, was a naval commander during the Cold War, thought Britains victory against the Nazis should take centre stage in the Isles Of Wonder-themed show alongside the other historical events being commemorated.

But Boyle and colleague Stephen Daldry say they resisted his approaches on the grounds of taste.

Daldry says: Jeremy Hunt wound up the Prime Minister to a certain extent. They were very concerned with Britains role in defeating Fascism.

Boyle adds: We did have stand-offs. There were moments, big moments It was like Wheres the war? We won, we beat the Fascists. Wheres the war? 

Extravaganza: Children and Nurses representing Great Ormond Street Hospital, the NHS and children's literature take part in the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics at the Olympic Stadium in July 2012

Top Tories: Jeremy Hunt and David Cameron were 'very concerned with Britains role in defeating Fascism'

Daldry says the impasse was only broken when he and Boyle appealed to David Cameron over Mr Hunts head.

That went to the wire. Danny and I had to go without Jeremy Hunt to see the Prime Minister and explain that [the war] wasnt going to happen. In the end David Cameron said, Its your ceremony and its fine. 

The two men do not expand on the reasons for their opposition to Mr Hunts idea but it is presumed they did not want to offend the German public and their team. The ceremony was broadcast to a global audience of more than a billion.

A source close to Mr Hunt last night confirmed he had thought the war was conspicuous by its absence. He said he made his feelings clear although he had stopped short of making concrete suggestions.

Jeremy thought it was appropriate to remember great moments of national sacrifice. But he was a huge fan of the Opening Ceremony.
The word 'fire' is heard on the cockpit voice recorder of EgyptAir 804 before the plane crashed into the Mediterranean in May, an Egyptian-led investigative committee said today.

Investigators had earlier said the other black box retrieved from the crash site, the data recorder, confirmed that smoke alarms had sounded on board, while soot on wreckage indicates a fire.

'The committee had... started listening to the cockpit voice recordings before the occurrence of the accident; where the existence of 'fire' was mentioned,' it said in a statement.

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The Egypt Air Airbus A320 which later crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in May this year

'Still it is too early to determine the reason or the place where that fire started,' it said.

The data on the voice recorder had been downloaded earlier this month after it was repaired.

When it crashed on May 19 this year, the Airbus A320 crashed in the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo, killing 66 on board.

The plane was carrying 40 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, two Canadians and one passenger each from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

The committee statement said the search for the remains of the passengers has ended.

The ship conducting the search 'reached the port of Alexandria today after the end of its mission, which had been extended for the second time, after making sure of the recovery of all human remains at the site of the accident', it said.

Both Egyptian and French judiciary have opened investigations into the mysterious incident, without ruling out a terrorist attack.

An Egyptian military search boat takes part in a search operation for the EgyptAir plane that disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail speaks to reporters after arriving at airport to follow up the incident of the missing EgyptAir flight MS804, Cairo, Egypt on 19 May 2016

The crash followed the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula last October, killing all 224 passengers and crew.

The Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for that attack, but there has been no such claim linked to the EgyptAir crash.

Egypt's aviation minister had initially said an attack was the more likely explanation, but President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said there was no theory being favoured yet.

EgyptAir said last week that advance compensation payments of $25,000 will be offered to families of the 66 people killed in the crash.
The bodies of two women have been recovered after a boat overturned on Lake Lanier in Hall County, Georgia, during a charity event and rescue crews are still looking for two men.

The women were identified as 45-year-old Melissa Renee McMahan and 44-year-old Tammy Reece were located overnight, said Georgia Department of Natural Resources officials said Saturday.

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The bodies of Melissa Renee McMahan, 45, and friend Tammy Reece, 44, were recovered in Lake Lanier

The cigarette style boat was found partially submerged, witnesses said it hit a wake - investigators will try to determine if speed played a role in the accident

One of the bodies has been identified as that of Melissa Renee McMahan (left), her husband, Arthur, above, is still missing, along with Tammy Reece and Anthony Reece Jr.

The foursome were known for their love of boating and belonged to the Lake Havasu Powerboat Club, according to its Facebook page - above, the boat they were in that capsized

Both women were from Kentucky, McMahan was from Mount Washington and Reece from Columbia.

The department's Maj. Stephen Adams says the single-vessel cigarette-style boat overturned on Friday. A collision with another boat is not suspected.

The boat was a 38-foot, tunnel-hull, racing style vessel, according to Adams.

'Pirate' boats compete up and down Lanier Lake to get cards and the best hand to win prizes at the Lanier Poker Run (one such boat, above, not the boat that capsized)

Officials believe the boat was involved in the Pirates of Lanier Charity Poker Run, where boats travel to different spots on the lake and pick up playing cards in an attempt to get the best hand and win a prize.

The charity benefits needy children in Georgia.

Officials say a search is still ongoing for Melissa McMahan's husband, 46-year-old Arthur Gene McMahan Jr. and for 44-year-old Anthony Reece Jr. who were with the women.

Participants often dress up like pirates (such as above) for the Pirates of Lanier Poker Run, where a boat overturned, killing two women, two men remain missing

Rescue crews will continue to perform sonar and sector scans through the night when there are less people on the lake, according to WDRB. Police are asking boaters in the area to use idle speed and not crowd their rescue efforts.

Witness reportedly said that the boat was traveling south near Cocktail Cove on the lake when it encountered a wake and overturned.

Investigators are looking into whether speed was a factor in the crash.

'The Lanier Partners would like to send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of those involved in an accident on Lake Lanier today,' the group wrote on Facebook.
The Governments 600 million free school meals scheme is failing to make children healthier or significantly boost their grades, new figures suggest.

The costly initiative to provide nutritious hot lunches to all pupils in the first three years of primary school was launched two years ago, with supporters claiming that it could help cut obesity and raise academic standards.

But an analysis of tens of thousands of children shows it has had little impact on either, and may even have resulted in children getting fatter.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver last year backed doctors who warned that the obesity crisis would worsen if free meals were scrapped. The celebrity chef is pictured here making pizza at a London school in 2014

Critics of the scheme said it was expensive gesture politics and called for the money to be spent on other areas of education.

The initiative was launched by the Coalition Government in 2014 to encourage pupils to switch from eating packed lunches of sandwiches, crisps and fizzy drinks.

At the high-profile launch, the then Deputy Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, said studies had shown that pupils who ate proper lunches were up to two months ahead in their work compared to those who preferred packed lunches of sandwiches and sweets.

Backer: Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver backed the scheme

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is also a fan. Last year he backed doctors who warned that the obesity crisis would worsen if free meals were scrapped.

Now official figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday for two pioneering London boroughs, Newham and Islington  where it was decided five years ago to introduce the scheme for all primary school children  have undermined these claims.

The NHS figures reveal that 24.7 per cent of pupils who left Newham primaries in 2011 were classed as obese, while for leavers in 2015, who had enjoyed five years of free meals, the percentage had risen to 27.4.

In Islington, the proportion of obese 11-year-olds was 21.8 per cent in 2011, but rose to 22.8 per cent in 2015. In London primary schools as a whole, the figure went from 21.9 per cent to 22.6 per cent in the same period.

Judged by the results of national English and maths SATs tests taken by all 11-year-olds, the two boroughs made limited progress in raising pupils academic attainment, compared to the London average.

In 2011, 67 per cent of 11-year-olds in Newham reached the required standard. That rose to 84 per cent by 2015, and childrens scores in Islington jumped by almost the same amount.

But the proportions also went up by similar levels in London as a whole.

The figures echo a 2012 report based on pilot studies for the Department for Education, which found that although children ate fewer of the fatty and sugary items often found in lunch boxes, they made up for it by eating more roast potatoes and chips in cooked school meals.

The report by the social research institute NatCen also said that children who previously had a packed lunch at school and a hot meal at home in the evening were eating extra food because they now had two cooked meals a day.

The new report by the social research institute NatCen also said that children who previously had a packed lunch at school and a hot meal at home in the evening were eating extra food (file photo)

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said: The Governments free meals scheme is expensive gesture politics. In these straitened times, the money would be much better spent on education itself.

WANT TO FEEL GOOD? EAT OUT Eating outdoors could improve our skin, help us sleep and lift our mood, it has been claimed. Scientists have linked increased vitamin D to better health and staving off depression  and a campaign is encouraging diners to boost their levels by eating outside. Gastro Alfresco  which promotes brands for open-air consumption  said there were real health benefits to taking meals outdoors, with experts from the Universities of Essex and Harvard highlighting the positive effects of natural light. Advertisement

There is no evidence of any impact on obesity, nor would much be expected given everything involved in a childs weight.

Children spend a relatively small part of their lives at school, so any obesity will be down to their whole way of life with their families, not just those few hours in school.

A spokesman for Newham said that despite being among the most deprived boroughs in England, its SATs results had consistently improved to beat the England average and match the London average. He added that Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw had praised Newhams approach in delivering this type of success.

Islington Council leader Richard Watts said: Teachers tell us that childrens behaviour and concentration have improved and Islingtons SATs results are increasing slightly faster than the London and national average.
Islamic militants took to other sites to spread sick posters in celebration

Twitter reacted rapidly to remove posts by Islamic militants glorifying the terrorist truck attack in Nice, after previously facing criticism for its handling of extremist propaganda.

In a rare round of praise for the company watchdog groups said it acted swiftly to delete Tweets praising the massacre within minutes.

Instead pro-attack supporters were forced to flood other sites such as secure messaging app Telegram to post sickening posters revelling in the deaths.

Violence in recent months has posed challenges to social media groups, yet Twitter 'moved with swiftness we have not seen before to erase pro-attack tweets within minutes,' according to a statement by Counter Extremism Project.

In a rare round of praise for Twitter watchdog groups said it acted swiftly to delete Tweets praising the Nice truck massacre within minutes

ISIS killer Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a truck through crowds of people watching fireworks on France's Bastille Day, leaving 84 dead.

The watchdog organisation stated over 50 Twitter accounts used the hashtag Nice in Arabic to praise the attack on the Promenade des Anglais in the port city.

Yet although 'it was the first time Twitter has reacted so efficiently,' said the counter-extremism group, in other online locations such as Telegram ISIS celebrated the carnage.

Fanatics uploaded sick posters to glorify the bloodbath. One showed the Eiffel Tower in flames and a knife-wielding jihadi alongside a message in Arabic.

Another stated the terrorists were heading to Berlin next, and one poster read 'Orlando was just the beginning', referring to the gunman who massacred 49 people in a Florida nightclub last month.

On Twitter many accounts appeared almost immediately after events in Nice , in a pattern similar to what was seen during the Paris and Brussels attacks.

Fanatics took to other sites to upload sick posters to glorify the bloodbath. One showed the Eiffel Tower in flames and a knife-wielding jihadi alongside a message in Arabic

Through unofficial channels ISIS supporters posted disgusting images revelling in deaths from the attack

Sick: One of the pro-attack images superimposed the head of French president Francois Hollande onto a man being grabbed by the throat by apparent ISIS fighters

Islamic state militants were not deterred from celebrating the attacks on the site, and made attempts to update their tactics.

During the massacre, pro-attack supporters were advised by the group to use the same hashtags used to sympathise with the victims, such as #PrayForNice, #NiceAttack and #Nice, so their tweets gained a wider audience.

But the company took robust action to respond with unusual alacrity, according to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate project, reports the Independent.

In a statement Twitter did not disclose information about the accounts it suspended, but said it bans terrorism on the website.

Facebook has also increased efforts to remove content that violates its terms of service, but also strives to be open to users trying to post important information.

The unfolding military coup in Turkey was at its early stages marked by social media restrictions, but the crackdown has now begun to ease.

One poster read 'Orlando was just the beginning', referring to the gunman who massacred 49 people in a Florida nightclub last month

In further pro-attack posters terrorists supporters claimed that they are heading to Berlin next

Many citizens were able to record live-stream videos of their situations and post tweets.

Both organisations played a significant role during the Arab Spring, where the capability to share uncensored and accurate information contributed to the overthrow of powerful dictatorships.

Facebook and Twitter continue to face the challenge of distinguishing between graphic images posted to glorify attacks, and those shared to document the events.

Facebook's 'community standards' explicitly ban 'terrorism' and related content promoting violence.

Pro-attack supporters used hashtags sympathising with victims such as #PrayForNice to gain wider audience

But Twitter reacted 'efficiently' to remove pro-attack posts according to Counter Extremism Project

But its graphic image policy is more nuanced and relies on users to report objectionable material to a team of human editors.

In a blog post last week about updated guidelines the company said: 'One of the most sensitive situations involves people sharing violent or graphic images of events taking place in the real world.

'In those situations, context and degree are everything. For instance, if a person witnessed a shooting, and used Facebook Live to raise awareness or find the shooter, we would allow it.

'However, if someone shared the same video to mock the victim or celebrate the shooting, we would remove the video.'
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is facing calls for his resignation after the latest deadly terror attack on the country in Nice.

In the wake of its third major terror tragedy in 18 months, the French government is facing searing criticism from opposition politicians and newspapers demanding more than 'the same old solemn declarations'.

French National Front Party Leader Marine Le Pen today pointed to the mounting death toll from terror attacks in recent years in Paris and Nice as evidence of the need for ministerial change.

'In any other country in the world, a minister with a toll as horrendous as Bernard Cazeneuve - 250 dead in 18 months - would have quit,' she said.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve is facing calls for his resignation following the Bastille Day attack

French far-right Front National Party President Marine Le Penhas called for ministerial accountability over the Bastille Day terror attacks in Nice, France, on Thursday and other recent attacks in the country

But Cazeneuve defended France's security efforts, saying the country was facing 'a new kind of attack' which highlighted 'the extreme difficulty of the anti-terrorism fight'.

Speaking as France began three days of mourning on Saturday, he said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel 'had not been known to the intelligence services because he did not stand out... by being linked with radical Islamic ideology'.

The interior minister pledged to boost the presence of security forces across the country and called on willing 'French patriots' to join the country's operational reservists - currently made up of 12,000 volunteers.

The move came as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility Saturday for the truck massacre in Nice, as France highlighted the 'extreme difficulty' of preventing such attacks amid tough questions over security failures.

In a statement via its Amaq news service, IS said one of its 'soldiers' carried out the attack 'in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)'.

Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, on Thursday night ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd of people who had been watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city, killing 84 and injuring some 200 others.

After crisis talks in Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted that IS had recently repeated calls for supporters to 'directly attack the French, Americans, wherever they are and by whatever means'.

'In any other country in the world, a minister with a toll as horrendous as Bernard Cazeneuve - 250 dead in 18 months - would have quit,' French National Front Party Leader Marine Le Pen said

'Even when Daesh is not the organiser, Daesh breathes life into the terrorist spirit that we are fighting,' he said, using an Arabic name for IS.

Police said Saturday they had arrested four more people linked to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, in addition to his estranged wife who was taken into custody on Friday.

Cazeneuve said the father-of-three 'seemed to have been radicalised very quickly, from what his friends and family' have told police.

'We are now confronted with individuals open to IS's message to engage in extremely violent actions without necessarily having been trained or having the weapons to carry out a mass (casualty) attack.'



Meanwhile, at least 10 children and adolescents were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany.

Tahar Mejri, who lost his wife during the deadly Nice attack that left 84 dead on Bastille day, yells in front of the Pasteur hospital in the French riviera town of Nice after he found out about the death of his son

A spokeswoman for the Nice paediatric hospital said 16 bodies had not yet been identified.

The French health ministry said five children and 21 adults were still fighting for their lives in a critical condition in hospital and were among 121 people still hospitalised.

Tahar Mejri is one of 30,000 people who had gone to watch the fireworks on the palm tree-lined Promenade des Anglais when their night turned to horror as the truck left mangled bodies strewn in its wake.

He lost his wife in the attack and was hunting Saturday for his four-year-old son.

'I have called everywhere, police stations, hospitals, Facebook and I can't find my son. I have been looking for him for 48 hours,' he told AFP.

'My wife is dead, where is my son?'

Hours later, he emerged wailing in distress from the Pasteur Hospital in the north of Nice after learning that his son was also dead.

IS also claimed responsibility for the November 13 attacks which killed 130 people in Paris, while gunmen in January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo weekly and a Jewish supermarket were linked to both IS and Al-Qaeda.

People gather and lay tributes on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France

A French parliamentary inquiry last week criticised numerous failings by the intelligence services over the Paris attacks.

France is also home to hundreds of jihadists who have flocked to fight alongside IS.

- 'A wall of cement' -

Cazeneuve also defended the security measures taken for the celebrations of France's national day.

He said police cars were unable to follow the truck onto the seaside walkway after it had 'violently forced through the barriers' and onto the sidewalk.

Anthony Borre, director of the Nice mayor's office, said the truck had 'pulverised' the barriers at a speed of 90 kilometres (56 miles) per hour.

The truck zigzagged for two kilometres (1.2 miles) through the crowd before police bullets killed the driver and brought an end to the carnage.

'You would have needed a wall of cement to stop him,' he said.

Neighbours described the attacker, who worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings, and who had been violent towards his estranged wife.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's father said he had suffered from depression and had 'no links' to religion.
A day after debuting a 'suggestive' campaign logo that was widely mocked and ridiculed online, it appears Donald Trump and Mike Pence have unveiled a new logo.

The new design was featured in a fundraising email sent out on Saturday and also appeared on the campaign's website, according to The Hill.

The logo shows the two candidates' last names in red and blue over the slogan 'Make America Great Again.'

 Slide me  A day after debuting a 'sexually suggestive' campaign logo that was widely mocked online, it appears Donald Trump and Mike Pence have unveiled a new logo (shown above)

The new design was featured in a fundraising email sent out on Saturday and also appeared on the campaign's website (top left)

It appears the Republican running mates scrapped their previous design after the internet erupted with mocking memes and comments after it was unveiled on Friday.

That particular logo was revealed shortly after Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, announced Indiana governor, Pence, would be his running mate.

The bottom of the logo showed the last names of the two men and Trump's slogan: 'Make America Great Again.'

However, it was the graphic above that led many to ridicule the logo online, with an interlock 'T' and 'P' that some have described as 'suggestive.'

Or, as 90-year-old John Dingell, a former member of the House of Representatives for 60 years from Michigan, wrote on Twitter: 'What is the T doing to that P?'

On Friday, Trump tweeted: 'I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.'

Pence responded with his own tweet shortly after, writing: 'Honored to join @DonaldTrump and work to make America great again.'

The previous logo caused the internet to erupt with mocking memes. 90-year-old John Dingell, a former member of the House of Representatives for 60 years from Michigan, wrote: 'What is the T doing to that P?'

Trump's announcement came just one hour before the deadline for Pence to withdraw as the GOP nominee for governor in Indiana on Friday, a move that would have all but confirmed Trump's pick even if he had not yet made it official.

Pence filed the necessary paperwork approximately 15 minutes after Trump's tweet.

Trump seemed to confirm that he would pick Pence after he was seen meeting with him at the Indiana governor's mansion on Wednesday morning and bringing along his three oldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, along with Ivanka's husband Jared Kushner.

Pence and Trump appeared alongside one another at a rally the night before, with Trump saying of the governor: 'I don't know whether he's going to be your governor or your vice president. Who the hell knows! Good man.'

The staunch conservative served in Congress for six terms before becoming governor, and has the support of major GOP leaders along with deep ties to evangelical Christians.

Trump's logo is not the first to become an online punchline.

Jeb Bush's 'Jeb!' logo was widely ridiculed.

While presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's logo has been praised by many designers, it prompted intra-party grousing last year.

It features an 'H'' with an arrow pointing right, leading some Democrats to complain that the arrow did not point left.

On Saturday, billionaire Trump praised his newly minted running mate Pence as 'a man of honor, character and honesty,' using their official coming-out party as a platform to contrast the Indiana governor with his November opponent Hillary Clinton.

'Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of corruption. She's a corrupt person,' he said.

Trump shakes hands with Pence on Saturday during a campaign event to announce Pence as his vice presidential running mate. On Saturday, he praised Pence as 'a man of honor, character and honesty'

Trump applauds after introducing Pence as his vice presidential running mate as Trump's daughter Ivanka looks on

Trump, fourth from left, and Pence, third from left, are joined by their families on stage during a campaign event on Saturday in New York

When Pence spoke nearly a half-hour later, saying he was 'deeply humbled,' he drew a standing ovation for a line he uttered on Tuesday, during the pair's only other joint public appearance: 'Hillary Clinton must never become President of the United States of America.'

The 57-year-old Indianan lauded Trump, 'this builder, this fighter, this patriotic American who has set aside a legendary career in business to build a stronger America.'

Trump told a hotel ballroom of several hundred invited guests that Pence is 'the leader who will help us deliver a safe society and a really prosperous society for all Americans. ... He is a solid, solid person.'

'He's really got the skills of a highly talented executive, leading the state of Indiana to jobs, growth, and opportunity.'
Derrick Hudson, 19, was arrested and charged with posting a Facebook threat against police officers

A man was arrested on charges of threatening to kill white police officers on his Facebook page.

Derrick 'DeDe' Hudson, of Macon, Georgia, allegedly posted a comment saying, 'Just kill all white cracker cops LLH.' LLH stand for Laughing like hell.

The comment was reportedly accompanied by a link to a story on the shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge on July 5.

A Bibb County sheriff took a screen shot of the alleged threat posted on Wednesday, according to The Macon Telegraph.

Five hours after he posted the comment, Hudson was reportedly sitting in a Macon jail cell.

A warrant said that the teen's comment was 'constituting murdering law enforcement officers both locally and abroad by reaching out to the public on a social platform in a matter that requests, commands and importunes another person.'

People on Hudson's Facebook wall were denouncing it, according to the outlet.

According to Hudson's Facebook page, he is a general manager at Hoodboyz retail store and graduated from Westside High School.

In a similar incident in Georgia, Kasheema Tachel Wadley of Swainsboro was charged with terroristic threats and acts in connection with a post she allegedly made threatening Emanuel County law enforcement officers.

Hudson's original Facebook post appears to have been removed.
An elderly couple are being evicted from the house they have lived in for more than 50 years after they say their grandson scammed them out of it.

Hank, 88, and Helen Kawecki, 87, of Thousand Oaks, California, are being forced out of their home on Monday because their grandson sold it without telling them, the couple told CBS Los Angeles.

They have now been forced to file a lawsuit against their grandson, who is currently not facing any criminal charges, the station reports.

And the couple, who have five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, are heartbroken that one of their beloved grandsons  who they call treasure child - has done this to them.

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Hank and Helen Kawecki are being evicted from the house they have lived in for more than 50 years after they say their grandson scammed them out of it

I didnt think that my grandson would do that to me, Helen told CBS. He would be the last person.

Hank added: Its kind of bad  its your own family.

Furthermore, they say they werent even aware that the house, which spans 2,00 sq ft, was put on the market until a neighbor informed them earlier this year.

Neighbor Doug Emerson said he noticed for sale signs on the Kaweckis lawn in January.

And the couple said they remember their grandson had occasionally lured them out of their house  and claim thats when he had realtors show the property to prospective buyers.

The Kaweckis say they unknowingly signed away the deed to their house.

They had been thinking of taking out a loan around two years ago, The Acorn reports.

The couple, pictured outside their home in Thousand Oaks, California, are being forced out of it on Monday because their grandson sold it without telling them

The Kaweckis are having to pack up more than five decades worth of possessions and memories

But their grandson had convinced them that because they were retired, it would be difficult for them to take it out in their names  suggesting he do it in his instead.

Then, he allegedly suggested they sign their house over to him and hed take a loan out against it and give them the money.

Later, their grandson convinced them that it would save them money if he kept the money from the loans  around $470,000  and pay them in monthly instalments.

The couple agreed, but the money stopped coming after a few months.

We signed the papers but we didnt read them carefully enough, Hank told The Acorn. We believed him and that was our mistake.

He further deceived them by claiming bank staff were coming to assess the value of their property when it was actually real estate agents showing off the house.

But their neighbor Emerson said he told the Kaweckis the truth after a couple arrived at his home and introduced themselves as his new neighbors, he told Inside Edition.

Meanwhile, Emerson said he and his wife Linda are happy to let the couple stay with them.

Hank Kawecki and his wife say they unknowingly transferred the deed of their house to their grandson

They set up a GoFundMe page to help the Kaweckis with rent and moving costs as well as legal fees.

In a post on the page, Emerson said: We moved to Thousand Oaks a little over a year ago and Hank and Helen are two of the nicest people we have ever met.

The emotional stress on them has been unbearable. We are hoping you will help them save their home. It is all they have.

We discovered the fraud and helped them hire an attorney who did the proper legal filings that stopped the public sale.

However, the lenders went through the foreclosure process and that could not be stopped. They are now being evicted with no money and no place to go.

Helping the couple pack up their 56 years of possessions and memories from the house were some Boy Scout troops, Inside Edition reports.

Despite this, the ordeal has taken its toll on Helens health, who neighbors say has had to go to the emergency room numerous times in recent months.

The Ventura County District Attorney and local law enforcement are investigating.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (Source: VNA)

Receiving French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault, Minh extended profound condolences to the French Government and people, and the families of victims of the terrorist attack in Nice on July 14

Vietnam appreciates the French Parliaments ratification of the Vietnam-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and wishes that France will support the early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, Deputy PM Minh said.

Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that French President Francois Holland will visit Vietnam in September, adding that this visit will help intensify the two countries strategic partnership in all fields, especially in economics.

The Vietnamese Deputy PM affirmed that the Government is willing to facilitate Frances investment in high technology, infrastructure, energy, transport, aviation, health, agriculture and the environment.

He asked France to maintain its ODA provision for Vietnam and help Vietnam gain access to loans from the World Banks International Development Association (IDA) beyond 2017.

Talking to Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Minh stated that Vietnam will create more favourable conditions for Italian enterprises to expand their investments in the fields of manufacturing, garment and textiles, footwear, wood processing, the support industry, construction materials, energy and food processing.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, including the East Sea issue.

At his meeting with Swedish Minister of Education Gustav Fridolin, Minh welcomed the Swedish Prime Ministers proposal on the establishment of a strategic partnership in education-training and science-technology.

The Foreign Ministry will work with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Science and Technology to study this proposal, he said.

He suggested Sweden support Vietnams access to the IDA loans as well as the World Banks building of a suitable repayment plan to help Vietnam have a sustainable repayment capacity.

Meanwhile, at the meeting with Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan, Deputy PM Minh welcomed the Irish Presidents visit to Vietnam slated for late 2016 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

He spoke highly of the National Strategy on Development Cooperation with Vietnam in the 2011-2015 period initiated by the Irish Government, adding that he is willing to cooperate with Ireland in building and implementing the strategy for the next five years.

The Irish minister expressed his hope that the two countries will intensify cooperation in potential areas like culture, education and agriculture, and that Vietnam will help Ireland expand its exports to the country and Southeast Asia./.
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Thousands of protesters marched on central London as the English Defence League, Black Lives Matter and Anti-Tory supporters held rallies on the same day.

There was a sea of people chanting and holding placards as they made their way through Piccadilly Circus, Marble Arch and Hyde Park today as over 10,000 people made their voices heard.

While campaigners for anti-austerity and anti-fascism turned up in their droves, far-right supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) could only muster a group of around 70 for their march.

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English Defence League supporters are given a guard by the Metropolitan Police as they march through central London today

Anti-fascism supporters held placards and called EDL supporters 'Nazis' as they met them at Hyde Park Corner this afternoon

Thousands of people marched through central London in protest of the Tory Government and in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

EDL supporters wave anti-Islamic placards and flags calling for a ban on mosques and exclaiming that England is under attack from a 'rape jihad'

Muslim women wearing veils walk past EDL supporters as they stage their rally from Marble Arch into Hyde Park this afternoon

The event, which was advertised on the group's Facebook and Twitter pages, drew people draped in England flags, wearing masks and custom made EDL t-shirts.

As they marched through London's popular tourist destinations they chanted 'no surrender' to terrorist groups and repeatedly barked the rallying cry of 'E-E-EDL.'

After reaching Hyde Park a number of speakers addressed the crowd about their fears regarding Islam, as well as discussing the group's opinion on immigration.

Supporters also called for new Prime Minister Theresa May to be given the time to execute a Brexit.

It was then suggested that the group walk to the French Embassy and pay respects to the 84 victims of the Bastille Day massacre on Thursday.

Impassioned anti-fascism campaigners were seen chanting 'refugees are welcome here' and labelling EDL supporters 'Nazis' by the Marble Arch monument - but thankfully violence did not flare up.

EDL supporters were seen wearing custom-made shirts during their rally as well as chanting slogans and waving flags

Anti-austerity supporters march holding placards promoting the Black Lives Matter campaign and protesting against prejudice

The anti-austerity march attracted around 10,000 people to the streets of central London where supporters where seen walking with placards campaigning for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

Anti-austerity campaigners hold placards as they march together past Desigual in Regents Street, the group gathered after an 'emergency' rally was organised because of the Brexit vote

Anti-Tory party campaigners hold up placards calling party members 'elitist criminals' and calling others to fight against their policies

Mass crowds of Pro-Jeremy Corbyn campaigners marched through Oxford Street as they campaigned against the Conservative Party with placards featuring the face of new Prime Minister Theresa May saying 'Fight the Tories' and others saying 'The Tories are elitist criminals'.

The demonstrators said they were marching as part of an 'emergency demonstration' that was organised due to Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Campaigners wanted to show the world that refugees were welcome in Britain.

Anti-fascist campaigners hold up 'Black Lives Matter' placards as they meet EDL supporters at Hyde Park Corner this afternoon

An EDL supporter holds up a placard with the group's aims as he campaigns near Marble Arch in central London, this afternoon

As well as England flags emblazoned with slogans, EDL campaigners also waved flags representing where they were from - including this flag showing the county of Essex's crest

Anti-fascist campaigners gathered at Hyde Park where they chanted that refugees were welcome and called EDL groups 'Nazis'

An EDL supporter wears a custom-made hoody while another draped in an England flag holds up a placard bearing the group's aims

Anti-austerity campaigners march together with placards calling for people to 'Defy Tory Rule' and welcoming refugees to Britain

Organiser Steve Sweeney, 42, told the Evening Standard: 'The message is very clear, that people are rejecting the Tories' austerity policies.
A Muslim group in Chicago has erected two massive billboards over the city's highways that they hope will fight terrorism and combat Islamophobia.

The Association of Pakistani Americans of Bolingbrook paid almost $7,600 for the billboards, which went up on Sunday over Interstate 290 and I-55, the Chicago Tribune reported, and will be displayed for four weeks.

The signs read: 'Muslims to Muslims: See Something. Say Something. Save Innocent Lives.'

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A Muslim group in Chicago has erected two massive billboards (pictured) over the city's highways that they hope will fight terrorism and combat Islamophobia

Talat Rashid, the association's founder, said the billboards call on Muslims to alert authorities if they suspect anyone of such acts.

They are meant to show average Americans that Muslims don't condone terrorism, he said.

'It is time that we should go out and tell everyone that we are not what you hear and what you see,' Rashid told Fox News.

'We are peace-loving people here. We are part of the American fabric.'

But others say the message is overly simplistic and could lead to innocent people being reported.

Talat Rashid (above), the association's founder, said the billboards are meant to show average Americans that Muslims don't condone terrorism

Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago chairman Mohammed Kaiseruddin said officials at the Cook County Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management asked him to promote the slogan.

But he refused, saying it could lead to the reporting of innocent people, citing the case of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Texas boy who was arrested when his teacher suspected a clock he built may have been a bomb in 2015.

One Muslim official said the message could lead to innocent people being reported, citing the case of Ahmed Mohamed (above) , the 14-year-old boy who was arrested when his teacher suspected a clock he built may have been a bomb

Kaiseruddin said: 'It's so vague. See something: That could mean profiling.

'That could mean somebody Middle Eastern wearing a long beard. And say something? Say to who?'

The Department of Homeland Security uses the slogan 'If you see something, say something,' without mentioning Muslims.

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of Chicago's Council on American Islamic Relations, said the slogan could lead to other problems for the Muslim community, as there isn't any data to suggest Muslims who see something suspicious don't speak up.

'I'm in the business of countering Islamophobia. I know that work needs to be done,' Rehab said.

'I just don't think that cementing a misperception on a billboard is going to help.'

Rashid said he and members of his organization knew some people wouldn't like the billboards, but that the members believe the message is a proactive way of teaching the public about the difference between Muslim beliefs and extreme radicals who aren't welcomed by the community.

A Chicago-based Muslim outreach organization, GainPeace, has spent $12,000 on three billboards over Chicago highways that say: 'Muslims Condemn All Violence.'

'There has always been a complaint from our fellow American neighbors that Muslims don't speak out and they don't condemn the violence,' said Sabeel Ahmed, GainPeace director. 'We want to show, big and loud, that we do.'
The death is being investigated as a homicide and no additional details are available at this time

Name of the inmate and circumstances surrounding the killing were not immediately released

where she was pronounced dead

Life-saving measures were initiated before Johnson was taken to

A female corrections officer was killed by a male inmate at a prison in west central Texas early Saturday, authorities said.

Mari Johnson, 55, was found unresponsive at around 3am near the kitchen area of the French M Robertson Unit in Abilene, Texas, Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said.

Life-saving measures were initiated before Johnson was taken to Hendricks Medical Center in Abilene where she was pronounced dead, he said.

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Mari Johnson, 55, (pictured left and right) was found unresponsive at around 3am near the kitchen area of the French M Robertson Unit in Abilene, Texas, Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said

The name of the inmate and circumstances surrounding the killing were not immediately released, and the death is being investigated as a homicide. The prison pictured above

The name of the inmate and circumstances surrounding the killing were not immediately released, and the death is being investigated as a homicide.

Clark said the agency's Office of Inspector General was investigating the incident and that no additional details would be released at this time.

'Correctional officers have one of the most difficult jobs in all of state government protecting the public from dangerous individuals,' Brad Livingston, the department's executive director, said.

'This is a tragic reminder that carrying out that mission can lead to the ultimate sacrifice.

'Ms. Johnson made the ultimate sacrifice to keep this state safe.

Johnson had been with the prison system since August 2009

'She will never be forgotten. We will see that the offender who committed this cowardly act is held accountable.'

Johnson had been with the prison system since August 2009.

Dale Wainwright, chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, said the loss of a corrections officer's life was 'difficult to put into words.'

'I ask the public to remember their acts of unselfishness, remember their many acts of courage, and remember the dedication and commitment demonstrated every day by correctional officers,' he said.

'Please pray for this officers friends, family, and the department during this time.'

The Robertson Unit, about 140 miles west of Fort Worth, is an all-male facility that has a capacity of nearly 3,000 inmates.

Governor Greg Abbott called the slaying senseless and an 'unfathomably tragic event.'

'The State of Texas mourns for Mari Johnson, a correctional officer who was senselessly murdered last night by an inmate at the Robertson Unit in Abilene, Texas,' he said.

'Like all those who faithfully serve, Mari was dedicated to protecting others, and her service will not be forgotten.

'Cecilia and I ask that all Texans keep the Johnson family in their thoughts and prayers in the aftermath of this unfathomably tragic event.

'Texas will ensure the perpetrator receives swift justice, and TDCJ has been instructed to take all necessary measures to enhance the safety of their staff to prevent such tragedies.'

Johnson's death comes a year after the last on-duty slaying of a Texas corrections officer.

Timothy Davison, 38, was attacked by an inmate in July 2015 at the Telford Unit near Texarkana in far northeast Texas.

The inmate, Billy Joel Tracy, 38, already was serving a life prison term and now is awaiting trial for capital murder.
Boris Johnson has discovered there is a hefty price to pay for high office.

The newly-appointed Foreign Secretary is believed to be having to pay back a 500,000 advance to his publishers because he no longer has time to write a book about Shakespeare.

The father-of-five had been commissioned by Hodder & Stoughton to write a biography of the Bard to coincide with this years 400th anniversary of his death.

But Mr Johnson, 52, has conceded he doesnt have the time to complete the book before the end of the anniversary.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talks to reporters at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office yesterday after a coup was attempted in Turkey. He is so busy in his new job he has had to pay back a 500,000 book advance

Mr Johnson is a prolific author whose previous titles include bestsellers The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History and also The Dream Of Rome, an acclaimed history of the Roman Empire.

The Foreign Secretary could have drawn from his recent experience in writing on Shakespeare, after political observers suggested that the ruthless way Michael Gove ended Mr Johnsons hopes of winning the Tory leadership was distinctly reminiscent of Brutuss stabbing of Julius Caesar in the history play.

Mr Johnson paraphrased a line from the play when he announced his decision not to run in the contest, saying: A time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune.

But the New York-born politician has managed to complete one task.

Mr Johnson, who has previously enjoyed dual nationality, has given up his American citizenship, which meant filing tax returns on both sides of the pond.

Mr Johnson paraphrased a line from the play when he announced his decision not to run in the contest, saying: A time not to fight against the tide of history but to take that tide at the flood and sail on to fortune

He sorted out a deal with US authorities in March with the help of his friend US ambassador Matthew Barzun  but not before paying a six- figure US tax bill last year after selling his Islington townhouse.

Hodder & Stoughton declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Mr Johnson.
He claimed Gulen was behind a 'parallel structure' to overthrow the state

Erdogan told supporters he is considering reintroducing the death penalty

A US-based Turkish cleric accused of plotting a coup to overthrow the Ankara government has claimed President Recep Erdogan staged the rebellion himself to justify a major clampdown on opposition forces.

Fethullah Gulen, who was a former key ally of Erdogan has been blamed by the politician of using his contacts to develop a 'parallel structure' to overthrow the state.

Erdogan has called on US President Barack Obama to extradite Gulen, who is based in Pennsylvania.

US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, pictured, accused his former ally Recep Erdogan of staging the coup to generate sympathy and provide a pretext to order a clampdown on civil rights and democracy in Turkey

Addressing a rally in Istanbul today, Recep Erdogan, pictured, accused Gulen of organising last night's plot

Protesters in Taksim Square in Istanbul demanded the reintroduction of the death penalty for the plotters

Erdogan, left, and Gulen, right, were close allies in the 1990s but are now bitterly opposed to each other

In response to the attempted rebellion, Turkish authorities have detained 2,745 judges and prosecutors whose loyalty to the regime has been questioned.

Also, some 2,839 soldiers - including the head of the Third Army Corps in Istanbul, General Erdal Ozturk - have been arrested.

PM Binali Yildrim described the plot, which claimed the lives of 161 civilians with 1,440 wounded, as a 'black stain on Turkish democracy'.

Speaking from his home, Gulen claimed democracy in Turkey could not be achieved through military action.

He condemned the plot, although authorities in Ankara are not convinced.

He said: 'There is a slight chance, there is a possibility that it could be a staged coup. It could be meant for court accusations and associations.'

He added: 'It appears that they have no tolerance for any movement, any group, any organisation that is not under their total control.'

President Erdogan told a crowd chanting for the death penalty on Saturday that such demands may be discussed in parliament after a coup attempt by a faction in the military killed at least 161 people.

Looking relaxed and smiling, giving an occasional thumbs up to his supporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said the coup attempt had been carried out by a minority in the army.

He said: 'The army is ours, not that of the parallel structure. I am chief commander.'

Earlier Erdogan urged the US to extradite Gulen claiming Turkey never turned down an extradition request from Washington for 'terrorists'.

There have been mass expressions of support in towns and cities across Turkey for Erdogan since Friday

Secretary of State John Kerry, pictured today in Luxembourg, said he would entertain an extradition request

He said: 'I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request.'

Secretary of State John Kerry said: 'We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.'

A Turkish government official said the government 'has been preparing a formal application with detailed information about Gulen's involvement in illegal activities. After last night, we have one more thing to add to an already extensive list'.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, 'in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.'

He said: 'Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.'

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: 'As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.'

In an incredibly rare interview, Gulen said he would never return to Turkey because he would fear being 'persecuted and harassed'.

Speaking from his home in Pennsylvania, Gulen said: 'This is a tranquil and clean place and I enjoy and I live my freedom here. Longing for my homeland burns in my heart, but freedom is also equally important. If I were to send him a message, he would probably consider it as a slur and reject it,'
New EU migrants who come to Britain could be sent home to stop a pre-Brexit immigration surge.

The warning by new Brexit Minister David Davis came as he vowed to take a tough line as the Cabinet supremo in charge of negotiations on the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

In his first interview since being appointed by Theresa May, Mr Davis said he was determined to win a 'generous settlement' for EU migrants already here and for Britons living in EU countries such as Spain and France.

He dismissed the idea that three million migrants from countries including Poland and Romania may be forced to leave. But he said the Government may act if forecasts of a 'surge' in new EU migrants coming to Britain before it quits the EU proved accurate.

Warning: Brexit Minister David Davis warns new EU migrants who come to Britain could be sent home

Mr Davis said: 'We may have to deal with that. There are a variety of possibilities.

'We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date. But you have to make those judgments on reality not speculation.'

The warning of a pre-Brexit surge was first made by Mrs May days before she became Prime Minister.

She said: 'We may well see people wanting to come here before [EU] exit happens.'

Mr Davis rejected Labour claims that by questioning the rights of EU migrants already here the Government was effectively using British citizens in the EU with similar rights as a 'bargaining counter' in Brexit talks.

He said: 'If you do it all together nobody is a bargaining counter. It is based on the presumption that they [the EU] will be rational about their own citizens' interest, which they will be.'

The warning of a pre-Brexit surge was first made by Theresa May days before she became Prime Minister

His threat to send new EU migrants home will anger Brussels. Until Britain formally leaves the EU it must obey freedom of movement rules which allow free access.

However, Whitehall officials say that Brussels could not stop the UK deciding to repatriate EU nationals who arrive after a certain date. One said: 'Bluntly, the EU cannot tell us what to do once we have left.'

Mr Davis dismissed claims from EU chiefs that they will refuse to negotiate before Britain signs Article 50, setting the country irrevocably on the EU exit path within two years.

He said: 'We don't have to do any negotiations, just find out where their interests are. It's not the same thing. When we sign up [to Article 50] we will know the shape of deal.'

He also rejected forecasts of a Brexit-induced recession. Freed from the EU's shackles, the UK would become the 'most open-market and open-minded country in the world,' he said.

A raft of 'fantastic' new trade deals outside the EU would 'buffer any turbulence' caused by leaving.

EU can't boss us, says 'Monsieur Non': In his first interview as Brexit chief, David Davis gives a stark warning on migrant 'surge' and says: 'We are changing history'

David Davis said no one was more shocked than him to receive the job from Theresa May

He has clashed with former Home Secretary so thought his chances of making Cabinet were up

Davis's chequered Tory career has been one skirmish after another since he was tipped as a future leader 30 years ago

He expects UK to invoke Article 50 by end of the year and be out of the EU altogether by 2019

David Davis is not just the kind of man who would cross the road to pick a fight: he would probably get involved in a road rage incident on his way across.

He loves to brag about how he brought a series of Labour Home Secretaries to their knees when he was the Tory Home Affairs spokesman.

And his repeated clashes with another Home Secretary appeared to have killed off any lingering hope he may have had, at 67, of making the Cabinet. Her name was Theresa May.

In his first interview since being appointed by Theresa May, Mr Davis (right) told Simon Walters (left) that no one was more shocked than he to receive the Brexit job

Which is why no one was more shocked than Davis when he was invited to No 10 on Wednesday. 'She said, 'I have decided to create a Department for Leaving or Exiting the EU.'

'I said I prefer exiting because that makes it Department X,' he laughs.

'I told her I was both surprised and delighted,' he adds in his first interview as the Cabinet Brexit supremo, as he sits in his office overlooking Horse Guards Parade.

'If you'd said six months ago I would be sitting here doing this with Theresa as Prime Minister I would have said you must be on something. It still feels dream-like.'

He says they are not such an odd couple: 'When I backed Theresa it was a character call. You get to know more about people through skirmishes.'

After repeated clashes with former Home Secretary May he appeared to have killed off any lingering hope he may have had, at 67, of making the Cabinet

It sometimes seems that Davis's chequered Tory career has been one skirmish after another since he was tipped as a future leader 30 years ago. He was sacked as party chairman after falling out with Iain Duncan Smith in 2002, flopped when he stood against David Cameron as Conservative leader in 2005, enraged Cameron by subsequently quitting the Tory front bench in a civil rights protest and, extraordinarily, quit as an MP to fight a by-election over the same issue.

Sometimes I think I'll wake up at a lathe in Coventry

Admirers of 'DD' saw it as the actions of a courageous principled hero; critics saw it as an act of vanity.

Has he promised Mrs May he won't storm out again? 'I didn't need to  she knows I mean to succeed,' he says, narrowing his eyes.

Bruiser Davis's reputation as a political knuckleduster earned him the nicknames 'Charming Bastard' and 'Monsieur Non' when he was briefly Europe Minister in John Major's government in the 1990s.

When he joked at the time that although he could speak a little French, he would no longer do so, French socialist government counterpart Elisabeth Guigou got the wrong end of the stick.

'When she wanted to say something she didn't want me hear she switched to French  it was very useful,' Davis smirks.

Of her three-man Brexit team, veteran Eurosceptics Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox (right) are not bosom pals. And you can't imagine Foreign Secretary Johnson (left) inviting either to a supper party

He is confident his tough negotiating skills will help Britain retain access to the single market while winning control over its borders, even though the EU has flatly ruled it out.

'Everybody is taking starting positions. Of course they are talking tough. If I was negotiating to buy your house or your car my first offer wouldn't be my final one, would it?

'Don't forget, we have an amazing mandate  17 million votes. It is natural the EU Commission was shocked by it all. But they must realise the British public have made it clear where they stand on regaining control of our borders. At the end of the day the initial anger will be replaced by common interest.'

Davis flopped when he stood against David Cameron as Conservative leader in 2005, and enraged him by subsequently quitting the Tory front bench in a civil rights protest

The EU Commission may be horrified by Brexit, but it is a different story outside Brussels, says Davis, who claims many national leaders share British fears about the direction Jean-Claude Juncker and co are heading in towards a European superstate.

'Don't underestimate the extent to which smarter European national politicians know where we are coming from,' he says.

17 million votes... we won an amazing mandate

As for Mrs May's fears of a pre-Brexit surge in EU migrants coming to the UK before the door slams shut, action man Davis won't shrink from the necessary measures.

'We may have to deal with that. There are a variety of possibilities. We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date. But you have to make those judgments on reality, not speculation.'

However, he is quick to dispel the notion that EU migrants already here will not be treated fairly.

'We will get a generous settlement for EU migrants here now and a generous settlement for British citizens in the EU.'

He is equally dismissive of the EU Commission's claim that it will refuse to have talks with the UK before Mrs May invokes Article 50, setting us irrevocably on the EU exit path.

Davis claims many national leaders share British fears about the direction Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured) and co are heading in towards a European superstate

'We don't have to do any negotiations, just find out where their interests are. It's not the same thing. When we sign up [to Article 50] we will know the shape of deal. Boris [Johnson] is going to the EU foreign affairs council this weekend. Are they going to say, 'Oh, I can't mention this to you?' Of course not.'

Davis expects the UK to invoke Article 50 by the end of the year and be out of the EU altogether by 2019, though he concedes the Brexit talks are so complex that 'even within [Mrs May's] Government there'll be tensions.'

Even in this new Government there will be tensions

He can say that again. Of her three-man Brexit team, veteran Eurosceptics Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox are not bosom pals. And you can't imagine Foreign Secretary Johnson inviting either to a supper party.

Some Tories believe wily Remainer May has handed Mission Impossible to the Three Brexiteers so they have to fall on their swords if it ends in tears, not her.

When I met Davis on Friday morning, they still hadn't met face to face since being appointed two days earlier. He is adamant he can pull rank on both.

Johnson, one place above him at number three in the official Cabinet pecking order, may disagree.

On the other hand, Mrs May has moved Davis next door into 9 Downing Street, officially the Cabinet Office, closer than Boris's new HQ.

'When she (Former French Justice minister Elisabeth Guigou - pictured) wanted to say something she didn't want me hear she switched to French  it was very useful,' Davis smirks as he could actually speak a little

Davis's background is a long way from the Bullingdon Club. Brought up by a single mother in a council flat, and educated at a South London grammar school, the former SAS reservist who has had his nose broken five times, revels in his tough guy image. Too much for some.

He once boasted to me how he single-handedly took on the leader of a gang of thugs at his school who bullied a gay boy.

Initial anger by Europe will be replaced by common interest

I told him I didn't believe him and would track down the gang leader. I did and, somewhat to my surprise, he more or less confirmed Davis's story.

Davis is still pinching himself at his belated Cabinet call-up.

'Sometimes I think I'll wake up at a lathe in Coventry doing the job my life would lead you to expect I'd be doing. The truth is I'm just bloody normal.'

He says Mrs May's decision to have more 'bloody normal' and fewer so-called Cameron and Osborne 'posh boys' in the Cabinet reduces the risk of extremism in the UK  what Davis calls 'the Donald Trump tendency'.

'That comes partly from people feeling the Government doesn't represent them, these people are out of touch. Nobody can say that about Theresa or the team she has picked.

'It only matters when things go wrong. The British working class are not snobs or inverted snobs. They don't care if the guy at the top is a Macmillan or a Cameron. But when you can't get a job or haven't had a pay rise for ten years, the symbolism of where you come from becomes important.' When I suggest that, for all his confidence, invoking Article 50 will be a leap in the dark, parliamentary historian Davis seizes on it.

It was exactly what Prime Minister Lord Derby said in 1867 when votes were given to the working class, he says. 'The toffs saw it as a leap in the dark but it was greatest ever extension of democracy.'

Davis says curbing immigration could have similar benefits for the working class he comes from. It was the industrial working classes of the North and Midlands who were responsible for Brexit, and their wages that had stagnated partly as a result of EU migrants, he says with feeling. He would have no truck with any attempt to use Brexit as an excuse to curb their rights.

He denies he is daunted by his mammoth Brexit task and as he leans forward says: 'Many years ago I went on a course and my commander said, 'The only thing that can defeat you is your imagination  don't let it frighten you.' We are changing history.'
New International Trade Secretary Liam Fox celebrated his government comeback at a Commons champagne party attended by the friend and former associate linked to his previous Cabinet downfall.

Dr Fox and Adam Werritty were among a noisy group who downed eight bottles of bubbly on the Commons terrace, with at least one cork being popped into the River Thames.

The event took place within an hour of Dr Fox, 54, being given a key Brexit role in Theresa May's new Cabinet.

Close: New International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, left, on his wedding day with his best man Werritty (right)

His friends queued up to give him congratulatory slaps on the back as he drank 29-a-bottle House of Commons champagne.

The impromptu party, hosted by Commons Deputy Speaker and fellow Tory MP Eleanor Laing, a longstanding friend of Dr Fox and his wife Jesme, was attended by about 20 people. They got through eight bottles over a couple of hours.

Mrs Fox was not present.

Dr Fox was forced to resign as Defence Secretary in October 2011 in a row over his dealings with Mr Werritty.

The lobbyist did not have security clearance but accompanied Dr Fox on at least 18 foreign business trips.

The resignation came after a week of revelations about Dr Fox's relationship with Werritty, including disclosures that the friend's activities were funded by firms and individuals that potentially stood to benefit from government decisions.

The impromptu party was attended by about 20 people. They got through eight bottles over a couple of hours

At the time, Werritty falsely described himself as one of Dr Fox's official aides and handed out business cards bearing the Commons portcullis logo. He also took a number of solo trips reportedly with the aim of fostering closer ties between Right-wing politicians in Britain and the United States.

In his resignation letter to the then Prime Minister David Cameron, Dr Fox said he had 'mistakenly allowed the distinction between my personal interest and my Government activities to become blurred'.

Mr Werritty, 37, best man at Dr Fox's 2005 wedding, moved into Dr Fox's spare room in London after graduating from university.

Dr Fox had a champagne party within an hour of being given a key Brexit role in Theresa May's new Cabinet

Werritty now lives in a flat in Dolphin Square, Pimlico  a mile from the Commons  where many MPs have apartments.

An inquiry cleared Dr Fox of benefiting financially from his links with Werritty.

An MP who saw Dr Fox's champagne party said: 'It seemed a bit over the top to celebrate so loudly in full view of members of the public on Westminster Bridge.'
A daring man brought chaos to Central London on Friday by climbing up the historic Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus.

Dozens of police officers cordoned off the iconic landmark and closed roads for an hour as they attempted to coax down the unnamed 26-year-old.

He eventually descended the 11-metre statue of his own accord  by which time there were four fire engines and a cherry picker on the scene.

Stunt: Dozens of police officers cordoned off the iconic landmark and closed roads for an hour as they attempted to coax down the unnamed 26-year-old

Eros: It is not clear why the reveller decided to ascend the statue, which is a world famous landmark

Reveller: The 26-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of criminal damage

Onlooker Renos Christou, 24, said: He wasnt shouting. He was just doing it for attention. Another described him dancing at the top of the statue on Friday night.

The Metropolitan Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and was still in custody last night. Transport for London confirmed that a lane had been closed on Regent Street.

Crowds: Hundreds of people gathered round the statue to watch police attempt to talk him down

A statement from the police read: 'At about 21:45hrs on Friday, 15 July police were alerted to a man who had climbed to the top of the Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus, W1.

'The male was brought down around 45 mins later and arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.'
It was an astonishing call to arms, made from an iPhone held in the trembling hand of a newsreader, and broadcast live to a nation in the grip of a terrifying coup.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, watching his country slip into the hands of military plotters, begged: I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people.

To the watching world, the bizarre exhortation appeared to be the swansong of a ruler about to fall. But, armed with no more than their own defiance, his people answered the call in their thousands and poured on to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul to face tanks, bullets and death.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaking via Facetime video to address the nation during the coup attempt

Thousands of supporters of President Recep Erdogan congregated in Istanbul awaiting for him to address a major rally

A civilian punches a Turkish soldier who took part in the failed military coup as he is led away by police having surrendered

People gather for celebration around Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, standing atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers

Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge on Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey

The Mail on Sunday's Ian Birrell on the ground in Istanbul, who watched the drama unfold as he walked among bullet-ridden military vehicles

In the vicious fighting that followed, with the people backed by police and loyal troops against the rebels, more than 265 were killed, many of them civilians. But as the first rays of dawn appeared over Istanbul, people power had triumphed over brute force.

But the elation was overshadowed by the spectre of a newly emboldened Erdogan regime cleansing opponents in the military and heavy hints from the prime minister that the plotters could face execution.

As I walked among the bullet-riddled military vehicles littering the city, their windows shattered and sides flecked with fresh bullet holes, sticky puddles of crimson blood stained the road. One middle-aged man, draped in his national flag, rushed up to show me a shard of bloody shrapnel. A police visor lay on the ground beside us, a remnant of the battle for this mighty bridge over the Bosphorus Straight.

This famous Istanbul landmark, linking Europe with Asia, was where Turkeys coup began with soldiers blocking the road at about 9.30pm on Friday.

And it effectively ended there some eight hours later when about 50 soldiers were forced into humiliating surrender with hands held aloft in front of television cameras.

The dramatic insurgency by an army faction in this fragile country of huge strategic importance left 265 dead, 1,400 injured and the world shaken. Meanwhile:

Fighting continued in the capital Ankara as groups of rebels staged a desperate last stand;

More than 2,800 alleged plotters were rounded up;

World leaders gave the Erdogan regime their support;

A party of British schoolchildren were caught up in the drama at Istanbul airport;

Eight rebel officers hijacked a helicopter gunship and flew to Greece seeking asylum;

A timeline of the attempted military coup in Turkey, from Friday night to Saturday morning

Turkey closed its air space to military aircraft, preventing US Air Force jets flying missions against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.

It bore all the hallmarks of a classic military coup: tanks at airports and bridges, troops taking over broadcasting stations and launched when the countrys divisive President was away on a seaside holiday.

SCHOOL KIDS STRANDED British schoolchildren were stranded last night at Istanbuls Ataturk airport following the military coup in Turkey. The 41 pupils from Arthur Terry School in Birmingham were connecting to South Africa when violence erupted. Parent Lisa Ledbury, 43, wrote on Facebook: All chaos ensued when someone shouted gun and everyone started to run shouting get down, get down. There are 50,000 Brits on holiday in Turkey. The Foreign Office advised them to stay in their resorts as hundreds of flights were cancelled. Advertisement

Yet despite the use of aircraft and attack helicopters, which strafed the parliament and HQ of Turkish intelligence in Ankara, the putsch was defeated partly by ordinary citizens defying heavily armed troops.

There were grisly reports that one soldier may have been beheaded by a mob on the bridge. Others were beaten with belts by angry crowds after being dragged cowering from military vehicles.

Prime Minister Benali Yildirim described the night as a dark stain for Turkish democracy and said the perpetrators will receive every punishment they deserve. The coup started with a military statement saying troops had seized control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms.

Turkeys armed forces see themselves as protectors of the modern secular state, placing them in conflict with Erdogans Islamic-influenced AKP party. They have staged four previous coups since 1960.

Fighter jets soon began buzzing big cities, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters, the national assembly was attacked and soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbuls two airports.

One bloodied soldier cowered underneath a coach as a mob started beating him on Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge

There were unconfirmed reports of one soldier being beheaded by a mob of civilians on the bridge after a video surfaced online showing a crowd launching an attack on the downed man. However in the video the man is still alive and shows no beheading, though it is unknown if this happened after the footage ended

Supporters of President Recep Erdogan clashed with journalists near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara following the coup

The President used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment'

Thousands of people congregated outside the parliament building in Ankara as a crisis meeting was held to discuss the attempted coup

Turkish Prime Minsiter Binali Yildirim briefed politicians on the attempted coup in the national parliament in Ankara

Senior members of the judiciary and chief of the military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar, centre, attended the emergency meeting

A relative of polie officer Nedip Cengiz Eker clings to his coffin during his funeral in Marmaris, Turkey following last night's coup attempt

Eker received a guard of honour from the Turkish navy and military who remained loyal to president Recep Erdogan last night

President Erdogan has described those who died protecting his government as martyrs while branding the insurgents as traitors

People wave Turkish flags as they stand around the Republic Monument in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey

A Turkish civilian whips soldiers with his belt after they surrendered to police on Bosphorus Bridge, a strategic landmark which was seized by the army during the coup

At one, a group of stranded British schoolchildren spent the night cowering at the sound of gunfire echoing in the streets outside after their flight was cancelled. Yet they were defeated by the determined actions of the President, backed by crowds of fervent supporters waving Turkish flags in the face of military machinery.

REBELS TAKEOVER WARSHIP One group of Turkish rebels took over a warship and held the head of the countrys navy hostage, according to a Greek military source. Admiral Bulent Bostanoglu is said to have been captured along with the frigate TCG Yavuz at the Golcuk base. The ship was taken from the base, but later returned. Commander of the Air Force, General Abidin Unal, was also captured. Advertisement

By early yesterday morning, I saw police at Sabiha Gokcen airport disarming three tanks and five armoured personnel carriers blocking the entrance. They casually removed lethal armour-piercing shells, dumping them alongside boxes of bullets in a van.

In Uskudar, a densely-populated part of the city on the Anatolian shore, a tank sat beside a smashed saloon car used to stop it trundling down the street. One man told me how a crowd then rushed the vehicle, despite its weaponry.

In the main shopping street I found another three tanks and one armoured vehicle. Once the soldiers had surrendered, they were served tea but would not leave their vehicles since they said they were under orders.

By mid-morning, as it was clear the putsch was failing despite bursts of continuing gunfire, families were out taking selfies with the seized tanks; several flew the countrys red flag with white crescent from their turrets.

People celebrate on an abandoned military tank after they took over military position on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul

Civilians launch an attack on an armoured police car carrying Turkish soldiers who participated in the coup against President Erdogan

A man lays down in front of a tank on the approach to Ataturk airport in Istanbul as citizens took to the streets to oppose the military coup

Soldiers, who surrendered following the defeat of last night's attempted coup, are loaded onto a bus following their arrest by police officers and civilians

Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and laid in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country, ignoring a curfew issued by coup plotters designed to allow the army to bring down the government unopposed

A young girl joins police officers loyal to President Erdogan atop a tank abandoned by military personnel who surrendered

People wave national flags as they march from Kizilay square to Turkish General Staff building to react against military coup attempt

A soldier cowers as he is confronted by plain-clothes police officers and civilians after the military surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge

Hundreds of Turks have taken to the streets to ensure no fresh coup could take place after last night's uprising was defeated

Turkish anti riot police officers escort Turkish soldiers who allegedly took part in a military coup

People climb on tanks after around a hundred soldiers occupying Bosphorus Bridge surrendered in Istanbul, Turkey

The successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major Western ally and key player in the Syrian crisis.

Officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armoured units were mainly involved in the attempt, said the government. The uprising seems not to have been backed by many of the most senior military figures.

Turkeys main opposition parties condemned the attempted overthrow. Many MPs took shelter inside the parliament building in Ankara, which came under heavy fire.

The Speaker said an explosive hit one corner of an office in the complex, injuring several police officers.

Among those trapped there was Ali Sahin, the countrys deputy Europe minister, who told The Mail on Sunday they were shelled repeatedly. There was an attempted coup, he said. But the people pushed them back.

He shared pictures from his phone of mangled metal, shattered glass and piles of rubble inside the national assembly building. Erdogan, who was on holiday in Marmaris, took to social media to defend his rule  which was ironic, given his intense dislike of such technology when used by his enemies.

The President appealed for support via Facetime, appearing on the iPhone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so viewers could see him.

Turkish civilians throw a tarpaulin over a tank to stop it from seizing control of key locations in Ankara

One man throws himself onto the front of a moving tank. Supporters played a key role in stopping the military from taking control

Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan ambush a tank as it attempts to seize ground in Turkey's capital city of Ankara

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gather on Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey

Q&A ON THE CRISIS IN TURKEY Q Why does Turkey matter to the West? A Its key to the Middle East as well as the turbulent Russian-dominated Caucasus. It is a vital counterweight to Putin in the Black Sea. It sits on crucial oil and gas routes from central Asia. It is a major Nato power with a fast-growing economy. Huge numbers of Turks live in Western Europe, especially Germany. It wants to join the EU. Q Who is President Erdogan? A Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 62, is a militant Islamist who since 2003 has revolutionised his previously secular country. He once said: Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off. He is accused of crushing protests, shutting down critical media and locking up opponents. Q Who was behind the coup against him? A Most likely are secular military officers. Also under suspicion is the Hizmet movement, which is strong in the police and media. Its guru Fethullah Gulen lives in the US. Turkey is trying to extradite him. Q Why is Turkeys army so important? A It sees itself as guardian of Turkeys secular state and has staged several putsches. The great puzzle of Turkey is that undemocratic soldiers keep it in the Western camp, while democratic politicians want to make it more Muslim. Q What will happen now? A Erdogan is likely to use the failed coup as a chance to mount new purges of the military and state machine  along with the media  removing anyone he suspects of being hostile. But hopes of EU membership look far off. Q Should we be worried? A Yes. Turkey will now become more Islamist. But Western nations will still have to maintain good relations because of its key role in Nato and in controlling migration from Syria. It makes peace there less likely, as Erdogan aims to overthrow the Assad regime. Advertisement

Then he flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday, insisting his government remained in control despite attempts to attack him in Marmaris. They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone, he said. After he arrived at Istanbuls Ataturk airport, Erdogan declared: They have pointed the peoples guns against the people. Then he added ominously: What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price.

As news emerged that the two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus were closed and pictures began circulating on social media of tanks on streets and soldiers confronting police, panic spread. Diners abandoned pavement cafes and bars. There were queues to withdraw large sums of cash at banks. After the Presidents invocation, groups began marching towards Istanbuls central Taksim Square.

Many troops looked young and confused, onlookers told the MoS. Later about 30 pro-coup soldiers gave up their weapons when surrounded by armed police in the square.

Mosques blared out the call to prayer and urged people on to the streets to join the resistance against the coup attempt. By dawn the noise of gunfire and explosions in the two key cities began dying down.

As the soldiers surrendered on one of the two bridges over the Bosphorus, there were scenes of celebration from those who had faced them down through the night.

Television footage showed troops being forced to kneel, hands clamped to heads. A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. I saw two army bases blockaded by lorries and other large vehicles. At the Etimesgut armoured units training command, on the outskirts of Ankara, it was reported that officers arrested some of their fellow soldiers participating in the plot.

Turkeys military ousted four civilian governments between 1960 and 1997. Many people I spoke with in Istanbul were furious that some of the armed forces had attempted to revive this unwanted tradition.

Critics fear Erdogan will now seek to present himself as a champion of democratic values after fighting off a challenge to a government that won 49 per cent of the vote in November. There are fears he will use the cover of eliminating the plotters to tighten his grip on power. Yesterday, it emerged 2,745 judges had been dismissed from their posts, the latest purges in the legal system.

Clothes and weapons beloging to soldiers involved in the coup attempt that have now surrendered lie on the ground abandoned on Bosphorus Bridge

The man then stood up and took off his shirt in an effort the present the tank from taking position in the airport

Civilians help police officers to arrest soldiers at Taksim Square in Istanbul after ordinary Turks helped to stop the attempted coup

The police siege around the building of the General Staff, thought to be the final landmark held by coup plotters who are in the process of negotiating their surrender

Civilians take cover outside the building of the General Staff, the final landmark still held by coup plotters who are in the process of surrendering to police officers

Police officers arrest a soldier after he was attacked by a mob of civilians following the surrender of 100 rebels on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul

People shout at the soliders involved in the coup attempt who have surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge following their surrender

A soldier lies dead underneath rubble following the defeat of a military coup by Turkey's army to overthrow President Erdogan

Erdogan, who told citizens to keep on owning the streets yesterday amid fears of further unrest, blamed the coup on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in the US.

The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned military intervention in domestic politics.

The bloodshed could destabilise a Nato member sitting between the EU and Syria.
An Australian teenager who narrowly escaped the Bastille Day Massacre in France said she woke up in a pool of blood and surrounded by bodies after blacking out from the impact.

Bronte Stuntz, 18, said she initially thought the deafening noise was a bomb detonating and made the split-second decision to run in a straight line away from the chaos in Nice on Thursday.

After running for just three seconds, Ms Stuntz, from Sydney, was struck on the left side by the body of a man and went flying for about three-metres before blacking out on the street.

'I woke up with my friend holding my head and when I looked around I was the only person on the ground that was alive,' she told Channel Nine's Today Show.

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Bronte Stuntz (pictured), 18, said she initially thought the deafening noise was a bomb detonating and made the split-second decision to run in a straight line

Ms Stuntz was released from hospital with raw wounds to her torso and back

'Everyone was dead around me'.

The horrific terrorist attack claimed the lives of at least 84 people, including 10 children, and has left 202 victims in hospital.

Ms Stuntz was one of three Australians injured in the attack.

The Sydney teenager has been left with extensive damage to the left side of her body and struggles to move her foot, leg, back and shoulder.

She said although she was badly hurt, her friends helped keep her neck straight for over 15 minutes while paramedics helped others with more severe injuries.

Ms Stuntz was then rushed to hospital and has been left in a wheelchair until her body recovers.

'I never thought Id have to witness the amount of dead bodies and blood I saw that day,' she said.

Another Australian tourist who was struck by the 19-tonne truck in the terror attack on Thursday has revealed he is lucky to be alive after being shot by the driver.

Marcus Anderson, also from Sydney, was walking down the street with three friends when the truck smashed into his back.

As he fell, the driver shot him in the arm.

The Sydney teenager has been left with extensive damage to the left side of her body and struggles to move her foot, leg, back and shoulder

After running for just three seconds, she was struck on the left side by the body of a man and went flying for about three-metres before blacking out on the street

Ms Stuntz suffered the injuries as she fled the attack in Nice, France, on Thursday

Ms Stuntz posted this note on Facebook after she narrowly escaped the Bastille Day massacre

Mr Anderson has been left with three broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but considers himself one of the lucky ones.

'I'm so glad all my friends are safe and I feel so bad for the others,' he told The Today Show.

Mr Anderson faces a wait of up to a month before he can travel home to Australia, but his father is on his way to Nice to help care for him.

On Thursday Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed three Australians had been injured in the atrocity.

'They have suffered minor injuries, seeking to flee the scene, to get away from the scene. We are working to provide consular assistance to all three,' she said.

Marcus Anderson, also from Sydney, was walking down the street with three friends when the truck smashed into his back

Mr Anderson has been left with three broken ribs and a collapsed lung, but considers himself one of the lucky ones

One of the Australians is understood to have been injured while holidaying on a Topdeck party tour, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Callum Ramstadius, 20, told Daily Mail Australia he saw a large truck ploughing through revellers on the beach.

He said: 'We were heading back across the road to the beach we heard screaming and a massive crowd of people running towards us, so we had to jump down stairs over people onto the beach.

'That's when we saw the truck fly past honestly running down so many people.

'Originally while we were standing on the beach we thought it was an accident but then there was five minutes of constant gunshots.

'People were running in every direction on to the beach including swimming away.'
South African Ambassador Kgomostso Ruth Magau (Source: VOV)

This years Nelson Mandela International Day took the theme Take Action, Inspire Change, Make Every Day a Mandela Day, with all proceeds to be given to Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Hospital in Hanoi.

Gifts will be offered to 150 children with cleft palate who undergo health check-ups and surgery in July.

In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18th as Nelson Mandela International Day, which will be held annually to honour Mandelas 67-year dedication to the fight for freedom and justice.

The event called on individuals, organisations and community to spend at least 67 minutes to help change the world for the better and give help to disadvantaged individuals and community, and in doing so, to build a global movement for the good./.
Nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance,' was how Charles Darwin described the Galapagos when he landed there in 1835. Luckily, this was not a sentiment we shared. It had taken three flights, two taxis, one bus and two boat rides to get there.

For us, the name that early buccaneers had given this archipelago  the Enchanted Isles  was more fitting.

For on that final boat ride, when we climbed over sea lions slumbering on the harbour, watched frigate birds soar overhead, their inflatable red throat pouches visible against jet black plumage, dodged pelicans and marvelled at the blue-footed boobies propelling themselves fast and furiously into the waters for their kill, the long journey began to melt into the background.

Star attractions: You won't have any trouble spotting marine iguanas in the Galapagos

And there it stayed, for the nature was all-pervading, everpresent. As we walked along the path to the Finch Bay Hotel, we were entranced by marine iguanas basking on lava rocks and brilliantly orange, Sally Lightfoot crabs dancing around on tiptoes.

In and out of the vivid yellow flowered cotton trees flew clusters of finches, warblers and the mockingbirds  from which Darwin began to form his theory of evolution, by noticing that they differed from island to island.

That's the thing about the Galapagos: it catches you unawares, the sheer volume of creatures, big and small, that crawl, fly, swim and stroll around you.

I boarded our first minibus excursion, asking the guide as I did so, 'Have you any spare binoculars?' She paused just long enough for me to realise that it was a stupid question, before answering: 'In the Galapagos , it's a matter of not tripping over the animals, rather than searching for them.'

She was right.

At one island, we circumnavigated land iguanas  their yellow leathery skin and lips like Rowntree's lemon fruit gums  as they sat among red scrub bushes and vast golden cacti that stud the desolate volcanic landscape that's like a science fiction film.

Fancy feet: Marvel at striking blue-footed boobies propelling themselves into the water

Is it any wonder these creatures behave as though they own the land, seas and skies when 97 per cent of the islands are designated national park and just 3 per cent is for the far outnumbered humans?

Residents only have the right to own a car if they can prove that they need it for farming and then they have to pay $35,000 (25,000) for the permit, plus the huge cost of buying and importing a car from mainland Ecuador.

Such strictures leave the roads free for giant tortoises. In today's world of globalisation, the Galapagos Islands buck the trend. And what a treat that is.

In and out of the vivid yellow flowered cotton trees flew clusters of finches, warblers and the mockingbirds  from which Darwin began to form his theory of evolution, by noticing that they differed from island to island

Base yourself in the central island of Santa Cruz, at Finch Bay, the only hotel with a beachside location, which is cosy rather than sophisticated, but whose rooms have just been given a makeover by Ecuador's leading designer, Julio Vinueza.

It's a hop across to the harbour and main town of Puerto Ayora.

Here, the Charles Darwin Research Centre, recent home of late Lonesome George, the giant tortoise who lived to more than 100, is worth a visit for its collection of different giant tortoises  some of which, with their saddle like carapaces  are responsible for the name of the islands: Galapagos means saddle in Spanish.

Then head to the highlands to the recently opened, luxurious Pikaia Lodge, on the rim of an extinct volcano crater. Its 14 rooms offer views from their oversized windows through the seven microclimates down to the sea, food with finesse and a comfortable boat for expeditions.

Rest up: Finch Bay, on Santa Cruz, is the only Galapagos hotel with a beachside location.

For the tiny and utterly adorable Galapagos penguins, you need to go to Bartholomew Island; for colonies of blue-footed boobies, to North Seymour Island; and for land iguanas to Santiago Island (marine iguanas can be found on much of the coastline).

You can dive or snorkel near many islands, entering a world filled with chocolate chip sea stars, pencil-spiked sea urchins, blue-chin parrotfish and streamer hogfish.

We saw the endangered hawksbill turtle and a Pacific green one, passed shoals of indigo blue king angelfish with yellow lips and tails, the Guinea fowl puffer, with its white dots on black, and a penguin flashing by like a bullet.

Best of all, we frolicked with sea lions. Dive and twist and they mimic you, returning to the surface, whiskers glistening, with a look in their eyes that says 'anything you can do, we can do better'. Thrilling.
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Japan's All Nippon Airways has unveiled its newest Star Wars-themed passenger jet, which features a livery inspired by the lovable droid C-3PO.

The design of the Boeing 777-200ER pays tribute to the humanoid robot and is the fourth in a series of liveries that celebrate the Hollywood film franchise.

It will start flying on domestic routes in Japan from the end of March 2017, joining planes that feature R2-D2, BB-8 and a general Star Wars theme which shows R2-D2 and BB-8.

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The Boeing 777-200ER pays tribute to the humanoid robot C-3PO and is the fourth in a series of Star Wars-themed planes for ANA

The livery features a striking gold paint scheme and multi-coloured lines that represent the droid's body parts and wiring

Japan's largest airline said the Boeing 777 will begin flying on domestic routes, including Tokyo and Osaka, from next March

The 3-CPO livery, unveiled this week at the Star Wars Celebration Europe event in London, has a striking gold paint scheme and lines that reflect the pivotal character's body parts and wiring.

When it launches next year, the jet will serve mainly Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Okinawa and Fukuoka.

Japan's largest airline previously signed a five-year agreement with the Walt Disney Company to promote the Star Wars franchise.

As part of the deal ANA is the first and only airline in the world to use Star Wars-themed liveries.

The 3-CPO livery, unveiled this week at the Star Wars Celebration Europe event in London, was warmly received by fans of the franchise

Japan's largest airline previously signed a five-year agreement with the Walt Disney Company to promote the Star Wars franchise

This rendering shows the new C-3PO livery alongside two existing ones that feature R2-D2 (top) and BB-8 (middle)

As part of All Nippon Airways' exclusive agreement with the Walt Disney Company it is the only carrier to feature Star Wars liveries

The first Star Wars-themed jet, featuring R2-D2, had its first flight, from Tokyo (Haneda) to Vancouver, last October. It is decorated with blue and white stripes and is being used on routes between Haneda and cities including Sydney, Paris and Munich.

That jet was followed a month later by the livery featuring R2-D2 and BB-8, which can be spotted on domestic routes in Japan.
Rocco Ritchie was back in London on Friday after a bonding trip in Malawi with his mother and brother last week.

Characteristically cool in camouflage trousers and a sporty top, the 15-year-old was spotted getting back into the swing of things.

Like a typical teenager, he wore his hands deep in his pockets, still sporting the buzzcut her plumped for earlier this year.

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Hanging out: Rocco Ritchie was spotted back in London on Friday, having spent the last week in Milawi with Madonna and brother David Banda

Following in his mother's fashion-forward footsteps, the teenager chose a pair of trousers that were billowing around his limbs.

Cutting just short of his ankles, the camo trousers flashed a glimpse of his socks in flat and practical trainers.

Rocco buttoned up a rugby-style T-Shirt right to the top with a gold chain hanging down to add another layer of effortless 'cool'.

Looking cool: He kicked back in a pair of camouflage trousers and a polo top

Reuniting with his new-found friendship group in the British capital, Rocco seemed to have done his part with the family in the last week.

He had joined his mother, with whom he has recently repaired relations, in Africa where both her adopted children David and Mercy were born.

The 57-year-old pop superstar and her family visited to check on the progress of a medical centre she is supporting in the southern city of Blantyre.

It was the first trip the whole family have taken since 15-year-old Rocco went to live with his director father in London rather than staying in school in New York.

Getting stuck in: The teenager was pictured in the ancestral village where his adoptive brother was born

Rocco seemed to be embracing the trip, pictured in the same striped top and camo combination with locals.

Madonna shared the moment that her youngest son David received his 'Ngoni' tribal name in his ancestral village.

Meanwhile, Madonna and Guy Ritchie's son Rocco seemed to be getting stuck in, even bringing along his camera to take pictures of the family adventure.

With his mother: He repaired relations with popstar Madonna earlier this year when she agreed to spend time with him near his father Guy Ritchie in London
The physique that has made Shanina Shaik one of the most sought after models in the world was on full display as she relaxed poolside in a post shared to Instagram on Saturday.

Sporting a tiny orange bikini, the Victoria's Secret Angel sizzled in the snap that featured her enviably toned torso and lithe legs.

The 25-year-old looked to be in high spirits after letting off steam the previous night.

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'Hard day at work today': Victoria's Secret model Shanina Shaik sizzled poolside in a tiny orange bikini flaunting her toned torso and endless legs in a snap shared to Instagram on Saturday

'Hard day at work today,' the exotic model captioned the post shared with her 762,000 Instagram followers.

The familiar face, who grew up in Melbourne, was seen reclining on an inflatable circular pool lounger, resembling a chopped piece of fruit.

Stretching her arm up above her head to block out the sun, the model beauty elongated her figure further.

With her legs crossed seductively, Shanina kept her beauty look minimal with just a nude-coloured pedicure and let her loose locks fall effortlessly around her face.

Letting off steam: Just a few hours earlier, the exotic model enjoyed a glamorous night out as she donned a skin-tight outfit consisting of an off-the-shoulder black top and denim mini skirt

Just hours earlier, the fiancee of DJ Ruckus, was seen enjoying a glamorous night out.

Taking to her Instagram account, Shanina donned a skin-tight outfit of an off-the-shoulder black top, which emphasised her bronzed decolletage.

She complemented her chic attire with a coordinating choker, denim mini skirt, pair of black strappy heels and chandelier style earrings.

'Outfit of the Night,' she captioned the shot that saw her standing kerbside as she gave the camera a smouldering gaze.

Beauty: Shanina highlighted her cheekbones with a subtle shimmer while sporting defined brows, a golden eyeshadow and a soft pink lip

An earlier shot from the night featured Shanina giving fans a side profile of her beauty look.

With make-up by celebrity artist Talia Sparrow, the model who shares Lithuanian, Pakistani and Saudi Arabian descent, highlighted her cheekbones with a subtle shimmer.

She also gave fans a close-up of her defined brows, golden eyeshadow and soft pink lip.

Pouting: The lingerie model took part in a photoshoot for Victoria's Secret just two days ago, wearing a soft pink plunging bra with lace detailing

Shanina has enjoyed continued success in her modelling career, just two days earlier taking part in a Victoria's Secret photoshoot.

The lingerie model pulled a pout for the camera while wearing a plunging soft pink bra with lace detailing.

Her bronzed cleavage was on display, while her signature dark locks fell effortlessly over one shoulder.

She captioned the shot: 'Earlier today with the VS team @victoriassecret xx.'

Strutting it: Shanina was the fifth Australian stunner to appear for luxe lingerie line Victoria's Secret when she first made her appearance in 2011. Pictured here at the 2012 show

Shanina was the fifth Australian stunner to appear for the luxe lingerie line when she first made her appearance in 2011.

Other local stunners who have hit the runway include Miranda Kerr, Jessica Hart, Elyse Taylor, Abbey Lee Kershaw and Sarah Stephens.

The following year Shanina appeared in print campaigns for the company, sporting some seriously sultry bras and briefs from the latest collection and also hit the catwalk again for the runway show.

In 2014, she made an appearance on the catwalk at the brand's annual fashion show and subsequently strut the runway again in 2015.

Meanwhile the stunner also seems to be enjoying success in her personal life, as she became engaged to beau DJ Ruckus, real name Gregory Andrews, in December last year.
She had arrived to promote the fourth installment of her film Sharknado.

But what started off as just another stop on the promo trail veered disastrously off-track for Tara Reid and Jenny McCarthy.

It all started to go wrong when the ladies began exchanging icy words aimed at each others' love lives and bodies during SiriusXM's The Jenny McCarthy Show on Friday.

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Ouch! What started off as just another stop on the promo trail veered disastrously off-track for Tara Reid and Jenny McCarthy, with the stars exchanging icy words aimed at each others when the conversation took a turn for the worse on The Jenny McCarthy Show on Friday (Tara pictured in July in Los Angeles, Jenny pictured in May in New York)

The tension reached a fever pitch after each smugly told the other one they hoped they remained married - and then Tara abruptly walked out of the studio.

Before Tara's abrupt exit, the actress was asked about her appearance on Marriage Boot Camp, with Jenny raving about the show.

Tara insisted the host stick with the subject of Sharknado, and Jenny obliged, asking instead about the star's fitness routine for the film.

After discussing her workout routine, Jenny then broached Tara's plastic surgery history.

Escalating situation: The tension reached a fever pitch after both ladies told each other they hoped they remained married, before Tara abruptly walked out of the show

'Now, people talked about your surgeries before, are you still going through surgeries, or are you past them?' Jenny asked.

'No, I haven't had any surgeries for a while, Jenny,' Tara replied.

'That's awesome,' Jenny responded. 'And I'm glad you've been kind of open about it, because I hate when people, you know, say, 'No, I've never done anything,' and you've been kind of pretty open about things going wrong.'

She went on: 'So, you look great now, so you're good and done not moving forward with plastic surgery?'

'I think I've made that clear about a hundred times,' Tararetorted.

'I didn't hear that a hundred times, I'm so sorry,' Jenny apologized.

On the promo trail: Reid has been doing the promotional rounds for the fourth installment of Sharknado as of late

'Maybe you only read the bad things, but I've made that really clear so many years. But read what you want to read,' Tara responded. 'But it was really nice talking to you and really good luck with your show.'

'Good luck to you too, and I'm so excited about Sharknado,' Jenny said. 'And I hope you stay married.'

The American Pie actress fired back in a pleasant voice: 'I hope you stay married too.'

The insults escalated when Jenny continued: 'I will, and I hope your knees get a little wobblier than they already are.'

'Oh, my knees?' Tara asked. 'Oh yeah I hope your t*ts get even nicer, because they're amazing, same guy who did mine, right?'

'They are! Thank you so much!' Jenny replies. 'Yes, same guy.'

'Love you Tara, good luck with Sharknado 18!'

'Hope you stay married': McCarthy raved about Reid's appearance with her boyfriend Dean May on the reality show Marriage Boot Camp

Speaking with TMZ, Tara told the website that she 'totally felt so bullied and attacked. It was very unprofessional.'

The actress also said that she felt Jenny was saying things to get a rise out of her, and added that the host did not apologize.

Jenny has been married to Donnie Wahlberg for nearly two years, and is known for her role as the host of MTV's Singled Out.
She's one of the most talked-about actresses in Hollywood at the moment.

But as Alexander Skarsgard has revealed, his Legend Of Tarzan co-star Margot Robbie has a slight penchant for stealing and has referenced her kleptomaniac ways with an amusing comment.

Speaking to Nova FM's Smallzy's Surgery, the handsome 39-year-old actor was asked whether Margot 'nicked' anything from the set of their recent film, as she is known to do.

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'I couldn't find my loincloth': Alexander Skarsgard joked that his co-star Margot Robbie stole his loincloth from the set of The Legend Of Tarzan

'I couldn't find my loincloth,' the handsome actor simply replied in the interview which aired on Thursday.

After a small laugh, Kent 'Smallzy' Smalls said: 'She was probably backstage giving it a sniff.'

Adding: 'It's OK Margot, we still love you.'

'It's OK Margot, we still love you': The actor, speaking with Nova FM's Smallzy's Surgery, said Margot was still a favourite despite her kleptomaniac ways

The chemistry between the Swedish hunk and Australian stunner in the blockbuster movie is undeniable and it has been a strong talking point as the pair promote the flick.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph while in Sydney last month, Alexander spoke of their unwavering chemistry.

'Margot and I had just a really deep connection from day one, we really found each other,' he said.

Co-stars: Margot and Alexander have clearly formed a close bond, with Alexander saying they had 'a really deep connection from day one'

Inside and out: Alexander noted that it isn't just Margot's good looks that make her attractive, but also her down-to-earth nature and sense of humour

He also added that the blonde beauty was exactly what they were looking for in their Jane - strong, tough and independent.

However, he was quick to add that it's not just Margot's physical beauty that he finds attractive.

'What makes Margot so beautiful is not only that shes a stunningly gorgeous woman, but that she is not vain.

'Margot is so down to earth and fun and that makes it even more attractive,' he said.

Ripped: Margot also spoke highly of her co-star, saying: 'My mind went blank as I soon as I saw him shirtless'

The actor also told the Today show's Richard Wilkins that Margot 'is ridiculously beautiful'.

'She's got a great sense of humour, self-deprecating, she's a good Aussie girl,' the True Blood star added.

And the former Neighbours actress returned the favour, also gushing about her co-star in interviews, revealing to Buro247: 'My mind went blank as I soon as I saw him shirtless.

A good pair: Alexander was clearly pleased with the appointment of Margot in the role of Jane, saying she was exactly what they had in mind

'Every girl on set was swooning, I think, when they saw him. He worked so hard to get in that kind of shape,' the 26-year-old added.

The pair also shared a moment together recently on the red carpet at the film's European premiere, when Margot suffered a wardrobe malfunction.

However, her dashing co-star was on-hand to help and fixed up the back of her dress promptly as cameras snapped away, capturing the adorable moment.
She's doesn't mind flaunting the results of her hard work at the gym in an array of scantily-clad photos across social media.

And Andy Lee's girlfriend Rebecca Harding shared a short clip of herself to Instagram on Saturday wearing nothing but a skimpy orange bikini beside a luxurious looking pool in Bali.

The 25-year-old has her back to the camera and is shaking her pert derriere from side to side, displaying her incredible figure and bronzed skin.

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Shaking it for someone? Andy Lee's girlfriend Rebecca Harding shared a short video to Instagram of herself flaunting her gym-honed physique beside a pool in Bali on Saturday

Her long limbs are trim and toned and her long brown locks, which are wet from a recent dip in the pool, fall down her back.

Showing she's been soaking up the sun while in Indonesia, the beauty's tan lines are visible across her bottom.

All alone? The 25-year-old appears to be on a getaway in Bali without her radio host boyfriend, while he road trips around Europe with his friends

The Masters of Communications graduate has captioned the teaser video: 'Dancing, always dancing! (Even with horrific tan lines)'.

The stunner appears to be enjoying some alone time at Katamama Boutique Hotel and boyfriend Andy Lee, 35, is noticeably absent.

The 2DayFM presenter has been enjoying a road trip around Europe with his friends during his holiday period from hosting duties with Hamish Blake.

Loved-up: Andy and Rebecca met when the brunette beauty was working as a waitress in a cafe in Melbourne

Rebecca, who usually likes to share snippets of her weekend activities with Andy, has not shared any photos of the pair together since early June.

And there is no mention of Rebecca in Andy's holiday updates his Twitter page.

However, he did upload a photo to Twitter on Sunday of himself and a friend about to embark on a three-hour drive.

Pondering: Rebecca, who usually likes to share snippets of her weekend activities with Andy, has not shared any photos of the pair together since early June

Strike a pose: However, she has been sharing regular updates of her enviable getaway in Bali

His face is pulled into a pained expression, which is explained in the caption.

'When hungover & your mate accidentally leaves 3kg of shrimp in car overnight so that's the smell for 3hr road trip,' alongside an emoji of a Swedish flag.

Signalling his return to Australia, he also posted a photo of his neatly packed suitcase, tagging his partner in crime Hamish Blake and teasing that his bag would be a mess in comparison.

Uh-oh! Andy has uploaded a few photos to his Twitter page of his European trip, sharing a photo on Sunday of himself and a friend about to embark on a drive

'Worry not Hamish Blake, I'm packed and ready to return. My guess is your bag doesn't look like this,' the handsome comedian and radio host wrote.

Meanwhile, Hamish chose to spend his time off on a European holiday with his wife Zoe Foster Blake and their two-year-old son Sonny.

Andy and Rebecca met when the brunette beauty was working as a waitress in a cafe in Melbourne.

Early days: After Rebecca served Andy in the cafe where she worked, the comedian mustered up the courage to speak to her and eventually left a note on a napkin asking her out

Worth it: Andy told Hamish of asking Rebecca out: 'I had like an hour and a half breakfast and you know I dont really like that because I like getting in and out in food situations'

After serving Andy, the comedian worked up the courage to speak to her and eventually left a note on a napkin.

'I was trying to chat to her, so I was ordering a lot,' he told listeners on his show after being grilled by his co-host Hamish to reveal the details.

'I had like an hour and a half breakfast and you know I dont really like that because I like getting in and out in food situations.'
She made headlines last month after being exposed as the prostitute in an NYPD in-flight 'orgy' scandal.

And Gabi Grecko seemed to be enjoying her notoriety as she was spotted dressing up as the Statue of Liberty in a New York clothes shop on Saturday.

The former wife of Australian millionaire Geoffrey Edelsten displayed her ample cleavage in a VERY risque costume of the US landmark.

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Showing a little too much? Gabi Grecko (pictured), the prostitute in the middle of an NYPD 'orgy' scandal, accidentally flashed her nipples while trying on skimpy outfits in a New York clothes shop on Saturday

The flame-haired escort accidentally flashed her nipples in the fantasy outfit, which featured an exposed corset-style body.

Gabi also wore a headpiece inspired by Lady Liberty's crown and held a toy torch while posing for a photo in the middle of the store.

The 27-year-old socialite appeared to forget her underwear as she tried on the outfits - but it is not known if she made a purchase.

Elsewhere, she was seen sampling several highly suggestive items of clothing, including a mermaid-style playsuit.

Playing dress up, Gabi? The 27-year-old US socialite was also photographed sampling several highly suggestive items of clothing, including a mermaid-style playsuit

Gabi gave onlookers a eyeful in the novelty ensemble, which featured a low-cut purple bust and a dark green 'fish scale' pattern.

Meanwhile, she revisited her signature Moschino bra and shorts while trying on a stylish white leather jacket.

This follows Gabi's announcement she will be making her adult film debut after signing with the same talent agency as X-rated star Jenna Jameson.

Stripped back: Gabi revisited her signature Moschino bra and shorts while trying on a white leather jacket

She's taking over New York! The flame-haired escort also wore a headpiece inspired by Lady Liberty's crown

Last month, Gabi was exposed by The New York Post as the prostitute at the centre of an NYPD 'orgy' scandal.

Gabi allegedly had 'group sex' with disgraced NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant, since-fired Detective Michael Millici and three other men in February 2013.

It was claimed in a federal corruption case that a pair of businessmen paid Gabi USD$1,500 to entertain Grant during a flight to Las Vegas in exchange for official favours.

Confessions: Last month, Gabi told The New York Post how she allegedly had 'group sex' with two senior NYPD officers and three other men in February 2013

Scandal: It was claimed in a federal corruption case that a pair of businessmen paid Gabi USD$1,500 to entertain Deputy Inspector James Grant during a flight to Las Vegas in exchange for official favours

The Florida-born reality TV star confirmed to the Post that she performed oral sex on the men in the cabin as they 'laughed' together.

Gabi, then working as an escort under the name 'Candi', also claimed she had sex with multiple men simultaneously while 'role playing' as a flight attendant.

'I was supposed to be a sexy stewardess. Id ask: "Tea or coffee?" They all wanted me, I guess, and not the tea or coffee,' she explained.

'It was me on top the whole time. Front, behind, side. They all seemed really comfortable to take their pants off in front of each other and laugh about it.

'Its like theyd done this before,' she concluded.

Prostitute: Gabi, then working as an escort under the name 'Candi', also claimed she had sex with multiple men simultaneously while 'role playing' as a flight attendant

Meanwhile, Detective Millici was fired in May and Deputy Inspector Grant has been stripped of his gun and badge.

Gabi also confirmed on Twitter that she had received death threats after being outed as the sex worker involved in the mile-high 'orgy'.

She previously told The New York Post: 'I know people have free speech and can say whatever they want, but they shouldn't threaten my safety.'

Before the scandal, Gabi was best known for her short-lived marriage to 73-year-old Melbourne businessman Geoffrey Edelsten.
She's one of the most in-demand faces in the Australian modelling industry.

But on Friday, Cheyenne Tozzi, 27, was sure to take time out for herself as she enjoyed a night out in Sydney, with fellow Australia's Next Top Model judge Alex Perry.

Taking to Instagram, the brunette beauty cut a chic figure as she was seen posing in Sydney's Kings Cross, with the fashion designer and television personality.

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Social: On Friday, Cheyenne Tozzi, 27, was sure to take time out for herself as she enjoyed a night out in Sydney, with fellow Australia's Next Top Model judge Alex Perry

Donning what appeared to be a high-neck black shift dress, Cheyenne looked elegant while draping a faux-fur shawl over her shoulders.

Keeping accessories to a minimum, she opted for a pair of jewelled black heels and coordinating statement ring.

Sweeping her signature tresses into a topknot with loose strands framing her face, she kept her beauty look minimal with subtle gold eyeshadow, a flawless complexion and nude lip.

Content: A later post shared to the social media site saw the in demand television personality cozy up to a male friend, who is believed to work in the beauty industry

Meanwhile, renowned Australian fashion designer Alex, sported a smart casual look, donning a pair of form-fitting dark trousers and grey sweater that clung to his defined arms.

He accessorised with his signature sunglasses perched on his head, a leather jacket and pair of patent black studded brogues.

A later post shared to the social media site saw the in demand television personality cozy up to a male friend, who is believed to work in the beauty industry.

Resting her right arm on his shoulder, the model closed her eyes and looked content in the sweet snap.

In fashion: Cheyenne and Alex have wrapped up filming the long-awaited tenth season of reality series Australia's Next Top Model. Pictured with host Jennifer Hawkins, Megan Gale and Zac and Jordan Stenmark

Fashionable duo Cheyenne and Alex have wrapped up filming the long-awaited tenth season of reality series Australia's Next Top Model.

The winner of the series will be launched into the spotlight and will likely aspire to follow a career path similar to that of Cheyenne.

The series will see the pair return to the cast alongside host Jennifer Hawkins, Megan Gale and newcomers Zac and Jordan Stenmark.

Singing debut: In between filming the reality series, it's believed the statuesque model recorded the track 'Reach You' in Sydney

In between filming it's believed the statuesque model recorded the track 'Reach You' in Sydney.

Sharing a video to Instagram, Cheyenne was seen jamming along to what's described as 'modern soul classics' in a recording studio, which seems to be a taste of her own song.

Cheyenne captioned the post: 'Reach you, love your dancing @meeemonson @uncle_leelee @lukepritchard_official.'

New direction: Sharing a video to Instagram, Cheyenne was seen jamming along to what's described as 'modern soul classics' in a recording studio, which seems to be a taste of her own song

The video, shared with her 133,000 Instagram followers, showed the model clearly getting into the groove.

Cheyenne cut a relaxed figure in black pants, a grey hooded sweater and pair of white Nike trainers.

Her long brunette tresses were swept up into a ponytail and she appeared to sport a fresh face.
You can't spell 'Y R U smiley?' without Miley Cyrus.

The 23-year-old and her 'fiance' Liam Hemsworth were all smiles as the strolled out of Nobu in Malibu on Friday night.

The rekindled couple appeared to be having a ball following their romantic meal at the Japanese celeb haunt.

Smiley and beam: Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth giggle their way out of Nobu after romantic dinner in Malibu on Friday night

Miley certainly wasn't letting go of her 26-year-old Australian hunk as she linked his arm tightly as they made their way to a waiting car.

The source of their amusement seemed to stem from a particular finger they isolated, extended and waved at each other.

It was a casual night for both wardrobe-wise, with Liam wearing jeans, a loose-fit grey T, short navy jacket and a pair on Vans sneakers.

Fun: The rekindled couple appeared to be having a ball following their romantic meal at the Japanese celeb haunt

Clinch: Miley certainly wasn't letting go of her 26-year-old Australian hunk as she linked his arm tightly as they made their way to a waiting car

Miley meanwhile wore a typically loud piece with her jeans - a shirt with what looked like a watercolour of the ocean - finishing the outfit off with a quirky teddybear purse.

Liam continued to rock his beard, while Miley tied her blonde hair up in the scraggliest of knots.

The pair first announced their engagement in 2012, but broke up the following year before making it down the aisle.

Laid back: It was a casual night for both wardrobe-wise, with Liam wearing jeans, a loose-fit grey T and short navy jacket with some Vans sneakers

But last year the two rekindled their romance and Miley was spotted once again wearing her engagement ring, leading to reports they were planning on finally tying the knot in an Australian ceremony at the end of the summer.

However her dad and former Hannah Montana co-star Billy Ray Cyrus insisted this week that there is no wedding date planned.

'No there's no wedding bells on the calendar,' he told InTouch Magazine, adding 'I'd tell you if there was!'

On/off: The pair first announced their engagement in 2012, but broke up the following year before making it down the aisle
Police are examining the scene of the attack in Nice city, France. (Source: VNA/AFP)



We are filled with consternation receiving news of the attack in Nice city on July 14, which left dozens of people dead and many others injured, the spokesperson Le Hai Binh said in reply to reporters question on Vietnams response to the attack.

Vietnam offers profound condolences to the French Government, people and families of the victims, and strongly believes that the French Government and people will soon overcome the difficult moment, he said.

Answering a question on whether there were Vietnamese victims in the attack, Head of the Foreign Ministrys Consular Affairs Department Ly Quoc Tuan said until now the department has not received any information confirming that there were Vietnamese victims in the attack.

According to Tuan, immediately after receiving information [about the attack], the Foreign Ministry instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in France to urgently work with local agencies and the Associations of Vietnamese in France to obtain information relating to Vietnamese citizens.

The Vietnamese Embassy in France is continuing to work with local agencies to clarify information and is ready to give support and assistance to Vietnamese citizens in need of help, he said.

The department has launched a round-the-clock hotline at +84981848484 to receive information relating to Vietnamese citizens facing difficulty./.
Roses are red, but Violet certainly didn't look blue.

The ten-year-old appeared to be delighted when her dad Ben Affleck came to collect her from school on Friday afternoon.

The youngster beamed happily as she left her summer camp at The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth.

BatDad! Ben Affleck collected eldest daughter Violet from school in Los Angeles on Friday

Her dutiful dad carried her back and her binder for her, and even opened the car door for the little lady.

Ben looked fit in a blue muscle T-shirt, grey sweats and white trainers.

Despite the sweltering heat he donned his short leather jacket even inside his new black Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat.

Violet would no doubt be delighted if the most recent reports are true about her parents possibly calling off their impending divorce.

Pricey: The youngster beamed happily as she left her summer camp at The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

I got this: Her dutiful dad carried her back and her binder for her, and even opened the car door for the little lady

On Wednesday, a source close to 44-year-old Jennifer Garner told Us Weekly: 'Jen mentioned that the divorce was going through very soon, and then a few weeks ago, things changed.

'It does not seem to be moving in that direction,' they said. 'Jen seems to still be in love with Ben but doesn't allow her mind to go there. She just focuses on the kids.'

And on Saturday TMZ reported a source claims they have not filed divorce papers, with 'neither side taking any steps to dissolve the marriage'.

The couple are still living together with their children three children - including Seraphina, seven, and four-year-old Samuel - in their five-bedroom mansion, and the actor is said to be keen to get their marriage back on track.

Fit: Ben looked fit in a grey muscle T, grey sweats and white trainers

Hot: Despite the sweltering heat he donned his short leather jacket even inside his new black Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

They split on June 30 last year, one day after their ten-year anniversary.

Reports at the time suggested the split was over Ben's infidelity with the family nanny, although Jennifer has since come out and they were 'separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny'.

Affleck recently returned from London where he is filming Justice League Part One, reprising his role as Batman for the DC tentpole.

Back on track? Violet would no doubt be delighted if the most recent reports are true about her parents possibly calling off their impending divorce

I'm Batman: Affleck recently returned from London where he is filming Justice League Part One, reprising his role as Batman for the DC tentpole
She's known for her healthy glow and trim body.

But even Eva Longoria can't resist the temptation of the occasional dirty burger.

Strolling through New York on Friday, the 41-year-old former Desperate Housewives star revealed she was on a three day juice cleanse- or so she thought.

One of us: Even Eva Longoria couldn't resist the temptation of a burger in New York on Friday

Filming herself as she walked down a busy street in the big apple, her attention soon turned to nearby burger chain Dairy Queen.

Unable to resist, the brunette beauty suddenly found herself in the restaurant, staring down at a burger, fries and a soft drink.

Documenting the moment she caved in, the recently married star blissfully chowed down on the tasty treat.

Hunger strikes: Strolling through New York the 41-year-old former Desperate Housewives star revealed she was on a three day juice cleanse

Grill & Chill: Filming herself as she walked down a busy street in the big apple, her attention soon turned to nearby burger chain Dairy Queen

Dig in! Unable to resist, the brunette beauty suddenly found herself in the restaurant, staring down at a burger, fries and a soft drink

And thankfully she didn't feel too guilty, happily dancing along to a Justin Timberlake song as she devoured her meal.

The stunning American star wed third husband Jose Antonio Baston in a romantic sunset ceremony in Mexico in May.

The actress and TV executive Pepe, exchanged vows in front of 200 guests- including the Beckhams, at a private residence in the lakeside town of Valle de Bravo.

Satisfied: Thankfully she didn't feel too guilty, happily dancing along to a Justin Timberlake song as she devoured her meal

Eva became engaged to the 47-year-old president of Grupo Televisa, Latin America's largest media company, in Dubai in December after going public with their relationship in November 2013.

She is set to travel to Wales soon to begin filming the BBC Two comedy series Decline And Fall.

Adapted from Evelyn Waugh's novel, the production is scheduled to begin shooting later this month and stars John Suchet, Doulgas Hodge and Jack Whitehall.

Just married: Eva married TV exec Pepe at a private residence in the lakeside town of Valle de Bravo in May, and Ricky Martin was among the guests
She recently returned from filming new TOWIE scenes in Mallorca.

And on Friday Megan McKenna put on a sophisticated display as she enjoyed a night out in London with pals.

The 23-year-old reality star oozed understated elegance in a tuxedo style black wrap dress, accentuating her slim stomach with a waist tie.

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Glam: On Friday Megan McKenna put on a sophisticated display as she enjoyed a night out in London with pals

The waterfall style front was cut just above her knee, flashing a glimpse of her toned and tanned legs.

Glamming up the outfit she wore glitzy silver platform heels and a matching clutch.

The brunette beauty wore her hair in a sleeked back wet look, showing off her pretty face.

Chic: The 23-year-old reality star oozed understated elegance in a tuxedo style black wrap dress, accentuating her slim stomach with a tie waist

Going for bold brows and eyelashes, the TOWIE star's make-up looked flawless, and she added a touch of bronzer to her immaculate complexion.

Rocking a nude lip, she posed up a storm before heading out in Mayfair with a group of her gal pals.

The reality star has been inseparable from boyfriend Pete Wicks, who she has been dating since the beginning of the year, after she joined the Essex clan following stints Ex on The Beach and Celebrity Big Brother.

Hot! The waterfall style front was cut just above her knee, flashing a glimpse of her toned and tanned legs

Gals night out: Rocking a nude lip, she posed up a storm before heading out in Mayfair with a group of her gal pals

And the power couple of Essex seem to be going from strength to strength, with Megan revealing in a recent interview with OK!: 'I've only been with little boys before - but Pete is a real man.

'I feel really lucky at the moment. I'm so happy with Pete and I'm loving being on TOWIE. Life's good!'

Pete affirmed that he is equally as smitten with his on-screen love interest, adding: 'I've only ever had one other serious girlfriend so it was quite a big deal for me to make it legit.'

He added: 'I've only been with girls I've really, really liked. I'm 28 now so I'm not interested in messing around.'

The pair recently returned from Mallorca where they were filming new scenes for the upcoming season of TOWIE.
She's one of the most recognisable models in the world thanks to her sexy genetics.

And Emily Ratajkowski once again turned heads as she headed to lunch at Bar Ama in Los Angeles with her beau Jeff Majid on Friday.

The 25-year-old Blurred Lines star oozed sex appeal in a tight white crop top which showed off her impeccably taut abs.

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White hot: Emily Ratajkowski, 25, once again turned heads as she flaunted her rock hard abs while heading to lunch at Bar Ama in Los Angeles with her beau Jeff Majid on Friday

Her deep tan only seemed to accentuate her sculpted six-pack stomach, while she kept it more casual on the lower half with high-waisted cream trousers.

A delicate gold chain rested about Emily's decolletage while her luscious brunette mane flowed behind her.

Jeff- her lover since 2014- also looked cool as he teamed his casual attire with a denim waistcoat.

And he is most certainly the luckiest man in the world as Emily regularly takes to her Instagram with a plethora of sizzling bikini snaps.

Sensational figure: The Blurred Lines star oozed sex appeal in a tight white crop top which showed off her impeccably washboard abs

Supermodel stats: Her deep tan only seemed to accentuate her sculpted six-pack abs, while she kept it more casual on the lower half with high-waisted cream trousers

Earlier this week she shared a seductive sunbathing snapshot where she stretched on a sun lounger in a skimpy two-piece.

Emily's double strap detailed halterneck top emphasised her ample cleavage, with delicate gold chains added a glamorous touch to her summer ensemble.

The week prior, the beauty looked incredible in a strapless blue bikini which struggled to contain her assets, meaning she flashed a serious amount of underboob.

She also showed where she got her sensational looks and enviable figure from as she shared a bikini photo of herself with her mum Kathleen.

Bikini babe: Earlier this week, she shared a seductive sunbathing snapshot where she stretched on a sun lounger in a skimpy two-piece which flaunted her ample assets

Beach bunny: The week prior, the beauty looked incredible in a strapless blue bikini which struggled to contain her assets, meaning she flashed a serious amount of underboob

The starlet displayed her wild side in a tiny leopard print two-piece, while Kathleen opted for black and white striped halterneck co-ords.

And while she pleases her 7 million followed with risque snaps, she also utilises the platform to raise awareness for much more serious issues.

Emily will next be seen in upcoming Robert D. Siegel drama Cruise, which follows a young Italian-American from the 'wrong side of the tracks' who falls for a Jewish girl from Long Island.

The Eighties-set feature will also star Disney XD star Spencer Boldman, Grease Live!'s Noah Robbins, and Gotham's Sal Martinez, and is due out later this year.
She's the doting mother to a gorgeous little boy Archie.

And Magdalena Roze talked about her family and their move to Byron Bay with partner Darren Robertson in an interview with Spell & The Gypsy Collective published on Friday.

The 34-year-old beauty gushed: 'I'm enjoying rediscovering things through his eyes, simple things like looking at the leaves or trying a new food for the first time, it's magic.'

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Doting mother: Magdalena Roze talked about her move to Byron Bay with partner Darren Robertson (L) and life with their son Archie in an interview with Spell & The Gypsy Collective published on Friday

Opening up on life with her son, who was born in December last year, Magdalena explained that a lot of things have changed and she took little things for granted like washing her hair.

She also explained that their move to the coastal town was for Darren to open his restaurant but it came with a little surprise: 'Wed always wanted to start a family but it happened a little sooner than what we planned!'

Magdalena splits her time between Sydney Bryon Bay although she revealed: 'When Im in Byron, the day works around Archies routine so when he naps I either take him for a walk, do work calls/emails, work on my blog or write my book.'

Sneak peek! The 34-year-old beauty posted a behind-the-scenes snap from the photoshoot with her followers on social media wearing a floral printed gown by Spell & The Gypsy Collective

Changing for the better: Opening up on life with her son who was born in December last year Magdalena explained that a lot of things have changed and she took little things for granted like washing her hair

The doting mother added that she loves to cook and try out new recipes for Archie or take him along to meetings or photo-shoots like the one for Spell which he also starred in.

The family are now based in the coastal town with Darren opening his second Three Blue Ducks restaurant on The Farm At Byron Bay.

Earlier this year the weather presenter spoke to The Grace Tales about how motherhood has impacted her life since welcoming Archie.

Her boys: The family are now based in the coastal town with Darren opening his second Three Blue Ducks restaurant on The Farm At Byron Bay

'Motherhood has expanded the spectrum of my emotions to limits I never knew and in the case of love, its limitless,' she told the publication.

'It has also taught me to relax, slow down, trust my own instincts and shown me how resilient we are!

'The first few weeks of motherhood were such a blur. It was hectic, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. But we got through it  as all parents do, and you realise that everything gets better, each day is a new day and it doesnt need to perfect,' she continued.
They went public with their shock romance a month ago.

But a new report claims Taylor Swift 'vacated her relationship' with DJ Calvin Harris and 'moved on' with Tom Hiddleston sooner than first thought, after the new couple first met in February.

Insiders have told The Sun that the US pop princess started to fall for Brit actor Tom around the same time Calvin was rushed to hospital following a horrific car crash in May.

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'Vacated': A new report claims Taylor Swift 'vacated her relationship' with DJ Calvin Harris and 'moved on' with Tom Hiddleston sooner than first thought, after the new couple first met in February

After Calvin was rushed to a medical centre in Los Angeles to receive treatment after the crash, Taylor flew from her home in Nashville to visit Calvin the next day, but she ultimately spent just one day by his side, despite the severity of his injuries. Although she was still spotted in LA five days after the accident.

A source close to the Scottish DJ has alleged to The Sun: 'Taylor's true colours are coming out. The truth is she met Tom in February and things are moving very quickly. She had vacated her relationship with Calvin way before she let on.'

The couple announced their split 12 days later, with the first photos of Tom and Taylor together emerging in mid June, two weeks after the break up announcement.

Despite The Sun's claims that Taylor and Tom met in February, a Swift source has confirmed to the MailOnline that the couple 'met on May 1st at a Met Ball dinner at Anna Wintour's home in New York City and not in February.'

New beau: Insiders have told The Sun that the pop princess started to fall for Tom, pictured together at the Met Gala in May, around the same time Calvin was rushed to hospital following a horrific car crash in May

Tom and Taylor were first seen together at the Met Gala in May, where videos were posted online of their fun dance off.

A representative for Taylor has been contacted for comment.

Meanwhile another source claims Calvin went for the 'professional jugular' this week as it emerged his ex girlfriend had written the lyrics for his smash hit tune with Rihanna, This Is What You Came For.

Bitter split: A source close to the Scottish DJ has alleged to The Sun: 'Taylor's true colours are coming out...She had vacated her relationship with Calvin way before she let on'

A source has told The Sun that Calvin felt 'emasculated' by the fact it was Taylor who wrote the hit, leading to his shocking Twitter outburst this week, where he set the record straight.

The insider adds that Calvin reportedly refused to attend the Grammy Awards with Taylor earlier this year to support her nomination for Album of the Year.

'If you're the kind of guy who doesn't want to stand by your woman on an important night like that then you'll also be the kind of guy that gets a bit p***ed off when your woman's getting toasted for the biggest track of your career for the past five years,' the insider claims.

During his Twitter rant this week, Calvin accused Taylor of trying to tear him down and said he refused to let her 'bury' him like Katy Perry.

Flying solo: The insider adds that Calvin reportedly refused to attend the Grammy Awards with Taylor earlier this year to support her nomination for Album of the Year

Rant: A source has told The Sun that Calvin felt 'emasculated' by the fact it was Taylor who wrote the hit, leading to his shocking Twitter outburst this week, where he set the record straight

Throwing shade: Calvin tweeted: 'I figure if you're happy in your new relationship you should focus on that instead of trying to tear your ex bf down for something to do'

'I wrote the music, produced the song, arranged it and cut the vocals though. And initially she wanted it kept secret, hence the pseudonym,' he tweeted on Wednesday.

'Hurtful to me at this point that her and her team would go so far out of their way to try and make ME look bad at this stage though.'

In response Twitter rushed to back him with #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty soon trending.

And while his fans rushed to Swift's Instagram to litter her comment section with hundreds of snake emojis, Swifties ushed to her defense by posting heart emojis in retaliation.

'I thought he had my back': In 2014, Calvin Harris prevented ex Rita Ora from performing their song I Will Never Let You Down at the Teen Choice Awards, shortly after their split. They are seen here in January of that year

Since Taylor and Tom's romance has gone public, the celebrity duo have been widely accused of orchestrating a publicity stunt to further their own careers.

But earlier this week, Tom denied those suggestions. The 'Thor' actor said: 'The truth is that Taylor Swift and I are together and we're very happy.'

Tom took Taylor to meet his mother Diana and sisters Sarah and Emma just days after their first public outing as a couple.

Moving swiftly: The first photos of Tom and Taylor together emerged in mid June, two weeks after she announced her break up from Calvin

And Taylor whisked the Thor star to Nashville in her private jet to meet her parents the same week.

It's been clear for the world to see how enamored Tom is with the Blank Space hitmaker.

On the weekend of Taylor's annual Fourth of July bash, held at her Rhode Island mansion, the actor was spotted wearing an 'I [Heart] T.S.' tank top and even had a temporary heart tattoo with the initial on it.

And Taylor's sentiments are the same, as pals say she gushes about how 'smart, funny and handsome' Tom is.
Her maternity wardrobe has been flawless.

However Blake Lively proved she isn't as effortlessly cool as everyone thinks, as she confessed to struggling with New York's soaring summer temperatures during her second pregnancy while chatting on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday.

The 28-year-old actress revealed: 'It should be illegal to be pregnant in New York in JulyIm going to make my water break just to cool down'.

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Yummy mummy: Blake Lively, 28, confessed to struggling with New York's soaring summer temperatures during her second pregnancy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday

This comes as a surprise seeing as Blake resides in Los Angeles- a city doused with scorching heat year round.

During the show, the actress also couldn't help but gush about her daughter James, 19 months, who she shares with her handsome hubby Ryan Reynolds.

Proud that she's already talking, the Gossip Girl star didn't seem too fazed by the fact that her little girl accidentally swears.

'Shes talking, its kind of amazing, she knows lots of words. She says schump for jump,' she explained, before getting Jimmy laughing by revealing that James mixes up 'sh*t' for 'sit' and 'c*cks' for 'socks'.

Having a tough time: The actress revealed, 'it should be illegal to be pregnant in New York in JulyIm going to make my water break just to cool down'

Oops: While she mentioned that she's proud her daughter James, 19 months, is talking - she says she accidentally swaps 'sh*t' for 'sit' and 'c*cks' for 'socks'

She concluded by joking that she's 'raising a mini-Amy Schumer'.

Blake's second pregnancy was announced in April and the doting couple, who have been married since September 2012, couldn't be happier.

The actors met on the set of Green Lantern in 2010 when Ryan was still married to Scarlett Johansson, now 31, and she was with her Gossip Girl co-star Penn Badgley.

The Vogue favorite went on to date Leonardo DiCaprio but then started seeing Reynolds after his divorce from Scarlett.

One to watch: She concluded by joking that she's 'raising a mini-Amy Schumer'

Having a blast: Blake went on to play a series of fun games where she partnered up with Jimmy, however Benji and Joel Madden ended up winning

Meanwhile, Blake went on to play a series of fun games with Jimmy Fallen and brothers Benji and Joel Madden during her fun Friday night appearance.

The fashion icon couldn't contain her laughs as she partnered up with the host in a challenge- although the Madden twins ended up winning.

And she looked immaculate during her time on the show in a suspender-accented frock that featured cut-out detailing.

Pregnancy glow: Blake put her growing baby bump on full display in the floral dress

She's a beautiful lady: The star bloomed in the suspender accented frock that featured cut-out detailing

The glowing star's dress featured a bralette type top with black and white textured flowers, while her tresses fell in old school Hollywood style by her side.

Blake has been in New York for her promotional duties of her new flick Cafe Society.

On Wednesday, she stunned once again as she arrived on the red carpet in a plunging grey Carolina Herrera dress.

The movie is in US cinemas and also stars Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg and Steve Carell.
She barely puts a foot wrong when it comes to fashion.

And Heidi Klum kept her reputation as a trendsetter firmly in place as she stepped out in a chic black ensemble in New York on Friday.

The 43-year-old model looked effortlessly glamorous in a gold star embellished semi sheer shirt dress.

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Glam: Heidi Klum kept her reputation as a trendsetter firmly in place as she stepped out in a chic black ensemble in New York on Friday

The black knee-length number featured a high neck collar, and she matched it with impressive platform heels, showcasing her tanned and toned legs.

With her golden tresses in loose waves around her shoulders, the TV presenter beamed at cameras as she headed out carrying a posh shopping bag.

The German supermodel's complexion looked radiant, and she accentuated her Bambi-like eyes with lashings of mascara.

Chic: The 43-year-old model looked effortlessly glamorous in a gold star embellished semi sheer shirt dress

On Wednesday night Heidi Klum was in danger of upstaging the stars of Woody Allen's Cafe Society as she arrived for the film screening in New York in a beautiful monochrome dress.

The mother-of-four showcased her fabulous figure in the black and white patterned number that featured a bib bodice with thin spaghetti straps and a flowing skirt with an asymmetric hem.

She revealed her toned shoulders and lean arms as well as the merest hint of sideboob in the backless outfit.

Leggy: The black knee-length number featured a high neck collar, and she matched it with impressive platform heels, showcasing her tanned and toned legs

The cascading skirt fell almost to the ground and showcased her slim waist, and she added height with a pair of tall black sandal heels.

Her golden hair was tied back and styled into a voluminous ponytail that complimented her youthful appearance.

Heidi, who's dating Vito Schnabel, came solo to the event held at the Paris Theatre in Manhattan.

Ageless beauty: On Wednesday the mother-of-four arrived at a screening for Woody Allen's newest film in a backless frock with an asymmetric hem

The Project Runway stalwart accessorized with diamond studs and cuffs in her ears and flashed some color with red polish on her fingers and toes.

She left her make-up low key simply penciling in her brows and adding mascara with some blush and a touch of lip gloss.

Cafe Society stars Blake Lively, Parjker Posey, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell and Jesse Eisenberg and is being released on Amazon.
She's one of Australia's greatest modelling exports.

And Miranda Kerr showed why as she stepped out with her brunette locks pulled back off her face to reveal her naturally striking features while on a date night with her boyfriend Evan Spiegel.

The 33-year-old beauty looked chic in an all-black ensemble that flashed a hint of flesh for the evening out at hot spot Nobu Malibu on Friday.

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Date night delight: Miranda Kerr stepped out with her brunette locks pulled back off her face to reveal her naturally striking features while on a date night with her boyfriend Evan Spiegel on Friday

The Australian model wore a black dress that featured lace detailing across the chest and through her mid section flashing sections of her toned figure.

Miranda bundled up underneath a tailored black blazer and effortlessly slung a small black leather bag over her shoulder.

Her striking features were highlighted by a very neutral makeup look which featured a dewy base and a subtly bronzed smokey eye paired with a dark red lip.

Glowing: The 33-year-old beauty looked chic in an all black ensemble that flashed a hint of flesh with a lace panel on her chest and looked positively radiant with a dewy makeup look

Low-key: Meanwhile, Evan cut a casual figure in a black knit sweater layered over a white T-shirt showing off his effortless style

Miranda pulled her tresses off her face into a trendy half-up-half-down style with the top of her locks pulled into a neat bun to show off her pretty features,

Meanwhile, Evan cut a casual figure in a black knit sweater layered over a white T-shirt showing off his effortless style.

The couple have been together for almost a year and appeared to be in high spirits as they left the popular hot spot together.

Enjoying time together: The couple have been together for almost a year and appeared to be in high spirits as they left the popular hot spot together

Orlando Bloom's ex - with whom she has a son, Flynn - recently explained how she met the businessman, who she's been linked to since September 2015.

'We met at a dinner in LA for Louis Vuitton and became friends,' she told the Sydney Morning Herald. 'We were really good friends for a long time before we started dating.'

She added: 'We've just been having fun together and sharing our time amongst friends and family.'
George Takei ignited controversy when he objected to Sulu, the Star Trek character he played in the original series, being revealed as gay in the new film.

But Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock in the rebooted film series and is also gay, said it was because of early activists like Takei he was able to come out in 2012 without issue.

Its because of people like George and many others of that generation that had to sacrifice their own authenticity and happiness that people in my generation and beyond are able to embrace theirs, he told the Daily Telegraph.

Grateful: Zachary Quinto, who is openly gay and stars as Spock in the Star Trek reboot franchise, said it was because of early activists like George Takei that he was able to come out in 2012 without issue

The 39-year-old said his generation stands on the shoulders of 79-year-old Takeis, who were unable to reveal their sexuality for fear of losing their careers, and needed to proudly stand up and be counted for progress to be continued.

Thats certainly the way I try to live my life and I know its the way he lives his  its the only way to keep us moving forward, he said.

Quinto said the LGBTQ community had waited a long time for there to be an openly-gay character in the franchise, which turns 50 this year.

He also appeared to take a swipe at Australia not yet legalising same-sex marriage, as the US did through a Supreme Court ruling last year.

Controversy: The internet erupted after Star Trek veteran Takei voiced disappointment over the decision to make the character Sulu gay in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond movie

I did feel like there was a modicum of progress and a reflection of the progress we have made in our part of the world  it hasnt quite made it down here yet  and I do think that is emblematic of where we are going, he said.

Takei and husband Brad were the first same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license in West Hollywood once gay marriage became legal in California in 2008.

However, Takei criticised the new generation of Star Trek filmmakers for going against the creative vision of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry.

'Its the only way to keep us moving forward': The 39-year-old said his generation stands on the shoulders of 79-year-old Takeis and needed to proudly stand up and be counted for progress to be continued

New generation: Quinto (right) stars alongside Chris Pine as Captain Kirk (left) in the new Star Trek film released on Thursday

'Unfortunately, it's a twisting of Gene's creation, to which he put in so much thought. I think it's really unfortunate,' he told The Hollywood Reporter last week.

Takei said that when he first learned, last year, that Cho's Sulu would be revealed as gay, he appealed to director Lin to instead 'create a new character' and thus honor Roddenberry's intentions.

'I told him, "Be imaginative and create a character who has a history of being gay, rather than Sulu, who had been straight all this time, suddenly being revealed as being closeted",' he recalled.

Quinto soon after told pedestrian.tv he was 'disappointed' with the elder actor's reaction, but that he understood where he was coming from.

Takei and longtime partner Brad Altman were the first same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license in West Hollywood when gaymarriage became legal in California in 2008. They're pictured together in 2014

'He has had his own personal journey and has his own personal relationship with this character, but, you know, as we established in the first Star Trek film in 2009, weve created an alternate universe,' he said.

Takei later clarified his comments via his widely-read Facebook page, saying he was 'delighted' a homosexual character had been included but disappointed that an existing character had been reinvented.

'I am delighted that the Star Trek franchise has addressed this issue, which is truly one of diversity. It is thrilling to know that future generations will not see LGBTs go wholly unrepresented in the Trek universe,' he wrote in the lengthy post.

Revealed: In the new film actor John Cho (pictured) as Sulu is seen with a male spouse raising their infant child

'On the specific question of Sulu being gay, when I was first approached with the concept, I responded that I hoped instead that Gene Roddenberrys original characters and their backgrounds would be respected.

'How exciting it would be instead if a new hero might be created, whose story could be fleshed out from scratch, rather than reinvented. To me, this would have been even more impactful.'

Takei portrayed USS Enterprise helmsman Hikaru Sulu in the original 1960s TV series and in six films featuring the original cast.

In the new film that hits theatres on Thursday, actor John Cho as Sulu is seen with a male spouse raising their infant child.
Regulations of the contest

Under the auspices of the Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and sponsored by the Vietnam Airlines in Taiwan, this is the first time the Vietnamese Student Association in Taiwan (VSATW) has organized such a great important event for Vietnamese students, who have conducted excellent international scientific research works from January 2013 to now.

There are nearly 5,000 Vietnamese students studying and researching in nearly 70 prestigious universities in Taiwan. Most of them contribute their research works, scientific products to prestigious scientific magazines, conferences and contests in the world.

The contest is proposed by VSATW in order to promote "quality and research achievements of Vietnamese students in Taiwan" to the world, as well as to recruiting organizations and training establishments in Vietnam; thereby enhancing the position of Vietnamese students in Taiwan after graduation and increasing opportunities of finding high-quality jobs for them when returning the homeland, or staying in Taiwan.

After 11 days of the contest, entries from students of 14 universities in Taiwan have been sent to 10 fields of the contest, in which the field of chemistry and materials science have a largest number of entries and National Chiao Tung University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology have a highest number of entries attending the contest./.
Kourtney Kardashian is showing her ex Scott Disick what he's missing.

The 37-year-old posted two bikini shots to her Instagram on Saturday, one day after showing off her toned legs in Daisy Dukes.

The reality star put her sculpted body on display in a blue bikini hours after rocking barely-there denim shorts with an off-the-shoulder top on Instagram.

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She's a ten! The 37-year-old posted two bikini shots to her Instagram on Saturday

The mother of three chose a dusty blue hued two-piece featuring a bandeau top and low-cut bottoms.

The dark haired stunner added an oversized white cover up and aviator sunglasses.

She captioned the shot: 'On a Saturday. us.'

Kourtney followed up the snap with a second swimwear shot, this time with her hands up and after the sunset.

Sunny kind of style: Kourtney Kardashian wore an off the shoulder top and Daisy Dukes to pose next to a lemonade stand on Friday

Kourtney works hard for her fit physique; the beauty documents her grueling work out sessions on her Snapchat on an almost daily basis.

On Friday, the small screen beauty shared a photo where she was wearing Daisy Dukes and a fetching white off-the-shoulder top as she posed by a lemonade stand.

The daughter of Kris Jenner looked in top shape as she put one elbow on Lulu's Lemonade stand while her close friend Simon Huck stood next to her.

Having a blast: Kourtney followed up the snap with a second swimwear shot, this time with her hands up and after the sunset

Ahoy there! On Saturday, the mom-of-three shared that she was enjoying a day out on the ocean with some pals

There was no sign of lemonade anywhere and there were no children around selling the beverage, making the photo a bit suspicious.

Kourtney captioned the photo: 'On a summer day.'

Simon also posted a shot to his Instagram while posing with Kourtney - this time behind the lemonade stand.

'Island life': Simon also posted a shot to his Instagram while posing with Kourtney - this time behind the lemonade stand

He wrote: 'Now hiring: Inquire within #Islandlife.'

Late on Friday evening the Keeping Up With The Kardashians starlet shared an Instagram note about how 'Actions prove who someone is. Words prove who they wanna be.'

The star has been upfront about her tension with her ex Scott - the bad boy of reality TV - on her E! series and has often noted he is all talk, no action.

Not thrilled: Late on Friday evening the 37-year-old shared an Instagram note about how 'Actions prove who someone is. Words prove who they wanna be.' The star has been upfront about her tension with the bad boy of reality TV on her E! series and has often noted her is all talk, no action

Who me? The star has been complaining on KUWTK about Scott and his up and down ways, often noting his continued flakiness and instability is why she has kept their relationship platonic

The star has been complaining on KUWTK about Scott and his up and down ways, often noting his continued flakiness and instability is why she has kept their relationship platonic.

It has been almost one year since they went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Kardashian took a page out of sister Kim Kardashian's book as she posed in a pricey gold bathing suit on a pile of sand in an Instagram snap last week.

Anchors away! Kardashian has been posting sexy photos all year, like this one from a week ago

The image resembled Kim's unusual photo shoot last year, which saw the KUWTK star wearing a gold bra as she posed on a giant mound of dirt for images that were the brainchild of her husband Kanye West.

'On a sand hill,' she captioned the vacation snap.

The college grad modeled a shimmering cut-out swimsuit which resembled an anchor.

Inspiration? Kim Kardashian wore a gold bra as she struck a sexy pose on top of a mount of sand for a System Magazine shoot last year, which was styled by husband Kanye West

The swimsuit is by La Perla and retails for $1695. Her sun-kissed skin glistened as she made sure to give her 43 million social media followers a glimpse of her pert posterior.

She rested her head on her arm and swept her silky chestnut tresses up in a high ponytail while keeping concealed behind dark aviator shades.

Her Instagram vacation snap called to mind Kim's unusual 'dirt pile' photo shoot last year.

In the 35-year-old's photo, she showed off her shapely derriere in a nude bodysuit with gold bra and black stockings.

Getting dirty: The KUWTK stars struck a similar look as they showed off their figures

Beach babes! The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star also posted a sexy snapshot with a pair of her gal pals

The July 2015 photo shoot was styled by her husband West.

The shoot for System magazine was taken in France as the star is showing off her platinum blonde locks, sees Kim reclining seductively on a mountain of earth.

Also on Saturday, Kourtney posted a sexy photo with her gals pals as they sat alongside each other on a flight of stairs leading to the beach front.

'Happy birthday to my little mermaid!' The mother of three has been spending the past week between Miami and the Bahamas on a yacht as she celebrates her daughter Penelope's fourth birthday

The mother of three has been spending the past week between Miami and the Bahamas on a yacht as she celebrates her daughter Penelope's fourth birthday.

And she made sure to mark her daughter's special occasion with a gushing tribute on Friday afternoon.

'Happy birthday to my little mermaid!' she wrote. 'Seeing the magic in the world through your eyes makes me so happy.
Their movie will blast into theaters on July 22 and could possibly be one of the biggest films of the summer.

So it was perfectly understandable that the cast, writer and director would gather for a cozy Italian meal during an early celebration on Friday evening.

Stars Zoe Saldana, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg and Karl Urban as well as director JJ Abrams and writer Doug Jung were spotted leaving Madeo in West Hollywood together, even giving hugs out on the sidewalk.

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Star club: Star Trek Beyond stars Zoe Saldana and Chris Pine, and writer Doug Jung were spotted leaving Madeo in West Hollywood together on Friday evening

This is illogical! Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock, appeared startled as he left the restaurant

Zoe looked cute as she went makeup free. The stunner had brought her husband Marco Perego.

The 38-year-old mother of twins appeared svelte in purple lined floral romper with yellow and white flowers. Gold sandals looked ready for a holiday in Italy.

Pine was dressed down with a grey shirt, jeans and blue espadrilles.

When's the final exam JJ? Director Abrams looked collegiate with a plaid shirt, jeans and worn in boots. The helmer, who was also behind the last Star Wars movie, also had a backpack on his shoulder

Zachary looked like a deer in headlights as he exited the expensive eatery in a maroon striped polo shirt and jeans.

Jung was the only one who dressed up a bit with a grey blazer over a black sweater and black jeans with boots.

Director JJ looked collegiate with a plaid shirt, jeans and worn in boots. The helmer, who was also behind the last Star Wars movie, also had a backpack on his shoulder.

Hugs! Also there was Simon Pegg and Karl Urban (left) as well as Zoe's spouse Marco Perego and John Cho were also on hand for the pasta fest

Love, soft as an easy chair: Pine clung to his partner in space movies JJ as Zachary looked on, clutching one dollar bills

This comes just weeks after the loss of their costar Anton Yechlin.

Pine gathered his Star Trek comrades to mourn the sudden loss of the actor.

Speaking with TV Week in an interview published on Friday, the 35-year-old said it was still 'difficult' to put how he is feeling into words.

She loves the guy: Perego looked hobo chic in his torn jeans and messy hair

Still so much love: Salanda and Perego held hands as they cross onto a sidewalk

I'm in the next sequel, right? Quinto put a hand on Abrams as the two stood by the valet stand

'Its been a very difficult few weeks,' he said, with Anton's death, aged 27, still fresh in the minds of his peers.

The actor, who played Pavel Chekov in the sci-fi franchise, was killed on June 19 when his car rolled down his driveway, pinning him against a fence.

'We hung out at my house and it was just nice to have the family around to help deal with a loss like this and experience mourning at such an intense level,' Pine said of hearing the news.

Sad: 'Its been a very difficult few weeks,' Pine told TV Week in regards to Anton Yechlin's death at the age of 27 by a freak car accident

Grey days: 'We hung out at my house and it was just nice to have the family around to help deal with a loss like this and experience mourning at such an intense level,' Pine said of hearing the news

While in Australia promoting the third installment of the Star Trek films, fellow actor Karl Urban used the same word - 'family' - to describe the talented, Russian-born star.

'It's devastating losing someone in your family,' he told The Daily Telegraph.

'This feels like it should be a time for celebration not just of the film but of him, his extraordinary talent and the beautiful man he was.

Not the final frontier of this franchise: Their movie will blast into theaters on July 22 and could possibly be one of the biggest films of the summer

The dinner party also comes after the controversy over George Takei's comments over his old TV character being gay in the Beyond film.

The actor, 79, told The Hollywood Reporter he was 'disappointed' in the change.

But then he noted in a lengthy Facebook post that he is 'delighted' that the LGBTQ community will be represented in the Star Trek universe.

Takei, who came out as gay in 2005, told People: 'I said, "Oh at long last, the issue of LGBT people is being introduced into Star Trek." I had been campaigning for a long time on that.'
Gemma Collins, 35, has broken her silence on her new mystery suitor, after she was revealed to be dating mixologist to the stars JJ Goodman, 28, on Friday.

The pair met on MailOnline's Seriously Popular yacht at Cannes Lions festival in June, immediately hitting it off when they shared a panel discussion with Charlotte Crosby and Jonathan Cheban.

Revealing that their tryst quickly escalated into a steamy affair, the bubbly former TOWIE star went on to explain to MailOnline that her new 'gentleman' beau could just be 'The One'.

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New love? Gemma Collins has opened up about meeting 'The One' in mixologist JJ Goodman, who she met in France this June when she joined MailOnline aboard the Seriously Popular yacht for Cannes Lions festival

'He's a proper gentleman,' she gushed. 'Any man who can take treat me like a princess and then share a Club Sandwich with me is definitely "The One" in my books.'

Revelers saw the couple leave the IDOL yacht together on the second night of the week-long festival, following a performance from Jason Derulo and a dinner fueled by Rose wine.

The next night, after sharing breakfast together in the beautiful Vieux Port area of Cannes, the couple arrived together for a third event on-board the luxury liner.

Striking up a bond: Gemma (centre, with BFF Jonathan Cheban) and JJ (right) first came across each other during a panel discussion, hosted by Katie Hopkins (left) at the second morning of Cannes Lions

Love boat: London Cocktail Club owner JJ (far left) joined a panel of influencers, including (L-R) Charlotte Crosby, The Fat Jew, Katie, Gemma, Jonathan and Kevin Simm

While London Cocktail Club bar owner JJ - who served up drinks for the likes of Amber Rose, Jason Derulo and Martha Stewart exclusively for MailOnline that week - remained coy about the tryst, the pair were virtually inseparable after their night of passion.

A source on-board told MailOnline: 'They sat on the middle deck with legs intertwined all night. They barely spoke to anyone else but seemed utterly besotted with each other.'

JJ - real name James Goodman - originally found fame when he competed on BBC Two's The Restaurant and won a business partnership with Raymond Blanc.

He opened his first bar in 2008, when he was just 24, and he has since opened six more across London.

Mixologist to the stars: JJ - who originally found fame when he won a business partnership with Raymond Blanc on The Restaurant - served up cocktails all week for guests including Jason Derulo and Amber Rose

However, Essex girl Gemma - who became a household name on the second series of ITVBe's The Only Way Is Essex - didn't know who JJ was when she went home with him.

Modest JJ told Gemma that he was a businessman but it wasn't until later that she discovered his mixology empire in the British capital.

Posting from home after the event, lovelorn Gemma wrote on Instagram: Cannes you stole my [heart] Gutted to be home. Best time of my life.'
She had an on-air spat with Jenny McCarthy on Friday.

And Tara Reid was on the receiving end of a foul-mouthed outburst from boyfriend Dean May during Friday's Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.

The 40-year-old was called 'a f***ing crazy person' by the self-styled 'party-boy' after avoiding a task posed for the housemates.

'Crazy': Tara Reid was on the receiving end of a foul-mouthed outburst from boyfriend Dean May during Friday's Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars

Tara whined, 'I got called out,' after she refused to take part in a therapy session which involved puppets and talking about their sex lives.

Dean snapped: 'You know what? Give me a f***ing break.'

He added: 'Dude, you f***ing act like a f***ing crazy person! I'm so sick of lying!'

Argument: The 40-year-old was called 'a f***ing crazy person' by the self-styled 'party-boy', after avoiding a task posed for the couples

Exactly what he means by lying is unclear, as there has been speculation within the other couples that Tara and Dean aren't a genuine couple.

The issue came to a head after Tara maintained she could not complete the task as she claimed she was frightened of puppets.

However, she was overheard complaining to her rep after locking herself in the bathroom with her phone.

Troubled: Exactly what he means by lying is unclear, as there has been speculation within the other couples that Tara and Dean aren't a genuine couple

Tensions: The issue came to a head after Tara maintained she could not complete the task

Stressed? She lit up a cigarette and discussed ways to avoid it

Really? She eventually claimed she was frightened of puppets after firstly saying she was ill and being overheard telling her rep she didn't want to do it

Bedtime: She finally agreed to discuss her sex life with Dean, without the puppets

No intimacy: The couple haven't been seen engaging in even a kiss

Dressing down: Tara was told she was afraid of intimacy

News to you: Judge Lynn Toler gave Tara some harsh comments during the evening review

'I'm not talking about my sex life through a f***ing puppet,' Tara was heard saying.

'It's not funny.  I'm not doing this,' she added, calling the experience a 'disaster'.

She finally agreed to discuss her sex life with Dean, without the puppets, but no one believed a word they said - with Adam Friedman commenting that he had never even seen the pair kiss.

Judge Lynn Toler told Tara she is 'clearly afraid' of real intimacy, during the evening review.

It led to the private spat between the pair, during which Dean swore at the star and walked out of their bedroom.

Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars airs on We TV Fridays at 9 pm ET.

Rowing: Behind closed doors an argument broke out

No romance: Tara sat alone on the bed while Dean went outside after swearing

On Friday she was promoting the fourth installment of her film Sharknado.

But what started off as just another stop on the promo trail veered disastrously off-track for Tara Reid and Jenny McCarthy.

It all started to go wrong when the ladies began exchanging icy words aimed at each others' love lives and bodies during SiriusXM's The Jenny McCarthy Show.

Ouch! What started off as just another stop on the promo trail veered disastrously off-track for Tara Reid and Jenny McCarthy, with the stars exchanging icy words aimed at each others when the conversation took a turn for the worse on The Jenny McCarthy Show on Friday (Tara pictured in July in Los Angeles, Jenny pictured in May in New York)

The tension reached a fever pitch after each smugly told the other one they hoped they remained married - and then Tara abruptly walked out of the studio.

Before Tara's abrupt exit, the actress was asked about her appearance on Marriage Boot Camp, with Jenny raving about the show.

Tara insisted the host stick with the subject of Sharknado, and Jenny obliged, asking instead about the star's fitness routine for the film.

After discussing her workout routine, Jenny then broached Tara's plastic surgery history.

Escalating situation: The tension reached a fever pitch after both ladies told each other they hoped they remained married, before Tara abruptly walked out of the show

'Now, people talked about your surgeries before, are you still going through surgeries, or are you past them?' Jenny asked.

'No, I haven't had any surgeries for a while, Jenny,' Tara replied.

'That's awesome,' Jenny responded. 'And I'm glad you've been kind of open about it, because I hate when people, you know, say, 'No, I've never done anything,' and you've been kind of pretty open about things going wrong.'

She went on: 'So, you look great now, so you're good and done not moving forward with plastic surgery?'

'I think I've made that clear about a hundred times,' Tara retorted.

'I didn't hear that a hundred times, I'm so sorry,' Jenny apologized.

On the promo trail: Reid has been doing the promotional rounds for the fourth installment of Sharknado as of late

'Maybe you only read the bad things, but I've made that really clear so many years. But read what you want to read,' Tara responded. 'But it was really nice talking to you and really good luck with your show.'

'Good luck to you too, and I'm so excited about Sharknado,' Jenny said. 'And I hope you stay married.'

The American Pie actress fired back in a pleasant voice: 'I hope you stay married too.'

The insults escalated when Jenny continued: 'I will, and I hope your knees get a little wobblier than they already are.'

'Oh, my knees?' Tara asked. 'Oh yeah I hope your t*ts get even nicer, because they're amazing, same guy who did mine, right?'

'They are! Thank you so much!' Jenny replies. 'Yes, same guy.'

'Love you Tara, good luck with Sharknado 18!'

'Hope you stay married': McCarthy raved about Reid's appearance with her boyfriend Dean May on the reality show Marriage Boot Camp

Speaking with TMZ, Tara told the website that she 'totally felt so bullied and attacked. It was very unprofessional.'

The actress also said that she felt Jenny was saying things to get a rise out of her, and added that the host did not apologize.

Jenny has been married to Donnie Wahlberg for nearly two years, and is known for her role as the host of MTV's Singled Out.
Turkey coup 'has no impact' on anti-IS operations: US official

A coup attempt in Turkey is not affecting operations targeting the Islamic State, and American forces will continue flying missions from a key air base there, a US defense official said Friday.

Turkey, a key NATO ally for the United States, has allowed the US to launch attacks for the past year against Islamic State militants in neighboring Syria from Incirlik Air Base.

The air base is strategically located close to the border and has provided a big advantage for the US military, which previously flew such missions from further away out of the Gulf.

Turkish security officers detain Turkish police officers (in black) on July 15, 2016 in Istanbul, during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Yasin AKGUL (AFP)

The situation in Turkey "has no impact on counter-ISIL operations from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We are still flying missions from Incirlik Air Base."

At the base, the United States has deployed drones, a dozen A-10 Warthog fighter jets, which are especially well adapted at providing close air support, a squadron of Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, as well as supply aircraft, according to the Pentagon.

About 2,200 US troops and civilian personnel are deployed in Turkey, including 1,500 at Incirlik.

A Congressional Research Service report in March found that Turkey is among five NATO member countries where the United States has stocked tactical nuclear bombs.

Soldiers took to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed the putschists would pay a "very heavy price."

Jets screeched low overhead in the capital, while citizens rushed for the safety of their homes.
China must abide by same rules as everyone else: Biden

China must abide by the same international rules as everyone else, US Vice President Joe Biden warned after a UN-backed tribunal ruled against Beijing's claims in the South China Sea.

The United States has no claims of its own within the vast area, but insists that all shipping has a right to pass through seas it regards as international waters.

It has previously deployed aircraft carriers and a host of other vessels to assert freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which a third of the global oil trade passes.

A poster of the South China Sea proclaiming "China's territory, never to yield an inch of our ground", seen along a street in Weifang, east China's Shandong province - (AFP)

"We expect China to play by the same rules as everyone else," Biden told the Sydney Morning Herald in comments published Saturday, referring to the international rules-based system that governs claims to maritime territory.

He added that "we're urging both China and the Philippines to abide by the ruling".

Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital South China Sea, despite rival claims from its Southeast Asian neighbours, most notably Manila, a US ally which took the case to the tribunal.

China's claims, which include waters approaching neighbouring countries, are based on a vaguely defined "nine-dash-line" found on a 1940s Chinese map.

This week the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled China has no historic rights to resources within the area, a decision Beijing angrily rejected.

Biden, who arrives in Australia later Saturday for a visit in which he is expected to address Washington's military alliance with Canberra, said it was vital that freedom of navigation was maintained.

He said the US was working "with Australia, and countries throughout the region, to insist that the liberal international order be maintained as it relates to sustaining the free flow of commerce -- keeping sea lanes open and the skies free for navigation".

A US State Department spokesman earlier in the week described the UN ruling as "final and legally binding", while Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Beijing risked reputational harm if it ignored the decision.
Tokyo seeks to pressure Beijing on S China Sea ruling

Tokyo raised pressure on Beijing at an Asia-Europe summit Saturday to respect an international tribunal's ruling that dismissed its claims to much of the South China Sea.

At a retreat outside the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the assembled leaders that the rule of law was "a universal principle that the international community must firmly maintain," according to Japan's Jiji Press.

"I strongly hope the parties to the dispute comply with the award and lead to a peaceful solution of the dispute in South China Sea," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrives for the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, on July 15, 2016 Wu Hong (Pool/AFP)

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on Tuesday ruled that there was no legal basis for Beijing's claims to much of the South China Sea, which are embodied in a "nine-dash line" that dates from 1940s maps and stretches close to other countries' coasts.

The case was brought by the Philippines but the ruling has proved a boon to Tokyo, which is embroiled in a separate territorial dispute of its own with Beijing and vies with it for influence across Asia.

China boycotted the PCA hearings, saying the court had no jurisdiction, and has reacted furiously, vowing to ignore the ruling and arguing that it misinterprets international law.

It also said the subject should not be brought up at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Mongolian capital.

But despite Chinese objections, the EU also weighed in on the subject, with President Donald Tusk telling reporters that the grouping "will continue to speak out in support of upholding international law", adding that it had "full confidence" in the PCA and its decisions.

"It's not so easy to agree with our Chinese partners when it comes to this issue" he said. "Our talks were difficult, tough, but also promising."

- 'Hyping up' -

The comments by Abe and Tusk on Saturday followed a blitz of meetings between the Japanese leader and officials from around the region, including his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, on the summit sidelines as he sought to build consensus on the issue.

Both countries have competing claims with Beijing in the strategically vital South China Sea, where tensions have mounted over the Asian giant's construction of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations and its claims on the region's marine resources.

The new government in Manila has promised not to "taunt or flaunt" the verdict in the case, which was brought by the previous administration of Benigno Aquino, and its public comments were less forceful than Abe's.

According to a Philippines foreign ministry statement, Yasay told him the decision provided "a legal basis to move forward", and Manila was studying it "very carefully".

In Abe's meeting with Phuc, the two leaders agreed that the tribunal's ruling should be observed, and Abe offered to increase cooperation on building Vietnam's maritime law enforcement capabilities, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura told AFP.

The Japanese prime minister also brought his argument directly to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a heated 30-minute meeting Friday.

Kawamura described the exchange as "frank and candid" and Chinese state media accounts described the Chinese leader telling Abe that Japan should "stop hyping up and interfering" in the dispute.

Beijing had hoped to use the ASEM summit -- official theme "Partnership for the Future through Connectivity" -- as an opportunity to showcase its global initiatives, such as the One Belt, One Road programme, an ambitious plan to build infrastructure projects across the Eurasian region.

China has sought to assert its claims in the South China Sea by building a network of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations, and this week reiterated its right to declare an Air Defence Identification Zone in the area, which would demand civilian flights submit to the authority of its military.

While the summit's final communique made no specific mention of the South China Sea, it said that leaders "reaffirmed their commitment" to maritime security and settling disputes according to the UN Convention on the Law of Sea.

Maritime zones - (AFP Graphic)

European Council President Donald Tusk speaks during the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator, on July 16, 2016 Wang Zhao (AFP)
Philippines' Duterte meets alleged drug lord

President Rodrigo Duterte met with a businessman he accused of being one of the Philippines' top drug lords and threatened to kill him to his face.

In the bizarre meeting held Friday that evoked scenes from a gangster film, the hardline anti-crime president warned Peter Lim to steer clear of narcotics.

"I will execute you.... I will finish you off," Duterte said during the meeting.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during the Testimonial Dinner Reception in Manila, on July 14, 2016 - (Presidential Communication Operations Office/AFP/File)

A video of the sitdown was posted on a government YouTube channel Saturday with a caption identifying Lim as "one of the top drug lords in the triad involved in illegal drug operations in the country".

But the businessman denied that he was the alleged Chinese-Filipino drug dealer Peter Lim, who singled out by the president in an address on national television on July 7.

Peter Lim is a fairly common name in the Philippines, where part of the population claims ethnic Chinese descent.

The Peter Lim that Duterte met with said that since the address -- in which the president said "the moment he steps out of the plane, he will die" -- he has feared for his life.

"My family is really in a deep problem now in Cebu. We are getting all the threats," Lim said, referring to the central city where he runs a string of businesses.

But Duterte shot back: "I will not say I'm sorry because the reason you're here is you're a suspected drug lord."

Duterte built a fearsome anti-crime reputation as long-time mayor of the southern city of Davao, where he would read out the names of drug suspects on his local radio programme and the shamed personalities would later turn up dead on city streets.

He won the May election by landslide largely on a pledge to kill tens of thousands of drug suspects and other criminals.

Duterte has since publicly shamed police generals, politicians and private personalities whom he linked to narcotics, and a nationwide crackdown has seen nearly 400 drug suspects shot dead by police or suspected anti-crime vigilantes.

Human rights groups and opposition politicians have raised an outcry over the deadly anti-drugs campaign, but the government has insisted all the dead suspects had fought police and that the vigilante killing were being investigated.

During his meeting with Duterte, which took place at a drug enforcement agency office in the southern city of Davao, Lim denied any involvement in illegal drugs, but admitted he was investigated in 1997 for alleged links to narcotics.

He then pledged cooperation in Duterte's anti-crime campaign.

"Our nation is very lucky to have you. You're the only president who could save our nation. You really mean business," Lim added.
Iran police deny banning sculptor from leaving country

Iranian police denied Saturday claims by prominent sculptor Parviz Tanavoli they were behind a legal complaint that had prevented the artist from leaving the country earlier this month.

Tanavoli, one of Iran's top artists, said last week after having been refused passage at the airport that he was told in court "that the police had accused me of publishing false information and disturbing the public peace".

But police spokesman, Brigadier General Saeid Montazer Al-Mahdi, told ISNA news agency on Saturday that the "police has not filed any complaints against Tanavoli and his being banned from leaving the country... is due to a judicial order".

Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli's works are displayed in major museums worldwide including the British Museum, as well as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art Haider Shah (AFP/File)

The artist's lawyer, Sadreddine Mahouzi, also told the official IRNA news agency that a private individual had brought a lawsuit against Tanavoli.

Local media reported that the person behind the lawsuit was a collection owner who had bought six of Tanavoli's works.

Last year, Tanavoli reportedly took the artworks for his personal museum and promised the owner another six works instead, but has not yet delivered.

Tanavoli's works are displayed in major museums worldwide including the British Museum, as well as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art.
Air raids kill at least 28 civilians in Syria's Aleppo

Air raids on rebel-held districts of Syria's battleground second city of Aleppo killed at least 28 civilians including children on Saturday, a monitor said.

The death toll from what residents said an attack with barrel bombs steadily rose throughout the day as bombardment rocked the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood," the monitor said.

Collapsed buildings following reported air strikes in Aleppo's rebel-held neighbourhood of Tariq al-Bab, on July 14, 2016 Thaer Mohammed (AFP/File)

At least six people, including a child and two women, were killed in the Salhin district, in addition to four more civilians in other rebel-controlled neighbourhoods, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria for its information, said the air strikes were likely either Russian or regime warplanes.

"At least 20 people are still under the rubble," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian state news agency SANA, for its part, reported that one person was killed and nine others were wounded in rebel rocket fire on government-controlled parts of the city.

An AFP correspondent in eastern Aleppo said helicopters and fighter jets were circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel bombs -- crude, unguided explosive devices -- had been dropped on several areas.

"All of a sudden there was a barrel bomb on top of us. We came outside and a second one, then a third one hit us," said Ahmad Erfan, a teenager living in the Salhin neighbourhood.

A hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood was hit in the bombing, wounding some of the staff and patients inside.

"All kinds of weapons were used to bomb the hospital, from midnight until about 11:00 am. Now it's unusable," Mohammad Kheir, one of its doctors, told AFP.

"There were some injuries among the medical staff but thankfully they are only light wounds."

A crying woman clad in a black robe desperately grasped the leg of a bloodied young man as doctors treated him on the hospital floor.

Twisted metal frames and damaged medical equipment lay strewn across the room, some next to small pools of blood.

- Truce routinely violated -

The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

It was once Syria's commercial powerhouse but has since been ravaged by the country's five-year war.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in February between government forces and non-jihadist rebels does not cover Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front which has a strong presence in many rebel-held areas.

The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and around Aleppo.

On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said they had agreed on "concrete steps" to salvage the failing ceasefire.

The top diplomats met for a 12-hour marathon meeting, but would not divulge the details of the deal in order to allow the "quiet business" of peacemaking to continue, Kerry said.

Russia has insisted that non-jihadist rebel groups -- particularly those in and around Aleppo -- must disassociate themselves from Al-Nusra in order to avoid being targeted in air raids.

Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of Aleppo, prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.

According to the United Nations, nearly 600,000 people are living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 Abd Doumany (AFP/File)
Pakistan social media star Baloch killed 'by brother'

A Pakistani social media celebrity whose selfies polarised the deeply conservative Muslim country has been murdered by her brother in a suspected honour killing, officials said Saturday, prompting shock and revulsion.

Qandeel Baloch, praised by many of the country's youth for her willingness to break social taboos but condemned by conservatives, was strangled near the city of Multan, police said.

"Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother. Apparently it was an incident of honour killing," Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, told AFP.

Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch, pictured in June 28, 2016 speaking at a press conference in Lahore Str (AFP/File)

Baloch, believed to be in her twenties and whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, had travelled with her family to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Eid holiday.

She was killed there Friday, police said, adding that the brother, Wasim, was now on the run.

Up to 100 officers were gathered outside her family's home in Muzzafarabad, an AFP reporter there said. Five ambulances were also parked nearby.

"My daughter was innocent, we are innocent, we want justice, why was my daughter killed?" Baloch's father Azeem Ahmad told reporters there.

Police later registered a murder case against her brother based on her father's written complaint, in which he accused his son of killing his daughter for honour because "his son wanted her to quit showbiz".

Hundreds of women are murdered for "honour" every year in Pakistan.

The killers overwhelmingly walk free because of a law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderer -- who is often also a relative.

Filmmaker Sharmeemn Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary on honour killings won an Oscar earlier this year, slammed Baloch's murder as symptomatic of an "epidemic" of violence against women in Pakistan.

News of the murder was trending on social media in Pakistan, with liberal users praising Baloch's bravery, but some conservatives -- including users identified as women -- condemning her relentless self-promotion.

In one typical comment, Twitter user @JiaAli wrote: "Someone had to do it. She was a disgrace."

- 'No woman is safe' -

But Facebook user Zaair Hussain said: "RIP Qandeel Baloch. You made us laugh, and you made us applaud," adding that history would remember her as a "provocateur".

Baloch shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking "How em looking?" went viral.

Her defiance of tradition and defence of liberal views won her many admirers among Pakistan's overwhelmingly young population.

But in a country where women have fought for rights for decades, and acid attacks and honour killings remain commonplace, she was also reviled by many and frequently subject to misogynist abuse.

Baloch provoked controversy last month after posing for selfies with a high-profile cleric, who was sternly rebuked by the country's religious affairs ministry.

Earlier this year she vowed to perform a striptease if Pakistan's cricket team beat India at the World T20, though they later lost.

"People are going crazy -- especially girls. I get so many calls where they tell me I'm their inspiration and they want to be like me," she told AFP after posting a provocative selfie on Valentine's Day.

In her last interview with Pakistan's biggest English-language newspaper Dawn she spoke of being married against her will at age 17 to "an uneducated man" with whom she had a child, adding that they later divorced.

She had reportedly spoken of leaving the country out of fear for her safety, with Dawn reporting that her request to officials for protection had been ignored.

Obaid-Chinoy told AFP the murder showed no women in Pakistan would be safe "until we start sending men who kill women to jail".

"There is not a single day where you don't pick up a paper and see a woman hasn't been killed," the maker of "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" told AFP, adding: "This is an epidemic".

Obaid-Chinoy's film was hailed by Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who in February vowed to push through anti-honour killing legislation.

No action has been taken since then, despite a recent fresh wave of attacks on women.

"Activists have screamed themselves hoarse," said Obaid-Chinoy. "When will it stop?"

Pakistanis move the body of social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch from her residence in Lahore on July 16, 2016 after she was murdered by her brother in a suspected honour killing SS Mirza (AFP)

Internet users in Islamabad, look at images of Qandeel Baloch -- who became famous through a series of suggestive 'selfies' she posted on social media Farooq Naeem (AFP/File)
Turkey Mideast allies rally behind Erdogan, critics silent

Turkey's regional allies on Saturday condemned a deadly but foiled coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule, while his opponents abroad kept silent.

Key regional powers Iran and Israel, which have both had strained relationships with Erdogan's government in the past, condemned the putsch that began late on Friday.

Despite the enmity between the Turkish and Syrian governments, officials in Damascus did not comment on the failed coup, which was reported by state media including the SANA news agency.

People wave national flags as they march from Kizilay Square to the Turkish General Staff building in Ankara, on July 16, 2016 Adem Altan (AFP)

Damascus regularly accuses Ankara of supporting "terrorist groups" fighting regime forces in Syria, while Erdogan has repeatedly called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Egyptians woke up Saturday to find some newspapers announcing Erdogan's ouster, even as the strongman loathed by Cairo quashed the coup attempt.

"The Turkish army topples Erdogan," declared a red banner on the front page of the state's flagship Al-Ahram newspaper.

While Egypt's presidency remained mum, the foreign ministry released a statement on consular efforts to help Egyptians in Turkey.

Erdogan is a main backer of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, the president whom the Egyptian army deposed in 2013.

In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the Turkish people's "defence of democracy & their elected government" which he said "proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail".

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey," Zarif tweeted late on Friday.

"Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."

Israel, which last month approved a deal to restore ties with Ankara that were frozen after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010, also condemned the coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.

Iran's regional arch foe Saudi Arabia also welcomed Erdogan retaking control.

A Saudi foreign ministry official said in a statement that the kingdom "had followed with much concern developments in brotherly Turkey" and "welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government".

Gas-rich Qatar, which is close to Turkey, was quick to condemn the coup attempt and congratulate Erdogan.

- 'Victory of democracy' -

In a telephone call with the Turkish leader, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani "congratulated (Erdogan) on the support of the people of Turkey on his rule against the failed military coup", the official QNA news agency reported.

Qatar is Erdogan's closest Gulf ally, sharing his sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood that formerly ruled Egypt and which is outlawed in other Gulf Arab states.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah congratulated Erdogan on "the success of legitimacy and the victory of democracy (of) the will of the friendly Turkish people" who have been spared "much suffering".

Bahrain made a similar statement, rejecting any attempt to undermine "constitutional legitimacy under the leadership" of Erdogan and his government and stability in Turkey.

Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, who have friendly ties with Qatar as well as Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party, "condemned the failed coup attempt" and "congratulated the people and the Turkish leadership for successfully protecting democracy".

Turkey has recently obtained several compromises from Israel over Gaza, including authorisation for Ankara to build a hospital in the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, activists - notably those linked to Hamas - called for demonstrations in solidarity with the Turkish government.

Erdogan called on his supporters to remain vigilant, warning of a fresh flare-up of violence even as his forces regained control.

In Khartoum, President Omar al-Bashir condemned "the attempted coup in Turkey and the disturbance of security and stability in the country."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday 161 people -- not including the putschists -- were killed in the coup attempt, with 2,839 soldiers detained on suspicion of involvement.

People take cover as soldiers and police shoot at each other for control of the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, on July 16, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP)

A child walks on a tank after pro-regime supporters seized a military checkpoint in Istanbul, on July 16, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP)

A turkish police officer sits on a tank after taking over a military position at Uskudar in Istanbul, on July 16, 2016 Bulent Kilic (AFP)
International flights to Turkey suspended after coup attempt

Many international flights to Turkey were cancelled Saturday despite efforts by the Ankara authorities to get life back to normal following an abortive coup attempt.

The US government said it had suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after Friday's failed coup.

Turkish authorities were seeking Saturday to resume business as usual and Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the plotters -- was gradually reopening.

People wait for flights in Barajas, near Madrid on July 16, 2016 as Turkish Airlines cancelled their flights following the attempted coup Pierre-Philippe Marcou (AFP)

But international carriers were preferring to wait and see before resuming a normal service.

Along with their US counterparts, Russian airlines have suspended flights to Turkey although they were repatriating vacationers back home.

"President (Vladimir) Putin ordered the transport ministry and other agencies to properly inform passengers and organise their inbound flights from Turkish airports," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying Saturday by the Interfax news agency.

British Airways cancelled all its Saturday flights to and from Turkey "in light of the events unfolding" there, a company spokeswoman said.

German flag carrier Lufthansa cancelled eight of its 10 flights scheduled between Germany and Turkey, including all flights to Ankara and Istanbul.

The two remaining flights were to the resorts of Bodrum and Antalya, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

The airline announced later in the day that it would return to normal service from Sunday, as did its SWISS subsidiary.

- 'Security significantly diminished' -

In a statement Saturday the US Federal Aviation Administration said it had issued a notice "that prohibits all US commercial and private aircraft from operating into or out of any airport in Turkey. It also prohibits an aircraft of any registry from departing Turkey for the US.

The FAA said it was "monitoring the situation in Turkey in coordination with our partners in the State Department and The Department of Homeland Security and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves."

The US embassy in Ankara added that security "at Ataturk airport is significantly diminished and US government employees have been instructed not to attempt to travel to and from Ataturk airport."

It advised US citizens in Turkey "to seek shelter in safe places," avoid unnecessary travel, and monitor media reports.

The warnings remain in place even though Turkish airports reopened following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pre-dawn announcement of victory over the discontented army officers who mounted the bloody attempt to overthrow him.

Other smaller airlines were continuing their flights to southern Turkish resorts, with Easyjet and Thomas Cook saying they did not expect any changes to its schedules to places such as Antalya, Izmir and Rhodes.

Turkey: coup attempt Sophie HUET-TRUPHEME, John SAEKI (AFP)
Obama consults top aides as Turkey unrest hits IS fight

US President Barack Obama held talks with top national security advisers Saturday after a coup attempt in Turkey that froze some air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) group.

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have repelled the plot, but the situation remains fraught and tensions between Washington and Ankara appeared to be growing.

The Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey.

A Turkish anti riot police officer stands guard on a tank in Istanbul on July 16, 2016 Ozan Kose (AFP)

The facility is 68 miles (110 kilometers) from the Syrian border and houses a stash of nuclear weapons and 1,500 US troops.

It is also used by the US Air Force to hit Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Syria and provide air cover for rebel groups fighting the jihadists.

Sorties from the base had been suspended because airspace had been closed, US officials said.

"US Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement, using an acronym for the IS group.

Meanwhile, the US military command in Europe ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures.

During the coup, Obama threw his support behind Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all parties to "avoid any violence or bloodshed."

But there are growing concerns about a government crackdown on Erdogan's opponents and what that may mean for a key ally in NATO.

More than 12 hours after the coup, there was still no word from the White House on whether Obama had spoken to Erdogan.

In public appearances since returning to Istanbul, Erdogan has blamed the attempted putsch on followers of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher with a large following.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said the United States will help Turkey investigate the failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against Gulen.

Turkey had not yet issued a formal extradition request, he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, perhaps Obama's closest ally on the world stage, has urged Erdogan to deal with coup plotters under the rule of law.

"Those responsible for the tragic events of last night can and should only be handled according to the rule of law," she said after the coup bid, which left more than 250 people dead.

Even before Friday's bloody drama, Obama had voiced concern about Erdogan's treatment of the press and his respect for democracy.

"He came into office with a promise of democracy," Obama said in April. "That's the legacy he should pursue."

Obama warned against the "repression of information and shutting down democratic debate."

The White House had said Obama's meeting with key aides would take place in the situation room, but later announced it would instead be a conference call.

US President Barack Obama offered vocal support for Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all parties to "avoid any violence or bloodshed" Brendan Smialowski (AFP)
Trump's VP choice compares mogul to US icon Reagan

In his first interview as Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence late Friday compared the Republican presidential hopeful to conservative icon Ronald Reagan.

Pence, interviewed on Fox News Channel's "Hannity" show, emphasized that the real estate mogul and reality TV star was "the people's choice".

The Republican Party "had a competitive primary with him, enormous number of talented men and women," Pence said.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands with his newly selected vice presidential running mate Mike Pence, governor of Indiana, on July 16, 2016 in New York Drew Angerer (Getty/AFP)

"Donald Trump again and again emerged because I think very much like the 40th president that you and I so admire, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump understands the anxiety and the aspiration of the American people like no leader since Reagan."

Trump has no direct political experience. In contrast Reagan, a Hollywood actor, was governor of California before he was elected president.

The comparison with the late Reagan, who served two terms during the 1980s and is revered by Republicans, is a clear appeal to make Trump more palatable to conservatives alienated by Trump's bombastic rhetoric and populist message who had backed other primary candidates.

The four-day Republican Party convention that will nominate Trump as their presidential candidate, which starts Monday in Cleveland, Ohio, will feature no former presidents, few party luminaries and only a smattering of elected officials.

John McCain and Mitt Romney, the last two Republican presidential candidates, will also stay away.

Pence, however, predicted the party will unify around Trump.

- Disagreements with Trump -

"I expect next week at our convention you're going to see our party, and leaders in our party, rally around this good man who will be a great president of the United States," he said.

While Trump has campaigned as a protectionist, Pence has backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping trade deal that Trump has attacked as bad for US jobs.

Pence has denounced Trump's proposal to close US borders to Muslims as "unconstitutional."

And while Trump has called the Iraq war a "disaster," Pence was a co-sponsor of the 2002 Iraq war resolution.

But in the Fox interview, Pence fully supported Trump.

"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorists influence and impact represents a threat to the United States," he said.

"We have a proud tradition of refugee resettlement ... but it has to be subordinated to the safety and security of American people."

As for the Iraq war, "that's for historians to debate," but both he and Trump "are in strong agreement is that Barack Obama's precipitous withdrawal from Iraq created a vacuum in which ISIS was created."

Pence said that trade agreements like the TPP can go back to the bargaining table.

"When we elect one of the best negotiators in the world as president of the United States, I'm open to renegotiating these trade agreements," Pence said.

And if there are major disagreements, "you shut the door. You tell the boss exactly what you think."

Pence said that Trump "is a man that appreciates candor. And we've had some very candid and straightforward conversations.

"But when the door opens, the job of the vice president is to stand right next to the president and implement the policy that he's decided."

Head-to-head, over a year Alain BOMMENEL, Philippe MOUCHE (AFP)
Obama warns Turkey to 'act within the rule of law'

President Barack Obama called on Turkey to respect the rule of law Saturday, a warning to the country's government as it rounded up alleged coup plotters.

He stressed the "vital need" for all parties to "act within the rule of law," after consulting key national security aides about the fallout from a botched putsch.

Obama also urged Turkish leaders to "avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the White House said.

US President Barack Obama speaks on July 15, 2016 in Washington, DC Brendan Smialowski (AFP/File)

Although the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repelled the coup, the situation remains fraught and tensions between Washington and Ankara are growing.

Several army commanders, a top judge and more than a thousand military personnel have swiftly been detained after the failed power grab that killed more than 200.

There was no indication that Americans have been killed, Obama said. But a new crisis appears to be taking hold.

The Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in the south of the country.

The facility, 68 miles (110 kilometers) from the Syrian border, is home to a stash of nuclear weapons and 1,500 US troops.

The US military command in Europe ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures.

Obama instructed aides to work with Turkish authorities to "maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US servicemembers, and their dependents."

Incirlik is a vital platform for the US Air Force to hit Islamic State group targets in Iraq and Syria and provide air cover for rebel groups fighting the jihadists.

Sorties from the base were suspended because airspace had been closed, US officials said.

"US Central Command is adjusting flight operations," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said, "to minimize any effects on the campaign."

Obama said joint efforts like fighting terrorism would "require continued Turkish cooperation."

- Strained alliance -

During the coup attempt, Obama threw his support behind Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all parties to "avoid any violence or bloodshed."

But there are growing concerns about a government crackdown on Erdogan's opponents and what that may mean for a key ally in NATO.

Almost 24 hours after the coup, there was still no word from the White House on whether Obama had spoken to Erdogan.

In public appearances since returning to Istanbul, Erdogan has blamed the attempted putsch on followers of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish preacher with a large following.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States will help Turkey investigate the failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against Gulen.

Turkey had not yet issued a formal extradition request, he added.

Even before Friday's bloody drama, Obama had voiced concern about Erdogan's respect for the rule of law.

"He came into office with a promise of democracy," Obama said in April. "That's the legacy he should pursue," he added, warning against the "repression of information and shutting down democratic debate."

Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, used by the US Air Force to hit Islamic State group targets
UN-backed Yemen peace talks resume in Kuwait

The UN special envoy for Yemen on Saturday urged the country's warring parties to make "decisions that will prove your true intentions", as peace talks resumed in Kuwait City after government delegates abandoned a boycott threat.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the negotiations, back on after a 15-day suspension, would last for two weeks and warned that they may be Yemen's last chance for peace.

"It's time for decisive decisions that will prove your true intentions and national responsibilities to Yemenis," he told a meeting of the two delegations late Saturday.

United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (2-R) and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2-L) arrive for Yemeni Peace Talks with Yemeni delegations in Kuwait City on June 27, 2016

The envoy said the discussions between Yemen's Huthi rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi would focus on strengthening a ceasefire that came into effect on April 11 but has been repeatedly violated.

They would also deal with "forming the military committees that will supervise the withdrawal and handover of weapons... and opening safe passages for humanitarian aid," he said.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that over the past two weeks he had held intensive talks in Sanaa, Riyadh and Muscat and met with many dignitaries who declared their support for a final settlement.

"I hope that you will seize this opportunity which could be the last to win the trust of Yemeni people," the UN envoy added.

- Boycott threat -

The talks resumed after Ould Cheikh Ahmed convinced the Yemen government to send its delegation to Kuwait after threatening to pull out of the peace talks which began on April 21.

Earlier in the day, Yemen Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said the government had obtained a "written response to our demands sufficient for the political leadership to decide (on) sending the delegation back to Kuwait".

A well-defined timetable has been agreed that is limited to "withdrawal, handover of arms, return of state institutions, release of prisoners and lifting siege on cities" by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, Mikhlafi said.

The deal was struck after two days of talks with Ould Cheikh Ahmed in Riyadh, he said.

It was also agreed that the talks' two-week duration will not be extended and no other issues will be debated, he added.

The rebel delegation of Huthis and representatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress party arrived in Kuwait on Friday.

More than two months of negotiations between President Hadi's Saudi-backed government and the rebels have failed to make any headway.

The government is calling for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 which requires the rebels and their allies to withdraw from areas they have occupied since 2014, including the capital Sanaa, and hand over heavy weapons.

Hadi had previously warned that his government would boycott the talks if the UN envoy insisted on a roadmap stipulating a unity government that included the insurgents.

His government wants to re-establish its authority across the entire country, much of which is rebel-controlled, and to restart a political transition interrupted when the Huthis seized Sanaa.

More than 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of Hadi's government in March last year.

Another 2.8 million people have been displaced and more than 80 percent of the population urgently needs humanitarian aid, according to UN figures.
First image released from world's super radio telescope

Even operating at a quarter of its eventual capacity, South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope showed off its phenomenal power Saturday, revealing 1,300 galaxies in a tiny corner of the universe where only 70 were known before.

The image released Saturday was the first from MeerKAT, where 16 dishes were formally commissioned the same day.

MeerKAT's full contingent of 64 receptors will be integrated next year into a multi-nation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which is is set to become the world's most powerful radio telescope.

Part of the ensemble of dishes forming South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope in Carnarvon

The images produced by MeerKAT "are far better that we could have expected," the chief scientist of the SKA in South Africa, Fernando Camilo said at the site of the dishes near the small town of Carnarvon, 600 kilometres north of Cape Town.

This "means that this telescope as is today, only one quarter of the way down (to its full contingent) is already the best radio telescope in the southern hemisphere," Camilo told AFP.

When fully up and running in the 2020s, the SKA will comprise a forest of 3,000 dishes spread over an area of a square kilometre (0.4 square miles) across remote terrain around several countries to allow astronomers to peer deeper into space in unparallelled detail.

It will have a discovery potential 10,000 times greater than the most advanced modern instruments and will explore exploding stars, black holes, dark energy and traces of the universe's origins some 14 billion years ago.

MeerKAT is being built in the remote and arid southwest of the Karoo region of South Africa that offers prime conditions for astronomers.

It will serve as one of the two main clusters of SKA. The other will be in Australia.

Some 200 scientists, engineers and technicians working in collaboration with industry, local and foreign universities have developed the technologies, hardware and software systems for MeerKAT.

- 'Profoundly powerful instrument' -

South African Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor told AFP that "this the first time that an African group of countries will host global science infrastructure of this character."

"It's a first for us as Africa and also it's a first for the world because the world hasn't done this in Africa," said the Minister. "We are building a global infrastructure for the world."

"We can now expect when the 64 dishes are in place next year, it will be the best telescope, not only in the southern hemisphere but in the world," said Pandor.

More than 20 countries are members of the SKA, including Britain which hosts the headquarters of the project.

Despite its slowing economy, South Africa, which hosts the bulk of the SKA project, has so far invested three billion rands ($205 million) into the telescope project, funded mainly from the public purse and science research partners.

Already some 500 scientific groups from 45 countries have booked slots to use the MeerKAT array between next year and 2022.

"What this will do is bring to South African and world astronomers, the most astonishing and profoundly powerful instrument ever used before in radio astronomy," SKA South Africa project director Rob Adam told AFP.

When fully up and running in the 2020s, the SKA will comprise a forest of 3,000 dishes spread over an area of a square kilometre (0.4 square miles) across remote terrain around several countries
Trump introduces VP pick Pence as 'solid' and a unifier

Donald Trump on Saturday introduced his pick for vice president Mike Pence as a "solid" man and a unifying figure among Republicans in their first public appearance on a joint ticket for the White House.

The New York billionaire, set to be crowned Republican presidential candidate in Cleveland next week, insisted the Indiana governor was his first choice despite media reports that he had considered changing his mind up to the last minute.

"One of the big reasons I chose Mike  one of the reasons  is party unity, I have to be honest. So many people have said party unity because I'm an outsider," the real estate tycoon said in Manhattan.

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with vice presidential candidate Mike Pence on July 16, 2016, during a press conference in New York Kena Betancur (AFP)

After Trump's more than 20-minute speech, which often deviated from Pence, the two men shared the spotlight for only the briefest of moments when Pence walked out and they shook hands, and again after Pence had finished speaking and was joined by Trump and both men's families.

Trump praised his 57-year-old running mate's fiscally conservative policies and lauded his own success in Indiana's Republican primary, which defied predictions from the party establishment.

Pence had served "with distinction" in Congress and as the chairman of the House Republican Conference -- in effect party number three -- Trump said, adding that he has "the skills of a highly talented executive."

Although Indiana is part of the Midwestern industrial region known as the Rust Belt, which has lost manufacturing jobs, Trump said that as governor Pence had brought down unemployment, balanced the budget and made the state's largest income tax cut.

- 'Donald Trump gets it' -

Pence in turn called Trump "a good man" who "will make a great president."

"I come to this moment deeply humbled but with a grateful heart," he said. "Grateful to God for his amazing grace."

He presented his new boss's outsider status as an asset, saying the real estate tycoon "understands the frustrations and the hopes of the American people like no leader since Ronald Reagan."

"We're tired of being told that a little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives better for us... Donald Trump gets it."

In foreign policy, Trump would lead from strength, Pence said. "He will rebuild the arsenal of democracy, stand with our allies and hunt down and destroy the enemies of our freedom."

On finishing, Pence was embraced by members of his family, shook hands again with Trump and was kissed by the tycoon's daughters before the two candidates stood, rather stiffly, side-by-side.

US Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence arrives to speak at a press conference in New York on July 16, 2016 Kena Betancur (AFP)
Egypt media jumps the gun on Turkey coup bid

Egyptians woke up Saturday to find some newspapers announcing the Turkish military's ouster of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even as the strongman loathed by Cairo quashed a coup attempt.

"The Turkish army topples Erdogan," declared a red banner on the front page of the state's flagship Al-Ahram newspaper.

"Recep Tayyip vanishes," said the subhead.

A man waves a Turkish flag during a demonstration in Istanbul in support the government on July 16, 2016, following a failed coup attempt Aris Messinis (AFP)

"Army controls Turkey and deposes Erdogan," the private Al-Watan announced, labelling Friday night's attempted coup by an army faction as "military disobedience".

Erdogan is a main backer of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian president whom the army deposed in 2013.

Several Brotherhood leaders are in exile in Turkey, having fled a bloody crackdown against Islamists following Morsi's overthrow.

Erdogan regularly attacks what he calls Egypt's "coup", infuriating Cairo.

Some Egyptian media personalities could not contain their glee as news of the attempted coup percolated overnight.

"Good evening, good viewers everywhere! This is a special episode," announced Ahmed Moussa, a pro-government talkshow host on the private Sada el-Balad channel.

"First, what is happening in Turkey is not a coup. Not at all! It is a revolution from within the Turkish military. And whenever the Turkish military conducts a revolution, it always wins!" he said.

The coverage in the Egyptian media and the premature announcements of Erdogan's ouster prompted ridicule on social media.

"The coup is victorious in the pages of Egyptian newspapers," wrote one Twitter user.
Trump looks to Republican convention coronation

Bombastic mogul Donald Trump will cap his improbable takeover of the Republican party at a convention in Cleveland starting Monday that promises to be contentious and decidedly unconventional.

The former Democrat and political neophyte is poised to formally secure the White House nomination for the Party of Lincoln after a thumping primary win.

The quadrennial rally is designed to bring Republicans together, formally select a presidential nominee and catapult the party towards November's election.

US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks in New York on July 16, 2016 Kena Betancur (AFP)

But Trump faces a herculean task to win over party critics.

His salty rhetoric and populist message has outraged conservatives and prompted a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.

Many see it as a hostile takeover.

"I reject Donald Trump as our party leader," vanquished Republican rival Jeb Bush said as delegates headed to Cleveland.

Conspicuously, the four day political jamboree will feature no former presidents, few party luminaries and only a smattering of elected officials.

George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romney, the last three Republican presidential nominees, are staying well away.

Trump will depend instead on his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and his family -- wife Melania, daughters Ivanka and Tiffany and son Donald Trump Jr. -- to make his case.

- Uncharted territory -

After months of rocky sailing, the controversial businessman had seemed to be heading into the convention with the wind at his back.

National polls show him tied with Hillary Clinton, who has been buffeted by an email scandal that led the FBI to call her "extremely careless."

Trump on Saturday formally introduced his pick for vice president as a "solid" man and a unifying figure among Republicans in their first public appearance on a joint ticket for the White House.

"One of the big reasons I chose Mike -- one of the reasons -- is party unity," the real estate tycoon said at a news conference in Manhattan.

Some skeptics have been assuaged by the selection of Pence, a bonafide conservative from a state the Democrats won in 2008.

"Governor Pence strengthens the ticket with a solid and unquestionable conservative anchor," Maureen Blum, a convention delegate from Washington who backed Trump rival Marco Rubio, told AFP.

But as the convention nears, Trump finds himself in choppier waters again.

His apparent dithering over a "final, final" decision on Pence could badly undercut his image as a decisive leader.

Trump had scheduled his VP's unveiling for Friday, then cancelled it -- citing the attacks in Nice -- before finally going ahead.

The roll out had also raised serious questions about his campaign's competence.

Although Pence is virtually unknown in most of the country, the Trump campaign appeared to make no effort to define him to voters.

That job was left to Hillary Clinton's campaign, which within minutes had unleashed a barrage of emails, texts, videos and social media posts describing Pence as anti-women and anti-gay.

"Pence is the most extreme pick in a generation," Clinton campaign manager John Podesta said.

- Internal unrest -

However, there was some good news for Trump when it emerged that his opponents' last-ditch efforts to change party nominating rules and thwart his candidacy had failed.

But that has led to few signs of reconciliation.

"#NeverTrump is never more. They were crushed last night in Cleveland at Rules Committee by a vote of 87-12. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump tweeted.

That uncompromising tone and lack of magnanimity is unlikely to win him new friends.

"I want to vote for a Republican nominee, I absolutely do," first-time Texas delegate Laura Koerner said.

"But I also want to feel confident that I'm voting for a person who represents my values."

"I don't think he is the best candidate for the Republican party."

Even delegates like Koerner who are willing to give Trump a chance want to see a dramatic change in tone at the convention.

"I want his level of political discourse to go up, not down," said Wayne Bena, a Nebraska delegate who prides himself on remaining neutral.

"I want to see a positive message, I want us to speak positively about our country and the campaign, and not tear the other person down."

Republican officials have promised the convention's theme will be the same as the Trump campaign's: a pledge to "Make America Great Again."

Topics to be covered include "national security, immigration, trade and jobs," according to convention CEO Jeff Larson.

Against the backdrop of attacks in San Bernardino, Brussels, Orlando, Nice and turmoil in the Middle East, Trump may well continue to bet on the tough tone and tactics that have got him this far.

US Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence speaks in New York on July 16, 2016 Kena Betancur (AFP)

Workers decorate the Quicken Loans Arena ahead of the Republican National Convention on July 16, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio John Moore (Getty/AFP)

Volunteers welcome arrivals at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport ahead of the Republican National Convention on July 16, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio John Moore (Getty/AFP)

Political memorabilia is for sale at the Republican National Convention gift shop at the Quicken Loans Arena on July 16, 2016, as workers prepare for the arrival of visitors and delegates for the convention in Cleveland, Ohio Timothy A. Clary (AFP)
The dreaded deportations that would surge under Trump

The bell rings at the gate of the Tijuana border post as US agents return 12 Mexicans home with their belongings inside paper bags and backpacks.

Such deportations occur on a regular basis, but they could increase exponentially if Donald Trump  set to be confirmed as the Republican Party's presidential candidate next week  wins the election in November and makes good on his promise to expel millions of undocumented immigrants.

At the San Ysidro border station, most of the deportees look on dejectedly, several of them lacking any identification, as a Mexican agent unlocks a metal door and interrogates them to make sure they are really Mexican.

A family talks with relatives through the US - Mexico border fence in Playas de Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, on July 2, 2016 Guillermo Arias (AFP)

"Where are you from?" he asks. "What's near that town? Do you have 'pisto?'"

That's a trick question. "Pisto" is Central American slang for money, a term not used in Mexico.

After they pass the improvised citizenship test, the migrants walk through a wooden door into the El Chaparral repatriation center.

"Welcome home," reads a sign in Spanish.

"Goodbye America!" says a migrant looking back wistfully.

- 'I will go back' -

Some 30,000 of the 207,000 Mexicans deported from the United States last year were sent back through the San Ysidro gate  which separates Tijuana and San Diego, California  according to Mexican government figures.

Children, unaccompanied teenagers, pregnant women and elderly people are taken through the gate. Some are returned shortly after crossing the border illegally, others have unsuccessfully tried passing the border bridge with fake IDs or had lived in the United States for years.

Trump has angered Mexicans by vowing to build a massive wall to block such illegal crossings by people he has described as "rapists" and drug dealers.

Juan Carlos, a 35-year-old day laborer from the northern state of Sinaloa who was among those recently deported, suggests another idea for Trump.

"It would be better for this gentleman to help so that we could get paid better here and not go over there," he said.

Juan Carlos, who declined to give his last name, was wearing a shirt still covered with dirt from hiding in the hills when he snuck across the border.

Now he was eating a sandwich provided by the Mexican authorities as he sat in the El Chaparral waiting room expecting a repatriation document along with others.

He planned to make another attempt to cross the border.

"They threatened to send me to prison if I returned," he said, adding, "I will go back."

Javil Cortez, 28, illegally crossed the border because he wanted to "be someone in life."

The farmer had hoped to improve the lives of his four children in the violent western state of Michoacan. Unlike Juan Carlos, he planned to go home.

- Crushed 'Dreamers' -

Millions of people have been deported from the United States in recent years. Latino advocates call US President Barack Obama the "deporter-in-chief."

But Obama has also sought to spare millions from deportations in a program recently blocked by the Supreme Court.

For his part, Trump has vowed to deport the 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, most from Mexico.

"As long as I can remember, there has been anti-Mexican feelings, xenophobia," said Nancy Landa, who migrated to Los Angeles at the age of nine but was deported through El Chaparral 20 years later because she lacked proper documents. "It's a problem of ignorance about the reasons why people migrate."

Landa, who earned a degree with honors in business administration in California, is among two million so-called "Dreamers" -- undocumented migrants who arrived in the United States as children.

She is among 200,000 Dreamers sent back since 2009 to a country she didn't know, with no Mexican documents.

"It's complicated. People noticed from my Spanish that I wasn't from here," said Landa, who initially worked in a call center thanks to her English skills and now lives in southern Mexico.

"For a while, I felt that there was a stigma attached to a person who was deported because they think that you have a criminal record," she added.

Deportations have split up many families. Border cities such as Tijuana have become refuges for those who have been expelled but want to stay close to relatives remaining in the United States.

Yolanda Varona, 49, was deported in 2010 after living in California for 17 years with an expired tourist visa. She left behind two sons.

Varona founded the Dreamers' Moms group. Every Thursday, she and other deported mothers and fathers  many with US-born children on the other side  meet to talk and cope with their pain.

Trump is not popular in the room.

"I think that this gentleman is sick," Varona said. "Not all Mexicans are thieves or rapists or ignorant. I think that we have helped the United States become such a powerful nation."

But around half of foreigners deported by the United States are criminals, according to the US Homeland Security Department.

Mauricio Hernandez-Mata was deported in 2010 after serving prison time for drugs and illegal gun possession.

But the 34-year-old Mexican, who was raised in San Diego, said he deserved better treatment after his US military service in Afghanistan in 2004-2005.

"Everything I did was from the heart," he said. "My actions must be taken into consideration."

A Mexican deported from the US walks in front of a sign reading "Welcome home" at El Chaparral repatriation center in Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, on the border with the US on July 1, 2016 Guillermo Arias (AFP)

A Mexican deported from the US is registered by a Mexican migration agent at El Chaparral repatriation center in Tijuana, northwestern Mexico on July 1, 2016 Guillermo Arias (AFP)

Mexican families reunite with their relatives living in the United States at the border between Tijuana, Mexico and southern California Guillermo Arias (AFP)

Arturo Figuero talks to his family through the US - Mexico border at Playas de Tijuana, in Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, on July 2, 2016 Guillermo Arias (AFP)
Egypt blocks UN text backing Turkish government

Egypt on Saturday blocked a United Nations Security Council statement backed by the United States condemning the attempted coup in Turkey, diplomats said, though Cairo denied the move.

The United States, following consultations with officials from key NATO ally Turkey, had proposed a draft statement calling on "all parties in Turkey to respect the democratically elected government of Turkey."

But Egypt, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, objected, according diplomats. An Egyptian diplomatic source, however, denied that Cairo had blocked the resolution.

Turkish solders at Taksim square as people protest against the military coup in Istanbul on July 16, 2016 Ozan Kose (AFP)

"This is a process that requires consensus," he said, adding that Egypt agreed to the "overall objective of the statement" that condemned the violence and called for restraint.

"We proposed to call on all parties to respect the democratic and constitutional principles and rule of law," he said, rather than the initial wording calling for respect for the "democratically elected government."

Egypt's relations with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been particularly tense.

Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the Egyptian army in 2013.

The Turkish leader has denounced that move as a "coup d'etat," drawing the wrath of the Egyptian general behind the ouster, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.

During the UN debate, Egypt argued that it was "not for the Security Council to decide whether the government is democratically elected," and it demanded that the relevant language be deleted, a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite US insistence, Egypt would not budge.

Turkey and several Security Council members including the United States worried the statement would have been too weak without wording explicitly supporting the Turkish government.

"So there won't be any statement," the diplomat said.

Such Security Council statements require unanimous approval from the 15-member group.

The brief draft statement had "condemned the violence and unrest in Turkey and stressed the urgent need for an end to the current crisis and return to the rule of law."
Drone strike kills 3 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

Three Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in a drone strike in Yemen's south on Saturday, security officials said.

The raid struck a vehicle carrying the suspected militants in Shabwa province killing all those on board, the officials said.

The United States is the only country known to be operating drones in Yemen and has vowed no let-up in its war against jihadists there who have exploited the power vacuum created by a conflict between the government and the rebels to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

The United States is the only country known to be operating drones in Yemen and has vowed no let-up in its war against jihadists there Tobias Schwarz (AFP/File)

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the network's deadliest franchise and similar strikes have taken out a number of senior AQAP commanders in Yemen over the past year.

In March this year, a Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government also turned its sights on the jihadists after a year of focusing its firepower on the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies.

Al-Qaeda claimed a suicide car bombing that struck the convoy of the governor of Yemen's main southern city Aden on Friday.

Aidarus al-Zubaidi had escaped unharmed after the attack but three of his companions were wounded, the official said.
AP EXPLAINS: The cleric being blamed for Turkey coup attempt

A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Some background on Gulen:

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2013 file photo, Turkish Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pa. A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the Friday, July 15, 2016, coup attempt of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. (AP Photo/Selahattin Sevi, File)

___

WHO IS FETHULLAH GULEN?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

___

WHY NOT DEPORT HIM?

The U.S. has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

___

WHAT'S THE STATUS OF LEGAL CLAIMS AGAINST GULEN IN THE U.S.?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric. "Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," lawyer Robert Amsterdam said. The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in U.S. courts.

___

WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS?

Some of the U.S. schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service." In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

___

WHAT'S THE RESPONSE TO THE LATEST ALLEGATIONS?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."

___

WHAT ARE GULEN'S DAYS LIKE?

An AP reporter was given a tour of Gulen's Pennsylvania compound this year but was unable to see or interview him. He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan. Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  The Latest on the attempted military coup in Turkey (all times local):

8:05 p.m.

Russia's Foreign Ministry is expressing concern about tensions in Turkey in the wake of the attempted military coup.

A portrait of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears on a billboard in Tunali Hilmi Street in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

"The aggravation of the political situation in the context of the terrorist threats existing in the country and armed conflict in the region carry a high risk to international and regional stability," the ministry said in a statement Saturday. "We call on the government and people of Turkey to solve the existing problems without violence, to respect the constitutional order."

Tensions between Russia and Turkey have been strong since last year when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the border with Syria. However, relations appeared to be moving toward repair after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued an apology for the incident last month.

___

8 p.m.

As Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addressed crowds who gathered outside parliament, some of those assembled began to shout, "We want the death penalty! We want the death penalty!" They were referring to plotters of the attempted coup.

Yildirim responded: "We got your message. The necessary will be done."

Turkey scrapped the death penalty more than a decade ago.

The prime minister also asked the crowds to walk to Ankara's main square nearby and remain in the streets to keep a second night of "watch for democracy."

___

7:55 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says the commander of the country's second army has been arrested as part of an investigation into the attempted coup.

The second army is based in eastern Turkey to counter threats from Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Anadolu Agency says Gen. Adem Huduti was detained for questioning in the eastern city of Malatya, where the army is based. It says a garrison commander and two brigadier generals were detained as well.

___

7:50 p.m.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik says state authorities are in full control of all areas in Turkey following the coup attempt.

Isik said Saturday that Turkey can confidently say it has thwarted the coup attempt but warns that authorities have to remain vigilant.

Isik said that "at any time there could be new tests, new attempts. We have prevented the coup, but it is too soon to say that the danger is over."

___

7:30 p.m.

Turkey's four main political parties have released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting held in the wake of the country's failed coup attempt.

The four parties on Saturday strongly condemned the attempted coup and warned that any attempt against the people or the parliament will be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them, just as they did today."

The declaration praised the Turkish nation for its unwavering belief in democracy and lauded citizens for taking to the streets and resisting the coup.

___

7:25 p.m.

U.S. airline regulators are banning all flights between the U.S. and airports in Ankara and Istanbul. The ban includes flights to the U.S. by non-U.S. carriers via third countries.

Turkish Airlines issued a statement early Saturday saying operations were back to normal at the airport in Istanbul and that its flights have resumed.

The Federal Aviation Administration first issued a "notice to airmen" prohibiting flights to and from Turkey on Friday.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara issued a statement Saturday warning that U.S. government officials have been told not to use the airport in Istanbul and that U.S. citizens in the country should seek shelter. The embassy said it is still hearing reports of sporadic gunfire around the airport.

___

7:15 p.m.

The Pentagon says U.S. warplanes have stopped flying missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq from a base in southern Turkey after the government closed its airspace to military aircraft.

The Pentagon's press secretary, Peter Cook, said Saturday that U.S. officials are working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible following the attempted coup.

The U.S. has been flying Air Force A-10 attack planes from Incirlik base as part of its air campaign against the Islamic State.

Cook says U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the anti-IS campaign to minimize the effect of the closure of Turkish airspace. Cook also says Incirlik lost commercial electrical power.

___

7:05 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim says 161 people have been killed as the country fought to overcome a military coup attempt.

Another Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said that number included civilians and pro-government forces like police but excluded those behind the coup attempt.

Earlier, Gen. Unit Dundar said 104 "coup plotters" had been killed.

There has been no official update of the death toll for hours.

 Dominique Soguel.

___

6:30 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says July 15 will be remembered as "a festival for democracy," the day when those who carried out a coup against the people were hit by a coup themselves.

Speaking to parliament in its first session since the revolt Friday, Yildirim says "These are not soldiers, they are ravenous terrorist butchers in uniforms." The prime minister warned Saturday that anyone who tried to harm the will of the people will be "reminded of those coup plotters, whose lives have been snuffed out."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, used his speech to call for greater democracy in Turkey, and said the coup attempt had also shown the importance of freedom of speech.

Kilicdargolu says "this event has united us on a common ground, and that common ground is our dedication to the republic and democracy. But democracy isn't just the law of the rulers, but the rule of law."

___

5:10 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she condemns the coup attempt in Turkey, saying democratic institutions must be respected.

Merkel told reporters at the chancellery in Berlin on Saturday that it was "tragic that so many people paid for this coup attempt with their lives" and urged an end to the bloodshed.

She said "Germany stands on the side of all of those in Turkey who defend democracy and the rule of law."

___

6: p.m.

Romania's foreign ministry says border crossings between Turkey and Bulgaria have been reopened following the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

The ministry said it had been informed by European Union border agency Frontex on Saturday about the border situation between Bulgaria and Turkey.

Earlier Saturday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said Turkey had closed three border crossings with Bulgaria. The border crossings from Bulgarian side remained open. EU-member Bulgaria has a 260-kilometer (163-mile) border with Turkey.

___

5:45 p.m.

One of Syria's most powerful militant groups has praised Turkey and its democratic institutions after the government quashed an attempted military coup.

The ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group said that by quashing the coup, Turkey confirms that it is "the hope of the Muslim nation and oppressed people throughout the world."

The political faction of the group that is close to Turkey says the Turkish people will not be subdued anymore to "tyranny and will not be ruled by the military." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been among the strongest backers of Syrian rebels trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

___

5:20 p.m.

Hundreds of people waving Turkish flags have gathered outside of the parliament in Ankara to protest the coup attempt as legislators prepare to hold an emergency session.

In an unprecedented show of unity, all four parties represented in parliament are expected to issue a joint declaration Saturday condemning the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The extraordinary session began with a minute of silence in honor of those who lost their lives during the coup, followed by the singing of the national anthem. Officials say 161 civilians or pro-government security forces were killed during the coup, along with an undetermined number of coup plotters.

___

4:55 p.m.

A U.S. defense official says that the Turkish government had closed the airspace around Incirlik air base for a few hours, but it has reopened. U.S. aircraft that were on missions could return to the base but could not take off until the base reopened.

The U.S. has Air Force A-10 attack planes based there for close air support missions over Syria and Iraq. The defense official, in Kabul, was not authorized to discuss the Incirlik situation by name.

Also, electric power at Incirlik has been interrupted. The reason is not clear.

 By Robert Burns, AP National Security Writer

___

4:45 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States would entertain an extradition request for exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey's president blames for a failed coup.

But Kerry adds Turkey's government would have to present evidence of Gulen's wrongdoing that withstands scrutiny.

While visiting Luxembourg, Kerry says Turkey hasn't made a request to extradite the Pennsylvania-based Gulen. But he says he anticipates questions about Gulen, who has condemned the coup attempt.

Kerry says on Saturday the U.S. opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He says change must come through a constitutional process.

___

4:20 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have detained 10 members of Turkey's highest administrative court as the government appeared to press ahead with a purge of judiciary officials with alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric.

The Anadolu Agency said Saturday that arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court. Earlier, Anadolu said a body overseeing judges and prosecutors in Turkey has dismissed 2,745 judges across Turkey.

___

4:00 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says five warships which reportedly set sail during the attempted coup have returned to their military port in northwest Turkey. The Anadolu Agency says Saturday the five frigates and one corvette arrived at the military naval installation at Golcuk on Saturday. The report said it was not clear whether Navy Fleet Commander Admiral Veysel Kosele, whose whereabouts were not known, was aboard one of the ships.

___

3:45 p.m.

The Greek government says a Turkish Blackhawk helicopter will be returned to Turkey "as soon as possible" but it will examine the asylum demand made by eight military personnel who were arrested after landing Saturday.

Spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili says: "The government is in contact with the Turkish authorities for...the return of the military helicopter as soon as possible."

As for the eight military passengers, "we will follow the procedures of international law. However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that (the Turkish military men) are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy," she added.

Greek police say that the eight arrested Turks include two majors, four captains and two sergeants first class. This differs from Turkish sources that said they were two majors, a captain sand five privates.

___

3:35 p.m.

NTV television has shown footage of a Turkish colonel and other soldiers being taken into custody at military headquarters.

The video shows them being hand-searched by special forces police, their hands behind their heads. Some are later seen kneeling on the ground, their hands still held behind their heads.

According to Hurriyet newspaper's online edition, some of the privates who were detained told interrogators they were not aware that they were part of a coup attempt. They had been told by commanders they were taking part in military maneuvers. Some said they understood that it was a coup attempt when they saw civilians climb on tanks.

___

3:15 p.m.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says all soldiers involved in the attempted coup at the military headquarters in the capital, Ankara, have been taken into custody.

The report says anti-terrorism police will now conduct a "detailed search" at the headquarters.

___

3:10 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says a top body overseeing judges and prosecutors has dismissed 2,745 judges across the country.

Anadolu Agency says the emergency meeting of the Judges and Prosecutors High Council was held Saturday, hours after Turkish forces quashed an attempted coup.

The report said the meeting was called to discuss disciplinary measures against members suspected of links to the movement led by the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The government says the attempted coup was carried out by a clique within the military loyal to Gulen's movement.

___

2:55 p.m.

Leaders of Turkey's religious communities have released a joint statement condemning the attempted coup.

The statement from representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities declares "our great sorrow over the terrorist attacks that disturb the peace of our great nation and of the world."

The signatories include the president of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos and the Chief rabbi of Turkey's Jewish community.

___

2:45 p.m.

Italy's foreign minister says his Turkish counterpart has defined the coup attempt in Turkey as "terroristic."

The Italian foreign ministry says in a statement Saturday that Minister Paolo Gentiloni spoke by phone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The statement said the Turkish minister, who spoke from the capital, Ankara, confirmed the "failure of the attempt that he termed terroristic."

The statement also said the Italian foreign minister expressed "satisfaction that popular mobilization and defense of the institutions prevailed" in Turkey.

___

2:30 p.m.

Turkey's Dogan news agency is reporting that two majors, a captain and five privates have requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter.

Greece's defense ministry has said a Blackhawk helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the city of Alexandroupolis earlier Saturday.

The passengers asked for asylum and were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.

The state-run Anadolu Agency has quoted Turkey's foreign minister as demanding "the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers."

___

1:55 p.m.

NATO's chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are "safe and secure" following the attempted coup.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, said Saturday he had spoken to NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scapparrotti.

"He confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure," Stoltenberg said in a post on Twitter.

The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed "the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected gov of Turkey."

___

1:35 p.m.

Gaza's Hamas rulers have congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for quashing an attempted military coup.

The Islamic militant group condemned the attempt as a "vicious" plot to overthrow Erdogan.

The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the coup's failure, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogan's image.

Turkey recently restored ties with Israel after a six-year lull following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.

___

1:30 p.m.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey has demanded the extradition of officers who went to Greece, NTV television reports.

Greece's defense ministry says seven military personnel and one civilian have landed there in a Blackhawk military helicopter and asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quotes Cavusoglu as saying that "we have demanded the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers who fled to Greece by helicopter."

___

1:15 p.m.

Greece's defense ministry says a Blackhawk military helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian has landed at the airport in the city of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece.

The passengers have asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.

The ministry says the helicopter gave a distress signal at 10:45 a.m. local time and landed six minutes later.

___

1:05 p.m.

The Turkish Cypriot leader says commanders of Turkish troops deployed in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus remain loyal to Turkey's military command and that the coup attempt has "no effect" on the Mediterranean island.

Mustafa Akinci told Turkish Cypriot broadcaster BRT on Saturday that authorities "have taken a variety of precautionary measures to prevent provocations" in the north and that military commanders "are carrying out their duties within the chain of command."

Akinci says problems can only be resolved through democratic means.

Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops in the north of Cyprus since 1974, when the island was split after Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

___

1 p.m.

The head of the Turkish community in Germany is condemning the coup attempt in his homeland but says the government should take it as an opportunity to open dialogue with opponents.

Gokay Sofuoglu was quoted Saturday by the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper as saying it was significant that "all parties, even though they usually argue, unanimously rejected the coup."

"The government would be well-advised to see this as a chance to talk with others," Sofuoglu said. "Because the parties have not talked with one another for a long time."

Germany is home to about 3 million Turks or people of Turkish origin, and thousands took to the streets in Berlin and elsewhere late Friday to protest the coup.

Meanwhile, countries are condemning the coup and expressing support for Turkey's government, including Afghanistan, Albania and Kosovo.

___

12:35 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim says 161 people were killed in the country's overnight military coup attempt. He says another more than 1,400 people were wounded in the chaos. More than 2,800 people have been detained.

He described the night as a "dark stain for Turkish democracy" and pinned blame for the coup on the "parallel terrorist organization."

That term is used by authorities to describe the movement of U.S.-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen.

"They will receive every punishment they deserve," the prime minister said, noting the perpetrators were now in the hands of the justice system.

___

12:30 p.m.

Georgia has ordered its border with Turkey closed amid the instability from a military coup attempt.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the country's security council on Saturday discussed "threats that might arise to Georgia" from the situation and said both land and air borders had been closed.

The former Soviet republic shares a 252-kilometer (152-mile) border with Turkey.

___

12:25 p.m.

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reports that authorities have issued an alarm to border gates and airports upon being informed that prominent members of the Gulen Movement, including journalists, might flee the country following the overnight attempted military coup.

The report says authorities discovered the plans after lists were found detailing the commanders and their deputies to be put in charge during the period of martial law if the coup had succeeded.

Turkey's acting chief of the general staff, Gen. Umit Dundar, said Saturday that the military is determined to purge members of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, from the ranks.

___

12:10 p.m.

Countries are lining up to condemn the overnight military coup attempt in Turkey.

Spain's acting foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, tells Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He says "we condemn all coups without reservation."

And the Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogan's government, said it supports all legal measures Turkey's government takes to maintain security and stability.

The official Qatar News Agency reported Saturday that the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatar's support.

___

11:55 a.m.

Turkey's Anadolu Agency is reporting that soldiers who have taken over the Chief of General Staff Headquarters as part of an attempted coup have requested negotiations to surrender.

According to a Turkish official at the presidency, that is the last base the coup supporters hold.

Turkey has announced that more than 1,500 soldiers have been arrested in the coup attempt overnight.

___

11:50 a.m.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is condemning the coup attempt in Turkey, calling on all parties to respect democratic order and avoid further bloodshed.

Steinmeier said in a statement Saturday that Germany is "deeply concerned" about the developments overnight.

He says he condemns "any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force."

___

11:45 a.m.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he has spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's "democratic elected government and institutions" after an overnight coup attempt.

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to "stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant."

It says "the situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are reopening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara."

British Airways says it is canceling all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday, but budget airline easyJet says it plans to run its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns.

___

11:30 a.m.

Turkey's acting chief of the general staff says 1,563 soldiers have been arrested in the attempted military coup overnight.

The newly appointed Gen. Umit Dundar says those who took part in the betrayal will not go unpunished.

He says those who "sided with democracy and the rule of law" thwarted the attempt.

Dundar says Turkey's military is determined to purge members of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania, from the ranks.

"Our people should have no concern, that the era of coups and juntas have come to a close, never to be opened again," Dundar says.

___

11:20

Gen. Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said more than 190 people died in clashes: 41 police officers, two soldiers, 47 civilians and 104 people described as "coup plotters."

Dundar said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units were mainly involved in the attempt.

___

10:45 a.m.

Iran says the attempted military coup in Turkey was "doomed to fail."

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the "brave defense by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government."

Zarif said the events in neighboring Turkey prove "that coup d'etat has no place and is doomed to fail in our region."

And Pakistan has condemned the coup attempt, with an aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying in a statement that Pakistan "hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored."

Pakistan's main political parties have also praised the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.

___

10:35 a.m.

The exiled Syrian opposition has congratulated the Turkish people for halting an attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition says in a statement that Turkey has protected its democratic institutions "in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will."

It says the Turkish people value democracy and "will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule."

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

___

10:05 a.m.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seeking to contact his Turkish counterpart Saturday morning from Kabul, Afghanistan.

That's according to Dunford's spokesman, Navy Capt. Gregory Hicks.

Dunford is in Afghanistan to meet with U.S. and Afghan troops and commanders. He compressed his schedule Saturday in order to be available for consultations with Washington about the situation in Turkey, which has troops in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

___

10 a.m.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency has raised the number of dead in the attempted coup to some 90 with 1,154 wounded.

___

9:45 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says some 200 unarmed soldiers have left Turkey's military headquarters in the capital Ankara and have surrendered to police.

It isn't immediately clear if those 200 are among 1,563 military personnel who have been reported detained across Turkey as the government cracks down on the attempted coup.

At least 60 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in violence.

___

9:40 a.m.

A senior Turkish official says a total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across Turkey as the government cracks down on the attempted coup.

The official says most of those arrested lower ranks.

The official was communicating with the media on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

___

8:35 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar has been rescued in an operation launched at an air base in the outskirts of Ankara.

Anadolu Agency says the general is being taken to a safe location.

Broadcaster CNN-Turk said that Akar was taken hostage at military headquarters in Ankara and transported by helicopter to Akincilar Air Base.

CNN-Turk says Akar would now take over the command of the operation against the coup plotters.

___

8:20 a.m.

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz says 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command.

In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency Saturday, Lekesiz says 250 others have been arrested. He says clashes at the command are continuing but "are about to come to an end."

The report says Gen. Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey's command for the Aegean region, is among those arrested.

___

7:45 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting 754 members of the armed forces have been detained across Turkey in the wake of the attempted coup.

Anadolu says that at the Etimesgut armored units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the coup attempt were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police.

Even as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the coup is being crushed and arrests made, it is not clear who is in control of military headquarters in Ankara. Erdogan has not left the Istanbul airport as dawn broke Saturday.

___

7:15 a.m.

An official in the president's office says at least 60 people have been killed in the attempted coup.

The official also says 336 people, most of them soldiers, have been arrested across Turkey. Most of the dead are civilians.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, quoted by state-run Anadolu Agency, says security forces have "achieved results in many places" and defeated coup plotters. That includes the National Intelligence Agency, police and government buildings.

He says: "There is nowhere they have they have proper control. God willing they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

___

7 a.m.

CNN-Turk is quoting Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying that commander of Turkey's 1st Army, Gen. Umit Dundar, has been appointed acting chief of military staff.

Earlier President Erdogan said he had no information concerning Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage at the military headquarters by coup plotters.

___

6:50 a.m.

CNN-Turk is showing images of dozens of soldiers giving themselves up to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge.

They're walking among tanks with their hands held up.

___

6:45 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says a military helicopter used by coup plotters has been shot down.

The Anadolu Agency says Saturday the helicopter was brought down in the Golbasi district, in the outskirts of Ankara.

The report says the helicopter was used to attack Turkey's satellite station Turksat.

___

6:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters outside Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and tells them he is charge and coup won't succeed.

Erdogan says: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

___

6:30 a.m.

European Council President Donald Tusk says the EU fully supports Turkey's democratically elected government, in the wake of the attempted coup that left scores dead and wounded.

Speaking in Mongolia at the Asia-Europe summit meeting, Tusk says "Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law."

He also called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order.

___

6:10 a.m.

Turkish broadcaster CNN-Turk is back on air after police apparently entered the building and arrested soldiers who had taken it over. CNN-Turk showed police taking away a soldier with his hands bound behind his back with wire.

The station also showed the moment five soldiers, who appeared to be conscripts, enter the building brandishing machine guns and telling employees to vacate the building.

___

5:50 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency says Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting on Saturday.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman earlier said that a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He said there were no fatalities and that all legislators were safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Troops loyal to the government are moving to crush the coup attempt, arresting some 130 anti-government forces. A helicopter was flying over the area where the parliament is located and shots were being fired.

A source at the presidency told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that 13 military officers who had earlier tried to forcibly enter the presidential palace were among those arrested.

___

5:30 a.m.

NTV television is quoting the prosecutor's office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in "attacks" in the capital.

According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the coup plot will fail.

___

5:10 a.m.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, says more than 120 people have been arrested in a coup plot.

He says: "Things are getting better every minute."

Yildirim called on people to remain in the streets to support the government against coup plotters and appealed for patience.

He says a few air force planes flown by coup plotters still remain in the air. He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.

___

5 a.m.

A lawyer for the Turkish government says "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.

Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas denied the charges.

Y. Alp Aslandogan of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values tells The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible."

Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

___

4:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his general secretary was abducted by coup makers and there is no information on the chief of the military staff.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking on NTV, says he has ordered the "annihilitation" of military planes used by coup plotters. He says military jets have taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara.

According to transcripts of the president's remarks provided by his office, Erdogan said that he arrived in Istanbul from the holiday resort of Marmaris, which was also been bombed after he left there.

He says: "Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from. ... The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m."

He says coup makers "are a minority within the military."

According to Erdogan, "Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well."

Damage caused by military helicopter bombardments inside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

People gather to protest against a coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks to the media during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks during a statement regarding the coup attempt in Turkey, at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Chancellor Angela Merkel says she condemns the coup attempt in Turkey, saying democratic institutions must be respected. She said Germany stands on the side of all of those in Turkey who defend democracy and the rule of law. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital. Officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

People gather outside the parliament as they they stage a protest against a coup near the Turkish military headquarters, in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

People protesting against the coup, wave a Turkish flag on top of the monument in Taksim square, Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers have been detained across the country. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People protesting against the coup, wave a Turkish flag on top of the monument in Taksim square, Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers have been detained across the country. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish police officers walk in the grounds of Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, as they secure the building, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

People protest against the coup, outside the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Greek policemen check a Turkish Blackhawk helicopter after landing at the airport of Alexandroupolis, northeastern Greece, on Saturday, July 16, 2016. Greece's defense ministry says a Blackhawk military helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian has landed at the airport in the city of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece. The passengers have asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry into Greece. (E-evros.gr via AP)

Damage at Turkey's Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

In this image taken from video provided by Anadolu Agency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. Erdogan said that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded. (Anadolu Agency via AP)

People with the Turkish national flags gather outside the military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkish people gather and look at a burned car in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, near Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people celebrate as police officers, loyal to the government secure the area in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A view of deserted Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital. (AP Photo/Neyran Nelden)

A Turkish man takes a selfie with a Turkish police officer, loyal to the government, as they stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People walk on Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people pose with a Turkish police officer, loyal to the government, standing atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the Turkish capital of Ankara that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people celebrate as Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister says a group within Turkey's military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup. Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Police officers drive some of the tanks that were used by soldiers participating in the attempted coup, back to the Selimiye Army Base in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. (AP Photo/Cansu Alkaya)

Police officers drive some of the tanks that were used by soldiers participating in the attempted coup, back to the Selimiye Army Base in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. (AP Photo/Cansu Alkaya)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a statement regarding the coup attempt in Turkey, at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Chancellor Angela Merkel says she condemns the coup attempt in Turkey, saying democratic institutions must be respected. She said Germany stands on the side of all of those in Turkey who defend democracy and the rule of law. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
New 9/11 document reveals no smoking gun of Saudi complicity

WASHINGTON (AP)  Saudi officials are hoping that the release of a top secret chapter of an early congressional inquiry into 9/11 will end accusations of Saudi complicity in the attacks  allegations that have never been substantiated. Those who pushed for its release say it's only the beginning.

Congress on Friday disclosed the last chapter of a 2002 congressional report that has been kept under wraps for more than 13 years, stored in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol. Lawmakers and relatives of victims of the attacks who believe that Saudi links to the attackers were not thoroughly investigated had campaigned for years to get the pages released.

The document names individuals who knew the hijackers after they arrived in the United States and helped them get apartments, open bank accounts and connect with local mosques. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and several had little experience living in the West.

A section of one of the 28 pages from the once-top secret pages from a congressional report into 9/11 that questioned whether Saudis who were in contact with the hijackers after they arrived in the U.S. knew what they were planning is photographed in Washington, Friday, July 15, 2016. The newly declassified document, with light redactions, names people the hijackers associated with before they carried out the attacks, killing nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and on a plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Several investigations into the attacks followed the congressional inquiry. The most well-known investigation was by the 9/11 Commission, which in 2004 stated that it found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaida. "This conclusion does not exclude the likelihood that charities with significant Saudi government sponsorship diverted funds to al-Qaida."

Adel al-Jubier, foreign minister for Saudi Arabia, which has urged the release of the chapter since 2002, said the documents should finally put to rest questions about Saudi Arabia's suspected role in the Sept. 11 attack.

"That matter is now finished," al-Jubier said. "The surprise in the 28 pages is that there is no surprise."

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and vice chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged the public to read the results of the subsequent investigations by the CIA and FBI that they say "debunk" many of the allegations in the congressional inquiry, and put conspiracy theories to rest.

But former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, the co-chairman of the congressional inquiry who pushed hard to get the pages released, remains convinced that the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system with links to government officials while they were in the United States.

"The information in the 28 pages reinforces the belief that the 19 hijackers  most of whom spoke little English, had limited education and had never before visited the United States  did not act alone in perpetrating the sophisticated 9/11 plot," Graham said.

"I'm a little flabbergasted that some of the people who contributed to the 13 years that this was withheld are now saying it is not important," he told The Associated Press, without mentioning any names. "If so, why did they keep it from the public for so many years?"

Graham also said he hoped the release would pave the way for more documents to be disclosed.

"This is not the end," he said. "Most of what we know about 9/11 is from the investigations that were done in southern California and that's the primarily focus of the 28 pages. Ironically, two-thirds of the hijackers lived, most of the time they were in the U.S., in Florida and we know very little about their financing, who they associated with, or what assistance they may have received."

Graham said a federal judge in Florida is combing through 80,000 pages that include reports from the FBI's investigation into the hijackers' activities in Sarasota, Florida, to see if they should be released in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by the corporate parent of Florida Bulldog, an investigative reporting organization.

Terry Strada, national chairwoman for 9/11 Families United For Justice Against Terrorism, also said she hoped Friday's release would help get other material disclosed.

"There is so much more on the Saudi connection to 9/11 and this is the tip of the iceberg, but you had to get this first," said Strada whose husband, Tom, died in the north tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. "It's the beginning, but I don't think it's the end."

The document mentions scores of names that the congressional inquiry believed deserved more investigation. They included:

Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who helped two of the hijackers in California, was suspected of being a Saudi intelligence officer. The newly released document says that according to FBI files, al-Bayoumi had "extensive contact with Saudi government establishments in the United States and received financial support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense. ... That company reportedly had ties to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida," which orchestrated the attacks. The 9/11 Commission report, however, found him to be an "unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement" with Islamic extremists.

Osama Bassnan, who lived across the street from two of the hijackers in California. According to an FBI document, Bassnan told another individual that he met the hijackers through al-Bayoumi. Bassnan told an FBI asset that "he did more than al-Bayoumi did for the hijackers."

The office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday also released part of a 2005 FBI-CIA memo that said "there is no information to indicate that either (Bayoumi) or (Bassnan) materially supported the hijackers wittingly, were intelligence officers of the Saudi government or provided material support for the 11 September attacks, contrary to media speculation."

The document also notes that U.S. and coalition forces retrieved the telephone book of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-profile al-Qaida terror suspect captured after the Sept. 11 attacks. The telephone book, obtained during his capture in Pakistan in March 2002, contained an unlisted number traced to ASPCOL Corp. in Aspen, Colorado, which the FBI field office in Denver determined "manages the affairs of the Colorado residence of Prince Bandar (bin Sultan)," who was the Saudi ambassador to the United States at the time.

The document, however, also stated that "CIA traces have revealed no 'direct' links between numbers found in Zubaydah's phone book and numbers in the United States."

___

Associated Press writers Erica Werner and Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington and David Martin in New York contributed to this report.

Saudi Arabia Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir speaks at a news conference at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington, Friday, July 15, 2016, after the U.S. released once-top secret pages from a congressional report into 9/11 that questioned whether Saudis who were in contact with the hijackers after they arrived in the U.S. knew what they were planning. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2001 file photo the twin towers of the World Trade Center burn behind the Empire State Building in New York after terrorists crashed two planes into the towers causing both to collapse. The government is preparing to release a once-classified chapter of a congressional report about the attacks of Sept. 11, that questions whether Saudi nationals who helped the hijackers with things like finding apartments and opening bank accounts knew what they were planning. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday July 15, 2016, that the release of the 28-page chapter is "imminent. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)

FILE- In this Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, smoke billows from World Trade Center Tower 1 and flames explode from Tower 2 as it is struck by American Airlines Flight 175, in New York. The government is preparing to release a once-classified chapter of a congressional report about the attacks of Sept. 11, that questions whether Saudi nationals who helped the hijackers with things like finding apartments and opening bank accounts knew what they were planning. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday July 15, 2016, that the release of the 28-page chapter is "imminent. (AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong, File) MANDATORY CREDIT

FILE- In this Sept. 11, 2001 file photo from airport surveillance tape released Sept. 19, 2001, two men, identified by authorities as suspected hijackers Mohamed Atta, right, and Abdulaziz Alomari, center, pass through airport security at Portland International Jetport before boarding a commuter flight to Boston for American Airlines Flight 11 which was one two jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center. The government is preparing to release a once-classified chapter of a congressional report about the attacks of Sept. 11, that questions whether Saudi nationals who helped the hijackers with things like finding apartments and opening bank accounts knew what they were planning. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday July 15, 2016, that the release of the 28-page chapter is "imminent. (AP Photo/Portland Police Department, File)
Running mate Mike Pence: Conservative but not angry about it

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  As a conservative talk-radio host in the 1990s, Mike Pence described himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf."

Two decades later, Pence is the unflappable conservative governor of Indiana who's being plucked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump as his running mate.

Where Trump is impulsive, Pence is cool-headed. Where Trump makes conservatives suspicious, Pence has credibility. And where Trump struggles to draw evangelical Christians, Pence is well-regarded by them.

FILE - In this July 14, 2016 file photo, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks in Indianapolis. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says on Twitter that he has picked Pence as his running mate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

A favorite quote highlights how Pence might smooth some of the sharp corners of the Trump campaign and its supporters.

"I'm a conservative," Pence says. "But I'm not angry about it."

The former congressman also is a proven fundraiser with close ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and their network of wealthy donors, many of whom have been dismissive of Trump.

"One thing you can say about Mike Pence is he's got a very calm, steady demeanor that in some ways is a little Reaganesque," said Christine Mathews, a Republican pollster for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. "He's a counterbalance to Trump in that way."

Trump announced on Twitter Friday morning that he's selected Pence as his running mate, capping a wild 24 hours of speculation interrupted by the truck attack in Nice, France, that left scores dead.

Not so long ago, their relationship was a little awkward. Trump met privately with Pence before Indiana's primaries, seeking his endorsement. Instead, Pence, under pressure from national conservatives, tepidly endorsed Trump's rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, while still lavishing praise on Trump. Trump won that primary. Before the night was over, Cruz had quit the race.

For Pence, a former six-term congressman, Trump's selection offers a return to national politics after his embrace as governor of conservative social issues sidelined his own presidential ambitions. Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." In 2015 he provoked a national backlash after signing a law that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

Even some Indiana Republicans have questioned his decisions, suggesting Pence has at times seemed more interested in appealing to national conservatives than doing what's best for the state. Pence's support of the state's religious objections law led to a revolt from the business community, which joined gay rights advocates in successfully pushing for changes to the law.

Raised in Columbus, Indiana, in an Irish-Catholic family, Pence revered the Kennedys growing up and has said he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. He later identified as an evangelical Christian and was inspired to join the Republican Party by former President Ronald Reagan, whose "happy warrior" rhetorical style Pence has since tried to emulate.

After attending Hanover College, Pence graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1986. He met his wife, Karen, around the same time and twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress before taking a job at Indiana Policy Review, a conservative think-tank. In a 1991 essay titled "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," Pence swore off harsh political tactics he used in "one of the most divisive and negative campaigns in Indiana's modern congressional history" while calling for "basic human decency."

"That means your First Amendment rights end at the tip of your opponent's nose  even in the matter of political rhetoric," Pence wrote, though he backtracked in the face of a difficult re-election campaign in Indiana.

In Congress, Pence sponsored a few bills that became law as amendments in other legislation. But he built a national following among conservatives for his willingness to buck his own party after opposing President George W. Bush's Medicare expansion and the No Child Left Behind education overhaul. During the early years of President Barack Obama's administration, Pence helped lead the opposition to the Democrat's agenda.

"He has a particularly strong talent, a gift if you will, for being able to stick to principle while making his political opponents or those who disagree with him feel like they are being heard and respected," said Ryan Streeter, a former Pence aide and George W. Bush staffer who is now a public affairs professor at the University of Texas.

Pence's congressional experience is one trait that Trump, who has never held public office, wanted in a running mate.

Marc Short, a former Pence aide and top Koch brothers operative, elaborated: "He's worked with (House Speaker) Paul Ryan. He's worked with the team in House leadership. He's somebody who has deep relationships in the evangelical movement, and he's somebody who has foreign affairs experience."

Pence's one term as governor has drawn mixed reaction, and he has managed to alienate moderate Republicans over social issues.

Groups threatened boycotts over last year's religious objections law and late-night television hosts mocked the policy, leading lawmakers to approve changes.

This year Pence clashed with the local Catholic archdiocese by opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees in Indianapolis.

Pence was also slammed for the planned 2015 launch of "JustIN," a state-operated news service that was ditched after critics panned it as "Pravda on the Plains."

But he has also presided over Indiana's improving economy and plummeting unemployment rate, which Republicans credit to the state's low taxes, limited regulation and pro-business climate.

___
Believe it or not: Fiction authors imagine Trump presidency

NEW YORK (AP)  Imagine it's 2017 and Donald Trump is president. He's been informed by national security adviser Sean Hannity that Russia has launched a nuclear missile to Canada and war may be unavoidable.

Only a fellow celebrity can make it right  at least if you ask Richard Hine, author of the novella "Kim Kardashian Saves the World (After President Trump Nearly Ends It)."

"I've taken the idea of how ridiculous it would be to put a reality TV star in the realm of the presidency, and how you need a bigger TV reality star to step in," explains Hine, whose book is among a wave of fiction about the presumptive Republican nominee.

FILE - In this Monday, July 11, 2016 file photo, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an interview after a rally in Virginia Beach, Va. Some authors already have managed to complete and release Trump fiction in time for next week's Republican convention. The titles include "Operation Golden Mane: The Donald Trump Incident," "Donald Trump Builds a Wall: A Funny Story" and "Trumpocalypse Now: A Horror Satire." (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

If Trump's political rise is proof that reality can outwit the most inventive minds, then some are trying to win back the narrative by jumping into the future. Thanks to the speed of digital technology, several authors have managed to complete and release Trump fiction in time for next week's GOP convention, with titles including "Operation Golden Mane: The Donald Trump Incident," ''Donald Trump Builds a Wall: A Funny Story" and "Trumpocalypse Now: A Horror Satire."

Last month, The New York Times published a short story by acclaimed fiction writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose "The Arrangements" views the campaign from the perspective of Trump's wife, Melania.

"She sagged suddenly with terror, imagining what would happen if Donald actually won," Adichie writes. "Everything would change. Her contentment would crack into pieces. The relentless intrusions into their lives; those horrible media people who never gave Donald any credit would get even worse."

Andrew Shaffer is another Trump fiction author, a pro at parodies from "Fifty Shames of Earl Grey" or "How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters." Shaffer's "The Day of the Donald" is set in 2018, with a wall along the Mexican border under construction and a would-be Trump biographer mysteriously dead. Shaffer bills his story "A completely untrue, utterly unauthorized but not thoroughly impossible thriller."

"Here's a guy who's a ready-made Bond villain  he's rich, he's eccentric, he's always got a beautiful woman on his arm (whether it's his wife or daughter)," Shaffer says. "Plus, look at that hair. You can just imagine him walking into a room where James Bond is tied up and then cackling maniacally."

The books aim for laughs, but the authors say they want to address serious issues. Hine supposes in his novel that a Trump victory was made possible by voting restrictions that kept students, minorities and other presumed Democratic voters from the polls. He also critiques how candidates use the media.

"It's so easy to make fun of Trump's bombastic, arrogant and narcissistic style, pointing out the flaws in his statements and fact-free approach to his tweets," says Hine, whose Twitter parody @RealDonalDrumpf has more than 40,000 followers. "So I wanted to write something that comes out of a slightly different angle. I wanted to say something about celebrities and social media and how Trump has used social media and traditional media."

Paul Bellow, the pseudonymous author of "Trump Drumpf: A Political Satire Novel," said his book arose from conversations with friends about the election. The story takes us to 2023, when the country is being run by President Trump and Vice President Facebook and Detroit is in the arms of China.

"I joked about writing both a pro-Trump and anti-Trump book and profiting from both sides in true capitalist style," he told The Associated Press. "However, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to write a satire knocking not only Trump but also the media and some of the other current problems in America  i.e. education, private prisons, etc."

"Buried under the candy-coated shell of this book, I've tried to shine light on a few HUGE problems that America will be facing in the near future."
Pence has long conservative record on immigration

WASHINGTON (AP)  Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's conservative track record on immigration dates to his earliest days in the U.S. House and echoes the hard-line stance of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who chose Pence as his running mate.

During his dozen years in the House, Pence lent his support to numerous bills aimed at overhauling the immigration system, including a limit on the number of visas issued to each country and efforts to allow individual states to stand up border-patrol militias and to define English as the country's official language. And he supported building a border fence nearly a decade before Trump made such a pledge a cornerstone of his campaign for the White House.

In 2005, Pence joined efforts to pass a sweeping immigration bill that was among the first to propose hundreds of miles of fencing along the Mexican border. It also proposed a $3,000 fine for immigrants living in the country illegally who agreed to leave and then stayed. It created punishments for aiding an immigrant living in the country illegally. The proposal was approved by the House, but failed in the Senate.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks during an interview with FOX News Channel's Sean Hannity after Donald Trump selected him for running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, Friday July 15, 2016, in New York. Pence's conservative track record on immigration dates to his earliest days in the House of Representatives and echoes the hard-line stance of his presumptive running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

A year later he supported the successful Secure Fence Act of 2006, a narrower bill focused on border security that ultimately led to the construction of nearly 700 miles of border fencing.

Pence said on Wednesday that he supports Trump's "vision for the country" when asked about Trump's proposal to build a wall at the Mexican border.

"I think as President Ronald Reagan said, a nation without borders is not a nation," Pence said. "I think it's absolutely essential that we have border security and I have strongly supported that throughout my career. We have to get the border under control and I support Donald Trump. I think he's got the right vision for this country."

Pence co-sponsored the Good Fences Make Good Neighbors Act of 2006, a bill to let border states use federal grant money to build "a physical barrier" near the Mexican and Canadian borders to stop illegal immigration.

A year earlier he supported a proposal to let border states launch militias whose members could make arrests.

Pence has also signaled support for a changes to immigration law that would redefine which children born in the United States would automatically become citizens.

He supported a bill in 2007 and again in 2009 that would have limited automatic citizenship to children who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident or is serving on active duty in the military.

A 2005 version of the bill that he supported called for automatic citizenship for children whose parents were married, so long as one of the parents was a citizen or legal resident. In cases of unmarried parents, the child's mother had to be a citizen or legal resident.

___

Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko in Muncie, Indiana, contributed to this report.

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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
Crowds rejoice; Failed coup strengthens Turkey's president

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Rather than toppling Turkey's strongman president, a failed military coup that left more than 250 dead appears to have bolstered Recep Tayyip Erdogan's immediate grip on power and boosted his popularity.

Tens of thousands marched through the streets in half a dozen Turkish cities late Saturday, waving flags and singing songs in an emotional outpouring of support for the long-time leader as security forces rounded up military personnel it branded coup supporters and launched a purge of judges seen as government opponents.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the perpetrators of Friday's failed coup "will receive every punishment they deserve," and the government said it would take steps toward extraditing a U.S.-based cleric it accused of fomenting the uprising.

People chant slogans as they gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

The government threat of further crackdowns raised concerns over the future of democracy in Turkey, which has long prided itself in its democratic and secular traditions despite being in a tumultuous region swept by conflict and extremism.

The coup attempt began late Friday with tanks rolling into the streets of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul as Erdogan was enjoying a seaside vacation. Explosions and gunfire erupted throughout the night.

It quickly became clear, however, that the military was not united in the effort to overthrow the government. In a dramatic iPhone interview broadcast on TV, Erdogan urged his supporters into the streets to confront the troops and tanks, and forces loyal to the government began reasserting control.

The unrest claimed at least 265 lives, according to a tally compiled from official statements. Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the process of putting down the coup attempt. Turkey's acting chief of the general staff, Gen. Umit Dundar said at least 104 "coup plotters" had died.

Before the weekend's chaos, Turkey  a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group  had been wracked by political turmoil that critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.

By Saturday afternoon, when tensioned eased, an atmosphere of celebration broke around as Turks answered official calls to rally in the squares to protect Turkish democracy. Thousands gathered in major cities singing and waving Turkish flags while others held prayers in support of Erdogan and chanted "God is great."

In Istanbul, crowds gathered at Taksim Square, where a man stood on an iconic monument with a Turkish flag draped on his chest.

Government supporters marched through Ankara as cars honked in apparent approval. Some gathered outside parliament and amid the burnt cars outside the presidential palace. One man took a selfie with a Turkish police officer standing atop an abandoned tank.

"We are here for democracy, so the country lasts," retired soldier Nusret Tuzak said at the Ankara gathering.

By late Saturday afternoon, flights had resumed into Istanbul's international airport after being halted for nearly 24 hours. Mostly national carriers were flying into Istanbul, but other airlines preferred to wait another day to test the precarious security situation. Late Saturday, the usually buzzing airport was eerily quiet with some stranded travelers sitting on the floors of the largely empty terminals.

In an usual show of unity, Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting Saturday, denouncing the coup attempt and claiming that any moves against the people or parliament will be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them."

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup attempt. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government.

Erdogan's survival has turned him into a "sort of a mythical figure" and could further erode democracy in Turkey, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research program at The Washington Institute.

"It will allow him (Erdogan) to crack down on liberty and freedom of association, assembly, expression and media in ways that we haven't seen before and find strong public support within the country," he said.

Government forces arrested 2,839 accused coup supporters, Yildirim said. Dundar, the general, said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and armored units.

Anadolu Agency said the government dismissed 2,745 judges across Turkey. Two constitutional court judges were also detained over their alleged role in the coup attempt, according to a Turkish official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

Officials accused the judges and the coup plotters of being loyal to moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey. At a news conference in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Gulen strongly denied any role in or knowledge of the coup.

Ankara recently classified his movement as a terrorist organization. Washington, however, has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously against the cleric.

In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen, saying Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for "terrorists" by the United States. A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey was preparing a formal extradition application.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would entertain an extradition request for Gulen, but Turkey would have to present "legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny."

Gulen himself condemned the coup.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the attempted coup appeared to have been "carried out by lower-ranking officers."

"Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan's attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency," Hakura said. "In the short term, this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan."

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.

Turkey has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the Islamic State group in neighboring Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon said U.S. warplanes stopped flying those missions from Incirlik after the Turkish government closed its airspace to military aircraft during the attempted coup. U.S. officials were working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible.

___

Soguel reported from Istanbul. Emrah Gurel, Bram Janssen and Cinar Kiper in Istanbul, Mucahit Ceylan in Ankara and Jill Lawless in London also contributed.

Turkish citizens wave their national flags as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Turkish man looks towards a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

In this image taken from video provided by Anadolu Agency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. Erdogan said that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded. (Anadolu Agency via AP)

Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, near Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A Turkish man takes a selfie with a Turkish police officer, loyal to the government, as they stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people celebrate as Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish citizens wave a huge national flag as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish citizens stand on a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters in a street near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A burnt car abandoned outside the presidential palace with the newly built presidential mosque in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

People, one wearing a poster of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, walk outside the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

People stand on top of an abandoned armoured vehicle outside the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

A Turkish special forces policeman stands guard outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man walks next to destroyed cars outside the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

People walk next to destroyed cars outside the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech n Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

A woman takes a selfie in front a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish citizens reflected in parts of a police motorcycle wave their national flags and a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish policemen secure the area as anti-coup protesters gather outside the Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A man stands on top of soldiers statue holding up a Turkish flag during a protest against the military coup near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish riot policemen walk past anti-coup protesters outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Selcuk Samiloglu)

Turkish citizens wave a huge national flag as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish citizens stand on a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters in a street near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish citizens wave their national flags as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People wave Turkish flags as they gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People chant slogans as they gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People wave Turkish flags as they gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People wave Turkish flags as they gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
The Latest: 'Bastille Day' film pulled from French cinemas

NICE, France (AP)  The latest on the deadly truck attack in France (all times local):

10:05 p.m.

The action film "Bastille Day" starring Idris Elba has been withdrawn from French cinemas following the Nice truck attack that killed 84 people and wounded over 200.

Floral and papers tributes are laid with a French flag near the scene of a truck attack in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Nice's seaside boulevard reopens to traffic Saturday following a dramatic truck attack which killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 200 others at a fireworks display. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The movie, which also stars "Game of Thrones" actor Richard Madden, centers around an effort to thwart a terrorist plot to bomb Paris.

StudioCanal spokesman Antoine Banet-Rivet says Saturday that "the film has been withdrawn from cinemas out of respect for the victims and their families."

He said the film had been playing at 230 movie theaters across France. It came out Wednesday, the day before a truck driver mowed down revelers watching Bastille Day fireworks on the Nice waterfront.

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9:10 p.m.

Tourists and residents are again walking along Nice's famed Mediterranean seafront where less than 48 hours earlier a truck attack left a scene of carnage.

Some passers-by took pictures Saturday while others paid silent tribute to the 84 people killed in Thursday's attack  their blood still visible on the pavement.

Roses, candles, teddy bears and notes of grief and sympathy have been placed where the dead lay after they were mowed down by driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian who had lived in Nice for years.

The solemn silence was only punctured when plainclothes police officers tried to drive through the crowd, prompting angry shouts of "Shame!" amid criticism of police failure to prevent the bloodshed.

Most said they felt it was right to reopen the promenade so soon after the attack.

Carlo Marnini said he had driven all the way from Milan, Italy, to pay his respects to a city he has vacationed in for years. "The world mustn't stop," he said. "Terrorism mustn't win."

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7:15 p.m.

France's interior minister is ordering up reserve forces and increasing security measures across the country "because of the terrorist threat" following deadly attacks on a Bastille Day celebration in Nice.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Saturday he would call up 12,000 police reserves in addition to more than 120,000 police and soldiers already deployed around the country. He said President Francois Hollande made the decision for increased staff and other measures because of the Nice truck attack that left 84 dead and 200 wounded Thursday night.

French security services have come under criticism after Thursday's attack, the third time that France has been hit by major attacks in the past 18 months.

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5:40 p.m.

Romania's foreign ministry says three Romanian citizens are missing after a truck driver deliberately plowed into a crowd in Nice during a fireworks display, killing 84 people and wounding over 200.

The ministry did not name the three in its statement Saturday, but said they were a family of a husband, wife and child. It said officials from Romania's embassy in Paris and its consulate in Marseille were still trying to locate the three.

The ministry said two Romanians were among the injured on Nice's seaside boulevard.

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3:45 p.m.

A neighbor of truck driver Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel in Nice says she often crossed paths with the man  and said he struck her as odd and unpleasant.

"I saw him four times a day," said Jasmine Corman, who has lived in the building for six months. "He wasn't very nice. ... He was handsome, but his face was miserable."

Corman, a hairdresser, said she had been to see the fireworks with her family on Thursday evening and was shocked by what happened, even more so when police stormed the building the next day.

She told reporters that Bouhlil had a "fixated look in his eyes." ''He was cold and never spoke to anybody," she said.

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3:40 p.m.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly."

The Islamic State group claimed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a "soldier" on Saturday, but what is known so far about Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in Islam.

Speaking to journalists at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Cazeneuve said Saturday that the case demonstrated the "extreme difficulty of the fight against terrorism."

The French government has been criticized for lax security at the show, which marked Bastille Day, France's national holiday. But Cazeneuve said that high security had been assured in the region  including at the Cannes Film Festival and the Nice Carnival.

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3:30 p.m.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has helped clear up one of the questions hanging over the Nice attack: How did the truck driver who killed 84 people on the city's seaside boulevard manage to get the vehicle there in the first place?

Nice's Promenande des Anglais should have been closed to traffic on the night that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel tore through the crowd, sending bodies flying and crushing others under his wheels.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Cazeneuve said that the truck "forced its way through by mounting the sidewalk" to dodge police cars that were blocking the way to the promenade.

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3 p.m.

France's three days of mourning has just begun, but the horror over the truck attack on Nice's seaside boulevard hasn't done anything to tamp down France's turbulent politics.

In an open letter published on the Nice Matin newspaper's website, regional council President Christian Estrosi  a member of France's opposition Republicans  described his country's current leadership as "incapable," saying he'd requested that the police presence be reinforced in Nice ahead of the July 14 fireworks display that was attacked but was told there was no need.

France is heading into elections next year, and the deeply unpopular French President Francois Hollande is facing challenges from within his party and from right-wing Republicans and the far-right National Front.

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11:20 a.m.

French President Francois Hollande has canceled his trip to Prague planned for next week following the deadly attack in Nice.

The Czech presidential office says it was informed about the decision by the French embassy in Prague.

Hollande was expected to meet Czech leaders on Wednesday. The stop was part of a trip to five European countries meant to discuss the future of the European Union after Britain voted to leave the bloc.

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10:51 a.m.

An Islamic State-run media outlet says the man who barreled his truck into a crowd in the French coastal city of Nice is a "soldier" of the group.

The Aamaq news agency cited a "security source" as saying the attacker "carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of coalition countries fighting the Islamic State."

The statement did not name the attacker, and the language implied that he may have acted independently. There is no evidence IS was involved in planning the July 14 attack.

The attack killed 84 people and wounded 200. The driver was identified as Mohamed Bouhlel, a Tunisian deliveryman known to authorities as a petty criminal.

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10:30 a.m.

The Paris prosecutor's office says that five people are in custody following the deadly truck attack in the French resort city of Nice.

The office released no additional information about the arrests; it was unclear who was in custody or why. Messages seeking further detail were not returned.

Eighty-four people were killed and 200 more wounded when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel slammed his vehicle into a throng of fireworks spectactors on Nice's seaside boulevard.

The identities of most of those brought into custody were not clear. But neighbors in the Nice neighborhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated Press his estranged wife had been taken away by police on Friday.

People stroll on the Promenade des Anglais with the French flag at half mast, near the scene of a truck attack in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

The apartment of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel is photographed through a hole in the wall made by police, in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A woman reacts after learning of the death of a relative, outside the Pasteur hospital in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.(AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Tahar Mejri, center, who lost his wife and his son during the deadly attack, is conforted by relatives outside the Pasteur hospital in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

Tahar Mejri, center, who lost his wife and his son during the deadly attack, is comforted by relatives outside the Pasteur hospital in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

A couple comfort each other outside the Pasteur hospital in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

This undated photo provided by Joey West shows Brodie Copeland. Sean Copeland and his son Brodie were killed Thursday, July 14, 2016 when a Frenchman of Tunisian descent drove a truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day along Nice's beachfront, killing scores of people. (Joey West via AP)

Flowers are placed at the scene of a truck attack while people pay tribute to the victims on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Flowers are placed at the scene of a truck attack on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Flowers are placed at the scene of a truck attack on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Flowers are placed at the scene of a truck attack on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Police patrol near the scene of a truck attack on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Flowers are placed at the scene of a truck attack on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that the truck driver who killed 84 people when he careened into a crowd at a fireworks show was "radicalized very quickly." (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
PICTURED: A selection of pictures from the past week

Highlights from the weekly AP photo report, a gallery featuring a mix of front-page photography, the odd image you might have missed and lasting moments our editors think you should see.

This week's gallery features images of a 4-year-old girl who was badly burned in a massive suicide truck bombing in Karada, Iraq; an aunt crying after viewing the body of Alton Sterling, who was shot in an encounter with police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and a woman with an infant takes cover in the doorway of U.N. offices as fighting starts in the capital of South Sudan.

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Asal Ahmed, 4, is carried by her father at the scene of a massive suicide truck bomb attack in Karada, Iraq on Saturday, July 9, 2016. Asal and her mother were badly burned as they shopped for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. Iraqs deadliest single bombing in 13 years of war has turned the Baghdad district where it took place into the centerpiece in an increasingly bitter rivalry between the countrys prime minister and Iranian-backed Shiite militias eager to hold sway over the citys most diverse and prosperous area. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

This gallery contains photos published July 8-15, 2016.

See the latest AP photo galleries: http://apne.ws/TXeCBN

The Archive: Top photo highlights from previous weeks: http://apne.ws/13QUFKJ

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Follow AP photographers on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP/lists/ap-photographers

Follow AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images

Visit AP Images online: http://www.apimages.com http://www.apimages.com/

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This gallery was produced by Patrick Sison in New York.

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Sandra Sterling, the aunt of Alton Sterling, cries after viewing his body at the F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, July 15, 2016. Alton Sterling was shot July 5 outside a Baton Rouge convenience store in an encounter with police that was caught on video. (AP Photo/Max Becherer)

Mourners raise their fists during a night rally in honor of Alton Sterling outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, La., Monday, July 11, 2016. Sterling, who was black, was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police while selling CD's outside the convenience store. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Bosnian Muslims carry one of 127 coffins with newly-identified victims of the Srebrenica massacre inside the Potocari memorial center near Srebrenica, Bosnia, 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, on Saturday, July 9, 2016 before their burial. The newly-identified victims of Europe's worst massacre since World War II will be buried on the 21st anniversary of their murder. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Law enforcement officers embrace each other as they pray after the graveside service for Dallas Police Sgt. Michael J. Smith at Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery in Dallas, Thursday, July 14, 2016. Smith was one of five police officers killed during a protest in Dallas the previous week. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Seen through the window of another aircraft, an F-5 fighter jet flies over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, July 14, 2016 during a Brazilian Air Force presentation for the press ahead of the Olympic games. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo released by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), a man, woman and infant take cover in the doorway of U.N. offices as fighting starts with tracers flying by in the sky near the perimeter of the compound in the capital Juba, South Sudan, late Friday, July 8, 2016. The fighting has threatened a peace deal reached in August to end the civil war between supporters of President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar that has left tens of thousands dead. (Eric Kanalstein/UNMISS via AP)

Ben Blaque, a crossbow sharpshooter, stands still after firing a crossbow wearing a hood, that triggered a series of pre-set crossbows culminating in an arrow piercing the apple above his head, during media event to promote the magic show, The Illusionists 1903, at the National Auditorium in Mexico City, Wednesday, July 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A man walks on a mountain path as mist covers Cape Town, South Africa, during sunset on Thursday, July 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Zachary Blackham catches rain drops on his tounge during qualifying for the men's high jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, Friday, July 8, 2016, in Eugene Ore. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Partner of British author Helen Bailey charged with murder

LONDON (AP)  The partner of British children's author Helen Bailey was charged with murder Saturday after police found her body in the grounds of her home.

The Hertfordshire Police force said 55-year-old Ian Stewart appeared in court Saturday and was ordered detained until his next hearing on Monday.

Bailey, 51, was last seen walking her miniature dachshund Boris on April 11, and Stewart reported her missing soon after. He issued a note appealing for her to return, saying, "Whatever has happened, wherever you, are I will come and get you and Boris and give you whatever you need."

This week police began searching the grounds of Bailey's home in Royston, north of London, where they found her body. A post-mortem examination is scheduled for Monday.

Police said they had also found the remains of Bailey's dog Boris on the property.

Stewart has also been charged with perverting the course of justice by reporting Bailey missing and hiding her body, and with preventing a lawful burial.

Bailey created the Electra Brown and Daisy Davenport series of novels for teenagers, and wrote a blog called Planet Grief after her husband of 22 years drowned during a Caribbean holiday in 2011. She also wrote about her bereavement in a book for adults, "When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis."

Members of the writer's family said in a statement that "we share with Helen's friends, neighbors and fans our shock, disbelief and sadness at the news of her tragic death."
Ohio Republican delegation gives cold shoulder to Trump

CINCINNATI (AP)  Ohio's Republican delegation starting with Gov. John Kasich is giving Donald Trump the cold shoulder at the GOP convention in Cleveland.

Kasich, an also-ran in the presidential sweepstakes, hasn't endorsed Trump and won't speak at the convention, a stunning rebuke by the most senior home-state elected official. Sen. Rob Portman, locked in a tough re-election race, is planning other events in Ohio rather than speaking at the four-day festivities.

"We all share concerns about Donald Trump," said state Rep. Niraj Antani, a first-time delegate from southwest Ohio, where one of his legislative colleagues and fellow delegate, Shannon Jones, is staying home in an act she described as "conscientiously objecting" to Trump.

ADVANCE FOR SATURDAY, JULY 16 - FILE  In this Jan. 27, 2014, file photo, Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou listens to a discussion in Cincinnati. Ohio Republicans aren not exactly putting out the welcome mat for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. (Liz Dufour/The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP, File) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

It's a troubling sign for Trump's candidacy in a state with 18 electoral votes that is historically crucial for Republican nominees. Winning over Republicans should be the easy part for the party's standard-bearer.

Loaded with loyalists to Kasich, the delegation had geared up for an open-convention battle after he won the state's primary and 66 delegates in March. But Trump kept winning primaries and Kasich didn't, dashing their hopes.

The state party chairman, Matt Borges, who heads the delegation, said there was a period of mourning for Kasich, followed by acceptance and resolve to help Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in November.

"We very much wanted John Kasich to be our nominee; we didn't win the nomination," Borges said. "It took a while, probably, to adjust to that reality."

Kasich says he dislikes Trump's attacking style. Instead of the convention, he plans to address the NAACP gathering in Cincinnati on Sunday, a meeting Trump is skipping, and the governor will hang out with Ohio's delegates at the Rock and Roll of Fame and Museum at a reception Tuesday.

Portman says he supports Trump, but has a busy schedule of outside events including kayaking with wounded veterans and working in a Habitat for Humanity project. Portman at least plans to drop by the convention floor, something Kasich hasn't committed to doing.

"I think Gov. Kasich is going to do what he thinks is right and more power to him," Antani said.

Janet Weir Creighton, a Stark County commissioner in northeast Ohio, said the voters have spoken.

"My own personal opinion is just one vote," she said. "We started out with 17 (candidates) a year ago. I would have not put my money on him, and I may not always agree with him, but that's the process. I respect the process. I am Republican, and I will not vote for Hillary Clinton."

Delegate Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party, said as soon as Kasich suspended his campaign, he started focusing on helping organize his county for Trump. Barack Obama in 2008 carried the county that includes Cincinnati over Sen. John McCain, a first for a Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide election over Barry Goldwater, and Obama repeated the win over Mitt Romney in 2012. Obama also carried Ohio both times.

"He's different from McCain and Romney," Triantafilou said of Trump. "I guess there's a part of me that hopes this works."

He noted that Trump drew an enthusiastic, overflow crowd in a visit this month to the northern Cincinnati suburb of Sharonville, and he said Trump has cross-over appeal that can augment the Republican vote.

Portman also thinks Trump will draw disaffected Democrats and can carry Ohio. He's in a tough battle for re-election with former Gov. Ted Strickland, whose campaign frequently calls on Portman to disavow Trump's latest contentious comments and take back his endorsement.

Portman knows he'll be fielding plenty of questions about the nominee-to-be next week regardless of where he is in Cleveland.

"I do it every day. I did it today," Portman told Ohio reporters in a recent conference call from Washington. "Just as I'm talking to you now and do every week about Donald Trump and I do on the floor, in the halls of Congress every day, I mean every day, that I'm here. ..."

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Associated Press reporter Kathleen Ronayne in Cleveland contributed to this report.

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Follow Dan Sewell at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell . For some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-sewell.

ADVANCE FOR SATURDAY, JULY 16  This Nov. 4, 2015, handout photo provided by the Ohio House of Representatives shows Ohio state Rep. Niraj Antani, a Republican who represents Ohio's 42nd District. Ohio Republicans aren't exactly putting out the welcome mat for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland from Monday through Thursday, July 18 to 21. Antani, a first-time delegate to the convention, says delegates all share concerns about Donald Trump. (Mike Elicson/Ohio House of Representatives via AP)

ADVANCE FOR SATURDAY, JULY 16 - FILE  In this April 6, 2016, file photo, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich delivers his State of the State address at the Peoples Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio. Ohio Republicans aren't exactly putting out the welcome mat for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland from Monday through Thursday, July 18 to 21. Kasich has declined to endorse Trump and isn't speaking at the convention. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
Bolshevik Revolution icon Aurora returns to St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP)  The cruiser Aurora, which fired the shot that announced the start of Russia's 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, has returned to its mooring in St. Petersburg after nearly two years of repair work.

The 116-year-old ship was pulled by tugboats up the Neva River early Saturday, watched by thousands of people along the river's embankments. It had been undergoing work at the Kronstadt naval yard on an island in the Gulf of Finland.

The ship, now a museum, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in St. Petersburg.

Tug boats tow the Aurora Cruiser through the Dvortsovy drawbridge along the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. The cruiser Aurora, which fired the shot that announced the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, was pulled by tugboats up the Neva River early Saturday to return to its mooring in St. Petersburg after nearly two years of repair work. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A blank shot fired from one of the Aurora's cannons on Nov. 7, 1917, signaled the start of the storming of the Winter Palace, which forced the Russian government to capitulate several hours later.

Tug boats tow the Aurora Cruiser past the Winter Palace along the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. The cruiser Aurora, which fired the shot that announced the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, was pulled by tugboats up the Neva River early Saturday to return to its mooring in St. Petersburg after nearly two years of repair work. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Tug boats tow the Aurora Cruiser past the Winter Palace along the Neva River in St.Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. The cruiser Aurora, which fired the shot that announced the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, was pulled by tugboats up the Neva River early Saturday to return to its mooring in St. Petersburg after nearly two years of repair work. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Tug boats tow the Aurora Cruiser through drawbridges along the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. The cruiser Aurora, which fired the shot that announced the start of the Bolshevik Revolution, was pulled by tugboats up the Neva River early Saturday to return to its mooring in St. Petersburg after nearly two years of repair work. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
In tight race, Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk steps away from GOP

CHICAGO (AP)  Sen. Mark Kirk made his second appearance in Chicago's gay Pride Parade this year. He broke ranks to support Democrat-backed gun control measures and called his party's presumptive presidential nominee "too bigoted and racist" for the job.

The Republican senator from Illinois is doing his best not to look like a Republican as he seeks re-election in a state that's expected to heavily favor Democrats.

Kirk's approach varies from Republicans in competitive races in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, who may be uneasy about the party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, but are campaigning on their conservative records. But it's a wise strategy for Kirk. His race with Rep. Tammy Duckworth is seen as one of Democrats' best opportunities to pick up a seat and possibly retake control of the Senate because Illinois voters tend to vote overwhelmingly Democratic in statewide contests, particularly in presidential election years.

In this July 1, 2016 photo, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk talks with gun-control supporters following an event in Maywood Illinois. Kirk is trying his best not to look like a Republican as he seeks re-election in a state that's expected to favor Democrats.(AP Photo by Sara Burnett)

Kirk, who represented Chicago's North Shore in the U.S. House before winning Obama's former Senate seat in 2010, insists he has always had an independent streak; he has supported abortion rights and gun-control legislation since early in his five-term House tenure. He says he became even more determined to put his convictions before party after a 2012 stroke that almost killed him.

"That clarifying moment forged for me a renewed sense of purpose  that I will fight to do right by Illinois all the time," said Kirk, who became one of the few Republican senators to announce support for gay marriage the year after his stroke. "I have demonstrated the independence to break from my party when I believe they are wrong."

Democrats are defending 10 Senate seats in November to Republicans' 24. They need to add four or five seats to win back the majority, depending on which party is in the White House and can send the vice president to break a tie.

Duckworth's campaign says Kirk is "pretending to be a Democrat" as a matter of "political survival," and that on key issues he's stood firmly with Republicans.

Her deputy campaign manager, Matt McGrath, noted that Kirk supported a budget plan that would have turned Medicare into a voucher system and cut taxes for the wealthy while slashing funding for student aid and other programs.

"On the issues that really matter to families, especially on the economy, he is as Republican as it gets and has been his entire career," McGrath said.

Duckworth's campaign also says Kirk talks a lot about his more moderate positions when he's in the Chicago area, but not when he heads to more Republican parts of Illinois, and that she has been consistent in her beliefs.

A TV ad that mentioned Kirk was one of the only Republicans to call for hearings on President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court aired only in the Chicago area. Kirk supported Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump for months before reversing course in June amid fierce criticism from Democrats.

Asked this week about Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump's pick for vice president and a social conservative who last year signed legislation critics said could have let businesses in the state refuse to serve gays, Kirk said "I love Mike."

Former Illinois Republican Party chairman Pat Brady said it's possible for Kirk's motives to be both sincere and politically expedient.

"I think that's truly where he is," Brady said. "That is certainly beneficial in a state like Illinois, where that approach or that political viewpoint allows you to win because that's where the state is  particularly suburban women who are probably the most important voting bloc."

It remains to be seen whether it will be enough for Kirk to keep his seat; his campaign's own poll released earlier this year showed him three points behind Duckworth.

Voter Delphine Cherry said Kirk's bold stance on gun measures secured her support. The 58-year-old from the Chicago suburb of Hazel Crest has lost two children to gun violence. She typically votes for Democrats but has backed the occasional Republican when there's a compelling reason.

"I feel like Sen. Kirk has stood out from the rest. He's in the fight with us," said Cherry, pointing to Kirk's votes in favor of a Democratic legislation to expand background checks and allow the government to deny gun sales to suspected terrorists. The votes followed an attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 49 people dead and was the worst mass shooting in modern American history.

Duckworth is expected to have a speaking role when the Democrats gather for their convention later this month.

Kirk, meanwhile, has seemed to go to some lengths to avoid being seen rubbing shoulders with top Republicans, being a last-minute no-show for party festivities at last summer's Illinois State Fair and this year's state party convention.

He won't attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, telling a Chicago radio host that "I've got to really do my hair that week."

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Follow Sara Burnett on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sara_burnett

In this July 1, 2016 photo, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk poses for photos with gun-control supporters following an event in Maywood Illinois. Kirk is trying his best not to look like a Republican as he seeks re-election in a state that's expected to favor Democrats. (AP Photo by Sara Burnett)

In this July 1, 2016 photo, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk talks with gun-control supporter Tamika Howard, whose two siblings died in separate shootings, following an event in Maywood Illinois. Kirk is trying his best not to look like a Republican as he seeks re-election in a state that's expected to favor Democrats.(AP Photo by Sara Burnett)
Egypt's pro-army media jump gun, welcome Turkey coup

CAIRO (AP)  Some of Egypt's pro-army media jumped the gun in their reporting on Friday night's attempted coup in Turkey, declaring it a success and welcoming the overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At least three newspapers ran headlines Saturday declaring that Turkey's army had overthrown Erdogan. But by the time their print editions came out, Turkey's government had largely succeeded in quashing the coup after a night of clashes that left dozens dead.

As the events unfolded, Egyptian TV personality Ahmed Moussa declared "this isn't a military coup," but "a revolution within the Turkish armed forces." Moussa was an avid supporter of Egypt's military overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist, in 2013. Erdogan, also an Islamist, harshly condemned Morsi's overthrow, and the two countries have had tense relations since.

Another Egyptian talk show host, Osama Kamal, appeared to mock Erdogan for appearing on a television interview over a mobile phone during the early hours of the coup attempt. Erdogan had been on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. He appeared on television over a mobile phone to urge supporters into the streets to defend the government, spurring large crowds to heed his call, before flying home early Saturday and declaring the coup to have failed.

Egypt's current president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, led Morsi's ouster while he was defense minister, as millions took to the streets to demand Morsi's resignation, a situation vastly different from what has transpired in Turkey, where the military seems to have been divided since the very start. El-Sissi has led a broad crackdown on dissent since he took over, focused initially on Islamists but later expanding to secular opponents as well.

Egypt's government has yet to issue any statements about Turkey's coup attempt, except to warn its citizens in Turkey to stay at home and avoid the conflict, and to announce that it had set up a unit at the Foreign Ministry to provide assistance for Egyptians in Turkey and help evacuate those stranded at Istanbul's airport.

By Saturday morning, the mood had changed as pro-democracy activists in Egypt took to social media networks to post jubilant comments about the failure of the coup and publish photos of army officers and soldiers captured by civilians. Many of them listed Erdogan's crackdown on Turkish journalists and his authoritarian tendencies, but asserted that military coups were not a valid means of change.

Gamal Eid, a prominent rights lawyer who has been banned from travelling abroad, said on Facebook that since the coup has failed, pro-democracy activists could return to criticizing Erdogan and "his animosity toward the media."
US-Turkish tensions rise after failed coup attempt

LUXEMBOURG (AP)  U.S.-Turkish tensions escalated Saturday after a quashed coup in Turkey, as the country's leader bluntly demanded the extradition of a U.S.-based cleric he accused of orchestrating the violence. Another senior official directly blamed the United States.

After strongly supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when it seemed his government might topple and then opening the door to sending home the cleric, a stung Obama administration fired back at its NATO ally.

"Public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told his Turkish counterpart, according to the State Department's readout of their telephone call.

The back-and-forth occurred against the backdrop of Turkey closing its airspace, effectively grounding U.S. warplanes that had been targeting Islamic State forces in neighboring Syria and Iraq.

At the center of the controversy stood Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen quickly condemned Friday night's coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. Erdogan's government said Gulen directed the coup all the same.

In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan said Turkey had never rejected a U.S. extradition request for "terrorists." Addressing Washington, he requested the handover of Gulen and said, "If we are strategic partners, then you should bring about our request."

Although he didn't outline any threat, Erdogan's emphasis on U.S.-Turkish counterterrorism cooperation raised the prospect of a prolonged closure of the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey if he didn't get his way. The Pentagon said it was trying to get permission to resume air operations from the base, while adjusting mission operations in the meantime.

Suleyman Soylu, Turkey's labor minister, went further than Erdogan, suggesting the U.S. was behind the coup.

In their second call in as many days, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu told Kerry the government was in control of state institutions.

Kerry reiterated U.S. support for Turkey's democratically elected government, according to the State Department readout, and urged authorities to respect the rule of law and safeguard civilian life as they respond to the coup attempt. Kerry also said Turkey needed to respect due process as it investigates those it believes were involved in the plot.

Earlier, on a visit to Luxembourg, Kerry told reporters the U.S. would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if the Turks provided evidence of wrongdoing. Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government, but Washington has never found the claims compelling.

"We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen," Kerry told reporters. "And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey was preparing a formal extradition request with detailed information about Gulen's involvement in illegal activities. He said the coup attempt was seen as "one more thing to add to an already extensive list."

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey" and sharply rejected any responsibility or knowledge of who might be involved.

At a news briefing Saturday in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the cleric noted that he has been away from Turkey for more than 15 years and would not have returned if the coup had succeeded. He cited greater freedoms in the United States as a reason.

"In brief, I don't even know who my followers are," the frail-looking cleric said through an interpreter. "You can think about many motivations of people who staged this coup."

The coup failed after appearing not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military. Turkey's main opposition parties, too, condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

Kerry said the U.S. had no indication beforehand of the coup attempt, which began as he and Russia's foreign minister were in a Russian government villa in Moscow, locked in negotiations over Syria.

"If you're planning a coup, you don't exactly advertise to your partners in NATO," Kerry said. "So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event."

___
Romania, Belarus canoe teams banned from Olympics for doping

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)  The International Canoe Federation has banned sprint teams from Romania and Belarus from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for widespread doping.

The ICF says its executive board imposed one-year suspensions for both teams "with immediate effect."

ICF President Jose Perurena says "we will do everything within our powers to remove them (cheats) from our sport."

Olympic places will be reallocated by Monday's deadline after talks with the IOC and national Olympic bodies, the world canoeing body says.

The ICF says "systemic doping" by Romania's team with meldonium, an eastern European heart drug banned since January, was proven after 11 athletes tested positive at training in April.
Interior leader hears from public on monument proposal

BLUFF, Utah (AP)  U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell heard emotional statements Saturday from both sides of a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site.

Jewell's 3 -hour meeting in the town of Bluff capped off a four-day research trip to the state as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to turn 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument.

The tribes and environmental groups say the area needs strong protections from threats of looting and damage from off-highway vehicles.

A portion of the crowd that packed the Bluff Community Center listens to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell during a public meeting in Bluff, Utah, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Jewell heard emotional statements Saturday from both sides of a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site. (Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told Jewell and other Interior Department officials at the meeting that preserving the site is important to protecting Native American culture and history, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"Your action will be one that will be remembered by our people for centuries," he said.

Opponents, mainly Republicans and local Utah officials, argue the monument proposal is overly broad and could close off access to the land for development, including oil and gas development, and recreation. Instead, they're backing legislation from U.S. Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz that would have Congress designate 1.4 million acres around Bears Ears as a conservation area.

Notah Tahy, a Navajo man from Blanding who held a sign at the meeting reading "No to a national monument," said he fears that traditional activities like gathering wood and hunting will be restricted.

San Juan County Commissioner Rebecca Benally said the proposal has only sown discord between local Native Americans. "We have known since 500 years ago and 200 years ago of broken promises and broken treaties," Benally said.

Conservation groups and tribal officials say the Bishop and Chaffetz bill doesn't go far enough to protect the area. Jewell said she was disappointed that it had taken so long for the congressmen to come up with the proposal.

The debate has even attracted the attention of actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who has advocated on his social media accounts for a monument, and major outdoor recreation retailers Patagonia and Black Diamond, who have urged support for the proposal.

The U.S. Interior Department says Jewell's visit doesn't mean a monument decision is imminent.

Jewell said this week that she's in Utah to listen and there's no draft ready for any monument declaration.

Protesters hold their signs after U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell arrives for meeting with San Juan County Commissioners Thursday, July 14, 2016, in Monticello, Utah. Jewell is visiting the area this week to meet with proponents and opponents the latest indication the Obama administration is giving serious consideration to the "Bears Ears" monument proposal. The issue has become the latest battleground in the debate over public lands in the West. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tours the "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tours the "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon is shown during U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell's tour Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell looks in to a canyon at Gemini Bridges during a tour Thursday, July 14, 2016, near Moab, Utah. Jewell is visiting the area this week to meet with proponents and opponents the latest indication the Obama administration is giving serious consideration to the "Bears Ears" monument proposal. The issue has become the latest battleground in the debate over public lands in the West. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, center, speaks during a tour of the Indian Creek Area Thursday, July 14, 2016, near Monticello, Utah. Jewell is visiting the area this week to meet with proponents and opponents the latest indication the Obama administration is giving serious consideration to the "Bears Ears" monument proposal. The issue has become the latest battleground in the debate over public lands in the West. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

In this Thursday, July 14, 2016, photo, a protester looks on after U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell arrived for a meeting with San Juan County Commissioners in Monticello, Utah. Jewell plans to hold a public meeting in southeast Utah on Saturday, July 16, 2016, to discuss conservation proposals that include a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site. Jewell's meeting in the town of Bluff caps off a four day research trip to the state as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to sweet 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon is shown during U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell's tour Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

San Juan County Commissioner Rebecca Benally, right, speaks with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell during a meeting Thursday, July 14, 2016, in Monticello, Utah. Jewell is visiting the area this week to meet with proponents and opponents the latest indication the Obama administration is giving serious consideration to the "Bears Ears" monument proposal. The issue has become the latest battleground in the debate over public lands in the West. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

The "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon is shown during U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tour Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell tours the "Moonhouse" in McLoyd Canyon Friday, July 15, 2016, near Blanding, Utah. Jewell is touring archaeological sites in southeast Utah that a coalition of American Indian tribes and environmental groups want to see protected as a new national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

In this Thursday, July 14, 2016, photo, a protester looks on after U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell arrived for a meeting with San Juan County Commissioners in Monticello, Utah. Jewell plans to hold a public meeting in southeast Utah on Saturday, July 16, 2016, to discuss conservation proposals that include a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site. Jewell's meeting in the town of Bluff caps off a four day research trip to the state as a coalition of tribes urges President Barack Obama to sweet 1.9 million acres around the twin Bears Ears buttes into a national monument. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A Bluff, Utah, rancher listens as speakers give their presentations during a public meeting at the Bluff Community Center in Bluff, Utah, Saturday, July 16, 2016. U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell heard emotional statements Saturday from both sides of a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site. (Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell greets the crowd at a town meeting at the Bluff Community Center in Bluff, Utah, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Jewell heard emotional statements Saturday from both sides of a divisive proposal to create a national monument at a sacred Native American site. (Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)
The Latest: Trump campaign names staffers to help Pence

CLEVELAND (AP)  The Latest on the 2016 race for president (all times local):

8:05 p.m.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign has named six staffers to manage the efforts of newly named vice presidential candidate Mike Pence.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence hugs his mom, Nancy Pence Fritsch, during a Welcome Home Rally, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in Zionsville, Ind. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced Pence as his vice presidential running mate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

The governor of Indiana was formally presented as Trump's running mate Saturday, a day after Trump announced the choice on Twitter.

The Pence campaign staff, with Nick Ayers as senior adviser, will manage day-to-day operations for Pence and work with the remainder of the Trump campaign team.

Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort welcomed the new members of the campaign staff and praised Pence as "a man of impeccable character."

Others on the campaign team are manager of vice presidential operations Marty Obst; policy director Josh Pitcock; press secretary Marc Lotter; adviser KellyAnne Conway; and communications adviser Marc Short. The campaign says it will continue to expand its team for the general election in coming days.

___

7:30 p.m.

Mike Pence got choked-up when he arrived home to a cheering crowd celebrating his addition to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.

The Indiana governor turned presidential running mate returned in a private jet Saturday evening and told those assembled at a hangar that the last few days had been "pretty overwhelming."

Pence thanked individual members of his family during a short address and asked for prayers. The Republican vice presidential candidate told the crowd that Trump is a good man who will be a "great president."

Divisive social issues have been a hallmark of Pence's tenure as governor. He told the crowd that he would take "Hoosier ideals to Washington" if elected.

___

6:10 p.m.

Now officially part of Donald Trump's presidential ticket, Mike Pence arrived back home in the style of his new boss.

The theme music from the movie "Air Force One" blared over loudspeakers as a plane carrying Pence pulled up to a hangar at a suburban Indianapolis airport on Saturday evening, mirroring Trump's trademark campaign rally entrance.

But the similarities stopped there, as Pence spoke to the crowd from a podium with no campaign sign attached and for just a few minutes.

The newly minted vice presidential candidate said he and his wife Karen will "cherish the Hoosier homecoming" for the "rest of our lives," and he asked attendees of the homecoming rally to pray for his family in the coming months.

He then asked the crowd to vote for Trump for the sake of the nation's servicemen and women, for hardworking Americans and a Supreme Court that will "uphold our Constitution."

Trump formally introduced Pence as his running mate on Saturday in New York. Pence says he and his family planned to cap their big day with a Saturday evening "pizza night" at the Indiana governor's residence.

___

5:55 p.m.

Several hundred people are gathered in a suburban Indianapolis airplane hangar, waiting for Gov. Mike Pence to arrive back home in Indiana after his formal debut as Donald Trump's running mate.

A handful of state lawmakers and elected officials are among the crowd at the "Welcome Home" rally, including Indiana congresswoman Susan Brooks and the state's outgoing U.S. senator, Dan Coats.

The less-than-half-full hangar is devoid of any campaign signs or other hints that Pence is now a part of the Republican presidential ticket, aside from the music. Trump campaign rally standards by the Rolling Stones and Elton John are playing on a loop as the crowd waits for Pence, who is running about an hour late.

___

1:20 p.m.

A Montana lawmaker has resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention over the GOP's position on the transfer of federal lands to states.

Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke told The (Billings) Gazette that he still plans to give a speech Monday to the convention about national security. But he says he's withdrawing as a delegate because the GOP platform is "more divisive than uniting."

The party's platform committee this past week endorsed draft language that calls on Congress to pass legislation that would shift some federally controlled public lands to the states.

This has been a major issue in Montana's House race. Zinke says he supports better management but not transfer to the states.

A reserve Montana delegate will have to be appointed to replace him.

___

12:45 p.m.

Hillary Clinton will promise to introduce an amendment overturning Citizens United, the Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to a flood of corporate and union spending in politics.

Her campaign says the Democratic presidential candidate will make her announcement in a video shown on Saturday to liberal activists meeting at the annual Netroots Nation conference in St. Louis.

The 2010 decision has become a rallying cry for those seeking to limit the influence of money in politics. The ruling led to the rise of Super PACs and boosted the effect of nonprofit spending. Both groups can now accept unlimited donations.

Overturning the decision was a key plank in the campaign of primary rival Bernie Sanders, who refused corporate donations.

Unlike Sanders, Clinton supports Super PACs working on her behalf, saying Democrats cannot unilaterally disarm. But she's also stressed the need to get "secret, unaccountable money" out of the political system.

___

12:10 p.m.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has delivered a ringing endorsement of Donald Trump as he joins him as the vice presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

Pence quickly proved comfortable using Trump's slogan, declaring "we need to make America great again and that day begins when Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States."

Pence touted Trump's pledges to repeal Obamacare, revive the coal industry and toughen the nation's immigration policy. Pence did so while suggesting Hillary Clinton's policy proposals would weaken the nation's economy and its security.

Trump officially introduced Pence as his running mate at a low-key rally on Saturday in New York. When he brought Pence to the stage, the celebrity businessman shook his hand and patted his forearm before quickly exiting. He came back for a photo with their families at the end of the governor's remarks.

Pence is scheduled to appear at a rally in Indiana later Saturday. Trump is not scheduled to join him.

___

11:50 a.m.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has officially accepted Donald Trump's offer to join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

Pence says at an announcement event on Saturday in New York that Trump "is a great man and he will make a great president of the United States of America."

He says he was "honored" to accept the offer to join the ticket, because the country needs "strong Republican leadership" and because presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton can never be president.

___

11:40 a.m.

Donald Trump says his selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate is one that will help him restore manufacturing jobs nationwide and protect religious freedom.

The presumptive Republican nominee spoke for nearly a half-hour Saturday as he introduced his pick for vice president, calling Pence onto the stage at the end.

Trump touted Indiana's falling unemployment rate and said that Pence would help his campaign and his potential administration protect the freedom of speech of religious institutions.

He also touted Pence's family and said the governor "looks good." He even noted that while Pence endorsed GOP rival Ted Cruz in Indiana's primary, the governor also praised Trump as he did so.

But while Trump says Pence's selection was partially driven by a desire to promote "party unity," Trump took a moment to attack the so-called "Never Trump" delegates attending next week's Republican National Convention.

He brags that they've been "crushed."

___

11:30 a.m.

Donald Trump says the man who will join him on the Republican presidential ticket is a "man of character, honor and honesty."

Trump calls Indiana Gov. Mike Pence "a solid, solid person" and is contrasting his character to what he deemed "the corruption of Hillary Clinton," his likely Democratic opponent in the fall election.

Trump declares at an announcement event Saturday morning in New York, "What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence."

The two men are scheduled to formally become their party's nominees at next week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Trump says he and Pence are the "the law and order candidates," adding that his potential administration would be far tougher on both foreign and domestic terrorism than would Clinton.

___

11:20 a.m.

Donald Trump is introducing Mike Pence as his running mate, calling Indiana's governor "his first choice" to join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

Trump spoke with Pence on Saturday morning in a ballroom of a New York City hotel, a day after first introducing his choice for vice president in a Friday morning tweet.

The billionaire businessman strode first onto the stage that featured a backdrop of 10 American flags. The event did not feature any new "Trump-Pence" signs, instead displaying the standard "Trump" podium sign.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee was cheered by a crowd of several hundred friends and local Republicans. He said he would champion "law and order" in the wake of this week's terror attack in France.

He says of the new Republican ticket, "we are the law and order candidates."

___

11:10 a.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign is seizing on the suggestion that Donald Trump may have wavered in making his vice presidential pick.

Clinton's campaign released a web video early Saturday highlighting the campaign's mixed signals and Trump's contradictory statements about where he was in the selection process in the lead-up to his announcement Friday morning of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

The ad's tagline says: "Donald Trump. Always divisive. Not so decisive."

Trump's campaign has strongly rejected the idea Trump had second thoughts about Pence. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort says Trump "never waffled" once he made his decision.

Trump and Pence are scheduled to make their first joint appearance Saturday morning in New York.

___

10:55 a.m.

Donald Trump is poised to officially name his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

Trump and Pence will appear at a midtown Manhattan hotel on Saturday morning. It will be their first joint appearance since Trump announced his pick of Pence on Twitter Friday morning.

Pence is a favorite among Evangelical voters and the Republican Party's conservative base. He was picked after Trump's days-long and unusually public deliberation process.

Aides said the two men are not expected to take questions at Saturday's announcement event.

It will take place in the same ballroom where Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio raised eyebrows by making a racially-questionable joke during a charity event this spring.

___

10:44 a.m.

The Northeast might not be the most fertile ground for Republican candidates for national office, but New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be front-and-center at next week's Republican National Convention.

Delegates from those states will have prime seats to watch billionaire businessman Donald Trump accept the GOP's nomination for president.

The delegates from Wyoming, the District of Columbia and Washington state might want to bring binoculars.

Delegates are traditionally seated based on the political importance of their state, and Trump is from New York.

Battleground states Ohio and Florida also have pretty good seats. Oddly, competitive battleground states Colorado and Virginia are in the back.

Much of the leadership of the Never Trump movement is from Colorado, so those delegates might struggle to be heard.

___

3:28 a.m.

His running mate largely unknown to the public, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is introducing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a steady conservative with governing experience inside and outside of Washington.

Trump and Pence will appear together Saturday morning at a midtown Manhattan hotel, an unofficial kickoff event to the Republican National Convention two days before it opens in Cleveland.

While Trump showcases his choice, Democrat Hillary Clinton's team is already painting Pence's conservative social viewpoints as out of step with the mainstream.

Trump chose Pence in part to ease some Republicans' concerns about Trump's temperament and lack of political experience. Pence's demeanor is as calm as Trump's is fiery and he brings a sense of discipline that aides and advisers hope can bridge that gap.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence takes photos with supporters during a Welcome Home Rally Saturday, July 16, 2016, in Zionsville, Ind. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced Pence as his vice presidential running mate. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, introduces Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., during a campaign event to announce Pence as the vice presidential running mate on, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in New York. In their first joint appearance, Trump tried to draw a sharp contrast between Pence, a soft-spoken conservative, and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event to announce Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., as the vice presidential running mate on, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., during a campaign event to announce Pence as the vice presidential running mate on, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in New York. The joint appearance at a midtown Manhattan hotel was choreographed to try to catapult the party toward a successful and unified Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Cleveland on Monday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Police: 6 people shot outside of Tennessee nightclub

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Six people were wounded in a shooting spree early Saturday near a Tennessee nightclub as patrons inside kept dancing to loud music, unaware of the violence outside.

Clarksville police said the shootings occurred shortly before 2 a.m. near the El Punto nightclub. The wounded were taken to hospitals in Clarksville and Nashville, about 50 miles southeast of Clarksville. The extent of their injuries was unknown.

Police department spokeswoman Natalie Hall said authorities have no suspects. Police were gathering evidence in a parking lot near the nightclub on Saturday.

"It appears that this was not a random shooting and does not pose a threat to the general public," Clarksville police said in a statement.

The nightclub owner, Jorge Matias, said the shootings happened about an hour before his club closed, but some of his customers were leaving when the gunshots rang out.

Inside the club, people kept dancing to the loud music, he said.

"Nobody heard nothing inside," he said.
After 2 years, probe of Eric Garner chokehold death in limbo

NEW YORK (AP)  Two years after the chokehold death of Eric Garner made "I can't breathe" a rallying cry for protests over police killings of black men, federal authorities are still grappling with whether to prosecute the white officer seen on a widely watched video wrapping his arm around Garner's neck.

The legal limbo is playing out on the watch of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has come under persistent pressure in the city and elsewhere to bring Officer Daniel Pantaleo to justice. The New York City case turned out to be a forerunner to a series of videotaped police killings across the country that have fueled outrage and protests.

Before becoming attorney general, Lynch ran the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, which initiated the review of Garner's case after a state grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo in 2014, and she personally met with Garner's family in that role. Questioned by Congress this week, she said the Garner investigation remains open but gave no indication of how or when a decision will be made.

FILE - In this July 23, 2014 file photo, the casket of Eric Garner is taken from Beth Baptist Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Two years after the police chokehold death of Garner made "I can't breath" a rallying cry in the national protests about police killings of black men, federal prosecutors are still grappling with the question of whether to prosecute the white officer seen on videotape wrapping his arm around Garner's neck. (AP Photo/New York Daily News, Julia Xanthos, Pool, File)

Last year, the city agreed to pay $5.9 million to settle the family's wrongful death claim, but the push for a federal case has persisted. Garner's siblings performed on a rap song called "I Can't Breathe" that was released to mark the second anniversary of his July 17, 2014, death, and his mother, Gwen Carr, has proposed converting a small park across the street from where he died into a playground named after him.

"What's in my heart is to keep my son's name alive," Carr said. "This is my work for the rest of my life."

A resolution has been hampered by a behind-the-scenes disagreement over the direction of the federal investigation of Garner's death in Staten Island, according to two people with inside knowledge. On one side are prosecutors in Lynch's former office in Brooklyn, who aren't sure there's enough evidence to charge Pantaelo at the federal level. On the other side are their counterparts in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington, who feel more confident in forging ahead.

Both people were not authorized to discuss the decision-making process and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials at the Justice Department declined to comment for this article.

Internal Justice Department disputes about the strength of such cases happen "more often than you think," said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who specialized in civil rights matters.

The nearly 100 U.S. attorneys' offices in the country are mostly given great autonomy, but Washington attorneys don't hesitate to get deeply involved when a matter falls within the jurisdiction of their specialized divisions like civil rights, Weinstein said. The two sides usually work out differences on their own, but if not, Justice Department leadership can often get its way because "whether they like it or not ... all U.S. attorneys answer to the attorney general," he said.

The disagreements reflect the challenge of finding enough evidence to prove an officer willfully deprived a citizen's civil rights, said Samuel Bagenstos, the former No. 2 official at the Civil Rights Division. Historically, the high legal bar has prevented prosecutors from charging most officers who kill unarmed men, including the one who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"These are hard cases to prove," Bagenstos said. "That can create a lot of difficult conversations within the department about them."

For Garner's family and its supporters, the cellphone video shot by a bystander capturing the last moments of his life has always been evidence enough.

"It's been two years," the Rev. Al Sharpton said at recent gathering with Garner's family. The fatal encounter "was on video and we've not seen justice. So that's why people are questioning what's going on now."

Sharpton led a march through Brooklyn Saturday and vowed to keep marching against injustice until a culture of mistreating black people ends.

The video shows 43-year-old Garner, after being stopped by officers for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be handcuffed. Pantaleo responds by putting Garner in an apparent chokehold, which is banned under NYPD policy, as he was taken to the ground. The heavyset Garner, who had asthma, is heard gasping, "I can't breathe." He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide caused in part by the chokehold. But police union officials and Pantaleo's lawyer have argued that the officer used a takedown move taught by the police department, not a chokehold, and that Garner's poor health was the main reason he died.

Under the circumstances, "a federally protected civil right wasn't violated," Pantaleo's lawyer, Stuart London, said this week. "This was a simple street encounter where the officer performed his duties as he was trained."

The officer remains on desk duty as the New York Police Department awaits the outcome of the federal probe before deciding whether to discipline him on its own.

___

Tucker reported from Washington.
Finland holds auction for Soviet cars abandoned by migrants

HELSINKI (AP)  Finnish customs officials say over 100 mostly vintage Soviet cars abandoned by migrants crossing the Nordic country's border with Russia have been sold in a two-day auction that drew some 1,300 car aficionados to the Arctic.

Spokesman Sampo Vaisanen from the customs unit in Salla said Saturday the Finnish state netted some 19,000 euros ($21,000) for selling 129 cars.

Many were rusty Soviet-era Ladas and Volgas from the 1970s and 1980s.

Kristiina Lappalainen and daughter Malla view one of the cars on auction during an auction as Asylum seekers' abandoned cars in Salla, northern Finland, on Friday July 15, 2016. Over 100 old cars, mostly Russian-made, driven across the northeastern Finnish border by asylum seekers and abandoned at the Salla border crossing point this past winter are auctioned in a two-day event in Salla. (Jouni Porsanger/Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT - NO SALES

The cars, sold mainly to collectors in prices ranging from one euro to a few hundred euros, were left by migrants earlier this year. Finland barred people from crossing the vehicles-only border point in Salla on bicycles for safety reasons.

The highest price in the auction was paid for a rare Volga 3010 model, which sold for 1,200 euros to the Salla Municipality "as a souvenir," county official Asko Viitanen told The Associated Press.

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of the county official is Asko Viitanen, not Sampo Vaisanen.

Huugo Jaakkonen from Salla, Finland, celebrates his 60 euro winning bid on the first car auctioned as Asylum seekers' abandoned cars are sold off in Salla, northern Finland, on Friday July 15, 2016. Over 100 old cars, mostly Russian-made, driven across the northeastern Finnish border by asylum seekers and abandoned at the Salla border crossing point this past winter are auctioned in a two-day event in Salla. (Jouni Porsanger/Lehtikuva via AP) FINLAND OUT - NO SALES
Brazil deports Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist

SAO PAULO (AP)  The Justice Ministry says Brazil has deported a Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist who was once convicted of association with terror plotters.

The ministry's press office says Adlene Hicheur was deported to France Friday night.

A French court sentenced Hicheur to five years in prison in 2012 for "criminal association" with al-Qaida's north African wing. He denied guilt, was released in 2013 and moved to Brazil.

Hicheur has been working at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The university said on its website that the deportation was unjustified and ignored democratic principles such as the right to defense.
White ex-officer charged in death of black Atlanta man

ATLANTA (AP)  Court records show a white former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot a black motorist has been arrested.

Fulton County jail records show James R. Burns was arrested Saturday on charges including felony murder in the June 22 shooting of Devaris Caine Rogers.

Burns told investigators he shot a car that was "trying to run me over and kill me."

But a police internal affairs investigation found that evidence contradicted Burns' version of what happened. It showed that Burns shot into a vehicle not knowing whether 22-year-old Rogers was the person he'd been called to investigate at a northeast Atlanta apartment complex.
The Latest: Flights resume to Istanbul international airport

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  The Latest on the attempted military coup in Turkey (all times local):

12:30 a.m.

Flights into Istanbul's international airport have resumed after being halted for nearly 24 hours by the failed coup attempt.

Turkish citizens wave their national flags as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

By late afternoon Saturday, mostly national carriers were flying into Istanbul, but other airlines preferred to wait one more day to test the precarious security situation.

Late Saturday, the usually buzzing airport was eerily quiet with some stranded travelers sitting on the floors of the largely empty terminals.

Daniela Shebar-Shapira, an Israeli social worker who was on a layover en route to a family vacation in Thailand, said many people in the transfer area ran and hid under tables when mayhem broke out Friday night, fearing at first that another terrorist attack was under way at the airport. Later, she spent most of the night hiding in a toilet with her husband and three children. At least three explosions could be heard outside the airport, and hundreds of supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan marched into the international hub to protect it from a takeover by the renegade military officers.

"We wanted to avoid the kids seeing something. So we didn't go out," she said. "Till now we are very afraid." It wasn't until early Saturday that the family learned from relatives in Israel that it was an attempted coup.

Late Saturday, jets appeared again in the skies over Istanbul. A Turkish official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said 5 F-16s were patrolling Istanbul airspace

11:20 p.m.

The moderate U.S.-based Islamic cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt is strongly denying that he is responsible for the unrest or has any knowledge of who is.

At a news conference Saturday in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen stressed he left Turkey over 15 years ago. He says he no longer follows developments in Turkey and doesn't even know "who my followers are."

Gulen says there could be many motives behind an attempted coup against former ally President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  whether sympathizers of himself or the opposition party. But Gulen says he wouldn't know.

Erdogan has called on the U.S. to extradite Gulen. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Turkey must prove his wrongdoing but will carefully look at the evidence.

Gulen says Erdogan made a "false accusation," and that he wouldn't have returned to Turkey even if the coup had succeeded.

___

11 p.m.

Thousands have gathered in Ankara's Kizilay Square following a call to defend democracy from Turkey's prime minister.

Crowds waving Turkish flags on Saturday night chanted "martyrs are immortal, our land is cannot be divided!"

Nusret Tuzak, a government supporter in Ankara, says: "We are here for democracy, so the country lasts, the wellness of the public. This is our country. I'm against the coup as a retired soldier. We don't want to any coup attempt so that's why we are standing here."

A day earlier, thousands turned out to help repel a coup attempt that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blaming on a U.S.-based moderate cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan says he will ask the U.S. to extradite Gulen, but the cleric denies having anything to do with the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

___

10:25 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for the U.S.-based cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt.

In a televised speech Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should extradite Fethullah Gulen, a former ally.

Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey would have to prove the wrongdoing of Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999 and is living in exile in Pennsylvania. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

Kerry says "we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

___

9:55 p.m.

Turkish officials  including the president, the prime minister and the interior minister  are urging supporters to come out to city squares again overnight to defend democracy  and thousands have responded to their calls.

Massive crowds are singing and waving Turkish flags in Istanbul's neighborhood of Kisikli, in Izmir's Konak Square, and in the northeastern city of Erzincan. A festive crowd has also formed in Ankara's Kizilay Square.

___

9:05 p.m.

President Barack Obama is pledging U.S. cooperation with the Turkish government to help maintain safety after the failed coup attempt.

In a statement, the White House says Obama received a morning briefing from national security advisers about the situation in Turkey. The White House says there are no indications that any Americans were killed or injured in the violence. Obama stressed the need for the democratically elected government "to act within the rule of law" and avoid actions leading to further instability.

Obama has instructed his team to continue working with the Turkish government to maintain the safety of diplomatic personnel and U.S. service members.

Obama has emphasized Turkey's role in joint U.S. efforts against terrorism and reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the Turkish government.

___

8:55 p.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the United States to extradite a Muslim cleric he accuses of being behind Turkey's failed coup attempt.

In a televised speech on Saturday night, Erdogan said as Turkey's strategic partner Washington should meet the demand for the extradition of Pennsylvania-based Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan said Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for "terrorists" by the United States.

A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey "has been preparing a formal application with detailed information about Gulen's involvement in illegal activities. After last night we have one more thing to add to an already extensive list."

__ Associated Press writer Dominique Soguel in Istanbul

___

8:35 p.m.

A Turkish senior official says that Akin Ozturk, a former air force commander, is one of the "masterminds of the coup." He says initial evidence suggests ties between the failed coup's masterminds, including Ozturk and the Gulenist Movement.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules. The official said Erdal Teczan, a Constitutional Court judge, had been detained over his alleged participation in the coup plot.

He said the masterminds' immediate goal was to seize control of key areas including Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge and Taksim Square. They also sought to take down satellite infrastructure and seize telecommunications hubs.

__ Associated Press writer Dominique Soguel in Istanbul

___

8:25 p.m.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni says Turkish authorities must do their utmost to ensure "respect for the rule of law, of fundamental rights and of parliament's role" following the failed military coup.

In a statement Saturday evening, Gentiloni expresses relief that Turkey thwarted a "military adventure that would have brought the country into chaos with the return of ghosts of the past."

Gentiloni says the prompt return to stability is urgent but must occur without "indulging in the logic of violence."

Italy is also an outspoken opponent of the death penalty. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday, responding to crowds calling for a return to the death penalty, said: "We got your message. The necessary will be done."

___

8:05 p.m.

Russia's Foreign Ministry is expressing concern about tensions in Turkey in the wake of the attempted military coup.

"The aggravation of the political situation in the context of the terrorist threats existing in the country and armed conflict in the region carry a high risk to international and regional stability," the ministry said in a statement Saturday. "We call on the government and people of Turkey to solve the existing problems without violence, to respect the constitutional order."

Tensions between Russia and Turkey have been strong since last year when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the border with Syria. However, relations appeared to be moving toward repair after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued an apology for the incident last month.

___

8 p.m.

As Prime Minister Binali Yildirim addressed crowds who gathered outside parliament, some of those assembled began to shout, "We want the death penalty! We want the death penalty!" They were referring to plotters of the attempted coup.

Yildirim responded: "We got your message. The necessary will be done."

Turkey scrapped the death penalty more than a decade ago.

The prime minister also asked the crowds to walk to Ankara's main square nearby and remain in the streets to keep a second night of "watch for democracy."

___

7:55 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says the commander of the country's second army has been arrested as part of an investigation into the attempted coup.

The second army is based in eastern Turkey to counter threats from Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Anadolu Agency says Gen. Adem Huduti was detained for questioning in the eastern city of Malatya, where the army is based. It says a garrison commander and two brigadier generals were detained as well.

___

7:50 p.m.

Defense Minister Fikri Isik says state authorities are in full control of all areas in Turkey following the coup attempt.

Isik said Saturday that Turkey can confidently say it has thwarted the coup attempt but warns that authorities have to remain vigilant.

Isik said that "at any time there could be new tests, new attempts. We have prevented the coup, but it is too soon to say that the danger is over."

___

7:30 p.m.

Turkey's four main political parties have released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting held in the wake of the country's failed coup attempt.

The four parties on Saturday strongly condemned the attempted coup and warned that any attempt against the people or the parliament will be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them, just as they did today."

The declaration praised the Turkish nation for its unwavering belief in democracy and lauded citizens for taking to the streets and resisting the coup.

___

7:25 p.m.

U.S. airline regulators are banning all flights between the U.S. and airports in Ankara and Istanbul. The ban includes flights to the U.S. by non-U.S. carriers via third countries.

Turkish Airlines issued a statement early Saturday saying operations were back to normal at the airport in Istanbul and that its flights have resumed.

The Federal Aviation Administration first issued a "notice to airmen" prohibiting flights to and from Turkey on Friday.

The U.S. embassy in Ankara issued a statement Saturday warning that U.S. government officials have been told not to use the airport in Istanbul and that U.S. citizens in the country should seek shelter. The embassy said it is still hearing reports of sporadic gunfire around the airport.

___

7:15 p.m.

The Pentagon says U.S. warplanes have stopped flying missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq from a base in southern Turkey after the government closed its airspace to military aircraft.

The Pentagon's press secretary, Peter Cook, said Saturday that U.S. officials are working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible following the attempted coup.

The U.S. has been flying Air Force A-10 attack planes from Incirlik base as part of its air campaign against the Islamic State.

Cook says U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the anti-IS campaign to minimize the effect of the closure of Turkish airspace. Cook also says Incirlik lost commercial electrical power.

___

7:05 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim says 161 people have been killed as the country fought to overcome a military coup attempt.

Another Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said that number included civilians and pro-government forces like police but excluded those behind the coup attempt.

Earlier, Gen. Unit Dundar said 104 "coup plotters" had been killed.

There has been no official update of the death toll for hours.

 Dominique Soguel.

___

6:30 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says July 15 will be remembered as "a festival for democracy," the day when those who carried out a coup against the people were hit by a coup themselves.

Speaking to parliament in its first session since the revolt Friday, Yildirim says "These are not soldiers, they are ravenous terrorist butchers in uniforms." The prime minister warned Saturday that anyone who tried to harm the will of the people will be "reminded of those coup plotters, whose lives have been snuffed out."

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition party, used his speech to call for greater democracy in Turkey, and said the coup attempt had also shown the importance of freedom of speech.

Kilicdargolu says "this event has united us on a common ground, and that common ground is our dedication to the republic and democracy. But democracy isn't just the law of the rulers, but the rule of law."

___

5:10 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she condemns the coup attempt in Turkey, saying democratic institutions must be respected.

Merkel told reporters at the chancellery in Berlin on Saturday that it was "tragic that so many people paid for this coup attempt with their lives" and urged an end to the bloodshed.

She said "Germany stands on the side of all of those in Turkey who defend democracy and the rule of law."

___

6: p.m.

Romania's foreign ministry says border crossings between Turkey and Bulgaria have been reopened following the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

The ministry said it had been informed by European Union border agency Frontex on Saturday about the border situation between Bulgaria and Turkey.

Earlier Saturday, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said Turkey had closed three border crossings with Bulgaria. The border crossings from Bulgarian side remained open. EU-member Bulgaria has a 260-kilometer (163-mile) border with Turkey.

___

5:45 p.m.

One of Syria's most powerful militant groups has praised Turkey and its democratic institutions after the government quashed an attempted military coup.

The ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group said that by quashing the coup, Turkey confirms that it is "the hope of the Muslim nation and oppressed people throughout the world."

The political faction of the group that is close to Turkey says the Turkish people will not be subdued anymore to "tyranny and will not be ruled by the military." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has been among the strongest backers of Syrian rebels trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power.

___

5:20 p.m.

Hundreds of people waving Turkish flags have gathered outside of the parliament in Ankara to protest the coup attempt as legislators prepare to hold an emergency session.

In an unprecedented show of unity, all four parties represented in parliament are expected to issue a joint declaration Saturday condemning the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

The extraordinary session began with a minute of silence in honor of those who lost their lives during the coup, followed by the singing of the national anthem. Officials say 161 civilians or pro-government security forces were killed during the coup, along with an undetermined number of coup plotters.

___

4:55 p.m.

A U.S. defense official says that the Turkish government had closed the airspace around Incirlik air base for a few hours, but it has reopened. U.S. aircraft that were on missions could return to the base but could not take off until the base reopened.

The U.S. has Air Force A-10 attack planes based there for close air support missions over Syria and Iraq. The defense official, in Kabul, was not authorized to discuss the Incirlik situation by name.

Also, electric power at Incirlik has been interrupted. The reason is not clear.

 By Robert Burns, AP National Security Writer

___

4:45 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States would entertain an extradition request for exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey's president blames for a failed coup.

But Kerry adds Turkey's government would have to present evidence of Gulen's wrongdoing that withstands scrutiny.

While visiting Luxembourg, Kerry says Turkey hasn't made a request to extradite the Pennsylvania-based Gulen. But he says he anticipates questions about Gulen, who has condemned the coup attempt.

Kerry says on Saturday the U.S. opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He says change must come through a constitutional process.

___

4:20 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have detained 10 members of Turkey's highest administrative court as the government appeared to press ahead with a purge of judiciary officials with alleged links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric.

The Anadolu Agency said Saturday that arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court. Earlier, Anadolu said a body overseeing judges and prosecutors in Turkey has dismissed 2,745 judges across Turkey.

___

4:00 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says five warships which reportedly set sail during the attempted coup have returned to their military port in northwest Turkey. The Anadolu Agency says Saturday the five frigates and one corvette arrived at the military naval installation at Golcuk on Saturday. The report said it was not clear whether Navy Fleet Commander Admiral Veysel Kosele, whose whereabouts were not known, was aboard one of the ships.

___

3:45 p.m.

The Greek government says a Turkish Blackhawk helicopter will be returned to Turkey "as soon as possible" but it will examine the asylum demand made by eight military personnel who were arrested after landing Saturday.

Spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili says: "The government is in contact with the Turkish authorities for...the return of the military helicopter as soon as possible."

As for the eight military passengers, "we will follow the procedures of international law. However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that (the Turkish military men) are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy," she added.

Greek police say that the eight arrested Turks include two majors, four captains and two sergeants first class. This differs from Turkish sources that said they were two majors, a captain sand five privates.

___

3:35 p.m.

NTV television has shown footage of a Turkish colonel and other soldiers being taken into custody at military headquarters.

The video shows them being hand-searched by special forces police, their hands behind their heads. Some are later seen kneeling on the ground, their hands still held behind their heads.

According to Hurriyet newspaper's online edition, some of the privates who were detained told interrogators they were not aware that they were part of a coup attempt. They had been told by commanders they were taking part in military maneuvers. Some said they understood that it was a coup attempt when they saw civilians climb on tanks.

___

3:15 p.m.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says all soldiers involved in the attempted coup at the military headquarters in the capital, Ankara, have been taken into custody.

The report says anti-terrorism police will now conduct a "detailed search" at the headquarters.

___

3:10 p.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says a top body overseeing judges and prosecutors has dismissed 2,745 judges across the country.

Anadolu Agency says the emergency meeting of the Judges and Prosecutors High Council was held Saturday, hours after Turkish forces quashed an attempted coup.

The report said the meeting was called to discuss disciplinary measures against members suspected of links to the movement led by the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. The government says the attempted coup was carried out by a clique within the military loyal to Gulen's movement.

___

2:55 p.m.

Leaders of Turkey's religious communities have released a joint statement condemning the attempted coup.

The statement from representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities declares "our great sorrow over the terrorist attacks that disturb the peace of our great nation and of the world."

The signatories include the president of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos and the Chief rabbi of Turkey's Jewish community.

___

2:45 p.m.

Italy's foreign minister says his Turkish counterpart has defined the coup attempt in Turkey as "terroristic."

The Italian foreign ministry says in a statement Saturday that Minister Paolo Gentiloni spoke by phone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The statement said the Turkish minister, who spoke from the capital, Ankara, confirmed the "failure of the attempt that he termed terroristic."

The statement also said the Italian foreign minister expressed "satisfaction that popular mobilization and defense of the institutions prevailed" in Turkey.

___

2:30 p.m.

Turkey's Dogan news agency is reporting that two majors, a captain and five privates have requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter.

Greece's defense ministry has said a Blackhawk helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the city of Alexandroupolis earlier Saturday.

The passengers asked for asylum and were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.

The state-run Anadolu Agency has quoted Turkey's foreign minister as demanding "the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers."

___

1:55 p.m.

NATO's chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are "safe and secure" following the attempted coup.

Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary-general, said Saturday he had spoken to NATO's supreme commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scapparrotti.

"He confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure," Stoltenberg said in a post on Twitter.

The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed "the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected gov of Turkey."

___

1:35 p.m.

Gaza's Hamas rulers have congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for quashing an attempted military coup.

The Islamic militant group condemned the attempt as a "vicious" plot to overthrow Erdogan.

The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the coup's failure, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogan's image.

Turkey recently restored ties with Israel after a six-year lull following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.

___

1:30 p.m.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey has demanded the extradition of officers who went to Greece, NTV television reports.

Greece's defense ministry says seven military personnel and one civilian have landed there in a Blackhawk military helicopter and asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quotes Cavusoglu as saying that "we have demanded the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers who fled to Greece by helicopter."

___

1:15 p.m.

Greece's defense ministry says a Blackhawk military helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian has landed at the airport in the city of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece.

The passengers have asked for asylum. They were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.

The ministry says the helicopter gave a distress signal at 10:45 a.m. local time and landed six minutes later.

___

1:05 p.m.

The Turkish Cypriot leader says commanders of Turkish troops deployed in the breakaway north of ethnically divided Cyprus remain loyal to Turkey's military command and that the coup attempt has "no effect" on the Mediterranean island.

Mustafa Akinci told Turkish Cypriot broadcaster BRT on Saturday that authorities "have taken a variety of precautionary measures to prevent provocations" in the north and that military commanders "are carrying out their duties within the chain of command."

Akinci says problems can only be resolved through democratic means.

Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops in the north of Cyprus since 1974, when the island was split after Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

___

1 p.m.

The head of the Turkish community in Germany is condemning the coup attempt in his homeland but says the government should take it as an opportunity to open dialogue with opponents.

Gokay Sofuoglu was quoted Saturday by the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper as saying it was significant that "all parties, even though they usually argue, unanimously rejected the coup."

"The government would be well-advised to see this as a chance to talk with others," Sofuoglu said. "Because the parties have not talked with one another for a long time."

Germany is home to about 3 million Turks or people of Turkish origin, and thousands took to the streets in Berlin and elsewhere late Friday to protest the coup.

Meanwhile, countries are condemning the coup and expressing support for Turkey's government, including Afghanistan, Albania and Kosovo.

___

12:35 p.m.

Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim says 161 people were killed in the country's overnight military coup attempt. He says another more than 1,400 people were wounded in the chaos. More than 2,800 people have been detained.

He described the night as a "dark stain for Turkish democracy" and pinned blame for the coup on the "parallel terrorist organization."

That term is used by authorities to describe the movement of U.S.-based Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen.

"They will receive every punishment they deserve," the prime minister said, noting the perpetrators were now in the hands of the justice system.

___

12:30 p.m.

Georgia has ordered its border with Turkey closed amid the instability from a military coup attempt.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the country's security council on Saturday discussed "threats that might arise to Georgia" from the situation and said both land and air borders had been closed.

The former Soviet republic shares a 252-kilometer (152-mile) border with Turkey.

___

12:25 p.m.

Turkey's Anadolu Agency reports that authorities have issued an alarm to border gates and airports upon being informed that prominent members of the Gulen Movement, including journalists, might flee the country following the overnight attempted military coup.

The report says authorities discovered the plans after lists were found detailing the commanders and their deputies to be put in charge during the period of martial law if the coup had succeeded.

Turkey's acting chief of the general staff, Gen. Umit Dundar, said Saturday that the military is determined to purge members of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, from the ranks.

___

12:10 p.m.

Countries are lining up to condemn the overnight military coup attempt in Turkey.

Spain's acting foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, tells Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He says "we condemn all coups without reservation."

And the Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogan's government, said it supports all legal measures Turkey's government takes to maintain security and stability.

The official Qatar News Agency reported Saturday that the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatar's support.

___

11:55 a.m.

Turkey's Anadolu Agency is reporting that soldiers who have taken over the Chief of General Staff Headquarters as part of an attempted coup have requested negotiations to surrender.

According to a Turkish official at the presidency, that is the last base the coup supporters hold.

Turkey has announced that more than 1,500 soldiers have been arrested in the coup attempt overnight.

___

11:50 a.m.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is condemning the coup attempt in Turkey, calling on all parties to respect democratic order and avoid further bloodshed.

Steinmeier said in a statement Saturday that Germany is "deeply concerned" about the developments overnight.

He says he condemns "any attempts to change the democratic order in Turkey by force."

___

11:45 a.m.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson says he has spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's "democratic elected government and institutions" after an overnight coup attempt.

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to "stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant."

It says "the situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are reopening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara."

British Airways says it is canceling all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday, but budget airline easyJet says it plans to run its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns.

___

11:30 a.m.

Turkey's acting chief of the general staff says 1,563 soldiers have been arrested in the attempted military coup overnight.

The newly appointed Gen. Umit Dundar says those who took part in the betrayal will not go unpunished.

He says those who "sided with democracy and the rule of law" thwarted the attempt.

Dundar says Turkey's military is determined to purge members of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania, from the ranks.

"Our people should have no concern, that the era of coups and juntas have come to a close, never to be opened again," Dundar says.

___

11:20

Gen. Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said more than 190 people died in clashes: 41 police officers, two soldiers, 47 civilians and 104 people described as "coup plotters."

Dundar said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units were mainly involved in the attempt.

___

10:45 a.m.

Iran says the attempted military coup in Turkey was "doomed to fail."

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the "brave defense by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government."

Zarif said the events in neighboring Turkey prove "that coup d'etat has no place and is doomed to fail in our region."

And Pakistan has condemned the coup attempt, with an aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying in a statement that Pakistan "hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored."

Pakistan's main political parties have also praised the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.

___

10:35 a.m.

The exiled Syrian opposition has congratulated the Turkish people for halting an attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition says in a statement that Turkey has protected its democratic institutions "in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will."

It says the Turkish people value democracy and "will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule."

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

___

10:05 a.m.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is seeking to contact his Turkish counterpart Saturday morning from Kabul, Afghanistan.

That's according to Dunford's spokesman, Navy Capt. Gregory Hicks.

Dunford is in Afghanistan to meet with U.S. and Afghan troops and commanders. He compressed his schedule Saturday in order to be available for consultations with Washington about the situation in Turkey, which has troops in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led coalition.

___

10 a.m.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency has raised the number of dead in the attempted coup to some 90 with 1,154 wounded.

___

9:45 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says some 200 unarmed soldiers have left Turkey's military headquarters in the capital Ankara and have surrendered to police.

It isn't immediately clear if those 200 are among 1,563 military personnel who have been reported detained across Turkey as the government cracks down on the attempted coup.

At least 60 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in violence.

___

9:40 a.m.

A senior Turkish official says a total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across Turkey as the government cracks down on the attempted coup.

The official says most of those arrested lower ranks.

The official was communicating with the media on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

___

8:35 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar has been rescued in an operation launched at an air base in the outskirts of Ankara.

Anadolu Agency says the general is being taken to a safe location.

Broadcaster CNN-Turk said that Akar was taken hostage at military headquarters in Ankara and transported by helicopter to Akincilar Air Base.

CNN-Turk says Akar would now take over the command of the operation against the coup plotters.

___

8:20 a.m.

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz says 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command.

In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency Saturday, Lekesiz says 250 others have been arrested. He says clashes at the command are continuing but "are about to come to an end."

The report says Gen. Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey's command for the Aegean region, is among those arrested.

___

7:45 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting 754 members of the armed forces have been detained across Turkey in the wake of the attempted coup.

Anadolu says that at the Etimesgut armored units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the coup attempt were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police.

Even as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the coup is being crushed and arrests made, it is not clear who is in control of military headquarters in Ankara. Erdogan has not left the Istanbul airport as dawn broke Saturday.

___

7:15 a.m.

An official in the president's office says at least 60 people have been killed in the attempted coup.

The official also says 336 people, most of them soldiers, have been arrested across Turkey. Most of the dead are civilians.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, quoted by state-run Anadolu Agency, says security forces have "achieved results in many places" and defeated coup plotters. That includes the National Intelligence Agency, police and government buildings.

He says: "There is nowhere they have they have proper control. God willing they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

___

7 a.m.

CNN-Turk is quoting Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying that commander of Turkey's 1st Army, Gen. Umit Dundar, has been appointed acting chief of military staff.

Earlier President Erdogan said he had no information concerning Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage at the military headquarters by coup plotters.

___

6:50 a.m.

CNN-Turk is showing images of dozens of soldiers giving themselves up to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge.

They're walking among tanks with their hands held up.

___

6:45 a.m.

Turkey's state-run news agency says a military helicopter used by coup plotters has been shot down.

The Anadolu Agency says Saturday the helicopter was brought down in the Golbasi district, in the outskirts of Ankara.

The report says the helicopter was used to attack Turkey's satellite station Turksat.

___

6:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters outside Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and tells them he is charge and coup won't succeed.

Erdogan says: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

___

6:30 a.m.

European Council President Donald Tusk says the EU fully supports Turkey's democratically elected government, in the wake of the attempted coup that left scores dead and wounded.

Speaking in Mongolia at the Asia-Europe summit meeting, Tusk says "Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law."

He also called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order.

___

6:10 a.m.

Turkish broadcaster CNN-Turk is back on air after police apparently entered the building and arrested soldiers who had taken it over. CNN-Turk showed police taking away a soldier with his hands bound behind his back with wire.

The station also showed the moment five soldiers, who appeared to be conscripts, enter the building brandishing machine guns and telling employees to vacate the building.

___

5:50 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency says Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting on Saturday.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman earlier said that a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He said there were no fatalities and that all legislators were safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Troops loyal to the government are moving to crush the coup attempt, arresting some 130 anti-government forces. A helicopter was flying over the area where the parliament is located and shots were being fired.

A source at the presidency told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that 13 military officers who had earlier tried to forcibly enter the presidential palace were among those arrested.

___

5:30 a.m.

NTV television is quoting the prosecutor's office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in "attacks" in the capital.

According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the coup plot will fail.

___

5:10 a.m.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, says more than 120 people have been arrested in a coup plot.

He says: "Things are getting better every minute."

Yildirim called on people to remain in the streets to support the government against coup plotters and appealed for patience.

He says a few air force planes flown by coup plotters still remain in the air. He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.

___

5 a.m.

A lawyer for the Turkish government says "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.

Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas denied the charges.

Y. Alp Aslandogan of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values tells The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible."

Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

___

4:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his general secretary was abducted by coup makers and there is no information on the chief of the military staff.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking on NTV, says he has ordered the "annihilitation" of military planes used by coup plotters. He says military jets have taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara.

According to transcripts of the president's remarks provided by his office, Erdogan said that he arrived in Istanbul from the holiday resort of Marmaris, which was also been bombed after he left there.

He says: "Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from. ... The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m."

He says coup makers "are a minority within the military."

According to Erdogan, "Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well."

A portrait of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears on a billboard in Tunali Hilmi Street in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Damage caused by military helicopter bombardments inside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

People gather to protest against a coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks to the media during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo)

People gather outside the parliament as they they stage a protest against a coup near the Turkish military headquarters, in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

People protesting against the coup, wave a Turkish flag on top of the monument in Taksim square, Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers have been detained across the country. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People protest against the coup, outside the Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Damage at Turkey's Parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

In this image taken from video provided by Anadolu Agency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. Erdogan said that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded. (Anadolu Agency via AP)

People with the Turkish national flags gather outside the military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Turkish people gather and look at a burned car in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, near Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people celebrate as police officers, loyal to the government secure the area in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as government forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A Turkish man takes a selfie with a Turkish police officer, loyal to the government, as they stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers, against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

People walk on Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people celebrate as Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers against a backdrop of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister says a group within Turkey's military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup. Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Police officers drive some of the tanks that were used by soldiers participating in the attempted coup, back to the Selimiye Army Base in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and scores wounded. (AP Photo/Cansu Alkaya)

Turkish citizens wave a huge national flag as they protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish policemen secure the area as anti-coup protesters gather outside the Turkey's parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Turkish woman stands next to a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as she shouts slogans during a protest against the military coup outside Turkey's parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason." (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

A member of the security detail for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan guards as he delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

Members of the security detail for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan guard as he delivers a speech in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)
Sudan's Bashir travels to Rwanda despite ICC arrest warrant

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)  President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan has arrived in Rwanda to attend an African Union summit despite calls for his arrest by the International Criminal Court.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told reporters this week that Rwanda's government would not arrest Bashir if he traveled to Kigali. She said the ICC had written to Rwanda urging its government to arrest Bashir if he travels there.

Bashir is wanted by the ICC for alleged atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region.

Bashir has recently traveled to other African countries, including attending the inauguration of Uganda's president in May.
Questions now swirl about Turkey, key Western ally

Turkey's pivotal roles as an ally in the U.S.-led war against the Islamic State group and a guarantor of refugee agreements are likely to remain intact for now after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emerged triumphant followingr a failed coup attempt.

However, looming tension over Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Islamic cleric blamed by Erdogan for the rebellion, could strain ties between Turkey and the United States, which says it would assess any Turkish extradition request. Gulen denies involvement in the unrest.

An expected purge of military factions responsible for the attempted putsch, however, could leave the armed forces in turmoil and overstretched. While trying to rebuild with loyalists, the military must continue to confront autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels in Turkey and control its turbulent border with war-torn Syria.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech n Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey _ a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group _ that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. (AP Photo)

Turkey is a strategic US ally at the crossroads of the Asian and European continents and abuts Mideast conflict zones. It is a majority-Muslim country in NATO and a key partner in efforts to solve international challenges, including terrorism and mass migration, as well as being an important interlocutor with regional powers such as Iran and Russia.

U.S., European and other world leaders have condemned the assault on Erdogan's democratically elected government, while watching for further fallout from the uprising on Turkey, which was seen as a generally stable partner in a neighborhood plagued by upheaval.

The United States is monitoring the situation closely, in part because it stages air strikes from Turkey's Incirlik air base against Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish government closed the airspace around Incirlik for several hours on Saturday following the coup attempt, although there was no indication of a long-term negative effect on US operations.

The uprising was launched Friday night with military jets overhead, tanks and soldiers in the streets and firepower that left at least 161 dead and 1,440 wounded, according to the government. It appears to have been led by air force, military police and armored units, but not the senior commanders of the military, who closed ranks behind Erdogan and put down the putsch early Saturday. Even opposition political parties condemned the attempt to oust the government.

Nearly 3,000 accused plotters already have been detained and new purges in the military are expected to remove any sympathizers among soldiers and officers. This continued internal turmoil could be a challenge for the armed forces as they battle Kurdish rebels and support the campaign against the Islamic State group.

On Saturday, Turkey's state-run news agency said the commander of the country's second army was arrested in connection with the coup. The second army is based in eastern Turkey to counter threats from Syria, Iran and Iraq.

"A new wave of purges in military will likely weaken overstretched security services... even if basic policies will remain same," said Howard Eissenstat, associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

Erdogan, an often combative figure, has been accused of increasingly autocratic conduct even though his government was democratically elected and he commands deep support among Turkey's pious Muslim class. The military has long seen itself as the guarantor of secular government in Turkey, and many in its ranks have bristled at both his tightening grip on power and the growing Islamic influence under Erdogan. The president had jailed or sidelined many of his military adversaries, but clearly others remained to launch the failed coup.

In the international arena, Erdogan recently sought to patch up disputes with Israel and Russia, and to lend stronger support to U.S.-led efforts against the Islamic State group after being accused of tolerating the flow of foreign extremists and weapons from Turkey into Syria. He also was key to an agreement with the European Union that provides for the safe, regulated passage of Syrian civilians between Turkey and Europe, which has received a massive influx of refugees.

While that pragmatic approach is likely to continue as Erdogan shores up international support after the coup attempt, the president has often lashed at out his Western partners, questioning their commitment to democratic values and alleging that Kurdish militants enjoy refuge in some European countries.

The United States, emphasizing the importance of its alliance with Turkey's current leadership, expressed support for the democratically elected government as the violence unfolded. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to speak with Turkey's foreign minister. That response contrasted with U.S. comments after the Egyptian military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following protests against him in 2013  at that time, Kerry said the military was restoring democracy in Egypt.

Although many Turks are disgruntled over Erdogan's moves against civil liberties such as freedom of the press, and are fearful in the wake of a deadly IS attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport last month, the country appeared to reject the military rebellion. It endured three military coups between 1960 and 1980.

Yet Turkey could be poised for a fresh bout of polarization under Erdogan, who vowed that the coup plotters would pay a heavy price. Domestic tension and suspicion, in turn, could undermine the consistency or effectiveness of Turkey's international commitments and challenges, particularly when the military is involved.

"Bottom line is the relationship between the government and the military, no matter how loyal the generals may claim to be in future, is broken for good," Chris Kilford, a former Canadian military attache in Turkey and an expert on the Turkish military, wrote in an email to the AP.

___

Christopher Torchia was Associated Press bureau chief in Turkey from 2007 until early 2013.

People gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Analysis: What does the VP rollout tell us about Trump?

WASHINGTON (AP)  In business and politics, Donald Trump likes to go with his gut. His selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a running mate appears to be a lesson in what happens when he doesn't.

Trump introduced Pence as his No. 2 on Saturday, passing over candidates with whom he has a more personal connection in favor of an experienced politician with solid conservative credentials. GOP leaders  many lukewarm at best about the outsider at the top of their ticket  were nearly unanimous in praise.

Yet getting to that moment of party unity was chaotic, with many of the twists and turns playing out in public  and not in a way the spotlight-seeking Trump prefers.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., during a campaign event to announce Pence as the vice presidential running mate on, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in New York. The presumptive Republican nominee introduced Pence as his No. 2 on Saturday, passing over candidates he has more of a personal connection with in favor of an experienced politician with solid conservative credentials. GOP leaders were nearly unanimous in their praise. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

On its own, the muddled lead-up to Saturday's announcement is unlikely to impact Trump's standing in his general election fight with Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it provides some of the clearest indications yet of how he might handle high-pressure decisions as president, where few choices are easy and his personal preferences are just one of many factors to consider.

"It does cause one to question how and what kind of process he would use if he were actually president and had to make some of the decisions," said Lanhee Chen, the policy director to Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Still, he said it was instructive that Trump "can be influenced against what his instincts tell him."

By midday last Wednesday, Trump and his aides were signaling that he had decided to go with Pence. The campaign was making plans for a splashy Friday announcement aimed at dominating the weekend news cycle heading into the Republican convention.

Then came a hectic Thursday.

Trump was in California for fundraisers, thousands of miles from his closest advisers, including his oldest children. A voracious consumer of news, Trump fumed as he watched television reports declaring he had settled on Pence before he'd made a call to the governor. Two Republicans with knowledge of the process said he felt boxed in by advisers and other Republicans who preferred Pence over the two other finalists, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

A call from Trump Thursday afternoon prompted Pence to get on a plane to New York for an announcement the next day. But shortly after the governor touched down on the East Coast, Trump declared in a television interview that he had not made a "final, final" decision. He further clouded the process when he abruptly postponed his announcement event, citing the truck attack in Nice, France, that left more than 80 people dead.

Around midnight, Trump and his top advisers convened a conference call to discuss the frenzied day. That fueled speculation that Trump might be changing his mind.

Only Trump knows exactly his level of certainty as he zeroed in on one of the most important decisions of his campaign. Top advisers vigorously deny he considered making a late change, with campaign chairman Paul Manafort saying he "never waffled once he made his decision." Notably, Manafort did not say when that decision was made.

It was enough of a muddle for Hillary Clinton's campaign to leap into action and draw attention to what they cast as Trump's apparent wavering. Her campaign released a web video Saturday contrasting clips of the Republican touting his decisiveness with the timeline of the past few days. As the video ends, the words on the screen read, "Donald Trump. Always Divisive. Not so Decisive."

Indeed, Trump's own actions  saying he'd not made a final decision even after Pence was summoned to New York, then delaying the announcement  left the distinct impression of doubt.

So, too, did the actual announcement event on Saturday, at which Trump meandered for nearly a half hour on a variety of topics  including an update on the construction of his new hotel in Washington  before finally calling Pence to the stage, only to then immediately walk away. There were no "Trump-Pence" signs in the room, which appeared dark and somewhat subdued on television.

"With picking a VP, it just looks bad in the press," Pete Wehner, a former adviser to President George W. Bush and a sharp critic of Trump, said of the whole process. "That's a lot different when you have the powers of the presidency."

Indeed, Trump needs to look no further than the man he's hoping to succeed for a warning about how even a single instance of indecision can linger.

In 2013, President Barack Obama was on the brink of launching airstrikes against Syria for using chemical weapons against civilians, something he'd said crossed a "red line." Then, Obama pulled back, saying he first wanted to get approval from Congress. A vote was never held and the strikes were never launched.

Obama has spent the past three years defending that decision. It put Middle East allies on edge over his commitment to the region's security, and even some of his advisers have said it was a mistake to stand down.

A long and bruising campaign with Clinton stands between Trump and the possibility of that kind of high-stakes situation. Time for voters to weigh both his instincts and actions.

___

Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire and Jill Colvin in New York and Lisa Lerer in Washington contributed to this report.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE  Julie Pace has covered the White House and politics for The Associated Press since 2007. Follow her on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Crews work to keep blaze from highway near the Grand Canyon

A blaze is threatening a highway in the Grand Canyon's North Rim, while weather conditions in Colorado drove a wildfire burning in a tiny Colorado town that has forced the evacuation of 140 homes. Here's a look at fires in the U.S. West:

ARIZONA

A growing wildfire in Arizona could potentially threaten a highway serving an area of the Grand Canyon.

This aerial photo shows the remains of a home that was consumed by a wildfire in the southern New Mexico mountain village of Timberon, Friday, July 15, 2016. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to a wildfire in Otero County. Friday afternoon's declaration will enable the county to get additional resources needed to fight the wildfire in Timberon. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

Strong winds and low humidity have fueled the growth of a wildfire, threatening the highway serving the lodge, restaurant and main campgrounds on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Fire officials say weather conditions Friday have caused a 2-week-old wildfire to char 5.7 square miles.

Crews continued Saturday to work to keep the blaze east of State Route Highway 67.

The potential for aggressive fire activity may limit their ability to battle it in some areas.

Approximately 430 personnel are working on the lightning-caused fire, which has damaged a landscape of aspen and pine since June 29.

The volume of smoke prompted a health alert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where city environmental officials have warned of a light haze in the air.

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COLORADO

Strong winds and lower humidity drove a wildfire Saturday that has chased residents from 140 homes in a tiny Colorado town this week.

The U.S. Forest Service says a few rain showers are expected this weekend, but they won't significantly reduce the fire danger.

A number of the evacuated homes in Coaldale, about 150 miles southwest of Denver, are near where firefighters are working Saturday to contain the 25-square-mile blaze. Residents have been told it could be a week or two before they can return.

People began evacuating Sunday after the fire flared up from a lightning strike several days earlier in the rugged Sangre de Cristo Wilderness.

Crews have contained other fires in the state, including one that destroyed eight homes in the mountains near Boulder. All evacuees there have been allowed to return.

___

NEW MEXICO

Crews have gained more control of a southern New Mexico wildfire that has destroyed more than 40 homes.

Fire officials said Saturday that the fire in the mountain village of Timberon is about 40 percent contained.

The blaze has charred nearly 270 acres since it started Wednesday.

Gov. Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency Friday to free up resources to fight the fire.

Fire spokeswoman Linda Wallace says the blaze has destroyed 70 structures, including 44 dwellings, and numerous vehicles.

Residents who live within the fire perimeter are being allowed to retrieve items from their homes under escort.

Wallace says crews are reinforcing lines around the fire's perimeter, taking down hazardous trees and putting out hot spots.

The cause remains under investigation.

Wildland fire crews from Taos, N.M., put out hot spots in the southern New Mexico mountain village of Timberon, Friday, July 15, 2016. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to a wildfire in Otero County. Friday afternoon's declaration will enable the county to get additional resources needed to fight the wildfire in Timberon. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

A burned out car rests next to the remains of a home after a wildfire in the southern New Mexico mountain village of Timberon, Friday, July 15, 2016. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to a wildfire in Otero County. Friday afternoon's declaration will enable the county to get additional resources needed to fight the wildfire in Timberon. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

This photo shows the remains of a home that was burned in a wildfire in the southern New Mexico mountain village of Timberon, Friday, July 15, 2016. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to a wildfire in Otero County. Friday afternoon's declaration will enable the county to get additional resources needed to fight the wildfire in Timberon. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez stands by the remains of what used to be a local fire truck that was burned in a wildfire in the southern New Mexico mountain village of Timberon, Friday, July 15, 2016. Martinez has declared a state of emergency in response to a wildfire in Otero County. Friday afternoon's declaration will enable the county to get additional resources needed to fight the wildfire in Timberon. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

A firefighter works to put out hotspots in the burn area of the wildfire that broke out Saturday in Boulder County, Colo., Wednesday, July 13, 2016. More people evacuated by the wildfire near Nederland are being allowed back home. (Jeremy Papasso/Daily Camera via AP)

Firefighters work to put out hotspots in the burn area of the wildfire that broke out Saturday in Boulder County, Colo., Wednesday, July 13, 2016. More people evacuated by the wildfire near Nederland are being allowed back home. (Jeremy Papasso/Daily Camera via AP)
Cops recover wheelchair stolen from teen with cerebral palsy

LEONIA, N.J. (AP)  Authorities have recovered a motorized wheelchair stolen from a teenager with cerebral palsy and arrested the man who allegedly took it.

Leonia police say 18-year-old Michael Peralta is charged with theft and unlawful taking of a means of conveyance. Bail was set at $25,000 cash for the Palisades Park, New Jersey, man, and it wasn't known Saturday if he's retained an attorney.

The wheelchair, valued at $12,000, belongs to a 14-year-old boy. It was stolen Thursday from a condominium complex in an incident captured on video that showed a man sitting in the chair and driving it away.
7 teens charged with tagging historic Fort Revere

HULL, Mass. (AP)  Seven people have been charged in connection with graffiti and vandalism at a historic site in Massachusetts.

Hull police Chief Robert Sawtelle says an officer spotted vulgar and racist language spray painted on the walls at Fort Revere in Hull early Friday morning. She located a group of teenagers nearby that had bottles of spray paint in their possession.

Four 18-year-olds and three 17-year-olds were charged with tagging, malicious destruction of property and trespassing. They will be arraigned next week.

Town and state officials funded the repainting of Fort Revere in June to remove graffiti. Police have since increased patrols there.
'Crisis mode' diplomats worked through night to help Britons trapped in Turkey

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has described how officials worked through the night helping British people caught up in the crisis in Turkey.

The attempted military coup and unrest is believed to have left more than 250 dead and 1,440 injured, with 2,839 military personnel detained by the authorities.

Mr Johnson, who is only days into his new job, said the Foreign Office was "in what Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service calls 'crisis mode'" when he arrived there on Saturday morning.

Flag-waving Turks celebrate the apparent end of the coup bid in the shadow of Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge (AP)

He said "dozens of people had been up all night, calmly monitoring screens and coolly assessing fresh information", and some of them had worked consecutive shifts without sleep as they dealt with the needs of UK nationals abroad.

In a column in the Sunday Express, Mr Johnson, who has Turkish ancestry, wrote: " Most of the officials - as you would expect - were working on the unfolding crisis in Turkey, where the failed coup had myriad implications for this country.

"To take one example: at about 3am yesterday morning we realised that there was a party of British passengers who were changing planes at Istanbul's massive Ataturk airport.

"They were stuck airside as the coup attempt began, and their onwards flight was grounded. Turkish president Erdogan was apparently planning to land at that airport and restore his authority. What if the rebels decided to attack the airport?

"Someone needed to get through to the party and, as so often happens, the UK happened to have a diplomat on the spot. A UK official also transiting through the airport and trapped airside at Istanbul was able to meet up with the party and provide an immediate link to London.

"Elsewhere in Turkey - at the resorts and the big transport hubs - UK consular staff were out, many in hi-vis jackets, providing information and travel advice, just as they had been doing in Nice only hours earlier.

"As I talked by teleconference first to the Turkish foreign minister and then to our staff in Istanbul and Ankara, I was filled with amazement at the reach and reputation of this country around the world."

Meanwhile, the Government's Cobra emergency committee will meet on Sunday morning as officials agree to keep travel advice to the country "under review".

Downing Street said the National Security Adviser chaired a meeting of senior officials on Saturday to discuss the potential repercussions as the Turkish government began cracking down on its opponents.

The Turkish government purged 2,745 judges seen as loyal to an exiled cleric the country's president blames for the failed coup.

The Foreign Office updated its travel advice, saying the situation appeared to be calming but remained potentially volatile.

Consular staff are continuing to provide assistance to those affected by airport closures and Foreign Office staff are in close contact with the UK's largest travel association Abta.

Britons were advised to avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant, although the country's coastal resorts did not appear to be significantly affected.

Flights to and from Turkish airports were "returning to normal", the Foreign Office said.

US president Barack Obama pledged to work with the Turkish government to help maintain safety and called on it "to act within the rule of law" and avoid actions leading to further instability.

A man lies in front of a tank at the entrance to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport (IHA/AP)

Turkish soldiers secure Istanbul's Taksim square (AP)

People protesting against the coup wave a Turkish flag in Istanbul's Taksim Square (AP)

People attend to a man wounded when Turkish forces soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd in Taksim Square (AP)

A tank crashes over a car in Ankara (AP)

Supporters of Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan gather in Taksim Square (AP)

Erdogan supporters wave Turkish flags in Taksim Square (AP)

A tank at the entrance to Ataturk Airport (IHA/AP)

Anti-coup protesters attend to a man wounded when soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd in Taksim Square (AP)

Turkish soldiers arrested by civilians are handed over to police officers in Istanbul's Taksim Square (AP)

Arrested Turkish soldiers sit on a police bus (AP)

A Turkish policeman, right, confronts an army officer who participated in the coup, after he was apprehended in Taksim Square (AP)

A car burns during a firefight between Turkish army and Turkish police in Istanbul's Taksim Square (AP)
Chris Woakes shines as England battle to stay in touch

The increasingly impressive Chris Woakes completed a 10-wicket match haul as England battled to stay in touch with Pakistan on a fluctuating third day of the first Investec Test.

Woakes' outstanding 10-over spell either side of lunch might easily have been rewarded with more than two wickets - to add to his career-best six for 70 in the first innings - and by the close he had added another five for 31.

His skill and discipline did most to claw back Pakistan's advantage, as they reached stumps on 214 for eight and an overall lead of 281 in an enthralling contest which seems sure to go to the wire - if not quite the full five-day distance.

Chris Woakes has taken 11 wickets so far in the Lord's Test

England managed just one morning breakthrough, after losing their own last three wickets to be bowled out for 272 as Yasir Shah took one more to finish with six for 72.

Then in sunny conditions, but with swing available and on a pitch offering a little variable bounce, Stuart Broad struck in only his second over when Mohammad Hafeez fenced a catch high to Joe Root at second slip to go for a duck.

Azhar Ali joined Shan Masood to help the tourists to 40 for one at lunch - but Woakes was already posing plenty of problems, and he upped the ante in the afternoon.

He was off-driven for four by Masood but slanted one across the left-hander next ball for an edge to slip off the back foot.

Azhar then fell foul of a marginal DRS process, umpire's call working in England's favour after Woakes brought one up the slope.

Woakes and Broad had dried up the scoring opportunities to a bare trickle, and Misbah-ul-Haq decided the correct response was to get after Moeen Ali.

What worked in his first innings century, however, immediately backfired second time round as he fell for a second-ball duck - very well caught by Alex Hales on the deep midwicket boundary after climbing into an ambitiously early slog-sweep at the off-spinner.

Pakistan had lost three wickets for 16, and were vulnerable - but Younus Khan dug in, and rode his luck.

There was no boundary for 14 overs, until a mis-field at point got new batsman Asad Shafiq off the mark.

Younus, as ever, belied his expertise with a homespun variety of twitches around the crease into a series of awkward square-on positions.

But he stood between England and a truly telling surge through Pakistan's middle order, twice surviving lbw calls on DRS - Jake Ball denied by the thinnest of inside-edges and Steven Finn by the Lord's slope past leg-stump.

England's attack perhaps deserved better, and could not be faulted, but it was credit to Younus and Shafiq that their stand of 69 extended into the evening session.

Younus became the second of Pakistan's heavyweights to mis-calculate against Moeen, bowled trying to cut an off-break which was too full and too close - to go for a stoic but highly valuable 25 off 95 balls.

Then the returning Woakes saved the best ball of the day for Shafiq, bowled one short of his 50 by one that nipped up the slope of a perfect length.

Counter-attacking Sarfraz Ahmed had already shown his hand, though - and he and Yasir made England pay for dropping each off the luckless Finn in a partnership of 40 which kept Pakistan ahead of the game.

Yasir had only two when he chipped one to mid-off, where a tumbling Broad could not gather, and then Sarfraz was badly dropped by Jonny Bairstow when he edged an attempted drive behind on 36.

England needed Woakes again, from the pavilion end for the first time, to see off Sarfraz before the close - Bairstow safe when a second edge came - and for good measure, he made it five for the innings again when Wahab Riaz looped another behind off the glove.

Yasir had earlier recorded the best figures by any visiting spinner at Lord's since South Africa's Sid Pegler in 1912, and Woakes finished stranded on an unbeaten 35 as England's first innings lasted little more than a further half hour on the resumption.

Wahab softened Broad up with two short balls, and then castled him with a yorker.

Ball was last out when he was just short of his ground trying to get back for a Woakes two to the first ball of a Wahab over.

In between, Finn pushed forward to Yasir and missed to become the leg-spinner's fourth lbw victim of the innings.
5 things we learned from Manchester United's win over Wigan

Jose Mourinho made his debut as Manchester United manager in Saturday's pre-season friendly against Wigan.

Here, Press Association Sport assesses what can be gleaned from the 2-0 win.

1. Nothing that can't be unlearned

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho saw his side beat Wigan in his first game in charge

It may be too obvious to mention, but those looking for hard and fast clues about the key tenets of the Mourinho era will need to look elsewhere. This was a gentle start for the Portuguese and a quiet outing at the DW Stadium is unlikely to alter any of the plans he arrived with or elevate new ones too high.

2. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could be a thrilling prospect

The Armenia international only played the first half but his short debut contained plenty to get excited about. He moved nimbly and intelligently in the number 10 role, showing the kind of awareness of space that characterises those who have excelled in the Bundesliga in recent years.

The former Borussia Dortmund play-maker has the kind of vision that could unpick defences and bring the flair back to a side that lost it under Louis van Gaal.

3. Shaw must be handled carefully

It was heartening to see England international Luke Shaw take the field again after a 10-month injury absence but expectations must be kept sensible. His double leg fracture last September was a dramatic injury for one so young and a quiet performance here, with an apparent reluctance to burst forward from the back, was to be expected. It may be some time before he is ready to perform at his peak.

4. Mata won't go quietly

The common wisdom was that Mourinho's arrival in Manchester spelled bad news for Juan Mata - who was marginalised then sold to United during the manager's time at Chelsea.

Mkhitaryan's arrival seemed to confirm that but Mata does not seem ready to throw in the towel.

He came on during the interval and within three minutes he had charged down Jussi Jaaskelainen's kick and laid the opening goal on a platter for Will Keane. He continued to combine hard work and awareness and made a solid case for consideration.

5. Eric Bailly has a big role to play

The big Ivorian centre-half was Mourinho's first signing and is thought to have cost around 30million, both indicators that he has his new boss' complete confidence.

Bailly was the outfield player given the most game time against Wigan, managing 82 minutes before being replaced, and looks like he is being prepared for a starting role alongside Chris Smalling.
Germany sees some leeway for Italian bailout of banks -source

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN, July 15 (Reuters) - The German government is open to a state rescue of Italian banks that would partially protect retail investors but it remains firmly against shielding all creditors from losses, a senior government source told Reuters.

That points to a slight softening in tone over efforts to defuse an unfolding banking crisis in Italy, although Berlin still flatly rejects a push by Rome to protect all investors, big and small, from any fallout.

"We are not going to be 'Taliban' on this," said the German government official, adding that there was a broad appreciation of the risks linked to Italy's banking system, including in the German finance ministry, which has taken a hard line in public.

The finance ministry declined to comment.

Italian banks, which have struggled for years, have come under increasing pressure following Britain's recent vote to leave the European Union and the Rome government has hastened efforts to get European blessing for a state rescue.

The government wants to inject fresh funds but European rules require the imposition of losses on creditors -- chiefly holders of subordinated debt -- first.

Italy wants to exempt investors, fearing that losses would undermine faith in the heavily indebted country and cause protests against the government ahead of a crucial autumn referendum on constitutional reform.

"There is a willingness to compromise on the application of the bail-in laws. We are happy with some sort of partial bail-in that protects retail investors," the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

"The Italians are insisting on no bail-in at all. That is not on the cards. We will not accept blatant disregard of the bail-in rules," the source added. "But within the directive there is room. You can protect small investors completely. Or you protect all retail investors up to a certain amount."

Asked what threshold might be applied, the source mentioned a level of 100,000 euros. This would effectively extend the protection now enjoyed by savers at a troubled bank to small investors in its bonds.

After a three-year recession, Italian lenders are struggling with 360 billion euros ($400 billion) of problem loans, of which 200 billion euros are to borrowers deemed insolvent.

The country is now in talks with the European Commission to allow public support for its weakest lenders, including Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The Commission is charged with ensuring that state aid does not distort competition. It declined to comment on any such threshold.

Such state assistance is allowed only in exceptional circumstances and under bank rescue rules in full force since January, it is conditional on losses for creditors -- known as bailing-in. Rome hit bank creditors as part of the rescue of four small lenders in November, a move that was followed by mass protests and the suicide of one saver.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned against a discussion about support for Italian banks before the European Central Bank publishes stress test results on July 29 although many investors want to see a solution by then.

And Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs meetings of finance ministers, has played down the need for quick action, saying Italy's banking woes did not represent an "acute crisis".
Pakistan's Yasir takes five wickets as England stumble

July 15 (Reuters) - Yasir Shah's five-wicket haul gave Pakistan the edge on the second day of the first test against England, who suffered a middle order collapse to close on 253-7, 86 runs shy of the tourists' first-innings total on Friday.

After Pakistan were dismissed for 339 early in the day, having added 57 runs to their overnight total, England sailed to 118-1 after lunch at Lord's.

Yasir, however, turned momentum in Pakistan's favour, ripping through England's middle order to claim his fifth five-wicket haul in 13 tests.

It was also a good day for Pakistan's Mohammad Amir, who was bowling for the first time in a test since being banned for spot-fixing and claimed the wicket of Alastair Cook for 81.

That prompted a clenched-fist celebration from Amir, who had served half of a six-month prison sentence and was banned for five years for deliberately bowling no-balls against England at the same ground in 2010.

Earlier, England all-rounder Chris Woakes notched his first five-wicket test haul to restrict the visitors to a moderate first-innings total.

Woakes, who ended the innings with figures of 6-70, struck twice in the same over to pick up the wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz.

Stuart Broad then ended Misbah-ul-Haq's superb innings on 114, with the Pakistan skipper having added just four to his overnight tally.

The England bowler then enticed Amir, who was greeted with a ripple of applause as he came out to bat, to edge the ball to Joe Root at slip on 12.

The tourists drew blood soon after the changeover when England opener Alex Hales edged an impeccable outswinger from Rahat Ali to Azhar Ali at third slip in the second over.

Cook and Root took England past lunch and deep into the afternoon before the latter top-edged Yasir to Mohammad Hafeez for 48 to begin the collapse.

James Vince (16) and Gary Ballance (6) were then trapped lbw by Yasir before Amir, who had been treated to a few shouts of 'no-ball' from the crowd after his first delivery, tempted Cook to swipe at a wide delivery which he played on to his own stumps.

Jonny Bairstow (29) was bowled by Yasir, who then became the first leg-spinner since Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996 to take five wickets at Lord's when he trapped Moeen Ali lbw for 23.
Celebrations in Damascus after Turkish army says takes power

By Tom Perry and Dominic Evans

BEIRUT, July 16 (Reuters) - Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad celebrated on Saturday after the Turkish army said it was seizing power from President Tayyip Erdogan, while Syrian rebels said the loss of a main regional backer would be a major blow to their struggle.

The government in Damascus has accused Erdogan, who said the coup would fail, of fuelling the Syrian conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

Hundreds of cheering people took to the streets after midnight in Damascus and volleys of celebratory gunfire erupted in several districts of the Syrian capital.

Residents said convoys of cars were processing around the Mazzeh neighbourhood, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.

A resident in the government-held part of the northern city of Aleppo said people believed that "Erdogan's fall is an announcement of the end of the crisis in Syria, given he is the one chiefly responsible for the crisis".

Another Aleppo resident said people were chanting for Erdogan to be held to account. A witness in the Jaramana district of Damascus said the celebratory gunfire was greater even than when Assad won re-election as president two years ago.

Erdogan said the coup attempt would be put down, and the prime minister and other officials said the elected government remained in place. Gunfire broke out in Istanbul and Ankara and television pictures showed scores of people gathered in city squares to show support for the Turkish government.

Syria's civil war, now in its sixth year, began as a peaceful uprising against Assad before morphing into a multi-sided conflict that is estimated to have killed several hundred thousand people and spawned an international refugee crisis.

Turkey alone is hosting 2.7 million refugees.

TURKISH SUPPORT

Numerous rebel groups operating under the banner of the Free Syrian Army have received aid via Turkey as part of a programme of military support that has also been backed by the United States.

Turkey is also widely believed to have backed Islamist groups such as Ahrar al-Sham, although it has fiercely denied accusations that it has supported the Islamic State group.

"Of course what is happening in Turkey will have great implications on the situation in Syria," a senior Middle Eastern official with close ties to Damascus said, adding that the Turkish army had called for reconciliation in the region.

"Erdogan is going and Assad is staying."

He said it was not yet clear whether the coup had succeeded, or who was behind it. "But regardless of the circumstances, Erdogan's policy and particularly in Syria led to his defeat."

Two Syrian opposition officials said they were worried about events in Turkey. "If the coup succeeds, that will have a negative impact on the revolution. Turkish support (for the rebels) was excellent compared to any other support," one of them said.

A second Syrian opposition official also said he was worried by the coup. "We look at it with great concern," he said.

A Syrian Kurdish source said it was too soon to judge the impact. "It is clear that the loser will be Daesh (Islamic State) and radical armed Islamist groups that enjoyed support of Erdogan and his party," the Kurdish source said. "The situation may reflect positively on the Syrian arena."

The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia has been battling Islamic State in northern Syria, and has also clashed with Turkey-backed rebels in and around Aleppo.
Kremlin says gravely concerned about events in Turkey

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said it was gravely concerned about events in Turkey, and that it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey, where the government has said a military coup attempt is underway.

Peskov said events were moving too fast to fully understand what was happening, but he said Russia was concerned and wanted to see Turkey return to the path of stability and order, and for there to be a lawful outcome.
Slovakia, holding EU presidency, says coordinating Turkey response with EU partners

PRAGUE, July 16 (Reuters) - Slovakia, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, said on Saturday it was following events unfolding in Turkey with serious concern, and was coordinating appropriate reaction with EU partners.

"Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has been in intensive contact all evening with EU high foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini and other European colleagues," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Bulgaria bolsters patrols on border with Turkey

SOFIA, July 16 (Reuters) - Bulgaria bolstered its patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and appealed to Bulgarians to restrain from travelling to the country's southern neighbour, the government press office said in a statement.

Prime Minister Boiko Borisov held talks with the security and intelligence services on the situation in Turkey, where the government has said a military coup attempt is under way.
Qatar says denounces military coup attempt in Turkey - state media

DOHA, July 16 (Reuters) - The Gulf state of Qatar said on Saturday it denounced and condemned a military coup attempt in Turkey, according to Qatar state news agency QNA.

Turkey set up a military base in Qatar in April as part of a defence agreement aimed at helping the two countries confront "common enemies".
Qatar denounces military coup attempt in Turkey

DOHA, July 16 (Reuters) - Qatar condemned on Saturday an attempted military coup and said the emir telephoned Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to express support for measures taken by the government to maintain stability in the country.

Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power in the country but by morning loyalist forces had crushed the bid after crowds took to the streets to support Erdogan.

"The state of Qatar expressed its strong denunciation and condemnation of the military coup attempt, lawlessness, and violation of the constitutional legitimacy in the Republic of Turkey," Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Qatari state news agency said the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, telephoned Erdogan to "congratulate him for the support the Turkish people have shown around Turkey's leadership".

"His highness also expressed strong condemnation and denunciation of this failed attempt and Qatar's stand and solidarity with the brotherly Turkish republic in all measures it is taking to protect the constitutional legitimacy and implement the law...," it added.

The two countries have provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and raised the alarm about what they say is creeping Iranian influence in the region.

Other Gulf Arab countries have yet to comment publicly on the coup attempt, but some have urged citizens in the country to stay home and to remain in contact with diplomatic missions.

Saudi Arabia's national carrier said on Saturday it had suspended all flights to Turkey until further notice.

In April, Turkey set up a military base in Qatar as part of a defence agreement intensifying its partnership with the Gulf state at a time of rising instability and a perceived waning of U.S. interest in the region.
Mexico advises its citizens not to travel to Turkey

MEXICO CITY, July 15 (Reuters) - Mexico's government on Friday recommended its citizens should not travel to Turkey until the gravity of the situation became clear following a coup attempt by members of the armed forces.

"Mexican citizens with plans to visit Turkey are recommended not do so until there is certainty about the magnitude of the situation, as well as what consequences it could have for their safety in that country," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Peru President-elect reveals technocrat-filled cabinet

By Marco Aquino

LIMA, July 15 (Reuters) - Peru's President-elect Pedro Pablo Kuczynski listed his incoming ministers on Friday, in a cabinet stacked with technocrats but thin on experienced politicians who might help him broker deals with an opposition-controlled Congress.

The 77-year-old former investment banker, who was prime minister under ex-president Alejandro Toledo, shrugged off concerns that his first cabinet lacked savvy political operators and said it would aim to deliver results.

"We're turning the page. What we want is modern politics based on qualified people," Kuczynski, a centrist, said in his first press conference since beating his run-off rival Keiko Fujimori by just tens of thousands of votes last month.

Taking few questions, Kuczynski said he deliberately did not tap any of his party's 18 lawmakers-elect for the 19-member cabinet because he needs them in Congress, where Fujimori's right-wing populist party will hold a solid majority with 73 seats.

"This is a team with the capacity for dialogue and agreement and commitment to Peru," said Kuczynski's incoming prime minister Fernando Zavala, a 45-year-old former finance minister who was most recently the chief executive for beer company SABMiller's local unit.

Zavala, whom Kuczynski announced as his pick for prime minister on Sunday, said the team would work to meet demands for safer streets, more jobs and less corruption.

Kuczynski takes office July 28, replacing outgoing President Ollanta Humala, a former military officer who shed allies throughout a five-year term that will likely end with the lowest approval rating of any recent leader.

Kuczynski previously announced that Alfredo Thorne, a former director at JPMorgan Chase, would be his finance minister.

The incoming cabinet will have five women and several trained economists, including consultant Gonzalo Tamayo as energy and mines minister and academic Elsa Galarza as environment minister. Reuters reported Tuesday that Kuczynski would appoint the two.

Career diplomat Ricardo Luna, a former ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, will be foreign relations minister. Martin Vizcarra, Kuczynski's vice president and a former governor of a mining region, will be transportation and communications minister.

Fujimori, daughter of imprisoned former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori, has yet to meet with Kuczynski, who has said that she has rebuffed his efforts to reach her by phone.

The frosty relationship between the two could thwart Kuczynski's plan to ask Congress to give him powers to legislate his economic reforms, including proposals to ease taxes and roll out new infrastructure projects.
Bulgaria PM says hopes for legal, democratic development in Turkey

SOFIA, July 16 (Reuters) - Bulgaria is following developments in neighbouring Turkey with concern and hopes that the situation there will be resolved in a lawful and democratic way, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.

The Balkan country has beefed up patrols along the border with Turkey after a coup attempt there. Turkey has closed the border crossings with Bulgaria and the foreign ministry appealed to Bulgarians to cancel their travel plans to Turkey.

"We are following what is happening at our neighbours with concern," Borisov told reporters at an emergency meeting with the defence and foreign ministers, as well as intelligence and security officials.

"Let's hope it will regularize in a lawful and democratic manner... There are ways to topple a government and that in the democratic world happens through elections," he said.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov spoke on the telephone with his Turkish counterpart and contacts were made by the special services, Borisov added.

The border crossings with Turkey on the Bulgarian side are open. A witness told private national BTV channel that entrance at Kapikule border crossing into Turkey is allowed, but exit towards Bulgaria is not and several cars with Bulgarians were blocked on Turkish territory.

Bulgaria has built a fence at its border with Turkey as part of its attempts to limit illegal crossings of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Discord over South China Sea clouds Asia-Europe summit

By Sue-Lin Wong and Terrence Edwards

ULAANBAATAR, July 16 (Reuters) - A key summit between Asian and European leaders in Mongolia ended on Saturday without direct mention of the South China Sea dispute in its closing statement, with diplomats describing intense discord over the issue between Europe and Asia.

China has refused to recognise Tuesday's ruling by an arbitration court in The Hague invalidating its vast claims in the South China Sea and did not take part in the proceedings brought by the Philippines. It has reacted angrily to calls by Western countries and Japan for the decision to be adhered to.

China had flagged ahead of the Ulaanbaatar get-together that it did not want the South China Sea to be discussed, saying it was not an appropriate venue.

The closing statement said leaders reaffirmed a commitment to promote maritime security, safety and cooperation, freedom of navigation and overflight and to refrain from using threatening force.

It also said disputes should be resolved via international law, the United Nations charter and U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS.

European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters he hoped the court's decision would create positive momentum in finding a solution to the dispute.

"Still, it's not so easy to agree with our Chinese partners when it comes to these issues but our talks were difficult, tough but also promising," he said.

On Friday, the European Union issued a statement noting China's legal defeat but avoided direct reference to Beijing, reflecting discord among EU governments over how strongly to respond to the court ruling.

While the European Union is neutral in China's dispute with its Asian neighbours in the South China Sea, Britain, France and Germany want to make clear that Beijing must uphold international law as it seeks a bigger global role.

But speaking with one European voice has become difficult as some smaller governments, including Hungary and Greece, rely on Chinese investment and are unwilling to criticise Beijing.

NO BILATERAL

The panel ruled Beijing's actions in the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually, had interfered with the Philippines' sovereign rights. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to the strategic waterway.

There was no bilateral meeting between the Chinese and Philippines foreign ministers, a Philippine diplomatic source told Reuters, though the Chinese initially requested a meeting at the beginning of the summit.

Chinese officials did not speak to foreign reporters during the summit. China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the summit and the South China Sea.

State news agency Xinhua quoted Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as saying on Saturday in Ulaanbaatar that the court's decision would have "no impact whatsoever" on Chinese sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea.

Li had told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the previous day that Japan should stop interfering in the issue.

Japan met with several countries including the Philippines and Vietnam and told them Japan would cooperate with them to enforce the decision, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

A diplomat from Russia, which has close ties with China and has supported its position over the arbitration case, said the West was hectoring.

"If you understand how the other side lives, you're more tolerant," he said. "The West always starts with teaching. Asians never do that."

A Mongolian diplomat said negotiations over the closing statement were "intense".
Yemen's al Qaeda wing says targeted Aden governor with bomb attack-SITE

ADEN, July 16 (Reuters) - Yemen's al Qaeda wing has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that targeted the governor of the southern city of Aden, according to U.S. monitoring group SITE.

Security officials said on Friday that a car packed with explosives blew up when the convoy of governor, Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, passed by in the Inma area of Aden. One soldier was wounded in the attack but Zubaidi was unhurt.

SITE cited a brief statement by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on its Telegram channel on Friday saying it had detonated a bomb in a parked vehicle.

It said both Zubaidi and Aden police chief, Shallal Shayei, were in the vehicle, but gave no further details.

A civil war has raged for more than a year in Yemen and insecurity has gripped the port city, the temporary seat of Yemen's embattled government.

Zubaidi was appointed governor of Aden after his predecessor was killed in a car bombing on Dec. 6 claimed by Islamic State, AQAP's main rival in Yemen. Attackers have tried several times before to kill him in car bomb blasts.
France hopes Turkish democracy will survive coup test-foreign minister

PARIS, July 16 (Reuters) - France on Saturday condemned the coup attempt in Turkey and expressed the hope that democracy in the country would survive its aftermath.

"The Turkish population showed great maturity and courage by defending its institutions," Foreign Minister Ayrault said in a statement.

Forces loyal to the Turkish government were fighting on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets.
Pakistani social media star strangled in apparent "honour killing" - police

By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE, July 16 (Reuters) - Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was strangled in what appeared to be an "honour killing", police said on Saturday, shocking the South Asian nation where she was viewed as a controversial figure.

Baloch's raunchy social media photos challenged social norms in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country where women are often repressed by their family members or the community.

Punjab Police spokeswoman Nabeela Ghazanfar told Reuters Baloch, whose real name is Fauzia Azeem, was killed in her family home in Multan, a large city in the Punjab province.

"Her father Azeem informed the police that his son Waseem has strangled Qandeel," Ghazanfar said. "Apparently, it is honour killing but further investigations would reveal the real motives behind this murder."

Police were now looking for Waseem, who had disappeared, she added.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach the family.

Local media reported Baloch had struggled to reconcile her family's conservative values with her social media stunts and received frequent threats from the public.
Turkey reopens key route for oil, grains transit after coup attempt

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL, July 16 (Reuters) - Turkish maritime authorities have reopened Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers after shutting it earlier on Saturday for several hours following what the government said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military.

The Bosphorus is one of world's most important chokepoints for the maritime transit of oil with over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also ships vast amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.

On Saturday, forces loyal to the Turkish government fought to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt, following violence and clashes in Ankara and Istanbul.

Shipping agent GAC said traffic had reopened after being shut for several hours for security reasons and ships were now being able to travel again through the Bosphorus which divides Istanbul into European and Asian sides.

A spokesman for Russia's pipeline monopoly Transneft said the main Black Sea port of Novorossiisk was operating normally and had enough tankers near the port to continue loading operations uninterrupted until July 25 regardless of what happens in the Bosphorus.

Reuters ship tracking data showed that around 10 oil tankers were anchored off the coast of Istanbul on the southern side of the strait, still waiting for instructions to sail through the narrow passage.

CEYHAN OIL FLOWS

Turkey is also shipping significant volumes of oil from the Caspian Sea region and countries such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan via its territory directly to its export terminals on the Mediterranean like the port of Ceyhan bypassing Bosphorus.

A BP-led group operating oil and gas pipelines running from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia said there had been no disruptions to shipments.

"Both pipelines are working normally," BP-Georgia said.

A source at Azeri state energy company SOCAR also told Reuters oil shipping to Ceyhan was uninterrupted.

Iranian Mehr news agency said Iran had temporarily stopped exports of petrochemical products to Turkey due to border closure between the two countries.

Oil shipments through the Turkish Straits have decreased over the past decade as Russia shifted flows towards the Baltic ports. The Baltic ports currently operate well below capacity, which means Russia could divert flows away from the Black Sea in case of prolonged disruptions.

Only half a mile wide at the narrowest point, the Turkish Straits are among the world's most difficult waterways.

About 48,000 vessels transit the straits each year, making this area one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints, according to the U.S. government.

Commercial shipping has the right of free passage through the straits in peacetime, although Turkey claims the right to impose regulations for safety and environmental purposes.

Besides transit, Turkey is also a very important consumer of commodities itself. It is one of top five gas users in Europe on a par with France, a large grains importer and is one of the top 10 biggest gold markets.

For U.S. government analysis of the role of the Bosphorus and Turkey as energy transitor and consumer:

http://tinyurl.com/j5szs5c
China calls for greater global cooperation against terrorism

BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on Saturday for greater global cooperation against terrorism, state media said, as the Asian giant seeks greater international support for its anti-terror fight.

Speaking at an Asia-Europe summit, Li said various security challenges - conventional and unconventional - remain prominent even though those regions had remained generally stable and peaceful.

"Acts of terrorism are common challenges faced by every nation. Countries should work more closely to fight terrorism, and build societies that are truly open and tolerant so to root out the soil where it grows," said Li.

China has sought Western support for its own "war on terror" since the attacks in Paris last November.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the past few years in China's western region of Xinjiang, home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people.

The government blames the violence on Islamist militants who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. But rights groups say Beijing's repressive policies in the region have fuelled the unrest, a charge the government denies.
Turkey reopens border crossings with Bulgaria - border police

SOFIA, July 16 (Reuters) - Turkey has reopened border crossings with neighbouring Bulgaria after closing them in the early hours of Saturday following a coup attempt, a Bulgarian border police spokeswoman said.

"Traffic both ways to and from Turkey for all types of vehicles was restored at around 11 am on Saturday (0800 GMT)," border police spokeswoman Lora Lubenova said.

All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for Saturday have been cancelled, according to the Sofia airport's website.
Regional rival Iran expresses support for Turkey over coup attempt

DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran, Turkey's neighbour and regional rival, said on Saturday it fully supported the Turkish government against an attempted military coup and expressed concern about its implications.

President Hassan Rouhani chaired a meeting of the National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in Turkey, where loyalist troops were fighting to crush the remnants of a coup attempt launched on Friday night.

"We support Turkey's legal government and oppose any type of coup - either initiated domestically or supported by foreigners," National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said after the meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has spoken three times on the telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iranian news agencies said.

Zarif said in a tweet he was "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount".

He later praised supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan who took to the streets to oppose the military move.

"Turkish people's brave defence of democracy and their elected government proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail," he said.

Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation, has long been a regional rival of Sunni majority Turkey.
Saudi Arabia welcomes end of coup attempt in Turkey - state media

DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia welcomed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's success in prevailing against a coup attempt, state news agency SPA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Saturday.

"The source expressed the kingdom's welcome that things are returned to normal led by his Excellency President Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government and in line with the constitutional legitimacy and the will of the Turkish people," SPA said.
Syrian rebels say Turks defeat conspiracy against Erdogan

BEIRUT, July 16 (Reuters) - Syrian rebels praised Turks on Saturday for standing firm against a "conspiracy" to overthrow President Tayyip Erdogan, one of the main regional supporters of their fight against President Bashar al-Assad.

"We congratulate the Turkish government...for the victory of the Turkish people and the government they elected," said a statement issued in the name of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

It said the Turkish people had thwarted a "great conspiracy which targeted the stability and security of the country", and had shown the world that their will would not be broken.

The statement was sent to Reuters by Jaysh al-Nasr, a Western-backed faction which is part of the broad FSA umbrella of rebel groups.

Forces loyal to Erdogan's government were fighting on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup which crumbled after crowds answered his call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

First reports of the coup had triggered celebrations in central Damascus and other government-held areas of Syria, with hundreds of people taking to the streets of the capital, cheering and waving Syrian flags.

There was no immediate official response in Syria to the attempted coup in its northern neighbour, but state television had extensive coverage of the overnight turmoil.

The Syrian government has accused Erdogan of fuelling conflict in Syria by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

Syria's civil war, now in its sixth year, began as a peaceful uprising against Assad before developing into a multi-sided conflict that is estimated to have killed several hundred thousand people and spawned an international refugee crisis.

Turkey alone is hosting 2.7 million refugees.

Numerous rebel groups operating under the banner of the Free Syrian Army have received aid via Turkey as part of a programme of military support that has also been backed by the United States.
Greece to examine Turkish soldiers' asylum requests - Greek govt sources

ATHENS, July 16 (Reuters) - Greece will examine the request for political asylum by eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a helicopter earlier on Saturday, two Greek government sources said.

Greece arrested the men after they landed in the northern Greek city of Alexandroupolis. They are due to appear before a Greek prosecutor on Sunday, one of the officials said.
Switzerland and EU to intensify immigration negotiations

ZURICH, July 16 (Reuters) - Negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union on immigration restrictions will be stepped up in the next few weeks, the Swiss government said on Saturday, with a high-level meeting planned for September.

Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Sept. 19 to seek a solution to an issue that has dominated relations between the two sides since Switzerland voted to limit immigration in 2014.

Switzerland wants to negotiate a compromise with Brussels, which has insisted it cannot accept any impediments to the free movement of people enshrined in bilateral accords.

If Switzerland unilaterally introduces limits, the move could end the bilateral economic agreements and damage the Swiss economy.

Schneider-Ammann and Juncker discussed the state of the ongoing talks when they met on the fringes of summit in Mongolia on Saturday. Both sides acknowledged British's vote to leave the EU had complicated efforts to find a solution, the Swiss government said on Saturday.

"However, the two men stressed the common interest on the part of Switzerland and the EU in consolidating and further developing the bilateral path," it said.
Kerry says U.S. has not received request to extradite Turkey's Gulen

LUXEMBOURG, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that he had not received any request to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in the United States for years.

The Turkish government said that followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday.
Regional rival Iran expresses support for Turkey over coup attempt

DUBAI/ANKARA, July 16 (Reuters) - Iran said on Saturday it fully supported the government of neighbouring Turkey against an attempted military coup launched on Friday night, despite Tehran and Ankara's differences over Syria and other issues.

The senior aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran backed Turkey's elected government against the coup but it expected Ankara to do the same when it came to Syria.

Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation, is a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war while Sunni-majority Turkey has been one of his fiercest critics and has supported his opponents.

"We disagree with Turkey on some issues, like Syria. We are hopeful that the Turkish government respects the Syrian people's opinion and votes and lets the Syrian nation choose their government," Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

President Hassan Rouhani chaired a meeting of Iran's National Security Council on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in Turkey.

"We support Turkey's legal government and oppose any type of coup - either initiated domestically or supported by foreigners," National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said after the meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has spoken three times on the telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iranian news agencies said.

Zarif said in a tweet he was "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount".

He later praised Erdogan supporters who took to the streets to oppose the military move.
Guinea-Bissau Court throws out challenge to PM nomination

BISSAU, July 16 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court in Guinea-Bissau has upheld the nomination of Prime Minister Baciro Dja, bolstering President Jose Mario Vaz in a power struggle with a rival former prime minister.

Vaz appointed Dja in May after sacking then Prime Minister Carlos Correia, a move that further divided the ruling PAIGC party and which Correia denounced as a "constitutional coup d'etat".

"The legal proceedings brought by the PAIGC (against the nomination) are null and void and therefore inadmissible," the court ruled late on Friday, according to a decision broadcast on local radio.

"The presidential decree that appointed Baciro Dja as head the government of Guinea-Bissau is indeed constitutional."

Vaz sacked Correia and his government on May 12, saying they had proved incapable of managing a months-long political crisis, caused partly by the overlapping duties of the president and prime minister in a semi-presidential system.

A bank bailout that was condemned by donors as ill-advised and serving only the ruling elite has prompted the IMF to remove budget support, triggering economic meltdown and a gaping budget deficit.

Adding to its woes, Guinea-Bissau this month confirmed its first three cases of the Zika virus in a group of islands off its coast, a development that risks providing a gateway for the disease to reach the African continent.

The United Nations fears a protracted political crisis will trigger unrest. The former Portuguese colony is notoriously unstable and has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

Vaz, a former finance minister, was elected in 2014 after the army was forced to hand back power to civilian politicians following a military coup.

Since independence in 1974, no democratically elected leader has served a full term in Guinea-Bissau. The political turbulence has also helped it become a major transit point for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe.
Turkey reopens border with Bulgaria, reassures on refugees - PM

SOFIA, July 16 (Reuters) - Turkey has reopened border crossings with neighbouring Bulgaria after closing them in the early hours of Saturday following an attempted coup, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said.

There were no signs of an increase in refugee flows into Bulgaria, and Turkey's government has given assurances that the border will not be overwhelmed, Borisov told reporters after meeting with the Turkish ambassador.

An additional 230 Bulgarian soldiers have been sent to the border to bolster patrols and help prevent a possible surge in refugee arrivals, he said. A fence to stop illegal crossings into the country from Turkey is already in place.

"We have been in communication with the Turkish government, with the prime minister, with the ambassador," Borisov said. "I have full assurances from all that the border will not be put under pressure."

Refugee camps in Turkey, which host more than three million people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are calm and Turkish authorities have also agreed to bolster border controls, Borisov said.
Brazil deports Franco-Algerian physicist convicted in past terror plot

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 16 (Reuters) - Brazil has deported the Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist Adlene Hicheur, who was convicted in 2012 for his involvement in a French terror plot, after rejecting a request for an extension to his work visa, the Justice Ministry said late Friday.

In a statement, the ministry said the decision had been taken in the "national interest" without giving any further details.

Brazil is in the midst of tightening security ahead of the Olympics which start Aug 5 and said separately on Friday that it would enhance the scope of operations following a deadly truck attack in Nice earlier this week.

Local press reports said Hicheur had been deported to France, though a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry would not confirm the information.

Hicheur was sentenced by a Paris court to five years in prison in 2012, on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria.

A former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, Hicheur was found guilty of providing logistical advice using encrypted messages sent via the internet.

At the time, Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors said he had provided a terrorist manual to would-be attackers.

Hicheur, who had already been in detention for two and half years, was released shortly after his sentencing and moved to Brazil in 2013 where he took a post at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
U.S. to cooperate in Turkey probe, but no extradition requested - Kerry

By David Brunnstrom

LUXEMBOURG, July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday the United States had not received any request to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, but was willing to assist in legitimate efforts to deal with plotters of Turkey's attempted coup.

The Turkish government said followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday.

Speaking during a trip to Luxembourg, Kerry said he hoped the constitutional process would be followed when dealing with those behind the attempted coup.

"I am sure that people will wonder about allegations about who instigated this and where support came from," he said.

"The United States will obviously be supportive of any legitimate legislative efforts and, under due process and within the law, we will be completely supportive of efforts to assist the government of Turkey if they so request."

Asked if the United States had received an extradition request, he said:

"No, we haven't received any request with respect to Mr Gulen. We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen, and obviously we invite the government of Turkey ... to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments appropriately and I am confident there will be some discussion about that."

Gulen denied playing any role in the attempted coup, which he condemned.

Kerry said the United States understood that in Turkey "things are now calm and order is being restored."

He said all U.S. embassy personnel had been accounted for and the United States was working to determine that all of U.S. citizens were taken care of and protected.

Kerry expressed hope that "things will remain calm and there will be a constitutional process and a legal process to deal appropriately with coup plotters."

He reiterated U.S. support for the elected government.

"The United States, without hesitation, squarely and unequivocally stands for democratic leadership, for the respect for a democratic elected leader, and for a constitutional process," he said.

Kerry said the coup attempt had come as a surprise to all, and added: "I must say, it does not appear to have been a very brilliantly planned or executed event."

He said that, as things stood, Turkey's cooperation in counter- terrorism efforts, in NATO, on Syria and in countering Islamic State had not been impaired.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major U.S. ally while war rages on its border.
U.S. working with Turkey to resume air operations halted after coup attempt -Pentagon

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - The United States is working with Turkish officials to resume air operations at Incirlik Air Base "as soon as possible" after the Turkish government closed its airspace to military aircraft after a coup attempt, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

"In the meantime, U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.
Egypt blocks U.N. Security Council condemnation of Turkey violence

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said.

The U.S.-drafted statement also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Egypt argued that the U.N. Security Council was not in a position to determine whether a government had been democratically elected.

Egypt's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
Obama urges rule of law in Turkey, U.S. warns of damage to relations

By Jeff Mason and Jonathan Landay

WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - The United States urged Turkey on Saturday to exercise restraint after a failed military coup sparked a government crackdown, and warned its NATO ally that public suggestions of a U.S. role in the plot were "utterly false" and harmful to relations.

President Barack Obama urged parties on all sides of the crisis to avoid destabilizing Turkey and follow the rule of law after the coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan.

The coup attempt complicated U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamic State. Turkey closed its airspace to military aircraft and power was cut off to Incirlik air base, which U.S. forces use to launch air attacks against the militant group.

U.S. officials were working with Turkish officials to resume air operations quickly, the Pentagon said.

Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that authorities should respect the rule of law during their probe of the coup.

He also said "public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations," the State Department said.

Turkey has long been a key U.S. ally but relations have been strained in recent years and Erdogan's government has accused U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup attempt.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said any country that stands by Gulen will be considered at war with Turkey, and Erdogan urged Washington to deport the cleric.

Kerry said the United States was willing to help Turkey as it tries to identify those involved in the coup attempt, but made clear it would only act if there was evidence against Gulen.

"We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen, and obviously we invite the government of Turkey ... to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments appropriately," he said.

Gulen has condemned the coup attempt and denied any involvement in it.

Obama conferred with his national security and foreign policy advisers on Saturday morning and reiterated his support for the "democratically-elected, civilian" government of Turkey.

"While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the president and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the White House said.

Obama noted the United States needed continued cooperation from Turkey in the fight against terrorism.

Forces loyal to Erdogan largely crushed the last remnants of the coup on Saturday as he launched a purge of the armed forces to tighten his grip on power.

Turkey scrambled jets throughout Friday night to resist the coup launched by a faction within Turkey's military that saw rebels piloting military aircraft.

The Incirlik air base near Adana in the southeast of the country was running on internal power sources after a loss of commercial power to the base, the Pentagon said.

"U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. "In the meantime, U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign."

THREAT TO COALITION FIGHT

Erdogan has cooperated with Washington in the fight against Islamic State, but relations have been rocky with U.S. criticism of Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism, Turkey's support for Islamist opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the slow pace in sealing Turkey's border with Syria to foreign fighters.

The closing of the airspace over Incirlik effectively grounded U.S. aircraft and drones that have been instrumental in the campaign to crush Islamic State in Syria, including supporting drives by Syrian Kurds and moderate Arabs, who are being advised by U.S. special forces, to seize the militant-held city of Manbij and Raqqa, the "capital" of the caliphate declared by Islamic State.

"Clearly the variable here is how long the closure will last," said Jeffrey White, a former senior Defense Intelligence Agency analyst now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "If we're unable to fly from Incirlik, it will have a significant impact on the air campaign."

A Turkish presidency official in Istanbul said the move was temporary and aimed at preventing rogue aircraft from targeting civilians and government buildings.

"This is a short-term measure which won't have significant effect on coalition operations," the official said. "We have discussed this measure with our colleagues in Washington as well and they understand our concerns."

A prolonged closure of Incirlik's airspace could force the United States to divert aircraft based in the Persian Gulf to the Manbij and Raqqa offensives, constraining the air power available to support Iraqi and U.S. forces involved in operations against Islamic State.
Bahrain to try top Shi'ite cleric for money laundering

DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - A Bahraini cleric will go on trial next month on charges of collecting funds illegally and money laundering, the public prosecutor said on Saturday.

A source familiar with the case said the cleric was Shi'ite Muslim spiritual leader Ayatollah Isa Qassim, who had his citizenship revoked by the authorities less than a month ago.

The case has revived fears of fresh protests in Bahrain, where the Shi'ite Muslim majority complains of discrimination and demands a bigger share in running the country.

The United States and the United Nations have criticised the move, seen by local activists as part of a wider crackdown on dissent in the Western-allied kingdom, which has provoked a daily vigil outside Qassim's house that on some days swells to several thousand people.

The head of public prosecution, Ahmed al-Dosari, did not identify Qassim by name. He said in a statement posted on Instagram that the case would be heard at the beginning of August but gave no precise date.

It was not immediately possible to contact Qassim for a comment.

Bahraini media last month reported an investigation was underway into a bank account of some $10 million in Qassim's name to find the source of the funds and how they were being spent.

The move sparked a strongly worded statement from senior Shi'ite clerics, including Qassim, against any attempt to meddle with the collection of a Muslim tax called Khums, which is a pillar of Shi'ite Islam.
U.N.-backed Yemen peace talks resume in Kuwait

DUBAI, July 16 (Reuters) - United Nations-sponsored talks to end nearly 16 months of war in Yemen resumed in Kuwait on Saturday, delegates said, despite threats by representatives of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government not to attend.

A shaky ceasefire that began when the talks started in April has helped slow down the fighting but clashes continue in various parts of the country where Islamist militants have taken advantage of a security vacuum to launch a string of bombings.

The talks bring together the Iranian-allied Shi'ite Muslim Houthi movement and Yemen's internationally-recognised government, but have achieved little concrete progress in over two months.

Two delegates said only a ceremonial meeting was scheduled for Saturday night in the presence of the U.N. special envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Both sides would get down to bargaining on Sunday.

The talks have given Yemen its best chance for peace after 16 months of war that have killed more than 6,500 people and created a humanitarian crisis. They were suspended at the end of June ahead of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Hadi's government is demanding the Houthis withdraw from areas they have seized since 2014 and hand over weapons they have captured from the army. The Houthis want to be part of a new government that would prepare for elections.

Hadi's government was angered by a proposal put forth by Ould Cheikh Ahmed combining both demands, and had threatened to stay away from the talks unless the U.N. envoy gave guarantees to drop any talk of a unity government before the Houthis withdrew from the cities they control, including the capital Sanaa.

But Ould Cheikh Ahmed managed to persuade the government to join the talks after promising to push for an agreement within two weeks, according to Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, the head of the government negotiating team.

Saudi Arabia and its mostly Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen's civil war in March 2015 to confront what they say is an Iranian bid for influence on the Arabian Peninsula.
Bangladesh police arrest three who rented property to cafe attackers

By Serajul Quadir

DHAKA, July 17 (Reuters) - Police in Dhaka on Saturday arrested three people, including a university professor, for failing to register information about tenants renting a property who later attacked a cafe in the city, killing 20 people.

Gias Uddin Ahsan, a professor at North South University in Dhaka, his nephew, and the manager of Ahsan's apartment were arrested by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for failing to comply with rules forcing landlords to register information about their tenants with the police, Mohammad Masudur Rahman, a senior police official told Reuters.

The men will appear in court on Sunday, he said.

Five militants who were killed by police after they stormed the cafe on July 1 had rented the apartment along with another person in a nearby residential area in May and started living there from June, Rahman said.

"From here they attacked the cafe. There were other militants also who fled after the attack," he said.

"We also found evidence that they kept grenades and other explosives in the apartment. If we had been informed they were living there, then that brutal killing would not have been possible and we could also have arrested the other militants who fled."

Earlier this year, the DMP issued an order to all apartment owners to provide details of their tenants for a database to help police crack down on criminals and militants using rented accommodation as hideouts.

Bangladesh has suffered a series of attacks on liberal bloggers, university teachers and members of religious minorities over the past year. The government says two domestic militant groups trying to replace secular democracy with Islamic sharia rule are responsible for the violence.

Twenty people including 18 foreigners were killed before police stormed the cafe, rescued 13 hostages and shot five of the attackers dead.

Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Saturday that investigators had identified the masterminds of the attack and that the remaining perpetrators would soon be arrested.
Egypt blocks UN call to respect 'democratically elected' govt in Turkey

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said.

The U.S.-drafted statement, seen by Reuters, also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus.

"We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage," Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Amr Aboulatta told Reuters.

Diplomats said Egypt asked for a call for all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey" to be removed from the draft statement, saying the council is "in no position to qualify, or label that government - or any other government for that matter - as democratically elected or not."

After the United States and Britain objected to the proposed change to the text, Egypt proposed that the council call on the parties in Turkey to "respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law," diplomats said.

Negotiations on the text ended at this point, diplomats said.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it was "surprised that its proposed amendment was not taken up, and with the claim that it is obstructing the release of the statement."

Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
Hizbul Mujahidden commander is a reflection of the failure of the law and order mechanism as well as the administrative machinery of the Centre in Kashmir. At least 30 Kashmiri civilians have lost their lives and more than a hundred have been severely injured.

What else are we waiting for? The fault lines that appeared in the summer when the PDP-BJP combine formed the government in the state have now turned into a volcano. Both the new chief minister of the state and the Union government have failed to read the writings on the wall and now appear to be at a loss when it comes to controlling the situation in the Valley.

Hundreds of Kashmiris have lost their eyesight to pellet injuries.

Recently, there were intelligence reports regarding the polarisation of the youth in the Valley. Whether any action was taken by the government and corrective measures were initiated in this regard is not known.

The polarised discourse and flip-flop regarding talks with Pakistan provided oxygen to the separatists to fuel the situation for the worse. The intensity of the youth unrest, particularly in Southern Kashmir, is a matter of serious concern.

Wani created more terrorists after his death than during his lifetime. Until now, we were worried about terrorism across the borders but if the recent incidents are of any indication, then popular support to militancy in the valley is a more serious threat.

If we remain indifferent to the situation, the result which is there for all of us to see would be repeated more often.

Predictably, Pakistan voiced its irrelevant concern on the Kashmir situation. Instead of dealing with its home grown terrorists and controlling its internal situation, Pakistan preferred to speak on internal affairs of India.

The situation in Kashmir pertains to the government of India and the elected government in the state and it is for them only to handle it effectively.

Mahatma Gandhi had said, "there is no way to peace, peace itself is the way". Both New Delhi and Srinagar are running out of time and given the historic and strategic nature of the region, the sooner they will devise the ways and means to bring peace and harmony in the Valley, the better it will be in the interest of the state and the country as well.

The multifaceted challenge it offers requires a comprehensive approach to contain the situation in the short run and ensure lasting peace. We must see to it that terrorism and terrorists are dealt with firmly and there is no compromise on matters relating to national security and, at the same time, we must ensure that the youth in the Valley remain insulated from the influence of the extremists and from across the border.

Lasting peace in the Valley can be ensured when it is both a state sponsored initiative and rooted in the structure of the community, particularly the youth. There is no doubt that the Indian security forces are committed to protect the unity and integrity of our country and to safeguard people. Both the military and the government should ensure that no opportunity is given whereby their sacrifices are exploited by those who intend to subvert India's interests and the development of the state.

First of all, the military needs to assess the number of terrorists and their operational details and, accordingly, the counter terrorist operations may be planned to avoid loss of civilian lives in the operation.

Be it in anti-terrorist operations or counter insurgency operations within Naxals, this is a must. Apart from preventing loss of innocent lives of civilians, it will help the military and the police to prevent loss of lives of their personnel as well.

A sense of alienation and victimhood is very much there among the Kashmiri youth, irrespective of whether they are in the Valley or living elsewhere in India. No child is a born terrorist, irrespective of the religion the child is born into. They are inculcated with beliefs and values which make them separate from the mainstream. Civilian killings by the military mishandling of delicate issues like the issues affecting the Kashmir pundits are fuelling that feeling of estrangement.

A dialogue needs to be initiated with the youth which boost their morale and will act as confidence building measures connecting them with the Union of India.

A step has been taken by the Modi government to reach out to the Opposition and to bring a consensus on Jammu & Kashmir policy but limited dialogue is no solution, it has to be taken forward in a structured manner, bringing as many affected and disaffected stakeholders in its ambit as possible.

Since the round table conference initiative by Manmohan Singh-led UPA government a decade ago, there has been no political dialogue by the Centre with the Valley, except engaging an interlocutor panel to find out ground views.

The NDA government in the Centre and the alliance in the state have failed to implement even the doable promises they made to the youth of the state. Therefore, lacking of political approach to solve the Kashmir issue is one of the major reasons for the present day imbroglio.

Another area that needs immediate concern is the high rate of unemployment among the Kashmiri youth. With the number of registered unemployed youth crossing six-lakh mark, Jammu and Kashmir has the highest unemployment rate of 5.3 per cent in comparison to its four neighboring states.

A serious thought should be given to provide employment opportunities to the youth in the region, both educated or otherwise, which cool down the temper.
Somewhere around 2010, after the bloodier phase of unrest, I was flying into Srinagar from New Delhi or Jammu in a plane eerily full of vacant seats.

I was sitting in the third row and senior PDP leaders - Mehbooba Mufti, Altaf Bukhari and the late Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari were seated in the front row.

I hadnt joined politics yet but had been writing columns about what had been happening.

This was also after I had been interviewed on NDTV, as a young Kashmiri, to express my anguish at what was happening. The video of that emotional outburst while talking to Barkha Dutt on NDTV had gone viral. And since I had directed my anger and criticism at the state government, it had caught Mehbooba Muftis attention.

As the plane took off, Altaf Bukhari (then not as well known to me and vice versa), got up and came back to my row and informed me that Mehbooba wanted to have a word with me. Out of respect, I moved to Bukharis seat and he moved to mine.

I candidly remember Mehboobaji telling me that she thought I spoke exceptionally well and then going on to tell me how a delegation of senior PDP leaders led by her had gone to New Delhi to convey the pain and anguish of Kashmiris at what was happening.

The late Molvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari sahib, who was now sitting on my left, promptly announced how he thought Mehboobaji had "surpassed even the great Mufti sahabs capability and political acumen".

"She made Sonia Gandhi weep in the meeting after relating tales of what was happening in Kashmir," Molvi sahib added rather flatteringly.

At this point Mehbooba Mufti, visibly irritated, asked Molvi sahib to allow her to speak  clearly indicating that she was better off without him in the conversation.

Mehbooba went on to ask Altaf Bukhari for some papers, which he promptly presented from a stashed folder, and ended up showing me the memorandum that was submitted in New Delhi and explained the points she had made  and the alleged "assurances" she succeeded in getting.

At this time, Molvi sahib again praised her for making Sonia Gandhi weep.

I was still perplexed why all of this could be of any interest to me. Till now, I had barely spoken a single word.

I vividly remember how, in the meantime, the late Molvi sahib asked for a cup of black coffee. He was wearing his iconic, impeccably white, starched kurta and looked as suave as always.

Now, Mehboobaji started talking to me again (but now in whispers) about how the present dispensation was to be blamed for the unrest, and how misgovernance was, in fact, at the root of anger amongst the youth as opposed to the political sentiment.

Molvi saheb (distracted and visibly curious at the subject of the conversation), spilled coffee all over his bright, spotlessly white kurta.

Mehboobaji, not amused and obviously exhausted with all the "making people in Delhi weep" work, dozed off, and I spent the rest of the flight wondering what had just happened and why.

Mehboobaji spent the rest of the year atop government cars provided to her as part of her security detail with placards "seeking justice" for the victims of that unrest  squarely and solely blaming then CM Omar Abdullah and the state government for what was happening.

There was a rather conspicuous and deliberate reluctance to point any fingers towards New Delhi in her characteristically melodramatic performances  at city centres, outside the civil secretariat (which she actually locked with a padlock!) and in front of flashing cameras.

The general impression at the time was that the Congress was indispensable in J&Ks coalition politics, and hence PDP never took the battle to their doorstep in Delhi.

At least 40 civilians have lost their lives in an unprecedented, ruthless clampdown in the Valley.

She didnt leave anything to the imagination. She was out there  screaming, sloganeering and re-inventing street theatrics everywhere she could.

There were placards with pictures of the victims who had lost their lives, close-up shots of the young ones  the morbid art of political propaganda she had truly mastered from the days of visiting mourning families of killed militants (ironically the ones that make her "feel ashamed as a Muslim now").

She wasnt prepared to let go of this, or any other opportunity to inch closer to political power.

When I formally joined politics a year or so later, I realised how her politics was driven by this ruthless obsession with personal power  driven by a palpable sense of entitlement.

The mask of a simple, pro-people Kashmiri woman who visited the homes of militants after their encounters was worked to seamless perfection.

"Baji"  the brand of this imaginatively conceived theatrical caricature  became the USP of her partys public outreach.

Every single tragedy in this grief-stricken land of apparently perpetual misery provided an opportunity to jump on car hoods, take out the placards and blame Omar Abdullah.

She gained traction in the local media  which is driven understandably by the popular sentiment  and came to be seen as a leader who would prefer her principles to power.

Alas, we were in for an exceptionally rude awakening in 2015, when she led her partys coalition negotiations with right-wing BJP  a party she had personally sought votes against in the recent elections.

When unprecedented floods ravaged the Valley in 2014 and devastated more than a million people, she along with her trusted lieutenants flung into action and used this unimaginable calamity to  yet again  target Omar Abdullah and his government.

The devastation of the floods was attributed to the state government, in general, and Omar Abdullah, in particular.

Her motley crew of satirists and ever-sarcastic pundits, including Haseeb Drabu and Naeem Akhtar, wasted no time in availing of this opportunity to unleash a vicious, personal propaganda against Omar.

They went to the extent of using a senior bureaucrat to write an anonymous column in a leading local newspaper to criticise the administration he was a part of  for the governments response to the natural calamity.

The same officer was then handsomely rewarded when the PDP-BJP government came to power. (On a side note, the then government sent a legal notice to the leading local newspaper about this anonymous column, asking for clarifications as per law  for the identity of the officer to be revealed. The officer had broken a number of laws and violated his oath of secrecy and propriety.)

Mehbooba, Haseeb and Naeem were outraged and called this a "vicious attack on the freedom of the media" and expressed their "solidarity" with the newspaper.

Today, as at least 40 civilians have lost their lives in an unprecedented, ruthless clampdown in the Valley, Muftis government has ordered police raids on the printing presses of all local newspapers and seized thousands of printed copies and printing plates.

This is one of those rare occasions when irony strolls into the realm of poetry!

As the Valley lit up in anger after Burhan Wanis killing, Mehbooba Mufti chose to remain invisible for the first few days  perhaps led to believe that remaining invisible would allow her to escape the optics of culpability.

She has a team of media analysts and consultants now  all individually and collectively known to have spectacular double standards when it comes to such situations.

When Mehbooba finally came out to speak to the people in a televised address, she read from a script that spelled disaster.

She blamed vested interests and "agent provocateurs" for manipulating the young protestors and simultaneously appealed to all political entities to help her in normalising the situation, while her party simultaneously continued to shift blame towards them.

Expectedly, she tried to distance herself from Burhans targeted killing  one she (as the home minister of the state) was obviously in loop of at every stage.

She tried to choke a couple of times during her address but she couldnt  no matter how hard she tried.

The one who was "ashamed as a Muslim" over the Pampore attack on a bus ferrying CRPF troops was suddenly at ease with her conscience for heading a government response to protests that had resulted in a bloodbath.

The one who had made Sonia Gandhi weep in 2010 failed to bring herself to shed a single tear today as she sat in front of the camera with a picture of her late father in the frame to gain sympathy.

As telecommunications have been snapped, cable networks taken down and almost all local newspapers gagged, visiting doctors from New Delhi term the harrowing situation in Kashmir as unprecedented and unimaginable.

With at least 40 civilians dead and nearly 2,500 injured with pellet and bullet injuries, hundreds of young men and women have suffered irreparable damage to their eyes due to the wanton, indiscriminate use of allegedly "non-lethal" weapons.

More eye-trauma surgeries have been performed in Kashmir in one week than in the last six years combined. The tourist resort of Pahalgam has been placed under curfew for the first time in Kashmirs tumultuous history as official instructions were sent out to bar people from Friday congregational prayers across the Valley.

Harrowing tales of excesses and persecution are pouring in from south Kashmir and other areas of the Valley as Mehbooba Mufti continues to blame the protestors for protesting, and young men and women for being shot in their eyes!

As an opposition leader, Mehbooba Mufti held the incumbent chief minister personally responsible for every single loss of life and demanded his resignation once a week on average. Today, as far as she is concerned, the blame lies with the protestors for protesting and the victims for getting themselves killed.

The one who allegedly made Sonia Gandhi weep in 2010 has failed to make her alliance partner and current prime minister, Narendra Modi to even acknowledge the political sentiment in the Valley  leave alone shedding a tear for the victims!
Pakistan's social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was killed allegedly by her brother in Multan in Punjab province, becoming the latest victim of "honour killings" that plague the country.

The 26-year-old actor-cum-model was killed in central district of Multan last night, police said today.

Police said she was killed by her brother named Wasim, who fled the spot soon after the incident.

"She was suffocated to death by strangulation. It seems to be a case of honour killing but we are investigating it," district police chief Azhar Akram said.

She had received threats from her family to quit modeling and her provocative appearances on social media. Her brother had been threatening her over her Facebook posts and videos, said the police.

I miss u... ???? #qandeelbaloch #missu #mwah A photo posted by Qandeel Baloch (@qandeelbalochofficial) on May 20, 2016 at 10:01pm PDT

Three weeks ago, she had written to the interior minister, the director general of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and the senior superintendent of Islamabad, asking them to provide security to her, Dawn reported.

Qandeel Baloch

She had said her life is in danger and that she is being threatened via calls. Qandeel reportedly had no security apparatus installed at her home.

Qandeel - a media sensation and unbelievably bold - was also considered highly controversial. She shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting for the camera went viral.

She became famous through her tireless self-promotion and suggestive "selfies" posted on social media and amassed tens of thousands of followers.

Twitter mourns Baloch's killing:

And Indians mocking Pakistani society over #QandeelBaloch 'honour' killing, it happens in our backyard too. ALL THE TIME.  Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) July 16, 2016

#QandeelBaloch was larger than life, in your face, unapologetic about her ambitions and her womanhood. Goodbye, you crazy, beautiful woman  Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) July 16, 2016

RIP #QandeelBaloch, just killed by brother in shameful 'honour killing' https://t.co/NS42lPqNMs  Sarah Baxter (@SarahbaxterSTM) July 16, 2016

They will kill #QandeelBaloch for bringing bad name to Pakistani society. But will keep honoring Hafiz Saeed as if he brings Olympic medals.  Rofl Peace Gandhi (@RoflGandhi_) July 16, 2016

Whatever personal opinions people had on #QandeelBaloch - there is no justification for murder. Her brother should be hung!  Maheen Taseer (@MaheenTaseer) July 16, 2016
Ukraine counts on new projects with the European Investment Bank (EIB) in infrastructure and energy efficiency, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk reported after a meeting with EIB Vice-President Laszlo Baranyay on Friday.

"We have agreed about the continued support of Ukraine by the EIB, in particular in new projects in the field of infrastructure and energy, which means new roads and winterized schools," the finance minister wrote on Facebook.

According to him, during the meeting they also discussed the current state of the implementation of ongoing projects.

According to the information on the EIB website, three projects for Ukraine are currently waiting for approval by the EIB board. These are a EUR 150 million project with Ukrzaliznytsia for the railway modernization, a EUR400 million project with Ukrhydroenergo on Kaniv pumped storage hydro station and a EUR200 million project for the development of local transport to 20 cities.

This week, the Ukrainian government has approved the concept of Energy Efficiency Fund, which is planned to be launched in 2017 with the support of international financial institutions.

EIB Senior Corporate Banker Jean-Jacques Soulacroup reported earlier the European Investment Bank (EIB) intends to invest about EUR 800 million in projects in Ukraine in 2016, while in future mulls the annual funding of up to EUR 1 billion for the country. Last year, the EIB provided loans worth EUR 1.2 billion to Ukraine.
Ukraine has increased its daily order on Saturday for the import of natural gas from Slovakia by 4.3 times, from 2.048 million cubic meters to 8.796 million cubic meters, the Slovak gas transmission system operator Eustream has reported.

On July 1-14, import of gas through Slovakia made 0.5 million cubic meters, and on July 15 it was 2.06 million cubic meters, according to the latest data from Eustream.

As was reported, Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev said on June 30 that the state holding was planning to start importing gas for pumping it into underground storage facilities at its own expense in the first ten days of July and at the expense of funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the last two weeks of July.

Naftogaz's recent reports say that the minimum stocks in the storage facilities prior to the 2016/2017 heating season should be 14.5 billion cubic meters of gas, which corresponds to their replenishments from April by 6.1 billion cubic meters.

Ukraine in June 2016 imported a mere 19.7 million cubic meters of gas, imports in May were 96.4 million cubic meters.
Specialists from the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Science led by Oleksandr Ruvyn and representatives of the Ukrainian Justice Ministry have taken part in an investigative experiment staged as a part of expert analysis of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing crash on July 17, 2014.

"An international investigative team [comprising Ukraine, Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Malaysia] decided to conduct an arena test for studying technical causes of the plane crash. The aforesaid arena test was conducted under the supervision of Justice Ministry representatives and institute experts in collaboration with representatives of the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia," a report published on the institute website said.

The experiment engaged the following competent entities: Yangel Pivdenne Design Bureau (Dnipropetrovsk), Makarov Production Association (Pavlohrad), State Research Institute of Chemical Products (Shostka), Promin (Kyiv), Antonov Design Bureau (Kyiv), Artem Machine Building Company, Ivan Kozhedub Air Force University (Kharkiv) and Kyiv Polytechnic Institute National Technical University of Ukraine (Kyiv).

Everything necessary for modeling the explosion which caused the MH17 flight crash in the first arena test staged in Ukraine was made in Pavlohrad. Original live Buk missiles were assigned for the testing. A cockpit mockup and target layout elements were deployed on two separate platforms. Experts installed photo and video cameras and 3D scanning devices in the same spots.

"No such experiments had been conducted in the territory of our country before, and only cooperation between Ukrainian and foreign experts made them possible," the institute said in the report.

The warhead and the missile blew up strictly on schedule, it said. The test had a number of objectives, such as to visualize the impact of the warhead and missile explosion on the plane hull, to either confirm or refute the interposition of the plane and the missile at the moment of explosion (the rendezvous point) suggested by prior calculations, to determine the zone of spread of warhead and missile fragments, their number and density of their impact on the modeled cockpit, to study a change in the trajectory of fragments after their encounter with the plane hull, to determine the degree of deformation of fragments, etc.

"The information obtained in the arena test will be used to specify the place from where the missile which downed the Boeing 777 was launched and its trajectory," the institute said.

The experts also focused on other issues, which had been previously regarded as secondary, such as studies of the blast wave's nature, the search for explosive residue and analysis of the damage similar to that suffered by the plane.

"Conclusions drawn in the joint work of experts will make a substantial contribution to the international investigative group's inquiry into the deaths of people onboard the Malaysian plane," the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Science said.

The Boeing 777 of Malaysia Airlines en route from Amsterdam (the Netherlands) to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was downed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. It had 298 people onboard; all of them died in the crash.

The Dutch Safety Board commission investigating the plane crash posted a report on October 13, 2015. The report said the plane was downed with a surface-to-air missile fired from a Buk anti-aircraft missile system.
Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip sees the outcomes of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission's work in Moldova on July 5 to 15, 2016 as successful.

"This was the first and successful test. We have received all that we wanted to receive from this test. If I earlier said I hoped very much that Moldova would have a program with the IMF, now I almost have no doubts about that, I am firmly convinced that the government will have a cooperation program with the IMF," Filip said at a news briefing on Friday.

IMF mission head Ivanna Vladkova-Hollar said the mission members had worked productively for two weeks with the Moldovan government, National Bank, members of the parliament, donors, the business community and civil society.

Discussions on a few outstanding issues will continue from Washington, she said.

Filip in response thanked the mission for "a good discussion and confidence in the government."

Only some technical issues remain unresolved before signing a new cooperation program with the IMF, which will be settled in the near future, he said.

"Everybody is talking about money from the IMF, but it plays a secondary role for us. What counts most is reforms that the IMF will support within the framework of its program with the government. They are intended to stabilize the economic situation in Moldova. We have no other option. Through cooperating with the IMF, we can improve our economic condition," he said.

Asked by journalists when the Moldovan government may sign a deal with the IMF, Filip replied, "This is a briefing that doesn't envision answers to questions."

The IMF permanent mission in Moldova reported that the new three-year arrangement under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility (EFF/ECF) in the amount of about $180 million would be aimed at supporting Moldova's economic reform program.

The IMF mission and the Moldovan government have made significant progress in the negotiations on a new deal, and the discussions have entered a new phase, it said.

The discussions with the Moldovan government will continue from Washington in the coming days, it said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has expressed concern over the coup attempt taking place in Turkey and ordered law-enforcers to step up security at airports and on Ukraine's southern border.

"I instructed the Foreign Ministry and our embassy in Turkey to take care of Ukrainian citizens on the Turkish territory. I also ordered security forces to tighten control at airports and on the southern border of Ukraine," the president said on his Facebook page on Saturday.
None of the citizens of Ukraine who are staying in Turkey has been hurt during an attempted military coup in Istanbul, Interfax-Ukraine learned at the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine.

"According to the information from our embassy and consulate general, none of our citizens was hurt in the attempted military coup in Turkey yesterday," press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa told Interfax-Ukraine on Saturday.

She also said that many Ukrainians residing in Turkey tried to leave the country on a flight from Istanbul to Ukraine, but failed to do so due to the closure of the airport.

"Our consulate general is currently placing them in a hotel. Our consuls are working around the clock, they are helping to place them so that they should be safe," Betsa said.
The purchase will give Avast heft as it competes with the likes of Microsoft, which at 15 per cent is nearly neck-and-neck with Avast in global market share for antivirus applications.

Prague: Avast Software, maker of the world's most popular computer antivirus protection, doesn't see any obstacles to completing its $1.3 billion acquisition of AVG Technologies but it will probably delay its expected IPO until 2019.

Prague-based Avast, whose software has more than 230 million users, announced on July 7 that it plans to buy AVG for $25 per share, a 33 per cent premium to the previous day's closing price. It expects to complete the deal by around the end of September.

Avast CEO Vincent Steckler told Reuters on Friday that he saw no obstacles to completing the AVG deal but the work involved in integrating its competitor would probably push back any plans for a long-anticipated stock offering.

The company had previously said it could consider selling shares as early as 2017.

"We will really focus on building up mobile and building up the SMB (small and medium-sized business) and corporates and that is why there might be another acquisition eventually to help that area," Steckler said in an interview.

"So I would say this acquisition has delayed an IPO by a year-plus. 2018 would probably be the earliest it would be a consideration; 2019 would be much more likely."

Avast has long looked to tie up with AVG, another software company with Czech roots started around a quarter-century ago as the central European country shifted to free markets after decades of communism.

The purchase will give Avast heft as it competes with the likes of Microsoft, which at 15 per cent is nearly neck-and-neck with Avast in global market share for antivirus applications, according to statistics firm Statista.

Steckler said this was the fourth time in three years that Avast had made an unsolicited offer for AVG, which will continue to run as a standalone brand after the acquisition.

The combined company, which will have more than 400 million users, would initially derive about 70 per cent of revenue from its consumer products, mainly paid subscriptions for its software and fees earned from search providers. The rest will come from the mobile and business offers, which it wants to grow faster.

"I think we need to get closer to 50-50 (revenue) split before we have a good story in the U.S. stock markets," Steckler said.

Avast pulled a planned stock listing in 2012 due to market conditions. In 2014, CVC Capital Partners bought a stake in Avast that valued the company at $1 billion. Steckler estimated the value of the firm has since doubled.

Avast earned revenue of around $285 million in 2015, with a margin on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 69-70 per cent. The company forecasts revenue to grow 15-17 percent in 2016.

Steckler said Avast's consumer business grew around 19 per cent in the first half of 2016 while AVG's stagnated, although the rival has stronger mobile performance.

"We have got a (revenue) core to really stabilise the company and throw off a lot of cash, and then the future is basically mobile," he said.
Line opened at 4,900 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 48.5 per cent above the initial public offering (IPO) price of 3,300 yen.

Japan's Line Corp saw its shares rocket on their Tokyo debut on Friday, extending a strong start in New York the day before, and taking the value of the messaging app firm to $8.6 billion in the year's biggest tech IPO.

The operator of the world's seventh most-used messaging app listed first in New York in a move widely seen as a sign of determination to challenge global peers and eventually expand beyond strongholds of Japan and Southeast Asia.

However, Line's 218 million global monthly active users pale in comparison to the 1 billion of market-leader WhatsApp and 900 million of Messenger, both owned by Facebook Inc. Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat, which dominates in China, has 697 million.

"We're providing the same kind of services as Facebook and Google, the internet giants of the world," Chief Executive Takeshi Idezawa said at a Friday news conference. "Fighting in the same digital arena as them is extremely important for us."

Line opened at 4,900 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, 48.5 per cent above the initial public offering (IPO) price of 3,300 yen, thanks to demand from investors hungry for a rare chance to invest in a tech startup. The stock closed at 4,345 yen.

The Tokyo offering came after Line sold about 70 per cent more shares in New York which closed 26.6 per cent above the IPO.

"That was a very smooth start," said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief executive of financial adviser Investrust. However, its inability to break the psychologically nicer-sounding 5,000 yen before falling back might blunt investor enthusiasm, he said.

Line launched its eponymous app to overcome downed networks in the aftermath of an earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and quickly emerged as Japan's dominant mobile messaging platform. But the firm itself is controlled by South Korean online media provider Naver Corp whose stake is now 80.8 percent.

"Line's floating stock is limited, so despite the firm's large market capitalisation, the shares could be very volatile," said Investrust's Fukunaga.

Line earns the bulk of revenue from games and the sale of emojis and electronic stickers. But like Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google, advertising is a key source of income, making up more than a third of Line's revenue.

"We have a good balance of revenue sources, and stickers and games are a great business for us," Idezawa told Reuters in an interview on Friday, "But advertising will be a very important growth-driver."

Japan and Thailand are especially ripe for increasing ad-based revenue because of their relatively low rate of digital advertising, Idezawa said. Line's users are mainly in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia.

"It's getting saturated in the Japanese market. The question about growth at home is how much Line can sell ads to increase its profit margin," said Masashi Oda, general manager of strategic investment at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.

"Whether Line can expand beyond its core market is key. In the U.S., there is much more competition," he said.

Last year, revenue and other operating income at Line rose about 28.3 percent to 120.88 billion yen ($1.14 billion). But it reported a net loss of 7.97 billion yen, compared with profit of 2 billion yen in 2014.

"I expect net profit to be around 27 billion yen next year," said a Tokyo-based fund manager.

"The current share price is about 36 times profit, a bit higher than rivals such as 27 to 28 times at Facebook. So for me, Line's shares have already hit my target price."

Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Nomura were among underwriters for the IPO.
Kyiv hopes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government will restore public peace in the country in a democratic and legal way.

"In connection with the attempted military coup in Turkey, Ukraine expresses its strong support for the people and the democratically elected authorities of the Turkish Republic. We hope that the president and the government will quickly restore public peace and stability based on respect for democratic values and Turkey's laws," the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine said in a statement issued on Saturday morning.

The Foreign Ministry also expressed condolences over the victims of the uprising in Turkey.
The government is hoping that the tax reform legislation would make the country an easier place to do business and fuel investment.

New Delhi: The BJP-led central government held talks with its main political rival, the Congress party, to settle differences over tax reform legislation on Friday, and sources in the two groups with direct knowledge of the matter said a consensus appeared possible in a parliament session starting next week.

The proposed reform, India's biggest revenue shake-up since independence in 1947, seeks to replace a slew of central taxes and levies in 29 states, transforming the nation of 1.2 billion people into a customs union.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha, has reached out to the Congress to end its opposition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill which has stalled in parliament for years.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters the government was trying to resolve differences with the Congress party, which include its demands to cap the tax rate at around 18 percent in the proposed bill.

The government has said it does not want to be bound to a particular rate written into the law as any future changes would require a further amendment of the constitution.

"We are trying to build a consensus," Jaitley said after meeting top Congress leaders ahead of the monsoon session of parliament beginning on Monday, where the government plans to discuss the bill.

Under pressure to deliver on economic growth and jobs, the government is hoping that the tax reform legislation would make the country an easier place to do business and fuel investment.

The GST bill could add 0.8 percentage point to India's economic growth in 3-5 years, HSBC said in a research note.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said discussions had been held with the finance minister and parliament affairs minister on the bill but declined to go into specifics.

A source in the Congress party, however, said the party was ready to support the bill if the government committed to capping the tax rate later even if it did not make it part of the law immediately.

Despite deep-seated political differences, the Congress party gave the government its support to a landmark bankruptcy bill at the last session.
Mumbai: Pooja Hegde has got some major trust issues when it comes to her Mohenjo Daro co-star Hrithik Roshan. In case youre wondering why, well, in a video, the actor himself explained it clearly to his fans.

Apparently, on the set, Hrithik Roshan pranked Pooja so bad that she decided never to trust the food items suggested by him. It all started when the actor offered a protein bar to Pooja one fine day.

But this so called protein bar was actually a piece of chalk. But Hrithik nicely convinced Pooja otherwise and the actress even took a big bite of it, only later to realize what really has happened.

Taking out the chalk piece, Hrithik told Pooja, This is the answer to all your problems but dont have the entire thing. Give me half. Taste it first, if you like it then you can have it. Normally, protein bars dont taste very well. So try it first.

When Pooja expressed her hesitation, Hrithik went ahead and convinced her by saying, All good things that you eat, look weird but are good for you. All the bad things look great and the good things actually look bad. So come on!

Trusting Hrithik on his words, Pooja obediently took a bite of that chalk, trying very hard to kind of enjoy it.

Well, we are sure that was fun. Good one, Hrithik!
Prevention said that the risk of transmission is low.

Miami: The outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, blamed for a surge in birth defects, has likely reached its peak in Latin America and the epidemic should be over within three years, researchers said today.

The study by scientists at Imperial College London appears in the US journal Science.

"The current explosive epidemic will burn itself out due to a phenomenon called herd immunity," said Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial's School of Public Health.

"Because the virus is unable to infect the same person twice thanks to the immune system generating antibodies to kill it the epidemic reaches a stage where there are too few people left to infect for transmission to be sustained." This should happen within two to three years, he added.

Then, this herd immunity "will likely delay the next large Zika epidemic for more than a decade."

The virus, though first discovered in 1947, largely took public health officials by surprise when it began spreading through the Americas last year and causing birth defects.

The rise in infants born with irreversible malformations has been most acute in Brazil, where some 7,438 suspected microcephaly cases have been reported as of May and 1,326 cases confirmed, the study found.

Typically, Brazil saw fewer than 200 annual cases of microcephaly in which the infant is born with an unusually small head and brain.

Zika infections have been reported in dozens of countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America.

The United States has seen a rise in travel-associated cases, but so far no local transmission has been observed. Ferguson also warned that efforts to slow the spread of Zika, by increasing mosquito-control measures, could actually prolong the epidemic.

And efforts underway to design a vaccine which officials have said could take several years may come to fruition too late, he said.

"If our projections are correct, cases will have dropped substantially by the end of next year, if not sooner," said Ferguson.

"This means by the time we have vaccines ready to be tested, there may not be enough cases of Zika in the community to test if the vaccine works."

Amid concerns about the potential spread of Zika during the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a separate report out yesterday by the US Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention said that the risk of transmission is low.
People in China's Shandong province have found an alternative for sunscreen and hat.

Chilling by the sea, wearing your hat and applying sunscreen is the classic combination. However, the holiday makers in China's Shandong province have found an alternative for all this.

(Photo: Youtube/ Screen grab)

Opting out of tanning all the people visiting the beaches of Qingdao are seen wearing Face-Kinis.

(Photo: Youtube/ Screen grab)

This protective item is available in various colours and is very similar to a balaclava. It is made out of waterproof fabrics.

(Photo: Youtube/ Screen grab)

This facemask might look like a drastic measure to escape from the UV rays but it is very popular among people on these shores and they have been using it since few years now.

(Photo: Youtube/ Screen grab)

While fashion keeps changing, this item has remain constant in fashion. Face-Kinis were invented in 2004 and has remain constant in the market for almost a decade years now.

(Photo: Youtube/ Screen grab)

The mask covers your whole face leaving your eyes, nose and mouth and is very effective during the scorching heat of the region, which usually touches mid-thrities in the summer.

One piece of this mask costs between 1.70 to 2.80.
Hyderabad: A six-year-old boy died on Saturday during treatment at a hospital here, four days after he was allegedly injured in a fight with another boy at his school, police said.

The deceased boy studied at Promising Scholars School at Tolichowki, said Inspector K Srinivas of Banjara Hills police station.

According to his parents, another boy who is two years older than their child had beaten him up on the school premises on July 12.

"The parents observed swelling on the boy's private parts at night and admitted him to Niloufer Hospital. He underwent a surgery there but passed away this morning," said Srinivas.

The body was handed over to the parents after autopsy. The police have registered a case of culpable homicide against the older boy and are conducting investigation.
Pune: Pune businessman Datta Phuge, who shot into the limelight after buying a 'gold shirt' worth over Rs one crore some years back, was killed by his sons friend to recover Rs 1.5 lakh he owed them, according to reports.

48-year-old Phuge was allegedly bludgeoned to death in front of his son on Friday.

Datta Phuge, the businessman from the industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad in the district, had become the talk of the town after he presented himself a 'gold shirt' weighing about 3.5 kg and worth Rs 1.27 crore in 2012.

Police said they have arrested nine accused based on the statement of Phuges 22-year-old son, Shubham.

The court remanded all the accused in police custody till July 21. Dighi police produced nine persons in Khadaki court and magistrate J C Dhengale remanded seven of them in police custody. Two were sent in judicial custody as their identification parade was yet to be done.

Amol Pathare, Shailesh Walke, Vishal Parkhe, Nivrutti Walke, Prem Dholpuria, Atul Mohite and Sushant Pawar were remanded in police custody, said the investigating officer Navnath Ghogare.

During the arguments, prosecutor Kishor Shahane demanded 14-day police custody. The police had to find out the main conspirator and the exact motive, Shahane told the court.

Shahane also told the court that police wanted to recover the weapons used by the accused and the clothes they were wearing at the time of the incident. "The accused are not cooperating and giving vague answers," the prosecutor said, adding that some of the accused who were on the run were also to be traced.

B A Aloor, one of the defence lawyers, argued that police had seized the weapons from the spot and the main conspirator too had been arrested, so there was no need for police remand.

Read: Pune man famous for his 'gold shirt' bludgeoned to death in front of son

At least 12 people attacked Phuge at an open ground in Dighi area here at around 11.30 pm on Thursday night with stones and a sharp weapon, killing him on the spot.

"As per preliminary information, Phuge and his son were invited by one of the suspects, who know each other, to celebrate a birthday," Dighi police station inspector Navnath Ghogare said.

According to police, one of the accused identified as Atul Mohite called Shubham and asked him to bring his father for a friends birthday party. The accused also asked Shubham to pick up 10 packets of biryani on the way. Shubham conveyed the message to his father and went to pick up food in his car.

When Shubham reached the spot, he saw Mohite and others attacking his father and he started screaming for help. But, Datta Phuge died on the spot. Phuge's son, who witnessed his father's murder, was spared by the attackers, police said.

Datta Phuge, the husband of a former corporator from Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, was into money lending and chit fund business.

In 2012, Phuge presented himself the glittering shirt made out of gold and as per the local jeweller who had crafted the piece, as many as 15 goldsmiths from Bengal had worked for 16 hours a day over a period of two weeks to make the shirt ordered by him.
Coimbatore: A 46-year-old businessman, allegedly abducted by some persons in Tirupur district, was let off after he told them that he was deep in debt and could pay them only a small fraction of the ransom amount they demanded.

Six persons, disguised as policemen, allegedly accosted Arumugam as he was returning home last night and took him inside a car on the pretext of an enquiry. They then sought details of his property and demanded that he pay Rs 6 crore as ransom, police said.

However, when the businessman told the accused that he was already in debt of Rs 2 crore and can pay only Rs 5 lakh, they tied him up and dropped him near the Salem-Villupuram border.

Arumugam managed to free himself, reached a tollgate this morning and contacted a nearby police station, police said, adding he has lodged a complaint claiming that some persons had earlier threatened to abduct him.
Surat: In a frontal attack on BJP, Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel on Friday alleged that the party wanted to scrap the reservation system, and EBC quota for general category in Gujarat was the first step in this regard.

Speaking to reporters after a mega road-show throughout the city, Hardik, who was released from prison on Friday said he wanted reservations for Patidar/Patel community under OBC quota and not under the Economically Backward Class (EBC) category.

"What is the meaning of giving reservation under EBC quota when it is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution? BJP is ruling in many states, so why have they started this from Gujarat? It is obvious that BJP wants to abolish the present reservation system.

"I am totally against the abolition of reservation, as I firmly believe it is the only means to uplift those who are left behind. We also want reservation under OBC quota, which is in the Constitution. EBC is nothing but a lollipop," he said.

The Gujarat government led by Anandiben Patel brought in the 10 per cent EBC quota for the unreserved category following the Patel community's agitation for quota.

Hardik on Friday said he would continue his agitation. He also took on the RSS, saying it was trying to project its opponents as traitors.

"Some people in Nagpur think they can run the country from there. These people think only they are patriots and all those who are against them are traitors. I was labelled atraitor for seeking reservation for my community. People who fight for their community are traitors to them," Hardik said.

Asked about Patel community's role in the 2017 Assembly polls in Gujarat, Hardik said the community would decide who comes to power.
37-year-old Pema, a former minister of Tourism and Water Resources, is an MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency. (Photo: Twitter)

Itanagar: In a dramatic turnaround in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party on Saturday replaced Chief Minister Nabam Tuki by choosing a new leader Pema Khandu, who staked claim to power on the basis of support of 45 party MLAs along with two Independents.

In fast-changing developments, Khaliko Pul, rebel-turned chief minister, who was unseated by the Supreme Court, returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs.

Hours ahead of a scheduled floor test in the Assembly, which Tuki was directed by Governor Tathagat Roy to take, the

Congress Legislature Party met and elected 37-year-old Pema Khandu, son of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu, as its new leader.

Tuki proposed the name of Khandu, which was unanimously accepted by 44 MLAs who were present. Speaker Nabam Rebia did not attend the meeting while ousted chief minister Khaliko

Pul attended the meeting with the rebel MLAs.

In the 60-member House with an effective strength of 58, Congress now claims the support of 47 MLAs, including two independents.

Ahead of the CLP meeting, Tuki met the Governor and told him of his intention to resign as CLP chief and as chief minister and of the Congress party's decision to elect a new leader.

He told reporters in the presence of Khandu that in view of these developments he told the Governor that he would not be taking a floor test.

Khandu also told the media that he has staked claim to power with the Governor on the basis of support of 47 MLAs, including two independents, and that he should be sworn in.

He said the Governor has not given any commitment yet as he told them that he has to go through records and process their claim.

"Right now the Governor has not commented (on their claim). No time has been given for oath taking," said Khandu, who has been a minister in the state earlier.

Saturday's developments have come as a major boost for the Congress in the state which was rocked by dissidence since November last year, which led to the toppling of its government and ushering in of a new one headed by Pul with the backing of rebels and outside support of 11 BJP MLAs.

Khandu said, "Now there are no differences and the Congress is united at the intervention of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi."

Tuki, who went to the Governor along with Khandu and handed over his resignation, acknowledged that there were problems in the party and compared them to differences within a home.

"I was repeatedly asked in the last few days and I used to say that Congress is strong in Arunachal Pradesh and is united. Now 47 out of 60 MLAs are with us," he said.

The outgoing chief minister said the BJP sought to break Arunachal Pradesh and divide and finish the Congress party.

Asked about Assam minister Himanta Biswas' statement that the north east would become Congress-free, Tuki shot back saying, "how can a leader in a democracy talking of decimating another party. That shows BJP's intolerance of opposition."

On his election as CLP leader, Khandu said "it's a big challenge as expectations are high".
The Union Minister said he just wished that there was a political stability in Arunachal Pradesh as it is a sensitive and important state. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday sought to distance BJP from developments in Arunachal Pradesh where the Congress made a dramatic turnaround by changing its leadership in a bid to save its government.

"The BJP and the central government have nothing to do with whatever is happening in Arunachal Pradesh. The political instability has been happening in last seven months due to the division within the Congress.

"We have nothing to do with the internal matter of Congress," Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home, told reporters in Delhi.

In a dramatic turnaround in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party replaced Chief Minister Nabam Tuki by choosing a new leader in Pema Khandu, who staked claim to power on the basis of support of 45 party MLAs along with two Independents.

Read: Arunachal floor test cancelled, Pema Khandu set to take over as new CM

In fast-changing developments, Khaliko Pul, rebel-turned chief minister, who was unseated by the Supreme Court, returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs.

"Change of Chief Minister in Arunachal Pradesh is an internal matter of Congress, BJP has nothing to do with it. It was not a BJP government. BJP only supported the government.

Whatever has happened it was due to the tussle over leadership among Congress leaders," Rijiju, MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said.

The Union Minister said he just wished that there was a political stability in Arunachal Pradesh as it is a sensitive and important state.
Employees of the Main Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine together with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have exposed First Deputy Head of the State Labor Service of Ukraine as a bribe taker, the press secretary of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Larysa Sarhan has said.

Sarhan wrote on her his page on Facebook on Saturday, that UAH 100,000, which were given to the official as a bribe, were confiscated during a search.

At a briefing in Kyiv on Saturday, SBU Chief Vasyl Hrytsak disclosed the detainee's name - First Deputy Head of the State Labor Service Mykhailo Bardonov.

"At night, First Deputy Head of the State Labor Service M. Bardonov received a UAH 100,000 bribe," Hrytsak said at a briefing in Kyiv.

According to the SBU chief, during the search they seized a total of UAH 109,000, $153,000 and an expensive watch.

"Ten searches are taking place as part of this... Currently, the searches are conducted at the head of the State Labor Service," he said.

Bardonov has been detained pursuant to Article 208 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The circumstances of the offense and other persons involved in this crime are being established, the Prosecutor General's Office said.
Chennai: Pointing out that movies of late portray mainly obscenity, violence, victory of evil over good and other negative themes, the Madras high court said the cinema industry, especially, the leading actors, should think over before accepting any role as to the impact it is likely to cause on the society in general, as well as on youngsters and their fans.

Gone are the days of actors like MGR and Sivaji Ganesan, whose films and the characters portrayed by them went a long way in reforming the society and in inculcating moral values in the minds of the public, the judge pointed out.

Furthermore, Many social evils and recent crimes are, no doubt, the effect of recent films. Youths are made to believe that they can win over an urban girl by constant stalking and when they fail in their attempt, they are unable to withstand the frustration and they resort to committing crimes.

Actors should also avoid drinking and smoking in their movies so as to prevent their fans from following them, said Justice N. Kirubakaran while passing interim orders in favour of producer S.Thanu in respect of his Tamil film Kabali, starring superstar Rajinikanth, scheduled to be released on July 22.

The judge said the cinema industry has a reciprocal obligation to society. Cinema industry had done yeoman service in many ways by making movies highlighting human and moral values, patriotism etc., But, the hard reality is that it has become a thing of the past.

When television serials were bent upon destroying family values by portraying women as villis, the movies, of late, portray mainly obscenity, violence, victory of evil over good and other negative themes. Some cinema songs were loaded with negative messages and sung by young iconic heroes.

The judge said thugs and criminal elements were eulogized as heroes.

This court, in the judgment rendered in Tamizh Nadu Brahmin Association Vs Central Board of Film Certification had decried the use of negative titles to the movies, mindless violence, brutality in scenes and negative message being disseminated through movies.

While making a film, it was the bounden duty of cinema industry and

those involved in making of films, especially, leading actors, to ensure that it

was made not only to fetch high returns, but also to serve society. In view of the present day scenario in cinema industry, the impact of cinema on the masses and circulation of large amount of money in the business, a form of self-regulation is necessary for the cinema industry in the line of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Therefore, the Centre should respond with regard to suggestion made by the court to cast a social responsibility/obligation similar to Corporate Social Responsibility on cinema industry, the judge said.
The complainant alleged that his family had killed a calf and that his brother Jaan Mohammad was seen slitting the throat of the animal. (Photo: Representational Image/PTI)

Lucknow: Ten months after a mob in Dadri killed Mohammad Akhlaq over rumours that he had slaughtered a cow, his family faces prosecution for alleged cow slaughter following a neighbour's complaint, police said on Saturday.

Police registered a case of cow slaughter against Mohammad Akhlaq's family on Friday following a court order, said police officer Daljeet Singh. The court acted on a forensic report that said the meat found in a dustbin outside the family's home was beef. Yusuf Saifi, the family's attorney, said he would challenge the court's order.

The court is hearing a petition filed by the neighbour and backed by those accused of Akhlaq's murder alleging that his family had killed a calf and that his brother Jaan Mohammad was seen slitting the throat of the animal. It names seven members of the family, including Akhlaq's wife and mother.

The killing of Mohammed Akhlaq last September sparked furious debate about religious tolerance in India. Akhlaq's family left the village after the attack and is living in New Delhi.
Chennai: In a major relief to producer Kalaipuli Thanu, the Madras high court has restrained 169 licensed Internet Service Providers (ISP) from giving access to rogue websites and other similar websites indulging in online piracy and infringement of copyright pertaining to Tamil film Kabali, starring superstar Rajinikanth, and more particularly, prohibit them from exhibiting, releasing, projecting, screening or in any manner providing platforms for downloading the film, slated for release on July 22.

Justice N.Kirubakaran granted the interim injunction while ordering notice, returnable by August 8, to the Union and state governments, TRAI and 169 licensed ISPs on a petition filed by Thanu. In the past, the petitioner is said to have suffered heavy loss due to online and video piracy of his films Theri and Kanithan and his apprehension regarding illegal downloading and streaming of his upcoming movie, by rogue websites is well-founded. Hence, this court is convinced to grant an order of injunction, the judge said.

He said when the details furnished by the petitioner categorically prove that illegal downloading and streaming of newly released movies would cause heavy loss to the producer, the apprehension of the petitioner, who has invested more than Rs 100 crore, for the making of the film, cannot be ignored. When the investment and hard work put in by the artists of cinema industry were looted by illegal downloading of movies from ISPs by rogue websites, the authorities were expected to prohibit the ISPs, which were licensed by them to do business, from providing access to those websites, the judge said.

The court said further, from the communication of the Union government, it was clear that the issue was covered in the Unified License Terms and Conditions.

Hence, the Centre and Trai have the responsibility to ensure that terms and conditions were followed by ISPs. What was alleged was nothing but cyber crime and therefore, steps have to be taken to prevent commission of the offence.

When the film Kabali is to be released on July 22, there is imminent threat of injury to the petitioner by illegal downloading of the movie, which cannot be compensated later and therefore, this court is convinced that the petition is quia timet action and an order of interim injunction is necessary to prevent the anticipated mischief.

The judge said it was stated that within a few hours of the movie release, the film was illegally downloaded causing heavy loss to everyone connected with the movie, especially, the producer. Instead of allowing the illegal act to be committed, it was always advisable and appropriate to prevent the potential offenders from getting access to the newly released films through ISPs.

In the past, the petitioner is said to have suffered heavy loss due to online and video piracy of his films

Theri and Kanithan and his apprehension regarding illegal downloading and streaming of his upcoming movie, by rogue websites is well-founded. Hence, this court is convinced to grant an order of injunction, the judge said.
Chennai: Income tax investigators on Friday wrapped up the three-day long raids and searches on the premises of former union minister S. Jagathrakshakan. Sources revealed that the estimated undisclosed income of the DMK heavyweight and liquor baron to be around Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore.

While sleuths seized Rs 22 crore in cash, the estimate is based on the value of movable and immovable properties belonging to him, his family members and benamis.

After having raided 40 properties, including residences and offices owned and managed by the former MP and his family, the I-T sleuths are also understood to have sought several clarifications from him on the money seized and the undisclosed income. This was one of the biggest IT raids on a former Union minister in recent memory with the I-T department deploying more than 380 taxmen in the raids over the past three days.

Properties belonging to Jagathrakshakan and his family in neighbouring Puducherry also came under the I-T net as the former minister of state for Information and Broadcasting was barred from using his mobile phones since the raids began on Wednesday.

Apart from seizure of cash, the investigators seized gold and had also dug out documents of deposits, houses and properties worth over Rs.550 crore. The politician and his finance mangers are negotiating with the income tax officials to reach an agreeable disclosure amount, which is pegged at Rs.500 crore by the taxmen, sources said.

The income tax officials had conducted simultaneous raids on Jagathrakshakans various residences, offices, colleges, the Bharath University, Balaji dental and medical colleges and a distillery in Villupuram. The DMK leader and his family own at least a dozen colleges in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He also owns a star hotel in T Nagar in the heart of Chennai.
A statement issued by the police in Srinagar however, said that policemen as well as civilians were injured when militants tossed grenades and opened indiscriminate fire. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: Two persons were killed and scores others injured as fresh protests and clashes broke out between irate crowds, mainly youth, and security forces in various parts of Kashmir on Friday, despite strict curfew being enforced in all the ten districts of the Valley.

One J&K policeman Mudasir Ahmed Shah was critically wounded and six others were injured when targeted with a hand grenade by suspected militants at Yari Pora in southern Kulgam district at 5.30 pm. The area also witness intense stone-pelting incidents involving curfew-defying youth, reports said. A report said that one police head-contable died in hospital later but it has been neither denied nor confirmed by officials, so far.

Official sources said that an Army helicopter was requisitioned to evacuate the injured policemen as protests were underway when the attack took place and attempts to remove them to hospital in ambulance or a police vehicle had failed.

In order to quell a stone-hurling crowd at Yaripora, police opened fire killing one protester 18-year-old Sayar Ahmed Kumar and injuring two others. Residents said that no militant attack took place and that the policemen were injured when some explosive substance they were carrying in a vehicle went off injuring those on board.

A statement issued by the police in Srinagar in the evening, however, said that policemen as well as civilians were injured when militants tossed grenades and opened indiscriminate fire on a police party which was trying to contain a violent protest at Yaripora. Seven police personnel and three civilians received gunshot and splinter injuries. One civilian died of militant firing, it claimed and said The police party exercised maximum restraint and did not retaliate to avoid civilian causalities.

Reports from frontier town of Kupwara said that security forces opened fire to disperse a group of protesters when it turned violent in Drugmulla area of the district. One of them identified as Mushtaq Ahmed Ganai was killed and three others were wounded, witnesses and hospital sources said.

Police statement said the unruly mob attacked an Army camp at Drugmulla and during tackling the mob three persons were injured and one of them succumbed later.

14 people were injured in clashes which broke out in the towns of Sopore, Delina and Pattan in neighbouring Baramulla district. Two of them were hit in police firing and the rest sustained injuries due to the use of teargas canisters and pellet guns by security forces against stone-pelting crowds, reports said. In Srinagar, yet another youth who was critically injured in CRPF action against protesters earlier during the week died in hospital on Friday morning, raising the toll to 41. He has been identified as Hilal Ahmed Parray.

One policeman Afroz Ahmed has also been killed and hundreds other security personnel have been injured in weeklong clashes. CRPFs ADG for J&K, N. Srivastav, said that 1,000 of his men have been injured in stone pelting and other attacks across the Valley since last Saturday.

Police added that the militants targeted a joint party of J&K police and the CRPF also at Natnusa (Kupwara), injuring seven of them. In another incident, militants fired upon the personnel of police station Lolab (also in Kupwara) deployed for law and order duties as a result of which two of them were injured.

"The overall situation throughout the Valley remained under control, although incidents of stone pelting and attacks on security force establishments were reported, the police statement said. Police claimed, At many places, militants took shelter and mingled with protesters and then attacked police and CRPF personnel deployed for law and order duties.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday will meet the chief ministers on the occasion of 11th Inter-State Council meet, a conference that will be taking place after a gap of 10 years.

The meeting will deliberate on issues of internal security, economic and social planning, GST and inter-state relations among other issues. Chief Ministers of all the states along with 17 Union Ministers are expected to participate in the 11th meeting of the council.

The meeting will also discuss issues concerning school education, direct benefit transfer scheme, Aadhaar card, good governance and atrocities against members of SC and ST communities.

The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Council in which Chief Ministers of all states and Union Territories are members.

Six Union Ministers, Rajnath Singh (Home), Sushma Swaraj (External Affairs), Arun Jaitley (Finance), M Venkaiah Naidu (Urban Development), Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport) and Manohar Parrikar (Defence) are nominated members of the council. Eleven other Union Ministers are permanent invitees to the Council.

The meeting comes amidst the ongoing turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, where almost 40 people lost their lives following violent protests after Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter.

The last meeting of the Inter-State Council was held in 2006. The UPA government had convened just two meetings in its 10-year tenure.

The Modi government has revived the Inter-State Council structure after assuming office in May 2014. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had chaired meetings of all the five zonal councils over the last one year in various parts of the country in which chief ministers of states of the respective zones took part.

The Inter-State Council was established under Article 263 of the Constitution through a Presidential Order dated May 28, 1990.

It is a recommendatory body with duties to investigate and discuss the subjects of common interest between the Union and state(s) or among the states, making recommendations particularly for better coordination of policy and action on these subjects and deliberating upon such other matters of general interest to the states which may be referred to it by its chairman.

The Council also deliberates upon such other matters of general interest to the states as may be referred by the chairman to the Council. A Standing Committee of the Inter-State Council has been constituted for continuous consultation and processing of matters for the consideration of the Council.

The Standing Committee comprises Union Home Minister as the Chairman and five Union ministers of Cabinet rank and nine chief ministers as members nominated by the Chairman of the Inter-State Council.
The former Chief Minister had also alleged that either the government's assessment of the situation after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was wrong. (Photo: PTI)

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday claimed the "mistakes" committed by his government in dealing with the street protests in the Valley in 2010, have been "multiplied" by incumbent CM Mehbooba Mufti.

"I learnt from my mistakes, ensured they weren't repeated again. @MehboobaMufti has not only repeated them but multiplied them many times," Omar wrote on Twitter.

I learnt from my mistakes, ensured they weren't repeated again. @MehboobaMufti has not only repeated them but multiplied them many times.  Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) July 16, 2016

The National Conference (NC) working president had recently said the ruling dispensation in the state had forgotten lessons of 2008 and 2010 when the Valley witnessed large-scale protests.

"I feel that unfortunately, the lessons which we learnt in 2008 and 2010, the present government has forgotten them for some reasons," Omar told reporters on July 13.

The former Chief Minister had also alleged that either the government's assessment of the situation after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was wrong or its preparations were not right.
Chennai: Ramkumar, the suspect in the Infosys employee Swathi's murder, had reportedly broken down on Friday during interrogation and repented murdering the girl who did not reciprocate his mad love for her. The final day of Ramkumar's custodial interrogation was held at the heavily guarded Nungambakkam Police station when he reportedly confessed to the crime.

I've made a huge mistake. I shouldn't have killed her. I loved her so much . . .

Ramkumar told Additional Commissioner of Police (south) K. Shankar, during the last day of the custodial interrogation at the heavily guarded Nungambakkam Police station, according to sources.

"Ramkumar said he was embroiled in a dilemma whether or not to attack her before he resolved to go after her. He threw the weapon with his fingerprints on it and went to his room where he had a sound sleep until late afternoon before he left for his native place. He had narrated as to how he did the act too. We have recorded the same as his statement. It appears the verbal abuse triggered his fit of rage, which culminated in the murder, a police official privy to the investigation told DC.

Putting all speculations to rest, the City Police claimed that they have gathered all the necessary evidences required to prove Ramkumar's guilt. "Swathi's phone, which her assailant took away, was found in his possession and he had downloaded her images to his phone from her phone's memory card. A shirt with bloodstains was recovered and DNA analysis proved the blood is that of Swathi and a formal report is awaited. Fingerprints lifted from the sickle matched those of Ramkumar. Tower dump data is also accounted for," another official observed.
Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday said she had ordered the implementation of the crop insurance scheme brought by the Centre with the state governments contribution.

As per the scheme, the calculations to estimate the losses would be done at the village level and this would lead to more accurate calculation of the crop losses and farmers could get proper compensation, she said.

So far, the compensation was given based on the loss of yield, but as per the new crop insurance scheme, non-germination of seeds, circumstances in which transplanting could not be done and natural calamities from the period of sowing to harvesting would be taken into account and all the losses would be compensated, the Chief Minister said.

The indemnity level for nine districts which are most affected in the State had been increased to 60 to 70 per cent resulting in more compensation. The farmers should pay a premium of 1.5 per cent for the cultivation season from October to March (Rabi) and two per cent for cultivation from April to September (Kharif).

The Central and State governments would share the remaining amount equally (50:50), she said.

The state which was paying Rs 40 crore per year for crop insurance would have to pay Rs 500 crore annually, as per the existing number of farmers who had registered under the scheme. If more farmers join the scheme, the insurance premium to be given by the State government would increase, she said.

The existing insurance scheme would continue for coconut farmers, the Chief Minister said and added that tender would be sought from the insurance companies recognised by the Centre for implementing the crop insurance scheme.
New Delhi: Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released on Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry said here.

"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today morning at 1030 hrs IST.

"Both have spoken to their families. Sharma's wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The duo - Srinivas (from Andhra Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka) - were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.

Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act".

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke to the Indian High Commissioner B N Reddy and requested him to ensure safe release of Srinivas, an official release issued in Vijayawada said.

State Information Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy spoke to Srinivas' wife Lalitha over phone and conveyed the news, it added.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has sent a request to the Spanish prosecution authorities on providing information on Stepan Chernovetsky, former Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky's son.

"We do not have official information now. We have sent a request for information to the Spanish prosecution services, and they will provide us with such. As a rule, this takes at least a month," Larysa Sarhan, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian prosecutor general, said on her Facebook account on Friday evening.

Spanish media reported earlier that a court in Barcelona had ruled to take into custody without bail seven out of eight people arrested earlier on money laundering charges, including Stepan Chernovetsky.

Ukrainian prosecutors have also reopened inquiries into several "old, mostly dropped cases concerning Mr. Chernovetsky Sr.'s activities while he was Kyiv mayor," Sarhan said. The Kyiv prosecutor is supposed to present a report on the condition of these cases, Sarhan said.
Ahmedabad: Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, who walked out on bail after being confined for nine months, filed an undertaking before a local court on Saturday saying he will not indulge in any activity which will disturb law and order.

He, however, made it clear that his reservation stir will continue "in a peaceful and democratic manner."

Hardik, who filed the undertaking through his lawyer, Rafiq Lokhandwala before the court of Sessions Judge S H Oza, said he will stay at Udaipur--out of Gujarat for a period of six months--as per the condition imposed by Gujarat High Court.

The High Court, while granting him regular bail in two sedition cases last week, had asked him to file a fresh undertaking on the lines of what was submitted by him during the hearing of the bail.

The court had ordered him to file the undertaking within two days of his release. It had also ordered him to add in the undertaking the condition that he will stay out of Gujarat for a period of six months and also declare the address of the place where he will stay.

"The accused shall continue the agitation for reservation on behalf of the Patidar community in a peaceful and democratic manner and shall not indulge in any acts or activities instigating the public at large in any manner whatsoever and shall also maintain public peace," he said in the undertaking.

He also said that he will "keep himself outside the territorial limits of the state of Gujarat for a period of six months."

"The accused shall not do or indulge in any acts or activities disturbing the law and order across the state," he said.

The 22-year-old quota spearhead yesterday walked out of Lajpore jail. He was granted bail last week by the High Court in two sedition cases and a case of loot and damage to properties at the BJP MLA office at Visnagar, paving the way for his release.

He was accused of inciting violence to put pressure on the government to accept the demand for granting reservation to Patels under the OBC category.

Hardik's mega rally on reservation held in Ahmedabad on August 25 last year had sparked violence killing 10 people including a policeman besides causing damage to public properties and vehicles across Gujarat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu (left), AP Chief Minisiter N. Chandrababu Naidu (right) share a joke as TD Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Satyanarayana (extreme right) watches on the sidelines of the 11th Inter-State Council Meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Hyderabad: Impressed by Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, which he visited recently, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is likely to bring some changes in the construction plan of the capital Amaravati.

He wants that Amaravati, like Astana, should mix its zones. In the present Amaravati city plan, all government offices are to be located at one zone with no residential or commercial activities. But, according to this plan, after office hours there will be no activity; it will have a deserted look.

In Astana, all the government offices are not constructed at one place. After office hours there is much activity in this zone. On the lines of Astana, Mr Naidu wants mixed zones with full activity after office hours also. He wants to change the present plan and allow residential apartments or individual houses and also commercial activity in the government offices zone.

During his Kazakhstan visit Mr Naidu toured Astana and held discussions with Astana Mayor Asset Lssekeshav. He said that AP wants to work with Astana in the construction of Amaravati city.

Mr Naidu also proposed to prepare a road map on cooperating with Astana to build Amaravati. Both Mr Naidu and the Astana Mayor decided to set up a working group with 5 members. Prime Minister Narendra Modi after his visit of Astana last year had advised Mr Naidu to visit this city.

The parking system also attracted Mr Naidu. In Astana, all offices have underground parking facility and no vehicle is parked in front of any office.

AP government, adviser (communications) Parakala Prabhakar who was also in the CMs delegation to Kazakhstan and Russia, said Mr Naidu was very much impressed by Astana and appreciated the way the city was constructed.

Speaking to this newspaper Mr Prabhakar said there was a possibility of Mr Naidu making some changes to the Amaravati city plan. He said that Astana would have an impact on Amaravatis planning.
A disproportionately large number of female children continues to be sold, abandoned or relinquished despite strict laws being implemented and awareness being created against the practice.

Hyderabad: A disproportionately large number of female children continues to be sold, abandoned or relinquished despite strict laws being implemented and awareness being created against the practice, in districts such as Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Medak. The main reasons cited are patriarchal discrimination against the female child, and some communities not wanting more than one girl child apart from economic backwardness. The government even gives an option to the parents to surrender the child but parents prefer to sell the baby for money instead, officials said.

The number of cases of babies being sold has not increased but more cases are being reported than in the past and there is now awareness among the neighbours of buyers or sellers. In a recent incident in Ranga Reddy district, a couple had a second female child whom they sold to a close relative. In a few communities in Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Ranga Reddy and Medak districts, a third female child is disposed of. The practice is more in these pockets and in tandas, said Ms K.R.S. Laxmi Devi, joint director, women development and child welfare (schemes).

She said other cases of female babies being sold pertained to those born with disabilities or those born before the mother is married. In all these cases, parents can approach us and relinquish the child but they prefer selling, said Ms Md Noorjahan, Integrated Child Development Services project director at the Ranga Reddy district.

Adoption has become easy:

The Centre has also tweaked rules of adoption of children and has made the process available online to make it both transparent and easy for families looking to adopt. A couple intending to adopt a child can now apply online and this is step is followed by an inquiry to check if they meet the required norms.

Any couple can now apply online with their requirement of age and gender and a team will inquire into their status  and check if they will be able to raise the child. A report will then by submitted to the family court. Based on the availability, the couple gets a child following the courts approval, said Mr Nihal, legal officer, ICDS Ranga Reddy. The couple will be given five children to opt from.

After the couple are handed the child, the kid will be monitored for two years  to check whether its needs are being met by the adoptive parents.

The new online process also makes it easy to relinquish a child by the biological parents.

Any couple who do not want to keep their child can can now approach the women and child department and sign an agreement of relinquishment.

There are safeguards. The couple will get a 60-day grace period if they change their mind and want the child back. After that period, the child will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee and after approvals the details will be put up online for adoption. another ICDS official said.

If a child listed on the Central Adoption Resource Authoritys website for adoption is not adopted within 60 days, the child immediately becomes eligible for inter-country adoption.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a fiat to the Centre and all the states for proper and effective implementation of the scheme relating to High Security Registration Plates for vehicles to ensure that the objective of the scheme is realised.

A three-Judge bench headed by the Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said, Even though Union of India has stated that the implementation of the scheme in accordance with the rules framed by Union of India is the responsibility of the states/Union Territories, in our view, the Union of India has to ensure that there is regular check of manufacturing units which are engaged in the HSRP project by coordinating with the various states/Union Territories.

SC passed this order on a petition filed by Maninderjit Singh Bitta seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against states for not implementing the scheme.

Supreme Court for data on vehicular registration

A three-Judge bench headed by the Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, without initiating contempt, gave a series of directions including award of contracts for the HSRPs.

The court asked the Centre to form committees in collaboration with the state governments in order to keep regular check on the manufacturing units which are engaged in HSRP project.

The Central Government and the State Governments should strictly implement HSRP policy in all the States in a time bound manner.

The Central Government and the State Governments should register complaints regarding the violation and, in case of violations, both the Central Government and the state governments should take strict action in accordance with law.

The bench said the Central government should create a nationwide common repository of Vehicular Registration Data for achieving the basic objective behind the idea of HSRP scheme and thereby ensuring smooth implementation at the grass root level. The government and the state government were directed to strictly regulate the implementation.
Hyderabad: The TS government has fixed 18-month deadline for industries functioning in the city to shift outside the Outer Ring Road limits.

About 1,068 polluting units have to shift within a year and the rest by December 2017. The move is aimed at checking environmental pollution caused by these industries.

Industries minister K.T. Rama Rao, who reviewed the issue with officials on Saturday, made it clear that no industry will be allowed to function within city limits after December, 2017.

There has been a long-pending demanding from residential colonies surrounding these industries for their shifting. Though subsequent state governments since the last 15 years tried to shift the industries outside the city limits, it could not be done due to various reasons like stiff opposition from industries.

However, he said, the TS government is firm on shifting these industries in the interest of public health and environment and to increase the quality of life in the city. The government offered incentives to encourage these industries to move out of city limits.

TS Industrial Infrastructure Corporation has been directed to work in coordination with HMDA to develop such clusters on a war footing in government lands.

Mr Rao has promised to consider the request of chemical and pharma companies to allot space in the newly-developed Pharma City on city outskirts for shifting of their units located in city.

Mr Rao also met representatives of MSMEs to revive the sick units. They sought reduction in property tax, water charges etc.

They also sought 1,500 acres of land to set up their units. They complained that banks were harassing them by declaring their units as Non-Performing Assets though there was a possibility of reviving them by extending smaller loans.

The minister assured that the government will soon come out with a separate policy for revival of MSMEs in which all these issues will be addressed.
BHUBANESWAR: A homoeopathy doctor on Saturday shot at a man allegedly for urinating near his clinic in Indradhanu Market in Nayapalli area of Bhubaneswar on Saturday morning.

The victim identified as Maheswar Routray, a staff member of Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha staff, has been shifted to the Cuttack SCB hospital after being initially admitted to the Capital Hospital here. His condition is stated to be stable.

The accused doctor, identified as Biswabhushan Pradhan, has been arrested by Nayapalli police. The revolver used by Biswabhushan has also been seized by the police

I was urinating at a waste dump near the clinic when the doctor shot me. While I was urinating, the doctor came out and asked me why I was urinating there. I asked him what was the problem as the place was dirty and also far from his clinic. On hearing this, the doctor suddenly flared up, went inside the clinic, came out with a weapon and shot at me, said the victim Maheswar.

The local residents, while complaining about the doctors rough behaviour, urged the police to verify if he was actually doctor or arms dealer. The doctor very often treats the neighbours very badly. His behaviour is very unbecoming and it needs to be probed if he is actually a doctor or man having connections with arms dealers and anti-socials, the local shop-owners said.
JD(S) State President H D Kumaraswamy,Opposition leader in Assembly Jagadish Shettar with their party MLA's wear black ribbon on their 2nd day all night protest to demand the resignation of Minister K J George for his allegedly involvement in the suicide of DySP M K Ganapathy, in Bengaluru. (Photo: PTI)

Bengaluru: Accusing central leaders of Congress of protecting Minister K J George despite the charges of harassment made against him by the late police officer, M K Ganapati, Janata Dal (S) state chief H.D. Kumaraswamy claimed on Friday that it was letting electoral compulsions get the better of it.

With the Congress facing elections in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, it needed both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Mr George to provide the necessary funds, he alleged, speaking to reporters here.

They are looting the state for party expenses, he charged, demanding the resignations of both Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr George in the circumstances.

Asked about his party joining hands with the BJP, Mr Kumaraswamy said it was confined to only the agitation in the legislature for Mr Georges resignation. His party would, however, not join the BJP in its proposed padyatra from Madikeri, he clarified.

Pointing to the many cases of unrest in the states police force, he said now an excise inspector, Shashikala Siddappa Wodeyar had complained of harassment.

When the Mysuru Deputy Commissioner has herself filed a case against the Chief Minister's associate, what protection can other officials expect in the state? he demanded.

Taking a dig at the Home Minister's advisor, Kempaiah, Mr Kumaraswamy wondered what advice a person, who had resigned from the police force pleading inability to perform his duty, give the government.
Guwahati: In a dramatic turn of events in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party on Saturday succeeded in roping in its rebels back to the party fold by forcing chief minister Nabam Tuki to step down and appointing Pema Khandu as new leader of Congress Legislature Party.

In what came as big shocker to the BJP strategists, the Congress rebels including former chief minister Kalikho Pul on Saturday morning attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting which elected Khandu as their new leader.

Read: Pema Khandu likely to be the youngest chief minister of India

Arunachal chief minister Nabam Tuki who was reinstated by Supreme Court on Wednesday, rushed to Raj Bhawan and submitted his resignation immediately after the CLP meeting.

The Arunachal assembly has an effective strength of 58 in which the BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45.

If insiders are to be believed union minister of state home Kiren Rijiju who was dealing with Congress rebels and contemplating to merge them with the BJP, was caught oblivious to the developments, which was planned by Congress soon after the Supreme Court pronounced the verdict.

Pointing out that problem for the Tuki government had started with resignation of Pema Khandu, sources in the Congress party said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was in touch with Pema Khandu and Chowna Mein, the deputy chief minister in the Pul government.

Meanwhile, Khandu on Saturday staked claim to form the government.

Earlier, PCC president, Padi Richo, Nabam Tuki, Pema Khandu and Jai Kumar met the Governor to submit letters of support from 44 Congress MLAs.

Khandu, soon after staking claim, said that the Governor has not given any commitment yet and said that he had to process their claim.

Insiders in Congress party said that Congress MP Ninong Ering, who was in touch with Congress rebels, played the key role in pulling the entire Congress MLAs back to the party fold on Saturday.

Meanwhile Arunachal BJP president Tapir Gao on Saturday clarified that BJP was not part of the Kalikho Pul government. We extended outside support to the Congress rebels who now have decided to go back to Congress party, said Gao who admitted that BJP strategist failed to foresee the conspiracy.
Bengaluru: BJP and JD(S) members, who continued their dharna on Friday for the resignation of minister K.J. George over DySP M.K. Ganapatis suicide, held placards saying,Sonia, Rahul, open your eyes, hear us. But their attempts to draw the attention of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi did not go down well with Floor leader and Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwar, who requested Chairman D.H. Shankaramurthy to restrain them from carrying the placards in the House. Dr Parameshwar noted that the government had ordered a judicial probe and a CID inquiry. Without inquiry the truth will not come out. And so it is inappropriate to seek the resignation of Mr. George at this time. If he was directly involved in the case, I would accept your demand, he said, adding that if the ministers involvement was established by the inquiry, the opposition had every right to seek his resignation.

But opposition leader K.S. Eshwarappa argued that the reason for DySPs suicide was clear and if the government didnt want to believe it, the House should play the video footage of Mr Ganapati mentioning the names of Mr George and two IPS officers.

With opposition members refusing to return to their seats, the House passed the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Karnataka Stamps (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2016, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and the KSOU Amendment Bill, 2016 without discussion. All four bills were passed by the Assembly as well. While the Chairman adjourned the House to Monday, council sources said it could be adjourned sine-die that day.
Former Union minister Jairam Ramesh during his visit to the Vidyaranya School in Hyderabad where the Manthan Foundation organised a talk for him on Saturday. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: Stating two years was too short a time to gauge if bifurcation of AP was a success or failure, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said that the Centre should provide financial assistance to AP for construction of a new capital city and setting up a new High Court for TS.

Mr Ramesh said all parties, barring the CPM, supported bifurcation in writing including the TD and YSRC. He said bifurcation was an unmitigated disaster and spectacular self-goal for the Congress which lost both states politically.

Multiple factors, including T-sentiment, agitations, suicides by students, political gains and caste played a key role in the traumatic division of AP. Its not a partition but bifurcation. More aptly it can be described as demerger of Andhra and Hyderabad that took place in 1953, he said.

Mr Ramesh added, There are several ifs and buts. If KCR had been inducted into the Cabinet by Naidu? If YSR was not killed things might have been different. YSRs death gave life to KCR.

He was speaking at a function organised by Manthan Foundation after releasing his book Old history, New geography here.
Two Ukrainians injured in Nice attack hospitalized, no confirmation of death of another Ukrainian

Two Ukrainian citizens injured in a terrorist attack in Nice (France) have been Ukrainians hospitalized, there is no confirmation of the reported death of another Ukrainian.

"There is still no confirmation of the information about the death of a citizen of Ukraine. His search, in which the honorary consul of Ukraine in the city of Nice and a consular officer of the Embassy of Ukraine are actively involved, continues," the Consular Service Department of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported on its Facebook page.

The report says that another Ukrainian citizen who was earlier hospitalized has already been discharged.

An attacker drove his truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day, a national holiday in France, on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on Thursday evening. The latest figures put the death toll from the incident at 84 people, including a Ukrainian citizen. The truck driver, a 31-year-old French citizen of Tunisian descent, was shot dead by police.

French President Francois Hollande called the tragedy in Nice a terror attack and said that the French government will step up the fight against terrorism, including in the territories of Syria and Iraq. He also said that the state of emergency in the country, which ends on July 26, will be extended for a further three months.
Hyderabad: Union minister for labour and employment Bandaru Dattetreya on Saturday said the Centre will introduce three important Amendment Bills pertaining to his ministry in the Parliament session set to commence from July 18.

The Amendment Bills are in Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and The Employees Compensation Act, 1923.

Addressing the media here, Mr Dattatreya said that the NDA government was giving utmost importance to employment generation in rural areas and has released `1,824 crore to TS towards 90 per cent of Centre's share in 2015-16. He urged the TS government to utilise the funds for creation of productive assets.

Mr Dattatreya stated that EPFO would be restructured soon by creating 21 zones against the 10 at present. Promotions of employees, extension of EPFO services, reduction of employees strength in the organisation from the existing 20 to 10 for EPFO eligibility, bringing rural, semi-urban, unorganised, contract workers into the fold of EPFO social security resulting in increase of PF subscribers from existing 6 crore to about 9 crore in the country etc are among the initiatives that will be implemented soon.

He said that an amendment to the EPF Act in Parliament was also being proposed and has been referred to the Cabinet for approval. Mr Dattatreya said that speedy settlement of claims is on the top of EPFO agenda.

He said that due to Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, the Centre could save up to 35 per cent of funds by checking irregularities in welfare schemes. He said that the Centre sanctioned `580 crore to 8,695 gram panchyats in TS, each gram panchayat getting an average of `6.6 lakh directly.

Mr Dattatreya said the Centre was actively considering the creation of Turmeric Park in Armoor in Nizambad district, Mirchi Parks in Warangal and Khammam and Cheneta (handloom) Parks in Gadwal and Pochampally. A Central team was expected to visit Armoor soon to finalise setting up of the Turmeric Park, he said.
In Arunachal Pradesh, its not quite a matter of alls well that ends well. In fact, there is some way to go through a potential legal minefield before popular rule is established again under a new Congress chief minister in the Assembly. But it is here that acting Governor Tathagata Roy can play an active role in undoing all the damage already done in the capricious use of the provision for Presidents Rule to manipulate Governors to do the bidding of the party ruling at the Centre. It is by ordering a fresh floor test to a tight time frame that the Governor can help restore popular rule quickly. Of course, any tricky legal rulings ahead can be ironed out by referring back to the Supreme Court, which in the first place had put a lid on the goings-on in the north-eastern state in a unanimous verdict delivered by a five-member Constitution Bench.

The Congress played its cards smartly in unseating Nabam Tuki and getting his cousin, Pema Khandu, elected by the MLAs so that the floor test became infructuous. This also makes it clear that the party high command must listen more to the voices within so that dissidence may be handled intra-party rather than allowing their legislators to become pawns in games of horse-trading. A very good opportunity has presented itself now for cleaning up the mess and putting democracy back on its feet again. The Centre would be exposing its hand if it dithers in allowing the show of numbers on the floor of the Assembly to re-establish popular rule. If the government does not have the numbers, a poll would be the right solution.
The unconventional terrorist attack in Frances famous resort town of Nice on Bastille Day (July 14)  in which a criminal drove a truck into celebrating crowds along the waterfront, zigzagging his way for a mile to claim as many victims as possible  is a shocker. The final toll could be very high. The terrorist, who was eventually shot dead by the police, was of Tunisian origin. This is Frances third major terrorist attack in 19 months. Why France? Probably because the Muslim immigrant population in this country are from its former colonies in West Asia and North Africa, the disaffected territories and war zones of the present day from which have emerged terrorist units seeking to beguile young Europeans  especially the Muslim amongst them  with complaints of religio-cultural suppression.

That makes France pretty unique. Besides, of course, its way of life  liberty, equality, a tough variety of secularism, and extreme openness and liberalism, precisely the socio-political pattern that attracts the democracy-minded  is a red rag to the adherents of political Islam. As we know in India, guarding against terrorists who are ready to die is not easy. Even so, the French authorities appear to have been caught short. In a year and a half they have been unable to develop systems to deter and detect at the law enforcement level, and design long-term social programmes to win their aggrieved Muslim citizens back.

Speaking after the Nice atttack, President Francois Hollande seems right about just one thing  that there (fighting terrorism) is a long road ahead. He and other politicians in Europe and America have churned out the rhetoric appropriate to the occasion, but not much else. We should be clear that the politics of the US-led Western alliance concerning West Asia has been all wrong since the attack on Iraq. The same is the case with Pakistan, another terrorism hot-bed.

In Syria, quite amazingly, they have been hell-bent on ousting Bashar al-Assad, not on fighting Al Qaeda affiliates and Islamic State, though of late there are signs of subtle shifts. In fact, it is Russia, not the West, that has taken on the terror outfits in their home den. The West, the US in particular, has also been hypocritical. It has been less than enthusiastic about pushing through in the UN a convention to combat international terrorism. They cant agree on a definition of terrorism. What can be more absurd? Events like the Nice attack help the extreme Right, and politicians like Donald Trump can be beneficiaries. Thats even better for extremism and terrorism.
Sanjiv Chaturvedi, the whistle-blower Indian Forest Service officer, who has been in the news for his numerous run-ins with the bureaucracy, will be  once again  packing his bags soon. The Centre has turned down his 16-month-old request for deputation with the Delhi government. Though Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is still trying to get Mr Chaturvedi to stay in Delhi, the Centres decision now means that Mr Chaturvedi will return to Uttarakhand, his cadre state.

Its been a hard few years for Mr Chaturvedi who had bravely exposed irregularities in the recruitment of teachers in Haryana and fallen afoul of the then Congress government of Bhupinder Singh Hooda. After much struggle he finally managed to come to the Centre on deputation as chief vigilance officer at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). But this time too Mr Chaturvedi again found himself sidelined by the authorities when he highlighted some corrupt practices in the premier institution. He certainly tried to stick to his cause. The Centres decision seems to have closed the door on Mr Chaturvedis attempt to stay in Delhi.

The unpredictable Fadnavis

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis does not only keep his ministers on their toes, but even the state bureaucracy is in a state of constant nervousness. Just as his recent Cabinet reshuffle raised hackles in certain affected quarters, the abrupt decision to transfer 2002-batch IAS officer Pravin Gedam from Nashik, where he was municipal commissioner. Sources say that Mr Fadnavis gave in to political pressure because Mr Gedam had acted firmly against illegal constructions and also some corrupt civic officials.

Apparently, Mr Gedams ouster has created a lot of discontent among the bureaucrats as they feel that babus are increasingly being transferred for reasons other than their work. Meanwhile there are going to be new faces in the chief ministers office (CMO) too. Mr Fadnavis is looking for replacements for two senior officials who have been inducted into the IAS cadre and will soon move out. However, sources say that Vivek Bhimanwar and Rajesh Narvekar, the two departing babus, will stay on until their successors are appointed.
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, minority affairs minister, was recently promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who gave him independent charge of the ministry. In an interview to Yojna Gusai he said that Kashmir is currently facing a temporary phase and peace-loving Kashmiris have always rejected the nefarious designs of separatist elements and terrorists.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament is commencing. What are the governments priorities?

Our priority is that Parliament functions smoothly. We want the new and pending bills to pass through consensus.

Including the Goods and Services Tax Bill?

Yes. It is an important bill. We had been holding consultations both at formal and informal levels, with various parties and individuals to make sure that this bill as well as other bills are passed. We are very hopeful that this session would be fruitful and will have positive results.

In the last session it was the Uttarakhand crisis and the Supreme Courts ruling on it, and this session its the apex courts verdict on Arunachal Pradesh. Your party and government are under fire for having contempt for the peoples mandate and the Congress has said it will raise this issue in Parliament.

We are ready for any debate or discussion on any issue. Parliament has discussed on earlier occasions also the constitutional rights of Assemblies, legislature and judiciary. These rights are also defined in the Constitution clearly. If this issue is taken up, the government will also put its point of view.

But do you see this verdict as a setback for the government or your party?

Definitely not. Whatever happened, whatever decision the governor took, was as per the framework of the Constitution. We are not going to comment on the Supreme Courts ruling but then the House is supreme.

The Congress has accused your government of misusing constitutional power.

Hilarious. The Congress is a history sheeter in misusing constitutional power and institutions. How it misused institutions and agencies against its opponents during the UPA rule is well known. The NDA respects the Constitution and responsibilities that come when you are at the Centre. We have never misused constitutional machinery but respect it.

Your government is being blamed for the Kashmir turmoil and using excessive force in the wake of protests over Hizb militant Burhan Wanis killing.

Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed tremendous progress in the last two years. The region wants prosperity and its people want peace just like the rest of the country. There are certain separatists and those following separatist ideology never want peace and normalcy in the region for their vested interests. They are always working to see that there is turmoil in the region and are getting help from across the border for this. Remember, they had also asked people to boycott polls, but people did not heed to their call.

But what about the stone-pelters?

The Kashmiri youth wants peace, progress and prosperity. They are as nationalists as anyone in this country. What we are witnessing is an immediate reaction to an incident by some but that does not mean the regions youth is completely influenced by the separatists ideology. Though there might be some but you cannot say all stone-pelters are separatists or terrorists.

You are sharing power with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti questioned the disproportionate force against civilians by security forces. The Opposition also blamed your government on the issue.

Security forces have to be deployed during extraordinary circumstances. Some elements, supported from across the border, tried to incite violence in the region where Amarnath Yatra is also going on and had to be stalled. They tried to misuse a situation to incite communal hatred and had put lives at risk. Security forces are required to strengthen security in a region.

Pakistan has raised this issue at the UN.

Pakistan is a champion in human rights violation. India respects rights of its citizens and our track record is better than other countries. Pakistan stands exposed on this issue.

What do you have to say about controversial preacher Zakir Naik?

Agencies are probing various aspects that have surfaced regarding him. If there is anything against him, action will be taken. There will be no compromise on the national and internal security of the country.

Important Assembly elections are coming, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

We will form the government in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have been exposed and people are fed up of them. The grand old party has tried to bring a brand new formula by projecting former chief minister of Delhi as its chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh. People will not take it. The BJP is the best and visible alternative in Uttar Pradesh. In Punjab, our coalition government will continue to work for the people.

But the Punjab government has come under fire over drug-related issues.

The state government has taken effective actions on this issue. But you cannot claim that the entire state is reeling under its influence. This is an insult to the state and its people.

You recently asked your ministry officials to work and review it from ground zero and that they should treat it as a duty and not formality.

Minority affairs department is a very sensitive department. It was the earlier political system that treated this ministry and its schemes as formality and not its duty to implement them. Secular parties politically exploited minorities but never used politics to empower them. Narendra Modi has a blue print for upliftment of minorities, poor and dalits in every sector. We want a structure for them, which is not only strong but they should also feel secure and are included in the governments mission of countrys development.
A newly discovered meat-eating dinosaur that prowled Argentina 90 million years ago would have had a hard time using strong-arm tactics against its prey. That's because the beast, though a fearsome hunter, possessed a pitifully puny pair of arms.

Scientists said on Wednesday they have unearthed fossils in northern Patagonia of a two-legged, up to 26-foot-long (8-meters-long) predator called Gualicho shinyae with arms only about 2 feet (60 cm) long, akin to a human child's. The fossils of Gualicho, named after an evil spirit feared by Patagonia's indigenous Tehuelche people, were discovered in Argentina's Rio Negro Province.

Gualicho and other carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex are part of a group called theropods that included Earth's largest-ever land predators. But a curious thing happened during their many millions of years of evolution. For some, as they acquired huge body size and massive skulls, their arms and their number of fingers shrank. Gualicho had feeble forelimbs and only two fingers, just like T. rex, which lived in North America almost 25 million years later. The earliest dinosaurs had five fingers.

Paleontologist Peter Makovicky, curator of dinosaurs at the Field Museum in Chicago, said Gualicho's short, two-fingered forelimbs strongly resembled those of some members of a theropod group called tyrannosaurs including T. rex, even though Gualicho was only distantly related to them.

"Gualicho did not inherit this forelimb anatomy from an ancestor it shared with tyrannosaurs. Rather, it evolved independently in the two groups," Makovicky said.

Gualicho lived during the Cretaceous Period, the final chapter in the dinosaurs' reign. Many big Cretaceous meat-eaters had evolved immense skulls studded with formidable teeth, relying on these for hunting, rather than arms.

"Arms were irrelevant for many of them since their heads were massive and in balance with the tail," said paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia of the Felix de Azara Foundation and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council in Argentina.

Gualicho lived in a forested flood plain environment alongside some of the biggest dinosaurs ever, including long-necked, four-legged plant-eater Argentinosaurus, about 115 feet (35 meters) long, and T. rex-sized predator Mapusaurus, about 41 feet (12.6 meters) long.

"Gualicho would likely not have been something you'd want to meet on a lonely, dark Cretaceous night," said Makovicky, whose research was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

"With Mapusaurus probably preying on large sauropods (the group that included Argentinosaurus), Gualicho likely focused on smaller prey: a category a human lost in the Cretaceous would fit into."

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A chunk of amber found along the Baltic Sea in Russia provides evidence roughly 50 million years old of an extremely fortunate bug. An Oregon State University scientist on Thursday described a remarkable piece of amber - fossilized tree sap - containing a mushroom, a strand of mammalian hair and the recently shed exoskeleton of an insect that got away from the oozing sticky stuff in the nick of time, escaping eternal entombment.

The tiny bug looks similar to insects alive today known as walking sticks, whose stick-like appearance provides camouflage that helps keep them safe from hungry birds and other predators.

The amber memorialized a little scene that unfolded in an ancient subtropical forest of evergreen trees roughly 15 million years after the dinosaurs went extinct and mammals began to assume their new position as Earth's dominant land animals.

"The mushroom was growing at the base of a tree," Oregon State entomologist and amber expert George Poinar said. "The insect was exploring the mushroom and getting ready to feed on it. A rodent came along, bit off the stem of the mushroom at the same time some resin from the tree was flowing down toward the mushroom."

"The resin caught the feet of the insect that was probably ready to molt and decided that this was a good time to leave its skin and flee. So now we have the rodent hair and the skin of the insect together with the prize mushroom in amber," he added. "Gourmet chefs should not get too excited about this find since the mushroom is way to small for an omelette."

Numerous creatures been found entombed in amber including insects, lizards, amphibians, mammals and birds, as well as plants including flowers. They are sometimes beautifully preserved and offer unique insight into ancient animals and plants.

"Finding insects and plants together creates a mini-event and shows interactions of the past that we couldn't determine by finding them separately," Poinar said.

The insect was the type that would have shed its exoskeleton over and over before becoming an adult and likely lived just a couple months. It is clear that the exoskeleton trapped in the amber had been recently shed because it contains fine strands that would not longer be present if it had molted a significant amount of time before being overtaken by the sap.

The research was published in the journal Fungal Biology.

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Hyderabad: Social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and others, apart from some mobile applications like Truecaller, are becoming tools to mine personal data, thats available in the public domain.

According to statistics released by US Federal Trade Commission, about 9.2 million netizens have fallen victim to cyber criminals who stole their personal data. The report said that every minute, about 19 people fall victim to identity theft.

Cyber crime consultant for AP and TS police and CEO of Cytech Labs, Saneep Mudalkar, said tiny oversights done by netizens lead to identity and personal data theft.

The theft of identity is being done by cyber criminals in both online and offline modes. Social media has become a boon for cyber criminals who are trying to steal personal data. Lucky draws at malls and petrol bunks, feedback forms at restaurants, phone banking fraudsters etc., are the sources of personal data theft offline, he said.

The intention behind most of the attacks on government websites was for stealing identity. So far in Telangana state, a few websites have been hacked and among them was the MeeSeva platform. It was suspected that criminals stole personal data of users. Now, all the departments are seeding citizens information with Aadhaar. If they do not focus on cyber security, there may be chances of severe hacker attacks, he said.

In AP, too, the government is seeding Aadhaar details with several departments coming under its Pulse Survey. Hackers create phishing sites for banking, travelling and e-commerce websites to steal personal information, he said.

Cyber crime experts are advising netizens to follow precautions while dealing with social media. Every website provides security features but most netizens avoid it, experts said.

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Barack Obama has said on a number of occasions that terrorists and al-Qaeda declared war on the United States on 9/11, and we have been at war with them ever since. (Photo: AFP)

Washington: Echoing the views of the two presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton that the US is at war with terror groups, the White House on Saturday said the country has been at war with al-Qaeda since 9/11 and important progress has been made on that front.

"The (US) President has said on a number of occasions that terrorists and al-Qaeda declared war on the United States on 9/11, and we have been at war with them ever since. And we have made important progress in that war," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

Earnest made the remarks while responding to questions from reporters on remarks made by both, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump after the terrorist attack in France on Thursday that the US is at war against Islamic extremists.

The two candidates meant ISIS and did not mention al- Qaeda in their interviews.

The White House said core al-Qaeda that previously used to operate and live with impunity in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region has been decimated. There are al-Qaeda affiliates in other parts of the world that are the source of ongoing concern.

"There are also organisations like ISIL that trace their roots back to al-Qaeda, and obviously, that's one extremist organisation that does pose a threat and has attracted the intense attention of the United States and the international coalition that we lead," Earnest said. Earnest said Obama has been pretty unequivocal about all of that.

"We've also been quite unequivocal about the fact that we're still waiting on Congress to pass an authorisation to use military force against ISIL. I know there are some critics of the administration who like to talk tough and suggest that somehow we need to declare war on ISIL. I would encourage those individuals to consult a copy of the United States Constitution that many of them carry around in their suit pocket," he said in an apparent criticism of Trump saying that he would approach the Congress to declare war against such groups.

"They often wield that as evidence of their patriotism. Well, I would encourage them to consider that document carefully and actually remind themselves that it's Congress who has the authority to declare war," he said.

It is now been almost a year and half since Obama sent up legislative language for an authorisation to use military force that the Congress should pass.

"And passing that authorisation to use military force would send a clear signal to the American people, to our allies, and yes, to our enemies that the United States is united behind the President's strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL," he said.

"The truth of the matter is, our men and women in the intelligence community and our men and women in the military are doing their part to take the fight to ISIL, and it's time for members of Congress to do their job," Earnest said.
Tanks move into position as Turkish people attempt to stop them, in Ankara. (Photo: AP)

Ankara: A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets was waging a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.

Here is what we know so far:

Who is in control

Officials were insisting the attempted coup was falling apart. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul airport during the early hours of Saturday, saying the hotel he was staying at on Turkey's Aegean coast was bombed after he left.

Erdogan appointed General Umit Dundar, commander of the First Army, as acting chief of staff after General Hulusi Akar was captured and taken hostage.

Akar was later rescued, the private TV station CNN-Turk reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, who has spoken on media via telephone throughout the night, is believed to be in Ankara. Government-backed jets have downed pro-coup aircraft and bombed tanks surrounding the presidential palace in the capital Ankara.

Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul that they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained

Who is behind the coup

A group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland" declared martial law and a curfew in a statement, saying it had launched the coup "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail." No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions.

Erdogan said during the night he did not know whereabouts of the army chief of staff, General Hulusi Akar, and appointed the commander of the First Army, General Umit Dundar in his place temporarily.

Erdogan put the blame the coup on supporters of his arch-foe, US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose Hizmet movement and its powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary. Gulen denied being behind the coup attempt and condemned it "in the strongest terms".

How many people have been killed and injured

Officials said early Saturday 60 people have been killed and 754 soldiers detained, with the majority of those killed civilians. Erdogan had called his supporters out onto the streets, and in several locations they outnumbered putsch soldiers.

Troops also moving to block the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, and an AFP photographer saw soldiers open fire on people gathered near one them, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also opened shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's famous Taksim Square, injuring several. Explosions rocked areas near official buildings as government aircraft sought to eject pro-coup tanks.
Governor of California Jerry Brown has invited Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko to visit the U.S. and see the economic potential of California in high-tech and defense industry.

During the meeting with Brown, Poroshenko noted huge potential of Ukraine in information technologies and agriculture. He also expressed interest in cooperation in these promising areas and in attracting investments from California, the president's press service reported on Friday.

"The head of state thanked the governor for his personal role in enhancing the Ukraine-U.S. ties and the implementation of important projects in the area of security, particularly holding trainings in the framework of cooperation between the National Guard of Ukraine and the National Guard of California, as well as the formation of the new patrol police," the press service said.

During the meeting, Poroshenko stressed that California had been the first state to commemorate the Holodomor (Famine) tragedy of 1932-1933 in Ukraine and to open a memorial to millions of Ukrainians killed by the Stalin regime.

California is the world leader in computer industry and high technology. The GDP of the state in 2015 was almost $2.45 billion. Today, it hosts headquarters of the world's largest IT companies, 18 of which are in the Fortune Global 500 ranking and have combined annual revenue of about $350 billion, the Ukrainian president's press service said.
A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Who is Fethullah Gulen?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the US In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

Why not deport him?

The US has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

What's the status of legal claims against Gulen in the US?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric. "Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," lawyer Robert Amsterdam said. The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. US District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in US courts.

What about the schools?

Some of the US schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service." In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

What's the response to the latest allegations?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."

What are Gulen's days like?

He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan. Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.

Refuting the allegations of backing the military coup, Gulen condemned it "in the strongest terms".

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a brief statement just before midnight Friday.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," read the two-paragraph statement.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.

"I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly."

Erdogan has accused the reclusive Islamic preacher, who lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania, of being behind the coup.

Gulen, 75, was once a close ally of Erdogan but the two fell out in recent years as Erdogan became suspicious of Gulen's movement, Hizmet, and its powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.

The preacher moved to the United States in 1999, before he was charged with treason in his native country.
Paris: In a shocking disclosure, the French government barred media from reporting the ghastly torture of victims by ISIS militants during the Bataclan attacks, according to a report in The Daily Mail. The reports put forth by the investigators probing the attacks stated that the attackers scooped out eyes of the victims and chopped their genitals. They also planned to video record the abominable encounter to profess ISIS propaganda.

One of the investigators was almost on the verge of vomiting after witnessing the gruesome incident, said an official investigating the attack.To add on to the hideousness, militants shoved in victims chopped genitals inside their mouth and women were stabbed in their genitals.

However, the prosecutors at the parliamentary inquiry rubbished the aforementioned claims as no sharp knives were found at the spot of the attack.

A father who was shown his sons body in the morgue was warned beforehand that the right hand side of the deceaseds face was unrecognisable, as the militants had punctured his eyes, said an investigating official.

The Bataclan attack which took place last year in November had juddered France and sent world leaders into a tizzy. The attack claimed 129 lives in and around Paris.
Nice: The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.

As authorities in France frantically search for clues that might indicate a network of supporters of the kind that emerged after the Paris attacks last November, what is known so far about Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry loner with little interest in Islam.

The 31-year-old was born in Msaken, a town in Tunisia, but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbours described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel said.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

Throwing light on her brother's mental condition, Bouhlel's sister said, "My brother had psychological problems, and we have given the police documents showing that he had been seeing psychologists for several years."

In a news conference on Friday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

Bouhlel had had a series of run-ins with the law for threatening behavior, violence and theft over the past six years. In March, he was given a six-month suspended sentence by a Nice court for a road-rage incident.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed "no radicalization whatsoever," and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel was never placed on a watch list for radicals.

Still, Bouhlel could have felt inspired by calls from extremist groups to carry out acts of murder in France, said Molins. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the Nice attack, President Francois Hollande called it "undeniably terrorist in nature" and extended a state of emergency imposed after the Nov. 13 assault on Paris nightspots that claimed 130 lives.

Records show that the 19-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on July 11 and overdue on the night of the attack.

About 25 minutes before the July 14 fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city center.

Shortly after 10:30 pm, he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.

"It was such a nice atmosphere before this started," recalled Sanchia Lambert, a tourist from Sweden who had come to visit family in Nice. "There were people playing drums, kids riding their bikes. That makes what happened all the worse."

Her husband, John Lambert, said the couple was almost struck by Bouhlel.

"I saw his face," Lambert told The Associated Press. "He was totally focused."

Within minutes the attack was over, with Bouhlel dead in a hail of police gunfire. Inside the driver's cab lay a loaded handgun, three replica firearms and an empty grenade.

Investigators are looking into how Bouhlel acquired the cache of weapons. A series of attacks in recent years have shown that radical jihadi networks are seemingly able to obtain guns, and even heavier automatic weapons, with ease in France.

Nice is home to a sizeable Islamic community, and Muslims were among the victims. It is also the home of Omar Omsen, notorious for his French-language jihadi recruitment videos and now believed to be fighting in Syria.

Fellow Tunisians in Nice said they hoped the attack wouldn't reflect badly on them.

"It shocks me because here's a guy who comes from the same town as me," said hair stylist Morgan Braham, 31. "Today I'm almost ashamed and afraid. It's not only shame it's also fear, to tell people that we're Tunisian."
The truck which slammed into revelers late Thursday, July 14, is seen near the site of an attack in the French resort city of Nice, southern France. (Photo: AP)

Paris, France: French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Friday said he could not confirm that the Nice truck attacker was motivated by religious extremism.

Asked on TF1 television if he was in a position to draw a link between radical Islam and the carnage that left 84 dead, the minister responded: "No."

A truck loaded with weapons and hand grenades drove onto a sidewalk for more than a mile, ploughing through Bastille Day revelers who'd gathered to watch fireworks in the French resort city of Nice late Thursday. At least 84 people were killed before police killed the driver, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear who would have been behind an attack, but France has recently seen a spate of dramatic assaults by jihadist groups, including the Islamic State group which straddles Iraq and Syria.

President Francois Hollande said in a televised statement that all of France was under an "Islamist terrorist threat" and extended by three months a state of emergency that has been in place since the November attacks that killed 130 in Paris was to end July 26.
Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul. (Photo: AP)

Ankara: Turkey's president declared he is in control of the country early Saturday as loyal military and police forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested across the country, said a senior official who was not authorized to speak to the media. The state-run Anadolu news agency said at least 90 people were killed in clashes and more than 1,100 were wounded.

Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said coup supporters "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

Military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar is taking over the command of the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

Government officials, who blamed the unrest on a U.S.-based Islamist cleric, said the coup failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Erdogan flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. He told them, "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz said 16 coup plotters were killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.
Cologne, Germany: Months after series of sexual attacks on women during New Year celebrations in the German city of Cologne, an 18-year-old rape victim has made a shocking revelation -- her journey from rape to pregnancy.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the traumatised victim said that she had to undergo an abortion after she was brutally assaulted, groped and raped in front of Cologne train station on New Year's eve.

In her revelation, she mentioned that she was thrown around a group of men, before she fell on the ground and was attacked by the mob, alongside another victim who was being raped.

About 90 women had reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations outside Cologne's cathedral by young, mostly drunk, men, police said. Many of the forced sexual attacks still go unreported.

The victim said that she was separated from her girlfriend and ended up being passed from one man to another. She was then thrown to the ground and raped.

She had tried to signal to the other girl that she should close her eyes, but the man then grabbed her own head and forced her to look at him, said officials investigating the case.

The victim said that her ordeal ended after a policeman intervened and pulled her attacker away, giving her a chance to flee from the horrific scene.

Although the victim suffered abuse at the hands of the attacker, she did not file a police complaint. However, she used to often visit the hospital. But, when she was told about her pregnancy, she decided to have an abortion.

Cologne has long been in the news for sex assaults on women during the New Year's eve, followed by the resignation of police chief. The attacks were blamed largely on Arab and North African men.
Alexandroupoli: A Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece on Saturday carrying eight men seeking asylum after a coup bid, Greek police said.

The Black Hawk helicopter landed after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in Alexandroupolis in the country's north.

Seven of those on board were in military uniform and all are believed to have been involved in the attempted putsch, ERT TV said.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara had asked Athens to send back the eight coup plotters.

"We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible," Cavusoglu was quoted as telling HaberTurk television.

According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, "the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey".

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras early on Saturday expressed his "support for the democratically elected" Turkish government.
Paris: UNESCO suspended its world heritage meeting in Istanbul Saturday in the wake of Turkey's attempted military coup, the organisation said.

"The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee is suspended until further notice," the Paris-based body said in a statement on its website.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

The meeting, which began on last Sunday, was deciding whether to give world heritage protection to 29 sites across the world.

The most headline-grabbing of its discussions centred on whether it would list some of the Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier's most iconic modernist buildings.

A decision had been expected Sunday.

UNESCO has twice rejected previous bids to give its protection to Le Corbusier's utilitarian concrete buildings, which had a huge impact on urban planning across the planet.

Seventeen of his projects, stretching from La Cite Radieuse housing project in Marseille, France, to the city of Chandigarh in northern India, which he laid out, were being considered.

While his stark designs were revolutionary, in the years following his death in France in 1965 they were also blamed for urban alienation.

Le Corbusier's legacy has been further complicated by revelations about his political views, with biographers claiming he was "an out-and-out fascist" and anti-Semite who collaborated with France's wartime puppet Vichy regime.

Despite the claims, the architect, whose real name was Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition in Paris last year.
The Clooneys 7.5 million 18th-century Italian villa, with its fabulous view of Lake Como. This week 200 people had set up a makeshift camp at the local railway station not from from the villa.

London: Residents living near the secluded Italian lakeside paradise of Lake Como are reportedly furious at the migrant camps that have been set up just outside of immigration activists George and Amal Clooneys multi-million dollar mansion, according to the Daily Mail.

I dont want them here, a local restaurant owner named Maria Grazia said. Italy has enough problems without trying to solve the problems of the world, Grazia added. We should not have to deal with these people on our own.

Both Clooney and his wife Amal, an international human rights lawyer, have raised their voice speaking up for migrants and refugees arriving in Europe. Early this year the Clooneys visited Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to personally praise her for throwing open the countrys doors to refugees. The reality is we, as the world, have to start paying more attention to these people, the actor had said. They arent fleeing to just come and have fun in Germany, you know, these are people who are dying, he had said.

Yet the sight of migrants in their own very swish back-yard may now come as a surprise to the Clooneys. This week, not far from their 7.5 million 18th-century Italian villa, with its fabulous view of Lake Como, 200 people had set up a makeshift camp at the local railway station, from where they hope to be able to slip through the Swiss border, which is a six-minute train ride up the track.

A dilapidated tent city has reportedly emerged in the middle of one of the most exclusive hideaways for the affluent and famous. Meanwhile, business owners and locals in the area are fuming. Immigration here in Italy is a problem, a big problem because of the huge numbers who are arriving all the time, a local tour guide named Denise told the Mail.
Istanbul: Troops filed into Taksim Square uncertain of how they would be received. Before long, angry crowds had gathered to denounce them.

In the famous square where anti-government protests took hold in 2013, a huge crowd chanted against the putsch, draped with Turkish flags across their shoulders. The scenes were reminiscent of the mass demonstrations three years ago against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was then prime minister. But this time, the crowds were on his side  and it was the military, badly outnumbered at a hundred against a thousand, who were the target of their ire.

Military get out, they chanted, crowding around a monument that marks the birth of the Turkish republic almost a century ago. The people are afraid of a military government, said Dogan, 38. Most of them have been in military service  they know what a military government would mean. As a helicopter flew overhead the crowd began to boo, shaking their fists at the night sky. Then there was horror as the soldiers opened fire.

At least three people were hit. One man lay bloodied on the ground. Ambulances arrived, their blue lights illuminating the angry faces of the crowd. The military, they did this! Murderers! screamed one man above the shouts of the crowd.

Minutes later riot police poured out of trucks, brandishing their shields and clearing the space. Soldiers also opened fire at thousands of civilians trying to cross the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge across the Bosphorus by foot leaving tens of people injured.

Shops had closed hurriedly as news of the coup attempt broke. Dozens queued at ATMs to get money, worried about what the next days might bring. In the bustling streets of Istanbuls Sisli neighbourhood, people panic-bought water before disappearing into their homes, from where the loud sounds of live news broadcasts rang out. Parts of the city looked like a ghost town.
Workers assemble lithium batteries in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. The electric-car industry gives a boost to the battery manufacturing sector. [Photo/China Daily]

Companies see supply-side changes playing bigger role

Both international and local companies said on Friday they were expecting China's supply-side structural reform to play a bigger role in stimulating the country's foreign trade in the second half of the year.

The supply-side structural reform aims at cutting low-end industrial capacity while increasing high-tech production.

Richard Loi, president of UPS China: "Chinese businesses therefore must innovate and come up with products that satisfy the needs of today's consumers."

Eager to enhance its earnings ability, Loi said UPS will continue to expand its China-to-Europe rail service this year as the growing trade between China and the European Union was expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020.

Feng Jianfeng, president of OSell, a Chongqing-based cross-border e-commerce platform, said that even though trade data showed that foreign orders for China's manufacturing sector shrank in the first half, the continuing supply-side reform could offer more practical measures to stabilize the economy in the second half.

The company plans to set up 50 interactive overseas stores in two years to build a communication and trade barrier-free passageway between 50 international trading centers and 50 Chinese industrial cities.

China's economy grew 6.7 percent in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier. The National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday that although the economy still faced downward pressure, the first-half performance laid a good foundation for achieving the government's full-year growth target of 6.5 percent to 7 percent.

Nomura Group, meanwhile, said it had revised up its forecast for China's GDP growth this year to 6.5 percent from 6 percent previously.

Zhang Shuquan, president of Shenzhen BAK Battery Co Ltd, said the economy will achieve stabilized growth levels in the second half of the year as more technology-driven businesses emerge.

"We are optimistic about the future development of the Chinese economy, which will feature more technology- and innovation-driven businesses," Zhang said.

BAK, a leading new-energy company whose core business includes lithium batteries and electric vehicles, said its sales would dramatically increase to about 5 billion yuan ($748 million) this year, said Zhang.

The Shenzhen-based company said it had teamed up with several big domestic and overseas vehicle manufacturers to provide new-energy power solutions.

"The new-energy power industry is booming in China as public willingness about buying efficient electric vehicles has increased significantly in recent years," Zhang said.
Dubai: Iran, Turkey's neighbour and regional rival, said on Saturday it fully supported the Turkish government against an attempted military coup and expressed concern about its implications.

President Hassan Rouhani chaired a meeting of the National Security Council today to discuss the latest developments in Turkey, where loyalist troops were fighting to crush the remnants of a coup attempt launched on Friday night.

"We support Turkey's legal government and oppose any type of coup - either initiated domestically or supported by foreigners," National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said after the meeting, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has spoken three times on the telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iranian news agencies said.

Zarif said in a tweet he was "deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount".

He later praised supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan who took to the streets to oppose the military move.

"Turkish people's brave defence of democracy and their elected government proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail," he said.

Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation, has long been a regional rival of Sunni majority Turkey.
A displaced Iraqi Yazidi woman wipes her eyes at the Bajid Kandala camp near the Tigris River, in Kurdistan's western Dohuk province, where they took refuge after fleeing advances by Islamic State jihadists in Iraq. (Photo: AP)

Baghdad: In a horrific revelation of inhumane act, several Yazidi women held as sex slaves by ISIS fighters have exposed the torture that they have been subjected to. These women were kidnapped and then subjected to months of rape and torture. If this wasnt enough, they were further forced to undergo dreadful two-finger virginity tests.

Girls who escaped from the clutches of ISIS militants revealed the everyday horrors they had to face while they were held captive. These women were forced to undergo certain virginity tests conducted by Kurdish officials to determine if they were raped or not, according to Human Rights Watch.

The girls underwent the abusive and inaccurate procedure as part of a forensic, post-rape examination, Rothna Begum, an HRW Womens Rights Division researcher, said in a recent Dispatches report.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has clearly stated that virginity tests have no scientific validity. However, these two-finger tests were seen as evidence by the Iraqi courts to determine if a woman was raped, said Rothna Begum.

The virginity tests are based on the common belief that virgin women have intact hymen that bleed during the first intercourse, added Begum. She further stated that these tests lack the capability of judging whether a woman is subject to sexual violence or not.

Begum, in the past, has interviewed several women who were held captive by ISIS militants. These women were in desperate need of medical care and counseling that could help them recover from their tortured past," said Begum.

The committee which was handling ISIS crimes and gathering evidence against them said that they had already stopped referring sex slave victims for any kind of virginity tests. As an alternative, they were adopting a new type of medical examination report that was based on the recommendation of United Nations, said HRW.

Horrifying experiences

Iraqi Yazidi Nadia Murad Basee Taha was abducted from her village in Iraq last August and held for three months by militants of the Islamic State. (Photo: AP)

The sexual abuse testimonies of several women come in the wake of the recent incident when Nadia Murad Basee, an Iraqi Yazidi, who escaped from the clutches of ISIS fighters, revealed the torture she had to go through when she was kidnapped.

Speaking about her ordeal at Egypts Cairo University last November, Nadia said militants used to force captives to pray and then rape us. They did what a mind could not imagine.

She also said that these sex slaves were sold multiple times to various fighters.

It is estimated that about 3,000 to 5,000 women and young girls, including minors, are enslaved by ISIS.
Lahore: LeT chief Hafiz Saeed on Saturday demanded Pakistan government to immediately suspend foreign and trade relations with India in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

"We don't need potato and onion trade with India," he told a press conference at JuD headquarters in Chauburji here.

"Pakistan should call its ambassador back from India and expel its from Islamabad," the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder said, claiming Pakistan is an advocate of Kashmiris and this gesture will give Kashmiris a boost.

Saeed, on whose head the US has put a bounty of USD 10 million, also said "screening of Indian movies in Pakistan should be banned forthwith as these are hurting the sentiments of people of Pakistan in the wake of killings in Kashmir".
Under the treaty, in case the parties fail to resolve water disputes through bilateral means, the aggrieved party has the option to invoke the jurisdiction of the ICA or the neutral expert under the auspices of the World Bank. (Representational Image)

Islamabad: Pakistan will move the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) to restrain India from building two major hydropower projects on Jhelum and Chenab, the two rivers assigned to Islamabad under the 1960s Indus Waters Treaty.

"Pakistan to move international court of arbitration," tweeted Federal Minister for Water and Power Khwaja Mohammad Asif, who also holds the portfolio of Federal Minister for Defence.

An eight-member delegation led by Secretary Water and Power Mohammad Younas Dagha is presently in New Delhi for final talks on resolving the dispute bilaterally or to seek arbitration, reports the Dawn.

Asif said the talks for two and a half years with India on resolution of Pakistan's objections regarding Kishanganga and Ratle Hydroelectric projects have failed.

"Pakistan with consent of stakeholders decided to take it to full court of arbitration," he said adding that India has invited Pakistan to discuss points of dispute over the Indus Waters Treaty.

Under the treaty, in case the parties fail to resolve water disputes through bilateral means, the aggrieved party has the option to invoke the jurisdiction of the ICA or the neutral expert under the auspices of the World Bank.

An official said Pakistan feels its water rights are being violated by India on two rivers, the Chenab and Jhelum, through a faulty design of 850 MW Ratle Hydropower Project and 330 MW Kishanganga Hydropower, respectively.

Pakistan believes the Indian design of the Ratle project would reduce Chenab water flow by 40 per cent at Head Marala and cause irrigation loss to crops.
Islamabad: Pakistans controversial model Qandeel Baloch was murdered by her younger brother in Multan city on Saturday, police aid. A police official said Baloch was strangled to death by her brother in an apparent incident of honour killing. The brother fled after the incident, the police officer said, adding he was upset at the disrespect she had caused to the family.

Baloch, believed to be in her twenties and whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, had travelled with her family to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Id holiday. She was killed there, police said.

The social media star had addressed a news conference earlier this month in which she had demanded the Home Ministry provide her security as she was receiving death threats. The department had refused to entertain the request.

My daughter was innocent, we are innocent, we want justice, why was my daughter killed? Balochs father Azeem Ahmad said. A murder case against the brother.
Twenty five years ago in 1991, India launched iconic economic reforms that were considered a game-changer for the country. Just prior to 1991, India was growing at around 5% annually  emerging from years of mere 3% growth, cynically referred to as Hindu-rate-of-growth. In the late 1980s, the governments profligacy had resulted in large fiscal deficit. International debts were rising as well. However, nobody bothered as the economy was chugging along at a decent pace.



The first Gulf war of 1990-91 changed the status quo. Political scenario had also changed. In June, 1991, the Congress had formed the new government under the leadership of P V Narasimha Rao. At that time, the primary source of foreign inflows for India was money remitted by the Indian workers based in West Asia. The Gulf war pushed up the price of oil and at the same time, foreign exchange inflows sharply declined as workers in the region lost their jobs. The new government found that it had just enough foreign exchange to pay for only 13 days of countrys imports.



The combination of large fiscal deficit, widening current account deficit along with depleting foreign exchange reserves was the perfect recipe for a critical crisis.



International confidence in Indias ability to pay was so low that New Delhi had to transport its gold reserve to London as a collateral for aid from International Monetary Fund (IMF). The event is still embedded in Indian psyche as the most humiliating event in its history. This move, though politically very unpopular, gave some breathing space for the government to embark on serious structural reforms.



Rao appointed Manmohan Singh as fin-ance minister while he kept the portfolio of industry with himself. The government used this window of opportunity to clean up the system which did not actually result in the crisis but required cleaning up urgently. India needed a paradigm shift in its developmental model. The Nehruvian inward-looking socialistic model with restrictions on production and imports was showing its fault lines under the pressure of growing population with surplus unskilled labour.



The most iconic reform announced in the first budget itself was the removal of the notorious licence system. The licence-raj required anyone who wanted to start a new industry or expand production or import inputs had to get a licence from the government to do so. This had increased bureaucratic red-tape and bred corruption.



Jettisoning the license-raj was major part of the reform package. Next, Singh addressed reforms in trade and investments. The peak import duty was reduced from 400 to 150% in 1991 and thereafter reduced slowly to 15% by 2005. Foreign investment was liberalised in stages and imports of technology were freed.



Indias foreign exchange was so meagre that it was virtually impossible to take dollars out of the country. The government opened up foreign exchange flows. These were major big-bang reforms since Indias independence in 1947. In July 1991, Manmohan Singh ended his famous budget speech with a quote of Victor Hugo, no power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.



However, in a democracy, as noisy as India, an idea is not enough without wider political support. Critics were quick to warn that India would suffer a lost decade following the mandate of IMF. Fiscal tightening will kill growth, increase unemployment, opening up of the economy will destroy domestic industry and free movement of foreign exchange will deplete our reserves. However, the government managed to pull this through.



Looking back, it is easy to see that India, instead of suffering a lost decade, turned itself around. Growth soon picked up to 7%, businesses remained competitive and turn-ed multinational, foreign reserves increased. Even though manufacturing sector continued to struggle, easing up on import restrictions and tariffs helped the services sector to take off. Capital-starved economy welcomed the entry of foreign institutional investors. Private banks and airlines emerged. In television, monopoly of the Doordarshan was replaced by several private channels.



Fastest growing



The momentum of these reforms helped India join the club of a few fastest growing major economies after 2005. Reduction of income tax, introduction of VAT, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, disinvestment policy, planning of golden quadrilateral, introduction of government schemes like Gram Sadak Yojana and MNREGA (Rural Employment Scheme), Aadhaar and Direct Benefit Transfer are some major reforms implemented since 1991.



In 1991, India was a poor developing country, a member of the G77 group. In 2016, India is the fastest growing major economy and a bright spot in the world. It is now a member of the G20, the most-powerful countries in the world. Its per capita income has shot up from $300 in 1991 to $1,700; share of the population living in poverty has halved; literacy rate has improved by 22% and foreign reserves from $5 billion to $360 bn.



In 1991, India used to meet its financial needs through foreign aids and loans. It is now as much a donor as recipient and meets its financing needs on commercial terms. Foreign direct investment last year was record high at $44.9 bn. Indian consumers now have unlimited choices as against few available in the closed economy of 1991.



However, many chinks in its armour had emerged in recent years. From crony capitalism to corruption, massive leakages in welfare schemes, failing education and health system, rise of unskilled labour  problems were many.



The NDA government has been successful in bringing several incremental reforms since 2014. Urgent reforms in education and skill development are needed to harness demographic dividend. Big bang reforms like the GST, land acquisition and labour laws are still awaited. As we celebrate 25 ye-ars of 1991 reforms, there is a need for next iconic Reforms 2.0 for India to take off.



(The writer is senior researcher, Macroeconomic Unit, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi)
Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power but President Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.





Gunfire and explosions rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night, but by the early hours of Saturday there were indications that the coup was crumbling.



If successful, the overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would mark one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. If it fails, the coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country in the region.



"We will overcome this," Erdogan said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by an announcer on the Turkish sister station of CNN. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.



An official said Erdogan was speaking from Marmaris on the Turkish coast where he was on holiday. A Turkish official later said Erdogan's plane had landed in Istanbul.



A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.



As the night wore on, crowds appeared to be answering Erdogan's call to take to the streets, defying orders by the coup leaders to stay indoors.



"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.



Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other senior officials said the elected government remained in office. Yildirim and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.



The United States declared its backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".



Crowds of people, some waving Turkish flags, gathered in major squares in Istanbul and Ankara to show support for the elected government. Police urged people to leave Istanbul's Taksim square, warning military aircraft could open fire.



Warplanes and helicopters roared over Ankara and Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.
Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country today after thwarting a coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.



After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year autocratic rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible "flare-up" of yesterday's chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.



With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless round-up over the coup plot, the authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogan's arch enemy, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.



Turks woke up early today to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the apparent failure of the coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets.



"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.



Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.



This toll did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, bringing the overall death toll from the bloodshed to 265.



During a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.



And Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets to ensure no further challenges to his power.



"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," he said.



As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures today showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets.



Yesterday's putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.



Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.



As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.



Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring several.



There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.



"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."



Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.



Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Ataturk Airport, denounced the coup attempt as "treachery".



"They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."



The president's critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey's secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.



Turkey's once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.



It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.



But the president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".



Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."



"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.



Speaking in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Turkey to hand over any evidence it had against Gulen.



Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.



And Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.



But the US government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after the coup bid.



The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.



And world leaders appealed for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.



NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg welcomed what he called the "strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey," a key member of the alliance.
Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. [Photo: Xinhua/Saltanat]

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

According to the military statement, reported on NTV, the military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and rule of law.

The statement said that all our international agreements and commitments is continue to be kept valid.

"We hope that our good relations with all countries of the world will be continued," the statement said.

President Erdogan's office website said he is safe and and that a coup attempt by a small group of soldiers was "unsuccessful."

In his appearance on CNNTurk via a reporter's mobile phone, Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"This is an act encouraged by the parallel structure." he said. "I believe that this act will have the necessary punishment that will be given by our nation."

The president was referring to the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"I will be at the squares as well either in Istanbul or Ankara," Erdogan said in remarks delivered later on NTV.

Shortly after Erdogan's statement, soldiers started leaving the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, while some Turks walk toward the airport, the Hurriyet daily said.

It said supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among the throng gathering there.

Reports earlier said that tanks were sent to the airport, where all flights were canceled.

In Ankara, helicopters could be heard hoving above. There were also reports of gunshots and explosions heard in the capital.

There were also reports of tanks being deployed outside the Turkish parliament.

On the capital's Kizilay Avenue, Xinhua reporters saw a large crowd gathering, some throwing rocks on tanks passing by and calling for peace.

On Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told local media that there has been a coup attempt.

"This is a mutiny attempt; we will not let it win," Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim as saying. "Those who are doing this will be punished in the hardest way."

Meanwhile, NTV reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was taken hostage by a group of soldiers.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the coup attempt is unlawful and Ankara and Istanbul public prosecutors have launched an investigation, Milliyet News reported.

"The coup of some armed forces was made without command," Bozdag said. "It is time we show our attitude to democracy."

In Istanbul, the gendarmerie closed the two bridges that connect the city's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, with tanks reported on the bridges.

A military statement on Turkish media said Friday the armed forces have fully seized power in the country but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed, urging people to protect democracy.

According to the military statement, reported on NTV, the military move was made to restore the constitutional order, democracy, human rights, freedom and rule of law.

The statement said that all our international agreements and commitments is continue to be kept valid.

"We hope that our good relations with all countries of the world will be continued," the statement said.

President Erdogan's office website said he is safe and and that a coup attempt by a small group of soldiers was "unsuccessful."

In his appearance on CNNTurk via a reporter's mobile phone, Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protect "democracy."

"This is an act encouraged by the parallel structure." he said. "I believe that this act will have the necessary punishment that will be given by our nation."

The president was referring to the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

"I will be at the squares as well either in Istanbul or Ankara," Erdogan said in remarks delivered later on NTV.

Shortly after Erdogan's statement, soldiers started leaving the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, while some Turks walk toward the airport, the Hurriyet daily said.

It said supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among the throng gathering there.

Reports earlier said that tanks were sent to the airport, where all flights were canceled.

In Ankara, helicopters could be heard hoving above. There were also reports of gunshots and explosions heard in the capital.

There were also reports of tanks being deployed outside the Turkish parliament.

On the capital's Kizilay Avenue, Xinhua reporters saw a large crowd gathering, some throwing rocks on tanks passing by and calling for peace.

On Friday evening, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told local media that there has been a coup attempt.

"This is a mutiny attempt; we will not let it win," Anadolu Agency quoted Yildirim as saying. "Those who are doing this will be punished in the hardest way."

Meanwhile, NTV reported that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was taken hostage by a group of soldiers.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the coup attempt is unlawful and Ankara and Istanbul public prosecutors have launched an investigation, Milliyet News reported.

"The coup of some armed forces was made without command," Bozdag said. "It is time we show our attitude to democracy."

In Istanbul, the gendarmerie closed the two bridges that connect the city's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, with tanks reported on the bridges.

Turkey's gendarmerie guard a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 15, 2016. Turkey's gendarmerie on Friday night closed the two bridges that connect Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait, Turkish media reported. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. [Photo: Xinhua/Saltanat]

Ambulances gather near Turkish General Staff building in Ankara, Turkey on July 15, 2016. Turkish Prime minister Binali Yildirim told local media on Friday night that there has been a mutiny attempt in Turkey. [Photo: Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya]
The US has called for reducing rhetoric and violence in Kashmir, a day after Pakistan termed slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani as a "martyr" and said July 19 will be observed as "black day" to protest "atrocities" against Kashmiris by Indian security forces.





"It is a situation where we need all parties to this to reduce the rhetoric, reduce the violence, get back to a situation where they can have dialogue," State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

"Obviously we're gravely concerned about this situation. We're gravely concerned about the violence," she said.



Trudeau was responding to questions on the decision of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's declaration to observe July 19 as "Black day" in support of the killing of Burhan in an encounter in Kokernag on July 8 by Indian security forces.



At least 38 people have died and over 3100 others, including 1500 security men, injured in the week-long clashes following Burhan's killing in an encounter in Kokernag.

Trudeau said the US would not support any call for increasing tension in the region.



"I wouldn't say that any call for increasing tension or increasing rhetoric is something that we would support. We've been very clear on our position on this. But again, it would be the government of that minister to speak to his remarks," the spokesperson said in response to another question.



Addressing a special cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Kashmir, Sharif yesterday termed the "movement of Kashmiris as a movement of freedom".



"The Prime Minister termed Burhan Wani as martyr of independence movement," Radio Pakistan reported.



The cabinet decided that "black day" will be observed on Tuesday (July 19). Pakistan also briefed the ambassadors of African and Middle Eastern countries over the tense situation in Kashmir.



Thousands of people rallied in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok) yesterday to protest the deadly clashes between the people and Indian security forces in Kashmir.
Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released today, the External Affairs Ministry said here.





"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today morning at 1030 hrs IST.



"Both have spoken to their families. Sharma's wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.



The duo - Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka)- were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.



Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act".
The Delhi government should focus on coming up with upgraded rehabilitation schemes which can offer employment opportunities to destitutes in the long run.



Currently, the punitive law convicts a person if found begging. The Social Welfare Department was planning to videograph those asking for alms before producing them at the court where they would be convicted for begging, according to sources in the department. The plan was halted after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted criticising the plan following a report from DH.



Raiding teams also often pick up destitutes from temples or signals mistaking them to be beggars. Officials themselves have also pointed out the grey areas in the law.



The existing rehabilitation units at the government-run beggar homes are lying defunct.



The department has not revamped plans of rehabilitation like sewing, carpentry, candlemaking for years now. NGOs said the government should be more responsive of the proposals discussed by them.



Giving vocational training is not enough anymore. Communities should be classified on the basis of their aptitude. People have to be convinced that the government will provide them with alternative options of employment. The government should open up and realise that rounding people up in custody will not work, said Mohammed Tarique, director of Koshish, an NGO that addresses beggary, destitution and homeless. The Delhi government can replicate from the Bihar model of rehabilitating beggars in which people are being motivated to earn their livelihood, pointed out Tarique.



Koshish is a knowledge partner in rehabilitating beggars in Patna with the Bihar government, a project which is being carried on a pilot phase.



Destitutes have been given employment in the hospitality sector, housekeeping, industrial tailoring, jobs as security guards, he added. A group of six-seven people are selling small items like mobile covers while others have started small-scale businesses as starting a tea stall or fruit carts. There has to be political will too in rehabilitating the poor, said Tarique. The project is now being extended to six other districts in Bihar  Darbhanga, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Rohtash, Purnia, Nalanda.



Koshish has started a project around Manosarovar Park in Delhi in which the NGO is training six to seven youths to drive vehicles.



Sunil Kumar Aledia, founder of Centre for Holistic Development, said, The thought process of the government needs to change. Training destitutes as plumbers, electricians and carpenters do not work once these people come out of the beggar homes. During a recent meeting with the government, we realised the social welfare department has the tendency to categorise any destitute as beggar. This approach needs to change.



Most homeless find it difficult to fight stigma after being released from the beggar homes. They also live in constant fear of being arrested any time. We discuss a set of dos and donts while briefing people at shelter homes. They are given tips on how to handle the situation when raiding teams approach them, said Asif Iqbal, heading Koshishs Delhi team.




President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks to remain on the streets today, as his forces regained control after a spectacular coup bid by discontented soldiers that claimed more than 250 lives.



After hours of chaos and violence unseen in decades, Erdogan ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours where he was cheered by hundreds of supporters.



"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general.



Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets, warning against a new flare-up after the most dramatic challenge to his 13 years of dominant rule.



"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," he said.



Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late yesterday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.



Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim said that 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.



This did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, in a toll given by the military.



As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures today showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets.



Crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appeared to have turned the tide, defying orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.



Yildirim said the putsch bid had fallen apart as nearly 3,000 soldiers suspected in involvmenet were detained.



The strongman denounced the coup attempt as "treachery", saying he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end".



"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said at the airport. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."



Erdogan's critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey's secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but the president was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.



Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.



But the president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".



Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."



"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.



After the night's fast-moving events, Turkey's parliament held an extraordinary session, broadcast live on television, while special forces were reportedly securing the headquarters of the military chief of staff.



Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.



There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.



"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."



The sound of F16 fighter jets screaming low over the capital Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late Friday, with troops also moving to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.



As protesters took to the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.



Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring several.



Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.



World leaders appealed for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.



The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.



EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for "restraint and respect for democratic institutions," while Moscow said it was "deeply concerned" by the developments, which it warned would increase the threat to regional stability.



"Everything must be done to protect human lives," said a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he hoped Turkish democracy will "emerge stronger."



In a key moment in the standoff, Turkish security forces rescued the country's top army general Hulusi Akar who had reportedly been taken hostage in the earlier stages of the coup bid.



Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- which had been shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.
Eight Turkish military personnel who fled Greece by helicopter after yesterday's failed coup took no part in the putsch, their lawyer said today, although a Greek government spokeswoman contradicted their account.



The eight, who have claimed asylum in Greece, arrived by military helicopter today after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in northern Alexandroupolis.



Seven of those on board were in military uniform, ERT TV said. "They were in Istanbul with the order to transport the wounded. They didn't know what was happening exactly," Greek lawyer Ilia Marinaki told reporters.



"On Saturday morning, when policemen started shooting against them, they decided to leave."



Marinaki added that the soldiers -- all married and in their forties -- were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families' lives. Athens News Agency said the group was made up of three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors.



Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara had asked Athens to send the eight back following yesterday night's challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule by discontented soldiers in which more than 250 people died.



"We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by HaberTurk television.



Around 300-400 members of the Muslim minority of Greece, meanwhile, staged a demo outside Alexandroupolis airport calling for the "traitors" to be sent back, an AFP photographer witnessed.



According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, "the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey".



"As far as the asylum-seekers are concerned, we are going to proceed according to international law" Olga Gerovasili, the Greek government spokeswoman, said.



She said Athens was "in constant contact with the Turkish authorities," and would take into account the fact that "the asylum-seekers took part in a coup against the Turkish constitution".



The eight were due to appear before a Greek prosecutor tomorrow. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras today expressed his "support for the democratically elected" Turkish government.


The Water Knife

Paolo Bacigalupi

Orbit

2016, pp 386, Rs 408





With searing discontent among citizens, and conflicts brewing among the states, the world is fast heading toward a waterless future. As huge areas across the globe dry up, and with a billion people without access to safe water, the world might indeed be standing on a precipice.



In his fictional world, which may not be far from the emerging reality, Paolo Bacigalupi imagines a bone-dry dystopia where water is the most prized possession. Private armies are deployed to lay control over water of the Colorado river, as lawyers engage in courtroom battles to win shady deals. It is an electrifying vision of the future where lawlessness and violence are the order of the day, with the states fighting over shared waters of the river, as enshrined in a treaty drawn nearly a century ago. I say we send our troops up to Colorado; thats our water they are holding. It is people seeking to take advantage of people.



Water Knife is a novel of discomforting possibilities of a piped resource and a packaged product, as water has come to mean for a majority of the population.



Today, a sizeable chunk of population thrives on borrowed water. Else, how could Las Vegas  a city that should have dried up and blown away  have survived? There could be nothing more shocking for those who are robbed of their water to serve the interests of the lush mini-worlds hundreds of miles away.



To keep some fountains running while million others survive on hydration packs is the worst form of inequality that human civilisation could usher in the name of progress.



Bacigalupi has come a long way from his multi-award-winning debut, The Windup Girl. Regarded as deftly plotted and evocative, it is set in a future Thailand wherein its cast of characters scours the region in search of new food resources to tackle the impact of climate change.



Having tackled a futuristic subject yet again, some critics consider him a climate-fiction or cli-fi writer. That indeed he is, as he excavates the shape of human future based on research and trends that are rapidly defining our world in The Water Knife.



Each of the three leading characters in the novel: Angel, the cunning fixer; Lucy, the tireless journalist; and Maria, protecting native rights, are caught up in their own world of alterations and confabulations.



Midway through the engaging narrative, one gets a sense that the future battles over water may indeed be between over-populated cities, tossing up refugees who may have to bribe border police to cross over as illegal immigrants. Some people have to bleed so other people can drink. As one character puts it without any remorse: Live by the gun and die by the gun. You make a living cutting peoples water. At some point, the scales got to balance you out.



Is it the price the unsuspecting masses will end up paying for being part of the original sin of robbing others of their legitimate water rights? Or, will such a scenario force people to become water-wise?



It is a book about a grim future where accusations fly like free-floating dust particles in the desert. If we werent wasting so much water on farming, wed be fine, goes one argument. But if you cut off farms, you get dust storms, counters the other. While fingers are pointed at one another, none of them point back at themselves. It is River Colorado, more than a thousand miles of free flow from the canyons of Utah to the blue Pacific, which is at the receiving end of such follies  obstructed and diverted to make deserts bloom without a drop of water hitting its delta. Even reservoirs dry up, forcing Texan refugees into water-pampered Phoenix.



Bacigalupi lives in Colorado, close to the plot of his novel, lending credence and seriousness to the emerging issues of a water-stressed world. What people will call us when archaeologists dig us up in another couple of thousand years? Maybe there is no one left to dig us up, or maybe theyll just say this was the Dry Age in history.



The Water Knife is a serious book about a twisted fictional landscape hinting at the price we may end up paying for our collective stupidity.




Products combine modern trends with local designs



Sikha Pamegam is 28 years old and a mother of three. She lives in the flood-ravaged Dhemaji district of Assam. Her village, Panbari, on the northern bank of Brahmaputra, is prone to floods and villagers lose their huts, crops and patches of land almost every year.



They lose their livelihood and survival becomes very difficult. Often young women and their vulnerable children get caught in the web of human trafficking. Even Sikha was once pushed to the brink but she found a new livelihood option, thanks to a social enterprise initiative by a non-governmental organisation.



Besides downtrodden people from Assam, many from the Northeast are part of this interesting social enterprise experiment which connects around 30,000 artisans and their products to distributors and buyers across the globe. It facilitates these connections by using the internet marketplace and placing the products under one brandEmpower.



The social enterprise business initiative has not only given livelihood to many but also turned out to be a profitable venture. Brand Empower uses their traditional skill of weaving to produce value-added products.



Earlier, I used to weave only for household purpose. I never thought of selling my products until I joined Impulse Social Enterprises Private Limited (ISE). It felt great to see my products being taken and appreciated in Delhi. I want to now train many women in my community, Sikha said. She now uses her traditional weaving skills to weave scarves, blankets, etc., and earn for herself and family.



In 2010, that Hasina Kharbhih, founder of Impulse NGO Network, started a sister concern, ISE, to promote fabrics and designs of eight Northeastern states. The business model was conceptualised to unlock doors for an equitable society. The enterprise works with women rural artisans to develop and innovate market-driven products. The ISE applies practical, innovative and sustainable measures to maximise social returns.



The thrust is on to work with the community and develop the spirit of entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency by capitalising the traditional art of weaving, bamboo making, and traditional pattern preservation. The products have become popular because they combine modern fashion with local tribal patterns and designs.



The business started with an initial investment of about Rs 10 lakh. However, its seeds were planted more than 23 years back by Kharbhih and her team when they started the NGO.



The initiative was launched to curb unsafe migration and prevent human trafficking, which was alarming in the region.



The ISE is presently working with the Assamese, Karbi and Mishing tribes in Assam. It is focusing on providing training, raw materials, designs, packaging, branding, marketing and financial support. Products that come out of this association are multi-purpose scarves, dining mats and stoles, conference bags, cushion covers, laptop sleeve covers, Kharbhih told Deccan Herald.



Operations were scaled up to cover states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram. The products have traditional patterns of Idu and Mishmi tribes. The market poses a challenge for an enterprise like the ISE, which produces niche goods.



To cope with the changing needs of the market, the research and marketing team at the ISE integrates fashion designers and local artisans to produce value-added products. The strength of the enterprise has been a blend of modern day fashion with ethnic patterns suiting the tastes of consumers, Kharbhih added.



She won first CNBC Awaaz Masterpreneur India Award for the idea of Brand Empower.

The brand speaks volumes about empowerment of women. To enhance the brand and market visibility, the ISE has taken to social media and advertisement to reach out to the people, Kharbhih explained.



The ISE is collaborating with hotels, cultural centres, museums and stores in airports to reach customers. It is also collaborating with various organisations. A few corporates have taken products as gifts.



The ISE has tied up with established designer houses in the country and set up the North-East Project (NEP). The NEP has roped in Safomasi, Bhane, 1701, Fizzy Goblet and NorBlack NorWhite in this endeavour.



The products that come out of this venture range from bag tags, DOP kits, travel wallets, fusion juttis to table mats. The products, which feature different tribal patterns, come in different ranges to suit the needs of the people. Some of the products find a place in stores in 5-star hotels. They also adorn dining tables of many houses of the well-heeled.

The ISE is a business that drives transformational change. The aim is not only to maximise financial returns for those involved but also to grow the social venture and reach more people. Wealth accumulation is not a priority and profits are ploughed back to fund expansion programme, Kharbhih said.



It has kept pace with the changing scenario and has launched a website for sale of products directly to the people. It has also tied up with some of the players in e-tail to deliver its products.



It has achieved an annual turn over of Rs 7 lakh and is on the verge of breaking even. It has been effectively utilising social media to advertise products and designs and patterns are shared on Twitter and Facebook. The company is planning to take advantage of interest in tribal crafts in the UK and the US. The weaving will be done here but the tote bags --priced at $ 60 -- being made for these markets will be stitched in Kolkata to comply with international specifications, she said.



Talks are on with Amazon to hold and ship the stock from Kolkata for a small facilitation fee. In the local market, the ISE has tied up with a Bengaluru-based company Tvaksati to create a range of Empower sarees with tribal motifs on the borders for the Indian market. In Dubai market, the distinctive five-in-one scarf as a hijab is a hit, Kharbhih added.



Across Northeast, families have lost their bread earners due to conflicts, insurgency or natural calamities. In such a situation, women have to work to keep the home fires burning. Now, their traditional skills in weaving and crafts and Brand Empower market linkage have started the process of changing lives in the Northeast.






The Khandu era is back in Arunachal Pradesh. This time a sons elevation in state politics marks the return to power of the states most talked about family.



Two-time Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandus eldest son, 37-year-old Pema Khandu, is all set to become the next chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. A businessman-turned politician, Pema Khandu is a graduate from New Delhis Hindu College.



Entry into politics

His entry into Arunachal Pradesh politics was rather situational. His father Dorjee Khandu, who was two-time chief minister of the state, died in a chopper mishap on May 20, 2011. To keep the Khandu familys political lineage active, Pema threw his hat in the ring.



He won an uncontested election to Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from his father's constituency Mukto on June 30, 2011 on a Congress ticket. Khandu was re-elected unopposed from Mukto in the 2014 Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election.



Making his entry into active politics only in 2011, within five years, Pema has been able to make a space for himself in the state politics.



Initially, the fact that he was Dorjee Khandus son helped him and he was made a Cabinet minister of water resource development and tourism in the Nabam Tuki Cabinet.



The Khandu family holds a lot of political clout over the Buddhists of Arunachal Pradesh and belong to the Monpa community, who are seen as the most sober and calm tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.



Soon after winning the 2014 Assembly polls in the state, former chief minister Tuki started facing dissidence. Pema was able to fish in troubled waters.



He was seen as one of the close aides of the leader of the dissident camp, Kalikho Pul, and had been instrumental in getting a lot of Congress MLAs to revolt against Tuki.



But after Pul became the chief minister, reports of strained relationships between Pul and Pema started appearing, which Pema denied. But watchers were surprised when Pul did not keep Pema in his Cabinet.



Sources also added that Pema and a group of MLAs supporting him were vehemently opposed to Puls idea of merger with the BJP at some point of time until the Supreme Courts order came.



With assets of nearly 150 crore, according to official data, Pema Khandu is seen as a formidable candidate.



In fathers footsteps

Dorjee Khandu became chief minister in 2007, when he was able to get majority of the Congress MLAs on his side and unseated the then chief minister Gegong Apang.



In 2009 Assembly polls, Congress won in his leadership and he became the chief minister for the second time.



Dorjee Khandu was able to keep his MLAs under control and saw no dissidence when he was a chief minister; Pema Khandu would have to repeats his fathers deeds. His biggest hurdles might be the political instability of politicians in the state.
A change of chief ministerial face in Arunachal Pradesh was supposed to be the Congress plan B. That is only if a majority of rebel party MLAs were still firmly against Nabam Tuki and refused to leave BJP backed Kalikho Pul-led People's Party of Arunachal.



But acting Governor Tathagata Roy's firm stand that Tuki had to face the floor test by Saturday caused Congress managers to drop him for good, AICC insiders said. In fact, Itanagar Raj Bhavan's press release on Friday citing apprehension that the present state government does not command required majority in the Assembly, the Governor asked the Chief Minister (Tuki) to prove his majority on the floor of the State Legislative Assembly tomorrow (July 16) left little scope for him, party sources said.



AICC strategists thought that Tukis Congress government would have fallen if the 30 rebel (along with 11 BJP and 2 independents) legislators had voted against it. They calculated that a whip issued by the Congress might have led to the disqualification of the 30 rebels but that could have also led to dissolution of the House and holding fresh elections.



With Tuki resigning, the entire camp loyal to Pul has now come back to the party and, thereby the reunited 45-member Congress Legislature Party is back as one team.



As the Congress strategists patted themselves for salvaging the situation by bringing the rebels back into its fold with a new CM face, Pema Khandu, they insisted that the change did not happen overnight.



In fact, around mid-June, there were claims of instability and revolt in the Kalikho Pul-led government.



Since then, Arunachal East MP Ninong Ering had been persuading the rebels --even before the Supreme Court verdict that restored the Tuki ministry. Then deputy CM Chowna Mein, MLAs Pema Khandu, Markio Tado and Pasang D Sona, who were credited as the main players of the revolt, were told to deny any threat to Pul by Congress interlocutors, who quietly told them that one among them would be CM of the Congress government. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also briefed on the development. Things hastened after the Supreme Court verdict. The rebels themselves decided to project Khandu as their leader. Tuki was informed by Kapil Sibal, who was Tukis lawyer in the Supreme Court, that he had to make way for Khandu if the Congress had to return to power. For Tuki, the apex court's verdict was enough consolation and a face saver.



Ironically, Khandu, eldest son of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu (who had died in a helicopter crash in 2011), who was elected as the new CLP leader, could have been chosen when the Congress MLAs had rebelled against Tuki last year.



The rebels, who went to BJP, wanted the removal of Tuki as CM but the party high command led by Rahul Gandhi was dead against entertaining them.
Police vehicles block a road in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. A military statement on Turkish media said on July 15 that the armed forces have fully seized power in the country. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said early Saturday the coup attempt has failed. (Xinhua/Zou Le)

ISTANBUL, July 16 -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government is in charge and he is in power, after the country is smarting from a coup attempt overnight.

In his second speech delivered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in less than two hours, the president said the armed forces do not and cannot rule Turkey.

Soldiers on a bridge that links Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus Strait have surrendered to the police, Turkish media reported.

The Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the strait as words of a coup attempt spread on Friday night.

In his first speech, Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against coup plotters to keep the army "clean."

As many as 754 members of armed forces have been detained across Turkey, state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing official.

Sporadic gunfires can still be heard in central Istanbul, but no more explosions and the roaring of jets overhead, a Xinhua reporter said.

Things are reportedly returning to normal in Ankara, Turkey's national capital, where at least 60 people were killed in the chaotic coup attempt, according to the prosecutor's office.
India is at the cusp of mobile apps revolution. The fast growing mobile internet user base, and the second largest Internet user base, just behind China, makes it ideal for app developers to tap this opportunity and contribute to the growth of the apps economy. Also, with consumer interest very high, app developers are in a happy space.





The Make in India programme by the government of India is also a prop to augment the apps economy. Also, with ecommerce companies going on mobile platform and an unprecedented growth in the hyperlocal segment, the industry will not be surprised to witness a faster growth rate in the near future. By 2018, 500 million Indians are likely to be on the internet and a large portion of them will be mobile-only. This calls for the entire ecosystem  brands, content creators, experience designers, technology providers and more  to completely rethink the way content is created and consumed. A very important role is going to be played by mobile apps. I sincerely believe in the potential of mobile apps industry to make a positive impact on the economy.



The multipliers



Indias app economy is witnessing exponential growth. A study published by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) and Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), titled An Inquiry Into The Impact Of Indias App Economy estimates direct employment in this industry to range between 1,51,230 and 1,59, 010 by 2016. Accordingly, the increase in direct employment attributable to Indias app economy is expected to range between 76,230 and 84,010 jobs from 2014 to 2016. Besides, Apps create downstream jobs in sales and marketing and in customer sales management. They also cause income growth that has its own secondary impact on jobs.



These indirect and induced effects could result in an increase in total employment by up to eight times during the period 2014 to 2016. At its best, the app economy could generate over six lakh jobs. The study estimates the size of Indias app economy at Rs 1,964 crore by 2016. As per estimates, there are roughly three lakh app developers in India.



Distribution of developers



The well known and established IT cities in India are attractive for app developers, because they provide with easy access to infrastructure, skill and a ready market for products.

The concentration of app developers are in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. A larger percentage of developers in such IT cities make apps on a full-time basis as compared to developers in other cities. Bengaluru, Mumbai, and NCR have the maximum number of companies (organised business operations) engaged in app development. Cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Chennai host many small teams of app developers as well as self-employed app professionals. In most of the other cities such as Bhubaneshwar, Cochin, Coimbatore, Gandhinagar and Kota, app development is done primarily on a part-time basis and is not the primary source of income. This could be the result of limited monetisation options that make app development an unsustainable livelihood for many. The future of apps market in India is really bright in the coming period.



Revenue models



Apps need an ecosystem to thrive. One major challenge for app developers in India is to transform a good idea into commercial success. The present rate is not encouraging. Most developers try to optimise their odds of becoming profitable, for example, by choosing the platform with the highest installed user base. Other factors driving the operating system (OS) choice are familiarity with the development environment and the cost of development.

On the whole, app development is not considered to be a remunerative business opportunity. While some developers are engaged in contractual development, there are few developers who self finance their project and do not actively market or promote their app.



The business of app development in India seems to be at a stage in which it could be characterised as one based on a hit and trial philosophy.

Most apps in India are distributed either by app stores or on the developers websites.

Almost 70% of the developers use app stores. In rare cases, developers email their app to a target group of users. Developers spend up to 85% of their development cost on marketing. Other avenues for marketing include social networking websites, promotions in magazines and cross promoting new apps on an existing app. Popular revenue generation models include advertising, in-app purchasing, freemium and pay per download.



The vast majority of apps in India are free for the consumer. This means that revenue generation for the developer is either through advertisements or through royalty. In cases, where the consumer pays for the app, the modal price range is between Rs 50 and Rs100.

Challenges before the market



Absence of skilled manpower, high cost of development, limited or no access to finance are major impediments to growth. A few other challenges include high cost of user acquisition, hyper competition driven by independent and freelance developers and the high cost of marketing. Industry stakeholders are concerned by the clutter in the developer market, although this could sort itself as the industry evolves and underperforming and uncompetitive developers gradually weed out. In terms of monetisation, the challenge is related to the preference for free apps and a user base that is limited in terms of their familiarity with the mobile and internet ecosystem.



(The author is the AVP, Internet and Mobile Association of India-IAMAI)




Tata Motors has announced an exclusive offer for Central and State government employees. Called Trust of India, its an initiative that focuses on building relationships and a strong customer base among the government employees.





This initiative recognises the contributions of government employees towards building the nation and offers them several benefits such as additional cash discounts or the option to buy extended warranty policy, AMC as well as accessories package on the purchase of their choice of Tata Motors passenger cars, a release said.



According to Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors, The initiative recognises and rewards the contribution of Indias valuable government employees as part of our institutional sales.



Tata Motors has also introduced a dedicated corporate helpline number (1800 209 8282) for all corporate customers, including government employees, the release added.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao urged DySP M K Ganapathis wife Pavana to be cautious of the BJP. The BJP is playing with the emotions of Pavana, he said.



Speaking to mediapersons here on Saturday, he said the BJP leaders are misusing her to gain political mileage. He accused the Opposition of politicising the issue. Even when IAS officer D K Ravi committed suicide, the BJP demanded CBI probe. However, even after more than a year of handing over the case to the CBI to investigate, it has failed to submit its report. Did the BJP leaders visit the family of D K Ravi after handing over the case to the CBI for investigation, he asked and questioned why have the BJP MPs failed to impress upon the prime minister and home minister to expedite the investigation into Ravis suicide.



The government has ordered for judicial enquiry along with CID inquiry into the suicide of DySP Ganapathi. We want a transparent enquiry and will not hide anything, he said. To a query on dying declaration of DySP Ganapathi, Gundu Rao said the interview to a local channel in which he named two senior IPS officers and Minister K J George as responsible if anything happened to his life can not be considered as a dying declaration. When stockbroker Ripon Malhotra committed suicide in 2013 making allegations against senior police officers including Bangalore City Police Commissioner, the BJP-led government did not initiate action against the police officers. When farmer Gangadhar committed suicide accusing former minister H D Revanna to be responsible for his death, no FIR was filed against Revanna, looking into the circumstances, he said. He decalred that if the Opposition and people of the state came out with any evidence to prove that Minister K G George is guilty, he would tell the chief minister to initiate action against the minister.



Minister George has not interfered in the works of DySP Ganapathi. The statement of home minister that DySP Ganapathi was facing problems on the domestic front which pushed him to commit suicide was based on Ganapathis father Kushalappas statement. It was not state governments stand on the suicide of Ganapathi, he clarified.



He stated that the Congress is with the chief minister and Minister K J George and said, We are fully confident of the chief minister and Minister George.
Having lost both her parents two years ago, Akshata Nagaraj had more or less given up hopes of pursuing her higher studies, given the financial difficulties.





On Saturday, after receiving a certificate from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah which states that she has been sanctioned 100% financial assistance, a beaming Akshata shared that she could now fulfil her fathers dream.



Akshata was one among the 60 students who have been selected under the SC/ST Foreign Scholarship programme this year.

The students received certificates of confirmation from Siddaramaiah, on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr B R Ambedkar.

Akshata will fly to New Zealand shortly, where she will be pursuing a one-year course in Construction Management in Auckland University of Technology. The Social Welfare department will bear her entire course fee (Rs 25 lakh), including her flight charges, accommodation and food.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Akshata, who is from Hubballi, said that she was at crossroads till she learnt about the scholarship programme.



Having completed her BE in civil engineering from KLE Institute of Technology, she was keen on pursuing her masters.



But I almost gave up on my dream when I realised that I could not afford the course fee. If I had known about this programme last year, I wouldnt have missed a year. However, this programme has given a new direction to my life, she said.



Rajini Nagaraj, 22, too felt that she would have to forsake her dreams of studying abroad.



After completing a course in Biotechnology from SJCE in Mysuru, this youngster was denied a loan amount of Rs 45 lakh, dashing her hopes of taking up masters in medical biotechnology.



As my parents have no property, we couldnt pledge anything as collateral. As a result, the bank refused the loan. But now, I am grateful to the government that I can actually pursue this course, she added. She will be starting her course this August at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. Siddaramaiah said the government was giving financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore per student.

DH News Service
Two people were killed while two others sustained minor injuries in separate road accidents near Hesaraghatta main road and near Kamakshipalya on Friday. In the first incident, a 32-year-old electrician, who was riding a bike, died after he rammed into a BMTC bus near Hesaraghatta main road on Friday night.



According to the police, the deceased is Nanda Kumar, a resident of Hesaraghatta main road.



Kumar was on his way back home at around 8 pm when the accident occurred. Kumar sustained severe injuries under the impact of the collision. He was shifted to a nearby private hospital but succumbed to his injuries, said the police.



A case has been registered at the Jalahalli traffic police station. In another incident, a 38-year-old mason was killed while two of his friends sustained injuries near Beggars Colony in Kamakshipalya on Friday. The accident happened when the tractor in which they were travelling overturned.



The police said that the deceased has been identified as Kuppam while his friends Tamilarasan and Velu escaped with minor injuries.



Kuppam was driving the tractor towing a water tanker along with his friends. He was overspeeding and lost control over the vehicle and it turtled. Kuppam was crushed after the vehicle fell on him while Tamilarasan and Velu managed to jump from the vehicle and escaped with minor injuries. They were rushed to a nearby private hospital where Kuppam was declared brought dead, mentioned the police. The case has been registered at the Kamakshipalya traffic police station.




As per SAST's Trust deed, the executive director of the Trust should be a senior IAS officer. However, Dr P Boregowda, a retired KAS officer, is holding the post. Former Health Minister U T Khader illegally nominated the KAS officer, he added.



SAST has tied up with 131 private super-speciality hospitals and government hospitals for implementation of Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme, Rajiv Arogya Bhagya Scheme, Jyothi Sanjeevini Scheme and Rashtriya Bala Swasthya Karyakram. Every year, the Trust receives Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore for implementation of these schemes.



Ramesh, who accessed documents through RTI, claimed that SAST officers were hand-in-glove with empanelled hospitals, making multiple claims for the same bill. For instance, Dr Yathish Kumar of Karnataka Cancer Hospital, Nandini Layout, produced fake documents, stating that 649 cancer patients underwnt surgery. By producing fake documents, he has claimed Rs 6 crore, he added.



N R Ramesh, former leader of the ruling party in the BBMP Council, on Saturday alleged irregularities, dereliction of duty and misappropriation of funds in the government-constituted Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST).Ramesh said that the Trust - which implements Health department schemes - has misused funds worth crores given by the state and central governments and NGOs.
The wife of police officer M K Ganapathi, who ended his life earlier this month, said on Saturday that she too was contemplating suicide as the state government failed to heed her demand for a CBI enquiry into the death of her husband.





Speaking to reporters at her home at Rangasamudra near Kushalnagar in Kodagu district on Saturday, Pavana accused the government of not taking her husbands suicide seriously. We have been demanding a CBI enquiry, but the government is shielding the accused. I am so hurt I am contemplating suicide.



A delegation of senior BJP leaders met her and Ganapathis father Kushalappa and extended support to their cause. Among those present were Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar, Leader of Opposition in the Council K S Eshwarappa, MLA R Ashok, MLC V Somanna and Capt Ganesh Karnik. DySP Ganapathi had committed suicide on July 7. Hours before that, he gave an interview to a Kannada television channel and accused minister K J George and two IPS officers (Pronab Mohanty and A M Prasad) of harassing him. Shettar said the government must treat Ganapathis interview as dying declaration and register an FIR against the suspects.



The BJP leader also vowed that his party would continue the day-night protest in the Assembly until the government heeded their demand.



Referring to another DySP Kallappa Handibag who was booked for demanding Rs 10 lakh as bribe and who subsequently committed suicide, Shettar said Ganapathis accusation against George must be taken seriously.



He urged Home Minister G Parameshwara, who left for Delhi, to apprise Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of the situation and ask George to resign. Eshwarappa said George was being spared as he was close to the Congress high command. Honest police officers are not being allowed to work. Even after filing an FIR, police failed to arrest former ZP president Marigowda who abused Mysuru Deputy Commissioner C Shikha. Madikeri MLA M P Appachu Ranjan criticised the governments claim that Ganapathi committed suicide over family issues.




ULAN BATOR, July 15 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday called for properly managing the differences between China and Japan and gradually resuming their dialogue and communication.

Li made the remarks in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the ongoing 11th Asia-Europe Meeting(ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator.

"Both sides could resume dialogue and communication step by step in the spirit of equality and mutual respect, to add to the positive facets in bilateral ties," Li told Abe.

Li said China-Japan relations have in recent year embarked on a course of improvement, but the pace is slow and is from time to time disturbed by complications.

He urged both sides to keep a strong sense of responsibility, and steadily push ahead China-Japan ties on the basis of the reality and long-term strategic consideration.

As two of the world's large economies, China and Japan should make the most of their respective advantages and competitiveness to step up economic cooperation, he said.

For his part, Abe said that despite the existing difficulties in the relations between Japan and China, the Japanese side hopes to expand exchanges and cooperation with China.

The two sides should properly manage differences, and push forward bilateral ties in pursuit of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship, Abe said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
Namma Metro connectivity to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been in the pipeline for several years now. But clarity eludes this critical link even nine years after the commercial launch of the airport. There are now indications that the second phase of the Metro project will have an extenstion to the airport, although the exact alignment is yet to be finalised.



Engineering consultancy firm, RITES has already prepared a feasibility report on the link line, recommeding five alignments. The most feasibile option could be an extension of the Gottigere to Nagawara line under Phase-II. But this 21.25-km line has a 13.79-km underground stretch which could prove tricky in speedy completion of the project.



Faced with the hard rock problems on the Chickpet-Majestic and Majestic-Mantri underground stretches, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) is wary about tunnelling issues. Only when the Gottigere-Nagawara line is fully complete can the Airport extension make sense.



Experts are convinced that the Airport link from the Nagawara side will take years. However, BMRCL officials feel they can accelerate the work if the tunnelling job is entrusted to multiple contractors. Simply put, this would mean several Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) working in tandem at different underground station points.



What is a better, quicker alternative? Is a Metro line along Airport Road a viable option? The now-on, now-off High-Speed Rail Link (HSRL) was designed to take this path. But, as urban rail analyst, Sanjeev Dyamannavar points out, there are big issues with this route.



An elevated Metro line would mean cutting short the runway and eventual closure of the Government Flying Training School at Jakkur. This problem becomes even more pronounced on Airport Road along the Yelahanka Air Force Station. The Air Force will definitely not allow that elevation so close to its important base. The only option will be to go underground for a minimum of 4-5 km, explains Dyamannavar. Inevitably, going below the ground will escalate the project cost.



Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) had ruled out a second entry to the airport from the Southern side, citing construction of its second runway along that direction. This contention could apply to a Metro link extended from Nagawara.



But aviation experts have an easy solution to this: Take the Metro line under the runway and extend it all the way to the terminal. This model has been perfected in airports across the world.










BIAL has ruled out a gate here citing alignment of the second runway cutting across this path. Instead, the proposed road turns left here to reach Begur. Turning right at Begur will leave commuters at the proposed entry gate of the airport lands southwest corner.



An access road from the gate will link it to the existing 5-km KIA Road that connects the Trumpet Flyover with the airport terminal. But the project will not happen in a jiffy. On the agenda are land acquisitions and road upgrades to connect the missing links.



Thirteen acres of land is to be acquired for a 3-km link at Mylanahalli, Chikkanahalli and Begur. This will take up Rs. 21.80 crore of the Rs. 31.50 crore earmarked for the project. Work is expected to be completed in the next six months.



Existing routes

To access KIA from beyond KR Puram, commuters have an existing road branching out of the Old Madras Road at Budigere Cross. This road passes through Mandur and Budigere to eventually join the Hoskote-Devanahalli NH648. Cabs then get onto the Airport Road and approach the Trumpet Flyover from the Northern side.



Besides commuters, the one agency that has been pushing the hardest for a viable alternative route is the traffic police department. At a Bangalore Traffic Review Action Committee (BTRAC) meeting, the traffic police had proposed their own options.



One option requires commuters to turn left on Airport Road at Sir MVIT College Road, turn right to Telecom Layout Road and take a right turn again to IVC Road before joining Ballari Road ahead of Devanahalli. Airport-bound commuters would then have to turn right and head back towards Trumpet Flyover to reach KIA. The traffic police rationale: Vehicular movement near Devanahalli is relatively less compared to Yelahanka.



But as urban commute analysts point out, a lasting solution should entirely bypass the already saturated Airport Road. This only access road gets choked during VIP movements, during the annual Krishi Melas and the biennial Air Shows at the Yelahanka Air Force Station. Besides, the Chalukya Circle steel flyover proposed by BDA threatens to unload thousands of vehicles at Hebbal. The message is clear: For passengers desperate not to miss their flights, there is no alternative to an alternative road to KIA.





Hopelessly trapped in a massive traffic jam on Airport Road, 400 passengers missed their flight that March afternoon. Protesting farmers had driven their tractors right into the city in droves, squeezing the only access route to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).Frantic airport taxi drivers desperately looked for alternative roads. But there was none. In their design to maximise toll collection on the only route, the authorities had ensured that no second access road would be developed.The airport access issue demanded a quick response. But that urgency evaded policy-makers until the road was jammed again, last month. A tree-fall was all that it took to reduce vehicular movement to a crawl. The frantic search for a second route commenced all over again.Roads do exist on either side of Airport Road. But without a second entry to KIA, these are really not alternatives.Heres why: Airport-bound commuters who take the Outer Ring Road and get onto either Thanisandra or Hennur Main Road eventually get back onto the Airport Road through Kogilu Road or Bagaluru Main Road. Inevitably, they end up at the toll gate before the Trumpet Flyover before heading to KIA.Citing security concerns, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has been steadfast in its opposition to a second entrance to the KIA. But now, following discussions with the state government and other agencies concerned, there is apparently a change in that position.Bypassing Airport RdThe airport will now have an entry point at the Southwest corner of its compound. Confirmed by a top BIAL official, this would mean commuters could completely bypass the Airport Road and the Trumpet Flyover. But there is a condition: Completion of the road from Nagawara on ORR through Thanisandra.If everything works out as planned, the alternative route will look something like this: You get onto Thanisandra Main Road from ORR, take right at its junction with Bagalur Main Road to reach Mylanahalli. The airport wall is only a few metres away from here.
Residents Welfare Associations have opposed extended timings for pubs and bars in Bengaluru. They have planned public interactions to oppose the 1 am closure deadline for establishments that serve alcohol.



Members of Rajajinagar RWA are to meet on Sunday. Its president, Suresh G, said the extension would lead to accidents and irresponsible behaviour. We will decide the future course of action after hearing residents opinion, said Suresh, who is a resident of Rajajinagar 2nd Block.



Residents of Indiranagar, which has more than 15 pubs and bars, also opposed the extension and are also planning an interaction. Defence Colony RWA president, Vikram Mulki, said, We are not happy with extended timings for bars and pubs. Besides parking problems, there is a safety issue, particularly in residential areas. A majority of bars and pubs in Indiranagar are located on 100 feet road and 80 feet road.



Meanwhile, Citizens Action Forum has filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the BBMP, seeking such details as number of pubs and bars and other commercial establishments in all 198 wards of the city.



Most of these establishments do not have the mandatory trade licence and are located in residential pockets without changing land use. Through the RTI, we intend to get the number of illegal establishments. The citys infrastructure is not equipped to handle the 1 am deadline, said D S Rajashekar, president of Citizens Action Forum.


Narrow roads and frequent traffic jams are among the major problems faced by the electorate of the Bommanahalli Assembly constituency. The problem is acute on Bannerghatta Road and at the Central Silk Board junction.



The pathetic traffic situation in the constituency was highlighted at the 'Citizens for Change' programme, organised by Deccan Herald and its sister publication Prajavani on Saturday. A large number of people turned up to air their grievances during the event.



Raising the matter, Dr Rajesh of HSR Layout emphasised on remodelling the Silk Board Junction. He suggested developing a loop to ease traffic congestion. Another resident Muniraju stressed on widening Bannerghatta Road.



In his reply, joint commissioner of Bommanahalli zone, Muniraju said widening of Bannerghatta Road was on the cards and 458 buildings were identified for acquisition. He said the BBMP planned to hand over transferable developmental rights (TDR) to owners but is waiting for the government to decide on the proposal to increase TDR from 1.5 times the property value to 2.5 times.



The detailed project report for widening Bannerghatta Road is ready. The government has to take a decision regarding the TDR, said Muniraju.



Elaborating, Bommanahalli BJP MLA Sathish Reddy said six roads have been identified in the first phase. The decision on increasing TDR has to be taken at the Cabinet meeting. Increasing TDR will help in widening many roads. Widening the road from Begur to Bommanahalli and to Bannerghatta Road is a necessity, Reddy said.



During the programme, residents highlighted the pathetic condition of roads, lack of streetlights, voltage fluctuation, encroachment of footpaths, stray pigs and dogs, poor waste management, overflowing sewage, deteriorating law and order situation, poor maintenance of lakes and stormwater drains and encroachment of parks and playgrounds.



HSR Layout resident B V Subba Rao expressed anguish over the pothole ridden roads in his locality. He said roads have not been asphalted for the last eight years due to which loose gravel on the surface makes driving difficult.



In his reply, MLA Reddy said that since roads will have to be dug up for Bengalurus first piped gas network at HSR Layout, asphalting roads now would be a waste.



M S Rajashekhar from Bommanahalli ward pointed out that parks and playgrounds are badly maintained. He said many parks do not have lights because the BBMP has not paid the electricity bill of Rs 24,000. He rued the rampant encroachment of stormwater drains.



Mala Kashinath from Mico Layout complained that the police had changed a complaint from chain snatching to missing of gold chain.



The complaint was specific. A week ago, some chain snatchers robbed a woman of her gold chain in our neighbourhood. She lodged a complaint with the police but to our shock and dismay, the police recorded it as an incident of 'missing of gold chain'. Security of women has taken a beating in our area, she pointed out.



Admitting to the mistake, the inspector of Mico Layout police station said he will look into the matter and make the changes in the police records.



Mohan Kumar from Mangammanapalya complained about the open sale of ganja in his area while Sunil Kumar from Jaraganahalli highlighted the activities of anti-social elements in his ward. There were complaints about the increasing use of loudspeakers beyond 10 pm in violation of the Supreme Court order.






The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed that Mangapudi Sai Srinivas from Andhra Pradesh and Kaushal Anish Sharma from Karnataka, who had been kidnapped from Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria on June 29, had been released.



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj broke the news on Twitter on Saturday. We have been able to rescue Sai Srinivas and Anish Sharma from abductors in Nigeria, Sushma tweeted. She appreciated the efforts of High Commissioner of India to Nigeria, B N Reddy, in securing their release.

Srinivas and Sharma were on their way to work at Benue Cement Company on June 29 when they were kidnapped, apparently by some local criminal gangs.



Diplomats strive

Indian diplomats in Nigeria were coordinating with the officials of the West African nation to secure release of the two hostages. Sushma was in touch with the families of both Srinivas and Sharma and assured them of all possible efforts by the High Commission of India in Abuja.





Two Indians  one from Karnataka and another from Andhra Pradesh  who were kidnapped in Nigeria more than a fortnight ago, were released on Saturday.
Three years into power and mired in controversies, the Siddaramaiah government has now decided to go in for an image makeover. For this, it has decided on a corporate-style marketing blitz for its welfare programmes.





At an interaction with journalists from across the state in Bengaluru on Saturday organised by Karnataka Media Academy, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he had decided to retain the Information portfolio during the recent Cabinet reshuffle so that he could personally monitor the image makeover.



Siddaramaiah said some of the governments flagship schemes like Anna Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya and Ksheera Bhagya have benefitted lakhs of people. But the government has not adequately publicised them. Unlike in the old days, marketing is now important. We need to take our work to the people. This would help in effective implementation of our programmes, he added.



The image makeover exercise by marketing populist schemes comes at a time when the government is facing a series of controversies including the suicide by police officer M K Ganapathi and resignation of Anupama Shenoy as DySP. Siddaramaiah is also facing charges of weakening the Lokayukta institution.



To start with, official sources said the information department would be revamped, upgraded into a commissionerate and a senior IAS officer appointed to monitor its activities. The government has already declared that it will consider the next 22 months running up to the 2018 Assembly polls as an election period and will strategise its policies and programmes to retain power.



At the interaction programme, Siddaramaiah admitted that even his Cabinet colleagues and party legislators have not done much to take the governments programmes to the people. Most of the government programmes are for the deprived sections of society and we do not get publicity when we work for them. But I will work towards ensuring their voices are also heard, he said.



The chief minister, while asserting that the government has taken the right decisions on policies and programmes, said, The state faced one of the worst droughts in 44 years. If not for the Anna Bhaya scheme, there would have been chaos. People would have starved to death or there would have been largescale migration in search for food, he claimed.



At a separate programme, Siddaramaiah said he is convinced about the path he has taken. I have conviction about the direction in which I am headed, as my conscience is clear.



Siddaramaiah also rubbished the Oppositions claim that suicides by police officers were on the rise. There is no law and order problem in the state. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 24 police personnel committed suicide in 2007 while the number stood at 17 last year, he said.



Siddaramaiahs announcements



New policy soon to curb illegal sand mining

No going back on Yettinahole project. D V Sadananda Gowda initiated it.

VRS for Mysore Paper Mills staff. Meeting in this regard soon.

30,000 vacancies in the Hyderbad-Karnataka region to be filled in a phased manner

Govt schools will not be closed.




Karnataka Pradesh Congress President and Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday appraised Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the developments related to the suicide of DySP M K Ganapathi.





During the meeting, Parameshwara is learnt to have told Sonia Gandhi that his advisor Kempaiah was interfering in the functioning of the police department. Kempaiah's actions are one of the reasons for unhappiness among senior police officers, he is learnt to have said.



Kempaiah was appointed to the Home department by the chief minister when K J George was holding the portfolio. Parameshwara, who was here to attend the Inter-State Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met Sonia Gandhi in the evening.



Parameshwara told the AICC president that the Opposition and media were blowing up the incident and the image of the party and the government had been dented severely.



Parameshwara told her that the preliminary report of the CID, which is investigating the case, blames pressure from senior officers for the suicide of Ganapathi. It has not pointed fingers at Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, who held the Home portfolio earlier.



After the meeting, Parameshwara told the media that he had briefed the president about the developments in the state after the suicide of the police officer and the issue of George's resignation did not figure in the meeting.



To a question, he said that the AICC president did not give any suggestion.

Denying that Kempaiah was interfering too much in the police department, Parameshwara said: I am the Home minister and I have full control on the department. Any decision on the police department will be taken by me and the chief minister and me, he added.




One more person was killed and several others injured when security forces opened fire on Saturday to quell a fresh protest held to defy the indefinite curfew in the Kashmir Valley.



Protests erupted in many parts of the Valley even as the curfew continued for the eighth consecutive day. Security forces opened fire in Hatmulla in Kupwara district when people resorted to stone pelting, ignoring the curfew, resulting in one death and injuries to at least two protesters. With this, the toll in the violence, which started after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, rose to 42.



Media gagged

In what is described as an attempt to gag the media, authorities directed cable operators to suspend their services and seized thousands of copies of local newspapers. However, the order to suspend cable services was revoked in the evening and the operators were asked to block the telecast of Pakistani news channels.



Police seized thousands of copies of local newspapers during mid-night raids on printing presses. Our office was raided by the police and three employees were arrested. About 50,000 copies were seized, a statement on the website of Greater Kashmir, the largest circulated English daily, said. Other English dailies have also posted statements about seizure of copies on their websites.



Protesting against the raids, editors and employees of newspapers held a silent protest outside the Press Enclave to condemn the media gag by the government.



Yatra resumes

The Amarnath Yatra, which was suspended for two days, resumed on Saturday with pilgrims allowed to proceed towards Pahalgam and Baltal, two base camps for the yatra, from Jammu amidst tight security.



Already, mobile and internet services of private operators have been suspended. Only BSNL post-paid services are functional.



The J&K government has informed the High Court that 1,882 people were injured in the protests and nearly 600 of them have received pellet injuries, while more than 125 have suffered bullet wounds.



However, local media reports said that over 3,200 people have been injured in the violence. Sources told DH that eight people with bullet injuries are battling for life at SMHS and SKIMS hospitals in Srinagar. At least 11 people have died of bullet injuries in the two hospitals in the last one week.



The protests and violence may continue despite the indefinite curfew as separatists extended their shut down call till Monday. Separatist groups have been issuing strike calendars, a practice reminiscent of 2010 summer agitation. Official sources said curfew will remain in force in the Kashmir Valley till at least Monday. The decision was taken in view of large number of stone-pelting incidents since Friday.


The state government on Saturday appointed a retired high court judge to head a panel to probe the suicide of DySP M K Ganapathi. Justice K N Keshavanarayana will look into the circumstances that led to the officers death.



Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced a judicial probe into the case. But he rejected the Opposition demand seeking the resignation of Bengaluru Development Minister K J George, who was named by Ganapathi in a statement.



According to an official notification, the commission, which will function from Bengaluru, has six months to submit its report.



Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar had demanded that the Chief Justice of the High Court appoint the judge to head the commission. However, the government made the appointment directly through the home department. Justice Keshavanarayana, a native of Hassan, retired from the high court in 2014. Last year, he was appointed by Governor Vajubhai Vala to probe irregularities in the Visvesvaraya Technological University.


The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility on Saturday for the attack in which a Tunisian drove a truck through a crowd in Nice, killing 84.



At least 10 children and teenagers were killed, with around 50 other children injured. In a statement via its Amaq News Agency, IS said one of its soldiers carried out the attack on Thursday night in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS).



Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel (31) smashed a 19-tonne truck into the crowd of people in the Riviera city who were celebrating Bastille Day, Frances national day. However, police claimed he had no known connection to jihadist groups.



Four men believed to be linked to the Tunisian were arrested on Saturday, a judicial source said.



One of them was arrested on Friday and three others on Saturday morning, the source added. The driver's estranged wife is also being held by the police.



French President Francois Hollande met his defence and security chiefs and cabinet ministers as criticism from the opposition and media mounted over security failings after the third major attack in France in 18 months.



If we are at war, as the government tells us, then the currency of war is intelligence, learning from experience, analysing failures and victories, wrote Yann Marec in an editorial for the southern regions Midi Libre newspaper.


Chinese PremierLi Keqiang(C, front) delivers a speech during the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, July 15, 2016.(Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

ULAN BATOR, July 15 -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday condemned a terrorist attack in the French city of Nice and called for strengthened economic and trade cooperation among regional countries, at the 11th Asian-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in the Mongolian capital.

During bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit with Li, Russian and Cambodian leaders voiced support for China's stance on the South China Sea. The Chinese premier also met with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, at the latter's request.

CONDEMNATION OVER TERRORIST ATTACK IN FRANCE

Li began his speech at the ASEM gathering by extending condolences to the victims of an overnight attack in the French city of Nice and their families. At least 84 people were killed by the deadly truck attack on Thursday night. France declared three days of national morning beginning on Saturday.

"The Chinese government and people stand with the French people and strongly condemns the terrorist attack," said Li, who called for unity and cooperation from the international community to combat terrorism.

Li noted that Eurasia faces some severe challenges, especially knotty problems such as terrorism and the refugee issue, urging efforts from all parties in preventing new breeding grounds for turmoils and safeguarding world peace and regional stability.

Li said China always acts as a promoter of world peace, the international order and rule of law, and a keeper of regional peace and stability. "All sides should jointly safeguard the post-World War II international order, abandon the Cold-War or zero-sum mentality, and strive to make the international order and global governance system more and more fair and justified."

China, Li stressed, always advocates that all countries, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, should conduct themselves in accordance with the laws and rules, oppose double standards and reject misinterpretation of international law, obey rules agreed in the region, and resolve disputes in a peaceful manner and through political means rather than incite conflicts or confrontation.

BOOSTING TRADE, CONNECTIVITY IN EURASIA

Li suggested Asia-Europe cooperation be guided towards a more pragmatic direction, and economic and trade cooperation be enhanced in particular.

The Chinese premier said he looks forward to the resumption of the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting next year after a 10-year hiatus. He called for joint efforts to speed up the establishment of an open and inclusive megamarket across Asia and Europe and facilitate free trade and investment.

The premier called on regional countries to enhance connectivity, vowing efforts to give full play to the role of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund in investment and finance.

On China's economy, Li said its performance in the first half of the year was steady and in line with expectations. China is confident of achieving its main full-year development targets, he said.

Official statistics showed China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 6.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2016 to reach 34.06 trillion yuan (5.08 trillion U.S. dollars).

Despite continuous downward pressure, China's current government debt ratio is low while household savings rate is high.

Li said that as China has ample policy tools, the country has the confidence in ensuring medium-high economic growth rates so as to take the economy to medium-high levels of development.

RUSSIA, CAMBODIA SUPPORT CHINA ON SEA DISPUTES

The issue of the South China Sea was among the topics discussed during Li's meetings with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, and his Cambodian counterpart, Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

Medvedev said Russia opposes internationalization of the South China Sea disputes or any interference from forces outside the region.

The Russian side supports the China-initiated principles of resolving the disputes, Medvedev said, calling for bilateral negotiations and consultations between directly relevant parties to solve the issue.

For his part, Hun Sen said Cambodia will continue to remain objective and impartial on the South China Sea issue.

Cambodia, he said, is willing to work with all parties to keep up the friendly cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China.

Li said China will stick to the approach of settling the South China Sea disputes via dialogues and consultations between countries directly concerned, while defending regional peace and stability as well as freedom of navigation in collaboration with ASEAN member states.

Earlier this week, a Hague-based ad hoc tribunal's arbitral denied China's long-standing historic rights in the South China Sea in an arbitration unilaterally initiated by the former Philippine administration. China has said the award is invalid and will neither accept nor recognize it.

So far, at least 70 countries and 230 political parties or organizations have expressed understanding and support for China's stance on the South China Sea disputes.

CHINA, JAPAN PMs MEET ON TROUBLED TIES

Li also met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the latter's request in Ulan Bator. The Chinese premier urged the Abe administration to take active and friendly policies towards China.

Li said China-Japan relations have in recent years embarked on a course of improvement, but the pace is slow and is from time to time disturbed by complications.

He urged both sides to keep a strong sense of responsibility, and steadily push ahead China-Japan ties on the basis of the reality and long-term strategic consideration.

Both sides should act on the consensus that China and Japan are cooperative partners instead of threats to each other, and support each other's peaceful development, he added.

The premier suggested the two countries resume dialogues and communications step by step in the spirit of equality and mutual respect, to add to the positive facets in bilateral ties.

Japan is not a state directly involved in the South China Sea issue, and thus should "exercise caution in its own words and deeds, and stop hyping up and interfering in" the issue, Li said. He called on both sides to step up exchanges on the East China Sea issue via dialogues and consultations in a bid to avoid misinterpretation and miscalculation.

For his part, Abe said despite existing difficulties in the relations between Japan and China, the Japanese side hopes to expand exchanges and cooperation with China, properly manage differences, and push forward bilateral ties in pursuit of a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.

He hoped the two countries could resume high-level economic dialogues and facilitate bilateral cooperation in the fiscal and financial sectors, as well as in energy conservation and environment protection.
Judgments

Thaddeus Johnson, 31 Violate Condition of Release 2 Days

Kevin Polty, 20 Reckless Endangerment 1 Yr. Prob.

Byron Scott Watson, 27 2nd Degree Assault, Violate Conditions of Release 3 Days,4 Yrs. Prob.

Aleck T. Jackson, 39 4th Degree Assault 90 Days, 2 Yrs. Prob.

Rita Theresa Kaiser, 28 Import Alcohol  Dry Area $1500, 3 Days

James Robert Tikiun, 25 3rd Degree Assault, Violate Conditions of Release 3 Yrs. Prob.

David J. Rose, 60 Reckless Driving 1 Yr. Prob.

Samuel Moses Beaver Jr., 41 2nd Degree Harassment $100

Eddie C. Guy, 30 2nd Degree Harassment 1 Yr. Prob.

Stella J. Hensley, 34 Selling Alcohol Without License 13 Days

Alexander R. Stevens, 27 4th Degree Assault 180 Days

Thomas Yohak, 41 4th Degree Assault 3 Mos., 2 Yrs. Prob.

Seth Michael Aparezuk, 36 1st Degree Criminal Trespassing, Reckless Endangerment 10 Days, 2 Yrs. Prob.

Leon Queenie, 33 4th Degree Assault 30 Days, 2 Yrs. Prob.

Maggie James, 24 Violate Condition of Release $100

Martha Nicori, 30 4th Degree Criminal Mischief 1 Yr. Prob.

Probation violations

Adolph Rivers, 39 Violate Conditions of Probation

Byron Scott Watson, 27 Violate Conditions of Probation

Colton Merculief, 24 Violate Conditions of Probation

Gordon J. Bell, 26 Violate Conditions of Probation 10 Days

Guy K. Mann, 27 Violate Conditions of Probation 6 Mos.

Frank Pleasant, 26 Violate Conditions of Probation 80 Days

Anthony Kashatok, 22 Violate Conditions of Probation 97 Days

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This is the story of a Scammon Bay man who ran into a Hairy Man on the trail to Hooper Bay. This happened in the winter of 2011.

Before he told his story, he shuddered at the thought of remembering the Hairy Man he had witnessed.

I left Scammon Bay that day for Hooper Bay, by way of the Paimuit Trail, he said. It was a trip of about 30 miles. The trip was uneventful, just like the many trips he had made in the past.

Soon he reached the Hooper Bay side of the hills. He went up one hill and was about to go over the next that led to a lake when he saw someone on the trail.

I thought it was a Kassaq wearing a big parka because he was so tall, he said. He drove straight for the person, thinking the person had broken down somewhere and was walking to Hooper Bay.

But as he got closer, the person was getting weird-looking and unusual. Its arms were really long and it seemed to be hairy all over. Its hair was like a musk-ox, but brown.

The appearance of the person began to make him wary as he approached, so when he got within 60-70 feet away he turned his snowmachine to the right of the person instead of heading straight for him.

Another unusual thing about the person, the man said, was that there was no acknowledging him or his snowmachine while he was approaching. He wasnt turning around to check me or look at me, he added.

An ordinary person would turn and wait for a snowmachine to reach them if they heard someone approaching, especially in the wilderness and so far away from a community if they needed a ride.

When the man got within 20 feet or less from the walker, the person finally turned its head toward him. All the man in the snowmachine remembers of its face were its red eyes!

I think I screamed or hollered at that moment but I dont know, said the man, when he realized that what he had just approached was not a human. The next thing he remembers was gunning his snowmachine and taking off.

He sped away so fast to get away that he hit a bump that made him jump and land in the lake. I landed so hard that I almost lost control of my sno-go, he said. Then he kept on going at high speed all the way to Hooper Bay until he reached the village.

When he arrived in Hooper Bay, he went to his parents home and told them what happened. The parents asked if the creature was floating (as in ghostly apparitions) but the man said no.

On his return trip, he took the long way to Scammon Bay by way of Chevak and had one of his brothers accompany him on the trip.

I didnt want to run into the thing again, he said.

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by Ned Rozell

While out on a springtime snow trail, I recently saw a dozen white-winged crossbills pecking at snow on the side of the trail. When I reached the spot, I saw a yellow stain from where a team of dogs had paused.

Last spring, I saw a bunch of crossbills gathered near an outhouse. They were congregated at a communal pee spot in the snow. The birds were poking at it.

Why might songbirds have a thing for yellow snow?

I put that question up on a forum used by bird lovers who live here in the boreal forest  the immense swath of spruce, birch, aspen, poplar and willow that stretches from the shores of the Bering Sea to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

Those birders had some answers, but first a little more on white-winged crossbills. A little smaller than robins, male crossbills add color to our winters with their pink/red feathers. Females have yellow/green feathers. Both have white bars on their wings.

Crossbills spend the entire winter in the far north but often move long distances until they find a good crop of their favorite winter food, the seeds of white spruce trees.

White-winged crossbills have a beak that resembles a pair of crossed fingers. The two dagger-like mandibles allow crossbills to reach into the scales of spruce cones and hinge out the winged seeds. They shuck the meat of the seed while turning the cone like a corn cob. According to scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a single crossbill can eat 3,000 spruce seeds in a day.

With all that bland tree-fruit in its diet, perhaps the crossbill craves something it cant get from spruce trees. On the bird forum, Fairbanks resident Sarah Keller responded to my question about the possible appeal of yellow snow:

There are potentially valuable salts in urine, including nitrogen, sodium, potassium and phosphorus, she wrote.

Others on the forum shared Kellers opinion that the crossbills are getting mineral value for their efforts of seeking out yellow snow.

Mammals like us have a urinary system that consists, in part, of two kidneys. Via urine, our kidneys remove extra water, salt, and urea, formed when our bodies break down protein.

In her masters thesis at Western Michigan University in 1980, An Analysis of Salt Eating in Birds, Kathryn Herson cited several observations by other scientists, like this one from a 1941 publication:

The birds were greatly attracted to dog urine in the snow in the winter months in Michigan.

Herson theorized that the low-sodium seeds eaten by many wild birds may give them a hankering for salt.

Birds sodium needs also go up during breeding season because females use sodium in egg formation. Breeding season could be anytime for white-winged crossbills, even deep, dark winter. Scientists have noted crossbills on nests during every month of the year. All they seem to need are trees filled with spruce seeds, which maybe could use a little seasoning.

Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell [email protected] is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.

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April 24, 2019  Today, the U.S. Department of Commerces Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that it is investing to help the Native Village of Napaimute, Alaska, acquire vital equipment needed to spur economic growth in the wood products sector.

Supporting locally-devised strategies to boost economic opportunity is a major focus of the Trump Administration, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dr. John Fleming. The new equipment to be employed by the Native Village of Napaimute will help them continue to compete in the wood products industry.

A $589,000 EDA grant will help the Village acquire a waterborne landing craft that will aid the transport of harvested wood products. The addition of the waterborne landing craft will help the Native Village of Napaimute increase economic transactions and foster conditions that will be conducive to the creation of business and employment opportunities.

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by the ONC Environmental Youth Litter Patrol Participants

The following are letters to Promote Intergenerational Knowledge Transmission of Environmental Changes, Traditional and Cultural Lifestyles in The Regional Climate and Environment from Elder interviews by ONC Environmental Youth Litter Patrol Participants: Katya Carl, Madison Alirkar, and Aqualena Carl

***

Julia Kanuk

by Aqualena Carl

What I learned from interviewing Julia Kanuk was to respect everyone even though they didnt respect you and helping other people like families and friends. Julia spoke about times when she was young, that they did outdoor stuff like playing Kick the Can also known as Hide and Seek, hopscotch which people no longer play anymore, and other fun games.

In todays date people barely play those types of games with each other. The teenagers stay at home and are on their phones or play Nintendo games all day and barely get any chores done. They dont help people who need help, and over the years people have become stingy about little things that can provide much abundance if those little things could be set aside.

Back then in her younger days, she said people helped each other on a lot of things like hunting and fishing. People took care of each other and didnt wait to be told what to do. They worked as a whole community together.

Her message to the younger generation is:

Dont expect someone else to do what youre supposed to do. Listen to what our elders are talking about. Listen to the elders right away, when they tell you to do this or that. Do not expect to receive money from parents or elders after doing something for them. Treat each other nicely. Respect people even if you know they did something bad in the past. Respect family members and help others who need help.

***

What I learned from Julia Kanuk

by Katya Carl

I learned that the land has changed very much, and the attitudes from the people. Julia said that people back then were nice to everyone but these days they expect money when they do something for others. Treat others how you want to be treated. Julias message to the younger generation is this:

Dont expect money from elders, and respect elders ways. We should start teaching the younger generation how to be kind, nice and respectful. To this day people should start being nice to other people instead of just being nice to their ilaqs.

We are connected to the land somehow by studying it so you wont get lost. She spoke about the language of the lands and waterways. With water, we have to study the ripples and waves so that while traveling by boat we can be safe. The water speaks to us by the waves, if the waves are pointy with white caps it becomes dangerous to travel and can flip the boat. Then there are waves that roll far apart. Then there are small ripples that tell us that the area is very shallow and not to go that way. We are connected to the land and water like how we are to our language and all we have to do is learn how to listen.

***

Julia Kanuks story

by Madison Alirkar

I am writing about Julia Kanuks story to see what we have lost from generation to generation. What she said in her interview is that the community in her hometown, which is no longer there (found between Kipnuk and Chefornak called Cicing) was very caring and helpful to everyone whether it was family or not. They still helped and cared for them.

In todays date people have become or grown selfish, greedy, arrogant, and expect something in return from the people they help. Most want money. And parents dont really teach their children what equipment or tools to use to help around family and or relatives to be exact.

Julia also spoke about how everyone back then used to communicate by going to fish camp with different families around Alaska or near areas and they communicated or had someone who was able to run to a different village to tell others a message.

I thought that it was very interesting to give a friend or another a message and run back with another message.

***

The stories we collected from the elders we interviewed will be shared in links found on our ONCs webpage soon. This year we decided to implement something new with our Youth Litter Patrol in which we connected them with elders. The elders were excitingly happy to meet and sit down with our young workers.

We wanted our youth group to learn about stewardship, climate change, implement leadership and to promote acknowledgement of pollution prevention and recycling with the whole community and most importantly with the younger children from Kindergarten to 6th grade (also known as the younger generation).

Our youth litter patrol (YLP) have shared stories about the different types of pollution theyve seen while gathering subsistence foods from the lands and waterways and have come to understand that plastics and other items that people toss onto the ground dont belong out there where we gather our berries, our fish, and other subsistence foods.

They want people who are living within the Y-K Delta to start taking their trash home; while berry picking please dont leave pop cans or candy wrappers or other plastics/TRASH out on the tundra. Please stop burying trash a couple inches under the tundra because the trash will come back out.

When a couple of our youth participants gathered kapukaqs this spring time, they found pop cans and plastics in the ponds. Here we thought those areas were clean because we never heard anyone complain about finding trash while gathering greens from the open resources we harvest from during the spring season.

Our YLP have also learned about groundwater contamination caused by fuel spills and how inevitable the cycle of pollution comes back to us all whether it is through the foods we eat or years later finding out about cancer.

They have also learned that when we go out hunting or berry picking, we enter into the wildlife home where animals and birds live, and when we go fishing, we know that the waters should be clean and healthy.

One thing that the younger children asked for was to get recycling bins stationed all around town for the community to start recycling and to put candy wrappers and other trash in the right designated spots at home or at a nearby trash can.

-Mary C. Matthias, Environmental Program Coordinator, Orutsararmiut Native Council Natural Resources Dept.

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by Ned Rozell

Andy Bassich lives on the south bank of the Yukon River, about 12 miles downstream from Eagle, Alaska, the first community in America along the largest waterway in Alaska.

Like all of the few-thousand people who live along the big river in Alaska, Bassich hopes that river ice formed by the cold air of winter will continue to disappear in a mushy fashion, one that does not cause flooding.

Speaking by phone in early May, 2022, Bassich sounded optimistic that he might avoid the rapidly rising river water he has experienced in past springs.

The cold nights weve had have really eased my mind a lot, he said.

Below-freezing temperatures during the coldest parts of the day have slowed the pulse of meltwater from surrounding hills and flats. The upper Yukon landscape was buried with up to 200 percent of its normal snowpack during winter 2021-2022.

When air temperatures this time of year remain above 32 F all day and night, meltwater pours into the colossal drainage channel of the Yukon. The river can rise fast, lifting the ice and fracturing it into jigsaw pieces. The current can then carry those shards downstream, where they can catch in river bends or on islands, act as a dam and cause water to back up.

This ice-jam flooding caused the most damage anyone had ever seen in 2009, destroying Eagle Village and the waterfront of the town of Eagle a mile downstream. That year, Bassich, his partner and many of his sled dogs were helicoptered to safety when floodwaters and ice slabs overtook his homesite.

Though his snow trails through the nearby forest had mostly melted away, Bassich in early May 2022 said the Yukon River ice in front of his home remained solid enough that he could mush dogs on it if he wished.

Though all that snow still to melt in the upper Yukon watershed was on Bassichs mind, he is also encouraged by his observation that melting winter snow on top of the river ice has helped transform some of it into candle ice, which is weaker.

We had so much snow this year  knee deep on top of the river, he said. When that melted off, it laid on top of the ice and helped soften it up.

Eagle and other river communities south of the Brook Range have above-average potential for flooding this spring, said Crane Johnson, a National Weather Service hydrologist with the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center.

In a presentation with Alaska climate expert Rick Thoman recently, Johnson pointed out that a few dozen remote snow-measuring sites in the upper Yukon River drainage measured their highest or second-highest ever amounts of snow this winter.

Its dramatic, he said of the stored water that is now flowing toward channels in the landscape. It has the potential to drive ice-jam flooding, and snowmelt flooding.

Johnson will soon join a pilot and emergency manager in flights over the Yukon River as part of the River Watch team. He will look at river bends and other pinch points and the state of the river ice and inform local residents of what he sees.

I may join them in the air a few hundred feet above the Yukon River. I am travelling to the town of Eagle to report on river breakup there.

Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.

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Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi takes an interview from Chinese state media on the so-called award of the Arbitral Tribunal for the South China Sea arbitration in Beijing, capital of China, July 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, July 15 -- On 14 July, State Councilor Yang Jiechi gave an interview to state media on the so-called award of the Arbitral Tribunal for the South China Seaarbitration during which he elaborated on China's position. The full text of the interview is as follows:

Reporter: On 12 July, the Arbitral Tribunal for the South China Sea arbitration issued its so-called award, which attempts to deny China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. In response, China issued a Statement on the Award of the Arbitral Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration Established at the Request of the Republic of the Philippines, Statement on China's Territorial Sovereignty and Maritime Rights and Interests in the South China Sea and a White Paper entitled China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, stating China's solemn position of non-acceptance and non-recognition of the award and reaffirming China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. How do you view the award by the so-called Arbitral Tribunal for the South China Sea arbitration?

Yang Jiechi: The Arbitral Tribunal for the South China Sea arbitration has issued its so-called award. This award is illegal and invalid in every sense. The Chinese government has released relevant statements and a White Paper stating its solemn position of firmly opposing the arbitration and not accepting or recognizing the award. This position of the central government has the strong support and endorsement from people of various social sectors in China. They have expressed their unequivocal attitude of opposing the illegal arbitration and safeguarding sovereign rights and interests by contributing articles and articulating views through the press, TV and SMS as well as online platforms like WeChat and Weibo.

The South China Sea arbitration has been a political farce all along, staged under the cover of law and driven by a hidden agenda. Certain countries outside the region have attempted to deny China's sovereign rights and interests in the South China Sea through the arbitration. They have even brought other countries into the scheme to isolate and discredit China in the international community with a view to holding back China's peaceful development. But such attempts are futile, to say the least, and in so doing, they are only lifting a stone to drop it on their own feet. I must point out that the arbitration runs counter to the spirit of international rule of law, puts regional peace and stability in jeopardy, and undermines the interests of the international community. Most countries in the world see this clearly. Over 70 countries and international and regional organizations have made statements showing their understanding of and support for China's position. This speaks volumes about the attitude of the international community toward the political farce, proving the futility of certain countries' scheme to hem in and smear China.

Sovereignty is a bottom line for China. Big as China is, we cannot afford to give away a single inch of territory that our ancestors have left to us. China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea have been formed over the course of over two thousand years. They are fully backed by historical and legal evidence. Under no circumstances can they ever be negated by a so-called award that is full of nonsense. The award can neither change historical facts nor deny China's claims of rights and interests in the South China Sea. Still less can it waver our resolve and determination to safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. China's position of not accepting or recognizing the award will not change. At the same time, China will stay committed to following a path of peaceful development, to resolving the disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation and consultation, to developing friendly relations and win-win cooperation with its neighbors, and to working with others to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

Reporter: Why do you believe that the Philippines' initiation of arbitration is against international law?

Yang Jiechi: A basic requirement of international rule of law is that actions must be taken in strict accordance with the law. The crux of disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea are issues concerning territory and maritime delimitation. Territorial issues are not governed by UNCLOS. On maritime delimitation, China made a declaration on optional exceptions in 2006 pursuant with UNCLOS stipulations, excluding it from the dispute settlement mechanisms of UNCLOS. By unilaterally initiating arbitration, the Philippine government under Aquino III has gone against its long-standing bilateral agreement with China that disputes in the South China Sea shall be settled through negotiation, violated the DOC signed in 2002 by China and ASEANcountries, the Philippines included, and breached international law and UNCLOS. Hence, this arbitration has been illegal since the very beginning. It cannot be seen as an application of international law.

Reporter: Why do you think that the Arbitral Tribunal lacks legitimacy and impartiality? Why is the award illegal and invalid?

Yang Jiechi: If you look at the composition of the Arbitral Tribunal, most of the arbitrators were appointed by Shunji Yanai, the then President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and a right-wing Japanese intent on ridding Japan of post-war arrangements. In the proceedings, some arbitrators and experts even backtracked from their long-held views to make the case for the Philippines. Anyone with good sense can see the tricks.

In disregard of China's staunch position, the Arbitral Tribunal willfully went beyond its authority, turned a blind eye to the history and reality of the South China Sea and misinterpreted relevant stipulations of UNCLOS. It has deviated from UNCLOS from the very beginning and overstepped and expanded its authority to render this award. Naturally, such an award can only be illegal and invalid. The Tribunal can in no way represent international law, still less equity and justice in the world.

Reporter: How will the award affect China's dotted line in the South China Sea?

Yang Jiechi: History brooks no distortion and law no abuse. China's sovereignty, rights and relevant claims in the South China Sea are gradually formed and developed by the practice of the Chinese people throughout millennia and have been upheld by successive Chinese governments. As early as in 1948, the Chinese government marked the dotted line in the South China Sea on its officially published map, which affirmed China's sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and maritime rights and interests in their adjacent waters. This is a historical fact beyond any doubt. As a state party to UNCLOS, China is fully entitled to its rights under UNCLOS. China's claims of rights and interests in the South China Sea long predate the signing of UNCLOS. They shall by no means be denied by UNCLOS, still less by an unwarranted and flawed award. China' s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea are protected by both international law and UNCLOS.

Reporter: Given that the award has been rendered, how will China safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea?

Yang Jiechi: The South China Sea, important to the Chinese people since ancient times, is our heritage to which our forefathers devoted their wisdom and even lives. The Chinese government remains unwavering in its resolve to safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea. The Chinese people do not covet other countries' interests or envy their development. At the same time, we will never give up our legitimate interests. No country should expect us to trade our core interests away or swallow the bitter consequences of our sovereignty, security and development interests being undermined. The Chinese government and people will remain united and act resolutely to safeguard every inch of our land and every swath of our waters.

Reporter: Some people accuse China of defying international rules by not accepting or recognizing the award of the Tribunal, believing that China has changed its policy of peaceful development. How will you respond to that?

Yang Jiechi: The South China Sea arbitration initiated by the Philippines violated the bilateral agreements between China and the Philippines. It breached regional rules as embodied in the DOC and international rules, including those under UNCLOS. China's position on the arbitration fully complies with international law. This basic fact has been thoroughly elaborated in a series of position papers issued by the Chinese government. The attempt to mount an all-out smear campaign against China by distorting this basic fact has once again exposed the nature of this arbitration, that is, a farce in which certain countries use international law as a cover to pursue their own hidden agenda.

China has all along been an active player in building up and enhancing the regional and international order. Over 70 years ago, China participated directly in the design and building of the post-war international order. Over the past 70 plus years, China has consistently upheld the international order and system based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter with the United Nationsat the center, and steadfastly safeguarded and promoted international rule of law. China will work with other countries to maintain and build a sound international order and international system.

The arbitration will not in the slightest way shake China's resolve to pursue the path of peaceful development. To seek peaceful development is not a matter of expediency. It is a strategic choice China has made in line with the trend of the time and its own fundamental interests. China remains committed to developing friendly relations with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence, and deepening win-win cooperation and connectivity with its neighbors. It adheres to negotiation and consultation as a means for addressing relevant territorial and maritime delimitation issues, and resolutely safeguards peace and stability in the region.

Reporter: What impact will the arbitration case have on China-ASEAN relations? How do you see the prospect of this relationship?

Yang Jiechi: The South China Sea issue is not an issue between China and ASEAN. In fact, ASEAN has long made clear its neutrality on this issue and its position of not intervening in specific disputes. Therefore, it should not take sides on issues related to the arbitration. China and ASEAN member states have maintained candid and friendly communication regarding the South China Sea issue. The two sides are ready to fully and effectively implement the DOC and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea through continuous dialogue and consultation. In the meantime, we will steadily take forward consultations on the Code of Conduct to promote early conclusion of the COC based on consensus. As for specific disputes, China will maintain communication and consultation with those ASEAN member states who are directly concerned to address them in a proper way. China means what it says and follows a consistent policy.

China-ASAEN relations enjoy sound momentum of growth and broad prospects. This year marks the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations. Over the past quarter century, the China-ASEAN relationship has withstood test of time and produced fruitful outcomes. Two-way trade has grown from less than US$10 billion 25 years ago to nearly US$500 billion, making China and ASEAN each other's major trading partners. The growth of this relationship has brought tangible benefits to the people of all countries in the region, setting a fine example of countries, big or small, treating each other as equals and working together for common development.

In the coming September, China will be represented at the leadership level at the Summit marking the 25th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations to be held in Laos. The Chinese leader will work with leaders of ASEAN countries in drawing a blueprint for the future development of China-ASEAN relations. They will endeavor to deepen political mutual trust through enhanced strategic communication, and strengthen practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges to achieve peaceful development for mutual benefit.

Reporter: How do you view the future of China-Philippines relations?

Yang Jiechi: China and the Philippines are close neighbors across the sea. Our friendly exchanges date back over 1,000 years. In recent years, however, bilateral relations have run into serious difficulty as a result of the previous Philippine government's hostile policy toward China on the South China Sea issue and its unilateral initiation of the arbitration. The arbitration violates both the agreement between China and the Philippines and international law, and goes against the common interests of the two countries and peoples. It is a major political obstacle to the improvement of bilateral relations. We call on the new Philippine government to bear in mind the common interests of our two countries and the broader picture of bilateral ties and properly handle relevant issues. As long as China and the Philippines remain committed to the principles and spirit of the DOC, to properly settling differences through dialogue and consultation and growing friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation, our bilateral ties will enjoy a bright future.

Reporter: What is your comment on the frequent intervention by countries outside the region in the South China Sea issue and how will China respond to that?

Yang Jiechi: The arbitration is a case in point of how non-regional countries interfere in the South China Sea issue. It is an issue between littoral countries and should be left to the countries concerned to resolve through peaceful negotiations. Thanks to the concerted efforts of China and the relevant ASEAN countries, the South China Sea has long remained peaceful and stable, laying ground for regional development and prosperity.

In recent years, certain countries outside the region, driven by their own agenda, have frequently intervened in the South China Sea issue under the pretext of upholding "freedom of navigation" and "maintaining regional peace", leading to an escalation of tension. Such highly irresponsible moves have become the major source of risks that affect peace and stability in the South China Sea.

We have always maintained that China and its neighboring countries in the South China Sea have the wisdom and capability to manage differences and build the area into a sea of peace, cooperation and friendship. We have never rejected the legitimate rights and interests of non-regional countries in the South China Sea. This is what we have been saying and doing. We hope relevant countries will respect the independent choice of China and its neighboring countries in the South China Sea and do more to facilitate sustained peace and stability in the South China Sea, not the contrary.

Reporter: What is China's approach to resolving the South China Sea issue?

Yang Jiechi: China firmly follows a path of peaceful development, a foreign policy of pursuing friendship and partnership with its neighbors, and a policy of settling disputes peacefully through negotiation and consultation. Thanks to these policies, since the founding of the PRC, China has settled boundary issues left over from history with 12 of its 14 neighbors on land. The settlement has been achieved based on historical facts and basic principles of the international law and through bilateral consultation and negotiation. Borders of over 20,000 kilometers have been demarcated, accounting for over 90% of the total length of China's borders. Moreover, China and Vietnam have delimited the maritime boundary in Beibu Bay through negotiation and consultation. China and the ROK have also launched negotiation on maritime delimitation in the Yellow Sea.

As a major country in the region, China is fully aware of the importance of upholding regional peace and stability and its responsibility in the region. China has all along been firmly opposed to the illegal occupation of some islands and reefs of Nansha Islands by certain countries and their infringement of China's rights in relevant waters under China's jurisdiction. That said, China is ready to settle the disputes through peaceful negotiation with countries directly concerned on the basis of respecting historical facts and in compliance with international law, UNCLOS included. China is ready to discuss with countries concerned about temporary arrangements pending final settlement of the dispute, which include joint development in relevant waters in the South China Sea for mutual benefits and win-win outcomes, so that together we can maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.
By Christian Schwagerl

6 July 2016 (e360)  Every spring since 1989, entomologists have set up tents in the meadows and woodlands of the Orbroicher Bruch nature reserve and 87 other areas in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The tents act as insect traps and enable the scientists to calculate how many bugs live in an area over a full summer period. Recently, researchers presented the results of their work to parliamentarians from the German Bundestag, and the findings were alarming: The average biomass of insects caught between May and October has steadily decreased from 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) per trap in 1989 to just 300 grams (10.6 ounces) in 2014. The decline is dramatic and depressing and it affects all kinds of insects, including butterflies, wild bees, and hoverflies, says Martin Sorg, an entomologist from the Krefeld Entomological Association involved in running the monitoring project. Another recent study has added to this concern. Scientists from the Technical University of Munich and the Senckenberg Natural History Museum in Frankfurt have determined that in a nature reserve near the Bavarian city of Regensburg, the number of recorded butterfly and Burnet moth species has declined from 117 in 1840 to 71 in 2013. Our study reveals, through one detailed example, that even official protection status cant really prevent dramatic species loss, says Thomas Schmitt, director of the Senckenberg Entomological Institute. Declines in insect populations are hardly limited to Germany. A 2014 study in Science documented a steep drop in insect and invertebrate populations worldwide. By combining data from the few comprehensive studies that exist, lead author Rodolfo Dirzo, an ecologist at Stanford University, developed a global index for invertebrate abundance that showed a 45 percent decline over the last four decades. Dirzo points out that out of 3,623 terrestrial invertebrate species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] Red List, 42 percent are classified as threatened with extinction. Although invertebrates are the least well-evaluated faunal groups within the IUCN database, the available information suggests a dire situation in many parts of the world, says Dirzo. A major survey of threats to insect life by the Zoological Society of London, published in 2012, concluded that many insect populations worldwide are in severe decline, limiting food supplies for larger animals and affecting ecosystem services like pollination. In Europe and the United States, researchers have documented declines in wild and managed bee populations of 30 to 40 percent and more due to so-called colony collapse disorder. Other insect species, such as the monarch butterfly, also have experienced sharp declines. Jurgen Deckert, insect custodian at the Berlin Natural History Museum, says he is worried that the decline in insect populations is gradual and that theres a risk we will only really take notice once it is too late. Scientists cite many factors in the fall-off of the worlds insect populations, but chief among them are the ubiquitous use of pesticides, the spread of monoculture crops such as corn and soybeans, urbanization, and habitat destruction. [more]
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

US Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Russia for its steps for Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement, RIA Novosti reported July 16.

After talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry said he was grateful to President Vladimir Putin for his leadership role.

Kerry reminded that just last month, Putin met with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He said avoiding a new outbreak of violence is in the interest of everyone.

Kerry added that with the the Russian, American and French support, there is a potential for progress in the conflicts settlement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Azerbaijans diplomatic missions in Turkey are working in strengthened mode, Hikmat Hajiyev, a spokesperson of Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry, told Trend July 16.

A chaotic night began late Friday with reports of soldiers trying to wrestle control of bridges and key functions in major cities, and turned into a nightmare when army helicopters began airstrikes and shelled key locations in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu reported.

Multiple blasts reportedly struck parliament in Ankara over the course of several hours, with lawmakers forced to retreat into shelters.

A military jet has also dropped a bomb near the presidential palace in Ankara, according to a Turkish TV station, quoted by news agency AFP.

One military helicopter, apparently firing on the offices of the state satellite operator Turksat, has also reportedly been shot down.

Turkish authorities have so far detained 754 members of the armed forces in connection with the coup attempt, according to Anadolu news agency.

Commenting on the situation in Turkey, the countrys Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that the total number of those killed during the attempt of a military coup has not been determined yet.

It was previously reported that 60 people were killed in Ankara during a coup attempt.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the coup attempt a terrorist act.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev was following the developments in Turkey throughout the whole night with anxiety and was deeply concerned over the ongoing processes, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents aide for public and political affairs, told Trend July 16.

Azerbaijans president strongly condemned these developments and unequivocally assessed this as a coup attempt and as an impingement against the national interests of Turkish people, the foundations of the countrys democracy and the rule of law, added Hasanov.

President Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan stands by Turkish state and people, fully supports the government democratically elected by the Turkish citizens, and gave necessary instructions to Azerbaijans relevant bodies in connection with this, said the top official.

Azerbaijani president welcomed the measures taken to prevent the coup attempt and stabilize the situation in Turkey. He expressed hope for the early normalization of the situation in the brotherly country, he said.

President Aliyev expressed condolences to the relatives of those killed as a result of the coup attempt in Turkey and wished recovery to all the injured, added the presidents aide.
Chris Hemsworth Said Tom Hiddleston Is Very Happy With Taylor Swift
Columbus schools reformats WCBE programming to less NPR, more music

Columbus City Schools has reformatted its radio station WCBE. Though still NPR-affiliated, there will be less of that and more local music, programs.
Details added (first version posted on 12:34)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Azerbaijan strongly condemns the military coup attempt in Turkey, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, told Trend July 16.

We were following the processes in Turkey with concern, said Mammadov, adding that Azerbaijans president also was very concerned the whole night.

The whole Azerbaijan was concerned and that is natural, he added.

It is a coup attempt against the will, the choice of Turkish people, the constitution and democracy in the country, said Mammadov.

He noted that Azerbaijan strongly condemns such attempts and considers this inadmissible.

The friendly and partnership relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, between our brotherly nations and presidents are known to everyone, said the top official. This means that Azerbaijan always stands by Turkey.

Turkey is not the same as it was before and such coup attempts can no longer be fulfilled and accepted, said Mammadov. Currently, Turkey has a president and a government elected by peoples democratic will. The people are with them and support them.

I believe this coup attempt will be remembered as the last one in Turkeys history, added Mammadov.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
The thousands of students graduating from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) this week have been sent a very special congratulations message  from the manager of Premier League champions Leicester City.







Manager Claudio Ranieri, who is with the team at pre-season training in Austria, sent a message to Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard on Friday. Prof Shellard read it out during the first ceremonies of this year's summer graduations on Saturday, for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. DMU has long had a proud association with Leicester City and is the club's official higher education partner.



The message read: Like the moment when Leicester City finally won the Premier League, your graduations are a special moment, a unique moment. Its all the more special because you, too, probably had times when you thought: can this be done?







Moments like this can be repeated if you remember the lessons of the journey; the importance of preparation, commitment, belief and support of the people around you  remember those going forward.



Congratulations to you all from all of us at Leicester City and from me, Claudio Ranieri. We hope you have a wonderful day.



This year was the first for the new in the round format for DMU's ceremonies at The Venue, which featured showreels of memorable moments from the past three years, singing from DMU Gospel Choir and outside, a graduation village with its own marquee, musicians, a free juice bar and deckchairs to relax in before and after each ceremony.







Around the marquee are sweet stalls, food fairs, the De Montfort Students Union stall and DMU Alumni. Graduands could pick up special DMUgrads glasses and the special photo opportunity points created around the village were busy with proud family and friends taking photos.



CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR FACEBOOK GALLERIES FROM SATURDAY'S CEREMONIES



As the ceremonies ended, Prof Shellard told the graduates: "Make us proud, but more important, make yourselves even prouder" before he invited the new graduates onto the stage to dance and celebrate with classmates and family.







Millicent Sidanda, who graduated in Adult Nursing, will be going to work in Coventry Hospital. She said: I have had the most wonderful time at DMU  I wish I could do it all over again!



Laura Pentecost and Pat Roberts have both graduated with BSc Health and Professional Practice.



Like many friends on the course they studied alongside holding down full-time jobs  Laura in the intensive care unit at Kettering and Pat at healthcare company Genomics  and they praised the supportive and friendly learning environment at DMU.



It was hard work, but worth it, said Laura. We had a good group to do this with  thank you Melanie and Nicky! added Pat.




Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov had a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on the events taking place in brotherly Turkey, said Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry July 16.

Mammadyarov expressed concerns over the unfolding developments.

He deplored the attempts of coup against Turkeys democratically elected government and underlined the unacceptability of such action.

Foreign Minister Mammadyarov noted the support of Turkish people to the democratically elected government and peoples solidarity and unity with the government in demonstrating firm determination against the attempt of coup.

Mammadyarov reiterated that Azerbaijan stands by Turkey as always.
Upmarket UK department store John Lewis is making an entry in Australia for the first time.

The retailer will open a ''shop-in-shop'' in six Myer stores, including in Perth, next year.

The partnership with the department store was announced by Myer yesterday, making it the first retailer in Australia to stock the brand's homewares products in store and online.

The first store would open in Myer Warringah just before Christmas, with five stores planned across Melbourne, Sydney, Chadstone, Bondi and Perth in early 2017.

The 'shop-in-shop' will stock modern bedding including pillows, duvets and sheets in a mixture of neutral tones and colourful prints.

It would also offer a range of bath accessories and various homewares.

John Lewis had 'shop-in-shops' in Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai and Ireland.

Myer would be the first in Australia to stock the popular UK department store's homewares and bedding.

The partnership between the two firms comes after Myer announced a new strategy, adopted to boost the brand after an almost 70 per cent drop in profit for the year up to 25 July, 2015.

The John Lewis 'shop-in-shops' are slated to feature a unique design, a different look to the stores they were built inside.

''We're delighted to be expanding our international presence and bringing John Lewis to new countries around the world, both through physical collaborations and by expanding our online international delivery destinations,'' John Lewis international development head Katie Jordan said, The West Australian reported.

''There is a real synergy between Myer's customer base and ours and we believe they are the perfect partner for our first Australian shop-in-shops.''

John Lewis had used the same format to expand around the world, with 30 businesses trading under the roofs of other retailers.'
COMMENT:

It Occurs To Me - with Frank Galligan

I came across some well worn old copies of the Democrat last week, one of which brought me back to two wonderful neighbours whose most important weekly ritual was the trip to the wee shop for the hairy bacon, two batch loaves, a side of dried hake, twenty Woodbine and the Democrat.

My father loved visiting them that evening, and as he approached the house, one of the brothers would lift the paper, and hold it right across the window until dad entered. Anything in the Democrat he would ask. Throwing it down on the table with a shake of his head, he would utter the immortal words: The worlds away to hell!. The most wonderful part of that daily enactment was that he couldnt read or write.

In the event that any of his sheep would go missing, he would call on my father and not being in a position to say that 8 or 9 were unaccounted for, he could go one better. The one I bought from Micky Ban on the 13th April, the one I bought at the fair in May, and so it went all, until the sheep were forensically detailed. As dad reflected, Thats a different type of genius. Little did I know that in time, I would be the NI Chairman of the UK Year of Reading, and literacy would become an area of huge interest in my life.

In the early 90s I was hosting a creative workshop in Magee University in Derry, when a man in his 40s - during the second week of classes - put up his hand and said: I dont think I should be in this class, Frank.

Of course you should, says I breezily, sure nobody starts writing on the first day.

There was a short silence, and with tears in his eyes, he responded: I thought this was a literacy class....I cant read or write.

That memory is as vivid today as the shock to my system was then. There we were, worried about character development and other niceties, and all he wanted - as he told me later - was to be able to read a bedtime story for his daughter!

As it happened, I introduced him to the relevant tutor and he told me years later that it had changed his life. Years later, I was conducting a class with young people suffering from depression and/or schizophrenia, when a woman - who had been non-responsive for two to three weeks - suddenly looked up at me and asked: Do you know what depression is, Frank? You tell me, please I responded. Its not being able to articulate, she answered, and continued: Im going to articulate from now on!

She then began to write, some eighteen pages or so, and it was mind-blowing. That and other episodes have long convinced me of the the importance, not of the three Rs, but the fundamental two - Reading and wRiting. The third one, aRithmetic, just doesnt add up if the first ones arent prioritised.

THE COROFIN INSPECTION

After my reference to the conditions of the old Garda Station in Muff, a retired member contacted me and reminded me of a story I alluded to some 16 years ago about Corofin Barracks just after An Garda Siochana were formed.

I replied to him, agreeing that it was a great story but with an amazing twist, and advised him to read me today.

After a bit of searching, I came across Gregory Allens 1999 book, The Garda Siochana - Policing Independent Ireland 1922-1982. Gregory had 40 years experience as a garda, and was the archivist and founder-curator of the Garda Museum.

Heres the report, referred to by Gregory entitled Minutes of Inspection by Deputy Commissioner Coogan - Corofin Garda Station, 11th MAY 1923:

"Visited station in conjunction with Divisional Tour, Sergeant W. Lennon, 231, and station party present.

When I entered the Sergeant sat glowering at me and refused to call the party to attention.

I called the party to attention and Garda O'Neill tried to rise and fell into the fireplace. I asked the sergeant to account for the state of affairs existing at the station and he replied in a manner as would do justice to the worst corner boy in the slums of London.

I searched the barracks and found that a seizure of poteen (three gallons) made on the previous day had been almost consumed by the station party. The barrack servant sat with a baton in her hand protecting the remainder of it and refused to move. She also had possession of the station books and records and refused to allow me to inspect them.

In my examination of the barracks I found that the w.c. was filled with station records, apparently used by the station party on their visits there.

 I heard noises coming from the rear of the cells. When I went to investigate I found three young ladies there.

I took statements from them and they complained that when passing the barracks they were forcibly taken in by Sgt. Lennon and Guards Bourke and O'Toole - for a purpose better imagined than described.

In the kitchen of the station Guard Bourke caught me by the uniform and would not let me go until I promised to refund him a fine of 5.00 imposed on him and have the record of same erased.

When I returned to the front of the barracks I found the Sergeant urinating from the front door into the street and he started to argue with me on the footpath with his person exposed.

On leaving the station I was approached by a local trader who demanded that I make the party pay some of their Mess Account for the preceding twelve months, now amounting to some 70.

The whole situation at Corofin was disgraceful. I returned to Tuam and had all the station party suspended immediately.

I hope that the Divisional Officer will ensure that these men discharge their local debts before they themselves are discharged from the Force."

Can you imagine the hysteria in the media if the date of that inspection minute was 11th May 2002? It would guarantee at least a fortnight of other sensational revelations, and actual 'witnesses' adding layer upon layer of incredible and lurid stories of lack of discipline, drunkenness, promiscuity and dishonesty.

Deputy Commissioner Eamonn Coogan did exist - his son is the eminent journalist and writer, Tim Pat Coogan. Everything else in his supposed report, however, is a complete hoax.

As Gregory Allen reminds us Coogan actually reported that some stations in Clare and Galway were "utterly unsuitable", some "frightfully bad hovels".

"The men were overcrowded in cold and damp makeshift accommodation, with no water supply: in some stations water had to be carted from distant wells. Sanitary facilities were primitive or non existent.

In the County Clare village of Maurice's Mills the guards were suffering from the cold and damp: 'in such a ...hopeless shambles' it was impossible to have either discipline or order." As it happens, to have water in Corofin Barracks meant carrying it for two miles.

*In the "Garda Review" in February 1975, former Commissioner Patrick Carroll admitted it was a hoax and "a joke that misfired".
The worst drownings ever to occur on Rossnowlagh beach was commemorated on Saturday last when the family of the victims visited the scene and placed flowers in a poignant vigil at the scene.

A total of three lives were lost on that fateful Saturday fifty years ago - Harry McDonnell (13), his brother Robert (12) and Sean Donoghue (13) drowned on the evening they arrived in Rossnowlagh while on holiday with a group of 45 boys from St Xavier's Orphanage in Dublin.

The Donegal Democrat reported at the time that despite a systematic search for the bodies on the Saturday the search had to be abandoned with the bodies of the victims not being recovered until later in the week.

The tragedy occurred when about ten of the boys went down for a swim from the old friary. Eyewitness reports indicated that some of the boys got caught in the backwash but that their cries for help were mistaken for playful banter.

From the recollections of some of the older boys at the time it would seem that Harry McDonnell lost his life in a vain attempt to save his younger brother Robert. It appeared that Harry had made his way to safety but went back out again when he noticed his brother in difficulty. Neither of the two were out of their depth but tragically both disappeared within minutes.

As word spread volunteers came from nearby Ballyshannon and Donegal Town as well as local holidaymakers. This was so intense that cars were driven on to the beach and their headlights used to pour light on the scene throughout the night, the Democrat reported on its front page in July 1966.

Visit

On Saturday last as thousands of Orangemen celebrated the Twelfth of July, members of the McDonnell family visited the scene of the tragedy a half a century later. Joseph, John and their sister Geraldine travelled to the scene for the very first time.

The family said that for years they were never given the information as to what had actually happened on that tragic day.

Carmel McDonnell said over 16 years ago in an appeal for information, I was 11 at the time it happened and I was in Goldenbridge orphanage with my two sisters and two brothers. We were never allowed to grieve,'' she said. ``My sister and I were given two bulls-eye sweets and told to go away and say our prayers.''

The eight McDonnell children, of Drimnagh, were taken into the orphanages after their mother abandoned them on July 9, 1965, exactly a year before her brothers drowned.

At the weekend the brothers spoke of the emotional trauma they experience at the time even though they were very young.

John recalled,  I remember being told that my brothers had drowned and just couldnt stop crying. The nun told me to stop, reminding me that I had lots of other brothers and sisters. 

Joseph added that he still had nightmares and often thought if I could have done something to prevent the tragedy. I was only five at the time but I could swim. Both brothers were full of praise for those who helped out on that weekend 50 years ago and for those who assisted in the vigil last weekend.

John added, We hope now to get council permission to place a plaque near the scene of the tragedy in memory of the victims. Retired Garda Sergeant Aidan Murray, who led the search for the bodies at the time, accompanied the family to the scene last weekend. He said. Everyone for miles around pitched in to help with the search for the bodies- it had an enormous impact on the Gardai and the local people.

I was on my own when I took one of the bodies to the hospital after it was found days later. It was one of the toughest duties I ever performed.
Louth County Council has applied to Failte Ireland for a 200,000 grant to turn Ardee Castle into a tourism centre.

The council chief executive Joan Martin told Ardee Municipal District Committee last week that the application has been lodged and meanwhile the process is now underway to get planning permission to begin the changes necxessary to make the Castle accessable to the general public.

This work would include wheelchair accessibility and bringing the building up to fire regulation standards.

The mian work would have to be carried out through the building nexst to the Castle itself similar to the access work carried out at Malahide Castle.

The 1.2 million in capital funding has been allocated for the entire work, should planning be approved.

Independent councillor Jim Tenanty had pressed for Louth County Council to apply for a grant from Failte Ireland.

A capital grants scheme has been launched by Failte Ireland for their Ireland Ancient East tourism brand, Cllr Tenanty said.

Ardee Castle could benefit from this scheme and that is something I hope materialises. It could be part of the Failte Ireland brand.

Ardee Castle is the largest fortified medieval tower house in Ireland. The original structure was founded by an Anglo-Norman lord called Roger de Peppard in 1207 although little remains of it. The castle as it stands today was built in the 15th century by John St. Ledger. Its location on the main street of Ardee suggests its use was not just as a residence but also for the defense of the town.

Ardee was the site of many significant battles throughout history, and in medieval times it served as an outpost on the border between the Anglo Norman south and the Gaelic north. Between the 13th and 17th century it was in the hands of the English until the ONeills took it over in a major struggle. James II used it as his headquarters for a month prior to the Battle of the Boyne. The tower house was converted into a courthouse and prison in 1805. Today it still continues to be used as a district courthouse and for local administration.

This castle is a perfect example of the Tower House form in late medieval Ireland. Tower Houses were built not only in the countryside but also in medieval towns. Ardee Castle is strategically placed at the junction of the main north-south street and the Kells Road.

It functioned not only as an imposing building but also as a key-point in the collective defence of the town.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan July 16.

Last night, I followed with great anxiety and regret the developments as a coup was attempted in Turkey, said President Aliyev in his letter.

On the one hand, this is a terrible crime against Turkeys statehood, on the other hand, against the people of Turkey, its will and choice, he added.

The Azerbaijani people and state, which always stand by the Turkish people and state, strongly condemn this crime against the Constitution and democracy of Turkey and consider it unacceptable, said the letter.

I am confident that as a result of the resolute measures which you took to prevent the coup attempt demonstrating the unity of the people and government of Turkey, the situation in the brotherly country will soon normalize, said the Azerbaijani president.

Dear brother, on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my deep condolences to the families and loved ones of the martyrs who gave their lives while preventing the coup attempt, and wish the injured the swiftest possible recovery, he added.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Seba Aghayeva  Trend:

Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry has urged the Azerbaijani nationals in Turkey to be careful and respect the rules set by the countrys authorities, Hikmat Hajiyev, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, told Trend July 16.

Hajiyev said the Azerbaijani nationals are recommended to avoid the crowded places, not to go out unless it is necessary, and in case of any problems to apply to diplomatic missions of Azerbaijan in Turkey and inform their relatives about their state until normalization of the situation.

Azerbaijans diplomatic missions in Turkey are working in enhanced mode.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
Yes, I realize thats about the least-shocking headline of the day, but its still appalling just how casually Republican candidates in Michigan are spreading misinformation about the Affordable Care Act.

First up is everyones favorite foreclosure attorney and MI-11 Congressional candidate David Trott (best known for kicking old ladies out of their homes), who gave a newspaper interview recently which was jaw-droppingly full of nonsense when it comes to (among other subjects) the Affordable Care Act.

For starters, the question itself was disgustingly biased:

Many American families experienced sticker shock when the first monthly premium arrived for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Many also now have high deductibles that make them wary of getting medical care at all. What would you do too bring down costs and improve medical care?

but Trott decided to one-up his interviewer in the gall department:

The Affordable Care Act also known as Obamacare has been an unmitigated disaster, and it is one that I am committed to correcting as Congressman. A government takeover of nearly one sixth of the economy was a poorly conceived and executed power grab. Instead of limiting options to our citizens, we must open up the insurance markets for greater competition. Rather than forcing people to accept what the government gives them, the market should be expanded so that private sector solutions can be offered to each and every American. Obamacare promised that people who liked their coverage would be allowed to keep it, more than 4 million Americans found to be false. It is time for the government to step back from this failed experiment and allow the private sector to offer the most affordable care possible.

All of the tired, repeatedly debunked lies are there:

Unmitigated disaster (except for the 24-29 million people actually helped directly by the law to date, and the other 280 million or so who arent really impacted by it at all as of yet);

Government Takeover (except, of course, that its not that at all, unless you believe that Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Cigna are government patsies);

Limiting Options (except, of course, that the ACA has actually increased competition tremendously, and the insurance companies themselves are fully on board with the law now);

competition tremendously, and the insurance companies themselves are fully on board with the law now); 4 million policies cancelled!! (except, of course, that in the end it was actually 1-2 million at most, and even then most of those folks just replaced their noncompliant policy with a new, ACA-compliant one);

and most revolting of all, allow the private sector to offer the most affordable care possible.

Seriously, Im amazed that he didnt manage to shoehorn in How many have PAID??? and something about death panels into that response.

Next up, this morning I received the following from a friend, regarding 2 Republican candidates for local/state office: Hugh Crawford (term-limited state representative, running for county commissionand hoping to swap places with his wife, whos currently a county commissioner running for his state rep seat) and Mike Kowall (state Senator running for re-election):

Last night was a candidates forum at Fox Run, the Novi retirement community. Candidates for the State House, State Senate, and County Commission were there. During the Q&A a question was raised whether the candidates supported Obamacare. Both Hugh Crawford and Mike Kowall answered this way: I dont like Obamacare, I would have voted against it, but I very much support Governor Snyders Healthy Michigan Initiative, which brought the state over $400 Million in Federal Money. Of course, Healthy Michigan is the expanded Medicaid under the ACA, but they are giving credit to Snyder to claim they now support expanded health care. Just not Obamacare.

Exactly. The Healthy Michigan Initiative only exists because of the ACA (and in fact is funded by the law). Repeal Obamacare and kiss the Healthy Michigan Initiative goodbye; thats 365,000 Michigan residents whod be kicked off of their just-received healthcare coverage.

Crawford and Kowall join a long list of other Republican candidates, in both Michigan and across the country (including U.S. Senate candidates like Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and Joni Ernst in Iowa), who are trying to have it both ways: They bash Obamacare, then try to claim that theyll protect everything that Obamacare (aka the Affordable Care Act; aka Kynect in Kentucky, aka the Healthy Michigan Initiative in Michigan, aka Whatever the hell theyre calling the ACAs Medicaid Expansion Program in Iowa) brings to their residents.

In other words, Crawford & Kowall, like McConnell and Ernst, are basically the worst type of hypocritical liars.

Meanwhile, just this morning I helped an old friend from my high school days get himself set up with a new healthcare policy on Healthcare.Gov (he just lost his coverage, so qualifies for enrollment even though were in the off season right now).
When, in the wake of the Flint water crisis, Dan Wyant resigned from his post as director of the Department of Environmental Quality, Gov. Rick Snyders outgoing chief of staff lamented the move.

Im not sure why this decision was made but if its only optics, keep in mind that finding a replacement who has the trust of the business community will be very difficult, Dennis Muchmore wrote in an email to his replacement, Jarrod Agen.

The optics  or public perception  in question was the publics loss of trust in Wyant as leader of the state department charged with protecting the environment.

So following the jaw-dropping news that Snyder has chosen former BP oil executive Heidi Grether as his new DEQ director, we have another set of optics to digest. Given that we know Snyder and his team must have carefully considered what message this appointment would send, lets examine what the governor is telling his constituents.

First, Snyder is telling us hes unrepentant about his austerity-driven, pro-business and privatization agenda. Despite the tragic outcome of his emergency management in Flint, the abhorrent results of his privatization of veteran care and prison food, and the havoc that his business tax cuts have wreaked on our state budget, he will continue relentlessly pursuing the ideology that business interests top everything.

Second, Snyder is telling Michiganders that he sides with the interests of Enbridge over the protection of our most precious natural resource. Michigan faces an urgent environmental threat right now from the aging pair of oil pipelines known as Line 5 running beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 has exceeded its life expectancy, would not be approved today, and is operated by the company responsible for the greatest inland oil spill in U.S. history  also right here in Michigan.

Researchers have shown that due to the currents in the Straits, a spill would be catastrophic for the Great Lakes, decimating up to 700 miles of shoreline. And to meet this threat, Snyder appointed a former BP lobbyist who was heavily involved in the companys response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico  the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

Not only was she involved, but she was proud to shield the company from consequences. In her LinkedIn bio, Grether boasts that she Developed and implemented successful external relations strategies for the Gulf Coast in response to the DWH accident, thereby achieving no legislation adverse to BP being introduced in the Gulf states.

A state study of Line 5, paid for by Enbridge, is underway, and the recommendations are expected in 2017. But before the results are made public, Enbridge will get at least five days to examine the results.

We can assume Grether has already been involved in the process, as the proposals for this study were assessed by an inter-agency team from Attorney General Bill Schuettes office, the DEQ, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Michigan Agency for Energy, where Grether was deputy director immediately prior to her DEQ appointment.

It is impossible not to be suspicious that Grether will bow to pressure from Enbridge to water down the recommendations. It is equally impossible to believe that Grether would actually advocate against the interests of a powerful company in the industry to which her entire career belongs  and to which, if history is a guide, she will likely return after her stint in state government.

Finally, Snyder is telling Michiganders he just doesnt care what they think. In the 24 hours since the announcement, a torrent of criticism from environmental groups, media commentators, elected officials and others has rained down on Snyder and Grether. Snyder spokeswoman Anna Heaton, quoted in the Detroit Free Press, said: Its unfortunate that people choose to publicly criticize her within hours of her appointment, rather than reach out to meet with her and discuss her plans for the department.

Heatons indignation is laughable because as of this writing, Snyder has not made Grether available to the media, despite numerous requests.

The optics of that? A big middle finger to the citizens of this state.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

The recent events in Turkey have not affected the operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline (South Caucasus Pipeline), says BP Azerbaijan, operator of pipelines in Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The events in Turkey have not had an impact on BP operations in that country, the company told Trend July 16. Oil pumping via BTC and gas pumping via the South Caucasus Pipeline are continuing and the oil shipment from Ceyhan port is underway.

All facilities are operating normally, added the company.

BTC mainly transports Azerbaijani Light oil produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli block of oil and gas fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.

Aside from the Azerbaijani oil, the pipeline transports oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.

However, Kazakhstan suspended the transit pumping of its oil via BTC in February.

The South Caucasus Pipeline exports about 6.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Azerbaijans largest Shah Deniz field.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
In the escalating ballot battle between the drilling industry and Colorado communities, new records show that energy companies are spending millions of dollars to stop anti-fracking measures in the state.

Environmental groups are currently gathering signatures on two statewide

measures, 75 and 78, to appear on Colorados November ballot. The first initiative would amend the state constitution to enable local governments the option to enact regulations more protective of health and safety than those required by the state, largely addressing the Colorado Supreme Courts recent decision to strike down fracking bans approved by voters in the cities of Fort Collins and Longmont. The other initiative would create 2,500-foot buffer zones between homes, schools and sensitive areas like playgrounds and water sources, and all new oil and gas development.

Active oil and gas wells in Colorado. Map: CPR/Nathaniel Minor | Data: COGCC

But in just the last three months, energy companies such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Noble Energy and Whiting Petroleum have funneled more than $6.7 million combined to

Protect Colorado, an industry group that aims to defeat these measures, according campaign finance records reviewed by Reuters.

Protect Colorado

argues that the initiatives threaten oil and natural gas development and would devastate the states economy. The group raised concerns that these initiatives would give local governments the sole power to regulate oil and natural gas activity in their jurisdictions, including the power to ban fracking.

We are doing all that we can to defeat these measures because they would devastate Colorados economic strength and competitiveness, Mike Kopp, executive director of Colorado Concern and former Colorado Senate minority leader, said. Passage of these measures would meanliterallythat thousands of careers in a safe, environmentally-responsible industry would come to an abrupt halt, tax revenues that help fund schools and other important local projects would be cut off, and small towns around the state would suffer economically.

Colorado is the seventh-largest oil and gas producing state in the country.

Reuters cited a study by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which found that 90 percent of Colorados surface acreage would be unavailable for oil and gas development if the setback law passes.



Yes For Health and Safety, a nonprofit pushing the two ballot initiatives, has raised concerns about the health risks of fracking operations and decried the state supreme courts decision to overturn local fracking bans in favor of Big Oil and Gas.

Time and again, weve seen that this industry will say or do anything to mislead the public and protect their bottom line, but the scientific evidence speaks for itself: Fracking is a leading driver of climate change and destroys our most basic resources, Tricia Olson, executive director of Yes for Health and Safety Over Fracking, told EcoWatch.

If we dont have clean air, water, soil and healthy bodies, how can our communities thrive? Big Oil and Gas may have billions of dollars, but we have passion, commitment and an historic opportunity to show communities everywhere that when people come together to protect their health and safety, anything is possible.

In an

online petition, the group states:

With more than 73,000 fracking wells, many within walking distance of our homes and schools, Colorado has become ground zero for fracking in the U.S (watch a timelapse of wells spreading throughout our state here).

For years, Coloradans have demanded a stop to this dangerous extraction method. Despite being outspent

500-to-one by the oil and gas industry, five communities have successfully banned fracking in their backyards.

But the oil and gas industry refused to listen. With the support of our governor, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) sued these communities, claiming that they have no right to participate in the decision of where and how they drill. In an outrageous rejection of democracy, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed and overturned community regulations and protections against fracking.

Time for a just transition: In response, communities across the state are taking to the streets rallying fiercely for protection of the health and safety of their neighborhoods and families with two state ballot initiatives (#75: Local Control and #78: 1/2-mile Setbacks) that would empower local communities to protect themselves against the hazardous impacts of hydraulic fracking.

In the video below, 16-year-old

environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh urges support for the measures.

2016 is the year we that make a conscious decision to leave fracked oil in gas in the ground, the youth director of Earth Guardians

says. The Yes for Health and Safety initiatives, number 75 and 78, will protect the people of Colorado from the toxic fracking industry and keep climate-cooking methane out of our atmospheres. These initiatives mean protecting the people, protecting our water and our rights to a healthy atmosphere.

Watch here:

Inside Energy has called Colorados ballot battle a David vs. Goliath fight pitting the ballots supporters who have raised just tens of thousands of dollars against the deep-pocketed fossil fuels industry that can afford expensive advertisement. One of their television ads touts how natural gas can help reduce our carbon footprint. We need natural gas, and fracking helps us get it.

Inside Energy

reported that Protect Colorado has also bought billboards in Fort Collins and Denver metro with phrases such as, Think before you ink, its decline to sign.

Each initiative needs 98,492 signatures from registered voters before Aug. 8 to qualify for the November ballot. Organizers are busy collecting signatures throughout Colorado and will be attending the ARISE Music Festival in Loveland from Aug. 5  7 to get any final signatures needed. It is unknown how many signatures have been collected thus far but Lisa Trope of Food & Water Watch told Reuters she was optimistic the measures would get on the ballot.
(Photo Credit: Serge Serebrok, Vitebsk Popular News)Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow is seen in a photo taken on September 27, 2009.

Moscow - Pope Francis has condemned the terror attack in Nice that has killed at least 84 people, expressing his profound sadness and his spiritual closeness to the French people, while the Russian Orthodox Church has offered special prayers.

A telegram was sent from the Pope by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin to the Bishop of Nice Andre Marceau after the horror attack on the French National Day, Bastille Day.

That horror attack also injured scores of people and there were reports the driver of a truck sewing the carnage was identified.

In Moscow, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church began a session in St Daniel's Monastery under the chairmanship of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia with a special message and prayers.

Pope Francis' message noted that while France was celebrating its national day "blind violence has once again hit the nation" in the city of Nice whose victims include many children.

The Pope again "condemned such acts" and expressed his "profound sadness and his spiritual closeness to the French people."

The telegram said the pontiff "entrusts to the Mercy of God those who have lost their lives" and he shares "the pain of the bereaved families" and also expressed deep sympathy to those wounded.

The pontiff implored from God the gift of "peace and harmony," invoking divine blessings on the families affected by this tragedy and all the people of France.

In Moscow, addressing the members of the Synod, Kirill spoke on terrorism following the tragedy that had occurred in Nice the day before.

As in many capitals of the world people laid flowers in sympathy for the victims of the attack at the gates of the French Emassy in Mosocw.

"An outrageous terrorist attack was committed in Nice," the Patriarch said, "It claimed the lives of some 100 people. We must give serious consideration to what is going on with the human civilization, what is going on with the human community."

"These reflections must be accompanied by prayer," Kirill said.

"We can only define what terrorism is in the light of religious understanding of the today's state of mankind. I believe that we have to arrive at the genuine, ontological understanding of the phenomenon of terrorism."

At the suggestion of Kirill, the members of the church Synod paid tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack by observing a minute of silence.

The suspected driver of the lorry that sped through the crowd in Nice, has been identified as Tunisian national Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, according to a French prosecutor and Tunisian security sources, Al Jazeera reported.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel had been identified by a driver's licence and bank card left in the lorry. Authorities also found in the truck a fake pistol, an ammunition magazine, a replica M16 rifle, a replica Kalashnikov rifle and a fake grenade, the report said.

Bouhlel had been convicted only once before for road rage.
(Facebook / Hugh Jackman)Hugh Jackman shares a picture of himself getting ready for his role as "Wolverine."

Filming for "Wolverine 3" began in New Orleans in May and production has transferred to New Mexico. The local film outfit, New Mexican Film, revealed that shooting will take place until August.

The news was shared by Albuquerque Journal, which also reported that the production that began this month will take place in Duke City, Rio Rancho, Abiquiu, and Chama. The opportunity to work is extended to the people in the area as the filming will hire 130 New Mexico crew members and two New Mexico cast members. 600 extras will also be needed throughout filming.

Film Office director Nick Maniatis said, "New Mexico continues to be a top player in the film and television industry. This latest production announcement is a testament to the hard-working and talented people in our state who have become a vibrant, sustainable and diverse contributor to our economy."

Actor Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as the titanium-infused mutant, who is also known by the name Logan. He will be joined by actor Patrick Stewart who will also reprise his role as the leader of the X-Men and the powerful psychic, Professor X.

Professor X plays a big role in the journey of Wolverine to controlling his abilities and to finding out about his true origins. Both actors are part of the original cast members to give life to the comic characters on the big screen.

A younger cast has been introduced via the new "X-Men" series, but a younger actor to play Wolverine has not yet been featured. It is speculated that the third and last installment of Jackman's "Wolverine" will include the introduction of the actor to play the iconic role.

Wolverine's abilities include regeneration and he is not supposed to show physical signs of ageing. A popular theory involves the story arc of a female wolverine known as X-23. In the comics, the female Wolverine was created with the use of Logan's genetic sample also known as Weapon X.

"Wolverine 3" is expected to premiere on March 3, 2017.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Iranian Supreme National Security Council will have a meeting this morning to discuss latest developments in Irans northwestern neighbor, Turkey.

Spokesman of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Keyvan Khosravi has praised the efforts of Turkish people in giving support for democracy and said Iran condemns military coup in the neighboring country, IRNA news agency reported.

He said that following the reports on the attempted military coup in Turkey, the Iranian security council has been monitoring the situation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu have also discussed the latest developments in Turkey, the spokesman added.

This morning, FM Zarif condemned the coup through a post on his Twitter account.

In the meantime, Iranian Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Office for Political Affairs Hamid Abutalebi has criticized the attempted coup, expressing Tehrans support for democracy in Turkey.

The Muslim people of Turkey will take back their power, Abutalebi said in a message posted on his Twitter account.

Iranian media outlets have also reported that border crossings with Turkey have been closed and all flights to Turkey have been suspended until further notice.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

Later, Turkeys officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
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.
More than 130 veterans and their families from the United States Air Force Helicopter Pilot Association visited Malmstrom July 14 for a luncheon at Sun Plaza Park.

While visiting Montana, the group also traveled to Glacier National Park, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Ryan Dam, and the Great Falls of the Missouri River.

According to their website, the USAFHPA was established in 1985 and their purpose is to perpetuate the history of the Air Force helicopter operation, its pilots and memory of lost comrades; to provide a central registry for helicopter pilot names and addresses; to arrange reunions for social and recreational benefit of members; and to support the intent of the organization.

The association held their first reunion in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1985 and again in Reno, Nevada, in 1987. The group tries to hold a reunion every year but unforeseen circumstances may cause them to skip a year.

Eighty-two-year-old retired Air Force Maj. Kyron K.V. Hall, the chairman of the USAFHPA, served at Malmstrom from 1972 until his retirement in 1974. Hall piloted numerous aircraft throughout his career including the UH-1F, the precedent to the aircraft flown at Malmstrom today.

One thing Hall said the entire association has in common is all of the members are Air Force helicopter pilots.

You must be an Air Force helicopter pilot to be a member, Hall said. We have pilots who flew during Vietnam who piloted fixed wing aircraft, so they converted and went to helicopter school. Most probably went back to fixed wing, but some stayed with helicopters.

Hall said the group has around 500 retired, active duty and auxiliary members. The ages in attendance at the lunch ranged from 60 to 90 years old. Hall also said the group has a few World War II pilots who were not able to attend the event.

Each year, this social non-profit organization attempts to hold a reunion to come together to reminisce and make new memories. However, according to Hall, not every member from the group lives to attend the following years reunion.

Some of us are in our 60s, 70s, and even 90s, Hall said. As you get older, things start falling apart. Our last reunion was last year around April in South Carolina and since then we have lost 20 of our pilot members and two wives. They have gone on their final flight, as we say.

The group has traveled all over the country from Florida to California, but this year Hall said the group finally decided to visit Montana to share their passion for military aircraft.

Primarily, this is the first time most of them have been to Montana and so far were having a good time, Hall said. We do have a few members that were stationed here and even one that was here in 1961 when they started to build the missile sites.

The 40th Helicopter Squadron provided a UH-1N Iroquois static display for the guests to observe while they ate lunch at the park. They also stood by to speak with the guests about the helicopter and shared camaraderie with one another.

Lt. Col. Joshua Hampton, 40th HS commander, said he enjoyed his time speaking with the HPA members and listening to their experiences.

I supremely enjoyed my time spent talking with several of the members, Hampton said. I enjoyed listening to their stateside and (overseas) experiences of operational challenges, development of the Air Force as a whole and of course their camaraderie  their shared experiences which caused friendships to grow into the bond which keeps them close today.

Hampton added that mingling with the pilots helps the unit stay in touch with their own heritage.

We draw direct historical lines to the organizations these men were a part of since the inception of the Air Force helicopter, Hampton said. We were happy to share in this part of their 20th reunion in order to educate the younger generations of aircrew and pilots.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Syrian crisis has played a crucial role in the recent coup detat attempt in Turkey, an Iranian member of parliament (MP) believes.

Syrian crisis over the past years and the formation of terrorist groups in Turkeys neighboring countries have had their own negative implications in the recent developments, Hossein Naghavi Hosseini, a member of parliamentary committee of national security and foreign policy, told Trend.

We believe the recent coup attempt in Turkey was a result of the developments that took place outside the country, he added.

The MP suggested that the attempt was immediately put down because the Turkish government has made great breakthroughs in terms of economic, political and social issues over the past several years and it enjoys the support of the nation.

Incumbent government of Turkey has had an impressive record of achievement in terms of domestic policies, Naghavi Hosseini added.

The MP further touched upon bilateral ties between his country and Ankara, saying Iran views Turkey as an important neighbor.

Tehran and Ankara have extensive dealings, therefore the Islamic Republic attaches high importance to developments in Turkey and monitors them closely, the lawmaker noted.

Naghavi Hosseini asserted that the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the military coup attempt and gives support for the legitimate government of Turkey.

Any illegal actions for overthrowing the legal governments must be condemned, he said.

The MP added that Iran is in the favor of protecting Turkeys legitimate government, its national sovereignty and unity.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

Later, Turkeys officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the coup attempt in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said.

The U.S.-drafted statement also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Egypt argued that the U.N. Security Council was not in a position to determine whether a government had been democratically elected.

Egypt's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Millions of people flocked to squares and streets in Turkey to crush an attempted military coup on Saturday. People got on tanks, disarmed coup soldiers and took back control at raided institutions as hundreds of coup soldiers surrendered.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a former general who overthrew democratically-elected President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against Mursi. Many countries, including Turkey, condemned the military coup conducted by the current president of Egypt and provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hands-on approach to teaching kids history

Encouraging Island children to recognise commemorations of world wars is an important way of teaching them about their heritage.

That's according to a teacher from Onchan School who took her class to Normandy to learn about D-Day.

In addition Manx war veteran Hector Duff visited a number of schools to share his experiences during the services for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

Hayley Prescott says the children understand the levity of the subject and have been enthusiastic about learning:

Media

Hayley Prescott
Sewage company awaits sentencing as JCK is cleared of causing man's death

An Island sewage company is due to be sentenced next week after causing the death of a construction worker in 2013.

Tuke and Bell Limited will appear before Deemster Birkett at Douglas Courthouse on July 27th.

The company has previously admitted failing to discharge duty in relation to health and safety in Kirk Michael on May 1st over three years ago.

On that day 55-year-old Gareth Sowden died from crush injuries after being trapped under a shipping container.

JCK Limited - which had been charged with the same offence - was cleared of causing his death last month after a jury found them not guilty.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

US President Barack Obama spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry about situation in Turkey, the White House has said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Obama and Kerry agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government.

Secretary of State John Kerry has also spoken by telephone to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and told him that the US "views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey", according to a statement.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim holds an emergency meeting, said Yildirim on Twitter. "Those who made coup attempt will not achieve their goals"- he said.

A chaotic night began late Friday with reports of soldiers trying to wrestle control of bridges and key functions in major cities, and turned into a nightmare when army helicopters began airstrikes and shelled key locations in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu reported

Bombs struck near the Turkish Grand Assembly, witnesses said.

Airborne shelling at several locations including the ruling AK Party headquarters, the presidential complex and the General Staff have been reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later announced a no-fly zone has been enforced above Ankara, adding that army commanders, including Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, are on duty and working to stop the illegal military action.
The articles by V Kalyan Shankar and Rohini Sahni (What Does an MA Know?, EPW, 1 August 2015) and Rajesh Misra and Supriya Singh (Continuum of Ignorance in Indian Universities, EPW, 28 November 2015) have highlighted the acute deficiencies persistent in Indian universities. In continuum, Hari Nair (Where Teachers Learn, EPW, 30 April 2016) focuses on remedial measures and suggests several reforms to improve the teachinglearning experience in Indian higher education. However, none of these discussions focus on the core process of teachinglearning in Indian universities. What happens in the classrooms and outside? How teachers teach and how students learn? And why is teachinglearning in Indian higher education having its peculiarity? This response to some of these rather core questions, based on the first national-level empirical study titled Teaching and Learning in Indian Higher Education (201516), can work as a bridge between these three articles.

Opening the Black Box
Armed resistance in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) began in 198990, after 40 years of seeking a peaceful political resolution had come to nought. Militancy had ebbed by 200708 and mass agitations took over. Decline of armed militancy was seen as a defeat of the movement rather than a new form of mass agitation politics, dubbed as agitational terrorism. The subsequent voter turnouts during elections were interpreted as peoples endorsement for union with India and proof of marginalisation of azaadi or independence movement. Offering economic packages was believed to be enough to assuage every wrong that had been perpetrated. The issue of land transfer to non-state subjects in recent past shows how ephemeral the electoral process is to real issues of concern.

We have witnessed bloody crackdowns in 198992, 200810 and 2013, when large numbers came out unarmed and were met with brute force resulting in mass casualties. But there is something perceptibly different this time. In 2008, there was a discernible shift away from guns and towards unarmed protests. Today that has swung decisively back towards armed militancy. Instilling fear is paramount in counter-insurgency. If funerals of militants attract masses of people and they gather in large numbers at encounter sites, it is a mark of defiance by a people who have become fearless. The United Progressive Alliance government failed to seize the moment in 200810, because it had nothing to offer. The offer of autonomy is no more relevant because New Delhi has worked hard for 69 years to erode it. The issue of state subjecthood in J&K, similar to the one in the North East and in the forest areas of central India, has to do with land and government jobs. The current finance minister of J&K said last year that the centres fiscal policies towards J&K were coercive federalism. Therefore, when we are told that history cannot be rolled back to return to the pre-1953 situation in J&K, it is an admission that there is nothing that the Government of India has to offer.
MAYWOOD, IL - Four Loyola Medicine physicians have been named to Negocios Now's 2016 "Who's Who in Hispanic Chicago."

Loyola has more physicians on the list than any other medical center.

Negocios Now, a national award-winning business publication, develops a list each year of the most prominent Hispanics in the Chicago area. Nominees come from sectors including business, healthcare, media, nonprofit, education, culture and politics.

The 2016 Who's Who list was announced at a July 8 gala at the Chicago Cultural Center and published in a Negocios Now Who's Who in Hispanic Chicago special edition. Loyola representatives on the Who's Who list are:

Jose Biller, MD. Dr. Biller is an internationally known expert in stroke and other neurological disorders. He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed articles in medical journals, edited two dozen books, written more than 130 book chapters and given more than 600 lectures around the world. His specialties include stroke, general neurology, aneurysms, brain hemorrhage and vascular neurology. Dr. Biller is chair of Loyola's department of neurology.

Diego di Sabato, MD. Dr. di Sabato has specialized in surgery for more than 15 years, focusing on liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation, with a special interest in living-donor liver transplantation. Dr. di Sabato has been a frequent guest on Chicago affiliates of Univision and Telemundo. Dr. di Sabato is a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine assistant professor in the department of surgery.

Camilo Gomez, MD. Dr. Gomez is a stroke specialist and pioneer in minimally invasive neurosurgery, and medical director of neuroendovascular surgery. Neuroendovascular surgery is much less invasive than traditional open surgery. Dr. Gomez is among the first neurologists to practice this subspecialty in the United States. Dr. Gomez introduced the hospital term "Code Stroke" for the immediate summoning of specialists to the patient's bedside. He also is credited with coining the nationally used expression "time is brain" to communicate the message to call 911 immediately in case of a stroke. Dr. Gomez is a professor in the department of neurology.

Tulio Rodriguez, MD. As medical director of bone marrow transplantation, Dr. Rodriguez oversees a center that has treated more patients with bone marrow transplants than any other center in Illinois and has one of the largest unrelated donor transplant programs in the world. Dr. Rodriguez treats blood disorders, leukemia, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Dr. Rodriguez is a professor in the division of hematology/oncology.

Omar Duque, a board member of Loyola University Health System and president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also was named to Who's Who in Hispanic Chicago.

###
An astronaut holds a glass jar half-full of water in the near-zero gravity of space. How does the water look inside the jar? Does it form a single ball, sit on the bottom of the jar, or cling to its walls? For decades, no one has had definitive answers to these questions--and now U of T Engineering researchers intend to solve the mystery once and for all.

The correct answer isn't very intuitive, says Aaron Persad, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. "You need to solve a series of thermodynamic equations to predict which arrangement is most stable." He and Professor Emeritus Charles Ward have launched an experiment aboard SpaceX CSR-9 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, headed for the International Space Station (ISS). There, an astronaut will run the experiment and capture photos and video of their glass jar of purified water.

It may seem like a simple problem, but determining the behaviour of water in space has big implications for designing astronauts' life-support systems. On July 16, 2013, a clogged filter caused nearly 1.5 litres of water to coat the face and helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano during a spacewalk. The water obscured his vision, hearing and breathing, forcing the crew to abort the operation and get him to safety.

Ward has been trying to solve the mystery of water behaviour in space for almost 20 years. His thermodynamic calculations predicted that in short cylindrical containers, water will stick to the walls leaving a spherical bubble of vapor in the middle. In longer containers, water will tend to pool at both ends of the container leaving a gap of vapor in the middle -- Ward called the latter a "double-interface configuration."

But he had a difficult time defending his predictions. "My peers wouldn't believe that the double-interface configuration would be stable," Ward says. "So we had to do an experiment in space."

Ward had U of T's glassblowing shop create several glass jars of various sizes that he half-filled with purified water, taking care to vacuum out any air before sealing the jars closed. In 1997, the jars flew to the ISS aboard the space shuttle Columbia, but unfortunately the results were inconclusive.

"We had to make do with the equipment and resources we available to us at the time," says Ward. The video, shot on an 8mm VHS camera, was pixelated and blurry, which Ward says "left room for doubters to hold on to their doubts."

In 2008 Persad, then a PhD candidate supervised by Ward, rediscovered the jars during a lab cleanup. Ward urged him to throw them out since they were no longer needed, but Persad hid them instead. He became fascinated by the experiment and started looking for a way to run it again with better equipment that would lead to a more conclusive result.

That opportunity arrived in 2013 in the form of a NASA-funded project called Story Time from Space. The project will see astronauts on the ISS conduct and videotape educational demonstrations, chosen by veteran Canadian astronaut Dr. Bjarni Tryggvason, which can be taught and replicated in classrooms around the world. Tryggvason and Ward had a longstanding debate about the outcome from the 1997 experiment, so Tryggvason invited Ward and Persad to fly it again.

Persad designed an improved apparatus for the experiment, and attached a modified GoPro camera to capture high-resolution images and video that will prove -- or disprove -- Ward's theory once and for all.

The results from the space experiments could also have useful applications on Earth. "These days, there is growing interest in nanofluidics, which is all about understanding the behaviour of liquids in channels 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair," says Persad. "At such tiny scales, the effect of gravity is minimal, so the liquids behave similarly to what we see in space." As a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Professor David Sinton (MIE), Persad is researching nanofluidics to improve oil recovery processes. He is already seeing evidence of the double-interface configuration at the nano-scale.

With this launch, the stakes are high for Persad -- last time the experiment launched aboard SpaceX's CRS-7 mission, the rocket exploded shortly after lift-off, destroying his work. He still remembers the shock of learning about the disaster. Undeterred, the very next day he began to rebuild the experiment, producing a new version in just four months. If this version blows up too, he will try again, he says.

Despite all the delays and setbacks, Persad remains optimistic. He believes that the data from the images and videos will be enlightening to both researchers and students alike. "After 20 years, it will be great to finally have an answer," he says.

###
Futile care is ad hoc health care rationing. It permits a doctor to refuse wanted life-sustaining treatment that is working, based on the values of the MD that keeping the patient alive is not the medically appropriate approach.

The term medically appropriate in such cases is a misnomer. The refuse wanted treatment decision is really a subjective values judgment of the doctor, as opposed to an objective medical determination. Or to put it another way, the treatment isnt refused because it doesnt work, but because it does or will.

Medically ineffective treatment would seem to be wholly different concept, an objective determination that a requested intervention will not work. Wild example: If I ask my doctor to cure my earache by performing an appendectomy, she should absolutely refuse because such an intervention would be objectively futile.

The new AMA ethics rules would seem to conflate these two distinct concepts. Under the heading medically ineffective interventions, the AMA would empower doctors to refuse medically inappropriate care. From the preliminary rule (my emphasis):

5.5 Medically Ineffective Interventions At times patients (or their surrogates) request interventions that the physician judges not to be medically appropriate. Such requests are particularly challenging when the patient is terminally ill or suffers from an acute condition with an uncertain prognosis and therapeutic options range from aggressive, potentially burdensome life-extending intervention to comfort measures only. Requests for interventions that are not medically appropriate challenge the physician to balance obligations to respect patient autonomy and not to abandon the patient with obligations to be compassionate, yet candid, and to preserve the integrity of medical judgment. Physicians should only recommend and provide interventions that are medically appropriatei.e., scientifically groundedand that reflect the physicians considered medical judgment about the risks and likely benefits of available options in light of the patients goals for care. Physicians are not required to offer or to provide interventions that, in their best medical judgment, cannot reasonably be expected to yield the intended clinical benefit or achieve agreed-on goals for care.

The term agreed on is especially important in this context. Under futile care, if a patient wants to stay alive, and the MD thinks that should not be done, there is no agreed upon goal.

In such circumstances, under futile care theory, the MD and/or a hospital ethics committee have the right to refuse wanted treatment  that works  based on their subjective personal value beliefs that it is inappropriate.

Coercion should have no place in medicine. Question: Is the false heading and subsequent conflation of distinct ethical concepts a game of hide the ball?

Photo credit:  2016 GraphicStock.com.

Cross-posted at Human Exceptionalism.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Uprising is an act of treason, they will pay a heavy price, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Istanbul, TRT TV channel reported.

"I was in Marmaris and they bombed there. They thought I was still there"- he said. Erdogan says the country will not be frightened. "The ring leader who plotted all of this will pay the price in front of the nation. The guns purchased by the nation's tax payers cannot be used against them"- Erdogan said.

"I call on the privates of the Turkish Armed Forces: don't aim your nation return to the right path as soon as possible."-he said.

A chaotic night began late Friday with reports of soldiers trying to wrestle control of bridges and key functions in major cities, and turned into a nightmare when army helicopters began airstrikes and shelled key locations in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu reported

Bombs struck near the Turkish Grand Assembly, witnesses said.

Airborne shelling at several locations including the ruling AK Party headquarters, the presidential complex and the General Staff have been reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later announced a no-fly zone has been enforced above Ankara, adding that army commanders, including Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, are on duty and working to stop the illegal military action.
Is your current passport the one you used when you landed? If so, I wouldn't worry too much. If not, CIC like to verify your residence days and if you claim to have lost a passport within the 5 year time frame relevant for PRs, they will be suspicious. Any proof you really lived in Canada for the required 2 years out of 5 will help in that case.
HELLO ALL,

I am here on behalf of my sister's family to get any guidance and advice basically for everything who just landed in Canada precisely Prince Edward Island,Charlottetown. They are on their own, living in a rented place but that will end this week. prior to that they need to find a place to live. With no one around to help and they are not familiar with forums like these, so I felt this is a great place to have any words of wisdom from experienced people living locally. Would like to know which place in Charlottetown is best to live with good pre-schools,markets and service for any basic needs. They have kids 2 and 3 years of age and I guess 1 bedroom flat is good for them. They came to know about an online site kijiji for house search.



Any response/advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
More New Zealanders are returning to the country after living overseas and fewer are leaving than in recent years, the latest statistics show.Overall there was a record net gain of 71,900 New Zealand migrants in the year to May 2016, but this was partly offset by a smaller than usual net loss of 3,500 New Zealand citizens, according to the data from Statistics New Zealand.  This produced a record breaking net gain of 68.400 people and the last time the difference between New Zealand migrants arriving and departing was this narrow was 25 years ago.The statistics report says that each year, typically more Kiwis depart overseas than return after a year or more away, and more non-New Zealand citizens arrive to stay for a year or more, than leave.The flow of New Zealand citizens can be large, and at times significantly offset the net gain in non-New Zealand citizen migrants. For example, in the May 2012 year 22,400 Kiwis arrived back in New Zealand and 61,800 headed overseas for a year or more, creating a net loss of 39,400 Kiwis.In the same period, there was a net gain of 35,800 non-New Zealand citizens which was outweighed by the loss of Kiwis, creating a total net loss of 3,700 migrants.Since 1986, an average of 21,600 more Kiwis have left than arrived back, compared with an average of 32,100 more non-New Zealand citizens arriving than departing per year. These figures contribute to an average net gain of 10,500 migrants a year.The data also shows that the biggest net gains in the May 2016 year were from India with 13,100, followed by China with 9,600, the Philippines with 6,200 and the United Kingdom with 5,600.Net migration is the difference between arrivals and departures of migrants. The biggest flows in either direction in the May 2016 year were New Zealand citizen departures at 34,200, New Zealand citizen arrivals at 30,700, Indian citizen arrivals at 14,400, Chinese citizen arrivals at 11,500 and UK citizen arrivals at 10,300.While Kiwis are not contributing net gains to the current record gain in migration, they are a big determinant of total net migration as they dominate both migrant arrivals and departures, the report points out.A migrant arrival in International Travel and Migration statistics is anyone coming to New Zealand who plans to stay for 12 months or more. That includes New Zealand citizens coming back after living overseas for a year or more.A migrant departure is anyone leaving New Zealand who has lived in the country for 12 months or more. This includes non-New Zealand citizens who have lived in New Zealand for 12 months or more and are returning to live overseas, for example international students returning home after completing a university degree.Net migration is the balance of all migrants coming into New Zealand less those that have departed, regardless of citizenship.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

EU High Representative Federica Mogherini conveyed an urgent meeting of EU member states Foreign ministers and their representatives, currently in Ulaanbataar for the Asem summit, to assess the situation in Turkey and coordinate political messages and support to European Union's citizens in Turkey. They expressed support to the democratic institutions of the country and condemned the use of violence against them, EU website reported. They agreed that any escalation of violence involving civilians has to be avoided.

The ministers will meet again in Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council, and will discuss again the situation in Turkey at that occasion.

The HRVP spoke with Turkish Foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and has been in contact in these hours with other Foreign ministers and with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.
Friday, July 15, 2016

[The Supreme Court came down with four controversial and ideologically contentious decisions in June, and I apologize for taking almost a month to cover them all. One of the reasons Ethics Alarms occasionally launches a series like this one is to ensure that developing ethics stories of importance do not push important issues to the sidelines. The fact that this four part series had only finished parts 1 and 2 was an irritant to me, as well as some readers.]

In Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt, decided on June 27, the Supreme Court held in a 5-3 majority that two provisions of a Texas law, one requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital and another requiring abortion clinics in the state to have facilities comparable to an ambulatory surgical center, places a substantial and unconstitutional obstacle in the path of women seeking an abortion, because they constituted an undue burden on abortion access.

Life would be so much simpler if our elected officials and activists employed an adaptation of the Golden Rule, and looked objectively at issues from the other sides point of view. This is especially true in the realm of rights. Second Amendment absolutists insist that virtually any laws regulating who can purchase guns, when and where they can purchase them, and how and how quickly they can be purchased are efforts to whittle away the right to bear arms. They also argue that such regulations have the ultimate goal of eliminating that right entirely, which, in many instnaces is the case, especially if you listen carefully to the rhetoric of the legislators proposing such measures. There is little difference from this and what anti-abortion advocates are attempting to do with laws like House Bill 2 (H. B. 2).

The bill ostensibly is designed to make abortions safer, thus protecting womens health, just as many gun laws are promoted as safety measures. Oddly, virtually all of the supporters of the Texas bill would make abortion illegal if they could. Im sure its just a coincidence, just as its a coincidence that the authors of bills requiring potential gun owners to jump through increasingly burdensome hoops and deal with mandatory trigger locks and safe gun technology would gladly repeal the Second Amendment if they could. The ethical principle is the same in both matters: a right isnt a right if legal obstacles make it difficult to exercise that right.

The question is, whats a reasonable obstacle? Any regulation imposed on a constitutional right must not create a substantial obstacle and must be reasonably related to a legitimate state interest. The Supreme Court uses the language and logic of case precedents, which are its previous examinations of these issues and the balancing they require. One such case, though I did not find it mentioned in the majority opinion or dissents in Hellerstedt, would be the voter ID decision of many years ago, in which a strong majority ruled that the state interest in preventing fraudulent voters and maintaining the integrity of the election process justified inconveniencing those who were subjected to the extra burden of obtaining appropriate identification. In recent years, this decision has been questioned because many believe the motive behind voter ID laws is not really to protect the franchise, but to keep likely Democratic voting blocs from the polls.

Is there a difference legally between a bill that is authored with the intent to restrict the right to vote of older, poorer, and darker citizens while claiming that its sole purpose is to make sure non-citizens dont affect the results of elections, and an identical bill that is genuinely intended to safeguard the voting rolls, without any political motive at all? No, or at least there shouldnt be. The Courts job is to evaluate what the law does, not try to read the minds and hearts of those who wrote it. Justices only should try to do the latter when there is a debate over what the law says.

Ethically, however, there is a significant difference between a law using a public purpose as a sham to accomplish unethical ends, and a law with a legitimate purpose that has some negative side effects. Trying to restrict a citizens rights because one doesnt respect those rights (or perhaps the citizen) is unethical.

The SCOTUS majority, in its typical examination of a balancing case like this, looked at whether there was a sufficient public safety benefit to a law that had resulted in a precipitous reduction in abortion services:

[A]s the admitting-privileges requirement began to be enforced, the number of facilities providing abortions dropped in half, from about 40 to about 20; this decrease in geographical distribution means that the number of women of reproductive age living more than 50 miles from a clinic has doubled, the number living more than 100 miles away has increased by 150%, the number living more than 150 miles away by more than 350%, and the number living more than 200 miles away by about 2,800%; the number of facilities would drop to seven or eight if the surgical-center provision took effect, and those remaining facilities would see a significant increase in patient traffic; facilities would remain only in five metropolitan areas; and the cost of compliance with the surgical-center requirement would most likely exceed $1.5 million to $3 million per clinic.

Meanwhile, based on the lower courts findings and stipulations,

 [B]efore H. B. 2s passage, abortion was an extremely safe procedure with very low rates of complications and virtually no deaths; it was also safer than many more common procedures not subject to the same level of regulation

Supreme Court decisions are fascinating reading, and often not so technical that a layman with reasonable intelligence cant understand them. They seldom analyze cases based on right and wrong, however, because that can be attacked as subjective. This majority opinion mostly dwells on the question of whether res judicata, which means that the issue has already been adjudicated decisively in the same matter, applies. The same plaintiffs in this case had challenged the law initially and lost. That was before the full results of the law were known, however, and on that basis, the majority agreed that this was in essence a new case because of new developments. The substantive conclusion of the majority, however, is here:

The record contains adequate legal and factual support for the District Courts conclusion that the admitting-privileges requirement imposes an undue burden on a womans right to choose. The requirements purpose is to help ensure that women have easy access to a hospital should complications arise during an abortion procedure, but the District Court, relying on evidence showing extremely low rates of serious complications before H. B. 2s passage, found no significant health-related problem for the new law to cure. The States record evidence, in contrast, does not show how the new law advanced the States legitimate interest in protecting womens health when compared to the prior law, which required providers to have a working arrangement with doctors who had admitting privileges. At the same time, the record evidence indicates that the requirement places a substantial obstacle in a womans path to abortion. The dramatic drop in the number of clinics means fewer doctors, longer waiting times, and increased crowding. It also means a significant increase in the distance women of reproductive age live from an abortion clinic. Increased driving distances do not always constitute anundue burden, but they are an additional burden, which, when taken together with others caused by the closings, and when viewed in light of the virtual absence of any health benefit, help support the District Courts undue burden conclusion. The surgical-center requirement also provides few, if any, health benefits for women, poses a substantial obstacle to women seeking abortions, and constitutes an undue burden on their constitutional right to do so. Before this requirement was enacted, Texas law required abortion facilities to meet a host of health and safety requirements that were policed by inspections and enforced through administrative, civil, and criminal penalties. Record evidence shows that the new provision imposes a number of additional requirements that are generally unnecessary in the abortion clinic context; that it provides no benefit when complications arise in the context of a medical abortion, which would generally occur after a patient has left the facility; that abortions taking place in abortion facilities are safer than common procedures that occur in outside clinics not subject to Texas surgical-center requirements; and that Texas has waived no part of the requirement for any abortion clinics as it has done for nearly two-thirds of other covered facilities.

Then there was this damning statement:

We add that, when directly asked at oral argument whether Texas knew of a single instance in which the new requirement would have helped even one woman obtain better treatment, Texas admitted that there was no evidence in the record of such a case.

The long and technical dissents by Justice Alito and Justice Thomas involve complex analysis of res judicata and challenges to the majoritys legal reasoning. Thomas, however, makes another argument that goes to the intense ideological hypocrisy that I began with in this post. He writes

The Court has simultaneously transformed judicially created rights like the right to abortion into preferred constitutional rights, while disfavoring many of the rights actually enumerated in the Constitution. But our Constitution renounces the notion that some constitutional rights are more equal than others. A plaintiff either possesses the constitutional right he is asserting, or notand if not, the judiciary has no business creating ad hoc exceptions so that others can assert rights that seem especially important to vindicate. A law either infringes a constitutional right, or not; there is no room for the judiciary to invent tolerable degrees of encroachment. Unless the Court abides by one set of rules to adjudicate constitutional rights, it will continue reducing constitutional law to policy-driven value judgments until the last shreds of its legitimacy disappear.

Thomas is on record, and repeats this in his dissent, of believing that there is no right to abortion under the Constitution. That position established, he seems to be aiming this part of his dissent in the Texas abortion case at the disconnect between the majoritys undue burden analysis in Hellerstedt and its willingness to accept legislative burdens imposed on Second Amendment rights. Shortly after this decision was announced, in Voisine v. Unites States, by a 6-2 vote, the Court gave a thumbs up to a federal law prohibiting gun possession by persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. The paragraph in the Hellerstedt dissent was written by Thomas knowing that Voisine was coming. In that dissent, he argued that the Court was applying a double standard: undue burdens on gun ownership were still reasonable and constitutional, but burdens on abortion must fall.

I see the legal point, and I agree that it is important to establish consistent standards for what protections are due constitutional rights. Thomass concerns are legitimate, and important to consider.

Ethically, however, Hellerstedt is an easy call. The Texas law used imaginary safety concerns to eliminate the right to abortion as much as possible. That was the real objective, and it was an unethical one.

The decision was an ethical one.

_____________________________

Pointer: Neil Dorr, who reminded me that it was high time I finished this series. One more installment coming!
Friday, July 15, 2016

The Monponsett Ponds, also known as the Monponsett Lake or Twin Lakes, is a large system of two basins, the east and west, located in Halifax, Massachusetts. These basins are divided by Route 58, but are connected by a small culvert at their southern ends. They are part of the Taunton River Watershed, which is formed by the convergence of the Matfield and Town rivers in Bridgewater. Stump Brook, in the northwest section of West Monponsett Pond, is the outflow for the basins. The Monponsett Ponds have an average depth of seven feet and a maximum depth of 13 feet. While the bottom is a mixture of sand and rubble, the emergent vegetation covers about 20% of the surface area of the ponds. More than ten species of fish call these ponds home! The fish observed in the East Monponsett Pond include bluegill, white and yellow perch, pumpkinseed, largemouth bass, chain pickerel and golden shiner. These are the same species observed in the West Monponsett Pond, in addition to the black crappie, brown bullhead, white sucker and American eel.

Though located right next to one another, there is a visible difference in the color of West Monponsett Lake and that of East Monponsett Lake. This past month, the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency posted a cyanobacteria advisory on West Monponsett Pond and declared it impaired. This means that the pond has visible scum, or a mat layer present, a blue-green cell count that exceeds 70,000 cells/milliliter of water or a microcytic toxic level that exceeds 14 parts per billion. The latest cyanobacteria update on the West Monponsett Pond was July 8th with samples reading nearly six times as high as they were the month prior and nine times as high as the human exposure guideline level! Factors contributing to this include the rivers innate flow from East to West, in addition to the dam blocking the river outflow to Stump Brook. The blocking of the river outflow is backing up the nutrients and ultimately allowing for the frightening growth of vast algal blooms in the West Monponsett Pond. Another factor contributing towards this algae issue is the high levels of nutrient pollution from developed areas surrounding the Monponsett Ponds. Nutrient pollution from developed residential areas can come from excess use of lawn fertilizers that runoff the lawns and into the watershed.

I wrote to the Monponsett Watershed Association (MWA) to see if they knew exactly why the west basin was experiencing such bad algae blooms, while the east appeared completely healthy. They reiterated the fact that the dam contributes to nutrient build up and stagnate water, which is the perfect habitat for algae to thrive, while also mentioning the involvement of active cranberry bogs. These cranberry bogs irrigate with and discharge into the West Pond causing a high concentration of nutrients. The Monponsett Watershed Association also contributed these high concentrations of nutrients to fertilizer runoff from the surrounding residential areas.

The MWA has already been taking steps towards the lakes improvement by means of aluminum treatment. When the aluminum is applied to water, it binds together with phosphorus and precipitates to the bottom. Though this a great effort, it does only reduce the amount of algae by 50%. The group is also reaching out to the government in order to get this issue resolved, which involves demanding Halifax selectmen to eliminate the use of phosphorus in fertilizer at the Winebrook Bog and upstream bogs that flow into the West Monponsett Pond. They also have a petition to the Massachusetts state government, specifically Governor Baker, listing four criteria from the association: (1) regular bacteria level tests of Monponsett Ponds (2) payment of lake treatments (3) dam gates left open for natural river flow and (4) requiring farmers to reduce/eliminate fertilizer discharge. This is an issue that cannot be pushed aside. It is important that the community do what it can to reduce these excess nutrients including the reduction or even elimination of lawn fertilizers onto their property. Get the muck out!

This blog post was researched and written by Tiana Tower, ORI Summer Intern, with some assistance from other interns.
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Friday, July 15, 2016

Community Friday: New Perspectives Lead to Inspiring Action

We all experience good days and bad days. Its how we handle them that makes the difference in our outcome. As time has passed, Ive learned a few tricks for lessening the anguish.

My Story

For a very long time, I beat myself up mentally for mishaps that took place. And when details were carefully discussed, annoyance would be mine as others ignored the details. Looking back, maturing and learning new ways for handling difficult situations has helped tremendously.

We become the accumulation of our thoughts; change accordingly for positive results

Begin by stepping back to examine what went wrong

Its rare that something is truly urgent. The best route is to step back to examine the where and the why the misstep took place. This is the one true way we can learn from poor experience to rebuild and move forward on a more solid footing.

Everyone has bad days and capable of errors; we arent alone

Finally recognizing that errors are plentiful, I laugh when someone forgets to call or misstates something. I politely reframe the error to quickly move on. This is actually an excellent relationship building exercise and one that earns increased business.

Likewise, with the job hunt, be more forgiving should you find a conversation irritating. Ask for clarification to determine if there is a way to move forward with the new job.

Having looked probable death in the eye, I learned all else is trivial by comparison

When one overcomes a dramatic health situation such as a broken neck, nothing else compares in urgency. As one who is always anxious to see my projects completed, I recognize circumstances may require an extended due date. In the end, and with calm, an improved product becomes the end result.

Connecting with thought leaders and inspiring leaders

To maintain enthusiasm for life and all that it has to offer, I look toward continual self education as well as collaborating with those I admire. Accordingly, I am involved with two impressive conferences this August.

The Global Impact Conference hosted by Powerful Women International Connections will take place August 18 and 19, at The Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco CA. Their membership is dedicated to improving the lives of others. Some projects include:

Helping burn victims return to normalcy

Assisting prisoners to again experience civilian life

Stopping human trafficking

This conference is designed for leaders from around the world to meet, collaborate and create positive change in society.

To join the leadership discussion register here.

Global Finance & Credit Conference and Expo

Finances, credit, and managing money matters affect all areas of our lives. The significance of it makes this a well worthwhile event to consider attending. I will be speaking on how to build a global presence, based upon my new book The Wish: A 360 Degree Business Development Process that Fuels Sales. The event will be held at the Indian Lakes Resorts, Chicago IL, August 29  September 22. Use Code: ES100 to receive a $100 discount upon registering.

Your Story

How are your actions and thought affecting your outcome as well as income? There is much truth to the law of attraction. Positive thought along with continued perseverance combined bring about seeming luck and positive results.

Are you continuing your education on an on-going basis?

Are you connecting with the right people to collaborate and be inspired to new heights?

Are your finances in order?

Taking care of what needs to be done first makes way for the extras afterward. In so doing, you, too will become more relaxed, forgiving and ready to enjoy life a little bit better!

Sales Tips:

Examine where you might slow down to speed up success Reorganize procedures Create a new process for improved results Teach those working with you your new way of working Positive thought is needed for career change and interviews Exercise to relieve stress Set time aside for enjoying life Take mini vacations from work whenever possible Prioritize activities from a monetary standpoint Prioritize activities from a have to to a would like to do perspective

These suggestions will help lead you to the Smooth Sale!

For Business Consultation and Conference Speaking

Schedule an Appointment to Learn More: elinor@smoothsale.net

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AUSTIN  Gov. Greg Abbott was released Friday from a San Antonio military hospital, but he has yet to give details of the accident that put him there with second- and third-degree burns.

Abbotts office has said his lower legs and feet were severely burned when he came into contact with scalding hot water July 7 during a family trip to Wyoming. It also has released details of his treatment at the San Antonio Military Medical Center.

But the governors office repeatedly has declined to say how that accident happened, prompting speculation and dividing political observers over whether Texas top official should give more information about such serious injuries.

How incredibly foolish of the governor's staff, said political professor Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. One way or the other, the truth will come out. Why not head off silly speculation and tell it like it is from the start? The governor will have the public's sympathy, regardless.

Serious burns requiring skin grafts are major injuries, and people will wish him well, Sabato said. But hesitation to be forthcoming will encourage conspiracy theories in the age of social media.

Others are fine with Abbotts choice to withhold some details, including some consultants from the opposite side of the political aisle from the governor.

I think public officials should be afforded as much privacy as reasonable, said Democratic strategist Harold Cook. Its hard enough as it is to get quality people to run for office. The more intrusive the job description becomes, the more difficult it is.

So if they have disclosed what the problem is, and what his treatment is and all that, then good enough for me, said Cook. And it ought to be good enough for all Texans.

Abbott, who uses a wheelchair because his back was broken in a 1984 accident, is no stranger to sharing specifics about his health.

The Republican has spoken extensively, and in detail, about that early accident and how it shaped his life. He also wrote about it in a book released this year, Broken But Unbowed.

Even when he returned to Texas the day after he was burned to address the Dallas slaying of five officers, he brought up the accident that rendered him a paraplegic in an interview with MSNBC.

Look, heres the reality that you cant see on your screen, probably, he said in the interview with Brian Williams. And that is, Im a guy in a wheelchair. I had a back-breaking accident, literally, that left me in a wheelchair, and I learned from that that we have life-changing challenges. But from those life-changing challenges, we need to find the good that we can bring from them. And just as I was able to rise up and be governor of this state, the people of Dallas can rise up and have a very successful future despite this tragedy.

Abbott has been widely praised for dealing with the Dallas tragedy on a public stage despite the severe injuries. His staff didnt disclose the burns until Sunday, saying he hadnt wanted them to be a distraction. The Austin American-Statesman first reported about them.

On Monday, Abbott went to the San Antonio military hospital for an outpatient examination. Doctors quickly admitted him and performed skin graft surgery on his feet Tuesday.

His stay at the hospitals fourth-floor burn unit - which his staff had said would be determined day-to-day -- probably was extended to allow the grafts to take hold. That would require Abbott to be still as much as possible.

When he was evaluated here in San Antonio at the burn center, they demonstrated it was of greater consequence than they originally thought, that grafting would be necessary and you want to be sure that the grafts are as undisturbed as possible so theyre not sheared away from the wound bed, and then you might have to do another grafting, said Dr. Basil Pruitt, professor of surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center who commanded the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research for 27 years. He is not involved in Abbotts case.

Abbotts staff has provided updates of his treatment and announced his release on Friday. His spokesman, Matt Hirsch, earlier said he had left the Wyoming hospital for Texas even though the doctor there had thought it best for him not to travel immediately.

But Abbotts staff declined to comment on the decision not to release information about the accident itself, saying only that Abbott was getting ready for a Republican Governors Association dinner when he came into contact with scalding hot water.

In Wyoming, there appears to be no record of anyone contacting local emergency officials on Abbotts behalf.

One official there said he believed the Teton County dispatch center was notified that there would be a self-transport to St. Johns Medical Center. Teton County Sheriff Jim Whalen, however, said there was no log for such an event. The American-Statesman has reported that Abbott was transported to the hospital by the Texas Department of Public Safety, which provides security for the governor.

Karen Connelly, a spokeswoman for St. Johns Medical Center, said she did not know when Abbott was brought to the hospital or how he had gotten hurt.

I do not have any information about that, and I wouldnt have any reason to inquire about his personal medical information, she said.

Abbott wasnt admitted to the Wyoming hospital.

They were here for a very short amount of time, Connelly said. Treated and released, in other words.

Abbotts schedule has been affected by the accident. He was unable to attend a memorial service for the slain officers in Dallas Tuesday at which President Obama and former President George W. Bush spoke.

He canceled plans to host a dinner at the Governors Mansion for representatives of the New York Stock Exchange and Texas companies. He wont be able to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak suggested the details of the accident arent crucial.

All that matters, I think, for most people is, is he able to continue doing his job, and is he able to recover? And I think the answer to both those questions is clearly yes, said Mackowiak.

The more important question to me is, given the very difficult situation he was in, and Im sure being in a lot of pain, he was able to put that aside and go straight to Dallas when crisis called, Mackowiak said. I think that matters a hell of a lot more than anything else. And so whether he got injured in a cooking accident, or some freak accident, or something else that I cant even imagine, the question is, was he able to serve the citizens, particularly in a crisis situation, and clearly he was.

Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson called it unusual for a high-ranking official to be hospitalized with no description of the cause. He made note that Abbott has spent a great deal of time talking about his life-altering injury that occurred in 1984.

He has talked about it in ways that describe it as shaping his personality and his character and his determination  that that injury is part of what made him who he is, with his determination and strength  and so now to be so quiet about the nature of this injury means they havent yet figured out the positive story, Jillson said.

As a private man, certainly he has every right to be quiet about this. As a public man it will be very hard to do, Jillson said. Because even if he doesnt talk, somebody will, and before long.

Glenn Smith, director of the Progress Texas PAC, which supports Democrats, said it is Abbotts decision whether to release details about a personal matter. But he said that the failure to disclose information like this raises more worries or concerns than it solves.

When there are obvious secrets being kept, especially when it involves a public official, the public wants to know - fairly or unfairly, Smith said. Secrets lead to speculation. In politics, that is the first consequence of a secret. Its human nature.

pfikac@express-news.net

sigc@express-news.net

Twitter: @pfikac

Twitter: @saddamscribe
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick doesnt do nuance or irony, nor does he listen, judging from his showdown with President Obama at Thursdays town hall discussion on race and policing.

Subsisting in Texas, however, Patrick doesnt have to do any of these things; his far-right constituents celebrate him simply for bashing Obama.

As a result, the lieutenant governors clash with the president failed even to address the rift between police and protesters of police. Instead, it illuminated a deeper problem: a collision of two incompatible political cultures, one that values nuance in a search of unity versus another that simply takes sides.

Patrick took sides immediately.

Addressing Obama, he opened by pointing out that there are some people who really dont like the president.

Obama nodded gamely.

As for police, they know you support law enforcement, of course, Patrick said. But do they really in their heart feel like youre doing everything you can to protect their lives?

Patrick then proceeded to patronize the president, who stopped nodding.

Words matter, he told Obama. Your words matter much more than mine. Everything you say matters, and I would ask you to consider being careful, when there is an incident, of not being too quick to condemn the police without due process until the facts are known.

I know thats not your intention, Patrick continued, but again  as if Obama hadnt been listening  words have meanings.

Its Patrick, though, who has not been listening.

At a memorial this week for the five officers murdered by a deranged sniper in Dallas, Obama spent nearly half an hour not only praising law enforcement, but also emphasizing the meanings of words.

Police in Dallas showed incredible restraint, the president said. Helped in some cases by protesters, they evacuated the injured, isolated the shooter, saved more lives than we will ever know.  Everyone was helping each other.  It wasnt about black or white. Everyone was picking each other up and moving them away.

As for those who use rhetoric suggesting harm to police, Obama added, even if they dont act on it themselves, well, they not only make the jobs of police officers more dangerous, but they do a disservice to the very cause of justice that they claim to promote.

Obama then made a further attempt at nuance.

Race relations have improved dramatically in my lifetime, he said at the memorial. Those who deny it are dishonoring the struggles that helped us achieve that progress. But America, we know that bias remains. We know it.

If were honest, he added, perhaps weve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts.  With an open heart, police departments will acknowledge that just like the rest of us, theyre not perfect. And insisting we do better to root out racial bias is not an attack on cops, but an effort to live up to our highest ideals.

Patrick must have heard this as an attack on police. His criticism of the president also failed to recognize irony.

After the shootings in Dallas, Patrick called the demonstrators there hypocrites for seeking protection from the same police they were protesting  as if Americans must surrender any expectation of public safety when exercising their right to speak and assemble freely.

The lieutenant governor probably did not intend to draw that conclusion. But if words matter and have meanings, then he should be more careful with what escapes his own mouth, lest someone label him a hypocrite.

Responding to Patrick at the town hall discussion, Obama defended himself sharply.

I have been unequivocal in condemning any rhetoric directed at police officers, the president said. So I appreciate the sentiment. I think its already been expressed. Id be happy to send it to you in case you missed it.

More likely, Patrick hasnt missed anything. His politics of division just requires him to ignore it.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Gen. Umit Dundar, Commander of the First Army, has been appointed as acting Chief of General Staff, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yldrm said on TRT Haber channel.

A chaotic night began late Friday with reports of soldiers trying to wrestle control of bridges and key functions in major cities, and turned into a nightmare when army helicopters began airstrikes and shelled key locations in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu reported

Bombs struck near the Turkish Grand Assembly, witnesses said.

Airborne shelling at several locations including the ruling AK Party headquarters, the presidential complex and the General Staff have been reported.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later announced a no-fly zone has been enforced above Ankara, adding that army commanders, including Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, are on duty and working to stop the illegal military action.
A colleague remarked recently that its beginning to feel like the 60s. This wasnt wistful nostalgia talking. His deja vu was warranted, as was the distress clearly in his eyes.

There is in the air a familiar anger borne of to-the-bone frustration  and distrust. Many civil rights battles have been won. We have a black president and a Mexican-American in the running to be a vice presidential nominee. San Antonios mayor is black.

And we are decidedly not post-racial.

My colleagues comment came the morning after a gunman killed five police officers and wounded several others in Dallas. The shooter, before he was killed by police, said he was out to kill white people, including white officers, apparently because of his anger over police killing black men.

Those killings of black men, many unarmed, by police officers, many white and who suffer little legal consequence, created the Black Lives Matter movement. This was the sentiment the people marching in Dallas gathered to peacefully express. And then a black gunman killed officers there.

There is context. And it isnt post-racial. We live in separate realities.

One need only travel San Antonio to see the divides. Many parts are nearly all brown  and many of the residents poor. Another smaller part is nearly all black  and much of it poor. Other parts have some minorities but are nearly all white  and more affluent. And rarely do they mix.

The sociologists call this economic segregation. We used to call it just plain segregation. Because we can put an adjective  economic  before it, doesnt mean it doesnt still have color.

This separation has consequences. Yes, cycles of poverty are enabled, but more important to the matter at hand, chasms develop, across which people rarely traverse to know one another.

Add to this mix police forces that come to be thought of  with broad brush and mostly unfairly  as occupying oppressors.

And then there is anger. This can have expression that is fruitful  or destructive to innocents and to the very cause the angry people seek to promote. This assassination of police officers is one of those fruitless, division-sowing, instances.

Speaking of sowing division, El Pasos police chief, Greg Allen, labeled Black Lives Matter a radical hate group. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blamed the rhetoric of the Black Lives Matter movement for the deaths  both comments, textbook examples of faulting the messenger.

One can peaceably address the problem of too many unarmed black men killed by police and still believe killing police in retaliation is egregiously immoral. The killings of unarmed black men by police cannot go unremarked upon, unprotested. Neither can the murder of officers, but the Black Lives Matter movement still matters.

Patrick also labeled as hypocrites mostly unarmed protesters in Dallas who expected officers to protect them, as if peaceful, constitutionally protected protest of questionable police conduct forfeits ones right to protection and absolves officers of the obligation to provide it.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on the other hand, expressed solidarity and gratitude for police officers, then told protesters, Do not be discouraged by those who would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence.

She gets the full context. Allen and Patrick evidently dont, no matter their backtracking later on their comments.

When a presidential candidate  Donald Trump is his name  channels nativism and racism and it works, that provides context. When he essentially blames a world religion for the lunatic acts of a few and that works, thats context.

When police departments round the country look at rates that show minorities disproportionately are targets of use of force, and those department leaders and police unions downplay the racial and ethnic context involved, thats context.

When redistricting and voter ID legislation are transparent in their attempts to hold at bay the shifting demographics at the ballot box, thats context.

When a black gunman blames the acts of a few officers on all officers  and whites  that, as the president said, is racial hatred. And adds context. It also displays a blind, fruitless anger that America needs to address honestly lest it metastasize

Our divisions are defining us.

o.ricardo.pimentel@express-news.net
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling to strike down a Texas abortion law as unconstitutional, a number of lower courts have temporarily blocked abortion restrictions in their states.

On July 13, a district judge blocked two state laws that would have effectively closed the only abortion clinics in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. One restriction had prohibited clinics that provide abortions from operating within 2,000 feet of public a school offering kindergarten through 8th grade; the other restriction banned dilation and evacuation procedures during a womans second-trimester. The American Civil Liberties Union, along with two local clinics challenged the laws in court. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson halted the laws until after a hearing in October.

In Utah, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 12 blocked a decision by Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) to cease providing state and federal funds to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah. The directive to remove funds was due to alleged video evidence about inappropriate fetal tissue practices by Planned Parenthood affiliates outside of Utah, according to court documents. Appeals judges concluded that Planned Parenthood Association of Utah shows a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims.

In Kansas, District Judge Julie A. Robinson on July 5 temporarily threw out a decision by the Kansas Department of Health & Environment to remove Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM) from Medicaid. The removal came in May at the direction of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) because of the same alleged video evidence and because of PPKMs alleged failure to cooperate with solid waste disposal inspections, according to court documents. In her order, Judge Robinson said blocking the injunction was in the publics best interest.

On July 1, a Florida district court blocked enforcement of a state law that prevents state or local funds from going to an organization or clinic that provides abortion services. The law also requires that state officials inspect the medical records of 50% of all abortion patients and defines the trimesters of a pregnancy using terminology different from accepted medical terminology. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida sued over the law in early June. In his order, District Judge Robert L. Hinkle said an injunction was justified so that the plaintiffs are not forced for unconstitutional reasons to dismantle programs unrelated to abortions.

Meanwhile in Indiana, a federal judge halted a new state law that would have banned abortions sought because of fetal gender, race, or disability. The law also had required that a pregnant woman considering an abortion be given the opportunity to view the fetal ultrasound and hear the auscultation of the fetal heart tone at least 18 hours before the abortion is performed. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky sued the state over the law in April. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt temporarily blocked the law on June 30, saying the restrictions were likely unconstitutional.

The lower court decisions come after a June 27 decision by the Supreme Court finding that two Texas abortion restrictions were unconstitutional and placed a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking abortions. In a 5-to-3 vote, justices ruled that both provisions of HB 2 create an undue burden on abortion access. The majority justices found the requirements  mandating that abortion providers have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of an abortion clinic in order to provide the service, and that all abortion clinics meet the same requirements as ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs)  are unnecessary and offer little medical advantage to patients. The court struck down both requirements, reversing a decision by the 5th Circuit.

agallegos@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @legal_med
The UK farming sector is a strong dynamic industry with huge potential outside the EU, the presidents of the four UK farming unions agreed yesterday evening.

Speaking after discussions in Brussels with presidents of European farming unions, the presidents of NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and the Ulster Farmers Union jointly agreed a number of key lobbying priorities to ensure the sector remains a powerful contributor to the UK economy.

In a joint statement, the Presidents said: "Although we are in a period of uncertainty, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to develop an agricultural policy that recognises our unique circumstances and enables us to develop a world class agricultural industry that contributes to the wider UK economy.

"Our role is enormous. We contribute 10billion a year to the UK economy, and over 12billion in exports.

"We provide thousands of jobs and deliver countless benefit to the natural environment.

"To be able to continue this, and more, we are looking to all UK governments to commit to maintaining current levels of farm support.

"While there are no quick-fix solutions and this will be a slow process, it is essential that we have set out at this early stage what we consider to be the priorities for the negotiations and the creation of future agriculture policy in our respective countries.

"However, the four UK Presidents agreed certain key principles that all UK governments needed to support in order to deliver a dynamic, rewarding agriculture policy in their respective countries."

'Migrant labour is essential to the future growth of the industry'

'Huge responsibility and huge potential'

NFU President Meurig Raymond said: "Ours is a sector with huge responsibility and huge potential.

"UK produce is known the world over for its quality; to continue this, we will need the best possible access to markets in the rest of Europe.

"New trade agreements with countries outside the EU must be made on the most favourable terms possible.

"We cannot risk opening our own market to imports that are not produced to our world leading standards."

Migrant labour 'is essential'

NFU Scotland President Allan Bowie said: "Whether seasonal or full-time, our governments need to ensure that Scottish farmers have access to the labour that we need to produce the food that consumers want.

"Migrant labour is essential to the future growth of the industry and we cannot allow this to be put at risk."

NFU Cymru President Stephen James added: "Welsh farmers understand the role that science can play in driving our industry even further forward.

"If we are to remain competitive then it is essential that all decisions relating to the use of pesticides, herbicides and new technologies must be based on sound science and evidence.

"A risk, rather than a hazard or precautionary-based approach, is needed."

'Adapted to our needs'

Speaking on behalf of the Ulster Farmers Union, President Barclay Bell said: "Leaving the EU gives us the opportunity to build a new domestic agricultural policy which is adapted to our needs.

"Bureaucratic requirements that add costs on farm but deliver no added value must be removed."

All four Presidents added: "Our presence and our team in our Brussels office is more crucial than ever before as we look to represent UK farmers interests going forward and secure the best possible deal for the future.

"It was also heartening that our colleagues from farming organisations across Europe have today offered us their strong support, recognising that we remain powerful allies and there will be a clear need to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all."
The current situation of milk producers all over Europe could have been taken from a horror movie, says the European Milk Board.

"Disastrous price reporting month on month; the gap between production costs and farm-gate price continues to widen and families on dairy farms live in fear of this very real threat to their existence," the Board explained.

As the figures from April for milk production in Germany show, an average price of 25.78 cents does not cover two-thirds of production costs which are over 44.60 cents per kilogramme of milk.

These figures are complied every quarter by the Buro fur Agrarsoziologie (BAL) and are then published jointly by the MEG Milch Board and the European Milk Board (EMB).

Cost analyses for other European countries show that this is "neither a temporary problem nor a situation limited to Germany," the Milk Board said.

Costs figures for Denmark and the Netherlands at the beginning of the year showed how even countries with large farm structures are facing a constant deficit in milk production costs.

With average costs of 41.70 cents in 2015, Denmark suffered losses of over 10 cents, while the deficit for Dutch producers with costs of 44.50 cents was almost 14 cents per kilogramme of milk.

Indeed, prices in the Netherlands in recent years have never been high enough to fully cover costs.

'Immense pressure faced by dairy farmers'

"This constant shortfall in price coverage means that farmers must subsidise their production out of their own pockets," says Romuald Schaber, President of the EMB, describing the immense pressure faced by dairy farmers

"To make this possible, they do not pay themselves for the work they put in and take on loans to salvage their milk production and farms for the time being."

"When even this fails, many farms abandon milk production, raising a very urgent question. Can we really treat those producing our food so unfairly and allow production in many regions of Europe to simply disappear?"

"While it is obvious that the answer to this question is 'No', the next question about options to address these unfair conditions is also self-evident.

"To bring prices to a fair level, the volume of milk on the market must be reduced," outlines Schaber as the solution for the dairy sector.

"Producers willing to reduce their production volume should receive financial compensation.

"After all, they would be contributing to stabilising the market, which would benefit all producers in the form of higher prices."

There are many voices calling for these voluntary production cuts at EU level in order to alleviate the dairy crisis - they include ministers of many EU Member States, MEPs and members of the Committee of the Regions.

"It is absolutely essential that the European Commission also joins this camp," says Schaber.
A 22-year-old man has been arrested and charged following a 11,000 theft in the Scottish Highlands.

Farmers and crofters across the UK are being encouraged to report any incidents of livestock theft after this incident.

Following the theft of 12 pedigree Suffolk sheep, valued at around 11,000, from the Bilbster area of Caithness at the beginning of July, a 22-year-old man this week was arrested and charged by police.

It is believed that livestock thefts are under reported, not just in this area, but across Scotland.

Farming unions and the police are urging farmers and crofters to check to their stock regularly and report any thefts as soon as possible to police.

NFU Scotlands Regional Board Chairman for the Highlands, Jim Whiteford commented: "This arrest is a positive step in stamping down on livestock thefts across the country and has seen positive working between various organisations to come to this result.

"The swiftness of this arrest should send a message to thieves that this will not be tolerated.

"We know farmers and crofters are busy, particularly at this time of year, but we would urge them to check their stock regularly and report any thefts or suspicious activity to Police Scotland as soon as is practically possible.

"Thankfully in this case the sheep have been returned to the owner, and it is through the quick reporting and good work at a local level by all the parties involved that has had this good result."

Efforts to tackle criminality 'will not stop'

PC Willie Johnstone, of Police Scotlands Specialist Crime Division, said: "The farming community should be assured that our efforts to tackle this form of criminality will not stop.

"This incident demonstrates that Police Scotland and partner agencies will exhaust all lines of enquiry to track down those who commit crime in the rural environment, and highlights the important part the public play in informing us of suspicious activity.

"Reporting as soon as possible is vital to allow us to maximize our opportunities to detect these types of crimes.

"We fully understand the emotional and financial significance a crime of this nature has on the farming community.

"Members of the public are thanked for their support in sharing our appeal and providing information."
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 15

Trend:

The number of servicemen detained in connection with the coup attempt in Turkey exceeds 700, including six generals, Anadolu agency reported July 16.

A number of colonels of Turkish Armed Forces have been dismissed, said the agency.

A chaotic night began late Friday with reports of soldiers trying to wrestle control of bridges and key functions in major cities, and turned into a nightmare when army helicopters began airstrikes and shelled key locations in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu reported.

Bombs struck near the Turkish Grand Assembly, witnesses said.

Forty-six servicemen headed the coup attempt, according to the report.

Commenting on the situation in Turkey, the countrys Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that the total number of those killed during the attempt of a military coup has not been determined yet.

It was previously reported that 60 people were killed in Ankara during a coup attempt.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the coup attempt a terrorist act.
Farmers and landowners wanting to apply for the Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship programme are being advised to act now so they dont miss out on important payments.

Having replaced both the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) and Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) schemes last year, the Countryside Stewardship is a competitive scheme so farmers have to demonstrate they can deliver the environmental benefits in order to qualify.

Open to all eligible farmers, woodland owners, foresters and other land managers it is suitable for many types of land use from conventional and organic farmland, coastal areas, uplands and woodlands

Under the new scheme there is just the one start date each year being 1st January and an application window that closes on 30th September this year.

The deadline might seem a little way off, but application packs need to be applied for from Natural England.

'Submit it on time and in the right way'

Ben Compton, one of the rural experts at Bruton Knowles, is now advising those wanting to apply to do so sooner rather than later.

Compton is also keen to highlight the need for farmers to instigate their applications before they get too heavily involved with the main harvest, a time where form filling usually takes a back seat.

Ben said: "Its important this application is submitted on time and in the right way, otherwise they run the risk of losing out.

"Also, with the grants under this scheme being competitive means the criteria for entry is much harder.

"This could result in farmers and landowners spending a lot of time on their application to no avail, time that could otherwise be spent on the land.
A group from the Innovative Farmers network are now in year three of trials into control of the pernicious weed creeping thistle.

Innovative Farmers is a not-for-profit network giving farmers research support and funding on their own terms.

At the most recent meeting in June the group found deep surface cultivations between 8 and 10 to be the most effective of 11 trialled techniques.

Deeper cultivations are more commonly used to prevent soil compaction in arable or livestock farming but this group of Innovative Farmers have discovered alternative uses for deep surface cultivation.

Most tractor mounted cultivation tools will break up and turn surface soil to between 5 and 8 but deeper cultivation appears effective in damaging the roots of the thistle, resulting in significantly less growth than other techniques trialled.

Rhizome degradation

Liz Bowles, head of farming at the Soil Association said: "At the moment we do not know exactly why this technique proved so effective.

Electric weeder

"However, we think it is important that the cultivations are carried out after thistles have stopped growing in the autumn.

"This then gives time for rhizome degradation to take place over winter when the plant is not actively growing.

"Treated and untreated thistle rhizomes were dug up and examined in April this year.

"There was clear evidence of lack of growth and fungal infection in plants from the treated area.

"If this technique can be repeated at scale it provides an exciting opportunity for farmers looking for effective non-chemical control of creeping thistle.

"It was found to be the most effective treatment in the Innovative Farmers field lab and there is already significant interest in furthering investigation into this.

"It is interesting to find how technology already at our fingertips, can have additional impacts on the farm."

'Definite signs of weakening'

The Innovative Farmers field lab was carried out at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk where trial plots were set to test the different techniques.

The creeping thistle within the area treated by deep surface cultivation showed definite signs of weakening and the growth seemed to have been depressed.

The trial is set to continue, further honing this technique for increased efficiency.

The group will now focus more closely on timing and type of cultivator used and the effect of combining this technique with the Garford Hoe.

In addition ADAS will look into samples to look at the microbiology of what is happening in the rhizome.
Children from Puddletown First School have been learning about agriculture, horticulture and rural life thanks to a new education fund that covers the whole of Dorset.

The year one pupils visited the dairy unit at Northbrook Farm, Puddletown, went pond dipping in the River Piddle and learnt about arable crops and livestock at Warren Hill Farm, Puddletown.

Year one teacher Ally Roff said the Fund provided an amazing opportunity for the children to experience life on the farm.

"The children learn so much from days like this  science, animals, living organisms, habitats, the local environment and geography  as well as having fun.

"There is a real need for youngsters to be educated about agriculture even in a rural county such as Dorset.

"I was teaching in Poole two years ago and the class of 30 really believed that milk came from Asda and had no idea of the important role farming plays in the county."

A farming background

Back in the 1840s the majority of children being raised in Dorset would come from farming backgrounds but school governor Caroline Cox said the picture was very different.

"It is very important that we tell children where food comes from  very few of our children now have links with farming these days."

Wakely Cox, Chairman of the Dorchester Agricultural Society, said the vision of the Fund was to allow children to understand about rural life and farming through a hands-on approach.

"You cannot beat the experience of getting children out on a farm and see them feeding baby calves and lambs and handling wheat and barley.

"We hope the Fund will help sow the seeds to the next generation about the importance of farming," he added.

Dorchester Agricultural Society

The Fund has been set up to commemorate the formation of the Dorchester Agricultural Society in 1840.

It follows discussions with schools which showed that there are many places for schoolchildren to go in the county but not enough funds to pay for the transport to get children out of the classroom and on to farms, nurseries, food producers and processors.

Initially, the fund will finance transport to and from a number of farms which will be dedicated to providing farm tours.

It is the Societys aim to top up the fund on a regular basis as well as raising funds via other activities.
Fort Bragg to be known as Fort Liberty. Here's what to know.

military
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has urged his compatriots not to leave the streets as a sign of support for the state.

Yildirim made the statement in a video message posted on his Twitter account.

The prime minister noted that the arrests of servicemen, involved in the military coup, are continuing.

A military coup was attempted in Turkey late Friday.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the coup attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

More than 200 servicemen, involved in the military coup attempt in Turkey, have surrendered, Anadolu Agency reports.

All of them were in the building of the Turkish General Staff.

Turkish police have detained 1,563 people in connection with the coup attempt.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
Holiday. That one word sums up relaxation combined with adventure, taking us out of our everyday world. It's winter - in Australia we head overseas, chasing the long rays of the sun. And so it was that I packed my bags after months of planning. I was off on the elusive perfect holiday, a dream journey of exclusive hotels, mythic places, magnificent vistas and the long northern summer sun. With the Professor. First stop was Prague, a fairy tale city, home of Franz Kafka, one of my favourite authors. I now call the Professor 'J'.

Ann Turner

Prague has wondrously beautiful buildings from centuries ago, surrounded by brutal, Soviet- era architecture. Poetry and a thudding foot combined. And there's the looming castle on the hill, an exotic mix of pastel paints in green and pink. Traversing the quiet lanes and streets is inspiring - and challenging. There is exquisite music played by prestigious Czech orchestras, and bitter, nasty taxi drivers. On one day, a cab driver charged us what we knew was five times the amount. Luckily I was with the Professor - I was about to argue but received a vivid warning of alarmed, frowning eyes. Later when I Googled, Prague is renowned for its cabbies who not only rip off tourists, but assault them if they challenge the fare. Heads smashed on the bonnet of the cab, then left in the middle of nowhere. Without J, I probably wouldn't be here to tell my story.

And thence we went to Bergen, Norway, where I was keen to see the Hanseatic Houses, timber, merchants' warehouses from the 16th Century that reminded me of the vision of the dwellings I had for the abandoned Antarctic whaling settlement of Fredelighavn, in my second novel Out of the Ice. I'd chosen a hotel close by, and was really looking forward to it. The Professor always likes a nap on arrival. Our room was two monkish single beds side-by-side. I would have tried to change, but J wasn't having any of it. My single-teenage-bed was decidedly lumpy. And when I lay down, I was quickly bitten. J didn't believe me, and chivalrously offered to take that bed for the night. Off we went to explore the Hanseatic Houses, that are very old, very beautiful, and literally creaking with history. And then we returned to our room. I lay down again - and was bitten again. I Googled Tripadvisor. There, in black and white, was a recent tourist complaining of bedbugs at the hotel. Bedbugs! I knew they'd been in exclusive hotels in New York - and I'd avoided them; I knew they were rampant on Cape Cod - and I'd narrowly avoided them. And here I was in Bergen getting bitten by bedbugs. I read out the comments on Tripadvisor to the Professor, who moved faster than I'd seen in years. Bedding ripped back to the mattress, to reveal little hard black things, that we started to pincer out with our fingernails. I assembled the booty on the silver top of our computer, and then I found, what I knew from my Googling, was a pale white nymph, a bedbug in its early stages. I put the nymph with the dark intruders, terrified that I'd discovered that bedbugs can lay eggs quickly. I had a gorgeous teddy bear bought for our one-year-old great niece - what horror would it unleash if it was bedbug infested, passed from great aunt, grandparents, parents, along with the gorgeous child?

I called the hotel manager. Up he came, just as I was taking photographs of my assembled bedbug evidence - but I was stressed, and accidentally turned the camera on to my own face. Alarmed. Horrified. That was it. And then the hotel manager whisked the evidence onto the floor with a desultory flick of his hand. I had nothing but a photograph of myself looking deranged. We left.

To Oslo. A high-tech hotel with beautiful mood lighting, reflecting whatever time of day you happened to walk in/awake/go to sleep. Pure romance. Here was the luxury escape I'd craved, delivered with Norwegian inspiration. Until the Professor ran an errand for me, while I had a lovely shower before supper. As the Professor left, he locked the door. And then the lights suddenly went out in a technical glitch. What had been an elegant shower became hard, horrifying waterboarding in the pitch black. I stumbled out, traumatised, and stubbed my toe, ripping the nail off the nailbed. Excruciating pain.

From Oslo I hobbled to the Amalfi Coast. Here, at last, was my fantasy holiday. Except to get to our hotel we had to take a bus. A blue leviathan that hung off a cliff, promising to fly over a tiny wall to a death-drop to the sea. Oncoming buses couldn't get around the hairpin bends at the same time as ours, and we came face-to-face with tourists, equally sickened. The Professor thought his illustrious career was about to end, catapulted off the cliff into the jaws of the misty Tyrrhenian Sea. He broke down and wept like a kitten, as had John Steinbeck on the same horrid ribbon of road. And so did I.

But when we arrived home, friends and family asked how our trip was, and we both replied in unison - fantastic! And isn't that always the way? A holiday is often not idyllic, but we like to remember it differently. For there, in our mythic forests of memory, we find our ultimate escape. And start to plan our next adventure.

Ann Turner's new novel, The Lost Swimmer, is published by Simon & Schuster, priced 7.99
Author Richard Wickliffe spoke with Female First upon the release of his new crime-thriller "Storm Crashers." Though it's a fictional adventure, the story was inspired by true crimes committed during hurricanes off the coast of Florida.

Storm Crashers

Here are five facts behind Richard's new thriller and writing flair:

Richard enjoys using female protagonists -and villains

Quite simply because they're smarter and go against cliche. According to Richard, the cliches are tired; superhero men always saving the day; hulking dark crime bosses. In his first novel, Tropical Windfall, the villain turns out to be a petit brash woman in charge of a drug cartel. In Storm Crashers, a brilliant female detective is an equal partner in a duo -with another female lead we can't quite reveal spoilers on.

Storm Crashers' female detective is based on a real person

Again to dodge cliche, the cop in Storm Crashers is feminine and appealing. Richard believes movies typically paint female officers as butch or masculine. He tells us he based "Detective Nadine Stratton" on a real sheriff's deputy in Florida, a tall blonde, almost exactly as described in Storm Crashers. Intelligent and popular among her peers.

The crimes in Storm Crashers are inspired by real events.

After Hurricane Charlie swept across the coast of Florida (a setting in the novel) wealthy residents couldn't return to their homes due to damaged bridges and no electricity. Police couldn't respond. According to Richard, during this period, numerous burglaries were reported, including a pharmacy of its priceless narcotics.

In Storm Crashers, Richard confesses he applied fiction to make the thieves high-tech, with night vision, special gear, etcetera, to endure the imminent storms.

What's the most farfetched weapon that's real?

"Easily the Incapacitator or 'puke saber,'" replies Richard. The villains use the weapon that looks like a large flashlight. Incapacitators really exist. According to Richard, they emit light pulses that confuse the brain causing instant disorientation, nausea, and have even caused cerebral hemorrhages. It's been rumored to have killed a test subject with epilepsy, so the device never went into wide use. They've been given the nickname "puke saber."

What's the most horrifying setting or scene that's based on truth?

In Storm Crashers, an abandoned hotel is used as a morgue. For effect, Richard depicts it as a haunted-house-like building, with no power and rows of corpses. Shockingly, this is based on something real. Richard states he once stayed at an older hotel on the west coast of Florida. A year later, after Hurricane Charlie, he was shocked to learn the vacant hotel had been used by officials for storm fatalities. When word leaked to the public, officials had to acknowledge the bodies were in the hotel, but wouldn't verify how many. Even more unnerving is the hotel has since reopened (but Richard won't say what it's now called.)

Thank you to Richard, and you can find "Storm Crashers" now on Amazon, both in print and as e-books. You can learn more about Richard and his writing at RichWickliffe.com.
Drew Barrymore has officially filed for divorce from Will Kopleman.

Drew Barrymore

The 41-year-old actress reportedly filed official papers in a Manhattan court in New York on Friday (15.07.16), three months after announcing end of their four-year marriage.

The divorce documents describe Barrymore's petition as "uncontested", according to the New York Daily News newspaper.

Barrymore and art consultant Kopelman, who wed in June 2012, have two daughters together - Olive, three, and Frankie, two - and said when they announced their split that their girls were their "first priority".

Since then, Barrymore, who has been married twice before, and her estranged husband have divided their time between New York and Los Angeles in a bid to share parenting responsibilities.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that the Hollywood star is set to become a talk show host.

The 'Miss You Already' actress is reportedly in talks about being at the helm of her own chat show in a joint deal with Warner Bros. and Ellen DeGeneres' A Very Good Production company.

Despite her marriage troubles, Barrymore previously revealed the "strength" and joy she takes from being with her children.

When asked what makes her happy, she shared: "Just strength. Now that I'm a mom, and I know that it harkens back to the girls, aside from that, it really is girl power, badass. It is strength, clarity, conviction, health and focus ...

"It's funny, because there are times in my life that I am so loosey-goosey, so hedonistic, and it is so just 'hippy-dippy,' but right now I feel this great backbone is, 'One foot in front of the other,' which is sort of my attitude right now. That is anything but loosey-goosey - that if you don't stay in a straight line, you are going to get into trouble."
The gorgeous Baar Baar Dekho actor turns 33 today, while also completing 13 years in the industry. She has come a long way from the days when she was trolled for her lack of Hindi-speaking skills and a stiff body language, silencing critics with her sheer determination. On her special day, we list out just why we love Katrina:

Acting chops

Anyone who has watched Rajneeti, Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani, Phantom, Fitoor and the likes, knows what were talking about. She is a directors actor and can switch between intense and chirpy based on what the role demands.

Competing with herself

Katrina is known to take criticism in her stride and continuously looks to improve herself as an actor. She went in for language and diction classes and even trained in Bollywood dance to better her performance. Today, shes one of the best dancers in the industry.

Standing her ground

While every female actor in the industry is harrowed by the wage gap, very few have actually spoken about it. And even fewer have managed to get their way. According to reports in a leading Bollywood news website, Katrina and Aditya Roy Kapur, her co-star in Fitoor, got paid equallya whopping sum of Rs 4 crore each.

Moving on graciously after a bad breakup

Now, havent we all been through this phase at least once in life? But how many of us really managed to get over it with our head held high like Katrina? Shes not only let bygones be bygones, but also established a wonderful working relationship with her exes (she worked with Salman Khan in Ek Tha Tiger and is now working with Ranbir Kapoor in Jagga Jasoos after a break-up).

No Kat fights

Reports of cat fights between Bollywood actors keeps doing the rounds, but Katrina has never spoken ill of her contemporaries. Thats just not her style. She knows and loves her job and for her, nothing else matters.
Ex-Bigg Boss contestant Sambhavna Seth and Avinash Dwivedi's marriage, which was held on July 14, in Delhi was a private affair with only close friends (school friends from Mumbai and abroad) and family in attendance.

The couple had also organised for a wedding reception on July 15, which was also a private affair. Sambhavna was looking beautiful in an embellished lehenga, while Avinash looked dashing in a tuxedo. Sambhavna shared a picture (Slide 1) snapped with Avinash and wrote, "Finally I am Mrs Sambhavna Seth Dwivedi  #reception #weddingtrends #excited #husbandandwife #indianwear #wedding #married."

Check Out Sambhavna Seth & Avinash Dwivedi Reception Pictures



The couple also danced for the song, 'Ladki beautiful kar gayi chul'. Posting the video clipping, Sambhavna wrote, "Im such a bindaas dancer but felt so shy in my own reception  @imavinashdwivedi #reception #married #bollywood #shy #embarrassed."

Meghana Naidu attended the reception party. Posting a picture (Slide 5) snapped with Sambhavna, the actress wrote, "With the beautiful bride !!! @sambhavnasethofficial you look lovely... God bless you both with all the happiness ."

In an interview, Sambhavna was quoted by PTI as saying, "I feel on the top of the world right now. I am the happiest bride. I was that one person who never believed in the institution of marriage. I was a tomboy. But then I met Avinash and everything changed."

The ex-Bigg Boss met Avinash during the shooting of a regional dance reality show. She was his mentor in 2010.
Large turnout as presenters explore critical need for high-speed internet across circumpolar north

BARROW, Alaska, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the past two days, policy leaders, tech industry experts and other executives have been meeting in Barrow, Alaska to discuss the essential need for broadband across the circumpolar Arctic, and how to best prepare for the many opportunities and even challenges the new technology will bring with it.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150910/265586LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160613/378539LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160613/378541LOGO

Highlights of the Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit included presentations ranging from what private investors are looking for when considering projects in the far north - to the very latest on the Quintillion Subsea Cable Project, which ASRC is a minority partner. Other discussions touched on new satellite technology to compliment subsea fiber optic broadband, and what the government's role should be in connecting the Arctic. In all, nearly 40 speakers participated in the conference, coming from as far away as Finland, Canada and the east coast.

"I'm incredibly grateful to the many experts and presenters who came all the way to Alaska to join us for the Summit," said Tara Sweeney, who serves as chair of the Arctic Economic Council as well as executive vice president of external affairs for ASRC. "They've been able to see firsthand the many challenges we experience in the Arctic and the importance of using broadband as a tool to bring opportunities to the north - like educational, health and economic growth benefits. Improved connectivity capacity is a problem all too common in many parts of the Arctic, and I'm pleased that industry leaders are committed to helping us find solutions."

The Summit, which was organized by the Arctic Economic Council and its telecommunications working group, was broadcast live on KBRW Radio and the program was simulcast worldwide on the internet. The event was also co-hosted by the Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA) and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC).

A full agenda from the Summit can be found at www.arcticeconomiccouncil.com. Video clips and photos will be made available in the near future.

About Arctic Economic Council (AEC)

Established by the Arctic Council under the chairmanship of Canada, the AEC is an independent business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The inaugural meeting was held in September 2014 in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada. The AEC has a 42-member board from eight Arctic states and six permanent participant organizations. Finland will assume the chairmanship from the U.S. in 2017.

About Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA)

IABA comprises representatives of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), NANA Regional Corporation (NANA) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). Its mission is to provide a unified voice, collective vision, guidelines and venue for doing business in the Arctic. The three corporate members of IABA were established as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Together, they own a total of 9.3 million acres of Arctic surface and subsurface real estate and represent more than 31,900 shareholders.

About Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is owned by and represents the business interests of the Arctic Slope Inupiat. Since opening enrollment in 1990 to Alaska Natives born after 1971, the corporation's shareholder base has nearly tripled, growing from the 3,700 original enrollees to around 13,000 today. Corporate headquarters are based in Barrow, Alaska, with administrative and subsidiary offices located in Anchorage and throughout the United States. ASRC, along with its family of companies, is the largest Alaskan-owned company, employing approximately 10,000 people worldwide. The company has six major business segments: petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, construction, industrial services, government services and resource development.

CONTACT:

Ty Hardt, ASRC

Sr. Director of Communications

Desk (907) 339-6888

Mobile (907) 223-3253

thardt@asrc.com






OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/16/16 -- Product photos are available at http://bit.ly/29K46ag

The food recall warning issued on July 8, 2016 has been updated to include additional product information. This additional information was identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) food safety investigation.

Industry is recalling Woongjin brand rice beverage from the marketplace because it contains milk which is not declared on the label. People with an allergy to milk should not consume the recalled products described below.

The following products have been sold in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and New Brunswick, and may have been distributed in other provinces and territories.

Recalled products

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brand Product Size UPC Codes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Morning Rice 500 mL 8 801382 124528 All lot codes where Rice Drink milk is not declared on the label ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Morning Rice 500 mL 8 801382 124528 All lot codes where Beverage milk is not declared on the label ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Morning Rice 1.5 L 8 801382 123446 All lot codes where Rice Drink milk is not declared on the label ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Morning Rice 1500 mL 8 801382 123446 All lot codes where Beverage milk is not declared on the label ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Non carbonated 1.5 L 8 801382 123446 All lot codes where soft drink milk is not declared on the label ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woongjin Morning Rice 15 x 180 8 801382 128519 All lot codes where mL milk is not declared on the label ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

What you should do

Check to see if you have recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.

If you have an allergy to milk, do not consume the recalled products as they may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction.

-- Learn more about common food allergies -- Sign up for recall notifications by email, follow us on Twitter, or join the CFIA community on Facebook -- View our detailed explanation of the food safety investigation and recall process

Background

This recall was triggered by the CFIA's inspection activities. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other high-risk products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated Food Recall Warnings.

The CFIA is verifying that industry is removing recalled product from the marketplace.

Reactions

There have been no reported reactions associated with the consumption of these products.

More information

-- CFIA: www.inspection.gc.ca/contactus

Contacts:

Media enquiries

CFIA Media Relations

613-773-6600




Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

The military coup attempt in Turkey is a plan to discredit the countrys army, Naciye Selin Senocak, chair holder at UNESCO Cultural Diplomacy Governance and Education, Center for Diplomatic and Strategic Studies (CEDS), told Trend July 16.

Senocak said as it is known, not the whole Turkish army, but only a small group of soldiers, who had close ties with the movement of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic public figure currently residing in the US, is involved in the coup attempt.

The coup attempt against the background of the active fight of Armed Forces against terrorism is not accidental, believes the expert.

Turkey, in order to avoid the recurrence of such events, should achieve Gulens extradition form the US, she added.

The US, in order to keep its image in the eyes of Turkey, should extradite Gulen, said Senocak, adding that otherwise, Turkey will consider the US as a country supporting terrorism.

She believes that the military coup attempt in Turkey is aimed against the statehood of the country as a whole, rather than against President Erdogan.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

As part of its continued support of UNICEF, Access Bank Group, along with 5th Chukker, The Access Bank UK and Access Private Bank hosted the 'Access Bank Polo Day' at the Guards Polo Club, Windsor on Saturday July 16.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160716/390339LOGO )



The annual event is the climax to the high-profile Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament, which is in its ninth year and is aimed at reaching out to and highlighting the plight of vulnerable children and orphans and internationally displaced persons.

Based in Kaduna, Nigeria it is the biggest charity polo tournament in Africa and stimulates support for the work of the UNICEF / ACCESS Bank initiative across Africa. This year the Bank donated an additional N10-million (27,000) to UNICEF for its campaign against HIV/AIDS among Nigerian children.

Since the UNICEF/ACCESS Bank initiative was started it has rebuilt two schools in Kaduna and, kept more than 8000 students in continuous education, while at the same time developing new school blocks and a computer literacy building all in a more secure and friendly school environment. The communities surrounding the schools are being supported with bore-holes for water, and sewing and grinding machines to secure employment and stimulate economic and social development.

The UK event was organised by The Access Bank UK Limited which has just published its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015. This shows impressive growth indicators including an increase in operating income of 31% from 15-million in 2014 to 19.7-million. The Bank's profit before tax grew by 72% to 8.6-million, while its post tax profit was up 74% to 6.8-million..

Commenting on the Bank's success chief executive officer and managing director Jamie Simmonds said:

"We are now in our second five year plan that embodies our principles of relationship-based banking, growing our business through the depth and quality of customer relationships, while at the same time maintaining a moderate appetite for risk. Our objective is to grow the international business of Access Bank Group through customer service excellence, and innovative solutions in trade finance, commercial banking and asset management."

Drawing attention to the Bank's 2015 highlights, Jamie Simmonds added: "In 2015 we launched an operation in the UAE, introduced a high net worth regulated execution only mortgage product and unveiled an on-line retail savings product.

"Our achievements owe a great deal to the strong partnership that we have with our parent company, as evidenced by our joint support of the fifth Access Bank Day at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor."

Access Bank PLC group managing director and chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, Herbert Wigwe paid tribute to the UK operation by saying:

"The Access Bank UK has become the business we always envisaged it would. Founded on a model of excellent service and moderate risk appetite it has grown income, increased profit and delivers a healthy return on equity. Importantly it is adding value to Access Bank Group and enhancing the Group's stature on the international stage."

Wigwe also explained the reasons behind the Bank's continued support for the Fifth Chukker UNICEF initiative. "We are conscious of our role as a change agent in Nigeria that can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice and environmental considerations," he said. "In addition, we are continually seeking ways through which more resources can be pooled towards supporting the children. We are part of the community and as such should support its wellbeing."

For details of where to obtain photographs and further background information, please see "notes to editors" below

Notes to editors:

Photos ( http://www.imagesofpolo.com) of the Access Bank Polo Day at The Guards Polo Club on June 13 may be found at:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7q5is6be51ueszr/AACY7ydEofAUisE4el_VjFJia?dl=0

(For online media please use separate folder at top of web page)

Suggested captions:

0289 Herbert Wiggenhall, Emir of Kano and Chairman of Coronation Group plc

0361 Jamie Simmonds CEO Access Bank UK tells guests at the Access Bank Charity Polo day something of the schools and the 8000 students that have benefitted from the Access Bank, Unicef, First Chukker initiative in Northern Nigeria

0944 - Adolfo Cambiaso Junior takes control

1008 - Juan Martin Nero, Mia Cambiaso and Babangida Hassan

1172 Adamu Mahmoud Atta - captain First Chukker, takes his award from Mrs Mosum Beli- Olusola Chairman Access Bank Group, the Emir of Kano, and Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank Group PLC managing director and chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd,at the end of the Access Bank Charity cup match

1180 Adolf of Cambois, the world's leading Polo player takes his award from the Emirates of Kano and Herbert Wigwe at the end of the Access Bank Charity Cup match

1224 Babingida Hassan receives the Access bank charity cup from the Emirates of Kano and Herbert Wigwe CEO Access Bank Group

1232 The two team captains Babingida Hassan and Adams Attached hold the Access Bank Charity Cup with Herbert Wigwe Chief Executive Access Bank group

1144 Damian Duncan - Captain of the Delaneycommunications@eircom.net Polo team receives the Emir's cup from the Emir of Kano and Herbert Wigwe ceo Access Bank Group.

About Access Bank

Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial Bank operating through a network of 348 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, the Bank serves its various markets through 5 business segments: Institutional, Commercial, Retail Banking, Transaction Services and Financial Markets.

The Bank has over 800,000 shareholders including several Nigerian and International Institutional Investors and has enjoyed what is arguably Africa's most successful banking growth trajectory in the last ten years ranking amongst Africa's top 15 banks by total assets and capital in 2012 and among Nigeria's top four banks by most metrics.

As part of its continued growth strategy, Access Bank is focused on mainstreaming sustainable business practices into its operations. The Bank strives to deliver sustainable economic growth that is profitable, environmentally responsible and socially relevant.

About The Access Bank UK Ltd

The Access Bank UK Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Access Bank Plc. It offers a broad range of banking products and services including:

Private banking, through its specialist division Access Private Bank (see below)

Business banking

Trade finance

Personal banking

to business and personal customers, both from the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa. Its strong commercial ties to Africa and local knowledge are invaluable for customers with personal and business involvement in these regions.

The Bank was authorised by the Financial Services Authority on 12 August 2008. Following the reorganisation of the Regulatory Regime in the UK on 1 April 2013 with the introduction of Twin Peaks regulation, the Bank is currently regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Bank is authorised to undertake a wide range of banking activities.

The Access Bank UK's outstanding year on year growth is derived in part from its international sales and operations, and its geographical expansion within Sub Saharan Africa including trade finance transactions in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Rwanda and Cote D'Ivoire. The transactions related to the import and export of goods such as oil products, paper, auto parts and numerous other commodities. This work, and its success, highlights the Bank's ability to provide an invaluable service proposition for customer's wishing to maximise opportunities in the growing economies of Sub Saharan Africa and its ability to increase market share in Nigeria - the fastest growing economy on the continent.

To further broaden its international reach and ensure the outstanding growth remains self-sustaining, the Bank is undertaking a range of developments. These include

developing closer working relationships with OECD exporters to increase exposure to trade flows across a broader range of African countries

focusing on taking advantage of the growing trade flows in Ghana plus adopting a growth strategy for the Rwandan and Zambian markets

These measures will mean the Bank avoids over-dependency on its substantial market share in Nigeria.

Acting as a confirming bank across OECD markets is a key part of The Access Bank's growing opportunities in trade finance for itself and its customers. Its confirmation is now accepted on over 95% of occasions.

It also:

is a registered correspondent and trade finance bank for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

(CBN) issues Letters of Credit on behalf of the Nigerian government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)

acts as a correspondent bank for Nigerian and Ghanaian banks lacking a UK-authorised subsidiary

is accredited by IFC (World Bank Commercial Arm).

Access Private Bank

Access Private Bank is a global private bank dedicated to helping high net worth individuals reach their wealth management and financial goals. The Bank provides an individual tailored investment solution that is complemented by a personal banking service, and is committed to working with its customers to build long-term relationships based on understanding, knowledge, trust and accountability. Its integrated global investment and wealth management service is based on the principles of discretionary investment management and a portfolio designed specifically for each client after discussion on personal circumstances, investment objectives, knowledge and attitude to risk.

The Bank fully manages customers' investment and reports the performance of portfolios on a regular basis to ensure customers are kept up to date with developments.
Rajinikanths Kabali is undoubtedly the biggest release in Tamil cinema this year and the hype around the film is only growing stronger as it nears its 22 July date with the theatres. Rajinikanth himself has not appeared so far for any promotional activities of the film (he is currently in the US) and has distanced himself from endorsements of any kind. However, that hasn't stopped brands from wanting to cash in on his popularity. Even before Kabali releases, there have been a spate of products themed on the film and Rajinikanth.

Even Hollywood seems keen on sharing a slice of the pie, if the new trailer of Ice Age: Collision Course is anything to go by. We find Sid, Manny and Diego lip-syncing to the super hit Neruppu Da in the mash-up trailer, interspersed with visuals from Kabali promos. The makers of the movie are marketing the video as a tribute to the Thalaivar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=EZaGr4EfOXY

Recently, Air Asia had launched special Kabali-themed aircrafts to fly passengers to catch the first show of the movie upon its release. Amar Abrol, the CEO of Air Asia, India told CNN News 18, The script of the film demanded the utilisation of an aircraft. The production house approached us, if as an airline, we would want to participate and we absolutely pounced on the idea. We decided that this was the best opportunity to dedicate an entire plane to the icon, to the star himself.

The Air Asia plane that will fly from Bengaluru to Chennai, will play music from the movie and serve a special Kabali meal. Guests on the flight will get a miniature model of the plane along with a Kabali mug before being escorted to the movie hall to catch their favourite star in action.

Telecom service providers Airtel too have come up with Kabali SIM cards, caller tunes and recharge packs with unlimited internet. A separate SMS channel of the company will take wishes from callers, which will later be presented to Rajinikanth as a coffee table book. Airtel also plans to come up with a 3D holographic van that would go around the state, screening promotional visuals of the movie and interviews with its actors, George Mathen, Bharti Airtels Hub CEO of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

Kerala-based non-banking financial company, Muthoot Fincorp, which is also an associate sponsor of the film, is looking at investing around Rs 20 crore in silver coins and pendants embossed with Rajinikanths image. The five, 10 and 20-gram coins will be made available in the companys outlets from the day of the films release. Rajinikanth cuts across all segments of the society and has a solid image. Being a company catering to the middle and the lower income classes, we want to associate ourselves with that image, the executive vice president of Muthoot Fincorp Limited S Kannan said of the tie-up.

PVR cinemas too have associated themselves with the film as the official multiplex partner. Posters of the film bearing the logo of the multiplex and other Kabali merchandise will be made available for fans at the multiplex.

A mobile accessories platform based in Chennai, Cover it Up has also tied up with the makers of the movie to feature funky Kabali-themed merchandise on its website. Chennai Gaga, a souvenir store is selling Kabali T-shirts featuring Rajinikanth.

The makers of Kabali say they have been looking for uniqueness and innovation before collaborating with a particular brand. All the tie-ups came about based on how the movie developed. We have an icon in the movie, which is Rajinikanth. Normally the brands always reach out to the best, points out D Paranthaman, the CEO of V Creations and the son of the films producer Kalaippuli S Thanu. We have professionals who are handling such tie-ups. We have good content, so it is easy for us to connect with everyone, Paranthaman adds.

Reports suggest that many other brands have approached the makers to collaborate with the movie. Buzz is that the newly-floated Tamil Nadu Premier League has also approached the makers to use the viral hit Neruppu Da as an anthem.

The producers, however, maintain that there is no commercial benefit from such partnerships. Frankly, the brands are using the movie to promote their products. At the same time we also get publicity for the movie, Paranthaman says.

Kabali, which stars Rajinikanth and Radhika Apte in the lead roles, will release on 22 July. The movie is being dubbed into Hindi, Malay, Mandarin and Thai.
Earlier on Saturday, Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was murdered in what is suspected to be a case of honour killing. While Twitter is abuzz with reports of her death, not many know how she charted her rise into the limelight.

Qandeel Baloch, whose real name is Fouzia Azeem, gained popularity as a social media celebrity after she uploaded suggestive selfies and videos of herself going about her daily life.

An article in Daily Pakistan suggests that before she became a star, Baloch had led an extremely difficult life. Hailing from a less developed area in Dera Ghazi Khan, called Shah Sadar Din, Baloch was one among five siblings, and the only daughter in the family.

Read on Firstpost: Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch murdered in suspected 'honour killing'

The turning point in her life  as per a Daily Pakistan report  came when she decided to lead an independent life after being jilted by her lover on the day she was to elope with him. She began her career as a bus hostess but soon moved on to work abroad in South Africa, Middle East and Europe. Before long she decided to return to Pakistan to work on her acting skills.

In June she made headlines she met Mufti Abdul Qavi, an Islamic scholar known to have a conservative stance on women, in a hotel room for Iftar, apparently to learn more about her faith. Social media went into a tizzy when Baloch posted selfies of the meeting on Facebook, including one where she is seen wearing his topi. Following this Qandeel gave a statement to Pakistan Today that Mufti is hopelessly in love with her". She said, I am hoping that Mufti Qavi will formally propose to me in our next meeting.

Also read: Qandeel Baloch's tragic death reminds us of Pakistan-born starlet Laila Khan's murder

Mufti Qavi denied the reports, and said Baloch was like a daughter to him, and he had met her only in an attempt to bring her to the right path. However, he was dropped from his post as the head of a religious organisation after the controversy broke.

Earlier this year she created quite a buzz in India when in a video posted on Facebook she 'threatened' PM Narendra Modi saying the day "Pakistanis get angry they wouldn't spare him and his country".

A month later she created another sensation when she promised to strip if Pakistan beat India in the ICC World Twenty20. With this she got dubbed as Pakistan's Poonam Pandey, as Pandey, a Kingfisher model, had made a similar promise the previous year for Team India. Baloch put up videos on her Facebook page with the promise to "strip dance" for the Pakistani boys if they lifted the trophy.

Baloch was a polarising figure in Pakistan, where she was admired and derided in equal measure. But her tragic end has shocked even her staunchest critics.
New Delhi: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was not involved in day-to-day affairs of Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) and cannot be held liable in several cheque-bouncing cases filed against him by Delhi airport operator DIAL, his counsel told the Delhi High Court on Friday.

The submission was made before a bench of Justice P S Teji where Mallya's counsel sought setting aside of trial court orders summoning him as an accused in the cheque bounce cases by citing that there was a full-time CEO.

"It is an admitted fact that respondent (DIAL) was well aware about the status of petitioner (Mallya) qua KFA and still chose not to proceed against him (earlier).

"It was obviously because DIAL was aware that he was a non-resident Indian for the purpose of tax and foreign exchange regulations in India and his role was restricted to directing matter of policy on behalf of KFA and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of KFA as there was a full time CEO (accused no.2)," senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who was representing Mallya, submitted.

The trial court had summoned Mallya as accused following a complaint by Delhi International Airport Ltd, which operates the capital's IGI Airport, claiming that a cheque for Rs one crore issued by KFA on February 22, 2012 was returned to them a month later containing the remarks "fund insufficient".

DIAL has filed four cases in June 2012 against Mallya over KFA's cheques totalling Rs 7.5 crore not being honoured.

The grounded airline had issued the cheques towards payment for services availed by them at the IGI airport her
By Matthias Williams and Margaryta Chornokondratenko | KIEV KIEV The office of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hit back on Thursday at claims by former regional governor Mikheil Saakashvili that Poroshenko had allowed corruption to flourish, saying Saakashvili had failed to deliver change while in office.Speaking to Reuters a week after resigning as a governor, Saakashvili, a former Georgian president who went on to have a second political career in Ukraine, had said Poroshenko either abetted or turned a blind eye to corruption. In the first detailed rebuttal by a representative of Poroshenko since Saakashvili quit, Vitaliy Kovalchuk, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, told Reuters Saakashvili was a better politician than a manager.Despite being given more power than any previous governor in Ukraine, and allowed to appoint his own people to key positions, Saakashvili had failed to bring corrupt people to book or deliver tangible reform in the customs service, Kovalchuk said."We may say that Mikheil Saakashvili did not manage to cope with his powers," Kovalchuk told Reuters in an emailed statement."Believe me, no one in the presidential administration is happy about it. I regret that Mikheil Saakashvili turned out to be a far better politician than a manager."Saakashvili was appointed governor of the Odessa region in 2015 by Poroshenko - Kiev's pro-Western leader who pledged to transform Ukraine after the Maidan street protests, partly fuelled by anger over official corruption, led to the overthrow of the previous administration.But for some in the country, dreams of radical change are fading; a report by Transparency International on Wednesday found nearly three-quarters of Ukrainians do not think there has been a reduction in corruption under Poroshenko, compared with under the former president, Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovich."Poroshenko wanted until now to appear nice in front of the West, that he is doing something, without really doing anything," Saakashvili said.
Patna: One person was arrested for allegedly raising pro-Pakistan slogans when supporters of a front took out a march in Patna in support of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

The march was taken out on Friday from Science College in Patna and some persons present in the rally raised pro-Pakistan slogans, police said.

The footage of the march telecast by a few TV news channels showed protestors under the banner of 'Popular Front of India' demanding that Bihar government intervene and speak to the Centre on Zakir Naik issue.

They also alleged that the "crack down" on Naik and Owaisi was a "concerted effort to silence the voice of Muslims leaders in the country."

Police swung into action and arrested one person identified as Taufiq in connection with the rally, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Manu Maharaj told PTI on Saturday.

Director General of Police PK Thakur said the footage was being scanned to collect evidences.

Bihar police are also coordinating with central intelligence agencies to probe the case, he said.

Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal and the SSP said no prior permission was taken for the rally.

Meanwhile, opposition BJP used the issue to hit out against the Nitish Kumar government.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi in a statement here claimed that the raising of pro-Pakistan slogans and eulogising Zakir Naik proved that the Nitish Kumar government had "increased the courage of such elements."

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should answer how a rally was taken out in Patna in support of Zakir Naik who has been banned due to his provocative speeches in Britain, America and Canada.

"People have not forgotten that terrorist modules had come to light in Darbhanga, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur three years ago under Nitish Kumar's rule. Also Bihar police had handed over terrorist Yasin Bhatkal to National Investigation Agency without interrogating him after his arrest from Raxual," he said.

"The lax approach of the state government had resulted in bomb blasts in Bodh Gaya and explosions at a rally of then Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi in 2012 at Gandhi maidan in Patna in which seven persons lost lives," the BJP leader added.
Srinagar: Celebrated IAS topper from Jammu and Kashmir Shah Faesal, who heads the education department in the Valley, Friday lashed out at the "national media" for making him part of its "sadistic propaganda" and drawing his comparison with slain Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani.

The angry reaction from the Director (School Education) came after some TV channels, during their primetime shows on the ongoing Kashmir unrest, aired Faesal's pictures alongside Wani's bullet-ridden body.

"By juxtaposing my photos with the images of a slain militant commander, a section of national media has once again fallen back upon its conventional savagery that cashes on falsehoods, divides people and creates more hatred," Faesal, who topped the coveted civil services exam in 2009, wrote on his Facebook page.

Wani was killed on 8 July and his death has triggered a violent wave of unrest in the valley that has left more than 40 people dead in street clashes between protesters and security forces.

While Kashmir was "mourning its dead, the propaganda and provocation being dished out from red and blue newsrooms is breeding more alienation and anger in Kashmir than what (the) Indian state can manage," he regretted in his Facebook post.

Faesal threatened to resign "sooner or later" if the "nonsense" continued.

"Personal vulnerability apart, the very fact of becoming a part of a ridiculous debate is something which has disturbed me very much. Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a part of your sadistic propaganda machine?" he asked.

"In fact when I qualified this exam I never thought of spending my whole life scratching the desk and if this nonsense around me continues, I might prefer to resign sooner than later," he added.

Another IAS officer, Ruveda Salam, assistant commissioner at Ministry of Finance, echoed the same emotion in support of Fesal saying that non-Kashmiris should first read about the entire history of Jammu and Kashmir before making lewd comments about their character.
The authorities have banned newspapers from getting published in Kashmir, by carrying out raids at press offices in the wee hours of Saturday. They seized the papers and even chased employees in order to detain them.

The authorities carried out these acts despite there being no prior communication from their side telling news agencies to stop publishing the paper. This is unlike the curb on the telecommunication services. The police had earlier sent a communication to telecom companies that in view of the prevailing security scenario, internet services should be stopped. Subsequently, the mobile services were also stopped. Only BSNL network is currently in operation. However, a senior BSNL official said that they too have been asked to shut the service.

At around 3 am, Irshad Ahmad Khan, the driver of Kashmir's leading newspaper Rising Kashmir, was heading towards Lal Chowk to distribute the newspapers when he was stopped by the police near the Clock Tower. The police vehicle was following me from Shiekpora Humhama where our printing press is located," said Khan. "They had also brought along two employees of the press who were asked to identify the vehicle. Once we were at the Clock Tower, they came from the front side of the vehicle and made me stop. They asked me to drive to the Humhama police station where we were made to deposit the newspapers."

Raja Mohuidin, editor of Kashmir Press Service Media Group (KPSMG), said that they footed a loss of over Rs 4.5 lakh. The printing press office was raided at Rangreth without prior information and newspapers were seized, he said. Mohuidin said that this is the first time during the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir state that the press offices have been raided. Earlier in 2010 they had seized the papers from outside, he said. He added that eight people who were working at his printing press office were detained by police. Some of the employees who are from outside the state and who are non Muslims were mentally harassed, he said.

KPSMG, which also owns KT Press, publishes most of the newspapers in Kashmir. I bring out four newspapers: an Urdu paper, Tameel-i-Irshad; the English paper, Kashmir Age; the Kashmiri paper, Kahwat; and a bilingual newspaper, Imroze. All these newspapers were seized. Police seized 20,000 copies of Tameel-i-Irshad and 15,000 copies of Kashmir Age alone, he said.

Mohidudin said that they had also printed other main newspapers of Kashmir including Kashmir Reader, Kashmir Monitor, Subah Kashmir, Kashmir Observer, Brighter Kashmir, Kashmir Times and Mission Kashmir, but the copies were seized. I footed a loss of over Rs 4.5 lakh: Rs 1.5 lakh is the printing loss and Rs 3 lakh is the loss of advertisements, he said.

The KPSMG editor said that after his employees were detained, he rushed to the police station and tried to contact higher police officials, but they didnt respond to his repeated calls. It was a sort of emergency, rather worse than that, he said.

Mohiudin said that he is not sure whether he will bring out the newspaper. We represent the Fourth Estate. It is our job to write about atrocities, but the government is harassing us unnecessarily, he said.
Mumbai: In more trouble for the promoter of defunct Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, a metropolitan court in suburban Andheri here today issued a non bailable warrant against him in a case of cheque bouncing filed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

On 7 May, Magistrate A A Laulkar had directed Mallya to appear before the court today failing which it will issue a NBW.

The NBW was issued following Mallya's non appearance on Saturday.

The court was hearing applications filed by AAI against M/s. Kingfisher Airlines in connection with two cheques of Rs 100 crores which were dishonoured.

The two applications filed by AAI sought cancellation of permanent exemption from court appearance granted to Mallya, who has since left the country amid an outcry over his airline defaulting on repayment of over Rs 9,000 crore to the banks, and sought an arrest warrant against him.

Earlier, AAI's lawyer had argued in the court that in view of cancellation of Mallya's passport, his lawyer may not be able to produce him in the court if the court orders so.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt, said the Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar, TRT Haber news channel reported July 16.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.
Chennai: Several Muslim outfits staged a protest on Saturday, expressing solidarity with controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and criticised the Centre and the Maharashtra government for trying to "stifle" the voice of a man of "peace and harmony."

The protesters, including from Social Democratic Party of India, criticised the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra for trying to "stifle" the voice of a man of "peace and harmony" and said the launch of a probe against Naik was against the Constitution.

"Don't distort Article 25 of the Constitution," they said, adding that action against Naik went against its spirit. The protesters said Article 25 provides one the right to profess, practise and propagate religion and it should not be infringed upon.

Several women among them displayed placards saying, "Dont distort the Constitution." Protesters also raised slogans like "Don't insult a world preacher," "We support Zakir Naik," and also displayed placards blaming the BJP-led Centre for "religious intolerance and prejudice".

Naik, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, is under the scanner of state and central agencies for his alleged incendiary speeches. On Friday, he rejected charges that his sermons inspired terror activity and claimed that he has never encouraged anyone to kill innocents and that he would co-operate with any probe agency if it approaches him.

Talking to mediapersons in Mumbai via Skype from Medina, Naik, who is facing heat over charges that he inspired some of the Dhaka cafe attackers, condemned all terror attacks and dubbed himself as "a messenger of peace".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired the Inter-State Council meeting, held after a hiatus of 10 years along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah gave the meeting a skip, reported The Indian Express.

According to a Business Standard report, the agenda of the meet was the MM Punchhi report on division of administrative and other policy formulation powers.

Modi asked all the states to focus on intelligence sharing, which will help the country stay alert and updated in countering internal security challenges.

He also quoted Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who said for a big nation like India, debate, deliberation and discussion affects policies.

Vajpayee ji said "for a big nation like India, debate, deliberation & discussion affects policies": PM Modi  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

According to Modi, the states have never been as financially empowered as they are now. With the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the States share in central taxes has increased from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. This means that States now have greater financial resources to utilize in accordance with their requirements. I am happy to share that the total amount received by States from the Centre during 2015-16 is 21 per cent higher than the amount received in 2014-15. Similarly, Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies will receive Rs 2.87 lakh crore during the period of the 14th Finance Commission, which is substantially higher than last time, Business Standard quoted him as saying.

He also urged the states to leverage 96% adult enrollment in the Aadhar programme and use it to reduce kerosene consumption.

Modi referred to education and said that both centre and state governments must work together on providing quality primary education.

He also appealed to the state governments to walk shoulder to shoulder with the central government. He focused on the need to equip the youth with some skill sets, India Today reported. We have to prepare our youth to think logically, think out of the box, and work creatively," he said.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh requested the centre to grant green bonus to hill states in lieu of environmental services provided by them. He also asked the central government to consider the request to provide subsided helicopter services in the state so that all parts of the state remain connected throughout the year.

On the other hand, Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar urged that the provisions relating to the appointment of Governor must be clearly defined and transparent.

Himachal CM during the Inter-State Council meet requested the Centre to grant "Green Bonus" to hill states for environment services provided  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

Nitish Kumar in Inter-State Council meet: Provisions relating to the appointment of Governor must be clearly defined and made transparent.  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee criticised the Centre for not even discussing the agenda of the meet. She further said that there is no platform for the states to keep forth their opinion.

The agenda of the Inter-state council meet was not even discussed with us: Mamata Banerjee,West Bengal CM. pic.twitter.com/hpfQT6PcY5  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

She also attacked Modi on his decision to make Aadhar cards compulsory. There are no banks in 800 panchayats and without banks, direct benefit transfer is not possible, she said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that in view of the crisis in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, a proposal should be passed that President's rule should not be imposed in any state until government fails to prove majority in assembly.

.. stating that Pres. rule shouldn't b imposed in any state until Govt fails to prove majority in Assembly: Delhi CM pic.twitter.com/R1W0k6A4ZX  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar suggested that more power and authority should be delegated to states to carry out responsibilities effectively.

It's suggested that more power & authorities should be delegated to States to carry out responsibilities obligations effectively: Tripura CM  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

With inputs from agencies.
The Mehbooba Mufti government has reportedly launched a major clampdown on the local media in an attempt to block news and information to contain the violence brewing in Jammu and Kashmir.

Early Saturday morning, police raided the offices of major newspapers in Srinagar and shut down a major printing press , reported The Hindustan Times.

Mobile services in the state remain suspended since Thursday and the police launched a raid on Kashmir's largest circulating English daily Greater Kashmir around midnight. It also seized thousands of copies of major English and Urdu newspapers.

Although the authorities took away the printing plates of the newspaper, the e-paper has been uploaded. The publishers on their websites have claimed that their print copies were seized and people working for the printing press were also arrested, reported The Indian Express.

Police also arrested its foreman Biju Chaudary and two other employees, the website said.

Apart from Greater Kashmir, KT press was also shut down.

Police seized newspaper copies in thousands besides printing material and plates of a few newspapers, Raja Mohi ud Din, owner of KT press was quoted as saying.

KT press is one of major printing press in the Valley and prints dailies like Kashmir Reader, Tameel-e-Irshad, Kashmir Times, Kashmir Observer, The Kashmir Monitor, Kashmir Observer, Brighter Kashmir and Kashmir Age.

The hawkers in the Lal Chowk city centre alleged that the police did not allow them to distribute the newspapers and seized their copies.

Curfew remains imposed on all the 10 districts of the valley to prevent any escalation in violence, reported DNA. Only BSNL fixed line broadband services are operational in the valley. Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength across the Valley for strict implementation of the prohibitory orders, a police official said.

The unrest in the valley continues since Thursday after militant Burhan Wani was killed. Hurriyat conference leaders have extended their strike till Monday evening.

With inputs from PTI.
In a Supreme Court judgement on 13 July, Nabam Tuki-led Congress was restored in Arunachal Pradesh and the state Governor Tathagata Roy on Thursday reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister. The judgement was pronounced historic by the Congress leaders, and termed it as a huge setback for the BJP.

On Saturday, just hours before the scheduled floor test, Tuki resigned at the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress, which has 47 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly, suffered a jolt when 21 of them rebelled. Eleven BJP MLAs backed the rebels in a bid to upstage the Nabam Tuki government. Later, 14 rebel Congress MLAs were disqualified. The state had been under President's Rule since 26 January.

After reinstating Tuki as the chief minister, Roy had set Saturday as deadline for Tuki to take the floor test to prove the majority of his government in the House. In fact, Tuki has attempted to defer the floor test, but his request was denied by the governor. The Indian Express had quoted him as saying that though he was confident of passing the floor test, he needed 10-15 days time to gather support. However, hours before the floor test, Tuki resigned as the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh and Pema Khandu has elected as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.

The Assembly now has an effective strength of 58 in which BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45. In case a floor test takes place, the Congress is tipped to win the trial of strength.

Reports suggested state Congress Committee president Padi Richo along with Nabam Tuki, newly-elected CLP leader Puland Jai Kumar will be meeting the Governor later to submit letters of support from the 44 Congress MLAs.

Sources within the Congress sources said that that rebel leader, Khaliko Pul, also attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting in which 44 MLAs were present.

The fact that Tuki was not sure of getting a majority in the House became evident when he tried to defer the floor test. After the Supreme Court judgement, Tuki had said that he would be consulting the Congress high command and hoped that the rebel leaders will come back to the party fold.

The Times of India had reported that Tuki was now under pressure to prove a majority wanted to buy time to win winning over legislators from rival Kalikho Pul's People's Party of Arunachal (PPA). The report also suggested that the Congress fearing its exit from the North East was also mulling removal of Tuki as the chief minister.

On Friday, the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court had refused to admit a petition filed by MLAs from his camp for postponing the floor test. Earlier this year, the President's Rule was imposed in Uttarakhand after nine Congress MLAs rebelled against Chief Minister Harish Rawat, triggering a prolonged court battle. However, the courts ruled in favour of the Congress and Rawat won a crucial floor vote. Following Rawat's victory in Uttarakhand, the Congress party has sacrificed Tuki at the altar of political convenience in a deliberate attempt to delay the floor test and retain its government in Arunachal Pradesh.

Hours before Khandu was declared as the leader of the CLP, a source in the Congress party told IANS, "The CLP meeting is likely to elect Khandu as the CLP leader. After his election as the new CLP leader, Khandu will meet the Governor and prove the majority of his government in the House."

While the Congress was scrambling for votes, the BJP claimed that majority of the MLAs are against Tuki and that he will not emerge victorious in the floor test. Ram Madhav, BJP's national general secretary, had tweeted that a majority of the MLAs will go against Tuki.

43 out of total 58 MLAs are holding a Press Conference in Guwahati I am told. They all say they r against Tuki. Let Tuki face floor test  Ram Madhav (@rammadhavbjp) July 14, 2016

Former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who had unseated Tuki in February this year with the help of a faction of dissident Congress legislators and BJP members, claimed that he has got the support of 42 legislators in the 60-member house, whose effective strength is 58 now after two members resigned earlier.

Pul, who is camping in a hotel in Guwahati since last two days with 42 legislators, also expressed fear that Tuki might try to resort to "horse trading" if more time is given for the floor test.

While Tuki had hinted that the party might reach out to Pul, the BJP vowed to make sure that rebels who went with Pul do not join the Congress again.

According to expert on North East politics, Kangkan Achharya, the Indian National Congress never saw Tuki as a leader. Tuki only was appointed the chief minister of the state after the sudden death of the then chief minister Dorjee Khandu. Pema Khandu is the son of Dorjee Khandu. Though ANI reported that there will be no floor test, with Tuki's resignation and Khandu as the CLP leader the Congress made sure even if there is a floor test, the party will win the test.

#FLASH Nabam Tuki resigns as CM of Arunachal Pradesh, there will be no floor test #ArunachalPradesh  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

Pema Khandu on Saturday said that the governor will take a call whether the floor test will happen now or after the swearing-in ceremony.
As expected, the Supreme Courts verdict of turning the clock back in Arunachal has only muddied the already murky politics in the state. The Congress legislature party (CLP) has chosen Pema Khandu, son of former Chief Minister Dorgee Khandu, as its leader in place of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, who resigned hours before the much-anticipated floor test was scheduled to prove his majority in the Assembly.

The SC had recently turned back the clock in Arunachal by restoring the Nabam Tuki-led Congress government in the state and by quashing Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa's decision issued on December 2015 to advance the state Assembly session by a month.

Kalikho Pul, who was acting as the chief minister before the SC verdict, also rushed to the legislature party meeting and endorsed the decision of choosing Khandu as Tukis successor. Will this mark the end of all the political problems?

Apparently not, as there are signs that suggest the beginning of yet another bout of uncertainty, sooner rather than later. Judicial intervention can hardly be a substitute for morality and ethics in politics. And, the key players of Arunachal politics are guided by a compass whose coordinates are set by chicanery and greed of the highest order.

Take for the instance the reason behind the rebels joining the legislature party on Saturday. It would be naive to believe that the CLP in Arunachal Pradesh would become a cohesive and solid group under the leadership of Pema Khandu. Their reasons for attending the legislature party meeting has more to do with deterrence of the anti-defection law than their love for the Congress.

Since the clock was turned back, rebel legislators chose discretion over valour and avoided any move that could be seen as adequate grounds for disqualification by the Speaker Nebam Rebia. They would have been exposed to action under the anti-defection act should they have decided to stay away from the meeting. Given the fact that the rebels fall far short of the required figure of two-third of the CLP strength, they have chosen to play along and buy time.

The BJP would be waiting in the wings to strike at a time when inner contradictions within the Congress would play out, at the time of the trial of strength. Governor JP Rajkhowa, who acted in the past as the Centres agent, is absent on account of illness.

Acting Governor Tathagata Roy may be more discreet this time, while playing his role. But his adherence to constitutional propriety would remain suspect. Though the inherent fragility of the Arunchal Pradesh government is very much evident, the Congress and the BJP would use offices of the speaker and the Governor respectively to pursue their political ends.

The script in Arunachal is so familiar that it hardly requires any imaginative thinking. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and many other states have gone through similar situations.

Remember the Jagdambika Pal versus Kalyan Singh case in Uttar Pradesh in 1998, when the SC asked the State Assembly to hold a composite floor test to elect a chief minister. More recently in Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjhi tried every trick of the trade to retain his chief ministership, with the tacit connivance of the Raj Bhavan, but was eventually outmaneuvered by Nitish Kumar.

The signals emanating from Itanagar are quite clear. The real battle will begin once Governor Roy appoints Pema Khandu as the chief minister and asks him to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Till then, the key political players would hold their horses and adhere to the rulebook, more in letter than in spirit.

This is the precise reason why the unanimous decision by the five-member bench by the SC is unlikely to the restore the moral and ethical compass to politics. In contrast to the SR Bommai judgment, which incorporated recommendations of the Sarkaria commission and made the imposition of the Presidents rule justiciable, the Arunachal Pradesh verdict has left enough space for manipulation which may push the state to instability sooner rather than later.
New Delhi: Buoyed over the party's unity in Arunachal Pradesh, Congress on Saturday said people and legislators have rejected politics of defections and unseating of elected governments in the state and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah should draw lessons in democratic values.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said those who sought to keep constitutional principles aside, decimating them at the altar of power politics, have been shown the strength of democracy in the state.

"The Supreme Court and now people of Arunachal Pradesh and the Legislatures of Arunachal Pradesh have decisively rejected the politics of defections and of unseating elected Governments through a concerted well planned and executed conspiracy...

"BJP and its chief Amit Shah, who have been conspiring to bring down elected governments in North East, need to take lessons in democratic values," he said.

He said Saturday's developments indicate that people have innate faith in Congress in providing a stable and development oriented government in Arunachal.

"It is in particular a lesson for BJP President Amit Shah and the politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sought to unseat and bring down elected governments by completely ignoring the mandate of people, subjugating democracy and ignoring the essential tenets of our Constitution.

"Those who wanted to give the Constitutional principles at bay and keep it on the side by decimating them at the altar of power politics have been shown the strength of democracy in Arunachal Pradesh," he said.

Surjewala said the people and the legislature of Arunachal Pradesh have once again proved that "they have innate faith in the Indian National Congress and its leadership to provide a stable and development oriented Government in Arunachal".

Attacking Amit Shah, AICC general secretary incharge of Arunachal Pradesh affairs CP Joshi, said it was a blow to his plans of making the north East "Congress-mukt" (Congress-free) as he had convened a meeting of the North-East Council formed by him the day the Supreme Court judgement came.

Hoping that the Governor would soon invite newly-elected Congress leader in the state to form his government as all Congress MLAs have come together expressing their faith in the Congress leadership, he said, "We also hope the Centre would fulfil its responsibility towards extending its support to the development of Arunachal Pradesh."

Asked if any disciplinary action will be taken against ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul, who formed a government with rebels and the support of BJP, he said it was premature as a government was yet to be formed and Pul has come back as a Congressman and had attended the Legislature Party meeting as a Congress member.

To a question on why Nabam Tuki was jettisoned, Surjewala said "we do not look at it like this. Tuki by his own volition and in the interest of the Party and in the interest of people of Arunachal Pradesh, decided to resign as Chief Minister. He has rendered valuable service to the State as also to the Indian National Congress and we recognize his contribution".
Itanagar: In a dramatic turn of events, the Congress on Saturday chose Pema Khandu as its new leader in Arunachal replacing restored Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, hours ahead of a scheduled Assembly floor test in a bid to save its government.

Pema Khandu, son of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu, was unanimously elected leader at a meeting of Congress Legislature Party, which was attended by 44 MLAs, including rebel Khaliko Pul, who became chief minister in February with outside support from BJP.

The Assembly now has an effective strength of 58 in which BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45.

In case a floor test takes place, the Congress is tipped to win the trial of strength.

37-year-old Pema, a former minister of Tourism and Water Resources, is an MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency. A graduate from Hindu College, Delhi, Pema became a Secretary of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005 and the president of the District Congress Committee in Tawang in 2010.

Governor Tathagata Roy had directed Tuki, who was restored to the post on Thursday by a historic verdict of the Supreme Court, to face a trial of strength in the Assembly on Saturday.

Roy had rejected Tuki's request for postponing the floor test by at least 10 days.

Khaliko Pul, who was unseated by the apex court verdict, had commanded the support of 30 MLAs of People's Party of Arunachal Pradesh, which they had joined in December last after they revolted against Congress.
The political mind game unfolding in Arunachal Pradesh could not be more intense. All directed to the sole objective of interpreting the Supreme Court verdict to suit their purposes and act accordingly to checkmate the rival political party.

It's interesting that all political groups and constitutional authorities concerned, the Governor and the Speaker in Itanagar vow by the Constitution, Supreme Court verdict and propriety, yet are doing everything possible to flout it, either by finding a loophole or grey areas in the judgment or by making twists and turns, throwing new technicalities and questions of law which could be settled by the court in due course and hoping to win the battle for now.

The Congress strategists made the surprise move on Saturday morning to remove the ousted-and-restored chief minister Nabam Tuki and elect Pema Khandu, son of former Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader. The Speaker who happens to be Tuki's cousin had taken a position that he can't convene the Assembly in a two-day notice and hold the floor test.

By doing so the party had found a legitimate reason to not to hold the scheduled vote of confidence for Tuki government on Saturday. Since Nabam Tuki has already resigned, he does not need a floor test to prove his majority or otherwise. That could be taken as a smart move made by the Congress, at least under given circumstances when the numbers were clearly stacked against it. Only two days ago, ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul had paraded 42 MLAs in Guwahati.

But since the Supreme Court has turned the clock back to December 15, 2015, the Congress party can still technically claim that it has the numbers which even the Governor would be bound to accept now. It was only later that 30 of Congress MLAs led by Pul defected to People Party of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Governor's role becomes important here. Now that Supreme Court has come down heavily against the Governor JP Rajkhowa, currently on leave on account of illness, the acting governor Tathagata Roy would be expected to strictly go by the book. While he is expected to invite Pema Khandu to form the next government (going by the strength of Congress party as on December 15, 2015), but he may not oblige the Congress by giving an extended deadline to prove majority on floor of the House. The time in all likelihood would be short.

The Congress strategy and strength would be challenged again. As of now, the Congress has only 15 MLAs in the House of 60, but is hoping that some of the rebels would come back, since Tuki is no longer at the helm. Pul of the People Party of Arunachal Pradesh with a current count of 30 MLAs and BJP with 11 MLAs would make everything possible in their command to ensure that Congress does not get an easy passage to power. BJP's leader from Assam Himanata Biswa Sarna is on to the task and party president Amit Shah is being kept posted of all the developments.

On Saturday, the newly-appointed leader Pema Khandu claimed that the Congress has the support of 45 MLAs and two Independents.

The vote of confidence as and when it happens would be expected to contain all the drama. Two critical questions have to addressed before or on that day, with or without the judicial intervention, whether ousted and then restored Speaker Nabam Rebia would preside over the proceedings or the vote of confidence against him would be taken first. Secondly, what happens to the fate of 14 MLAs whom Rebia had expelled on December 15 on charges of indulgence in anti-party activities? So far, Rebia's conduct has not been above board and Supreme Court has made very strong observations on Speaker's conduct and laid down norms for future.

The Congress has pulled a surprise and saved the day for itself but it's going to be a tough weekend ahead. Can it sustain long to win the battle? The BJP has not revealed its counter strategy yet.
The ghastly lone-wolf terror attack struck Nice in France left at least 84 people dead and many more wounded. Just half an hour before this virulent incident of terror, I was trying to fathom what a Saudi-based journalist and moderate Muslim media scholar Turki Aldakhil pointed out in his latest opinion piece, What after the explosion at the Prophets Mosque? published in Al Arabiya English. He wrote in the intro of his article, Terrorism entered its bloodiest and most brutal phase following the recent bombing at the Prophets Mosque in the city of Medina. The conclusion he draws from his premises is that the extremist goons who went to the extent of targeting the Prophets Mosque in Madina, the holiest site in Islam, can go haywire anywhere in the world, any time. We never know.

The recent terror strike in Madina was a wake-up call for those still living in denial. Without an iota of doubt, the violent ideological underpinnings are playing out behind the ongoing global jihadism. Even before the France attack, it was self-explanatory that those having the temerity to terrorise his own prophets mosque and targeting his holy tomb, the most venerated site for the mainstream Sunni, Sufi and Shia Muslims, they would not waver to attack any European country, striking on in its secular, democratic and pluralistic ethos.

In a spree of the mindless violence, the attackers inspired by the radical ideology of puritanical fundamentalism have targeted the western and countries countries. This time, they chose to attack on Bastille Day, the very symbol of freedom, liberality and democracy, abhorred by the extremist Islamist outfits and their Salafist ideologues as values of shirk (the gravest sin in Islam) antithetical to the puritanical Islamism.

It should be a common knowledge now that a self-imposed caliphate is the long-cherished dream of all the extremist Salafists and radical Islamists across the world. The Salafist jihadist militants harbour a strong religious conviction that all the democrat-liberal European countries are actively engaged in a perpetual war against the Islamic sharia. Last year, in April 2015, when the similar attack in Belgium was carried out by the hardcore Islamists, because it was helping in this anti-Islamic war, I had pointed out the same ideological nexus in an earlier article on Firstpost.

In her article The France Horror Has Shaken the World  but Terrorists Will Not Destroy Our Humanity, the winner of the 2014 Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, Heather Digby Parton, writes, France has a long colonial history in the Middle East, specifically in Syria and its experience in Algeria was particularly brutal. It has the largest Muslim population in Europe and French society has traditionally been somewhat culturally intolerant, insisting that newcomers strictly adapt to French mores rather than embracing diversity. All of this has unfortunately created a combustible mixture in a dangerous time.

But there seems to be other well-pointed reasons why the terrorists are particularly hostile towards the French people, giving primacy to wanton killings in it.

The most self-evident reason is that among the European countries, France stands as an abode of the liberal, democratic, pluralistic and multicultural Western civilization. However, one cause behind this attack could be that France has taken an uncompromising, unequivocal and unambiguous stand against the Islamic State. Much like the earlier attack in Paris, the French President Francois Hollande has issued a clear and categorical statement against the onslaught of radical Islamism on the multicultural and plural fabric of the country and, thus, specifically naming the radical ideology as the problem.

Also, it should not be overlooked that France is standing up to mainstream the countrys Muslims inculcating them into its pluralistic and democratic ethos. This is something completely unacceptable for the Daesh. A recent statement of the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has distressed the Islamic State, in which he said, We seek to establish a model of Islam that is fully integrated, fully compatible with the values of the Republic.

Viewed this way, the Nice attack was an infringement of the pluralistic values that Muslims in the European countries are seeking to uphold. This is precisely why there were acts of retaliation against innocent moderate Muslims in Europe following the attacks in Paris in April, 2015.

Muslims living in the European countries try to emulate the universal values and secular ethos by intermingling with the Christians, Jews and people of other faith traditions. They profess an inclusivist Islamic faith that exhorts them to be compassionate towards the people of other faiths in particular. But the Islamic State is completely against this noble cause of Islamic pluralism and all universal and egalitarian values.

So, the basic point is that the radical Islamists have propounded an obnoxious idea that all the democratic and multicultural Western countries should be targeted in a bid to replace them with the self-imposed Islamic caliphate. It is patently clear now that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as being identified the killer of Bastille Day was indoctrinated into the Islamic State-inspired ideology; which calls for a permanent war against all the systems of governance and their followers, be they Muslims or non-Muslims.

This is the second terror atrocity in France when its innocent citizens and democratic values have been attacked by the radical jihadist outfit, Islamic State. The largest Sufi-Sunni Islamic seminary in the world Jamia al-Azhar has denounced the terror on France, stressing the need of concerted efforts to defeat terrorism and rid the world of its evil". Al-Azhars vice-chancellor, Ahmad al-Tayyab, also a patron of an Egyptian Sufi shrine, is known for his categorical and unequivocal refutation of the terror ideology. He clearly pointed out to the twisted texts of the Islamic sources that have been manipulated over hundreds of years to justify political Islamism. Subsequent to his confession that there is a deep link between the extremist Islamist theology and terror, the current Egyptian government of Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has banned the books and videos of all the Salafist theologians such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Abdul Wahhab, Sheikh Hasan al-Banna, Syed Muhammad Qutub and Shaikh Ibn Baaz and the ilk. Regrettably, while these hardcore Salafi theologians have been banned in a Muslim country, they are being propagated on a secular soil like India, by their fervent followers like Dr Zakir Naik. In his latest press conference, he went on record referring to some of these scholars as the authentic Islamic scholars who justified the suicide booming as a tactic for war.

Most deplorably, even in this grim situation, the radical Islamist preachers across the world are not willing to come out of their narrowed worldview and exclusivist narrative of Islam. As cases in point, Dr. Zakir Naik of India, Boro Hujur of Bangladesh, Shaikh Yusuf al-Qardawi, the leader of the global political Islamists and the ilk are still tacitly supporting the terrorists by providing them with weird theological justifications. For instance, suicide bombing  an easy tool of the global jihadists today  has been endorsed by the influential Indian Islamist-Salafist preacher, Dr. Zakir Naik though as war tactic. In his recent press conference which he organized to refuse the charge that his sermons had inspired terror activity, including the Dhaka attack, he stated, Suicide bombings are permitted if a country is at war and is directed by a commander.

Quite blatantly, he also made an attempt to justify his statement by making a reference to Second World War stating that suicide bombing was used as a tactic during Second World War. Actually, he was particularly asked to comment on one of his previous speeches justifying suicide bombings. He said that he considered such attacks as haraam (religiously forbidden) in Islam. But shockingly enough, he added saying that, however, many scholars permit it as a war tactic, ANI reported.

When the global preachers of the Salafism like Dr Zakir Naik are still hell-bent on the rationalization of the grave terror tool of suicide bombing, strictly clinging to their theological books and thoughts, there is no point in a knee-jerk condemnation of the terror incidents.

A violent jihadist does not spare a moment to rethink his decision before engaging in the wanton and virulent killing of innocent lives, especially when inspired by an intolerant theology and emboldened by any religious justification of his attack.

Given this, the Nice attack is a reminder for us to call a spade a spade. Growing terrorism in the world is not just a law and order problem. It is a crystal-clear ideological battle that has deep roots in an extremist theology. As long as the extremist preachers continue to cherry-pick and quote the medieval jurisprudential rulings which are canonised in the so-called Islamic State, we should not hope for any tremendous upheaval breaking the cycle of brainless violence.

The world-renowned moderate Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf has rightly pointed out: This insidious disease [terrorism or extremism] has a source, and that source must be identified, so we can begin to inoculate our communities against it.

The author is a scholar of Comparative Religion, Classical Arabic and Islamic sciences, cultural analyst and researcher in Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, JMI Central University.
Some ultra-nationalists have tried to tar the slain militant commander Burhan Wani and Kashmirs ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the same brush over the past few days. That is ironic, for the relationship between the two on the ground was inversely proportional: Wanis meteoric rise over the past 15 months was accompanied by a sharp decline in the PDPs popularity.

Earlier, the PDP had succeeded in weaning over large sections of young people in south Kashmir to the objectives of peace, stability and prospective prosperity. This had happened most strongly since about the middle of the previous decade, and continued until a couple of years ago. In fact, after the Lok Sabha elections in May 2014 and before the floods that September, party chief Mehbooba Mufti had appeared cock-sure of victory across south Kashmir; assembly elections were due by year-end.

It is particularly ironic that Hindutva nationalists are prominent among those who rail against the PDPs alleged 'soft line with 'terrorists like Burhan. For, it is the PDPs decision to form a coalition government with the BJP after the 2014 elections that damaged its popularity the most  and boosted militancy, and shades of Islamism.

The black-and-white insistence that the PDP must `crush terrorism misses the point that the PDP competes at the ground-level with not only the National Conference and the Congress, but also the Jamaat-e-Islami and Salafist pan-Islamism. Salafism has made the most rapid strides in that region in the past couple of years. On the other hand, the NC, which had already been weak in south Kashmir, lost further ground between 2008 and 2014, when it led the state government.

Sections of the Jamaat-e-Islami had covertly supported the PDP during the 2002 assembly elections to get rid of the NC, and the repression of the polices Special Operations Groups and the mercenary `Ikhwan bands that had worked with the army and BSF in the late 1990s. There are signs that that covert support is a thing of the past.

Nor is it adequate any longer to equate Hizb-ul Mujahideen, of which Burhan was divisional commander for south Kashmir, with Jamaat. That connection, which was firmly established by the autumn of 1991 after an initial tussle for command and control between Ahle-Hadith and Jamaat, has loosened over the past 15 years.

Syed Salahuddin, who has spent his life in Jamaat, is the one who wrested control of Hizb from its first Amir, Nasir-ul Islam of the Ahle-Hadith. That Salahuddin attended joint prayers for Burhan last weekend with the distinctly Salafi Hafiz Sayeed demonstrates the current flux.

Across the Valley, the Jamaat is generally relatively weaker than it was a couple of decades ago; other sorts of religion-based groups have gained ground over the past decade. Wanis family has links with the proselytizing Tablighi Jamaat but, according to a relative, has been influenced by Salafi ideas too. Some of Burhans video speeches reflected pan-Islamic influences, although he welcomed Hindu pilgrims in the Valley.

A decade ago, Salafism was primarily Srinagar-based. In south Kashmir, it was largely limited to one pocket  Anantnags Sher Bagh area, where Maqbool Akhrani held sway over a vast mosque and madrasa. For the most part, south Kashmir has long had a more liberal, secular ethos than the rest of the Valley. But over the past two years, Salafism has made rapid strides; fiery preachers like the Anantnag-based Mushtaq Ahmed Veeri now have a huge following across the Valley. At least one video shows Veeri speaking glowingly of the connection between Salafism and Islamic State chief Baghdadi.

Hindutva ultra-nationalists fail to understand that this uptrend is, in part, one of the unintended results of the humiliation of Mufti Sayeed by the Centre. They view the PDP as a hammer that should smash movements which seem to condone terrorism; in fact, the party is a counter-magnet  a ground-level alternative rather than a state-level mechanism.

The fact that the Centre starved its own coalition government in the state of funds through last summer added to the damage the PDP had already suffered by allying with the BJP. Many in Kashmir had initially expressed willingness to put up with the unpopular tie-up as long as it brought efficient, relatively honest disbursement of Central funds.

The Muftis political capital plummeted when funds remained elusive. In particular, delaying flood relief had a huge political cost. Meanwhile, highly charged controversies over the sale of beef in the Valley, and over the constitutionally guaranteed separate flag for the state, added considerably to the damage the PDP suffered during 2015.

As it happens, Burhans popularity graph shot upwards just as the PDPs declined. Both were based in the same south Kashmir area. Burhan was relatively unknown until his brother was killed by security forces on 13 April 2015, a few weeks after Mufti Sayeed came to power. Through the summer of 2015, the young militants fame soared meteor-like.The chief reason was that videos and pictures of him and his band of young militants went viral on the internet that summer. The charismatic youth communicated with young fans through online chats, and post videos.

Burhan slipped off social media screens last autumn, and remained incommunicado until the beginning of June. Perhaps the considerable technological resources of the state contributed to shutting off his media access. During the weeks after Mufti Sayeeds death, when the state was directly ruled by the Centre, many Kashmiris speculated about where he had disappeared.

Whether or not the government was instrumental in shutting off his access through the winter and spring, it was already too late to stop his meteoric popularity by then. The state should have exerted the full might of its technological capabilities to deny Burhan online fame last summer. Given the eagerness of such key players as Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg to expand their Indian markets, the government could easily have done it.

Instead, several activists of the ruling party at the Centre remained intent on painting the PDP as a 'soft separatist' party. That is not just ironic, it is untrue. This has tragically weakened the health and the integrity of the nation.

The author is an expert on geopolitics and has written books on Kashmir
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkish Army is not an accomplice of the military coup attempt in the country, said Turkeys former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, TRT Haber news channel reported July 16.

Davutoglu said all political parties in Turkey have demonstrated unity in the face of threat of a military coup.

He added that Turkey is not the country where the government can be overthrown through a military coup.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized. Reports also indicated that 46 military men headed the attempt.

Later, Turkish officials announced that the attempt was foiled.

Death toll as a result of the coup attempt has reached 90, while more than 150 people have been wounded.

Police have arrested more than 1,563 people in connection with the coup attempt.

The acting chief of the Turkish General Staff said earlier that Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the military coup.
Arunachal Pradesh is witnessing fast changing political permutations and combinations as fate had something totally different in store for the state. It turns out that neither Nabam Tuki nor Kalikho Pul will be the chief minister but the new Congress Legislature Party leader Pema Khandu.

At 37, Pema is definitely the youngest chief minister in India among all incumbents but not the youngest one to take office. Former Puducherry chief minister MO Hasan Farook Maricar holds the record of being the youngest chief minister ever in India as he took office at the age of 29.

The eldest son of former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu, who passed away while in office on 20 May, 2011 in a helicopter crash, Pema is a graduate from the prestigious Hindu College under Delhi University.

He also served as the state's Minister of Tourism and Water Resources in 2014.

Pema had joined the Arunachal Pradesh cabinet after he won the Mukto constituency on 30 June, 2011 unopposed that his father represented.

His political postings include serving as one of the secretaries of the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005. Pema also headed the Tawang district Congress in 2010.

The new chief minister was re-elected unopposed from Mukto in the 2014 Arunachal Pradesh Assembly poll.

Outgoing chief minister Nabam Tuki on Saturday made it clear that there would be no floor test.

"Pema Khandu has the support of all 45 reunited Congress MLAs. To appoint him as the CLP leader was a collective decision," Tuki told Firstpost from Itanagar.

He denied that there was any pressure from the Congress high command to step down.
Washington: US President Barack Obama was huddling with top national security advisers in the White House Situation Room Saturday to address the destabilising coup attempt in Turkey.

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have repelled the plot, but the situation remained fraught and tensions between Washington and Ankara appeared to be growing.

In a statement, the White House said that Obama had convened a meeting with "his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey."

During the coup, Obama offered vocal support for Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all parties to "avoid any violence or bloodshed."

But there were growing concerns of a government crackdown on Erdogan's opponents.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key Obama ally on the world stage, has urged Erdogan to deal with coup plotters under the rule of law.

The Turkish authorities have imposed a security lockdown and cut power to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey which is used by US forces.

Separately, a US defence official said that American forces across Turkey had been placed on maximum alert.

In public appearances since returning to Istanbul, Erdogan has blamed the putsch on followers of Pennsylvania-based opposition figure, a Turkish preacher with a large following.

Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said the United States will help Turkey investigate the failed coup and he invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against Gulen.

He added that Turkey had not yet issued a formal extradition request.

Even before Friday's bloody drama, Obama had voiced concern about Erdogan's treatment of the press and his respect for the rule of law.
A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Gulen, however, denied being behind the attempted coup in Turkey and condemned it "in the strongest terms".

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a brief statement just before midnight Friday.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," read the two-paragraph statement.

"The government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.

"I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly."

Erdogan has accused the reclusive Islamic preacher, who lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania, of being behind the coup.

Some background on Gulen:

Who is Fethullah Gulen?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

Why not deport him?

The U.S. has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

What's the status of legal claims against Gulen in the US?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric. "Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," lawyer Robert Amsterdam said. The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in US courts.

What about the schools?

Some of the U.S. schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service." In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

What's the response to the latest allegations?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."

What are Gulen's days like?

An AP reporter was given a tour of Gulen's Pennsylvania compound this year but was unable to see or interview him. He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan. Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.

With inputs from AFP and AP.
If a successful coup in 1977 promoted Islamism in Pakistan, a failed coup seems likely to have the same effect in Turkey. Turkeys failed coup has highlighted how far that countrys political choices have shifted towards the religion-based right, the way the entire frame of Pakistans politics shifted towards Islamism during General Zia-ul Haqs regime in the 1980s.

Now that the coup has been defeated and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed his one-time mentor Fathullah Guelen, he has opened the way to fill the ranks of his countrys army with loyalists who endorse his relatively orthodox Islamism. The coup gives him a reason to purge the army not only of officers sympathetic to Guelen but also staunch secularists.

The way the attempted coup has been projected, Erdogan has sought to narrow the choice in Turkey between the Islamist politics of Erdogan and the relatively Sufist base of Guelen. In the political arena, Kemalist secularism does not seem to have much space. From Erdogan to the Istanbul street, Guelen has been named as the likely coup organiser. There is little talk of secular politics  of which the army was hitherto seen as the bastion.

This could well mark the sort of shift that took place in Pakistan a few decades ago. The Pakistan Army, which had been encouraged to be secular and liberal under General Ayub Khan, was 'Islamised' during General Zias years in power. So was the countrys politics. By the time Zias decade in power ended in a 1988 plane crash, Pakistans political choices too had been generally linked to one sort of Islamist group or another.

It was General Pervez Musharraf who came to represent a relatively secular alternative when he seized power in 1999. After Zia, Nawaz Sharif inherited the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which formed the core of Zias support. To counter Jamaats influence, Benazir Bhutto propped up the Jamiat Ulema Islam (JUI) led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Over the past couple of years, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) led by Selahattin Demirtas has represented the minority Kurds, along with the countrys avowed secularists. The fact that the latter had to link their political fight with that of Kurds is an indicator of how weak secular politics had become.

Modern Turkey was established by the staunchly secularist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Although he is still acknowledged as the father of the modern nation, Ataturks legacy appears to have been overwhelmed. Relatively wealthy urban residents  the sort who participated in the Gezi Park resistance against a park being cut for a high-rise in 2013  are the flag-bearers of secularism in todays Turkey.

Erdogan has spoken openly about a return to Islamic norms and to Turkeys Caliphate. His regime promotes such symbols of Islam as the head-scarf, which were strongly discouraged by Kemals version of modernism.

Ironically, Guelen was once seen as Erdogans mentor. He represents a relatively liberal Sufist version of Islam, and has apparently been uneasy about the more puritanical Islamism that Erdogan now represents. In fact, Erdogans politics is closer to the Islamism of the Egyptian Brotherhood  and the royal family of Qatar.

Guelen, who lives in self-exile in the US, runs an extensive network of schools and other institutions across Turkey. The coup attempt on Friday night demonstrates that he has a wide following in the ranks of the army. Army units tried to take over installations across the country.

The popular resistance to the coup demonstrates that, in the minds of most Turks, Erdogan represents Turkish nationalism. Although the coup was not seen as a foreign plot, people generally rallied to the established government. It surely helped that Erdogan had purged many pro-Guelen officials and army officers. More have been arrested on Saturday after the coup attempt.

The political spectrum in countries like Iraq and Iran has already been largely limited to religion-based options. Although the Iraqi government is meant to be secular, it has earned the ire of Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis. Both view the regime as essentially Shia, backed by important seats of Shia religious authority.

Although Bashar al-Assad of the secularist Baath party remains President of Syria, the wars there have alienated most Sunnis and Kurds of that country too from his regime. The Salafist Islamic State controls large slices of territory in both Iraq and Syria.

The portents for that entire region are towards more authoritarian regimes, far more informed by religion-based politics.
Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Mohammed Asif on Friday reportedly blamed the central government for the violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that Kashmir was witnessing an extension of ethnic cleansing initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat, reported The Times of India.

Massacre & genocide in Indian Occupied Kashmir is extention & re enactment of ethnic cleansing started by Modi in Gujrat..  Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) July 15, 2016

His comment came soon after Pakistan's cabinet meeting on the escalating violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) did not comment on Asif's remarks but latched on to Nawaz Sharif's eulogy on Burhan Wani and "completely and unequivocally" rejected the decision the Pakistan cabinet had adopted.

Reacting to Prime Minister Sharif's comments on Wani, where he had condemned the killing of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander and claimed him to be a freedom fighter, the MEA in a statement said, "Continued glorification of terrorists belonging to proscribed terrorist organizations makes it amply clear where Pakistans sympathies continue to lie."

The MEA reacted swiftly to the continuous interest that the Pakistani high command vested on the developments happening in Kashmir.

"India asks Pakistan to desist from interfering in its internal affairs and destabilizing situation in South Asia by supporting terrorism and other subversive acts."

"India is dismayed at continued attempts by Pakistan to interfere in its internal matters where Pakistan or any other external party has no locus standi," the MEA further said.

Islamabad has been provocative in their reaction to incidents that has unfolded in the Valley with Sharif announcing that Pakistan would be observing 19 July as 'black day'.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja M Asif had posted a series of provocative tweets comparing clashes in Kashmir to the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Asif had called the clashes "an extension & re enactment of ethnic cleansing started by Modi in Gujrat (sic)."

The Dawn reported that Sharif on Friday chaired a cabinet meeting at the Governor House where members of the cabinet decided to call a joint session of parliament to discuss the Kashmir issue, but a date for the session is yet to be decided upon.

The Centre has received a lot flak with the Congress criticising the handling of Kashmir unrest which has led to the UN asking for restraint.
Elements of the Turkish military backed by tanks staged an attempted coup Friday night against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Here are the key dates and events since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which Erdogan founded, came to power:

2002

The AKP scores its first electoral victory in November after years of political instability and an unprecedented financial crisis. The victory sets off alarm bells in the secular establishment. Its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan becomes prime minister the following year.

2004

The AKP launches a vast range of democratic reforms, such as allowing Kurdish language broadcasts on public television.

2005

Turkey begins accession talks with the EU in October.

2007

In the spring, a political crisis erupts after the AKP names Abdullah Gul as its candidate for president. The army cites concerns over secularism, triggering early elections.

The AKP wins the July vote. Erdogan remains prime minister and a month later, parliament elects Gul as president. The government progressively brings the army to heel.

2008

The AKP initiates a constitutional amendment to lift the ban on the Islamic headscarf at universities but it is annulled by the constitutional court.

The AKP narrowly escapes a dissolution by court order for anti-secular activities and the headscarf ban is progressively eased from 2010.

2011

In June, the AKP wins its third consecutive election. Erdogan begins a third term as premier, the last mandate according to AKP rules.

2012

In June, Syria shoots down a Turkish fighter jet. Other incidents follow. Ankara broke off relations with Damascus after the start of the conflict in March 2011, supporting the rebels and admitting Syrian refugees  who number some 2.7 million in 2016.

2013

In March, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, announces a ceasefire after secret negotiations with Ankara.

In May, demonstrators stage a rally against government plans to redevelop a park near Istanbul's Taksim square. The protest quickly grows into wider nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan throughout June, leaving eight dead and thousands injured after a brutal police crackdown.

In November, a feud emerges between Erdogan and exiled influential US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

In December, the government becomes engulfed in a corruption scandal with the arrests of key Erdogan allies.

2014

Turkish authorities arrest thousands of police and prosecutors believed to be linked to Gulen and place curbs on the judiciary and the Internet.

The AKP wins local elections in March.

In May, a mine disaster claims 301 lives, sparking new anti-government protests that are violently repressed.

In August, Erdogan wins the presidential election  the first popular vote for the post  with 52 percent.

2015

The AKP wins most votes in a 7 June election, but loses its parliamentary majority, ending almost 13 years of single party rule.

In July, several dozen people are killed in an attack in a mainly Kurdish town on the Syrian border. Turkey launches air strikes on IS targets in Syria and PKK militants in northern Iraq. A wave of violence is unleashed between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. Turkey joins the US-led coalition fighting IS the following month.

In August, Erdogan schedules fresh elections for 1 November to break weeks of political stalemate.

Twin suicide bomb blasts in Ankara on October 10 kill 102 people at pro-Kurdish opposition peace rally.

The AKP recaptures its parliamentary majority in November elections.

2016

In May, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim forms a government loyal to Erdogan, after Ahmet Davutoglu stepped down following a power struggle with the president.

Turkey manoeuvres an end to foreign policy disputes with Israel and Russia.

On 28 June, 47 people are killed in a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul airport, which authorities blame on IS jihadists. Attacks over the last year in Istanbul and Ankara have left almost 200 dead and thousands wounded.
New York: Asserting that the situation in the Middle East is "out of control" and more unstable than ever, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday said America needs "new leadership" and "new thinking" which his presidency can provide.

"The Middle East today is more unstable than ever before. Never been like this. Out of control. After four years of (Hillary) Clinton, who really led the way and led (Barack) Obama down a horrible path, because I don't even think he could have made these decisions so badly, she led him right down a horrible path. He didn't know what he was doing," Trump said.

In his New York event held to introduce his vice presidential running mate Mike Pence, the Indiana Governor, Trump also addressed the issue of "Islamic terror attack" in France.

"We've witnessed horror beyond belief, no matter where you look. And now it's happening more and more. And it's never going to stop," the 70-year-old real estate tycoon said.

"We need new leadership. We need new thinking. We need strength. We need in our country law and order. And if I'm elected president, that will happen," Trump said.

"I want to express our unyielding support for the people of France, and we mourn their loss as a nation," he added.

On the failed military coup in Turkey, the Republican leader wished the Turkish people well.

"As far as Turkey is concerned, so many friends in Turkey, great people, amazing people. We wish them well. It looks like they're resolving the difficulty, but we wish them well. A lot of anguish last night, but hopefully it'll all work out," he said as he went ahead to list out unstable situation in other parts of the region.

"Iraq, Syria, all into chaos. Iran is on a path to nuclear weapons. And on top of that, we gave them back USD 150 billion, and we didn't get our hostages until the end. Now we're seeing unrest in Turkey, a further demonstration of the failures of Obama-Clinton. You just have to look, every single thing they touched has turned to horrible, horrible, death-defying problems," he said.

Rolling out Pence as his vice presidential mate, Trump said in the Indiana Governor he has "found the leader" who will help deliver a safe society and a really prosperous society for all Americans.

"Indiana Governor Mike Pence was my first choice. I've admired the work he's done, especially in the state of Indiana," Trump said with Pence standing by his side.

"I admire the fact that he fights for the people, and he's going to fight for you. He is a solid, solid person,. Governor Pence served Indiana with distinction in Congress. He rose to leadership and served as the chairman of the entire House Republican Conference. Number one," he said.

"He's really got the skills of a highly talented executive, leading the state of Indiana to jobs, growth, and opportunity, in spite of the relentless obstacles put in his way and every state's way by the Obama administration. It's horrible out there. High taxes and regulations. And it's out of control," Trump said.

"Mike Pence is a man of honour, character and honesty. Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of corruption. She's a corrupt person. What she's done with her e-mails, what she's done with so many things, and I see the ads up all the time, the ads. She's totally bought and paid for by Wall Street, the special interests, the lobbyists, 100 per cent. She's crooked Hillary," he alleged.

Trump said his Democratic rival Clinton would pay the price of her email scandal in the November general elections.

"She's totally owned by Wall Street. We believe in Americanism; she believes in globalism. And it's not that she believes in it. The people that give her all of this money believe in it. And she'll believe in whatever they want her to believe. Believe me. That's it. What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence," he said.

"Mike Pence will never be afraid to speak the name of our enemy: Radical Islam. Radical Islamic terrorism," Trump said.
Recently, while attending a high society gathering, I overheard a gripe that is becoming all too common in Calcutta. Two immaculately dressed women were having an animated conversation in a corner about how the city is "going to the dogs". One of them said, "I remember when they were not let in, but look how bad the crowd has gotten these days. The crowd at all the clubs and schools are terrible now. Even La Martniere and Tollygunge club are letting in all sorts of riff-raff."

The "riff-raff" being referred could be anyone who isnt from Old Money. Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims have always been frowned upon by upper-class Bengalis who deem them to be intellectually and culturally inferior. Earlier, the business communities and the intellectuals never crossed paths but this is changing. Finding themselves with disposable incomes after decades of frugality, the migrant communities of Calcutta are now sending their children to schools that they couldnt afford themselves and have taken memberships in posh country clubs that they couldnt join earlier. They now also own nearly all of the citys restaurants, nightclubs and art galleries. This is not going down well with the patriciate who are wary of losing their erstwhile domain.

Quest Mall, a mall in downtown Calcutta, is host to international brands like Gucci, Armani and Burberry and boasts of being the only luxury mall in the city. However, in an upset to Calcuttas swish set, the mall is also frequented by the local Muslim population of Park Circus. In kitty parties and gentleman bars across the city, there are jokes (always in hushed voices) about how visiting Quest Mall is like visiting Saudi Arabia and that the crowd dont buy anything and are only there for the air-conditioning.

It hurts me deeply when I come across these conversations; not because my community is among those often mocked and ridiculed (Marwaris themselves are no less racist) but because I see no end to this divide. The resurgence of right-wing ideals across the world has resulted in xenophobia becoming a staple in politics. While Americans are voting for Donald Trump purely for his anti-immigration stance, the British have voted themselves out of the EU for similar reasons. Europe, a continent that is no stranger to the perils of nationalism, is seeing an increased affiliation to far-right political groups in light of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis.

While Western countries are concerned with immigration, India is facing a migration crisis within its own borders as more and more rural Indians head to brimming cities in search of employment and a new life. This exodus is resulting in a racial tensions as more and more people vie for limited resources and opportunities.

Nationalism always comes at a cost because, as a political model, it needs a scapegoat. In India, the situation has gotten so out of hand that the scapegoat is sometimes turned into a holy cow and faces criminal charges after slaughter. What started with a romanticised version of history is quickly leading to a fever pitch. Hindutvas paranoia of all non-Hindus is now so extremist that it has become the very thing that it was rallying against. When cow protectors mete out mob justice willy-nilly like the Taliban and Sadhvi Prachi openly issues a fatwa like the Ayatollah Khomeini, it is easy to see that fundamentalism has no religion.

The problem with racism is that those who benefit most from it are often oblivious to the effect it has on those who bear the brunt of everyday discrimination. The ongoing Black Lives Matter movement was started in 2013 to protest against the unnaturally high and biased killings of black people by the American police administration. However, no sooner had the campaign started than an alternate movement, All Lives Matter, claimed that black lives should not be given preferential treatment. According to several civil rights activists, this demonstrated that the white privilege of All Lives Matter supporters made it difficult for them to see the structural racism in America. The cartoonist Kris Straub subtly illustrated the problem with the All Lives Matter movement by showing a person watering his house instead of dousing a house on fire because All Houses Matter.

Perhaps this applies to many Indians who constantly demand an end to caste-based reservation when they should be thankful that they dont need one. Some of this reservation quota is definitely getting misused but to demand an all-or-none approach is to ignore the historical disadvantages that our Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) have faced. Your house definitely matters but it is not the one on fire.

Speaking of houses on fire, can we talk about how difficult it is for the minorities to get the accommodation of their choice? I have seldom heard of Hindus being denied housing but the prejudice of landlords against Muslims, African students and North-Easterners across India is not so much an elephant in the room as it is a blue whale. I have been witness to several accounts that show the sad state of our country where even the fundamental right to lodging is denied.

The reason I empathise with the plight of our minorities is because I have myself been subject to racist landlords while studying and working in the UK. The reason I oppose the name-calling of African students is because I vividly remember the day an Englishman pointed me out to his son and said thats what a Paki looks like. The reason I dont tell people who dont agree with me to get out of the country is because I remember the music concert where a drunk woman told me to go back to your own f*cking country. I know the jarring effect a racial jibe can have on the subconscious in a strange land where you are the minority. I know a thing or two about the fear that makes one look over the shoulder during the walk home.

Despite these instances, living in Britain was an amazing experience because it showed me how a multi-cultural society can function if it chooses to. I lived with Nigerians, worked with Pakistanis and studied with the Welsh. I ate in Bangladeshi curry houses, travelled with the English and partied with the Irish. Sadly, the Britain I left behind doesnt exist anymore. Sure, fundamentally its the same country but there has been a paradigm shift in the national mood with the Brexit referendum. Suddenly, non-whites are now being told to leave the country and instances of racial violence have become a daily affair.

France has faced a number of terrorist attacks over the last year. The most recent of them, in Nice, saw 84 innocent people lose their lives. Media pundits and column inches are pontificating over why this keeps happening in France. I think one of the reasons for this is the disfranchisement of Frances minorities. Immigrants in France are expected to assimilate rather than integrate into the countrys secularism.

This culture shock can often be at odds with the immigrants religious lifestyle as was the case with the countrys ban on burqas and hijabs. Then there is the very real problem of how certain suburbs or banlieues in French cities are kept isolated from more cohesive and upper-class neighbourhoods. This ghettoization was even addressed in La Haine, a French film that was specially screened by Prime Minister Alain Juppe for his cabinet so that they could be more aware of the realities of living in France.

I sincerely believe that people everywhere are fundamentally decent but are often led astray by fear mongers who have something to gain. Any society, be it in America or UK or Turkey or France or even India, can be divided by systematically normalising racism. This in turn makes that society a fertile ground for polarisation within which the seeds of antipathy can be sown. When we reduce the individual to a stereotype, we do a great disservice to his individuality. The chasm between Zakir Naik and the average Muslim is as wide as the chasm between Sadhvi Prachi and I.

As a teenager I came across this quote by noted American socialist Eugene Debs where he said, While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. These words made a huge impact on me then and still continue to till this day. Of course, in our modern parlance one wouldnt hesitate to label him a libtard or sickular but I do think there is some wisdom to be found in his words. How can we even begin to understand our enemy when we refuse to walk a mile in his shoes?
Kartik, an Indian was in Lenvel Park, Nice celebrating Bastille day as a truck ploughed through the crowd and killed 84 people. He described the entire incident in a series of tweets.

According to his tweets, towards the end of the Bastille Day celebration in Lenval Park, Kartik heard a 'loud bang'.

He saw a truck speeding at 60 kilo meter per hour and initially thought that it was a drunk driver but then he saw the lorry smashing people. A stampede followed. Amidst the paranoia, Kartik described some grueling images of the injured victims.

"A guy in blue who lay crooked on the promenade after the lorry trailed over him. Pray that he and all other affected are okay," Kartik said.

Walking back up the promenade towards Lenval car park after the fireworks, we were in a large crowd. There was a loud bang suddenly.. #NICE  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

@kartik8848 As a grey lorry sped down at at least 60mph. I thought it was a drunk driver at first. Then there were screams and bangs. #Nice  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

@kartik8848 About 10 m away, on the other side of the promenade, bodies were flipped as the lorry smashed through people. People... #nice  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

@kartik8848 Screamed and a mini stampede started as everyone ran away from the promenade into the side street. I can't forget a guy.. #Nice  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

@kartik8848 A guy in blue who lay crooked on the promenade after the lorry trailed over him. Pray that he and all affected are okay. #Nice  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

@kartik8848 On our way out of Nice, we saw dozens of police cars and ambulances racing in and speeding away.  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 14, 2016

I took this last night on the Promenade. 20 mins later the lorry smashed past #PrayforNice #LiberteEgaliteFraternite pic.twitter.com/gVar6WR4s6  Kartik (@kartik8848) July 15, 2016

According to his Twitter profile, Kartik is a studying to be an economist.

The attacker killed at least 84 people and injured scores when he drove the truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday.

Counter-terrorist investigators leading the probe, into the attack said weapons and grenades were found inside the truck.

Police shot and killed the driver, who drove the 25-tonne, unmarked, truck for well over 100 metres (yards) along the famed Promenade des Anglais seafront, slamming into a mass of spectators late in the evening, regional government official Sebastien Humbert told France Info radio.

French President Francois Hollande vowed to strengthen his France's role in the fight against the Islamic State group after the deadly Nice attack, which is yet to be claimed by any group.

"Nothing will make us yield in our will to fight terrorism. We will further strengthen our actions in Iraq and in Syria. We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil," he said, in reference to the Islamic State group.

He also said he had called on reservists to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes. France's "operational reservists" include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.

He also extended the state of emergency in France for another three months after the truck attack in Nice.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

All organizers of the military coup in Turkey have been detained, the TRT Haber news channel quoted Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying July 16.

All the detainees are accused of high treason, he added.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the military coup attempt have been arrested.
France: The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.

The Islamic State group claimed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a "soldier" on Saturday, but what is known so far about Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in Islam.

The 31-year-old was born in Msaken, a town in Tunisia, but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbors described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

In a news conference Friday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

Bouhlel had had a series of run-ins with the law for threatening behavior, violence and theft over the past six years. In March, he was given a six-month suspended sentence by a Nice court for a road-rage incident.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed "no radicalization whatsoever," and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel was never placed on a watch list for radicals.

Records show that the 19-metric-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on 11 July and was overdue on the night of the attack.

About 25 minutes before the 14 July fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city center.

Shortly after 10:30 pm, he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.

"It was such a nice atmosphere before this started," recalled Sanchia Lambert, a tourist from Sweden who had come to visit family in Nice. "There were people playing drums, kids riding their bikes. That makes what happened all the worse."

Her husband, John Lambert, said the couple was almost struck by Bouhlel.

"I saw his face," Lambert told The Associated Press. "He was totally focused."

Within minutes the attack was over, with Bouhlel dead in a hail of police gunfire. Inside the driver's cab lay a loaded handgun, three replica firearms and an empty grenade.

Investigators are looking into how Bouhlel acquired the cache of weapons. A series of attacks in recent years has shown that radical jihadi networks are seemingly able to obtain guns, and even heavier automatic weapons, with ease in France.

Nice is home to a sizeable Islamic community, and Muslims were among the victims. It is also the home of Omar Omsen, notorious for his French-language jihadi recruitment videos and now believed to be fighting in Syria.

Fellow Tunisians in Nice said they hoped the attack wouldn't reflect badly on them.

"It shocks me because here's a guy who comes from the same town as me," said hair stylist Morgan Braham, 31. "Today I'm almost ashamed and afraid. It's not only shame it's also fear, to tell people that we're Tunisian."
One terror attack after another is taking place in various corners of the world, where the terrorists are resorting to a new modus operandi each time, but objective remains the same  to kill as many people as possible and inflict as much destruction possible, ultimately aiming at an apocalypse.

The latest attack was in Nice, France, where a frenzied, speeding truck virtually turned into a killing machine and mowed down 85 people on Thursday night, while citizens were engrossed in a firework celebration on the occasion of Bastille Day.

Analysts would like to go deeper into the incident to dig out whether there exists any pattern or style in this killing machine syndrome, but for the attackers  whether belonging to IS (Islamic State), al Qaeda or a lone wolf, the book Management of Savagery: The most critical stage through which the Islamic nation will pass is the last word. Also known as Administration of Savagery, this book by Abu Bakr Naji was first published on the Internet in 2004, and is the ultimate benchmark for the Islamic terror groups. It talks about strategy for the extremist groups in creation of a new Islamic Caliphate.

The book argues that carrying out a campaign of constant violent attacks in Muslim states will eventually exhaust their ability and the will to enforce their authority making way for chaos  or savagery. Jihadists can take advantage of this savagery to achieve their ultimate goal of establishing a global Islamic Caliphate. It also talks about the use of extreme violence as an asymmetrical tactic of war-making to hold territory. But, the Islamic terror groups have added a new chapter to the book. The attack is not limited to Muslim states alone, and is being carried out anywhere and everywhere.

Nice attack is no different. Just like the 9/11 airplane attack, a truck was employed here to express terror. The methodology is unpredictable, but the common denominator remains the same  using extreme form of violence to inflict maximum damage possible and to create chaos and panic in public life.

Broad strategy behind the attacks

Theres nothing new about the attack. Trucks had been used in the past too. But, the bottom line behind all these attacks is not just to kill but create a comprehensive disorder and chaos through savagery that leads a state to collapse. There should be no state power to impose order and then the Islamic jihadists will take over. Their only aim is to destroy the prevailing order, which IS or al Qaeda or any other terror outfit did in the US, Europe or Indian subcontinent. This is what the Management of Savagery talks about, explains Ajai Sahni, executive director, Institute of Conflict Management.

Taking a leaf out of the book, the al Qaeda had asked its cadre to use whatever method possible and inflict maximum damage on Kafirs (non-believer). Islamic State followed the same, adding dollops of barbarity to it, asking jihadists to use whatever means possible and kill as many as possible.

The old pattern of terrorism like taking hostage against ransom and demands is passe. Now, its not about any negotiation. Its only and only about killing and mass destruction by creating tyranny in order to weaken the capacity of a state to stop terror attacks, adds Sahni.

Different methodology, single motive

Counter-terrorism analysts opine that over the years the modus operandi of attacks by terror outfits has undergone a paradigm change. Its no more limited to bombings.

The Islamic State has underlined using of different tactics in its war machine including aviation. We have witnessed various methodologies, often unpredictable ones  Fidayeen attack (suicide bombers), car bombs, use of airplane, lone wolves, using vehicles to crush people, etc. But the only motive is to inflict maximum damage and casualty, so as to create mass panic. The IS has taken it to another level through barbarity. To tackle terrorism, a nation cant have a double standard on the issue. China has to understand that it cant have double standards in geopolitics, remarks P Stobdan, former ambassador to Republic of Kyrgyzstan & senior fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis.

Counter terrorism analyst Anil Kamboj adds, The sole purpose of attacks like it happened in Nice, is create havoc and for this the jihadis target large crowd like in festivals, celebrations or community gatherings, irrespective of religion, community or caste. Ultimate goal is to have global Islamic rule through senseless and gratuitous violence and presenting it as an esoteric form of jurisprudence within the constellation of Salafi-jihadi ideology.

Countering unpredictable attacks

Earlier too, France had faced terror attacks 1995 & 1996 Paris Metro bombings, 2012 Toulouse & Montauban shooting, January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and the last one in November 2015 in which 130 people got killed.

But, no one in their wildest dreams could imagine that a truck would be rammed into the crowd and kill so many in Nice.

Next attack wont be like the last attack. The strategy of non-state actors and jihadi organizations is to adopt a new method of attack, because security agencies develop a counter mechanism as a preventive measure. Now, its a phenomenon for global jihadists to go unpredictable in their attacks, so that security agencies are caught unaware, sums up Brig (retd) Narender Kumar, a senior fellow in a think tank on strategic affairs.

The security agencies need to have out-of-the-box thinking to remain ahead of the curve. In order to tackle or prevent attacks, we have to remain ahead of the strategy adopted by the terrorists by being proactive. Instead of reacting to the situation, the need is to act by adopting military and non-military solutions. The government has to set accountability and responsibility for the security forces, while simultaneously equipping them with legal sanctions to carry out operations fearlessly. India too should learn from previous incidents, adds Kumar.
The alleged murder of Pakistan's social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has shocked both India and Pakistan.

Baloch was killed allegedly by her brother in Multan in Pakistan's Punjab province, becoming the latest victim of "honour killings" that plague the country. "She was suffocated to death by strangulation. It seems to be a case of honour killing but we are investigating it," district police chief Azhar Akram said.

This dark incident has also pointed out something quite strange. Most of the queries on the internet about Qandeel Baloch in India are originating from Jammu and Kashmir, according to Google Trends.

While this would be completely normal news on any other day, what makes it surprising is the fact that mobile internet services in Jammu and Kashmir remain snapped for the eighth consecutive day on Saturday, even as the situation in the region remained normal after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on 9 July.

In fact, even cable TV services are suspended in Kashmir, according to NDTV.

So, despite the fact that internet services are restricted in violence-hit Kashmir, the most number of online searches about Qandeel Baroch are coming from that state in India.

However, it is difficult to ascertain whether most of the queries about Baloch are coming from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir because Google Trends shows the entire state in India as a single entity with the most amount of queries about Baloch, without showing a district-wise distribution of the queries.

Plague of honour killings in Pakistan

Qandeel Baloch's murder exposes the horror of honour killings in Pakistan. According to Dunya News, hundreds of women are killed each year in Pakistan in the name of 'honour'.

The report added that in 2016, over 10 women had been killed by their relatives, including husbands, fathers and brothers in Pakistan.

In June, Lahore was shocked when Zeenat Rafiq was burnt alive for marrying a man of her choice. Her mother Parveen Rafiq confessed to tying up the 18-year-old girl to a cot after which, with the help of her son, Ahmar Rafiq, she poured oil on her and set her ablaze, police said.

A few days before that, Maria Sadaqat, a 19-year-old girl, was tortured and burnt alive for refusing a marriage proposal in Murree. Before she died, she managed to give a statement to the police, testifying that five attackers had broken into her home, dragged her out to an open area, beat her and set her ablaze.

The series of incidents led 40 clerics of the Barelvi school of thought in Pakistan to issue a fatwa against honour killing, declaring it an 'un-Islamic and unpardonable sin'.

I really feel that no woman is safe in this country, until we start making examples of people, until we start sending men who kill women to jail, unless we literally say there will be no more killing and those who dare will spend the rest of their lives behind bars, filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy told AFP after Baloch's murder.

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif in February had promised to push through anti-honour killing legislation. But no action has been taken since that promise.

Not only does the bill need to go through but the cases of honour killings need to be expedited and we start sending people to jail, said Obaid-Chinoy.

Activists have screamed themselves hoarse. When will it stop? she added.

(With inputs from agencies)
New York: Two years after the chokehold death of Eric Garner made "I can't breathe" a rallying cry for protests over police killings of black men, federal authorities are still grappling with whether to prosecute the white officer seen on a widely watched video wrapping his arm around Garner's neck.

The legal limbo is playing out on the watch of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who has come under persistent pressure in the city and elsewhere to bring Officer Daniel Pantaleo to justice. The New York City case turned out to be a forerunner to a series of videotaped police killings across the country that have fuelled outrage and protests.

Before becoming attorney general, Lynch ran the US attorney's office in Brooklyn, which initiated the review of Garner's case after a state grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo in 2014, and she personally met with Garner's family in that role. Questioned by Congress last week, she said the Garner investigation remains open but gave no indication of how or when a decision will be made.

Last year, the city agreed to pay $5.9 million to settle the family's wrongful death claim, but the push for a federal case has persisted. Garner's siblings performed on a rap song called I Can't Breathe that was released to mark the second anniversary of his 17 July, 2014, death, and his mother, Gwen Carr, has proposed converting a small park across the street from where he died into a playground named after him.

"What's in my heart is to keep my son's name alive," Carr said. "This is my work for the rest of my life."

A resolution has been hampered by a behind-the-scenes disagreement over the direction of the federal investigation of the Garner's death in Staten Island, according to two people with inside knowledge. On one side are prosecutors in Lynch's former office in Brooklyn, who aren't sure there's enough evidence to charge Pantaelo at the federal level. On the other side are their counterparts in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington, who feel more confident in forging ahead.

Both people were not authorised to discuss the decision-making process and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials at the Justice Department declined to comment for this article.

Internal Justice Department disputes about the strength of such cases happen "more often than you think," said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who specialised in civil rights matters.

The nearly 100 US attorneys' offices in the country are mostly given great autonomy, but Washington attorneys don't hesitate to get deeply involved when a matter falls within the jurisdiction of their specialised divisions like civil rights, Weinstein said. The two sides usually work out differences on their own, but if not, Justice Department leadership can often get its way because "whether they like it or not ... all US attorneys answer to the attorney general," he said.

The disagreements reflect the challenge of finding enough evidence to prove an officer willfully deprived a citizen's civil rights, said Samuel Bagenstos, the former No. 2 official at the Civil Rights Division. Historically, the high legal bar has prevented prosecutors from charging most officers who kill unarmed men, including the one who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

"These are hard cases to prove," Bagenstos said. "That can create a lot of difficult conversations within the department about them."

For Garner's family and its supporters, the cellphone video shot by a bystander capturing the last moments of his life has always been evidence enough.

"It's been two years," the Rev. Al Sharpton said at recent gathering with Garner's family. The fatal encounter "was on video and we've not seen justice. So that's why people are questioning what's going on now."

The video shows 43-year-old Garner, after being stopped by officers for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be handcuffed. Pantaleo responds by putting Garner in an apparent chokehold, which is banned under NYPD policy, as he was taken to the ground. The heavyset Garner, who had asthma, is heard gasping, "I can't breathe." He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The medical examiner ruled Garner's death a homicide caused in part by the chokehold. But police union officials and Pantaleo's lawyer have argued that the officer used a takedown move taught by the police department, not a chokehold, and that Garner's poor health was the main reason he died.

Under the circumstances, "a federally protected civil right wasn't violated," Pantaleo's lawyer, Stuart London, said last week. "This was a simple street encounter where the officer performed his duties as he was trained."

The officer remains on desk duty as the New York Police Department awaits the outcome of the federal probe before deciding whether to discipline him on its own.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Three students on a study abroad program in France were wounded and another was missing in Thursday's Bastille Day attack in Nice, the University of California, Berkeley, said on Friday.

The university identified the missing student as Nicolas Leslie, 20, one of 85 Berkeley students on a 15-day study abroad trip on entrepreneurship in Europe. Two of the other students who suffered broken bones have been released after medical treatment, while the third injured student remains at a hospital, the university said.

"May Nicolas Leslie be found safe," the University of California's flagship campus posted on Facebook Friday, along with the hashtag #PrayforNice and the image of a heart painted like the tri-color French flag.

A Texan and his 11-year-old son on a family vacation were also among at least 84 people killed when an attacker crashed a heavy truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French seaside city, officials said on Friday.

The Berkeley students were studying at a program affiliated with the international European Innovation Academy in Nice, the university said. The program was suspended temporarily as France marks three days of mourning, and students will be given the option of returning home early, the university said.

Leslie, a junior in the university's College of Natural Resources, was not listed among the dead in the attack, but family members have not been able to reach him, a woman who said she was a family friend said in an interview.

"The last thing that we heard from one of his friends is that he was seen running off," said the woman, who gave only her first name, Antonella.

Leslie, who was born in Italy and grew up in the San Diego area, was a U.S. national, university spokesman Roqua Montez said. The injured students were Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a computer science major who suffered a broken leg, and Diane Huang, 20, who studies environmental economics and suffered a broken foot in the attack. Both students were back in their dormitories in Nice.

The third student, Daryus Medora, 21, whose leg was broken, remains at a hospital.

In the attack, a man identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel plowed into a crowd of some 30,000 local people and tourists attending a fireworks display to celebrate Bastille Day.

At least 84 people were killed, 10 of them children, and 202 more were wounded.

French officials said Friday that Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of Nice, was known to police for petty crime and violence, but had not been suspected of Islamist militancy.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by James Dalgleish and Richard Chang)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Turkish military jets flew over Turkey's capital, Ankara, and deadly fighting was reported in what appears to have been an attempted military coup that took place on late Friday night. A statement said that military has seized control of the country because of rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism, though Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said "a minority" within the military has attempted a coup and he has urged citizens to take to the streets to support the government.

Has the military meddled in politics before?

The military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious Muslim mentor of Erdogan who was disliked by Turkey's secular establishment, out of power in 1997.

1960 Coup

During this time a lot of religious institutions were reopened and various schools for religious personnel were created.

As a result some military officers launched a coup and the president, prime minister and several cabinet ministers were arrested and tried for treason. The PM was executed the next year. The reign of the military lasted for about five years and then the control was finally handed back to the citizens who then chose a leader in the democratic way.

1971 Coup by Memorandum

After a few years of rule of the PM Suleyam Demirel, a widespread civil unrest gave rise to the growing Islamist movement. The military didn't use violence, instead delivered a 'coup of memorandum' and accused Demirel of driving the country into anarchy. Demirel resigned, and the military asked a member of the right-wing, secularist Republican People's Party to form a government that lasted until 1974 after which a new president was elected by the parliament.

1980 Coup

Turkey was not stable throughout the 1970s. It saw 11 different prime ministers take office in that time. In September the military started a coup.In the next three years were frought with violence and many people were detained, dozens were executed, tortured and missing. A new constitution, was drafted and approved by the majority during a public referendum in 1982.

1997 Post-Modern Coup

In 1996, Necmettin Erbakan became Turkey's first Islamist prime minister. The following year, the military again enacted a coup forcing the ruling government to enact anti-religious measures. They even banned headscarf in universities. Erbakan was forced into resignation soon after.

2007 coup

In 2007, the military threatened to intervene in a presidential election and warned the government to curb Islamic influences, but the action backfired and Abdullah Gul, the candidate favored by a government with Islamic leanings, took office. The apparent coup attempt that is currently unfolding is surprising to many observers because Erdogan's government had taken steps, including dismissals and prosecutions of high-ranking active and former officers for alleged coup plots, to bring the military to heel.

Despite past tensions, Erdogan's government appeared to be working effectively with the military in recent years, coordinating on national security issues and also confronting a perceived anti-government faction said to have infiltrated the police and other institutions.

Why would the military intervene in government?

The Turkish military has traditionally seen itself as the guardian of Turkey's old secular establishment, a legacy of national founder and former army officer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as an enforcer of order in times of civil unrest and weak civilian leadership. While it was forced to lower its political profile in the past decade under Erdogan's government, the country has increasingly been buffeted by an upswing in the conflict with Kurdish separatist rebels, bombings by suspected Islamic extremists  including an attack on Istanbul's main airport last month that killed dozens  and concern over the war in neighbouring Syria that has pushed huge numbers of refugees across the border into Turkey.

Erdogan has also been a polarizing leader with a combative streak, even though he commands deep support among a pious Muslim class that once felt marginalized under past military-influenced governments.

Why is the Turkish military important?

The military of Nato member Turkey is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists. Erdogan recently sought to repair strained ties with Russia after Turkey shot down a Russian jet that had been flying a mission against rebels in Syria, killing a pilot.

Turkey's location in the turbulent Mideast region, straddling the Asian and European continents, has made it a critical player in international conflicts in the past.

In 2003, Turkey barred U.S. forces from opening a northern front in the war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq in a stunning rebuff to Washington that raised questions about whether the politically powerful Turkish military had undercut a civilian-led initiative to help the Americans.

What do Turks think about their military?

Turks have a conflicted relationship with their military, an institution that is cloaked in the lore of sacrifice but also tarnished as a past symbol of repression. Military coup leaders in the past drew on the support of Turks who saw them as saviours from chaos and corruption, but they were often ruthless.

With inputs from agencies
Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday condemned a botched coup bid by Turkish army and expressed Pakistan's 'abiding interest' in a democratic, peaceful and

stable Turkey.

"I strongly condemn the attempt to undermine democracy by a failed coup in the brotherly country of Turkey. We deeply admire the resolve of the brave and resilient Turkish people, who stood up against the forces of darkness and anarchy to express their support and commitment to democracy," he said in a statement.

Sharif expressed complete support and solidarity with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the democratically-elected government of Turkey, and the democratic institutions of the country.

He said Pakistan reaffirms its 'abiding interest' in a democratic, peaceful and stable Turkey.

"We wish to convey our prayers and good wishes for President Erdogan's well-being and welfare of the people of Turkey as well as the unity of the Islamic Ummah (community). We highly value our strong and historic ties with Turkey," he said.

Pakistan deeply appreciates President Erdogan's steadfast support as also the support of the people of Turkey to Pakistan on all occasions, whenever the need arose, Sharif said.

"I wish to reaffirm full support of the government and people of Pakistan to the elected leadership and government and the people of Turkey," he said.

Separately, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan stands by the people and the government of Turkey.

"We support the will of the people reflected in the democratic system and the democratically elected leadership of Turkey," he said.

Pakistan condemns the attempt to undermine democracy and rule of law in Turkey, he said, adding Pakistan hopes peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey.

Earlier, Tariq Fatemi, Special assistant to the Prime Minister, called the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to express support. The latter thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for showing resolve to stand by democracy in Turkey, saying "this is what we expected from a brother country", according to the FO.
Turkey coup bid increases threat to regional stability: Russian foreign ministry

Russia's foreign ministry warned Saturday that the coup attempt in Turkey increases the threat to stability in the region.

"Moscow is most concerned at the latest events in Turkey," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The flare-up of the domestic political situation against the backdrop of the existing terrorist threats in this country and the armed conflict in the region brings a heightened risk to international and regional stability."

Russia called on Turkey's "authorities and people to resolve the problems that have arisen without violence, with respect for constitutional order."

Moscow confirmed its "readiness to work constructively with the legally elected leadership of Turkey in the interest of promoting bilateral relations," saying this particularly applied to "fighting the threat of terrorism."

Late on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Turkey to avoid "bloodshed," saying its problems needed to be resolved "in accordance with the constitution."

During the coup attempt, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was "deeply concerned about the news coming from Turkey," adding that President Vladimir Putin was being constantly informed.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday said in televised comments that the coup bid showed that "in Turkish society and the army there are very powerful and deep rifts which sparked these events."

"Naturally it's necessary that constitutional rule is restored in this country that neighbours ours, so that all the rights and freedoms enshrined in their legislation are observed," the prime minister said.

Russia and Turkey this month moved to mend ties as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Putin apologising for downing a Russian warplane on the Syrian border last year and Russia lifted a ban on package tours to Turkey.

AFP
Being the jam in the East-West sandwich isnt always a sweet deal. As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan battles to maintain his command against an army coup on Saturday morning, his grip on the country has certainly been adversely hit. Even if he manages to overthrow the plotters and stay in power, the relationship with the army is going to be tenuous at best.

In the past, the Turkish army had intervened in 1960, 1980, 1997, and this time around Erdogan is lost for cause. This is an army he sanitised of the so called trouble-makers and set up as his choice of generals. It was his military pyramid. That there should have been so much disaffection in the ranks as to effect a coup puts him on the backfoot and must come as a quite a shock, for it is a betrayal.

At a time when the Western ally, and the bridge between the EU and the Middle East, is rickety at best, this development must deeply worry the West and the Nato alliance. Between acts of terrorism and the influx of 2.7 million Syrian refugees, and the massive loss of revenue from a tattered once multi-billion dollar tourism industry, Turkey has been left at the mercy of ill-winds.

Erdogans promises flap in that wind.

The paramount question that will be asked today is if the famous Gulen movement (founded by Fethullah Gulen, who now lives in exile in Pennsylvania) and the works on the principle of Hizmet (" Service") by its followers and Cemaat ("the Community/Assembly") could have been involved in this latest attempt.

What began as an academic and socio-religious movement, based on active but quiet pacifism if you accept the inherent paradox, gradually became a powerful shadow government permeating every level of Turkish society including the police and the security agencies.

Gulen, it is said, has influence in high places around the world, like a massive and silent river with tributaries that access the global corridors of power in over 180 nations. Started in 1982, it inducts students starting from kindergarten upwards and today has a following estimated at four million. It functions through medicine, charity, business, education, professional cadres and the media, and has been called as Turkeys parallel state.

Erdogans willingness to make Gulen a political bedfellow in the years after 2002 led to huge chunks of extra-constitutional authority being exercised by Gulen's followers. Loyalists were inducted into posts of authority.

In 2014, that ball of wool began to unravel. Erdogan not only flung it out of bed but threw it under the bus admitting that he had naively surrendered far too much authority to the Gulen sect and practically called for a purge.

These past two years, he has been a nervous Nellie looking for goblins everywhere and almost being paranoid about the 'foe'. Perhaps he wasnt wrong.

Somewhere in the next couple of days it will be clear exactly how deep the Gulen penetration was into the army. If this is just a battalion or a brigade gone renegade with a bunch of mid-level officers or one in which the army chief has a hand will be telling. So far the army commander has not come on air indicating that he and the larger segment of the army will still back with Erdogan even if it is to keep the facade in place for commercial reasons.

On the foreign affairs front, the break up with Gulen will hurt him tremendously because it now not an unseen foe.

There is another thorn in his side and that is his war with Kurdish rebels, and the open house on the PKK; while at the same time the tacit turning of a blind eye to the access granted to the Islamic State into Turkey, is now extracting its price.

While the public is still prepared to give the democratic process a thumbs up and shun the military  as can be seen by the prompt arrival, courtesy social media, of thousands of Turks onto the streets to protest the coup attempt  the discomfort is not temporary.

Turkey has changed today.

Whatever be the end it is very bad news in every way. An unstable Turkey is equivalent to an unstable equation between the West and the Middle East, with extremism finding for itself another fertile land in which to establish a presence.

It is a weak comfort that earlier coups rendered space to democratically elected governments.

For Nato, it is like the loss of a tyre on a truck running out of gas. For Europe, the clogging of a migrant filter. For the world, another blessed land scarred for now. For Erdogan, himself a hobbled future in which he has to fight four fronts; the army, the militants, Gulen and the sinking economy...all this while still keep his job.

In there lies the irony. Even if the coup fails it has done its job of destabilising a nation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkeys presidential administration has warned about the possibility of a new military coup attempt in the country.

It is noted ruled out that the movement of Fethullah Gulen [Islamic public figure currently residing in the US] will again try to overthrow the government, said a statement issued by Turkeys presidential administration.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the coup attempt have been arrested.
A failed coup in Turkey left at least 60 people dead as authorities conducted widespread arrests among the military. The coup attempt began late on Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Though aerial bombings, military blockades and clashes between mobs and armed forces continued throughout the morning, government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. Sounds of blasts echoed across the capital, Ankara and Istanbul and a bomb blast was reported at the parliament complex.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation on Saturday that his government is in charge. "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything," he said.

Erdogan also said that the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

According to Turkey's state-run news agency, military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar has been rescued in an operation launched at an air base in the outskirts of Ankara. Anadolu Agency says the general is being taken to a safe location.

Broadcaster CNN-Turk said that Akar was taken hostage at military headquarters in Ankara and transported by helicopter to Akincilar Air Base.

CNN-Turk says Akar would now take over the command of the operation against the coup plotters.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Around 754 members of the armed forces have been detained across Turkey in the wake of the attempted coup.

"There is no where they have they have proper control," Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz says 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command. In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Lekesiz said 250 others in the military police command were arrested. The police chief said clashes at the command are continuing but "are about to come to an end."

Meanwhile, commander of Turkey's 1st Army, Gen. Umit Dundar, has been appointed acting chief of military staff, announced Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

#BREAKING | 754 members of armed forces detained across Turkey following coup attempt #TurkeyCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/my6szaTi1v  News18 (@CNNnews18) July 16, 2016

Erdogan's government has drawn criticism and street protests amid accusations of increasing authoritarianism and a crackdown on the opposition and media. However, there were no support for a military overthrow of the civilian government. His regime has been marked by a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

With a notoriously fiery temper, Erdogan is known to himself and followers as the "buyuk usta"  the "big master"  or simply "the Sultan" and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has long been accused of seeking to impose conservative Islamic values on society  a possible point of friction with a military that has long seen itself as the guardian of Turkey's secular state.

Earlier, Erdogan ahd blamed US-based religious leader Fethullah Gulen. But Gulen condemned the foiled coup bid, saying "governments should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force."

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania, gained notice in Turkey around 50 years back, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the US. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

Here is a timeline of Eradogan's rule in Turkey:

With inputs from agencies
2000 - 2022   24 .-   .       focus-news.net,                 () .                  24 .                 24      .       .       24 .
Google was expected to be announce a standalone virtual reality (VR) headset at the I/O in May but it didnt happen. At the I/O conference in May Google announced Daydream platform for high-quality VR experience. Rumors about Googles upcoming standalone virtual reality (VR) headset started earlier this year. Now Recode is reporting that the company has shut down its internal project to make high-end standalone virtual reality headset.

According to the report, Google is shifting more resources behind mobile VR  tools for companies to build apps, games and services on smartphones rather than making expensive hardware.

The VR headset that was being developed under X research lab even had a separate operating system, but it was later scratched in favor of Android, says the report.

Google introduced its first Cardboard viewer last year that lets smartphone users experience VR at an affordable cost. Google even released a reference design for the Daydream platform that includes a controller with two clickable buttons and a swipe-able touchpad.

The company has a huge VR team lead by Clay Bavor, VP, Virtual Reality at Google.

Source
Check out the new FoneArena Daily video that gives you a quick roundup of todays technology news.

Google has dropped making a standalone VR headset, according to a latest report. It was expected to be unveiled at the I/O 2016 in May.

Lenovo is all set to launch the Vibe K5 Note, successor of Vibe K4 Note, in India on July 20th. It packs a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, is powered by an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P10 SoC and has 3GB of RAM.

Reliance Retail has launched Water 4 and Water 6 smartphones with 4G VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) support. Both the phones have a 5-inch HD screen, are powered by Snapdragon 410 SoC, run Android 5.1 (Lollipop), have a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Todays Deal  Sony Micro Vault 16GB Pen Drive for Rs. 299
It's safe to say that the 2016 Farnborough Airshow was a disappointment for Boeing (BA 4.46%) investors.

Airlines and aircraft manufacturers typically announce a slew of aircraft orders at the largest air show of the year. Instead, Boeing walked away from Farnborough with hardly any new firm orders. In fact, the order drought was so bad that Boeing apparently felt compelled to "fudge" the numbers when reporting its sales activity for the week.

A successful show?

On Thursday, Boeing described the Farnborough Airshow as "highly successful," in a press release highlighting its order activity for the week. That's a stretch, to say the least.

Boeing did report 182 orders and commitments for commercial airplanes, worth $26.8 billion at list prices. But among those orders, only 20 were new firm orders, according to The Wall Street Journal. That compares to the 124 new firm orders that Boeing captured at least year's Paris Air Show.

Aside from the new firm orders revealed this week, Boeing's sales figures included 43 orders that had previously been attributed to unidentified customers and more than 100 "commitments" and "agreements" that still need to be finalized.

Boeing trots out an old order again

The worst part of Boeing's Farnborough order report is that its largest reported deal -- an "agreement" with Volga-Dnepr Group for 20 747-8 freighters -- wasn't even new. With a value of $7.6 billion at list prices, this represented more than a quarter of Boeing's reported deal volume at the air show.

This deal was announced more than a year ago at the 2015 Paris Air Show and was counted toward Boeing's $50.2 billion in reported orders and commitments there. What was then a "commitment" is now an "agreement," which signals some progress in nailing down the terms of the sale, but it still isn't a true firm order.

Four of the aircraft covered by this agreement have already been delivered, making their inclusion in the 2016 Farnborough order total especially dubious. However, there's no good reason for Boeing to include any of the Volga-Dnepr aircraft in this year's air show report, given that they were already counted last year. It just seems like a tactic to pad the numbers in a soft sales environment.

Not a single 777 order to be found

Boeing's biggest failure at the Farnborough Airshow was its inability to sell any 777s. This is the company's most important task right now, as it needs to bring in at least 40 777 orders annually for the next few years to keep the production line busy until the next-generation 777X enters service in 2020.

Year to date, Boeing has just eight net firm orders for the 777. CEO Dennis Muilenberg has said as recently as last month that Boeing is in the midst of serious discussions with up to a dozen customers regarding the current-generation 777. Unfortunately, none of those conversations has paid off yet.

Services were the bright spot

The biggest positive highlight for Boeing at the Farnborough Airshow came on the services side of the business. This is an area that new Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg has prioritized for growth as pricing pressure has increased in the commercial jet market.

Boeing won its biggest commercial services agreement ever this week, as Norwegian signed up for enhanced "GoldCare" coverage for its large and growing fleet of Boeing planes. Boeing also announced data analytics agreements with six airlines on Wednesday. Together, these services agreements will generate billions of dollars of revenue for Boeing over their lifetimes.

Still, considering that Boeing has more than $90 billion of annual revenue, services can only go so far toward bolstering its performance. Commercial aircraft sales generate the vast majority of Boeing's revenue. Thus, investors need to hope that more aircraft orders are coming soon, particularly for the struggling 777.
A group of soldiers suspected to have been involved in the failed Turkey military coup have claimed asylum in Greece after flying into the country in a helicopter, Daily Express reports.

Greek officers have arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis at midday on Saturday, the country's police ministry said.

The men have requested political asylum, it added.

Greek state television ERT said the men may have been involved in Turkey's military coup attempt on Friday.
This article was updated on Aug. 6, 2017, and originally published July 16, 2016.

The Permian Basin of west Texas and southeast New Mexico is one of the most prolific oil and gas producing regions in the country. The Basin produced a prodigious 29 billion barrels of oil since output began in 1921. However, despite that rich production history, its best days could lie ahead. Thanks to new extraction techniques oil companies have finally figured out how to unlock the oil and gas trapped within its unique geology encompassing several stacked layers of hydrocarbon-bearing rock formations. Because of this, analysts at research firm Rystad Energy said in July of 2016 that the "U.S. now holds more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia" thanks in part to the Permian.

With so much oil potential, the Permian Basin is one of the top oil plays in the country, which has producers flocking to unlock its energy resources.

Permian Basin 101

The Permian Basin encompasses an area that stretches 250 miles wide and 300 miles long. However, the bulk of its shale riches is in two sub-basins: the Delaware on the west and the Midland to the east. Hydrocarbon-rich layers of rocks lie beneath both sections:

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the six formations detailed on the above map fueled a 60% increase in the Permian's output since 2007. That increase pushed it past the Gulf of Mexico as America's leading oil production basin in 2013. Currently, the Permian accounts for about a quarter of the country's oil production.

With output totaling more than 2 million barrels per day, the Permian is the second largest oil field in the world behind Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field. That said, it has quite a way to go before it catches up given that Ghawar produces 5 million barrels per day, which is more than 5% of global oil output. The Permian is also believed to be second to Ghawar in recoverable resources. According to analysis from leading Midland Basin producer Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD 0.13%), the Permian could hold nearly 160 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) recoverable resources, which rivals of Ghawar's estimated 160 billion BOE. That said, most other analysts peg the Permian's number in the 20 billion barrel range, which still puts it as one of the top ten largest oil fields in the world.

The leading Permian Basin players

While there are hundreds of energy companies operating in the Permian Basin, less than 10 producers account for 50% of the basin's output and just five large players control the bulk of the acreage. The most dominant positions are held by:

Permian Basin Producer Permian Basin Acreage Average daily production volume in 2016 (BOE/d) Occidental Petroleum ~2.5 million 269,000 Chevron ~2 million 175,000 Apache ~1.7 million 161,000 ExxonMobil ~1.75 million 158,000 Concho Resources ~600,000 150,000

Occidental Petroleum (OXY -0.90%) holds a vast Permian acreage position and is by far the basin's largest producer. It further solidified its top-tier position in 2017, selling $600 million of non-core acreage and reinvesting that money to increase its stake in several important assets in the Basin. Currently, more than half of the company's production comes from using enhanced oil recovery techniques, such as carbon dioxide injection, to coax oil out of legacy formations. However, shale is a major growth driver for Occidental, with its production from tight oil resources expected to grow by a 20% to 30% compound annual rate through 2020, positioning the company to deliver 5% to 8% annual growth in company-wide production over the long-term.

Big oil giant Chevron (CVX 0.46%) has a long history in the Permian, having already produced 5 billion barrels of oil. That said, its best days appear to lie ahead. As one of the basin's largest acreage holders, Chevron controls an estimated 9.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources. The company is just starting to ramp up horizontal drilling in the region, which could fuel 20% to 35% annual production growth through 2020 depending on oil prices, boosting its Permian output to a range of 250,000-350,000 BOE/d. Meanwhile, there's plenty of growth beyond that, with Chevron believing it has the resources to eventually get its output up to 700,000 BOE/d within a decade.

Apache (APA -0.76%), likewise, has a large Permian position, though the bulk of its production currently comes from conventional sources. However, that is beginning to change now that the company has shifted to horizontal drilling. In fact, the company expects to grow its shale output by 50% over the next two years, driving company-wide production up 7% to 13% per year. One of the drivers of that growth is its recently discovered Alpine High play in a little-known corner of the Basin, which Apache believes holds more than 3 billion barrels of oil.

ExxonMobil (XOM 0.38%) is another major oil company with a significant legacy Permian position. Like its big oil peers, Exxon has taken a methodical approach to developing the Permian. However, the company appears poised to accelerate its growth in the region after spending $5.6 billion late last year to bulk up its position. That deal more than doubled Exxon's resource position to 6 billion BOE, giving it control of an extensive inventory of low-cost drilling locations that it can tap in the years ahead to grow output in an improving oil market.

Finally, Concho Resources (CXO) has quietly built up an extensive position in the Permian via a series of acreage acquisitions and is currently the largest pure-play on the Permian. Overall, the company has 19,000 future drilling locations across the Basin, which it estimates could help it unlock more than 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent resources. Thanks to the low-cost nature of those wells, the company expects to deliver 20% compound annual production growth through 2019 while living within cash flow around current oil prices.

The Permian Basin is the gift the just keeps on giving

The Permian Basin has long been one of America's most vital energy producing regions. However, its importance is growing now that producers discovered how to unlock the oil and gas trapped in the tight rocks stacked below the surface. These companies are just starting to scratch the surface, which suggests that this legacy oil basin's best days could very well be ahead of it.
When OPEC speaks, the oil market listens. While it cannot control the market price of oil, it can influence its direction. This impact leads to some pretty wild swings in oil prices, which then affect the profits oil companies' earn from production.

A brief history of OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC as it is more commonly known, was founded in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela as an intergovernmental organization. Nine other nations later joined: Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), and Angola (2007). Ecuador, Indonesia, and Gabon dropped out for several years before rejoining in 2007, 2015, and 2016, respectively.

OPEC's purpose is to:

Co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among member countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry.

While OPEC's objective is to maintain order in the oil market, that has not always been the case. The most famous example is the Arab oil embargo. In Oct. 1973 a group led by the Arab majority of OPEC, as well as non-members Egypt and Syria, declared a steep cut in oil output and an oil embargo against the U.S. and other nations that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This led to a sharp increase in oil prices, from $3 to $12 per barrel, causing panic and a period of energy rationing.

How OPEC affects prices

In addition to production cuts, one of the levers OPEC uses to impact prices is production quotas. In 1982, OPEC introduced mandatory quotas among its member nations to control supplies. In doing so, it became a price-setting cartel instead of a group of price-taking commodity producers. That said, OPEC has not always gotten these quotas correct, which has had the opposite of the desired impact on prices. For example, in the late 1990s, it misread the market by raising its production ceiling 10% without taking into account the impact to demand from the Asian financial crisis. This caused prices to plunge, forcing OPEC to lead three rounds of production cuts to get the market back into balance.

More recently, OPEC pushed its output higher to push down prices. This marked a notable shift in strategy, with OPEC members going from protecting oil prices to protecting their share of the oil market.

This change is partially in response to rising production from non-member nations, including surging production from U.S. shale, the Canadian oil sands, and offshore sources. However, the decision destabilized the oil market and led to tremendous oil price volatility.

The market's current instability causes a swift reaction to news that OPEC might shift away from this strategy. For example, in early 2016, OPEC held meetings with non-member nations Russia and Oman to discuss a production freeze. Those meetings helped fuel a fierce rally, with oil prices rebounding 50% off the bottom. However, the groups failed to strike a deal because not all members were on board. That said, the talks alone had the desired effect of pushing prices higher.

How OPEC impacts oil companies

Before the recent collapse in crude prices, there was a generally held belief that OPEC wanted crude to stay above $100 a barrel. While OPEC never officially sets a target price for oil, many of OPEC's member nations need a certain oil price to balance their budgets. For example, according to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia needs oil to average $106 while ING Bank data suggests Ecuador, Nigeria, and Venezuela need oil above $120 a barrel.

This belief that oil would stay reasonably stable led oil companies to make huge bets on large oil projects. For example, big oil behemoths Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) (RDS.B), ExxonMobil (XOM 0.38%), and Total (TTE 0.91%), along with several international partners, invested $50 billion in developing the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. While Kashagan is considered the largest oil discovery in the last 30 years, it requires high oil prices to break even. According to the chairman of KazMunayGas, one of the partners in the project, Kashagan "can be economically viable with oil prices standing at $100 per barrel." That said, another industry source stated that Kashagan would cease to be profitable at $80 oil.

Either way, the project has been a debacle for Exxon and Shell, which own a third of the project that they initially expected would cost $10 billion and be on line in 2005. However, after several delays, the project still isn't producing any oil, and when it restarts later this year, it could take five years before it reaches profitability. It is a project that Exxon, Shell, and Total likely would not have pursued if they did not expect OPEC to keep oil prices stable over the long term.

Investor takeaway

OPEC has both been a blessing and a curse on the oil market. When it provides stability, it emboldens oil producers to make investments for the future. However, when OPEC changes course, it can have a devastating impact on producer profits.
Note: This article was originally published July 16, 2016 and updated May 12, 2017.

The shale oil extraction revolution has dramatically impacted U.S. oil and gas production. By cost-effectively unlocking the hydrocarbons trapped in these tight rock formations through fracking, producers have unleashed a torrent of new fuel output. The results have been truly breathtaking, with decades-long domestic production declines dramatically reversing course in recent years:

While production has peaked and dipped due to a global oversupply leading to weaker oil and gas prices, the country sits on a now-accessible bounty of shale resources that is projected to last for decades.

What are the largest shale plays?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the most important shale plays are the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara, the Permian Basin, and Utica formations. As the map below shows, they are in the Rockies, Texas, and Appalachia.

While there are a several other large and emerging shale plays, these seven are currently the most prolific:

Region Oil production (thousand barrels per day) Gas production (million cubic feet per day) Bakken 1,023 1,737 Eagle Ford 1,216 5,936 Haynesville 44 6,375 Marcellus 40 18,992 Niobrara 456 4,690 Permian 2,362 8,135 Utica 52 4,224 Total 5,193 50,089

In just a few short years, several of these shale plays have developed into world-class producers. The Permian Basin, for example, ranks second only to the Ghawar oil field in Saudi Arabia as measured by production per day. Meanwhile, the Marcellus is one of the top five natural gas fields in the world and produced a fifth of America's gas output in 2016.

What are the largest shale-focused companies?

EOG Resources (EOG 0.05%) has quickly become one of the nation's leading oil producers thanks to its prime positions in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Permian formations. In fact, according to the Railroad Commission of Texas (which, by a quirk of political history, regulates natural resources and the environment), EOG Resources was the largest oil producer in 2016, averaging 248,984 barrels of oil per day -- 9.3% of Texas' output. EOG Resources also ranked as Texas' eighth-largest gas producer, accounting for 2.8% of the gas extracted.

Shale-focused peer Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD 0.13%), ranked as Texas' second-largest oil producer in 2016, pulling 167,006 barrels per day from the Eagle Ford and Permian formations -- 6.3% of Texas' production. It was also the tenth-largest natural gas producer in the state, accounting for 2.3% of gas output.

ExxonMobil (XOM 0.38%) subsidiary XTO Energy was Texas' largest natural gas producer last year, accounting for 9.8% of production. It also ranks as the nation's largest natural gas producer, thanks to its prime position in not only Texas' shale plays but also the Marcellus and Utica formations. It's followed by Chesapeake Energy (CHKA.Q), which controls significant positions in both of those gas-rich formations as well as in the Haynesville.

Turning to the Rockies, Whiting Petroleum (WLL) is the leading producer in the prolific Bakken shale -- a position it ascended to when it bought rival Kodiak Oil & Gas in late 2014 for $6 billion. In addition to that, Whiting is one of the leading developers in the Niobrara.

Investor takeaway

America's large shale plays have been game-changers for the energy industry. Oil and gas companies flocked to the top shale regions to unlock the abundant resources that lie beneath. While the boom that followed led to a glut of oil and gas on the market, pushing prices lower, these basins remain saturated with hydrocarbons. Because of that, these shale plays have the potential to drive robust returns for producers in the decades ahead, once the current glut abates after global energy producers achieve a new supply equilibrium.
When the Federal Reserve was founded in 1913, most other industrialized countries around the world had already operated central banks for generations. The Riksbank was founded in 1668, for example, and the Bank of England in 1694.

Given this, what was it about the United States that caused it to be so late to this party? Best-selling author Roger Lowenstein explains it in the latest episode of Industry Focus: Financials. The author of America's Bank, a history of the Fed's founding, Lowenstein sat down with The Motley Fool's Gaby Lapera and Fool contributor John Maxfield to walk listeners through the history of the central bank.

A full transcript follows the video.

This podcast was recorded on July 11, 2016.

Gaby Lapera: I was talking to my friend last night, and I asked him to guess when he thought the Federal Reserve in its current form had been created, and he said post-Civil War. And this really gets to an interesting point in your book, which is that central banking is something that has existed in other countries for centuries. The Riksbank -- which is the central bank of Sweden -- was founded in 1668. The Bank of England was founded in 1694. This pressure against centralization is something that's been very central to the United States, and has been pushing against Federal Reserve ever since.



Roger Lowenstein: That's right, Gaby, you're right up on your history with the examples of Sweden and England. The same is true for other countries in Europe. We have had this political fear of centralization. I've said in the book, and think that it really goes back to our history as a people, after all, whose formative political experience was rebellion against the central monarch, King George III. That's our founding political story, that's our political Thanksgiving. Even though that was so many years ago, when you think about the way the country developed, always pushing west, I think the people of the frontier always tended to look back on Washington, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, so on, similar to the way the early colonists looked on the British king, that this centralized power, these East Coast elites, weren't quite to be trusted. They didn't want to give up too much power themselves.



You see this in the very strong movement today, the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. You saw it early in the country's history in things like the Shays' Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion, the settlers in Western Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, which was out West back then -- they didn't want to pay taxes to Washington. In other countries, national healthcare is just sort of something you do. People don't really think about it much. In this country, obviously, it's a very unsettled, difficult issue. Other countries have one system of corporation rules, we have 50, one in every state.



It's not a coincidence, by the way, that the idea for the central bank in the United States really began with the Europeans. One of the heroes of the book, Paul Warburg, who came to this country, a German who emigrated here, and was a banker, couldn't believe that we didn't have a central bank. In his analogy, it was like a town without a water reservoir, with everybody having a little well in their backyard. That obviously wouldn't do it if you had, say, a three-alarm fire. There are reasons why you need to unify the banking reserves and martial them into a more effective resource. But, what other countries take for granted, there's a political segment here that has always kept a very wary eye. That's why, for instance, other countries have one central bank, and we have a central banking apparatus in Washington, we really have 12. We have a bank in Philadelphia, we have one in Richmond, and one in St. Louis, and those 12 banks around the country. The idea there was to mimic the federal organization of the government itself.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Turkey faced a serious challenge last night, but Turkish people and government overcame it with dignity. The coup attempt has been suppressed and the country is returning to a stable life.

Stability in Turkey is an important factor in creation of a modern political architecture not only for Turkey itself and region, but also for the whole world.

Azerbaijan has always supported the Turkish people and the current situation is no exception.

Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev was following the developments in Turkey throughout the whole night with anxiety and was deeply concerned over the ongoing processes, Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani presidents aide for public and political affairs, told Trend July 16.

Azerbaijans president strongly condemned these developments and unequivocally assessed this as a coup attempt and as an impingement against the national interests of Turkish people, the foundations of the countrys democracy and the rule of law, added Hasanov.

Given that currently, Turkey is one of the most effective deterrent forces protecting the world from terrorism (including Armenian terrorism) that poses a threat not only to the region, but also to Europe and other countries, the stability in that country is very important for the world order.

Aside from deterring terrorism, Turkey and Azerbaijan implement a large number of joint projects, including the energy projects, which ensure the energy security of not only the region, but also the continent. Turkeys geographical location allows it to play an important role in the transit of energy resources.

Among the important joint energy projects of Azerbaijan and Turkey is TANAP, which has no alternative today.

TANAP differs from other energy projects in that it is already being implemented.

Ankara is important for the West in terms of establishing peace. Turkey successfully blocks the penetration of terrorist threats across its borders. If a civil war or a coup takes place in Turkey, it is obvious that first of all, the forces which threaten the whole world with global terrorism will take the advantage of this.

There have been deplorable examples of coups in the Middle Eastern countries, after which radical forces or too weak politicians came to power and failed to cope with chaos in the country for several years.

Due to the instability during the "Arab Spring" the world faced dire consequences of heyday of the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group, which has entrenched itself on the border with Turkey.

Moreover, a coup in Turkey would be a blow to NATO military unit in Europe. Beyond the consideration of the nuclear weapon, Turkish army is the second among the NATO member states armies.

Stability in Turkey is very important in terms of ensuring Europes energy security.

---

Elmira Tariverdiyeva is the head of Trend Agency's Russian news service
Greece will examine the request for political asylum by eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in a helicopter earlier on Saturday, two Greek government sources said.

Greece arrested the men after they landed in the northern Greek city of Alexandroupolis. They are due to appear before a Greek prosecutor on Sunday, one of the officials said.

The Black Hawk helicopter the soldiers fled in will be returned to Turkey immediately the sources said.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; editing by David Clarke)
Picking up a few bug bites used to be one of summers rites of passage. Its not so innocent these days: Shielding yourself from ticks and mosquitoes is just as important as wearing sunscreen.

People used to hate to wear [insect] repellent, or say, Oh, I dont care about getting bitten, said Walter S. Leal, PhD, a chemical ecologist and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.

Now, many experts warn that mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus may reach certain parts of the United States. Plus, West Nile has been reported in all 48 continental states. What's more, it's not just mosquitoes we need to be guarding against; ticks are a concern, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates Lyme disease rates have been rising steadily for at least three decades, and ticks can also carry other potentially fatal diseases.

RELATED: Everything You Must Know About Mosquitoes This Summer

Before you rush to the drugstore to stock up on bug spray, here are a few things you need to know.

Keep your eyes peeled for EPA registration

Of the 20,000 products out there to supposedly repel insects, many dont work at all, said Immo A. Hansen, PhD, a molecular vector physiology expert at New Mexico State University whose team recently published a study of repellent efficacy in the Journal of Insect Science.

So when can you actually believe what the label says? Most skin-applied insect repellents must be registered by the Environmental Protection Agency before they reach the market; if you see an EPA registration number on a product label, you know that its been tested for safety and effectiveness. Better yet, as of this year, some products now have a black-and-yellow repellency awareness graphic which clearly states how long they have been proven to repel mosquitoes and ticks; that symbol means the company has provided the EPA with scientific data to support their claims.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Mosquitoes Bite Some People and Not Others

Don't be afraid of DEET

People have the notion that DEET is synthetic and therefore its not a good thing," Leal said. "But its so effective and so good that its lasted for more than six decades."

No other product has been tested for safety and effectiveness in repelling insects more than DEET, Leal says, and reports of health risks have largely been overblown. Plus, it's the only type of repellent that the CDC recommends for tick protection. It's safe to use on children 2 months and older.

"If youre going to stay outside and you dont want to bother with reapplying many times, I think DEET is the best thing we have on the market, Leal said. For most purposes, formulations containing 20 percent DEET are effective, Leal said.

There is one downside to DEET: it has a pesky plasticizing effect that can damage fabrics, surfaces, and materials. It wont harm cotton, wool, or nylon, but materials like rubber, plastic, leather, vinyl, spandex, and even auto paint are fair game, so be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling it.

RELATED: Victorias Secret Perfume Repels Mosquitos, According to Research

Picaridin is also a good choice

Picaridin, another synthetic repellent, is also effective at keeping mosquitoes at bay for extended periods of time. (It may also protect against ticks, but the CDC recommends sticking to DEET if you're going to be in a tick-heavy area.) In a recent Consumer Reports spray-off, a product with 20 percent picaridin repelled mosquitoes for 8 hours and was considered the best repellent overall. While it lacks DEETs distinguished history (its too new for us to know of potential long-term health risksit was just approved for sale in the U.S. in 2005, whereas DEET has been around since 1946), it won't damage your belongings the way DEET can. Stacy Rodriguez, Hansens colleague at the Molecular Vector Physiology Laboratory at New Mexico State University, is investigating the efficacy of repellents containing picaridin this summer.

Candles and bracelets don't work

Rodriguez has studied devices like oil of lemon eucalyptus bracelets and ultrasonic devices, and found none of them to be effective against mosquitos.

At this point in my research, I would strongly suggest spray-on repellents, she said.

You can also forget about citronella candlesresearch shows don't work any better than regular candles at keeping bugs at bay. If keeping bugs out of your backyard is your goal, then your best bet is to eliminate standing water, where mosquitoes thrive.

RELATED: 9 Things You Didnt Know About Mosquito Bites

There is one natural option, but it's not necessarily safer

Synthesized oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) extract (not the essential oil) is also an effective mosquito repellent. While its plant-based, it isnt necessarily safer than lab-based repellents (and it doesn't repel ticks). The FDA cautions that OLE should be avoided for children under the age of 3, as it can cause temporary injury to the eyes.

Which repellent is right for you?

Plug your criteria (insect, protection time, active ingredient of choice, and so on) into the EPAs search tool, or consider one of these formulations.

Ben's 30% Spray

Active ingredient: DEET

This water-based formulation wont evaporate as quickly as alcohol-based formulations do, and it wont take up valuable real estate in a hikers backpack.

To buy: $5; amazon.com

Off! Deep Woods

Active Ingredient: DEET

Aerosol cans take up space, but they make it easy to be sure youre covering every last bit of exposed skin. This product contains 25 percent DEET, and the powder-dry formula never feels sticky or greasy. It provides up to 8 hours of protection from mosquitoes and ticks.

To buy: $9; amazon.com

Repel Sportsmen 30% DEET Wipes

Active ingredient: DEET

These wipes promise up to 10 hours of protection from insects, though Leal cautions that repellent needs to be reapplied more frequently when we swim or get especially sweaty. Some sporty products offer formulations of up to almost 100% DEETand are more than anyone would need, he notes. According to the CDC, concentrations of over 50 percent provide no added protection.

To buy: $6; amazon.com

Sawyer Controlled-Release Repellent Lotion

Active ingredient: DEET

The time-controlled release of active ingredients in this lotion provides protection for up to 11 hoursperfect for a long, long hike.

To buy: $7; amazon.com

Sawyer Picaridin 20%

Active ingredient: Picaridin

This product provides up to 12 hours of protection, and its small enough to be carried on a planewhich is key, according to Leal.

I take a little bottle [of repellent] in my carry-on and have a bigger one checked in my bag when I travel, he said.

You dont want to risk arriving [at a mosquito-infested destination] and not be able to find any repellent on the shelves.

To buy: $9; amazon.com

Natrapel 20%

Active ingredient: Picaridin

Natrapel promises 8 hours of protection and a light floral scent; like other picaridin formulations, its safe to spray on clothing as well. (Never apply repellent under clothing; theres no benefit to that, Leal said. Focus on areas of skin that are exposed.)

To buy: $10; amazon.com

Cutter Advanced Wipes

Active ingredient: Picaridin

Wipes boast both portability and ease of use for facial application; repellent should never be sprayed directly on the face.

To buy: $6; amazon.com

Cutter Lemon Eucalyptus

Active ingredient: Oil of lemon eucalyptus extract

This spray provides up to 6 hours of protection. Thats probably all the protection you need for spending an afternoon in a backyard setting, Hansen says. Someone hiking in the Everglades, by contrast, would probably want to reapply every 4 to 6 hours.

To buy: $8; amazon.com

REPEL Lemon Eucalyptus

Active ingredient: Oil of lemon eucalyptus

Spritz on this bug spray and repel mosquitoes for up to 6 hours.

To buy: $11; amazon.com

Off! Botanicals Wipes

These super-portable, individually wrapped wipes provide 2 hours of protection, so be sure to pack an extra.

To buy: $5; amazon.com

This article originally appeared on Health.com.
Jeanne Mitterando, 46, is a very active family medicine doctor she hikes, skis and works out with a personal trainer. But all that stopped after she was hospitalized for asthma and given high-dose steroids for a month.

The Martinsville, New Jersey woman began experiencing pain in her right hip and soon needed a cane to walk.

I was [doing rounds] at the hospital, but slowly, walking became a problem, she told FoxNews.com. I couldnt do stairs anymore.

Soon, the pain moved into her left hip and she was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, where the bone dies in the femoral head, the highest part of the thigh bone. The condition accounts for 15 percent of all total hip replacements performed every year in the U.S.

But Mitterando didnt want a hip replacement.

If Im active and using a hip replacement, Im going to need new ones, she said. So every time you get a new hip, the integrity of the joint is lost; theres more of a chance of rejection.

Mitterando found Dr. Thomas Einhorn, an orthopedic surgeon at NYU Langone Medical Center, whose taking a different approach by using patients stem cells.

[The stem cells] will become bone-forming cells as they attach to the dead bone and eventually the dead bone will be removed and replaced with live bone, Einhorn told FoxNews.com.

In about one hour per hip, Einhorn can do the procedure on both hips at the same time. First, he extracts bone marrow from the patients femur. Then he transfers the marrow to a device that concentrates the cells. Finally, he drills out some of the dead bone and injects the stem cells into that area.

Patients who dont experience a collapse in their femoral head dont need a hip replacement and this technique can show meaningful change, he said.

Our results are about 65 percent successful and a lot of people will say, Wow, thats great. I want it to be greater than that, Einhorn added.

Post-op patients are able to walk immediately, but Einhorn advises using a cane for six weeks to prevent falling.

Six months after the procedure, Mitterando is back on track, swimming, hiking, doing pilates and yoga.

Its a miracle for me, she said. I can take care of myself. Theres really not much I cant do as far as day-to-day activities right now.

Einhorn is also using the method, which is covered by insurance, for knees and shoulders with similar success.

For more information visit NYULangone.org and Dr. Einhorns website.
The murder of 84 people and wounding of hundreds more in Nice on Thursday is a passing of the torch. It is the third major terrorist attack against France in a year and a half, after the massacres at Charlie Hebdo and the Stade de France, and the tenth one total. The 9/11 era is over: today, France is ground zero. It is caught in a perfect storm of radical Islams loathing, envy, and opportunity.

The war between the radical Islam and the West is at its root a war of symbols, and France represents everything the extremists hate about the West. The French love their wine and food, five-hour workdays and mistresses on the Riviera. There is a laissez-faire enjoyment of life in France that is unique even by Western standards of contentment. The French life is by definition a successful objection to the retrograde medievalism offered by ISIS. That makes it a target. Unfortunately, it is an easy target.

It is a curious thing that Frances cultural hedonism is matched by a highly aggressive foreign policy. During the Cold War, when French President Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from NATOs unified military command, America thought that France was shirking in the face of a common threat. Just like WWII, we said. Cant face the music. Not true  but the French will fight in their own way. They have led recent military interventions in Mali, Libya, and Cote dIvoire, and their troops warred in Afghanistan for a decade. French troops have a presence in ten African countries, and Paris makes no bones about pursuing its national interest by force.

That has made France a vital ally during the last fifteen years, but it also makes the French a target. There is great opportunity for radical Islamic leaders to point the finger and say, see there? France is oppressing us. France is bombing the Islamic community, and you  you Muslims, you Tunisians, you men from Nice and Belgium  you need to take revenge.

Terrorism is a numbers game. Only a tiny fraction of people commit terrorism, but with the right messaging and examples, that fraction will grow larger. If a powerful symbol tells Muslims to kill Frenchmen in the name of jihad, and is seen successfully defying the West, then more Muslims will kill Frenchmen. The ideology legitimizes the behavior. That is what has happened with ISIS. The fraction has grown, and now it is out of control.

Even though no tie between the Nice attacker and the Islamic State has yet been reported, ISIS still matters. It is a powerful symbol of Islamic defiance, like Al Qaeda before it, and needs to be destroyed. The French are now likely to do so. It may be best for President Obamas political legacy not to send combat troops back to Iraq, but he is buying that legacy with French lives. And Belgian ones, for that matter. Turks too. And Syrians above all.

Almost certainly, France will now abandon its subordination to the United States in the ISIS war. It will abandon its efforts to get rid of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and abandon its efforts to rid the Levant of Russian and Iranian influence. Now it needs to destroy the beast. If America will not step up and lead the campaign, Russia is more than willing. The next step might well be a tacit revival of the old French-Russian alliance of a century ago, if not in Europe than in the Middle East. Russia is many things, but if Russian power can keep France safe, Hollande is likely to snatch at it.

Andrew L. Peek is a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and a professor at Pepperdine University.
Friday nights failed coup was Turkeys last hope to stop the Islamization of its government and the degradation of its society. Reflexively, Western leaders rushed to condemn a coup attempt they refused to understand. Their reward will be a toxic Islamist regime at the gates of Europe.

Our leaders no longer do their basic homework.The media relies on experts-by-Wikipedia. Except for PC platitudes, our schools ignore the world beyond our shores. Deluged with unreliable information, citizens succumb to the new superstitions of the digital age.

So a great country is destroyed by Islamist hardliners before our eyesand our president praises its democracy.

That tragically failed coup was a forlorn hope, not an attempt to take over a country. Turkey is not a banana republic in which the military grasps the reins for its own profit. For almost a century, the Turkish armed forces have been the guardians of the countrys secular constitution. Most recently, coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980 (with non-coup pressure in 1997) saw the military intervene to prevent the countrys collapse.

Erdogan will use the coup as an excuse to accelerate the Islamization of his country and to lead Turkey deeper into the darkness engulfing the Muslim world. His vision is one of a neo-Ottoman megalomaniac.

Each time, the military returned the government to civilian rule as soon as that proved practical. My own first experience of Turkey came just before the 1980 coup. Turkey was broke and broken. The economy was in such a shambles that you could not buy a cup of Turkish coffee in Istanbul. I walked because taxis and public transportation had no fuel. Murderous political violence raged. Reluctantly, the generals stepped in and saved their country.

Friday night, mid-grade officers led a desperate effort to rescue their country again. They failed. The West cheered. Soon enough, well mourn.

The coup leaders made disastrous mistakes, the worst of which was to imagine that the absence of President Erdogan from Ankara, the capital, presented the perfect opportunity. Wrong. In a coup, the key is to seize the leaders you mean to overthrow (as well as control of the media). Instead of fleeing into exile, Erdogan was able to return in triumph.

So who is the man our own president rushed to support because he was democratically elected? Recep Tayyip Erdogan is openly Islamist and affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which President Obama appears to believe represents the best hope for the Middle East. But the difference between ISIS, Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood isnt one of purpose, but merely of manners: Muslim Brothers wash the blood off their hands before they sit down to dinner with their dupes.

With barely a murmured Tut-tut! from Western leaders, Erdogan has dismantled Turkeys secular constitution (which the military is duty-bound to protect). His democracy resembles Putins, not ours. Key opposition figures have been driven into exile or banned. Opposition parties have been suppressed. Recent elections have not been held so much as staged. And Erdogan has torn the fresh scab from the Kurdish wound, fostering civil war in Turkeys southeast for his own political advantage.

Erdogan has packed Turkeys courts with Islamists. He appointed pliant, pro-Islamist generals and admirals, while staging show trials of those of whom he wished to rid the country. He has de facto, if not yet de jure, curtailed womens freedoms. He dissolved the wall between mosque and state (Friday night, he used mosques loudspeakers to call his supporters into the streets). Not least, he had long allowed foreign fighters to transit Turkey to join ISIS and has aggressively backed other extremists whom he believed he could manage.

And his diplomatic extortion racket has degraded our own military efforts against ISIS.

Thats the man President Obama supports.

And the leaders of the ill-fated coup? What did they stand for? Mustafa Kemal Ataturks legacy and a secular constitution. One of the great men of the last century, Ataturk (an innovative general by background) pulled Turkey from the wreckage of World War One, abolished the caliphate, suppressed fanatical religious orders, gave women legal rights and social protections, banned the veil, promoted secular education for all citizens of Turkey, strongly advocated Westernization and modernizationand promoted a democratic future.

The officers who led the collapsed coup stood for all those things. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry opposed them.

By Saturday morning, it was clear that the mullahs and mobs behind Erdogan had won. Erdogan will use the coup as an excuse to accelerate the Islamization of his country and to lead Turkey deeper into the darkness engulfing the Muslim world. His vision is one of a neo-Ottoman megalomaniac.

NATO, which operates by consensus, will find itself embracing a poisonous snake. New crises will reawaken old fears in southeastern Europe, which western European states will dismiss condescendingly, further crippling the badly limping European Union. Syria will continue to bleed. And educated, secular Turks will find themselves in a situation like unto that of German liberals in the 1930s. We may see new and unexpected wars.

A desperate, ill-planned coup has failed in Turkey. Here comes the darkness.
The Justice Department said Friday that it will review the Orlando Police Department's response to the attack last month at a gay nightclub.

The city police department faced questions after the June 12 shooting at the Pulse nightclub, in which a gunman who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State killed 49 people, about whether it had waited too long after the rampage began to send in a SWAT team.

The Justice Department will examine the police department's preparedness and response, as well as strategies and tactics it used during the massacre.

The review will be led by the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services office, which offers technical assistance to departments who have experienced high-profile events and emergencies.

Among past reports from the office was one last year that examined the police response to protests in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man. That report called on police to strengthen policies for handling protests and to improve training on diversity, among other recommendations.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina requested the federal review, said Ronald Davis, director of the COPS office. The lessons learned from the review will benefit not only Orlando police but "provide all law enforcement critical guidance and recommendations for responding to future such incidents," Davis said in a statement.

Mina has previously defended his department's response to the rampage, which ended with the gunman, Omar Mateen, being killed by a police SWAT team about three hours after he entered the club.

The chief has said that an early exchange of gunfire between police and Mateen prompted the attacker to retreat into a bathroom and take hostages, shifting the incident from a shooting to a hostage-taking.

Separately Friday, Mina and Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings told a congressional committee that the central Florida region should receive more federal money for preventing and responding to terrorist threats.
The area around the Republican National Convention site in Cleveland increased security measures Friday to thwart a similar attack to what occurred in Nice, France Thursday, adding concrete traffic dividers and tall metal fences.

According to Reuters, security experts said police, U.S. Secret Service agents and other law enforcement officials have viewed vehicles  similar to the truck that plowed through a crowd during Bastille Day festivities in Nice killing 84 revelers  as a potential threat since the early stages of planning for the convention.

However, the decision to add the protective barriers around the Quicken Loans Arena was taken before the attack. Ron Rowe, a high-ranking agent with the Secret Service, said Tuesday that some of the barriers would be going up that day, according to Reuters.

Security officials have mostly focused on stopping a car or truck bomb similar to one that hit the World Trade Center in 1993 and the Oklahoma City federal office building in 1995.

"A vehicle-borne attack is always something you're concerned about," Jason Porter, vice president for the central region of security provider Pinkerton, said.

Officials havent said whether the Nice attack had altered their plans for Cleveland, but did confirm earlier in the week that the Dallas police shootings did.

Police Chief Calvin Williams noted the city had changed its security plans in light of last weeks murder of five police officers in Dallas but said he would not elaborate for obvious reasons.

Williams said planning has been exhaustive and Cleveland is prepared. We invite people to come here enjoy the convention, exercise your constitutional rights and were here to assist you in doing that.

The 74 different agencies providing security will be overseen and coordinated by the US Secret Service. I dont sleep well to begin with, said Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy. He added that when there is an event the size of a convention, with all of its tension and dynamics, an emergency is unavoidable.

Every event has some incident. The key is: do you have a good plan in place? Do you have good leadership that can adapt and be flexible to whatever is thrown your way? And I'm confident that here in Cleveland we have that," Clancy said.

Fox News Michael Tobin contributed to this report.

Click for more from Reuters.
Who made who? Who made you? -- AC/DCs title track for the horror film Maximum Overdrive

Driverless, big rig trucks mysteriously motor to life in Stephen Kings 1986 cult flick Maximum Overdrive. Leading the convoy is one especially malevolent tractor trailer with a ghoulish mask of the Green Goblin festooned on its grille. The sentient semis then barbarically terrorize a North Carolina truck stop.

Supernatural forces are the touchstone of Kings canon. But here, King takes everyday, otherwise inanimate objects like trucks and truly plants a ghost in the machine. This mutates the trucks into faceless, nameless engines of evil which pillage and maim humanity.

French authorities now know that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was behind the wheel of the 19-ton marauding truck that burrowed through a celebratory crowd on the streets of Nice, France.

But the premise behind Bouhlels attack is truly not that different from Kings in Maximum Overdrive. Both Bouhlel and King transmogrified a random truck into a terror tool.

But heres whats so sinister in Bouhlels attack: He was virtually unknown as a terror suspect. After a while, few will recall his face or name. But people will remember the horror of seeing a vengeful, white, Renault Midlum truck bearing down on bystanders.

The only thing missing on the truck in Nice was a visage of the Green Goblin.

From now on, crowds will think of the Renault when they attend the political conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Theyll remember the white truck when they attend a ballgame, an outdoor festival or anywhere a vehicle like that could plow through a throng.

In todays terror world, it doesnt so much matter whos driving the truck. Its just that trucks -- like airplanes -- morphed into malignant objects.

Consider the spate of terrorism attacks in Istanbul, Brussels, Paris, Orlando, San Bernardino and Dallas. Sure, people remember some of the names and faces of the terrorists who perpetrated the attacks.

But what the U.S. and Europe now combat is a faceless movement. People inspired by ISIS or al Qaeda or things they read on the internet. Then they act, using commonly available objects. Certainly firearms. Making crude bombs. Now trucks. And its just not items. Everyday places become killings fields.

A concert hall in Paris. A dark, crowded nightclub in Orlando. Airport terminals. Subway stations. Pick your poison.

And as AC/DC sings in Maximum Overdrive, Who made who? Were terrorists driven by radical Muslims in Syria and Iraq? The phantasm of Osama bin Laden?

Or, was this a reaction to a western way of life? Was this a response to the U.S. launching a pre-emptive war in Iraq in 2003 and finding zero weapons of mass destruction? To what degree did American military intervention in Iraq contribute to chaos in Syria and parts of Iraq, precipitating the rise of ISIS.

I do think ISIS is losing on the battlefield, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday when asked about Nice. Perhaps they have encouraged people to do these types of things. Pathetic souls. Lone wolves.

We dont have all the facts on France right now. But they want to show some acts of cowardice where they attack noncombatant people in a vulnerable situation to make it look like they have some strength.

Who made who? is certainly the right question to ponder.

Characterless. Faceless. Practically nameless. And now we all look askance at trucks.

On Thursday night, a cadre of House Democrats, led by Assistant House Minority Leader Jim Clyburn gathered on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol for a speak out about firearms.

These days, the surge of terrorism floods the news cycle at such a clip that even Democrats couldnt focus their protest solely on firearms.

With the Capitol as a backdrop and facing a fiery sunset across the National Mall to the West, Clyburn immediately spoke of the rampage in Nice and called for a moment of silence.

The South Carolina Democrat talked about beings who are inflicting their notions and how that it brings great sorrow to all of us.

The program featured family members of those who were mowed down by gun violence.

The sit-in was just the beginning, asserted Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who engineered the 26-hour protest on the House floor in June. We will not leave. We will not be satisfied.

But again, even the Democrats calls for votes on firearm legislation dont deal with individual people. Sure, some of the proposals focus specifically on prospective terrorists known to intelligence officials who place their names on the governments no-fly list.

Democrats dont think those listed on that docket should be eligible to acquire firearms. But again, its the objects -- like the trucks and airplanes -- which have been turned to evil.

This raises the question about logic behind these massacres. Its natural to presume there is some rhyme or reason behind attacks, be they in Nice or Orlando.

It was ironic that the House Intelligence Committee convened a brief, closed session Friday to release 28 redacted pages of a 2002 congressional inquiry that studied 9/11.

For years, there was speculation that Congress shielded those pages because they may have implicated the government of Saudi Arabia or the Saudi royal family in the attacks.

I think (publicizing the pages) is the best way to quell conspiracy theories, said Rep. Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat and member of the Intelligence panel that voted for the release. I think time helps with context.

Fellow Democrat and panel member Rep. Jim Himes, Connecticut, thinks lawmakers who redacted the report acted in good faith.

But what is the difference for suppressing the information then compared with today?



Its hard to look back in a prism of time, Himes said.

The 28-page tranche still contained 156 distinct redactions. The section in question focused on individual actors, ranging from someone who was believed to be Osama bin Ladens half-brother to a neighbor who lived near some of the hijackers in San Diego.

An unknown witness told lawmakers probing the 9/11 attacks that both the FBI and CIA recognized the possibility that individuals connected to the Saudi government may be providing support to terrorists.

That supposition alone serves as a stark contrast to the concept of war waged on September 10, 2001, and how we think of conflicts today.

Immediately after 9/11, it may have been natural for intelligence services to presume that various state actors were responsible for the attacks.

But now, the U.S. and Europe is embroiled in asymmetric warfare. They wage battle with figures completely untethered to nation-states or hostile governments.

As Pelosi argued, lone-wolves are engaging civilians. And their weapons of destruction are now iconic. The latest are trucks.

At one point in Maximum Overdrive, one character remarks Maybe tomorrow it will be our world again.

The trucks will just be trucks again. Not engines of evil.

After Nice, its hard to imagine how.
Security is tightening Saturday around the Republican National Convention in Cleveland with top federal officials inspecting the site ahead of dozens of sanctioned protests -- and anticipate rogue events -- that have the potential to create chaos during the four-day event next week.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson inspected the main venue, the Quicken Loans Arena, with Transportation Security Administrator Peter Neffenger, walking through aisles and looking over the main stage on which Donald Trump is expected to accept the GOPs presidential nomination.

Trumps year-long candidacy has been marked by altercations between Trump supporters and protesters inside campaign rallies and angry protests outside some events, even forcing the cancellation of an event this spring in Chicago.

An estimate 4,000 law-enforcement officers from 74 agencies and 2,000 sets of riot gear will be on hand for the event, starting Monday.

(Federal officials said they will make similar inspections ahead of the Democratic National Convention from July 25 to 28 in Philadelphia.)

Eboni Williams, an attorney and Fox News contributor, on Saturday acknowledged that Trump, who is now touting himself as the law and order candidate, has gotten a bump in polls after a terror strike and that he has used the anti-Trump protests to inspire his base.

However, she questioned whether out-of-control protests in Cleveland will help Trump.

If (voters) feel it is Trump whos creating this chaos, it might work against him, she said. I believe they will connect the dots.

An RNC official privately told Fox News that the official "event zone" in Cleveland is too small to ensure a safe convention.

The 1.7-square-mile perimeter is only about half of what planners wanted, a result of the American Civil Liberties Union winning a law suit that gets demonstrators closer to the action.

The 47 approved speakers, or protestors, will make their public addresses from a podium in the middle of the citys Public Square and other public venues, according to Cleveland.com

The city and its police department also approved eight applications from protesters who want to march along an official parade route on Monday.

At least 16 groups or people without official permits are also purportedly expected to hold protests across the city.

Among the groups with permits are Stand Together Against Trump, Peace In The Hood and the Westboro Baptist Church, the Kansas group known for its anti-LGBT, according to Cleveland.com

Security planning for the Republican and Democratic conventions also is now taking into account large-scale threats like the vehicle attack Thursday in Nice, a U.S. Secret Service official said Friday.

"There is nothing we leave to chance," said James Henry, the agency's special agent in charge in Philadelphia.

Planning for the convention in Philadelphia began in October, and security measures cover everything from people jumping fences to organized attacks, he also said.

In Cleveland, federal officials have already restricted road, air and water travel across the city, with security measures affecting passenger and cargo vehicles.

However, officials declined to comment on specific changes following the Nice attack.

The Plain Dealer newspaper reported Friday that scores of paramedics, doctors and nurses will be stationed in and around the arena, in downtown Cleveland to handle everything from minor injuries to multiple casualties.

The medical plan was developed over several months.

Ricky Stokes, 54, a downtown Cleveland resident, said he's comfortable with security, saying the city's been transparent with its preparations by providing town hall briefings with security officials on what to expect.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The University of California at Berkeley confirmed Friday that one of its students was unaccounted for and three others were injured when a terrorist rammed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd in the French city of Nice, killing at least 84 and injuring over 200 others.

The university said in a statement late Friday that junior Nick Leslie, 20, was "the subject of an extensive search by university staff, local officials, and family." A spokesman told KTVU that Leslie was studying abroad in France as part of a 15-day, 85-student exchange program run by UC Berkeley. The statement added that Leslie was the only student missing.

Leslie's father, Conrad, told the Wall Street Journal that he believes his son got out of the way of the truck, but may have been trampled in the panic along the Promenade des Anglais.

"Our real frustration is how long it has taken to develop a list of the victims, Conrad Leslie told the paper. It seems like something you would do immediately."

Ca-Berkeley said two of the three injured students had been released from local hospitals. The university said 23-year-old Vladyslav Kostiuk had suffered a broken leg, while Diane Huang, 20, suffered a broken foot. The third injured student, 21-year-old Daryus Medora remained hospitalized with a broken leg.

Thursday's attack was not the first time Cal-Berkeley has been affected by terrorism. Earlier this month, Indian-born student Tarishi Jain, 19, was killed by Islamic extremists in an attack on an upscale restaurant in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

Click for more from KTVU.com.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has left Istanbul for Ankara, the TRT Haber news channel reported July 16.

Erdogan arrived in Istanbul July 16 in the morning and stayed in the building of the Istanbul Ataturk International Airport for a long time.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the coup attempt have been arrested.
Authorities say a North Carolina sheriff's deputy responding to a 911 call fatally shot a man who pointed a gun at him.

Local media outlets report that Anson County Sheriff Landric Reid says a man pointed a rifle at emergency responders Friday afternoon and a deputy fired on him.

The sheriff said at a news conference that the deputy and the dead man were both white. No identities have been released.

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation spokesman Shannon O'Toole says the agency is looking into a shooting.
Authorities in Southern California said Saturday that three teens who were kicked out of a large house party returned and fired gunshots randomly into the crowd, injuring 14 people.

The Kern County Sheriff's Office said that the victims were hit in the arms, legs and chest. Two people suffered critical injuries, but were expected to survive.

Investigators were searching for three suspects, aged between 16 and 19 years.

The shooting took place shortly before 1 a.m. local time in Bakersfield, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.

Kern County Sheriff's spokesman Ray Pruitt told KNX-AM radio that the homeowners allowed their daughter to host the party. She promoted it on social media and about 150 people arrived  many uninvited.

The Bakersfield Californian, citing a neighbor, reported that the girl's father ejected the teens after a fight broke out in the backyard. They returned a short time later, and at least two of them opened fire.

Neighbors told the paper that the shooters walked up and down the street searching for partygoers who had fled. The paper also reported that the homeowner was grazed in the head by a bullet and was released from the hospital.

No arrests have been made and there's no immediate word on a motive for the attack.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Bakersfield.com.


President Barack Obama's decision to allow more aggressive U.S. military action in support of Afghan combat operations against the Taliban could have a game-changing effect on the long war, Gen. John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said Saturday.

After prohibiting U.S. forces from targeting the Taliban except in limited circumstances beginning in 2015, Obama shifted course last month and said Nicholson could use U.S. airpower and other military assets against the Taliban if it supported offensive Afghan action as part of a strategic campaign plan.

What that amounts to, Nicholson said in an Associated Press interview at his military headquarters in Kabul, is encouragement for the Afghans to stay on the offense.

"Armies win on the offense," he said, alluding to longstanding U.S. concerns that Afghan commanders have been too passive, defensive and lacking in aggressive strategies for pursing the Taliban once the militants begin to lose ground.

"The ability to help the Afghan security forces when they are on the offense is really where we want to be, because when they have the initiative, when they are on the offense, when they are taking the fight to the enemy, that's how they're going to be successful," Nicholson said.

Nicholson said that the attempted coup in Turkey had no impact on the U.S.-led campaign to support Afghanistan in its war against the Taliban.

He said the international coalition he leads includes more than 500 Turkish soldiers and he is pleased with what he called the professionalism of senior Turkish military officers who supported the government against the coup leaders. He said he believes the Turkish government is "going to be fine."

Obama officially ended the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan in December 2014. He had intended to scale back the military presence to leave only a contingent at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, but he recently announced that 8,400 U.S. troops would remain when he leaves office in January. There currently are about 9,800 U.S. troops in the country.

Nicholson said he expects in coming weeks to make increasing use of his wider latitude to support offensive Afghan operations, including as the Afghan security forces turn their attention this month to fighting the Taliban in the east of the country.

The general said this could include not only more use of U.S. combat airpower but also U.S. reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft and resupply planes. Other officials have said it may include the use of U.S. air controllers on the ground to help pinpoint targets for airstrikes against the Taliban.

Ultimately, Nicholson said, this could generate enough Afghan offensive momentum to break the Taliban's belief that they can prevail and compel them to reconcile with Kabul. It's also true that U.S. commanders in Afghanistan have been asserting for many years that enough military pressure can be put on the Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table, but that has never happened. As recently as 2011 the U.S. had 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Also to be overcome is an escalating scale of battlefield casualties suffered by the Afghans. Nicholson said they had about 20,000 casualties last year, which others have said included 5,000-plus killed in action and 14,000-plus wounded. He said casualties in 2016 are running about 20 percent higher than last year.

Those losses, combined with other forms of attrition such as soldiers going AWOL or deserting, have kept the Afghan army under strength for an extended period. Command Sgt. Major Michael S. Clements, the senior enlisted adviser to the Afghan Defense and Interior ministries, said in a separate interview that the Army, which is supposed to have 195,000 soldiers, is listed by the government at about 175,000.

"We suspect they're not as high as that," said Maj. Gen. Richard G. Kaiser, commander of the U.S.-led training mission, known as Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan. He was referring to suspicions that a significant number of soldiers and police officers who are listed on the rolls are actually phantoms; they are kept on the rolls so their salaries can be collected by corrupt commanders.

A Pentagon report to Congress in June said opinion surveys show Afghans feel less secure than at any recent time. "Perceptions of security remain near all-time lows," the report said. Forty-two percent polled in March said they believe security is worse than during the time of the Taliban, which ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.

Nicholson, the top overall U.S. commander in Kabul, said he sees many reasons for optimism in light of what he calls a series of events that have boosted the morale of the Afghan military. Among those is the U.S. killing of the Taliban's leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor. He was killed in a drone strike in in Pakistan in May.

He said it "had a more profound impact than even we estimated that it would."

"It really demonstrated our commitment to them (the Afghans) and to strike at the enemy  something we had not done previously, against enemy leadership in Pakistan," he said.
A Florida prison detainee who escaped from a courtroom remained on the lam Saturday amid fears he was armed.

Broward County sheriff's investigators said they have received information that accused murderer Dayonte Resiles, 21, may have obtained a weapon. They declined to give further details, saying it could harm their search.

Resiles burst out of the Broward County Courthouse Friday morning in a daring escape. He was sitting in a fourth-floor courtroom crowded with defendants and lawyers when he somehow escaped his shackles, jumped over a courtroom barrier and ran past bailiffs. He shed his jail jumpsuit and ran out of the courthouse.

The Broward County Sheriffs Office said Resiles is the subject of an intense manhunt.

At 3 p.m. deputies searched a Fort Lauderdale apartment complex after getting a tip that he had been spotted there, Fox affiliate WSVN-TV in Miami reported Saturday.

After more than two hours, deputies called off the search. Residents were allowed to return to their apartments.

Resiles faces murder and other charges in the Sept. 8, 2014, killing of Jill Halliburton Su, grand-niece of Halliburton Co. founder Erie P. Halliburton. Her body was found, bound at the hands and feet and stabbed multiple times, in the bathtub of her home in Davie, Fla. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

The Associated Press contributed to thise report.


An interfaith gathering will be held at the Rhode Island mosque that was the target of vandalism following the deadly truck attack in Nice, France.

The Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement says the program is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Masjid Al-Hoda, in Kingston, near the University of Rhode Island's main campus.

RICMA says it's calling upon the wider community to stand up against "hate and violence in all forms against any group of people."

Police say someone spray-painted anti-Muslim graffiti in large red letters on the front of the mosque and smashed its windows. It was reported not long after Thursday night's Nice attack.

The vandalism spurred the Council on American-Islamic Relations to call for authorities around the U.S. to increase police patrols to protect Muslim institutions.
More than $150,000 dollars have been raised for a Georgia 19-year-old who was found sleeping in a tent outside the gates of his college last weekend.

Fred Barley, who is homeless, was discovered by two police officers responding to a trespassing call near a parking lot at Gordon State College in Barnesville. He told the officers he had ridden his little brother's bicycle six hours to register for classes for his second semester of college.

In addition to the bike, Barley had two duffel bags containing all his wordly possessions and two gallons of water. All he had to eat, according to a report by WSB, was a box of cereal.

"After meeting Fred, I could tell he was a good kid, Gordon State College Police Officer Dicky Carreker told the Barnesville Herald-Gazette. He was a young kid who had been dealt a bad hand and was trying to make the best out of it. All he wanted was a job."

Carreker and Barnesville Police Officer Maria Gebelein told Barley he couldn't stay in the tent, but they knew someplace he could stay. The officers brought Barley to a nearby motel and paid for two nights accomodation.

"The stuff thats happening with police officers, I am black and he didnt care what color I was," Barley told WSB. "He just helped me, and that meant a lot."

The story, however, doesn't end there. After Carreker posted the story on Facebook, members of the community rallied behind Barley. A GoFundMe page on Barley's behalf had raised $150,000 dollars as of Saturday afternoon.

The owner of a local pizzeria hired him as a dishwasher and promised to work around his class scheduled (Barley wants to major in biology). Other residents have donated clothes, food and a new bike.

"I was not expecting any of this support and am in awe of how this community has come together to help me, Barley told the Herald-Gazette. I was just trying to go to school, find a job and make it on my own. Now it seems as though I am part of a new community and have a new family."

Click for more from Barnesville.com.

Click for more from WSBTV.com.
As a conservative talk-radio host in the 1990s, Mike Pence described himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf."

Two decades later, Pence is the unflappable conservative governor of Indiana who's being plucked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump as his running mate.

Where Trump is impulsive, Pence is cool-headed. Where Trump makes conservatives suspicious, Pence has credibility. And where Trump struggles to draw evangelical Christians, Pence is well-regarded by them.

A favorite quote highlights how Pence might smooth some of the sharp corners of the Trump campaign and its supporters.

"I'm a conservative," Pence says. "But I'm not angry about it."

The former congressman also is a proven fundraiser with close ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and their network of wealthy donors, many of whom have been dismissive of Trump.

"One thing you can say about Mike Pence is he's got a very calm, steady demeanor that in some ways is a little Reaganesque," said Christine Mathews, a Republican pollster for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. "He's a counterbalance to Trump in that way."

Trump announced on Twitter Friday morning that he's selected Pence as his running mate, capping a wild 24 hours of speculation interrupted by the truck attack in Nice, France, that left scores dead.

Not so long ago, their relationship was a little awkward. Trump met privately with Pence before Indiana's primaries, seeking his endorsement. Instead, Pence, under pressure from national conservatives, tepidly endorsed Trump's rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, while still lavishing praise on Trump. Trump won that primary. Before the night was over, Cruz had quit the race.

For Pence, a former six-term congressman, Trump's selection offers a return to national politics after his embrace as governor of conservative social issues sidelined his own presidential ambitions. Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." In 2015 he provoked a national backlash after signing a law that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

Even some Indiana Republicans have questioned his decisions, suggesting Pence has at times seemed more interested in appealing to national conservatives than doing what's best for the state. Pence's support of the state's religious objections law led to a revolt from the business community, which joined gay rights advocates in successfully pushing for changes to the law.

Raised in Columbus, Indiana, in an Irish-Catholic family, Pence revered the Kennedys growing up and has said he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. He later identified as an evangelical Christian and was inspired to join the Republican Party by former President Ronald Reagan, whose "happy warrior" rhetorical style Pence has since tried to emulate.

After attending Hanover College, Pence graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1986. He met his wife, Karen, around the same time and twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress before taking a job at Indiana Policy Review, a conservative think-tank. In a 1991 essay titled "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," Pence swore off harsh political tactics he used in "one of the most divisive and negative campaigns in Indiana's modern congressional history" while calling for "basic human decency."

"That means your First Amendment rights end at the tip of your opponent's nose  even in the matter of political rhetoric," Pence wrote, though he backtracked in the face of a difficult re-election campaign in Indiana.

In Congress, Pence sponsored a few bills that became law as amendments in other legislation. But he built a national following among conservatives for his willingness to buck his own party after opposing President George W. Bush's Medicare expansion and the No Child Left Behind education overhaul. During the early years of President Barack Obama's administration, Pence helped lead the opposition to the Democrat's agenda.

"He has a particularly strong talent, a gift if you will, for being able to stick to principle while making his political opponents or those who disagree with him feel like they are being heard and respected," said Ryan Streeter, a former Pence aide and George W. Bush staffer who is now a public affairs professor at the University of Texas.

Pence's congressional experience is one trait that Trump, who has never held public office, wanted in a running mate.

Marc Short, a former Pence aide and top Koch brothers operative, elaborated: "He's worked with (House Speaker) Paul Ryan. He's worked with the team in House leadership. He's somebody who has deep relationships in the evangelical movement, and he's somebody who has foreign affairs experience."

Pence's one term as governor has drawn mixed reaction, and he has managed to alienate moderate Republicans over social issues.

Groups threatened boycotts over last year's religious objections law and late-night television hosts mocked the policy, leading lawmakers to approve changes.

This year Pence clashed with the local Catholic archdiocese by opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees in Indianapolis.

Pence was also slammed for the planned 2015 launch of "JustIN," a state-operated news service that was ditched after critics panned it as "Pravda on the Plains."

But he has also presided over Indiana's improving economy and plummeting unemployment rate, which Republicans credit to the state's low taxes, limited regulation and pro-business climate.

___

Follow Brian Slodysko on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BrianSlodysko
Lucky's Teriyaki is apologizing and is offering free meals to law enforcement officers after word spread that the restaurant in Washington state didn't want law enforcement to dine there.

Seattle's KCPQ-TV reports the owner's son apologized, and law enforcement members will get free meals Monday at the restaurant in Sedro-Wooley, about 70 miles north of Seattle.

Skagit County Sheriff Will Reichardt says on Facebook four deputies finished lunch at Lucky's Teriyaki on Thursday and were told not to eat there anymore, that customers didn't like law enforcement. The sheriff says his chief deputy later called the owner and confirmed the request and was told to spread the word among law enforcement agencies.

The owner's son says it was a misunderstanding.
Turkeys elected government on Saturday rounded up thousands of soldiers, including high-ranking officers, as it moved quickly to reassert control after a failed military coup to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binaldi Yildirim called the attempted coup a black stain on Turkish democracy that left 161 people dead and 1,440 wounded.

He said 2,839 military personnel had been detained as part of a crackdown on coup plotters.

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. He flew home early Saturday and declared the coup to have failed.

"They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge," Erdogan told large crowds after landing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan has often accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen, however, said he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey" and sharply rejected any responsibility for the attempted coup.

Still, the government pressed ahead Saturday with a purge of judicial officials, with 2,745 judges being dismissed across Turkey for alleged ties to Gulen. Ten members of Turkey's highest administrative court were detained and arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court, state media reported.

After a Turkish military helicopter landed in Greece Saturday after sending a distress signal, the Turkish goverment demanded the prompt return of eight treacherous officers on board the aircraft.

The eight were arrested in Greece for entering the country illegaly and were identified as two majors, a captain and five privates by Anadolu Agency, a state-run news organization.

After landing on Greek soil, they requested political asylum and Greek officials said they would consider the request. The officials also said they would return the helicopter to Turkey "as soon as possible."

The coup attempt was swift and came as a surprise to allies in the region. Forces loyal to Erdogan put down the coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire.

Erdogan vowed that those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason."

NTV television aired footage of a Turkish colonel and other soldiers being taken into custody at military headquarters.

The video shows them being hand-searched by special forces police, their hands behind their heads. Some are later seen kneeling on the ground, their hands still held behind their heads.

According to Hurriyet newspaper's online edition, some of the privates who were detained told interrogators they were not aware that they were part of a coup attempt. They had been told by commanders they were taking part in military maneuvers. Some said they understood that it was a coup attempt when they saw civilians climb on tanks.

Military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was overseeing is taking the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

In Washington, a statement from the White House said President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry agreed that both sides "should support the democratically elected government of Turkey, show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed."

A senior Defense Department official told Fox News that the unrest was having "no impact" on anti-ISIS missions flown out of Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey.

Soldiers with tanks in Ankara streets. F16s are flying around 1000 feet very close to buildings. pic.twitter.com/QoBtvPs246  Ahmet S Yayla (@ahmetsyayla) July 15, 2016

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg issued a statement calling for "calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution."

Leaders of Turkey's religious communities have released a joint statement condemning the attempted coup. The statement from representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities declares "our great sorrow over the terrorist attacks that disturb the peace of our great nation and of the world."

Erdogan made his way to the Ataturk airport early Saturday and spoke to the crowds that gathered to greet him.

"They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Fox News Lucas Tomlinson and the Associated Press contributed to this report. A FoxNews.com correspondent in Istanbul contributed to this report
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Over 2,000 judges have been dismissed in Turkey, the TRT Haber news channel reported July 16.

The decision was made after the coup attempt in the country.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the coup attempt have been arrested.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the U.S. Saturday to extradite a Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania following a failed military coup.

In a televised speech, Erdogan said Turkey had never refused any request by the U.S. to extradite terrorists and invoked Washington and Ankara's relationship as "strategic partners" in an effort to force the return of Fethullah Gulen.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request but Turkey would have to prove wrongdoing by Gulen.

Gulen denied knowledge of the coup to reporters at his Pennsylvania compound Saturday. The cleric said that he knows only a "minute fraction" of his legions of sympathizers in Turkey, so he cannot speak to their "potential involvement" in the takeover attempt.

"You can think about many motivations of people who staged this coup. They could be sympathizers of the opposition party. They could be sympathizers of the nationalist party. It could be anything," Gulen, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 15 years, said through an interpreter.

The frail-looking Gulen, in his mid-70s, said he wouldn't have returned to Turkey even if the coup had succeeded, fearing he would be "persecuted and harassed."



"This is a tranquil and clean place and I enjoy and I live my freedom here," he said. "Longing for my homeland burns in my heart, but freedom is also equally important."

Erdogan and Gulen, former political allies, have fallen out in recent years over Erdogans years-long crackdown on domestic dissent and Turkeys once-open media landscape.

Given the chance Saturday to deliver a message to Erdogan, Gulen demurred.

"If I were to send him a message, he would probably consider it as a slur and reject it," Gulen said, adding, "but I have always prayed for myself and for him. I have prayed to God to lead us to the straight path, to the virtuous path."

The cleric, who left Turkey in 1999, now lives in exile in a Pennsylvania Islamic retreat owned by Turkish-Americans and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. He rarely speaks to the media, but his sermons appear online.

Turkey will not be run from a house in Pennsylvania, Erdogan said in remarks earlier Saturday was quoted as saying by TRT World. Turkey is not a country that can be bought or sold cheaply.

In his own statement, Gulen said he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey" and sharply rejected any responsibility for it.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," Gulen said. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

The Turkish government detained thousands in the military after quashing the coup attempt and reasserting control of the country's two major cities. Authorities said at least 265 people had been killed in the violence and more than 1,400 others were wounded.

Before Friday's coup attempt, more than 2,000 Gulen supporters had been arrested in Turkey on various charges since their split in 2013. In March, Turkish authorities seized control of one of Turkeys largest newspapers, Zaman, which was associated with Gulen.

Even before the latest unrest was under control, Erdogan's government pressed ahead Saturday with a purge of Turkish judicial officials, with 2,745 judges being dismissed across Turkey for alleged ties to Gulen, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. It said 10 members of Turkey's highest administrative court were detained and arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court.

Gulen preaches what many consider a moderate form of Islam. And he has regularly and stridently condemned jihadist terror attacks much more so than Erdogan, say the presidents critics  and typically advocates interfaith dialogue.

Gulens movement is widely considered dangerous in Turkey. In Erdogans view, he is an arch-enemy of the state, whose followers represent a seditious parallel-state within Turkey.

Gulen is specifically accused of scheming to have his followers infiltrate the Turkish government for the purpose of overthrowing Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party, known by its Turkish acronym as the AKP. Gulen also faces espionage charges, and two trials are now being held in absentia.

He is the head of a faith-based social movement that boasts a global following, has deep roots in Turkish society, and cultivates notable influence in the U.S. education through a network of roughly 150 secular charter schools.

Fox News John Lauinger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The ISIS terror group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 84 people in the French resort city of Nice as Frances top law enforcement official said investigators believe the attacker had been radicalized.

The veracity of the group's claim couldn't immediately be determined. It came as French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Saturday that the attacker, identified as 31-yeard old Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, seems to have become radicalized very quickly.

These are the first elements that our investigation has come up with through interviews with his acquaintances, The Washington Post quoted Cazeneuve as saying in Paris.

We are now facing individuals who are responding positively to the messages issued by the Islamic State without having had any special training and without having access to weapons that allow them to commit mass murder, Cazeneuve said, according to the Post.

ISIS claimed Bouhlel was a solider of the group without referring to him by name. The source of the claim, circulated on social media by an ISIS-affiliated news outlet, was a security member with the group.

French police say Bouhlel crashed a 19-ton truck into a crowd of Bastille Day revelers at a fireworks display Thursday night.

Until now the portrait of Bouhlel that has emerged suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in the group's ultra-puritanical brand of Islam.

It's also unclear whether or not he was acting alone. The Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday that five people are in custody following the attack.

The identities of most of those brought into custody were not clear. But neighbors in the Nice neighborhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated Press his estranged wife had been taken away by police on Friday.

On Nice's seaside boulevard, the famous Promenade des Anglais, a makeshift memorial of bouquets, candles and messages commemorates the victims of the deadly attack.

France is observing three days of national mourning in homage to the victims -- although that hasn't stopped politicians from sniping at each other over who bore responsibility for the failing to stop the attack.

In an open letter published on the Nice Matin newspaper's website, regional council President Christian Estrosi -- a member of France's opposition Republicans -- described the country's current leadership as "incapable." He said he had requested that the police presence be reinforced in Nice ahead of the display but was told there was no need.

France is heading into elections next year, and the deeply unpopular French President Francois Hollande is facing multiple challengers from within his Socialist Party, from the right-wing Republicans, as well as the far-right National Front.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva  Trend:

Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was able to defeat last nights coup attempt due to three key factors, says Matthew Bryza, former US Assistant Secretary of State for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan.

First and most importantly, massive numbers of private citizens flooded the streets of Istanbul in response to President Erdogans call for them to defend democracy, Bryza told Trend July 16.

Second, he went on to add, Umut Dundar, the commander of the First Turkish Army, based in Istanbul, expressed his opposition to the coup, which meant private citizens could go into the streets without fear of the military killing them.

The commanders statement also helped President Erdogan secure a safe place to land his aircraft and coordinate events on the ground while Ankara (including parliament) was still under the attack, he said.

Third, Turkeys major opposition political parties all expressed opposition to the coup attempt, said Bryza. Taken together, these three factors mean that respect for the rule of law and democracy brought  or are bringing  stability back to Turkey.

Stability in Turkey is always important for the West, especially for the United States, he added.

Turkey is one of only two democracies in the Middle East, which is an important factor in itself, believes Bryza.

Indeed, many of us in the US believe that stability derives from legitimacy, which requires democracy, he said.

Bryza noted that in terms of military security, fighting terrorism and Islamist extremism, a stable Turkey is obviously essential.

Turkey is now providing a crucial platform for launching air strikes into Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh), and its mere existence as a democratic state provides a powerful counterargument to the medieval fanaticism of the IS, said Bryza.

A coup attempt was launched in Turkey late on July 15 by a group of Turkish military servicemen.

There were reports saying that Istanbuls Ataturk Airport was seized.

Acting Chief of General Staff Umit Dundar said July 16 that Turkish Army has nothing in common with the military coup attempt.

Dundar said the army, the government and the Turkish people have been able to prevent the coup attempt together.

He also said that Turkish Armed Forces killed 104 servicemen, who intended to carry out the coup.

Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that 161 people were killed during the attempted military coup in the country.

Yildirim said 2,836 servicemen involved in the coup attempt have been arrested.
The Turkish prosecutors issued detention warrants for 140 members of the country's Constitutional Court and 48 members of the Supreme Court over their alleged involvement in a military coup in the country, local media reported on Saturday.

According to the NTV broadcaster, ten out of 188 judges have been detained so far.

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup is taking place in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military.

The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life. Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
Athens promised to extradite to Ankara eight alleged participants of the military coup attempt who fled to Greece, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, a helicopter with eight alleged coup supporters on board landed in Alexandroupolis. Turkey asked Greece to return them.

The Greek authorities replied that they will return the helicopter but will apply general procedure to the detained passengers who intend to ask for asylum in the country.

"I had a phone talk with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. He told me that eight rebels who fled to Greece would be returned shortly," Cavusoglu said in his Twitter account.

On Friday, a military coup attempt was carried out in Turkey. According to the Turkish General Staff, 104 coup supporters were killed, while 47 civilians, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers died in clashes. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Edrogan accused Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen, an outspoken critic of the government in self-imposed exile in the United States, of organizing the unrest.
Viaja Compara Launches Hispanic Travel Comparison Search Engine

Site is first completely free Mexican metasearch engine for flights hotels and car rentals for travelers around the world, reports ViajaCompara.com

--

It comes as no surprise that tourism is one of the top industries in states such as Florida and many other mild weathered states, but what does surprise many business analysts is where these tourists dollars are coming from: the Hispanic population. Recent industry statistics show travel from the Hispanic sector has grown faster than that of the general market and will impact the annual economy at more than more than $56 billion. And while high unemployment and gas prices have taken a hit on the US travel and tourism industries, Hispanic families are continuing with their travels, spending more cash per trip than that of the general population.

With this in mind, Jimena Ramirez has recently launched the first Mexican metasearch engine comparing the major tourism providers. There, the site compares flights, hotels and car rentals. Says Ramirez, "Because the Hispanic family tends to travel together, they want to compare rates on everything from sightseeing to multiple hotel rooms. Our site gives them the perfect opportunity to do so from their tablet, PC or smart phone. At Viaja Compara (ViajaCompara.com) the Hispanic traveler can easily plan their trips in their native language and find the perfect deals for their family."

The site, which Compare Travel Deals to cities all over the world, offers flexibility to the Hispanic traveler whether he's departing from a port in Mexico, the US or some other port. Continues Ramirez, "We're proud of our new site because it offers all of the best travel sites in one place. A traveler can get exceptional deals on destinations all around the world. We are much more extensive than any travel agency and we're also offering personalize service with our expert call center."

Ramirez emphasizes what a time saver this type of search engine is for travelers is, especially one in Spanish. "And if you don't know where you want to travel this year, we have recommendations to give you a vacation you'll never forget. From Puerto Vallarta to New York, we have deals to fit all budgets, be it for business or family travel."

About Viaja Compara:

Viaja Compara is the first Mexican metasearch engine offering a comparison of the most important tourism providers in the world, flights, hotels and car rental 100% free for the user, accepting any form of payment.

For more information, please visit http://www.viajacompara.com/aerolinea/vivaaerobus.html

Contact Info:

Name: Jimena Ramirez

Organization: Viaja Compara

Phone: +52 55 5095 1641

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/viaja-compara-launches-hispanic-travel-comparison-search-engine/123772

Release ID: 123772

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About SoCalInternetLawyer.com:

A San Diego law firm, SoCalInternetLawyer.com provides services to businesses ranging from small start-ups to large international corporations. Principle attorney Richard A. Chapo, Esq. offers more than 20 years of experience practicing in the areas of the DMCA, privacy, terms of service, COPPA, trademarks and other online legal topics.

For more information, please visit http://www.socalinternetlawyer.com

Contact Info:

Name: Richard Chapo

Organization: SoCalInternetLawyer.com

Phone: (800) 966-1679

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According to 2015 statistics, breast lifts and augmentations were at the top of the list of most-requested procedures. Consequently, My Surgery Miami has launched with two extensive articles on the topic. Cohen said, "So many women are seeking information about breast implants. Along with breast lifts, implants can do a lot to combat the effects of aging and really boost a woman's self-confidence. That was one of the first topics we researched and put up on the blog, and we're pleased to see the articles have already gotten a lot of views." One of the articles details the process of getting an implant, explaining the risks clearly and listing important considerations before getting the surgery. Another article investigates factors that affect the cost of implants, such as location, type of implant, and associated fees.

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About My Surgery Miami

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For more information, please visit http://www.mysurgerymiami.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Jordan Cohen

Organization: My Surgery Miami

Address: 51 SW 11th Street #1333 Miami, Florida 33130

Phone: 786-380-1789

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Should I Sign Launches, Bringing Transparency to the Legal Services Industry

"Legal Made Easy" - the mantra of a new service that allows New York residents to request and select free, detailed proposals from vetted attorneys, with expansions into other states to come soon

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The founders of Should I Sign Naitik Patel and Tej Prakash, announced the launch of the new Online Legal Marketplace at www.ShouldISign.com. Site visitors from throughout New York State can get a Free Legal Quote now, with service expansions into other states to follow soon.

Should I Sign has been designed from the ground up to do away with the cost- and time-related uncertainties normally faced by small businesses and individuals when they seek legal assistance. Users of the brand-new online legal marketplace submit requests describing their needs, after which pre-vetted attorneys respond with free, detailed, fully transparent proposals. This unique new option is set to disrupt the Online Legal Services industry, saving users time and money and greatly streamlining the process of securing legal counsel for individuals and businesses alike.

"We're excited to announce that Should I Sign is online and now serving residents of New York State," Should I Sign co-founder and co-CEO Tej Prakash said, "Far too much time, effort, and money has been wasted over the years as people and businesses sought help with their legal issues. Should I Sign provides a better way of connecting with the right attorney. With everything from proposed fixed fees to time to completion and scope of work detailed up front through free proposals, our users are already saving time, money, and hassle. We're proud of what we have to offer, and we look forward to opening up the service to those in other states very soon."

While large companies might be able to afford and justify keeping attorneys on staff or retainer, that is rarely the case for individuals and smaller businesses. Instead, most of these occasional users of legal services tend toward ad-hoc means of finding appropriate legal representation.

Word-of-mouth from family members, friends, and business acquaintances might seem convenient, but relying on such sources tends to limit the options and produce less-than-perfect matches. Conventional online legal directories tend to err in the opposite direction, offering up a huge range of choices that can become almost impossible to narrow down with any accuracy or direction.

Should I Sign offers an alternative that is already proving to be just what individuals and SMBs need as they seek to address their unique legal needs. Should I Sign users submit free requests describing their legal-service requirements, after which experienced and; carefully vetted attorneys respond with their proposals.

With Should I Sign enforcing thoroughgoing transparency in the resulting proposals, site users can quickly and easily make well-informed decisions. From pay-per-minute legal consultations over the telephone to fixed-price, legal document review or prepartion. Should I Sign brings light and simplicity to what is otherwise often a murky, complex process. With integrated billing (with accurate automatic call time tracking), messaging and document tools, there is no better way for individuals and businesses to arrange for the legal help they need.

Should I Sign is online now at www.ShouldISign.com and currently available to residents of New York State. Service expansions for visitors from other states is planned for the very near future, and all are invited to visit the site to learn more in the meantime.

About Should I Sign:

With free, detailed proposals from carefully vetted, experienced attorneys, Should I Sign makes it easy for individuals and businesses to arrange for the legal assistance they need.

For more information, please visit http://www.ShouldiSign.com

Contact Info:

Name: Tej Prakash, Co-CEO

Organization: Should I Sign

Address: 1460 Broadway New York, NY, 10036

Phone: 646-661-4023

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/should-i-sign-launches-bringing-transparency-to-the-legal-services-industry/123520

Release ID: 123520

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Award-Nominated Celebrity Stylist Dawn Shannon Celebrates 13-Year Anniversary

Celebrating a milestone 13-year anniversary as a successful businesswoman in Tampa Bay, celebrity stylist Dawn Shannon owns two thriving salons and plans to open a third location.

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With two thriving salons and plans to open a third location, celebrity stylist Dawn Shannon is celebrating a milestone 13-year anniversary as a successful businesswoman in Tampa Bay.

Dawn Shannon's Intuition Salon & Spa has been an active member of the Tampa Bay area for many years. Now celebrating the 13th anniversary of the first location in downtown Clearwater, Intuition Salon & Spa has grown to two locations with a third planned for the near future.

"I knew that if I wanted to create the type of environment I desired for my clients that I would need to step out on my own and open a salon myself. So, when I was still in my 20's I took a huge risk and it paid off," said Dawn Shannon, owner of Intuition Salon & Spa.

Having worked with celebrities such as Kelly Preston, George Takei, Justin Hayward and others on photo shoots, magazine covers, videos, personal appearances and award winning documentaries, Dawn Shannon brings a wealth of talent and achievement to the Tampa Bay community, contributing to local fundraisers and fashion shows throughout Clearwater and St. Petersburg.

With the Clearwater location thriving and the expansion of Intuition Salon & Spa into a second location in St. Petersburg, Dawn has now been nominated for the prestigious Tampa Bay Business Journal's 2016 Businesswoman of the Year award.

"Giving back to the community is important to me." said Shannon. "I really enjoy volunteering our time and services to help promote events in the Tampa Bay area. Being nominated for the Businesswoman of the Year award is definitely an honor."

To learn more about Dawn Shannon and Intuition Salon & Spa please visit

http://www.intuitionsalonandspa.com/

About Dawn Shannon: ?With over 23 years of experience, Dawn Shannon, has worked with local and national celebrity client's around the country and founded Intuition Salon & Spa to create a friendlier high-end salon environment, where every client can experience the Intuition Magic. Requiring that every artist working in her salons continue their advanced training in color, cut and style, ensures the quality Dawn demands at Intuition while maintaining a relaxing, professional and fun salon experience. Specializing in organic color and color correction, Dawn Shannon's Intuition Salon & Spa has two locations in the Tampa Bay area. For more information visit http://www.dawn-shannon.com/

For more information, please visit http://www.intuitionsalonandspa.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Diane Stein

Organization: Intuition Salon & Spa

Address: 16 N Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater, FL 33755

Phone: 727-871-5715

Release ID: 123732

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Oya Bodywear Expands Its Already-Vast Collection To Include Lingerie

Canada's top online bodywear store is embracing the $82.1 billion dollar demand in this global niche market, reports www.oyabodywear.com.

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Oya Bodywear, Canada's premier shapewear online store for women and men, has confirmed that it is currently experiencing the hottest summer of sales in the company's four year history. On the heels of this celebration, the company has decided to extend its already-expansive line to include lingerie. With official figures revealing that the international lingerie market is set to be worth a staggering $82.1 billion in 2016, Oyabodywear is benefitting from the worldwide surge in sales of intimate clothing and is now stocking a top of the range selection of lingerie choices.

Since 2012, the company, Canada's leading online supplier of the world's best women's shapewear and hosiery brands, has built up a loyal customer base across North America of shoppers seeking the finest quality choices in shapewear, hosiery, stylish underwear for men, and now lingerie.

"We are proud to be Canada's market leader in this massive global industry sector. It is wonderful to unveil the addition of lingerie," asserted Faten Hodroge, President, and Co-Founder of Oya Bodywear. "What better satisfaction is there than choosing from hundreds of top quality collections that make women of all shapes, sizes, and ages look slimmer instantly and feel ultra-fashionable? We are hoping that our customers will love our Lingerie collection as much as our shapewear and hosiery and get that same great feeling wearing it. We are part of the hugely successful Oya Costumes family and our team is committed to growing this business even more between now and the end of the year through lingerie."

Oyabodywear has a team of committed professionals that gives their undivided time and attention to each customer's order, provides a great online shopping experience at www.oyabodywear.com, and strives to build long term trust. Styles in the sophisticated new lingerie collection include babydolls and chemises, bodystockings, bras, corsets and bustiers, garter belts, leggings, lingerie sets, panties, plus size lingerie, robes, and teddies.

About Oya Bodywear:

Oya Bodywear was established in Canada in 2012 to supply the best quality and trendiest bodywear and lingerie across North America. The company's motto is "Add more style to your fun." They invite their customers to explore how they can avail themselves of free shipping today by visiting: http://www.Oyabodywear.com. For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Ms. Hodroge at (877) 935-3242, or write to the company at info@oyacostumes.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.oyabodywear.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Faten Hodroge

Organization: OyaBodywear

Phone: 1-877-565-2626

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/oya-bodywear-expands-its-already-vast-collection-to-include-lingerie/123782

Release ID: 123782

For more information visit r



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Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16

Trend:

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded the US for extradition Fethullah Gulen, NTV TV reports on Saturday.

He also noted that the movement of Fethullah Gulen, Islamic public figure currently residing in the US, stands behind the attempted military coup.

The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters were identified and would be apprehended as the country was returning to normal life.

Over 180 people were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have already been detained, according to the prime minister.
Air operations at Incirlik Airbase in the southern Turkish city of Adana have been halted following the Turkish governments decision to close its airspace to military aircraft, the Pentagon said Saturday.

Turkish military aircraft fired on major Turkish cities in an attempted coup overnight Friday, prompting Ankara to close its airspace. At least 161 people died in the violence.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that U.S. officials are working with their Turkish counterparts to resume air operations out of Incirlik as soon as possible.

The airbase, which is home to the Turkish Air Force and the U.S. 39th Air Base Wing, has been a key part of the anti-Daesh campaign, with the U.S.-led coalition flying sorties and reconnaissance flights from the site.

Cook said that US. facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power following a loss of commercial power to the base. He said the power cut has not affected base operations.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is working to fully account for all Pentagon personnel in Turkey, Cook said, stressing that all indications point to everyone being safe and secure.

We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, our civilians, their families and our facilities, he said.
A man has been arrested and charged over the theft of livestock worth 11,000.

The 22-year-old, who has not been named, is charged with stealing pedigree Suffolk sheep from a farm in Bilbster, in the Scottish Highlands.

He has been bailed to appear before magistrates in Caithness.

See also: Thousands of sheep thefts go unrecorded each year

Officers from Police Scotland swooped to arrest the man at his address following the incident.

All the stolen sheep were retrieved and returned to the farmer.

The mans arrest follows a crackdown by police, NFU Scotland and other farming organisations, on sheep worrying and livestock rustling.

Jim Whiteford, NFU Scotlands regional board chairman for the Highlands, said: This arrest is a positive step in stamping down on livestock thefts across the country.

The swiftness of the arrest should send a message to thieves that this will not be tolerated.

Mr Whiteford urged farmers and crofters to check their stock regularly and report any thefts and suspicious activity on 101.

According to NFU Mutual, rural crime costs Scotland an estimated 2m/year.

In 2013, 4,200 sheep were reported stolen from Scottish farms.
'Shadowhunters' Season 2 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Cast Have Become Gym Buffs, Are They Going To Battle With Valentine's Army In The New Season?

Being a Shadowhunter is hard work. Aside from hunting down demons to protect the world, it also involves a lot of heavy lifting, literally.

The cast of "Shadowhunters" season 2 seem to be enjoying their time off before the Freeform show returns early next year. Series stars Katherine McNamara, who plays Clary Fray, and Alberto Rosende, who plays Simon Lewis, have taken to social media to share just how they're spending their down time: at the gym.

The "Shadowhunters" season 2 star actress tweeted a photo of herself at the gym, warning the demons that she is out to get them. Her co-star, Rosende also shared his thoughts in a tweet that would encapsulate what most gym-goers feel after a workout. Both stars are currently training with celebrity trainer Nuno De Salles.

McNamara and Rosende are not the only ones who are into fitness, as Harry Shum Jr., who plays Magnus Bane, is also lifting the heavy weights, as evidenced by a photo he recently shared.

Shum Jr. shared that it was his insecurities as a skinny kid that pushed him to get into fitness via lifting. He wrote on his Instagram, "From then on, I became healthier and stronger both body and mind. Constantly striving to be the best version of myself."

Fitness is no doubt the key to keeping healthy and looking great, especially for TV stars such as McNamara, Rosende, and Shum, Jr., but all this training can make one wonder if they are training for something specific to "Shadowhunters" season 2? Are they going up against Valentine and his army? Now that Valentine has the Cup, it won't be too hard for him to form a legion, and start a war.

It may be possible that "Shadowhunters" season 2 would involve a war between Valentine and his minions, and Clary's squad. What do you want to see happen in the series when it returns for its sophomore season next year? Comment your answers below!
Members of the Corvallis branch of the NAACP say they don't want to just talk about racial tensions: They are putting together a plan to address them.

Before the organizations monthly meeting Thursday night at the Westminster House, several local black leaders, NAACP members and concerned citizens took part in an informal panel discussion addressing national racial issues following the last weeks fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

The discussion drew more than 30 people and panelists included Barry Jerkins, president of the Corvallis-Albany branch of the NAACP; Terrance Harris, director of the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University; and Jason Dorsette, associate director of the Cultural Resource Centers at OSU.

Jerkins opened the discussion by offering praise for Tuesday nights peaceful protest organized by Corvallis SURJ and other peaceful protests happening around the country  but noting that he is now looking for a plan.

We all are aware of what has been occurring. We know whats happening. We should now be looking for action items. What can we do? Jerkins asked the crowd.

Over the course of the meeting, leaders and community members discussed and proposed several action items, including reviewing local policing policies, providing training oversight for officers, establishing a local committee on black affairs, hosting regular meetings with police officials, investing in economic development for people of color, boycotting certain products, and encouraging black businesses and citizens to move to Corvallis.

Jerkins, a former federal police officer, said he would like to see a plan brought to the Corvallis City Council that included a three-pronged approach focused on preventive measures, response protocols for possible racially motivated incidents, and deterrence and oversight for police actions and training.

No one at the meeting expressed specific issues with local police and Jerkins added after the meeting that the NAACP continues to have a good working relationship with the Corvallis Police Department.

We are working with law enforcement to be proactive and prevent it from happening here, Jerkins said. Right now, things are still in the discussion phase on how and what we want to present to address these things.

Dorsette said during the meeting that he appreciated the Corvallis Police Department and Benton County District Attorneys Office, and that he felt awful for the officers killed in Dallas last week.

What I would like to see is these types of conversations with officers. We need some officers who are well-equipped and trained to become a social justice educator in uniform and for them to come forward and challenge what theyre learning, Dorsette said. Challenge what youre learning.

Harris agreed.

We know there are not all bad cops out there, Harris said. But for officers, you know that there are some who are doing dirty stuff. And its important you call that out.

Harris later added that as a community he also would like to see people not be afraid to speak about race relations.

We are a part of one race, the human race, but we also have to acknowledge our differences and appreciate our differences, Harris said. And we need you to recognize that if you have privileges to check them at the door.

Thursday nights discussion underscored the tension felt nationally. Corvallis Police Officer Taylor Lawrence sat in full uniform in the back of the room as the discussion began. Lawrence said during the meeting that he was there to show his support and to listen.

There is a problem with policing today; it is broken, Lawrence said. The question is how do we fix it. How do we come together and not divide further apart?

Jerkins said after the meeting that he appreciated Lawrences input, but that showing up in uniform made the situation tense.

I think his intentions were well-meaning, but it was bad timing, Jerkins said.

Jerkins added that its was his understanding that while Lawrence was in attendance and in uniform, he was not representing the Corvallis Police Department in an official capacity.

Dorsette agreed that Lawrence's presence added tension, but he also said it highlighted the need to bridge gaps and continue meeting with local law enforcement.

Sometimes those meetings may get a little out of hand; they may get tense. We may be triggered, Dorsette told the crowd. I almost left. And I said, you know what, if I leave, Im running away from it. Some of you may have wanted to leave. But youre here. And we need to celebrate that. And we need to hold each other accountable. Because things are going to get uncomfortable. Thats how change happens.

In the meantime, Dorsette suggested possible changes people can make in their everyday lives.

If you see or hear something, say something, Dorsette said. When I dont recycle, somebody tells me Jason, you threw this can in the trash and didnt recycle. If you can recycle a darn can, why cant you stand in solidarity for black folk?
More than 130 members of the judiciary across Turkey were held Saturday over Friday's attempted coup.

According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, a total of 132 prosecutors and judges were detained and prohibited from leaving the country.

The detainees are accused of being members of FETO, the terrorist organization led by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen.

Friday night saw military elements make a vile attempt to overthrow Turkeys elected government, according to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Around 160 people were martyred in the ensuing violence.

Some 2,839 military personnel involved in the coup attempt have been arrested, and 20 pro-coup soldiers, including some senior officers, were killed in the attempt to overthrow the government.

The government has said the coup bid was organized by followers of expatriate Turk Gulen, who is accused of pursuing a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through supporters within the Turkish state, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Cultural festival : Africas heart beats in Bonn

Bonn The motto is We are Africa. This weekend, the Africa-Orient cultural festival is taking place in Bonn.

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Since Friday afternoon, the smell of Africa has filled the streets of the inner city of Bonn. Food and drink offerings include glasses of sugar cane juice, hot date tea, camel goulash, couscous with vegetables and many other dishes. At more than 30 stands, participants are displaying art, crafts and food specialities from their home countries.

We want to portray a different picture of Africa, explains Fouad El Hasnaoui, chair of the organization Vielfalt verbindet (Diversity connects). Africa is a continent that encompasses more than just poverty, hunger and corruption. We have to put ourselves on display and present our diversity. There 155 different countries in Africa and we speak more than 2000 languages. Because of this, Hasnaoui hopes that many residents of Bonn feel spoken to by the variety in the program. This makes it possible to build a bridge between Africa and Europe.

Until Sunday evening there is music and singing at the stage at Bottlerplatz, and at the same time there is a cultural tent at Friedensplatz hosting discussions, workshops and presentations, and readings. Of course themes surrounding fleeing the country and the reasons behind migration play a special role. This topic has affected all of us over the last year. Therefore, we will primarily focus on discussing migration and its underlying causes, says Souad El Hasnaoui, who has organized the festival with her husband.

Success in integrating refugees into the job market was modeled by the IHK (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and the CSR Kompetenzzentrum (Corporate Social Responsibility center) at the beginning of the festival in the cultural tent. Carmen Martinez Valdes of the organization Ausbildung statt Abschiebung (Education not Deportation) introduced Ghulam Qasimi. Three years ago, the 19-year-old fled Afghanistan and came to Germany. After graduating from the Realschule (a type of high school), he will begin a commercial office-management training in August.
60 Jihadist returnees in NRW : Alleged ISIS helper arrested

Karlsruhe/Cologne An 18-year-old German national has been arrested in North Rhine Westphalia for allegedly supporting the Jihadist group Islamic State (ISIS).

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He apparently offered to translate and correct errors in texts written in English, Turkish and German. The Attorney Generals office in Karlsruhe released this information on Friday.

Investigations show that since the beginning of June, nine texts had been corrected and parts of them published online. The man, his name given as Mikail S. was taken in by law enforcement officials on Thursday. Following that, the Federal Court ordered his arrest and for him to be placed in preliminary detention.

According to the NRW Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, there are apparently 60 Jihadist returnees in NRW at this time. They are an especially high security risk and are under surveillance, said a spokesperson for the office, Jorg Rademacher. Some of the returnees are in prison. In all of Germany, there are 270 who have returned from Jihad and are under surveillance.
Rhine fair and Cologne fireworks : Fair and fireworks to go on despite attack in Nice

Dusseldorf The Dusseldorf fair will continue as planned with fireworks on Friday, in spite of the terrorist attack in Nice. Security at the Kolner Lichter fireworks festival is also intensifying.

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After discussions with the parties involved, it was concluded that The fireworks will carry on as planned today, as a sign that we will not let our zest for life be taken away. The organizers of the Dusseldorf Rheinkirmes (Rhine fair), one of the biggest public festivals in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) sent out this message on Friday in Dusseldorf. It is meant to signal that you cannot oppress or undermine a free society, explained Lothar Inden, head of the rifle club St. Sebastianus which is hosting the event.

It was decided that the festival opening would include a moment of silence as a sign of solidarity with the victims and others affected by the terrorist attack in Nice. At the fair, the themed rides Hangover and Power Tower will be illuminated in the colors of the French flag. Other rides will also display French flags. The fireworks will already take place at the beginning of the festival on the occasion of the 700-year anniversary of the rifle club.

After the terrorist attacks in Nice, the NRW Ministry of the interior is re-examining police deployment during major public events. Where necessary, police presence will now be further increased, announced NRW interior minister Ralf Jager on Friday in Dusseldorf. For the Kolner Lichter fireworks festival on Saturday, NRW will deploy 1000 officers. Colognes own police force presence at the event will increase from 250 to 670 officers.
Chinese women now have more decision-making capabilities in the household compared to a few decades back. (Photo : Reuters)

Youth from all over the world gathered in Beijing recently to hold a nine-day event to promote gender equality. The theme of the event is "smart lady, smart life." The event was launched last July 11.



This event, organized by the 2016 Beijing International Youth Action, is a series of activities to be held for 9 days. These activities include sessions on women's empowerment, inheritance of traditional culture and natural heritage and international exchange.



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Over 30 volunteers from 10 countries participated in the event.



Mia Jianhua, vice secretary general of the Chinese Society of Education, is one of the hosts. She said that this event is part of the government's efforts to meet one of the UN's Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).



Part of meeting the MDGs, China intends to build an environment which is harmonious and inclusive to women's development. Beijing is aiming to be the international center of communication for women all over the world.



The endeavor is in line with the government's efforts to promote sustainable development for women. Event organizers and hosts are the Beijing's Women's Federation, the Beijing Women's International Communication Center and the foreign office under the municipal government.



The Chinese government is known to fight for women's rights for the past 20 years. In 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a substantial donation of $10 million to UN Women. This huge donation will fund over a hundred projects on training of 130,000 women in developing countries.



President Jinping also included a gender and development agenda when he announced his candidacy for the G20 presidency.



Professor Peng Liyuan, China's first lady, has been lobbying for reforms on global policy on women. She hosted events among UN officials last year to push the agenda of gender issues.


Chinese consumers go to IKEA when buying furniture or for the store's open bed policy. (Photo : Getty Images)

Swedish furniture giant IKEA will recall their unstable Malm furniture line of chests and drawers in China.



The decision came after many vocal Chinese consumers complained that IKEA was discriminating them. The Malm line was still in Chinese stores amidst recalling over 29 million pieces of chests and drawers in Canada and the United States.



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The product recall in North America transpired two weeks ago, after being linked to the death of six children.



When IKEA refused to recall their product from their Chinese outlets, consumers complained online and through government controlled media. Government controlled newspaper Xinhua accused IKEA of committing "blatant bullying."



The government-run General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine claimed that after meeting IKEA, the company decided to change their minds.



Last Tuesday, the furniture company decided to recall about 1.7 million pieces from their stores. IKEA offered free home installation and an optional refund.



IKEA's spokeswoman, Xian Jiaxin, said, "IKEA is a very responsible company. Consumer protection is very important to us, which is how we came to this decision."



Many Chinese shoppers go to IKEA for their furniture needs. As a result, the Swedish company incurred a large amount of sales. By September 2015, total revenue totaled to $1.55 billion.



The furniture company is determined to firm its hold in the vast Chinese retail market. Total retail sales annually is worth $4.5 trillion in China, which will soon exceed sales from the United States.



Jeff Walters, managing director of the Boston Consulting Group said, "If you look across the world and you look where there is still significant growth in consumer spending, the answer is very much China. Of course any company is going to make sure it's standing on the right side of regulation to have access to a market that size."



Many Chinese consumers are becoming more discriminating due to violation of rights in the past. Since then, government inspectors have been more stringent in regulation and inspection of goods and products.


India's first driverless pod-taxi coming to give you some relief from traffic! News oi -Harshita

It seems like North India will be the first in India to get the country's first ever pod-taxi. If happens, the pod-taxi will be a good relief from traffic problems that are faced by commuters in India on every day basis. It is expected that India's first Metrino pod-taxi line will go into construction by the end of this month.

The pod-taxi project is a ropeway based electric cable car-like system with driverless pods that run on electricity. The pods will come and go from designated stations, with around 16 stations within a stretch of 13km.

Can you find an iPhone dropped on this floral carpet?

The project has got a green signal from the Central government, however the Urban Development Ministry (UD) has not passed it yet. The UD ministry has raised concerns over safety audit of the pod-taxi project.

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As per a report in Business Today, UD says that the project cannot be executed until it gets ministry's clearance, considering that it a a mass rapid transit system meant for public.

The Transport Ministry, which handles National Highways Association of India (NHAI), on the other hand said that the project will help in decongestion of traffic on the NH-8, which falls under its jurisdiction. The Transport Ministry is expecting that the project will go under work as planned, either by end of July or August. As far as the finance for the project is concerned, the Transport Ministry plans to invest Rs 850 crore in this project.

Pokemon Go: Why is the game creating buzz and how to play it in India!

The product is expected to cost around Rs 4,000 crore in the National Capital Region, and will cover a stretch of 70 km, starting from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana. The Transport Ministry has reportedly received four bids from several companies, including two foreign firms.

Image Source

Best Mobiles in India

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Xiaomi to Launch 2 Phones on July 27

Though the company has not revealed what it might launch at the event, the recent rumors state that there could be more than one product announcement. It appears like the company's Director of new Media, Lu has revealed that there will be two announcements at the Beijing event on June 27 on his Weibo account.

Source

Dual-Camera Setup

A recent leak showed that the next Redmi smartphone might feature a dual-camera setup at its back. An alleged image of the smartphone leaked online showing two rear cameras on the device. The LED flash appears to be placed between them.

MediaTek Deca-core SoC Expected

When it comes to the hardware, the upcoming Redmi Note 4 was believed to arrive with the Snapdragon 652 SoC paired with 3 GB of RAM. Also, it is said to feature 6 GB of RAM joining the fleet of the other smartphones in the market with such a large chunk of RAM. However, there is a recent report that there will be a Media Helio X20 deca-core SoC.

Source

Fingerprint Scanner to be Included

There are reports that the Redmi Note 4 might arrive with a fingerprint scanner on its back to make the device pretty secure.

Redmi Note 4 to feature metal unibody build

The leaked prototype that showed the dual-camera setup on the Redmi Note 4 also showed that the device features a metallic unibody build with antenna lines at the edges on the top and bottom. Even the volume rockers seem to be present on the right spine of the device.

Source

Early Rumors Point at Snapdragon 652 SoC

While the latest rumors suggest the use of the deca-core MediaTek processor, the earlier rumors point out that the Redmi Note 4 might use the Snapdragon 652 SoC. It was tipped to arrive with 16 GB of storage space and support to Quick Charge 3.0. Maybe these could be the different variants of the device.

Will it have a Physical Home Button?

There are speculations that the Chinese manufacturer might integrate a physical home button at the front of the Redmi Note 4. If it happens, this will be a new addition in the Redmi lineup.
'Feels Like Home Season 2' offers something real and tangible to think about; takes home a pertinent point - if your intentions are good, there is nothing in life that isn't achievable.
Alibaba's Jack Ma Dares: 'If You Want to Sue Us, Sue Us'

Jack Ma dared concerned agencies to file a lawsuit against Alibaba. (Photo : Getty Images)

Amid legal battles facing China's retail giant, Alibaba's Jack Ma dared agencies to file lawsuits against his company, saying that such probes would help others understand what Alibaba is doing.



"If you want to sue us, sue us," Ma said at a gathering hosted by Alibaba Foundation.



"It's an opportunity for us to let them understand what we're doing," Ma told Reuters.



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Ma added that Alibaba had complied with the requests of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), but no definite schedule for the finding's release had been set.



Earlier this year, the SEC launched an investigation on Alibaba's accounting practices after speculations about the company's growth rate had circulated. The probe also looked into the Chinese company's relationship with its logistics affiliate, Cainiao Network.



During the probe, Ma issued a statement saying that his company's business model is too complicated for the U.S. to comprehend.



"Alibaba's business model does not have any references in the U.S., so it's not just a matter of one or two days for the U.S. to understand Alibaba's business model," Ma was quoted as saying in a separate Reuters report.



The fresh dare by Ma was told at Alibaba's two-day charity event.



Aside from venturing into different industries, the self-made Chinese billionaire is also into philanthropic initiatives.



In 2014, Ma and Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai pledged $3 billion of shares to the Alibaba Foundation, which is said to be the biggest charity donation in Chinese history, Digital Trends wrote.



Tencent founder Pony Ma's $2 billion pledge to a charity fund comes in second.



Despite being home to many of the world's billionaires, China has failed to make a friendly environment for non-government organizations.



Earlier this year, more than 7,000 NGOs had been required to look for a Chinese sponsor in accordance with new regulations.



Many raised their eyebrows over the latest rules as they fear that these would jeopardize charity works in mainland.


Program works to reduce risk on next Air Force One

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs / Published July 15, 2016

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force awarded a contract modification to Boeing July 15 to continue risk reduction activities for the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program, which will field the next Air Force One.

Future modifications will be made to this contract to purchase the commercial 747-8 aircraft, as well as to design, modify and test those aircraft to meet the presidential mission.

These efforts are another step in a deliberate process to control program risk and life cycle costs. This contract modification provides for risk reduction activities needed to address PAR sustainment requirements and costs and are additional to those initially awarded on Jan. 29. These activities will most notably focus on the system specification, environmental control system, aircraft interior, electrical and power system, and sustainment/maintenance approaches. They will aid in further defining detailed requirements and design trade-offs required to support informed decisions that will lead to a lower risk engineering and manufacturing development program and lower life cycle costs.

"The information from these studies is essential for us to make informed decisions on the design and modifications to the 747-8 aircraft, which will have long-term impacts to sustainment costs of the next Air Force One," said Col. Amy McCain, the PAR program manager. "All of the different modifications to the aircraft need to work together seamlessly. As we understand more about how to meet the detailed requirements, we can make deliberate choices to lower the cost and risks to the program."

The Air Force will award the majority of the program on a separate contract action after the results of the risk reduction activities are known.

The PAR program will replace the VC-25A in the 2024 time frame through a highly tailored acquisition program. Parts obsolescence and diminishing sources for replacement parts are driving increased costs and increasing out of service times for heavy maintenance to maintain Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness standards. That time has already grown to well over a year per heavy maintenance cycle, significantly limiting availability for presidential support.

The PAR program requirements are documented in the capability development document, which was approved in November 2014. The acquisition strategy to replace Air Force One was approved by the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics on Sept. 4, 2015.

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Counter-ISIL Strikes Target Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 15, 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.

Strikes in Syria

Bomber, attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 11 strikes near Manbij in Syria, striking six separate ISIL tactical units and destroying 18 ISIL fighting positions and damaging an ISIL-used bridge.

Strikes in Iraq

Bomber, ground-attack, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft conducted six strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Baghdadi, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Qaim, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.

-- Near Mosul, a strike struck an oil tanker storage area.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike denied ISIL access to terrain.

-- Near Ramadi, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions.

-- Near Sultan Abdallah, a strike struck an ISIL vehicle bomb production and storage facility.

Also, in support of coalition operations, coalition fighter aircraft conducted a strike near Albu Hayat in Iraq, striking inoperable coalition equipment thus denying ISIL access to such equipment.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

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Syrian Arab Coalition Troops Move Toward Center of Manbij in Syria

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 15, 2016  The Syrian Arab Coalition, supported by coalition strikes, maneuvered toward the center of the city of Manbij in Syria, denying Da'esh, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, access to critical supply routes, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve logo. DoD graphic

Coalition strikes on key targets halted ISIL attempts to reinforce positions in the north and severed a main resupply and reinforcement route ISIL used to conduct vehicle bomb attacks, officials said in a news release.

The continued pressure SAC is applying to ISIL inside Manbij has enabled civilians to flee through the SAC perimeter and escape ISIL control, officials said.

Heavy Fighting

The fight remains heavily contested, officials said. The SAC continues to hold their defensive positions and launch offensive operations into the north and south sides of the city, despite multiple ISIL attacks with vehicle bombs, armored vehicles and large formations of fighters.

Since the start of the operation, officials said, the coalition has conducted more than 400 strikes near Manbij, destroying ISIL heavy weapons, vehicles, fortifications, vehicle bomb-making facilities, armored vehicles, technical vehicles, bridges and caches.

Ground operations by Syrian moderate opposition forces in Manbij, supported by coalition airstrikes, continue to weaken ISIL's threat to Turkey, Europe and the United States, officials said.

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USS Ross Begins Fourth FDND Patrol

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160715-02

Release Date: 7/15/2016 7:50:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Theron Godbold, Naval Station Rota Public Affairs

ROTA, Spain (NNS) -- Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) departed Rota, Spain for a scheduled patrol in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility July 14.

This patrol serves to strengthen ties between U.S. and European allies while improving relations and promoting a stable, secure and prosperous region.

Quote:

"We are looking forward to pulling out; our Sailors have worked and trained hard and are ready to execute the mission." - Command Master Chief Ricardo V. Galvan

Quick Facts:

This is Ross's 4th patrol since being forward deployed to Rota, Spain.

Ross is currently working with allies and regional partners to help develop and improve maritime forces, maintain regional security and work toward mutual goals in order to advance security and stability in Europe.

Ross, forward-deployed to Rota, Spain, is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe. The ship deployed from Naval Station Rota July 14.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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Wasp ARG Completes Exercise African Sea Lion with Morocco

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160715-09

Release Date: 7/15/2016 9:54:00 AM

From Wasp Amphibious Ready Group Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- Wasp Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) completed joint and bilateral exercise African Sea Lion 2016, July 14.

The ARG/MEU and Royal Moroccan Naval Forces worked closely over the four-day exercise to improve interoperability in amphibious operations and to conduct mutual training.

Quote:

"Our relationship with Morocco is vital to our national security. It's very important that we are able to work with them, especially given their strategic location on the Strait of Gibraltar." - Capt. F. Byron Ogden, commander, Amphibious Squadron 6

Quick Facts:

The Strait of Gibraltar is 7.7 nautical miles wide and separates the Kingdom of Morocco and Spain. Thousands of merchant ships and military vessels pass through it annually.

Forty-two Royal Moroccan Navy and Royal Moroccan Naval Infantry personnel came aboard amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), where they participated in mutual training briefs and worked with operations planners to help carry out the mission.

The final day of the exercise culminated in a simulated amphibious raid carried out via MV-22 Ospreys from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 264 (Reinforced).

Other aspects of the exercise included division tactics operations with Royal Moroccan naval vessel RMS Allal Ben Abdellah, aerial and surface amphibious debarkation practice, air defense, and bilateral diver training.

African Sea Lion is the first bilateral exercise the Wasp ARG has taken part in since departing from Naval Station Norfolk June 25.

Wasp ARG is comprised of Commander, Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 6, the 22nd MEU, Wasp, amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio (LPD 17), both homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, and amphibious dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41), homeported at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia.

The ARG also includes detachments from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, Tactical Air Control Squadron (TACRON) 22, Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 2, and Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 4.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

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USS Springfield Returns from Deployment

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160715-10

Release Date: 7/15/2016 10:31:00 AM

From Naval Submarine Base New London Public Affairs

GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Springfield (SSN 761) returned to its homeport at Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) from a regularly scheduled deployment, July 14.

Under the command of Capt. Roger Meyer, Springfield returned from the European Command area of responsibility where they executed the Chief of Naval Operations' maritime strategy supporting national security interests and maritime security operations.

"Springfield upheld the highest standards of the U.S. Navy, and I am proud of the constant, unwavering dedication of my crew throughout the entire deployment," said Meyer. "Springfield's tenacity represented the spirit of our nation and our service to the American people ensures their continued pride in the submarine force."

During the deployment, Springfield steamed approximately 35,000 nautical miles or 40,285 statute miles, equal to approximately 1.62 trips around the world at the equator or approximately 7 round trips from New London, Connecticut, to San Diego by car.

Alexandra Caldwell received the traditional first hug from her husband, Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Chris Caldwell, assigned to Springfield.

"I found out that I was going to receive the first hug about [1 1/2 weeks] ago and I was thrilled," said Caldwell. "This [was] my husband's third deployment."

Caldwell brought along the couple's son, 18-month-old Oliver, to see his father's return home.

For Lauren Hunt, receiving the first kiss from her boyfriend, Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Austin Kliphon, was a fortune she said she had only dreamed about.

"I'm really excited," said Hunt. "He's been away for six months. This is an honor."

While on deployment, Springfield conducted port visits in Haakonsvern, Norway; Faslane, Scotland; Lisbon, Portugal; Toulon, France; and Rota, Spain.

Fast-attack submarines like Springfield are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities -- sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security, and deterrence. The submarine is designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare; anti-ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; irregular warfare; and mine warfare -- from open ocean anti-submarine warfare to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, to projecting power ashore with special operations forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or preparation of regional crises.

Commissioned January 9, 1993, Springfield is the 73rd Los Angeles-class submarine and the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. It displaces 6,900 tons, measures 360-feet-long with a beam of 33 feet. Los Angeles-class fast attack submarines have a crew of approximately 143 made up of 16 officers and 127 enlisted Sailors.

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Awesome Autonomy: The Future Force, RoboBoats

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160715-27

Release Date: 7/15/2016 3:18:00 PM

By Sierra Jones, Office of Naval Research

ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- The future of naval engineering was on display last week as 13 teams of high school and college students did battle at the 9th annual RoboBoat Competition in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The competition -- sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Foundation -- is a robotics contest where teams program their student-built autonomous surface vehicles to navigate through a series of water-based challenges.

"Every challenge in the competition is designed to mimic real-life maritime missions," said Kelly Cooper, a program officer in ONR's Sea Warfare and Weapons Department, Ship Systems and Engineering Research Division. "This competition really tests the engineering design and autonomous capabilities of the boat, as well as helps these students develop the engineering skills needed to be successful in a possible future in the naval research community."

Teams had two mandatory tasks and five missions to complete this year, all having to be done fully autonomously with no human guidance or intervention.

The mandatory tasks demonstrated the quality of each boat design by testing its propulsion, speed, navigation and basic sensing abilities. All of these tasks had to be successfully completed for any mission challenge points to be awarded.

This year's mission challenges were designed to showcase the boat's autonomous capabilities and included obstacle avoidance, automated docking, acoustic beacon positioning, launch, recovery and communication with an autonomous underwater vehicle, and finally, return to dock.

"We know that students want to win, but we hope they find the learning process rewarding as well," said Cooper. "We want them to walk away with experience and understanding of how their skills can be used to help the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the nation."

Autonomous vehicles have grown in importance in recent years, with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson stressing the importance of autonomy and unmanned systems in "A Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority."

Recent naval-sponsored programs -- including Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard (EMILY), Sea Hunter, Autonomous Swarmboats and Low-Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarming Technology (LOCUST) -- are just beginning to scratch the surface of the types of support autonomous and unmanned systems will be able to provide to warfighters, from coastal surveillance to water rescues, and from surface warfare to port security and special operations.

"As the science behind autonomous and unmanned systems continues to improve, you will begin to see more autonomous missions which free Sailors and Marines for other tasks, and protects them from some of their dangerous duties," said Cooper. "It's important that students participating in programs like RoboBoat know that they are a part of that process; they are fostering innovation through competition for the next generation of these types of naval systems."

Georgia Institute of Technology was this year's biggest winner, bringing home the top prize of $10,000. Florida Atlantic University won second prize and $4,000; Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember took third and $2,500; and the Daytona Beach Homeschoolers came in fourth, earning $1,500. Smaller awards of $1,000 and $500 in various special award categories went to the University of Ulsan, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Other participants were Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Old Dominion University, SRM University, U.S. Naval Academy, Universitas Indonesia, University of Michigan and the University of West Florida.

Sierra Jones is a contractor for ONR Corporate Strategic Communications.

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EU urges peaceful resolution to South China Sea dispute

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 2:16PM

The European Union has called for a peaceful resolution of the South China Sea dispute in the wake of an international court ruling against Beijing's claims to sovereignty over the strategic waters.

The EU member states "acknowledge" the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Friday.

Mogherini, however, said the EU maintains a neutral position on sovereignty disputes.

She said a political solution to the dispute is required, urging all parties to refrain from raising tensions.

The European Union "expresses the need for the parties to the dispute to resolve it through peaceful means, to clarify their claims and pursue them in respect and in accordance with international law," Mogherini said.

"The EU calls upon the parties concerned to address remaining and further related issues through negotiations and other peaceful means and refrain from activities likely to raise tensions," Mogherini said.

On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China's claims over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis in a case brought by the Philippines. Beijing rejected the verdict.

The South China Sea waters are believed to sit atop vast reserves of oil and gas. The dispute has at times drawn in transregional countries, particularly the US.

Washington says the court ruling is "final and legally binding."

Beijing accuses Washington of meddling in regional issues and deliberately stirring up tensions in the South China Sea.

The US, in turn, accuses China of carrying out what it calls a land reclamation program in the South China Sea by building artificial islands in the disputed areas.

Over the past few days, diplomats say, there has been a dispute over the wording of the EU statement as eastern member countries, including Slovenia and Croatia, also have territorial disputes before the court.

"Two member states (Croatia, Slovenia) have a principle problem with arbitration judgments," said an EU diplomat, whose name was not mentioned in the report.

"It is a difficult balancing act. We have a legal position, but on the other hand we need China for a whole bunch of other topics."

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US to deploy more troops to Iraq to fight ISIL: General

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 1:3PM

The US military says it may deploy additional troops to Iraq, even beyond the hundreds announced earlier this week, to help in the fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

US Army General Joseph Votel, the head of the US military's Central Command, said on Thursday the size of a possible troop increase is still being discussed within military circles.

"As we continue on the mission, I think there will be some additional troops that we will ask to bring in," Votel said in an interview in Baghdad, Iraq.

"We try to tie our requests to specific objectives we're trying to achieve on the ground," he said.

The general's comments came just three days after US President Barack Obama's administration announced a 560 troop increase to allegedly fight the Daesh terror group in Iraq and Syria.

The US now has just over 4,600 troops formally assigned to Iraq after the latest troop increase, although the actual figure is higher due to temporary assignments.

Votel said most of those troops will work out of the Qayyarah air base, which Iraqi forces recaptured last week from ISIL terrorists.

The US claims its forces in Iraq are seeking to shore up local militant groups against Daesh.

Earlier in June, Reuters reported that US military officials have admitted the failure of their efforts to "retrain and reunify" Iraq's regular army and generate enough combat units.

There are also dozens of US special operations forces in Syria, who are working closely with a collection of various armed groups that are trying to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The US has also been supplying the militants with ammunition.

The ISIL terrorists have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq and Syria, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and others.

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Saudi F-16 downed in W Yemen: Report

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 7:28AM

A Saudi F-16 warplane has crashed in the west-central Yemeni province of Sana'a, killing one of its pilots, Yemeni media reports say.

According to Yemen's khabaragency.net website, the incident took place in the province's Nihm district on Thursday night, with one unnamed source saying it had been brought down by Houthi fighters.

"The Yemeni army's air defense force and Popular Committees targeted a Saudi F-16 warplane on Thursday night and managed to down it in the Nihm district east of the capital Sana'a," the source was reported as saying.

According to the report, the aircraft didn't make it to the King Khalid Airbase near Khamis Mushayt, killing one of its pilots as it disintegrated while the other pilot survived the crash.

Heavy clashes are currently underway in the area between the Yemeni army and allied fighters on the one side and militants fighting under Saudi military leadership on the other.

Yemeni sources said that the confrontation had claimed the lives of 23 people from Yemen and 47 of the mercenaries over the past 48 hours.

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at about 10,000.

The Saudi military aggression was launched to restore power to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned as Yemen's president but seeks to return to power.

Separately, the website reported that Saudi soldiers had killed at least 50 Somalis, striking Yemen's western coastline in Bab-al-Mandeb.

Saudi Arabia has strengthened its military presence in the area and has brought massive amounts of military hardware from the southwestern Yemeni port city of Aden to the Kahboub district west of the Bab-al-Mandeb strait to exert control over the area.

Control over Kahboub and parallel mountain ranges would prevent the Yemeni army and Popular Forces from cutting off the supply routes used by the Saudi forces.

At least 100 people were either killed or injured from either side during fighting in the area on Thursday, media reports said.

On the diplomatic front, peace talks are to resume between Yemeni representatives and Saudi-backed former Yemeni authorities in Kuwait on Saturday.

On Thursday, a Houthi delegation left the Omani capital Muscat for Kuwait after a meeting with the UN envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Sheikh Ahmed.

The UN-backed talks began in Kuwait on April 21.

Yemen's Ansarullah movement earlier said any solution to the conflict in the country must guarantee the end of the Saudi aggression and its siege of Yemen.



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Oil and shipping markets on edge after a tribunal in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines. (Photo : Getty Images)

The oil and shipping markets all over the world are reacting to Tuesday's ruling on the arbitration case filed by the Philippines against China amid maritime grapple in the South China Sea.



The ruling from a tribunal in The Hague unleashed all kinds of mischief in the South China Sea region with China immediately rejecting the decision.



Advertisement

According to Reuters, oil traders and shippers who make use of the disputed waterways said they do not expect the international ruling to affect their industry immediately.



But right after the ruling was made public, the price of oil hiked, with Brent crude oil futures rocketing to $47.60 per barrel or over 2 percent more its original price.



The Wall Street Journal said the international ruling did not touch the topic of jurisdiction over the massive oil reserves and natural gas beneath the contested waters in the South China Sea.



Apparently, no single claimant-not even China-has come close to tapping the resources buried deep beneath the waters.



"There is a lot of oil that passes through, but China is not going to do anything more aggressive than they already have been...I don't see much that has changed," BMI oil and gas analyst Peter Lee.



Reuters said the disputed Spratlys and Paracel Islands serve as the most direct shipping pathway for China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the Middle East since it offers "economically viable alternative routes for large oil tankers or dry-bulk ships and container ships."



Meanwhile, shipping lines are a bit nervous about what the ruling and China's reaction could mean for their industry.



"It is vital that merchant ships are allowed to go about their lawful business on the world's oceans without diversion or delay. We will of course be monitoring for any interference in the coming weeks," London-based International Chamber of Shipping Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe told Reuters.


Kerry, Lavrov Hold Moscow Talks

July 15, 2016

by RFE/RL

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held more than four hours of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, trying to find new agreement on military operations in Syria and movement toward ending the five-year-old conflict.

The July 15 meeting came a day after Kerry held similar talks with President Vladimir Putin, during which Kerry "expressed concern about repeated violations of the cessation of hostilities by the Syrian regime," according to a State Department spokesman.

The Obama administration has repeatedly expressed frustration with Russia's military intervention in Syria, which has largely been aimed at bolstering the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Moscow.

During a break in the talks, Kerry and Lavrov participated in a small joint ceremony at the French Embassy in Moscow, laying flowers outside its entrance to commemorate the victims of the truck attack in Nice, France the night before. An unnamed Russian official told the state news agency TASS that the two diplomats would resume their meeting later July 15.

The Obama administration has repeatedly expressed frustration with Russia's military intervention in Syria, which has largely been aimed at bolstering the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally of Moscow.

Since launching its air campaign in September, Russian forces have hit Islamic State fighters and groups with ties to terrorist organizations, just as the U.S.-led coalition has.

But Russia has also targeted moderate rebels, some trained by the United States and its allies, and it has done little to rein in Syrian forces from hitting civilian areas with weapons like barrel bombs.

After Kerry's meeting with Putin, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Moscow that the U.S. diplomat stressed to Putin that "diplomatic efforts could not continue indefinitely" in the absence of "concrete, near-term steps."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Putin's meeting with Kerry "rather constructive, frank, and detailed."

The U.S. administration's efforts to engage Russia on Syria have been met with deep skepticism in many policy circles in Washington, who are distrustful not only of Moscow's intentions in Syria, but also its policies in other places like Ukraine and along the borders with NATO member countries.

Ahead of Kerry's visit, The Washington Post reported that he was bringing to Moscow a major proposal from President Barack Obama on cooperation in Syria.

The proposal, according to the newspaper, would be a new military command-and-control headquarters that would house U.S. and Russian military officers, intelligence officials, and subject-matter experts.

In exchange for U.S. cooperation, the Russians would pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop bombing moderate militant groups and civilians, and allow unfettered aid to besieged, rebel-held areas.

Washington also wants Russia's help to start a political transition that would ultimately end the Assad family's four-decade reign.

According to The Associated Press, opposition to the latest Syria plan is shared by a significant number of officials at the State Department, Defense Department, and in the U.S. intelligence community.

And a so-called "dissent cable" signed by 51 State Department officials last month showed a substantial part of the diplomatic establishment believing a U.S. military response against Assad was necessary.

That wariness has been deepened by Russian air strikes in the past week against U.S.-trained rebel camps.Last month, Russian planes hit a rebel encampment despite advance warnings from U.S. officials, and then returned for a second strike when U.S. jets left the area to refuel.

A U.S. official with access to classified intelligence reports told RFE/RL the incident was "very, very, very serious," and said the potential for a clash between a U.S. and Russian jets had been high.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and TASS

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-kerry-lavrov- moscow-talks-syria-ukraine/27859921.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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Two P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft Jet Off to Singapore for Patrols

Sputnik News

23:03 15.07.2016

The 7th Fleet of the US Navy will deploy two P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to Singapore from July 15 through August 12 in support of shared maritime security initiatives, the Navy said in a press release on Friday.

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik)  The 7th Fleet of the US Navy will deploy two P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to Singapore from July 15 through August 12 in support of shared maritime security initiatives, the Navy said in a press release on Friday.

"We look forward to working alongside our Singaporean counterparts to further strengthen interoperability while enhancing our readiness to respond to contingencies," Commander Richard W. Prest said in the release.

The aircraft will fly out of Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore and take part in the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) bilateral exercise and other training activities with the country's armed forces, the release noted.

The United States and Singapore have long worked together on bilateral and multilateral exercises such as CARAT, Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) and Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), according to the release.

The Poseidons are part of Patrol Squadron 5 based in Japan that aims to promote greater interoperability and maritime security initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region.

In June, warships and aircraft from the 7th Fleet's Carrier Strike Group 3, led by the carrier Ronald Reagan, ramped up patrols in waters and skies above South China Sea in anticipation of Beijing's response to a ruling on the legitimacy of China, Philippines dual claims over Fiery Cross and two other reefs. China ignored the ruling handed down in July in favor of the Philippines.

The P-8A Poseidon is a militarized version of the Boeing 737.

 Sputnik

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Sweden Lures Finland Deeper Into NATO

Sputnik News

12:04 15.07.2016

Finland and Sweden have a traditional reputation for being non-aligned, yet both are being pushed towards NATO amid exaggerated suspicions of Russia's aggression. Constant fear-mongering has led to marked swings in public opinion, which politicians are trying to exploit, as both countries are slowly approaching full membership.

Over the recent years, Stockholm and Helsinki have come as close to NATO as one can get without actually being a member. Both have participated in NATO operations in Afghanistan for several years and play and active part in NATO exercises. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has repeatedly called this scenario an "expanded partnership."

Whereas Finland's President Sauli Niinisto made previously clear that a popular referendum is a necessary prerequisite for Finnish NATO membership, researcher Magnus Christiansson at the Swedish National Defense University, believes the situation is not the way it is being put. According to him, Finland will never become a NATO member, unless Sweden sets an example.

"I believe that Finland joins NATO if Sweden does, but unless Sweden goes first," Christiansson told the Finnish national newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet during the SuomiAreena political summer event.

Earlier this year, a Finnish security report arrived at the conclusion that the two countries should either both join NATO or stay of the alliance for their own good. Christiansson has been a vocal supporter of NATO, seeing it as the only practical way forward. At present, however, no immediate progress may be made, as both Sweden's Red-Green and Finland's Center-Conservative government oppose joining NATO and the public opinion remains split, Christiansson admitted.

"If the Conservative Alliance in Sweden promises to submit a NATO application once they win the election, there is really is no need for a referendum. But I doubt if they wish to do so, as the public support is insufficient," Christiansson said.

Of late, Sweden's Conservative Party has included NATO membership to its election agenda. According to estimates by former Conservative Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who is regarded as one of Sweden's foremost "hawks," Stockholm will have to become a NATO member within 10 years, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri reported.

Nevertheless, according to Christiansson, the more probable scenario is that both Finland and Sweden will continue with their defense bilateral cooperation, an option, which is heavily advertised by the country's current military bosses. However, there are snags to be expected, Christiansson warned.

"The problem is that Finland and Sweden may end up having somewhat different interests in case of a conflict. Then we have built up a force that is useless. Had we both been NATO members, we would not have had that problem," Christiansson pointed out.

Despite his vocal support for the NATO cause, Christiansson admitted that the membership implies both rights and obligations.

"There is no such thing as a free lunch, and all members also have their obligations. The membership means that we must be able to stand up for others," Christiansson said.

Public support for the idea of Sweden becoming a NATO member has dropped from 41 to 33 percent in less than a year, a poll by Svenska Dagbladet revealed. Similarly, recent polls show that Finns too have cooled off to the idea of holding a referendum on NATO. Polls commissioned by national broadcaster MTV indicated that 42 percent of Finns support the idea of a referendum on Finnish NATO membership, Hufvudstadsbladet reported.

 Sputnik

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Yemen Governor Survives Attack Ahead of Peace Talks

by VOA News July 15, 2016

A suicide bomber unsuccessfully targeted the governor of the Yemeni city of Aden Friday, just hours before U.N.-brokered peace talks were scheduled to re-start in hopes of resurrecting a failed cease-fire agreement.

Governor Aidarous al-Zubaidi and his security chief were traveling by car in the southern port city when a suicide car bomber detonated his parked vehicle. The governor was uninjured and there has been no claim of responsibility.

Zubaidi's predecessor was killed in a car bombing in December that was claimed by the Islamic State militant group.

In Kuwait, peace talks are scheduled to begin Friday between representatives of the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government, but it is not clear yet if government officials will follow through on a threatened boycott. They have demanded that the U.N. Security Council follow through on a resolution for withdrawal of militias from all Yemeni cities.

The rebels hope to use the talks to press for a share in power in a new government.

A Saudi-led coalition last year launched a military campaign to push back Houthi rebels who had seized the capital, Sana'a. A cease-fire was arranged in April, but both sides have violated it.

Thousands of people have died in the violence.

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Multinational Force Fighting Boko Haram Gets Mixed Results

by Chris Stein July 15, 2016

Nigeria and its neighbors pledged last year to come together to defeat Boko Haram, but experts say regional cooperation appears to be happening in fits and starts.

Collaboration across borders has long been seen as key to ending the Boko Haram insurgency, which started in Nigeria but has since spread through the country's porous borders into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Nigerian and Cameroonian military officials say the Multinational Joint Task Force composed of troops from Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Benin is actively fighting Boko Haram and achieving some success.

Boko Haram, however, still carries out attacks in Nigeria and its neighbors, leading some experts to question whether regional cooperation is as deep as it should be.

"We're really talking about a regional coalition [where] everybody's on his own and collaborating when there's a need to and basically when they're forced to," said Yan St-Pierre, CEO of the Berlin-based security firm MOSECON.

He said regional rivalries, internal political turmoil and language differences keep the five countries involved from effectively collaborating.

"It works in spurts, and it works in little bursts, but it's not this consistently working, effective coalition," St-Pierre said.

The task force has been around for years, but mostly targeted criminals.

In June of last year, Nigeria held a summit with neighboring heads of state and top military officials, agreeing to reinvigorate the force with $100 million in Nigerian funding and a headquarters in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena.

In recent months, Nigeria's military has announced joint patrols with Cameroon and operations backed by Chadian jets.

Nigerian military spokesman Rabe Abubakar said intelligence from U.S. drones based in Cameroon has been passed on to Nigeria, thanks to the task force.

"For the past three or four weeks we have been doing  operations in concert with other nations within the Lake Chad basin countries," Abubakar said.

Cameroon military spokesman Didier Badjeck says the troops involved in the force mostly stay within their own borders but conduct joint operations and can cross into other countries to pursue the group.

"If everybody is playing his role in the zone, Boko Haram will finish," Badjeck said.

Group remains potent

In June, the militants killed 26 soldiers, sacked a town and forced 50,000 people to flee in a series of attacks in Niger, not far from the Nigerian border.

And contrary to the assertions of Nigeria's government, the group still controls territory in northeast Nigeria. A senior military official told VOA on condition of anonymity that the Mobbar and Abadam local governments, on the border with Niger, are still under Boko Haram control.

The group's fight to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria has killed more than 20,000 people and forced 2.7 million to flee.

John Campbell, a fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations and a former American ambassador to Nigeria, said Boko Haram would not be as strong if the multinational task force was collaborating as intended.

"It would be transformative if it led to the destruction of Boko Haram," Campbell said. "And it has not."

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French Authorities Seek Motive, Possible Terrorist Links In Truck Attack

July 15, 2016

by RFE/RL

French authorities on July 15 were working frantically to discover the motives and any possible terrorist connections of a Tunisian man who drove a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the southern city of Nice late on July 14, killing at least 84 people.

The attacker, identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was shot by police following his deadly rampage along Nice's famed Promenade des Anglais seafront as he fired a gun at the crowd. It was the third attack with mass casualties on French soil in the past 19 months.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, who took over the investigation, said on July 15 that while no one has claimed responsibility, the attack "bears the hallmark of terrorist organization" and that investigators "will try to determine whether he benefited from accomplices."

Molins said the dead in Nice included 10 children and teenagers. He also said 52 of the 202 people left injured by the attack are in critical condition, 25 of them on life support.

He said that Bouhlel's documents were found inside the truck, adding that the attacker's wife -- from whom he was reportedly separated -- was in custody.

Bouhlel, a Tunisian national who had French residency papers, reportedly had lived in France since 2005. Molins said he had previous run-ins with police but was not known to intelligence services.

"He had a police and judicial record for threats, violence, theft, and acts of criminal damage between 2010 and 2016, and had been sentenced by the Nice criminal court to a six-month term, suspended, on March 24, 2016, for violence with arms, committed in January 2016," the prosecutor said.

"On the other hand, he was totally unknown to intelligence services, nationally and locally, and was never flagged for signs of radicalization," Molins added.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on July 15 that the attacker "is a terrorist probably linked to radical Islam one way or another."



"Yes, it is a terrorist act and we shall see what the links there are with terrorist organizations," Valls told France 2 television.

French Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, however, said he could not confirm whether the attacker had ties to a radical Islamic organization.

The attacker drove the truck at high speed for about 2 kilometers along the Promenade des Anglais, mowing down celebrants after a fireworks display marking the French national day and leaving a horrific trail of carnage.

Nice's Mayor Christian Estrosi said the man also opened fire on the crowd before he was shot and killed by police. Several of the victims reportedly died of gunshot wounds.

Reports said an "inactive" grenade was found inside the truck, in addition to "several fake rifles."

France had mobilized extra security for the national day of celebration commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789. Approximately 11,500 security personnel were on hand for the traditional military parade in Paris.

The attack heightened security concerns across Europe and the United States following a wave of terrorist attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants and supporters of the extremist group in major Western cities.

French President Francois Hollande announced on July 15 that he was calling up the "operational reserve" of French security forces to reinforce gendarmes, police, and army troops that already have been deployed as heigthened security across France.

Comprised of all reservists who have once served in the French security forces, call up is expected to bring an addition 26,000 out of more than 200,000 reservists onto the streets of France.

Earlier, in a televised address to the nation, Hollande condemned the attack as a "terrorist" act and a "monstrosity." He vowed that France "will always be stronger, I promise you, than the fanatics that want to strike it."

"Nothing will make us yield in our will to fight terrorism," the French president said.

"We will further strengthen our actions in Iraq and in Syria. We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil," he said in an allusion to IS, whose sympathizers have been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks in France and Belgium in the past two years, including coordinated attacks by multiple gunmen and bombers that killed 130 people in Paris in November.

Hollande convened a security cabinet meeting on July 15.

He has extended by three months the state of emergency imposed after the Paris attacks.

The death toll in Nice includes foreigners -- at least two Americans, two Armenians, a Russian, and a Ukrainian have so far been identified.

But the setting of the attack, at the height of summer tourist season in one of the French Riviera's most glamorous cities, suggests those numbers could rise.

'Criminal And Unjustifiable'

Expressions of outrage and sympathy for the victims poured in from around the world.

U.S. President Barack Obama said that the United States would not be deterred in its fight against IS militants, using a July 15 White House reception for foreign diplomats to voice solidarity with France and vow to continue to fight against terrorism.

"These individuals and these networks are an affront to all our humanity," Obama said. "We will not be deterred. We will not relent."

The White House said earlier in the day that Obama ordered U.S. government flags to fly at half-staff to commemorate the victims of the attack and spoke with Hollande to "relay his condolences to the people of France on behalf of the American people."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in Washington that Obama also "offered significant security cooperation" to France as well as "any assistance that they need to conduct their investigation and to take steps to try to prevent something like this from happening again."

Roman Catholic Pope Francis said via Twitter that he was praying for the victims and their families, adding, "I ask God to convert the hearts of the violent blinded by hate."

The United Nations Security Council in a statement strongly condemned the "barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack," which it called "criminal and unjustifiable."

European Council President Donald Tusk said Europe "will stand united with the families of victims, the French people, and the government in the fight against violence and hatred."

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed solidarity and called it an "outrageous terrorist attack" that exposed "brutality and cynicism" that was "shocking."

Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang expressed condolences and said "we strongly condemn terrorism in all forms."

Vehicle attacks have been used by isolated members of militant groups in recent years, notably in Israel, though never to such devastating effect.

Nice, a city of around 350,000, is renowned as a glitzy resort but also has poor neighborhoods. As many as 130,000 Tunisians live in the city, and dozens of its Muslim residents have traveled to Syria to fight, a path taken by previous IS attackers in Europe.

Authorities on July 15 reopened Nice's Cote d'Azur Airport without incident after a brief evacuation prompted by an unattended bag in one of the terminals that turned out to be harmless.

Further details began to emerge about Bouhlel, who lived in a four-story building in one of Nice's working-class neighborhoods where crime scene investigators and armed police were working on July 15.

Bouhlel was from the town of Msaken in Tunisia, about 10 kilometers from the city of Sousse, where an attacker shot and killed 38 people in 2015 -- mainly vacationers from Britain. Many people from that region have moved to France.

Molins said Bouhlel had three children but was separated from his wife. His relatives and neighbors described him as a tense, unfriendly man who was not religious.

French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said Bouhlel was convicted in March over a road-rage incident in which he "hurled a wooden pallet" at another man.

He was given a six-month suspended sentence and was required to check in with police once a week, a condition that Bouhlel had complied with.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa, TASS, and BFM TV

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/france-nice-truck- attacker-tunisian/27860250.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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France: UN condemns terrorist attack on crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice

15 July 2016  Senior officials from across the United Nations family today condemned the deadly attack in Nice, France, calling for stepped up efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement from his spokesperson, expressed his deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of "this horrific act," including to the Government and all the people of France.

He underscored the need to intensify regional and international efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism.

"The Secretary-General hopes that all those responsible for this massacre will be rapidly identified and brought to justice," according to the statement.

This morning, Ambassador Koro Bessho of Japan, as the President of the Security Council for the month of July, read out a statement issued last night in which the Council "condemned in the strongest terms the barbaric and cowardly terrorist attack" and stressed that terrorism constituted one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

"The members of the Security Council reiterated that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed," Mr. Bessho said.

When the Council met later to discuss the situation in Iraq, all members stood to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims.

According to media reports, a truck rammed into pedestrians gathered to celebrate the French holiday in the southern seaside city of Nice on Thursday night, killing more than 80  including children. Dozens of people have been injured.

The President of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, expressed "horror" at the number of people killed and injured.

"This slaughter of innocent civilians is yet another horrific example of the terrorist movement's total contempt for any kind of humanity," he said.

Mr. Lykketoft noted that this is one of a number of these mass killings across the world in recent weeks, and it is "a dire call" for even stronger international counterterrorism cooperation.

Appalled by the horrendous carnage, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the murderous assault on ordinary people, using a simple truck as a deadly weapon, is yet another blow aimed at the heart of humanity by extremists, according to his Office (OHCHR).

"There are now so many deadly attacks  in Baghdad, Brussels, Dhaka, Istanbul, Medina, Orlando  to name just a fraction of those that have occurred in recent months, that words of condemnation sound like damp leaves fluttering to the ground after another violent storm," Mr. Zeid said through his spokesperson in Geneva.

He noted that while the driver's motives are still to be established, "we are confronted by an ideology that seems to be creating an endless supply of fanatics prepared to kill for the sake of killing."

The response, Mr. Zeid cautioned, needs to be "carefully calculated and highly sophisticated" so that it is not simply about heightening security but about deflating the ideology itself.

Irina Bokova, who heads the France-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), expressed the organization's "deep sadness and sincere condolences" and stressed the importance of education and social inclusion in fighting terrorism.

"This barbaric attack will never win over our shared resolve to unrelentingly pursue our efforts to prevent violent extremism through education for global citizenship and human rights, respect for cultural diversity and the power of culture as a force for social inclusion," Ms. Bokova said.

Adding his voice to the chorus of condemnations, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, also called the incident an "outrageous attack" and a "barbaric crime that is unjustifiable by all means."

Taleb Rifai, the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said that "in the face of these forces of darkness, we must more than ever remain united to fight this global threat." He added that Nice will continue to be one of the leading tourism destinations in France and in the world.

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Sept. 11 '28-Pages' Have Been Released

by Mary Alice Salinas July 15, 2016

Congress has released the so-called '28-pages' from a 9/11 commission report that had been classified for more than a decade, although some information still remained secret.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday the declassified pages "confirm what we have been saying for quite some time"  that the information was investigative and did not change the outcome of the report.

The congressional report concluded there was no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or that senior Saudi officials funded the September 11, 2001 al-Qaida attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

But some critics are calling for the full release of the 28 pages, which included a finding that "some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with and received support or assistance from individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government."

The de-classified pages said, according to mostly FBI sources, at least two of those individuals, were alleged to be Saudi intelligence officers.

The pages make up a chapter called "Part Four  Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters."

Some lawmakers and critics believe the Saudi government played a role in the 9/11 attacks and had pressed for 13 years for the contents of the 28-censored pages.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said Friday the censored information had previously been withheld in full because it contained "still-sensitive national security and law enforcement information."

However, the apparent identities of some individuals and other information remained redacted in the 28-pages released on Friday.

The intelligence agency said "after careful consideration" by relevant departments, agencies and the White House, officials decided to keep some information secret because "the harm to national security by releasing portions of Part Four of the report at this time is outweighed by the public interest in additional transparency concerning the Committee's findings."

The White House said the release follows through on a commitment by the Obama administration to be more transparent.

The ODNI added the redacted information includes "discussion of properly classified matters the disclosure of which would still cause significant harm to national security."

However, critics are pressing for the U.S. to release the full contents of the 28 pages.

In a statement released on Friday, 9/11 commission member and former Ambassador Tim Roemer said "The 9/11 families, the American people and justice can greatly benefit from the full declassification of this critical information today."

Roemer added the U.S. can move "beyond speculation, embrace the facts and begin to reset our partnership and the strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia."

Earnest noted the bi-partisan commission followed up on all the information in the Part Four and concluded there was no evidence connecting the Saudi government or top officials to the September 11 attacks.

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China Plans to Build Own Space Station Similar to ISS

Sputnik News

20:48 15.07.2016

China is developing its own space station and is building a new site which will be used to launch space stations and space technology. The trial run for the new rocket was a success so the construction of the station will begin in 2018.

It is likely that China will play a leading role in this sphere and might replace the ISS program, in which Japan also participates.

Hainan Island is located in the south of China. On June 25 the new space station which was built in one part of this island, a new Changchan-7 rocket, was launched.

China seeks to play a decisive role in the field of space exploration and develop a Chinese version of a space station called Tiangong.

This year should be a historic one for the program development of the Chinese space station. The Chinese Space Agency plans to launch a research orbital module Tiangong-2 in September. It will form the basis for the following modules.

The manned Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, which will go into space in October, is set to dock with the module in orbit. Two astronauts will spend one month on the Tiangong-2.

China's Tiangong space station involves the idea of allowing a manned spacecraft, as well as two research modules, to attach themselves to the main body of the station.

The station will be located at about 400 kilometers from Earth.

The station will always have three astronauts and the crew will be changed every six months. The crew will carry out scientific experiments and conduct other work.

Construction of Tiangong should be completed in 2022. It is assumed that the station will operate for ten years, but depending on the technical state, the lifetime can be increased. Thus, China will have at its disposal a space station which will be very similar to the International Space Station (ISS).

Moreover, China plans to launch into the near orbit a high-tech telescope. It is expected that in terms of functionality it will not differ from NASA's Hubble space telescope. It is expected to contribute to the study of dark matter and other cosmic questions.

"We will develop international cooperation. We will provide an opportunity to all of countries in space research and will take in astronauts," according to the representative of the manned space flight program Wu Ping at the session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes, held in mid-June in Vienna.

Wu Ping also reported that China has signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs for the development of international cooperation.

In this regard, Chinese Heritage Foundation specialist Dean Cheng warns that cooperation with China will have great risks. China has no experience in international cooperation in the field of space research. In addition, there are problems with the budget and transparency of the project.

Russia also is entertaining the idea of operating its own space station after 2024. As for the United States, with which Japan has to keep pace, its attention is currently focused on the program of a manned flight to Mars set to take place in 2030.

Currently, Japan is also considering the possibility of cooperation with China.

The main difference between Tiangong and the ISS is the fact that China's space station is set to be two research modules. The development of new materials in microgravity and fundamental research will be the main mission of the space station. China is also ready to provide any country with the opportunity to conduct research.

On the other hand, the research by ISS is carried out by Japan, the US and other European countries. In the Japanese research module Kibo experiments are being conducted on high-quality protein crystallization to create medicinal drugs.

Also Tiangong can accommodate up to six people and Europe is interested in sending their astronauts.

On ISS there are six permanent employees. There are shifts of three astronauts who are then situated on the station long-term.

 Sputnik

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THAAD Radiation Fears Spark South Korean Protests

by Brian Padden July 15, 2016

Protesters pelted South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn with eggs and water bottles Friday as he tried to allay the concerns of citizens living near the site where the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system will be deployed.

"With regards to the THAAD radar deployment, we will fully listen to your opinion and make sure safety is secured as a priority," Hwang said as he spoke in front of Seongju County hall on Friday.

Demonstrators responded to the prime minister's remarks with a chorus of angry jeers and his security team held up brief cases and umbrellas to protect him from the objects being thrown by the angry crowd. He then was forced to take shelter inside the county hall.

Radiation fears

The South Korean Defense Ministry decision this week to deploy THAAD in the southeastern county of Seongju has sparked public fear that THAAD could endanger the health and safety of people living nearby, especially from exposure to radiation from the systems' powerful radar emissions.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye said this week the existential threat posed by North Korea's increasing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities has prompted the government to quickly bolster its missile defenses.

"This is because we've judged that nothing is more important than protecting the lives and the safety of our people under the situation that the North's nuclear and missile threats have become a reality," said Park.

However many Seongju residents are angry that the THAAD deployment decision was made without their input and without independent health, environmental and economic assessments.

"Our Seongju residents, 50,000 of them, are outraged that the decision was made unilaterally without prior consultation or agreement," said Seongju County Administrative Chief Kim Hang-Gon at a rally in Seoul on Wednesday.

THAAD radar

THAAD uses high-resolution radar designed to detect and track ballistic missile threats at long distances and high altitudes. The system's radar and infrared seeking technology are used to program six mobile launchers and 48 interceptor missiles.

THAAD opponents express concern that exposure to the electromagnetic radiation from the system's radar could cause serious harm to nearby residents and could contaminate agricultural products.

Seoul's Defense Ministry on Thursday tried to answer these concerns by taking a group of reporters to a previously undisclosed Patriot missile defense site in the Chungcheong region south of Seoul.

The Patriot site has been in place since 2012 and uses a similar radar system to THAAD. Officials say residents living nearby have developed no health problems from the Patriot radar emissions.

Military officials measured the electromagnetic waves being emitted by the Patriot radar during a demonstration for the gathered journalists. From a distance of 30 meters away from the radar system, the output peaked at 0.2658 watts per square meter, which is well below the 10 watts per square meter safety threshold.

Officials said local law adheres to the 10 watts per square meter limit set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection's guidelines. Exposure to waves exceeding this amount would lead to body-heat stress and excessive local tissue heating.

Based on U.S. assessment, the South Korean Defense Ministry says it has set a 100 meter radius safety zone around the radar site.

The military assured the residents the THAAD battery will be placed 1.5 kilometers away from the nearest population center and will not cause any adverse effects on the local community.

The prime minister also apologized to Seongju residents for making the THAAD deployment decision "with prior notice."

Protesters in Seongju discount the government assurances and remain opposed to THAAD being deployed near their communities.

However a survey conducted this week by Gallup Korea found that 50 percent of respondents were in favor of the government's decision to deploy THAAD.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.

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Fireworks explode over Shanghai Disneyland park on March 28, 2016 in Shanghai, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

Robert Iger, a Disney executive, reported that over a million visitors have set foot in Shanghai Disney Resort.



The resort is the most technologically advanced in the world and was launched in June 16, 2016. Its land area spans 390 hectares in Pudong, Shanghai. Construction cost reached $5.5 billion, the biggest foreign investment in the country.



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During the Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference in Colorado, Iger said, "It would be safe to assume almost a million people have experienced the park."



This is the second Disney establishment in China, and a first in the mainland. Disney has six resorts worldwide.



Many amenities are similar to other Disney parks around the world. Chinese elements were added in the Disney castle, which is topped by the traditional peony flower.



Chinese dishes like barbecued pork with rice are sold here. The usual favorites are cheeseburgers, fries and hotdogs. Iger introduced the turkey leg and 3,000 pieces of which are sold daily.



Other attractions were adapted to Chinese tastes with a few American attractions. Major work was put into infusing Chinese culture in the resort's design.



"I very much wanted to avoid being called a cultural imperialist," Iger said.



The Disney executive also admitted that the Shanghai resort was a true test of perseverance. It took Disney 18 years to close the deal with the Chinese government.



Finally, Disney was approved to contruct in 2009. Ground breaking took place in 2011.



Tickets are priced at $76 (499 yuan) during peak days and $56 (370 yuan) on lean days.



Disney remained optimistic that the resort will have continued success. Igor was confident that the rising number of middle-class citizens in China will pull in more revenue.


Arms Spending May Rise as Beijing Asserts Control in South China Sea

by Saibal Dasgupta July 15, 2016

China is expected to increase its military investment in the South China Sea and significantly raise its overall defense spending to affirm its claim to the region.

The People's Liberation Army's Navy (PLAN) commissioned a new guided-missile destroyer, Yinchuan, on Tuesday, the day the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague ruled that China's claims to most of the South China Sea are invalid. The tribunal, constituted under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), ruled in favor of the Philippines, which had complained that China was claiming part of its territory.

The next day, China tested two new airfields it has built in the Nansha islands in the South China Sea. State media showed civilian flights taking off from the airfields to further legitimize China's control over that part of the sea. It established four light houses in the sea a few days earlier.

China has already spent a massive amount of money to rapidly build artificial islands as well as residential facilities for workers and government crews on the islands. The country has also put a floating hospital to sea and launched several submarines in the area in recent months.

Military preparedness

"This trend in militarizing the South China Sea is expected to continue and indeed expand following the PCA ruling," said Lee YingHui, research analyst at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies.

The People's Liberation Army assured the nation ahead of the ruling that it stood ready to meet any challenge from the South China Sea. "The Chinese military has never been frightened," PLA spokesman Yang Yujun said in a news briefing.

Yang said that if foreign warships want to "make trouble out of nothing" in the South China Sea, then "of course we have ways to deal with it."

Some regional analysts think China has no need to be worried about any challenge in the key shipping and fishing region.

"China will continue to have relative military supremacy in the South China Sea for a long time to come, given the desolate state of the Philippine navy," Lee said.

"PLAN also enjoys home ground advantage over the U.S. navy in the South China Sea," Lee said, referring to the U.S. naval presence that, some believe, emboldened Manila to file the arbitration claim against the Asian superpower.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said Beijing has the right to impose an Air Identification Defense Zone (AIDZ) in the South China Sea region because it belongs to the country. The AIDZ will allow China to monitor and if necessary control flights over the martime region. Beijing, however, would need to increase defense spending to enforce an AIDZ.

Defense budget slowdown

China surprised many international defense experts this year when it said its military budget would grow at a relatively slow pace of 7.5 percent, after five years of increases topping 10 percent. This was an apparent response to a slowing Chinese economy.

Many defense analysts, however, say the official budget does not reflect massive expenditure on military-related infrastructure, such as air and sea ports, frontier rail lines and the construction of new islands.

Regional defense experts say the arbitration ruling may lead other South China Sea claimants to ramp up their defense spending. Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines all claim portions of the waterway, which is rich in fish and believed to hold significant underwater mineral resources.

"As states squabble over sovereignty issues and increase spending to safeguard their own interests, it is the global defense industry that is the real beneficiary of the South China Sea disputes," said Jonathan Spangler, director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei.

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DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman Denounces U.S. Introduction of Nuclear Submarine into S. Korea

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK via Korea News Service (KNS)

Pyongyang, July 15 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK gave the following answer to the question raised by KCNA Friday as regards the U.S. introduction of another nuclear submarine into south Korea:

On July 13 nuclear-powered submarine Ohio, one of the major strategic strike means of the U.S., made an entry into Pusan Port of south Korea.

The 18 000-ton class super large nuclear submarine is capable of mounting missile attacks with stealth function.

In June the U.S. brought to south Korea nuclear submarine Mississippi and the formation of B-52H strategic bombers.

The U.S. introduction into the Korean peninsula of strategic nuclear strike means at a time when the DPRK-U.S. relations and the regional situation are growing extremity tense is a revelation of its hostile attempt to stifle the DPRK by force at any cost.

Also lurking behind it is an ambition to contain other rival countries in the region by force and establish military hegemony in Northeast Asia.

It is foolhardy for the U.S. not to properly understand the strategic position of the DPRK that has ranked itself among the nuclear powers and the trend of the times, but to try to bring down the DPRK through military pressure and threat.

Not content with reckless arms buildup, war exercises and sanctions racket to retrieve its failure in its DPRK policy, the U.S. does not hesitate to hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK. This is rendering the situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region extremely tense and increasing the danger of a nuclear war.

The present situation in which the U.S. has become hell-bent on encroaching upon the sovereignty and nuclear threat and blackmail while more openly pursuing its hegemonic strategy in reliance on military muscle clearly proves once again how just the DPRK was when it adopted the line of simultaneously pushing forward economic construction and the building of nuclear force.

Lasting peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region can never be realized by unilateral efforts of the DPRK and it is possible only when the military hostile acts of the U.S. which is chiefly to blame for the tension and its anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK are terminated.

The present situation in which the U.S. is more viciously pursuing its hostile policy toward the DPRK compels it to further bolster its nuclear deterrence for self-defence.

Unshakable is the will of the DPRK to fundamentally defuse in reliance on powerful nuclear deterrence the danger of a nuclear war being brought by the U.S. and safeguard peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region. -0-

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N Korea parades defector who 'worked as S Korea agent'

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 9:32AM

North Korea has paraded a defector accused of being involved in a child abduction plot that Pyongyang says was masterminded by South Korean agents.

In a press conference in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, Ko Hyon-chol confessed to the accusation, saying he was trying to kidnap two North Korean female orphans and bring them to the South.

"I committed the unpardonable crime of being involved in attempted child abduction," he told the press briefing attended by foreign media and diplomats.

Ko, 53, said his South Korean handlers had told him to arrange the kidnapping of orphans from North Korea, promising him USD 10,000 for each child, adding, "So I set about abducting children but it wasn't easy."

Ko had originally fled North Korea in January 2013 because he had been involved in smuggling and was being investigated by Pyongyang authorities. He lived in China for about a year before arriving in the South in 2014 via Laos and Thailand.

Ko was automatically granted South Korean citizenship after settling in the South.

He was arrested hours after crossing a river into North Korea from China with his inflatable boat on May 27.

Ko said he was sent by South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) to the Chinese border city of Dandong to kidnap orphans from North Korea.

The NIS has denied any involvement in the case.

South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a statement it regretted that the North had detained a South Korean national and used him for what it described as propaganda.

"The government strongly demands North Korea release our citizens including Ko Hyon-Chol and immediately repatriate them," the ministry said in a statement.

The latest case comes just weeks after a group of 13 North Korean workers employed in a state-run restaurant located China's southeastern port city of Ningbo defected to the South.

In March, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong announced that the US and its allies were engaged in what he referred to as a "human rights racket" against Pyongyang in which so-called North Korean defectors received over $5,000 to "fabricate" lies about the situation in the country.

In order to earn a living, the defectors "are compelled to continue to fabricate and sell groundless testimonies by trying to make them sound as shocking as possible," he said.

The defections come at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang has slammed Seoul and Washington for pushing UN sanctions against the North's nuclear and missile programs.

The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

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India's Deal with Japan on US-2 Amphibious Aircraft is Almost 'Dead'

Sputnik News

19:49 15.07.2016

India and Japan have failed to iron out their differences on the ShinMaywa US-2 amphibious aircraft deal but both sides are refraining from unilaterally calling it off.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  Defense Minister of Japan General Nakatani and India's Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar held a crucial meeting during the former's latest visit to New Delhi. However, the US-2 amphibious aircraft deal was accorded very less significance in the gamut of discussion as evident from its peripheral mention in the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting.

"The Ministers commended the effort made by both countries regarding the cooperation on US-2 amphibious aircraft which was launched in 2013," the statement read.

Naval Commander Abhijit Singh (Retired), a Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, says, "There are some clear disagreements between India and Japan on how to take this matter forward for the US-2 amphibious aircraft. This is very big thing because we premise the relations on the transfer of technology and transfer of the aircraft. If this deal does not happen, it will affect our bilateral relationship also. I do not think any side will say that this is now a dead deal."

Sources say apart from pricing issue, there are serious differences over technological cooperation. India is pressing for a certain level of technology in the aircraft so that along with search and rescue, aircraft should also able to perform surveillance work. India does not want to purchase highly expensive aircraft for the sake of only search and rescue work.

Commander Singh says, "We need a certain level of technology that can account for some combat mission also. Japanese are treating this as just a plane that can do search and rescue operation. The Japanese are very capable of providing the equipment, if they are willing so, but for some reasons] they have chosen not to give that version to India."

Sources say that India wants to take production of this aircraft under 'Make in India', but there is some disagreement or lack of common position on that issue as well.

The decision to purchase US-2 amphibian aircraft was made during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan in 2014. Initially, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard had taken keen interest in this aircraft due to its range of 4,500 Km but the high cost and Japan's rigid stance against sharing critical technology has forced India to look towards other options. Therefore, the lack of progress in this deal has brightened the prospects for purchase Russian and Canadian naval aircraft by India.

 Sputnik

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South China Sea Deployment: India Sends Three Naval Ships to Malaysia

Sputnik News

18:17 15.07.2016

The Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri, Shakti and Kirch have arrived at the port of Kelang in Malaysia. The naval Ships likely to conduct exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy.

New Delhi (Sputnik)  The Indian Navy's expedition to Kelang, Malaysia, is being led by Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Rear Admiral S V Bhokare.

According to a statement issued by India's Ministry of Defense, "Three Indian Naval Ships have arrived at Kelang on Friday morning on a four day visit as part of a deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea and Western Pacific. The visiting ships are also likely to conduct exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy aimed at enhancing interoperability in communication as well as Search and Rescue procedures, post departure from Kelang."

India-Malaysia defense ties date back to the colonial days when troops of Madras Native Infantry served in Malacca, Singapore and Penang. The Indian Navy has been a regular participant at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) in Malaysia. The last visit by an Indian naval ship to Malaysia was in May 2015, when Saryu berthed at Penang.

The Ministry of Defense says that the current visit of Indian naval ships will further bolster the strong bonds of friendship between India and Malaysia and contribute to security and stability in this vital part of the world.

India is also looking to Malaysia as potential importer of Indo-Russian joint venture, the BrahMos missile. Naval versions of the missile are already serving the Indian Navy. Recently, the first carriage flight of Su-30 MKI aircraft with BrahMos missile was successfully achieved.

 Sputnik

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India Achieves Major Breakthrough in Artillery Gun Systems

Sputnik News

17:18 15.07.2016

India's fully domestically produced integrated gun system is being seen as a major shot in the arm for Indian artillery, which has not had any modernization since Bofors gun was acquired in 1987.

India's state run Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) successfully conducted the test firing of the armament system for the 155mmx52 caliber Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS)  the country's first fully domestically designed and developed gun system. This ATAGS, also known as 'Dhanush', is fully equipped with an automatic command and control system with night firing capability in direct fire mode. It has a firing range of 40 kilometers. The first fully integrated gun system will be ready for user trials by early 2017.

An official release by India's Ministry of Defense says, "The Armament system of ATAGS mainly comprises a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanism to fire 155 mm caliber ammunition held by Indian Army with a longer range, accuracy and precision and provides greater fire power."

Former Director of Centre for Land Warfare Studies, Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, says, "Dhanush is an excellent achievement for the artillery, which has not had any modernization since Bofors gun were acquired in 1987. It is also an excellent achievement for indigenous defense production for India. The gun will be used in planes, and after all technical parameters are met, the army will induct this weapon in the regiment of artillery."

Last month, India's Defense Ministry approved the bulk production of 18 Dhanush artillery guns. In the same meeting, the ministry also approved also approved procurement of 145 M-777 under government to government deal from the US.

Brigadier Kanwal says, "The rate of production of 155mmx52 caliber guns in India is likely to be quite slow. Actions need to be taken to speed up the rate of production so that regiments can be equipped with the gun as quickly as possible."

 Sputnik

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Firms say Congress blocking Iran plans

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 2:48PM

In the wake of the recent anti-Iran bills adopted by the US Congress, global corporate leaders are already complaining that American lawmakers are undermining their plans to approach the vast Iranian market.

The Wall Street Journal in a report has quoted business leaders as saying that Congress "is wedging itself into [Iran's] post-nuclear sanctions business climate".

Richard Matheny, a partner at Goodwin & Procter, has told the Journal that American lawmakers are making it tougher for companies to seek deals with Iranian counterparts. "For a business evaluating prospective risk, it's tough: This is the way it is today, but tomorrow could be different," said Matheny.

US companies are feeling left out, while foreign ones can engage, added Matheny. However, the US financial system is stymieing some of that business by enforcing sanctions concerns more harshly than the Treasury Department requires, he emphasized.

The Republican-dominated US House of Representatives has passed two bills imposing new restrictions on Iran one year after a historic nuclear agreement.

The lower chamber of Congress voted 246 to 179 Thursday to pass a new set of sanctions on the Islamic Republic and 246 to 181 for legislation to block its access to US financial systems.

The measures came a day after the House approved a bill to ban the purchase of "heavy water," a byproduct of nuclear energy, from Iran.

Top corporate executives have told the Wall Street Journal that moves by Congress as well as other conditions that still exist around Iran investment activities have forced companies to spend the last six months evaluating the risks involved in approaching the Iranian market. The companies, they have emphasized, are still working through various compliance hurdles that remain despite the lifting of nuclear-related US and international sanctions.

"We're still in the very early phases of even understanding the overall impact on commercial business of the implementation of the JCPOA," said Douglas Jacobson, a partner at international trade-focused firm Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC, referring to the nuclear deal that Iran sealed with the P5+1  the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany  last year.

He called any real assessment of the deal's effectiveness "premature," noting that it's still in its early stages. "We're only in the first chapter and the rest of the book hasn't even been written," the Wall Street Journal has quoted Jacobson as saying.

The report has further quoted legal experts as saying that the remaining US sanctions on Iran are causing more problems for foreign companies than anyone expected, in part because of the difficulty for them to wall off any US person or product from a transaction with Iran.

"This is resulting in a really, really sharp focus on the concept of the 'US person,'" Richard Matheny, a partner at Goodwin & Procter, has told the Wall Street Journal.

There are more opportunities in Iran than what companies are thus far taking advantage of, but they're slowly starting to recognize what's authorized under a general license issued in January and could begin to move forward soon, said Matheny.

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Why Russia is Strengthening Its Arctic Northern Periphery

Sputnik News

17:47 14.07.2016

Moscow regards the development of the Russian Arctic as an issue which has long-term strategic importance. New military infrastructure, deployed on the perimeter of the country's northern border will ensure both the security of Artic offshore natural resources and the sovereignty of the state.

Russia continues to expand its military presence in the Arctic region following the creation of Russia's Joint Strategic Command North (JSC North) back in 2014.

Two years ago, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu presented a plan which aimed to ensure the security of Russia's northern borders. The project envisaged covering Russia's Arctic territories with a network of radar stations and military bases and developing the region's infrastructure.

In fact JSC North has become Russia's fifth military district, located within the Arctic Circle, Russian military expert Leonid Nersisyan writes in his article for Regnum.

"[JSC North] now incorporates the Northern Fleet (that earlier belonged to the Western Military District), the cornerstone of "North's" military might. The Northern Fleet is comprised of Russia's most powerful warships, including the Kirov-class nuclear battlecruiser "Pyotr Velikiy" (Peter the Great), six ballistic missile submarines and other vessels," the expert points out, adding that another Kirov-class battlecruiser, Admiral Nakhimov, is currently under repair.

Moscow's recent developments in the Arctic region are impressive, and signal Russia's long-term strategic pivot to the North Pole.

Citing an unnamed source in Russia's Defense Ministry, Izvestia.ru reported Monday that Russia's Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy) is pushing ahead with the project, which is aimed at developing the Arctic region's logistics and infrastructure. Spetsstroy is currently involved in constructing and restoring ten airfields within the Arctic zone.

Russia is building and restoring Severomorsk-1 Airfield on the Kola Peninsula, Nagurskoye Air Base in Franz Josef Land, Rogachevo in Arkhangelsk Region, Tiksi in Yakutia, and Temp Airbases on Kotelny Island.

Furthermore, Russia is carrying out design and survey work aimed at reconstructing Severomorsk-3 Airfield in Murmansk Region, Naryan-Mar in Arkhangelsk Region, Vorkuta in the Komi Republic, Alykel Airfield in Krasnoyarsk Region and Anadyr Ugolny Airport in the Chukotka Autonomous Region.

On July 7 Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov told reporters that Russia's general construction work on defense facilities in the region are expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

"General work in Arctic is to be completed by the end of the current year," Ivanov underscored.

Nersisyan calls attention to the fact that the aforementioned airfields are located on the perimeter of the Russian Arctic  from Murmansk to the Bering Strait.

The military expert underscores that although it is unlikely that Russian bombers and jet fighters will be simultaneously stationed at all the airfields, the modernized airports will be able to receive Russian military aircraft in the event of a conflict.

Nersisyan emphasizes that Russia's activity in the region could be explained by the need to protect the rich natural resources of the Russian Arctic, particularly offshore gas and oil fields.

"For instance, Rogachevo and Nagurskoye airfields could serve to ensure the security of [Russia's] infrastructure in the Karsko Sea  it has colossal reserves of oil, which have yet to be extracted," he notes, adding that Norway is currently asserting itself in close proximity to the Russian Arctic.

JSC North includes the maritime, land and air components of the Russian Armed Forces, he remarks.

According to Nersisyan, JSC North is not only aimed at defending the territories of the region: due to the powerful atomic Northern Fleet, the Russian Armed Forces in the Arctic have become integral part of the country's nuclear shield.

Journalist Oleg Polevoy of analysis website PolitRussia.com echoes Nersisyan's stance. The journalist points to the fact that NATO member states  the US, Canada and Norway  are well prepared to conduct military operations in the Arctic region. Moreover, Oslo is deploying a new army unit, consisting of 200 rangers, on the border between Norway and Russia.

In this light, Moscow's activity in the region is completely justified, Polevoy notes, stressing that the Russian military "has no time for relaxation."

"Arctic exercises by NATO countries and their partners have followed one after another," he remarks.

It is worth mentioning that in March 2015 the Russian military force held major drills in the Arctic, seeking to test the country's readiness to counter geopolitical challenges on its northern borders. The exercises involved 110 aircraft, 38,000 soldiers, 41 ships and 15 submarines.

 Sputnik

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Russian Aerospace Forces Receive 4 Jets, 23 Helicopters, 15 Drones

Sputnik News

14:40 15.07.2016

The Russian Aerospace Forces put into service four jets, 23 helicopters and 15 drones in the second quarter of 2016, Anatoly Gulyaev, head of the Armaments Department of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Gulyaev also noted that several Mi-8AMTSh (Hip) helicopters were delivered ahead of schedule. He added that the repair work on seven Il-76MD (Candid-B) planes has been completed and they would soon be delivered to military units.

"For the air defense support of the Russian Aerospace Forces a S-400 missile defense system, four new and 54 repaired and modernized jets, 23 new and 11 repaired helicopters, 15 unmanned aerial vehicles and more than 8,000 aircraft munitions," Gulyaev said.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia's Armed Forces received an Iskander-M brigade, an S-400 missile defense system regiment and over 90 aircraft in the second quarter of 2016.

 Sputnik

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Russia airstrikes in Syria cut off terrorists' supply routes: Defense minister

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 2:21PM

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says his country's aerial campaign against foreign-sponsored Takfiri militant groups operating inside Syria has changed the course of the developments on the ground in favor of the Damascus government.

"The Russian Air Force operations have changed the course of the events in favor of Syria's legitimate government. As a result of Russian strikes, terrorists' supply routes have been disrupted and in some places fully discontinued," Shoigu said in Moscow on Friday.

"To date, many Takfiri groups have been busted near Hama and Homs. Militants have been pushed out of Latakia plus areas south and north of Damascus. The main road linking the capital with the country's north has been secured as well," the Russian defense minister pointed out.

Shoigu further noted that Russian military experts are training Syrian army units and helping them to restore fighting ability in battles against Takfiri terrorist groups.

He stated that Syrian army troops, backed by Russian fighter jets and artillery units, have already managed to retake nearly 600 populated areas from foreign-sponsored extremists.

"With active aerial and artillery support from Russian forces, Syrian soldiers have liberated 586 populated areas, including 150 towns and over 12,000 square kilometers of territory. This has helped 264,000 refugees return to their homes," Shoigu highlighted.

Russia has been bombing Daesh and al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front terror groups in Syria since September 30, 2015 at the official request of President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.

A ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia went into effect in Syria on February 27, but it does not apply to the Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups in the Arab country.

While most European countries have been voicing opposition to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, some of them are gradually making a shift in their policies as they realize the importance of Damascus' efforts in fighting terrorism.

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Outdoor workers are supposed to receive a 'high heat subsidy' from employers when they work on extremely hot days. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese laborers who work outdoors are granted subsidies in the government's attempt to ease the effects of extreme temperature in the world's second largest economy brought about by climate change.



According to the New York Times, China has a peculiar and rare way of compensating its work force during tough work situations such as intense weather conditions, setting a good example for other countries with more scorching temperatures like India.



Advertisement

Unfortunately, not all employees are aware of this benefit and employers are quick to take advantage of that.



Work Compensation



Citing the Chinese-language media China News Service, the NY Times explained that the law requires employers to pay workers who continue doing their jobs outdoors even amid temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit or 35 degrees Celsius.



The compensation as imposed by Chinese law is set at 180 renminbi for a month or about $27 though it varies on the province or city.



In the northern province of Shanxi, outdoor workers who are eligible for the high heat subsidy are supposed to get 240 renminbi a month while those working in the southern Guangdong province should get around 150 renminbi.



Of course, not everyone is aware of such a law, with employees either ignorant about what they are supposed to be getting or playing the fool for fear of losing their jobs.



In fact, when asked about the heat subsidy, Chinese workers have a common response: "Who gets that?!"



Lack of Information Dissemenation



According to Sixth Tone, the compensation was not introduced to the country until 2012 even though extremely hot temperatures have already been felt in the country since 1960.



Aside from that, employers tend to "forget" to explain the compensation to their workers especially those under limited contract.



According to the Dezan Shira & Associates' newsletter China Briefing, employees who do not get the subsidy they are supposed to be given may file a complaint against their employer. Unfortunately, fear prevents them from doing so.



"Employees have the right to file a complaint if an employer fails to pay, but rarely do in fear of repercussions. In many cases, employees aren't even aware of the allowance," the newsletter read.



Considering all this, the NY Times is questioning whether the Chinese policy is enough to compensate for the effects of global warming to laborers' health and their productivity.



Even though it aims to "subsidize" the effects of the phenomenon, the Chinese government should consider bringing their knowledge about the source of the problem up to date as high heat compensation rates remained the same since it was first introduced even despite the rising cost of living in some parts of the country.






Russia Urges US to Join Ceasefire Efforts Around Syria's Aleppo - Shoigu

Sputnik News

18:42 15.07.2016

The Russian defense minister called on the US-led coalition to join ceasefire efforts near Syria's city of Aleppo.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called on the US-led coalition to join efforts with the Russian military aimed at normalizing situation around Syria's city of Aleppo where the number of suicide-bombing attacks on the Syrian army increased significantly in past three days.

"We are urging the United States and their partners in anti-IS coalition to jointly take serious measures and use to a full extent their influence on all armed groups backed by them in this area, to convince all those ready to do so to join the ceasefire and normalize the situation in Aleppo," Shoigu said at a military-scientific conference in Moscow dedicated to the analysis of military action in Syria.

According to Shoigu, at least seven vehicles filled with explosives attempted to attack positions of the Syrian army near Aleppo two days ago.

"Six of the vehicles were destroyed but one managed to break through defenses and exploded, killing a large number of Syrian soldiers," the minister said.

At least seven suicide-bombers have attacked Syrian army positions using motorcycles, Shoigu said, adding that three of them succeeded.

 Sputnik

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Taiwan's Legislature calls South China Sea ruling unacceptable

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/15 21:48:35

Taipei, July 15 (CNA) Taiwan's Legislative Yuan said Friday that a ruling laid down by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague earlier this week over the disputes in the South China Sea is unacceptable.

In a statement issued by the country's Legislature, lawmakers across party lines rejected the ruling, which determined that Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island (also known as Itu Aba), the largest of the Spratly Islands, is a "rock" rather than an "island."

In the case, brought by the Philippines against China in 2013, the tribunal ruled on July 12 that none of the Spratly Islands, including Taiping, could be considered "islands" and therefore could not generate 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.

The Legislative Yuan said the arbitration result was a unilateral decision and was not acceptable to the Republic of China (Taiwan).

"The islands in the South China Sea and the waters around the islands have long been part of the ROC's territory, and they are entitled to their rights under international law," the Legislative Yuan said in the statement.

"No other country is able to use any means to claim the islands' status or occupy them.

"The ROC will not accept any decision through unilateral international arbitration to change the status quo," the statement said.

As for Taiping Island, the ROC has occupied and controlled the island for more than half a century without interruption, the Legislative Yuan said.

It said the island is equipped with administrative and military facilities and is suitable for living.

Former presidents Chen Shui-bian () and Ma Ying-jeou () visited Taiping Island in 2008 and 2016, respectively, visits confirming the fact that the ROC has sovereignty over Taiping Island, the Legislative Yuan said.

It stressed that the status quo "will not be changed or challenged by any other country or any international arbitration decision."

"Judging from history and taking into account all of facts, the Taiping Island is a natural island instead of just a rock," the statement said. "The arbitration ruling is contradictory to the facts."

The Legislature also took issue with the court referring to the ROC as "Taiwan Authority of China," saying it belittled the ROC, which is already a sovereignty country, and could not be accepted by the ROC government or its people.

(By Wen Kuei-hsiang and Frances Huang)

enditem/ls

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Taiwanese fishermen plan to head to Taiping to protect rights

ROC Central News Agency

2016/07/16 20:16:38

Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Taiwanese fishermen are planning to sail to Taiwan-controlled Taiping Island in the South China Sea to protect the country's fishing rights in response to a court ruling that rejected the island's right to an exclusive economic zone.

A day after fishermen from Pingtung County's Donggang Township proposed to set foot on Taiping to assert Taiwan's sovereignty claim to the island and safeguard their fishing rights, the Liuchiu Fishermen's Association expressed support for the move on Saturday.

It also encouraged fishing boats operating near Taiping to join in the campaign to set foot on the island, but it was not clear when the fishermen intend to make the trip.

They may need the help or approval of government authorities to land on Taiping Island because it is a government-controlled area.

The fishermen made the proposal to go to the island out of frustration at the government's response to the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, describing the reaction as being "too weak."

In a case brought by the Philippines against China, the court ruled on July 12 that none of the Spratly Islands, including Itu Aba (Taiping Island), could be considered "islands" and therefore were not entitled to 200-nautical-mile economic zones under international law.

An island is entitled to a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, compared with only a 12-nautical-mile zone for "rocks."

Taiwan's government, which was not a party to the case, has said it will not accept the ruling and that the ruling is not binding on Taiwan.

The Coast Guard Administration has said that it will step up patrols in the South China Sea to protect its fishermen there.

The fishermen's campaign has received the support of the Minkuotang party ().

Party Chairwoman Hsu Hsin-ying () urged President Tsai Ing-wen () to take concrete action to demonstrate her administration's determination to safeguard the country's sovereignty and said the government should not let Taiwanese fishermen fight alone.

She also suggested that the government send the Navy back to Taiping to protect the country's territory.

Taiping Island has been protected by the Coast Guard since the marines stationed there were ordered to return to Taiwan proper in 1999 under the administration of then President Lee Teng-hui () in a gesture of good will to reduce tensions in the region.

Taiwan has long defined the 0.51-square kilometer Taiping, which lies about 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung, as an island that can sustain human habitation and economic life.

Taiwan took control of Taiping -- the largest natural feature in the Spratly Islands -- in 1956.

Six countries -- Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam -- fully or partially claim the islands in the South China Sea and their surrounding waters that are strategically critical lanes for ships and planes that navigate in the region.

(By Kuo Chih-hsuan, Justin Su and Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/ls

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Turkish opposition leader fined over 17,000 dollars for insulting Erdogan

Iran Press TV

Fri Jul 15, 2016 12:6PM

A court in Turkey has ordered the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to pay thousands of US dollars in compensation to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for calling him a "sham dictator."

The civil court in the capital city of Ankara ruled on Thursday that Kemal Kilicdaroglu should pay 50,000 Turkish liras ($17,200) over remarks made at the CHP'S 35th general meeting on January 16, and in a parliamentary group meeting three days later. The lawyer of the 67-year-old politician dismissed the allegation.

Erdogan's lawyer argued that Kilicdaroglu's comment constituted "extraordinarily weighty insults" aimed at sullying the image of his client.

Under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, it is a criminal offense to insult the president, and those found guilty will be sentenced to between one and four years in prison.

On May 3, the 2006 Nobel Prize laureate in literature, Orhan Pamuk, accused Ankara of bringing charges of insulting Erdogan against people in an attempt to suppress dissent and frighten opponents.

He made the remarks in Istanbul after he attended the trial of Turkish writer, columnist and academic Murat Belge.

Pamuk expressed dismay over the increasing number of insult cases, saying, "This has nothing to do with insulting the president. This is only about silencing political opposition. This is about intimidating people and scaring the country so nobody would criticize the government."

"I have been writing for 40 years. I am fed up with appearing at the gates of courts, defending my friends and my own cases," the distinguished Turkish author said.

Nearly 2,000 people, including ordinary citizens, students, cartoonists and journalists, have been prosecuted for insulting Erdogan since he was sworn in as president in August 2014.

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Erdogan Denies Turkish Military In Control

July 15, 2016

by RFE/RL

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan said in a CNN interview that he is still in power and will put down an attempted military coup. He called on citizens to "take to the streets" to support his government.

"I certainly believe that the coup plotters will not succeed," Erdogan told CNN Turk television early July 16, speaking via mobile phone in his first reaction to the move by the Turkish armed forces.

"I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people."

Erdogan said he was still president and Turkey's commander in chief, promising that plotters would pay a "very heavy price." A presidential source said Erdogan was in a secure location as per government protocol.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yilidirm said on Twitter that security forces would retaliate against the coup and that everything necessary would be done, even if that meant fatalities.

He said sieges were under way at some important buildings, without specifying, but urged people to remain calm and said acts against democracy would not be tolerated.

A loud explosion was heard in Instanbul near a state-run television building.

Erdogan's rebuttal came after the Turkey's military had said it "fully seized control" of running the country in a bid to protect democratic order and to maintain human rights, and state television announced that the military had declared martial law and a curfew.

The military's claim of control over the country was made in a statement carried by the Dogan News Agency and Turkish television broadcasts late on July 15.

The statement said all of Turkey's existing foreign relations would be maintained and that the rule of law would be a top priority.

An announcer speaking on state TRT television said the military had declared martial law and a curfew, news agencies reported

Meanwhile, the state-run Anadolu News Agency reports that senior members of Turkey's military have been taken hostage at military headquarters in Istanbul  including the Turkish chief of military staff.

However, sources in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said that Erdogan was safe.

Earlier, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said part of Turkey's military was taking action without following the chain of command in an attempt to seize power.

NTV quoted Yildirim as saying that a military coup attempt was under way "by part of the military."

Meanwhile, Reuters reported gunfire in Ankara and the deployment of military jets and helicopters that were flying at low altitudes over the Turkish capital.

On Twitter, some Ankara residents said they heard explosions and gunfire in the city before widespread reports that major social networks were inaccessible.

The first reports of action by the military faction came from Istanbul, when members of the Turkish army used military vehicles to block off both of the Bosphorus bridges linking the European continent with Asia.

Later, army tanks were deployed at the entrance of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

Shortly after that development, all flights in and out Ataturk Airport were cancelled.

Turkey's army has been methodically marginalized during the last 13 years under President Erdogan's leadership of the country.

Analysts say Erdogan has long considered the army as a potentially dangerous adversary.

In recent months, steps taken by Erdogan's to sideline his political opponents in the country have made it possible for Turkey's military leadership to have a more important role over the Turkish president's policies.

That has allowed Turkey's military  which has forced four civilian governments from power since 1960 -- to reemerge as important player in the country's politics alongside of Erdogan.

In May, Erdogan forced the previous Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu from power and replaced him with Yildirim, who is from Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Since then, some former military officers and security analysts have warned that elements in the Turkish military want to stop Erdogan's growing strength and create a system of checks-and-balances on the presidency.

Speculation about a military coup in Turkey had been rampant in late March before Davutoglu was forced from power.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Dogan News Agency

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/istanbul- bridges-closed-military-aircraft- deployed-over-ankara/27860918.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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Military Coup Attempt Underway in Turkey

Sputnik News

23:07 15.07.2016(updated 00:18 16.07.2016)

The Turkish military claims it has taken over the government and seized all power in the country.

In a statement read on television, Turkish General Staff announced that "Turkish Armed Forces took full control of power." Earlier in the day, military vehicles, soldiers, and security forces were deployed on the streets of Istanbul and the capital of Ankara. Military jets and helicopters were seen flying over both major cities. Gunfire has been reported in the capital of Ankara. Bridges leading over the Bosphorus out of Istanbul have also been closed. A blast has been heard in Ankara.

According to Turkish TRT, the country is now run by a "peace council" that will ensure the population's safety and that a curfew has been put in effect across the country. State TV claims that a new constitution will be drafted soon. The military says it has imposed martial law.

The Turkish military is currently led by General Hulusi Akar, however Turkish Anadolu news agency reports that he has been taken hostage by the military.

According to Justice Minister Bozdag, the government prosecutor's office in Ankara and Istanbul has opened an investigation into the actions of the rebels.

"I consider it necessary to reassure our citizens that the government has taken and continues to undertake all necessary steps," he said.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim went on national television to stress that some elements in the military attempted to overthrow the government, but "the government elected by the people remains in charge.This government will only go when the people say so."

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Prime Minister Yildirim added.

It is unclear who is currently controlling the situation in the country. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reportedly on holiday in the Turkish city of Bodrum. Erdogan is reportedly en route to the international airport in Istanbul. His residence in Istanbul is under heavy guard, with the street blocked off on both sides.

"This is a mutiny attempt. We will not let this attempt win. We will uphold democracy," he said on Turkish NTV.

In a statement, the Turkish military claims that it has taken over and that all international relations will be maintained. The government denies these claims.

A number of ambulances are en route to the Army General Headquarters building in Ankara.

Tanks have been spotted at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. All flights leaving the airport have been cancelled. A number of flights bound for Turkey have been diverted.

The military has reportedly stormed local television stations. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube access was severed earlier.

According to a spokesman, the US Air Force is prepared to take force protection measures at the Incirlik air base.

 Sputnik

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Gunfire Heard in Turkish Capital; Military Jets, Helicopters Seen Overhead

Sputnik News

22:48 15.07.2016(updated 00:13 16.07.2016)

Gunfire has been heard in the Turkish capital, and there are reports of unusual military activity, with a military chopper opening fire near the national intelligence headquarters.

Turkish military released a statement by email to international reporters saying that they have seized control of the government.

The Turkish military has taken to television to say that the "power of the country has been seized in its entirety" and that the Turkey's leadership have been detained by the troops which conflicts with official statements by the government saying that President Erdogan is in a safe location.

There are reports of a bomb blast at a police training facility in Ankara.

The Chief of Staff of Turkey's military, Hulusi Akar, has been taken hostage by the military coup plotters according to Turkish government officials.

In their statement, the Turkish military said that they undertook the military coup against Erdogan's government in response to the President's undemocratic, illegal action saying that they will restore the democratic order, human rights, and the rule of law.

Earlier on Friday, gunshots broke out in the Turkish capital of Ankara with witnesses saying that military jets and helicopters could be seen flying overhead. There has also been military helicopters and F-16 fighter jets spotted overhead in Turkey's largest city Istanbul according to Reuters.

There are also multiple reports of a large military operation, with soldiers deployed in Hatay Province.

Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim has stressed that nothing will harm Turkish democracy, while also adding that the military action is being taken without the proper chain of command.

All police and security forces personnel in Ankara have been told to report in, and reports indicate that military personnel are disarming regular police forces in Ankara and Istanbul.

Bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul have also reportedly been closed by Turkish military police.

Tanks have also been reported in Istanbul.

Sources indicate that Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in Ankara. The Turkish prime minister has confirmed that an unauthorized campaign of military violence has been undertaken against the government with some calling it a coup.

A gunfight has now broken out in front of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's palace.

The leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party says that the military has blockaded their offices.

Reports indicate that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scrambling to the Istanbul international airport to try to escape the coup attempt.

An announcer on Turkey's TRT news station says the country is now under the control of a "Peace Council" which will ensure the safety of the population.

Turkish state television says that a new constitution will be prepared shortly.

All flights in and out of Turkey's Ataturk Airport have been cancelled according to Reuters. An Aeroflot flight en route to Istanbul has been turned around.

 Sputnik

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Turkish Military Reportedly Seizes Control of Government

by VOA News July 15, 2016

The Turkish military on Friday said that it had assumed power over Turkey, in what the prime minister has termed an illegal act.

The situation is changing quickly and details are emerging, but the army put out an e-mail statement, read on Turkish television, saying it had "fully seized control" of the government to protect democracy and maintain human rights.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told private NTV television, "It would be wrong to call it a coup," calling it an "illegal attempt" by "part of the military" who are outside the chain of command to seize power.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so," Yildirim said on the private channel NTV.

'Rogue group'

The prime minister said those behind the move were part of a "rogue group"  not the entire army. He said the group stormed the main TV station, TRT, and forced broadcasters to read a statement saying a curfew had been imposed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who conducted an interview through Facetime with a local TV station Friday, urged the Turkish people to go to the streets, to the airports to fight the group, whom he alleged to be associated with U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. It was not know where he was during the interview.

Massive crowds were seen in several parts of Istanbul.

Military jets flew over the capital Ankara, with gunshots and tank fire reported.

There are numerous reports that hostages have been taken in the Turkish capital, Ankara. CNN Turk says they are being held at a military headquarters there.

The state-run Anadolu press agency says the chief of military staff, General Hulusi Akar, is among those being held.

"General Hulusi Akar has been taken hostage by a group in the military who attempted an uprising," the agency said, citing "credible sources."

Attaturk Airport is apparently closed to traffic and tanks are blocking the entrance. Security forces had also blocked all traffic from crossing the Bosphorus and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges, the two main bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, but cars appear to be moving again.

Footage on local television channels showed tanks deployed at Istanbul's main airport, and media reports say all flights from the airport have been canceled.

In addition, reports indicate ATMs and banks have been shut down.

Scrambling for information

U.S. military and diplomatic officials are scrambling to find out exactly what is going on in Turkey.

In Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hopes Turkey will resolve the crisis while preserving peace, stability, and a respect for "continuity."

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said U.S. President Barack Obama's "national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey," and he will continue to receive regular updates.

NATO member Turkey has become a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic State terrorists and for its support for the moderate opposition looking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.S. uses Incirlik air base in Turkey as a staging area to launch airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.

Islamic State is blamed for last month's suicide bombing at the Ankara airport which killed more than 40 people.

"The coup really throws regional crises into a different stage," said Patrick Skinner, a former intelligence officer now with the Soufan Group, a New York organization that provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations.

Current and former U.S. intelligence and military officials have long pointed to Turkey's critical role both in the Syrian refugee crisis and in blocking the flow of fighters and supplies to the Islamic State terror group.

"A military government would likely crack down on ISIS and extremist groups that heretofore the government had perhaps seen more in the light as a tool against Assad than a domestic threat," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "But perhaps the focus shifts a bit as internal needs supersede CT [counterterror] concerns."

Skinner said it is possible that a military government could look to strengthen its ties with the West, but that there is no way at this point to know for sure.

There is also concern as to how a series of other issues will be impacted by the apparent coup, including the fate of Turkey's Kurdish population as well as Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria, as well as the involvement of Russia and Iran in the region.

"One would be hard pressed to pick a more destabilizing place for a coup right now," Skinner said.

Earlier this week, CIA Director John Brennan admitted to disagreements between the U.S. and Turkey, and not just over Syria, where the U.S has repeatedly urged Turkey to do more to crack down on IS.

"There are some things that are going on inside the Turkish political system that are subject to a lot of debate and even controversy," he said.

"But I'll just leave it that we do work closely with the Turks," Brennan added. "I have very close interaction with my Turkish counterpart."

VOA's National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin, Mary Alice Salinas at the White House and VOA's Turkish service contributed to this report.

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Turkish President Erdogan Denounces Coup Attempt

by VOA News July 15, 2016

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flew into Istanbul early Saturday, denouncing an attempted coup by a rogue group of military officers as an act of treason in a live, televised speech.

Hundreds of supporters greeted Erdogan at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. He said that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had given orders to "eradicate" soldiers involved in the uprising and that many arrests of officers were underway.

The Turkish military on Friday said that it had assumed power over Turkey, yet early Saturday, Turkish authorities said the coup attempt had been repelled. Martial law has been imposed across the country.

The situation was fluid through the night, with reports of explosions, including at least two bombs striking parliament in Ankara, gunfire in Istanbul, and reports of a Turkish fighter jet shooting down a helicopter used by coup plotters. Early Saturday, police officers and military traded gunfire at Taksim Square, with reports saying military soldiers then laid down their arms.

A helicopter attack on a police special forces headquarters Friday in Ankara left 17 officers dead, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Western intelligence and military officials are closely monitoring developments in NATO member Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic State terrorists. Turkey also supports the moderate opposition looking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Events began Friday when the army put out an email statement, read on Turkish television, saying it had "fully seized control" of the government to protect democracy and maintain human rights.

Speaking to the people

Erdogan, who conducted a FaceTime interview from an unknown location with a local TV station late Friday, urged the Turkish people to go to the streets to protest the soldiers' actions. He said those behind the move were associated with U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Gulen is a former ally of Erdogan who has accused the president of corruption as part of an apparent power struggle.

In response to the upheaval in Turkey, a nonprofit group serving as a voice for the Gulen movement rebuked the violence.

"We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics," the Alliance for Shared Values said in a statement. "We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey."

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement calling on all parties in Turkey to support the country's democratically elected government.

Prime Minister Yildirim told private NTV television that the group stormed the main TV station, TRT, and forced broadcasters to read a statement saying a curfew had been imposed. The soldiers also forced CNN Turk off the air.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so," Yildirim said on NTV.

In Istanbul, massive crowds gathered in the city, including Taksim Square, waving flags and shouting support for Erdogan.

Erdogan, who said, "I never believed in a power higher than the people," vowed that the coup plotters would pay a "very heavy price."

Growing tensions

VOA's Dorian Jones said the chaotic events came amid growing tensions between Turkey's secular military and the pro-Islamist Erdogan government, which have been simmering since Erdogan came to power in 2014.

Jones said there have been concerns in Turkey that the airport bombing and other terrorist attacks, the government's crackdown on Kurds, and Erdogan's attempts to solidify control over the media could spark a reaction from the military.

By late Friday, a VOA correspondent in Istanbul said police were arresting rogue soldiers. Other pro-coup soldiers were beginning to return to their barracks and would face harsh repercussions, said Turkey's intelligence spokesman Nuh Yilmaz

Friday night there were numerous reports that hostages were taken in Ankara. CNN Turk said the chief of military staff, General Hulusi Akar, was among those being held. But Akar had been freed by early Saturday.

Ataturk Airport in Istanbul is apparently closed to traffic, and tanks are blocking the entrance. Security forces had also blocked all traffic from crossing the Bosphorus and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges, the two main bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, but cars appear to be moving again.

Ankara Correspondent Yildiz Yadicioglu said credit cards and ATMs were not working there, with lines forming in front of banks.

Scrambling for information

U.S. military and diplomatic officials were scrambling to try to find out exactly what was going on in Turkey.

A senior U.S. Defense Department official said officials were monitoring the situation closely. "As of this time, there has been no impact to Incirlik Air Base and counter-ISIL air operations from Incirlik continue," he added, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Former intelligence officer Patrick Skinner said, "The coup really throws regional crises into a different stage." Skinner now works with the Soufan Group, a New York organization that provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations.

Current and former U.S. intelligence and military officials have long pointed to Turkey's critical role both in the Syrian refugee crisis and in blocking the flow of fighters and supplies to the Islamic State terror group.

"A military government would likely crack down on ISIS and extremist groups that heretofore the government had perhaps seen more in the light as a tool against Assad than a domestic threat," Skinner said, using another acronym for Islamic State. "But perhaps the focus shifts a bit as internal needs supersede CT [counterterror] concerns."

He said it was possible that a military government could look to strengthen its ties with the West, but that there was no way at this point to know for sure.

Issues facing Turkey

There was also concern as to how a series of other issues would be impacted by the apparent coup, including the fate of Turkey's Kurdish population, and those in Iraq and Syria, too, as well as the involvement of Russia and Iran in the region.

"One would be hard pressed to pick a more destabilizing place for a coup right now," Skinner said.

Earlier this week, CIA Director John Brennan admitted to disagreements between the U.S. and Turkey, and not just over Syria, where the U.S has repeatedly urged Turkey to do more to crack down on IS.

"There are some things that are going on inside the Turkish political system that are subject to a lot of debate and even controversy," he said.

"But I'll just leave it that we do work closely with the Turks," Brennan added. "I have very close interaction with my Turkish counterpart."

VOA's National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin, Mary Alice Salinas at the White House, Dorian Jones in Istanbul, Jill Erzen, Ken Schwartz and

VOA's Turkish service contributed to this report.

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Explainer: Who Is Fethullah Gulen?

July 16, 2016

by Charles Recknagel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and those around him have been quick to blame the country's foiled coup on what they say is a "shadow state" seeking to overthrow the government.

But if such coded language might be confusing for people outside of Turkey, it was not lost on a 75-year-old Turkish religious leader who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Immediately after the first official Turkish references to a "shadow state," Fethullah Gulen denied any involvement in the coup effort.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt," said Gulen.

"I categorically deny such accusations," he added.

But who is Fethullah Gulen and why does Erdogan blame his movement for the coup attempt?

Gulen, who has lived in exile since 1999 in the United States, is a one-time Erdogan ally who helped the Turkish president's religiously conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) come to power in 2002. However, the two allies soon fell out, reportedly over power-sharing issues and over Erdogan's authoritarian leadership style. In May, Gulen's movement was designated a terrorist organization in Turkey.

A theologian who came to prominence as the leader of Friday prayers in Izmir's main mosque in the late 1960s, Gulen went into voluntary exile in 1999 when he was accused of trying to undermine the country's secular state. The charges against him were later dropped in absentia but he has remained in the United States, where he lives as the reclusive leader of one of the Muslim world's largest religiously based civic organizations. His Hizmet (Service) movement is believed to have millions of followers and sponsors some 1,000 scholastic centers helping high-school students prepare for university exams in 150 countries.

The Hizmet movement, which emphasizes community service in tandem with conservative religious values, is generally considered to be the proponent of a moderate form of Islam. But it also is regarded by some governments as a threat because of the network it weaves among wealthy businessmen and students through its scholastic centers.

The centers are funded by community businessmen and the students often come from poor families, with critics charging that they become easy recruits for a movement which itself has no formal international structure and no official membership lists. Members simply say they work together in a loose alliance because they are inspired by Gulen's message of public service.

In Central Asia, which initially welcomed the Gulen schools after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the centers were later taken out of the hands of the Gulen movement amid allegations by the region's authoritarian governments that they encouraged Islamist activism. But nowhere does the movement come under as much fire as in Turkey, where Erdogan's government routinely accuses Gulen's followers of trying to use their positions within Turkish state institutions to undermine the government and usurp power.

Erdogan has previously accused the Gulen movement of being behind several attempts to tar his administration, notably during a police investigation of a 2013 corruption scandal that implicated some of his closest associates. The scandal centered on allegations that officials were enriching themselves by using state funds to buy and funnel gold to Iran to help Tehran evade international sanctions over its nuclear program.

That scandal was followed by the government dismissing many prosecutors and top officials involved in the corruption investigation, with Erdogan telling the public the purge was necessary to protect Turkey from "dark forces" bent upon destroying it. Erdogan last year also succeeded in taking the Gulen schools in Turkey out of the hands of the Gulen movement by appointing government trustees.

With the foiled coup attempt in Turkey, there is now every sign that Erdogan will step up his efforts to destroy the Gulen movement within the country.

The acting chief of staff of Turkey's armed forces, Umit Dundar, said in a statement issued July 16 that the military was determined to remove members of the "parallel structure" from its ranks.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters on July 16 that any country that would harbor Fethullah Gulen would not be Turkey's friend. He did not specifically name the United States, which Ankara has previously said it hopes will extradite Gulen.

Yildirim also indirectly criticized Washington for not understanding Ankara's previous expressions of concern about Gulen, saying, "This caused us to pay a big price."

Washington has not yet responded to the indirect criticism.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content /explainer-fethullah-gulen/27862273.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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After Ruling, Reefs and Other Underwater Resources Are Still Endangered: Experts

South China Sea underwater resources are still in danger of abuse says experts. (Photo : Getty Images)

Underwater resources will still be plundered even after an international ruling on an arbitration case filed by the Philippines on South China Sea maritime disputes have been released, experts say.



The verdict is out but many are still uncertain what the future holds for the South China Sea and its underwater riches that have been much coveted by neighboring countries in the region.



Advertisement

In a report from Reuters, some experts expressed their concern about how China will react especially in terms of the resources hidden beneath the crystal blue waters in the region.



According to the ruling released on Tuesday, China has no legal right to claim historical control over the waters and that it had violated the Philippines' rights when Chinese vessels breached Philippine sovereignty in the energy-rich waters.



The Philippines celebrated the victory but China remained indignant and rejected what it described as a "law-abusive" decision.



Hong Kong University Marine Ecology Emeritus Professor Brian Morton sees this as a sign that China will not back down and will continue to plunder the resources within its coveted nine-dash line.



"China will take no notice of the Hague ruling. And it will be virtually impossible to restore the reefs given global warming and destructive fishing techniques continuing," he said.



University of British Columbia Associate Professor William Cheung believes so too.



"I think the dispute is still posing large uncertainties to the management of resources and conservation of ecosystems in the South China Sea, after the Hague ruling," he told Reuters.



Cheung said that this is mainly due to China's rejection of the ruling, saying that as long as the country does not heed the decision of the international court, there would not be any cooperation between nations concerned and the underwater resources continue to be plundered.



Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang tried to ease such worries in a statement to the press on Wednesday claiming that the Middle Kingdom "cares about the environment and ecology" in the South China Sea "more than any other country."



"In fact, we have taken many steps to protect the ecology and environment," he added.


Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Statement : President deluded , misguided and even traitors ; Peace Council in the administration of the country abroad confiscated !

Turkish Armed Forces

16.07.2016

Valued citizens of the Republic of Turkey:

The violations of the constitution and law have been carried out in a systematic way; have become an important threat to the presence of the state in terms of basic skills and vital institutions, the Turkish Armed Forces, and all institutions of the state, including ideological designs to undermine and therefore become unable to finish their tasks.

Even the president and government authorities are engaged in vanities and heresies, and in infidelity; fundamental rights and freedoms are damaged, and secular and democratic forces of law hae virtually vanished.

Our state and the reputation it deserves in the international environment, universal basic human rights have been ignored, and become a country governed by autocracy based on fear.

Challenge to political decisions may incorrectly receive the administration a lot of innocent citizens and terrorists of terror stood back and cost lives.

Given the extent of serious corruption and theft within the bureaucracy, the country does not process the legal system provided to fight it.

Under this circumstance, and circumstances, under the leadership of our nation's supreme Ataturk's republic, the Turkish armed forces brought these extraordinary days is the guardian of her and of "peace at home, peace in the world":

-to safeguard the integrity of the nation and the stat,e to keep secure its survival,

-to avoid the dangers faced by our republic,

-eliminate the actual barriers in front of rule of law,

-disclosing national security threats which have become a block,

-fight with all kinds of terrorism and pave the way,

-basic universal human rights for all our citizens, regardless of their sect and ethnicity,

-a secular, democratic, social and legal state when again based on the principle of the constitutional order;

-win again our government and our nation's lost international reputation

-international environment of peace, stability, tranquility and supply when a stronger relationship and cooperation to any terms of administration.

The council of state's administration will be the constitute the peace at home.

Peace Council will take every precaution with partnerships with the UN, NATO and all other international obligations.

Lost political legitimacy to power. All individuals and organizations in the high treason as soon as equity and justice on behalf of our nation to take into account will be provided to give the courts jurisdiction to decide.

All barracks have been declared martial law.

A second will be implemented a curfew until further notice. Our citizens ' own security troops with precision this prohibition.

Airports, border gates and the additional measures for the exits provided abroad.

State when and as soon as possible of any measures taken for the maintenance of and practised. No citizens shall be allowed to result in harm, will not be given the opportunity of public corruption.

All without any distinction of citizens freedom of expression,rights of ownership, universal basic rights and liberty at the assurance of peace.

Peace Council unitary state structure covers all sectors of the community without distinction in language, religion, ethnicity, and the constitution will soon get set up okay, .

The Peace Council will admit every precaution on behalf of our nation - modern, democratic, social, constitutional order based on the principles of a secular law.

ALL CITIZENS Regards.

[GS.org: This is a rough, unofficial translation]

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World Leaders Condemn Military Coup Attempt in Turkey

by VOA News July 16, 2016

Leaders around the world have condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey, showing their support for the elected government.

U.N. Spokesman said that the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored that "military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable." Ban appealed for calm, non-violence and restraint, adding that "it will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy."

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Friday, President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed.

Obama discussed the developments by phone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was traveling to Moscow for separate meetings with senior Russian officials on Syria.

In a statement Saturday, Kerry said that the U.S. will assist Turkey's government in the coup investigation.

Kerry said he had emphasized in a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu the U.S. "absolute support for Turkey's democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions." The U.S. urges "all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel and civilians throughout Turkey."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was in touch with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and was closely following events in Turkey. "I call for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution. Turkey is a valued NATO Ally," he said in a statement.

The Council of Europe has called for Turkey's public institutions to resume their normal functions, while offering its help in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Marina Kaljurand condemned the coup attempt and expressed her support for the democratically elected authorities.

"I call for the resumption of the normal functioning of public institutions and reaffirm the Council of Europe's availability to continue to assist Turkey on the basis of the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Kaljurand said in a statement.

The spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert, tweeted "The democratic order must be respected...Everything must be done to protect human lives."

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said he said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's `"democratic elected government and institutions" in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said his Turkish counterpart defined the coup attempt as "terroristic." In a phone conversation with Cavusoglu, Gentiloni expressed "satisfaction that popular mobilization and defense of the institutions prevailed" in Turkey, according to a statement from the Italian Foreign Ministry.

Russia reiterates its readiness for joint constructive cooperation with the legitimate leadership of Turkey, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday. "The aggravating political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability," the statement said.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said "It is unacceptable to reverse the democratic path that the people of Turkey enjoyed in the recent times of their history. This was unfortunate and we are very glad to hear that the evil forces who tried to turn Turkey into a violence ground have been defeated."

Erdogan has been a big supporter of the Somali government and efforts to rebuild that country. He is only non-African head of state to visit there in the last two decades.

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Bellingcat Says Russia Used 'Fake Evidence' To Point Finger At Kyiv In Downing Of MH17

July 15, 2016

by Tom Balmforth

MOSCOW -- The Russian Defense Ministry published doctored, misdated satellite imagery to support its suggestion that Ukraine was responsible for downing of a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, independent investigation group Bellingcat alleges in a new report.

The report provides an overview of Bellingcat's exhaustive open-source investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which killed all 298 passengers and crew aboard the airliner bound from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

It was published two days before the second anniversary of the July 17, 2014 incident, which drew the world's stunned attention to the war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists and added its victims to the conflict's toll -- now more than 9,300 civilians and combatants.

Dutch investigators said in 2015 that the airliner was shot down with a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air missile and identified a 320-square-mile area from which it was fired -- most of it held by the separatists -- but did not place blame.

Britain-based Bellingcat says evidence it has collected shows that the Russian army supplied the missile-launcher that brought down MH17 and moved it toward the Ukrainian border before the shootdown. The jet crashed in separatist-held part of the Donetsk region.

Russian officials and state media have made strenuous efforts to lay the blame on Kyiv, at various times suggesting that the jet was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter or by a Buk missile-launcher in the hands of Ukrainian forces.

The Bellingcat report, however, says that images published by the Russian Defense Ministry in July 2014 to make the case that Kyiv was to blame were found to have been digitally altered.

The group invited an expert on open source intelligence, Jeffrey Lewis, to use forensic analysis software called Tungstene to evaluate the reliability of images central to its investigation, Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins told RFE/RL.

"The satellite imagery from the Russian MOD was heavily edited, including the addition of clouds and Buk missile launchers to some images," Higgins said.

A news release accompanying the Bellingcat report said that some of the satellite imagery was "so heavily manipulated that it lacks any credibility as evidence."

As presented bythe Russian Defense Ministry, the images suggested that a Ukrainian Buk missile launcher had been moved from its base in the days before MH17 was shot down.

By contrast, the report says that key images in the Bellingcat investigation -- such as photographs widely circulated by Paris Match of a Buk missile system being transported through eastern Ukraine -- were found to be "genuine."

"For me the question is now, 'How are international governments going to respond to Russia creating fake evidence in the inquiry into the murder of 298 people?'" Higgins said in an interview with RFE/RL's Russian Service.

Bellingcat says the airliner was shot down by a Buk missile with the number 332, which it says was transported from a military base in Russia's Kursk region to an area near the Ukrainian border by the 2nd battalion of Russia's 53rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade.

It says that the launch site was south of the separatist-held town of Snizhne, and that the missile system was spirited back toward the Russian border.

Russia has denied any direct involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine, despite what Kyiv and NATO say is ample evidence that it has sent large numbers of troops and weapons across the border to support the separatists.

The conflict broke out in April 2014, shortly after Russia used military force and a referendum widely dismissed as illegitimate to seize control of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula -- a takeover that followed the ouster of Moscow-allied Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. He fled to Russia after months of protests over his decision, late in 2013, to abandon plans for a landmark agreement with the European Union and cultivate closer ties with Russia instead.

Russia's interference in Ukraine has badly harmed its ties with Kyiv and brought its relations with the West to a post-Cold War low.

U.S. and German intelligence reports have blamed the Russia-backed separatists for the downing of MH-17. The Dutch authorities leading the international investigation recently visited Moscow, after which Dutch authorities pressed Russia to hand over additional information. The probe is expected to be completed later this year.

Higgins said he hopes those responsible for the deaths will be brought to justice.

"We've been able to identify nearly all the members of the 53rd air defense brigade which was in this convoy that took this missile launcher to the Ukrainian border," Higgins said, adding that the international investigators "might have a lot more information. Maybe they have information that, combined with our information, can lead you to the exact names of the people who .... shot down MH17."

"But MH17 is really part of a broader story and that's Russia's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine," he said. "Ultimately the person who made the decision to send Russian troops to Ukraine is going to be the head of the Russian army, which is Vladimir Putin."

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/ bellingcat-says-russia-used-fake-evidence-to- point-finger-at-kyiv-downing-of-mh17/27860838.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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The Water Cycle Observation Mission is expected to help in forecasting hydrological events such as drought. (Photo : Getty Images)

By around 2020, China is eyeing to launch a Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM) that is expected to help in predicting hydrological events such as drought and flood, Global Times reported.



The WCOM satellite will be "the first geoscientific satellite to provide integrated observation of key elements of the global water cycle," the article wrote.



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The announcement was made during the kick off of the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGRSS) 2016 in Beijing.



The Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth and the National Space Science Center with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) jointly initiated the endeavor.



In anticipation of further development, CAS has previously completed the significant research as well as the tests of WCOM's payload.



Chief WCOM scientist Shi Jiancheng remarked that "this year's floods in southern China are an example of how changes in water cycle have a direct impact on [people's] lives."



Shi added that it will be pivotal if experts could understand and forecast water cycle's distribution characteristics and changing patterns.



The scientist expects that the WCOM will be able to provide unprecedented observations made via simultaneous monitoring of vital water cycle elements including sea water salinity, surface ice, soil humidity and snow/water equivalents.



Shi explained that the success of WCOM will be able to help China in devising means on how to prevent flood and cope up with drought. It will also be beneficial in water resource management, agriculture and food and environmental security.



Meanwhile, CAS is also set to team up with European and American research teams to launch a WCOM-based satellite constellation. The group aims to form a water cycle observation network on a global scope.



Progress in key joint research endeavors was also made during the IGRSS meeting. This includes significant development in the China-France Oceanography Satellite, which is scheduled for launch in 2018, and in the Dragon Program, a venture by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the European Space Agency.


Smoke billows from stacks as a Chinese woman wears as mask while walking in a neighborhood next to a coal fired power plant on Nov. 26, 2015 in Shanxi, China. (Photo : Getty Images)

Construction of new coal-fueled power plants are on the rise despite government efforts, Greenpeace said.



In a research made by the pro-environment group, three policies were formed by the National Energy Administration (NEA) last April.



These policies aim to retire outdated power plants, to set up an early warning mechanism on overcapacity risks, and to delay approving and constructing new plants in provinces with excess capacity.



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In April, the NEA gave authority to local governments to implement these policies even without approval from Beijing.



Greenpeace sees that with these policies, 110 gigawatts of coal power will be suspended and 70 gigawatts will be retired by 2020.



However, two new power plants are constructed every week since the enactment of the policies.



Greenpeace energy campaigner Lauri Myllyvirta said, "China's worsening coal overcapacity crisis is acting as a dead weight on the country's energy transition."



The NEA reported that the coal power production has increased to 990 gigawatts or a 7.8 percent increase in 2015. An additional 24 gigawatts was produced in 2016.



Coal-produced energy is bringing tremendous environmental hazard to the county. Air pollution is produced during production, causing damage to the atmosphere.



Aside from air pollution, the waste from burning coal makes the soil lose its nutrients. The land that absorbs the ash becomes unusable.



The World Health Organization reported in 2008 that about a million people are affected by coal-burning power plants. Environmental activists claim that coal plants have cost 24,000 lives a year in the United States alone.



In June, the Chinese government set an "ecological red line" to set the limits on water and energy consumption for industrial development.


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Non-Western cultures show different taste

By Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

When it comes to musical aesthetics, beauty is in the ear of the beholder. A new study finds that people who havent been exposed to Western music dont find certain discordant sounds unpleasant at all.

The findings, described in the journal Nature, show that Western musical sensibilities arent hardwired into the human auditory system. They may actually be a cultural phenomenon.

Humans have been making music for tens of thousands of years. Its a quality, along with language, that seems to define our species. And while music can be found nearly any place on earth, where you find human societies, its origins and true nature remain a mystery.

Music is present in every culture, but the degree to which it is shaped by biology remains debated, the study authors wrote.

The ideas of consonance and dissonance play a key role in that debate. If youve ever been listening to someone play the piano and he hits a wrong note in a chord, youll probably notice immediately  and register it as unpleasant, or dissonant. On the other hand, consonant musical combinations are thought to be pleasant-sounding and can even be described in mathematical terms that also are beautiful in their elegance and simplicity, according to Robert Zatorre of the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University, who was not involved in the study. The perfect fifth, for example, involves two notes whose frequencies are in a ratio of 3:2. The major third involves two tones in a 5:4 ratio. Both are thought to be more consonant than two notes in a 16:15 ratio, known as the minor second.

Aesthetic responses to consonance are commonly assumed by scientists to have biological roots, and thus to be universally present in humans, the study authors explained. Ethnomusicologists and composers, in contrast, have argued that consonance is a creation of Western musical culture. The issue has remained unresolved, partly because little is known about the extent of cross-cultural variation in consonance preferences.

Part of the reason its so hard to make those cross-cultural comparisons is because Western cultural influences, music included, have spread across the globe. Even in places such as India and China, with very distinctive musical heritages and traditions, people still know who Beethoven and Britney Spears are.

So for a paper led by Josh McDermott of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a team of researchers decided to set up an experiment that included people with somewhat limited or virtually no access to Western music. Their study participants included people from the United States, separated into two groups: those with musical training and those with little to none. They compared the U.S. listeners to three other groups: city-dwellers in La Paz, the capital city of Bolivia, which has plenty of exposure to Western culture; residents in San Borja, a town in the countryside that is accessible only by airplane during much of the rainy season; and members of the Tsimane, a native population in Santa Maria, a remote village in the Amazon rainforest that can be reached only by canoe.

Of these groups, the Tsimane were a particularly interesting comparison to the U.S. residents  not just because they were so remote as to be largely uninfluenced, but because their musical culture lacks harmony, polyphony and group performances. In fact, the researchers tried to get the Tsimane musicians to play or sing together but failed to persuade them.

They were usually reluctant to do so (despite being eager to perform solo songs for each other), and on the few occasions when we could elicit concurrent performances, they were unable to coordinate, the authors wrote. Our experience suggests that group musical performance in Tsimane culture is rare at best.

If the Tsimane never played or sang with or over one another, then perhaps they wouldnt even have a concept of what it means to harmonize  and to do so in a way thats aesthetically pleasant. This made them extremely valuable participants in this musical test.

The researchers played two- or three-note chords (some played by a synthesizer, others sung by humans) that would be, according to Western standards, either consonant or dissonant, and asked listeners in each group to put on headphones and rate the pleasantness of the sound on a four-point scale.

The U.S.-based participants had the strongest preference for the consonant chords, with the musicians showing the most extreme bias. And there seemed to be a clear gradient in the listeners responses: The city dwellers and townfolk had a statistically significant but far less pronounced preference for consonant sounds. The Tsimane, however, didnt seem to distinguish between the supposedly pleasant and unpleasant chords at all.

To make sure all the participants understood the task, scientists also had listeners rate non-musical human sounds like laughing and gasping; the laughs were consistently rated as more pleasant by all the groups, proving that all the participants were indeed on the same page. The Tsimane, then, really didnt hear an aesthetic difference between the concordant and discordant tones.

The results indicate that consonance preferences can be absent in cultures sufficiently isolated from Western music, and are thus unlikely to reflect innate biases or exposure to harmonic natural sounds, the authors concluded. The observed variation in preferences is presumably determined by exposure to musical harmony, suggesting that culture has a dominant role in shaping aesthetic responses to music.

There might be an interesting analogy for this phenomenon in language development, Zatorre explained. After all, babies have the capacity to hear a vast variety of distinctive sounds, but tend to lose them as they acquire their first language. Thats why Japanese speakers learning English might sometimes have trouble navigating the r and l sounds at first because that particular distinction is irrelevant in Japanese. Similarly, if Tsimane infants never heard harmonies in their youth, then perhaps there would be no reason for the brain to hold on to the ability to draw distinctions between the aesthetics of different combinations of notes.

But does this idea rule out the possibility of innate factors? Zatorre wrote in a commentary on the paper. Not necessarily, because, despite their lack of preference for harmonically related tones, the Tsimane did display a similar dislike to Western listeners for roughness  the sensation of sound that is elicited by tones that are close together in frequency, especially minor and major seconds. This finding suggests that there are probably some innate biological constraints on which environmental input operates.

It would be interesting to explore whether consonance and dissonance (as we think of them) arise in those cultures that do start to use harmonies in music, he added.

Although many questions remain, this work represents an important contribution to our understanding of how the diversity of human cultural expression can influence perception, he wrote.
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By Bill Tinsley

This past week we have been shaken by the sniper killing of five uniformed officers at the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Dallas. The killings were apparently the work of a lone gunman who was not affiliated with Black Lives Matter. The tragedy followed national outrage after police officers shot and killed Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castille in Minneapolis.

In Dallas, Shetamia Taylor, a black woman, participated in the peaceful protest with her four boys. When the gunshots rang out she saw an officer hit near her. The office warned her to run for safety. She did. But she was immediately hit in the leg. She fell to the ground. When the officers saw she was hit, they gathered around her to protect her. "I saw another officer get shot ... Right there in front of me," she said. The police loaded Taylor into their bullet-riddled police car and took her to Baylor Hospital where she is expected to make a full recovery. The officer who was hit died. Taylor wept as she thanked the police department, "They were really heroes for us."

The tragic deaths in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis and Dallas reminded us that prejudice and racial tension always lie just below the surface. Like lava beneath the earth, racism and cultural prejudice seep through cracks in the seemingly peaceful landscapes and, on occasion, erupt with devastating violence.

We witnessed a similar eruption 24 years ago when smoke curled above Los Angeles for 60 days following the acquittal of white police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Rioting black mobs dragged white and Hispanic truck drivers from their cabs and began beating them in retaliation. The police abandoned the scene. Four civilians ran to rescue Reginald Denny, a white truck driver who was pulled from his cab and beaten with a brick. Minutes later, at the same intersection, the angry mob dragged Fidel Lopez from his truck, smashed his forehead and attempted to slice off his ear. A black minister nearby ran to the scene, threw himself over Lopez' bleeding body and screamed, "If you kill him you will have to kill me, too!"

Denny's four rescuers the black minister who saved Lopez, and the Dallas officers who protected Taylor remind us of Jesus' story regarding race and prejudice. If we would "love our neighbor as we love ourselves," we must love those who are different from us. Like the Samaritan who stopped to render aid to a dying victim beside the road, we must realize that every stranger is our neighbor, every man is our brother, every woman our sister.

Racial prejudice is a global problem. It exists in every generation, on every continent, in every nation. It exists between white, red, black, brown and yellow. It exists between generations and cultures. We are prone to fear and suspect those who look different, talk differently and act differently than we do. Only faith that lifts us beyond our provincial prejudices can save us. The Apostle Paul, who grew up as an ambitious Pharisee and outgrew his prejudices through faith in Christ, wrote, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Bill Tinsley is former associate executive for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Email him at bill@tinsleycenter.com.
In this July 7, 2016 photo, Kirin Waqar, Lena Ginawi and Hawa Adam, members of Muslim Girls Making Change, pose for a photo in South Burlington, Vt. They are among four teens who will participate in an international youth poetry competition this week in Washington. (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

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Voices tell stories of girls making change

By Lisa Rathke, Associated Press

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.  Four girls from Vermont are using their voices and powerful performance poetry to get their message out about being Muslim in America, stereotypes and other issues near to them.

Five months after forming their slam poetry group, Muslim Girls Making Change is competing this week in the Brave New Voices international youth poetry slam competition in Washington, D.C.

"We write poems about things that we can't keep inside of us anymore, so things that we care so much about," said Kirin Waqar, 16, of South Burlington, whose parents are from Pakistan.

With titles like "American Dream," "Welcome" and "Chameleon" the girls address their parents' expectations coming to this country, the Syrian refugees, and their own challenges balancing their American identity with where their family is from.

Like in the poem "Chameleon":

"We will never be white only pretend to be. We hide behind big mirrors and lies unsure of who we really are. African American or the other way around? Pakistani first, American?," they say. "Tears roll off our face. The droplets form a perfectly curved rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, which one am I?" they say voices rising. "Which one are we. Maybe we're a mix. Maybe we are many. A combination of colors ... Maybe we are one."

Through the poetry, 15-year-old Lena Ginawi, whose father is from Egypt and mother is from Yemen, wants people to know that "whenever you hear the word terrorism, I don't want the first thing you think about is Islam, because Islam to me is a religion of peace. Anything that these terrorists do has nothing to do with Islam," she said.

The group won a tryout in Vermont to compete in the Brave New Voices festival.

They not only have a powerful message and stage presence, but they are willing to discuss the issues they talk about in their poetry, answer questions and use that as platform for good and creating change, said Sarah Gliech of the Young Writers Project, which helped raise funds for the group's trip to Washington.

In middle school, Waqar said she tried to assimilate wearing American clothing.

Then at 15, she decided her religion was more important and started wearing a hijab.

Her attire eventually prompted questions and started conversations, "which was really, really amazing," she said.

"We'd talk about common stereotypes and like Muslim countries and culture vs. religion, almost anything; it was wide range," she said.

She says she still gets stares sometimes when she's out in public and sometimes feels afraid if someone gives her a weird look.

Hawa Adam, who got the idea to start the slam poetry group, said a bigger challenge for her growing up was being black in a largely white school in South Burlington, where she said she felt some students made fun of her. She also was the only one wearing hijab at the school at the time. She now attends Burlington High School, which is more diverse.

But, she says she feels segregated because most of her friends are either Muslim or black.
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By Rashda Khan, rashda.khan@gosanangelo.com / @rashda_SAST

Water rates were a hot topic this week in San Angelo.

At the July council meeting on Tuesday, Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer raised questions about the city's water rate increase that went into effect in January.

"They (the public) want to know what we're doing with their (extra) $5 per customer per month," she said, adding that an explanation is needed now because a $136 million wastewater project was put on hold. She estimated the increase brings in an additional $165,000 per month. In her recollection, the increase in rates was needed to cover debt incurred in pursuing the wastewater project.

However, Water Utilities Director Bill Riley said City Council had passed a five-year plan to increase water rates based on the recommendation of Raftelis Financial Group, an Austin-based firm commissioned to study rates and the increase covers more than the proposed wastewater project.

"The short answer is that nothing is being collected for (building) a new water supply (this year)," Riley said. "The new rates are just to bring the water utility into a good financial position."

The cost to run the department is expected to rise from $30 million to $35 million in five years while revenue hovers around $25 million without a rate increase, according to the 2015 Raftelis report.

Riley said the increase was meant to address three different issues: "Right the ship," "Maintain status quo" and "Moving Forward."

After months of deliberations and public feedback, the council agreed upon a plan hiking combined monthly water and wastewater bills by about 11.5 percent in 2016-18, then by more than 5.5 percent in 2019 and 2020. For the average user of 4,000 gallons of water per month, the difference is about $30 more. The increase is intended to help fund future water projects and aid the water services department, which has suffered financially since the city asked residents to cut back water usage.

"The condition of the water utility was pretty dire," Riley said. "We had a negative fund balance in December."

The ensuing council discussion indicated some confusion regarding what had been the reasoning behind the increase among the members.

"I want actual numbers," Farmer told Riley. "I want it explained in detail."

FIND OUT MORE

The city provided the following links for more information on water rate discussions:

Presentation from a water rate consultant at a public forum Nov. 17: youtu.be/n0SiPe9Hmlg

Presentation on the needs for a water rate increase at Nov. 3 City Council meeting: youtu.be/iKmKq_fNjmo?t=1h35m37s

Discussion from Dec. 1 City Council meeting at which Council approved rate increase: youtu.be/YIg7XtrLIv8?t=1h4m4s

Nuts and bolts info on the water rate increase: youtu.be/xTtJtOwsDlE

WATERMASTER BUDGET DEBATED

The Concho River Watermaster Advisory Committee wrangled over the Concho River Watermaster operation budget for fiscal year 2017 on Thursday. The proposed budget was $182,088, a sum of $13,737.63 more than the FY2016 budget of $168,350.37.

A watermaster is an officer appointed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to monitor water levels and pumping volumes in a basin to prevent the wasting of water or its being used in quantities beyond a user's right.

Texas has four watermaster programs: Brazos Watermaster, Concho River Watermaster, Rio Grande Watermaster and South Texas Watermaster. The FY2017 proposed budget for all four comes to about $1.9 million.

Most of the increases in the Concho River budget came from two main areas  salaries and fringe, which includes health benefits, insurance and other similar costs, according to Amy Settemeyer, a watermaster section manager who traveled from Austin for the meeting. The Concho River program has three personnel listed  a watermaster and two watermaster specialists.

"The agency standard is 30 percent in salaries and fringe. We are paying 21 percent, which below that standard," Settemeyer said, adding that she expected both these areas to increase incrementally until the agency standard is achieved. The calculations are done by the state comptroller's office, she said.

Committee member Stephen Brown reminded everyone that the governor has asked all state agencies to curtail their costs by 5 percent.

He also noted that salaries would be increasing by 6.1 percent, and fringe expenses would be increasing by 18 percent. Brown asked for a breakdown of costs leading to the increases in "fringe," but Settemeyer wasn't able to provide the details at the meeting.

If the board were to approve the proposed budget, "the city of San Angelo will be paying an additional $12,000, which is an 8 percent increase in the municipal rate, and the other water right holders will bear a 7 percent increase," Brown said. "But the average San Angelo water user and the average farmer hasn't realized an 8 percent increase in their gross income this year, yet you're raising your rates."

As a compromise, Brown made the motion to budget $175,003.93 for FY 2017, which was the approved budget for FY2015. The committee voted for staff to present the revised amount to TCEQ.

"We will take your concerns back with us and discuss it with our upper management," Settemeyer said. "Whatever we move forward with will go in front of the commission on Sept. 7. Y'all will receive a written notice of that as well."
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Ballinger

Max Pratt honored by Lions Club

The Ballinger Noon Lions Club has named Max Pratt as its Lion of the Year.

Pratt was honored for his service to the club. He also has been involved with numerous community organizations and has served as a minister for almost 40 years.

Singing Storyteller to entertain

The Carnegie Library will present Dru Woods, the Singing Storyteller, from 10-11 a.m. Thursday at 204 N. 8th St.

Woods is a professional storyteller and presents programs designed to motivate reading and instill an appreciation of literature and storytelling.

She incorporates music and puppetry to bring a magical experience to her listeners.

For more information, call 325-365-3616.

Museum-on-wheels coming to library

The Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering will bring its traveling Trailblazer to the Carnegie Library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 25, at 204 N. 8th St.

The one-of-a-kind science museum-on-wheels has exciting hands-on exhibits to teach students about energy, space, weather, biotechnology and aerodynamics. It also introduces them to educational and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

For more information, call 325-365-3616.

Brady

Animal shelter shuts down

PAWS from the Heart animal shelter closed its doors July 1, according to its Facebook page. A lack of volunteers and the large amount of dogs and cats received each month from the city were reasons cited.

PAWS took in 248 animals since opening in June of 2015 and adopted out 153. Twenty-eight were euthanized or died from parvo, distemper, heartworms and other fatal illnesses.

The nonprofit PAWS opened the low-kill shelter on 5.5 acres just east of Brady. The 3,500-square-foot facility, along with the land, was paid for through fundraisers and donations.

Kerrville

Photographer to talk about spiders

The Texas Master Naturalist Hill County Chapter will present Sheryl Smith-Rodgers at its monthly chapter meeting at 6:30 p.m. July 25 at UGRA Lecture Hall, 125 N. Lehmann Dr.

The freelance writer and photographer will speak on "Spiders of Central Texas," and cover basic spider biology. She also will introduce attendees to common spiders they might see in their yards and around the Hill Country.

For more information, call 830-796-3182 or 325-805-1176 or email bsl@rabbit66.com.

Mason

Library to hold book signing

The Mason County M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library will hold a book signing for author Judy Schoenfield 4-6 p.m. Tuesday at 410 Post Hill St.

Schoenfield's new book is "Mason County Schools: Drawings, Photos, Histories and Stories."

For more information, call 325-347-5446.

 Compiled by Jane Jeschke
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As we learn more about Micah Xavier Johnson, whose deadly rampage against Dallas police officers has shaken Dallas to its core, it is increasingly apparent that he shares much with Dylann Roof. That's right, Dylann Roof.

As you might recall, Roof killed innocent worshippers at Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina in a fit of blind rage against black people whom he deemed a threat to his notion of white supremacy. He called himself the last Rhodesian, a misguided desire to embrace the ideals of a failed country that abused its nonwhite residents.

That is not unlike the motivations of Johnson, who also created his own warped narrative to justify mass killings of white police officers. Dallas just happened to be the place of opportunity. And, like Roof, Johnson plotted and practiced and increasingly immersed himself in the symbols and language of racism.

On Monday, President Barack Obama called Johnson's murder of police officers in Dallas a hate crime, which puts it on the same level as Roof's murder of black churchgoers.

And that is why we must not lose perspective about what is possible and what isn't as the nation enters another cycle of conversations on race that are supposed to change minds and hearts.

Frankly, I don't think conversations about race change hearts and minds, and that it is a bit naive to expect that outcome. I care more about establishing laws and procedures that protect police and minority citizens and assure neighborhoods are safe. I care about constitutional protections that let those whose basic human and civil rights have been violated  be they police officers or citizens  have remedies under the law.

It matters not whether Americans like one another, but it does matter that laws protect all Americans from violations of their civil liberties.

Conversations have been held for as long as this country has existed. The Founding Fathers had conversations about race. So did America in the Reconstruction era and all throughout the last century. And when these conversations weren't backed by laws and a commitment to protect all citizens, progress took generations.

Former President Bill Clinton had a series of town hall conversations before he left office, for example. To my knowledge, he never finished the final report from those chats. Or if he did, I can't tell you what those chats accomplished.

Every president since has asked that we understand one another in a national coming together. So I see a pattern: Conversations about race end up in missed opportunities.

Presidents should ask us to be better listeners. In fact, I want presidents to unite us. But more than that, I want presidents and lawmakers right down to the city level to put aside conversations and enforce equal protections under the law. That is the missing ingredient and it is why committed community policing based on serving and protecting works. And it is why various task force recommendations that have been gathering dust need to be put into place now.

Conversations about race generally amount to preaching to the choir. Those who are willing to hold a conversation are people who already are willing to listen. My concern is that increasingly aggressive verbal combat has drowned out an opportunity for a conversation, and as a nation, our first instinct is to disparage rather than resolve.

It is sad to say racial conversations aren't learning experiences. You have to speak the same language to have a conversation, and I see less evidence that we're of a single tongue, let alone of a single message of universal justice.

My hope is not in hearts and minds changing, but in Americans realizing that our liberty is at stake  not just my liberty, but your liberty and the liberty of your sons and daughters, regardless of race. Once we commit to protecting liberty, then we'll find our way beyond destructive recriminations.

Until then, we'll look at troubled folks like Micah Johnson and Dylann Roof as excuses to have conversations that are likely to end up going nowhere.

Jim Mitchell is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. Contact him at jmitchell@dallasnews.com
f(x)'s Victoria Song at Paris Fashion Week March 4, 2016 show Christian Dior Mars. (Photo : Youtube/GaLi Videostars)

Fans have criticized Chinese starts working in the K-pop industry for sharing their patriotic feelings on social media.



The UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague gave a verdict on the South China Sea dispute on Tuesday where it stated that China has no right over the sea. It added that the claims made by the nation have no legal basis. The Chinese authorities, however, have been suspecting the decision to be influenced by American conspiracy and hence they have denied accepting it.



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Many Chinese K-pop celebrities have come forward to show their support to their nation but in doing so they have hurt the sentiments of their fans. The Hague verdict has favored the Philippines. A protest against the decision meant the stars' support for the nation and not their fans.



Korean girl bands posted messages on Wednesday and protested against The Hague decision. Band f(x)'s Victoria Song posted a map on Instagram as well as Weibo. The map showed China along with Taiwan and the South China Sea colored in red. "China cannot shrink by the slightest bit," Song accompanies the map with a text.



The New Paper reported that Miss A's Fei and ex-bandmate Jia joined the notion. Fiestar member Cao Lu also shared the same image along with other celebrities on their Weibo accounts. Boy bands Super Junior's Zhou Mi and EXO's Lay also joined the group and protested against the UN-backed tribunal's decision.



In addition to musical gems, other acting aces, including actress Fan Bingbing also displayed their patriotism only to find out how their fans would react, according to The Chosunilbo.



Song, Lay, and Zhou have received maximum dejection online for sharing the post on Instagram. The reason behind such a negative effect on their fan base is that the most of their followers belong to the South-east Asian region.



The reactions to the post have come in a majority from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The stars might be receiving negative reactions from other nations, but their Chinese fans have saluted their effort. They have called them "courageous" and "China's pride," which has already come as a reward of patriotism for them.



Inquirer.net presents a video as a preface to The Hague verdict. If you want to know the background and the decision, you can watch it here.






The middle class has been getting a lot of attention lately. In May,described the middle-class shame of half of Americans being unable to come up with $400 in an emergency. A recent Pew Research Center study found the middle class in decline in almost nine out of 10 metro areas. And there is increasing talk of an America in which the upper 20 percent are doing well, while middle-income Americans, like lower-income ones, are under intensifying economic pressure.The response of some is to deny that things are really that bad, to point to positive developments here or there, or to defend the same policies the parties have been pushing in recent years: more stimulus spending, more free-trade agreements, looser immigration control and so on.The problem with these arguments is not that they are false. In fact, some of them are compelling. The problem is that they have no obvious connection to the daily experience of those living such a precarious existence that they cant come up with $400 in emergency cash, or who are living through what political scientist Robert Putnam saw in his hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio, and described as the crumbling of the American Dream.Not everyone sees things as Putnam does. An article in one conservative publication argued that manufacturer Carriers moving of 1,400 jobs from Indianapolis to Mexico was utterly unrepresentative of Indianas economy, and touted a number of accurate statistics about the strength of the states manufacturing sector. The author could have said much more, such as talking about the beautiful and booming small manufacturing city of Columbus, Ind., now full of foreign firms.Yet a drive around the state would show many signs of serious trauma. Gary remains a byword of urban decline. Marion is a shell of its former self. Fort Wayne and Michigan City were two of the 10 biggest losers of economic status in Pews recent study. Scott County is making national headlines for its HIV epidemic. Harrison County, where I grew up, is a leading center for meth lab busts. I didnt even know what meth was when I went to high school there in the 1980s.Is free trade to blame for all of this? Obviously not. So what is? And how do we fix it? These are the unanswered questions.Some on the left suggest that railing against free trade or factories decamping for Mexico is all merely racist anger, a sort of death scream from a powerless rural white working class. Not only is this unfair negative stereotyping, but much, if not most, of this anger is coming from those struggling in cities -- in places like Gary, Flint, Mich., and even Chicago and Los Angeles -- with large proportions of minority residents. A recent study from the Federal Reserve of San Francisco found that the median value of liquid assets held by households of Mexican origin in Los Angeles was zero.So we find ourselves in uncharted territory. We should at least be willing to acknowledge that there are very hard problems out there that need to be faced, that the solutions arent obvious and that the issues are so big that the accumulated number of losers simply cant be ignored.This will involve having the courage to tell some unpleasant truths. Flint isnt likely coming back, no matter how much money is spent there; its people need to seriously consider moving, maybe with government assistance. But it also means admitting that the prosperous 20 percent who have been running America have also gotten a lot of things wrong and need to make some changes themselves, not just promote more of the same things theyve been touting all along.It may well be that everything eventually will sort itself out. Once were on the other side of this wave of globalization and technological change, perhaps well look back with nostalgia, just as when the industrial era replaced the agricultural one or the car replaced the buggy. In that case, all thats needed is to stay the course.But if thats wrong, or if that future takes too long to arrive, then our failed bet may have fallout well beyond the economic. What the political leadership of America has forgotten is that in a democracy, politics is also a marketplace. Creative disruption and the discipline of the marketplace apply to the political arena as well as the economic one.When political leaders refused to serve the large market of voters who want less immigration or to break up the banks, among other things, it never occurred to them that political entrepreneurs and new market entrants would come in to serve it. While these leaders were celebrating how Uber used new technology to disrupt the taxi business, for example, it never occurred to them that technology, in the form of social media, also would disrupt the politics business.Now that they are on the receiving end of disruption and creative destruction, they dont like it very much. But now they know how so many Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders voters feel.This should, one would hope, prompt some empathy and willingness to reconsider public policy for an era much different from decades past. Getting it wrong will be a failure with a price higher than we should have to pay.
SAN FRANCISCO  Federal technologists, change makers and academics joined the city in a ribbon cutting ceremony on July 14 for Superpublic , San Franciscos new innovation lab. The venture is a first for the city as its work commands support and talent from regional, state and federal organizations in addition to academic and private-sector contributions.The General Services Administration (GSA)  which manages 375 million square feet of federal property  has offered the lab a 5,000-square-foot operating space in the heart of San Franciscos downtown and support from its digital consultancy 18F, housed in the same building, which works to guide government to build, buy and share modern technology. Other partners include UC Berkeley, the Center for Design Research at Stanford University, the MIT Media Lab, Microsoft and Deloitte. The labs supporting nonprofits include the City Innovate Foundation and the Local Government Commission, both with missions to drive urban innovation efforts.While it seems voluntary and innovative to do it now, were actually creating the conditions for the private sector, for the public sector, for academia, for those that are in government that want to innovate, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said. Were trying to create the conditions now so there is a lot more opportunity in the future to be successful. superpublic-ribbon-cutting.jpg Joined by city Supervisor Mark Farrell and Chief Innovation Officer Jay Nath, the mayor said Superpublic was an absolute necessity for San Francisco and Bay Area residents to be competitive in a global economy where city infrastructure, quality-of-life conditions and services determine prosperity."As a community interested in being smarter about what were doing, we hope that with Superpublic we can show were even more committed to using taxpayer dollars wisely, Lee said.The lab will be mutually beneficial for the GSA. Denise Turner Roth, the GSAs administrator, described Superpublic as a new testing ground to expand 18Fs footprint and impact in cities nationwide. Since it was founded in 2014, the group has grown to support a number of innovation projects in federal agencies. This has dispatched its team of engineers, designers and procurement specialists to develop and rework a bevy of digital tools and IT buying strategies that now can be applied more locally.In February the GSA hired former Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan to lead the groups first regional innovation program that could apply 18Fs expertise in the areas of agile development and IT contracting to federally funded state, county and city projects. 18Fs other work outside of federal government has entailed consulting on a massive contract to upgrade Californias child welfare system where it parsed procurement into a collection of smaller contracts  a strategy to make purchasing more affordable through competition.I expect to see us continue to partner with other communities," Roth said. "For me this is just a start and an example  a strong example  of how we can leverage the space that we are managing, the resources were managing and our people."Superpublics projects have yet to be announced, but officials mentioned a number of possible issues for the lab to consider. Transportation was one, poverty and homelessness was another, support for small businesses was brought up more than a few times, as well as bridging the digital divide with tech accessibility and educational resources. 18F will try to take the projects and find avenues to scale them to other cities through open source code and by applying some of the innovation models.Well take these learnings and share them with other communities as well, Roth said.Despite the positive gains citizens may see with such a lab, the tech industry may be wary of it. At a hearing in June, IT lobbyists complained to House legislators that 18F was hindering potential profits as a competitor at the federal and state levels. Lobbyists said their members, which include enterprise companies like IBM, SAP, Xerox and Cisco Systems, were concerned about 18F's growing scope in the industry. The IT lobby stance has since been rebuffed by former GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini , who called for unity from both the private and public sectors to focus on improving citizen services instead of protecting profits or traditional buying policies.The current GSA administrator did not comment on these matters at Superpublics opening. However, GSA Press Secretary Ashley Nash-Hahn said Roth would respond to questions about 18Fs current struggles inside and out of the GSA in a follow-up interview with
Chinese internet giant Baidu is offering emerging Chinese developers a chance to expand their reach to the global market. (Photo : Reuters)

Chinese internet giant Baidu is offering local mobile internet developers a big chance to break into the international scene via its DU Ad Platform (DAP) support program.



The company made the offer during the opening of its DAP Forum dubbed "Making the Breakthrough". The DAP, which is part of Baidu's recently announced DU+ Plan, lets developers earn 100 percent of the revenues they generate through mobile advertising campaigns carried out under it, China Daily reported.



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According to Hu Yong, general manager for Baidu's global arm, the opportunity they are providing is part of their ongoing commitment to encouraging the growth of mobile ecosystems in markets around the world, as well as providing developers with a venue to develop their business.



Hu also said that, unlike other programs providing consultation and mobile ad promotion services for developers like Google's AdMob, Baidu won't be a competitor to the developers, as it would instead help them reach out to and integrate with a variety of service providers in order to meet their needs.



For his part, global business unit head for monetization and business development Li Xiaodong said that the program is positioned at the right time for developers to take advantage off, as Chinese-made mobile apps are starting to gain traction around the world, getting a 38 percent share of the market.



Li added that, as there are still a lot of markets that have yet to be fully penetrated by smartphones, these provide developers with more venue to expand.



However, Chinese developers are not the only ones expected to benefit from DAP, as Baidu is doing a similar initiative in India through its Baidu Mobo Market, Financial Express reported.


Self-driving Tesla cars are being investigated by the NHTSA following a crash that killed a man driving his Model S in Florida. (Photo : Getty Images/Joe Raedle)

The National Highway and Transportation Safety Administration is now investigating all Tesla Motors Inc.'s vehicles that are equipped with autopilot technology following a crash that killed a 40-year-old man in May. The NHTSA, which is the United States' car safety regulator, has formally informed the electric vehicle company about the probe.



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The accident happened on May 7 in Williston, Florida, killing Joshua Brown of Ohio. Brown had put his Model S vehicle on self-driving mode, which is supposed to control the car when driving on the highway. However, the car's sensors system failed to distinguish a white tractor trailer crossing the highway, and the car drove full speed under it.



According to The Guardian, the NHTSA wrote a letter to Tesla informing the electric car company that it had opened an inquiry into the accident. The letter stated that the crash that killed Brown, as well as two non-fatal accidents that have been reported this month, were alleged to have been caused by either of the self-driving car's two safety mechanisms -- the Forward Collision Warning (FWC) and the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) -- not working when expected.



Brown's was the first known death that was caused by a self-driving vehicle. However, the report, citing Tesla's statement, noted that the automaker tried to shift blame for the crash.



Tesla pointed out that among all vehicles in the U.S., there is a fatality every 94 million miles. But this particular incident, the automaker contended, was its first known autopilot fatality in the estimated 130 million miles driven by customers.



Tesla also explained that the accident appears to have happened because the autopilot mode, which is still in its testing phase, was unable to distinguish a white truck crossing the highway against the brightly lit sky. Tesla pointed out that neither the pilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against the bright sky, thus the brake was not applied.



Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating the electric auto company for possible securities law breach when it failed to inform its investors about the May accident.



Tesla stressed that it alerted regulators to the accident soon after it happened, even when it had just started its own investigation and even if it had not yet determined that Brown put his car on autopilot mode at the time of crash. Tesla said that it informed the NHTSA of the crash sooner than the rules require.



However, according to the WSJ report, the SEC is trying to determine whether the automaker should have disclosed the crash as a "material" event through a formal regulatory filing. A material event is a development relating to a company that any significant investor would consider important.



Tesla's spokesperson claimed that the company has not received any communication from the SEC regarding the probe.



Below is a video on Tesla autopilot warning:






The ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship, a partnership between The Electrochemical Society (ECS) and Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA), an advanced research arm of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. (TMNA), is in its second year. ( Earlier post .)

The ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship Selection Committee has selected three recipients who will receive a minimum of $50,000 each for fellowships for projects in green energy technology. The winners are Professor Elizabeth Biddinger, City College of New York; Professor Joaquin Rodriguez Lopez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Professor Joshua Snyder, Drexel University.

A diverse applicant pool of more than 100 young professors and scholars pursuing innovative electrochemical research in green energy technology responded to ECSs request for proposals.

The ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship aims to encourage young professors and scholars to pursue research in green energy technology that may promote the development of next-generation vehicles capable of utilizing alternative fuels.

Electrochemical research has already informed the development and improvement of innovative batteries, electrocatalysts, photovoltaics and fuel cells. Through this fellowship, ECS and TRINA hope to see further innovative and unconventional technologies borne from electrochemical research.

With this years winners, we were able to further expand on the number of interesting and innovative technologies covered by this Fellowship. While the new projects this year focus on traditional applications such as Li-ion batteries and fuel cells, each project proposes unique solutions to known challenges which may also be instructive in other areas. That is the beauty of research. You plant seeds and sometimes unexpected things grow, especially when you are fortunate enough to work with a group of energetic and diverse young faculty such as this years winners.  Fellowship Chair and manager of Toyotas North American Research Strategy Office, Paul Fanson

The selected fellows will receive restricted grants of a minimum of $50,000 to conduct the research outlined in their proposals within one year. They will also receive a one-year complimentary ECS membership as well as the opportunity to present and/or publish their research with ECS.

2016-2017 ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellows:

Professor Elizabeth Biddinger, City College of New York. Industrial Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering Division of ECS. Electrochemical Safety Switch Using Switchable Electrolytes: To examine the use of silylamine reversible ionic liquids that have the ability to have conductivity turned off or on reversibly using carbon dioxide as a trigger for application as a reversible safety switch in high energy density batteries, and the impact of silylamine chemical structure on electrochemical switching properties.

Professor Joaquin Rodriguez Lopez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division of ECS. Achieving the Ultimate Performance of Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts via Programmable Electronic Control of Surface Reactivity: To explore the reactive modulation of cathodes for the oxygen reduction reaction using a dynamic surface on which complex perturbations are created during operation and evaluated using advanced electroanalytical tools.

Professor Joshua Snyder, Drexel University. Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division of ECS. Electrocatalytic Interface Engineering to Address Scaling Relations in Multi-Intermediate Electrochemical Reactions: To control the interaction of water with electrocatalytic surfaces through the development of metal/ionic liquid composite interfaces and their role in breaking intermediate scaling relations.

The ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship is an annual program, and the 2017-2018 request for proposals will be released in the fall of 2016.
President Obamas address on Tuesday was a stellar moment, as he spoke in Dallas during the memorial for the slain police officers.

It was one of the high points of his time in office: He spoke with eloquence, passion, concern, clarity and faith. He cited passages from scripture that caught the pain of the occasion there in Dallas and around our nation. He reminded us of painful histories.

But even though his speech clearly touched upon his own pain and history in the evils of racism, he carried a message far beyond those in the audience. We and perhaps millions heard, and were given the hope, that seems so distant, that our society will indeed find healing and move from the negativity, anger, racism and yes, ignorance we witness every day.

Those who were present for his address represented not only local law enforcement personnel but also those who have suffered from lack of opportunities and who knew from their own histories what is at stake for our nation.

We who watched the stunning moment on our television sets recognize that this was the presidents shining hour in terms of bringing a message of hope, of possibility, of change and of the value of each human being in this country. God bless him.

Jean Rodenbough

Greensboro
The news of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen contacting U.S. lawmakers has earned the ire of the Chinese government. (Photo : Getty Images)

As Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen reportedly got in touch with a number of U.S. congressmen, the Chinese government immediately took action and urged the Western giant to halt its sending of "wrong signals" to the island's independence forces, Xinhua News Agency reported.



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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei remarked on Thursday the country's strong opposition of any of its partnering nations to have an official association with Taiwan, who have long been calling for its formal separation from China.



"We insist on handling Taiwan's external contacts in the principle of the one-China policy, and oppose any countries having diplomatic relations with China to conduct any official association or contacts with Taiwan," Hong emphasized.



During a press conference, the spokesperson remarked that China was dissatisfied upon knowing the news of Tsai Ing-wen contacting several U.S. officials and lawmakers.



"China has already lodged solemn representations with the US side," the article wrote.



Furthermore, Hong encouraged the United States to acknowledge and respect its prior commitment to the so-called one-China policy. The policy embodies the principle of the three joint communiques as well as the opposition to Taiwan's independence.



Hong also urged the U.S. government to cautiously handle its affairs with Taiwan and stop any official contact with its authorities in any form.



According to him, sending the wrong signals to Taiwan might bring harm to the China-U.S. relations.On June 24, Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-Wen kicked off an overseas visit to Paraguay and Panama, taking stops in Los Angeles as well as in Miami.



Back in 1992, Taiwan and China agreed to consider themselves as part of a "single Chinese nation." Nonetheless, the nations' misinterpretation on this has caused problems between the two.



In May, Beijing has pressured then newly-elected Tsai by cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan.



Many Taiwanese experts and diplomats agree that Chinese mainland is uneasy with the victory of Tsai because she came from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which has a different belief from the Koumintang (Nationalist Party).


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WASHINGTON  A grassroots organization including religious leaders from Fairfield County is promoting incentives for gun manufacturers to invest in smart-gun technology  something the firearms industry has long resisted.

We are in this for the long haul, said Rabbi Michael Friedman, of Temple Israel in Westport. We are people of faith. We know this may take a while, but we are not going to give up.

The effort, sponsored by an alliance of religious and civic leaders calling itself Do Not Stand Idly By, represents a departure from the norms of gun-violence-prevention advocacy. Instead of an uphill fight against the Republican majority in Congress for expanded background checks and other gun-control measures, the alliance is putting its chips on the purchasing power of federal, state and local governments.

Gun purchases for police officers  40 percent of the total, according to one estimate  theoretically could give manufacturers the financial incentive they need to develop smart-gun technology for the general public.

This has to come from the bottom up; it has to be grassroots, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who attended the groups meeting Tuesday on Capitol Hill. We are the most consumer-driven country in the world. And there will be nothing so powerful as American gun owners and buyers seeking smart technology in the guns they buy.

The group wants members of Congress to encourage federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to engage gun manufacturers on developing smart guns as part of the contracting process. Manufacturers have been loath to get into smart-gun technology because of boycott threats by gun buyers and gun-rights groups, which see smart guns as potentially leading to other kinds of gun restrictions.

The groups push forward on smart guns got a shot in the arm last month when President Barack Obama directed the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to move forward on a plan with state and local law enforcement to develop specifications for smart guns.

A report by the two agencies stipulated there would be no mandate to purchase smart guns  something strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association. But the president called for development of specifications for smart guns, as well as testing by the Defense Department.

Smart guns are operational only by owners through a code or biometric measure like a thumbprint. Limited access would prevent deadly discharges by toddlers and take away incentives to steal guns.

The issue resonates in Connecticut because Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooter Adam Lanza took his mothers arsenal to kill her, and then 20 children and six adults at the school in 2012.

Adam Lanza didnt own the guns he used at Sandy Hook, said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who also attended the meeting. You cant go back and try to rewrite history . . . we dont know what would have happened had those been smart guns, but you can guess.

Chairing the session was Pastor Anthony Bennett of Mount Aery Baptist Church in Bridgeport, who also is co-chairman of CONECT _ Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut, an alliance of local religious leaders addressing social, political and economic issues.

There is no panacea, he said, referring to steps needed to curb ongoing gun violence in Bridgeport. But this is utilizing the free market. (Government) will create a demand, just like in other industries.

dan@hearstdc.com
China and Mongolia renewed their commitment to sustain the countries' traditional friendship. (Photo : Getty Images)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's two-day trip to Mongolia has fostered the country's cooperation with its northern neighbor -- from boosting the synergy of their development plans to initiating agriculture and infrastructure ventures, China Daily reported.



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Li, along with his Mongolian counterpart Jargaltulga Erdenebat, agreed to carry out partnership in key areas by speeding up the "dovetailing of China's Belt and Road Initiative with Mongolia's Steppe Road Program."



First proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping focuses on the promotion of policy coordination, cultural exchanges, infrastructure connectivity and trade and financial integration across Asia, Europe and Africa.



Meanwhile, the Steppe Road plan is an infrastructure project aimed at driving the economic growth of Mongolia by boosting trans-border transportation.



During Li's visit, he also presented a feasibility study on a free-trade area (FTA), eyed to be established as early as possible. The proposal received positive remarks from the Mongolian government as Erdenebat noted that the nation welcomes Chinese investors.



Erdenebat, a recently-appointed prime minister, further remarked that the new Mongolian government promises to renew its commitment of sustaining its traditional friendship with China.



With the enhanced cooperation, Li is hopeful that the two countries could work hand in hand to make breakthrough projects in various aspects like agriculture and infrastructure for the residents of Mongolia.



"This will give full display to Mongolia's advantage in animal husbandry, and also satisfy the rising demands for meat and related products in China," Li remarked.



The Chinese premier noted that housing projects will be beneficial in improving Mongolians' living conditions while catering to Chinese building suppliers.



Apart from this, the two premiers also inked 15 agreements in different areas including technology, trade and TV and broadcast services.



Nonetheless, Gao Shumao, China's former envoy to Mongolia, noted that the implementation of these documents "should be speeded up," as these are exciting points of cooperation for the two Asian nations.



Mongolia is the host of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit.


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As a country of thrill seekers there is no shortage of places to go to experience some great rides with even greater thrills.

Exhilarating theme parks scatter the country and here's a pick of the best out there.

1) Alton Towers

If you're looking for big thrills and plenty to do, then Alton Towers is the place to be. The top attractions are flying virtual reality rollercoaster Galactica and rollercoasters Oblivion, Nemesis and Rita.

Prices:

Ticket prices depend on what day you visit but typically, prices range from 30 to 40 for an adult and 27 to 30 for a child (for a one day ticket).

How to get there:

It is located between the M1 and the M6. If you're driving to any of our resort's attractions; including the accommodation, the Waterpark or Spa, then use the postcode ST10 4DB. Follow the signs for the last bit of your journey, as your Sat Nav will attempt to take you down a local farm track; especially if you're coming down the B5417.

Website: Visit www.altontowers.com

(Image: Christoph Badoux)

2) Drayton Manor

Drayton Manor is a great family fun park which also offers plenty of thrill rides. Top attractions include a Ben 10 ultimate mission coaster, rollercoaster Shockwave, Thomas Land and stand up drop tower ride Apocalypse.

Prices :

When booked seven days in advance, an adult ticket is 23, 29 when booked less than seven days in advance or 39 on the day. Children (aged 4 to 11) are 18 seven days in advance, 23 less than seven days in advance or 29 on the day.

How to get there:

Drayton Manor Park is located near Tamworth in Staffordshire. Use the postcode B78 3SA for your Sat Nav.

Website: Visit www.draytonmanor.co.uk

3) Flamingo Land

The Yorkshire resort has plenty to offer all ages. Top attractions include rollercoaster Mumbo Jumbo, spinning coaster Twistosaurus and active play area Children's Planet.

Prices:

A one day ticket for adults and children (four years and over) is 31 online or 37 on the day.

How to get there:

From the A64/A170, Flamingo Land is situated off the A169 Malton to Pickering Road

Website: www.flamingoland.co.uk

4) Thorpe Park

One of the first theme parks in the UK. Top attractions include new ride Colossus, with 10 inversions, and the I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! maze.

Prices:

Tickets start at 27.99 (when bought 5+ days in advance of your visit online). If you are buying on the day, prices are 51.50 for adults and 44.99 for children (under 12 years of age), under 3's enter the resort for free.

How to get there:

It is located 20 miles from Central London, with plenty of transport links between Junctions 11 and 13 of the M25. The postcode is KT16 8PN. Some Sat Navs aren't so savvy and may lead you to Norlands Lane so keep a lookout for the big coaster track over the main entrance on Staines Road.

Website: www.thorpepark.com

(Image: Phillip Perry)

5) Chessington World of Adventures

As well as the theme park with 10 themed lands and over 40 rides, there is also a zoo. Dare you try rollercoaster Vampire or the Monkey Swinger?

Prices:

Tickets start from 27.60 (when booked in advance)

How to get there:

Chessington is on the A243, just two miles from the A3 and M25 (junction 9 or 10).

Website:www.chessington.com

6) Lightwater Valley

Located in North Yorkshire, it is best known for having the longest rollercoaster in Europe called The Ultimate. This theme park is great for the family.

Prices:

Adults from 19.50 and children from 5

How to get there:

Lightwater Valley is located just North of the City of Ripon. On arrival at the 'Clocktower' traffic light junction, take the A6108 towards the village of North Stainley.

For those with satellite navigation, use HG4 3HT ensuring your option directs you to Lightwater Valley.

Website:www.lightwatervalley.co.uk

(Image: Jordan Wilson)

7) Legoland Windsor - top attractions

The ultimate Lego theme park with plenty to see and do. Why not try the Nexo Knights 4D cinema or the Lego Star Wars mini land model display and gallery

Prices:

Between 37 and 47 depending when you are looking to visit

How to get there:

Legoland Windsor Resort is on the B3022 Windsor/Ascot road just two miles from Windsor town centre.

Website:www.legoland.co.uk

8) Blackpool Pleasure Beach - top attractions

The UK's most famous theme park. Many of us will remember going on holiday here and plucking up the courage to go on the Pepsi Max Big One (still there!). You can also visit Nickelodeon land which is great for the little ones.

Price:

Wristbands start from as little as just 17 for juniors when booked 10 days or more in advance for an off peak day. Wristbands must be booked in advance before midnight the day before your visit to Blackpool Pleasure Beach or the gate price of 30 for an adult wristband and 27 for a junior wristband will be charged.

How to get there:

Take junction 32 off the M6 onto the M55. Follow signs for Blackpool, South Shore (via Blackpool Airport) and then follow the brown tourist signs to Pleasure Beach, Blackpool. SAT NAV: postcode FY4 1EZ

Website:www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com

9) Gullivers Kingdom - top attractions

A theme park I used to go to as a child, this is great for kids and families. Highlights are the indoor Nerf zone and Western World.

Prices:

Depends when you want to go but average is 15.95 for an adult or child ticket.

How to get there:

Enter DE4 3PG into your SatNav. If you are on the M1 simply exit Junction 28 and follow the signs to the door. If you are approaching on the M6 from the south, take the A38 towards Lichfield, following it north until you see the signposts.

Website:www.gulliversfun.co.uk

10) Sundown Adventureland - top attractions

Another great one for the family and especially kids as it is designed for under 10-year-olds. Try out the Angry Birds ride or the Rocky Mountain ride.

Price:

14 for adults and children (per ticket)

How to get there:

Sundown Adventureland is six miles from the A1 Markham Moor and sign posted 3 miles from Dunham on the A57 and for your Sat Nav DN22 0HX remembering that the 0 is a zero

Website:www.sundownadventureland.co.uk
International Court of Justice: We Do Not Have a Hand on South China Sea Arbitration

China stands firm on its decision to not recognize an ad hoc tribunal's ruling over the South China Sea arbitration case. (Photo : Getty Images)

In a telephone interview with State-run Xinhua News Agency, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) clarified that it has no involvement in the South China Sea arbitration, the publication reported.



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"There is indeed a confusion. We have made it clear on our website we do not have anything to do with this case," Andrey Poskakukhin, head of the ICJ's Information Department, shared.



On Wednesday, the ICJ released a statement on its official website that it has no hand over the controversial case.



The court "wishes to draw the attention of the media and the public to the fact that the Award in the South China Sea Arbitration was issued by an Arbitral Tribunal acting with the secretarial assistance of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)," the statement enthused.



"The ICJ, which is a totally distinct institution, has had no involvement in the above mentioned case and, for that reason, there is no information about it on the ICJ's website," it further noted.



The news of clarification comes a day after an ad hoc tribunal denied China's long-standing historical rights over the area. The tribunal was set up upon the unilateral request of the former Philippine administration.



China stands firm on its decision to not accept any action or proposition made by the "law-abusing tribunal, which exceeded its power to rule on a case that it did not have jurisdiction over," the article wrote.



The ICJ, established in June 1945, is the prime judicial organ of the United Nations. Hence its other moniker such as "the world court" of the "UN court." Meanwhile the PCA is a permanent framework launched way back in 1899.



The article explained that the ad hoc tribunal handling the case is not under the PCA, rather, it only uses the court's secretarial services. Nonetheless, the tribunal has strong relations with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).



As of writing, the PCA has not yet responded to Xinhua when asked for a comment on the issue of ICJ's involvement to the arbitration case.






Haiti - Diplomacy : Sympathy Message by Jocelerme Privert to France





The de facto President of Haiti, Jocelerme Privert, "presents its sympathies to the people and to the French government strongly experienced by the attack occurred in Nice, on the evening of July 14, 2016," the same day of the National Day of France which left at least 84 dead and over 200 injured.



"The Head of State is deeply shocked by this tragic event that caused the death of dozens of citizens and French citizens and of other nationalities. This act of terrorism is a new affront to freedom and democracy in the world."



In the morning of 15 July, President Privert went in person to the Embassy of France to Port-au-Prince, to express sympathy and solidarity, as well as those of the Haitian people to all French nationals, employees and/or volunteers established on national territory.



Jocelerme Privert, "while wishing to see the French Republic to recover quickly after this drama, conveys his sympathies to the relatives of the victims and to all French affected by this terrible event."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Gracia Delva Senate candidate

Gracia Delva confirmed his candidacy for the Senate (Artibonite) to the October 2016 elections for the renewal of one third of the Senate. He is condidat under the banner "Ayiti An Aksyon" (AAA) of Youri Latortue. Confident Gracia Delva, thinks he can bring a lot to the Youri Latortue. Confident Gracia Delva, thinks he can bring a lot



or the senators of G12, Privert is legitimate

The senators Nenel Cassy (Lavalas) president of the majority bloc in the Senate (G12), Evaliere Beauplan and Cheramy asserts that president (de facto) Jocerleme Privert is legitimate and urges him to continue the electoral process. They point out that if the National Assembly has failed in its mission the Nation must not make pay the price, saying the President Privert must convene the people in elections.



Cantave asks the PM to replace Privert

The Senator of Artibonite Carl Murat Cantave says that no consensus had been reached between the blocks before the session in National Assembly, again rejecting all responsibility of blocking of the session on Jocelerme Privert. He asks the Prime Minister Enex Jean Charles to take responsibility instead of de facto President.



New negotiations between the Groups

Ronald Lareche, President a.i. of the Senate, expressed his disappointment following the put in continuation of the session in National Assembly and announced new negotiations between the political blocs to find a consensus for holding the session...



The Chancellery condemns the attack of Nice

"Haitian chancellor condemns with the utmost rigor, the attack of Nice (France) on the night of 14 July. We express our deepest sympathies to the victims and to the French Government in these difficult times. We express our solidarity to the place of French citizens affected by this tragedy. We stand in solidarity to the French people and reject any form of violence that could endanger human life."



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18043-haiti-diplomacy-sympathy-message-by-jocelerme-privert-to-france.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-18042-icihaiti-diplomacy-words-of-sympathy-by-mission-of-haiti-to-the-oas.html



NOTICE : Change of Address, extended deadline

The Executive Directorate of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) is advising the general public, political parties, political groups and candidates in particular, that the change of address process is extended until 25 July 2016 (end originally scheduled July 14 ). The Executive Directorate encourages, once again, voters, eager to change of address, to visit in the deadline the Departmental Electoral Offices (BED) and Communal (BEC), closest to their home, to fulfill this formality.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/07/15 | Source

Lee Jin-uk, who was sued for sexual assault, has clarified that the accusation is not true at all and they will take strong measures against the accuser.

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Lee Jin-uk's agency C&CO ENS said through their official media release on July 15th, "We're sincerely apologetic for the unsavory situation that has arisen" and "One clear thing in this situation is that there was no sexual assault. We'll take strong legal measures against the accuser".

The agency also said, "Lee Jin-uk will do his best to cooperate with the investigation to reveal the truth". The agency again apologized for Lee Jin-uk's fans and also thanked the fans who have been showing unchanging support and love under the circumstances.

Prior to the media release by the agency, Lee Jin-uk was sued by a woman 'A' in her early 30s on July 14th. 'A' claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Lee Jin-uk and she filed the complaint with the police. Lee Jin-uk's reputation has been damaged significantly regardless whether the accuser's claim is true or not.
Published on 2016/07/16 | Source

Starlet Han Ye-ri starred in an action thriller which might be mostly appealing to male viewers due to the jam-packed masculine scenes.

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"The Hunt", which hit local theaters early this month, is set deep in the woods and follows hunters who arrive to mine gold.

"I think the sound of gunshots is one of the most impressive parts of this film", Han said. She added that she practiced shooting at an indoor shooting range in preparation for the film.

In the film, Han took the role of a mentally slow teenage girl who lost her father when a mine collapsed.

"Playing a retarded but innocent girl wasn't that hard. But I had to act as if I was younger than my actual age which was the most difficult part for me", Han said.

Han majored in traditional dance at the Korea National University of Arts. She got a part as a dancer in a short film in 2007 and has been acting ever since.

"Previously, I had a dream of becoming a choreographer", she said. "After I stepped into the film industry, however, I've totally been fascinated. I feel captivated when actors give life to the script. The whole filming process gives me another pleasure different from dancing".
Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby.

13:18, 27 OCT 2022
World leaders at the ASEM Summit (Photo : ASEM)

The world's leading nations and their allies at the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit criticized China for refusing to acknowledge and comply with the ruling by the U.S. Permanent Court of Arbitration that declared China's "nine-dash line" illegal, and with it China's claim to own over 90 percent of the South China Sea.



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Leaders from 51 countries in Europe and Asia are currently gathered at Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, for the two-day conference that aims to strengthen the relationship between Asia and Europe through a series of informal dialogues.



As expected the South China Sea row between the Philippines and China was a key issue at the meeting despite China's efforts not to have it discussed at all. Western leaders, however, criticized China by emphasizing the importance of respecting global legal frameworks and the rules-based international order that helps keep peace in the world.



"Dialogue and a strong commitment to the rules-based international order are necessary," said European Council President Donald Tusk at the opening ceremony.



Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe encouraged Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to respect the rule of international law during a sideline meeting at the summit. To which Li replied that Japan should "stop hyping up and interfering" in the South China Sea.



Perfecto Yasay, the Philippines' Foreign Minister told the summit it "strongly affirms its respect for this milestone decision" but called for "all parties to exercise restraint and sobriety."



Yasay said the Philippines "attaches great importance to measures that will restore trust and confidence among parties in the region."



"The Philippines shall continue to engage concerned parties to finding ways to reduce regional tensions and to build greater trust and confidence. In this regard, the Philippines will continue fostering mutually beneficial relations with all nations," he said.



The United States had earlier called for China to respect the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration while the European Union urged China and the Philippines to peacefully settle their dispute over the South China Sea.


PlayStation 4K or PS4 Neo specs is a lot more powerful than the PS4. (Photo : Getty Images/Christian Peterson)

Amazon Spain posted a what-seem-to-be listing of the upcoming PS4.5 Neo along with its release date and price. The post stated that it will be available in Oct. 13 this year with a price of 399.99 EUR. The post has since been taken down by Amazon Spain.



Though it has been officially announced by Sony that their newest console will be the PS4.5 Neo, several details like release dates, specs and price were not confirmed. The confirmation has left fans to speculate all the more and think the new console may possibly be launched this year.



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Several rumors about its specs surfaced like the device featuring a powerful processor of 2.1 GHz compared to its predecessors 1.5 GHz processing power. Its hard drive was also reported to have improved in terms of memory capacity and could possibly come on a 500GB or 1TB variant, Gadgets 360 reported. An inclusion of a Wi-Fi connectivity was also included in the list of features it may be possessing.



Sony has already confirmed the console will be available between June and October this year. But since June has already passed and it's already mid of July as of this writing, a more plausible release date is pointed towards the month of October.



Despite the removal of the post at Amazon, some people were able to snap a screenshot of it was shared on NeoGaf. The post also said that the PS4.5 will be released alongside the PSVR. Although this could mean a mistake on Amazon's part, the post could have been completely removed, but was retained removing only the release date and price initially posted, Game Zone reported.



This led to speculations that Amazon did not commit mistakes in terms of the consoles details, which points out the details are reliable and most likely true. Despite this, viewers are advised to take the information with a grain of salt.



More details are expected to be confirmed by Sony as time progresses. Several rumors about its specifications, price and release date will be confirmed in no time. For the meantime, a discussion about PS4.5 rumors and speculations is made available for viewing below.






But not for The World Public Forum on Dialogue of Civilisations, held in Rhodes, Greece every autumn. This years forum, number 13, was indeed the best ever.

13 is the bad luck number in some cultures. Even architects and scientists try to go around it, just in case; to the extent that high rise buildings in North America skip the 13th floor, so after 12th floor, comes 14th!

For those who have only been exposed to the Western point of view of the world affairs, Rhodes forum is a breeze of fresh intellectual air full of oxygen; full of new ideas and important questions. Being able to ask the right questions is essential. Answers will be found.

The forum is founded by Dr. Vladimir Yakunin, who just left the director position of the Russian Railways. He is a close friend of Pres. Vladimir Putin and included in the list of those sanctioned by the United States, but not the EU. To some, this could make the forum less credible. To me its a great opportunity to hear the other side of the story. only then one can make up his mind on affairs where interests collide.

One other factor, which would give solid credibility to the forum, is the impressive list of speakers and the high quality of topics discussed. This years main theme was The World Beyond Global Disorder which we all agree is the menace of our time.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Yakunin, who for a decade led Russian Railways, one of the worlds largest transport companies, said that it was his intention to devote the majority of his time to WPF DoC as it moves to the next stage of its development. He also announced the launch of a major new global think tank, based on the foundation laid by the organisation over the past 13 years.

The opening plenary sessions most interesting speech came from Cynthia McKinney,

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (19972003, 20052007) and a Green Party Candidate for US Presidency (2008).

McKinney may be a controversial figure in the United States, but controversy is the least you get if you are a black anti-establishment woman in America. McKinney, during her congress terms tried to make the CIA disclose classified documents about the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King and even rapper Tupac Sakur, of course with no results.

She started her speech by quoting President Kennedys remarks about peace: What kind of peace do I mean and what kind of a peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana, enforced on the world by American weapons of war; not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. Im talking about genuine peace: the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living; the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and build a better life for their children; not merely peace for Americans, but peace for all men and women; not merely peace in our time, peace in all times. Kennedy had said just weeks before his assassination in broad daylight in front of the world audience.

Can you even imagine a President of the United States speaking as President Kennedy spoke on that American University campus? Probably not. And the reason is that when that bullet blew our Presidents brains out, U.S. elected leadership for peace was eliminated. McKinney continued.

Alfred Gusenbauer, former Federal Chancellor of Austria, started his speech by commenting on the disorder shadowing the present time. Why is the present disorder so frightening for many? Asked Gusenbauer. It is the result of multiple and simultaneous transformation of the world. In addition to the shift from a unipolar to a multipolar political environment, he mentioned the change in the players: We are in a transformation from a situation mainly characterised by states, to one where non-states actors, both positive ones, such as the civil society and negative ones, such as terror organisations are gaining more power.

Other sessions of the forum dealt with topics such as: Financial and Economic Policies for Inclusive and Equitable Development, moderated by Richard Werner, Professor of International Banking and the founding director of Centre for Banking, Finance and Sustainable Development of the University of Southampton Business School.

This Session discussed shortcomings with the post-war approach to international economic development within our current global financial architecture, in order to propose an alternative development paradigm that is more inclusive and more equitable. Among speakers were Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg Minister of Defence (2009-2011), and Minister for Economics and Technology (2009) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The World Beyond Global Disorder session was moderated by Prof. Fred R. Dallmayr from USA, a veteran and Co-Chairman of WPF "Dialogue of Civilizations"; Packey J. Dee Professor of the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science of the University of Notre Dame.

The Session addressed two major questions:

 What are the reasons or underlying causes of the prevailing chaos? What are the main contributing factors and who are the major social or political agents contributing to the disorder?

 How can we overcome the present disorder? Are there alternatives to the present chaos? How can we find pathways pointing in the direction of a more just and sustainable world order?

Among the keynote speakers of this session were Richard Falk, Milbank Professor of International Law, Princeton University and Research Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara. His topic was A New Geopolitical Realism for the 21st Century

Two of the most interesting speeches of the forum were delivered by Ali Allawi, formerMinister of Finance (2005-2006), Minister of Trade (2003-2004) and Minister of Defence (2004) of the Republic of Iraq, and John Laughland, Director of Studies of the Institute of Democracy and Cooperation, Paris, France who talked about Hybrid Wars and the Return of the Political.

Dr. Alawi, in his remarks in the session titled Which Way WANA? (WANA: West Asia and North Africa, is the name used for the area later called the Middle East by the western countries) questioned the future of sovereign states in the area, referring to Syria, Iraq, Libya and Lebanon. There is now a convergence of very powerful, destructive forces in the area, which if not tackled, and tackled head on, could really threaten the area in an existential way and is going to have catastrophic global consequences, Dr. Alawi mentioned. He also warned about the destructive role of the Saudi aggression pact in Yemen and Iraq, and the active dissemination of Wahhabism by the Saudi rulers.

Saudi Arabia is dealt with as a state, which has a Princeton educated foreign Minister and highly articulate princes and whole series of corporate captains of industry. So this is one aspect of it. The other aspect that we have had to face in the Middle East, is that in Iraq we have had 45,000, I repeat 45,000 people killed as a result of suicide bombings to very very large extent fermented by this kind of (Wahhabi ideology) thinking. This is an unspoken genocide, said Alawi.

John Laughlands fascinating presentation about hybrid wars started with reiterating that the term was coined by the American military and that the topic was wide and challenging to cover. Hybrid war, also called Full Spectrum War would employ  a tailored mix of conventional, irregular, terrorism and criminal means or activities in operational battle space, he went on quoting the United States Joint Forces Commands document.

Laughland called the accusations such as the one made by deputy secretary general of NATO, that Russia engaged in a hybrid war in Ukraine a paradigmatic case of the pot calling the kettle black. He mentioned accusations of Russia using internet trolls as one example of this kind: We have known even before Edward Snowden, that the United States does the same thing. The Guardian revealed in 2011, that the Pentagon had concluded a contract with a Californian corporation to set up an online persona management service, I quote, which would enable one US serviceman or woman to control over 10 separate identities based all over the world in different chat forums.

Laughland went on to bring several examples of how the US and British secret services had developed mechanisms of suing the social media and online videos for regime change purposes.

In its concluding remarks, the WPF DoC declared that: During the 2015 Rhodes Forum Special attention was paid to West Asia and North Africa (WANA). Wars are raging in at least four countries in the region, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and millions more have left their homes in fear for their life. The rise of terrorist outfits such as Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Jabhat al-Nusra  targeting Muslims and non-Muslims alike  suggests that the world is facing a battle against barbarism, not a clash of civilizations. Fighting the barbarians who slaughter innocent men, women and children is a battle for civilization  for ancient ways of life, ancestral homeland, millennia-old traditions and different faith communities such as Oriental Christians and the Yazidi who confront an impossible choice: forced conversion, expulsion or death. We are convinced that such and similar conflicts cannot be solved by military means alone but require political settlements that reflect cultural realities. We echo Pope Francis recent words that war only brings destruction and multiplies suffering, while hope and progress can only come from peace. The concerned parties should broaden their horizons beyond the immediate interests and use international law and diplomacy to resolve current conflicts.

Video recordings of the keynote speeches and the plenary sessions of WPF DoC 2015 can be watched online here.

Alexis Kouros

Helsinki Times
Following is the full text of joint statement read by Zarif and Mogherini:

Today, we have reached Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Ever since Adoption Day, we worked hard and showed mutual commitment and collective will to finally bring the JCPOA to implementation. Today, six months after finalisation of the historic agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified that Iran has implemented its nuclear related commitments under the JCPOA.

As Iran has fulfilled its commitments, today, multilateral and national economic and financial sanctions related to Irans nuclear programme are lifted in accordance with the JCPOA. The EU and E3+3 countries, consisting of the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America, and Iran will also cooperate in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, in the framework of the JCPOA.

UN sanctions related to Irans nuclear programme are lifted. United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), which endorsed the JCPOA, will from now onwards, together with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), be the sole international legal framework related to Irans nuclear activities, terminating provisions of resolutions 1696 (2006), 1737 (2007), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008), 1835 (2008), 1929 (2010) and 2224 (2015).

The EU has confirmed that the legal framework providing for the lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions is effective. The United States today is ceasing the application of its nuclear-related statutory sanctions on Iran, including terminating relevant Executive Orders and licensing of certain activities, as specified in the JCPOA. The EU and the United States have issued relevant guidelines on the details of sanctions, which have been lifted thus facilitating international engagement in Irans economic development.

As foreseen, we will continue to thoroughly monitor and oversee the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA as exactly agreed on 14 July 2015 through the Joint Commission, consisting of the E3/EU+3 and Iran, coordinated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. On its side, the IAEA is entrusted with the responsibility for the monitoring and verification of the JCPOA as well as of Irans obligations as a Party to Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement and the provisional application of its Additional Protocol.

We would like to use this opportunity to thank the Austrian Government for their hospitality and all those countries that supported the negotiation process and helped to implement some of the commitments under the JCPOA. We also wish to express our appreciation to all those who led these negotiations on behalf of Islamic Republic of Iran and E3/EU+3 since 2003.

All sides remain firmly convinced that this historic deal is both strong and fair, and that it meets the requirements of all; its proper implementation will be a key contribution to improved regional and international peace, stability and security.

This achievement clearly demonstrates that with political will, perseverance, and through multilateral diplomacy, we can solve the most difficult issues and find practical solutions that are effectively implemented. This is an encouraging and strong message that the international community must keep in mind in our efforts to make the world a safer place.

Picture: JOE KLAMAR - LEHTIKUVA / AFP
President Barack Obamas visit to Cuba reflects a new way of formulating and implementing U.S. policy toward Cuba. This new policy is different not only from the sanctions that had been the long-standing U.S. policy toward Cuba but also from the policies suggested by the leading U.S. presidential candidates. Obamas new policy toward Cuba starts from a different premise the United States will make decisions that reflect its values and its interests, independent of what the Cuban government may or may not do.

They key to the future of the bilateral relationship, therefore, is whether the government of Cuba will or will not decide to take advantage of Obamas initiatives. For example, the United States has authorized the direct delivery of mail and the normal functioning of regularly scheduled civil aviation flights between Cuban and U.S. airports. Cuba has decided to agree, and therefore these changes are being implemented. In these instances, the U.S. decision was not preconditioned on Cuba changing its policy, but obviously the change is useful for both sides only if the two governments concur on its utility.

Similarly, the United States has authorized important changes that would facilitate universal access to the Internet by ordinary Cubans. The U.S. government now permits trips to Cuba for any rubric of mental tourism (education, the arts, religion, journalism, etc.), that is, pretty much everything other than going to the beach. Beach tourism may only be authorized by an Act of Congress. Above all, the United States has now lifted economic sanctions on the new Cuban private sector, permitting trade relations between private entities in both countries. None of these policies had been preconditioned on Cuba changing its policies.

These other U.S. decisions will be useful for Cubans only if the Cuban government were to decide to make use of these opportunities. Will it permit any Cuban to access the Internet to read about any topic on any webpage? Will Cubas official statistical agency recognize that the United States is already the second most important source of international visitors to Cuba, or will it continue to hide this fact, counting the Cuban-Americans separately as Cubans and including all other U.S. visitors in a category called Others? Why is it statistically unmentionable that tourism relations have improved between the United States and Cuba? Will the Cuban government stop blockading itself or, more precisely, stop preventing Cuban microenterprises and peasant cooperatives to export to or import from the United States  a business relationship that the United States has already authorized?

Obama has thus lifted the embargo on the flow of ideas and citizens, and increasingly on goods and services, between the two countries. Hitherto, U.S. policy had cooperated with Cuban State Security, albeit inadvertently, in blocking access to such sources of information. A politically more open Cuba needs such access.

Obama also modelled, subtly but clearly, a way to be the president of a country. He handled himself nimbly and skillfully at a press conference that his Cuban host bungled. Obama had edged Raul Castro to a press conference state, to which he is most unaccustomed.

Obama also reminded Cubans, by his looks and words, that the United States has an African-American as president, while Cuba, with a much larger fraction of its population being Afro-Cuban, does not. He noted in his speech, broadcast nationwide on Cuban radio and television, that two Cuban-Americans have been leading U.S. presidential candidates. And he showed that it is fine for a president to display a sense of humor, through his interview with Cubas leading television comedian, contrasting with a humorless Cuban leadership.

Ultimately, the success of the trip will be visible only in the future, most likely after Raul Castro steps down as president in 2018. But, during his Roman Catholic Holy Week visit to Havana, the president of the United States seemed to have become Saint Obama, even in the words of Cubans reported by Granma, the communist party newspaper.

Obama has shown a new way to design his policy toward Cuba. Will Cuba design a new policy toward the United States?

http://www.themarknews.com/2016/04/04/what-has-the-us-done-to-cuba-now/
Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama pose for photographers on the North Portico ahead of a state dinner at the White House, Sept. 25, 2015. (Photo : Getty Images)

5G is slowly but surely stepping forward as the Obama administration recently pledged that they will be allocating several hundred million dollars in the next 10 years to help develop the new network standard.



If there is one thing that today's society cannot have enough of is the access to the Internet. 5G is not a magic bullet that will instantly make connections faster but it does promise better bandwidth, connectivity and more.



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It could still take several more years before 5G devices are released for commercial consumption. Most of the technical applications are geared towards new tech for the military and even the connected self-driving cars.



The Obama administration's funding pledge for the 5G network standard will mostly come from the National Science Foundation, PC Magazine has learned. They will start developing four advanced wireless testing platforms that will be deployed in several cities starting next year.



Cities that want to have the new testing platforms will have to compete for it. The winners will get city-wide radio antennas that will be a crucial part of the 5G tech testing for several years.



NSF is also planning to commit over $350 million for prizes, workshops, test and more programs to help push the 5G tech development forward. The network standard is also big for the Internet of Things industry as IoT products can make use of 5G for better connectivity.



There are also several companies interested in funding 5G development. The NSF said that their programs will continue even after U.S. President Barack Obama leaves the office by November, TechCrunch reported.



Nokia, Oracle, Intel, HTC and Samsung already have plans for 5G. Interestingly, the larger giants Microsoft, Google and Apple has not yet laid out their plans and intentions for the new network standard.



The Obama administration is dubbing their 5G development project as the Advanced Wireless Research Initiative which hopefully will continue beyond his office term and remains as his legacy for the several years to come when 5G has finally become fully developed. 5G is expected to bring 100 times faster Internet download and upload speeds compared to 4G and LTE networks today.






Burning Can festival opens in Crab Creek

Burning Can, the Oskar Blues festival featuring 43 brewers, food, eight bands, mountain biking and a beer relay, opens at 5 o'clock today and continues Saturday at the brewery-owned Reeb Ranch at 315 Shoals Falls Road just east of DuPont Road.

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Festival organizers have been planning the event since last year's Burning Can, when out-of-state vendors had a problem with permitting for beer sales under North Carolina ABC rules.

"We started back in 2015," Aaron Baker, events manager for Oskar Blues, said in an interview today. "We've been trying to bring them through the process. It's a lengthy process and a little slower than brewers would like it to be."

After the problems with the beer permitting and traffic at Burning Can and the drowning death of a festival guest at an outdoor festival at Deerfields in Mills River the sheriff's office and Henderson County Planning Board proposed a festival permitting procedure. Transformus, an annual event at Deerfields, is also under way this weekend.

Although the Board of Commissioners rejected the planning board's proposal, Oskar Blues followed the outline of the planning anyway, Baker said.

"We actually used some of the things that they had put together for that ordinance," Baker said. "We did an emergency action plan and we met with the sheriff's department."

"Oskar Blues does have a permit," said John Mitchell, director of Business and Community Relations, said. "Transformus does not."

Besides 43 brewers from North Carolina and surrounding states, Burning Can features music, food and "the first ever beer drinking and trail running race."

For more information or to buy tickets visit BurningCan.

Weekend pass are $75. Friday price is $35. Saturday price is $60, $75 on the day of the event.

From the website here are tips and the schedule.

What to Bring: ID, sunscreen, and your ideal summer party arrangement. Bring cash to purchase from vendors and merchandise tent and to buy food available. Camp chairs are fine but please do not set them up close to the stage.

Schedule



Friday, July 15

3:00 p.m.  camping check-in begins

5:00 p.m.  festival area opens

6:00 p.m.  Andrew Scotchie and the River Rats

7:30 p.m.  The Bright Light Social Hour

8:00 p.m.  camping check-in ends

9:00 p.m.  Dumpstaphunk

Saturday, July 16

7:00 a.m.  breakfast available from Underground Baking Co.

8:30 a.m.  Beer Relay registration starts

9:00 a.m.  yoga starts

9:00 a.m.  road bike ride meets

9:00 a.m.  mountain bike ride meets

9:00 a.m.  paddle trip meets

9:00 a.m.  Cane Creek Bike Park opens

10:00 a.m.  Beer Relay race start

1:00 p.m.  VIP entry into the beer festival

2:00 p.m.  beer festival begins

2:00 p.m.  Beer Relay ends

2:00 p.m.  Cane Creek Bike Park closes

2:45 p.m.  Interstate Stash Express

4:00 p.m.  Major and the Monbacks

5:30 p.m.  Porch 40

6:00 p.m.  beer festival ends

7:15 p.m.  The Nth Power

9:00 p.m.  Galactic
International Politics Expert Estimates Cost of China Overdue Rent to Philippines for Use of Disputed Islands is $177B

An aerial photo shows one of the lighthouses built by China on Johnson South Reef in the Spratly Islands. (Photo : www.scmp.com)

Patriotic Chinese who are angry at the U.N. Permanent Court of Arbitrations decision on the South China Sea dispute in favor of the Philippines would probably do more than boycott Cebu dried mangoes or smash iPhones if they learn how much an international expert reckons Chinas overdue rent and damage for the use of the islands.



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In a contribution to Forbes, expert on international politics, security and political risk Anders Corr estimates the back rent and penalties would be in the vicinity of $177 billion.



Corr noted that China has been occupying the reef  which the PCA said was within the Philippine exclusive economic zone  since 1995. But it went beyond occupation because Beijing irreparably damaged the reefs marine ecosystem when it dredged the area and built an artificial island.



The infrastructure built include an airstrip and a military garrison. In Mischief Reef alone, Corr estimates the overdue amount is $12.4 billion.



He based the whopping $177 billion figure on the $1.97 million that the U.S. paid the Philippines when it destroyed 0.58 acres of coral reef after the USS Guardian went aground. In 1988, Manila asked the U.S. to pay $1.2 billion rent  which is more costly than paying for damaged reefs  for six military bases in the Philippines or $200 million each annually. Because the U.S. refused to pay, Manila ordered the Americans to leave, although the process was hastened by the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in Pampanga which covered Subic and Clark with ashfall.



On the basis of those amounts, Corr believes the Philippines could sue China in U.S. courts or other countries where Beijing holds property for $4.6 billion as environmental damage to Mischief Reef and $7.8 billion rent. If Beijing refuses to pay, Corrs advice to the Philippines is to seek redress in foreign civil courts to attach offshore assets of China.



The other amounts would be rent for islands in Spratleys and Scarborough Shoal, occupied by China in 1988 and 2012, respectively.



The Chinese patriots have included Japan in the list of countries they push for a boycott of products because of Tokyos support to the UN PCA verdict. Inquire reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pressured China at an Asia-Europe summit on Saturday to respect the decisions of international tribunals.



I strongly hope the parties to the dispute comply with the award and lead to a peaceful solution of the dispute in South China Sea, Abe said in Mongolia.






A total of 84 judges were also competing for 16 posts in the clubs high board

Judge Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen was elected Friday as the new head of Egypts prestigious Judges Club, snatching the seat from eight other contenders.

Abdel-Mohsen is the deputy head of the Court of Cassation. He was running on top of the youths electoral list.

The Judges Club is an unofficial, powerful body that represents over 90 percent of Egypt's judges.

A total of 84 judges were also competing for 16 posts on the clubs high board.

The elections were decided after a court order in June ruled that the election by-laws of the club, put into place by sacked Justice Minister Ahmed El-Zend, were void.

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Two lower-ranking policemen were also injured in the attack by unidentified assailants

Armed men shot dead a senior policeman and injured two others in Egypts Fayoum governorate on Saturday, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The police officer, aged 35, was head of the investigations unit in the Tamya district of the governorate. He was getting into his vehicle along with two lower-ranking policemen when they were shot at.

It was not immediately clear if the attack had criminal or political motivations, and the assailants have yet to be identified.

Egypt has been battling an Islamist insurgency, mainly based in the North Sinai region, since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Insurgents have killed hundreds of police and military personnel.

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Matthew, Mark, Luke and John resonate well throughout the Tri-Cities.

Indeed, the Bible owns a firm place within Bristol, Johnson City and Kingsport. Folks take it seriously and believe it to be accurate.

Thats according to results from the fourth annual Americas Top Bible-Minded Cities study, as conducted by the American Bible Society. They ranked 100 cities. For the second year in a row, the Tri-Cities ranked number five in the country as a leading Bible-minded city.

Its great news! said Rev. Dan Gray, pastor of Bluff City United Methodist Church in Bluff City.

Hallelujah, added pastor Gary Montgomery of Parkway Baptist Worship Center in Bristol, Tennessee.

Thats the kind of news we need on the front page, Montgomery said. Wonderful. I like that a bunch. It means that were having an effect. That ought to be published. People need to know that.

Based in Philadelphia, the American Bible Society is marking its 200th year this year. They exist in part to equip 100 million people in the U.S. to actively engage with Gods word, according to literature gleaned from the nonprofit organizations website. Consequently, they conduct research to gather knowledge from and about citizens perceptions of and engagement with the Bible.

Our mission is to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford, so all people may experience its life-changing message, according to the American Bible Society via its website.

Their Bible-minded conclusions resulted from data gathered based upon a mix of nationwide telephone and online interviews from random samples of 65,064 adults conducted over a 10-year period that ended in August 2015. Those who reported having read the Bible within the past seven days and strongly believed the Bible to be accurate were considered Bible-minded.

I think its great, said Roy Matthews, a lifelong member of and longtime leader in New Hope Baptist Church in Bristol, Virginia. Theres a lot of good people around. Id like to think that there are more good people than bad.

Evidence prevails throughout the Tri-Cities that bears witness to the American Bible Societys conclusion. Notice the vast numbers of churches in Bristol, Johnson City, Kingsport and throughout the near environs. Theyre numerous. Most if not all major streets feature at least one and typically multiple churches along its span.

As Gray spoke, he conducted a quick online search via www.umc.org to determine the number of United Methodist churches in the vicinity of Bristol.

Within a 15-mile radius of Bristol, there are 42 United Methodist churches, Gray said.

That number was quickly confirmed by a follow-up search moments later.

And thats just United Methodist churches, Gray said. You know there are more Baptist churches in Bristol.

Still, those are buildings and thus do not reflect church attendance within that building. Also, theres the consideration that a building may not actually constitute a church.

Look to the Bible and Matthew 16:18 for clarification from Christs word: And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Christ speaks of church not as a literal building but as a figurative and thus more resolute church of man built upon the foundation of Peter.

We have x-amount of churches here, Matthews said. But we are the churches.

As vessels of God and according to numerous references within the Bible, therefore we should read the word of God, which is the Bible. Reference Joshua 1:8:

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night

Translated, we should read the Bible. Not only should we read the Bible, but we are to do so regularly.

I talked to a guy last night who read the book of Revelation every day of the year, Montgomery said. He could quote it word for word.

Given the results of the American Bible Societys study, the Revelation reader may not stand alone in that distinction. Montgomery, had he been among those surveyed, would certainly number its highest-rated respondents. He said he reads the Bible often.

Every day, Montgomery said. Ive read it all. Its like putting high octane gasoline in an engine. It fuels the spirit. The word of God was authored by the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, the Bible is the undisputed manual upon which Christianity stands. Its the shield that keeps evil at bay, the sword with which battle is waged versus the devil.

You have to fight, Matthews said. Its a daily struggle with the devil. Hes always trying to bring us down. Weve got to keep the faith  and we will.

The Bible Belt, within which the Tri-Cities are firmly located, seem well-armed with the Bible for just such a battle. Consider the top five of the American Bible Society study.

Chattanooga ranked first. A trio of locations in Alabama  Birmingham, Anniston and Tuscaloosa, followed in second. A duo of cities from Virginia  Roanoke and Lynchburg, clocked in at third. Shreveport, Louisiana, notched fourth while the Tri-Cities brought fifth place home.

Theyre all located within the Bible Belt.

I went to Jamaica and preached for 10 days, Montgomery said. When I landed back in Trenton, New Jersey, I kissed the ground. Then when I got back home in Bristol, I really kissed the ground. Its a blessing to come back home.
The 19-years old student is accused of leaking high school exams in Egypt via a Facebook page

An Egyptian teenager was sentenced to one year in prison on Saturday for leaking high school exam papers.

The prosecution accused the 19-year-old student of running a Facebook page called Chao Ming which shared leaked exam question and answer papers.

A Giza misdemeanour court also fined the student EGP 20,000 fine (approx. $2,250).

For the fourth year in a row, high schools exam papers and their model answers were leaked online this via several Facebook pages.

Security forces arrested several people in connection with the leaks, including education ministry officials and students.

Despite the arrests many Facebook pages have remained active, and continued to leak exam and answer papers.

The thanaweya amma certificate, which students in Egyptian high school work towards obtaining, determines students' university prospects.

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Adam Lowe reflects on the epic run that put him in the hospital

Adam Lowe, a Sharpsburg Elementary phys-ed teacher, recently ran the entire length of the C&O Canal towpath  and then spent six days in the hospital.
The flights were scheduled to take off at 9:50am and 2:20pm Cairo time

EgyptAir has cancelled its two scheduled flights to Istanbuls Ataturk Airport on Saturday, following a foiled coup in the country.

On Friday night, Turkish troops announced that they had seized power in the country, but by morning loyalist forces had crushed the bid after crowds took to the streets to support Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

EgyptAir said the cancellation of flights was due to the latest events witnessed in Turkey on Friday night and the unrest that followed in Istanbuls Ataturk Airport.

The MS737 and MS735 flights were scheduled to take off at 9:50am and 2:20pm Cairo local time.

There were no scheduled EgyptAir return flights from Istanbul on Saturday, the statement added.

The company is monitoring the situation closely in Turkey, and will announce any developments once available, the statement added.

EgyptAir has 14 flights to Istanbul per week.

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The sentence is preliminary as the grand mufti will now offer a recommendation

Four men were sentenced to death by a Cairo criminal court on Saturday, in connection wtih a case known in the Egyptian media as the "Tanta terrorist cell."

The sentence is preliminary and will be confirmed after the grand mufti, Egypt's highest Muslim cleric, has given his recommendation. The final verdict is due on 4 September.

The high state security prosecution accused the defendants of forming an illegal group that aimed to obstruct the constitution and law and to attack personal freedoms and public rights.

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Ahmed Naji can still appeal the sentence at a higher court

A Cairo court on Sunday ruled against a request to overturn the two year prison sentence handed down to novelist Ahmed Naji for publishing a sexually explicit novel.

The misdemeanour court stated in its reasoning that Naji did violate public decency by using "explicitly obscene phrases and words" in the novel's chapters.

The court added that the novelist did not denying writing the novel.

Naji was sentenced to two years in prison in February over charges of violating public decency after excerpts of his novel The Use of Life were published in a literary magazine in 2014.

Naji had been acquitted in January but the prosecution appealed the verdict and he was sentenced in a retrial.

The case was brought against him by an individual who claimed to have experienced health issues after reading the excerpt.

Naji's defence team have filed an appeal before the cassation court against the two year sentence, but the appeal has not yet been scheduled.

Egyptian novelists and intellectuals declared their support to Nagy, demanding his releasing and stating that his prison sentence is unconstitutional.

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Azure seas, verdant paddy fields and growing radicalisation make for an odd combination. But apparently such a cocktail can make for a potent threat if what is going on in northern Kerala is any indication. This is a particularly exquisite part of Kerala with its pristine beaches and fabled cuisine, and at one glance seems hardly the place in which jihadi tendencies could ever exist. Today, we see that more and more young men are undertaking great danger and hardship to reach IS strongholds. Most surely know that is a journey of no return or death despite the rewards in heaven promised by the innkeepers of the IS.

Read: 17 missing from Kerala flew to Iran before likely joining terror outfits: Report

Yet, until recently this radicalisation, which has been taking place for well over a decade, has hardly been noticed by governments or media. I have travelled in this part of Kerala for several years and each time I have been astonished at the number of mosques and madrassas that have been springing up in the area. Around them, young, unemployed youth loiter around, easy prey for poisonous rhetoric.

The economic story of Malabar is driven by Gulf money, much of it from places like Saudi Arabia. It is not unusual for radicals of Wahabist persuasion to come to that region, flush with funds, seeking to convert young Muslims to a purer version of the religion. And it has found many takers. It was not also uncommon for old men to come from the Gulf to take brides, mostly very young women, for short periods of time in return for which their parents would be paid.

Read: Aeroplanes circling over me: Alleged Islamic State sympathiser messaged wife

The radicalisation of this area, however, has been with the connivance of all the political parties who now come out with platitudes that the recent IS recruits are just misguided youth. No, the ground for this has been laid for years. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, no novice to the politics of the region, has tried to dismiss the whole thing as nothing to do with religion. And it is an especially destructive form of religion that is taking root in the region. In fact, the CPI(M) itself has not been above playing communal politics. A former general secretary publicly shared a platform during one election with a notorious radical in the hope that this would prove that the party had the best interests of the Muslims in mind and who would find in it a guardian angel. They did not and the CPI(M) lost that election.

Other parties like the IUML that have sent ministers to the Centre and wield enormous influence in the state have either unwittingly or deliberately abetted the growing ties between Wahabi elements in the Gulf and the local populace in the hope of getting votes. Some years ago a leading light of a major Muslim party in the area urged me to go on a visit to Saudi Arabia. Not only would he arrange it, he would get Malayalis in the Gulf to meet me and look after me. When I refused his generous offer, he was astounded. You must go to Saudi Arabia, there are many stories you can do, he said. He waxed eloquent about the country being an ideal state with free electricity, water, education and medical care. Then came the killer  women dont have to step out of their homes, he said as a final sweetener. When I said that this constituted the very opposite of the ideal state to me, he was disgusted and incredulous. This is the kind of state we should have here, where there can be no compromise on prayer, where discipline is enforced by harsh Sharia laws. As a woman, you would feel safe while wandering around covering elections as you are now, he said, after which he lost interest in me.

Read: 156 people evacuated from South Sudan return to India

If they had wanted, the political parties could have kept a check on the radicalisation of the youth. Instead, they either encouraged this or overlooked it. I am not saying that the situation in Kerala is so dire that it cannot be overcome. Just that the trend of radicalisation being seen now should be tackled both economically and socially. It can never be too early to deal with this. And it is certainly not an issue for politicians to try and use for small term gains. Accept the problem for what it is, accept why and who are involved and grasp the nettle now. It will hurt for a bit but well worth the gain of saving a small but showpiece state.

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Theres nothing quite like the Big Fat Indian Wedding. We know it, the world knows it. And now a month-old startup called JoinMyWedding.com is connecting the dots and offering curious foreign tourists a chance to attend an Indian wedding for a fee.

The website is called JoinMyWedding.com and the idea for it came to Australian start-up mentor Orsi Parkanyi, 33, when a friend told her she was travelling to India for a wedding. I wished I could go too, but I didnt have an invite, Parkanyi says. Another friend said she would have loved to go too, and after some research, I realised there was a market for such a service and no one to cater to it.

Parkanyi, along with Hungary-based strategy consultant Marti Matecsa and Mumbai-based brand and marketing consultant Pallavi Savant, launched JoinMyWedding.com a month ago.

Orsi and Parkanyi connected through a common friend.

Read: The Wedding Filmer reveals hacks to shoot the perfect wedding video

Ive lived in Europe all my life, but a few years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to a high-end, traditional Indian wedding in Tamil Nadu, says Matecsa. Right from the traditions to the beautiful saris and accessories, generous hospitality, spicy flavours and decoration, it was an experience of a lifetime. I remember thinking even then that it would be great to open up such weddings to foreigners.

So far, the website has a dozen weddings listed -- seven in India, and the others spread across Russia, Turkey and the US. Theres even a Lord of the Rings-themed wedding up for grabs, in the Russian city of Novosibirsk.

India, though, will be the focus of the company, and JoinMyWedding is in talks with travel agents in five Indian cities  Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Chennai and Bengaluru  to promote sales.

For cultural experiences, nothing equals a wedding, more so in India, says Parkanyi. Theres food, music, dance, costume, rituals  it offers you a truly immersive experience.

Read: Wedding bells ringing soon? Try these 5 apps to help you prepare

Tickets are being sold for upwards of Rs 20,000. Mumbai-based chartered accountants Urvi Ambavat and Paras Shah, for instance, are selling 40 tickets to their December wedding at this price. Each guest will get accommodation and all access across three days of festivities -- including the haldi ceremony, sangeet, baarat procession, pheras, reception and vidaai.

Mumbai-based chartered accountants Urvi Ambavat and Paras Shah are selling 40 tickets to their December wedding, which cost $300 (approximately Rs 20,000) each. This cost includes accommodation, meals and access to all their wedding events across three days. (Aalok Soni/ HT Photo)

The couple arrived at the ticket price after quick calculations about the cost of meals, transport and accommodation close to their venue in central Mumbai.

We arent looking at this as a way to contribute to our wedding expenses. Were doing this because my fiance and I both work at a start-up and we love to encourage new business ideas, says Ambavat, 26. I love to travel, and I would love to attend a wedding in another country. Plus an Indian wedding really showcases the grandeur and hospitality of our culture, and we thought it would be lovely to share that with interested travellers.

Watch: Urvi and Paras talk about why their wedding will fascinate tourists

Other couples listed on the websites are hosting weddings in Delhi, Rajasthan, Haridwar in Uttarakhand, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh and the hill stations of Mahableshwar and Devrukh in Maharashtra. Each couple will nominate a family member or friend to guide the travellers through the events and explain the rituals to them.

The Rajasthani couple are Bengaluru-based software engineers Lavina Purohit and Abhishek Paliwal, who will be married in traditional ceremonies to be held in Udaipur and Indore over four days in January. They are offering 10 two-day tickets to either city for $400 (about Rs 27,000) each, and 10 four-day passes to all events in both cities, including transportation between them, for $550 (Rs 37,000).

Software engineers Lavina Purohit and Abhishek Paliwal are offering two kinds of packages for their Indore-Udaipur wedding in January -- two days in either city, or a four-day pass to all events.

Udaipur is my hometown, and an international tourist destination. You always see foreigner looking curiously at weddings here, says Paliwal, 26. This is a great way to showcase our culture to tourists who are truly interested in it. And not just for foreigners  Ive lived in Bengaluru for a few years and Id love to attend a south Indian wedding.

Among the Indian agencies that has tied up with JoinMyWedding is Delhi-based Kataria Tours and Travels. In my 15 years in this business, many clients have asked if they could attend a wedding here, says founder and CEO Omkar Singh Kataria. After I posted a notice about the service on our Facebook page earlier this week, previous clients have got in touch saying they wish the service had been available when they visited.
She played the small-town girl in Raanjhanaa (2013), the girl-next-door in Khoobsurat (2014) and the chic damsel in Aisha (2010). But the one role that put Sonam Kapoor in the spotlight was her portrayal of the late air hostess Neerja Bhanot in Neerja.

Daddy  #throwbackthursday A photo posted by sonamkapoor (@sonamkapoor) on Jul 13, 2016 at 8:35pm PDT

The venture recently made it to The Economists What The World Is Watching list. It is the only Indian film to be featured in the reputed magazine. It feels wonderful. Apart from everyone who have put their heart and soul into the film, Im glad that we are able to do our bit to honour the memory of Neerjas brave and courageous soul, says the actor.

Read:Six serious life lessons Sonam Kapoors Neerja gives us

The actor further adds that such recognition is encouraging and helps bring about a change. I hope this brings about a change and more funds go into backing such films, stories and subjects, says Sonam. When it comes to choosing between critical and commercial success, the actor believes the latter is important, but she is quick to add that she has never cared about numbers. As an actor, I want to do films I enjoy and am proud of, she says.

Read: Sonam Kapoor: My mother got emotional, couldnt sit through Neerja

Watch: Sonam Kapoor in Neerja trailer

The section about Neerja in The Economist claims there have been years of news stories about victimised women, and India now finally has an appetite for female heroines. However, Sonam doesnt vouch for the same. India has shelled out female-centric films like Mother India (1957) and Arth (1982) in the past. I think the women in all these films have been heroes in their own right, and have inspired us for years now. Im happy that we finally have audiences rooting for these films, she explains.
Filmmaker Nitya Mehra, who is making her directorial debut with Baar Baar Dekho, which stars Katrina Kaif and Sidharth Malhotra , started her career as an assistant director. She assisted actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar on Lakshya (2004) and Don (2006). The latter is happy with how she has grown in the field of filmmaking over the years.

Nitya has worked with Farhan for over 10 years. She was his AD. Seeing her direct a full fledged film makes him extremely proud. He is looking forward to watching her work, says Farhans spokesperson.

Read: Katrina Kaif is dedicated to her diet routine, says Sidharth Malhotra

Nityas film has been shot in Glasgow in Scotland, Krabi in Bangkok as well as in different parts of Delhi. The two share a great bond and she has been taking Farhans advice for her film. Nitya and Farhan know each other very well and they talk quite often. She has been keeping him in the loop regarding decisions about her films and consults him whenever she needs a second opinion, says a source, close to Farhan.

So here it is the first poster of #BaarBaarDekho #BaarBaarDekhoFirstLook #KatrinaKaif releasing 9th Sep 2016 ! pic.twitter.com/slqvqHiWve  Sidharth Malhotra (@S1dharthM) April 21, 2016

Read: Baar Baar Dekho poster: Katrina Kaif, Sidharth Malhotra have some fun

In fact, Farhan, who recently wrapped up the shoot for his upcoming film, Rock On!! 2, even paid her a visit on the sets of her film in September last year as he wanted to see her in action, adds our source.
Fawad Khan has gradually found a ground for himself in Bollywood. He is only two-films old, and yet, he has been able to create acceptance for himself within the industry and among the audience. His success can be gauged by the kinds of projects he is taking up. For instance, he will soon be seen in film-maker Karan Johars next, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma. Salman Khans production house is also in talks with him for a movie.

Read:Good looks are just an added perk for me: Fawad Khan

A while ago, the actor finished shooting for Karans film. Last year, during the first schedule, he hardly spent time with his co-star, Ranbir, as they only shot together for three to four days in Austria. Fawad is Ranbirs fan, and has enjoyed watching all his films. He was, therefore, looking forward to spending more time with him. For the second schedule, which took place in March, the two filmed in Rajasthan.

Watch: Fawad, Alia, Sidharth in Kapoor And Sons trailer

Ask Fawad if they became friends this time, and he says, He has a well-srounded approach to his work. Its a pleasure to have a conversation with him. Also, it is a treat to work with him. I dont know how he would term it, but we are good acquaintances. We share a great camaraderie.

Ranveer Singh was also seen showering praises on Fawad for his performance in Kapoor & Sons. Its an honour when you are a fan of someone, and they appreciate your work, he says.

Read: Gauri Khan all praise for Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Bollywood actor Salman Khan feels that his life is very boring and nobody would ever make a biopic on him.

Asked if he would like to make a biopic on his life, Salman said at a press-meet in Mumbai on Friday: My life is very boring life. Nobody makes a film on such a boring life... many people will die in my biopic.

To a query if he would allow any film maker to make a film on his life, he said: No, never, because for that one will have to write it down and the only one who can write it down is me or my brothers or my sisters and that too some bits of it because they dont know everything.

Read: Iulia Vantur can act, but only with Salman Khans approval

Actors Salman Khan, Anushka Sharma and filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar during a media interaction for success of the film Sultan, in Mumbai, on July 15, 2016. (IANS)

The actor further says nobody can play his reel life role on screen.

Meanwhile, the actor is busy enjoying the success of his film Sultan.

Read: Salman Khan talks about rape comment finally. Theres still no apology

On which is the biggest compliment he has got for Sultan, he said: The compliment that I got is from the people who are watching the film again and again and what more can I ask for? There cannot be a bigger compliment than that.

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Egypts parliament is expected to discuss a controversial amendment to the press law, as well as a recent alleged police assault on an MP

A legislative amendment that grants Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi the right to reshuffle the High Press Council is expected to be discussed at a plenary session of parliament on Sunday.

According to parliament's written schedule of debates, the amendment, which was proposed by independent MP and journalist Mostafa Bakri and approved by 342 other MPs, will be discussed on Sunday.

The press law amendment was passed by parliaments media, culture and antiquities committee at a meeting held on 14 June. The amendment would change Article 86 of the press law (Law no. 96 of 1996) to allow the president to issue a decree that gives him the power to appoint a High Press Council until a new unified law on the regulation of the press and media is passed by parliament.

The amendment states that the new 15-member council will have the same powers that were granted to the now-defunct Shura Council, and will also name new editors and chairmen of the boards of state-run press organisations.

A report by parliaments media committee argued that the new amendment is an important and necessary measure because the legal term of the current High Press Council, which has been in charge of naming editors and board chairmen of national press organisations since July 2013, expired last month.

In spite of this fact, this illegal council gave itself an illegal right to allow board chairmen of some national press organisations to stay in office for an indefinite period, although for some of their legal terms expired in January and others in June, the report said.

The report by the media committee also said that because the current High Press Council has the legal right to name new editors and board chairmen, Bakris legislative amendment has become a necessity.

The new media and press regulation laws, which are currently being revised by the State Council, will also take some time in parliament to be discussed and passed, and as a result this legislative amendment is important to help national press organisations perform their job under legal leadership, the report added.

Parliament will also set on Sunday a date for discussing two questions that must be answered by concerned cabinet ministers on the high school exam leaks. MPs Mohamed Abdel-Ghani and Mohamed El-Husseini have accused Minister of Education El-Hilali El-Sherbini of failing to have a coherent strategy that could prevent the leak of exam papers via the internet, and ask that El-Sherbini be fired from his position.

Parliament will also see a final vote Sunday on two laws related to cancelling the government's decision whether to adopt daylight savings time at the end of the month of Ramdan, and regulating the performance of trade unions.

Parliament will also review new amendments to the controversial civil service law.

The law, which proposed major reforms to the civil service, was rejected by MPs in January who believed it would affect government employees unfairly. The new civil service law amendments are expected to be discussed on Sunday and Monday, but some leftist MPs vow that they will vote against the new version.

Parliament is also expected to discuss a report made by deputy speaker El-Sayed El-Sherif on Sunday on a recent clash between MP Zeinab Salem and two police officers in east Cairo's police station of Nasr City. Salem accuses the two police officers of assaulting her.

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I am not sure that anyone has noticed, but three of the Tajs greatest chefs have retired recently. Hemant Oberoi, who looked after the luxury properties and whose many contributions to the group included Wasabi, Varq and the Masala restaurants, moved out nearly two years ago to perform functions outside the kitchen. Eventually, he left the Taj altogether and from what I gather, his restaurant in Singapore is the toast of the town.

Chef Nat Natarajan left more quietly  in keeping with his own modest, understated personality. I have known Nat since he was a sous chef in the kitchen of the old Bombay Rendezvous in 1982. He was, as you might expect, a wonderful European chef but once he moved south, he surprised us all with his mastery of south Indian cuisine.

Southern Spice at Chennais Taj Coromandel, remains a tribute to his legacy. It is the best south Indian restaurant at any luxury hotel in India and Nat has had the curious distinction of planning the menu twice. The first was when he was asked by Ajit Kerkar and Shankar Menon to create the restaurant in 1996. And then, more recently, RK Krishna Kumar had the vision to see that only Nat could update the food when the restaurant reopened after a glitzy refit. You wont read much about Nat. But he is the one chef I will miss the most.

That leaves the giant of this trio. Most people in Bombay find it hard to believe that Ananda Solomon is finally hanging up his toque. He is younger than Oberoi or Natarajan and, for my money, he is unquestionably the greatest chef of his generation, mastering a multiplicity of cuisines with the greatest of ease.

In Thailand, Ananda Solomon worked for a street vendor who sold clams and taught him the exacting standards of the local cuisine (Shutterstock)

And yet, Solomon did not start out intending to work for the Taj. He became a chef at the old Oberoi Sheraton (todays Trident), slaving away in the kitchens of the now-extinct Supper Club, turning out Lobster Thermidor and Chicken Kiev for wealthy diners.

He was poached by the Taj and sent off to Goa to work with the great chef, Urbano Rego. It was probably around this time that he made the shift from being what the trade calls a Conti chef to becoming someone who was much more multifaceted.

His big break came about almost by accident. As an experiment, the Taj had tried running a Thai pop-up in the bar at the President Hotel. At first the restaurant met with unprecedented success but then, as the buzz died down, diners stopped turning up.

But Ajit Kerkar, who ran the Taj in those days, was convinced that there was a market for Thai food. So, he persisted with the idea and planned a bigger, grander restaurant at roughly the same location. The Taj had no Thai chefs and Kerkar was reluctant to base the companys foray into Thai cuisine on expat chefs. So, Solomon, who was young and seemed willing to learn, was dispatched to Bangkok.

At first, he did the normal cheffy things. He attended the Oriental Cooking School and trained in the kitchen of the Shangri-La. But he soon worked out that this was tourist food, meant for foreigners and only distantly related to the food that the locals ate. He asked Kerkar if he could stay on and apprentice at less fancy places.

Read: What is the distinguishing factor of a successful hotel?

To his surprise, Kerkar agreed and Solomon stayed on in Bangkok for several months, picking up enough of the language to get by. He cooked in small dhabas and eventually ended up in one of the small Sois that run off Sukhumvit Road. He found a street vendor who sold clams and spent a while looking after the stall. This involved cleaning the cart, setting up in the mornings and making clams to the vendors exacting standards.

The food at Konkan Cafe at Vivanta by Taj President, Cuffe parade, is still my favourite

Only when he was sure that he understood the cuisine that he returned to India. Along with a fine general manager (Ajoy Mishra), he set up the Thai Pavilion at the President Hotel. The restaurant was a success from the day it opened. And though it has been over two decades now, the Thai Pavilion still packs them in.

It wasnt always easy. There were jealousies within the Taj Group. One senior chef told him, Ananda, you better look for something else to do. Yeh Thai khana nahi chalega. Your restaurant will fail. Indians dont like these thin Thai curries. Others believed he was getting a disproportionate amount of attention from Kerkar, Camellia Panjabi and the Tajs top brass.

But I suspect that Solomon knew that the battle was won the day Ratan Tata became a regular. Not only would he eat there every week but he also began doing his official entertaining at the Thai Pavilion, forsaking the Taj Mahal Hotels more glamorous restaurants. Very soon, the Thai Pavilion became a sort of canteen for the captains of industry and the A-list of Bombay society.

I have always admired Solomon for not letting all this turn his head. His aim was to create a restaurant where salaried people could bring their families and feel that they had enjoyed a satisfying night out. So, he kept the Thai Pavilions prices low. At any given time, they were at least 35 per cent below those of the Golden Dragon, the Tajs Chinese restaurant. And yet, the Pavilion continued to make money because Ananda ran a long dinner service, served his food quickly and turned the tables over with remarkable speed.

I imagine that most people still think of Solomon in terms of the Thai Pavilion. But it is not my favourite of his restaurants. Given a choice, I always go to the Konkan Cafe over the Thai Pavilion. This is Anandas dream project, a restaurant that serves the cuisine of Indias west coast, starting from Maharashtra and going all the way down to Kerala.

Hemant Oberoi, who left the Taj, now has a restaurant in Singapore that is the toast of the town

When he first opened the restaurant, many of the Tajs big bosses thought that he was creating a five-star version of Trishna. But Solomon resolutely refused to cater to the crab in butter garlic crowd and served food that was entirely authentic because it had been sourced from family recipes.

Once again, he was lucky. Krishna Kumar, who had replaced Kerkar, is a Malayali and knew authentic food when he tasted it. He protected Solomon against all those with other ideas and eventually, put him in charge of the whole of the Presidents food and beverage function. (For hoteliers: this means that the F&B manager reported to the chef.) Solomon then became executive chef for all Vivanta Hotels, which made him the chef for the largest single chunk of the Taj Groups properties.

Read: Women chefs and the challenges they face in kitchens

My sense, however, is that he did not enjoy being in charge of an empire. He is not a corporate chef by instinct. He has no desire to have scores of executive chefs reporting to him. His heart is in his restaurants and his kitchen. At any given night, when he was in Bombay, you would find him at the range, stepping quickly back as the giant flame enveloped his wok.

I dont know what Solomon will do now. I would imagine that there is no shortage of offers. He is one of Indias most celebrated chefs and so, other hotel chains will queue up to try and hire him. There will also be the high net-worth individuals  many of whom have been regulars at his restaurants  who will offer to back him in any new venture he chooses.

Perhaps, he will take up some of those offers. But somehow, I doubt it. There are no second acts in the lives of most chefs. And I dont think that Ananda will make the mistake of trying to recreate one of the restaurants he ran during his time at the Taj Group.

My sense is that he will take off somewhere quiet and do something small and not overly ambitious. He likes looking at every plate before it leaves the kitchen and he tries to cook as many of the meals himself as is humanly possible. He will open something small but perfect. And in no time at all, it will become one of Indias best restaurants.

The Taj will miss him. He leaves a void that is hard to fill. His regulars in Bombay will miss him. And I will miss him  the food at Konkan Cafe is still my favourite.

But I doubt if Ananda will miss any of us very much. In his mind, he has already moved on.

He is that kind of guy.

From HT Brunch, July 17, 2016

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So its all done and dusted. Theresa May has become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And if Donald Trump keeps up his gaffe-a-day performance, Hillary Clinton is a dead cert for the White House. If you take in the fact that Germany already has a female Chancellor in Angela Merkel, this will be the first time in history that we see a triumvirate of powerful women ruling the world (well, vast swathes of it, at any rate) at the same time.

At the risk of sounding sexist, I have to confess that I find this a rather thrilling prospect. A female US President, a female UK Prime Minister and a female German Chancellor. What are the odds of this ever happening again  at least in my lifetime? So, even though I can see some of you (mostly those with that Y chromosome) shaking your heads and tut-tutting at my naivete, I refuse to curb my enthusiasm.

Whenever I express these views  both in real life and in social media  there are a few stock responses that are invariably thrown at me. How does it matter if these leaders are women? Surely, leaders should be chosen for their abilities and not their gender? And why do I assume that having women in positions of power will be good for other women?

Well, first of all, none of these women is in pole position because of her gender. All of them have proven track records in politics and have come through the same hurly-burly (or rugby scrum, to use a more recent analogy) that their male colleagues have failed to negotiate successfully. So, they are not women politicians. They are politicians who happen to be women. Or even women who happen to be politicians.

And yes, leaders should be chosen for their abilities and not their gender. But I am sure that even their most committed rivals would grant that Clinton, May and Merkel have more than proved their political chops during their careers. So, when it comes to ability and talent, they are easily the equals of their male counterparts (though, frankly, it is farcical to compare Hillary Clinton to the abomination that is Donald Trump).

So then, we come to that old chestnut: are women leaders any good for other women? Do they stand by the sisterhood? Is the feminist cause better served by having a female in a position of power?

Well, by way of answer, all I have for you are two words: Barack Obama.

As Obama nears the end of his two terms as Americas first African-American President (well, okay, mixed race, if you want to get all pedantic about it), race relations in the USA are at an all-time low. Just over the last week, we had two young Black men  Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota  shot and killed by police in circumstances that would have earned most White folk a ticket or a caution at the most. And they were just the latest in a long roll call of Black men who have died at the hands of the police.

Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was killed by a police officer in Ferguson. Trayvon Martin, another unarmed teenager, was killed by a neighbourhood watch volunteer in Florida. Eric Garner, who was put in a choke hold by NYPD officers, was heard saying I cant breathe over and over again before he died. His dying words became a rallying cry for those protesting police violence against Blacks.

According to The Guardian, which runs a project to track police killings in America, at least 136 people have been killed by the police in 2016 alone. And The Washington Post estimates that 258 Black people have died at the hands of the police in 2015. Not surprisingly then, last week saw countrywide demonstrations in the USA against police brutality against Blacks (#BlackLivesMatter). And in Dallas, the police force itself became the target of an African-American sniper, who shot at a protest rally and killed five cops and injured many others.

All this, while the first Black President of America was still in the White House.

So, if the presence of an African-American at the helm of affairs cant make things better for Black people, why should we imagine that the presence of a female leader will make things better for women?

The simple answer is that it is not so simple at all. Electing a Black President or a female Prime Minister does not mean that the problems of those sections of the community will magically disappear. No, that magic wand does not exist, so nobody  whatever their sex, colour, ethnicity  can wield it to make our problems vanish.

Lets take an example closer home. The BSP leader, Mayawati, who styles herself as Dalit ki beti has been the chief minister of UP four times over. But Dalit women continue to be raped and Dalit men killed if they overstep the bounds set out for them.

But that doesnt negate the symbolic value of having a Dalit woman at the helm of affairs. By her sheer presence, she serves as a beacon of hope, sending out glimmers of possibility to every Dalit girl studying in a remote primary school that one day she too can attain those heights.

And it is that message that will hit home for young girls everywhere when women do  quite literally  take over the world. And I, for one, cant wait to see that happen.

From HT Brunch, July 17, 2016

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No Indian politician can afford to have the candour of George W Bush, who joked at a dinner party, This is an impressive crowd  the haves and have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base. Nor would anybody dare say of the Rajya Sabha what senator Bob Dole said of the US Senate: If youre hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come over to the Senate. Youll get the same kind of feeling and you wont have to pay.

Thats not to say that all our leaders have been dour, humourless folk. Mahatma Gandhi had an impish sense of humour. His quip when asked what he thought of Western civilization  I think its a good idea  is a famous example, as is his putdown when upbraided for wearing a loincloth when he met Edward VII  He was wearing enough for both of us.

Read: When Karl Marx speaks Gujarati

That was mild compared to Winston Churchills retorts. When a woman told him that if she were his wife she would poison his coffee, Churchill replied, Madam, if you were my wife I would drink it. Heres what he said about prime minister Stanley Baldwin: He occasionally stumbled over the truth but hastily picked himself up and hurried on as if nothing had happened.

Indian politicians have shown flashes of brilliance. When Nehru made the fatuous statement that not a blade of grass grew in Aksai Chin, veteran parliamentarian Mahavir Tyagi pointed to his bald pate and retorted, There is not a single hair on this head but shall I surrender my head to the enemy? Krishna Bose wrote that, after Netaji drew up the document proclaiming the Provisional Government of Free India in 1943, he looked at the list of signatories and remarked that all those who had signed the proclamation of Irish independence were later shot dead. Who knows what destiny has in store for us? he laughed. That was superb gallows humour.

Devaprasad Ghosh of the Jana Sangh once remarked in the Rajya Sabha that the number of Ministers led by Pandit Nehru  has practically come up to the number of Ali Babas classical team. When a minister waxed eloquent about the five-year plan, saying, We also have to ensure greater efficiency  and not only efficiency, but also economy and  parsimony, Bhupesh Gupta, the CPI leader quipped, and a little honesty too.

Read: I am afraid of cracking jokes in Delhi, says Parrikar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often humorous abroad. Speaking to the US Congress he put across this sly one, I am also told that you are well-known for your bipartisanship. Well, you are not alone. Time and again, I have also witnessed a similar spirit in the Indian Parliament, especially in our Upper House. Ronald Reagan put it more pithily, I have often wondered what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.

Perhaps self-deprecatory humour would be the least risky? US President Lyndon Johnson had the guts to say, Did you ever think that making a speech is a bit like pissing down your leg? It seems hot to you but it never does to anyone else. And Ronald Reagan at his ideological best: My right hand doesnt know what my far right hand is doing.

Manas Chakravarty is Consulting Editor, Mint

The views expressed are personal

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In the conventional wisdom, the Right stands for Order, the Left for Change. The Right defends Hierarchy and Authority, the Left demands Justice and Equality. The Right is for and of the Establishment, the Left is for and of the Aaam Admi (and Aaam Aurat).

These stereotypes are not entirely without foundation. The abolition of aristocratic distinctions; the challenging of patriarchy; the defence of individual liberties against the arbitrary exercise of state or clerical power; voting rights for peasants, workers, and women; these were all the handiwork, largely, of what we call the Left.

Given these historical legacies, it is puzzling to see the Indian Left oppose the push for a common civil code for all citizens, which the Constitution had promised but which successive governments have failed to enact. Back in the 1940s and 50s, Ambedkar and Nehru thought it prudent to first change personal laws in favour of Hindu women, since there was a vigorous reform movement among Hindus (but not however among Muslims). However, they certainly hoped that, in the not too distant future, a gender-just code of personal and family law that applied to all citizens of the Republic, would come to be enacted.

Read: Uniform Civil Code is about upholding human dignity: Law panel chief

From time to time, the demand for a common civil code is renewed. This happened 30 years ago, at the time of the Shah Bano case, and it is now happening again in response to the case of Shayara Bano, who appealed to the Supreme Court to have the pernicious practice of triple talaq abolished.

This fresh debate on a common civil code has brought forth a torrent of commentary in the liberal and left-wing press. Virtually all of it, to my surprise (not to say shock), has been against the idea that, in our Republic, the same laws must apply to all citizens regardless of caste, community, class or gender. There have been several articles attacking a common civil code in the widely read websites Scroll and The Wire, as well as in the staid and respected Economic and Political Weekly.

Read: Uniform civil code: Take all stakeholders on board

From reading this flood of articles, one can identify seven arguments that Indian leftists offer in opposition to a common civil code:

1) The reforms of Hindu personal law in the 1950s were not as progressive as they are made out to be, since they were tainted by Brahmanical rituals and prejudices;

2) The customary laws and practices of the Hindus today are often very reactionary, as for example in the khap panchayats;

3) The unreformed Muslim personal laws are not as reactionary as made out to be, and sometimes or often give women reasonable rights;

4) The customary practices of Muslims are also not as bad as claimed; thus Muslim polygamy does not discriminate against second or third wives in the manner that Hindu polygamy does or did;

5) The demand for a uniform civil code is motivated by the political agenda of the BJP (and by their desire to win the Uttar Pradesh assembly election, in particular);

6) Article 44 of the Constitution, asking for a Uniform Civil Code, clashes with Article 25, assuring the freedom to propagate religion;

7) There are many other Articles of the Constitution that remain unfulfilled; why then harp on this one?

Those making these claims would consider themselves liberals, if not leftists. What is striking in these apologias is the note of defensiveness. For instance, the personal law reforms of the 1950s gave Hindu women, for the first time, the right to choose their marriage partners (regardless of caste), to divorce a brutal husband, and to inherit ancestral property. If these laws remain imperfect, surely one must work to improve them further, rather than disparage them?

Likewise, even if Muslim personal law is not as awful as charged, surely both polygamy and triple talaq are repugnant practices, which must be abolished at once? And just because the RSS or the BJP supports a policy, does that make it wrong? I myself know Hindu patriarchs who support a uniform civil code purely out of spitefulness; they are angered by privileges that Muslim men still have (such as the taking of multiple wives), but which Ambedkar and Nehru took away from them.

Read: Muslim women rise against triple talaq

The task, indeed duty, of progressive thinkers is to go beyond both political expediency and religious prejudice, and support a right policy for the right reasons. They must analyse, and articulate, the ethical principles behind the search for a civil code that does not discriminate between individual citizens on the basis of caste, community, religion, or gender.

No one has ever claimed that a common civil code is a magic wand that will make discrimination against women disappear overnight. But it is a necessary first step towards the creation of a Republic whose citizens are equal before the law. This common code must draw not on Hindu or Muslim ideas, but on the fundamental principles of individual dignity and gender equality. Legal scholars beyond party lines  and of all religious affiliations or none  must be involved in its framing. And the law itself needs to be complemented by the steady, patient, work of grassroots social reform. For one can and must advocate a common civil code and work for the abolition of caste panchayats at the same time.

In my opinion, left-wing intellectuals who oppose a common civil code disavow the progressive heritage of socialist and feminist movements in India and across the world. They are  whether they sense it or not  apologists for the status quo, whose tortured and convoluted arguments only serve the interests of Muslim patriarchs and the Islamic clergy.

Ramachandra Guhas most recent book is Gandhi Before India

Twitter: @Ram_Guha

The views expressed are personal

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Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said chief ministers should be consulted before the appointment of Lieutenant Governors or governors in their respective states, at an Inter State Council meeting held on Saturday.

The chief minister demanded the Inter State Council should pass a resolution that chief ministers be consulted before the appointment of governors/LGs in their respective states, and Presidents rule can only be imposed in any state if the government loses majority in the Assembly and not on any frivolous grounds by misusing the office of governors appointed by the Centre, a government spokesperson said.

He also raised the issue of pending bills with the Centre at the meeting.

Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly are still pending with the Centre. The Chief Minister demanded that the bills pending with the Centre be immediately granted approval so that people of Delhi could get benefit of the welfare schemes, said a government spokesperson.

Kejriwal also demanded that the central government should waive off all the debts of farmers across the country to reduce their sufferings.

Read: Talk to AK: Delhi CM Kejriwal set to take questions from public

In the meet, CM also demanded that medicines should be provided free of costs and tests should also be conducted free in all government hospitals across the country like it has been done by the Delhi government since February.

Kejriwal also said the allegations of rise in prices of pulses due to hoarding at the Mundra Port should be probed with all seriousness.

Kejriwal also pointed out that Delhi contributes `1.5 lakh core to the Centres kitty in taxes, but surprisingly gets only a paltry `325 crore out of it. He demanded that Delhi be given `5,000 crore as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission.
A 33-year-old Croatian national, who had come to India for a holiday, was found dead in his hotel room in south Delhis Mahipalpur on Saturday. Police said there were cuts on his wrist and the injuries appeared self-inflicted.

The victim, Nenad Kresoja, a school teacher, had reportedly visited China and Nepal before coming to India. The incident came to light after his daughter called the hotel to speak to him as he was not picking up his phone. The hotel staff knocked at the door but Kresoja did not respond.

They informed the police, who broke open the door and found him on the floor. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. His family in Croatia has been informed.

A CFSL team along with crime branch officials visited Kresojas hotel room to collect evidence. The window glass was found to be broken and the glass pieces found beside his body. It appears he used a piece of glass to slash his wrist. There are three to four deep cuts on his wrist which suggest that it was not a murder. No suicide note has been found but we do not suspect any foul play. We are, however, not ruling out probing the case from all angles, a police officer said.

Kresoja came to India on a tourist visa and checked into the hotel on July 14 for three nights. He reportedly had to visit Agra after Delhi. He came to the hotel on Friday night and went to his room. He did not order food but just asked the staff to keep a bottle of water in his room, police said.

The following day, he did not call for bed tea or laundry, police said. The room was locked from inside so there is little possibility of someone from outside entering the room. We have checked the CCTV footage of the hotel which shows Kresoja entering his room. None of his belongings was missing and the room was not ransacked, which rules out robbery, a senior police officer said.
A group of unidentified boys from Dasna and Masuri localities in Ghaziabad were caught on camera, jumping off a rail overbridge as a train approached on the Upper Ganga Canal.

As the video went viral, authorities ordered an inquiry on Saturday.

We will verify the location in the video and the additional district magistrate and the superintendent of police will take action. The stunts in the video are life threatening, said Vimal Kumar Sharma, district magistrate, Ghaziabad.

Police personnel and officials of the district administration visited the Masuri canal area later and warned locals against performing daredevil acts.

The location in the video has been identified as the overbridge under Masuri police stations jurisdiction. We have warned the locals against sending their children to the canal for such acts. We will get in touch with the Railway Protection Force to take suitable action, said Rakesh Kumar Pandey, superintendent of police (rural), Ghaziabad.

He said additional personnel and PCR vans have been deployed in the area to keep a watch.

Local residents from the area, however, said there was very little they could do as youngsters from nearby cities often came for swimming and diving in the canal and to indulge in different acts of daredevilry.

The canal is frequented by boys from nearby areas and they perform such stunts since they are well acquainted with it and have been born and brought up here. Some of them click photos in front of approaching trains before jumping into the canal. There have been incidents when some boys have drowned, but that failed to deter the youngsters, said Ved Prakash, a Dasna resident.

Some of the boys try to touch an approaching train before jumping into the canal, which is extremely dangerous. This has been happening regularly, with the boys jumping only when the train is merely 2-5 feet away from them. It is suicidal, said Rajeev Kumar, a local resident of Masuri.

A video grab shows kids jumping off a railway overbridge moments before a speeding train crosses it in Ghaziabad. (Video grab)

A Ghaziabad police team keeps a watch on the spot after the video of some boys jumping off a railway overbridge in front a speeding train surfaced. (Sakib Ali/HT photo)

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Checking in at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport will get less cumbersome. After months of trial run, the Delhi airport operator has introduced a portable check-in system for use by passengers.

The hand-held gadgets will act as portable check-in counters, which will save passengers the trouble of standing in queues to get to traditional counters. This facility is expected to reduce congestion and queues.

The devices will be handed over to the airline staff who will roam around and ask passengers for check-in. The traditional check-in counters will continue to function as earlier.

Passengers carrying hand baggage can directly make their way for security check. Those carrying registered baggage will have to go to the traditional counters to drop their bags.

The mobile gadget is based on the ARINC vMUSE platform and can be used for both domestic and international check-ins at the airport.

The gadget can be moved to any location within the terminal, wherever an increased number of passengers need to be checked in.

Read: Expansion of T1 at Delhis IGI starts, low-cost airlines to shift to T2 by Dec

This would make passenger check-in a very smooth affair at the countrys busiest airport. This digital initiative would ensure better queue management at the airport, especially during peak hours, winters and monsoon, when weather causes irregular operations due to flight delays and disruptions, said I Prabhakara Rao, CEO, DIAL.

DIAL has successfully conducted extended trial of this value added service over the last few months at Terminal 3 of IGI Airport. During the trial period, an average of 8% to 10% of commuters experienced smooth check in through the wi-fi-enabled check-in gadget, which has a Bluetooth-based printer attached to it to print the boarding pass.

Jet Airways and Vistara airlines have been using the portable device since the beginning of the trial period. The software-based mobile gadget enables all airlines operating from both the terminals of Delhi airport to check-in their respective passengers away from the traditional kiosks.

DIAL has been actively promoting various self-service digital initiatives at IGI airport with an intention to leverage technology for passenger experience and operational efficiency. These include self check-in kiosks at the airport, mobile app-flyDEL and flap gates, among several others, said a DIAlL spokesperson.

Read: Worlds largest charkha unveiled at Delhi airports terminal 3
The Delhi Police crime branch arrested two people - a B.tech engineer and a science graduate- on Thursday, for allegedly posing as bank officials to verify debit and credit cards of customers.

The men were arrested from Deogarh in Jharkhand.

Sawan Verma,(25) and Manish Rai (26), convinced people to share their passwords, which they then used for shopping and other transactions.

They then reportedly transferred the duped amount through a mobile banking app.

Verma and Rai recently duped a senior doctor of RML hospital to the tune of several thousands.

The duo used to gather details about the credit, ATM and debit cards from people, posing as bank officials on the pretext of card verification and used Paytm Mobile Solutions to transfer the amount in another bank account in Jharkhand. They used to withdraw the amount through their ATM, joint commissioner of police, crime, Ravindra Yadav said.

The gangs operations came to police notice on June 21, when Dr Dinesh Kumar, head, division of paediatric cardiology,RML Hospital, filed a complaint alleging that he received phone calls from a person who introduced himself as Ravi Sharma, an employee of State Bank of India.

He told Kumar his credit card had been blocked as it was not verified and asked him to share his details, including the CVV number.

After Kumar shared his details and disconnected the call, he received a message from his telephone service provider that his present SIM has been blocked and that a new SIM card would be sent, as requested by him, to his residence. His phone stopped working and the set stopped reading the SIM. It is then when Kumar realised that it was a fraud call, Yadav said.

Read: Mumbai woman loses Rs3 lakh to SIM fraud

Kumar immediately called up his bank but by the time he could get access, the culprits already withdrew R 1,20,000 in four instalments. He immediately blocked his card to avoid the fifth withdrawal, Yadav said.

The crime branch then formed a special team to track the men. During investigation, police found that the men were transferring the duped money from SBI Branch in Deogarh, Jharkhand.

The men used fake IDs to operate Paytm, which were found registered on different mobile phone numbers bearing fake IDs. Further information was developed using their bank account numbers and call detail records and their location was traced. A raiding party then went to Jharkhand and made the arrests, Yadav said.

During interrogation, the two confessed that they used to make random phone calls to mobile phone numbers using different SIM cards and obtained details of debit and credit cards, posing as bank officials. After obtaining the card details, the duo made fraudulent transactions from the said account. During this, they also procured one time passwords (OTP) from the victims in the name of verification procedures, which they then used for transactions.

An associate of theirs, Raja, is still at large.
Recently, a 26-year-old doctor named Dr Sarvanan Ganeshan, from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, was found dead in his apartment. This is not the first suicide that has been reported from within the prestigious department.

These cases have brought into limelight the multiple grievances that doctors face. While for some this maybe the situation only through their residency. But for others this extends to their permanent practice as well.

We spoke to a few doctors and listed below are some of their major concerns:

1. Work timings

It is very common for residents and doctors to pull a 36-hour or 24-hour shift. While in the west the doctors are given a day off after such a shift, in India due to shortage of staff they mostly return the next day to work. Time management is one area where a lot of doctors suffer. It can be self-imposed or through the institution due to staff shortage. Whatever the case, it is a fact that most doctors suffer from shortage of time, says Dr Dhawan.

In August 2015, a delegation of prominent doctors from different hospitals in the United States, found the Emergency ward of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, like a madly crowded railway station. (Daljeet Kaur Sandhu/ HT Photo)

2. Documentation

Doctors in India are expected to complete paperwork that is equivalent of western standards. However, in the west the doctor to patient ratio is about 1:10 maximum. In India, the approximate average is 1:25. These documentations are the only protection the doctors have in case something goes wrong during a treatment. Therefore, the simple thought of save yourself before you save others causes doctors to insist on paperwork before they can touch a patient.

Senior medical officer Dr Anand Singla (left) manages a daily average footfall of 200 at the outpatient department with just one gynaecology specialist (centre) and a fresh medical officer (right) for support at Moonak CHC, one of 100 priority institutions of the Punjab government, in Sangrur. (Gurminder Singh/HT)

Read: Medical Council makes doctors of those it once rejected

3. Lack of faith

These days patients and their loved ones look at doctors with a skeptical attitude. This either causes the doctor to spend more time and energy in gaining their trust or become curt and defensive. Both are unhealthy to patient doctor relation, says Dr. Sanjay Dhawan, director and HOD - Ophthalmology Department, Max Healthcare, Delhi and NCR.

4. Infrastructure

I remember when I was doing my masters, I got leptospirosis infection. My colleague came down with tuberculosis. All this happened because we worked on dead bodies in unsanitary conditions. But at that time getting our degrees was important hence we had to do it, says Dr Monica Jacob, cosmetologist, Bodyz Wellness, Mumbai.

5. Legal hassles

Major stress today is not a complicated or challenging clinical case but the risk of being sued or dragged to court over a trivial error or even known side effects, says Dr Jacob Thomas, cardiologist and diabetes specialist, JM Diagnostics, Mumbai.

Apparently, if a rare side effect of a medicine occurs (and there is no way to predict this), many a times in India the relatives start to become aggressive and sometimes even end up beating the doctors. Some people come with mobs and vandalise property.

Most times the law enforcement is not in favour of doctors, adds Dr Thomas.

Members of Junior Doctors Association protesting the slapping incident involving a junior resident doctor in the emergency ward at Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala, Punjab. (HT Photo)

Read: Slapping incident at Rajindra Hospital, junior resident doctors protest

6. Self care

Doctors tend to forget to take care of themselves. Between patient calls and documentation, taking time out for exercise or even to listen to music does not come naturally for them. This adds to the stress levels.

Doctors #parkshinhye #kimraewon #raeshin #doctors A photo posted by lovingparkshinhye (@lovingparkshinhye) on Jul 15, 2016 at 3:13am PDT

Suggestions to doctors:

1. Cap the amount of work you take on voluntarily.

2. Take short and multiple vacations or make sure you take some time out for relaxation with music or other hobbies.

3. Be reasonably aware of medico-legal laws.

4. Make use of technology for proper data management.

5. If you are about to start your own clinic do it with a colleague to divide work pressure.

6. Do not compromise on seven to eight hours of sleep.

- With inputs from Dr. Meghna Gupta, cosmetic dermatologist and director, Delhi Skin Centre, South Delhi.

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Police have arrested 15 people after an arson attack on houses belonging to Coptic Christians in an Upper Egyptian village on Saturday, a security source said.

The defendants are accused of torching five houses in Abou Yacoub village in Minya governorate on Saturday, after rumours spread that a church was being constructed in the area.

They were arrested hours later, Al-Ahram's Arabic site reported.

The incident came 20 days after similar events had taken place in Samalout, also in Minya, when locals set on fire an under-construction building out of belief that it was a church.

Sectarian-motivated attacks on Christians are common occurrences in Egypt, with Minya, home to a large number of Copts, a particular hotspot.

In May, a mob attacked Christian homes in a village in Minya and stripped an older Coptic woman naked after an alleged affair between her son and a Muslim woman.

According to unofficial estimates, Christians make up roughly 10 percent of the Egypts 90 million people.

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Distribution company StudioCanal has pulled ads in France for Bastille Day, the action thriller starring Idris Elba, in the wake of the Nice terror attack that killed 84 people.

Bastille Day, which centres around a CIA agent trying to counter a bombing in France, was released in an estimated 233 cinemas on Wednesday, just a day before the truck attack that unfolded in Nice during celebrations of the actual Bastille Day, one of the countrys most important holidays, reports variety.com.

Read Hindustan Times coverage of the Nice attacks here

Read: The more I achieve, the more capacity I have to achieve: Idris Elba

The release date of the movie had already been postponed following the terrorist attacks in Paris in November last year.

StudioCanal has given cinemas the option to pull Bastille Day from their theatres. It will become clearer over the weekend which major exhibitors, if any, exercise that option.

Read: Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba to star in Kings The Dark Tower

The film has been directed by James Watkins.

Studiocanal, which financed, sold internationally, and distributed the film in France, has pulled all of its billboard and digital advertising in France. Cinema chains will decide whether to take down front-of-house promotion.

Although theatres were closed Friday in Nice, they were open in the rest of France. The country will observe three days of mourning starting Saturday.

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An attempted military coup unleashed violence in Turkey, killing 90 people and injuring 1000. But it crumbled when crowds took to the streets in an answer to President Recep Tayyib Erdogans call.

Coups - military or otherwise - and revolutions, are synonymous with democracy. The Arab Spring not only triggered a wave of renewed political anger and dissent, it also created new interest in films about crowds taking matters into their own hands and protesting tyranny.

Read: Live: Turkey coup bid crumbles as crowds answer call to streets

Weve compiled a list of 5 films about revolutions - and about the people who inspire them, the ones who lead the charge, and inevitably, the ones who perish. These arent necessarily the best films, but are an eclectic mix of biopic, thriller, romance, non-fiction and even dystopia.

Che (2008)

Both parts of Che are stylistically, tonally and visually different films.

Director Steven Soderberghs two-part epic (4 hours, 17 minutes) on the life of the most famous revolutionary of them all, Ernesto Che Guevara is a sprawling, yet intimate take on the life of a man we think we know so well. Benicio Del Toros is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of the man since Gael Garcia Bernals performance in The Motorcycle Diaries.

The Square (2013)

Jehane Noujaims Oscar-nominated documentary is the most visceral depiction of a revolt ever put on screen. It depicts the Tahrir Square uprising by putting the viewer on the ground, in the crowd, surrounded by gunfire and screams. Through 4 subjects, it shows 4 different perspectives to the same protest. Its available for streaming on Netflix.

Winter on Fire: Ukraines Fight for Freedom (2015)

Winter on Fire is a close cousin to The Square. This time, the same cries and screams are at the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine. Its a similar film that takes on a similar issue, and shows how, despite cultural differences, the importance of protesting oppression is universal.

The Dreamers (2003)

The Dreamers takes the coda make love not war too seriously.

Bernardo Bertoluccis film is set against the backdrop of the 1968 Paris student riots, a time of cultural, social and philosophical enlightenment. It follows three young students - two of them siblings - in a deeply disturbing love triangle with an American exchange student as they discuss life, love and philosophy.

V for Vendetta (2006)

Beneath this mask, there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask is an idea. And deas are bulletproof.

V for Vendetta is based on legendary writer Alan Moores (Watchmen) graphic novel of the same name. Its set in a dystopian neo-fascist future and follows the vigilante activities of V, the man who has made the Guy Fawkes mask an international symbol for revolt.

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Actor Oscar Isaac is in talks to join filmmaker Steven Spielbergs upcoming film The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

If all goes well, Isaac will star opposite Mark Rylance in the film, which Spielberg will start shooting in the first quarter of 2017 after he finishes Ready Player One, reports variety.com.

Read: The Tintin sequel is alive, Peter Jackson is directing: Steven Spielberg

Tony Kushner is adapting the script based on David Kertzers novel of the same name.

Spielberg and Kushner previously collaborated on Lincoln and Munich.

Read: Steven Spielberg is back, and this time he has a BFG with him

The novel tells the story of a young Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy in 1858 who, having been secretly baptised, is forcibly taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. His parents struggle to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the Papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

Isaacs role in the film isnt known.

Read: X-Men: Apocalypse villain Oscar Isaac wasnt happy with the first images

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to probe the recent disappearance of 21 Islamic State sympathisers from Kerala, according to a senior government official.

Tasked with combating terror, NIA is the right agency to investigate into the matter that has international ramifications, a home ministry functionary told Hindustan Times.

The news of the men, who are allegedly fascinated by the Islamic State, left for the terrorist groups heartland in West Asia came out last week after their families in Kasargode and Palakkad districts approached elected representatives and complained about the missing youths.

Read: Hyderabad IS-module mailed letter to Syria pledging allegiance to Baghdadi: NIA

Preliminary inquiries have revealed that one of them, Hafeesuddin Hakeem, contacted his family--to say he was at a place where US and Russian jets were dropping bombs.

Hafeesuddins wife Sharifa told investigators that she received a Whatsapp message on June 8 which said war planes were circling over me.

Investigators say Hafeesuddin, 23, also invited his parents to the Islamic State, claiming that it was a land that followed true Islam and the sharia legal system.

Investigators suspect that the location Hafeesuddin, a native of Padanna in north Malabar, described indicates that he has reached the IS-held area in Syria along the Middle East. Recently, Russian forces had carried out strikes near Palmyra, Raqqa and Althawra oil fields.

Read: NIA to file chargesheet against 5 Islamic State sympathisers

Marwan Bakkar Ismail, another person suspected to be part of the group, told his brother that he has reached the Islamic State, as it was his duty to fight for Muslim Ummah (community). The sibling works in a multi-national tech company.

According to investigators, Marwan, also aged 23, told his brother that he will come back to India to continue my fight.

There are five couples among the 21 persons who have disappeared. Three of those married pairs have a kid each. In four cases, the women converted to Islam from either Hinduism or Christianity. All of them got acquainted to each other while taking a class of religious studies in Keralas upstate Malappuram. Together, more than a dozen of them attended a discourse at a mosque.

Investigators say it is still not clear which route they took to reach the IS-held areas. But they have identified a Kannur travel agent from whom at least four of them booked tickets to the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Read: Reached destination: Kerala man feared to have joined IS messages kin

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Security forces gunned down three suspected militants along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district on Saturday as violence raged in large parts of the state over the killing of top insurgent Burhan Wani.

Army said the three men were Pakistani and possibly belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Northern Command spokesperson SD Goswami said around 5.30pm on Friday evening, the army got intelligence that a group of five militants might infiltrate via the Akbar Dhok area in Sabzian sector.

The army launched a search operation and during the wee hours of Saturday, the troops gunned down three ultras, he added.

The army has cordoned off the area and a search operation has been launched to track down the remaining ultras. Intelligence sources confided to HT that the militants had succeeded in sneaking into the Sabzian sector.

An army source said Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Saeed Hafiz was seen visiting militants in terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and was desperate to push militants into India to flare up the already surcharged atmosphere and spread violence to Jammu region.

On July 4, GOC of Nagrota based 16 Corps Lt Gen RR Nimbhorkar said nearly 200 trained militants were waiting in launching pads on other side of the Line of Control in Pak-occupied-Kashmir to infiltrate into Indian Territory.

The intrusion bid comes amid continuing violence across south Kashmir that has killed nearly 40 people and left 1,300 injured.

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The Inter-State Council called for dealing with terrorism with an iron fist during its meeting on Saturday that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging chief ministers to keep politics aside when dealing with security issues.

Several chief ministers also expressed concern at the growing radicalisation, with Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh stressing on the need for a national de-radicalisation policy.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan wanted the Centre to check the misuse of social media.

The two chief ministers of BJP-ruled states also nudged the Centre to quickly operationalise the National Intelligence Grid, a brainchild of former home minister P Chidambaram.

The misuse of social media needs to be checked and there has to be a real-time intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism between the Centre and the states, he said.

In his remarks, Modi too had focussed on intelligence sharing and greater coordination among agencies, pointing that internal security could not be strengthened without paying more attention to this aspect. We must constantly remain alert and updated, he said.

Wrapping up the day-long deliberations later, Modi emphasised that the Centre as well as states could not ignore what is happening across the world, a reference to attacks by the Islamic State (IS) in several parts of the world.

Modi also underscored the need for maintaining a visible presence of police forces on the ground, and underscored the importance of a good CCTV network in curbing crime.

Chouhan also echoed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars disappointment with the home ministry rule that requires states to make advance payment before seeking central police forces to maintain law and order. Kumar had urged Modi to shun this commercial approach and get down to fulfilling its constitutional mandate.
A youth died in retaliatory firing by security forces in north Kashmirs Kupwara district on Saturday, taking the total number of people killed to 41 on the eight day of protests over the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter. South Kashmir remained relatively peaceful.

Police said protesters tried to storm a police post in Hatmulla Kupwara, prompting retaliatory action.

At Hatmulla, a violent mob attacked the police post and attempted to set it on fire. While dealing with the situation, one person was injured, who later succumbed to his injuries, a police spokesperson said.

The authorities imposed a curfew in the Valley as separatists extended their strike call by three days in view of two youths killed in police firing on Friday.

Police reported incidents of violent clashes and stone-pelting at several places in Kupwara, Bandipora and Baramulla districts of north Kashmir on Saturday.

Stray and intermittent incidents of stone-pelting were reported from Pothkhah in Sopore, Hatmulla and Khumriyal in Kupwara, Papchan, Nasu and the new bus stand in Bandipora, the spokesman said. An unruly mob set on fire a police guardroom at Wullar Vintage Park in Bandipora.

Injuries were also reported among security personnel, including a sub-inspector. All the injured were referred to Srinagar for treatment, he said.

Kashmir has been on the boil since Hizbul Mujahideen militant Wani was killed in an encounter on June 8. The subsequent protests escalated amid reports of heavy-handedness of security forces in dealing with protestors. The state government, however, has given assurances that the forces will maintain restraint.

In addition to 41 deaths, mostly due to bullet injuries, over 1,400 people have been injured in the ongoing turmoil. More than 110 people are being treated for pellet injuries in the three super-speciality hospitals of Srinagar.

A delegation of legislators, including CPI (M) leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, Hakim Mohammed Yaseen and Gh Hassan Mir, met the governor to express deep concern over the hardships being faced by the common people because of the excessive use of force against protestors and use of lethal weapons/pellet guns in dealing with the protesters, which has led to loss of precious lives and grave injuries inflicted on hundreds.

The delegation demanded immediate halt to use of excessive force and also lethal weapons, pellet guns, and [that] indiscriminate arrests are stopped forthwith. They also demanded proper treatment to the injured and availability of vital and essential drugs in the hospitals and more seriously injured persons to be shifted to super speciality hospitals outside the state to save their lives, Tarigami said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the 11th meeting of Inter-State Council in New Delhi on Saturday, with chief ministers of all states and prominent Union ministers in attendance.

Development is possible only when states and Centre work in close coordination, Modi said at the meet, stressing his governments agenda of cooperative federalism.

We dont get a lot of opportunities where heads of the country and states come together, the Prime Minister said.

PM Modi chairs the 11th meeting of Inter-State Council. Union Mins & CMs of all states in attendance. pic.twitter.com/7ofIi6Yycv  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

The meeting assumes significance in wake of the central governments efforts to ensure smooth passage for the Good and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning on Monday.

The 11th Inter-State Council meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan is expected to focus on intelligence sharing, coordination for combatting terror, insurgency, police reforms and modernisation.

The last meeting of the council was held in December 2006 in New Delhi.
An FIR has been lodged against an unidentified person for posting an objectionable picture of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on a social networking site, police said on Saturday.

City president of Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha Khijar Gaus had lodged a complaint that an objectionable picture of the SP supremo was uploaded on Facebook, additional superintendent of police Kamlesh Dixit said.

He said an FIR was lodged against an unidentified person on Friday after Khijras complain.
Remaining ambivalent on the GST question, the Congress on Saturday blamed the ruling NDA for the stalemate and said it was for the Centre to work out a consensus on the proposed legislation. The GST was conceived by us. We support the legislation but have our concerns, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

Amidst suggestions that the Congress was softening its stand on the GST in the backdrop of the support extended to the proposed legislation by regional parties, senior party leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia, went into a huddle with party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday.

It was decided that the federalism debate  in the backdrop of the Arunachal and Uttarkhand developments  will certainly be raised during Parliaments monsoon session along with other matters such as the  governments mishandling of the Kashmir situation.

But a firm view on the GST question has not been formulated, sources said.

The government had on Friday reached out to Congress to seek its support for the passage of the GST Bill which has been pending for a long time.

Sources said Congress leaders would hold wider consultations on the amendments it has proposed to the GST bill on Monday, ahead of their scheduled meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday.

The people of this country are already over-burdened with 15% service tax and other forms of cess imposed by the NDA government in the last two years. The income tax slab is nearly 30%. In such a background, to impose a heavy taxation through GST is not appropriate, Surjewala said.

Amendments proposed by the Congress include the precondition of fixing an 18% cap and providing for adjudication of disputes through a third party arbitrator.
The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to the wording of a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey."

Foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Ahram Online Egypt had reservations about the way part of the statement was phrased, saying it was not objecting to the content of the statement.

"Talks are still underway after Egypt's decision and we are yet to see if we will eventually approve a rephrased statement," he said.

Abu Zeid declined to reveal the part of the statement that Egypt objected to.

"I do not like to comment while the statement is still deliberated by the Security Council," he added.

The US-drafted statement expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security Council have to be agreed by consensus.

Reuters quoted anonymous diplomats as saying that Egypt argued that the UN Security Council was not in a position to determine whether a government had been democratically elected.

Egypt's mission to the United Nations reportedly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

The relationship between Egypt and Turkey deteriorated after the 2013 ouster of Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).

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Indian audiences will get a glimpse of Iranian cinema at a film festival beginning on Saturday to commemorate the 60th year of signing of cultural agreements between New Delhi and Tehran.

The struggle of a woman estranged from her husband, while her daughter lies in a hospital bed, captured in Manoucher Hadis engaging family drama One Wanted to Talk to You, the gripping family saga of Seyyed Reza Mir-Karims A Cube of Sugar and Maziar Miris award-winning A Painting Pool are among the films that will be screened at the Siri Fort auditorium from July 16-19.

A Cube of Sugar, Irans entry in the best foreign language film category at the 85th Academy Awards, will be the opening film at the festival that will see the screening of 13 other popular films.

To be jointly organised by the ministry of information and broadcasting, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, the festival will also showcase art forms from Iran.

According to sources, the idea was mooted by the Iranian embassy after an agreement to renew cultural ties was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis May visit to Tehran.

Sources said India was banking on the soft power of cultural links to strengthen its relations with Iran, which were recalibrated following the lifting of sanctions on Tehran by the US and the European Union.

Modi travelled to Tehran where he signed 12 agreements, including the long-standing deal to develop Irans Chabahar port and inaugurated the Cultural Festival of India in Iran and a two-day conference India-Iran Two Great Civilisations: Retrospect-Prospects.

It was decided to take forward old association with Iran, through cultural exchanges, including festivals of art, literature, films and music. Thefilm festival is in keeping with that. It will allow Indians a peek into Iranian culture, a source said.

Efforts are underway to have prominent Iranian film makers and stars in attendance at the four-day event.

Dr. Abouzar Ebrahimi, Head of Islamic Culture and Relations Organization [ICRO] will visit India to participate in the programme, Ronak music group is being flown down for a performance and discussions are underway with several prominent film stars and makers to attend the festival, said an official.

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Authorities on Saturday banned newspaper publication in Kashmir for three days after police raided media houses and shut down a major printing press in what is being seen as the most sweeping information blackout in the valley rocked by violence.

The undesirable step was taken to ensure peace, government spokesman Nayeem Akhtar said.

The gag on print media followed the worst violence in the restive valley in six years that has left at least 41 people dead and scores wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters angry over the killing of top militant leader Burhan Wani.

Mobile and internet services are already blocked in the valley where curfew was extended to the eight day on Saturday. Cable TV was also blocked but was restored on Saturday evening.

Pakistan has given (a) black day call. There is an attempt to subvert peace, it is an unusual situation so we were forced to take such an undesirable step, Akhtar said. Pakistan on Friday said it will observe July 19 as a black day to protest what it said was killing of innocent people in Jammu and Kashmir by Indian troops.

Akhtar added the step was taken to save lives and strengthen peace efforts.

Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of the Srinagar-based Rising Kashmir whose printing press was raided around midnight on Friday, said the ban order was conveyed verbally to editors by a government official.

In a statement, newspaper editors quoted the government official as saying that the ban is in view of apprehensions of serious trouble in Kashmir valley in the next three days aimed at subverting peacestrict curfew will be imposed and movement of newspaper staff and distribution of newspapers will not be possible.

Terming the ban a press emergency, Bukhari said that such steps were not taken during the violent streets protests in 2008 and 2010.

There was gag then also but today for the first time they have formally asked us not to publish, he added.

The government doesnt want the public to know the ground situation. We will publish online but with a ban on internet, who will it reach.

The clamp down started late on Friday night when teams of policemen raided newspaper offices and printing presses.

Around 2 am, the press was raidedThe police asked us to stop printing, took away our plates. About 10,000 copies of the urdu daily Uzma were already printed. Police arrested three of our employees and took away the printed copies, plates and even the newsprint, said Rashid Makdoomi, printer-publisher of Greater Kashmir, the largest circulated daily in the valley. The three employees were released in the morning.

Raja Mohi ud Din, the owner of KT Press, said that his press was also seized. KT Press prints around eight newspapers in the valley.

The police have seized newspaper copies which were printed in thousands besides printing material and printing plates of a few newspapers which were ready.

Hawkers in the Lal Chowk, the citys centre, alleged that police did not allow them to distribute the newspapers and seized their copies.

Journalists held a protest on Residency Road near Press Colony against the clampdown on media.

Separatists, meanwhile, extended their call of a shutdown by three more days as residents run out of supplies.

In a joint statement issued from Hyderpora, the Hurriyat Conference leadership said they have no option but to announce a shutdown call amid relentless curbs. The separatists also thanked Pakistan for their support.

Protesters in the past week have torched police stations and armoured vehicles, and hurled stones at military camps in the restive territory where an estimated eight lakh Indian troops, deeply resented by locals, are stationed.

More than 1,800 people have been injured, including around 200 police, while hospitals have struggled to cope with the rush of injured protesters.

Hundreds have bullet wounds including many who suffered severe eye injuries caused by shotgun pellets fired by the police.

The violence is the worst since 2010 when huge rallies were crushed, leaving 120 dead.

Read | Kashmir on the boil: Youth killed in retaliatory fire, death toll rises to 41

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It doesnt matter that he has taken two bullets. What matters in the teargas-filled Valley is that he is being held responsible for killing militant commander Burhan Wani.

A policeman injured in the operation on July 8 that killed Wani and two others, is now lying secluded in a high-security hospital ward. Neither the policeman nor the hospital can be named, for that poses a threat to his life.

Normally, security personnel are feted for killing militants. But in surcharged Kashmir, reeling under a spate of violence after Wanis killing, the local police now find themselves at the receiving end of protesters engaged in pitched street battles with security forces.

He is on the hit list. Do not allow any interviews or photographs, was the request the policemans seniors made when they brought the injured cop to the hospital. All that the officials are willing to reveal is that the Jammu and Kashmir policeman has multiple gun-shot wounds, one in the left hip and another in the left thigh.

READ: Information blackout, communication breakdown adds to woes in Kashmir

One policeman was drowned in the Jhelum when protesters pushed his vehicle into the river. Several others have been injured in the strife. Families too have been threatened for siding with the state.

Constable Nisar Ahmed Bhat, injured while chasing a mob on the outskirts of Srinagar, also lies in the same hospital, his face hidden by layers of bandage.

There is immense pressure on us. The angry youth told me they know where I live and theyll come get me, he said, barely managing to whisper the words.

Crucial to the fight against the insurgents, it is the local police which knows the terrain and the topography and it is they that the paramilitary and army are dependent on. The operation that killed Wani was also a joint one between the army and the local police.

The use of pellet guns, that have left more than a hundred requiring eye surgeries, has added to the local ire against the police, which acquired the non-lethal crowd control weapon in 2010 after many youth died of bullet injuries.

The separatists increased pressure by issuing a statement, calling on the police to not use live ammunition against common Kashmiris who are your own people unlike the Indian army and the CRPF.

READ: Police raid, crack down on press in Kashmir, curfew to continue

Despite the piquant situation -- caught between duty and their own people  and threat to their lives, the plight of Kashmiri policemen have gone virtually unnoticed.

No one is talking about the anonymous policeman or what protection he might get once his bullet injuries have healed.

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A group of grief-stricken women sitting in a room, separate from the men, are wailing loudly in a hamlet in south Kashmir. The family has just buried its youngest son, 15-year-old Irfan Ahmed Malik, and offered prayers. Irfan, the family says, was returning from his fathers shop and passing a group of enraged stone pelters when he was hit by a bullet.

Irfan joined the list of over 30 civilians who have died since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Wani. The 22-year-old Wani wasnt just another militant but a symbol of resistance eulogised by Kashmiri youth who have now taken to the streets in protests that have led to an unprecedented clampdown in the Valley.

Gurwan Poshwan, the hamlet in south Kashmir, lies bang in the middle of a conflict zone that has seen an incessant exchange of stones and bullets since Burhans killing on July 8. Groups of 10 to 20 stone-wielding youth stand by the roadside, every 200 metres, as we try and make our journey from Srinagar to Pulwama. The media has not been allowed into south Kashmir after Burhans burial on July 9 and we dont know how far we can go or what lies in store for us.

My colleague Toufiq Rashid and I have barely reached the outskirts of Srinagar when a group of about 10 boys stop our car. The minute they find out we are journalists, they start punching our driver. We try and argue: we are here to understand your rage, to report on the agitation but soon realise that even 10 youth can have the mentality of a mob. Toufiq, a local Kashmiri, is reprimanded because her head is only eighty per cent covered. We manage to turn back and take a different route into Pulwama. They are not interested in speaking to the media. We are Indian dogs.

A policeman removes a dustbin after Kashmiri protesters block a road during a clash in Srinagar. (AFP)

Read: The Kashmir manifesto: Delhis policy playbook in the Valley

Pulwama, one of south Kashmirs districts, resembles a graveyard. Stones are strewn all over and apart from groups of youth standing by the roadside, there are no signs of life: the shops are all closed, vehicles are off the roads; offices are shut and the fields are empty. The sharp, urgent hoots of ambulances ferrying the injured to and fro from the hospital is the only sound that breaks the silence of the journey.

We stop to talk to a group of youngsters and realise they are not far from a CRPF camp. The paramilitary men are not visible; they are hemmed in behind rolls of concertina wire. We would like to visit a family whose son has been injured or killed, we say and they point us to a house we cannot see from the road. Will one of you come with us, I ask and the reply is astounding. I am busy, says a boy, barely 14 years old. Busy? Yes, I have to pelt stones, he says in a matter-of-fact voice. Two older men on a motorcycle ask us to follow them and we make our way to Irfans home and join the men seated in a room next to where the women are grieving.

I have become Burhan Wanis follower. He is my leader, says the father, Manzoor Ahmed Malik. Hes just offered prayers for his dead son but is stoic. The room is full of men hailing from different villages of south Kashmir and each has a story to share; each story is of death. The anger in the room boils over at several points. Why is India occupying our land? Why do men in uniform, who are not even from Kashmir, walk into our homes and demand proof of our identification? We want azadi from oppression... how can you fire bullets at our young boys... each one of us is Burhan... the Indian forces have automatic weapons but they are so scared even of our mobile phones, they have cut off all connectivity.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

Mobile connectivity is not the only problem. The Valley has been in deep despair and Burhans death has prised open all the wounds. Signs of communication channels between the elected representatives and the people are scant and the problem in south Kashmir has been festering for over a year. We have known that south Kashmir, which is also the ruling partys stronghold, has been responding more to Burhan than Mehbooba Mufti or her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed but no effort was made to arrest the drift, says an intelligence officer.

The birth of Burhan Wani and the speed with which he was catapulted into a Robin hood-like figure ought to have been a moment of introspection. The 15-year-old who disappeared into the mountains ringing Tral in south Kashmir after a beating from members of the local polices special operations group, took little time in recruiting local youth; all  according to their families  fed up with oppression and continued militarisation.

Read: Kashmir cop injured during Burhan Wani shoot-out is now a marked man

Burhan became the face of new age militants: all well-educated and tech savvy. They were the new role models as videos and Facebook posts of them went viral. They were unafraid of showing their faces or revealing their identities. They make their names and faces known and their outreach is wide, Lt Gen Satish Dua, Corps Commander, 15 Corps, had told HT in October last year, implying that social media had become a fertile recruitment ground.

The ground from under Kashmirs feet had slipped last year when the tech-savvy new-age militants far outnumbered what security forces call foreign terrorists or those who come from Pakistan.

The writing was on the wall. Successive governments have crushed mass agitations with force, like in 2010 when 116 youth were killed one after another. The answer then was to call for additional forces and the same has been repeated now. Additional troops of the army and the CRPF have been rushed in once again. Mehbooba Mufti, who single-handedly built the Peoples Democratic Party by visiting homes of those killed  civilians or militants  is today a pale shadow of herself, guilty perhaps, as one of her party colleagues put it, of sharing power with the BJP who she said in every election speech would not be allowed to take root in the Valley.

FORCES AS HUMAN SHIELDS

The killing of Burhan Wani saw Mehbooba retreat into a shell and there was no political interface between the enraged protestors and the men in uniform who drew their ire. Once again  like in 2010, when former chief minister Omar Abdullah admits he made the mistake of not being seen or heard  the protesters clashed furiously with the occupational forces. This time, they did not just pelt stones, but set police stations on fire; snatched weapons from them and on July 9, the day of Burhans burial, the police were counting not just 96 injured but were also taking stock of missing weapons.

The killing of Burhan Wani saw Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti retreat into a shell. In this picture, Mufti is seen attending a ceremony to mark 84th anniversary of Martyr's Day in Srinagar on July 13, 2016. (AFP Photo/ Tauseef Mustafa)

In DH Pura police station, in south Kashmir, the 20-odd policemen on finding themselves hopelessly outnumbered, had no choice but to call the army picket one kilometre away. Three policemen from the post went missing with their weapons while the remaining ran up a hill till the army came and rescued them. DH Pura was not the only police station to be attacked and stones were not the only weapons being fired. A group of CRPF men fought a stone-pelting mob for three hours before a grenade was thrown at them and the injured had to be rushed to the Base Hospital in Srinagar.

Read: Kashmirs first IAS topper slams media for sadistic propaganda

Senior officials of the local police, the army and the paramilitary took immediate stock after reports trickled in that their men had opened fire against the protesters. The information coming in was worrying: the intensity of the mob was greater, in some places, than it was in 2010 and their numbers were larger. They were better prepared too, to deal with teargas attacks and had come prepared with wet towels, their faces firmly covered. Hopelessly outnumbered in many places, security personnel were in a state of nervous tension and some had opened fire on the protestors.

As one official told HT, We knew that was bad news. Every civilian death meant another funeral; another protest. We were back to the vicious cycle of violence. The seriousness of what will in future be referred to as the 2016 agitation was evident when the Jammu and Kashmir Inspector General of Police Javed Geelani and the Additional Director General of Police (CID), SM Sahai made a fervent appeal to parents at a press conference, asking them to ensure their sons dont join the ranks of militants.

Breaking her silence after five days, the chief minister too put the onus on parents, asking them to ensure their children dont take to the streets. She had reports that militants had taken cover behind civilians in at least two instances to target the security forces, but cautioned against the use of excessive force. The security officers too sent a stern message down the line, reiterating the drill: do not train your guns on civilians; they are your own people.

It was already too late. Hospitals were teeming with injured civilians. Of the over 1500 injured, at least 300 had either bullet or pellet injuries. The Police Hospital in Srinagar saw 90 injured being brought in, all of who were discharged after first aid except for one who has a fractured bone in the face. The army hospital is tending to 14 injured, hit either by stones that can be lethal or by grenade splinters. Plain data too tells the story of violence: 300 civilians battling for their lives in hospital and 15 security men in medical care.

Nitin Kate, a CRPF jawan who was admitted after a splinter pierced his abdomen, says they tried to push back a large crowd for over three hours before being hit by a grenade. He has been serving in the Valley since 2009 and his training stood him in good stead. Did you open fire? I asked. His reply, If I had opened fire I would have gone to jail. We have orders not to fire. Yes, I can hold a gun to my own head but I cannot fire at a crowd. Even human rights bodies dont think of us. They dont think we have rights.

The fact that over 30 civilians have died of bullet injuries, however, is testimony to the fact that not all are as disciplined as Nitin Kate. The casualty figure is also testimony, as one officer put it, of the fact that we are used as human shields. If the politicians had done their job, we would not have blood on our hands.

That really is the crux of the problem. The Valley is  and has been  in the grip of a political vacuum, bereft of a dialogue or even of confidence-building measures aimed at the common Kashmiri.

When asked if he was guilty of not initiating innovative political measures, Omar Abdullah says, We were unable to convince New Delhi. Unfortunately, the only time Kashmir matters to them is when it burns.

It is on fire once again. Several of the injured civilians HT met said they will follow in Burhans footsteps. Even if they dont, the deep anger and despair needs urgent attention. Security officials know that the militant ranks will grow and that they are better armed than they were a week ago, for the 50 to 70 weapons snatched from them will be used against us, sooner rather than later, as one official put it.

As New Delhi wages a diplomatic battle against Pakistan, it must realise that it has a problem at home where its own people are at war against it. The most important lesson it needs to learn is this: resolution will definitely not flow from a face-off between the Nitin Kates and Burhans followers. It did not, in 2010 and it will not in 2016.

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Several Muslim outfits in Patna, Ranchi and Chennai staged protest expressing solidarity with controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Saturday.

Over 150 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) who raised pro-Pakistan slogans were detained by police during protests in Patna and Ranchi. Patna IG, Nayyar Hasnain Khan said, The main organiser Mohammad Taufiq has been arrested. We are verifying his antecedents from his hometown in Madhubani. Police are keeping a strict vigil on the situation. I reviewed the case with DIG Shalin, Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj, City SP Chandan Khushwaha and other officials.

In a statement, PFI Jharkhand president, Hanjala Sheikh said, Its an attempt by Hindutva forces to strip the community of their democratic rights by defaming leaders on false terror charges.

Read: Ive never advocated suicide bombing, claims Zakir Naik

Commenting on the arrests in Ranchi, Sahebganj superintendent of police P Murugan said, Police made preventive detention of around 100 PFI members to stop their procession. Police are investigating the incident. Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad also took out a rally later in the day to protest the PFI procession. Meanwhile, in Chennai, protesters from Social Democratic Party of India, criticised the governments at the Centre and Maharashtra for trying to stifle the voice of a man of peace and harmony and said the launch of a probe against Naik was against the Constitution.

The protesters said Article 25 provides one the right to profess, practise and propagate religion and it should not be infringed upon. Several women among them displayed placards saying, Dont distort the Constitution.

Naik, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, is under the scanner of state and central agencies for his alleged incendiary speeches.

Talking to mediapersons via Skype, Naik, who is facing heat over charges that he inspired some of the Dhaka cafe attackers, condemned all terror attacks and dubbed himself as a messenger of peace.

Read: Cops scouring Zakir Naiks sermons find nothing

(With PTI inputs)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will formally charge five alleged Islamic State (IS)-sympathisers from Haridwar and Mumbai for conspiring to carry out bomb blasts during the Ardh Kumbh Mela in Haridwar earlier this year.

Akhlak-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Osama alias Adil, Mohammad Asim Shah and Mohammad Meraj alias Monu, were arrested from Roorkee and Haridwar in January this year while the fifth alleged IS-sympathiser Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed was picked up a month later here by the special cell of the Delhi Police.

The case was later transferred to the NIA.

The chargesheet will be filed in a special court in Delhi.

The boys had planned to plant improvised explosive devices (IEDs) at Har Ki Pauri, where devotees take a dip in the Ganga in Haridwar. They had identified entry and exit points and a bridge where the IEDs were to be planted, said an investigator who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

According to investigators, Syria-based IS recruiter Shafi Armar alias Yusuf al Hindi provided bomb-making literature to the accused persons.

They were asked to fabricate IEDs with explosive coated on the tip of match sticks. They bought huge number of match boxes for it, said the investigator.

The NIA claims it has found a link between the five accused and Yusuf al-Hindi who investigators suspect is a former Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative Shafi Armar, orignally a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka. He is said to have gone to Pakistan in 2009 after a crackdown on the IM and later shifted to Afghanistan. But as the brand of the IS grew, he along with some of his erstwhile IM associates reached Syria. Since then, Armar is known to have stitched together more than half a dozen groups of IS-sympathiser in the country, with latest of being busted in Hyderabad two weeks back.

During the probe, the NIA gathered extensive electronic communication trail which not only linked the accused together but also with their handler Yusuf al-Hindi in Syria.

The NIA is likely to file another chargesheet against 18 more alleged IS-sympathisers on Monday.

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Police raided the offices of major newspapers in Srinagar early on Saturday, seizing tens of thousands of copies and shutting down a major printing press in an unprecedented crackdown on print media following widespread violence in Kashmir.

Police barged into the offices of Kashmirs largest-circulating English newspaper Greater Kashmir around midnight and asked the employees to stop printing. Online posts by the newspaper said three of its employees were arrested and more than 50,000 copies of its sister Urdu concern  Kashmir Uzma  were seized.

Authorities also took away the printing plates of the English newspaper but the e-paper had already been uploaded. The paper said police misbehaved with employees.

Raja Mohi ud Din, the owner of KT Press, said his press was also shut down.

Police seized newspaper copies in thousands besides printing material and plates of a few newspapers, he said. KT press prints eight newspapers in the Valley.

Authorities also took away copies of leading daily Rising Kashmir, and Urdu dailies Srinagar Times and Aftab.

This is the first time authorities have imposed such a gag on newspapers following week-long violence across south Kashmir.

Tens of thousands of people clashed with security forces after top militant Burhan Wani was killed, resulting in the deaths of 40 people and injuries to more than 1,300 people. The mounting injuries  especially by pellet guns -- have triggered allegations of excesses by police, who have rejected the accusations.

Experts said the authorities didnt take such drastic steps even during the street protests in 2008 and 2010, when more than 100 people were killed. The government would seize copies but not seal presses However the curfew was so strict that newspapers could not publish for days , said senior journalist Sheikh Mushtaq.

But he pointed out that the previous bouts of violence were different from the current clashes because the earlier episodes centred around allegations of human rights violations while the present agitation was in solidarity with Wani.

It is anger that has got a trigger. Things were building up for a long time, PDPs coming together with BJP, Sainik colony, separate colonies for Pandits, all let to the build up, said Mushtaq, former Reuters bureau chief in Kashmir.

The newspaper gag is part of a broader clamp down as authorities fear an escalation in violence. Mobile internet services have been snapped in the Valley since July 8, when Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces.

On Thursday, phone services of all private telecom operators were disconnected. Cable networks have been asked to stop operations.

Strict curfew is in place in the entire Valley and likely to continue. Separatists have extended their call of a shutdown by three more days as residents run out of supplies.

The restrictions are a reminder of the street agitation of 2010. We have been forced to stay indoors, we dont get even milk for children, the small time local groceries are also drying up, said Shabir Ahmad, a resident of downtown Srinagar.

In a joint statement issued from Hyderpora, the Hurriyat Conference leadership said they have no option but to announce a shutdown call amid relentless curbs. The separatists also thanked Pakistan for their support.

Hurriyat leadership and Kashmiris are thankful to the government and people of Pakistan for their unflinching support for the freedom struggle of Kashmiris, the joint statement read.

We welcome the call from the government of Pakistan to observe 19th July as Black Day to apprise the world about the ongoing genocide of Kashmiris by Indian forces and to aware them about the struggle of Kashmiris for right to self determination.

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Terror or insurgent groups usually trade hostages for jailed members or release them after receiving ransom in cash.

A tribal outfit in Assam has deviated from this rule to free their hostages for a promise that the education of 100 girls of the community it represents would be taken care of.

Members of the Bru National Liberation Front, representing the Bru or Reang tribe, had in the first week of July abducted forest ranger Manoj Kumar Sinha and two others in southern Assams Hailakandi district.

The two are residents of Badlabadli, a Muslim village close to the Mizoram border and about 360km south of Guwahati.

The militants took their hostages to a forest on the Assam-Mizoram border, but the villagers were in a belligerent mood.

The district administration held meetings with the Muslims and Reangs and promised help but warned against lawlessness.

Abductions from across the border are frequent, and we discussed the problem with the governor (PB Acharya) when he visited the district before this incident, Moloy Bora, Hailakandi deputy commissioner, told Hindustan Times.

The governor, he said, took the initiative for sponsoring the education of 100 Reang girls in the pattern of the Centres Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.

The local MP, MLAs and leaders of all political parties in the district accepted the proposal.

I communicated this to the commander of the extremist group and assured development for the Reangs. We reunited the hostages, released on the evening of July 5, with members of their families, Bora said.

The rebels, used to cash as ransom, were surprised by the offer.

But we accepted in the greater interest of our community, a BNLF spokesperson, claiming to be S Chorky, said.

That day, Bora tweeted to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, seeking her help in bringing back the daughter of a district official detained in Istanbul airport for not possessing a transit visa.

Swaraj intervened and Aradhana Barooah, daughter of inspector of schools KK Barooah, reached Mumbai a few hours later.

Know the rebels:

 Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), is a militant group active in areas bordering Assam, Mizoram and Tripura

 Intelligence agencies say the outfit has a little more than 100 members

 Objective is protection of rights and dignity of Brus, also called Reangs, particularly those displaced from Mizoram

 BNLF also resents alleged imposition of Christianity on Brus of Mizoram

 BNLF, operating from dense jungles in the Assam-Mizoram-Tripura tri-junction, generates funds by abducting people for ransom, sometimes for a few thousand rupees.

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There was no Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday, asserting that the only outstanding matter was how to retrieve the part of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of the neighbouring country.

There is no Kashmir problem. It has been made clear on all the fronts. There is no issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan and we are not ready to accept it, he said.

...it was way back in 1994 that the Indian parliament passed a unanimous resolution stating that if at all there is any outstanding issue, it is how to retrieve part of J&K, which remains under illegal occupation of Pakistan, the minister of state in the PMO told reporters.

He was replying to questions over Pakistans remarks on the prevailing situation in Kashmir following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter.

Reacting to Pakistans statement describing slain terrorist Wani as a martyr, Singh said, Regardless of how anyone describes anybody, as far as India is concerned it has reiterated more than once that there is an approach of zero tolerance towards terrorism.

Pakistan has always been fishing in the troubled waters of Jehlum, he added.

He also hit out at Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue and said there is no room for any foreign interference in the internal affairs of India.

Pakistan, which is raking up the Kashmir and human rights issues, should care about human rights violations taking place in Balochistan, Baltistan and PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), he said.

I think the Indian society and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are now awakened enough to understand the designs, and therefore there is nothing that can derail the development journey that has been started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country, including J&K, Singh said.

On Kashmiri Pandit employees fleeing from their transit accommodation to evade attack by agitators, alleging that the BJP government failed to protect them, he said, As far as minorities in Kashmir are concerned, particularly Kashmiri Pandits, it is the responsibility of our government and society that we should protect them... But the answer is not in leaving the Valley.

Necessary measures are being taken to ensure their security, which is of prime concern to us, he said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had to board a train in Gaya after his flight to Delhi was cancelled, thanking a kind passenger for his gesture.

Gr8 story @htTweets but infact I never heard from @sureshpprabhu. A kind passenger gave up his seat for me. No quota, Tharoor tweeted after hindustantimes.com published a story that the he got to travel on the train after he appealed to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Twitter.

On Friday, Tharoors Air India flight to Delhi made an emergency landing at the Gaya airport because of an oil leakage in its landing wheel.

(This story has been amended for the latest facts.)

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The word "fire" was audible on the cockpit voice recordings recovered from the wreckage of EgyptAir flight 804, the Egyptian investigative committee said on Saturday.

"The existence of 'fire' was clearly mentioned," on the recording, the committee said in a Saturday statement, but said it was too early to determine any further details about where the fire occured or why.

Initial analysis of the flight's data recorder showed there had been smoke in the lavatory and avionics compartment, and recovered debris from the plane's front section showed signs of high temperature damage, signs that a fire may have broken out on board.

The committee also said that all human remains had been recovered from the site of the plane crash, in the Mediterranean north of Egypt.

"The vessel John Lethbridge reached the port of Alexandria today after the end of its mission, which had been extended for a second time, after making sure of the recovery of all human remains at the site of the accident," it said.

"Required coordination with the Department of Forensic Medicine was made to receive the vessel in preparation for the transfer of the remains to Cairo to complete the DNA analysis."

The Airbus A320 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on 19 May, killing all 66 on board. No report has yet been released by the committee regarding the cause of the crash.

The plane was carrying 40 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, two Canadians and one passenger from the countries of Algeria, Belgium, Britain, Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

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Congress leader Pema Khandu will take oath as the Arunachal Pradesh chief minister on Sunday after the party managed to convince rebel legislators to come back into the fold and avoid a floor test.

Khandu, 37, was elected as the leader of the Congress legislature party after chief minister Nabam Tuki resigned.

Khandu, a graduate from Delhis Hindu College, was one of the 21 rebel legislators who walked out of the party last year, plunging the Tuki administration in crisis.

Raj Bhavan officials said Khandu does not want to take oath on a Saturday.

There is no more dissidence, only differences of opinion. There is no relevance of floor test now. This is a big victory for the Congress, said Tuki after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.

Read: Arunachal: Tuki wanted more time but floor test on schedule today

But governor Tathagata Roy refused to comment on whether the floor test will go ahead or a possible swearing-in ceremony for Khandu. The Congress said it has the support of 47 MLAs in an assembly with an effective strength of 58.

The credit goes to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for reuniting the Congress in Arunachal, Khandu said.

The development comes as a setback for the BJP that had backed rebel leader Kalikho Pul, who walked out of the party in November with 20 other MLAs, and formed the government with support from the saffron party.

But sources said even Pul attended the Congress party meeting on Saturday, along with several leaders. His original demand in November was Tukis ouster.

All tricks of the BJP failed and it is a lesson for not interfering in the affairs of a state, Tuki said.

The Supreme Court had restored the Congress government in the state on Wednesday, scrapping all decisions by the governor that had led to the fall of the Tuki administration.

The decision was seen as a huge blow to the BJP-ruled Centre that had imposed Presidents Rule in the state and had supported Pul, who took over as CM from Tuki.

On Friday, governor Tathagata Roy turned down Tukis request for more time before the floor test after the Congress leader complained that the vote had been scheduled in haste.

The new leader of the Congress, 37-year-old Khandu, is the son of former CM Dorji Khandu, who died in a helicopter crash in 2011 after five years in power.

Will see that development gets priority with the involvement of all sections of society, he told reporters. He was the legislator from Mukto in Tawang district and was the tourism minister in Tukis administration. He quit last year and sided with Pul. He has a BA (honours) degree from Hindu College in Delhi.

Read: Its a political potboiler in Arunachal as BJP, Cong fight over MLAs

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BSP leader Mohammad Arif faked his abduction out of frustration due to financial crisis and losses in business.

BSP chief Mayawati has reportedly cancelled his candidature from Budhana constituency and sacked him from the party after the story of his fake kidnapping surfaced.

Police found Arif five days after his alleged abduction and he confessed that he masterminded his own kidnapping and spent five days in Delhi, Manali, Chandigarh and Panipat.

We were tracking his telephone calls and collecting intelligence inputs about his movements and finally found him when he was returning home to Budhana town of Muzaffarnagar, said J Ravindra Gaur, SSP of Meerut. Gaur claimed that Arif faked his kidnapping out of frustration due to financial crisis and loss in business.

Arif, a resident of Jaula village in Muzaffarnagar, was BSPs candidate from Budhana for the forthcoming state assembly elections.

Arif had multiple businesses but his main business was to arrange stalls for various national and international clients at New Delhis Pragati Maidan fir different commercial and business activities.

According to police, he suffered a heavy loss in business. So he faked his kidnapping to divert attention.

Now we are seeking legal opinion on clauses under which a case can be lodged against Arif, Gaur said.

Arif had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on July 13 while he was on the way to Meerut from his residence in Dwarka.

His Scorpio car was found near Dabka village. Family members reported the matter to police and a case of kidnapping was lodged.
The Mumbai polices search for concrete evidence against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik continues, with officials now analysing his replies at a press conference at Mazgaon on Friday, which he attended via Skype from Media in Saudi Arabia. A team of around 12 police officers attended the press conference in plainclothes and recoded the hours-long proceedings on video.

We are trying to ascertain if Naik can be prosecuted for anything that he said. We are scanning the whole recording and also gathering details about Naiks supporters who attended the press conference, said a police officer, who did not wish to be named.

The special branch of the Mumbai police is conducting a wider inquiry into Naiks sermons and activities on the orders of commissioner Dattatray Padsalgikar and will submit a report to him soon. The police will decide their course of action once Padsalgikar receives the report.

A source said, however, that the police have not been able to find any substantial evidence against Naik yet, even as they continue to scan scores of his sermons, speeches and writings.

The Mumbai police are also looking into the activities of Harmony Media Pvt Ltd at Dongri, which houses a studio at which shows aired on Naiks Peace TV undergo post-production. Once edited, they are burned onto DVDs and sent to London and Dubai.
Students who missed out on applying online for admissions to first-year junior college (FYJC) need not worry. In the next eight to 10 days, the states education department will conduct a special round for all those who left their applications incomplete or failed to register online, said officials.

According to the figures released by the department on Friday, 1.16 lakh students took admission in the three rounds of admission conducted between June 27 and July 15. But officials said that the figures could be higher.

A fourth round of admissions to fill up these seats will begin from July 18 and conclude on July 20 following which a special round will be held for students.

According to education department officials, until last year, offline admissions were held after the online process was through and students who did not bag a seat or those who were unhappy the seats allotted to them directly approached colleges for admissions. But this year, after the Bombay high court directed that the FYJC admissions will only be conducted online, the department has decided to give them another opportunity to apply online to the FYJC course to seats under the general category.

Applying online for admission to seats under the general quota is the only option for FYJC aspirants. Hence, we decided to hold a special round for those who have not yet applied, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region.

Thousands of students thronged the education department over the past three days with complaints regarding online allotments. Nearly 50,000 seats in colleges have not found any takers in the admission round, said Chavan.

The department is also considering conducting a counselling round for students who have not confirmed their admissions.

Around 5,000 students approached us saying that they are unhappy with the seats allotted and hence, did not confirm their admissions. We have conveyed the matter to the state government and are awaiting their reply, said Rajendra Ahire, assistant deputy director of education, Mumbai region.

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The Powai police investigating the illegal kidney transplant case arrested an employee of Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital and a middleman on Saturday, taking the total number of arrests to six.

The employee, Nilesh Kamble, 36, is an organ transplant co-ordinator and received Rs8 lakh for overlooking forged documents, while the Mumbra-based middleman  who connived with the kingpin, Bhaijendra Bisen, 42, to make fake ID proofs  was identified by his first name Khwaja.

The state government on Friday suspended the licence of the Powai hospital to conduct organ transplants.

Acting on a tip-off by activist Mahesh Tanna, the police and the hospital authorities had on Thursday stopped the illegal transplant for Surat-based businessman Brijkishore Jaiswal, 48, and arrested Jaiswals son Kishan, 28, and agents  Bisen,42, Bharat Sharma, 62, and Iqbal Siddiqui, 40. They were remanded in police custody.

Kamble, a Panvel resident, was nabbed from the hospital.

Kamble was the link between hospital authorities and the mastermind, Bisen. Kamble gave a go-ahead to the kidney transplant after receiving Rs8 lakh for turning a blind eye to the fake doucments.

Kamble claimed that this was the first time he got involved in the racket, sources said. The police recovered the amount from his residence.

Investigation revealed that the Jaiswal was supposed to pay Rs23 lakh for the transplant and the kingpin, who has criminal antecedents, demanded a Rs2 lakh cut in the deal.

The police suspect an inter-state racket and have sent a team to Guajrat as the kingpin is from the same state.

They said the accused forged Aadhar cards and PAN cards to show that the recipient, Jaiswal, and the donor were husband and wife.The address on the ID proofs showed that Jaiswal and the donor Shobha Thakur are residents of Malabar Hill.

Thakur and Jaiswal were named as accused in the case and will be arrested after being discharged from the hospital, the police said.

Meanwhile, hospital authorities said that they were cooperating in the investigation.

A case has been registered on charges of cheating, impersonation, criminal conspiracy and forgery of the IPC and the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994.

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New Delhi: You didn't have to look far this week to find criticism of Theresa May's choice of foreign secretary.

The Independent, in a mock-apology to the world said, "[Boris] Johnson has insulted almost as many of you over the years as Prince Philip; the FT offered Boris Johnson: an undiplomatic history, and the BBC How Britains new foreign secretary has insulted the world.

The list of offences is long. Hilary Clinton looks like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital, Turkeys Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom Johnson must deal in the wake of Saturday's coup attempt, is a wankerer, and so on.



No-one in British journalism, or politics, however, been prepared to call Johnson what he really is. An unblushing racist, whose talk of piccaninnies, and the glories of colonialism should have made him unemployable and unelectable long ago.

The Economists Bagehot gets closer than the others to the problem, and inadvertently highlights the reluctance of the British establishment to confront it.

Personally he is likeable. But he is also gaffe-prone and the progenitor of a series of undiplomatic comments about other peoples. Much more damning: he is unscrupulous, unserious and poorly organised.

Why is it not possible to say that by other peoples you mean everyone who isnt white and that by undiplomatic you mean evincing a conviction that they are shiftless, stupid, ungrateful cannibals.

For Johnson Africans arent just piccaninnies they are clueless cartoon figures, agog at foreigners who arrive in their big white birds to deliver lessons in agronomy.

If left to their own devices, the natives [of Uganda] would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain ... Though this dish (basically fried banana) was greatly relished by Idi Amin, the colonists correctly saw that the export market was limited, Johnson wrote in 2002 piece for the Spectator.

There is more. White people, apparently, came to Africa to rescue black people from brown people.

 Are we guilty of slavery? Pshaw. It was one of the first duties of Frederick Lugard, who colonised Buganda in the 1890s, to take on and defeat the Arab slavers.

Britains foundational role in the transatlantic trade, is completely elided .

Not enough? Writing this year in the Sun, Johnson rebuked Barack Obama for his views on Brexit by way of a parable about the removal from the Oval Office of bust of Churchill. Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan Presidents ancestral dislike of the British empire  of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender.

In BoJos birther fantasy, it is the racial memory of a not-quite-American black president that must motivate his views on Britains place in Europe.

Both surviving documents and witnesses to the suppression of Kenya's Mau Mau insurgency under Churchill record widespread torture and murder by colonial security forces.

Among those severely tortured, it seems, was the US Presidents grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama. Ancestral dislike indeed.

When Johnson tosses off quips about piccanninies and cannibals, when he reduces Africans to grinning children he is not being undiplomatic. These are not gaffes. They are the revealed structure of a racist worldview.

I am a white South African. I know intimately the social processes that accommodate and sustain racism: the dinner guests who keep chewing, as some casual slur clunks onto the table, the talk of standards that covers for structural prejudice at work or university, and above all, the resentful, howl, its not our fault, it ended years ago, get over it.

When he first campaigned for elected office Johnson's poshness and shambolic style were in focus, but not his nostalgia for the globalised racism of empire. If Brexit has brought out into the streets some of the viler xenophobic undercurrents of British national life, then he is the grinning mascot for establishment bigotry.

Editors, proprietors, fellow journalists and British voters who paid him, or gave him a pass, made Boris Johnson possible. Their anger now is the rage of Caliban seeing his face in glass.

(The views expressed are personal)
A foreign national is reported to have gone missing mysteriously from a hotel in Maripur area under Kazi Mohammadpur police station here.

The foreigner, identified as McCam Lionevinci from Cameroon in west Africa, was last seen with a local, Sanjay Rai, a resident of Khabra road, Muzaffarpur.

McCam was eager to visit Vaishali, a Buddhist and Jain tourist place in the adjoining district with same name, and thereafter entrain for Delhi with Rai on Friday.

Rai, however, approached the police with the hotel management on Friday to inform them that the African had been missing since Wednesday.

Rai, in his complaint, said he met McCam at New Delhi railway station, when he was waiting to board Swatantrata Senani Express for Muzaffarpur.

I helped him in finding a hotel on his request but when reached his hotel room at noon on Friday, I found him missing. When I tried to contact him over his cellphone, he responded three or four times saying that he was near the hotel. But, his phone went off during the fifth call. Thereafter, all attempts to locate him went in vain, Rai said.

The Kazi Mohammadpur police have registered a case and started a search operation.

His belongings are still in the hotel room. Even his passport and visa are secure. We are trying to zero in on him by his mobile location. But it seems switched off, said senior superintendent of police Vivek Kumar.

According to the passport, the foreign national is a resident of house no. 65 of Daula-16, Cameroon. We have recovered his passport, his identity card and other belongings from his room, he said.
Smelling a conspiracy in the use of his photoshopped picture on the cover of a weekly news magazine, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to the Delhi police commissioner, demanding a thorough probe.

In a letter addressed to Alok Verma, Kejriwal sought registration of a criminal case against the magazine, while also asking the police to investigate the possibility of his political opponents  the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress  conspiring with the magazine.

The news magazine had, in its Hindi edition of July 20, carried an image of Kejriwal dressed as a nihang, inviting strong voices of protests from Sikh organisations. A complaint against the magazine has also been given to the Delhi Police by All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) president Karnail Singh Peermohammad.

Read: Sirsa demands Kejri, Chhotepurs apology

Kejriwal said the image has hurt religious sentiments of Sikhs, and a criminal case under various sections of the Indian law should be lodged against the magazine. The image on the magazine has been prepared using Photoshop and my photograph has been used without my knowledge. I suspect the Congress and SAD are behind the move. It is all a part of a cleverly planned conspiracy. There is a need to uncover it. The Delhi police should take this matter seriously, he stated in the demi official letter.
The city police seized five bomb shells abandoned in a park in the local cantonment area late Saturday evening. Though these shells were not live, police and the army searched the area to find if there were more. Police commisioner Amar Singh Chahal rushed to the place.

These are iron shells. Army experts are probing the exact nature, said additional deputy commissioner of police Lakhbir Singh. We cannot say right now what exactly these are. Four shells are with army and we have kept one, he said. It is learnt that the shells were spotted by a local who called the cops.

Also read | Panic strikes Ludhiana after two bomb shells found
Demanding immediate apology from Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal for the partys youth manifesto gaffe, Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma-led Sant Samaj on Friday warned him of retaliation.

If Kejriwal and his associates fail to apologise for their anti-Sikh acts, they would have to face the wrath of Sikh panth... Kejriwal would himself be responsible for any befitting reply given by the Sikhs, reads a statement issued by the Sant Samaj, which is a conglomerate of Sikh bodies known to be close to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Alleging the Delhi chief minister and his party leaders were fast becoming enemies of Sikhism, Dhumma compared Kejriwal with Muslim rulers, who attacked the Golden Temple. Mughals and Ahmad Shah Abdali targeted Sri Darbar Sahib because they wanted to end Sikhism and its ideals, he said, adding, Now, the baton is with Kejriwal.

Comparing the election manifesto with Guru Granth Sahib is part of a well-planned strategy. The other such act is his (Kejriwals) photo dressed as a Nihang, reads the resolution, while objecting to the AAP leaders presence at a Nirankari function. The Sant Samaj also accused Kejriwal government of trying to stop the construction of a statue in memory of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur near Qutub Minar.
An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday 161 people, excluding putschists, were killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt against the government. He added that 2,839 soldiers are now detained on suspicion of involvement.

Yildirim described the putsch bid as a "black stain" on Turkish democracy. He was speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara flanked by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt.

Nearly 200 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have meanwhile surrendered as special troops are currently securing the complex, an official said. In addition, some 104 coup plotters were killed, the acting army chief General Umit Dundar said in televised appearance on Saturday.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

The uprising was an "act of treason", and those responsible would pay a heavy price, Erdogan told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Arrests of officers were under way, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military, Erdogan added.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. A failed coup attempt could still destabilize a pivotal country.

Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

By the early hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which had been fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, momentum turned against the coup plotters. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

The United States declared its firm backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasized "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said he was back in control.

"Not a tinpot coup"

Early in the evening the coup appeared strong. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."..

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Married five days ago, a couple died in a road mishap on Saturday morning after the car, in which they were travelling, collided with Amritsar-bound Punjab Roadways bus at Jalandhar-Amritsar highway on Saturday morning. The accident occurred after the car driver failed to control it due to rain-flooded slippery road.

The couple has been identified as Mandeep Singh and Lovepreet Kaur of Amarkot near Amritsar. The couple had married on July 11 and were going to Ludhiana for taking IELTS exam in Maruti Swift (PB46-S-4341). Mandeep died on the spot while Lovepreet succumbed in local hospital.

The highway patrolling and Focal Point police rushed to the hospital and Mandeeps body was shifted to the civil hospital by the filling this report.

The cops have called family members of the deceased.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday hit back at the SAD by lodging a criminal case against chief minister Parkash Singh Badal under Section 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of IPC in the court of judicial magistrate Ist Class. To avenge an FIR against its senior leader Ashish Khetan, the party chose the old case of CMs pictures on the bicycles that the government distributed to girl students under the Mai Bhago scheme. The complainant, the partys media in-charge from Chabbewal, Kulwant Singh, has alleged that the cycles carried pictures of Sikh warrior Mai Bhago on the chain cover of the cycles which hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community. The court has listed the hearing on August 5.

The complainant has said that CMs photos were pasted on the front of the baskets but Mai Bhagos pictures had been deliberately put near the pedals.

AAP national executive member Naveen Jairth said the matter cam to the notice of the complainant only recently. SAD has called it a desperate step. District SAD chief and Garhshankar MLA Surinder Singh Bhulewal Rathan said that the government had, long ago done away with CMs photos and no new lot of bicycles carried the same.
Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested Sukhpreet Singh, a senior assistant (accounts) with the Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (Punsup) posted in Faridkot, for his alleged involvement in government jobs recruitment scam.

VB sleuths also recovered Rs 16 lakh from his house in Bathinda. This is second recovery in the case, after the bureau seized Rs 40 lakh from Amandeep Singh, Sukhpreets friend and accomplice. The two had facilitated selective leakage of question papers for various recruitment examinations to at least 17 candidates. Sukhpreet has been on the run for over two months, after a case was registered against the duo.

The scam involves examinations conducted by Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, on behalf of Punjab government departments. The VB has discovered two modules of the scam: one run by Mithilesh Pandey in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and another by Suresh Yadav in Najafgarh, Haryana. The two are on the run. They allegedly got question papers from a Delhibased press, from where PU got these printed.

The candidates were contacted by the two kingpins directly or through conduits. In some cases, candidates who bought the leaked question papers also became conduits. Sukhpreet and Amandeep were such candidate-turned-conduits, said VB sources. While Sukhpreet managed to get a job as senior assistant (accounts) in Punsup by allegedly accessing the question paper, Amandeep became an inspector in the corporation and was posted at Muktsar. VB officers said the two were in touch with Pandey for the question papers.

HELPED LEAK PAPERS OF LOCAL GOVT DEPT, PUDA

Sukhpreet, son of an employee of the Bathinda municipal corporation, began his career as a clerk in a rural bank in Amritsar.

Once Amandeep and he were recruited in March-April 2015, the two started helping Pandey in contacting candidates wanting to buy question papers of examinations of the local government department and Punjab Urban Development Authority in November 2015. The two collected Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh from each candidate.

Sukhpreet also got his sister Sandeep selected as a senior assistant in the local government department.

The VB has a list of 17 candidates who got the question papers from the duo.

The two worked in tandem with Malouts Akali councillor Sham Lal, alias Daddi, who has been arrested. Daddi, who was only a conduit, allegedly made Rs 1.5 crore from a dozen students for arranging meetings with these two.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) campaign committee head Bhagwant Mann on Friday slammed Akal Takth jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh for giving political statements, claiming it proved he had been tutored by Akalis.

Mann said the jathedars warning to AAP leaders to desist from meddling in Sikh religious issues proved he was a political person. The jathedar referred to the AAP manifesto as a bundle of lies. Is this not a political statement? questioned Mann, talking to mediapersons here on Friday.

Reacting on controversies surrounding the party in Punjab, he said: We have humbly admitted our mistakes and apologised to the people of Punjab. But we are not going to apologise to Badals or Akalis. Sikh religion forgives those who accept their mistake.

Defending the involvement of AAP leaders from outside Punjab, Mann said none of them were holding key positions in the state. AAP works as an all India team. I addressed over a hundred rallies in Delhi before the polls, he said.

Informing the people about Arvind Kejriwals Talk to AK programme scheduled at 11am for July 17, Mann said Punjabis would take the lead in participating in it. He said Kejriwal will listen to peoples grievances and suggestions -- through the website www.talktoak.com  instead of imposing his thoughts on people like during Prime Minister Narendra Modis Mann ki Baat.

Reacting to Captain Amarinder Singhs allegation that he comes drunk to the Lok Sabha, Mann questioned how the state Congress chief could know what happened in the parliament as he rarely attended it. In the past three sessions, Amarinder has zero attendance, he said.
The second finance and contract committee (F and CC) meeting of the municipal corporation (MC) here turned into a battleground on Friday when senior deputy mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia called mayor Sunil Jyoti a drug addict and corrupt. The meeting was adjourned just after 10 minutes with municipal commissioner GS Khaira moving out of the meeting hall furiously, without giving any statement to the media.

It was learnt that when the MC official was going to present the agenda of the meeting, Bhatia interrupted in the middle and asked Sunil Jyoti and the municipal commissioner as to why the proposal of a sweeping machine got the confirmation even though it didnt get the approval of all the members of the committee.

The F&CC committee comprises six members mayor Sunil Jyoti, senior deputy mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia, municipal commissioner GS Khaira, deputy mayor Arvinder Kaur Oberoi, BJP councillor Ravi Mahendru and councillor Bhagwant Rai Prabhakar.

An estimate can get clearance by the committee if it gets support of four members.

Bhatia said in the last F&CC meeting, when the proposal of a sweeping machine was put for discussion, he and Ravi Mahendru had not supported the proposal and asked for discussion on it, but it was passed in the meeting by four members.

Since its proposal didnt get the consent of all the members, it should have been put for confirmation for the next meeting, but mayor Sunil has even placed the orders for the machine, said Bhatia. Such acts are unconstitutional and being custodian of the public, we wont tolerate it at any cost, he added.

After some time, Sunil Jyoti also confronted Bhatia for alleged corruption of Rs 2 lakh in the construction of a building. However, Bhatia challenged Jyoti to prove the allegations of corruption.

If Jyoti can prove any of the allegations he made against me, I will resign from politics, said Bhatia. In addition to this, Bhatia said many issues that he has raised during house meetings have been put to backburner like illegal construction of 25 buildings in the city.

Ravi Mahendru said that the proposal for a sweeping machine needs to be reconsidered so that the public money does not get wasted. The mayor chose not to comment on senior deputy mayors statement.
Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann on Friday alleged that he was put under house arrest by the police on Friday.

The radical leader said the action came after he announced the July 17 protest march to Bargari, the epicentre of Sikh protests against sacrilege last year. Mann had announced the march three days back, against the alleged failure of the Punjab Police and the government to arrest those responsible for sacrilege.

Mann said party workers from other areas of Punjab were also detained in the morning, while some leaders managed to escape. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harcharan Singh Bhullar, however, refuted the allegation. Mann was not put under house arrest. It was only a routine affair, said Bhullar.

Leaders of other radical outfits and organisers of the Sarbat Khalsa, including Mohkam Singh of the United Akali Dal, were also arrested along with Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) rebel and former Golden Temple ragi Baldev Singh Wadala.

Blaming deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal for vitiating the states atmosphere, the radical outfit Dal Khalsa termed the arrests unjustified and unwarranted.

The proposed march is neither unlawful nor a threat to peace and communal harmony, said Dal Khalsa president Harpal Singh Cheema. Police are acting against law. People are disillusioned with the ruling party. They have made up their mind to unseat Badals for their follies and inaction, he said.
Hired during Punjabs militancy days, the 150-odd special police officers (SPOs) seeking posts of constable got their 25 petitions dismissed in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

The bench of justice GS Sandhawalia refused to intervene, stating that merely because some people had been absorbed did not entitle everyone to seek exemption, as all of them were given a chance to qualify. Between 2011 and 2014, the SPOs had challenged the government orders asking them to join Home Guards instead.

They wanted relaxations of the kind given to similarly situated people. Punjab Police hired 16,000 SPOs during the militancy era between 1990 and 1995. In 1997, it absorbed some of them as constables after written and physical examinations and more in three further tests. A 2005 order appointed the remaining SPOs to Home Guards and some of them took the offer. In 2011, on the recommendation of a committee, sanctions came to absorb more unsuitable SPOs but the petitioners challenged the move, seeking constables posts instead.

The government even set the qualifying bar at middle-standard Punjabi certificate but found no one eligible in four further chances.

Most cases were of the time prior to absorbing the SPOs in police. In more than a dozen other cases, rules were relaxed in exceptional circumstances.

The high court observed that the petitioners had no right to be absorbed after failing to qualify as cops on four occasions, and it was in these circumstances that they had been asked to join Home Guards.

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The joint prospectuses of the city colleges claim to provide Wi-Fi or internet facility to students on the campus, but the students complain that the claim is a farce.

Majority of the students say that Wi-Fi on the campus is accessible only to the faculty. They say that the internet facility is confined to a few computers and can be utilised for a short duration.

Post Graduate Government College (PGGC), Sector 11 offers internet facility only in the library area with the departments and hostel area out of its ambit.

I am here since three years and have always used my mobile internet. And in situations when I needed to download notes, I had to visit a cyber cafe because our college allows net facility on computers only for half-anhour and there is no Wi-Fi, said Arzoo Mehta, a student at PGGC 11.

A professors of the college said, Wi-Fi facility is there on the campus but only the faculty has its password.

Similar is the situation at Post Graduate Government College, Sector 11, Post Graduate Government College for Girls Sector 42, Post Graduate Government College Sector 46 and DAV College Sector 10.

One of the officials at PGGC 46 on condition of anonymity said, From next year onwards, we will provide Wi-Fi facility to the students as well.

BK Vermani, dean admissions at DAV College Sector 10 said, Wi-Fi facility is available in hostels. It is available on the campus as well but students do not have its password.

Spokesperson of Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26 said that the entire college campus will be wi-fi enabled from the beginning of this session.

Former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal sanctioned `50 lakh for provision of Wi-Fi in 14 city colleges from the MPLAD fund, in 2013. The funds were to be used for providing this facility for college students at an expenditure of around `3 lakh for each college.

Presently, the Wi-Fi facility is available only at Panjab University (PU) and Punjab Engineering College (PEC).

As the new session is all set to begin from July 18, it seems that the colleges are not prepared to welcome the new batches.

On a visit to the government college in Sector 46, red blobs and sprays of spit were adorning the walls and the washrooms were stinking; window panes were not fixed in the new building and the green area was full of unwanted weed and trees awaiting pruning.

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Hit British TV drama Sherlocks creator Steven Moffat thinks that the upcoming season of the hit drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, could be the last as its stars have busy Hollywood careers.

Moffat, the executive producer of the BBC One show, said he was amazed that the corporation had managed to secure Cumberbatch, who plays the eponymous detective, and Freeman, his sidekick Doctor Watson, for a fourth series, which is expected to air in early 2017, reported the Telegraph.

I dont know how long we can keep it going. Im personally willing but Im hardly the main draw. I would be moderately surprised if this was the last time we ever made this show. But it absolutely could be, he said.

Read: Sherlock season 4- Wake up fans! We already have the first picture

Sherlock, a modern day-set interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyles stories about of the famous fictional detective, has become one of the BBCs most popular programmes, amassing a cult following, and has nominated for six Emmy Awards.

A Victorian-themed special episode, which aired in the New Year, was seen by more than 12 million viewers on BBC One.

The producer said that both Freeman, who starred in the Hobbit films, and Cumberbatch, who was nominated for an Oscar for playing Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, do the show for their fans.

We do have two film stars in the programme. They havent needed to do these jobs for a very long time. Theyre coming back because they want to.

Im amazed that weve got this far. I thought that once they had become extremely successful, we would only get to do one more series.

Theres never going to come a time when we do a longer run, because this is what the series has become. Its an occasional treat where you get three movies. Its how it works.

Read: At least theyve not forgotten us! Sherlock begins season 4 shoot

Moffat said that if the pairs schedule became too hectic to commit to future series, the corporation could return to the show years down the line.

Follow @htshowbiz for more
Norma Patricia Esparza was a Southern California college student in 1995 when she says she was raped by a man she met at a bar.

Weeks later, she went back to the same spot and pointed him out to her ex-boyfriend. He and two others followed Gonzalo Ramirez out of the bar, kidnapped him and hacked him to death with a meat cleaver, authorities say.

For the next 17 years, the killing went unsolved and Esparza built her life, earning a doctorate, working as a psychology professor in Switzerland and serving as a consultant to the World Health Organization. She started a family.

But police didnt stop investigating, and they arrested Esparza and the others in 2012. She insisted she was innocent but later accepted a plea deal. On Friday, 21 years after the killing, Esparza was sentenced to six years in prison for her role.

She was not there when Ramirez was killed, but Esparza, now 41, pointed him out to his assailants, said her attorney Jack Earley.

She has come to the point of accepting what happened and her responsibility for not coming forward sooner, he said.

It comes after the case drew international attention after Esparzas arrest and prompted an outcry from sexual assault victims advocates, who said the case sent a chilling message to rape survivors.

After she told Gianni Van that Ramirez had raped her, Van and two others followed and rear-ended Ramirez in his vehicle, then attacked, kidnapped and killed him, dumping his body on the side of a road in Irvine, authorities said.

Co-defendant Diane Tran also was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison but freed based on time already served. Another co-defendant, Shannon Gries, got a term of 25 years to life, and told the court he would spend the time trying to make amends to Ramirezs family.

It torments us to think of each stab, each hack and blow that he received while being tied without being able to defend himself, said a letter from one of Ramirezs brothers that a prosecutor read at the hearing.

Outside court, senior deputy district attorney Mike Murray said he was disappointed that the defendants didnt acknowledge their roles in the killing.

It didnt just happen. They murdered Gonzalo Ramirez, and I didnt hear one of them take responsibility for that, he told reporters.

Esparzas husband, Jorge Mancillas, told reporters in 2013 that his wife had told Van about the rape and Van took matters into his own hands. Esparza was forced into a sham marriage with Van to keep her from speaking out when police began investigating the killing, Mancillas said.

Esparza pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2014, hoping to reunite later with her young daughter. As part of the deal, she testified against Van, who was sentenced last year to life without parole.

Esparzas friend Eloisa Martinez said outside court on Friday that she hoped the case would encourage more victims to report rape to authorities. She did not bring her assault allegations to police when she was a college student.

I truly believe had she said something when it happened, maybe she wouldnt be here today, she said.
Nineteen civilians, including some children, were killed in air raids on rebel-held districts of Syrias battleground city of Aleppo, a monitor said.

Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another young girl was killed in the Maadi district, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria for its information, warned that the toll could rise due to the number of critically wounded.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said helicopters and fighter jets were still circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel bombs -- crude, unguided explosive devices-- had been dropped on several areas.

At least one barrel bomb struck just outside the hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood, the correspondent said.

The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in February between government forces and non-jihadist rebels does not cover Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front which has a strong presence in many rebel-held areas.

The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and around Aleppo.

Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of the city, prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.

According to the UN, nearly 600,000 people are living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions have been forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.
Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared he was in control of the country early on Saturday as loyal military and police forces quashed a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that claimed at least 265 lives.

Erdogan, who flew home early Saturday, said coup supporters will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.

Read: Brothers shouldnt spill blood: Chaos, violence on Turkeys streets

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogans increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

However, Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

A Turkish policeman (centre) stands on a vehicle after a military position on the Bosphorus bridge was taken over in Istanbul. (AFP Photo)

Dundar said officers from the air force, the military police and the armoured units were mainly involved in the attempt.

More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested across the country, said a senior official who was not authorized to speak to the media. The state-run Anadolu news agency said more than 1,100 were wounded. Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara.

Erdogan flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. He told them: They have pointed the peoples guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.

Read: Turkish army stages coup, many dead: What we know so far

Military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar is taking over the command of the operation against the coup plotters, CNN-Turk said.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding a number of others.

A policeman checks a soldier beaten up by a mob after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters)

Government officials, who blamed the unrest on a US-based Islamist cleric, said the coup failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

Read: Recep Erdogan, Turkeys first directly elected president and Sultan

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogans increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

A soldier beaten by the mob (centre) is protected by plain-clothed policemen after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. (Reuters)

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Turkeys police chief Celalettin Lekesiz said 16 coup plotters were killed in clashes at Turkeys military police command.

Read: Coups and plots in Turkey over the past 50 years

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbuls Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

A man takes a selfie in front of a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. (Reuters)

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.

Read: Fethullah Gulen, the arch-enemy of Turkish President Erdogan

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbuls airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

A man lies in front of a Turkish army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. (Reuters)
Chinese military on Saturday kicked off large scale military exercises, amid the South China Sea tensions, pressing troops from the five theatre commands of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) simulating real battle conditions.

The military drills which began on Friday will last will last until September and aimed to boost the militarys trans-regional capabilities, state run Xinhua news agency reported.

A Xinhua report on July 14 said that the exercises will be held at Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Seen as one of the key manoeuvres after the establishment of the PLAs new command structure, the event will see mixed army brigades sent from each theatre command separately confront a PLA troop posing as the enemy.

While the selection of brigades taking part in the drill would have been based on recommendations in the past, they were randomly selected this time, giving more troops chance to participate, chief director Wang Zhian said.

In this May 6, 2016 file photo, soldiers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy watch as the USS Blue Ridge arrives at a port in Shanghai. (AP file photo)

Wang said commanders efficiency will be a greater part of evaluation of this drill, and the opposing sides will switch roles of attack and defence instead of each playing a single role throughout.

The drill will be tougher than previous versions, involving more nighttime manoeuvres and harsher requirements for live-fire assaults.

The schedule was pushed to July from the usual May to give troops more time for preparatory training. The drills were being held in the back drop of verdict of the tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which has struck down Chinas historic claims over the South China Sea.

China has boycotted the proceedings of the tribunal and rejected the verdict and refused to implement it.
Forces loyal to Turkeys government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt which collapsed after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogans call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

More than 190 people were killed, including many civilians, after a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and others seized a major bridge in Istanbul.

Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.

They will pay a heavy price for this, said Erdogan, who also saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago. This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.

One government minister said some military commanders were still being held hostage by the plotters. But the government declared the situation fully under control, saying 161 people had been killed and 2,839 had been rounded up from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who had formed the backbone of the rebellion.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major US ally while war rages on its border.

Read | Brothers shouldnt spill blood: Chaos, violence on Turkeys streets

However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a Nato member that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris in Turkeyp on Saturday. (Reuters )

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.

Addressing a crowd of thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, Erdogan said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.

Erdogan, a polarising figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkeys secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.

They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone, he said. They probably thought we were still there.

Erdogans AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.

While loved by his supporters, Erdogans conservative religious views have also alienated many ordinary Turks who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protest demanding more freedom.

Read | Recep Erdogan, Turkeys first directly elected president and Sultan

Smart phone address

In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it, frequently targeting Twitter and Facebook.

Gorevimizin basndayz. Bu gorevi sonuna kadar yurutecegiz. Ulkemizi bu isgalcilere teslim etmeyecegiz.  Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RT_Erdogan) July 16, 2016

Bir olacagz. Iri olacagz. Diri olacagz. Hep birlikte Turkiye olacagz!  Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RT_Erdogan) July 16, 2016

Erdogan addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so viewers to the network could see him.

He said the parallel structure was behind the coup attempt -- his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.

Read | Attempted coup in Turkey runs live on social media, despite blockages

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.

About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.

Earlier, around 30 pro-coup soldiers had surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbuls central Taksim square.

Supporters of Turkey's President Erdogan, gather, waving Turkish flags, in Istanbul's Taksim square, early Saturday. (AP)

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

Neighbouring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the countrys police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.

Lawmakers in hiding

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait that links Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Maritime authorities shut Istanbuls Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers for security and safety reasons, shipping agent GAC said.

In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers were hiding in shelters inside the parliament building, which was being fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition deputy told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A senior Turkish official said later on Saturday attacks on the parliament had largely stopped.

Read | Failed coup wont impact India-Turkey ties, but tourism a casualty

A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, were not going to leave this country to degenerates, shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.

A man stands in front of a tank in the entrance to Istanbul's Ataturk airport early on Saturday. (AP)

Read | Beijing then, Istanbul now: A man stands up against the tanks, again

US secretary of state John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined absolute support for Turkeys democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions.

European Council president Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkeys constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns.

Erdogan has had often prickly relations with the EU, which worried about some of his actions including raids on Turkish media. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Paris hopes that Turkish democracy will emerge reinforced by this test and that fundamental liberties will be fully respected.

Flights resume

Flag carrier Turkish Airways resumed flights on Saturday, Erdogan said. Malaysia Airports, the operator of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbuls second airport, said it would continue to process flights in and out of Turkey.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a peace council that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

TRT went off the air shortly afterwards. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Turkish police officer embrace a man on a tank after the military position was taken over at the Anatolian side at Uskudar in Istanbul on Saturday. (AFP)

Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that countrys civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. However, opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

Also read | Coups and plots in Turkey over the past 50 years
Bangladesh on Saturday said it has identified the masterminds of the July 1 Dhaka cafe terror attack and a second assault days later.

The government has identified the masterminds of the two attacks, they will be exposed to justice, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media, but declined to elaborate in the interest of investigations.

Islamist militants launched an attack on a restaurant in Dhakas upmarket Gulshan diplomatic zone, killing 22 people, including 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain and two police officers. Six suspected militants were gunned down in the commando operation the next morning.

Security officials said they had confirmed the identities of five of the six slain attackers.

Six days after the Gulshan cafe attack, militants tried to carry out an assault on the countrys biggest Eid congregation in northern Sholakia, killing two policemen.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government has alleged that the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam and its ally, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party of ex-premier Khaleda Zia, had patronised the assaults.

The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the cafe attack, but the government claims the home-grown Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh was behind both the attacks.

The IS has also claimed a number of killings of secular and liberal activists, writers and religious minorities, including moderate Sufi preachers, in the past, but the government continues to deny the presence of any foreign terrorists on Bangladeshi soil.

However, in an apparent weakening of stance, senior government leaders and police said Bangladeshi militants appeared to be trying to establish links with the IS or ensure the terrorist groups access to media outlets to lodge the claims.

Those who carried out the Gulshan attack were all Bangladeshis, but I dont rule out their possible foreign links. However, we dont want to say anything in this regard without any proof, Dhaka police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told a separate media briefing at his office.
Controversial Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch, famed for her suggestive photos and videos in a conservative nation, was killed by her brother to protect the family honour, police said on Saturday.

Baloch had earlier sought security, claiming she was receiving death threats. I know I will not be provided security and I am not feeling secured here (in Pakistan), so I have decided to move abroad with my parents after Eid-ul Fitr, she said later.

Police were informed by Balochs family that her killing took place on Friday night. The brother was also there last night and the family told us that he strangled her to death, Azhar Akram, a senior police official in Multan told AFP, confirming that officials suspected an honour killing. Police said the brother was now on the run.

Read: Pakistans internet sensation: Qandeel Baloch

Hundreds of Pakistanis, the vast majority women and girls, are murdered every year by relatives after being accused of damaging a familys honour. Most suspects in honour killings are never prosecuted.

The Pakistani internet sensation was recently at the centre of a fresh row after an influential clerics membership of a top religious body was suspended for posing for selfies with her.

Baloch took social media by storm when she posted three selfies of herself with Mufti Abdul Qavi on her Facebook page. One of the images showed Baloch playfully posing with the Mufti signature hat on her head, while he was seen holding a cell phone to his ear. Another picture showed Qandeel posing with Qavi sitting next to her.

Earlier, Baloch had caused a sensation by promising to strip for the nation, particularly cricket captain Shahid Afridi, if Pakistan won the T20 match against India in March. This made her a household name in Pakistan.

Baloch had said she was 17 years old when she married and that the abusive union ended within a year. He tortured me day and night during the one year I was married to him, Baloch had said, adding: After a year, I ran away with my son and sought refuge in Darul Aman.

On Saturday, social media users expressed their shock over Balochs killing.

I hated Qandeel Baloch but I can never wish that upon any human. Terrible news.  Osama Bin Liaqat Mir (@oblmir) July 16, 2016

Qandeel Baloch has a history but no way honor killing by his brother can be justified in any court and even in Islam #QandeelBaloch  F. Stein (@metalheadjunkie) July 16, 2016

Irrespective of our hatred for anyone, killing isn't a prerogative but downright disgusting in every given sense. #QandeelBaloch  The Surreal Thing (@MohammadFarooq_) July 16, 2016
Here are some details about the military coups in the last 50 years, which have unseated four elected governments in Turkey:

1960: -- On May 2, an almost bloodless military coup was carried out, led by officers and cadets from the Istanbul and Ankara war colleges.

-- The next day, the commander of land forces, General Cemal Gursel, demanded political reforms and resigned when his demands were refused.

Read: Live updates on Turkey coup attempt

People protesting against the coup, attend to a man, wounded when Turkish forces soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd in Istanbul's Taksim square, early Saturday. (AP Photo)

-- The leaders established a 38-member National Unity Committee with Gursel as chairman. Of 601 people tried, 464 were found guilty. Three former ministers, including Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, were executed and 12 others, including President Celal Bayar, had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

1971: The Coup by Memorandum: -- The military delivered a warning to the government to restore order after months of strikes and street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Some months later, Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel stepped down and a coalition of conservative politicians and technocrats set to restore order under the supervision of the military. Martial law was established in several provinces and not completely lifted until September 1973.

Read: Turkey on fire after military attempts coup to overthrow Erdogan govt

1980: -- On Sept. 12, 1980, the senior command of the army led by General Kenan Evren, carried out a coup. The action followed a resurgence of street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Leading politicians were arrested, and parliament, political parties, and trade unions were dissolved. A five-member National Security Council took control, suspending the constitution and implementing a provisional constitution that gave almost unlimited power to military commanders.

A tank crashes a car as people take streets in Ankara, Turkey during a protest against military coup. (AFP Photo)

1997 - The Post-Modern Coup: -- On June 18, 1997 Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, denounced by opponents as a danger to the countrys secular order, stepped down under pressure from the military, business, the judiciary and fellow politicians. The generals saw themselves compelled to act to defend the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

2007 -- The shadowy Ergenekon group first came to light when a cache of explosives was discovered in a police raid on an Istanbul house. Eventually hundreds of people went on trial for an alleged coup attempt against then-prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, and 275 officers, journalists, lawyers and more were found guilty.

The verdicts were all overturned this year after the appeals court ruled a network called Ergenekon was not proven to exist.

Read: Fethullah Gulen, the arch-enemy of Turkish President Erdogan

Erdogan, who became president in 2014, initially supported the prosecution but later blamed police and prosecutors who belong to a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for faking the conspiracy. He denies playing any role.

2010

-- A newspaper revealed a secularist coup plot, dubbed Sledgehammer, that reportedly dated back to 2003, aimed at fomenting social chaos to topple Erdogans Islamist-rooted AK Party.

In 2012, a court jailed 300 of the 365 defendants. Two years later, almost all of those convicted were freed after the Constitutional Court ruled their rights had been violated.

Again, Gulens followers were blamed for the case, which they deny.
The failed coup targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to have any long-term impact on bilateral relations or the miniscule Indian community in Istanbul and Ankara, though it could have an immediate impact on holiday-makers who have begun shunning Turkey after a string of terror attacks.

India and Turkey have historic connections dating back to the 15th century but diplomatic ties in the modern era have seen numerous ups and downs, as Ankaras close partnership with Islamabad has often come in the way of stronger ties with New Delhi.

Turkey, which often voted against India on the Kashmir issue at the UN, has made some efforts in recent years to balance its ties with India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the G20 Summit in Antalya last November and held a bilateral meeting with President Erdogan while foreign minister Sushma Swaraj travelled to Turkey in January 2015.

However, there has been steady growth in bilateral trade, with the balance largely in Indias favour, and a significant increase in Indian tourists visiting Turkey, though the numbers dipped following a string of high-profile terror attacks this year blamed on Kurdish militants and the Islamic State.

Bilateral trade rose from $500 million in 2000 to $7 billion in 2013, making India Turkeys 13th largest trade partner. Turkey also ranks 41st in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to India. According to the Turkish Statistical Institution, Turkeys imports from India during January-November 2015 were $5.11 billion, while its exports to India in the same period were $606.8 million.

Major Indian exports include medium oils and fuels, man-made filaments and staple fibres, automobile spare parts and accessories, and organic chemicals. Turkeys exports include poppy seeds, machinery and mechanical appliances, iron and steel goods, inorganic chemicals, pearls and precious or semi-precious stones, and metals and marble.

More than 150 Indian companies have a presence in Turkey, including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance, Ispat, Aditya Birla Group, Wipro and Dabur.

A consortium formed by Nas Aviation Services India and Turkish airport ground services provider Celebi won a tender to provide ground services for 10 years at Mumbai international airport. Turkish infrastructure company Fernas, mainly operating in the pipeline sector, bagged a contract for laying a segment of the GAIL pipeline in Gujarat.

The number of Indian tourists visiting Turkey has increased at the rate of almost 20% a year from 55,000 in 2009 to nearly 150,000 last year, before dropping sharply this year after a string of terror attacks, including one on Istanbul airport.

Turkey is also home to 200 to 250 Indians, mostly professionals working in business establishments and universities in Istanbul and Ankara and their families.

Read | Turkey coup bid: 194 dead, over 1,500 held; Erdogan says hes in control

Read | All Indian athletes in Turkey safe, says Union sports minister
Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup attempt in Turkey, has a wide following in his native country, where he enjoys support among the police and judiciary.

The reclusive Islamic preacher, who lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pensylvania, was immediately accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday of being behind the coup attempt.

His movement, however, denied involvement, saying in a statement that it was committed to democracy and was opposed to any military intervention.

Read: Turkey coup attempt live updates

Gulen, 75, was once a close ally of Erdogan but the two fell out in recent years, as Erdogan became suspicious of the so-called Gulenist movements powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.

The preacher moved to the United States in 1999, before he was charged with treason in his native country.

He has since led a secluded life in Pennsylvania, declining interviews and rarely making public appearances.

The power struggle between the two foes came to a head in late 2013 after judicial officials thought to be close to Gulen brought corruption charges that directly implicated some of Erdogans inner circle, including his son Bilal.

Erdogan launched a series of counterattacks, purging hundreds of army officers, including top generals, shutting down schools operated by Gulens movement, Hizmet, and firing hundreds of police officers.

He has also gone after newspapers believed to be sympathetic to his rival, firing their editors or shutting them down.

Read: Attempted coup in Turkey runs live on social media, despite blockages

Turkish authorities have accused the preacher of seeking to establish a state within a state in Turkey, but his movement insists he is committed to democratic reform and interfaith dialogue.

For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy, the Alliance for Shared Values said in a statement on Friday.

We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.

The group said it did not wish to speculate on the unfolding crisis in Turkey and denounced as highly irresponsible comments by Erdogans supporters concerning the Muslim clerics possible involvement in the coup attempt.

According to the Anatolia news agency, around 1,800 people, including 750 police officers and 80 soldiers, have been detained as part of a crackdown against Gulen followers in the last two years.

Some 280 of them are still in jail pending trial, the agency said.

Gulens movement advocates a mix of Sufi mysticism and harmony among people based on the teachings of Islam.
A section of the army in Turkey tried to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government on Friday night, setting off a clash for power and plunging the country into chaos.

Erdogan, in an interview with the CNN Turkey, dismissed the coup as an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces.

A night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital have left at least 42 dead in Ankara and scores wounded.

Turkey coup attempt: Click here for Live updates

The crisis follows a series of bombings that have hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbuls main airport. The attacks have hurt international travel to the country.

Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square. (AP Photo)

A soldier aims his weapon on top of a tank during an attempted coup in Ankara. (REUTERS)

People on the streets in Ankara, Turkey during a protest against military coup. Turkish military forces opened fire on crowds gathered in Istanbul following a coup attempt. (AFP Photo)

Still frame shows a tank driving past people, in Ankara, Turkey. (Reuters Photo)

Read | Turkey on fire after military attempts coup to overthrow Erdogan govt

Supporters of Turkish President Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (Reuters Photo)

A man stands in front of a Turkish army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. (Reuters Photo)

A man helps an injured person during a protest against military coup attempt in Ankara, Turkey. (AFP Photo)

A man raises his hand in front of a military vehicles during an attempted coup in Ankara, Turkey. (REUTERS)

People take to streets in Ankara, Turkey during protests against a military coup attempt. (AFP Photo)

A man holds the shell of a bullet at Taksim square in Istanbul. (AFP Photo)

People take to streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul. (AFP Photo)

Turkish army enters Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge in Istanbul. Istanbuls bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. (AFP Photo)

People take cover near a bridge during an attempted coup in Istanbul. (REUTERS)

A group of approximately 50 young citizens of Turkey hold their national flag and shout slogans in support for President Recep Tayip Erdogan and his government, in Sarajevo. (AFP Photo)

Read | Attempted coup in Turkey runs live on social media, despite blockages
Turkish security forces on Saturday rescued the country's top army general in an operation in Ankara after a coup attempt, taking him to a safe location, the private CNN-Turk television reported.

General Hulusi Akar was rescued after an operation was launched in Akinci air base, northwest of the capital, it said. Earlier reports said he had been taken hostage in the earlier stages of the coup bid late Friday.

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Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch, whose racy selfies and videos were repeatedly criticised in the conservative country, has been murdered by her brother in what police suspect is a case of honour killing.

Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother, apparently it was an incident of honour killing, Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, told AFP. Police said the brother was now on the run.

Read: Controversial Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch killed by brother for honour

While social media users in Pakistan expressed their shock over Balochs killing, those in India were also prompt in condemning murder in the name of honour:

Qandeel Baloch shot dead.cn't blv ths.What a maniac society have we become where we cannot withstand each other views. Shameful act really .  Muhammad Azam Tahir (@azam__chohan) July 16, 2016

There is NO honor in killing! Pseudo-pious people should stop trying to play God! #QandeelBaloch  Momina Mustehsan (@MominaMustehsan) July 16, 2016

She died doing what she wanted to do. She fought to make that happen. May you now be known for your girl power. #QandeelBaloch  Nefer Sehgal (@Nefer_Sehgal) July 16, 2016

Qandeel Baloch killed for honour? When will Pakistan accept fun, entertainment, the lighter side of life & a woman who does what she wants?  Ammara Ahmad (@ammarawrites) July 16, 2016

Media houses should stop saying 'ghairat kay naam' say it was his huge fragile male ego #QandeelBaloch #Pakistan  Ayesha Tammy Haq (@tammyhaq) July 16, 2016

Terrible news about #QandeelBaloch if true. Whatever your opinion about her, she was gutsy fearless, unafraid to defy convention. #Pakistan  Fahd Humayun (@fahdhumayun) July 16, 2016

While Baloch was held up by many of Pakistans youth for her liberal views and forthrightness, she also found support in India. Hundreds to Twitter users from India slammed the act of honour killing after news of Balochs death broke.

Read: Qandeel Baloch: The model who outraged and titillated Pakistan

You know what's really dishonourable? Killing your sister. #QandeelBaloch  Priya Sometimes (@PriyaSometimes) July 16, 2016

Wow a human is killed and people defending the killing. Shows less about honor and more about degeneration of people #QandeelBaloch  Ratan Gera (@ratanalmostgera) July 16, 2016

Why Killers run away if killing was for so-called honor? It only goes to prove that we are superficial in our beliefs #QandeelBaloch #Shame  Bedit Banerjee (@bedit) July 16, 2016

"Honor" and "Killing". Always wondered how these two words ever came together to form a universally accepted term.#QandeelBaloch  Parth MN (@parthpunter) July 16, 2016

How does honor killing bring honor to the family? RIP #Qandeel_Baloch  Pawan Kulkarni (@moronicdiaries) July 16, 2016

Qandeel Baloch killed by her brother.

Over the family's honor.

I'm sure the family's honor is now saved by having a murderer in the house.  Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) July 16, 2016
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Saturday for an attack in which a Tunisian ploughed a truck into a crowd in Nice, killing 84, prompting hard questions in France over security failures.

In a statement via its Amaq news service, IS said one of its soldiers carried out Thursday nights attack in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS).

Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into a packed crowd of people in the Riviera city celebrating Bastille Day -- Frances national day.

Investigators said he had no known connection to jihadist groups, and no evidence to back the IS claim has been presented.

French President Francois Hollande met his defence and security chiefs and cabinet ministers as political and media criticism mounted over security failings after the third major attack in France in 18 months.

If we are at war, as the government tells us, then the currency of war is intelligence, learning from experience, analysing failures and victories, wrote Yann Marec in an editorial for the southern regions Midi Libre newspaper.

He was one of several calling for action, and not merely the same old solemn declarations from the government, as Le Figaro daily said.

Some 30,000 people had thronged the palm tree-lined Promenade des Anglais on Thursday night to watch a fireworks display with their friends and families, but the night turned to horror as the truck left mangled bodies strewn in its wake.

A French police source shows a reproduction of the residence permit of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man who rammed his truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. (AFP Photo)

In Nice, the seaside streets that would normally be bustling on a summer weekend were near-deserted, with teary residents making their way to the promenade to lay down flowers in memory of the dead.

At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany.

A spokeswoman for the Nice hospital said 16 bodies had not yet been identified. She said five children were still in a critical condition, and an eight-year-old in a stable condition had not been identified.

Flaws and shortcomings

Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people still fighting for their lives.

Police have arrested four more people linked to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, as well as his estranged wife.

IS also claimed responsibility for the November 13 attacks which killed 130 people in Paris, while gunmen in January 2015 attacks on the Charlie Hebdo weekly and a Jewish supermarket were linked to both IS and al Qaeda.

Read | Whos behind Nice attack? Islamic State warned of similar strikes twice

The massacre has once again shaken the country to its core, and prompted questions about the effectiveness of security measures with the country already under an eight month-long state of emergency.

France, which has a Muslim population of nearly five million, is also home to hundreds of jihadists who have flocked to fight alongside IS.

Presidential contender and former prime minister Alain Juppe said Friday that the latest carnage could have been prevented if all measures had been taken.

But government spokesman Stephane Le Foll slammed Juppes comments, saying there was as much security present for the fireworks display as there had been for the Euro 2016 football tournament in the city.

He said there were more than 185 police, gendarmes and soldiers on the ground, as well as municipal police and a vast network of surveillance cameras.

Despite all of that, this mans decisions... created the drama and horror we experienced.

A French parliamentary inquiry last week criticised numerous failings by the intelligence services over the Paris attacks.

A depressed loner

Authorities will also face questions over how Lahouaiej-Bouhlel slipped through the cracks, as initial investigations showed he had a record of petty crime and domestic violence, but no known connection to terrorist groups.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the attack was exactly in line with calls from jihadist groups for supporters to kill in their home countries.

A statement from ISs official radio bulletin Al-Bayan said the attacker had carried out a new, special operation using a truck.

Al-Bayan warned that Western countries will not be spared from the blows of the mujahideen no matter how much they increase their security measures.

For several years, extremist groups such as IS and Al-Qaeda have exhorted followers to strike infidels -- singling out France on several occasions -- using whatever means they have to hand.

In September 2014, IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, suggested supporters run (infidels) over with your car.

While some attacks on the West -- such as the November assault on Paris and the March bombings in Brussels -- were carried out by jihadists who have been to the centre of IS operations in Iraq and Syria, others have been led by so-called lone-wolf attackers.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlels father said he had suffered from depression and had no links to religion.

From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... he would break anything he saw in front of him, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said in Tunisia.

Neighbours described the attacker, who worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings.

He and his wife had three children, but she had demanded a divorce after a violent argument, one neighbour said.

Read | After Nice chaos, relatives in agonizing search for missing
The Bastille Day attack, carried out by a man said to be a loner with mental health issues, was the latest in a series of strikes by individuals who did not figure on the radar of security forces.

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had been completely unknown to both Frances domestic and foreign intelligence officials before the attack claimed by the Islamic State.

This sort of thing fits in perfectly with calls for murder from such terrorist organisations, Molins told a news conference, adding the investigation would focus on issues such as potential accomplices, how Bouhlel procured a gun and whether he was connected to radical networks.

(AFP)

Bouhlel lived in the Quartier des Abbatoirs, a neighbourhood near the promenade where he drove a lorry into a crowd, but far removed from the image of warmth, sun and sand that attracts thousands of tourists to Nice every summer. His modest flat in a five-storey block was raided on Friday. Residents spoke of their shock that one of them was responsible for the death of 84 people. The area is home to a many Tunisians.

This image obtained by AFP on Friday from a French police source shows a reproduction of the residence permit of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. - (AFP)

His estranged wife was taken into custody for questioning, while his father in the Tunisian city of Msaken told AFP his son suffered from depression: From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shoutedhe would break anything he saw in front of him.

Walid, who said he was a childhood friend of the attacker, stated the couple were in the process of divorcing, and alleged Bouhlel beat his wife, who had filed a complaint against him.

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A sergeant major attached to the Sri Lankan army intelligence has been arrested over the 2009 murder of the editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, police said on Saturday.

Lasantha Wickrematunga was attacked by an unknown group in broad daylight on in January, 2009 as he was driving to his Colombo suburban office.

The group who had given chase to his car in motorcycles had attacked him with sharp weapons. He succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

Wickrematunga was fiercely critical of the then president Mahinda Rajapaksas government.

Rajapaksas all-powerful younger brother, defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had filed legal action for defamation against Wickrematunga at the time of his murder.

The investigation was revived after Rajapaksa lost the presidency in January, 2015 to Maithripala Sirisena.

The investigators have already arrested six military personnel before the latest arrest.
France on Saturday began a period of national mourning for the 84 people who died after a terrorist drove his truck through a crowd in Nice as they watched Bastille Day fireworks.

President Francois Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people fighting for their lives following the attack in the Cote dAzur resort city on Thursday night.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel probably had links to radical Islam, but interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to make the connection.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the 31-year-old Tunisian was completely unknown to the intelligence services but that the assault was exactly in line with calls from jihadist groups to kill.

The attack left a scene of carnage on Nices picturesque Promenade des Anglais, with mangled bodies strewn over the palm-fringed walkway. At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead.

AFP reporter Robert Holloway witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, causing absolute chaos.

A baby's stroller left next to the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice. (AFP Photo)

It was hurtling towards us and we had just enough time to yell at each other get out of the way!, he said.

Dramatic video footage showed police surrounding the heavily damaged truck and firing through the windscreen to kill the attacker.

The massacre again prompted questions as to why France is a persistent target for attacks and what can be done to prevent such unsophisticated assaults.

A depressive loner

Investigators were building up a picture of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel; a man with a record of petty crime, but no known connection to terrorist groups.

His father said he had suffered from depression and had no links to religion.

Read | French police identify Nice truck attacker, neighbours describe him a loner

From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... he would break anything he saw in front of him, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia.

We are also shocked, he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

Tributes are seen at a makeshift memorial to pay tribute to the victims of an attack in the French Riviera city of Nice. (AFP Photo)

Neighbours described the attacker, who lived in a modest district of Nice and worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings.

He and his wife had three children but she had demanded a divorce after a violent argument, one neighbour said.

His wife was arrested on Friday and taken for questioning, a police source said.

The prosecutor said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been armed and at the end of his rampage he had fired several times at three police officers before he was shot dead.

Photographs after the carnage showed the truck, which had been hired on Monday, with its front badly damaged and riddled with bullet holes.

Molins said a fake pistol, fake rifles and a dummy grenade were found inside.

Hollande described the incident as a terrorist attack in a sombre televised address, adding that France was struck on its national day... the symbol of freedom.

A reproduction of the residence permit of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man who rammed his truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. (AFP Photo)

But political opponents were already pointing the finger, with presidential contender Alain Juppe saying the carnage could have been avoided if all measures had been taken.

Like a battlefield

Some 200 people were injured in the assault, among them around 50 children, with some hanging between life and death, a hospital official said.

There are French among the victims and also many foreigners from every continent and many children, young children, Hollande said after visiting a hospital.

Two US citizens, a Russian woman, a Ukrainian, two Swiss nationals and three Germans were among those killed.

In a Facebook video, witness Tarubi Wahid Mosta recounted the horror of the attacks aftermath.

I almost stepped on a corpse, it was horrible. It looked like a battlefield, Mosta said.

A man holding the French national flag stands near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice, southern France. (AP Photo)

World leaders rushed to condemn the bloodshed, with US President Barack Obama blasting it as a tragic and appalling attack on freedom.

While no organisation has claimed responsibility and Islamic State group publications issued on Friday made no reference to the attack, Hollande said France would step up military action against IS targets in Syria and Iraq.

We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil, he said.

IS has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military action against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to fight in its ranks.

Read | Whos behind Nice attack? Islamic State warned of similar strikes twice
Newly declassified pages from a congressional report into 9/11 released on Friday have reignited speculation that some of the hijackers had links to Saudis, including government officials  allegations that were never substantiated by later US investigations into the terrorist attacks.

Congress released the last chapter of the congressional inquiry that has been kept under wraps for more than 13 years, stored in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol. Lawmakers and relatives of victims of the attacks, who believe that Saudi links to the attackers were not thoroughly investigated, campaigned for years to get the pages released.

The lightly redacted document names individuals who helped the hijackers get apartments, open bank accounts and connect with local mosques. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and several were not fluent in English and had little experience living in the West.

Former Florida senator Bob Graham, the co-chairman of the congressional inquiry, who pushed hard for the last chapter of the inquirys report to be released, believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the United States.

Saudi Arabia itself has urged the release of the chapter since 2002 so the kingdom could respond to any allegations.

Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubier told reporters on Friday that his government welcomed the release of the 28 pages and said the documents should finally put to rest questions about Saudi Arabias suspected role in the September 11 terrorist attack.

The surprise in the 28 pages is that there is no surprise, al-Jubier said.

The 9/11 Families and Victims welcomed the release, and said it confirmed what theyve long known.

Each of the claims the 9/11 families and victims has made against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys extensive support in the findings of a broad range of investigative documents authored by multiple US intelligence agencies, the families said.

Terry Strada, National Chair for 9/11 Families United For Justice Against Terrorism, said: There is so much more on the Saudi connection to 9/11 and this is the tip of the iceberg, but you had to get this first. Its the beginning, but I dont think its the end.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a statement that the documents provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns.

The document mentions scores of names that the congressional inquiry believed deserved more investigation. They included:

Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who helped two of the hijackers in California, was suspected of being a Saudi intelligence officer. The 9/11 Commission report found him to be an unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement with Islamic extremists. The new document says that according to FBI files, al-Bayoumi had extensive contact with Saudi government establishments in the United States and received financial support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defence. ... That company reportedly had ties to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, which orchestrated the attacks.

Osama Bassnan, who lived across the street from two of the hijackers in California. According to an FBI document, Bassnan told another individual that he met the hijackers through al-Bayoumi. Bassnan told an FBI asset that he did more than al-Bayoumi did for the hijackers.

The office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday also released part of a 2005 FBI-CIA memo that said there is no information to indicate that either (Bayoumi) or (Bassnan) materially supported the hijackers wittingly, were intelligence officers of the Saudi government or provided material support for the 11 September attacks, contrary to media speculation.

The document also notes that US and coalition forces retrieved the telephone book of Abu Zubaydah, the first high-profile al Qaeda terror suspect captured after the September 11 attacks. The telephone book, obtained during his capture in Pakistan in March 2002, contained an unlisted number traced to ASPCOL Corp. in Aspen, Colorado, which the FBI field office in Denver determined manages the affairs of the Colorado residence of Prince Bandar (bin Sultan), who was the Saudi ambassador to the United States at the time.

The document, however, also stated that CIA traces have revealed no direct links between numbers found in Zubaydahs phone book and numbers in the United States.

Other individuals named in the document include Saleh al Hussayen, a Saudi interior ministry official who stayed at the same hotel in Herndon, Virginia, as one of the hijackers. While al-Hussayen claimed after September 11 not to know the hijackers, FBI agents believed he was being deceptive. He was able to depart the United States despite FBI efforts to locate and re-interview him, the document said.

Former President George W Bush classified the chapter to protect intelligence sources and methods, although he also probably did not want to upset US relations with Saudi Arabia, a close US ally.

Two years ago, President Barack Obama ordered a declassification review of the chapter. National intelligence director James Clapper conducted that declassification review and transmitted the document to Congress, which released the pages online on Friday.

Several investigations into 9/11 followed the congressional inquiry, which released its report  minus the secret chapter  in December 2002. The most well-known investigation was done by the 9/11 Commission, led by former governor Tom Kean, R-N.J., and former Rep Lee Hamilton, D-Ind.

Kean and Hamilton said the 28 pages were based almost entirely on raw, unvetted material that came to the FBI. The leads developed in 2002 and 2003 were checked out as thoroughly as possible, they said in a statement Friday.

The commissions 567-page report, released in July 2004, stated that it found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded al Qaeda.

Senator Richard Burr, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and vice-chairman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged the public to read the results of other investigations by the CIA and FBI that debunk many of the allegations, and put conspiracy theories to rest.
On Friday, a faction of Turkeys military attempted a coup to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government, which has since announced that the takeover was foiled. But uncertainty continues amid reports of clashes between Erdogans supporters and the army. Much of the world and the West especially, is anxious because the stability of Turkey, a Nato member and US ally, is critical in a volatile Middle East.

Turkey is all too familiar with coups: the army has toppled four elected governments in 50 years.

What is a coup?

A coup  or coup detat  is the overthrow of a government. Although usually associated with the military, coups have also been carried out by revolutionary groups (the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 that unseated the Russian monarchy) or foreign intervention (the CIA backed Chilean army chief Augusto Pinochet as he seized power from a democratically-elected government).

Why are coups common in Turkey?

There has always been a tussle between secularists and Islamists in Turkey. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the man who founded the modern Turkish republic in 1923, was a former army officer and a fierce secularist. He was the architect of Kemalism, Turkeys unyielding brand of secular nationalism.

To put it simply, Turkeys military sees itself as the protector of Kemalism, and the multiple coups were a way to preserve the countrys rigid secularism. Even Turkeys Constitution gives the military the power to interfere in the name of the nation.

Although Turkey always returned to democracy, the coups underscored the militarys power. Then came Turkeys current president, Erdogan, who has increasingly been dubbed a threat to Turkeys democracy and secularism. Although he was believed to have struck a truce with the army, he was also seen as empowering them in the process, leading some commentators to speculate over a possible coup.

A timeline of Turkeys past coups

1960

On May 2, an almost bloodless coup was carried out by officers and cadets from the Istanbul and Ankara war colleges. The next day, General Cemal Gursel, the commander of land forces, demanded political reforms and resigned when his demands were refused.

The leaders then established a 38-member National Unity Committee with Gursel as chairman. The committee tried 601 people, and found 464 of them guilty. Three former ministers, including Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, were executed and 12 others, including president Celal Bayar, had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

Coup by Memorandum, 1971

The military warned the government to restore order after months of strikes and street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Months later, prime minister Suleyman Demirel stepped down and a coalition of conservative politicians and technocrats took over under the militarys supervision. Martial law was established in several provinces, and wasnt completely lifted until September 1973.

1980

On September 12, General Kenan Evren led a coup after clashes again resumed between leftists and nationalists. Leading politicians were arrested, and parliament, political parties, and trade unions were dissolved. A five-member National Security Council seized power, suspended the constitution and implemented a provisional constitution that gave unlimited power to military commanders.

Post-Modern coup, 1997

On June 18, prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, denounced by opponents as a danger to Turkeys secularism stepped down under pressure from the military, the judiciary and fellow politicians.

2007

Ergenekon, a shadowy group, first came to light when a cache of explosives was discovered in a police raid on an Istanbul house. Eventually hundreds of people went on trial for an alleged coup attempt against Erdogan who was then the prime minister. Over 275 people, including officers, journalists and lawyer were found guilty. But all verdicts were overturned after the appeals court ruled there was no proof that Ergenekon even existed.

Erdogan, who became president in 2014, first supported the prosecution, but later blamed police and prosecutors who belonged to a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen. Gulen now lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for faking the conspiracy. He denies playing any role.

2010

A newspaper revealed a secularist coup plot, also called Sledgehammer, that reportedly dated back to 2003, aimed at causing chaos to overthrow Erdogans Islamist party. In 2012, a court jailed 300 of the 365 defendants. Two years later, almost all of those convicted were freed after a higher court ruled their rights had been violated. Again, Gulens followers were blamed for the case, which they deny.
A section of the Turkish military, the second-largest army in Nato after the United States, caught the world off guard on Friday by staging an attempted coup.

The move stunned Turkey observers, who believed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party had brought the secular-minded army to heel.

Acting army chief General Umit Dundar announced on Saturday the putsch had been foiled.

The Turkish army, which comprises 510,600 troops, down from around 800,000 in 1985, is considered one of the best trained in the world.

In this Sept. 12, 1980 file photo, a military tank is stationed at the center of Kizilay, Ankara's main square, a few hours after a coup d'etat. The apparent coup attempt unfolding in Turkey is surprising to many observers who had thought the days of military intervention in politics were over. The military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured a premier out of power in 1997. (AP)

Over the past year it has been focusing most of its energies on fighting separatists from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the south-east and carrying out air strikes against PKK bases across the border in northern Iraq.

Hundreds of Turkish military personnel have been killed in the fighting which restarted after the collapse of a two-and-a-half-year truce in mid-2015.

Turkey last year also joined the US-led coalition that has been pummelling Islamic State jihadists in Syria from the air.

According to 2016 figures from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the country has 402,000 soldiers (77,000 professionals and NCOs/325,000 conscripts) in its land force, 48,600 in the navy (14,100/34,500) and 60,000 in the air force.

Turkish military enter Fatih Sultan mehmet bridge in Istanbul on Saturday. (AFP)

Added to this are more than 100,000 members of the gendarmerie, or paramilitary police, who fall under the command of the ministry of the interior rather than national defence, according to figures from 2015.

Turkey also has a total of nearly 400,000 reservists in the three services.

The navy has 13 submarines, 18 frigates and six corvettes, while the air force can currently draw on over 200 F-16s, the second-biggest number after the United States.

The airforce is well equipped and well trained, the IISS report said.

Security intelligence group Janes says the land army has also come a long way since the early 1990s, developing highly mobile forces with greatly enhanced firepower.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation on Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left at least 90 dead and more than 1,000 people wounded.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, continued to echo across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning.

Addressing a crowd of supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan told a crowd assembled there: They have pointed the peoples guns against the people. The president, whom 52% of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.

A Turkish soldier, arrested by civilians, is led to be handed to police officers, in Taksim Square in Istanbul. (AP)

Erdogan urged his supporters to remain on the streets until the situation normalises after military officers attempted a coup.

Earlier, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. Those who stain the militarys reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbuls Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks. Fifty soldiers were taken into custody, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

A man walks on a deserted highway in Istanbul, early Saturday. (AP)

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogans increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbuls airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

People attend to a man that was protesting against the coup, laying wounded when Turkish forces soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd, in Istanbul's Taksim square. (AP)

Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this, Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutors office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbuls Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

People take streets in Ankara, Turkey during a protest against a military coup. (AFP)

In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen, the former ally of Erdogan, condemned in the strongest terms the attempted coup in Turkey.

As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations, Gulen said in a brief statement just before midnight Friday.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected intentional interference with its service.
Inmates burnt down two buildings at a southern Thai jail during a six-hour riot that left three prisoners dead and several officials injured, authorities said on Saturday.

The mutiny broke out Friday afternoon when nearly 100 prisoners in southern Pattani province set fire to the jails cooking quarters, according to a military spokesperson.

He said the prison warden tried to control the rebellion but was pummelled by stones and called for police reinforcement.

Around a hundred officers arrived at the scene and quelled the rioters before midnight, by which time a second building had been burned down and three prisoners were dead, said Thanongsak Wangsupa, the provincial police commander.

Three prisoners were killed before police stormed the prison, he told AFP, adding that the men died in a brawl with other inmates.

Two prison staff sustained injuries, he added.

After the riot, the prisoners handed authorities a written list of 14 demands, including requests for more family visits and freedom to watch the news on television.

They also called for a change of command at the prison, which houses around 1,800 inmates, and the ability to receive food from relatives.

All of their demands are illegal and none will be complied with, Thanongsak told AFP.

Pattani is one of three southern provinces in Thailand wracked by a years-long battle between Muslim separatists and the Buddhist-run state.

More than 6,500 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in near-daily shootings and bomb attacks since 2004.

The area is governed by emergency laws and awash with state security officers, who rights groups have accused of torture, extrajudicial killings and other abuses.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry on Saturday advised its nationals to cancel planned trips to Turkey after an attempted coup there and recommended citizens now in the country to pull out.

In a special travel warning, the ministry said it was considering sending a team of officials to aid South Koreans in Turkey and working to secure the safety of tourists stranded at Istanbul airport.

Earlier, the ministry said: "The government expresses grave concern about the situation arising from actions by a part of Turkish military and hopes the situation is swiftly brought under control through enforcement of democratic and constitutional order and stability is restored."

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It was a night of fear and intrigue for an Indian film crew shooting in Istanbul when a group within the Turkish military attempted a coup, leaving nearly 200 dead.

Around 45 crew members from Kolkata and Mumbai were on the Asian side of Istanbul shooting for a Bengali movie.

Shoot in the time of revolution. In Turkey for Birsa Dasguptas next. Coup attempt by a section of the Turkish military last night, Gaurav Chakraborty, an actor in the film, wrote on Facebook.

Soumyajit Majumdar, another actor, who landed in Istanbul on Friday morning, said what followed, was stranger than fiction. It was my first evening Istanbul so I was planning a trip to the Bosphorus Bridge, a major tourist attraction, but I cancelled the plan as I couldnt find a transport and returned to the hotel, he said.

Couple of hours later, he found that the decision saved his life as attempting a coup soldiers reportedly fired on civilians crossing the bridge and other parts of the city at night.

International tourists in the hotel gathered at the reception to enquire about flights out of the city. Soon news trickled in that the airport was closed and news channels began reporting about the attempted coup.

At first we didnt understand the gravity of the situation but within a few minutes our phones started buzzing with calls from friends and family back home, it was only when we heard about the firing that we realized how dangerous it was, said Majumdar. We were saved because we were on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Some of the line producers were locals living on the other side of the Bosphorous and they were forced to stay back as well. There are about 35 Indians in the crew and the rest are Turkish. Things are calm now, director Birsa Dasgupta told a TV channel on Saturday.

Most people stayed awake throughout the night, panic-stricken and anxiously waiting for things to simmer down, Majumdar said.

The rest of the crew along with the director shot at the bridge in the morning and were in the middle of another shoot near Mimar Sinan Bridge when they heard the news. We heard there was unrest. It was not clear exactly what happened, some said it was a terror attack but since we didnt have the budget to postpone the shoot we continued filming, said Dasgupta.

Coming back to the hotel, we saw tonnes of people were gathered on the streets, cars were honking in unison to show their support for democracy. It was surreal, he said.

Life returned to normal on Saturday morning added Dasgupta. Children went to school, people took selfies with the military tanks. We too decided to continue shooting after talking to the Indian embassy.

The spirit of the cast too was unaffected by the turmoil they were thrust into. Thank you Istanbul for making us feel like home, nothing to worry about.. Safe Secured. Nothing to worry... We r with Istanbul & Istanbul people are with us... Safe n ready to rock, Yash Dasgupta, the lead actor in the film, tweeted.

West Bengal IT minister, Bratya Basu, is also part of the shooting unit, which includes noted Bengali actors, Mimi Chakraborty.

The yet-to-be-titled film of Shree Ventakesh Films is scheduled for release around Durga Puja.
Turkeys army launched a coup attempt on Friday in a country that has seen three full military coups since 1960.

Here are some key facts on the strategically important Muslim-majority nation that is battling threats on two main fronts, against Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish militants.

Between Europe and Asia

Turkey shares borders with Syria, Iran and Iraq but also EU members Greece and Bulgaria. With a Black Sea coastline facing Russia, it has been a Nato frontline state for more than 60 years.

Covering about 784,000 square kilometres (300,000 square miles), Turkey is slightly smaller than Pakistan but larger than the US state of Texas.

It has played a key role in Europes migrant crisis, having taken in more than two million Syrian refugees, compared with its own population of around 78 million.

A Nato member since 1952, it is strategically placed to take part in the US-led fight against Islamic State jihadists, but waited for almost a year to join air strikes on Syria and to open its air bases to US planes.

It has criticised Russias intervention in Syria, which has provoked several airspace incidents along its border.

The capital Ankara has a population of around five million. Istanbul is the largest city and industrial and commercial hub with more than 15 million people.

Troubled political life

The Republic of Turkey was created as a secular state in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War I.

Its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was president until his death in 1938. His successor Ismet Inonu introduced multi-party democracy in 1946. Turkey witnessed repressive military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980.

In 1997, the Turkish military also forced out current President Recep Tayyip Erdogans late mentor Necmettin Erbakan from the premiership.

The Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002. Its leader Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 until 2014, when he became the first Turkish president directly-elected by the people.

Since July 2015, Turkey has suffered heavy violence with the resumption of the Kurdish conflict against the background of the war in Syria and a series of bloody attacks.

A police-armoured vehicle uses a water cannon to disperse anti-government forces on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey. (Reuters Photo)

A de facto ceasefire with the PKK was broken in July 2015 when the government launched an unprecedented two-pronged anti-terror operation against jihadists in Syria and Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.

Since 1984, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has led an armed rebellion in the Kurdish-majority southeast that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

Western concerns have also mounted about the state of democracy and freedom of speech in Turkey after several raids on media groups and a string of prosecutions of journalists.

Major attacks

Since mid-2015 Turkey has seen a string of attacks with mass fatalities.

In October of that year, in the bloodiest attack in Turkeys history, 103 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The prime minister said IS was the main suspect.

In 2016, seven major attacks claimed more than 120 lives including the latest on June 28.

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan cheer at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul. (Reuters Photo)

In that attack, 45 people were killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbuls Ataturk airport. There was no claim of responsibility but authorities said evidence points to the Islamic State group.

Migrant crisis

Turkey has taken in 2.7 million Syrians from the brutal war that broke out across its border in 2011, making it host to the largest refugee population in the world.

Many Syrian refugees have launched attempts to reach Europe from Turkeys shores, making the perilous journey by sea to Greece.

Under a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey that came into force in March, failed asylum seekers face being sent back from the Greek islands to Turkey.
Elements of the Turkish military backed by tanks staged an attempted coup against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, sparking bloody clashes in major cities.

It was unclear who was in control of the strategic Nato country of 80 million people as the soldiers took to the streets and multiple explosions rang out overnight in the countrys two biggest cities.

Erdogan and his government predicted that the move would fail and called for supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to come out onto the streets.

Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris, Turkey. (Reuters Photo)

Looking shaken, the Turkish leader appeared on television from an unknown location insisting he was still in power and vowing the putschists would pay a very heavy price.

I certainly believe that coup plotters will not succeed, he said, speaking on a mobile phone via FaceTime.

Turkey coup attempt: Click here for Live updates

An AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul and state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the Parliament in Ankara had been bombed.

The sound of fighter jets flying over Istanbul and Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late on Friday and they could still be heard in the early hours of Saturday.

People carry a man shot during clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (AFP Photo)

World leaders called for calm, with US President Barack Obama urging support for the government which he said had been elected in democratic elections.

Heavy price

State broadcaster TRT said the troops behind the putsch had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the Council for Peace in the Homeland.

The power in the country has been seized in its entirety, the statement said.

It said the coup had been launched to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted.

It was not yet clear whether the attempted takeover had widespread backing in the military, or rogue elements within it. No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions.

A group of soldiers raided the Dogan Media Group, one of Turkeys largest private media organisations, the CNN-Turkey channel which it owns said.

The government received expressions of support from members of the political opposition, including the leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

People take cover near policemen as gunfire are heard during an attempted coup in Istanbul's Taksim Square, Turkey. (REUTERS)

A presidential source said that Erdogan, believed to have been holidaying by the Aegean when taken by surprise with the coup attempt, was about to land in Istanbul in his plane.

A history of coups

Turkeys once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogans critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkeys secular roots -- but the President was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

The Turkish strongman urged people to rally in his support, prompting hundreds of supporters to gather in Turkeys three main cities of Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, AFP correspondents said.

People demonstrate outside Ataturk international airport during an attempted coup in Istanbul. (REUTERS)

I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people, he said.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, while others celebrated. Fighter jets could be heard flying over the city.

We are angry at the military because they are killing us, they are killing civilians, one protester told AFP, asking not to be named.

This z called a Nation #Turkey Protestors standing & laying down to tanks & the military.These tears shows a World pic.twitter.com/lrX0IILyGQ  Javed Afridi (@JAfridi10) July 16, 2016

But other Turks were welcoming news of the coup.

Turks are on fire, Fethi Karabas, a 27-year-old tour guide in Taksim Square, told AFP.

We have hope now, he added. Turkey has been in a very polarised state for almost 15 years now... This is the manifestation of all that anger.

People take to the street in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Antalya, Turkey. (AFP Photo)

Global concern

Erdogan also blamed the events on the parallel state and Pennsylvania -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy who he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

Read | Martial law imposed in Turkey, PM says will not allow illegal attempt

But Gulens Hizmet (Service) movement angrily denied the claim, saying we condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.

Reports said that flights into Istanbuls main international airport had been halted. The Bosphorus bridges were closed in both directions and completely empty of traffic.

Turkish army tanks drive on a street in Ankara, Turkey. (REUTERS)

The coup plotters sought to reassure the international community, saying in their statement: All our international agreements and commitments retain their validity.

It added: We hope our good relations will continue with all countries in the world.

But there was a flood of concerned reactions from around the globe, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini calling for restraint and respect for democratic institutions.

Footage of a car getting crushed by a tank on the street. #Turkeypic.twitter.com/MyrwlND1LF  Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) July 15, 2016

Obama has been briefed, while the Kremlin said it was deeply concerned by the developments.

Everything must be done to protect human lives, said a spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Turkeys fifth coup in as many decades lasted just five hours, leaving about 260 dead and more than 1,400 injured, but the fallout is likely to see President Recep Tayyip Erdogan further tighten his grip on power and intensify the crackdown on his opponents.

Authorities said on Saturday night that government was fully in control across the country. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the death toll was 161 but other estimates put the figure much higher, including 104 coup plotters, though this could not be independently verified.

The attempted started Friday night when a faction of the military sent tanks backed by fighter planes into the capital Ankara and Istanbul, Turkeys financial hub, to seize power while Erdogan was holidaying in the Mediterranean resort of Marmaris.

Authorities blamed the coup on Erdogans arch enemy, the reclusive US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Rebel troops blocked two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, triggering a standoff with angry protesters. Amateur videos posted on social media showed troops firing at protestors near one of the bridges and at Taksim Square and tanks mowing down people.

Tanks also surrounded the parliament building in Ankara, which was damaged by a blast, as the police engaged the rebel troops at several places.

People stand on a Turkish army tank after a foiled military coup at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. (Reuters)

Eroding democratic rule of law

The army faction behind the coup accused Erdogans government of eroding democratic and secular rule of law. It said in a statement the Turkish armed forces were taking over the administration to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged.

Thousands of people responded to Erdogans appeal on a cellphone video link to take to the streets to oppose the coup. Erdogan then flew into Istanbul airport, where he was welcomed by thousands of supporters.

PM Yildirim addressed the nation and said the coup had been quashed as TV channels beamed images of dozens of soldiers surrendering. Confusion persisted about the situation in Ankara, but defense minister Fikri Isik said on Saturday night authorities were in full control of all areas in Turkey.

Read | As Erdogan asserts power, Turkish loyal forces crush last remnants of coup

Read | Turkey coup bid: 194 dead, over 1,500 held; Erdogan says hes in control

More than 2,800 soldiers were detained over the coup. At least five generals  Gen Erdal Ozturk, commander of the 3rd army, 2nd army generals Adem Huduti and Avni Angun, Maj Gen Metin Akkaya and Maj Gen Mustafa Kurutmaz  were detained for alleged involvement in the coup attempt.

A lawmaker addresses Turkey's parliament in Ankara on Saturday. Galip Dalay, research director at Al Sharq, said there will be major changes to the higher echelons in government. (AP)

Reason to cleanse our army

Erdogan has made it clear he is going after Fethullah Gulen, once his closest ally. Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003, accuses Gulen of using members of his Hizmet party within the military, media and the judiciary to establish a parallel government.

They will pay a heavy price for this, said Erdogan after the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule. This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.

Galip Dalay, research director at Al Sharq, an Istanbul-based think tank, told Hindustan Times: There is no doubt that there will be mass arrests. The president has long said that Gulen wants to destabilise the country.

He is going to purge the state structures of Gulen-affiliated appointments and there will be major changes to the higher echelons in government.

Gulen, who is in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in the US, has denied he is linked to the coup.

Though the government linked the plot to Hizmet, it did not indicate how the detained generals were linked to Gulen.

The detention of the soldiers was followed by the removal of 2,745 judges on the orders of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). Five members of HSYK, Turkeys high judiciary board, were also removed and Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into custody.

Protesters gather for a demonstration against a military coup blamed by the government on supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania in the US. (AFP)

When tanks rolled onto two of Istanbuls iconic bridges across the Bosporus, a strait that cuts Asia from Europe and divides the city, and fighter jets roared through the skies, their sonic booms shattering windows, many Turks were reminded of previous military takeovers.

Erdogans AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism and has staged three coups since 1960.

There were reports of the bridges being blocked and that some kind of military activity was going on. Ten minutes later, heavily armed soldiers in battle fatigues arrived at our office. We were ordered out, and the transmission was stopped, said Mark Klusener, a news editor at state broadcaster TRT.

We thought at that stage, it might be a terror attack and that the army was there to help us but when we got outside, there was a truck and several other military vehicles and about 40 soldiers. I realised that this was not a security scare and it was a textbook coup.

Read | Failed coup wont impact India-Turkey ties, but tourism a casualty
The situation in Turkey remains fluid after elements in the army sought to stage a coup against authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish officials have said at least 60 people, most of the civilians and policemen, have died since the putsch began on Friday night.

A defiant Erdogan returned to Istanbul from a vacation and was welcomed by hundreds of his supporters, who answered his call to take to the streets to prevent a military takeover. The president has said the coup is over but reports of explosions and gunfire are still coming in from the capital Ankara and Istanbul and it isnt clear who is in control of these cities.

Read: Turkey on fire after military attempts coup to overthrow Erdogan govt

Heres what we know so far about the coup:

Whos behind the coup?

It appears some elements in the military were behind the move to oust Erdogan. Sections of the military have rallied behind the divisive president because there are reports of F-16 jets shooting down a helicopter carrying some of the coup plotters and mounting attacks on tanks outside the presidential palace.

Erdogan has also blamed Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive cleric who was once an ally of the president but now lives in exile in the US, of being involved in the coup. However, theres no evidence so far to support this claim and Erdogan has for long blamed Gulen and his supporters for the governments problems.

What could have led to the coup?

A statement from the military elements involved in the coup that was read out on national broadcaster TRT spoke of the erosion of democratic and secular rule of law by Erdogans government. The Turkish Army has traditionally projected itself as a champion of democracy and secularism and Erdogans increasingly authoritarian ways and his Islamist leanings are believed to have angered some in the military.

Will the coup succeed?

The violence has not ended and social media accounts have beamed horrifying footage of helicopters with pro-coup personnel strafing crowds of protesters in Istanbul and tanks mowing down people on the streets. However, the coup does seem to be faltering as those behind it were unable to swiftly establish control over communications and the media. A clearer picture of how effectively Erdogan has managed to project his authority and re-establish control should emerge later today.

Read: EU urges respect for democratic institutions in Turkey

What does this mean for Erdogan?

Erdogan has faced criticism within the country and abroad for his efforts to carry out constitutional changes to increase the power of the presidency but his Justice and Development Party retains a solid power base  it swept back to power in last years general election with the backing of almost 50% of voters. If Erdogan remains in power after the coup, experts expect the wounded president to only increase his efforts to increase his powers and crack down on political opponents and the media.

What is the fallout for India and its citizens?

Despite the recent terror attacks in several Turkish cities blamed on the Islamic State and Kurdish rebels, the country remains a draw for Indian tourists, some of whom have taken advantage of the fall in the value of the Turkish lira and reduced rates offered by Turkish tour operators. There have been no reports so far of Indian casualties and the foreign ministry has opened helplines in Istanbul and Ankara.

A brief statement from the external affairs ministry said India was closely watching the developments in Turkey and had called on all sides to support democracy and the mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed.

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World leaders urged respect for democratic institutions in key Nato member and European neighbour Turkey as parts of the military launched a coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and violence erupted in Istanbul.

The United States, Russia, Nato and the European Union all appealed for stability, with US President Barack Obama calling on all parties in Turkey to back the democratically-elected government.

Detailing a call between Obama and secretary of state John Kerry, the White House said both agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov meanwhile told reporters that Moscow is deeply concerned about the situation, with President Vladimir Putin being kept up to date by the foreign ministry and intelligence services.

At the moment the quantity of information makes it impossible to clearly define what is happening in the country, he said.

The only priority is to ensure the safety of Russian state institutions and Russian citizens on the territory of Turkey.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier called on Turkey to avoid all bloodshed and insisted that the problems in the country be resolved in accordance with the constitution.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg called for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkeys democratic institutions and its constitution, adding that the country is a valued NATO ally.

The European Union also urged restraint in Turkey.

Call for restraint and respect for democratic institutions #Turkey, tweeted Federica Mogherini, the EUs foreign policy chief, from a regional summit in Mongolia.

Read: EU urges respect for democratic institutions in Turkey

Turkey will now likely dominate an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday which will also be attended by Kerry.

Ankara in March signed a controversial deal with the European Union aimed at stemming migration to the continent, and has recently mended ties with Russia after a major diplomatic crisis.

A flipped car lies in a road near military headquarters in Ankara. (REUTERS)

Obama, like other Western leaders, has repeatedly expressed concern about authoritarian steps taken by Erdogans government.

But the country is a key Nato ally and part of the coalition fighting IS. The US has military assets at Incirlik Air Base, carrying out strikes in Syria and Iraq.

No impact on anti-IS strikes

The ongoing coup attempt is not affecting operations targeting IS, and American forces will continue flying missions from a key airbase there, a US defence official said Friday.

The situation has no impact on counter-ISIL operations from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and using another name for IS.

Read: Erdogan urges supporters to take to streets in protest of coup

German Chancellor Angela Merkel meanwhile called for the democratic order in Turkey to be respected, her spokesperson said.

German-Turkish relations have come under increasing strain in recent months, with Berlin criticising Ankaras tough line against dissenting journalists and the countrys Kurdish minority.

Expressing concern, Britain urged its citizens to avoid public places, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said his country, which neighbours Turkey, was monitoring the situation with great concern.

Stability, democracy and the security of the Turks are the priority, Zarif said, according to the Iranian government website, as he stressed the need to preserve unity in the country.

Iran and Turkey have often been at loggerheads in regional conflicts including Syria, where they back opposing sides in the five-year civil war.

Greece, which also neighbours Turkey, said it too was following the situation closely.

Television pictures showed tanks deployed outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul. Reports said that flights into the airport had been halted.

A Turkish army tank drives on a street in Ankara. (REUTERS)

Greeces Aegean Airlines confirmed it had cancelled its flights for Saturday to Istanbul and the coastal city of Izmir.

Read: Martial law imposed in Turkey, PM says will not allow illegal attempt
Judson Kilpatricks thwarted raid on Richmond had a sinister motive behind itnothing less than coldblooded murder.

When Major General William T. Sherman called his new cavalry chief, Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick, a hell of a damned fool in a letter to Kilpatricks erstwhile commander, Major General George Meade, he was openly alluding to Kilpatricks leading role in the infamous Kilpatrick-Dahlgren raid a few months earlier. For that raidand, more important, its controversial aftermathwas still a hot topic around the campfires of both Union and Confederate armies, as well as political capitals as far away as London and Paris. In a war that did not want for drama and controversy, the raid was an instantaneous sensation, and its sordid revelations of a plot to murder Southern President Jefferson Davis and members of his cabinet may have ledindirectly at leastto the assassination of Abraham Lincoln one year later.

The raid was the brainchild of Kilpatrick, a man not unduly noted for intellectual accomplishments (see more on Kilpatrick, P. 42). In the wake of a daring escape by Union prisoners from Richmonds Libby Prison in February 1864, Kilpatrick approached Lincoln with a scheme to lead 4,000 Northern cavalrymen into the Rebel capital under cover of darkness, free the remaining prisoners and cut communications lines to Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia.

Lincoln personally endorsed the scheme and sent Kilpatrick to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to finalize preparations. Stanton, unlike the president, demanded a written statement of Kilpatricks intent. In it, Kilpatrick outlined his plan to cross the Rapidan River and enter Richmond from the north, while a smaller contingent would penetrate the city from the south. This smaller contingent, to be led by Colonel Ulric Dahlgren, would then act as circumstances may require. This last, bland phrase meant nothing to Stanton, but it contained the seeds for a controversy that has continued, in one form or another, to the present day.

The ambitious raid got underway as scheduled on February 28. From the start, bad weather and worse luck plagued the venture. Sleety rain reduced visibility to a few feet. Unfortunately for the Federals, a pair of freelancing Confederate scouts could see well enough to recognize enemy troopers when they saw them, and they quickly notified Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton of the incursion.

Kilpatrick, commanding the larger of the two cavalry contingents, managed to reach the outskirts of Richmond ahead of the pursuing Rebel cavalry. But faced with a skeleton force of home guards and militia, he abruptly lost his nerve and withdrew.

Meanwhile, Dahlgren, unaware of Kilpatricks failure, continued on toward Richmond, stopping only to hang a free black man whom he believederroneouslyhad led him into an ambush. He never made it to Richmond. Confederate horsemen from the 9th Virginia Cavalry set a predawn ambush outside Stevensville, and killed Dahlgren instantly with five bullets fired from close range.

A 13-year-old onlooker, William Littlepage, rifled through Dahlgrens clothing, looking for a pocket watch to replace the one that Yankees had stolen from his schoolmaster a few days earlier. Littlepage did not find a watch, but what he did finda cigar case, some scattered pages and a notebookcreated an immediate sensation. The papers, when read, contained Dahlgrens personal notes on the expedition, along with instructions the colonel apparently planned to give to Union prisoners after he liberated them. The instructions read, in part: Jeff Davis and his Cabinet must be killed on the spot. The men must keep together and well in hand, and once in the city it must be destroyed and Jeff Davis and Cabinet killed.

The incriminating papers were turned over to Davis himself, and were later made public through the local press. A formal protest was passed from Lee to Meade, demanding to know if the killing of civilian politicians was a new policy of the United States government. Meade (who probably knew more than he let on about the original plot), simply conveyed Kilpatricks bland denial that any such assassination plan had been discussed or sanctioned before the raid.

Copies of the notorious papers were quickly distributed in European capitals to illustrate the depth to which Union war efforts apparently had fallen. Meanwhile, Southern newspapers such as the Richmond Sentinel expressed the widespread sentiment that the raid had opened a pitiless new chapter in the conduct of the war, and that stern vengeance might overtake Lincoln himself. A little more than a year later, at Fords Theatre, it did.

Roy Morris, Jr., Editor, Americas Civil War



 1996, The History Group of Cowles Enthusiast Media. Allrights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express

written permission of Cowles Enthusiast Media is prohibited.
In the early months of 1863, Major General U.S. Grants primary objective was Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. If that city could be taken, the North would control the entire river, splitting the Confederacy down the middle. Before Grant could take Vicksburg, however, he had to get there, which was proving to be a very annoying problem.

Grants three divisions were located well north of their target, on the wrong side of the Mississippi. Traveling directly downriver would require running Rebel batteries at Vicksburg, something Grant was hesitant to try. But all other endeavors to advance southward, including two attempts to dig canals bypassing Vicksburg and two attempts to force passage through the swamps and bayous east of the river, had failed miserably.

Finally, on the night of April 16, ironclads and supply-laden transports steamed past the Vicksburg guns. Confederate cannons blasted away at the steam-driven fleet, but only a single transport was lost. Another successful run was completed on April 22. Grants infantry had already marched south, and with supplies and river transports now plentiful, the Union Army could finally cross the watery barrier.

A major part of Grants plan was to distract the Confederate commander, Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, while he crossed the river and swung around to approach Vicksburg from the east. Major General William T Sherman played a part in the plan: his division remained north of Vicksburg, demonstrating against the Chickasaw Bluffs. The local Confederate commander sent a panicky message to Pemberton, claiming that the enemy are in front of me in force such as never before been seen at Vicksburg. Send me reinforcements. In reality, Sherman represented only about a third of Grants command and probably could not have taken the bluffs if he tried. (In fact, he had already tried and failed the previous December.) Nevertheless, Pemberton sent 3,000 troops that had been marching south to oppose Grant.

Another diversion, one that would prove wildly successful, was a cavalry raid launched into Mississippi from La Grange, Tenn., on April 17. It was the beginning of 16 days of nearly non-stop movement, widespread destruction and frequent battle. When it was over, Grant would accurately describe it as one of the most brilliant cavalry exploits of the war.

Grant had first considered such a raid as early as February 1863, suggesting a volunteer force of 500 be used. As his strategy evolved, the importance of the raid increased. By mid, March, the strength of the raiders had been dramatically enlarged and the volunteer stipulation had vanished.

The man assigned to lead the raid was 36-year-old Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, a prewar music teacher from the Midwest who, in less violent times, had traveled to various small towns organizing amateur bands. Later he went into the produce business and, in 1860, wrote campaign songs for Abraham Lincoln. When the war began, Grierson enlisted as a private in the infantry. He very much wanted to do his share of the fighting on foot; while a child, he had been kicked in the face by a horse and still harbored a severe dislike for the equine creatures.

This was not to be. In May 1862, Grierson was commissioned a major in the 6th Illinois Cavalry. A man with little military training or experienceand a pronounced dislike of horseswould soon prove to be one of the most skilled cavalry leaders of the war.

The raid began at dawn on the 17th. Grierson rode south from La Grange with 1,700 men: Colonel Reuben Loomis 6th Illinois Cavalry, Colonel Edward Princes 7th Illinois Cavalry, and Colonel Edward Hatchs 2nd Iowa Cavalry, along with a battery of six 2-pounders. Grierson alone knew the extent of their orders, to penetrate deep into the Rebel-held state, cut Pembertons supply line, and then return to Union lines by whatever route seemed best. To guide him, Grierson brought a compass and a pocket map of Mississippi.

They moved quickly, covering 30 miles on the first day. During the afternoon of the 18th, they crossed the Tallahatchee River at three separate points. A battalion of the 7th Illinois was the first to meet opposition. Crossing at New Albany, they encountered Southern troops attempting to destroy the bridge. The Illinoisans advanced and were fired on. They pressed forward, and the outnumbered Rebels were forced to run. The bridge was repaired and the crossing made.

Six miles farther up the Tallahatchee, Hatchs 2nd Iowa also met the enemy, numbering about 200. Hatch fought skirmishes that day and the next morning. Armed with Colt revolving rifles, Hatchs men emerged victorious, taking a number of prisoners.

After a night of torrential rains, the command re-formed on April 19 and continued south to Ponotoc, where they burned a mill and again skirmished with Confederate soldiers. Dawn of April 20 found the Northerners 80 miles inside Confederate territory, with Grierson forming his men for inspection. He culled out 175 men suffering from dysentery and saddle galls. Calling themselves the Quinine Brigade,  these men escorted the prisoners back through Ponotoc that night, in the hopes of convincing the Confederates that the entire command was returning to Tennessee. Grierson himself continued south with the two Illinois regiments, while the 2nd Iowa and a 2-pounder broke off and turned eastward the next morning, with orders to cut the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.

Hatchs men arrived at Palo Alto that afternoon, drawing Confederate cavalry away from Grierson. Hatch was met by Lt. Col. C.R. Barteaus 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. A skirmish ensued, and the Iowans revolving rifles again gave them a decided advantage. Hatch retreated north along the railroad, with Barteau in close pursuit. He destroyed the rails at OkoIona and Tupelo. Barteau caught him again near Birmingham on April 24. After a two-hour battle, Hatch retreated across Camp Creek and burned the bridge behind him. Barteau, his own men exhausted and his ammunition low, gave up the pursuit.

Hatch returned to La Grange on April 26, his diversion within a diversion a roaring success. He brought with him 600 horses and mules, with about 200 able-bodied civilians to lead them, and claimed 100 Confederate casualties while losing only 10 men himself

Grierson, in the meanwhile, had not been idle. Hatch had drawn away what little cavalry the Confederates had to field in northern Mississippi (most had been detached to General Braxton Bragg in Tennessee), and Griersons 950 remaining men could gallop south without worries of pursuit from the rear.

They entered Starkville about 4 p.m. on the 21st, capturing and destroying government property. just south of town, Grierson detached another unit to operate independently. The 7th Illinois Company B, under Captain Henry Forbes, moved east, then galloped south down the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. They raided Macon, and despite the tiny size of his command, Forbes demanded that the town of Enterprise surrender to him. Not surprisingly, Rebel troops there refused and Forbes moved on to rejoin Grierson at the Pearl River.

By now, the Confederates were desperate to stop the Union raiders. Thanks to Hatch, Forbes, and the Quinine Brigade, Pemberton was receiving confused and exaggerated reports of Griersons strength and position. Lacking sufficient cavalry, he was diverting more and more infantry from Vicksburg and Grand Gulf, where Grant was preparing to cross. An infantry brigade marching to Vicksburg from Alabama was halted at Meridian. Three regiments and supporting artillery were sent to Morton against the possibility that Grierson might turn toward Jackson, Pembertons headquarters. Routes north and northwest were blocked by troops at Okolona, Canton and Carthage. Troops as far away as Port Hudson, La., were mobilized against the hard-riding former music teacher.

All was to no avail. It was swift-footed cavalry against slow, plodding infantry. It was impossible for the Confederates to effectively close in on Griersons men.

Leaving Starkville, Grierson moved south toward Louisville, Miss. His Illinoisans pushed through a swampa dismal swamp nearly belly-deep in mud, as Grierson later described itand swam their horses across streams. He detached a battalion to destroy a large tannery and shoe factory. The battalion succeeded, doing an estimated $50,000 in damage.

They pressed on, still moving, with no road visible, through the swamp and water of the Nuxubee River bottom, arriving at Louisville after sunset on the 22nd. Grierson threw out two battalions as pickets, bottling up the citizens to prevent any information about his route from getting out. Still, he showed real concern that Southern civilians and their property be protected, as the orders to the pickets included instructions to drive out stragglers, preserve order, and quiet the fears of the people. Considering the behavior of many Union soldiers regarding the South during the war, such concerns were not unfounded. Grierson, though, could later write with justifiable pride that they [the Southerners] were protected in their persons and their property. His men passed through Louisville without incident.

They soon struck another swamp and lost several horses to drowning. By midnight, they had reached a plantation 10 miles south of town, halting there until daybreak. They moved past Philadelphia, resting again until 10 oclock that night. Two battalions of the 7th Illinois then moved on, ordered to pass through Decatur and hit the Southern Railroad at Newton Station, a major supply junction due east of Vicksburg. Grierson followed with the main column an hour later.

Preceding everyone, including the two point battalions, were nine men clad in Confederate uniforms. These volunteer Illinoisans, under the command of Sergeant Richard Surby, had been designated the Butternut Guerrillas and were to prove their value as scouts again and again during the raid. This day they seized a telegraph station, preventing a warning of Griersons approach.

Grierson arrived at Newton Station around 6 a.m. The advance battalions seized the hamlet and captured two trains. The main column soon joined them. Here was property of legitimate military value, and Grierson had no qualms about laying waste. Two locomotives, 25 freight cars filled with commissary stores and ammunition (including artillery shells intended for the garrison at Vicksburg), were burned, along with additional stores and 500 muskets found in town.

A battalion from the 6th Illinois rode east, destroying bridges, trestleworks and telegraph wire. Seventy-five prisoners were taken, but were soon paroled. Several men foundand inevitably helped themselves toa supply of whiskey, but all were ready to move out by 2 p.m.

The Federals continued south, soon reaching Garlandville. Here they were met by shotgun-wielding civilians, many of them, wrote Grierson, venerable with age. The Illinoisans were fired upon and one man was wounded. A quick charge broke up the untrained Southerners, capturing several.

According to Grierson, the prisoners were apologetic, acknowledging their mistake, and declared that they had been grossly deceived as to our real character. One volunteered his services as a guide and upon leaving us declared that hereafter his prayers should be for the Union Army. Grierson used this as a sample of the attitudes he encountered among civilians during the raid, describing the hundreds who are skulking and hiding out to avoid conscription, only to await the presence of our arms to sustain them, when they will rise up and declare their principles; and thousands who have been deceived upon vindication of our cause would immediately return to loyalty.

To a point, the attitudes of the citizens of Garlandville must be taken with a grain of salt. They were, after all, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers whom they had very recently shot at and were thus liable to be disagreeable. Still, such dissension did exist in the South throughout the war. Poverty, food shortages, government policies that unfairly favored large plantation owners over poor farmers, destruction of homes and livelihoodsall this was stripping away loyalty to the Confederacy from many Southerners. The people of Garlandville had been willing to fight to defend their homes, but once they discovered the raiders meant them no harm, the obligation to bear arms against them disappeared. This was not really, as Grierson implied, due to any latent loyalty to the Union, but was rather part of the quite human desire to keep a roof over ones head and a moderate amount of food in ones stomach.

The raiders rode another 12 miles, stopping that night on a plantation belonging to a Dr. Mackadora, 50 miles from Newton Station. Newton had been the primary tactical objective of the raid. After leaving there, Grierson had complete discretion as to his route and final destination. The ride south through Garlandville had been to find a spot to rest and forage. His men would not be on the move again until the morning of the 26th. In the meantime, the Butternut Guerrillas were out gathering information about Confederate troop dispositions.

One of the scouts, dressed as a civilian, turned north, back toward the Southern Railroad, to cut the telegraph and perhaps burn a bridge or trestlework. Seven miles from the tracks, he ran into a regiment of Rebel cavalry from Brandon searching for Grierson. They were riding directly toward the Mackadora plantation, but the quick-thinking scout bluffed them. Claiming to have seen the raiders recently, he sent the horsemen galloping off in the wrong direction.

Grierson soon learned that Pemberton had been reinforcing Jackson and points east with infantry and artillery. He decided to move southwest, crossing the Pearl River and hitting the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad at Hazelhurst. From there, he would flank Confederate forces and eventually join Grant at Grand Gulf.

Pemberton, though, had finally guessed correctly regarding Griersons intentions. He ordered Maj. Gen. John Bowen, commander of the Grand Gulf garrison, to detach seven Mississippi cavalry companies to intercept the raiders. This, in turn, further weakened Bowen, who would soon be meeting Grants far superior force in battle. Pemberton was in a no-win situation. He could hardly allow a thousand enemy troops to romp around behind his lines, but the only way to stop them was by diverting men from strategically vital areas. By now, there was more than a divisions worth of troops scattered about the state hoping to stop Grierson. This, of course, was the primary objective of the raid, beyond damaging Pembertons supply line.

Rested and reprovisioned, the raiders set out again at 6 a.m. on April 26. They crossed the Leaf River, burning the bridge behind them. Arriving at Raleigh, they captured the county sheriff and confiscated $3,000 in cash, and then stopped for the night at Westville.

On April 27, the Butternut Guerrillas were again dressed in Confederate uniforms. Moving ahead of the main column, they seized a ferryboat on the Pearl River, presenting Grierson with an easy method of crossing. Reunited here with Forbes B Company, the raiders moved on to Hazelhurst. Here a string of boxcars was burned, but the flames spread to nearby buildings and suddenly the whole town was in danger of going up. Grierson set his men to work alongside the townspeople, fighting to save Hazelhurst. A hard rain fell that night, helping to contain the blaze. It was not until well after dark that the Illinoisans could move on. Now their course was due west, toward Grand Gulf.

They continued west on the 28th. A battalion from the 7th Illinois was detached to double back to the railroad, destroying rails, telegraph wire and government property. The main column stopped at a plantation that afternoon, but the break did not prove restful. Without warning, the pickets were fired upon and Rebel horsemen charged forward, their sudden attack panicking many of the Illinoisans.

Grierson led a counterattack, and the Southerners, consisting merely of two understrength companies, were pushed back. The Federals kept pushing, driving the Rebels through the nearby town of Union Church and occupying it that night. The detached battalion rejoined them there.

The attackers were part of Colonel Wirt Adams command, the Mississippi cavalrymen detached from Grand Gulf. The bulk of Adams men were west of Union Church, waiting to ambush Grierson. A Butternut Guerrilla again saved the day, riding ahead in disguise and speaking with some of the Mississippians. Warned of the ambush, Grierson changed his plans. He made a brief demonstration to the west, then doubled back to the east. His final destination was now Baton Rouge. His men would have to ride an extra 100 miles, but the decision was unavoidable. Adams pursued, staying on Griersons tail as far south as Greensburg, La.

Five hundred armed citizens and conscripts awaited the raiders at Brookhaven, a town astride the Great Northern Railroad 20 miles south of Hazelhurst. The raiders charged into town, quickly ending resistance. The town proved to contain a camp of instructionwhat would nowadays be called boot camp. Prisoners were paroled and the camp, along with the railroad and the telegraph was destroyed. Once again, flames jumped onto civilian buildings and once again, despite the loss of precious time, Griersons men helped to save a town. The raiders turned south, riding eight more miles before making camp at a plantation.

Elsewhere on the 29th, William Sherman was carrying out his demonstration near Chickasaw Bluffs. Farther south Union gunboats spent six hours bombarding Grand Gulf in preparation of Grants crossing. But the Confederate positions remained intact. Grant was forced to move again, intending now to cross at undefended Bruinsburg.

The raiders continued south on April 30, destroying bridges, water tanks and trestleworks, and burning the depot and 15 freight cars at Bogue Chitto Station. They reached Summit as sunset neared. Grierson ordered the destruction of 25 freight cars and a large cache of government sugar, but spared the depot itself. He did not want to risk a fire again spreading into town, and he could not afford to lose more time while his men fought the blaze.

Grierson ordered his men to remountsome were a bit unsteady in the saddle after discovering a supply of rumand made six more miles before camping. On May 1 they turned west, then south, making astraight line for Baton Rouge, and let speed be our safety, as Grierson phrased it. The raiders were to cover 76 miles in the next 28 hours.

They neared Magnolia and later 0syka, but both towns were bypassed because they contained enemy troops. About noon, they reached Walls Bridge across the Tickfaw River. Three companies of the 9th Tennessee Cavalry greeted them there.

Griersons lead company suffered eight casualties (accounting for nearly all the battle losses he suffered throughout the raid), but the Illinoisans pressed their attack against their outnumbered foe. The Confederate pickets were captured, then Griersons artillery rumbled up and shelled the enemy position across the river. A charge swept the bridge and sent the Tennesseans running, leaving a number of dead, wounded and captured comrades behind.

The enemy were now on our track in earnest, wrote Grierson. Captured dispatches told him that Rebel troops were closing in from all sides. He continued to gallop south, riding all that night, pushing his exhausted men to their limits. They crossed the Amite River at Williams Bridge at midnight, two hours ahead of a heavy column of infantry and artillery.

By now, the Confederates had plenty else to keep them occupied. Grants troops crossed the Mississippi on May 1 and were moving up to take Grand Gulf from the rear. Bowen moved his 6,000 available troops to Port Gibson, intercepting Grant. But the unfortunate Bowen, stripped of his cavalry and having received no reinforcements, was outnumbered 4-to-1. He fought all day, inflicting a disproportionate number of casualties, but was inevitably forced to retreat and abandon Port Gibson. Grant, at last, had a secure bridgehead on the east side of the Mississippi.

Griersons men reached Sandy Creek at dawn on May 2, surprising and capturing a Southern cavalry unit camped there. The camp, with 150 tents, plus guns, ammunition and documents, was destroyed.

The raiders kept going, surprising another cavalry unit at Roberts Ford across the Comite River. After a brief skirmish, 40 Rebels were captured along with their horses and equipment. They forded the river, with many of the horses forced to swim across the deep water.

The men reached their limit just six miles short of Baton Rouge. Grierson called a halt, letting them sleep alongside the road. Grierson himself wound down by playing a piano found in a nearby plantation house, but was interrupted by a picket shouting that they were about to be overrun by Rebels coming at them from the west.

Grierson guessed the identity of the approaching men and rode out to meet them. As he suspected, they were Union cavalry from Baton Rouge, riding out to meet the raiders. Griersons exhausted and filthy troops rode into the Louisiana capital at 3 p.m., greeted by cheering soldiers and civilians alike. They paraded around the public square, then found a magnolia grove south of town where they could simply collapse and catch up on two weeks worth of sleep.

Griersons raiders had traveled more than 600 miles in 16 days, virtually without rest and often limited to one hastily eaten meal per day. One hundred Confederates had been killed or wounded and another 50D had been captured (most of whom were later paroled). The raiders destroyed more than 50 miles of railroad and telegraph, 3,000 stand of arms and thousands of dollars worth of supplies and property. A thousand mules and horses were also captured. In addition, they had tied up virtually all of Pembertons cavalry, one-third of his infantry, and at least two regiments of artillery.

All this was accomplished at a cost of only three dead and seven wounded. Five men too sick to continue had been left behind, and nine men, presumed stragglers, were missing. The 7th Illinois surgeon and sergeant major stayed behind with a mortally wounded officer at Walls Bridge. Added to Hatchs losses, the casualties numbered 36, only about 2 percent of the total command. Grierson was quite justified when he later remarked, The Confederacy is a hollow shell. Rebels in Mississippi, as everywhere else in the South, were spread too thin to do their jobs.

Grierson suddenly and uncomfortably discovered he was a hero. I, like Byron, he wrote his wife, Alice, have had to wake up one morning and find myself famous. He was sent by steamboat to New Orleans, where he encountered one continuous ovation. His picture was featured on the covers of Harpers Weekly and Leslies Illustrated. He was breveted to brigadier general and later major general of volunteers.

Grierson continued to serve with distinction, commanding first a division, then a cavalry corps in Tennessee. Despite his continuing distrust of horses, he remained in the Regular Army after the war, battling Indians as a colonel with the 10th U.S. Cavalry. He retired as a brigadier general in 1890 and died in 1911.

Following the raid, Grant continued to advance eastward. Joined by Shermans division, he now had 40,000 men in Mississippi. Pemberton had 30,000, but many of them were scattered across the state and he lacked time to concentrate his forces. Bowen was forced to abandon Grand Gulf, and Grant was virtually unopposed as he marched to Jackson, burning that city, and then swung west to besiege Vicksburg. He advanced with a supply lineGrierson had helped to demonstrate that troops could live off the land, appropriating food from farms and plantations as they progressed. It was a lesson dramatically learned and daringly taughtthat others would study in the flame-darkened days to come.

This article was written by Tim DeForest and originally appeared in the September 2000 issue of Americas Civil War.

For more great articles be sure to pick up your copy of Americas Civil War.
Inauguration Day 1961 was one of the coldest on record. Eight inches of snow had fallen on Washington the night before, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used flamethrowers to clear the streets for the days festivities. But the winter sun shone brightly as John F. Kennedy took the oath of office to become the nations 35th president, and his inaugural speech was carefully crafted to inspire Americans to meet the challenges of the Cold War world. It was a call to service (ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country); a commitment to sacrifice (we shall pay any price, bear any burden); and an acknowledgment of a changing of the guard (the torch has been passed to a new generation). But the truest words in JFKs first presidential address may have been these: In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course.

One of Kennedys first initiatives would become the signal achievement of his administration: the Peace Corps. Kennedys challenge to help people in emerging nations establish a decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace struck a chord with an idealistic generation of Americans born into prosperity and eager to do good in the world. The Peace Corps was about more than expanding Americans horizons: In the Cold War struggle between East and West to nurture allegiances around the globe, the Peace Corps reflected well on the United States. To boost Americas image closer to home, Kennedy proposed the Alliance for Progress$21 billion in loans to Latin America for schools, hospitals and other projects. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, the president took a cautious approach to civil rights, establishing the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity to address racial discrimination in hiring. Kennedy ordered federal marshals to protect the integrated Freedom Rides to the South in the spring of 1961, but he stopped short of endorsing the rides themselves. In response to criticism that too few women were appointed to serve in his administration, Kennedy asked Eleanor Roosevelt to chair the Commission on the Status of Women.

A veteran of World War II with a front-row seat to the developing Cold War, Kennedy expected to play his greatest role on the world stage. Foreign affairs are the only important issue for a President to handle, he told Richard Nixon in 1961. Kennedys first test came in April. He reluctantly approved a plan put in place by his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower, to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro with a force of Cuban exiles trained by the CIA. The invasion at the Bay of Pigs failed miserably, made the United States look incompetent and left Kennedy wondering aloud, How could I have been so stupid? But there was little time for self-recrimination. In May the president turned his attention to South Vietnam, where communist rebels threatened the U.S.-backed government in Saigon. Millions of dollars and hundreds of military advisers had already been committed to Vietnam, and Kennedy saw little choice but to continue that support. He authorized 400 more advisers from the U.S. Armys Special Forces, highly trained in unconventional warfare and known as Green Berets for their unconventional headgear. But another high-stakes test was still ahead. Early in June, Kennedy met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, Austria. Kennedy hoped to gain credibility after the Bay of Pigs fiasco by forging an agreement with the Soviets on nuclear weapons and turning down the heat on the long-simmering problem of Berlin. After World War II, the former German capital was divided into Western- and Soviet-controlled sectors, even though the city was now within communist East Germany. Khrushchev wanted the West out. Kennedy refused, Khrushchev remonstrated, and the summit ended with not-so-veiled threats of war from both sides.

Space beckoned the adventuresome in 1962, and Kennedy held firm to his belief that an American would walk on the moon by the end of the 1960s. But the president faced pressing problems here on Earth. Ever more fearful of the Soviet Unions nuclear capabilities, the United States resumed nuclear testing and increased its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles from 60 in 1961 to 213 in 1962. Try as he might to keep civil rights on the back burner, Kennedy was forced to confront the issue in September when violence erupted in Oxford, Miss., after African-American student James Meredith attempted to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi. Kennedy dispatched federal troops, Meredith was admitted, and Kennedy promised to send a civil rights bill to Congress. The discovery of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, however, soon overshadowed everything else. The world held its breath, fearing the very real possibility of nuclear war. In the end, the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba.

With a reelection campaign on the horizon, Kennedy focused squarely on domestic issues in 1963: cutting tax rates to stimulate a sluggish economy; initiatives on behalf of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled; a Medicare bill for the elderly; equal pay for women. International issues still called: The president commended the fighting spirit of West Berlin during a visit to the Berlin Wall, which Khrushchev had erected to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. But tensions with the Soviets eased enough for the nuclear superpowers to sign a limited test ban treaty. Kennedy came to realize he could not promote peace and freedom abroad until peace and freedom reigned at home. That summer, after horrific attacks on civil rights activists in Alabama and Mississippi and an integration showdown at the University of Alabama, Kennedy finally introduced sweeping legislation to end racial discrimination in housing, employment, education and access to public facilities, proclaiming, This is one country. Kennedy was getting his house in order for what promised to be a grueling 1964 campaign, and that included a trip to Dallas to shore up his political support in Texas. An assassins bullet found him there. John F. Kennedys 1,036 days in office challenged Americans to face new responsibilities and right old wrongs. Like any presidency, Kennedys was filled with good intentions and faulty calculations. But, as Kennedy himself said on that January day in 1961, our success or failure ultimately rests not with him but with all of us. AH
Now this one is a real kickass idea by a conservation biologist to protect cattle from African lions. Just paint eyes on cattle's butts, and you can keep off the predators.

"As protected conservation areas become smaller, lions are increasingly coming into contact with human populations, which are expanding to the boundaries of these protected areas," says Dr. Neil Jordan, a conservation biologist from UNSW's Centre for Ecosystem Science.

The reason is quite interesting. When they make "eye-contact" with the butt eyes, the lions will assume that the prey has seen them and will decide to move on, without a surprise element. The lions will think their intended prey has seen them.

Now this is not nutty science. It is really psychological trickery that is called "iCow", invented by Neil Jordan of the University of New South Wales in Australia. By drawing eye-like patterns on butterfly wings, it is possible to keep away predatory birds.

Jordan says that Indian woodcutters wear masks on the backs of their heads, which helps to ward off hungry tigers.

The idea hit him when he was working in a village in Botswana, and found that two lionesses were killed by local herdsmen for killing their cattle. The farmers did not have any other methods to protect their cattle.

Reports say that local killings have brought down the population of the African lion. Its numbers have plunged from over 100,000 in the 1990s to between 23,000 and 39,000 today, says the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust (BPCT).

"Lions are ambush hunters, so they creep up on their prey, get close, and jump on them unseen," he said.

However, Jordan saw that when a lion found an impala spotting the lion, the predator gave up his attack.

Hence, he collaborated with BPCT as well as the local farmers on a 10-week trial study. By drawing eyes on the butts of one-third of the 62 cattle, he and his team again counted the animals after they came back. He found that just three cattle had been killed by the lions, and none of them had the eyes on their rumps, while the other cows lived through it.

Now Jordan has returned to Botswana with GPS devices to assess the movement of predators as well as prey. "This will give us information about the exposure of painted and unpainted cows to predation risks, and where the conflict hot spots are," he said.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Iran suspended all flights to Turkey after a coup attempt in the neighbouring country.

The deputy director of Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport was quoted by the state broadcaster as saying that seven flights to Turkey had been cancelled Saturday morning.

"We will revise the situation to resume the flights when we have the latest information," Koroush Fattahi said.

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Before I started my own business, I was heavily entrenched in the Marriott International corporate brass, where group meetings business accounts for 40% of the overall revenue for their US hotels. As a leader in marketing and e-commerce disciplines, my team's focus was largely devoted to driving demand and revenue from the direct consumer segments and channels. For reference, our shorthand for all these activities was B2C, while those pertaining to groups were called B2B.

With the acquisition of Gaylord Hotels and the opening of several other large convention hotels in major US markets in the summer of 2012, I was tasked with assisting the sales teams in driving B2B revenues, both by developing tactics that could be utilized at that moment as well as strategies to last for many years to come.

With the rise of social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook, sales associates were increasingly being challenged to go out of their comfort zones to engage with customers by 'connecting' and 'friending' with current or potential customers through these channels to maintain engagement. Many team members did not currently have much, if any, experience in this field. Additionally, the adoption of search engines as the first point of research by meeting planners and key decision makers was also prevalent. Ergo, search engine marketing (SEM)  that is, retargeting and Google Adwords as well as search engine optimization (SEO)  would also play a dominant role in this endeavor.

Concurrently, within the company structure, sales and marketing had both been operating in separate silos. We needed to come together to understand how the two disciplines could work together to support our shared goal of heightening B2B revenues in our US hotels. This effort also needed collaboration with the analytics teams to understand what could be tracked as a result of marketing efforts through these digital channels.

There are two important statistics I like to be recall at this juncture to stress the underlying importance of building Marriott's presence on both social networks and search engine platforms.

"57% of the purchase decision is complete before a customer even calls a supplier." (CEB)

"67% of the buyer's journey is now done digitally." (SiriusDecisions)

The world has indeed moved online, and we needed to move with it. Understanding how consumer behavior evolved with the proliferation of these digital spaces was critical to effectively formulate a plan going forward.

It was determined, that beyond the traditional support that marketing provided to sales by way of 'sales tools and collateral', we needed to determine our role in driving demand and customer engagement in a purely B2B environment. While we played an active role in training the sales teams on how best to utilize these channels to connect and engage with customers, we also focused our efforts on what we know best  that is, SEO and SEM.

Through Google analytics, we readily discovered that there was a high level of volume in meetings-type search terms and keywords, yet nowhere was Marriott International or any of our hotels visible. Our focus for SEM campaigns to date was not based on 'visibility' in the search engines, but rather on actual revenue. As reference, we examined search terms like 'convention hotels in San Diego', 'meetings in Chicago', 'event venues in Seattle' and so on.

From this, the strategy we devised included the following:

Established a goal around driving group demand via the number of e-RFP submissions via the brand meetings website as well as total revenue booked. We also set a growth metrics of X to Y by year-end. Established a thorough analytics and tracking process to monitor and measure efforts on a monthly basis. Assigned a budget to implement a paid search campaign  otherwise known as pay per click (PPC)  based on high volume and relevant search terms while also making necessary updates to the RFP form on the brand meetings website.

With these three streamlined actions, our results were as follows:

Exceeded goal in driving e-RFPs by 84%, which went directly into the sales offices.

Drove a high conversion rate at 14%, which showed we were getting the quality inquiries.

Exceeded the total in tracked booking revenue goals.

The final analysis from these activities showed that, just as with consumers, today's business decision-makers begin their purchases by researching products and services online by utilizing search engines and consuming various forms of content. In other words, even though these are 'businesses', we are still selling to 'people'.

The B2B sell may be more complicated, but we must nevertheless captivate and engage the interest of the potential buyer through various online channels. By the time they seek out sales professionals, they're well on their way to making a decision. Often, the reaching out stage of the process is less a call to be convinced and more a confirmation of the buyer already had in mind.

As a general takeaway, it is critical that hotels understand their audiences and how they may vary by segment in order to then determine what search terms are relevant for their properties and destinations. SEM isn't something that just tacked on to the marketing budget; these new digital channels need a well-defined strategy with specially tailored content if they are to be successful.

This may require a vastly different mindset in the hiring and training of the sales associate of the future as these methods of digital marketing must be incorporated into the everyday practices of the hotels' sales teams. Moreover, the collaboration between sales and marketing is no longer an option; it is a vital necessity in today's digital and social world.

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Tomorrow, Drake and French Montana will finally release No Shopping, the collaboration that was first previewed in May. The track will appear on Frenchs upcoming album, MC4. French shared a short trailer for the song on his Instagram. The No Shopping cover art has also been unveiled, and it shows a receipt with different prices listed next to each of the tracks collaborators. It is now known that No Shopping is produced by Murda Beatz, who has now worked on a total of three Drake collabs. Co-production comes from the duo Cubeatz, who recently contributed to 21 Savages No Heart.

Last month, Drake, French, and 40 were spotted in the Dominican Republic for the No Shopping video shoot.

Only a couple of Drake lyrics could be heard in the short snippet of No Shopping that French previewed over two months ago, but many took the words of his opening verse  pump, pump it up  to be a sly shot directed at Joe Budden and his biggest hit single (Pump It Up). Of course, Budden has since tried to engage Drizzy in a full-on beef by hitting him with two consecutive diss tracks, first with Making a Murderer at the end of June and then Wake less than a week later. Budden believed that Drake subliminally dissed him on last months 4PM in Calabasas, but since responding with two outright disses of his own, Drizzy has been completely silent. Perhaps more fire will be put into the unexpected feud tomorrow night.

As is the case with every new Drake release these days, it is expected that No Shopping will be premiered during OVO Sound Radio. Episode 25 begins tomorrow evening at 6pm EST. The special guest of tomorrows show has not yet been announced.

Whos ready for No Shopping?

French
The Manic Street Preachers' pal is over in October

Hot Press fave Cate Le Bon is heading to the Workmans Club, Dublin on October 20 with tickets are 18.50.

Shell be showcasing her Crab Day album, which was recorded last spring in West Marin, California.

Crab Day was lovingly formed in the mouth of the Pacific Ocean, as it quietly mocked us with its magnitude, she says rather poetically. Its the sound of the accidentally on purpose coming together of the right people at precisely the right time in an environment that furnished and fuelled the abandonment we felt effortlessly. Its a coalition of inescapable feelings and fabricated nonsense, each propping the other up. Crab Day is an old holiday. Crab Day is a new holiday. Crab Day isnt a holiday at all.

In addition to her own music, the Welsh songstress joined Manic Street Preachers for one of their Rewind The Film albums standout moments, 4 Lonely Roads.
"I was very happy to work with such a great, great artist," enthuses the French superstar

The 3Arena-bound Godfather of Electro, Jean-Michel Jarre, has confirmed to Hot Press that hes been working with Damon Albarn.

Yes, weve spent some time together in my recording studio, the French superstar says. Its Damons project so Ill leave it to him to do the revealing, which is what I asked of the collaborators on my two Electronica albums. I wanted as much as possible for it to be a surprise, like it would have been in the 70s or 80s before the internet made it impossible to keep anything secret!

What I will say is that I was very happy to work with such a great, great artist. Hes such a unique, eclectic animal. To go from Blur to Chinese opera to Malian music and do them all so well takes a special talent. On top of that, hes also a really nice guy. If the collaboration comes to light  and you never know with these things  it will I think be quite special.

Its fair to say that were drooling with anticipation.

Released in May, Electronica 2: The Heart Of Noise includes Peaches, Pet Shop Boys, Cyndi Lauper, Gary Numan, Julia Holter, Hans Zimmer and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden among its roll-call of guests. Its Electronica 1: The Time Machine predecessor was no less star-studded with Vince Clarke, Laurie Anderson, Pete Townshend, Robert Del Naja, Moby, Armin Van Buuren, Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter, Little Boots and Fuck Buttons all featuring.

Youll be able to hear a hefty dollop of both when Jean-Michel hits Dublin on October 9.

As reported yesterday on hotpress.com, Jarre was on stage in Nimes Roman amphitheatre on Thursday night when the Nice terror attack took place.

Earlier in the day, hed talked to our man Stuart Clark about last Novembers Paris shootings and the climate of fear that exists in France.

For the first time in my life I felt we were in a state of war, he proffered. The night of the Bataclan I was in the studio recording with this amazing artist called Christophe. We switched off our phones and were cut off from the outside world. When I came back home at five or six oclock in the morning, the whole of Paris was silent. There were no lights, just police cars everywhere with no sirens and just side-lights. The mentality in France has changed because of it. Were all more scared and suspicious which is, Im afraid, what these people want.
The number of dead from a coup attempt in Turkey has risen to 90, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, adding that 1,154 people were wounded.

Nearly 200 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have meanwhile surrendered, an official said, adding that special troops were currently securing the complex.

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A sun-soaked, wind swept Marley Park greeted enthusiastic festival revellers as they descended on Longitude  for a shitload of dancing, craic and, most importantly, some of the best musical acts on the planet.

A stone's throw from the Main Stage, Hot Press' photography tent had a front row seat to watch six of the most talented acts of the weekend.

As the eager, early bird fans piled in through the entrances, they were greeted by the first act of the day, the soul-tinged Cork guitarist, Brian Deady.
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A Texas State University student whose father and younger brother were killed in the Nice truck attack on Thursday that left 84 dead is still in France as friends and family offer condolences and donations to a GoFundMe page, officials confirmed Friday.

Austin Copeland, a 22-year-old finance junior who is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, was with on vacation with his family celebrating Bastille Day in Nice when the attack happened, the university confirmed Friday.

A member of Copeland's fraternity who asked to not to be named said he read a text message from Copeland describing the events after the attack. In a Facebook post that linked to the online fundraising page benefiting the family, the fellow member said Copeland and his older sister, Maegan, narrowly survived the attack after he "tackled her out of the way of the oncoming truck."

RELATED: With heavy hearts amid attack in France, Bastille Day celebrations continue locally

A family friend told FOX 4 News that the Copeland family is "overwhelmed and dont want to deal with media inquiries.

Copeland and his family had already visited Pamplona, Barcelona and were in Nice on Thursday as part of a European vacation celebrating Copeland, who turned 22 last week, and his step-mother Kim who will turn 40 next week, according to KVUE.

Copeland's father, Sean Copeland, 51, and younger brother Brodie, 11, were killed by a Tunisian delivery driver who sped through a Bastille Day celebration  ultimately killing 84 people and wounding more than 200 others.

RELATED: 'Bodies everywhere' after truck plows into crowd in Nice, France July 14, 2016

The Austin-area family has received condolences from various people including Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz following the attack.

Texas State University President Denise Trauth condemned the attack and extended her condolences to Copeland.

"The Bobcat community is deeply saddened by the Copeland family's loss during the tragic incident in Nice, France, on Thursday," Trauth said. "Our thoughts are with Austin Copeland, his family and all of those individuals impacted by this horrific event."

RELATED: Spurs' current and former Frenchmen, Tony Parker and Boris Diaw, respond to Nice Bastille Day attack

The GoFundMe page created by Jonathan Paiz, a person affiliated with Hill Country Baseball whom Brodie played for, has raised more than $28,000 as of Friday afternoon.

It's unclear when the Copeland family will return to the U.S.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

MMedina@mySA.com

Twitter: @MariahMedinaaa
For the first time in 10 years, a new vaccine has been added to the requirements for Missouri schoolchildren. Students entering the eighth and 12th grades will need to have a meningococcal vaccine before school starts this fall.

Meningococcal disease causes meningitis, a highly contagious bacterial disease that starts with flulike symptoms of fever, fatigue and body aches but can escalate quickly to swelling of the brain and spinal cord. It can cause nerve damage and loss of limbs, and leads to death in 10 percent to 15 percent of patients. The disease can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, but the vaccine is the best way to prevent it.

With the new rule, Missouri joins a majority of states that have adopted the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Meningitis vaccines for children start about age 11 with a booster dose after age 16. Illinois started requiring the meningitis vaccine for sixth- and 12th-graders in 2015.

In the last decade, there have been an estimated 162 cases of meningococcal disease in Missouri and 23 deaths, according to the state health department. Between 1,000 and 2,600 Americans are infected each year.

By requiring the meningococcal vaccination, we will help prevent deaths and life-long consequences for individuals contracting the disease, said Ryan Hobart, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which implemented the new rule.

Teenagers and college students living in close quarters are high risk groups for meningitis. The bacteria are primarily spread through the exchange of airway secretions and saliva through kissing or sharing cups, utensils or cigarettes.

Once young people start gathering together, you want to vaccinate them when theyre first entering this high-risk age, said Dr. Edwin Anderson, professor of infectious diseases at St. Louis University. If we can prevent one serious illness or one death then I think we ought to use it.

Missouri added the meningitis vaccine requirement for public university students before the 2015-2016 school year. The vaccine costs about $125 and is fully covered by most insurance plans or government programs for low-income families.

A rarer strain of meningitis B not covered by the required vaccine has caused outbreaks at several colleges in recent years, including a current outbreak at Rutgers University in New Jersey. A meningitis B vaccine was rushed through the approval process for students at those colleges but lacks enough data for full CDC recommendation.

The kindergarten-through-12th-grade vaccination requirements in Missouri cover all students in public and private schools. The last vaccine added was for chicken pox in 2005. Medical and religious exemptions are available, but those students will be removed from schools if an outbreak occurs.
Some 104 coup plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, the acting army chief said on Saturday.

"The coup attempt has been foiled," General Umit Dundar said in televised appearance, adding that 90 people -- 41 of them police and 47 are civilians -- "fell martrys." He also said many commanders were taken to "unknown locations". President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile used Twitter to call on people to remain in the streets, warning against a new flare-up.

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'Gay Day' at Canada's Wonderland is no more.

The outing at the amusement park north of Toronto was planned annually by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Canada (PFLAG) in collaboration with Pride Toronto, but after a homophobic incident at this year's, planners are calling it quits, the Toronto Star reports.

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Brandon Hamilton and Barrett Morrison attended 'Gay Day' last month for Pride month.

According to Buzzfeed Canada, the two were hugging while waiting in line for the Lazy River, when a park employee approached them and asked, on behalf of another guest, that they stop, saying it was "a family park".

Its so offensive and absurd that anyone would consider that not family friendly. Its just flat-out homophobia.

We dont necessarily blame the kid who approached us, Hamilton told Buzzfeed Canada. I think he was just relaying a message [from a woman in line] and didnt think about what he was saying.

At the time, they "told off" the worker, and he agreed the request was out of line and apologized, according to Toronto Star, but it was still a frustrating experience.

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Its so offensive and absurd that anyone would consider that not family friendly. Its just flat-out homophobia, Morrison told Buzzfeed Canada.

Morrison and Hamilton wrote Wonderland's general manager Norm Pirtovshek, who apologized, writing This behaviour will not be accepted by any of our employees or guests.

Wonderland spokesperson Soulla Lindo, told the Toronto Star that the park does not tolerate discrimination and that each of their 4,000 employees receive human rights training.

Morrison told Buzzfeed that they made suggestions on how to improve, such as making Gay Day a park-wide event and improving anti-discrimination training, but they said Pirtovshek's apology felt "dismissive" of these concerns.

PFLAG Canada, the advocacy group that organizes 'Gay Day' was also unsatisfied with the response they got from the park, which is what prompted them to end the event.

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PFLAG issued two statements regarding the decision on Facebook, writing that it was not "impulsive."

After PFLAG's offer to provide free diversity training for the park's staff went unanswered, the board voted to pull the event after having collaborated on the event for eight years.

We cant offer a safe space, so how can we continue? PFLAG Canada president, Bev Belanger, told the Toronto Star.

"Gay Day must be a safe and welcoming space for our LGBTQ family and friends and moving forward, it must be with an organization and venue that truly wants to celebrate and take ownership of Gay Day with PFLAG Canada," PFLAG's statement reads.

Also on HuffPost:
Russian airlines have suspended regular passenger flights to Turkey after an order from President Vladimir Putin following a coup attempt in Turkey, TASS news agency quoted an official from Russia's Transport Ministry as saying on Saturday.

More to follow.

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Dear Secretary of State for Work and Pensions,

You will be at the helm of the Department for Work and Pensions in circumstances few would have predicted a few weeks ago: a worsening labour market and the prospect of a recession. Adjusting your department to this new reality should be your top priority.

Two things will be key. First, learning lessons from the last recession. Although unemployment is unlikely to rise as high as it did after 2008, the uncertainty caused by the UK's negotiations with the EU will last longer, and job insecurity is likely to be more widespread as a result.

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Government must do more than it did last time around to anticipate and respond to large-scale job losses, including making redundancy retraining widely available for affected workers.

Secondly, you will need to decide whether the new programme your department is introducing to support the long-term unemployed will cope in the event of higher unemployment. The Work and Health programme was designed for a buoyant jobs market, and is a budget version of its predecessor. It also stands to lose vital EU funding after 2018.

With trials of the new programme due to start shortly, now is the time to move to a more flexible design. You must start lobbying the Treasury now for more funding for both these priorities in the next autumn statement.

Beyond this, you must navigate some tough decisions on social security spending, which have huge implications for the 'ordinary working class families' that Theresa May has committed her government to helping, as well as a growing number of middle-income families whose incomes have been shored up by rising benefit payments.

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At the moment, many of these families stand to lose up to 3,000 per year as they transition to universal credit before 2019/20 - a move that could make last year's political battle over planned cuts to tax credits look like a playground scuffle.

You should consider two things if you are to have a hope of limiting spending while heeding Theresa May's commitment.

The first is the balance of spending cuts between the generations, which even Iain Duncan Smith had grown to find indefensible by the time he resigned his post. You could start by restricting universal benefits for older people or re-examining the triple lock on pensions. This could release resources to reduce the unacceptable cuts to universal credit for low income families, or extend childcare for families with young children.

The second is making a priority of tackling the structural drivers of higher spending (such as rising rents, inadequate childcare, low skills and worklessness among those with a disability or health condition) over often haphazard and punitive spending cuts. You cannot deliver this alone, but your department's role must be to lead strategic efforts across government to achieve these objectives.
When a child goes to school there is a lot that we teach them.

At first, we want them to learn to master reading, writing, and some basic arithmetic. Later, as their analytical skills develop we give them other areas; maybe geography, history, economics and social studies.

Depending on the school they go to, they may also be exposed to more creative activities such as art and music.

These skills, while useful, aren't what we would call hard life skills. In fact, most of them aren't very useful once we enter the 'real world.' This is particularly relevant given that the world is changing so rapidly.

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But there is one skill that we could teach our children that would help them in all areas of their lives.

It would help them develop more emotional intelligence, cognitive acuity, compassion, and confidence.

This skill would strengthen their immune systems, increase their willpower and improve their ability to make difficult decisions under pressure. All in all, it would make them happier individuals and allow them to better deal with the stresses of technology and modern life.

So what is it?

Meditation.

Meditation is the antidote to the aspects of modernity that have become pathological.

This pathology is manifesting itself as an inability to look at ourselves openly and honestly. We are conditioned to look for distractions in the form of social media, movies, Netflix, and junk food.

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As human beings, it is natural that we should fall into the trap of listening to our ego, but what modern society unfortunately does is amplify that voice. We're seeing a few ways in which children are being impacted by this change.

But meditation can help us solve alleviate these issues whilst at the same time allowing us to develop some of our greatest human strengths.

Here are 5 reasons we need to introduce meditation to schools:

It can help reduce symptoms of ADHD and Autism.

The causes of Autism are highly contested. However, the one thing that is clear is that autism is a stress response. Meditation can increase children's resilience to stress and offer relief when it comes to the symptoms of autism.

With regards to ADHD, diagnoses have skyrocketed in recent years and it serves everyone involved to look for a solution that doesn't involve prescription medication. A number of studies, including on out of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), found that only 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training was incredibly beneficial to both adolescents and adults suffering from ADHD.

Imagine how much 8 years could help!

For those that don't suffer from ADHD, meditation is also hugely beneficial to general concentration.

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It can combat Depression and Anxiety.

There are dozens, if not hundreds of studies demonstrating the benefits of meditation on depression and anxiety. Goyal & Singh et al. for example, studied the effects of mindfulness meditation on 3515 participants, adding to the increasing body of evidence that it can decrease depression and anxiety.

This is a particular problem amongst young people these days who have to deal with novel issues such as cyber-bullying and body image issues related to social media exposure.

It improves creativity

Schools and educational programs have been widely accused of diminishing creativity, so any effort to stimulate it would be beneficial.

One study that looked at 5 measures of creativity saw a significant increase in those that meditated over a 6-month period.

It improves emotional intelligence and compassion

We now know that both emotional intelligence and compassion aren't inherent traits, they're skills that need to be developed and nurtured over time. Studies have shown that meditation can play a fundamental role in this process, improving our emotional intelligence and expanding our capacity for compassion.

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It improves learning

This probably seems like the most obvious benefit for schools to consider. A study at George Mason University looked at students who attended a lecture after meditating and found that even with a short meditation they were able to retain the information better. Meditation also serves as an accurate predictor of who will pass and fail.

If meditation became part of the school curriculum it could have deep benefits not just for our children but for the future of our planet.

Some of the most profound benefits of the practice only come after a very long-term practice of 20 or more years. Some studies have found super fast cognitive functioning, the ability to repress the startle response, the slowing down of neurodegenerative diseases

However, children who start at 6 years old can have 12 years meditation experience before they leave school. This means by the time they enter the workforce and start having influence in positions of authority, they already have a degree of emotional maturity usually reserved for someone far beyond their years.
To mount a coup, senior Turkish army officers from the commando units, land forces, the first and fourth armies, and the airforce went to extreme lengths to seize power.

They occupied two airports and closed a third. They attempted to separate the European from the Asian sides of Istanbul. They bombed the parliament in Ankara nine times. There was a pitched battled outside the headquarters of MIT the Turkish intelligence agency. They deployed tanks, helicopter gunships and F16 jets.

To defeat the coup, the Turkish president used his iPhone. Mosques used their loudspeakers, broadcasting the call to prayer hours before dawn. Political leaders of all creeds, some staunch opponents of the president, called unambiguously for the coup to be defeated. Policemen arrested soldiers.

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Unarmed people recaptured CNN Turk and the bridges across the Bosphorus, braving gunfire to recapture democracy for their country.

This was unambiguously a military coup. And yet the US Embassy in Ankara in its emergency message to US citizens called it an "uprising".

Geopolitical Futures released an analysis saying the coup was successful. BBC Arabic, Sky News Arabic, El Arabiya TV, the ITN diplomatic editor, the US networks were all running commentaries saying Erdogan was finished, or had fled to Germany.

The Guardian ran a piece whose first headline (it was later amended) said everything about an author unable to contain his glee at the demise of a man he qualified as authoritarian islamist: "How Recep Tayyip Erdogan inflamed tensions in Turkey".

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As the people of Turkey battled for their future, there was a crashing silence from Western leaders whose brand image is democracy. The French consulate had closed two days earlier. Did it know something Turkey did not?

In his initial statement, US Secretary of State John Kerry used every word except the dreaded "d" one. He hoped for "stability and peace and continuity" within Turkey.

Nothing about supporting a legitimately elected president and a legitimately elected parliament. Only when it was already obvious that the coup was failing did President Barack Obama and Kerry issue a statement unambiguously backing Erdogan.

If you want to know why Europe and the US are a busted flush in the Middle East, why they have lost all moral authority, indeed any authority at all, and why they are no longer the candle bearers of democratic change, look no further than the three hours of silence as they waited to see which way the wind was blowing in Istanbul and Ankara. The Saudis waited 15 hours before issuing a statement supporting Erdogan. The Emiratis and the media they controlled spread the message that Erdogan had fled the country. The exact opposite was the truth. Erdogan showed bravery getting into a plane and heading for Istanbul knowing F16s were in the air and that the runway at Ataturk airport could have been closed.

Only three countries in the world clearly supported Erdogan from the start - Morocco, Qatar, and Sudan.

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What was particularly impressive were the statements of Turkish politicians who had every reason to want Erdogan to go, and who had themselves been displaced by him. To his credit, the leader of Turkey's largest party, Kemal Kalicdaroglu of the centre-left People's Republican Party (CHP), came out immediately against the coup in a series of tweets, saying the country has "suffered a lot" in past military takeovers.

Two AK Party leaders from the liberal wing, who had been displaced or recently sacked by Erdogan supported him. Former president Abdullah Gul told CNN Turk that

"Turkey is not a Latin America country ... I'm calling those who attempt to overthrow the government [they] should go back to their barracks."

Former Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Al Jazeera:

"Turkey is a democracy ... I don't think this attempt will be successful. There cannot be any attempts to destabilise Turkey. We're facing so many crises in Syria and other regions, it's time to have solidarity with the Turkish people. ... At this moment people in different cities are in the streets, the squares [protesting] against this coup d'etat attempt."

All these people could see what the Western consensus about Erdogan could not. That the process was more important than the man. That Turks, believe it or not, would fight and die for the right to elect their president, even though the majority clearly do not want him to have overriding presidential powers.

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Turkey's reaction last night was that of a mature democracy. The Western reaction was that of corrupted democracy, terminally tainted by its military and political support of autocracy.

The turning point in last night's morality play in Turkey came when images of Erdogan speaking into his iPhone were broadcast and spread virally over social media.

Up until then, it looked as if the coup would succeed. He called for the people to come out onto the streets and stay out on them. And they heeded that call sometimes at the cost of their own lives. An iPhone defeated tanks.

Turkey proved it is not Egypt. If there is a lesson in these dark days for democracy in the Middle East, it is for the people who are living the other side of the Mediterranean and whose country is bleeding from the military autocracy it once hailed as a second revolution.
Donald Trump, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, left, stands on stage with Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, during a campaign event in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. Tennessee Senator Bob Corker has withdrawn his name from consideration as Trump's running mate, a move that deprives the Republican establishment of a contender who could have added experience and gravitas to the ticket. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich really wants to take us back to "the good old days," and by that he apparently means to 1480 and the Inquisition. But this inquisition will focus on American Muslims, and Gingrich will be the inquisitor-in-chief to determine if Muslims will be able to remain in the country or be deported.

That's right, Gingrich declared Thursday night on Fox News (where else?!) that, "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported."

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Now being Muslim, I have to keep this article short because I have to start studying for the Gingrich Sharia test. In fact, if other Muslims are reading this, please contact me if you want to start a study group.

People opposed to Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States stand on the steps of New York's City Hall. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

Gingrich's statement is a cross between mind-boggling and bone-chilling. The idea that if an American holds certain beliefs -- regardless of what they may be -- they could be stripped of their U.S. citizenship and deported should cause all Americans to shutter. Gingrich, a man who up until a few days ago was among Donald Trump's top possible vice presidential candidates, is in essence calling for American citizens to be rendered stateless based on their thoughts, not their actions.

On Friday, Gingrich backpedalled a bit, stating via Facebook that he would allow Muslims to remain in America as long as we are "loyal to the United States and you believe in the Constitution." If they meet that test, Gingrich ominously stated, "[They] should have nothing to fear. [Their] children should have nothing to fear."

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But the message is clear: if an Muslim American doesn't pass Gingrich's loyalty test, you and your children should be very afraid. The question raised is what exactly is Gingrich's version of "loyalty"? After all, Gingrich is a man who has called for arresting judges he deems as overly liberal "activist judges."

Gingrich, an extreme right-wing actor whose views I consider un-American, would determine if I can remain in the country?!

In contrast, I believe in the separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution, and that arresting judges for doing their jobs is a threat to the Constitution. Yet Gingrich, an extreme right-wing actor whose views I consider un-American, would determine if I can remain in the country?!

Another fundamental question raised by Gingrich's comments Thursday is what exactly does he mean by "Sharia"? The word Sharia simply means "path" in Arabic, as in the path to God.

To many Muslims, Sharia typically does not mean a legal system but rather a personal moral code grounded in the principles of the faith. For example, New York City's Imam Shamsi Ali explained to me that Sharia calls for him to be honest and truthful. To other Muslims, Sharia means giving to charity, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, as is fasting during Ramadan. Would Muslims who give money to a charity that helps children in need be considered followers of "Sharia" and hence deported from the United States in Gingrich's view?

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American Shia Muslims march to the White House to protest against the so-called Islamic State. (Reuters/James Lawler Duggan)

Perhaps Gingrich means he wants to deport Muslims who want to impose "Sharia law" in America? (To be clear there's no single book that defines "Sharia law.") I know thousands of Muslims across the country yet I have never met even one who told me they wanted American law to be based on the Quran.

But if there were, I would vocally oppose them, just like I have with conservative Christians like Mike Huckabee who have called to "amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards." Do we really want U.S. laws to be based on Bible text, such as requiring women who are not virgins on their wedding night to be "brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death"?! No, but we don't hear Gingrich demanding conservative Christians be tested to ensure they disavow "Christian Sharia law" even though some leading ones like Huckabee have publicly called for just that.

Gingrich continued in his Fox News interview to proclaim that even before his inquisition kicks off, American Muslims should have less civil liberties because of our faith, calling for surveillance of mosques. "Where do you think the primary source of recruitment is?" Gingrich asked.

ISIS needs Muslims in the West to feel like they are hated and isolated.

When I asked well-regarded counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance on my SiriusXM radio show last Friday to comment on Gingrich's claim that mosques are the "primary source" of radicalization in America, he commented, "The stupid is strong in this one." Nance went on to explain what many experts have previously told me: radicalization is not taking place in American mosques. Rather it's occurring online as operatives of the so-called Islamic State try to encourage Muslims in the West to join them. And American Muslims have been working with the authorities to turn in people who have been making alarming comments in the real world, as well as combating ISIS' online recruitment.

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The anti-Muslim rhetoric of Gingrich is exactly what ISIS wants to hear. Militants probably high-fived each other after learning about his proposed Muslim test because ISIS needs Muslims in the West to feel like they are hated and isolated in order to get new recruits. And it's likely ISIS supporters will use Gingrich's words to help their cause just like the terror group Al Shabab has been using Trump's anti-Muslim rhetoric to help fill its ranks.
Since 2004, Netflix employees have taken as many vacation days as they've wanted. They have the freedom to decide when to show up for work, when to take time off, and how much time it will take them to get the job done. As far as I can tell, this hasn't hurt Netflix one bit. Since instituting the policy, it's grown its market cap to over $51 billion.

Just because there's flexibility at Netflix doesn't mean it lacks accountability. Employees have to keep their managers in the loop, and they're expected to perform at a very high level. High performance is so ingrained into Netflix culture that they reward adequate performance with a generous severance package.

Netflix employees have unlimited vacation because no one is tracking their time. Instead of micromanaging how people get their jobs done, the leadership focuses only on what matters--results. They've found that giving people greater autonomy creates a more responsible culture. Without the distraction of stifling rules, employees are more focused and productive.



Why Traditional Vacation Had To Go

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When Netflix still had your typical vacation policy, employees asked an important question:

"We don't track the time we spend working outside of the office--like

e-mails we answer from home and the work we do at night and on weekends--so why do we track the time we spend off the job?"

Management listened. They couldn't deny the simple logic behind the question.

Back in the industrial age, when people stood on the assembly line from 9 to 5, paying for time made sense. With advances in technology, however, that's no longer the case. People work when work needs to be done, from wherever they are. There's really no such thing as "after hours" anymore.

We're now operating in a participation economy, where people are measured and paid for what they produce. Yet, when it comes to time off, we're still clinging to the vestiges of the industrial economy, where people were paid for the time they spent on the job. This is a huge demotivator. Netflix realized this, and it changed its policy to reflect the way that work actually gets done.

Brazilian Origins

While Netflix was one of the first notable American companies to take on an unlimited vacation policy, the idea didn't start there. Brazilian company Semco has been quietly offering unlimited vacation for more than thirty years.

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After a health scare when he was just 21, Ricardo Semler, the son of the company's founder, realized that the schedule he was keeping was slowly killing him, and that if it could kill him, then it could kill his employees too. So, he made the radical decision to do away with schedules, sick days, and vacation time.

Contrary to the prevailing worry that productivity would plummet, Semler found that employees actually became more productive and fiercely loyal, and when the employees thrived, the company did, too. When Semler first instituted this policy in 1981, Semco was just a $4 million company. It's now worth over $1 billion.

Overworked in the United States

As successful as unlimited vacation policies have been, less than 1 percent of U.S. companies have adopted them. That's not hard to digest when you think about our workaholic culture. U.S. employees get less vacation time than workers in any country, except South Korea.

In fact, American companies aren't legally required to give any paid time off at all, whereas it's mandated in many other countries. Workers in the United Kingdom, for instance, are entitled to 28 paid days off per year (including national holidays). In Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, and Sweden, employees receive a mandated 25 days of paid leave, and in Brazil workers get 30 paid vacation days each year plus 11 national holidays.



Do People Take Advantage of It?

Companies defend their strict vacation policies with the belief that employees will take advantage of anything else. But companies that have actually tried unlimited vacations have found the opposite to be true. Freedom gives people such a strong sense of ownership and accountability that, like business owners, many end up taking no vacation at all.

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Employers that have instituted unlimited vacation policies have also had to make policies that encourage people to actually take time off. Evernote, for example, gives employees $1,000 to spend on vacation, and FullContact gives employees a whopping $7,500. Since employees are hesitant to take time off, they have to submit receipts showing that the funds were spent on a vacation in order to be reimbursed.

While workaholic employees might sound good on paper, that's not what smart companies want. Smart companies know that when employees take time off to recharge--especially when they have the freedom to take time when they need it--they come back even more creative and productive. Subsidizing that time off is money well spent.

Bringing It All Together

It's sad that we're still compensated according to an assembly-line mentality. We work from whenever and wherever necessary to get results, so it only makes sense that our compensation and benefits reflect that shift.
In the wake of the two seemingly outrageous slayings of African American men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana and the equally heinous retaliatory killings of five police officers in Dallas by a black former Army Reservist, questions have been raised in all three cases about excessive police behavior.

Police surrogates on the cable TV networks have been sent into a state of apoplexy that some security analysts, while the Dallas police department is still grieving, have raised eyebrows about the use of an exploding bomb, delivered by a robot, to kill the Dallas shooter. Whether intentional or not, this argument is an attempt to use the legitimate grief of the police families to shield the department from a debate about the aggressive military tactics used to kill the shooter.

Using a robot normally used for explosive neutralization to offensively deliver a bomb is not just a further incremental militarization of the police, such as military-style uniforms and SWAT teams with military gear and equipment, including armored vehicles. The police use of exploding ordinance is a quantum escalation that has the potential to kill innocent bystanders and also to start fires that are difficult to control. Let's remember when police in 1985 attempted to roust out the Move group by dropping a bomb from a helicopter on an urban neighborhood in Philadelphia, which started a fire that destroyed more than 60 homes in that city. The city blocks destroyed looked like something from a foreign war zone, but the manmade disaster happened in an American city.

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In military operations, some "collateral damage" -- that is killing or injuring civilians or destroying their property -- is usually deemed tolerable if the military objective is important. In policing, where the end goal is supposed to be protecting citizens and property, the military's at least theoretical attempt to achieve a greater objective, while minimizing damage to civilians, is not good enough.

The militarization of police forces across the country has also changed police culture, leading these forces to use more confrontational tactics -- which now like American military attacks overseas -- have led to "blowback." American-led Western military attacks in the Middle East have brought increased terrorist retaliation on Western, including U.S., targets -- for example, the ISIS terror group did not focus its attacks on European and American targets until the U.S.-led air attacks began on the group in July 2014. Similarly, perceived aggressive police tactics against African Americans domestically have led, for example, to riots in Baltimore and the horrendous murder of the officers in Dallas. This cycle of violence needs to stop -- both overseas and, most important, here at home.

Furthermore, in using a robot to deliver explosives, police can remain once removed from doing the dirty work of taking people's lives, just as the military's use of attack drones in faraway theaters removes the joy-stick operators in Nevada from the same. Both of these militarized tactics make it easier to kill, something that should not be encouraged, especially among police here at home.

But police surrogates vehemently respond that that is the whole point: more police lives would have been put in danger had the bomb not been used. However, the already too militarized police SWAT teams are supposed to have the protective equipment and non-explosive firepower to contain and kill the shooter, as they have done successfully around the country and world many times. Instead, using a bomb made of the same powerful explosive material, C-4, as was used in the Philadelphia incident, is an unacceptable escalation of police tactics that could endanger the wider community, as it did in that instance. Any added risk to professional police must weighed against the potential for a wider cataclysm. The Dallas police chief admitted that his only instruction was to avoid bringing the building down with the explosion, which is a pretty low standard, given the potential for fires to spread, and argued that ethically, he had no problems with killing the suspect using a bomb. The ethics of killing an active shooter who has murdered police is not the issue; the question is whether the chief is endangering the public. Furthermore, there were still some innocent students in the building when the police exploded the device.

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I grew up watching both parties' conventions. Television networks covered them from beginning to end. Oftentimes, because the outcome was not assured, there was drama and tension. During the past several decades, conventions have lost their excitement. With the nominees known and the platform decided in advance, the events have become something akin to infomercials for the nominees and the party. As a result, television coverage has been limited to a few hours, or less, each night. And viewership has declined. This year, however, might be different, though maybe not in a good way or, at least in the way party leaders might hope for. This is because there are competing dynamics currently driving and dividing American politics and both will be on display over the next two weeks when Republicans and Democrats gather for their quadrennial conventions in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

In the first place, there is the hyper-partisanship that has created a disturbingly toxic political environment. The parties talk past each other and embarrassingly vitriolic rhetoric, once found only on the margins of our politics, has come to define our everyday political discourse. Add to that the fact that Congress is so paralyzed that many White House appointments remain in limbo and reasonable efforts to pass legislation making needed reforms go nowhere.

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Not only is there a deep division between the parties, but as we witnessed during this past primary season, Republicans and Democrats are fractured within.

With Donald Trump's victory assured, traditional conservatives have, as one leader recently observed, "lost control" of their party. For this, they have only themselves to blame. During the past eight years, they fed the beasts of xenophobia and hatred of "all things Obama". The monster they created has turned and has now devoured them.

While some conservatives held out hope for a "dump Trump" movement at the convention, that effort was defeated when the party's Rules Committee quashed their designs. In one clear sign of Republican division, for the first time in recent history, none of the living former Republican presidents or presidential nominees (the two George Bushs, Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney) will be in attendance. Some disgruntled delegates may follow suit and stay away. Who will be there, at this point, is anybody's guess. And if Trumps' opponents do go, it is uncertain how they will react.

It, therefore, remains to be seen how the GOP Convention will unfold. Will it be an orchestrated Donald Trump made for TV variety show? Or will the dissidents still find a way to make their presence felt?

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Even without any disruption inside the convention hall, the scene outside promises to be tense as the many component elements of the social movement harnessed by Trump will square off against their equally aroused and passionate opponents. Cleveland is tense. It is a majority African American city that has had its share of controversial incidents of police violence. Add to that demonstrations sponsored by, among others, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, and pro-gun groups (and their opponents) and you have a potentially combustible mix.

The most worrisome news is that because Ohio has an "open carry" policy and provides for licensed individuals to carry concealed weapons -- we have an "accident" (or better, a tragedy) waiting to happen. In anticipation of unrest, the city has emptied its jails, moving prisoners to other locations, and there will be a massive deployment of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the city.

Just a few days after Cleveland, Democrats will gather in Philadelphia to formally nominate Hillary Clinton as their candidate for President. With Bernie Sanders' endorsement of Clinton and his decision not to continue his challenge by introducing minority planks to the party platform, party regulars were relieved -- hoping for their own version of a peaceful made for TV convention. But, despite Sanders' move toward unity, it would be important to note that fissures remain.

The Sanders candidacy was not an ordinary Democratic campaign. It was a social and political movement that brought together liberal Democrats and a number of progressive movement groups and activists with no strong ties to the party. While other candidates lose, endorse, and fade away, neither Sanders nor his followers appear to be interested in following this path.

It is important to note, that these movement activists will be in Philadelphia and will be both inside and outside of the convention. Inside, they will be among Sanders 1,900 delegates and outside, they will be demonstrating in the hundreds of thousands against unfair trade agreements, for universal health care, for racial justice and against police violence, for immigrant rights, and for Palestinian rights. These are the issues that drew activists to Sanders. While he can correctly claim that his campaign had a direct impact on the making the Democratic Party's platform more progressive, it remains to be seen whether activists will find that sufficient or whether they are willing to follow Sanders in supporting the party's nominee and believe that she will implement their progressive agenda. And so it is likely that in addition to demonstrations outside the convention, there may be signs of discontent within the hall.

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In any case, despite the best efforts of the organizers of both the Cleveland and Philadelphia affairs, the unexpected may occur. Stay tuned.
Armored military tanks - Turkish army

The American people typically have little stomach for a military coup. But given the undemocratic nature of the Erdogan regime, Turkey may have had no choice. Should the coup be successful, the United States and the rest of the democratic world should insist that the country return to democratic rule, by the Turkish people, with a constitution that ensures someone cannot turn the republic into an autocratic regime.

During the Cold War, and even before, America winked at, or even encouraged military coups in Latin America, and elsewhere. Sometimes one undemocratic leader ousted another. Other times, the elected leader was pushed aside. So why a republic, such as the United States, support such actions? The thinking was summed up by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who said of would-be Nicaraguan coup leader Anastasio Somoza "He's an S.O.B. But he's our S.O.B."

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But even as the United States exerted its influence indirectly, or directly sometimes when troops were sent to support an overthrow or a resulting war, it actually weakened itself by such actions. Some of the leaders really were "S.O.B.s," which turned the countryside against an American ally. Other times, such support for coups in allied countries made fellow allies less likely to support American actions. Even our own corporations, which thought such actions would benefit their bottom line, found the dictators more troublesome than the democratic leaders, as earlier research of mine revealed.

The best policies were adopted during the Kennedy Administration. Military coups were not tolerated, and when one occurred, pressure was brought upon the junta to find a way to bring back democracy, even if the military was a better form of government than its predecessors. This plan was undermined in Vietnam in 1963, with disastrous results for America.

When I was there, I didn't find the people of a democracy. I found frightened college students, nervous professors, journalists expecting to be arrested at any moment, and other Turks cynical about the prospects for any freedom, especially after Gezi Park demonstrators were attacked. Being Muslim provided little protection, as supporters of moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen found out. People of all ages could be jailed, just for insulting the President.

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Poster of Erdogan in Turkey, taken by the author.

Yet despite the major flaws of the Erdogan regime, the United States should learn from its past mistakes. The United States should work to ensure that whether the military succeeds or Erdogan survives, the Turkish government work to ensure the democratic freedoms and respect the civil liberties and political rights of its people. Otherwise, it won't be a communist insurgency that benefits from our missteps in supporting a dictatorship. It will be a terrorist group that takes advantage of our support for an undemocratic regime.
In the 2008 film Valkyrie, a faction of the German military fight the Nazi regime, attempting a military coup in order to overthrow a totalitarian regime led by Adolf Hitler. But after initial optimism, the "July plot" fizzles out as it loses popular support, and terrible punishment is meted out to the plotters. The true story behind this coup is eerily similar to the events in Turkey in the middle of July coup.

It appears a faction of the military attempted to oust Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to restore the constitution, as the rebel leaders claimed. The autocratic Erdogan, supposedly occupying what the constitution says is a ceremonial position, has demanded a new regime that would provide a "presidential system" or one that would make him as powerful as Putin is in Russia.

To make matters worse, Erdogan used the example of Hitler in a positive way to justify creating the new government. But voters didn't give him enough votes to create the new system. So Erdogan took steps to change that, calling a new election, waging war against the Kurds, while doing little to stop the infiltration of ISIS into his country.

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Erdogan blamed moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, living in exile in the United States, of orchestrating the coup. In fact, Gulen's group condemned the coup while momentum was with the coup. But that doesn't matter. Enemies of the state are determined by their opposition to Erdogan, instead of their opposition to democracy anyway these days.

Besides, Erdogan pretty much purged the military of any Gulenists already. Yet Erdogan claimed the coup was run "from Pennsylvania" (where Gulen lives), and demanded his extradition. Unless the USA wants to refrain from murdering a moderate Muslim cleric who shares many American values, it should ignore this request, as it has wisely done beforehand.

It could be a similar story with the Kurds in Turkey. Though the HDP, their political party, also condemned the coup, actions taken by Erdogan to mend ties with Assad seem to have an eye on destroying the Syrian Kurdish group PYD, the only force effective enough to fight ISIS.

Coups are the wrong way to go about when starting up or restarting a democracy. Another bad way is creeping authoritarianism, which Erdogan seeks to deftly practice. As Michael Rubin wrote in the Middle East Forum, Erdogan had this to say of democracy, while serving as Istanbul's Mayor. "Democracy is like a streetcar," he claimed. "You ride it until you arrive at your destination and then you step off."

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Erdogan called the military coup attempt a "Gift from God." Surely he didn't mean killing the brave Turks who stood up for democracy as a beneficial thing, right? What it meant was almost as bad: Erdogan would now have the power to stamp out anyone and everyone he dislikes.

As of now, Erdogan fired nearly 3,000 judges, even though there's no evidence that judges were out in the streets overthrowing the government. They have blocked Erdogan's political power grabs in the past, so they made the list. And after ISIS attacked the Istanbul airport, Erdogan responded by shutting down pro-Gulen media outlets.

But is it really a case similar to Operation Valkyrie, which occurred on July 20, 1944? There is a lot of Internet chatter that suggests that Erdogan orchestrated the whole thing, to disassemble the military. Unlike the case of Hitler, there wasn't a lot of popular support for the coup. The HDP, Gulen groups, and other political parties denounced the coup. Yet those who denounced it are the ones likely to suffer Erdogan's purges, the same way Claus von Stauffenberg, Erwin Rommel and his allies were killed off after an enraged Hitler survived the anti-Nazi coup.

Turks took to the streets to disrupt the anti-Hitler coup, and even Erdogan's enemies condemned the military takeover. But like the end of the movie Valkyrie, lots of people, including loyalists, are likely to face terrible punishment or retribution, guilty or not.
On Tuesday, BBG Board Chairman Jeff Shell was denied entry into Russia and detained at Moscow's Sheremetevo Airport. Despite having a valid passport and Russian visa, he was detained in a locked room for several hours, before being accompanied by Russian security officials to board a flight to Amsterdam.

The Russian Foreign Ministry subsequently announced, falsely, that Chairman Shell was a key organizer of "anti-Russian propaganda" and was being sanctioned in retaliation to the United States' visa sanctions against Russian citizens. They further clarified their position by emphasizing that anyone who sanctions Russia should expect "unavoidable retaliation."

This blatant aggression is unfortunately not reserved for foreign officials and businessmen. Every day, the Russian government silences critics and tightly controls the flow of information in and around the country. Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty provide unbiased and uncensored news and information to audiences living in Russia and the Russian periphery. But they do so at great risk.

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Over the last year, journalists at VOA and RFE/RL have been the subject of numerous smear campaigns orchestrated by Kremlin-supported media, and several of our reporters and contributors have been threatened and have had their homes searched.

And while Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik enjoy access to stations in the United States, U.S. international broadcasters are denied licenses to broadcast in Russia.

The mission of the Broadcasting Board of Governors is clear. We have and will continue to inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. I am proud of the innovative programs and services our dedicated journalists and staff have provided to the Russian public. We believe they have the right to unfettered access to information, and we will continue to report the facts and provide access to basic information.
A Turkish military helicopter has landed in Greece carrying eight men seeking asylum, the Greek police said Saturday.

The Black Hawk helicopter landed after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in Alexandroupolis in the country's north. Seven of those on board were in military uniform and all are believed to have been involved in the coup bid, ERT TV said.

More to follow.

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Chinese island building in the South China SeaOn July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague handed down an almost 500-page long decision in which the five-member panel unanimously ruled that China did not have any historic title to its claim over a huge expanse of the South China Sea.

The decision came in response to a case filed by the Philippines in 2013, in accordance with Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), over the Chinese seizure of the Scarborough Shoal. The shoal was the most recent example of a number of such seizures by China over the last several decades.

The Shoal consists of a series of reefs and rocks, which enclose a roughly triangular shaped lagoon, with a surface area of approximately 54 square miles. The shoal's highest point, South Rock, is less than six feet above the ocean during high tide.

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The Shoal is about 120 miles west of the Subic Bay Naval Base, and is well within the Philippine exclusive 200-mile economic zone set out in the UNCLOS treaty. The Shoal is claimed by both China and Taiwan, in addition to the Philippines. Since July 2012, China has barred Philippine fishing boats from entering the Shoal. Manila has accused the Chinese Coast Guard of using water cannons to drive away its fishing boats.

Given its parameters, Scarborough Shoal could be built up into quite a large island. Its proximity to the Subic Bay Naval Base also gives it significant strategic value to Beijing. To date, China has not started any "island building" activities on the Shoal.

A source close to the People's Liberation Army Navy did disclose in April 2016, however, well ahead of the Arbitration Court's ruling, that China was planning to start land reclamation at Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for the Scarborough Shoal, later in the year. In light of the Court's decision, such an action would significantly exacerbate political tensions in the area and might precipitate a military clash between Manila and Beijing.

The Court's ruling had three key provisions. First, it rejected completely China's assertion that it had a claim to the Scarborough Shoal, noting that, "there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line."

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Secondly, the court also reaffirmed that the rocks and reefs do not amount to actual islands as defined by the UNCLOS treaty and are not entitled to the 200-mile exclusive economic zone. At best, they would qualify for a 12-mile territorial zone, provided that they were above water for a majority of the time. Under the UNCLOS treaty an "island" is defined as a territory capable of supporting human habitation.

Conflicting land claims in the South China SeaThirdly, the court also found that the Shoal was within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and that by interfering with the right of the Philippines to fish or explore for hydrocarbons' in the area, Beijing had violated Manila's sovereign rights.

The court's ruling on the "nine-dash line" has far reaching implications on the various other disputes between China and its neighbors over sovereignty in the South China Sea. Although Chinese fishermen have fished the waters of the South China Sea for centuries, historically China had not extended territorial claims to the region.

That policy publically changed in 2012, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reclassified the South China Sea as a "core national interest." That put the region on the same level as China's claims to Tibet and Taiwan.

Beijing's claim is based on a map published on December 1, 1947, by the government of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. It was, in turn, based on an earlier map from 1935. At the end of WW II there was a land rush by various countries to seize Japanese territories in the South China Sea. The Spratly, Paracel and Pratas islands, that are at the heart of the conflicting land claims, had been controlled by Japan prior to the war.

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The original map showed an area demarcated by 11 dashes, which encompassed the bulk of the South China Sea that was being claimed by the Chinese nationalist government. Taiwan is asserting a similar claim, also based on that original 1947 map.

The 11 dashes were later reduced to nine when, at the behest of Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, the region claimed by China in the Gulf of Tonkin was reduced. Later versions of the map added a 10th dash, extending China's claimed sovereignty toward Taiwan and the East China Sea. The reference to the "nine-dash-line," however, was retained.

China's interest in the South China Sea has been driven by a fundamental and far-reaching change in China's economy. Historically, China has been largely self-sufficient. When direct European trade with China began in earnest in the 16th century, European merchants found there was little that they could interest the Chinese in buying. The trade in furs was highly profitable, but it was relatively miniscule when compared with the boatloads of tea, silk and porcelain that China dispatched to Europe.

For much of the 16th through the early 19th centuries, a river of silver flowed from Europe and the Americas to China, where it was exchanged for Chinese goods. It wasn't until British merchants in India discovered that opium produced in the Indian highlands could be very profitably sold in vast quantities in China that the lopsided balance of trade with China began to reverse. In the process they created the first international drug cartel. A cartel that had the advantage of being defended by the Royal Navy, then the world's most powerful.

Today, however, the Chinese economy is heavily dependent on its external trade, both for markets for its manufactured goods and also for essential raw materials. Far from being self-sufficient, Chinese industry now imports vast quantities of raw materials and foodstuffs. It is the world's largest importer of such critical and diverse materials as iron, copper, lead, zinc and soybeans, and the second largest importer of petroleum.

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The vast majority of China's commodity imports travel by sea, as do virtually all of its exports. As China's economy has grown and has in turn become ever more dependent on the export of its production and the import of the critical raw materials and foodstuffs needed to run it, China's perceived need to secure and control its maritime approaches has become stronger. Sea power, which historically has not figured prominently in Chinese history, is thus assuming a far more significant role in Beijing's strategic thinking.

China's first aircraft carrier

Over the broad sweep of Chinese history, military threats to China, traditionally, emanated primarily from the west - the Mongol steppes of central Asia and, to a lesser extent, from Indochina. The Japanese land invasion from the east in the 1930s and 40s was, historically, an anomaly. It was not until the arrival of European naval fleets in the 19th century, with their vastly superior firepower, that China began to experience water-borne strategic threats from the east. That naval threat has continued into the 21st century, and has grown ever more important as China's dependence on external trade has continued to grow.

Currently China's defensive doctrine identifies two key geostrategic boundaries: the "first-island-chain" and the "second-island-chain." The first-island-chain encompasses a vast area centered around the South and East China Seas. It begins off the coast of Indochina, curves around Borneo and the western coast of the Philippines, and extends north along the eastern coast of Taiwan, all the way to the southern coast of Japan.

From a naval standpoint, Chinese strategists see this region as "China's backyard." Moreover, it is characterized by a series of "choke points" where hostile naval forces could interdict or blockade Chinese shipping and cripple China's economy. Beijing's claims in the South and East China Seas are designed to make this area a permanent part of China and integrate it militarily into China's defense. Some $6.5 trillion in goods pass through this region yearly.

Beijing claims that its assertion of a strategic interest in the geographic zone comprised of the "first-island-chain" is no different than America's declaration of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823. Regardless of the rationale, China's aims, to be successful, would require every one of its neighbors along the South and East China Seas to significantly compromise their claims in the region. It would also force a de facto withdrawal by the US Navy from those countries along the East Asian littoral. It's unlikely that the United States' bilateral defense treaties with those countries would survive such a pullback.

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Even more problematic is Beijing's delineation of the "second-island-chain." This zone encompasses the Philippines and Japan, and extends eastward to Palau, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Significantly in 2015, the PLA Air Force began flights by Chinese H-6k long-range bombers over the Western Pacific, extending to a point about 600 miles west of Guam.

The boundaries of China's first-island-chain and second-island-chain China's ambitions to dominate the sea-air space as far as the second-island-chain may be either wishful thinking or little more than posturing. On the other hand, China's ambitious naval construction program suggests that the strategy is more than empty rhetoric. For the United States to be effectively excluded from this second zone would represent a collapse of American naval power in the Western Pacific not seen since the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Celtic Whiskey Shop, Dublin Ireland



The Irish are credited with inventing whiskey and teaching the art of distillation to the Scots. During the 19th century Irish distillers dominated the international whiskey market. They produced more whiskey than Scotland and successfully exported it worldwide

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In the late 19th century, however, Irish whiskey began a long period of decline that would eventually see the industry reduced to a single distillery complex  the Midleton distillery outside of Cork. The Bushmills distillery, technically in Northern Ireland, is the only other Irish distillery to weather the storm.

In the last three decades, however, the Irish whiskey industry has undergone a revival. Irish whiskey is now one of the fastest growing whiskey categories in the world. Jameson whiskey, Ireland's flagship brand, has become the third best-selling blended whiskey worldwide. From its dark days in the 1980s, the industry now boasts 25 distilleries, either operating or announced.

At the center of the Irish whiskey revival has been an unlikely player  Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin. As the largest retailer of Irish whiskey in Ireland, and probably the world, the shop also stocks the largest selection of Irish whiskies available anywhere. It is also Irelands first, modern, specialty whiskey bottler.



In 2013, the Celtic Whiskey Shop was chosen "Best Retailer-Single Outlet-Rest of World" and "Best Whiskey Retailer Worldwide" at the World Whiskey Awards. That same year it was named "Icons of Whiskey, International Whiskey Retailer of the Year" by Whiskey Magazine.

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The Celtic Whiskey Shop was founded by Ally Alpine, a transplanted Scotsman. Alpine came to Dublin originally to set up five branches for the British wine retailer Oddbins. Witnessing the beginning of the Irish whiskey renaissance first hand, in 2003, he decided to set up a whiskey shop specializing in Irish whiskey. The store has now become an Irish whiskey institution, organizing both the Irish Whiskey Awards and Whiskey Live Dublin.

Several years ago, Celtic Whiskey Shop expanded into the realm of the specialty whiskey bottlers. Originally Alpine worked with Cooley distillery to bottle single cask offerings, under the Tyrconnell and Connemara labels, exclusively for the shop. The original bottlings were matured in ex-bourbon casks, but Alpine soon switched to using barrels from wineries being exclusively imported by the Whiskey Shop. This was the genesis of the shop's "cask finish, single cask releases."

After Beam Global purchased the Cooley Distillery, it decided to no longer do custom bottlings under its own brands. Forced to develop its own whiskey brand, the Celtic Whiskey Shop launched the Celtic Cask series. The series has been widely acclaimed. In both 2014 and 2015, it was chosen as the best "non-Scottish Independent Bottler of the Year" by the Independent Bottler's Challenge.

Ally Alpine at tthe 2015 Irish Whiskey Awards



The company's most recent project is the Irish Whiskey Experience, a combination restaurant, whiskey bar and classroom complex in Killarney. The facility offers a variety of one-hour workshops ranging from "Distiller's Apprentice" to "Blender's Challenge," an opportunity to blend your own unique Irish whiskey.

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Other sessions offer special tastings featuring parings of Irish whiskies with chocolate or traditional Irish farmhouse cheeses. There is even a Tullamore Dew, a classic Irish blended whiskey "deconstruction" that allows attendees an opportunity to reconstruct a bottling of Tullamore Dew from its various blending components.

The whiskey bar stocks over 300 different Irish whiskies. The menu features every expression of Irish whiskey currently produced, as well as a large number of now discontinued bottlings. This includes virtually the entire range of the company's Celtic Cask series. In many cases, the bar's stocks consist of only one bottle per expression. Better hurry if you want a taste of the liquid history of Irish whiskey. Once these rare offerings are gone they are unlikely to ever be replaced.

The Celtic Cask series is currently up to its fifteenth bottling. All but one of the expressions was matured in a cask from one of the 50 wineries the shop directly imports. Originally the shop purchased aged whiskey stocks that it finished in a wine cask. Currently it is buying new make spirit from Irish distillers, which it intends to mature exclusively in a specialty wine cask. Alpine continues to snap up whatever stocks of aged Irish whiskey he can find but admits that, "these supplies are getting scarcer."

The Celtic Cask offerings sell out quickly. Currently, only the number 14 and number 15 bottlings are still available. The Irish/Gaelic names on the bottling simply indicate the number in Irish. In other words, Celtic Cask Cuig Deag simply means number 15 in Gaelic.

These bottlings do not typically indicate the source of the whiskey. Historically, however, many have been drawn from Bushmills' stocks and feature the Bushmills' characteristic pronounced stone fruit aroma and flavor profile. This feature has usually been associated with the use of "crystal malts," a practice long utilized at Bushmills.

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Crystal malts are made by cooking malted barley prior to kilning it. As with regular malts the barley is steeped and germinated. Prior to kilning, however, it is cooked in a pressure cooker. The cooking process breaks down the starches into sugars more completely. When the resulting malt is kilned, some of the sugars in the barley are caramelized.

The Irish Whiskey Experience in Killarney



Crystal malts are often used in beer production to add sweetness and more pronounced caramel flavors to the resulting brew. Usually, they will amount to between 10% and 20% of the mash bill. For reasons that are not entirely clear, when they are used in whiskey production, crystal malts will typically create very pronounced stone fruit aromas and flavors. A pronounced stone fruit note is usually a good indication that a whiskey originated at Bushmills.



Celtic Cask Ceathair Deag #14, 70 cl, 46% ABV. Distilled in 2001 Bottled in 2016, 323 bottles. Non-chill filtered.

The Celtic Cask #14 is a double distilled, single malt whiskey. It was matured for 11 years in a first fill, ex-bourbon barrel. It was then finished for three years in a wine barrel that had previously held Brunello di Montalcino from the Altesino estate.

The whiskey has a deep rich amber color with very slight hints of a reddish hue from the wine barrel in which it was finished. On the nose there is sweet caramel, with aromas of baked apple, ripe stone and tropical fruit, candied citrus and a slight cereal note.



On the palate the whiskey has a rich, creamy mouth feel with a pronounced weight and viscous texture that features flavors of ripe stone fruit, baked apple pie, and slight minty and anise notes. The finish is long, featuring ripe stone fruit, with minty and licorice notes and a slight herbal tone.

Appearance 9/10, Nose 27/30, Palate 28/30, Finish 28/30 Overall Score 92/100

Celtic Cask Cuig Deag #15, 70 cl, 46% ABV. Distilled in 1991 Bottled in 2016, 646 bottles. Non-chill filtered.

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The Celtic Cask #15 is a double distilled malt. It has been matured for 22 years in an ex-bourbon cask, followed by 2.5 years in a 50+ year old port barrel from famed producer Quinta de Noval.

The whiskey is a deep, rich bronze color, with a pronounced reddish hue from the port cask used to finish the whiskey. On the nose there is a distinctive butterscotch aroma, a consequence, most likely, of the crystal malt used in the whiskey's mash bill. This is followed by slightly herbal and dried fruit notes reminiscent of an aged tawny port, along with some candied citrus peel.

Celtic Cask Ceathair Deag #14 and Celtic Cask Cuig Deag #15



On the palate the whiskey is drier than on the nose, with a pronounced smooth, creamy texture and noticeable weight on the palate. There is a distinctive cooked and dried fruit element. The port cask influence is unmistakable, but is well integrated with the butterscotch elements of the original malt and produces the classic, spirit infused fruit cake flavors but drier, without any overt sweetness. There are additional notes of candied orange zest, and tropical spices, including vanilla, ginger, and cinnamon.

The finish is long and complex, featuring dried fruit elements with a bit of spice, followed by a pepperiness, more ginger-like than black pepper, and a distinctive butterscotch note at the end. This is an extraordinary whiskey. Grab a bottle if you can, before it is gone forever.

Appearance 10/10, Nose 29/30, Palate 28/30, Finish 29/30 Overall Score 96/100
Stars and stripes on gun

In 1984 Bernie Goetz shot four black teenagers in the subway because, he concluded, they would rob him or worse. He left one man a paraplegic with permanent brain damage. The so-called "Subway Vigilante" eventually turned himself into police but not before receiving nation-wide support from segments of the public, including media outlets, who hailed him as a hero.

Goetz' shoot first-ask questions later approach has, as videos have reminded us, been favored by law enforcement across the country. A retired corrections officer, Will Groomes, similarly shot an unarmed man in the subway last year reportedly during an altercation. Groomes was not charged. There was also the recent horrendous shooting death of Delrawn Dempsey Small, a father who was fatally shot by an off-duty NYPD cop early last week in Brooklyn. His family was in the car as he stepped out to confront a driver who had reportedly cut him off. That driver, 3-year NYPD veteran Wayne Isaacs, shot Small at point blank rage. Small collapsed between two parked cars and died in the early hours of July 4th.

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The recent fatal shootings of cops in Dallas this month that have been met with widespread condemnation have now flipped a soul-searching conversation on race and policing up in the air. The attacks followed an explosive week of police killings and were reportedly a response to a persistent culture of police violence. However, in a country that has launched deadly military invasions across the world, to hail the suspected shooter in Dallas, Micah Johnson, a "hero", like Goetz, might land you on a terrorist watchlist somewhere.

Apart from the obvious differences (Johnson targeted seemingly random police officers), Goetz and Johnson are linked in that both felt a need to take matters into their own hands. Johnson was allegedly frustrated police killing of unarmed black Americans. Goetz and his supporters expressed a frustration with a criminal justice system that hadn't done enough to suppress street crime. Goetz' decision to become the Clint Eastwood of the subway, in fact, became a rallying cry for an expansion of law enforcement powers and strategies. Crackdowns on so-called subway 'vagrants', which often simply meant young people of color or homeless people, took off in the early 90's as part of the Broken Windows policing strategy.

A middle-aged white electronics dealer had not only won the support of local tabloids, he helped spark the growth of police power. His victims, all young black men, were nothing more than a side story.

The overbearing power of police ties directly back to Dallas. Micah Johnson's actions, if media reports are to be believed, followed an explosive week of police-involved killings: Alon Sterling was selling CD's in Louisiana when he was pinned down on the ground by two police officers. He was shot multiple times as police held his empty hands. Not 24 hours later, Philando Castile was shot and killed by a cop in Minnesota after being pulled over for a broken tail light. The swing towards law and order that began in the 80's and 90's have fueled and multiplied these sort of interactions.

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Video of Sterling's death and footage of Castile's lifeless body touched off protests across the country. In these cases, like countless others, cellphone video proved the most vital tool in shining a light on the brutal reality of police encounters. Castile's final moments were haunting. His girlfriend broadcast the immediate aftermath of his shooting live on Facebook through her phone. The internet heard her account of what happened before the police version of events could be fed to the media. It was perhaps the boldest form of copwatching, showing the public a dramatic angle of police violence: through the lens of someone with a police gun pointed at them.

As Castile's death dawned on her, Diamond Reynolds broke down and cried. Her 4-year old daughter, who saw everything from the backseat of the car, had to console her grieving mother. The livestreaming cell phone recorded it all. Reynolds and her daughter were both reportedly detained until the next morning.

In the universe of police killings of unarmed black Americans, Sterling or Castile stand out in that both apparently were licensed to carry guns. While the practice of filming police officers is gaining mainstream acceptance as cell phone videos have become the epicenter of a movement against police brutality, the conversation on gun control, the history of which involved a political response to the Black Panthers, is today polarized along predictable partisan lines.

Considering that police officers can be seen as real and serious threats to black men and women, what would the response have been had either Sterling or Castille used their guns to defend themselves from police before they were killed? Would they have been seen as heroes, like Goetz was? The idea of black self defense from police has been a dangerous one to hold, from the Panthers on through to today (as one D.C. firefighter learned). There is also, of course, the sacredness of police life that has always dominated mainstream political thought. It's why President Barack Obama only attended services for the Dallas police officers, not Sterling or Castille. It's why Assata Shakur is in Cuba.

Johnson, of course, was someone far easier to demonize. Pictures depicting Johnson as some sort of deranged black militant make a common enemy for both conservative media, always on the alert for black militancy, and liberal media, always on alert for a high-profile mass shooting incident. Little has been said about his reported actions being an example of 'blowback', the old CIA term for the unintended consequences of aggression. It's perhaps hard to imagine that a nonstop parade of incidents of police violence wouldn't at some point provoke a violent response. And there have been other examples before Johnson: in 2013 former LAPD officer Chris Dorner shot and injured multiple cops in California over the course of 10 days after he claimed he'd been fired for reporting excessive force in the department.

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Goetz' celebrated decision to solve his problems with violence, on the other hand, was given legitimacy by a criminal justice system that couldn't even punish him with a year in prison. His supporters applauded his bloodlust. He reportedly told prosecutors that his only problem was that he "ran out of bullets." He served eight months for gun possession and today lives in the same apartment he lived in 1984, on 14th street in Manhattan. It's not unlikely, if you live in New York, that you might ride the same train as the famed vigilante. The politics of crime and order maintenance that Goetz helped shape would be all around you, as well. An army of police, some now armed with military-grade long guns and the latest tactical armor, roam the city and subways today.
Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering in Omaha, Nebraska is a destination for out-of-town foodies and local restaurant aficionados alike. The restaurant has been featured on the Food Network, the Travel Channel, and praised by celebrity chef, Guy Fieri.

For restaurateur Patricia Barron -- better known as "Big Mama" -- the soul food eatery is the culmination of a lifetime of cooking, collecting recipes, and honing her business skills. Next year she'll move from her present, hard-to-find location to the Highlander neighborhood, a mixed income community with upscale amenities located in the heart of North Omaha. It's a historically African-American neighborhood, which has experienced high levels of poverty and violence in recent decades. However, entrepreneurs such as Barron and organizations like Seventy-Five North Revitalization Corp., the nonprofit developing the Highlander, are working to change that.

"I'm just excited about this project," said Barron. "I'm glad to be a part of that project and bring my restaurant there and serve the food that we serve here."

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The restaurant will be housed in a mixed-use facility called the Community Accelerator which will anchor the 40-acre Highlander development. The 65,000 square foot Accelerator building has been designed to be a hub of technology, entrepreneurship, recreation and education for the neighborhood. In addition to Big Mama's restaurant, the Accelerator will house a coffee shop, an urban farming facility, and satellite locations for Creighton University and Metro Community College.

"So, that's another reason I'm just thrilled about moving because I'll be on 30th street, which is a very busy street and there are going to be other businesses in the complex. I just wish they would hurry up so I could move next month!" said Barron.

The 74-year-old Barron remembers when North Omaha was a bustling community full of shops, restaurants and nightclubs. Her father was a musician and she recalls a time when "there were musicians on every corner. There was a music teacher on every block."

She is hopeful that the neighborhood can return to its former vitality. The team at Seventy Five North believes that Big Mama's Kitchen is a cornerstone in the revitalization of North Omaha.

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"I love Omaha. This is my birth city and I want the best and I'd like for this to be the best city in the nation," said Barron. "I'm hoping that this Highlander project will be the first step toward the revitalization of North Omaha because there's so much negativity about North Omaha and I think this is a very positive step."

The success of Big Mama's Kitchen is firmly rooted in its neighborhood. Barron uses recipes that she collected from previous generations of African-American cooks and cafe owners in North Omaha. In some cases, she's preserved parts of a culinary tradition that might otherwise have been lost. Recipes for fried shrimp, pancakes, and peach cobbler were passed down to Barron and can still be found on the menu.

Big Mama's Kitchen plays an even more important role in the life of North Omaha. Barron believes in providing employment and job training to people in need of a second chance. She speaks with great pride about the Omaha-area chefs she's helped train, Cornell and Dwayne, who are now chefs at large hotels in downtown Omaha.

"They're my pride and joy because they've come straight out of prison. I'm just so proud of them," said Barron. "You know, we've graduated four chefs already, I'm just so proud of them."

Not everyone would take a chance on hiring people who were convicted felons, let alone help them gain job skills or attend culinary school, but Barron sees it differently.

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"I found that a lot of young people want a second chance and when they step out to get that second chance to change their lives, we need to hire them. We need to hire them. We need to provide employment for them," said Barron.

It's for that reason that Big Mama's Kitchen fits in so well with the mission of the Highlander. She also exemplifies professionalism, good parenting and giving. Barron and her late husband, who was a hydro-technician for the Municipal Utilities District in Omaha, raised five daughters and sent them to Catholic prep school. Today she has 19 grandkids, 27 great-grandkids, and 2 great-great grandkids. Some of her family members work with her in the business and multiple generations are often gathered in the large dining room.

What's even more impressive is that Barron didn't start the business until she retired from corporate life.

"I thought, wow, I'm 65. I'd better hurry up and do something if I'm going to do the restaurant," she laughs.

A Navy veteran, Barron was disappointed to learn that women weren't allowed to be cooks when she joined the service. Instead, she was trained to be a bookkeeper. It's a skill that has helped her throughout her career. After serving her country, Barron went to work for the phone company as a computer operator and started a family. She originally went to the University of Nebraska, Omaha to be a social worker, but switched to culinary school when she realized that line of work wasn't for her.

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Barron dreamed of opening her own restaurant, but a management opportunity opened up at the phone company as she was graduating from culinary school. Women and minorities were starting to be recognized and promoted in the company and Barron was among the first put on a management track. She decided to stay with her corporate career.

It wasn't always easy. An African-American woman in the corporate world in the '70s still had an uphill battle, but she persevered and succeeded. She recalls that eventually people said, "We need to work for Pat because she can get things done."

In 1990 she retired from the phone company, by then it was Qwest, and continued to work at Oriental Trading Company and The Maids. She finally fulfilled her lifelong dream and opened Big Mama's Kitchen and Catering in 2007. Like many members of her generation, Barron has redefined "retirement." She thinks it's an ideal time to fulfill a dream because bills are paid, kids are raised, and "you can really go do what you want to do."

"Big Mama" also has advice for people thinking about starting their own restaurant. "Well, number one I think you have to serve good food. People today are looking for real food, not processed food or food that's been warmed over in the microwave," said Barron. "Then I think that people have to have a pleasant experience when they come to your restaurant. I mean, we make people feel like they're here at home."

She works hard to train her staff to do things the "Big Mama" way. She expects her staff to be honest, interested in food and culinary arts, and enthusiastic about coming to work. She chooses to hire people who need a second chance.

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"Because we want them to be productive citizens, you know, we want them to add something to the community," said Barron. "And hopefully by giving them a second chance they'll be the future leaders of North Omaha and can bring more things to North Omaha. I have found that the folks who are felons, they're very intelligent people and they have a lot to bring and offer. They just need to be given a chance."

Giving back to the community she loves is just a part of Barron. "I was born in a generation where you were taught to give back. Once you've made your success, then you give back and help people that are coming under you," she said.

Patricia Barron thinks that the Highlander is a key part of what will be an economic revitalization of Omaha's northside. She points out the beautiful old homes and beautiful people who make up the neighborhood. When she worked with young people through the Urban League she noticed that they would marvel at the shops and development on the more affluent, west side of the city.

"They had never seen anything like that around here and I thought we really need to do something in our community to bring more stuff here. More shops, more stores, so people can see, 'yes there is hope, yes, there is a life, yes we can do that in North Omaha,'" Barron said.

"Big Mama" has one, simple message for people who wish to make the city a more vibrant place, "Come to North Omaha."

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Earlier on Huff/Post50:
Do not let any person in our government deny the damning reality of the 29 pages.



And as you read the 29 pages remember that they were written during 2002 and 2003.



President Bush did not want the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia investigated. President Bush has deep ties to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its royal family and only wanted to protect the Kingdom. President Bush wanted to go to war in Iraq -- not Saudi Arabia. So, 29 full pages that said "Saudi" and "Bandar" instead of "Hussein" and "Iraq" was a huge problem for President Bush.



It is well documented that the Joint Inquiry received enormous push-back against its investigation into the Saudis. In fact, former FBI Director Mueller acknowledges that much of the information implicating the Saudis that the Inquiry investigators ultimately uncovered was unknown to him. Why does Mueller say this? Mostly because Mueller and other FBI officials had purposely tried to keep any incriminating information specifically surrounding the Saudis out of the Inquiry's investigative hands. To repeat, there was a concerted effort by the FBI and the Bush Administration to keep incriminating Saudi evidence out of the Inquiry's investigation. And for the exception of the 29 full pages, they succeeded in their effort.



Notwithstanding the lack of cooperation from the FBI and the pressure from the Bush Administration to thwart any investigation of the Saudis, the Joint Inquiry was still able to write 29 full pages regarding Saudi complicity in the 9/11 attacks. No other nation is given such singular prominence in the Joint Inquiry's Final Report. Not Iraq. Not Iran. Not Syria. Not Sudan. Not even Afghanistan or Pakistan.



The 29 pages have been kept secret and suppressed from the American public for fifteen years -- not for matters of genuine national security -- but for matters of convenience, embarrassment, and cover-up. Executive Order 13526 makes that a crime. Neither James Clapper nor Barack Obama want to release a statement about that.



The only thing James Clapper and Barack Obama are willing to say about the delayed release of the 29 pages is that they stand by the investigation of the 9/11 Commission. This punt by President Barack Obama is repulsive. President Obama's deference to the 9/11 Commission -- who themselves admit that they were unable to fully investigate the Saudi role in the 9/11 attacks -- depicts Obama's utter lack of interest, engagement, or support of the 9/11 families. Frankly, it re-victimizes the 9/11 families by not acknowledging the truth, blocking our path to justice, and the very vital assignment of accountability to those who should be held responsible. Most alarmingly, Obama's silence keeps us unsafe because instead of calling for an emergency session of Congress to immediately name the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, President Obama continues to downplay, belittle, and ignore the truth leaving us vulnerable to terrorist attacks that are still to this very day being funded by our "ally" the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.



To be clear, the 9/11 Commission did NOT fully investigate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Staff Director Philip Zelikow blocked any investigation into the Saudis. Zelikow even went so far as to fire an investigator who had been brought over from the Joint Inquiry to specifically follow-up on the Saudi leads and information uncovered in the Joint Inquiry. I will repeat -- the investigator was fired. In addition, Zelikow re-wrote the 9/11 Commission's entire section regarding the Saudi's and their connection to the 9/11 attacks. Former 9/11 Commissioners John Lehman, Bob Kerrey, and Tim Roemer have all acknowledged that the Saudis were not adequately investigated by the 9/11 Commission. Thus, for any government official to hang their hat on the 9/11 Commission's Final Report -- when Commissioners, themselves, have admitted that the Saudis were not fully investigated, is absurd and disgraceful.



For example, one glaring piece of information was not mentioned in either the 9/11 Commission or the Joint Inquiry's 29 pages -- the information regarding Fahad Thumairy and Khallad bin Attash found in both an FBI report and a CIA report --that are now declassified. Both reports indicate that Fahad Thumairy -- a Saudi Consulate official--helped bring Khallad bin Attash into the United States in June of 2000 so he could meet with two of the 9/11 hijackers, Khalid al Mihdhar and Nawaf al Hazmi. Thumairy escorted bin Attash -- a known al Qaeda operative -- through INS and Customs at LAX evading security and any possible alarm bells. Again, this information is found in both a CIA and FBI report.



Four months after Khallad bin Attash met with the two 9/11 hijackers in Los Angeles, the USS Cole was bombed and seventeen U.S. sailors were killed. Khallad bin Attash, Khalid al Mihdhar and Nawaf al Hazmi were all named as co-conspirators in the bombing of the USS Cole.



Where is the information regarding bin Attash and Thumairy? Has it ever been investigated? Had our intelligence agencies capitalized on the known connection between Thumairy and bin Attash, they would have been able to thwart the bombing of the USS Cole. In addition, they would have had access and the ability to weave together nearly all the pieces of the 9/11 attacks -- more than nine months before the 9/11 attacks happened.



But as history shows, Saudi Consulate official Fahad Thumairy was not investigated and 17 sailors in addition to 3,000 others were killed.



I'm sure that Barack Obama, John Brennan, Anne Patterson, and Philip Zelikow would all consider Thumairy's operational and financial support of Attash, Mihdhar, and Hazmi as within the threshold of being an "ally" of the United States. I, and the rest of America, would not.



I know summer is a busy time. I know that next week is the Republican Convention. I know that Congress is out of session for two months. And I know that ISIS attacks continue in Nice, Orlando, San Bernardino, Belgium, Paris, and more. Just like I know that Donald Trump picked Mike Pence as his running mate and that there was a coup in Turkey. For an Administration looking to dump some insanely incriminating evidence and have nobody take notice -- doing it yesterday when Congress was leaving for their two month summer recess was probably the best day anyone could have imagined.



But, the world is an unstable, crazy place. And, while I used to think I was safe because my government was looking out for me and making decisions that were in my best interests and that of other citizens, I now know better. For fifteen long years, I have fought to get information regarding the killing of my husband from the U.S. government. I have fought, pleaded, and begged for the truth, transparency, justice, and accountability because my husband and 3,000 others were brutally slaughtered in broad daylight. And our government has done nothing but block, thwart, impede, and obstruct that path to truth, transparency, accountability, and justice. Even going so far as to gaslight us to this very day by denying the plain truth written on the plain paper of the 29 pages.



Please read the 29 pages. Look at the facts and evidence. And then watch the venal way various members of our government and media play spin-master on those facts -- telling you to deny the very harsh, sobering reality found within those 29 pages. I hope their gaslighting disgusts you as much as it disgusts me.



Note that these 29 pages merely detail the Saudi connection to the 9/11 attacks in San Diego. They briefly touch on the Phoenix information, as well. Though more notably, the 29 pages do not include information found in the more than 80,000 documents that are currently being reviewed by a federal judge in Florida -- 80,000 documents that neither the 9/11 Commission, the Joint Inquiry, the Clinton, Bush, or Obama White House, nor the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wants us to know about.



More than anything, please know this: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provided operational and financial support to the 9/11 hijackers. That is a fact. And, the U.S. government has been covering up that fact for fifteen years -- even to this very day. And that is a crime.



Corruption, greed, and vice, specifically as it pertains to protecting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is not a one-party problem. It spans both democratic and republican administrations. Blame President Clinton, President Bush, and President Obama -- as well as, all of their officials and appointees. They are ALL to blame for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks, helping to facilitate the 9/11 attacks through their own abject negligence, using the 9/11 attacks to further ill-begotten gains and goals, and covering-up the 9/11 attacks by not coming clean with the American public for fifteen years.


"I opened up the email and saw the first word -- 'Congratulations!' -- I called Ron instantly, jumping up and down like a teenage girl. Ron was driving and had to pull over just so we could relish the moment. We both worked so hard on this film, for almost five years; it felt incredible to have it recognized with such a great honor!"

That's filmmaker, Louise Amandes, sharing the moment she found out Bezango, WA, her documentary feature made with producing/directing partner, Ron Austin, had been selected for exhibition by the prestigious San Diego Comic-Con. As any independent filmmaker knows, these are the moments, rare and wonderful, that can truly change the trajectory of one's career, of one's project; bringing it to an audience it might not have found otherwise; allowing it to be discovered in an artistic field of thousands of offerings. Simply put, it can be life-changing.

When I started blogging several years ago, one of my missions was to use the platform I had to shine whenever light I could on the artists, the projects, the smaller, more independent endeavors, that often get lost in the sea of art and craft available in our burgeoning marketplace. Bezango, WA, and Louise Amandes, seemed perfect candidates, so I sat down with her to get a bit more perspective on her and this unique project.

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A feature-length documentary, Bezango, WA, focuses on an eclectic and vibrant community of Seattle-area cartoonists, sharing their wide gamut of artistic styles and sensibilities, along with glimpses into individual philosophies, creative processes, even the struggles inherent in making art while attempting to make a living.

An eclectic artist herself, Louise knows a little something about both the joy and struggle of the artist's life. Throughout a long and colorful career, she's worked as a screenwriter and songwriter, improv actor, drummer; talented graphic artist and web designer, along with her "day job" as a sought-after Seattle massage therapist (she was the on-set consultant for director/writer Lynn Shelton's film, Touchy Feely, starring Rosemarie DeWitt and Ellen Page). With such a diverse background herself, it's not hard to picture her finding affinity with artists in the cartooning community, many of whom she met, along with creative partner, Ron Austin, while studying animation and motion graphics.



My first question, Louise, is how did you and Ron come to work together, and how did you arrive at the idea of doing a documentary on "Seattle cartoonists"?

Ron and I made a few short films together early on, and when it came time to decide on our next film, he had the idea of focusing on the cartoonists and comic artists of the Seattle area, where we are both based. Ron has been part of the cartooning community here for many years; he's dabbled in cartooning himself, and was involved in the cartoon group, Cartoonists Northwest, so he knew there was a rich assortment of stories to tell about this particular genre of artist.



But neither one of us had any idea how to actually tackle the subject, even whether to make a feature film or create a web series. We decided to start by interviewing a few cartoonists and see where it evolved from there. We originally had a select group we were talking to and thought about focusing the project largely on them, but as word got out about what we were doing, more and more people started recommending we interview this person or that person. We came to discover there was this vast community of extremely talented artists here, who support and inspire each other through all kinds of events and collaborations, and we quickly realized this community was the heart of the story.

One can really sense, while watching the film, how much you respect and admire both the creativity and the struggles these people experience in making art in a challenging market.

That's true. As artists ourselves, particularly indie artists with our own set of challenges, Ron and I wanted to highlight these incredibly talented people who never stop doing their art despite the struggles of living in an area like Seattle, which has become a very expensive place to live, and working in a field that's highly competitive and not always lucrative. Our goal with Bezango, WA was to honor that commitment to their work, and reflect just how real and "down home," in a way, these artists are despite those struggles.

Independent films come with inherent challenges for any production team, particularly given the lower budgets and limited production personnel. While it's not common for a creative team to both wear the hats of "producer" and "director," the success of Bezango, WA makes clear that you and your partner figured it out!



Can you give us an idea of how you two divvied up the production and creative tasks during the years of putting the film together?

We both had our hands in every element of making the film. Ron was the chief financial contributor and I was in charge of production. In the beginning, Ron did a lot of the cinematography, while I set up the interviews and staged the shots, setting up the lighting and audio. At first I didn't even know how to use the DSLR camera, but over time I got a handle on it, and we ended up filming with two cameras for each interview... giving us a much better selection of shots to choose from. As we moved into post-production, I did a larger percentage of the editing, as well as setting up the music for Brian Cobb to create, and working closely with Andrew Lloyd, our sound editor. Ron also had a hand in the editing, music, and sound, but the bulk of that was done by me to balance out his financial contribution.

Your respect and affinity for this particular community is evident in every frame of the film, from the stunning "beauty shots" of the Pacific Northwest, to the intimate and revealing conversations with individual artists. The vulnerability and openness of many, the shared stories and candid perspectives offered, give testament to their commensurate respect for the celebratory intent of the film, making it a mutual admiration event! Tell me, what are the reactions Bezango, WA is inspiring, and what do you most hope people get out of it?

The reviews, both personal and editorial, have largely been positive. People have let us know how much they enjoyed learning about this group of artists, learning about this industry that so many had no idea existed. Some feedback suggested we'd included too many artists in the original edit, so we took a look at that and have edited it down since the original screenings. But for those interested, the original, full-length version of the film will be the one screened at San Diego Comic-Con.

As for what I hope people get out of it: It was really important to Ron and me to use our medium to educate the world about these artists, their art, and their struggles. I hope, after viewing the film, that people have a better understanding of this community, and will support these great artists who work so hard to put out amazing work, especially those from the area we feature. One of the best comments I continue to hear from people is that they feel we've educated them about a community they had no idea existed, one they will now definitely support by buying more graphic novels and comic books.

I know you've done a number of screenings at various film festivals and regional events since the film's completion, but getting selected for the San Diego Comic-Con is quite a prestigious honor, one, I hope, that vaults the film, and you as filmmakers, into the next stratosphere. Having seen and enjoyed your documentary immensely, I very much agree that it offers unique insight into a very specialized art form, one which I had little knowledge of up till now, while revealing the universal struggle that exists with artists of many mediums. It's a both wonderful testament to, and a window into, the world of the talented group you feature. I encourage audiences and appreciators of art to grab a badge and get to the screening.



Speaking of which, how can readers see the film this coming week at Comic-Con?

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People with Comic-Con badges can see the film on Friday, July 22nd, at 11:05 am PST-12:50 pm PST. It will be screened in Pacific Ballroom 23 on the , 1st floor of the Marriott Marquis right next to the Convention Center. There will be a Q &A after the film with Ron and I, which will also include Frank M. Young, David Lasky, and Pat Moriarity, who are featured artists in the film.

Thanks, Louise, for sharing a bit about your documentary. I have no doubt Comic-Con attendees will find it as inspiring as I did. I wish you and Ron all the best with its continued rollout, and look forward to seeing what's next from you.

You're welcome, and thanks for helping get the word out. Every independent artist knows -- including me! -- that our task is to find the balance in creating great work, getting it seen, heard, and appreciated, and, at the same time, assuring one's survival and forward motion. Which makes me all the more honored to have our little film selected for this event. I'm looking forward to the feedback and excitement it will bring to our artists, our film, and to us as filmmakers. We're happy to be included and hope to see lots of you there!



BEZANGO, WA: San Diego Comic-Con, Friday, July 22nd, 11:05 am PST-12:50 pm PST, in the Pacific Ballroom 23, 1st floor, Marriott Marquis.

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Photograph of Louise by Deb Rosof; photo & trailer by permission of Louise Amandes

For more information check the Bezango, WA website, and enjoy the trailer below.

___________________________________________________________


Trump picks Indiana Governor Mike Pence as vice president. REUTERS/John Sommers II

Donald Trump has named Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. The presumptive Republican candidate confirmed the choice in a tweet.

I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2016

The news might come as a surprise to some, as the name bubbled to the surface only in the last few weeks. Pence, however, was my pick back in April.

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The selection of Pence demonstrates something important about how constrained Donald Trump's political choices really are. His candidacy is based on the premise that he is beholden to no one and that he is a powerful person capable of imposing his will through sheer force of personality.

This is nothing more than theater. Not only is Trump constrained by normal political forces, he is perhaps uniquely constrained among presidential candidates by the lack of unity within the Republican Party - disunity he helped create.

Pence was, in fact, one of very few people that Trump could name even though the candidate seems to have more affinity for personalities that project Trump's vision of strength through aggression - like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

To understand the choice of Pence, let's consider the constraints on Trump.

Firming up the base

Most voters are partisans, and most partisan voters remain loyal to their party in the voting booth. Pundits will often observe that a plurality of voters claim to be "independent," but most such voters are actually partisans in disguise, as political scientists discovered long ago.

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Most self-professed independents will admit to having leanings, and these "leaners" are just as loyal in their voting patterns as other partisans. Presidential elections are mostly contests over the small sliver of the electorate that consists of true independents, which is generally between 10 percent and 15 percent of the electorate, based on results from the American National Election Studies survey each election.

Holding onto one's own party is normally taken for granted.

But not this year. Plainly stated: Trump doesn't think he can count on the Republican base.

There is no better demonstration of the disunity within the Republican Party than the fact that George F. Will has left the party, and instructed Republicans to "grit their teeth" during a Hillary Clinton presidency, hoping to defeat her in 2020.

If Trump cannot hold the Republican Party together, then he has no chance of defeating Clinton.

Presidential candidates have looked at vice presidential nominations through many lenses, such as the opportunity to turn a swing state or complement policy strengths. But Trump had a different problem to solve with his veep pick - uniting the Republican Party around him, including the establishment he has scorned in the past.

Bringing the party together

There are two factions of the party that have been leery of Trump -- the movement conservatives and the Chamber of Commerce faction.

Movement conservatives, who are generally motivated by issues such as abortion and gay marriage, have every reason to distrust a man with no connection to their movement and a history of taking stances in opposition to theirs, seeming to take positions on abortion that are most politically convenient at the moment, however fleeting that moment may be.

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Commerce types want governance of a predictable form because business in general detests uncertainty. Meanwhile, Trump claims his very unpredictability on the world stage as an asset.

Pence is a movement conservative who, unlike Trump, has solid credentials on abortion and same-sex marriage and trade. He has legislative experience from the House of Representatives and currently serves as a governor, giving him executive experience, which Trump lacks.

Since Pence was not involved in the debt ceiling showdowns that have led to tension between the Tea Party and the Chamber of Commerce since the 2010 election, he has the ability to unite the factions. In other words, Pence is trusted by everyone who distrusts Trump, even when they don't trust each other.

Vice presidents, of course, have little formal authority.

As Vice President John Nance Garner once said, the vice presidency was worth little more than a bucket of warm piss. But the accuracy of that evaluation is in the president's hands. If the president delegates authority to the vice president, the position gains power - as was the case with Vice President Dick Cheney.

Trump has little interest in the minutiae of governance. Pence could very well find himself in a position of power by default. Trump is signaling to the Republican faithful that he will give that sort of role to Pence, an assurance that he is constrained to make by a party in disunity.

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Most political candidates spend an enormous amount of time and energy crafting campaign images. When it comes to judging politicians, what you see is at least as important as what you hear. The pictures that appear on screen, especially the people who surround a candidate, can have a powerful impact on voters.

In my work on campaign ad imagery, I found that viewers saw the people pictured in a candidate's ad as a cue for what kind of people that candidate supported.

For example, candidates featuring African-Americans were more likely to be seen as supportive of affirmative action. Candidates who pictured blue-collar workers were more likely to be seen as supportive of raising the minimum wage. In fact, the impact of the image was just as strong as if the candidate had explicitly come out in favor of these causes. Moreover, viewers extrapolated a candidate's ideology based on the groups pictured. If the candidate pictured groups generally viewed as liberal, like African-Americans, then he was perceived as more liberal. If she pictured groups generally viewed as conservative, like farmers, then she was perceived as more conservative.

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While political ads can have a large cumulative impact, perhaps no single event garners more attention than a national political convention. These made-for-TV events are an excellent opportunity for a candidate to shape his or her image.



Lessons from conventions past

Tasha Philpot of the University of Texas has done excellent work on how the Republican Party has managed its image on racial issues. Her research details the national convention strategy used by the George W. Bush campaign and the GOP, which put African-Americans in prominent positions during the 2000 and 2004 conventions in order to emphasize the party's racial diversity. Because of the importance of race in American politics and the link between African-Americans and liberalism, emphasizing racial diversity also helped the Bush campaign project an image of ideological moderation.

Philpot found that viewers who watched the conventions came away thinking that the GOP had moderated its positions on racial issues and moved left toward the ideological center, even though racial issues were rarely discussed at either convention. This effect was especially pronounced among white viewers, while African-Americans were less likely to be influenced. In short, the GOP pictured African-Americans at the convention in order to appeal to moderate white voters.









Gary Hershorn/Reuters





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Campaign imagery is effective precisely because it doesn't explicitly engage the viewer in the same way as political speech. Voters often use their own preconceptions, particularly those driven by partisanship, to tune out political messages. Rather than passively accept information, viewers form mental arguments against political messages they disagree with, and may even misremember political messages in favor of their own preexisting views of parties.

However, subtle image cues can bypass voters' cognitive processes and biases. An African-American standing in the background of a campaign ad, or even an African-American gospel choir singing the national anthem at a convention, isn't particularly noteworthy and does not draw much of the viewer's attention. Viewers see an image and automatically associate it with a concept rather than actually taking the time and effort to think carefully about an image and what it means. The image can leave an impression on the viewer precisely because it isn't noteworthy.

GOP efforts at projecting diversity continued in 2012, where the party attempted to put Latino faces on screen in prominent spots on the program. However, those efforts made little difference in an election year where voters made decisions very early and often did so based solely on partisanship. In addition, subtle image cues were undercut by the more memorable image of Clint Eastwood yelling at an empty chair.

Following Bush's lead

So what will a Donald Trump convention look like? For the upcoming GOP convention, Trump could follow the path laid out by George W. Bush. It would seem obvious that Trump should use racial imagery at the GOP convention to try and repair his image. His calls for a ban on Muslims as well as his attacks on a Hispanic federal judge have made it difficult for Trump to solidify Republican voters, let alone reach out to independents. Even other Republican leaders have publicly criticized Trump for his overt racism.

Trump's campaign rhetoric has taken a toll on his public standing. There has never been a more unpopular GOP nominee at this stage of the campaign, and his support among traditional Republican voters is slipping. For example, Republican candidates usually win college educated whites by comfortable margins, but Trump currently trails among these voters. Trump is facing a particularly large gender gap, with women overwhelmingly opposed to his candidacy. Just as Bush used African-Americans to project moderation, Trump could make racial imagery a key component of his convention and might win over voters without actually moderating any of his views. This is a particularly good strategy with female voters, who often prefer candidates with moderate positions on racial issues.

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Awkward and overt

However, it is not clear that Trump is actually capable of engaging in that strategy. He seems loathe to back down from even his most obvious mistakes and his use of images of racial diversity has been clumsy, to say the least. At a recent campaign rally Trump pointed out an African-American audience member as proof of his appeal to black voters, even referring to him as "my African-American."









This kind of explicit, awkward appeal is unlikely to be successful. In Philpot's work, and in my own, racial imagery was effective precisely because the candidates did not draw attention to it. Trump's inability to be subtle may make it impossible for him to win over moderate voters.

Finally, there is the possibility of violence at the convention. The host city of Cleveland is preparing for protests, counterprotests and mass violence. Violent clashes would be a disaster for the Trump campaign. Many voters already view Trump as unqualified for the presidency and dangerous. Pictures of violence, especially violence between angry whites and minorities, could cement that image in the public's mind.

The candidate has two paths forward. Trump could continue as he has, ignoring the importance of campaign imagery and appealing to moderates, and remain a long shot for the White House. Or, the candidate could learn from his past mistakes and put on a typical convention. He could use racial imagery within the convention to subtly repair his image. Hillary Clinton is not a popular or well-liked candidate, and if Trump could merely come across as reasonable and somewhat moderate he could still pose a strong challenge in November. Either way, his choices at the convention could direct the course of the general election.

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By Bill Bigelow

In May, the Portland, Oregon school board passed the country's first comprehensive "climate justice" resolution. The school board voted unanimously to "abandon the use of any adopted text material that is found to express doubt about the severity of the climate crisis or its root in human activities," and called for all schools to teach a "climate justice" curriculum. The Portland resolution said that students in city schools "should develop confidence and passion when it comes to making a positive difference in society, and come to see themselves as activists and leaders for social and environmental justice--especially through seeing the diversity of people around the world who are fighting the root causes of climate change..."



That effort received a big boost last week in Washington, DC, when the country's largest union, the National Education Association (NEA), voted at its national convention to support the Portland resolution and to encourage state and local affiliates to create and promote climate literacy resolutions in their own communities, using the Portland resolution as a model. The NEA has close to 3 million members, and its convention is dubbed "the world's largest deliberative assembly," with 7,000 delegates.

The effort to pass the resolution was led by teacher delegates from Oregon, Washington, California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, and included members of the national Badass Teachers (BATs) caucus.

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Oregon teacher Kathleen Jeskey was one of the delegates supporting the NEA resolution: "Clearly teachers from all over the country see that it is past time to teach our students the real science of climate change and properly prepare them for the future. BATs is a caucus dedicated to social justice and we realized that no other social justice issue can be dealt with properly if we ignore the issues around climate."

In addressing the convention, Jeskey paraphrased the Portland climate justice resolution: "We must commit ourselves to providing teachers, administrators, and other school personnel with professional development, curricular materials, and outdoor and field studies that explore the breadth of causes and consequences of the climate crisis as well as potential solutions that address the root causes of the crisis, and do so in ways that are participatory, imaginative, and respectful of students' and teachers' creativity and eagerness to be part of addressing global problems and that build a sense of personal efficacy and empowerment. Our schools must play a leadership role in modeling for students climate and environmentally friendly practices."

NEA delegates passed a second resolution, sponsored by Noam Gundle of the Seattle Education Association, calling for the teachers union to "publicize the work of NEA members educating students and their communities on issues of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change using innovative project-based learning and cross-curricular methods."



There remains an enormous gulf between the severity of the climate crisis and the attention given the crisis in U.S. schools and in widely used text material. In testimony before the Portland school board in May, members of the community group Educating for Climate Justice, shared examples of textbooks currently in use in Portland schools. One passage in Physical Science: Concepts in Action tells students: "Carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles, power plants, and other sources may contribute to global warming." The small section on climate change is filled with this conditional language of "may" and "might."

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A social studies textbook used in Portland and around the country, Holt McDougal's Modern World History, begins its second of three paragraphs on climate change: "Not all scientists agree with the theory of the greenhouse effect."

Portland's resolution was passed with the support of more than 30 community groups including 350PDX, the Sierra Club, the Portland Association of Teachers, Columbia Riverkeeper, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Climate Action Coalition, and the Raging Grannies.

The Milwaukee-based social justice education publisher Rethinking Schools has been distributing "seed packets" to parents, educators, and community activists around the country, which include a copy of the Portland resolution, supporting articles, an "Organizing Lessons from the Portland Climate Justice Resolution," and excerpts from the Rethinking Schools book, A People's Curriculum for the Earth: Teaching Climate Change and the Environmental Crisis.

Rethinking Schools' interim executive director, Bob Peterson, former president of the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, an NEA local, suggested the NEA's "new business item" in support of Portland's climate justice resolution. "Today's teacher unions should recognize that educators need to address social and environmental justice issues," Peterson said. "The NEA's support of the Portland climate justice resolution offers teacher unions around the country a concrete way to connect teachers, parents, and the broader community on an issue that concerns us all."

The process of replicating the Portland climate justice resolution is already underway. The Seattle Education Association's Noam Gundle plans to use the NEA's endorsement of the Portland resolution to begin a similar effort in Seattle, working with other teachers, sympathetic school board members, and the King County Labor Council. Gundle said, "This is a first step in educating our students on the most important issue of our time."

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(Photo: Andreas Kuehn/Getty Images)

By Linda Wells

This is not a story about Hillary Clinton's hair. Because please; she's bigger than that. It's a story about her hairstylist. Another thing entirely.

Isabelle Goetz, who grew up in a village near Strasbourg, France, and owns the Izzy Salon in Georgetown, has been Mrs. Clinton's stylist and cutter since 1997. Other than the occasional blowout from Santa Nikkels, who has a salon near Mrs. Clinton's Chappaqua house, Goetz is the main mane, the chief coiffeur. (That recent trip to the salon at Bergdorf Goodman's? It was for color and other beauty treatments, says Goetz.) With a brush, a comb, and a can of spray in her bag at all times, plus an extra blow dryer nearby just in case, Goetz travels everywhere with the candidate, taming every last flyaway. "This is just a hardworking gig," says Goetz. "I never had a family because work goes first. My clients at my salon, they've been pretty happy to share me with her. They say, 'We'll take one for the team.'"

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Goetz spoke exclusively with the Cut about being on 24-hour blow-dry duty for the Democratic nominee.

What's a typical day like?

I'm always on call. We usually start early, about seven in the morning, but I wake up as early as 4:45. The schedule is in pencil; things could change all the time. She will come with her hair washed and I'll style it. Sometime I cut it when it feels heavy. I blow out her hair with a round brush and volumizing spray, then I give her a face mask that she holds to protect her from the hairspray. It's like a windshield with a handle. She's getting a lot of hairspray during the day and I don't want it to go in her face.

I have my tools with me at all times. If I know I don't have to touch her up for an hour or two, I still have my stuff, my mini comb, my brush, my spray. The day usually ends late. After 11, easily -- and that's if we're lucky. You go to your room, read the schedule, and lie down so you're ready for another day. It's always the same every night, just in different places. I'm always checking the weather if it's humid or if it's windy. If she's out there speaking, I'm always praying that the wind doesn't move her hair in her face because it's distracting. I want to make sure her hair is never an issue.

How do you have the energy to work those long hours?

I find myself closing my eyes if we have a long drive between events. For the first time, I'm capable of taking naps, power naps.

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I'm always amazed by her. We would be sleeping on the plane and she would still be reading the paper and preparing for the next stop. I don't think people realize how intense it is. You take four flights a day, three on the East Coast and then you end up on the West Coast.

What was Mrs. Clinton's hair like when you started working with her?

I gave her a cut in '98, and little by little I started to transform that bob into something that has more lift and layers. It's good for a lot of women, especially professional women. It's feminine but classic. If you push it a little bit back, it has a great line. The style opens up the cheekbones and has volume at the top.

Do you have to work in cramped spaces?

Not really. If we don't have a holding room for her at an event, then we'll do it in a restroom. I've seen a lot of restrooms.

How do you know when to step in and when to back off?

You have to read her mind. I've been with her since '97. It's my fourth campaign, and second presidential campaign. You have to read if we do have time or don't. You have to know when to stop, because you don't want to steal time away from her work.



Barbara Lacy, who does the makeup, has been with Mrs. Clinton even longer than me. We have to dance around each other, working at the same time.

Basically, you have to be fast and good.



Have you ever had any disasters?

I blew out the dryer in Africa. I plugged it in and it started smoking. This was in the beginning and I was not prepared. Somebody found a local dryer, but you feel like you're wasting time. I always have an extra hairdryer with me now.

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Which products do you use on Mrs. Clinton?

I try to find products that don't have so much scent, because if you spray in a small place it becomes so toxic. My favorites are by Kerastase, the mousse, and Oribe.

How do you feel when other people take credit for her hair?

People always try to claim her, even if they've only seen her once. I could see why, because she's such a big shot. But during the long hours, the travel, the speeches, the debates, I don't see them there.

What is it like to see your work on such a powerful woman at such an important time?

I'm proud that I can make her feel good and confident, but it's just my job. The one time it hit me was when I went to the White House and I saw the portrait of Mrs. Clinton, and I thought, that will always be there. It may not mean that much to other people but it means a lot to me. That's cool.



Related: 12 Famous Women on Their Mentors

Do you ever want to get your hands on Donald Trump's hair?

Ha! No! I think he looks like who he is. It's fake. It's weird. It's yellow. It's him. The whole thing.

Do you ever want to change Mrs. Clinton's hair?

I think she'd like to try more things with it. But for now, that look is a good look and she should stick with it.

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For her daughter's wedding, we definitely made it more sassy. I hope she has a lot of state dinners and we could have fun again.

How do you explain your longevity with her?

When I started, they called me "a keeper." I said, "What's a keeper?" "It's somebody we keep." I didn't know what it meant but I thought it was sweet.
Related Qatar says denounces military coup attempt in Turkey

Saudi Arabia welcomed Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's success in prevailing against a coup attempt, state news agency SPA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying on Saturday.

"The source expressed the kingdom's welcome that things are returned to normal led by his Excellency President Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government and in line with the constitutional legitimacy and the will of the Turkish people," SPA said.

It was the first official comment by the world's top oil exporter on the coup attempt which began on Friday night.

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Advocates say healing takes time after former police officer arrested

After a former Hutchinson police officer was arrested in a series of rapes and sexual assaults, victim advocates worry some victims might stay silent.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the exiled figure, but added: "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen."

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Pittsfield WILL Group Formed to Promote City; Dives Into Walmart Debate

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Over the last 10 years, Evan Hickok has formed good relationships with many of his co-workers at General Dynamics.

They are recruited from out of town, come to work as engineers, and the staff at the Pittsfield facility grows a friendship. And then the young professionals leave for what they see are greener pastures. They leave for the city life of Boston or New York envisioning a thriving social scene and nightlife. But more often than not, the workers find themselves taking a job in the suburbs and still not living the life they believed they were getting because as much as the pay increases, in many cases the cost of living increases even more.

"I'm kind of tired of losing friends from that," Hickok said. "The life in the city is a mirage ... the allure, to me, is fool's gold. I've been watching that happen for some time."

For Hickok, he's built up his social network over the last decade and there are plenty of things to do right here in Pittsfield and Berkshire County. But not every young professional from the area knows that. So he and his friends teamed up to create a new community organization, Pittsfield WILL, to promote and a "positive vision" for the city.

"The Berkshires and Pittsfield is a rewarding place to live but it is not obvious," Hickok said. "All that stuff is here. It is just harder to find."

Pittsfield WILL, which stands for We Innovate, Live and Love, now has a charter and a board and expects to act as a social network of sorts for young professionals. They will be sharing information about things to do socially and economically and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. The hope is to harness the energy the young professionals bring to the table and move the city forward economically, socially, environmentally, educationally and culturally.

"We can take control of certain things and we will reach out to the community for that," Hickok said. "We are looking toward a positive future for Pittsfield."

They hope to promote events, organize river and street cleanups to improve aesthetics, share social events, and energize the community.

But then the unexpected happened. It was just two months ago when the group got together to start this organization, and shortly after Waterstone Realty returned to the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority with a request to use the William Stanley Business Park to construct a Walmart Supercenter.

"This is not a positive step for Pittsfield," Hickok said. "Pittsfield WILL doesn't see the Walmart advancing something positive."

The 15-member board  not all of the seats have been filled yet  then found itself right in the middle of the debate. Members watched the tape of the PEDA meeting in which the letter of intent was granted and composed a list of questions they wanted answers to about the project. They printed them out and took them to the open house at Hotel on North put on by the developers.

"We were asked to leave the room. We were kicked out," Hickok claimed.

The questions asked if the developers were willing to pay for an independent economic study and a traffic study. It cited a 2008 Journal of Urban Economics study claiming that for every job Walmart creates, 1.4 jobs are lost at existing nearby businesses, and asked how the new supercenter would impact those businesses on Tyler Street. It questioned the tax revenue cited, asking the company to commit to the $300,000 to $500,000 figure as a projected increase. And they asked for more details about the number of full-time versus part-time jobs and hourly wages and benefits.

"We are only hearing one side. We are only hearing Waterstone's side," Hickok said.

Hickok says the proponents of the job are "professional pitchmen" with money to be made through the project  and the flier asking questions reads "please keep in mind that the developers giving today's presentation are paid a lot of money to convince you that this is the right thing to do. They are in no way obligated to disclose information that might jeopardize the successful development of this Walmart Supercenter.

Pittsfield WILL wants an independent study on the economic impact to show whether or not this will be good for Pittsfield.

"The first thing I can see happening is Mezzie's Variety going out of businesses and then you can go down the line," Hickok says of the economic reverberations he expects from the Supercenter.

In the first quarter of this fiscal year, Walmart boasts $115.9 billion in total revenue from more than 1 billion square feet of retail space  both figures culled from Walmart's website. Broken down that means the new Pittsfield store with close to 200,000 square feet would take in some $80 million in revenue, Hickok said. Even if all 300 employees were paid at $14 an hour, which the company says is the average wage, that would generate $5.5 million going back to the economy. The rest goes back into the store, products, and to the rest of the company.

"That's not a positive equation," Hickok said, advocating for more locally-grown businesses that contribute a higher percentage back into the local economy.

Hickok says in order to grow wealth one needs to "manufacture, mine, or farm" and "anything else is just redistribution of wealth."

"I think it is a negative step to let industrial land become retail," he said.

Further, he says the proposal goes against the city's 2009 master plan, which reads: "Pittsfield economic development efforts should focus on the three sectors identified in The Berkshire Blueprint. These included Creative, Plastics, and Hospitality & Tourism. According to the report, these clusters were selected due to their substantial impact on the regional economy, competitive position vis-a-vis other domestic and international regions, alignment of strengths with nearby metropolitan areas, and the level of organizational support for a cluster activation strategy."

In that same plan, it calls for the city to create "high-paying jobs and long-term career paths" while listing retail as the third lowest paying sector existing in the city with weekly wages of $482. Retail is also one of the largest business sectors in Pittsfield alongside social assistance and accommodation and food services.

"It feels like an inappropriate use of industrial land," Hickok repeated.
Turkish police on Saturday detained about 100 military officers at an air base in southeastern Turkey after an attempted military takeover, security sources said.

The military air base in Diyarbakir has served as a main hub for air operations in the past year against the autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). On Saturday, no planes took off or landed at the base, a Reuters witness said.

A handful of detentions were made at other military bases in the largely Kurdish southeastern provinces of Sanliurfa, Hakkari and Bingol, the sources said.

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US President Barack Obama is convening his National Security Council on Saturday following the attempted coup d'etat in Turkey overnight, officials said.

"The president will convene a meeting with his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey," the White House said in a statement.

The Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country on Saturday after thwarting the coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.

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Preserving Cultural Heritage

Washington, DC - Beginning this week, the U.S. Department of State is hosting fifteen officials from the Middle East and North Africa region as part of the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) to explore strategies that prevent the destruction, looting, and trafficking of cultural heritage. With the ongoing threat to archaeological heritage around the world, the program provides opportunities for the creation of partnerships and networks with U.S. museums, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, U.S. law enforcement agencies, and other entities that protect and preserve cultural property.

The program runs from July 9-30, 2016.

These exchange program participants will begin their visit in Washington, D.C., and then continue on to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico; Santa Fe, New Mexico; St. Louis, Missouri; and New York, New York. In these locales, the participants will deepen their understanding of U.S. laws and legal mechanisms to prevent smuggling of artifacts into the United States and examine U.S. theory, practice, and application of new technologies in the area of cultural heritage protection. Meetings and site visits will also highlight advocacy methods used by public and private entities to raise awareness of conflict antiquities domestically and overseas.
Turkey's regional allies on Saturday condemned a deadly but foiled coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.

Key regional powers Iran and Israel, which have both had strained relationships with Erdogan's government, condemned the putsch that began late on Friday.

Despite the enmity between the Turkish and Syrian governments, officials in Damascus did not comment on the failed coup, which was reported by state media including the SANA news agency.

Damascus regularly accuses Ankara of supporting "terrorist groups" fighting regime forces in Syria, while Erdogan has repeatedly called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the Turkish people's "defence of democracy & their elected government" which he said "proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail."

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey," Zarif tweeted late on Friday.

"Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."

Israel, which last month approved a deal to restore ties with Ankara that were frozen after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010, also condemned the coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel," said foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.

Iran's regional arch foe Saudi Arabia also welcomed Erdogan retaking control.

A Saudi foreign ministry official said in a statement that the kingdom "had followed with much concern developments in brotherly Turkey" and "welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government".

Gas-rich Qatar, which is close to Turkey, was quick to condemn the coup attempt and congratulate Erdogan.

In a telephone call with the Turkish leader, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani "congratulated (Erdogan) on the support of the people of Turkey on his rule against the failed military coup", the official QNA news agency reported.

Qatar is Erdogan's closest Gulf ally, sharing his sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood that is outlawed in other Gulf Arab states.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah congratulated Erdogan on "the success of legitimacy and the victory of democracy (of) the will of the friendly Turkish people" who have been spared "much suffering".

Bahrain made a similar statement, rejecting any attempt to undermine "constitutional legitimacy under the leadership" of Erdogan and his government and stability in Turkey.

Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, who have friendly ties with Qatar as well as Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party, "condemned the failed coup attempt" and "congratulated the people and the Turkish leadership for successfully protecting democracy".

Turkey has recently obtained several compromises from Israel over Gaza, including authorisation for Ankara to build a hospital in the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, activists -- notably those linked to Hamas -- called for demonstrations in solidarity with the Turkish government.

Erdogan called on his supporters to remain vigilant, warning of a fresh flare-up of violence even as his forces regained control.

In Khartoum, President Omar al-Bashir condemned "the attempted coup in Turkey and the disturbance of security and stability in the country."

"The government of Sudan and its people stand beside President Erdogan and the people of Turkey to ensure security and stability in Turkey," the presidency statement added.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday 161 people -- not including the putschists -- were killed in the coup attempt, with 2,839 soldiers detained on suspicion of involvement.

Turkey's acting army chief had earlier said 104 putschists had been killed.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Under Secretary Thomas A. Shannon Travel to Vienna, Austria

Washington, DC - Under Secretary Thomas Shannon will travel to Vienna, Austria, on July 18-19 to lead the U.S. delegation to a Joint Commission meeting under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding Irans nuclear program. Under Secretary Shannon will be accompanied by Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation Ambassador Steve Mull and experts from relevant U.S. government agencies.

Attending the Joint Commission meeting will be the JCPOA participants, to include all the members of the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union, and Iran.

Prior to the Joint Commission, Under Secretary Shannon will meet with Austrian government officials on a broad range of regional and global topics.
President Obamas Call with President Francois Hollande of France

Washington, DC - President Obama spoke today by phone with President Francois Hollande of France to offer his heartfelt condolences on behalf of the American people to the people of France on yesterdays horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France. The President noted that this terrible attack was particularly heinous given that it struck revelers celebrating Bastille Day.

The President offered to President Hollande any assistance the French may require in their efforts to investigate and recover from this tragic loss of life. The President thanked President Hollande for Frances unwavering support to the Counter-ISIL Coalition and in the broader global fight to confront all terrorism, and he reaffirmed the strong and ongoing partnership of the United States with France, our oldest ally.
Zimbabwe Man Who Started 'Pak Bean' Rivalry Had This to Say After Pakistan's Defeat
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Oscar Isaac is one actor whose profile has risen considerably over the course of the past few years aided by a good run of impressive career choices (X-Men: Apocalypse aside, perhaps).

Having worked with acclaimed filmmakers including the Coen Brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis), JC Chandor (A Most Violent Year) and JJ Abrams (some little film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens), it's no surprise to learn the actor will be joining forces with directing heavyweight Steven Spielberg.

Moreover, Variety reports that the Spielberg film he's set to appear in has been described as the maestros passion project  namely The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, an adaptation of David Kertzer's novel following a young Jewish boy in 1850s Italy.

Which recent movies will become classics? Show all 21 1 /21 Which recent movies will become classics? Which recent movies will become classics? Birdman - Undoubtedly Alejandro G. Inarritus masterpiece will surely be remembered for years to come - fiercely original in its concept, brave in its single take(esque) format and the perfect satire of a very specific and bizarre era of cinema we find ourselves in. What perhaps was so astonishing about this Best Picture Oscar winner was that in spite of its experimental format and lofty intentions, it still also managed to be hugely entertaining, and is eminently rewatchable. - Christopher Hooton Fox Searchlight Pictures Which recent movies will become classics? There Will Be Blood - Potentially Inherent Vice feels like its been forgotten already, The Master was great but too weighty for some, but There Will Be Blood is the Paul Thomas Anderson film that comes up time and time again in pub film conversations, whether theyre between cinephiles or more casual fans. A blank yet brutal indictment of lucre, Daniel Day Lewis gave one of his best ever performances as oil man Daniel Plainview, and Jonny Greenwoods fearsome score is still being performed live several years after its release. But mainly, I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! I DRINK IT UP! - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Avatar - Probably not Its undeniable that James Camerons gargantuan blockbuster Avatar will find its place in the cinematic history books. With a worldwide gross of over 2.7 billion, its currently the highest earning film of all time - even Star Wars' The Force Awakens return couldn't topple it. But will it actually be remembered fondly? Its ground-breaking special effects already betray the first signs of aging, and though its use of 3D was revolutionary at the time, its now so pedestrian as to be found in a Glee concert movie. What is there to revere then? The patronising narrative re-hash of the plot to Dances With Wolves? Or the bit where two cat-aliens had sex by plugging their hair braids into each other? - Clarisse Loughrey Which recent movies will become classics? Whiplash - Within its own genre at least Whiplash was perhaps the most buzzy, "have you seen it yet?" film of 2014, and winning major Oscars off a budget of $3.3 million was no mean feat. Damien Chazelle managed to make a film about drumming absolutely edge-of-your-seat stuff, and succeeded by not patronising his audience - trusting that even if they didnt understand the music theory detail, they would still be able to revel in it. Unfortunately, it might just be too small a film to be remembered as a classic, but will certainly be circling the top of best movies about music lists for some years to come. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Skyfall  Depends whos Bond next Best Bond of all time? Skyfalls slick, true, but its status as an icon seems heavily premature. Were still clinging onto the Craig era, and its hard to argue that Skyfall doesnt do the same; trading its entire dramatic tension on the premise that weve long been deeply attached to this grizzled Bond and equally grizzled M. In Silvas personal vendetta, or in the neat metaphors of Skyfall Lodges crumbling exteriors and Bonds crumbling interiors of a post-Vesper Lynd world; its only once the franchise has moved on to new pastures that well truly start to see whether Skyfall can go the distance. Doesnt help that Spectre was a bit of a disappointment, though. -CL Which recent movies will become classics? Mad Max: Fury Road - A gutsy yes Yes, its a madly confident move to already claim Fury Roads going to a bonafide classic within its first year of release, but Fury Road is a mad movie. 36 years after its original incarnation, George Miller returned to the wasteland to conjure the greatest adrenaline hit of the cinematic decade. Breathlessly edited, hued with the colours of dust and dirt and rage; packed to the brim with practical stunt work unseen in the digital age. Plus, its a film that actively dismantles the patriarchy through a gun-slinging, metal-armed Charlize Theron. If its not remembered as one of the greatest blockbusters of its time, itll certainly be remembered as one of the gutsiest. - CL Which recent movies will become classics? The Great Beauty - No, but it damn well should be It won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2014, but this Paolo Sorrentino masterpiece is still unknown to most. It centres on a group of aging intellectuals partying on rooftops across Rome to Eurodance, and within this frame of superficiality it manages staggering profundity. The dialogue is rich, the cinematography sumptuous, and if Fellini is considered classic, this fellow Italians work certainly should be too. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Little Miss Sunshine - Within its own genre, yes The Sundance Effect has unfortunately developed a near plague of insufferable, self-conscious mawkishness over the years. Misfit boys finding new meaning to their existence in the arms of pink-haired manic pixie dream girls; sun-dappled bike rides as the latest band to feature a ukulele solo play softly in the distance. Some have indeed come off this false and cloying (Zach Braffs Garden State), others smarter and keener (last years Me and Earl and the Dying Girl); but as the fires of kook devour all in sight, there will always remain one film left standing in the ashes: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris Little Miss Sunshine. One scene that guarantees its elevation above the rabble sees teenager Dwayne (Paul Dano) realise hes colour-blind, and thus will never be able to achieve his dream of becoming a jet fighter. Danos meltdown here is so raw, and so positively tragic, that itll be a hard job to ever forget that epic f-bomb as the years pass. - CL Which recent movies will become classics? Lost in Translation - I'll still be watching it in my 80s at least Really a perfect movie. The casting couldn't have been better and Sofia Coppola conveys the choking feeling of an overly air-conditioned hotel room like no-one else. So many of the shots were beautiful in their simplicity. Bill Murray making a nice crisp, clean golf shot before walking off down the course. The flower arranging scene. Bill lightly grabbing Scarlett Johansson's foot and this subtly serving as the film's 'kiss'. It's the unconventional romance at the heart of the film that makes it so great, though, which is as much about companionship as physical and emotional love. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Crash - Hahahahahahahahaha Seriously, how did it win that Oscar? Even the director doesn't know. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Pans Labyrinth - Absolutely Guillermo del Toro dreams on celluloid; hes a weaver of fairy tales in an age where innocence is presumed dead. Its through innocence, through innocent eyes, that we witness the darkest excesses of human nature in a way that so exposes the incomprehensibility of evil committed in the pursuit of power. Through young Ophelias perspective we watch the horrors of Francos Spanish regime play out, the barbaric cruelty of her stepfather Captain Vidal; she fears not the horned faun who lives in the labyrinth when its so clear her own patriarchal figurehead is the true monster. And though its finale may be heart-breaking, del Toro still allows innocence a certain victory. Victory through Ophelias eyes, those pure and hungry enough to see beyond the borders of her bleak reality to find an escape from the seemingly unstoppable monstrosities of adulthood. - CL Warner Bros. Which recent movies will become classics? Im Still Here - When everyone realises its genius Initially admonished for being exploitative of Joaquin Phoenixs condition, it was astonishing that, when this Casey Affleck-directed mockumentary was revealed to be a hoax, most critics didnt give it a second review, and those who did still disliked it. In hindsight this was so much more than a prank. Phoenix stayed in character as a failed actor turned hip-hop artist for months on end. This dedication wasnt for nothing either (unlikely say, DiCaprio in The Revenant), Im Still Here is actually a very funny, moving and subtly satirical film, and definitely original. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Boyhood - I doubt it While it too was an unprecedented piece of cinema, Boyhood for me faded from the memory very quickly. Dismissing this film as essentially a puberty timelapse might be a little harsh, but the set-up did ultimately come off gimmicky and as a coming of age story it failed to resonate. Admirable, but not a classic - CH Universal Pictures Which recent movies will become classics? The Social Network - Yes I was less than thrilled at the prospect of a movie about Facebook, but then pleasantly surprised upon watching it. A holy production trinity of David Fincher (director), Aaron Sorkin (screenwriter) and Trent Reznor (score) told a story that changed all of our lives with such panache. Texting, the internet, social media etc are so prosaic that many authors and filmmakers disingenuously leave them out of their stories, but here they were central and yet still the film was engrossing, stylish and human. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Django Unchained - Hell yeah/hell maybe Swiping its titular characters name from a 1966 Spaghetti Western directed by Sergio Corbucci, Tarantino utilised his trademark flair for ultra-violence and nihilistic humour to create the perfect meeting point between revisionism and classicism. Django channeled brutality in the name of righteous fury, allowing the freedom fighting slaves of a pre-Civil War Deep South their own legendary cowboy of the John Wayne or Clint Eastwood type. - CL Which recent movies will become classics? The Tree of Life - A few people will kid themselves its classic Terrence Malicks experimental drama couldnt really have been more ambitious or tried to chip away at a bigger chunk of existence. As such, it was automatically lauded by many who didnt really know what to make of it, but looking back, was it worthy of the praise? The Brad-Pitt-is-a-family-man-in-the-50s plot strand was actually pretty unremarkable, and were it not for the brazenness of the extended shots of the universe being formed I doubt it would have made top ten lists the way it did. - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Her - Yes, as a historical document Films depicting the future remain fascinating decades later because they show, in retrospect, how we wanted the world to progress and what developments we simply couldnt have conceived. As such Her will definitely still be getting talked about in years to come, whether or not we do indeed end up falling in love with our computers. (Also see: Ex Machina) - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Any of the space movies? Maybe Interstellar We seem to get a big budget space movie annually these days, and while none of them really have the creativity of Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar stands a chance of staying atop VOD libraries. Gravity and The Martian, while technically brilliant, were pretty forgettable, and dont get me started on Sunshine. Interstellar was very impressive though, and if a Christopher Nolan films going to stand out Id rather it be this one than - CH Which recent movies will become classics? Inception - Please no Yes, its insanely watchable and the plot zips along nicely, but seriously, can we stop pretending people falling backwards off chairs and out of camp, alpine sub-dream worlds amounts to anything more than an overly convoluted, albeit pretty, action movie? - CH Which recent movies will become classics? The Wolf of Wall Street - Not compared to Scorseses earlier work If theres a burden of the artistic revolutionary, its that revolution is only ever momentary in its form; Martin Scorsese made his mark back in 1973 with Mean Streets, and its one thats been difficult to paint over in the 43 years which have since passed. The Wolf of Wall Street faults itself only in being pure Scorsese; its a film which trades purely in the breathless, macho style already so entrenched in cinematic culture. Essentially, Scorseses own genre-defining genius has doomed to obscurity any latter work which dares to fold into the directors own natural form of expression; its made derivative any work which doesnt actively rebel against what hes been most celebrated for. A tough reality, but a reality nonetheless. - CL Paramount Pictures Which recent movies will become classics? Nymphomaniac - Maybe if Part II hadnt happened Even the truest of arthouse directors are culpable for the whims of Hollywood franchises. Yes, with his dual Nymphomaniac films, Lars von Trier managed to ruin the potential classic of his career by needlessly stretching his narrative across two films; churning out the NC-17 answer to Peter Jacksons Hobbit trilogy in the process. Strip Nymphomaniac of the controversy and media hysteria surrounding its use of pornographic actors in its sex scenes; and theres a torn, throbbing soul at its centre. For all its salaciousness, von Triers exploration of the crippling effects of shame society burdens those, especially its women, who dare seek sexual pleasure is genuinely haunting. Thats in Part I, however; by the time Joes life story sees her grow from Stacy Martin into Charlotte Gainsbourg, von Triers epic dissolves into the bang of a drum in continuous, endless cycles. Shes horny and sad; we got it, Lars. - CL

The wider story sees the secretly baptised character taken from his family to be raised as a Christian. The ensuing struggle of his parents to free their son becomes part of a larger political battle that pits the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

Mark Rylance  who starred in Spielbergs adaptation of The BFG and won an Oscar for his role in Bridge of Spies  will lead the cast of the film that the director plans to make after Ready Player One.

Isaac will also team up with Ex Machina director Alex Garland again for sci-fi thriller Annihilation as well as reprising his role of Poe Dameron for the next instalment of Star Wars.
Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday, after crushing a military coup by discontented soldiers seeking to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.

After facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible "flare-up" of Friday's chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

The authorities blamed Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who is Erdogan's arch enemy, for the plot and lost no time in rounding up 2,839 soldiers over alleged involvement amid concerns of the extent of the retribution.

Turks woke up early Saturday to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the failed coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets.

"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.

Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.

General Umit Dundar, who stood in as acting chief of staff while Hulusi Akar was being held by the rebels, said 104 coup plotters has been killed. Akar was later rescued in an operation that marked the end of the plotters' hopes.

During a night where power hung in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied the coup leaders' orders of a curfew and flooded the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," Erdogan warned on Twitter on Saturday.

Friday's putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.

Parts of parliament were turned to rubble after being hit by air strikes from rebel jets.

Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.

Turks have not seen such scenes since 1980 when the military led by general Kenan Evren ousted the government and many had no desire to revive these memories.

As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring several.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with much smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."

While condemning the coup bid, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the coup plotters had to be dealt with "under the rule of law".

Judicial authorities said 2,745 judges would also be sacked in the wake of the coup bid.

Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Ataturk Airport, said the plotters "will pay a heavy price for this act of treason."

The president's critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey's secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

Turkey's once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".

Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."

Speaking in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Turkey to hand over any evidence it had against Gulen.

Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.

And Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.

But the US government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after the coup bid.

Turkish authorities also imposed a security lockdown at the Incirlik air base in the southern province of Adana used by US and other coalition forces in the fight against jihadists in Syria, the US consulate said.

The US military command in Europe has ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures.

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Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Its 50 years since Captain James T Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise boldly went where no man had gone before on their first missions to seek out new life and new civilisations. This new feature film makes a fitting and satisfying tribute to half a century of Star Trek. It has precisely the same mix of solemnity and self-mocking humour, of mind-bending ideas and cheesiness that made the original series so enjoyable. Whether or not it pleases the die-hard Trekkies, Star Trek Beyond should appeal both to older audiences who remember the glory day days of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and to younger ones looking for a placebo while they wait for the next Star Wars.

The screenplay (co-written by Simon Pegg, who also plays Scotty) treats the original characters with affection and a child-like enthusiasm. As he tells us in his captains log, Kirk (Chris Pine) is on his 966th day in deep space and three years into a five-year mission. The crew is growing a little restless. If the universe is truly endless, they are beginning to wonder in moments of metaphysical angst if they might not be striving for something that will forever be out of their reach. Kirk himself is prey to the forebodings of a middle-aged man, now a year older than his beloved father George was at the time of his death.

Plot-wise, the film isnt especially complex or original. The Enterprise sets out to rescue a crew stranded on a planet in uncharted space. This requires them to go through a nebula, always a dangerous business. En route, the ship is attacked by some ferocious looking aliens led by the evil Krall (Idris Elba, unrecognisable for much of the film). He wants to bring the Federation to its knees.

Pine plays Kirk beautifully. Hes every bit as earnest as Shatner used to be in the role and delivers his high-minded one-liners with a sincerity that cant help but seem comical. Better to die saving lives than to live taking them is one of his aphorisms. I think you underestimate humans is another. He has a wonderfully peremptory way of giving orders. Do whatever you have to, Scotty!

McCoy (a permanently flustered-looking Karl Urban), Scotty (Pegg with a Scottish accent that makes him sound like Harry Lauder), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) all speak and behave exactly as expected.

The filmmakers extract as much comic capital as they can from the faltering romantic relationship between Spock, the ultra-logical Vulcan, and Uhura. Damn it, Jim, you wont make it out in time, McCoy exclaims at one stage.

Theres an obvious pathos in seeing Anton Yelchin (who died in a freak accident last month) back as Chekov, as serious as ever and speaking with the kind of Russian accent that KGB spies used to have in old Hollywood Cold War movies.

Scotty is very much attracted by the lithe and punkish Amazonian warrior Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who listens to hip hop and heavy rock and has a genius for using holograms for the purpose of disguise.

Some of the special effects are properly impressive. When the Enterprise is crashing through the nebula or Krall is turning his enemies to dust, the film has an edge. There is a camp side to the battle sequences too that invokes memories of old B-movie matinees. We see Captain Kirk haring around on a motorbike, as if he is a galactic version of Evel Knievel. The Federation headquarters look like a gigantic shopping centre, a Westfield in space.

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Star Trek Beyond certainly isnt the most sophisticated sci-fi movie ever made but it is a very likeable one. It reminds us just why a series that only ran for three seasons in the late Sixties still has such resonance and so devoted a following half a century later. Its part soap opera, part sitcom and has rip-roaring action thrown in too for good measure.
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A group of funny little islands, cut out from the rest of the world, living in their own mythical past? No, not post-Brexit Britain, well not yet anyway, but an apt description of New Zealand, whose extreme isolation has allowed nature to take its own course for the past 80 million years.

I speak for myself, but I dont think I will ever reach peak penguin, such is my fascination for these cute flightless birds.

That, I think, is a fondness shared by many if the popularity of penguins across popular culture signifies anything. I still nurse fond memories of the recent Channel 5 series Penguin A&E With Lorraine Kelly. In New Zealand, youll be interested to learn, there are more species of penguin than anywhere else in the world.

Who knew? Im surprised Lorraine hasnt emigrated. There is, for example, a type called Snares Penguins, which inhabit the still more remote Snares Islands. They have a slightly stooped gait, prominent beaks and a tuft of unruly hair that will put you in mind of our new foreign secretary each time you see them manoeuvring around their own unusual terrain, a forest. Maybe when Boris Johnson gets round to visiting New Zealand he will be introduced to these miniature Bozza-look-a-likes. Maybe in 80 million years time the whole of the British population, cut off from the rest of the world, will be a race of pure euro-sceptics.

You will also be enchanted, I think, by the other unique flora and fauna, though in this first episode the famous kakapo bird, a flightless parrot with a humanoid face, failed to put in an appearance. I remember first seeing one almost 30 years ago in Last Chance to See, a series devoted to near-extinct creatures presented by Stephen Fry and Douglas Adams. Thankfully the kakapo, which had no natural predators until man arrived with rats, cats and dogs, is still with us. So is the Jurassic era mini-dinosaur Tuatara, the kiwi and the magnificently named Dusky Dolphin.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

The only thing you may not enjoy is when the show goes off-remit, exploring magnificent Maori carvings and gazing in wonderment at a herd of 29,000 Merino sheep up a mountain. Magnificent, yes, but not wild.

Brief Encounters continues its run, and, half way through the series, youll find the humour not as broad as at the start (it is abed on Ann Summers parties, after all), and the drama that much more involving. If anything it reminds me of the Coronation Street storylines that were being used at about the same time as Brief Encounters is set, the early 1980s, something of a golden era for Corrie. For those of us of a certain age, the period details are unfailingly poignant, from eating grapefruit halves out of a special dish to the Sony Walkman to the Triumph Dolomite to the Bad Manners LP. Brief Encounters is developing nicely.

If I had the chance I think Id recommend to Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and all our other rulers that they make time for an instalment of Dont Tell the Bride. This would cheer them up, because it actually shows that what are sometimes termed ordinary people can be happy and fulfilled even if they are a bit hard up and cant afford to live in Notting Hill or Islington.

In the case of former prison guard Adam and 23 year old Bianca, from Cardiff, there isn't that much money to spend on the wedding of their dreams, and what there is quite badly budgeted.

Bianca, shall we say, has to make do with a less than ideal outfit, and much else, because Adam and his mates decide to spend thousands of pounds on filling a rusty damp disused warehouse with sand. Can love still conquer all in broken Britain?
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Malbec is a wine we immediately jump to link with Argentina: dark purple bursting with succulent red-berry and black fruits, smooth, approachable tannins, balanced acidity and heady alcohol perfectly partnered with a rugged cowboy and sizzling steak.

The grape was first introduced to Argentina in 1863 by Michel Aimee Puget, an agronomist from France, who realised the potential these vines would have in the Andes mountains and improve the overall quality of Argentinian wines.

Argentinian Malbec is all about altitude. The Andes, with its high diurnal range, gives hot days and cool nights where grapes can have a lengthy ripening period while still maintaining acidity and distinctive flavours.

Fruit ripened at lower altitudes generally give fuller-bodied wines while those from higher altitude vineyards have a better balance of acidity, with cleaner, fresh fruit and an overall elegance and richness.

Mendoza may hog the limelight for this big red but its birthplace is to be found in Cahors in south-west France, east of Bourdeaux. Here, the grape goes by the name of Auxerrois or Cot (in the Loire) and the flavours are very different - more rustic with some farmyard savouriness, leather and spice; with age these wines soften to reveal cedar and earthiness.

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

Historically they were described as 'black wines, so charcoal in colour and high in tannin, your enamel would surely be eroded. Drunk as a varietal and also as a blend in Bordeaux wines, the grape was almost wiped out entirely due to the phylloxera plague in the 19th century but thankfully due to improvements in viticulture and processes in the winery, new horizons beckoned and a broader style was born.

Bertrand Gabriel Vigouroux, one of the top Malbec producers in Cahors knows both climates well. If 12,000km and the Atlantic ocean separate Mendoza and Cahors, they are more like cousins than siblings, and should not be identical in their style.

The structure of Argentinian Malbec has a lot of very ripe fruit but lower acidity overall; with Cahors the structure is built around the freshness of dark blackberry fruit, and higher acidity.

Malbec or Auxerrois, this style of wine is a perfect partner for a variety of meaty and textured dishes. The lighter-bodied, young and fruitier styles with charcuterie; the higher-alcohol wines (from 14% ABV) with steak, roast beef and venison, and more substantial vegetarian dishes such as burnt aubergine, roasted root vegetables - in fact anything thrown on the Josper grill - meat or veg - will taste great with a glass or two.

And with Cahors, look to the foods enjoyed locally like slow-cooked Quercy lamb, cassoulet, confit de canard and creamy Rocamadour goats cheese.

So this week, gather some friends and raise a toast to Malbec the grape and the home it happily makes in many places with this fine selection:

Gouguenheim Malbec Bubbles, Extra Brut Rose

9.95, Tanners

From the Uco Valley in the foothills of the Andes, this is a bit of a surprise. A bone dry sparkling wine made from 100 per cent Malbec, full of strawberry and red cherry on the palate. Malbec thrives in high altitude vineyards and this sparkler reaps all the rewards, maintaining the structure of the fruit and refreshing acidity.

Alpamanta Natal Malbec, Mendoza, 2012

14.95, Berry Bros. & Rudd

Located south of Luyan de Cuyo, with vineyards at 950m above sea level, the coolness of Alpamanta, keeps the damson fruit and violet aromas crisp and clear rather than jammy or muddled, and the acidity well balanced. Biodynamic, medium-bodied and unoaked, this is one to drink now to maximise the fresh fruit pickings.

Mas del Perie La Roque, 2014

21.90, The Sampler

Winemaker Fabien Jouves calls himself an artisan vigneron. His Mas del Perie La Roque Rouge is served at The Remedy wine bar in Fitzrovia and co-owner David Clawson is clearly in agreement: his wines embody everything we think malbec, and especially Cahors malbec should be - fresh, supple, pure inky dark fruit and not heavy or over-oaked like some you tend to see from new world producers. This natural wine, no added sulphur, really tastes of its surroundings - from the Kimmeridgean soils of the vineyard to the intense fruit aromas and firm tannins.

Los Haroldos, Roble, 2013

15.95, Harrods

From the cooler Uco Valley in Medonza, Los Haroldos from the Falasco family, bursts with bright and juicy red fruit: raspberry, dark cherry and plum. This smooth-tasting number is perfect to open up midweek for an impromptu dinner among friends. Its aged for six months in French and American casks, the use of both bringing different flavours - the French, more toast and vanilla and the American, more sweet spice and vanilla, toasted coconut and chocolate. Well balanced and very satisfying on the palate; serve with simple tapas dishes and charcuterie.

Magnum Chateau de Mercues Grand Vin 2009

42, Dulwich Vintners

With a blend of 85 per cent Malbec, this elegant wine is complex, rich and full-bodied. Inky black in the wineglass, the dark red fruits fuse with spice and leather. According to Vigouroux, 2009 is the best vintage Mercues has ever produced this big bottle is rare, precious, and the epitome of what a Malbec should be. With seven years aged in bottle, the tannins are smooth and the addition of Tannat maintains the overall structure but this is a wine that could also age for 20 years or more. If youve got the patience, youll be well rewarded, if not, make sure you let the wine breathe for a few hours before and - either way - enjoy it with a beautifully elegant meal.

Michelini Brothers Superuco Malbec, Calcareo Rio de Los Chacayes, 2013

27, The Good Wine Shop

The dry weather in Argentina provides ideal conditions for biodynamic and organic farming. The Michelini brothers use whole bunches, fermented in concrete amphora with native, wild yeasts. This is a terroir-driven wine, clearly expressing the soils of Chacayes, the sub-region of Tunuyan with stone and chalk minerality and flavours of blueberries, thyme, rosemary, and chocolate. The finish is long and satisfying, with a delicious sweetness.

Martinfort Malbec, Selection Belles Vignes, IGP dOc, 2015

7.60, Tanners

At 12 per cent this is a lighter-style Malbec from the Languedoc-Roussillon area. Soft and smooth with a full mouth of fresh black cherry and black plum, great value for money and effortless to drink.

Fromm Malbec, Marlborough, 2013

33.50, NZ Cellar

New Zealand also has a soft spot for the beloved thin-skinned grape, late-ripening grape, offering up slightly less rustic styles from the milder climates, keeping the structure of the wine in check. Blackberry and bramble, rose petal and violets with a long savoury and slightly bitter finish. More spicy than overly fruity and with a fair amount of grip too, this full-bodied, meaty wine makes the perfect partner to a beef or lamb joint.
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Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has been strangled to death in what appears to be an honour killing, police said on Saturday, shocking the South Asian nation where she was viewed as a controversial figure.

Baloch's raunchy social media photos  which have lead to some likening her to Kim Kardashian-West  challenged social norms in Pakistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country where women are often repressed by their family members or the community.

Punjab Police spokeswoman Nabeela Ghazanfar told Reuters that Baloch  whose real name is Fauzia Azeem  was killed in her family home in Multan, a large city in the Punjab province.

Her father Azeem informed the police that his son Waseem has strangled Qandeel, Ms Ghazanfar said. Apparently, it is honour killing but further investigations would reveal the real motives behind this murder.

Police were now looking for Waseem, who had disappeared, she added.

Notable deaths in 2016 Show all 42 1 /42 Notable deaths in 2016 Notable deaths in 2016 Debbie Reynolds was an American actress, singer, businesswoman, film historian, and humanitarian. She died on December 28 in Los Angeles Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Actress Carrie Fisher died on December 27 aged 60 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Comedian and Actor Ricky Harris died on December 26 aged 54 Rex Notable deaths in 2016 British singer George Michael died on 25 December aged 53 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Rick Parfitt OBE was an English musician, best known for being a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist in the rock band Status Quo. He died on December 24 in Marbella, Spain Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Lord Jenkin of Roding died at the age of 90 on the 21 December PA wire Notable deaths in 2016 Rabbi Lionel Blue died on the 19 December Rex Notable deaths in 2016 Zsa Zsa Gabor died on December 18 Getty Notable deaths in 2016 Leonard Cohen died on 7 November Getty Images Notable deaths in 2016 Grand secretary of the Orange Order Drew Nelson died on 10 October aged 60 after a short illness PA Notable deaths in 2016 Aaron Pryor, the relentless junior welterweight died Sunday, Oct. 9, at the age of 60 at his home in Cincinnati after a long battle with heart disease AP Notable deaths in 2016 Polish Director Andrzej Wajda died on October 9, aged 90 Reuters Notable deaths in 2016 Stylianos Pattakos has died following a stroke on 8th October. He was 103 years old. AP Notable deaths in 2016 Dickie Jeeps, was an English rugby union player who played for Northampton. 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Local media reported that Baloch had struggled to reconcile her family's conservative values with her social media stunts and received frequent threats from the public.

More than 500 people are killed in Pakistan each year in so-called honour killings, usually carried out by members of the victim's family meting out punishment for bringing shame on their community.

Reuters
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Three-quarters of newspaper stories about Jeremy Corbyn in the first months of his leadership either distorted or failed to represent his actual views on subjects, a study has found.

Academics at the London School of Economics analysed the content of eight national newspapers between 1 September and 1 November 2015, when Mr Corbyn was first elected.

The media researchers found that in 52 per cent of articles about the Labour leader, his own views were not included  while in a further 22 per cent they were present but taken out of context or otherwise distorted.

In just 15 per cent of 812 articles analysed, Mr Corbyns views were present but challenged, and in only 11 per cent were they present without alteration.

Our analysis shows that Corbyn was thoroughly delegitimised as a political actor from the moment he became a prominent candidate and even more so after he was elected as party leader, Dr Bart Cammaerts, the project director concluded.

These results relating to sources and voice are evidently troublesome from a democratic perspective.

Allowing an important and legitimate political actor, ie the leader of the main opposition party, to develop their own narrative and have a voice in the public space is paramount in a democracy.

The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Show all 11 1 /11 The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He called Hezbollah and Hamas friends True. In a speech made to the Stop the War Coalition in 2009, Mr Corbyn called representatives from both groups friends after inviting them to Parliament. He later told Channel 4 he wanted both groups, who have factions designated as international terror organisations, to be part of the debate for the Middle East peace process. I use (the word friends) in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk, he added. Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. Reuters The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn thinks the death of Osama bin Laden was a tragedy Partly false. David Cameron used this as a line of attack at the Conservative Party conference but appears to have left out all context from Mr Corbyns original remarks. In an 2011 interview on Iranian television, the then-backbencher said the fact the al-Qaeda leader was not put on trial was the tragedy, continuing: The World Trade Center was a tragedy, the attack on Afghanistan was a tragedy, the war in Iraq was a tragedy. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He is haunted by the legacy of his evil great-great-grandfather False. A Daily Express expose revealed that the Labour leaders ancestor, James Sargent, was the despotic master of a Victorian workhouse. Addressing the report at the Labour conference, Mr Corbyn said he had never heard of him before, adding: I want to take this opportunity to apologise for not doing the decent thing and going back in time and having a chat with him about his appalling behaviour. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn raised a motion about pigeon bombs in Parliament This one is true. On 21 May 2004, Mr Corbyn raised an early day motion entitled pigeon bombs, proposing that the House register being appalled but barely surprised that MI5 reportedly proposed to load pigeons with explosives as a weapon. The motion continued: The House believes that humans represent the most obscene, perverted, cruel, uncivilised and lethal species ever to inhabit the planet and looks forward to the day when the inevitable asteroid slams into the earth and wipes them out thus giving nature the opportunity to start again. It was not carried. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He rides a Communist bicycle False. A report in The Times referred to Mr Corbyn, known for his cycling, riding a Chairman Mao-style bicycle earlier this year. Less thorough journalists might have referred to it as just a bicycle, but no, so we have to conclude that whenever we see somebody on a bicycle from now on, there goes another supporter of Chairman Mao, he later joked. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn 'Jeremy Corbyn will appoint a special minister for Jews' False so far. The Sun report in December was allegedly based on a rumour passed to the paper by a Daily Express columnist who has written pieces critical of the Labour leader in the past. The minister did not materialise in his shadow cabinet. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn wishes Britain would abolish its Army False. Another gem from The Sun took comments made at a Hiroshima remembrance parade in August 2012 where Mr Corbyn supported Costa Ricas move to abolish it armed forces. Wouldnt it be wonderful if every politician around the worldabolished the army and took pride in the fact that they dont have an army, he added. The caveat that every politician must take the step suggests Mr Corbyn does not support UK disarmament just yet. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn stole sandwiches meant for veterans False. The Guido Fawkes blog claimed that the Labour leader took sandwiches meant for veterans at at Battle of Britain memorial service in September but a photo later emerged showing him being handed one by Costa volunteers, who later confirmed they were given to all guests. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He missed the induction into the Queens privy council True. After much speculation about Mr Corbyns republican views and willingness to bow to the monarch, his office confirmed that he did not attend the official induction to the privy council because of a prior engagement, but did not rule out joining the body. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Corbyn refuses to sing the national anthem. Partly true. The Labour leader was filmed standing in silence as God Save the Queen was sung at a Battle of Britain remembrance service but will reportedly sing it in future. Mr Corbyn was elusive on the issue in an interview, saying he would show memorials respect in the proper way, but sources said he would sing the anthem at future occasions. The most ridiculous claims made about Jeremy Corbyn He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cheese True. The group lists its purpose as the following: To increase awareness of issues surrounding the dairy industry and focus on economic issues affecting the dairy industry and producers.

Denying such an important political actor a voice or distorting his views and ideas through the exercise of mediated power is highly problematic.

Examples given by the researchers of distortions include one incident in which Mr Corbyn was presented as having criticised commemorations of the First World War in a 2013 speech.

The newspaper included in the study were The Sun, The Daily Express, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, the Independent, the Daily Mirror and the Guardian.

In terms of tone, fewer than 10 per cent of articles were judged by the researchers to be positive, while more than half were antagonistic or critical. Around a third had a neutral tone.

28 per cent of articles analysed were based on anti-Corbyn Labour party sources, while 23 per cent were based on pro-Corbyn sources.

Mr Corbyns supporters have been highly critical of media coverage around the Labour leader, judging it to be overwhelmingly hostile.

 Jeremy Corbyn proved that he will always refuse to play by the rules at Cameron's last PMQs

The Labour leader has himself also hit out at the media, banning journalists from asking him questions at the front door of his home.

We have a party under attack from much of the media in this country like it has never been under attack before, he said in May
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A Labour MP has apologised for a joke likening the attempted overthrow of Jeremy Corbyn to the bloody attempted coup in Turkey.

Jon Trickett, Labours election coordinator, had tweeted: Coup organised by a small group against an elected leader fails because of lack of rank and file support.

The tweet was sent on Saturday morning as the circumstances of the attempted military coup in Turkey against the Erdogan government became clear and the death toll mounted.

Mr Trickett attracted criticism for the tweet from other Labour MPs. Michael Dugher, a Labour MP who resigned from Mr Corbyns frontbench, said:

As death toll rises to 90, I'm sure Jon Trickett will reflect and realise this comparison is not clever and not funny.

Mr Trickett deleted the tweet and apologised shortly after, adding: Okay okay. Tweet deleted and withdrawn. Shouldn't tweet when feeling I'll. I apologise sincerely.

 Violence between protesters and police in Turkey

Turkey's acting military chief Umit Dundar said this morning that 104 people involved in an attempted military coup had been killed and 1,563 arrested in a night of explosions and gunfire in Ankara, Istanbul and other cities.
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Most British people have had enough democracy for the time being, according to an exclusive ComRes opinion poll for The Independent.

They say Theresa May should carry on without a general election, and they are opposed to a second referendum on Brexit.

The poll found that nearly half of the population, 46 per cent, agree that the Conservatives were elected for a five-year term so Ms May does not need to face a general election to get support for her programme, whereas 38 per cent say she does need an election.

 Theresa May: How her leadership speech differed from her voting record

Jon Trickett, Labours election co-coordinator and an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, called for an immediate election before Ms May became Prime Minister on Wednesday, saying the countrys new leader should be democratically elected.

And despite growing demands from Labour MPs for a second referendum after a Brexit deal has been reached with the EU, that option is rejected even more decisively, by 57 per cent, and supported by only 29 per cent.

Owen Smith and Angela Eagle, the two candidates challenging Mr Corbyn for the leadership of the Labour Party, have both said the Brexit deal, when it is finalised, should be put to the people either in a referendum or in an election. That option was also supported by Jeremy Hunt, who retained his post as Health Secretary.

The Independents poll finds that Ms May has made a good impression in her first days in Downing Street: 52 per cent of voters say they expect she will be a good Prime Minister.

By a margin of 36 per cent to 21 per cent they say she will be a better Prime Minister than David Cameron was. And by a margin of 58 per cent to 19 per cent they say she would be a better Prime Minister than Mr Corbyn would be.

In a head-to-head comparison with Mr Corbyn, Ms May is better regarded in the respects chosen except understands ordinary people, which 42 per cent said applied to Mr Corbyn and only 31 per cent said applied to Ms May; principled, on which Mr Corbyn and Ms May are in effect tied, on 43 per cent and 44 per cent respectively; and honest, which 37 per cent said applied to Mr Corbyn and 36 per cent to Ms May.

Ms May is regarded as a strong leader by 55 per cent, against 13 per cent for Mr Corbyn, and good on the world stage by 48 per cent, against 11 per cent.

Among negative labels, 39 per cent regard Mr Corbyn as incompetent, against 8 per cent for Ms May; 38 per cent say he is boring, against 16 per cent for Ms May; and 18 per cent say he is nasty, an epithet once applied by Ms May to the Conservative Party, against 16 per cent who say it applies to her.

Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain  but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters

The poll finds that most voters, 53 per cent, think Mr Corbyn is doing a bad job as leader, and that either of his challengers for the leadership would be more likely to win an election for Labour.

Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary who will formally launch his leadership campaign on Sunday, has a seven-point advantage over Mr Corbyn when voters are asked which of them has a better chance of winning  although two in five voters have no opinion, presumably because they dont know enough about him.

Angela Eagle, the former shadow First Secretary of State who launched her leadership campaign on Monday, has a four-point advantage over Mr Corbyn, and a slightly lower level of dont knows.

ComRes interviewed 2,097 GB adults online 13-15 July 2016. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full results on the ComRes website.
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Ministers have refused to rule out re-electing Saudi Arabia to the United Nations human rights council for a second time.

The autocratic petro-states appointment to the international body caused international outcry in 2013, with the British Governments role in the affair under particular scrutiny.

The Government last year was urged to come clean over whether it had traded votes to secure both the UK's and Saudi Arabia's place on the panel.

Recommended Read more Government urged to reveal role in Saudi seat on Human Rights Council

Leaked diplomatic cables passed to the Wikileaks organisation appeared to show the UK was involved in such a secret vote-trading deal.

Saudi Arabia has one of the worst human rights record in the world, with beheading and crucifixion in regular use and massive institutionalised discrimination against women.

The state beheaded well over 100 people in 2015, a significant increase on 2014.

Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay this month refused to answer a question by crossbench peer Baroness Deech on whether the UK would back Saudi Arabias re-appointment.

The UK never publicises how it votes in these matters. Saudi Arabia did not need our support in the last election to the Human Rights Council since they were uncontested, the minister said in a written statement.

Saudi Arabian security forces on parade (Getty)

Saudi Arabia has placed itself at the heart of the UN's human rights scrutiny machine, despite its atrocious record. As well as its place on the council, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabias ambassador at the UN in Geneva, was last year the chairman of a separate independent UN panel of human rights experts.

That influential five-strong panel selects applicants from around the world for scores of expert roles in countries where the UN has a mandate on human rights.

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson Tom Brake told the Independent that Saudi Arabias position on the council was an international disgrace and described the Governments refusal to disclose how it would vote as ridiculous.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most serious violators of human rights in the world. The regime actively rejects womens rights, minority rights, and religious freedoms, executes its citizens with alarming frequency and consistently undermines the rule of law, he said.

The fact that this country is currently on the Human Rights Council is an international disgrace, and I call on the UK Government to break whatever ridiculous protocol to which they are currently clinging, and state categorically that it will not only vote against Saudis re-election to the council, but also that it will actively and vocally encourage all other states to do the same.

Saudi Arabias human rights record has arguably deteriorated since the previous elections to the council as the country has since begun a brutal military operation in Yemen against Houthi rebels.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

International charities and observers have reported airstrikes against schools, charity hospitals, and wedding parties, with Saudi bombs often falling far from any military targets.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UNs high commissioner for human rights, has said that carnage caused by certain Saudi coalition airstrikes against civilian targets appear to be war crimes.

The British Government has publicly remained a staunch backer of the dictatorship, refusing calls from the European Parliament and House of Commons international development committee to stop selling weapons to the autocratic monarchy.

Yemeni children walk on stones in front of buildings that were damaged by air strikes carried out by the Saudi-led coalition during the past year in the Unesco-listed old city of the Yemeni capital Sanaa (MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty)

David Cameron attended the funeral of late Saudi king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in January 2015, at a cost of 100,000 in British public money.

Official figures reported by the Independent in January this year show sales of British bombs and missiles to the country increased 100 times in the three-month period since the start of the attacks on Yemen. The sales jumped from 9million in the previous three months to 1billion.

Mr Cameron, who stepped down as PM this week following the election of Theresa May to leader of the Conservative party, said in January that Britains relationship with Saudi Arabia is important for our own security.

This article has been updated to make clear the distinction between the UN human rights council and the UN human rights consultative panel
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Donald Trump has laid into Hillary Clinton, as well as Barack Obama, saying they carry direct responsibility for chaos and tragedy in the world, including the massacre in Nice and the attempted military overthrow in Turkey, because of timid and misbegotten foreign policies.

At a sometimes awkward and disjointed roll-out of his running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, in New York today, Mr Trump said together they would deliver a new law and order era for voters in November both at home and internationally.

Recommended Read more Trump could still beat the odds and become President

Dismissing Ms Clinton as a weak person, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told an audience of carefully picked guests and reporters in a Midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom that, we are the law and order candidates and with the law and order party we are going to change things around, there is going to be respect again for law and order.

Taking the stage on his own for 40 minutes before eventually inviting Mr Pence to come out (and then vanishing himself), he lamented: We have witnessed horror beyond belief. No matter where you look, and now its happening more and more, its never going to stop. We need new leadership, we need new thinking, we need strength, we need in our country law and order.

He laid out the case that events such as the attempted coup in Turkey are a direct consequence of the leadership of Ms Clinton when she served President Obama as Secretary of State. Now we are seeing unrest in Turkey, a further demonstration of the failure of Obama-Clinton. Every single thing they touched has turned to horrible, horrible death-defying problems, he offered.

The Middle East is more unstable than ever before, its never been like this, out of control, he went on, while also mocking the Clinton campaign for querying his foreign policy qualifications in TV commercials. He countered that while it is true he is first a really successful businessman, he had seen the vote in Britain to leave the European Union coming before anyone else.

I saw that was going to happen. I was the one that predicted it, everyone said I was wrong, he said, arguing that Mr Obama going to London and saying that the UK would be at the back of the line in trade negotiations with the US if it chose Brexit, had backfired.

They don't want to be told by you what to do and they don't what to be told that when people pour into their county they have to take them, Mr Trump asserted. I said that they are going to break away and everybody laughed at me and the odds were 20 per cent.

Once at the microphone finally, Mr Pence, who has carved out a career championing extreme socially conservative positions on issues such as immigration, gay rights and abortion, similarly took up the populist theme of voters angered by politicians telling them what to do and think.

Protesters challenging Trump's record on gay rights outside the Manhattan hotel (David Usborne)

We are tired of being told that a little intellectual elite in a distant capital can plan our lives better for us than we can plan it ourselves, he said. Donald Trump gets it and he understands the American people.

For many Americans, it was their first introduction to Mr Pence, who was later joined again on the stage by his wife and three children and also the full Trump clan including the billionaire himself. While Mr Trump speaks raggedly and directly, this time without a teleprompter, Mr Pence has the smoothness of a practised politician and the cadences of a preacher.

I accept your invitation to run and serve as vice-president of the United States of America, Mr Pence, who is 57 with a lawn of white hair, said. I come at this moment humbled, with a grateful heart and grateful to God for his amazing graceand I am grateful to this builder, this fighterwho has set aside a legendary career in business to build a stronger America, Donald J Trump.

Mr Pence, who gave up a chance to run for a second term as Governor of Indiana, similarly latched onto recent acts of terror and geopolitical instability as an indictment of recent American leadership in the world, never mind that his foreign policy experience is as scant as Mr Trumps. Events in Nice and in Turkey were evidence the world is "spinning apart," he averred.

History teaches us that weakness arouses evil, he declared. Hillary Clintons and Barack Obamas foreign policy of leading from behind, moving red lines, feigning resets with a resurgent Russia, and the rise of Isis is all a testament to this truth in history and we must bring change.

Mr Pence, who beat rivals Governor Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, to take the number slot on the ticket, got a standing ovation from the Trump campaign guests when he said he had accepted the offer in part because Hillary Clinton must never become the president of the United States of America.
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Isis has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Nice that saw at least 84 people killed after a lorry was driven into crowds of people.

A man named as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove his vehicle more than one mile along the coastal French city's Promenade de Anglais, sending hundreds of people fleeing in horror.

And news agency Amaq, which supports the group also known as Islamic State, said via its Telegram account: "The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State.

"He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State."

It came as it emerged five people had been arrested following the Bastille Day massacre.

Inquiries were continuing into whether 31-year-old driver Bouhlel acted alone or had accomplices before he drove a 19-tonne hired truck into scores of people.

More than 200 people on the Promenade des Anglais were injured.

In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman arrives with a toy and a bouquet of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the 'Promenade des Anglais' where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A child's toy is placed among the floral tributes laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Investigators continue at the scene near the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert evacuates a dead body on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice, after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts as he sits near a French flag along the beachfront the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks through debris on the street in Nice, France, the morning after a lorry ran into a crowd, killing at least 84 and injuring 50 Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People cross the street with their hands on thier heads as a French soldier secures the area after at least 84 people were killed along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd REUTERS In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man sits next to a body seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bodies are seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers speak with a soldier after a truck that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice AP

Officers carried out a raid at an address near Nice's main train station on Saturday morning and made two arrests, Europe 1 reported. They were thought to be known to the killer.

A third person was also arrested at an address in Nice earlier in the morning.

 What happened in Nice: 84 killed as lorry drives through crowd

According to reports, the terrorist's ex-wife was being questioned on Friday.

The driver's father has reported that Bouhlel had received psychiatric treatment in the past.

He was unknown to the security services.

Recommended Read more Hero man stopped lorry killer from continuing by jumping into cab

The Queen added her voice to the wave of sympathy from leaders across the world as the country faced another terrorist attack, following those in Paris in November, in which 130 died, and in January 2015 in which 17 were killed.

President Francois Hollande said 50 people were "between life and death", while several people were among the missing and a "small number" of Britons were injured.

The Foreign Office on Friday night described the carnage as a "terrorist attack", causing multiple casualties, and updated its advice for Britons in Nice.

The new advice said: "If you're in the area, follow the instructions of the French authorities, who have cancelled a number of public events planned for the coming days, closed the Promenade des Anglais and a number of the public beaches in and around Nice, and implemented some traffic restrictions."

A vigil took place at Nice Cathedral on Friday night and mourners also gathered at a makeshift memorial amid a visible police presence near the promenade, which is closed to the public.

Additional reporting by Press Association
Thousands on Saturday massed in an Istanbul district waving Turkish flags in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he survived a coup, an AFP correspondent said.

The people gathered in the district of Kisikli on the Asian side of Istanbul, where Erdogan has a home, responding to a call from the Turkish strongman to come out in force in his support.

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Tourists have been trapped at airports across Turkey after Friday night's failed military coup.

Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt. Television images late Friday had shown tanks parked in front of the airport.

British Airways cancelled all flights to and from the country on Saturday, while Thomas Cook has advised its customers to stay in their hotels until further notice.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has advised people to stay indoors and to avoid public places and conflict areas.

 Turkey military coup explained in 90 seconds

British Airways said in a statement it was halting all flights to Turkey on Saturday and one on Sunday as a precaution.

The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.

Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

EasyJet said its advice from British authorities was to continue flying, although it was monitoring developments.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

However, Turkish Airlines has resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport. A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said flights had now returned to their normal schedule from Europe's third largest hub, though delays were to be expected.

Turkish budget carrier Pegasus said its flights were also experiencing minor delays.

The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late on Friday had caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and cancelled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk.

The attempted coup follows a series of bombings that hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country.

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 percent in April, data showed on Friday, the biggest drop in 17 years.

The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around $8 billion.

German airline Lufthansa cancelled all its flights to Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday and pared back the number flights to holiday destinations Bodrum and Antalya.

TUI which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday companies, said its flights to Dalaman, Antalya and Izmir were operating as normal.

People wait at Turkish Airlines desk at Adolfo Suarez airport in Barajas, near Madrid on July 16, 2016 as Turkish Airlines cancelled their flights following an attempted coup in Turkey. (PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Russia also suspended passenger flights to the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency said.

Turkish and Russian officials had met this week to discuss the restarting of charter flights between the two countries and tourism security after relations soured following Turkey's downing of a Russian jet last year.

State airline EgyptAir also cancelled all flights on Saturday to Istanbul, the company said in a statement. The company, which has 14 flights to Istanbul per week, did not say when they were expected to resume.

All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for Saturday had been cancelled, according to Sofia airport's website.

Reuters
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An attempted military coup in Turkey has left at least 90 dead, 1,154 wounded and 1,563 detained after a night of violence.

A faction of the Turkish armed forces attempted to overthrow the government late on Friday, with soldiers taking over some news outlets and tanks and helicopters blocking bridges.

Meanwhile, war planes flew over Ankara and explosions have rocked the Turkish parliament.

State news has reported mass casualties in Turkish cities as both the government and those linked to the military have battled for control.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had been on holiday as the coup began, flew into Istanbuls Ataturk airport early on Saturday and was greeted by large crowds.

He denounced the coup attempt as an act of treason and said the government remains in power.

Mr Erdogan warned coup supporters that they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey, according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office.

Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups.

Live television showed dozens of soldiers surrendering with their hands up and walking away from tanks after blocking one of Istanbuls Bosphorus bridges overnight.

Mr Erdogan, had earlier been forced to use a mobile phone and FaceTime video chat to appear on national television and claim he was still in control of the country.

 Turkey: Erdogan loyalists celebrate on tanks after retaking the Bosphorus Bridge

Urging Turkish citizens to take to the streets, he said: There is no power higher than the power of the people, the president said.

The chain of command has been violated, he added. This is a step against the higher ranks by their superiors.

Mr Erdogan also said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters.

General Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told Turkeys NTV: Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this.

 Turkish jets flying low over city

As the coup began, a statement from the military said it had taken control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.

The government has claimed the coup has failed. A senior government official told the Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices.
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The Turkish government is considering bringing back the death penalty so it can execute those involved in the attempted military coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mehmet Muezzinoglu, the ruling Justice and Development Party's Deputy Leader, said the government will introduce a bill calling for the execution of rebel soldiers.

Recommended Read more What we know so far about the attempted military coup in Turkey

We will put forward a motion, which will demand the execution of those who have been involved in the coup attempt," Mr Muezzinoglu wrote on Twitter.

Following his comments, #Idamistiyorum ("I want death penalty") has become the top trend on Twitter in Turkey. The hashtag has been used more than 23,000 times.

The call for the death penalty came as the government appeared to be regaining control after a coup which left more than 260 dead and 1,000 wounded.

 Violence between protesters and police in Turkey

At one point it looked as if the coup would succeed, with Turkeys military chief of staff General Hulusi Akar having been taken hostage and a TV news anchor forced to keep repeating: The political administration that has lost all legitimacy and has been forced to withdraw.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

President Erdogan appeared to have been caught off guard while on holiday. He had to resort to giving interviews via mobile phone and FaceTime to insist he was still in control.

But citizens took to the streets in support of the president, lying down in front of tanks or climbing on top of them in Istanbul.

Mr Erdogan succeeded in returning to Istanbul, and General Akar was reportedly rescued after an operation at an air base on the outskirts of the capital Ankara.

As pictures emerged of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering, while being punched by civilian supporters of President Erdogan, a senior Turkish official said 1,563 military personnel were now in custody across the country  awaiting an increasingly uncertain fate.
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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved quickly to stem the fallout of an attempted military coup by purging thousands of his enemies from the army and judiciary.

Around 265 people were said to have died in clashes during the putsch - which saw clashes on both the streets and in the air. Government officials said the number of civilians killed was 161, while 104 'coup plotters' also died. More than 1,400 people were also said to have been injured during the violence on Friday and into Saturday.

The government declared the situation under control on Saturday, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who formed the backbone of the rebellion. Around 2,700 judges also dismissed with local media reporting that the judges and others in judicial positions were also ordered to be detained for having 'links to plotters'.

Among those detained from the army were top military commanders, including the head of the Second Army which protects the country's borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also proposed that the constitution be changed to allow for the plotters to be executed. The death penalty was abolished in Turkey in 2004, though an execution has not been carried out in the country since 1984.

The coup attempt began late on Friday, with a military statement saying forces had seized control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soliders also seized airports and raided TV stations.

Fighting continued into the early morning of Saturday, with huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, scattering broken glass and other debris across a lobby. CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding others.

Eventually, CNN-Turk showed dozens of soldiers walking among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces. The Hurriyet newspaper, quoting investigators, said some privates had thought they were on military maneuvers, not a coup attempt.

 Turkey's government vows to 'cleanse' military after failed coup

A Blackhawk military helicopter with seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, where the passengers requested asylum. While Turkey demanded their extradition, Greece said it would hand back the helicopter and consider the men's asylum requests.

Thousands of Mr Erdogan's supporters had taken to the streets in the early hours of Saturday after a call from the Turkish President to do so as he made his way back to Istanbul from his holiday. Turkish officials  including the president, the prime minister and the interior minister  repeated that call later on Saturday urging supporters to come out to city squares again overnight to defend democracy  and thousands responded.

Thousands have gathered in Ankara's Kizilay Square. Crowds waving Turkish flags on Saturday night chanted martyrs are immortal, our land is cannot be divided!

Nusret Tuzak, a government supporter in Ankara, told the Associated Press: We are here for democracy, so the country lasts, the wellness of the public. This is our country. I'm against the coup as a retired soldier. We don't want to any coup attempt so that's why we are standing here.

Massive crowds also gathered in Istanbul's neighborhood of Kisikli, in Izmir's Konak Square, and in the northeastern city of Erzincan.

Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration strongly condemning the attempted coup and warned that any attempt against the people or the parliament will be met with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them, just as they did today.

The declaration praised the Turkish nation for its unwavering belief in democracy and lauded citizens for taking to the streets and resisting the coup.

A black stain has been left on Turkeys democracy by the coup, Mr Yildirim said, and many citizens appeared to agree. The highest trending hash tag on Turkish social media was #Idamistiyorum  meaning 'I want the death penalty'.

Those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason", President Erdogan vowed. Addressing supporters late on Saturday, he said demands for a return to capital punishment may be discussed in parliament.

 Turkey military coup explained in 90 seconds

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also heeded the popular cry for the strongest possible penalties. Outside parliament, crowds shouted "We want the death penalty! The PM simply replied: "We got your message. The necessary will be done."

Speaking in an emergency parliamentary session later, Mr Yildirim said the rebels were not soldiers and called them ravenous terrorist butchers in uniforms.

He warned that anyone who tried to harm the will of the people would be "reminded of those coup plotters, whose lives have been snuffed out."

The identity of many of the plotters remains unclear. Blame for the attempted ousting was quickly levelled by Mr Erdogan and his government at Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric living in self-exile in the US. The ruling AK party has had a bitter rivalry with Gulen since 2013 and frequently blames it for instability in the country.

But Mr Gulen has denied involvement, telling the Guardian: I dont believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdogan. He added it could be used as an excuse to further attack his followers.

Workers inspect and clear debris after the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was bombed in Ankara. (AFP/Getty)

The Turkish government has now called for Mr Gulens extradition. President Erdogan said the country had never turned back any extradition request for "terrorists" by the United States.

A Turkish official told AP that the government "has been preparing a formal application with detailed information about Gulen's involvement in illegal activities. After last night we have one more thing to add to an already extensive list."

There were fears across Europe and the US about the potential destabilisation within a Nato member and major US ally that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Isis bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

The US has repeatedly backed Turkey's government in the wake of the coup, while it has also not ruled out extradition of Mr Gulen. Secretary of State John Kerry said any request would be entertained but added solid evidence of wrongdoing would be necessary. President Barack Obama has pledged to cooperate with Turkish government in an effort to maintain safety and stability following the coup attempt.

Turkish soldiers stand guard at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey (EPA)

Boris Johnson, the new British foreign secretary, said it was crucial that we [the UK] support the democratic institutions of Turkey. He also urged British citizens in the country, or planning to go there, to follow Foreign Office travel advice which stated on Saturday that people should not leave their homes or hotels, and should avoid public places.

Mr Johnson will discuss the coup at talks in Brussels on Sunday night with Federica Mogherini, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy.

Other European nations expressed concern with French President Francois Hollande saying on Saturday that he expected a period of repression in Turkey in the aftermath of the failed coup.

Now we shall what the situation is in Turkey. If its president has completely regained control, which I think is the case, we shall have a period of considerable calm, but there will probably be repression, Mr Hollande said.

Associated Press contributed to this report
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An extraordinary day of violence and tension has unfolded in Europe with an attempted military coup taking place in Turkey while France was still in a state of shock after a terrorist atrocity which claimed the lives of 84 people.

Just hours after the Turkish government had expressed sympathy over the killings in Nice it was facing a struggle for survival after a faction of the armed forces declared a takeover and looked to impose martial law.

Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square (AP)

Soldiers took over a TV station and strategic points in Istanbul with tanks at the airport while warplanes flew over the capital, Ankara. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the strongman who had been ruthlessly vesting himself with power was forced early to use a mobile phone and FaceTime video chat to claim that he remained in control. The coup attempt, he declared in the interview over mobile phone, would be met with a strong response and a  heavy price would be exacted from the plotters.

Recommended Read more Turkish president Erdogan appears on Turkish TV via FaceTime

The President was believed to be on holiday, possibly at Marmaris, but eventually managed to return to Istanbul early on Saturday  in a sign of his apparent confidence over the outcome of the attempted coup. But events remained unclear as dawn broke on Saturday in Turkey, with gunfire and explosions still being heard - particularly in Ankara where local TV reported at least 42 people had died - and soldiers still on the streets.

Once in Istanbul, greeted by crowds of civilians, Mr Erdogan called the coup makers a minority within the military. The attempted coup was an act of treason and is a reason to clean up the armed forces, said Mr Erdogan.

According to Mr Erdogan, Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.

 Turkey's history of military coups

Mr Erdogan and his supporters blamed the Islamist Gulen movement of the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, once considered his allies and now his enemies, for the coup. However, the movement denied any involvement in the Turkish military coup attempt. The Alliance for Shared Values said we condemn any military intervention in [the] domestic politics of Turkey.

The military group who launched the attempted coup accused the government of eroding secular law, the legacy of Kemal Ataturk, and announced that a new constitution would be unveiled.

It remains unclear just how much support the attempted coup has among the Turkish military the chief of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, was thought to have possibly been taken hostage at his headquarters by the plotters. Mr Erdogan said after he arrived in Istanbul that he had no information on his whereabouts.

Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets (EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU)

Crowds appeared to be answering a call from Mr Erdogan to take to the streets, defying orders by the coup leaders to stay indoors.

We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates, shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

They were clashes between the military and police in several areas during Friday night. A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at the special forces headquarters there. There was also an apparent bomb blast at the parliament complex in Ankara.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking on NTV, said that he had ordered the annihilation of military planes used by coup plotters. He said military jets had taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara. Government forces appeared to be gaining the upper hand in a number of areas as the night wore on and Mr Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, said more than 120 people have been arrested over the coup plot.

Barack Obama and other Western leaders, who had begun Friday by pledging solidarity with France to combat Islamist terrorism, ended it with Tutkey, a Nato member state, a key player in the Syrian civil war whose help is needed to combat Isis, in turmoil.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  the most significant ruler in the republic's history since its founder Mustapha Kemal Ataturk  is obsessed with Egypt. Three years ago, a military coup there ousted the democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, arrested him and his allies, ruthlessly cracked down on his Muslim Brotherhood, and installed a regime that remains in place to this day.

Morsi, an Islamist, seemed something of a kindred spirit to Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a center-right party built on an ideology of Sunni Muslim religious nationalism. Erdogan fumed at Morsi's removal and the brutal quashing of a government that, while unpopular, had won an electoral mandate. Many Egyptian Islamists who weren't rounded up by the state fled to Istanbul to take sanctuary.

Follow the latest updates on the Turkey coup

Last year, when the Egyptian government of President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi, the main architect of the coup, sentenced Morsi to death, Erdogan raged at both the powers-that-be in Cairo as well as the West, which had looked on at this extinguishing of Arab democracy with seeming indifference, perhaps even tacit relief.

 Erdogan: Turkey coup bid 'an act of treason'

Egypt has given a death sentence to a president elected with 52 percent of the vote. Egypt is returning to the old Egypt, he said, referring to its decades under dictatorship. The West, unfortunately, still does not reveal its stance against the coup leader Sisi. While Western countries have been abolishing the death penalty, they are watching the death sentences in Egypt in complete silence.

The echo of Egypt is important now, as Turkey reels in the grips of an attempted coup launched on Friday night against Erdogan's rule. At the time of writing, it seemed the coup plotters weren't blessed with an Egypt-style scenario: all of Turkey's major opposition parties rallied around the elected government, despite their political differences. Mass protests on the streets appear to support Erdogan and AKP rule.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

According to some accounts, protesters even brandished the four-finger Rabia salute, a direct nod to the suppressed Islamists of Egypt.

During two election campaigns last year, Erdogan spoke gloomily of dark forces working against democracy and his government  foreign conspirators, even a crusader alliance.

In public statements, Erdogan and other members of the government also directed their ire at the Gulen movement, anchored to the spiritual teachings of an aging cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. The Gulenists, once Erdogan's friends, now supposedly sought to undermine the government through their proxies in various institutions of the state.

To outside observers, including this reporter, Erdogan's paranoia seemed a deliberate political calculation, aimed at rallying conservative and nationalist Turks to his banner.

But maybe Erdogan had a point.

Turkey has a long history of military coups. Meddling officers unseated governments in 1960, 1971, and 1980  the coup-makers then put into place Turkey's current constitution. In 1997, the stern recommendations of the military initiated what was called a soft coup, forcing an Islamist party out of office.

Yet, since Erdogan and the AKP came to power in 2002, it has seemed the age of the coup was over in Turkey. The country has had steady, stable civilian rule. Elections have been held and proceeded, more or less, without too much of a fuss. The shadow of the deep state  the conspiratorial movers and schemers behind the government  seemed to have been dispelled.

As their rule brought about considerable economic and social reforms in Turkey, Erdogan and his allies built what seemed like an ironclad grip on the levers of power: A majoritarian electoral mandate aided by a dysfunctional opposition; a judiciary largely bent in its favor; a military brass cowed into submission after a series of trials against alleged conspirators.

In recent years, though, Erdogan has possibly overstepped. After a decade as prime minister, he won election for the presidency  technically a ceremonial and apolitical role  and set about refashioning the Turkish republic in his image. He sought an executive presidency with expanded powers; in Ankara, he built a vast 10,000-room palace for himself.

As myriad rights groups and opposition parties allege, Erdogan's authoritarian style grew apace. Major opposition newspapers and TV stations were shuttered or taken over; journalists and dissenters have been arrested on various charges. Even his one-time closest political ally was sidelined.

Meanwhile, the disaster in Syria  and Turkey's own bungled policies in the region  fueled unrest within the country. The Kurdish insurgency flared up. The Islamic State, which critics say gained ground through Turkish negligence, started attacking targets within Turkey. The assault on Istanbul airport last month, it seemed, marked a new dangerous moment of open conflict between the jihadists and the Turkish state.

And now this. It's unclear who the coup-plotters are. Turkish government officials say they are a clutch of military officials who were Gulenist sympathizers set to lose their jobs in an upcoming purge. Few observers believed the military's top brass, despite their schooling in the army's particular secularist ideology, would ever contemplate a coup against Erdogan and the AKP. In March, the general staff even issued a statement denying allegations in the media that they were contemplating some kind of intervention.

But that was less true for lower-ranked officers, such as those potentially involved in Friday's coup attempt. In a prescient piece written last year, Turkish academic Burak Kadercan suggested not to rule out coup attempts from mid-level officers, who may act as more agile actors who can operate and organize in secrecy, especially in a political landscape marked by civil strife and chaos.

That Turkey in chaos is in no doubt. The question remains where does it go from here. Its democracy looks set for rocky times, no matter who  Erdogan or the coup-makers  prevails.

Copyright: Washington Post
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The Obama administration would consider an extradition request for the US-based cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

But he said Turkey's government would have to prove Fethullah Gulen's wrongdoing.

Follow our latest coverage on the attempted Turkey coup

Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn't yet requested that the United States send home Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999.

Gulen has harshly condemned the attempted coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on the cleric, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

We haven't received any request with respect to Mr. Gulen, Kerry told reporters. We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.

I'm confident there will be some discussion about that, Kerry added.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

President Barack Obama on Friday urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government in Turkey, a key NATO ally.

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Obama also urged those in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.

Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force, he said. I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.

 Violence between protesters and police in Turkey

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

Reiterating American support for Erdogan's government, Kerry said the U.S. opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process.

Kerry also said that U.S. military cooperation with its NATO ally has been unaffected by the turmoil. Turkey plays a key role in U.S.-led efforts against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

All of that continues as before, Kerry said.

He said the U.S. had no prior indication of the coup attempt, which came as Erdogan was on vacation.

It appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

If you're planning a coup you don't exactly advertise to your partners in NATO, Kerry said. So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event.

Turkey plays a key role in U.S.-led efforts against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
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The Turkish government has removed 2,745 judges from duty in the wake of a failed military coup in which over 161 people were killed.

The decision followed an emergency meeting of Turkeys Judges and Prosecutors High Council which was called to discuss members links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the leader of a reformist Muslim movement.

The meeting saw the dismissal of 2,745 judges along with several members of the council itself, which is Turkeys highest judiciary board.

 Turkey failed coup: Parliament unified in rare meeting

Turkeys state-run news agency said authorities have detained 10 members of the council.

The Anadolu Agency said arrest warrants have been issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court.

The government has repeatedly blamed the influence of the Gulen movement for the coup and has said the overthrow attempt was carried out by a clique of supporters within the military.

Turkeys acting military chief of staff Umit Dundar earlier said: The armed forces is determined to remove members of the Gulen movement from its ranks.

Mr Gulen, a preacher and former imam, was an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan until 2013. The relationship turned sour after a corruption scandal implicated Mr Erdogan, who then accused Mr Gulen of being behind the corruption investigations.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

He is now on Turkeys most-wanted terrorist list and the country has demanded his extradition from the United States where he is in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.

Mr Gulen is the founder of the Gulen movement, which teaches a moderate Islam which believes in science, multi-party democracy and interfaith dialogue between the Abrahamic religions.
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Graphic pictures shared on social media allegedly showing the beheading of a Turkish soldier following an attempted coup, may not be genuine some users have claimed.

The pictures show a man's body, purportedly on one of the bridges crossing the Bosphorus river in Istanbul, after he was allegedly beheaded by supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

However, a number of users on Twitter have suggested that the images may instead show an incident from 2006.

The soldiers, who had blocked the bridge throughout the coup, surrendered earlier on Saturday.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

Forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead on Saturday.

Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason."

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey  a Nato member and key Western ally in the fight against Isis  that critics blame on President Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule.

He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels.

 Pro-coup soldiers surrender on Bosphorus Bridge

Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence.

He said 2,839 plotters were detained. A source at the office of the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the 161 toll "excludes assailants".

Mr Yildirim described the night as "a black mark on Turkish democracy" and said the perpetrators "will receive every punishment they deserve."

Additional reporting by AP
(Gokhan Tan/Getty)

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Here are the latest updates:

Please allow a moment for the live blog to load

At least 265 people have been killed and over 1,400 wounded in an attempted military coup in Turkey.

Turkey's president has told the nation that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

More than 2,800 military personnel have been detained across the country as the government cracked down on the attempted coup, the Turkish Prime Minister said. Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

General Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units were mainly involved in the attempt.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding a number of others.

 Protesters in stand-off with tanks in Turkey

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned coup supporters that "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey", according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office.

"Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday urged the United States to extradite the preacher Fethullah Gulen, who he accuses of masterminding the failed coup, to face trial in Turkey.

"The United States -- you must extradite that person," he told thousands of supporters in Istanbul, referring to Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and has denied any involvement in Friday's attempted coup.

Erdogan said he had repeatedly told US President Barack Obama that Gulen threatened Turkey's security and should be extradited.

"I am calling on America here, I am calling on Mr President (Obama)," he told the crowd.

"Mr President, I told you myself, either deport or hand over to us this person who lives in 400 acres of land in Pennsylvania," he said, carefully not referring to Gulen by name.

"I told you that he was engaged in coup plots but I was not listened to. Now again today after the coup I say it again. Deliver this man who lives in Pennsylvania to Turkey," said Erdogan.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of the failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against Gulen.

"We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen," he said in Luxembourg.

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The world seems to have become a more dangerous place, with turmoil in Turkey following swiftly after the carnage in Nice. How big are the risks for travellers, and what are the implications for your holiday plans?

How do the events of the past few days increase the dangers for travellers?

The massacre in Nice was deeply shocking, and the latest violence in Turkey reveals yet more instability in a country that has seen repeated terrorist outrages in the past year.

Get the latest updates via our Turkey coup liveblog

Two nations that are extremely popular with holidaymakers appear to be under attack. Yet the travellers risk of coming to harm  in France, Turkey or elsewhere  remains extremely low.

While it may not seem like it, the death rate for tourists has been declining steadily for several decades, largely as a result of road safety improvements and a range of other risk-reduction successes, from disease to air safety.

 Turkey attempted coup

But surely the atrocity in Nice is part of a pattern?

With the carnage in Nice added to the Paris attacks in November 2015, more than 200 people have died in acts of mass murder in France in seven months at the hands of jihadists.

The Paris assault was highly organised by Islamist extremists. But the truck that ploughed through crowds on the Promenade des Anglais appears to have been driven by an unbalanced individual with jihadist leanings. That has resonances with the perpetrator of last months attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando  the worst mass shooting in US history.

Recommended Read more Astonishing pictures show violence as mob clashes with Turkish troops

It may be that so-called Islamic State is desperately urging its disciples to commit indiscriminate mass murder wherever they can and by whatever means. Or it may be that disturbed individuals are claiming their vicious assaults to be acts of jihad in a warped attempt to seek some legitimacy. Either way, it is a deeply alarming phenomenon, and further appalling attacks of mass murder appears highly likely.

The chances are, though, that you will not be anywhere near the scene of the next such crime.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

Im rattled, and I want to cancel my summer holiday to France. What are my rights  can I now get my money back?

At the time you booked your trip, the Foreign Office warned of a high threat of terrorism, and emphasised the likelihood of further attacks. So, harsh as it may sound, you cant say you werent warned.

Crucially the FCO stopped well short of advising against travel to France, which is the most popular holiday destination in the world (and the second-most popular, after Spain, for UK holidaymakers).

In the very short term, some airlines have been offering a measure of flexibility to travellers booked to Nice; easyJet, which operates more than 500 flights a week between the UK and the Cote dAzur city, offered postponements or free transfers to other destinations for passengers with tickets to Nice. But for all other travellers, normal terms and conditions apply, with the result that you are likely to lose some or all of the money you have paid.

Two possibilities may help. First, some operators which offer multiple destinations could offer the option to transfer a booking to a different location, possibly on payment of a fee. Second, if you have booked a proper package holiday (travel and accommodation at the same time as a single transaction through the same provider), you can sell or give the holiday to someone else on payment of a nominal fee, typically 50 per person.

 What happened in Nice: 84 killed as lorry drives through crowd

I booked my holiday in August to Turkey almost a year ago and since then much has changed. Surely I can change or cancel?

In the past year Turkey has seen a significant number of terrorist atrocities committed on its soil, in which around 250 people have died. The majority of attacks have been against local people. But in two attacks this year in Istanbul, overseas visitors have been specifically targeted. A suicide bombing in Sultanahmet Square in the heart of Istanbul in January killed 10 members of a German tour group, while around 40 people died in an attack on the landside areas of the citys Ataturk airport last month.

The attempted coup has added another layer of alarm and confusion on what looks an increasingly chaotic nation. Yet once this weekends turmoil calms in Turkey, the answer is likely to be the same as for France. At the time you booked, the Foreign Office warned there was a high threat from terrorism, with Kurdish groups, so-called Islamic State and far left organisations planning and carrying out attacks: Further attacks are likely. Terrorist groups have publicly threatened to attack tourist sites in Turkey.

It is likely that some holiday operators will decide that there is sufficient concern among customers to switch some or all of their Turkish capacity to an alternative destination  though because of concern about Turkey and Egypt, there has already been a massive move to countries from Greece to Portugal, and accommodation is in short supply.

In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman arrives with a toy and a bouquet of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A woman reacts as she places flowers in front of the memorial set on the 'Promenade des Anglais' where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People gather to view the floral tributes near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts near bouquets of flowers as people pay tribute near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Floral tributes are laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A child's toy is placed among the floral tributes laid out near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Investigators continue at the scene near the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Crime scene investigators work on the 'Promenade des Anglais' after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice EPA In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A forensic expert evacuates a dead body on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice, after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man reacts as he sits near a French flag along the beachfront the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Discarded items are left on the beach, not far from the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bullet holes in the windscreen of the lorry that was driven into the crowd at high speed Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks through debris on the street in Nice, France, the morning after a lorry ran into a crowd, killing at least 84 and injuring 50 Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Rescue workers help an injured woman to get in a ambulance AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Authorities investigate a truck after it plowed through Bastille Day revelers in the French resort city of Nice, France AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Celebrations of Bastille Day were targeted by the lorry driver AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack People cross the street with their hands on thier heads as a French soldier secures the area after at least 84 people were killed along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A paramedic attends one of the dozens of people injured in the Nice Bastille Day attack In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Soldiers march on street where the lorry crashed into the crowd REUTERS In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man sits next to a body seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Bodies are seen on the ground after at least 84 people were killed in Nice, when a truck ran into a crowd celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Children were among the 84 killed in the atrocity, with around 50 more hospitalised Reuters In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd L) speaks to the media in Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack A man walks with his hands up as police officers carry out checks on people in the centre of French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack With injured people laying in the street police and onlookers react near to a truck in Nice AP In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers, firefighters and rescue workers are seen at the site of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police officers speak with a soldier after a truck that ploughed into a crowd leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Bastille Day Nice attack Police shine a light into the cab as they approach the driver's cab of a truck, in Nice AP

If your holiday is cancelled by the operator, then you can get a full refund; note that they may incentivise you you to take an alternative holiday instead. But if it is going ahead, and you want to cancel your trip, the position is very different. Some operators which offer multiple destinations may offer the option to transfer a booking to a different location, po ssibly on payment of a fee. But assuming that there is no general, long-term Foreign Office warning against travel to tourist areas in Turkey, if you decide not to go then you are likely to lose some or all of the money you have paid.

You will not be able to claim on insurance for what is known as disinclination to travel.

As with France, if you have booked a proper package holiday  for example through Thomson or Thomas Cook  you can sell or give the holiday to someone else on payment of a nominal fee, typically 50 per person.

I have a connecting flight booked on Turkish Airlines and no longer wish to travel. Can I cancel?

Turkish Airlines offers connections across Africa and Asia through its hub at Istanbul Ataturk  one of the five busiest airports in Europe. After the 28 June attack at the airport, it allowed passengers booked to travel in the week ahead to cancel or postpone their trips. It may make a similar short-term offer. But otherwise normal terms will apply.

 Erdogan: Turkey coup bid 'an act of treason'

What can I do to reduce the risks of travelling  apart from staying at home?

You could start by avoiding places where tourists have been specifically targeted, rather than being caught up in generalised assaults. Recent cases have happened in Tunisia (which is still off-limits to British travellers, according to the Foreign Office), Egypt and Morocco. Or if you prefer to travel you could follow my three-point plan for staying safe:

1 Keep the amount you travel by road to a minimum, and in the developing world always choose a professional driver (either a taxi or bus driver) rather than driving yourself.

2 On beach holidays, be aware of the dangers of rip tides, and understand how to deal with them. You can find an excellent guide online at bit.ly/RipSafe.

3 When youre out and about while abroad, leave your phone behind. Youll be more tuned in to possible dangers, to the amazing sights and sounds of life in a different country, and you wont step out into the road while texting and be mown down.

Follow those three rules and your risk profile  the chances of coming to harm abroad  will be much reduced.
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Seventeen police officers have been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara, according to Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency.

Turkish Air Force planes are flying above Ankara to strike at helicopters that are being used by those attempting the coup, the news agency said.

Privately-run NTV television reported F-16 jets have brought down a Sikorsky helicopter, but didn't provide any details.

More follows
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A Turkish military helicopter has landed in northern Greece where its crew has requested political asylum.

Local reports suggest the crew are part of the faction of the Turkish military that attempted to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government in a coup on Friday night.

Greeces defence ministry has confirmed seven military personnel and one civilian landed in a Blackhawk military helicopter in Alexandroupoli and requested asylum.

Upon arrival the eight crew members were arrested for illegal entry to the country.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, has demanded their return.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency quotes the Turkish foreign minister as saying we have demanded the immediate return of the eight treacherous officers who fled to Greece by helicopter.

According to the Guardian, the crew removed all badges and insignia from their uniforms making it impossible to know their rank.

However, Turkey's Dogan news agency is reporting that two majors, a captain and five privates have requested asylum.

 Violence between protesters and police in Turkey

It is understood to be the first time a Turkish military vehicle had landed in Greece seeking asylum in the country.

Greece will examine the request for political asylum on Saturday, two Greek government sources said.

But it is thought to be highly unlikely the men would be granted asylum in Greece.

The men are due to appear before a Greek prosecutor on Sunday, and the Blackhawk helicopter will be returned to Turkey immediately, a Greek government official said.

More than 161 people are dead and more than 1,000 wounded following the violent clashes in Turkey after a coup was launched to overthrow Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans government.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

A total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across the country after the Turkish government and military forces loyal to the president cracked down on the attempted coup.

On Saturday morning, the government appeared to regain control, with troops surrendering as civilians took to the streets in support of the government.
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The United States has called on all parties in Turkey to support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government against a coup attempt by the military - with other world leaders expressing concern about the upheaval in a Nato member country.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone and gave their support to Mr Erdogan.

The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed, the White House said in a statement.

The situation remains unclear but there have been numerous reports of violence.

Recommended Read more Turkish military claims in statement to have taken over

A spokesman for the German government said on Twitter: "The democratic order must be protected, all must be done to protect lives."

In neighbouring Greece, the armed forces and police are holding emergency meetings in Athens to monitor developments. Officials described the country's armed forces as being placed in a state of "heightened readiness" and not alert.

Moscow expressed grave concern about events in the country, and it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation.

 Turkey coup - 60 dead in 'act of treason' against the government

Peskov said events were moving too fast to fully understand what was happening, but he said Russia was concerned and wanted to see Turkey return to the path of stability and order, and for there to be a lawful outcome.

In the UK, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he was very concerned about the events.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has urged people to avoid public places and remain vigilant.

A Nato official at alliance headquarters in Brussels told The Associated Press early Saturday that "we're following events closely," but said he had no other comment. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Nothing in Nato's founding 1949 Washington Treaty says anything about intervening in the internal or political affairs of an alliance member, and Turkey kept its NATO membership following past military coups.

The United Nations is also trying to clarify the situation. "The Secretary-General is closely following developments in Turkey. He is aware of the reports of a coup attempt in the country, spokesman Farhan Haq said.

"The United Nations is seeking to clarify the situation on the ground and appeals for calm."

Responses elsewhere were a marked contrast. In Syria, Hundreds of cheering people took to the streets of Damascus early on Saturday and celebratory gunfire erupted. around the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.

Mr Assad's government has accused Mr Erdogan of fuelling Syria's five-year conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

A resident in the government-held part of the northern city of Aleppo said people believed that "Erdogan's fall is an announcement of the end of the crisis in Syria, given he is the one chiefly responsible for the crisis".
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A Turkish fighter jet has shot down a military helicopter used by the members of the coup forces.

The Sikorsky helicopter was brought down by a government F-16 fighter, reports NTV.

Helicopters have been reportedly used by the military forces involved in the coup to attack government.

According to the state-run Anadolu news agency, the Turkish Air Force have been flying over the capital of Ankara attacking "coup helicopters".

A helicopter has killed 17 police officers in an attack on the Police special forces headquarters, reports Anadolu.

More to follow
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Tanks have reportedly opened fire near the Turkish parliament building in Ankara during an attempted military coup against President Erdogan.

Crowds had gathered near the parliament building to show their support for the government against the military forces.

Speaking on Facetime to CNN, Erdogan had called on supporters to enter major public spaces and protest "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces".

His comments have been supported by Interior Minister Efkan Ala who said Turkish citizens should "fearlessly go out and support our security forces".

Mr Ala added: "We think it would be right for them to go out to the airports, to the streets, especially to the main arteries."

Confrontations between tanks and protesters have been reported in Ankara and Istanbul.

A civilian car tried to stop one of the tanks near the Presidential palace on the outskirts of Ankara, but it rammed through the vehicle as those in the car escaped.

More to follow
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A Turkish court has issued an arrest warrant for dissident and self-imposed exile Fethullah Gulen as he is accused of running an armed terrorist group to allegedly overthrow the government.

Mr Gulen, who was once an ally of current president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and has now lived in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, strongly denies the claims that his group Hizmet is involved with terrorist-related activity.

While the US and Turkey have an extradition agreement, it is said to be unlikely for the former to act upon it while the request is said to put more pressure on strained relations between Washington DC and Ankara.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes Show all 8 1 /8 Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Just a week before he was elected President, he called Erdogan Amberin Zaman, the Turkey correspondent for 'The Economist', a "shameless militant woman disguised under the name of a journalist" after she had asked an opposition leader whether "Muslim society is able to question" the authorities. "Know your place," Erdogan said. "They gave you a pen and you are writing a column in a newspaper. "And then they invite you to a TV channel owned by Dogan media group and you insult at a society of 99 per cent Muslims," he said he said according to Today's Zaman newspaper. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Turkish people are pictured chanting slogans during an anti-government protest on Taksim square in Istanbul, on 29 June, 2013. The protests were sparked by brutal police action against a local conservation battle to save Istanbul's Gezi Park, and soon turned into nationwide demonstrations against the government. Amid the protests - the worst in Turkey for years - Erdogan accused demonstrators of being "arm-in-arm with terrorism," according to Reuters. "This is a protest organized by extremist elements. We will not give away anything to those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism," he said. GURCAN OZTURK/AFP/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes During last years protests, activists used social media to organise and disseminate information. Several dozen tweeters were arrested following the protests, according to local media reports. Erdogan responded by calling the technology a "menace". "There is now a menace which is called Twitter," Erdogan said. "The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society," BBC New reported. Vladimir Astapkovich/RIA Novosti via Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Not helping to allay accusations of authoritarianism, after Turkish police detained 49 people, including well-known business people and those close to the ruling party, Erdeogan ominously told reporter that Turkey "is not a banana republic" that can be affected by unnamed "operations", according to Today's Zaman newspaper. People who are backed by the media and certain funders cannot change this country," he said. "People backed by certain dark gangs both inside and outside Turkey cannot mess with the country's path. They cannot change conditions in Turkey. Turkey is not a country that anyone can launch an operation into. The [Turkish] nation will not allow that. The AK Party, which is governing this nation, will not allow this." Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Friends and relatives of the miners who died in an explosion at the Soma mine are pictured praying following the burial in Soma cemetery of the last body to be recovered from the mine in May 2014. At the time, the then-Prime Minister badly misjudged the Soma mining disaster, in which 301 workers died. He told the relatives of dead and dying miners that "these types of incidents are ordinary things", following allegations that the government had ignored safety concerns about the privately owned mine, the Guardian reported. In his defence, Erdogan recounted in a separate speech a list of mining disasters which occurred abroad, including a British disaster in 1862, and one in America "which has every kind of technology". Oli Scarff/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Palestinians pictured attending Friday noon prayers in a destroyed mosque that was hit by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City. As Prime Minister, Erdogan has condemned Israel, accusing it of deliberately killing Palestinian mothers and warned that the it would "drown in the blood it sheds." Speaking to thousands of supporters during a rally in Istanbul ahead of the 10 August election, Reuters reported him as saying: "Just like Hitler, who sought to establish a race free of all faults, Israel is chasing after the same target." "They kill women so that they will not give birth to Palestinians; they kill babies so that they won't grow up; they kill men so they can't defend their country ... They will drown in the blood they shed," he said. AP Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes Amid the worst protests in Turkey for years which had spread across dozens of cities last June, Erdogan accused demonstrators of being "arm-in-arm with terrorism," according to Reuters. A demonstration to halt construction in a park in an Istanbul square grew into mass protests against a heavy-handed police crackdown and what opponents called Erdogan's authoritarian policies. "This is a protest organized by extremist elements," Erdogan said before departing on a trip to North Africa. "We will not give away anything to those who live arm-in-arm with terrorism," he said. Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most controversial quotes The Turkish President's craziest quotes In March 2014, Erdogan accused a 15-year-old boy who died from injuries sustained in last year's anti-government protests of being linked to terrorism. Berkin Elvan, who became a symbol of anti-government protests, had gone to pick up bread when he was hit with a teargas canister - sending him into a nine-month coma before he passed away. In a speech broadcast on state TV, Erdogan said of Berkin: "This kid with steel marbles in his pockets, with a slingshot in his hand, his face covered with a scarf, who had been taken up into terror organisations, was unfortunately subjected to pepper gas. How could the police determine how old that person was who had a scarf on his face and was hurling steel marbles with a slingshot in his hand? ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

Critics believe that the charges brought against 73-year-old Mr Gulen by public prosecutor Hasan Yilmaz are politically-motivated and can carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years, BBC News reports.

In an article published the day after 9/11 in the Washington Post, Mr Gulen said: I would like to stress that any terrorist activity, no matter who does it and for what purpose, is the greatest blow to peace, democracy, humanity, and all religious values.

For this reason, no one  and certainly no Muslims  can approve of any terrorist activity. Terror has no place in ones quest to achieve independence or salvation. It costs the lives of innocent people.

Hizmet is described as a moderate Islamic movement that champions inter-faith dialogue and Mr Gulen publicly made visits to religious leaders including Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1998.

The number of his followers is not formally recorded however the network of teachers, students, entrepreneurs, academics and journalists is said to span the globe with around 1,000 schools set up worldwide.

A quarter of private schools in Turkey are run by Hizmet, and the government declared to shut them down as they allegedly have been giving an unfair advantage to those who are more wealthy.

Hizmet was also described as having the characteristics of a cult or of an Islamic Opus De by The Guardian last year in an opinion-editorial article.

More than 20 journalists that were deemed to be sympathetic toward Hizmet and Mr Gulen were arrested last weekend, with eight of them freed yesterday on the orders of an Istanbul court.

Those released include Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of Zaman newspaper. Four others, including a TV station boss, remain in custody.
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The Pentagon said late on Friday it was closely monitoring developments in Turkey and reports of a military coup there but played down suggestions that the rebellion would mean an immediate withdrawal of the US military presence in the country, crucial in the fight against Isis.

Notably, the defence department in Washington was at pains to stress that the key US airbase at Incirlik was still functioning as normal in spite of the chaotic scenes being reported from the two largest cities of Ankara and Istanbul.

We are monitoring the situation in Turkey closely and are taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, civilians, their families, and our facilities. As of this time, there has been no impact to Incirlik Air Base and counter-ISIL air operations from Incirlik continue, a senior Pentagon official said in a statement.

Traditionally, the US would be impelled to end any kind of military operations in a country where a democratically elected government is overthrown by its own military establishment.

Because Turkey is a key member of Nato in an absolutely vital geo-strategic position on the border between the Middle East and western Europe any events that forced a withdrawal by the US would represent a diplomatic and military disaster for the US and for the Alliance as a whole.

 Turkey coup - 60 dead in 'act of treason' against the government

Most importantly, Turkey and its bases have proved pivotal in the Alliances efforts to counter the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq. Many of the aerial US sorties flown to seek out Isis larges originate in Incirlik.

However, with fluctuating reports on how successful or otherwise the military mutiny is turning out to be, it is understandable that for now the US will stand back to see how events play out before taking any longer term decisions.

Reports that the plane carrying President Tayyip Erdogan had successfully borne him from his holiday location on the Mediterranean coast and landed in Istanbul was clearly being taken as an encouraging sign that government claims that the situation had been bought under control may prove to be true.

Both the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and President Barack Obama issued statements earlier underscoring the support of the government, stressing that it has been democratically elected and therefore must be supported. Mr Kerry is in the region and US officials said he and Mr Obama had been discussing the crisis by telephone.

Kerry said he had stressed in a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu the United States' absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions.

The US State Department meanwhile urged US citizens in Turkey to stay off the streets and take caution.
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Conspiracy theorists are saying the attempted military coup in Turkey was faked, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly called it a gift from Allah.

Social media users have compared the coup attempt in which more than 160 people are thought to have died to the Reichstag fire  the 1933 arson attack on the German parliament building which Hitler used as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and order mass arrests of his opponents.

President Erdogan reportedly told supporters at Istanbuls international airport that the coup attempt was the work of the movement led by the exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen, which he denounced as an armed terrorist organisation.

Recommended Read more What we know so far about the attempted military coup in Turkey

He was quoted as calling the attempted coup "a gift from God," reportedly saying it would help cleanse the military of "members of the gang who would pay a heavy price for their treason.

This immediately led many to fear that President Erdogan, who has previously been accused of persecuting critics, will use the coup as an excuse to further crack down on his opponents. Such fears are likely to be stoked by Turkish TV reports that 2,745 judges have been removed from their offices following the coup attempt.

Some observers have even begun specualting that the coup was stage-managed to give Mr Erdogan an opportunity to purge the military of opponents and increase his grip on Turkey.

 Erdogan: Turkey coup bid 'an act of treason'

Ryan Heath, the senior EU correspondent at Politico, used Twitter to share comments from his Turkish source, who called the events of Friday night a fake coup which would help a fake democracy warrior [Erdogan].

The source said: Probably well see an early election [in] which hell try to guarantee an unbelievable majority of the votes. And this will probably guarantee another 10-15 years of authoritarian, elected dictatorship.

Well possibly see a change in the constitution for worse, which secularism will be gone and Islamist motifs will be in!

Using the hashtag #TheatreNotCoup, a Twitter user calling himself Subsidiarity Man wrote: Two words: Reichstag fire. The year was 1933 and you know what happened next.

Another Twitter user quoted my special friend in Istanbul as calling what happened: Most probably a real coup attempt, which was vaguely known beforehand, and was allowed to proceed, because they knew it to be disorganised and weak.

This means it will be followed by a real coup by Erdogan himself, and the last remnants of democracy will be lost.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

In a reference to the history of Nazi Germany, the friend added: A civilian brown-shirt movement is already in the making, and this will rule the streets once the so-called coup is defeated in a couple of days.

The Gulen movement, also known as Hizmet and led by the US-based moderate Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, has rejected Mr Erdogans accusations and denied any involvement in the coup.

The group, which presses for a moderate version of Sunni Islam that emphasises interfaith dialogue, has regularly accused President Erdogan of harassing and unfairly arresting its supporters.

Before the attempted coup, there had also been extensive international criticism of Mr Erdogans human rights record, especially his growing repression of the media.

It has been reported that since 2014 1,845 journalists, writers and critics have faced charges of insulting the president, an offence which in Turkey carries a potential jail sentence.

President Erdogan faced particular scrutiny earlier this year after he demanded a criminal prosecution of the German satirist Jan Bohmermann who used profane language to insult him on television.

This prompted the British right-wing magazine The Spectator to run a President Erdogan Offensive Poetry competition  won by the then former London mayor, now Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, with a limerick suggesting the Turkish president had enjoyed sexual congress with a goat.

It read:

There was a young fellow from Ankara

Who was a terrific wankerer

Till he sowed his wild oats

With the help of a goat

But he didnt even stop to thankera.

As news of the coup attempt emerged, Mr Johnson issued a series of messages in support of President Erdogan and his democratic elected government and institutions.
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Q I have recently travelled on Air Transat from Toronto to Gatwick. The plane was over four hours late leaving Toronto and arrived at Gatwick around 2.30pm next day instead of 10am. I have written to Air Transat about the delay, asking for compensation, but they have sent me an email stating that they will not pay any compensation. Is this correct?

Peter Coleman, Brighton

A Air Transat has a good track record flying to and from the UK. It is a long-established Canadian airline - and in terms of your entitlement to compensation, the clue is in that term Canadian.

The European Union stipulates compensation payments for flights that arrive at their destination at least three hours late. But these apply only to flights from EU airports or on board an EU airline. So your case doesnt count.

If you can demonstrate some tangible financial loss, then Air Transat may owe you compensation under the terms of the Montreal Convention, which governs air travel worldwide. When I had a three-day delay with the airline, and lost earnings as a result, I successfully made a modest claim. But if it was merely inconvenient and annoying rather than financially costly, then I fear all you can do is put it down to experience - and perhaps opt for an EU airline next time.

Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a readers question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
Tahar Mejri looks exhausted as he stumbles out of the children's hospital in Nice where he went in desperate search of his four-year-old son, Kylan.

"I have called everywhere, police stations, hospitals, Facebook and I can't find my son. I have been looking for him for 48 hours," he tells AFP.

"My wife is dead, where is my son?"

Mejri is one of hundreds whose life changed in an instant when a truck careered into a crowd of people who had just enjoyed a Bastille Day fireworks display in Nice on Thursday.

A few hours later his search came to an end at the Pasteur Hospital in the north of the city where he learned that his son was dead.

Earlier he told AFP he could not understand why the famed Promenade des Anglais was not closed to traffic for the celebration.

It was, but 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel smashed through onto the pavement in the truck, leaving police helpless to stop him from killing 84 and injuring around 200.

"Everyone was there, old people, babies," Mejri raged.

Abandoned dolls and pushchairs were among the debris left along the promenade after the driver was shot dead by police.

Ten children and teenagers were among the dead and another five children were still fighting for their lives alongside dozens of critically injured adults.

Thirty children were hospitalised at the Lenval Foundation paediatric hospital where a unit of psychologists has been working alongside doctors to deal with the flood of trauma.

"There were a lot of head injuries and fractures," said hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Simpson.

Two of the children admitted to the hospital died shortly after the attack.

Simpson said the youngest victim being treated was six months old.

Also in the hospital was an eight-year-old boy who had yet to be identified.

Romanian authorities said three of their citizens were missing, and one of them might be the boy at Lenval.

"We are used to receiving a lot of children at the same time, but this, has been hard to manage. It is the psychological aspect," said Simpson.

She says the hospital received a deluge of calls looking for missing children after the attack.

Trauma counsellors have been made available at several points around the city, and at Lenval, families dropped in sporadically.

One man accompanied his 13-year-old daughter and ex-wife who had been to see the fireworks display and got caught up in the chaos after the attack.

"It's the first time they have left the house since," he told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

"They saw people running in all directions shouting that there were gunmen in the town. My daughter can't even speak, her mother had to convince her to come."

Another man comes in with his wife and two daughters.

"We need to see someone. We saw everything on Thursday night, the truck passed 30 metres (100 feet) from us. Another four seconds and we would have been hit. Luckily we moved aside."

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Booking a holiday is unlike other big purchases. The customer makes a significant financial commitment, usually months ahead, and enters into a contract that it is typically expensive to break  from the holidaymakers point of view, at least. As departure date approaches, events may trigger buyers remorse, with the prospective traveller wishing they had booked to somewhere else, or indeed not booked at all.

Right now millions of families across the world will be facing that reality, as they contemplate events since 14 July in the light of their impending holidays. They are quite likely to discover that their travel companies are enforcing their terms and conditions.

Tour operators are generally entitled to refuse refunds and transfers unless there is government advice against travelling to a destination  as is the case for Tunisia. And even if the Foreign Office advises against travel to a destination, airlines are within their rights to say, basically, Our flight is still operating, and the fact that you no longer want to go isnt our problem  its yours.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

But what, in the short term, is the holidaymakers problem will soon become a concern for the whole travel industry  with major implications for an important slab of the economy both in Britain and abroad.

The UK vote to leave the EU, which took place three weeks before the atrocity in Nice, had already weakened confidence. Travel firms have been reporting slow sales of lates. These are the airline seats and hotel beds that are subject to who-blinks-first bargaining, with holiday companies keen to sell their distressed inventory at the highest possible price, while prospective buyers in need of sunshine take a view on whether the price will fall or the trip will be snapped up by someone else.

At this time of year  a week away from the end of term for many schools in England and Wales  holiday firms are usually confident that last-minute packages will sell profitably. But this year, such certainty is dwindling.

If bargain-hunting Brits were already wavering because of the slump in sterling since the Brexit vote, events in France and Turkey may persuade them to stay at home. When that means holidaying in Britain, at least it is good news for the UK tourist industry. But for some it will literally mean remaining at home  keeping their cash in their pockets, while surrendering all the personal benefits that derive from travel.

With so much strife elsewhere, Britain seems relatively safe. When you look at risk dispassionately, the UK is indeed one of the safest places on the planet, largely because of our very low road-accident rate. Yet when people are deciding where  and whether  to travel, their perception of risk is often deeply flawed.

They start with the journey itself. Typically a traveller will rate the flight as the most dangerous part of the journey to their destination, even though it is safer  by several orders of magnitude  than a road journey to the airport.

Point out to an anxious passenger about to step aboard a British Airways or easyJet flight that no UK passenger jet has crashed with loss of life since the 1980s, and they are unlikely to feel reassured. And when that traveller reaches their destination, they may continue to apply willful ignorance of probability.

He or she will cheerfully hire a car and drive it on unfamiliar roads in the company of motorists who are statistically far more likely to crash than those in Britain. The roads in Spain, Cyprus and Malta are around one-third riskier than the UK. Turkey, France, Italy and Canada suffer death rates more than 50 per cent worse. Things get progressively more dangerous in Portugal, Greece, Croatia and the US.

Yet human nature tells them they are in control and that, therefore, their risk exposure is minimal. But even in a year such as 2015, in which 30 British holidaymakers were murdered on the beach at Sousse in Tunisia, 10 times as many UK travellers perished on foreign roads.

A holiday is an emotional purchase. You are buying a dream. But if your perception of risk makes you fear that it could turn into a nightmare, you are unlikely to commit.

This represents a personal loss, because anticipation is an important element of a trip. For the travel industry, though, reluctance to commit represents a major commercial threat. Airlines, hotels and tour operators deal in a uniquely perishable product. If an airline seat remains empty on a journey, or a room is not slept in, there is no way to recover that lost potential revenue. So they like to start selling a year in advance, and tweak prices to maintain a steady flow of bookings.

The murderous year so far in Istanbul, Brussels, Orlando and Nice will hit earnings for summer 2016, but its impact on next summer will be even more serious.

The two nations which spend more on foreign holidays than any others in the West are the US and Germany.

Americans sensitivities about overseas travel has been demonstrated in the response to events from the 1990s civil war in Yugoslavia to the 2015 attacks in Paris. Shocks abroad cause a shift to vacations at home, even though this behaviour conveniently ignores the high US death rates from both road deaths and firearms.

Germany is now following the same trend. Each January a social trends foundation  funded, oddly, by British American Tobacco  asks a representative sample of 4,000 Germans about their travel intentions for the year ahead. In 2016, for the first time in a decade, one in five said they had no holiday planned yet. When asked why, the main issue cited was security, which they rated as more important than weather or value for money.

This year one in three Germans will take their main holiday at home  a proportion not seen for decades.

For the UK, both trends represent bad news: Americans spend much more on vacations in Britain than any other nationality, and the Germans are also crucial for the tourist industry  particularly in more remote areas of the UK.

For France, the impression that the authorities are unable to identify and control individuals intent on mass murder will trigger a sharp downturn in everything from short breaks in Paris or Nice to month-long holidays beside the beach or in the countryside.

And for Turkey, 2016 has just gone from bad (forward bookings around 50 per cent down on last year) to very much worse. As crisis grips the country, foreign travel firms will be seeking to extract themselves from 2017 commitments.

While the Turkish economy slumps and hundreds of thousands of tourism workers find themselves unemployed, all we can do is hope that wisdom will prevail and that the government will seek consensus rather than further confrontation. But whatever your attitude to risk, dont bet on it.
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Tim and Lucy Kerridge run a small but highly desirable B&B in the heart of rural Dorset, not far from the charming country town of Shaftesbury. But they also let out a beautifully converted blacksmiths forge  The Smithy  that sleeps two, along with three cosy glamping options: a gypsy caravan and a couple of shepherds' huts.

The Smithy is a great place, rustic and at the same time contemporary, decorated with the Kerridges' old blacksmiths tools and fab old retro signs (many of which pertain to their love of classic cars) but with all the mod cons you could possibly need plus its own outside terrace and vine-covered pergola.

In a nearby field you'll find Rosie, a 1930s gypsy caravan that also sleeps two; lace curtains frame the windows and there's a small kitchen and fan heater to keep you warm, plus the nearby Tuck Shop which has sweets and goodies and a fridge, sink and crockery for picnics, and the Glampers Kitchen, where you can cook up the local sausages and bacon provided (just put your money in the honesty box).

Rosie shares a field with Sam the Shepherd's Hut, which provides cosy accommodation for another couple and is furnished in a pretty, old-fashioned style with country furniture, retro tins and containers and quilts. Finally, there's Mabel, another Shepherd's Hut, a short walk away across a stile and some stepping stones, furnished in the same retro style. It shares the Tuck Shop and Glampers Kitchen with Sam and Rosie  and of course the glorious views over the surrounding green hills  but each of the glamping options has their own bathrooms and loos.

Whether you opt for glamping or The Smithy, sitting outside of an evening, nursing a glass of wine while your sausages sizzle, is a treat indeed  especially if Scrumpy Jack, the Kerridges' tame donkey, has come by for a visit.

Cool Places is a website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk)
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Ne, nej, nee, no, ei, non, nein, ochi, nem, le, nie, nao, nu, nej. That is no in the official languages of the European Union, except Irish, which doesnt have words for yes and no. Never say this column doesnt do original research. It is what David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, is going to hear a lot over the next three years.

The negotiations will be hard. The other countries of the EU are not going to allow Britain to exclude itself from the free movement of EU workers while keeping free access to the single market. Something will have to give.

This will split the country, but on slightly different lines from the 52-48 per cent division in the referendum. The Labour Party is already mobilising the 48 per cent behind the twin demands of keeping Britain in the single market and a second referendum.

By the Labour Party I do not mean Jeremy Corbyn. He demanded that the Government, then still led by David Cameron, triggered Article 50  the formal two-year process for leaving the EU  on the morning after the referendum.

But most of the party, being rather more viscerally defensive of Britains EU membership, has gravitated to fighting a rearguard action. Delay Article 50. Keep us in the single market. Demand a second referendum.

Those are the positions taken by Owen Smith and Angela Eagle, Corbyns two challengers for the leadership. But also by Chuka Umunna and Alastair Campbell, organising the campaign to hold the Leave campaign to account for what they regard as the impossible promises it made during the referendum.

It is not just Labour, though. Mays own Government is also divided. Two of her most senior cabinet ministers, Philip Hammond and Jeremy Hunt, say that staying in the single market is more important than controlling immigration. Hammond, three days after the referendum, said: I believe that it is essential that we protect our access to the single European market. He was Foreign Secretary at the time. Now that he is Chancellor his words become even more significant: If we lose that, I fear we will find ourselves sliding gently down the league table getting relatively poorer and that is not an outcome I want to see for this country.

 Theresa May questioned over Boris Johnson appointment by German press

Hunt was even more explicit, in those heady days when he was seriously considering running as a candidate for the Tory leadership. The first part of the plan must be clarity that we will remain in the single market, he said. Before setting the clock ticking [on Article 50], we need to negotiate a deal and put it to the British people, either in a referendum or through the Conservative manifesto at a fresh general election.

It will not be Hammond or Hunt who negotiate the detail of the Brexit deal, but this is such an important question that the whole Cabinet will take collective responsibility for it. May is said to want to return to Cabinet government  they all say that, and it mightily impresses people who think such a mythical beast ever existed. But there is no easy way round the hard choice facing the Prime Minister, her Government and her country.

May put the Leavers  Davis, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson  in charge of the negotiations so that they take responsibility for them. But this was not a way of dropping them in it, letting them take the blame while she sailed serenely on in the wreckage. She needs the negotiations to succeed as much as they do, because her Government was formed to carry out the peoples instruction in the referendum.

There may be poetic justice in seeing Davis, Fox and Johnsons airy certainties meeting the reality of complex trade negotiations. They have got their country back, and it is the country that was used to being told no, mainly in French, by General de Gaulle and the rest of our continental neighbours.

But it is Mays country too. And she has made it clear that if there is a choice between controlling immigration and free trade, she would choose a reduction in immigration. For the first time in Britain, we have a Prime Minister who intends to make us poorer. She thinks that is what the people voted for in the referendum. Her place in history depends on whether she is right or not.
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Following assembling her new cabinet, negotiating the UKs relationship with the EU is of course at the top of Theresa May's in tray. Our new Prime Minister will have to balance access to the single market with the desire, expressed by many Brexiteers, to cut immigration. One wonders if perhaps she could negotiate a deal whereby, whilst having a compassionate and open immigration system, it were possible during times of particularly heavy immigration to apply a short term restriction? She could perhaps call it an 'emergency brake'. Likewise, with regards to trade, perhaps she could negotiate full access to the single market whilst securing guarantees that we would never have to join the euro. She could ask for us to not have to bail out eurozone countries, and for a guarantee that we would be exempt from "ever closer union".

Surely if any Prime Minister were able to negotiate such favourable terms with Brussels then they would return home to a hero's welcome. Then they could put the terms of this agreement to the electorate in a referendum. The public would have to be crazy to turn down these terms  wouldn't they?

James Shepherd

Lincolnshire

No laughing at the back, Boris

Dear Boris, Congratulations on your appointment as Foreign Secretary. There are a few things that Theresa May might not have felt able to say bluntly, so I will.

Your appointment is a big gamble for her  frankly, a surprising one. You will now be representing the British people on the world stage, and we expect you to take that responsibility seriously and behave appropriately. That means no lies, no scandals, no insulting of foreign leaders to get a cheap laugh. Britain, particularly now, needs strong, constructive relationships with the rest of the world and to help build those. We need our Foreign Secretary to be professional, not the class clown.

You are apparently an intelligent, charismatic and likeable man, who connects with people and communicates well. Let us see you use those qualities and skills to help make Britain a better place, perhaps even a great one.

Richard Warrell

Yealmpton, Devon

Boris Johnson is derided for saying that the West should work with Russia and Assad to destroy Isis in Syria. On this occasion, Boris Johnson is right. Isis cannot be defeated except by working with Assad (this does not mean befriending him, as many imply) or by waging all-out war against Assad and Isis, the consequences of which are incalculable.

If Western leaders have serious concerns about human rights in Syria they can work for internationally observed elections. If Assad wins, they can ensure human rights are respected in the aftermath. If Assad regains power with peace in Syria it does not look likely that he would jeopardise that wonderful state of affairs. Syria under his rule before the war was a comparative paradise.

Brendan OBrien

London, N21

Corbynites of old

As one of the 120,000 supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, I am excited to be mistaken for an idle Trotskyist who is under the age of 30. Do I need a beard and a dodgy t-shirt? Please tell no one that I am a 60-year-old woman who has voted Labour all her life and has finally joined the Labour Party because I want a part in making it something I can be proud of again.

Roberta Mitchell

Gerrans

Rainbow connection

There is currently much talk on the centre left about the possibility of a "rainbow alliance", comprising Greens, the Lib Dems and Labour. As a committed member of the first, I have considerable concerns about whether such a trio could function effectively.

Greens and Lib Dems have much in common and their concerns speak to the hearts and minds of many voters. However, an alliance with Labour would surely be like shackling ourselves to a corpse. The party has been in decline for many years and is now manifestly in its death throes. Better a happy duet than a tragic trio.

Andrew McLuskey

Staines

Broken democracy

I think Andreas Whittam Smith presents a convincing analysis of what is wrong with our parliamentary system  and specifically the reasons for the ineptitude of our politicians  but I am not sure about his proposed remedy. What happens in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia? Do they also have many politicians who have never done anything other than politics? Is this a just a British problem?

What would happen if the UK had a proper proportional representation electoral system: would we still be lumbered with inept politicians? If not, then perhaps getting PR has a better chance of success than Andreass proposed solution.

Ian K Watson

Carlisle

In solidarity

While watching a recent evening news bulletin showing the Proms audience, bathed in the tricolour's colours and standing to the Marseillaise in solidarity with France and the French people, I was deeply moved. And then my mind switched to the events of 24 June, and my thoughts were, but we have just turned our backs on these people. Sadness indeed.

David Lyons

Stockport

Saturdays editorial claimed, These acts, although committed in the name of Islam, have nothing to do with Islam, but that is a profound misunderstanding of the situation. They have everything to do with Islam just as the activities of the Lords Resistance Army have everything to do with Christianity.

Both are on the lunatic fringe of their religion, but their underlying philosophy is firmly based on their religious beliefs. The various sects of Islam have been murdering each other for almost as long as the religion has existed and Christianity is little better having left its original principles in abeyance when it became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. Responsible adherents of any religion have a duty to disassociate themselves publicly from the extreme behaviour of their murderous co-religionists and not to secretly identify with them and condone their activities on the grounds of shared religious beliefs. That they, by and large, choose to excuse their fanatics rather than criticise them diminishes both themselves and their religion.

Roger Chapman

Keighley

A point about Hinckley

When James Moore says that Hinckley Point is "worth the cost", has he also factored in the inevitable cost of decommissioning? Yet another charge on a generation as yet unborn.

Joanna Pallister

London, E17
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It was near inevitable that Isis should organise or inspire another atrocity in Western Europe after a string of defeats culminating in the loss of Fallujah to Iraqi government forces. Isis has always used acts of mass terrorism directed against civilians as a way of showing its strength and dominating the news agenda. It is part of its repertoire of tactics at all times, but particularly when it is suffering losses and hopes are rising that it is not only retreating but has gone into irreversible decline.

Isis had already reacted to defeat at Fallujah by sending a vehicle packed with explosives into the Karada district of Baghdad, where it exploded, killing 292 people. This happened just as the Iraqi government was congratulating itself on taking the city which people in the Iraqi capital believed was the source of many of bombs that have slaughtered them over the last three years.

 The victims of the Nice attack

Isis now claims that Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who drove his truck through crowds of people in Nice, was one of their soldiers. It is possible that they did not know what was going to happen until it was over, but the attack has all the hallmarks of an Isis mass killing: it was directed against civilians in a very public place and its savagery was so extreme that it inevitably instils fear and dominates the world news agenda for days on end. All that was needed to carry it out was a fanatical perpetrator willing to be killed as a proof of his faith.

This was the tactic of al-Qaeda, shown most famously on 9/11, but Isis has used it on a greater scale and, even when it is on the retreat in Iraq and Syria, it can mobilise bombers swiftly and effectively.

The Isis attack on Ataturk Istanbul International Airport was carried out by gunmen and bombers from Central Asia, whom Turkish security had not identified as a threat because it supposed they were committed to overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad and his regime in Syria. What gives Isis terrorism its relentless quality is that it is backed by a well-organised, if battered, state machine in the form of the so-called caliphate, that can mobilise men, equipment, expertise and money.

In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke rises after airstrikes by US-led coalition planes as Iraqi security forces advance against Islamic State extremists in Fallujah, June 15, 2016 AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi security forces advance during heavy fighting against Isis militants in Fallujah, Iraq, on 14 June AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia militia say that moving resources from Fallujah towards the area near Mosul was a 'betrayal' of the battle for the city GETTY In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Hospital sources said 18 bodies were recovered from the river over the weekend AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Up to 60,000 civilians were feared trapped in Fallujah at the start of the Iraqi operation AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold an Isis flag in an operation east of Fallujah  the terror group has lost ground in both Syria and Iraq AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold their weapons as they gather near Falluja, Iraq, June 4, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Pro-government forces bid to take back ground from Isis in Fallujah MOADH AL-DULAIMI/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive to retake the city AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah A member of the Iraqi security forces fires artillery during clashes with Isis militants near Fallujah, Iraq, 29 May, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi government forces fire a rocket near al-Sejar village, north-east of Fallujah, on May 26, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State group AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters and Iraqi security forces advance towards Fallujah Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

Isis is under pressure on almost every front in Iraq and Syria. It cannot withstand ground attacks backed by precision bombing from the US-led air armada and the same is true of the Syrian army supported by Russian bombers. This may weaken Isis, but does not put it permanently out of business because it can revert to guerrilla warfare and wait for its numerous enemies to fall out, as they invariably do. The Iraqi and Syrian governments are short of good combat troops and have difficulty occupying the territory they have taken.

It is often said that there can be no peace in Iraq without conciliating the Sunni Arabs, the community from which Isis draws its strength, but this is to underestimate the sectarian and ethnic cleansing now being carried out by all sides in the civil war engulfing Iraq and Syria. An increasing number of the Sunni Arab community in both countries  one-fifth of the population in Iraq and three-fifths in Syria  are being permanently displaced and are unlikely to go home.

The sectarian map of this part of the Middle East is being permanently redrawn, which can only intensify the fighting. Isis is a long way from total defeat, but it is giving up population centres and has not made a successful counter-attack for over a year. It will seek to spread its networks of militants to other countries and make sure that its retreats are masked by further atrocities like the ones in Baghdad and Nice.
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Even people who worked closely with Theresa May at the Home Office describe her as a woman of mystery. No wonder that many voters will feel that they barely know our new Prime Minister. We would have learnt more about her if she had fought the expected nine-week Tory leadership election, but her opponents all fell by the wayside.

The Cameron-Osborne duopoly that has run the Conservative Party since 2005 has certainly learnt more about May in recent days. Their gang of modernisers, dubbed the Notting Hill set, is seething at the massacre of their troops in Mays dramatic Cabinet reshuffle. If anyone doubted she would be her own woman in Downing Street, there are no doubts now.

The Cameroons hoped she was the continuity candidate and helped her to defeat Andrea Leadsom. They saw her as the Stop Boris candidate but she handed him the Foreign Office job that George Osborne wanted. We gave her our machine, and she turned the guns on us, one Tory MP groaned. The posh boys and their allies are in exile, replaced mainly by state school educated meritocrats charged with implementing Mays blue collar Conservatism.

 Theresa May Gives Maiden Speech Outside Downing Street as new PM

The clues to Mays agenda were in a speech she made in 2013 that raised eyebrows in Cameron-Osborne land because it ranged well beyond her Home Office brief. It was a rehearsal for the words she spoke outside Number 10 on Wednesday upon becoming Prime Minister. Three years ago, May told a ConservativeHome conference that capitalism had to be reformed so that it worked for everyone, and trailed new laws on corporate governance. She said then: We have to become the party that is tireless in confronting vested interests. The party that takes power from the elites and gives it to the people. The party not just of those who have already made it, but the home of those who want to work hard and get on in life.

This landmark speech suggests that the new Prime Minister, who is known as ultra-cautious, may prove to be more radical than we might expect. She argued that the Tories should break the states monopoly over delivering public services and have an open mind about allowing hundreds or even thousands of charities, companies and co-operatives that deliver frontline services to make a profit  a highly controversial move if it were extended to areas such as schools.

The Prime Minister may judge that she has enough on her plate for now. The civil service certainly has. Whitehall is overwhelmed after the referendum decision and was ill-prepared: there was no Plan B for Brexit on the spurious grounds that those campaigning for it did not know what it meant. There are 20 officials working on trade and we need 300 as we go it alone outside the EU. Mays decision to move the Whitehall furniture around  by abolishing the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and changing the remit of the Business and Education departments  is another time-consuming distraction.

She will be a hard taskmaster. Shes a Stakhanovite and works harder than anyone, said Damian Green, a former Home Office minister under May and one of the allies she promoted the Cabinet  as Work and Pensions Secretary. He told the Institute for Government that she was a bit of a control freak, but insisted that was not a criticism.

May told Tory MPs at a leadership hustings that she would restore proper cabinet government. Cameron promised the same, in a reaction against the informal sofa style government of Tony Blair. Its shortcomings were laid bare in this months damning Chilcot report into the Iraq War: plans were not discussed with senior ministers directly involved for fear they would leak and the Attorney Generals full advice on the legality of war was not circulated to the Cabinet.

Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Show all 27 1 /27 Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Andrea Leadsom Andrea Leadsom has been appointed Secretary for Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Getty Images Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Priti Patel Priti Patel has been appointed International Development Secretary PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Alun Cairns Alun Cairns will stay on as Welsh Secretary Reuters Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Karen Bradley Karen Bradley is now Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Rex Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Greg Clark Greg Clark has been appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? James Brokenshire James Brokenshire has been appointed as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb has resigned as Work and Pensions Secretary PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Theresa Villiers Theresa Villiers will not return as Northern Ireland Secretary. She was reportedly offered a role by Theresa May, but turned it down, saying it was not one she felt could take on Getty Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Chris Grayling Chris Grayling has been appointed Transport Secretary PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Damien Green Damien Green has been appointed Work and Pensions Secretary Getty Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Liz Truss Liz Truss has been appointed Justice Secretary Getty Images Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Patrick McLoughlin Patrick McLoughlin who was Transport Secretary has been appointed Tory Party chairman and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Getty Images Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Justine Greening Justine Greening has been appointed as Education Secretary Getty Images Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Gavin Williamson Gavin Williamson is to become the new Government Chief Whip Reuters Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Hunt will continue as Health Secretary Getty Images Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Nicky Morgan Nicky Morgan lost her job as Education Secretary Reuters Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Michael Gove Michael Gove has been sacked as Justice Secretary Reuters Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? John Whittingdale John Whittingdale left his job as Culture Secretary EPA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Oliver Letwin Oliver Letwin, the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, has been sacked from his role in the cabinet PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Philip Hammond The former Foreign Secretary has been made Chancellor EPA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Boris Johnson Leading Brexit campaigner is given the role of Foreign Secretary Getty Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Amber Rudd Leading Remain campaigner takes Theresa May's old job of Home Secretary PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Michael Fallon Stays as Defence Secretary AP Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? Liam Fox The former Defence Secretary is named as head of new Department for International Trade PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? David Davis The former shadow Home Secretary and leadership rival to David Cameron is named Secretary of State for Leaving the European Union - aka Brexit minister PA Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? George Osborne Gone as Chancellor - and fails to secure any new role in May's government GETTY Theresa May's Cabinet: Who's in  and who's out? David Mundell The Conservative Party's only Scottish MP retains his role as Scottish Secretary Getty Images

Cameron regarded himself as captain of the team and tried to let his ministers get on with the job. There was a more formal decision-making structure during the Coalition government, although Tory MPs whinged that this handed too much power to the Quad  Cameron, Osborne, Nick Clegg and Danny Alexander, Osbornes Liberal Democrat deputy  which resolved disputes between the two parties. Tory ministers increasingly complained about Downing Street control freakery and some announced policies without telling Number 10 so they could not be blocked or stolen and announced by Cameron.

Mays allies insist that her appointment of friends and allies in her brutal reshuffle means she can trust them to get on with the job. But some who worked with her at the Home Office are not so sure.

She will be driven to distraction if she tries to micro-manage everything from the centre and should remember what happened when Gordon Brown tried to. The massive challenge of the Brexit negotiations makes it even more important that May learns how to let go and delegate. The success of her Government may depend on it.
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan had it coming. The Turkish army was never going to remain compliant while the man who would recreate the Ottoman Empire turned his neighbours into enemies and his country into a mockery of itself. But it would be a grave mistake to assume two things: that the putting down of a military coup is a momentary matter after which the Turkish army will remain obedient to its sultan; and to regard at least 161 deaths and more than 2,839 detained in isolation from the collapse of the nation-states of the Middle East.

For the weekends events in Istanbul and Ankara are intimately related to the breakdown of frontiers and state-belief  the assumption that Middle East nations have permanent institutions and borders  that has inflicted such wounds across Iraq, Syria, Egypt and other countries in the Arab world. Instability is now as contagious as corruption in the region, especially among its potentates and dictators, a class of autocrat of which Erdogan has been a member ever since he changed the constitution for his own benefit and restarted his wicked conflict with the Kurds.

 Erdogan: Turkey coup bid 'an act of treason'

Needless to say, Washingtons first reaction was instructive. Turks must support their democratically elected government. The democracy bit was rather hard to swallow; even more painful to recall, however, was the very same governments reaction to the overthrow of Mohamed Morsis democratically elected government in Egypt in 2013  when Washington very definitely did not ask Egypts people to support Morsi and quickly gave its support to a military coup far more bloody than the attempted putsch in Turkey. Had the Turkish army been successful, be sure Erdogan would have been treated as dismissively as the unfortunate Morsi.

But what do you expect when Western nations prefer stability to freedom and dignity? Thats why they are prepared to accept Irans troops and loyal Iraqi militiaman joining in the battle against Isis  as well as the poor 700 missing Sunnis who disappeared after the recapture of Fallujah  and thats why the Assad must go routine has been quietly dropped. Now that Bashar al-Assad has outlived David Camerons premiership  and will almost certainly outlast Obamas presidency  the regime in Damascus will look with wondering eyes at the events in Turkey this weekend.

The victorious powers in the First World War destroyed the Ottoman Empire  which was one of the purposes of the 1914-18 conflict after the Sublime Porte made the fatal mistake of siding with Germany  and the ruins of that empire were then chopped into bits by the Allies and handed over to brutal kings, vicious colonels and dictators galore. Erdogan and the bulk of the army which has decided to maintain him in power  for now  fit into this same matrix of broken states.

In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Show all 17 1 /17 In pictures: Turkey coup attempt In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Erdogan attends the funeral service for victims of the thwarted coup in Istanbul at Fatih mosque on July 17, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey Burak Kara/Getty Images In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge with their hands raised in Istanbul on 16 July, 2016 Gokhan Tan/Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A civilian beats a soldier after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 REUTERS/Murad Sezer In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a civilian Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags as they capture a Turkish Army vehicle Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, 16 July, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's Bosphorus Brigde Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt A Turkish military stands guard near the Taksim Square in Istanbul Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Pierre Crom/Twitter In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square AP In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Murad Sezer/Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish soldiers detain police officers during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish Army armoured personnel carriers in the main streets of Istanbul Getty In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Chaos reigned in Istanbul as tanks drove through the streets EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris Reuters In pictures: Turkey coup attempt Supporters of President Erdogan celebrate in Ankara following the suppression of the attempted coup Reuters

The warning signs were there for Erdogan  and the West  to see, if only they had recalled the experience of Pakistan. Shamelessly used by the Americans to funnel missiles, guns and cash to the mujahedin who were fighting the Russians, Pakistan  another bit chopped off an empire (the Indian one) turned into a failed state, its cities torn apart with massive bombs, its own corrupt army and intelligence service cooperating with Russias enemies  including the Taliban  and then infiltrated by Islamists who would eventually threaten the state itself.

When Turkey began playing the same role for the US in Syria  sending weapons to the insurgents, its corrupt intelligence service cooperating with the Islamists, fighting the state power in Syria  it, too, took the path of a failed state, its cities torn apart by massive bombs, its countryside infiltrated by the Islamists. The only difference is that Turkey also relaunched a war on its Kurds in the south-east of the country where parts of Diyabakir are now as devastated as large areas of Homs or Aleppo. Too late did Erdogan realise the cost of the role he had chosen for his country. Its one thing to say sorry to Putin and patch up relations with Benjamin Netanyahu; but when you can no longer trust your army, there are more serious matters to concentrate on.

Recommended Read more How reading Shakespeare could help stop conflict in the Middle East

Two thousand or so arrests are quite a coup for Erdogan  rather larger, in fact, than the coup the army planned for him. But they must be just a few of the thousands of men in the Turkish officer corps who believe the Sultan of Istanbul is destroying his country. Its not just a case of reckoning the degree of horror which Nato and the EU will have felt at these events. The real question will be the degree to which his (momentary) success will embolden Erdogan to undertake more trials, imprison more journalists, close down more newspapers, kill more Kurds and, for that matter, go on denying the 1915 Armenian genocide.

For outsiders, its sometimes difficult to understand the degree of fear and almost racist disgust with which Turkey regards any form of Kurdish militancy; America, Russia, Europe  the West in general  has so desomaticised the word terrorist that we fail to comprehend the extent to which Turks call the Kurds terrorists and see them as a danger to the very existence of the Turkish state; which is just how they saw the Armenians in the First World War. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk may have been a good old secular autocrat admired even by Adolf Hitler, but his struggle to unify Turkey was caused by the very factions which have always haunted the Turkish heartland  along with dark (and rational) suspicions about the plotting of Western powers against the state.

All in all, then, a far more dramatic series of events have taken place in Turkey this weekend than may at first appear. From the frontier of the EU, through Turkey and Syria and Iraq and large parts of Egypts Sinai Peninsula and on to Libya and  dare one mention this after Nice?  Tunisia, there is now a trail of anarchy and failed states. Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot began the Ottoman Empires dismemberment  with help from Arthur Balfour -- but it continues to this day.

In this grim historical framework must we view the coup-that-wasnt in Ankara. Stand by for another one in the months or years to come.
'Brexit means Brexit,'' said Theresa May in the authoritative, self-assured tone favoured by a politician enthralled at suddenly achieving high office.

Yet on closer scrutiny, it seemed as if she was trying to convince herself that there is a surety about the future which is simply not there.

The reality is that she now has to manage a group of very right-wing Tories who, for ideological and other reasons, are determined to play Russian roulette with the British economy. That's going to be quite a task.

As one observer astutely put it: "She was trying to sound a little gung-ho, but it had all the enthusiasm of somebody clapping with one hand.''

Her own conflicted views on Brexit suggest that she is torn between the emotional tug of the UK going it alone, while deeply aware that membership of the Brussels club helps pay more than a few bills for the British public.

Her dithering approach to this dilemma was best reflected in the recent referendum when she was tagged 'a reluctant Remainer'. But now that she is in the hottest of all the hot seats in UK politics, decision time on a whole host of issues will come sooner rather than later.

And only time will tell whether her decision to appoint a triumvirate of Brexit heavy hitters to key cabinet jobs was a stroke of genius or a move which will eventually haunt her premiership.

On this side of the Irish Sea, we need to track carefully the words and actions of foreign secretary Boris Johnson, international trade secretary Liam Fox and, most of all, David Davis, the man now with the title 'Brexit secretary'.

Contrary to popular opinion, Boris Johnson may be the least of our worries; the caricature of the buffoonish and gaff-prone former mayor of London masks an intelligent and perceptive politician. In fact, he may not be all that sound on the Brexit question, which could be of benefit to Ireland.

It's not that long ago that he believed Britain's future lay within the bosom of the European Union, before personal political ambition and sundry other matters, wooed him over to the 'Leave' galaxy.

However, his capacity to cause personal offence may prove his undoing. The signs are that US president Barack Obama is still deeply angry over the taunt that his family links in Kenya mean he resents Britain because of its colonial past.

Given his portfolio, Liam Fox will be central to any discussions between Ireland and our nearest neighbour, if we are to try and wangle some special trade deal, which will not cause a rumpus with our EU partners.

In that role, he is as yet an unknown quantity. But in the lineage of the Tory party he would be considered possibly more right-wing than Margaret Thatcher.

We can therefore assume that he will have little emotional empathy with the position of the Republic of Ireland in a newly realigned Europe.

David Davis is cut from the same cloth as Fox and will also have little instinctive sympathy for the Irish south of the Border. He has for many years been the Conservative Party's 'hard man' in favour of Brexit.

Basically, he wants to do some sort of deal with the EU and get out as fast as possible.

Such is his hurry to wave a final goodbye to the Germans, French, Italians etc that he is already proclaiming that "independence'' will be achieved by 2018.

Davis says he would like formal exit negotiations to be triggered early next year. But whether or not the steady-as-she-goes, risk-averse, new prime minister will want to move so fast remains intriguing.

It all points to a number of heavy personality clashes - driven by ego and the taking of fixed positions - within this new cabinet.

A battle of wills between Theresa May and David Davis may well be a big-time political accident waiting to happen.

One way or another, this government will be fraught with tension, once a very short honeymoon period ends. As of now, the momentum is towards a 'hard Brexit'. Davis, for one, will not be happy with anything less than a formal break with the EU, with total and complete control over immigration into the UK residing with the British authorities.

Meanwhile, we had some fanciful comments about Enda Kenny's alleged lack of success earlier this week in getting Angela Merkel to acknowledge our 'special position' in the current scheme of things. A German-Irish meeting of minds, of course, was never going to happen at this point in time.

The reality is that the Chancellor does not even know herself how matters are going to pan out over the coming months, never mind further down the road.

Like us all, Europe's most powerful woman is still trying to read the body language coming from Downing Street.

Maybe we will have to wait until we see Theresa May clapping with both hands. That will be a sure sign the Brexit ship has started to sail - if sail it will.
Critics say the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will hurt standards, and weaken democracy, backers say it could leave us all better off.

NO

Michael Taft, Unite the union

Unite believes that the implications of TTIP are so far-reaching that it must be put to a referendum. Traditional trade issues are only incidental to this so-called 'trade deal'. TTIP's main thrust is to debase democracy by awarding global corporations legal privilege over citizens and elected governments. As a result, the ability of democratically elected governments to safeguard labour, consumer, environmental and health standards will be severely, if not fatally, undermined.

Our main concern is the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS, now repackaged as the Investment Court System) which enables corporations to sue governments for compensation if they believe public policies interfere with profit maximisation. They can bypass our legal system and take their case to secret, private courts from which there is no appeal. This has been done under the umbrella of other agreements with similar ISDS provisions:

 Philip Morris Company sued Australia over its planned introduction of plain-packaging for cigarettes.

 Veolia is suing Egypt for its decision to raise the minimum wage.

 Canada has been sued by corporations over such decisions as subsidising renewable energy, placing a moratorium on fracking, banning toxic petrol additives and temporarily banning toxic waste exports.

This is not about 'trade'. It is about global corporations coercing governments into subordinating public welfare to shareholder interests. No wonder the negotiations have been conducted in secret and there is reportedly an agreement with the US that negotiation documents won't be made public for 30 years.

Instead of addressing this substantial democratic deficit, the Government has focused on TTIP's alleged economic benefits. However, the Government's own report shows little economic gain but potentially significant losses. For example, although TTIP will boost pharmaceutical exports this will have little impact on employment. Pharmaceutical exports have nearly doubled since 2000 but sectoral employment has fallen. Many of TTIP's purported benefits, like the recent GDP figures, will be only marginally attached to the domestic economy.

But the losses will be felt in the domestic economy. Even the Government admits the beef sector will be badly affected. The Irish Farmers Association has raised additional concerns about the pigmeat and poultry sectors, citing threats to standards governing genetic modified organisms, hormones, pesticides, animal health and product labelling. Thanks to TTIP's 'regulatory convergence', these standards are likely to be driven down to US levels of low regulation. Given the importance of the food sector, our economy could be badly hit. But that's not all.

Leaked TTIP negotiating documents indicate that a range of consumer protections are also in the firing line. The EU's precautionary principle was dropped (whereby products must be proven safe before they can be sold) in favour of the US 'risk-based' approach which puts the burden of proof on states and consumers to show products are unsafe. Everything from US-sanctioned lead in lipstick to chlorinated chickens could hit our shelves after TTIP.

European public service unions have warned that health, education and other public services could be exposed to privatisation, race-to-the-bottom competition and secret-court action. The 'negative list' approach means all public services can be permanently opened up to TTIP unless the current government specifically excludes them. This is a real threat in Ireland where global companies already have a foothold in our hospital and higher education sectors.

Business groups are waking up to these threats. In Germany, 'KMU gegen TTIP' (SMEs against TTIP) is supported by thousands of small companies and entrepreneurs - including many exporters. They point to TTIP's hidden additional costs and the disadvantage they would be placed at vis-a-vis global corporations.

Throughout Europe there is a rising sentiment against TTIP. Over three million signed a petition - a European Citizens' Initiative - opposing the deal. Over 1,800 cities and regions have declared themselves 'TTIP-free zones' including Barcelona, Cologne, Milan, Vienna, Amsterdam, Birmingham and Co Clare. Every month the list grows.

In Ireland there is an emerging, broad-based coalition opposed to TTIP - from farming, consumer and environmental activists to ICTU and the trade union movement. TTIP poses such a fundamental threat to democracy, public welfare and our economy that Unite believes people should have the final say in a referendum.

Michael Taft is Unite's research officer.

YES

Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland

The Brexit decision of the UK electorate has left its neighbours and allies perplexed if not in shock. In Ireland, the prospect of our closest trading partner exiting the EU has now become one of the more pressing risks to our economic growth.

We can assume that the impact is very likely to be negative and consequently we must devise a range of alternative strategies to counteract this.

Irish companies are going to need new markets for exports. Ireland already has strong links with US and EU markets and so in the months and years to come we must look to these partners when it comes to growing our economy - a simple message of strengthening our strengths. This is why negotiations for a trade agreement between the EU and the United States have suddenly taken on even greater importance for Ireland.

The 14th round of negotiations for an EU-US trade deal took place earlier this week. This trade deal represents an unprecedented opportunity for two of the world's largest economies to remove barriers to trade, increase growth and create jobs.

The United States is the world's largest national economy and the world's second largest according to purchasing power, representing a staggering 22pc of global GDP. A transatlantic trade deal of this size will benefit not just the multi-nationals already operating in Ireland, but also our indigenous industries and SMEs.

According to a study carried out by Copenhagen Economics on behalf of Ireland's Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ireland stands to benefit by more than double the European average, creating between 5,000 and 10,000 jobs in exporting sectors and potentially increasing real wages by an average of 1.5pc, with low skill and agricultural wages increasing the most at almost 2pc.

What would a deal mean in practical terms? Historically trade deals brought about reduced customs tariffs. However the opportunity in TTIP rests much more in devising common regulatory standards so that products and services approved for use in one jurisdiction would need no further approvals to be sold in the other. This would have a disproportionately bigger impact and opportunity for SMEs.

In spite of the rhetoric that this is being driven by "big business", the reality is that big businesses are much more likely to have the resources and time available to seek regulatory approval for a product or services in several jurisdictions; SMEs don't. This agreement will be the first to include a dedicated SME Chapter under which each jurisdiction will commit dedicated resources to support SMEs trading between the respective blocs.

However, TTIP has attracted a lot of controversy, with opposition seeming to focus on two core issues - concerns that regulatory co-operation will result in a dilution of hard-fought safety and employment standards and secondly, anxiety that increased trade liberalisation may benefit some sectors less than others. On these points we would note that the Commission has repeatedly said that our current high standards will not be impacted by a trade agreement and that regulatory co-operation will only take place in areas where standards are already similar.

With regard to the impact of an EU-US trade deal across all our sectors, trade liberalisation is a complex process, but the reality is that trade deals do not have overnight impact, they can typically take up to 15 years to have a full impact and therefore in that time period individual sectors will probably encounter significant change in any event but will also have plenty of time to adapt.

With 90pc of world economic growth predicted to be generated outside Europe in the coming 10-15 years, having an ambitious trade agenda has never been more important. However, opposition to free trade is growing, with increased civil society mistrust of international trade and the rise of populist politics. There are clear signs that this anti-trade sentiment is already translating into more protectionist policies globally.

And 2015 saw the biggest rise in protectionist activity since the onset of the financial crisis - with an estimated 40pc rise in trade barriers introduced compared to 2014. More recently, IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned that anti-trade polices championed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump risks sparking a dangerous protectionist movement that could severely damage the global economy, noting that protectionism "hurts growth, hurts inclusion and hurts people".

Over the past two decades trade has been a powerful driver of economic growth and job creation for Ireland. We should be concerned at growing anti-trade sentiment in Europe and further afield. TTIP is probably the largest trade deal to be negotiated in history so it is logical that we should support it to get the best possible outcome for Ireland. Brexit proves we must diversify and not obstruct new trade opportunities.

Ian Talbot is CEO of Chambers Ireland, of the International Chamber of Commerce Ireland and Deputy Chair of Eurochambres
DCC said it doesnt expect Brexit to have any major impact on its business. Photo: PA

Diversified Irish distribution and logistics group DCC will be safe from any material impact on its business following the UK's decision to leave the EU.

DCC said it doesn't expect Brexit to have any major impact on its business but tips a "modest" boost in profits should sterling remain low.

"Almost 50pc of the group's operating profits are generated outside of the UK and so the group's reported operating profit would benefit modestly from favourable translation should sterling remain at current values, or depreciate further," the company said.

The firm's operating profit in the first quarter of the year was "significantly ahead" of the prior year.

DCC said the increase in profits was down to the performance of DCC Energy, which benefited from acquisitions completed last year and from strong organic operating profit growth.

Trading in each of the company's divisions namely Healthcare, Technology, and Environmental was ahead of the previous year.

The group said its acquisition of Danish retail, aviation, and commercial fuels business Dansk Fuels is proceeding in line with expectations.

DCC expects the deal to be completed in the second half of 2016.
The attempted overnight coup in Turkey is all the more extraordinary for a country which aspires to EU accession.

Although the military occupation appears to have been thwarted for now, the country remains unstable and with many tourists at popular resorts like Bodrum, Istanbul and Dalaman, the situation is frightening. For those in France, they will have been worried about the tragic attack in Nice, along with others in Paris. Travel, even within popular tourist hubs has become precarious for holidaymakers. Here are some tips if you are one of them:

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Whatsapp ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH - A wounded man is carried away during an attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan

1. I'm in Turkey on holidays, and I'm scared:

Don't panic. The situation is under control for now, but you're right to be cautious. Ankara, the capital, is 450km from the popular tourist sites on the Western coast. Although a number of airports ground to a halt overnight, most are open and somewhat operational again. This may change. An advisory that Ataturk airport was being closed until 9pm tonight remains fluid, but it is closed for now. The most dangerous zones are along the Turkey/Syria border, to the East, which are not used for tourism by Irish or UK operators. Broadband connections may be disturbed, but landlines are operational. Call home, let family know you are safe, and stay in your hotel if you are worried, as advised by tour operators. If you feel you must come home, you may have to do so from a different airport, due to closures and delays.

2. I'm Due to Fly Out next week:

There's a double daily flight from Dublin to Izmir with Aer Lingus and Falcon Holidays flies to Dalaman once a week. Check with the airline or travel agent to confirm the status of these flights. You may have the option to rebook or reschedule the flight at no cost. From the UK, EasyJet, First Choice and Thompson are all operating as normal, for now. British Airways has chosen to cancel all its flights to Turkey today and will update as the day progresses.

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3. Will I get my money back?

This is a tricky one. Generally speaking, airlines who decide to cancel flights allow you to rebook at no extra cost or claim a refund. Tour Operators will be guided by the advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs which operates a 'traffic light' system of advice from "Take Care" to "High degree of Caution" up to advising against "All but essential travel" . It is this latter clause which generally triggers insurance policies to pay out. Unless the DFA effectively advises against all but essential travel, your insurance policy may not refund you for your trip. Check the small print, advises Eoghan Corry of Travel Extra. "There are usually some 'get out' clauses in there, but they will be guided by the DFA". See www.dfa.ie/travel for the current situation which is being revised as the day progresses. For now, a "High Degree of Caution" exists.

4. Will I miss my connector flight?:

86pc of traffic through Istanbul airport is to other destinations, notably the far east. Connector flights may be missed if the main airport remains closed until tonight. Check with your travel agent for alternatives, and they should be able to re-book you through on package holidays. For those on self-booked flights, you may find yourself in a pickle as you try to rebook, with extra costs. Turkish Airlines is operating a Refund/Rebook option until 31 July at no extra cost for all its flights.

5. I'm worried about my European holiday and want to cancel:

You can, of course, but you won't get your money back. Nice, for example, has as many weekly Irish flights as Majorca. Holidaymakers who want to cancel will only get a refund if the Department of Foreign Affairs bans travel to a particular destination. It has not done so for Nice, or indeed, any other destination in Europe.
Dr Conrad Murray who was blamed for the death of the superstar in 2009 claims that Jackson urged him to pen the book and tell the story of his life ahead of his overdose seven years ago

The doctor who served two years for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson is getting set to release a new book, in which he claims the star fell in love with an 11-year-old British actress and the 12-year-old daughter of close friend.

Dr Conrad Murray who was blamed for the death of the superstar in 2009 claims that Jackson urged him to pen the book and tell the story of his life ahead of his overdose seven years ago.

According to The Irish Mirror, Murray revealed that many of Jacksons previously unknown stories will be told in the book, set to be released next week.

This is the true story of Michaels life that has never been told. Its the final word. It is the story of who Michael Jackson really was. Its the truth.

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Everything else out there is speculative. Everyone thinks they know the story- but they dont.

How could they when they never met him, never spent any time with him, never had him open up to them about his life, his fears, his anxieties?

As friends, Michael and I shared a lot of secrets that have never been shared with anyone else. When you are friends, your colleague speaks and tells you things he doesnt tell others, Murray told the publication.

Murray began writing the book while he was incarcerated, serving two years of a four year sentence for involuntary manslaughter however he still claims his innocence.

I am an innocent man. I was unjustly punished for a crime that never happened. I was not with Michael when he died. Yes I was in the house but I discovered the man lifeless. Doctors lose patients every day. Its part of our working life, he said.

Murray said he hoped the book would answer many questions the public had about Jackson, who left behind three children Prince also known as Blanket (14), Paris (18) and Michael (19).

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Was he a monster or did he interfere with children? Read the book. The answers are all there.
Angela Kerins arriving at the Four Courts on Thursday for her High Court action. Photo: Collins Courts

The worlds of politics and law collided in the Four Courts this week as former Rehab chief executive Angela Kerins began her case for damages against the Dail's highest-profile committee.

The proceedings have been no less bruising than the seven-hour "ordeal" Ms Kerins said she endured at the hands of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in February 2014.

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So far, only one side of the story has been told, but the impact has been powerful, with Ms Kerins' legal team seeking to paint a damning picture of some of the country's highest-profile politicians.

The proceedings started on Wednesday with the shocking revelation from John Rogers SC that Ms Kerins attempted suicide just days after her mauling at the hands of the committee.

A large quantity of pills and some alcohol was consumed and she fell unconscious in her home.

But for a concerned work colleague, who sought help to break into the house, Ms Kerins would most likely have died.

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Ms Kerins is suing the committee, the State and the Attorney General for damages, alleging that she suffered a collapse in her health and lost her job as a result of her treatment by the PAC.

The startling disclosure of the suicide attempt set the tone for two days of submissions from Mr Rogers, a former attorney-general, which sought to portray the activities of the committee in the worst light possible.

An affidavit by Ms Kerins read out in court stated that she felt forced into trying to kill herself due to "bullying, harassment and persecution" led by members of the PAC.

It claimed the committee had engaged in a vendetta against her in pursuit of headlines.

Its members pursued details of private "data protected" information on salaries and other benefits paid by the charity and commercial group.

At the PAC hearing Ms Kerins stood her ground, expressing reluctance to divulge information which she clearly felt fell outside the committee's remit.

She claims to have received assurances that the committee would only inquire into Rehab's State-funded activities and not its commercial ones.

Instead, she was confronted with questions about her own privately funded 240,000 salary, her pension and other entitlements. There was also a considerable amount of probing into consultancy contracts Rehab had with its former chief executive and one-time Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery, as well as the operations of Rehab's commercial enterprises.

Mr Rogers said the committee did not play by its own rules and that its chairman, John McGuinness, had "entrapped" a reluctant Ms Kerins into attending. He claimed committee members clearly knew they were acting "ultra vires", meaning they were operating beyond their power and authority.

To emphasise the point, Mr Rogers conducted what he described as "a forensic appraisal" of the transcripts of two PAC meetings. He went through the lines of questioning used by several TDs, including Fianna Fail TD McGuinness, Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Fein and Independent Shane Ross.

It was claimed that questions and comments made by various committee members were "illegal", "judgmental" and "an abuse of power".

These allegations will be hotly contested next week when the court hears from counsel for the PAC, another former attorney-general, Paul Gallagher SC.

Entitled

Aside from the issue of whether or not Ms Kerins was unfairly treated, the three judges will have to grapple with key questions of just how entitled Oireachtas committees are to pursue certain types of information.

The advice the committee received from its own in-house legal team in 2014 was that an examination of the internal accounts of Rehab was "ultra vires".

This advice stated that the Standing Orders of the Dail confined the committee to inquiring into bodies audited by the Comptroller & Auditor General, which Rehab was not.

But the committee resolved to examine Rehab anyway.

This has left Mr Gallagher with the unenviable task of having to argue against the legal advice the committee received.

In seeking to defend the claim, he is set to argue that the PAC was entitled to question Ms Kerins in circumstances where 81pc of Rehab's income in Ireland was provided by the State.

The hearing resumes next Tuesday and the PAC side will be hoping for a better outcome than the last time worlds of Oireachtas committees and the law collided in such as fashion.

The Abbeylara judgment in 2001 found that Oireachtas inquiries did not have the power to make findings of fact or expressions of opinion adverse as to the reputation of citizens.

A decade later, a referendum to give Oireachtas inquiries full investigative powers was also defeated - leaving the committees with their wings clipped.

Read more: PAC Chairman failed to protect Angela Kerins during Rehab payments hearing, High Court hears

Read more: Angela Kerins 'took pills and alcohol in suicide bid' following PAC appearance - High Court
Property developer Sean Dunne has repeatedly failed to cooperate with the Insolvency Service official handling his bankruptcy, the High Court has been told.

Official assignee Christopher Lehane said he had been forced into a lengthy investigation of Mr Dunne's affairs due to the businessman's failure to engage with him since he was adjudicated bankrupt in 2013.

The claim was made in an affidavit filed by Mr Lehane in support of an application to have Mr Dunne's period of bankruptcy temporarily extended. Mr Dunne had been due to exit bankruptcy at the end of the month.

However, the High Court extended the period indefinitely last Monday. The situation will be reviewed in October.

Carlow-born Mr Dunne, who now lives in the US, has debts of close to 700m.

In the affidavit, which has been seen by the Irish Independent, Mr Lehane said Mr Dunne had yet to provide him with a statement of affairs or to meet with him face-to-face despite a series of requests.

He said Mr Dunne had been in Ireland to watch international rugby matches but never made himself available to the Insolvency Service.

"The bankrupt has not provided any information to me in respect of assets which appear ostensibly to be beneficially owned by him or in respect of transactions that defy explanation," said Mr Lehane.

He said that between July 2013 and January of this year "no attempt was made to co- operate in any meaningful way".

Since then Mr Dunne has offered to meet the official assignee, but he has not been available on suggested dates.

Mr Lehane said extensive investigations had been unable to uncover the true ownership of assets linked to Mr Dunne, including Ireland's most expensive home, Walford, on Dublin's Shrewsbury Road.

The Edwardian-era property was purchased by Mr Dunne for 58m in 2005 and then given to his wife, socialite turned developer Gayle Killilea. It was sold to a Cyprus-registered company in 2013 and the beneficial ownership of the property is now unknown.

Mr Lehane said he had not even been able to establish where Mr Dunne lives. An address supplied by the developer in Connecticut has been vacant for two years, he said.

The official assignee said Mr Dunne's wife had testified in legal proceedings that she was not supporting her husband's lifestyle or litigation he was involved in.

He noted that this had not stopped Mr Dunne from being able to travel between the USA, Ireland, Britain and South Africa and said he was seeking to establish how Mr Dunne funded this travel. Investigations into Mr Dunne's affairs had been "complex" and Mr Lehane had been forced to obtain information piecemeal from law firms and other professionals, sometimes having to compel them to under Section 21 of the Bankruptcy Act.

The official assignee also said he had initiated legal proceedings to undo two agreements between Mr Dunne and his wife which saw assets worth around 100m transferred to Ms Killilea.

"The agreements are unusual transactions and the contention of the proceedings is that they are not enforceable and are liable to be set aside," he said.
A brutal knife attack in which a 59-year-old man was stabbed multiple times in the stomach, side and chest is being linked to major tensions within the Hutch gang.

Sources have revealed that senior gangsters within the Hutch mob are blaming a father-and-son criminal team for being "rats", or garda informers.

This comes as officers have had major success against the organised crime grouping since their deadly feud with the Kinahan cartel kicked-off.

While the targeted son is currently in jail on remand in relation to serious gang-related charges, his father is on bail and became the target of a "savage" knife attack last week.

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It is understood that the middle-aged man is still being treated for his injuries at the Mater Hospital after being stabbed multiple times.

SUFFERING

Sources said that he was lured to a pub meeting in the Summerhill area of the capital at around 9pm on Thursday of last week and was attacked on the street outside the pub.

Details of the shocking attack have only emerged now.

It is suspected that a number of senior members of the Hutch mob were involved after the target was branded a "rat".

After suffering around half-a-dozen "deep stab wounds" the victim was left for dead by his former associates who fled the scene.

The man was still able to drive himself to hospital where he required emergency treatment. Such was the serious nature of the man's injuries, medics decided major surgery was needed.

Gardai from Mountjoy Garda Station are investigating the brutal stabbing and no arrests have been made so far.

It is not known if the victim has made a complaint to gardai.

It has also emerged that jail bosses are monitoring his son's safety and are aware that he must be kept apart from certain other gang-affiliated prisoners within the prison system.

The man in his 30s is awaiting trial on charges linked to the Kinahan/Hutch feud.

"It is not known if these fellas are co-operating with gardai or not, the problem is that if someone starts blaming you for doing it, you are in deep trouble straight away," a source said.

"You can become a target just because someone blames you for talking to gardai. It is as simple as that and the consequences can be very bad indeed," the source added.

SUSPECTED

Three months ago it was revealed that the Hutch mob, who are involved in a deadly gangland feud with the Kinahan cartel, were paranoid that there was a "rat in the camp".

Suspicions arose after a number of high-profile garda successes in raids against the crew.

At the time, sources said "internal gang inquiries" were under way after garda busts.

It was revealed that the gang, whose stronghold is in the north inner city, was trying to find the suspected grass.

With such a focus on a "rat in the Hutch camp", it is ironic that one theory about why Gary Hutch was shot dead last September is because he was suspected of being a tout by the Kinahan cartel.
The National Council for Special Education published the first major report on the education of students with autism in almost 14 years. This report follows an extensive research and consultation process. Pictured at a briefing to mark the reports publication were Mary Byrne, Head of Special Education, NCSE (left) and NCSE CEO Teresa Griffin. Photo: Iain White/Fennell Photography

A state-funded summer school for children with autism that runs this month could lead to "risky and dangerous environments" for students, a new report has warned.

The study, presented to the Department of Education, found that almost 14,000, or just under 2pc, of students in Irish schools have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

One in every 65 has been diagnosed with autism. A previous estimate in 2013 put the figure at one in every 100.

The National Council for Special Education's (NCSE) 'Policy Advice on Supporting Students with ASD in Schools' document says a 'July provision scheme' that is open to the country's 13,874 students with autism spectrum disorder is "much valued" by parents.

However, it claims that students' well-being may be threatened during the activity programme when new staff are recruited who are not familiar with their behaviour or medical needs, leading to "challenging behaviours".

It also noted that school principals are finding it hard to recruit teachers and special needs assistants to the scheme.

The study found that 63pc of the 13,873 students with ASD in the school system in 2014 were in mainstream classes, 23pc were in special classes and 14pc were in 118 special schools.

Education Minister Richard Bruton welcomed the first major report on the education of students with autism in almost 14 years. He said over 300m a year was invested in providing additional resources to support students with autism.
A MAN was stabbed to death in Dublin yesterday afternoon.

The incident occurred at Seagull House, Ruthland Avenue in Dublin's south inner city.

The 24-year-old man was stabbed a number of times in the incident, which occurred at around 4pm.

He was rushed to St James Hospital however was pronounced dead a short time later.

He is an associate of a convicted killer.

Gardai are investigating if it is connected to a low level dispute localised in the south of the city.

The victim would not be considered a major criminal.

The scene is currently preserved for a technical examination and the office of the State Pathologist has been notified.

No arrests have been made.

Gardai wish to appeal for witnesses or to anyone who can assist with the investigation to contact them at Sundrive Road Garda Station on 01-666 6600, The Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
Former Tanaiste, Mary Harney, Tanaiste, Frances Fitzgerald T.D.and Minister for Justice and Equality, and Former Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, are part of a group of current and former female government ministers, that gathered at Lissadell House in Sligo, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the death of Countess Markievicz. Photo: James Connolly

Tanaiste, Frances Fitzgerald T.D.and Minister for Justice and Equality, taking photos of the group of current and former female government ministers, that gathered at Lissadell House in Sligo, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the death of Countess Markievicz. Photo: James Connolly

Maire Geoghegan-Quinn talking to Mary Harney as part of a group of current and former female government ministers, that gathered at Lissadell House in Sligo, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the death of Countess Markievicz. Photo: James Connolly

Former Tanaiste, Mary Harney, Tanaiste, Frances Fitzgerald T.D.and Minister for Justice and Equality, and Former Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, are part of a group of current and former female government ministers, that gathered at Lissadell House in Sligo, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the death of Countess Markievicz. Photo: James Connolly

Fourteen of Irelands 17 female ministers met at the childhood home of the first at Lissadell House last night to mark the life of the countrys first ever woman in the cabinet Countess Markievicz.

The dinner at the home of barrister couple Constance Cassidy and Eddie Walsh was held on the 89thanniversary of the death of 1916 Rising leader Markievicz.

Dinner guests included Taniste Frances Fitzgerald, Ministers Heather Humphreys, Mary Mitchell OConnor and Katherine Zappone as well as former Ministers Gemma Hussey, Mary ORourke, Nora Owen, Niamh Bhreathnach Mary Harney, Sile deValera, Mary Coughlan, Mary Hanafan, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn and Jan OSullivan.

Only Joan Burton, who was on holidays, was missing from the historic get-together.

Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, the first woman minister since Markievicz when she was appointed as Gaeltacht Minister by Taoiseach Charlie Haughey in 1979, said the event was a wonderful tribute to the life of Markievicz.

Constance Markievicz was a constant in my life because I was always being introduced when I was a minister as the first woman minister in the cabinet and of course I had to point out that this wasnt true, said Geogheghan-Quinn.

The 66-year-old however bemoaned the fact there had been just 17 female cabinet ministers since the foundation of the State.

We are still moving slowly in terms of women representatives in Cabinet, she said.

Expand Close Maire Geoghegan-Quinn talking to Mary Harney as part of a group of current and former female government ministers, that gathered at Lissadell House in Sligo, to commemorate the 89th anniversary of the death of Countess Markievicz. Photo: James Connolly / Facebook

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If it went to a popular vote among the people, there would be more women in the top positions. The problem is getting ahead within the political party system in the first place.

Tara Fegan, 12, from Lisryan, Longford, read a poem she composed on the life of the countess for assembled ministers.

Tanaiste Frances Fitgerald said it was unreal that there have been only 17 female ministers in the history of the State.

Things are beginning to change and with more women TDs we will hopefully see many more female ministers in the cabinet in future, she said.

As for a woman as Taoiseach, we will have to wait and see.

Lissadell has become an important holder of many 1916 artefacts including Padraig Pearses last letter to his mother.

Home owner Constance Cassidy said: "Countess Markievicz fought for women's rights, national rights and the rights of the poor. If she were alive she would have been proud of her legacy, but probably very disappointed at how it took our country 60 years to appoint another woman minister."
Fionnan Sheahan

Ireland Editor at Mediahuis. Fionnan writes news, analysis and comment on current affairs and politics for the Irish Independent and Independent.ie. He is a weekly columnist with the Irish Independent and a presenter of InFocus, the current affairs podcast from Independent.ie. A native of Thurles, Co Tipperary, Fionnan has won several awards for print and digital journalism from Newsbrands Ireland, the Law Society and the National Newspapers of Ireland, including National Journalist of the Year. Prior to his current role, Fionnans positions included Editor and Political Editor of the Irish Independent. He is a regular commentator on TV and radio.
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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.
The phrase about rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as a metaphor for pointless activity at a time of crisis is often overused, but there is no better way to describe the current Irish political scene as we blithely gaze down at the icebergs and wreckage of Brexit.

Having ignored the issue during our recent election, our main political parties continue to evade their clear responsibilities and instead watch each other more closely than they do the international situation, as they play the 'who'll pull the plug' game on their ramshackle 'new politics' arrangement.

Truly, we are in the 'Republic of Limbo', as both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail play to their own interests rather than those of Ireland - both parts of Ireland, given the way Brexit is playing out.

Last week, in Berlin, a depressing slap-down took place which has almost been lost sight of. At a press conference, the Taoiseach was rebuffed by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who told him we would be just one of the voices to be listened to amongst the 27 EU member states.

Merkel said she was not prepared to issue any 'guarantees' to the Irish Government and insisted the concerns of all states would be treated equally at the negotiation table.

Kenny had been making the quite reasonable argument that we are a special case, given we have a land border with the UK, and more particularly, we have a common area called Northern Ireland in which a fragile peace has been built on the clear understanding of a removal of a hard border, security controls and a fluidity between the two parts of Ireland.

Northern Ireland may still be part of the United Kingdom, but the peace there is based on a clear understanding of an acceptance of the Irish dimension.

If Merkel doesn't get this, then she needs a history lesson. Yes, there are plenty of contentious borders in Eastern Europe and areas of ethnic tension, but Northern Ireland saw one of the most prolonged and difficult conflicts in the world, but most importantly, in Western Europe, and Merkel should know well that it was a running sore in Europe, and for the EU, with immense divisions, misery and grief.

Any return to this instability and conflict would be unthinkable.

In an unusually eloquent and passionate response, the Taoiseach quite rightly described the North as a "fragile entity".

"We have had, over 30 years, 3,000 people blown up and shot and killed," he said. "We also have some people who are still missing from that time, and they are called 'the Disappeared'. I always remind people of the value of the EU, which is itself a peace process."

The latter is a point that should particularly resonate with the Germans and the French.

Wake up, Angela.

Lest one thinks this is a dramatic reference, just look at the warnings about Brexit made before the vote by Jonathan Powell, one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement. Writing in the 'Financial Times', Blair's former adviser said Brexit was entirely against the whole spirit of the agreement.

But his warnings went unheeded in London and in Belfast. And in Dublin, incidentally, where we meekly accepted that the Northern Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, a supposedly strict neutralist, could campaign to have Ireland split between EU and non-EU.

But now Brexit has happened, and we have to live with it and the North has to live it. So the least that the EU, and Germans, could do is treat us, and the North, as a special case. (And, how easily we accept, incidentally, that the Germans speak for the EU, a distortion which fuelled the recent Brexit vote and is fuelling Euroscepticism here. Watch this space.)

We have to hope that Merkel's dismissal is an initial holding response, characteristic of her usual caution. But if this is the attitude, then it is very worrying. Granted, we cannot expect an immediate dispensation, or opt-out, and Merkel did acknowledge the existence of the Common Travel Area since 1922, long before the EU was ever thought of. But her tone-deaf inability to see our special situation is very worrying.

We've been here before in expecting special favours from the Germans, and the EU. We were supposed to be 'exemplary Europeans' enjoying best pupil in class status for exiting the bailout, but we got nothing.

And we weren't allowed to burn the unsecured bondholders in Anglo Irish Bank when we took a hit for the European banking system.

So much for Germany being our friend, or indeed, of Enda having a special relationship with Merkel. But then didn't Merkel and former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (the famous old 'Merkozy' axis of the EU) try to get Enda into a corner and force Ireland to surrender its gold-plated 12.5pc corporate tax rate, as a condition of the EU bailout.

And so much for German payback for when we supported them on German reunification in 1990, well in advance of the UK and French who wanted a go-slow. That was another special case, surely of a divided country - and a tricky EU context.

In reality, the Northern Ireland peace process is actually a great US foreign policy achievement, right through from the Clintons to George W Bush and peace envoys like Gary Hart and Richard Haass. A corresponding conspicuous involvement from the EU has been absent, apart from throwing money at it in regional funding.

And here's the further proof of this hands-off attitude, with the German Chancellor's slap-down of our special situation.

Does Merkel, and the EU, even get it, or get the North and how fragile it is?

Well, now is the chance for the EU to show the same seriousness that the US has and see it as a special case and take the same chances for enduring peace.

It is payback time surely, and if the EU won't take heed we may have to pursue our own path, including with the non-UK itself.
One party I certainly wasn't going to miss on Saturday night was Nuala Mullen from Harbour Court's 50th birthday party which took place in the Castle Bar in Seatown.

Nuala, who works in the Louth County Hospital, was accompanied by her sister Adrienne Caldwell from Manydown Close with husband Nigel and niece Gillian who was with Conor O'Shaughnessy, nephew Mark Caldwell and Barbara Leonard form Carrick Road and nephew Sean Caldwell from Manydown Close who were there to make sure she had an epic celebration.

Nuala also wanted to say a big hello to brother Bryan Mullen in Chicago with wife Ann and kids Lauren, Dara and Evan to them she was thinking of them on her big night.

I decided to check out to see who else was there and met up with some of her workmates in the LCH and they included Rita Weldon from Ardee, Charlotte Ni Beolain from Castletown Road and Tara McCaughley from Glenwood who wanted to wish Nuala a very happy birthday and assured me it was going to be a fantastic night.

Seated close by was Cheryl Rodriguez from Glenwood, Ann Rice from Bellurgan and Ann Gray from Belfry Avenue who said the craic was only getting going and they were on for a mad one for sure.

Also in their company were Katrina Campbell from Jenkinstown and Bernie Leonard from Clontibret who also work with Nuala and said they 'love the bones of her'.

After this I got talking to Una Martina McArdle from Louth Village and Michelle McManus from Castleblaney who wanted to wish Nuala all the best on her big night and this sentiment was mirrored by Sinead Fee from Bishops Court, Paul and Siobhan Lines from Gibbstown who weren't too long in the door when I met them.

Meanwhile over at another table I caught up with Alison and Stephen White from Manydown Close who were up for making a night of it with Sean and Jackie Craven from Manydown Close whom I'd met at the Ireland V Sweden game and the ladies assured me this was going to be a major night of fun.

Not too far I met up with Geraldine Holland from Headford who said husband Kevin was up at the bar and she was having a laugh with

Grainne Larkin from Belfry Drive who wanted to wish Nuala a very happy birthday.

Next I got talking to Breda McCourt from Point Road, Ann Coyle from St. Marys Road and Geraldine Clarke from Chapel Street who all wanted to wish their friend all the best n her birthday and were there to make sure she had a brilliant night.

After this I met up with Gillian Callan from Manydown Close who was with her bestie Evanna Renaghan from Haggardstown who couldn't make head nor tail of my writing, eh that made three of us!

Finally, a word of thanks to Shane Mullen the resident DJ who held off on really kicking the party off long enough for me to get round to talk to everyone. The man plays red hot hits and the very best of the classic oldies every weekend in the Castle Bar, be sure and give him a shout really soon!
Colleagues of murdered garda Tony Golden are organising a fundraising cycle in his memory.

The money will go towards the Garda Tony Golden Memorial Fund.

The father of three, a native of Co Mayo, who resided in Blackrock, was shot dead in Omeath last October.

A 250 kilometre cycle from Dundalk to Ballina, will take place on 21 and 22 September next.

Sixty cyclists are participating, and each has a minimum sponsorship of 250.

Further info from Dundalk garda station.
French officials said 84 people were killed and 52 were critically wounded when a man drove a large truck through Bastille Day celebrations in Nice late Thursday. Officials said 10 children were among those killed when the attacker plowed through crowds along the waterfront before he was shot dead by police. French police identified the attacker as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a French-Tunisian who lived in Nice. Reports said security services did not suspect him of links to terrorist or extremist groups, although he was known by local police to have committed criminal offenses. In March, he was given a suspended six-month sentence for armed violence that took place in January. Bouhlel was divorced and had three children. French authorities were interrogating his ex-wife Friday. No group claimed responsibility, although it was celebrated online by Islamic State supporters.

A woman puts flowers near the scene where a truck mowed through revelers in Nice, southern France on July 15, 2016. /AFP

In an address to the nation, French President Francois Hollande said the attack was done "to satisfy the cruelty of an individual and maybe a group." Speaking after visiting the hospital where victims were treated, he also said that France was "facing a struggle, which will be long." President Barack Obama said Friday that the United States would stand with France and had offered assistance in the investigation. He also urged Americans to believe in the values of freedom of religion and added that Americans and allies could not give in to fear, turn on each other or sacrifice "our way of life." "We will not be deterred. We will not relent. We are going to keep working together to prevent attacks and defend our homeland. We are going to keep taking out ISIL leaders and pushing ISIL back in Syria and Iraq," Obama said, using an acronym for Islamic State militants. "We're going to keep standing with our partners from Africa to Afghanistan, and we are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization."

 Celebration to Tragedy Video from Nice showed armed police chasing the truck on foot as it raced along a seaside street, running down people who had been heading home after a Bastille Day fireworks display. VOA producer Linda Ringe was staying in a hotel overlooking the Promenade des Anglais, where the attack took place. "I went to bed and started to hear people screaming and I saw people running, running, running, police, people crying, people screaming," Ringe said. She went downstairs and crossed the street, where "there were many, many bodies and we knew they were dead because they were covered with sheets."  French President Defiant As France mourned for the victims of another apparent terror attack, Hollande was defiant as he said the country remained under the threat of Islamic State. "Nothing will make us give way in the fight against terrorism," he said, addressing the nation early Friday. Hollande said France's state of emergency, set to end later this month, would be extended another three months. He also extended Operation Sentinel, which was introduced after terror attacks in January 2015 and allows 10,000 extra military personnel to boost the ranks of security forces across the country. He said France would strengthen its roles in Syria and Iraq. Nice, France's fifth-largest city and the capital of the Cote d'Azur region, was put on lockdown by security forces in case further attacks might be planned. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the attack made her "sick at heart." Her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, called the attack "horrible." Two U.S. citizens were confirmed killed in the attack.  Deadly Scene The truck's windshield was punctured by a volley of bullets, possibly fired by police, but some witnesses said the driver opened fire before he set out on his fatal ride along a 2-kilometer stretch of pavement. The lobby of a nearby luxury hotel was transformed into an emergency treatment center for the shocked and injured, and all hospitals in the Nice area were put on alert to receive the injured. Thursday's slaughter was the third major terrorist attack in France since last year. A coordinated attack in Paris on November 13 killed at least 130 people in a strike claimed by Islamic State, and a series of attacks in January 2015 that began with an assault on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo killed 17 people.
Laura Clifford BSc. VN RVN was presented with the Merial Animal Health Award for Best Equine Portfolio 2015

DkIT's Department of Veterinary Nursing organised its first ever CVE Nurse Farming event for veterinary nurses, practitioners and farming professionals.

The event which was accredited by Veterinary Council of Ireland brought together a cross section of the veterinary and farming community in Louth and Meath to discuss best practices in modern nurse farming.

The event explored topics such as the importance of hygiene in the dairy industry, the practical benefits of parasite control on farm production costs and a strong emphasis was placed on preventative healthcare.

During the event, farmers were advised to regularly consult veterinary nurses for advice on hygiene, nutrition, parasites and to contact veterinary nursing students for practical help with busy times such as lambing and calving.

Vets in attendance were encouraged to utilise their veterinary nurses in large animal practice and support their upskilling to better advise clients about how to really command the basics.

2015 graduate of DkIT, Laura Clifford BSc. VN RVN was presented with the Merial Animal Health Award for Best Equine Portfolio 2015. Laura completed her portfolio, entitled, 'Management of Irish Equine Endoparasites' as part of her Equine Nursing module of the BSc. in Veterinary Nursing.

Laura's work has received wide praise within the institute and in November of last year featured in an article in Veterinary Ireland Journal.

Speaking at the event, lecturer in Veterinary Nursing at DkIT, Doireann Dowling said, 'We organised the CVE event to raise the profile of large animal veterinary nurses and to bring together veterinary professionals and farmers in an enjoyable, shared-learning environment.

Veterinary nurses have huge potential to contribute to the agricultural industry in relation to providing 'best practice' advice directly to farmers.'

She added: 'It benefits everyone involved: farmers can tap into the wealth of knowledge of veterinary nurses; vets can rely on them to communicate effectively with their clients - particularly during busy lambing and calving seasons; and simultaneously veterinary nurses can enrich their role in practice heightening their job satisfaction,' said Doireann Dowling.

'Veterinary nurses are grafters - they appreciate and can empathise with the intense work ethic of farmers and appreciate how isolating both professions can be.'

'BSc. programmes in Veterinary Nursing and in Agriculture - such as those offered by DkIT help nurture educated, skilled professionals who should be recognised and utilised to their maximum potential by the farming and veterinary sectors.;

For more information on this or any of the programmes on offer at Dundalk Institute of Technology, check out their website www.dkit.ie
Dundalk, Drogheda and Newry Chambers of Commerce meet with Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell OConnor at Leinster House to discuss the impact of Britains decision to leave the EU

Border chambers vowed to remain united in their work on cross border cooperation at a meeting with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor at Leinster House last week.

The meeting was arranged by Dundalk TD Peter Fitzpatrick and attended by Fergus O'Dowd to allow the Chambers of Commerce express their views and concerns for the Newry and Louth region following the decision by the UK to leave the European Union.

Newry Chamber, Dundalk Chamber and Drogheda Chamber of Commerce all spoke of the need to work in collaboration to represent the border business community along the M1 corridor.

President of Dundalk Chamber, Michael Gaynor said: 'Our Chamber members on both sides of the Border have common concerns on the practicalities of what a hard border would mean for their business.'

He added: 'Our region is unique and we must explore all avenues possible to ensure that our industries that we have worked so hard to attract, remain here as well as work with our partners in Newry Chamber to ensure that trade development and SME collaboration remains a key priority.'

The chamber president said: 'We must do everything possible to safeguard our large employers in the area and work closely with IDA to ensure that Dundalk is the preferred choice for inward investors.'

Speaking about the tourism potential of the region, Dundalk Chamber PRO Paddy Malone said:

'Carlingford Lough offers tremendous tourism potential and is within 90km, or 60 minutes drive to over 2.5million people, a figure which cannot be surpassed on the island.'

'It is vital that closer collaboration in this area be developed and that visitors need to know that there will be no extra visa requirements in moving from Mourne to Cooley.'

He pointed out the practicalities such as time taken to travel to work, customs clearance, logistic costs would reduce cross border activity if a hard border was created.

Newry Chief Executive, Mary Meehan reflected to the Minister on how much the region had benefited from EU Interreg and Peace funds not only to promote SME cooperation and job creation but also large capital infrastructure projects.

As a result of Brexit, flagship EU projects were already under threat.

'Newry and Dundalk Chambers have a long standing history of joint trade cooperation and have adopted a much unified approach showing strong positive leadership in the wake of Brexit,' said Ms. Meehan

'This region benefits from an active partnersship approach on both sides of the border and every business profits from joint North-South cooperation.'

She added that every week, more than 1 billion of trade is conducted between the UK and Ireland, sustaining more than 400,000 jobs directly.

'It is crucial that both Governments must work together to ensure sufficient funds are in place to promote SME .

Eddie Phelan and Padraic Kierans emphasised Drogheda and Louth's excellent position adjacent to Dublin Airport and the excellent access to broadband.

'This makes the area perfectly placed to accommodate banking and other operations moving from UK.'

Meanwhile Brendan Casey outlined the excellent work being done in Drogheda by both DKIT and DCU.

The Minister reassured representatives that she has been working closely with Enterprise Ireland and IDA on the challenges and opportunities that this vote presents.

She said she was 'aware of the retail challenge and the level of concern in the border.'

She emphasised that the Government had both long and short term plans, and said her department was working with all organisations.

The work of the chambers on both sides of the border is essential in addressing the impact of the fluctuating currency exchange.

The fall out from the Brexit vote has seen the pound weakened significantly over the last two weeks, leading to fears of shoppers from the south flocking north.

Indeed, such is the level of concern over the situation that a Dundalk councillor made a direct appeal to local people to continue supporting their own community.

Cllr. John McGahon said: 'I would urge everyone from this town to resist the temptation to go north.'

He added 'Keep your money in our town, support local business and we will weather the storm together.'
A working group on the impact of Britain's decision to leave the European Union was proposed by members of the Dundalk Municipal committee at their July meeting.

Standing orders were suspended at the meeting as each member put forward their views on how the 'Brexit' would affect Dundalk and the border area.

Cllr. John McGahon said he was 'incredibly disappointed' at Britain's decision to leave the EU.

'In relation to Dundalk and how Ireland will deal with this decision. This town has faced bad news before, particularly during the troubles, however at every single time we have stood up to the challenge and the people of Dundalk have overcome every obstacle that has been put in our way and we will be no different on this occasion.

'I would urge everyone from this town to resist the temptation to go north, keep your money in our town, support local business and we will weather the storm together.'

Cllr. Maria Doyle called on Louth County Council to 'cease and desist' awarding contracts to firms based in Northern Ireland due to the need to comply with EU legislation.

Having written to the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Eoghan Murphy in relation to the awarding of public contracts to UK (including Northern Ireland) based contractors, Cllr, Doyle argued that contracts 'expected to run beyond 2018 when the UK are expected to officially exit the EU' should not be awarded.

She told the meeting that the UK's decision to leave the EU would have far reaching consequences.

'We must now begin to plan for our future and protect our economic interests.'

Cllr. Doyle highlighted that she 'sincerely hoped' to see the common travel area between the north and south remain unchanged.

However in response to the calls on the awarding of contracts, Cllr. Thomas Sharkey hit out at the 'protectionsm that is being proposed.'

'It is now just two weeks after the vote, and it is very important that we keep clear, level heads.'

He said there was 'nothing more daft' than proposals to block firms based in the north from contracts south of the border.

'Having an open economy is very important. This type of protectionism won't work and did not work in the past.'

He asked how members would feel about local businesses that supplied to schools etc in the north losing their contracts, adding that a strategy to prevent this happening 'won't work.'

'I want to see farmers in Shelagh still being able to sell their produce in Crossmaglen.'

He told the meeting that it was 'important to remember that people in the north voted to remain within the EU.'

'Lets see this as an opportunity to strengthen the Memorandum of Understanding, and the East Border Region.'

He asked the meeting 'not to support the proposal from Cllr. Doyle.'

Cllr. Peter Savage said there were 'huge concerns' over the awarding of cross border funding, which Dundalk and many communities along the border had benefited from.

'Applying for funding now could become more complex, but applications could be made on the grounds that we are a border town.'

Cllr. Conor Keelan added: 'Those who advocated Brexit had no real plan. But from our own government now, what is the plan?'

He described it as 'quite disappointing' that a meeting of cross border ministers and agencies in Dublin Castle last week failed to show any real way forward.

'It is of great concern to me that this side of the border will lose its tax edge if the UK bring down their corporation tax rates. We have been very successful in getting foreign direct investment firms to locate here. But we are now on the periphery of the EU, it is very disheartening going forward.'

Cllr. Marianne Butler added that she agreed with much of the sentiments and concerns raised, saying that the vote was a '50/50' in terms of 'being both a threat and an opportunity.'

She agreed also with the concerns about awarding of contracts once Britain has left the EU.

'We have to follow EU law in relation to tenders and contracts, so this is going to arise.'

'But the reality is that people are working on both sides of the border, accessing healthcare and going to school on both sides of the border, as well as doing business on both sides of the border, so if there is something we can do at municipal district level I think we need to do it.'

Chairman, Cllr. Mark Dearey said that the impact of Brexit would be much greater along the border.

He highlighted a number of areas which are likely to be affected, including DkIT which he described as 'very vulnerable' given the cross border element of a lot of its work.

He proposed that the members set up a working group that will meet over the next two years, which would effectively be a sub-committee that could advise Louth County Council.

'This committee is thirteen members who span the entire border area, so I think it is only right that the focus of response comes from us,' said Cllr. Dearey.

Director of Service,Frank Pentony said that he would seek clarification on whether an advisory group could act in an advisory capacity to the local authority.
There were celebrations as a former Dundalk based commanding officer made history as the first woman to be promoted to the rank of 'Lieutenant Colonel' within the Irish army.

Lt. Col Maureen O'Brien, who spent several years at the helm of the 27th Infantry Battalion based at Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, proudly accepted her new position - and her place in history- at a ceremony attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last week.

The Galway native has been a member of the Irish Army since 1983.

Having risen through the ranks, she made headlines in 2009 when she was the first woman to be appointed as deputy commander of an overseas unit, second-in-command of 420 troops from the Western Brigade travelling to peace enforcement duty in Chad. And in 2012 she became the first woman infantry battalion commander when she was appointed officer commanding at the 27th Infantry Battalion at Aiken Barracks in Dundalk.

For the last few years she has held an appointment in the Operations Branch of Defence Forces Headquarters where she was the senior staff officer responsible for EU and Nato/PfP engagement.

Her most recent deployment was as Chief of Operations Planning in a multinational sector headquarters in Lebanon.

Colonel O'Brien now takes up the appointment of Director of Communications and Information Services.
Gareth and Lorna Murphy, the creative team behind the bid to open a 'We Are Vertigo' adventure centre north of Dundalk

The future of the proposed multi million euro indoor adventure centre 'We are Vertigo' which was proposed for a site north of Dundalk now appears to be in jeopardy following the decision by An Bord Pleanala to uphold a local appeal.

There were high hopes for the centre which was granted planning permission by Louth County Council back in January, with the promise of up to 120 full and part time jobs.

With a planned location at the Redcow, Old Newry Road, the centre which promised an investment of 7.1million in creating it, was proposed by the company behind the 'We are Vertigo' facility already operating in Belfast.

Handlova Limited trading as Cooley Spring Water saw their application referred to An Bord Pleanala when an appeal was lodged by Eileen Kirk.

The appeal was lodged on the grounds that the 'proposed development contravenes the zoning objective associated with the site, is subject to a flooding risk, would undermine the carrying capacity of the national road network, and is premature pending the provision of appropriate infrastructure.'

The grounds of appeal also express concerns in relation to 'the amount of woodland to be removed to cater for the proposed development, and the potential archaeological impacts.'

The centre An Bord Pleanala acknowledged was planned as a significant facility featuring a selection of activities including a trampoline facility, ninja assault courses an indoor ski slope, climbing wall, a zip line, a wire course, a soft play area, a state of the art gym and a cafe.

The company behind the plans argued in the appeals process that a similar type facility operates in Belfast.

However, the appeal by Ms. Kirk, highlighted that it operates within an existing warehouse in an established industrial park, whereas the Dundalk facility was mooted for a greenfield site remote from the urban area.

Ultimately, the decision to uphold the appeal came down to a lack of infrastructure in the area, and in particular in dealing with sewerage.

An Bord Pleanala said it had made the order as; 'Having regard to the lack of foul sewerage infrastructure serving the subject land, it is considered that development of the kind proposed on the land would be premature by reference to an existing deficiency in the provision of sewerage facilities.

The Board is not satisfied, in the absence of information to the contrary, that there may be an existing and more suitably located premises available that would be a more appropriate venue for the development proposed.'

An Bord Pleanala also queried 'the appropriateness of seeking outline permission for a proposed development of this nature.'

The privately-funded, 50,000 square foot attraction was set to be developed by Gareth and Lorna Murphy, the creative team behind the We Are Vertigo adventure centre in Belfast.

When planning permission was granted by Louth County Council at the beginning of the year, they had promised construction and fitting out of the new centre in Dundalk, with completion estimated early 2017.

The couple said they had chosen Dundalk due to its location equi-distant between Belfast and Dublin, and they were keen to get to work on what they hoped would be a major visitor attraction in Louth. The decision by An Bord Pleanala to refuse outline planning permission is a major setback for the plans.

Despite requests from the Argus, the company said they had 'no comment at this time' on the decision.
Dundalk TD Peter Fitzpatrick refused to speculate on who might replace Taoiseach Enda Kenny amid the current party unrest.

Speaking to the Argus this week, Deputy Fitzpatrick described the 'great deal of uncertainty' within Fine Gael.

'It wouldn't take too much to bring the government down. Enda Kenny has declared that he won't be leading the party into the next general election. This has caused a lot of uncertainty going forward.'

He added: 'No one is going to shaft him, but we want to know what his intentions are,' said the Dundalk TD, who has long been a supporter of the Taoiseach.

Despite the uncertainty he added: 'I think it is very unfair of anyone to be throwing their hat in the ring at this stage.

There is no vacancy at the moment, and I would like to see people showing some respect for the man who has led us into two governments.'

Meanwhile, Louth TD Fergus O'Dowd was amongst those to question Taoiseach Enda Kenny's leadership at a party meeting.

The Drogheda man said 'new leadership' of the party was needed.

While he did not directly challenge Mr Kenny, he said fresh leadership will be required at some stage. He also said preparations need to be made for the next election.

O'Dowd has previously clashed with party leadership over the issue of Irish Water and over the last week refused to rule himself out of the running for the leadership if it became available, saying he had 'lots of visions' for the party.
Alexander Skarsgard in the titular role in The Legend Of Tarzan

It's been almost 100 years since Edgar Rice Burroughs' muscular protector of the jungle swung into action on the big screen in the swaggering form of silent movie actor Elmo Lincoln.

Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller popularised the iconic role in the 1930s and 1940s before more recent incarnations including Greystoke: The Legend Of Tarzan with Christopher Lambert and Disney's animated rendering.

Written by Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer, The Legend Of Tarzan is an entertaining and rumbustious romp that focuses on the love story between the orphaned hero and his plucky sweetheart against a backdrop of late-19th century treachery.

Director David Yates, who worked his magic at the helm of the final four films in the Harry Potter saga, orchestrates vine-swinging action sequences with aplomb, festooned with a menagerie of computer-generated animals that look incredibly realistic in close-up.

Digital might beats its chest in every lush frame including a bone-crunching fight between Tarzan and one of his ape brethren and a terrifying stampede.

However, Yates is careful to stoke the smouldering on-screen embers between an impressively bare-chested Alexander Skarsgard and the luminous Margot Robbie so we root for the lovers when the odds are stacked heavily against them.

It has been many years since Tarzan (Skarsgard) left behind the jungles of Africa to settle into gentrified life as John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, with his beloved wife, Jane (Robbie).

The lush paradise of the Congo is a sweet, distant memory till the British Prime Minister (Jim Broadbent) passes on an invitation from King Leopold II of Belgium to visit the Congo as a trade emissary of Parliament.

John initially refuses, but gun-slinging American envoy George Washington Williams (Samuel L Jackson) persuades the Greystoke heir to go in order to investigate rumours that Leopold has enslaved local tribes to build his railroad.

John, Jane and George depart for the Congo, unaware that they are pawns in a deadly game masterminded by Machiavellian Belgian envoy, Captain Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), who has agreed to deliver Tarzan to Chief Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou) in exchange for the legendary diamonds of Opar.

A stand-off ensues and Jane is captured as tantalising bait.

'He's Tarzan, you're Jane. He'll come for you,' smirks Rom.

Faced with the prospect of losing his soulmate, John gathers together his animal friends and unleashes the primal warrior of the past.

Shot at Warner Bros. Studios near Watford and on location around the UK, The Legend Of Tarzan captures the bare necessities of Burroughs' source text with gusto.

Skarsgard and Robbie are an attractive pairing, the latter imbuing her heroine with steeliness and resolve.

Two-time Oscar winner Waltz has portrayed too many sadistic schemers in recent years for his turn as the pantomime villain here to send shivers down the spine.

Denizens of the jungle snarl with more ferocity.
The scouts with Kathleen Kelleher, Anne Bateman and Eileen Morris from Greystones Cancer Support Centre

Scouts from Greystones paid a visit to Greystones Cancer Support recently to give them money they raised at their 'Bricfeasta Mor' which they held on St Patrick's Day.

The scouts raised approximately 200 at the event that morning, before the Greystones

The group is celebrating their 90th anniversary.

They wore uniforms from throughout the years to the presentation at Greystones Cancer Support.

Their breakfast in March was a big success and very well attended.

The Bricfeasta Mor is now very much a traditional part of the day for many Greystones residents, who enjoy a full Irish before going on to have fun at the parade.

'It was lovely to meet all the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts looking so smart,' said a spokesperson for Greystones Cancer Support.

Kathleen Kelleher, Anne Bateman and Eileen Morris of GCS met the scouts for the happy occasion, joined by Scout leader Anthony Finnegan.

'Huge thanks to Anthony Finnegan and Greystones Scout Group,' said a spokesperson for GCS. 'They really showed their concern for others in the community. Greystones Cancer Support wishes them all many happy years of scouting.'

This was the First Wicklow and Second Dublin troupe.
If a family festival can boast that it has 'something for everyone' - and then deliver on the promise, it is truly something that can be a success story long into the future.

And so it was last weekend in Drogheda, the Irish Maritime Festival once again packing in the crowds for two days of smells, sights and sounds.

Come Monday morning, Drogheda Port was back in action, the thousands gone, the boats setting sail and the Vikings having left a lasting impression.

Huge numbers of visitors of all ages thronged to the festival. From the Drogheda Pantomime Society cast to the vicious Vikings and Captain Jack Sparrow to the dueting pirates the festival was a feast of colour, energy and activity.

Friday night opened with a Craft Brewing and Tasting experience. Local Brewers and distillers explained how they craft their product and everyone had a taste. The culinary team from The Westcourt Hotel paired up canapes with each drink and the music of Fran Thornton's Fuzz Gigolo created a great atmosphere.

Saturday saw the Irish Maritime Festival, in association with Maxol, open to the public.

They ate, drank and were merry in the Artisan Food zone. They watched Chef Tara Walker create culinary delights in the demo kitchen. They kicked back and enjoyed brilliant live music all weekend on the two festival stages.

They watched live on Facebook and the festival big screen as the brave swimmers took to the water for the 2.7km long Boyne Swim and they cheered and cheered as Drogheda man, and ex-Olympic swimmer, Colin Lowth won the gruelling race.

They met the creatures of the deep in the Marine Touch Pool and dug for historic artefacts in the archaeology zone.

They enjoyed complimentary treatments, makeovers and fashion shows in the Fuschia Fashion, Health and Beauty marquee.

Over 200 volunteers, including medical and off-shore crews gave off their time, energy and skill to run the Festival, without them it would not be the success story.

The Customs Cutters and lifeboats were hugely popular as ever. The dastardly pirates were as bold as ever swash-buckling and battling away on the river. The Spirit of Oysterhaven brought a crew of young sailing trainees back to Drogheda on Friday and departed with a new crew on Sunday while The Celtic Mist team explained the work they do protecting Ireland's whale and dolphin population.

It was also wonderful to see the skilled local currach makers display their boats and promote their tours for the public. And of course the team from the RNLI and Clogherhead Lifeboat Station were there to promote water safety.

Down at Dominic's Park, the raft racers were back in action and what thrills and spills that produced.

And on Scotch Hall Bridge, the two sides of the town went to war again - this time with ropes as the tug o war proved a classic.

But the star of the show for many last weekend was The Phoenix, one of the world's most famous tall ships.

Visitors flocked on board both afternoons to view her for themselves. And then on Sunday evening, as if in a dream, she raised her 2,000sq ft sails and this beautiful brigantine lead a parade of sail out of Drogheda Port - gone but not forgotten.

The multi-award winning Irish Maritime Festival, in association with Maxol, is hosted by Louth County Council and Drogheda Port Company. It is supported by Virgin Media, Aura, Coca-Cola International, Failte Ireland, Glanbia, Flogas and Irish Rail.

So now all that remains is to check the timetable of tides for 2017, pick next year's date and start planning. Roll on Irish Maritime Festival 2017!
At a time of uncertainty about the future of the Dominican community in Drogheda, Fr Jim Donleavy sees his role very much mirroring that of his uncle, sailor Peter Campbell.

He was a sailmaker, the family base at Smithstown, but on one occasion, at the height of a storm in the North Sea, a number of the crew were injured, leaving Peter as the senior officer.

It was 1880 and his task was to lead his stricken vessel back home to Drogheda. He did it.

Over 120 years later, Fr Jim wants to lead his own vessel home, safe and sound.

'I'm as determined as ever to remain in St Magdalen's,' he states.

A firm decision on the future of the church and priory is likely to be made in late August.

But this Sunday, July 17 (at noon) a special mass takes place in the Dominican, one that will feed the soul in advance of a difficult few months ahead.

The close association between the Dominicans and Drogheda is unmatched, indeed, it was a Dominican priest, Fr Philip Bennett, who provided the spur that ultimately united 'Drogheda in Meath' and 'Drogheda in Oriel' in 1412.

It was just five years after the Dominicans arrived, 1229, that King Henry III granted a charter to the 'Louth' side, granting rewards similar to Dublin. The Meath side got the same 18 years later, with a weekly market.

The market was beside Millmount and vessels would dock on the Meath side of the Boyne as they were exempt from levies on the North Quay. The traders on the Meath side, John D'Alton once wrote, would have the monopoly on the merchandise and demand higher prices from those living on the Louth side. This led to constant fighting and many lives were lost down the years.

It was after one infamous battle that Fr Philip Bennett invited all sides to hear his sermon in which he quoted the words of the 133rd psalm 'behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,' turning to the congregation and declaring 'will ye be united in the body of Christ,' at which a William Symcock stood up and exclaimed 'we will'. That was the spark for unification, with William Symcock becoming mayor.

'Our history and the history of Drogheda goes hand in hand,' Fr Jim states. 'Sunday is a celebration of that and we'd love to see as many townsfolk as possible come out to mark the event. We want it to be special,' he added.

The usual 10.30am mass in the Dominican on Sunday will now be at 10am to assist with the preparation for the noon mass celebration.
Graffiti is seen on signs, electricity boxes, the train station, and even the rear of the billboards on the Dublin Road

The council must take action to tackle the serious problem of graffiti 'tagging' in the town, councillors have claimed.

Members of Drogheda Municipal District said the problem was particularly bad around the Dublin Road area and at the train station and they called for a community initiative to help eradicate the problem.

The issue was raised in a notice of motion at the July meeting by Councillor Kenneth Flood who called on the council to carry out the necessary works in relation to graffiti painted across the town and in particular on the Dublin Road.

'Irish Rail should be contacted to clean up the railway bridge and the ESB to paint their boxes around the town,' he said.

Responding to the motion, Louth County Council said a comprehensive survey will be undertaken by Louth County Council to identify properties and street furniture in Drogheda vandalised by graffiti.

A spokesperson said the defacement of any structure, door, gate, window, tree or pole was covered under the Litter Pollution Act.

'Property owners whose property is found to be so defaced, including the ESB and Irish Rail, will be contacted in accordance with the Act in order to have the graffiti removed.'

Commenting on the situation at Monday's meeting, Cllr Flood said: 'I do acknowledge the council does a lot to counter the problem of graffiti but the ESB boxes around town are a particular problem. No level of graffiti is acceptable and I'd like the efforts of the council to be stepped up.'

Supporting the motion, Councillor Pio Smith said the Dublin Road, in particular, has a serious problem.

'It is particularly bad around where the esb boxes are,' he said. 'It has been cleaned up in the past but unfortunately it reappears just as quickly.'

Paul Bell said Drogheda has a lot of very talented graffiti artists but these incidents of 'tagging' were simply a form of vandalism. He suggested Irish Rail get involved and develop a strategy similar to the graffiti art programme in Dublin.
The Medical Missionaries of Mary said farewell to its oldest member last week with the death of Sr Marie Conlon.

She would have been 102 in August and was the very first MMM to reach the age of 100.

Sister Marie was born in Tunstall, near Stoke-on-Trent, England in 1914 and worked as a teacher before joining the Medical Missionaries of Mary.

According to Sr Marie, she thought the MMM "looked like sensible women and within a few months I had entered." This was in 1947, when the MMM was only ten years old.

"There were seven in my group in the novitiate. There seemed to be little organisation about things. I started off in Rosemount in Dublin, but two weeks later I was in a car headed for Drogheda just because there was a seat available! I didn't realise the congregation was just beginning. It was difficult because there was little money and few personnel."

Her first assignment after profession was to Anua, Nigeria in 1950, where she was to serve a total 12 years. She helped student nurses to prepare for the West African School Certificate exams, teaching English, religion, music, and dramatics.

She said, "I used every opportunity to make English understandable, explaining how it was used in textbooks and exam papers."

For 7 years Sr. Marie helped to guide many women in their early years in MMM in Ireland. She also served in MMM administration, in mission awareness work, and as editor of the MMM magazine. In 1976 she was assigned to Kenya, where she taught for 10 years and wrote a number of papers on the MMM charism.

From 1988 she lived at the Motherhouse and continued teaching, helping in adult literacy programmes, conducting the choir, and giving talks on MMM spirituality. She moved to the nursing facility, Aras Mhuire, in 2009 for ongoing nursing care.

She became a bit of a celebrity, if the truth be told, in Aras Mhuire and loved nothing more than looking out the window at the world. But the flowers were too low down for her to really see, so the Drogheda Men's Shed made raised beds, especially for her.

Her birthday parties always had two special guests, old friends, Larissa and Seva.

She died there peacefully on 5 July 2016.
Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, had pledged to follow up on a number of cases in relation to the organisation of respite care at St Mary's, Drumcar.

Fergus O'Dowd TD raised the matter in the Dail last week, stating that some families were 'at their wits end' and were distressed at how the respite hours are managed.

'I have had a number of constituents ringing me, all of them regretfully in tears and very upset, looking for an increased level of care in terms of the respite their family members need.

'Their family members, in each case, have an intellectual disability. One of them occupies a respite bed in St. Mary's in Drumcar for three weeks and then on the fourth week of the month they are forced to leave that respite bed in the proper place and to go to a private nursing home, notwithstanding the excellence of care there.

'It is inappropriate and unacceptable to the family and, indeed, to the person who is in that bed, because they leave their familiar surroundings and they are put into an entirely inappropriate place with people who are much older than them. Some of those people are in their 90s, while the person I am talking about is in their 40s.

'That is followed by another mother, who is concerned about a family member whom she looks after at home. Every three months the family member gets excellent respite in St. Mary's, Drumcar, but it keeps being cancelled. It was cancelled the week before last and I rang up and asked what was happening with this person, then it was cancelled again last week. People who are getting older are unable to continue without the reasonable respite that Drumcar has always offered them,' he stated.

He further praised the 'tremendous work' of the staff and the community of St. John of God's and said it differs greatly from the 'top ups' certain staff members were receiving, as had been highlighted in the media.

The minister confirned that St. John of God's is committed to moving 20 residents from St. Mary's into community settings this year, that there is currently a waiting list of 40 to 43 clients who have been identified as needing community residential placement due to elderly, frail parents caring for adult clients with an intellectual disability.

'The HSE has assured me there is adequate funding to provide respite needs ... and Drumcar is not doing what the HSE and the parents wish it to do,' Deputy O'Dowd added.

'One mother said to me that the respite care she had been receiving for her son for 40 years was no longer available to her. The mother who rang me about this said she was at her wits' end and could not cope with looking after her adult child at home for three months with promises of respite care having been broken not once, but twice.'

Deputy Finian McGrath replied that 'this case is not necessarily about funding but the management of resources. The cancellations to which the Deputy referred are also not acceptable in this day and age. It is not good enough. I am aware of the work that goes on in the St. John of God services and in Drumcar and we need to ensure they get the maximum support.

He said he will follow up on the cases highlighted by Deputy O'Dowd.
Drogheda Port Company to have new shareholder in the form of Louth County Council, it has been revealed.

Drogheda Port Company and Louth County Council have agreed on the formal share transfer of Drogheda Port from the Department of Transport to Louth County Council under the Harbours Act 2015.

Since the publication of the National Ports Policy, Drogheda Port Company has carried out extensive work in consideration of the proposed options under port policy in order to arrive at the most appropriate model for the port company.

A study was commissioned to examine in a European context the most appropriate operating model for Drogheda Port. Louth County Council commissioned external consultants who completed due diligence on the port company and the process.

The company will continue as a separate corporate legal entity with a commercial board of directors and professional management team, as is the current structure. This will ensure the port continues to operate successfully and have the freedom to act commercially.

Drogheda Port makes a significant economic contribution to its hinterland, the immediate area of which consists of Counties Louth and Meath but whose reach extends to the North East (NE) Region and the Greater Dublin Area (GDA). Within this economic region the port company helps to sustain over 1,000 full time jobs.

Mr Paul Fleming, Drogheda Port Company CEO commented: 'This is a very positive move for the port and we are looking forward to having a new shareholder on board. We already have a close working relationship with the council and have jointly delivered successfully the Irish Maritime Festival for the past number of years.

'It is an exciting time for us, we have just commenced our masterplanning process to present a vision for the development of Irelands largest regional port and to outline our logistical and socio-economic role from now until 2050. This will be to promote and support the provision of new port services and employment for the region and is a substantial undertaking.'

The port also recently revealed it is beginning a masterplanning process to address the key issues around the future development of the port. The plan, Blueprint 2050, will present a vision for the development of Ireland's largest regional port and outline the logistical and socio-economic role from 2016 to 2050 in order to promote and support the provision of new port services and employment for the region.
A Drogheda woman, who set fire to a house two years ago which resulted in the death of a disabled elderly woman, has been sentenced to six months in prison for a number of theft offences.

Nicola Kavanagh (28), (pictured) who is currently serving an eight year sentence for the manslaughter of Eva Berrill (74) and arson, appeared before Drogheda District Court where she pleaded guilty to the theft charges.

Kavanagh, of Rathmullen Park, Drogheda pleaded guilty to five separate theft charges from different supermarkets and a chemist in Drogheda on dates between July 19, 2014 and January 31, 2015.

She also pleaded guilty to using threatening and abusive behaviour at A&E at Our Lady Of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda on January 18, 2015.

Defence solicitor Paul Moore said Kavanagh had 'alcohol on board' at the time of the offences.

'She admits them all,' he said, adding that she is currently serving a lengthy sentence.

He said Kavanagh is now a Listener with The Samaritans while she is in prison. Samaritan volunteers select and train prisoners to offer confidential peer support to anyone who might be struggling to cope or who is feeling frightened and worried.

At Drogheda District Court, Judge Flann Brennan convicted and sentenced her for the theft charges and took the public order charge into consideration.
Sunday proved a pretty unique day for two local men - one being ordained a priest and the other celebrating his first mass, having entered the Dominican Order on Saturday.

St Mary's hosted the ordination of Colllon man Warren Collier by Bishop of Meath Michael Smith.

The Bishop revealed a personal association to Warren's family as he celebrated the marriage of the new priest's godmother 53 years ago.

Fr Phil Gaffney PP St Mary's also revealed that the ordination was the Bishop's 90th during his term.

Up to 30 priests formed part of the procession into the church, while there was a big attendance of family and friends from near and far, especially Collon.

In his own appreciation, Fr Collier, who will now work in the Diocese of Meath, paid tribute to all those who had encouraged him on his journey to priesthood, especially his parents, Frank and Rosaleen. He also thanked his sister Fiona and her husband Michael.

He has spent time in Long Island NY, where he started as a seminarian and a deacon and in St Mary's and Laytown and Mornington, and he revealed he appreciated all they had done for him.

He spent four years in training in the Pontifical Breda College in Rome and Fr John Breen from the college attended the ceremony.

But much of his thanks went to the clergy and people of Collon who have 'nurtured, prayed and given me tremendous support during my years of discernment.'

Just across town at the same time, in St Peter's, members of the Dominican Order attended the first mass of Fr David McGovern.

The Chord Road man was ordained with seven others in St Saviours in Dublin on Saturday.

A Dominican colleague, Fr Gerard Dunne, giving the Homily, said that Fr David's life had 'taken many twists and turns' but that 'something else was pulling at his heart.'

He had trained and worked as a nurse before deciding to join the Dominicans.

'Fr David has courage, integrity, intelligence and determination, and knowing him well, more than anything, a heart for others,' Fr Dunne stated.

He added that he was 'humbled' by the McGovern family and the depth of their own faith and it was on the Chord Road that David's 'calling was heard'.

Family members, including his mother, Helen, attended the mass.
A local nutritionist who has been visiting schools across Fingal convincing children to have healthier lunches, was a star attraction at the Flavours of Fingal recently where she held a cooking demonstration and spoke about the implications of Brexit for the Irish food sector.

In 2015, it was estimated that exports of Irish agri-food and drink rose by approximately 3% to 10.8 bn (Bord Bia, 2016). The main destination for these exports in 2015 was the UK which accounted for 41% of all exports. Continental EU markets received 31% while the remaining 28% of Irish agri-food and drink exports went to international markets.

Love Irish Food revealed in its 2015 annual Food Barometer research that 84% of Irish consumers believe small groups of people can have a beneficial impact on the performance of the Irish economy by choosing one brand over another. And 66% strongly feel that what happens in Ireland is more important to them than what happens in other countries.

According to public health and clinical nutritionist, Niamh Arthurs: 'This research also clearly demonstrated that now consumer choice of products in Ireland is heavily driven by trust in brands, their origin and quality more so than their cost.

'This is great news for the smaller Irish food and drink businesses and events such as The Flavours of Fingal are pivotal to help support and promote these local producers.'

Niamh from www.biabites.net visited the Flavours of Fingal county show and made a full day's nutritious and delicious menu which fuelled everyone with energy and enthusiasm for all the attractions, activities and even the big Ireland game on the Sunday of the festival in Newbridge House and Farm, Donabate.

Using only locally sourced ingredients, the local nutritionist compiled a menu that was healthy and satisfying.

She said: 'Eating healthy does not have to be fancy but it can be very tasty. It is about going back to what our grandmothers would have made fresh in the kitchen. When we make things from scratch with local and in season produce it is less likely to contain loads of additives and more likely to be bursting with fresh natural flavours. It also means that you can control the amount of salt/sugar/fat to suit you and your families needs which can help to create better habits for life and be more healthful to everyone. 'For many local Irish products, the ingredients used are in season and locally sourced which again reduces the need for additives and makes these foods really tasty and of high quality.

'One of my key messages that I was hoping people would take away from my demonstrations is that: For every 1 that we spend on Irish food 3 goes back into our economy, helping to create jobs.'
A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of a man who failed to appear before Balbriggan District Court to pay compensation for a cell mattress he destroyed.

Gregory Kelly (27) was due to appear before the court to pay 221 in compensation and for a Probation Report to see if he is suitable for community service work in lieu of a prison sentence after he pleaded guilty at a previous court date to causing damage to the mattress.

Kelly, of Cardy Rock estate in Balbriggan, who has 43 previous convictions, bit into part of the foam of the cell mattress in Balbriggan Garda Station and removed the stitching, destroying it on January 25th.

Sergeant Tony Tighe had previously told the court that while Kelly was placed in the holding cell at the garda station, a garda went to check on him.

'He had removed the stitching from the mattress in the cell and had bitten part of the foam and pulled it out from the material,' said Sgt Tighe.

He said Kelly was cautioned by the garda and made no reply after caution.

Judge Dempsey had remanded Kelly on continuing bail to re-appear before the court again last Thursday for the compensation to be paid and to see if he was suitable for 240 hours community service work in lieu of two months in prison.

However, as he did not turn up to court, Judge Conal Gibbons issued the warrant for his arrest.
A Fingal senator has said she has 'serious concerns' that people in Fingal are waiting up to eight years for social housing - a situation she characterised as 'abominable'.

Senator Lorraine Clifford Lee (FF) has expressed her serious concern after the CEO of Fingal County Council, Paul Reid admitted last week that the average waiting time for a local authority house in Dublin Fingal is eight years.

In the midst of the current homelessness crisis, the Senator has expressed her 'alarm' and said she is worried about 'the effect that these outrageous waiting times will have on families in Dublin Fingal'.

Senator Clifford Lee said: 'Urgent action needs to be taken to ensure that families in Dublin Fingal living in overcrowded accommodation, facing homelessness, or who are already homeless, are given a suitable, secure roof over their heads.

With recent figures showing that there are currently 913 families homeless in Dublin, including 1,847 children, Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee has called on the Minister for Housing to work closely with Dublin Fingal Council to 'address these abominable waiting times that leave so many families in Dublin Fingal facing uncertainty and is leading to an increase in the number of families now homeless in Dublin'.

Meanwhile, a local Labour councillor has chaired a discussion on the housing crisis during the launch of his party's new Social and Affordable Housing Bill.

Cllr Duncan Smith said that bill seeks to take measures to increase housing supply.

He said: 'As a member of the Fingal Housing Strategic Policy Committee, the Housing and Homeless Crisis is something I care very deeply about and a matter which I deal with on a daily basis assisting people in difficult and sometimes tragic circumstances.'
A number of Dublin bus passengers had to come to the aid of their bus driver after a young man and his friend became aggressive towards him, a court has heard.

Dean Fitzpatrick (20) and his friend were on the bus from Lusk to Swords and were intoxicated.

They started to become aggressive and while they were being ejected from the bus they made threats towards the bus driver.

Passengers came to the driver's aid and when the bus pulled away from the bus stop on Main Street in Swords, both Fitzpatrick and his friend continued with their aggression. Fitzpatrick's friend managed to cause damage to the front windscreen.

Fitzpatrick, of The Plaza in Ballymun pleaded guilty to using threatening and abusive behaviour contrary to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act in Swords on February 22nd.

A charge of causing criminal damage to the front windscreen of Dublin Bus on the same date was struck out against Fitzpatrick.

Passengers pointed out Fitzpatrick to gardai as the male who was aggressive on the bus.

Fitzpatrick, who has 22 previous convictions, was arrested by gardai.

Defence barrister Patrick Jackson said Fitzpatrick has made an apology to the gardai and wants to pass on an apology to the Dublin Bus driver.

Mr Jackson said Fitzpatrick doesn't have a great memory of the incident as he was very intoxicated.

After Fitzpatrick said he does not think he is suitable for community service work, Mr Jackson asked Judge Dermot Dempsey for some leniency.

Judge Dempsey imposed a sentence of a month's detention. He fixed recognisances in the event of an appeal.
The Minister for Education has said he cannot provide a timeframe for the long-awaited next phase of construction at Lusk Community College but under questioning in the Dail from a local Sinn Fein TD, he said the project was 'at an advanced stage of architectural planning'.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly TD (SF) asked Minister Richard Bruton about the school, and told the Dail that the first phase of the school was built three years ago and the community in Lusk was still waiting for the start of the second phase.

She said: 'In years one and two the pupils were accommodated in classrooms, but in year three they were accommodated in a prefabricated building. Unfortunately, the second phase of the school has not been identified and we do not know when this will occur.'

The Sinn Fein TD for Dublin Fingal argued that Lusk was expanding and greater pressure on school places was coming down the pipeline, making the project all the more urgent. Deputy O'Reilly asked: 'When will we see the next phases of the school project commence? It is not acceptable that pupils are being accommodated in prefabs?'

Minister for Education, Richard Bruton said: 'The building project for Lusk community college is now at an advanced stage of architectural planning - stage 2b, detailed design - which includes the preparation of tender documents. Planning permission for this project was granted on March 2, 2016. Fire safety and disability access certificates were obtained in 2015.

'The stage 2b report has been completed by the design team and is being co-ordinated by the education and training board for submission to my Department for review in the coming days.

'Upon completion and submission of the stage 2b report and tender documentation, my Department will carry out its review and, subject to no issues arising, will then revert to Dublin-Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board with regard to the further progression of the project.'

But the minister added: 'However, until the stage 2b report has been received and assessed, it will not be possible to provide a specific indication of the time-frame for the progression of the project to tender and construction. That is the current position.'

Deputy O'Reilly expressed 'disappointment' with the minister's response.

She said: 'It is not good enough to provide a 'wait and see' reply. People in the area will see more children educated in prefabs, which are not the answer. If the Department has money to spend on prefabricated accommodation, I respectfully suggest that it has money to fast-track this process.'

The minister said the school was undergoing the same process as other school building projects and there was no attempt by his department to 'throw a spanner in the works for Lusk Community College'.
The congregation at Gorey Methodist Church welcomed their new minister to town as she held her first service at the church in the Market Square on Sunday.

Rev Cheryl Patterson, who is a native of Belfast, was given a warm welcome to Gorey by the parishioners.

The 35-year-old has just finished her training for ordained ministry in Edgehill Theological College in Belfast, and she is now serving as a probationary minister for two years before she is ordained.

Before entering theological college, Cheryl studied at university in Scotland, before working as a youth pastor for the Methodist Church in north Belfast for seven years.

She moved to Gorey last Thursday, and this is her first time living south of the border.

She replaces Rev Steven Foster, who has moved to minister in north Fermanagh after a happy five years in Gorey.

'I hope to continue Steven's good work,' said Cheryl. 'It's early days, but hopefully there will be a smooth transition, and that I can continue the great work that has been done in Gorey.'

She said that Rev Foster has been very supportive in helping her prepare to take over the ministry in Gorey.

Sunday's 10.30 a.m. service was very well attended by locals, and several summer visitors, and they used the opportunity of the traditional cup of tea in the Methodist Hall after the service to meet the new minister.

'I was very warmly welcomed,' said Cheryl. 'It was really lovely.'

She will use the coming weeks and months to get to know her new role, her new town, and her new congregation.

During his time in Gorey, Rev Foster was very involved in youth activities and set up the Empire Youth Group.

Before he left, Rev Foster was honoured by the members of the Gorey Municipal District committee, who made a presentation to him to thank him for his contribution to the town and district during his time in the area.
Hotel and guesthouse owners in Wexford are concerned about the impact that Brexit will have on their business over the next 12 months, according to the latest report from the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF).

The UK is Ireland's largest source of inbound tourists, accounting for over 40 per cent of overseas visitors into the country. The economic uncertainty surrounding the UK's relationship with the EU has fuelled concerns amongst 95 per cent of hoteliers nationally, highlighting the ongoing risks to Wexford tourism from external events.

While concerns about the impact of Brexit loom, results show the tourism industry has performed strongly so far in 2016. Some nine of ten hoteliers report that business levels are up compared to the same period last year with overseas visitor numbers up 14 per cent year to date while British visitor numbers are up 16 per cent. Of those hotels catering for corporate meetings and business events, 60 per cent are seeing an increase in this area of their business compared with last year.

Aidan Quirke, Chair of the South East Branch of the IHF said that tourism now supports 9,000 jobs in Wexford and contributes some 170m to the local economy annually. However, he said, that the continued recovery in the sector cannot be taken for granted and that the local tourism industry remained vulnerable to external economic shocks beyond its control, such as the UK decision to leave the EU.

Dick Walsh, General manager at the Talbot Hotel, Wexford, said the impact Brexit will have on Wexford is a major concern.

'Often things like this don't tend to impact for 18 months to two years because people have booked well in advance but it is a major concern. The majority of Irish tourism is British visitors and we have really seen an increase in this over the past number of years.

'Tourism in Wexford has really grown because of a number of factors including a better road infrastructure, the strength of Rosslare Europort, the Three Sisters bid and more tourist attractions but any change in Britain has an effect on us. The result wasn't a positive outcome for us.'

Colm Neville, owner of the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy, said the tourism industry is 'very vulnerable to the sterling verses euro exchange rate. Over 40 per cent of our business comes from sterling origin. I read that the sterling difference is making Ireland 16 per cent more uncompetitive than this time last year and in any market a hike of 16 per cent on prices will see customers reacting negatively.

'We don't know yet how things are going to settle and some people predict that the sterling will drop further. That's a real danger. However I don't think we should be making massive plans to change our marketing strategy just yet. I think people need to stay calm and see how it all settles down.

'That doesn't mean there won't be an impact but the last thing we need now is people panicking and being too concerned. In a state of concern investors won't go ward and invest and consumers are worried about their jobs and won't buy and people depend on consumers to keep buying.

'From a hoteliers point of view we need to oppose anything that causes uncompetitiveness. There is talk about increasing the VAT rate back to 13.5 per cent. That might be able to be sustained in Dublin where there is overheating of the market but not in other areas of the country. We can see that in Wexford and Portlaoise. While things are improving they are anything but comfortable.

'We would be very worried about anything that would impact on customer prices.'

Managing director at the Brandon House Hotel in New Ross Pat Quinn said the bulk of the visitors to the Brandon House are domestic visitors so he doesn't anticipate the effect will be as great there as it may be in other hotels.

'Between 80 to 90 per cent of our business is domestic with the vast majority of them coming from Dublin I don't expect us to be to badly hit. But where it could affect us is in tour business. We are not big tour providers but we do ad hoc tours and that's the side I could see us being most affected by especially if the sterling keeps dropping or stays the same.

'It makes Europe more expensive for British people. Another area which could affect us is commercial business. We get a lot of English contractors coming over to places like Lake Region but for the moment we haven't seen a negative effect but it is a concern to take forward.'

Paul Finnegan, general manager at the Ashdown Park Hotel, said while the Ashdown hasn't experienced any impact yet from Brexit there is reason for concern.

'The real impact has yet to be seen because a lot of people will have booked before the vote took place. However sterling is down 15 to 16 per cent on where it was last year and this certainty has a negative impact on British visitors in terms of what their spend is worth.

'A lot of our business comes from Northern Ireland and that is a very important piece of our market so there is a real concern there. Coupled with the decreased value of sterling there is also the uncertainty factor. If Britain invokes Article 50 in January that's a two year exit process which means there will be two and a half years of uncertainty. That uncertainty feeds down to consumer spending because people are worried about their jobs and so forth.

'Nationally 40 per cent of Ireland's international market is the UK market and we really need to look at how to incentivise that in the next 12 to 18 months and maintain our foothold in the market.

'Failte Ireland will be speaking to the Government about this. Currently a 1 spend on destination marketing results in a 34 spend here which is a very good return and needs to be focussed on. Here in the Ashdown we will be monitoring the market and trying to react to the situation.'
The Torc Hotel will play host to the third running of Killarney's stunning Die-Cast Model and Diorama Show on Sunday, August 7, from 10.30am to 5pm.

Incredible model machinery, Lego, dolls houses and plenty more will be complimented by gorgeous Diorama settings, and organiser Sean Healy says it's all for good causes.

"Myself and my young lad are absolutely obsessed with model trucks and machinery, and lots of other people share in similar passions which is why the previous stagings have been so successful," he states.

"We'll be having a raffle in aid of the Irish Kidney Association and the Kerry Cork Health Link Bus, with hotel breaks away, cash and spot prizes on offer. The admission fee will also contribute towards those charities, which are very close to my own heart and my family's hearts."

The event is revamped annually, and Mr Leahy says even those who might not have a huge interest in Diorama and die-cast models will most certainly be converts by the time they leave.

"We'll have a 30 foot by 10 foot display of model machinery operating in a quarry under a marquee, and members of the Irish Navy have built incredible model boats, some up to eight feet in length. They've to be seen to be believed."

"I know people who've come here in previous years with minimal interest beforehand, and they've happily spent the entire day here. I'm 37, and I'm still buying model machines on eBay, and plenty more will do the same after visiting here."
'To be clever enough to get all that money, one must be stupid enough to want it'.

That aphorism from C.K. Chesterton was quoted in this column in August 2007. It was obvious at the time that the free spending of easy money was too good to last. We all know what happened shortly afterwards, the impact is still felt today in every town and home in the country.

Now that house prices are hitting the highs last seen in 2007, it is probably timely to republish the column as a warning to us all not to fall into the same pitfalls that we so tragically did just less than a decade ago.

This brief story did the rounds through the e-mail system recently. It might be a little idealistic to the economists who run the country and may not be practical in a country that now boasts of having 33,000 millionaires, where greed and personal gain seem to be the only goals many people have. However there is a grain of truth in it, that cannot be denied.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican Village located in a beautiful coastal location. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

'Not very long' answered the Mexican

'But then why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?' asked the American

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, 'But what do you do with the rest of your time?'

'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to meet with my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar and sing a few songs I have a full life that I enjoy very much.'

The American interrupted, 'I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you improve your life and that of your friends and family.'

'You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring you, you can buy a second and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise, and have more control over the fishing industry.

'How long would that take' asked the Mexican.

'Twenty, perhaps twenty five years' replied the American.

'What happens after that' asked the bemused fisherman.

'Afterwards? Now that's when it really gets interesting,' answered the American laughing. 'When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make even more millions!'

Millions? Really and after that?

The American swelled up to his full size, smiled with smug satisfaction and said, 'After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings with your friends playing the guitar, having a few drinks and singing songs.
In light of the recent reshuffle of ministry in the Kerry Diocese, Pastoral Director of the Kerry Diocese, Fr. Ger Godley, has expressed some doubt over the notion that the introduction of more foreign priests might be the solution to the county's declining number of priests.

The recent reshuffle has left two more parishes, Ballyheigue and Duagh, without a resident priest; bringing to five the number of parishes now without a resident priest.

There are currently just 51 priests in parish ministry in the county, and Bishop Ray Browne has cited the ageing profile of the clergy and health concerns among the factors putting pressure on the Diocese to provide blanket cover.

But while some have suggested that bringing in priests from other countries might appear the easiest solution to alleviate this pressure, Fr Godley is somewhat unconvinced:

"I've been to Kenya on work before, and it seemed to me as if their resources were under pressure as well. There wasn't a huge amount of priests there."

"So while I welcome every priest who wishes to work in our diocese, I think it might be misplaced to presume this is the solution to all our problems."

In response to the current pressures, Fr Godley has been focusing on increasing lay involvement within the diocese, an approach that he says has worked well so far:

"It's impossible to say how many lay people are co-operating with the diocese, or going through training to become more involved.

"I'd say there are a few thousand helping out in some way across the county, but as I say you can't put a number on it."

"So while the number of priests has fallen, lay involvement has never been greater, and that's helped hugely.

"It's something that probably should have been focused on sooner, but it's being done now, it's going well, and we're determined to keep it going."

With fewer clerics in the diocese, their workload has increased - putting intense pressure on individual priests to minister.

However, while the current circumstances are challenging for priests, it is not necessarily all doom and gloom, Fr Godley explained:

"Resources are stretched, but that's given rise to more co-operation between members of the priesthood in the county, which is a positive development."

"With the increased involvement of lay people, there are opportunities for the church, and with us all working together we've seen lots of teamwork and camaraderie developing. So while there are difficulties, there are a lot of positive things happening in today's climate."
Three men have been hospitalised and two arrested following a brawl between two gangs of Eastern European men in a Tralee apartment complex in the early hours of Sunday morning.

At around 1.20am on Sunday Gardai were called to the Edward Court Apartment Complex on Edward Street, Tralee where two groups of Eastern European men - around eight in total -were involved in a violent clash.

It is understood that the incident began at around 1am when a group of men arrived at an apartment in the complex and threatened the residents with weapons.

A brawl broke out and the fighting - which involved various weapons - spilled from the apartment into the hallways and eventually out into the grounds of the complex.

Gardai were alerted by other residents and, having arrived at the scene in large numbers, were able to restore order.

Three men sustained serious, but not life threatening, injuries in the course of the violence. They were taken to University Hospital Kerry for treatment and have since been released from care.

Gardai have described the incident as an aggravated burglary and they are appealing for any witnesses to contact them.

Two men - who are believed to have been part of the gang that arrived at the apartment - have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The pair - whom The Kerryman understands are from the Galway area and who it is believed were arrested in the west of Ireland - were taken into custody by gardai at Tralee Garda Station on Monday.

They were held there and questioned in relation to the matter under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The apartment and an area of the complex' grounds remained sealed off for several hours on Sunday as a Garda forensics team examined the scene.
Kerry Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin has hit out at party colleagues who won't go public on their desire to see Enda Kenny replaced as party leader and Taoiseach.

On Monday Deputy Griffin sent shock waves through Fine Gael when he became the first - and so far only - party TD to make a direct call for Mr Kenny to be replaced as leader.

In a strongly worded statement Deputy Griffin said it was imperative that Kenny step down soon and that a new leader be installed if the party is to avoid a major loss to Fianna Fail.

Deputy Griffin said Fine Gael cannot go into the summer without confronting the leadership issue and he said the vast majority of party members he has spoken to want it dealt with quickly.

He added that he fears Fianna Fail may "manufacture a reason for a general election during budget negotiations, most likely on an issue that would make Fine Gael look as bad as possible."

In the wake of Deputy Griffin's statement a number of senior ministers rallied to Enda Kenny's support dashing a plan to table a motion of no confidence in Mr Kenny at Fine Gael's Parliamentary Party on Wednesday.

Though he is the only Fine Gael TD to publicly call for a change of leader Deputy Griffin said there are serious concerns among at least 12 TDs and several ministers about Enda Kenny's leadership. He called on them to break their silence for the good of the party and country.

"I wouldn't be saying names, but if people, ministers, are saying off the record that he should leave then they should have the courage to say the same on the record," he said.

"There is a lot more at stake here than being held in high esteem by the current Taoiseach. What this requires now is for people who want to be leader to make their views known publicly," Deputy Griffin said.

He added that TDs and ministers should be "true to what they really think."
South Sligo, and Gurteen in particular, has long been an Irish music stronghold and last week that was particularly evident with the Junior Davey Bodhran Academy taking place at the Coleman Centre.

Run by the renowned musician Junior Davey himself, children from all across Ireland and beyond descended on the rural village for the week for world-class tuition on how to play the bodhran, as well as sessions and traditional bands playing on a nightly basis.

It is the only bodhran academy on the island of Ireland - although Inis Oirr also hosts one in the Aran Islands - and Junior says it is a brilliant week of music for those involved.

"Basically, it is bodhran tuition for four different levels of student, the absolute beginner, the intermediate, the advanced and the master level." Junior said. We have four of the best teachers in the world here doing their job, from different places around Ireland. Ciaran Leonard is from Enniskillen, Colm Phelan is from Portlaoise, Paddy Carr is from Galway but his family originates in Rathcormack in north Sligo and we also have Sean O'Neill from Newcastle in County Down."

The academy has been running since 2006, and has become an annual event both locals and non-locals alike look forward to.

"Obviously the numbers fluctuate. Some years we get less than we want, but you have to take into consideration that we had a recession and that there are so many summer schools around. But there are only two bodhran schools in Ireland, one on Inis Oirr and here. The Inis Oirr was the original one from 2002 and I taught there for many years.

"I was very fortunate to be the Irish Champion five times, and this academy was suggested to me by a student I taught in England who said to me why not set it up, because you probably have one of the best facilities in Ireland here in the Coleman Centre and get people to come to you."

The kids that take part are from a variety of different locations in Ireland and indeed abroad, with seven different nationalities taking part in this year's camp. "It brings a lot to a little rural village like Gurteen, a lot of business, because all of the available B&Bs are filled, and then there are a lot of lunches and evening dinners so the local shops are doing great on that this week."

One of the highlights of the week was the Junior Davey International Bodhran Soloist of the year competition, which is open to all of those interested in taking part. Interestingly, the competitors were not visible to the judges as they were behind a curtain, meaning competitors were judged solely on their musical ability.

"Nobody will know until after the competition who the adjudicator is, and he will only know the competitors as competitor X, Y, Z etc. So all you need is your ears. I thought the fact that we are running the competition that we can dictate how it is done, and I think this is the fairest way."

Having had a bumper week in 2016, plans will soon get underway for the 2017 academy.
A new festival has been added to the Sligo summer calendar this time it's Mullaghmore who's getting in on the action. A live music, seafood, watersports and family fun from July 29th to August 1st. It's being organised by The Pier Head Hotel.

Hotel marketer Deirdre Monaghan said: "Mullaghmore Harbourfest is all about enticing people to visit, explore and discover all that is great about Mullaghmore. You can have a go at watersports, sample the local seafood, listen to great live music and enjoy some amazing seascapes". The programme of events will include live music in the Pier Head Hotel with The 4 of us, Liam Hession, Francie Lenehan, The RogueTraders, Jason Kelly and The TruTones.

Festival goers can indulge in special festival seafood dishes and Mullaghmore Sea Farm will be releasing a berried (egg bearing) female lobster into Donegal Bay for conservation purposes. Watersports include coasteering with North West Coasteering, stand up paddle boarding with SUP Dude and sea fishing aboard the M.V. Kiwi Girl.

Family fun will be provided on Monday, August 1st, with a kids petting zoo and the chance to catch your first fish with a sea fishing trip. The festival is being run in conjunction with Failte Ireland. For more check out www. www.mullaghmoreharbourfest.com
For many decades the people of Sligo have been giving their support to people with intellectual disabilities through the L'Arche community here.

The founder of L'Arche, Jean Vanier, has visited Sligo many times and set up his Faith and Light community here.

His internationally renowned advocacy for all people who have an intellectual disability has found a warm response in Sligo.

Great efforts were made to have a residential L'Arche community founded in Sligo but due to the economic downturn, that initiative is not currently being pursued.

The charity shop which opened sometime ago on Wine Street has been run by volunteers. A committee in conjunction with L'Arche Ireland have agreed that the monies collected will be dispersed for the support of people with intellectual disability in L'Arche Ireland and L'Arche International.

The transfer of funds collected by L'Arche Sligo were recently put towards an annual Bursary to send Sligo students to retreat with Jean Vanier.

As well as that, the money will also fund overseas members of L'Arche coming on visits to Ireland.

The charity shop in Sligo continues under the sister organisation, Faith and Light, supporting the involvement of young people around the country.

It also helps in setting up new Faith and Light communities throughout the developing world, who are doing stellar work in looking after people with intellectual disabilities.
Bus Eireann has been denounced for forcing bus passengers in Sligo to stand in the rain without shelter and get soaked.

Councillors vented their outrage that people along the N17 Sligo-Galway bus route had to stand out in all weather, often getting drenched and having to attend hospital appointments in Galway still in damp clothes.

"Bus Eireann are prepared to take the customers money but they're not prepared to provide them with shelter so as not to go to a hospital soaked," said Councillor Margaret Gormley.

She sparked the heated debate with her motion calling on the Council to put pressure on Bus Eireann to provide a bus shelter at Curry.

"It's time someone from Bus Eireann came in here and got the problem solved with all heads together," she said.

Councillor Jerry Lundy said he had seen elderly people standing out in the rain having to sit in wet clothes all the way to Galway and then attend appointments in wet clothes. "There should be shelters all along the N17. There are shelters for trolleys but we have none for the people," he said.

Cathaoirleach of the Council Cllr Hubert Keaney said he counted 12 bus shelters from Belcoo to Enniskillen recently, "but we haven't one from here to Glenfarne."

Council Chief Executive Ciaran Hayes agreed the bus shelters were much needed but said Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) had high standards along national routes such as the N17 and 20,000 per bus shelter "mightn't be that far out." Cllr Keaney said he had received quotes for bus shelters for as little as 1,500. Cllr Marie Casserly said they should examine the possibility of communities raising the funds themselves if they got sponsors.

Cllr Lundy said all that was needed was "a bit of perspex and a bench" and he couldn't see how it could cost 20,000.

It was agreed to invite a Bus Eireann representative to the next Council meeting and get an update on the Curry shelter.
Maureen Durcan of the Sligo Cancer Support Centre said she was hugely shocked by the Console saga.

"Not only from the charity sector but everyone is shocked that such abuses could occur, considering the stringent audit controls in place.

"In our centre, we have so many controls in place to ensure no abuse occurs.

"We constantly reassure our clients who donate by giving them both a receipt and a letter how their money was used for what purpose. That is really important.

"Anyone who has been to the centre can see how the money is being spent.

"The HSE said we are operating on a shoestring budget and I was absolutely gob-smacked to see the funds that Console were receiving through public sources were not being controlled at all.

"Even when Minister Reilly was notified way back there were no measures taken.

"It's obviously very disconcerting for other charities like ourselves, we feel tarnished in some way.

"Of course there are people out there who question where their money is being spent and they are right to do that.

"I donate to other charities and it also makes me question where it's going.

"All I can do to reassure the public is say that anyone who ever donated to the centre, it's supporting anyone who comes through the door affect by cancer, be it cancer patients or their families," Maureen explained.

"We have a very responsible Board of Directors and we're very conscious about how our money is spent."

Michael Leydon is President of the Sligo Lions Club, another charity heavily reliant on public donations.

He said: "As President of the Lions Club it makes me very sad to hear what has happened at Console.

"For our good and honourable people who give their services free and fundraise to support deserving charities, it makes their job all the more harder.

"Every penny raised by the Lions Clubs is given over to charities.

"Our administration is financed by the dues collected from members.

"We are a worldwide organisation and audits are carried out on a regular basis," he explained.

Sligo Lions are 40 years in existence this year and have contributed hugely to charities within the Northwest since their formation. Michael added it's important charities are transparent so people can see where donations are being used.
Game of Thrones: Cllr Dara Mulvey says state agencies should try to attract such hit shows to Sligo

A Ballymote County Councillor wants to bring the fantasy TV drama Game of Thrones to Sligo.

Councillor Dara Mulvey called on Sligo County Council, Failte Ireland, the Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht to explore the possibility of Sligo attracting the world's most popular drama series as "filming may leave Northern Ireland due to BRitain's vote to exit the EU."

"Until they invoke the procedure to leave, Sligo County Council and Failte Ireland need to have their eye on the ball," Cllr Mulvey told the July meeting last week.

"A lot of other countries will be watching what's happening. We are as well positioned as any other country to look for the filming," he said.

"We have the scenery, the population, the skills at the IT, getting extras would be no problem. I can't see why Sligo couldn't fil the void," he added.

His motion was seconded by Cllr Marie Casserly.

Responding, Director of Services Dorothy Clarke told members that it was "an opportunity that could be there" but it was "a very niche area that would require very targeted interventions, which would cost quite a lot of money."

However she added that Sligo County Council Arts Service Section is currently in "intense discussions" with Leitrim and Roscommon County Council Arts Officers on a joint film development strategy for the three counties, i.e. a North West Regional Film Development Programme.

Part of the strategy will be to attract film location scouts to the three counties on a tour/or to an event which the Arts Officers will organise.

The Arts Officers have begun working as a group in association with local/national film advisors and have a pooled budget. A new collaboration fund has been announced by the Arts Council which the Arts Officers will be applying to this month.

"Something like what you're talking about could happen if that was to materalise," she said.

HBO has confirmed that while the series received financial support from the EU's European Regional Development Fund when it first began, there has been no contribution to its massive $10 million per episode budget in recent years.

Cllr Declan Bree pointed this out to members also.

"If Northern Ireland is moving away from the EU we need to make sure we're as well prepped as anywhere else to seek that business," replied Cllr Mulvey.
Sligo's men and women who served in past wars were remembered at the weekend.

A Commemoration Ceremony was held outside City Hall on Sunday afternoon to honour the soldiers.

Sunday was the national day of commemoration and there were various events held across the country.

Among those in attendance was Cathaoirleach of Sligo County Council, Cllr Hubert Keaney, along with fellow councillors and Mayor of Sligo Municipal District, Cllr Marie Casserly.

There were members of the Defence Forces, as well as families of service people.

Religious leaders Dean Arfon Williams, Rev Jeremy Nicoll, Rev Alan Mitchell and Rev Pat Lombard were also there for the service to honour local soldiers.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Hubert Keaney laid a wreath as part of the ceremony and he was joined by Comdt Mark Davern.

There were also members of An Garda Siochana representing the force.

A minute's silence was observed, followed by the raising of the National Flag.

Music was provided by Sligo County Council Choir directed by Dave Flynn, Sligo Concert Band, James Kilbane and Traditional Irish Musicians. This is the sixth year that Sligo hosts the National Day of Commemoration Ceremony.

It is held on the Sunday nearest July 11, the anniversary of the date in 1921 on which the truce ending the Irish War of Independence was signed marking the end of the war.
Irish Rail has an onus on it to explain why the Dublin - Sligo rail service is "more disadvantaged than others."

That's according to Councillor Keith Henry who wants to ask Irish Rail to explain their pricing structures to and from Dublin Connolly and why tickets on the day of travel are "extortionate" prices.

Cllr Henry said a friend enquired about coming to Sligo for the County Fleadh recently and discovered it would cost him 53 for a return ticket to Sligo but only 20 for a return ticket to Cork city.

"It's anti-competitive for Sligo. This does have an impact on tourism. If I see it costs 53 to travel to Sligo or just 20 to go to Cork, I'm going to go to Cork," he told this month's meeting.

"The National Transport Authority said the reason it was so dear was because it was that day. But I checked today and it would just cost me 2.67 cheaper," he said.

"That's not worth talking about. A child's ticket is more expensive than a student's ticket," he added.

"The onus is on Irish Rail to explain why our line is more disadvantaged than others," he said.

"I fully support this," said Councillor Jerry Lundy. "It's putting people into cars. If it's too expensive people won't use it," he said.

Councillor Marie Casserly said it was not just tourists affected by the pricing but business commuters and large families. "They're supposed to be promoting Sligo but it can be well over 100 for a family trip by train now before you even reach Dublin," she said.

Cathaoirleach of the Council Councillor Hubert Keaney thanked Cllr Henry for bringing the matter to the Council's attention.

"On appearance, it doesn't seem justified," he said.
MEP Marian Harkin says Ireland needs to defend its agri-sector following the Brexit result.

Speaking in Strasbourg, the Sligo native added: "Negotiations on Brexit could be a double edged sword for Ireland with a need not only to protect our exports but also to strongly defend all sectors of our economy in any post Brexit scenario. Brexit poses many challenges but without a doubt the country most affected outside of the UK will be Ireland.

17% of our exports go to the UK with a large proportion from our agri-food sector. There have been calls for a soft landing for Northern Ireland, for example, but any kind of light regime for Northern Ireland while they maintain access to the single market would significantly disadvantage business and agriculture in the Republic."
Music in Calary are delighted to host the Wicklow Proms production of Derby Browne's Pigalle, Edith Piaf and Le Chat Noir - the world of love and loss as reflected in les chansons des rues de Paris.

This will be presented by Derby Browne (chanteuse), David Way (clavier) and Derek McKenna (accordeon).

The Realisation will be by George Fleeton.

The show will begin at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 28, in Calary Church.

Edith Piaf's career started in the mid 1930's continuing until not long before her untimely death in 1963 at the age of 47.

She is considered to be one of France's greatest international stars and her unique and unforgettable voice together with the many well known songs she made famous are frequently heard to this day.

She was widely regarded as France's national chanteuse, as well as being one of France's finest singing sensations as she established a world-wide following.

Derby Browne was awarded a coveted place at the Conservatory of Music in Dublin where she studied singing, piano, harpsichord and drama.

After performing in Ireland, she moved to London and has now returned to Ireland to perform her own shows with a blend of romantic French and Italian music.

Derby recently performed 'Pigalle' to a sell out crowd at Loughcrew.

This is a special event and Music in Calary is delighted to be the venue for such a wonderful performance.

Tickets, which are 25, can be booked by ringing John Medlycott on (01) 2818146.

Alternatively you can email derekneilson@eircom.net.

A number of music events are held in Calary Church each year.

The emphasis is usually placed on young, local musicians, as well as well regarded musicians from elsewhere.
Wicklow Town and District Chamber of Commerce are organising a Business Information Seminar and propose to host a free information evening on business supports that may be available for your business.

This important seminar was extremely well received by business people last year and many have requested the Chamber to hold a similar type event this year.

A date in mid-September has still to be finalised.

SME owners and their Managers will once again have an opportunity to hear presentations from the most important providers of State support to business owners.

There will be speakers and representatives from Enterprise Ireland, The Strategic Banking Corporation, the Local Enterprise Office, JobBridge, JobPlus, Wicklow County Council and other agencies yet to be confirmed.

This is a not to be missed opportunity to listen to and network with local and state agency supports that are available to help grow your business.

This is a free event and is open to all Chamber Members and Non-Members.

All business owners and their Managers are welcome to attend.
The future is certainly looking bright for Wicklow town's Erika Copeland after the 2015 Regatta Queen won an international beauty therapy award.

Erika received the highest student beauty therapy award at the Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology awards held over in London.

In the competition, Erika was pitted against 13 other students from across the globe, including fellow finalists from as far afield as Bali.

The shortlist was then whittled down to the final three hopefuls before Erika was announced as the winner.

She readily acknowledges 'I was very excited but I wasn't really thinking about winning. The other contestants came from all over the world. To be honest I was just delighted to get to the final.

'I was very nervous on the day. It was held the day after my graduation so things were pretty hectic.'

Erika was put forward for the awards after impressing with her exam results from Blackrock where she attended her beauty therapy course. There were over 400 people from the industry in attendance at the awards.

Erika already has job offers from Bali, Canada and London on the table but plans to remain in Ireland for the time being.

'I would like to start my career in Ireland then maybe move abroad later for the experience.'
Annamoe will pay tribute to Irish nationalists Erskine Childers and Robert Childers Barton with the unveiling of a memorial stone in their honour.

Robert, the cousin of Erskine Childers, was born in County Wicklow in 1881 and lived in Annamoe.

A progressive agriculturist, Robert greatly improved his estate and the lot of his tenants by introducing modern farming methods.

He became an officer in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the outbreak of World War I.

He was stationed in Dublin during the 1916 Rising and resigned his commission in protest at the heavy-handed British suppression of the revolt.

He went on to join the Republic movement. He was elected as a Sinn Fein member to the British House of Commons but boycotted the Westminster parliament and instead sat in Dail Eireann.

He was arrested in February 1919 for sedition, escaping on St Patrick's Day.

He was recaptured in January and sentenced to three years, but was released under the 1921 general amnesty.

Born in 1870, Erskine Childers used his yacht 'Asgard' to smuggle a cargo of 900 Mauser Rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition, bought from Germany, to the Irish Volunteers movement at the fishing village of Howth in 1914.

His earlier Home Rule sympathies hardened into full support for an Irish Republic.

Barton and Childers were double first cousins and were two signatories of the Anglo Irish Treaty in 1921.

Childers was arrested at Glendalough House for carrying a gun during the Civil War, allegedly given to him by Michael Collins. He was executed at Beggars Bush Barracks in 1922.

Relatives belonging to the pair, including MEP Nessa Childers, will unveil the stone honouring the cousins on Saturday, July 16, at 2 p.m.. The location will be opposite the community centre in the picnic park.

The Wicklow 1916-2016 Commemorative Programme donated funds toward the memorial, with the remainder of the money raised locally.

The memorial stone is also dedicated to all from the locality who struggled in pursuance of Irish freedom.
An Aughrim mother is working hard to create awareness and raise funds for a national children's charity following her son's diagnosis with juvenile arthritis.

Bernadette Brady is hosting a fundraising wax and shave night in O'Toole's, Aughrim, this coming Saturday, July 16, in aid of the Irish Children's Arthritis Network (iCan).

Her son Joshua (6) was first diagnosed with the condition at the age of two after his joints became swollen and very painful.

'We had never heard of juvenile arthritis and we had to learn all about the condition. It is an auto-immune disease and when Joshua was three years old he started on chemotherapy treatment. He was receiving weekly injections at home and we had to learn how to do this for Joshua.'

This treatment worked for the first year and then the effect started to dissipate so Bernadette and her husband Gary agreed to try a second type of injection for their son which he now receives every two weeks.

'If this doesn't help then we can look at regular infusions at Crumlin Hospital which would mean Joshua would have to in for the day on a regular basis. He is so used to the injections now that it is just part of our routine,' she said.

Like many arthritis sufferers, Joshua has good and bad days and on a bad day his joints become restricted and sore and he has to use a wheelchair.

'You can see on a sunny day he is much better and has more movement,' said Bernadette.

Bernadette said that iCan is a great support for parents and is an excellent source of information as well as linking families who have been affected by juvenile arthritis.

The fundraiser will see her father Victor Byrne from Greystones have his beard shaved off while other volunteers on the night include local garda Billy Ryan, Mark Dowling, Mick Lott and Joshua's dad Gary.

Music will be provided by The Wanderers and Joe Holt and an array of raffle prizes are up for grabs including a holiday, hampers and vouchers.

For information see iCan Ireland on Facebook or visit www.icanireland.ie
Pupils from Bearna Chle NS on their visit to Raheenleagh Wind Farm to learn more about wind energy and the working of wind turbines

Young South Wicklow primary school pupils got to see a local wind farm up close recently as they visited Raheenleagh Wind Farm as part of Global Wind Day 2016.

The event is celebrated across Europe to raise awareness of the positive benefits of our clean, safe and renewable wind energy. Raheenleagh Wind Farm invited pupils and teachers from St. Patricks National School, Barnacleagh and Ballintemple National School, Ballycoog to site for an educational tour and explanation of the construction of the wind farm and its operation.

The schools, along with Ballyfas NS and Scoil Iosagain, Coolgreany also welcomed the wind farm project team for classroom workshops.

Raheenleagh wind farm involves the installation of 11 Siemens turbines. Once operational the wind farm has an installed capacity of over 35 MW and will generate clean energy to power 22,500 homes per annum. The wind farm expects to become operational in October and Raheenleagh Forest will reopen to the public at that stage.
ROSANNA Davison has hailed Jennifer Aniston's "powerful" statement about the pressure women face in the public eye.

Former Miss World Rosanna said she is also fed up with being asked "the baby question" after marry- ing long-time boyfriend Wes Quirke two years ago.

The Herald columnist (31) agreed with the former Friends star's comments about how irritating it can be to be constantly asked about something that is so personal.

"It depends on who I'm talking to, but I do often get asked about my baby plans and more so by people who I don't know very well," she said.

"I do find it a very personal question and it's really nobody else's business but you and your partner's.

"I tend to point that out to anyone asking that it's up to me and Wes alone to decide if and when we want to start a family.

Expand Close Former Miss World Rosanna said she is also fed up with being asked "the baby question" after marry- ing long-time boyfriend Wes Quirke two years ago. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former Miss World Rosanna said she is also fed up with being asked "the baby question" after marry- ing long-time boyfriend Wes Quirke two years ago.

"I read Jennifer Aniston's article and thought it was powerful and an important message to put across."

Nutritionist Rosanna is busy concentrating on her career at the moment, given that she will be releasing her second book in September.

Eat Yourself Fit is a follow-up to her best-seller Eat Yourself Beautiful and is now available to pre-order.

Containing all her top tips on staying in shape and feeling healthy, vegan Rosanna said there is a certain amount of pressure with a second book.

Video of the Day

"Everyone says second books or albums are difficult and it's true," she said.

"I was a lot more strict about editing this one and what I wanted to put in. You're trying not to repeat yourself.

"I'm really happy with it and I think it's stronger in terms of the content and pictures than the first one. Fingers crossed, people will like it."

Rosanna hopes Eat Yourself Fit will sell worldwide.

Expand Close Wes Quirke and Rosanna Davison / Facebook

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Whatsapp Wes Quirke and Rosanna Davison

She has a huge following in several countries including Germany, where she posed for Playboy.

"The last book was in the UK and on Amazon, so the idea is to promote more abroad too," she said.

However, the Andrea Roche model has ruled out ever moving to somewhere such as the US as she and Wes are so settled here.
Two of those injured are said to be critically ill

Fourteen people have been shot and wounded in an attack on a crowd outside a house party in Southern California.

Kern County Police said about 150 people were attending the party in Bakersfield when a car drove past shortly before 1am.

Shots rang out and people standing in the street and in front of the home were hit.

Victims sustained wounds to the arms, legs and chest. Two were critically injured, but are expected to survive.

No arrests have been made and there is no immediate word on a motive for the attack.

Bakersfield is about 90 miles north of Los Angeles.
Turkish soldiers are seen on the Asian side of Istanbul. Photo: AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

Turkey's military tried to take over the country last night and oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

But there was violence on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. There were reports of clashes with the army, gunfire at Istanbul Airport and explosions around parliament in Ankara.

Expand Close Turkish President Erdogan makes a speech. Photo: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Handout / Facebook

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Whatsapp Turkish President Erdogan makes a speech. Photo: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Handout

The state broadcaster was taken over by the military but taken back by protesters.

World leaders denounced the coup and called for the democratically elected government to be restored. US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed the President.

President Erdogan called his supporters onto the streets to resist the coup.

Tanks roamed the streets of Istanbul, jets flew overhead and gunfire broke out on the Bosphorus bridge with reports of 17 police dead.

President Erdogan said the action was by a "parallel structure" within the military and it would bring the necessary response.

Mr Erdogan said: "I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports. I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people."

In neighbouring Syria, however, there was celebratory gunfire on the streets of the Syrian capital, Damascus, as supporters of President Bashir al-Assad hoped for the overthrow of the Turkish regime that has consistently sought Assad's overthrow.

A European Union source monitoring events said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a substantial body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

Another European diplomat said: "This is clearly not some tinpot little coup."

The Turkish military put out a statement on state TV, saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms".

Read more: Turkey no stranger to military coups over last 50 years

A group within Turkey's military engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup last night, the prime minister said, with military jets flying over the capital and reports of vehicles blocking two major bridges in Istanbul.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told private NTV television: "It is correct that there was an attempt," when asked if there was a coup.

Mr Yildirim didn't provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any "initiative that would interrupt democracy."

"We are focusing on the possibility of an attempt (coup)," Mr Yildirim said. "There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy."

Earlier, military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara. Media reports said ambulances were seen in front of the Turkish military headquarters. NTV is reporting that helicopters are also flying over headquarters in Ankara.

"There are certain groups who took the arms trusted to them by the state and pointed them toward state employees," Mr Yildirim said. "We shall determine soon who they are. Our security forces have acted against these groups."

The Dogan news agency says one-way traffic on the Bosporus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges were blocked. Video footage showed the bridge being blocked by military vehicles.

Helicopter Reuters reported that all flights were cancelled from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, where 41 people were killed and 239 injured in a suicide bombing last month.

Gabriel Turner (23) a management consultant from north London, is on holiday in Istanbul and described how there had been heavy police and security presence throughout the day before the military coup got under way after sunset.

He told reporters: "Earlier today there were police everywhere. I thought that was normal but the two Turkish girls I was with told me it wasn't normal. We were walking around the centre of Istanbul, at the Grand Bazaar there were police at every entrance and exit with lots of guns.

"A police helicopter was flying very low at sunset, it was about 8pm. It looked like it was searching for something. Later on, at about 10.30 I was in Karakoy, a bar area in the city centre and everyone started looking at their phones. A man who owns the bar told us that the army are taking over everything.

"Then we walked down towards a quieter area by the sea. While we were walking, my friend said the army had closed brides across the Bosphorus. We could see army helicopters in the sky.

"We went inside a cafe and everyone was on their phones looking worried, texting. Lots of people were running to catch a ferry - because the bridges were shutting and people wanted to get home. Then policemen came out of the ferries on their walkie talkies, looking very alert."

Meanwhile, earlier yesterday, Turkey's prime minister had suggested his country would normalise diplomatic ties with Syria, hinting at a reversal in Ankara's hardline stance on its neighbour's five-year conflict.

"It is our greatest and irrevocable goal: developing good relations with Syria and Iraq, and all our neighbours that surround the Mediterranean and the Black Sea," Mr Yildirim said yesterday.

Turkey has been a fierce opponent of President Bashar al-Assad's regime since civil war broke out in Syria five years ago. The government has insisted on Assad's departure, and sponsored rebel groups fighting the regime.

Read more: Chaos in Turkey as army claims control of country

But the country has also been alarmed at the rise of Syrian Kurdish groups fighting against Isil and backed by the US, fearing it may inflame its own conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group seeking autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish region.

Officials also indicated a weariness with Turkey's diplomatic isolation, recently restoring ties with Russia and Israel in a "more friends, fewer enemies" policy.

"We normalised relations with Russia and Israel. I'm sure we will normalise our relations with Syria as well. For the fight against terrorism to succeed, stability needs to return to Syria and Iraq," said Mr Yildirim.

Turkey's support for the Syrian opposition put it in conflict with Moscow, coming to a head with the downing of Russian aircraft by a Turkish jet last November.

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But the two countries ended their nine-month diplomatic freeze at the end of June, with Turkey's foreign minister pledging to coordinate its Syria policy with Russia. Turkey also restored ties with Israel last month after relations broke down in 2010.

Reconciliation with Damascus has seemed a distant prospect, though, with Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling for the removal of his one-time close friend Assad, and the Syrian president railing against Ankara's sponsorship of Syrian rebels.

Speaking in the border town of Kilis just last week, Mr Erdogan said of Mr Assad: "He is a more advanced terrorist than Daesh," using the Arabic acronym for Isil.

But in June an official of the governing AKP party said of President Assad: "He does not support Kurdish autonomy. We may not like each other, but on that we're backing the same policy."

A Turkish official speaking on condition of anonymity yesterday said that Mr Yildirim's comments did not signal a change in Ankara's hardline stance on Assad.

"There is a distinction between Syria and Bashar al-Assad. We hope, at some point, relations between Turkey and Syria will get back to normal. That's all it is," the official said.
Qandeel Baloch recently stirred controversy by posting pictures of herself with a Muslim cleric on social media (AP)

Controversial Pakistani fashion model Qandeel Baloch has been strangled by her brother, police said.

Ms Baloch's parents told police one of her six brothers killed her as she slept in the family home in Multan, a city in the Punjab province. A search for the suspect is currently ongoing.

Ms Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was an internet celebrity who had offended many conservatives by posting pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a prominent cleric.

She claimed they had enjoyed soft drinks and cigarettes together during the daylight hours in the holy month of Ramadan, when practising Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

The pictures and allegations caused a scandal in conservative Pakistan, and the government removed Mr Qavi from the official moon-sighting committee which determines when Ramadan starts and ends in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar.

Ms Baloch had said Mr Qavi told her he wanted to see her face before the committee met to determine the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, which was observed earlier this month.

Mr Qavi denied the allegations, saying he had only met her to discuss the teachings of Islam.

Earlier this month, Ms Baloch sought protection from the government, saying she was receiving anonymous death threats.

Hundreds of Pakistani women are murdered by family members each year in so-called honour killings, which are seen as punishment for violating conservative norms.
Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul's Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkey's prime minister says a group within Turkey's military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup. Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey's military tried to take over the country last night and oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

The coup sparked violence on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. There were reports of civilians being shot by the army and explosions at Istanbul Airport, Taksim Square in the centre of the city and at the parliament in Ankara.

The coup is thought to be in response to Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian regime and rolling back of civil liberties. The army is traditionally the defender of Turkey's constitution and secular state.

But world leaders denounced the coup and called for the democratically elected government to be restored. US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed President Erdogan.

President Erdogan called his supporters onto the streets to resist the coup and there was confusion and chaos on the streets.
An Irish model was caught in Turkey as an attempted coup unfolded overnight.

Judy Fitzgerald, who previously held the title of Miss Bikini Ireland, was holidaying in Istanbul with a friend when a number of military officers launched an unsuccessful coup.

Speaking to Independent.ie, the 25-year-old described the experience as "terrifying".

"It had been a normal day, we'd been out shopping and went for dinner but there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to suggest this would happen," she said.

Expand Close Judy Fitzgerald - Miss Bikini Ireland 2014 / Facebook

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"We were in bed at about 3am local time when we got the phone call from home. People were checking to see if we were okay. We had to turn on the news to find out what was going on."

More than 160 people were killed in violence that erupted late on Friday after a faction of the armed forces attempted to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters, some strafing the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara, others seizing a major bridge in Istanbul.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Scenes in Istanbul, Turkey as coup unfolded. Picture: Judy Fitzgerald Scenes in Istanbul, Turkey as coup unfolded. Picture: Judy Fitzgerald / Facebook

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"Within minutes of getting the call from home our hotel balcony doors started shaking, there were helicopters flying overheard and then we heard gunshots and people screaming in the streets."

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The Limerick model, who is also a qualified nurse, posted a video to Instagram of military men walking through the city armed with guns.

"The hotel advised us to stay indoors. Everyone was gathered in the restaurant to watch the news, even the staff. Nobody could believe this was going on outside our doors. You see these things on the news and, of course, it's terrible but when you're there in the middle of it... it's just surreal. It was so frightening," she said.

Ms Fitzgerald and her friend had arrived in Turkey a week after the Istanbul airport attack, which claimed 41 lives.

"We'd tried to get a refund for our holiday at the time but we weren't eligible. We were assured, however, that we would be safe, that there'd be no chance of danger," she said.

"Then when this happened we were so scared. Both of the Bosphorus bridges were closed and we didn't know how we'd get out ahead of our flight home on Wednesday. There was talk of shutting down the electricity and cutting the internet.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Scenes in Istanbul, Turkey as coup unfolded. Picture: Judy Fitzgerald Scenes in Istanbul, Turkey as coup unfolded. Picture: Judy Fitzgerald / Facebook

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"As an Irish person, I didn't know how the military would react to me, if anything were to happen. All of these thoughts go through your head. I kept thinking about the Paris and Nice attacks and the Orlando shooting. I just didn't know what was going to happen."

She said the atmosphere in the hotel is more relaxed now as conditions settle but people are still worried.

The government has fallin and has been taken over by the military here in Istanbul Airports and everything have been shut What is the world coming too #live #istanbul #government #military #takeover A video posted by Miss Judy Fitzgerald (@judyfitzgerald.official) on Jul 15, 2016 at 3:51pm PDT

"We went to bed at about 7am and then got up at 10am to watch the news. There were people in the restaurant who hadn't been to bed at all, they were still watching the TV."

Ms Fitzgerald said that the hotel had advised guests to contact their Embassy for updates regarding travel.

"Hopefully we'll be okay. Nobody really knows what to today today. It just feels so strange," she said.

A spokesman from The Department of Foreign Affairs suggested that citizens concerned about family or friends in Turkey should contact the department rather than the Irish embassy in Turkey due to the huge volume of calls being dealt with.

It said the situation remains unclear and Irish citizens considering travel to Turkey are advised to delay travel until the situation becomes clearer.

The Department of Foreign Affairs can be reached on (01) 408 2000.
Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square as people wave with Turkish flags in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Shots are fired in the air to disperse supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan near the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

People demonstrate in front of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

People demonstrate in front of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE OF SCENES OF INJURY OR DEATH - A wounded man is carried away during an attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seen amid his supporters at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

Turkish people holding flags are driven in a car, backdropped by Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan cheer at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

Below is a timeline of breaking events in Turkey on Friday and Saturday - from the latest incident first (all in Irish time).

1201 - US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen denies accusations he played a role in the attempted coup and condemns "in the strongest terms" the attempt to topple the government. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier says he has not received any request to extradite Gulen.

1151 - Police detain about 100 military officers at air base in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, security sources say.

1145 - Turkish authorities remove 2,745 judges from duty, broadcaster NTV reports, citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosectors (HSYK). Five members of HSYK, Turkey's high judiciary board, are also removed, state-run Anadolu Agency reports.

1054 - Turkish maritime authorities re-open Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers, agent GAC says.

1027 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sends a mass text message imploring people to take to the streets against a "narrow cadre".

1023 - Greek military source says anti-government group at Turkey's Golcuk naval base has taken over frigate, head of Turkish fleet taken hostage.

1000 - The airspace over Turkey's northwestern Marmara region has been closed to civilian flights until 1805 GMT, the state-run Anadolu Agency said on Saturday, citing information from aviation authorities.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer / Facebook

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Whatsapp Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

0950 - Russia reiterates its readiness for joint constructive work with the legitimate leadership of Turkey, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday

0920 - Many Turkish military commanders have been taken hostage by soldiers who attempted a coup, the acting chief of staff of the armed forces, Umit Dundar, said on Saturday.

0840 - British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday he had spoken to his counterpart in Turkey to underline the UK's support for the country's democratic elected government following an attempted military coup there.

0800 - The death toll from an attempted coup by Turkish soldiers overnight has risen to 90, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Saturday, with 1,154 people wounded.

0742 - Turkish authorities have detained 1,563 military personnel across the country after a coup attempt overnight by a faction of the military, an official told Reuters.

0700 - Turkey's intelligence agency headquarters were attacked by military helicopters and heavy machinegun fire during an attempted military coup overnight, wounding at least three people, an intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tumay Berkin Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Turkish soldiers are seen on the Asian side of Istanbul, Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tumay Berkin

0635 - The head of Turkey's armed forces Hulusi Akar has been rescued after being held hostage during an attempted coup by a military faction which used tanks and attack helicopters to try to seize power overnight, a senior Turkish official said.

0620 - Turkish authorities have detained 754 members of the armed forces after an overnight coup attempt by a faction within the military that used tanks and attack helicopters to try to overthrow the government, a senior official said.

0610 - Turkey's military headquarters are now held by pro-government forces but small groups of rebel soldiers behind an overnight coup attempt are still resisting and control some military helicopters, a senior Turkish official said on Saturday.

0538 - Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attacked a group of soldiers who had surrendered on an Istanbul bridge after taking part in an attempted coup overnight, before police intervened to rescue them, a Reuters witness said.

0504 -Turkey appointed the head of its First Army, a group of divisions within its land forces, as acting chief of military staff on Saturday while the whereabouts of the head of the armed forces was unknown.

0450 - European Council President Donald Tusk called on Saturday for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, after a coup attempt there.

0448 - Around 50 soldiers involved in an attempted military coup in Turkey surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.

0405 - Bomb attacks on Turkey's parliament are continuing, a senior Turkish official said on Saturday, adding that rebel soldiers have been warned they will be shot down if they attempt to use more military aircraft.

0340 - Forty-two people were killed in the Turkish capital Ankara during an attempted coup that started on Friday night, a senior Turkish official said, confirming an earlier report from state-run Anadolu Agency.

0318 - Soldiers took control of Istanbul's main Ataturk airport on Saturday shortly after President Tayyip Erdogan landed there and condemned what he said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military

0243 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he would stay with his "people" and not go anywhere, hours after a section of the military attempted to overthrow him.

0220 - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she supported Turkey's civilian government as it faced an attempted coup. Clinton said in a statement she was following the events in Turkey "with great concern."

0200 - Turkish private broadcaster CNN Turk halted its live news broadcast early on Saturday, as a presenter said soldiers had entered the studio control room. The channel showed a live shot of its empty red and white studio. The sound of gunfire was heard on the audio, as well as the sound of a crowd outside the station.

0153 - Around 30 Turkish soldiers who were part of a faction attempting to carry out a military coup surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square, a Reuters witness said.

0140 - Two more explosions hit Turkey's parliament building in the capital Ankara early on Saturday, a witness reported, after an earlier blast rocked the building.

0130 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's plane has landed in Istanbul, a Turkish official said.

0115 - Staff at Istanbul's Ataturk airport hope to resume international departures soon, European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said early on Saturday.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer Army tanks are pictured driving on a road next to cars during a coup by the Turkish military in Istanbul in this video grab taken July 16, 2016. DHA via REUTERS TV Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz / Facebook

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Whatsapp Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

0100 - Erdogan appears among supporters at Istanbul airport, says uprising has been attempted against solidarity and unity of country; says no power is above national will.

0045 - Around 30 soldiers, part of faction attempting to carry out a military coup, surrender weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

0045 - Turkish private broadcaster CNN Turk halts live news broadcast, presenter says soldiers entered studio control room.

0027 - Two more explosions hit parliament; member of parliament reached by telephone says lawmakers are hiding in shelters at the parliament.

0020 - Turkish official says Erdogan's plane lands in Istanbul.

2352 - Turkish PM says situation under control, blames Gulen movement, declares no-fly zone over Ankara. A U.S.-based organisation close to Gulen earlier denied involvement.

2339 - Bomb hits parliament in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency says. Reuters witness hears blast in Istanbul.

2320 - Kerry says emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions" in phone call with Turkish foreign minister.

23.13 - Group close to U.S.-based cleric Gulen says accusations it involved in coup attempt are "highly irresponsible". Condemns military intervention in Turkish politics, says concerned about safety of citizens. The justice minister earlier blamed Gulen loyalists.

23.05 - President Obama says he and Secretary of State Kerry agree that all parties in Turkey should support elected government. Urges restraint, avoidance of bloodshed - White House statement.

23.04 - State-run Anadolu Agency says 17 police killed at Ankara special forces HQ; no independent confirmation

22.59 - Turkish fighter jet shoots down military helicopter used by coup-plotters over Ankara, broadcaster NTV says.

22.51 - Commander of special forces says a group has engaged in treason, they will not succeed. Says military does not condone coup.

22.47 - PM says gangs and illegal formations are behind coup attempt, and calls it a terrorist act. He says government remains in charge. Urges people to take to the streets.

22.37 - Commander of Turkey's First Army, part of land forces responsible for Istanbul and other western areas, said those attempting a coup were a small faction and "nothing to worry about".

22.26 - Two loud explosions heard in centre of Turkish capital

22.08 - Tanks surround Turkish parliament building, open fire. Gunfire heard at Istanbul airport.

22.03 - Turkish justice minister says members of a movement loyal to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen in the army are behind the attempted coup.

21.51 - A military helicopter opens fire over the Turkish capital Ankara, witnesses report an explosion in the capital.

21.35 - Turkish state broadcaster TRT goes off air, but later starts broadcasting from London.

21.26 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urges people to take to the streets to protest against what he describes as a coup attempt by a minority faction within the military. Speaking to a CNN Turk reporter via a cellphone video link he says it will meet a "necessary response". He says he is returning to the capital Ankara.

21.22 - Turkish PM says on Twitter everything will be done to put down coup attempt, even if it means fatalities. Says sieges are under way at some important buildings, without specifying, but urges people to remain calm.

21.18 - Presidential source says president and government are still in power.

21.05 - Turkish state broadcaster says reading statement on the orders of the military - that new constitution will be prepared, accuses government of eroding democratic and secular rule of law, that the country is being run by a "peace council", that martial law imposed, curfew imposed across the country.

21.02 - Head of Istanbul branch of Turkey's ruling AK Party says soldiers enter party building, told to go.

20.58 - Soldiers are inside buildings of Turkish state broadcaster TRT in Ankara, TRT correspondent tells Reuters.

20.57 - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media restricted in Turkey, say internet monitoring groups.

20.49 - Turkish presidential source says statement made on behalf of armed forces was not authorised by military command.

20.47 - Turkish chief of military staff among hostages taken at military headquarters in Ankara, says state-run Anadolu agency.

20.38 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is safe, reports CNN Turk.

20.25 - Turkish military says has taken power to protect democratic order. In a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, the military says all of Turkey's existing foreign relations will be maintained.

20.02 - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says attempted coup under way, calls for calm. He says a group within Turkey's military has attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

19.50 - Gunshots are heard in Ankara, military jets and helicopters seen flying overhead. Helicopters seen overhead in Istanbul.

19.29 - Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge are both closed. Dogan News Agency footage shows cars and buses being diverted.
A man covered with a towel is apprehended by French police as the investigation continues two days after an attack by the driver of a heavy truck who ran into a crowd on Bastille Day killing scores and injuring as many on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice. Photo: REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Islamic State has claimed it carried out the Nice truck attack in statement carried by group's media outlet.

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel who drove a truck into a crowd in the French city of Nice killing at least 84 was described as a "soldier" of Islamic State, the group's media outlet said.

The Aamaq news agency cited a "security source" as saying the attacker "carried out the operation in response to calls to target the citizens of coalition countries fighting the Islamic State".

The statement did not name the attacker, and the language implied that he may have acted independently. There is no evidence IS was involved in planning the July 14 attack.

The attack killed 84 people and wounded 200. The driver was identified as Mohamed Bouhlel, a Tunisian known to authorities as a petty criminal.

The statement came as the French prosecutor's office confirmed five people are in custody over the Bastille day attack that killed at least 84 people when a truck rammed into crowds in the Riviera city.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close A reproduction of the residence permit of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man who rammed his truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. Photo: AFP/Getty Images A woman carries blue, white and red flowers and a French flag as a tribute to victicms two days after an attack by the driver of a heavy truck who ran into a crowd on Bastille Day killing scores and injuring as many on the Promenade des Anglais, in Nice, France, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol / Facebook

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Whatsapp A reproduction of the residence permit of Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, the man who rammed his truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

French authorities were still trying to determine whether the 31-year old Tunisian driver of the vehicle had acted alone or with accomplices, and whether his motives were connected to radical Islam.

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The arrests concerned the attacker's "close entourage", the sources said, and were made in two different areas of Nice. A Reuters reporter saw about 40 elite police raid a small appartment at Rue Miollis, north of the central station, where one individual was arrested.
Truck terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was a 31-year-old French-Tunisian delivery driver known to police who drove a 19-tonne white Renault lorry into crowds gathered for Bastille Day celebrations in the French Riviera city of Nice, killing 84 people.

The perpetrator of Nice's worst ever terror attack was reportedly a married father of three who neighbours described as a "loner" with a George Clooney haircut.

DEPRESSED

According to several French reports, Bouhel was born in Tunisia in 1985 and had a French residency permit.

Expand Close Jaber, the brother of 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel. Photo: AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAIDFETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jaber, the brother of 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel. Photo: AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAIDFETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images

Tunisian security sources said Lahouaiej Bouhlel was from the Tunisian town of Msaken, which is close to the seaside city of Sousse where 38 people, including 30 Britons and three Irish holidaymakers, were gunned down by a terrorist in June last year.

French television station BFM TV reported that Lahou- aiej Bouhlel was a divorced father-of-three who had become depressed following the breakdown of his marriage.

Police raided his flat, where he reportedly lived alone, in the Abattoirs area of Nice yesterday.

His wife was reportedly taken into protective custody and was being questioned by police last night.

Neighbours have described Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a dep-ressed and sometimes agg- ressive man who was not particularly interested in religion and kept to himself.

They said he had been unhappy since he divorced his wife two years ago, and had suffered financial difficulties.

Neighbours said he was "depressed and unstable, even aggressive" of late. They put this down to his "marital and financial problems".

One told BFM TV that he was "more into women than religion".

"He didn't pray and liked girls and salsa," said the station's crime correspondent.

Neighbour Jasmine (40) said: "He was rude and a bit weird. We would hold the door open for him and he would just blank us. He kept himself to himself but would always rant about his wife. He had marital problems and would tell people in the local cafe. He scared my children.

"He was very smart with the same haircut as George Clooney."

Another neighbour, Sebastien, said he "didn't have the appearance of a religious person and was often in shorts, sometimes wearing 'security' shoes".

Yet another, Anan, said she found Lahouaiej Bouhlel shifty and described him as "a good-looking man who eyed up my two girls too much".

One resident said: "He was quiet and moody. I did not know whether he was a Muslim. I think he had a motorbike."

A woman living in the same block said: "I hardly knew him, but from what I could see he seemed very weird.

ROBBERY

"He lived alone. He said very little to anyone and wasn't very polite. He wouldn't hold the door open for you."

Lahouaiej Bouhlel was known to the police for assault with a weapon, domestic violence, threats and robbery, but had no previous convictions for terrorism.

Investigating sources said his last appearance in a criminal court was as recently as March, and he had previous convictions for armed theft, conjugal violence and threatening behaviour.

Despite this, he had no known links with terrorism and had not been under surveillance.

According to BFM TV, he had also recently caused an accident after falling asleep at the wheel while working as a delivery driver, and was taken into custody.

Police are searching for any accomplices to the attack, which appears to have been premeditated.

They found a pistol, a larger gun and a number of fake weapons and grenades in his vehicle after the carnage.

It is believed he may have hired the lorry on Wednesday night and boarded it "in the hills of Nice" before driving down to the promenade, acc- ording to CCTV footage.
New British Prime Minister Theresa May has indicated that Brexit could be delayed as she said she will not trigger the formal process for leaving the EU until there is an agreed "UK approach" backed by Scotland.

Her announcement is likely to infuriate EU chiefs who want the negotiations to begin as quickly as possible.

Expand Close Confidence: Andrea Leadsom. Photo: Reuters/Paul Hackett / Facebook

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Ms May travelled to Scotland to meet Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister, and discuss plans for Britain's Brexit negotiation.

In a sign that she is committed to keeping the union intact, she said she will not trigger Article 50 - the formal process for withdrawing from the EU - until all the devolved nations in the country agree.

Anger

Her comments will prompt anger from EU leaders, who want Ms May to trigger Article 50 as soon as possible.

Speaking in Edinburgh, Ms May said: "I have already said that I won't be triggering Article 50 until I think that we have a UK approach and objectives for negotiations. I think it is important that we establish that before we trigger Article 50."

Ms Sturgeon has promised to explore every option to keep Scotland in the EU, and has repeatedly warned that if that is not possible as part of the UK, it is "highly likely" to lead to a second independence vote.

The prime minister said: "As far as I'm concerned, the Scottish people had their vote, they voted in 2014, and a very clear message came through, both the United Kingdom and the Scottish Government said they would abide by that."

Speaking before the meeting, only the third between the pair, she said her visit to Scotland demonstrated her commitment to "preserving this special union that has endured for centuries".

Ms Sturgeon said afterwards that she had received an assurance that the UK Government would be "open and flexible" to options in the forthcoming Brexit process.

She added: "I was very pleased that Theresa May said that she was absolutely willing to consider any options that the Scottish Government now bring forward to secure Scotland's relationship with the European Union, and that the process that now takes shape by the UK Government will be open and flexible and that the Scottish Government will be fully involved in that.

"I have been very clear that we have to make sure that Scotland's interests are protected and I want to examine every option of doing that."

Speaking after the meeting, Nicola Sturgeon said she was determined to protect Scotland's current relationship with the European Union.

She added that the meeting with the new prime minister has been "constructive".

"There is an agreement that Scottish government officials will be very closely involved in discussions," she said.

Ms Sturgeon insisted she would "consider all the options" along the way. "The prime minister knows, as everybody else knows, that a second independence referendum is of course on the table because Scotland finds itself now in the position of facing exit from the EU against our will," she said.

Offensive

Meanwhile, Labour has called on the new Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom to resign after she suggested men should not be nannies because they might be "paedophiles".

Labour shadow minister Jon Ashworth said: "This is an extraordinarily offensive statement from the new Environment Secretary.

"Andrea Leadsom should apologise immediately and Ms May should also distance herself from these comments."

Ms May's official spokeswoman said Ms May had confidence in the minister, adding: "These were personal views that were expressed, and she, as in Andrea Leadsom, has said that she employed a male nanny for five years, and doesn't think that men, or fathers, shouldn't be nannies."

A spokeswoman for Ms Leadsom said the minister had employed a male nanny and "was not saying that men are unsuitable as nannies."
Until a few days ago, it looked like Brexit was going to be defined and implemented by its enemies. The team that led Britain out of the European Union had vanished; their careers destroyed by their uselessness at the basic art of parliamentary plotting. Theresa May walked into No 10 unopposed, backed by allies of George Osborne.

The bookmakers had him down as favourite to be the next Foreign Secretary, and many MPs feared that a deal had been done - that the most momentous vote in British history would be followed by very little change at the top.

How different it all looks now. Mr Osborne has been sacked and Boris Johnson has been appointed to the job instead. It's an inspired appointment, a Foreign Secretary able to explain to the world the positive vision of Brexit that he so successfully advocated during the referendum campaign. He'll be able to tell a story of an optimistic country, tugging at the leash fitted upon it by the EU. A nation that welcomes immigrants, but would quite like the ability to control immigration. Britain needs a global salesman, who makes an impact when he visits. And no one has ever accused Mr Johnson (inset) of failing to do that.

The EU's diplomats may well want to snarl at Britain in the negotiations, when they start. So Ms May has sent them David Davis, the most cheerful bruiser in the House of Commons, as the head Brexit negotiator. Meanwhile, the task of striking new trade deals with faraway nations will not be held by a minister (like Philip Hammond) who never really thought it possible, but by the globally-minded Brexiteer Liam Fox. Ms May might never be able to speak with conviction about the opportunities of Brexit, but she has just hired three cabinet members who can.

She might not actually need all three, but their recruitment does wonders for party unity.

On Wednesday night, champagne bottles were on the tables of the House of Commons terrace as Eurosceptics toasted Ms May's premiership. They have got their wish: and it amazes them as much as everyone else.

Yesterday morning, there was another, more sombre, gathering: David Cameron and George Osborne sitting outside a Notting Hill cafe reading the newspapers and consoling each other. Both will bitterly regret ever having seen Ms May as the continuity candidate. She routed the Tory modernisers yesterday, sacking anyone who was seen to be associated with the project, regardless of their position on Brexit.

Michael Gove is gone, as are ministers who supported his doomed leadership bid.

It's no secret that Ms May had her doubts about Tory modernisation, seeing it as a posh boy's project aimed at making the party more acceptable at London dinner parties. But it's hard to reconcile this caricature with the fruits of the Cameron project: falling inequality, the incomes of the lowest-paid rising the most, a revolution in state schools helping the poorest. Even for those who have never been quite sold on Tory modernisation (myself included), the extent of yesterday's bloodletting is alarming.

To look at the casualties of Ms May's reshuffle, it's as if she spent years in cabinet meetings looking around the table and dreaming about the day she'd dispatch this crop of privately educated young Tories back to Notting Hill to cry into their cappuccinos. All this would make more sense if Ms May wanted somehow to root out their ideology, in the same way that Gordon Brown's allies sought a purge of the Blairites. But from what she has said, she intends to build on what Cameron sought to achieve: focusing Conservatism towards the poorest, and winning Labour voters by emphasising the progressive nature of the Tory mission.

They share the same aim, but the means are starting to look rather different. The emergence of a department for "industrial strategy" suggests that Ms May is about to attempt a policy rather more interventionist than the Cameroons would have tolerated. This suggests Ed Miliband-style plans to boss companies around, and tell them who they should have on their boards.

So if she were to depart from the Cameron approach and start reviving Seventies ideas about having workers sit on company boards, who in her cabinet would protest? Anyone on the Tory Right has been kept well away from anything to do with business or economics.

Her reshuffle seems to have eliminated anything that might grow into a power base. The modernisers are more likely to quit politics altogether than rebel against her in parliament. Boris will be off charming Canadian talk-show hosts or rugby-tackling Japanese schoolboys. The Tory Right will be chewing on the bone of Brexit.

And this is where her reshuffle starts to make the most sense. It's not that the new prime minister loves Brexiteers and dislikes posh boys. She just likes a government that she can manage. She doesn't like surprises or arguments, and is suspicious of ministers with too many grand ideas - and the Tory modernisers specialised in those.

All of these modernising ideas certainly had their uses: they appear to have formed about three quarters of Theresa May's agenda. But she is now out to complete David Cameron's mission of "one nation" Toryism without the help of Mr Cameron, or any of his friends.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz

Army tanks are pictured driving on a road next to cars during a coup by the Turkish military in Istanbul in this video grab taken July 16, 2016. DHA via REUTERS TV

Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Turkish soldiers are seen on the Asian side of Istanbul, Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are dispersed with shots in the air by the military at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square as people wave with Turkish flags in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Shots are fired in the air to disperse supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan near the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

People demonstrate in front of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

People demonstrate in front of the Republic Monument at the Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish people holding flags are driven in a car, backdropped by Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkish people wave the national flags on a car in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on national television from Istanbul, told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the Turkish capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan cheer at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seen amid his supporters at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seen amid his supporters at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan cheer at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

REFILE CORRECTING TYPO - A police armored vehicle uses a water cannon to disperse anti-government forces on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

People attack and try to stop a Turkish police armored vehicle, carrying Turkish soldiers that participated in the coup and surrendered, backdropped by Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital of Ankara. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

A wounded man is carried away during an attempted coup in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. Picture: REUTERS/Yagiz Karahan

Men walk inside the destroyed parliament building in Ankara, July 16, 2016 after an attempted coup Turkey. REUTERS/Stringer

Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Interior Minister Efkan Ala (LtoR) arrive for a news conference, following an overnight attempted Turkish military coup, in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

Women wave Turkish flags after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Policemen stand on a military vehicle after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Policemen and people cheer atop a military vehicle after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt which collapsed after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

More than 160 people were killed, including many civilians, after a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and others seized a major bridge in Istanbul.

Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.

"They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, who also saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."

One government minister said some military commanders were still being held hostage by the plotters. But the government declared the situation fully under control, saying 161 people had been killed and 2,839 had been rounded up from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who had formed "the backbone" of the rebellion.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major U.S. ally while war rages on its border.

However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a NATO member that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.

An eyewitness at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport tells CNN they heard the sound of one loud explosion.  Adam Levine (@cnnadam) July 16, 2016

I am on a rooftop in central Istanbul. There has been no bombing as far as I can see - no fire, no smoke, no screams. Those were sonic booms  Zia Weise (@ZiaWeise) July 16, 2016

PHOTO: CNN Turk airing shot of studio after anchor is forced out of the studio by soldiers pic.twitter.com/2Y9r7hL444  BNO News (@BNONews) July 16, 2016

Addressing a crowd of thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, Erdogan said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.

Erdogan, a polarising figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.

We are aware of situation in Turkey. See updated travel advice here: https://t.co/z11g3pt4Bn. Call 01 408 2000 if you have any concerns  IrishForeignMinistry (@dfatirl) July 15, 2016

#Turkey Aware of developments in Turkey. Until the situation becomes clearer, we advise you to avoid public places https://t.co/Ttogte6VSc  FCO travel advice (@FCOtravel) July 15, 2016

Very concerned by events unfolding in #Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely. Brits should follow FCO website for advice  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 15, 2016

.@POTUS & @JohnKerry agreed all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Gov't of Turkey, show restraint, avoid violence.  Department of State (@StateDept) July 15, 2016

"They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there."

Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.

Expand Close Still frame taken from video shows Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaking via a Facetime video connection to address the nation during an attempted coup, in Marmais, Turkey / Facebook

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Whatsapp Still frame taken from video shows Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaking via a Facetime video connection to address the nation during an attempted coup, in Marmais, Turkey

While loved by his supporters, Erdogan's conservative religious views have also alienated many ordinary Turks who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protest demanding more freedom.

SMART PHONE ADDRESS

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Policemen stand atop military armored vehicles after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer People pose near a tank after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer A man walks inside the destroyed parliament building in Ankara, July 16, 2016 after an attempted coup Turkey. REUTERS/Stringer Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Turkish soldiers are seen on the Asian side of Istanbul, Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) Turkish military block access to the Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer Turkish soldiers block Istanbul's iconic Bosporus Bridge on Friday (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Policemen stand atop military armored vehicles after troops involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan used social media to speak to the Turkish people - even though he is an avowed enemy of such technology when his opponents use it, frequently targetting Twitter and Facebook.

At one point Erdogan effectively addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so that viewers to the network could see him.

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He said the "parallel structure" was behind the coup attempt -- his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had not received any request to extradite Gulen.

The purge appeared to go beyond the military. Citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, broadcaster NTV reported that authorities had removed 2,745 judges from duty.

Neighbouring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the country's police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.

LAWMAKERS IN HIDING

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait that links Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Authorities had shut the strait to tanker traffic, shipping agent GAC said.

By the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which was being fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A senior Turkish official said later on Saturday attacks on the parliament had "largely stopped".

Read More

A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis.

The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State militant group, which seized swaths of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

European Council President Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns.

"Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," Tusk said at regional summit in Mongolia.

FLIGHTS RESUME

Flag carrier Turkish Airways resumed flights on Saturday, Erdogan said. Malaysia Airports, the operator of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul's second airport, said it would continue to process flights in and out of Turkey.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

TRT went off the air shortly afterwards. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu news agency said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. However, opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

SOCIAL MEDIA CUT OFF

Airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off in the first hours of the coup attempt. Flag carrier Turkish Airways resumed flights on Saturday, Erdogan said.

Malaysia Airports, the operator of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul's second airport, said it would continue to process flights in and out of Turkey.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

TRT went off the air shortly afterwards. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu news agency said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

The coup had appeared strong early on Friday evening. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well-orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels ... They control several strategic points in Istanbul."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Read More

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. However, opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

IRISH CITIZENS IN TURKEY

There are fears that Irish citizens may become stranded in Turkey amidst an ongoing military coup after the countrys airports were closed tonight.

Irish model Judy Fitzgerald, who previously held the title of Miss Bikini Ireland, was in Istanbul when a number of military officers launched an unsuccessful coup.

Taking to Facebook the Limerick model posted a video of military men walking through the city armed with guns.

Read More:

Some 100,000 Irish people holiday in Turkey every year and there are currently 1,000 Irish living in Turkey.

A Turkish Airlines flight from Dublin to Istanbul landed in Turkey at around 10pm on Friday night.

Department of Foreign Affairs has updated the travel advisory for Irish citizens travelling to Turkey at this time.

"We are advising Irish citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Turkey at this time.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Ankara are monitoring the evolving situation in Ankara and Istanbul where a heightened security presence and some incidents of violence are reported.

"The situation is unclear, and Irish citizens considering travel to Turkey are advised to delay travel until the situation becomes clearer.

Dublin native Maria Joyce, who runs the Annalivia restaurant in Istanbul, told independent.ie that Irish in the city had fears of missing flights back to Ireland tomorrow morning.

We have an Irish wedding party in our resort at the moment and their main concern is that they wont be able to get their flight home.

There isnt too much information on what is happening at the moment, and people in the restaurant are on their phones contacting their families.

I wouldnt say there is a sense of fear- it doesnt seem that anybodys life is in danger. The only fear is that flights will be cancelled and people could be stranded here. have been in contact with my family at home to tell them I am safe.

There isnt any immediate danger in Istanbul, and were waiting for more information to come through, Ms Joyce added.

Read More

'Not some tinpot little coup'

A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

Read More

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing. It's not just a few colonels," the source repeated.

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Travel advisory

France asked its citizens in Turkey to stay indoors, a French diplomatic source said.

"A message was sent saying that serious events were taking place in Ankara and Istanbul," said a French diplomatic source.

"French citizens have been asked to stay inside."

US State Department's travel alert tells US citizens in Turkey to shelter and stay indoors.

President Barack Obama was briefed on what the White House called "the unfolding situation" in Turkey, a NATO partner and ally for the United States in the fight against the militant group Islamic State.

Read More

"The president's national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey," Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement.

"The president will continue to receive regular updates," Price said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said he emphasised the United States' "absolute support" for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government during a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

"I spoke this evening to Foreign Minister Cavusoglu and emphasized the United States' absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions," Kerry said in a statement, adding that Washington viewed the situation in Turkey with the "gravest concern".

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she supported Turkey's civilian government as it faced an attempted coup.

Clinton said in a statement she was following the events in Turkey "with great concern."

"We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms - and support for the democratically elected civilian government," she said.

Turkey has closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid any travels to the country's southern neighbour.

The border crossings from Bulgarian side remain open, the ministry said in a statement.

The government said it has bolstered patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border following the unfolding developments there.

Turkey lira slump

Reports of the coup attempt also stoked safehaven bids for U.S. Treasury bonds, paring their earlier losses.

The Turkey lira was last down 5pc at 3.0300 lira per dollar.

"Have you seen the latest headlines on Turkey? That probably has something to do with it. This dollar surge is very much headline-driven," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at Credit Agricole in New York.

Additional reporting from agencies
Irish people planning to travel to Turkey have been told to postpone the trip until the full ramifications of the military coup become clear.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs last night said it was revising its travel guidance in light of yesterday's events.

Expand Close Turkish army tanks in Istanbul. Photo: Defne Karadeniz/Getty Images / Facebook

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"The situation is unclear, and Irish citizens considering travel to Turkey are advised to delay travel until the situation becomes clearer," said a statement released after news emerged of the military coup.

"We are advising Irish citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Turkey at this time," it added.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Ankara are monitoring the evolving situation in Ankara and Istanbul where a heightened security presence and some incidents of violence are reported."

Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport was in lockdown last night with tanks visible on pictures broadcast from outside the terminal building.

Expand Close People take to the street in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp People take to the street in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

A flight from Dublin Airport was among the last to land in Instanbul before the closure.

The Turkish Airlines service touched down just after 11pm local time, and shortly afterwards all flights were suspended at the airport.

Late last night it was unclear whether the passengers on board the plane from Dublin remained inside the terminal building, or whether they had left the area.

Turkey's reputation as a popular tourism hotspot has already suffered hugely due to the growing threat of terrorism as well as instability in neighbouring Syria.

But it remains hugely popular as some 100,000 Irish people visited Turkey last year - although that figure was expected to drop this year due to increased concerns about tourist safety.

The Mediterranean and Aegean resorts are most popular with holidaymakers and are removed from the worst blackspots for violence - the Syrian border is a 1,200km drive from Kusadasi for example.

Suicide

However, just last month two suicide bombers blew themselves up at Ataturk International Airport, killing 41 people and injuring scores more.

And five Irish citizens - three of them children - were caught up in an Islamic State (IS) bomb attack in Istanbul last March, which claimed four lives.

Fewer than 1,000 Irish citizens live in Turkey full time, and most of them would be based in Istanbul or holiday resorts.

Tour operator Sunway Holidays sends about 20,000 Irish visitors to Turkey every year, and recently acknowledged that bookings to the country were down in light of the global terrorist threat.

However, it stressed that it continued to enjoy strong repeat custom from tourists who love what Turkey has to offer.

The major concern for tourists has been the threat of terrorism, and news of the military coup will shock many holidaymakers in the country who are faced with great uncertainty over the coming days, and potential difficulty in returning home. The official advice issued to Irish travellers in general states that "the threat from terrorism in Turkey remains high".

"We strongly advise against travelling to the border areas between Turkey and Syria in light of the current instability in the region, in particular the provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Mardin.

"The Turkish military have operations along the Turkish border with Iraq and you are strongly advised against all travel to the border provinces of Hakkari and Sirnak.

"In addition, we would recommend against travel to the Siirt, Tunceli and Diyarbakir provinces.

"While areas popular with Irish travellers are located at a substantial distance from these regions, vigilance is required in tourist areas such as Taksim Square in Istanbul and locations close to police and military installations, which may be targets for terrorist attacks.

"Irish citizens in Turkey or those intending to travel should exercise vigilance, avoid large public gatherings and all demonstrations and follow the instructions and advice of the local authorities.

"We also urge caution if using public transport, in particular the metro systems in Istanbul and Ankara.

"Terrorist attacks are, by their nature, random and indiscriminate and cannot be predicted in advance.

" You are advised to remain vigilant, particularly in public places that are frequented by foreigners."
White House hopeful Donald Trump has said the man who will join him on the Republican presidential ticket is a "man of character, honour and honesty".

Mr Trump called Indiana governor Mike Pence "a solid, solid person" and contrasted his character with what he deemed "the corruption of Hillary Clinton," his likely Democratic opponent in the election this autumn.

Mr Trump declared at an announcement event in New York: "What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence."

The two men are scheduled to formally become their party's nominees at next week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Mr Trump said he and Mr Pence are the "the law and order candidates", adding that his potential administration would be far tougher on both foreign and domestic terrorism than Mrs Clinton.

Mr Trump said his selection for running mate is one that will help him restore manufacturing jobs nationwide and protect religious freedom.

The billionaire spoke for nearly half an hour on Saturday as he introduced his pick for the man who could be America's next vice president, calling Mr Pence onto the stage at the end.

Mr Trump touted Indiana's falling unemployment rate, spoke in favour of Mr Pence's credentials as a family man and noted that the governor "looks good".

He claimed that while Mr Pence had endorsed Mr Trump's party rival Ted Cruz in Indiana's primary, the governor also praised Mr Trump as he did so.

But while Mr Trump said his choice was partially driven by a desire to promote "party unity", he took a moment to attack the so-called "Never Trump" delegates attending next week's Republican National Convention.

He bragged that they had been "crushed".
French soldiers, who are part of Operation Vigipirate, patrol near the streets near the Galeries Lafayette in Paris yesterday, a day after the attack in Nice in the south of the countryTha

Investigators work at the scene where the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed came to rest. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

The Department of Foreign Affairs has said there is "no longer cause for concern" in the case of one Irish man, following reports that he had suffered injuries in the Nice terrorist attack.

Following reports on Friday that indicated the man was in a critical condition, the Department announced this morning that it is satisfied there is no longer concern for that case.

After intensive follow-up, the man who was feared injured is believed to be safe and well.

A statement from The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it is working with the Embassy Paris to review and update their assessment in relation to Irish citizens potentially affected by the Nice attack.

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"More than 60 specific enquiries expressing concern about one or more Irish citizens were received on 14 and 15 July. The vast majority of those concerned have been accounted for and confirmed as safe and well," it said.

"The Department is continuing to work to establish contact with a small number of individuals with whom contact has not yet been made, but the Department has no reason to believe that any of these have been caught up in the incident.

"Efforts now are focused on making contact with a small number of individuals in order to assure ourselves that they are safe and well."

84 people were killed and 18 people remain critically injured following the attack, which saw a man drive a truck at speed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the city promenade.

The driver of the truck, a 31-year-old male named as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, was subsequently shot and killed by police.

Thursday nights massacre of pedestrians leaving a fireworks display along the Mediterranean citys famed boulevard ended when police killed the armed attacker in a hail of bullets.

Nobody really paid much attention to the white, refrigerated lorry as it approached the Promenade des Anglais.

The unmarked truck had, according to reports, had even been stopped by police who had asked the driver what he was doing there.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Investigators work at the scene where the heavy truck that ran into a crowd at high speed came to rest. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard Forensic officers remove one of the many bodies from the scene. AFP/Getty Images / Facebook

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PANIC

Lahouaiej Bouhlel told the officers he was delivering ice-cream and would be moving on soon.

What in fact he was about to deliver was murder on a massive scale.

Video shot by witnesses showed the truck coming under police gunfire as it drove through an intersection along the palm-lined Promenade des Anglais, which had been cleared of traffic for the independence day celebrations.

Crowds fled in panic, taking shelter in shops or hotels or leaping off the elevated pavement on to the beach below.

Police identified the attacker as a 31-year-old Nice resident and delivery driver, and said he had drawn a gun on them. The trucks front windscreen was riddled with bullets, with Lahouaiej Bouhlels body slumped inside.

Chief prosecutor Francois Molins said police risked their own lives trying to stop the truck as it travelled two kilometres along the promenade.

He said the killers estranged wife was arrested in Nice yesterday, while Lahouaiej Bouhlel himself narrowly avoided being put behind bars months before the attack.

He said Lahouaiej Bouhlel had received a six-month prison sentence in March for assault with a weapon, but other legal officials said his sentence was suspended because it was his first conviction.

The weapon used was a plank of wood against another driver after a traffic accident.

Witnesses said Lahouaiej Bouhlel first crashed into crowds near the five-star Hotel Negresco, then rolled slowly down an otherwise empty road chased by police on foot and, possibly, one on a motorcycle.

President Michael D Higgins led the Irish tributes, expressing his condolences to the people of Nice. Mr Higgins confirmed he had spoken to French ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault, and had asked that the sympathies of the Irish people be passed to President Francois Hollande.

A cowardly attack in a public place on a national day of celebration must be condemned in the strongest terms, he said.

resolve

We must strengthen our resolve not to let such cold-blooded attacks undermine the way of life in our global community seeking to live in diversity and peace. All of the thoughts of those who value freedom are with the people of France.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he was horrified by the attacks and expressed sympathies on the behalf of the Government.

I am deeply shocked and saddened at this horrific attack in Nice. Once again, innocent people have been targeted at an occasion of joy and celebration, he said.

French people have suffered appallingly and have again been the victims of cynical and wanton violence. We cannot and will not yield to this malevolence.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald described the attacks as an unspeakably evil outrage.

She added: Whatever its motivation, it seems clear that its intent was to kill, wound and terrorise ordinary people enjoying the freedoms we cherish so much.

This is yet another time of great anguish for the people of France. All who cherish democracy will stand with them in the knowledge that our values will ultimately prevail in the face of such savagery.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin described the attacks as a horrendous and callous attack on peoples freedom as they celebrated Bastille Day.

It is shocking that the people of France have yet again been visited by such horrific tragedy. We must all stand together in total condemnation of this tragedy, he said.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said terrorist attacks are an attack on our democracy.

There is only one way to fight attacks on democracy and that is to reinforce democracy and uncompromisingly affirm our commitment to democracy, he said.

Democracy involves respect for rights and values of each person and for the rule of law.

Where the quality of democracy is weakened, the door is opened to those who use their own ideology or power to render us all weaker and less protected.

No group has claimed responsibility for the carnage, but French officials called it an undeniable act of terror.

The assault on revellers rocked a nation still dealing with the aftermath of two attacks in Paris last year that killed 147 people and were claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.

France was struck on the day of its national holiday, July 14, the symbol of liberty, French president Francois Hollande said as he denounced this monstrosity.

Flags were lowered to half-mast in Nice, Paris, Brussels and many European capitals.

Mr Hollande announced a three-month extension to the state of emergency imposed after the deadly November 13 attacks on Paris, and the government declared three days of national mourning to begin today.

Terrorism is a threat that weighs heavily upon France and will continue to weigh for a long time, French prime minister Manuel Valls said.

We are facing a war that terrorism has brought to us. The goal of terrorists is to instil fear and panic. France is a great country, and a great democracy, that will not allow itself to be destabilised.

Mr Hollande faced public anger after traveling to Nice to offer his condolences. He visited injured people in two hospitals, including one where officials had treated about 50 children and teenagers.

Mr Molins said 52 of the 202 people injured remained in critical condition last night, 25 of them on life-support.
Gardai will liaise closely with their French counterparts after the terrorist atrocity in Nice.

While their numbers are understood to be very small, the authorities here remain vigilant against home-grown jihadists.

Justice Minister and Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said: "The attack in Nice last night was an unspeakably evil outrage. Whatever its motivation, it seems clear that its intent was to kill, wound and terrorise ordinary people enjoying the freedoms we cherish so much.

"An Garda Siochana willbe liaising closely with their French and other international counterparts about the attack and continue to take whatever measures are necessary to deal with the threat from terrorism.

"This is yet another time of great anguish for the people of France. All who cherish democracy will stand with them in the knowledge that our values will ultimately prevail in the face of such savagery."

Detectives from the Garda Counter-Terrorism International (CTI) unit were previously dispatched overseas.

The officers, attached to the Special Detective Unit (SDU) were tasked with interviewing refugees and asylum seekers t attempting to enter Ireland.

Both the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and the Army Ranger Wing have also undergone intensive training .

This was expanded since the threat level was increased early last year from "low" to "moderate", which means a terror attack in this country is considered possible but not likely.
James Browne, from Raheny in Dublin, who was in the Cote dAzur for three weeks before the attack. Photo: Tony Gavin

An Irish father-of-two has described how he desperately attempted to help those seriously injured and dying after the terror attack in Nice on Thursday night.

Thomas McKenna (38) from Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, was on the verge of returning to his hotel room after an evening with his family on the Promenade des Anglais when the chaos began.

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"It was myself, my brother and his wife. We stayed to look at the fireworks and have a drink or two. Literally on the last drink, the whole thing kicked off 20 yards away from us, (with) this white truck leaving dead bodies behind it," Mr McKenna told the Irish Independent.

"There were bodies lying everywhere, it was absolute devastation. A couple of us ran out onto the road, these people were just lying there dying, just kids.

"It was absolute carnage, women were on the ground with their faces busted. I went over to a guy who was lying on the ground and his stomach was literally spilled out on the ground in front of him, it was horrific. I can't put it into words," he said.

The Clare native then attempted to help those who were seriously injured, but was rushed off the street by the local police.

Numb

"I was just numb, but I tried to get out there and do something but the problem was we were so unsure at that stage, there was talk of seven more terrorists and a hostage situation, there was a whole host of issues.

"We tried to help people but the Gendarmerie put us back inside the cafe, it was two hours of chaos after that and fear, pure fear. I'm just glad to be back home," Mr McKenna said. Another Irishman described how he witnessed the truck leave a trail of devastation in its wake and heard "50 gun shots in a few seconds".

James Browne, from Raheny, Co Dublin, spent three weeks in the Cote d'Azur before the callous terror atrocity.

"The fireworks finished at 10.21pm, so we moved slightly to the left where a rock band were playing.

"I turned around and within 20 yards a truck flew by . . . there were thousands of people on the street and there was just a trail of bodies after it went by - babies, old people, everyone, they were just lifeless on the ground," Mr Browne said.

"We just started to run after that, and then we started to hear gunshots. It was crystal clear that they were gunshots because the fireworks had finished. It lasted no more than about a minute.

"We ran in the opposite direction and got back to the apartment. Everything was just silent, it was horrific.

"It was just mayhem, people were jumping over railings and onto the roofs of restaurants.

"It was only when we ran away from the lorry in the direction he came from that I realised he had driven onto the promenade.

"He had been zig-zagging. We saw people on the promenade injured, dead. The fear was there was more people involved."

Mr Browne had visited Nice on four previous occasions, but was forced to return to Ireland early on the advice of the local consulate.

He commended the actions of the local police, who were quick to neutralise the perpetrator, named as French-Tunisian national Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel (31).

"I do think the security forces should be commended, and there was a lot of them," he said.
French judicial investigating police conduct a search inside a truck, the day after a heavy a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more. REUTERS/Jean-Pierre Amet

Frances deadly truck attack marks a frightening new reality in Europe: assailants turning to an ever-expanding arsenal to carry out violence that is becoming harder to predict or prevent.

Using vehicles in attacks is a fairly well-established tactic with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, said Matthew Henman, managing editor at IHS Janes Terrorism and Insurgency Centre.

The deliberate use of a heavy truck targeting a crowd illustrates the demonstrability of the attack and could be the precursor for other attacks.

Supporters of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group praised the attack yesterday, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The militant group has called on supporters to use any means possible to strike at its targets. Attacks inspired by terror groups in recent years have involved planes, bulldozers, tractors, guns, knives, machetes, bombs, explosives and vehicles.

Propaganda

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula released propaganda in 2010 depicting a truck as the ultimate mowing machine, and the Islamic State called on its French supporters to run them over with your cars, just days after the November 2015 attacks in Paris.

In France, there were two other recent attacks using vehicles, but it was disputed whether the assailants had links to terrorist cells. On Dec. 22, 2014, a man ran over pedestrians at a Christmas market in Nantes, killing one and injuring nine. That attack came a day after a similar incident in Dijon when a motorist injured 13 pedestrians. Both suspects, who survived, have histories of mental illness.

In Montreal, a vehicle was used to kill a soldier in October 2014; a year earlier, attackers in a car ran over an off-duty soldier in London before stabbing him to death.

Terrorist attacks involving vehicles have been more common outside of Europe.

The deadliest recent attack occurred July 3 when a suicide bomber from the Islamic State group killed at least 292 people and wounded another 200 by exploding a minibus in a crowded commercial area of Baghdad. The blast came near the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan when streets were teaming with people  much like Thursdays festivities that drew crowds across France.

Minivan

In Afghanistan, Taliban militants using a minivan killed 64 people and wounded more than 340 in an attack this year aimed at a government convoy.

Similarly, a dump truck in Pakistan was loaded with explosives and devastated the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in 2008, killing 50.
World leaders have united in horror and pledged their determination to fight terrorism after the horrific Bastille Day attack in Nice.

US president Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and European and Asian leaders, who were meeting for a summit in Mongolia, all joined in condemnation of the terrorist attack in messages to French president Francois Hollande.

The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, speaking in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, captured the global shock when he tweeted of the tragic paradox that the targets were people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity.

Germanys chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Mongolia, said: All of us who have come together at the ASEM summit are united in our feeling of disbelief at the attack of mass murder in Nice.

Thursday nights attack was the third mass killing in Europe by suspected Islamist terrorists in eight months, following on from multiple attack in Paris and Brussels linked to Islamic State.

Britains new prime minister, Theresa May, said Britain stood shoulder to shoulder with France.

Vladimir Putin, whose relations with the West have been strained over Russias actions in Ukraine and Syria, went on Russian television to convey his condolences to Hollande, having apparently been unable to reach him by telephone.

He said: Dear Francois, Russia knows what terror is and the threats that it creates for all of us.

Our people have more than once encountered similar tragedies. Russia is deeply affected by the incident, sympathises with the French people and feels solidarity with them.

He added that Russian citizens were among the victims in Nice.

Fundamentalism

In another gesture, possibly aimed at healing rifts, Russias foreign minister Sergei Lavrov went to the French embassy in Moscow with the visiting US secretary of state, John Kerry, to lay flowers in memory of the victims.

Italy, Spain, Germany, Britain and Belgium all held separate meetings to review their own security after the Nice attack, which came just after the French had successfully hosted the Euro 2016 tournament, having implemented a massive security operation during it.

Britain and Belgium said their threat levels were already severe, indicating that they regard an attack as highly likely.

Germany said it had stepped up border controls at airports, road and rail crossings into France in response, as did Italy.

In France itself, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is expected to do well in next years presidential election, criticised the countrys response to previous attacks.

The war on the scourge of Islamist fundamentalism has not begun. It is urgent now that it be declared, Ms Le Pen said on Twitter.

US presidential hopeful Donald Trump also tried to make a political point in reacting to the carnage, tweeting: Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France. Many dead and injured. When will we learn? It is only getting worse.

Polands interior minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, said the attacks were consequences of decades of a policy of multiculturalism and political correctness in the European Union.

Polands right-wing nationalist government has refused to take in Muslim migrants and refugees under an EU quota scheme.

In the Middle East, many messages of sympathy and condemnation were laced with domestic agendas.

Turkeys president, Tayyip Erdogan, whose country was hit just days ago by a co-ordinated gun and bomb attack on Istanbul airport by suspected Isil terrorists, said Turks could understand what France and the French people were now going through.

But in an apparent swipe at EU countries that disapprove of Ankaras crackdown on Kurdish separatist fighters, Mr Erdogan added: We expect those who act inconsistently in the face of terror to draw necessary lessons from the most recent attack in France.

However, while Saudi Arabias top clerical body condemned the French attack, it said it should not distract the world from the crimes of the Syrian regime.
Thousands of Irish are either working or on vacation in Turkey, and the Department of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advice urging travellers to postpone any planned trips.

An Irish wedding party in Turkey was stranded last night with concern about how soon they and thousands of other holidaymakers would be able to make the trip home.

Dublin native Maria Joyce, who runs the Annalivia restaurant, said that tourists had fears of missing flights back to Ireland this morning.

"We have an Irish wedding party in our resort at the moment and their main concern is that they won't be able to get their flight home tomorrow.

"There isn't too much information on what is happening at the moment, and people in the restaurant are on their phones contacting their families," Ms Joyce said.

"I wouldn't say there is a sense of fear - it doesn't seem that anyone's life is in danger.

"The only fear is that flights will be cancelled and people could be stranded here," she added.

"I have been in contact with my family at home to tell them I am safe. There isn't any immediate danger in Istanbul, and we're waiting for more information to come through.

"People back home should know that there isn't any immediate danger, there are fears down the line but at the moment everything is okay."

Ms Joyce, who has been in business for 15 years, said that some locals simply saw the coup as a "changing of the system" and were not afraid.

Thousands of Irish are either working or on vacation in Turkey, and the Department of Foreign Affairs updated its travel advice urging travellers to postpone any planned trips.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said that the ambassador is currently on the ground monitoring the situation and that no Irish person has been involved or injured.
Pall bearers carry the coffin of Alton Sterling to his grave at the Mount Pilgrim Benevolent Society Cemetery in Baton Rouge (AP)

Alton Sterling's son Cameron, 15, is consoled by the Rev Jesse Jackson and a family member during his father's funeral at Southern University in Baton Rouge (The Daily Advertiser/AP)

A black man killed in front of a Louisiana store has been remembered as the "meaning of southern hospitality" whose death at the hands of two white police officers "woke up Baton Rouge and America".

Family, friends and activists gathered at Southern University, a historically black college in Baton Rouge, to both pay their respects to Alton Sterling, 37, and call for justice over his shooting on July 5, which was the beginning of a tumultuous week in America's fraught history of race relations.

In a three-hour service, luminaries including civil rights activist the Rev Jesse Jackson and close family members spoke about Mr Sterling, his death and the police treatment of African-Americans.

"Wrong must be corrected and the wrong must be held accountable," said the Rev Al Sharpton. "We have got to stop going from funeral to funeral."

Mr Sharpton called for more accountability for police officers who kill African-Americans and reeled off a list of high-profile police shootings that have angered many in the black community.

"We have an inferior judicial system that does not protect all of its citizens equally," he said.

Mr Sterling's death was captured on mobile phone video and circulated widely on the internet. His death, along with another fatal police shooting in Minnesota last week, sparked widespread protests. Then the fatal shooting of five police officers in Dallas by a black sniper heightened tensions even more.

A steady stream of mourners filed past Mr Sterling's coffin, adorned with music notes and a smiling photo of him.

Mr Sterling was selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart store, as he had done for years, when he was killed by police responding to a call of a man threatening someone with a gun. Police have said they found a gun in Mr Sterling's pocket.

One mourner wore a T-shirt that said "No Justice, No Peace" and another carried a poster board sign saying "Black America I'm Sorry!!"

Gary Chambers, master of ceremonies for the funeral, said at the beginning that the event was intended to be a celebration of Mr Sterling's life, not an opportunity for demonstrations about his death.

"If you want to protest please leave now," he told the crowd, which included two senior advisers to US president Barack Obama.

One of the biggest rounds of applause from the crowd of about 2,000 came for Abdullah Muflahi, who owns the Triple S. Mr Muflahi said Mr Sterling was not just a man who sold CDs in front of his store.

"He showed me a lot of love. He looked out for me. He was friendly. He was welcoming. He was truly the meaning of southern hospitality," Mr Muflahi said. "We're going to have an empty spot in front of the store."

Darrell Jupiter, a landscaper, said his best friend was nicknamed "Dweeb" and they fished and played chess together.

"I have a big chunk missing. I'm lost," said Mr Jupiter, who had a tattoo on his arm with the words "RIP Alton".

Mr Sterling's death heightened tensions in Baton Rouge, where about 200 protesters were arrested over the weekend. East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney Hillar Moore said that his office reviewed initial police reports on 185 arrests between July 8-11 and determined it would not prosecute about 100 of those cases.

Mr Moore said they involved protesters who were arrested only on misdemeanour charges of obstruction of a roadway or public passage. DeRay Mckesson, a prominent Black Lives Matter activist, was among them.

Mr Moore said his office was reviewing the rest of the arrests, which included allegations such as resisting arrest, carrying guns or some "act of violence".

Meanwhile, a man involved in what police have described as a credible threat to harm police officers made his initial appearance in federal court.

Police arrested Malik Bridgewater, 20, and three other suspects on theft and burglary charges after eight handguns were stolen from a pawn shop. The final suspect, a 12-year-old, was arrested on Friday.

State and local law enforcement officials said during a news conference on Tuesday that the stolen guns were part of a credible threat to harm police officers.

One of the suspects said they did so to harm officers and Bridgewater told investigators his motivation was to sell stolen items for cash, an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit filed Thursday in federal court.

Bridgewater did not enter a plea to a firearms theft charge and was held in custody at a Baton Rouge jail because his bail for a 2015 criminal charge was revoked after his July 10 arrest.

Baton Rouge police chief Carl Dabadie said threats like that justified an increased show of force at the demonstrations, as officers donned riot gear after starting with a mostly reserved, low profile.

The ACLU of Louisiana and other groups filed a lawsuit earlier this week over the treatment of protesters by police.

AP
SHARE PHOTO BY ALLISON WELLS Peyton Millspaugh has volunteered to save the life of a toddler by donating bone marrow through Be The Match.

By Allison Wells, Special to the Independent Mail

CENTRAL  Peyton Millspaugh is the match of a lifetime for a toddler boy awaiting a bone-marrow transplant.

Millspaugh, a Clemson University student and Upstate native, signed up with Be The Match, a bone marrow donation registry, last year to see if he could help to save a life.

And he will get the chance to do just that this summer.

"It's about saving lives, plain and simple," Millspaugh said.

The process was simple to begin, he said. Cheek swabs turned in to the organization underwent a DNA analysis to see if potential donors might be matched with those waiting. It was about six months before he found out he was a good match for a young boy.

Further blood tests revealed he was indeed a perfect match, with Millspaugh's DNA being nearly identical to that of the child.

"All I know is that he's two, he has leukemia, and he's international. He's not even in the United States," he said.

Millspaugh would love to one day see the child he's going to save because of their close DNA match. But the rules set by Be The Match, however, state he cannot contact the recipient for one year. After that time they can contact each other through the organization.

"I would love to go to where he is and meet him, to look into his eyes because our DNA is so similar," Millspaugh said.

Earlier this month, Millspaugh underwent an EKG, chest X-ray, and other procedures to be sure he was healthy himself and ready to fly to Georgetown, Maryland to officially donate the bone marrow.

His travel and bone marrow extraction dates were postponed once already, however, because the child receiving the bone marrow developed lesions on his body that needed to be cleared up first by his medical team.

Millspaugh is ready and waiting for the call that will take him to Georgetown and see his bone marrow harvested.

Ashley Collier, Support Manager for Be the Match in South Carolina, said there are 13 million potential donors on the registry, but that it is not nearly enough.

"Ideally we would find a match for everyone. It's a big number, but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Some people never find a match," Collier said.

Of the 13 million people on the registry, seven million are Caucasian, leaving minorities severely lacking in potential donors. For those with a disease like Sickle Cell Anemia, which is curable, it's devastating. Collier said only sixty percent of minorities will find a match, compared to over ninety percent of Caucasians.

According to Collier, there are 14,000 people waiting on the list and every three minutes someone else is diagnosed with a blood cancer, Sickle Cell Anemia, or other blood disease.

"It's all about genetic make up. For many this is the only choice. We have got to find somebody who matches," she said.

Despite the large number of potential donors on the registry, Collier said it's rare to be called. Only about one in 70,000 will be the match for a person waiting. There is never any cost to the donor, either.

For those interested in getting on the registry, Collier said there were two ways to do so. One is to attend or host a recruiting event. She said churches, schools, even scout troops could host an event to get people to register. Potential donors need only fill out the form and do the cheek swab. Otherwise, interested people can visit their website, fill out the form, and request a kit they can return postage paid. The website is join.bethematch.org/sc. Donors must be 18 years old.

Be The Match began as the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry in the 1980s with 10,000 individuals registered to help those in need. Today more than 74,000 bone marrow transplants have taken place through the generosity of people like Peyton Millspaugh who have registered to Be The Match for others.
This week marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, a Category 3 storm which formed on October 22, 2012 and caused $70 billion in damage in roughly two weeks as it moved from the Caribbean to Canada, $11 million of which came from its impact in Rhode Island. Do you believe Rhode Island is more or less prepared to handle a large storm in the decade since Hurricane Sandy? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
Sources reveal that much before the completion of shoot, the theatrical release business of Suriya-Anushka starrer 'S3' has started catching up well.

The third part of the blockbuster 'Singam' series is being directed by Hari and produced by K.E.Gnanavel Raja. Now we learn that the Tamil Nadu distribution rights of the film has been lapped up by a newly launched production and distribution company Udhayam Films for Rs.41 crores which is a huge price for a Suriya starrer.

Suriya commands an equally strong market share in Telugu speaking states and his last release '24' has been phenomenally successful in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. So we can expect that the Telugu release rights of the film will get a much bigger price than usual.

The film stars Suriya as the tough cop Durai Singham IPS while Anushka as his wife. Shruti Haasan plays the role of a Journalist who helps the male lead to nab the criminals. Harris Jayaraj is taking care of musical score.

Meanwhile, the 'S3' team have wrapped up the Vizag schedule and will be flying t Malaysia for the next schedule after a week's gap.
Dr. P. Murali, Managing Director, GreenSignal Bio Pharma Limited, is an Arts Graduate and holds a Master in Labour Management and a PhD from Madras University, in addition to completing a Certificate Program in Computer Applications. He comes with 15 years of rich experience in the IT Industry and Pharma Production, Installation and Commissioning, Quality Management, Man Management and Finance and specialises in Business Management and Financial Planning. Dr. Murali is one of the Promoters of the Company and holds 23% equity shares of Rs.10 each in the Company. His wife Mallika holds 4% equity shares in the Company, while his brother Mr. P. Sundaraparipooranan is one of the promoters and major shareholders of the Company holding 56% of equity shares. He is a member of the CSR Committee of the Company and is also a Director on the Board of the Chennai Mall Properties Pvt. Ltd.



GreenSignal Bio Pharma Limited (GSBPL) is now Indias second and worlds seventh largest BCG vaccine manufacturer. Vaccines manufactured by GreenSignal Bio Pharma Limited are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in countries across the globe in their national immunization programs, saving millions of lives throughout the world. Besides manufacturing, a Research and Development Laboratory for carrying out clinical trials and pilot projects in seed development, vaccine manufacturing etc., is being set-up at the TICEL Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The company aims at "Quality health care for all" and to make available the much needed immunological at an economical cost to the needy. In India, GSBPL has judicial developmental partnerships, new products in the pipeline, economical pricing and successful marketing strategies for the field of vaccine.



Replying to Anil Mascarenhas of IIFL, Dr. Murali says, "Though vaccines have transformed public health throughout the world, for children in particular, the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in India is still substantial and hence the usage of this powerful tool is still not optimal in our country. For individual players in the vaccines space, Indian healthcare presents new vistas of growth, provided challenges in terms of policy barriers, lack of awareness and affordability issues are successfully tackled."



India has emerged as a key vaccine manufacturer. What is the industry scenario? How much of the global health vaccines are produced in India?

The Indian vaccine industry began as a work of state-owned manufacturers supplying basic childhood vaccines to the national immunization program. In recent decades, the number of privately owned firms active in the sector has grown rapidly. Their success in bringing low cost vaccine solutions to public vaccine markets is an important driver behind the emergence of the sector.



The vaccine market, which was once considered as a commodity market, is now among the fastest developing markets for the global pharma industry. The global vaccine industry has witnessed impressive growth in recent times and has surpassed many of the traditional businesses in the global pharmaceutical market. It has now captured almost 3% of the overall global pharmaceutical industry. Vaccines are the largest contributor to the biopharma segment, estimated to be 60%. India is a world leader in vaccines, producing nearly 60% of the worlds supply.



What are the opportunities and challenges for companies based out of India?

Though vaccines have transformed public health throughout the world, for children in particular, the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in India is still substantial and hence the usage of this powerful tool is still not optimal in our country. The Indian vaccines market has a lot of ground to cover in terms of the potential to substantially increase lives saved by improving access to the types of vaccines available and the depth of coverage of those vaccines across the country. So for individual players in the vaccines space, the Indian healthcare industry presents new vistas of growth, provided challenges in terms of policy barriers, lack of awareness and affordability issues are successfully tackled.



With numerous comparative advantages in terms of research and development (R&D) facilities, knowledge, skills, and cost effectiveness, the biotechnology industry in India has immense potential to emerge as a global player. Our Company being one of the four companies worldwide, who have got the Pre-Qualification Certification by WHO to supply BCG Vaccine to UNICEF, is well poised to take advantage of the opportunities in the sector.



Which is the segment you cater to? What is the market size in India and abroad?

We are a vaccine manufacturing company and we manufacture only two products. BCG vaccine for immunization against Tuberculosis and BCG-ONCO for immunotherapy for the treatment of Urinary Bladder Carcinoma under the brand name Urovac. The global demand for BCG vaccines is estimated at approximately 280 million doses annually with the highest requirement coming from India. The total shortfall for BCG vaccination is estimated at nearly 30 million doses annually.



Who are your close competitors and what edge do you have over them?

As such there is no company in India whose business portfolio is comparable with that of our business to be compared among peer group companies, although Serum Institute India Limited is a company which is acting in the same field as we are. However it is an unlisted company. Globally we participate in the tender process and we are sure that we will be able to sustain the competitive advantage at the current prevailing pricing.



Tell us about your IPO. How much are you planning to raise? What will the proceeds be utilized for? What will the promoters holding be post the issue?

The IPO is under OFS, where the Promoters are offloading 1.45 cr. shares totalling to 38% of the paid up share capital of the Company. The proceeds shall go to the selling shareholders and the Company will not get money out of this issue. We plan the OFS to bring in a wider shareholding and also greater visibility. The Promoters will approximately hold more than 50% post the IPO.



By when do you expect the issue to get through?

The Company has filed the DRHP with SEBI on 04.07.2016. The Company is awaiting observations from SEBI and the issue will be opened on receipt of the final SEBI observations.



Appetite for IPOs has been encouraging with quality companies seeing oversubscriptions. Are global woes causing any worries with regards to the timing of the listing?

As rightly pointed out, the appetite for IPOs is encouraging and most of the recent IPOs have got good response from the investors. Hence, we do not see any cause for worries with regards to timing of the listing. We shall open our IPO on receipt of final observations from SEBI and we expect to get good investor response.



Who are your top clients? How much do the top 5 or 10 contribute to your overall revenues? How big is the contract to supply BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccines to UNICEF?

UNICEF and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India are our two principle clients. Our other client is the Government of Nepal.



UNICEF has awarded us a long term arrangement for the manufacture of 28 Lakh vials spread over the next three years, in the price range of $1.36-$1.80 per vial. We also expect to get further orders from UNICEF.



What is the revenue mix between various vaccines you produce? How is the market for Urovac shaping up?

The following table provides information regarding our revenue from the sale of products for our various geographic segments: is an Arts Graduate and holds a Master in Labour Management and a PhD from Madras University, in addition to completing a Certificate Program in Computer Applications. He comes with 15 years of rich experience in the IT Industry and Pharma Production, Installation and Commissioning, Quality Management, Man Management and Finance and specialises in Business Management and Financial Planning. Dr. Murali is one of the Promoters of the Company and holds 23% equity shares of Rs.10 each in the Company. His wife Mallika holds 4% equity shares in the Company, while his brother Mr. P. Sundaraparipooranan is one of the promoters and major shareholders of the Company holding 56% of equity shares. He is a member of the CSR Committee of the Company and is also a Director on the Board of the Chennai Mall Properties Pvt. Ltd.(GSBPL) is now Indias second and worlds seventh largest BCG vaccine manufacturer. Vaccines manufactured by GreenSignal Bio Pharma Limited are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in countries across the globe in their national immunization programs, saving millions of lives throughout the world. Besides manufacturing, a Research and Development Laboratory for carrying out clinical trials and pilot projects in seed development, vaccine manufacturing etc., is being set-up at the TICEL Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The company aims at "Quality health care for all" and to make available the much needed immunological at an economical cost to the needy. In India, GSBPL has judicial developmental partnerships, new products in the pipeline, economical pricing and successful marketing strategies for the field of vaccine.Replying toof, Dr. Murali says, "Though vaccines have transformed public health throughout the world, for children in particular, the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in India is still substantial and hence the usage of this powerful tool is still not optimal in our country. For individual players in the vaccines space, Indian healthcare presents new vistas of growth, provided challenges in terms of policy barriers, lack of awareness and affordability issues are successfully tackled."The Indian vaccine industry began as a work of state-owned manufacturers supplying basic childhood vaccines to the national immunization program. In recent decades, the number of privately owned firms active in the sector has grown rapidly. Their success in bringing low cost vaccine solutions to public vaccine markets is an important driver behind the emergence of the sector.The vaccine market, which was once considered as a commodity market, is now among the fastest developing markets for the global pharma industry. The global vaccine industry has witnessed impressive growth in recent times and has surpassed many of the traditional businesses in the global pharmaceutical market. It has now captured almost 3% of the overall global pharmaceutical industry. Vaccines are the largest contributor to the biopharma segment, estimated to be 60%. India is a world leader in vaccines, producing nearly 60% of the worlds supply.Though vaccines have transformed public health throughout the world, for children in particular, the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in India is still substantial and hence the usage of this powerful tool is still not optimal in our country. The Indian vaccines market has a lot of ground to cover in terms of the potential to substantially increase lives saved by improving access to the types of vaccines available and the depth of coverage of those vaccines across the country. So for individual players in the vaccines space, the Indian healthcare industry presents new vistas of growth, provided challenges in terms of policy barriers, lack of awareness and affordability issues are successfully tackled.With numerous comparative advantages in terms of research and development (R&D) facilities, knowledge, skills, and cost effectiveness, the biotechnology industry in India has immense potential to emerge as a global player. Our Company being one of the four companies worldwide, who have got the Pre-Qualification Certification by WHO to supply BCG Vaccine to UNICEF, is well poised to take advantage of the opportunities in the sector.We are a vaccine manufacturing company and we manufacture only two products. BCG vaccine for immunization against Tuberculosis and BCG-ONCO for immunotherapy for the treatment of Urinary Bladder Carcinoma under the brand name Urovac. The global demand for BCG vaccines is estimated at approximately 280 million doses annually with the highest requirement coming from India. The total shortfall for BCG vaccination is estimated at nearly 30 million doses annually.As such there is no company in India whose business portfolio is comparable with that of our business to be compared among peer group companies, although Serum Institute India Limited is a company which is acting in the same field as we are. However it is an unlisted company. Globally we participate in the tender process and we are sure that we will be able to sustain the competitive advantage at the current prevailing pricing.The IPO is under OFS, where the Promoters are offloading 1.45 cr. shares totalling to 38% of the paid up share capital of the Company. The proceeds shall go to the selling shareholders and the Company will not get money out of this issue. We plan the OFS to bring in a wider shareholding and also greater visibility. The Promoters will approximately hold more than 50% post the IPO.The Company has filed the DRHP with SEBI on 04.07.2016. The Company is awaiting observations from SEBI and the issue will be opened on receipt of the final SEBI observations.As rightly pointed out, the appetite for IPOs is encouraging and most of the recent IPOs have got good response from the investors. Hence, we do not see any cause for worries with regards to timing of the listing. We shall open our IPO on receipt of final observations from SEBI and we expect to get good investor response.UNICEF and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India are our two principle clients. Our other client is the Government of Nepal.UNICEF has awarded us a long term arrangement for the manufacture of 28 Lakh vials spread over the next three years, in the price range of $1.36-$1.80 per vial. We also expect to get further orders from UNICEF.The following table provides information regarding our revenue from the sale of products for our various geographic segments:

Geographic Segment For the period ended June 30, 2016 (In Rs. Lakhs) For the year ended March 31, (In Rs. Lakhs) 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 Domestic Revenue 347.12 1,096.76 101.88 350.99 1,167.78 1,126.58 Overseas Revenue 667.58 941.96 554.28 - - -



The years 2014 and 2015 saw a deep decline in domestic sales of both BCG vaccine and BCG-ONCO for Immunotherapy. We saw a decline in the revenues for the BCG Vaccine as we were not the lowest bidders in MoH tenders. The decline in the revenues from BCG ONCO for Immunotherapy was due to a price increase under the arrangement with Cadila Healthcare Limited and corresponding lower quantity ordered by Cadila Healthcare Limited. Subsequently in fiscal 2016, our domestic revenue increased to more stable numbers and this was mainly due to us getting the tenders from MoH. Also, our overseas revenue increased from 554.28 Lakhs to 941.96 Lakhs mainly due to signing the LTA with UNICEF and exports to other Non UNICEF countries.



The following table sets forth certain information regarding our revenue from the domestic sales for the past five years ending March 31, 2016 and period ended June 30, 2016:



(In Rs. Lakhs)

Domestic sale of products For the period ended June 30, 2016 For the year ended March 31 Manufactured goods 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 Product BCG VACCINE 304.05 907.41 39.06 329.13 1,044.72 990.41 Product BCG ONCO for Immunotherapy 43.07 189.35 62.82 21.86 123.06 136.17 Total - Domestic Sales 347.12 1,096.76 101.88 350.99 1,167.78 1,126.58



The years 2014 and 2015 saw a sharp decline in domestic sales of both BCG vaccine and BCG-ONCO for Immunotherapy, wherein our BCG Vaccine sales declined to 39.06 Lakhs and our Product BCG ONCO declined to 62.82 Lakhs in the fiscal year 2015. The decline in the revenues for the BCG Vaccine was due to us not being the lowest bidder. The decline in the revenues from BCG ONCO was due to price increase under the arrangement with Cadila Healthcare Limited and corresponding lower quantities ordered. Subsequently in fiscal 2016, our domestic revenues increased to more stable numbers and this was mainly due to us getting the tenders from MoH.



The following table sets forth certain information regarding export sales for our two products:



(In Rs. Lakhs)

Export sale of products For the period June 30, 2016 For the year ended March 31 Manufactured goods 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 Product BCG VACCINE 667.58 941.96 552.31 - - - Product BCG ONCO - - 1.97 - - - Total - Export Sale 667.58 941.96 554.28 - - -



Our export revenues for the BCG vaccine is primarily due to our arrangement with UNICEF with marginal revenues from other non UNICEF countries.



Our Company has been earning positive profits on the operational front. But owing to the fixed costs of finance and depreciation and the tax charges, the company has encountered losses. However, on account of the widening of the export market over the last two years, the profitability of the company has improved in comparison to the earlier years. The company registered a profit in the last financial year 2015-16.



Brief us on your financials. Do you see the domestic-international revenue mix changing?

(Rs. in Lakhs)

Particulars March 31, 2016 Quarter ended June 2016 Turnover 2049.20 1020.55 PAT 693.76 372.55 PBT 530.95 293.09 EPS 3.90 1.17 RoNW 11.86 4.80 NAV 29.17 12.43
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Our society is the ultimate definition of hypocrisy. Its like it preaches something, but doesnt follow its own teachings. Our societys double standards with countless things is the main reason the nation isnt as progressive as it should be. From gender-bias to body shaming, the society can be very cruel on both the genders.

Here are some examples of modern double standards that are plaguing the nation today...

1. When Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma were together, their pictures used to garner an awww reaction. However, when they split and Virat went on to win matches, there were memes of Anushka regretting her choice of breaking up with him

Image Credit: sify

Its sad how double standards affect celebrities as much as they do when they split up. Their choices are scrutinised and they are judged for making a decision in their own lives and future.

Image Credit: playbuzz

Has this ever happened to you? Being judged on a date for paying? Doesnt it get awkward? It's double standards at its best (worst).

3. A 48-year-old actor can play the character of a teenager. A 48-year-old actress only gets to play the role of a mother

via tumblr

You've probably never seen the Khans playing their age in any of the movies they do. Meanwhile, actresses above 40 have a tough time to get roles. A 48-year-old heroine rarely forms an important plot of the movie as its all about the much younger character whose real age is 50.

4. In India, when it comes to virginity, people, especially men, want to lose it early. When they want to get married, they look for a partner who's a virgin

Image Credit: reuters

Virginity is a big deal in India. A woman who has lost her virginity is looked down upon as a slut or a whore. With men, since there is no way to find out whether he is a virgin or not, it's always safe. And if they arent virgins, they're considered experienced and mature. Convenient!

5. Overweight people are considered curvy (as in compliment). Thin people are looked down upon as anorexic skinny bitches

Image Credit: cracked

When it comes to body shaming, everybody gives skinny people a hard time. Its like being fat is now acceptable and being skinny isnt. Take Nicki Minajs song 'Anaconda', which has derogatory lyrics about skinny people, as an example.

6. Politicians launch austerity campaigns and expect people to follow it. However, when it comes to their family weddings, they blow up money like it's tissue paper

Image Credit: bollywoodshaadis

A politician's wedding in India is by no mean austere. Lakhs of guests, a royal mandap setup, designer clothes and multiple cuisines to choose from, a politician ensures that his daughter/son gets the lavish wedding society will remember till the next big one comes. However, what is not okay is them expecting others to follow their austerity campaign.

7. When women wear makeup, people scrutinise them for being too flashy and loud. When they dont, they ask them why they've turned up sick to work

Image Credit: kateleth

Try not wearing your kaajal for a week, and people will point out that youre looking sick. The same people would talk behind your back when you turn up with makeup for too much paint on your face.
It might be 69 years since India got its independence, but the wounds of the India-Pakistan partition are yet to heal completely. We might still be able to live with it, but for those who saw their dear ones get slaughtered in front of their eyes during the Hindu-Muslim riots remember it like it happened yesterday.

Recently, Reddit user Rahul Kapoor held a Reddit AMA on behalf of his grandmother who was in Lahore when the partition happened. Leaving literally everything, they had to shift base from there to India. What she saw during this painful journey can never be forgotten. This is painful.

P.S - Most of the questions and answers remain unedited. All these questions have been asked by Reddit users and are how they appeared in the original.





Did she witness any Hindu-Muslim riots?

Full respons -

A lot, many times it happened outside her house...rioters would fight all along the nights... there were blood all around.. some people would bang their doors to drag them out but eventually since her father was considered a good man was let off.. once they were returning from Ludhiana and were returning to Shimla, the train which was carrying Hindus were slaughtered by Hindus itself by mistake.. Railway Station was all covered with blood and the bodies were then taken out from the train. the train was washed and they were forced to travel to Shimla in the same very train... too scaryyy and the memory of the same is still fresh in her mind...(sic)

People say that Gandhiji was massively popular but he also had a lot of opposition from people of various organisations. Also, many had ideological differences with Gandhiji (his non violence theory, not doing enough for Bhagat Singh etc). What was the ground reality? Were you people and people around you following Gandhiji or had differences of opinion or hated him?

Did she lose any friends, family members and well-known acquaintances in the chaos? It was a tragic time indeed.

Does she ever wish to go back to see, visit or even live in, her old home in Lahore?

My grandmother was 10 years old during partition and she says many people carried poison without to prevent being captured alive.

How difficult was adjusting to her new life after fleeing to India?

What was her reaction and the reaction of her family when news of Gandhiji's assassination broke?

I want to know about her feeling when she first heard about India's freedom.



What was more painful for her, leaving her homeland or seeing Hindu-Muslim riots?

What was your major source of news? How many days/weeks/months did it take for you to realise that you might have to vacate your home and leave for India to save your lives?

Do you have an opinion on the partition? Was it necessary?

It could've been avoided. It could've been avoided.
starsunfolded

Incidents like these really make you question humanity. Incidents where someone is murdered by their own blood in the name of honour. Pakistani social media sensation Qandeel Baloch's honour killing by her brother has shaken the country today. And while there's not much known about her, she had given an interview to a Pakistan daily, Dawn, earlier this week. And it clearly proved that the girl was much more than just a social media sensation. She had a past and she had a voice as well. She knew how she was the face of women empowerment in her country.

Qandeel was recently dealing with claims of a man named Ashiq Hussain, who had said that he married Qandeel in 2008 and even had a son with her. Responding to his claims, Qandeel had spoken about how she was forced into marriage when she was a teenage girl.

She had said, "I didn't run away from home. I've been dealing with the problem all day, telling everyone, attending their calls, telling the media. Media is not supporting me. They're saying that I want to marry Imran Khan but I'm already married. This is wrong. What about my self-worth' My identity' I am a social media sensation, I am a fashion icon. I don't know how many girls have felt support through my persona. I'm a girl power. So many girls tell me I'm a girl power, and yes, I am."

Disclosing all about her marriage, Qandeel said, 'I was 17 years old when my parents forced an uneducated man on me. The abuse I have been through' It happens in places like this, in small villages, in Baloch families. This happened to me too. I said, 'No, I don't want to spend my life this way'. I was not made for this. It was my wish since I was a child to become something, to be able to stand on my own two feet, to do something for myself. What do you think will happen in a forced marriage, with an uneducated man, an animal. What would I say, that I am already married? Why would I say it'' she added.

Qandeel even spoke about how unsupportive her family was. Little did she know that she'd be murdered by them in the coming days.

She added, "My family never supported me. I would say I don't want to live with him, but they didn't support me. I thought when my child is older, he'll understand, he'll see the environment there and feel that his mother was right, that she did what was right."

A rebel by heart, Qandeel said, 'I've fought with everyone . And now I have become so headstrong that I only do what I want. I started working in showbiz, I faced so many difficulties, you know what happens with girls here. You know what kinds of offers they make girls here. You know how they try to misuse girls who are new to the industry.You could say that this is my revenge [from this country]. I don't do these things happily' Nothing is good in this society. This mardon ki society (patriarchal society) is bad. You probably know this already, think about the problems you face yourself,' she added.

Being a woman who fought her whole life against the set norms of the society, in her final interview, mentioned, 'Today the media isn't giving me any credit for speaking about empowerment of women, girl power. They don't recognize that this girl fought. Today I am capable of taking on the burden of an entire household. But no one gives me credit for that.'

#RIP Qandeel.
1. Pakistani social media celeb Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother today.

starsunfolded

Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother over honour in Muzaffarabads Green Town area, a Police officer told Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune. Police said she had been receiving threats from her brother over her controversial Facebook posts.

2. Anushka Sharma shut up those who criticised her character in Sultan.

youtube

Anushka Sharma tweeted about how having the freedom to choose motherhood or career is woman empowerment, in response to those who criticised her character 'Aarfa' in Sultan for choosing motherhood over career.

3. Salman Khan finally broke his silence over his rape remark, but still offered no apology!

livemint

Salman talked about how the media always misunderstands his comments and how if he doesn't say anything then he is considered boring.

4. Richa Chadha's latest photoshoot at her Mumbai residence is simply stunning!

Shivanji Sen

Richa Chadha recently did a photoshoot at her Mumbai residence with photographer Shivaji Sen, who is known for clicking candid pictures. And the results are simply breathtaking!

5. Sania Mirza shared this adorable picture of herself with Parineeti Chopra at her book launch.

Thank you baby  cause you are loveeeeee  #aceagainstodds #thestruggleisreal @parineetichopra A photo posted by Sania Mirza (@mirzasaniar) on Jul 15, 2016 at 11:30am PDT

Sania Mirza recently launched her book, Ace Against Odds, and her good friend Parineeti Chopra was present on the occasion. She shared this super cute picture with her!
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Days after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, which has triggered off a violent wave of unrest in the Valley that has left more than 38 dead in street clashes between protesters and security forces, many people from Kashmir have reacted over the ongoing media coverage in the valley.

First Dr Shah Faesal, the first Kashmiri to top the civil services examinations, reacted after his photograph was aired by some TV channels alongside slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's bullet-ridden body.

Facebook

In an exclusive interview to Indiatimes, Dr Faesal said, "I am extremely disturbed and pained with the irresponsible behaviour of a section of the national media."

Faesal is currently posted as director, school education.

Times Of India

Meanwhile, a week after the shocking incident, Kashmir is still tense and while normalcy is yet to return to the valley, a Facebook user, Shazia Bakshi, put things in perspective, from the people of Kashmir.
Amidst the ongoing tensions in the valley, the first Kashmiri who topped the civil services examinations, Shah Faesal, on Friday, lashed out at the media for "pitching one Kashmiri against another and breeding more alienation" in the valley rocked by violence over the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani.

sio-india

In an exclusive interview to Indiatimes, Dr Shah Faesal, "I am extremely disturbed and pained with the irresponsible behaviour of a section of the national media."

Here's what Shah Faesal said in his Facebook post:

"By juxtaposing my photos with the images of a slain militant commander, a section of national media has once again fallen back upon its conventional savagery that cashes on falsehoods, divides people and creates more hatred.

At a moment when Kashmir is mourning its dead, the propaganda and provocation being dished out from red and blue newsrooms is breeding more alienation and anger in Kashmir than the Indian state can manage.

Personal vulnerability apart, the very fact of becoming a part of a ridiculous debate is something which has disturbed me very much. Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a part of your sadistic propaganda machine? In fact when I qualified this exam I never thought of spending my whole life scratching the desk and if this nonsense around me continues, I might prefer to resign sooner than later.

I am adding to what my younger colleague Yasin Chaudhary had said earlier in his Facebook post. ZeeNews Aaj Tak TimesNow and NewsX are not going to tell you the truth about Kashmir. Please mind your head. No Government would want to hurt its people and when a state kills and maims its own citizens, it's self-injury and self-decimation of the worst sort, it makes the body-politic bleed as well. So no Government can distance itself from the pain of its people and all out efforts are being made to contain this crisis and reach out to youth. It is going to take time.

Till then, we have to steer safe from spoilers who want to set Kashmir valley on fire just for the sake of TRP. Let's pray for those who lost their lives and their eyesight in the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir and stand by one another in this moment of truth. I didn't have net access all this while and today once I saw my timeline, I realised it was the time to speak up. Inalillahi wa Ina-ilaihi rajioon."

Meanwhile, a week after the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, Kashmir is still tense and while the valley is still on the edge with normalcy yet to return, a Facebook user, Shazia Bakshi, put things in perspective, from the people of Kashmir.

Here's everything you need to know about Burhan Wani - The Hizbul Mujahideen Posterboy who was killed in an encounter.

Twitter

Wani was killed on July 8 and his death has triggered a violent wave of unrest in the Valley that has left more than 38 people dead in street clashes between protesters and security forces.

Apart from the current controversy, take a look at how brave Kashmiris and Indian Army chased away Pakistan in 1965 to keep Kashmir a part of India!
Turkish government has claimed that an attempted coup by a section of the county's army has been repelled-off. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressing the nation said the coup was "an act of treason" and the government was in firm control and those responsible would pay a heavy price for their actions.

AP

NTV television quoting the prosecutor's office in Ankara said that at least 42 people have been killed in "attacks" in the capital.

What took place exactly?

It all started late on Friday night after a faction of the Turkish military took control of Istanbul and capital Ankara. There were also reports that the rebels had bombed the Turkish Parliament building.

Reuters

The confusion manifolded after a newscaster of government-backed broadcaster TRT announced that the army had taken control of the country. However, hours later, the same anchor appeared before the media and said that she was held at gunpoint by the rebels who had taken control of the building.

BREAKING: US-sponsored Kemalist and Gulenist soldiers run over civilians during the #TurkeyCoupAttempt (shocking): pic.twitter.com/wEt02xq5bz  Conflict Reporter (@ConflictReport2) July 16, 2016

This was happening while President Tayyip Erdogan was holidaying. As chaos spread, Erdogan appeared on TV and appealed to the public to come out in the streets to protest the coup and to support the democratically elected government.

Reuters

This resulted in millions pouring into the streets across Turkey holding national flags. Some videos posted online also showed public clashing with the rebel soldiers.

As the night progressed the government and the larger faction of the army which is still loyal to Erdogan started making gains.

AP

While 42 people including many rebel soldiers and a senior general have been killed, Turkey PM said more than 130 soldiers have been arrested for the coup plot. There are also reports that a helicopter used by the rebels has been ordered to be shot down.

Reuters

Hours later, President Erdogan emerged out of Istanbul airport and announced that the situation had been brought under control.

Who was behind this plot to bring down the government?

Claiming victory over the rebelling army, Erdogan was quick to name the mastermind behind the plot. "The section of the army was acting under the orders from Pennsylvania," he said. Erdogan was referring to US-based exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, a former friend turned bitter enemy of the President.

AP

The hugely popular Islamic scholar was in the past accused by Erdogan of running a parallel government in Turkey. In March this year, the Turkish government had taken over Zamna, one of the most popular newspapers in the country due to its criticism of the government and its links to Gulen. The preacher has however denied the allegations leveled by Turkey that he inspired the coup.

Is this the first time Turkey has experienced a military takeover?

Turkey is not new to military coups. The country has a long and bloody history of takeovers by the military. The first coup in the Turkish republic took place in 1960, during a time of heightened tensions between the Turkish government and the opposition. General Cemal Gursel assumed power - as both president and prime minister - beginning a period of military-dominated politics that would last until 1965.

aa.com/ Representative Iamge

The discontent over the poor state of the Turkish economy resulted in the second coup in 1971. The military forced the then prime minister, Suleyman Demirel to resign.

The military did not rule directly during this period. It first asked Nihat Erim, a member of the right-wing Republican People's Party, to form a caretaker government; it was the first of several which governed Turkey until 1973, when Fahri Koruturk, a retired naval officer was installed as president by the parliament.

While the Turkish government was still unstable, in March 1980 a group of generals announced on state television that they were imposing martial law and dissolving the government.

In 1997, the military issued a series of "recommendations," to the government which had no choice but to accept. The prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, agreed to a compulsory eight-year education programme to prevent students from enrolling in religious schools, a headscarf ban at universities, and other measures. Erbakan was then forced to resign by the army and his party was banned.

Some former members of the party, including current President Erdogan, later founded the Justice and Development Party.

What are the ramifications of the coup?

The coup has been averted, but this would boost the popularity of President Erdogan who has been facing stiff protests over the Islamification of the country in recent times. It will also cement his position domestically and internationally as a strong administrator and will gain support for his crackdown on Kurdish separatists.

Reuters

It also came at a time when Turkey is in the center of world events including the battle against ISIS and the refugee crisis in Europe. If a change of government had taken place in the country, it could have negative impacts on the two issues. Turkey, being a NATO member, is the second largest contributor to the NATO troops after the US.
Gestapo America By Paul Craig Roberts July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - FBI Director James Comey got Hillary off the hook but wants to put you on it. He is pushing hard for warrantless access to all of your Internet activity. Comey, who would have fit in perfectly with Hitlers Gestapo, tells Congress that the United States is not safe unless the FBI knows when every American goes online, to whom they are sending emails and from whom they are receiving emails, and knows every website visited by every American. In other words, Comey wants to render null and void the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution and completely destroy your privacy rights. The reason Washington wants to know everything about everyone is so that Washington can embarrass, blackmail, and frame on felony charges patriots who stand up in defense of the US Constitution and the rule of law, and dissidents who criticize Washingtons illegal wars, reckless foreign policies, and oppression of American citizens. Washingtons demand for power has nothing to do with our security. It has to do with destroying the security that the US Constitution gives us. The security that Comey wants to protect is not our security or the national security of the United States. Comeys intent is to make Washington secure despite its violations of statutory law and the US Constitution. The way Comey intends to do this is by intimidating, harassing, and arresting Washingtons critics. Comey wants the unconstitutional power to demand from the providers of telephone and Internet services all records and information about you. These demands are not to be subject to oversight by courts, and the communication companies that serve you are prohibited from telling you that all of your information has been given to the FBI. US Senators rushed to stick their swords into the Fourth Amendment. John Cornyn slapped an FBI-written amendment on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2015. This caused the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International to withdraw their support for the act, which caused the act to be withdrawn. Senator John McCain rushed to the aid of the FBI. This Constitution-hating senator proposed an amendment to a criminal justice appropriations bill that would use a provision in the unconstitutional PATRIOT Act to grant the unlimited unaccountable power to the FBI to totally destroy your privacy. McCains amendment failed, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R,KY) changed his vote so that he could negate the Senates vote with a vote to reconsider. The FBIs senators will continue with amendments to legislation, related or not, until they deliver to the FBI the power it wants. Unfortunately, most Americans today, unlike their forebears, are too ignorant and uneducated to know the value of the privacy rights that our Founding Fathers put in the US Constitution. The imbeciles say nonsense such as: I havent done anything wrong. I have nothing to fear. God help the imbeciles. If the American people were sufficiently sophisticated, they perhaps would wonder why such a large chunk of the US Senate had rather represent the FBI than the American people, their constituents who elected them to represent the people in the state, not a police power in Washington. Why are so many US senators more responsive to the FBIs desire for Gestapo police power than they are to the civil liberties embodied in the US Constitution? As the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Defending Dissent Foundation show, the Orlando shootings, the Dallas shootings and whatever shootings, real or staged, next occur have nothing to do with the FBIs demand to completely destroy all privacy rights of the American people. http://bordc.org/news/senate-rejects-amendment-expanding-fbi-surveillance-powers-by-narrow-margin/ Whats that I hear? You say you knew nothing about this? Little wonder. Your media consist of people well paid to deceive you and to deliver you into a Police State. To strip you of all constitutional protection and deliver you unprotected to a police state is the function of the New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, the rest of the presstitute print and TV media and many Internet sites. Adolf Hitler is alive and well in the United States, and he is fast rising to power. 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 .
Former SecDef: Long-Range Standoff Missile a Step to New Cold War

By Bryant Jordan

July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Military " - A former secretary of defense under President Bill Clinton told a Senate panel on Wednesday that going ahead with development and deployment of the long-range standoff cruise missile only makes nuclear holocaust more likely.

"We're now today on the threshold of a new Cold War. We're on the threshold of a new nuclear arms race, and in addition but not related to that there's a rising threat of nuclear terrorism and a regional nuclear war," former Defense Secretary William Perry said. "For all these reasons, I assert today the likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe is actually greater than it was during the Cold War."

Perry, who served as Pentagon chief from 1993 to 1997, supported a modernization of the country's nuclear triad, but said that could be done without the LRSO. "We can reject a modernization program that would increase the risk of a nuclear war by accident or miscalculation," he said.

Perry's warnings against moving ahead with the LRSO were not shared by the panel's other witnesses, former Clinton Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre and Franklin Miller, who served as special assistant on defense policy and arms control to President George W. Bush.

Hamre said the LRSO, which could be air-launched from about 1,500 miles from its target, is less provocative than intercontinental ballistic missiles and would be flown aboard aircraft that, if necessary, could be recalled before launch.

He also rejected Perry's contention that cruise missiles, because they carry both nuclear and conventional bombs, could confuse a potential adversary who might respond to a conventional bomb launch with a nuclear weapon.

"I do not think it's a plausible argument that people will be confused about what we're doing," he said.

Miller agreed.

"The launch of a conventional weapon and the launch of a nuclear weapon occur in context," he said. "So the launch of [U.S.] cruise missiles against Iraq or indeed the launch of Russian cruise missile against Syria did not raise any questions of nuclear use."

Russia rebuilding nuclear forces

Both men also pointed out that Russia is busy rebuilding its conventional and nuclear forces, already has new weapons deployed, and that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia would launch a nuclear first strike if it believed its territory was threatened.

Russia has also engaged in military exercises designed to combat U.S. and European allies, they said.

Perry has made his opposition to the LRSO known for some time. He told lawmakers that to go ahead with the weapon is to accept the heightened dangers of a nuclear catastrophe as inevitable.

"Should we accept it as inevitable? If not, where do we draw the line?" he asked. He also said that if he believed not having the LRSO would jeopardize the U.S.'s ability to deter a nuclear threat from any adversary, he would support it.

Advocates of the LRSO believe it is necessary to ensure that the U.S. can strike deep into contested airspace with a nuclear weapon if necessary without relying on manned bombers.

The modernization program, including the LRSO, has backing from much of Congress and the White House.

Hamre also noted that the program already is fully funded.

"It's not about trying to use it," Hamre said, "It's about having flexibility."

"Nobody ever talks about the impact of these [weapons], about what they do," said ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California. "It's always deterrence, it's always more, more, more, newer, newer, newer.  It's hard for me to accept this as the answer, because the answer to it really lies in reason and understanding and diplomacy and work between leaders."

What is not needed, she said, is a "hardening of attitude when both sides are developing new nuclear weapons."

As a woman, she said, she thinks about what the nuclear bombs "would do if dropped."

"It's not mentioned by the men -- ever," she said. "But it's a very big deal if you vote for this."

Bearing responsibility

Perry has been open about his opposition to the LRSO for some time.

Though he agrees that with the rise of Vladimir Putin Russia has engaged in reckless actions -- in particular in Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine -- he said the U.S. bears some responsibility for its current relationship with Russia.

He told the panel that "a series of questionable policy decisions in the United States alienated us from Russia" starting in the 1990s.

Though none of the lawmakers asked and he did not elaborate, Perry has previously said that warming relations and cooperation that the U.S. and Russia enjoyed after the collapse of the Soviet Union began to fall apart when the U.S. moved aggressively to expand NATO into Eastern Europe.

President George H.W. Bush, in office when the Soviet Union collapsed, reportedly had pledged NATO would not push eastward. That changed during Clinton's presidency.

Perry said that in the first years after Russia shook off communism. the U.S. and Russia cooperated in dismantling 8,000 nuclear weapons, and Russia even embedded a brigade into an American military division for a peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

"So at that time I believed we had ended the Cold War, that we ended the threat of a nuclear holocaust. That was not to be," he told lawmakers.
John Harrison Interviews Andre Vltchek and Dr. James Corum



July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Sputnik " - In this Level Talk programme, two men who occupy completely different ends of the political spectrum argue about hybrid warfare. Discussion on a theoretical level soon gives way to excited polemics, providing an illustrated example of the raw and sometimes simplistic arguments used in information warfare.

Participants in this discussion are Andre Vltchek, a geopolitical analyst, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist, and Dr. James Corum, a retired lieutenant colonel in the 1st US Army who served in Iraq, an air power historian and a scholar of counter-insurgency.

According to Dr Corum, hybrid warfare is not anything new:

the American Revolution included economic warfare, diplomacy, propaganda campaigns, all the things we are talking about.so I am always cautious about buzzwords that come along as if they are something new. The Cold War was what you could say hybrid, with proxy wars, propaganda. As to whether the US is doing this or not, I wish we were getting better at it.The one thing that has changed in the last century is communications, which are now happening instantaneously, that is new.

Andre Vltchek sees information as being incredibly important in the new 21st century weapons box:

If you see what is happening throughout South America, you see information being used as a very powerful tool for the US to push its agenda throughout the region. People talk about left wing governments in Venezuela and Ecuador, but if you work in one of these countries you realise just how powerful the media is working against socialist reform. CNN in Spanish, for example, is being beamed right across Latin America day and night because broadcasting rights are still in private hands, they belong to private companies which belong to rich families, and they censor left wing information. You cannot listen to RT in South America in English for example; there is limited access in Spanish to left wing channels even in socialist countries.

Dr. Corum then described socialism, be it in South America or in Russia, as being a bad thing, and made the point that only western democracy and freedom can bring wealth. This point was rejected as being too simplistic and far from the truth as many countries in the world do not want western democracy. Dr. Corum supported his arguments by quoting GDP figures, showing that production in the Baltic States is higher than in Russia. The point was made by the host that the Baltics do depend on EU support and that unemployment in these states is very high.



Andre Vltchek dismissed Dr. Corums points as banal examples of disinformation and propaganda. He described how in December and November of last year he was in the Central Asian countries, which have embraced western capitalism. Andre described how the standard of living is collapsing, that it simply is nonsense to say that countries which embrace the West do well. In Kyrgyzstan, Andre said over 90% of the people that I spoke to are dreaming about the return of something like the Soviet Union. The same thing in Uzbekistan, even in Kazakhstan there is huge nostalgia for the former system.In South America, if socialism was only left alone, it has and is bringing hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty, it is creating new dynamics, but it is being hindered by direct intervention of the US

Dr. Corums reply is that Central Asian countries are bound to be impoverished because they have never known anything other than dictatorship and controlled economies: Thats why they are going to fail. Its a cultural issue. Dr. Cortum appeared to link western democracy with cultural issues, which evokes arguments of the West is Best.
Obama Has Failed Victims of Racism and Police Brutality





The president and his cheerleaders refused to engage deeply with systemic problems facing our country. That came back to haunt America last week



By Cornel West

July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Guardian " - A long and deep legacy of white supremacy has always arrested the development of US democracy. We either hit it head on, or it comes back to haunt us. Thats why a few of us have pressed the president for seven years not to ignore issues of poverty, police abuse and mass unemployment. Barack Obama said it very well, following the shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, that some communities have been forgotten by all of us.

And now  in Dallas, Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights and beyond  this legacy has comes back to haunt the whole country.

Obama and his cheerleaders should take responsibility for being so reluctant to engage with these issues. Its not a question of interest group or constituencies. Unfortunately for so much of the Obama administration its been a question of Im not the president of black people, Im the president of everyone. But this is a question of justice. Its about being concerned about racism and police brutality.

This November, we need change. Yet we are tied in a choice between Trump, who would be a neo-fascist catastrophe, and Clinton, a neo-liberal disaster. Thats why I am supporting Jill Stein.

I have deep empathy for brothers and sisters who are shot in the police force. I also have profound empathy for people of color who are shot by the police. I have always believed deliberate killing to be a crime against humanity.

Yet, Obama didnt go to Baton Rouge. He didnt go to Minneapolis. He flew over their heads to go to Dallas. You cant do that. His fundamental concern was to speak to the police, that was his priority. When he references the Black Lives Matter movement, its to speak to the police. But the people who are struggling have a different perspective.

The very notion that Dallas is the paragon of policing is something that needs to be interrogated. The Dallas mayor said we have done nothing wrong, but look at your history. Ask people in southern Dallas about the police. Ask Clinton Allen, an unarmed black man fatally shot by the Dallas police in 2013. I was with his mother, Collette Flanagan, the founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality, last year. Countless people came up and told us about all the struggles black communities are having with the Dallas police.

Unfortunately, Obama thrives on being in the middle. He has no backbone to fight for justice. He likes to be above the fray. But for those us us who are in the fray, there is a different sensibility. You have to choose which side youre on, and he doesnt want to do that. Fundamentally, hes not a love warrior. Hes a polished professional. Martin Luther King Jr, Adam Clayton Powell Jr and Ella Baker  they were warriors.

Obamas attitude is that of a neo-liberal, and they rarely have solidarity with poor and working people. Whatever solidarity he does offer is just lip-service to suffering but he never makes it a priority to end that suffering.

The American empire is in deep spiritual decline and cultural decay. The levels of wealth inequality and environmental degradation is grotesque.

Obama has power right now to enact the recommendations made after Ferguson. Better training, independent civilian oversight boards, body cameras. But he has not used executive orders to push any of these changes through.

This November, we need change. Yet we are tied in a choice between Trump, who would be a neo-fascist catastrophe, and Clinton, a neo-liberal disaster. Thats why I am supporting Jill Stein. I am with her  the only progressive woman in the race  because weve got to get beyond this lock-jaw situation. I have a deep love for my brother Bernie Sanders, but I disagree with him on Hillary Clinton. I dont think she would be an outstanding president. Her militarism makes the world a less safe place.

Clinton policies of the 1990s generated inequality, mass incarceration, privatization of schools and Wall Street domination. There is also a sense that the Clinton policies helped produce the right-wing populism that were seeing now in the country. And we think shes going to come to the rescue? Thats not going to happen.

The American empire is in deep spiritual decline and cultural decay. The levels of wealth inequality and environmental degradation is grotesque. The correct response to this is: tell the truth about what is going on. Bear witness. Be willing to go to jail to fight for justice if need be.
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter Why The Infernal Terror Spiral Will Go On And On



By Pepe Escobar



July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - We still dont know if this man is a jihadi lone wolf or not  even as his modus operandi comes straight from Daeshs playbook. And even if hes not an insta-jihadi, whats certain is that his appalling example will be emulated.



The Washington-Riyadh axis used terror in Afghanistan even BEFORE the 1980s jihad. Wahhabism destroyed both Afghanistan and Pakistan, installing a Kalashnikov culture. Shock and Awe in 2003 led to Washington promoting Divide and Rule as in pitting Sunnis against Shiites  and that brought terror to Iraq. Washington and Brussels supported jihadis in both Libya and Syria, and that was supported even by the liberal 'human rights' left. Ah, but the (bogus) enemy is Putin and Russian aggression. Meanwhile the real enemy  Salafi-jihadis  even gets crucial support (and weapons). Add to it the blowback for NATOs wars  a taboo discussion in the West.



Nothing was done against the ideological matrix of jihadism: Wahhabism. So nothing will change. The Empire of Chaos WONT withdraw from the Middle East for the pivot to Asia; it wants both. Kerry in Moscow yesterday offering a plan to Putin to fight Daesh together  thats yet more shadowplay for the galleries. Washington may put up a pretense of fighting Daesh while the CIA support for moderate rebels wont abate. FrankenDaesh - which was let loose to fester by a "willful" decision in Washington - is now, for all practical purposes, a Cyber-Caliphate. It does NOT need territory. It continues to project an image of success. And thats why it still manages to attract  and inspire - all manner of deeply alienated individuals living in the West. This infernal spiral is bound to go on and on and on. Pepe Escobar is an analyst for RT and TomDispatch. Born in Brazil, he's been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong. https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377 Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate



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US Releases Saudi Documents: 9/11 Coverup Exposed By Bill Van Auken July 15, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " WSWS " - The public release Friday afternoon of a section of the Congressional report on the 9/11 attacks, which had been kept secret for 13 years, has provided fresh evidence of a deliberate coverup of the role played, not only by the Saudi government, but US intelligence agencies themselves, in facilitating the attacks and then covering up their real roots. The 28-page segment from the report issued by the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 provides abundant and damning evidence of extensive Saudi support for the 9/11 hijackers15 out of 19 of whom were Saudi nationalsin the period leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. The Obama White House, the CIA, the Saudi monarchy and the corporate media have all tried to portray the documentsreleased on a Friday afternoon to assure minimal exposureas somehow exonerating the Saudi regime of any culpability in the 9/11 attacks. This information does not change the assessment of the US government that theres no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi individuals funded al-Qaeda, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary said Friday, boasting that the main significance of their release was its proof of the Obama administrations commitment to transparency. In reality, the 28 pages have been kept under lock and key since 2002, with only members of Congress allowed to read them, in a Capitol Hill basement vault, while prohibited from taking notes, bringing members of their staff or breathing a word of their content. The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, maintained this secrecy for several reasons. First, it was concerned that the documents would jeopardize its relations with Saudi Arabia, which, after Israel, is Washingtons closest ally in the Middle East, a partner in bloody operations from Afghanistan to Syria to Yemen, and the worlds biggest buyer of American arms. Even more importantly, it was concerned that the 28 pages would further expose the abject criminality of the US governments role in facilitating the attacks of 9/11 and then lying about their source and exploiting them to justify savage wars of aggression, first against Afghanistan and then against Iraq. These wars have claimed over a million lives. The false narrative created around the September 11 attacks remains the ideological pillar of the US campaign of global militarism conducted in the name of a war on terror. Media reports on the 28 pages invariably refer to the absence of a smoking gun, which presumably would be tantamount to an order signed by the Saudi king to attack New York and Washington. The evidence is described as inconclusive. One can only imagine what would have been the response if, in place of the word Saudi, the documents referred to Iraqi, Syrian or Iranian actions. The same evidence would have been proclaimed an airtight case for war. Among those who were involved in preparing the report, John Lehman, the former secretary of the navy, directly contradicted the official response to the release of the previously censored section. There was an awful lot of participation by Saudi individuals in supporting the hijackers, and some of those people worked in the Saudi government, he said. Our report should never have been read as an exoneration of Saudi Arabia. Similarly, former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the committee that carried out the investigation, suggested that the information released Friday was only the beginning. I think of this almost as the 28 pages are sort of the cork in the wine bottle. And once its out, hopefully the rest of the wine itself will start to pour out, he said. What clearly emerges from the newly-released document, which is titled Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters, is that there were multiple indications of funding and support for the 9/11 hijackers and Al Qaeda in general, but that investigations were either shut down or never initiated because of the close ties between Washington and the Saudi monarchy, and between US and Saudi intelligence. While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government, the document begins. It cites FBI sources as indicating that some of these individuals were Saudi intelligence officers. It goes on to indicate that FBI and CIA investigations of these links were initiated solely in response to the Congressional inquiry itself. [I]t was only after September 11 that the US government began to aggressively investigate this issue, the report states. Prior to September 11th, the FBI apparently did not focus investigative sources on [redacted] Saudi nationals in the United States due to Saudi Arabias status as an American ally. The report focuses in part on the role of one Omar al-Bayoumi, who was described to the FBI as a Saudi intelligence officer, and, according to FBI files, provided substantial assistance to hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000. The inquiry report deals with al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar only from after they arrived in California, and says nothing about the circumstances under which they were allowed to enter the country in the first place. Both were under CIA surveillance while attending an Al Qaeda planning meeting in 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and placed on a watch list for FBI monitoring if they came to the United States. Nonetheless, the two men were allowed to enter the United States on January 15, 2000, landing at Los Angeles International Airport, eventually going to San Diego. From then on, they were permitted to operate freely, attending flight training school in preparation for their role as pilots of hijacked planes on September 11, 2001. Al-Bayoumi, the report establishes, received support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, drawing a paycheck for a no-show job. The report states that the company also had ties to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. According to the report, al-Bayoumi had previously worked for the Saudi Civil Aviation Association and, in the period leading up to 9/11, was in frequent contact with the Emir at the Saudi Defense Ministry responsible for air traffic control. Phone records showed him calling Saudi government agencies 100 times between January and May of 2000. FBI documents also established that the $465 in allowances that al-Bayoumi received through the Saudi military contractor, jumped to over $3,700 shortly after the arrival of al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar. During this period, al-Bayoumi initially allowed the two future hijackers to stay in his apartment before finding them their own placewith an informant of the San Diego FBIcosigning their lease and advancing them a deposit and the first months rent. The report states that FBI investigations following 9/11 indicated that al-Bayoumi had some ties to terrorist elements. His wife, meanwhile, was receiving a $1,200 a month stipend from Princess Haifa Bint Sultan, the wife of Prince Bandar, then the Saudi ambassador to the US and later head of Saudi intelligence. Also named in the document as a likely Saudi intelligence agent is one Osama Bassnan, who lived across the street from the two hijackers in San Diego and was in telephone contact with al-Bayoumi several times a day during this period. He apparently placed the two in contact with a Saudi commercial airline pilot for discussions on learning to fly Boeing jet aircraft, according to an FBI report. Bassnans wife also received a monthly stipend from Princess Haifa, the Saudi ambassadors wife, to the tune of $2,000 a month. As well, the FBI found one $15,000 check written by Bandar himself in 1998 to Bassnan. The report states that FBI information indicated that Bassnan was an extremist and supporter of Usama Bin Ladin, who spoke of the Al Qaeda leader as if he were god. Appearing before the Congressional inquiry in October 2002, FBI Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Pasquale DAmuro reacted with undisguised cynicism and contempt when asked about the payments from the Saudi ambassadors wife to the wives of the two reputed intelligence agents involved with the 9/11 hijackers. She gives money to a lot of different groups and people from around the world, he said. Weve been able to uncover a number of these... but maybe if we can discover that she gives to 20 different radical groups, well, gee, maybe theres a pattern here. Spoken like a man who believes he is above the law in defense of a figure that he clearly sees as untouchable. Among other material in the report was the recounting of an FBI interrogation of Saleh al-Hussayen, a prominent Saudi interior ministry official, who stayed in the same Virginia hotel as three of the hijackers the night before the 9/11 attacks. While he claimed not to know the hijackers, the FBI agents believed he was being deceptive. According to the report, al-Hussayen feigned a seizure and was released to a hospital, which he left several days later, catching a flight back to Saudi Arabia without any further questioning. During the same period, nearly 1,200 people, with no links to the attacks, were being rounded up and held incommunicado on little more evidence than that they were Arab or Muslim. Also in the report was the fact that a phone book belonging to Abu Zubaydah, the Al Qaeda operative who is still held at Guantanamo after extensive torture at the hands of the CIA, was found to contain the unlisted numbers of companies that managed and provide security for Saudi ambassador Prince Bandars residence in Colorado, as well as that of a bodyguard at the Saudi embassy who, the report states some have alleged may be a [words redacted]. Redactions of this sort recur throughout the document in relation to individual Saudis, suggesting their membership in some sort of secret service whose name must remain unmentioned. This is only part of what the secret material still conceals. Members of the inquirys staff reportedly protested angrily over the failure to clearly present the evidence of Saudi involvement, leading to the firing of at least one staffer. If the government is determined to continue to shield such Saudi connections, it is undoubtedly because they would expose the involvement of the US intelligence agencies themselves in the events of 9/11. If such whitewashes are required, it is because elements within the US government were aware that Al Qaeda was preparing an operation on US soil, turned a blind eye to it and even facilitated it because they knew it could be used as a pretext to carry out longstanding plans for aggressive war in the Middle East. The release of even the limited material on the Saudi-US-9/11 connection is a devastating exposure of the criminals in the US government, from George W. Bush on down, and the lies they employed to engineer wars that have devastated the lives of millions. These new facts demand a thorough, impartial and international investigation, as well as the indictment and arrest of top level officials, both American and Saudi. Only a powerful intervention of the international working class, on the basis of a socialist program, will see these war criminals brought to justice. Copyright  1998-2016 World Socialist Web Site - All rights reserved
Coup Against Wannabe-Sultan Failed - Beware The Aftermath

By Moon Of Alabama

(Please also read the updated tweets below. There are some very interesting nuggets in there that are not yet reflected in the text.)

July 16, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Moon Of Alabama " - Yesterday's short coup attempt (real time MoA) by parts of the military against the wannabe-Sultan of Turkey failed. Some 200 people on both sides were killed, some 1,200 wounded.

The plotters' major mistakes were:

to not capture Erdogan and the leaders of his political and security organizations,

to not shut down all means of mass communication, especially the Internet, except those under their strict control,

to not put out a trusted public face to represent the coup.

Erdogan escaped and could orchestrate the counter to the coup. He could continue to communicate with his security management, foreign politicians and his supporters. Without any well known alternative leader the public had only Erdogan to follow.

The amateurish behavior of the coup plotter opens the question of who ran this show. Was this, as some asserted early on, an Erdogan plot to seize more power?

There are three possible motives/perpetrators behind this coup:

the Islamic movement following the preacher Fetullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally and now arch-enemy who lives in the U.S. and has CIA relations;

the old Kemalist secularist movement in the military and deep state;

the Erdogan AKP movement in a false flag operation to seize more power;

There is no evidence for any of these theses and none of them clearly fits the observed pattern.

The response will be harsh. Edogan will crack down on ANYONE he politically or personally dislikes - completely independent of their involvement in the coup. All political parties, even the mostly Kurdish HDP, spoke out against the coup while it was ongoing. The religious Gulen movement also opposed it. Most of the involved soldiers were told that they were part of an exercise. It will not save any of them from Erdogan's and his supporters' wrath.

The somewhat coup-supportive early statements from Lavrov ("avoid bloodshed") and Kerry ("stability!") will increase Erdogan's mistrust of any foreign official.

Erdogan will now become even more paranoid and unpredictable than he was before. The domestic atmosphere in Turkey will become extremely strained.

A few relevant recent tweets (see last post for many earlier ones):

5:36 PM - 15 Jul 2016 chinahand @chinahand I'll put on my tinfoil hat re TK. What kind of coup waits til bossman's out of town & doesn't try to detain him? & AKP has plenty of @chinahand diehard para-fash assets that wud hit streets immediately on its behalf. No plan to counter that? #WorstCoupEver I suspect @chinahand TRE knew about the plot, made sure it would fail w/ help of loyal officers pretending to be part of it, & let it go ahead. @chinahand now time to clean up the (extremely messy) mess & take out the trash, methinks

6:24 PM - 15 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Pres Erdogan says this is an opportunity presented by God to clean up Turkish Military . #live press conference

9:12 PM - 15 Jul 2016 (((Garrett Khoury))) @KhouryGarrett Turkey: Erdogan confirms coup forces surrounded his hotel in Marmaris...4 hours after he had left. That's a special sort of ineptitude.

10:13 PM - 15 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Turkish Army Forces published its last memo at 6.50 am local (90 mins ago) saying movement continues"

9:45 PM - 15 Jul 2016 i24NEWS English @i24NEWS_EN #BREAKING 754 members of Turkish armed forces arrested across Turkey: state news agency

11:17 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Mustafa Akyol @AkyolinEnglish This #turkeycoupattempt had not much to do with Islamist-vs-secularists. Secular opposition sided with the govt against the putschists.

11:39 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Nasser Atta @nasseratta5 Number of detained military personnel after #Turkish coup attempt rises to 1,563 across country: official

11:48 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Alev Scott @AlevScott Erdogan denouncing "traitors" on state TV channel, which a few hours ago was hijacked by the military denouncing him pic.twitter.com/j30UiQ3jau

11:53 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Gregory Djerejian @GregDjerejian If you thought Erdogan was becoming overly authoritarian bordering on some neo-Sultan or such oh boy just you wait now post-aborted putsch.

1:05 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Asaf Ronel @AsafRonel Turkey's acting army chief of staff: Coup attempt was rejected by chain of command immediately. General Dundar: We'll continue to serve the people. I would like 2 thank all political parties and the media for their support for democracy More: "The armed forces is determined to remove members of the Gulen movement from its ranks"

1:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Frank Nordhausen @NordhausenFrank #Turkey This was a weird coup. I was on Taksim square 3 hours, my impression was: that's not real. I saw military in Cairo - no comparison.

1:38 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Despite results in #Turkey, Erdogan will be very busy internally, reforming, reshuffling, turing the army upside-down.His throne has shaken.

1:42 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai When the coup was taking over, the #USA embassy called the coup "Turkish uprising". #Turkey. pic.twitter.com/dEcWvXsLYd

2:43 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Jabhat al-Nusra #AQ spiritual scholar al-Maqdisi attacked the Turkish Army responsible of the coup as "anti-Islamic" pic.twitter.com/UlKrbX5gaS

3:03 AM - 16 Jul 2016 @dr_davidson After digesting #TurkeyCoup news, my view is Erdogan's agents in military forewarned him, & there were considerable benefits allowing it 1/3 Erdogan has big opportunities to purge military (think Sadat's 'corrective revolution') & claim supra-electoral nation-saviour status. 2/3 The question is which allies Erodgan decided to keep in loop. If none, then Qatar, MB & fellow travellers will have had disturbed night 3/3

3:35 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Aylina Klc @AylinaKilic Ahrar al-Sham publishes support message for Turkish government for coup attempt in #Turkey, citing "democracy first"

4:46 AM - 16 Jul 2016 DAILY SABAH @DailySabah BREAKING - Turkeys top judicial body HSYK lays off 2,745 judges after extraordinary meeting sabahdai.ly/GSnzF0

Interesting how fast they drew up that list. This move was long planned and may have been a reason for the coup. See below.

5:27 AM - 16 Jul 2016 archicivilians @archicivilians Free Syrian Army (#Syria Opposition ) released a statement congradulating the fail of #TurkeyCoupAttempt. pic.twitter.com/8S

5:28 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Hussain AbdulHussain @hahussain In 24 hours of news coverage of #Turkey, in all the military and the civilians who took to streets to restore democracy, not a single woman

5:35 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Reuters World @ReutersWorld Turkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen will be at war with Turkey reut.rs/29KtlNW pic.twitter.com/VJcTrtVi6M

That is a direct Erdogan threat to the U.S. where Gulen lives.

5:48 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Emad @EMostaque Noted yesterday imminent big changes in judiciary by HSYK may have been key catalyst for coup, now accelerated 2:54 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Emad @EMostaque Proximate causes for #TurkeyCoup may have been recent reorganisation of judiciary as well as Ataturk attack

5:50 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Kayode Odeyemi @kayodeyemi Power to Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, which is used by U.S. to launch airstrikes against #ISIS, has been cut, U.S. consulate in #Turkey says

earlier

3:41 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Putintintin @putintintin1 Turkey jets which bombed #Ankara refilled from fuel tankers took off from Incirlik airbase!!

Consider: Erdogan demands that U.S. delivers Gulen to him (without evidence of coup relations). Erdogan isolates major U.S. base (with nukes) in Turkey. This could get VERY interesting ...

5:57 AM - 16 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint 10 State Council, top court members are detained allegedly for having ties to failed coup attempt.

6:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Ragp Soylu @ragipsoylu Journalist @sahmetsahmet says police was to arrest coup leaders yesterday before they mobilise, that led the coup pic.twitter.com/UdXViNUf1V

7:16 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Liam Stack @liamstack John Kerry on the Turkey coup: "I must say it does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event." nytimes.com/live/turkey-co

7:18 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Ellie Geranmayeh @EllieGeranmayeh Speculations flowing in #Istanbul re #TurkeyCoup linked to annual military meeting in Aug where gov plan to purge Gulenist soldiers (leaked)

7:19 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Elijah J. Magnier Retweeted Marianne Imposing Sharia punishment on soldiers in #Turkey for their failed coup

[pic showing bearded Erdoganists whipping soldiers in the street after they surrendered]

8:24 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Jim Colella @Jim_Colella Reports today of 2745 judges removed after last night's #TurkeyCoupAttempt. Wtf? How's that related? Watch all that happens next. + 5 judges frm top judicial appointment body (HSYK) dismissed. 48 Council of State judges detained. 140 arrest warrants 4 Supreme Ct Appeal

9:15 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Asaf Ronel @AsafRonel there's a report saying a anti-Gulen operation was in final stages & ignited the coup attempt - the lists were ready

9:15 AM - 16 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Constitutional Court (US-Supreme Court) member Alparslan Altan, VP at highest court appointed by A.Gul, is detained.

9:46 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Mete Sohtaoglu @metesohtaoglu Four #Turkish parties make rare joint statement against coup attempt

#TurkeyCoupAttempt #AKP #CHP #MHP #HDP pic.twitter.com/UOBTU339uT

10:08pm  16 Jul 2016 Gissur Simonarson CN @GissiSim Pro-Democracy protesters who lynched soldiers to death display Grey Wolves hand signals over dead bodies #Turkey

10:10pm  16 Jul 2016 Turkey Untold @TurkeyUntold BREAKING: Secretary of Labor Suleyman Soylu live on news channel Haberturk: "The US is behind this coup" pic.twitter.com/khqdbUw7re
The Attack in Nice By Steven Chovanec July 16, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Perhaps one of the most striking features of the attack in Nice are not what occurred in France, but instead how the reaction exemplifies the selective humanity that we exhibit depending on where terrorism occurs.

The public, politicians, and the media all rightfully displayed outrage over the string of attacks that have been plaguing France over the past 18 months, as well as the recent Orlando shooting in the US, yet the level of outrage and media coverage never reaches the same levels when terrorism strikes other parts of the world, in particular the Middle East.

This in turn breeds a skewed perception in the West that it is a battle of civilizations that is being fought. It obscures by omission the fact that most of the terrorism committed by groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS is perpetuated against other Arabs in Muslim-majority countries. This flawed perception then leads to the painting of all Muslims as terrorists, fueling the ignorant racism of calls by the likes of Donald Trump to discriminate against them, completely neglecting the fact that it is Muslims and Arabs that are on the forefront of this battle sacrificing their lives to rid the world of the jihadis. It paints a picture in Western minds that the cause of all of this is an ethereal religious ideology, or that this is a problem inherent in Arab and Muslim blood, in their DNA, when in reality the extremism is mainly an outgrowth of the practical imperialism that is arming, training, and financially supporting the terror groups for purposes of geopolitical expansion, the main driver of which being the United States.

For example, not many spoke out when just last week nearly 300 were killed in Baghdad following the detonation of a truck bomb for which ISIS claimed responsibility. It was the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in years, yet exactly what were the circumstances that led ISIS to thrive there?

When ISIS declared its existence in Syria in 2014, it had long been known that the group would push back into its old pockets of support in the cities of Mosul and Ramadi.

2 years prior in 2012, a vetted Intelligence Information Report of the DIA was circulated throughout the Obama administration. It predicted the rise of ISIS given the support from the West, Gulf countries, and Turkey to a Syrian opposition dominated by the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq). It predicted that the continued empowerment of these forces would cause deterioration, which would have dire consequences on the Iraqi situation, thus precipitating the ideal atmosphere for AQI to return to its old pockets in Mosul and Ramadi, and will provide a renewed momentum under the presumption of unifying the jihad among Sunni Iraq and Syria.

Given this information, the US and its allies increased their support for the Syrian opposition throughout the next two years. Indeed, it was our major Arab allies that funded the rise of the Islamic State.

This wasnt a secret however, the Saudi Foreign Minister himself told John Kerry that the Islamic State was a Saudi creation, stating to him that Daesh [Isis] is our [Sunni] response to your support for the Dawa  the Tehran-aligned Shia Islamist ruling party of Iraq.

During this time the US enjoyed an intimate relationship with the Saudis vis-a-vis their mutual Syria policy, the Saudis provided the weapons and petrodollars for the rebels in exchange for a seat at the table and to say what the agenda is going to be. That agenda, according to the 2012 DIA report, was the possibility of establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria which was exactly what the supporting powers to the opposition want given their desire to isolate the Syrian regime, which is considered the strategic depth of the Shia expansion from Iran and into Iraq. This was confirmed by then head of the DIA, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who stated that it had been a willful decision for the administration to ignore the intelligence warnings of an impending Islamic State and to instead continue on with their policy regardless.

This all in turn led to a situation in 2014 in which ISIS was mobilizing as a potent force, and began to make its push into Iraq.

This imminent push was well known to US intelligence.

According to high level officials, the US had significant intelligence about the pending Islamic State offensive For the US military, it was an open secret at the time It surprised no one.

In a Senate testimony in 2014 DIA director Flynn warned that the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) probably will attempt to take territory in Iraq and Syria to exhibit its strength in 2014.

The US though, did nothing.

According to the WSJ, the failure to confront ISIS sooner wasn't an intelligence failure. It was a failure by policy makers to act on events that were becoming so obvious that the Iraqis were asking for American help for months before Mosul fell. Mr. Obama declined to offer more than token assistance.

Yet there is no need to speculate on why nothing was done, Obama told us himself.

The strategy was to utilize the ISIS attack as a means to pressure the Iraqi Prime Minister, in an effort to lead to his ouster. The reason that we did not just start taking a bunch of airstrikes all across Iraq as soon as ISIL came in, Obama explained, was because that would have taken the pressure off of Maliki.

Not long after Maliki stepped down, and Abadi took his place. ISIS, however, remained a potent force in Iraq for years to come, paving the way for the attacks last week, killing upwards of 300, unfortunately only one among many others.

Turning back to France, the continual occurrence of terrorist activity is intimately tied in with involvement in the Syria crisis.

By 2012 France had emerged as the most prominent backer of Syria's armed opposition" and was then "directly funding rebel groups as part of a new push to oust the embattled Assad regime.

This being only months after the DIA had warned the Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) were the major forces driving the insurgency.

And while France justified its involvement through talk of a moderate opposition, the CIAs point-man, sent to the country throughout 2012 to meet with the rebels, saw for himself that there were no moderates there at that time.

It was Frances policy of attempting to oust Assad that directly led to the rise of extremist jihadis inside Syria and Iraq, yet the media establishment is criminally ignorant to these underlying geopolitical machinations.

Former MI6 officer Alastair Crooke describes the situation as such: the jihadification of the Syrian conflict had been a willful policy decision, and that since Al Qaeda and the ISIS embryo were the only movements capable of establishing such a Caliphate across Syria and Iraq, then it plainly followed that the U.S. administration, and its allies, tacitly accepted this outcome, in the interests of weakening, or of overthrowing, the Syrian state.

He notes that this strategy dates back to the Cold War, in which setting the destruction of secular nationalism [was] its overwhelming priority, and therefore, America by default found itself compelled to be allied with the Gulf Kings and Emirs who traditionally have resorted to Sunni jihadism as the inoculation against democracy.

This continued on into the Bush administration: The 2003 war in Iraq had not brought about the pro-Israeli, pro-American regional bloc that had been foreseen by the neocons, but rather, it had stimulated a powerful Shia Crescent of resistance stretching from Iran to the Mediterranean, causing the Sunni states to be petrified of a Shiite resurgence, and thus necessitating the creation of a Sunni proxy force that could rival Hezbollah and Iran, which found its realization in al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria.

Indeed, Obama and Biden both admitted that they did not believe in the farce of arming moderates, Obama stating that When you have a professional army that is well-armed and sponsored by two large states who have huge stakes in this, and they are fighting against a farmer, a carpenter, an engineer who started out as protesters and suddenly now see themselves in the midst of a civil conflict, the notion that we could have, in a clean way that didnt commit U.S. military forces, changed the equation on the ground there was never true. (Emphasis added) Biden bluntly summarized: there was no moderate middle because the moderate middle are made up of shopkeepers, not soldiers.

And so the answer as so often was to move to more covert means by increasing the clandestine operations in support of the opposition including the jihadists.

Yet this even goes a step further, with the French authorities tacitly allowing or even encouraging the flow of French nationals into Syria.

In 2013 Foreign Policy put out a story noting that upwards of 1,000 European nationals were travelling into Syria. The headline read Hundreds are joining the fight against Assad. Will they return as terrorists?

The French Interior Minister counted at least 140 French citizens making the sojourn, and while he admitted that It is a ticking time bomb, no actual concern or alarm was raised to do something about it.

For the time being, the Minister said, there is no legal basis for arresting the European jihadists or barring them from leaving or entering France. He further justified the lack of action by stating that The fighters in Syria are not fighting France or Europe; they are fighting against the Assad regime. Its not against French law to fight in a war, but it is a crime to participate in a terrorist organization."

Former counter-terrorism officer and Scotland Yard detective Charles Shoebridge explains the situation further: For the first two of the last three years, countries such as the UK and France did little to stem the flow of their citizens to an already destabilised Syria and Libya, perhaps believing these jihadists would serve Western foreign policy objectives in attacking Gaddafi and Assad for example.

Only when domestic intelligence services began to warn of the dangers of blowback from such people, and when groups such as ISIS began over the last year to turn against the West in Iraq and Syria for example, was any real action taken to stop the flow of UK and French citizens to what, in effect, were largely western policy created terrorist recruiting and training grounds. By then, as Europe seems increasingly likely to experience, it was already too late. Yet action did not include halting Western involvement in the Syrian war, which created the threat of terrorism in the first place, nor did it consist of ending involvement with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, who are the principle supporters of the terrorist movements.

Instead, what was done was business-as-usual: a state of emergency, more lockdowns, infringements on civil liberties and freedoms, and more aggressive war-posturing which sees the threat of terrorism as something you can bomb away, while neglecting all of its true sources.

In a detailed analysis by Britains leading international security scholar, Dr. Nafeez Ahmed notes that President Hollandes reactive declaration of war We will continue striking those who attack us on our own soil is not solely a reference to Syria but as well to Frances current military involvement against Islamists in North Africa.

Over the last half decade, Islamist militant factions affiliated to both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda have dramatically expanded their foothold in North Africa, Ahmed writes, spurred by the vacuum left from the aborted NATO war on Libya.

The military-security architecture in the region is led by the United States, under the jurisdiction of AFRICOM.

Yet Ahmed notes that Intelligence documents prove that the US, British and French were well aware that Algerian military intelligence had played a double-game, covertly financing al-Qaeda affiliated militants as a mechanism to consolidate its domestic control, and project power abroad. This al-Qaeda threat spilled over into Mali, But instead of cracking down hard on Algerias state-sponsorship of Islamist terror, the US and British turned a blind eye, and the French invaded Mali.

The French now have a permanent military presence in Mali, first envisioned as a means to rollback the Islamist uprising yet which has instead seen an intensification of Islamic violence, and has transformed itself into a semi-colonial arrangement, which lends support to brutal government repression that only further exacerbates tensions in the region. Ahmed notes that Ongoing secretive operations and draconian abuses, along with extensive support for repressive regimes, one of which  Algeria  directly sponsored some of the Islamist factions running riot across the region, serves to stoke local grievances, but does little to shut down the terror networks The US-French support for the regions repressive governments, in the name of counter-terrorism, stokes further resentment.

Yet Dr. Ahmed also points out that in the same way local grievances in France are as well exacerbated by a similar approach of expanded state repression. Arbitrary house searches, the targeting of Muslims based upon religious affiliation rather than actual evidence, the arbitrary and unjustified closing down of mosques, all serve to create an environment in which the French government has trampled on the rights of hundreds of men, women and children, leaving them traumatised and stigmatised, resulting in already marginalised Muslim communities in France experiencing routine state abuses.

What all of this does is strengthen al-Qaeda, ISIS, and all other extremist elements which depend upon the brutal repression of Muslims to give legitimacy to their propaganda. Propaganda which states that the West is the enemy of all Muslims, that in Western countries they will only face repression, brutality, and abuse, and so therefore must join in the jihad against the Western enemy, or if not be branded as apostates and live under the torment of the Western regimes.

The more we respond to terror with further abuses and more wars, the more the engine that marginalizes disenfranchised populations will continue making them vulnerable to extremist manipulation.

The major sources of these events can be deduced and intelligent steps can be implemented to prevent against their occurrence, yet the reaction taken after each continues to neglect logic and reasoning and perpetuates actions that exacerbate, rather than mitigate, the problem. At the center of these follies is the persistent prioritization of acquisitions of power, imperialism, and resource domination that sideline concerns about terrorism. Often these pursuits utilize the veiled pretext of anti-terrorism to justify their aims, aims which in fact support the very terror that they claim to oppose. In Syria, the fight against ISIS is waged by supporting an al-Qaeda dominated insurgency, while in North Africa counter-terrorism serves as a pretext for military expansion, increasing the grievances which lead to more terror.

The predictable result of all of this is more terror, more wars, more oppression, and more death. Only when pressure is put on those states, interests, and agencies to halt their selfish lusting for power will the terrorism ever truly cease. Steven Chovanec is a student of International Studies and Sociology at Roosevelt University. Independent, open-source geopolitical research & analysis. Follow on Twitter @stevechovanec - Facebook facebook.com/stevechovanec - Tsu http://www.tsu.co/stevechovanec - e-mail: schovanec@mail.roosevelt.edu
The Nice Attack: French Intelligence Failure or Zionist Agenda?



By Gearoid O Colmain July 16, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - The death toll from the Nice attacks on the 14th of July, 2016 is rising. Latest reports suggest 84 deaths and possibly one hundred more injured. There have been reports of gunfire and the driver of the truck which drove into the crowd near the beach in Nice is reported to have been shot dead. Once again (as with the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks) there is no-one to stand trial and truthfully answer the questions that need to be asked  who and why? At this point, there is not much that can be verified about the attack. One cannot exclude the possibility that it may have simply been the action of an insane individual. Atrocities of that type are rare but have happened in the past. But there is, however, the strong suggestion and indeed likelihood that this atrocity is a terrorist attack by Islamists. So, what does all this mean? French domestic intelligence (DGSI) chief Patrick Calvar warned on the 26th of June 2016 that an Islamist attack on French children would be the trigger for a civil war. He said France was currently on the brink of that civil war. Calvar also predicted that ISIS (Daesh) would use trucks as weapons. It is not unusual in the never-ending war on terror to hear accurate predictions by intelligence officials before attacks, with the same officials seemingly powerless to prevent them. This uncanny coincidencecould be the defining event of our time. French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls is on record stating that the state of emergency in France would be permanent. There has been increasing pressure on the Hollande regime in France to change course in the Middle East. Attempts to reconcile with Russia and lift the sanctions have been blocked by Hollande and Valls, who are puppets of the Jewish Lobby. The Zionists want to continue the war on Syria, Iran and Russia. The Zionists have full control over US/NATO policy. Therefore, the war on terror, which was created as a pretext to further Zionist geopolitical interests, must be continued. I believe this is the trigger for a civil war French intelligence warned us about. The questions is whether the war will become high intensity or continue on a relatively low-intensity trajectory. There have been police whistleblowers in France who have warned of huge caches of arms in major cities, capable of arming hundreds of thousands of men. However, one must be cautious in referring to such whistleblowers as they have proven to be highly unreliable and may be spreading disinformation. In any case, the publics belief that we are in a state of war and that all military interventions abroad are therefore necessary will be enough to make citizens look to the state for protection  an oligarchic state which is currently pursuing a brutal class war against workers. As 90 percent or more of intelligence operations today involve media disinformation, we cannot possibly assume that any of the reports we are hearing are accurate. However, it is hard to see how a psyop could have been carried out in the Promenade des Anglais which is so central in Nice. What we can say for sure is that the attack serves the two constants of the war on terror dialectic. The narrative would read as follows: 1. Make the state of emergency permanent, empowering the oligarchic state and further demoralising citizens by dividing the working class along religious and racial lines. This is part of NATOs strategy of tension in accordance with the longstanding intelligence operation Gladio. Citizens must turn to the anti-social state for security, thus precluding social revolt. 2. Justify an all out attack on Syria to finish the job of destroying Arab civilisation, in accordance with Zionisms geopolitical interests. Only the willfully ignorant could possibly believe that ISIS is an enemy of France when the French have never had better relations with the country which openly backs them  Saudi Arabia. The intelligence reports, declassified documents and admissions of the highest officials of the French and American governments all confirm that ISIS is Israels Arab legion. Both those two above-mentioned goals serve Zionism and until the French people liberate themselves from its yoke, Zionism will continue to poison the minds of men, making them consent to policies that no honest and compassionate human being would countenance. An awakening of working-class militancy is occurring but the labour movement in France remains divided and led by social-democratic reformists. Now, more than ever, seeing the link between terrorism and class war is essential if any political and social change is to occur. In an era of high-finance treason, oligarchy, austerity, and the triumph of avarice, terror increasingly becomes a feature of the normal rather than an exceptional exercise of state power. Gearoid O Colmain is an Irish journalist and political analyst based in Paris. His work focuses on globalisation, geopolitics and class struggle. http://www.gearoidocolmain.org


Stop Using Millenary Religions as a Scapegoat for the Crimes of Modern Imperialism By Kim Petersen But if they incline to peace, you (also) incline to it, and (put your) trust in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.  The Noble Quran, Al-Anfal, 8.61 Jihad The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self. The ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr.  Sayings of the Prophet July 16, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Dissident Voice " - Respected writer William Blum understands US hegemony and imperialism on a global scale. In his important book Rogue State, he provided a comprehensive account of US imperialism around the world. Recently, Blum wrote a trenchant article that compellingly ridiculed the nonsense that Donald Trump is a greater evil than Barack Obama. Blum tore the veneer off the Democratic Party and corporate medias hypocritical demonization of Trump. As a clincher, Blum finishes his piece with sarcasm: And if you like Barack Obama youll love Hillary Clinton. Trump, Obama, and Clinton are three evils. Of the three, Trump is the lesser evil. What is important is that come election time, the ballot is not confined to a lesser-evilist choice. The Green Partys Jill Stein is not evil. In the otherwise excellent piece by Blum appears a paragraph that I find superficial, void of historical validity, and above all, it seems to be repeating indoctrinating patterns typical of Islamophobia: Obamas declaration that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. This is standard political correctness which ignores the indisputable role played by Islam in inspiring Orlando and Long Beach and Paris and Ankara and many other massacres; it is the religion that teaches the beauty and godliness of jihad and the heavenly rewards of suicide bombings. Does Islam play a role? Blinkered proponents of US and Israeli imperialism consistently blame Islam for the commission of terrorist acts. Blum is not such a proponent. However, framing Islam as the religion that teaches the beauty and godliness of jihad and the heavenly rewards of suicide bombings decidedly opinionated and pre-restructured approach that deliberately ignores the Islamic teachings of peace. If Islam is the motivating source for terrorism, then how does Blum explain that there was not any act of so-called jihadist terrorism in the period 1945-1967 (from the end of WWII until the Israeli war against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan)? Logically therefore, Arabs, be they mixed Christian and Muslim (the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine once lead by the late the Christian Orthodox George Habash; the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine led by the Catholic-Marxist Nayef Hawatmeh) or predominately Muslim (such as Hamas and Hezbollah) have all used violence as counter measures to the US and Israeli violence. To call their violence terrorism while calling western and Israeli violence a responsibility to protect or humanitarian intervention is an utmost act of malediction. As for the word jihad [used to express a struggle for anything (life, work, family)  including, of course, the early Islamic struggle to spread the word of Allah (God Almighty in Arabic)]  there is a story to tell. After the defeat of the crusaders in Syria in 1187, the word was used sporadically by the Ottoman Turks to recruit Muslims for the conquest of Europe. Politically that word generally disappeared from the popular usage (except from national movements seeking to use Islam as a rallying cry of battle as in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighting the occupiers of Palestine) until former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and the Wahhabi Saudi regime resurrected it to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Surprisingly, unmentioned in Blums piece is the teachings of violence by Blums people in the Torah or the Bibles teachings of violence. For example, do the teachings of Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim that it is okay to rape Gentile women represent an indisputable role of Judaism that teaches the beauty and godliness of raping non-Jews or does it represent individual extremism based on lopsided interpretation? I am very familiar with the greetings exchanged by Muslims: As-Salaam-Alaikum (peace be upon you) and Wa-Alaikum-Salaam (and peace upon you). I know peace to be emphasized by Islam. However, just like in the Bible where one finds invocations to peace, one also finds commands to commit violence. I asked if Blum had read the Quran, but he did not reply to this question. I asked if he had lived in a Muslim land? To this he did not reply either. I humbly submit that I have read the Bible, Quran, hadiths, and The Life of Mohammed among other texts. I have lived a number of years in Muslim countries. In Jordan and Egypt, Muslim people proudly recited stories to me of the prowess, tolerance, and virtue of the Muslim sultan and military leader Saladin who defeated the Crusaders, retook Al Quds (Jerusalem), and showed great mercy to his Christian and Jewish opponents. However, I am far from an expert on Islam. I wrote to Bill Blum. Kim Petersen : I just have to add since you took on Islam that your article would have read less tendentious if you had noted that the Bibles God smites first born children, urges God-fearing people to commit genocide, condemns homosexuals, etc, etc  the point being that Christianity has nothing over Islam; they are both vile. William Blum : But one is carrying out horrible terrorism today, even as we speak, threatening you and I. The other is ancient, ancient history. If in fact it ever happened. KP : With all due respect, are the predominantly Christian nations not carrying out horrible terrorism today? And does not state terrorism dwarf retail terrorism? And to be clear, it is not a religion carrying out acts; it is supposed adherents of the religion carrying out the acts in the name of their god/allah/yahweh. All are deplorable. Blum responded in the email separately to each of the above preceding paragraphs. WB : The Christian nations are horribly violent, but they do not purposely bomb crowded restaurants, or behead people, or purposely destroy ancient buildings, or ban education for women, sex and music. Its the teachings of Islam that inspire the Islamic terrorists to carry out jihad and suicide bombings. Why else are they doing these things? If they hate US foreign policy why dont they attack US military installations and American embassies, not people and targets with no connection whatsoever to any government. Thats terrorism by definition. KP, additional comment : If they hate US foreign policy why dont they attack US military installations and American embassies: They do, for example, the 1983 bombing of a US military installation in Lebanon demonstrates, but it does not matter what the target is: any act of resistance to the primordial acts of violence, even by a foreign interloper will be labeled terrorism. This is a label that is not applied by the same corporate media to the aggression of the US or its western acolytes. Moreover, Blum seems in contradiction with himself. Earlier he blamed US violence rather than Islamic teachings for terrorism. Why do terrorists hate America enough to give up their lives in order to deal the country such mortal blows? Of course its not America the terrorists hate; its American foreign policy. Its what the United States has done to the world in the past half century  all the violence, the bombings, the depleted uranium, the cluster bombs, the assassinations, the promotion of torture, the overthrow of governments, and more. The terrorists  whatever else they might be  are also rational human beings; which is to say that in their own minds they have a rational justification for their actions. Most terrorists are people deeply concerned by what they see as social, political or religious injustice and hypocrisy, and the immediate grounds for their terrorism is often retaliation for an action of the United States. It is assessment with which I agree. Next, I respond sequentially to each of two preceding paragraphs where Blum writes 1) that Christians do not purposely commit horrible acts and 2) Islamic teachings serve as a fillip to terrorism. KP : Christian nation nations do not drop nuclear weapons on civilian cities (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)? Do not firebomb civilian cities (Tokyo, Dresden)? Do not place a city under siege and bombard it (Fallujah)? Lynch and scalp non-White peoples? Purposely destroy hospitals (Afghanistan), the cultural heritage of a country (Iraq)? Christianity and its teachings, as self-servingly interpreted by zealous western Christians, are deeply permissive and supportive of the Wests capitalism, imperialism, and colonialism that have caused far more destruction and death than a revanchist Islam that rose in resistance to western hegemony and terrorism. Based on available literature, it is known that Al Qaeda is a response to US military in Saudi Arabia and US support of Israels slow motion genocide (state terrorism) against Palestinians and their neighbors. Daesh was spawned by US militarism against Iraq, Libya, and Syria. ***** I could have listed plenty more examples of murderous US imperialism, but I am talking to the expert on the topic. See Blums Master List. Moreover, persuasive evidence suggests that Daesh is a US creation to further discredit Islam thus giving US imperialism more pretexts to attack Muslims. I am in solidarity with the bulk of what Blum writes. He is exceptional when it comes to perfidious American policy and actions abroad. However, blaming Islam for the acts carried out by people is misdirection. Accounts vary somewhat, but in general, Muslims believe the Quran is Allahs word relayed by the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel) who enabled the illiterate prophet Mohammed to read Allahs message. Each person derives the meaning of the verses through his own interpretation or acceptance of anothers interpretation. I agree that religion can inspire people to evil. Islam is not unique in this regard; this applies equally to Christian-inspired evil or nationalist-inspired evil. It is entirely possible that Islamic teachings can be bent to inspire/manipulate men into violent acts, but it is entirely possible that benevolent teachings of Islam can draw people toward peace. There are several ideologies that can be warped to untoward ends among susceptible people. However, in the absence of imperialist evil wreaked against them, would these people professing to be Muslims have been inspired/manipulated into violent reprisals? And why is religion or an ideology being used to spur people to violence? If the radicalized teachings are a reaction to injustices against a people, it seems unreasonable to focus blame on a religion rather than the injustices that brought about the radicalized teachings. Nonetheless, whatever is cited as a motivating factor, the acts are solely the responsibility of the perpetrators of the acts. People who claim to be Christians have launched crusades, set up Inquisitions to fight heresy, wrote Papal Bulls to allow dispossessing non-Christian Indigenous peoples of their territory, and started world wars, among other grave crimes. People professing to be Christians continue, to the present day, to wreak genocidal wars throughout the world. I have no intention to indict any religion because the main issue is those who use religions as alibis for their actions and policy. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are beliefs. People choose to adhere to whichever one of these monotheisms (or other theisms) based on faith  or are more likely believe they were divinely led to the true belief. All three of these monotheistic religions contain teachings of violence and peace. Thus, to ascribe terrorism solely to the teachings of one religion is biased and wrong; and it leads to questions as to what is the interior motive driving such summary judgement without addressing the basic issues that generate terrorism. To iterate, it is plain wrongheaded to criticize Islam  and Islam exclusively among religions  for spurring terrorism. To gain understanding, it is crucial to put terrorism and violence in proper context since terrorism against the West did not arise out of a vacuum. Neither does the Quran instruct Muslims to attack friendly nations. So-called jihadist terrorism is in response to the far greater preceding terrorism and unremitting oppression from the Christian West and the Jewish Israel. By way of simple analogy, if someone punches you in the face without reason, and you punch that person back, yes, you used violence, but who deserves greater condemnation: the initiator of violence or you who responded to the violence with violence? Or should you and the initiator of violence be equally condemned? And if you had turned the other cheek to the person who first punched you, what lesson would that impart? Would the perpetrator be deterred from punching you again? Finally, among religions, it is predominantly  and unquestionably  the nations and people that profess Christian beliefs that have wreaked and spawned the most horrific terrorism throughout history, including today. Nonetheless, I do not believe Christian teachings have much to do with US genocide against Arabs. US elitists are spurred by greed for control of resources, territory, information, and power. When elitists use religion, nationalism, and terrorism against other peoples to kill, rob, occupy, humiliate, and oppress them, why place the culpatory focus on the violence in resistance to the initial violence of forces manipulated by western elitists? The victims of violence, of course, must be accorded the right to resist violence. Kim Petersen is a former co-editor of Dissident Voice . He can be reached at: kimohp@inbox.com. Twitter: @kimpetersen.
Erdogan Had It Coming: The Turkish Coup Failed, But Another Will Succeed



Too late did Erdogan realise the cost of the role he had chosen for his country  when you can no longer trust your army, there are serious issues that need to be addressed By Robert Fisk July 16, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " - The Independent " - Recep Tayyip Erdogan had it coming. The Turkish army was never going to remain compliant while the man who would recreate the Ottoman Empire turned his neighbours into enemies and his country into a mockery of itself. But it would be a grave mistake to assume two things: that the putting down of a military coup is a momentary matter after which the Turkish army will remain obedient to its sultan; and to regard at least 161 deaths and more than 2,839 detained in isolation from the collapse of the nation-states of the Middle East. For the weekends events in Istanbul and Ankara are intimately related to the breakdown of frontiers and state-belief  the assumption that Middle East nations have permanent institutions and borders  that has inflicted such wounds across Iraq, Syria, Egypt and other countries in the Arab world. Instability is now as contagious as corruption in the region, especially among its potentates and dictators, a class of autocrat of which Erdogan has been a member ever since he changed the constitution for his own benefit and restarted his wicked conflict with the Kurds. Needless to say, Washingtons first reaction was instructive. Turks must support their democratically elected government. The democracy bit was rather hard to swallow; even more painful to recall, however, was the very same governments reaction to the overthrow of Mohamed Morsis democratically elected government in Egypt in 2013  when Washington very definitely did not ask Egypts people to support Morsi and quickly gave its support to a military coup far more bloody than the attempted putsch in Turkey. Had the Turkish army been successful, be sure Erdogan would have been treated as dismissively as the unfortunate Morsi. But what do you expect when Western nations prefer stability to freedom and dignity? Thats why they are prepared to accept Irans troops and loyal Iraqi militiaman joining in the battle against Isis  as well as the poor 700 missing Sunnis who disappeared after the recapture of Fallujah  and thats why the Assad must go routine has been quietly dropped. Now that Bashar al-Assad has outlived David Camerons premiership  and will almost certainly outlast Obamas presidency  the regime in Damascus will look with wondering eyes at the events in Turkey this weekend. The victorious powers in the First World War destroyed the Ottoman Empire  which was one of the purposes of the 1914-18 conflict after the Sublime Porte made the fatal mistake of siding with Germany  and the ruins of that empire were then chopped into bits by the Allies and handed over to brutal kings, vicious colonels and dictators galore. Erdogan and the bulk of the army which has decided to maintain him in power  for now  fit into this same matrix of broken states. The warning signs were there for Erdogan  and the West  to see, if only they had recalled the experience of Pakistan. Shamelessly used by the Americans to funnel missiles, guns and cash to the mujahedin who were fighting the Russians, Pakistan  another bit chopped off an empire (the Indian one) turned into a failed state, its cities torn apart with massive bombs, its own corrupt army and intelligence service cooperating with Russias enemies  including the Taliban  and then infiltrated by Islamists who would eventually threaten the state itself. When Turkey began playing the same role for the US in Syria  sending weapons to the insurgents, its corrupt intelligence service cooperating with the Islamists, fighting the state power in Syria  it, too, took the path of a failed state, its cities torn apart by massive bombs, its countryside infiltrated by the Islamists. The only difference is that Turkey also relaunched a war on its Kurds in the south-east of the country where parts of Diyabakir are now as devastated as large areas of Homs or Aleppo. Too late did Erdogan realise the cost of the role he had chosen for his country. Its one thing to say sorry to Putin and patch up relations with Benjamin Netanyahu; but when you can no longer trust your army, there are more serious matters to concentrate on. Two thousand or so arrests are quite a coup for Erdogan  rather larger, in fact, than the coup the army planned for him. But they must be just a few of the thousands of men in the Turkish officer corps who believe the Sultan of Istanbul is destroying his country. Its not just a case of reckoning the degree of horror which Nato and the EU will have felt at these events. The real question will be the degree to which his (momentary) success will embolden Erdogan to undertake more trials, imprison more journalists, close down more newspapers, kill more Kurds and, for that matter, go on denying the 1915 Armenian genocide. For outsiders, its sometimes difficult to understand the degree of fear and almost racist disgust with which Turkey regards any form of Kurdish militancy; America, Russia, Europe  the West in general  has so desomaticised the word terrorist that we fail to comprehend the extent to which Turks call the Kurds terrorists and see them as a danger to the very existence of the Turkish state; which is just how they saw the Armenians in the First World War. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk may have been a good old secular autocrat admired even by Adolf Hitler, but his struggle to unify Turkey was caused by the very factions which have always haunted the Turkish heartland  along with dark (and rational) suspicions about the plotting of Western powers against the state. All in all, then, a far more dramatic series of events have taken place in Turkey this weekend than may at first appear. From the frontier of the EU, through Turkey and Syria and Iraq and large parts of Egypts Sinai Peninsula and on to Libya and  dare one mention this after Nice?  Tunisia, there is now a trail of anarchy and failed states. Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot began the Ottoman Empires dismemberment  with help from Arthur Balfour  but it continues to this day. In this grim historical framework must we view the coup-that-wasnt in Ankara. Stand by for another one in the months or years to come.
A Dubai-based real estate firm, The First Group, has denied claims by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, that it was engaged in a dubious real estate scam in which innocent Nigerians were swindled of their hard-earn money to the of $200 billion.

In a statement on Friday, the company described the allegations as baseless.

Officials of the EFCC on Wednesday sealed the offices of TFG Real Estate, the Nigerian agent of The First Group, situated on the seventh-floor of the Bank of Industry building in the Central Business District, Abuja.

The anti-graft agency moved against the real estate firm following several complaints that its operations were phony.

Officials of the commission revealed that the company, originally known as TFG Real Estate Limited, operates in Nigerian in the guise of being the Dubai-based The First Group Company, which is not registered in Nigeria.

EFCC sources disclosed that the modus operandi of the company was to lure innocent Nigerians interested in owning properties in Dubai, into parting with their hard-earned money.

A source said such unsuspecting Nigerians are mandated to make the payments in installments, which are deliberately structured in a way that the debt is difficult to offset, and as soon as one defaults, the company seizes the money.

In its reaction, The First Group said TFG Real Estate Limited was its Nigerian agent which fully abides by Nigerias anti-money laundering regulations,

In line with this commitment, TFG Real Estate, Limited, regularly files the required reports with the section of the Special Control Unit on Money Laundering (SCUML) division of the EFCC in Abuja, the company said.

Furthermore, The First Groups Dubai operations, which are indirectly implicated in these baseless allegations, are governed by UAE Federal Law, and in particular, the countrys anti-money laundering laws, which rank among the worlds most robust.

The statement pointed out the companys clients are also protected by the Dubai governments rigorous and world-class real estate regulations, designed to protect the interests of local and international investors in the property market.

The First Group is fully transparent in its operations and has a proven track-record of delivering world-class developments in the United Arab Emirates over many years.

Its priority is protecting the interests of its clients and generating strong returns on their investments while complying with all legal statutes in the markets in which it operates, it said.
A police officer who shot at an unarmed black man in a car in Atlanta has been charged with murder.

Officer James Burns was fired from the force after the killing of 22-year-old Deravis Caine Rogers.

Deravis Rogers drove away from the officer and died after the officer fired severally into his car.

James Burns is now facing charges of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of his oath of office.

The incident occurred on June 22 and the officer said that he shot at the car because the driver drove towards him, a claim that has since been proved false.
President Muhammadu Buhari has described Kano-based businessman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, as a source of hope and inspiration for the nation.

The president was quoted as saying this in a letter of commendation dated July 15, 2016 to the businessman.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari lauded Dantatas numerous philanthropic gestures, especially the lying-in-ward, inclusive of amenity rooms and the recent Intensive Care Unit, built and equipped to international standard, all situated at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dala, Kano State.

According to him, these gestures are practical demonstrations of Dantatas deep-seated concern for the well-being of Nigerians.

You are, indeed, a source of hope and inspiration for the nation, he added

President Buhari also expressed the profound gratitude of the government and people of Nigeria to Dantata for his significant contributions to national unity and national renewal.

The president also prayed Allah to bless Dantata in his business endeavors, Adesina said.
Controversial senator, Dino Melaye, on Saturday flew to Lagos, and later posted photographs of himself walking freely on Bourdillion Road where former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu lives.

Mr. Melaye posed for photographs with a street sign indicating his location to be Bourdillion Street in the upscale Ikoyi area of Lagos.

The photographs, posted on the senators Facebook page, was accompanied with a message, saying Eru Obodo (the river is never afraid of those swimming in it).

Mr. Melayes trip to the nations commercial capital and his actions in the city, appeared to have been calculated to dare Mr. Tinubu, perhaps the nations most powerful politician.

The senator had on Tuesday clashed with Mr. Tinubus senator wife, Remi, telling her he was not afraid of her husband and could beat her up without any repercussions.

Mr. Melaye said he hit back at Mrs. Tinubu after she called him a dog and a thug.

Senators, who witnessed the dirty clash, hinted that Mr. Melaye threatened to beat and impregnate Mrs. Tinubu and that nothing would happen.

But on Thursday, Mr. Melaye said he did not threaten to impregnate Mrs. Tinubu because she has already arrived menopause.

Mr. Tinubus spokesperson, Sunday Dare, on Wednesday dared Mr. Melaye to beat Mrs Tinubu and wait for the consequences. He described the Kogi West Senator as a disgrace to the Senate.

But on Saturday, Mr. Melaye announced his journey to Lagos via his Facebook account.

Through his updates, he suggested he had received threats not to enter Lagos and doing so on Saturday was a daring move by him.

In the first picture he uploaded, he indicated he had just arrived Lagos. He was pictured, clad in white attire, moving around the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Just landed in Lagos, he captioned the photo, adding, waiting for those who said I should not enter Eko.

Then, he posed for another picture in which he beamed with smiles at the arrival lounge of the airport.

In Lasgidi. Eru o bodo (a river is never afraid of the swimmer), he said.



Mr. Melaye had on Thursday said he reacted furiously to Mrs Tinubus insult because he was not a coward.

He later moved to Bourdillion Road, saying, This is Dino walking freely on Bourdillion in Lagos. I walk down the street right now.

Referring to those he suggested threatened him not to come to Lagos, he added, eyin da (where are you)?

He also posted another photograph of himself again walking on the pedestrian lane of Bourdillion Road, and wrote, Agba Akin kin so jo (the warrior entertains no fear).

Source: PremiumTimes
The Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit, led by Mr Mohammed Dikwa, yesterday revealed that they have discovered variances in the payroll of the Federal Governments Ministries, Agencies and Departments to the tune of N6.4 billion monthly.

Speaking to newsmen in Kano, on the sideline of the two-day National Revenue Retreat, organised by the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Dikwa that the amount was the true state of their findings as at June 30, 2016.

He said: The Continuous Audit Team plans to conduct regular checks on the control and risk assessment of MDAs. We look at the records that are being kept to ensure transparency and accountability of the financial transactions carried over time.

In terms of ghost workers, we have found about 43,000 ghost workers so far and as at May 30, we had N4.2 billion that is saved on a monthly basis.

But as at June 30, we were able to make more recoveries of N2.2 billion which has led to an additional savings of N6.4 billion monthly.

Dikwa explained that more amounts would be saved once the team succeeded in capturing all the Federal Governments MDA into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The IPPIS platform is only having 20 per cent of the MDAs of the Federal Government on board. This means that about 80 per cent of MDAs are still outside the IPPIS platform.

And it is important that they are all captured because our system of approach in conducting the continuous audit is automated.

We get those on the IPPIS platform and match them with their Bank Verification Numbers and see who is collecting two salaries at the same time, he said.

We also check if there is any money being paid into individual accounts that is way above what he or she should be getting as allowances and salaries.

Dikwas led team still got a long way to go as it had only covered 20 per cent of its workload, but they have since forwarded all suspected cases of ghost workers and other acts to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to ensure recoveries.

However, the team had succeeded in reducing the personnel cost of the federal government from N150 billion monthly in January, to N142 billion per month as at June 2016, Dikwa expalined.

This drastic reduction in personnel cost will continue as the Continuous Audit Team maintains its continuous visitations to all MDAs.

He added that, It is expected that by December 31, over N100 billion will be reduced from the budgeted personnel cost of the 2016 year.

President Muhammadu Buhari had set up the Continuous Audit Team to look into the finance of Federal Governments Ministries, Departments and Agencies to address the issue of ghost workers, over payment of allowances, fraud and embezzlement in MDAs.
The federal government yesterday said that the report on the arms deal scandal released on Thursday was not doctored and that what is so far out, is the report of audit for the period 2011 to 2015.

There were speculations that the report was doctored after some individuals mentioned as being indicted in the report, were not listed in the officially released version.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, however, dismissed the insinuation that the report of the Presidential Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces (2007-2015) was doctored for whatever reason.

Speaking in a statement by his special assistant on media, Segun Adeyemi, the minister explained that as soon as the necessary documents were available, the Committee would begin the audit of procurement from 2007 to 2010.

He assured that the federal governments anti-corruption fight is non-discriminatory, and called on Nigerians to keep an open mind as events unfold.

When the documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 are available and scrutinized, the committee will then issue its report on that. The audit is being done in phases, and the report that was released on Thursday is the third of such, he said.

No one should attempt to distract from the seriousness of the issues involved in this audit of defence equipment procurement. It is important to note that even though the total amount spent for procurement and operations within the period were N185,843,052,564.30 and $685,349,692.49, the irregularities in the awards ensured that the military did not get value for money, with very serious consequences, Mr. Mohammed added.
A few days after a female pastor in the Redeem Christian Church of God, Mrs. Eunice Olawale, was brutally killed by suspected Muslim extremists, a group of another Muslim youths yesterday attacked St. Philips Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, close to Zuma Rock in Niger State, destroying properties worth thousands of naira.

The Vicar-General of Parish, Revered-Father Gobep Luka Sylvester, who confirmed the news to THISDAY last night said about 200 Muslim youths stormed the Church premises yesterday and destroyed properties of the church.

THISDAY gathered that some Catholics had gone to the church to pray and were attacked by the Muslims who claimed that Fridaywas their day of prayer and that the Church only had right to worship on Sundays.

Revered Father Sylvester told THISDAY last night that although he was not around when the incident happened, he was told that some Muslim youths numbering about 200 came to the Church and started destroying the churchs properties, saying the security men in the church premises were seriously injured.

According to him, Sometime around 2pm, some Muslim youths in numbering 200 left their Mosque after their Friday Jumat prayer and rushed to the Church premises, climbed the wall and destroyed everything in the Church: the windows, the alter, musical instruments, the chapel.

The security man in the church premises was beaten to pulp. Some women who were holding a prayer meeting were chased away. The seminarian who is resident in the premises was also beaten up and chased away.

He said the incident had been reported to the police and they claimed to have made some arrest and promised to investigate the matter.

In 2012, Alhaji Kabiru Sokoto  suspected member of terrorist group, Boko Haram, on Christmas day, detonated bomb that killed several Catholics and passers-by at St Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, close to St. Philips that was destroyed yesterday.

The Revered Father added, Just last week, Mrs. Eunice Olawale, a mobile preacher of the Redeemed Christian Church of God was killed by some fanatical Muslims in Kubwa, FCT. How long are we going to continue like this?

Source: Thisday
This was shared via their Facebook page  Christ Embassy.Org Online Missions. According to them, not only was sanity restored to a mentally challenged man but a deaf man was also healed. Read what was shared below.

A mini crusade occurred in the city of Lokoja yesterday, Thursday 14th July 2016, as the Christ Embassy Abuja Choir enroute Lagos for ICLC 2016, stopped over in Lokoja. As activist Music Ministers, the Choir burst into singing and glorious renditions of praise to God Almighty. While singing, a mad man around moved by the melody of the anointed voices, began dancing and the Abuja Choir quickly recognized this as an opportunity to demonstrate the power of God. They surrounded him and cast out the evil spirits. Hallelujah! Sanity was restored to him, his clothes were changed and he was given a hair cut. As the crowds gathered to witness this glorious Miracle, a man who walked in deaf had his ear popped open and several who witnessed these great miracles surrendered their lives to Christ.
Youths in Kogi West have described as embarrassing and irresponsible, Senator Dino Melayes verbal assault on the wife of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

Speaking under the aegis of Kogi West Youth Leaders Forum, they lamented that Melayes uncultured and unguarded utterances have become utterly unbearable to the good people of Kogi West, who he unfortunately represents in the Senate.

In a statement signed by the spokesperson of the group, Sesere Job Monday yesterday, the youth leaders said: We are very concerned because the uncultured and unguarded acts of Senator Melaye have become too many.

This reminds us of his careless statement against womanhood and particularly against Governor Adams Oshiomole and his wife, his condemnable statements against former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the latest being his shameful and very unimaginable dirty words on Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

These unbecoming acts also remind us of his involvement in physical assault while serving as member of the Federal House of Representatives and also his penchant to assault his wives and several other behaviours.

These condemnable acts of Senator Melaye, to us, are an attempt to destroy the age long political, social and economic relationship existing between the Yoruba in Kogi and their kith and kin in the South West.

It is needless to count how much the Lagos political structure has accommodated our people. Today, we have our son, Hon Abiodun Faleke, representing Lagos in the House of Reps while another, Emmanuel Aguda, is presently serving as Local Government Administrator in Lagos, and many others we cant mention here. This is as a result of the spirit of brotherhood, love and solidarity extended to us.

The group on behalf of every well-meaning people of Kogi West, tenders an unreserved apology to Senator Bola Tinubu and his wife over the unfortunate and regrettable action of Senator Dino Melaye.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday explained why queues resurfaced in Abuja petrol stations.

The corporation said the queues were ripple effect of the strike that oil workers under the umbrella of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) embarked upon before it was suspended on Tuesday.

The NNPC, however, advised residents of the nations capital and indeed Nigerians, to desist from panic buying of petroleum products as it has stock that could last for 30 days.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Malam Garba Deen, who made this known in a statement, noted that as a result, all PENGASSAN members have since resumed work on Wednesday, 13th July, 2016.

Therefore any perceived or visible shortage of petrol is only a ripple effect of the period when the strike was in progress and does not represent a shortage in supply.

Members of the public are advised not to engage in panic buying as there is no shortage of petrol.

The Corporation has sufficient fuel that will last for over 30 days.
Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has assured Ogoni people in the state that his administration will continue to execute critical infrastructural projects in the area, for the sustained empowerment of the people.

He gave the assurance at a stakeholders meeting involving him and Ogoni people at the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori.

In attendance at the meeting were lecturers, students, Ogoni traditional rulers, youths and women.

Governor Wike said that his administration would complete the Sakpwenwa-Bori-Kono Waterside road, rehabilitate of the Birabi Memorial Grammar School, Bori and develop infrastructure at the Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland and the seat of Khana LGA of the state.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu, the governor clarified that he had no plan to relocate the polytechnic, as alleged by some political opponents.

He noted that his plan for the tertiary institution was to invest quality resources, through increased grants and the execution of projects that would lead to the accreditation of all the academic programmes in the institution.

Wike also disclosed that his administration had started the reconstruction of the security architecture in Ogoniland to ensure the protection of lives and property.

We have been able to make Port Harcourt and its environs safer for the residents. Now, we will improve on the security of Bori and other communities in Ogoniland.

We are supporting security agencies through the provision of necessary logistics to tackle crime. We will take the battle to the criminals in all their hideouts, he was quoted in the statement as telling the people of Ogoniland.
Arlen Nordhagen, president and CEO of National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSAT), a Maryland real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in self-storage, discussed the impact of consolidation within the self-storage industry in a video interview recorded last month during REITWeek 2016, the investor forum for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT).

NSAT is among a group of large operators that has benefited from pursuing consolidation. The REIT recruits participating regional operators (PROs) to join its network and operate similar to a consortium. PROs retain their regional brand names and local expertise but benefit from a common Internet platform as part of the group, Nordhagen said.

NSAT has seven PROs comprising 318 self-storage facilities in 18 states. It expects to add an eighth during the third quarter. Since its inception in 2013, the REIT has grown quickly into one of the nations largest operators and pursued aggressive expansion. It ranked No. 6 last year in the annual Inside Self-Storage Top-Operators List, which ranks 100 of the industrys top operators by net rentable square feet. Since the end of the first quarter, it has either completed or put under contract approximately $390 million of acquisitions, representing 54 properties, according to the company.

The opportunity for consolidation has been there for years. The thing thats different now is that the scale benefits of Internet marketing and technology, which become more and more critical, are really driving the economic benefit, Nordhagen said in the interview. I do believe well start to see some pretty material consolidation.

As a reflection of its success, particularly in funds from operation, NSAT decided to increase its quarterly dividend by 10 percent, Nordhagen said.

REITWeek 2016 was held June 7-8 at the Waldorf Astoria New York in Midtown Manhattan, N.Y. The Nordhagen interview can be viewed on the associations website at REIT.com.

Headquartered in Greenwood, Colo., NSAT is a self-administered and -managed REIT focused on the acquisition, operation and ownership of self-storage properties within the top 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas throughout the United States. The companys portfolio comprises approximately 19 million net rentable square feet. It's owned by its affiliate operators, who are contributing their interests in their self-storage assets over the next few years as their current mortgage debt matures.

NAREIT describes itself, as the worldwide representative voice for REITs and publicly traded real estate companies with an interest in U.S. real estate and capital markets. REITWeek is designed to bring a large concentration of REIT management teams into one location, enabling them to share insights and their latest company developments.
One of the worlds most audacious wildcatters, Adolf Lundin embraced high-risk games and politically incorrect ventures. The Swedish legend amassed a fortune  after some staggering losses. Even as he faced the end of his life, he dreamed of one more oil strike. An Institutional Investor exclusive:

Adolf Lundins final interview.

In a sunlit mid-September afternoon, purebred horses graze on the hilly meadows of Adolf Lundins 120-acre farm near the French village of Romblaz, some 15 miles west of Geneva. With his century-old farmhouse under renovation, Lundin and his wife, Eva, have moved a few hundred yards away, into a two-bedroom guesthouse normally used by visiting relatives. The day is unseasonably warm, but Lundin, 73, wears a wool sweater, drapes a blanket over his lap and sits next to crackling flames in the stone fireplace of the houses spacious living room, with a vaulted ceiling two stories high. He is racked by the chills of advanced leukemia.

Eva, a breeder of show horses, offers coffee and then excuses herself. She wants to discuss with a foreman the construction work that remains at the main house.

An avid, lean-muscled jogger until disease struck four years ago, Lundin is tired. But he is eager to recount his life story  an improbable swashbuckling tale filled with harrowing ups and downs, brilliant bets, high-stake gambles and no end of controversy that altogether earned him the admiration of normally staid Swedish investors, the enmity of the Swedish press and a personal fortune estimated at $3 billion. Early on I learned that it takes as much time and effort to do a small project as a large one, Lundin explains, his spindly legs sticking out from beneath the blanket on his lap.

There was, seemingly, no place on earth Lundin would not go to find his fortune, nowhere he would not dig or deal. He found gold in Argentina; copper in the Congo; oil in Sudan and Malaysia; natural gas in the Middle East and Russia; nickel in Australia; and a variety of minerals in Canada, Europe and the U.S.

To finance these projects, Lundin created an unconventional business model that gave him management control, turned over technical tasks to more-experienced companies and drew capital from retail and institutional investors fired up by his vision of high risks and high returns from exotic corners of the globe. More-traditional business models depend on bank loans to finance projects, but Lundins ventures scared away banks  or drove up lending rates.

For years the Swedish press excoriated Lundin for cutting deals with governments notorious for corruption and brutality. Singling out an especially contentious Lundin oil venture in war-torn Sudan in 2001, Swedens then-minister of Foreign Affairs, the late Anna Lindh, called his activities detrimental to Swedens image. We expect Swedish companies to respect an ethical code in line with human rights and the environment in which they operate abroad, she said.

But there is no denying Lundins business acumen. While amassing a fortune for himself and his family, he earned at least twice that much for thousands of mostly Swedish and Swiss investors with the nerve to endure the steep rises and falls of Lundin stocks. It was wild, but if you stuck by Adolf, you made a lot of money, recalls Rudolf Muller, 66, a retired Swiss investment banker with UBS who invested his money and that of his clients with Lundin.

Eventually, Lundin built up his own exploration and production entities, the Lundin Group of Cos., now numbering 12. Eleven of them are publicly listed, with a total market capitalization of $11.9 billion. But at times Lundin failed so miserably that he was ridiculed by financiers and once forced to sell his home and car. I was never poor  just temporarily broke, he says.

Today, Lundin is best known for his investments in Russian natural gas. His Vostok Nafta Investment fund is the single largest foreign portfolio investor in Gazprom (see box). It has a 1.34 percent stake in the controversial, state-controlled Russian energy giant, whose market capitalization is $250 billion.

Yet even with time running out, Lundin is consumed by ambition. Asked if he had accomplished all his goals, he replies that in fact he dreams of one more spectacular venture: I would like to make a huge oil strike in Russia.

Two weeks later, on September 30, Adolf Lundin is dead.

He always had to win, recalls Bertil Gylling, 77, a friend who knew Lundin as a boy in Sweden. Gylling, who is now the retired chairman of his family investment company, AB Gylling & Co., says that in soccer games and sailing races, Lundin displayed an American-style competitiveness that was sometimes jarring in low-key, egalitarian Sweden.

The young Lundin identified with the rough-and-ready image of American cowboys and oil barons, even though neither existed in his Stockholm suburb of Appelviken. He spiced his English with tough-guy cliches  No guts, no glory and When the going gets tough, the tough get going  straight out of the Hollywood action movies that enthralled him as a boy. He was riveted by popular biographies of John D. Rockefeller and J. Paul Getty.

Although Lundin came from a middle-class family  his father, Harry, managed a brewery and later became a chemistry professor  he gravitated toward Swedish society. In 1957 he married Eva, the daughter of Walter Wehtje, who spent most of his career working for the Wallenbergs, the wealthiest Swedish business dynasty, rising to CEO of Investor AB, the familys holding company. Evas sister, Olga, married Marc Wallenberg, heir apparent to the business empire until his suicide in 1971. The Wallenberg connection gave Lundin badly needed cachet when he began to promote himself as a natural-resources entrepreneur.

Still, Lundins career got off to a slow start. After graduating as a mining engineer from the prestigious Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, he drilled exploratory oil wells in Colombia for Royal Dutch Shell Group from 1957 to 1960. But his repeated failure to strike oil earned him the nickname Saltwater Lundin at Shell, and he left the company. With financial support from his father-in-law, he earned an MBA in 1961 from the Centre dEtudes Industrielles in Geneva. His father-in-law then helped him land a job as head of oil exploration activities in the North Sea and later in Portugal for Nynas Petroleum, a company controlled by the Axelson Johnson Group, a leading Swedish business conglomerate.

But Lundin, who hadnt abandoned adolescent fantasies of becoming an American-style oil tycoon, chafed at the notion of remaining a well-paid management employee. John D. Rockefeller was long dead, he recalled in his interview with Institutional Investor. So Armand Hammer became my idol. He thought Hammer, the maverick American chairman of Occidental Petroleum, showed real genius by operating in high-risk countries that the oil majors avoided, like Libya, Peru and the Soviet Union. Like Hammer, Lundin was convinced that one of the few advantages a smaller natural-resources company enjoys over the global giants is the ability to gamble on projects in countries that are politically suspect and not creditworthy enough.

In 1966, after five years on the job, the restless Swede resigned his oil exploration post at Nynas and accepted an appointment as deputy director of the Centre dEtudes Industrielles, his former graduate school, where he took charge of fundraising and student recruitment and taught courses in petroleum economics. He found time to indulge a new passion  investing for himself and his wealthy in-laws in mining and oil companies listed on stock exchanges around the world.

In 1968, while at CEI, Lundin began managing his own small fund, First Investors International Mining and Petroleum Fund. As deputy director of CEI, he got to travel all around the world and would inspire his students with stories of new, exciting projects, recalls Bo Hjelt, a Swede who studied at CEI when Lundin was on the faculty and who became his partner in a mining company before starting his own management consultancy business. Lundin regaled students with stories of searching for oil in the Colombian jungles and exploring nickel sites in the Australian outback. Many former students invested in Lundins ventures and brought him other investors, says Hjelt.

Lundin would make Geneva his business headquarters for the remainder of his life. But in 1970 he left CEI to devote himself to investing and stock picking. That year he made his first substantial profit: He earned more than $300,000, more than tripling his speculative investment one year earlier in shares of Aaro Explorations, a Canadian lead and zinc mining company.

Over the next couple of decades, there would be much bigger wins  and losses  for Lundin and his investors. Lundin loyalists took it all philosophically: With Adolf, it was often a roller coaster, recalls Hjelt, a longtime investor in Lundin projects. You made a lot of money, and sometimes you were wiped out.

One loss at the outset nearly derailed the enterprise. The episode  detailed in a 2002 biography, Adolf H. Lundin, by Robert Eriksson, a Swedish journalist who later became head of investor relations for Lundin Group  was one that Lundin could blame only on his own boneheaded tactics.

A Lundin-managed fund, Austro International Investment Corp., devised a scheme in 1970 to buy up shares in Tasminex, an Australian mining company, if the fund were to receive news before the rest of the market that a large nickel deposit had been discovered. A secret contact, an employee at Tasminex, was supposed to send a coded telex to a Lundin associate that would read BUY THE FILLY if nickel was found, or DO NOT BUY THE FILLY if it was not. In fact, no nickel lode was located, but a garbled telex was misinterpreted by Lundin and his partners, and they hastily purchased a large stake in Tasminex. With no significant nickel deposits, Tasminex stock dropped, and the value of Austros shares plummeted more than 90 percent, from Sf1.5 million ($348,000) to only Sf100,000. (Tasminex, now known as Tasmania Mines, is still listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Austro was liquidated in 2002.)

Asked about the episode in his last interview, Lundin conceded that it took a lot of perseverance and some successful projects to regain investor confidence after the big loss. For a time, even the Wallenbergs shied away from him. As for the possibility of impropriety, Lundin seemed unconcerned. Back then, that kind of insider trading was legal in Australia, he said. In fact, Australia didnt pass stringent laws against insider trading until 1991.

It wasnt long before another ethically ambiguous episode helped establish Lundins reputation as a significant entrepreneur and a daring, innovative deal maker. In 1972, Lundin flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, to negotiate with the emir, Sheikh Khalifa bin-Hamad al-Thani, for a concession to explore and develop potential oil and gas fields in the Persian Gulf. The contact with the Qatar ruler had been made through an Egyptian, Ahmed el Dib, who became a 50-50 partner with Lundin in the deal.

For days Lundin stayed at the emirs palace  taking morning walks with the ruler through the gardens, conversing for hours  and made no headway. Finally, he thought up a ruse to further his cause: Claiming to be an infallible weather forecaster, he bet the emir $1 million that Qatar, despite its desert climate, would be drenched in rain the following day. The emir readily accepted the wager. Of course, it didnt rain, Lundin told his biographer. The emir got $1 million, and I got my first oil concession. In the interview at his farmhouse, Lundin asserted that such practices play a much diminished role in oil, gas and mineral deals nowadays. Officials have found other ways to make money, he said. Royalties and taxes, he suggested, offer ample opportunities to siphon off funds.

The emir gave Lundin only 120 days to create a consortium with the capital and technical expertise to carry out exploration and development off the Gulf coast. Lundin put together a group of German oil companies led by Wintershall, a subsidiary of chemicals conglomerate BASF. But the price was steep. Lundin and his Egyptian partner could keep only a 5 percent stake in the consortium  in effect, a finders fee and a commission for negotiating with the emir. The rest belonged to Wintershall and its partner companies.

But Lundin was in desperate straits, all the more so because the Wintershall consortium delayed drilling off Qatar for four years, until 1976. Returns from his other investments were disappointing. By then, Lundin and his family  wife Eva, sons Lukas and Ian, and daughters Nico and Mona  could no longer afford to live in Switzerland. But he dismissed any thought of moving back to Sweden. I still had good business contacts in Geneva, he said. And back then, Stockholm was not an international financial center.

The solution was to sell their large villa on the shores of Lake Geneva and move to a nonworking farm just across the border in France, where living costs were lower  and where Lundin would reside for the rest of his life. There was other belt-tightening. Eva drove the children to school in a beat-up old car, while Adolf commuted to his Geneva office by Vespa. According to friends, it was Evas money and emotional support that helped Lundin get through that period. He was very fortunate to have a wife like her, who believed in him even when things went so badly, says old friend Gylling. She never complained.

By the end of 1976, Lundins career had taken a dramatic turn for the better. The Wintershall consortium made a stunning strike: It wasnt oil, but natural gas  and in such quantities that the field turned out to be one of the largest ever. By 1980, Lundin and his Egyptian partners 5 percent stake was worth $15 million. Lundin sold his share and began to build up his other petroleum, gas and mining ventures. One of the earliest was International Petroleum Corp. In 1980 the company negotiated an oil and gas concession in the Persian Gulf. To finance drilling, Lundin turned to the Vancouver Stock Exchange, which was known for financing mining projects, to issue C$8 million ($6.8 million) in shares representing 70 percent of International Petroleum.

It was the beginning of a business model in which a Lundin company would purchase a concession, keep 30 percent for the family and sell the rest either to another natural-resources company or to outside shareholders  or to a combination of both.

Still, the roller-coaster ride wasnt over. In 1977, Lundin established Musto Explorations, a mining and investment company. He kept 30 percent, and the remaining shares went mainly to Canadian and European investors. In 1983, Musto bought the rights to a gallium and germanium deposit in Utah and invested $13 million in the venture. But when the project finally got started after a three-year delay, the yields were barely one eighth of what had been anticipated. By the time the project was abandoned in 1988, it had cost $35 million. The Utah debacle was one of the costliest failures in the history of Lundin Group, but it was followed by one of its biggest bonanzas: a gold and copper strike at an undeveloped site, Bajo de la Alumbrera, in Argentina.

In 1992, Argentina was reeling from years of political and economic instability that had scared off foreign investors, particularly from long-term ventures like mining. Not Lundin. Through his company International Musto Exploration  Musto Explorations successor, in which Lundin and his family once again held a 30 percent stake  Lundin purchased the rights to the undeveloped gold and copper deposits of the northwestern province of Catamarca, paying the local government a paltry $2 million in cash and agreeing to turn over 20 percent of any future net profits once mining operations got under way and the original investment had been recovered. International Musto issued $12 million in new shares, mainly to Swedish and Swiss investors, to pay for a feasibility study. It concluded that Bajo de la Alumbrera contained up to 300 tons of gold and 2.7 million tons of copper. In 1994, International Musto sold a 50 percent stake in the project to Australian mining company Mount Isa Mines for $130 million. And the following year, on Lundins recommendation, International Musto shareholders sold the remaining 50 percent to two other mining companies  Australian North and Rio Algom, a Canadian operation  for $325 million. This is the biggest deal of my life, Lundin told a Swedish news agency in a 1995 interview.

With Adolf Lundins death, control of the entire Lundin portfolio of companies has been turned over to his sons Lukas, 48, and Ian, 45, who have helped manage the group for the past 12 years.

Lundin gave his sons little choice but to run his businesses. Lukas recalls a family vacation on the French Riviera in 1970 when his father took his sons to a cafe and informed them that it was time to decide who would eventually take over his mining ventures and who would take charge of oil and gas activities. He then left, says Lukas. Neither Ian nor I really knew what to do. When their father returned ten minutes later, Lukas, 12, had agreed to be the miner, while Ian, not quite ten, opted for oil and gas.

The two brothers seem comfortable with the division of labor. We complement each other very well, says Lukas, chairman of the various Lundin mining companies and based in Vancouver. Im the builder and entrepreneur. And my brother is the organizer who makes sure everything works.

Its an assessment shared by Ian, based in Geneva. He points out that Lundin companies are now run in a style that suits his temperament as well as the demands of institutional investors, whose holdings have overtaken those of retail investors. Unlike earlier times, when they were just wildcatters who partnered with bigger operating firms, today almost all Lundin ventures are vertically integrated companies that carry out exploration, production and sales. We are definitely more organized and disciplined, says Ian, who oversees most of the oil and natural-gas ventures as well as the trust that invests the Lundin family fortune. Twenty years ago we were cowboys.

Despite the huge risks involved in his projects, Adolf Lundin was always able to raise capital among Swedish businessmen, professionals and shopkeepers with a reputation for being conservative investors. He came along at a time when Swedes were investing mostly in rather dull engineering companies, and he showed them the possibilities that existed in emerging markets, says Peter Elam Hakansson, chairman of Stockholm-based East Capital, which manages $2 billion in Russian equities. He was also a very good storyteller  utterly fascinating.

Members of the Swedish financial community liken Lundins fundraising efforts with retail investors to church revival meetings. Mats Carlsson, now head of equities for Ohman Fondkomission, a Stockholm-based investment bank and brokerage, recalled his first encounter with Lundin in 1991. It was at a meeting with investors in a cramped room at the brokerage that employed Carlsson at the time. Lundin spoke passionately about his various companies to maybe 30 or 40 investors  everybody from mom-and-pop storekeepers to some successful entrepreneurs, says Carlsson. At the end, I just stood at the door and took their stock orders, from a couple of thousand dollars to $200,000.

Lundin never hid the risks involved in his ventures and always put up sizable capital of his own. Muller, the retired Swiss investment banker, urged clients to follow his own rules: Never touch your retirement savings or mortgage the house  and invest only money you can afford to lose. But people made money and then kept reinvesting it all, he says. They forgot these were very speculative projects  and a lot of them got angry when their shares tumbled.

The Swedish press also began to take aim at Lundin. It wasnt the risk of his projects (there were in fact more winners than losers), but rather the political controversies they raised. For example, despite Swedens support of a global economic embargo against apartheid-era South Africa, Lundin invested in a gold project in that country in 1982. The venture, East Daggafontein Mines, was one of the least expensive gold producing sites in the world. By early 1983, Lundin and his partners  British asset manager M&G Securities and French bank BNP  owned 35 percent of the operation and took management control. Lundins original 1 million rand investment ($926,000) earned him 20 million rand when he sold his 10 percent stake in 1988. (By then the rands value had dropped against the dollar, making Lundins stake worth $8.8 million.)

In his last interview Lundin defended East Daggafontein. We improved the lives of people we worked with there, he said. He also asserted that tax revenues from projects like his gold operation created a solid economic foundation for the postapartheid era that began in 1994 under then-president Nelson Mandela. But Lundin cant claim to have known in the mid-1980s that the brutally repressive white minority rule was nearing an end in South Africa.

The Swedish media was also blistering in its attacks on Lundin for negotiating with Zaires dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, for a copper concession in 1996. Mobutu, who took power in a military coup in 1972 and remained dictator until his death in 1997, siphoned a personal fortune estimated at more than $5 billion from his poverty-stricken nations treasury, while executing hundreds of suspected opponents. Lundins response to his critics came in a January 1997 interview with the Canadian national daily the Financial Post. If you want to find the really big reserves today, whether ore bodies or oil fields, he said, you are forced to operate in countries that are not popular with the general public.

In 2001, Lundin was denounced in the Swedish media for his oil investments in Sudan, a country shattered by civil war. Human rights groups alleged that the Sudanese armed forces were using a road built by Lundin Oil, an exploration and production company, to mount attacks against insurgents belonging to the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army, or SPLA, in the southern part of the country. In a November 2003 report, Human Rights Watch took Lundin Oil and Canadas Talisman Energy to task. Oil companies operating in Sudan were aware of the killing, bombing and looting that took place in the south, all in the name of opening up the oil fields, wrote Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch. These facts were repeatedly brought to their attention in public and private meetings, but they continued to operate and make a profit as the devastation went on.

But Lundin rejected any blame for the atrocities. We are bringing the Sudan out of misery, he asserted in a March 2001 interview with Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri. Later that year, however, Lundin Oil ceased all drilling because battles were raging within its concession area, and the company was sold to Talisman for $400 million. With the proceeds, Lundin created Lundin Petroleum, currently its main oil and gas exploration and production company. In June 2003, Lundin Petroleum sold its remaining interest in a Sudanese concession to Malaysias Petronas Carigali for $142.5 million. But after the 2005 peace accord between Sudan and the SPLA rebels, Lundin Petroleum decided to return to the country; it is planning to drill three exploratory wells in southern Sudan by early 2007.

Despite the controversies, Lundin was hardly a pariah. His stature as a leading Swedish entrepreneur abroad led King Carl XVI Gustaf to name him international Swede of the year in 1998. Lundin was able to persuade some prominent Swedes  including former prime minister Carl Bildt and economist Anders Aslund, a onetime adviser to former Russian president Boris Yeltsin  to sit on the boards of his companies.

Lundin used his younger brother Bertil, a senior intelligence officer in Swedens Defense Ministry who briefed the prime minister almost daily, to help woo Bildt after he stepped down as head of government in 1994. Bertil, who died in 2004, arranged meetings between his brother and the former prime minister in Stockholm and later in Geneva, where Bildt served as the United Nations secretary generals special envoy to the Balkans from 1999 to 2001. Bildt accepted Lundins offer to join the board of directors of Vostok Nafta Investment in 2000 and stayed at the post until last month, when he was appointed foreign minister in the new center-right Swedish government. He has been a very valuable board member, says Ian Lundin, alluding to Bildts political instincts.

Political savvy has certainly been essential in Lundins dealings with Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly that accounts for more than 90 percent of Vostok Naftas $3.8 billion portfolio and about one third of Lundin Groups total assets. Vostok Nafta, run by chief executive Per Brilioth, first started investing in Gazprom in the mid-1990s, when it began building up a portfolio of Russian energy companies. According to Lundin, he had initially considered buying Siberian oil fields but decided that the lawlessness and violence surrounding the privatization of oil and gas in those years just after the collapse of the Soviet Union made it too risky a venture even for him. Since it wasnt possible to wildcat in Siberia, I wildcatted on the Moscow stock exchange, said Lundin during the interview at his French farmhouse.

His gamble paid off: In 2005, Vostok Naftas net income was $1.04 billion, compared with $336 million the year before. But now  under pressure to offer a more diversified fund  Lundins sons are thinking about winding down Vostok Nafta or transforming it as they continue to look for other investments in Russia. The most promising oil concession acquired by Lundin Petroleum, where Ian is chairman, is at a Caspian Sea site. It is contiguous to the area where Lukoil has already discovered an estimated 1 billion barrels. This is the promised oil strike that Adolf Lundin spoke about so excitedly in his final interview.

He was still talking about the venture on the phone to Brilioth on Thursday morning, September 28. Then pneumonia set in. With his wife and four children at his bedside, Lundin asked for a dose of morphine. He woke once and asked for another dose.

Death came on Saturday morning. In keeping with his wishes, his body was cremated and the ashes scattered over his beloved farm meadows. As his former biographer pointed out, Like almost everything he did in life, he planned the end well.i
Winter is coming.

Fans of Game of Thrones will immediately recognize these words, uttered by Ned Stark in the first episode of the popular HBO series  and repeated frequently by him and members of his family. As head of House Stark, Ned is warden of the North, one of the seven kingdoms that make up the continent of Westeros. Seasons in this fictional land  meant to be roughly the size of South America, according to creator George R.R. Martin  vary in length, can last several years and are difficult to predict. When the story begins, Westeros has just enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous decadelong summer, but, as Ned Stark cautions, a cold and dangerous winter is fast approaching.

Fixed-income investors may want to heed his warning. After more than three decades, the bull market in bonds may finally be coming to an end. In early July the yield on ten-year Treasury notes hit an all-time low of 1.37 percent, down from 1.74 percent just two weeks earlier, as nervous investors sought safe haven in the wake of the U.K. vote in favor of Brexit. The yield was even lower than in June 2012, when ten-year Treasuries fell below 1.5 percent for the very first time on fears of Europes then-deepening debt crisis. The Brexit-induced panic was short-lived, however: Equity markets rebounded after the Conservative Party chose former U.K. Home secretary Theresa May to be that nations new prime minister. Still, with a yield of 1.54 percent on July 14, ten-year Treasuries were anything but cheap.

Theres something of a mass psychosis going on related to the so-called starvation for yield, DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeff Gundlach told investors during a call two days earlier. Call me old-fashioned, but I dont like investments where if youre right you dont make any money.

Gundlach, who has earned the title of Bond King for his prescient market calls in recent years, has been stuffing DoubleLines flagship $60 billion Total Return Bond Fund with high-quality paper (principally, agency and other mortgage securities) and cash. At the end of June, the fund had just 3.4 percent of its assets in Treasuries, which Gundlach predicts will rise in yield to 2 percent next year.

For proof of the madness in the bond kingdom, investors need look no further than Germany, which in July became the first euro zone nation to issue debt with a negative yield. Buyers of ten-year Bunds are essentially paying the German government for the privilege of lending it money. The leaders of Westeros may want to remember that the next time they visit the Iron Bank of Braavos looking to finance one of their wars.

Follow Michael Peltz on Twitter at @mppeltz.
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You can get your financial advice from books, friends, life experience or Investopedia. Finance documentaries are also a great way to gain insight and knowledge. Or, you can flip on the television and find a show about investing in stocks, saving for retirement or increasing your business savvy. With so many programs to choose from, it can be a daunting task finding the show thats right for you, but rest assured that show is out there.

No article about finance programming would be complete without mentioning financial guru Suze Orman. Unfortunately, she ended her 14-year CNBC show in 2015. Shes now developing Money Wars, a new daily show where she will help friends, families and couples solve disputes they have over money. We imagine shell be the Judge Judy of money. Until that one premieres, there are plenty of shows to flip on when youre in the market for some money advice. Here is a look at eight of the best television shows about finance.

Mad Money with Jim Cramer

This one is hosted byyou guessed itJim Cramer, and his main goal is to help people become better investors. It airs weeknights on CNBC, so you have plenty of chances to tune in during the week. My job is not to tell you what to think, but to teach you how to think about the market like a pro, Cramer says in his mission statement. He teaches you how to analyze stocks and looks down on the notion of get rick quick tips. Mad Money is all about breaking into the country club, says Cramer. So its for people who want to save for retirement or their kids college fund, not for people who think of it as a game and wont lose sleep if they lose a chunk of change. There are guest interviews, viewer calls and Cramers opinions about which stocks to watch and which ones to avoid. Find air dates/times here.

Your Money

This one airs on CNN on Saturday mornings. Its hosted by Christine Romans, and she breaks down the business news of the week and shows you how it impacts your bottom line. Youll find out what costs are on the rise and whats on the decline. There are man-on-the-street interviews about the price of parking tickets and segments on everything from education to saving for retirement to cell phone deals. Romans Twitter bio calls her the CNN explainer-in-chief of all things money. Find dates/times here.

Squawk Box

This CNBC show has been called the ultimate premarket morning news and talk program. Big names in business and politics share their stories and offer insight. Its anchored by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Quick has interviewed financial heavy hitters like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan, T. Boone Pickens, Jamie Dimon and Charlie Munger. Kernen had a 10-year career as a stockbroker before switching careers, so he knows his stuff. Sorkin is financial columnist for The New York Times and the editor-at-large of "DealBook." Hes also the author of Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial Systemand Themselves. If youre up early Monday through Friday, check it out. Find dates/times here.

Shark Tank

ABCs Shark Tank isnt a straight-up finance show, but it will teach you about smart investing if you watch closely. It also teaches how to pitch to investors, what not to say and how to make your product irresistible. Its all about entrepreneurship. On the show, real-life inventors and entrepreneurs pitch their products to real-life investors, the so-called sharks. If the sharks believe in the product, they invest their own money. Sharks include billionaire Mark Cuban, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, Queen of QVC Lori Greiner, tech innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion and branding expert Daymond John and venture capitalist Kevin O'Leary. Its a must-watch for any budding entrepreneurs out there. Find dates/times here.

Money Matters

RLTV is a cable network and online hub aimed at the audience it calls Generation 50+. The host of Money Matters is Jean Chatzky, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, and the financial editor for NBCs TODAY Show. She is also the personal finance contributor for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." Find dates/times here.

Charlie Rose

Not a traditional finance show, but still a great source for information on the economy and the state of the world. On Charlie Roses iconic PBS show, the master interviewer has talked to movie stars, heads of state, authors and finance gurus. Youll have to check upcoming schedules to see when finance whizzes and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates or business guru Tom Peters are on, and you can watch older episodes online. Chances are, youll probably learn something. Find dates/times here.

The Profit

Like Shark Tank, CNBCs The Profit is all about investing and entrepreneurship. Financial whiz Marcus Lemonis hosts, and he helps people transform their struggling businesses into thriving ventures. Whether its a hamburger joint, a cosmetics company or a drum maker, Lemonis teaches them how to build their business. Its entertaining but also very educational, especially if youre trying to start your own business. Find dates/times here.

The Bottom Line

There are plenty of television shows out there if youre looking for some solid financial advice. You can also usually catch older episodes online. Check them outyoure bound to learn a thing or two about money.


Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 15 July 2016

HAECO Americas Signs LOI with Mitsubishi Aircraft

Corporation to Become a Preferred Provider of MRJ

Airframe MRO Services

HAECO Americas, a subsidiary of the HAECO Group with headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA, announced today that it signed a letter of intent with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation at the Farnborough International Airshow to become a preferred airframe Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul ("MRO") partner for Mitsubishi Regional Jet ("MRJ") in North America.

The collaboration will provide MRJ customers with a best-in-class airframe MRO service solution through an established authorised maintenance organisation, capable of delivering full-spectrum support. Through Mitsubishi's preferred MRO provider network, HAECO Americas will offer scheduled and unscheduled airframe maintenance as well as special maintenance services, including service bulletin incorporation and post-production modification.

Richard Kendall, CEO of HAECO Americas, said: "We are excited to announce the collaboration with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. HAECO Americas is proud to be part of a select group of companies chosen to support MRJ and its customers by delivering MRO services of the highest quality. We look forward to working closely with Mitsubishi to facilitate maintenance operations, developing a strong service infrastructure and exceeding customer expectations with our comprehensive service capabilities."

HAECO Americas expects to finalise a formal agreement for a service network contract in the near future with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation for MRJ.

-End-

About Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited ("HAECO Group")

The HAECO Group is one of the world's leading aircraft engineering and maintenance service providers. HAECO Group provides a comprehensive range of services encompassing Airframe Services, Line Services, Cabin Solutions, Private Jet Solutions, Fleet Technical Management, Inventory Technical Management, Component Overhaul, Aerostructure Repairs, Landing Gear Services, Engine Services, Parts Manufacturing and Technical Training. The HAECO Group consists of 18 subsidiaries and affiliates, employing around 17,000 staff in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore and the United States. The HAECO Group is publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 00044). HAECO Group's website: www.haeco.com

About HAECO Americas

A wholly-owned subsidiary of the HAECO Group, HAECO Americas (formerly TIMCO Aviation Services) supports global aircraft operators and owners with comprehensive aircraft care services including base maintenance from three multi-hangar locations, engine MRO and line maintenance support across the U.S. The company's HAECO Cabin Solutions division provides interiors design, engineering, certification and cabin reconfiguration services, as well as manufactured products including passenger seating, structures, galleys and lavatories. HAECO Americas' website: www.haeco.aero
Irish Distillers-owned Jameson Whiskey is one of the top 50 leading spirit brands in the world, according to a new survey. Irelands most popular whiskey placed 49th in the International Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR) Real 100 list of top alcoholic drinks. Diageo-owned Baileys, another Irish brand, placed 37th on the list.

Jameson, with sales of over five million cases, saw volumes rise 8.9 percent worldwide last year, moving to 49th up from 55th place the previous year, the Irish Times reports. Baileys, with sales of 6.2 million last year, has climbed up two places.

Jinro Soju, a South Korean vodka brand which sold over 65 million cases, is the number one top selling spirits brand in the world. Two other soju brands also made the top 10.

Indian whisky brand ABDs Officer Choice, in second place, saw the largest volume growth of all top 100 brands last year, with an additional 4.5 million cases sold, surpassing 34 million total.

Local whiskies and other local spirit brands dominate the list and far outnumber brands from more internationally facing categories such as Scotch whisky or gin, reports the Irish Times.

Smirnoff vodka, which overtook Diageo brand McDowells whiskey to become the fifth largest global spirits brand, is the first international brand to appear on the Real 100 list. It remains the largest-selling vodka globally. Diageo brand Johnnie Walker kept its place in the top ten despite a flat year in volume growth.

Here are the top 10 spirits brands worldwide:

1. Jinro

2. Officers Choice

3. Ruang Kao

4. Emperador

5. Smirnoff

6. McDowells

7. Chum Churum

8. Hong Tong Liquer

9. Good Day

10. Johnnie Walker
Pressure is growing for President Michael D. Higgins to seek a second successive seven-year term in office.

A poll in the Irish Times had a majority of voters, 58 percent, saying he should seek a second term.

Higgins, 75, has held the office since 2011. He will be 77 if he seeks to be returned again and almost 85 at the end of the second term.

During the 2011 campaign Higgins said he would not seek a second term. However, over the past year he has declined to rule it out.

In the history of the office only one incumbent president, Eamon de Valera in 1965, fought for re-election. All others were returned unopposed.

Fianna Fails attitude would be pivotal in determining whether an election is required if Higgins opts to seek a second term.

Some believe Higgins would be difficult to defeat. Others, acknowledging he has performed well, firmly believe he should be opposed in a second run.

Limerick City TD Willie O'Dea, believes Fianna Fail has no choice but to contest in 2018.

It is very early in the process and we have had no discussion. But my own personal view is that we should contest the presidency. The circumstances in 2011, when we did not contest, were unique, and things are different now, ODea said.

In the Irish Times poll, 36 percent said Higgins should not seek a second term and six percent had no opinion.

His biggest backing came from Labour supporters, and there was strong support among Fine Gael and Independent voters.

The strongest opposition came from Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail voters.
Though immigration reform advocates suffered a big setback with the Supreme Court decision last month to block President Obamas executive orders that would have provided relief for childhood arrivals and undocumented parents of U.S. citizens, Irelands ambassador to the U.S. Anne Anderson has vowed to continue the Irish governments push for relief for the undocumented -- even though, she said, some of the immigration discourse on the 2016 presidential campaign trail has been shocking.

On Tuesday, the ambassador delivered a speech at the biennial convention of the AOH and LAOH in Atlantic City that outlined the difficulty supporters of reform have encountered -- a reality magnified by the campaign of GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump, who has centered his White House quest on the construction of a wall on the Mexican border, and the deportation of the undocumented currently here.

Though Anderson didnt mention Trump by name, she said Irish immigration activists have to soberly remind ourselves of the repeated setbacks and disappointments of recent years. Clearly there are no certainties. Over the past months of the presidential campaign, the anti-immigration rhetoric we have heard in some quarters has been shocking.

Relief for the undocumented Irish has been a centerpiece of Andersons time in Washington, D.C. She has consistently advocated for both the undocumented and immigration reform that would allow for a future flow legal Irish immigration to the U.S.

We have knocked on so many doors. we have made our case over and over, we have felt ourselves on the verge of a breakthrough only to be set back again, and for months now, there has been an extended stalemate as the November elections cast their long shadow, Anderson told the Hibernian delegates.

The Supreme Court decision last month, which stymied President Obamas executive action on immigration, was another grievous blow.

Anderson added, I am conscious of how deeply this frustration is felt in the community. All of us know people who are affected, who are trapped in their lives in the shadows, and who, every single day, feel and live the consequences of Congressional inaction. 

Though Anderson cautioned AOH members that there are no certainties given the volatile state of the U.S. election so far, she expressed hope that logic, common sense, economic self-interest, will ultimately prevail.

Should that be the case, Anderson urged AOH members to remain diligent in their efforts to ensure immigration reform.

If things are indeed to move in 2017, now is the time to lay the groundwork. As far as the government and our diplomatic network are concerned, I can pledge that no effort will be spared, she vowed.

The taoiseach and ministers will continue to raise the issue at every opportunity. We will monitor the presidential campaign platforms and robustly make our case to whatever administration emerges, and we will continue to try to energize and enlist members of Congress to our cause.

Anderson praised the AOH for its efforts on immigration reform, particularly the organizations national immigration chairman Dan Dennehy.

I am conscious of all your work at community level to extend a helping hand to the undocumented. Together, let us do everything possible over the months ahead to try to give this a final push forward, Anderson said.

Irelands first female ambassador to the U.S. touched on a number of topics during her speech to AOH delegates, including the fallout from the U.K.s Brexit vote from an Irish perspective, and the hugely positive U.S. 1916 commemorations.

With regards to Brexit and the potential for a new hard border between the North and the Republic Anderson said, For our government, the priority is clear: we do not want a situation where the border between the two parts of our island hardens. We have come too far, and too much has been sacrificed, for that to be allowed happen. The focus of the governments efforts will be to protect all the progress achieved through the Good Friday Agreement and successor agreements, and build on it further.

Anderson added that the possibility of a referendum on a united Ireland isnt likely in the near future. The AOH national leadership called for a vote on a united Ireland last month, given the Brexit result.

It is our belief that such a poll could be divisive at this time, that there is very little possibility of it being won in any event, and that it would distract from the absolute priority of protecting the gains of recent decades, Anderson told delegates.

We believe that the immediate priority should be for the two governments and the Northern Ireland Executive to work urgently and intensively together to find solutions to the various challenges that a U.K. exit will present.

With regards to the overwhelming success of the 1916 celebrations throughout the U.S., Anderson said, We have seen the energy that is generated when we come together around common projects, when there is a sense of connection to something larger. Let us consider how we might distil the essence of this, and examine whether there are ways we might apply that same energy and spirit in other shared causes and endeavors.

She also touched upon the fact that the Irish arent the demographic force they used to be in America, and that the challenges for the community are changing as a result.

As avenues for legal immigration from Ireland have narrowed over recent decades, there are markedly fewer first and second generation Irish, Anderson said.

Especially against this background, the challenge for Irish America is one of constant renewal  valuing our roots and our past, but being ready to rethink and reimagine. This is what our forebears did: taking the emigrant ship, reinventing themselves in their new homeland, adapting and changing with each generation.

The AOH and LAOH will elect new leadership on Thursday. Outgoing presidents are Brendan Moore and Mary Hogan. The AOHs highest honor, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Medal, will be awarded to Major General Patrick Henry Brady at the closing banquet of the convention on July 14.
At a packed Irish event in Atlantic City, the Ancient Order of Hibernians national convention on Wednesday evening July 13, Sinn Fein's Vice President and Dublin TD Mary Lou McDonald appealed for help from Irish Americans to put a referendum on Irish unity to the people of Ireland and to put an end to partition.

She stated: The recent Brexit vote in England, to leave the European Union, has serious implications for Ireland.

We face the prospect of the north of Ireland being dragged out of the EU, having voted to remain.

We face the prospect of a hard border being imposed on Ireland, dividing not just land but people.

She continued: Progress achieved through the Good Friday Agreement will be threatened.

McDonald noted that Irish America played a crucial role in the peace process, it could not have happened without that assistance. I'm asking here tonight that Irish America again raise your voice in support of unity and support our demand for a referendum on unity and for an end to partition."

The Sinn Fein second-in-command also spoke of the significant role played by Irish America 100 years ago in support of the Easter Rising.

"Irish America has never let us down," she said, pointing to the years of work for Ireland's right to freedom and justice.

"Those that came here in search of a new and better life never forgot where they came from and the desire to see Ireland take its place among the nations of the world holds strong to this day."

During her US trip, McDonald also visited Washington DC and met Senator Elizabeth Warren and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Maureen Mitchell is President of Global Sales and marketing at GE Asset Management. She was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Irish America Top 50 Power Women awards. Here is her incredibly inspiring speech. To read the feature interview with her, click here.

Theres an old Irish expression I love: Whats bred in the bone will come out in the marrow. Its what comes to mind as I contemplate this group of extraordinarily accomplished Irish and Irish American women, in whose company I am deeply honored to stand.

Irish women are natural leaders. Its in our DNA, our history, our mythology, our literature, our politics. My fellow speaker, Ambassador Anne Anderson  Irelands first female representative to the UN, to the EU, to France, and now to the United States  is a perfect embodiment of this.

That fearlessness, that resilience, that independence which characterize Irish women are part of our core. Theyre bred in our bones.

When I look back on my own mothers solo journey to America  which mirrored that of so many other Irish girls in the last century, traveling to a new world, never expecting to go home again  thats what I see. Strong, fearless women.

It takes no small degree of courage to undertake this kind of venture  from hardship and striving, through risk and uncertainty, to finally creating a stable family setting, then making room for the next generation. It takes leadership. It takes the ability to handle change, to pivot, to roll with the punches.

Womens entire lives are about change  physical, emotional, situational. If you are a mother, you understand change. You understand crisis. You understand nurturing, listening. You understand exhaustion! You understand the fundamental unpredictability of life.

Irish women have a special kind of strength and toughness  muscles accumulated from centuries of determination, of facing down adversity. Its a kind of connective tissue that links us across the generations, the globe, and the centuries.

And I believe it links all of us present here today.

Women are valued in Irish families. Mine was no exception. Ours was a traditional, working class family in Manhattan. My mother came from Galway, and my father from Sligo, although they met here. My father worked for the NY Transit Authority, while my mother ran our house  like the general she was always meant to be.

Both my parents had a very steady hand, and instilled in me and my brother and sister a set of expectations around industriousness, conduct  and helping others  that were crystal clear. Our chores, our responsibilities, our sense of duty. All of these, I think, gave us a sense of self, a sense of place  just as they had given my parents, and so many other immigrants, a sense of continuity as they made their way in this new world.

These virtues were the backbone of my own determination to work hard. And although my mother and father would most certainly not recognize the professional environment I inhabit today  in a very real way, I stand on their shoulders.

This is the American story, the story of immigration that continues to enrich our nation. But it is also, in very specific ways, an Irish story. A story of fortitude and strength to overcome obstacles. Its in our marrow.

Ive been given so much by my heritage, my parents, and by wonderful, generous mentors, both men and women, along the way. People like Maureen Bateman and Dmitri Stockton. They have shown me what a difference one person can make at a key point in another persons life  and inspired me to pay it forward in turn.

If I stand here today it is not just because of my hard work or even my good fortune. Its also because of them.

This is a story that continues through the perspectives and accomplishments of each successive American generation.

The beauty of immigration is that it ripples, paying dividends to our country for decades, centuries even. Immigration is woven into Americas DNA. It is a necessary part of our greater whole. It renews and completes us, generation after generation.

And speaking of generations, I can state honestly that no two people have taught me more than my daughters, Fiona and Megan  two more strong, independent, accomplished Irish American women. To see them make their own decisions, and thrive on their own terms  just as I tried to do at their age  has been the greatest reward of my life. And I am so proud of them.

Fiona is a pediatric neurologist completing a fellowship at Stanford, now expecting her own first daughter. Megan is a zoologist at the Ft. Worth Zoo. So they got the science genes! Neither could be with me today, Fiona is home growing a baby as we say, and Meg is running part of a zoo.

The girls tease me sometimes about my own experience growing up Irish American. But then I realize thats because their experience has been so profoundly different than mine  as different in a way as mine was from my mothers. And as different as their daughters experiences will be from theirs.

I note with satisfaction that their own sense of place in the world, their own sense of belonging, has been larger, deeper, more confident than mine  although Im not sure if they really know to what extent theyve benefited from the experiences of their forebears.

I think my daughters just assumed, from watching me, that you could do or be whatever you wanted to do or be  if you were willing to work hard enough, and had the intellect, and applied it.

Perhaps thats the truest measure of the success of those who came before us.

Thats what you want for your children; especially as a child of immigrants. Thats where the great hope lies. The promise in the heart of so many of our humble Irish ancestors  bred in the bone, still there in our marrow.

I thank you again for this honor.
Update 1.20am: Turkish media reports cited MIT, the national intelligence agency, as saying the coup had been defeated. The MIT website was not immediately accessible from Turkey.

MIT spokesman Nuh Yilmaz said General Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, was back in control.

Mr Yilmaz said "General Akar is back on top of his duties. Everything is returning to normal."

Update 12.45pm: The Anadolu Agency has reported that a bomb has hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

Footage appears to be #Ankara, shows crowds around (surrounding?) troop vehicles. https://t.co/eyyRK9PRtI #Turkey 'Troops came to palace'  Mark Coughlan (@Mark_Coughlan) July 15, 2016

Update 12.10am: Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency has said 17 police officers were killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters in outskirts of Ankara.

Update 11.45pm: Turkish news agency Dogan said soldiers had opened fired on people trying to cross Istanbul's Bosporus bridge in protest of the attempted coup, and some had been wounded.

Turkey's Istanbul-based first army commander said the soldiers involved in the attempted coup "represent a small group" and "there is no cause for concern", according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Umit Dundar told Anadolu that "we are working to solve the problem here. They represent a small group within the First Army Command. There is no cause for concern. We are taking the necessary precautions with (soldiers) who have not joined them and remain within the military chain of command."

Rogue soldiers open fire at coup protesters on Bosphorus Bridge, injuring at least 5 https://t.co/zVkqI7ttaa pic.twitter.com/eYwAuJlJjd  BNO News (@BNONews) July 15, 2016

Update 11.20pm: Loud explosions were heard in Turkey's capital Ankara and CNN-Turk reported an explosion at the state-run television building.

Turkey's state-run news agency said military helicopters had also attacked the headquarters of TURKSAT satellite station on the outskirts of Ankara and the Ankara police headquarters.

Dozen of tanks were seen moving towards a palace that is now used by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers.

A civilian car tried to stop one of the tanks, but it rammed through the vehicle as those in the car escaped.

The White House said President Barack Obama hads been briefed on developments in the key Nato ally.

Flag-waving crowds gather in Istanbul's Taksim Square after Turkey's President urged people to take to the streets https://t.co/SxkRWtk7GF  Sky News (@SkyNews) July 15, 2016

The National Security Council said Mr Obama had been apprised the "unfolding situation" in Turkey and would continue to get regular updates.

US secretary of state John Kerry says he hoped for stability and continuity in Turkey following the reports.

Mr Kerry, in Moscow for talks with Russian officials on Syria, said he did not have details of the situation rapidly unfolding on the ground in Turkey and said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on developments.

But he expressed hope that the key ally and strategically important member of the coalition fighting the Islamic State would remain at peace.

VIDEO: Military helicopter opens fire at Turkish Intelligence Agency MIT HQ https://t.co/B86WmvscrR https://t.co/abXOZuFW2M  RT (@RT_com) July 15, 2016

Update 11pm: Turkey's president has urged citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government after the military said it seized full control of the country.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to CNN-Turk through FaceTime, called the actions by the military "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces".

Helicopters buzz Ankara as military attempt to take over govt https://t.co/B86WmvscrR pic.twitter.com/KEZlymG4Oj  RT (@RT_com) July 15, 2016

The president's office refused to disclose Mr Erdogan's whereabouts, saying he was at a secure location.

Mr Erdogan said "I don't believe this coup attempt will be successful.

"There is absolutely no chain of command here. Right now the chain of command has been put on hold."

Update 10.50pm: Reports of helicopters opening fire and a 'strong explosion' in Ankara.

#BREAKING Strong explosion heard in Turkish capital Ankara: AFP  AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

Update 10.30pm: President Erdogan is calling on people of Turkey to go out into the streets, Reuters reported.

[social]twitter]https://twitter.com/laurapitel/status/754064845415280640[/social]

Hundreds of people pour into streets in #Istanbul as news of military coup spreads. Picture: Twitter. pic.twitter.com/fTqNKGHifp  Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) July 15, 2016

Update 10.25pm: Irish citizens in Turkey are advised to stay indoors until the situation becomes clearer.

The phone number for the Irish Embassy in Istanbul is +90 212 482 1862.

Update 10.20pm: A military statement read on state TV said armed forces have seized power, citing rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism.

Update 10pm: The Dogan agency reported that the statement said that the military did this "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated".

The military statement went on to say that "all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue".

MORE: Turkish military jets fly low over Istanbul https://t.co/pC7pYvXEli pic.twitter.com/TC4CrO7deq  RT (@RT_com) July 15, 2016

Update 9.50pm: Reports say the Turkish military has released a statement saying armed forces have "fully seized control" of running the country.

Update 9.45pm: AFP are reporting that Turkey's top general is being held hostage.

#BREAKING Turkey's top general 'held hostage' at military HQ: state agency  AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

Update 9.40pm: "We are focusing on the possibility of an attempt (coup)," Mr Yildirim said.

"There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy."

The Dogan news agency says one-way traffic on the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges were blocked. Video footage showed the bridge being blocked by military vehicles.

Turkish state-run television network TRT has been shut down, Bloomberg reported.

#BREAKING Turkey army says has taken power over country: TV  AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

Earlier: A group within Turkey's military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup, Turkey's prime minister says.

Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "It is correct that there was an attempt."

Mr Yildirim did not provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any "initiative that would interrupt democracy".

Earlier, military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara.

Media reports said ambulances were seen in front of Turkey's military headquarters.

Turkish soldiers block both bridges on the Bosphorus in Istanbul and jets flying low in Ankara. Reason not clear yet pic.twitter.com/tMG7KKYvGh  Selin Girit (@selingirit) July 15, 2016

A tank on the streets of Istanbul pic.twitter.com/9ZH9a769my  omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) July 15, 2016
Losses were concentrated in equity and money market funds, and reflected the combined impact of lower asset prices, net outflows, and the fall in sterlings exchange rate since the June 23 referendum on EU membership.

The fall to $468bn of assets under management from $510bn before the vote marks a drop of 8.2%, roughly the scale of the depreciation in sterling over the period. EPFR said roughly four-fifths of the decline in assets was due to the currency fall.
The Atlanta-based company will sell packaged beans through a local tea brand it owns called Leao as it seeks further diversification, Coca-Colas Brazil unit said.

Coca-Cola has a partnership agreement with coffee exporter Tristao Companhia de Comercio Exterior, which will acquire and roast the beans.
Earlier this year, Mr Kavanagh  through his Balark Investments vehicle  lodged plans for the block, comprising 91 apartments, on St John Rogersons Quay.

His New Generation Homes paid 42m for the so-called Hickey site in Dublins Docklands that contains the planned development.

However, a number of objections have been lodged against the proposal with Johnny Ronans Chambury Investments leading the way.

Consultants Chambury claim that the planning application is invalid, cannot be permitted and is wholly at variance with the Special Development Zone (SDZ) planning scheme.

They added the application has been made without the consent of the freehold owner, Chambury Investment Co Ltd, of lots 3, 5 and 7.

The objection states that Chambury Investments part-ownership of the total site area totals 20% is substantial and cannot be ignored.

However, in new documents lodged with the City Council, two barristers, Paul Coughlan and Declan McGrath retained by Balark, state Chamburys freehold titles are encumbered by relevant long leases held by Balark.

The barristers argue: While those leases exist, Chambury has no right to possession of the demised premises and it is Balark that has dominion over them.
There was that number. Yes, 26.3% economic growth for Ireland in 2015. Cue several days of national self-flagellation and people rolling around the place laughing.

Paul Krugman of the New York Times fell off his chair at the Leprechaun economics.

Also, the census figures. There are more of us living here than we had thought, the statisticians revealed, and population growth in the cities is leaving rural Ireland in the dust.

Much to digest. First, lets look at the growth figures. The explanations are, at this stage, well worn: aircraft leasing, tax inversions, intellectual property, and so on.

It demonstrates, with exquisite absurdity, just how irrelevant the efforts to capture real-life economic activity within a neat set of figures have become.

Yes, the CSO could have published a number stripping out the nonsense, but that wouldnt get away from the truth that growth figures are meaningless to most. Just ask Fine Gael.

The numbers employed and the amount of money they spend is what interests economists. They may mean literally nothing on the ground, but our growth figures have been a political, and economic, problem for some time.

When Europe wouldnt cut us a break on bank recapitalisation, Angela Merkel could point to them and ask; Sure arent you grand?

Europes fastest growing economy needs no ones assistance. Ignore talk about how this accounting exercise has reduced our debt-to-income ratio making us a more attractive sovereign debt prospect.

The markets had us figured out long before it hit 123% and they dumped us accordingly. They have a pretty clear view on Irelands actual assets and liabilities.

Now these soaraway statistics create a new difficulty. As this newspaper highlighted, they bolster those people who look to unsteady Irelands relationship with multinationals  firms that enable real people to pay their mortgages and occasionally enjoy a night out. They say look at your ludicrous numbers  this tax avoidance business must stop.

The French president is expected to soon visit Dublin. His predecessor sought to prise away the central plank of Irish industrial policy in 2011.

Nicolas Sarkozy famously asked for a gesture on corporation tax in exchange for a little breathing space on Irelands bailout repayment schedule.

Francois Hollande, we are told, is not so bothered. However, Paris finds itself competing with Dublin for any rich pickings that may spill from the City of London post-Brexit and it wouldnt surprise if the 26.3% figure gets a mention in some private moment.

Ireland will keep its guard up. However, how long can it hold out?

The headline corporate rate of 12.5% should remain untouched. However, what brings companies here is a benign package of measures and it is the overall corporate tax regime we should be concerned with. Small things can be corrosive.

When Facebook chooses, like it did earlier this year, to book its UK advertising revenues no longer through Dublin but London, the economic incentive to then shift costs to Britain to offset them against tax becomes more compelling.

When Pfizer sought to engineer a tax inversion with Irish-domiciled Allergan that would have cleverly saved it billions of dollars, the US Department of Treasury exploded the deal with the ruthless efficiency of a drone strike. And then there is the little matter of Apple and its arrangement here.

So while Ireland will continue to fight the good fight, surely a concrete Plan B would be an idea worth pursuing. A revised industrial and economic policy recognising that the rug could be pulled from beneath us. And one that takes account of those census findings.

When TK Whitaker mapped out Irelands economic future in 1958 there was a distinct alternative apparent to him  abandon protectionist policies and you will be rewarded. There is no such remedy to hand nowadays. Policy professionals have explored the options for years, and a loose consensus has emerged; help our indigenous exporters become more innovative and use public money intelligently to help entrepreneurs.

As our friend the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman might say, there is no guarantee of a crock of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Paul Colgan is economics editor with Ireland Live News on UTV Ireland
Futures fluctuated between losses and gains in New York amid low volume trading. Exxon declared force majeure on shipments of Nigerias biggest crude export grade.

Force majeure a legal clause that allows Exxon to stop shipments without breaching contracts  was declared on Qua Iboe terminal crude after a system anomaly observed during a routine check of its loading facility, the company said

China processed a record amount of crude in the first half of 2016 as its GDP in the second quarter exceeded estimates, adding support to the market.

Meanwhile, US crude production last week rose for the first time since early June and petrol and distillate stockpiles climbed, according to the Energy Information Administration.

We have bullish news. We have bearish news. Its a moody market, Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, said.

The big bear case is we have this flood of product and its going to take some time to overwork that, he said.

Oil has traded $44 to $51 a barrel since early May and has climbed from a 12-year low in February amid a string of supply disruptions including attacks in Nigeria.

While theres still a consensus that the worst of the oil glut is over, the International Energy Agency cautioned this week that the road ahead is far from smooth amid seasonal weakness in demand and the return of some halted supply.

Analysts including BNP Paribas and JBC Energy warned that prices may sink toward $40, due in part to seasonal demand weakness. Crude fundamentals are weaker than many realise, according to Julius Walker, senior consultant at JBC Energy in Vienna.

US inventories are brimming after two years of surplus production and demand for petrol  the key driver of prices in summer  is proving to be disappointing.

Stockpiles of the fuel rose 1.21 million barrels last week and refiners reduced operating rates by 0.2 percentage points to 92.3% of capacity, according to the Energy Information Administration.

We havent sorted out our excess supply problems. Unless you see visible reductions in inventories and more pronounced declines in US shale production, the market will have to go back to $40, said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodities research at BNP Paribas in London.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up nearly 1% at $46.06 yesterday, with Brent crude rising 47c to $47.84.

The market seems to be at the point where its weighing its options whether or not it can move higher, added Mr Tchilinguirian.
The two sides are trying to agree on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which supporters say could boost each economy by some $100bn at a time when growth in China and emerging markets is slowing.

Chief EU negotiator Ignacio Garcia Bercero and US counterpart Dan Mullaney told a news conference after a 14th round of talks that both sides were committed to sealing a deal before US President Barack Obama leaves office at the turn of the year.

The partners have made progress on tariff elimination and on regulatory cooperation.

However, they are stuck over EU demands including greater access to public sector tenders; Garcia Bercero described the US offer as a serious cause of concern.

Likewise, Washington is unhappy with the EU offer on services.

Given the importance of this sector to both of our economies ... progress here has been noticeably and painfully slow, said Mr Mullaney.

He also said that, while the economic rationale for TTIP remained strong, Britains exit from the EU would force a rethink as it was the largest market anywhere for US services, and took 25% of US exports to the EU.

Imagine if the United States said, for instance, Well, maybe TTIP will not apply to California. There is a certain reflection that the parties need to have on those kind of developments.

The two sides had previously planned to produce a single consolidated TTIP text by the end of July.

Mr Garcia Bercero said that was now more likely to come by the end of September after further meetings between US trade chief Michael Froman and EU commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom.

Mr Garcia Bercero acknowledged that the political environment was becoming more challenging.

The environmental group Greenpeace echoed the view of many anti-TTIP campaigners yesterday by saying that it was time to hit the Stop button.

But the EU negotiator said TTIP was instead a positive response to concerns about globalisation.

If we want to have a shot at shaping globalisation, we need a like-minded partner that shares largely our views, he said.

Mr Mullaney talked of a unique window of opportunity to complete TTIP this year that should not be allowed to slip away.

After this year, with one political transition after another over the next few years, it could be quite a while before we pick up negotiations again, he said.
The tablets, with a street value of 120,000, were seized at a property in Mitchelstown, at Captain Keanes Grove, last Thursday.

Garda sources said some of the tablets might have been destined for sale at the Indiependence music festival, which will attract thousands of people to the town between July 29 and August 1.
A decision by Irish Water not to install up to 180,000 water meters at present should allow the company reallocate funds into capital infrastructure projects, Opposition TDs argue.

Minister Coveney says the saved money will go on non-domestic water meter upgrades and towards water works on lands that can be used to help address the housing shortage.

But Sinn Fein want the money pumped directly into fixing pipes and drains in order to help Ireland avoid being slapped with large fines for failing to implement an EU urban waste water directive.

Minister Coveney, in a parliamentary answer to Sinn Feins Eoin O Broin, confirmed the underspend in the domestic water metering programme.

Domestic metering contracts, agreed in 2013, were to install 1,050,000 devices over three years, he said.

Ministerial consent was given to a budget of 614m including Vat for this purpose, said the minister.

But the installation has stopped now, with Sinn Fein sources suggesting this is partially due to opposition to meters in housing estates and some urban areas.

In his parliamentary response, Minister Coveney added: I understand from Irish Water that the expected capital expenditure by August 2016 will amount to 465m, which will deliver circa 870,000-880,000 meter installations.

As such, savings of about 148m will accrue on the capital metering programme.

Up to 180,000 meters included in the original programme will not be metered at this stage, for a combination of health and safety reasons, service complexity or other technical reasons.

Deputy OBroin says that the water meter funds could be better spent elsewhere.

There is an under-spend of up to 148 million which has the potential to be reallocated.

There is a sense of urgency in re-allocating these monies.

We have heard off the record that Irish Waters parent company Ervia is currently negotiating a six-month extension to the original water metering contract.

It is alleged that the board of Ervia is soon to ratify this extension.

I will be writing to both Minister Coveney and Ervia in an attempt to clarify this claim. It is outrageous that money is continuing to be spent on domestic water metering.

Given that Ireland is currently undergoing infringement proceedings for a failure to implement the Urban Waste Water Treatment directive and that water infrastructure is crumbling, this funding would be better spent in addressing these issues as opposed to continuing with this controversial programme.
The HSE director general Mr OBrien said the health service was not responsible for the management and oversight of Console, as he described the crisis as being as complex as the Hollywood film Catch Me If You Can.

Speaking during a six-hour meeting with the Dails cross-party public accounts committee, in which another HSE official described what happened as an aberration, Mr OBrien said he was appalled by the details of the heart-sinking internal audit when it emerged.

However, facing accusations that officials were hoodwinked by the charitys ex-chief executive Paul Kelly and should have acted on concerns about its work raised in 2006, 2009, and 2011, Mr OBrien said the HSE responded as soon as it could to the complicated situation.

Paul Kelly

Responding to allegations from Labour deputy leader Alan Kelly that the HSE did not act quickly enough on various alerts over a number of years, he said the reality of what happened was like Catch Me If You Can, meaning the exact details were difficult to uncover.

The 2002 blockbuster was based on the real-life actions of Frank Abagnale, who conned people out of millions of dollars in the 1960s by posing as a Pan American airways pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, among other false identities.

You wonder if you are talking about the actor Leonardo DiCaprio [who starred in the film] or someone else, the HSE director general said when asked to explain the complex nature of the investigation.

Mr OBrien strongly rejected claims that he or his officials were at fault for failing to act on a series of issues surrounding Console over the past decade, after the claims were raised by Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan, Independent Catherine Connolly, and Sinn Feins David Cullinane.

The issues included concerns raised about service quality in the charity in 2006; a review of documentation between 2004 and 2009 requested by a senior HSE National Office of Suicide Prevention official due to governance issues at the charity; and Department of Health officials meeting with Mr Kelly in 2011 after it emerged he posed as a doctor in the 1980s.

Asked if a more rigorous oversight system is now needed, Mr OBrien said the trend only becomes obvious when looking back at what happened, adding that the bigger problem is that while some cases are identified quickly we have people waiting in the long grass.

We caught one this time. But that doesnt mean there are not more out there, and that is the unfortunate reality, he said.

The view was supported by the HSEs assistant national director for auditing, Dr Geraldine Smith.

However, in a sign of the extraordinary nature of the Console probe, she added when questioned by Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald: I dont think we will ever see another situation like Console.

Console was absolutely an aberration.

Underlining the bizarre events of the scandal, HSE officials also told the committee that when they asked for records from Mr Kelly to verify figures given to their audit team, they were instead handed boxes of photographs of Mr Kelly meeting celebrities including heads of state in a bid to show his trustworthiness.
HSE director general Tony OBrien confirmed Mr Kelly wrote to his officials on June 22 in a last-ditch bid to prevent the crisis from being made public.

Speaking at a special six-hour meeting of the Dails cross-party public accounts committee, Mr OBrien said less than a day before RTEs expose on the group the HSE received legal letters from Mr Kelly ordering it not to release any information.

Mr OBrien said the correspondence was an attempt to prevent the audit or its information from being revealed, and that the HSE was at risk of having the details injuncted up until this week while High Court cases took place.

Despite the threat of legal action, the HSE did not move to stop the audit, which has been widely reported in recent weeks and is due to be formally published later this month as part of the latest release of the biannual audit files.

TonyOBrienHSE_large.jpg[/timgca]

He said the correspondence from Mr Kelly, who has since been forced to step down from the charity, was not from a solicitor or lawyer, despite threatening action. Console is in the process of being wound up and replaced by Pieta House.

The latest revelation surrounding the charity was detailed as the six-hour meeting heard PAC member and Fianna Fail TD Marc MacSharry questioned Mr OBrien on how much was known about questionable activities at Console before the crisis became apparent.

Noting a HSE official applied for a senior role in the charity in 2008 before returning to the HSE, Mr MacSharry asked why the person had been seconded to the organisation.

However, despite being questioned on the matter, Mr OBrien said this was not a secondment and that the individual involved simply chose to work at the group for a year.

The HSE director general also confirmed audit files relating to Console have been with the garda fraud squad since February.

Facing intense questioning from Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan, Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall and others over the level of scrutiny of internal audits into charities partially funded by the HSE, assistant national director and auditing chief Geraldine Smith said Console had a clean directors list, tax cert and charity status up to last year.

The comments came as outgoing interim Console chief executive David Hall told RTE Radios Liveline programme the State response to what happened at the charity was flawed and allowed peoples memories of their deceased loved ones to be trampled on.

I think the most important component here is the reaction ... it needed decisive action. Why did everyone sit on their backsides after Prime Time? he asked.

At a separate media event, Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said unscrupulous, unprincipled and unethical people have no business working in the charities sector.

Launching the Charities Regulators first national strategy, Ms Fitzgerald said the State watchdogs work is vital to ensuring the public has trust in groups providing essential services to people in need.

The senior cabinet member said it is important the regulator Paddy Hopkins  who has called for proper powers of investigation  receives all the support he needs, especially given recent disturbing and extraordinary revelations in the sector. The regulation of the charity sector will secure its future and protect it against exploitation by unscrupulous, unprincipled and unethical individuals, he said.

Timeline of events
The 11th Laya City Spectacular festival will take over the citys Fitzgeralds Park from 12pm to 8pm today and tomorrow, featuring the best in international street performance, interactive family activations and workshops, as well as an artisan food market with fare from 15 countries around the world.

This years festival will include reptile-tattooed sideshow superstar and self-proclaimed freak, The Lizardman who has spent an estimated 700 hours on tattooing and other body modifications, Irish puppet legend Bosco, Bruce Springsteens favourite street performer, contortionist Alakazam  The human knot, and the larger-than-life eight foot tall fully-animated Titan the Robot.

Amsterdams hula hoopist Lisa Lottie and her husband, former Cirque Du Soleil acrobat Reuben Dot Dot Dot, who performs as part of the duo LEAP, a jaw-dropping collaboration with strong woman Betty Brawn, will also thrill audiences with their incredible displays.

Performing partners, boyfriend and girlfriend Kamikaze Fireflies, who hold world records for cracking 24 eggs on a head in 60 seconds while running an all-fours in a back-bend position, are also on the line-up.

The popular Kids Court, which allows children put their parents on trial, and hand down sentences including a custard-pie-in-the-face or a drenching with a bucket of iced water, makes a return, while the OEggs Fun on the Farm attraction will provide children with hands-on fun playing with immersive farm toys which will allow them to try loading trailers, digging and scooping with tractors in the sand pit, or manouevering through a life-like model farm display.

The event will also feature the ESBs Spark Your Imagination creative hub for children, which includes a live science and electricity show from Doktor Kaboom.

Later today, a record number of swimmers will dive into the River Lee for the Vibes & Scribes Lee Swim, with funds raised being donated to Enable Ireland Cork.

With entries from Australia, Austria, England, Germany, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland and the US, this years popular open-water swimming event has attracted the highest number of entrants since its relaunch in 2005.

A total of 170 women and 340 men will set off from the starting point at the Old Distillery on the North Mall at 3pm before navigating their way east some 2km along the rivers northern channel, before swinging west at the Port of Cork where the two channels meet.

The number of wet-suited swimmers has increased over the years to a point where this year, 325 swimmers, or 64% of all participants, will swim in wet-suits  the highest rate to date.

The money raised will help Enable Ireland Cork as it plans to develop a new multi-million services centre on the site of the former ESB Social Club in Curraheen, on the citys western outskirts.

Meanwhile, thousands are expected in Killorglin, Co Kerry, over the weekend for the culmination of the Fleadh Cheoil na Mumhan.

Major traffic diversions will be in place in and around the town, and gardai have advised motorists to expect delays.
The search, which began at 7am, was focused near a disused quarry about 250m in from the road from Cashelard to Belleek, Co Fermanagh.

It was on boggy land about 7km from Ballyshannon and 5km from Belleek.

A Hitachi digger searched a pool of water on the land of a local farmer.

Officers and a forensic anthropologist were at the scene for around seven hours.

The digger left the site empty handed at 3.15pm yesterday but nothing was found.

The search was carried out about 300m from the laneway where the child was last seen alive on March 18 1977.

This particular search had been planned for some time and it came at the request of the family, according to gardai. A local source said that the area searched was deep.

There would be a lot of water in that pool and they were there from 7am in the morning.

It is fairly deep in there too as it was near an old feldspar quarry.

The search comes 24 hours before a planned March for Mary that is due to take place in Ballyshannon today at 2pm.

And it comes 48 hours after claims by a Ballyshannon fisherman P J Coughlan where he said he saw Mary Boyle being driven away in a red Volkswagen.

A march, aimed at highlighting the disappearance of Mary, is to take place in Co Donegal this weekend.

Hundreds of people from Ballyshannon have expressed interest in attending the event, organised by local Naomi Brady.

Ms Brady, herself a twin and a mother of twins, said she was touched into taking a stand on Marys case after viewing a YouTube video on the Donegal childs disappearance in Cashelard in 1977.

I am hoping this march will spark someone into doing the right thing now. Like a lot of people I think that someone must know what happened to Mary.

I am hoping that after all this time someone who knows something can find it in their heart to come forward and to give the Boyle family some closure, she said.

The march, which will start at 2pm today, will leave the Abbey Centre before walking to the garda station where a few words will be said.

Asked why the march was finishing at the garda station, Ms Brady said: Its where the search for Mary Boyle ended.

She stressed the march would be a peaceful one and is non-political.

She asked anyone who is planning to attend the march to wear purple and white ribbons in honour of Mary, who was understood to be wearing similar ribbons when she disappeared.
Martin Walsh, of Mannix Cottage, Killeens, Commons Rd, Cork, was prosecuted by Cork County Council at Cork District Court for failing to keep effective control over his collie, Shep, who attacked another dog who subsequently died.

The order of the district court included that the dog be put down. Mr Walsh appealed against that aspect of the order yesterday at Cork Circuit Court.

It arose from an incident on July 27, 2014 when Glenys Casey was walking her cavalier King Charles and Mr Walsh was walking his collie. The collie got loose, slipping out of his collar and running away from Mr Walsh. The dog attacked the spaniel and Ms Casey was unable to fend him off her dog.

Ms Casey said she was extremely upset but that with the help of others who came to her assistance she was able to get her injured dog to the vet. The dog died the next day, however.

Ms Casey said the court case was not one that she had brought and she was simply called as a witness for Cork County Council.

Kieran McCarthy, solicitor for Mr Walsh, said the main thing against which Mr Walsh was appealing was the order to have the collie put down. Mr Walsh said the dog, who was 14 years old, was part of the family for himself, his wife, his adult children, and grandchildren.

Ms Casey said she appreciated the place this dog had in the Walsh family, but added: I will never walk publicly with a dog again since this attack.

Judge Gerard Griffin said he was a dog owner himself and he praised the canine Christianity of Ms Casey.

He removed the order to have Shep put down and ordered that he instead be confined to the Walsh property. He also fined Mr Walsh 250 and 246 costs. Mr McCarthy said Mr Walsh had already paid a considerable amount in vet fees.
Dublin had previously been unsuccessful in the pre-selection stage of the competition that took place last November.

Galway will hold the title of European Capital of Culture in 2020, worth a potential 170m to the local economy, along with Rijeka in Croatia.

Heather Humphreys, the minister for arts, heritage, regional, rural and Gaeltacht affairs, said Galway now had an excellent opportunity to showcase its cultural richness.

Ms Humphreys said one of the aims of the European City of Culture initiative was to bring the people of Europe closer together and improve mutual understanding.

Before the winning bid was announced at the National Concert Hall in Dublin yesterday, she spoke about the Bastille Day attack in France.

We can only respond to such attacks by strengthening our resolve and commitment to our culture and way of life in Europe.

Galway Mayor Noel Larkin was delighted when Galway won the title and a prize of 1.5m.

It is a huge day for the city and county, he said.

The Capital of Culture has been running since 1985  it was started by the then Greek minister of culture, Melina Mercouri.

The European Parliament and the council that governs the European Capitals of Culture Union decided that Ireland and Croatia were the two member states entitle to host the event in 2020.

All applications in Ireland were examined by a panel of ten independent experts who all have a background in arts or European affairs.

Competing cities were asked to prepare a cultural programme with a strong European dimension that must have a lasting impact and contribute to the long-term development of the city.

Limerick Chamber chief executive, Dr James Ring, said the team left nothing behind.

The 18-month campaign ensured that the cultural candle has continued to burn bright post our 2014 designation as national capital of culture and come 2020 it will be burning even brighter, said Dr Ring.

Bishop of Limerick, Brendan Leahy, said the theme of belonging which was central to Limericks bid had struck a chord.

Whether you are new to the city or from the families that have been here for generations or whatever your background, this is a city that is every clearly seeking to create a sense of belonging, he said.
Marcin Wojciechowicz, aged 34, was caught after a co-worker gave him a lift home and he left a USB memory key containing some of the material in the mans van.

Gardai were alerted and during the course of the investigation found over 16,000 images and 300 videos classified as child pornography on his USB stick, mobile phone and laptop.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard 700 of the images on the laptop were at the highest level possible depicting sadism and cruelty to young children, including toddlers and infants. There were images of children bound and gagged or hung upside down while they were beaten or burned.

There were also images of children being water boarded and vaginally and anally raped.

Wojciechowicz told gardai after his arrest that he was trying to catch paedophiles and must have downloaded the images by accident.

Wojciechowicz, with a former address at a hostel on Gardiner Street, Dublin, has been in custody since his arrest. He pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on a mobile phone on June 2, 2015.

Judge Melanie Greally adjourned the case to October 5 next to allow her consider the case and give gardai time to ascertain over what time period the images had been collected.

Defence counsel Padraig Dwyer SC said Wojciechowicz accepted responsibility but still maintained he had a long-term plan to hand it over to the authorities. He was prepared to leave the country as part of any period of suspended sentence.

He said Wojciechowicz had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the past and with the proper psychiatric care may not repeat his offences.

Mr Dwyer said there was no evidence Wojciechowicz had the material for commercial or distribution purposes. He has no previous convictions.

Counsel said it was disturbing to hear evidence of the more revolting images but he asked the court to take into account that a lot of the material was categorised in the lower categories of the scale.

He said the case would have been very disturbing for a jury and court personnel if it had gone to trial. He said the guilty plea had saved not only time and expense but also spared viewing material of a very disturbing nature.

Prior to the case commencing, prosecutor Elva Duffy BL warned those in court that the evidence would be sensitive and distressing.

Garda Brian Cleary told Ms Duffy that a co-worker of Wojciechowicz had found a USB memory key in the back of his van after giving him a lift home. His wife, who came upon the USB stick in the house, viewed an image on it and the couple immediately brought it to gardai.

A CV belonging to Wojciechowicz was also found on the stick and he was arrested. A number of searches were carried out and his mobile phone and laptop recovered and analysed.

Wojciechowicz initially denied having downloaded the images and at one stage said the material had been planted by gardai. He later accepted he had looked at the images and said he had been trying to catch paedophiles and must have downloaded the images by accident.

He said he had better skills than the police and was some form of investigator trying to catch child abusers.

Gda Cleary said Wojciechowicz has been in Ireland for 18 months.
My thoughts are of great sadness, yesterday (Thursday) in the afternoon we were celebrating with our Irish friends Bastille Day, which means freedom, with over 1,000 guests and it was really a great moment of joy and of connection.

Bastille Day means freedom. So when the news of the attack broke it was immediately a feeling of deep sadness because it is exactly whats at stake; it is an attack on freedom, ambassador Thebault said.

The ambassador said all countries need to act against the threat of terror and do so immediately.

Terrorism, Islamic terrorism, is now the threat. We need to now, very seriously, act upon it.

Its impossible to let our freedom, our population be so constantly threatened, he said.

Ambassador Thebault was speaking on Morning Ireland, giving his reaction to the lorry attack in Nice that has so far claimed almost 90 lives, including those of several children.

He described the current situation in France, where there have been seven attacks since January 2015, as a war.

Its a war where were all engaged. Nobody can feel that it is a question for others.

If we dont stand for our freedom and stand against those terrorists, we lose this war, he said.

Its true France is a specific target for terrorists, because of these values that we are upholding, he added.

However, he pointed out that these attacks were not confined to mainland Europe but were occurring elsewhere too.

We should also think of those attacks that are happening on a constant basis in Iraq, in Syria and in all those places where terrorists are on the loose, so fundamentally this attack is a wake-up call, this war is not over, the ambassador said. He likened Frances Bastille Day to Irelands St Patricks Day, in terms of the significance of the timing of the attack, and said that freedom is a common value to every country and individual.

This is not a battle where its Frances freedom thats at stake or Irelands freedom  its also European freedom, its also the freedom of each and every individual who thinks that leading a decent life is important, said ambassador Thebault.

He emphasised that reaction to the atrocity, on both an individual and collective level, was crucial. The ambassador added that terrorists act unfairly in the name of Islam.

Fundamentally this is the question that is now on the table: How can we individually and collectively face these challenges? How can someone intentionally kill children, because it was known that there were children there?

We are fighting something which is irrational, yet which is really well organised. We know where the roots of the problem are  it is an organisation which calls itself Islamic but which is abusing this term.

Its impossible to let it continue, he said.
President Higgins said he could only feel great shock and sadness upon hearing the news as it emerged from the southern French city on Thursday night. He said the attack, with its appalling loss of life, including children, will be received with revulsion by all those who value democracy. I wish to express my sincerest condolences to the families of all those bereaved and injured.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that on behalf of himself, the Government, and the Irish people he wanted to express our deepest sympathies and our solidarity to President Hollande and to all of France.

He said the people of France have suffered appallingly and have again been the victim of cynical, and wanton violence.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said his department and the Irish Ambassador in France Geraldine Byrne Nason are still working to confirm the details surrounding an Irishman injured in the attack.

Mr Flanagan said the attack, as people were out celebrating Bastille Day, was particularly horrendous: I deplore the loss of life, and offer heartfelt condolences to the people of France.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the people who were killed last night in Nice. We must all stand together in total condemnation of this tragedy.

French Ambassador to Ireland Jean-Pierre Thebault came out strongly to say France, and the West, must remain united and strong in the face of the continued threat of terror.

Mr Thebault said it was an attack on core French and Western values: They want to end our freedom; they want us to limit our freedom; they want to [devour] us by making us change our lives and the way of thinking.

We must uphold our freedoms. We must all be aware we need to fight and that this is a war we are fighting, a new kind of war that extends everywhere. These terrorists are not recognised by any country or any religion. They are mass murderers and, like a cancer, they spread, Mr Thebault said.

The Mansion House will open a public book of condolence on Monday morning.

Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald yesterday said security levels at large events in Ireland would have to be reviewed, and the international community would confront terrorists. The Nice atrocity was an attack on our democratic values and we will fight back.

Ms Fitzgerald said she had spoken to the Garda commissioner to assess threat levels.

Any public event where hundreds of people are gathering requires security of a different sort now. Every police force across Europe is reviewing their security all the time, in face of unprecedented and different types of terrorist attacks.
Shaykh Umar al-Qadri added we need to respond wisely to the event and think about how to treat those on the margins of our society.

As citizens of the EU, Muslims are citizens of Europe. We are shocked and appalled when an attack takes place and our thoughts are with the friends and family of all affected in this attack which targeted innocent people.

Similar innocent people have been targeted and lost their lives. We need to think deeply about why these attacks are taking place, we need to look at the causes of these attacks, particularly in the case of France.

This is not the first attack in France, in the past 12 months alone there have been three attacks in France its important to notice why these attacks are happening in France, he told the Irish Examiner.

Dr al-Qadri said we must embrace every minority in our society in order to prevent further radicalisation.

What I understand is that we need to embrace everyone in our communities and embrace those vulnerable to radicalisation and minorities.

These attacks take place by people who feel they dont belong and hate will not defeat hate, love will defeat hate, said the imam.

Dr Al-Qadri urged leaders and members of society in general to be wise in their response to the attack in Nice.

We need to be wise in our responses. We should have the response that unites people in love, he said.

The imam explained that he had been invited to the French embassy in Dublin to celebrate Bastille Day, noting how many Muslims feel they belong in France.

France was having its independence day and I was invited to the French embassy, so many Muslims are part of France, they belong to France, so many Muslims have a sense of belonging but there are also those who dont have that sense of belonging.

A community of cohesion is how we defeat this. One of the aims is to divide communities, Muslims are not the problem, Muslims are alive in the war against terrorism. We have had these attacks throughout the Muslim world, Muslims are suffering themselves, Dr Al-Qadri said.

There are communities that do feel genuinely marginalised, they do have this sense that they do not belong, that is a failure of government. They feel they dont have the same opportunities, he said.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Ireland also offered their condolences yesterday and condemned the barbaric attack.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ireland and worldwide offer their deepest condolences to the people and government of France. The victims, their families and the French nation affected by these barbaric attacks, are in the prayers of the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said Dr Nauman Iftikhar, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association in Ireland.

All forms of terrorism and extremism are completely against the true teachings of Islam. The Holy Koran has said that to kill even one innocent person is akin to killing all of mankind, he said.
Jamie Saunders, aged 27, of 17 Glentrasna, The Glen, Cork, was arrested and brought before Cork District Court yesterday where Det Garda Jim Kearney objected to bail. He said it was alleged Jamie Saunders rang his uncle, Michael Saunders, and threatened him on July 14. It was further alleged Jamie Saunders later went to his uncles house at Father Dominic Rd armed with a knife and assaulted Michael Saunders with a car jack causing a wound to his head which required him to be hospitalised.

Det Garda Kearney said there was allegedly another incident a month ago when Jamie Saunders went to the same address on June 13 and allegedly threatened his uncle, kicked in his front door, and caused 60 worth of damage.
There are approximately 14,000 students with autism in the school system. This is significantly higher than the original estimate of one in every 100 students.

The statistics come from a National Council for Special Education report published yesterday, the first of its kind on autism in almost 14 years.

Of the 14,000 students with autism, 63% are in mainstream classes, 23% are in special classes in mainstream schools, and 14% are in special schools.

The 14,000 figure means that 1.5% of the Irish school population has a diagnosis of autism.

Compared to the last time such a report was carried out in 2001, there are now 2,200 extra teachers in mainstream schools specifically to support students with autism.

Furthermore, there are 900 special classes for pupils with autism, compared with just 80 in 2001.

In terms of resources, more than 300m is now invested annually in providing support for students with autism in the school system. This investment goes towards things such as additional teaching and technology.

While the report acknowledged that students with autism are better supported in our schools than previously, a number of recommendations were made.

These include improving support at post-primary level and the development of a safe, social summer day activity programme for all students with complex educational needs, to replace the July Provision scheme.

The Department of Education has established an implementation group to consider the recommendations of the report.

The chief executive of the National Council for Special Education, Teresa Griffin, said we need a flexible approach in our school system to support all students needs.

We need a flexible and responsive educational system which can draw on, and use, a range of evidence-informed interventions in line with each individual students needs, said Ms Griffin.

Education Minister Richard Bruton acknowledged how children with autism are much better supported nowadays but noted the reports key recommendations to further improve the system.

The report also considers that there is room for improvement and sets out 11 key recommendations designed to improve the current system. Each key recommendation suggests actions to bring these improvements about, he said.

The founder and CEO of autism charity AsIAm.ie, Adam Harris, also welcomed the report but said it was crucial a whole school approach was cultivated to support all students needs.

Its welcomed that we now have a policy document on autism, but we need a whole school approach and training is essential, he told the Irish Examiner.

In terms of the recommendations, its now what can be done to make these a reality. Its up to teachers and boards of management in schools to implement some of them, but inclusion should never be optional.

Inclusion is about having a whole school approach, schools must engage with these recommendations.

We need to ensure that teachers in special classes are suitably trained.
A formal appeal is expected to be lodged within days by the West Cork Development Partnership. Despite the rural development group overseeing the regions LEADER funding for the last 25 years and being hailed as one of Europes top performers, it lost the competitive bid to manage the latest round of funding.

An independent selection committee has chosen three local authority-backed Local Community Development Committees (LCDC), in North Cork, South Cork, and West Cork, to manage the LEADER funding until 2020.

The 13.93m allocation is a 70% drop. Up to 5m will be available for projects in West Cork.

However, the WCDP is now poised to appeal the decision.

Its CEO, Ian Dempsey, expressed his deep disappointment at the decision and confirmed that an appeal would be lodged by July 22.

To say that this comes as a considerable disappointment  after 25 years of high-quality programme planning, delivery, financial management, and compliance, and as an unrivalled exemplar of the EU LEADER philosophy  would be a massive understatement.

A number of steps are in train, including a formal appeal, which, amongst other matters, will fully represent the concern, anger, and frustration communicated by many, many people throughout West Cork in recent days.

His concerns have been backed by Caroline Crowley, a local development and social-inclusion researcher, who lives in West Cork.

I am dumbfounded that the WCDP, one of the most successful local-development organisations in the State and a model of best practice in the EU, has not been awarded the LEADER programme for the region, she said.

This is a bad decision for West Cork and its people, for Irish civil society, and for the future of community-led local development in Ireland.

The WCDP, and its structures, now face an uncertain future.

Ms Crowley has written an open letter to TDs, outlining her concerns, and has asked the chief executive of Cork County Council, Tim Lucey, to outline how the new funding structures would work.

She said that WCDP was internationally renowned, and has been held up as an example of best practice in LEADER compliance, accountability, and risk-management.

A 2010 audit of LEADER, by the European Court of Auditors, across EU states, singled out WCDP for praise, citing its development activity, its transparency, and its good administration.

Petri Rinne, the former chairperson of the European LEADER network, described WCDP as the inspiring LEADER-implementation model for many.

Ms Crowley said: If you take away WCDP, then this vital glue, this immense social capital, breaks down. We will only see this when it is too late.

She urged the Government not to destroy one of the best-performing LEADER organisations in Ireland and the EU.
The public library in Edmonton, a neighbourhood in North London with one of the countrys highest unemployment rates, is located in a shopping mall.

Not a glittering row of chain stores, but an untrendy plot with a farmers market selling apples, pig trotters and pans.

The library itself has a wide assortment of romance novels with titles such as In the Masters Bed and Hot Summer Nights.

Early on a Friday in January, it was packed with children studying, an elderly couple on a computer, and, at a table near the back, a group of local toughs, the kind you wouldnt want to meet in a pub.

Benjamin Clementine, a strikingly elegant 27-year-old musician and poet, towered above them all.

Early last year, he released his debut album, At Least for Now, which earned rapturous reviews and recently won the coveted Mercury Prize.

As his following has begun to grow  word has travelled fast of his performances, which are unlike anything Ive heard before  so too has his origin myth.

As the story goes, Clementine left Edmonton for Paris, where he was homeless until he was discovered busking in the streets, quickly signed to a label, and sent back to London to record an album that would later win one of the UKs top music awards.

While it is a seductive narrative, one of those rags-to-riches journeys none of us can resist, its only partly true.

The soulful British tenor, whose career was forged on the streets of Paris, contemplates the magic of music.

The youngest of five children, Clementine was raised by his grandmother in a middle-class household on the good side of Edmonton.

She died when he was 11, at which point he moved in with his parents.

Growing up, Clementine spent much of his teenage years at the library, which became his sanctuary.

He was taken by the writing of William Blake and Immanuel Kant, and was particularly interested in the work of the 17th-century philosopher John Locke, whose Essay Concerning Human Understanding he consumed like fatherly wisdom.

I didnt blend well with my classmates or my teachers, he said.

So I did my homework here, and all of a sudden that was my life.

It seemed to me that Clementines autodidacticism was his way of asking how one should be in a world that doesnt make sense  the type of inquisitive probing we get in his soulful songs, which draw on the work of French performers such as Leo Ferre, Edith Piaf and Henri Salvador.

I wanted to find people who were like me, and I did, in the people I was reading.

At 19, questioning his place in the world, Clementine moved to Paris.

Eventually I met other musicians and thats when it all came out, he said.

Thats when I started writing.

He and his friends formed a band, but, according to Clementine, they werent yearning as much as I was, so then I went back to the first instrument I discovered, which was the piano. And then a song came out.

He had no fixed address at the time, but he managed to scrape by as a busker.

Having begun that way myself, I wondered if it provided him with any sort of lesson.

It teaches you to be humble and kind to people, any kind of people, he said.

Busking helped Clementine become a performer. It taught him to connect his soul with others.

We agreed that buskers can make surprisingly good money  they do quite well, some of them.

And it gave me confidence because people would come up to me and go, Youre great, good luck  that American spirit vibe. It also helped my singing voice, because I had to project.

About that voice.

I was introduced to Clementines music through a friend who insisted I check him out.

I was floored, and immediately asked him to perform at a music festival that I curated in London last year.

He took the stage in a long coat, no shirt or shoes on, and played the piano perched on a high stool, almost standing.

It was as if he were singing directly to each person in that room, a far cry from rush hour in a station of the Metro.

And yet, he told me there is something almost harder about formal concerts.

Now Im standing in front of a thousand people, he said.

Theyre all looking at me, but theyre sitting down.

Theyre surrendered, so I have to keep on proving myself to them and giving them all my passion.

He then scanned the room, taking in the residents of Edmonton  the students, the old couple, the thugs  and was silent for a moment.

Did you know that John Keats was from here? he asked.

It just goes to show its all about what you do in your life. Where youre from shapes you, but you can actually do whatever you want.
At the heart of Frank McGuinness play about the fight for survival in a shirt factory in the recessionary 1980s is a question posed by tough nut worker, Ellen, played with passion by Fionula Linehan.

Ellen asks a union official why she is stuck working in the factory in the first place and wonders what he ever did to get her out of there. This is a class issue and its also about the tedium of meaningless work measured in terms of speed of output.

The workers are being asked to increase their production of shirts or they will lose their jobs. Competition from the Far East looms over them like a bad penny. Ellen, like her four female colleagues, is not a happy camper. She is the towering figure in this lengthy play that lacks plot, being more character-driven.

In terms of action driving the story forward, the only thing that happens is a lock-in in the bosss office. However, this is more an excuse for slapstick comedy than a serious step in industrial action. There is much hilarity as the Cork-accented women settle in for the night, producing booze and getting tanked, rather than doing anything serious like discussing strategy.

The lock-in is really an excuse for confrontations between the women leading to something approaching personal insight. Ellen has suffered terrible loss and bears the scars.

She is told to stop blaming herself and that she owes the dead nothing. Vera (well played by George Hanover) is sick of her abusive husband on the phone trying to guilt trip her to come home and mind their sick children. She stands up for herself in feminist mode.

The boss of the factory, Rohan (Evan Lordan) comes across as mild and ineffectual. Even when he becomes angry, he is not convincing. Dominic Moore as the union negotiator, Bonner, is volatile and at odds with the women.

The play is ultimately anti-climactic. The only thing that really happens is that the women face their demons. The play, with its focus on job insecurity, has resonance for today and heralds the decline of the unions.
Like many Irish tourists, I firmly believed I knew what Spain had to offer as a holiday destination. After many childhood summer holidays spent enjoying the sparkling pools and spongy, manicured lawns of various Costa-based resorts,

plus a couple of grown-up city breaks, I had crossed Spain off my to-do list, chalking it up as to-done.

But as I recently discovered, Spains largest geographic region is also, largely, its most undiscovered, and with Iberia Express operating twice weekly flights from Cork to Madrid until September, theres never been a better time to head north of Spains capital and explore the cultural and gastronomic delights of the Castilla y Leon region.

While our natural sun-seeking inclination has a tendency to draw us south, hiring a car to venture north of Madrid is to discover an untouched region drenched in history, loaded with authenticity, and dotted with picturesque towns, with nary an Irish bar or a full English breakfast to be found amongst them.

Bordered by Portugal to the west, and Basque country and Rioja to the east, the nine provinces that make up Castilla y Leon are home to more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other region in the world  eight in total, including the old town of Segovia and the 2,000-year- old aqueduct that looms over it as a lasting testament to Roman ingenuity (it defies belief that it was constructed entirely without mortar) and the strong sense of history prevalent throughout

this region.

Just an hour from Madrid, passing under the archways of the aqueduct is like stepping back in time, and exploring the cobbled streets of Segovia, with its fairytale buildings and numerous pretty parks, is a popular daytrip for Madrilenos looking to escape the bustle of the big city.

In the shadow of the aqueduct, one of Segovias most popular restaurants offers the first indication of Castilla y Leons gastronomic obsession with all things pork, and while Meson de Candidos theatrical presentation of its house speciality  a suckling pig so tender it can be broken into servings with a plate  may seem tailor-made for tourists, a quick auditory survey reveals it is not heaving with camera-wielding Americans, but with local families.

Wandering though the city is an Instagrammers dream, as every little laneway delivers a tableau of crumbling charm and faded elegance. Amongst the elaborately embossed building facades that signify the Arab quarter, stopping at

an elevated viewing point reveals surrounding countryside thats a walkers paradise; while a further amble takes you through the towns picturesque Jewish quarter.

The dry-constructed Roman aqueduct has been the gateway to Segovia for 2,000 years.

Even in a city rife with 15 th century buildings constructed by the merchants that controlled its once prosperous textile industry, Segovias majestic Gothic cathedral stops you in your tracks. Its golden-hued exterior set against a clear blue sky is breathtaking, and you can simply take it in while enjoying a coffee in the bustling Plaza Mayor or take time to explore its various chapels.

Equally stunning is the Alcazar of Segovia. If it looks straight out of a fairytale, thats because its rumoured to have been Walt Disneys inspiration for Cinderellas castle, but unlike Disneylands iconic structure, this is the real deal.

Its unique shape  reminiscent of the bow of a ship  combined with the cathedrals spire  the mast  and Segovias elevated position have lent this incomparable town its nickname, The Stone Ship, as it appears to sail through the surrounding landscape.

Further north, the city of Burgos enjoys slightly more recognition as one of the main stops on the famous Camino de Santiago, but it too retains an authentic charm. Catering to pilgrims since the Middle Ages, it has a long tradition of

hospitality, and though larger, busier and more modern than Segovia, a little exploration finds it nonetheless rich in the same architectural gems, with a similar dedication to relaxed, fine dining.

There is no better way to experience the gastronomic variety of the region than by sampling local tapas, and while pork is still a mainstay  with each towns take on Northern Spains black pudding, Morcilla, appearing on every menu 

lamb is the star of the show in Burgos. Always less than one month old, delicate suckling lamb is served with a leg tag to indicate that it is born and bred of Castilla y Leon.

Pulses too find a place on the table, with locally grown beans and chickpeas prepared in Castilian soups and smoky chorizo stews. Even in this meaty region, vegetarian options are available on request, though they may be as simple as grilled vegetables in fruity Spanish olive oil, or pickled white asparagus salad.

Thanks, no doubt, to the international flavour of the pilgrims passing though, Burgos has a vegetarian restaurant  Gaia  located just behind the Plaza Santa Maria, over which towers the famous Gothic Burgos cathedral. Another UNESCO World Heritage designation, the cathedral holds the tomb of legendary El Cid, the regions most famous and fearless warrior.

Leon cathedral.

Following the boundaries of the old walled and gated city, coffee shops dotted along tree-lined prominades offer perfect vantage points for observing the relaxed flow of this vibrant city, and a statue of El Cid presides over the busy bridge that connects the modern suburbs with the old town of Burgos.

On one side, the unmistakable smell of roast lamb wafts across Freedom Square from the renowned Ogeda restaurant, and a royal palace where Ferdinand and Isabella received Christopher Columbus in 1497 after his second expedition is

now the worlds most elegant working bank; while on the other sits the decidedly modern Museum of Human Evolution, which catalogues the ongoing excavations at Atapuerca, a UNESCO heritage site 16 km from Burgos, where some of the worlds most significant human fossils have been found.

Outside the city, the tranquil and fragrant Cartuja de Miraflores monastery is home to both exceptional work from one of the regions most significant 15th century sculptors, the Flemish Gil de Sole, and an order of silent Carthusian

monks who produce the rose oil that perfumes the air; while a brisk walk uphill from the cathedral will afford you spectacular views over Burgos from the ruins of the old castle.

Continuing along the Camino de Santiago, east of Burgos sits the city of Leon, where youll find one of the gems in Castilla y Leons heavily bejeweled architectural crown. The Hostal de San Marcos, quite simply one of the most stunning places to dine or stay in Northern Spain, has had a fascinating and varied history since it was commissioned as a military base by King Ferdinand in the 16 th century. Now operated as a Parador  an historically significant building converted for use as a hotel or restaurant  lunch and a tour of its chapel and cloistered courtyard are a must.

Like the rest of the Castilla y Leon region, Leon is rich in charm, both historic and contemporary. Set within Roman walls, the old town offers winding streets studded with the brass shell emblem that signifies the Camino; cultural gems like the 11 th century frescos in the Museo Panteon San Isidoro  which UNESCO has christened the Cradle of Parliamentarism; and eclectic streetscapes where a Gaudi palace leads the way to the Gothic Santa Maria de Leon Cathedral. Known as The House of Light thanks to its dozens of original 13th to 15th century stained glass windows, its contemporary counterpoint, the colourful, modern, paneled exterior of the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, sits on the outskirts of town.

Leon Hostal San Marcos.

Leaving Leon, the route back to Madrid passes through the province of Valladolid. Once the capital of the Castilian court, the area remains studded with castles and forts, and, encompassing Rueda, is also renowned for its wine.

For a fascinating and delicious break on the three hour drive, stop for a wine tasting (the driver has to spit!) at the family owned Yllera winery (pre-booking is advised, see grupoyllera.com), which produces over 4 million bottles of wine per year.

After a visit to their modern manufacturing base, its on to the cool, cavernous, labyrinthine cellars where countless barrels of Grupo Yllera wine are aging to perfection. Having existed 20m below the scorching earth of Valladolid for hundreds of years, lunch in these ancient surroundings, where history meets modernity, is unforgettable.

Simple but exceptional, deliciously off the beaten track, its the perfect way to wrap up a visit to the hidden gem that is Castilla y Leon.

For more information, see www.turismocastillayleon.com
Remember the time when you could meet someone for dinner, without knowing anything about the person? Not what she looks like, not where hes from, not even what his or her favourite Judd Apatow movie is?

There was something exciting, scary, and authentic about that way of meeting someone. Now its almost impossible not to know too much about a person before you ever meet face to face.

However, allow me to suggest that if you drive the all-new Mercedes-Benz C300 4Matic Coupe, you do it blind-date style. Dont look up how big the engine is on this AWD two-door, dont look at the zero-to-60 stats, and dont pay attention to the listed horsepower. Just steer it out of the lot, open it up on a motorway.

If you must know, what were dealing with here is a 4-cylinder inline turbocharged engine that, yes, its true, doesnt even achieve 250hp. (At 240hp, it has less power than the Audi A4 (252hp) or BMW 340i (320hp).

It bests the 180hp BMW 320i, though.) However, if you didnt know that, you might instead focus on the cars efficiency (23mpg in the city and 29mpg on the open road) and erudite performance.

The tiny 2.0-litre engine pushes through its seven gears like quicksilver; this is arguably the smoothest accelerator youll feel in the segment, with 273lb-feet of torque that slide you forward quite eagerly, especially under the lower gears. Zero to 60mph is 5.9 seconds, which is a feat, especially since, at 3,770lb, the new C300 weighs notably more than the 3,483lb A4 and 3,510-pound 320i.

As I drove the C300 to the office and back each day, the thick, flat-bottomed sport steering wheel (paddle shifting dutifully engaged) displayed about as much give as we generally expect from Mercedes, whose cars arent as tuned ramrod tight as other German brands but are certainly worthy of applause.

The offerings from Porsche and BMW feel more nimble to drive; but I know that for some drivers, leeway in steering is a matter of preference at this point rather than a value judgement. To each his own.

The adaptive brakes (with brake assist and brake priming) proved unnoticeable in the way all good waitstaff are  they appear when you need them but not otherwise. Theyre not so rude as to jolt you from the smooth reverie that the entire car, especially with the air suspension, works to create. (You can also choose a sport suspension option). Its like driving in a cloud, but you dont feel detached from the road.

You will find a slight obstruction to view behind each shoulder (5 oclock and 7 oclock) but that is mitigated by the attentive blind-spot warning system (included in the premium package) and by the sunlight allowed in through the massive panoramic sunroof that spans virtually the entire length of the ceiling. (The sunroof also helps the head room in the rear seem less pinched; while legroom back there is generous, the slope of the roof could be an issue for taller adults sitting behind you.)

The seats (seat heaters cost extra) are exceptionally comfortable, with three- position power memory and lumbar support, and covered in a supple saddle-brown leather. Memory cushioning with thigh support for the passenger side also costs extra. Are you catching a pattern here? The pricing on the C300 starts remarkably low, but crucial options inflate that price considerably.

You will want, for additional instance, the premium package, which includes blind-spot assist, keyless go, Burmester Surround Sound, navigation, five years of traffic/weather service, and ambient lighting.

The rearview camera and the heads-up display also cost extra, but do buy. It just wouldnt be a Mercedes without them.

The same goes for the Sport package which includes, among other things, a brilliant diamond grill with chrome finish, AMG body styling, that flat bottom sport steering wheel, perforated brake rotors with Mercedes-Benz calipers, aluminum pedals with rubber studs, and AMG floor mats.

At any rate, the interior is blessedly silent. If you want to hear your car growl when you punch down its metal alloy gas pedal, get something else.

As for the C300, its diamond grill and the posh mild bulge of the roofline do plenty of talking. To my eye, and for the garage attendants who see every car I drive at least twice daily, Mercedes has done some sort of magic to make the C300 just look expensive.

That grille and swank roof certainly help; so do the LED headlamps shaped like ancient obelisks, LED tail lamps, deep lunar blue metallic paint, and, 19in alloy wheels (18in rims come standard).

Again, words that come to mind when you see this car include but are not limited to: refined, glossy, plush. The C300 is a coupe, but it has the look and feel of a full estate. Dont kid yourself: Owning this new C300 counts as owning bling in your life. I dont care how reserved your paint job and rims are; this is a car that wants to announce its presence.

So, as with any good blind date, get to know it a little before you judge whether its the one for you.
Lets hear it for the wonderful (though childless) Jennifer Aniston. In case you missed it, the former Friends star wrote an open letter in the Huffington Post this week telling the stalking paparazzi  and, lets face it, the rest of us who are guilty of gawping at their pictures  to back off.

In a powerful piece that should be on every school curriculum, she wrote: For the record, I am not pregnant. What I am is fed up. She spoke about how the press, by trying to uncover whether or not she is pregnant (for the bajillionth time... but whos counting?), perpetuates the notion that women are somehow incomplete, unsuccessful, or unhappy if theyre not married with children.

That line will be savoured by childless women everywhere, particularly those of us who are never quite sure how to fill that moment of supreme awkwardness when a (well-meaning, usually) person asks if you have children and you reply, No.

Im often tempted to jump in and say something completely inane just to fill the silence which can, in this instance, feel like a yawning abyss.

But I raise chickens or I have a dog or Tell me about your children. Anything to show that even a childless woman can be nurturing too.

Its been a very interesting week for women who dont have children, though I almost feel sorry for UK prime ministerial candidate (and very proud mum-of-three) Andrea Leadsom, who suffered a merciless backlash when she said that mothers care more about the future than non-mothers.

The onslaught was instant, vicious and deeply personal, as all attacks are in these digital times.

It was heartening to see that she was not going to be allowed to make political capital from the supposed edge motherhood had given her.

Her downfall, however, had more to do with her political gaucheness and Tory internal politics than any real objection to using motherhood as a weapon.

In the cold, harsh world of politics, they will do what is politically expedient not what is best for women.

The furore did, however, prompt a discussion about perceptions of women in society that will hopefully be productive and long-lasting. (Actually, there were some great comments and posts too.

Heres a witty example from a UK historian: Having parents makes me a better historian. It means I have a stake in the past.) Whats been deeply disappointing, though, is the rush in the days that followed to pit women with children against women without children, yet again.

If I read another article about how being a mother has made the writer a better and more productive worker, Ill implode. Apparently, there are even studies to prove that to be the case.

Lets not get sucked into that ugly, headline-generating row and focus instead on another study. This one, carried out by the OECD in 2014, shows that Irish women over 45 have the third-highest rate of childlessness in the developed world, at 18.4pc.

Jennifer Aniston is World's Most Beautiful Woman https://t.co/4HAGJAnngp pic.twitter.com/XNhcSL1U0T  Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) April 20, 2016

For more figures, lets turn to the latest census, which tells us there are 344,944 child-free Irish couples (where the woman is under 45).

Its a relief to hear the word couple again because for a while there, it was easy to forget that it takes two to have a child.

Interpret those figures as you will but I think most of us would agree on this: they prove, without doubt, that the world is changing.

Now, more than ever, women (and men) go through life without having children. There are as many reasons for that as there are people  it is invasive to even speculate  but it does mean the time has come to examine those lingering prejudices.

It seems true to say the world at large doesnt appear to give a jot if men have children or not.

It also seems true to say that its not the same for women. Whats harder to establish is if women without children are viewed with suspicion/pity/envy.

I say envy because occasionally  and this really is the last taboo  women will confide in you that they absolutely love their children but they regret having had them so young.

The media (I know, Im one to talk) would be at a loss if it didnt dedicate an inordinate amount of space to assessing a womans appearance; her competence in the workplace; her role as a mum; her ability to juggle. Add to that, her ability to handle all the stress that is thrown her way and still come up smelling of roses through the utter exhaustion.

Well, now its time to shout stop and to fight back against the pressures heaped upon all women, usually by people trying to sell us something.

Most of us will never feel the scrutiny Jennifer Aniston and other celebrities endure, but we are all subject to the warped lens that tries to calculate a womans worth by how she looks or what she does.

19 stages of Jennifer Aniston's famous hair throughout the years https://t.co/f6CeMVXGf8 pic.twitter.com/wn7LL9ncoB  Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) February 11, 2016

Jennifer Aniston has been stripped of so much by the endless speculation about whether or not she is pregnant. She has been reduced to her womb and its ability to function. That is deeply, deeply offensive. But one wonderful thing has come from this. Jennifer Aniston is not taking it any more.

She has spoken out and said in clear, refreshing, inspiring prose that women are complete with or without a mate, with or without a child.

That decision is ours and ours alone, she wrote. Lets make that decision consciously, outside of the tabloid noise

We get to determine our own happily ever after for ourselves.

And so say all of us who want to stand behind her and fight back against the sort of divisive rubbish designed to make women feel powerless or worthless.

Whos on to join the campaign to make that happen? We might call it #happilyeverafter
Meanwhile, anyone flipping through the channels looking for positive ads about Donald Trump would be disappointed: He hasnt yet put up a spot appealing to November voters, and groups supporting him have been similarly silent.

The lopsided commercial airwaves show the candidates have drastically different views of the importance of traditional political campaigning. Trump says he sees little need for advertising at this stage. Instead, he has been banking on free media coverage propelled by his celebrity appeal.

As a consequence, he has largely ceded control over what the voting public is hearing about him.

Clintons large batch of biographical ads has given her an opportunity to directly influence views about her image.

Up next is what amounts to an hour-long infomercial on Thursday night in Cleveland, as Trump accepts his partys nomination during a speech that will be televised widely in prime time.

Clinton has the same perk the following week from the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

After that, Trumps campaign has said he may begin advertising. That would be a dramatic change.

While Trump has aired zero ads, Clinton has been piping thousands of commercials into the homes of swing-state voters in places like Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia. Specific Florida markets such as Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers have been favoured targets, as well as Denver, for Clintons ads.

Since June 8, the day after she claimed the Democratic nomination, Clinton has put at least 30,700 commercials on broadcast TV, an Associated Press review of Kantar Medias campaign advertising data shows.

The majority highlight her work as first lady to expand health care for children.

For Hillary, its always been about kids, a narrator says in an ad called Quiet Moments, which has run more than any other, some 11,400 times as of this week.

A 60-second spot called Always seems to spell out the reason for her ads.

She would grow up to be one of the most recognisable women in the world, says a narrator. But less well-known are the causes that have been at the centre of her life.

The commercial rolls through milestones in her life, beginning with black-and-white footage of her toddling down steps.

The few ads paid for by Trump supporters bash Ms Clinton rather than make the case for him. For example, a National Rifle Association ad urges people to vote for Trump by flashing his name for four seconds at the end of a 30-second spot. But the narrator says nothing about him  and doesnt even utter his name.

Clintons campaign released a new ad this week that shows children watching television as Trump makes some of his most inflammatory comments. It asks, Our children are watching. What example will we set for them?
Mrs Coxs funeral cortege travelled through her Batley and Spen constituency in West Yorkshire, slowing down in the town of Heckmondwike before continuing to Batley. The mother of two young children died on June 16 after being shot and stabbed outside a library in Birstall.

Her killing, which came days before her 42nd birthday, provoked a wave of shock around the UK.

Members of the public, including schoolchildren, gathered in Heckmondwike to say a final farewell to the MP.

Well-wishers applauded as the funeral cars made the journey through the town. Many threw flowers in the path of the cortege as it passed the market place. Children from Norristhorpe Junior and Infant School were among the first of the mourners to throw white roses in the path of the cars.

One woman walked into the road as the cars passed to lay a large bouquet on the bonnet of the grey hearse, which was strewn with roses and sunflowers.

Mrs Coxs coffin could be seen in the back of the vehicle surrounded by white floral tributes.

Mrs Cox had only been an MP for just over a year when she was killed, having been elected for the Batley and Spen constituency, where she grew up, in last years general election.

Her dedication to a range of causes, both as an MP and in her previous work with development charities, has drawn praise from all sides of the political spectrum and prompted calls for a rethink of the publics attitude to public figures and the nature of political discourse.

Mrs Coxs widower, Brendan, led tributes to his wife .

Before this, former prime minister David Cameron and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited Birstall market square together to add their tributes to a sea of floral memorials, yards from where the tragedy happened.

Mr Cameron praised the young MP as a voice of compassion whose irrepressible spirit and boundless energy lit up the lives of all who knew her.

Mr Corbyn said British society had lost one of our very best.

Earlier this week, Mrs Coxs family issued a statement, which said: We have been overwhelmed and touched by the love and support people have shown us since Jos death. We are deeply grateful to all who have reached out to us.

Knowing that so many people share both our grief and our determination to take forward Jos legacy is a source of great strength at what otherwise feels like a very bleak time.

Thomas Mair, 52, has appeared at the Old Bailey charged with murdering Mrs Cox. He is also charged with grievous bodily harm, possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of an offensive weapon.

He is due to go on trial in November.
A few hours later, the 40 or so people gathered in a room for victims families at the Pasteur hospital in the French Riviera town had the horror of it all etched on their faces.

People cried, some holding their heads in their hands. One woman with bruises on her face sat in a wheelchair, weeping.

Laurence Marie, who works at Lenval paediatric hospital, said many more children were undergoing serious operations there.

not as lucky, they are having operations as we speak. Its very hard, its all very traumatic.

The attack came eight months after the Islamist militant shootings and suicide bombings in Paris that killed 130 people.

Hollande had announced just hours earlier, while marking Frances national day celebrating the birth of the worlds first republic, that he would lift the state of emergency that was put in place after the November killings.

We were all very happy, ready to celebrate all night long, we had a big plan, said a 20-year-old woman in the hospital room who gave her name as Fanny.

As we were just starting to walk after the fireworks, I saw a truck driving into the pedestrian area, it was going very fast and zigzagging. At first I thought the truck didnt realise the road had been made pedestrian for the celebration. But when I saw people on the ground I started realising it could be a terror attack, she told Reuters.

Luckily my brother, my mum, and myself are all fine now but some of my friends were

Nurses had told some of those waiting that the medical team didnt have time to take records of the identities of the wounded because the priority was treatment. Patients were being classified by numbers.

At the scene of the attack on the Promenade des Anglais, bodies lay covered in white sheets.

I saw bodies flying like skittles as it drove along, said local journalist Damien Allemand on the Nice-Matin newspapers website. I just froze ... The beach attendants were the first on the scene. They brought water for the wounded and towels that they placed over those for whom there was no hope.

Dawn revealed pools of dried blood, smashed childrens strollers, an uneaten baguette, and other debris strewn about the promenade. Small areas were screened off at regular intervals. What appeared to be bodies covered in blankets were visible through the gaps. The trail of broken waste bins, signage, and police barriers suggested the driver had mounted the kerb from the road to the promenade just outside the Lenval hospital, where some of the victims were taken.
Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at Kings College London, described the area as a jihadist breeding ground.

He said: Securing the borders would have been some kind of solution in relation to the Paris attacks, where the attackers came from Belgium, but we will have to see in this particular case whether the attackers are from outside or actually from Nice.

Because Nice, for anyone who has been following this, has been a jihadist breeding ground for a number of years. Weve seen dozens of people going from Nice to the Islamic State, to Syria, and the first recorded attempted attack in Europe was very nearby in Cannes, so its likely the attackers are from within the vicinity, rather than abroad.

He added: If it turns out this was not a so-called lone- wolf attack but directed from within Syria and Iraq, then it would make sense to try to eliminate the sanctuary, the safe haven that IS enjoys in Syria and Iraq, but at this stage we just dont know.

What many people have speculated is that as Iraq and Syria become less of a state for IS, they are resorting to more terrorism abroad, almost trying to compensate for their losses, by lashing out in Europe and elsewhere. In that sense, fighting them in Iraq and Syria may have the opposite effect.

Focus has turned to a message from an IS spokesman nearly two years ago which listed running over victims with a car as a possible means for carrying out attacks.

There has been no formal claim of responsibility from any organisation so far.

Margaret Gilmore, senior associate fellow at security think tank the Royal United Services Institute, said: There has been no claim of responsibility yet, but certainly the working theory is that this is a terrorist attack.

This individual may well have either been inspired by or had links to Isis, but we do not know for sure.

She added: The intelligence agencies will be trying to work out if he was working alone. The British will be doing exactly the same thing, they will be putting his name into their data systems here - was he a member of Isis, did he have friends in Isis, or was he simply inspired by them or some other group?
US President Barack Obama, Russian president Vladimir Putin and European and Asian leaders meeting for a summit in Mongolia joined in condemnation of what they called a terrorist attack in messages to French President Francois Hollande.

Dozens more were injured. The dead included foreign tourists and students.

European Council president Donald Tusk, speaking in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, captured the global shock when he spoke of the tragic paradox that the subject of #NiceAttack was the people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Mongolia: All of us who have come together at the ASEM summit are united in our feeling of disbelief at the attack of mass murder in Nice.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain stood shoulder to shoulder with France.

Putin, whose relations with the West have been strained over Russian actions in Ukraine and Syria, went on Russian television to convey his condolences to Hollande after apparently being unable to reach him by telephone.

Dear Francois, Russia knows what terror is and the threats that it creates for all of us. Our people have more than once encountered similar tragedies and is deeply affected by the incident, sympathises with the French people, and feels solidarity with them, he said, adding that Russian citizens were among the victims in Nice.

In France, far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen faulted the countrys response to past attacks.

The war on the scourge of Islamist fundamentalism has not begun. It is urgent now that it be declared, she said on Twitter.

In the Middle East, many messages of sympathy and condemnation were laced with domestic agendas.

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, whose country was hit just days ago by a coordinated gun and bomb attack on Istanbul airport by suspected Islamic State militants, said Turks could understand what France and the French people were going through.

In an apparent swipe at EU countries that disapprove of Ankaras crackdown on Kurdish separatist fighters, Mr Erdogan said: We expect those who act inconsistently in the face of terror to draw necessary lessons from the most recent attack in France.

The EU is trying to persuade Ankara to narrow the scope of its sweeping anti-terror laws as one of the conditions for granting visa-free travel to Turks.

Brussels wants to avoid journalists, academics, and opposition politicians being prosecuted for expressing peaceful opinions on the Kurdish issue.

Italy, Spain, Germany, Britain, and Belgium held separate meetings to review their own security after the Nice attack.

Germany said it had boosted border controls at airports as well as road and rail crossings into France in response, as did Italy.

Britain and Belgium said that their threat level was already severe, indicating they regard an attack is highly likely.
Bouhlel ploughed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera, in what President Francois Hollande called a terrorist act by an enemy determined to strike all nations that share Frances values.

While he had several run-ins with the law previously, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not on a watch list of French intelligence services as a suspected militant.

He was convicted for the first time in March this year, French justice minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said.

There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man, Urvoas told reporters.

As it was his first conviction, Bouhlel was given a suspended sentence and had to contact police once a week, which he did, Urvoas added.

Tunisian security sources told Reuters that Bouhlel had last visited his hometown of Msaken, about 120km south of Tunis, four years ago.

He was married with three children, but had marital problems, the Tunisian sources said. He was not known by the Tunisian authorities to hold radical or Islamist views, and had held a French residence permit for the past 10 years without obtaining French nationality, Tunisian sources said.

Neighbours in the residential neighbourhood in northern Nice where Bouhlel lived said he had a tense personality and did not mingle with others.

I would say he was someone who was pleasing to women, said neighbour Hanan, standing in the lobby of the apartment building where Bouhlel lived.

Bodies of victims covered by sheets at the scene of a truck attack in Nice. People were forced to flee into the sea as the truck bore down for more than a mile along the famed promenade. Picture: AP/Luca Bruno

But he was frightening. He didnt have a frightening face, but ... a look. He would stare at the children a lot, he added.

His home town Msaken is about 10km outside the coastal city of Sousse, where a gunman killed 38 people, mostly British holidaymakers, on a beach a year ago.

Many residents of the town have migrated to Nice, where the Tunisian community numbers about 130,000 people, according to Tunisian state news agency Tap.

The Tunisian government issued a statement condemning Thursdays attack in the strongest possible terms.

Bouhlel was involved in a pub brawl in January and had been on parole for an incident in which he fell asleep at the wheel of a car and crashed into four vehicles on a highway, it was claimed by Spanish media outlets.
The British actor has enjoyed a whirlwind romance with the US pop star, with the two taking trips together to Rome and Australia.

He also attended a July 4 party at her house in Rhode Island, where he was pictured wearing an I heart TS t-shirt. The relationship has attracted some critics, who argued that it could be a publicity stunt.
Dateline Irrawaddy: A Hundred Days, a Thousand Questions: Government Faces Challenges on All Fronts

The Irrawaddy speaks with Khine Win from the Sandhi Governance Institute and political columnist Ko Ye Naing Moe about the new governments 100-day plan.

Aung Zaw: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, we will discuss positive and negative trends, and successes and failures, of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, just over a hundred days since it took office. Ko Khine Win from the Sandhi Governance Institute and political columnist Ko Ye Naing Moe are joining me for the discussion. Im Aung Zaw, the chief editor of The Irrawaddy.

People voted for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the November election, electing the first civilian government in Burma since 1962. The new government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Htin Kyaw still enjoys public support [as much support as the NLD party enjoyed in the past.] Soon after it took power, the government articulated the idea of a 100-day plan. We know that it is impossible to quickly solve all the problems of a country that has deteriorated in political, economic and social aspects for more than five decades. But, Ko Khine Win, what policies has the NLD adopted at this point? Which are positive and which are not?

Khine Win: What I see is that the new government has focused on a deregulation drive, rather than on policies. It has tried to pick low-hanging fruit, as some people put it. That is, it has tried to make some quick fixes for the convenience of the people. According to an official of the National Planning Ministry, the 100-day plan had a focus on easing some regulations imposed by the previous governments, in the interests of the people.

AZ: Ko Ye Naing Moe, the government has released almost all political prisoners, started to return some confiscated land, and taken measures to promote the rule of law. Do you think people feel safe and secure under the new government? Do they believe it can protect them?

Ye Naing Moe: I have talked to people on the street about their expectations of the first civilian government elected in over 50 years. People do not expect that their incomes will increase immediately. Or that there will be job opportunities overnight. But they do have trust. This is the first time that they trust a government in more than 50 years. Anyway, though the civilian government has not yet given a great performance, the majority of non-ethnic Bamar people believe that it is at least heading in a good direction.

AZ: Do you think there is greater public cooperation with this government compared to previous ones?

KW: Yes, I think there is. People tend to show greater discipline. I dont mean that the previous governments did not properly enforce discipline. My view is that people have greater trust in, and respect for, the government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This is proven, for example, by the anti-betel chewing campaign in Rangoon Division. I dont agree that this campaign should be a priority. But if the previous government had issued a statement against betel-chewing, people would have responded strongly [pushed back] on it, I think. But now public cooperation is high. This shows that people believe that the NLD government prioritizes things constructively. Earlier too, the NLD government took some steps that satisfied people, including me. These included slashing the number of ministries, to reduce the burden on society. That was a bold move. At the same time, there are still shortcomings.

AZ: It is also interesting to look at the role of administrators [the General Administration Department] under the new government. In the [relatively distant] past, bureaucrats were capable and efficient people who played very important roles administering the country. But after dictators seized power in 1962, their henchmenwho knew nothing except how to say Yeswere appointed to govern the administrative mechanism. This damaged the system of administration and governance. Since the incumbent administrators were appointed by previous governments, there are suggestions that they might be uncooperative. There might be conflicts between them and the new government. What do you think, Ko Khine Win?

KW: Some administrators serve as secretaries of divisional and state governments, so they play an important role. There is public concern because they are staff members of the Home Affairs Ministry, and most are military officials. But at the township and district levels, administrators mainly play the role of coordinators. On security aspects, they need to know everything [in their respective administrative areas]. Therefore it seems that they have a finger in every pie. In fact, the cooperation of civil servants at the lower level plays a major part [in running the administration]. But this does not mean that [senior] administrators do not play a part. I have heard that in some places they ignore instructions from the upper level [of government].

AZ: In some divisions and states

KW: At the same time, there are cases in which civil servants [at the lower level] work hard but the upper levels place them under undue pressure.

YNM: My view on administrators is that they played an important role in the past. And they still do. In the colonial period and after independence, during the government of the Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League, they were called township administration officers and deputy commissioners and so on. The difference is that they were civilians then. The system was militarized after 1962, as Ko Aung Zaw said. So, the way of thinking is different. People take orders in a hierarchical system. For the new government, the General Administration Department is a tough thing to handle.

AZ: Political pundits and observers point out that the military still maintain its grip on three key ministries (Home, Defence, Border Affairs) and holds 25 percent of seats in the parliaments, while there has been no progress regarding constitutional reform. They say that there may be more tensions between the government led by U Htin Kyaw and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the military. What is your view of their relations; in other words, of civilian-military relations?

YNM: The number-one priority of the NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is internal peace and national reconciliation; to end the civil war. Their engagement with the military will decide the success or failure of that goal. Since the new government takes this into consideration in each of its moves, it tries to avoid confrontation with the military even on other issues. It seems that the government does not want to touch other difficult matters before it can work out an agreement with the military over a ceasefire and national reconciliation. Their 100-day plan does not deal with constitutional reform, which was one of the objectives of their party explicitly articulated in the campaign season.

AZ: Now they say that the Constitution will only be amended after peace is achieved.

YNM: I think that is so.

AZ: The priority of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is peace and national reconciliation. She is planning to hold the 21st Century Panglong Conference. She wants to invite non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), including the AA (Arakan Army), the Kokang Group (Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army) and the TNLA (Taang National Liberation Army), groups the military objects to. Yet it seems that the military is taking a moderate approach regarding that proposal. Some argue that our country will never enjoy peace and stability if it does not achieve it during the time of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. What do you think of that view? And do you think ethnic groups will respond to her peace offer?

KW: There are higher expectations. Ethnic peoples have greater trust in and greater expectations of the NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi than any previous governments. At the same time, there are mountains of doubts. But anyway, they have more trust in Daw Aung San Suu Kyis government than in any other, I think. So, it is likely that the AA, TNLA and Kokang Group may accept her offer. Whether the goals can be achieved depends solely on the military, how much they are willing to cooperate. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will continue to hold the top position in the military. So, what is the militarys stance? So far, the military compromises only within the framework of the 2008 Constitution. There would need to be some changes to the Constitution for a complete agreement to be reached. So, it depends on how much the military is willing to compromise. Daw Aung Suu Kyi understands this situation, I think.

AZ: The 100-day plan lacks clarity on economic policy. Foreign investors and local businessmen are very disappointed that the NLD government has not clearly articulated this policy. People are saying that the government is very weak in this regard. What are your views?

KW: My view is that there are difficulties and challenges for the NLD government in adopting a clear and coherent economic policy. There are many groups in a society. Their interests are different. The NLD government needs to adjust to all those interests. They cant only give attention to the demands of the business community. As Ko Aung Zaw has pointed out, it is important to create jobs for the people. To create jobs, the government needs to cooperate closely with businessmen. Meanwhile, people have a general dislike of businessmen, especially cronies, because of their [negative] reputation.

AZ: The NLD government is an anti-corruption government, which is good. But some people ask if the government is anti-business, or not pro-business. Is that question valid?

YNM: It is a little harsh to criticize the NLD as an anti-business government. But it needs to be bold and decisive regarding economic policy. I dont have a clear sense of their policy.

In our country, many people have traditional beliefs. For example, the political system used to be influenced by communism, and therefore there is a tendency to shy away from doing business with the international community. And people tend to have rather negative views of investments and projects. It seems that our country has resource nationalism.

The question is, how we can achieve job opportunities? In Rangoon, the number of taxis now is frighteningly high. Because of a lack of job opportunities, people choose to drive taxis as the easiest way to earn an income for their families. The government needs to explain how it will create job opportunities, what this country will produce to make money, how it will boost the tourism industry, and how it will provide vocational training and create related jobs. But it hasnt done this, and that is a shortcoming.

AZ: Thank you for your contributions!

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Apple has a lot of things coming out this year, thus giving tech enthusiasts plenty to look forward to. One of them is the release of the A10X chipset. With this, any and all of Apple's upcoming gadgets will be the most powerful in its history. Fortunately, the chipset is expected to come in the iPad Pro 2, which is correspondingly expected to arrive in the first quarter of next year.

According to Ecumenical News, the official announcement is likely to come from Apple when the company shares iOS10. However, because the iPad Pro 2 is expected to come with the A10X chipset, the actual launch of the device will not come until next year.

The publication further claims that the new chipset will be manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor. And because mass production will not start until later this year, a 2017 launch date is definitely being eyed. Further, the current iPad Pro 9.7, was released earlier this year in March. Therefore, it is anticipated that the iPad Pro 2 will be arriving in March of 2017.

The iPad Pro 2 is also expected to come with 256GB of storage in a 9.7-inch display like the reigning iPad Pro. However, the next generation will be compatible with 4K videos. Further, the rear camera will be 12 megapixels and the front camera will be 5 megapixels. It is even possible that the device will come in a Rose Gold option, as Apple has been providing that option with all its recent releases.

Mac World adds that the new device is likely to have a display with True Tone and updated keyboard accessories. This is mainly because the iPad Pro line is targeted to sell to businesses. Therefore, the need for an efficient keyboard accessory is high on the priority list. Another thing that Apple might add in order to increase the efficiency of the device, is the option to display more icons in each screen. Of course, the upcoming iOS10 will come preinstalled on the iPad Pro 2 as well.


On Friday, July 15, the Obama administration pledged to invest more than $400 million over the next decade on 5G research.

The plan of the American administration to develop 5G networks is detailed on the White House's official website. According to PCMag, the vast majority of the funds will come from the National Science Foundation (NFS).

In the year 2017, it is planned to start building advanced wireless testing platforms in four cities selected via competition. The four winning cities will get city-wide radio antennas. Private and public researchers will be able to test 5G technologies in a real-world setting.

Over the next five years, the NSF agency plans to spend around $50 million on the program. More than $350 million are also committed by the agency to fund workshops, prizes and international collaborations to test and develop devices, networks and protocols for the Internet of Things (IoS).

This includes everything from the time it takes for data to arrive after a device requests it, to a workshop focused on reducing latency, or a challenge to restore critical communications in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Self-driving cars and emergency response require ultra-low latency networks. The NSF will join many companies, from Intel to T-Mobile, in their efforts of studying ways to reduce latency in 5G networks.

As part of today's announcement, other federal agencies have to commit themselves to 5G research. Among them is included the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The agency plans to use 5G test platforms in its competition for teams building robotic vehicles, as part of the new Spectrum Challenge component.

Many tech companies, including Samsung, Intel, HTC, Nokia, AT&T and Qualcomm also pledged their support for the government's research projects. The companies are working already on their own 5G projects and they will offer engineering equipment, guidance as well as financial support.

According to USA Today, among the expected breakthroughs listed in the administration's plan are included improved self-driving vehicles, live high-res video transmissions from first-responders to emergency rooms and mobile phones and tablets that can download a movie in less than five seconds. Other expected applications of the 5G networks are virtual reality job training simulators and Gigabit-speed wireless broadband available in businesses and public places.
AT&T is planning to boost the LTE cell coverage at concerts and sporting events with the use of drones.

According to Forbes, after the legalizing of the commercial use of drones by FAA back in June, now businesses can start using drones for various applications. Since most events are viewed through a tiny screen on a tablet or smartphone, AT&T plans to use drones for enhancing the mobile phone signals at such events.

AT&T is already using drones for inspecting parts of its cell towers that are difficult or too slow to reach by humans. Now, the company will extend the use of drones by employing them at sporting events and concerts to improve the phone signals.

The drones to be used for this purpose are called Cell On Wings (COWs). According to Computerworld, a Flying Cell on Wings (COW) can be used not only to enhance LTE coverage at a large concert or sporting event but also in rapid disaster response. Such technology is able to offer wireless coverage when a vehicle is unable to drive to an area hit by a natural catastrophe.

John Donovan, chief strategy officer for AT&T explained some of these ideas in a blog this week. The blog post also includes a video showing drones already being deployed to inspect tall AT&T cell towers. An engineer in an office receives live video fed wirelessly by the inspection drones in order to perform remotely up-close inspections of components and cables high above the ground.

In a specific area, drones can also be connected to an LTE network in order to capture data for analysis through remote AT&T servers. If problems occur, this application can allow for networking fixes in real time.

Art Pregler, drone program director for AT&T, said by using drones for inspection, the information tends to be more accurate than in the past. He also noted that robots and artificial intelligence evolve in parallel with advances in drone technology. All these technological advances are coming together in an exciting man-machine interaction.
Conspiracy theorists are starting to doubt NASA as the feeds from the ISS are getting cut more and more frequently, conveniently when a UFO appears on the screen. The most recent occurred just earlier this month. Naturally, NASA has released a statement to debunk these theories.

As Snopes recalls, the video was first shared on YouTube by user Streetcap1 on July 9th. The item in the shot does not look like an alien spaceship. In fact, Streetcap1 specifically states that it really was just an unidentified object - an unknown item that was floating about in space. The user that uploaded the footage even offers some explanations of what it could have been, like a meteor or even a spacecraft from another country.

However, what clouds the clip in speculation is that the feed is abruptly cut a few seconds after the UFO is seen. Moreover, this was not the first time that NASA has been accused of cutting the feed just as something out of the ordinary makes its way on the screen.

NASA has since released a statement to logically explain why the feeds were cut. According to Daniel Huot, a spokesperson from the space agency, the footage comes from NASA's High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment. HDEV gets its feed from several cameras stationed all around the exterior of the International Space Station. Further, these cameras suffer from regular outages whenever the ISS is within an area that satellites cannot reach.

As Mail Online quotes Huot, "The station regularly passes out of range of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) used to send and receive video, voice and telemetry from the station." He also explains that whenever a blue screen appears on the feed, it simply means that signal is lost.

While NASA's explanation is definitely a logical one, there is still the question of why the signal was lost just as UFO-like objects appeared on the screen. After all, the incident earlier this month was not the first time this has happened. Just last November, NASA's feeds showed a mysterious object that was in the shape of a horseshoe. The signal was conveniently lost then as well.


Microsoft has announced the release of a new version of Skype for Linux. The client is still in alpha, so it wouldn't be wise to try and use it for serious work yet.

The new version uses WebRTC, which, the Microsoft announcement says, ensures that development of the Linux client can continue.

The announcement said it would be a much faster client than the one used by Linux users right now. Both .debs and rpms are available for download.

The company is hosting a Q and A at midnight Australian eastern time for Skype users on Linux to ask questions about the new client.

Those who make the move to the new client will be able to make calls to those using the latest version of Skype on Windows, macOS and Android. But they will not be able make calls to those using the old client on Linux (version 4.3.0.37).

Microsoft is seeking feedback from users to improve the Skype client of Linux and invites feedback from all and sundry.

The company also said that one need not depend on a standalone client for any operating system to use Skype and could use the Web version instead.

"A couple of months ago, we announced plugin free calling using ORTC on Skype for Web, Outlook and Office Web apps using Microsoft Edge. ORTC makes it possible to make free voice and video calls on Skype without needing to download an app or browser plug in  so its really easy to get started on Skype," it said.

"Today, anyone using a Chromebook or Chrome on Linux can now visit web.skype.com and make one-to-one and group voice calls on top of the messaging features they get today. This again is an alpha version of Skype based on WebRTC and inherits the same features of the Alpha version of the Skype for Linux client. This is our initial step on our path to replicate ORTC capabilities beyond Microsoft Edge."
If it is real estate you want, then it's real estate you will get with this enormous 27, 19 curved, monitor. It has just enough curve to provide immersion, and little enough that keystone effects are not obvious.

My only regret was that I did not have two Samsung C27F591FDE monitors to test side by side. I use dual 24 displays at present  Benq, Theatre quality, VA screens  and Samsungs VA screen certainly put a pall over what I thought was pretty spectacular colour and clarity.

The review has two goals  does curved make a difference and a review of this new model. Samsungs commitment to Australia means this screen has come here before most western markets  this is the first independent review I can find. And make sure you look carefully at the model number if you are shopping around  there are a few earlier or overseas models with lower specifications.

Before you read the review, let me give you a summary. It is close to perfection as a home or office monitor. The 19 curvature is lighter than the previous 16 models, and it has made it just that much easier to use. Ten out of ten!

Out of the box

The first thing you notice is that it is not as heavy as you would expect. It weighs a mere 4.5kg with the stand  the screen is 3.5kg itself. Assemble the two-piece, white and silver/aluminium floor plate (two screws and click into the panel) and thats it. Note the panel has a 75 x 75mm mounting socket.

Hook up via HDMI, DisplayPort or D-Sub, plug in the power pack (it uses a 14V/3.22A supply consuming measly .3W DPMS) and thats it. It is macOS and Windows compatible. It also comes with an HDMI cable.

The last thing you notice is the extra space over a 24. It is HD, 1920 x 1080, 16:9 and everything looks just that little bigger  great for those needing glasses. And it has ultra-thin bezels, top and sides making it suitable for dual or quad monitor use. An its looks very svelte  9.8mm thick and a very nice white back.

Specifications

I have mentioned the VA (vertical alignment) panel. It is considered the best for office and general use after OLED, ahead of IPS and TN. The key advantages of VA are faster refresh rates, better colour, better black, better viewing angles, and higher brightness and contrast. The trade-off is typically the response time is slower than IPS (in-plane switching) or TN (twisted nematic). Having said that, it is the choice for office and general use  gamers prefer the faster TN panels.

 Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @60Hz (pixel clock is 148.5Mhz to support AMD FreeSync)

 Brightness min/max: 200-250cd/m2

 Contrast: 3000:1

 sRGB coverage: 119.3%

 Response time: 5ms

 Viewing angle: 178/178

 Audio in: audio in is provided by HDMI, DisplayPort or 3.5mm jack

 Audio out: 3.5mm audio out (headphone) jack

 Dimensions/Weight: 724.3 x 428.0 x 94.4 mm. Stand adds 94.2mm in height and 153.3mm in depth

 What it does not have: USB Hub, DVI, PiP

 Warranty: 3 years

Samsung did not make this a higher resolution panel because at this size (and probably up to 32) any higher resolution or wider aspect would have made it less suitable for office and general use.

Curved versus flat

Until I used this monitor for a couple of days I was sceptical  earlier models from many suppliers simply did not do it for me. It all comes down to the radius  the bend.

Harvard University found that found that participants who used a Samsung curved monitor for an intensive onscreen task were less likely to report eye strain, difficulty focusing, blurred vision, and eye tiredness when compared to participants who used a flat screen for the same task.

The curved monitor degree ratio is measured against the radius of the monitor panel curve as it was a part of a complete circle. The lower the degree, the tighter the curve.

What I will say is that I found no real difference in day-to-day use (and I have been using flat monitors for a very long time) and, if anything, the curve allowed me to place it on a smaller desk space than using a similar sized flat monitor.

Using the monitor

The 38-page manual is somewhat overkill, but there are a few pages worth reading.

The menu is accessed by a JOG button on the right rear fairly conveniently placed behind the front power LED. It is easy to use it without having to turn the monitor around. It also controls volume and power.

It does have several modes  standard, cinema, game, dynamic contrast, basic colour, custom, sharpness and more. It will also upscale lower resolution sources. It has AMD FreeSync mode as well. the default settings are fine.

The panel will tilt back to -20. It has a Kensington lock slot. My only complaint is that the headphone socket is on the back  this is a minor irritant as you would probably plug into the computer device anyway. The stereo sound volume is adequate for Skype conversations and personal use.

Conclusion

I spend a lot of time in front of monitors  often 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week. I also wear glasses to read. That is why I select VA panels and am willing to pay for quality  always have and always will.

I am cross at Samsung for showing up my previously unassailable Benqs  damn, I am going to have to go any buy two of these babies!

Price. JB Hi-Fi has it for $496.
NASA is ready to wrap up the final design and begin building the next Mars rover, which is set to search, for the first time, for signs of past life on the planet.

The space agency announced Friday that plans are moving ahead for the robotic rover to launch in the summer of 2020 and land on Mars in February 2021.

The new rover also is designed to test the planet for usable resources, such as oxygen, that will be needed for future missions to Mars that will include humans.

The Mars Curiosity rover, which has been working on the Red Planet since August 2012, has been searching for evidence that the planet could have ever sustained life  even in microbial form.

The new rover will take the next step, looking for evidence of life.

"The Mars 2020 rover is the first step in a potential multi-mission campaign to return carefully selected and sealed samples of Martian rocks and soil to Earth," said Geoffrey Yoder, acting associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a statement. "This mission marks a significant milestone in NASA's Journey to Mars  to determine whether life has ever existed on Mars, and to advance our goal of sending humans to the Red Planet."

The new vehicle, unofficially dubbed the Mars 2020 rover, is expected to explore a region of the planet where NASA scientists expect that the ancient environment had been favorable to support microbial life.

The rover will drill into rocks, collect samples and ready them for a return trip to Earth as part of a future Mars mission.

In an attempt to save money on the project, NASA plans to base the rover's design on that of its predecessor, Curiosity.

However, the Mars 2020 rover will have a new array of scientific instruments.

For example, the rover is designed to carry two instruments on its robotic arm: one to search for signs of past life and one to determine where it should collect soil and rock samples. Other onboard instruments will be able to analyze the chemical, mineral, physical and organic characteristics of the samples.

The rover also will have scientific instruments mounted on its mast to provide high-resolution imaging, as well as three different types of spectroscopy to characterize rocks and soil from a distance. That information will help scientists determine which areas the robotic rover should investigate more closely.

A separate suite of sensors on the rover's mast and deck will be used to monitor weather conditions, while ground-penetrating radar will assess sub-surface geologic structure, NASA said.

The Mars 2020 rover will have a rack of tubes for holding soil and rock samples. According to NASA, 30 of those sample tubes will be left at specific locations where they can be picked up during future "retrieval missions" and sent back to Earth.

Scientists want to study the samples for evidence of past life but also for materials that could pose a threat to humans on a future Mars mission.

NASA is expected to send astronauts to Mars in the 2030s.

Robots are expected to be used to pave the way for those human missions, investigating the environment and even setting up a habitat and creating reserves of water and oxygen.
Microsoft today acknowledged that it would not make its self-imposed goal of putting Windows 10 on 1 billion devices by mid-2018.

"We're pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than FY18 for us to reach our goal of 1 billion monthly active devices," a Microsoft spokesman said in an emailed statement. "In the year ahead, we are excited about usage growth coming from commercial deployments and new devices - and increasing customer delight with Windows."

Microsoft's fiscal year 2018 -- the "FY18" mentioned in the firm's statement -- ends June 1, 2018.

Ed Bott of ZDNet first reported on Microsoft's admission.

The billion-or-bust goal was first breathed in May 2015, when Terry Myerson, the company's top operating systems executive, said, "Our goal is that within two to three years of Windows 10's release there will be one billion devices running Windows 10." Microsoft launched Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, putting the two- and three-year timelines at mid-2017 and mid-2018.

Microsoft's latest numerical claim for Windows 10 was 350 million at the end of June.

"The change we just saw was inevitable, not just because of Windows Phone but also because PC shipments are declining," said Merv Adrian, an analyst at Gartner.

As Microsoft mentioned -- the "focusing of our phone hardware business" -- the goal was predicated on a significant number of Windows 10-powered smartphones to add to the personal computers that will be upgraded or replaced. But Windows smartphones never captured more than a tiny fraction of the market. In response, Microsoft abandoned all but the enterprise market two months ago, albeit only after bleeding billions in losses and write-downs. And as Adrian noted, the PC shipment slump shows no signs of relenting, putting the squeeze on Windows' stronghold.

Still, today's admission was a public relations gaffe at the very least, said J.P. Gownder of Forrester Research. "It was probably not the wisest thing to set this expectation," Gownder said. "I think Microsoft saw it as more aspirational than as a metric, but once they put it out there, people tracked it as a metric."

But was it more than that? Not to Gownder.

"On some level, I don't think it's a huge deal," Gownder said, noting that with the demise of Microsoft's original smartphone strategy and the shrinking consumer PC market, it was simply realistic.

Meanwhile, Adrian argued that it was also indicative of the way Microsoft now does business.

"They've changed a lot of things [since Satya Nadella became CEO], broken down a lot of silos and opened the transparency gates," said Adrian. "They're more open than they used to be. This is a course correction, but in the public eye."

It's in the public eye because Microsoft put it there, of course, by openly drawing a line in the sand rather than keeping it internal. But it wasn't the end of the world.

"This needs to be put into context. All businesses have to do [course corrections]," Adrian said. Businesses constantly monitor internal goals and the milestones toward those goals, whether company-wide or on a project basis, whether financial performance or unit sales. They ponder what has been done, and if those actions haven't advanced toward the goal, they rethink.

That's what Microsoft has done, Adrian said. The difference? "They want to be public," he said, again hitting his theme of a more transparent Microsoft.

Yet Adrian also admitted that there is a public relations aspect to the goal being ditched. "It's about how well you recover," he said. In the early stages of Windows 10, Microsoft was slow to respond to criticism -- such as the charges of widespread data collection -- or even intractable, as with the aggressive, even deceptive upgrade tactics it has employed. Today's declaration was more preemptive; it may have been triggered by questions from people like Bott, but Microsoft could, as it often has, simply stonewalled.

Instead, Microsoft owned up. And learned a lesson.

"If you draw a line in the future sand, and that line is at the water line, the next wave can wash it away," said Adrian.
In what may be another first for our connected world, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan placed what appeared to be a Facetime call to a national news broadcast early on Saturday while the world tried to figure out if a military coup against him had succeeded.

Erdogan appeared on a journalist's iPhone, held up to the camera so viewers could see and hear what he had to say. He claimed that he remained in control and urged the public to take to the streets to oppose the coup attempt.

Erdogan's use of modern technology to speak to the nation comes with a heap of irony. He has been keen to shut off access to the Internet during sensitive times and go after those who try to get around such bans and those who insult him. Reporters Without Borders says Erdogan has "systematically" censored the Internet.

IDGNS An announcer reads out a military statement on state-run TRT1 TV on July 16, 2016.

The broadcast was aired on CNN Turk, one of a number of independent news channels serving the country. As it was being shown, the state-run station TRT was repeatedly broadcasting a statement from the military announcing it had seized control of the country.

Later in the evening Abdullah Gul, who served as the country's president from 2007 to 2014, made a video call into another broadcaster, NTV.

As with Erdogan, a reporter held the phone up to the screen and used a small microphone to relay what Gul was saying to the live broadcast.

IDGNS Abdullah Gul, former president of Turkey, makes a video call into NTV during a coup attempt on July 16, 2016.

What's actually happening in Turkey remains unclear at this point, but tanks are out on some streets and flights from Istanbul's international airport have been halted.

The U.S. State Department has confirmed gunfire in the capital and asked citizens to stay indoors.

US citizens in #Turkey should shelter in place & stay indoors. Update family/friends of your status when possible.  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016

IDGNS Turkish TV broadcasts show tanks on the streets after a reported coup on July 16, 2016.

Access to Twitter and Facebook was quickly cut soon after the first reports of an attempted coup began emerging from the country. Doug Madory, an analyst at Dyn Research in the U.S., said it appeared Turkish telecommunications authorities were blocking access to the sites.
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A 61-YEAR-OLD former banker was told he faces jail after locking his financial adviser in a house and putting her through a frightening ordeal.

The 30-year-old woman, who works from an office in Enfield, told the Old Bailey how father-of-three Minhajuddin Syed took her to an unknown location and tried to kiss her despite her refusals.

And on Monday a jury found Syed, a devout Muslim, guilty of indecent assault and false imprisonment.

During the trial the court was told that Miss X had visited Syed at his Middlesex house on November 30 last year to discuss ways of investing his 450,000.

Then, she claimed, he tried to play footsie with her.

A week later Syed picked her up at his office and drove her to an address in Colindale where he grabbed her by the wrist and began to kiss her hand before making small talk.

She told the court: 'He then asked for my left hand and said 'I will tell you your future'.

'He moved closer and put his right hand behind my back to pull me towards him. He started kissing my hand.

'He came towards me. He pursed his lips and then moved towards my face. I moved very quickly and jumped up and started shouting.

'I was very agitated and shouting 'just get off me, just get off me. That's it, I'm leaving'.'

She said on trying to leave the house she realised it was locked and he refused to let her out.

Syed apologised profusely while she called her boss on her mobile phone. Then, when he let her out, the woman agreed to a lift home from Syed, who asked her not to tell anyone about the incident.

When she finally got home the woman told her husband, who immediately called the police.

Married Syed, who the court was told was impotent and suffers from a heart condition, was charged with indecent assault with regard to the first incident on November 30. For this he was acquitted.

But on charges of indecent assault and false imprisonment during the second incident he was found guilty.

The judge, Recorder Brian Barker, granted Syed bail but warned that was no indication as to what his sentence would be.

He will be sentenced on Friday, May 26.
Jose Rivera, an employee with MCT Dairies, checks for the accurate weight of each jar of Parmesan cheese at the Appleton plant. Credit: Dan Powers / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

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Sending money to the wrong overseas bank has turned out to be a costly mistake for a dairy products company that has four Wisconsin locations.

MCT Dairies, a New Jersey firm with a cheese plant in Appleton and offices elsewhere in the state, said it has not been able to recover the $134,640 it mistakenly wired to Punjab National Bank of India as payment for dairy ingredients.

Over a period of more than two years, MCT said, there have been more than a dozen court hearings in India regarding the dispute, but little action.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 19, and company officials said it could be another five years before their lawsuit against Punjab grinds its way through the Indian legal system.

If MCT doesn't prevail, it could cost the company tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. Still, company officials said they're pressing on to recover their money and legal expenses.

"I am not going to give up without a fight," said Vincent McCann, the company's chief financial officer.

The story began in 2013 when MCT purchased a dairy products ingredient called acid casein from Crown Milk Specialties of Mohali, India.

Casein is a protein found in milk. It is used in processed foods, adhesives, paints and industrial products. An acid casein is a low-fat milk protein used in cheesemaking.

The purchase terms included a 20% prepayment through Punjab, a bank that Crown used. The 80% balance was to be paid through "cash against documents," meaning the title for the purchased goods would be released when the bank received the money.

However, the 80% should have been wired to another bank in India rather than Punjab.

"It was clearly a mistake on our part," McCann said, adding that MCT wasn't aware that Crown Milk had switched financial institutions.

Upon realizing the error, MCT asked Punjab to return the $134,640.

Punjab refused, saying the money was an asset of Crown Milk, and that Punjab was entitled to keep it because the bank was in a dispute with Crown over a nonperforming loan.

"I never in a hundred years thought this would happen. When we first found out about it, we thought the bank would send the money back," McCann said.

Punjab National Bank, owned by the Indian government, could not be reached for comment this past week. Journal Sentinel emails to Crown Milk and India government offices were not answered.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) have become involved in the case, asking the U.S. State Department to help MCT get its money back from Punjab.

U.S. officials also have pleaded with the Indian government for assistance.

"It is our understanding that the bank has delayed returning the transferred funds to MCT despite repeated requests and guidance from Crown Milk," Johnson and Ribble said in a letter to India's minister of finance.

MCT has attorneys in New York and India working on the dispute, which is now a lawsuit against Punjab, another Indian bank and Crown Milk.

The company said the legal proceedings have moved at a snail's pace, with multiple court hearings adjourned because the bank requested additional time.

One hearing was adjourned because the bank's counsel was ill, and another hearing was adjourned because the judge's mother died.

Still another hearing was adjourned because the judge was "on leave," according to MCT, and other hearings did not produce results for various reasons, including an attorney not showing up in court.

MCT officials said they suspect the delays are aimed at persuading the company to drop its lawsuit. Should the company lose the case, the attorney fees would be substantial.

For now, at least, MCT is willing to take the risk.

"This has hurt our business. But I will not just let them walk all over us," McCann said.

Conducting business in India is often complicated by burdensome procedures, according to a report from the U.S. accounting firm Deloitte LLP.

On average, enforcing a commercial contract in Indian courts requires a company to go through 46 administrative procedures, taking 1,420 days and costing the company nearly 40% of its claim, according to 2013 research from the World Bank.

There's risk in doing business in developing nations such as India and China, said Abdur Chowdhury, a Marquette University economics professor.

Chowdhury, former chief economist of the United Nations Economic Commission in Europe, once worked for the Bangladesh government.

He said delays in foreign court proceedings involving businesses are very common, with many cases slowed to the point where the plaintiff gives up.

"They will drag out a case for years and years," Chowdhury said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank might be able to put some pressure on Punjab to return MCT's money, according to Chowdhury.

That, or an out-of-court settlement, could be the best chances for getting the case resolved, he said.

MCT paid for the dairy ingredients twice: once through Punjab, and the second time through another Indian bank that completed the transaction.

The company needed the ingredients that it said are difficult to source in the U.S., and at the time it fully expected Punjab to return the $134,640.

MCT said it is sharing its story publicly to put some pressure on Punjab and also to warn businesses about delays in India's court system.

"We don't want other American businesses to experience what we have been through," McCann said.
I had an interesting challenge Thursday morning. I was invited to talk for 10 minutes to about 40 kids taking part in a summer day program at All Peoples Church, 2600 N. 2nd St. The program is called Camp Umoja (Swahili for "unity") and it's run by a Milwaukee nonprofit called Unity in Motion.

The campers ranged from early elementary through high school ages. They spend their days doing a variety of academic and nonacademic things, with an emphasis on reading.

I decided to tell them a few things based on a book I read recently (which I've been intending to discuss in this space also).

Paul Tough's book, "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character," played a big part in making "grit" a buzzword in education circles when it was published in 2012. The book spurred discussion of whether and how traits such as determination, resilience and optimism can be instilled in children.

Tough, an author and former New York Times writer and editor, came out with a follow-up book a few weeks ago called "Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why." It surveys what research suggests about how children develop these valuable traits. The overall theme:

It isn't a matter of giving children lessons in how to be resilient or gritty, but of putting them in environments, both at home and in school, where they're seeing adults and kids practicing these characteristics in daily life. People show up on time. They participate. They are willing to take something at which they didn't succeed or that frustrated them and put in the effort to figure it out and do it right. They think what they're doing can lead to good things ahead.

One study that Tough described particularly hit a chord with me. Camille Farrington, a researcher with the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, headed a team that focused on understanding what leads children to become learners. Tough wrote that much of what they described in a 2012 report can be summarized in four statements successful students could say:

"I belong in this academic community."

"My ability and competence grow with my effort."

"I can succeed at this."

"This work has value for me."

If students have these beliefs, they are more likely to persevere, Tough wrote. And if they don't, they are more likely to give up.

"The complication, of course, is that students who grow up in conditions of adversity are primed, in all sorts of ways, not to believe any of Farrington's four statements when they're sitting in math class," Tough wrote. He describes possible ways to get children to believe they do fit into a school and they do have a lot to gain from learning.

For the Camp Umoja students, I reshaped this into three statements. I said I hope they are all going to schools where they feel like they are valued members of the school community. I said I hope they are eager to take on challenging things and do their best. And I said I hope they are optimistic about their futures.

I asked a couple of the campers what schools they go to. One named a school in the Milwaukee Public Schools system, the other a school outside MPS. They were both schools where I thought the chances are good that they are picking up messages such as these.

But I know there are far too many children, especially (but not only) in high-needs neighborhoods who aren't getting these messages. They aren't part of warm, nurturing settings at home or in school. They aren't on track for the challenging, forward-moving success in school that they need.

And, at a time when hope seems to be taking a bit of a beating locally and globally, they are not being instilled with the optimism about their futures that can motivate them to do things that make their hopes more realistic.

So what are we doing, in terms of our politics, our culture, and our own lives, to make it likely more children will agree with Farrington's four statements?

I pose this without offering an answer. I'm not naive about this being easy.

I told the Camp Umoja kids one more thing: It's also important how they spend their summer. Yes, it's play time. But it's important for summer not to be a time to slide backward academically, which happens for so many kids.

I told the kids it was good they were involved in a program such as the camp  and there are many other good programs in the central city, as well as in more well-to-do communities. And I said a great thing they can do, beyond camp time, is read. For one thing, access to public libraries is pretty easy and checking out books or other material is free.

The Camp Umoja day started with everyone singing along to a song I had not heard before. I found out later it was by a British writer and musician, Labi Siffre, who wrote it in the 1980s, reportedly in reaction to seeing video of white solders in then-apartheid South Africa shooting at black civilians. It's called "(Something Inside) So Strong." The lyrics include these phrases:

"Brothers and sisters, when they insist we're just not good enough when we know better, look 'em in the eyes and say, we're going to do it anyway... because there's something inside so strong. I know that I can make it."

And the lyrics promise, "My light will shine so brightly, it will blind you."

OK, campers. You're going to need those strong things inside. But I'll keep my sunglasses handy. I want to need them the next time we meet.

Alan J. Borsuk is senior fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. He can be reached at alan.borsuk@marquette.edu.
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In his seminal book "Toxic Charity," longtime urban activist Robert Lupton highlights the destructive consequences of treating people in poverty as if they were helpless and have nothing to offer. Compassionate people and organizations, he writes, should "never do for the poor what they have the capacity to do for themselves."

It is this premise that guides Milwaukee JobsWork (MJW), a workforce and small-business development program focused on helping chronically unemployed people living in generational poverty. More than 50% of the job-seekers the program has helped have felony convictions, says MJW President Bill Krugler.

"Our whole goal is not to take care of people in poverty; it is to help people help themselves get out of poverty," he says.

MJW, a nonprofit that is financed through foundations and individual donations, pursues a multilevel business strategy based on the conviction that sustainable employment leads to self-sufficiency and local business growth is necessary for expanded opportunities. The program connects hard-to-employ job-seekers with small businesses and, in turn, connects small businesses with larger anchor institutions.

Krugler initially focused on small-business development, a natural segue after 30 years at private equity firms helping to grow and improve small and medium-sized companies.

He began by asking large Milwaukee employers to steer contract work to small central city businesses that then could hire additional workers. After recruiting a half-dozen anchor institutions and a handful of small businesses, he turned to existing workforce development programs to find the employees. He quickly discovered a significant gap.

"Most jobs programs are not set up to work with individuals who have truly significant barriers to employment success," Krugler says. "Many times, the person is placed before they were actually prepared to keep a job and succeed at a job."

As a result, employees often would become frustrated and quit or do something that got them fired. So MJW added a program that provides training, job opportunities and ongoing support  both to the employee and employer. It was at this time that Krugler connected with his partner, Michael Adams, a business owner with human resources and career development experience. Adams helped develop MJW's employee development program, which he leads.

The program's long-term, relational approach was the difference for Robert, a 35-year-old Milwaukeean who discovered JobsWork in May 2015. Robert had participated in job readiness programs before and had landed good jobs, but always ended up losing them as a result of incarceration or "personal trials."

It became clear that the JobsWork experience was different when Robert started the training workshop: two weeks of sessions that provide life skills, identify personal barriers to stable employment and emphasize spiritual renewal and motivation.

"It was therapeutic," Robert says. "We got the resume side, but we also asked questions like, 'Why can't I keep a job?' or 'Why can't I get along with co-workers?' or 'Why do I always have an attitude?'"

He completed the workshop last July and was hired by Outpost Natural Foods, one of MJW's "stability employers," which include janitorial, landscaping and painting companies. Robert has been with Outpost for nearly 10 months, gaining the stability he needs to land a position that will allow him to become self-sufficient.

"The stability employment ...is an opportunity to work in a supportive environment," Krugler says. "People are chronically unemployed, typically, because they're making the same mistakes over and over and over again," he adds. "Nobody ever took the time to teach them from their mistakes."

And the benefits are more than economic. Consider the case of D'Andre, a 30-year-old man who showed up at JobsWork with tattoos, gold teeth and a felony record. After demonstrating his determination to change, D'Andre was hired by a landscaping company. He worked there two months when someone close to him was murdered.

"I was able to talk to him that very night," says Adams. "I asked, 'How are you doing?' and 'What are you going to do?' And he said, 'I know what I would like to do  be out on the street retaliating.' But, he said, 'That's not me anymore. I realize where that's going to take me, and that's not where I want to go.'"

Krugler adds, "It was so rewarding to know that he had started this process of separating himself from his past and starting to make a better choice."

"We combine the discipline of a for-profit business with the heart of a nonprofit," he says. "We're not here to drag anyone along. Do you live in poverty, and do you want to change your life? Then we provide a pathway. Restoring human dignity is at the core of what we do."

Michael Jahr is co-founder of the Better Yes Network. He wrote this for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (wpri.org).
UWM: Adequate funding of the citys UW campus could be beneficial to the entire state. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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Thanks to Marc Eisen for his July 10 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commentary, "Empowering UWM will empower the state," advocating investment in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as the pathway to a prosperous future for Wisconsin.

Milwaukee is Wisconsin's urban center, with unique concentrations of industry, culture, ethnicity, finance, and population that are crucial for the state's prospects. Widespread access to higher education among Milwaukee's citizenry including minority groups is a necessity. Equally important are broad, deep and effective research resources that support economic and societal development. In this context, Milwaukee and the urban corridor of eastern Wisconsin need and deserve a world-class public university as their partner in moving successfully into the future knowledge-based global economy.

Eisen recommends that UWM become a top-tier research university, but in many ways it already is. UWM recently has been named a top tier Research 1 (R1) research university according to the gold standard Carnegie classification of American colleges and universities. Like UW-Madison, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Michigan, Harvard and MIT, we are among the 115 best research universities in the nation. While Milwaukee has several excellent institutions of higher education, only UWM has R1 status.

UWM's rise to R1 status has occurred without much recognition or fanfare outside of Milwaukee, so it is no surprise Eisen does not know about this. It also occurred without much dedicated state support for UWM's dual research and access mission. Even now, UWM receives less than half the state support per student provided to UW-Madison, while other Midwestern states such as Michigan give parity in funding to their urban universities. UWM's 27,000 students deserve better.

Eisen's article compares Milwaukee with Minneapolis, Austin and Seattle, and suggests that a stronger UWM could help the city hum like our neighbor to the north and other major cities around the nation. We agree.

Think about what Minnesota, Texas, and Washington have invested in their respective R1 institutions, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, the University of Texas-Austin, and the University of Washington-Seattle, to serve as intellectual drivers of those cities and their surroundings. Each has about three times as many faculty in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) areas as we have at UWM. Imagine what comparable resources for UWM would have done for Milwaukee and Wisconsin's urban corridor and what they can do in the future.

UWM also is classified by the Carnegie commission as a major community-engaged university that has partnered intensively with Milwaukee's communities and businesses for decades. As the UW-System's "access" university, 30% of our undergraduate students are minorities and 40% are first-generation university students. Our graduates populate the large and small businesses of Milwaukee and UWM's professors conduct collaborative applied research with them to enhance their competitiveness. Similarly, faculty work hand-in-hand with community organizations to address the multitude of urban issues of education, health and social justice.

Ninety percent of our undergraduate students come from Wisconsin, and 75% of them stay in the state to live and work. We achieved R1 status largely on our own, but now Wisconsin stands at a crossroads. Will we become more like states that invest in the future, or like others that have disinvested and seen their fates wither? Investing now in UWM will build on a remarkably strong foundation of first-rate research, teaching and community engagement, and is truly an investment in Wisconsin's future.

This commentary was submitted on behalf of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty members Margo Anderson, Nadya Fouad, David Petering, Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Swarnjit Arora, Michael Brondino, Sandra McLellan, Kristian O'Connor, John Reisel and Robert Schwartz.
'This is the right time to exhale': David Stearns ends seven-year run

The 37-year-old cited a desire to spend more time with family in stepping back to an advisory role, but the New York Mets are sure to be interested.
Tess M.M. White is shown in front of Mayfair mall in October. Her murdered remains were found in South Dakota in May. Credit: Janice Madosh-Smart

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Tess M.M. White had already suffered plenty in her 25 years.

Born in Milwaukee, raised in the Potawatomi tribe near Crandon until she left a troubled home at age 15, she moved around a lot, struggled with substance abuse and mourned her younger brother's death from a heroin overdose last year.

Then she disappeared from West Allis on May 4. On May 17, farmers found severely damaged human remains in a South Dakota bean field. It took another 10 days to positively identify them as White, who was two months pregnant.

"She had dreams and hopes like any young person, and wanted so bad to clean up and have a nice life," said her grandmother, Janice Madosh-Smart. "She was a sweet, kind, affectionate person."

Two West Allis residents have been charged in White's abduction, gruesome killing and mutilation after they were pulled over for a traffic violation in Colorado.

And still White has not found peace.

Her Ojibwe funeral, delayed for weeks, was in its final day at the Bad River Band reservation near Ashland last month when it was interrupted before burial, leaving her spirit "in limbo."

Family members aligned with a different tribe had secured a court order to move the remains to Crandon, stopped by yet another judge now considering what role a tribal judge's decision may play in the final outcome.

"Everybody should feel bad," Madosh-Smart said. "What's going on is very wrong. It wouldn't be if that estranged family had just been decent and let her be buried."

White's father and half sister had gotten a court order from Milwaukee County to move her to Crandon for burial in the Forest County Potawatomi tradition, since she was an enrolled member of the tribe.

But now a Milwaukee County judge has granted an emergency order that whoever has White's remains not move them, start or continue any funeral ceremony, or bury her until after a hearing Tuesday in probate court.

"This is not a tribal dispute or legal dispute, it's a family dispute," said Jennifer Havas, a Milwaukee lawyer representing White's father.

Mother falls into coma

By the time detectives informed White's family that she had been positively identified as a homicide victim, White's mother had become ill and was in a coma in a Milwaukee hospital.

Madosh-Smart said she contacted the medical examiner in Souix Falls, S.D., and learned no one had called to claim White's remains. She got a Bad River tribal judge to issue her an emergency guardianship of her own daughter on June 1, so she could act in her stead to make the funeral arrangements.

She had an Ashland funeral home collect the remains on June 3. Hoping White's mother would improve enough to attend, they put off the funeral a couple of weeks until they decided they couldn't delay any longer.

The four-day vigil of the fire began on June 22. After 5 p.m. that Friday, the funeral director arrived at the reservation and said he had to take the casket back, by court order. A grave had already been prepared.

For the next 10 days, the remains sat. White's father's side of the family claims they thought the burial had already occurred, that they were too late.

Finally, on July 5, Madosh-Smart walked into Milwaukee County probate court and filed an objection to letting White's father move the burial to Potawatomi land near Crandon.

Leland "Lee" White is in the Shawano County jail awaiting sentencing for a seventh drunken driving offense. He has asked to be released to deal with the burial issue, but a judge denied the request because White previously violated conditions of absolute sobriety. He had Tess' half sister Shanon White try to take care of the matter.

But when Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Hansher signed the necessary documents for Shanon White on June 24, he didn't know about the tribal judge granting emergency guardianship to Madosh-Smart, or that Tess' funeral was already underway at the Bad River reservation.

A different judge, David Borowski, granted the temporary restraining order after learning that and hearing from Madosh-Smart and her attorney on Tuesday.

"(Tess) was going to be buried at Bad River tribal land," Madosh-Smart said in an interview later. "Her mother, me, my parents are all Bad River tribe. We have a long lineage up there."

But her father says because she was an enrolled member of the Potawatomi, Tess should be buried on its tribal land, called Stone Lake, near Crandon.

Madosh-Smart argues that "Indians are free people. You don't have to practice the religion of your tribe," suggesting Tess was never raised in the spiritual ways of the Potawatomi.

Brian Bennett, a Rhinelander attorney who represents Lee White in his Shawano County criminal case, said his client feels his ex-mother in law is just meddling.

"There are lots of bad feelings. There's never been anything between them that didn't involve spite and aggravation. Basically, it's a family feud that has become public."
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

The poorly planned junior officers coup in Turkey on Friday appears to have failed as I write late Friday night, though rebel military elements still hold positions in some parts of the country, including Ankara, the capital. Their allegiances and motives are still unclear.

Remarkably, among the reasons for the failure was the determined stance of the Turkish people who stood up for their democracy, even if about half of them deeply dislike President Erdogan.

Crowds came out into the streets in Istanbul and Ankara. Individuals stood or lay down in front of tanks.

Some civilians even arrested mutinying troops!

After the military faction took over state tv, crowds invaded the station and allowed its anchors to come back on line.

An army faction and street crowds battled back and forth for control of the offices of CNN Turk, and could be heard on live feed even as the cameras showed an empty room.

Although in the nature of the case many of the members of such anti-coup crowds were drawn from the ranks of partisans of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), others hailed from the student movement of 2013 that mobilized over preserving Gezi Park, and who had been repressed by the Istanbul police.

I protested erdogan during gezi. I was tear gassed by his police. I think akp is trash. but I support them against a fascist military coup.  elif fatma  (@eelifgorken) July 15, 2016

Moreover, the major opposition political parties all came out against the coup.

The party with the greatest reason to resent Erdogan is the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), whose members Erdogan is attempting to expel from parliament. He had a law passed taking away their parliamentary immunity in preparation for just that step. When they won 13% of the vote last summer, Erdogan engineered a second election to attempt to lock them out of parliament (you need 10% of the vote to be seated). The president appears to have deliberately broken off the peace process with the PKK and ramped up a war on separatist, leftist Kurdish guerrillas (who were not blameless since they were attacking Turkish security forces), in hopes of cutting into the HDP vote by promoting Turkish nationalism and anti-Kurdish sentiment. Even though Erdogan has played them about as dirty as you could play other politicians, Sabah reports that

In a joint written statement, Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs, Selehattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, said no one replaces himself as the national will. HDP takes a stand against every coup in every condition. . . There is no way beside protecting . . . democratic politics.

Another party that despises Erdogan is the centrist, secular Republican Peoples Party (CHP). As leader of a center-right pro-Muslim party, Erdogan is everything the CHP stands against. They dont like his pro-Muslim Brotherhood foreign policy, his support for Hamas, his intervention in Syria. They dont like his encouragement of religious symbols and practices on state property, which they see as sectarian. Uncharismatic CHP leader Kemal Klcdaroglu said that the Community should give joint reaction to every coup attempt . . . This country was wracked with coups. We do not want to go through the same troubles. Well protect our republic and democracy; keep our commitment to the free will of our citizens . . . So, whoever does, wherever it comes, we should take a joint stand against the coup as we take a joint stand against terrorism.

Likewise, the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), denounced the attempted coup.

Those are the three other most powerful parties in the country aside from the Justice and Development Party of Erdogan itself, which holds 50% of the seats in parliament and so was able to form a government without coalition partners. They all firmly rejected the coup.

Ironically, Turkish democracy is in deep trouble. President Erdogan looks at the system as an elective dictatorship the only role of the people is to vote in a regular referendum on him and his party, after which they should demobilize and let him do as he will. No one, he says, has a right to criticize an elected leader who represents the will of the people (Rousseau meets Ottomanism). Erdogan has mercilessly cracked down on the press, jailing journalists for reporting news he didnt like.

Even under these circumstances, the Turkish people rejected a military take-over, across the board.

People power has often helped return the military to the barracks after a coup, as with the protests in Pakistan in 2007 over Gen Pervez Musharrafs tinkering with the Supreme Court, which forced him to step down in favor of a democratically elected government. But this Turkish moment is important because it didnt just end a military dictatorship, it helped nip one in the bud.

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Related video:

Bloomberg: Crowds Take to the Streets in Turkey, as Army Attempts Coup
[JURIST] Former Serbian paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljkovic, also known Daniel Sneddon, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of war crimes brought against him. The 61-year old Vasiljkovic will face a court [News Corp Australia report] in the port of Split in Croatia later this year. The charges levied against him include the torture and mass murder of Croats, including prisoners of war, and civilians during the Balkan War in 1991. Vasiljkovic, who was sent to Croatia in 2015, is the first person to be extradited from Australia for war crimes.

Vasiljkovic was first arrested in Australia in 2006, following an extradition request from the Croatian government. He fought his extradition in the Australian courts ever since, claiming that he would not be able to receive a fair trial in Croatia. Vasiljkovic has challenged extradition at least 13 times. In 2012 the Australian Minister for Justice formally approved Vasiljkovics extradition to Croatia [JURIST report].
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Saturday reported [press conference, NYT video] 265 dead, 1,440 wounded and 2,839 soldiers arrested in the attempted coup on Friday. The coup began [USA Today report] when military forces seized key areas of the country and control of state-run television stations. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused [NYT report] the followers of exiled Muslim cleric in Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen, as the coups plotters. Gulen has denied any involvement. The government has largely regained control with some parts of the country experiencing continued unrest. Saturday saw a nation-wide purge [Atlantic report] of dissidents suspected of involvement in the coup with greater authority as the Turkish parliament recently passed [Reuters report] a judicial reform bill that allows the president to replace troublesome judges with allies. The plotters had issued the following televised statement [Al Jazeera report] that may shed light on their possible motives:

Turkish armed forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all our good relationships with all countries will continue.

Erdogan has vowed [BBC backgrounder] that those involved in the coup will pay a heavy price and the aftermath of the coup may be bloody and repressive [Guardian report] as the state of human rights has been controversial in Turkey for years. This week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released [JURIST report] a report stating that Turkey has blocked access for independent investigations into mass abuses against civilians. Earlier this month a US federal court dismissed [JURIST report] a lawsuit against Gulen alleging he issued orders from Pennsylvania directing his followers in Turkey to launch a campaign of persecution against other religious groups in that country. US Secretary of State John Kerry has stated [Independent report] that the US would consider an extradition request for the cleric if it is proven that he was involved in the attempted coup. In May the Turkish parliament granted immunity to armed forces conducting counter-terrorism measures and advanced [JURIST reports] an amendment to strip immunity privileges from members of parliament. In 2015, then-Human Rights Commissioner for Germany stated [JURIST report] that Turkey must improve its human rights record before it can be admitted to the EU.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] on Friday concluded [opinion, PDF] that sound levels approved by the Obama administration violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). The MMPA prohibits [official website] people from harassing, feeding, hunting, capturing, collecting or killing any marine mammal or a part of a marine mammal. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) [official website] is a US federal agency that is in charge of managing the countrys living marine resources. The NMFS approved emissions in 2012 that the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) [advocacy website] and other environmental groups alleged [RT report] violated the MMPA and filed suit. The appellate court ruled 3-0 that the approved emissions violated the MMPA, reversing and remanding to the district court for further proceedings.

The use of Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) technology has been contested between its users and environmental groups for its ability to negatively impact marine life. In 2008 the US Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the US Navy may continue using sonar as part of military training exercises, ruling against environmentalists concerns for the impact it would have on whales and other marine life. In the same year, Director of Urban Programs, Natural Resources Defense Council Joel Reynolds, argued [JURIST op-ed] that a sonar case highlighted federal courts equitable power to weigh competing interests. Also in 2008, counsel for the Pacific Legal Foundation Steven Gieseler and Reed Hopper argued [JURIST op-ed] that a Navy sonar case should balance protecting environment with other legitimate interests. By contrast, Staff Attorney at the NRDC Cara Horowitz argued [JURIST op-ed] that the Bush Administration was overreaching executive power by exempting the Navy from complying with the National Environmental Policy Act.
KEARNEY  A Kearney man remains in custody after allegedly possessing a stolen firearm.

Arthur Ebert, 27, is charged in Buffalo County Court with possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a stolen firearm.

Court records outline the case against him:

About 8:30 p.m. Friday, a Kearney man reported to the Kearney Police Department that Ebert gave him a Benelli .300 Winchester Magnum rifle, which the man believed to be stolen. Following a traffic stop, Ebert was arrested.

A KPD incident report says police executed a search warrant at Eberts home in the 1900 block of Ninth Avenue, where two other firearms were located and seized along with various rounds of ammunition, the report said. Officers also seized drug paraphernalia and a bottle of prescription medication.

Ebert has only been charged in connection to the one rifle.

A 40-year-old woman who lives at the home was cited with possession of drug paraphernalia and an illegal drug and released. Late this morning, the woman hadnt been formally charged.

Ebert was being held at the Buffalo County Jail on 10 percent of a $50,000 bond and must post $5,000 to be freed.

According to the State Department of Corrections website, Ebert was paroled in May from the Lincoln Correctional Center. In 2008, he was sentenced to 6 to 11 years in prison for felony theft, felony burglary and attempted second-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

email to:
In this photo taken May 13, 2016, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus answers questions from The Associated Press during an interview at RNC headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington. The delegate rebellion against Donald Trump is dead. That's according to Priebus. He tells The Associated Press that a highly publicized push to dump Trump during next week's convention is a "nothing burger." (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
It will be no surprise to readers to say that collectivism is growing in the Western World. It matters little whether we refer to it as socialism, communism, Marxism, Fabianism, totalitarianism or any of its other names, the collectivist ideal is on the rise.

British conservatives worry over the extreme collectivist speeches of the new Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who is far more to the left of the former leader, Ed Miliband, yet often fail to notice that Tory leaders are also becoming more collectivist in their rhetoric. Certainly the incoming Prime Minister, Theresa May, is further to the left than, say, Margaret Thatcher, yet we Britons often fail to notice that both of the primary parties are moving further to the left.

Across the pond, in America, we witness a similar development. Recent Democratic candidate for President Bernie Sanders is Americas first declared socialist candidate, something that would have been unheard of only a short while ago. In order to compete with him, the other Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, has been forced to spout more collectivist-sounding rhetoric to keep from losing votes to him. The many Republican candidates, whilst railing against socialism, all supported existing entitlements.

In Canada, the new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau has already sold off the countrys gold and has promised to increase entitlements.

Interestingly, Westerners are still keen to declare the former Soviet Union, Maoist China, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as oppressive totalitarian jurisdictions, and acknowledge that their leaders ruled with a despotic iron hand, crushing the individual rights of their downtrodden people. And yet, these same people dont seem to recognize their own countries declines into, not just the acceptance of, but the demand for greater collectivism. They recognise that collectivism brought other countries to their knees, yet somehow imagine that the new collectivism will somehow turn out better than the old.

It might be argued that those collectivist regimes are ancient history, and have been forgotten by the present generation, but this is not so. The present generation of Westerners has observed the recent declines of Argentina and Venezuela, as a result of collectivism, and continue to witness the remnants of communist Cuba.

So, what, then, would it take for the champions of collectivism to recognise that the rule of the proletariat is a false promise  one which is sold to the masses by political leaders in order to create totalitarianism?

Well, the answer, sad to say, is, that its the nature of the proletariat in any country to prefer to believe that, somehow, there can be a great equalisation, in which the wealth is taken from the rich and redistributed to the poor. Although this will never occur (in truth, leaders both conservative and liberal, exist for their own benefit, not for the benefit of the people they represent), its the nature of people to want to believe that there really is a tooth fairy and that political leaders will deliver on their impossible promises.

But, if this is true, then why didnt the Western nations jump on board in 1917, when the Russians adopted Marxism? Or in the 1930s when the Germans adopted Naziism?

Well, in fact, the impetus wasnt there. In 1917, a revolution had taken place in Russia, yet a provisional government continued the war with Germany. Tens of thousands of Russian troops deserted. Vladimir Lenin stepped into the vacuum in April, promising an immediate withdrawal if his Bolsheviks could be handed the reins of power. By October, the Bolsheviks had seized power and signed the Decree on Peace.

In Germany, the economy collapsed in 1923, as a result of the economically impossible conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. Again, a would-be leader, this time Adolf Hitler, saw the opening for someone to step in and offer a collectivist panacea. He rose to the position of dictator quickly, as a result.

The pattern has also been true in other countries. Certainly, Fidel Castro rode in on the economic and social oppression of his predecessor, Fulgencio Batista.

Hugo Chavez was also regarded as a saviour, as a result of his predecessor, Rafael Caldera, under whose leadership an economic crisis occurred. The collapse of Venezuelan banks bankrupted seventy thousand companies and destroyed the savings of countless Venezuelans. The Chavez tripartite - a collectivist solution - was adopted and the desperate Venezuelans welcomed Chavez and collectivism as the answer.

But, why did the UK, Canada, the US and other countries of the Free World not go collectivist at these times? Well, conditions may at times have been difficult there, too, but not so dire as in those countries that turned to collectivism.

As former American President Herbert Hoover stated in 1952,

Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of emergency. It was a tactic of Lenin, Hitler and Mussolini.

And so it goes. When the banks have collapsed and the people are starving, the people will turn to whatever fairy tale is promised as a solution. (This is further exacerbated, if the country is in the midst of a major war.)

Today, Westerners are viewing the economic collapse of their countries just coming over the rise and into view. They are also facing the inclination of their leaders (both conservative and liberal) to dive in at the deep end, of what may well become the next world war. They see their future drying up, as their lifestyles are diminishing, with no hope on the horizon for conditions to improve. When this happens, its easy to convince a people that their situation was caused by the rich and that a collectivist leadership will make it possible for a return to good times, by taking the wealth from the rich and giving it back to the proletariat.

So, when will they learn? Actually, they rarely do. In Argentina, after each economic collapse caused by the Perons and their successors, there was a brief fiscal conservative trend, yet the proletariat, even then, still believed in the collectivist ideal. After just a few years of belt-tightening, they again demanded that the entitlements expand. All that was needed was a new collectivist politician, who would claim, There was nothing wrong with the collectivist ideal, we just need to get it right this time.

What we can learn from this is that, once a people becomes convinced that its their right to have their government take from another group of people and give to them, they will remain committed to the concept that the system is both just and possible. They will therefore repeatedly gravitate to those prospective leaders who promise largesse to them, at the expense of others.

As Edward Gibbon stated in the late 18th century, on the death of the Athenian republic,

"In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all  security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished foremost was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again."

As Thomas Jefferson said, at that time,

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give it to those who would not.

Once the belief in collectivism tops 50% in any nation, odds are that the trajectory will continue downward, for the lifetime of the observer. Fortunately, the world is never without choices  alternate jurisdictions that may offer greater freedoms. In any age there are jurisdictions that are on the rise, as others go into decline.

Jeff Thomas

www.swpcayman.com

jeff.thomas1066@gmail.com
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By Barbara McMichael

Relocating Authority  Mira Shimabukuro

University Press of Colorado  248 pp.  $26.95

It is 2016 in the USA, a country that prides itself on being the land of the free, with liberty and justice for all, yet large segments of our population continue to feel disenfranchised.

This, tragically, is nothing new. Just look back at colonial and pioneer engagement with Native Americans, generations of African-American enslavement, the long struggle to secure women's right to vote and equal rights under the law, and hostility and suspicion toward successive waves of immigrants.

This is where books can come in to help break down those barriers and build bridges of mutual regard. In the privacy of your own home, you can open up a book, see words that were set down by somebody who might look different from you or think differently than you do, and give patient and due consideration to their ideas and feelings.

Let me propose Mira Shimabukuro's new book, "Relocating Authority," as an example.

Shimabukuro is a lecturer at the University of Washington/Bothell campus, and the daughter of longtime civil rights activists.

Her book revisits documents, letters and journals that were written by individuals who had been subjected to mass imprisonment shortly after imperial Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. To most of us now, the federal government's forced "internment" of tens of thousands of people of Japanese ancestry  virtually all of the Japanese-Americans living along the West Coast in 1942, and more than half of them American citizens by birth  seems like an extraordinarily unjust measure. Yet that community, under extreme duress at the time, complied.

Shimabukuro discusses the cultural concepts of shikataganai and gaman (roughly translated as "it can't be helped" and "accept it"), which were invoked with some regularity, and which seemed to sustain the community through its imprisonment. But she also discovers that the private writings she examines from that time contain much more passionate dissidence  "complaints, angst, swearings, bitterness, protests, and resistance"  than she had been led to expect.

When the stereotype of Japanese-American inmates as passive, as a "model minority" that didn't complain, is turned on its head, gaman begins to take on an alternate meaning, connoting endurance rather than passive acceptance. And as it turns out, the willingness of so many to record their complaints in private, even if they did not always voice them in public, ultimately led to some redress, long after the fact.

So why revisit this embarrassing moment in American history? The best answer is: to learn from it. Ignorance is easy  and it is wrong. There is so much wisdom we can derive from the past.

"Relocating Authority" is an academic work, and the first few chapters, which lay out Shimabukuro's theoretical basis and methodology, may be challenging for the general reader. I tried skipping ahead, but realized I had to turn back and absorb what I could from the earlier pages to understand the revelations that surface later on in the book. Note to fellow readers: patience pays off.
RICHARD THORNTON | JEWEL BOX THEATRE Robert (Scott Ventrice) attempts to explain to Suzette (Ali Budge) her part in the weekend's deceptions.

SHARE RICHARD THORNTON | JEWEL BOX THEATRE Bernard (Philip Conifer) welcomes his mistress Suzanne (Alix Black) to his house, without explaining that his wife is still there. RICHARD THORNTON | JEWEL BOX THEATRE Suzette (Ali Budge) uses her newfound lying ability to convince her husband George (Joe Prevost, right) not to kill Robert (Scott Ventrice).

By Michael C. Moore, mmoore@kitsapsun.com

POULSBO  You have to be ready to laugh when you're in attendance at the Jewel Box's "Don't Dress for Dinner."

You also have to be ready to suspend a lot of disbelief.

The characters in Mark Camoletti's little French comedy of bad manners (adapted by Robin Hawdon) are either so dumb, or so horny  or both  that they disqualify themselves from any sort of credibility. I'm going with both: The Dubai skyline-worthy skyscraper of lies they construct makes them unbelievable enough. That these supposedly sophisticated people believe each other's whoppers  mostly out of convenience borne of lust, I suppose  pushes "Don't Dress for Dinner" over the top into complete ridiculousness.

Good thing, then, that it's so funny.

You can't feel sorry for Bernard (Philip Conifer), who refuses to let his weekend liaison with Suzanne (Alix Black) be kiboshed by the sudden cancellation of the out-of-town trip of his wife, Jacqueline (Nicole Schneider). He lies his way around, over and through all obstacles in his efforts to proceed with his bedding-Suzanne plan, even recruiting his friend Robert (Scott Ventrice) and the unsuspecting cook-for-hire (Ali Budge) to help him dupe Jacqueline into thinking there's nothing going on in the guest sleeping quarters.

Thing is, Jacqueline has a little something going on herself, with Robert. When she finds out he'll be around for the weekend, she sees it as an opportunity to do the sneak-around behind Bernard's back.

Long story short, everybody lies to everybody else about everything, all in the name of enabling their naughtiness. Everybody thinks they know what's going on, but they're all wrong, all working with bits of information that fit together in ultimately misleading ways. It's like Bernard believes he can simply will everyone in the house through the maze of lies, keeping everyone lost except himself and Suzanne, who are destined to find their way to the Whoopie Room.

Lost? I was, totally. But here's the thing  "Don't Dress for Dinner" is never funnier than when it's trying to explain its own ridiculousness, Ventrice's deer-in-the-headlights Robert often doing the hilariously inept honors. If you can handle a plot that's dependent on mix-ups involving two characters who both can go by "Suzie;" characters who cheat shamelessly, but turn all righteous when they find they've been cheated on; by a set of ice tongs wielded as a weapon ... then you'll have a whopping great time.

I didn't buy much of any of it, and I still had quite a lot of fun.

Director Sharon Greany's production moves along smartly, and the actors seemed well-prepared  an achievement for an opening-night performance, given the lattice-work of lies they have to work with. To the credit of Greany and her company, everything comes acropper just as it's supposed to.

The cast of six are never less than adequate, with a couple of notable positive exceptions: Ventrice (looking a little and sounding a lot like a stretched-out version of "Hogan's Heroes'" Robert Clary) has great fun portraying Robert's discomfiture. He's especially effective when he's trying  on several occasions  to bring some sort of clarity to the tangled web of would-be hook-ups and teetering screw-ups that Bernard's ill-conceived weekend have deteriorated into.

And Budge, who thinks she's been summoned for her Cordon Bleu cooking skills but soon finds herself apron-deep in the subterfuge, has a giddy good time with Suzette, who not only buys into all the illicit fun but finds ample opportunity to profit from it. She's a complete hoot, reeling effortlessly from indignation and confusion to bemusement to sly opportunism.

The July 15 (opening-night) audience, a virtual sell-out, skipped gleefully along with all the implausibility, perhaps aided by a pre-show glass or five of Adult Beverage. They seemed to have bought in from the beginning, producing maximum laughs and minimum head-scratching.

If you can buy into it like that, "Don't Dress for Dinner" is a wicked lot of fun. It's not white-tie-and-tails comedy, but if you're in the right mood it might just oblige you to laugh your socks off.

REVIEW

'DON'T DRESS FOR DINNER'

Who: Jewel Box Theatre

What: Comedy by Marc Camoletti

Where: Jewel Box Theatre, 225 Iverson St., Poulsbo

When: Through July 31; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays

Tickets: $16-$14

Information: 360-697-3183, jewelboxpoulsbo.org. Brown Paper Tickets  800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com
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Janice Lea Warren

of Port Orchard

May 3, 1941

to July 5, 2016

Janice L. Warren, age 75, passed away on July 5, 2016 at her home in Port Orchard, Washington. She was born on May 3, 1941 in Des Moines, Iowa. A celebration of life will be held at the family home in Port Orchard on Aug. 6, 2016 at 2 p.m. Please visit www.tuellmckeebremerton.com for full obituary and online guest book.
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Jo Rodman, Gig Harbor

Seaquist has best view of the issues

I will be casting my vote in the upcoming primary for Larry Seaquist for Position 1 House of Representatives 26th District. At the July 12 voters forum in Bremerton, Larry articulated a clear vision for the future of education in Washington.

Many problems were discussed at the forum, but issues around education were the dominant themes. Jobs? Veteran retraining? Competing in a global economy? All have direct connections to the crisis of education in our state.

Both at the forum and on his campaign web site, Larry articulates a detailed plan to deal with Washington's education crisis. Jesse Young expressed concern, but was short on details at the forum. Rep. Young's campaign site offers even less  just a short sentence stating the problem without any proposed solutions.

Larry asked us all to take a long range view of the issues facing us in the 26th district and our state. Larry is the candidate who will listen to our voices and who has the ability to translate our concerns and ideas into legislation and a vision for our future.
KSRTC will set up a group booking system for devotees coming in groups to book a bus. This way, they will be able to journey together. A group must be 40 members.
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There was never a more appropriately named book than "The War on Cops" by Heather Mac Donald, published a few weeks ago, on the eve of the greatest escalation of that war by the ambush murders of five policemen in Dallas.

Nor is this war against the police confined to Dallas. It is occurring across the country. Who is to blame?

There is a ton of blame, more than enough to go around to the wide range of people and institutions that have contributed to these disasters. In addition to the murderers who have killed people they don't even know, there are those who created the atmosphere of blind hatred in which such killers flourish.

Chief among those who generate this poisonous atmosphere are career race hustlers like Al Sharpton and racist institutions like the "Black Lives Matter" movement. All such demagogues need is a situation where there has been a confrontation where someone was white and someone else was black. The facts don't matter to them.

The same is true of the more upscale, genteel and sophisticated race panderers, including the President of the United States. During his first year in the White House, Barack Obama chastised a white policeman over his handling of an incident with a black professor at Harvard  after admitting that he didn't know the specific facts.

Nor did he know the specifics when he publicly announced that, if he had a son, that son would look like Trayvon Martin. Are we to decide who is right and who is wrong on the basis of skin color? There was a long history of that in the days of the old Jim Crow South. Are we fighting against racism today or do we just want to put it under new management?

No one should imagine that any of this is helping the black community. The surge in murder rates across the country, in the wake of the anarchy unleashed after the Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore riots, has taken a wholly disproportionate number of black lives.

But, to the race hustlers, black lives don't really matter nearly as much as their chance to get publicity, power, money, votes or whatever else serves their own interests.

The mainstream media play a large, and largely irresponsible, role in the creation and maintenance of a poisonous racial atmosphere that has claimed the lives of policemen around the country.

That same poisoned atmosphere has claimed the lives of even more blacks, who have been victims of violence by thugs and criminals who have had fewer restrictions as the police have pulled back, or have been pulled back, under political pressure.

The media provide the publicity on which career race hustlers thrive. It is a symbiotic relationship, in which turmoil in the streets gives the media something exciting to attract viewers. In return, the media give those behind this turmoil millions of dollars' worth of free publicity to spread their poison.

It is certainly news when there is turmoil in the streets. But that is very different from saying that giving one-sided presentations at length of the claims of those who promote this turmoil makes sense.

The media have also actively promoted the anti-police propaganda by the way they present the news. This goes all the way back to the Rodney King riots of 1992. Television stations all across the country repeatedly played a selectively edited fraction of a videotape covering the encounter between the police and Rodney King, who had been stopped after a wild, high-speed chase.

The great majority of that video never saw the light of day on the TV networks that incessantly played the selectively edited fraction.

When the police were charged with excessive violence in overcoming Rodney King's resistance to arrest, the jury saw the whole video  and refused to convict the policemen. That is when people who had seen only what the media showed them rioted after the jury verdict.

Today, the media keep repeating the mantra that there was a "peaceful demonstration," even when it ends in violence. How many people have to die in "peaceful demonstrations" before the media admit that those who promote mob disruptions have to know what is likely to happen when you put mobs in the streets at night?

Mob rule is not democracy. It threatens democracy, as it threatens lives  black or white  and all lives should matter.

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com.
Stuff reports:

Veteran 10-term Wellington city councillor Helene Ritchie has announced she is running for mayor. As nominations opened on Friday for spots on the council, Ritchie said she had handed in her forms to run for mayor, councillor, and for a spot on the Capital & Coast District Health Board. Ritchie joins incumbent Celia Wade-Brown, councillor Jo Coughlan, Keith Johnson, Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett, Wellington Deputy Mayor Justin Lester, and councillor Nicola Young in the fight for the mayoralty.

I understand another Councillor is highly likely to announce, so Celia is beign challenged by her own Deputy and four of her Councillors!

Quite ironic that Ritchie is campaigning on injecting new energy when she was first elected in 1977!

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low around 35F. ESE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph..

Tonight

A shower is possible early. Partly cloudy skies. Low around 35F. ESE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
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By Nancy Rommelman, Newsday (TNS)

On Aug. 25, 1993, Amy Biehl drove several friends to a township on the outskirts of Cape Town. It was probably a bad idea for Amy  a 26-year old white American Fulbright scholar working to improve the lives of black women and children in South Africa  to venture into the township in those "final, fiery days of apartheid." Her car was set upon by a mob chanting "one settler, one bullet." The brick that smashed her windshield caved in her skull  or maybe it was a different brick  but did not kill her. A group of men and boys then surrounded Biehl, who was kicked and stabbed and died soon after at a police station. Four men went to prison for the crime. Amy's wealthy parents later publicly forgave her killers and employed two of them in the humanitarian organization they founded in their late daughter's name.

The story proved a resilient one, told and retold by Katie Couric and Diane Sawyer, with "over 100,000 search results on Google," writes Justine van der Leun, in her extraordinary new book, "We Are Not Such Things." The title is a quote from Easy Nofemela, in response to a government lawyer who asserted that he and the others convicted of murdering Amy did so "with wanton brutality, like a pack of sharks smelling blood." The men were nevertheless granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa's solution to the crimes of apartheid, "lest they 'live with us like a festering sore,' according to Mandela."

The story intrigued van der Leun when she relocated to Cape Town in 2011 for her South African fiance's work. Van der Leun, another young white American woman, began to dig into the narrative as told. The more she dug, the more it fell apart. Was the mob that attacked Amy loyal to Mandela's African National Congress or the more militant Pan Africanist Congress? Did those who confessed to and were imprisoned for the murder commit it? Van der Leun wanted to, in her words, "find the Big Truth about the Amy Biehl story." According to Easy Nofemela  tenderhearted, often hilarious, sometimes drunk and van der Leun's steady companion through most the book  "the truth is not anymore existing for years and years."

Oh, but it is, if you commit to listening to people's stories. Van der Leun listens, for years: to Amy's mother, Linda and to Ilmar Pikker, the lead detective on the Biehl case, an ex-cop who once tortured ANC members. And she locates a white South African truck driver she gives the pseudonym Daniel de Villiers, whose brutal attack on the same day as Amy's was deemed politically inconvenient and thus buried. Van der Leun's portrait of the broken man that is Daniel is exquisitely rendered. That she is able to extend equal empathy to Ilmar Pikker is evidence of a writer who understands that the feel-good story can conceal the festering sore.

Van der Leun crafts a narrative both fuller and more intimate than the one the world was told. She takes nothing away from Amy, whose murder was horrific. But she impresses upon the reader that no one life or death is worth more than another. For this, and for writing a masterpiece of reported nonfiction, she deserves our plaudits and our awe.
My husband is re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien. Those stories are as much a part of his children's growing up years as Roald Dahl and C.S. Lewis were to mine. His sons, now grown men with children of their own, can still quote passages from "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't read any of Tolkien's books and that I actually walked out of "The Hobbit" movie. I cannot explain.

How could I resist Bilbo Baggins and his kind invitations?

("Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea  any time you like!)

He just wasn't my cup of tea.

My stock has probably gone down a bit with my husband (we've only been married two months) but he is patient with my many shortcomings. Friends have tried to explain what I have been missing and how I deprived my children  although my son, all on his own, became an ardent Tolkien fan. He teaches elementary school and is passing it on, so all is not lost because of my lack of Tolkienology.

Though I did not read Tolkien, I am fascinated with what researchers are discovering about homo floresiensis, a mysterious ancestor of ours that, until recently, scientists figured lived as recently as 18,000 years ago.

The first hard evidence of the species was discovered in 2003 in the Liang Bua (LB) cave on a remote Indonesian island called Flores: a 3.5-foot-tall, 30-year-old female with a nearly complete skull, an associated skeleton which included several limb bones, hand and foot bones and a partial pelvis. She was given the name LBI, but continues to be called, along with the other remains of her species found in the area, The Hobbit.

The interesting thing about all this and its tie-in with Tolkien is that, until recently, anthropologists thought these hobbit-like humanoids preceded Neanderthals and were puzzled as to what happened to them. Why they disappeared.

Now it seems Tolkien may have imagined the answer after all.

Recent excavations indicate that these tiny people lived earlier than previously calculated  perhaps between 60,000 and 100,000 years ago.

Tolkien may have got it right.

The big guys might well have killed off the hobbits after all. His David-and-Goliath theme may not have been make-believe on the island of Flores.

"We were likely the decisive factor in their demise," one of the Australian researchers told Reuters.com. "But we still need to find hard evidence to back up this hunch."

"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something," Tolkien writes in his story of the maybe-not-so-fictitious hobbits. "You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."

Ina Hughs may be reached at inamackie@yahoo.com.
Check out the hottest concerts coming to Knoxville this winter

Here are the biggest concerts coming to Knoxville at the Thompson-Boling Arena, Bijou Theatre and the Knoxville Civic Coliseum.
By MJ Slaby of the Knoxville News Sentinel

KNOXVILLE  Melissa Tindell, director of public affairs and spokeswoman for Knox County Schools, is leaving the district to be director of communications for Christian Academy of Knoxville, according to her Facebook post on Friday.

Tindell, started with the school district in September 2009 and said she'll start new role with the Christian Academy on August 3. Her current salary is $95,040.

Interim Schools Superintendent Buzz Thomas said Friday he hopes to have the director position posted next week. The district's public affairs office oversees both internal and external communications for the district as well as community and media relations.

Tindell's announcement comes after a week after former Superintendent Jim McIntyre's last day on July 8.

In her Facebook post, Tindell noted that "the past month has been filled with much turmoil and stress in my professional life."

She called her new role a "wonderful position" and thanked her husband Chad for being her "absolute rock." She also wrote about her faith in God  "God's hand has been very real, indisputably clear and undoubtedly evident."

Thomas praised Tindell for her hard work and dedication to the district.

"She will be very hard to replace," he said.
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This year marks Tennessee's 220th birthday, and in celebration of the occasion, the East Tennessee Historical Society will host the First Families of Tennessee Reunion and Jubilee.

The celebration will take place Aug. 19-21 at Marble Springs, 1220 W. Governor John Sevier Highway, and will include a genealogy conference that will focus on records and research methods for the pioneer period.

Lectures about the state's history and early settlement will take place. Giving the keynote speech will be Troy Wayne Poteete, chief justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court in Tahlequah, Okla., who will discuss the experiences of the Cherokee after reaching Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

On Sunday, Aug. 21, bus tours will travel to important pioneer sites such as Sycamore Shoals, the Tipton-Haynes House, the site of the Battle of the State of Franklin and a replica of the State of Franklin log cabin capitol in Greeneville.

The East Tennessee History Fair will take place on Saturday, Aug. 20, at Krutch Park. The event will include traditional music, children's games and activities, vintage films, living history presentations, a History Hound costume competition, free admission to the Museum of East Tennessee History, bus tours to historic sites and a birthday party for Davy Crockett. More information about the fair may be found at www.easttnhistory.org/historyfair.

All of the events will be open to the public, and pre-registration and a fee will be required for First Families of Tennessee events.

Information on the First Families of Tennessee Reunion and Jubilee, as well as registration information and a complete event schedule, may be found at www.easttnhistory.org/FFTReunion.
SHARE Protesters gather signs before a Black Lives Matter rally on Friday, July 8, 2016. The rally was in response to the recent fatal shootings of black men by police officers. (CAITIE MCMEKIN / NEWS SENTINEL) Amani Wilson, 17, center, of Central High School, was one of the first people to arrive at Krutch Park on Sunday, July 10, 2016, to participate in a Black Lives Matter protest that was organized by area high school students. More than 100 people marched through Market Square and Gay Street in protest of recent police shootings. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch discuss the recent protests and unrest locally and across the country at the City County Building in Knoxville on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. (CAITIE MCMEKIN / NEWS SENTINEL) Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch discusses the recent protests and unrest locally and across the country. (CAITIE MCMEKIN / NEWS SENTINEL)

By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Andre Canty was driving his mother's car when he was pulled over for an outdated registration tag in 2003.

The police officer "asked me if I had a knife on me," Canty said. "I was 18 years old, and I also had braids  cornrows. But why would I carry a knife on me? And if I did, what did that have to do with my registration?"

Canty, now 31 and an organizer with Black Lives Matter, recounted two other tense encounters with police  one in Murfreesboro in 2006 when he and a friend were told to step out of their car after being pulled over for speeding and another in downtown Knoxville in 2007 when, after reports of gunshots in the area, an officer approached Canty's parked vehicle with a gun drawn.

"I did have these experiences," said Canty, who also is a former president of 100 Black Men of Knoxville and a guest columnist for the News Sentinel. "I'm never going to deny that systematically, police departments view black people a certain way. The evidence is there.

"Speaking for myself, it happened."

More than a decade later, racial tensions across the country have heightened with increased scrutiny of deadly encounters between black men and police. This month, two viral videos documenting fatal shootings in Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn., pushed the issue to the forefront.

Then, in an apparent retaliation, five police officers were killed and nine more wounded by a lone gunman, a black Army veteran, who told negotiators he was targeting white police officers during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas.

The incidents led thousands of demonstrators to flood the streets in cities around the country. In Tennessee, those protests were largely peaceful. When about 100 Black Lives Matter activists marched down Gay Street and linked arms to block a downtown Knoxville intersection, police directed traffic around the demonstrators.

That peaceful interaction is perhaps suggestive of how the relationship between the Knoxville Police Department and the city's black community has evolved over the past two decades. In the 1990s, the city grappled with its own flashes of racial tension. Today, the rapport between law enforcement and the community is more respectful than it was when Canty had his last tense encounter with police a decade ago, he said.

"I think it's improving some, from what I've seen," Canty said.

Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch attributed the stronger rapport to a shift in how the department approaches policing, with a focus on getting to know people in the neighborhoods that officers patrol.

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero pointed to an open dialogue between civic leaders and the people they serve.

That dialogue isn't always easy. The mayor drew some criticism from local Black Lives Matter organizers last week when city crews lit up the Henley Bridge in blue in memory of the officers killed in Dallas.

"The city chose to acknowledge the five officers who were killed in Dallas ... while ignoring the pain and fear many of us are feeling," the group posted on its Facebook page. "Where are those actions when black families lose loved ones to police violence?"

The mayor responded with a statement calling for more face-to-face discussion of the issue.

"This is not a matter of choosing sides," Rogero said in the statement. "We can address these challenges only through mutual respect, understanding and dialogue. ... My record shows when any violations are found, employees are held accountable . ... I hope all people of good intent will engage respectfully and not through inflammatory rhetoric and name-calling."

No one rules out the possibility that an incident like those that have devastated communities in Ferguson, Mo., Baton Rouge, La., Falcon Heights, Minn., or Dallas could happen here.

"We know any day something unfortunate can happen," Rogero said. "That's why the relationships, having the goodwill of the community, the connections, knowing the community, working together  all of that is so important to the work that KPD does, that all of us do here in the city."

The Rev. John Butler, president of the NAACP's Knoxville branch, said that's why it's important not to be complacent  to keep investigating complaints against officers, to report concerns and to continue conversations between officers and the people who live in the neighborhoods they serve.

"The question of, 'Is it getting better?'  I believe that it's only as good as you think it is until something happens," Butler said. "So that's why you have to be intentional and diligent to work on relationships every day. Because it can seem like it's getting better until something happens."

a troubled past

In a seven-month period in 1997 and 1998, four men  three of them black  died during confrontations with KPD officers.

Juan Daniels, 25, was threatening to kill himself with a knife when he was shot nine times by police after he lunged at officers with the weapon in October 1997. Three months later, Andre Stenson, 34, died from a heart defect after struggling with officers. When all officers involved were exonerated by authorities, members of the black community responded with outrage.

The deaths led then-Mayor Victor Ashe to create the Police Advisory and Review Committee, a civilian board to examine complaints against officers. Phil Keith, the police chief at the time, installed video cameras in police cruisers and undertook a review of policies on lethal weapons and tactics.

In more recent years, the department has adjusted its approach to policing neighborhoods, Rausch said. Officers receive regular training in de-escalation tactics, cultural understanding and communication.

"We talk about implicit and explicit bias," Rausch said. "Procedural justice is something I have been communicating with our folks  what that means and what that looks like.

"And we're getting it. It's obvious in what we're seeing on the street."

In 2014, KPD officers were involved in five shootings  three of them fatal.

Since then, there have been none.

Instead, the department recognizes officers each month for community service, lifesaving rescues and other positive interactions rather than arrest tallies, Rausch said.

When videos surface of officers in other jurisdictions shooting black men, the department looks at those high-profile cases to examine what can be learned. Officials study the after-action reports when they're released months later. But officers and supervisors also talk about the incidents during roll calls at the beginnings of shifts.

In recent weeks, those conversations have been difficult ones, Rausch said.

"They're concerned when they see these things that happened, these things captured on video that happened," Rausch said, stressing officers wait for investigations to wrap up before casting judgments. "Officers are no different from anyone else. We have different perspectives at times, but we're no different."

Officers also struggle with the "real concern" of dying in the line of duty and balancing the awareness of the dangers of the job with the recognition that "the vast majority of people we deal with do not want to do any harm to us."

'WOUNDS HAVE TO BE TREATED'

Derek Alderman doesn't want to raise alarm.

But race relations aren't as advanced as many in the country believe, and that national conversation is clearly affecting local communities, including Knoxville, said the University of Tennessee geography professor, who has spent his career studying the black experience, social justice and race.

Alderman, who is white, lives downtown and works at UT, which he said sometimes shields him from the experiences of others.

Everyone has a tendency to live in their own "social cocoon," and most often aren't aware of incidents of racism until they become violent spectacles on the evening news or in trending Twitter hashtags, he said.

"There are people in this town who live every day experiencing things that will never make the news and never show up on CNN because they will never rise to that point," Alderman said. "They live their life differently based on fear and a great deal of anxiety off whether they will be next.

"They remain very anxiety-ridden and anxious and very cautious to the point that it impacts where they're willing to drive, where they're willing to go, what decisions they make."

In a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in the four days following the Dallas shootings and released last week, 69 percent of respondents said race relations in the U.S. are generally bad. Six in 10 Americans said race relations are growing worse, according to the poll, up from a year ago.

The New York Times noted the results showed the most discord since the 1992 riots in Los Angeles during the Rodney King police beating case.

An NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll published Tuesday found 52 percent of Americans believe racism against black people is an "extremely" or "very" serious problem. An additional 25 percent called the issue "somewhat" of a problem.

Historically, white people and black people have had starkly different responses to the question of whether race relations were a problem, with whites often believing the country had moved past the discord of the civil rights struggles and legislation of the 1960s, Alderman said.

"Race relations are not something that are going to simply evolve and get better. It's not something that where organically, over time wounds will heal," Alderman said. "Wounds have to be treated, and these tensions have to be treated very carefully."

STILL A CONCERN

When his sons and a daughter learned to drive, Butler talked to them about what to do if they have a flat tire. He talked to them about driving in the rain, about what to do if they are in an accident, about drinking and driving, about texting and driving. And he talked to them about what to do if stopped by the police.

That last conversation continues today.

"When the (Alton Sterling shooting) case in Louisiana came out, the next morning I talked to my 36-year-old son and my 22-year-old son, both in different places," Butler said. "We were talking about how we carry ourselves, how we interact with people, about making sure we do everything we're supposed to do. But on the other hand, we don't want to give up our rights. I refuse to walk around and ride around in fear, especially of the police."

His eldest son now has that same conversation with Butler's 17-year-old grandson.

Butler, who as recently as May had a tense encounter with police in Philadelphia while driving a rental car at his son's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania, said he never has had a negative interaction with Knoxville police. Butler said he also understands the life-or-death worries of officers because he, too, has family members and friends in law enforcement.

But it's still important not to become complacent, he said. Although he refuses to worry about a fatal incident happening in Knoxville, Butler said incidents happening elsewhere still affect the men and women who live here.

"I have a real concern of how African-American men feel when there's an interaction with a law enforcement officer and how a law enforcement officer feels toward an African-American male," he said. "I think that's one of those things where it's not a worry, it's not a fear. But when you see this happening in and around the country, and when you have had it happen here, that is a concern. That's the reason we have to be intentional and diligent to maintain relationships."
Cleveland is bracing for HUGE demonstrations with the Republican National Convention this week. Dozens of police agencies are standing by. Jail cells are being emptied, and courts are ready to operate until 1 a.m. in case of mass arrests. The city even bought a $50 million "protest insurance" policy  for $9.5 million  to cover damages.

Let's hope those preparations are excessive and real violence is avoided. But remember, the right to protest is one of those freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.

The First Amendment guarantees five freedoms. Speech, religion and the press are well-known. The two lesser-known freedoms are tied directly to the right to protest: the freedoms to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

The right to petition is actually the oldest to be spelled out in law. When the English barons in 1215 forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, it recognized the nobles' right to petition the king. By the 1600s, petitions were the main way the public communicated with the government, and the practice spread from England to the American colonies.

After the Bill of Rights was adopted, citizens often presented petitions to Congress, which took them seriously  for a while  referring grievances to a committee that reported back to the full body. But as the dispute over slavery grew, so did the volume of petitions, and Congress grew weary.

During the 1837-38 term, the American Anti-Slavery Society sent the House 130,200 petitions to end slavery in the District of Columbia alone. The House quit accepting petitions and imposed a "gag rule" on discussion of slavery in the chamber. That sparked 32,000 petitions calling for abolishment of the rule.

Today representatives accept petitions, and they duly are entered into the record, then ignored.

The right of assembly gained strength in 1937 when the Supreme Court ruled that it could be overridden only if there were a "clear and present danger" that laws were about to be broken.

Like the other First Amendment freedoms, this right extends to the despicable as well as the respectable. In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Fred Phelps, whose Westboro Baptist Church had picketed the funeral of a soldier who died in Iraq, waving signs such as "God hates you," to protest a perceived decline in American morality.

The government can regulate the "time, place and manner" of assemblies. This has resulted in "free speech zones" that were used at the 1988 Democratic National Convention in Atlanta and became widespread during the George W. Bush presidency.

Assemblies must be peaceable, too. But rules must be properly enforced. The city of Denver had to pay $200,000 to settle an ACLU lawsuit over indiscriminate arrests during the 2008 DNC convention.

"Police violate the Constitution when they simply arrest everyone who happens to be in the area," said Mark Silverstein, ACLU legal director, after the settlement was announced. "They must have individualized facts showing that each separate person they arrest was violating the law."

Otherwise, citizens are free to voice their protests to their hearts' content.
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The approaching Republican and Democratic conventions provide appropriate occasions to recognize the critical role that political parties have played in American politics.

Even those of us who value our party memberships typically praise democracy over party government. Indeed, Americans can hardly get enough of democracy. Although we continue to say our pledges to the American flag "and to the republic for which it stands," we increasingly use the word democracy rather than the word republic to describe the U.S. government, which has, in fact, become increasingly democratic.

The Jeffersonian Republicans, the Jacksonian Democrats, the abolitionists, the populists and the progressives successively initiated democratic reforms that increased political participation, eliminated property restrictions for voting, extended the vote (at least on paper) to blacks, provided for direct election of U.S. senators and prohibited discrimination in voting on the basis of sex.

During the Progressive Era, which expressed disdain for political machines and smoke-filled rooms, many states adopted the initiative, the referendum and the recall, which allowed citizens to introduce and adopt legislation and remove officials from office.

The progressives also invented party primaries. Most of the delegates to the 2016 conventions will arrive already pledged to candidates that voters have directly designated.

In a recent article in The Atlantic provokingly titled "How American Politics Went Insane," Jonathan Rauch argues that in initiating all these democratic reforms, progressives failed to consider the effects on political parties. He is particularly critical of the nation's almost exclusive reliance on party primaries. He observes that the turnout for such primaries is small, the voters largely unrepresentative and the ties to existing party establishments so weak that they produce an inordinate number of politicians like Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump who denigrate their own party establishments.

When elected, such candidates almost always disappoint their supporters, leading to still further political discontent, because they find it difficult to muster the support that they need from fellow party members (to say nothing of the opposition) to implement their policies. Rauch believes that the decline of the congressional seniority system, the prohibition on congressional earmarks and increasing contributions by PACs and interest groups have further weakened the parties.

Almost every U.S. president has been a political party designee. Even George Washington, who did not run on a party platform, was largely guided by the policies of the Federalist Party. Parties appeared to expire briefly during the administration of James Monroe but rebounded with a vengeance in the elections of 1824 and 1828. When the Whig Party collapsed in the 1850s, the Republican Party arose to replace it.

Most Americans do not devote most of their time to learning about politics, and many like me who do take an academic approach are largely removed from the daily give and take of actual politics. Most of us depend, far more than we know, on political parties to formulate policies, vet candidates, form coalitions, adopt legislation and take care of state and national business.

If political parties are in danger, then democracy is in danger. After centuries of increasing democratic reform, we may have arrived at the point where the cure for democratic ills is no longer still more democracy but stronger political parties.

John R. Vile is a professor of political science and dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the editor of "Founding Documents of America" (2015) and "The Early Republic" (2016).
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Regardless of our view on guns or our situation in today's culture, this has been a frightening few weeks. The exercise of our freedoms has revealed again the inherent dangers of embracing too heartily those liberties without dealing directly with powerful undercurrents of stress between cultural groups vying for survival at a time of diminishing cultural relevance and increasing technological advances in communication and weaponry.

Moving about freely in our daily lives as demonstrated by a man selling CDs at a convenience store in Baton Rogue, La., by permission of the property owner, proved deadly.

Further, to travel with family and loved ones in a car on public streets in Minnesota with a cracked tail light or putting on a Dallas police uniform intent on protecting the citizens of that city have been shown to be potentially lethal  as was attending a nightclub in Orlando frequented by the gay and transgender community.

The source of lethality proved not to be the weapons used to deny the rights to travel freely or exercise of commerce or the desire to pursue law enforcement as an honorable profession. Nor were the capital offenses committed by the victims selling CDs, having a cracked tail light, attending a dance club or wearing a blue uniform.

The offense was being a racial or ethnic minority or being viewed as an oppressor of that population in a country with a rich history of bigotry and suppression. The tool used to serve the sentence upon the offenders was the rancid distrust and pervasive hatred between the white majority and the black minority in this country, with chilling repercussions for those minorities identified by other cultural and socioeconomic factors such as religion, national origin, gender and sexual preference.

The police were no more responsible for what happened in Baton Rouge or St. Paul than were protesters in Dallas. And guns were not the reason for the slaughter. They were simply the tools  the powerful amplification of the hates and fears of the human hearts responsible for the carnage.

The key component of gun violence that we must identify and expunge isn't guns  it is hatred and fear. Guns are simply a divisive side issue to a debate with existential repercussions to our democracy.

Unless we are willing to set aside our conflicting views on the tools of our expression of fear and instead deal rationally with the hatred that directs them, we will relive these tragic weeks again and again.

Absent the guns at the ready, we could look one another in the eye and say, "I hate you because of your skin color or the god you worship, or the clothes you wear or the lover you embrace.

"I hate you for the school you attend or the loneliness and estrangement I've always known or the violence that was unjustly visited upon me or others with whom I identify.

"I hate you for wearing a burqa or for refusing to assimilate culturally or because of the team colors you wear or the gang you affiliate with."

And afterward we could turn and walk away vindicated for an expression of our personal truth, which did not have the creation of widows, orphans or broken lives as a collateral consequence. We could again hate like men and women of conscience and not act like cowards.

Michael J. Paskel lives in Oak Ridge and is the author of "Cold War: The Bombs Of August."
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The cries of "no justice, no peace" and protests in the streets, gunshots, screams and sirens keep me awake at night. With the departure of President Barack Obama on the horizon, the possibility of Donald Trump replacing him is like seeing hope fade away and complete chaos become inevitable.

It's a sad day in America when honest police officers are ambushed by a mad sniper while trying to maintain order during a peaceful protest, and it's a cold day in America when a law-abiding citizen is shot to death in front of his child by a freaked-out officer they pay to protect them.

After slavery, segregation, public lynchings and Jim Crow, it's understandable how some situations seem to black Americans like salt being poured in open wounds. With the rise of the tea party and the election of Obama, it is understandable how some white people feel fearful and threatened. However, hate, anger and fear are not the ingredients for change. They are the recipe for disaster.

All humans have feelings and deserve respect. Until we become united in this understanding and learn to compromise and reason with one another, we will continue to be a nation divided against itself that cannot stand. If America falls, the impact will destroy us all.

Prince Edward Gillenwaters, Knoxville
80,000 HUD-assisted households in Tennessee eligible for low-cost Internet

JULY 16, 2016 at 1:13 p.m.





KNOXVILLE  Approximately 80,000 households in Tennessee are now eligible to receive low-cost Internet. Comcast and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) have taken an historic step to close the digital divide in America through an effort called ConnectHome. Public housing and HUD-assisted residents living in Comcasts service area are eligible to apply for Internet Essentials, the companys high-speed internet adoption program for low-income families. A household does not need to have a child who is eligible for the National School Lunch Program. The initiative also aims to reach out to seniors.



ConnectHome is opening doors of opportunity for our next generation of Americans, said HUD Secretary, Julian Castro. Todays announcement has the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids across the nation by giving them the tools to reach their full potential. Were grateful to Comcast for joining the ConnectHome initiative, which has extended its reach to more than 1.5 million children in one short year.



This announcement reaffirms Comcasts determination to make a meaningful impact to close the digital divide for low-income families in this country, said David L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast. This is the single largest expansion of the Internet Essentials program in its history, and were thrilled to be working with HUD to help connect even more families, including seniors, veterans, and adults without children, to the transformative power of having internet service at home.



ConnectHome strives to ensure students can access the same level of high-speed Internet at home that they have in their classrooms. Published July 16, 2016
By Choi Sung-jin



China is seeking to shift its economic focus from export and investment to domestic demand and consumption. If Korean exporters fail to keep up with this change, their shipments to the world's second-largest economy will decline by up to $25 billion in the next five years, a report said Friday.



In the report entitled, "The effects China's economic structural changes have on Korea's exports," the Bank of Korea said, "If Korea's exports to China continue to be composed of capital goods and intermediary goods like now, the nation's exports are estimated to drop by 0.8 of a percentage point on an annual average over the next five years as the result of changes in China's economic structure."



The report assumed China's consumption against its nominal gross domestic product would increase 5 percentage points from 2016-2020 while its investment would fall by 4 percentage points and exports would drop by 2 percentage points during the period. Last year, China's ratio of consumption against GDP stood at 52.3 percent, and the comparable shares of investment and consumption were 44.1 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively.



According to this assumption, the central bank estimated that changes in China's economic structure would reduce Korea's exports by $25 billion between this year and 2020 -- $23 billion in direct shipments to China and the other $2 billion in exports to third countries through international industrial correlations.



China remains Korea's largest export destination but the nation's shipments to the giant neighbor began to slow down noticeably in 2014.



In the first and second quarters of this year, Korea's exports to China dropped 15.7 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, marking steeper declines than those of overall exports, which fell 13.3 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, from a year ago.



This has much to do with changes in China's economic structure, the report said.



China's high growth rate of 9.8 percent annually on average since its economic reforms and market opening in 1979 has sharply moderated while various problems resulting from breakneck growth, such as income inequality and environmental contamination, have emerged, forcing the Chinese government to shift toward qualitative growth based on domestic demand.



Beijing has set its target growth rate for the 2016-2020 period at 6.5 percent a year, seeking to readjust its industrial overcapacity and change its economy to a consumption-led growth pattern. Already, the share of its service industries as a part of China's nominal GDP has grown and that of manufacturing dwindled since 2011, adversely affecting Korean exporters.



According to the BOK's analysis, when China's investment and exports increase by $1,000 each, Korea's exports to China grow $24 and $32, respectively, but when China's consumption rises by $1,000, Korea's exports climb only $12. This is because the nation's exports to China are mainly composed of intermediary and capital goods, used for producing end products, rather than consumer goods.



The portion of consumer goods among China's total imports more than doubed, from 4.1 percent in 2005 to 8.5 percent in 2014, but the share of Korean consumer goods exports to China edged up from 2.4 percent to 2.6 percent over the cited period.



"Korean exporters should actively seek to advance to China's consumer markets, which are rapidly increasing their share in that country's economy," the central bank report said. "The examples of cosmetics and fashionable garments which have marked rapid export growth should be expanded to other industries."




By Choi Sung-jin



Out of hundreds of thousands of Samsung Electronics executives and employees, the top 100 talents  managers, scientists and engineers  recently met to discuss the conglomerate's future strategies for survival and prosperity.



In the "Samsung Fellow Summit" held at Samsung Electronics Talent Development Center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the participants decided that the world's largest smartphone maker should focus on four sectors  artificial intelligence (AI), big data, autonomous vehicles and intelligent robots  as its future growth engines, business sources said Friday.



The company, in order not to fall behind the global IT advances, such as AI, has decided to focus its research and development capacity in that area. A long accumulation of data and power computing are two core factors in AI technology, and once a company falls behind, it is hard to catch up with the front-runners in this field, they said.



In its semiconductor business, one of the two key sectors of Samsung Electronics, the participants sought to find a breakthrough to cope with new industries. Judging that rapidly increasing data processing is the core technology of new industries, including "deep learning," Samsung will focus on securing next-generation memory chip technology to be one of the leaders of the trend.



The company's semiconductor unit is trying to find new possibilities in the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous automobiles and big data, breaking away from the previous paradigm of concentrating on refining processes.



The key in preempting IoT and big data markets lies in how to materialize low-power modes. The reason the industry tried to make computer chips small in the past was to increase working speed by narrowing the circuit width. In the new markets, however, how to make the chips work longer with lower power is more important than making them work faster.



The Samsung Fellow is the most honored title that is given only to the company's top talents who can represent its technological prowess. The title was introduced in 2002 to create and inspire Samsung's management philosophy that puts technology and talent ahead of all else, company officials said. Samsung has awarded the title to those who are recognized as the world's best in their respective fields and who have contributed to developing core technology in new industries and helping to drastically improve the company's performance. Currently, there are nine fellows at the company.



Recent moves of Lee Jay-yong, the company's vice chairman and heir-apparent of the Samsung Group, also suggest the future direction of the nation's largest conglomerate.



Lee met with IBM's CEO, Virginia Marie Rometty, on the sidelines of the Allen and Company Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, recently. Under her leadership, IBM has made a bold, successful transfer from being a PC maker to being an IT service provider. The company has developed its intelligence platform, "Watson," and grafted it to banking, insurance, distribution, education and medical businesses.



Samsung Medison, a medical equipment unit of Samsung Electronics, showed some possibilities by grafting its "deep learning" algorithm to supersonic diagnosing equipment for medical imaging.



Also, out of the 32 future technological themes designated by Samsung for supporting the development of science and technology in three areas  basic science, materials and information-communication technology -- for the 2014-2016 period, six were related with artificial intelligence and four with IoT, with both sectors accounting for almost one-third of the total, the sources said.








By Choi Sung-jin



"We denounce the acts of people who think they can abuse men's rights under the pretext of guaranteeing the human rights of minorities."



This writing was posted on "SNU Life," an Internet community used by Seoul National University students, in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal using online chatting tools, which broke out at the highly prestigious school last Monday.



According to a student group for minorities at SNU, eight male students at the College of Humanities were accused of exchanging denigrating and sexually humiliating messages about seven of their fellow female students in a closed chat room on Kakao Talk mobile messenger.



After a few days of self-reflection, however, some SNU male students began to strike back asking why only coed rights should be protected. They acknowledged that pornographic postings on the group talk messenger may be subject for moral denunciation, but other student groups have no right to make these writings public.



"Stop infringing on male students' human rights," one male student wrote. "Let victims and perpetrators settle the matter between themselves. If there were legal violations, they can go to law enforcement authorities," he added, drawing a number of comments, mostly supportive, from other male students.



These counterattacks, which attempt to shift the focus of attention from the lewd postings by these young men to their disclosure, indicate how some young men are gripped by a victim mentality, even calling for a masculist movement, social scientists said. Some male chauvinists are reiterating their "reverse discrimination theory," claiming men suffer from various disadvantages, including obligatory military service for two years that puts off their employment during that period.



When a male schizophrenia patient killed a woman whom he had never seen before at a unisex public restroom near Gangnam Subway Station in May, there were also men who rebutted against the sympathizers of the victim, urging them not to hate men as a whole and regard all males as potential perpetrators.



These and other similar assertions are linked to the movements to "restore men's rights" that are gaining force recently, experts said.



"As women's social participation and their basic rights have rapidly expanded in recent years, men in their 20s and 30s cannot help but think they are being discriminated against with respect to their military duty and the financial burdens that men must endure from marriage," said Kim Dong-keun, representative of NGO for Equality, a masculist group.



They cite as examples of discrimination against men the female quota system in political and economic organizations, the introduction of women-only subway cabins and women-first parking lots.



These masculist movements have gone beyond gathering sympathizers and are moving toward seeking influence, on- and off-line. NGO for Equality held a news conference in front of Seoul City Hall in May, opposing various policies "favoring women based on extreme feminism."



Experts point out, however, it is dangerous to use a "gender debate" caused by a specific episode for staging a war between the sexes. Particularly, the black-or-white and zero-sum thinking, which regards benefits for women as losses for men, springs from misunderstandings about the purposes of gender-equality policies, they said.



"Feminism does not seek to put women's rights over men's but starts from the recognition that it is necessary to find the fundamental causes of gender inequality and social division of roles resulting from biological differences, which have no positive effects on either sex," said Lee Sang-hwa, a professor at Korea Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education.



"Instead of quarreling about short-term, ostensible advantages and disadvantages, men and women need to get over biases and stereotypical thinking resulting from their different sexes," she added.




California's Board of Education has approved new school curriculum guidelines calling for teaching students about Japan's wartime sexual slavery.



The board unanimously approved the History-Social Science Framework that includes the "comfort women" issue in the world history curriculum for grade 10.



The framework said that "'comfort women,' a euphemism for sexual slaves, were taken by the Japanese Army in occupied territories before and during the war," and that the issue can be taught as an "example of institutionalized sexual slavery, and one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the twentieth century."



It also said that estimates on the total number of comfort women vary, but most argue that hundreds of thousands of women were forced into these situations during Japanese occupation."



On Friday, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, welcomed the approval.



"I am pleased that California will now teach our students about these women's tragic history. I hope doing so will help ensure such atrocities are never committed again," Royce said in a statement.



"In my time representing Southern California, I have fought to expose the trauma and shame suffered by the Comfort Women. That's why I was a leading co-sponsor of a resolution, passed by the House, calling for an apology from Japan and why I helped organize a congressional hearing at which several Comfort Women told of their suffering," he said.



Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea, which was a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during World War II. But Japan has long attempted to water down the atrocity.



The sexual slavery issue has long been the biggest thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo.



But the two countries announced a landmark agreement in late December that centers on Japan's admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims. South Korea promised to end the dispute once and for all if Japan fulfills its responsibilities. (Yonhap)




The United States urged North Korea on Friday to immediately grant consular access to its citizens detained in the communist nation after Pyongyang said it would treat the detainees according to its wartime law.



The appeal from the State Department suggests that the North is refusing access to the two American citizens, possibly in anger over the U.S. imposition of sanctions on leader Kim Jong-un for his role in the country's human rights abuses.



"We urge the DPRK to adhere to its commitment to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and grant consular access to any detained U.S. citizens without delay," a State Department official told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.



The official said that the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad remains one of the highest priorities of the department, and urged the North to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region.



Two American citizens -- college student Otto Warmbier and Korean-American pastor Kim Dong-chul -- are currently detained in the North after being sentenced to long prison terms for what Pyongyang calls subversive acts against the country.



The State Department official said that an official of the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which serves as the protecting power for U.S. citizens in the North, last visited Mr. Warmbier on March 2. It was unclear when Kim was last visited.



In protest against the sanctions on its leader, the North said it will deal with all the issues with the U.S. under its wartime law and "the issue of detained Americans is no exception." It also vowed to "totally cut off" the only diplomatic channel between the two sides via the North's mission to the U.N. in New York.



American citizens have often been detained in North Korea on charges of anti-state and other unspecified crimes. Widespread views have been that Pyongyang has often used the detentions as bargaining chips in its negotiations with Washington.



Experts say, however, that the cutoff of the New York dialogue channel suggests the North won't even use the detainees as a negotiating card as it has concluded that no meaningful headway is possible with the U.S. under the administration of President Barack Obama. (Yonhap)




Seoul's foreign ministry issued a travel advisory for Turkey on Saturday amid a coup attempt in the country.

The government decided to issue the special travel warning, effective immediately, during an emergency meeting of relevant ministries, advising its citizens to leave the region or cancel non-essential trips there, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The warning will be effective until Aug. 29, and could be lifted early or extended according to the local situation.

"The ministry will keep a watchful eye on the situation in Turkey and be fully prepared to carry out safety measures," said Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, during the meeting.

The Turkish military said Friday (local time) that it had taken full control of the country, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said the government is in charge again and those who attempted the military coup are being rounded up.

At least 60 police officers and civilians are estimated to have been killed in the process, according to media reports.












A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets was waging a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday (local time), but the strongman returned to Istanbul defiantly claiming to have regained control.



The number of dead from a coup attempt in Turkey has risen to 90, the state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday, adding that 1,154 people were wounded, according to AFP. Nearly 200 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters have meanwhile surrendered, an official said, adding that special troops were currently securing the complex.



Earlier, Turkey's military announced on Friday night that army had taken over "the entire management of the country to restore rule of law" as the country's prime minister admitted an "attempt" by a group within the military.

A military statement read on Turkish state TV announced that martial law had been imposed across the country and a curfew had been declared. The statement added that Turkey was now being run by a "peace council" and that a new constitution would be drawn up soon.

But it's still unclear as to whether the coup is successful.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced Friday that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is his vice presidential choice, a decision seen as aimed at dispelling doubts about Trump's conservatism.

Pence, 57, is known as a staunch conservative and a member of the conservative Tea Party movement. A veteran politician with a dozen years as a House lawmaker before becoming governor in 2013, Pence could also strengthen Trump's connections to Congress and the party.

"I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my vice presidential running mate," Trump said in a Twitter message, just days ahead of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Trump will be officially nominated as the party's nominee for the November election.

Trump had planned to make the vice presidential announcement at a press conference, but postponed it until Saturday in the wake of Thursday's deadly terror attack in the French city of Nice that left at least 84 people dead.

Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, is expected to announce her vice presidential pick next week. Leading candidates include Virginia Senator Tim Kaine and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. (Yonhap)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left at least 17 dead and scores wounded, according to the Associated Press.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts continued to ring out in the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning, including a bomb that hit the parliament complex.

Speaking on national television from Istanbul, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and ''they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey,'' according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. ''Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups.''












The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
PRESS RELEASE

Release of 28 Pages a Strategic Victory; Now a New Investigation

July 15, 2016 (EIRNS)The Obama Administration waited until the final hours of the Congressional session before a six-week recess to release the slightly redacted 28-page chapter from the original 2002 Joint Congressional Inquiry into 9/11. Despite the timing, the release was a tremendous victory, that now puts the entire Anglo-Saudi Empire in the cross-hairs for their now-documented role in the worst terrorist atrocity on U.S. soil. Furthermore, a careful reading of the partially redacted 28 pages makes clear that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was absolutely correct when he said last year that the 28 pages force a total rethinking of everything that has happened over the past 15 years.

The level of evidence of Saudi Monarchy involvement in the 9/11 attacks is far beyond what was previously publicly known. Scores of Saudi officials and members of the Royal family were intimately involved with al-Qaeda, and many had close links to the hijackers directly. U.S. agencies had evidence of deep Saudi sponsorship of al-Qaeda years before the 9/11 attacks, but any serious crackdown was suppressed and investigators were fired or transferred for asking too many of the right questions.

What is now urgently needed is a new top-down investigation, that starts with the Anglo-Saudi hand behind 9/11, but which extends far beyond those events of 15 years ago, to look into all of the subsequent terrorist atrocities and events like the Iraq and Libyan invasions, the ongoing regime-change efforts against the Assad regime in Syria and much more.

Lyndon LaRouche emphasized today that the momentum must be maintained for a new investigation that explores the depths of the Anglo-Saudi complex. Nothing short of that will root out the terror disease.

The release of the 28 pages, coming just days after the release of the Chilcot Commission Report in Britain, is a deadly one-two punch to the heart of the British Empire and its Saudi partners.

On the release of the 28 pages, Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who led the Congressional fight, extended his thanks and congratulations to the LaRouche Movement for our pivotal role in forcing the release. He vowed to now move to the next level of investigation and not stop until the full truth is out for all to see.
This Saturday, the Mexican club-music crew N.A.A.F.I will make its L.A. headline debut at Red Bull Music Academy Radios La Transicion event at Pollution Studios. The group has strong opinions about the future of Mexico City nightlife and how the countrys scene is represented abroad: read them here.

But there are a lot of parallels to L.A.s own underground club scene, both in its ad hoc, improvisational nature and the intermingling of Latin and western club sounds to produce something new.

For the piece, we also talked to Nacho Nava, of the longtime Mustache Mondays party (now at the Lash in DTLA) and Anita Herrera, an L.A.-based consultant who works on cultural collaborations between the U.S. and Latin America. Each worked on the La Transicion event that N.A.A.F.I is headlining.

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N.A.A.F.I doesnt fit into any preconceived genre, and thats as true for them in Mexico as it is in L.A. or Berlin. Tell me how that sense of being always just a bit outside of every scene resonates with what you do at Mustache Mondays and your other work.

Nacho Nava: Well, I cant say Ive ever felt that I really fit into the normal club landscape her in L.A. With Mustache, we pretty much go our own way in respect to formatting music and performers versus what most other clubs feature. Im really influenced by my environment -- theres so much going on in L.A. that I love, I want my nightlife to reflect that. If that makes us different or whatever, Im cool with it.

Anita Herrera: Going against the grain is what pushes the world forward, and that can make people feel uncomfortable. But thats what makes N.A.A.F.I so special, because they dont fit into any preconceived notion of what club music is supposed to be, but most importantly what Mexican club music is supposed to be and sound like.

The feeling of just always being a bit on the outside but also ahead is what I connect with the most with N.A.A.F.I. It seems like an easy label to identify this scene as a bunch of weirdos but its actually a scene of creatives that dictate whats happening not only in music but also in fashion and art on a global scale.

The first N.A.A.F.I party that I went to in Mexico City was in a dark, abandoned bar in Colonia Juarez and Alberto [Mexican Jihad] was DJing and I immediately felt right at home. It was so unique, it could only be from Mexico City  a mix of dark beats, synths but with a distinct mash of reggaeton sounds and Tribal Guarachero beats. Its a bit contradicting, but you can actually say I felt normal at the N.A.A.F.I parties in Mexico City.

N.A.A.F.I has some strong L.A. connections (like the New Years Eve fest with Fade to Mind). N.A.A.F.I also mixes a variety of Latin genres with really forward-thinking club music. Tell me about how you see L.A. audiences connecting to what the label is up to musically, and how N.A.A.F.I is upending expectations about what Mexican music is like today.

AH: On a deeper level, from what Ive experienced first hand with N.A.A.F.I is that they break every single expectation and stereotype of what everyone thinks young Mexican music scenes are to supposed to be.

Growing up in L.A., as American but with roots in Mexico, there is still a false perception of what Mexico is like here. Although Mexican culture is so important here and part of what makes L.A. so unique, it is still distinctly very American, so the overall perception of what its actually like culturally across the border is so far from the truth.

Theres a huge mystery and intrigue behind Mexico and Mexico City, so every time I would travel to Mexico City and come back it was like pulling back the curtain to this uncovered cultural truth. Everyone would always ask me the same questions, like, Oh, wait  so Mexico is cool? and Oh, wait we thought Mexicans only listened to like mariachi music or to like banda, Oh, wait, we thought Mexico was only good for the beach.

No shade to any of those things or places but its really ignorant to assume things like that. I always have to go into these very deep conversations about just how important Mexico and Mexico City is to our entire global culture. Mexico City alone is a hub for the best music festivals, art fairs, gastronomy and of course N.A.A.F.I.

I think thats why N.A.A.F.I is so important not only to our particular music scene but they also represent an authentic piece of Mexico that breaks any typical or derogatory stereotypes that people may have thought about Mexico in the past.

I think theres going to be a particularly strong connection amongst L.A. Mexican Americans, which in some cases here have had a hard time connecting back to their roots, not because they dont want to but because maybe they dont have the access. So I think for L.A. Mexican Americans and L.A. Latinos to discover N.A.A.F.I for the first time in L.A. is going to be really special, because they are not only connecting with the music, but they will maybe feel like they are actually connecting to a part of their roots.

NN: N.A.A.F.I fits so well here. I think its because good club music has a lot of texture and flavors in it. Sometimes its Latin, sometimes its house, sometimes its elements of reggaeton, bass, techno or grime. Mexico City and Los Angeles nightlife share a lot of these same qualities. I think the kids here really connect with N.A.A.F.I because of their punk mentality. I live and work out of Boyle Heights and it seems more prevalent out this way. Its interesting to see this new generation of club kids and just how punk / DIY they are. Its exciting to see this new energy on the come up. Its just what we need.

I think they are really challenging the landscape of our Mexican music scene by simply existing. Its 2016, wed better be evolved to only be about the very best (and worst, when its called for) in everything at this point. This lineup (Silent Servant, Santiago Salazar, Raiz, DJ Dex) is beyond on point, and actually perfectly curated for whats going on in L.A. right now.

Mustache Mondays was one of the club nights that really set a new tone for LGBT nightlife in DTLA. How is that scene evolving and opening up to new audiences? How do you see what you do informing other types of parties in L.A. like this N.A.A.F.I collaboration?

NN: I think we have some really interesting things happening in L.A. nightlife. I love how mixed all the cute parties are. They arent just a black, Asian, Mexican, LGBTQ or straight party. The cute ones are actually a good mix of of all that. I enjoy seeing new things pop up that are evolved in this way.

Of course, Fade to Mind is killing it. But weve got the kids doing things like Rail Up, and the Calentura / Late Night Laggers guys have really got things popping in the city as well. We actually think its perfect timing for this.
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah will air live on the final nights of the Republican and Democratic national conventions this month.

The episodes will be broadcast on July 21 from the Breen Center for the Performing Arts in Cleveland and on July 28 at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, respectively.

The move will enable The Daily Show to be the first late-night program to respond to the acceptance speeches by presumptive nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

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The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will air live on all four nights of both events (July 18-21 and July 25-28) but will do so from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City.

Both shows, known for their topical bent, are attempting to break out in an increasingly competitive late-night field.

In addition to the live episodes and on-the-ground coverage throughout both events, The Daily Show also has hourlong clip specials planned for Monday night of each convention week.

Follow me @MeredithBlake

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Have contemporary viewers had their fill of tabloid murders from the 1990s? NBC is about to find out.

The network has officially greenlighted Law & Order: True Crime  The Menendez Murders. The scripted series will dramatize the case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers who were convicted in 1996 of murdering their wealthy parents. Their conviction followed a protracted and well-publicized legal battle in which the brothers claimed theyd been victims of years of abuse.

The eight-episode season is the first in a planned anthology series that will tackle real-life criminal cases, similar to FXs American Crime Story.

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Everything Emmy: The nominees, reactions, snubs and analysis 

Rene Balcer has been tapped as writer, executive producer and show runner. He has plenty of experience in the Law & Order universe, having risen through the ranks of the original series from writer to show runner, then helping to develop the spinoff Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which he ran and executive produced for 10 seasons.

Rene and I have been working together over the past three decades, and he is one of a handful of truly great show runners with whom Ive worked, executive producer Dick Wolf said in a statement, noting that Balcer was overseeing Law & Order when it won the Emmy for drama series.

The Menendez series is the latest entrant in a true-crime TV craze spurred by the success of FXs The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, which was nominated for 22 Emmys on Thursday, as well as the documentary series The Jinx on HBO and Making a Murderer on Netflix.

This fall, CBS will air Case Closed, a documentary series about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey.

The NBC series also will further expand Wolfs reach at the network. In addition to the long-running Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the mega-producer also has Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. A fourth Windy City series, Chicago Justice, is set to premiere mid-season.

Follow me @MeredithBlake

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When architects Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki decided to build a guest cottage on their property in Elysian Park, they wanted the scale of a loft but the feel of a cabin.

We knew it would be a small space, says Ichiki, but we wanted to make it feel as big as possible while remaining warm.

The husband-and-wife partners in the architecture firm Bunch Design originally intended to build a small office next to their 100-year-old house near Dodger Stadium. When they looked into permitting, they realized they had the clearance to build a second structure  with its own address  on their triangular property.

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One of the biggest challenges was figuring out the best way to position the cottage to ensure a degree of privacy and also preserve a 60-year-old California walnut tree. They settled on a 45-foot long house that helps frame the property lines. We wanted it to feel like part of the park, so we slid it in behind the tree, says Sundius.

1 / 16 Elysian Park cottage with the feel of a loft (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 16 Architects Bo Sundias and Hisako Ichikis home, at left, and their guest cottage, right. (Christina House / For the Times) 3 / 16 The stairway, at left, leads to the loft, and the stairway, at right, leads to the kitchen and dining area. (Christina House / For The Times) 4 / 16 The living room. (Christina House / For The Times) 5 / 16 A continuous open slat staircase goes from the lower kitchen to the second bedroom. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 16 The dramatic vault of wooden beams clad in Douglas fir makes the room feel larger. (Christina House / For The Times) 7 / 16 A dramatic wooden ceiling runs the full length of the cottage. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 16 Architects Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki. (Christina House / For The Times) 9 / 16 The loft at architects Bo Sundias and Hisako Ichikis guest cottage. (Christina House / For The Times) 10 / 16 The bedroom at architects Bo Sundias and Hisako Ichikis guest cottage. (Christina House / For The Times) 11 / 16 A dramatic wooden ceiling hangs over a second bedroom/office. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 16 Niche shelves are vintage kimono boxes from Japan in the hallway. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 16 The dining and kitchen area of architects Bo Sundias and Hisako Ichikis guest cottage. (Christina House / For The Times) 14 / 16 A continuous open slat staircase goes from the lower kitchen to the second bedroom. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 16 The other side of the stairs looking from the kitchen. (Christina House / For The Times) 16 / 16 A peek inside the bathroom. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Clerestory windows throughout the cottage frame a view of Elysian Park.

With a very tight budget, the couple maximized the 750-square-foot space by creating a sense of unfolding rooms. While the living room and master bedroom sit on one floor, the kitchen and a second bedroom are both on separate mezzanine levels. To save money, the couple executed much of the physical labor themselves, including sealing the exposed timber. Windows came from the Taylor Brothers boneyard of remnants and leftovers.

Lessons learned when renovating their main house in 2010 influenced the design of the guesthouse.

With a mostly open floor plan in the main house and two small children, the couple discovered were too messy to have no walls.

In the cottage, open slats on a continuous staircase between the multiple levels let in light  but limit visibility into the kitchen. If you forget to do your dishes its not blazingly obvious, Sundius says and laughs.

The couples love of raw materials is evident. We wanted to embrace a bit of the rough carpentry as part of the design, says Sundius. This is perhaps most obvious in the design of the ceiling, a dramatic vault of wooden beams clad in Douglas fir, creating the effect of a much larger space. The simple but bold geometry of the soaring ceiling is meant to recall a temple in Japan, where Ichiki was born and raised.

This heritage worked its way unconsciously into other aspects of the cottages design, as well.

A slatted closet door in the bedroom was reclaimed from a local Japanese restaurant that had shuttered. Niches built into the walls are kimono boxes salvaged from Ichikis grandmothers house in Japan before it was demolished. The couple doesnt explicitly reference Japanese design, but it infuses their work in less obvious ways.

Its not about Japanese style, but about personal experience  tying it to a place, explains Ichiki. We take ordinary things and moments and try to make them special.

home@latimes.com

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Is it time to rethink traveling abroad?

Just back from a vacation in Spain, I found myself wondering if such trips are now reckless.

Should we avoid crowds anywhere now?

I wrestled with such questions while I watched coverage of Thursdays nightmarish scene in Nice, France, where a maniac mowed down dozens of innocent people celebrating Bastille Day.

It wasnt that many summers ago that my wife and I strolled down that promenade with our daughter.

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Friday morning, I was still angry and horrified and scared, too, about raising a child in a world gone mad.

So I did some checking and learned that a summer course on international relations, war, global terrorism and conflict resolution was concluding at USC.

Assistant professor Douglas Becker told me his students were taking their final exams, but would be available by early afternoon to share their take on Nice and what, if anything, can be done to prevent horrific acts of violence and terrorism.

The students, most of whom will be high school seniors this fall, took the four-week course for college credit. Theyre from Taiwan, Korea, India, Germany and the United States.

Several of them admitted theyre scared about whats happening, whether the violence is dealt by those affiliated with known extremist groups or by disturbed individuals operating either on their own or in sympathy with established terrorists.

At first I didnt know what to think, but Im really frightened now because I live really close to France, said Eleanna Bez, 16, a U.S. citizen who lives with her family in Germany.

Terrorists have attacked France three times in 18 months, and earlier this year they slaughtered more than two dozen people in Brussels. Eleanna said her mother forbade her recently from visiting friends in Belgium. She didnt think shed be safe.

Eleanna offered a strategy for avoiding harm.

You have to go a little more unnoticed, Eleanna said. I try to not look American.

Despite fears, the students didnt seem to have much appetite for limiting their travels.

Yenah Joe, a 17-year-old Korean student, didnt approve of a decision by her high school Spanish class to cancel a trip to Spain earlier this year.

You say youre protecting yourselves by not going, but I feel like youre suppressing life by not taking the chance, Yenah said.

People cant live, she said, in a state of paranoia all the time.

Charlie Convery, 17, of Chicago, has no qualms about an upcoming trip to France.

Im not afraid Im going to be attacked, he said. I just think the probability is so low.

Hes right about the odds. Besides, a massacre can unfold at a San Bernardino office party or Orlando night club.

Is there any way to reduce the threat?

One student took a hard line against more refugees entering Europe. But Sean Flannelly, 17, who is from the Bay Area, disagreed.

I think terrorism can come from anywhere, and I dont think  discriminating against certain people helps anything, Sean said. I think thats what terrorism is about  creating fears and getting us to play into that.

The students were at a loss, as most of us are, to explain the designs of those who kill viciously and gleefully.

What they learned this summer is that complex problems seldom have the simple answers offered by opportunistic politicians; that we live in a world in which affluent countries fight over oil, poor countries fight over water, disparity creates desperation, convenient allies can become mortal enemies, and current events are tied to conflicts and policy decisions that go back centuries.

Western intervention has disrupted Middle Eastern and African countries for centuries, said Anna Merzi, 20, a USC student and teaching assistant in the summer course. And resentment is an ember thats never extinguished, she said.

Charlie, the Chicago lad, added that todays disputes can be traced in part to European colonization of Africa and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire.

You ask how we feel growing up in a world thats suddenly violent? Mezri asked. Its not [suddenly violent]. Whats changed is where the acts are taking place. Theyre now affecting Paris, Nice, Belgium, the U.S. But theyve been affecting other countries much longer, she said.

And the best course, she said, is to avoid us-versus-them battle cries that alienate nations and moderate people of faith  including the great majority of Muslims  instead of making them stronger allies against the dark forces.

As they spoke, a bloody coup attempt was wracking Turkey. As I wrote, I watched live coverage of soldiers with black masks concealing their faces, waving weapons while standing on tanks.

I take hope, though, from being in the company of young people who have not given up hope and who are eager to reach back through history for an understanding of the world they live in.

A handful of students said Professor Beckers class has made them reconsider career paths.

Benjamin Chou, 16, of Taiwan, said hes now thinking about majoring in international relations when he goes to college.

I wanted to do market analysis, Benjamin said. But after engaging with so many depressing conflicts, I feel like I have the ability to do something for this world, and I dont want to waste my life looking at numbers and trying to sell stuff.

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A Placer County man was taken into custody Friday on suspicion of flying a drone into a firefighting effort northeast of Sacramento.

Information posted on social media helped lead to the arrest of Eric Wasser, 57, of Foresthill. Cal Fire officers took him into custody, booked him into the Placer County Jail in Auburn and charged him with interfering with firefighting operations, a misdemeanor.

He also could face prosecution from federal authorities for violating restricted air space, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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Berlant said the arrest over a drones interference with firefighting was a first in California.

The presence of the drone prompted authorities to ground aircraft for 30 minutes the evening of June 28, the day that the Trailhead fire broke out.

Once sunset occurs, we are not able to use our aircraft, Berlant said. We needed to make as many drops as we could before sunlight went away. And at that point we had not been able to make access to the fire line on the ground, so the aircraft were critical.

Chief George Morris III, the unit chief for Cal Fire in the area, said that lost time mattered.

Every minute we couldnt fly our aircraft because of this drone, the fire was able to grow and do more damage, Morris said.

The Trailhead Fire began near the small communities of Todd Valley, Foresthill, Volcanoville and Georgetown. It burned 5,646 acres in steep, heavily forested canyons, forcing hundreds of residents of Placer and El Dorado counties to evacuate. It is nearly fully contained.

Over the past two years, hobbyists have operated increasing numbers of drones over wildfires.

Wasser apparently flew the drone to capture video and photos of the fire. Authorities said he posted the images on social media, a vital clue that led to his arrest.

Authorities have created a free smart-phone application to help drone operators avoid flying in restricted areas: https://www.faa.gov/uas/where_to_fly/b4ufly/.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblume

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Playboy model Dani Mathers has been banned from all LA Fitness gyms after she took a photo of a woman inside a locker room shower and posted it on Snapchat with disparaging comments about her body.

Mathers received public backlash after she shared the photo of the naked woman inside the gyms locker room with the caption: If I cant unsee this then you cant either.

Critics accused her of making fun of the woman and body-shaming her. Others said Mathers actions were illegal.

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LA Fitness on Friday responded to Mathers action by permanently revoking her membership at all of its health clubs.

Her behavior is appalling and puts every member at risk of losing their privacy, said Jill Greuling, the companys executive vice president of operations. The company would not say at which gym the incident occurred.

Greuling said law enforcement was notified about the matter.

Our written rules are very clear: Cellphone usage and photography are prohibited in the locker rooms, Greuling said. This is not only our rule, but common decency.

The mounting criticism on social media prompted Mather to issue an apology on Snapchat. She apparently deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

That was absolutely wrong and not what I meant to do, she said. I know that body-shaming is wrong. That is not the type of person I am.

She said the photo was meant to be sent as a private message, but was posted publicly.

Critics said Mathers message was not much of an apology.

veronica.rocha@latimes.com

For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter

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Huntington Beach residents can now claim they live in The Soul of SoCal.

Visit Huntington Beach, the official destination marketing organization for the city, announced the new brand recently at a meeting at the Pasea Hotel & Spa.

The organization partnered with the Atkins Group, a Texas advertising agency, to create the new slogan.

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But the Surf City USA nickname will remain.

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Huntington Beach has long been known as Surf City USA and one of Californias quintessential beach communities, Kelly Miller, president and chief executive officer of Visit Huntington Beach, said in a news release.

We learned that Huntington Beach resonates deeply as a destination that authentically delivers our brand promise: endless summer, flawless waves, laid-back luxury and an unhurried, welcoming future  that represents The Soul of the SoCal experience to our visitors domestically and internationally.

Councilman Billy OConnell said he sees this as great branding for the city.

This is Southern Californias greatest city to come to, he said. We have great hotels. Theres so much to do for families. Theres great surfing.

But everyone doesnt seem so keen on the idea.

According to an HB Citizens for a Better Downtown survey, 96.6% of those asked hate the new slogan.

Some residents expressed concerns about the slogan this week on the Facebook group Huntington Beach Community Forum.

What does Texas know about Huntington Beach? asked Cindy Dodson Windle.

More like Souled Out,  Jordan West wrote.

Visit Huntington Beach officials maintain the branding will further promote the city.

A full media campaign is planned for the summer to introduce residents to the new branding, including digital, social and print media, as well as a new website, said Susan Thomas, the organizations chief marketing officer.

Our new campaign is focused on storytelling and content engagement around three distinct visitor experiential pillars: laid-back luxury, multi-generational family travel and action sports, Thomas said in an email.

Given the dynamic, competitive environment in the travel marketplace in general, and many exciting new products adding to the Huntington Beach experience for visitors, Visit Huntington Beach is following industry best practices by assessing our brand position, including quantitative and qualitative research with leisure and group travelers domestically and internationally.

Our core brand absolutely continues to be Surf City USA, she said.

brittany.woolsey@latimes.com

Woolsey writes for Times Community News.
The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for Southern Californias powerful Metropolitan Water District to buy five islands at the epicenter of the deltas water system, officials said Friday.

Some officials and environmentalists in Northern California had fought to halt the sale, worried about what the MWD planned to do with the land. The agency has said it might use some of the land to provide access for the construction of a proposed delta tunnel system, a controversial project some oppose amid Californias five-year drought.

A cohort of counties, water agencies and environmental advocacy groups had mounted a series of legal challenges aimed at postponing the sale. But the high court on Thursday turned those back, allowing the MWD to proceed with its $175-million purchase of the farm islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

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An MWD spokesman reiterated Friday that the agency has not proposed a project for the land. In the past, the district has said the 20,000 acres could be converted to fish and wildlife habitat or used to store materials for emergency levee repairs.

They have also said the islands could be used to provide access for the construction of the tunnel system, which would carry Sacramento River water under the delta to the pumping operations that send supplies south.

Two of the islands are in the path of the proposed $15-billion tunnel system, a project that MWD supports. MWD ownership of the islands would eliminate the need for eminent domain proceedings and provide easy access for construction crews on part of the project route.

Opponents of the tunnels have expressed numerous objections, including the effect on the environment and concerns about tourism and the agricultural economy.

MWD officials said Friday that they still face several lawsuits connected to the island purchase. At least one of the suits claims a breach of contract, and others argue that MWD should have been required to prepare an environmental impact report beforecompleting the purchase.

The California Environmental Quality Act lawsuits seek to unwind the deal and ultimately force MWD to give the islands back to Delta Wetlands Properties.

Thursdays Supreme Court order does not toss out the original lawsuit filed by San Joaquin County to block the sale. It simply allows the island purchase to move forward while that case and others play themselves out.

It could be months or even years until all the legal challenges to the purchase are resolved, officials said.

In court documents, lawyers for San Joaquin County and the advocacy group Food and Water Watch accused MWD of attempting to skirt the California Environmental Quality Act to prematurely facilitate Delta exports to the Southland.

They argued that the purchase was an issue of great public importance requiring the courts attention.

Brett Spencer Jolley, an attorney representing San Joaquin County did not return a phone message seeking comment on the ruling. Jolley told the Sacramento Bee that the county had every reason to oppose Metropolitans land purchase because the tunnels would be used to export more water to Southern California.

A divided MWD board approved the island buy in March, with representatives of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and the San Diego County Water Authority voting no. The land is owned by a private company that for years has tried to develop a water storage project on the property.

matt.stevens@latimes.com

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The FBI is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man suspected of killing his wife, an Army soldier.

Authorities said Earl Armstrong Jr., 27, has ties to Orange County and Los Angeles, as well as other cities across the U.S.

Armstrong is suspected of killing his wife, Spc. Iris Armstrong, at their home on the Ft. Bragg, N.C., earlier this month, the FBI said in a statement.

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Shortly after the slaying, Armstrong was seen on surveillance video using his wifes debit card, according to the statement.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Armstrong on July 8 after he was charged with murder, the FBI said.

The suspect should be considered armed and dangerous and the FBI warned against approaching him. Instead, the agency urged the public to call 911 or an FBI field office information about Armstrongs whereabouts.

matt.stevens@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByMattStevens

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A former psychology professor was sentenced Friday to six years in prison for the 1995 killing of a man she says raped her while she was a Southern California college student.

Norma Patricia Esparza, 41, pleaded guilty in 2014 to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for the prison term in the death of Gonzalo Ramirez.

She did not speak in Santa Ana court as she was sentenced with two co-defendants, but her lawyer told the court that his client realized all actions have consequences and she should have come forward sooner.

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Esparza pointed out Ramirez at a Santa Ana bar in 1995 to former boyfriend Gianni Van and others who kidnapped and killed him, hacking him with a meat cleaver, authorities said. Ramirezs bloodied body was found by the side of a road in Irvine, but the case went cold for years.

Esparza was arrested in 2012 while visiting the United States from France. Born in Mexico, Esparza grew up in California, obtained a doctorate in psychology and worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization and as a professor in Switzerland.

Her case drew international attention and stoked an outcry from campus sexual assault victims advocates, who said Esparzas arrest sent a chilling message to rape survivors.

At the sentencing, Orange County Senior Deputy District Attorney Mike Murray read a letter from one of Ramirezs brothers.

It torments us to think of each stab, each hack and blow that he received while being tied without being able to defend himself, the letter said.

Authorities charged four people with the death of Ramirez, who Esparza said raped her after she met him at a bar while she was a student at Pomona College.

Weeks later, Esparza pointed out Ramirez at the same bar. Van and two others followed him in a van and rear-ended him, attacked and kidnapped him, before tying him up and killing him, authorities said.

Esparzas husband, Jorge Mancillas, told reporters in 2013 that his wife had confided to Van about the rape and Van took matters into his own hands. She was later forced into a sham marriage with Van to prevent her from testifying against him as police began looking into the murder.

Esparza was arrested after she had divorced Van, who was convicted by a jury and sentenced last year to life without parole for the killing.

Esparza took a plea deal in the hope of reuniting one day with her young daughter, her attorney Jack Earley told reporters after the hearing.

Her friend, Eloisa Martinez, said she hoped Esparzas case would encourage victims to report rape.

I truly believe had she said something when it happened, maybe she wouldnt be here today, she said.

Also Friday, co-defendant Diane Tran was sentenced to four years in prison and freed based on time already served. She did not speak in court.

Shannon Gries, who was sentenced to 25 years to life, apologized and said he would spend his life trying to make amends to Ramirezs family.

Outside court, the prosecutor said he was disappointed the defendants didnt acknowledge killing Ramirez.

It didnt just happen. They murdered Gonzalo Ramirez, and I didnt hear one of them take responsibility for that, Murray told reporters.

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As California pushes forward on its ambitious goal to produce 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, it will confront a wide range of potentially troubling economic, technical and political questions  though there remains strong support among public officials for the states climate program.

The state is demonstrating to the rest of the nation and the world that it has the deep political willpower to address climate change, but it has yet to fully understand the impacts of the program on low-income residents, economic growth and electrical grid reliability.

There is a regressive nature to some of these things, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday, noting that more than 1 million state households spend more than 10% of their income on energy. We have to be sensitive to issues relating to energy costs.

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Newsoms remarks came at a Los Angeles Times conference on renewable energy in Santa Monica. Academics, regulators, fossil fuel executives and renewable energy proponents weighed in on the states commitment to battling climate change.

The renewable energy goals will require going far beyond putting up new wind turbines and solar array farms, requiring the state to address the many past, present and future energy issues that each have their own unique place in the states economic and political landscape.

Newsom, along with the other experts at the Times summit said the 50% goal is absolutely achievable. But the experts have sharply divided opinions about how deeply the state will have to restructure its energy system and the impacts it will have in on an economy that already has some of the nations highest-priced electricity.

Loretta Lynch, a panelist who was formerly president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said in an interview that high electricity prices are part of the reason that the Los Angeles region has economically stagnated for more than two decades, but she laid the blame on regulatory decisions that have supported too much gold plated natural-gas powered generating capacity.

Lynch asserts that state regulators have grossly overestimated the amount of power needed to back up renewable energies.

The current protocols require at least some gas-fired plants to have their turbines hot and spinning, ready to deliver power to the grid in seconds if the sun should suddenly duck behind a cloud or the wind stop blowing. Even when they arent producing power, they are adding to the cost of electricity.

The conference attracted an audience committed to green energy. A rough majority of the people said they had roof top solar systems, drive electric cars or had bicycled to the conference. Their questions reflected opposition to fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Tiffany Roberts, an executive with the Western States Petroleum Assn., reminded naysayers of the importance of her fuels, noting that 2 million gallons of gasoline and diesel are consumed in the state every hour and California is the worlds third-largest market for the products after the entire U.S. and China. Roberts said sales of electric vehicles are now trending down and rely on heavy government subsidies.

Newsom called fossil fuels a necessary evil, noting he flew to Los Angeles from Sacramento.

See the most-read stories in Local News this hour >>

George Minter, the environmental strategist for SoCalGas, said the state should be moving faster to tap biological production of methane to replace natural gas from wells, a technology that is moving more quickly in Europe than here. And he said excess electricity from solar farms could be used to produce flammable hydrogen that would be blended into the natural gas.

Lyndon Rive, a co-founder of rooftop solar energy company SolarCity, told the conference that grid vulnerability can be mitigated by more widely distributing generating capacity.

The ultimate solution to reliable solar and wind generation will be storage systems, either batteries, flywheels, compressed air or new innovations like the Santa Barbara-based Ares electric train storage system. But so far, none of the systems have been commercially produced at a size that would provide statewide power storage.

Michael Shellenberger, an environmentalist who writes about energy issues, said the state committed a major error in pushing for the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, because most of its capacity will be replaced with natural gas.

Shellenberger, who was not on the Times panel, said in an interview the state already depends on gas for 61% of its electricity and could be facing an economic disaster if predictions of a natural gas price spike are accurate. But other experts said the state will need all of its gas turbine power and even more in the future to provide reserves against wind and solars unpredictable output.

James Conca, an energy consultant and former geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, said if California fully replaces all of Diablo Canyons 18 billion kilowatt hours of annual generating capacity with wind, it will require 3,000 new wind turbines at a cost of $9 billion. I am not sure regulators will allow that much renewable energy on the grid without back up, he said.

Patrick Currier, an energy consultant and former congressional energy expert, said that if the state is not careful about driving up electricity prices, it will exacerbate an exodus of industrial manufacturing that has already hollowed out the Los Angeles economy. Even seemingly tiny incremental increases in electricity can cause unexpectedly large cost increases for commercial and industrial users, forcing them out of state.

Newsom acknowledged the states key role in influencing the closure of Diablo Canyon, saying it had used enlightened engagement to force PG&E, the plant owner, to come to the bargaining table. The shutdown, structured over the next decade, left anti-nuclear activists angry, but the plan will avoid the disruption and possible blackouts that the unplanned San Onofre nuclear power plant shutdown caused, he added.

Newsom said the state will need to address the legal and political uncertainty around its cap and trade auctions, which dispenses credits that allows emitters to release greenhouse gases. The use of that cap and trade money to fund Californias high speed rail system has left him worried and remains troubling to a number of Democrats.

We are back in some muddy water, he said.

ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com

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San Diego police said the man arrested in connection with a string of attacks on homeless men has a history of arrests and possible mental problems.

San Diego police arrested Jon David Guerrero, 39, on Friday. Guerrero faces three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of arson.

Public records show an extensive history of criminal cases in San Diego, dating from 1999 to 2009, and several mental health cases filed in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

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Guerrero was arrested in 2007 and pleaded guilty the next year to charges of burglary, grand theft and possession of marijuana and narcotics paraphernalia. His mother, Kathleen Guerrero, wrote a number of letters to the court on her sons behalf, seeking psychiatric treatment for him in jail.

She explained why he didnt do well on probation, saying he had trouble following directions or keeping track of time and appointments. In one letter, she pointed to Davids lack of hearing and speaking ability. In the past a symptom of his illness has been to insert foreign objects into his body orifices and I am concerned that this may be the case again.

He was arrested again in 2009 and pleaded guilty to robbery for repeatedly knocking down a homeless woman and stealing her bicycle. Again placed on probation, he violated the conditions and was ruled not mentally competent. He spent time at Patton State Hospital. His attorney, arguing for a lesser sentence, wrote that Guerrero begins to hear good and bad voices when his medication wears off, but that with the appropriate medication, he can lead a normal, productive and crime free life.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

In earlier cases from 1999 to 2001, Guerrero was convicted of burglary, grand theft and possession of stolen goods.

A Facebook page for a Jon Guerrero shows he went to Coronado High School and worked as a caregiver for a time. One posting said he was from Cuernavaca, Mexico. Other postings are rambling, including one 2015 statement that said, There something to do with the stars in the sky and the gate way to your soul. I think its the cotten I was wearing. . Well Vicky its hood to know theres still some love in me or innocents s .. but I can really see the mix of my mom & dad in me what was God thinking?

Repard writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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The derricks along Highway 44 were still this month after the price of oil tanked and two dozen oilfield companies vanished. The booming tax base that buoyed the town of Alice evaporated, unemployment surged above 10% and county government cut 21 jobs, with more layoffs on the horizon.

Then an unexpected savior appeared: A British correctional company offering to turn an abandoned nursing home on Highway 44 into a family immigrant detention center. It would employ 200.

Immigrant families have been pouring into Texas during the last two years, with no sign of slowing: 6,788 family members were caught crossing in May, 44,524 since October, most from Central America. Since 2014, the federal government has contracted to open two of the countrys three family immigration centers in South Texas.

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Jim Wells County commissioners held a public meeting at the fairgrounds, inviting representatives from Serco, the company hoping to contract with the government to run the center. The stage was set for the powerful emotions driving the national immigration debate nationwide to play out: worry about jobs, compassion for the downtrodden, fear for public safety. Which would win out?

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The county is not alone. Another heated public meeting unfolded recently about 300 miles west in Dimmit County, where a property owner proposed opening a detention center at a former oilfield worker camp. He tried to dispel rumors the facility would house Syrians who could escape and murder residents. Concerned commissioners rejected that proposal, despite the promise of 400 jobs.

Jim Wells County, population 41,000, is about 80% Latino, sandwiched between Republican areas to the north and the more liberal border region.

Commission meetings are usually sparsely attended, but this evening, June 9, about 50 people drove past cornfields to the fairgrounds, some from 200 miles north in Austin, with handouts and a homemade sign that warned, Putting kids in prison is child abuse.

Two representatives from Serco sat near the commissioners at the front of the room. Although they didnt wear suits or ties, they stood out in their dress shirts and slacks.

Some in the crowd were open to the idea of a detention center if it meant jobs.

The whole town is hurting really badly, said Ramon Perez, 62, a retired beer distributor.

Beside him, his wife nodded. Id love to see a business come in, said Anna Perez, 56, who works for the county and had seen nine coworkers laid off days before.

Kelly Thurmon said she and her neighbors were interested in the proposal, but wanted more details.

Were wondering if Serco is going to bring their own people in, or is it going to bring jobs? said Thurmon, 47, adding that she worried, With so many immigrants, they bring diseases.

Jim Wells County Judge Pedro Pete Trevino Jr. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times )

County Judge Pedro Pete Trevino Jr. had convened the meeting by noting that he and the other four members of the commission wouldnt make a decision until after the meeting.

Were looking for all the resources we can get to diversify our economy, Trevino said, assuring the crowd that if the center opened, it would be secure.

We want to make sure theyre safe and sound, he said of detained migrants.

Then a Serco vice president, Carlo Uchello, made his pitch. The other immigrant family detention centers were prisons, he said, but Sercos would be more residential, without locked doors or fencing. Sercos facility would not house single men or criminals, he said.

In the U.S. Serco already employs 10,000, and it would add at least 200 jobs locally. The county would get a cut of the profits, about $100,000 a year.

After Uchello finished, the superintendent of a local school district got up to speak.

My level of excitement is up, Samuel Bueno said, but added: Several people have reached out to me with concerns. You said no single males. Are there complete families with men?

About 75% of the families would be headed by women, 25% by men, Uchello said.

Bueno questioned the conditions at other Serco facilities, especially those in Australia, where there had been news reports of employees mistreating detainees.

We have had some problems there, Uchello conceded. Things tend to escalate when people see no way of getting out.

Those were your employees, a man said from the audience.

Yes, they were, Uchello said.

Brenda Sellers rose to speak. A retired administrative assistant and former gun store owner, she was worried about the immigrants educational, medical and social service costs.

Is Jim Wells County going to be responsible for paying for those things? Because were broke, Sellers, 68, said with a dry laugh.

Uchello said those costs would be covered by Serco and the federal government. He cited a book which he said found Serco did a better job of detaining people than the government. Corporations are held accountable where government is not, he said.

Will there be a fence? Sellers asked.

No, Uchello said.

So its very possible they could just wander off into the community? Bueno asked.

Will there be guards? Sellers asked. Before Uchello could reply, she asked what would happen if detainees attacked the guards.

Olivia Lopez, who had been shaking her head at the discussion, was shocked.

These are mothers and children! she shouted.

He said men,  Sellers insisted.

Uchello finally managed to get a word in. Were not going to have dogs and guards handcuffing people, he said.

Sellers gave him a skeptical look.

Now it was Lopezs turn to speak. She had been employed as a social worker at one of the immigrant family detention centers in Karnes County, about 90 miles north, but quit after witnessing what she said was neglect and abuse.

I understand that its jobs, she said, But theres a cost. A cost to your soul. I still cant sleep after being at Karnes.

Lopez, 58, likened the facility to a prison, and said the new center would be the same, even as the Serco official shook his head and murmured, Its not true.

The more Lopez spoke, the more Commissioner Margie Gonzalez frowned.

Gonzalez was wearing a large rhinestone cross necklace. Shes a Catholic, a mother. Before the meeting, the bishop for surrounding Corpus Christi Diocese emailed her, urging her to vote against the center. She had not made up her mind.

As the meeting progressed, the American Civil Liberties Union and a half dozen immigrant advocacy groups railed against the center. Eddie Canales of the South Texas Human Rights Center rushed over after spending the day placing water barrels on nearby ranches for stranded migrants.

Alejandro Caceres, of the Austin-based advocacy group Grassroots Leadership, warned that Hillary Clinton has vowed to close family detention centers.

Theyre trying to sell you a box that may be worth nothing in a little while, he said. Im from a small town in Texas, and stupid we were not.

Uchello tried to address the criticism.

Your argument is with the federal government, not with Serco, he said. We have a broken immigration policy in this country. I dont see anything being passed any time soon.

He noted that the number of migrant family members crossing the border illegally has climbed this year above levels in 2014, when the president called the influx of Central American families and children a humanitarian crisis.

These people need to go somewhere, Uchello said.

Carlo Uchello, a vice president for Serco, the British company seeking to open a federally contracted immigrant family detention center in Jim Wells County, addresses community members during a public meeting at the county fairgrounds. (Molly Hennessy-Fiske / Los Angeles Times )

Finally, the last speaker stood in the front row: Newell W. Atkinson III, a gray-haired local developer, turned to address both crowd and commissioners, spreading his hands.

Why is the county of Jim Wells getting in the middle of this thing? Atkinson said.

What happens if Serco goes bankrupt? he said, raising his eyebrows.

When the Serco official tried to respond, Atkinson waved him off, muttering, I dont care what this guy says. Hes selling something.

In the audience, a few elderly women in purple blouses nodded their approval, whispering, He dont know.

And Atkinson wasnt finished. Lets just say a thousand of them decide they want to come out and visit with us, he said of the detainees. What do you do?

The audience applauded. After an hour and a half, the meeting was over.

Commissioner Gonzalez was still frowning as she left.

Were not here to make a quick buck. I know were in a bad financial situation right now, she said, and sighed. Not at a cost to my soul.

Trevino, who grew up here and went on to become dean of the local community college, was disappointed. Trevino, who lost his leg in a tractor accident, stood on crutches outside, with the twilight glinting off his Texas under God tie pin. He said he understood the opposition. But the county needed those jobs.

At their next meeting the following week, the county commission decided against the immigrant detention center. The vote was unanimous.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

Twitter: @mollyhf

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Mike Pence stresses an unyielding support of Trumps plans for a border wall and ban on Muslims

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence affirmed his support of two key tenets of Donald Trumps candidacy  building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and a ban on Muslims entering the country  in his first interview since being tapped as the billionaire businessmans running mate.

Building the wall, establishing border security, has to be job one, said Pence on Fox News Hannity on Friday night. "... We need to focus first and foremost ... on border integrity and building the wall.

But Pence, who is in his first term as governor of Indiana, had criticized Trumps proposed ban on Muslims soon after it was announced, saying that such a ban was offensive and unconstitutional.

On Friday, Pence sought to tamp down any areas of division with Trump, saying he should have chosen his words more carefully.

I dont think things came out quite right or how I would have done it, but I want folks to know that I strongly agree with Donald Trumps call that weve got to do something different, he said.

Trump and Pence are set to appear together as running mates for the first time on Saturday at a news conference in New York.

Pence also demurred Friday when asked about his vote as a member of the House in favor of the Iraq war. Trump has insisted he was against the war, despite audio in which he says he supported entering Iraq.

Reasonable people can differ on whether or not we should have gone into Iraq, Pence said before then casting blame on President Obama and Hillary Clinton over the phased withdrawal of troops from the country.

Barack Obamas precipitous withdrawal from Iraq created a vacuum in which ISIS was created, Pence said, using an acronym for the Islamic State militant group.

When pressed about his views on the violent coup attempt in Turkey that killed dozens, Pence said that he and Trump were monitoring the situation and that it was evidence the world needs stronger leadership from America.

America needs to be strong for the world to be safe and secure, and Donald Trump is going to provide the kind of broad-shouldered American leadership on the world stage that I think will make the world a more stable place, Pence said.
Donald Trump, while introducing running mate, continues to criticize his positions

Why did Donald Trump tap Mike Pence to join him on the presidential ticket? The presumptive Republican presidential nominee acknowledged Saturday that the pick was partly meant as an olive branch to the party faithful.

One of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest, Trump said, emphasizing how much he has tried to stay outside the GOP establishment even as he rose to claim the nomination.

But while Trumps campaign has been defined by straying from Republican orthodoxy, those deviations can be a bit awkward now that his running mate has typically toed the party line.

On multiple issues, Trump boasted of policy positions that differ from Pences.

Take the Iraq war, where Trump once again falsely said that his position was, Dont go into Iraq, even though he once expressed support for the war. Pence, when he served in Congress, voted to authorize U.S. military action.

On trade, Trump said the North American Free Trade Agreement decimated manufacturing jobs in Pences home state of Indiana.

NAFTA is the worst economic deal in the history of our country .... Its a horror show; [jobs are] moving to Mexico, moving to other places, Trump said.

But Pence has backed trade deals, including NAFTA.

Trade already benefits Indiana, Pence said in a speech on the House floor in 2001, touting how NAFTA helped increase agricultural exports from the state.

Trump also faintly jabbed at Pences backing of Sen. Ted Cruz before the Indiana primary, implying that the governor was acting on behalf of outside interests and noting that Pences endorsement of Cruz included significant praise for Trump.

Even though he was under pressure, because Im so, you know, outside of the establishment, it was the single greatest non-endorsement Ive ever had in my life, Trump said.

Pence, for his part, presented a united front on his running mates platform, even on positions of which he had previously voiced skepticism.

He spoke approvingly of Trumps plan to temporarily suspend immigration from countries compromised by terrorism, even though he had expressed distaste in the past for his running mates call to temporarily ban Muslim visitors or immigrants.
Its been a week of doors opening and closing  in a larger sense, but also in terms of the L.A. food scene. Kato, a new strip-mall tasting-menu restaurant, opened near Little Osaka; over in Hollywood, Curtis Stones new restaurant, Gwen, whose butcher shop opened two weeks ago, opened for tasting-menu dinners. Theres a new Taco Bell on the Vegas Strip coming soon, and beer-tasting rooms are opening in downtown Los Angeles.

And then theres Salazar, a newish restaurant thats the subject of Jonathan Golds new review, which doesnt really have doors at all. So you sit under the sky and some trees and order Sonora-style barbecue, tacos and drinks while folks sip Micheladas in a giant patio. Youd think there would be lots of outdoor dining options in this town, but there arent. Maybe its one reason why were so fond of food trucks.

 Amy Scattergood

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Where to eat in Frogtown

Catch of the day: Freshwater trout from Idaho at Salazar. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times )

Jonathan considers Salazar, chef Esdras Ochoas new restaurant in the Elysian Valley, otherwise known as Frogtown. Ochoa, whose other restaurant, Mexicali Taco & Co., is a 101 stalwart, is cooking barbecue and tacos, with handmade flour tortillas and some pretty great drinks to accompany it all.

Your XLB update

Juicy pork dumplings can be found at the Din Tai Fung in the Americana Mall in Glendale. (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times )

If you love the Chinese soup dumplings called xiao long bao, or XLB, youve probably logged a lot of hours at the original Din Tai Fung in Arcadia. Jonathan visits the dumpling house in its last days (its closing for a remodel) and then heads to the brand new flagship, in Westfield Santa Anita mall.

The brave new world of restaurant service

Donato Poto manages Connie & Teds, a low-key seafood shack restaurant along Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

Restaurants in L.A. have changed a lot in the last few years: louder, more informal, playlists  and more casual service. Gillian Ferguson checks in with some restaurant front-of-the-house veterans to find out how theyve managed (literally) the change.

A Colombian food truck

The Paisa Bowl is a protein-packed serving of pork belly, steak, sausage, beans, white rice, plantains, avocado and an arepa topped with a fried egg, from the Cali Fresh food truck. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

Theres a lot more to food trucks than just tacos, of course, and Jenn Harris continues to highlight some of this towns best. This week, she talks to the folks from Cali Fresh, a Colombian street food truck.

Curtis Stones new kitchen

We recently wrote about Curtis Stones new butcher shop and restaurant project (the butcher shop opened a few weeks ago). A few days ago, Stones new restaurant, Gwen, opened its highly anticipated doors too. Its a restaurant that features tasting-menu dinners, with lots of stuff from the butcher shops charcuterie program, plus dishes cooked on the fire pit.

The Taste is coming: Our annual Labor Day food weekend, Sept. 2-4, will be here before you know it, and tickets are available.

Jonathan Golds 101

Jonathan Golds 101 Best Restaurants, the authoritative annual guide to local dining, is online for subscribers.

Check us out on Instagram @latimesfood

In the Kitchen: Sign up for our weekly cooking newsletter

Check out the thousands of recipes in our Recipe Database.

Feedback?

Wed love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.
Good morning. It is Saturday, July 16. Heres what you dont want to miss this weekend:

TOP STORIES

Hard life: At Belmont High School in Los Angeles Westlake neighborhood, one in four students is from Central America and many of them came to the states as unaccompanied minors. Gaspar Marcos is like many of them  he works nights as a dishwasher and tries to make it to class in the morning. I want to be a good person and have an education  have a good, stable job. I want to have a home, the sort of home I never had, he says. Los Angeles Times

Settling claims: Los Angeles-based Herbalife Ltd. agreed Friday to pay $200 million and change its business practices to settle claims from federal regulators that the company falsely told people they could quickly get rich selling weight-loss shakes. Herbalife is going to have to start operating legitimately, making only truthful claims about how much money its members are likely to make and it will have to compensate consumers for the losses they have suffered, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. Los Angeles Times

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Waiting to happen: Columnist Robin Abcarian visited San Luis Obispo County, where there is a proposal to extend a rail spur at an existing Phillips 66 oil refinery. Is it safe? What happens if the oil trains derail? They are disasters waiting to happen, she writes. Los Angeles Times

Missing student: Three students from UC Berkeley were injured in Thursdays attack in Nice, and a fourth student was missing, according to university officials. Nicolas Leslie, 20, is a junior from Del Mar who was with 84 classmates attending the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program in Europe. Were devastated  were hoping that Nick is coming home, said a university spokeswoman. Los Angeles Times

Suspect arrested: A 26-year-old man was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing three people last week at a San Bernardino liquor store, including a father and his 9-year-old son. Police dont know why Trayvon Brown opened fire, but they suggested the third man in the group, a known gang member, may have been the intended target. It was 30 seconds to kill three people, said store manager Saifaldin Baji. Los Angeles Times

Unsafe conditions: Whittier city officials want residents to be forced out of a building that they say was illegally converted from commercial use but a Norwalk Superior Court judge ruled the city must give property owners more time to fix problems. Those problems include bars on the windows, units without plumbing and structural issues. We feel its not a safe environment for people to be living in. We want to find ways to relocate them as soon as possible, said City Manager Jeff Collier. Whittier Daily News

Pet care: Theres a new center helping out pet owners who live on Los Angeles skid row. Downtown Dog Rescue provides free pet care supplies like water bowls, food and flea medication. This is just our small part, said Lori Weise, president of the rescue. 89.3 KPCC

True love is dead: These photos show Minnie Mouse stepping out on Mickey at Disney. Who is the new beau? Some dog. BuzzFeed

THIS WEEKS MOST POPULAR STORIES IN ESSENTIAL CALIFORNIA

1. A doctor in MacArthur Park prescribed orders for more than 73,000 OxyContin pills  with a street value of $6 million  over four months. What did the drugmaker know about the ring? Los Angeles Times

2. The city of Santa Monica is cracking down on Airbnb hosts. It just convicted the first landlord under a new law. Los Angeles Times

3. Its the history of Santa Monicas first high-end beach hotel: the Hotel Arcadia. Curbed LA

4. Black market OxyContin led this town down a path of destruction. Los Angeles Times

5. Check out L.A.s most popular tourist spots with this new drone footage. Curbed LA

ICYMI, HERE ARE THIS WEEKS GREAT READS

Forgotten life: H. T. Tsiang is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in East L.A., but his gravestone does not do justice to his role as a pioneering Chinese actor, thinker  and character. The New Yorker

Under the big top: What its like when the elephant-free circus comes to town. Los Angeles Magazine

Finding support: The tough job of convincing Latino voters to back Donald Trump. California Sunday Magazine

Writers passing: Author Carolyn See died this week at the age of 82. Heres what Jonathan Kirsch wrote about her in 1993: If there is one quality that continues to characterize Sees writing, it is a spiritual effervescence that bubbles up out of her prose, a sense that life may be a bitch, but theres no point in bitching about it. Los Angeles Times

LOOKING AHEAD

Sunday: Archbishop Jose H. Gomez will celebrate a Mass in recognition of immigrants.

Tuesday: Former Beaumont city officials, including the former police chief, will be arraigned. Theyre accused of embezzling more than $40 million in public funds; the California State University Board of Trustees will meet in Long Beach.

Friday: A Save the Bees event will be held in Palm Desert to raise awareness of the threats against hives.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.
Disneyland may be the happiest place on Earth, but some Anaheim leaders and residents are pretty unhappy with a recent decision to give the Walt Disney Company the biggest tax break in city history to build a hotel that arguably would have been built without the giveaway.

Disneys proposed 700-room development was one of three luxury hotel projects that the Anaheim City Council recently granted tax incentives worth $550 million over 20 years, or about $27.5 million a year. The subsidies were awarded under an Anaheim city policy, adopted last year, to encourage the development of luxury hotels (those rated four-diamond by the American Automobile Association or AAA) by allowing them to keep 70% of the Transient Occupancy Tax paid by guests for the next 20 years.

The new Disney hotel, which would be built on a parking lot next to an existing Disney resort hotel, is expected to generate an estimated $382 million in so-called bed taxes, and it would get to keep $267 million of that, according to the city.

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Disney has insisted that the hotel would not be built without the incentive. Some skepticism is in order, however. The company built, and later expanded, the four-diamond Grand Californian Hotel & Spa without an incentive. It undertook an extensive renovation of the Disneyland hotel in 2012 that bumped it into the four-diamond category, also without an incentive. It wouldnt be a stretch to think that Disney sees greater demand for luxury accommodations to go along with its record attendance, higher ticket prices and new attractions, including Star Wars Land.

The City Council members who voted for the tax breaks argue that Anaheim needs more luxury hotels to attract wealthier guests, who might otherwise stay in swankier digs in Newport Beach or Costa Mesa. In their view, more luxury hotels will lift room rates across the city and boost occupancy tax revenue, justifying the huge tax break companies receive for building them. But that assumes developers wont build fancy new hotels in Anaheim without an incentive  an assumption some industry experts dispute.

The hotel market is already booming. Some 1,500 new rooms have been built or are under construction in the city. Not coincidentally, Disney is in the middle of a billion-dollar-plus expansion of the park, including the construction of Star Wars Land, which is certain to be a blockbuster attraction. Mayor Tom Tait, an outspoken opponent of the luxury hotel subsidy program, argued that Anaheim leaders are shortchanging taxpayers by chasing luxury hotels. He said the city would get a better return from the construction of one or two three-diamond hotels than one subsidized four-diamond property.

While lawmakers are willing to start tax incentive programs, there is rarely an attempt to outline specific goals for a tax break and then measure its success.

The fight over the Disney tax break reflects the larger questions and problems that surround tax incentive programs.

When lawmakers adopt tax breaks to encourage hotel construction, or in-state movie production, car manufacturing or any other specific activity, they are essentially picking favorites with public dollars. Why, for example, should luxury hotels get a gigantic tax break when more modest hotels do not? More than a thousand hotel rooms have been built in Anaheim in the last two years and none required a subsidy.

Incentives are often poorly targeted. Would Disney or the other luxury hotel developers have eventually built these projects anyway? If a tax break goes to a hotel  or a film production, or a company expansion  that would have happened without a subsidy, then taxpayers trade away money that could have been spent on streets, parks and other public services.

Supporters of Anaheims tax break argue that the city needs to subsidize luxury hotel construction to remain competitive with other large cities that offer similar incentives. (Los Angeles, for example, has subsidized hotel construction around its convention center.) But using tax breaks to spur investment often leads state and local governments to engage in an incentives arms race. Theres no better example than film tax credit programs. The states that have them  including California  have found themselves offering increasingly generous tax breaks to compete with one another (and with foreign countries) for film and television productions.

But while lawmakers are willing to start tax incentive programs, there is rarely an attempt to outline specific goals for a tax break and then measure its success. Did the subsidy create the kind of jobs lawmakers desired? Did it spur a new industry and continued economic investment, or was it a one-time boost? Did the tax break generate more revenue than it cost, and more than would have otherwise occurred organically? These can be hard questions, but the answers are essential to determining whether a tax incentive is a legitimate tool for economic development, or simply a gift to businesses. Unfortunately, Anaheim doesnt appear to be asking them.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook

MORE FROM OPINION

Whether View Park is a national historic place or not, things are changing there.

Grasping at straw men in the wake of the Nice massacre

This years Republican National Convention will be super weird and super white
When two black sisters bought a house in View Park in the 1950s, becoming one of the first black families to own property there, white neighbors set their lawn on fire. Nonetheless, well-to-do and prominent blacks steadily moved in while white homeowners fled. And for the last half century, the South L.A. neighborhood has been a bastion of black affluence and cohesiveness.

Professionals, entertainers and entrepreneurs, including Ray Charles, Curt Flood and Ike and Tina Turner, bought architecturally distinctive Spanish and American colonial revival homes as well as modern ranch style houses, set on palm-lined hillside streets in a neighborhood tucked between La Brea Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard in unincorporated L.A. County. The story of View Parks evolution led a large group of homeowners to undertake the costly and time-consuming process of applying to put the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places.

The designation, expected to be granted any day now, would enshrine View Park as a historically black community, promote civic pride, allow many to qualify for tax credits for maintaining and rehabilitating their homes, and, quite possibly, raise property values. However, another group, small but vocal, says that pride in the communitys heritage should have stopped residents from seeking National Register status. In a worst-case scenario, these critics argue, the designation will put a spotlight on the community, attracting a crush of house hunters and house flippers. The turnover would accelerate a change in the profile of the neighborhood, drawing in white homebuyers while pushing it out of many blacks reach.

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Its true that View Park is no longer a hidden gem. But keeping it off the National Register would not keep the neighborhood a secret. View Park is part of a real estate juggernaut that started before that application and will continue whether the neighborhood ascends to the register or not.

A new Metro rail line is under construction nearby. Billions of dollars are being invested in commercial development in the area. And the county as a whole is starved for housing inventory. The average sales price for View Park homes has increased by 61% and the median by 46% since 2011, when the local housing market hit its post-housing-bubble bottom.

One realtor, an African-American who lives in View Park, says that nine out of the last 10 homes she sold there went to white buyers.

Black people are still buying in View Park, which remains about 84% black. But the neighborhood is attracting a more diverse clientele. One realtor, an African-American who lives in View Park, says that nine out of the last 10 homes she sold there went to white buyers.

In the end, whether View Park residents believe the National Register designation was sought as a ploy to jack up property values or a community honor, its still a noteworthy distinction. Yet it will have little physical effect on the neighborhood, beyond some signs on the streets denoting its status as a historic place. The designation imposes no restrictions on demolition or remodeling of the architecturally important homes. This is not the equivalent of becoming a county-approved local historic district. Getting that status is an entirely different process and, among other steps, requires 51% of the owners to agree to it.

Nevertheless, the brouhaha over the designation has illuminated some of the harsher elements of this neighborhoods history  the old racist covenants that said the only black people who could live in View Park were servants to the white homeowners, the cruelty of the white residents who lashed out at blacks who eventually bought in as homeowners, and the perseverance required to stick that out. All that is part of the legacy too, and it is not forgotten by many who still live there. For some, it engenders a wariness of any effort that might be interpreted as an attempt to take advantage of blacks there today.

Many people in View Park say they embrace diversity. Of course, they should. Thats what this entire country continues to fight for. But it would be prudent and honorable if everyone in View Park  black, white, newly arrived, long-ensconced  could be mindful of how much pain still lingers from that history.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
Debuting the Republican presidential ticket Saturday, Donald Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence each played his part in what promises to be a role reversal for the fall campaign: the presumed nominee as attack dog, the running mate as the cool-headed stabilizer.

As partnerships go, theirs is not exactly a bromance. In their first joint appearance, the two displayed none of the warmth often shown in vice presidential rollouts. Trump stole the stage in a rambling speech before introducing Pence almost as an afterthought. They did not link arms afterward. Instead, they awkwardly shook hands and skipped altogether the classic pose of arms stretched into the air, hands clasped in victory.

It was another sign of Trumps rule-breaking route to the GOP nomination, days before the start of the partys convention in Cleveland. As Trump struggles to unify a fractured Republican Party, Pence brings a potentially comforting complement to the businessmans often politically incorrect populist appeal.

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One of the big reasons that I chose Mike, and one of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest, Trump said in his typically off-the-cuff speaking style at the event in Midtown Manhattan. Because Im an outsider. I want to be an outsider.

Trump insisted the governor was his first choice, despite an erratic decision-making process and reports that he reconsidered late. He praised Pences track record leading the Hoosier State as the nation struggled in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

This is the primary reason I wanted Mike  other than he looks very good, Trump said.

The silver-haired 57-year-old does, indeed, look almost stereotypically presidential, and when he finally did take the stage Saturday after Trump spoke alone for about half an hour, he addressed the audience in a way voters might more familiarly expect of their politicians.

Pence appeared steady and confident, but humble, sharing his Irish American immigrant familys story and telling of his own background as a small-town boy  with a front-row seat to the American dream.

Donald Trump is a good man, Pence said. Join us.  Lets come together as a party and a people and a movement to make America great again.

The two will not immediately hit the road together. Trumps body language suggested that he was done with his running mate as soon as he introduced him. Pence touched down later Saturday for a homecoming in Indiana, the state where Trump clinched the nomination after the grueling primary.

Im going to take Hoosier ideals to Washington, D.C., he said in a short speech, his family by his side.

But Pences familiarity with the Republican establishment after more than a decade in Congress, and his popularity among the fiscal and social conservative wings of the party  he was an early backer of the tea party  provides a bookend to the Trump nomination the GOP desperately needed.

Trump made it clear he wanted a running mate with legislative experience, particularly one who knows Washington, and Pence brought a hearty nod of approval from House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and others who have kept a critical distance from Trumps unorthodox positions.

Pence has disagreed with Trump on key issues, most notably trade. And he criticized Trumps race-based attack on an Indiana-born federal judge who Trump said could not perform his job because of his Mexican American heritage.

Even rival vice presidential contender Newt Gingrich, the veteran of Capitol Hill who led the 1994 Republican revolution, praised Pences ability to bring together a party fractured by Trumps unexpected rise.

He can help reach out and reassure members of Congress and Republican governors who may be skeptical of Trumps untraditional candidacy, Gingrich said.

But beyond solidifying the frayed Republican Party, it is not clear that Pence will be able to attract swing voters still unsure about Trump and potentially looking at Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Female voters in particular, and those in the suburbs who are a most sought-after part of the electorate this cycle, may have concerns about Pences strict antiabortion views and Indianas religious liberty measure that was seen as discriminatory toward gay people.

Trump has the perfect partner: Mike Pence, whos been on a years-long crusade against womens healthcare and access to abortion in this country, said Dawn Laguens, head of Planned Parenthood Votes. This is the nightmare the Trump-Pence ticket is offering: to unite their party against women.

The haphazard rollout, punctuated by a new logo that was roundly mocked for Trumps dominance over Pence  and quickly replaced  offered an easy mark for Democrats.

In a video released Saturday, Clintons allies pounced on Trump as indecisive, an attempt to knock back one of Trumps perceived strengths among voters who view him as a successful business executive.

Always divisive. Not so decisive, the video says.

Saturdays campaign event capped a typically wild and unpredictable selection process.

Trump at first scheduled his announcement for Friday morning but delayed it in what he said was a show of respect for the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice, France.

Behind the scenes, Trump was reportedly unhappy that Pences name had leaked and said that he was reconsidering the choice as late as Thursday night.

But then he announced the choice of Pence on Friday morning anyway, on Twitter.

Two other apparent finalists, Gingrich and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, had pushed aggressively for the vice presidential slot and seemed closer to Trumps own let-it-rip instincts in campaigning.

Trumps introduction of Pence left no doubt that he is the chief executive of this campaign.

At one point in his rambling introduction, Trump stopped himself.

Back to Mike Pence, he said. And then he continued talking several minutes more before calling his running mate to the stage.

Tanfani reported from New York and Mascaro from Cleveland.

Twitter: @JTanfani, @LisaMascaro

Republican stalwarts just blocked the last big push to stop Donald Trumps nomination

As Clinton stumbles, Trump takes an apparent slim lead in new tracking poll

Hillary Clinton plans quick action on campaign finance if elected president

UPDATES:

3:25 p.m.: This article was updated with comment from Pence in Indiana.

12:50 p.m.: This article was updated with new details and comments throughout.

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from Trump supporters.

This article was originally published at 10:15 a.m.
Looking for a jet-lag cure? A new mathematical model may help you overcome jet lag faster than anyone thought possible.

And scientists need your help to test it out.

A research team from the University of Michigan and Yale University has released a free iPhone app that loads a complex, jet-lag conquering model right into your smartphone. You type in your current location and destination as well as what kind of light you will have access to, and the app gives you a schedule of light exposure that should reset your internal clock in the most efficient way.

These are the fastest schedules that have ever been proposed, said Olivia Walch, a PhD student at the University of Michigan who designed the app, called Entrain. Our schedule takes what could be 12 days of adjusting down to four.

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Entrainment is the scientific term for fully adjusting to a new time zone -- hence the apps name.

The mathematical model was created by Daniel Forger, a biological mathematician who has been studying circadian clocks since the 1990s. A paper describing his research was published Thursday in the journal PLOS Computational Biology. The Entrain app was released the same day.

Forger admits that the schedules his model spits out may sometimes seem counterintuitive, but intuition, he says, is not the point.

Were trying to move the science beyond your grandmothers advice of wake up late or avoid carbohydrates to something that can be rigorously tested, he said. All I know is these schedules are optimal according to the mathematics.

Forger spent 10 years building his model based on data collected from sleep studies done at Harvard and the University of Michigan. He had no idea what type of schedules the model would come up with when he first started, so he was pleasantly surprised that according to the math, the best way to beat jet lag is to adjust the time of your dawn and dusk each day.

At first I thought the schedules would be a mess, he said, that they would tell people they need 500 watts at 5 oclock and 1,000 watts at 5:10. But in fact, they just divide the day into a time when you get light and time when you should avoid light.

For example, if you are traveling from New York to London, the app will tell you that upon arrival you should begin light at 7:58 a.m., and begin dark at 8:14 p.m. The following day, you expose yourself to light at 6:18 a.m. and avoid light at 7:53 p.m. On the third day, the app tells you to begin light at 6:01 a.m.

If you stick to the schedule, your circadian clock should be fully entrained 10 minutes later on the last day.

Even if you cant stick to the proposed schedule, you can still use the app. You tell it what you did wrong, and the app recalculates the best way to get you over your jet lag.

If youd like to help the researchers improve the model, you can choose to send your data back to the scientists at the University of Michigan at the end of the apps suggested entrainment process.

Im confident that our model can reproduce data from published experiments, but what real people are doing outside of a sleep lab environment could be very different, said Forger.

He added that while he has used the app successfully to decrease his jet-lagged time, he doesnt think anyone should take that as an endorsement of it.

Anecdotally I can say it helped me, but Im biased, he said. Rather than saying this helped me or didnt, lets see what people are actually doing.

Jet lag stinks. Science rules! Follow me on Twitter for more like this.
Burbank Animal Shelter officials are looking to pair as many animals with new owners as possible and empty out their kennels next Saturday.

The Burbank facility is one of 55 shelters in Southern California participating in Clear the Shelters, NBC4s annual pet-adoption drive to give thousands of homeless animals the chance of a new life, said Celia Chavez, president and general manager of Telemundo 52 Los Angeles, in a statement.

Adoption fees for dogs are normally $104, but next Saturday the price will drop to $20. That includes spaying or neutering, vaccinations, microchip implants, deworming and flea medication, said Stacie Wood-Levin, senior animal control officer at the Burbank shelter.

Fees for cats will fall from $78 to $20, as well. There will also be special pricing for bunnies, birds and turtles, said Brenda Castaneda, superintendent at the shelter.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

It will be the third year that the Burbank Animal Shelter has participated in the event after two successful years of mass adoptions during the Clear the Shelters event.

Anticipating yet another big crowd, shelter officials are asking visitors to park on Lake Street underneath the Burbank Boulevard overpass, where a shuttle will pick them up and take them to the facility.

People come from all over to adopt a pet from us, Wood-Levin said. We get college students to senior citizens. Its nice because we can try and match the right animal to the right person and family.

On a regular day, the Burbank Animal Shelter will have about five adoptions during the week and up to 10 adoptions on weekends. During this event, the facility anticipates at least 20 or more pets will find new homes, Castaneda said.

Shelter officials added that the event raises awareness about the importance of adopting a pet and spaying or neutering an animal to control the stray-animal population.

There will be dozens of dogs, cats, rabbits and turtles awaiting new owners  some have been waiting longer than others.

Ezra, a meaty 7-year-old pit bull-terrier mix has been at the Burbank Animal Shelter since July 3, 2015. Wood-Levin explained that most dogs are not kept at the facility for that long unless they believe that the dog is adoptable.

Wood-Levin said that Ezra is a loving pooch with a lot of energy, but for some, it may be too much.

She has some toy aggression, so she does need an experienced owner, Wood-Levin said as she held Ezra on her leash. Its not a huge deal, but people get scared by that, and they hear stuff about her breed. But shes great with kids and shes very sweet.

For the long-term dogs at the shelter that dont get adopted, Castaneda said that some of them, like Ezra, will be part of a new foster-care program. For a few months, a family will be able to take home a dog and care for it at their residence.

They get to go into a home where theyre with a family, cared for and loved in a family setting instead of here at the shelter, Castaneda said. The goal is to place [the dog] into a home, but [to also] showcase them out in the community.

--

Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio
A 16-year-old boy who was pepper sprayed and shot with a Taser after allegedly assaulting an officer during a traffic stop for not wearing his seatbelt was cited Friday on suspicion of several misdemeanor and felony charges, police said.

During an emotional press conference on Friday after the teen was photographed and fingerprinted during his booking, the familys attorney disputed the police departments version of events, stating that the autistic boy did nothing to justify the treatment that he was given at this routine traffic stop.

In an interview earlier this week, the boys mother Tawnya Nevarez said through tears that she repeatedly warned the officer that her son was autistic while apologizing for his unresponsiveness.

How is it that this routine seatbelt traffic stop turns into a parents worst nightmare? said attorney and autism advocate Areva Martin. Son on the ground, pepper-sprayed and tased, despite her consistent pleas about his developmental disorder.

According to Burbank police, the officer stopped Nevarez just before 4:30 p.m. near Burbank Boulevard and Hollywood Way after noticing the front passenger, the teenage boy, was not wearing a seatbelt.

The teen told the officer that he forgot to put it on, while his mother, the driver, said she was in a rush to get somewhere, police said.

During the stop, the teen began to argue with his mother and the officer, at one point indicating that he wanted to fight the officer hand-to-hand, said Burbank Police Sgt. Claudio Losacco.

Nevarez said Wednesday that during the stop, she asked the officer to step back so she could calm her son down, but the officer would not move.

According to police, the officer, whos been with the department for four years, explained that everyone is required to wear a seatbelt.

After the boy interrupted him with inflammatory dialogue, the officer decided to deescalate the situation by returning the drivers license to the mother with a warning instead of a citation, Losacco said.

The officer then asked the teenager to put his seatbelt on. He reportedly responded that he would only do so when the officer walked away. When the officer stepped back, the boy put on his seatbelt.

According to police, sometime after the boy put his seatbelt on, he removed it and told the officer he was going to fight him right now, kicking the car door open into the officers knees. He then reportedly dared the officer to call for backup while his mother tried to keep him in the car.

Eventually he got out of the car, police said, took off his sweatshirt and approached the officer in a fighting stance, telling the officer to pepper spray him.

The officer used pepper spray, but it didnt have an effect on the teenager, who then punched the officer multiple times, knocking off his glasses, Losacco said. At that point, the officer shot him with a Taser and handcuffed him.

Nevarez, a single mother of three, said that her 14-year-old daughter was also pepper-sprayed, and her 3-year-old niece was also in the car. Police said the teenage girl got out of the car during her brothers confrontation with police and was struck by residual pepper spray.

The incident was captured on the officers audio recorder, but police on Friday declined to release the recording.

After the boy was medically cleared at a local hospital, he was admitted to a mental health facility, police said. Police said they have not independently verified the boys disorder.

On Friday, the teen was reportedly booked on suspicion of assaulting a peace officer, fighting in public, obstructing a peace officer and battery of a police officer.

The goal with the charges is not to prosecute this child, it is not to incarcerate him, it is not to cause him further grief, Losacco said. It is to actually to get him some services.

But Martin called the pending charges a way to deflect what may have been an excessive use of force and a violation of (Nevarezs) 16-year-old sons civil rights.

The teen is due in court sometime in the next two months.

Martin said that police agencies should do more to train officers on how to interact with people with special needs.

According to Losacco, both this year and last, Burbank police have undergone very direct training on how to interact with individuals with autism.

Our officers are well-trained and they handle these instances routinely with no application of force, or minimal application of force, and you folks never hear about them because we do a really good job, he said.

About four years ago, the Burbank agency established a mental health evaluation team whose goal was to go beyond responding to incidents and making arrests by teaming up with mental health professionals to offer long-term care, including case management for individuals struggling with chronic mental illness, substance abuse and homelessness.

The program  which officials have said has served as a model for other law enforcement agencies  was one of six agencies in 2013 to be honored by Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris.

The agencys critical incident review board will review the officers conduct  a routine for all uses of force.

--

Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek
A psychology professor who pleaded guilty to participating in the decades-old killing of a man she said raped her was sentenced Friday to six years in prison.

Norma Patricia Esparza, 41, was one of five people accused of helping in the kidnapping and slaying of Gonzalo Ramirez, a 24-year-old insulation installer who was hacked to death and dumped by the side of an Irvine road in April 1995.

The motive, according to Orange County prosecutors, was revenge.

In 1995, Esparza was a 20-year-old student at Pomona College. In the spring that year, she told her ex-boyfriend, a Costa Mesa man named Gianni Van, that Ramirez had raped her in a dorm room, according to testimony at Vans trial last year.

Van was convicted of murder in May 2015 for playing a leading role in the slaying. He is now serving a life sentence in state prison.

At Vans trial, Esparza testified that Van took her to a Santa Ana nightclub where she had met Ramirez and made her point him out.

As Ramirez left the bar with a friend, Van and two other men  Shannon Ray Gries and Kody Tran  followed, according to prosecutors.

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After ramming Ramirezs truck to make him pull over, the three men kidnapped him and threatened his friend, according to testimony at Vans trial.

Prosecutors said the group took Ramirez to a Costa Mesa transmission shop that Tran owned and where Gries worked. Investigators later found traces of Ramirezs blood at the building.

Esparza testified that she arrived at the shop later that night. Gries led her to Ramirez, who was bloodied but still alive, dangling from a chain tied to his arms, she said.

The next day, Irvine police found Ramirezs body, blindfolded and wrapped in a blue cloth that law enforcement later tied to the Costa Mesa shop, according to prosecutors.

Authorities charged Van with the killing not long after, but they dropped the case after learning that he and Esparza had secretly married, meaning she could no longer be compelled to testify against him.

In 2004, Esparza divorced Van and moved to Europe, where she remarried and became a respected psychology professor at Webster University in Geneva.

In October 2012, authorities arrested her while she was on a trip to the United States.

The arrest sparked controversy among activists who thought law enforcement should have treated her as a sexual-assault victim, not a suspect.

Prosecutors said Esparza never reported the rape to police or a medical professional.

Esparza, however, said she was shamed into silence by a nurse when she went to a school clinic to get a pill to prevent a possible pregnancy from the attack.

I dont think I was thinking at that time, she told the Los Angeles Times in 2013. I felt ashamed. I felt guilty. I didnt want to come forward because I didnt want my family to know.

Esparza was originally charged with murder, but as part of an agreement with prosecutors, she was allowed to plead guilty in September 2014 to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for her cooperation in the case.

Gries, now 45, pleaded guilty in May to murder. He was sentenced Friday to 25 years to life in prison.

Kody Tran killed himself in a standoff with police before he could be charged in the case.

His wife, Diane Tran, now 47, pleaded guilty in January 2014 to voluntary manslaughter. She too was sentenced Friday and received four years in state prison.

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Jeremiah Dobruck, jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck
Newport Beach City Council candidate Jeff Herdmans position on a city advisory board means he is not eligible to serve on the council until a year after he leaves that board, according to a letter from City Clerk Leilani Brown.

Herdman, a longtime Balboa Island resident, is bidding in the November election to replace termed-out Councilman Ed Selich representing District 5, which includes the island, Newport Center and a portion of Big Canyon. Also vying for the seat are community activist and businessman Mike Glenn and local businessman Lee Lowrey.

The winner is scheduled to take over the seat in December.

If Herdman wins, Brown said, he would be ineligible to serve at that time.

Based upon my review of the city charter and in consultation with outside counsel, I have determined that city charter Section 710 prevents Mr. Herdman from occupying the position of city councilmember for a period of one year after his service on the Civil Service Board is complete, Brown wrote in the letter circulated Thursday.

Herdman has been on the board since he was appointed in 2014. His term expires in June 2018.

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The letter came roughly two weeks after Balboa Island resident Bob McCaffrey claimed in a complaint to the city that Herdman is ineligible to run in the November election because of his position on the Civil Service Board, which advises the City Council on personnel matters and conducts appeal hearings for city employees in disciplinary matters.

McCaffrey said he intends to support Lowrey in November.

Herdman said Friday that he does not intend to suspend his council campaign and is working with a lawyer to take appropriate steps to put the matter to rest.

He also said he doesnt think he needs to leave the Civil Service Board before the election.

Im too far along in my campaign to let this clear form of harassment stop me, he said. I have a constitutional right to run for City Council, and the voters in the city of Newport Beach also have a right to vote for who they think is the most qualified candidate. It is just sad that the McCaffrey machine here in the city is trying to take my right, as well as the voters, away.

McCaffrey is chairman of a political action committee known as Residents for Reform, which supported Team Newport, a slate of council candidates consisting of Diane Dixon, Kevin Muldoon, Scott Peotter and Marshall Duffy Duffield who swept the four available seats in the 2014 election and now constitute the council majority. McCaffrey donated funds to the slate.

Herdman has been critical of Peotter, Muldoon and Duffield since they were elected.

This isnt the first time McCaffrey and Herdman have bumped heads.

Herdman has suggested in published letters to the Daily Pilot that the city request that the California Fair Political Practices Commission conduct a full audit of all the candidates in the 2014 election to examine their independent expenditures, slate mail committees and other expenditures spent to influence the election.

In April 2015, Herdman sent a letter to the FPPC alleging that a campaign contribution Peotter received violated the Political Reform Act and city code. Peotter denied wrongdoing.

Last November, McCaffrey filed a complaint with the FPPC against Herdman, alleging that he failed to submit a mandatory form before soliciting and accepting donations for his council campaign. Herdman denied violating the law.

McCaffrey said Friday that he filed the new complaint because he believes everyone should follow the rules.

He can do whatever he wants to do, McCaffrey said of Herdman continuing his campaign. Although it seems like the honorable thing to do would be to give the money back to his benefactors.

Section 710 of the city charter states that no Civil Service Board member, while a member of the board, or for a period of one year after [the person] has ceased for any reason to be a member, shall occupy or be eligible for appointment to any salaried office or employment in service of the city.

The provision aims to curb conflicts of interest when ruling on employee matters.

A City Council member receives $1,274 in monthly compensation; the mayor receives $1,808, according to city documents. But whether the money is a salary or a stipend is a point of contention.

McCaffrey said in his complaint that he believes a council position is a salaried office and that the charter means Herdman cannot serve.

Herdman has said the money paid to council members is reimbursement for expenses incurred.

Im sure that when the voters approved the city charter amendments two elections ago, it was never their intent to prevent any individual from running for office who is a member of the Civil Service Board, Herdman said. They did not create a de facto qualification or a hidden qualification stuck in unrelated charter provisions that would prevent someone from running for City Council. That would simply be unconstitutional.

--

Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
Claire Falkenstein found a home and an exceptionally welcoming venue for her art in Los Angeles. Until her death in 1997, she won acclaim and commissions for her large-scale sculptures, while also actively working in painting, jewelry and etchings.

She did an extraordinary range of things and she did them well, says Jay Belloli, interim executive director at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and curator of the show Claire Falkenstein: Beyond Sculpture. The exhibition gathers a wide range of her vibrant work in several mediums. (The show was reviewed by Marquee contributor Kirk Silsbee in April.)

On Saturday, Belloli will personally lead a walk-through of work with a special focus on the cities most influential on the artist: San Francisco, Paris and Los Angeles. He spoke again with Marquee about the show.

Marquee: Who was Claire Falkenstein?

Jay Belloli: She was an artist who became a mature artist in San Francisco. She took a trip to Paris and realized that she needed to be there, and was there for 13 years, until 1963. Then she was given a commission to do a major fountain in Southern California and she came here. She spent the rest of her life next to the beach in Venice. She died in 1997.

She was one of those artists who was fearless. She tried and succeeded in almost everything. She was known as a sculptor but she did amazing paintings. She made remarkable jewelry. She made wonderful works in glass. She made etchings that were very untraditional. And she made really good permanent installations out in the world.

You curated this yourself. What made this the right time for a retrospective?

Curators are always amazed that artists who made really important contributions get left out for a long period of time. She hadnt had a major general museum exhibition in over 20 years. The last one was not even in the Los Angeles area  it was at the Fresno Art Museum, which is 31/2 hours away.

It seemed incredibly important to do a major show that takes her from the beginning of her career in the late-'20s all the way through the last works of art she made in 1994. She developed her own language both in sculpture and in painting, which is very hard to do. She developed something in her paintings that she called moving points, where she would make hundreds and even thousands of repeated marks on the canvas with her brush  it would create a complex sense of movement, color and form.

How have visitors reacted to the work?

Some never knew this artist existed. Other people will maybe know her name, and maybe have seen a couple of sculptures, but theyre knocked out by the range of the work and how interesting the work was for so long. Too often in the world of art, people slip from view, and they dont get looked at or talked about  sometimes for decades. Shes been gone now for almost 20 years, so a lot of people will have never heard of Claire Falkenstein.

In your walk-through, youll be talking about the cities where she spent her life. Was Los Angeles a major influence on her work, or was she already fully formed?

It had a great influence on her because it gave her opportunities that never would have had in Europe. She did four major fountains in Southern California. The scale of the commissions were much larger than the commissions she did in Europe. But the other part is that by the time she left Europe, shed developed her own language of painting and sculpture that plays out here.

--

What: Claire Falkenstein, Exhibition Walkthrough: City to City

When: Saturday, July 23, 3 p.m.

Where: Pasadena Museum of California Art (PMCA), 490 E. Union St., Pasadena

More info: (626) 568-3665, pmcaonline.org

--

Steve Appleford, steve.appleford@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveAppleford
The Autry Museum has just added another facet to its mission of penetrating exhibitions that challenge shibboleths about the American West. The museum has been a consistent showplace for work that both confirms and expands upon the many concepts of Western art. The estate of artist Henry Fonseca has given a huge portion of the artists work to the Autry.

At more than 900 pieces (including 500 original pieces, 19 large-format murals, 69 sketchbooks, and a number of posters, prints, collages and multiples), the Autry is now the largest repository of Fonsecas work.

From the late 1960s to the 80s, artists and intellectuals examined ideas around national identity. A few Native American artists grappled with modernism and traditions: Luiseno painter Fritz Scholder (1937-2005), Winu/Nomtipom painter Frank La Pena (born 1937), Apache sculptor and painter Allan Houser (1914-1994), and Sacramento-born Henry Fonseca (1946-2006).

Fonseca had a complex ethnic identity: descended from the Nisenen Maidu tribe, he also claimed Hawaiian and Portuguese ancestry. Though he studied with La Pena, renowned teacher and Native American art scholar, at U.C. Sacramento, Fonseca dropped out and went his own way.

Fonseca often worked in mixed media  painting, collage and print. One of his strongest motifs was the recurring depiction of the coyote in many different guises. Among the postures that Fonseca gave his coyotes were as Uncle Sam on a vaudeville stage, a juvenile delinquent, a powwow dancer, a Wild West Show performer, a floozy, the principals in Verdis Carmen, a street pimp, a ballet dancer and a cigar store Indian chief.

It was a perfect metaphorical image for Fonseca, claims Autry Chief Curator Amy Scott. I think he used Coyote to explore his own identity. Coyote slides from one identity to the next, from one setting to another. Hes a trickster, a transformer and a shape-shifter  effortlessly crossing cultural lines. Hes a performer and Fonseca loved performance. He loved opera and ballet and one of the Coyotes stands in front of a brick wall. Well, thats in the San Francisco Mission District, where Fonseca lived in the 70s. That area was important to him as he came to terms with being a gay man.

Fonsecas Stone Poems use prehistoric petroglyph imagery and basket design motifs combined with modernist fillips to explore Maidu creation myths handed down from his uncle. I think the Stone Poems are both some of the most ancient and at the same time some of the most contemporary aspects of Fonseca work, Scott says. Theyre somewhat ambiguous, as the petroglyphs are; not even the Native Americans understand everything about them. And while mystery is an element in Fonseca, Im cautious about using that word because so often its been used to brand something as primitive. And although he may use traditional elements, Fonsecas work is incredibly sophisticated.

How does Scott see Fonseca in the art constellation? His work straddles the universal and the personal, she states. He combines elements that are quite internal to Native Americans but he combines them with global visual languages and abstractions, like Pollock drips. Fonseca delights in ambiguity.

Fonseca draws on so many Native American traditions, Scott points out. There is a tremendous potential for exhibition subjects: the California missions, the Gold Rush, the mystical coyote, pop culture, the transformative effect of Catholicism on Native Americans, and modernism.

For now, plans are underway for a small showing in one of the Autry galleries in October. Scott also sees a Fonseca show that she describes as major sometime in the future, but she cant say how it will play out at the moment.

Beyond the curatorial potential, Scott sees an expanded possibility for the Autry with the acquisition. I hope this makes us a more visible repository for Native American art, she says. Fonsecas regard for tradition relates directly to much of the Native American art that we have in the Autry Collection. I think it can be a wonderful conduit for other items.

--

KIRK SILSBEE writes about jazz and culture for Marquee.
A 25-year-old Glendale man suspected of setting an arson fire in Monrovia that destroyed his fathers warehouse storing roughly a couple dozen classic, exotic and muscle cars fatally shot himself the morning of the blaze, officials said.

At around 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, Monrovia firefighters and police responded to the warehouse blaze, which left one Arcadia fireman with second- and third-degree burns, according to Monrovia Police Sgt. William Burkhalter.

During the investigation that morning, authorities discovered that a silver Porsche was taken from the warehouse.

After determining a suspect, later identified by coroner officials as Schuyler Shelby Funk, Monrovia investigators asked Glendale police to check if the car was parked at Funks Glendale home in the 300 block of Wonderview Drive, according to Glendale Police Sgt. Robert William.

Glendale police found the Porsche parked in the driveway, along with two other cars registered to Funk, after which Monrovia police began writing a warrant to search the home, William said.

However, before the warrant could be served, Glendale police were called to the home by Funks grandmother, who had reportedly found him dead in the garage with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Funk was pronounced dead at 9:25 a.m., according to Ed Winter, spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroners office.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze, as well as a motive.

A damage estimate was not immediately available.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek
For the first time since he worked undercover 25 years ago, Glendale Police Chief Robert Castro is growing a beard.

Dozens of other Glendale cops  who are usually expected to be clean shaven  also threw out the razor this month as part of a fundraiser to build a wheelchair lift for one of their own.

The campaign has generated more than $14,000 for longtime volunteer and employee Jorge Acevedo, whod aspired to become a police officer before he was shot in a car-to-car shooting 17 years ago while driving holiday gifts to his family.

The agency has raised thousands of dollars in the past to make Acevedos home more accessible because the attack left him bound to a wheelchair. But after having a stroke last summer, Acevedo lost more mobility, leaving family members to have to carry him up the stairs of his home, police said. Since then, hes been unable to return to work.

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Police launched the beard campaign this month to raise an additional $8,000 to finish building a wheelchair lift at Acevedos home. For $50, male officers can grow beards, while female officers can wear mustache-themed nail art. More than 100 officers, including Castro and his command staff, are involved.

At first, Castro was leery about allowing uniformed officers to get scruffy.

I didnt want to do anything I thought would take away from the professionalism of the Glendale Police Department, Castro said. However, he felt the cause was so worthy that, I said, You know what? Well do it.

The fundraiser marks the second time in the departments history that uniformed officers were allowed to grow facial hair, officials said. The first was in 1956, during the citys 50th anniversary celebration.

Acevedo, who started volunteering for the agency in 2001 before he was hired as a civilian employee, is known around the station for his positive attitude and constant smile.

Jorge is crazy inspirational, said Glendale Police Lt. Tim Feeley, who proposed the idea for the fundraiser to the command staff by Photoshopping beards on their photos. He really shows you the heart that the police department has.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek
The July 6 In Theory asked if religious colleges receiving federal funds should be allowed an exemption from Title IX regulations barring discrimination against LGBT students and faculty.

Readers might assume that LGBT students would not attend a school whose tenets condemn them for who they are. That misconception could lead to the belief that this legislation is unnecessary because few, if any, students need this protection. But look at the issue from the perspective a 16- or 17-year-old selecting a college. At that age many teens are still uncertain about their sexual orientation or are not ready to disclose to their parents.

The more religious a parent, the more pressure he or she may place on a student to attend a religious college. And the more strongly the parents believe in a religion that considers LGBT conduct sinful, the harder it will be for a student to discuss sexuality with his or her parents. Its easy to see how an LGBT student can end up in a school such as Biola University or in a Catholic school.

As they become more confident in their sexuality, many students may seek to transfer to schools where they will not be condemned for who they are. But the student may still need parental financial support, financial aid may be less for a transferring student, and a student may already be so close to graduation that transferring would require a longer time in college to meet the new schools graduation requirements.

Protecting young people from discrimination that may short circuit their college careers is crucial. The state Assembly should pass SB 1146 without any amendments that dilute its force. Then schools such as Biola can decide which is more important  adhering to the strictures of their religion or keeping the federal money. Any predictions?

Mary-Lynne Fisher

La Crescenta

..

On the loss of a good friend

Remembering my great friend Betty Hurn who passed July 3, Im so thankful I got to hold her hand in the final days. In the words of Dr. Seuss: To the world you may be just one person; but to one person, you may be the world!

When it comes to friendships, none are quite so rare as the special bond Betty and I shared. I first met her at the gym; she wanted a trainer. When it came to exercise, she was a bit of a complainer.

Then, I started to just drop by to see her. Wed always laugh and have a good time. Wed watch TV, talk about the news, have coffee, lunch, high tea or dinner and drink wine.

Betty was gorgeous, feisty, intelligent, kind, charming, hilarious and witty. I loved hanging out with her; she was entertaining and made me feel like family. Her home was always immaculate before the cleaning lady even came. Shed talk about her sisters and the neighbors. Wed talk about how she trapped the skunk family in her backyard, the problems shed had with coyotes, bears, birds and bees. Wed also talk about the best, most loved dog ever  Daisy!

Betty was always an officer on the Verdugo Hills Hospital Womens Council and a pillar of the community. Id go with her to Christmas events, luncheons, bingo, fashion shows. She was the life of the party.

I will never drive past Lauderdale Avenue and not think of her. She was on my way to and from work for 20 years. It is said that a life that matters is one that has significance. Betty lived a very significant life.

I am grateful I knew her and I am going to miss her so much.

Jodie Kendall

La Canada Flintridge

..

Councils actions were corrupt

On May 26, the residents in the Rossmoyne neighborhood filed an appeal to contest the Design Review Board decision to approve the Aloft Hotel to be constructed at the northeast corner of Brand Boulevard and Dryden Street. Little notification of the boards meeting was given to the local residents most affected by the planned hotel. The Rossmoyne residents had to pay $2,000 to file the appeal. The appeal hearing was conducted as part of the agenda of the regular City Council meeting on June 14.

I have attended many City Council meetings on behalf of the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council and on behalf of residents who opposed development projects in their neighborhoods. I have never experienced the total lack of support by a City Council as I witnessed at the June 14 hearing. Since the Rossmoyne residents had to pay $2,000 to file the appeal, they certainly should have had the opportunity to be seated in the council chambers. However, the city manager opened the council chambers early for the hotel developer and his staff, resulting in the council chamber being mostly occupied by mostly supporters of the hotel.

The mayor should have had half of the chamber reserved for the Rossmoyne residents. Instead they were relegated to sit downstairs and denied the opportunity to hear all the dialog between the City Council, staff and the developer which really dominated the entire proceedings. The Rossmoyne residents who wanted to speak had to individually be called to come upstairs to make their appeals.

The actions of the City Council were appalling, and can only be labeled as corruption. All the residents of Glendale should be concerned about this action which gave an individual property owner priority over hundreds of Rossmoyne residents directly affected by the hotel project.

Albert Hofmann

Glendale
In an unprecedented move, Hong Kong electoral officials are asking all candidates running for the legislature in September to pledge under oath that the territory is an inalienable part of China.

The measure, announced Thursday, two days before the period to nominate candidates opened, is believed to be aimed at appeasing Beijing by blocking any candidate who advocates independence from China. Both the long-established pan-Democratic camp of politicians and new political parties founded by young pro-democracy activists have roundly condemned the new requirement.

The government is doing to this to lay the groundwork for possible prosecution, said Audrey Eu, chairwoman of the Civic Party. Why should any candidate be [criminally] liable for discussions of a topic, however controversial it may be?

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Anyone who makes a false declaration can be punished by two years in prison.

A former British colony turned semiautonomous Chinese territory of 7.3 million, Hong Kong has its own legislature and is governed until 2047 under a separate mini-constitution called the Basic Law, which enshrines basic freedoms that go well beyond those enjoyed in mainland China.

Pro-democracy politician Albert Ho, center, and other members hold a news conference in the worlds first museum dedicated to the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, on its closing day in Hong Kong on July 11, 2016. (Anthony Wallace / AFP/Getty Images )

Before, potential candidates only needed to sign a declaration to uphold the constitution and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong. Although Article One of the Basic Law states that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China, theres no legal basis for the new requirement, said Albert Ho, a legislator from the Democratic Party who plans to run for reelection.

Hos party will meet with the head of electoral affairs commission to question the requirement.

To justify its move, the commission said in a press release that there has been public opinion concerning whether the candidates do fully understand the Basic Law, and in particular Article One.

Edward Leung, a popular pro-independence candidate, filed Saturday to run for legislature in the Sept. 4 elections and refused to sign the new pledge. Leung said he was told the justice department will have the final say on his candidacy.

Im going to see on what grounds the government can bar me from running, Leung said in a campaign video posted on his Facebook page. I call on everybody to join me in bringing pressure to bear.

Demosisto, the new political party by young activist Joshua Wong and others in the wake of the failed pro-democracy Umbrella Movement, may mount a legal challenge to the pledge. But another bureaucratic roadblock seemed to have dampened its electoral ambitions.

On Thursday, the party announced it hasnt raised enough money to field candidates to run in two of the territorys five districts. It said it will pour resources into only one. Since its founding in April, the party has yet to receive government registration it needs to open a bank account and receive donations.

Independence so far has made little headway among Hong Kongs electorate. In an election in February, Leung received only 15% of the vote in losing to a candidate from the pan-Democratic camp who did not advocate independence.

Even so, the government was sufficiently unnerved to come up with a pre-emptive strike, said Johnny Lau, a long-time reporter and observer on Chinas politics based in Hong Kong. Make a mountain out of a molehill  thats classic Chinese political culture.

Law is a special correspondent

ALSO:

Chinese go to great lengths to get Pokemon Go  and make a knockoff

After tribunal rules against China, some Filipinos call for Chexit. But Southeast Asian leaders arent gloating

What happened to Hong Kongs missing booksellers? One defies China and speaks out

UPDATES:

July 16, 2:25 p.m.: This article was updated to report that Edward Leung, a pro-independence candidate, filed to run for the Hong Kong legislature.

This article was originally published at 6:45 p.m. July 15.
Public anger grew Saturday over the truck rampage that killed at least 84 people in this seaside resort, with accusations of lax security eroding support for the countrys already unpopular president and galvanizing passions over the threat posed by violent jihadists.

The carnage on Frances cherished national holiday  inflicted by an attacker initially described by authorities as a disaffected, violent petty criminal with no apparent ideological motive  fueled often raw debate over issues of national identity and the assimilation of immigrants. That echoed similarly volatile political discourse in the United States and elsewhere in Europe.

More than 24 hours after Tunisian-born deliveryman Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel barreled a 19-ton truck through a celebratory crowd in this Riviera resort city, the extremist group Islamic State issued a claim, albeit an indirect one, of responsibility for the attack.

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In a statement, the affiliated Amaq news agency cited a security source within the radical group as saying the attack was carried out by one of the soldiers of the Islamic State.

Two years of terror: 278 people have died in recent terror attacks in Europe 

While the claim appeared to many experts to be little more than an opportunistic bid to capitalize on worldwide publicity accompanying the third major strike on French soil in the past year and a half, it coincided with Frances interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, positing for the first time that Bouhlel may have been quickly radicalized prior to the attack.

Frances defense minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, cast blame on Islamic State for its relentless cheerleadering of lone-wolf, low-tech strikes against Western targets  much like the one in Nice, which the Amaq statement, in brutally flat language, termed a running-over operation.

With elections to take place next year, President Francois Hollandes critics within his own center-left Socialist Party, from the opposition Republicans and from the far-right National Front, stepped up their denunciations.

In the wake of Thursdays gruesome events, Marine Le Pen, head of the National Front, took to social media on Saturday to call on Cazeneuve to resign.

Condemnation also came from center-right politician Alain Juppe, another likely challenger to Hollande in elections expected to take place next spring.

If everything that needed to be done had been done, this tragedy wouldnt have happened, Juppe, the mayor of Bordeaux, told French radio.

In Nice, still packed with vacationers despite the attack, the day brought more faltering steps toward normalcy, with the broad waterfront promenade where the carnage took place reopening to the public.

But wrenching signs remained, with some frantic families still searching for missing loved ones, and many victims still hospitalized, dozens of them gravely injured.

An enormous heap of flowers, some adorned with notes and messages, lay on a traffic divider on the promenade.

Elsewhere, riders in the Tour de France, the celebrated bicycle race, took off their helmets and observed a moment of silence for the victims before embarking on Saturdays route, and the Eiffel Tower was lit Friday night with the tricolors in a symbol of solidarity.

But amid the outpouring of sympathy, some in Nice voiced the view that the huge holiday gathering on the Promenade des Anglais had been too lightly guarded for such a tempting target, particularly in light of the devastating attacks in Paris only eight months earlier. Hollande had been booed by some residents on Friday when he came to Nice to express condolences and visit hospitalized victims.

In a sharply worded letter published on the website of the Nice Matin newspaper, the regional council president, Christian Estrosi, said he had called for a stepped-up police presence in advance of the Bastille Day celebrations, but to no avail. Estrosi, a Republican, characterized the current administration as inept.

I cant disguise my deep anger over this, he said. How is it possible? There are questions that need to be answered.

The divisiveness contrasted with the strong sense of national unity in the wake of attacks in January last year against the Paris offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police officers.

The sentiment waned somewhat after Novembers strikes at the Bataclan concert hall and other Paris-area targets, which left 130 people dead.

This time around, the accretion of bloodshed drew even more pointed criticism, some of it spurred by a wide-ranging report issued days ago that faulted systemic intelligence failures as contributing to the Paris attacks.

Were sick and tired of the killing; were angry about inadequate protection, and we need better leaders, said Philippe Bam, a 37-year-old Nice disc jockey, watching mourners pile bouquets at the scene of the attack.

Were not safe in this country. The politicians just talk and talk, but dont do anything to stop this.

Not everyone blamed Hollande and his lieutenants, though. Katarina Durackova, a 27-year-old lawyer who spent a sunny afternoon at the beach in Nice, said the nature of the threat made it hard to counter.

How can you stop people like that who wake up one day and decide to do something like this? she asked. Theyre spread out, decentralized. Its not Hollandes fault.

Philippe Marliere, a political scientist at University College in London, said there had been a clear shift in public sentiment.

Politically, were going into uncharted territory, he said. The mood in France is getting less patient about the way the government has been handling the issue of terrorism.

Investigators, meanwhile, pressed ahead with an effort to determine whether Bouhlel had acted alone.

The French prosecutor said Saturday that five people were in custody in connection with the attacks, but authorities have not publicly disclosed any evidence that any of them, including Bouhlels estranged wife, acted as accomplices.

Authorities say the attacker rented the commercial delivery truck  the biggest one available  before driving onto the crowded coastal boulevard, mowing down spectators who had gathered for the Bastille Day fireworks display.

France was still struggling to come to terms with the notion that such a crude weapon could have been wielded in such lethal fashion. Cazeneuve, the interior minister, suggested that such methods held special appeal to untrained individuals who are responding positively to the messages issued by the Islamic State.

Despite round-the-clock efforts to identify bodies and notify next of kin, some families were still uncertain of loved ones fates. Relatives and friends of a 42-year-old Muslim woman of Moroccan descent, Aldijia Bouzaouit, handed out flyers to passersby on the promenade and pleaded for any information.

Weve looked everywhere! said Mensi Seloua, the missing womans distraught sister, who said Bouzaouit was a mother of four who had lived in Nice all her life. Weve tried all the hospitals.

Although many Muslims were among the dead and injured in the rampage, some in Nices large North African community feared being tarred by Bouhlels act of murderous violence.

The citys cosmopolitan air  reflected in the number of nationalities represented in the casualty toll  left some feeling that even in the midst of their own grief, they had to explicitly assert the fact that they, too, belonged.

We are, Seloua said, a French family.

Special correspondents Kirschbaum and Harvey reported from Nice and staff writer King from Washington. Special correspondent Nabih Bulos in Amman and staff writer David Ng in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

laura.king@latimes.com

ALSO

Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in fight against Islamic State

Turkish president asserts that military coup has been defeated

Family frantic to find UC Berkeley student missing in terrorist attack in Nice, France

UPDATES:

3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with details of the political backlash generated by the attack.

8 a.m.: This article was updated with additional interviews in Nice.

7:40 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

4:15 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details throughout.

2:40 a.m.: The article was updated with a claim from Islamic State in the attack.

This article was originally published at 2 a.m.
The fireworks had just ended when Robert Green, drink in hand on the beach, heard the mumbling, the odd sound of people murmuring about something they couldnt quite fathom.

Green turned to face the promenade where thousands had gathered to celebrate Bastille Day. Thats when he noticed the white tractor-trailer eerily moving. The headlights were off. The driver didnt honk the horn.

It was quiet but big, 19 tons lurching forward not on the street, but on a walkway.

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I thought to myself, Thats weird, I wonder what hes doing driving through the crowd? Green said. Then I saw him swerve right and then left.

1 / 33 Thousands gather on Monday on the Jardin Albert and the Promenade des Anglais in Nice to observe a minute of silence for victims of the deadly attack. (AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 33 The crowd applauds police officers and rescue teams after a minute of silence on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice. (Francois Mori / Associated Press) 3 / 33 Ghassan Zaour watches people gathered around a makeshift memorial after observing a minute of silence to honor the victims of deadly attack on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. (Luca Bruno / Associated Press) 4 / 33 People observe a minute of silence on the famed Promenade des Anglais in Nice, to honor the victims of the attack. (Francois Mori / Associated Press) 5 / 33 A man scans notices of people missing after a man drove a truck into a packed crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice. (Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 33 A woman reacts after learning of the death of a relative at a Nice hospital. (Claude Paris / Associated Press) 7 / 33 A woman walks alone on a deserted beach beside the Promenade des Anglais on July 6, 2016, in Nice, where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 8 / 33 People hug outside Pasteur Hospital in Nice after the July 14 truck attack that killed 84 people. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 33 The Eiffel Tower in Paris is illuminated in the colors of the French flag in solidarity with the victims of the terror attack in Nice. (Christophe Petit Tesson / EPA) 10 / 33 A woman sits under French flags lowered at half-mast in Nice, following the deadly Bastille Day attacks. (GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP/Getty Images) 11 / 33 Police secure the area where a truck drove into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations, killing scores of people in Nice, France. (Andreas Gebert / EPA) 12 / 33 A forensic expert examines dead bodies covered with a blue sheet on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in Nice, a day after a gunman smashed a truck into a crowd of revellers celebrating Bastille Day. (Boris Horvat / AFP/Getty Images) 13 / 33 People react near the scene where a truck drove through revelers in Nice, France. (Francois Mori / Associated Press) 14 / 33 Crime scene investigators work on the Promenade des Anglais after the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France. (Olivier Anrigo / EPA) 15 / 33 People gather in front of the memorial set on the Promenade des Anglais where the truck crashed into the crowd during the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France. (Ian Langsdon / EPA) 16 / 33 A man holding the French national flag stands near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice, France. (Luca Bruno / Associated Press) 17 / 33 Flowers placed near the site of the deadly attack on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in the French Riviera city of Nice. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 18 / 33 Floral tributes are placed near the site of the truck attack in the French resort city of Nice. (Luca Bruno / Associated Press) 19 / 33 Riot police officers and gendarmes are seen Friday outside the Pasteur Hospital in Nice, France. (Claude Paris / Associated Press) 20 / 33 Police researchers inspect the cab of the truck that crashed into Bastille Day revelers in Nice, France. (Alberto Estevez / EPA) 21 / 33 Roses are attached to a barrier near the scene of the truck attack in Nice. (Francois Mori / Associated Press) 22 / 33 An image grab from the Twitter account of harp_detectives shows people fleeing the scene of the truck attack Thursday in Nice, France. (AFP/Getty Images) 23 / 33 An image grab from the Instagram account of GA Morrow shows people fleeing the scene of the truck attack in Nice, France. (AFP/Getty Images) 24 / 33 The truck that plowed through Bastille Day revelers, its windshield riddled with bullets, is examined by forensics officers in Nice, France. (Claude Paris / Associated Press) 25 / 33 Emergency workers tend to a woman injured in the truck attack. (Olivier Anrigo / EPA) 26 / 33 Soldiers, police officers and firefighters walk amid bodies covered with blue sheets along the Nice seafront. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 27 / 33 A body lies on the ground after the Nice attack. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 28 / 33 People gather near the scene of the attack. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 29 / 33 Police officers and rescue workers stand near a truck that plowed into a crowd of people leaving a fireworks display in the French Riviera town of Nice on Bastille Day. Dozens of revelers were killed. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 30 / 33 Ambulances line up near the scene of the attack. (Claude Paris / Associated Press) 31 / 33 A soldier stands guard alongside police officers near the site of the truck attack. (Ciaran Fahey / Associated Press) 32 / 33 Residents walk with their hands up as police conduct checks. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images) 33 / 33 Police officers inspect a vehicle after the truck attack in Nice. (Valery Hache / AFP/Getty Images)

Then the vehicle began to accelerate, and Green felt the wind on his body as the truck, now speeding, flew past.

Then he heard the shrieks and saw the bodies, so many bodies. He ran.

It would soon be clear that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had rented the refrigerated truck Monday and parked it a few miles away. By around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, the truck was parked near the Promenade des Anglais, a showcase of neon-lit beachside resorts and palm trees. It was about 10:45 p.m. when he launched his assault near a childrens hospital.

I dont think anyone could believe what they were seeing at the time, Green said Friday. There were children of all ages  babies, toddlers, all ages  and they were being picked up by their parents and dragged off the streets. The 33-year-old bartender had spent the day at a pool party at the Radisson Blu before drinks at the Florida Beach restaurant, just blocks from the promenade. More than 30,000 had gathered for the festivities.

According to French press reports, one of the first victims to die was a Muslim woman. At least 84 were killed. More than 200 were injured.

I saw five or six dead on the left and two on the right, I saw one guy who had been torn in half.  Robert Green, witness to the truck attack

I saw five or six dead on the left and two on the right, I saw one guy had been torn in half, Green said. One woman was hysterical because she saw one of the bodies was someone she knew. Someone else was doing CPR on another of the bodies, but he was missing half his legs.

Fatima Charrihi, a mother of seven and Nice resident, died as her husband was just 50 feet ahead of her and watched the truck smashing things to pieces. Some victims perished under the trucks wheels, others were sent flying through the air.

Bouhlel accelerated up to an estimated 30 mph. He passed the Centre Universitaire Mediterraneen and the High Club, where DJs were scheduled to play until 5 a.m.

It was like the running of the bulls, said Michael Bordieri, who had just arrived on vacation from New York with his partner, Andrew Feda. They had watched the fireworks, and as they walked back to their hotel, they saw hordes of people running towards them.

Bordieri checked Twitter. Multiple tweets reported, shooter in Nice. Minutes later, Bordieri and Feda heard gunfire. They took refuge for a few minutes in a nearby hotel, then at a restaurant where about 25 other people were hunkering down.

The truck cut a bloody swath through the crowd, with some people desperately leaping aside, even running into the water to escape, but scores of others could not get away.

Everybody was looking at the fireworks. Then the next thing we knew, there was a noise behind us, and a truck drove straight past us, said Philip Ezergailis, a 23-year-old bartender from Galway, Ireland. Then it started speeding up and hitting people, so we realized it was an attack.

Ezergailis spoke Friday, his eyes bloodshot, his voice faltering from exhaustion. I ran over to see if I could help, but I just saw bodies and body parts lying everywhere, he said.

Near the Hotel Negresco, more than halfway through the attack, Bouhlel exchanged gunfire with police, still ramming through the crowds.

Candice Chauvel had just left the fireworks show at Neptune Beach a few seconds earlier, and started to cross the promenade to her home on Rue de France, a block north. Her 4-year-old son, Romeo, was on his kick scooter, weaving through the crowd after his first Bastille Day in Nice. Chauvel and her husband had moved to the city just last month for its reputation: cleaner than Paris, safer too.

The crowd was calm and then it went crazy, she said, describing the moment after the truck began to plow through the people behind her. A man was shouting, Shooting, shooting! Terrorist!

We started running, so many people were confused. Romeo fell to the ground, I picked him up and picked his scooter up and ran home as fast as I could, Chauvel said.

The truck kept going, flying past the Westminster Hotel and Spa, killing 20 by Le Royal Hotel.

In front of the Casino du Palais, police finally shot Bouhlel dead, leaving the truck riddled with at least a dozen bullets. He had traveled more than a mile.

Chauvel got to her second-floor apartment minutes later, where she found her frantic husband, Antoine Chauvel, opening the door to go look for his wife and child after hearing the screams from his balcony.

I could see people running from the beach to my road. Im shouting outside, What is going on! What is going on! Nobody is giving me an answer, said Antoine Chauvel, who had stayed at home to take care of the couples toddler.

Candice, in shock, tried to soothe Romeos tears and get him to bed. Eventually, he slept.

Then I just broke down crying, she said.

Her husband, a freelance photographer, rushed to document the carnage, where he saw injured victims soaked in blood as they were walked away from the scene and white sheets, stained with blood, flung over bodies.

By Friday, Nice was, as Antoine Chauvel put, at once different and the same.

The butcher shop on Rue de France, a block from the attack scene, had opened. The coffee and tea shop was still serving patrons.

The glittering beaches by the site of the attack were closed and deserted but, along Nices three-mile beachfront, sunbathers were still out on the southwestern and eastern sands.

In a country thats endured other deadly attacks, residents were mourning while trying to move forward. So were tourists, who provide a bulk of the citys business.

In a small nod to a vanished normality, South African tourist Francois Nel returned to the cafe overlooking the promenade that he, with other patrons, had fled pell-mell as the attack unfolded.

He wanted, Nel said, to settle his bill.

Special correspondent Harvey reported from Nice, France. Kaleem reported from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Matt Hamilton, Alexandra Zavis and Ann M. Simmons in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

ALSO

Nice: far more than a playgroud for the Euro elite

Two years of terror: 278 people have died in recent terror attacks in Europe

Man who carried out attack in France was petty criminal with no known links to terror groups
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apparently put down a clumsy military coup, but the fallout, as he punishes those who challenged his government, will plunge Turkeys domestic politics and its relations with the U.S. into new turmoil.

A vital strategic ally to Washington, NATO member Turkey was generally calm Saturday, after a long night in which rival factions in tanks and F-16 fighter jets battled for control of the country before Erdogan ended the uprising.

Those responsible for the coup will pay a heavy price for this treason, Erdogan said.

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His enemies said they were challenging Erdogan because of his efforts to consolidate and enhance his own power, weaken opponents and inject a more Islamic flavor into secular Turkish institutions. With the failure of the coup, Erdogan emerges stronger than ever and is likely to become an even greater authoritarian, to the detriment of Turkish democracy, analysts say.

More than 250 people were killed in the attempted coup, including 104 soldiers identified as coup backers. Thousands of alleged coup participants  among them five generals and 29 colonels, along with numerous judges  have been arrested.

The Erdogan government blamed the rebellion on a Turkish Muslim theologian living in exile in Pennsylvania, and demanded that the U.S. extradite him. Failure to do so would be viewed as an act of hostility, the government said.

Turkey, at least temporarily, also shut down the critical Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, which the United States uses to fly missions into Syria and to attack the militant group Islamic State. This will force U.S. pilots to fly from more distant air bases and could seriously hamper the campaign against Islamic State militants and the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Turkish officials maintain that a contingent of Turkish soldiers at Incirlik supported the coup attempt, which began about 7:30 p.m. Friday, when a dissident military faction sent tanks to close Istanbuls two bridges over the Bosporus strait linking Europe with Asia.

Declaring that they were in complete charge of the country, the faction declared a national curfew, seized the General Staff headquarters, took over state television and sent tanks to surround the federal parliament. Later the faction carried out bombing raids against the parliament as well as other key security installations before tens of thousands of Erdogan supporters took to the streets and, along with the police and loyal factions of the military, helped put down the rebellion.

Analysts said the shoddy conduct of the attempted overthrow ultimately plays into Erdogans hands and will allow the president to tighten his grip on politics and society. Turkey has censored, harassed or arrested journalists, politicians from the Kurdish minority and numerous voices of criticism of Erdogan.

1 / 89 Mourners carry the coffin of a man who died during the coup attempt at a funeral ceremony at Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, Turkey. Support from the highest ranks in the army helped keep President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in power. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 89 Women react during the funeral of a victim of the failed coup attempt in Istanbul, Turkey. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 89 A Turkish police officer restrains a man during an operation in front of the courthouse in Ankara. Turkey has detained more than 7,500 suspects it says were involved in the failed coup attempt. (Ilyas Akengin / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 89 Turkish police patrol during an operation in front of the courthouse in Ankara. (Ilyas Akengin / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 89 A boy is wrapped in a flag of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Taksim Square. Turkish authorities pressed on with a crackdown against suspects in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Daniel Mihailescu / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 89 Relatives of Turkish geologist Cuma Dag, 39, who was killed by helicopter gunfire Friday while protesting the coup attempt, mourn at his funeral in Ankara. (Hussein Malla / Associated Press) 7 / 89 Members of the public cheer as Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks after a meeting with the Turkish Speaker of Parliament at the Turkish Grand Assembly in Ankara. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 89 Women try to take pictures of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan walking through the crowd of supporters, as security officers stand on a roof in Istanbul (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 9 / 89 Turkish anti riot police officers escort Turkish soldiers who allegedly took part in a military coup in the Bakirkoy district in Istanbul (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 89 People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbuls Bosporus Bridge. (Selcuk Samiloglu / AP) 11 / 89 Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans and hold flags during a demonstration, against the failed Army coup attempt. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 12 / 89 A woman takes a picture of herself in front a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara. (Hussein Malla / AP) 13 / 89 Pro-Erdogan protesters wave Turkish flags and shout slogans as they demonstrate in Istanbul in support the government following a failed coup attempt. (ARIS MESSINIS / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 89 Turkish citizens wave their national flags as they protest against the military coup outside Turkeys parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. (Hussein Malla / Associated Press) 15 / 89 A Turkish police officer embraces a man atop an empty tank that had been used in the coup attempt in Istanbul. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 89 People wave Turkish flags at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul, which was taken over by supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 17 / 89 A lawmaker addresses a nearly empty chamber of Turkeys parliament in Ankara on July 16, 2016. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 18 / 89 Passengers whose flights were canceled because of the coup attempt wait at Ataturk airport in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (Tolga Bozoglu / EPA) 19 / 89 People waving Turkish flags take to the streets of Ankara in opposition to the military coup attempt. (Adem Altan / AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 89 People sit next to a giant Turkish flag after they took over a military position at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 89 People react after they take over a military position on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 89 Turkish people holding flags are driven in a car, backdropped by Istanbuls iconic Bosphorus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 23 / 89 Turkish people celebrate as Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers against a backdrop of Istanbuls iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 24 / 89 Women react after people took over military positions on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 89 People try to stop a Turkish police armored vehicle carrying Turkish soldiers that participated in the coup and surrendered, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 26 / 89 Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 27 / 89 Clothes and weapons beloging to surrendered soldiers involved in the coup attempt lie abandoned on the ground on Bosphorus Bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 28 / 89 Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 29 / 89 Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 30 / 89 A police officer talks with soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 31 / 89 Turkish anti-riot police officers use water cannon on people as a police bus carrying detained Turkish soldiers passes over the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose / AFP/Getty Images) 32 / 89 People react after they took over military positions on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 33 / 89 In this image taken from video provided by Anadolu Agency, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. Erdogan said that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded. (Anadolu Agency / Associated Press) 34 / 89 Turkish people gather near a burned car in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 35 / 89 People gather around a car which was crushed by a tank in Kizilay Square. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 36 / 89 A car burns during a firefight between Turkish army and Turkish police in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Cavit Ozgul / Associated Press) 37 / 89 Turkish soldiers arrested by police sit in a police bus in Istanbuls Taksim Square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 38 / 89 People take to the streets in Ankara, Turkey. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP/Getty Images) 39 / 89 A Turkish soldier, arrested by civilians, is led to be handed to police officers in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 40 / 89 A man holds the flag of Turkey in front of a destroyed car, crashed by a military tank. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 41 / 89 Turkish soldiers, arrested by civilians, are handed to police officers in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 42 / 89 Turkish people, protesting against the coup, in Istanbul early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Omer Kuscu / Associated Press) 43 / 89 A Turkish soldier, arrested by civilians, is walked to be handed to police officers, in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 44 / 89 People gather in Ankaras main Kizilay Square to protest an attemped military coup. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 45 / 89 A Turkish soldier that participated in the coup and apprehended by civilians is escorted to be handed over to police, in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 46 / 89 Supporters of Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 47 / 89 A woman lies on the ground in Ankara, Turkey. (Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images) 48 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 49 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 50 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 52 / 89 People take to the streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 89 Turkish solders at Taksim square as people react. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 89 A tank is parked in the entrance to Istanbuls Ataturk airport, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Ismail Coskun / Associated Press) 55 / 89 People protesting against the coup wave a Turkish flag in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 56 / 89 An injured man is attended to by police when Turkish soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 57 / 89 Turkish army vehicles enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 58 / 89 Turkish armys tank enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 59 / 89 A passenger walks with her luggage as Turkish armys tanks enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 60 / 89 A man lies in front of a tank in the entrance to Istanbuls Ataturk airport, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Ismail Coskun / Associated Press) 61 / 89 A man shot during clashes between Turkish solders and police near Taksim square in Istanbul on July 16, 2016 is treated by paramedics. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 62 / 89 People occupy a tank in Istanbul. (TOLGA BOZOGLU / EPA) 63 / 89 Supporters of Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gather, waving Turkish flags, in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / AP) 64 / 89 Turkish military control a road in Istanbul on July 16, 2016, after Turkish troops launched a coup. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 65 / 89 Supporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 66 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 67 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 68 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 69 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 70 / 89 Turkish army tanks move in the main streets in the early morning hours of July 16, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. (Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images) 71 / 89 A man approaches Turkish military with his hands up at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 72 / 89 upporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyup Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 73 / 89 Supporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 74 / 89 A military tank at entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 75 / 89 People carry a man shot during clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 76 / 89 A man performs CPR on a wounded man after clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 77 / 89 A supporter of Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 78 / 89 A military tank crushes a car in Istanbul. (Burhan Ozbilici / AP) 79 / 89 Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 80 / 89 People run along the main streets of Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 81 / 89 Turkish army APCs move in the main streets on July 15, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 82 / 89 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks on CNN Turk via an iPhone Facetime call. (Burak Kara / Getty Images) 83 / 89 Tanks move into position as Turkish people attempt to stop them in Ankara. (Burhan Ozbilici / AP) 84 / 89 Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Emrah Gurel / AP) 85 / 89 Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 86 / 89 Turkish soldiers block Istanbuls iconic Bosphorus Bridge as an apparent coup attempt unfolds. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 87 / 89 A group of Turkish internal security officers passes a soldier on the streets of Istanbul. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 88 / 89 Turkish soldiers take up positions along the road to the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, which was closed during an apparent coup attempt. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 89 / 89 Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. (Kutluhan Cucel / Getty Images)

It is clear that he is going to use this opportunity to finish up what he wanted to do from the beginning, said Henri Barkey, a Turkish scholar who heads the Middle East program at the nonpartisan Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. He spoke by telephone from Istanbul.

He will consolidate his power. He feels emboldened, Barkey added, but cautioned that there were too many uncertainties still to predict exactly how events will play out. Things are going to get bumpy.

The coup was a head-on targeting of Erdogan, said Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish opposition lawmaker and current fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Even though resolved, it will take a damaging toll on Turkeys economy and domestic dynamics, Erdemir said.

This is going to hit Turkish markets badly and hit Turkish democracy badly, Erdemir said. It will destabilize the country and erode trust in institutions.

Many in Turkey suspect Erdogan was already planning to purge the judiciary and other branches of government of suspected followers of Fethullah Gulen, the exiled theologian.

At an extraordinary meeting, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, Turkeys highest judicial administrative body, laid off and ordered the arrest of 2,745 judges, 11 prosecutors and 10 Court of Appeals members, and issued warrants for the arrest of 140 others, the semiofficial Daily Sabah reported.

The most prominent judges to be detained were Alparslan Altan and Erdal Tercan, both members of the Turkish constitutional court, now being questioned over suspected involvement in the coup attempt, a presidential spokesman said.

Both the military and part of Turkeys judiciary had been the stiffest opponents to Erdogans gradual expansion of his own power and imposition of more Islamic tradition in public life and institutions  the coup plotters stated motive for their actions.

Friday night was a stain in the history of Turkish democracy, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday morning.

As he congratulated Turkish citizens for resisting the coup attempt, he noted that the military chain of command did not support the rebels. Coup organizers detained Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in his headquarters until a commando team rescued him early Saturday.

Erdogan also appeared to be steeling for a showdown with Washington; the two countries are strategically close but politically problematic allies. He demanded the extradition of Gulen, whose group the Turkish government has accused of orchestrating the coup.

The septuagenarian Gulen, who has kept a low profile in Pennsylvanias Pocono Mountains for more than 15 years, leads a worldwide movement that blends a mystical form of Islam with calls for democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen denied any responsibility for instigating the uprising and issued a statement saying his group does not support any military attempt to take over the government.

But Erdogan and his associates say they have long suspected Gulen, a former ally, of attempting to infiltrate the military, press and other institutions with his own followers.

Speaking to cheering, flag-waving supporters later Saturday, Erdogan addressed President Obama directly and said: I told you to deport or give this person back to Turkey.

I repeat my call on the U.S. and the president to give this person back to Turkey, Erdogan said.

Yildirim described Gulen as the head of a terrorist organization.

Whichever country supports him isnt a friend of Turkey. It is practically at war with Turkey, Yildirim said.

U.S. judicial officials said they had not received an extradition request. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said his government would consider any such request as long as it met U.S. standards of evidence.

It does not appear to have been a very brilliantly planned or executed event.  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry

Even before the coup was resolved, the Obama administration voiced strong support for the democratically elected government of Turkey, if not explicitly for Erdogan.

The United States, without any hesitation, squarely and unequivocally, stands for democratic leadership, for the respect for a democratically elected leader, and for a constitutional process in that regard, Kerry said Saturday. We stand by the government of Turkey.

Kerry urged restraint and a proper legal process for the coup plotters.

As of this moment, Turkeys cooperation with us in our counter-terrorism efforts, in our NATO obligations and in our regional efforts with respect to Syria and [Islamic State] have not been affected negatively, Kerry said.

Asked how the United States could be taken so off-guard by the coup, Kerry said: Well ... if youre planning a coup, you dont exactly advertise it to your partners in NATO. So it surprised everybody, including the people of Turkey. I must say, it does not appear to have been a very brilliantly planned or executed event.

The White House said Obama was briefed on events in Turkey during a special meeting Saturday with his national security and foreign policy teams.

Because of the shutdown at Incirlik, U.S. military commanders are adjusting flight operations to minimize effects on ground battles that would normally be supported by airstrikes from U.S. warplanes based in Turkey, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said.

U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible, he said.

The U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations against Islamic State, will instead rely on U.S. aircraft based in more distant locations, such as Jordan and Qatar.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also banned U.S. carriers from flying to or from Istanbul and Ankara airports, and also prohibited any carrier from flying into the U.S. from Turkey.

Gutman reported from Istanbul and Wilkinson reported from Washington. Times staff writers W.J. Hennigan and Del Quentin Wilber in Washington contributed to this report.

ALSO

Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in fight against Islamic State

Turkish president asserts that military coup has been defeated

Family frantic to find UC Berkeley student missing in terrorist attack in Nice, France

UPDATES:

4:55 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with analysis and background.

1:25 p.m.: The article was updated with the arrests of various judges and military officers and new information from the Pentagon.

9:25 a.m.: The article was updated with additional information from the State Department and the Pentagon.

9:05 a.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

3:30 a.m.: This article was updated with new details throughout.

This article was originally published at 2:55 a.m.
It is dawn and the streets of Ankaras Kizilay district are empty, strewn with rubbish and glass. A man casts a solitary figure, sweeping shards into piles after a night of bracing violence. Little else moves.

On Ankaras main boulevard, mangled cars sit at intervals. Some trees have been uprooted and shattered by the force of the previous nights brutality.

There is the vague howl of a jet high above. Gunfire occasionally rattles.

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Only a few hours earlier, fighter jets were screaming at supersonic speeds through Ankaras skies in aerial dogfights that shook the city with sonic booms. Police and dissident soldiers were locked in gunfights around key state institutions.

But by morning, an eerie quiet hung over this city of 4.6 million people. The normally bustling streets in Kizilay slowly came back to life, people returning to its broad boulevards dotted with cafes and bars.

1 / 89 Mourners carry the coffin of a man who died during the coup attempt at a funeral ceremony at Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara, Turkey. Support from the highest ranks in the army helped keep President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in power. (Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 89 Women react during the funeral of a victim of the failed coup attempt in Istanbul, Turkey. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 3 / 89 A Turkish police officer restrains a man during an operation in front of the courthouse in Ankara. Turkey has detained more than 7,500 suspects it says were involved in the failed coup attempt. (Ilyas Akengin / AFP/Getty Images) 4 / 89 Turkish police patrol during an operation in front of the courthouse in Ankara. (Ilyas Akengin / AFP/Getty Images) 5 / 89 A boy is wrapped in a flag of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Taksim Square. Turkish authorities pressed on with a crackdown against suspects in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Daniel Mihailescu / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 89 Relatives of Turkish geologist Cuma Dag, 39, who was killed by helicopter gunfire Friday while protesting the coup attempt, mourn at his funeral in Ankara. (Hussein Malla / Associated Press) 7 / 89 Members of the public cheer as Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks after a meeting with the Turkish Speaker of Parliament at the Turkish Grand Assembly in Ankara. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 89 Women try to take pictures of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan walking through the crowd of supporters, as security officers stand on a roof in Istanbul (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 9 / 89 Turkish anti riot police officers escort Turkish soldiers who allegedly took part in a military coup in the Bakirkoy district in Istanbul (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 89 People kick and beat a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on Istanbuls Bosporus Bridge. (Selcuk Samiloglu / AP) 11 / 89 Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans and hold flags during a demonstration, against the failed Army coup attempt. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 12 / 89 A woman takes a picture of herself in front a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara. (Hussein Malla / AP) 13 / 89 Pro-Erdogan protesters wave Turkish flags and shout slogans as they demonstrate in Istanbul in support the government following a failed coup attempt. (ARIS MESSINIS / AFP/Getty Images) 14 / 89 Turkish citizens wave their national flags as they protest against the military coup outside Turkeys parliament near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. (Hussein Malla / Associated Press) 15 / 89 A Turkish police officer embraces a man atop an empty tank that had been used in the coup attempt in Istanbul. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 16 / 89 People wave Turkish flags at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul, which was taken over by supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 17 / 89 A lawmaker addresses a nearly empty chamber of Turkeys parliament in Ankara on July 16, 2016. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 18 / 89 Passengers whose flights were canceled because of the coup attempt wait at Ataturk airport in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (Tolga Bozoglu / EPA) 19 / 89 People waving Turkish flags take to the streets of Ankara in opposition to the military coup attempt. (Adem Altan / AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 89 People sit next to a giant Turkish flag after they took over a military position at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. (Gurcan Ozturk / AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 89 People react after they take over a military position on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 22 / 89 Turkish people holding flags are driven in a car, backdropped by Istanbuls iconic Bosphorus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 23 / 89 Turkish people celebrate as Turkish police officers, loyal to the government, stand atop tanks abandoned by Turkish army officers against a backdrop of Istanbuls iconic Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 24 / 89 Women react after people took over military positions on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 25 / 89 People try to stop a Turkish police armored vehicle carrying Turkish soldiers that participated in the coup and surrendered, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 26 / 89 Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 27 / 89 Clothes and weapons beloging to surrendered soldiers involved in the coup attempt lie abandoned on the ground on Bosphorus Bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 28 / 89 Soliders involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 29 / 89 Soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrender on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 30 / 89 A police officer talks with soldiers involved in the coup attempt after they surrendered on Bosphorus bridge. (Gokhan Tan / Getty Images) 31 / 89 Turkish anti-riot police officers use water cannon on people as a police bus carrying detained Turkish soldiers passes over the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. (Ozan Kose / AFP/Getty Images) 32 / 89 People react after they took over military positions on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 33 / 89 In this image taken from video provided by Anadolu Agency, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media Saturday, July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. Erdogan said that his government was working to crush a coup attempt after a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded. (Anadolu Agency / Associated Press) 34 / 89 Turkish people gather near a burned car in Istanbul, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 35 / 89 People gather around a car which was crushed by a tank in Kizilay Square. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 36 / 89 A car burns during a firefight between Turkish army and Turkish police in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Cavit Ozgul / Associated Press) 37 / 89 Turkish soldiers arrested by police sit in a police bus in Istanbuls Taksim Square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 38 / 89 People take to the streets in Ankara, Turkey. (ADEM ALTAN / AFP/Getty Images) 39 / 89 A Turkish soldier, arrested by civilians, is led to be handed to police officers in Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 40 / 89 A man holds the flag of Turkey in front of a destroyed car, crashed by a military tank. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 41 / 89 Turkish soldiers, arrested by civilians, are handed to police officers in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 42 / 89 Turkish people, protesting against the coup, in Istanbul early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Omer Kuscu / Associated Press) 43 / 89 A Turkish soldier, arrested by civilians, is walked to be handed to police officers, in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 44 / 89 People gather in Ankaras main Kizilay Square to protest an attemped military coup. (Burhan Ozbilici / Associated Press) 45 / 89 A Turkish soldier that participated in the coup and apprehended by civilians is escorted to be handed over to police, in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Selcuk Samiloglu / Associated Press) 46 / 89 Supporters of Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 47 / 89 A woman lies on the ground in Ankara, Turkey. (Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images) 48 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 49 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 50 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 51 / 89 People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 52 / 89 People take to the streets near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge during clashes with military forces in Istanbul on July 16, 2016. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 53 / 89 Turkish solders at Taksim square as people react. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 54 / 89 A tank is parked in the entrance to Istanbuls Ataturk airport, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Ismail Coskun / Associated Press) 55 / 89 People protesting against the coup wave a Turkish flag in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 56 / 89 An injured man is attended to by police when Turkish soldiers opened fire to disperse the crowd in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 57 / 89 Turkish army vehicles enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 58 / 89 Turkish armys tank enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 59 / 89 A passenger walks with her luggage as Turkish armys tanks enter the Ataturk Airport on July 16, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 60 / 89 A man lies in front of a tank in the entrance to Istanbuls Ataturk airport, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Ismail Coskun / Associated Press) 61 / 89 A man shot during clashes between Turkish solders and police near Taksim square in Istanbul on July 16, 2016 is treated by paramedics. (OZAN KOSE / AFP/Getty Images) 62 / 89 People occupy a tank in Istanbul. (TOLGA BOZOGLU / EPA) 63 / 89 Supporters of Turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, gather, waving Turkish flags, in Istanbuls Taksim square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Emrah Gurel / AP) 64 / 89 Turkish military control a road in Istanbul on July 16, 2016, after Turkish troops launched a coup. (GURCAN OZTURK / AFP/Getty Images) 65 / 89 Supporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 66 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 67 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 68 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 69 / 89 People take to the streets in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 16, 2016 in Antalya, Turkey. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images) 70 / 89 Turkish army tanks move in the main streets in the early morning hours of July 16, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. (Gokhan Sahin / Getty Images) 71 / 89 A man approaches Turkish military with his hands up at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 72 / 89 upporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyup Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 73 / 89 Supporters of president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 74 / 89 A military tank at entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 75 / 89 People carry a man shot during clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 76 / 89 A man performs CPR on a wounded man after clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul. (BULENT KILIC / AFP/Getty Images) 77 / 89 A supporter of Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at the Taksim Square in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 78 / 89 A military tank crushes a car in Istanbul. (Burhan Ozbilici / AP) 79 / 89 Supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 80 / 89 People run along the main streets of Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 81 / 89 Turkish army APCs move in the main streets on July 15, 2016 in Istanbul. (Defne Karadeniz / Getty Images) 82 / 89 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks on CNN Turk via an iPhone Facetime call. (Burak Kara / Getty Images) 83 / 89 Tanks move into position as Turkish people attempt to stop them in Ankara. (Burhan Ozbilici / AP) 84 / 89 Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbuls Taksim Square. (Emrah Gurel / AP) 85 / 89 Supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan shout slogans at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey. (SEDAT SUNA / EPA) 86 / 89 Turkish soldiers block Istanbuls iconic Bosphorus Bridge as an apparent coup attempt unfolds. (Emrah Gurel / Associated Press) 87 / 89 A group of Turkish internal security officers passes a soldier on the streets of Istanbul. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 88 / 89 Turkish soldiers take up positions along the road to the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, which was closed during an apparent coup attempt. (Bulent Kilic / AFP/Getty Images) 89 / 89 Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. (Kutluhan Cucel / Getty Images)

More than 160 people were killed overnight, many of them civilians, according to the semi-state Anadolu Agency, in a bloody conflict of a magnitude not seen during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans 14 years of rule.

Military dissidents, staging the countrys first coup in 19 years, repeatedly fired on crowds of protesters. Helicopter gunships carved through the skies. Warplanes launched airstrikes on the parliament and areas around Erdogans presidential palace.

The dissidents, primarily drawn from the ranks of the air and land forces, said they were seeking to reverse an erosion of Turkeys secular institutions under the Erdogan governments increasingly Islamist and authoritarian rule.

In a country beset by crises, the overnight violence shook the country to its core.

Im a total wreck, said one Kizilay resident, who asked not to be named. Im really afraid to go outside.

Many hundreds of Erdogans party faithful gathered in Ankaras Milli Egemenlik Park on Saturday, with Turkish flags draped across their shoulders. They set up booming chants cried by Ottoman armies of an epoch past: We resign ourselves to the Greatest God.

One man sat in a ruined van, now draped in Turkish flags, dabbing his eyes with a tissue and listening to a senior police official announce the restoration of democracy.

Im really afraid to go outside.  A Kizilay resident

The same streets had erupted in chaos overnight. Gunfire boomed, much of it high-caliber. Explosions shook buildings, shattering windows and sending demonstrators scurrying in a stampede.

A man hastened from an apartment block carrying an infant and clutching a young girls hand. They rounded a corner, onto a calmer street, and disappeared into the night.

Video shared on social media showed government supporters facing off with tanks, in most cases, unarmed men confronting machine gun-toting soldiers. Some footage depicted mobs beating soldiers bloody.

The aerial dogfights started when rebels hijacked six U.S.-supplied F-16s from a base at Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey, according to presidential spokesman Dogan Eskinat. As the planes raced over Ankara and Istanbul early Saturday at low altitudes, the government deployed two F-16s to chase them from the skies.

The rebel planes headed to a different airbase, Malatya in southern Turkey. There, local citizens stormed the airport and occupied the tarmac to prevent any other hijacked planes from taking off, Eskinat said.

In Istanbul, Mustafa Zia found himself face to face shortly before midnight Friday with a policeman toting a machine gun. A supporter of the government, Zia was unsure whether he and the officer were on the same side.

Heeding Erdogans call, Zia was joining thousands of other citizens trying to confront soldiers and tanks that had taken over the Bosphorus Bridge, a major route connecting Istanbuls Asian and European sides.

I wanted to go past him, to get to the bridge, he said. I yelled at him, I had lost my mind by then, I just remember yelling, Who are you working for? 

Zia drove as close as he could to the foot of the bridge, then started walking until the police officer stopped him, telling him to turn around. Zia turned around, then came back a few minutes later to find the police officer gone.

By then, the crowd was surrounding three tanks that were trying to make their way onto the bridge.

People climbed onto the first tank and took the weapons from the soldiers, but then the soldiers on the other tanks started shooting at us with machine guns. One man was shot and he fell, and we moved him into a car that took him to get help, Zia said.

The tanks made their way up the bridge, apparently to join other units participating in the coup. Zia and the protesters chased after them, only to fall back as they were met by gunfire  some aimed into the air and some directed at them.

Some bus drivers who had left their buses had helped us. They parked the buses so we could use them as a shield, Zia said. It was beautiful. There were women; there were families. Everyone came out to stop this coup.

For the next three hours, Zia and thousands of government supporters sheltered behind the buses, as jets and helicopters flew overhead.

There was firing all night between the police and soldiers.  Mustafa Zia

There was firing all night between the police and soldiers. It was not continuous, but came every few minutes and lasted for a short time, Zia said.

As morning approached, the number of lightly armed police among the protesters was reinforced by elite officers, armed with heavy machine guns and anchored around armored trucks.

They moved beyond the line of buses Zia was using as a shield and were met by fire from the soldiers. I saw one tank fire on an armored car. There were police inside. The whole thing was destroyed, Zia said.

By daybreak, the police and protesters moved beyond the shield of buses they had used for the night and onto the bridge. The soldiers and the police started firing at each other. There were people being shot down, Zia said.

Eventually, the soldiers on the bridge gave up and laid their weapons down as police and government supporters rushed to subdue them.

See the most-read stories in World News this hour 

People starting celebrating. They climbed onto the tanks. They took pictures with them, Zia said. The government supporters chanted, God is great! and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Re-cep Erdo-gan!

Most of the scores of dissident soldiers involved in the coup attempt were arrested on live television, walking away with hands behind their backs one at a time, escorted by police officers.

Behind them, the surface of the bridge was a mess of bodies, military helmets and surrendered weapons.

For the most part, it was over.

By Saturday afternoon in Istanbuls Fatih neighborhood, mosques were announcing the funerals of the martyred every half-hour or so. They were calling the faithful to special congregational prayers to obtain Gods assistance in a time of need.

Special correspondent Johnson reported from Ankara and Farooq from Istanbul. Special correspondent Roy Gutman contributed from Istanbul.

MORE WORLD NEWS

Reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, blamed for failed coup in Turkey

Hong Kong demands that candidates take pro-China pledge, threatens prison if they wont

UPDATES:

2:50 p.m.: This article was updated with reporting on military aircraft operations during the coup attempt.

This article was originally published at 12:05 p.m.
In the wake of Fridays deadly coup attempt in Turkey, that countrys president quickly laid blame on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who has lived in exile in eastern Pennsylvania since 1999 and controls a massive religious and educational movement.

Dozens of Turkish immigrants chanted, sang and waved Turkeys flag outside Gulens Ross Township home Saturday afternoon, celebrating the Turkish governments quelling of the coup as Gulens private security force and half a dozen state police officers stood by.

Im so very proud of what theyve done, said Dr. Halil Mutlu, who drove more than 200 miles from Windsor, Conn., with a carload of friends, to protest outside Gulens house. No one will take our democracy away from us.

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Dr. Mutlu urged friends & family to protest #TurkeyCoupAttempt last night. Today he's protesting #Gulen. pic.twitter.com/u1ykvaACZZ  Sarah M. Wojcik  (@Sarah_M_Wojcik) July 16, 2016

In a televised speech Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen, saying Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for terrorists by the United States.

I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request, Erdogan said.

Fethullah Gulen is the leader of a terrorist organization.  Benali Yildirim, prime minister of Turkey

Gulen, 75, who denied the charges in a statement and in a rare interview with a group of reporters, is a virtual recluse at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center, constructed near Saylorsburg in the 1990s as a learning center for Turkish American children.

Praised by some as a moderate who supports education and interreligious dialogue though his Hizmet movement, Gulen has also been accused of stealth efforts to topple the Turkish government and spread Islamic law, or sharia, in Turkey and abroad.

Fethullah Gulen is the leader of a terrorist organization, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a statement Saturday. Especially after what happened yesterday, I dont believe any country would support him. Whichever country supports him isnt a friend of Turkey. It is practically at war with Turkey.

Gulen rejected the claims and said he wasnt concerned about being extradited.

I dont believe that the world takes the accusations made by President Erdogan [against me] seriously, Gulen said, according to the Financial Times. There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup [by Erdogans government] and it could be meant for further accusations against Gulens allies and the military, he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for Gulen, but added that Turkeys government would have to provide evidence pointing to his complicity.

In a statement released by his foundation, the Alliance for Shared Values, Gulen condemned the coup attempt, in which more than 250 people were killed and many were wounded.

Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force, Gulen said in the statement. I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly. As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

The 50 or so people gathered outside Gulens retreat Saturday afternoon believe Gulen instigated or orchestrated the upheaval. Murat Berk, president of the Turkish American Cultural Society in Bergen County, N.J., told the crowd Gulen should go to Turkey to answer for his actions.

Dozens of people, all ages, some clad in Turkish flags, outside of Gulen's Monroe Co retreat calling for peace. pic.twitter.com/Vefx64yhRH  Sarah M. Wojcik  (@Sarah_M_Wojcik) July 16, 2016

Hours before anti-Erdogan forces launched the coup attempt, Berk was in Turkey, saying goodbye to his wife and two small children who remained on vacation while he headed home to Palisades Park, N.J. Upon hearing the news of the attempted coup, he instructed his wife and children not to leave their house in Izmir.

They didnt listen. They went out to the street to protest, he said. But now Im very proud of them.

Berk said some of his friends oppose Erdogans politics, but stood firm against the coup plot.

It doesnt matter what you think of Erdogan, he said. This has become a matter of protecting democracy.

Gulen has been accused of attempting to overthrow Erdogans government before. Earlier this year, he was put on trial in absentia in Istanbul, charged with 68 others, including former police chiefs, with attempting to overthrow the Turkish republic through the use of violence, leading a terrorist organization and political espionage.

In a video that surfaced after his departure from Turkey in 1999, Gulen allegedly ordered followers to infiltrate key government positions and prepare for a coup  allegations that mirror charges the government filed against him in 2014.

In a purge of Gulen sympathizers that year, Turkish police arrested the editor of the countrys largest daily newspaper, the head of a TV station and more than two dozen others.

Turkeys president says coup plotters will pay a heavy price for their treason 

Gulen, who has permanent residency status in the United States, is said to maintain significant support among some members of Turkeys military and mid-level bureaucrats. He and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

Gulens movement in Turkey began in the 1960s, emphasizing the importance of science and education to a moral society. He left in 1999, shortly before the start of a case against him on charges of plotting to destroy the secular state and establish Islamic law.

He has faced the same suspicions in the United States, but a 2013 congressional report on Turkey said Gulen promotes dialogue among religions and cross-cultural understanding and teaches that Islam is compatible with modern democratic societies.

In the Poconos Mountains, he has kept a low profile, mostly avoiding the media and the protesters who gather regularly outside his Golden Generation center. But Gulen has been hospitable to his neighbors on Mount Eaton Road, including Lillian Beers, who shared a meal with him a number of years ago.

They invited us to dinner, she said. It was OK.

The center has hired her son, a contractor, to do work, she said. Other than the swarm of police, protesters and reporters making a racket Saturday, the center has been a quiet neighbor, she said. They dont bother me and I dont bother them.

Not far from Beers home, Memis Yetim joined his Turkish countrymen in chanting, Long live Turkey. We want democracy. With his 4-year-old son in tow, Yetim rode from Connecticut with Mutlu to mark the occasion.

Its kind of a historic moment for the Turkish people, he said.

Outside retreat center & home of #Gulen, most chants, speeches & songs in Turkish. But not all. #TurkeyCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/boJr5vowqL  Sarah M. Wojcik  (@Sarah_M_Wojcik) July 16, 2016

Gulen has said that he would like to go back to his homeland but that his return might be used to stir political trouble, or that those who had persecuted him in the past might try to do so again.

His influence is chiefly felt through Hizmet, which includes think tanks, media enterprises and an international network of schools, including about 130 public charter schools in the United States. The schools, including Truebright Science Academy in Philadelphia and two others in Pennsylvania, teach no religion. All emphasize science, math and technology.

Still, suspicions linger. Four years ago, a Gulen-linked group unsuccessfully tried to open a charter school in Allentown, an hour north of Philadelphia. School directors cited the groups evasiveness over its ties to Gulen as one of their concerns, though ultimately rejected the application on other grounds.

daniel.sheehan@mcall.com

Twitter: @LVStories

Sheehan and Wojcik write for the Morning Call in Allentown, Pa. The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.

ALSO

Straddling East and West, Turkey is a critical U.S. ally in fight against Islamic State

From the Archives: From his Pa. compound, Fethullah Gulen shakes up Turkey

After a night of clashes, Turkish president asserts that military coup has been defeated

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional background and comments from protesters outside the home of Fethullah Gulen.

This article originally published at 10:55 a.m.
Kat Cohen was having a late dinner with her boyfriend at a restaurant atop Istanbuls Marmara Taksim Hotel when word came that a coup was underway.

As soon as the first tweet went out, we got up, she said. No one else in the restaurant seemed to know what was going on. We walked up to the place to pay the bill, we didnt even wait.

A New York security consultant who she works with alerted Cohen with a text, saying, If youre not in your hotel, get back. Out in the streets, she said, crowds were running frantically.

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As soon as they said there was a curfew, everyone was trying to get somewhere, she said.

The couple joined them.

We were running through the streets to get back to the hotel because everyone said just go to the hotel, not the embassy, she said. We tried to stop multiple cars just to hail a ride.

Im hearing gunshots right now. Listen, it sounds like fireworks  pop, pop, pop. Its literally right next to us.  Kat Cohen

After about a half hour, a Turkish man agreed to take them to the Four Seasons Hotel a few minutes away, where they are staying. When they offered to pay him, he refused. Cohen described the scene in Istanbuls tourist district by phone from outside the darkened hotel early Saturday morning.

We can hear people praying, and its not prayer time, said Cohen. Im hearing gunshots right now. Listen, it sounds like fireworks  pop, pop, pop. Its literally right next to us. Theres been gunshots since this whole thing happened.

Cohen and her boyfriend, Spencer Ostrander, tried to contact the local U.S. Embassy, but were not able to get through by phone and had gotten no official word on the status of the coup attempt. An education consultant based in New York, Cohen was in Istanbul for business.

People who are outside right now are all on their phones trying to get more information, she said.
Brits in Turkey advised to avoid public places

(Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP/Getty Images)

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkeys democratic elected government and institutions in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to stay indoors, avoid public places, especially demonstrations, and remain vigilant.

British Airways said it was canceling all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday, but budget airline EasyJet said it planned to runs its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns. The airline says the schedule will be kept under continuous review.
On his flight from Mexico back to the Vatican in February, Pope Francis made an unexpected comment about the Zika virus, saying that the outbreak  blamed for serious birth defects around the world  may justify the use of contraceptives.

A reporter had first asked if the church would allow an abortion as the lesser of two evils to avoid pregnancies complicated by the Zika virus. It is a crime, the pope responded. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. Thats what the Mafia does.

On the other hand, he continued, avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil, and, in extreme situations, the use of contraceptives could be justified, despite the churchs ban.

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He noted the widespread rape of nuns during the during the Congo civil war in the 1960s. Paul VI, a great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives in cases of rape.

The church has not formally sanctioned contraceptive use, but with the August start of the Olympics in Brazil  the epicenter of outbreak  it has offered the possibility of a solution.

I think he understands its not helpful to tell Catholics, No, you cant do that.  Aline Kalbian, professor at Florida State University

I think he understands its not helpful to tell Catholics, No, you cant do that, said Aline Kalbian, a professor at Florida State University and author of Sex, Violence & Justice: Contraception and the Catholic Church. That doesnt really resolve their problem.

Pope Francis short statement has echoed around the world, following the spread of the Zika virus, a disease linked to microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with abnormally small heads that limit brain development. The virus is transmitted through mosquito bites and sexual contact. The World Health Organization has advised anyone living in or traveling to countries with known outbreaks to avoid having sex or getting pregnant.

Previously present in parts of Africa and Asia, the outbreak began in Brazil in May 2015. Brazil has registered close to 100,000 infections and several thousand cases of microcephaly.

Since 2015, the disease has spread through South America, Central America and parts of the Caribbean. No cases have originated in the U.S., although over 1,000 travel-related cases in the country have been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC has recommended that pregnant women stay away from the Olympics. Those wanting to get pregnant should wait at least eight weeks after visiting Brazil before having sex. Men who show some symptoms of Zika virus  rash, fever, joint pain  should wait six months before having sex.

The CDC urges the use of a condom to avoid transmitting the disease.

Those type of recommendations can run afoul of the Catholic Churchs teachings that generally bar the use of contraceptives, such as condoms, birth control or the morning-after pill. The purpose of sex is procreation, in the churchs view, and contraceptives foil that design.

The church, however, has several key exceptions.

Since 1957, it has allowed birth control pills as a way to regulate heavy menstrual bleeding or irregular cycles. Pope Paul VIs 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae outlines how therapeutic means, such as contraception, can be used to cure diseases, even if procreation would be limited.

For example, men can undergo radiation treatment for testicular cancer, even if they are left sterile. Women can undergo a hysterectomy for uterine or ovarian cancer, said John Grabowski, director of moral theology and ethics at the Catholic University of America in Washington.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj 

The church does not sanction the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Theologians view using a condom to prevent infecting ones partner as just a way to facilitate sex, not to further life, Grabowski said. Abstinence is the churchs recommended solution.

The church does allow emergency contraceptives in the case of rape. Catholic hospitals are authorized to treat victims of sexual assault with contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The role of contraception after a rape is not to prevent life, but to combat violence, Grabowski explained.

Pope Paul VIs sanctioning of contraceptives during the Congo civil war is the best known example, although the truth of the decision is a bit hazy, he said.

Paul VI never gave any kind of formal approval allowing nuns in danger of sexual assault to use contraceptives, Grabowski said. Paul VI had made statements as a cardinal, but there was never a formal policy from the Vatican.

Kalbian said she also found no evidence of formal approval. Ive actually written about that incident and my first reaction was, wait a minute, this did not happen during the papacy of Pope Paul VI. It happened much earlier in the 1960s, probably under the papacy of Pope John XXIII, she said.

Kalbian contacted nuns in different orders to see if they had information, but she said no one had knowledge of an official directive.

Kalbian and Grabowski said they dont see Francis Zika comments changing church teachings. The teaching about contraception is intimately connected to the churchs teaching about heterosexual marriage, about premarital sex. All these things make up a holistic view of what sex is about and what marriage is about, Kalbian said. Its almost as if you start tinkering with one, then the whole edifice becomes kind of shaky, and I think that might be a problem.

The change they have seen is in the popes tone. Kalbian described it as very pastoral and compassionate, as evidenced by Francis recent apostolic exhortation on marriage and the family, Amoris Laetitia.

Most of these papal documents in the past about sexuality were more dogmatic and kind of harsh, but what you notice about Pope Francis, he was always very sensitive to the experience of individuals, and I think his response to the Zika virus was typical of that, Kalbian said.

tessa.weinberg@latimes.com

ALSO

The Zika crisis: How Congress abandoned its duty to govern

Brazil beefs up security for the Olympics after high-profile attacks

A woman spread Zika virus through sex in first documented case
A transgender woman filmed an 18-year-old girl changing into a swimsuit in a Target fitting room in Idaho Monday, while the retailer is being boycotted for its new transgender bathroom and fitting room policy.

Authorities charged the 46-year-old transgender woman, Shauna Smith, with one count of voyeurism this week, according to the affidavit of probable cause given to IdahoNews.com. She was booked with the felony under her male name, Sean Smith.

She was caught filming the 18-year-old with an iPhone she held over the top of a barrier while standing in an adjacent fitting room.

Court documents state that, "The victim's mother confronted the suspect, who immediately fled on foot. Both (the victim and victim's mother) described the suspect as a white male who was wearing a dress and a blonde wig. A witness observed the suspect get into a vehicle and leave the area."

Target Transgender Policy for Bathrooms & Fitting Rooms Since April

Back in April, the transgender community and its advocates praised Target for setting a new policy where it allows transgender customers to use the fitting rooms and bathrooms based on the gender they identify with.

The retailer also received major backlash from conservative groups for its change in policy. Just last month, the American Family Association started a petition to boycott the store stating that, "Target's policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims."

More than 1.3 million people have signed the petition since its release. Those who sign the petition swear that they will shop elsewhere until Target changes its policy.

Executive Director of the National Center for Transgender Equality Mara Keisling tells the New York Times that this incident is just a distraction from the real issues regarding the transgender community.

"This has nothing to do with whether or not I should be allowed to use the bathroom in a restaurant, whether a first grader can use the bathroom, whether a high schooler can play school sports," Keisling said. "If this person was a voyeur, they will be dealt with by the legal justice system the way they deal with voyeurs."

Meanwhile, Twitter user @TheRadioDude claims Smith is one of those people noted by AFA with ill intentions; posing as transgender in order to get access to victims.

"Here, I'll say it: Sean Patrick Smith is NOT a transgender woman. He dressed up as a woman and went into Target..." he tweeted.

Here, I'll say it: Sean Patrick Smith is NOT a transgender woman. He dressed up as a woman and went into Target... https://t.co/PfkXomgtf9  Josh Colletta (@TheRadioDude) July 15, 2016

Smith admitted to taking similar videos and photos of women in dressing rooms other than the initial victim. She is represented with a public defender.
Fethullah Gulen

In this March 15, 2014, file photo, Turkish Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, in Monroe County. Gulen is charged in Turkey with plotting to overthrow the government in a case his supporters call politically motivated. (AP Photo)

A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, says that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the Turkey coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the Poconos.

Amsterdam said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement.

According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges Friday.

Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Who is Fethullah Gulen?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in the Saylorsburg area of Monroe County, just north of the Lehigh Valley.

Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

Why not deport him?

The U.S. has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

What's the status of legal claims against Gulen in the U.S.?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric.

"Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," Amsterdam said.

The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in U.S. courts.

What about his schools?

Some of the U.S. schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service."

In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

What's the response to the latest allegations?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."

What are Gulen's days like?

An AP reporter was given a tour of Gulen's Saylorsburg compound this year but was unable to see or interview him. He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan.

Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.

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An Islamic cleric blamed by the Turkish government for a failed coup attempt opened his compound in the Poconos on Saturday for a rare interview.

Members of the media were invited inside to see Fethullah Gulen, the man the Turkish government says is behind a failed coup Friday that was quashed early Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Gulen's Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center is in Ross Township, Monroe County.

According to the Associated Press, Turkish intelligence sources say they have proof that Gulen participated in the coup. Gulen denies any involvement, however.

The U.S. government has shown little inclination to deport Gulen, although U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told the Associated Press on Saturday the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if the Turkish government had solid proof of his involvement in the coup.

Those who support Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan massed outside of Gulen's compound in protest Saturday.

Trained as a prayer leader, Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations. His group is called Hizmet, which means service.

He once worked alongside Erdogan but the two have split. Erdogan has vowed Gulen will be punished for his role in the overthrow attempt.

The pro-Gulen Lehigh Dialogue Center issued a statement denouncing the overthrow attempt Saturday afternoon.

"For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey," the statement says.

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A reclusive Islamic cleric living in the Poconos was thrust onto the world stage Saturday when Turkey's president accused him of executing a failed overthrow of the Turkish government.

Fethullah Gulen opened the doors of his compound at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center in Ross Township, Monroe County, on Saturday afternoon to address the accusation.

Here's what the Associated Press is reporting:

Gulen denies participating in the coup d'etat. The leader of the movement known as Hizmet stressed he left Turkey over 15 years ago. He says he no longer follows developments in Turkey and doesn't even know "who my followers are."

He says there could be many motives behind an attempted coup against former ally President Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- whether sympathizers of himself or the opposition party. But Gulen says he wouldn't know.

Gulen has permission to remain in the United States, but that could change. Erdogan is calling for Gulen's immediate extradition to Turkey. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he'll consider the request, but called on the Turkish government to produce more evidence.

"Obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately," Kerry said Saturday in Luxembourg.

Gulen's accuser has gained more clout as a result of the coup. Gulen opponent Erdogan has been compared by critics to Vladimir Putin and Hugo Chavez, but the president now has the Turkish people united in opposition to dissidents. He has vowed that the coup d'etat plotters, including Gulen, will pay a heavy price, raising the possibility of military purges.

Hundreds have died as a result of this political struggle. Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim says 161 people have been killed as the country fought to overcome the military coup attempt Friday night into Saturday. Another Turkish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with protocol, said that number included civilians and pro-government forces like police but excluded those behind the coup attempt. Earlier, Gen. Unit Dundar said 104 "coup plotters" had been killed.

Gulen has exerted his influence in this country as well as the Middle East. He gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations. His group is called Hizmet, which means service. He once worked alongside Erdogan but the two have split.

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TROPHIES

Concerned citizens, churches, NAACP chapters and police officers in the Lehigh Valley joined their counterparts around the nation in mourning five police officers killed in Dallas and questioning recent police shootings of black men in several cities. Answers are hard to come by, but prayer and dialogue are a good start -- along with acknowledging the demands on police officers and the injustices faced by those subjected to racial profiling. Greater Shiloh Church of Easton hosted an "Our Lives Matter" event in its chapel; the Easton NAACP chapter sought to initiate a community dialogue. In Bethlehem, the city's NAACP branch held a peaceful protest in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement outside City Hall. In Allentown, city officials, police officers, church leaders and members of the community got together for an interfaith, multicultural rally organized by the city. Keeping these lines of communication open -- and ongoing -- is critical to changing attitudes, increasing police sensitivity, promoting diversity and keeping the peace in troubled times.

No one was injured in a two-car crash Tuesday night in Palmer Township, but a 17-year-old boy running to the accident scene collapsed and was assisted by a neighbor and one of the drivers involved. The boy, who suffers from a heart condition, was headed to the scene on Tatamy Road near Hackett Avenue "to see what was going on or assist," township police Sgt. Tom Vogel said. The neighbor, Lori Paff, administered chest compressions while one of the drivers performed rescue breathing. The boy's heart had stopped, said Vogel, who used an automated external defibrillator supplied by the teen's grandparents to stabilize him. Suburban EMS took him to a local hospital, after which he was transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was reported in stable condition the next day.

TURKEYS

Is there any way to get through to young people who mix alcohol and partying with dangerous swimming holes? While abandoned quarries remain a dangerous attraction for risk-takers in our area, another perennial hot spot is back in the news -- a railroad bridge over the Delaware River between Upper Mount Bethel Township and Knowlton Township. Upper Mount Bethel officials are concerned about people venturing onto the bridge and jumping or diving into the river -- about 30 feet below the tracks, and about twice that drop from the top of the bridge. Rescue workers were called out to the bridge several times this week in response to injuries suffered by jumpers. An 18-year-old girl died in 2009 after jumping into the rushing water. Township officials plan to post "no parking" signs near the site and seek permission from the bridge owner, Norfolk Southern, to install concrete barriers at the road access.





After offering her assessment of Donald Trump's suitability for the presidency -- calling him a "faker," among other things -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg backpedaled and apologized, acknowledging that she should have kept her opinions to herself. "Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect," she said in a statement issued by the court. Ginsburg criticized Trump for for saying "whatever comes into his head at the moment." She did the same thing, without considering how it would reflect on her ability to remain impartial in court proceedings.
A car struck a pole, shearing it at its base, early Saturday in Warren County.

A trooper at the New Jersey State Police Washington barracks confirmed the crash was 7:12 a.m. on Route 57 west of Asbury Broadway Road and east of Ciao Pizza in Franklin Township.

The trooper declined to identify the driver of the BMW 328i or provide his age or address. He said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The driver was treated at the scene for injuries. Wires were broken and lying on the ground.

In addition to New Jersey State police, the Franklin Township rescue squad, Franklin Township fire department and paramedics from Hunterdon Medical Center responded to the crash.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
A compromise has been reached in Portarlington in a dispute which erupted over the renaming of a bridge to honour a 1916 Rebel.

The Portarlington 1916 committe took the decision to halt plans to rename Spa St Bridge on foot of objections from residents in the area.

The plan was to rename the bridge in honour of Peader Macken who died due to injuries suffered fighting with the Irish Volunteers during the Rising. His parents hailed from Portarlington.

However, a row blew up on social media last week over the plan.

Cormac Powell told the Leinster Express that he set up a Facebook page called, 'Stop the renaming of Spa St Bridge.'

Mr Powell said he had the support of many people pointing to the 200 plus who liked the page. He claimed people knew nothing of the change until recently.

None of the locals werecontacted and asked what they think, he said.

He said he had nothing against Peader Macken and agreed that he could be commemorated but he was not in favour of the bridge being named after him.

Mr Powell said the bridge was originally called King's Bridge but had been later called Spa St bridge to mark a local Spa well.

Mr Powell also claimed that he had been informed by Laois County Council that permission was not in place to proceed with the renaming.

He said people would not oppose the erection of a plaque to the rebel on the bridge or even rename Main St in Port in Peader Macken's honour.

Mr Powell was also upset with Cllr Aidan Mullins, claiming that he had not returned his calls on the matter.

Cllr Mullins is on the Port 1916 committee which has organised a number of events to honour the 1916 heroes in Port this year.

When tempers flared on Facebook, Cllr Mullins appealed for calm and said the committee would meet to discuss the issue. He said they would also meet people who were opposed to the project.

At the meeting it was decided not to proceed.

Cllr Mullins insisted, however, that the renaming had been publicised widely since January.

He said nobody had objected until recently via Facebook. He also denied that he had ignored attempts made by Mr Powell to contact him.

He said, however, that it was decided not to go ahead with the renaming but instead erect a plaque.

In the interest of peace and harmony in the locality we weren't trying to force anything on anybody, he said.

Cllr Mullins said the committee was dissappointed that the objections were not brought to the its attention earlier in the process. He said they were quite entitled to object. What we are going to do is to erect a plaque on it and his connection to the street, said Cllr Mullins.
Theresa May apparently has over 100 cookbooks. Thats probably the one thing she and I have in common. I actually have a stack of them by my bedside table so I can dip in and out of them when I want. I tend to read them for pleasure as much as cook from them. I particularly like books which have a story around them to go along with the food.

Thats why Those Who Need to Know are under no illusions as to how disappointed Id be if I didnt get Miriam Gonzalez Durantezs new book, Made in Spain, for my upcoming birthday. Its conveniently being published just three days before.

On Thursday, Miriam appeared on ITVs Lorraine show (from about 15 minutes in). She brought along some delicious looking food and talked a bit about some of the recipes. She also talked about her feelings on Brexit. You can also be under no illusion that shes not very impressed with the new Foreign Secretary. I havent watched Lorraine in a long time and had forgotten how much I enjoyed her lovely and informal manner. Also, if you are as trashy as I am, Bucks Fizz are on the show too. If, like me, you are a die-hard Eurovision geek, its a must-see.

If you like the look of her recipes, you can pre-order the book here. Shes also going to be at Waterstones Piccadilly on 28 July. Thats one of these occasions when I wish I didnt live 400 miles from London.

Miriam has written the book, based on her food blog, to raise money for her Inspiring Girls campaign which is about to go international. She set up Inspiring Women 3 years ago to get professional women going into schools to talk to girls about their careers. Since then 20,000 women have volunteered for the project.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
A BOOK of condolences remains open for the family of the late writer Alphie McCourt, in the museum bearing the name of his Pulitzer Prize winning brother Frank.

A memorial to Alphie was recently held in the Frank McCourt museum on Hartstonge Street, where numerous tributes were paid to him after his sudden passing, while the funeral service was held in New York.

Artist and curator of the museum, Una Heaton, who organised the memorial, said it was a very dignified, informal event, with his old friends sitting at the desks in the museum, which was formerly where Frank went to school.

One of his close friends, Michael Ryan, said that they never lost touch inspite of the physical distance between them over the years.

That connection was there all time. He was a real gentleman. We met up in Limerick last year, walking from the Redemptorists to Barrack Hill [where the McCourts grew up], and ended up in the Windmill bar, and he enjoyed that. I will certainly miss him, he said.

Poet Fiona Clark Echlin composed a sonnet for Alphie, which she read from the top of the class this Monday, while Mick O'Donnell, the former Angela's Ashes walking tour guide in the city spoke of the first time he met Alphie and his brother Malachy on the guided walk, long before Frank joined him on the route.

They were very approachable, very sociable, nice, nice people. God rest him.

The book of condolences will later be presented to Alphies widow Lynn, and their daughter Alison.
MORE than 1,000 patients and visitors are still smoking at University Hospital Limerick, despite a smoke-free policy in place for the past four years.

According to audits received from the UL Hospitals Group, between January and June, 462 visitors and 667 patients were found smoking on the Dooradoyle campus.

A number of people contacted the Leader to express concern over the issue, as people in breach of the hospital policy can be seen smoking outside the A&E and reception entrance.

One frequent visitor, who does not wish to be named, said that at any given time, there could be up to five people smoking on the grounds.

This Monday, the Limerick Leader witnessed a woman smoking while holding a young child, another woman smoking next to her, with a member of security staff nearby, outside the A&E entrance.

There were 251 fewer people found smoking at UHL in comparison to audits in the same timeframe in 2015. This year, there was a 33% drop on the 688 patients found smoking on campus between January and June 2015.

However, there was a marginal 2% decrease in the number of patients smoking this year. There were 682 patients found smoking, between January and June 2015.

In the first half of 2015, 24 staff members were identified smoking on the campus. This year, there were no staff seen to be smoking at UHL.

A spokesperson for the UL Hospitals Group said that, while UHL is making progress, the policy remains challenging.

We are making progress and the numbers of people smoking on the grounds is reducing, indeed most visitors and patients do comply with our smoke-free campus.

Implementing our smoking policy remains challenging as, whilst our grounds are smoke-free and it is against hospital policy to smoke, it is not illegal to smoke. We urge all patients and visitors not to smoke whilst on the grounds of UHL or any of the other UL Hospitals sites.

Tobacco control is one of the priority areas for UL Hospitals Group, as part of its recently-launched Healthy Ireland 2016-2019 programme.

UL Hospitals would like to thank the many, many visitors and patients who have complied with our smoke-free policy to date , we remain committed to reducing the numbers year on year in line with national policy, changing behaviour does not happen overnight and HSE campaigns such as the Quit campaign also support us locally on the ground.
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ZID:308457493
May 3, 2021, 10 PM

A rare vending machine coil discovery will be offered during the Aug. 4-6 Harmer Schau public auction taking place during the American Philatelic Societys APS Stampshow 2016 in Portland, Ore.

By Michael Baadke

Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries of Petaluma, Calif., will conduct a three-day auction in Portland, Ore., during the American Philatelic Societys APS Stampshow 2016.

The stamp show is taking place Aug. 4-7 at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Portland.

The Harmer-Schau public auction will be held Aug. 4-6 at the same location.

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The auction offers United States and worldwide stamps and postal history, as well as U.S., worldwide, and foreign country collections.

Collectors will find China with Peoples Republic, France, Germany, a special delivery exhibit collection including Panama-Pacific small die proofs, other back-of-the-book material, and much more in the Aug. 4-6 auction.

A featured item in this sale is the new discovery of a Parkhurst 1 vending coil used on a picture postcard, described by Harmer-Schau as the only certified Scott 314V and Parkhurst coil on cover.

Scott 314V is identified in the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers as the 1908 1 blue-green Benjamin Franklin stamp as an imperforate flat plate vertical coil stamp. The stamp is among those issued for a postage machine vending competition sponsored by the U.S. postmaster general.

Harmer-Schau reports that Layton Parkhurst invented his vending machine in early 1908 in Indianapolis and entered the Post Office Departments competition.

The stamp on this card is a rare imperforate 1 coil stamp dispensed by a Parkhurst vending machine and a unique usage of the Scott #314V, according to Harmer-Schau. There are a few subsequent Washington-Franklin coils on cover with Parkhurst vending machine marks, but this is the earliest example of a government-issued stamp dispensed by a Parkhurst vending machine.

The cover bearing the single stamp was mailed in Indianapolis in 1908 with a Sept. 3 Station A duplex cancel.

The 2015 Philatelic Foundation certificate states: It is a genuine usage, with four tiny indentations at the bottom of the stamp made by the pin perforators of the Parkhurst vending machine.

The vending perforation holes can be distinctly seen both at top and bottom, according to Harmer-Schau.

The cover is offered with an estimate of $12,000 to $15,000 and an opening bid of $9,500.

The international offerings in this auction include a used example of Chinas withdrawn 1968 8-fen The Whole Country is Red stamp (Scott 999A).

For additional information about this sale contact Harmer-Schau, e-mail info@harmerschau.com, or telephone 707-778-6454.

Information is also available from Harmer-Schau Auction Galleries, 1333 N. McDowell Blvd., Suite B, Petaluma, CA 94954.
New USPS Pets stamps: When and how you can get them

Jul 15, 2016, 1 PM

Earlier U.S. stamp sets honoring pets include the 1998 Bright Eyes stamps featuring five different animals rendered in cartoon-style art.

The stamps in the new Pets set are similar in design to the 10 44 Animal Rescue Shelter Pets stamps issued in a pane of 20 on April 30, 2010.

This Goldfish forever stamp pictures one of 20 animals in the United States Postal Services Pets stamps set, to be issued Aug. 2 in a double-sided pane.

Twenty different domesticated animals are featured in the upcoming Pets set of forever stamps. The stamps will be issued with an Aug. 2 first-day ceremony in Las Vegas, Nev.

By Michael Baadke

The United States Postal Service will issue its set of 20 nondenominated (47) Pets forever stamps on Aug. 2, with a first-day ceremony in Las Vegas, Nev.

The 1 p.m. event will take place in South Seas Ballroom F at Mandalay Bay Resort, 3950 S. Las Vegas Blvd., in association with SuperZoo, a national trade show for pet retailers.

Postal Service representatives have told Linns that the ceremony will be open to the public. Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and Executive Vice President Jim Cochrane is the dedicating official who will represent the USPS.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

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The 20 stamps are being issued together in a double-sided pane of 20, described as a booklet by the Postal Service. Each stamp shows a photograph of one pet: puppy, betta fish, iguana, hamster, goldfish, kitten, rabbit, tortoise, guinea pig, parrot, corn snake, mouse, hermit crab, chinchilla, gerbil, gecko, cat, horse, parakeet, and dog.

The stamp designs use existing photographs by Eric Isselee of the different animals, each with a white background.

Each design also includes a word or two to describe the pet group the pictured animal represents (such as, guinea pigs), along with forever usa and the word pets.

The designer for this issue is USPS art director Derry Noyes, who was inspired by her lifelong love of animals, according to the Postal Service.

The goal was to capture the essence of each animal, she said. Theres no need for special effects. The animals speak for themselves. I love the variety of shapes, colors, textures, and facial expressions.

The Postal Service ordered a large initial print run of 400 million Pets stamps, a sign, perhaps, that USPS officials expect the Pets stamps to be popular with the stamp-buying public.

The new stamps are very similar in subject matter and design to the 10 different 44 Animal Rescue Shelter Pets stamps issued April 30, 2010, in a pane of 20 (Scott 4451-4460).

That earlier set was so popular that the initial print run of 300 stamps was bolstered by a second printing of 91.4 million stamps announced six months after the stamps were first issued.

The new Pets stamps feature a well-rounded selection of domesticated animals, including two cats and two dogs, two birds, two fish, four reptiles, six rodents, a horse and a hermit crab.

Animals have always been popular with topical stamp collectors, and dogs, cats and birds are among the favorite subjects. Pets are also popular with the American public, according to the Postal Service, with more than half of U.S. homes having at least one pet.

The most common pets are dogs and cats, the Postal Service noted. These furry, four-legged family members have long provided love, friendship, and sometimes protection for their owners.

Other U.S. issues that have featured domesticated animals include the two 2002 37 Neuter and Spay stamps (Scott 3670-3671), the 1998 Bright Eyes set of five 32 stamps with cartoon-style designs (3230-3234), the 1988 Cats set of four 22 stamps (2372-2375), and the 1984 Dogs set of four 20 stamps (2098-2101).

The digital color first-day postmark for the Pets issue features silhouette images of six different animals, each in a bold, solid color: horse, goldfish, snake, dog, cat, and parrot. This postmark is used on certain uncacheted first-day covers sold in a set of 20 by the Postal Service.

Press sheets consisting of 160 stamps (eight panes of 20) are being offered as well. The total number of press sheets made available to collectors was not announced.

Technical details and first-day cancel ordering information for the Pets forever stamps issue can be found below.

Nondenominated (47) Pets stamps, double-sided pane of 20

FIRST DAY Aug. 2, 2016; city Las Vegas, Nev., and nationwide.

DESIGN: photographer Eric Isselee; art director, designer and typographer Derry Noyes, Washington, D.C.; modeler Joseph Sheeran.

PRINTING: process offset; printer and processor Ashton Potter USA Ltd., Williamsville, N.Y.; press Muller A76; inks cyan, magenta, yellow, black; paper nonphosphored Type III with block tagging; gum self-adhesive; issue quantity 400 million stamps; format double-sided pane of 20 from 880-subject cylinder; size 1.05 inches by 0.77 inches (image); 1.19 inches by 0.91 inches (overall), 2.38 inches by 5.76 inches (pane size); 23.29 inches by 4.76 inches (press sheet); plate numbers P followed by four single digits; marginal markings Header Pets, 2015 USPS, USPS logo, plate numbers, promotional text, Twenty First-class Forever Stamps, bar code; USPS item No. 680704.

First-day cancel ordering information

Standard ordering instructions apply. Collectors requesting first-day cancels are encouraged to purchase their own stamps and affix them to envelopes. The first-day cover envelopes should be addressed for return (a removable label may be used), and mailed in a larger envelope addressed to Pets Stamps, United States Postal Service, Attn: Marilyn Wassell, 1001 E. Sunset Road, #2009, Las Vegas, NV 89199-9998. Requests for first-day cancels must be postmarked by Oct. 2.

The Postal Services set of 20 uncacheted first-day covers for the Pets stamps is item 680716. USPS order numbers for stamps and FDCs also appear in Linns 2016 U.S. Stamp Program.
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Stop polluting the water for the sea to recover

VietNamNet Bridge  The Government late last month announced the results of a preliminary investigation into the massive fish deaths in four central provinces of Viet Nam, with Formosa being the culprit. In the time to come, much remains to be done to clean up the sea environment and support those whose lives depend on it. Viet Nam News talks to officials, scientists and a representative of fishermen about this issue.

Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

Tran Hong Ha, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment

How do we guarantee that Formosa will do what it has committed to do to fix the damages?

I think that we have many reasons to believe that Formosa (FHS) will comply with its commitments. Firstly, the Vietnamese Government has expressed its determination not to trade off the environment for economic interests. The Prime Minister also confirmed the Government would shut down FHS if it lets a similar incident happen again.

We also have quite a strict legal system on environmental protection, which is enough to deter and punish any organisation or individual causing harm to the environment. There are still loopholes, though, I admit, but they will be fixed soon.

Last but not least, the global trend now is strongly supporting sustainable development with greener manufacturing to protect the environment. Any organisations or individuals polluting the environment will be condemned and boycotted on a global scale, which seriously pulls down their business competitiveness in the world.

What exactly does FHS have to do with its manufacturing system to stop the pollution?

The process for producing coke at FHS was one that released toxins, causing the mass fish deaths in the four central provinces. The coke producing technology, therefore, must be changed. FHS has agreed to switch to another eco-friendly technology, which requires a huge amount of investment, in the next three years. In the meantime, Vietnamese authorities will strictly monitor the treatment processes for air emissions, and water and solid waste, produced by the current coke ovens.

We will also force FHS to make changes to its wastewater treatment system to meet two big requirements: all wastewater at FHS must be treated comprehensively by particular technologies for each type of wastewater. The second requirement is that FHS must build new biomarker ponds to store the treated wastewater over a period of time for later monitoring and safety assessment. Only when the monitoring parameters, automatically sent to Viet Nams environmental agencies, show that the treated wastewater is safe enough to be discharged to the sea, will the authorities allow FHS to do so.

Those ponds will also act as temporary wastewater storage facilities in case unexpected incidents occur. Substandard wastewater will not be released to the sea and will be collected and treated later.

Regarding FHSs underground pipelines that discharge wastewater to the sea, what actually matters is whether the water is treated according to environmental standards. Those pipelines are not exclusive in Viet Nam but, on the contrary, are quite commonly used around the world to avoid disrupting traffic on land and the coastal environment. If the wastewater is treated properly, it is totally fine to discharge it via pipelines.

The Vietnamese Government itself will invest in an advanced sea environment monitoring system, of which the system in the four particular central provinces will be jointly built by the FHS. The monitoring system will help authorities recognise changes in the sea environment and therefore prevent an environmental disaster before it actually happens.

What are the damages identified so far?

After three months of research, we can now conclude that about 460ha of coral reefs were severely damaged and have little chance of recovering. The mangrove ecosystem and the seaweed were not affected much. The disaster scale was quite large, but the total losses, both present and long-term, are hard to determine in terms of a final and comprehensive number.

Work to completely restore the marine life is difficult and takes a long time. But it is possible.

For example, Viet Nam has managed to grow coral reefs at reasonable costs. That could very well be the new job for affected locals in the central region, which might take a few decades before the coral reefs are fully grown and attract tourism.

The Government is working on plans to create new jobs for the affected fishermen, one of which is to help the locals switch from near-shore to offshore fishing. Tourism is also a high-potential industry to take in affected locals who have to quit fishing due to the disaster.

Vo Si Tuan, director of the Institute of Oceanography, Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology

Vo Si Tuan

Was the marine environment in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Tri damaged a lot?

There are small coral reefs near Hai Van Mountain Pass, Son Duong, Son Cha and Con Co islands. Even though these coral reefs are small, they are still an important habitats for the aquatic species there.

After the pollution, the coral reefs by Yen Island in Quang Binh Province and Son Duong Island in Ha Tinh Province and some southern sites of Thua Thien - Hue Province have been affected at different levels. We must also pay attention to the degradation of habitats including not only coral reefs but also others such the coastal lagoon and river mouths system.

What do you think we should do to restore the sea habitats in these areas?

We have to support the natural recovery process. A huge number of fish died, but small fish born in other areas can move there in the future. Our job is support this process, such as protecting habitats and preventing fishermen from using destructive fishing methods, which are popular in these provinces.

In addition, we can help restore the coral reefs artificially. For example, in some countries, they place an entire ship underwater to serve as a shelter for fish, or we can put some concrete structures in the sea, like what we did at Nha Phu waters. Instead of waiting for fish to move naturally, we can do sea ranching at the designated areas to enhance recruitment of resources.

However we should improve sea management and protection. If not, after the corals and fish recover and start to thrive again, the fishermen will use destructive fishing methods and ruin it all.

Asides from restoring the ecosystem, we have to limit direct discharges into the sea because there are many factories, not only Formosa, that are discharging their waste into the sea. Statistics from the Viet Nam Environment Administration during the last five years already showed signs of environmental degradation in the four central provinces. The degradation will hinder the development of aquatic resources.

Some have said that in order to properly clean the sea, we would have to suck out all the sediment because pollutants sank into the seabed. Is that true?

This is easier said than done. The sea is vast - how can we take out all the sediment? Even if we could remove the polluted sediment, where would we dispose of it? Not to mention that this action would disturb the seabed and affect the coral reefs.

If thats the only choice we have, then we must have a very detailed plan and a careful impact assessment. We cant risk taking out all the polluted sediment and causing more harm to the seabed.

The sea will clean itself, but whether the process is short or long will depend on how toxic the substances are. Well have to wait for more analysis to get an answer to this question.

Yasuaki Maeda, Osaka Prefecture University, Co-director of Biomass Centre in Vietnam National University, Ha Noi

Yasuaki Maeda

What do you think about the environmental damages caused to Viet Nams central region by Formosa steel companys wastewater dumping?

According to the economic growth in Viet Nam, we will face a trade-off between economic growth and the environment. Not only Vietnamese companies, but also foreign companies should seriously think about how to keep the environment clean. We have many experiences with environmental improvement in the areas of air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution in Japan, and also in the EU. The Vietnamese Government should learn from those experiences to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

The Vietnamese Government is working on a plan to clean up the sea. How long do you think the clean-up work will take before the sea environment is recovered?

I think it will take at least 10 years, considering the recovery of the biosphere and also the sediment. For example, 40 years after the Minamata disease outbreak in Japan, caused by the release of methylmercury into Minamata Bay via industrial wastewater, the fishermen still cannot sell the fish caught there. In this case, the toxic chemicals involved might be cyanide and phenol, which do not have as long of a decomposition rate, so I think the recovery of the environment does not need 30-40 years, but at least 10 years.

What do you think Viet Nam should do to clean up the sea?

Once the marine environment is polluted, we can do nothing about it. All we can do is refrain from adding more pollutants to the polluted area. We should control the wastewater to ensure it has been treated properly.

Many Vietnamese now fear they will contract health problems similar to Minamata disease* if they eat the seafood caught from the central regions sea. What do you think about this and what should Viet Nam do to prevent such a tragedy from occurring?

The Government, citizens and companies should all collaborate on efforts to improve the environment, and we cannot just look for economic development, but also a good balance between the economy and environment. From now on, we should think about green growth.

A member of an independent group working on marine environmental pollution assessment, who wanted to stay anonymous

What are the findings of your group?

Our group has been collecting samples from the seawater and sediment in certain spots in Ha Tinh Province (on May 1), as well as the provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang and Quang Nam (from May 18 to May 22), and conducting independent analysis of these samples.

Our results show that the levels of highly toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and cromium in the seawater and sediment in these areas are below the allowed concentrations, according to Viet Nams standards. Those levels, however, are only applicable for the sampling sites and at the sampling times.

With limited resources, we could only focus on finding out whether the seawater and marine sediment in these areas are contaminated with heavy metals.

With such findings, could you estimate how long it would take for the sea to be clean and safe again?

In order to answer the question of how long it would take, we need more information. In the coming time, we will try to find out whether the seawater and sediment are contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs). We will focus on two classes of POPs that are controlled in Viet Nams regulations for seawater and sediment quality: polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH).

POP exposure may cause developmental defects and chronic illnesses. According to the Government report, phenol is one of the main causes of the recent mass fish deaths. Therefore, we suspect that POPs might be present and associated with phenol in the organic waste of the industrial plants.

While were going to conduct more analysis to be able to better assess the seawater pollution in these areas, we suggest that the Government also focus on comprehensively assessing the levels of POPs in the seawater and sediment. Heavy metals and POPs, due to their persistence, can bioaccumulate in sea creatures, and subsequently humans if the seafood is consumed, with potential harmful impacts to human health. We also think that its essential to have a group working on health risk assessment that can work in collaboration with the analysis group to issue warnings to people about how safe the sea is at certain points of time.

In the long run, its very important that proper and rigorous monitoring systems for wastewater treatment and discharge are installed, not only at the steel plant, but also all other industrial plants in the area, like the power plant. Seawater and marine sediments have been polluted, and its vital to keep it as clean as possible so that it can recover quickly.

Tran Trung Thanh, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Canh Duong Commune, Quang Trach District, Quang Binh Province

To respond to local residents, the Peoples Committee has held a meeting with more than 100 fishermen in the commune to listen to their concerns about their health and livelihoods after the Formosa incident.

At the meeting, most of the fishermen and their families asked the Government to conduct health checks to determine whether they were affected by the toxic water discharged by Formosa. They also wanted to know when the sea will be safe again for them to go fishing inshore.

Fourteen residents argued that Formosa should not be allowed to operate in Viet Nam anymore for fear of further environmental incidents in the future.

We dont have the competency to address these matters, so we have passed along these concerns to the Peoples Committee of Quang Binh Province.

VNS
Bleeding during pregnancy can be frightening, but it's not always a sign of trouble.

When a woman sees blood on her underpants during pregnancy, it's typically a frightening and worrisome sign. But not all bleeding is a sign of trouble.

Bleeding or spotting can happen at any point during pregnancy, from the time the embryo is conceived to before a woman gives birth. Some causes of vaginal bleeding or spotting are serious, such as possibly indicating a miscarriage or a problem with the location of the placenta, while others are not.

Although vaginal bleeding is not that unusual a symptom, especially in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, it's a symptom that a woman should not ignore, said Dr. Haywood Brown, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. She should notify her health care provider immediately about bleeding to obtain guidance, he recommended.

"Bleeding in early pregnancy is fairly common and occurs in about 20 to 30 percent of pregnancies during the first trimester," Brown said. "Some pregnancies in which bleeding occurs continue on to have normal outcomes," he noted.

Bleeding in the later stages of pregnancy is far less common, Brown told Live Science.

Here are the differences between bleeding and spotting, some possible causes and what to do when bleeding occurs.

Spotting vs. bleeding

Spotting differs from bleeding both in terms of the amount of blood seen and its appearance.

Spotting during pregnancy is when a few drops of blood soil a woman's underpants, Brown said. Blood flow is light and there is not enough of it to cover a panty liner.

Spotting may typically occur in the early first trimester of pregnancy, Brown said. It can be a sign of a "threatened miscarriage," he said, which is why a woman should call her health care provider right away, who may then request an ultrasound to determine if the pregnancy is a viable one.

In comparison, bleeding during pregnancy involves a heavier flow of blood, an amount that if a woman weren't wearing a panty liner or pad, the blood would soak her clothes.

Describing bleeding

When contacting a health care provider, a pregnant woman should be able to describe when her bleeding began, the color of the blood she observes, such as dark red or light brown, and how frequently she is bleeding.

A woman may be asked whether her blood flow is getting heavier or lighter, and if she has seen clots or clumps of tissue passed from the vagina. Other questions may include how frequently a woman needs to change sanitary pads while she is bleeding and whether she has pain with bleeding, according to the March of Dimes.

Even if bleeding stops, a pregnant woman should still call her health care provider to understand why it occurred.

Advice for heavy bleeding

If bleeding is heavy or if bleeding is accompanied by pain or cramping, a pregnant woman should call her health care provider immediately or go to the nearest emergency room for evaluation, according to the March of Dimes. A woman should also seek emergency medical attention if she experiences dizziness while bleeding or feels pain in the abdomen or pelvis.

Causes of bleeding in early pregnancy

A woman may experience bleeding during the first trimester for the following reasons:

Implantation bleeding. Some women get "implantation bleeding," during the first four weeks after conception. This light bleeding may occur when the fertilized egg (embryo) attaches to the lining of the uterus and begins to grow, Brown said.

Having sex. When a woman is pregnant, bleeding of the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus, may occur during sex, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

Infection. A vaginal infection as well as an infection of the cervix known as cervicitis can both cause spotting or bleeding, Brown said.

Ectopic pregnancy. Bleeding or spotting in early pregnancy could be a sign that the fertilized egg is not developing in the uterus and is growing somewhere else, most often in one of the fallopian tubes, Brown told Live Science. This is referred to as an ectopic pregnancy or a tubal pregnancy, he said.

A pregnancy that occurs outside the uterus is a medical emergency, Brown said. When bleeding occurs early in pregnancy, a woman's medical provider will attempt to rule out that an ectopic pregnancy is the cause. This will involve performing an ultrasound to see where the embryo is growing. A blood test may also be done to check levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone that's only present when a woman is pregnant. Levels of hCG may rise more slowly in an ectopic pregnancy than during a normal uterine pregnancy.

Miscarriage. Almost all women who experience a pregnancy loss have bleeding or spotting before the miscarriage, according to the March of Dimes.

Molar pregnancy. This rare condition, also called a hydatidiform mole, is when tissue that would normally develop into the placenta instead forms an abnormal growth or tumor in the uterus, according to the March of Dimes. A molar pregnancy may cause symptoms such as seeing bright red or dark brown vaginal bleeding during the first trimester, severe nausea and vomiting, and sometimes the passage of grape-like cysts through the vagina, says the Mayo Clinic. A woman who has these symptoms should call her health professional right away or go immediately to the emergency room for a prompt evaluation.

Causes of bleeding in late pregnancy

Cervical growths. Light bleeding in late pregnancy may be caused by an inflamed cervix or growths on the cervix, according to ACOG.

Hemorrhoids. As a woman gains weight during pregnancy, hemorrhoids may develop. These are swollen veins in the rectum or anus that can sometimes rupture and cause bleeding. But hemorrhoids would not cause vaginal bleeding. Instead, a woman might see blood in the toilet bowl after a bowel movement or on toilet paper after wiping.

Placental abruption. Heavier bleeding later in pregnancy, with blood flow comparable to a woman having her period, may indicate problems with the location of the placenta, Brown said. One common problem is a placental abruption, which is when the placenta becomes detached from the uterine wall and supplies the fetus with less oxygen. This is a serious condition that usually occurs in the third trimester, and it requires immediate medical attention.

Placenta previa. Another reason a woman may experience vaginal bleeding, typically without any pain, is placenta previa, Brown said. This pregnancy complication is when the placenta lies too low in the uterus, and it partly or completely covers the opening to a woman's cervix, he explained.

Preterm labor. If a pregnant woman has heavy bleeding at any point earlier than the 37th week of pregnancy, it may be caused by preterm labor, according to the Mayo Clinic. In addition to heavy bleeding, other signs of preterm labor may include pressure in the lower abdomen or pelvis, backache, stomach cramps and regular contractions, according to ACOG. A woman with symptoms of preterm labor should call her health care practitioner immediately.

Evaluating bleeding

Bleeding during pregnancy can be evaluated by various tests as well as a pelvic examination. In addition to the possibility of pregnancy loss, a pelvic exam can help a health care provider rule out other potential causes of bleeding or spotting, such as infections, cervical trauma or cervical polyps (growths on the cervix that are usually not cancerous), Brown said.

One test given may be an ultrasound, a scan that uses sound waves to generate a black-and-white image of the developing fetus and placenta. Ultrasound can help detect a possible cause of a woman's bleeding, such as a fertilized egg developing outside the uterus (ectopic pregnancy), complications with the location of the placenta (placental abruption) or possible miscarriage, according to the March of Dimes.

Some women may receive a blood test to measure levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A blood test may also check whether a woman needs treatment for Rh sensitization, a blood incompatibility between the mother and the fetus.

The treatment for bleeding during pregnancy will depend on its cause. Most of the time, treatment for bleeding or spotting is rest, according to the March of Dimes.

Additional resources
David vs. Goliath, by Gebhard Fugel (1863-1939). It's a well-known story, but whether David or Goliath ever existed  or if the Israelites and the Philistines ever fought  are matters debated by scholars.

The Philistines were a group of people who arrived in the Levant (an area that includes modern-day Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria) during the 12th century B.C. They came during a time when cities and civilizations in the Middle East and Greece were collapsing.

Much of what we know about the Philistines comes from Egyptian and Assyrian texts as well as the stories told in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Joshua claims that the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron were controlled by the Philistines about 3,000 years ago.

The Philistines themselves left no texts and, as such, much of what we know about them comes from the people they encountered. These texts often describe them negatively and today the name Philistine is sometimes used to describe someone who is warlike or who doesnt appreciate art or culture.

In addition to the ancient texts, modern-day archaeologists have tried to identify Philistine burials and the artifacts that the Philistines used by excavating the cities that the texts say the Philistines controlled. However what constitutes a Philistine artifact or a Philistine burial is disputed by scholars.

Other peoples' stories

One of the earliest mentions of the Philistines is recorded by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III (reign ca. 11841153 B.C.) who engaged them in battle. In a papyrus Ramses III boasts that the Philistines were made ashes by the Egyptian forces, a claim that modern-day scholars doubt.

Stories in the Hebrew Bible say that the Philistines clashed with the ancient Israelites many times. One of the battles supposedly took place between a Philistine force led by the giant man named Goliath and an Israelite force that included a man named David who would go on to become king of Israel. In the story David kills Goliath with a slingshot and the Israelites go on to rout the Philistine force. Whether David or Goliath ever existed  or if a series of wars between the Philistines and Israelites occurred  are matters debated by scholars.

The Philistines pop up again in Assyrian texts dating to the 8th century and 7th centuries B.C. when the Assyrian Empire ruled much of the Middle East.

One text records a treaty between the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon (ca. 681  669 B.C.) and the ruler of a city named Tyre. In the treaty, Esarhaddons control of the land of Philistines is acknowledged and the ruler of Tyre agrees that the cargo of any ships wrecked off this area belong to Esarhaddon. The Assyrian texts dont specify exactly what the land of the of the Philistines encompassed during the 7th century B.C.; however, an earlier text, dating to the reign of Tiglath Pileser III (reign 745727 B.C.) says that the Assyrian king had trouble finding a reliable vassal ruler who could control Ashkelon (a place which the Hebrew Bible says was a Philistine city).

One text, written in the name of Tiglath Pileser III, says that a King of Ashkelon named Sidqia did not bow to my yoke and as a consequence, Sidqia and his family were deported to Assyria.

The Philistines disappear from written history during the 6th century B.C. when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (reign ca. 605 BC  c. 562 BC) conquered the region and destroyed several cities, including Ashkelon.

Problems with the texts

The textual records of the Philistines leave modern-day scholars with a number of problems. The texts are few in number and were written by non-Philistines, who often had a negative view of them, said Raz Kletter, a professor at the University of Helsinki who excavates at the ancient city of Yavne  a place that texts indicate was ruled by the Philistines.

Kletter says that we cant be sure if the Philistines themselves even considered themselves to be Philistine or whether they based their identity more on the city they lived in or the religion they practiced.

The reliability of the texts that refer to them is another issue that scholars encounter. Many of the surviving ancient texts come from the Hebrew Bible. The stories told in the Hebrew Bible claim that the Philistines were often in conflict with King David, a ruler who supposedly controlled a powerful Israelite kingdom around 3,000 years ago. However, research by a number of archaeologists, including Israel Finkelstein, a professor at Tel Aviv University, has found that there is little archaeological evidence that a powerful Israelite kingdom led by a king named David existed.

Jerusalem, which was supposed to be King Davids capital, appears to have been sparsely populated around 3,000 years ago, Finkelstein says.

Over a century of archaeological explorations in Jerusalem  the capital of the glamorous biblical United Monarchy  failed to reveal evidence for any meaningful 10th-century building activity, wrote Finkelstein in a paper published in 2010 in the book One God? One Cult? One Nation: Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives (De Gruyter, 2010).

Finkelstein says that if a united Israelite kingdom did exist 3,000 years ago it likely would have been a small entity, located in the highlands  away from the Mediterranean coast.

Searching for the Philistines

Over the past century, archaeologists have excavated the cities that ancient texts say the Philistines controlled.

During the 12th century B.C., at a time when a number of cities in Greece and the Middle East were collapsing, large amounts of pottery and artifacts with styles similar to what people were using in the Aegean Sea region started appearing in areas that texts say were controlled by the Philistines, said Amihai Mazar, an archaeologist and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As a result, many archaeologists think that the Philistines came to the Levant during the 12th century B.C., possibly as refugees searching for a new home. The 12th century B.C. is also the time when Ramses III engaged the Philistines in battle, supposedly defeating them.

However Mazar said that as time goes on the Aegean styles disappear, the people who used them gradually adopted local pottery designs and customs.

Today the question of what exactly constitutes a Philistine artifact or a Philistine burial is something widely debated by scholars. Recently, a team excavating the city of Ashkelon discovered a cemetery dating back about 3,000 years ago, which they claim is the first Philistine cemetery ever discovered. However this claim is disputed. Kletters team found a cemetery at Yavne that he thinks contains Philistine burials. Additionally, a team led by the late archaeologist Moshe Dothan found a cemetery at the site of Azor in the 1950s, which they also claimed is Philistine. Mazar also notes that a century ago Sir Flinders Petrie found burials in southern Israel that he claimed were Philistine.

[Photos: Skeletal Remains of Possible Philistines Unearthed]
The inclement weekend weather might not have been at its most inspiring, but it would seem the local running scene is thriving.

Hence the success of parkrun, an international running/walking event, which is now in its ninth week in Longford and it is slowly building a following.

The brains behind bringing the project to Longford is Dromard native Kevin Kane and he is hoping parkruns weekly Saturday morning run will entice even more participants to get their runners on.

It was a very wet parkrun last Saturday at The Mall, but this did not dampen the spirits of the 44 runners and walkers taking part, he told the Leader.

The rain poured down, yet everyone enjoyed themselves from the 11 volunteers to the 44 participants.

Participants from all over the Shannonside region took part and tourist runners from Dublin, Kildare and London were also present to join in the fun.

Kevin said besides the weekly events obvious health and fitness benefits, its economical side was already proving a hit with entrants.

The best thing about parkrun is that it is free exercise and you get a chipped time every week.

There are walkers, runners, dogs (on leads) and parents with buggies also taking part.

It removes all barriers to exercise. It is for everyone from novices to olympic runners.

parkrun is held every Saturday at The Mall starting at 9:30am.

To register, simply log on to parkrun.ie and bring your barcode on the day. It couldn't be easier and it's a great start to the weekend. w

For more, click into Kevins Longford parkrun Facebook page.
Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com

Columnists Press Releases
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the July 14 attack in Nice, France.

Citing an insider source, propagandists working for the Amaq News Agency wrote: Executor of the deadly operation in Nice, France was a soldier of the Islamic State. He executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations, which fight the Islamic State.

Amaq News is the most prolific outlet in the Islamic States propaganda machine. Its statement was quickly followed up by other official claims from the group. The messages do not include any specific details about the terrorist responsible, nor do they indicate that the so-called caliphate had foreknowledge of his plans. But the Islamic States international network could have been involved.

French officials and media outlets have identified Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31 year-old originally from Tunisia, as the assailant. At least 84 people were killed when he drove a truck into a Bastille Day celebration. Counterterrorism officials in France and elsewhere are working to determine if Bouhlel had any solid connections to the Islamic States external operations arm, which has been plotting operations in Europe, or was inspired by the groups call to violence.

Amaqs wording  namely, labeling Bouhlel a soldier of the Islamic State  is the same formulation used after past attacks.

For example, the Islamic States propaganda arms described the May 2015 shooters in Garland, Tex. and the couple who assaulted a holiday party in San Bernardino, Calif. in Dec. 2015 as the groups soldiers. The San Bernardino terrorists were also labeled supporters. The team of jihadists responsible for the Nov. 2015 assault in Paris was hailed as a group of believers from the soldiers of the Caliphate.

Omar Mateen, who repeatedly pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi the night of his attack on a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, Fla. in June, was described as a fighter for the organization.

The Islamic State has repeatedly called on its members and supporters to kill civilians in the West. The number of committed jihadists and new recruits willing to heed this call has increased dramatically since 2014. By their own admission, however, the Islamic States leadership has also been met with some resistance when it comes to killing civilians, as opposed to members of the military or government officials.

It has reached us that some of you do not act due to their incapacity to reach military targets, or their finding fault with targeting those who are called civilians, so they leave harming them, doubting the permissibility thereof, Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani said during a speech in May. Know that inside the lands of the belligerent crusaders, there is no sanctity of blood and no existence of those called innocents, Adnani continued.

Adnani boasted that the list of evidence he could cite to justify such attacks was too long to be mentioned at the time. But he added that their [the Wests] warplanes do not distinguish between one who is armed and another who is unarmed, nor between a man and a woman.

Know that your targeting those who are called civilians is more beloved to us and more effective, as it is more harmful, painful, and a greater deterrent to them, Adnani assured his audience.

Al Bayan, another propaganda outlet for the caliphate, followed up Amaqs statement with one of its own. Al Bayan emphasized that the attack in Nice was carried out in response to calls from the Islamic State to target states participating in the Crusader coalition that fights the Caliphate, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group.

Al Bayan described Bouhlel as a soldier from the soldiers of the State, adding that he had executed a new, unique operation with a large truck. The message didnt offer any details on Bouhlels attack that arent already widely known, but it will take some time before a more complete picture comes into focus.

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
At least 300 people have been killed in four days of intense gunbattles in the capital of South Sudan and 42,000 have fled the city, the UN said today. The recent violence in Juba echoed the fighting that triggered the civil war and marks a fresh blow to last year's peace deal to end the bitter conflict that began when President Salva Kiir accused ex-rebel and now Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup. "It's over 300 deaths since August 8," said World Health Organisation spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. The UN however said it did not have the number of injured.

The July 8-11 violence had left "42,000 internally displaced" in the world's youngest nation, said William Spindler, the spokesman for the UN refugee agency. "The number of refugees in neigbouring countries is now 835,000," he said. However, the International Organisation for Migration said many people were returning. "Humanitarian access to affected people has improved dramatically since Monday. But this can only be sustained if the ceasefire holds", said John McCue, IOM South Sudan Head of Operations.

Machar's sacking as vice-president in 2013 set off a cycle of retaliatory killings that split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines and drove more than two million out of their homes. The conflict has been characterised by horrific rights abuses, including gang rapes, the wholesale burning of villages and cannibalism. According to the UN, there were some 114,000 South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries before December 2013 but that figure has ballooned to 835,000 now.

PTI
Ankara : A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets was waging a coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today, but the strongman returned to Istanbul defiantly claiming to have regained control. Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late yesterday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people. With officials insisting the takeover bid was falling apart, officials said 60 people have been killed and 754 detained in a night of violence in Turkey's major cities. Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul that they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.

Erdogan predicted that the putsch would fail and crowds of supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came out onto the streets to try to block it. After hours of chaos unseen in decades, the president ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours where he made a defiant speech and was greeted by hundreds of supporters. Erdogan denounced the coup attempt as "treachery" but said he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end". "What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion.

They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said at the airport. "We will not leave our country to occupiers." The sound of F16 fighter jets flying over the capital Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late Friday, with troops also moving to block the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul. As protesters took to the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving tens wounded. Soldiers also opened shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's famous Taksim Square, injuring several. Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara, while the parliament was also bombed.

PTI


The Ministry of Transparency, Oversight and Control (Ministerio da Transparencia, Fiscalizacao e Controle - "MTFC"), the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Publico Federal - "MPF"), the General Counsel for the Republic (Advocacia Geral da Uniao - "AGU"), Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras ("Petrobras") and SBM Offshore signed a settlement agreement ("Settlement Agreement") today that closes out the inquiries of the MPF, the MTFC and Petrobras into the payment of undue advantages to employees of Petrobras. The MTFC investigation was suspended as a result of the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding between the MTFC and SBM Offshore in March 2015. Following the execution of the Memorandum of Understanding, SBM Offshore, the MTFC, the MPF, the AGU and Petrobras engaged in negotiations which resulted in the signature on Friday, July 15 of the Settlement Agreement.



Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, SBM Offshore is granted, by the MTFC, the MPF, the AGU and Petrobras, full discharge and exemption from legal actions for all matters related to or arising from any acts relating to its then main Brazilian agent and his companies over the period 1996 - 2012 and all related investigations conducted by Petrobras, the MPF and the MTFC.



The Settlement Agreement provides for Petrobras and SBM Offshore to resume normal business relationships.



The terms for final settlement negotiated between the Parties are made up as follows:



* cash payment by SBM Offshore totalling US$162.8 million, of which US$149.2 million will go to Petrobras, US$6.8 million to the MPF and US$6.8 million to the Council of Control of Financial Activities (Conselho de Controle de Atividades Financeiras - "COAF") for the implementation of units for massive electronic process of information and other instruments to be used in the prevention and combat against corruption by the MPF and the COAF. This amount will be paid in three installments. The first installment of US$142.8 million will be payable as of the effective date of the Settlement Agreement. The two further installments of US$10 million each will be due respectively one and two years following the effective date of the Settlement Agreement; and



* a reduction of 95% in future performance bonus payments related to FPSOs Cidade de Anchieta and Capixaba lease and operate contracts, representing a nominal value of approximately US$179 million over the period 2016 to 2030, or a present value for SBM Offshore of approximately US$112 million



* SBM Offshore further remains under the obligation to cooperate with the procedures that may be conducted by the MTFC and the MPF against third parties, as developments of the case



* the implementation by SBM Offshore of improvements of its internal compliance program in relation to Brazil, in consultation with the MTFC, to whom SBM for three years following the effective date of the Settlement Agreement, will periodically report on matters addressed in the agreement. These arrangements do not affect the regular activities of the compliance departments of Petrobras and of SBM Offshore.



The Settlement Agreement constitutes the results of the institutional collaboration efforts between the MTFC, the AGU and the Federal Prosecutor Service of the State of Rio de Janeiro, which jointly conducted the negotiations, with a view to reaching the best solution for the case.The Public Prosecutor's Office shall submit the Settlement Agreement for approval of the Fifth Chamber for Coordination and Review and Anti-Corruption of the Federal Prosecutor Service, to the extent it is concerned. The MTFC will additionally send the Settlement Agreement to the Federal Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Contas da Uniao - "TCU").






Fathom is finalizing preparations for its July 17 Dominican Republic voyage representing the first ever cruise to the Caribbean focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programming. The 7-day cruise will feature specialized STEM-focused workshops for educators that Fathom developed in close collaboration with the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL).



Fathom also will play host to the fifth annual Clean Tech Competition, a unique research and design challenge for pre-college youth. Additionally, advertising students from the Gaylord College at the University of Oklahomas (OU) student-run advertising and public relations agency Lindsey + Asp will join the sailing as part of their partnership with Fathom to promote this first-ever STEM-focused cruise to the Caribbean.



Since our founding, Fathom has considered experiential education a central element of the experience we are bringing to travelers and communities, said Tara Russell, president of Fathom and global impact lead for Carnival Corporation. By hosting the first-ever STEM cruise to the Caribbean, we are demonstrating our commitment to education in a creative and innovative way by engaging as partners, educators and students who are actively working to advance our collective understanding and application of STEM while at the same time working to further build young leaders.



Russell has a personal reason for wanting to create this community. Both Tyson (10) and Lucy (8) love complicated math. I want to do all I can to encourage their continuing passion. We need to make math and science and business cool and exciting for kids - so they embrace their interests and dont feel like outsiders for studying what they love.



According to Russell, Fathoms partnership with the University of Oklahomas Gaylord College student-run advertising and public relations agency is yet another way the company is furthering its commitment to education. The students created an incredible project during their capstone class on behalf of Fathom, which led to an ongoing partnership between Fathom and Lindsey + Asp. Through this partnership, they have applied their classroom learning to a real-world marketing opportunity  to build awareness and drive sales for Fathom, she said. With this cruise, we have created a living lab for them to put their skills to work as they promote Fathom while seeing for themselves the truly unique impact experience we provide enhanced this week by the STEM theme.



For educator programming, Fathom worked alongside Ray Ann Havasy, Ph.D., director of the CSTL, to design progressive and engaging professional development workshops to help educators continue promoting student learning of critical STEM concepts. Fathom workshops will provide specialized training and information on STEM-related teaching resources, collaborative STEM program support, and technical career development opportunities. The featured onboard programing will emphasize the following areas:



 Project based learning

 Hands-on science activity ideas and demonstrations

 Dinosaurs

 Weather

 STEM questioning techniques

 Earth science

 Endangered species



As host of the Clean Tech Competition, Fathom will welcome onboard talented 15- to 18-year old students from around the world to showcase their creative solutions to Make an Impact by offsetting humans negative effects on the planet. The competition is designed to foster a deeper understanding of STEM-related concepts, recognize outstanding talent, and prepare the next generation of globally competitive innovators. The winning team will receive an award of $10,000, as well as the opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with a professor who will serve as a long-time mentor and assist them in furthering their work and education.



Fathoms Partnership with the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College



An additional element of the Fathoms July 17 cruise will be the participation of University of Oklahoma (OU) advertising students on the sailing. Members of the Universitys student-run advertising and public relations agency Lindsey + Asp will travel aboard the STEM-focused sailing to film Fathoms impact activities and share its commitment to student education globally. Participating in the sailing is just another step in what began as a semester-long capstone project, which led to the agencys full-time partnership with Fathom to apply four years of coursework and academic study in a real-world engagement designed to promote the new brand.



As a part of the students semester-long project, they worked closely with Fathom to strengthen Fathoms brand awareness and educate the consumer marketplace about the new impact travel category. The students conducted focus groups on to design their campaign for the company then implemented a robust program throughout the year.



STEM Activities Augmented by Social Impact Experiences



Travelers sailing aboard the STEM voyage will participate in the range of social impact activities in the Dominican Republic for which Fathom has become known, including educational programs benefitting school-aged children and adult students alike. For STEM educators on the July 17 cruise, Fathom has organized additional, special exchanges between U.S. and Dominican teachers to discuss how to further integrate STEM content into the Dominican school curriculum.



Fathoms STEM sailing is a first of its kind in which educators can learn, share and motivate each other while continuing their own professional development and supporting talented pre-college youth from around the world. They may do all this while collectively impacting the lives of thousands of Dominicans through organized social impact activities. Prices for the seven-day STEM trip to the Dominican Republic start at $499 per person, excluding taxes, fees and port expenses and including all meals on the ship, onboard social impact immersion experiences, three on-shore social impact activities and related supplies. To reserve a spot on this and future Fathom sailings, travelers may call 1-855-932-8466 or work with a travel professional. Learn more at www.Fathom.org.


A National Seminar on Facilitation of Maritime Traffic is being held in Suva, Fiji (13-15 July).

The event aims to assist Fiji to more effectively implement the Convention of Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL) and to advise on the recently-adopted amendments to the Annex to the FAL Convention.

The seminar has been organized by International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji (MSAF), and is being attended by 26 participants from ministries with responsibilities in the clearance of ships, cargo, crew and passengers at ports of Fiji, and private stakeholders.

IMO is represented by Julian Abril.

Participants included those from Fiji Police Force, FRMF Navy, Ministry of Defence, National Security and Defence, Department of Immigration, Fiji Ports Corporation Limited, Fiji Revenue & Customs Authority, Ministry of Health & Medical Services, Biosecurity Authority of Fiji, Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji, Safenav Maritime Pilots, Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Ship & Cargo Surveyors, Shipping Companies and Pacific Community (SPC).
International law firm Watson Farley & Williams LLP (WFW) advised long-standing client Teekay on the successful completion of financing initiatives for Teekay Corporation and Teekay Offshore Partners LLP (TOO).



This included assisting TOO on US$400m of secured bank financing and the raising of US$200m in fresh equity capital along with the deferment of certain bond maturity dates, whilst parent company Teekay Corp completed US$350m of bank financing and raised a further US$100m in equity capital.



The transatlantic WFW Maritime team advising Teekay was led by London partner Nigel Thomas and senior associate Patrick Smith, assisted by senior associate George Macheras, associate Natalia Golovataya and trainees Cameron Johnstone-Brown and Tanpreet Rooprai. New York partners Daniel Rodgers and Steven Hollander advised on the US and Marshall Islands law aspects of the transaction, assisted by associate Joice Varughese.



Nigel commented: Im delighted that we have been able to assist such a valued long term client as Teekay on a significant consolidation and enhancement of their financial position during very challenging times.



ABN AMRO, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, DNB Bank, ING Capital, Nordea, and Swedbank acted as lead banks for the bank financing initiatives, whilst Citibank, DNB Markets and RBC Capital Markets led the placement for equity initiatives.


Roll-Lift, the Heavy Lift Transportation Specialist based in The Netherlands has appointed Mr. Miguel Florez de la Colina as their sole representative for clients based in Spain, Portugal and France for projects undertaken outside Europe.



Miguel has extensive experience gained in the heavy lift and transport industry, having an involvement since 1998 and also actively working in the construction industry since 1995. He has managed sales and operations on a wide range of projects in the Petrochemical, Offshore, Civil and Power industries in the past and will bring added value to Roll-Lifts client based in Spain, Portugal and France who have an involvement in projects across the world. Clients will now have a local point of contact for their tenders, studies and operations. Roll-Lift will provide full support to Miguel from our Headquarters in the Netherlands as well as our offices Worldwide.



Mr. Miguel Florez de la Colina can be reached at the following location:



Paseo de la Habana no17, 5oA

28036 Madrid, Spain

M: (34) 609 905 259

T: (34) 91 434 7599

E: [email protected]
Regent Seven Seas Explorer is billed as the most luxurious cruise ship in the world. Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco took the role of godmother.

Dubbed as the most luxurious ship ever built, at a whopping cost of $450 million, Regent Seven Seas Explorer boasts one of the highest space ratios and lowest guest to cruise ratios in the history of cruising.

Accompanied by her husband and Monaco's reigning monarch, Prince Albert II, the former Olympic swimmer took the role of godmother and cut a red velvet ribbon.

It is an honor to be the godmother of this magnificent ship, Seven Seas Explorer," Princess Charlene of Monaco said. "I am also thrilled by the discussions taking place between my Foundation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to implement my Water Safety program on all their ships. Developing awareness of the risks attached to aquatic environments is, for me, a cause of most importance."

The new Seven Seas Explorer was built by the famed Fincantieri ship yard. Regent says that the Explorer is the most luxurious cruise ship ever built and that the 750 passengers it will carry per cruise will all be sleeping in suites.

The largest, called the Regent Suite, is actually bigger than the average American home, measuring in at 4,443 square feet. Guests staying in that two bedroom retreat will even get unlimited spa treatments.

Seven Seas Explorer is the most luxurious ship ever built, and we are truly grateful and privileged to have Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco serve as the ships godmother, added Jason Montague, president and COO, Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Our guests have waited patiently for over a decade for a new Regent Seven Seas Cruises ship, and once they sail Seven Seas Explorer Im confident they will agree it was well worth the wait.

Seven Seas Explorer will set sail on her maiden voyage on July 20.
The Cargo Shipping Market is estimated to gain momentum after fiscal year 2018 after years of sluggish growth. Cargo Shipping Market is projected to reach 12.52 Billion Tons at CAGR of 3.5% from 2016 to 2021.

According to report Cargo Shipping Market - Global Trends and Forecast to 2021, the growth in container transport will have highest growth in cargo shipping trade compared to other types of cargos.

Demographic changes and the increased globalization drive the growth for container transport. Additionally, the investments in port infrastructure, global supply & demand cycle will have positive impact on container transport.

Asia-Pacific region dominates the container transport followed by Europe and North America in 2016. Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share of the global cargo shipping trade in 2016. Developing Asian economies are driving growth in Asia-Pacific region.

China is major exporter in Asia-Pacific as it is developed as manufacturing hub. Market demand, developments in port infrastructure and strong government support has enabled Asia-Pacific to achieve largest market share.

The European region has been segmented into Germany, France, the U.K., Spain and Russia. Europe is estimated to account for the second-largest share in the global cargo shipping trade in 2016. The EU countries are expected to show steady growth in near future due to various initiatives by European Union and rising global demand.

North America is estimated to have the third-largest market share in cargo shipping trade, by volume, in 2016.

The North American Cargo Shipping Market is projected to grow at a promising CAGR during the forecast period. Growth in global economies will be major factor for cargo shipping trade growth as Canada and Mexico are export oriented economies.
The revised Somalia Maritime Code is being finalized at a four-day Stakeholders Forum, sponsored by International Maritime Organization (IMO) (Kigali, Rwanda 12-15 July).

The workshop is part of IMOs ongoing technical assistance to the Federal Government of Somalia and regional authorities in establishing a Maritime Administration for Somalia capable of undertaking flag, port and coastal states duties in line with IMO instruments.

The revised Code reflects developments in international maritime law and best practices and as such provides the necessary legal backing for the effective functioning of the Somalia National Maritime Administration.

The forum is being attended by 25 legal and maritime experts from Somalia, led by the Minister of Ports and Marine Transport of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hon. Nur Farah Hersi.

The official Launch of the review process took place in Mogadishu, Somalia (10 July) and was organised by IMO with support from the United Nations Assistance Mission to Somalia (UNSOM).

During the launch, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia, HE Mohamed Omar Arte, hailed the move as a milestone in re-positioning the country to take full advantage of its extensive littoral heritage covering more than 3,300 kilometers of coastline, one of the longest in Africa.

In his keynote address, the Deputy Prime Minister thanked IMO for its technical assistance thus far, and welcomed the prospect of further assistance from IMO to meet the countrys maritime capacity challenges.

IMOs William Azuh, (Head, Africa Section, TCD, Kiruja Micheni (Project Officer, Djibouti Code of Conduct, MSD) and Purity Thirimu (Principal Progamme Assistant, TCD) and Alexander Buabeng, Maritime Legislation consultant are in Kigali supporting the Stakeholders Forum.

The IMO programme for Somalia on the establishment of a National Maritime Administration started in 2014. IMO has worked with officials in Somalia to develop policy framework and draft regulations for the establishment of a national Maritime Administration and to produce the draft revised Somalia Maritime Code.

Last year, IMO conducted a workshop on coastal State, flag State and port State responsibilities to prepare selected Somali officials to participate effectively during the stakeholder reviews of the Maritime Code and the establishment of the Department of Maritime Administration (Nairobi, Kenya, 19-23 Nov 2015).
Attempted Military Coup in Turkey

Turkey is no stranger to military coups, three occurring in the post-Ottoman era, the last one in September 1980 before the July 15 attempted takeover.



It continued overnight. Events are fast moving. Reports indicate scores killed, many others injured, numerous arrests made by regime authorities. They remain in power - martial law and a curfew imposed.

According to Tass, spokesman for President Erdogans National Intelligence Organization Nuh Yilmaz reported (t)he coup attempt in Turkey has been curbed. All the events will be over before morning.



Clashes occurred in Istanbul and Ankara, Turkeys capital. Tanks opened fire near parliament. F-16s reportedly attacked them. A rebel helicopter was shot down. Fighting continued early Saturday morning, explosions heard, according to AP News.



Earlier, a US military source told NBC News that Erdogan was refused landing rights in Istanbul, sought asylum in Germany. From an unknown location, he appeared on CNN Turk calling on Turkish people to defend the nation.



Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the uprising was quelled. Pre-dawn Saturday, Reuters reported rebel soldiers abandon(ing) their tanks in the main city of Istanbul, the coup attempt appearing to crumble.



Early Saturday, Erdogan addressed supporters after arriving at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, saying he remains in charge, vowing severe punishment for coup plotters.



Obama urged all parties (to) support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed - despite strained US relations with Erdogan.



He blamed exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, living in Pennsylvania, Turkish intelligence claiming signs that (he) is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the civilian government.



Its not the first time ruling authorities blamed him without just cause. Allied New York-based Alliance for Shared Values president Y. Alp Aslandogan categorically den(ied) such accusation, calling it highly irresponsible.



We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey, he added. Erdogan long ago accused him of plotting to overthrow his government, putting him on trial three times in absentia.



Attempted coup took place against a backdrop of regional turmoil, including Erdogans support for ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria, along with war on Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi Kurds.



He rules despotically, cracking down hard on independent journalists, imprisoning them for doing their job, targeting all regime critics, along with responsibility for other human and civil rights infractions.



Turkish democracy is pure illusion. Erdogans rule is iron-fisted. Opposition parliamentary members were stripped of immunity, leaving them vulnerable to arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for criticizing regime policies.



Erdogan is an international outlaw, a tinpot despot in a part of the world ruled by dictators. Turkey is also an important NATO member, allied with Washingtons imperial wars, its involvement crucial to their continuance.



Its territory is a launching pad and safe haven for US-created and supported jihadists waging war on Syria and its people. Weapons, munitions and other material support pass freely cross-border to ISIS and other terrorist groups.



Their wounded are treated in Turkish hospitals. Erdogan covets annexing northern Syrian territory. He profits from selling stolen ISIS oil.



How the coup attempt affects things remains to be seen. Whether disruption these events cause are long-lasting is unknown.



For now, expect Erdogan to focus on consolidating power and eliminating all opposition elements - military and political.



Iranian media reported its armed forces sealed off border areas with Turkey. Syrians in Damascus celebrating Erdogans downfall were premature. Hes still in power, whether weakened remains to be seen.

By Stephen Lendman

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com

His new book as editor and contributor is titled Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

He lives in Chicago and can be reached in Chicago at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.



Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Global Research News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday through Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national topics. All programs are archived for easy listening.

 2016 Copyright Stephen Lendman - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




RIDGEWAY  The three Rs that campers abided by at Animal Adventure Day Camp were respect, responsibility and recreation.

Rick and Laura Steere have been in charge of Infinity Acres Ranch for the past nine years, and said they try to hold at least two summer camps every year.

This summer, there have been two camps, both a week long. The last camp contained the largest number of participants yet, with 19 kids in attendance. Their ages ranged from 7 to 17.

Food was provided by local schools, and the campers ate lunch and a snack every day.

Though the camp was a week long, some campers said that wasnt nearly enough.

I wish it was a little longer, said camper Logan Christian as he played with a rabbit. Logan has been coming to camp for the past three years.

Camp intern and New College Institute student Hannah Warner said she loved the nonprofit aspect of the camp.

My major is global affairs, but I am very interested in nonprofit organizations, which is what led me here, she said.

Campers participated in different activities each day, and they also learned about domestic and exotic animals, as well as natural foods and products.

We have some campers who come here, and when we ask them where things like maple syrup come from, their honest answer is the store, because they dont know any different, said co-owner Rick Steere.

From the minute they arrived at the camp, campers were immersed in numerous activities.

We do critter care, art projects, games and camp Olympics, Warner said.

Campers swam in a pond on the 60-acre property, and sometimes were joined by llamas and a free-range pig named LuLu.

Kids from all over the world have attended the camp. The Yirmibesoglu sisters, who are from Turkey, have attended the camp for the past seven years.

Laura Steere said she loves the joy the camp brings out in the children.

I get thrilled listening to them squeal with delight after they catch a crawdad, and just experience new things. They got to see a baby llama be born, they got to milk a goat. Its all just pure joy, I love the laughter, she said.

Friday, the kids made homemade butter and ate it on freshly-baked cinnamon cake.

Making butter is something that most of the kids have never done, Rick Steere said. Really, something many of the parents have never done. They will be making the butter in the little baby food jars, and they will start getting tired. However, all of the sudden they get excited because their milk starts to turn yellow and it makes the whole experience worthwhile for them.

The cost of the camp was $125, with most of the cost going to help feed the farm animals and supply the needed camp materials.

However, the Steeres hope to receive grants and donations from the community in order to make the camp more affordable to everyone through scholarships.

Its hard when you want to see every child (be able to come to the camp), Rick Steere said. The parents want to send them, (but) sometimes its just not an option.

The campers took a hike to Narnia on the last day of the camp, where they got to play and catch crawfish.

Narnia is the name they (the campers) have given the place we take them on the last day of camp to play and do stuff kids today dont get to do, like catch crawfish and hunt for water bugs that sort of thing, Rick Steere said.

At the end of each camp, the Steeres said they want the children to leave changed for the better forever.

We want them to have wonderful memories, we want them to have learned new things that they wouldnt learn anywhere else, said Laura Steere. We want them to gain confidence and skills. Basically, we want them to leave with enthusiasm and excitement about animals and nature and outdoor things as well with a sense of adventure.

Information about the camp or other services Infinity Ranch offers can be found online at www.infinityacres.org or by calling (276) 358-2378.
Citizens should support a proposal to adopt a lottery refund for localities. This legislation would establish a 5 percent refund of all lottery sales or all Virginia lottery sales to the localities. Currently the localities receive no sales taxes from the sales.

This refund would come from the 60 percent of the sales allotted to the prize payout. No money would come from the 29 percent of the pool allotted to the school system. Lottery sales in 2015 were $1.844 billion. A 5 percent refund amount would have amounted to $92,000,000.

In 2015 the sales in Nottoway county, including the cities of Blackstone, Burkeville and Crew, Virginia, with a population of around 16,000 plus, totaled $6,207,575, which would have resulted in a refund of $310,978 to the localities. The City of Martinsville has a population of around 13,000 plus, so the amount of refund would not be the same. However, these figures are used for illustration purposes. I have requested the sales figures for the city so the amount of refund would be known, but have not received them. However, I believe the amount could make a big difference in budget planning and help relieve the pressure to raise taxes and fees, especially the meals tax.

If passed, this legislation would take effect on July 1, 2017. The funds pulled from the sales would be put in a separate lottery for localities until payout. The funds for the last six months sales of 2017 would be paid out in January 2018 with follow-up payments each quarter.

The funds would not be restricted as to how they would be spent. These funds could be used to help reduce the pressure to raise taxes and fees, especially the meals tax.

I hope the city council and the citizens will voice support.

Ural Harris

Martinsville
CHICOPEE -- Police are investigating a shooting on Boucher Circle, in which one person suffered a gunshot wound,according to Police Department spokesman Michael Wilk.

The shooting was reported at 12:50 p.m., when police received a report of a possible house break-in, Wilk said.

Chicopee police, and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services were investigating.

"There is no danger to any residents and we are asking people, if possible, avoid this area while detectives process the scene," Wilk said in a news release. "We will update when further information is available"
CHICOPEE -- Police are investigating a shooting on Boucher Circle, in which one person suffered a gunshot wound,according to Police Department spokesman Michael Wilk.

The shooting was reported at 12:50 p.m., when police received a report of a possible house break-in, Wilk said.

The condition of the victim who was male, was not disclosed.

Chicopee police, and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services were investigating.

"There is no danger to any residents and we are asking people, if possible, avoid this area while detectives process the scene," Wilk said in a news release. "We will update when further information is available"

Richard Sawyer, a neighbor on Boucher Circle, said it is a quiet neighborhood.

"We have never had anything like this," Sawyer said. "We didn't know what it was. A girl came running out screaming."

Police handcuffed one person, he said.

Ambulances were at the scene but police reported there being one gunshot victim.
MIDDLEBOROUGH  Traces of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a rare but potentially fatal disease that is transmittable to humans through mosquito bites, has been discovered in Plymouth County, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).

The first case of the year, the mosquito samples were taken from the town of Middleborough on July 12, and were tested at the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory.

EEE is usually spread to people through bites from infected mosquitos, and people of all ages may be vulnerable to it, according to the health organization.

The DPH has said that the findings do not mean that there is currently an "elevated risk" of state residents contracting EEE. However, efforts to protect one's self from mosquitos should be a priority, according to the health organization.

State Public Health Veterinarian Dr. Catherine Brown said that while the findings were fairly "typical," she cautioned that Massachusetts residents should make efforts to protect against potential exposure to the disease.

"Residents need to take steps to protect themselves against mosquito bites: use insect repellant, cover up, and consider reducing outdoor activities at dusk and after nightfall when mosquitoes are at their most active," said Brown.

Additionally, strategies suggested by DPH to avoid EEE include wearing clothing that can reduce chances of being bitten  like shirts with long sleeves, long pants, and socks.

The organization has also suggested taking measures to protect your pets and animals; regularly cleaning water troughs can reduce the risk of mosquitos, as standing water is often a breeding ground for the insects.

The DPH has suggested that if a resident's animal is suspected of having EEE, owners are required to report to DAR, Division of Animal Health by calling 617-626-1795 and to the Department of Public Health (DPH) by calling 617-983-6800.

Additionally, more information, including all WNV and EEE positive results, can be found on the Arbovirus Surveillance Information web page at www.mass.gov/dph/mosquito or by calling the DPH Epidemiology Program at 617-983-6800.
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers have been detained across the country.

Turkey's state-run news agency said some 200 unarmed soldiers have left Turkey's military headquarters in the capital Ankara and have surrendered to police. It wasn't immediately clear if those 200 are among 1,563 military personnel who have been reported detained across Turkey as the government cracks down on the attempted coup.

Turkey's state-run news agency said the death toll in coup violence had risen to about 90 with 1,154 wounded.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings.



"There is no where they have they have proper control," Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

However, fighting continued throughout the morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.



Addressing supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan told the crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz said 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command. In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency on Saturday, Lekesiz said 250 others in the military police command were arrested. The police chief said clashes at the command are continuing but "are about to come to an end."

Turkey's state-run news agency says Turkish military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar has been rescued in an operation launched at an air base in the outskirts of Ankara. Anadolu Agency says the general is being taken to a safe location. Broadcaster CNN-Turk said Akar was taken hostage at the military's headquarters and transported by helicopter to the Akincilar Air Base. CNN-Turk said Akar would now take over the command of the operation against the coup plotters.



Earlier, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."



In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."



Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours, before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.



But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.



"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.



Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.



Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.



Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

Anadolu reported that 754 members of Turkey's armed forces have been detained across the country. At the Etimesgut armored units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the attempted coup were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police, the agency reported.



Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.



Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.



The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.



Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.



U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.



The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."





Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.



But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.



"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.



Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.



Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.



Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.



At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.



Special forces police appear to be deployed in the grounds of the parliament complex, just across the street from the military headquarters.



In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.



In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.



Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.



By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.



As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.
Donald Trump

In this July 6, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Well, so much for #NeverTrump. Except ...

The movement that just wouldn't die is dead. But the sentiment will linger. Perhaps even for quite some time.

Efforts to allow delegates to the Republican National Convention to vote their consciences instead of being bound to vote for a particular candidate went down to an ignominious defeat late on Thursday night when the Rules Committee voted overwhelmingly against the move. So lopsided was the vote, in fact, that the actual tally wasn't even made official.

So the war is over, right?

Well, sort of. Kind of. But not really.

If one sees the folks looking to deny the Republican presidential nomination to Donald Trump as having a single, limited goal, the war is over. Trump will be the nominee. But if you instead see those people as waging a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party, then the fight has only just begun.

Suppose, just for the sake of argument, that Trump loses badly to Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8. Imagine the election ends as a blowout. A landslide. An embarrassment for Trump.

Imagine further that the businessman has run such a raggle-taggle campaign that he costs the GOP not only its Senate majority, but also nearly costs them the House.

With the Republican Party in tatters, it will be up to some few to find a way forward. And who will be best positioned to do that? Those who always stood tall against Trump, that's who. Think Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse. And Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake.

Those who stood by and watched and did nothing will be left on the sidelines. As will those who happily jumped on-board the Trump train. If you weren't against The Donald, you were effectively with him.

So while the forces aligned against Trump may seem at the moment to have lost not only the latest battle but also the war, that's a limited view. They may well live to fight another day. For the future of the Republican Party.

Some questions they'll start with: What does it mean to be a Republican? How can we expand our base of voters? What are our party's core principles?

A losing Trump's backers would have no place in those discussions.
Red Sox Rays Baseball

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Monday, June 27, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

(Chris O'Meara)

NEW YORK - Eduardo Rodriguez's last start for the Red Sox resulted in a demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket.

On Saturday, Rodriguez returns to the mound having spent the last three weeks working through some of his command struggles in the minors.

Rodriguez allowed nine runs on 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings in his last start for the Red Sox on June 27. In two starts for Pawtucket, Rodriguez allowed two runs in 10 innings, striking out seven and walking three. His first start, he threw seven shutout innings, but he allowed two runs in three innings in his second outing.

With the Red Sox facing Yankees lefty CC Sabathia, Travis Shaw and Brock Holt are out of the lineup. Aaron Hill starts at third and Bryce Brentz in left.

On Friday, the Red Sox pulled out a 5-3 win over New York to open the second half. After Steven Wright faltered a bit in the seventh, newcomer Brad Ziegler picked up the slack and helped the Red Sox to victory.

RED SOX

Mookie Betts RF

Dustin Pedroia 2B

Xander Bogaerts SS

David Ortiz DH

Hanley Ramirez 1B

Jackie Bradley Jr. CF

Aaron Hill 3B

Bryce Brentz LF

Sandy Leon C

Follow MassLive.com Red Sox beat reporter @jcmccaffrey on Twitter. She can be reached by email at jmccaffr@masslive.com.
"For small to medium to national organizations, for events and fundraisers of any size, in any format  live, virtual or hybrid  the platform is built for scale."
This ranking puts Montana Western up there will Princeton, Auburn and Duke as among the nations best universities.

Money Magazine has named The University of Montana Western The University of Montana Western in Dillon number 1 in the state and the chancellor is quick to give her staff the credit.

With 1,400 students, the school is recognized for its "Experience One" program.

A block-learning program that has students take a single class for 18 days before moving on to the next class.

Full Story: http://www.kbzk.com/story/32460570/western-lauded-as-a-top-school
Au parlement a lheure des declarations des ministres, Pravind Jugnauth a donne les indications sur la reouverture de leconomie prevue dans les prochaines semaines.

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Les membres du gouvernement ont pris note que les instructions ont ete donnees au Bureau de lAttorney General de preparer lIntegrated (Solid and Hazardous) Waste Management Bill ainsi que celui du Central Medical Procurement Office. la liste des conge pour 2023, de l apromulgatuion du Education (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2022, de la nouvelle polique pour le recrutement dans le monde sportif, du rembousersement des contribution de la National Savings Fund faites par les travailleurs immigres entre autres.

1. Cabinet has agreed to the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change issuing drafting instructions to the Attorney Generals Office for an Integrated (Solid and Hazardous) Waste Management Bill with a view to providing strategic direction and guidance towards sustainable solid and hazardous waste management practices in line with the concept of circular economy. The main object of the Bill would be to ensure the environmentally safe and sound management of solid and hazardous wastes by adopting a circular economy approach focusing on material recovery and recycling for a sustainable waste management system.

2. Cabinet has agreed to the setting up of the Central Medical Procurement Office under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Wellness for the procurement of medical supplies, including drugs or medicines, vaccines, equipment, consumables and medical disposables for public health institutions in Mauritius. Drafting instructions would be conveyed to the Attorney Generals Office.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the promulgation of the Education (Amendment No.2) Regulations 2022 which would amend Regulation 24 of the Education Regulations which provides for specific cut-off dates for obtention of qualifications, submission of applications and documents for the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Scholarships and State of Mauritius Scholarships.

4. Cabinet has taken note that the CITES and Wildlife (Prescribed Species) Regulations 2022 would be promulgated under the Native Terrestrial Biodiversity and National Parks Act. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international agreement between governments to regulate or ban international trade of species under threat. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species. The Regulations would be effective as from 1 August 2022.

5. Cabinet has agreed to the Economic Development Board (EDB) signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Business France. Business France would provide its technical assistance, advisory, training and coaching services for the capacity building of EDB in its core missions while the EDB would provide relevant information and opportunities on the business environment to wider foreign direct investment, exports and market development initiatives, promotional events, publications and other initiatives.

6. Cabinet has taken note of the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between the Corporate Business Registration Department, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Economic Development Board for the establishment of a co-operative framework with a view to setting up a Single-Window System.

The FSC would be setting up a dedicated and exclusive counter for the Single-Window System at its premises. The counter would serve as an information desk to potential investors and act as a centre facilitating the applications for relevant licences, permits and certificates, including Occupational Permits and Certificate of Incorporation.

7. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius supporting the International Declaration on Transnational Organized Crime in the Global Fishing Industry. The main objective of the Declaration is to promote cooperation between relevant governmental agencies at the national, regional and international levels for the prevention, combating and eradication of transnational organised crime in the global fishing industry.

The Declaration also encourages supporting countries to work towards the fulfilment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals particularly in relation to Goal 14 on Life Below Water and Goal 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

8. Cabinet has taken note that Mauritius has ranked 28th in the 2022 Global Peace Index. Each year, the Institute for Economics and Peace releases the Global Peace Index. It is a study of 163 independent nations and territories around the world. Mauritius has been designated as the most peaceful country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

9. Cabinet has agreed to a new policy for the recruitment of foreign players and coaches by the Super League and the national First and Second divisions clubs of team sports, namely Football, Basketball, Handball, Rugby and Volleyball.

10. Cabinet has agreed to the refund of National Savings Fund contributions to non-citizens each time they leave Mauritius upon expiry of their employment contract. Amendments would be brought to the National Savings Fund (Claims and Payment) Regulations accordingly. This measure would be effective as from July 2022.

11. Cabinet has agreed to the mandate of the Mauritius Multisports Infrastructure Ltd being extended so as to, inter alia, cater for the organisational and logistic aspects of major sporting and recreational events to be held in Mauritius.

12. Cabinet has taken note of the list of Public Holidays for the Year 2023, which is as follows:

New Year  Monday 02 January

Chinese Spring Festival  Sunday 22 January

Abolition of Slavery  Wednesday 01 February

Thaipoosam Cavadee  Saturday 04 February

Maha Shivaratree  Saturday 18 February

Independence and Republic Day  Sunday 12 March

Ugaadi  Wednesday 22 March

Eid-Ul-Fitr**  Saturday 22 April

Labour Day  Monday 01 May

Ganesh Chaturthi  Wednesday 20 September

All Saints Day  Wednesday 01 November

Arrival of Indentured Labourers  Thursday 02 November

Divali  Sunday 12 November

Christmas  Monday 25 December

** The exact date of this festival is subject to confirmation as its celebration depends on the visibility of the moon.

13. Cabinet has taken note of the status regarding the implementation of the Premium Visa regime as at 30 June 2022. Some 2,869 applications were received from mid-November 2020 to 30 June 2022, out of which:

(a) 2,008 applications have been approved;

(b) 258 applications have not been entertained for not fulfilling the required criteria;

(c) 556 applications were incomplete and awaiting for missing documents; and

(d) 47 applications were set aside as applicants were no longer interested in the Premium Visa scheme.

14. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. Some 564.3 million cases have been reported globally, of which 536.3 million persons have been successfully treated. With regard to Mauritius, as at 13 July 2022, there were 306 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 42 were admitted at the New ENT Hospital. Over the period 07 to 13 July 2022, one death was attributed to COVID-19.

15. Cabinet has taken note that the fifth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH) would be held on 03 August 2022 in Mauritius. A High-Level Breakfast Meeting would also be held on 04 August 2022 in the distinguished presence of The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth.

16. Cabinet has taken note that Mr Noa Bibi has established two national records in athletics, namely for 100m and 200m, in France recently.

17. Cabinet has taken note of the participation of the Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance in the Special Session of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States  European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly held virtually. The special session was dedicated to the EU list of Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions for tax purposes and the list of Third Countries for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism.

Mauritius, as chair of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Ad Hoc Contact Group on the EU List of Non-Cooperative Tax Jurisdictions and that of Third Countries regarding Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, was invited to intervene in the Special Session by the OACPS Council.

18. Cabinet has taken note that the Regional Office in Eastern Africa of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) through the UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme would launch their first Regional Judges Colloquium on Maritime Crimes in Mauritius from 27 to 29 July 2022.

The UNODC Global Maritime Crime Programme supports Member States, through its mandate, to develop capacity throughout the entire criminal justice chain of serious crimes within the maritime domain. The meetings would be conducted by Judge Maurice K. Kamga who is a sitting Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

19. Cabinet has taken note that the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA) has received an application for the review of electricity tariffs. Public Notice would be issued in the press by the URA on 16 and 18 July 2022. The URA would hold meetings with representatives of key stakeholder institutions (consumer associations and the business community) between 18 and 22 July 2022.

20. Cabinet has taken note that the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Services has informed all petrol service stations that the validity of their existing Fire Certificates was being exceptionally extended until end of August 2022 with a view to ensuring the smooth running of business operations.

The National Land Transport Authority would also inform the holders of the Petrol Service Station Licence that a delay of up to 31 August 2022 has been exceptionally granted for the renewal of their Licence and that the penalty fee of 50 percent would not be applicable until 31 August 2022.

21. Cabinet has taken note that Dr Alvario Lario has been elected as President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) during the First Special Session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development held recently.

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The Ministry of Health and Wellness informs the public that the Vaccination Campaign against COVID-19 resumes on 4th February 2022. The administration of the Pfizer Vaccine as a First Dose for Adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and for all persons aged 40 years and above who have not yet been vaccinated and as a Booster Dose (for persons aged 40 years and above) who have received their 2nd dose of Covaxin, Covishield / AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik Vaccine and single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccines 4 months ago will be carried out in alphabetical order

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OFF-GRID Expo + Conference 2020 hosts its first digital edition in partnership with UNIDO ITPO Germany and Alliance for Rural Electrification for a two-day trade event; the exclusive digital event aims to cover off-grid solar, wind turbine, and hydropower systems and independent power supply; attendees can look forward to exciting lectures, panels, and unique networking opportunities for networking.

Affordable and sustainable energy is crucial towards achieving Africas sustainable development goals. With several concerns being raised about the ramifications that will arise for the clean energy transition, the OFF-GRID Expo + Conference is excited to be hosting its first digital OFF-GRID Expo + Conference to highlight and unpack renewable energy solutions towards the future on the 2-3 of December 2020.

The two-day trade event in partnership with UNIDO ITPO Germany and Alliance for Rural Electrification aims to present lectures on off-grid solar, wind, and hydropower systems and a self-sufficient power supply. With a varied supporting program, the OFF-GRID Digital seeks to be an exemplary counterpart to the physical event. Having launched in 2011 as a workshop, the event has gradually attracted more and more participants and aroused enthusiasm among exhibitors, attendees, and event partners.

The OFF-GRID Expo + Conference hopes to create a platform to connect and enable an environment of knowledge exchange throughout its fellowship. Each year has seen, project developers, technology suppliers, and industry associates come together to attend the OFF-GRID Expo + Conference to offer access to professionals in the field and unique networking opportunities that can help us advance the energy sector to the next level.

Across Africa, access to power has been hindered by the lack of access to competitive funding, the continents infrastructure, and the need for energy policy and legislation to be adopted to boost investment in the sector. The Chamber expresses great interest in such initiatives because it is conversations we should be having, not only with likeminded individuals but with governments and public institutions, said Executive Chairman, NJ Ayuk.

UNIDO ITPO Germany, Alliance for Rural Electrification and the African Energy Chamber continue to stress the importance of eradicating Africas power crisis through the widespread use of renewable energy solutions and smart power technologies and ensuring sustainable and cost-effective electricity in the years to come.

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by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, July 15, 2016

Capitol Records is asking a federal appellate court to reconsider a ruling that granted Web companies protection from copyright liability when users upload old music.

The decision, issued last month, "disrupts the legal status of every single pre-1972 sound recording," and conflicts with decisions issued by other judges, Capitol argues in papers filed Thursday with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling stemmed from a seven-year battle between Vimeo and Capitol Records over clips uploaded by users. Capitol argued that Vimeo was responsible for copyright infringement when users uploaded clips that incorporated copyrighted music.

Vimeo countered that it was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbor provisions, which broadly say that Web platforms aren't liable for infringement by users, as long as the sites take down infringing material upon request.

advertisement advertisement

But Capitol Records said the DMCA doesn't apply to music that was recorded before 1972. The company's argument hinges on language in the Copyright Act stating that the DMCA doesn't annul or limit common law copyright protections for pre-1972 sound recordings.

Digital rights organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sided with Vimeo on the question. The EFF argued in friend-of-the-court papers that Congress enacted the safe harbors to enable companies to allow users to post material dynamically. If the safe harbors don't apply across the board, companies would have to vet all clips in advance, to make sure that they don't include pre-1972 recordings, the EFF and other Vimeo supporters said.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Abrams in New York accepted Capitol's argument and granted partial summary to the company for videos that allegedly infringed pre-1972 recordings.

Last month, a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit reversed Abrams, ruling that Capitol's interpretation of the law "would defeat the very purpose Congress sought to achieve."

"Service providers would be compelled either to incur heavy costs of monitoring every posting to be sure it did not contain infringing pre-1972 recordings, or incurring potentially crushing liabilities under state copyright laws," a three-judge panel of the appeals court wrote.

Capitol is now asking the entire 2nd Circuit to re-hear the case. "The panel, with little attention to statutory text or history ... dramatically unsettled long-established property rights in pre-1972 recordings," the record label argues.

The company also says the recent ruling conflicts with a decision issued by a state appeals court in New York, in a matter involving Grooveshark. The Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court in New York ruled in that matter that the DMCA's safe harbors don't apply when users upload songs recorded prior to 1972.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have mapped out the sets of biological and chemical signals necessary to quickly and efficiently direct human embryonic stem cells to become pure populations of any of 12 cell types, including bone, heart muscle and cartilage.

The ability to make pure populations of these cells within days rather than the weeks or months previously required is a key step toward clinically useful regenerative medicine - potentially allowing researchers to generate new beating heart cells to repair damage after a heart attack or to create cartilage or bone to reinvigorate creaky joints or heal from trauma.

The study also highlights key, but short-lived, patterns of gene expression that occur during human embryo segmentation and confirms that human development appears to rely on processes that are evolutionarily conserved among many animals. These insights may also lead to a better understanding of how congenital defects occur.

"Regenerative medicine relies on the ability to turn pluripotent human stem cells into specialized tissue stem cells that can engraft and function in patients," said Irving Weissman, MD, the director of Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and also of its Ludwig Cancer Center. "It took us years to be able to isolate blood-forming and brain-forming stem cells. Here we used our knowledge of the developmental biology of many other animal models to provide the positive and negative signaling factors to guide the developmental choices of these tissue and organ stem cells. Within five to nine days we can generate virtually all the pure cell populations that we need."

Weissman and Lay Teng Ang, of the Genome Institute of Singapore, are the senior authors of the study, which will be published in Cell. Graduate student Kyle Loh and research assistant Angela Chen, both at Stanford, share lead authorship of the study.

Unraveling the mysteries

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can become any type of cell in the body. They do so by responding to a variety of time- and location-specific cues within the developing embryo that direct them to become specific cell types. Researchers have learned a lot about how this process is controlled in animals, including fish, mice and frogs.

In contrast to many other animals, human embryonic development is a mysterious process, particularly in the first weeks after conception. This is because cultivating a human embryo for longer than 14 days is banned by many countries and scientific societies. But we do know that, like other animals, the human embryo in its earliest stages consists of three main components known as germ layers: the ectoderm, the endoderm and the mesoderm.

Each of these germ layers is responsible for generating certain cell types as the embryo develops. The mesoderm, for example, gives rise to key cell types, including cardiac and skeletal muscle, connective tissue, bone, blood vessels, blood cells, cartilage and portions of the kidneys and skin.

"The ability to generate pure populations of these cell types is very important for any kind of clinically important regenerative medicine," said Loh, "as well as to develop a basic road map of human embryonic development. Previously, making these cell types took weeks to months, primarily because it wasn't possible to accurately control cell fate. As a result, researchers would end up with a hodgepodge of cell types."

Loh and Chen wanted to know what signals drive the formation of each of the mesodermally derived cell types. To do so, they started with a human embryonic stem cell line, which they chemically nudged to become cells that form what's known as the primitive streak on the hollow ball of cells of the early embryo. They then experimented with varying combinations of well-known signaling molecules, including WNT, BMP and Hedgehog, as a way to coax these cells to become ever-more-specialized precursor cells.

A yes-and-no strategy

They learned that often the cells progressed down the developmental path through a series of consecutive choices between two possible options. Think about the carnival game in which a disc is dropped down a slanted, peg-studded board to land in one of several cups at the bottom. The eventual destination is determined by whether the disc goes to the left or right of each consecutive peg.

The quickest, most efficient way to micromanage the cells' developmental decisions was to apply a simultaneous combination of factors that both encouraged the differentiation into one lineage while also actively blocking the cells from a different fate - a kind of "yes" and "no" strategy.

For example, cells in the primitive streak can become either endoderm or one of two types of mesoderm. Inhibiting the activity of a signaling molecule called TGF beta drives the cells to a mesodermal fate. Adding a signaling molecule called WNT, while also blocking the activity of another molecule known as BMP, promotes differentiation into one kind of mesoderm; conversely, adding BMP while blocking WNT drives the cells to instead become the other type of mesoderm.

"We learned during this process that it is equally important to understand how unwanted cell types develop and find a way to block that process while encouraging the developmental path we do want," said Loh.

By carefully guiding the cells' choices at each fork in the road, Loh and Chen were able to generate bone cell precursors that formed human bone when transplanted into laboratory mice and beating heart muscle cells, as well as 10 other mesodermal-derived cell lineages.

At each developmental stage, the researchers conducted single-cell RNA sequencing to identify unique gene expression patterns and assess the purity of individual cell populations. By looking at the gene expression profile in single cells, the researchers were able to identify previously unknown transient states that typified the progression from precursor to more-specialized cells.

Segmentation in embryo development

In particular they observed for the first time a transient pulse of gene expression that precedes the segmentation of the human embryo into discrete parts that will become the head, trunk and limbs of the body. The process mirrors what is known to occur in other animals, and confirms that the segmentation process in human development has been evolutionarily conserved.

"The segmentation of the embryo is a fundamental step in human development," said Loh. "Now we can see that, evolutionarily, it's a very conserved process." Understanding when and how segmentation and other key developmental steps occur could provide important clues as to how congenital birth defects arise when these steps go awry.

The ability to quickly generate purified populations of specialized precursor cells has opened new doors to further study.

"Next, we'd like to show that these different human progenitor cells can regenerate their respective tissues and perhaps even ameliorate disease in animal models," said Loh.

The study was supported by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (grants HL125040, GM007365, HL119553, HL071546, HL100405, NS069375, RR029338 and OD018220), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, anonymous donors, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore, the Siebel Stem Cell Institute, the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and the Alfred Sloan Foundation.

Stanford's Departments of Pathology and of Developmental Biology also supported the work.
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The worst affected district, Keonjhar, reported 785 positive cases while Cuttack witnessed a total of 213 cases, said National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) joint director Dr Madan Mohan Pradhan.Since the mineral belt of Barbil in Keonjhar district and industrial areas of Jagatpur in Cuttack district have recorded more cases with 735 and 107 cases respectively, Principal Secretary in Health Department Arti Ahuja has asked the industries and mining establishments to identify areas in their localities where water is stagnant and mobilize additional manpower to drain out water on a war footing. In areas where water can't be drained out, the industrial units have been asked to apply larvicide and keep repeating the cleaning after each rainfall besides sensitising workers on wearing full sleeve clothes.Claiming that unclean and unhygienic surroundings of industrial estates were responsible for the spread of Dengue in the city, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has issued notices to at least four industrial units of these two estates asking them to show cause as to why their units would not be ordered to shut down for creating public nuisance.Meanwhile, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, requested for a team of doctors to be sent to the State to assist in managing the situation. Responding to the request, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda spoke to Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu S Nayak and discussed the dengue situation. He assured the State Health Minister of full cooperation and Central support to fight the deadly disease.Nadda said the Health Ministry is ready to extend all assistance in terms of preventive and curative measures and send a team of doctors to strengthen its efforts towards management of dengue. The disease has not spread to other districts like Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Balasore, Khurdha and Puri, he said. Nayak said officials of both the health and urban development departments were working to keep the areas clean to prevent spread of the disease.Source: Medindia
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Some countries, men oppose female genital mutilation more strongly than women. In Guinea, which has the second-highest prevalence of female genital mutilation in the world, 38% of men and boys are against the continuation of the practice, compared with 21% of women and girls. The same pattern is seen in Sierra Leone, where 40% of boys and men want the practice to end, compared with 23% of girls and women, according to the data.The findings also show that in just over half the 15 countries with available data, at least 1 in 3 girls and women say FGM has no benefits. The proportion is very similar among boys and men in all but two of the 12 countries with data.According to UNICEF, in 2015 both Gambia and Nigeria adopted national legislation criminalizing the practice. In the 16 countries where data exist, more than 1,900 communities, covering an estimated population of 5 million people, have made public declarations to abandon female genital mutilation.UNICEF's research also reveals a possible link between a mother's education and the likelihood that her daughter will be cut. Among 28 countries with available data, approximately one in five daughters of women with no education has undergone female genital mutilation, compared with one in nine daughters with mothers that have at least a secondary education.At least 200 million girls and women today in 30 countries around the world have been subjected to female genital mutilation, a range of procedures that can cause extreme physical and psychological pain, prolonged bleeding, HIV, infertility and death.UNICEF along with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), co-lead the largest global programme to encourage elimination of FGM and currently support efforts in 17 countries. There is evidence of growing momentum and commitment to end the practice. However, deeply entrenched traditions in some communities in this region, and across the world, make this a major challenge. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2015 include a target calling for the elimination of all harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation and child marriage, by 2030.Source: Medindia


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The term Mozart Effect which was first coined by Alfred A. Tomatis who used Mozart's music as the listening stimulus in his work attempting to cure a variety of disorders.

Mozart Effect refers to the phenomenon of increased spatial abilities after listening to the musicians compositions. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a German prolific and influential music composer of the Classical era. Many studies evidence that if babies listen to music composed by Mozart then they can become more intelligent. Mozart baby music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of mental tasks known as spatial-temporal reasoning. However, subsequent research also suggests that the Mozart Effect may be an artifactual outcome of mood arousal.

Mozart and Social Media

The initial study by Rauscher, Shaw, & Ky, in 1993 received widespread attention from the social media. The idea that listening to Mozart might increase intelligence quotient (IQ)scores sparked the development of many "educational" books and classical music products. Eventually, thousands of parents started playing Mozart to their children. It has also been reported that in 1998 Zell Miller, the Governor of the state of Georgia (US), even asked for money to be fixed in the state budget for CDs that have music for baby in womb and newborn babies. Moreover, a quick Internet search will reveal plenty of products to assist you in the task. There are also the books to help you to enjoy the Mozarts music benefits.

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Mozart Effect and Growing Preterm Infants

Preterm infants are often kept with more care and considered to have less weight or growth as compared to full-terms pregnancy infants. So, with this perspective a randomized clinical trial with crossover design was conducted in 20 healthy, appropriate-weight-for-gestational-age, gavage-fed preterm infants. Infants were randomly exposed to a 30-minute period of Mozart music or no music on two consecutive days. Their metabolic measurements were performed by indirect calorimetry. The rate of weight gain in preterm infants who are exposed to music was found to improve. So, from the findings it can be concluded that Mozart reduces Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) in the development of healthy preterm infants. Research at Brigham Young University suggests that music has a positive impact and can even promote calmness in babies.

Classical Music and your Babys Brain

Brain is considered to be the most mysterious and complex object known to man. And, when it comes to increasing a babys brain power. people are more than interested to know the ways how to boost the babys IQ. While if you talk about a newborns brain, it is only 25 percent of its adult weight, by age 3, it grows and builds its pathways and connections, called synapses. According to Dr. Diane Bales, Ph.D., author of "Building Baby's Brain, the synapses used for classical music are similar to those that are used for spatial and temporal reasoning. Rauscher, in 1998 suggested that if music acts as a sort of pre-language of the brain, certain kinds of music (such as Mozarts) is likely to facilitate brain function, even on a short-term basis. The results of the experiment explain the higher scores on spatial-temporal tasks by stating that such music causes short-term causal enhancement of pattern development. Listening to classical music may soothe your babys ears. Music for kids offers numerous benefits that could alleviate physical and health problems. As you know that the brain has two lobes, the studies show that music involves both hemispheres of the brain. Its creativity and emotion is found to engage the right lobe, while rhythm and pitch engage the left one. So, notions of Mozart music work here, the child who receives musical exposure at a young age more efficiently develops the bundle of nerves that connects those two halves. One of the lead researchers in the original U.C. Irvine study believes that listening to a Mozart sonata can activate the brain to tackle mathematical tasks. In another study, performed by John Hughes, a neurologist at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, reported that Mozarts compositions triggered the strongest response in the brain. The effect on brain and its wave patterns was 2-3 times more compared to other popular tunes.

Prenatal Music Exposure

Music therapy during pregnancy also proves to be beneficial. The elements of music such as rhythm intervention & range may affect physiologic function like heart and respiratory rates, activity levels and developmental functions. Music also decreases the parental stress perception. Early exposure to music increases abilities in several other areas, including math and language. Studies show that prenatal music exposure induces long-term neural effects. The approach considered was to use the brain's event-related potentials (ERPs). It provides more specific information on the neural correlation of the types and features of sounds the fetuses can learn. During the last trimester of pregnancy, the mothers in the learning group were asked to play the Twinkle twinkle little star melody 5 times per week. After birth and again at the age of 4 months, the modified melody with some of the notes changed was played for the infants. While at the same time, ERPs to unchanged and changed notes were recorded. The results showed that extensive prenatal exposure to a melody induces long term neural representations and prolonged periods of quietalert states. Even more the infants can categorize auditory stimuli, such as recognizing two or more stimuli that are different.

Conclusion

For centuries, the science of mind what we call as Psychology is studied differently and independently from the science of brain Neuroscience. Psychologists are mainly concerned with our mental capacities - how we learn, or think while Neuroscientists continue with their studies for brain development and its functioning. Thanks to the musical elements which stimulate a realistic and meaningful environment. Babies who listen to Mozart Music can develop positive attitudes, self-perceptions and cognitive skills.
#SPC Group Deceased factory worker's family sues bakery giant SPC chairman The family of a young worker who died while working at an affiliate factory of food and beverage giant filed a complaint against the group's chairman on charges of violating the w...
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu talked again by telephone a short while ago, discussing todays developments with regard to the attempted coup in Turkey and the issue of the Turkish pilots who landed and asked for asylum in Alexandroupoli.



Mr. Kotzias reiterated to his Turkish counterpart the Greek governments view that the attempted overthrow of the democratically elected Turkish government constitutes a punishable act. With regard to the request for asylum, Mr. Kotzias stressed that, while the issue will be examined based on the provisions of Greek and international law, and the procedures provided for under international law will be complied with, it will be borne very seriously in mind that the arrested parties stand accused in their country of violating constitutional legality and attempting to overthrow democracy.
Partisanship and election-year politics prevented Congress from fulfilling President Barack Obama's $1.9 billion emergency request to combat the mosquito-borne Zika virus, a plea made in February. Politics scuttled any legislation to tighten gun controls in the aftermath of the massacre in Orlando, Florida.

The regular order that House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pursued for the 12 annual spending bills was undermined by congressional dysfunction and the power of House conservatives to hamstring the leadership. In a failure for the two leaders, Congress likely will be forced to pass a massive spending bill in September just to keep the government operating weeks before the election.

The House never did a budget, a major embarrassment for Ryan, who had served as chairman of the Budget committee.

What lawmakers did and didn't do:

___

DONE AND SIGNED INTO LAW

Toxic Substance: Republicans and Democrats agreed on the first overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act since it was approved in 1976. The law updates rules for tens of thousands of everyday chemicals, and sets safety standards for dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde, asbestos and styrene. The law also aims to standardize on the national level what is currently a jumble of state rules governing the $800 billion-per-year industry. Congress spent more than three years working on the legislation.

Puerto Rico: The U.S. territory and its 3.5 million Americans struggling through a decade-long recession and facing $70 billion in debt. After months of negotiations, lawmakers backed a rescue package that creates a control board to oversee the U.S. territory's finances and supervise some debt restructuring. The legislation would not provide any direct financial aid to the territory.

BISON: The bison is the official mammal of the United States. Lawmakers called the bison  North America's largest land animal  the embodiment of American strength and resilience and said it reflects the nation's pioneer spirit. There had not been an official mammal of the United States.

___

DONE AND ALMOST LAW

AVIATION: Days before a deadline, Congress wrapped up an aviation bill that attempts to close gaps in airport security and shorten screening lines. The bill also extends the Federal Aviation Administration's programs for 14 months at current funding levels.

DRUG ABUSE: Congress overwhelmingly backed a compromise bill aimed at curbing abuse of heroin and other drugs, a nationwide epidemic that kills more than 100 Americans every day. The legislation creates grants and other programs aimed at addressing drug abuse, especially heroin and opioids, a crippling problem that claims victims across racial, economic and geographic lines. Democrats had pressed for authorizing significant money in the legislation, but the measure does not.

GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS: Congress on Thursday sent legislation to President Barack Obama that would require most food packages to carry a text label, a symbol or an electronic code readable by smartphone that indicates whether the food contains genetically modified ingredients, or GMOs. The Agriculture Department would have two years to write the rules.

___

ENTANGLED IN ELECTION-YEAR POLITICS

ZIKA: Abortion politics stalled a $1.1 billion bill to combat the Zika virus. Republicans angered Democrats by adding a provision that would block Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico from receiving money to fight the virus.

SPENDING BILLS: Completing the spending bills is Congress' basic responsibility. The House has done just five of the 12 spending measures. An effort by majority Republicans to revive the process in the Senate  which had languished under Democratic control  sputtered. The gridlock ensures that in September, Congress will have to pass a massive spending bill to keep the government open weeks before the election.

GUN CONTROL: The massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, revived the call for gun control legislation. The Senate blocked a handful of bills to impose restrictions on those on the terror watch list. Republican leaders in the House couldn't win over conservatives to move any legislation.

SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. Republicans refused to give Garland a hearing, let alone a vote, and insisted that the next president should make the court pick.
Congress sent legislation to President Barack Obama on Thursday that would require most food packages to carry a text label, a symbol or an electronic code readable by smartphone that indicates whether the food contains genetically modified ingredients, or GMOs. The Agriculture Department would have two years to write the rules.

The White House says Obama will sign the bill, which would pre-empt a Vermont law that kicked in earlier this month. The House passed the legislation 306-117 on Thursday.

Senate approval came last week over the strong objections of Vermont's congressional delegation. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch argued that the measure falls short, especially compared with the tougher labeling requirements in their state. While the bill gives companies the three options for labeling, the Vermont law would require items be labeled "produced with genetic engineering."

"If there is an acknowledgement about the right of a consumer to have access to information, why not give them the information in plain and simple English?" asked Welch on the House floor.

Advocates for labeling and the food industry, which has fought mandatory labeling, have wanted to find a national solution to avoid a state-by-state patchwork of laws. The food industry supports the legislation, which was the result of bipartisan Senate negotiations. But many advocates do not, arguing that many consumers won't be able to read electronic labels and that there aren't enough penalties for companies that don't comply.

While there is little scientific concern about the safety of those GMOs on the market, advocates for labeling argue that not enough is known about their risks and people want to know what's in their food. Among supporters of labeling are many organic companies that are barred by law from using modified ingredients in their foods.

The food industry says GMOs are safe and the labels could mislead people into thinking they aren't. But several companies started to label their foods anyway as Vermont's law went into effect.

Vermont's Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin bemoaned the congressional action.

"It's a shame that Congress chose to replace our standard with a weaker one that provides multiple ways for the food industry to avoid transparent labeling," he said in a statement.

Republicans and lawmakers from rural states overwhelmingly supported the legislation. Agriculture groups have backed it, hoping it will bring more certainty to farmers who grow genetically modified corn and soybeans.

"The clock has run out, my producers need certainty and an interstate commerce nightmare will shortly ensure if we don't pass this bill," said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.

Genetically modified foods are plants or animals that have had genes copied from other plants or animals inserted into their DNA. While farmers have been selectively breeding plants for centuries, this manipulation is done in a lab, speeding up the process by transferring a gene from one plant or animal to another. The engineering is done to create certain traits, like resistance to herbicides.

The bulk of the nation's genetically engineered crops are corn and soybeans that are eaten by livestock or made into popular processed food ingredients such as cornstarch, soybean oil or high-fructose corn syrup. Only a handful of genetically engineered fruits and vegetables are available in the produce aisle, including Hawaiian papaya, some zucchini and squash and some sweet corn.

The food industry says 75 percent to 80 percent of foods contain genetically modified ingredients  most of those corn and soy-based. The Food and Drug Administration says they are safe to eat.

The legislation encompasses some foods that were exempted from the Vermont law, but it also allows the Agriculture Department to determine how much of a "bioengineered substance" must be present to require a GMO label. Labeling advocates say many foods wouldn't be labeled if the department sets a high threshold.
The Star Press (http://tspne.ws/2a3wJ5Y ) reports that herbicide degradation products were found in one of the eight wells sampled in Henry County and in one of the four wells sampled in Delaware County.

The degradates were acetochlor and alachlor, which are herbicides commonly used in Indiana to control broadleaf and grassy weeds in soybeans and corn. Maximum contaminant drinking water levels haven't been established for herbicide degradates.

About 1.6 million Indiana residents, or 26 percent of the state's population, get their water from private, domestic wells which aren't required to be tested for quality on a regular basis.
Is it just our country or is the entire world over-stressed? We seem to be re-enacting the past. Major conflicts, referred to as race riots occurred in the 20th Century throughout the U.S. In 1967, more than 100 deaths resulted from riots in many major cities. The problems flowed into 1968 and when firefighters responded to calls, they found themselves under fire by rioters.

Why would anyone want to kill those who were risking their lives to help?

It needs to be understood the only reason police are present during the current events is to help keep the peace, which is their job. Any police personnel who make an appearance in uniform should be respected and supported because they are there to help. How inconceivable that when they attempted to do so in Dallas, a person with a rifle in one hand and pistol in the other began shooting them, killing five and wounding seven. And in St. Joseph four days later, before the Dallas officers funerals had taken place, three more law enforcement officers were shot, two fatally.

I worked as a police officer and encountered gun violence. I have many good friends who work in law enforcement. I also have a family member, with two young children, who is serving his communitys law enforcement department. It is beyond my understanding that we are killing people who are dedicated to help others. Why would they want to participate in the grueling training to qualify and then become targets?

We may all have the right to bear arms, but nowhere in the Constitution does it state we have a right to shoot or kill each other. Why is our country regressing, going back to the days when Dr. King announced in 1963, I have a dream? We all still have our dreams and none of us dream of dying, yet the shootings and killings continue daily. As we become immune to these events, soon no lives will matter.

How will our country be a few years from now? We have slid back 50 years in Civil Rights actions and have decided our law enforcement people are to blame. Can anarchy be on our horizon? Will any man or woman be willing to serve as our guardians? Im certain many are considering retiring early or finding other employment.

Without police protection we may all be on our own. Will we be comfortable walking the streets carrying our guns, knowing if something happens, its up to us to take care of it?

Capt. Fred Davis is a retired charter captain and nationally published author of boating articles. As I See It columns appear Saturday in the Huron Daily Tribune and his Boat Smart articles are published online at www.captainfredsboattips.com.
The community of Elkton appears to be back in business with the formation of the Elkton Community Club, an entity to replace the defunct Elkton Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber called it quits when a member recently committed embezzlement and the group had more debts than it could pay.

While that court case is closed, local leaders have decided not to give up on promoting the community and will again sponsor the annual AutumnFest.

We are glad to see the baton pass to another group.

The only thing worse than the setback of an embezzlement, would be a community giving up. But the Elkton Community Club is not taking that route.

And we can see it, over time, building up a small general fund for promotions and to coordinate the annual AutumnFest.

Now is not the time to shy away, but to contribute to the Community Club and the future of the AutumnFest. Residents and local businesses deserve that opportunity.

Elkton leaders are doing the right thing by continuing this festival. It is one of the premier events in the Thumb over the Labor Day weekend. Visitors like it, residents like it  its definitely a festival that needs to remain a mainstay in the summer lineup of great things to do in the Thumb.
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.
Power to the huge U.S. airbase at Incirlik in southeastern Turkey was cut off Saturday and flight operations against ISIS were shut down in the aftermath of the failed military coup.

The U.S. military was still seeking a full accounting of all personnel and dependents in Turkey, Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

"All indications at this time are that everyone is safe and secure," he said. "We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, our civilians, their families and our facilities."

Cook said the Turkish government "has closed its airspace to military aircraft and, as a result, air operations at Incirlik Air Base have been halted at this time."

There was no indication when flights against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, would resume.

Cook said U.S. Central Command was making adjustments with aircraft operating out of other regional bases "to minimize any effects on the campaign."

In addition, commercial power to the base where about 2,000 mostly Air Force personnel are stationed was cut off but the base was able to function on internal power, he said.

The statement contrasted with the initial reports from defense officials Friday night as the coup was underway. At the time they said Incirlik was not affected and flight operations were continuing.

U.S. European Command, which has responsibility for Turkey, evacuated about 600 of the estimated 700 military families who resided at Incirlik following the terror attacks on the Brussels airport and Metro in March. However, a defense official told Military.com Friday night that about 100 dependents were still in Turkey.

NATO ally Turkey was rocked Friday by clashes between the coup militants and forces loyal to the government of President Recep Tayyin Erdogan that left at least 265 dead and 1,440 wounded, according to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. At a news conference Saturday in Ankara, the capital, Yildirim called the failed coup "a stain on the history of democracy."

The coup appeared to be succeeding until Erdogan made a dramatic landing Friday night at the Istanbul airport to rally supporters.

In statements Saturday, Erdogan blamed the coup attempt on followers of Muslim cleric Feethullah Gulen, a former ally now living in exile in Pennsylvania. Referring to Gulen, Erdogan said "I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation. If you dare, come back to your country."

A statement released on the website of his group, the Alliance for Shared Values, quoted Gulen as saying that he condemned the coup attempt and supported democracy.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt," Gulen said. "I categorically deny such accusations."

President Barack Obama was kept advised of the Turkey situation by his national security and foreign policy teams but he had not as yet called Erdogan, the White House said in a statement at midday Saturday.

In the meetings, "the President reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian government of Turkey," the statement said.

"While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the President and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the statement said.

--Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
UPDATE: This story includes new information on the cause of the leak.

YPSILANTI, MI - Eight people may have been exposed to a caustic chemical at an Ypsilanti University of Michigan health center on Friday, July 15, according to a University of Michigan public safety official.

All eight individuals received medical treatment and observation on scene by Huron Valley Ambulance medical staff, said Diane Brown, public information officer with U-M Public Safety. No one was taken to a hospital.

Brown said the discharge was contained to the building, located at 200 Arnett St., and that there is no threat to public health or safety at this time.

The building was locked down and evacuated Friday afternoon and will remain closed until fire and HAZMAT crews decide if any additional cleanup is necessary, Brown added.

The chemical leak occurred around 2:14 p.m. after an equipment malfunction at one of the three medical offices on site, Brown said. The location includes two medical offices and one laboratory.

Staff alerted fire and medical officials and began evacuations within minutes.

Staff waited with patients in small groups in the parking lot of facility, and were told to go home around 3:30 p.m. Friday. Some patients showed up for afternoon appointments but were turned away by fire and police crews.

Ypsilanti police and fire responded, and were assisted by the Washtenaw County Sheriff's office.

Ben Solis is an intern with MLive & The Ann Arbor News. Email him at bsolis@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @bensolis1.
ISTANBUL - Stephen Kunselman was just six years old when he witnessed his first riot, the storied 1969 University of Michigan student uprising protesting the Vietnam War.

Those protests were as close as Kunselman ever got to witnessing real political upheaval - until he traveled to Turkey last week for a family vacation.

Kunselman, his sister and twin daughters were confined Friday night to their hotel during a deadly attempted military coup d'etat.

The coup pitted rogue military forces on July 15 against police, soldiers and citizens loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It has since been repelled by Erdogan's forces, leaving 250 people dead and more than 1,400 wounded as of Saturday, July 16, according to the Associated Press.

Most of the fighting happened near the city of Ankara, but some spilled over into Istanbul.

Kunselman, a former Ann Arbor City Council member and University of Michigan employee, was there with his adult daughters Sabrina and Sophia Kunselman, and his sister, Celia Haven. Each of them are safe and traveling to various global destinations from a Turkish airport, he said.

Kunselman is headed home to Ann Arbor. He served on the Ann Arbor City Council for a non-consecutive eight years. It was his first time visiting Istanbul - a visit he's sure to never forget.

"I felt pause and reflection on how fast a democracy can unravel, having been a politician myself," he said. "The reason I came to Istanbul was because of the history, and their history unfortunately is known to have revolts and political dictators. That's exactly what we were watching last night."

A good day gone awry

The turmoil, Kunselman said, was a surprising twist to an enriching, yet mostly uneventful week with his family abroad.

Tourism took a major hit in Turkey as neighboring Syria descended deeper into a bloody civil war. Kunselman said he could count the number American and Western tourists he saw in Istanbul throughout the week on one hand.

On Friday morning and afternoon, it was business as usual. Locals and shop owners were friendly, the streets were lively. His family made their way to Topkapi Palace for sight seeing.

That's where Kunselman recognized the first signs of trouble.

"By chance, we went through the gate at the south end of the (palace) park, and as we were leaving, we were stopped by local police," he said.

Police asked for their identification, and wrote down their names and addresses.

"That was unusual because we at no time experienced that during our whole time here," Kunselman said. "I chalked it up to the officers flirting with my daughters."

From there, around 6 p.m., they walked toward the Bosphorus Bridge, one of the bridges locked down Friday night by rogue soldiers. Kunselman remembers seeing zero traffic coming off the bridge, a scene juxtaposed by a massive line of traffic trying to cross to the other side.

They had dinner, a glass of wine - or two - at a local bar and returned to their rooms. It was 10 p.m., and finally, there was news.

"Around that time we received a communication on our phones and saw Facebook posts from people elsewhere saying there was a coup," Kunselman said. "There was a lot of apprehension about what was going on, because the news isn't always very accurate as it's coming out.

"We read that martial law was declared, but that still didn't deter the locals from confronting renegades in the streets."

Frail democracy

The night progressed, and more people flooded the streets after Erdogan's orders to stand up against the coup.

Kunselman heard the deafening roar of fighter jets flying overhead. Similar Turkish fighter jets later shot down rogue helicopters as they attacked a police station.

The fighting and turmoil lasted until early Saturday morning. Through it all, Kunselman said he didn't fear violence against the Western tourists in the country, much like the Iranian Revolution and subsequent hostage crisis in 1979.

"We didn't feel like we were in any danger of them going door to door looking for us," he said. "I was attending Community High School when the Iran hostage crisis was happening, and I remember it vividly. But this was more akin to those (U-M) riots."

As the morning sun rose, government forces stopped the would-be junta from seizing power.

"When I woke up and learned the coup was defeated, I actually went outside and walked around at about noon," Kunselman said. "Nowhere did I see any armed military folk."

The remnants of the odd operatic sweep seemed like a distant memory, even with prosecution and another military shakeup going on behind the scenes in Ankara.

Kunselman's main concern Saturday morning was just finding a way out.

Multiple flights out of the Istanbul Ataturk Airport had either been delayed or canceled. His own flight was pushed back until 2 a.m. Turkey time on Sunday, July 17.

The experience was exhausting but valuable. Kunselman said it made him meditate on the frailty of democracy in the midst of popular unrest.

"Being here was a fascinating yet humbling (look) into a democracy in another country," he said. "It certainly makes me more appreciative of our own democracy, which is pretty unique.

"Even though we're having a tumultuous time with our elections, candidates and some great divisions in our country, I don't think we'll ever be subjected to a coup attempt like this here."

Ben Solis is an intern with MLive & The Ann Arbor News. Email him at bsolis@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @bensolis1.
SOUTHFIELD -- During a prostitution sting in January, law enforcement justifiably killed a suspected pimp and fugitive after he shot an FBI task force officer, the Oakland County Prosecutor's office ruled.

Without public announcement, the prosecutor's office issued its findings in a six-page, May 17 letter to state police, who investigated the death along with the FBI.

Rakeem O. Bentley, 24, during a struggle with several members of the FBI's Southeast Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes task force, nearly overpowered one of the officers involved in the sting, unholstering his gun and shooting him in the stomach, according to the summary, obtained via Freedom of Information Act request.

A bulletproof vest protected the officer.

Another member of the task force then shot Bentley at close range in the left side of his head, the report says.

Because all of the law enforcement officers involved were part of an undercover operation, state police say there is no audio, nor dash-cam footage of the shooting.

The Sting

The FBI task force, a mixture of federal agents, state troopers and police from various Detroit-area departments, set up at the Southfield Marriott on Jan. 27.

The North American International Auto Show, an international event that draws increased human trafficking and prostitution activity to Metro Detroit, was underway.

"Suspected female prostitutes were contacted and requested to come to the hotel," the report says. "Depending on what transpired, they, and those associated with them (their drivers, pimps, etc.), were arrested or detained."

One of the women contacted online by undercover agents arrived at the hotel in a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica and entered to meet the "john." She was accompanied by Bentley, who rode in the passenger seat, and a driver identified as Bentley's cousin.

The Arrest

While police handcuffed the woman inside the hotel, two undercover vehicles pulled up behind the Pacifica outside.

There were two state troopers, an FBI agent and a police officer from a local agency.

"At the scene of the stop, police lights of the task force vehicles were activated and the officers wore gear and badges that identified them as police," the prosecution summary says. "The officers exited their vehicles just as Bentley got out of the passenger side of the Pacifica."

Bentley asked an approaching officer why they were "messing" with him.

"By his words and movements, he appeared as if he was not willing to submit to a stop," said Oakland County Warrants Division Chief John R. Slevin, author of the summary.

Upon being asked, Bentley told police he had a gun in the vehicle. It would later be found in a locked safe. The key and a loaded magazine were found in his pocket.

A Struggle

Two officers reached for Bentley's hands.

"Bentley resisted," the summary says. "He was a large man, with his height listed at between 5-foot-8 and 6-foot (tall) and 272 pounds."

Police told Bentley he was being detained for "investigative purposes," but the struggle continued, and an officer warned the others that Bentley said he had a gun.

Bentley, after delivering a blow to one of the officer's groins, reached for the same officer's gun, but "his hand was pushed away by the officer," the report says.

Bentley and two of the officers fell to the concrete. One facing Bentley fell backwards into a puddle. Another held Bentley from behind, according to the report.

The report says Bentley began overpowering the officer beneath him, removing the gun from the task force member's holster and shooting him in the stomach.

An officer behind Bentley shouted: "shots fired," and the injured officer: "I'm hit."

A third agent unholstered his gun and approached.

"(He) fired a gunshot into the head of Bentley at close range, striking him several inches above the left ear," the warrant review says.

"Bentley stopped fighting."

After searching the vehicle, police found Bentley's firearm inside the safe along with $1,276 in cash.

MLive contacted the Southfield Marriott to ask whether surveillance cameras captured the incident, or if video was turned over to investigators.

"The FBI is charge of the investigation," is all the general manager would say. "They are the folks to talk to."

FBI spokeswoman Jill Washburn said: "The standard process of review is not entirely complete yet. As it is still considered a pending matter, we can not comment on it at the moment."

A Fugitive

Rakeem Bentley had reason to avoid arrest. He was on the run, a wanted fugitive in Louisville, Ky.

According to Louisville police records, Bentley participated in a home invasion, kidnapping and armed robbery of a 71-year-old woman on July 5, 2014.

Police said Bentley, with two accomplices, broke into the woman's home about 4 a.m. The trio went upstairs, restrained the elderly woman's hands and feet with zip-ties, rooted through possessions and stole $4,000 worth of mostly jewelry.

They left the woman bound and fled. She made it to her front porch and yelled for help.

Bentley's accomplices were arrested and charged. They named Bentley, but he'd already vanished. It's not clear exactly when he arrived in Michigan.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Have a question about driving in Michigan?

Email MSP-AskTpr@michigan.gov

State police troopers at the Lakeview and Rockford posts will answer your questions in Ask a Trooper.

Lt. Rob Davis responds this week to questions about handicapped parking, right of way and emergency vehicles.

Robert: I have noticed persons parking in handicapped parking spaces that have either dropped off a handicapped person or do not appear to be the handicapped person themselves.

It is my understanding that the permit or license is meant for the handicapped person to park not their driver or some other (family) member using the vehicle! Am I correct?

How does a trooper know if the vehicle operator is the handicapped person. Can they ask a person and how would the person prove they are the handicapped person on the permit?

Lt. Rob Davis

Rob Davis: As long as a vehicle has a valid handicap permit, we're likely to leave it at that.

We're not medically trained, so we really have no business questioning people as to their medical conditions.

I think we have in our minds that "handicap" means wheelchair. That's not necessarily true, there are many people out there with lung and other conditions that might look fine, but really can only walk short distances before having to rest.

With that said, if you had specific information that someone was fraudulent using a handicap permit, then we might look into that situation.

Valerie: My question is about right of way in a partially blocked street.

When one lane has an obstruction (parked car, garbage truck, etc.) and cars are approaching from both directions, who has right of way? My opinion is that the vehicle in the blocked lane should wait until the other car passes before going out of their lane.

Others say whoever gets there first has priority. What is the rule?

Thanks, and we enjoy your column in the Grand Rapids Press.

Rob Davis: This is essentially passing a vehicle on a two-lane roadway.

The law states the following: "A vehicle shall not be driven to the left side of the center of a 2-lane highway or in the center lane of a 3-lane highway in overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction unless the left side or center lane is clearly visible and is free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit the overtaking and passing to be completely made without interfering with the safe operation of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction or the vehicle overtaken."

So the person approaching in the open lane has the right of way.

Bob: In a couple of recent columns that involved turns at an intersection, the responding troopers stated that a vehicle making a left turn must turn into the left most lane of the highway being entered.

My reading of 257.647 is that the turning vehicle has to be to the right of center of the highway being entered, but it does not assign a specific lane as it does for right turns. Is there another section the troopers are citing or is my interpretation of .647 at odds with theirs?

I love the column and thank John Agar and all the MSP supervisors and troopers for taking the time to inform us.



Rob Davis: You're right. 647 isn't clear on what "right of center" means concerning a left turn from multiple lane road onto a multiple lane road.

In this instance then we have to make an interpretation from looking at the rest of statute.

You'll see that on right-hand turns it clearly states that it has to be made closest to the right-hand curb. You'll also note that left turns from one-way roadways onto one-way roadways have to be made closest to the left hand curb.

So if we extrapolate and assume that the one way roadway has multiple lanes, then the left turn must be made into the nearest available lane. With this information we interpret that the intent of the .647 was to say that the "right of center" is directly right of center and not 15 feet or more from center.

Bottom line is that it is an unnecessary and unsafe maneuver that causes accidents. I would agree that the Motor Vehicle Code needs to be updated to more accurately reflect modern roadways and clear up some of these vagaries.

Marilyn: Was on M-6 during the summer during the day, road was bare and dry and speed limit is 70.

There was an ambulance going in the same direction doing 60 mph with flashers on but no siren. Can I legally pass the ambulance?



Rob Davis: The law states that you shall yield the right-of-way to an emergency vehicle which has its light and siren activated. So technically you would not be required to yield to an ambulance in this instance because their siren was not activated.

But outside of this specific instance, you should always yield right of way to an emergency vehicle, when it's apparent they are on an emergency run. One other caveat you should be aware of: police vehicles are exempt for siren use in certain circumstances, so make sure you always yield to these vehicles.

John Agar covers crime and other issues for MLiveE-mail John Agar: jagar@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar
UPDATE: Fire officials late Saturday said the whole senior-living complex needed to be evacuated until Sunday because the fire-alarm system needed repair.

WYOMING, MI -- Fire officials said at least two people had minor injuries and multiple apartments are uninhabitable at a Wyoming senior-living complex because of a fire.

Wyoming Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bennett initially believed the fire and damage was confined to three units at Bayberry Farms Village, 2520 56th Street.

But Bennett later said the entire third floor of the building was temporarily uninhabitable because of smoke and water damage. The third floor contains at least 20 units.

He said numerous units on the first and second floor also were damaged from smoke and water.

The injuries involved one woman who fell during the evacuation and another who had trouble breathing. Both people were taken to a hospital to be checked.

Bennett said he also had heard about a third minor injury to a person.

The fire started about 2 p.m. Saturday, July 15, and, according to witnesses, appeared to originate on a second-floor balcony.

It was the second time Saturday that firefighters had responded to the senior-living complex. A woman about 9 a.m. left food on the stove and it set off fire alarms in part of the building.

Catherine Kooyers, a tenant who lives in an apartment near the unit where the fire started, said she ran through the hallway and knocked on doors to get people out.

"All I remember is just running through the building and screaming 'Fire, get out,'" she said.

Workers with the American Red Cross were at the scene Saturday to help tenant make temporary housing arrangements.

Also, family members of several displaced tenants showed up to get them.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison
WYOMING, MI -- A fire that caused the evacuation of dozens of people from a Wyoming senior-living complex appears to have started on a second-floor balcony, fire officials said.

The fire was reported about 2 p.m. at Bayberry Farms Village, 2520 56th Avenue.

Wyoming Deputy Fire Chief Brian Bennett said witness reports and an initial investigation shows the fire appeared to have started on the balcony of a second-floor unit but the cause has not been determined.

He said the fire severely damaged three units after climbing into the roof structure.

Fire departments from Kentwood, Cutlerville and Grandville offered assistance.

Two residents were taken to area hospital to be checked, but there were no serious injuries.

Bayberry Farms Village is billed as a community for those 55 or older.

Some of the dozens evacuated sat in chairs and wheelchairs in a lawn area, waiting to get back into the building.

Bennett said fire officials were hoping to get everyone back inside as quickly as possible because of the sun and growing heat of the day.

Bennett said a person coming to visit a family member at Bayberry Farms Village was the first to spot the fire. The person was driving along Byron Center Avenue and saw smoke.

Upon arriving at the complex, the man grabbed a fire extinguisher and hurried to the apartment on fire. But when he got there, the fire had grown too large to be doused with an extinguisher.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison
GRATTAN TOWNSHIP, MI - A 19-year-old woman was killed after the car she was a passenger in hit a tree on Friday, July 15.

Kent County sheriff's deputies responded to the 6400 block of Gavin Lake Avenue NE just after 4:30 p.m., when a Chevrolet Blazer crashed into a tree.

The northbound Blazer was driven by a 46-year-old Clarksville woman and there were five passengers in the vehicle.

The passengers were the 19-year-old from Florida, a 21-year-old female from Clarksville and three children ages 1, 7 and 11 also from Clarksville.

Police said the 46-year-old was wearing her seat belt and was transported to Spectrum Butterworth Hospital with non life threatening injuries.

The 21-year-old also suffered non life threatening injuries. All three children were treated for minor injuries at a hospital and have been released.

Not all families have been notified of the crash and names are not being released.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. The crash is still under investigation.
HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, MI -- Police say three people are now charged with lying to police during a homicide investigation involving a fatal stabbing.

Seth Cuevas, 18, was stabbed to death about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14 along Manley Avenue, just east of 136th Avenue.

Police said the stabbing occurred during some sort of street fight between several people.

Since Thursday night, Ottawa County sheriff's detectives have identified three people they contend have lied about facts relative to the investigation.

Those people are Sergio Coda, 23 of Holland Township; Alexis Allen, 22, of Holland Township and Mark Hekman, 19, of Park Township.

Initial bonds of $100,000 were set for all three people.

No one has been charged with the homicide so far.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - France presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on Friday that calls for deploying up to 228 UN police to Burundi to monitor human rights and help quell violence in the African country.

The draft measure, obtained by AFP, said the force would be deployed in Bujumbura and throughout Burundi for an initial period of one year, but that the size and mandate could change if violence worsens.

It remains unclear whether the government of Burundi would give its consent for the deployment, which would be required for the UN force to be dispatched.

Bujumbura has said it would not accept more than 50 UN police officers, but negotiations are ongoing on the proposed larger force.

Russia and Egypt have said they will support a UN police force only if the Bujumbura government agrees to its deployment.

The UN police force would be tasked with monitoring security and human rights in coordination with African Union rights observers and military experts.

Burundi has agreed to allow 100 AU rights observers and 100 AU military experts into the country to monitor the crisis, but fewer than 50 have in fact begun work on the ground.

The draft resolution urges the government to speed up the deployment of the AU monitors and to enter into dialogue with all opposition groups including "those outside the country" to end the crisis.

Political talks scheduled to open this week in Tanzania collapsed when the government refused to sit down with some opponents in exile.

The Security Council is under pressure to take action in Burundi, where the descent into violence has raised fears of mass atrocities, similar to those that convulsed neighboring Rwanda in 1994.

Burundi has been in turmoil since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced plans in April last year to run for a third term, which he went on to win.

More than 500 people have died, many of them in extrajudicial killings blamed on Burundian police, security forces and militias linked to the ruling party, according to the United Nations.

At least 270,000 people have fled the country.

The French text builds on a resolution adopted in April that asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to come up with options for the new police force.

Ban had proposed three options ranging from a full force of 3,000 officers to a light dispatch of 20 to 50, and warned that the situation in Burundi remained "alarmingly precarious."

In a report, Ban had argued that a force of 228 police officers would be able to provide early warning to help avoid a major bloodletting, but that it was insufficient to ensure protection of civilians.
16.07.2016 LISTEN

Granted all that, we have invoked the subtext of Chimamandas The Danger of a Single Story in order to show that half a loaf is not better than none!

The public should demand a full loaf! That is, either a full loaf or none at all!

We make this submission because our laidback, nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude has entrenched impunity in the body politic, creating unnecessary tensions in the country.

A politician calls for Ewes and Gas to be slaughtered and he the public and the courts let him go scot-free!

Journalists and political commentators threaten the lives of Supreme Justices and the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) comes out to rubbish the threat!

Politicians rape the national coffers right, left and center and they are left off the hook!

Foreigners and locals pollute lands, rivers and forests via galamsey and no one seems to care!

Musicians plagiarize others works and that is seen as normal!

Politicians lie through their teeth and the governed clap for them, even give them standing ovations!

Pastors lie, cheat, rape and steal and their congregations still say these pastors are destined for heaven!

A country with a criminal corps of lying political animals who are more dangerous than thieves

A country that pretends to live in absolute equilibrium with itself in a glass house, and still throws stones at other countriesNDC boys allegedly threaten Pastor Mensa Otabil

A country living such a big lie of internal equilibrating designation

A country drenched in an odoriferous blood of dishonesty, political corruption, hypocrisy, moral contradictions

A country whose female citizens are domesticated and treated like the female characters in some of Jane Austens Romantic novelssuch as Pride And Prejudiceand by Victorian male chauvinismTsitsi Dangaremgbas Nervous ConditionAma Ata Aidoos plays and dramas and novels

Like Wole Soyinkas literary male-chauvinism

Like Mariama Bas So Long a Letter

Like some African conditions

Like the theological sexism of Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions in African societies

Like liberation theology and moral theology liberating women and the girl child

Like the aftermath of sexual liberationsexual revolutionsexual politicsin the Western world

Like Trokosi

Like Witch Camps

Like gender discrimination

Like the androcentrism of Rastafarianism

Like the sexual objectification of women

Like open marriage versus closed marriage

Like polygyny versus polyandry

Drawing down the curtain on our like one-liners, let us just say:

Self-actualization for women and the girl childWomens empowerment should be a national priority

Let us also just say:

Speak truth to power in behalf of women and the girl childProgressive or quality education for women and the girl child is key to national developmentPoverty reduction, Afrocentric or African-centered womanism and feminismawareness about the potential of women to change the world, our declining civilizationare the others

We shall not however get entangled in the number, economic or econometric dynamics of the huge social and political benefits of gender equality and equity to national development, growthLike meritocratic Affirmative Action programs for women and the girl child

Men should also do well to learn to develop a feminist consciousnessof course in the creative sense of the Diopian paradigmand therefore we may want to subsume the We in Chimamandas We Should All Be Feminists under an umbrella-coverage of all men and boys

The opening lines or preamble for this two-part essay, the extracts from Chimamandas We Should All Be Feminists, eloquently speaks to the need to resist all forms of phallocentric and patriarchal dictatorships so as to pave the way for the smooth entry of marked de-msoigynization of our society.

All the money our politicians have been stealing can be used to improve the ailing health of the national and the living conditions of citizensespecially women and the girl child

The fact is that improving the conditions of citizens should not be the exclusive responsibility of the government, of the state. The government and the private sector, parents and families, civil society organizations, journalists, womens organizationscan make contributions also

Chimamandas We Should All Be Feminists should be required reading for both boys and girls. Every parent should read it as wellas well as the larger society including the clergy and the religious. Every mosque, church, residencies of traditional oraclesshould have copies of this book. We need to do this so that we can de-endarken the clotted mindsets of some citizens.

OTHER VIEWS TO CONSIDER

When we talk about Afrocentric womanism and feminism as we did in one of previous essays we are not, of course, talking about militant or female feminism, the equivalent of phallocentric or male chauvinism.

Rather, our reference point defines a situation where gender parity in employment, political and educational opportunities, to name but three, exist for all men and women regardless of political affiliation, religion, ethnicity

In other words, societal respect for women and the girl child should be nurtured in liberal environments endowed with equal and creative opportunities for all, our women and the girl child especially.

Thus, we should not allow the galamsey-like thinking patterns of male chauvinists to pollute the fertile womb of Ghanaian womanhood much the way our galamsey-miners and galamsey-politicians are doing to the fertile wombs of our forests, waters, and lands.

Men should not forget that behind every great man is a great woman, it is said. In fact the great conscious lyricist, Bob Marley recognized the power of women, lamenting the terrible conditions that made the woman suffer. Thus he shared in this power of women, promising to make the world a better place by way of improving the material and emotional conditions for the woman.

He made this clear on the track No Woman, No Cry:

Everything's gonna be all right!...

Everything's gonna be all right!...

Everything's gonna be all right!...

So, woman, no cry

No, no, woman, woman, no cry

Woman, little sister, don't shed no tears

No, woman, no cry

The FugeesLauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and his cousin Pras Michelcovered No Woman, No Cry on their sensational album The Score. Tens of artistes from around the world have cover versions of this song to their credits. Rap trio Naughty By Nature sampled it (courtesy of Boney M) for their single Everythings Gonna Be Alright.

No Woman, No Cry would also become a famous title for a book written by another great member of African womanhood, Rita Marley (co-written with Hettie Jones, ex-wife of late poet laureate Amiri Baraka), Bob Marleys wife.

No Woman, No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley is the full titular designation of the said book. It is also as though Jamaicas dancehall, roots reggae and lovers rock international superstar Gyptian, the sensual voice behind the international hit son Hold Yuh, has his own Mama, Dont Cry.

Indeed, it is an interesting title that would appear in other subtle forms such as on Prince Nico Mbargos Sweet Mother, Tupacs Dear Mama, Boys 11 Mens A Song for Mama, Obuoba J.A. Adofos Owuo Mpaso, Sizzlas Thank You Mother, Ashantis Mother, John Lennons Woman, Fela Kutis Lady

Kanye Wests Hey Mama, Jimmy Cliffs Dear Mother, Peter Gabriel/Youssou NDuors Shaking the Tree, Nas Dance, Christiana Aguileras Oh Mother, Snoop Doggs I Love My Momma, Jah Cures This One Is For You Mama, the Wailing Wailers Where Is My Mother

Shaggys Strength of a WomanHear Shaggy:

So amazing how this world was madeI wonder if God is a woman

The gift of life astounds me till this day

I give it up for the woman

She's the constant wind that fills my sail

Oh that woman

With her smile and her style, my

She'll protect like a child

That's a woman

She'll put a smile upon your face

And take you to that higher place

So don't you under estimate

The strength of a woman

Woke up this morningwith the scent of a woman

Just picture if you could what life would be

Ain't much good without a woman

She can nag and be a constant pain

Oh that woman

But those hips she's got me whipped

And it's just too hard to resist

What a woman

She can nag and be a constant pain

Oh that woman

But those hips she's got me whipped

And it's just too hard to resist

What a woman

Tender lips that's so so sweet

Gentle words she softly speaks

Such an angel when we need

God bless the ground beneath her feet

She can take you on a high

Be your comfort when you cry

But if you look into her eyes

You'll see the strength of a woman

Strength of a woman

And, of course, Shaggys lyrical phraseology God bless the ground beneath her feet immediately recalls Irish rock band U2s The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Salman Rushdies novel The Ground Beneath Her Feet, a complex mythical story revolving around two mens love for Vina Apsara, a female deity, spirit or nymph in both Buddhist and Hindu mythologies.

Vina Apsara, Africas Mami Water.African womanhoodYet Kennedy Agyapong, Nana Obiri Boahen, Halidu Harunarubbish Shaggys powerful The Strength of a Woman just like that!

CONCLUSION

We must strongly and vehemently resist the misogynist stereotypes of a rotten and disfigured tongue, a contemptible symbol of moral decadence which the shady and Machiavellian likes of Kennedy Agyapong, Nana Obiri Boahen, Halidu Harunarepresent in the Ghanaian body politic.

We encourage these womens groups to go ahead with their planned protest, a means to send a strong signal to politicians, male chauvinists, sexists, and misogynists that they will not tolerate abuse, whether verbal or physical, from men. And all progressive men of goodwill should join these womens groups!

Sad how political he-goats such as Halidu Haruna, Kennedy Agyapong and Nana Obiri Boahen make arrant nonsense of Shaggys Strength of a Woman. Thus, our civilization is in trouble!

REFERENCES

Ghanaweb. Pressure mounts on Kennedy Agyapong To Apologise To EC Boss. July 11, 2016.

Ghanaweb. NDC boys threaten Otabil, Rev. Martey. July 9, 2016.
Former President Jerry John Rawlings has incurred the displeasure of members of his own party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

It follows not only his vouching for the integrity and credibility of the flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, but his claim also that Ghanaians are yearning for a change of government in the November elections.

In a recent interview with The Guardian newspaper of Nigeria, Mr Rawlings, who is the founding father of the NDC, expressed concern about the deep-seated corruption in the current government and the frustration lots of Ghanaians were going through.

He therefore said, They want to see a change for the better.

A lot depends on the leader, his sensitivity, his will, his strength and determination, because the vast majority of the people are suffering from the decay, he noted.

But these observations do not seem to have gone down well with some groups in the NDC, who are seething with rage, calling for Rawlings' head.

Chief among them is the Social Democratic Forum (SDF) and the Friends of Atta Mills groups, who think the former president is working against incumbent President John Mahama's re-election bid.

In a statement issued yesterday, spokespersons for the SDF, Manan Mustapha and Alhassan Issahaku, described Mr Rawlings as a tribalist and traitor, saying Rawlings' constant carping from the sidelines is the sign of a man in desperate straits.

Aside that, they described him as a yesterday's man who has been reduced to irrelevance in national discourse, cutting a lonely, sad and desperate figure, one whose glory days of yore are a distant memory; a man who increasingly resorts to barbs and vitriol at the party he gave birth to and the man who now leads it.

Basis

They noted, In his latest desperate and shameful attention seeking grasp for relevance, he endorses Nana Akufo-Addo, citing what he perceives as the incorruptibility non-tribal agenda of the NPP presidential hopeful, it is treachery and disloyalty of the highest order.

Since his departure from the highest office of president, the group claims Rawlings has shown that his loyalty is only to himself and his ego because he has constantly criticised every NDC president, belittling them at every opportunity, and now in a new nadir, he seeks to curry favour with the enemy.

According to Manan Mustapha and Alhassan Issahaku, He seems to have a pathological dislike of Northerners. His constant unjustified criticism of President Mahama no doubt, stems from this animus for which reason it can thus be concluded that Rawlings is an incorrigible tribalist.

They therefore asked rhetorically, Was it not he who saddled us with a reputation for being an 'Ewe party,' a millstone that hangs around our necks that, to this day, we have not been able to shake off? Was it not he who, in office, surrounded himself with a cabal of advisors and ministers from his own ethnic group? Was it not he who cemented the NDC's support base in the Volta Region to the exclusion of other regions?

Yet, Rawlings has the brass-neck to denounce tribalism, castigating our own people for stating facts whilst bestowing some sort of false halo above the head of Akufo-Addo, the spokespersons charged.

Lest we forget that Rawlings, during the Dagbon crisis, fanned the flames of ethnic discord in the North, claiming he had a tape that would shed light on the Yaa Na's murder, a false claim that was not only self-serving but dangerous, they recalled.

Whilst in office, the NDC boys said, He used Northerners as cannon fodder on which he built his ambitions, discarding them when they were no longer of use.

Attacks

The group insisted, Rawlings is a canker that is associated with our party's name that must be expunged, describing him as a liability who has lost his mind and the sooner we disassociate ourselves from this loose cannon, the better.



'Sack Him'

In another statement, the Friends of Atta Mills (FAM)  also a splinter group in the NDC  also called for the immediate dismissal of Rawlings from the party.

They claimed that he is openly working to ensure the electoral defeat of the NDC in the impending presidential polls, hence it would be in the interest of the NDC to sack him.

According to FAM, Mr. Rawlings has been peddling falsehood about President Mahama and the NDC leadership aimed at weakening the strength of the party as the polls draw closer.

In a release authored by Gabriel Agah, acting National Coordinator of FAM, the group stated that Mr. Rawlings has on countless occasions worked against the NDC.

He particularly lambasted the former president for openly endorsing Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He said Nana Akufo-Addo is not corrupt.

Worry



Agah could not fathom why Mr. Rawlings, who claimed to be a true NDC member, could sing Nana Akufo-Addos praises, with the crucial 2016 polls some few months away.

He said Mr. Rawlings had again started rooting his support for the NPP flagbearer, just to stab the NDC in the back so the NDC leadership should be bold and sack him.

He suggested that he should not be allowed to attend any of the NDC's meetings and programmes, because he is a mole and can reveal the party's strategies to the NPP.

Agah, who sounded angry, told DAILY GUIDE that Mr. Rawlings was behind the formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP), which he formed with his wife, to weaken the NDC and send the ruling political party to opposition.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi
The massive transformation of the Gold Coast could not have taken place without the actuation of the dreams of Governor Gordon Guggisberg, a Brigadier in the British Army's Corps of Engineers.

He saw his mission in the Gold Coast as one intended to bring changes which would enhance the lot of the natives of this part of the world.

Sir Robert McAlpine's firm completed the Takoradi Harbour in 1928 having been awarded the contract earlier.

Sadly when the harbor was being commissioned a year after Guggisberg's departure from the Gold Coast, he was not even invited to witness the actualization of his dream.

Another area which captures Guggisberg's success was the initiation and development of the railway system which in his estimation would not only cut down on transport costs in the Gold Coast but enhance the colony's competitiveness in the sale of her cocoa and other exports.

In his annual message in 1923, he is reported to have said that not only are railways required, but they are required now, as soon as it is possible to build them. Nothing is to be gained, everything is to be lost by deferring their construction until competition becomes intense.

The passion with which the gentleman considered Gold Coast's development is worth emulating by indigenous Ghanaians who today regard projects as means of siphoning public funds.

His efforts saw the completion of the Kumasi to Sekondi line in 1926 project which entailed the straightening and re-routing of parts of the line. He is also credited with the completion of the Kumasi to Accra line which under Governor Clifford covered only a distance of twenty-six miles from Tafo. Work on the Kade to Huni Valley line started at the end of 1923.

The extension of the railway line to the Northern Territories which is still being toyed by contemporary politicians was a dream of Governor Guggisberg who is reported to have notified the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs about his intention of extending the line from Kumasi to Gambaga which was then the seat of the British authority, a Gold Coast Constabulary unit being at the place.

From 1926 three alternative routes to the Northern Territories or NTs as these places were known, were considered.

In his report during his West African tour of 1926 the Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Ormesby Gore approved of the project but same was shelved by Guggisberg's successors.

But for the movement of Guggisberg from the Gold Coast, the railway system would have been extended to the NTs.

In the area of road construction, Governor Guggisberg did a lot for the Gold Coast having constructed a total of 3,338 miles of new roads out of which 260 were given metal and tar treatment to ensure durability. He was also the first governor to visit most towns in the Gold Coast, the improved road network facilitating the venture. He made it to Tamale from Kumasi in twelve hours in those days the distance being 240 miles.

Health

In the area of health too he carved a name for himself, the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital standing as a living testimony.

The population of the Gold Coast at the period under review was small and a Governor is reported to have told a delegation of Zongo elders who called on him at the Government House in 1909 to encourage more migrants to come and settle here.

Guggisberg lamented that the relative smallness of the population did not augur well for the exploitation of the Gold Coast's vast natural resources.

His dream was to establish a medical delivery system that would reduce the rather high child mortality rate of between 250 and 300 to a 1000 births in Accra to the 77 per 1000 as obtained in England at the time.

To achieve this, he thought about improving sanitation through the training of sanitary officers and inspectors alongside the provision of pipe-borne water and the construction of hospitals.

In 1912, the health sector sapped ten percent of the annual budget to the tune of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, a manifestation of his seriousness with the subject.

The Gold Coast colony was spending more on health care delivery than the other countries in West Africa. Until 1922-23, only Accra and Sekondi had access to pipe-borne water. A year later, the facility was extended to Winneba and plans to do same for Cape Coast was subsequently considered.

The construction of hospitals was a major feature of Guggisberg's health policy.

First Hospital Structure

The first attempt at establishing a hospital in the Gold Coast colony was when in 1878 when Dr. Jeans opened a makeshift hospital consisting of a wooden hut at a site behind the Jamestown Prison where troops of the Imperial and Government Forces were treated. The facility was transferred to Ussher Town in 1881 or 1882 at a place called Old Lutterodt's House.

In the same year, Governor Rowe laid the foundation stone for the Old Colonial Hospital at the site of the present High Court Buildings which was completed in 1883. It consisted of a one-storey building with a European ward of four beds and a native ward of 12 beds on the upper floor, a dispensary and nurses' quarters on the ground floor.

There was a growing demand for health facilities in the colony and to address this, a Principal Medical Officer, one Dr. T.E. Rice made a proposal to the then Governor Hugh Clifford, Guggisberg's predecessor. In October 1916 Clifford's government acquired a site at Korle-Bu with the intention of constructing a native hospital.

Dr. C.V. Le Fanu made the designs of the proposed hospital which was subjected to a detailed elaboration in 1917 by Mr. Harrison, an architect with the PWD. In November 1919, a month after the arrival of Guggisberg, he submitted a new set of revised drawing of the hospital to England.

In 192O it was returned with a list of recommendations, modifications and suggestions. In the same month tenders were called for and in August 1920 contract for the construction was awarded to Messrs. Thomas & Edge, West Africa Limited. Guggisberg laid the foundation stone in January 1921 and the opening ceremony was performed on 9th October 1923. One of the highlights of the opening was the investiture of Dr. B.W. Quartey-Papafio as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and Mr. Van Hien. The opening day also marked the start of business but full operation commenced the following year.

Betweeen 1919 and 1923, Guggisberg had built 8 hospitals and dispensaries in the colony, Ashanti and the Northern Territories. His dream was to have many Africans involved in the medical delivery system as he once said it is not solely on European medical officers that I have my hopes for the future. There is a vast field for the employment of Africans though at present medical service vacancies exist for more.

It was his wish for African doctors to receive part of their training locally and the rest abroad because according to him the racial discrimination prevalent at the time in Europe did not augur well for the acquisition of the necessary knowledge.

Full training abroad he added contributed to the development of bad attitudes.

In 1924, Guggisberg announced plans for the establishment of a medical school where African doctors would be trained for a period of six years before proceeding to England to complete the remaining two years.

The final decision was shot down by his successor, Governor A.R. Slater who saw the project, as he put it, as superfluous. In 1962, however, a Ghanaian government saw the need for a medical school and proceeded to establish it.

By A.R. Gomda
The Abetifi constituency parliamentary by-election will come off today [Saturday] to replace the late New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for the area, Peter Wiafe Pepera.

This by-election, which is in accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution, is being contested by candidates from four political parties.

Bryan Acheampong will be contesting on the ticket of the NPP, Edmund Nkansah on the Progressive Peoples Party's ticket, Kenneth Nii Quaye for the United Front Party (UFP) and Vida Konadu Enim of Independent Peoples Party (IPP).

EC using pre-deletion register

The District Election Officer for the Abetifi constituency, Stella Sarpong, has said all is set for the estimated 33,773 eligible constituents to cast their votes across 917 polling centres later today.

Despite the Electoral Commission (EC) recently releasing the list of NHIS registrants who have been deleted from the voters register, Mrs. Sarpong indicated that the EC will be using the pre-deletion register for the by-election.

She however said on Eyewitness News we don't have the problem with NHIS. Nobody's name was deleted from our register.

Police presence at all polling centres

The Police Commander for Abetifi, ASP David Kumah told Citi News security officers have been deployed to all polling centers.

So far we have 917 polling stations so we have security at all the polling stations and for now we have a patrol team and a standby team, ASP Kumah said.

NDC absence

The National Democratic Congresss (NDC) Emmanuel Tabi had picked the EC nomination forms to contest in the constituency but didnt file them after the party had decided not to contest the seat.

Speaking to that decision to Citi News, the Constituency Chairman for the Abetifi, Gershon Afianyo said participating in this by-election just 3 months to the election will be a waste of resources.

According to him, Looking at the time and how close the election into the general elections, we don't think it is prudent for us to go into this election.

Death of former Abetifi MP

Peter Wiafe Pepera, died on May 21 at the 37 Military Hospital where he was on admission.

Peter Wiafe Pepera

The late lawmaker who died a fortnight after his 62nd birthday, was once a minister in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration before joining the NPP in 2001.

He was a Ranking Member on the Trade and Industry Committee in Parliament.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The Chiana-Paga constituency of National Democratic Congress will today hold its parliamentary primary to elect a candidate to represent the party in the November general elections.

The parliamentary primary schedule for 9th July, was postponed to 16th July due to delay of election materials.

Speaking to Citi News, Upper East Regional secretary of the NDC, Mr. Donatus Akamugre said all issues that led to the postponement of the primary have been resolved.

He also admonished supporters of the three aspirants to remain calm and refrain from any trouble that could mar the election.

Over 12,000 delegates to take part in polls

A total of 12,983 NDC delegates in the constituency, are expected to cast their votes today.

We have already done biometric registration for about 12,983 delegates that will be casting their votes in this primary. The election will take place on the 9th of July and all the necessary preparations with regards to ballot papers have been made with the Electoral Commission. The election will be conducted at the various polling stations of the constituency and all the three contestants will have an agent each at all the stations to ensure that, they are fairly treated, Akamugre told Citi News.

The primary delayed due to a protracted case against the incumbent Member of Parliament Abuga Pele.

His contenders are challenging his eligibility to contest the parliamentary primary while standing trial in the Ghana National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) scandal.



By: Frederick Awuni/citifmonline.com/Ghana
16.07.2016 LISTEN

A Youth Leader working with Obrempong 91.7 fm, a local radio station base at Agona Swedru in the Agona West Municipality of the Central Region, Mr. Obinini Kojo Bansah is encouraging the youth in the country to endeavour going in farming to cater for themselves and their families.

"Knowing very well that agriculture is the backbone of any nation's development, commercial farming us the best way to reduce unemployment especially among the youth.

This I believe would relief them from burdens associated with a search for nonexistence white -coloured jobs in the urban and city centers.

It is sad that we now have what has been termed as Graduate Unemployment while there are vast lands laying fallow in all the ten regions in Ghana. The Youth In-Agriculture Programme is a very good one we the youth should take advantage of it then always deepening on government for our daily bread"

In an interview with this reporter at Agona Swedru recently, Mr. Bansah noted that he stared this crusade some years ago and was extremely happy when former President John Evans Atta Mills introduced the Youth-In Agriculture programme adding it was a dream comes through for him and numerous unemployed youth.

" I have dedicated most of my programmes into farming thus encouraging people into the farming industry. Agriculture, being the major employer in the country should not be neglected. We all have to get ourselves involved in farming to boost food production and to generate income.

My late uncle once told me that a farmer is never sacked from his farm nor does she or she expect increment in wages and salaries. I have taken cue from this advise and today, agriculture has transformed my life and that of my family"

I wish Ghana Education Service (GES) introduce agricultural clubs in our schools to inculcate the habits of farming. Secondly, I will like to appeal to our teachers in the educational sector to stop using weeding as a form of punishing since those graduates would view farming as being punishment.

It is sad that Directors and their Management in Ministry of Food and Agriculture have no farms of their own. This does not motivate the young ones to go into farming. They must set good example for emulation"

He also called for community farms in towns and villages so as to use the farm proceeds to support self-help projects. This he said would curtain taxes and levies usually imposed on the people to develop their communities and for organization of festivals.
Ghanas Parliament has banned the parliamentary correspondent for Daily Graphic and referred him to the Privileges Committee over alleged misreporting.

Mark Anthony Vinorkor is alleged to have cast doubt on the genuineness of a constitutional instrument laid in the House to regulate the 2016 elections.

According to him, the Constitutional Instrument (C.I) 94 expected to address issues of the upcoming 2016 polls before Parliament had been withdrawn and a new one re-laid.

He further alleged a new clause was introduced in article 44 of the C.I 94 which contains punitive measures for electoral officers who misbehave during the polls.

These claims angered Parliament resulting in a summon to answer questions regarding some of the publications in Daily Graphic.

Deputy Minority leader, Dominic Nitiwul, said the demeanour of the reporter at the time he was called to respond to the issues pointed he has no remorse for his actions.

He believes the report that he has put out here has not just scandalised the Speaker as a person, it has scandalised this House particularly the Chairman of the Constitutional, and Legal Committee.

Even though the reporter has apologised for his conduct, the Speaker of the House, Edward Doe Adjaho, believes it is relevant for him to respond to some questions from the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Let the Committee of the House in charge of this matters handle the matter. Refering Mark Anthony Vinorkor to the Privileges Committee to go into this matter, he said.

He also instructed the accreditation of the reporter to the House be withdrawn from him and the newspaper be given the opportunity to appoint a replacement.
Renowned Turkish Islamic Scholar, Fethullah Gulen, has condemned in strongest terms the attempted coup by some military personnel in Turkey, and also denied instigating the botched attempt to overthrow the government.

According to the BBC, Turkish President, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, blamed a parallel structure, in a clear reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric he accuses of fomenting unrest.

However, in a statement, Mr. Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events, saying he condemned in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.

An attempted coup by a faction of the armed forces has been quashed, Turkey's acting military chief of staff says.

Umit Dundar said 104 coup plotters had been killed and 1,563 arrested in a night of gunfire and explosions in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere. A further 90 people died and 1,154 people were injured as thousands of Turks heeded President Erdogan's call to rise up against the coup-plotters.

Some 2,800 soldiers are under arrest.

Below is the statement by the Alliance for Shared Values on developments in Turkey

July 15, 2016

News media reported about developments in Turkey today regarding actions of Turkish Armed Forces.

For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.

Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now.

Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible.

About Alliance for Shared Values

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for dialogue organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gulen.

Based in New York, the Alliance strives to promote peace and to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance please visit www.afsv.org .

About Fethullah Gulen

Fethullah Gulen is an Islamic scholar, preacher and social advocate, whose decadeslong commitment to interfaith tolerance and altruism has inspired millions in Turkey and around the world.

Gulen is the honorary chairman of the Rumi Forum, Washington, DC; the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, Brussels, Belgium; and the Foundation of Journalists and Writers, Istanbul, Turkey.



By: Ebenezer Afanyi Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana
16.07.2016 LISTEN

The Electoral Commission has affirmed founder and leader of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom as the partys Flagbearer for the 2016 general elections.

Affirming Dr. Nduom, the Greater Accra Regional Electoral Officer, Kwame Amoah said at the end of the nomination processes, it is only Dr. Nduom who fulfilled the requirements. It is my duty then to affirm Dr. Ndoum as the Flagbearer.

The affirmation was done at the partys third National Convention being held at Trade Fair in Accra.

Dr. Nduom endorsed

The affirmation comes months after the party endorsed him as the party's flagbearer for the 2016 elections.

The decision to present the 2012 candidate again was made at a meeting that was held in May, 2016.

The business magnate was the only person who picked forms when nominations were opened in 2015 hence the committees decision.

Dr. Nduom placed 3rd in the 2012 presidential election garnering 64,362 votes representing 0.59 percent. With his endorsement Dr. Nduom will come up against President John Mahama for the NDC, Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP, PNC's Dr. Edward Mahama, Ivor Kobina Greenstreet of the CPP and NDP's Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings.



By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA

Cape Coast, July 16, GNA - Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, has presented assorted books, laptops and desktop computers to the Aboom Methodist 'B' Primary School, his alma mater, to help improve teaching and learning in the school.

Vice President Amissah-Arthur who made the donation at the 65th anniversary celebration of the School in Cape Coast called for an increased community participation and supervision in education to enhance effective teaching and learning.

He said serious community involvement in education would go a long way to improve the falling standards of education and so Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and all relevant stakeholders should therefore play their roles for effective results.

The celebration was on the theme: 'Equal Opportunity to Education for national Development.'

He said Government would ensure the delivery of quality and accessible education at all levels for the benefit of Ghanaians and has therefore put in place programmes and policies to keep every school going child in the classroom.

He said such interventions, which includes school feeding, free education, distribution of free uniforms, shoes and books are meant to cushion parents to give their wards better opportunities in life.

He noted that most parents are withdrawing their responsibilities and urged them not to renege on their roles to their children.

'The wellbeing and development of your children must be the topmost priority,' he said.

The Vice President, told the parents that the world has become very competitive and that every parent must endeavour to educate their children for them to get to greater heights in life.

Mr Stephen Amoah, Cape Coast Metropolitan Director of Education said Ghana Education Service, is working to ensure equal opportunity to quality education for all pupils and expressed the need for stakeholders to play their roles to make it a reality.

He said though girl -child enrolment and the number of girls who complete basic schools had improved significantly over the past years, there is still room for improvement.

Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, Omanhen of Oguaa, expressed worry over the fallen standards of education in the Central Region, which he said had reduced the number of students from the Cape Coast Metropolis who enrol in the many renowned senior high Schools in the area.

He also expressed concern about the poor attendance of parents at the event and urged them to show interest in their children's education.

He advised the students to aspire to higher heights and work hard towards achieving them.

Mr George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, Regional Minister, also an old student said, educating the child at the school is a collective responsibility and therefore parents and other stakeholders must not leave everything on the teachers.

Ms Rebecca Yeboah, Headmistress of the school expressed concern that erosion is deeply eating the foundation of the school building whilst the numerous life threatening gullies and gutters pose a threat to the students.

She said the ICT centre, which serves the cluster of schools is often overcrowded and plagued with malfunctioning computers and appealed to philanthropist and well -wishers to support the academic entity in establishing a well -resourced centre.

GNA
By Belinda Ayamgha, GNA

Accra, July 16, GNA - Air-Vice Marshal Iddris Sakib Kadri, out-going Commandant of the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFCSC), has entreated his successor to stick to the five-year plan developed for the school.

He said the GAFCSC has come a long way since its establishment and urged the new leadership to as much as possible execute the plan.

Speaking at a Handing over/Pulling out ceremony for him at the GAFCSC, Air Vice Marshal Kadri, who is set to retire from the Ghana Armed Forces, said his desire on assuming the position of Commandant was to raise the high standards of the College even higher that he met it.

'A few months shy of three years down the line, my sincere hope and prayer is that I have indeed met those aspirations. I have given off my best in these last years and I hope that my efforts have yielded some benefits to GAFCSC and kept the flame burning like those before me,' he stated.

He noted that he had had a College that was developing with several completed and ongoing infrastructural developments as well as hard working directing staff and key appointment holders who worked hard to support him in meeting timelines and deadlines.

Recollecting some encounters with students and other staff at the College during his tenure, he commended the students of Junior Division course for their decision to be pacesetters in the rollout of their IT programme and the willingness of the administrative staff to make it successful and thanked them for their support.

'With your support we were able to expand our academic programmes, increase our revenue base and initiated strategies to reduce cost,' he said.

He said the academic expansion plan had enabled the College to gain accreditation to run its flagship programme: the Master of Science in Defence and International politics, with plans in the five-year strategic plan to run masers programmes in strategic leadership and supply chain management.

He lauded CDH Financial Holdings, which sponsored the entire overhaul of the College's IT infrastructure, bringing about a paperless environment for academic and administrative work, a cost reduction strategy which had paid off in improved coordination and efficiency.

He thanked stakeholders of the College who had helped and supported his administration as well as his family for their support throughout his 42 years of his service.

'For GAFCSC, I see nothing but a very bright future,' he said.

Rear Admiral Seth Amoama, in-coming Commandant of the GAFCSC, paid tribute to his predecessor saying he had succeeded in further growing the College's reputation internationally and in the sub-region for high standards and academic and professional excellence as well as physical development, IT development, curriculum enrichment and welfare of staff.

Rear Admiral Amoama said although he had a big challenge to live up to expectation as the first naval officer to occupy the position, he was lucky to have inherited the five- year strategic plan developed by his predecessor and a team of experts, which serves as a roadmap to the future.

He thanked Air Vice Marshall Kadri for his 'quality, exceptional, exemplary leadership of innovation and creative thinking,' adding that he intended to follow in his footsteps as well as those of other past Commandants.

'I will provide a transparent, accountable and accessible leadership. I will be guided by the vision of the College: to project GAFCSC as a centre of excellence and to be one of the best Staff Colleges in Africa and the rest of the world'.

The ceremony included a parade by the Army, Navy, and Airforce accompanied by the Ghana Armed Forces Central Band and a pull-out ceremony which saw the out-going Commandant being symbolically taken out of the GAFCSC compound.

GNA
Saturday, July 16, 2016

Folks, in writing about happenings in Ghana, we are confident that our voices matter much in the national discourse about the challenges of development facing Ghana. That explains why we continue to write, regardless of whose ox we gore in the process. And we have gored oxen and will continue to gore more!!

I want to raise some comments from readers reacting to my latest opinion piece on what the Asantehene told Akufo-Addo a day or two ago, published by many media, including Ghanaweb (28 responses as of now) and Modernghana.com (5 responses as of now).

GHANAWEB.COM

1. A Nii Teiko wrote: Bokor, with all the noise making, could not decipher the mischief of the 'Mahamas look alike', and partner in crime on the Golden Stool. To cut things short, the Asantehene, in his 'home sense', was indirectly telling Nana Addo that Mahama is building schools, hospitals and roads which is what his Asante people needs.

Every deep thinker knows the implications of the carefully chosen words of the Kookoase King. He was rather campaigning for Mahama right in front of Nana Addo. You see, this is the more reason why Nana must totally ignore. He has no good will for the NPP. No wonder his own subjects jubilation when the fake news broke that he was dead in South Africa. By the way, This loads of chaff can only come from a rented mind, and a courageous buffoon who, out of hate, refuse to see the obvious. Bokor's hate for Asantes has beclouded his judgement. Ofui

2. Then, one Neu also wrote his piece under the heading King Solomon insulted Akufo-Addo: Asantehene was speaking in proverbs. He wanted to tell Akuffo Addo that all what he wants is development and already Mahama has done it all so Akuffo Addo can go and sleep. If Akuffo Addo is wise he will understand what the king was trying to say.

3. Another one calling himself Dziko Kwame also said: I fully agree with Nii Teiko's commentary up there! Dr. Bokor, my understanding of Nana Otumfuor's expressions when Nana Addo visited him differs completely from yours. The Asantehene said "IF YOU WIN...". That alone, in my opinion, says a lot. long live Ghana.

MODERNGHANA.COM

1. One Osei (Ghana): Useless, f**lish Ewe man you join Ghana in 1956 we will one day remove you people, hopeless useless man Bokor 

2. Another one from a reader calling him/herself Secondhand phd, Nana & Osei , Ghana: "You are the people whose utterances are causing Nana Addo to lose the 1916 presidential elections. Can't you learn to ignore a statement you don't like?? Must you insult everyone who makes a statement you deem annoying because it is not in support of Nana Addo?? The Old Man Above is watching us all; know that!

WHAT ABOUT IT ALL, THEN?

Folks, judge for yourselves how the wind blows. If the Otumfuo was indeed being satirical or speaking in tongues in his interaction with Akufo-Addo, what does it tell us? At least, he made his point, which we are free to interpret anyhow to suit our politically motivated purposes. Any art with which to construct the Otumfuos real political interests/wishes in the substance of his utterances or in his posturing or mien? I dont know.

But if we are to believe those claiming that he was poking Akufo-Addo in the ribs to tell him that just as he lost Elections 2008 and 2012 he will do so at Election 2012 because the Lion of Gonja is already providing the development projects that he was urging Akufo-Addo to provide for his Ashanti enclave IF he wins the elections, then, something really sarcastic is at stake. But why would the Otumfuo choose to be so sarcastic as to disarm or confound Akufo-Addo?

And in the presence of ex-President Kufuor with whom he has had the best of cordial relationships all these years? What would he have said had Kufuor not led Akufo-Addo there? (Remember that although Akufo-Addo has come out to say that he enjoys the best of relationships with Kufuor, nothing has come from Kufuor to corroborate his platitudinous claims. Suspicion that a Kufuor faction is working against Akufo-Addo still runs deep in that Asante-Akyem cabal). Of course, that is their own ugly cup of tea (or chalice of poison)!!

And if Akufo-Addo knew the truth hidden behind the Otumfuo's sarcasm, why wont he quickly learn the lesson on how to behave instead of slipping into the gutters just a few hours thereafter by accusing the government of neglecting the Ashanti Region in the provision of development projects? The records show what the Lion of Gonja has given the Ashanti region so far and will do when retained in office. Why, then, make a fool of himself as he did at Obuasi?

More trouble for Ayola?

I shall return
Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL.
By Patience A. Gbeze, GNA

Accra, July 16, GNA - The Deeper Life Campus Fellowship (DCLF), has launched its 2016 Campus Congress dubbed: 'DaySpring 2016,' to reach out to people leaving on the country's tertiary institutions and its environs.

This year's congress, on the theme: 'Supernatural Visitation from on High,' would take place from July 27 to July 31, in Accra and Kumasi concurrently and it is expected to attract 7000 participants across the country.

The Accra Congress to be held at the Deeper Christian Life Ministry Headquarters, Anyaa would attract 4000 participants, while the Kumasi Congress would be at Brofoyedru Camp and it is expected to attract 3000 participants.

Pastor Francis Fosu, the National Coordinator of the Deeper Life Campus Fellowship speaking at the launch, said this year's congress is 'a much needed one as the country is faced with all sorts of evils on our campuses'.

He announced that this year marks the 21st anniversary of the Deeper Life Campus Christian Congress and as a result.

Pastor Fosu said the DCLF aimed at the promotion of spiritual, academic and welfare of the campus communities.

'Today, the world knows too much of human rights and they forget about their salvation. Our campuses are filled with all sorts of immorality and evils and the nation is in terrible moral decadency where the right people are termed wrong and the wrong ones are seen as the right people.

'We need to rise up to reverse these things for the good of our dear country, Ghana,' he said.

He said despite the academic excellences of campus communities, they cannot do the right thing and 'we expect this year's congress will bring total transformation to lives and spiritual empowerment to the community.'

He, therefore, appealed to eligible participants to make a day with the congress to save the souls of the intellectuals and make them agents of change.

Pastor Fosu also urged the media to scrutinise their content in order not to pollute the airwaves with all sorts of defiling programmes.

He also called for peace and calm before, during and after the forthcoming general election.

Pastor James Sai, Regional Overseer, Madina, said the annual activity is to draw attention to the group of people who if care is not taken would be forgotten of in terms of evangelisation.

'We will turn to pretend all is well with these communities, where book enlightenment is in abundance, yet they need Bible enlightenment to make the community a whole. We need to reach out to such people within the campus community so that their souls would not perish,' he added.

Mr Joseph Akwesi Agyeman Duah, Consulting Partner, Kodham Consulting Services, appealed for God's mercies and visitation for the country.

GNA
By Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA

Karni, (UWR), July 16, GNA - The Chief and people of Karni in the Upper West Region have appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to initiate actions to amend the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) that established Lambussie District.

They want the district to be named Lambussie-Karni for peace to prevail.

The people said some individuals with the intention of sowing seed of discord are capitalising on the legislative lapse to engage in sectionalist tendencies which potentially would course dissatisfaction, political instability and ethnic strife in the area.

Addressing a news conference on behalf of the Chief and people of Karni, Mr Fidelis Dabuo, Vice Chairman of the Karni Youth Association said the joint name Lambussie-Karni existed since the inauguration of the district without any dissatisfaction until recently.

He said historically, there was Jirapa-Lambussie Constituency under the then Lawra District reflecting the two distinctive Traditional Areas - Jirapa and Lambussie that were distinct both in language and in culture.

Mr. Dabuo noted that in 1988, the Jirapa-Lambussie District was created out of the Lawra District with Jirapa as the capital.

As a result of peaceful co-existence between the two Traditional Areas, another constituency called the Lambussie Constituency was created in 1992 with part of the Karni Divisional Area which belonged to the Jirapa Traditional Council annexed to Lambussie to enable them qualify for the constituency, he noted.

He pointed out that in 2007, when government was creating new districts, Lambussie Constituency was considered and the people of Karni Divisional Area protested to join the new district.

This caused the Lambussie Kuoro to send a delegation to Karni Naa to appeal to him and his people to accept to join them so they could qualify for the district.

Mr Dabuo said the Karni people requested for the joint name for the district to continue to reflect the distinctive two Traditional Areas, which have politically co-existed peacefully for a long time.

'This request was granted and the district was inaugurated as Lambussie-Karni District,' he said.

Mr Dabuo said it was therefore disheartening having come this far together; some individuals under the guise of a legislative lapse are embarking on a mission purposely to marginalise and neglect the Karni Area and its contribution to the creation of the district.

'We therefore note with much regret and worry that notwithstanding this good and long historical bond that existed between the two communities, certain individuals and chiefs from the Lambussie Area are deliberately engaging in sectionalist tendencies which potentially will cause dissatisfaction, political instability and ethnic strife in the area.'

'It is shocking that these people are referring to the joint name 'Lambussie-Karni' as illegal identity of the district and we take a strong reservation to that and therefore request for an apology,' he added.

Mr Dabuo thanked government for granting the request for the joint name.

'If the joint name cannot stay, as it is now being contested by some people, we appeal to government to re-align the Divisional Area to the Jirapa District for peace to prevail,' he said.

'We will resist any attempt to remove Karni from the name of the district while still under the district', he warned.

GNA
Accra, July 16, GNA - The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 100 Resilience Cities Project with the City of Paynesville in Liberia on Resilience Cooperation.

The objectives of the MOU is to share resilience innovations and best practices between the two cities, to enable them to become more resilient to social, economic and physical challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.

The project, which is being pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation in the United States was designed to help 100 cities around the world to lead in city-wide resilience building efforts to prepare to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of natural and man-made stress and disasters.

Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, the Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive who signed on behalf of the AMA, said Paynesville is one of the newest cities to join the 100 Resilience Cities Global Network, named along with Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town.

He said Accra and Paynesville would facilitate on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and goodwill information sharing to enhance the Resilience Strategy Development and implemented process.

'The leaders and top-level department administrators of both cities would maintain and facilitate open channels of communication to expedite consultation, exchange and cooperation on questions of issues and common concern,' he said.

Madam Cyvette M. Gibson, Mayor of the City of Paynesville in Liberia, who signed on behalf of her city expressed gratitude to the Rockefeller Foundation and the 100 Resilience Cities Project to named her city as part of the final cohort of 37 cities in the world to join the global network.

She said 20 years after the civil crisis the city of Paynesville experienced serious destructions, hence the need to join Accra to share the best practices on sanitation, health, unemployment and other economic challenges of the two cities.

Mr James Ayando, the Accra Chief Resilience Officer, said he needs the support of various departments with the Assembly and other government institutions to develop the resilience strategies within the communities.

The MOU signing was witnessed by Miss Liz Agbor-Tabi, the Associate Director of City and Practice Management at the 100 Resilience Cities Project in the US.

GNA
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The chronicle of a life split between urban Manhattan and rural Montana.
July 16, 2016

Coup Against Wannabe-Sultan Failed - Beware The Aftermath

(Please also read the updated tweets below. There are some very interesting nuggets in there that are not yet reflected in the text.)

Yesterday's short coup attempt (real time MoA) by parts of the military against the wannabe-Sultan of Turkey failed. Some 200 people on both sides were killed, some 1,200 wounded.

The plotters' major mistakes were:

to not capture Erdogan and the leaders of his political and security organizations,

to not shut down all means of mass communication, especially the Internet, except those under their strict control,

to not put out a trusted public face to represent the coup.

Erdogan escaped and could orchestrate the counter to the coup. He could continue to communicate with his security management, foreign politicians and his supporters. Without any well known alternative leader the public had only Erdogan to follow.

The amateurish behavior of the coup plotter opens the question of who ran this show. Was this, as some asserted early on, an Erdogan plot to seize more power?

There are three possible motives/perpetrators behind this coup:

the Islamic movement following the preacher Fetullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally and now arch-enemy who lives in the U.S. and has CIA relations;

the old Kemalist secularist movement in the military and deep state;

the Erdogan AKP movement in a false flag operation to seize more power;

There is no evidence for any of these theses and none of them clearly fits the observed pattern.

The response will be harsh. Edogan will crack down on ANYONE he politically or personally dislikes - completely independent of their involvement in the coup. All political parties, even the mostly Kurdish HDP, spoke out against the coup while it was ongoing. The religious Gulen movement also opposed it. Most of the involved soldiers were told that they were part of an exercise. It will not save any of them from Erdogan's and his supporters' wrath.

The somewhat coup-supportive early statements from Lavrov ("avoid bloodshed") and Kerry ("stability!") will increase Erdogan's mistrust of any foreign official.

Erdogan will now become even more paranoid and unpredictable than he was before. The domestic atmosphere in Turkey will become extremely strained.

A few relevant recent tweets (see last post for many earlier ones):

5:36 PM - 15 Jul 2016 chinahand @chinahand I'll put on my tinfoil hat re TK. What kind of coup waits til bossman's out of town & doesn't try to detain him? & AKP has plenty of @chinahand diehard para-fash assets that wud hit streets immediately on its behalf. No plan to counter that? #WorstCoupEver I suspect @chinahand TRE knew about the plot, made sure it would fail w/ help of loyal officers pretending to be part of it, & let it go ahead. @chinahand now time to clean up the (extremely messy) mess & take out the trash, methinks

6:24 PM - 15 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Pres Erdogan says this is an opportunity presented by God to clean up Turkish Military . #live press conference

9:12 PM - 15 Jul 2016 (((Garrett Khoury))) @KhouryGarrett Turkey: Erdogan confirms coup forces surrounded his hotel in Marmaris...4 hours after he had left. That's a special sort of ineptitude.

10:13 PM - 15 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Turkish Army Forces published its last memo at 6.50 am local (90 mins ago) saying movement continues"

9:45 PM - 15 Jul 2016 i24NEWS English @i24NEWS_EN #BREAKING 754 members of Turkish armed forces arrested across Turkey: state news agency

11:17 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Mustafa Akyol @AkyolinEnglish This #turkeycoupattempt had not much to do with Islamist-vs-secularists. Secular opposition sided with the govt against the putschists.

11:39 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Nasser Atta @nasseratta5 Number of detained military personnel after #Turkish coup attempt rises to 1,563 across country: official

11:48 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Alev Scott @AlevScott Erdogan denouncing "traitors" on state TV channel, which a few hours ago was hijacked by the military denouncing him pic.twitter.com/j30UiQ3jau

11:53 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Gregory Djerejian @GregDjerejian If you thought Erdogan was becoming overly authoritarian bordering on some neo-Sultan or such oh boy just you wait now post-aborted putsch.

1:05 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Asaf Ronel @AsafRonel Turkey's acting army chief of staff: Coup attempt was rejected by chain of command immediately. General Dundar: We'll continue to serve the people. I would like 2 thank all political parties and the media for their support for democracy More: "The armed forces is determined to remove members of the Gulen movement from its ranks"

1:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Frank Nordhausen @NordhausenFrank #Turkey This was a weird coup. I was on Taksim square 3 hours, my impression was: that's not real. I saw military in Cairo - no comparison.

1:38 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Despite results in #Turkey, Erdogan will be very busy internally, reforming, reshuffling, turing the army upside-down.His throne has shaken.

1:42 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai When the coup was taking over, the #USA embassy called the coup "Turkish uprising". #Turkey. pic.twitter.com/dEcWvXsLYd

2:43 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Jabhat al-Nusra #AQ spiritual scholar al-Maqdisi attacked the Turkish Army responsible of the coup as "anti-Islamic" pic.twitter.com/UlKrbX5gaS

3:03 AM - 16 Jul 2016 @dr_davidson After digesting #TurkeyCoup news, my view is Erdogan's agents in military forewarned him, & there were considerable benefits allowing it 1/3 Erdogan has big opportunities to purge military (think Sadat's 'corrective revolution') & claim supra-electoral nation-saviour status. 2/3 The question is which allies Erodgan decided to keep in loop. If none, then Qatar, MB & fellow travellers will have had disturbed night 3/3

3:35 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Aylina Klc @AylinaKilic Ahrar al-Sham publishes support message for Turkish government for coup attempt in #Turkey, citing "democracy first"

4:46 AM - 16 Jul 2016 DAILY SABAH @DailySabah BREAKING - Turkeys top judicial body HSYK lays off 2,745 judges after extraordinary meeting sabahdai.ly/GSnzF0

Interesting how fast they drew up that list. This move was long planned and may have been a reason for the coup. See below.

5:27 AM - 16 Jul 2016 archicivilians @archicivilians Free Syrian Army (#Syria Opposition ) released a statement congradulating the fail of #TurkeyCoupAttempt. pic.twitter.com/8S

5:28 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Hussain AbdulHussain @hahussain In 24 hours of news coverage of #Turkey, in all the military and the civilians who took to streets to restore democracy, not a single woman

5:35 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Reuters World @ReutersWorld Turkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen will be at war with Turkey reut.rs/29KtlNW pic.twitter.com/VJcTrtVi6M

That is a direct Erdogan threat to the U.S. where Gulen lives.

5:48 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Emad @EMostaque Noted yesterday imminent big changes in judiciary by HSYK may have been key catalyst for coup, now accelerated 2:54 PM - 15 Jul 2016 Emad @EMostaque Proximate causes for #TurkeyCoup may have been recent reorganisation of judiciary as well as Ataturk attack

5:50 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Kayode Odeyemi @kayodeyemi Power to Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, which is used by U.S. to launch airstrikes against #ISIS, has been cut, U.S. consulate in #Turkey says

earlier

3:41 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Putintintin @putintintin1 Turkey jets which bombed #Ankara refilled from fuel tankers took off from Incirlik airbase!!

Consider: Erdogan demands that U.S. delivers Gulen to him (without evidence of coup relations). Erdogan isolates major U.S. base (with nukes) in Turkey. This could get VERY interesting ...

5:57 AM - 16 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint 10 State Council, top court members are detained allegedly for having ties to failed coup attempt.

6:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Ragp Soylu @ragipsoylu Journalist @sahmetsahmet says police was to arrest coup leaders yesterday before they mobilise, that led the coup pic.twitter.com/UdXViNUf1V

7:16 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Liam Stack @liamstack John Kerry on the Turkey coup: "I must say it does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event." nytimes.com/live/turkey-co

7:18 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Ellie Geranmayeh @EllieGeranmayeh Speculations flowing in #Istanbul re #TurkeyCoup linked to annual military meeting in Aug where gov plan to purge Gulenist soldiers (leaked)

7:19 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Elijah J. Magnier @EjmAlrai Elijah J. Magnier Retweeted Marianne Imposing Sharia punishment on soldiers in #Turkey for their failed coup

[pic showing bearded Erdoganists whipping soldiers in the street after they surrendered]

8:24 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Jim Colella @Jim_Colella Reports today of 2745 judges removed after last night's #TurkeyCoupAttempt. Wtf? How's that related? Watch all that happens next. + 5 judges frm top judicial appointment body (HSYK) dismissed. 48 Council of State judges detained. 140 arrest warrants 4 Supreme Ct Appeal

9:15 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Asaf Ronel @AsafRonel there's a report saying a anti-Gulen operation was in final stages & ignited the coup attempt - the lists were ready

9:15 AM - 16 Jul 2016 ilhan tanir @WashingtonPoint Constitutional Court (US-Supreme Court) member Alparslan Altan, VP at highest court appointed by A.Gul, is detained.

9:46 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Mete Sohtaoglu @metesohtaoglu Four #Turkish parties make rare joint statement against coup attempt

#TurkeyCoupAttempt #AKP #CHP #MHP #HDP pic.twitter.com/UOBTU339uT

9:59 AM - 16 Jul 2016 The Truth @JunkTruth Did @BarackObama know of and approve the #TurkeyCoup? Turkey's Patriotic Party says CIA is behind Gulen coup: pic.twitter.com/HoAhPBKuBg

see pic-link above - interesting read

10:08pm  16 Jul 2016 Gissur Simonarson CN @GissiSim Pro-Democracy protesters who lynched soldiers to death display Grey Wolves hand signals over dead bodies #Turkey

10:10pm  16 Jul 2016 Turkey Untold @TurkeyUntold BREAKING: Secretary of Labor Suleyman Soylu live on news channel Haberturk: "The US is behind this coup" pic.twitter.com/khqdbUw7re

10:12 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Asaf Ronel @AsafRonel Turkish official confirms authorities found coup-plan lists saying which officers will be governors, heads of government agencies etc Lists included more than 100 names with matching would-be posts. Not all of them arrested yet #TurkeyCoupAttempt

10:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 CNN Turk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG #BREAKING Turkish President Erdogan speaks live, calls U.S to hand over Fethullah Gulen to if U.S is strategic ally

Translation - Erdogan to U.S.: "If you want to keep access to Incirlik airbase you will have to give me Gulen!" (mentioned that earlier - see above)

10:32 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof Gulen will be a huge issue, possibly costing US access to Incirlik base. twitter.com/turkeyuntold/s

10:42 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Joshua Landis @joshua_landis Clearing out Gulenists, fall guys for coup. They aren't know 4 strength in army. Still not clear who is behind this.

Political parties just demonstrated solidarity against the coup. Now this:

11:08 AM - 16 Jul 2016 Conflict News @Conflicts BREAKING: Pro-Kurdish HDP offices under attack in by pro-Erdogan supporters in Iskenderun, Malatya and Osmaniye #Turkey - @michaelh992

Posted by b on July 16, 2016 at 7:10 UTC | Permalink

Comments

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The building that once housed Simple Beverages liquor store, and has sat vacant for the last six-plus years on the corner of Third Street and Monterey was reduced to a pile of rubble Thursday afternoon.

Developers Ken Rodrigues and Don Imwalle, who purchased the property from a post-Redevelopment trust fund last year, plan to build two new buildings housing four restaurants with a strong emphasis on outdoor patio dining.

The restaurants coming to the downtown sitewhich has been cited as one of the most important properties for the future of the neighborhoodare owned by The Opa! Group, and include Opa, a Greek restaurant; Mosthe Breakfast & Burger Joint; Willard Hicks (steaks and American food); and Tac-Oh. The restaurants have other locations in the South Bay. Three of the four restaurants (excluding Tac-Oh) are located in downtown Campbell in a project similar to that proposed in Morgan Hill.

Rodrigues said construction of the two buildings will take about 10 months, and outfitting the new restaurants will take another two months. He said he plans to be able to open all four restaurants simultaneously by Aug. 1, 2017.

At least one resident is upset that a mature coast redwood tree located in the middle of the parking area in front of the former liquor store building is tagged for removal. Scribbled in red magic-marker ink on the notice for removal, which was taped to the tree April 29, is the message, Trees are our protectors and Move the concrete. There is also a yellow ribbon tied around the tree, and another sheet of paper with the handwritten message, Help save this tree.

When asked about the informal protest, Rodrigues replied, Unfortunately, thats not going to be possible to leave the tree standing. We looked really hard at it. Every tree is important to me as an architect. This one was right in the middle of the (proposed) patio and the main walkway coming from the garage.

The new Downtown Garage is located behind the property, and includes a pedestrian walkway leading directly into Opa! Group project.

The citys municipal code has a detailed process for the removal of significant trees on public and private property. Anyone seeking to remove such a tree or trees requires a permit, which can be gained only after the proposed removal has been posted and the public has been given a chance to formally comment.

The Morgan Hill Redevelopment Agency purchased the .45-acre property for about $1.9 million in 2009, and since then City Hall has planned to work with a private developer to build a mixed-use or retail/dining project that will attract more visitors and sales to downtown. The state of California closed the RDA in 2012, and ultimately sold the Third Street property to Rodrigues/Imwalle for $525,000 in 2015.

The parking lot located on the property is fenced off during construction and permanently closed to public vehicles. Customers for the new restaurants will be urged to park in the new garage.
<

Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone announced July 1 that the countys net property assessment roll increased by 7.9 percent in the last year to $419 billion, an increase of $30.9 billion.

<

Overall property growth in Morgan Hill tallied in at about 7.8 percent for 2015, according to the assessors office.

<

The growth continues locally in 2016, with more than $27.1 million in new residential construction and $12.6 million in new commercial projects so far this year in Morgan Hill helping to fuel the countys overall continuing growth, city staff said.

<

The assessment roll growth during the past four years has exceeded the growth for the preceding decade, erasing almost all of the losses in property values suffered during the Great Recession starting in late 2008, according to the assessors office.

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Thats great news for all property owners, as the largest single asset that most people own is their home. Santa Clara County is once again leading the region, and the state, Stone said.

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The assessment roll is a snapshot of the assessed value of all real and business personal property in Santa Clara County as of Jan. 1, 2016.

<

The Silicon Valley economy is the envy of the nation, posting 60 consecutive months of job gains, Stone continued. Unlike the previous jobless recovery, unemployment dropped to 3.8 percent in Santa Clara County, the sixth consecutive month below 4 percentlower than the state at 5.4 percent and the nation at 5 percent. The valleys growth has been driven primarily by the high technology industry.

<

Mountain View and Santa Clara lead the county in roll growth, while San Jose and Campbellalong with other local jurisdictionsrecorded growth lower than the countywide average, according to the assessors office. Gilroys property roll grew 8.37 percent in 2015.

<

The strong growth in assessed value has been tempered by a lower California Consumer Price Index (CCPI), said Stone.

<

State proposition 13 limits the annual increase in the assessed value of all properties to a maximum of 2 percent or the California Consumer Price Index (CCPI), whichever is lower. This year the CCPI was 1.525 percent, the 10th time the CCPI has been less than 2 percent in the 37 years since the voters approved Prop 13 in 1978, the press release elaborated.

<

Santa Clara Countys strong economy has created a growing demand for multi-family housing and commercial properties, the press release continued. Nearly half of the increase in assessed value, $16.6 billion, is attributable to reassessable changes in ownership, followed by $6.9 billion in new construction.

<

By comparison in 2010, at the height of the great recession, changes in ownership accounted for a meager $2.8 billion, and new construction less than $1 billion.

<

Commercial, industrial growth

<

More and more major technology companies favor ownership over long term leases, the data show.

<

Clearly they are doubling down on Silicon Valley with enormous investments in land and the development of commercial and industrial buildings and campuses, Stone said.

<

An astounding 85 percent of the $6.9 billion in new construction was driven by commercial and industrial development.

<

Stone points to commercial, industrial and mixed-use projects up northsuch as the new Apple campus ($700 million) and Levis Stadium in Santa Clara ($1.4 billion)among the biggest contributors to the assessment roll.

<

But in Morgan Hill, millions of dollars worth of new construction will add property tax revenues for schools, special districts, public safety and other basic municipal services.

<

So far in 2016, 97 new homes have been built at a total value of about $27.2 million, according to Morgan Hill Economic Development Coordinator John Lang.

<

In the commercial arena, Dicks Sporting Goods is about to complete a $2.8 million building at the Target shopping center on Cochrane Road. That store is expected to be open later this summer.

<

On Condit Road, La Quinta Inn just celebrated its soft opening, according to the hotels developer Andrew Firestone. This construction is worth about $8 million.

<

Rounding out the new commercial construction in 2016 in Morgan Hill, a new self-storage facility on Butterfield Boulevard has added about $1.8 million worth of new construction to the assessment roll.

<

These projects are not yet counted in the assessors latest report, which focuses on 2015 property value growth.

How to challenge your property value

<

Property owners who disagree with the assessed value printed on their notice are encouraged to take advantage of the assessors online tool, available 24/7, enabling 353,000 property owners to review the sale of comparable properties the assessor used to determine their assessment. An interactive service modeled after online banking, the Opt-In Tool allows taxpayers to securely receive assessment notices, in addition to interacting with the assessors office electronically rather than by mail, telephone or in person.

<

To access the data, a property owner must have a username and password created last year, or the PIN listed in the annual assessment notice.

<

Property owners who can demonstrate that their assessed value is higher than the market value of their property can request an informal review of their assessment from the assessors office. The assessors property appraisal staff will complete as many informal reviews as possible prior to Aug. 1, the deadline for making changes that will be reflected on the property tax bill.

<

The annual notice also describes the process for filing a formal assessment appeal by the Sept. 15 deadline. Last November, the fee to file an assessment appeal with the Clerk of the Assessment Appeals Board was eliminated.

<

More information is available at sccassessor.org.

<

If you disagree with the assessed value, property owners should not wait for the tax bill before filing an appeal as the tax bill is mailed by the Tax Collector after the assessment appeal filing deadline, Stone said.

<

7.83 percent: Growth in Morgan Hills property assessment roll, 2016

<

8.37 percent: Growth in Gilroys roll

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7.97 percent: Countywide roll growth
SAN DIEGO, Texas (AP)  Officials in a South Texas county say they plan to submit a proposal to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn a shuttered nursing home into a new immigrant family detention center.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports (http://bit.ly/29E7z8K ) Duval County officials plan to partner with Serco Inc. to operate the facility in San Diego, located about 130 miles south of San Antonio.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has spent more than $2.6 million of his state campaign funds beating a felony abuse-of-power case that he says hurt his second presidential bid.

The San Antonio Express News (http://bit.ly/29VcV3k) tallied Perry's campaign finance filings over the past roughly 18 months. It reported Friday that about $2.65 million went to Perry's high-powered legal team.
Some government officials and politicians are ...
The schools of hard knocks for parents Updated: 2016-07-16 09:03 By Li Fangchao(China Daily)

Tim Cook (back, 2nd R), CEO of Apple Inc., poses for a group photo with teachers and students at the Primary School attached to Communication University of China in Beijing, capital of China, May 12, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Will you buy a 10-square-meter hallway in Beijing for 1.5 million yuan ($224,300)?

This seemingly absurd price was actually listed on the website of Homelink, the largest real estate agency in the capital. But why?

The hallway in Beijing's Xicheng district was shabby but it had independent property rightsand the children of the hallway's owner could seek admission to Beijing First Experimental Primary School, one of the best in the city.

The hallway is the latest example of the craze for buying houses near "good" primary schools. News of astronomical prices for such houses have been making headlines to the chagrin of parents. And since the average property price near the Beijing First Experimental School has reached about 150,000 yuan per sq meter, the hallway seemed a good bargain.

Although the news created an uproar and the Beijing housing authorities ordered Homelink to stop promoting "constructions that are not designed for living purpose", those who buy such properties often do not care much about their living conditions.

For parents who don't have connections but also don't want their children to study in "ordinary" primary schools near their homes, buying a house near a good school offers an expensive but easy solution to their problem. Cases of families selling their spacious houses to buy shabby properties near "good" schools are not rare, even though a "good" primary school does not guarantee good academic performance for a child.

Despite this, many Chinese parents don't want their "children to lag behind at the starting line". For such parents, compromising their living conditions is nothing compared to the prospect of sending their children to a "good" school. No wonder the demand for and prices of houses near such schools have continued to rise.

Perhaps the uneven distribution of education resources is to blame for the problem. The so-called good schools, which are limited in number, often get more government funds and resources than the rest. As a result, the problem refuses to die.

Earlier this year, the central education authorities announced a new policy to tackle the problem. Instead of going to the school closest to their community, children can now seek admission to several schools nearby. This gives the impression that parents now have a wider choice. But this has increased the worries for those who have bought houses near their target schools.

Besides, not all students can get admitted to a school of their choice that is within walking distance from their homes, because the school authorities will have to pick and choose candidates if there are more applications than the seats on offer. For instance, a person who bought a house near a school shortly before the admission season will be rated lower than those who have been living in the community for a long time. Also, a school can change its admission plan each year. All this creates a huge risk for people who have paid sky-high prices to buy a house near a "good" school.

Buying a house near a "good" school and managing to get a child enrolled in it are like gambling on a stock exchange, so people should weigh the pros and cons carefully before doing so.

The gap between the increasing demand for better elementary education and the limited number of "good" schools cannot be bridged in a short time. Still, the government should allot more funds for education and try to distribute education resources as equitably as possible. And providing better salaries for good teachers who serve in not-so-good schools could be one way of kick-starting this process.

The writer is an editor with China Daily. lifangchao@chinadaily.com.cn
Skid marks on Tuolumne Road N. during high speed chase View Photos

Twain Harte, CA  Tuolumne County Sheriffs officials report this is the second time the suspect has eluded deputies after a chase.

The latest incident happened along Tuolumne Road North around 11 p.m. Thursday. A deputy tried to pull over a 2005 dark blue Honda hatchback on Highway 108 near Twain Harte. The driver of the car hit the gas and passed two cars ahead of him. The deputy took off in pursuit. Sheriffs officials report the driver lost control of the vehicle while turning onto Tuolumne Road North and slid sideways into a steel guardrail. The crash did not stall the vehicle, which sped off down the road. After a 2.5 mile chase, the suspects got away.

Sheriffs officials do not know the identity of the suspect but do recognize the Honda. It matches the description of a vehicle deputies chased through Twain Harte on Wednesday. Both pursuits are under investigation. Anyone with information regarding the driver or vehicle is asked to call the sheriffs department at 209-533-5815.
Ten months ago, police visited Bethune Cookman University student Micah Parham in the hospital. They did not think he would live.

Shooting victim Micah Parham back at school

Parham wants to prevent gun violence

Says people need to work with police

Parham was one of three people shot inside a Daytona Beach apartment last September. Parham was shot several times, including in the eye.

His friends were killed.

When we first went to the hospital to see him, he was our third murder victim. There was no way he was gonna survive those wounds, said Daytona Beach police chief Mike Chitwood.

On Friday, Chitwood was by Parham's side as he spoke to reporters. The 21-year-old music education major is back at school after a long recovery, and now he wants to use his experience to steer young people away from gun violence.

There is good and bad in this world. But adding more bad to the good, doesnt necessarily cancel the bad out, said Parham.

Parham is particularly concerned about violence amid recent incidents between black people and police. He says now is not the time to take militant action against men and women in blue.

Parham said his experience with the Daytona Beach Police Department after the shooting has changed his point of view. He credits the police with helping him after the shooting, mentally and emotionally.

"It's a time for us to think of the officers that are good in this world, to think of the officers that are risking their lives every day to try to make us safer," Parham said.



Parham also says a more rigorous gun control policy can keep weapons away from people who might do others harm, including York Bodden, the man who shot him and his friends.

There should definitely be a much stricter, a much stricter process in getting a hold of something that can cause so much damage, said Parham.



Bodden was caught in South Florida shortly after the murders. He hanged himself in his jail cell.


The members of First Baptist Church Tulia are among those marking the 126th anniversary of Swisher County during the annual Swisher Picnic Celebration. What makes this year extra special is the fact that the congregation is concurrently observing its 125th anniversary.

Tulia the first of five Baptist churches in the immediate area reaching the same milestone anniversary during 2016. First Baptist Church Plainview observed that milestone in 2015.

The Tulia church planned to have a float in the Swisher Picnic Parade through downtown Tulia on Saturday, and will have an extended worship service on Sunday, July 17. Worship will be followed at noon with a luncheon on the church grounds. Jason Stone is pastor.

Dr. Lester B. Griffin of Plainview, director of missions for the Caprock Plains Baptist Area, lists the other congregations celebrating 125th anniversaries this year:

--First Baptist Church Hale Center, Aug. 7

--First Baptist Church Floydada, Sept. 11

--First Baptist Church Lockney, Sept. 25

--First Baptist Church Dimmitt, Oct. 25

First Baptist Church Earth will celebrate its 90th anniversary Aug. 28.

Griffins organization also is celebrating its 125th anniversary. As the first Southern Baptist Association in West Texas, it was organized in 1891 as the Llanos Estacado Baptist Association. The name was changed in 1900 to the Staked Plains Association. Caprock Plains Baptist Area is an umbrella group serving Baptist churches of the Caprock, Llanos Altos and Staked Plains Associations.

On Sept. 18, 1891, 11 churches met at the Hale County Courthouse in Plainview to organize the Llanos Estacado Baptist Association, Griffin noted in his groups June newsletter. Those included FBC Plainview, FBC Tulia, Floyd County, Hale City (FBC Hale Center), Della Plains, Lockney (FBC Lockney), Floyd City (FBC Floydada), Whiteflat, Wright, New Hope and Alpha Estacado. Churches still existing from that original group are FBC Plainview, FBC Tulia, FBC Floydada, FBC Hale Center and FBC Lockney, and some have already celebrated anniversaries and some will be celebrating anniversaries this year.

L.B. Kimbrough was chairman of the original Destination Committee, which spelled out the expansive territory the association planned to serve. His formal report stated, That our association be bounded on the east by the Red River Association, on the south by the Texas and Pacific Railroad, on the north by the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad (Aurora Borealis) and on the west by the Providence of God; all of which is destitute except for portions of Floyd, Hale, Motley, Crosby and Lubbock counties. This embraces a territory about the size of Georgia. This country is being settled fast. We pray that the Lord will put it in our power to now occupy and take it for Christ.

Within a year, the association membership had grown to 14 churches and a total membership of 226 with the addition of congregations at Center Plains, Enon and Matador. By 1895, nine more churches were added to the association - First Baptist Churches of Silverton, Lubbock, Emma, Running Water, Harmony, Fairview, Mulberry Flat, Love School House and an unnamed newly-organized church in Lubbock.

This was a time of rapid settlement and growth throughout this area, Griffin explains. He offered Hale County as an example. A Methodist minister from New York, the Rev. Horatio Graves and his family was the countys first settler, moving to the Hale Center area in 1882. Plainviews founders, Z.T. Maxwell and E.L. Lowe, came in 1886. Two years later, Hale County organized with Plainview as its county seat. By 1890, Hale County had a population of 721, with 250 living in Plainview.

Once settlers arrived and started forming towns, the first two things that usually spring up were schools and churches, Griffin said. And often they started out sharing buildings. Once the schools and churches became established, along came stores and other business enterprises. Thats why so many Baptist churches in the area began about the same time, because the town were just then getting started. And when the railroads came, some of the towns and churches moved to be nearer to the railroads.

Later on, when many of the smaller rural communities began to shrink and disappear, churches were normally among the last organized groups to disband - long after businesses closed and schools consolidated. Churches help to hold a community together, and are among the last to leave, he observes.

According to published accounts, Tulias First Baptist Church originated on July 1, 1891, when a group Swisher County Christians of met in the home of Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Butts. For the next six years, the First Baptist Church of Christ of Tulia held services on rotating Saturdays and Sundays in the school building, sharing it with the Methodists and Presbyterians. The Baptists completed its own building in December 1906. They adopted the name First Baptist Church of Tulia during the 1920s.

FBC-Hale Center was originally known as Hale Center Missionary Baptist Church. It was organized by Dr. I.B. Kimbrough in the Epworth School House. The Baptists shared the Methodist church building from 1902 until 1907, when they began meeting in their own building, according to Mary L. Cox in her History of Hale County, Texas from 1937.

That original building was replaced with a new structure which was dedicated on Jan. 1, 1936, and reconstructed following the 1965 tornado.

Reflecting on the upcoming church anniversaries, Griffin in his June newsletter observed, We have been blessed with a great heritage of faith!
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The same clear, sunny weather that broiled much of California in near-triple-digit heat this week also helped the states solar power plants set a record, briefly generating enough electricity for more than 6 million homes.

Just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, large solar plants scattered across California produced a record 8,030 megawatts of electricity, according to the California Independent System Operator, the organization that runs most of the states power grid. Thats nearly twice as much solar power as California could generate just two years ago  and it doesnt even count the electricity produced by hundreds of thousands of small rooftop solar arrays statewide.

But the push to add renewable power has complications, given that the sun doesnt shine at night and wind is intermittent, too.

Shift to renewables

The output from solar plants peaks at midday, stays close to that level for several hours and then tails off sharply in late afternoon. Californias wind farms produce most of their electricity from late afternoon into the night. Electricity demand, meanwhile, tends to hit its daily peak around 6 p.m.  just as solar power is fading and wind is still revving up.

To fill the gap, the state relies on power plants that burn natural gas, plants that can ramp their output up and down quickly. Utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric Co. also offer customers incentives to use less power, through measures such as turning off lights, during the critical afternoon hours. On Friday, for example, PG&E asked some customers to power down devices between 2 and 7 p.m.

Reversing plans

Were changing our paradigm from a grid that is largely traditional resources augmented by renewables to one thats based on renewables augmented by traditional resources, mostly natural gas, said Steve Berberich, CEO of the Independent System Operator, in a recent interview. Our goal is to make the gas element as small as possible.

As part of the fight against global warming, California law requires utilities to get 33 percent of the electricity they sell from the sun, wind and other renewable sources by 2020 and 50 percent by 2030. When electricity demand on Tuesday reached its peak, at 5:54 p.m., almost 29 percent of the electricity coursing over the grid came from renewable sources, according to the Independent System Operator.

For a brief time on May 16, renewables accounted for 56 percent of the grids electricity, according to the operator.

These figures dont count the electricity generated by the more than 537,000 rooftop solar arrays on California houses and businesses. Together, those arrays can produce as much as 4,211 megawatts of electricity.

A megawatt is a snapshot figure, roughly equal to the amount of electricity used by 750 typical homes at a single moment in time.

PG&E, which is Californias largest utility, currently gets about 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources and may hit 33 percent by the end of this year, CEO Tony Earley said last month. PG&E also owns a fleet of large hydroelectric dams, but under state law those dams dont count toward Californias renewable power goals.

The company estimates that Californias increasing use of solar and wind energy pushes up electricity rates between 1 and 2 percent each year. Renewable power prices, however, are dropping fast, as more solar and wind projects come online.

Declining prices

The growing availability and declining price of renewable power contributed to PG&Es recent decision to close Californias last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon, in 2025. PG&E has pledged to replace the plant with electricity sources that dont pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, so that the utility would get 55 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2031.

Each time we go out for bids, renewable prices have been going down, particularly photovoltaic (solar), and we have no reason to believe thats not going to continue, Earley said.

One challenge, paradoxically, is that California has added solar plants so quickly that the grid doesnt always have room for all of the electricity. On Tuesday, for example, grid operators had to curtail 292 megawatt hours of solar electricity, equal to 292 megawatts over the course of an hour.

As a result, the Independent System Operator is exploring the possibility of launching a unified power market that would cover most western states, so that Californias solar plants and wind farms could sell their excess power to customers outside the state.

I dont think it makes societal or economic sense to turn off zero-carbon, zero-marginal cost power so frequently, Berberich said this week, discussing the possibility of a multi-state market. The opportunity to sell that power out of state ... allows renewables to flourish within California and without.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF
Summer vacation is half over, but theres still plenty of time before school starts up again for a few lively reads. Here are some recent books that will keep your kids out of the sun and happy (and quiet) on the couch.

Raymie Nightingale

By Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick, $16.99, age 10 and up

Modest and tour de force dont usually go together, but they perfectly describe Raymie Nightingale, a quirky but melancholy coming-of-age novel. Ten-year old Raymie Clarke decides to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire contest to get a front-page photo to remind her father to come home. (Hes run off with the dental hygienist.) In her preparatory baton class, Raymie meets two girls also scarred by loss, and through them comes to do good deeds for the right reasons. Raymies small town yields an oddball cast of characters and an odd collection of local settings. Nothing is arbitrary  even details like bunny barrettes and Florence Nightingales lamp. Kate DiCamillo, the multiple Newbery-winning author claims that her story is entirely made up but absolutely true. True enough, because she employs fiction to uncover truths about betrayal, kindness, bravery, soul-searching, rescue and new beginnings.

One Day in the Eucalyptus, Eucalyptus Tree

By Daniel Bernstrom

Illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Katherine Tegen Books, $17.99; ages 4-8

Kids wont be able to resist this original, cumulative tale with an ominous opening scene: One day in the leaves of the eucalyptus tree,/ hung a scare in the air/ where no eye could see,/ when along skipped a boy/ with a whirly-twirly toy,/ to the shade of the eucalyptus, eucalyptus tree. Gulp! A snake swallows up that boy, who then devises a clever plan of escape. What follows is classic Im going to eat you up action, many animals, large and small, greedily gobbled into a dark, expanding interior. (See where this is going?) The art, created with everything imaginable, models comic visual storytelling. Meanwhile, charming repetition, clever rhyming and zingy rhythms propel rollicking verses. All in all, Bernstroms debut is both pleasing and promising.

Elizabeth Started All the Trouble

By Doreen Rappaport ; illustrated by Matt Faulkner

Disney/Hyperion, $17.99, ages 6-10

American women didnt enjoy universal suffrage when my mother was born. This timely picture history recalls the long, hard road to a corrective, ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. Abigail Adams gets the ball rolling when she exhorts her husband to remember the ladies as the American Revolution unfolds. No luck. It is not until 1848 that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott rewrite the Declaration of Independence to include their grievances. (Women then could not go to college, keep inherited property, or vote.) Spirited watercolors enliven the fact-filled narrative about pivotal events and inspiring heroines like Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Amelia Bloomer, the Grimke Sisters and Alice Paul. Now, almost a century after one significant voting rights victory, another woman is making a serious run for the presidency. Though slow, thats progress, too.

Frank and Lucky Get Schooled

By Lynne Rae Perkins

Greenwillow , $17.99, ages 4-8

This delightfully esoteric picture book could double as a college course catalog. Frank and his new shelter dog, Lucky, explore the many subjects to be encountered in school and beyond. They both love science  when you wonder, observe, ask questions and try to understand something. Example: Lucky gets ticks, and Frank learns biology. So it goes for chemistry, astronomy, taxonomy, reading, math, history (focus on famous dogs), art, geography and languages. The full-color art is laid out to best advantage  from a double-page scene of relaxed reading to cartoon cells for Spanish to small insets of burrs. Emphasis is on how to construct knowledge from evidence, experience, experiments and differing viewpoints. Thus, a Newbery Medal winner offers a lighthearted pictorial introduction to the serious business of learning, and thereby fuels the all-important CQ, short for Curiosity Quotient.

Flora and the Peacocks

By Molly Idle

Chronicle, $17.99, ages 4-6

Twos company and threes a crowd. That chestnut is elegantly questioned in this freshly imagined wordless book, third in the acclaimed Flora series. Here the young dancer encounters a pair of peacocks, and they vie for her affection. (In previous books, she cavorts with a flamingo and some penguins too.) Gorgeous white pages are backdrop for gracefully stylized blue, lime and yellow images, the illustrators work as a Disney animator evident in the seamless flow of story. Inventive flaps open to show how Floras own fan, shaped just like an array of tail feathers, becomes an object of jealousy and source of an object lesson. Throughout, the paper engineering is something to behold, especially the spectacular final gatefold that reveals a lovely resolution. And therein emerge two important take-aways: Competition can yield to companionship, and trios can work together, too.

Douglas, You Need Glasses!

By Ged Adamson

Schwartz & Wade, $16.99, ages 3-7

What is it like to have blurry vision? The fuzzy cover font mimics nearsightedness and serves as perfect entree to this purposeful and playful picture book. The setup is simple. Problem: Under the watchful eye of his young owner, the jaunty dog Douglas chases leaves instead of squirrels, sometimes goes to the wrong house, and misses important street signs. Solution: Nancy realizes something is amiss, so its off to the optician for an exam (hilarious) and glasses (fetching). Wow! Everything looks amazing, the newly bespectacled Douglas declares. (I remember that moment myself.) For positive reinforcement, a gallery of color photos finishes the book  smiling kids in their glasses. Those with corrected vision will identify with this positive story, and their 20-20 friends will be envious. Bibliotherapy never looked so good.

Susan Faust is a Bay Area school librarian.
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Despite another mass loss of lives in France in the back of everyones minds, French music was enthusiastically celebrated Friday night during the third program of the Cactus Pear Music Festival.

The 20th century program featured music of Gabriel Faure, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc and others.

A special treat was Ravels last composition, a three-song set for baritone and piano titled Don Quichotte a Dulcinee.

Baritone Timothy Jones, a perennial favorite talent at the festival, combined theatrical gestures with his ever-expressive voice to articulate the Ravel songs set to poetry by Paul Morand.

The first song presented a lovers bravado, and then Jones made the second a powerful prayer.

To add humor, Jones took a moment to reach into his jacket pocket to drain a flask before the third song, a comic, slightly foolish drinking song. Jones stage-stumbled, as in a stupor, during the final bars to the delight of the audience of about 450 people at Coker United Methodist Church.

Bohuslav Martinus La revue de cuisine, or The Kitchen Review, is ballet music that comes off like a French cabaret. The six-player ensemble was led by festival founder, violinist Stephanie SantAmbrogio, along with San Antonio Symphony musicians Sharon Kuster (bassoon) and John Carroll (trumpet). They pepped up the evening with episodes of jazz, tango and the Charleston. Clarinetist Sam Almaguer was another standout.

SantAmbrogio started the concert with Kenji Bunchs Sarabande for solo violin, a moving work but a difficult one. SantAmbrogio played pizzicato with her left hand while continuing a smooth melody with the bow on her right hand.

SantAmbrogio and cellist Beth Rapier played together wonderfully in the middle movement of the Faure Piano Trio, first in unison and then flowering with counterpoint before pulling back together again. Unfortunately, the Steinway nearly overwhelmed the Faure trio at times, making the strings difficult to hear.

A better Debussy Sonata for cello and piano would be difficult to imagine. Cellist Anthony Ross, a Cactus Pear veteran, was in total command of the piece with Debussys trademark impressionism, adding keen phrasing and purity of sound.

A lighter moment followed with Georges Aurics Trio for oboe, clarinet and bassoon. It was woodwind heaven, music that alternated between cartoonish, spinning themes and quieter passages. The trio was led by oboist Rong-Huey Liu.

No piece was quite so French, though, as Poulencs Le bal masque.

Jones sang with the same flair as in the Ravel while the nine-musician ensemble made its way through a whimsical, fragmented score. Never a dull moment was heard in the Poulenc, which was like a clown mask worn over a face of Parisian sophistication.

The festival continues at 7 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio at the Coker Church and at 2 p.m. Sunday at Boernes First United Methodist Church with the festivals fourth and final program, featuring a world premiere of a work by Kevin Puts.

dhendricks@express-news.net

Twitter: @davidahendricks
Courtesy Edward Guadalupe Acuna Lucio Cody Jr.

There are moments in My Name Was DorianDorian Gray in which some might be tempted to close their eyes and just listen.

Thats because the vocal work of actor Derek Berlin  who also wrote, directed and produced the piece  is so rich that it suggests a really great radio play. Of course, anyone who closes their eyes will miss out on the shows visual delights, which are considerable. Berlins costume (designed by Gary Sartor, who also plays the silent role of Grays butler) is elegant  all sumptuous fabrics and textures, with just the right amount of jewelry. And LaFonda Williams set also captures Dorians wealth and status; the sculpted topiary is an especially nice touch.
North Greenbush

A $750,000 state grant will pay for 1,940 pagers to equip Rensselaer County's volunteer firefighters and ambulance squad members when the county's $20 million emergency radio system goes online at the end of the year.

State Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R-Halfmoon, was surrounded by nearly 100 volunteer first responders at the new Defreestville Fire Station on Wednesday when she announced the grant she had secured to purchase the pagers.

"People don't realize the billions of dollars saved each year due to all you do for us," Marchione told the volunteers from around the county.

The $750,000 in state funds brings to nearly $20 million for the entire project the county is completing to provide nearly 100 percent emergency radio coverage.

The county has $19,175,466 budgeted for the project. The local firefighters have supported getting the new system operational to provide better response to emergencies.

"We support day in and day out the men and women of our emergency services," County Executive Kathleen Jimino said, calling the new grant a means for ensuring they can respond quickly to residents' calls.

Legislature Chairman Stan Brownell, R-Hoosick, said the new communications system will eliminate dead spots in radio coverage, especially in rural Rensselaer County.

"These pagers are a vital part of our emergency services efforts," said County Legislator Thomas Walsh, R-Brunswick, who chairs the Public Safety Committee.

The Rensselaer County Fire Chiefs Association and the Firemen's Association of the State of New York worked with Marchione to secure the funding.

North Greenbush Supervisor Lou Desso said the grant will provide relief for local taxpayers, who support the fire companies.

Fire companies will save an average of $20,000 each by not having to purchase pagers out of their budgets, said Chief Gary Roberts, first vice president of the county chiefs and first assistant chief of the South Schodack Fire Department.

The savings can be applied to other equipment needs. Speigletown Fire Chief Bill Maloney said his department will be able to buy new gear for 10 firefighters.

The kcrowe@timesunion.com  518-454-5084  @KennethCrowe
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NORWALK  The Maritime Aquarium is now home to the largest video wall in Connecticut.

At four kiosks in front of the 9-foot-by-32-foot screen, children can choose between a seal, tiger shark, striped bass, flounder, squid or green sea turtle. After coloring the blank animal outlines, they can watch their 2-dimensional drawings come to life on the big screen.

It connects people with the animals, said Dave Sigworth, the aquariums spokesperson, who used the kiosk to create Don the striped bass.

The video wall, a grid of 32 screens, is at the entrance to the museum, depicting 50 sea animals swimming around the wreckage of the ship Long Island Lucy. The animals motions are remarkably accurate, mimicking the way a seal wiggles through the water andhow a squid propels itself forward.

Fact bubbles float around the edges of the screen, one stating that theres 217 miles of direct shorefront on the Long Island Sound, before popping off the edge.

Though the wall is set up for the Sketch and Release activity at the moment, Sigworth said it will be used for video and PowerPoint presentations at after-hours events.

Robert ONeill, 7, was stationed at a kiosk for a good half-hour, creating sea animal after sea animal  many who were named Robby.

Its cool cause kids can see different animals and how the animals move differently, he said.

Then he sent a seal through. Welcome, GODZILLA! the screen read, as Robbys brown and purple seal popped into existence on the screen and wriggled toward a squid.

Its fun watching him create different things, said Robbys cousin Madison Andrews, 13. It helps me learn more about him and his creativity.

Robby said he wished he had a pet seal because if you had a shark you could get killed.

Sigworth said the most popular animals on the screen also reflected the most popular animals in the aquarium to its visitors: sharks, seals and turtles.

He said the installation was educational  the kiosks provide a summary of information about the animal, and you can watch how they move on the screen  but its also just entertaining.

Youre mostly supposed to have fun with it, he said.

SFoster-Frau@CTPost.com;
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BRIDGEPORT  By next week, Jose Casco may no longer be a member of the City Council.

Casco is under pressure to resign his seat on that 20-person legislative body following his arrest Sunday night over an argument with his estranged wife.

State Rep. Christopher Rosario is head of the Democrats in Cascos City Council district. Rosario said Friday that he has encouraged Casco to step down from both the council and the Democratic Town Committee to deal with his personal issues.

If its going to impair him in any way of performing his duties, I think he should step aside, Rosario said, adding Casco needs to focus on getting help for himself and his marriage.

Rosario said the districts town committee members are meeting over the weekend to further discuss the situation.

Casco huddled Thursday evening with fellow Hispanic council members and council President Thomas McCarthy at the downtown government center. The meeting was in the councils office.

None of those present, including Casco, would comment. But sources said the meeting was about Cascos arrest.

According to police, Casco, 49, was charged with disorderly conduct after officers responded to a complaint of a loud argument at his Marrian Street home.

Police said they found an intoxicated Casco arguing with his wife. She alleged that Casco had tried to remove the television and cable box from her bedroom.

Casco was released on a promise to appear in court but the judge imposed a protective order barring the councilman from contact with his wife. The case was placed on the domestic violence court docket.

Court documents indicate the couple, married in 1999, have had marital problems for months. In mid-February, Cascos wife went to court to dissolve the marriage and seek sole possession of their home, stating there was no prospect of reconciliation.

Casco is being represented in the divorce by attorney and Judge of Probate Paul Ganim, Mayor Joe Ganims younger brother.

Cops also said a belligerent Casco repeated Im a city councilman over and over to them.

Casco was appointed to the council in March 2015 to fill a vacancy and elected to a full two-year term in November. He is a co-chairman of the Ordinance Committee and a member of the Budget and Education committees.

Casco has also been involved in immigrant issues, most recently lobbying successfully for Bridgeport to launch a municipal identification card program modeled on one operated by New Haven.

Rosario said he was disturbed that Casco did not reach out to him following his arrest. Rosario said he had heard rumors about the incident and ultimately contacted Casco for an explanation.

Its alarming. It really took me by surprise, Rosario said. If you asked me of 100 people, who would face those accusations, he wouldnt even be on the list.

Rosario declined to divulge the details of that private conversation. But, he said, Based on the information he told me and the issues hes going through, this isnt something you just sweep under the rug. ... Im very concerned about his well-being.
The U.S. State Department said Friday that Chinese authorities are officially charging a Houston businesswoman who was detained 16 months ago on allegations of spying and stealing state secrets in a case that has sparked condemnation from Congress and the United Nations.

Sandy Phan-Gillis, 56, was held for six months under residential surveillance, allowing police to detain her without charges while they investigate national security breaches. She was detained while passing through an immigration control connecting mainland China with Macau. In September, she was moved to a formal detention center in Nanning, Guangxi, a province bordering Vietnam.

A State Department spokeswoman said Beijing informed them that it will now bring a case against Phan-Gillis to the Nanning Intermediate People's Court.

"We urge China to resolve this case expeditiously and provide a fair and transparent legal process in accordance with local law and in a manner that also respects international human rights," the State Department said in a statement. "We also ask that China ensure that Ms. Phan-Gillis continues to have full access to an attorney."

Phan-Gillis' husband, Jeff Gillis, could not immediately be reached for comment. A representative for the Chinese Consulate in Houston did not return calls or emails.

Her detention in March 2015, while she led a trade delegation including Houston's former mayor pro-tem Ed Gonzalez, was kept secret for months. It was first revealed when Phan-Gillis' husband launched a brief media campaign last September to coincide with President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S.

Within days, however, Gillis had shut it down, saying it was best to leave negotiations to the State Department. The agency said consular officials have had monthly visits with Phan-Gillis since her arrest and are monitoring the case closely. Senior officials in Washington have raised it several times with their counterparts in Beijing.

Last week a United Nations panel said China has arbitrarily detained her in violation of international human rights norms. The U.N. working group said that the Chinese government told it that Phan-Gillis is charged with "assisting external parties to steal national intelligence." The panel called for her to be released or given proper assistance by a legal counsel.

In October a bipartisan congressional committee asked Secretary of State John Kerry to consider issuing a travel advisory for China, saying it found Phan-Gillis' detention "deeply troubling."

Chinese officials have disclosed no more information other than that she is under investigation for spying and stealing state secrets. Her case has been called unusual and a "red flag" for Americans working in China because many considered her a "poster child for good U.S.-China relations."

A Vietnamese refugee of Chinese descent who became a U.S. citizen decades ago, she helped lead and later served as president of the Houston Shenzhen Sister City Association since 1994 and founded Houston's Chinese New Year festival. She coordinated training programs for Chinese nurses in Houston.

U.S. analysts say her case raises questions about the safety of Americans doing business in China under Xi, who has arrested at least nine foreigners on allegations of spying in the past two years and oversaw the passage of a sweeping national security law last summer that grants authorities broad discretion about what constitutes espionage. It was approved as Chinese authorities have increasingly blamed "foreign forces" for protests in Hong Kong and elsewhere and as the government has launched a massive anti-corruption crackdown that has also focused on dissidents.
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Through the first half of 2016, Councilman Ron Nirenberg raised more money than any of his council colleagues and nearly as much as Mayor Ivy Taylor, campaign finance reports show.

Nirenberg wont say whether hes running for mayor, but the level of his fundraising says he is. In the period between Jan. 1 and June 30, he raised $114,210. Taylor raised $128,542 during the same period. Her report shows that she has $194,009 left on hand, while Nirenberg has $150,198 in the bank.

In contrast, the nine other council members raised between $0 and $40,289  a council member average, not including Nirenberg, of about $17,960.

Click through the gallery to see the current status of City Council political contributions

I've worked hard as a councilman and as a candidate. I'm proud of our work and of our fundraising success, Nirenberg said. Naturally, people love to speculate about a campaign that is not underway for an election that is a year away, but I'm focused on the job I have right now, which is District 8 councilman.

Justin Hollis, Taylors campaign manager, underscored the mayors support and gave a nod to Nirenberg for his fundraising.

Mayor Taylor has a great base of supporters. She has been busy getting things done for the city of San Antonio, though, not campaigning, Hollis said. We are happy that Councilman Nirenberg has had fundraising success for his re-election to City Council.

Campaign finance reports for the mayor and council members were due by midnight Friday.

As a councilman, Nirenberg can only accept up to $500 from contributors while Taylor can accept as much as $1,000 from each donor. But campaign consultants say that the councilman is able to collect contributions from some people who wouldnt give to him if he were running for mayor.

Since hes yet to declare whether he intends to run for the top spot, Nirenberg was able to collect contributions from some people who also appear on Taylors list of donors.

It looks like hes taking one of the steps that one needs to assemble a good campaign. But checks dont vote, people do, said consultant Collin Strother, who managed former Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkissons failed mayoral bid last year. At some point, hes going to have to prove that hes got a constituency, and weve yet to see that.

Taylor, on the other hand, has built a city-wide constituency, Strother said. He called her fundraising efforts and Nirenbergs impressive. The councilmans level of contributions and cash on hand clearly show he intends to run, he said.

Theres no other reason why someone in a safe district that isnt facing any challenger would be motivated to raise money at that clip, he said.

Councilman Rey Saldana, whos also been seen as a potential mayoral candidate, posted numbers more in line with someone seeking re-election to his District 4 seat. He raised $17,600 in the first six months of the year and has about $62,400 left on hand  which is still a substantial war chest for a council member.

Christian Archer, who managed mayoral campaigns for Phil Hardberger, Julian Castro and Leticia Van de Putte, said Nirenberg will be able to continue raising money as long as he does it as a councilman. Once he declares hes running for mayor, the dynamics of political contributions change.

Both Strother and Archer agree that the councilman should wait to declare. Strother said if he were advising the councilman, hed tell him to wait until after the presidential election in November because the political environment is so uncertain now.

Id be telling him build a constituency, build a record on a couple issues that matter to voters city wide and get ready to poll in the fall, Strother said. Its smart to keep your powder dry and sit back and see what happens.

jbaugh@express-news.net

Twitter: @jbaugh
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The Bexar County Adult Detention Center recorded its third suicide in less than a month Friday amid a state inquiry into the recent deaths.

Jesus Jose Lopez, 18, was identified as the inmate by the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office on Friday evening. Lopez was found during an apparent suicide attempt Thursday morning in his cell, according to the Bexar County Sheriffs Office.

Authorities said Lopez was taken to University Hospital, where he died Friday evening. The sheriffs office is now investigating his death.

Lopez was being held on a capital murder charge in the shooting deaths of Joshua Rodriguez, 18, and Victoria Dennis, 17, according to previous reports.

In September 2015, police found Rodriguez shot to death and Dennis still alive after she had called police at about 1 p.m. at their residence in the Churchill Park apartment complex in the 1200 block of Patricia Drive. Dennis died later that day when she was transported to University Hospital.

The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force announced they arrested Lopez in the 1300 block of San Luis Street in April without incident.

On Friday, investigators said there was no evidence of foul play in Lopez's death.

An autopsy will be performed to determine his exact cause of death on Sunday, officials said.

Another inmate, Jonathan Campos, a 22-year-old suspect in the shooting death of 7-year-old Iris Rodriguez in June, was found dead in his cell July 9 of an apparent suicide, authorities said.

Campos hung himself in between morning cell checks, officials said.

On June 28, 40-year-old Victor Casas also hanged himself. Casas had been in jail since August of 2015 on charges of assault causing bodily injury and theft ranging from $50 to $500.

The Texas Commission on Jail Standards visited the Bexar County Jail unannounced this week following the deaths of Casas, Campos, and a third person who was pronounced dead of natural causes within a span of 10 days.

TCJS Executive Director Brandon Wood said the commission sent an inspector to the jail to view video footage and collect documents and records to assist in an investigation into the deaths.

There was a concern because there were two suicides in a very short period of time, he told the Express-News on Thursday.

The sheriffs office said the attempted suicide Thursday and the inmates death at the hospital Friday both occurred after the TCJS visit, but that they have been notified of the incidents.

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
After pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder for setting a fire that killed her brother and injured her father, a San Antonio woman was sentenced to 50 years in prison Friday by state District Judge Lori Valenzuela.

Miranda Herrera, now 21, and co-defendant Sari Rodriguez, now 19, set fire to Herreras house at 4830 Castle Pine Drive on Dec. 19, 2013. Both were charged with capital murder. Rodriguez earlier had also entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of murder in exchange for a 60-year sentence, the district attorneys office said.
The world was shocked when England voted to exit the European Union. We now know that decision was made by the group of voters who determine most elections in democratic societies: older folks.

If the young voters had turned up in as big as numbers, the outcome would have been the opposite.

Older Britishers want a return to the way things were, to an England where most everyone was white and British  to a time when things seemed safer and more stable.

Now the younger English generation is stuck with an awkward isolationist decision made by folks wholl most likely be dead in 10 or 20 years. Sad situation.

Its easy to understand the desire to return to what seems to have been a happier time. That same desire fuels the I want my country back attitude in the United States.

If a person is older and settled, and if things begin to change too fast around them  for example, different types of people moving in  things feel unstable. It gets scarier if youre not sure whether these people are legal or not, or whether they are Arab, Muslim, black, Latino, drug dealers, rapists or terrorists.

In England and most of Europe, immigration is a relatively new thing. Social attitudes and demographic shifts are changing the landscape faster than most of the older folks can get their heads around  much less accept.

So they blame the establishment politicians. And their policies.

Immigration is not new to the U.S. It has been part of our DNA from day one. Still, somehow, the same fears apply.

Many older white Americans, especially those who cheer Trump, want things to return to the way things were. They conveniently forget that most every generation has experienced unrest and even chaos.

Still to them, I want my country back means a return to the imaginary Ozzie and Harriet days when everyone was white  everyone was heterosexual, everyone was Christian, everyone was innocent in that gee-whiz kind of way. When Dad worked and Mom didnt. When everyone drove a U.S.-made car and jobs didnt go overseas. When people lived in nice little homes with white picket fences and no one brought up nasty, thorny issues such as abortion, race relations, same-sex marriage, climate change, Muslims, immigration and use of public restrooms by transgender individuals.

In this country, young people have grown up with diversity and change. All they know is a young, hip, inclusive and ethnically diverse America, which will soon be majority minority. Todays young people have no problem with the thorny issues. To them, they are not even thorny. Theyre just the way things are.

Trump claims hell make America great again. He says hell start by sending 11 million undocumented folks to Mexico, Central and South America. He says hell do it by building a big beautiful wall that Mexico will fund. He says hell make America great again by preventing Muslims from entering our country. And he wants to make America great again by insulting those who disagree with him and canceling press credentials to media outlets that dont treat him nicely.

And he says hell do it all by himself if Republicans dont support him.

Feelings, not facts, are fueling his campaign.

Heres the reality: Trump will never send 11 million people back. He cant. Our economy would collapse.

Latinos are the very reason our American population continues to grow. Without Latinos, our population would be in serious decline. Latinos are todays emerging middle class, the leaders and consumers of tomorrow and the next wave of American talent.

We need immigrants just as much today as we needed them in our countrys infancy.

The wall will never be built because it will cost billions of dollars, which Mexico will never pay, no matter how much Trump threatens.

And we all know that Trump will never get anything done all by himself. Not unless he plans to start the Isolationist Party or become a dictator.

Very soon, a sober post-Brexit Britain will realize that having voted to leave the European Union was not the answer. Things wont get better for Britons anytime soon. And the last thing we need to do is give in to suspicion and fear, and follow their lead into a world of isolationism.

Sooner or later it will dawn on us that the times we pine for never really existed, and it is high time we move out of the time gone by and into the here and now.

Trying to fight shifting population patterns and demographics, changing social norms, new technologies and global interdependencies makes as much sense as jumping in front of a moving train. The train, as they say, has left the station.

Get on board, little children, theres room for many more.

Lionel Sosa is a San Antonio marketing executive and political consultant.
In 2004, Texas author Bill Bishop, in his book The Big Sort, described the migration of Americans inspired by lifestyle choices.

Envisioning a growing divide in the country in advance of todays political gridlock in Washington, he wrote that we have built a country where everyone can choose the neighbors (and church and news shows) most compatible with his or her lifestyle and beliefs. And we are living with the consequences of this segregation by way of life: pockets of like-minded citizens that have become so ideologically inbred that we dont know, cant understand, and can barely conceive of those people who live just a few miles away.

The predicted consequences? Increasingly we would live in separate worlds of news and what was recognized as facts, so that bipartisan dialogue and compromise become impossible.

A decade later, its hard not to wonder how our politics could get more dysfunctional. Congress is unable to easily pass a budget. The Senate is unwilling to consider filling a Supreme Court vacancy. And voters will soon choose between the two most unpopular major party candidates for president in polling history, candidates whose only paths to victory could come because of each other.

We have launched an online series of short films, Postcards from the Great Divide, that examines aspects of our political divide in nine states. Is anyone happy in Wisconsin, where excessive gerrymandering and heightened ideological division in the Legislature has produced bitter policy fights over everything? How are African-American voters staying engaged in the face of new state restrictions to voting in Florida, a crucial swing state? What were the consequences of outside interests putting more than $1 million into a local school board race outside of Denver? A hint: It didnt help produce consensus.

In our Texas film, The Giant Still Sleeps, the series examines the Latino vote. Or more correctly, the lack thereof.

Latinos may pass whites in population next year, according to state demographers, but they made up less than 20 percent of the vote in 2014. Theres no doubt that recent restrictive voter ID laws have had a negative impact on the Latino turnout. And without the protection of the Voting Rights Act  because of action by the Supreme Court  gerrymandering and the redrawing of district lines to dilute the vote are harder to fight in the courts.

But the challenges run much deeper.

Theres a cultural aversion to getting involved in politics, along with a younger population who, as yet, doesnt see the relevance of politics in their day-to-day lives. Working-class voters have not been convinced of the worth of voting. And the lack of statewide general election competition does nothing to motivate people to go to the polls.

So why is this problem for all Texans?

No matter your political preferences, the reality in our one-party state government is that were not debating serious differences of opinion on public policy in Texas.

Party-line votes in the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature are the norm when elected officials have only primary challenges to fear for re-election. Ideological purity is the test.

In the film, former U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego, who is running to regain his South Texas seat, recalls that in the 1980s I remember a big poster that said that the 80s was the decade of the Hispanic. And then the 90s were the decade of the Hispanic. And then the 2000s. So were still waiting for that decade.

The rationale for a two-party system is to encourage political debate, and until our soon-to-be largest ethnic group is engaged in our democracy, nothing will change to remedy what were missing.

Paul Stekler is the chair of the Radio-Television-Film Department in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. Postcards from the Great Divide can be seen at www.politicalpostcards.org .
A congressional commission has issued a report replete with fixes for a Veterans Health Administration that has imposed intolerable waits for health care on veterans. This has resulted in suffering and, sometimes, death.

These recommendations should get a thorough vetting, with the vetters keeping in mind that the last fix, after this national embarrassment was uncovered two years ago, was no fix at all.

The Choice Program was to have connected ailing veterans with private physicians. Instead, veterans faced unnecessary delays and, often, no care. This affected veterans living in rural areas most acutely.

The Commission on Care recommends that this program be replaced with a VHA Care System, an integrated community health care network that includes VA-credentialed private physicians and facilities, but also includes military and other federally funded providers and facilities.

This appears to be a proposal worth implementing if care is taken that it doesnt become a slippery slope to privatizing veterans health care altogether. Particularly worthy is a proposal to eliminate a 30-day and 40-mile rule that limited access to private health care providers. Veterans had to have waited at least 30 days for care and lived beyond 40 miles from the nearest VHA provider to be eligible under Choice.

This network will be no substitute for new VA hospitals where they are needed  the Rio Grande Valley fits that bill. But, if done correctly, the network could improve on its predecessor program. And if by Defense Department and other federally funded facilities, the commission means military doctors and the federally funded qualified health centers that exist in many communities, this will augment access considerably.

Priority would still go to veterans with service-connected conditions. This is as it should be. But among the recommendations is a worthy one when it comes to eligibility. Among former members of the military not deemed veterans when it comes to VHA care are those who were discharged under other-than-honorable conditions. Among these are those separated from service with traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse sparked by their service, according to the report.

If they are judged to have performed substantial favorable service and mitigating circumstances exist, they, too, would be eligible under this proposal.

This is also worth implementing. But we would add to this list those whose sexual assaults by fellow soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines led to circumstances that, in turn, led to other-than-honorable discharges. Such cases were detailed in this newspapers Twice Betrayed series in 2013.

Other recommendations in this report point to some unfortunate conclusions. First, many of the problems on access to care uncovered two years ago persist. And second, the VHA is a lumbering, ill-managed bureaucracy whose failure to seek out best practices has created a culture not suited for innovation or providing the best care possible.

The report gives the VHA its due, noting that it can provide quality and timely care, but says that this is inconsistent from facility to facility, program to program. That must change.

Among the recommendations are those that have to do with, simply, better management and oversight.

Among the issues uncovered: Ineffective use of providers and other health professionals, lack of empowerment for staff to identify problems and make changes, persistent health care inequities along racial and ethnic lines, antiquated information technology that cannot support essential clinical and business processes, cost inefficiencies in the supply chain, low scores in organizational health among government agencies and a resulting culture that cries out for leadership attention.

Among the recommendations: creation of senior leaders to overcome some of these issues and a board of directors for overall governance and oversight.

That these problems persist is a mark against the Veterans Administration and its leadership in particular, but also Congress and the Obama administration. Though there is some urgency involved, care and diligence must guide implementation of whatever recommendations are accepted.

No more sloppy fixes.
Posted on 07/16/2016, 10:00 am, by mySteinbach

Manitoba Agriculture hosted consultations with more than 100 stakeholder groups from Manitobas diverse agricultural industry today to facilitate discussion around industry strengths, as well as opportunities for improvement and growth. This announcement was made by Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler.

Agriculture and food production are important economic drivers in Manitoba, said Eichler. The Manitoba government values the input of agricultural stakeholders and wants to ensure they have a key role in the development of a targeted growth strategy for the industry.

The first consultation took place on June 28 at the Manitoba Legislative Building. It was attended by more than 40 participants who spoke openly in a roundtable format about the strengths and opportunities within their sector of the industry, the minister noted.

The second consultation took place earlier today at the Portage Credit Union Centre in Portage la Prairie. Manitoba Agriculture hosted representatives from nearly 100 stakeholder groups for a full day featuring remarks from Eichler, presentations from industry experts and breakout sessions to discuss presentation subjects.

In addition to hosting group consultations, Manitoba Agriculture has set up an email address for feedback from the provinces agricultural industries. Comments and recommendations can be sent to MBAgPolicyConsultation@gov.mb.ca.
Yves here. Weve pointed out regularly that income inequality has a negative health impact even on the rich Highly unequal societies are characterized by shallow social bonds (if you lose your economic standing, you lose your friends) and higher levels of anxiety, again even for the very well off. And as Kate Pickett documented in her book The Spirit Level, societies with high levels of inequality score worse on all sorts of social indicators, like teen pregnancies, than more equal ones.

Needless to say, this article provides more support for Picketts observation. And most Americans have no idea what really unequal societies are like. Ive seen only some small vignettes. I recall the first time I went to Mexico City, on a McKinsey project in 1984. The McKinsey office was small and was in what looked like a suburban area by US standards. On the ride out, the driver pointed out something Id never seen before: snipers on the roofs of two compounds, to protect the owners.

Similarly, Johannesburg has long had large parts of the city that are dangerous, to the point that visitors are told never to take a cab from the airport. I heard this not just from my client, but a colleague who was well over 6 feet tall, went to South Africa regularly physically fearless (got into bar fights, once had a guy pull a gun on him in a bad neighborhood and managed to persuade him that it would be a very bad idea to shoot him. Insinuated that anyone who dared walk on the streets as well dressed as he was had mob connections and the Mafia was diligent about retribution). He said hed never consider anything other than pre-arranged rides anywhere in Joburg.

One quibble with the story: Gordon Gekko was widely seen as a cross between the arbitrageur Ivan Boesky, who gave a greed is good speech at his alma mater, NYU, and was successfully indicted for insider trading (as was Gekko), and the men in First Bostons M&A department (the wardrobe and slicked back hair fit to a T). Boesky dressed like a mortician and so they needed a glitzier look for the movie character.

By Alex Henderson, whose work has appeared in the L.A. Weekly, Billboard, Spin, Creem, the Pasadena Weekly and many other publications. Follow him on Twitter @alexvhenderson. Originally published at Alternet

Asher Edelman, the former Wall Street tycoon who was the model for Gordon Greed Is Good Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street, shocked the financial world earlier this year when he endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. The multi-millionaire explained that when the average American has not had an increase in pay in over 15 years, it is terrible for the U.S. economy because businesses need more than the top 1% to keep them afloatthey need a strong, robust middle class.

Edelmans assertion was not groundbreaking: President Franklin D. Roosevelt made the same argument 80 years ago during the Great Depression. FDR realized that maintaining a strong middle class and reducing poverty were beneficial for the rich, even if they had to pay higher taxes, because glaring inequality is often synonymous with unrest, violence, instability and upheaval. History bears that out, from the French Revolution to WWII.

Too many Americansand too many Republican politicianshave not learned the painful lessons of history and cling to the failed ideas of Reaganomics, neoliberalism and trickle-down economics. If they took an honest look around the world, they would realize its much safer to be rich in social democracies like Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden than in Honduras and other countries where they are surrounded by widespread desperation.

The U.S. is at an economic crossroads: does it move more in the direction of social democracy or continue to decimate its middle class and suffer all of the problems that go with severe inequality?

Below are eight countries where inequality is having violent, painful results.

1. Brazil

Brazil, in some respects, is an economic success story, or was: the Portuguese-speaking country is the largest economy in Latin America and the sixth largest economy in the world, and it won the right to host the Summer Olympics. But that has turned out to be a looming disaster, with the countrys police telling tourists they cant protect them.

The growing incomes at the top just never trickled down in Brazil, where the richest 10% control about 44.5% of the countrys overall income (according to the Institute of Geography and Statistics), the minimum wage for full-time workers amounts to about $287 a month in U.S. dollars, an illiteracy rate of 9% remains (according to the CIA World Factbook), and favelas (shantytown slums) are plentiful in Rio de Janeiro and other major cities. While life is hard and terrible for the poor, the rich are also affected by the countrys extreme inequality; kidnapping is common and millionaires and billionaires typically hire armed bodyguards and ride in bullet-proof vehicles in order to avoid being abducted. In fact, some plastic surgeons in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo earn a very good living restoring the appearances of rich Brazilians who have been mutilated by kidnappers.

The Mexico City-based Center for Public Security and Criminal Justice reported that in 2015, the murder rates in Brazilian cities included around 60 per 100,000 residents in Fortaleza, Natal and Salvador. According to the U.N., Brazil had an overall homicide rate of 25.2 per 100,000 residents in 2012.

2. The Philippines

Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines new right-wing president, campaigned on a get-tough-on-crime platform and has vowed to restore the death penalty. Supporters of outsourcing like to pretend that corporations are being benevolent when they open call centers in the Philippines and other developing countries, but there is nothing benevolent about paying the type of slave wages they couldnt get away with in Germany, Switzerland or Denmark. Taking advantage of cheap labor will not encourage true economic development in the Philippines, which, like many developing countries, has an ultra-wealthy 1%, a weak middle class, widespread poverty, and an abundance of violent crime (including kidnappings and carjackings).

The harsh disparity between the haves and have-nots has also led to extremist insurgent movements, ranging from the New Peoples Army (a Maoist guerrilla organization that has been active since 1969) to Abu Sayyaf (a jihadist/radical Islamist group with ties to Al-Qaeda). The Philippines does not need more low-paying dead-end jobs, sweatshops or a strongman president, it needs real economic development, which it wont get from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

3. Mexico

Mexico is one of the largest economies in Latin America and the 14th largest economy in the world. Neoliberalism, however, has not served Mexico well, and so-called free trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement have encouraged Mexico to be treated as a source of cheap labor rather than encouraging the growth of the countrys middle class. NAFTA was not only bad for the U.S., it was also bad for Mexico, as thousands of small farmers unable to compete with giant agribusiness lost their livelihoods. With so many campesinos unable to stay afloat financially, poverty became more widespread in rural Mexico, and drug cartels took full advantage of the desperation by offering illegal work to the poor.

Drug trafficking is nothing new in Mexico, and it has more causes than just inequality, including our own failed drug war. But violence skyrocketed when rival cartels in post-NAFTA Mexico stepped up their battle for turf: Human Rights Watch estimates that over 60,000 people were killed in cartel-related violence in Mexico between 2006 and 2012. Mexicos affluent class lives really well; upscale areas of Mexico City resemble Manhattans Upper East Side. But way too many of Mexicos poor have little or no hope for a decent life.

4. Guatemala

Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica, all known for having a vibrant middle class, are three of Latin Americas economic success stories. The vast majority of Uruguayans are neither ultra-rich nor ultra-poor, theyre middle class. That is quite a contrast to Guatemala, which has a long history of extreme inequality as well as some of Latin Americas worst crime rates.

When Guatemala is described as the poorest country in Central America, that doesnt mean it is devoid of millionaires or billionaires. Guatemala has an ultra-rich minority that lives very well. What Guatemala lacks is a strong middle class; about 54% of Guatemalans lived in poverty in 2011 (according to the CIA World Factbook), and in 2011, economist Branko Milanovic described Guatemala as the second most unequal country in the world. In 2012, Guatemala had a homicide rate of 39.9 per 100,000 people compared to only 3.1 per 100,000 that year in Chile. In 2013, Mexicos Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice analyzed crime rates and compiled a list of the most dangerous cities in the world: Guatemala City came in at #12.

5. South Africa

Economically, life remains difficult for most people in South Africa, where the homicide rate was 32 per 100,000 people in 2013, according to U.N. data. The apartheid system was an economic cancer in South Africa, and the country is still suffering from apartheids lingering effects. South Africas black middle class grew by 78% between 1991 and 1996, yet the country continues to be plagued by brutal income inequality; in 2011, 61% of economic consumption in South Africa came from the top 20% of wage earners. And about 48% of South Africas population, according to Statistics South Africa, has an income equivalent to about $58 per month.

6. Honduras

Honduras has a reputation as a business-friendly country where it is easy to open a call center or a sweatshop. But any corporatist who believes neoliberalism is serving Honduras well should take a close look at the countrys crime rates.

In November 2013, a study Jake Johnston and Stephan Lefebvre conducted for the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that income inequality and unemployment in Honduras had increased considerably since a coup in 2009, and it is no coincidence that violent crime has also been soaring in the Central American country. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Honduras had a murder rate of 84 per 100,000 in 2013 compared to less than 0.9 per 100,000 that same year in Italy. In Pedro San Sula, Honduras second largest city, the homicide rate was 169 per 100,000 in 2012. Gang violence is pandemic in Honduras, which is a textbook example of how badly neoliberal economics can fail in Latin America.

7. Jamaica

In 2015, Charlotta Mellander, a professor of economics at the University of Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden, took a look at the relationship between inequality and violence. Mellander, who analyzed U.N. data and 178 different countries, found that the worlds most unequal countries, from Mexico to South Africa, also tended to be the most violent.

Jamaica is a country where one finds a strong contrast between the haves and have-nots. According to WorldBank.org, Jamaicas poverty rate decreased by almost 20% in recent decades only to increase by 8% during the Great Recession. The Statistical Institute of Jamaica, in October 2015, reported an overall unemployment rate of 13.5% and a youth unemployment rate of 30.3%, while the CIA World Factbook has reported that 19% of Jamaicas population now lives below the poverty line. According to the U.N., Jamaicas homicide rate reached 45 per 100,000 people in 2015.

8. Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is one of the most unequal countries in the Asia/Pacific Region; while the rich minority prospers, 37% of its population lives on the equivalent of less than $1.25 a day and 60.3% of its population lacks access to safe drinking water. Violent crime is prevalent, and the homicide rates include 66 per 100,000 residents in Lae and 33 per 100,000 residents in the National Capital District.

In recent months, student protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Peter OToole over corruption allegations have been turning violent, and in June, a Papua New Guinea court issued an injunction barring those protests from college campuses. But in a country where illiteracy is around 37% and about half of the population of the largest city, Port Moresby, live in shantytown slums, violent crime and unrest come as no surprise.
Yves here. Among other things, notice how the Democrats have and are working to undermine the Greens, just as they have Black Lives Matter and the left generally. Never forget that the Dems are determined to crush the left, and perfectly happy to conspire with the right.

By Louis Proyect, who has written for Sozialismus (Germany), Science and Society, New Politics, Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Organization and Environment, Cultural Logic, Dark Night Field Notes, Revolutionary History (Great Britain), New Interventions (Great Britain), Canadian Dimension, Revolution Magazine (New Zealand), Swans and Green Left Weekly (Australia). Originally published at Louis Proyect: The Unrepentant Marxist

Over the last week or so, I have read two articles that offer a highly distorted version of events leading up to Hitlers seizure of power that are put forward in order to help elect Hillary Clinton.

In Can the Green Party Make a Course Correction?, Ted Glick equates Jill Steins determination to run against both Clinton and Trump in every state with the German Communist Partys Third Period turn. Referring to Jill Steins reference to Trump and Clinton on Democracy Now as being equally terrible, Glick linked her to the German CPs refusal to unite with the Social Democrats against Hitler:

Jills words are an eerie echo of huge mistakes made by the German Communist Party in the 1930s. Here is how Wikipedia describes what happened:

The Communist Party of Germany (German: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933. During the Weimar Republic period, the KPD usually polled between 10 and 15 percent of the vote and was represented in the Reichstag and in state parliaments. The party directed most of its attacks on the Social Democratic Party of Germany, which it considered its main opponent. Banned in Nazi Germany one day after Adolf Hitler emerged triumphant in the German elections in 1933, the KPD maintained an underground organization but suffered heavy losses.

In Harold Meyersons Bernie, Hillary, and the Ghost of Ernst Thalmann, the same historical analogy is used to get out the vote for Clinton but this time directed more at disaffected Sanderistas than Green Party activists who Meyerson likely views as beyond hope:

In the last years of the Weimar Republic, the real menace to Germany, Thalmann argued, wasnt the Nazis but the Communists center-left, and more successful, rival for the backing of German workers: the Social Democrats. The SDs, he said, were actually social fascists, never mind that they were a deeply democratic party without so much as a tinge of fascism in their theory and practice. But as the Communists rival for the support of the German working class, the SDs became the chief target of the Communists campaigns.

Thalmannism, then, is the inability (be it duplicitous, willful, fanatical, or just plain stupid) to distinguish between, on the one hand, a rival political tendency that has made the compromises inherent to governance and, on the other hand, fascism. And dispelling that inability is precisely what Bernie Sanders will be doing between now and November.

Im neither equating Donald Trump with Hitler nor saying hes fascist in the classic sense. Trump has no organized private army of thugs to attack and intimidate his rivals, as both Hitler and Mussolini did. But Trumps racist, xenophobic, and nationalist appeals; his division of the nation into valorous and victimized native-born whites and menacing non-white interlopers; his constant employment of some Big Lies and many Little ones; and his scant regard for civil liberties make him the closest thing to a fascist of any major party presidential nominee in our history.

Yet a minority of Sanderss supporters fail to grasp the threat that a Trump presidency poses to the nationto immigrants, to minorities, to workers, and even to the left and to themselves. I doubt more than a handful will actually vote for Trump, but Jill Stein and even Gary Johnson will win some of the Sanders diehards votes (though for voters, moving from Medicare-for-All Sanders to Medicare-for-None Johnson requires either extraordinary ideological footwork or simple brain death). In states where the race between Clinton and Trump is close, however, a Sanders diehards vote for Stein or Johnson, or a refusal to vote at all, is in effect a vote for Trump.

Both Glick and Meyerson have long-standing ties to the left. Glick has been a member of the Green Party for 16 years and before that worked with a small group promoting an inside-out electoral strategy. In many ways, that is much worse than being strictly inside the Democratic Party because the brownie points Glick has accumulated over the years as some kind of outsider gives him the leverage he needs to subvert the genuine radicalism of a third party on the left. In 2004 Glick was part of a group of Demogreens who engineered the nomination of David Cobb as Green Party presidential candidate instead of Ralph Nader, who they feared would siphon votes away from John Kerry. Basically this is the same strategy Glick is pursuing today with Jill Stein being demonized as the equivalent of the berserk Stalinists of the Third Period.

Meyerson was active in the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee in the 1970s, a group better known as DSOC that would later on fuse with other groups to become the DSA. He is currently the vice-chair of the National Political Committee of the DSA and a contributor to liberal magazines both online and print.

Like Glick, Meyerson saw Ralph Naders campaign in 2004 as inimical to the interests of the Democratic Party although formulated in terms of defeating the horrible Republicans. Just as Glick argued in his article, Meyerson took Nader to task for not recognizing the differences between the two parties in The American Prospect, a liberal magazine he publishes. Referring to Naders appearance on Meet the Press, Meyerson took issue with his claim that the system was rigged:

He did, of course, assert that there were no very serious differences between the two parties, though host Tim Russert got him to concede that there were distinctions on such ephemera as judicial nominations, tax cuts, and environmental enforcement. The American government, Nader reiterated, was still a two-party duopoly.

So what does all this have to do with the rise of Adolph Hitler? The answer is nothing at all. Hitler is invoked as a kind of bogeyman to frighten liberals. He serves the same purpose as a warning from your parents when you were six years old. If you dont brush your teeth, the bogeyman will get you. Now it is if you dont vote for Hillary Clinton, der Fuhrer Donald Trump will get you.

Unpacking and refuting such nonsense is dirty work but someone has to do it. To start with, it is necessary to put the German Socialists under the microscope to understand the historical context. If the German CPs ultra-left position was a disaster, how else would you describe the social democracys failure to resist the Nazis? While there is no point in making an exact equation between the Democrats and the German social democracy (we should only be so lucky), it would have been incumbent on Meyerson and Glick to review its strategy especially since they are the American version of Weimar Republic reformists today.

Like the Democratic Party, the German Socialists cut deals with the opposition rightwing parties to stay in power. In effect, they were the Clinton and Obamas of their day. In 1928, the Socialists were part of a coalition government that allowed the SP Chancellor Hermann Muller to carry out what amounted to the same kind of sell-out policies that characterized Tony Blair and Bernard Hollandes nominally working-class governments.

To give just one example, the SPs campaign program included free school meals but when Mullers rightwing coalition partners demanded that the free meals be abandoned in order to fund rearmament, Muller caved in.

Another example was his failure to tackle the horrible impact of the worldwide depression. When there was a crying need to pay benefits to the unemployed, whose numbers had reached 3 million, Muller was unable to persuade his rightwing partners to provide the necessary funding. Their answer was to cut taxes. If this sounds like exactly the nonsense we have been going through with the Clinton and Obama administrations (and a new go-round with Mrs. Clinton), you are exactly right. The German SP had zero interest in confronting the capitalist class. That task logically belonged to the Communists but the ultra-left lunacy mandated by Joseph Stalin made the party ineffectiveor worse. When workers grew increasingly angry at SP ineptitude, it is no surprise that the most backward layers gravitated to Hitler.

The ineffectiveness of the Muller government led to a political crisis and its replacement by Heinrich Brunings Center Party. Bruning then rolled back all wage and salary increases as part of a Herbert Hoover type economic strategy. Needless to say, this led to only a deepening of the economic crisis and political turmoil. Eventually Bruning stepped down and allowed President Paul von Hindenburg to take over. And not long after he took over, he succumbed to Nazi pressure (like knocking down an open door) and allowed Hitler to become Chancellor.

Within the two years of Bruning and von Hindenburg rule, what was the role of the German SP? It should have been obvious that Nazi rule would have been a disaster for the German working class. Unlike the Salon.com clickbait articles about Trump the fascist, this was a genuine mass movement that had been at war with trade unionists and the left for the better part of a decade. Stormtroopers broke up meetings, attacked striking trade unionists and generally made it clear that if their party took over, the left would be annihilated. Indecisiveness in the face of such a mortal threat would be just as much of a failure as the Third Period but that is exactly what happened with the SP as Leon Trotsky pointed out in What Next? Vital Questions for the German Proletariat, written in January 1932 on the eve of Hitlers assumption of power.

In its New Years issue, the theoretical organ of the Social Democracy, Das Freie Wort (what a wretched sheet!), prints an article in which the policy of toleration is expounded in its highest sense. Hitler, it appears, can never come into power against the police and the Reichswehr. Now, according to the Constitution, the Reichswehr is under the command of the president of the Republic. Therefore fascism, it follows, is not dangerous so long as a president faithful to the Constitution remains at the head of the government. Brunings regime must be supported until the presidential elections, so that a constitutional president may then be elected through an alliance with the parliamentary bourgeoisie; and thus Hitlers road to power will be blocked for another seven years. The above is, as given, the literal content of the article. A mass party, leading millions (toward socialism!) holds that the question as to which class will come to power in present-day Germany, which is shaken to its very foundations, depends not on the fighting strength of the German proletariat, not on the shock troops of fascism, not even on the personnel of the Reichswehr, but on whether the pure spirit of the Weimar Constitution (along with the required quantity of camphor and naphthalene) shall be installed in the presidential palace. But suppose the spirit of Weimar, in a certain situation, recognizes together with Bethmann-Hollweg, that necessity knows no law; what then? Or suppose the perishable substance of the spirit of Weimar falls asunder at the most untoward moment, despite the camphor and naphthalene, what then? And what if  but there is no end to such questions.

Now of course we are in a period hardly resembling the final days of the Weimar Republic. The good news is that a fascist takeover is highly unlikely since parliamentary democracy is more than adequate to keep the working class under control. The bad news, on the other hand, is that the left is so inconsequential and the trade unions so weak that there is no need for fascism.

But who knows? Another decade or so of declining wages and cop killings of Black people might precipitate the rise of a left party that has learned to avoid the reformist stupidity of the German SP and the suicidal ultra-leftism of the Stalinists. It is highly likely that people like Harold Meyerson and Ted Glick will be as hostile to it as they are to Jill Steins campaign today. Despite their foolishness, we should soldier on to final victory. The fate of humanity rests on it.
(Adds color from supporters, opponents of coup)

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

SAN FRANCISCO, July 15 (Reuters) - The attempted military coup in Turkey exploded across social media late on Friday despite restricted access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube during the first hours of the putsch.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an avowed enemy of social media who has frequently made Twitter and Facebook a target, addressed the country via a FaceTime video call that was shown on TV.

He also tweeted: "I call our nation to the airports and the squares to take ownership of our democracy and our national will" and retweeted posts from the prime minister and the official presidency account condemning the coup.

Critics of Erdogan were quick to note the irony of his using a medium that he has repeatedly denounced to save his own presidency.

At the same time, both supporters and opponents of the coup inundated social networks with commentary and images, many of them live videos.

Vivid but often confusing scenes from Turkey unfolded on screens across the world as videos showed explosions at the Turkish parliament, helicopters firing on protesters and opponents of the coup standing in front of tanks.

"It's almost 2 a.m. and mosques across Istanbul are relentlessly calling people to the streets to resist and protest the military coup," wrote Twitter user Ceylan Yeginsu.

Backers of the coup criticized Erdogan's rule, using social media to urge government opponents to take to the streets.

A map of all Facebook Live videos showed dozens of live streams coming out of Turkey, including videos of hundreds of people gathered out on the streets. On Twitter, users shared images and videos of scenes in Istanbul and Ankara, with gunshots heard in the background of some videos.

Turkey's military said on Friday it had seized power, but the prime minister said the attempted coup would be put down and Erdogan himself later vowed to punish the plotters.

During the initial phases of the uprising by a section of the military, it was difficult or impossible to access social media for many users except by using a "virtual private network" to bypass local internet providers, local residents and monitoring groups said.

Story continues

Twitter said it suspected an "intentional slowing" of its traffic. YouTube said it was aware of reports that its site was down in Turkey although it was not experiencing any apparent technical difficulties, indicating that an order to restrict access came from within Turkey.

It was not immediately clear whether the government or another actor ordered blockages, but it later appeared that service had been restored.

Hotspot Shield, an app that allows users to connect to virtual private networks, said it saw a more than 300 percent increase in new downloads in Turkey within two hours of the coup becoming public knowledge.

The Turkish government under Erdogan has repeatedly moved to block social media in periods of crisis and political uncertainty.

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco; Edited by Jonathan Weber and Tom Brown)
ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND--(Marketwired - Jul 15, 2016) - Aurion Resources Ltd. ("Aurion") (TSX VENTURE:AU) and its partner B2Gold Corp. (BTO.TO)(NYSE MKT:BTG)(NAMIBIAN:B2G); ("B2Gold") are pleased to report the initiation of its 2016 field exploration program in northern Finland.

The 2016 field program entails field mapping, prospecting, surface geochemical sampling, trenching and drilling. The inaugural drill program will commence in late summer or early fall and will focus on the greater than 5000 m long Kutuvuoma trend (see attached map), which is the highest priority target area. A request for tenders has been submitted to several drilling contractors.

Reconnaissance prospecting, geological mapping and trenching are also being conducted on several other targets within the JV area of interest during this field season. Additionally, following several months of data compilation and analysis, 78 specific exploration targets have been identified. The efforts of the 2016 field program will be to ground truth, expand and/or refine many of these targets. This includes Ahvenjarvi where to date a total of 384 rock chip/grab, and channel samples collected from outcrop, sub-outcrop, angular boulders and trenches over an area measuring 2,300m long and up to 700m wide, assayed up to 28.8 g/t Au and averaging 0.81 g/t Au.

Mike Basha, President and CEO of Aurion commented: "We are very encouraged to have encountered such a robust and extensive gold system early in this program on the JV. Moreover, we are very pleased to have generated so many targets for additional follow-up elsewhere. We are looking forward to a very busy and exciting 2016, as we move this project forward aggressively with our partner B2Gold."

The 2016 field program is fully funded by B2Gold Corp. ("B2Gold"), under an agreement whereby B2Gold can earn up to an undivided 75% interest from Aurion in a project area of approximately 25,000 hectares in Northern Finland by completing $15 million in exploration expenditures, a positive feasibility study and issuing 550,000 B2Gold shares (see Aurion news release of January 20, 2016 for details). On the 1st Anniversary (August 12th ) of the option and earn-in agreement, B2Gold will issue 100,000 B2gold shares to Aurion.

Story continues

In Q2, Aurion Resources was granted an additional 225,000 hectares of exploration licences prospective for precious and base metals in Northern Finland.

Kutuvuoma

The Kutuvuoma trend has very few natural bedrock exposures, however, with a limited amount of exploration work (and time in the field) trenching, soil sampling, base of till sampling and prospecting has defined an open-ended mineralized trend greater than 5 km long east and west of the Kutuvuoma deposit where only limited drilling was conducted in the past, over a distance of 175 m and to a depth of 175 m.

The Kutuvuoma deposit is a high-grade, shear zone hosted gold deposit that was discovered in the mid-1990's by the Finnish state entity Outokumpu Oy while exploring for base metals. Outokumpu drilled 47 shallow core and reverse circulation drill holes totalling 3,425m, testing only a very small area. Prior to Aurion no other exploration has been conducted since the mid-1990's. Numerous high-grade drill intercepts including 7.2 g/t Au over 19.4m from 60m downhole, 13.2 g/tAu over 5.0m from 88m downhole and 12.6 g/tAu over 7.0m from 26m downhole were recorded from the historical drilling. True width of the mineralization is estimated to be approximately 70-80% of drill intercepts.

The best results to date came from Trench K15-02, a 310m2 excavation completed in 2015 located 370 m west of the Kutuvuoma deposit. A total of 31 individual 0.85m to 3.0m long channel samples assayed from 0.39 g/t Au to 63.1 g/t Au. The best length weighted average intervals reported were 6.5 g/t Au over 9.8m, including 11.3 g/t Au over 3.0m, 21.7 g/t Au over 3.0m, including 63.10 g/t Au over 0.9 m and 3.20 g/t Au over 10.9m, including 5.0 g/t Au over 5.6 m. The T2 excavation made approximately 100m east of Kutuvuoma Main, assayed on average 4.93 g/t Au over 10.94 m including 35.0 g/t Au over 1.2 m.

Prospecting in 2015 approximately 1.6 km to the west and along strike of Kutuvuoma identified a new zone of mineralization over a distance of approximately 400 m. The area is generally overburden covered, but 51 grab samples from outcrop and subcrop assayed up to 21.2 g/t Au, including four samples assaying 5.5, 11.6, 14.8 and 21.2 g/t Au. This mineralization also lies 500 m southeast of a 1.5 km long Au-in-till geochemical anomaly with individual tills assaying from up to 1.3 g/t Au.

Preliminary metallurgical analysis of surface samples collected in 2015 from trenches 100 m east and 370 m west of the Kutuvuoma deposit were favourable. The metallurgical tests were undertaken to examine the response of two composite surface trench samples to various processes for the concentration and recovery of the contained gold and to get a general view of the project metallurgy. The response of the samples to whole ore cyanide leaching and to concentration by froth flotation and gravity separation was examined at by SGS Canada Inc. at their Lakefield Ontario laboratory. The samples responded well to all of the processes tested, with gold recoveries by a combination of methods in excess of 98% for both samples, including 80-84% recovery by gravity method alone. The material tested indicates the two areas tested would not require any treatment out of the ordinary. A much more extensive program would be required as the project develops.

Qualified Person

Mike Basha, P.Eng., P.Geo., Aurion's President and CEO, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has approved the technical disclosure and verified the technical information in this news release.

Forward-Looking Statement

Certain statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Companies' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and Aurion is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

On behalf of the Board,

Mike Basha, President & CEO

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.

To view the figure associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/aurionresourcesltd_1062846.jpg
Food waste a result of consumers' desire for 'perfect' produce

Denmark makes strides in limiting food waste

(NaturalNews) Global food waste has become an increasingly concerning problem that the world needs to address. According to The Guardian , 60 million tons of produce, or one-third of all the world's foodstuffs, are wasted by retailers and consumers on an annual basis.As a result of consumer and retailer rejection of produce that does not meet their unrealistic standards of cosmetic perfection, "vast quantities of fresh produce grown in the US are left in the field to rot, fed to livestock or hauled directly from the field to landfill."With world hunger affecting nearly 795 million people in the world, finding ways to limit excessive food waste is of paramount importance.Food experts worldwide have made continuous claims stating that "governments cannot effectively fight hunger ... without reducing food waste."While U.S. President Barack Obama and the UN have vowed to cut the amount of global food waste in half by the year 2030, federal intervention may not be the answer to the problem.Jay Johnson, a shipper of fruits and vegetables in North Carolina, told"It's all about blemish-free produce. What happens in our business today is that it is either perfect, or it gets rejected."It's no mystery that consumers do not want to purchase produce with damaged packaging or slight blemishes. That's no reason to throw this food away though. Minor scars and bruises have little to do with a fruit or vegetable's overall freshness and quality.According to recent reports, 50 percent of all U.S. produce is allegedly turned into food waste , making it the largest contributing factor to landfills and waste incinerating practices."A lot of the waste is happening further up the food chain and often on behalf of consumers, based on the perception of what those consumers want," said Roni Neff, director of the food system environmental sustainability and public health program at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in Baltimore, Maryland.As a result, corporate retailers often refuse to buy shipments of produce containing even the slightest amounts of "scarred" products. Therefore, many farmers and food producers know not to even include "imperfect" produce in their shipments, for fear of damaging their reputations as suppliers.Additionally, if they did want to call out retailers for not buying produce that "would pass a USDA inspection" despite its aesthetic blemishes, many wholesalers are worried that they would be boycotted."These big growers do not want to piss off retailers. They don't enforce Paca [Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930] on Safeway, Walmart or Costco," said Ron Clark, who formerly worked in the farming and food bank industries for more than 20 years, and co-founded Imperfect Produce , a San Francisco-based start-up dedicated to finding markets in which to sell produce rejected by corporate retailers.Instead of trashing this "imperfect" food, maybe we could use it as a tool to combat world hunger? Food waste supermarkets established in Denmark are a great example of using the excessively wasteful habits of consumers and retailers to do some good. Since 2010, Denmark has reduced its total food waste by 25 percent, thanks to the opening of numerous grocery stores and kitchens selling food products rejected by regular retailers."We collect fruit and vegetables from local supermarkets to sell twice a week. It may be that the packaging's damaged or it's nearing its best before date, but it's still good food  so we thought, why let it go to waste ?" said Bettina Bach of Bo Welfare, a Danish social housing project that runs a series of food waste pop-up shops.While a change won't be seen until the public becomes educated on the minimal effects cosmetic blemishes and other discouraging signs of imperfection have on the nutritional value of produce, it is of crucial importance that forward-thinking pioneers continue to seek out ways to make use of outcast, rejected fruits and vegetables.
Alien hunters accused NASA of cutting the International Space Station (ISS) live feed when a UFO appeared on the screen. But did the agency do it on purpose and was the image an unidentified flying object? NASA doesn't think so.



A recent Youtube video claimed that a UFO was seen hovering on screen in a NASA live feed last July 9. But the broadcast was suddenly interrupted. This prompted alien hunters and conspiracy theorist to think that NASA is covering up the sighting.

The object was seen descending from space to Earth. The video was posted by Youtube user Streetcap1. The Youtube user recognized the fact that it could just be another meteor but emphasized that the live feed was cut to cover up the sighting.

Thousands have already viewed the video and NASA released a statement about the matter. According to the agency, NO unidentifiable object was seen from the ISS and that the most common objects are, most of the time, mistaken as UFOs including the spacecraft reflection or the ISS lights.

But NASA would like to clear the alleged cover-up and said that there's no deliberate attempt to cut the live feed.

"For video, whenever we lose signal, the cameras will show a blue screen or a preset video slate, depending on where you are watching the feed," a Human and Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate official from NASA said in an interview with Huffington Post.

Also, it is not rare for live feed connection to experience glitches. The ISS orbits the Earth 16 times a day, and in turn, sometimes lose direct connection or contact with Earth.

"The International Space Station regularly passes out of range of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) used to send and receive video, voice and telemetry from the station," a NASA representative said in a statement.

Alien hunters and conspiracy theorists should not rejoice yet because it looks like what they perceive as a cover-up of a UFO sighting may not be what it seems.
A wave of trash has overwhelmed Hong Kong's beaches, and the residents are asking: where is all the garbage coming from? On July 10th, HK Chief Executive CY Leung and a group of cabinet officials joined workers in a cleanup of Lantau Island's shoreline, reported the New York Times. The waste pickers ended up clearing 3,000 pounds of debris.

That's a small fraction of the 85 tons of waste that cleaners have picked up from Hong Kong beaches in the first nine days of July alone - a manmade disaster that has been dubbed a "trash tsunami." But Gary Stokes, regional director of the environmental group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said that the government has at least acknowledged that there is a great problem.

Trash on the beach is nothing new to Hong Kong, but this summer's deluge of garbage is unprecedented, choking beaches under mounds of food packaging, plastic bags and other waste matter. Stokes said that his environmental group began observing the unusual accumulation of debris in mid-June.

Not too long after, they learned of a possible source; Wailingding, a nearby island to the south of Hong Kong. They received photos taken by sailors depicting trash spilling from a huge dump on the island. Stokes posted the pictures on Facebook.

Other trash collecters have pointed fingers at mainland China. CNN reports that labels and packaging found by local cleaners indicate a mainland origin. Paul Zimmerman, a district councilor, cast the blame on "both legal and illegal dump sites on the mainland and in Hong Kong from which household waste washes into the sea."

Zimmerman informed the South China Morning Post that waste labels exhibited factory names and addresses, many of which could be traced to Guangdong Province in southeastern China. Even mpre telling: the badge of a Guangdong government official was found amid the waste.
Hours after members of the Turkish military staged a coup and tried to seize power with tanks and aircraft, some Bay Area travelers were forced to make a decision.

At San Francisco International Airport Friday, some people werent able to catch flight to Istanbul because of the unrest that unfolded as travelers checked in for their flights.

Turkish airlines did not cancel flight 80, leaving it up to passengers to decide if it is safe to fly.

Faced with the choice of heading into a country in chaos or rescheduling their trip, Irem Radzick decided to stay stateside.

If I land there, is it safe to be around when we get out of the airport? and will there be guns firing, Radzick wondered.

Hazem Ghaith went to the airport to cancel his sons flight.

I'm worried about my son, Ghaith said. I don't understand how people are going. Turkish Airlines should inform everyone and take responsibility for everyone going to Turkey.

The plane departed around 6:30 p.m. with passengers on board  Liza Kaufman wasnt one of them.

I decided to stay here because its dangerous and I had a long layover, she said.

Kaufman said a friend in Turkey who was supposed to meet her during her layover helped make her decision.

He's saying people are freaking out, long lines at ATMs, people are buying food, it's crazy. He's not coming to Istanbul, Kaufman said.

She and others are now trying to get to their destinations on airlines that don't require a connection in Turkey.

Passengers said Turkish Airlines told them they could reschedule their flight with no additional fees.

When asked how many people were on board flight 80 when it left and how many people canceled, the agent in charge declined to answer.
For the second week in a row, a protest snarled traffic in Oakland Friday in response to deadly police shooting in Minnesota and Louisiana.

And some protesters say this is something we could start seeing on a regular basis.

Responding to a nationwide call to action regarding police violence, protesters prompted the closure of on- and off-ramps along Interstate Highway 880 in downtown Oakland Friday evening, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The demonstration began with between 50 and 150 protesters at 4 p.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza and moved to the building that houses the Oakland Police Department. Protesters moved to block northbound Interstate 880 and then tried the same at westbound I-980 on-ramp, where they were met with a growing number of California Highway Patrol officers and cars.

The group affected traffic at a number of downtown intersections, but were described as peaceful by Oakland police.

The CHP said that the Broadway off-ramp from northbound I-880 was shut down due to the protesters at around 8:30 p.m.

Protesters from different backgrounds came together to chant the same message: "Black lives matter! Black lives matter!"

The affiliations of the demonstration's organizers could not be verified, but some were seen carrying "Black Lives Matter" banners. Friday is a national day of action for the movement, and organizers have urged non-violent civil disobedience.

In Oakland, however, sources told NBC Bay Area the protest wasn't officially sanctioned by the Black Lives Matter movement. That didn't stop demonstrators, however, from marching around downtown Oakland, calling for additional police accountability.

"Say his name, Philando Castilo. Alton Sterling, say his name," they chanted.

CHP and Oakland police officers were out in force Friday, but for protesters the rally sent another message.

A woman, who identified herself as Courtney, said, "If you don't have a black family member that's been killed by the police, at least your day is disrupted by traffic and at least you know some of the hostility we've been feeling."

A brief altercation between a protestor and a CHP officer riled up the crowd Friday.

"That officer that jumped out of that car and hit that man that was standing right there, next to me, for no reason, was not acceptable," Rasheda Anthony of Oakland said.

Anthony said also that blocking freeways isnt enough.

"I'm all for protesting, but if you protest without some type of course of action afterwards, you're simply exercising," she said.

People in San Francisco also rallied against police brutality Friday night. Social media posts indicated that Mission Street was blocked as officers clashed with demonstrators.

According to Sgt. Michael Andraychak, the protest lasted between 7 and 9:30 p.m. It began with a camera crew shooting video on Valencia Street near the Mission police station. The crew was asked not to shoot video of the demonstrators, but crew members were assaulted in the ensuing melee.

Three protesters were arrested for battery and resisting arrest, while others in the area left. Some, however, lingered and occupied a portion of Valencia Street, where they tossed garbage onto the street and lit it on fire.

As officers moved to arrest the protesters, those who remained ran away. Officers extinguished the fire, but were not hurt.

According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's Twitter page, the protest caused residual delays on Muni lines 14 and 19 as people marched toward 20th Street and South Van Ness Avenue.

About 50 Black Lives Matter protesters also gathered in San Jose Friday evening and marched peacefully from the Convention Center to City Hall.

Check back for updates.
Some South Bay homeless advocates are upset about an encampment that they say was torn apart by a Caltrans worker.

A picture from video shot by one of the camp residents who claim the Caltrans worker seen here was responsible for cutting up tents. Caltrans adamantly denies it.

On June 23, the residents of a homeless encampment along Interstate 280 just off San Jose's Race Street were given a required 72-hours to clear out. The residents accuse a Caltrans worker of using what they called a machete to tear up apart tents well before the deadline.

"He grabs his machete and then just slashes the tent where it's most stable with the poles," said Phillip Russell, a camp resident. "It's firm to where his machete would go right through it, so he made sure it was cut to shreds."

Russell also said the worker slashed the tent owner's bicycle tires. Caltrans denies the accusation, conducted its own investigation and found no evidence the worker destroyed any personal property.

The agency also said it followed all procedures under the supervision of the California Highway Patrol. The CHP referred all calls for comment on the incident to Caltrans.

"Everybody is trying to push it off onto somebody else," said Robert Aguirre, a homeless advocate. "No one wants to take responsibility for it. But the truth will come out eventually and the public needs to know what's going on."

One tent owner, who was not there when his tent was allegedly slashed, said he does not like being treated like a criminal.

Homeless advocates said they are exploring what action to take next.
The family of a University of California, Berkeley student, who hasn't been heard from since Thursday's terror attack in Nice, are traveling to France, hoping to find him.

On Saturday, NBC News confirmed that Nicolas Leslie's father, Conrad, left his home in Del Mar and was headed to the airport. He was accompanied by two other people.

An attacker, identified as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a Tunisian citizen living in Nice, is accused of driving a truck through crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks celebration, killing 84 people and injuring scores other.

Twenty-year-old Nicolas Leslie was among 85 Berkeley students attending a study abroad program, officials said Friday. Three other Berkeley students in the group suffered broken bones in the attack.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, French officials are refusing to identify people who were injured Thursday and are undergoing treatment at local hospitals.

"Were trying to get ourselves to France right now," Conrad Leslie, Nicks father, told the Chronicle. "Were going crazy."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Leslie's uncle, Fabeo Bottini, has been going from hospital to hospital in Nice trying to get information about his missing nephew.

Geert Schmid-Schoenbein, a long-time neighbor of the Leslie family, said Saturday that he was struggling to wrap his head around the fact that someone he knows was involved in such a horrific event.

"The fact that this kid goes on an education abroad trip to France and goes there to a celebration and is entangled in an event like this  and hopefully survives  is beyond any probabilities that one can ever think of," he said.

UC Berkeley officials said in a statement late Friday that a representative of the study abroad program is heading to Nice to support the students, who experienced Thursdays horror. Chuck Coppola reports.

Schmid-Schoenbein recalled "good memories" that he has shared with the "wonderful" Leslie family, including the day Nicolas Leslie was brought home from the hospital as a newborn.

"It breaks my heart," he said. "This is just frightening. ... I'm speechless."

Nicolas Leslie is an only child, who has always been active and is a good student, Schmid-Schoenbein said, adding that Nicolas Leslie's parents are devoted to their son.

"We never heard any problems about Nick," he said. "We saw with great enthusiasm that he was going up to Berkeley. He came back here [to visit] frequently."

Friends told NBC Bay Area that Leslie avoided being hit by the truck but was separated from his group during the stampede and chaos that followed. They also said that the junior at Berkeley, who is majoring in the College of Natural Resources, has gone quiet on social media, which they described as unusual.

The Daily Beast reported that a friend of Leslies saw the 20-year old running through the streets of Old Nice. But Leslie's aunt, Bottinis wife, said the student never returned to his student housing Thursday night.

Fellow Berkeley student, Abhinav Kukreja, who also experienced Thursday's attack, said, "Basically, we lost our friend."

French police, however, weren't of much help, Kukreja alleged. Students "tried multiple calls" and then decided to "print out flyers" to help spread the word about Leslie.

"Weve been in touch with the American consulate and we asked for permission to put their [phone] number on the flyer and they were okay with it," Kukreja said. "So I had official permission, and apparently the police didn't like that we were putting out flyers."

Meanwhile, Leslie's friend, Anoop Baliga, has been reaching out to Leslie via social media along with many others hoping to hear from him soon. Baliga said Nick's last Snapchat story post was from a restaurant about 10 minutes away from the attack's location. He said there has been movement on Nick's Facebook page, but thought it may be because people are using his laptop to try and find him.

Chandrabh Akireddy, who knows Leslie from the Net Impact Berkeley Undergrad program, said a couple of his friends who were in the square with Leslie checked in after the attack. Akireddy's friends saw Leslie active on Facebook messenger after the attack.

Leslie's Facebook page shows that he studies at Berkeley, lives in Del Mar, California, and is from Milan, Italy. He attended Torrey Pines High School in San Diego.

Bay Area Mourns Bastille Day Attacks

According to Sanders, two of the students  identified as Diane Huang, 20, and Daryus Medora, 21  sustained broken legs and were receiving treatment at a hospital in Nice.

A third, 23-year-old Vladyslav Kostiuk, suffered a broken foot.

Kostiuk posted a photo of his injury on his Facebook page, with the caption: "I would say only one thing: I was lucky, I'm alive, unlike other people that were walking with me. Just got out from a surgery. Picture: in a casino where I was taken first."

Students participating in the study abroad program were attending a 15-day program, which is part of the international European Innovation Academy. It was suspended to observe the three days of national mourning in France.

UC Berkeley officials said in a statement late Friday that a representative of the study abroad program is heading to Nice to support the students.

Recent terrorist attacks have impacted other Berkeley students. Berkeley sophomore, Tarishi Jain, was among 20 hostages killed by Islamist militants in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 1.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Jose Serra poses for a photo during an interview with Reuters at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

By Alonso Soto and Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Jose Serra warned against the excessive appreciation of the country's currency as it could hurt exporters, revealing concerns in the interim government that a stronger real could further sink an economy mired in recession.

In an interview late on Thursday, which also included written answers to questions from Reuters, Serra said the strengthening of the real, which has appreciated about 30 percent since its year low in mid-January, has reflected a fall in political uncertainty under the administration of interim President Michel Temer.

"I believe (the real) will stay around where it is," Serra said in a written response. "It would be very bad for the real to appreciate excessively because the current level only compensates for the overappreciation that we saw in a relatively recent period."

His comments appeared to contradict those of members of the economic team led by Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles, which have signaled less intervention in the currency to allow the real to float more freely.

Serra's concerns also reflected those of other Cabinet members who fear a stronger real could add more pain to what could be Brazil's worst recession in 100 years.

Temer, who replaced leftist President Dilma Rousseff in May pending an impeachment trial in the Senate over alleged budget manipulation, faces the task of rescuing an economy in tatters after the end of a decade-long commodity bonanza and years of interventionist policies.

Serra, a Cornell University graduate and former presidential contender, was one of Temer's most prominent nominations to a Cabinet of political allies that aims to defuse a legislative crisis in part blamed for the recession.

During the boom years of high commodity prices of the last decade, the real strengthened sharply to reach near parity with the U.S. dollar. When the economy soured and the political crisis boiled over in 2014, the currency had lost about three-fourths of its value to trade at over 4 per dollar.

Story continues

Rousseff's suspension improved the mood of investors, and the real climbed back to now trade at 3.26 per dollar, also supported by hopes of economic stimulus in Japan and Europe.

When asked again in the interview whether he was concerned with the appreciation of the real, Serra said: "Evidently I would like to see the exchange at a competitive rate for the economy. I like to believe that will be the trend."

NO IDEOLOGY IN TRADE

After only two months in the job, Serra, who is thought to be planning a third presidential run for 2018, has marked a clear shift in foreign policy away from the leftist, regional alliances signed during the 13-year rule of Rousseff's Workers Party.

Serra blasted the trade policies and diplomacy of Rousseff and her predecessor and other potential 2018 presidential contender, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as "populists."

"They negotiated against our international interests. That is its international populism," Serra said, referring to the Workers Party. "Foreign policy has to be a matter of the state, not set by party interests."

He said Rousseff made a mistake by backing the entry of socialist-led Venezuela into the Mercosur trade group of Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in 2012.

Brazil has asked its partners to delay a decision to pass the Mercosur's rotating presidency to Venezuela this month, arguing that the OPEC-member nation has not fulfilled its requirements to be a full member.

"If Venezuela has not fulfilled all of its pre-requirements, then it will not assume (the presidency)," Serra said.

Mercosur could even consider suspending Venezuela from the group in the future, said Serra, adding that he was concerned about the country's human rights record amid a worsening political and economic crisis.

Serra is the first non-diplomat to be Brazil's foreign minister in more than a decade. So far, he has secured much-needed funds for a ministry that literally struggled to pay the bills of diplomats abroad, and he has increased the ministry's clout in trade policymaking.

Serra said that Brazil, along with Mercosur, will be more active in seeking bilateral trade deals to bolster the group's exports. He added that the group could seek trade deals with the United States and the Pacific Alliance bloc made up of Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

In an example of the country's more aggressive trade stance, Serra threatened to open a trade challenge against Canada for its funding of planemaker Bombardier Inc, which could hurt Brazilian rival Embraer.

(Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by Brad Brooks and Jonathan Oatis)
Troubling allegations of hazing and even racist abuse at the San Francisco Fire Academy have emerged as the city is shelling out $100,000 a day in overtime to account for a significant shortage of firefighters, NBC Bay Area has learned.

Currently, some 54 firefighter recruits are undergoing training at the Division of Training to join the ranks of 1,500 firefighters in the city  250 firefighters short of the departments authorized strength.

The city is paying $100,000 a day  accounting for $25,000 per firefighter per year  to meet voter approved staffing levels at the citys firehouses, based on the latest available data from the San Francisco city Controllers Office.

The dropout rate of the academy, meanwhile, has been running about 10 percent to 20 percent per class since 2010, according to figures provided by the department and taken from the Fire Commissions website. That rate translates into fewer firefighters to fill the widening gap in staffing.

So far this year, more firefighters have been ordered to work overtime than all of 2014, fire department statistics show. As of June, the department ordered 1,447 overtime shifts as compared to 1,313 last year. If the current trend is reflected for the entire year, the city would have ordered nearly 3,000 overtime shifts  the most ever.

The current head of training, Jeff Columbini, says the academy is a rigorous proving ground for those who want to come to the rescue.

While he said he could not respond to allegations of misconduct dating to before he arrived earlier this year, he says there are new ethical standards in place since he took command that will assure that the most capable recruits make it through a training process that is both fair and humane.

Do we run a rigorous academy? Absolutely, he says. I think the city and county and the people who live in this city and county put it on my shoulders to make sure that happens.

One thing for sure, there is no shortage of prospects, with a waiting list of some 4,000 people who want the job.

Still, some ex-recruits who were at the top of the list of prospects say that once they made it in, the apparent goal of some instructors at the academy is not to train them, but get them to flunk.

I thought I was targeted, said Brian Sullivan, who said he was forced to drop out of the academy last year amid a torrent of abuse. I thought I was public enemy no. 1

Sullivan claims that he was singled out for abuse because his father had served on the department. He is not the only ex recruit to make that accusation  other former recruits say they trainers are particularly hard on legacy candidates.

One of those legacy recruits, Aziz Aineb, tells NBC Bay Area that he believes he was targeted because his brother  already on the department  helped a fellow firefighter who won a $175,000 settlement in 2014 against the city for abuse at the academy.

Aineb himself is now suing the department after he failed the academy in 2014. He alleges that his instructors subjected him to racist taunts and abuse in retaliation for his brothers testimony.

But still other recruits recall seemingly bizarre tales of abuse. One alleged this year that he was forced to eat an ice cream treat even after telling the instructor that he was lactose intolerant. The department says it is reviewing the matter.

Another alleged that in 2014, he was forced to go into a wet room where he was blasted with water from a circulating nozzle. An internal probe obtained by NBC Bay Area found insufficient evidence to support the allegation that anyone was ordered into the room.

That same report concluded that going into the room was not sanctioned under department policy. It labeled anyone who did actually venture into the room as a curiosity seeker who volunteered to be doused.

The persistent abuse allegations  three dozen over the last decade  are unacceptable to the head of the San Francisco Black Firefighters Association.

Thats not the fire department I joined, the unions president, Kevin Smith, told NBC Bay Area. We just cant sit by as these kids keep getting dismissed over and over.

Some of the methods used at the academy, Smith says, are not justifiable. He cited the so-called Amazing Race, where teams of four compete to fulfill tasks in turnoutsheavy canvas coats and pants.

The current head of training for the department, Columbini, defends the race as a part of our physical training that measures physical parts of the job.

But former recruit Sullivan said working out in heavy canvas turnouts in the hot sun for hours left him with scars. He said he was shocked one day when he took off the turnouts to find burn marks on his legs and body and an apparently infected abscess. In the end, he said, he left the academy rather than endure the abuse.

Smith, who has fielded several complaints about the Amazing Race since it started about three years ago, says the whole ordeal is pointless.

All this running and stuff -- we just dont do that in turnouts -- I dont see how it relates to the job.

In fact, a 2014 internal fire department review obtained by NBC Bay Area concluded that the Amazing Race concept had not been developed with any input from fitness or training experts and had not been sanctioned by authorities with the National Fire Protection Association.

Smith says he has seen findings from one training expert who criticized the race. Columbini said he was not aware of such a report.

At least with the race, some former recruits say, they know there can be clear results. Thats not true, they say, for how the department judges key tests, including how they handle heavy ladders and tie knots.

Smith said he pushed and go the fire department to videotape key tests, but is frustrated that recruits are barred from reviewing the very tapes that were supposed to assure fairness.

The head of training believes just taping the tests amounts to transparency.

At this time the department is not showing those tapes, Columbini said in a recent interview. But I think we are being transparent in that we are now documenting by film, the tests.

Meanwhile, sources say that state fire training authorities recently told San Francisco officials that such reviews are standard to assure fairness.

The department might allow recruits to see the tapes, Columbini says, if there is a consensus on the value.

Its a thing we could talk about  if command staff felt in favor of that, you know, we can talk about it.
Turkey's president declared he is in control of the NATO country early Saturday as loyal military and police forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead, NBC News reported.

A faction of the armed forces attempted to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters, some strafing the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara, others seizing a major bridge in Istanbul.

At least 194 people were killed in clashes, Gen. Umit Dundar told a press conference. He said that figure included 47 civilians, 41 police officers, two soldiers and 104 alleged coup plotters. An additional 1,154 people were injured.

The coup attempt crumbled after crowds answered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks. Government officials blamed the unrest on a U.S.-based Islamist cleric.

[NATL] Tanks, Protesters Take to Streets During Attempted Coup in Turkey

President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

NBC

Erdogan and other officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the U.S. who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

The U.S. State Department urged Americans in Turkey not to attempt reaching the U.S. Embassy or consulates, telling them instead to "shelter in place." President Barack Obama discussed the events with Secretary of State John Kerry, and they agreed "the democratically-elected Government of Turkey" should be supported by people in Turkey, according to a White House statement.
Washing dishes after a meal is a common chore. Dishwashing machines make the chore a lot easier. But imagine the frustration of washing dozens of dishes by hand, day-after-day, when the dishwasher you purchased for thousands of dollars is sitting unused.

The director of the non-profit Center for Possibilities at Cerebral Palsy of Northwest Indiana in Hobart said the facility, which serves 35 to 40 meals a day to people with developmental disabilities, is now using paper plates because of problems with the centers new commercial dishwasher.

It could be so much simpler, so much easier and so much safer for all the clients involved if we had the dishwasher, said facility director Shelley Boender.

The facility said it had relied on an older commercial dishwasher for about 20 years until it finally stopped working earlier this year. Boender then researched new commercial dishwashers and determined a Blakeslee model from Lowes would be a good option for Center for Possibilities.

The facility purchased the dishwasher for $2,564 in February and had it installed.

We have a hard time getting funding and thats what we felt like what we could afford, Boender said.

But instead of the new machine washing dozens of plates, cups and silverware in a matter of minutes, Boender said her staff is washing everything by hand.

It takes forever and I hurt by the time I go home, Boender said.

According to Boender, the new dishwasher did not work correctly from the start. She said it was leaking condensation and not getting hot enough.

Boender said she immediately contacted the manufacturer. Thats when she said the manufacturer determined a connector was not hooked up properly.

We got the electrician in the next day and he hooked it up and from that point it worked I would say for maybe two weeks, we didnt have any issues, Boender said.

But staff members said the fix did not last long. They said they noticed the sanitizer solution hooked up to the machine was being contaminated. Boender reported her concerns to the manufacturer and learned a sanitizer was not supposed to have been used in the first place.

And even though Boender said she was made to sign a non-warranty payment authorization, she said the manufacturer was slow to respond to her calls and emails.

Getting my money back would probably be the best way to resolve it, Boender said.

After NBC 5 Responds contacted Blakeslee for comment, the company told us it had been determined that the facilitys use of a chemical sanitizer solution (used on low-temperature dishwashers) on a high-temperature dishwasher had caused the machines final rinse system to suffer damages.

Typically, this is not a warranty related issue, wrote a Blakeslee service manager.

However, the Blakeslee service manager told NBC 5 Responds that the company had decided to refund Lowes for the dishwasher in the best interest of all parties.

Lowes subsequently issued a $2,564.99 refund check to the Center for Possibilities.

In the interest of customer service, we resolved this situation by arranging for the dishwasher to be picked up and a refund issued, wrote a Lowes spokesperson.

The facility said it will use the refund to put toward a new commercial dishwasher.

This is good news for us! Boender wrote in a follow up email to NBC 5 Responds.

Meantime, Center for Possibilities said its financial situation took a big hit in recent months after it discovered large amounts of cash withdrawals through ATM machines located throughout Lake County, Indiana.

Theft charges were filed against John Kmetz, 79, who the center said served as a past board president.

Attorney Scott King represents Kmetz and said his retired client denies any wrongdoing.

Center For Possibilities said it recently created a Go Fund Me page to help raise funds.
A suburban mans powerful Facebook post on growing up black is resonating in ways he never expected.

Please, bear with me for a few minutes, Brian Crooks wrote on July 9. Hopefully, it'll help you understand why I feel the way I do.

Crooks, 31, moved to Naperville with his family when he was in the 5th grade, and his parents still live there, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In his 4,747 word essay, Crooks details experiences from his childhood through present day, sharing stories of microaggressions, outright discrimination, and even encounters with the police.

The first time I was acutely aware of my Blackness, I was probably 6 or 7 years old, his essay began. I used to go to daycare back then, and we went on a field trip to a water park one time. One of the other boys from the daycare came up to me and told me he was surprised I was going on the trip because his dad told him all colored people were afraid of the water since we sink to the bottom. He didn't know he was being offensive. He was just curious why someone who would sink to the bottom would want to go to a water park.

Recalling the countless times he said other students asked to touch his hair, and the discomfort he felt being the designated reader during Black History Month, Crooks writes candidly about his adolescence in Naperville, and attending Neuqua Valley High School.

He wrote about one of several times he was pulled over by police, even when an officer stepped out of his car with his gun drawn as Crooks was just a block from his parents house.

Only when I was sitting in the back of the police car did he tell me that there had been reports of gang activity in the area and that a car fitting my car's description with a driver fitting my description had recently been involved in said gang activity. Gang activity. In south Naperville, Crooks said.

Crooks then went on to discuss college at the University of Iowa and his post-graduate experience, even being handcuffed on Clark Street in Lake View after attempting to break up a fight.

I could go on and on and on about this, he wrote. I could tell you about the coworker who thought it was funny to adopt a stereotypical Black accent to apologize that we weren't going to have fried chicken and cornbread at our company Christmas party.

I could tell you about leaving a bar heartbroken and fighting tears when the Trayvon Martin verdict came out only to see a couple middle-aged White guys high-fiving and saying he 'got what he deserved' right outside. These are only a handful of the experiences I've had in my 31 years.

"When we say 'Black Lives Matter,' understand what that actually means," Crooks wrote, reflecting on the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, both fatally shot by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively.

"We aren't saying that ONLY Black lives matter. We're saying 'Black lives matter TOO.'"

Since he posted the status, it has been shared more than 17,000 times.

I really didn't think many people would read it, he responded to a comment asking to share the post. But I want anybody who thinks others would benefit from my experiences to be able to read this too.
A University of Chicago student filed suit against the Illinois chapter and national organization of Phi Delta Theta fraternity Friday, alleging he was physically assaulted and forced to drink alcohol until he blacked out.

Dylan Kanaan filed the suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the fraternity and 13 of its members, according to the lawsuit.

Kanaan alleges that on March 7, 2015, he was required to participate in a fraternity ritual, sometimes referred to as a pinning ceremony. After the ceremony, he was forced to drink about eight shots of liquor and six beers in 20-30 minutes even though he was told there would be no alcohol, the suit said.

A fraternity member then pressured him into drinking a cup of clear-green liquid containing Everclear, a grain liquor that is 190 proof, the suit said. Kanaan then blacked out and was taken to Fords bedroom in the basement of the fraternity house, where he was physically assaulted.

When he regained consciousness, he attempted to run out of the house but was restrained by the fraternity members, the suit said. He later escaped through the back door and ran around to the front, where he was physically assaulted again by a fraternity member.

Kanaan alleges that as a result of the assaults, he spent seven hours in the hospital, suffered severe facial injuries  including a permanent scar under his left eye  and was diagnosed with depression and PTSD, manifesting as severe anxiety, sleep issues and weight loss, the suit said.

The five count suit seeks damages in excess of $250,000.

Representatives from the national organization and Illinois chapter of the fraternity could not immediately be reached for comment.
Six people are displaced after a house fire on Dixwell Avenue in New Haven Saturday afternoon.

Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli said crews were called to a fire at 1 Dixwell Avenue around 2:53 p.m. When they arrived, the back of the home was fully involved. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to knock down the flames. The fire caused heavy damage to the kitchen area.

Marcarelli said the home is uninhabitable and six residents are displaced. The Red Cross is assisting the residents.

No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Comcast customers throughout the Northeast and parts of the west coast reported outages Saturday, according to the companys website.

According to the company website, there was a sharp increase in outage reports starting around 6:20 a.m. Saturday. The company tweeted that customers in parts of the northeast were experiencing issues and that the they were working on a fix. Many Connecticut customers reported issues with their service.

Some customers in parts of the northeast are experiencing issues, thanks for your patience while we work on a fix.  ComcastCares (@comcastcares) July 16, 2016

Comcast spokeswoman Kristen Roberts said that X-1 customers were experiencing issues with their service. As of 4:58 p.m. the problem had been isolated and customers should see services return to normal.

Information on exactly what caused the outage was not immediately available.

Comcast  the parent company of NBCUniversal  offers phone, Internet and TV service in 40 states and Washington, D.C.
A Connecticut man has been acquitted of murder and first-degree assault charges in the shootings of two teenage brothers two years ago.

The New Haven Register reports that the New Haven jury also found 21-year-old Jeffrey Covington not guilty Thursday of conspiring to commit murder.

This is the case's second trial. A deadlocked jury had led to a mistrial in the October 2015 prosecution of Covington for the March 24, 2014, shooting that killed 17-year-old Taijhon Washington and injured his then-16-year-old brother, Travon, in New Haven.

The jury had convicted Covington of carrying a pistol without a permit. They were unable to agree on the murder charge. Covington received a 10-year prison sentence.

Covington's attorney says prosecutors failed to show Covington had motive to shoot the brothers.
An arson suspect "living on the lam" was arrested on Friday in connection to a 2011 fire in Burlington, police said.

Andrew Van Noordennen, 26, is the alleged suspect the investigation into a fire that happened on July 5, 2011, police said.

Accelerants were used on two front entrances and both garage doors of the house on Patridge Lane in Burlington, while the homeowners and their 18-year-old son were inside, according to state police.

Following the fire, Van Noordennan promptly left Connecticut to avoid an arrest, police said.

Detectives said they located Van Noordennan at a Wisconsin residence in March of this year and local authorities arrested him as a "fugitive from justice" due to multiple unrelated outstanding warrants, Connecticut State Police said.

Van Noordennan is accused of first-degree arson. His bond was set at $750,000.
An Oregon man accused of groping a 13-year-old girl during an American Airlines flight has been indicted on a charge of abusive sexual contact.

Chad Camp, 26, of Gresham pleaded not guilty at a brief hearing Friday afternoon. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman scheduled Camp's two-day trial to start Sept. 6 at the federal courthouse in Portland.

Camp's lawyer, Steve Lindsey, told the judge he plans to seek his client's pre-trial release at a later date.

Camp has been in jail since FBI agents arrested him following a June 16 flight from Dallas to Portland International Airport.

The criminal complaint said the unaccompanied minor was sitting in the window seat and Camp took a middle seat. Because the plane wasn't full, a flight attendant suggested Camp move to an empty aisle seat. He declined.

Authorities said a flight attendant later noticed the man's hand in the victim's crotch area, and a tear running down the girl's cheek. The attendant separated the two, sending Camp to the 30th row and the girl to row 8.

A witness told investigators that Camp consumed four mixed drinks in one hour at an airport bar before the flight, and it was revealed in court last month that Camp has a record of substance abuse.

Besides the criminal charge, Camp has been hit with a civil lawsuit. A lawyer representing the girl's family seeks $10 million from Camp and American Airlines, alleging the incident caused the girl extreme fear and psychological trauma.

American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said after the lawsuit was filed that the airline continues to cooperate with the FBI investigation.
Hundreds of items left in memory of the five police officers killed in Downtown Dallas are safe and secure, thanks to the fast action of people visiting the memorial Friday morning.

As storms moved through the Dallas-Fort Worth area Friday, it became clear that rain would soon fall over Dallas Police Headquarters, where for days a memorial of keepsakes and gifts has grown on top of and around two police cruisers parked out front.

While the flowers left in memory are slowly wilting away, many of the other items left behind by mourners are being considered pieces of history surrounding that dark Thursday night.

Jo Giudice, director of the Dallas Public Library, brought her entire team to the memorial to begin moving items inside the Police Department before the rain poured down.

Quickly, volunteers from the American Red Cross and Dallas Police Association joined the effort, as did officers from inside the building, and random people simply passing by the memorial.

"It was just a swarm of people that were out here, said Crystal Shaklee, one of the volunteers.

"Everybody  even people who were just standing there  started helping," added volunteer Genevieve Juarez.

By the time the rain started pouring down, all of the non-perishable items on the memorial were already safely in the building or covered with plastic.

"We got everything," said Giudice. "We got the notes, we got the letters, we got every handwritten card, every patch, every tee-shirt, every stuffed animal."

Giudice and her team had originally planned to move those items from the memorial this Sunday, but since they were already there, they loaded them into a truck early and moved them Friday to the public library.

There, the items will be professionally preserved and archived along with memories from other key moments in Dallas history such as the John F. Kennedy assassination.

"The police protect us, and the librarians, we collect stuff. So we're going to preserve the history for the future," said Giudice.

The remainder of the memorial is set to be removed on Sunday.
Officials in a South Texas county say they plan to submit a proposal to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn a shuttered nursing home into a new immigrant family detention center.

The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported Duval County officials plan to partner with Serco Inc. to operate the facility in San Diego, located about 130 miles south of San Antonio.

Immigrant advocates, including Austin-based Grassroots Leadership, have criticized the county for not holding a public hearing on the proposed center.

Last month, officials in two other Texas counties voted against opening up similar detention centers.

Existing similar facilities -- in Karnes County and Dilley -- opened in 2014 as federal officials implemented large-scale family detention when large numbers of Central American women and children illegally crossed into Texas.




A suspect arrested for a string of deadly attacks on homeless men had a long history of crime and mental health issues, and was himself, living in subsidized housing for the homeless, NBC 7 has learned.

Jon David Guerrero, 39, was living in a subsidized housing complex for the poor and homeless in downtown San Diego.

The Alpha Square apartment building, located on 14th and Market streets, provides residents with a fully-furnished room and services for those in need.

NBC 7 learned that Guererro was among the 201 tenants living in the apartment complex before he was arrested Friday morning in connection to the series of homeless murders.

Guerrero grew up in the wealthy community of Coronado, across the San Diego Bay, known for its expensive real estate and picturesque beaches. But since January he has been living in a one-room apartment on the fifth floor at Alpha Square. Homicide investigators spent several hours Friday morning searching the apartment for evidence.

The $46 million apartment building was funded by tax dollars, investment corporations and the San Diego Housing Commission through the Alpha Project.

Bob McElroy, the president of the organization, told NBC 7 that he sent outreach teams all over San Diego to warn the homeless community and urge them to sleep in groups. He said he posted information about the suspect, including pictures and a composite sketch around Alpha Square.

McElroy said he even met Guerrero.

"Nothing exceptional. Very well mannered, 'yes sir' and 'no sir'. Cordial. Quiet. Loner, McElroy said, describing his encounter with Guerrero.

A nearly two-week manhunt ended Friday morning on Laurel Street in Banker's Hill after an officer spotted Guerrero on a bicycle and recognized him as the suspect.

Just before Guerrero's arrest, two harbor police officers driving up the 1800 block of C Street heard a man screaming and discovered a fifth homeless man had been attacked. The 55-year-old man had suffered significant trauma to his upper torso.

The suspects' parents told NBC 7 they have yet to speak with their son and are seeking guidance from an attorney.

McElroy says the family is broken-hearted and that Guerrero's mother is his caregiver.

She's there every day. It's her son. Making sure he has groceries and his laundry is done, McElroy said. "She's devastated."

The store clerk, whose description of Guerrero helped police create a composite sketch of the suspect, told NBC 7 in an email that he is greatly relieved to hear of the suspect's arrest, adding "I'm glad that the nightmare is over."

Police told reporters they have no doubt they nabbed the man responsible for five attacks since July 3 that left three men dead, the Associated Press reported. The victims  all homeless men  received serious upper-body injuries and two were set on fire.

Guerrero remained jailed Saturday on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and arson. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.

He will be arraigned early next week.
A University of California, Berkeley student is missing in Nice, France, following Thursday's terror attack that killed at least 84 people and injured scores of others, according to university officials.

Twenty-year-old Nicolas Leslie was among 85 Berkeley students attending a study abroad program nearby, officials said Friday. Three other Berkeley students in the group were injured in the attack, in which a gunman drove a truck through crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks celebration in the seaside tourist destination.

Friends tell NBC Bay Area that Leslie avoided being hit by the truck but was separated during the stampede and chaos that followed. They also say he was active on social media after the attack but has been silent since, which they describe as unusual. [[387002501, C]]

Leslie is a junior at Berkeley, majoring in the College of Natural Resources.

Berkeley spokesperson Robert Sanders said that staff with campus study abroad, risk services and student affairs offices were working with Leslie's family, students in France, the program director on the ground, local officials and U.S. consular officials to find him.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Leslie's uncle, Fabeo Bottini, has been going from hospital to hospital in Nice trying to get information about his missing nephew.

The Daily Beast reported that a friend of Leslies saw the 20-year old running through the streets of Old Nice. But Leslie's aunt, Bottinis wife, said the student never returned to his student housing Thursday night.

Leslie's friend, Anoop Baliga, has been reaching out to Leslie via social media along with many others hoping to hear from him soon. Baliga says Leslie's last Snapchat story post was from a restaurant about 10 minutes away from the attack's location. He says there has been movement on his Facebook page, but he thinks it's because people are using his laptop to try and find him.

Chandrabh Akireddy, who knows Leslie from the Net Impact Berkeley Undergrad program at Berkeley, said a couple of his friends who were in the square with Leslie, who friends call Nick, checked in after the attack.

"Some people saw him escape ... One of the students said he ran off with Nick during the attack but they got separated," Akireddy said. "The guess seems to be that he is OK."

Akireddy's friends saw Leslie active on Facebook messenger after the attack.

"We're taking that as a good sign and hoping that his phone died or something, and that he's still hiding somewhere," he said. "He's a great guy, we're optimistic."

Akireddy said that Leslie spent his childhood between San Diego and Italy. He added he met Leslie after joining Net Impact last year.

Leslie's Facebook page shows that he studies at Berkeley, lives in Del Mar, California, and is from Milan, Italy. He attended Torrey Pines High School in San Diego.

Mustapha Khokhar, a friend of Leslies at Berkeley, said he received a Snapchat from Leslie at 1:20 p.m. PT Thursday, but that he hasnt heard from him since. That radio silence is odd for someone who has been snapchatting  or streaking, as its often called  relentlessly over the course of his vacation.

We had a 20+ day streak going, Khokhar said. Hes been essentially documenting his whole trip to me over snap. And that streak ended yesterday.

Khokhar said its possible, but out of character, for Leslie to have accidently let his phone die.

Nick isnt the type to go AWOL and pass out with his phone dead, he said. The dude is attached to his phone  but I would hope thats what happened.

Khokhar, who has known Leslie for more than two years, described his friend as someone with a heart of gold.

Hes one of the most genuine and sincere people I know, he said. If you need help with work he will be there. If you call him at 3 a.m. asking to be picked up cause youre drunk, he will be there.

According to Sanders, two of the students  identified as Diane Huang, 20, and Daryus Medora, 21  sustained broken legs and were receiving treatment at a hospital in Nice.

A third, 23-year-old Vladyslav Kostiuk, suffered a broken foot.

Kostiuk posted a photo of his injury on his Facebook page, with the caption: "I would say only one thing: I was lucky, I'm alive, unlike other people that were walking with me. Just got out from a surgery. Picture: in a casino where I was taken first."

Paige Basconcillo, a Berkeley student from Bakersfield, California, who is also in the Study Abroad group, has been tweeting about Leslie as well, asking people in Cote d'Azur (the French Riviera) to search for him.

All of the students in the study abroad program were attending a 15-day program on Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Europe, part of the international European Innovation Academy, which was suspended to observe the three days of national mourning in France.

The program will go on through its planned end date of July 24, university officials said, but the campus has offered to bring home any students who wish to leave. So far, three students have opted to return home to the U.S.

UC Berkeley officials said in a statement late Friday that a representative of the study abroad program is heading to Nice to support the students, who experienced Thursday's horror.

UC Berkeley student Nick Leslie is missing following the Nice attack in France. His friend, Anoop Baliga, has been reaching out to Leslie via social media along with many others hoping to hear from him soon.

University Vice Provost Cathy Koshland and Dean of Students Joseph Defraine Greenwell joined the Bay Area community to express sympathy to to all the students, families and the French community who have been affected by this tragic event and senseless violence.

A message posted by Berkeley student Abhinav Kukreja on Facebook talks about Leslie missing since Thursday's attack.

"We know he successfully avoided colliding with the truck, but we lost him during the stampede and chaos that follow. Please share this so Nick an get back to his friends and family," Kukreja wrote.

Recent terrorist attacks have impacted other Berkeley students. Berkeley sophomore, Tarishi Jain, was among 20 hostages killed by Islamist militants in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 1.

Gillian Edavane and Ryann Vargas contributed to this report.
An Anaheim homeowner celebrated National Pet Fire Safety day by thanking the dispatcher who saved her dog's life during a house fire.

The ADT dispatcher who alerted authorities to a fire in Amber Cooper's California home traveled over 2,500 miles from Rochester to meet the dog he saved Friday.

"I am extremely thankful," said Cooper. "She was the only thing I was worried about."

Cooper adopted a "sweet and loveable" Yorkie-terrier mix named Fiona from an Orange County shelter in 2009. A break-in just a few months later prompted Cooper to purchase an ADT security system, to protect her "traumatized" dog.

She also installed a smoke detector, despite thinking a fire would never happen. However, the smoke alarm would come to save her home -- and her dog's life.

Cooper said on March 16 she got a call at work telling her there was a fire in her home, which began in her kitchen, the same room her dog was staying. Her alarm system alerted authorities to the fire, which she said most likely saved her dog's life.

"If I hadn't put that monitor in, my house would be in flames," she said.

On Friday, Cooper shared an emotional meeting with dispatcher David Tompkins outside her home on Helena Street in Anaheim. ADT also recognized National Pet Fire Safety day by presenting a $10,000 check to the Anaheim Fire Department.

Cooper said she couldn't stop thanking the firemen, who all said they were just doing their job. She said she will continue to keep a smoke detector in her home and encourages other to do so, as well.

Around 500,000 pets are injured or killed each year in house fires, authorities said. Cooper is happy her Fiona isn't one of them.

"Possession can be replaced, but my best friend Fiona cannot," she said.
A Los Angeles mom who hadn't heard from her daughter who traveled to Nice, France, amid a tragic truck attack was searching for her on social media Friday evening.

Amy Singson said the last 24 hours have been very hard.

She has tried every which way to reach her daughter.

She says one of her daughter's last Facebook posts was from Nice, and she hasn't heard from her since.

Her daughter, Renee Lo Iacono, a writer and traveler, has lived all around the world, and always keeps her mom posted on where she is and what she is doing.

"[I'm] very, very worried -- she's not responding to my texts, messages, email. No posts," Singson said.

After seeing the tragedy in Nice, during which a gunman drove a truck through crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks celebration in the seaside tourist destination, Singson was certain she would hear from her daughter.

Singson fears Renee is among the missing.

"My kids are my rock -- so I don't want to lose her -- she always tells me think positive," Singson said.

As many as 84 were killed, and more than 200 hurt.

Also among the missing is UC Berkeley student is 20-year-old Nicolas Leslie.

Singson praying for all the lives lost and also holding on to hope.

Nearly 30 Cal State University students are in Nice for a study-abroad program and all were confirmed to be safe. Singson is hoping she gets the same news soon.
Just last year, Sabine Hecht, owner of the Chez Sabine French Restaurant, mourned the loss of two health inspectors killed in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks. Now, she is mourning for Nice, France, where she was born.

During a memorial for the San Bernardino victims, Hechts mind was miles away at her hometown where her adult children still live.

Her son was just a few miles from the truck attack.

I am really with them. Im far but my heart is in both sides, she said.

She is still scouring social media to see if her friends are okay.

The recent attack stirs emotions of the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

Hecht knew county health inspectors Robert Adams and Yvette Velasco because they inspected her business. They were part of the 14 killed on December 14, 2015.

Two doctors at the Loma Linda University Medical Center and customers comforted Hecht.

We know shes from Nice, so we wanted to make sure that everyone was okay in her family. We were really worried, said Dr. Marissa Badi.

Dr. Matthew Malkin knows the horrors of terrorism all too well.

Malkin was part of the medical staff who treated the San Bernardino victims.

It just makes no sense how people can treat human life as nothing, and it hurts, he said.
While the images of a military coup in Turkey flooded in on social media and were broadcast all over the world Friday, a University of Southern California student was frantic  her parents live in Istanbul.

Ipek Kahraman could hear the blasts over the phone while she was talking to her parents.

"I was really, really scared," Kahraman said. "I was calling them all the time. I said, 'Just don't hang up the phone, I want to hear everything.'"

Her parents were stuck on the Bosphorus Bridge on their way home from the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

"The bridge was blocked by military," Kahraman said.

Kahraman watched from more than 7,000 miles away as footage came in of crowds chanting, banging their fists on military vehicles, and Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his supporters to protest Turkish troops trying to take over Istanbul and Turkey's capital, Ankara.

"Knowing that my family is there and that there's nothing I can do about it is just nerve-wracking and so frustrating," Kahraman said.

Kahraman said her parents eventually made it home safely.

But Kahraman wasn't able to return to be with her family. Her suitcase is packed and she was ready to go home to Istanbul for her brother's wedding, but she canceled her flight.

"I was planning to go home at 9:30 p.m., but my mom was like, 'There's still gunshots and crazy things happening at the airport.'"

"I don't want to be back in Turkey because I don't feel safe there anymore," she said.

If you haven't heard from a U.S. citizen in #Turkey, you can also write us at TurkeyEmergencyUSC@state.gov.  Department of State (@StateDept) July 15, 2016

Anyone who has not heard from a U.S. citizen who is in Turkey can write to: TurkeyEmergencyUSC@state.gov.
After two days, the search continues in Fort Lauderdale for a murder suspect who escaped police custody at the Broward County Courthouse Friday.

In a statement Saturday, Broward Sheriff's Office says that 21-year-old Dayonte Resiles is armed and he did not act alone in his escape.

"This escape was preplanned, we know that was Dayonte Resiles had accomplices," said Broward Sheriff Scott Israel.

We now know Resiles had some help in his courtroom vanishing act.

Sheriff Israel adds: "We are actively serving a search warrant and applying for search warrants as we speak. There are numerous leads to follow up on."

The Broward Sheriff's Office is leaving no stone unturned saying anyone who aided and abetted the inmate will be brought to justice.

It took a matter of seconds for Resiles to slip out and more than 24 hours later, he is still at large and believed to have access to weapons.

"He is armed and dangerous; let me repeat that, he is armed and dangerous," says Sheriff Israel.

The accused murderer bolting from the Broward Courthouse Friday morning, broke free of his handcuffs and shackles while making a run for it.

Frank Celone, a witness to the chaotic scene, said: "Right before he got there he pulled the buttons on his uniform. It looked like they were already ripped at the legs. Came right out of it. He had on a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt and the bailiff ran to get him."

Resiles slipped out of the bailiff's grasp and escaped down a stairwell. Panic qucikly spread inside and outside the courthouse. Police followed up on several leads Friday searching through neighborhoods and apartments.

Authorities say it is now a nationwide manhunt but they are focusing on the tri-county area in Florida. Per protocol, BSO has also launched and internal affairs investigation.

"We will look at every aspect of this escape right now but right now today or focus is on capturing this escaped murder suspect back and bringing him back in custody," said Sheriff Israel.

If you think you've seen Resiles call 911 immediately. Broward Crime Stoppers is now offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to his arrest following a $10,000 contribution.
Left-hander Braxton Garrett, the seventh overall selection in this year's amateur draft, has signed with the Miami Marlins for a bonus of $4,145,900.

The deal, announced Friday, was for $389,600 over slot value.

Garrett, 18, was the 34th and last of the first-round picks to reach an agreement. The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder had a 0.53 ERA with 131 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings for Florence High School in Alabama.

Friday was the deadline to sign Garrett, who had a commitment to attend Vanderbilt.
An information board with delayed and cancelled flights is pictured in Istanbul airport, Turkey, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has prohibited all airlines from flying from Turkey to the United States, it said on Saturday, after a failed coup sparked violence and a government crackdown there.

The agency also issued a notice banning U.S. commercial and private aircraft from flying to Turkey.

"The FAA is monitoring the situation in Turkey in coordination with our partners in the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves," it said in a statement.

Turkish authorities on Saturday rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected plotters of a military coup after violence shook Turkey's two main cities on Friday night.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
What to Know Lifeguards have been cut at all state parks, including Squantz Pond, where 20 people have drowned in the last 15 years

The park implemented new outreach programs, but Spanish-language outreach has fallen off

A supervisor for the pond said he didn't think multilingual outreach about the cuts was necessary, saying the signs were universal

New Yorkers heading to a popular lake in Connecticut with a staggering history of drowning deaths are facing increased danger this summer  and NBC 4 New York discovered they may not know it.

As part of state budget cuts enacted this month, lifeguards have been eliminated two days a week at all Connecticut state parks, including Squantz Pond in New Fairfield, where 15 people have drowned in the past 20 years. But NBC 4 New York found the swimming risk is not being communicated to Spanish-speaking visitors who flock to the park.

Its a dangerous oversight, says John Hodge, a former first selectman for New Fairfield who pushed the state to enact sweeping safety changes in 2007 after a rash of drowning deaths.



"By and large its not Connecticut residents whove drowned in this pond. Its New Yorkers," he said. Were so close to the New York border.  Its mostly New Yorkers drowning there.

Signs and fliers in Spanish and English, and a bilingual interpreter, were among the safety changes credited with reducing drowning deaths. Only two people have died in the park since 2007.



"Theres no doubt that the procedures that were put into place worked, said Hodge.

But this week, on the first day at the park without lifeguards on duty, NBC 4 New York found Spanish-language outreach to be nonexistent. The only sign in Spanish near the beach was installed years ago and reads: "Our beautiful lake on average has one death each summer. Please dont be the ONE.

Squantz Pond State Park Supervisor John Guglielmoni said he didnt think Spanish-language outreach about lifeguard cuts was necessary.



"I think everybody pretty much gets the message. The flag key really is universal. But the key, on the empty lifeguard stand, is written in English.

When pressed on safety outreach for visitors who dont read or speak English, Guglielmoni said it really wasnt a concern.



"Amazingly, I havent run across them. I have to be honest. Ive been able to communicate with every group of people that have come to this park, of all different ethnicities and backgrounds," Guglielmoni. "If theres a certain individual who cant [speak English] theres always someone in their group who can.

But NBC 4 New York found it wasnt that simple. Some visitors didnt speak English, and some who were bilingual hadnt seen the signs or flag key.

New Fairfield First Selectman Susan Chapman has been fighting to have the lifeguards reinstated. Shes especially worried about not having lifeguards on Monday and Tuesday, which are the lowest attendance days at the park.

Of the seven weekday drownings, five of them were on a Monday or a Tuesday, said Chapman. So the state, theyre determining Monday and Tuesday as low risk days, but for Squantz Pond, Monday and Tuesday are not low Risk days.

She also questions the cost savings.



"Quite frankly, how much would lifeguards on two days a week for the next eight weeks  how much is that really going to cost?" Chapman asked. "Is the state of Connecticut really going to achieve any savings at this park not having any lifeguards here Monday and Tuesday?"

NBC 4 New York found the savings dont add up to much. The top wage for a state lifeguard is $14 per hour. The cost of two lifeguards working eight-hour shifts on Monday and Tuesday until Labor Day would be $3,584.
An 18-year-old suspect has been charged with the theft of a wheelchair needed by a New Jersey teen who has cerebral palsy, police said Saturday.

Michael Peralta, of Palisade Park, is accused of driving off in the motorized wheelchair Thursday afternoon from a residence in the Wood Park Condominiums in Leonia. Surveillance video shows someone riding in the wheelchair.

The chair belongs to a 14-year-old boy, who police identified only as Courtney.

Peralta was charged with third-degree theft and the unlawful taking of a means of conveyance. He was remanded to Bergen County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. There was no information available as to whether Peralta has obtained a lawyer who could comment on the charges.

Leonia Police Officer Sihoon Chung spotted the wheelchair outside Peralta's house while on routine patrol and made the arrest.

The wheelchair was returned to its owner.
Thousands gathered Friday to mourn the death of Alton Sterling, whose shooting death at the hands of white police officers sparked nationwide protests, NBC News reported.

The funeral was a celebration of Sterlings life as much as it was a political declaration. Sterlings family and a slew of speakers said sweet, sorrowful goodbyes while calling for justice.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Jr. led a call and response with mourners: Stop the violence, save the children. Stop the violence, save the nation."

"Unearned suffering is redemptive. There is power in innocent blood. If the killing of Alton Sterling would have been in a shootout or a drug bust or robbery, we would not be here today," Jackson said.

Sterling was fatally shot last week during a confrontation with police officers outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A second man, Philando Castile, was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop the following day in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota. Castiles funeral took place on Thursday.
The University of Pennsylvania Healthcare System, which last year expanded west by adding Lancaster General Health to its network, is exploring a major push deeper into New Jersey.

The Penn Health System on Wednesday signed a non-binding letter of intent to pursue a partnership with the Princeton Healthcare System (PHCS).

Princeton Healthcare, which is based in Plainsboro, New Jersey, operates University Medical Center of Princeton and Princeton House Behavioral Health along with a network of primary care and specialty medical practices. It also provides a variety of rehabilitation, home care, hospice care, ambulatory surgery, and fitness and wellness services in central New Jersey.

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Navy officials say they will not fund blood tests for tens of thousands of suburban Philadelphia residents who may have been exposed to contaminated water.

Chemicals were found in public drinking water supplies two years ago near the former Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Horsham, the former Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster and the active Horsham Air Guard Station.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf asked the Navy and Air Force last month to fund tests for area residents.

The Navy sent a letter to Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey saying federal public health officials recommended not conducting the tests.

The Navy says the tests won't help doctors determine current or future health risks related to those chemicals.

Wolf's spokesman says the Democratic governor is disappointed.
As Turkey's president wrestled for control of his nation Friday night, he claimed the military plot to remove him from power was being orchestrated by a foe living in a sprawling compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.

"Turkey can't be run from Pennsylvania," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told supporters after arriving to Istanbul early Saturday morning, local time, as soldiers appeared to square off with police and civilians across the country in an attempted military coup.

Erdogan and his supporters allege that sympathizers of Islamic imam Fethullah Gulen are carrying out the coup that began about 10 p.m. local time Friday night. Explosions and gunfire were reported in Istanbul, the country's largest city, and Ankara, the capital.

Gulen, 75, fled his home country in 1999 after being charged with treason. He settled in the small town of Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, about 90 miles north of Philadelphia. The 26 acre compound has several single-family homes and a large complex resembling an apartment building.

At least a dozen people could be seen moving about when NBC10 Philadelphia's helicopter flew over the property Friday afternoon.

Shots fired & explosions heard in #Ankara. Both bridges in Istanbul (Bosphorous & Fatih Sultan Mehmet) closed. Continue to shelter in place.  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016

Reports that social media is blocked in #Turkey. Use email/phone call/SMS to contact loved ones in area.  Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016

In the apparent coup that began about 10 p.m. Turkish time Friday, military members occupied government offices, shut down bridges and took over broadcasters as they carried out the attempted takeover. Explosions were heard in Ankara and gunfire could be seen from helicopters and fighter jets.

Erdogan was elected by the people to serve as president, which is usually a more ceremonial role to the prime minister in the country's parliamentary system. But Erdogan is accused of consolidating power and taking a more autocratic approach in his position. He is also a former prime minister and has long accused Gulen of trying to overthrow the government.

Gulen denied involvement in the attempted takeover and a statement released by an affiliated organization, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, said he condemns the use of force.

"For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey," the statement read.

The Erdogan regime has carried out a purge of civil servants suspected of ties to the movement, seized businesses and closed some media organizations. Gulen was tried in absentia earlier this year.

Gulen has been well-known throughout Turkey for more than five decades for promoting a philosophy that blends Islam with strong democratic ideals, education and religious inclusion.

Supporters opened 50 charter schools across the U.S. designed to share his teachings. Allegations of financial mismangement and visa fraud led to an investigation by the FBI and a lawsuit, which is currently pending.

The cleric spends most of his time in seclusion at the Pocono compound, engaging in prayer and meditation. An Associated Press reporter was granted a tour of the complex earlier this year, but was not granted an interview with Gulen.
Police arrested a 12-year-old suspect Friday in connection with an alleged plot to kill Louisiana officers after the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, NBC News reported.

The boy is being held on charges of simple burglary and theft of a firearm in connection with a pawn shop robbery last Saturday, according to police. The boy is not being identified because he is a juvenile.

Antonio Thomas, 17, and Malik Bridgewater, 20, were arrested last week in connection with the robbery. A 13-year-old male was also arrested. A fourth man, 23-year-old Trashone Coats, was charged with possessing one of the stolen guns, but not in the burglary.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff said Tuesday the alleged plot was the reason officers were being tough on protesters demonstrating after the shooting death of Sterling. Nearly 150 protesters were arrested last weekend.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump revealed a new campaign logo that's giving some people the giggles.

The logo was released Friday as Trump announced his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

It features an interlaced blue "T'' and "P'' next to red stripes, evoking the American flag. Trump's name is featured above Pence's name, which is smaller. Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again!" finishes off the logo.

The design was immediately mocked on social media. The "T'' penetrating the loop of the "P'' below it looked sexually suggestive to some. Others made the connection to T.P. being a common abbreviation for toilet paper.

The overall effect with the typography and image is pretty obvious, said Cyrus Highsmith, an internationally celebrated designer.

"I think that it's very clear that Trump is the dominant partner in this relationship," Highsmith said between chuckles. "The only thing I can guess is that Trump wants to make sure that everyone knows that he's in charge. It's totally in line with his personality."

Other designers said it seemed amateurish.

Nancy Skolos, dean of architecture and design at the Rhode Island School of Design, called the design "fussy and overwrought," and more like a "high school doodle."

Matt Luckhurst, of the Collins design firm in San Francisco, whose work includes Facebook's M app and Airbnb's rebranding campaign, said they did not think the image through.

"I think it's an oversight. I doubt they actually planned this," Luckhurst said. "It's something where they said good enough and they launched it out into the world."

Trump's is not the first logo to become an online punchline. Jeb Bush's "Jeb!" logo was widely ridiculed.

While presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's logo has been praised by many designers, it prompted intra-party grousing last year. It features an "H'' with an arrow pointing right, leading some Democrats to complain that the arrow did not point left.

Asked what a good logo should do, Skolos said it should be memorable. Highsmith said it should be recognizable quickly and not offensive, then hastened to add that he wasn't offended by the Trump logo.

"I think it's funny," he said. "Maybe that's another thing: Put it in enough focus groups to make sure you're not going to get laughed at."
libya oil

There's been some good news out of Libya recently.

In the beginning of July, Libya's two rival oil companies  the National Oil Corp., based in the western city in Tripoli, and its eastern counterpart, which sits in Tobruk  agreed to merge.

It's a complicated deal because of Libya's complicated government. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the company will be moved to Benghazi in the east, something that the eastern side wanted, and will now report to the unity government in Tripoli and the parliament based in the East.

Then a few days later, the leader of Libya's parastatal Petroleum Facilities Guard, Ibrahim Jathran, announced plans to resume exports from the eastern oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, the largest and third-largest in the country, which have been closed since 2014. He added that exports will "be under the authority" of the Government of National Accord based in Tripoli, according to Bloomberg.

That means Libya is now aiming to reopen four of the biggest ports in the country (including the two mentioned above), according to Bloomberg. They have a combined export capacity of 860,000 barrels a day  a number that's greater than the total output of OPEC members Indonesia, Qatar, and Ecuador, according to figures cited by RBC Capital Markets.

screen shot 2016 05 31 at 2.12.14 pm

Theoretically speaking, this is all a positive sign for a country that's seen over a million barrels a day of oil shut in amid political and security challenges over the last year, keeping production stagnating around 330,000 to 400,000 barrels a day.



As a reference point here, although Libya has the largest proven crude-oil reserves in Africa, its production was the second-lowest among OPEC members.

However, both geopolitical watchers and market analysts have adopted a cautious posture in response to all the news, citing ongoing political and security issues, past events, and possible infrastructure damage.

Story continues

"While [the Jathran news] has led to speculation that the countrys output could quickly increase, historical evidence leads us to be more cautious," wrote RBC Capital Markets' Helima Croft in a note to clients on Thursday.

"Jathrans pledge of loyalty to the GNA government has led to speculation that the country's output could quickly double from around 350 kb/d. It should be noted that Jathran has made similar promises in the past, only to change his mind," she explained.

Moreover, she argued that even if Jathran doesn't reverse course, her team is "cautious about the durability of any increase as serious problems will likely persist." As she wrote in her note:

"General Hafter, commander of the eastern regional military, does not seem on board with the broader reconciliation, and Abdullah al-Thani, the head of the eastern regional government, issued a set of tough demands for unifying the oil sector. Al-Thanis demands included relocating the National Oil Company Head Quarters to Benghazi and a 40% revenue allocation to the east, both of which may be difficult for the GNA to meet."

Screen Shot 2016 07 15 at 10.28.01 AM

Notably, there were also several reports about attacks on various terminals a few months ago.

And this past week, Mohamed Elharari, a National Oil Corp. spokesman, told Bloomberg News that both Ras Lanuf and Es Sider "have come under attack, and most of Es Sider's storage tanks are damaged." (Although he also added that the Zueitina port is "completely functional.")

"While we are more constructive on the prospects for a reopening of the ports, we expect the process to be relatively slow. Technical constraints will be significant, with large-scale maintenance works required to prepare the ports for commissioning," argued a BMI Research team in a note on Thursday.

"It is probable that substantial damage to infrastructure has been incurred and this  alongside the stop-start nature of Libya's production  will likely weigh on growth."

Plus, both Croft and the BMI team noted that ISIS remains a risk, despite the group's recent defeats around Sirte.

libya smoke oil

As an endnote, one interesting thing about the recent developments in Libya is that markets more or less yawned off the news.

"Plans to restart exports have surfaced at various points over the last two years, but at no point has production been sustained. It is probable that the lifting of force majeure will place some downside pressure on prices, but we would expect the overall impact to be fairly limited, as extreme volatility in output has somewhat desensitised the markets to Libya," argued the BMI team.

"That the oil price has failed to move in response to these developments may point to a lack of faith in the process."

Screen Shot 2016 07 15 at 12.36.15 PM

NOW WATCH: This defunct oil rig in the middle of the ocean is now a cool hotel for divers





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New Jersey powerhouse pianist Diane Moser returned to San Diego on Friday night to play one of the most consistently enjoyable shows Ive seen in years, leading a red-hot ensemble featuring contrabass giant Mark Dresser, saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh and drummer Vijay Anderson.

Although Mosers roots with Dresser date back to the 1970s, this band had never actually performed together as a unit, aside from a brief rehearsal immediately preceding the concert, which was held at Dizzys in Pacific Beach.

It is a clear testament to the magic possibilities of this music we call jazz that such an event coalesced. Mosers concert didnt just feature her own compositions, it also leaned heavily on the pens of Modirzadeh and Dresser who both contributed distinctive and intricate charts that required detailed sight-reading capabilities and superhuman intuitive listening.

She led off the evening with her original, If Youll Call Me, a frenetic freebop anthem where Modirzadehs keening alto reminded me of the plaintive cry of Ornette Coleman. Moser pounded jagged, Monk-ian clusters while Dresser and Anderson divided the time into complex multiples. Hearing Dresser play in this context is a joyful experience, and I was instantly attracted to Andersons intention and clarity with the ride cymbal, which had amazing focus.

Next up was Modirzadehs Song D, featuring the composers breathy tenor saxophone tracing soft contours of harmony over Andersons feathery brushes and Dressers pliant throb. Moser has a deft command of pure melodic information that can suddenly veer off into structures of the moment. Dresser was everywhere -- toggling between windmill strums and roiling triplets, his personal sound has a remarkable centering effect.

On Mosers Dancing With the Sparrows, the pianist posited major-key arpeggios against the raw organic bowed harmonics of Dresser as Anderson activated cymbal rolls and Modirzadeh went for a Trane-like reverie. A pensive groove emerged that reminded me of the Keith Jarrett Belonging Quartet  providing Moser with a perfect opportunity to cultivate her cascading melodicism.

Dresser began his provocatively titled original, I Can Smell You Listening, alone, coaxing a rich soliloquy from both extremes of his instrument with his bow, and when the rest of the band joined in, it was all about the ability to caress a melody with spiritual gravity. In the blowing sections, a beautiful melange of six releasing into eight surfaced, delineated by Andersons uncluttered cymbal pings and Mosers judicious balance of soft pedal gauze with clanging brutality.

That affinity for dynamic variety also dominated Dressers original M, which opened with alternate gradients of pizzicato force, exploding into a viscous groove of furious swinging that morphed between a blistering walk and a rather gutbucket half-time, all perfectly shadowed by Anderson, who ratcheted the tension with appropriate waves of volume.

The evening came to a close with Mosers For My Mother, a gorgeous celebration-of-life that unfolded slowly into a labyrinth of expressive emotion -- somehow managing to keep both the melody and the commitment to exploration paramount -- especially on the closing section, when Dresser tuned down to bow an open D string as the harmonies faded gently into the night air.

What an amazing night of inspired music.

Robert Bush is a freelance jazz writer who has been exploring the San Diego improvised music scene for more than 30 years. Follow him on Twitter @robertbushjazz. Visit The World According to Rob.
First-timers and experienced pros alike strutted their stuff Friday at the 2016 Del Mar Opening Day Hats Contest at the seaside track in San Diego's North County.

Elaborate hats adorned with flowers, feathers, beads, toy horses and other bells and whistles filled the Plaza de Mexico at the Del Mar Racing track for the 22nd annual Hats Contest.

This included a bright yellow and blue diamond hat created by San Diego resident Lori Shelton, who told NBC 7 she has participated in the Opening Day Hats Contest for about 20 years.

Shelton was decked out  head to toe  in the blue and yellow diamond motif of Del Mar Racing season. This included a bright yellow dress with a blue belt and yellow shoes each featuring a hand-painted race horse. Even Shelton's pedicure was blue and yellow.

Shelton said her Opening Day get-up took her between 50 and 60 hours to create. As Opening Day drew near, Shelton said she keep adding details here and there to her project.

[Thinking about] this hat was waking me up at night! Shelton said with a laugh.

Bonita resident Andria Elam told NBC 7 this was her first time entering the famous Opening Day Hats Contest.

She proudly sported a lilac and turquoise fascinator topped with curled feathers and purple veiling, which matched perfectly with her floral dress.

I spent two months on and off crafting my fascinator from millinery materials, Elam explained, saying she was inspired by her love of fashion and horse racing.

In all, Elam estimates she spent 40 or 50 hours creating her hat, as every part of it was made by hand.

"It's really labor-intensive because I make it using traditional millinery techniques," she explained. "Everything is hand-sewn."

"[Hat-making] is an art. It's so amazing and I have so much admiration for those who do it professionally," Elam told NBC 7. "It's something I've always wanted to dabble in and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a try."

Patty Newman  wearing long white and black dress with bows and a large matching hat  said it took her one month to make her outfit. For Newman, this also marked her first time entering the Hats Contest. She was the first contestant to walk in front of the judges' panel, posing and showing off the many features of her outfit and hat.

For some contestants, their Opening Day outfit began with the hat and inspiration for the other parts of their ensemble followed. For others, it started with the dress and then creating a hat to match.

Some found inspiration in San Diego, incorporating beaches, water and sunshine into the props that adorned their toppers.

This included one woman whose hat featured a sandy beach  complete with a mini replica of a bonfire pit  and lots of horse figurines.

This is a scene of the horses' day off. They're hanging at the beach, she told NBC 7, saying she had entered herself in the Funniest Hat category.

Sisters Anna Mackin and Deborah Mauzy-Melitz impressed the crowd with their San Diego Zoo-themed hats, which were a nod to the zoo's centennial.

Mackin's hat included figurines of lions, elephants, rhinos and more, while Mauzy-Melitz's hat was covered in flamingo figurines gathered around a plastic waterfall.

Several contestants made a big splash at the hats competition, including a man who topped his hat with a giant replica of a shark being ridden by a jockey.

Stephen Schreper sported a large hat inspired by late pop icon Prince and Purple Rain. The hat included puffy clouds and tinsel covering the trim, meant to be the rain. The hat also included horse figurines hand-painted with the words Del Mar 2016.

Another memorable hat was Lauren Chadwick's hat, which was topped with figurines of cats and scrolled with the words Cat Lady. The inside brim was covered in paw print stickers.

I love cats and I wanted to show representation for other animals that can also race, she said with a laugh.

Chadwick has a tattoo of a cat nose and whiskeys on her forearm, which she held up to her face to make it appear as if she had whiskers. She entered her hat in the Most Outrageous category.

Escondido resident Tessa Robeson's hat was also hard to miss. Her huge topper, which she said weighed close to 40 pounds, featured bright tropical flowers and a gold skeleton drinking tiny bottles of tequila.

Robeson said the secret to keeping her heavy hat balanced on her head was reinforcing the base of the hat with sturdy, flexible chicken wire.

In the end, organizers said more than 300 contestants entered the 2016 Opening Day Hats Contest.

The winner of the Bing Crosby Grand Prize was Elam, who also won the Best Fascinator category. She walked away with a prize valued at more than $1,000 that included a one-night stay at Fairmont Grand Del Mar and dinner for two at Addison Restaurant. Elam also received a halter from racings No. 1 horse, California Chrome, donated by the horses owners.

Other winners included:

 Nadia Dayzie (First place winner in Funniest/Most Outrageous category)

 Rob Hanly (Second place winner in Funniest/Most Outrageous category)

 Renee Salas (First place winner in Most Glamorous category)

 Melissa Ordaz (Second place winner in Most Glamorous category)

 Tessa Robeson (First place winner in Best Flowers category)

 Lauren Silveira (Second place winner in Best Flowers category)

 Rachel Burton (First Place winner in Racing Theme category)

 Lori Shelton (Second place winner in Racing Theme category)

 Janice Ashton (Second place winner in Best Fascinator category)
Hundreds of "Black Lives Matter" protestors marched through the streets of City Heights Friday night, shutting down southbound Interstate 15 at University Avenue.

The protest follows a series of marches across the country and in San Diego after two black men were shot and killed by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Alton Sterling, 37, was killed in Baton Rouge after being shot by two police officers. Authorities said he was armed. In Minnesota, Philando Castile, 32, was shot and killed by an officer during a traffic stop on July 6.

Friday night's march shut down local businesses and part of I-15.

When asked about inconveniencing others for their cause, protester Katrina Anderson said: Many people are inconvenienced by the cause were fighting for. Being harassed by police and unnecessary violence, a few more minutes of their inconvenience is worth everyones life.

The marchers also staged a sit-in on Fairmount Street in front of the City Heights Precinct police station.

The group was calling for San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Chief Shelley Zimmerman to hear their concerns and to highlight the shooting deaths of people of color killed by police in America.

In addition to Castile and Sterling, the group also marched for Hispanic teenager Pedro Erick Villanueva, shot and killed by police near Los Angeles.

Marchers said the culture of how police treat people of color needs to change.

I want everyone to be treated fairly across the board, explained Sammie Scales. I dont want my heart rate to change when the police pull up behind me. I dont want to get nervous.

Current police brutality and people being murdered by police recently is not a matter of individual decisions by police acting rationally and according to procedure, said Jordan Mills, a member of the Party for Socialism and l Liberation and a college professor.

We think it's built into the system. That, in fact, there is structural racism in the United States, Mills added.

Despite some tense moments with obscenities directed toward police, officers said there didnt appear to be any arrests made.

It was a peaceful demonstration that made a big impact.
A busy street in Chula Vista will remain closed through Monday due to a water main break, the Otay Water District confirmed.

The westbound lane of Telegraph Canyon Road is blocked off to traffic due to a water main that ruptured Thursday between Apache Drive and Buena Vista Way. As a result, the Otay Water District said the No. 3 lane westbound between Apache Drive and Buena Vista Way will be closed for the next several days.

During the closure, alternate routes are available through westbound East H Street, north of Telegraph Canyon Road and westbound Olympic Parkway, south of Telegraph Canyon Road.

Lanes one and two will remain open.

The Otay Water District said all customers in the area of the main break have water service. Utility workers are currently in the area assessing the severity of the damage and working to repair the break. The duration of the time it will take to repair the break is unknown at this point.
UPDATE: Tysons Corner Center mall guest services said all the stores except the restaurant have reopened Saturday morning. Seasons 52 is expected to remain closed throughout the weekend.

=========================

A kitchen fire sparked inside the Tysons Corner Center mall on Friday evening, forcing people sitting in restaurants and watching movies to evacuate the building.

The Fairfax County mall was partially evacuated after a grease fire broke out at the restaurant Seasons 52, located on the first floor, a representative of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department said.

The three-alarm fire traveled up to the third floor through pipes and sent smoke pouring out of the building. Flames shot through the roof, images from the News4 chopper show.

Firefighters arrived about 6:05 p.m.

The mall food court, the AMC Tysons Corner 16 theater and the area near Seasons 52 were evacuated, the fire department said.

As the weekend began, the smoke seeped into movie theaters and restaurants.

"It was just starting the previews, and as the previews were playing, the show actually started to fill up with smoke, and all the lights started to actually start flashing ,and the emergency alarms just start going off," moviegoer Phillip Jones said.

"Right in the middle of happy hour. Yes, I know everybody had to stop drinking their martinis," said Erick Henderson, the head chef at Brio Tuscan Grill.

Other parts of the mall remained open.

No injuries were reported.

Seasons 52 and nearby restaurants and retailers will be closed until further notice, Tysons Corner said in a tweet.

A representative for mall security initially told News4 the entire mall was being evacuated. A representative for the management of the mall then said only a portion of the mall would be cleared of shoppers, diners and moviegoers.
A GOP presidential convention delegate who has been critical of presumptive nominee Donald Trump has been ousted from the convention.

A credentials committee on Friday voted to reject Rina Shah Bharara, who had been a top vote-getter at the District of Columbia's nominating convention.

Bharara said Friday the vote is a sign the convention is controlled by pro-Trump forces.

Bharara's role as a delegate has been controversial since gave an interview saying her opposition to Trump was so strong that she might support Democrat Hillary Clinton instead. She has since promised to vote for a Republican in November.

After that interview, the D.C. Republican Party removed her as a delegate, saying it learned she was not a D.C. resident.

Earlier this week, though, another convention committee recommended Bharara's reinstatement.
A man who stabbed a Maryland father of two dozens of times in a gruesome murder will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Gang member Mauricio Morales-Caceres killed 36-year-old Oscar Navarro of Silver Spring to earn recognition and status in the gang, according to the prosecution. Video shows Morales-Caceres getting a gang tatto just hours after the crime. Prosecutors believe he was celebrating the crime.

In sentencing him to life without parole, the judge agreed with the victim's sister-in-law in calling Morales-Caceres a ruthless, brutal monster.

Morales-Caceres stabbed Navarro 89 times and cut out his liver and placed it on his chest, according to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office.

A family member found Navarro dead at an apartment building in the 14600 block of King Lear Court Dec. 23, 2014.

Investigators said they tied Morales-Caceres to the murder from a bloody fingerprint and sneaker print he left at the scene.

Morales-Caceres and Navarro knew each other, police said.
A 75-year-old doctor in Fairfax County, Virginia, has been accused of inappropriately touching a patient during an exam -- and police say they are looking for more people he may have abused.

Dr. Fausto Fernandez, of Alexandria, has been charged with sexual battery, police said.

Police said on June 23, a 30-year-old man reported to police he went to the HIBP Medical Services center at 6911 Richmond Highway where Fernandez works as a family physician.

Fernandez entered the exam room and asked the man about why he was at the doctor's office.

During the exam interview, the doctor allegedly requested that he remove his clothes and touched him inappropriately during the exam, said Fairfax County Police Officer Tawny Wright.

News4 has learned the patient is a Latino immigrant and wasn't familiar with what to expect during a doctor's visit, but knew the exam was not right.

He did question the doctor about what was going on a couple of times, but ultimately just complied with the doctor and they went through the exam, Wright said.

The man notified police later that night and after a lengthy investigation, police obtained a criminal warrant against Fernandez on Wednesday.

Fernandez turned himself in to police on Thursday, police said.

Investigators believe there could be more victims because many of Fernandez's patients are Latino immigrants who speak Spanish.

They arent even aware of their individual rights, said Brian Murray, an immigration attorney.

Murray, who is not connected to this case, said the immigrants he has represented were hesitant to come forward and report crimes.

They do need to go forward but they should probably, at least consult with counsel to make sure that their status in this country is protected, because they do have certain rights, Murray said.

Fernandez has been released from jail.

News4's attempts to contact Fernandez's office were not successful.
Security planning for the Republican and Democratic national conventions took into account large-scale threats like the vehicle attack that occurred in France and left dozens dead and wounded, a U.S. Secret Service official said Friday.

"There is nothing we leave to chance," said James Henry, the agency's special agent in charge in Philadelphia.

Planning for the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia began in October, and security measures cover everything from people jumping fences to organized attacks, he said.

Agents will sweep permitted vehicles for explosives and turn away general traffic in security zones set up around the convention sites. Philadelphia police will use rolling street closures and uniformed officers to protect areas outside the security zone where large protests and rallies are planned.

In Cleveland, federal officials have already restricted road, air and water travel around the city for next week's Republican National Convention, with security measures affecting passenger and cargo vehicles.

Officials declined to comment on specific changes following the attack in Nice. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson expressed his condolences to the friends and families of the victims.

The Plain Dealer reported Friday that scores of paramedics, doctors and nurses will be stationed in and around Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland during the four-day convention to handle everything from minor injuries to multiple casualties. The medical plan was developed over several months.

The city was a study in contrasts Friday afternoon. Even as restaurants and bars filled up with the usual Friday post-work patrons, large tents were being erected outside the arena, dubbed the Q.

Drivers headed into downtown saw signs urging people to call an FBI tip line if they see anything suspicious. A tall security fence was going up along several blocks of East 9th Street in the heart of downtown. Garbage cans were replaced with clear plastic bags hanging from metal supports.

Overhead, a plane pulled a sign that read "Rescue Unborn Children" with the letters RNC  for Republican National Convention  highlighted in red.

Ricky Stokes, 54, a downtown resident, said he's comfortable with security, saying the city's been transparent with its preparations by providing town hall briefings with security officials on what to expect.

A friend, Virnette House, of suburban Westlake, who works at nearby Cleveland State University, said she also feels safe but added the events in France have led to heightened awareness.

"Cleveland is ready but there's now even more a sense of urgency," House said.

At Buffalo Wild Wings across from the Q, hostess Samantha Fields was excited by the coming week, but a little nervous after this week's events overseas.

"Walking through today I didn't see as many police officers as I thought there should be," said the 20-year-old Fields, of Cleveland.

Security experts said the attack in France, in which a driver mowed down scores of people during Bastille Day celebrations, will heighten security concerns. But they note possible countermeasures, like establishing static, barricaded zones, can pose their own risk by creating concentrated targets.

The use of rolling street closures can help law enforcement by keeping routes open for emergency responders, allowing police to manage crowd movement and prevent static zones that can become targets for an attack, said Edward Clark, homeland security expert and principal consultant for Executive Interface LLC, a security consulting group.

Security details are also often advised to keep groups small, create multiple entrance points to specific gathering areas and stagger attendance, he said.

Explosions and gun fire "can't kill people that aren't there," Clark said.

Henry Willis, director of the Rand Corp. Homeland Security and Defense Center, said security organizations each have unique capabilities and responsibilities, which can create seams in protection.

"It's at those seams that issues can happen," he said.
As a conservative talk-radio host in the 1990s, Mike Pence described himself as "Rush Limbaugh on decaf."

Two decades later, Pence is the unflappable conservative governor of Indiana who's being plucked by Republican presidential contender Donald Trump as his running mate.

Where Trump is impulsive, Pence is cool-headed. Where Trump makes conservatives suspicious, Pence has credibility. And where Trump struggles to draw evangelical Christians, Pence is well-regarded by them.

A favorite quote highlights how Pence might smooth some of the sharp corners of the Trump campaign and its supporters.

"I'm a conservative," Pence says. "But I'm not angry about it."

The former congressman also is a proven fundraiser with close ties to billionaire industrialists David and Charles Koch and their network of wealthy donors, many of whom have been dismissive of Trump.

"One thing you can say about Mike Pence is he's got a very calm, steady demeanor that in some ways is a little Reaganesque," said Christine Mathews, a Republican pollster for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. "He's a counterbalance to Trump in that way."

Trump announced on Twitter Friday morning that he's selected Pence as his running mate, capping a wild 24 hours of speculation interrupted by the truck attack in Nice, France, that left scores dead.

Not so long ago, their relationship was a little awkward. Trump met privately with Pence before Indiana's primaries, seeking his endorsement. Instead, Pence, under pressure from national conservatives, tepidly endorsed Trump's rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, while still lavishing praise on Trump. Trump won that primary. Before the night was over, Cruz had quit the race.

For Pence, a former six-term congressman, Trump's selection offers a return to national politics after his embrace as governor of conservative social issues sidelined his own presidential ambitions. Pence describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." In 2015 he provoked a national backlash after signing a law that critics said would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay people for religious reasons.

Even some Indiana Republicans have questioned his decisions, suggesting Pence has at times seemed more interested in appealing to national conservatives than doing what's best for the state. Pence's support of the state's religious objections law led to a revolt from the business community, which joined gay rights advocates in successfully pushing for changes to the law.

Raised in Columbus, Indiana, in an Irish-Catholic family, Pence revered the Kennedys growing up and has said he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980. He later identified as an evangelical Christian and was inspired to join the Republican Party by former President Ronald Reagan, whose "happy warrior" rhetorical style Pence has since tried to emulate.

After attending Hanover College, Pence graduated from Indiana University Law School in 1986. He met his wife, Karen, around the same time and twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress before taking a job at Indiana Policy Review, a conservative think-tank. In a 1991 essay titled "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner," Pence swore off harsh political tactics he used in "one of the most divisive and negative campaigns in Indiana's modern congressional history" while calling for "basic human decency."

"That means your First Amendment rights end at the tip of your opponent's nose  even in the matter of political rhetoric," Pence wrote, though he backtracked in the face of a difficult re-election campaign in Indiana.

In Congress, Pence sponsored a few bills that became law as amendments in other legislation. But he built a national following among conservatives for his willingness to buck his own party after opposing President George W. Bush's Medicare expansion and the No Child Left Behind education overhaul. During the early years of President Barack Obama's administration, Pence helped lead the opposition to the Democrat's agenda.

"He has a particularly strong talent, a gift if you will, for being able to stick to principle while making his political opponents or those who disagree with him feel like they are being heard and respected," said Ryan Streeter, a former Pence aide and George W. Bush staffer who is now a public affairs professor at the University of Texas.

Pence's congressional experience is one trait that Trump, who has never held public office, wanted in a running mate.

Marc Short, a former Pence aide and top Koch brothers operative, elaborated: "He's worked with (House Speaker) Paul Ryan. He's worked with the team in House leadership. He's somebody who has deep relationships in the evangelical movement, and he's somebody who has foreign affairs experience."

Pence's one term as governor has drawn mixed reaction, and he has managed to alienate moderate Republicans over social issues.

Groups threatened boycotts over last year's religious objections law and late-night television hosts mocked the policy, leading lawmakers to approve changes.

This year Pence clashed with the local Catholic archdiocese by opposing the settlement of Syrian refugees in Indianapolis.

Pence was also slammed for the planned 2015 launch of "JustIN," a state-operated news service that was ditched after critics panned it as "Pravda on the Plains."

But he has also presided over Indiana's improving economy and plummeting unemployment rate, which Republicans credit to the state's low taxes, limited regulation and pro-business climate.
A Massachusetts man who lost his sister in the 9/11 attacks said the terrorist strike in Nice, France, hits close to home.

"To see it happening in other places is extremely sad," said Afkham Salie, who owns a coffee shop in Newton.

But Salie's connection to the killings runs deeper. As a Muslim, he is also accustomed to the public attacks on his religion that follow acts of terror.

"To me, it has nothing to do with the religion," Salie explained. "There's nothing in the religion that I know about that encourages this kind of behavior in any way."

Salie immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 2007. While he has been warmly welcomed by the Newton community, he has concerns about the rhetoric used by high profile figures, such as presidential candidate Donald Trump.

"That bothers me," he said. "We fear what we don't understand. That is human nature. It takes struggle to try and understand something before reacting negatively to it."
The Windham County Humane Society in Brattleboro, Vermont, says addressing people's struggles to afford adequate care for their pets is a pressing issue for it and similar organizations across the country.

"If we can keep animals in their homes, we can help more animals," said Annie Guion, the executive director of the organization.

The Windham County Humane Society has an assistance program which uses grants, donations, and volunteers to help people in the county who may be unable to pay for food or medical needs for their animals.

Dr. Sue Kelly, a veterinarian, donates two hours a month at the shelter to offer free or deeply-discounted animal care services, by appointment.

"These people who come in, they are so appreciative," Kelly said. "I always leave here happier than I got here."

The vet said services run the gamut from providing rabies and distemper shots to more complicated exams. The day necn visited, Kelly was examining a dog who received an eyelid reduction surgery when the center adopted the animal out. That eyelid would require additional surgery, Kelly determined, which she and the Humane Society would handle.

Beverly Covey of Marlboro, Vermont brought her dog, Xena, to see Kelly. The animal got all her shots and a locator chip implanted, for just $10.

"You can't beat the price," Covey said, adding that the discount clinic has allowed both her and an elderly relative to hold onto their pets, without worries about costly procedures. "Here, they care for the animal and the person, because my view is, without a dog or a cat, you're not completely full in your heart."

Guion said owners' tight finances are a major reason why owners surrender their pets and why many animals enter shelters. Therefore, addressing financial concerns should help keep some animals with their owners, Guion said.

"It's been a real game-changer for the shelter," Guion told necn. "The alternative would be to say, 'We're not going to help you with that,' and she might say, 'Well, I'm going to surrender the dog to you.' Well now, the dog still needs the surgery and it has to be re-homed. Can I give it the surgery and keep it in the home at the same time?"

Guion explained she requires proof of need and residency in Windham County to qualify.

She noted that the humane society works closely with area vets to make sure they're not losing business, even giving referrals and helping with costs for procedures that need to be done in those private offices.

Guion said in some cases, Dr. Kelly's free or discounted-cost clinics may the only time an animal sees a veterinarian.

On its website, the humane society says it asks owners to agree not to acquire any more pets while they're receiving assistance, and to work with WCHS to have all family pets spayed or neutered.

The Windham County Humane Society is participating in necn's Clear the Shelters day July 23. Click here for more information on the agency.
Vermont advocates involved in the state's push to require labels on food products if ingredients were genetically engineered in a lab say a bill that passed through Congress will do a disservice to consumers who want to know what they're eating.

"I'm outraged," said Andrea Stander of the Vermont Right to Know Coalition. "And I think everyone in this country should be outraged."

Vermont enacted its labeling law July 1. Many food products contain genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs, because using them can improve crop yield or manufacturing efficiency.

A bill passed in the U.S. House Thursday would preempt Vermont's state law requiring labels on items made with GMOs. The federal bill calls for a national labeling requirement, though those labels could be either text, a symbol, or an electronic code only smartphones can decipher.

"Just tell us," Stander said, describing her desire to see clear labels on food packages.

Senate approval came last week over the strong objections of Vermont's congressional delegation. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch argued that the measure falls short, especially compared with the tougher labeling requirements in their state. While the bill gives companies the three options for labeling, the Vermont law would require items be labeled "produced with genetic engineering."

The federal legislation would be weaker and less transparent than the plain-English requirement in Vermont, advocates like Stander argue. Plus, the labels could be two years away, with federal agriculture officials writing rules for the launch.

Vermont's Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin bemoaned the congressional action.

"It's a shame that Congress chose to replace our standard with a weaker one that provides multiple ways for the food industry to avoid transparent labeling," he said in a statement.

Republicans and lawmakers from rural states overwhelmingly supported the legislation, which passed the House on a 306-117 vote. Agriculture groups have backed it, hoping it will bring more certainty to farmers who grow genetically modified corn and soybeans.

"The clock has run out, my producers need certainty and an interstate commerce nightmare will shortly ensure if we don't pass this bill," said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill.

The Food and Drug Administration has said GMOs are safe to eat. Still, many consumers question possible environmental effects.

"Sometimes there's no choice, but at least I want to have that option," said Montpelier grocery shopper Andrew Nyquist, describing how he's willing to buy an item containing GMOs, he just wants to know what's in that product.

"I guess it's better to err on the side of consumers making informed choices on what they're buying," said another shopper in Montpelier, Claire Lachow, as she loaded bags of groceries into a car, including items labeled as containing GMOs. "The scientific evidence hasn't shown it's really that bad for you, but people should be able to make whatever choices they want to make."

Food industry groups did not want to see a patchwork of different state labeling rules, so they welcome the new legislation.

"We have always advocated for a national and uniform standard," said Erin Sigrist of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association. "So if this is going to begin the conversation toward a national and uniform standard, we're certainly in support of moving forward."

People who want to see clear labels are now urging the president to veto the bill. Many tweeted the White House Friday to encourage a veto.

"This struggle will go on," Stander predicted.

The Associated Press Contributed to this report.
A man was arrested in Gardner, Massachusetts on Saturday morning after a domestic disturbance, police said.

Authorities said they responded to 99 Graham Street for a domestic incident involving a man with a firearm. Upon arriving, officers said they found a vehicle on fire and heard possible gunshots.

A perimeter was established and area residents were evacuated.

Police were eventually able to get the man to surrender and placed him under arrest.

Authorities said the vehicle in the driveway as well as another one suffered major damage. The house suffered minor damage.

No injuries were reported.

The 49-year-old man, who has not yet been identified, was charged with armed assault in a dwelling, armed home invasion, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault on a family/household member, and two counts of burning a motor vehicle.
The uprising in Turkey is hitting home for some New Englanders, including a Turkish restaurant owner in Somerville, Massachusetts, whose family was visiting Turkey during the violence.

Hyusein Akgun, who owns Istanbullu in Somerville, came to the United States from Turkey in 1984. His wife and two children left just days after the attack in Istanbul to visit relatives. They were still there Friday night when the military tried to seize power.

I made phone calls for a while and it wouldnt go through. I was trying to reach my kids and after that we started getting really scared, Akgun said.

With his family unreachable, the fear started to set in. After a few hours he was able to get in touch with them and fortunately, they were all OK. They were also able to send him cell phone videos and pictures of what was happening in the streets of Turkey.

One picture shows his 18-year-old son holding the flag, following the Turkish Presidents orders for his supporters to fill the streets. The videos show civilians taking over a military tank and cheering.

They took it over so they cannot hurt people anymore. Thats the idea of it, Akgun said.

It is knowledge Akgun has after experiencing a Turkish military coup firsthand. He was a soldier in the military during a coup in Turkey in 1980.

He said the latest coup, while violent and unfortunate, will ultimately lead to a better Turkey.

Its going to bring better results, Akugun said. Now that we know who the rotten people in the army are and everywhere else, theyre going to pick them out. Turkey will be much better than before.
A suspicious man has appeared to make multiple attempts to lure young women into his car in Wilmington, Massachusetts this past week.

The Wilmington Police Department reports that at approximately 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12, 2016, three 13-year-old girls were scared off on Van Nrodan Road in Reading by escaping into the wods after they were followed by a small white car. The car was travelling behind the girls with its lights off before stopping abruptly and scaring the girls into the woods.

The man was behind the girls yelling, "Wait, stop running."

The girls believed that there were multiple people in the car. The vehicle was described as low to the ground and playing loud music.

That same night, at 9:30 p.m., three 13-year-old girls were walking on King Street in Wilmington when they were approached by a male driving a smaller white car, playing loud music. One witness says there a white stripe around the tires.

The man in the car stopped and told the girls "there has been a coyote seen in the area, it's not safe to be walking. Get in my car and I'll being you home safely." The man repeated the request despite the girls' refusal.

The girls took off running when the man exited the car. He returned into his car when one of the girls screamed "kidnapper."

The girls describe that man as white, with brownish hair that curled or flipped in the front with very short hair on the sides. He has a light brown short beard and he spoke with a raspy voice.

The next day, a 12-year-old girl from Reading was approached on Forest St. at about 1:15-1:30 p.m. The man asked to give the girl a "a ride" and left when refused. He was described as being 35-years-old, with a beard, and possibly Hispanic. He was driving a smaller white care that was described as noisy or squeaky.

The Wilmington Police Department requests the assistance of its citizens to call (978) 658-5071 as soon as possible to report any suspicious activity.
Stamford Hospital's delay in reporting signs of a head injury to a 2-month-old baby, who was transported after she was having trouble breathing at a daycare, has hampered police's homicide investigation, police said.

Bella Redondo had "evidence of head trauma" when she was transported to Stamford Hospital on Tuesday at 3:40 p.m., Lt. Diedrich Hohn confirmed with NBC Connecticut.

Stamford EMS responded to Little Bears Beginnings Daycare, on Wardwell Street, around 3:12 p.m. Tuesday after a worker called 911 and reported that the baby girl, Bella Redondo, of New Canaan, was having trouble breathing, police said. Bella was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Hohn said the hospital should have reported the injury to police two hours sooner than they did. He said the baby's injuries were "obvious" and should have raised suspicion that a criminal act had probably occured, Hohn confirmed with NBC Connecticut.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the baby's death a homicide and said the cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head, police said.

Stamford Hospital told NBC Connecticut it notifies "law enforcement and authorities as soon as a patient's immediate medical condition does not require our full attention."

"Privacy laws and concern for our patients and their families prevents us from commenting on individual cases. However, in a life or death situation in our emergency department, our main priority is to save a patients life. We notify law enforcement and authorities as soon as a patients immediate medical condition does not require our full attention. It is important for the public to understand that in grave situations, it is the life of the patient that is most important. We have great respect for the role that law enforcement plays and, in this and every case, we fully cooperate with reporting requirements and the complete investigation," the hospital wrote in a statement.

On Wednesday, documents obtained by NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters reveal that the licensee of a Stamford daycare, where a two-month-old baby died, safety concerns and hazards from the last two years.

An inspector wrote in the report the "backyard (is) unsafe for childcare at this time" after observing gas grills, propane tanks and a pile of fencing wood with nails exposed in the back yard during the Decemeber inspection.

The report also said an electrical outlet and sockets were left uncovered in a bathroom.

While some repairs were made on sight that same day, letters from the state indicate that the daycare licensee failed to submit the entire corrective action plan need in February or March.

A homicide investigation is still underway.
A small plane crashed Saturday afternoon in Westwood, Massachusetts, injuring the pilot and his passenger.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration said the Piper PA-24 crashed at about 3:15 p.m. in a wooded area off Peartree Drive.

The plane was headed to Norwood Memorial Airport when it went down.

A woman attending a birthday party nearby said she saw the plane just before it crashed.

"I looked up and I saw the plane over the top of the house and it just looked like it wasn't flying well," said Deb Murphy of Norwood. "It looked kind of wobbly and it looked like it wasn't turning very well. A few seconds later, we heard the crash."

Authorities said the pilot and his passenger had to be extricated from the wreckage by area firefighters.

The pilot, a 65-year-old man from Newton, Massachusetts, was flown by medical helicopter to Boston Medical Center. His passenger, a 77-year-old man from Norwood, Massachusetts, was first transported to Norwood Hospital, then flown by medical helicopter to Boston Medical Center. Both were being treated for serious injuries.

The exact cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
People wait for flights in Barajas, near Madrid on July 16, 2016 as Turkish Airlines cancelled their flights following the attempted coup (AFP Photo/Pierre-Philippe Marcou)

Washington (AFP) - Many international flights to Turkey were cancelled Saturday despite efforts by the Ankara authorities to get life back to normal following an abortive coup attempt.

The US government said it had suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after Friday's failed coup.

Turkish authorities were seeking Saturday to resume business as usual and Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the plotters -- was gradually reopening.

But international carriers were preferring to wait and see before resuming a normal service.

Along with their US counterparts, Russian airlines have suspended flights to Turkey although they were repatriating vacationers back home.

"President (Vladimir) Putin ordered the transport ministry and other agencies to properly inform passengers and organise their inbound flights from Turkish airports," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying Saturday by the Interfax news agency.

British Airways cancelled all its Saturday flights to and from Turkey "in light of the events unfolding" there, a company spokeswoman said.

German flag carrier Lufthansa cancelled eight of its 10 flights scheduled between Germany and Turkey, including all flights to Ankara and Istanbul.

The two remaining flights were to the resorts of Bodrum and Antalya, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

The airline announced later in the day that it would return to normal service from Sunday, as did its SWISS subsidiary.

- 'Security significantly diminished' -

In a statement Saturday the US Federal Aviation Administration said it had issued a notice "that prohibits all US commercial and private aircraft from operating into or out of any airport in Turkey. It also prohibits an aircraft of any registry from departing Turkey for the US.

The FAA said it was "monitoring the situation in Turkey in coordination with our partners in the State Department and The Department of Homeland Security and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves."

Story continues

The US embassy in Ankara added that security "at Ataturk airport is significantly diminished and US government employees have been instructed not to attempt to travel to and from Ataturk airport."

It advised US citizens in Turkey "to seek shelter in safe places," avoid unnecessary travel, and monitor media reports.

The warnings remain in place even though Turkish airports reopened following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pre-dawn announcement of victory over the discontented army officers who mounted the bloody attempt to overthrow him.

Other smaller airlines were continuing their flights to southern Turkish resorts, with Easyjet and Thomas Cook saying they did not expect any changes to its schedules to places such as Antalya, Izmir and Rhodes.
A New England college student who has lived through a terror attack is speaking out about how the attack in France is impacting her and her family.

When Danielle Lewis learned of the attack in Nice, she says her heart sank, and her mind took her right back to March 22nd, 2016 when bombs exploded at the Brussels airport just minutes from where she was living.

"Absolutely it breaks my heart to wake up and have to hear that more people were killed, innocent people," said University of New Hampshire senior Danielle Lewis.

Lewis couldn't believe she was sitting down with necn for another interview on another deadly terrorist attack, this time in Nice, France.

"It sounds barbaric to me, someone had a lot of hatred in them," Lewis said in an interview Friday afternoon.

Lewis was studying abroad in Brussels when terrorists bombed the airport, killing more than thirty people.

"It's truly amazing how people come together through things like this," Lewis said.

She says the people of Brussels were strong, and so was she, until it was time to fly back home to the United States.

"I was so scared I did not want to be at the airport at all," she said. "There was security everywhere, it was tense and stressful."

It was an odd feeling for Lewis who's always loved to travel. She got the bug from her dad.

"I worked for the European railroads and airlines and I traveled a lot," Walter Lewis said.

Back in the 1980s he spent a semester in Nice.

"The brutality of this whole thing is just disgusting," he said.

When news of the truck tragedy hit headlines here in the US, he couldn't help but to think of his daughter.

"Yeah, I imagined her being there, I did and I imagined other students being there, because they are there," Mr. Lewis said. "It's tough, it's really tough."

The shock of yet another attack, putting a simple summer day like this in perspective.

"It made me very grateful to be alive, I missed my family a lot and I am grateful to be with them today," Lewis said.

She will be a senior in the fall and plans on staying planted right here in New Hampshire at least until graduation.
New book features Norwich Holocaust missionary hero

A leading human rights lawyer has written a new book which includes the story of Norwich missionary and Holocaust hero Elsie Tilney, which he is now promoting worldwide.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jul 16, 2016) - NDP critic for Immigration, Citizenship, and Refugees, Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East) is calling on the Liberal government to reverse the course taken by the previous Conservative government and make the necessary changes to allow American conscientious objectors to remain in Canada.

"Canadians know that the 2003 war in Iraq was unjust and led to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians," Kwan said, "We must return to our tradition of providing refuge to conscientious objectors, just as the Liberals promised in the last election."

During the campaign, the Liberal Party promised to rescind a Conservative government order-Citizenship and Immigration Canada's Operational Bulletin 202-that classified war resisters as criminals and therefore ineligible for residency in Canada.

Rodney Watson, a U.S. Army veteran and resister, has been forced to live in sanctuary for nearly seven years so he would not be indefinitely separated from his Canadian born son. "Right now Rodney cannot leave the church, not even to visit his son," Kwan said. "This situation does not reflect Canadian values or our history of being a safe haven. The Liberals promised to do something about it, but so far we've seen no action."

"Rodney and others like him took a moral stand against the illegal Iraq War," said Sarah Bjorknas, spokesperson for the War Resisters Support Campaign. "Rodney is a man of principles and compassion who cares for his family. This government has the ability to resolve the situation today and they must not allow it to go beyond the seven year anniversary of Rodney being in sanctuary."

"I know I did the right thing in saying 'no' to the Iraq War, and many Canadians have supported me in this stand. I'm asking the Liberal government to also do the right thing by finally letting me walk out of this church to stay in Canada."

During the Vietnam War, Canada accepted some 50,000 conscientious objectors from the United States. While 200 American soldiers sought protection in Canada following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, today less than 25 remain.
Rafael caro quintero

In the north-central Mexican state of Chihuahua, home of border city Ciudad Juarez, a once powerful kingpin has reportedly reappeared.

According to Mexican military and government sources, the recent appearance of large drug shipments and a spike in violence in the area are the result of the reemergence of one of the most powerful figures on Mexico's narco landscape: Rafael Caro Quintero, the "narco of narcos" and one of the US Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted men.

There are conflicting reports about Caro Quintero's movements, but rumors of his return add a new wrinkle to an already complex criminal landscape.

'He intends to come here'

Caro Quintero was part of a trio of high-powered kingpins who dominated Mexican drug trafficking in the 1980s through the Guadalajara cartel, which eventually spawned the Sinaloa cartel and Juarez cartel, among others.

Their decision to kidnap, torture, and kill undercover DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985, however, brought the full force of the US government down on them, spurring a manhunt that even their network of corruption and influence could not halt.

He was soon captured and sentenced to 40 years in prison, to be served in Mexico. But he was freed in 2013, after just 28 years. "The argument was that according to their laws, he, Caro Quintero, should've been tried in state court, because for the most part homicides fall under state jurisdiction," Mike Vigil, a former DEA chief of international operations who worked in Mexico, told Business Insider.

"And they released him at like 3 o'clock in the morning, and after he fled into the darkness, then the supreme court came back and overrode ... the court of appeals, and said, 'No, it was proper,' because Kiki Camarena was a bona fide federal agent," meaning it was legitimate to try Caro Quintero in federal court, Vigil added.

Rafael Caro Quintero

Story continues

Caro Quintero has remained at large for nearly three years, until events in recent weeks led Mexican authorities to report that he was back, possibly joining with new allies to attack erstwhile compatriots.

"We have information that he intends to come here," Jorge Gonzalez, Chihuahua state attorney general, told reporters last week.

Caro Quintero "has wishes to occupy the spaces of the Sinaloa cartel and dispute [those spaces] with them," Gonzalez said. "This is the theory that is had today with intelligence data and that is what we are working on."

' Caro Quintero is used to enormous power'

According to Gonzalez, citing information from military sources, and to Mexican news magazine Proceso, Caro Quintero has joined with elements of the Beltran Leyva Organization, a former Sinaloa cartel ally that broke with Guzman in 2008, and with members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which is generally considered to be the Sinaloa cartel's only rival in terms of power.

It was with these new allies that Caro Quintero reportedly launched the recent attack on Guzman's hometown of La Tuna, in Sinaloa state's Badiraguato municipality (where Caro Quintero is also from), and with whom he intends to challenge the Sinaloa cartel's control in Chihuahua and the Golden Triangle, a high-drug production area that also includes parts of Sinaloa and Durango states.

Golden Triangle Mexico

A narcomanta  a banner used by cartels to make an announcement  that appeared in central Ciudad Juarez, allegedly signed by Caro Quintero, also announced his intention to begin a "cleansing" of the city and threatened Gonzalez, telling him had a week to resign.

Jockeying between rival criminal groups seems to be confirmed by rising violence in the city  16 homicides in the first six days of July, after a May that saw nearly double the killings recorded in the same month last year.

"He doesn't have the power to take over any of, like, the Sinaloa cartel. He just doesn't have the muscles," Vigil told Business Insider. But, Vigil added, "Rafael Caro Quintero is used to enormous power. I think he's trying to carve out even a small niche, take over possibly a state, where he can get back into the business and maybe build up from there."

"I think he's just trying to get back into the business, and carve out a small piece of geography ... with a good, solid pipeline into the United States," Vigil said.

'A frontal fight'

caro quintero

Other reports, however, indicate that Caro Quintero remains in league with Guzman and that the two are being challenged by rivals.

According to Mexico's Center for Investigation and National Security (CISEN), Caro Quintero remained heavily involved in the drug trade during his time in prison, with Guzman (who was himself imprisoned from 1993 to 2001) acting as an intermediary for the jailed kingpin.

Caro Quintero's wife, who he met in prison, was recently implicated in his drug-trafficking activities by the US Treasury department.

According to CISEN sources cited by Reporte Indigo, Caro Quintero reportedly assumed a leadership role in the Sinaloa cartel after Guzman's recapture in January.

His current presence in Chihuahua is not to challenge the Sinaloa cartel, but to protect the position that cartel has established in the state, particularly in the heavily trafficked border city of Ciudad Juarez, where the Sinaloa cartel fought and won a bloody turf war with the Juarez cartel between 2008 and about 2012.

The conflict in Chihuahua "is a frontal fight that Rafael Caro Quintero has begun to realize, through the cells of the Sinaloa cartel, to halt the aspiration for control held by Isidro Meza Flores," said a CISEN source, cited by Reporte Indigo.

Meza Flores, aka "Chapito," is a Sinaloa-based trafficker who remained with the BLO when it split from Guzman's cartel in 2008 and is believed to have led the attack on La Tuna last month. Caro Quintero's own childhood home, not far from La Tuna, was also targeted in that attack.

'A target on his back'

Ciudad Juarez Mexico killing violence drug war cartels

Assuming that Caro Quintero is gunning for Guzman, however, there are some doubts about the extent of his ambitions.

"Why would [Caro Quintero] want to put a target on his back and increase the probability of being recaptured and extradited to the United States?" Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope wrote in Mexican newspaper El Universal.

"It's one thing to get over on the authorities and something very different to get over on the authorities and the Sinaloa cartel," added Hope, who noted that the military sources cited by Gonzalez and others, and where those sources got their information, remained unclear.

Juarez, Mexico

And, despite Gonzalez's reference to information from military-intelligence sources, other military units have disputed the Chihuahua attorney general's report.

The National Defense Secretariat said on Monday that it could not corroborate reports that Caro Quintero was operating in Ciudad Juarez or that he was in Chihuahua working to take over trafficking routes to the US.

"We are unaware" of a new group operating in the area, regional commander Hugo Humberto Pedroza Salazar said, according to Chihuahua-based news site El Diario.

"We remain on the margins and on the lookout," Pedroza Salazar added.

Not intimidated by anyone

While his current activities and ultimate ambitions are unclear, Caro Quintero's reappearance adds more complexity to a Mexican narco landscape riven by shifting alliances and hostilities.

Challenges to the Sinaloa cartel's power in multiple regions in Mexico have already caused more bloodshed, and a fight between erstwhile partners  Caro Quintero and Sinaloa vs. BLO and CJNG or Sinaloa vs. Caro Quintero, BLO, and CJNG  will likely only increase the violence.

"I don't think that Rafael Caro Quintero, being in the business for as long as he was and wielding as much power as he has, is intimidated by the Sinaloa cartel, or by any cartel, for that matter," Vigil said.

Mexico crime mass grave

And even if Caro Quintero had faded into obscurity after his early release, his freedom would still be an unwelcome development for US authorities.

"I find it very disconcerting that he was released, particularly knowing that the United States would love to get him here and try him for drug trafficking and obviously the killing of Kiki Camarena," Vigil, who worked in Mexico during his time with the DEA, told Business Insider.

"Because it was very, very, very egregious to DEA and to all law enforcement that the killer of a DEA agent would be released."

NOW WATCH: Forget 'El Chapo'  this is Mexico's most powerful drug lord





More From Business Insider


Donald Trump

With just a handful of days to go until the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, the list of speakers was finally released this week.

And it's not quite as impressive as presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump promised it would be.

"Dear God," GOP strategist and commentator Evan Siegfried said of his reaction to the list when it was first revealed. "Who is there to appeal to people that aren't already voting for Trump?"

Many of the party's emerging and diverse voices  whether it'd be South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Reps. Mia Love and Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, or Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, among others  aren't speaking at next week's spectacle.

That's highly unusual.

"It's kind of worrisome," Siegfried said. "It felt like the jayvee team."

Trump, however, didn't have much of a choice in the matter, after many said they'd pass on attending his coronation, GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak told Business Insider.

It isn't as if the list is completely lacking any emerging leaders, though. Former 2016 presidential rivals, such as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz  though he hasn't endorsed Trump  and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will deliver speeches. So will House Speaker Paul Ryan and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida will be delivering a video address.

And there's one more young star who could leave Cleveland in much better position for a big future than when he entered  Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, the youngest member of the Senate.

"It's a huge opportunity for him," Mackowiak said. "It's probably the largest number of people who will have ever seen him at any one time. Several million people will probably be watching whatever night he's speaking. So that's a huge opportunity for him to introduce himself nationally, help him begin to build a national platform, begin to establish national credibility on national security and foreign-policy issues, which I'm sure he'll focus on."

Story continues

"So yeah, it's a good opportunity for him," Mackowiak continued. "The question is can he be helpful to the Trump campaign while also maintaining his own sort of political independence ideologically? That will be a needle that he'll have to thread."

Tom Cotton

Cotton and Cruz, Siegfried said, are there for one reason  setting the stage for their 2020 presidential bids.

In terms of the overall list, Mackowiak actually said it looked a bit better than he expected. He was thinking there was a chance only "one or two" elected Republicans would speak, while the remainder would be Trump's family, friends, and celebrities. Siegfried considered it on par with his expectations, adding the "one positive" being the first openly gay Republican speaker tech billionaire Peter Thiel  to address the convention in 16 years.

With a dearth of emerging GOP talent speaking at the event, the two young senators  Cotton and Cruz  are two of the biggest speeches to watch, Mackowiak said.

Another speech to watch, he said: Ivanka Trump

"Will be interesting to see whether she gives a soft, warm personal speech about her father or is she able to go kind of beyond that and get into political and ideological themes," Mackowiak explained.

Of course, no one will be able to overshadow the most important speech of all  Trump's.

"The stakes from Trump Thursday night will be really, really high," Mackowiak said. "It'll be the most people that have ever watched him on television. There will be a lot of pressure on him to maintain his brand to his fans but also to really demonstrate that he's a credible candidate for president.

"I think there will be some big moments at the convention," he continued. "No doubt."

NOW WATCH: We dug up everything you need to know about Trumps VP pick





More From Business Insider


The Turkish lira just crashed following reports of an "uprising in the military."

The currency is down by 5.2% at 3.0200 per dollar as of 4:36 p.m. ET.

Screen Shot 2016 07 15 at 4.37.00 PM

Reports say that Turkey's military has staged a coup, closing two major bridges that lead into Istanbul and establishing a major presence on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.

The military is telling people that a "curfew has been imposed" and to "go home."

Prime Minister Yildirim told reporters that "This is an attempt" at an uprising.

This is a developing story. Click here for updates.

NOW WATCH: Brexit campaigners take to the water in bizarre flotilla battle





More From Business Insider


Spare Change: Hard-working farmer Louis Escobar was one of a kind

Louie performed the kind of job most try to avoid. And he did it with little, if any, complaint.
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
New Delhi: At least three persons were killed on Saturday in rain-related incidents in Bihar as the flood situation remained critical in Assam while heavy rainfall in Karauli district of Rajasthan has led to a deluge-like condition there.



The national capital also received heavy rains, leading to water-logging in several areas and heavy traffic jams on many busy intersections.



The observatories at Safdarjung, Lodhi Road, Palam, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded 12 mm, 12.5 mm, 4 mm, 7.4 mm and 9.1 mm rainfall respectively between 8.30 AM and 5.30 PM, said a Met department official.



Three women were killed while two others sustained burn injuries when lightning struck them in Bihar's Jamui district. The incident occurred when the victims were transplanting paddy saplings.



Meanwhile, the flood situation in Assam remained critical with over 1.88 lakh people reeling under the impact of the deluge in six districts of the state.



More than 300 villages have been affected by the floods, with 16,240 hectares of crop land under water and standing crops being flattened.



More than 30 people were rescued in Rajasthan's Karauli district which is facing a flood-like situation following continuous rainfall since yesterday.



An NDRF team from Jaipur was called for rescue work. The maximum temperatures across Haryana and Punjab dropped by few notches below normal limits after rains lashed some parts including Hisar, Ambala, Karnal, Yamunanagar, Patiala and Ludhiana. Chandigarh, however, did not witness any rainfall activity during the day.



Heavy rains lashed most parts of Uttarakhand, affecting normal life and disrupting pilgrimage to Badrinath with the highway leading to the Himalayan shrine choked with boulders.



The MeT department in Uttarakhand forecast very heavy rains over the next two days in the mountainous areas of the state especially the disaster-prone Pithoragarh, Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts.



In Uttar Pradesh, at least six places recorded more than 10 centimetres of rainfall as most areas were lashed by light to moderate rain and thundershowers. MeT department of the state said Mirzapur recorded 20 centimetres of rainfall followed by Banda 17 cms, Gaighat 16 cms, Ghosi and Chunar 13 cms each and Bani 11 cms.



Kolkata received light rainfall as the maximum temperature was recorded at 30 degree Celsius. Scanty or moderate rainfall was recorded in other parts of West Bengal.
Rebels have had their way in Arunachal. Pema Khandu and not Nabam Tuki would be the new chief minister of the state. Congress may celebrate not one but two legal-political victories - first in Uttarakhand and second in Arunachal Pradesh.



But once the celebratory mood settles, Congress needs to do some deep introspection. It needs to listen to the inner voice, the voice within the party. In state after state, both where it is in power and in opposition, Congress faces intense infighting. While this is common to most political parties the problem lies in the top leadership not giving time to listen to grievances.



In Assam, Hemanta Biswa Sarma had complained that when he would go to meet Rahul Gandhi, he failed to grab attention of the vice president of the party. While Congress has since denied this claim, there are many who have left the party who agree. They point out that first it's almost impossible to get an appointment. And when they do finally get to meet their leaders, the look of disinterest angers them.



Jagdambika Pal who was Uttar Pradesh chief minister for a day from the Congress, and who left to join the BJP in 2004, has a story to narrate. He says he met Rahul in Parliament once and asked to speak to him. He was asked to accompany him home in his car but all the way, Rahul was on his phone and when they reached home, he bid goodbye to Pal. A humiliated Pal eventually decided to quit the party.



Every party has its rebels, and while many of their demands may be unreasonable and unacceptable at times, it shouldn't cost the top leadership much to show some respect by paying attention. In Arunachal, trouble had been brewing for some time. But Tuki had managed to monopolise the high command so much so that rebels weren't even given a chance to meet, making them easy fodder for overtures from th BJP. If only the top leadership had met them and tried to reach out, maybe this heartburn could have been avoided.



The story is the same in Uttarakhand. Defying the ground support for Harish Rawat, Gandhis had chosen Vijay Bahuguna as the chief minister of the state. Rawat had sulked, and in a definite show of strength, flaunted his supporters at his residnce in Delhi. It was only when Sonia Gandhi pleaded with him to take charge as Parliamentary Affairs minister that Rawat had relented, but it was a trouble which was merely hidden fora while.



Even there, as in Arunachal, the Congress had to listen voices from the ground voice and make Rawat the CM. Afterwards Bahuguna rebelled, the rest is history, but the lesson was lost on the Gandhis.



Karnataka is another state going to polls soon. A rebellion against CM Siddaramaiah is brewing and all that Sonia has to do is to give them an appointment and win them over. She is unlikely to do that, and once again the Congress may turn out to be the loser.



Surprisingly congress has gone back on its own convention. When Digvijaya Singh was made Andhra state incharge after YSR died, Sonia told him to first speak to the dissenting voices. She told him, "We need to have them with us not against us. "



Congress needs to relearn its own lesson now.
London: Relationship status can affect who and what we find attractive. A new study has found that if we are in a relationship, we are more likely to be attracted to faces resembling our own, but for single people opposites attract.



"For the first time, we have observed how our partnership status affects who we find attractive," Jitka Lindova from Charles University in the Czech Republic.



The team showed a series of photographs of faces to university students and asked them to rate their attractiveness.



The photographs were digitally manipulated so that the resemblance to the student was modified.



Images were of an individual of the opposite sex, whose face had been manipulated to look either more or less similar to the student.



They were also presented with images of a same-sex individual manipulated in the same way.



"We found that single participants, those not in relationships, rate dissimilar faces as more attractive and sexy than self-resembling faces," Lindova said.



This was observed when participants rated both same-sex and opposite-sex faces.



"Our interpretation is that attractiveness perception mechanisms that give us a preference for a genetically suitable partner may be suppressed during romantic relationships," she explained.



The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.



"This might be a relationship maintenance strategy to prevent us from finding alternatives to our own partner, or perhaps self-resemblance becomes more important in terms of the social support we expect receive from relatives, which are known as kinship cues," Lindova explained.
In a strategic move to win back rebels within the party, the Congress on Saturday appointed Pema Khandu as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Arunachal Pradesh replacing Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.



Sources within the party have confirmed that the rebels including the former CM Kalikho Pul are ready to back Khandu after they had challenged Nabam Tuki's candidacy.







Meanwhile CM Tuki resigned from the post of CLP on Saturday and has paved the way for Khandu to take over as Chief Minister if the Congress wins the trust vote later in the day.



Speaking to reporters after the CLP meeting, Khandu asserted that he has the numbers to stake claim for a new government in the state.



"We have the support of 45 Congress MLAs and two independents in the state. We have staked claim to form the new government," Khandu told CNN-News18.



"Nabam Tuki has resigned from the post of Chief Minister and as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP). I have been appointed as the new leader of the CLP," Khandu added.



Speaking about the floor test Khandu said that the governor has not given any clarity over the issue and it now depends of him whether he wants to hold the floor test.



Nabam Tuki too confirmed the recent developments and said the move has been taken to keep the Congress party united.



Tuki also denied all the charges against him and termed them as "baseless", adding that former CM Kalikho Pul too has extended his support to Pema Khandu.







The sudden move is seen as Congress' last bid to save Arunachal Pradesh after the Supreme Court ordered restoration of the Congress government in the state by quashing as "unconstitutional" Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa's decision to advance the assembly session.



The court had slammed the governor and told him that he cannot embroil himself in any "political thicket" or take "individual call" when an elected government enjoys majority in the House.



Former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who had unseated Tuki in February this year with the help of a faction of dissident Congress legislators and BJP members, claimed that he has got the support of 42 legislators in the 60-member house, whose effective strength is 58 now after two members resigned earlier.



(With inputs from IANS)
Jammu: There is "no Kashmir issue" between India and Pakistan, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said and asserted that the only outstanding matter is how to retrieve the part of Jammu and Kashmir which remains under illegal occupation of the neighbouring country.



"There is no Kashmir problem. It has been made clear on all the fronts. There is no issue of Kashmir between Indian and Pakistan and we are not ready to accept it. "...it was way back in 1994 that Indian Parliament passed an unanimous resolution stating that if at all there is any outstanding issue, it is how to retrieve part of J&K which remains under illegal occupation of Pakistan," the Minister of State in the PMO told reporters here.



He was replying to a volley of questions from journalists over Pakistan's remarks on the prevailing situation in Kashmir in the wake of violence following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter.



Reacting to Pakistan's statement describing slain terrorist Wani as "martyr", Singh said, "Regardless of how anyone describes anybody, as far as India is concerned it has reiterated more than once that there is an approach of zero tolerance towards terrorism."



"Pakistan has always been fishing in the troubled waters of Jehlum," he added. He hit out at Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue and said there is no room for any foreign interference from Pakistan or any other country in the internal affairs of India.



"Pakistan, which is raking up the Kashmir issue and human rights issues, should care about human rights violations taking place in Balochistan, Baltistan and PoK," he said.



"I think Indian society and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are now awakened enough to understand the designs and therefore, there is nothing that can derail the development journey which has been started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country, including J&K," Singh said.



On Kashmiri Pandit employees fleeing their transit accommodation to evade attack by stone-pelting agitators and alleging that the BJP government has failed to protect them, he said, "As far as minorities in Kashmir are concerned, particularly Kashmiri Pandits, it is the responsibility of our government and society that we should protect them... But the answer is not in leaving the Valley." "Necessary measures are being taken to ensure their security which is of prime concern to us," he said.
If successful, the overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would mark one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border.



An official said Erdogan was speaking from Marmaris on the Turkish coast where he was on holiday. A Turkish official later said Erdogan's plane had landed in Istanbul.

The United States declared its backing for Erdogan's government.

Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power but President Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.Gunfire and explosions rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night, but by the early hours of Saturday there were indications that the coup was crumbling.If it fails, the coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country in the region."We will overcome this," Erdogan said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by an announcer on the Turkish sister station of CNN. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.As the night wore on, crowds appeared to be answering Erdogan's call to take to the streets, defying orders by the coup leaders to stay indoors.After Erdogan rejected coup attempts, people pour down to streets against uprising attempt from within the army in Bursa, Turkey. (Pic Courtesy: Getty Images)"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other senior officials said the elected government remained in office. Yildirim and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".Crowds of people, some waving Turkish flags, gathered in major squares in Istanbul and Ankara to show support for the elected government. Police urged people to leave Istanbul's Taksim square, warning military aircraft could open fire.Warplanes and helicopters roared over Ankara and Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.Reuters journalists saw tanks open fire near the parliament building in Ankara, which they had surrounded. Anadolu later said a bomb hit the building. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut, access to internet social media sites was cut off, and troops sealed off the two bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, one of which was still lit up in red, white and blue in solidarity with victims of the truck attack in France the previous day.Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Yildirim later said he was back in control. CNN Turk also reported that hostages were being held at the military headquarters.
They will pay a heavy price for this," he said. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."



A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major U.S. ally while war rages on its border.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV outside Ataturk Airport.

They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there."



At one point Erdogan effectively addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so that viewers to the network could see him.



Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said rebel soldiers who had taken control of military aircraft had fired from the air and fighter jets had been scrambled to intercept them.



Around 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air.

Earlier, around 30 pro-coup soldiers had surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.



A senior Turkish official said later on Saturday attacks on the parliament had "largely stopped".

We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.



Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu news agency said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.



His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One.



Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.More than 150 people were killed in the violence that erupted late on Friday after a faction of the armed forces attempted to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters, some strafing the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara, others seizing a major bridge in Istanbul.Turkish army tanks move in the main streets in the early morning hours of July 16 ( Getty images)Erdogan appeared to accuse the coup plotters of trying to kill him, and promised to purge the armed forces which in the past have staged a number of successful coups.Turkish authorities have already detained around 3,000 members of the armed forces, officials said. Chief of staff Hulusi Akar, who had been reported held hostage by the rebels, has been rescued, a senior official said.However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a NATO member that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targetting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.Addressing a crowd of thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, Erdogan said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.A TV grab shows rebel soldiers surrender after a failed coup attempt in TurkeyErdogan, whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies deeply at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.The death toll has risen to 160, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, with 1,154 people wounded.Turkish authorities have detained 1,563 military personnel across the country.In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan used social media to speak to the Turkish people - even though he is an avowed enemy of such technology when his opponents use it, frequently targetting Twitter and Facebook.The pro-coup faction said in an emailed statement from the Turkish military General Staff's media office address that it was determinedly still fighting. Calling itself the Peace at Home Movement, the faction also called on people to stay indoors for their own safety.Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait that links Europe and Asia in Istanbul.Authorities had shut the strait to tanker traffic, shipping agent GAC said.In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers were hiding in shelters inside the parliament building, which was being fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.Smoke billows from the direction of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey. (Courtesy: AP)Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.Erdogan and other officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis.The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".European Council President Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns.Flag carrier Turkish Airways resumed flights on Saturday, Erdogan said. Malaysia Airports, the operator of Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, Istanbul's second airport, said it would continue to process flights in and out of Turkey.Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law.An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law.Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.TRT went off the air shortly afterwards. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.People, loyal to the government, some holding Turkish flags celebrate in Istanbul after the coup attempt failed. (Pic Courtesy: AP)Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. However, opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.
Ankara: Around 50 soldiers involved in an attempted military coup in Turkey surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.



A Reuters witness earlier saw tens of other pro-coup soldiers surrendering to armed police after being surrounded in Istanbul's central Taksim square.



A senior official said at least 48 people had been killed in the violence in Ankara alone, most of them civilians. More deaths were also reported in Istanbul.
Nice (France): French authorities were trying to determine on Friday whether a Tunisian who killed at least 84 people by ploughing a truck into Bastille Day crowds had acted alone or with accomplices, but said the attack bore the hallmarks of Islamist militants.



Thursday night's attack in the Riviera city of Nice plunged France into new grief and fear just eight months after gunmen killed 130 people in Paris. Those attacks, and one in Brussels four months ago, shocked Western Europe, already anxious over security challenges from mass immigration, open borders and pockets of Islamist radicalism.



The truck zigzagged along the city's seafront Promenade des Anglais as a fireworks display marking the French national day ended. It careered into families and friends listening to an orchestra or strolling above the Mediterranean beach towards the century-old grand Hotel Negresco.



At least 10 children were among the dead. Of the scores of injured, 25 were on life support, authorities said on Friday.



Witness Franck Sidoli said he had watched people mown down before the truck finally stopped just five metres away from him.



"A woman was there, she lost her son. Her son was on the ground, bleeding," he told Reuters at the scene.



The driver, 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was shot dead by officers at the scene. He was known to police for petty crimes but was not on a watch list of suspected militants. He had one criminal conviction, for road rage, and was sentenced to probation three months ago for throwing a wooden pallet at another driver.



The investigation "will try to determine whether he benefited from accomplices," Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. "It will also try to find out whether Mohamed Laouaiej Bouhlel had ties to Islamist terrorist organisations."



"Although yesterday's attack has not been claimed, this sort of thing fits in perfectly with calls for murder from such terrorist organisations," Molins added.



Bouhlel's ex-wife was in police custody, Molins said. He had three children. Police found one pistol and various fake weapons in his truck.



French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told the evening news that Bouhlel was "one way or another" linked to radical Islam. "Yes, it is a terrorist act and we shall see what links there are with terrorist organisations."



Yet despite numerous French officials from President Francois Hollande down describing it as a terrorist attack, by nightfall on Friday officials still had not disclosed any direct evidence linking Bouhlel with extremists.



Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, asked if he could confirm the attacker's motives were linked to jihadism, said: "No. ... We have an individual who was not known to intelligence services for activities linked to jihadism."



A U.S. official familiar with Washington's assessment said the attack was thought to have been carried out by a "lone wolf" inspired but not directed by Islamic State.



The former top terrorism investigator for the French judicial system said that while the attack fits the profile of the kind undertaken by militant groups, the available evidence suggests the attacker had no evident connection with militant organizations or ideology.



Jean-Louis Bruguiere, formerly the top Paris-based investigative magistrate handling terrorism-related cases, told Reuters no French or European intelligence or security agency had any trace on the suspect and no evidence has surfaced to connect him to any militant group or other suspects or even to casual contact with militant literature or propaganda.



He said so far there is no evidence Bouhlel had any association with any religious group or faction but that there was evidence he was estranged from his family and going through some kind of divorce.



DRIED BLOOD, SMASHED STROLLERS



Dawn broke on Friday with pavements smeared with dried blood. Smashed strollers, an uneaten baguette and other debris were strewn about. Small areas were screened off and what appeared to be bodies covered in blankets were visible.



The truck was still where it had come to rest, its windscreen riddled with bullets.



"I saw this enormous white truck go past at top speed," said Suzy Wargniez, 65, who had watched from a cafe on the promenade.



At Nice's Pasteur hospital, medical staff were treating large numbers of injured. Waiting for friends being operated on was 20-year-old Fanny.



"The truck pushed me to the side. When I opened my eyes I saw faces I didn't know and started asking for help," she told Reuters. "Some of my friends were not so lucky. They are having operations as we speak."



Neighbours in the neighbourhood in northern Nice where Bouhlel lived described him as handsome but an unsettling presence.



"I would say he was someone who was pleasing to women," said neighbour Hanan, standing in the lobby of the apartment building where Bouhlel lived. "But he was frightening. He didn't have a frightening face, but ... a look. He would stare at the children a lot."



Bouhlel's Tunisian home town Msaken is about 10 km (six miles) outside the coastal city of Sousse, where a gunman killed 38 people, mostly British holidaymakers, on a beach a year ago. Many people from the area have moved to France, including Nice, and money they send back has made it comparatively prosperous.
A joint state Senate and House of Delegates work group plans to re-tackle reforms for the process requiring state approval before healthcare providers can add certain services.

Attempts to eliminate and reform the Certificate of Public Need system failed during the 2016 General Assembly, although legislators calling for reform, including Sen. Steve Newman, R-Bedford County, and Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford County, feel they made progress.

The joint work group  as announced Thursday by House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford and Newman, chairman of the Senate Committee on Education and Health  pulls mostly GOP members and two Democrats to work on reform, according to a news release from Senate and House Republicans.

In the release, Newman said removing the COPN process will lower costs and improve healthcare.

The Senate is committed to helping our community hospitals through this process while ensuring patients, nurses, and doctors have free market choices in their healthcare and employment, Newman said in the press release.

Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, and Del. Kathy Byron, R-Bedford County, also were named to the work group intended to develop legislation for the 2017 General Assembly.

Legislation proposed by Del. John OBannon, R-Henrico, to reform the COPN process passed the House of Delegates in 2016. A special subcommittee convened by Newman did not produce legislation in time for a vote, although he and Byron, who carried a range of COPN reform bills, said progress was made.

We need to keep the momentum going, Byron said in a phone interview Thursday. I think the committee does just that by sitting down at the table.

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, including Centra Health, fought against the legislation this year, saying the COPN process kept for-profit providers from under-cutting them.

VHHA spokesman Julian Walker said in a statement the association considers the working group a welcome development signaling legislative commitment of time and energy to evaluate a complex policy issue that is an integral part of Virginias health care delivery system.

The statement said VHHA supports reform efforts that factor in a comprehensive package that addresses the financial impact of charity care, payment shortfalls, and medical educations costs borne by hospitals and patients.
Ginger Stanley wore outrageous stockings to the General Assembly one year while she was lobbying, knowing they would grab the attention of every lawmakers secretary.

She was terrific at networking with secretaries and legislative aides, all of whom were then quick to get her an in with lawmakers when she needed a meeting or tip her off to sudden meeting changes, said Anne Adams, president of the Virginia Press Association and owner of The Recorder newspaper in Monterey.

Stanley, 67, executive director of the Virginia Press Association for the past 28 years, bid adieu Friday to about 160 friends and associates at her retirement party at the trade associations office in western Henrico County. Her last day there was June 30.

She was honored at Fridays event for being the voice of the Freedom of Information Act (a law that gives citizens the right to access information from the federal government), for maintaining vigilance, and lobbying legislators to ensure a free press and transparent government in Virginia.

She also learned at the event that the Virginia Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports journalism in Virginia, had established a fund in her name.

We wanted to make sure your legacy is carried on, said Peter Yates, editor and general manager of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg and former association president.

I never imagined something like this would happen, Stanley said. I am so blessed and honored.

The initial fundraising efforts were quiet and targeted because of the surprise, Yates said. To date, more than 60 donors  individuals, organizations and member newspapers, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch  have committed more than $31,600 in initial investments to the Ginger Stanley Fund.

One of Gingers greatest strengths was how much she cared about the members, no matter how large or how small, Yates said. She took the time to know them personally, celebrating their successes and helping to lift them through their challenging times.

Money from the fund will be directed toward the core principles of the foundation  literacy for all Virginians, training journalists in responsible doctrine, and recognizing excellence in journalism  which align with how Ginger approached her work, Yates said.

In other words, her good works will now live on, and I cant think of a more fitting tribute, he said.

Ginger is caring, classy and courageous, Adams said.

She has never failed to give VPA and its members the kind of service and dedication we demanded  and kicks in the rear when we needed them, she said. Working for newspapers is hard. Working for a board of disparate newspaper people from all over the state, daily and non-daily, is even harder.

Adams recalled how Stanley came to the rescue and rallied support for the Culpeper Citizen (White Dog Publishing v. Culpeper County Board of Supervisors) in its appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court in a case involving the Freedom of Information Act.

In 2006, the high court concluded that Culpepers Board of Supervisors violated the law by going into closed session regarding construction of a public high school.

She worked mightily to help raise the $100,000 needed to get the winning 7-0 decision in the case, Adams said. The VPA paid the attorney fees. At the direction of the court, the costs were reimbursed to the VPA by Culpeper County.

For all her toughness, Ginger is a loving, family person at heart, Adams said. She has long fostered a family atmosphere among VPA staff and VPA members, and board members.

Adams recalled how helpful Stanley was to Daniel Gilbert, a Bristol Herald Courier reporter who landed a Pulitzer Prize for his pieces on gas royalty rights in 2010. Gilbert called Ginger often ... seeking database and software specialists to help him sift through data for the story.

***

The VPA is a statewide organization representing the interests of 220 publications, including daily and weekly newspapers. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is a member. The organization provides lobbying and legislative support, professional development programs, and an annual news and advertising competition that generates more than 5,000 entries.

For nearly 30 years, Ginger Stanley ... has been a champion of a free press and the publics right to know what government is up to, said Betsy Edwards, who succeeded Stanley as executive director.

The VPA has been fortunate to have someone as committed as Ginger at the helm of the organization, said Edwards, adding that she looks forward to carrying on her good work.

Protecting the publics right to know has consumed much of my career as chief lobbyist for the Virginia newspaper industry, Stanley said in an interview before the event. Keeping government records and meetings open for citizens has been a constant challenge.

Vigilance is required as much now as ever given the preponderance of bills  100 in all  introduced during the 2016 Virginia General Assembly involving the publics right to know what their government is doing or considering doing on their behalf, she said. Ninety bills dealt with access issues, most aimed at reducing transparency.

Stanley has been involved in three studies centered on the Freedom of Information Act in the past 32 years. Each time, improvements to FOIA only last for a short time.

She said she believes newspapers will continue to be valued and that news gathering and reporting will survive well into the future as long as the information is presented in whatever format readers request.

Stanley joined the VPA as advertising director in 1984. She was named executive director four years later.

This has been a dream career, and I am blessed to now be able to take life at my pace, on my terms including flip-flops, sunglasses and surrounded by lots of grandkids, she said.
Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Looking Back Health Jewels Stitch in Time Heavy equipment returns to the river as the Kootenai Tribe river restoration construction projects ramp up for the summer July 15, 2016 In just a few weeks, those in downtown Bonners Ferry or crossing the Kootenai Bridge will once again see heavy equipment in and around the river, as the Kootenai Tribe once again ramps up its Kootenai River restoration projects for this year.



The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho will build two river habitat restoration projects near Bonners Ferry this summer. The Bonners Ferry Islands and Straight Reach projects are part of the Kootenai Tribes ongoing Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Program. The purpose of the program is to restore and improve habitat conditions for endangered Kootenai River white sturgeon, burbot and other native fish.



Work will proceed on two river projects. Both will be easily visible, one just upstream from the Kootenai Bridge, another just downstream from the bridge.



The project that will soon be seen upstream from the bridge is the Bonners Ferry Islands project. Work on the Bonners Ferry Islands project began in last year, and will be completed this summer. The project will be easily seen upstream from Highway 95 in front of the Kootenai River Inn. This summers activities on the Bonners Ferry Islands project will include: excavation of one deep pool where an existing small island is currently located, grading of the south riverbank, construction of new floodplain areas using materials excavated from the pool, and riparian planting. Two large spurs made of piles, riprap and larger wood will also be built from the south riverbank extending into the river.



The second project, which will be seen just downstream from the bridge, is the Straight Reach project. Work on the Straight Reach project will include construction of two small rock spurs that extend from the riverbank into the river to help redirect flows (also known as "pool-forming structures.") One spur will be built on the north bank and one on the south bank. In addition, using a barge, rocky materials will be placed in clusters over the current sand and clay riverbed to provide surfaces for sturgeon eggs to attach and spaces between the rocks were larval sturgeon can hide after they hatch.







The Tribes construction contractors began putting construction equipment in place and staging materials in early July. The in-river construction and work along the river banks will take place from August through November.



Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Program projects are funded by the Bonneville Power Administration through the Northwest Power and Conservation Councils Fish and Wildlife Program.



Additional information about this years projects and the Kootenai River Habitat Restoration Program is available on the Kootenai Tribes website: www.restoringthekootenai.org. Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!
Love Movement concert in Tabaquite

The Movement and the Gran Couva/Tabaquite RC Church Music Ministry will join forces to create a Woodstock type atmosphere at the Tabaquite Recreational Grounds tomorrow at 4.30 pm.

This initiative is the brainchild of Fr Robert Christo, whose vision is to see the entire community come out and worship God, no matter their religion.

The music selected is a mixture of popular praise and worship songs along with selections from the Love Movements award-winning CD, Im Forgiven.

In a media release the Love Movement said, This outreach concert could not have come at a more appropriate time, as the country is plagued with many acts of crime and violence, and our people are hungry for a change and to live in Gods peace and harmony. The concert will feature the Senior Choir, The Republic Bank Love Movement Youth Outreach Group and the vibrant Gran Couva/Tabaquite RC Church Music Ministry members, who will lead their community with special local songs of praise and worship.

This first-time event promises to be a heart-warming and healing experience for the entire family, the release said.

Local products made by the Gran Couva/Tabaquite community and light refreshments will be on sale. The concert is free, however, a love offering will be taken up to assist with the concert expenses.

Everyone is asked to bring their mats, stools or chairs for seating. Love Movement CDs will also be on sale at a special price of $100 each.
Shamfa does door-to-door hotel visits

The tour began on Tuesday, during which Cudjoe was accompanied by a high-level tourism team including Clifford Hamilton, Senior Technical Tourism Advisor, Latta Tapsy-Jahoor, Senior Business Analyst and Hayden Straker, Manager of Niche Markets at the Tourism Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (TDC).

Six accommodation properties, ranging from 12-room boutique facilities that provide personalised service to large full service properties with 428 rooms, were visited that day. The properties toured in the greater Port-of- Spain area included Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Radisson Hotel Trinidad, Courtyard by Marriott, LOrchidee Boutique Hotel, Coblentz Inn and Boutique Hotel, and Kapok Hotel.

The main clientele of these six hotels are business travellers but the Tourism Ministry says all are aggressively pursuing the leisure market visitor and growing their share of the regional meeting, incentives, conventions and exhibition market segment (MICE). The ministry said many of the property owners remarked that this was the first time that a Minister of Tourism has personally visited their facility and that this augured well for a strong Public Private Partnership (PPP) in moving our local tourism sector forward. At each hotel stop, Cudjoe told the owners that the door-to-door approach was also being undertaken because the Ministry and the TDC alone cannot promote destination TT. Hotel properties, tour operators, transportation providers, all have a role to play and it is in everyones interests to work together to bring more visitors to our shores.
US: We See

No Signs

Putin Will

Use Dirty Bomb
(Newser)  A man with schizophrenia will be able to take a plasma-donation company to court for discrimination following a ruling this week, Courthouse News Service reports. Octapharma Plasma in Salt Lake City told Brent Levorsen he couldn't donate out of fear he would have a schizophrenic episode during the process. This despite notes from two doctors stating Levorsen could donate plasma up to twice per week. Levorsen's discrimination claim was dismissed by a federal judge last year after Switzerland-based Octapharma argued it wasn't a public servicebecause it gives money for donations as opposed to taking money for a serviceand therefore not subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act.

On Tuesday, a 10th Circuit court overturned that ruling with a 2-1 vote. Judge Nancy Moritz says Octapharma "is a 'service establishment' for two exceedingly simple reasons. It's an establishment. And it provides a service." Levorsen is now free to continue with his discrimination claim against the company. (Read more discrimination stories.)
(Newser)  Artist Dennis Cooper made a horrifying discovery June 27: His 14-year-old blogthe sole home of his experimental writing, research, photographs, and morewas gone, Art Forum reports. According to Fusion, Cooper's blog was hosted by Google-owned Blogger, and those headed to denniscooper-theweaklings.blogspot.com are greeted with the message, "Sorry, the blog at denniscooper-theweaklings.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs." It's not all he lost: Google also deactivated his Gmail account, which held his contacts and gig offers, the Guardian reports. The only explanation Google gave Cooper, who considers his blog a "serious work of mine," was a stock message that he was in "violation of the terms of service agreement."

Cooper on Saturday wrote on Facebook that despite numerous efforts to communicate with Google, it "remains completely silent, not a comment, response, explanation, nothing." Google has apparently made one comment, to Fusion, saying only it is "aware of this matter." The incident is raising concerns among the art community about the power Google and other corporations now have to control artistic voices. "I think this is definitely censorship. The problem is nobody knows what the specific issue is and certainly Dennis has posted images that one might find troubling, Stuart Comer, curator at MoMA, tells the Guardian, which notes Cooper's blog featured an adult content warning. All Cooper knows is that other artists need to learn from him and "back everything up," something he did not do, meaning he has lost, among other things, a gif novel he's been writing for seven months. A Change.org petition is asking Google to restore the blog. (Read more censorship stories.)
(Newser)  A deaf New Jersey woman who primarily communicates in sign language is suing Taco Bell, saying she found it difficult, if not impossible, to order two tacos at the fast-food chain's drive-thru window, the AP reports. Gina Cirrincione claims that on Jan. 11, she wrote her order on a slip of paper and handed it to an employee at a Taco Bell drive-thru pickup window. Her video of the exchange shows an employee trying to explain that orders are placed at the start of the drive-thru. "I will do it this one time," he then said. "After that, no more." Cirrincione says on March 15 she again wrote her order on a slip of paper and handed it to a drive-thru employee at a different Taco Bell. The note was returned and the window was shut without the order or an explanation, she said. She said she entered the store and was ignored.

Taco Bell's drive-thru system requires a customer to hear and speak, making it inaccessible to the deaf in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the lawsuit claims. Taco Bell spokesperson Laura Nedbal said in a statement Friday that the company had not yet received the lawsuit so could not comment on it. However, she added, "Taco Bell has a fundamental policy to respect all of our customers and employees, and we are committed to maintaining an environment free of discrimination or harassment." Cirrincione wants Taco Bell to develop a policy to consider the needs of deaf customers and to train employees about their rights. She also is seeking punitive and compensatory damages. (Read more Taco Bell stories.)
(Newser)  An Indian businessman famous for flaunting his wealth with a shirt made entirely of gold was beaten to death in what cops believe was a dispute over money. Police say Datta Phuge, a 48-year-old moneylender in the city of Pune, was killed by a group of around a dozen men armed with sticks and stones after being lured to a fake birthday party Thursday night, AFP reports. The attackers spared Phuge's 22-year-old son, who witnessed the murder, police say. It's not clear whether Phuge, known as "gold man," was wearing his famous $250,000 shirt, which weighed 7 pounds and consisted of 14,000 pieces of 22-carat gold. "Some people ask me why I'm wearing so much gold but it was my dream. People have different aspirations," he told the BBC in 2013. "Some elite people want to own an Audi or Mercedes, and have big cars. I chose gold." (Read more India stories.)
(Newser)  Norma Patricia Esparza was a Southern California college student in 1995 when she says she was raped by a man she met at a bar. Weeks later, she went back to the same spot and pointed him out to her ex-boyfriend. He and two others followed the man, Gonzalo Ramirez, out of the bar, kidnapped him, and hacked him to death with a meat cleaver, authorities say. For the next 17 years, the killing went unsolved and Esparza built her life, earning a doctorate, working as a psychology professor in Switzerland, and serving as a consultant to the World Health Organization. She started a family. But police didn't stop investigating, and they arrested Esparza and the others in 2012. She insisted she was innocent but later accepted a plea deal. On Friday, 21 years after the killing, Esparza was sentenced to six years in prison for her role, the AP reports.

"She has come to the point of accepting what happened and her responsibility for not coming forward sooner," Esparza's lawyer said. It comes after the case drew international attention after Esparza's arrest and prompted an outcry from sexual assault victims' advocates, who said the case sent a chilling message to rape survivors. Esparza's friend Eloisa Martinez said outside court Friday that she hoped the case would encourage more victims to report rape to authorities. "I truly believe had she said something when it happened, maybe she wouldn't be here today," she said. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  Forces loyal to Turkey's president say they quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles, and gunfire that left dozens dead as Saturday dawned. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," the AP reports. Gen. Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units, were mainly involved in the attempt. The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people had been killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters had been detained.

Yildirim described the night as "dark stain for Turkish democracy" and said the perpetrators "will receive every punishment they deserve." Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall. The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkeya NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against ISISwhich critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents and opposition media, and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast. (Read more Turkey stories.)
(Newser)  Pakistani fashion model Qandeel Baloch, who recently stirred controversy by posting pictures of herself with a Muslim cleric on social media, was strangled to death by her brother in a suspected "honor killing," police say. Her parents told police one of her six brothers strangled her to death Friday night as she slept in the family's home in Multan, a police spokeswoman tells the AP. She says police are searching for the suspect. Baloch, 26, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, recently offended many conservatives by posting pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a prominent cleric. She said the two of them enjoyed soft drinks and cigarettes together during the daylight hours in the holy month of Ramadan, when practicing Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

The pictures and allegations caused a scandal in conservative Pakistan, and the government removed Qavi from the official committee that determines when Ramadan starts and ends. Earlier this month, Baloch sought protection from the government, saying she was receiving anonymous death threats. The BBC notes that Balochwho became known nationally after this video of her asking "How em looking" went viralwas nicknamed "Pakistan's Kim Kardashian" and was frequently abused online for behavior deemed immodest and for her criticism of Pakistan's patriarchal society. In one of her final Facebook posts, she described herself as an "inspiration to those ladies who are treated badly and dominated by the society." (Last month, a mother in Lahore burned her daughter to death for eloping.)
(Newser)  After a military coup attempt that now appears to be firmly quashed, the Turkish government is focusing its wrath on Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. The town is home to Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric who leads a popular movement called Hizmet, and President Recep Tayyib Erdogan blames his followers for the coup attempt that left at least 161 dead in overnight clashes, the New York Times reports. "I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation," Erdogan said early Saturday. "If you dare, come back to your country." Gulen, a moderate Muslim cleric who has lived in the US since 1999, was Erdogan's ally until 2013, when the leader blamed him for corruption allegations. In other coverage:

Vox has more on the Gulenist movement, which runs a large network of schools and supports interfaith dialogue, secular democracy, science, and a progressive stance on social issues. Gulen says he condemns the coup attempt "in the strongest terms."

The AP reports that John Kerry says the US would consider an extradition request for Gulen, though nothing has been received yet and firm evidence would be required. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen," Kerry told reporters. "And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny."

The New York Times looks at how the fallout from the coup will make the region's politics even more complicated for the US and Europe, which saw Erdogan's government as a stable and reliable ally. "The danger here is this could spiral out of control and turn into a full-blown civil war," says former US Ambassador to Turkey Eric S. Edelman.

CNN reports on how many civilian supporters of Erdogan stood up to the coup attempt, in some cases blocking military vehicles with their cars and even lying down in front of tanks.

Almost 3,000 military service members have been arrested and almost the same number of judges have been removed from their duties in what appears to be a nationwide purge of Gulen supporters, the Guardian reports.

Reuters reports that Erdogan, who had been vacationing on the country's southeast coast, addressed thousands of supporters after flying into Ankara's airport early Saturday. " This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army," he said.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says 161 people were killed and 1,440 were injured in the coup attempt, but a government source tells the AP that the figures exclude coup plotters, meaning the true toll could be much higher.

Greece says it will return a Blackhawk helicopter flown to the country from Turkey, but it will examine the asylum claims made by the eight military members on board, including two majors, the AP reports.

(Read more Turkey stories.)
(Newser)  In what a Colorado district attorney calls a "one in a billion shot," a Jefferson County deputy successfully disabled a robber's gun by firing a bullet down its barrel, the Denver Post reports. According to KUSA, the shooting happened in January, but authorities released their report on it this week. On Jan. 26, Jose Marquez was off duty and visiting his girlfriend at her apartment in Aurora when he was confronted by two masked men, KFOR reports. One of the men pulled a gun, so Marquez went for his. The robber shot Marquez twice in the stomach and once in the shoulder. Miraculously, Marquez was able to return fire. Even more miraculous was where one of his four shots ended up.

Marquez's bullet traveled up the barrel of the robber's gun, hit a cartridge in the chamber, and disabled the weapon. It may have saved his life. I dont know that that can be done again, the director of Colorado's Active Shooter Response Training Center tells KUSA. He says he's certainly never seen it. In their report released Wednesday, investigators found Marquez, who is still recovering from his injuries, was justified in his shooting. Im not dying today. Not today. Another day, maybe. Its not my time yet, the Post reports Marquez told investigators regarding the shooting. A 17-year-old, who was shot in the leg by Marquez, has been charged in connection with the shooting. The second suspect has never been caught. (Read more police shooting stories.)
(Newser)  An Arizona teen charged with plotting terrorist attacks in his home state was attacked in jail earlier this month, NBC News reports. Eighteen-year-old Mahin Khan suffered minor injuries when he was attacked by fellow inmates July 2the day after his arrest. According to KNXV, Khan was being held in medium security at Maricopa County Jail at the time of the attack, which was only revealed Friday. Following his arrest, Khan was offered "voluntary segregation," which he turned down. He's now been moved to segregated housing. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says all inmates facing terror-related charges will be automatically isolated from the general population in the future.

Khan, who's from Tucson, pleaded not guilty to terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism on Tuesday, KPHO/KTVK reports. The FBI says Khan contacted terrorist group Terik-e Taliban Pakistan. He was allegedly planning bomb attacks at government buildings in Arizona. Khan's public defenders want his future hearings made off limits to the media, blaming previous coverage for the jail attack and expressing concern for his family's safety. (Read more terrorism stories.)
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Itanagar:

Nabam Tuki has been replaced by Pema Khandu after he submitted his resignation as CLP leader. Now, Congress is preparing to prove majority on the floor of the House today. Governor Tathagata Roy had rejected Tuki's plea to defer the floor test on Friday.



Roy also emphasised that a sense of security among the people must prevail and deterrent action must be taken to ensure foolproof law and order arrangement in the state, the communique added.



Tuki, accompanied by Home Minister Tanga Byaling, called on the Governor at Raj Bhavan on Friday and requested him to defer the show of strength by 10 days, saying that it was not possible to hold it at a short notice.



Tuki also discussed the overall development of the state and law-and-order issues.



Tuki was reinstated as the Chief Minister by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.



Meanwhile, state Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia said it would not be possible to convene a session of the Assembly at such a short notice.



"There is an established system (for convening a session. A letter has to come from the parliamentary affairs department and we will have to issue summons," he said.



Former chief minister Kalikho Pul, accompanied by 43 MLAs including 11 BJP and two Independent members, are slated to arrive here from Guwahati late night, sources said.



The district administration has made elaborate security arrangement for the proposed floor test.

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New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday convened a meeting of the Inter-State Council, asking them to work in unity for a better future. Issues like internal security, economic and social planning, and inter-state relations were also discussed during the meet.



Convened after a gap of 10 years, the Inter-State Council meeting will see Modi, along with 17 Union ministers, for the first time interacting with all chief ministers on a single platform ever since he assumed the charge two years ago.



Issues that will figure in the conference include recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations, use of Aadhaar as an identifier and use of Direct Benefit Transfer for providing subsidies, benefits and public services, improving quality of school education with focus on improving learning outcomes, incentivising better performance, and internal security.



The meeting comes amid the ongoing turmoil in Jammu and Kashmir, where at least 36 people have lost their lives following violent protests after Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter last week.



The last meeting of the Inter-State Council was held in 2006. The UPA government had convened just two meetings in its 10-year tenure.



The Modi government has revived the Inter-State Council structure after assuming office in May 2014. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had chaired meetings of all the five zonal councils over the last one year in various parts of the country in which chief ministers of states of the respective zones took part.

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New Delhi:

Expressing concern over unrest in Turkey, India today implored all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed. The Euro-Asian nation is witnessing violence after an attempted military coup in which at least 60 people have died on Friday night.

External Affairs Ministry said India has been closely following the developments in Turkey and advised Indian nationals to stay indoors until the situation becomes clearer.

India calls upon all sides 2 support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

We hv been closely following the dev's in #Turkey India calls upon all sides 2 support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed.  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) July 16, 2016

#SituationinTurkey Emergency contact numbers for Indian nationals

In Ankara: +905303142203

In Istanbul: +905305671095  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) July 15, 2016

The Indian Embassy has set up emergency helpline to assist Indian nationals in Ankara (+905303142203) and Istanbul (+905305671095).

At least 60 people have been killed in violence across Turkey sparked when elements in the military staged an attempted coup in the night.

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Surat:

Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel, who was released from jail on Friday after nine months, is set to start his roadshow across Gujarat today. Patel will travel to several places during 48 hours before leaving Gujarat for six months.A

Quota agitation leader Hardik Patel walked out of Lajpore jail in Surat on Friday morning, days after the Gujarat High Court granted him bail in cases of sedition and violence pertaining to Patidar stir last year.

HC has directed him to leave Gujarat within 48 hours after his release from jail. Moreover, he has to leave the state immediately for six months, which was a condition for his release.

He was arrested in October when his agitation for reservation in government jobs and colleges for his Patel community turned violent.

"We have got some of what we want but not everything. We will first have talks with the government and ask peacefully," Patel told reporters. Patel's supporters have planned roadshows as he travels from Surat, where he was imprisoned, to his hometown Viramgam.

In an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modias a56-inch-chesta remark made during 2014 election campaign, Hardik said, aI want to say that I donat want height, weight or a 56-inch chest. All I want is rights for my community.a

aOur agitation will continue in coming days. Our demand for OBC status for Patels is still there. In coming days, there will be a change in the style of our working, but, our attitude (tevar) will remain the same,a Hardik said.Moreover, he added, aThis agitation is not a property of any political party. No party should think of taking political benefit out of this. This agitation will not stop just because I or someone else wants. It will only end when Patel community gets their right.

"Besides, Hardik thanking the judiciary for his release said, aIn coming days, we will take a proper decision in the interest of our community. We donat mind if we have to sit and talk with government for arriving at a solution."After a road show in Botad, Hardik and his supporters will visit Khodaldham temple in Rajkot district and then Umiyadham temple in Jamnagar district in evening. Both these temples are supreme bodies of Patel community.

Patel's arrest was followed by large-scale arson and violence by his supporters in some of Gujarat's biggest towns.

With inputs from PTIA

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Brasilia:

Brazil said it will bolster security for next month's Olympics in Rio following the truck attack in the French city of Nice.

Brazil's interim president Michel Temer held an emergency meeting with his intelligence chief and members of his cabinet late last night to weigh the next steps after the Nice attack, which killed at least 84 people.

As he left the meeting, intelligence chief Sergio Etchegoyen said new security measures would include extra checkpoints, barricades and traffic restrictions. Brazil had already planned to deploy 85,000 police and soldiers to provide security for the Olympics  running August 5-21 -- double the number used in the 2012 London Games.

Etchegoyen said fears over security at the Rio Games had "gone up a notch" after the attack in Nice, where a Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne white truck into a huge crowd gathered to watch the annual Bastille Day fireworks display on Thursday, leaving a gruesome trail of bodies in his wake.

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Ulaanbaatar:

Vice President Hamid Ansari and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasnia on Saturday met Ulaanbaatar in the Mongolian capital and discussed bilateral and issues of mutual interest.



The two-leaders met on the sidelines of the 11th Asia-Europe Summit here.



Details of their discussion were not available.



Ansari had briefly interacted with Hasina yesterday during the summit.



The Vice President also held separate bilateral meetings with Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Roivas and Prime Minister of Lithuania Algirdas Butkevicius. He held a bilateral meeting with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.



Ansari yesterday held talks Prime Ministers of Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.



At the first day of the ASEM Summit yesterday, Asian and European leaders condemned the terror attack in the French city of Nice and reiterated the need to tackle terrorism.



During the Summit, the leaders also talked about the South China Sea issue, days after a UN-backed tribunal struck down China's claims of "historical rights" in the disputed waters in a case brought by the Philippines.



They also voiced their opposition to the use of force and the need for freedom of navigation in international waters.

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Beirut:

The infamous terrorist group, Islamic State today claimed responsibility for the deadly truck attack in Nice, France, which left over 83 dead and 53 others critically injured. The group claimed responsibility through its media outlet Aamaq.

The news service quoted an IS security source as saying one of its "soldiers" carried out Thursday's carnage "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".

The European city was rocked on Thursday night, when a lone truck driver ploughed through the Bastille Day crowd, crushing dozens and opening fire on running crowd. The driver, later identified as 31-year-old French Tunisian man Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was shot dead by local police after he had drove through 2 kms of parade crowd.

The French prosecutor's office has put five people in custody for further in wake of deadly truck attack in Nice.

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Mumbai:

Superstar Salman Khan says strict action must be taken against those who leak films online. Recently, films like "Udta Punjab", "Great Grand Masti" and Salman-starrer "Sultan" were leaked online before their official release.

"It's disgusting that films are getting leaked online before release. These people are nothing less than thieves as they make money in the name of other person's hard work. It (piracy) is the worst profession, Salman said in an interview.

"Someone suggested you should put TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) on people who buy and sell it (pirated DVD). As we pay tax and Maharashtra has the heaviest tax, something should be done. When two people will go to prison, others will stop it. It (piracy) doesn't happen in South," Salman Khan said.

One of the reasons often cited for piracy are huge ticket prices. The 50-year-old "Dabangg" star, however, feels that ticket prices reduce after the weekend and there are single screen theatres as well where the prices are not much high.

"What about watching the film after the weekend that is Monday onwards. There are single screens as well. Even I feel the ticket prices are high but if you look at the infrastructure, the cost of real estate then you will understand that if they (multiplexes) don't charge that much, then the theatre will close down," he said.

Salman Khan will be seen next in Kabir Khan's "Tubelight".

Also read: Stay away from six packs in 'Dangal': Salman's advice to Aamir

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Ankara:

Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country today after thwarting a coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.

After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year autocratic rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible flare-up of yesterdays chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless round-up over the coup plot, the authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogans arch enemy, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Turks woke up early today to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the apparent failure of the coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets.

The situation is completely under control, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkeys top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.

Describing the attempted coup as a black stain on Turkeys democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.

This toll did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, bringing the overall death toll from the bloodshed to 265.

During a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

And Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets to ensure no further challenges to his power.

We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment, he said.

As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures today showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets.

Yesterdays putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.

Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.

As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbuls Taksim Square, injuring several.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.

Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Ataturk Airport, denounced the coup attempt as treachery.

They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason, Erdogan said. We will not leave our country to occupiers.

The presidents critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkeys secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianismbut he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

Turkeys once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on the parallel state and Pennsylvaniaa reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the presidents former ally categorically denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation insulting.

Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called the leader of a terrorist organisation.

Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey, he added.

Speaking in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Turkey to hand over any evidence it had against Gulen.

Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.

And Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airportshut down by the plotters gradually reopening.

But the US government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after the coup bid.

The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.

And world leaders appealed for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg welcomed what he called the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey, a key member of the alliance.

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Tunis:

A four-year-old boy missing after the Nice truck attack has been found dead, raising to four the number of Tunisians killed in the French tragedy, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Another five Tunisians are still missing following Thursday nights attack that killed 84 people in the southern French resort city and was claimed today by the Islamic State jihadist group (IS).

The ministry said the boy was found dead in hospital. His mother was among the other three identified Tunisian victims. Nice is just an hours flight from Tunis, and the city is home to many Tunisians. Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, the driver of the truck that ploughed into a Bastille Day crowd in the city, was himself of Tunisian origin, from Msaken near Sousse.

Tunisia forcefully condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with France against the scourge of terrorism. It also said it was opening a judicial inquiry into the attack.

Tunisia, like France, has faced a series of jihadist attacks in the past year, killing dozens including 59 foreign tourists.

The country has been under a state of emergency since November 2015. Tunisian and French citizens are among the top nationalities who have joined jihadist organisations including IS.

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Washington:

US President Barack Obama on Saturday reaffirmed US unwavering support to the democratically-elected government of Turkey even as he called on the countrys leaders to respect the rule of law after a military coup attempt.

Obamas message came after an update from his national security and broader foreign policy team on the situation in Turkey, the White House said.

The meeting was initially scheduled to be in Situation Room which was later changed to a conference call. During the conference call, Presidents advisors apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground.

The President reiterated the United States unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey, the White House said.

According to the read out, Obama instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US service members and their dependents.

While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the President and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability, the White House said.

The President also underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism, the readout said, adding that Obama requested continued updates, as the situation warrants.

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Pune:

A court today remanded in police custody till July 21 the seven persons arrested in connection with the sensational murder of businessman Datta Phuge, known as goldman for wearing a shirt made of the precious metal.

Dighi police produced nine persons in Khadaki court and magistrate J C Dhengale remanded seven of them in police custody. Two were sent in judicial custody as their identification parade was yet to be done.

Amol Pathare, Shailesh Walke, Vishal Parkhe, Nivrutti Walke, Prem Dholpuria, Atul Mohite and Sushant Pawar were remanded in police custody, said the investigating officer Navnath Ghogare.

According to the police, at least twelve persons attacked Phuge with sharp weapons on an open ground in Dighi near here on late Thursday night and killed him on the spot in front of his 22-year-old son, Shubham.

Phuge shot to fame some years ago when he gifted himself a gold shirt worth over Rs one crore and wore it in public, earning himself the sobriquet goldman.

During the arguments, prosecutor Kishor Shahane demanded a 14-day police custody. The police had to find out the main conspirator and the exact motive, Shahane told the court.

Police suspect that a monetary dispute led to the murder, as Phuge was in the business of money lending and chit-fund.

Shahane also told the court that police wanted to recover the weapons used by the accused and the clothes they were wearing at the time of the incident.

The accused are not cooperating and giving vague answers, the prosecutor said, adding that some of the accused who were on the run were also to be traced.

B A Aloor, one of the defence lawyers, argued that police had seized the weapons from the spot and the main conspirator too had been arrested, so there was no need for police remand.

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One of the regions few contested primaries will take place Aug. 9, when two Republicans face off for the partys nomination for probate judge.

The current judge, Joseph Egan, will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 this fall.

At a convention in May, local Republicans were unable to agree on a single nominee for the probate judgeship for the Northern District of Fairfield County, which includes Ridgefield, Redding, Newtown and Bethel.

Three attorneys qualified for the primary by receiving the required 15 percent of voting delegates, Two decided to run in the primary: Daniel OGrady, of Bethel, and Patrick Walsh, of Ridgefield.

Jennifer Collins, of Ridgefield, who did not reach the threshold at the convention, will nevertheless be on the ballot in November, after getting the necessary signatures to run as a petitioning candidate, according to the Connecticut Secretary of State.

Thus two Republicans will be on the November ballot with Democrat Sharon Dornfeld. The winner serve the remaining two years of Egans four-year term.

The probate court oversees estates and trusts as well as a wide range of issues affecting children, the elderly and individuals with psychiatric illnesses and developmental disabilities.

OGrady, 62, who has been a self-employed attorney for 30 years, said the central thrust of his campaign is his experience as an attorney and judge. He served as a probate judge in Bethel from 1991 to 2011.

It came to an end because of the reorganization of the state system, he said. I never really wanted to stop, and Im still actively advocating for clients in the various local probate courts.

I enjoy serving the public, he said.

OGrady received his bachelors degree in management from Central Connecticut State University in 1975, his masters in business administration from the University of Connecticut in 1979 and his law degree from Quinnipiac University in 1985.

Walsh, 50, has been practicing law for more than two decades and currently works at the Hastings, Cohan and Walsh firm in Ridgefield.

I think I would be a good judge, he said, and I have the experience and probate knowledge.

Quite frankly, its a way to give back and help people, he continued. People come to probate court in the best of times and the worst of times.

Walsh graduated from Northeastern University in 1990 with a degree in criminal justice and received his law degree from the University of San Diego in 1993.

Collins, 44, has been a litigation attorney for 18 years and has served as a magistrate and commissioner of small claims, a state-appointed position, for the last six years. In the past, she also practiced in juvenile law. Her current work includes helping the elderly, disabled and veterans apply for Social Security.

Collins went to Fairfield University, where she graduated with a major in English literature and minors in political science and art history, in 1994. She received her law degree in 1997 from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

She said she decided to run for the judgeship because she enjoys her magistrate service.

I am basically adjudicating and serving the public that has disputes that need to be resolved, she said. I just really like working with people.
TORONTO, July 15, 2016 /CNW/ -Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX:SMT) (BVL:SMT) ("Sierra Metals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Mike McAllister as Vice President of Corporate Development effective immediately.

Mr. McAllister has served Sierra Metals as Director of Corporate Development since he joined the company in April 2015. He has played an important role in the Company's marketing, investor relations, communications and corporate strategy as Sierra embarked on a successful restructuring plan at its mines including a successful brownfield exploration program.

Mr. McAllister is a corporate development, investor relations and communications professional with over 6 years' direct experience in Corporate Development and Investor Relations and 11 years in the metals and mining sector.

Mark Brennan, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated: "We are pleased to announce the promotion of Mike McAllister to the position of Vice President of Corporate Development. We expect that this appointment will further enhance the high-quality marketing, investor relations and communication program that have been created at Sierra Metals."

About Sierra Metals

Sierra Metals Inc. is a Canadian mining company focused on precious and base metals from its Yauricocha Mine in Peru, its Bolivar Mine and Cusi Mine in Mexico. In addition, Sierra Metals is exploring several precious and base metal targets in Peru and Mexico. Projects in Peru include Adrico (gold), Victoria (copper-silver) and Ipillo (polymetallic) at the Yauricocha property in the province of Yauyos and the San Miguelito gold properties in Northern Peru. Projects in Mexico include Bacerac (silver) in the state of Sonora, and La Verde (gold) at the Batopilas property in the state of Chihuahua.

The Company's shares trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SMT".

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events or results. These statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com.

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For further information: regarding Sierra Metals, please visit www.sierrametals.com or contact: Mike McAllister, VP, Corporate Development, Sierra Metals Inc., Tel: +1 (416) 366-7777, Email: [email protected]; Mark Brennan, President & CEO, Sierra Metals Inc., Tel: +1 (416) 366-7777
CALGARY, July 14, 2016 /CNW/ - Wolf Midstream Inc. (Wolf) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 50% ownership interest in Access Pipeline (Access) from Devon Energy Corp. (Devon) for $1.4 billion. The Access Pipeline system includes pipelines that transport blended bitumen and diluent between the Christina Lake area of Northeastern Alberta and Edmonton. Under the terms of the transaction, Devon's thermal-oil acreage is dedicated to Access for an initial term of 25 years.

In September 2015, Wolf's management team and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) created a midstream investment vehicle focused on acquisition opportunities in Western Canada. The transaction will be funded at closing by Wolf through an investment by CPPIB of approximately $825 million and third-party debt financing.

"Access is an attractive foundational asset for Wolf that provides us with immediate scale in the region. We are pleased to work with Devon as a long-term partner supporting its high-quality oil sands projects, and look forward to expanding service with third-party shippers. We are pleased to have CPPIB's full support on this significant transaction for Wolf, reinforcing our mutual commitment to build out the vehicle" said Gord Salahor, Wolf's Chief Executive Officer.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals along with customary terms and conditions. Closing is expected in the third quarter of 2016. Peters & Co. Limited acted as financial advisor and Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP acted as legal advisor to Wolf on this transaction.

About Wolf Midstream Inc.

Wolf is a private company based in Calgary dedicated to building, owning, and operating energy infrastructure. Wolf management has a long track record of operating energy infrastructure assets in Western Canada and previously led Mistral Energy Inc. and Taylor NGL Limited Partnership (formerlyTSX: TAY.UN).

SOURCE Wolf Midstream Inc.

For further information: David Kaiser, Kaiser Lachance Communications Inc., [email protected], (647) 390-8551
The row between Niger Delta Avengers, NDA and ExxonMobil over alleged bombing, last Monday, of the companys Que Iboe 48-inch Crude Oil Ex...





The row between Niger Delta Avengers, NDA and ExxonMobil over alleged bombing, last Monday, of the companys Que Iboe 48-inch Crude Oil Export Pipeline degenerated weekend, as the militant group threatened to target the companys workers instead of blowing up its facilities.NDA also renewed its warning to oil companies operating in the region not to repair any of its facilities blown up by the militants or face dire consequences for disobedience.Avengers, ExxonMobil row started on Tuesday, about 24 hours after the militant group claimed to have bombed the companys 48-inch crude export line in Akwa Ibom state when the companys spokesperson, Todd Spitler, July 12, said: There was no attack on our facilities.The group, which earlier claimed responsibility for the June 11 attack, replied through its spokesperson, self-styled Brig Gen Mudoch Agbinibo: ExxonMobil can deny and fool the general public about their Export Pipeline blown yesterday. How long can they lie to their investors? Just in matter of days, the whole world will see the truth. Qua Iboe 48 crude oil export pipeline is down so said the Avengers.ExxonMobil further refuted the claim on Friday, describing what happened as a system anomaly Responding to the second denial of the attack by the company, Avengers, in a statement, entitled, ExxonMobil, stop deceiving the world, asserted: When we published that the Qua Iboe 48-inch crude oil export line was blown by us , ExxonMobil denied it, but now ExxonMobil has admitted that the 48 pipeline that Niger Delta Avengers blew up is System Anomaly..We urged them to follow the path of safety by admitting it that was blown, but ExxonMobil not admitting it to their traders/international refineries is none of our business.It will become our business when ExxonMobil carries out repair work on the blown pipeline. When that time comes, it will not be ExxonMobil declaring force majeure, but it is going to be something worse, NDA spokesperson, Agbinibo said, Friday.The militant group added: ExxonMobil and Akwa Ibom government can deny Niger Delta Avengers is not in Akwa Ibom state but we want them to know that one of our elitestrike teams is based in Akwa Ibom state.We are warning ExxonMobil not to carry out any repair work on the blown pipeline, if they refuse and go ahead with any repair work, something big and worse will happen.To the traders/international refineries doing business with them, do not let ExxonMobil deceive you that the repair work will take three to four weeks, with the level of damage. it will take them (ExxonMobil) months to fix it, NDA said.It stated: What happened to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) crude oil export pipeline in Forcados is an example to all International Oil Companies, IOCs, no repair works until the federal government heed to our demands. It warned: If ExxonMobil fails to listen to us (Niger Delta Avengers), your personnel are going to be our next casualties, not pipelines.However, ExxonMobil declared a force majeure on exports of crude oil, last Friday, after observing a system failure during a routine check of its loading facility, last Thursday, three days after Avengers bombed the facility. We are working to ensure loading activities at the facility return to normal.We cannot speculate on any timeline for repairs, the companys spokesperson, Spitler said, adding: Qua Iboe Terminal is operating and production activities continues.He, however, maintained that there was no connection between the force majeure and militant attacks.
Diafra Sakho has refused to travel with the squad for West Ham's pre-season tour to Austria, according to Skysports.The striker handed in a transfer request earlier this month after the club publicly admitted its interest in signing a big-name forward.The striker was the subject of a failed 11m bid from Sunderland last month.Black Cats manager Sam Allardyce brought the Senegal international to Upton Park from Metz in 2014 when he was in charge of the Hammers.The 26-year-old joined on a four-year contract and has scored 15 goals in 43 Premier League appearances.West Brom are reportedly interested in Sakho, who complained of illness and stayed in the UK when the rest of the West Ham squad flew to the US for a pre-season tour.Source: Skysports
According to recent reports, the Nigerian Senate lied when it said it did not discuss a proposal to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari at ...

According to recent reports, the Nigerian Senate lied when it said it did not discuss a proposal to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari at its executive session on Tuesday.Premium Times is claiming to have independently interviewed at least six senators who attended the session, and all of them confirmed that impeachment was discussed at the meeting.Those interviewed include those in support of embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki, and those opposed to him.Read report below:The claim by the Nigerian Senate that it did not discuss a proposal to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari at its executive session on Tuesday is false, further checks by PREMIUM TIMES have shown.The spokesperson for the Senate, Aliyu Abdullahi, on Thursday circulated a statement, describing reports that the upper chamber deliberated on a suggestion to remove Mr. Buhari as a piece of fabrication which is only the figment of the imagination of the writers and their sponsors.But PREMIUM TIMES extensive checks have shown that our upper lawmaking body is not saying the truth.This newspaper has independently interviewed at least six senators who attended the session, and all of them confirmed that impeachment was discussed at the meeting.Those interviewed include those in support of embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki, and those opposed to him.They all asked not to be named so they are not punished for divulging details of discussions held behind closed-doors to journalists.One senator told PREMIUM TIMES it was Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia) who tabled the proposal that Mr. Buhari should be removed from office.It is time to go for the Presidents jugular, Mr. Abaribe reportedly said.Mr. Abaribes call, insiders said, elicited chants of approval from Mr. Sarakis supporters while those opposed to him shouted No, no. no.When the Abia lawmaker was asked to further explain what he meant by going for the Presidents jugular, the Senator said it had become clear that Mr. Buhari had no respect for the Senate and that the time had come for him to be impeached.Mr. Abaribe said the president was encouraging his subordinates to disrespect the upper chamber and that only two options were now open to the senate  go for the presidents jugular (impeachment) or continue to seek reconciliation that might not work.As Mr. Abaribe made his contribution, there was chorus of yes, yes, conveying approval by his colleagues, mostly PDP Senators.But resistance came from us, another senator told PREMIUM TIMES.With the resistance from APC Senators, the Senate descended into a rowdy session.Mr. Saraki then intervened to calm the Senators and restore normalcy .The Senate President reminded his colleagues that the issue at stake was not Mr. Buharis impeachment, but the actions to be taken on the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Malami, who is prosecuting him and his deputy.Mr. Saraki was said to have argued that it was Mr. Malami who was being used to directly launch lethal offensives on the Senate and who should be subdued.Reached for comments on his suggestion for Mr. Buharis impeachment, Mr. Abaribe was evasive, neither denying nor confirming his proposal.He said he would only open up if we disclose to him the names of the senators who divulged details of the meeting to PREMIUM TIMES.What is called executive session is meant to be private, Mr. Abaribe said. If anybody comes out to reveal what is discussed, he should be bold enough to mention his name. If you tell me the name of the Senator that quoted me, I can comment.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday grilled Shalewa Obanikoro, the daughter of a former Minister of Sta...

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday grilled Shalewa Obanikoro, the daughter of a former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, over a transaction of N800m she allegedly made.Investigators revealed that Shalewa was grilled at the Lagos office of the EFCC for several hours alongside her mother, Moroophat.An impeccable source at the anti-graft agency said as part of investigations into the N4.7bn allegedly paid into the company account of Obanikoros sons  Babajide and Gbolahan  by the Office of the National Security Adviser, the commission started investigating some other members of the family.The detective said, Obanikoros wife came to our office on Friday morning as part of investigations into the N4.7bn paid into Sylvan McNamara, a company owned by her sons. During investigation, we stumbled on the account of an oil company. We then discovered that Obanikoros daughter was a signatory to the account of the oil company and that millions of naira was paid into the account at different times.We then invited the daughter and she came to meet us at the office. During investigations, we found out that the daughter gave a standing order to the bank that N800m should be moved into another account. We wondered why such a young girl would have access to such funds so we started quizzing her.This is a whole new dimension to the case and we will continue to investigate to find out if it is related to the arms probe or not.Obanikoro and his sons, who are citizens of the United States, have remained in the US for over a year.However, the EFCC swiftly seized the US passport of Shalewa to prevent her from towing the path of her father and brothers.The investigator said, We were told that she was planning on travelling to the US soon so we swiftly seized her passport because she is vital to our investigation. However, we told her to be coming from home.Apart from the N4.7bn arms scam rocking the Obanikoro family, it will be recalled that MOB Integrated Services Ltd, a company headed by Obanikoros second son, Gbolahan, was implicated by the Aigboje Imokhuede-led Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation in 2012.The company was said to have made three transactions valued at N5, 393, 592,906.62. However, investigations revealed that the company only made one transaction valued at N3, 261,263,992.52 verified as legitimate.The difference of over N2bn was said to have been embezzled as MOB did not make the needed oil supply.However, sources at the commission told our correspondent that after Obanikoro was appointed the Minister of State for Defence, the case was mysteriously suspended indefinitely.The latest revelation may be the missing piece of the puzzle, detectives believe.However, the former minister said in a statement that his wife had high blood pressure and other heart-related ailments and asked security agents not to drag her into the arms probe as she knew nothing about the case.He said, We are using this medium to call on the officials of the EFCC to desist from persecuting an innocent woman who has no dealings at all with any of the businesses that they are investigating and totally unaware of the alleged transactions.For emphasis, the innocent woman has a history of high blood pressure and heart-related ailments and as such should not be dragged into their biased and politicised investigations.Obanikoro also denied media reports that his wife was arrested with incriminating evidence.
The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed why he always sing and dance at campaigns and public events, stating that I...

The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed why he always sing and dance at campaigns and public events, stating that If I had not gone to school, I would have been a Fuji musician.Speaking with newsmen in the state, the governor came hard on the media for carrying mischievous, desperate and malicious reports against his administration, insisting that his government is not among the worst in the country.He asserted that the credibility gap in the nations media publications has resulted to newspapers in the country presently circulating less than 300,000 copies, whereas a popular title sold 500,000 copies per edition in this country up until 1975.According to Aregbesola, I am happy that our state continues to survive in spite of the mischievous, desperate and malicious contents in some sections of the media against our government. Unfortunately, media in recent times have portrayed our government as one of the worst in the country whereas the reverse is the case.Sunday Times in those days sold 500,000 copies per edition in this country up until 1975 and Sunday Times was so popular that whoever was literate in Nigeria will want to read it either by borrowing it, buying it or going to the library. The circulation of all Nigeria newspapers today is less than 300,000, so it should therefore interest us how a nation with increased population generally, have almost ten time of graduates that we had in 1975 now has the circulation figures we now have. It is therefore important for us to interrogate the decline in readership.If you ask me, closely watching the economy, the decline is as a result of credibility gap in our media publications. I want to appeal to our media people to support the course of disseminating reliable, accurate, informative and entertaining news. Reports in newspapers have erroneously portrayed us as a famished state. About this time last year, it was as if heaven will fall. It was as if the entire world was collapsing on our state. What churches do normally became an opportunity to portray us as famine-stricken state. One person even went to the extent of donating his wardrobe allowance.Everything was made to look as if people are dying on the streets here. Recently, I still read in our papers that we are owing mountains of salaries, while the reverse is actually the case. I have decided to ignore such tantrums. Available records have shown that there is no iota of doubt in the fact that some media practitioners have demonstrated their hatred to us through their adamant disposition to falsehood, baseless and unfounded claims against our noble political voyage.I wonder why they found it difficult to display high sense of commitment to journalistic ethics and media professional code of conduct despite the conspicuous realities. The pertinent question is that whether or not the media assess itself, facts must always be disseminated and reported, and it is on the basis of this we have always advised the media experts to support the dissemination of reliable, accurate, objective, authentic, impersonal, dis-sensational and factual news.No amount of propaganda and condemnation would dissuade us from attaining economic prosperity just as we are determined to complete all the ongoing projects before the end of our tenure here. I am not quarreling with any paper. I only plead for accurate reporting of events. To those of you who are critical but factual, it is your hard stance that has kept us on our toes. I want to appeal to the media to be factual in their reports.
A group of Muslim youths, on Friday attacked St. Philips Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, very close to Zuma Rock in Niger State.

A group of Muslim youths, on Friday attacked St. Philips Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, very close to Zuma Rock in Niger State.According to eyewitnesses, some Catholics, who had gone to the church to pray were attacked by the Muslims on the claim that Friday was their day of prayer and that the Church only had right to worship on Sundays.Information gathered from eyewitnesses showed that they destroyed the Church properties, including doors and windows.Although some soldiers managed to get there but a lot of harm had been done to the building, while the Christians ran away in different directions to avoid being killed, the source hinted.It should be recalled that Alhaji Kabiru Sokoto had on Christmas day four years ago (December 25, 2011) detonated a bomb that killed over 200 Catholics and passersby at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, close to St. Philips that was destroyed.Rev Fr. Luka Sylvester Gopep, the Vicar-General of the Diocese confirmed the incident.He said, Sometime around 2pm, some Muslim youths in their hundreds left their Mosque after their Friday Jumat prayer and rushed to the Church premises, climbed the wall and destroyed everything in the Church: the windows, the alter, musical instruments, the chapel.The security man in the church premises was beaten to pulp. Some women who were holding a prayer meeting were chased away. The seminarian who is resident in the premises was also beaten up and chased away.Just last week, Mrs Eunice Olawale Elisha, a mobile preacher of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was killed by some fanatical Muslims in Kubwa, FCT.
Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the body of Shiites in the country, have blocked the Zaria-Kaduna expressway, to protest again...

Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, the body of Shiites in the country, have blocked the Zaria-Kaduna expressway, to protest against the prolonged detention of their leader, Ibrahim El Zakzaky.Mr. Zakzaky has been in detention since December 2015.He was arrested by the Nigerian army after troops clashed with Shia members, killing over 300 of them.The victims were secretly buried in a mass grave in Kaduna, a state official had said.The army denies the attack despite overwhelming evidence of the atrocity.It however admits using force, saying the Shiites had blocked the road in an attempt to assassinate its chief, Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant General.Our source said thousands of Shiites blocked the expressway on Friday, denying road users passage.The source said security operatives have been deployed to the scene.A spokesperson for the Shias, Musa Ibrahim, confirmed to reporters that he had received report that some of our members embarked on procession today, Friday, and were attacked by thugs.A report just reached my desk, said Mr. Ibrahim. Some of members embarked on peaceful procession today. But they were attacked by thugs at Maraban Jos (along Kaduna-Zaria expressway.He added that he was informed that the police intervened in the fight but I dont know whether there is casualty.He said the procession was to demand the release of Sheik Zakzaky.More details coming.
GLOUCESTER CITY -- There were balloons, candles, bubbles and everyone sang "Happy Birthday."

The only thing absent was the birthday girl -- 2-year-old Ariana Smyth who died last week after an alleged sexual assault at the hands of her mother's new boyfriend.

But she was there in spirit.

"All those candles speak for themselves," said Ty Hughes, who moved to Gloucester City one year ago and felt she had to do something for her community after reading reports of the incident.

Friday's vigil at Proprietors Park along a Delaware River soaked in the setting sun drew mourners of all ages who came to remember "a life snuffed out on the eve of her 2nd birthday," said Pastor Rick Gehret, of First Baptist Church of Gloucester City.

Michael Disporto Jr., 22, of Manahawkin, is currently facing murder and sexual assault charges. Ariana's mother, Amber Bobo, 26, of Gloucester City, is charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

The battered toddler was eventually transported to Cooper University Hospital, where she was taken off life support and died July 5. Authorities say Ariana suffered numerous injuries -- including bleeding in the brain, swelling consistent with sexual assault, a broken arm, fluid in the lungs and both blood and urine in her abdomen.

"What happens to this young soul?" Gehret asked those gathered.

She's "safe, sound and being taken care of," he continued to a chorus of "amen"s. "It rocks us as though it were our own."

While Gehret addressed the assembled, it was hard not to notice the number of young children playing on the waterfront steps or loudly asking their parents questions. Some wore costumes from the Disney film "Frozen" -- which was to be the theme of her birthday party.

Nicole Tenuto, of Oaklyn, said she knew Bobo and wanted to do something for the family as well as give the community an opportunity to "pay their respects to a child taken too soon" and "spread awareness to other mothers who may be naive."

Tenuto declined to comment on Bobo's role in her daughter's death, but said she'd like to "express my condolences to the father and the entire family."

Once the sun dipped beneath the Delaware River, candles were lit and illuminated posters packed with pictures of a months-old Ariana playing in a ball pit or in the snow.

"Fly high little angel," one poster read.

"It makes me sick," said city resident Gayle Willis. "We keep a close eye on our kids," she said as Christina Willis and 4-year-old Chloe played together just over her shoulder.

Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NUTLEY -- Dozens of cats were discovered living in unclean conditions at a Passaic Avenue home, a police spokesman, Det. Sgt. Tony Montanari, said Friday.

Police were called to the home Wednesday, where they found 35 cats, Montanari said. The matter was turned over to the township's health department, which is now working with the resident to address the conditions at the home. The health department could not be reached Friday.

Police did not file any charges against the resident of the home, Montanari said. He referred questions regarding the disposition of the animals to the health department.

The name of the resident was not disclosed.

There has been a spike in animal hoarding cases across the state over the last several weeks, animal control officials have said. While hoarding cases tend to increase during the summer when animals are most likely to breed, an officer with Associated Humane Societies in Tinton Falls, Sgt. Kevin Rooney, said the number of incidents this year is unusual.

"Something strange is going on...It just seems like this year it has blown up," Rooney told NJ Advance Media earlier this week.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
NEWARK -- More than 50 people protested against police shootings and misconduct in the criminal justice system during a rally Friday afternoon outside the Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Federal Building.

While about a dozen city police officers blocked off the intersection of Broad and Court Streets, citizens gathered to preach for unity between cops and the communities they serve.

"We must ensure that we have a binary covenant -- a covenant that will address how police persons treat our citizens, and therefore have a covenant that speaks to how our citizens ought to respect our police officers," the Rev. David Jefferson, Sr., New Jersey's president of the National Action Network, told the crowd.

Larry Hamm, chairman of the People's Organization For Progress, called on the community to join several mothers of those killed by police at 4 p.m. on Mondays outside the federal courts building for what he calls Justice Mondays, "to let these people know that we will not let this be swept under the rug," he said, pointing to the building at 970 Broad Street.

"It is incumbent upon all who want justice no longer to be spectators, but to get off the sideline and get involved in the struggle for justice," Hamm yelled into a microphone. "Because our very survival is at stake."

As the gathering wrapped up, the Rev. Amir Natson, who used to pastor Ebenezer Baptist Church on Camden Street, said minority communities need to take pride in themselves before they can deal with issues affecting them.

"Our young sons are selling drugs because they can't get jobs. ... They (join gangs) because they are looking for love," Natson told the crowd. "Where are our fathers with these young men that have children that don't know how to be fathers to their children, because they've never had a father?"

The rally comes after protesters across the country have called for an end to police violence in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

The night after Castile was killed, five police officers in Dallas, Texas, were killed when a sniper ambushed them during a peaceful protest. At least nine others cops were injured before police used a robotic device to kill the heavily armed shooter.

Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook and Twitter.
vivek.jpg

Vivek Garipalli, seen here in 2007, was the donor behind a $1 million contribution made last year to a pro-Steve Fulop Super PAC. Pamela Suchy| The Jersey Journal

(Jersey Journal file photo)

The mysterious $1 million donation made last year to a Super PAC that is connected to Mayor Steve Fulop came from the founder of local hospital system CarePoint Health.

The news that CarePoint owner and founder Vivek Garipalli made the six-figure contribution is included in a campaign finance report filed yesterday by the Super PAC, Coalition for Progress. CarePoint owns three hospitals in Hudson County, including Christ Hospital in Jersey City.

The PAC's initial FEC filing, dated Dec. 31, listed the donor as Delaware company DE First Holdings. Bari J. Mattes, the PAC's president, has until now declined to say who was behind the firm, which was formed the day before it made the $1 million contribution. Coalition for Progress submitted an amended filing yesterday that includes Garipalli's name.

Mattes issued a short statement through the PAC's attorney about the $1 million donation, which is the focus of complaints filed with the Federal Elections Commission by three ethics watchdogs.

"We are updating our report to change the identification of a contributor from DE First Holdings to Vivek Garipalli," Mattes said.

Follow-up questions emailed to the PAC's attorney were not answered.

Lynda Dorf, spokeswoman for Garipalli and DE First Holdings, was similarly brief.

"We can confirm the content of the FEC filing and support the amendment," Dorf said in an email.

Mattes has said Coalition for Progress was formed to support candidates at the federal level or in statewide races in New Jersey who "impact the federal political landscape," and not to support any one individual. Sources say it will help fund Fulop's expected gubernatorial candidacy next year. Fulop, who hosted a Jersey City fundraiser for the PAC in November, has said it is one of a number of groups he has raised money for.

Of the $3.2 million the PAC raised last year, nearly $2.5 million came from individuals or businesses with ties to Jersey City, including some that have contracts with the city or its autonomous agencies and developers with long-term city tax breaks.

The PAC reported in its latest filing that it raised $860,999 since Jan. 1 and is sitting on a $3.2 million war chest.

CarePoint under a different name purchased Christ Hospital for $43.5 million in March 2012 after its previous owners filed for bankruptcy.

CarePoint declined to comment.
A 57-year-old Downtown Jersey City man with a long criminal record has been charged with breaking into a vehicle and stealing items valued at more than $400 last Saturday.

Jeffrey Jones, of Grove Street, was arrested Tuesday and charged with burglary and theft, the criminal complaint says.

The incident was captured on security video and a police officer identified Jones as the man in the video based on their prior interactions, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor John Wojtal said in court today.

He is charged with stealing $100, a handbag, cellphone, driver's license and credit card, the complaint says.

Jones has prior convictions for drug possession within 1,000 feet of school property, receiving stolen property, theft, two counts of drug possession, three counts of shoplifting and seven counts of burglary, a court official said.

Jones' bail was set at $30,000 with a 10 percent cash option when he made his first appearance on the charges in Central Judicial Processing court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.
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Al Sharpton on Alton Sterling killing: 'This has got to stop'
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MUNSTER  Peoples Bank's new chief executive officer wants to keep the community bank independent, reinvest in Northwest Indiana and continue to grow one of the Region's largest financial institutions.

"What it really boils down is we want to remain independent," CEO Ben Bochnowski said. "Community banks are going away left and right. Everything gets to the question of making sure that we stay here for our community and our customers."

Bochnowski, whose immigrant great-grandfather John Bochnowski founded the bank more than a century ago after arriving in East Chicago with $13 in his pocket, became CEO in late April after years of being groomed for the role. He succeeded his father, David Bochnowski, who has stayed on as executive chairman.

The younger Bochnowski, age 36, takes over the bank at a time of rapid growth.

Four years ago, Munster-based Northwest Indiana Bancorp developed a five-year strategic plan that called for 12 branches and between $630 million and $650 million in assets by the end of 2017. Today, it already has 16 branches and $850 million in assets, and more than $1 billion in assets under management.

All growth is local

Bochnowski hopes to grow Peoples Bank to 20 branches. Peoples Bank is building a new branch at the intersection of Ridge Road and Cline Avenue in Highland to replace the older one it acquired nearby when it bought First Federal Savings and Loan Association in 2014. It also acquired Liberty Savings Bank, and the growth through acquisition has helped boost loans by about $100 million last year and increased return on investment by 70 percent over the last three years.

Lending has been booming, and Peoples originated $321 million in loans last year, including $228 million for commercial projects. The bank is looking at building new branches in fast-growing areas, especially in Porter County and south Lake County. Bochnowski said Peoples would consider further acquisitions but wasn't actively looking for any.

"We're interested in organic growth," Bochnowski said.

The new branch in Highland will reflect a shift in the bank's focus. To cater to shifting customer demand, the new Highland branch will feature only two teller lines instead of the eight at the branch it replaces. The rest of the space will be offices so that people people can meet with bankers about mortgages or financial planning.

"It's modern and focused on the customers," he said. "The branch represents what we're trying to do to engage our customers."

Nationally, in-person transactions at bank branches are declining 10 percent a year as more people embrace online and mobile banking. Peoples Bank is focusing more on big-picture goals such as helping customers apply for mortgages and save for retirement or their children's college, Bochnowski said.

The new larger bank branch will employ eight to 10 people. Peoples Bank, which now employs 215 altogether, also has been adding staff at its corporate headquarters in Munster, where it's planning to renovate 5,000 square feet of unfinished space on the second floor.

"We're bursting at the seams in our corporate headquarters," Bochnowski said.

Working for a bigger family

Bochnowski, the fourth in his family to run the publicly-traded community bank, used to do homework after school while sitting in his dad's office at 9204 Columbia Ave. The two now have offices next to each other.

"Banking is not the family business," he said. "We don't own Peoples Bank. It's the family trade. We're a public company. You could buy a share of our company. That's how we get capital. It's money that goes into the local economy to grow Northwest Indiana. We make sure companies can expand and hire more people, and people have homes to raise their family in, and developers can build new homes."

Peoples Bank increased its dividend to 28 cents per share earlier this year. The bank has a 3.65 percent rate of return on investment, compared to an average of 2 percent in the industry.

"We're doing pretty well," Bochnowski said. "We're generating returns while growing the company and investing in Northwest Indiana."

Peoples Bank also aims to stay on top of the latest technology to remain relevant to customers. It was one of the first local banks to develop a mobile app and mobile check deposit, and it actively monitors industry trends so it can offer what customers will come to expect.

"The way people use money hasn't changed for the last several hundred years," Bochnowski said. "People use money to do things they can't on their own, whether buy a house or expand a business."

He points out the word bank comes from the Italian word bancario, which was the bench they'd sit down on to lend money 5,000 years ago. So what banks do today is not a new concept.

"What's different is how people interact with the bank," he said. "It took people 30 years to adopt online banking, and far less time to take up mobile banking. We need to stay in tune with those changes, but we still provide capital for people to grow their business, build their homes and grow the economy."

Bochnowski said his first few months as CEO have been fun, but he never forgets that he's responsible for 215 employees and thousands of customers. He said they're the ones who have helped make Peoples Bank so successful.

"A lot of people reached out to congratulate me, and I do appreciate all the support, but it wouldn't be possible without all the commitment and talent we have at Peoples Bank," he said. "We have a team that's ready to tackle the next step, and grow and change with our customers. As the Region changes, we'll grow with it."
An administrative law judge suspended the International Trade Commission investigation into whether all imports of Chinese steel into the United States should be banned, but U.S. Steel is appealing.

U.S. Steel asked the federal government to ban Chinese steel because of price-fixing, stolen trade secrets and tariff avoidance. It filed a Section 337 case in April, when China produced steel at a record daily rate of 2.3 million tons.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, one of Northwest Indiana's largest employers, alleged a variety of unfair and illegal trade practices, including ducking out of tariffs by misrepresenting where the steel originally came from, receiving heavy subsidies and unloading surplus steel at prices far lower than it would sell for back home.

Judge Dee Lord ruled last week the investigation doesnt have to be finished until October 2017. She ordered the International Trade Commission to first notify the U.S. Department of Commerce about U.S. Steel's complaints since the company raised concerns about Chinese steel dumping and illegal subsidies. The U.S. Department of Commerce must review the case, which would delay the investigation.

She cited preliminary determinations by the Department of Commerce in favor of tariffs against imports of corrosion-resistant and cold-rolled steel.

U.S. Steel's antitrust claims explicitly rely upon determinations by the Commission and the Commerce Department that the Chinese government subsidizes the Chinese steel industry, and that Chinese steel manufacturers sell their products at less than fair value, she wrote in her ruling. U.S. Steel's false designation of origin claims are based explicitly upon Respondents' alleged evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders issued by the Commerce Department.

U.S. Steel filed an appeal Thursday. The steelmaker went to the unusual step of requesting a total ban on Chinese steel imports after the Asian country exported a record 112 million tons of steel last year, resulting in an international import crisis and contributing to more than 14,000 layoffs in the U.S. steel industry.

A U.S. Steel spokeswoman declined to comment on the trade case.

Tamara Browne, of Schagrin Associates and a steel industry lobbyist from Gary, said the ruling would result in a delay.

It certainly appears that if any action is taken it will take awhile, she said.
One Best Life @ Tinker's Attic in downtown Highland is a venue for local artists, whether sculptors looking to sell their creations or musicians looking for a stage to play on.

The art gallery and collectibles store at 2513 Highway Ave. at the westernmost fringe of downtown Highland hosts a weekly open mic night, showcases the work of many local artists and offers low-cost art classes.

About a year ago, sisters Susan and Lisabeth Crouch opened the gallery, which features about 150 works from about 45 local artists and a weekly open mic night similar to Paul Henrys Art Gallery in downtown Hammond. One Best Life @ Tinker's Attic also offers affordable arts classes from local artists like Dawn Kovera, who also displays her mixed media and mosaic pieces in the gallery.

"It's kind of nice to have an outlet to sell my things," she said. "I love it here. I think the arts are really important to people, and you need more than big venues like Theatre at the Center. This is a small hands-on venue."

Children and adults alike can get classes on mosaics, mixed media and other art forms for $20 a session instead the six-week commitment other art education programs often require.

We believe people are creative, Crouch said. "We want to expose people to different art forms. Most artists do it as self-medication."

Crouch herself is a mixed media artist who incorporates natural rocks, driftwood beach wood, sea shells and rusty items like screws and bolts and washers and hub cabs into her work.

When I was 7, I wanted to be like Picasso, she said.

She wanted to create a venue for people to show their art because there were so few in the area, she said. Crouch also hopes to expose more people to art they could decorate their homes with.

Prices at One Best Life @ Tinker's Attic range from $10 to $500. Crouch wanted to ensure the art was affordable because "Highland is not New York City.

I like when people share their work, she said. They do what they do for the love of the art, not for the money.

Musicians, ranging from recent Highland High School valedictorians to retired Chicago Police Department officers, play at open mic night, which is a welcome alternative to the rowdy bars for many performers, she said. Alternative rock, folk, jazz and country just some of the genres played.

Basically anything and everything, but "no heavy metal," Crouch said.

Everybody has creativity, she said. Come on out and express yourself, and let your inner child out. Let your hair down."

For local musicians, it's part of an open mic night circuit with Paul Henry's in downtown Hammond, the Fox Gallery in Lake Station and the rotating MBOM Miller Beach Open Mic in Gary.

The open mic at One Best Life @ Tinker's Attic starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. It's $5 for admission, which includes a potluck.

Its a small income, he said. It keeps us going, us creatives."

One Best Life @ Tinker's Attic is open from noon until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from noon until 4 p.m. Saturday. It reopens at 6 p.m. Saturday for the open mic and remains open until 11 p.m.

For more information, call (219) 301-5096 or find One Best Life @ Tinkers Attic on Facebook.
GARY  A 66-year-old man is accused of beating his wife who has Alzheimer's disease and dementia, according to court records.

Lamont Moore, of Gary, was charged this week with attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon, domestic battery against an endangered adult, domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury and domestic battery.

The woman's son called police after he came home early July 4 and saw Moore beating his mother while telling her she was no good, according to the affidavit. The woman was naked, her hair was wet and there were pieces of broken glass around her.

She was taken to a nearby hospital where she was treated for bruising on her body, a black eye, a head injury and swelling to her hands and ankle, according to court records.

Moore told police he became angry early that morning after seeing that his wife had broken two glass plates. He told detectives he threw water at her to calm her down, the affidavit stated.

He allegedly admitted that he hit his wife with his hands, an aluminum cane and a leather belt, according to court records.
CROWN POINT  Lake and Cook county police are reaching across the state line again to fight gangs and racial profiling.

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart and Lake County Sheriff John Buncich announced Friday at a joint press conference their departments will deepen their past cooperation to arrest violent street gang members and reduce the gun traffic from Indiana to Illinois that arms them.

Dart said, Indiana is the number two source of guns we find at our crime scenes in Chicago. Its stupid not to be aware of the fact gangs could care less about borders. As a matter of fact, they sort of like them, because traditionally (police) jurisdictions dont have the ability to cross borders.

John and I have been working together for years, and its broken down a lot of barriers. We have a lot in common, Dart said.

That includes violent street gangs. Dart said, For years now, our gang units have been working together.

Buncich said his departments gang unit patrols areas throughout Lake County with the highest levels of gang violence. We have identified 2,000 gang members and are going after their leadership with the help of the U.S. Attorneys office, he said.

He said they have removed some street gang members who had moved from Chicago to public housing in Lake County.

He said the countys multi-agency Metro Homicide Unit pursues gang-related killings, and the sheriffs Drug Task Force operates throughout Lake County to identify and stop drug trafficking tied to gang activity.

Buncich said his department also is putting resources into preventing children from joining gangs, at ever earlier ages under peer pressure for protection, respect and money.

Buncich, Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson and Gary Police Chief Larry McKinley have developed a public service announcement about gang violence that will be distributed to students, parents and community leaders with the aim of keeping children in school and out of gangs.

He said he wants to work with local leaders of the NAACP and other minority groups to build their trust regarding law enforcement in the wake of police shootings and Black Lives Matter protests.

Ive had meetings with the NAACP and other minority groups throughout our county. In the weeks ahead, we will make a concerted effort, Buncich said, adding he will ensure officers be trained how to interact with people of all races, religions and community backgrounds.
SPRINGFIELD  Speaking at a state convention of the American Legion on Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner said the United States has been at war with Islamic terrorists for decades and likely will be for decades to come.

The Republicans remarks came a day after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, killing 84 people.

This is a brutal war. Its going to be very difficult, said Rauner, one of many U.S. governors who sought temporary bans on Syrian refugees entering their states after Novembers terrorist attacks in Paris. We need to remind everyone in our communities to stay vigilant, stay aware. There are thousands of terrorists in America  theyre in America; theyre in Europe; theyre around the world  seeking to hurt innocent people to pursue their own goals. Weve got to stop them.

The governor said state security officials are reviewing procedures for handling motor vehicle attacks like the one in Nice, which also injured more than 200 people.

These terrorists are creative in terms of how they hurt innocent people, but weve got to stay vigilant, remind everyone in our communities to stay aware, stay safe, communicate with law enforcement, Rauner said.

Master Sgt. Matt Boerwinkle, a spokesman for the Illinois State Police, said the agency is working very closely with state and federal agencies to review our terrorism response policies and procedures.

We ask all Illinoisans remain vigilant as we keep the citizens of Nice, France, in our thoughts and prayers, Boerwinkle wrote in an email.

The driver in Nice has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian who was living in France with legal permission, according to news reports. As of early Friday evening, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on Facebook, Rauner said he and first lady Diana Rauner stand in solidarity with the victims and their families.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this horrific attack, said Rauner, who ordered that flags be flown at half-staff through sunset Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the American Legion convention, Rauner wouldnt answer a question about whether Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton would be better equipped to deal with the threat of terrorism if elected president. The governor has routinely avoided weighing in on the presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, Rauner used his appearance at the convention to sign a bill allowing those whove served in National Guard and Reserve units to have a special veteran designation on their drivers licenses regardless of whether theyve served on active duty.

The governor said the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, corrects an oversight in a previous law.

Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, who served in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1992 to 1998, sponsored similar legislation this spring and was a co-sponsor of Althoffs bill.

Its important that we recognize all who have answered the call to serve our nation in the military, Barickman said in a written statement. This new law will help make sure National Guard members and reservists are able to take part.
Two years ago Sunday, a Staten Island man, Eric Garner, died after being placed in a chokehold by police. His death helped to fuel a national debate about race and police, and it has turned one woman into an advocate for police reform: his mom. Staten Island reporter Amanda Farinacci reports.

In a sea of people protesting alleged police brutality, it's easy to recognize Gwen Carr. She's photographed and interviewed often, but says the subject of those interviews remains difficult to talk about: the death of her son, Eric Garner.

"People ask me if the pain has gotten any better. It really hasn't gotten better," Carr said. "It's just that I choose to motivate it in a different way. I choose to turn my pain into a purpose."

Eric Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, died two years ago this Sunday from a police chokehold. When a Staten Island grand jury decided there was not enough evidence to charge police in Garner's death, mass protests erupted across the country.

Carr has been at the center of many protests and an advocate for police reform, roles that have not come naturally for the retired train conductor.

"In the beginning, when I first was asked to speak, I didn't know what I was going to say, how I was going to say it, what I should say. So then after a while, I just said what I felt," Carr said.

"I look at what happened to my son and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else if I could prevent it. So I speak out for those who didn't get press, who had very little press. I speak out for those, the nameless, the faceless."

Carr has also aligned herself with other black women who have lost children in clashes with the police to push for special prosecutors to investigate such cases. She's also joined them in supporting Hillary Clinton for president, appearing in an ad, after Clinton reached out to her following her sons death.

"I feel like she endorsed us before we endorsed her," Carr said of Clinton.

Carr has helped to form a foundation in Eric Garner's honor to stop mass incarceration and to promote healing between police and the community. It hopes to become a registered charity by the end of the year.
Police are looking for a man they say who tried to rob a Boost Mobile store in Queens at gunpoint.

Investigators say this man went into the store a little before 8 p.m. Friday and pulled a gun on the 22-year-old employee.

He told her not to scream and demanded money.

The employee fought back and started throwing objects at the robber.

Cops say he then tried to force her to open the cash register, but eventually ran off empty handed.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
But the movements stealthy expansion of power  as well as its tactics and lack of transparency  is now drawing accusations that Mr. Gulens supporters are using their influence in Turkeys courts and police and intelligence services to engage in witch hunts against opponents with the aim of creating a more conservative Islamic Turkey. Critics say the agenda is threatening the governments democratic credentials just as Turkey steps forward as a regional power.

We are troubled by the secretive nature of the Gulen movement, all the smoke and mirrors, said a senior American official, who requested anonymity to avoid breaching diplomatic protocol. It is clear they want influence and power. We are concerned there is a hidden agenda to challenge secular Turkey and guide the country in a more Islamic direction.

The movement has strong affiliations or sympathy in powerful parts of Turkeys news media, including the countrys largest daily newspaper, Zaman, and, Turkish analysts say, among at least several dozen members of its 550-seat Parliament, with support extending to the highest levels of government.

With its extensive influence in the media and a small army of grass-roots supporters, the Gulen movement has provided indispensable support to the conservative, Islam-inspired government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some officials and analysts suspect that some elements within the Gulen movement have served as a stalking-horse for the government, which has benefited, too, as the Gulen-affiliated media have attacked common opponents and backed trials that Mr. Erdogan has publicly supported.

But the relationship between Mr. Erdogan and Mr. Gulen has sometimes been tense, with the prime minster, a mercurial and populist leader, sensitive to any challenges to his authority. Analysts say that in recent months Mr. Erdogan and other members of his Justice and Development Party have grown increasingly wary, as high-profile arrests of critics of the Gulen movement have embarrassed the government. There is growing talk of a power struggle.
Times Insider delivers behind-the-scenes insights from The New York Times. Below are highlights from television and radio interviews featuring Times reporters and editors.

Rukmini Callimachi, a Times reporter covering Al Qaeda and ISIS, joined MSNBCs The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the deadly terrorist attack in Nice, France:

What is of note here is that there is an enormous amount of fan activity. ISIS, pro-ISIS accounts that are loosely affiliated with the group or that are close to the group are tweeting about it, are putting out images of the carnage. One very well-known account put out a one-sentence message that said, France :) That activity has been wrong in the past  But the volume of it is indicative. The volume here is what we saw after the Paris attacks and Brussels attacks, and it can act as a kind of weather vane.  When it starts to crescendo, it typically tends to lead to a claim of responsibility.

Sewell Chan, The Timess international news editor in London, joined WNYC Radios The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss Theresa May, the new prime minister of Britain, and her response to the attack in France:

I think that one of Prime Minister Mays messages was that the security and defense cooperation was continuing. She pointed out that the U.K. and France have been allies on security measures for decades and would be allies again. After all, the Brexit decision was motivated a lot by concerns about immigration, and I think terror is a part of that.  I dont think the geopolitical alliance between Britain and France is any way in doubt.

Yamiche Alcindor, a National reporter at The Times, joined MSNBCs Live with Kate Snow to discuss her coverage of the impact of police shootings on children:

I talked to so many family members of people who are affected by officer-involved shootings, and we dont usually go back to ask, How are your kids are doing? Tamir Rices sister lost 50 pounds after she witnessed her brother getting shot. Oscar Grant, who was killed in California  his daughter was ducking from police at 5 years old.  In reality, theyre really carrying this very adult pain, and their parents are really, really worried. I talked to so many families that think theyre going to have these children that are going to be afraid for the rest of their lives.

Manny Fernandez, The Timess Houston bureau chief, joined PBSs Charlie Rose to discuss the aftermath of the shootings in Dallas:

Dallas is at a very interesting point right now because, on the one hand, when you walk around downtown, its a very relaxed, typical city. Theres a bunch of school kids that were coming into my hotel as I was leaving getting ready for some sort of event. And yet on the other hand, there is a hint of tension, and theres just a lot of grief. I talked to one police officer yesterday, and he said that it took him 30 minutes to get from his car to go inside a store and buy a Coke and then walk out because so many people stopped him to shake his hand, to hug him  ask him how he was doing. That really sort of captures for me what the city is going through right now.

Robert Draper, a contributor to The New York Times Magazine, joined MSNBCs Morning Joe to discuss his latest feature for the magazine on the impact of Donald J. Trumps campaign on down-ballot races in November:

Its historically the case that when youre a vulnerable congressman or senator you do look to grab on to presidential coattails. You hope for, if nothing else, infrastructure support, something like that. We see nothing of that sort happening here. We dont know that Trump, for sure, is going to have a negative determinative effect on the down-ballot situation. We do know a couple of things: First, that no one believes he will have a positive effect.

Mike Isaac, a technology reporter for The Times, joined WNYC Radios The Brian Lehrer Show to discuss the Pokemon Go craze and how it has become one of the fastest growing phenomena in the gaming world:
F. Gary Gray chronicles the rise of the gangster rappers N.W.A in Straight Outta Compton, now on cable. Will Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, who pushed the N.F.L. to admit the truth behind head injuries, in Concussion. And Bret Baier reports on what to expect at the Republican National Convention.

Whats on TV

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (2015) 8 p.m. on HBO. F. Gary Gray charts the exultant rap-to-riches story of the group N.W.A, which used beats, smarts, corrosive poetry and powerful rhetoric to introduce gangster rap to the world from Compton, Calif., about 20 miles south of the Hollywood sign. Jason Mitchell plays its marquee attraction, Eazy-E, alongside Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, and OShea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube. Fifty years after the Watts riots, and amid a national focus on black victims of police shootings, the movie acknowledges the larger agonizing picture, Manohla Dargis wrote in The New York Times. But mostly, it celebrates the ultimate outsiders turned ultimate insiders, which makes it as blissfully American as apple pie, low riders and gangster rap itself.

2016 NITRO WORLD GAMES 8 p.m. on NBC. More than 100 athletes will try out their best tricks in freestyle motocross, bicycle motocross, skateboarding, in-line skating and scooter at this three-hour extravaganza in Salt Lake City.
Sally Beauman, a British journalist and romance novelist whose first book under her own name, the steamy Destiny (1987), drew an advance of more than $1 million, then a record for an unknown author, died on July 7 in Northern England. She was 71.

The cause was pneumonia, Ursula Mackenzie, the chairwoman of Little, Brown U.K., Ms. Beaumans publisher, said in an email. Ms. Beauman also had cancer, she said.

The story of a young American womans romance with the scion of a jewelry empire, Destiny was rife with sexual detail. Ms. Beauman explained years later that she never understood the idea that you should siphon off this one subject  sex  and not write about it in exactly the same way as you would anything else.

While publishers saw the books commercial appeal, they were also impressed with Ms. Beaumans research and writing style, which she honed writing nonfiction; she wrote two books about the Royal Shakespeare Company, for example, and articles for newspapers and magazines. She also wrote romance novels for Harlequin under a pen name, Vanessa James.
The best-selling drugs Humira and Enbrel have a lot in common. They both use biotechnology to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other autoimmune diseases. And they come with giant price tags approaching $50,000 a year.

Now the two companies behind the competing drugs have found common ground in keeping those prices so high: They are deploying new patents to prevent patients and insurers from getting two essentially generic versions of the drugs for less money.

This week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended approval of the near generic versions. But the patents could delay introduction. And even if the drugs get to market, some patient groups say they will resist efforts by insurers to force them to use the less expensive drugs.

The various developments show that six years after the Affordable Care Act cleared the way for biosimilars, as the generic versions of biotechnology drugs are called, progress has been slow. Only one biosimilar, a mimic of the white blood cell booster Neupogen, is available to patients.
Lawyers for the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes, are looking to transfer a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the former anchor Gretchen Carlson to a New York federal court, a move her lawyers immediately dismissed as judge shopping.

In papers filed on Friday, Mr. Ailess lawyers argued that the case should be heard in federal court in Manhattan  rather than the New Jersey federal court that it was moved to last week  and that the matter should be resolved in arbitration, a change that would effectively shield the proceedings from public scrutiny.

Minutes later, Ms. Carlsons lawyers issued their own brief, rejecting the contention by Mr. Ailess team that arbitration was required.

It was the second Friday in a row marked by a skirmish between the sides in a case that has transfixed the television world and raised questions about the future of Mr. Ailes, a towering newsman who has long been a figure of controversy and fascination.
Mr. Cuomos campaign reported raising just over $4 million since early January, about $1 million less than he raised in the previous six-month period. None of the money came from the developers or other companies that have been connected to the federal investigation, including COR Development Company, Columbia Development Companies and CHA Consulting, all of which had donated significant amounts to Mr. Cuomo at least once a year since 2013.

Mr. Cuomos total cash on hand  about $19 million  was roughly the same amount he had this time four years ago, as he prepared for a run for re-election.

The Campaign for One New York, a nonprofit created by close advisers of Mr. de Blasio, said that it had taken in only eight donations that totaled $60,000, and none after Feb. 1. The largest donations were for $10,000 and included two hotel companies, the Westin New York at Times Square and the InterContinental New York Times Square.

In the past, the group had received contributions as large as $350,000 from unions, developers and others with business before the city.

Mr. de Blasio announced in March that the group would be shut down, saying that it had accomplished its purpose, including supporting his major initiatives such as establishing universal prekindergarten. The group was criticized in a report last week by the citys Campaign Finance Board, which found that the nonprofits activities raised serious policy and perception issues. The organization is also a focus of federal investigators who are looking into fund-raising practices.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York has filed a lawsuit against a Russian woman who accused him of an assault at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan this year, alleging that he is the subject of an extended and expanding attempt at extortion.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Friday, offers new details about the combative and disastrous relationship between Mr. Spitzer  who resigned in disgrace in 2008 after being linked to a high-end prostitution ring  and Svetlana Andreevna Zakharova, 26, who is also known as Lana Travis.

In February, the police investigated a claim and a 911 call made by Ms. Zakharova that Mr. Spitzer had choked her during a meeting at the Plaza Hotel, but she later recanted before returning to Russia and apologized to Mr. Spitzer via email. No charges were ever filed.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Spitzers lawyers acknowledged that he had previously agreed to make certain payments to Ms. Zakharova to persuade her to not follow through on threats to reveal publicly and to Mr. Spitzers family the existence and purported details of their interactions that she thought would embarrass Mr. Spitzer and his children.
The police raids around a gritty Brooklyn intersection were meant to show that city officials were taking charge after 33 people had been stricken by suspected overdoses of K2. But the spectacle, captured by a crush of news media, came up all but empty, without a single packet of the drug seized.

The outcome of the attempted crackdown underscored the challenges the authorities face in combating K2, a potent substance that is easy to distribute and hard to regulate. Its low price and powerful high have made it popular among some homeless people, and its effects have periodically transformed patches of the city  like the one on the border of Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant where the raids were carried out  into theaters of public drug use.

While K2 has been marketed to mimic the effects of marijuana, officials say it is more unpredictable. It has flourished in a legal gray area, as people who sell it employ various tricks to circumvent the laws against it, packaging it as room freshener and potpourri, using labels like not for human consumption and changing the combinations of chemicals used to make it.

Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies, officials said, K2 can still be bought at some gas stations, smoke shops and convenience stores. The main problem, officials said, is that the chemical combinations used to produce it make it difficult to define legally.
Attempted Coup in Turkey

1. The Turkish military has a history of overthrowing regimes that are not to its liking. The Turkish military is also filled with staunch secularists for the most part, seeing their role as the watchdogs that keep Turkey nationalist and areligious, just like the founder of the modern republic, Ataturk, wouldve wanted.

So the fact that it took the Turkish military this long to go hard against the soft Islamism of Erdogan, as well as Erdogans increasing willingness to usurp more and more state power, is surprising to me.
How we react to terrorism has become a measure of who we are, as individuals and as a society. It is not clear yet whether the heinous massacre in Nice, France, was the work of a lone wolf or a terrorist network, but in a way it doesnt matter. Each new attack, each new convulsion of fear, horror, grief and anger is a progressively greater test of enlightened civilizations commitment to its core values.

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who drove a truck through a festive nighttime crowd celebrating Bastille Day on Nices seaside promenade, may well have been avenging some personal grievance with the weapon closest at hand. Or it may emerge that ISIS or some other organized terrorists pushed him to this atrocity, targeting France  the country with the largest Muslim population in Europe and the strongest embrace of secularism  for the third time in 19 months.

But whoever struck the blow, whatever its malevolent purpose or toll, the response cannot be to abandon the respect for human rights, equality, reason and tolerance that is the aspiration of all democratic cultures. Though it has become almost a cliche to argue that the goal of terrorists is to bring their victims down to their moral level, it is also a truth, and it must be reaffirmed after every attack.

That is what the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, did in the wake of the assault. Warning France that it had to learn to live with terrorism, he declared that the only dignified response was for the French to remain faithful to the spirit of July 14, which means a France brought together and united around its values.
It was ironic that, as members of the military launched a coup against him on Friday night, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey resorted to guerrilla media tactics  broadcasting via the FaceTime app on his cellphone  to urge Turks to oppose the plotters. Mr. Erdogan has been no friend to free expression, ruthlessly asserting control over the media and restricting human rights and free speech. Yet thousands responded to his appeal, turning back the rebels and demonstrating that they still value democracy even if Mr. Erdogan has eroded its meaning.

That erosion now seems likely to accelerate, exacting a terrible price from Turkeys citizens and posing new challenges to international efforts to confront the Islamic State and halt the killing in Turkeys neighbor, Syria.

Given the chaotic and bloody events of the last two days, there is little doubt that Mr. Erdogan will become more vengeful and obsessed with control than ever, exploiting the crisis not just to punish mutinous soldiers but to further quash whatever dissent is left in Turkey. They will pay a heavy price for this, he said, chillingly. This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.
NATIONAL

An article Tuesday about concerns over visitors and protesters taking firearms to downtown Cleveland during the Republican National Convention misstated the position of Oath Keepers, a group of current and former members of the military that has shown up at other tense events heavily armed. Members of the group said in online postings they would travel to Cleveland; the group itself did not say it plans to do so.



Because of editing errors, a caption on Friday for a picture of a funeral for a Dallas police officer misstated his surname in some editions and referred incorrectly to one of the officers who was killed the same night. The funeral was for Sgt. Michael Smith, not Michael Thomas, and one of the five officers killed was with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit; all five were not with the police department.

NEW YORK

The About New York column on Wednesday, about historians who banded together to express alarm over Donald J. Trumps candidacy for president, misspelled the surname of one of them, a scholar at the University of North Carolina. He is William E. Leuchtenburg, not Leuchtenberg.



An article in some editions on Monday about the collapse of the Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry during a performance in Coney Island erroneously attributed a song to the band. I Dont Want to Miss a Thing was written by Diane Warren, not by members of Aerosmith, who only performed the song. In addition, a reporting credit for Joe Coscarelli was omitted.
The impact of falling oil prices in Alaska, which has seemed for many residents like a distant worry until now, is about to land. The turning point came on Friday, when the State House of Representatives, meeting at the Capitol in Juneau in the fifth special session since last summer, failed to override a line-item veto of the budget by Gov. Bill Walker.

That means the $1.3 billion in spending cuts imposed last month by Mr. Walker, a political independent, will almost certainly take effect on top of cuts that lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Legislature had already agreed on.

And those effects will ripple far and wide across the state, from public schools and the University of Alaska, which will see steep declines in state aid; to individual households, in the form of reduced state oil investment dividend checks; to the state court system, which began closing at noon on Fridays to save money. Tiny airports that connect the states vast rural areas may have to close.

Leaders in both parties said that positions were too entrenched and bitter to even bring up an override attempt to the floor, where it would have required a three-fourths supermajority to succeed, or to consider any of the taxes that Mr. Walker proposed to keep programs from being cut. Although the State Senate plans to continue meetings next week, the legal deadline for trying to roll back Mr. Walkers dramatic red-pen restructuring passed on Friday with the close of business.
Within four hours of the attack on the French Riviera, Donald J. Trump pledged to seek a rare declaration of war from Congress against Islamic terrorists and called for extreme vetting of immigrants and a complete ban on those from terrorist nations.

Minutes later, two finalists to be Mr. Trumps running mate began weighing in. Newt Gingrich proposed a loyalty test for American citizens who are Muslim and deporting those who believe in Shariah law, while Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, referring to terrorism, called for America to defeat this enemy of civilization at its source.

Yet for all the bellicose proclamations, Mr. Trump and his allies would be sharply constrained  by lawmakers, foreign allies, treaties and the Constitution  in achieving these goals, and Mr. Trump is not much closer to providing specific proposals on national security than he was 13 months ago when he began running for president.

On Friday, as he announced Mr. Pence as his choice and prepared to claim the Republican nomination at the partys convention next week, Mr. Trump still lacked a detailed foreign policy agenda and a deep bench of advisers, appearing instead like a man who had taken his cues about war from Fox News commentators and Twitter users.

These latest statements strike the same chords of hostility and suspicion toward Muslims and immigrants that are at the heart of Mr. Trumps appeal to many voters who feel insecure amid terrorist attacks abroad and mass shootings at home. His ideas may be unworkable, according to some foreign policy experts in both parties, but his message has unquestionable political power.
BEIJING  Xu Jiatun, a senior Communist Party official who opposed the Chinese militarys suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square in 1989 and fled to the United States the following year, died on June 29 in Chino Hills, Calif. He was 100.

The cause was kidney and heart failure, his family said.

Mr. Xus death, like his life, was marked by politics. As punishment for his flight in 1990 he was expelled from the party. His wish to return home was never granted, said his son, Xu Jian, speaking by phone from Los Angeles. Most of Mr. Xus family remained in China, including his wife, Gu Yiping.

Photographs on the websites of overseas Chinese news media showed flowers sent by some prominent Chinese political families, including the family of Zhao Ziyang, the liberal former premier and general secretary of the party with whom Mr. Xu was friendly.

But in China, his death was not officially recognized. A death notice was published on the website of Caixin magazine, then taken down.
WASHINGTON  With all the crises in the Middle East, the Obama administration took solace in the fact that there was one reliable, democratically elected strongman  a stalwart member of NATO  that Washington could depend on: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

No matter how the coup attempt against Mr. Erdogan plays out over the next hours and days, that certainty is shattered.

Until midafternoon Friday, American officials thought Mr. Erdogan had tightened his iron grip on his country. He had purged the judiciary; jailed insouciant senior military officers three years ago and installed seemingly compliant successors; and cracked down on the opposition and the news media.

As one senior American diplomat said Friday evening, no one had come to work that day at the White House, the State Department or the C.I.A. expecting to see Mr. Erdogan turn to FaceTime on his iPhone to plead with the Turkish people to take to the streets in his defense.

Even though the coup attempt appeared to be failing by early Saturday morning in Turkey, the country had suddenly become another tumultuous one in a region that knows no end of turmoil.
More than five years ago, Al Qaeda called on its followers to use cars as tools of terror. Soon after, the terrorist group that had brought down the twin towers scrapped the idea, feeling that the tactic was too indiscriminate, too likely to kill Muslims.

But the idea of the car as a weapon was revived by the Islamic State shortly after it broke with Al Qaeda in 2014 following years of discord over the Islamic States brutal methods.

If you are not able to find an I.E.D. or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman or any of their allies, the groups spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, said in a speech. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, he said, according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  In Moscow on Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov of Russia laid bunches of flowers in memory of the victims of the truck attack in Nice, France, then spent hours debating proposals for new cooperation in Syria.

But the discussions, aimed at fighting terrorism and restarting political talks to end the war, took place against a backdrop of new carnage in Syria, where a very different dynamic is playing out.

Pro-government forces are tightening a new siege around the countrys largest city, Aleppo, amid intense bombing. Farther south, they are on the verge of overrunning the long-besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, one of the first to rebel against the government of President Bashar al-Assad five years ago. They have stepped up airstrikes, hitting marketplaces and tent camps, as civilians trapped behind blockades continue to die for lack of food and medical care.

Both supporters and opponents of Mr. Assad say he and his allies are seeking to press their military campaign as far as it can go before January, when a new American president might take a tougher line in Syria.

Even as the Syrian government periodically issues declarations of temporary cease-fires, that policy is playing out with devastating effect on the ground in Syria.

The siege that people on the rebel-held side of Aleppo have dreaded for years seems to have arrived this week, adding to besieged areas across the country where aid groups say one million people are already trapped. The only road connecting the city to the border with Turkey and rebel-held countryside has long been subject to airstrikes. But after recent advances, government forces can now rake it with artillery and machine-gun fire.

The United Nations and international aid groups are raising alarms, saying that food, medicine and medical personnel are unable to reach the city.

We need to be able to reach eastern Aleppo, Jan Egeland, the United Nations humanitarian adviser to the special envoy on Syria, said in Geneva on Friday, estimating that about 250,000 people still live there. It is on the verge of becoming yet another besieged location  our largest.

The fear in Aleppo is that the government will surround it and starve and shell it until it surrenders, as it did with Homs, a smaller city, where a siege of the downtown lasted more than two years and left virtually every building damaged. But Aleppo is far larger, and such a siege would be longer and bloodier.
The Nusra Front has been one of the most effective anti-Assad forces, and American-backed rebel groups often coordinate their activities with its units. In Russias view, that means that Washington is effectively supporting the Nusra Front and that the American-backed groups are legitimate targets. So a joint campaign against the group not only would appear to concede Russias point, but could also bring American firepower to bear against the strongest anti-Assad military force and a sometime partner of Washingtons allies.

Mr. Kerry made clear that defeating the Nusra Front was a major American priority.

So if some critic is criticizing the United States or Russia for going after Al Nusra, which is a terrorist organization, because theyre good fighters against Assad, they have their priorities completely screwed up, Mr. Kerry said. The fact is that Nusra is plotting against countries in the world. What happened in Nice last night could just as well come from Nusra or wherever it came from as any other entity. Because thats what they do.

Mr. Lavrov said that supporting terrorist organizations would always lead to disaster.

There were cases in history when some countries were trying to play with extremist and terrorist groups, hoping to use them to achieve their own geopolitical goals to topple undesirable regimes, Mr. Lavrov said. He referred to American support for the mujahedeen in Afghanistan, which he said led to the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The other complication is that the Syrians and the Russians have routinely undermined previous cease-fires and other measures to spare civilian lives. In just the past week, the Syrian Army has announced cease-fires, only to conduct a military campaign around the rebel-held section of Aleppo, leaving about 300,000 people besieged.

Government forces are also advancing on the Damascus suburb of Daraya, one of the first areas to revolt against the government. In recent days, a refugee camp near the border with Jordan was bombed, and civilians were killed. It is not known who carried out the operation.

When asked whether Russia had violated previous cease-fire agreements, Mr. Lavrov said, A lot could be said on who is to blame.
American hens produce more than 83 billion eggs a year. Most hens  more than 285 million in all  are housed in cages not much bigger than a shoe box. Stuck in one of these so-called battery cages, a hen might live her whole life without seeing the sunlight, let alone stretching her wings.

Pressure from animal rights activists has led many of the biggest food companies in the country to commit to what are being described as more humane alternatives. In recent months, Walmart, Costco, McDonalds and others have pledged to transition to buying only cage-free eggs in the years to come.

That is music to the ears of the people who have campaigned against conventional battery cages. Yet while industrial cage-free systems may improve the quality of life for some hens, research suggests that they can also introduce health and environmental problems.

The world is changing, said Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States. There is this rising tide of consciousness about animals, and people are starting to realize that they have feelings and lives that matter.
He hounded network executives at all hours, demanding Nielsen reports and asking: Howd we do? Howd we do?

He routinely fibbed about ratings, declaring The Apprentice the No. 1 show on television even when, as NBC officials would sheepishly admit, it was not.

And he demanded a raise to $6 million from roughly $50,000 an episode during a lunch with Jeff Zucker, then head of NBC. It was only fair, he explained, because the cast of NBCs sitcom Friends earned the same amount  combined.

With its glamour and famous catchphrase  Youre fired  The Apprentice, which debuted in 2004, was the ultimate showcase for Donald J. Trumps self-styled image as a power-wielding mogul. But it also served as a prequel of sorts for his improbable next act as a presidential nominee, who next week will return to prime time as the ringmaster of the Republican National Convention.
Paying with cash is painful  and thats a good thing, according to new research.

When people pay for items using cold, hard cash rather than by card or online, they feel more of a sting and therefore assign more value to the purchase, according to Avni M. Shah, an assistant marketing professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Her findings were born of personal experience: One day she forgot her debit card, so she paid for a latte with physical dollars  and felt her drink tasted better that day. Could her method of payment have been the reason?

She tested her theory two years ago, when she was a doctoral student at Duke University. She decided to sell discounted mugs with the Duke University logo on them to school staff and faculty in their offices. She asked one group to pay $2 for the mugs with cash. The other group had to pay with a card.

Then Professor Shah returned to each purchaser two hours later and said she needed to buy the mug back. To soften the blow, she asked the buyers to name their price. The people who had paid for the mug with a card asked for an average of $3.83 back, while those who had paid with cash asked, on average, for $6.71.

Some of the cash folks literally blocked their hand over the mug and said, You cant take this back, Professor Shah said.
History will almost surely rank health care reform as one of President Obamas greatest accomplishments. About 20 million Americans have insurance that might otherwise have been unaffordable, and the law has cost much less than anticipated. But one senior administration official thinks the Affordable Care Act has fallen short. His name: Barack Obama.

Presidents usually wait until their memoirs to review their work. Not, in this case, Mr. Obama, who recently marked the acts sixth anniversary with an unusual article in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Health care costs are still much too high, he wrote, and 29 million people still lack coverage. He then sketched some ideas for the presumptive presidential nominees. Hillary Clinton is likely to listen, having proposed improvements of her own. Donald Trump, not so much. He has so far adopted the repeal and replace position of his party.

Six years ago, 16 percent of Americans did not have health insurance; that number is now down to 9.1 percent. People forced to pay out of their own pocket were often bankrupted. Some went without care, and others resorted to charity care at emergency rooms. The law has helped many of these people by expanding Medicaid, which insures the poor. For millions of others, it created health care exchanges where people could buy coverage with the help of government subsidies.
FORTUNATELY, no one is going to follow Newt Gingrichs unconstitutional and un-American plan for an inquisition to test every person here who is of a Muslim background and deport the ones who believe in Shariah. Even Mr. Gingrich himself, a day after suggesting this policy in the wake of the terrorist attack in Nice, France, conceded that such a plan was impossible. But his proposal is a reminder of a persistent and inexcusable misunderstanding of what Shariah is, both in theory and in practice.

Put simply, for believing Muslims, Shariah is the ideal realization of divine justice  a higher law reflecting Gods will.

Muslims have a wide range of different beliefs about what Shariah requires in practice. And all agree that humans are imperfect interpreters of Gods will. But to ask a faithful Muslim if he or she believes in Shariah is essentially to ask if he or she accepts Gods word. In effect, Mr. Gingrich was proposing to deport all Muslims who consider themselves religious believers.

Start with a crucial distinction. Shariah doesnt simply or exactly mean Islamic law. Properly speaking, Shariah refers to Gods blueprint for human life. It is divine and unchanging, reflecting Gods unity and perfection. It can be found in Gods revealed word in the Quran and in the divinely guided actions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Washington  IN 1788, as the states met to ratify the Constitution, George Washington began to get letters from his Revolutionary War friends urging him to serve as the first president of the United States. In the Name of America, of Mankind at large, and Your Own fame, I Beseech you, my dear General, Not to deny your Acceptance of the office of president, wrote the Marquis de Lafayette. Alexander Hamilton nudged him: I take it for granted, Sir, you have concluded to comply with what will no doubt be the general call of your country.

Because Washingtons letters and diaries have been preserved and digitized at the Library of Congress, and published, we can read over his shoulder as he struggled with his friends, popular opinion and himself over whether to do what everyone insisted he must do. Washingtons emotional expressions of reluctance and self-doubt are startling to read in light of the absolute certainty and unbreakable confidence we require presidential candidates to project today.

To Benjamin Lincoln, another Revolutionary War officer, Washington wrote that if he should be pressed to accept the presidency, it would be the greatest sacrafice of my personal feelings & wishes that ever I have been called upon to make. It would be to fore go repose and domestic enjoyment; for trouble, perhaps; for public obloquy: for I should consider myself as entering upon an unexplored field, enveloped on every side with clouds & darkness.

When in 1789 Washington learned that he was the unanimous choice of the Electoral College he mourned, My movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution. As he left for New York, the capital, he wrote gloomily in his diary: I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express. And he began his Inaugural Address by admitting that no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than winning the presidency, and that aware of his deficiencies, how could he not be overwhelmed with despondence?
THE new Ghostbusters, led by four all-star actresses, is not the most significant step toward gender equality that will happen this month  Philadelphia has a lock on that. But if youve been waiting your whole life for a summer blockbuster that focuses on women in the workplace, Ghostbusters is a big deal.

For decades, ghostbusting was considered a male profession. Not anymore. The reboot proves women can do anything  except maybe direct a Ghostbusters film. That job went first to Ivan Reitman and now to Paul Feig, who also directed Bridesmaids and Spy. I have guilt that Im a man doing these movies, Mr. Feig said in an interview in March. Women should be doing them, too!

Mr. Feigs words inspired me, and since Im a member of the Directors Guild of America, I decided it might be time to reboot my own career. I dusted off a stack of spec scripts and called one of my mentors  an extremely successful movie and commercial director  and asked him if we could meet. I had a plan.

I drove to my mentors home in the Hollywood Hills. It was the day after Easter and there was still a faint whiff of miracle in the air. I jumped right in:

Me: [enthusiastic] I want to find a producing partner to help me set up one of these six scripts. Theres so much talk about hiring female directors and making films that focus on womens voices that I really think theres an opportunity here  a window  that wasnt there before.
In an essay last week in the online journal Aeon, the journalist Mark Hay lays out how the industry uses data collection to discover and satisfy the most outre desires. You can boot up Pornhub, xHamster or any other popular porn tube site that collects videos from around the web, and theres a decent chance that youll see a moving thumbnail of a topless girl in a diaper, writes Mr. Hay, or some other fetish you used to have to scour to the dark edges of the net to find. The fetish thats trending right now, Mr. Hay told me when I called him, is necrophilia  artificial snuff films.

Im not against the proliferation of internet sexualities (nor is Mr. Hay  he wanted to be very clear about that). I just dont want my preteens watching actors having sex with corpses, even fake corpses, before theyve begun to date.

Its a really hard problem, says Clay Shirky, an associate arts professor at New York Universitys Interactive Telecommunications Program, and the author of eloquent defenses of social media. Mr. Shirky thinks its futile for now to try to control what his children do on the web. He serves as IT support for his family, including his 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son, so he sees their phones and computers, and is pretty sure he doesnt have anything to worry about. He says thats just lucky, and when luck is your only back-up strategy, its really troubling. Mr. Shirky believes that its possible to come up with a constitutional way to curtail childrens access to pornography; there just hasnt been the political will to work on the problem.

Most other experts, however, say that there is no solution that wouldnt backfire or flunk the free-speech test. The best parents can do is teach children to put disturbing material in context. The key to parenting children around pornography is not to start an arms race with them by trying to block their access, Danah Boyd, the author of Its Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, wrote in an email. Its about equipping them with the critical sensibilities to interrogate the kinds of sexualized content that is presented to them regularly, whether by Game of Thrones or pornography aggregators.

Contextualizing is a good idea, but we have to do more, because Justice Kennedy was wrong. Filtering software is not up to the job. Left-leaning parents shy away from a cause they identify with right-wing culture warriors, but I challenge any parent to affirm that its O.K. for her kids to become digital porn consumers at 11, the average age of a childs first encounter.

My generation made fun of Tipper Gore in the 1980s, when she urged music companies to label record covers when the lyrics were obscene. I apologize to Mrs. Gore. She wasnt stopping anyone from making music. She was trying to come up with a good-enough filter.

The songs Mrs. Gore objected to seem innocent compared with todays raunchy, shall we say pornified, playlist. As the pornography industry explores the darkest reaches of the human psyche in search of profits, liberals may want to rethink the assumption that only archconservatives would try to stop children from going there, too.
There are at least two things wrong with this claim. First, it couldnt possibly be true unless it were the case that no credentialed historian is a Trump supporter; even one or two (and I bet there are a lot more than that) would spoil the broth. Second, and more important, the profession of history shouldnt be making political pronouncements of any kind. Its competence lies elsewhere, in the discipline-specific acts I identified above.

Were an academic organization to declare a political position, it would at that moment cease to be an academic organization and would have turned itself  as the Historians Against Trump turn themselves  into a political organization whose arguments must make their way without the supposed endorsement and enhancement of an academic pedigree. Its members would be political actors who share the accidental feature of having advanced degrees. But its not the degrees, which are finally inessential, but the strength or weakness of the arguments that will tell in the end.

If academics are wrong to insert themselves into the political process under the banner of academic expertise, is Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrong when she makes unflattering remarks about Mr. Trump at a conference and in an interview? Maybe so (indeed, she herself has expressed regret for the comments), but she has not committed the same transgression as the historians. Justice Ginsburg was speaking off the cuff, offering her opinion on a matter currently in the news, as any citizen has a right to do. She did not cite or trade on the trappings of her office; she did not proclaim from the bench.

The Historians Against Trump are proclaiming from the bench, not a literal bench, but the bench of their faculty offices and university positions. They are saying, here is our view of the election and you should pay particular attention to it because we are academics; indeed in speaking out, we are doing our academic job. Justice Ginsburg is saying, heres what I think about Mr. Trump; take it for what its worth. For the historians, their credentials are the whole point; for Justice Ginsburg they are beside the point.

Perhaps Justice Ginsburg should have been more reticent in order to avoid even the appearance of impropriety (the suspicion will be that her partisan views will spill over into her judicial performance). But whatever the possible inappropriateness of what she said, she did not say it as a Supreme Court justice; she did not invest her remarks with that authority. The Historians Against Trump invest their remarks with the authority of their academic credentials, and by doing so compromise those credentials to the point of no longer having a legitimate title to them, at least when they write and publish their letter.
WASHINGTON  DURING W.s 2000 convention in Philadelphia, my sister showed up at my door.

She was volunteering for the Republican nominee and carrying a W. Stands for Women sign. The hotels were sold out and she wanted to crash in my room.

I told her that she could come in but the sign could not.

I brought Peggy along for a meal with Johnny Apple, the Times politics and food writer who was known as a legend in his own lunchtime.

She asked Johnny if W. would win the presidency. I was interested in his reply because he had known W. and Al Gore since they were young, having covered their dads.

Bush will win, he told my sister in his booming voice, his napkin hanging from his neck like a bib. And he will be a very popular president.
Im mostly a fan of the Obama administration, but this is just plain immoral.

As Ive written previously, the policy was crafted after the United States was swamped by a surge of Central American refugees in early 2014. Obama spoke with the Mexican president to discuss how to address the flow, and Mexico obligingly imposed a crackdown to stop these refugees long before they could reach the United States. Mexico deports a great majority of them to their home countries, and the United States is thus complicit when they are terrorized, raped and murdered.

Immigration is among the knottiest of challenges, and there is a real risk that welcoming some children creates an incentive that results in other children endangering their lives by undertaking a perilous journey north.

Im not arguing that the U.S. should open its doors wide to all Central Americans, and Obama in any case is constrained by Congress. But historically, Central Americans had a refuge in southern Mexico, and it is unnecessary and cruel now for the U.S. to take the initiative and work so diligently to cut off that safe haven.

Its not that Honduras or El Salvador are tyrannical regimes; rather, the problem is that criminal gangs are out of control. The homicide rate in El Salvador last year, more than 100 killings per 100,000 people, represents a mortality rate of roughly the same magnitude as during the countrys brutal civil war in the 1980s (although more recently there has been a drop in murders).

One rural farmer, Guillermo, 58, told me that all he and his family had wanted to do was stay on their farm in El Salvador, growing fruits and vegetables. Then two gangs moved in and began taking over the land  and killing those who got in the way.

On a neighboring farm, five people were massacred, including an 8-month-old baby, the babys mother and a grandfather visiting from the United States. Then the gang called Guillermos daughter, telling the family members to clear out or be slaughtered. They left, with Guillermo grazed by a bullet as he fled, and after a terrifying journey they are now in southern Mexico.
Traffic stops are how most citizens interact with law enforcement, and they tend to shape perceptions of the police. They rarely turn violent, but even peaceful encounters, like all but one of Mr. Castiles, can lead to fines, searches, arrests and days of sitting in courtrooms that disproportionately affect poorer citizens.

In the seven states that collect the most comprehensive data on traffic stops, analysts have found often-striking disparities in how African-American drivers are treated. In two of the states, Connecticut and Rhode Island, changes in traffic enforcement followed.

There has been no such change in Minnesota. A state-commissioned study in 2003 found that minority drivers were more likely than white drivers to be both stopped and searched, even though officers found contraband more often when searching white drivers.

Myron Orfield, a University of Minnesota professor who was a co-author of the study, said that the findings strongly suggested widespread racial and ethnic bias in traffic enforcement.

More recently, a study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that African-Americans and Native Americans in Minneapolis were eight times more likely than whites to be charged with a low-level infraction, such as trespassing or loitering.

Mr. Castiles encounters with law enforcement began when he was a teenager but never went beyond traffic infractions or misdemeanor charges of marijuana possession, which were dismissed. Nor was there ever any indication that he had been combative with the police. When a St. Paul officer pursuing a drug suspect stopped Mr. Castiles car in 2005, the officer wrote that he knew him and that normally Castile is very cooperative and friendly.
But administration officials say the sticker price does not matter for consumers because most people in the public insurance exchanges receive subsidies to help pay premiums, and they can also shop for less expensive insurance.

Among people receiving subsidies, the average beneficiarys share of the premium rose by just $4 a month, to $106 a month in 2016, said Kevin J. Counihan, the chief executive of the federal insurance marketplace.

Gregory A. Thompson, a spokesman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in five states, including Oklahoma and Texas, said the reason for the big rate requests was simple. Its underlying medical costs, he said. Thats what makes up the insurance premium.

For every dollar in premiums collected last year, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans say they paid out $1.26 on claims in Texas and $1.38 in Oklahoma. This, they say, is not sustainable.

The Obama administration has repeatedly said proposed rate increases are less worrisome than they appear because they are often reduced in the review process. Those reviews, coupled with larger subsidies in the form of tax credits, mean individuals are not seeing the increases, said Jason Furman, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

The laws opponents are unconvinced.

The subsidy doesnt change the actual cost, said Representative Mike Kelly, Republican of Pennsylvania. At the end of the day, somebody still has to pick up the tab, and thats the taxpayer.

Many people buying insurance on their own do not receive subsidies. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 12 million people will receive premium tax credits next year. But it says that an equal number  three million on the exchanges and nine million buying insurance outside the exchanges  will have to pay the full, unsubsidized price.
One by one, Republican women of the Indiana state legislature rose to describe, in anguished terms, why they could not support an anti-abortion measure hurtling toward passage.

They hated abortion, they said, but this bill went too far. It would have prohibited a woman from aborting a fetus because it had a disability, such as Down syndrome.

Representative Holli Sullivan called it a dangerous plan that could compel women to lie to their doctors. Her colleague Wendy McNamara warned of a return to back-room abortions. Another, Cindy Ziemke, said it was a case of government overreach.

Its a sad day for me to have to vote no on a pro-life bill, Ms. Ziemke said in emotional remarks in March. I have never had to do that before. I never thought I would ever have to.
The last election I covered didnt work out so well for me. It was May 2013, and I was in Pakistan. As I was returning from a polling station in the southern city of Lahore, military intelligence officials flagged down my car. Hours later I was on a plane out of the country, having been deported.

Elections are a fraught business in many parts of the world. In many of those countries, the American way of choosing a president seems ideal, however imperfect. The electoral machine resembles a classic, Detroit-model limousine: large, showy and expensive, yet robust and broadly predictable.

This years race, at the outset, looked set to follow in that vein as a contest between the scions of two storied political dynasties, Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. Then the upstart billionaire and reality TV star Donald J. Trump thrust himself into the fray, shredding the script, dismissing Mr. Bush and upending most notions of what is possible, or acceptable, in an American political contest.
Mr. Ghani had a soft spot for the uncles, he said, having lost two of his own on a single day decades ago, in an earlier era of war. There is still a hole in my heart, he said.

The president spoke to the relatives privately, rather than on speaker phone, so their reactions were hard to gauge. Mr. Ghani said the complaints he heard were mostly related to money. The death benefit of about $2,300, or a years salary, is small, he conceded. The bureaucracy also makes it hard for families to receive the funds quickly.

If the president doesnt pay attention, unfortunately the system doesnt pay attention, he said.

Contacted later, several of the relatives said they were grateful for a show of high-level concern. Mahmud, the brother of the police officer killed in the Taliban ambush, sobbed on the phone as recalled the presidents call, saying he felt he had been given the attention of the whole country and the whole government.

But after the call, the familys headaches remained, waiting to be solved only by a benevolent, high official, rather than an efficiently operating state. We are a poor family. We do not have any assets or land, said Mahmud, who uses a single name. So far, the family had received only about $440 in compensation, along with rice, flour and cooking oil.

If the government wants to, they will help us, he said. If they dont want to, we cannot do anything.

Haroun Mir, a political analyst in Kabul, said Mr. Ghanis calls were among several measures aimed at improving the morale of the Afghan security forces. At the very least, Mr. Mir said, they show greater concern after scandalous and well-publicized episodes of official neglect, including the governments charging of families for burials after soldiers were declared dead in error.
NEW DELHI  The police in Bangladesh denied Saturday that they were still holding a British man and a University of Toronto student who have been missing since being rescued after an attack on a restaurant by radical Islamists, saying they questioned and released the men.

Hasnat Karim, the British citizen, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, the student, have not been heard from since the authorities questioned them after the July 1 attack, according to their families, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Masudur Rahman, a Dhaka police spokesman, said on Saturday that neither man was still being held by the police. He would not confirm reports that they were still in the custody of some other agency.

Five gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on July 1, killing two police officers and 20 people in the restaurant and holding others inside hostage. Security forces stormed the restaurant on July 2, killing the gunmen and rescuing 13 hostages.
BEIJING  A landslide of dirt and construction debris that killed 73 people in the city of Shenzhen in December was caused by negligence and the improper storage of waste at a huge dump site, the Chinese government has concluded after a seven-month investigation.

Chinas powerful State Council, which conducted the inquiry, said on Friday night that 53 people had been detained in connection with the disaster, including company executives and government officials, and that 57 others faced disciplinary measures, such as demotion.

The council also said the license of the private company managing the landfill site, Shenzhen Yixianglong, should be revoked.
At times, you just wanted to hang yourself, he said.

Tougher still was the question of who, on Russias side, would get construction contracts potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Chinese decided years ago to entrust the construction of their portion of the bridge to a state-owned engineering company, which quickly got to work and, according to Chinese state television, finished the job two years ago.

But in Russia, where state-funded projects invariably go far over budget and yield expansive opportunities for theft, it took until June to choose among different construction companies, each with powerful backers in Moscow. The winner was SK Most Group, a well-connected private Russian company known for its role in building a bridge in Vladivostok that ended up costing the state more than $1 billion.

The recent arrival in Nizhneleninskoye of heavy construction equipment has raised hopes that the bridge to China might finally be finished. The regional government, in response to written questions, said the delays were because this project is unique with no analog in world practice and required the solving of a long list of questions. The government said the Russian portion would cost 9 billion rubles (around $140 million) and would be finished by June 2018.

Chinese criticism has stung Russian pride. In a recent interview with a local television station, Dmitri Astafyev, the head of Rubicon, a state-controlled company supervising the project, urged China to curb its criticism.

Were being criticized because our partners in China have built two kilometers already while were not able to build as little as 309 meters, Mr. Astafyev said.

While the Chinese are, of course, talented, they have, for starters, built the easy part, he said. But the key point is the following: They say theyve built the bridge. Good. But its not suitable for traffic.
While the military factions clearly did not have enough support within the military to finish the job, they also appeared to miscalculate how the plot would be received by those who have long wished to see the end of Mr. Erdogan and his government.

The coup plotters, Mr. Ulgen said, appeared to grossly misjudge the sentiments of the Turkish people, which over time, despite Turkeys own democratic shortcomings, have turned very anti-military intervention.

Under Mr. Erdogan, Turkey has cracked down severely on journalists, sending many to jail and charging others with insulting Mr. Erdogan, a crime in Turkey. But ultimately, in many ways, it was modern media that helped Mr. Erdogan fend off the coup.

As the coup unfolded, he was able to communicate with the country over FaceTime, and it was anti-coup coverage of a number of Turkish outlets that, analysts said, helped sway the tide of public opinion and allow government officials a platform to communicate with the public. Among those outlets was CNN Turk, which has faced the wrath of the government over coverage officials believe to be pro-Kurdish.

The coup plotters seemed stuck in the 1970s, having seized, for a time, the state broadcaster TRT, while other news channels continued coverage, opposing the coup. Turks were able to communicate over social media, sometimes using a VPN when Twitter or Facebook seemed to be inaccessible.

Its a total media story, said Asli Aydintasbas, a Turkish journalist and writer. This was about not being able to control the message.

Ms. Aydintasbas was attending a dinner party Friday when guests were alerted to messages on Twitter about the intrigue unfolding.

Someone joked that it might be a coup.

We all laughed, because its not an option in Turkey these days, she said. The idea of a coup is so retro.
BERLIN  The devastating attack in Nice, carried out by a Tunisian man living in France, came at a moment of political ferment in Europe and seems likely to give even more fuel to anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim movements that are challenging established parties across the region.

The third major attack in France in 17 months  a murderous truck ride by a disturbed loner claimed by the Islamic State as a soldier in its war on the West  was used by far-right movements and anti-immigration, populist parties within the political mainstream as fodder for their arguments that Islam poses a mortal danger to European societies. Curbing immigration, a rallying call for Britons who voted last month to leave the European Union, as well as for many supporters of Donald J. Trump in the United States, is the answer, they suggested.

This is a war, Geert Wilders, the Dutch right-winger who is gaining in his countrys polls, said on Twitter on Friday. And it will not stop until we close our borders for Islam and de-Islamize our societies. No more terror. No more Islam!

In France, next years presidential contest is already in full swing. The unpopular incumbent, Francois Hollande, a Socialist, is facing intensifying questions about his handling of the nations security and electoral challenges from both the center-right and the far-right National Front. On Friday, the leader of the National Front, Marine Le Pen, said Mr. Hollande had done absolutely nothing of substance to protect France from Islamic terrorism.
As investigators try to piece together what drove Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel to such extreme and random violence, many people in Nice and around the world are asking how, in a country that has been under a state of emergency since November, a lone driver could so easily flout elementary traffic rules and then race unimpeded through throngs of people who had gathered to watch a Bastille Day fireworks display.

As in previous years, security forces, worried about a possible terrorist attack on Frances national day, set up barriers to block traffic on the Promenade des Anglais, a crescent-shaped boulevard that stretches eastward from the citys airport to its old port. But the barriers, crowd-control devices made of hollow metal tubes, started far to the east of where Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel entered the boulevard. The number of police officers on duty that night was more than usual, but nearly all were concentrated in the sealed-off area by the old port, where most people traditionally gather to watch the fireworks.

This left Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlel more than a mile of open road on which to crush revelers who had decided to stay outside the heavily guarded spectator zone  and build up speed before he reached the first police barriers near the point where the seaside promenade joins the Boulevard Gambetta. Such was the 19-ton trucks speed that when it first encountered any obstruction by police, it would have required a wall of concrete to stop it, Anthony Borre, an official in the regional government, told local television.

French leaders, including President Francois Hollande, who visited Nice on Friday, repeatedly praised security services for swiftly stopping the truck once they encountered it. Indeed, the truck advanced only 500 or so yards after smashing through the barriers near Boulevard Gambetta. But this was only a short part of Mr. Lahouaiej Bouhlels long and murderous drive.
NICE, France  The Islamic State claimed on Saturday that the man who attacked the seaside city of Nice was one of the groups soldiers. Frances defense minister promptly blamed the terrorist network for inspiring the assault, while its top law enforcement official said the attacker, who was not previously known to intelligence agencies, may have radicalized himself very quickly.

The attacker, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, carried out the assault on Thursday evening using a 19-ton refrigerated truck and an automatic pistol. The death toll remained at 84, but the number of injured rose to 303, of whom 121 were in hospitals, 26 of them in intensive care.

France, traumatized by three major terrorist assaults in 19 months, began three days of national mourning on Saturday.

The Islamic State had kept silent on the Nice attack until Saturday morning, when it declared, in a bulletin issued in Arabic and in English on its Amaq News Agency channel: Executor of the deadly operation in Nice, France, was a soldier of the Islamic State. He executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations, which fight the Islamic State.
The divisions caused by the Spanish Civil War, and the decades of dictatorship it ushered in, ending only with Francos death in November 1975, continue to ripple through Spain. The ceremony here took place only after a unique and controversial push by Catalan lawmakers, many of whom now want to secede from Spain. The rest of the archive, which some compare to Communist East Germanys Stasi files, remains in state hands.

The Spanish archive was created by a special unit designated to seize documents that could eventually help identify and punish Francos enemies as his troops started to push back their Republican opponents. The unit stored any confiscated material in a building in Salamanca, a university town that Franco turned into his military headquarters and for which the files are named.

Several of those who got documents back expressed disbelief at finally retrieving family belongings, as well as sadness and frustration that it had taken so long.

It is shameful that personal belongings were taken away by Franco as if they were part of a war booty  and it is just as shameful that were still struggling to recover such belongings, four decades after Spain returned to democracy, Isabel Casanovas Calvet said.

She received 17 books that belonged to her grandfather Joan Casanovas, who was the president of the Parliament of Catalonia when the civil war broke out. He died in exile in France in 1942, three years after Francos victory.
Military forces in Turkey attempted a coup on Friday, plunging the country into a long night of violence and intrigue. Hundreds of people were killed, and the embattled presidents location was unknown for hours. He later emerged, and by Saturday morning, the coup appeared to be unraveling.

What We Know

 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul early Saturday. Speaking at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, he blamed a minority within the armed forces for the coup attempt and said those responsible would pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey. He suggested that the plotters had tried to assassinate him on Friday with a bombing in the Turkish Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris.

 Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 265 people had been killed and 1,440 had been wounded. Seventeen police officers were killed in a helicopter attack on the outskirts of Ankara, and 12 people were killed after a bomb was detonated at Parliament.
ISTANBUL  Turkeys government, rallying behind its defiant leader, rounded up thousands of military personnel on Saturday who were said to have taken part in an attempted coup, moving swiftly to re-establish control after a night of chaos and intrigue that left hundreds dead.

By midday, there were few signs that those who had taken part in the coup attempt were still able to challenge the government, and many officials declared the uprising a failure.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to hundreds of flag-waving supporters outside his home in Istanbul on Saturday evening, declared that the strong arent always right, but the right are always strong. He called on the United States to arrest an exile living in Pennsylvania who Mr. Erdogan claimed was behind the coup attempt.
At Diyarbakir, another Turkish base, the Air Force began staging small numbers of American troops last fall to recover any downed pilots or flight crews. The Pentagons plans to place a mobile rocket system known as Himars, short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, somewhere in Turkey to support United States operations in Syria could also be in jeopardy.

The Turkish military, which sees itself as the guardian of the secular state, has overthrown or forced out four elected governments since 1960. Turks have long been fascinated by what they call the deep state: a murky group of operatives, linked to the military, thought to have battled perceived enemies of the state since the Cold War.

But in a striving Turkey of thriving capitalism and a still boisterous news media, memories of the damage to democracy fomented by past coups remains strong. In the first coup of 1960, the military tried the prime minister and president for treason. The 1980 September 12 Coup helped end a period of anarchy and terror, but not before thousands of people were arrested and dozens were executed and tortured.

Analysts said the latest coup attempt underlined the extent to which elements within the military had become frustrated by Turkeys direction under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a religious and conservative Muslim. Mr. Erdogan came to power in 2002, pledging to declaw the once powerful military. He proceeded to impose civilian rule over the state by putting dozens of prominent generals and officers in prison after dramatic show trials for treason, often on tenuous and even fabricated evidence.

Moreover, Mr. Erdogan, whose government once promised a foreign policy of zero problems with neighbors has seen conflicts multiply, including 14 attacks on Turkey in the past year by Kurdish and Islamic State militants. He has presided over an increasingly shaky economy, and alienated allies from the United States to Russia. His government has been mired by accusations of corruption.

American and NATO officials have been pressing to insulate the mission against the Islamic State at Incirlik and other Turkish bases from the internal upheaval. But even if they succeed, Turkish politicians and security forces are likely to be, at the very least, distracted from their counterterrorism focus despite recent vows to redouble efforts after last months Istanbul airport bombing.
As coups go, the Turkish effort was a study in ineptitude: No serious attempt to capture or muzzle the political leadership, no leader ready to step in, no communication strategy (or even awareness of social media), no ability to mobilize a critical mass within either the armed forces or society. In their place a platoon of hapless soldiers on a bridge in Istanbul and the apparently uncoordinated targeting of a few government buildings in Ankara.

It was enough for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking on his cellphones FaceTime app, to call supporters into the streets for the insurrection to fold. That Erdogan will no doubt be the chief beneficiary of this turmoil, using it to further his push for an autocratic Islamist Turkey, does not mean that he staged it. The Turkish Army remains isolated from society. It is entirely plausible that a coterie of officers believed a polarized and disgruntled society would rise up once given a cue. If so, they were wrong  and the error has cost more than 260 lives.

But in Erdogans Turkey, mystery and instability have become the coin of the realm. It is no wonder that conspiracy theories abound. Since an electoral setback in 2015, the president has overseen a Turkey that is ever more violent. This dangerous lurch has enabled him to bounce back in a second election in November and portray himself as the anointed one averting mayhem. His attempt to blame, without any evidence, the attempted coup on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric and erstwhile ally living in Pennsylvania, forms part of a pattern of murkiness and intrigue.

Through Erdogans fog this much seems clear: Over 35 years after the last coup, and almost 20 years after the 1997 military intervention, Turks do not want a return to the seesawing military and civilian rule that marked the country between 1960 and 1980. On the contrary, they are attached to their democratic institutions and the constitutional order. The army, a pillar of Kemal Ataturks secular order, is weaker. Every major political party condemned the attempted coup. Whatever their growing anger against the president, Turks do not want to go backward.
Turkish police arrested Turkish soldiers at Taksim Square on Saturday. Officials said the main plotters were from the gendarmerie, a military-style police force, the air force and some elements of the land forces. Several generals and colonels were arrested  none who are high-level figures recognizable to the public  and thousands of other rank-and-file officers and soldiers were rounded up Saturday in a purge that was likely to go on for some time. Sedat Suna/European Pressphoto Agency
Hungarians Just Destroyed All Monsanto GMO Corn Fields

Hungary has taken a bold stand against biotech giant Monsanto and genetic modification by destroying 1000 acres of maize found to have been grown with genetically modified seeds, according to Hungary deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar.Unlike many European Union countries, Hungary is a nation where genetically modified (GM) seeds are banned. In a similar stance against GM ingredients, Peru has also passed a 10 year ban on GM foods.Almost 1000 acres of maize found to have been ground with genetically modified seeds have been destroyed throughout Hungary, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development Lajos Bognar said.The GMO maize has been ploughed under, said Lajos Bognar, but pollen has not spread from the maize, he added.Unlike several EU members, GMO seeds are banned in Hungary. The checks will continue despite the fact that seek traders are obliged to make sure that their products are GMO free, Bognar said.During the invesigation, controllers have found Pioneer Monsanto products among the seeds planted.The free movement of goods within the EU means that authorities will not investigate how the seeds arrived in Hungary, but they will check where the goods can be found, Bognar said. Regional public radio reported that the two biggest international seed producing companies are affected in the matter and GMO seeds could have been sown on up to the thousands of hectares in the country.Most of the local farmers have complained since they just discovered they were using GMO seeds. said globalresearch.caAs of May 2015, Hungary had not responded to the new EU legislation making GMOs legal in all countries unless they specifically opt out. Germany looks like they may opt out. Scotland has opted out within the UK.
SANTA ANA  A Lake Hughes woman who killed a 5-year-old girl and seriously injured her mother and sister while driving drunk was sentenced Friday to 22 years to life behind bars.

Jessicah Louise Cowan, 37, offered an emotional apology to the family of Osmara Meza, who along with her 6-year-old sister, Grecia, and her mother, Eloisa, was struck in June 2012 when Cowan drove through a red light at 17th and Spurgeon streets in Santa Ana.

Being a mother myself I cannot imagine the pain of losing your baby, a pain no mother should endure, Cowan told the family. I will never forgive myself, so I cant ask you to forgive me either.

Mezas mother and father indicated that the accident has shattered their lives, as well as the life of their surviving daughter.

The family huddled, holding a photo of their two girls smiling, as they struggled to hold back tears while Deputy District Attorney Mike Murray read statements they had written to Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett.

It is so very difficult to move forward in our lives, because we are no longer the family we used to be, wrote Jorge Omar Meza, Osmaras father.

The mother and two girls were walking from home to a nearby restaurant for pancakes when Cowan  drunk, speeding and using her cell phone  crashed into them.

Authorities say she sped away but was cut off and forced to pull over by another driver who witnessed the crash.

Cowans attorney, Dennis OConnell, argued that Cowan had not tried to flee but was disoriented and didnt know she had struck anyone.

A jury found Cowan guilty of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter, hit and run and driving under the influence.

Judge Prickett told Cowan that she will likely be released from prison someday, and that he hopes both she and others can learn from the tragedy.

You are not a bad person, but you made a horrifically bad decision that day, the judge said.

Prickett also urged the Meza family to continue trying to move forward.

I hope you will somehow be able to find peace in your life, the judge said. I know if (Osmara) were here, she would want your life to be full and happy.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com
Thousands of babies in Orange County  and their parents  can take comfort: a newly launched local Diaper Bank has their bottom line covered.

Through a partnership between the OC Food Bank and HomeAid Orange County, about 1 million diapers and baby items will be distributed over the next few weeks to charitable agencies and groups that operate shelters and serve needy families with children.

And thats just the start.

On Friday, representatives from local nonprofits who operate shelters that HomeAid has built or renovated arrived in SUVs, vans, and trucks to pick up their allotments of Huggies, Pampers, Luvs and other disposable diaper brands.

For us, its a huge savings, Theresa Murphy, executive director of Precious Life Shelter, said of the money the Los Alamitos home for pregnant homeless women wont have to spend on diapers. Its thousands of dollars a month.

Other donated baby goods to be distributed included strollers and car seats, clothing, baby food, and wipes  lots of wipes.

Everybody gets about 20,000 to 22,000 baby wipes, said Gina Scott, director of community engagement for HomeAid, a charitable project started in 1989 by the Building Industry Association of Southern Californias Orange County chapter.

HomeAids focus is to end homelessness through housing and outreach.

For the past nine years, HomeAid Orange County has conducted the annual Essentials Drive to collect donated diapers and baby goods. The haul from this years drive reached more than 1.2 million items.

The Essentials Drive was stoked by donations from corporations, businesses and individuals, and the Builders for Babies event at Angel Stadium in April when local building companies competed in constructing small-scale homes with diaper boxes.

This years Essentials Drive provided more than enough diapers to meet the needs of 20 shelters and agencies in HomeAids network for the next year, Scott said.

The Food Bank and HomeAid hope that ongoing donations of diapers and baby items, or cash, will help the Diaper Bank assist families served by other charities.

We assume that we are not even touching the need that exists, Scott said.

With current donations, Scott said the Diaper Bank can distribute about 250,000 diapers and related items to other agencies outside its shelter partnership.

In the past, HomeAid has had to rely on hard-to-find donated space to hold all the boxes of diapers and wipes. The Food Bank partnership, which includes an assist from the Children & Families Commission of Orange County, solves the storage problem.

The Food Bank, a program of the Community Action Partnership of Orange County, can hold more donations in its Garden Grove distribution center.

This is not seasonal, said Mark Lowry, Food Bank director. Its an ongoing need.

Casa Teresa, which operates four programs in Orange for homeless unwed mothers, now can visit the Diaper Bank as needed to replenish from its yearly allotment of 67,000 diapers and wipes, saving a $220 monthly fee for a rented storage unit, said Yvonne Lopez, volunteer manager.

They can store it for us here, so, yeah, its great, Lopez said.

Lopez arrived Friday morning at the Food Bank in a fire-engine red GMC Sierra truck that Bart Hancock, a maintenance man for Casa Teresa, and colleague David Hammond, facilities director, loaded front and back.

One 252-count box of size 1-2 diapers came loose from the shrink-wrapped pallets in the bed of the truck. We dont want these on the freeway, Hancock said with a laugh as he tucked the box away snugly.

As part of the National Diaper Bank Network, the Orange County partnership can purchase diapers in bulk at discount prices, apply for grants and accept excess goods from other members of the network, Scott said.

Larger diapers, size 4 and up, are most in demand, she added, because toddlers who are not potty trained fit in those diapers for a longer period of time.

For parents who dont earn much and struggle to get by, $40 or so that they dont have to spend on a box of diapers can make a big difference, Scott said.

We encourage people to realize its something families struggle with.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7793 or twalker@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @telltheresa
SACRAMENTO  A woman charged with felony animal torture is set to stand trial later this month.

The Sacramento Bee reports Friday that 23-year-old Kayla Wright will go on trial on July 28 in Sacramento Superior Court.

Authorities claim Wright was responsible for wrapping a speaker cord around a dogs neck, killing it and leaving it in a trash bin in a Carmichael neighborhood.

A second dog was found alive with its neck strung with cord and painters tape around its jaws.

Authorities say a third dog was found cowering under a parked car after the owner reported the dogs missing.

Wright also faces dog theft charges in two December 2014 incidents in a Sacramento suburb.

Sheriffs officials said images from neighborhood surveillance cameras linked her to the animal thefts.
SANTA ANA  A psychology professor involved in the killing of a man she says raped her was sentenced Friday to six years in prison  ending a case that drew outrage from activists who believed the respected academic should have been treated as a sexual-assault victim rather than a murder suspect.

Norma Patricia Esparza,41, was the last of four people sentenced in connection to the slaying of Gonzalo Ramirez, who on April 16, 1995 was kidnapped off of the streets of Santa Ana, tied up, tortured and hacked to death with a meat cleaver at an automotive business. His mutilated body was dumped on the side of a dead-end road in Irvine.

Gianni Van, Esparzas ex-boyfriend, is spending a life sentence without the possibility of parole for masterminding the abduction and murder. Esparza  as well as co-defendants Diane Tran and Shannon Gries  denied knowing that Ramirez was going to be killed, but have all admitted they should have come forward to contact authorities after his death.

A group of Esparza supporters wearing white T-shirts saying Set Patricia free attended her sentencing.

Her attorney, Jack Earley, told Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett that Esparza supporters, students and fellow professors had written to the court on her behalf, but that she chose not to make a statement during her sentencing.

She realizes that all actions have consequences, Earley told the judge. She is willing to accept the consequences for not coming forward sooner.

As part of a deal requiring her to plead guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, Esparza was sentenced to six years in prison and given credit for three and a half years behind bars.

Tran and Gries were also sentenced Friday as part of their own plea deals. Tran was sentenced to four years, while Gries was ordered to serve 25 years to life.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Murray, who prosecuted the case, said there was no evidence that Esparza was actually raped by Ramirez. Her supporters contended that a campus nurse and doctor who treated Esparza for the alleged sexual encounter dissuaded her from going to police.

The daughter of immigrants, Esparza grew up in Santa Ana before going away to boarding school on the East Coast at age 15. At college in Pomona, she had an on-and-off relationship with Van.

She met Ramirez at a Santa Ana bar while she and Van were on a break. The two hit it off and he drove her back to her college dorm, where Esparza said he raped her.

Esparza said Van became enraged when she told him she had been raped, and forced her and a group of friends  including Gries, Tran and Trans husband, Kody  weeks later to go back to the bar where she met Ramirez to identify him. Esparza testified that she only believed that Van wanted to confront Ramirez in public.

Esparza pointed Ramirez out, she testified. Her group staged a car accident near the club to abduct Ramirez, then took him to a Costa Mesa transmission shop that Kody Tran owned, where Ramirez was chained up, beaten and killed.

Esparza testified she was at the shop, but didnt see the victim get killed.

A phone bill at Ramirezs apartment led police to Esparza. Additional investigation pointed the detectives to Trans transmission shop and to Van.

Police arrested Van soon after the killing, but were forced to drop the case after learning that Esparza had married him and planned to invoke spousal privilege to avoid testifying against him.

Esparza later testified that she didnt know that Ramirez had been killed until detectives told her. She said she agreed to secretly marry Van and not to go to authorities out of fear of what he, Tran and Gries would do to her if she refused.

Esparza divorced Van in 2004, remarried and moved to France, where she became a respected professor.

She was arrested in 2011 after arriving in Boston. Van, Diane Tran and Gries were arrested a short time later. Kody Tran, also charged, killed himself during an unrelated police standoff while awaiting trial.

During Fridays sentencing, Murray read a statement written by a brother of Ramirez, outlining the impact that his killing has had on their family.

The way my brother was killed is agonizing to think of, the brother wrote. It pains us to think of each hack and blow. How he was thrown and left like an animal.

Gries offered his own apology to the Ramirez family, saying that had he known Ramirez was going to be killed he would have stopped it or died trying.

I have lived with that choice for my entire life, Gries said. I havent stopped thinking about it for 20 years.

Contact the writer: semery@ocregister.com
Sarah Palin Banned From Facebook For Calling BLM Protesters Thugs

Although my voice may be temporarily squelched across our great nation especially during these times when our liberties are being tested and officially declassified by the lamestream media and its counterparties, I intend to use my rights to appeal the ban that has evidentially hit too close to home for those overly sensitive and politically correct cowards who have taken it upon themselves to infringe against me, which is only one of the unique violations that Donald Trump has vowed to deter after taking our country back again in order to make America great again.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin received a 30-day provisional Facebook ban, after calling Black Lives Matter protesters thugs over the weekend. The former FOX News commentator demanded that the media stop referring to the radical activists as protesters and people, and start calling them thugs and rioters.Earlier in the week on CNN, Palin called Black Lives Matter a farce.The former vice presidential nominees 30-day ban effectively cuts off her major outlet of expression, a clear violation of my First Amendment rights of freedom of speech, Palin said through her daughter Bristols blog.Palin, 58, voiced her media demands about BLM during an interview on Brietbart News Sunday.Palin accused the media of perpetuating a message that really evil people are thriving on right now, and said that Black Lives Matter bitch-slaps Martin Luther King in the face. She also said the movement was against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.The provisional ban may be lifted before the 30-day period ends, provided Palin sign a new Facebook waiver promising to refrain from divisive and/or inflammatory speech for the next 30 days.If the ban is lifted, Palins future comments may be monitored. A prompt warning Palin that her comments contain banned content will appear before the post is made public at the discretion of Facebooks standards and practices monitors.
UNITED NATIONS  Recent victories in Fallujah and Qayyarah show that the Iraqis are capable of defeating the Islamic State group but the country must consolidate control of armed groups and promote political reconciliation in order to achieve lasting peace and stability, a United Nations official said Friday.

Jan Kubis, the U.N.s envoy for Iraq, told the Security Council that recent progress against Islamic State puts the liberation of Mosul high on the agenda and that means local officials must accelerate planning for what happens the day after.

With the progress in fighting Daesh, reforming Iraqi security institutions and ensuring the state has full control of all armed groups becomes a priority, he said.

Kubis added that despite the Islamic State defeat in Fallujah, the group remains capable of carrying out devastating attacks throughout Iraq and is increasingly resorting to brutal insurgency tactics to compensate for the loss of territory.

The humanitarian situation in Iraq has further deteriorated since the Fallujah operation, Kubis said, with the 640,000 displaced persons in the Anbar province alone and more than 10 million Iraqis requiring some form of humanitarian assistance.

He said an eventual operation to liberate Mosul could provoke the largest and most sensitive humanitarian crisis in the world in 2016 and could require as much as an additional $1 billion in aid.

Currently, the appeal for $861 million in humanitarian aid for Iraq is only 38 percent funded without more money prospects for stability and reconciliation in a post-Islamic State Iraq are put at risk.

Japans Ambassador Koro Bessho, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for July, said council members were generally supportive of Kubis report.

I felt the Security Council was unified in our support for the Iraqi government for its fight against terrorism. Support was also voiced for better efforts to achieve better national reconciliation and many urged the international community to contribute further for Iraq, its stabilization and improved humanitarian situation, Bessho said, following the session which was closed following Kubis statement.
As she battles symptoms of lupus and depression, Alexandra Rice says she depends on easy access to medical marijuana to control widespread pain and to improve her mood.

The 21-year-old resident of Grand Terrace, near Riverside, has pictures of cannabis flowers on her Twitter profile and friends whose livelihoods depend on the pot industry. Shes also an unlikely opponent of a November ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana for all adults in California.

If it is legalized, more people who dont respect it and just want to get high are going to take advantage of that, Rice said. And people who genuinely need it as medicine will be misplaced and thrown to the side.

When it comes to permitting recreational cannabis use, reaction from the medical marijuana community ranges from enthusiastic advocacy to passionate opposition  with many left somewhere in the middle, confused and torn.

Im completely on the fence about it, said Robert Taft, a longtime medical marijuana advocate who owns 420 Central licensed medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana.

Some medical cannabis users fear the measure, Proposition 64, would impose stricter regulations that would affect where they could consume marijuana and how much marijuana they could grow.

Those concerns have persisted even as Prop. 64 backers and experts argue that the language of the ballot measure doesnt affect the rights of medical marijuana patients established when Californians passed the Compassionate Use Act in 1996.

Indeed, the language of the initiative supports the view that properly credentialed medical patients would still be permitted to smoke the drug most places tobacco smoking is allowed. And, while recreational consumers would be limited to growing six plants at a time, medical marijuana patients would continue to be allowed to cultivate up to 100 square feet of pot plants.

It preserves the existing regulatory scheme that we worked so hard for in California, said Don Duncan, California director of Americans for Safe Access, an organization that fights for medical marijuana rights but stays neutral on recreational cannabis legalization. I dont see any huge landmines for patients.

The initiatives backers argue legalization will actually broaden access and rights for the states estimated 1 million medical marijuana users.

The sky is not going to fall, said Matt Kumin, a San Francisco attorney whos represented medical marijuana clients for two decades. I think this is actually a new day for medical cannabis patients.

Still, anxiety is widespread over how the measure would impact the price of medical marijuana and what would become of the states 20-year-old market in the shadow of a far larger recreational marijuana industry that would be sure to attract a flood of new players.

Theres a lot of concern about that, said Dale Gieringer, California director of the legalization advocacy group NORML. There is not a lot of enthusiasm Ive seen in the activist community in general.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

Californias massive medical marijuana economy will change dramatically over the next several years, no matter the outcome of the November vote on Prop. 64.

State regulators are rolling out a comprehensive new system to regulate cannabis growth, manufacturing and sales. Those regulations  the result of legislation approved last year  are expected to rein in underground retailers and make cannabis safer while at least marginally increasing the price of medical marijuana.

The proposed ballot initiative would largely extend the same regulatory framework to recreational marijuana production, testing and sales.

Some predict that post-legalization, many California dispensaries would simply have two lines: one for patients and one for recreational consumers.

In Colorado, which legalized cannabis in 2012, recreational sales are 60 percent to 70 percent of the market. But both sectors keep expanding, with $486 million in total sales in the first five months of 2016.

Thats why many of Californias medical marijuana businesses welcome legalization: It offers potential to significantly grow their markets.

And if Colorado is a guide, there could be longer-term economic advantages for the medical marijuana sector should the initiative pass.

Recreational prices recently plummeted in the Rocky Mountain state thanks to a glut in supply, but medical prices have held steady. In addition, the California ballot measure would exempt cannabis patients from paying sales taxes, which would help keep consumer costs down.

A lot of how Prop. 64 plays out here would depend on how cities and counties react, Gieringer said, since theyd control what types, if any, of marijuana businesses could operate within their boundaries. They also could impose additional local taxes, which some local governments are already gearing up to do.

We could have a lot of communities in California where they will allow medical dispensaries and not adult use, Gieringer said. In that scenario, medical will have a stronger future.

BENEFITS FOR PATIENTS

For Californians who dont have major medical problems  such as those who nibble an edible rather than swallow sleeping pills to doze off  legalization means theyd no longer have to spend time and money getting a doctors recommendation to use marijuana.

The average patient who doesnt have really special needs in cannabis is probably better off, Gieringer said.

Distinguishing casual users from people with more serious medical conditions might also offer patients some of the legitimacy theyve long struggled to get.

Here are other protections Prop. 64 offers for medical marijuana patients:

 It lowers penalties for many marijuana-related crimes, with those changes applied retroactively, which potentially means resentencing and clearing records for those whove long worked in and benefited from the medical marijuana industry.

 It says marijuana use alone cant be used to restrict custody rights for patients complying with state law.

 It caps fees at $100 to get optional ID cards confirming their status as patients. Many counties now charge $150 to $175. The measure also protects card data under the states Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.

And with California the worlds sixth-largest economy, experts predict a boost in protections here could increase access for medical marijuana patients throughout the country.

CONCERNS FOR PATIENTS

For many patients, their biggest concern is how the measure might impact the price of their medicine.

Prop. 64 would tax all marijuana sales at 15 percent and cultivation at $9.25 per ounce for dry flowers or $2.75 per ounce for leaves.

If patients have a government-issued ID card, they can skip the state sales tax. Theyd still pay the 15 percent tax imposed by Prop. 64, plus whatever portion of the cultivation tax and regulatory compliance costs might get passed along. And they may face additional local taxes allowed under the measure.

The intent is to keep medical marijuana affordable enough that patients can still buy it without making it so comparatively cheap that recreational users will stay in that market, said Richard Miadich, a Sacramento attorney representing the legalization campaign.

For those who use marijuana for minor health conditions or to get high, Rice said higher prices under legalization may be worth it to avoid doctors recommendations or legal issues. But for people like her, who use the drug daily to function, those taxes could mean a big hit.

Its going to make people who genuinely need medication not be able to get it at a reasonable price, she said.

Two legislators are attempting to tax medical marijuana even if the ballot measure doesnt pass.

Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, is pushing a bill that would tax medical cultivators at a rate nearly identical to what Prop. 64 proposes. And Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, authored a bill that calls for a 10 percent medical marijuana tax.

Some medical marijuana advocates still have a lingering distrust of the people who are the face of the ballot initiative.

Sean Parker, a billionaire who co-founded Napster, is the campaigns largest contributor. And Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has been a key supporter, though hes repeatedly said he doesnt like marijuana.

If you disconnect from the people who built this, they will disconnect from you, Taft said.

But campaign spokesman Jason Kinney points out that hundreds of stakeholder groups helped draft the measure.

We encourage both patients and business owners to look beyond the internal divisions that have hindered the marijuana activist community in the past and read the measure in full, Kinney said. The initiative, he insisted, takes great pains to protect the rights of those who have been on the front lines of this fight.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7963 or bstaggs@ocregister.comTwitter: @JournoBrooke
ANKARA, Turkey  Military factions in Turkey attempted to seize control of the country Friday night, setting off a furious scramble for power and plunging the crucial NATO member and U.S. ally into chaos in what already was one of the worlds most unstable regions.

Early Saturday, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose whereabouts were unclear through a long night of turmoil, flew to Istanbul Ataturk airport, a presidential aide said. It was a strong signal that the coup was failing.

There were indications that coup leaders, at a minimum, did not have a tight grip on many parts of the country. Supporters of Erdogan took to the streets of Istanbul to oppose the coup plotters, and there were scattered reports some of its leaders had been arrested.

Martial law was declared in the country, which has been convulsed by military takeovers at least three times in the past half-century. Erdogan, an Islamist who has dominated politics for more than a decade and sought to exert greater control over the armed forces, was forced to use his iPhones FaceTime app from an undisclosed location to broadcast messages beseeching the public to resist the coup attempt.

There is no power higher than the power of the people, he said in the midst of wild confusion and contradictory accounts of who was in control. Let them do what they will at public squares and airports.

After Erdogan spoke, many of his followers obeyed his orders to go into the streets, and mosque loudspeakers exhorted his supporters to go out and protest against the coup attempt.

The state-run Anadolu News Agency said 17 police officers were killed in a military helicopter attack on a police special forces headquarters outside Ankara. There were also reports that fighter jets had shot down a military helicopter used by coup plotters. The private NTV network said two civilians were killed in clashes in Istanbul.

The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that shots have been heard in Ankara and urged American citizens to take shelter. Social media outlets worked intermittently or were blocked.

The events began unfolding late Friday, at about 10 p.m. local time, as the military moved to stop traffic over two of Istanbuls bridges, which cross the Bosporus and connect the European and Asian sides of the city.

There were reports of gunfire in Istanbuls central Taksim Square, where pro-Erdogan supporters had gathered, and it appeared that security forces were being restrained. On the Bosporus Bridge, which was closed earlier in the evening by the military, there were reports of gunfire as protesters approached, and according to NTV, a television news channel, three people were injured.

Aides to Erdogan repeatedly said the coup attempt would fail.

Some military figures spoke out against a coup, including the commander of the First Army, Gen. Umit Guler, who issued a statement, carried by a pro-government news channel, saying, The armed forces do not support this movement comprised of a small group within our ranks.

Leaders of opposition political parties, who have otherwise worked against Erdogans government, also spoke out against a seizure of government by the military.

This country has suffered a lot from coups, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main secular opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party, known by its Turkish initials CHP, said in a written statement, according to Hurriyet Daily News. It should be known that the CHP fully depends on the free will of the people as indispensable of our parliamentary democracy.

By 2 a.m., a large group of protesters had gathered at Ataturk Airport, and the military had begun withdrawing, according to CNN Turk.

In the back streets of Istanbuls European districts, bars and restaurants were showing footage on television of scenes at the bridge, while partygoers were glued to their mobile phones trying to learn what was happening.

Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in comments broadcast on NTV, a private television channel. The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.

Shortly after Yildirim spoke, factions of the Turkish military issued a statement, according to the news agency DHA, claiming it had taken control of the country.

Turkish armed forces seized the rule of the country completely with the aim of reinstalling the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to make rule of law pervade again, to re-establish the ruined public order, the statement quoted by DHA said. All the international agreements and promises are valid. We hope our good relations with all global countries goes on.

The abrupt turn in Turkey came as Erdogan has been battling a wave of deadly extremism by the Islamic State militant group, struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in neighboring Syria and fighting a resurgent Kurdish rebellion in the Turkish southeast.

Senior Pentagon officials in Washington said they were still trying to determine what was occurring on the ground in Turkey. They said the United States had not adjusted its military posture in the region.

The Defense Department has roughly 2,200 uniformed military personnel and civilians in Turkey. About 1,500 of them are based at Incirlik, an air base in southern Turkey near Syria. The United States has used the base to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State. Since March, Incirlik has been on an elevated force protection level amid concerns that militants were targeting it. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in May ordered all family members of military personnel based at Incirlik to leave the country.

Erdogan blamed the coup attempt on followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and who once was an ally before the two had a bitter falling-out in 2013 over a corruption inquiry that targeted Erdogan and his inner circle. Over many years, followers of Gulen built up a presence in Turkeys police and judiciary, and Erdogan blamed them for the corruption probe.

Erdogan and his allies then purged the judiciary and the police of those linked to Gulen, going so far as to call him the leader of a terror organization and seeking, unsuccessfully, to have Gulen extradited from the United States.

An organization associated with Gulen in the United States, the Alliance for Shared Values, denied any responsibility for the coup attempt.

Speaking to local television, Yildirim said: Illegal acts of some people from among the military are the issue here. My citizens and my nation should know that any act that would harm democracy would not be allowed.

He continued: The government that the citizens of the Turkish Republic elected, representing the will of the people, is in charge, and the removal of it happens only by the decision of the people. Those who did this attempt, who took part in this insanity, in this unlawful act, will pay the heaviest price. I want my citizens to know that we will not be deterred by those kinds of attempts.

Since the founding of modern Turkey in 1923, the military has staged coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980, and intervened in 1997.

The military had long seen itself as the guardian of Turkeys secular system, established by the countrys founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. But in recent years, a series of sensational trials had pushed the military back to its barracks, which analysts said had secured civilian leadership over the military.

Across Istanbul on Friday night, rumors swirled and evening plans were upended. In the citys Arnavutkoy neighborhood, people flooded out of bars and restaurants and began hailing taxis and urging loved ones to get home to safety.

Theres a coup, one man shouted in the street. Theres a coup, and blood will be shed.

Erdogan attracted a wide-ranging constituency in the early years of his tenure, including many liberals who supported his plans to reform the economy and remove the military from politics. But in recent years, he has alienated many Turks with his increasingly autocratic ways, cracking down on freedom of expression, imposing a significant role for religion in public life and renewing war with Kurdish militants in the countrys southeast.

The people tried to stand up against President Erdogan, but they couldnt, they were crushed, so the military had no choice but to take over, said Cem Yildiz, a taxi driver who said Friday night that he would spend the rest of the night carpooling to make sure people got home safely.

Yildiz said recent terrorism in the country attributed to the militants of the Islamic State group, including a recent attack on Istanbuls main airport that killed dozens, was the tipping point for him.

Like many Turks, he has blamed Turkeys policy on Syria for the terror attacks. Early in the civil war there, Turkey supported rebel groups fighting against the Syrian government. Many of the fighters who traveled through Turkey to Syria joined the Islamic State, and critics have blamed Erdogan for enabling the groups rise.

He has destroyed this country, and no one will stand up to him but the military, he said. There was no choice but this.

Seyda Yilmaz, a teacher who was out in Istanbul on Friday when the news broke, said, The country is in chaos, and Erdogan needs to be put in his place, but Im afraid. Im very afraid because in the past a lot of innocent blood was shed in these coups. Im anxious. I dont know what to say at this point. We are all in shock. No one thought that the military would stand up against Erdogan.
ISLAMABAD  Posters urging the Pakistani army chief to take over the country in a military coup sprouted suddenly across Pakistan this week, with a photograph of Gen. Raheel Sharif, a burly man with a thick mustache, and an emphatic, pleading request: For Gods sake, take over.

They had been posted on the main thoroughfares of major cities by an obscure political party called Move On Pakistan, which believes that civilian leaders cannot be trusted.

The posters immediately sparked all-too-familiar speculation. Is the military planning a coup? Are the powerful generals tired of prodding the civilian government, saddled by one crisis or another?

Theres no direct evidence of the involvement of the army and its intelligence agencies in the posters, Ejaz Haider, a prominent political analyst and talk show host, said in an interview. That said, past experience tells us that one or the other intelligence agency can quietly push certain disgruntled elements to start such campaigns in the physical and virtual worlds.

Rumors about an impending coup are nothing new in Pakistan, which has had four periods of military rule, direct or indirect, since its founding in 1947. Public patience with civilian rulers, who are seen as corrupt and inefficient, wears out quickly. The military, which controls the levers of power, sees itself as the savior.

And in recent months, the popularity of Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister, has dipped considerably because of corruption allegations that have swirled around his family.

It is not surprising that Pakistanis are seeking a deeper motive behind the mysterious and organized campaign. At the very least, the timing of the posters, which went up Monday across at least a dozen cities, is peculiar.

Just days earlier, Nawaz Sharif, serving for the third time, returned to the country after an absence of several weeks to have a heart operation in London on May 31.

At the same time, a whisper campaign has been urging the army chief to reconsider his decision not to seek an extension of his three-year term when it expires in November.

Raheel Sharif, who is not related to the prime minister, remains hugely popular in the country for his successes on the battlefield against Taliban militants. He is seen as a man who gets things done, and many Pakistanis believe he can bring lasting peace and much-needed economic stability.

Move On Pakistan denies that it is backed by the military, but acknowledges that it does not want Raheel Sharif to retire. Civilians are corrupt, Rana Jaffer Ali, the Karachi president of Move On Pakistan, said in an interview. They only fear the military.

On Thursday, the civilian government registered a case of criminal conspiracy against the leaders of Move On Pakistan.

Retired generals and some politicians have joined the bandwagon, exhorting the general to extend his military service.

In the current circumstances, Raheel Sharif cannot go and should not go, said a retired head of the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, the powerful spy agency, speaking on the condition of anonymity. You cannot hand over the country, which is facing a number of crises, to an ailing prime minister.

The public has grown impatient with Nawaz Sharif. Largely viewed as an indifferent ruler, preoccupied with opulence and luxury, he spent much of 2014 fending off questions of legitimacy by his political nemesis, Imran Khan. And this year, allegations that his family has hid massive wealth overseas have emerged from the Panama Papers document leak.

Apart from political troubles, Nawaz Sharif continues to have a tense relation with the military. His last government was toppled in a bloodless coup in 1999. And this time, too, Nawaz Sharif and the military establishment differ over broad policy matters.

Nawaz Sharif is a champion of normalizing relations with India and other neighbors, while the military wants to hold off. His government charged Pervez Musharraf, a former army chief, with treason but let him leave the country for medical treatment, under pressure from the military. Nawaz Sharif reluctantly allowed the military to launch operations against militants, first in the tribal regions and then in Punjab province, his political stronghold. Last year, the military issued a pointed statement urging Nawaz Sharifs government to improve governance in the country.

Small irritants also exist. Nawaz Sharif has appointed Khawaja Muhammad Asif, a sharp critic of the militarys interference in politics, as the defense minister. In return, Asif has been given the cold shoulder at the Defense Ministry headquarters and at military ceremonies.

Against this backdrop, some skeptics saw the posters as skulduggery by the intelligence agencies, not as overenthusiasm by those fed up with the civilian government.

On Tuesday, a military spokesman publicly distanced the army from the poster campaign, but also showed no interest in taking action against those behind it. Under the Pakistani Constitution, inciting the military to take over can lead to treason charges.

Analysts like Haider, however, think the army chief, who is thought to be keen on leaving a legacy, is unlikely to seek an extension of his service.

I consider the current tension to be more about the militarys frustration with a government that seems to be increasingly becoming dysfunctional, Haider said. However, I do not see the army intervening into the system directly if it continues to act as a rational player. Those fears are misplaced.
In honor of the parks anniversary, this is the sixth of a seven-part series looking at how Disneyland has changed decade by decade. Part 1: 1955, the year Disneyland opened. Part 2: 1956-1959. Part 3: 1960-1969. Part 4: 1970-1979. Part 5: 1980-1989. Part 6: 1990-1999. Part 7: 2000s.

It was a Fantasmic! start for Disneyland in the 1990s, and the decade ended with a new Tomorrowland and the disappearance of the parking lot.

1990-92

Not much happened for the first two years in terms of changes or additions of new attractions until 1992. Mission to Mars had its last flight and was grounded. In New Orleans Square, something new was coming to the waterfront of the Rivers of America. An innovative live show that would combine film projections on screens made of water, pyrotechnics, a stunt show on the Sailing Ship Columbia and a big finale with Mickey Mouse.

The show was called Fantasmic! and it was an immediate hit. In the years to follow, Disneyland would rebuild the area to better run the nightly show (in season) and the crowds. As word got out, the show would be run twice nightly and some would stake out their viewing spot early in the afternoon. This practice got so bad, it caused problems with crowd flow during the day and Disneyland recently had to institute a Fastpass-style ticketing system for shows.

1993

The toons invaded Disneyland and took over a section of land to the north of the berm near Its a Small World. Mickeys Toontown opened in 1993, featuring homes for many of Walt Disneys beloved characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Chip and Dale, and Donald Duck.

The town was designed to make visitors think they had stepped into a cartoon world as depicted in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit? There was a small kid-style roller coaster supposedly built by Gadget Hackwrench, an inventor from the Chip n Dales Rescuer Rangers cartoon show.

That same year, a statue was unveiled in the center of Disneylands Central Plaza (known as the hub) of Walt Disney with Mickey Mouse. The Partners Statue, with Sleeping Beauty Castle as a backdrop, became one of the most popular places in the park for visitors to have their picture taken.

That year also saw the disappearance into Yesterland of the Bank of America in Town Square, and the closure of the Tahitian Terrace.

1994

A longtime Disneyland attraction, the Skyway, took its last flight in 1994. The cables were removed and the towers torn down. The Fantasyland Station, known as the Skyway Chalet, remained standing until this year, when it was demolished to make way for Star Wars land.

Roger Rabbit finally showed up in Mickeys Toontown with a new attraction, Roger Rabbits Car Toon Spin, a trip through the wacky world based on the movie. The ride vehicles allowed riders to spin the taxis around to pick the direction they wanted to look.

1995

Reports surfaced of a new archeological find in Adventureland. They were confirmed when Indiana Jones cracked his whip, opening the entrance to another innovative attraction, Indiana Jones: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

Visitors to the temple would board Jeeps that were actually moving simulators. This enabled Disney Imagineers to program the vehicles to start, stop and motions to simulate the ride through the temple, dodging hidden and visible dangers along the way.

The character of Sallah, played by John Rhys-Davies, is the host and guide for riders on the journey.

This year was also Disneylands 40th anniversary. During a ceremony, the park buried a time capsule near Sleeping Beauty Castle, with instructions to open it in 40 years.

Other changes that year included a new 1930s look for the Jungle Cruise boats  although the same punny, groan-inducing jokes.

Videopolis disappeared into Yesterland as the facility was renamed the Fantasyland Theatre. It has been used for a variety of live shows in the years since. Currently playing is Mickeys Magical Map.

1996

Space Mountain got an upgrade with modifications to the ride vehicles so that a soundtrack could be heard by the space travelers throughout their journey.

1997

A new holiday tradition started in November when thousands of lights were placed on the facade for its a small world. When they were turned on, the attraction lit up in Christmas season colors. Inside, a new soundtrack was introduced for the dolls to sing. It was a mix of the classic song with several holiday songs.

In addition, the scenes inside received holiday decorations, and the dolls got a new holiday wardrobe. Every year since, the attraction has received the popular holiday overlay.

1998

A new Tomorrowland was hatched on top of the old Tomorrowland. One of the most visible changes was the placement of what was the Rocket Jets down near the front entrance to the land, with a new name, Astro Orbiter.

But the new version of the land meant some things had to go. So the WEDway Peoplemover was moved off the tracks, and World Premiere Circlevision was closed. The latter became the entrance for a new ride on the former: Rocket Rods. It utilized a programmable technology to propel the ride vehicles along the same track used by the Peoplemover.

It had a very low theoretical capacity, and a long wait time  sometimes two hours. It also had frequent breakdowns. In September 2000 the ride closed, never to open again.

Elsewhere in Tomorrowland, Captain EO, starring Michael Jackson, disappeared and a new 3D show took its place: Honey, I Shrunk the Audience starred Rick Moranis as Professor Wayne Szalinski. During the show the audience perceived they were shrunk down. The attraction featured the use of some innovative in-theater effects to make the audience think that mice were running through their legs.

The building that previously held the Carousel of Progress was repurposed as Innoventions, where a robot, Tom Morrow, introduced the future of new technology in the home and elsewhere.

There were other cosmetic changes, including painting Space Mountains exterior with a new color scheme of gold, bronze, green and copper. It was restored back to its original white in 2005 in time for the parks 50th anniversary.

Many regular park visitors felt that the revamp of Tomorrowland was done on the cheap, but other than Rocket Rods, most of the changes are still there.

But it was outside of Disneyland where some huge visible changes were beginning to take place as construction began on a new parking structure, and a new theme park: Disneys Califonia Adventure, which would open in 2001.

1999

With the success of the animated film Tarzan, Disney Imagineers looked for a way to introduce the character into the park. Downsizing the Jungle Cruise was not an option, as it had all ready been downsized some to accommodate the queue line for the Indiana Jones attraction. So they turned their eyes to a tree.

The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was closed, and four months later it had been refashioned into Tarzans Treehouse. There is one nod to the original attraction though, a phonograph continuously plays the organ music that used to play in the original walk-through attraction.

For more details about Disneyland in the 1990s  including additions and changes to attractions and shows  click through the slideshow.

Reporter Mark Eades worked as an Imagineer for Walt Disney Imagineering, the company that designs Disneys theme parks, from 1982 to 1993.

Contact the writer: meades@ocregister.com
You wont have to look hard for signs of disillusionment with both the Republican and Democratic establishments at this months national conventions.

Growing frustration with the status quo has fueled the unexpectedly successful campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders: Both are so far outside their respective party establishments that not long ago they didnt even identify with their current party.

While Sanders is not the nominee, roughly 40 percent of the Democratic delegates at the convention will be his, and hes won major concession to the party platform.

As for voters, unprecedented numbers dont identify with any political party.

In California, nearly one in four voters is registered with no party preference, a steady growth from the 3 percent who said they were independents in 1970. A 2014 Gallup poll of all 50 states found voters nationwide identified themselves as independents in greater numbers than any time since Gallup began asking the question in 1988. (Not all states record the party affiliation of their voters.)

California voters decided in 2010 to gut much of the partisanship of the states primaries, approving a ballot measure that allows voters to cast ballots for any candidate regardless of party affiliation in all races but the presidential contest. And it advances the top two voter getters, even if they belong to the same party.

Voters have been moving away from the political parties for some time, said Lori Cox Han, a Chapman University political scientist. The national debt, the inefficiency of our government, the partisan gridlock People are fed up.

Peter Ditto, a UC Irvine social psychologist specializing in voter behavior, agreed.

People seem to have a diminishing belief that our governmental institutions can effectively solve problems any more, he said. The two sides of the aisle cant get anything done because they despise each other, and negotiation and compromise with a hated other side has become tantamount to treason.

The American people just dont know who to trust right now, but they are pretty damn sure it isnt the bozos in Washington, D.C.

Party rebranding

Han was a lifelong Democrat who left the party 1 1/2 years ago because of her own frustration, and is now an independent. But neither Han nor Ditto are predicting the end of the major parties.

Since the Civil War, the parties have managed to evolve and survive, Han said. If Trump wins, youre going to see rebranding of the party and he could perhaps move it back toward the middle.

Hillary is trying to move to the left but a lot of people doubt shes sincere. The Democrats need to turn the page. If Hillary wins, theyll have to wait until she leaves office.

Personality politics

Complicating the schematic of the countrys political climate is an increasingly volatile polarization.

Increasingly, it feels like liberals and conservatives are just different kinds of people, living in very different worlds, with different values and even different facts, Ditto said. He cited studies by political scientists Sean Westwood and Shanto Iyengar that found evidence that people are more likely to discriminate against someone of the other political party than they are about someone of another race.

Ditto said the difference can be more about attitude than policy: Conservatives are confident, unapologetic and more concerned with national self-interest. Liberals are humble, less overtly masculine and less nationalistic.

You can tell right away who is your kind of person, he said. This seems as important or more important than policy. Trump is the perfect example. He is conservative in his demeanor but not so much in his policies, many of which are at odds with traditional Republican orthodoxy.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com
A week after the killing of five police officers, civilians and religious leaders as well as police already are coming together in an effort to resolve the tension between many African Americans and law enforcement.

In a prayer thread ceremony at Christ Our Redeemer Church in Irvine on Thursday, Orange County sheriffs deputies, Irvine police, elected officials, Jews, Muslims and Christians tied string around each others wrists and vowed to tie diverse communities together.

Its wrong for five police officers to die in Dallas, the Rev. Mark Whitlock said. Its equally wrong for two men to die. We are here today to hold a love fest.

Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel followed. We are committed that our young people grow up with faith, not fear. We are committed to trust.

At the White House earlier in the week, Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait, activists and other elected officials met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss ways to de-escalate the violence.

Even gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg changed course, moving away from accusing officers of hunting down people of color and joining with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck in calling for peace.

To be sure, America has a long way to go before nerves and fears are soothed after a history of racism, police shootings and last weeks killings of the Dallas officers. And prayer threads are just a symbol.

But symbols can help grow movements, and movements can change the course of a country.

ONE LOVE

As I walked toward Christ Our Redeemer Church on Thursday, a dozen young teenagers stood outside for the churchs daily Summer Enrichment Academy. The teacher offered a lesson in growth.

He pointed to small plants and discussed how the body grows strong just like plants, but it takes time. He talked about tree trunks, how his skin is brown like bark. In short, he talked about organic unity.

Above, on the second floor, more than 100 people gathered  African American, Asian, white, Latino. Most were adults. Some brought toddlers.

The mood was somber. Whitlock talked about how at this time a year ago, his church grappled with the killing of nine parishioners at a fellow church in Charleston, S.C. Today, we would grapple with police shootings and the killing of police.

Still, the mood was hopeful.

We are grieving and talking, not just in our city, but in our nation, said Bishop Abel Aguilar, of Thrive Network of Churches and the Pentecostal Christian Tabernacle Church in Santa Ana. We need to do good in this world for law enforcement, for our communities, for the next generation.

Standing on a long stage, speaker after speaker shared their own challenges with racism as murmurs of amen fluttered through the hall.

Pastor Jeff Suhr of New Life Mission Church in Irvine confessed, Im both a victim and guilty of racism.

When Suhr was 10 years old, his family moved midyear. A blond boy rode his bicycle up and Suhr was thrilled that he was about to make a new friend. But instead, the boy made a racist gesture by pulling the sides of his face, contorting his eyelids.

Still, a few years later Suhr was silent when in high school an Asian friend said he hated black people. In my cowardice I didnt say anything.

Now, Suhr said of condemning racism, I own it.

STRINGS OF PEACE

Despite the weight of the issues, the coming together  organized by pastor Jason Aguilar of Cloud Church  was smart enough to include lighter moments.

Orange County Undersheriff Don Barnes happens to be white and very tall. At least, Whitlock cracked, Im dark and handsome.

Barnes, too, had a sobering story to share. He grew up in Inglewood. When his family moved to Orange County, he gravitated toward kids who were like the ones he had known  African Americans. But some white boys advised he shouldnt play with those kids.

We need to walk a mile hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder with people of all races, all beliefs, Barnes said. Law enforcement is transitioning into (being) inclusive.

Born and schooled in South Korea, Irvine Mayor Steven Choi came to the U.S. as a Peace Corps language instructor for the State Department before earning his masters and doctorate degrees. He, too, has found himself on both sides of race issues.

Today, America is angry, Choi said. We gather in this hour to support one another.

Choi closed with a quote from President Abraham Lincoln: We must not be enemies.

Matt Svajda of Fiducia Faith in Motion told how he was raised in a small Texas town where people of different races shared, broke bread together. When he moved to Irvine as an adult with his own young family, he and his wife sent greeting notes to neighbors.

An Indian couple knocked on Fiducias door, thanking him. It was their first local connection after living in the area for two years.

Love your neighbor, Svajda implored, as yourself.

Later, several people handed out pieces of string. Pastor Scott Bullock of Irvine Presbyterian Church explained, When one of our brothers or sisters suffers, we suffer with them.

The string, he said, is to remind ourselves that we are connected. Your hurt is our hurt.

Whitlock stood before the Irvine police chief, tied a piece of light brown string around the officers wrist and offered a blessing. Hamel returned the gesture.

As others tied bits of string, whispers of peace filled the room. Of course, 100 pieces of string dont mean much. But thousands do.

And tens of thousands of prayer threads can weave a new tapestry for a new peace.

Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
The Turkish community in Orange County is rooting for democracy in the homeland, and said Friday they are hoping attempts by military factions to seize control of the country are quashed.

Members of the local community, which numbers about 5,000, are also greatly concerned for the safety and well-being of family members back in Turkey, said Ilker Yildiz, Orange County regional director of the Pacifica Institute in Irvine.

I just talked to my parents and my brother, said Yildiz, whose family members live in Bursa, which is between Istanbul and the capital city of Ankara. Theyre staying indoors and trying to be safe. My brother said many people are going to the mosques to pray and imams are putting out announcements through the mosques loudspeakers.

Yildiz said the Pacifica Institute suspended its annual trips to Turkey starting early this year because of instability in the area and the increase in ISIS-fueled terrorist attacks.

Emrah Erduran of Huntington Beach said he is concerned for his two children, ages 9 and 7, who are in northern Turkey, spending summer vacation with their grandparents.

But they are far away from all the events and are safe, he said.

Erduran said Friday he was staying in touch with high school friends in Ankara via Whatsapp and social media and was keeping tabs on events as they unfold.

He expects the situation to resolve itself within a few days because it seems to have been initiated by a small faction of the military.

Erduran says, no matter what, Turkey should remain a democracy.

Any time Turkey has gone under military rule, it has taken steps backward, he said. Military rule is not the solution. Democracy is the only way.

Yildiz agreed.

As Turkish Americans, we love our country and we love democracy, he said.

We have to support and protect a democratic Turkey.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@ocregister.com
The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.
Y'know erdogan is such a low life it would not surprise me if he staged the whole thing, sacrificing a few flyboys and civilians would mean nothing to him, even a third rate coup organizer would have been far better prepared. Report on RT cited soldiers saying they had no clue on any coup attempt they were told they were going on a training mission and video accounts showing passive troops bear this out. Erdogan the sole benefactor now able to weed out more adversaries, he already insults the opposition, hunts kurds, jails reporters and can now purge the military which he hates and turf judges he feels are too just. He acted super fast on his purge suggesting to me at least he had his list at the ready.Begs the question what democracy?
Calum McSwiggan, 26, a YouTuber, posted a photo of himself on social media claiming that he was attacked outside a gay bar in West Hollywood Monday, but the police are telling a different story.In a statement toHolly M. Perez, captain of the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said that authorities responded to McSwiggan's report that he was assaulted by three men outside of a gay club. Officers "were unable to substantiate the assault," Perez said. The YouTuber "had no visible injuries" and was arrested when officers went to the scene "after deputies observed him vandalizing a car." The 26-year-old was booked and photographed (photo above) and placed in a cell by himself at the West Hollywood Station. It was there that station personnel say McSwiggan "was then observed injuring himself with the handle and receiver to a payphone inside the cell."The YouTuber was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries. "Mr. McSwiggans booking photo was taken prior to deputies seeing Mr. McSwiggan injuring himself," according to the sheriff's department statement, after providing McSwiggan's booking photo, which shows no visible injuries.McSwiggan claimed on Instagram to have been left with three broken teeth and six stitches in his forehead, and he shared a photo of himself in a hospital bed with a bandage on his forehead. Riyadh Khalif, a fellow YouTuber and friend of McSwiggan, tweeted that he was with the 26-year-old at the bar that night, but the attack came during a moment that McSwiggan was separated from his friends.Khalif speculated on Twitter that the three attackers took advantage of seeing the YouTuber alone and took the opportunity to attack him.On Twitter, Khalif claims that the attackers knew where we were going to be because of our posts on social media before we went out and even said our names as they beat him."Here's how McSwiggan described the attack in West Hollywood that left him looking battered in a selfie.Last night was the worst night of my life and Im really struggling to find the words to talk about it, he wrote on Instagram and Facebook After one of the most wonderful weekends at VidCon we went out to a gay club to celebrate, and towards the end of the evening I was separated from my friends and beaten up by three guys." He reported that authorities treated him like a "second class citizen, instead of helping or protecting him.Ive never felt so terrified to be a gay man in the public eye, wrote McSwiggan.LGBT people are the minority group most likely to be targeted for hate crimes, according to FBI statistics. So there are a lot more real stories than fictional. In his post, McSwiggan said he wasnt in the right frame of mind to speak fully about the incident and that he would be addressing it in the future.has reached out for comment.The full statement from the sheriff's department is posted below:mo
Women are capable of passing a Zika infection to their male sexual partners, according to new research released Friday.

For the first time, public health officials report that a woman transmitted the virus to her male partner during sex. All previously reported cases of sexually transmitted Zika infection have been spread from men.

But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a New York City woman in her 20s had intercourse with a male partner, who did not wear a condom, the day she returned from a Zika-affected region outside the United States.

The next day, the CDC report says, the woman developed symptoms of Zika illness: fever, fatigue, rash, joint and back pain, swelling, numbness and tingling in her hands and feet. That same day, the woman also started her menstrual period. Two days later, she went to her primary care doctor, who took blood and urine samples and sent them to the New York City health department lab for testing. The tests were positive, showing the presence of virus in her blood and urine.

A week after the couple had sex, the man developed fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. He went to the same doctor who had diagnosed Zika infection in the woman. The doctor suspected sexual transmission of the virus and alerted the health department. The man, who also is in his 20s, had not traveled outside the country during the year before his illness, did not have other recent sexual partners and had not been bitten by a mosquito in the week before he got sick. Blood and urine samples were collected from the man, who tested positive for the virus in his urine.

New York City health officials who investigated the case said the virus present in the woman's vaginal fluids or menstrual blood was likely transmitted to her male partner through urethral mucous or undetected abrasions on his penis.

Until now, scientists knew that a man with Zika could pass it to a female or male partner during unprotected sex, regardless of whether the man shows symptoms. The virus remains in the semen longer than it does in blood. The latest findings suggest that Zika is spread much like other sexually transmitted diseases.

"It would not be unexpected to see more cases of women transmitting it to sexual partners," said John Brooks, the CDC's expert on sexual transmission of Zika. Because Zika infections in pregnant women can cause severe birth defects in babies, the latest research means pregnant women who have female sex partners who live in or have traveled to Zika-affected areas also need to take prevention measures, he said.

The CDC is updating its recommendations to address sexual transmission of Zika for women, even though no cases of woman-to-woman transmission have been documented. Pregnant women with female sex partners should use barrier methods every time they have sex, avoid re-using sex toys or avoid sex during the pregnancy, Brooks said.

At the moment, there's not enough evidence to show that sexual transmission goes "beyond a pair of partners," Brooks said. "It's very difficult to figure out in an area of ongoing transmission of Zika, how many infections are due to mosquito bites and how many were due to sexual transmission."

The virus is primarily spread through the bite of an infected mosquito.

In the New York case, two conditions also existed that increased the likelihood of sexual transmission. The man was uncircumcised, which always raises the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted viral diseases, such as HIV and herpes, Brooks said. The woman was also becoming ill - with a lot of Zika virus in her system - right at the time she had sex.

It's unclear how much virus was in her vaginal fluids, but animal models have shown that the virus can be present in those secretions.

CDC's current guidance to prevent sexual transmission is based on the assumption that any spread occurs from a man to his partners. Based on the latest information, officials are recommending that health-care providers report to local or state health department any patients with illnesses compatible with Zika infection who do not have a history of travel to an area where the virus is spreading locally but who had a sexual exposure to a partner who did travel.

The Zika virus has spread to nearly 50 countries, primarily in South America and the Caribbean.
Can't see the video? Click here.

Family members were convinced he couldnt get a job. Even his mother said so.

My family doubted that a person with a disability can get a job, said Dahir Talasow, who attends Omaha North High School.

This summer, the ambitious 18-year-old proved them wrong.

Because of a spinal cord injury, Talasow uses a wheelchair. But supervisors at the Goodwill at 4805 N. 72nd St. where he works are quick to point out that Talasow has no trouble zipping through the store, and hes always eager to clock in.

On a recent afternoon he was reaching up, up, up with a sheet of waxed paper and polishing a steel-chromed clothes bar. Customers like to thumb through the clothing, he explained, and hangers that slide smoothly along the bar make it easier to shop.

What 18-year-old wants to work? Goodwill Work Experience trainer Jake Pedersen said good-naturedly. Dahir is the complete opposite. Hes got a motor running.

Talasow is one of 16 disabled youths who were given the opportunity to beef up their job skills when Goodwills Work Experience program offered its first Omaha summer session. Until now the program for disabled youths operated only during the school year.

The six-week summer session, which includes two weeks of follow-up, was made possible by a $33,600 grant from Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation, a state and federal vocational program that serves people with disabilities.

Vocational Rehabilitations partners include Goodwill Industries of Greater Nebraska, a nonprofit, and state agencies such as the Nebraska Department of Education, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and others.

Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation serves more than 6,000 state residents each year. Last year 1,887 of those it served entered the workforce, the program reports.

Being able to offer a six-week, four-day summer session is important, said Sam Comfort, a Goodwill Work Experience trainer. The three-month stretch is a time when disabled teenagers in particular can find themselves bored or isolated from teachers and schoolmates, Comfort said.

The grant money pays the wages of two Omaha Work Experience trainers and 16 Omaha-area students who work about eight hours a week, earning minimum wage, along with six students and trainers at the Goodwill store in Blair, said Holly Schwietz, coordinator of the Goodwill Work Experience program.

The goal is not for students to work at Goodwill, but if it works out, OK, Schwietz said.

The program serves students with autism, Down syndrome, developmental and behavioral issues and other disabilities, Schwietz said.

Participants, who are referred by teachers and counselors, spend about 30 to 45 minutes polishing their resumes and practicing interviewing skills before moving to their assigned jobs at the store or its sorting room.

For reticent teens, that can mean increasing eye contact, speaking in an audible voice or being more talkative. For others, its learning to put the brakes on during a job interview and not sharing your whole life story, Schwietz said.

Workplace tasks that some might take for granted  making eye contact with customers, smiling, saying thank you, remembering to hand a donor a tax receipt, learning to categorize items (saleable as is or in need of repair)  help students develop job skills and confidence. Depending on a participants progress, each week can bring new on-the-job responsibilities, Schwietz said.

Other program activities included a visit to Metropolitan Community College, which offers classes outside of those geared to a two-year degree, and to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.

Playing host to the group, said Pat Bourne, senior vice president of commercial business and government affairs at Blue Cross, gave students the opportunity to view a real work environment.

We gave them pointers on how to put together a resume that will catch the eye of a recruiter, and tried to give them a sense of how much training different jobs require, Bourne said. Its important to give young people opportunities like this so they have a better idea of what to expect.

Comfort said he estimates that about 40 percent of participants in the Work Experience nine-month program find employment.

Students with disabilities can sometimes struggle to make the transition from school to work, Comfort said. Work provides meaning and benefit to our lives ... and earning a wage gives value to our time.

Travis OConnell, 19, not only works part time at Goodwill but part time for an Omaha-area call center as part of its customer service staff, he said. OConnell takes the bus from Hastings, Nebraska, to attend the summer program.

The program has helped him summon the courage to tackle new tasks, he said.

I started with a lack of willingness to do things, he said. Im way better now. I thought I couldnt do some things, but Id try it and find out Hey, thats not that hard,  said OConnell, who said he is autistic. Its just a matter of paying attention to details and focusing.

As part of the summer program, Talasow learned to navigate the public transportation system to commute to and from work.

It was hard at first. I got lost. But its pretty easy now, he said.

After his job at Goodwill ends, Talasow said he plans to get another. He recently lined up a job interview at an Omaha video game store.

And his family?

Theyre surprised Ive gotten a job, Talasow said, smiling shyly.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1142, janice.podsada@owh.com
For the sixth year in a row, a team of McCook Community College students has placed in the top 5 in the nation in a technology and business skills competition. Competing against two- and four-year schools across the nation in the Phi Beta Lambda contest in Atlanta, McCook freshmen graphic design students Rebecca Lorens and Jessica Premer placed second in the desktop publishing. Sophomore Whitney Goeman and freshman Emily Karr finished fifth in computer animation and seventh in desktop publishing. Freshman Baily Kool also attended the conference in Atlanta, June 23-27. She competed in the areas of Client Services and Hospitality Management and was a voting delegate at the conference.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb.  A Grand Island couple is suing CHI Health St. Francis and Dr. Zachary Meyer, alleging that negligence and substandard medical care resulted in the death of their 3-day-old baby girl in 2014.

Filed in Hall County District Court, the suit was brought by Rosario and Darwin Mendez.

The baby, Darysleid Emilza Mendez Gonzales, died on June 20, 2014, three days after she was born. According to the lawsuit, the baby had Group B streptococcus.

Rosario Mendez became pregnant in September 2013. Throughout her pregnancy, she was under the continuous prenatal/medical care of Meyer, the lawsuit says.

During the pregnancy, Mendez underwent routine lab tests ordered by Meyer. Those tests revealed positive results of vaginal Group B strep cervical. According to the lawsuit, Group B strep is medically known as a bacterium that causes life-threatening infections in newborns and can be transmitted by the pregnant mother during the birth of her child.

The lawsuit says the necessary antibiotics were not administered to Mendez before or during the process of labor, citing negligence.

Meyer did not return two phone calls from The Independent.

CHI Health St. Francis doesnt comment on pending litigation, hospital spokesman Terry Douglass said.

In requesting a jury trial, the plaintiffs seek damages for physical pain, mental anguish, past medical care bills, funeral and burial expenses, as well as wrongful death damages and exemplary damages.

The couple is represented by Gary Pearson of Lincoln.
NICE, France - The Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 84 in this coastal French city, the organization's news agency said Saturday, as French prosecutors took four more people into custody in connection with the attack.

It remained unclear whether the Islamic State had directed the attack, whether they were taking responsibility for an attack that they may have inspired, or whether they were simply seeking publicity from an attack entirely disconnected from them. The Islamic-State-connected Amaq news agency cited an "insider source" saying that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, "was a soldier of the Islamic State." The Islamic-State-connected Amaq news agency cited an "insider source" saying that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, "was a soldier of the Islamic State."

"He executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations that fight the Islamic State," the news agency wrote.

But the oblique claim of responsibility left open the question of whether Bouhlel had acted alone or had any prior communication with the group, which has also claimed ties to the attacks that struck Paris twice last year and Brussels in March. French authorities have been scrambling to determine whether Bouhlel acted alone or had a support network in Nice, where he appears to have been living for at least six years.

Investigators on Saturday detained three additional people in connection with the attack, including one person who is believed to have spoken to Bouhlel by phone minutes before he started his deadly journey down Nice's Promenade des Anglais, local media reported, adding that an additional man was detained late Friday. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said that police had detained Bouhlel's ex-wife and were questioning her.

Nice, meanwhile, was trying to return to normal Saturday by reopening the seaside Promenade des Anglais to traffic 36 hours after Bouhlel turned it into a killing field. Beaches were also set to reopen, even as flowers and tributes piled up at a makeshift memorial near the spot where the deadly truck came to a halt. French President Francois Hollande convened an emergency meeting of his top security advisers to discuss the investigation.

The scale of the carnage wrought by a Bouhlel came into grim focus Friday, with 10 children among the dead and 202 people injured. Among the wounded, 50 were "between life and death," according to French President Francois Hollande.

The attack with a 19-ton rented Renault truck - the third mass- casualty assault to hit to France in 18 months - shocked the nation and sparked questions about whether authorities had done enough to safeguard a country that is an obvious target of terrorist groups. Many witnesses said Friday that the packed corniche had been only lightly guarded by police during fireworks on the gently warm night. Bouhlel, a truck driver, was easily able to drive around police fences blocking Nice's famous Promenade des Anglais before jamming on the accelerator and zigzagging his way through the crowds in a method that seemed calculated to generate maximum bloodshed.

The identities of the victims testified to France's diverse society and to the international appeal of the tony French Riviera. A vacationing father and his 11-year-old son from Lakeway, Texas. A headscarf-wearing Muslim woman who came to celebrate Bastille Day with her nieces and nephews. A French high school teacher, his wife, daughter and grandson. Others from Russia, Switzerland, Germany, Australia.

There were so many victims early Friday that survivors grabbed tablecloths from seaside cafes to cover the bodies strewn across the asphalt. The dead were marked by rectangular orange and white traffic-control barriers that stood like rows of tombstones.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday drew a strong link to terrorism, despite the fact that no militant group had claimed responsibility for the attack and Bouhlel had no known ties to such organizations.

"The threat of terrorism, as we have now been saying for a long time, is weighing heavily on France, and it will continue to do so for a long time yet," Valls said after an emergency meeting in Paris. "We are facing a war waged on us by terrorism."

French citizens are clearly reaching their limit. Valls and Hollande - whose popularity is scraping record lows - were booed when they visited the seaside scene of the attack Friday, in an apparent sign of anger over security lapses.

France was shaken by a terrorist attack in January 2015, when militant Islamist attackers took aim at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher grocery store in Paris. Attackers struck again in November in a popular nightclub district of the capital, setting off bombs and raking the area with gunfire.

This time, the French population had just relaxed after living for weeks on heightened alert during European soccer championships that concluded Sunday. Hours before the violence in Nice, Hollande had announced that he planned to allow a state of emergency to expire at the end of the month. On Friday, Hollande said it would be extended for three months instead, and he said he would boost France's role in the Islamic State strongholds of Syria and Iraq.

The attack was a "barbaric act," Hollande said after meeting with top officials in Nice. "An individual who took a truck and murdered people with it."

Belgium, Germany and Italy stepped up security along their borders on Friday, in a measure of fears that the violence in France could spill into neighboring countries. Belgium - which was struck by a bomb attack at the Brussels airport and a subway station in March - is particularly nervous ahead of its own national day Thursday.

As investigators struggled to understand whether Bouhlel had acted alone, they offered a first account of his path toward the murderous drive that concluded in a hail of bullets from police officers who forced the truck to a stop outside the grand Palais de la Mediterranee, a hotel.

Bouhlel was a Tunisian citizen who had lived in Nice since at least 2010, when he first ran afoul of authorities by engaging in petty theft, according to Molins, the prosecutor. Most recently, he had been given a suspended six-month prison sentence related to a January assault, Molins said. In that case, Bouhlel's former attorney told the local Nice-Matin newspaper, a motorist complained the truck driver was blocking the road during a delivery. Bouhlel took a swing at the motorist with a wooden beam, causing a deep wound, according to the lawyer's account. Bouhlel is divorced and has three children, neighbors said. The prosecutor said the suspect's ex-wife was taken in for questioning.

As fireworks lit up the sky Thursday in celebration of Bastille Day, Bouhlel drove the rented truck toward its fatal destination, Molins said. In the cab he carried an automatic pistol, two fake assault rifles, a non-working hand grenade and a phony pistol. He swerved around a police barrier blocking the Promenade des Anglais just next to a children's hospital, then sped through the crowds, leaving carnage in his path. More than a mile later, three police officers traded fire with him, Molins said. Authorities think the truck kept going 300 yards after he had been shot. Police found him dead in the passenger seat.

Bouhlel was "entirely unknown" to anti-terrorist units, the prosecutor said. "Yesterday's attack has not yet been claimed, but I must stay that this kind of attack is in line with the type advocated by the terrorist organizations in various videos," he said.

Witnesses described confusion and chaos Thursday night as hundreds of panicked bystanders ran to try to escape the deadly truck.

After the fireworks, Adrien Dobrescu, 54, who was visiting from Romania, heard more sharp bangs. "Someone was screaming, and I saw gunfire," he said. He ran with a crowd as fast as he could off the promenade. "I had waited two, four minutes, I would be dead, too."

Survivors were left to deal with the wounded and dead.

"There were so many injured, and dead bodies," said Fiona Le Goff, 27, a concierge at an apartment building facing the Promenade des Anglais. "The worst was a woman whose body was just stuck to the street."

Later, she surveyed the area as forensic teams moved in. "There were people just covered with white cloths," she said. "It was horrible."

After the bodies of victims had been hauled away Friday, the macabre truck remained for hours. More than 25 bullet holes riddled its front, and its doors stood open while investigators searched it. Barely 100 yards away, mourners piled flowers and remembrances at the base of a palm tree, some of them crying while they sang "La Marseillaise," France's anthem.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some 250 people dead and over 1,400 wounded Saturday. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason" as authorities arrested or dismissed thousands of troops and judges.

The chaos Friday night and Saturday came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey  a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group  that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. Staying in power by switching from being prime minister to president, Erdogan has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.

The government has also come under pressure from hosting millions of refugees who have fled violence in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and from a series of bloody attacks blamed on Islamic State extremists and Kurdish rebels.

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul, blocking key bridges. From a cellphone, he delivered a televised address that called for huge crowds to come out and defend Turkey's democracy  which they did in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, facing off against troops who had blocked key Bosporus bridges that link the city's Asian and European sides.

Erdogan flew home early Saturday and declared the coup a failure.

"They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge," he told large crowds after landing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the night as "a black mark on Turkish democracy" and said the perpetrators "will receive every punishment they deserve."

He also said July 15 will be remembered as "a festival for democracy," the day when those who carried out a coup against the people were hit by a coup themselves.

Late Saturday, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said state authorities were in full control of all areas in Turkey following the coup attempt but warned that authorities would remain vigilant.

The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow. Gen. Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.

Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting later Saturday, denouncing the coup attempt and claiming that any moves against the people or parliament will be met with the "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them."

The statement praised the Turkish nation for its unwavering belief in democracy and lauded citizens for taking to the streets and resisting the coup.

The death toll appeared to be over 250 people. Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the process of putting down the coup attempt and 2,839 plotters were detained. A source at the office of the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the toll of 161 "excludes assailants." Dundar said at least 104 "coup plotters" had died.

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup attempt. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government and Obama held a meeting with his national security advisers. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and urged the Turkish people to respect democracy.

U.S. airline regulators banned all flights between the U.S. and airports in Ankara and Istanbul, including flights to the U.S. via third countries.

There have long been tensions between the military  which sees itself as the protector of the secular Turkish state  and Erdogan's Islamic-influenced AKP party.

Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gulen, however, said he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey" and sharply rejected any responsibility for it.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Still, Erdogan's government pressed ahead Saturday with a purge of judicial officials, with 2,745 judges being dismissed across Turkey for alleged ties to Gulen, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. It said 10 members of Turkey's highest administrative court were detained and arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court.

Among those detained for questioning were the commander of Turkey's second army, Gen. Adem Huduti, and a few other top aides in the eastern city of Malatya, Anadolu said.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a military statement saying forces had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags.

Top military commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks. By early Saturday, the putsch appeared to have fizzled.

CNN-Turk showed dozens of soldiers walking among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. Some flag-waving people climbed onto the tanks.

NTV television showed a Turkish colonel and other soldiers on their knees being searched and taken into custody at military headquarters. The Hurriyet newspaper, quoting investigators, said some privates had thought they were on military maneuvers, not a coup attempt.

A Blackhawk military helicopter with seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, where the passengers requested asylum. While Turkey demanded their extradition, Greece said it would hand back the helicopter and consider the men's asylum requests.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, scattering broken glass and other debris across a lobby.

CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding others.

Turkey is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could have made it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

The Pentagon said U.S. warplanes stopped flying missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq from Incirlik after the Turkish government closed its airspace to military aircraft. U.S. officials were working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible.

Erdogan's Islamist government has also been accused of playing an ambiguous  even double-sided  role in Syria. Turkey's renewed offensive against Kurdish militants  who seek more autonomy and are implacable foes of IS  has complicated the U.S.-led fight against IS.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the attempted coup appeared to have been "carried out by lower-ranking officers."

"Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan's attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency," Hakura said. "In the short term, this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan."

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
New Hampshire Votes To Keep The Nipple Free

In a state with an average temperature of only 46 degrees, the risk of rampant nudity seems rather low.The New Hampshire state legislature on Wednesday voted down a bill that would have made it illegal for women to expose their breasts and nipples in public, bringing an end to a contentious debate in which some lawmakers suggested unfettered nudity would lead to women going topless at Little League games.Lawmakers proposed the legislation after after two women were arrested for going topless on a beach in Gilford, New Hampshire, while participating in a Free the Nipple protest. The charges were thrown out by a judge who said the state had no anti-nudity laws, leading conservative lawmakers to push a ban on toplessness over concerns it could tank the tourism industry and lead to widespread impropriety.Had the bill passed, women who showed their breasts and nipples with reckless disregard could have gotten misdemeanor charges. So much for the Live Free or Die state.Experts had warned House lawmakers that banning toplessness  arguably a form of protest  could open the state up to huge legal fees. The New Hampshire ACLU chapter also testified, according to the Associated Press, claiming that violating the proposed anti-nudity law could be considered protected political speech.The bill had also called for women who broke the law be listed on the states sex offenders registry after a second offense of exposing their breasts. The House report said many in the state legislature felt this would be excessive punishment.In a state with an average temperature of only 46 degrees, the risk of rampant nudity seems rather low, the report noted.According to the New Hampshire news outlet Union Leader, House members did not discuss the bill before killing it.
Turkish military coup is fine, but Erdogan seems to have called for it

Feature

oi-Pallavi Sengupta

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan may now be seen standing by the side of the Turkish people protesting against the military coup, but there is every reason that his supporters alone can save him since he is not in the good books of many, apart from US (who have their own vested interest in the country).

He is otherwise hated by the Egyptians, Russians, Kurds and the Syrians.

Eygptian Islamists warn Erdogan

The Turkish President's tiff with Egypt began when he supported the brotherhood and President Mohammed Morsi after he was toppled by Egyptian general Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi. According to him, Sisi was an anti-democratic, ruthless dictator. Even 22 million signatures demanding the resignation of Morsi did not deter Erdogan from withdrawing his statement. Morsi was ill-famed for his take on Christians and is known to have destroyed Churches and attack Christians. Moreover, Coptic girls were kidnapped, raped and forced to get married to Muslims after being converted to Islam. They are then never allowed to see their Christian families.

'Democracy' is one thing, being biased toward a particular ideology is another. And Erdogan does the later, to be precise. He is anything but supporting the democratic procedure, which brought Morsi, but backs him for a similar ideology. Both men are hard core Islamists and can go to any extent to force their religious views on others.

They believe that the State should be treated as the 'hands of God' and anything that they should be blindly followed. Anyone who questions it should be ostracized, intimidated and persecuted.

[Read: Turkey Updates: 90 dead in Turkish military coupe, 1154 wounded]

Erdogan's take on Israel and Jews

Akin to what Morsi believed, Erdogan is not fond of Israel and had once stormed out of a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Islamic World responded enthusiastically saying, "finally, a Muslim leader had the guts to humiliate Israel, live on TV."

But he left the rest of the world confused as he pretended to welcome Israel with open arms. Even today, during the Turkey Coupe, he sent out a direct warning to the Palestinians saying that those behind the incident would be severely punished.

Erdogan's hate chemistry with Bashar al-Assad

Erdogan had once wanted the Bashar Al-Assad regime to be toppled. He had said that limited airstrikes by the US is not enough and pushed for a broader military offensive. Once a pro-Assad, he has now turned into a fierce critic and since the beginning of the Syrian war, he constantly called on Assad to go.

Incidentally, the heightened tension between the two leaders has led to many cross-border incident, including the explosion of a Syrian mortar in Turkish territory, which killed five civilians last year. In response, the Turkish government responded with military force.

Russia hates Erdogan

After Turkish jets shot a Russian bomber, the already shrivelled relationship between Russia and Turkey reached heightened tensions. A pro-Erdogan media accused Russia of supporting Assad "the enemy of Islam". Likewise, the Turkish media is evoking the past wars between the two countries and showing how Turkey has been defeated and the Turks massacred. In fact, Russia is portrayed as a genocidal entity.

[Read: US supports democratically elected government in Turkey]

Erdogan's monopoly against the Kurds

The conflict between the Kurds and Turkey is primarily known as the Turkey-Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) conflict. It comprises of an armed Kurdish insurgent group fighting for greater autonomy and greater political and cultural rights inside Turkey.

The reason of Erdogan's hatred for the Kurds in Turkey seems to be purely political as the latter played an important role in destabilising the election campaign by the AKP party, the AKP could not reach consensus with any political parties to form a coalition.

According to a report by the Global Comment, "This time around, it seems that Erdogan and the AKP opted to demonize the pro-Kurd People's Democratic Party (HDP) and its supporters in an attempt to not only regain a majority, but to reach the two thirds threshold needed for a transformation in presidential systems. To attain this goal, Erdogan and the (Justice and Development Party) AKP tried to use fear strategically in order to strengthen its nationalist vote by unreservedly accusing the HDP of acting with, and supporting the PKK in its terrorist activities. However, the pro-Kurdish HDP is known to be fundamentally opposed to violence and is focused on working towards a peaceful solution for Turkish Kurds."

[Read: Indian embassy in Turkey asks Indians to remain indoors]

In fact, Erdogan has often been seen terming the Kurds as terrorists and recently, he asked US to choose between the Kurd 'terrorists' and Turkey when it came to fighting the ISIS.

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Story first published: Saturday, July 16, 2016, 13:07 [IST]
Delhi-NCR likely to choke in the coming days

'Red light on, gaadi off' postponed as LG hasn't given nod: Delhi Minister

Smriti Irani dropped from Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, July 16: The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has been rejigged with Smriti Irani being dropped as a special invitee and her successor in the HRD Ministry Prakash Javadekar elevated to a member.

Najma Heptulla, the Minority Affairs Minister who had resigned from the Union Cabinet earlier this week, is no more a member of the panel.

Decoding the cabinet reshuffle with psephologist Dr Sandeep Shastri

In the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Irani was shifted from the HRD Ministry to Textiles. Javadekar was earlier a special invitee to the committee.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the new Law Minister, replaces his predecessor D V Sadananda Gowda in the panel. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who has been divested of his Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, too has been dropped as a special invitee and replaced by S S Ahluwalia who is now the junior minister in the Ministry.

Newly-inducted Minister of State in the Law Ministry P P Chaudhary has also been made a special invitee.

The CCPA, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is mandated to recommend the dates of Parliament sessions. It has 11 members, including three special invitees.

Other members are Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ram Vilas Paswan and Ananth Kumar. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is another special invitee, a fresh list issued by the Cabinet Secretariat said.

PTI
Haryana shocker! 'Men below the age of 50 not fit to teach girls'

India

oi-Reetu

New Delhi, July 16: After telling teachers not to wear jeans in school, now a yet another surprising move of the Haryana Government has come to fore.

The Haryana government is going to adopt a policy according to which male teachers below 50 years of age will not be allowed to teach girl students.

According to a report in Mail Today, "Haryana education minister Ram Bilas Sharma has said that male teachers who are below 50 should not opt to teach at girls schools in the state as girls "after a certain age need special precautions."

Sharma, who is an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said, "The idea behind the step is to create a healthy atmosphere for girls so they are not distracted."

Earlier, school teachers in Haryana were told not to wear jeans at work and to be formally dressed.

An order in this regard was issued by Director of Elementary Education, Haryana (Panchkula).

"It has been observed that teachers in primary and middle schools come to schools in jeans. They are also found in jeans while visiting office of Directorate for some work which is inappropriate," said the order which was send to all District Elementary Education Officers.

"Kindly ensure that no teacher should come to schools/Directorate in jeans and they should be in formal dress," the order further said. Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh has strongly condemned the order while describing it as state government's move to divert attention from its "failures".

"It is an absolutely wrong order of the government to fix the dress code for teachers. It should be left to teachers what he wants to wear. Teacher's job is to teach and he can teach in jeans or in dhoti," Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh, president Wazir Singh.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Saturday, July 16, 2016, 14:09 [IST]
India must do more than 'Sankat Mochan' in South Sudan

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, July 16: The Indian government has done well to airlift out nationals stranded in South Sudan. Operation Sankat Mochan, co-powered by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and the Indian Air Force (IAF), demonstrated a decisive ability. Decisive because in a similar situation, when Indians expected comparable assistance, the then Manmohan Singh government waffled.

Most Indians gave up on New Delhi and scampered to neighbouring Uganda, south of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Those invested in South Sudan's land, the odd hotel, or a supermarket, wouldn't have left, anyway. Even this time around, the Indian nationals who've chosen to eject are ground workers contracted by multilateral agencies or ONGC Videsh.

There's good reason for India to do more than airlift a few hundred migrant workers. Beyond good optics and aggressive Facebook diplomacy by Gen. V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, who led Sankat Mochan, lie two key economic interests.

The first pertains to oil.

Our investments via ONGC Videsh, at $135 million in 2003 -- once the government's largest gamble of foreign direct investment -- cannot be left to our Chinese partners. The aggregate of our oil investments since then, as per the Indian foreign ministry, is now $2.5 billion, spread over South Sudan and Sudan.

ONGC Videsh has 25 per cent participating interest in Greater Nile Oil Project Block 1, 2 and 4, in consortium with CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and Sudapet of Sudan. It also has 24.125 percent participating interest in Block 5A in consortium with Petronas and Sudapet.

The Chinese control even the smallest part of the value chain. We clearly need to hold fort and safeguard our interests. But while we have been evacuating, Beijing looks a little more composed. Their evacuation numbers, as a percentage of total migrant workers, is a lot lower.

Our second economic interest lies in South Sudan's arable land, water and minerals.

Once the dust has settled down, these will remain a case of private investment and technology transfer as much as balancing out the near colonization of the country by the Chinese juggernaut of state-owned enterprises.

An important question remains whether the government heeded the clarion calls too quickly. The role played by social media, particularly Facebook, is case in point. It is an open secret that President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Vice President Riek Machar Teny don't want to run the government together.

It is Machar's rebellion that had caused the specter of evacuation even last time around. This time, under pressure from international interlocutors, the two agreed to meet at Mayardit's presidential palace. But before long, a spokesperson for Machar put up a Facebook post claiming that his boss has been taken hostage.

Hell broke loose in the Machar camp and a convoy of personal security guards, owing personal allegiance to him -- and not the institution, per se -- tried to storm in. Rumours flew around and it didn't help one bit that even ambassadors of South Sudan in different world capitals fanned the fire depending on which of the two leaders they owned allegiance to.

For a country that has celebrated only its fifth independence day, democratic institutions are far weaker than tribal ties. Rivalries between the Dinka and the Nuer are far too deep seated to be replaced in the immediate future. Under intense pressure to make up, Machar and Mayardit, both from opposing tribes, have now declared a joint ceasefire.

But most observers know that the two leaders say the right things only for external consumption. So, here's the point. Irrespective of how much social media platforms inflate the actual instability of the ground, Mayardit controls over 200,000 troops. Machar's forces are less than 2-5 per cent of this number. Plus, the international peacekeepers are obviously behind the ruling president.

Mayardit is an unreliable partner. In August 2013, he left Rashtrapati Bhavan high and dry and cancelled a visit to India at the last minute. In comparison, the frequency of his trips to Beijing are a part of public record. Mayardit finally came around and addressed the India-African Summit in New Delhi last year.

Real politick demands that India works with the ruler of South Sudan, irrespective of who he is. Here the task is cut out for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj -- she could even redeploy Gen. V.K. Singh to Juba. The former army chief had visited Mayardit once before Sankat Mochan. The terrain now is our oil fields -- we shouldn't let them go on a platter.

IANS


Accession Day: Valley lights up on this day when J&K became part of India

'Shaurya Diwas': Rajnath Singh says J&K entered new era of peace & prosperity after Article 370 abrogation

In India terror down by 34%, civilian deaths by 90% since Art 370 scrapped: Shah

J&K: Two injured in militant attack

India

oi-PTI

Srinagar, July 16: Two persons, including a relative of a former cop-turned-surrendered militant, were shot at and injured by militants in Pulwama district of Kashmir last night, police said today.

Shabir Ahmad Pandit, cousin of the surrendered militant Tariq Ahmad Pandit, and Manzoor Ahmad were shot at by militants at Kareemabad in Pulwama district last night around 10 PM, a police official said.

He said the injured persons were shifted to hospitals in Srinagar for treatment. Tariq Ahmad Pandit had deserted police force to join Hizbul Mujahideen group led by now slain commander Burhan Wani last year.

With several of Burhan's close associated getting eliminated earlier this year, Pandit surrendered before security forces in May.

Although it was not clear why Shabir and his friend were targeted by the militants, police officials believe the attack was a "retribution" for killing of Burhan and his two associates in an encounter with security forces on July 8.

PTI
UP: Man films wife committing suicide, does nothing to stop her

UP: 5, including a child, killed and 5 seriously hurt as car hits electric pole

Know constituencies of UP Assembly polls 2017: LUCKNOW NORTH

India

oi-Mukul Kumar Mishra

Uttar Pradesh will go to Assembly elections early in 2017. The state has an Assembly comprising 403 seats and a party/alliance has to win 202 seats to form the government. In 2012, when the last state election was held in UP, the Samajwadi Party had won 224 seats to get a decisive majority. [Know constituencies of UP Assembly polls]

OneIndia will take one Assembly constituency a day and have a look at electoral information related to it:

Constituency Name: Lucknow North (GEN)

Constituency No. 172

District: Lucknow

Population of the district: 3,588,455

Overall Literacy: 79.33%

Sex ratio: 906/1000

2012 Assembly election result

Winner: Abhishek Mishra (SP)

Votes received: 47,580

Nearest rival: Dr. Neeraj Bora (INC)

Votes: 45,361

Difference: 2,219

Margin: 2,219 (1.3%)

Total voters: 3, 36,777

Turnout: 50.0%

Lucknow North comprises of ward nos. 9, 14, 27, 38, 39, 41, 43, 45, 48, 51, 60, 66, 69, 72, 84, 93, 103 & 105 in Lucknow (M Corp.) of 3-Lucknow Tehsil.

Lok Sabha constituency

Lucknow North assembly seat falls under Lucknow LS constituency

Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency comprises of five legislative assembly segments.

These are Lucknow West, Lucknow North, Lucknow East, Lucknow Central and Lucknow Cantt.

In 2014 LS poll, BJP's Raj Nath Singh defeated Congress' Rita Bahuguna Joshi from this seat.

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Story first published: Saturday, July 16, 2016, 13:45 [IST]
Tuki asked by Governor to take floor test by July 16, seeks more time

Will Congress be reduced to 5 states today after Arunachal Pradesh trust vote?

Pema Khandu: The new star on the northeastern horizon

Pema Khandu new Congress Legislature Party leader, floor test likely to be delayed

India

oi-Sandra Marina Fernandes

Itanagar, July 16: Nabam Tuki resigned as the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Legislature Party leader and Pema Khandu was elected as the new CLP leader in the state.

Post being elected, Khandu said that he had met the Governor and staked claim with 45 Congress MLAs and two independent MLAs. He added that 'the date for the oath taking-ceremony was not decided yet' thereby delaying the floor test.

Will Congress be reduced to 5 states today after Arunachal Pradesh trust vote?

Tuki resigned and said young generation should take over. A meeting took place on Saturday morning following Governor Tathagatha Roy's directive to hold the floor test.

Congress MLAs and Rebel Congress MLAs arrive for Congress Legislature Party meeting in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/RMPaaWTjdn  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

Rebel Congress MLAs were also present in the meeting alongwith Rebel leader Khaliko Pul. Meanwhile, Section 144 has been imposed in Itanagar near the Assembly ahead of the floor test.

However, the floor test is likely to be delayed as Governor has to swear-in Pema Khandu as chief minister first.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government in Arunachal Pradesh while holding that the imposition of President's rule was illegal.

The Assembly now has an effective strength of 58 in which BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45.

OneIndia News
Tuki asked by Governor to take floor test by July 16, seeks more time

Pema Khandu: The new star on the northeastern horizon

India

oi-PTI

Itanagar, Jul 16: Pema Khandu emerged as the new star on the northeastern horizon when he was elected leader of the Congress in Arunachal Pradesh in a dramatic turn of events for the beleaguered party fighting to save its government.

Son of late Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a chopper crash in 2011, the 37-year-old graduate from Delhi's prestigious Hindu College had an early entry into governance after his father's demise.

And in five years, he has emerged as the chief ministerial prospect after Supreme Court's intervention that changed the course of politics in the state with dissidents returning to Congress.

Khandu was today chosen as the new leader of Congress Legislature Party after 44 party MLAs unanimously elected him in the place of Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, who was restored to the post only two days ago after the apex court verdict.

Khandu, who hails from Tawang, bordering China, first entered the Arunachal Pradesh assembly in 2011 to fill the vacancy caused by his father's death. His election as MLA from Mukto (ST) constituency was uncontested and he was soon included in the state government as Cabinet Minister for Water Resource Development and Tourism.

He had joined the Congress in early 2000 and became Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005 and President of Tawang District Congress Committee in 2010. Khandu was re-elected unopposed from Mukto in the 2014 assembly elections.

PTI
BRO Recruitment 2022: Check details for 328 vacancies, last date and salary details here

Pune's millionaire 'gold man' killed over Rs.150,000

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Pune, July 16: In a chilling revelation, police said on Saturday that Pune's multi-millionaire Datta D. Phuge was beaten to death by his son's friends to whom Phuge reportedly owed Rs.150,000.

Known as 'Pimpri Goldman', Phuge was attacked with a sickle, swords, knives and rods and then bludgeoned to death with large stones near Dighi here on Friday morning, shocking Pune, particularly its wealthy lot.

Moving swiftly, police apprehended five of the accused, all youths, based on the statement of the victim's 21-year old son Shubham D. Phuge. Another four persons are absconding.

The five are Amol alias Balli K. Pathare, 24, Shailesh S. Walke, 26, Vishal D. Parkhe, 32, Nivrutti alias Balukishan Walke, 35 and Pramod S. Dholpuria, 23. Among those on the run is the alleged prime conspirator Mohite.

According to police, around 10 p.m. on Thursday night, one of the prime accused, Atul Mohite, gave a reminder call to Shubham asking him to bring his father for a friend's birthday party.

Mohite also told Shubham to pick up 10 parcel biryanis and two cigarette packets en route to the party, the investigations said.

Shubham conveyed the message to his father and went to pick up the food parcels in his car with a friend Rohan Panchal.

When they came to the appointed party spot, they saw that Mohite and others were attacking his father. He stopped his car and started screaming for help.

But it was too late. A profusely bleeding and hideously mangled Phuge had borne the brunt of the brutal attack and was breathing his last in that isolated spot.

Stunned by the turn of events, Shubham and Panchal called the police control and informed them even as Mohite and around 10 others sneaked out of there in the darkness.

Later, Shubham and Panchal, the main witnesses to the sensational crime, lodged a complaint with police. Phuge's wife Seema, a former municipal corporator, also reached the spot.

Investigations revealed that the motive behind the heinous crime was the Rs.150,000 Phuge was to return to the accused.

Given his penchant for a flashy lifestyle, Phuge usually moved around with armed private bodyguards. It is not clear why they were not with him that fateful night.

In late 2012, Phuge shot into the limelight after he stitched an opulent Rs.10 million 22-carat pure gold shirt which came decorated with six glittering Swarovski crystal buttons and an accompanying flashy gold belt in a matching design.

Besides his primary business of lending money, he ran the Vakratund Chit Fund Pvt Ltd with his wife. There had been complaints of financial misappropriation against him in recent times.

His golden shirt was billed the most expensive shirt in the world, weighing around 3.5 kg pure gold and stitched by Ranka Jewellers of Pune.

The shirt had over 14,000 gold flowers intertwined with 100,000-plus spangles sewn on a base of fine velvet. It was said to be comfortable and easy to wear -- like normal clothes.

IANS
Embalming fluid is a compound of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol and other solvents, the statement says. The percentage of formaldehyde found in embalming fluid ranges anywhere from 5 to 29 percent. The percentage of ethyl alcohol, the psychoactive ingredient found in alcoholic beverage, varies anywhere from 9 to 56 percent. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, it is common for marijuana to be laced with PCP and/or embalming fluid, both of which produce a hallucinogenic effect. Cigarettes soaked with embalming fluid trend to burn slower, thereby increasing the chance for a prolonged high.



By Peter Holley http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/peter-holley July 16When police showed up at a vacant trailer-home in Penn Township, Pa., last month, neighbor Pat Beck was worried something might be wrong.Their presence seemed even more mysterious when Beck saw an investigator remove a box from the home and place it in a police vehicle.Several weeks later, a reporter from Fox affiliate WPMT finally told http://fox43.com/2016/07/15/stolen-brain-found-under-cumberland-co-porch-used-to-get-high/ Beck what was inside that box: a human brain.It just scares me to death, a terrified Beck told the station. I didnt think they were that kind of people, but nowadays, you never know.Police told the station that the brain was found beneath a porch, where it was kept inside a Wal-Mart shopping bag.It even had a name: Freddy.Police say the name was given to the brain by Joshua Lee Long, who is already incarcerated by Cumberland County in connection with a string of burglaries in Pennsylvania, according to the Sentinel.Police suspect the brain was also stolen.Cumberland County Coroner Charley Hall has confirmed the brain as belonging to an adult human.Pennsylvania state trooper Bob Hicks told WPMT that investigators think the brain was originally used for teaching purposes.At this point now, were just trying to figure out where it came from, he said. Were hoping that if anyone feels like theyre missing a human specimen brain, bring it to our attention and maybe we could return it to its rightful owner.Police said the brain was discovered by Longs aunt while she was cleaning the trailer-home, according to NBC affiliate WGAL http://www.wgal.com/news/carlisle-m...=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=wgal . The station reported that she contacted her nephew in prison to ask about the brain and he told her that it belonged to him. At some point, she contacted police and told them about the brain, according to the Associated Press http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3966...an-used-brain-preserving-fluid-soak-marijuana The defendant related that he knew it was illegal to have the brain and that he and (another man) would spray the embalming fluid on weed to get high, Trooper John Boardman, an investigator involved in the case, wrote in court documents cited by the AP.The 26-year-old Long  currently at Cumberland County Prison in lieu of a $100,000 bail  faces new charges in connection with the stolen brain: misdemeanor abuse of a corpse and conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse, the Sentinel reported.Spraying or soaking marijuana with embalming fluid is an emerging drug trend, according to a statement from the Drug Enforcement Administration https://www.dea.gov/pubs/states/newsrel/newark_intel_bulletin_embalming.html . Embalming fluid is often found in morgues and funeral homes, but the fluid  which has serious health risks  can also be purchased directly from chemical companies or online, the DEA notes.Reactions to the drug appear to vary, with users reporting everything from anger and paranoia to an increase in womens sexual appetites, the DEA added.While authorities may have encountered formaldehyde-laced marijuana, using a dead persons brain for drug use took some investigators by surprise.This is one of those situations where, I think, a lot of guys were surprised, Hicks said.
Should governments use defamation to stifle criticism: SC will decide in Vijaykanth case

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 16: Does having a different opinion or being critical in a democracy give governments the right to slap a defamation case? This is an aspect that will be examined by the Supreme Court of India.

A Bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra and C Nagappan yesterday issued notices to Tamil Nadu government among others on a petition challenging the prosecution in a defamation case.

A case had been filed by DMDK leader Vijaykanth challenging the criminal defamation proceedings initiated against him for criticising Tamil Nadu chief minister, J Jayalalithaa.

During the hearing the court observed that a public prosecutor needs to apply his mind. The office of the prosecutor is not a post office, the Bench had orally observed.

Vijaykanth defamation case- The PP is not a post office, SC's harsh words for TN government

Stifling criticism:

Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code deal with criminal defamation. The constitutional validity of criminal defamation have been upheld by the Supreme Court. However the problem today is that defamation cases have been used as a tool to silence a critic.

It has been used against the media in the form of injunction orders and even against opposition leaders who have criticised the government. The Supreme Court would now go into the larger aspects concerning cases of defamation. First and foremost can it be used as a tool to stifle constructive criticism. Will criticising the policy of the government amount to defamation?

The counsel for Vijaykanth had argued in court and submitted that aspirations and sometimes desperation of the people are expressed through such criticism. The citizen's right to criticise cannot be atrophied by constant launching of criminal prosecution for defamation on each and every issue to silence the critics he had also stated. If criticism in a vibrant democracy is crippled then democracy would lose its cherished values, the counsel had further stated.

What do Sections 499 and 500 state?

Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code states: Whoever, by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representations, makes or publishes any imputation concerning any person intending to harm, or knowing or having reason to believe that such imputation will harm, the reputation of such person, is said, except in the cases hereinafter expected, to defame that person.

Section 500,Punishment for defamation states: Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

OneIndia News
Chetan Bhagat tries Gandhigiri with critics on Facebook; gets trolled again

Social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi 'very serious'

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kolkata, July 16: Social activist and writer Mahasweta Devi's condition continues to be "very serious" requiring life support, a doctor at the hospital where she is being treated said on Saturday.

"She is conscious but very serious. She is having respiratory trouble and her kidneys are not functioning properly. There is bacterial infection in her blood," the doctor said.

The 90-year-old has been undergoing routine dialysis.

She suffers from various ailments and was put on non-invasive ventilation on Thursday after her condition worsened.

The writer, who was honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 1996, has been undergoing treatment at a hospital here for about two months now.

IANS
The actual reason why Pakistan is backing Burhan Wani

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 16: There were a war of words between India and Pakistan after the latter declared a day of mourning on July 19 for slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani. India was quick with a response and advised Pakistan not to meddle with internal affairs.

Now why would Pakistan want to mourn the death of Wani who effectively ensured that the number of local militants outnumbered the Pakistan terrorists operating in Kashmir? The Pakistan's ISI was never appreciative of Burhwan as they felt that he had localised the Kashmir issue and taken the perspective away from Pakistan.

Why is Pakistan mourning Wani's death?

There are a lot of statistics to show that since Wani took over as the Hizbul Mujahideen commander the Kashmir issue had become extremely localised. Wani had captured the imagination of the youth and several of them blindly followed in his foot steps.

The Valley was no longer dominated by Paksitan's Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammad. Wani with his constant Facebook updates had become an icon for the militant youth in Kashmir. It was the Hizbul Mujahideen that the locals had started to back and this only ensured that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the JeM were losing space in the Valley.

For the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammad to succeed in Kashmir it would have needed not just local support but recruits from the Valley as well. Infiltrating its terrorists every now and then was not an option as it is a risky proposition and 8 out of 10 there was a chance that they would fail.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba did attempt dishing out local support, but there were too many takers for the Hizbul Mujahideen thanks to Wani. This led to a great deal of frustration for the ISI which watched its Kashmir battle slip into the hands of a local militant group.

Every one wants a piece of Wani:

Nawaz Sharrif the Prime Minister of Pakistan was quick to condemn the killing of Wani. This was followed up by a declaration to mourn his death on July 19. This is a very clear message to the people of Kashmir backing Wani that Pakistan does share their sorrow.

In fact Pakistan's quick response to Wani's death was only a way of getting back the local support that it has lost considerably over the past year. Pakistan does realise that there is not much backing for the Lashkar-e-Tayiba or the Jaish-e-Mohammad in the Valley any longer. The support that they had from the separatists too was fading away following the death of Wani.

In this context one must also look at the government data between the years 1990 and 2011. There have been 13,226 civilians who have been killed by terrorists. In addition to this 5,369 security personnel have also been killed by terrorists. The data would also reveal that 95 per cent of the civilians killed were by terrorists from Pakistan.

This was not something acceptable to the people of the Valley. What Wani managed to change was that perception. He only targeted the security personnel and ordered that no civilian should be touched. This became a game changer for Pakistan and its terrorists were looked down upon and became the villains of the Valley.

The separatists too are backing Wani heavily today because they want a local hero. They are trying to make him out to be another Maqbool Bhat or Afzal Guru out of him. It is through these separatists that Pakistan now wants to send across a message that they are for the locals. Another message is that unless there is support given to Pakistan by the locals, the Valley will loose many more Burhan Wanis.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, July 16, 2016, 11:06 [IST]
When Kashmir burnt separatist Andrabi's son chilled out with friends in Malaysia

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 16: My great son brave commander mujahid Burhan, you left us all alone. We will miss you always inshaa Allah your mission will be taken to the logical end. This was a message from Aasiyeh Andrabi the chairperson of the Dukhtaran e Millat and also a Kashmiri separatist.

While it comes as no surprise that a separatist in Kashmir would issue such a statement honouring a militant, in the case of Andrabi it reeks of nothing but double standards.

She is known to glorify militancy and calls on the youth of Kashmir to take up arms and on the other hand her son is tucked away in Malaysia pursuing his education far away from Kashmir which is burning.

While Kashmir burnt Andrabi's son chilled:

Bin Qasim is the elder son of Andrabi. He is pursuing Bachelors of Information Technology at the Islamic University of Malaysia. Last year when Pulwama in Kashmir was burning and his mother going about praising the terrorists, Qasim had on the same day posted several posts on his Facebook account suggesting that he was chilling with friends.

The protests last year in Pulwama was all thanks to Andrabi who decided to glorify a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant who had been gunned down. She called on everyone to fight the Indian forces to avenge the killings while on the other hand ensured that her son was tucked away in Malaysia to get good education. He is said to be living with Andrabi's sister.

Andrabi has another son who is studying in Srinagar. There is nothing to suggest that she has urged this son or the one in Malaysia to fight with arms in Kashmir. She has several relatives who are settled in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and England, but none have been told to come and take up arms in Kashmir.

Her nephews, Zulqarnain is a captain in the Pakistan Army and a second nephew Irtiyaz-un-Nabi is an aeronautical engineer and lecturer in the International Islamic University, Islamabad.

OneIndia News
Why PM Modi should stop blaming media and follow news on Kashmir extensively

India

oi-Oneindia

By Maitreyee Boruah

Those in the business of news know it well how the very mention of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a headline or a copy attracts millions of eyeballs. This is the power of our Prime Minister in the world of 24X7 news coverage. Be it a positive or a negative story, Modi is a special beat for several reporters.

No media outlet can afford to miss anything remotely associated with the Prime Minister. Every day hundreds of headlines on print, online and television reports are dedicated to the man at the helm of country's affairs. Ask any editor, he/she will tell you that Modi is a "saleable topic"-the best TRP bet-in the competitive world of mushrooming news outlets in the country.

Today's journalism is incomplete without the "subject Modi". It is not only because he is the Prime Minister of the country and requires constant following by scribes. We have had several Prime Ministers and a vibrant media in the past too, but no one has so much arc light focused on him.

The trend of extensively following Modi started around 2012, when the then Gujarat Chief Minister literally started his race for the Prime Minister's office. If for one journalist Modi is a darling, for another he is a subject of criticism. There is no middle path. Again, we can say power of Modi to polarize opinions in the various sections of society.

Modi's love-hate relationship with the media

Prime Minister's love-hate relationship with the media is a well-known fact. It started way back in 2002 Godhra riots, when he was the chief minister of the state. Those scribes who were critical of Modi's role during the riot days are still facing the wrath of his supporters.

Over the years, views of several journalists on the PM have changed drastically. Those who were once known as his adversaries are now his ardent supporters. Modi himself has been vocal about his disdain towards the media. However, the PM and his supporters have always basked in the glory of Modi's praises in the media, especially whenever foreign newspapers and TV channels have eulogized the leader.

Kashmir, media and Modi

Kashmir has been on the boil ever since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, who was the poster boy militant, on Friday (July 8) in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag. Since then clashes between the security forces and protestors have brought the Valley to a standstill.

Media reports say the death toll in the current unrest has gone up to 37. The number of injured people, including security personnel, stands at 3,140. Curfew was clamped on Friday (July 15) in all the 10 districts of Kashmir in view of Friday prayers which see large congregations as authorities apprehended fresh violence in the Valley.

However, recently when Modi came back from his Africa visit and convened a meeting with the top union ministers and officials to review the Kashmir situation he expressed his "unhappiness" with the way media covered the entire crisis. He was upset with the way the media portrayed Burhan as a "hero".

Media: The soft target?

Whenever anything goes wrong in the country, everyone blames the media for fanning further trouble to an already sensitive issue. The accusation is true to a certain extent. But blaming the media does not absolve the role of the administration. In the current scenario, Kashmir situation has been pushed to the edge because of the failure to understand the ground realities.

Over the decades, the voices of Kashmiris have been ignored. Be it the Congress or the BJP government at the centre, Kashmir in a way has been used as a pawn to settle political score with the neighbouring country Pakistan. There is no doubt, as it has been proven several times, how Pakistan is funding terrorism by exporting terrorists into the Valley.

But what about the homegrown educated militants like Burhan? Why young men in Kashmir in the last few years are taking up guns and fighting against the Indian government? What is the role of army in counter terrorism? Why army men are often given clean chit while they blatantly violate human rights?

What is the role of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA) in a democracy? Is Kashmir, like Manipur and Assam, not part of the great Indian democracy? Unless and until Modi government does not come up with clear cut answers to these pertinent and complicated questions, blaming the media by the PM is like washing off his government's hands from the Kashmir cauldron.

Till then, Modi and his men need to understand Kashmir issue in a holistic manner. May be, media reports can prove handy in doing research on the Kashmir problem.

OneIndia News
Will Congress be reduced to 5 states today after Arunachal Pradesh trust vote?

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 16: The Indian National Congress is all set to get reduced to holding power in five states today. Currently the Congress rules in six states independently including Arunachal Pradesh which will witness a trust vote today.

Going by the existing numbers, it is impossible for the Congress to win the trust vote unless something dramatic takes place at the last minute.

The Nabam Tuki led Congress has been told to take the floor test today. A request to postpone the trust vote was turned down by the governor who contended that the government appeared to be in minority.

Seeing Priyanka Gandhi at its helm is no more a dream for Congress; it's a desperation

On Wednesday the Supreme Court reinstated the Tuki government while holding that the imposition of President's rule was illegal. This led to the removal of the Kalikho Pul government supported by Congress rebels and the BJP.

The Congress currently holds power in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. In Puducherry the Congress rules with the support of the DMK while in Bihar it is part of a coalition with the JD(U) and RJD.

How the numbers stack up in Arunachal Pradesh:

There are 60 seats in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly of which two are vacant. After several Congress men rebelled the Tuki faction was left with just 15. His rival Pul however paraded 41 MLAs which included the rebels, members of the Peoples' Party and BJP.

Tuki in order to remain in power will need the support of at least 30 MLAs to win the house. The house strength was reduced to 58 after two MLAs had resigned. Going by these numbers it seems impossible for the Congress to win the trust vote.

The opposition meanwhile has whisked away its MLAs to a hotel in Guwahati to ensure that there is no horse trading. Tuki had sought time for the trust vote and the BJP feels that this was because he was confident that the numbers are stacked against him. He was trying to buy more time a BJP leader had said.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Saturday, July 16, 2016, 10:06 [IST]
All job interviews at Google offices to be virtual as it restricts visits to curb coronavirus risk

Gadkari visits Tesla Motors, invites proposal for India entry

International

oi-PTI

San Francisco, Jul 16: Tesla motors today said that India will "definitely" be a market for their next generation low-cost sustainable model-3, with the Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari asking the iconic company to outline their proposals for entry into the Indian market.

During a visit to the Tesla factory here, Gadkari offered to promote joint ventures between the global leaders in electric car manufacturing and the Indian automobile companies with a view to introducing pollution-free road transport in India, especially commercial and public motor vehicles.

In his interaction with senior company officials, Gadkari proposed to the Tesla senior executives to make India their Asia manufacturing hub and offered land near major Indian ports to facilitate export of their vehicles to South and South East Asian countries.

"Tesla senior executive admitted that their manufacturing hub has to be outside the US for markets in rest of the world and appreciated the Indian offer of cooperation which they said will certainly be considered at the appropriate time in future. "They said India will definitely be a market for their next generation low cost sustainable model-3," a media release said.

Gadkari's visit comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Tesla Motors last year. The Modi government believes that Tesla Motors and its green technologies can play a crucial role in introducing pollution free road transport in the country. Responding to questions from Gadkari, Tesla officials said they have future plans for trucks and pick up vans but not buses and two wheelers.

"They evinced keen interest in knowing whether there was any subsidy on electric vehicles in India. Gadkari asked Tesla executives to outline their proposals for entry into Indian market," the statement said.

Currently on a week-long US visit, Gadkari apprised Tesla executive of the progress Indian automobile manufacturers have made in the field of electric vehicles and exuded confidence that very soon Indian market will become very competitive in this sector.

He also inquired about the battery packs that can store energy from the power grid and from solar panels. He was told Modi, during his visit to Tesla, too was keen to know how batteries and solar panels could be the future of electricity generation for India, particularly in rural areas.

Gadkari was told that Tesla was inviting suggestions for locations in India for demonstrations, the press statement said.

PTI
Partial Solar Eclipse updates: See stunning photos of Surya Grahan from Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna and more

India's Nalanda among 9 new cultural sites added to World Heritage List

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Istanbul, July 16: The World Heritage Committee on Friday added nine new cultural sites, including India's Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara, to the prestigious World Heritage List.

The committee, at its 40th session in Istanbul, made the decisions following a day-long review of some of the 27 nominations submitted from around the world for this year, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new inscriptions include the sites from China, Iran, Micronesia, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Britain and a joint nomination by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia also.

Newly put on the heritage list are Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (China); Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (India); the Persian Qanat (Iran); Nan Madol: Ceremonial Center of Eastern Micronesia (Micronesia); Stecci -- Medieval Tombstones Graveyards (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia); Archaeological Site of Philippi (Greece); Antequera Dolmens Site (Spain); Archaeological Site of Ani (Turkey) ; and Gorham's Cave Complex (Britain).

Nan Madol, a series of 99 artificial islets that host the remains of stone palaces, temples, tombs and residential domains built between 1,200 and 1,500 BC, was also placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The heritage committee cited the importance of the ancient qanat system, which conveys water in underground tunnels using gravity in the middle of arid desert areas in Iran.

The Medieval Tombstones were lauded for their symbolic universal message of peace.

At its meetings until Sunday, the World Heritage Committee under the UN cultural agency UNESCO will review the nominations of 18 other sites to the World Heritage List, among them are nine natural, five cultural and four mixed ones.

The committee, which was formed in 1977 to enforce the World Heritage Convention and manage the heritage list created based on the convention, began its current 11-day session on July 10.

IANS
ISIS claims responsibility for Nice attack

International

oi-Vicky

Paris, July 16: The ISIS on its site Amaq, has claimed responsibility for the attack in Nice, France that took place on Friday.

Though the ISIS was slow to claim responsibility for the attack, it has said that the person who drove the truck and killed over 80 people was their soldier.

Move over guns and bombs; enter trucks, knives and rocks

On Friday, following the attack the ISIS was in celebratory mode. There were posts on pro-ISIS handles which directed France to turn the lights off at the Eiffel Tower until they take over the nation.

Analysts that OneIndia spoke to say that the Nice attack was more of an attempt to tell France to slow down in Syria and Iraq. French President Francois Hollande had said on Friday that they would strengthen France's role in both Iraq and Syria.

It may be also recalled that the ISIS had put out a 'Do-it-Yourself' manual for ISIS sympathisers in which it had spoken about attacking with cars. In September 2014 Abu Muhammad al-Adnani had instructed ISIS loyalists to use vehicles, rocks or knives to slaughter people from France and America.

"If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him."

Terror attacks inspired in Syria and made elsewhere in the world

He further went on to say that if anyone is unable to come to Iraq or Syria, then then pledge allegiance in your place, pledge allegiance in France," operate within France." Further it was stated, "there are weapons and cars available and targets ready to be hit.Kill them and spit in their faces and run over them with your cars."

al Qaeda too had made a similar call in its magazine 'Inspire'. It had referred to trucks as the ultimate mowing machines. "The idea is to use a pickup truck as a mowing machine, not to mow grass but mow down the enemies of Allah."

OneIndia News
Pakistan off the FATFs grey List: What this means

Pak committing atrocities against people in PoK, will have to bear consequences: Rajnath Singh

Why is 'Mr. Bean controversy trending on Twitter after Zimbabwe beat Pakistan?

Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch shot dead in Multan

International

oi-Reetu

Multan, July 16: Internet sensation and Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch was shot dead in Multan on Saturday.

Reports suggest that the actor-cum-model was shot dead by her brother.

The internet sensation had earlier claimed she was receiving death threats and had also sought security.

"Baloch was killed by her brother over honour in Muzaffarabad's Green Town area," the area's RPO was quoted as saying in The Express Tribune report.

According to a report in Pakistani media outlet Dawn, "Qandeel's brother had been threatening her over her Facebook posts and videos, said the police. The brother fled after killing Qandeel, whose real name is Fauzia Azeem."

Some reports are suggesting that Qandeel was shot by her brother, where as others are saying that she was "strangled to death" at her Multan residence.

OneIndia News
Will hit them harder than ever: Trump says in warning to Taliban

US Congress releases report on Saudi ties to 9/11 attacks

International

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Washington, July 16: The U.S. Congress on Friday released a long-classified section of the official report on the Sept 11 attacks describing an array of potential links between some of the hijackers and officials in Saudi Arabia.

According to a report in Reuters, the 28 pages of the report on the 2002 investigation focus on potential Saudi government ties to the 2001 aircraft attacks on the United States, in which nearly 3,000 people died.

The report said the alleged links had not been independently verified.

The pages were released by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee after years of wrangling in Washington between Congress and different administrations, Republicans and Democrats, and urging by families of those killed.

"The matter is now finished," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Washington. Asked whether the report exonerated the kingdom, he replied: "Absolutely."

The release of the previously classified pages is unlikely to end the controversy over the role of Saudi Arabia, an important U.S. partner in the Middle East. Many U.S. officials who opposed their release had worried they would damage diplomatic relations.

Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

"According to various FBI documents and CIA memorandum, some of the September 11 hijackers, while in the United States, apparently had contacts with individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government," the report said, giving a catalogue of alleged links.

They included reported contacts between Saudis in California, money possibly sent from the Saudi royal family to the hijackers and even a statement that a reported Saudi Interior Ministry official stayed at the same Virginia hotel as one hijacker in September 2001.

One section said Omar al-Bayoumi, said to be a Saudi intelligence officer, met with two hijackers at a public place after they arrived in San Diego. Citing Federal Bureau of Investigation files, it said his salary rose to $3,700 a month from $465 two months after two of the hijackers arrived in California.z

Another described how two of the hijackers asked flight attendants technical questions during a trip in 1999 from Phoenix to Washington to attend a party at the Saudi embassy. One tried twice to enter the cockpit. The plane made an emergency landing and the FBI investigated, but did not prosecute.

The newly declassified pages also say a telephone number found in a telephone book of Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi-born al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan, was for a Colorado corporation that managed the affairs of the residence of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said its agreement to the release is not an indication that the intelligence community agrees with the pages' accuracy or concurs with the information it contains.

The office also on Friday released a declassified summary of an assessment of whether Riyadh may have supported al Qaeda before and after the attacks, saying the Saudi government and many of its agencies had been infiltrated and exploited by individuals associated with or sympathetic to Osama bin Laden's militant network.

Several members of Congress said they were pleased the pages had finally been released. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel, said he hoped the release would quiet rumours.

"The Intelligence Community and the 9/11 Commission, which followed the Joint Inquiry that produced these so-called 28 pages, investigated the questions they raised and was never able to find sufficient evidence to support them," he said.

Legislation that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and is making its way through the House, despite President Barack Obama's veto threat.

"While the pages do not reach a conclusion regarding Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, they provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns," said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. His state was home to many people killed when planes hit the World Trade Center in neighbouring New York.

Sept. 11 families made clear the pages' release would not stop their push for the legislation. "Congress has to stand up for the interests of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost loved ones on 9/11," one group said in a statement.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters before the pages were released that they would show no evidence of Saudi complicity.

The Obama administration sent a declassified version of the 28 pages, with many lines and sentences blacked out to protect intelligence sources and methods, to Congress on Friday morning. The House intelligence panel released it a few hours later.
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Quebec Government's Plan to Block Online Gambling Challenged

Published July 16, 2016 by Lee R

Quebec's legislation goes against the tide of public opinion.

The Quebec government's recent announcement to require Internet Service Providers to block unauthorised gambling sites has already met a challenge.

Source of Opposition

Immediately opposed by many as a breach of internet freedom, a form of censorship, and beyond the scope of the province's jurisdictionary powers, the first formal protest against the legislation first proposed in early 2015 has been filed.

The Filing

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has filed a request with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission CRTC that the federal regulator declare the law unconstitutional.

The Problem

External PIAC counsel Geoff White asserted that Bill 74 violates a long-standing recognition of federal jurisdiction over telecommunications raising his own organization's concerns as to what could happen if one province is allowed to order ISPs [Internet service providers] to block certain websites.

The Purpose

The legislation initially was drafted to divert revenues from unauthorised gambling sites to Espacejeux, the website run by Loto-Quebec, which would also compile the list of unauthorised sites.

The Provincial Position

The government defended the law as a legitimate measure within the provincial powers to regulate gambling and promote health and safety, with the Quebec National Assembly approving the new provision in May as part of Bill 74.

Costing ISP's Already

ISP's are already incurring new technical costs while they evaluate how to comply with the new rules and block certain sites specifically in Quebec but not outside the province.

Call for Quick Resolution

White called for a commission decision to avoid an unnecessary and protracted constitutional debate, given the very clear past rulings of the Supreme Court.

Federal Government Stance

The decisions he is referring to include the June ruling by Canada's top court over the site of a new cell tower reaffirming that the federal government has authority over telecommunications (as opposed to the smaller provincial authority of Quebec).

Quebec Minster Responds

Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao responded via e-mail that Quebec province officials have reasonable assurance that we are acting within our jurisdiction to protect consumers and fight against the risks of gambling.

Outlook

This is the ideal time for the CRTC to chime in, and the commission's ruling will go a long way towards determining if the Quebec ISP blocks will ultimately be allowed to stand.
His very name has become a dog whistle for expressing white outrage against growing minority influence in America. Trump! Trump! Trump!



(Image by Vdare) Details DMCA



His mantra, "Make America Great Again," resonates with so many white people because they hear, "Make America White Again."

As a country founded by immigrants and supported through slavery and exploitative labor practices for much of its formative years, the growth of a powerful, comfortable middle class in the last half of the last century seemed like a coming of age. The rise of the middle class after World War II was vindication that our founding principles were virtuous and the diversity of our pluralistic society was our strength. We were now a world power and an exceptional example of a place where merit, innovation and hard work paid off. We were proof that immigrants can do well here. Of course the payoff was always more difficult for minority groups to achieve, especially African-Americans and South American migrants.

But now there has been some fundamental shifts in the fabric of America. The political and economic power of the middle class has been on a long, slow decline for decades. At the same time the population of minority groups and the flow of immigrants from our southern borders have grown. Minority groups, taken together, make up nearly half of our citizens. Globalization of business has increased competition for good jobs and higher wages while domestic pressure has increased to give minority groups greater equality of opportunity. A bloody clash of cultures has arisen on the world stage adding anxiety for those of us who worry that America is losing its cultural identity (a growing worry in Europe as well). And all the while, the American majority, made up of mostly white Protestants of western European extraction, is being stretched and fractured by growing wealth inequality. The wages and ownership interests of most white Americans is declining while wealthy white elites are growing ever richer.

It is understandable that the timing of middle-class economic decline and the growth of minority interests appear to correlate. It is also understandable that powerful interests might exploit this apparent cause-and-effect for their own benefit, but the truth is far more nuanced and cloaked in deceit. In an ironic juxtaposition, the New York Times published two excellent articles on the same day that highlight both our sad cultural polarization and the sinister impact of inequality on our public institutions.

In his July 13, 2016, article titled, "For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance," Nicholas Confessore writes:

"In countless collisions of color and creed, Donald J. Trump's name evokes an easily understood message of racial hostility. Defying modern conventions of political civility and language, Mr. Trump has breached the boundaries that have long constrained Americans' public discussion of race."

What follows is an excellent expose on the cultural landscape in America. Then in an article titled, "How Private Equity Found Power and Profit in State Capitols," the journalist details how private-equity firms are manipulating state and federal governments to pass legislation even more favorable to their financial interests.

The slow but steady economic decline of the middle class has taken most of us decades to recognize. That it was a planned assassination of the middle class perpetrated by corporate capitalists in the 1970s has yet to sink in. And efforts by the elite perpetrators to distract us from their deeds by blaming the poor and pitting us, one against the other, rages on.

It may be indirectly true that minorities are somehow responsible for the economic decline that white Americans are experiencing, but certainly not in the direct ways as portrayed in the press or on the internet. It isn't really true, for example, that undocumented immigrants are taking away jobs from white Americans. It is true that immigration has created a growing pool of cheap, non-union labor that puts downward pressure on wages. It is also true that the pool of cheap labor has grown exponentially through the corporate globalization of commerce. But the bigger truth is that wealthy corporate capitalists have put us all in an economic vise. Almost all of us find ourselves in that proverbially overcrowded lifeboat that is about to capsize.

We seem to be at the crossroads. We can choose the Trump path to social dissolution and toss as many "others" overboard as we can, or ignore that we are in this lifeboat because of the wealthy corporate capitalists (until we sink) or we can link arms together and forge a new path that restores our democracy and a civil economy for everyone. The only real option is to come together and face down the true source of America's decline, the corporate global capitalists who are hoarding the fruits of our labors.
by Walter Brasch

When I was a junior at San Diego State, I had a sudden urge to need a restroom. The closest one was clearly marked, "Faculty Men Only." The nearest one for male students was on the other side of the building.

I did what any rational person would do--I used the faculty restroom.

One of the professors, who was using a urinal a couple spaces away, told me the restroom was for professors only. (I assumed there were separate restrooms for staff.) "What department are you in," asked the prof.

In my deeper voice, I responded I was with sociology, hoping he knew little about the sociology faculty.

"Just out of grad school?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, hoping that I looked much older than my 19 years. I wasn't lying. I was "with sociology"--as a student, though. And, since I had no plans to go to grad school, I was truly "out of grad school."

The prof. said nothing more, apparently finished with emptying his bladder and, hopefully, needing to rush to the sink and then a class.

That brief encounter burnished a memory into my mind.

San Diego State no longer separates students from staff or faculty, but states do discriminate.

Twenty-two states have filed suits in federal courts to block a federal government regulation requiring public schools to allow transgender students to use the restrooms of whichever sex they identify with.

The Department of Justice says the new regulation conforms to the will of the Civil Rights Act. The attorneys general of the states that filed the suit claim the government's regulation is an over-reach that violates the authority of local school districts while also violating student, staff, and faculty privacy. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the regulation is enforceable. Jay Kaplan, an attorney with the Michigan ACLU, told the AP the suits are not only a waste of taxpayer funds but also "an assault on the dignity of transgender youth." Perhaps society is best served by separating politicians from the public--straight male Democratic politician; lesbian female Republican politician; there could be 10 or so such restricted restrooms to identify most sexual and genetic orientation.

Unlike gays and lesbians (who identify with persons of the same sex), transgender individuals--unlike actors and entertainers (many known as drag queens or drag queens) who portray persons of the opposite sex--are those whose fetal brains and gene structure, rather than external anatomy, identify them by gender rather than sexual orientations. Transitioning requires more than surgery; the anatomy and genetics are just a part of who an individual is.

Both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the mid-1970s determined that LGBT individuals did not suffer from psychological disorders or mental illness and had to be "cured."

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Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton - Caricatures

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The other shoe finally dropped on Tuesday when Bernie Sanders formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic party nomination. It was the culmination of a stunning betrayal by a man who inspired millions and provided a glimmer of hope that change was still possible through what should be clear to all by now is a thoroughly corrupted political system that cannot be saved.

The signs had been evident for weeks after the battered but cagey Vermont socialist was repeatedly thwarted by a rotten Democratic party establishment ruled over by Hillary toady Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the DNC. The South Florida shrew and payday loan industry prostitute ran the operation as though it was a de-facto arm of the Clinton campaign which in essence it was. Now the calls have begun to "unify" the party and the knives will be out for any recalcitrant Sanders supporters.

The party hacks and Hillary's army of loyalists and paid cyber trolls will enforce a ruthless crackdown on liberals and progressives who will be bullied, shamed and ostracized if they don't fall in line behind the queen. The rallying cry will be that it will take an entire village -- and then some -- to fend off the evil Donald Trump aka the latest version of the "new Hitler" and Hillary will be leading the charge to keep the country safe for Wall Street and corporate plunderers. Ironically, Trump has actually become the peace candidate this time due to his expressed disdain for NATO and the coming war on Russia that Hillary champions and could end up with all of us being dead.

In her ongoing attempts to round up dissenters, she will be dragging along poor, pathetic old Bernie who had been tabbed by Chris Hedges as a "chastened sheepdog" who would be needed to "coax his followers back into the holding pen", but is in actuality more of a lapdog for Hillary. There has been no more stinging of a betrayal in modern American politics than what Sanders just did to those who believed in him and were rewarded with a lesson in how the system truly works.

I received considerable criticism for a comment that I posted on this very website back in March where I predicted that:

Bernie Sanders has always had about as much real chance as Deion Sanders at winning the Dem nomination. Hedges is dead on with his piece in that Bernie will soon become the Judas goat with his inevitable appeal to supporters to get behind Queen Hillary. It is really going to sting to a lot of folks who naively believed in him despite the ugly truth that the system itself is beyond saving and who have lined up like dewy-eyed dopes behind the false prophet from Vermont. It may be a very bitter pill to swallow but once people are able to gag it down they will be better for it - trust me on that one.

While I do not gloat over being proven right I would challenge anyone who dares to argue with me now.

The Democratic party of 2016 has much in common with George Orwell's classic Animal Farm. In that immortal take on the perils of revolution the story is told using barnyard animals as the primary characters in what was a metaphor for the Russian revolution and the emergence of one of history's most barbaric and repressive regimes led by Joseph Stalin.

The aging pig Old Major gathers the barnyard denizens one night to deliver a vision of revolution freeing them from the cruelty of man -- in this case the drunken farmer who was their overlord -- and inspired an uprising that would lead to the animals taking over the farm. A new order was established led by the pigs Napoleon and Snowball. For a period there was great harmony, improved conditions for all animals and a set of seven commandments empowering the beasts in their quest to be free from their human masters.

However, the bliss was only temporary as friction between the cunning Napoleon and idealistic Snowball over leadership of the new order developed and festered and the seeds were sown for a betrayal. An effort was made by Mr. Jones to recapture control of his farm and a valiant defense was led by Snowball -- who was wounded in the process -- to repel the attack in what became known as the Battle of the Cowshed. The pig was held in great reverence for his heroism under fire but it was the high-water mark of the revolt.

While Snowball worked at improving conditions for the betterment of ALL animals, a retirement pasture, increased rations, sharing in the fruits of their labor and the construction of a windmill that would ease their burden his foe slyly prepared for his own counter-revolution.

One day, Napoleon made his move during one of the democratic sessions of the animals by unleashing upon Snowball the nine puppies that he had been 'educating' who had now grown into ferocious beasts and the benevolent pig barely escaped with his life. Napoleon then assumed control, protected by his canine police and aided by the duplicitous fellow pig Squealer who would serve as the disseminator of his propaganda among the flock.

Soon the barnyard animals' conditions began deteriorating under the new reign of the pigs who reinstated the harsh conditions of the pre-revolution days while themselves occupying the residence of the former human owner as though it were their castle. The whips of the oppressors were now in the hooves of the pigs and before long Napoleon began to conduct violent purges led by his savage dogs as well as to begin to subject the other animals to a reign of cruelty far worse than that of what they ever experienced under Mr. Jones. The pigs began taking on the characteristics of the humans -- who Napoleon had begun conducting business with - and soon even developed a taste for whiskey.

The tale reaches it's harrowing conclusion when the beloved aged workhorse Boxer who had blindly supported Napoleon injures himself and can no longer work. Looking forward to a retirement of leisure in his dwindling years, Boxer is instead sold by the pigs to the "knacker" who will slaughter him and boil his body down to make glue. The pigs used the proceeds from the sale to buy themselves more whiskey.

The point of the digression into Animal Farm is that while during the era that it was written it served as a rebuke of communism, it is easily translatable into modern terms with the Democratic party itself cast as the pigs. Mrs. Clinton could easily slip into the role of Napoleon, with Elizabeth Warren being a perfect fit for Squealer and poor old Bernie can be the doomed Boxer.

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"Indian Point" is a film about the long problem-plagued Indian Point nuclear power plants that are "so, so risky--so close to New York City," notes its director and producer Ivy Meeropol. "Times Square is 35 miles away."

The plants constitute a disaster waiting to happen threatening especially the lives of the 22 million people who live within 50 miles from them. "There is no way to evacuate--what I've learned about an evacuation plan is that there is none," says Meeropol. The plants are "on two earthquake fault lines," she notes. "And there is a natural gas pipeline right there that an earthquake could rupture."

Meanwhile, both plants, located in Buchanan, New York along the Hudson River, are now essentially running without licenses. The federal government's 40-year operating license for Indian Point 2 expired in 2013 and Indian Point 3's license expired last year. Their owner, Entergy, is seeking to have them run for another 20 years--although nuclear plants were never seen as running for more than 40 years because of radioactivity embrittling metal parts and otherwise causing safety problems. (Indian Point 1 was opened in 1962 and closed in 1974, its emergency core cooling system deemed impossible to fix.)

At Indian Point 2 and 3 there have been frequent accidents and issues involving releases of radioactivity through the years. The discharges of tritium or irradiated water, H 3 0, which cannot be filtered out of good water, into the aquifer below the Westinghouse nuclear plants and also the Hudson River have been a major concern.

But it's not just Indian Point that "Indian Point" is about. The film emphasizes: "With so much attention focused on Indian Point, the future of nuclear plants in the United States might depend on what happens here."

"I would give the film an 'A.' I wholeheartedly recommend it for wide release throughout the United States," says Priscilla Star, founder of the Coalition Against Nukes: "It is a stellar learning tool. It depicts the David-versus-Goliath struggle involving those trying to close these decrepit nuclear plants and the profit-hungry nuclear industry. It shows grassroots activists fighting the time bombs in their community."

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. For the past two weeks it has been showing five-times-a-day at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, also in Manhattan. That run will go until Thursday, July 21. On Friday, July 22, it is to open in Los Angeles. After its theatrical release, it will air on the Epix cable TV channel.

Among those in the film are anti-Indian Point activist Marilyn Elie and long-time environmental journalist Roger Witherspoon who has written extensively about Indian Point. And also Entergy employees appear. Meeropol and her crew were given full access to the nuclear plants.

The documentary provides a special focus on Dr. Gregory Jaczko. He was chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) when the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan began in March 2011. As notes Meeropol, Jaczko sought to have "lessons learned" from the Fukushima catastrophe--which involved General Electric nuclear plants--applied to nuclear power plants in the U.S. And he was given "a really tough time." Pressure by the nuclear industry caused Jaczko, with a doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to be "pushed out" as NRC chairman and member. Meeropol tells of how "this guy, a decent person trying to do his job, was completely abused."

Meeropol, in an interview, said the NRC "is too closely linked to the nuclear industry. It's not going to do anything that the nuclear industry regards as too costly or onerous. I want that to be one of the biggest takeaways from the film--how a regulatory body cares more about the industry it is supposed to regulate than the public. And of all industries that should be regulated, it's the nuclear power industry." She said she found the nuclear industry and nuclear energy officials in the U.S. government "one and the same."

Meeropol began the "Indian Point" film project in January 2011. She had moved from Brooklyn up to the Hudson Valley "a decade ago when our son was born. Commuting in and out of the city on the Metro-North train, I went right past the plants. They looked so foreboding and odd there in that beautiful landscape."

Also, until she, her husband and son moved upstate, "having lived in New York City, I had no idea how close they were to the city."

Further, in the community where they went to live, Cold Spring, 15 miles from the plants. "we could hear the [emergency] sirens" from the plants and she was unsettled receiving in the mail an "emergency preparedness booklet titled: 'Are You Ready?'"

So the experienced filmmaker started doing research on the "dangerous endeavor of making nuclear energy." With the Fukushima disaster beginning just a few months after she started on the film, that "broadened" its perspective.

She said the films she has made have always been "character-driven" and she was attracted to feature in "Indian Point" Marilyn Elie--"she knows her stuff"--and Roger Witherspoon. "I liked his dynamic. He is a journalist. She is an activist." She stressed to Entergy officials that she would be even-handed "and quite amazingly was given access" to the plants. Her connecting with Jaczko was crucial. It "became my crusade to redeem Greg Jaczko before the world."

She started making the film on a shoe string. "I ran out of money numerous times." But she was able to get financial support from the Sundance Institute, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Catapult Fund, and individual contributions. And "partnering" with Julie Goldman, founder of Motto Films, was extremely important. Goldman is also producer of "Indian Point." A "very generous grant" was received from the MacArthur Foundation which also "opened up other doors."

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AIDS 2016, the XXI International AIDS Conference - (with the theme of 'Access Equity Rights Now'), which will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 18 to 22 July 2016, marks a dramatic change in the country's AIDS response in the 16 years since XIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2000), which was also held in Durban.

"When Nelson Mandela addressed the 12,000 participants at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban in 2000, no one knew what the future held for the AIDS response. Access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs in 2000 was sharply limited, and donor spending on AIDS activities amounted only to a small fraction of current funding levels. AIDS 2000 was characterised by conflict between politics and science, and vocal activism for access to universal HIV treatment, which was at the time excluded from South Africa's AIDS policies," said Mr France K Morule, High Commissioner of South Africa in India in an interview with CNS (Citizen News Service).

Political will and domestic funding both key

"Today, South Africa is seen by the global community as having a model AIDS response. The biggest sea change in the national AIDS response has been a strong demonstration of political will and leadership to address the massive HIV epidemic. South Africa invests heavily in its own HIV response and now funds 85% of the national AIDS response through public and private sector funds," said Mr France K Morule.

In 2010--11, it successfully implemented a mass HIV-Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign, which saw 20 million people tested for HIV in 20 months. The HCT campaign was a catalyst for the rapid growth in the HIV-treatment programme. The country now has nearly 3.2 million people on HIV treatment--the biggest HIV-treatment programme in the world. As a result, HIV-related deaths decreased from 330,000 in 2010 to 140,000 in 2014. The evidence-based, multi-pronged approach adopted for prevention of mother-to-child transmission programme in South Africa has seen the rate of babies born with HIV decrease significantly from 8% in 2008 to 2.6% in 2013. The number of 0 to 14 years children living with HIV and on antiretroviral treatment, while still lagging behind, has also increased fourfold--from 42,000 in 2009 to 166,000 in 2014, informed Mr France K Morule.

What made all of this possible?

Education: Mr France K Morule said that part of South Africa's dramatic strides in the battle against HIV/AIDS can be attributed to its education programme around the disease. The programme has targeted various levels of academic and social institutions through a multi-pronged approach. By engaging the population from a young age the programme has been able to reinforce the message, throughout the developmental years of children, about the need to practice safe sex. Coupled with the mainstreaming of knowledge about HIV/AIDS, the programme was also able to deal with the critical issue of de-stigmatising the disease.

In South Africa there was structural/societal as well as the personal/self-imposed stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS and TB. The relevance of stigma cannot be underestimated due to the causal relationship between stigma and people seeking alternative remedies that are better concealed, rather than going to government-run programmes, which may create/reinforce the already present stigma. These programmes have sought to change the perception that HIV/AIDS is a death sentence and further remove the myths relating to the transmission of the disease.

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Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"You have something special and important here. Somehow you manage to teach and suggest and introduce the reader to concepts in a way that feels inclusive. Like, we're thinking about it together. Partly it might be because the subject, bottom-up, is innately understood by all of us and so it feels like you're stirring up stuff we already know. But also I think it's because you truly are practiced at connection consciousness and so it's natural for you (I'm guessing) to write about it with a desire to include us. As a reader I was learning more because it feels like you're inviting me to think with you."



Tsara Shelton, author
Reprinted from RT



Tu-22 M3 missile-carriers seen delivering an air strike at recently-detected ISIL targets in the Palmyra environment.

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Nine months ago when Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's anti-terror intervention in Syria, Barack Obama scorned the move, predicting it would lead to a disastrous quagmire. Why then is the US president so keen now to team up with Russia?

From dire predictions of Russian military failure in Syria to this week's appeal by the Obama administration for cooperation "to defeat terrorists"in the Arab country, there is apparently a dramatic shift in US policy.

Gone is sanctimonious censure against Russia's military intervention and forebodings about a Soviet-Afghan style quagmire in Syria. The public attitude of the US administration is now tantamount to the plea: Can we join your winning team in Syria, please?

US Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Moscow late Thursday and proceeded to have three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, lasting into the early hours Friday.

Radio Free Europe reported that "Kerry sought to find new agreement with Russia on military operations in Syria."

That's quite a turnaround, given the heaps of vilification Washington has thrown at the Russian military operations, accusing Moscow of everything from "propping up the tyrannical Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad,"to bombing hospitals and civilians, to wiping out "moderate rebels."



Throughout, despite the Western media disinformation campaign, the Kremlin has remained steadfast in its stated mission: To defend the sovereign state of Syria from an array of terror groups.

And quagmire this ain't. Russia's military forces, with relatively few losses, have transformed the five-year war in Syria, helping the Syrian army to put the illegally armed militants decisively on the defensive. Syrian state forces have recaptured huge swathes of territory, and the once seemingly formidable head-chopping jihadists and their so-called Caliphate are staring at defeat.

It may be too early to declare "mission accomplished" for Russia. But the situation on the ground certainly vindicates Putin's strategy.

US media reports quote US officials as saying that the al-Qaeda-linked jihadists are telling their cadres that the Caliphate is on the brink of collapse. Significantly, too, this is also the context in which Turkey has shifted to a conciliatory position towards Russia and is even proffering a normalization of relations with Syria.

Washington and its regional allies, including Turkey, appear to be tacitly admitting that the covert military operation that they have been fueling for regime change in Syria is all but lost.

This is the context by which to read the latest "offer" from the Obama administration to Russia for military cooperation in Syria. After months of deprecating Russia's intervention and stubbornly refusing to coordinate "anti-terror" efforts, Washington now appears to be reaching out to assist Russia.

Following the meeting between Putin and Kerry this week, the Kremlin said that "the topic of direct interaction between the Russian and US military in Syria was not discussed in detail."

"They discussed different cooperation formats" but questions remain," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "We are not much closer to real cooperation in order to increase the effectiveness of efforts to combat terrorism in Syria."

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Reprinted from Campaign For America's Future



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Recent headlines might make us think the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is "dead" or at least at "death's door." We can hope. But the Wall Street, giant multinational corporations, many Republicans in Congress and unfortunately the Obama administration are still pushing hard for a "lame duck" vote after the election.

Here are examples of recent headlines claiming TPP is near death:

Politico: "How Trump and Clinton teamed up to sink trade. Their bipartisan antipathy has the Pacific trade pact on death's door."

The Washington Post: "Obama's trade agenda losing critical support as McConnell calls TPP passage unlikely."

Politico Morning Trade: "TPP outlook more grim by the moment."

But...

The same Morning Trade report has this:

"But the door is slightly ajar for a lame-duck vote, based on comments made earlier in the week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. And that's heartened trade boosters in the administration and business groups that are pressing for approval of the deal now. Note that TPP also has the benefit of Trade Promotion Authority working for it, allowing the deal to get an up-or-down vote, without amendment. "'It's premature to write off TPP in 2016. Politicians are right now distracted by the upcoming conventions but at an appropriate time this fall we believe there is a window for securing congressional passage of TPP,' said Myron Brilliant, executive vice president and head of international affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

So no, not dead, just waiting for the right moment. Wall Street and the giant corporations want TPP and they want it bad. And what Wall Street and the giant corporations want, Wall Street and the giant corporations usually get. Especially in an unaccountable "lame duck" congressional session.

Clinton Strong Against TPP

The draft of the 2016 Democratic Party platform opposes trade deals that contain investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions -- like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the upcoming Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). These provisions grant special "corporate court" privileges that allow corporations to sue governments for laws and regulations that limit their profits. These provisions supposedly "protect" investors from the whims and wishes of those pesky democracies.

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton spoke at Tuesday's New Hampshire rally following Bernie Sanders' endorsement of her for president. She clearly and specifically stated her opposition to the TPP, saying, "And we're going to say no to attacks on working families and no to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

We have Clinton, Sanders and the Democratic platform saying that TPP is unacceptable. (Even Donald Trump opposes TPP, for what it's worth.) Every labor union, progressive-aligned organization, environmental organization and many, many others oppose TPP. Those in the public who are aware of TPP and what it contains are opposed. It would be an insult to democracy to go ahead and hold a vote on TPP after the election, but before the new president and Congress are sworn in. But that never stopped Wall Street, the giant corporations and our paid-off elites before.

Democratic candidates need to align themselves with the Democratic platform and publicly declare themselves opposed to TPP, as Clinton has done. They should make sure that what people are saying about TPP having no chance of passing is true.


Organization of Emerging African States

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Biafra declared independence on 30 May 1967 and was forcibly terminated on 12 January 1970 through military conquest by Nigeria after a genocide of one million people. Biafra was diplomatically recognized by five diverse nations: Tanzania, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Haiti. Others like The Holy See and some International Governmental Organizations maintained informal relations with Biafran government. Biafra is often compared in legal treatises to the failed state of Katanga, which attempted to devolve from the Belgian Congo in 1960. While the case shares some similarities, there are many differences, the main one being at no time did any sovereign state ever recognize Katanga. Biafra therefore is no Katanga and is unique. The Biafran people like other victims of genocide such as the Jews and Armenians have recovered over the past two generations and now seek justice, freedom and recompense from the Nigerian oppressors.

The historic Biafran Republic lacked much in the way of international recognition and had virtually no allies. Biafra incurred the enmity of the major world powers of the time, the former colonial power Great Britain, and even the ire of Organization of African Unity. But Biafra did most certainly meet the test of statehood under the criteria of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States: population, government, the ability to enter in foreign relations, and control of territory. Nonetheless, almost all international law sources try to categorize Biafra as a footnote and a failed attempt at secession or rebellion rather than a recognized state that once existed and was brutally conquered. This is surely a case of the victors and former colonial powers writing the legal history to raise the hurdle for national self-determination in Africa and with the vested interest to maintain the status quo of fantastically corrupt African countries like Nigeria. In fact, Biafra was the first African post-colonial state in that it was not based on some former administrative unit of imperialism.

There are many examples of states that are de facto governments yet unrecognized. Somaliland is one example having met all Montevideo criteria since 1991 but lacking the recognition of even a single nation. Somaliland is a self-declared state but the lack of international recognition hampers its ability to become a full member of the community of nation states. In Ukraine, there are the Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples Republics, which like Biafra broke away from a repressive federal state, but these too are unrecognized. There are also examples of current and past states recognized by only a single government; today's Northern Cyprus by Turkey, Tibet prior to its annexation to China in 1951 diplomatically acknowledged only by Mongolia, and the notorious apartheid Bantustans acknowledged only by South Africa.

On the other hand, there are states like Biafra that were recognized by a minority of other states: Taiwan (Republic of China in Exile) by give or take two dozen countries and South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are currently recognized by five and six UN-member states respectively. More famously the German Democratic Republic had recognition withheld for decades by West Germany and its allies. Similarly, Mongolia was unrecognized 1940-1960 by allies of the Republic of China.

Biafra was recognized by four African states and Haiti, a small minority of the world's states yet more than a single state and therefore significant. Recognition of Biafra was not based solely on kinship, ideology or politics. In the words of the Haitian President Duvalier: "The Recognition which the Government of the Republic of Haiti solemnly gives to the Republic of Biafra is based upon the cardinal principle of its foreign policy, namely the indefeasible right of peoples and governments to decide freely of their destiny. This recognition of the Republic of Biafra as a free and sovereign state is in keeping in line with my doctrine of government to participate in the defence of oppressed states and peoples."

The Exile Government

It should be noted that the Biafran President Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was not captured but instead went into to exile in the Ivory Coast. From there indeed the trail does go cold for a while especially as Ojukwu accepted a pardon from the Nigerian government in 1982. MASSOB (the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra), a non-violent movement, was formed, in 1999 as a catalyst to reinvigorate Biafra and is still a flickering flame today hampered much by a lack of unity among bickering pro Biafran organizations and its own foibles.

The next chapter definitively begins in 2007 in Washington, DC with the Biafra Declaration declaring a government in exile. Signed by Emmanuel Enekwechi, PhD and Oguchi Nkwocha, MD, the declaration clarifies the purpose of the government in exile and reaffirms the independence of Biafra. The definitive goals and purposes of the government are clearly delineated:

Secure the Freedom and Liberty of Biafra and its peoples;

Represent the Sovereignty and Interests of Biafra throughout the world;

Engage in international relationships and diplomacy with Governments, States, Nations and Organizations;

Organize for the security of the peoples, properties and land of Biafrans;

Obtain diplomatic recognition for the Sovereign State of Biafra;

Organize the negotiation of trade and other economic activities on behalf of the peoples of Biafra.

It is not unusual for there to be a period of years between exile and the declaration of an exile government. The de facto Republik of Serbian Krajina went into exile in 1997 and the exile government was declared in 2005, and in the case of the East Turkistan Republic the gap is far longer, with exile in 1949 and declaration only in 2004.

A legitimate exile government is one that flows from a recognized state as opposed to a so-called exile government that is in reality a liberation movement. A secondary route to legitimacy occurs as in the case of Western Sahara when a liberation movement is thought to express the will of its people to self determination and is recognized internationally. Governments however are generally reluctant to confer any legitimacy to exile governments that lacked any authority before exile.

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On the 29th of June Putin's Ministry of Defence suddenly announced it was firing 50 naval officers, including Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk and chief of staff Rear Admiral Sergei Popov. They were both fired for cause, as were several other unnamed senior officials from their posts in the Baltic Fleet. This came as a great shock to the country as such a purge of serving top commanders had not been seen since the days of Stalin, during the Yezhovshchina of 1936-38. Earlier, Admiral Viktor Chirkov had been removed in November 2015 officially because of 'health concerns'. Chirkov, who had been Kravchuk's patron in the navy for many years, was rumoured to have also been removed due to complaints about inadequate readiness in some units.[i] This may well have been true but others in the Navy have reported that the unwillingness of the admirals of the already-reduced Baltic Fleet to provide vessels and support to the Russian naval presence in Syria was a more immediate cause of the rift.



In addition to a lacklustre performance in a recent exercise by the two Baltic Fleet minesweepers during exercises that took place in August 2015 and the constant complaint that the Baltic Fleet had been left with only two ageing submarines, the fleet was slow in making available its newer vessels for the Syrian operations. The fleet's four Project 20380 Steregushchiy class corvettes have not deployed to the Mediterranean Sea or Indian Ocean a single time in the nine years since the first of the ships was commissioned into the fleet.[ii]



In late 2014 there had been a smaller purge of the Russian military when Putin dismissed twenty generals from their posts. In February 2014 Putin had dismissed six other generals. These generals were dismissed by a presidential decree announced through the Gazette and without fanfare. The officers dismissed included the lieutenant general of police, Sergey Lavrov, as well as the head of media relations in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Andrei Pilipchuk. Another was the first deputy commander of the central regional military command, Vladimir Padalko. Some other lower-rank officers were dismissed as well at the time.

The Russian Military Has Been Underfunded





The Challenge of the Ukraine



As a result, the policy of keeping the military poor and underfunded continued. This was theoretically changed when Putin led the invasion of the Ukraine and the seizure of the Crimea. Putin's new military posture announced in December 2014 was a rapid injection of cash and resources designed to build up the Russian forces which had largely been ignored and isolated for over twenty years. Billions of roubles were allocated for new tanks, aircraft, naval vessels and nuclear forces. However, with the imposition of sanctions by the West these funds had to be rationed and the investment in technology diminished or deferred. The promised funds were not available.



Equally as important, the staggering cost of Russia's 'secret war' in the Ukraine and the administrative burden of providing social services, pensions, water and electricity to the Donbas and Crimea ate away the army's budget. Technological change was delayed; production targets were extended into the future and most equipment upgrading services were curtailed. In fact, a large part of the Russian war machine (planes, missiles, helicopters, etc.) was designed and built in the Ukraine; particularly in the Donbas. A great deal of the money which has been made available to the military equipment manufacturers has been to transfer the productive capacity of the Ukrainian arms industry back inside Russia.



Russia is extremely dependent on Ukrainian supplies, which accounted for 87 per cent of its military imports, according to the Stockholm International Research Institute.



The military-industrial complex of Ukraine is the most advanced and developed branch of the state's sector of economy. It includes about 85 scientific organizations which are specialized in the development of armaments and military equipment for different usage. The air and space complex consists of 18 design bureaus and 64 enterprises. In order to design and build ships and armaments for the Ukrainian Navy, 15 research and development institutes, 40 design bureaus and 67 plants have been brought together. This complex is tasked to design heavy cruisers, build missile cruisers and big antisubmarine warfare (ASW) cruisers, and develop small ASW ships. Rocketry and missilery equipment, rockets, missiles, projectiles, and other munitions are designed and made at 6 design bureaus and 28 plants.



Ukraine has certain scientific, technical and industrial basis for the indigenous research, development and production of small arms. A number of scientific-industrial corporations have started R&D and production of small arms. The armour equipment is designed and manufactured at 3 design bureaus and 27 plants. The scientific and industrial potential of Ukraine makes it possible to create and produce modern technical means of military communications and automated control systems at 2 scientific-research institutes and 13 plants. A total of 2 scientific-research institutes and 53 plants produce power supply batteries; 3 scientific-research institutes and 6 plants manufacture intelligence and radio-electronic warfare equipment; 4 design bureaus and 27 plants make engineer equipment and materiel.



Perhaps the best example is the company Motor Sich. It is the sole producer of engines for the MI-8 and MI-24 helicopters. It produces these engines for the Russian helicopter industry and a wide range of other military components. The air firm, Antonov, is based in the Ukraine and is one of the major suppliers of aircraft for the Russian Air Force and for Russian arms exports. Russia's state arms exporter Rosoboronexport sold $13.2 billion in weapons and military equipment to foreign buyers in 2013. These arms deliveries in 2012-2013 included 13 An-140 and one An-148 transport aircraft.



The ability of the Russian industry to fill its own needs is compounded by the fact that it needs Ukrainian parts and subassemblies for its exports. It also supplies the engines for the jointly-produced AN-148 planes Other exporters to Russia include Mykolayiv-based Zorya-Mashproekt, which sells several types of turbines to Russia, including those installed on military ships. Another is Kharkiv-based Hartron, which supplies the control systems for Russian missiles. The volume of Russian imports of major conventional weapons in 2009-2013 was 176 percent higher than for the previous five-year period of 2004-2008 The Yuzhmash plant in Dnipropetrovsk is the only service provider for Satan missiles that Russia uses. The Ukrainians were also the main supplier of spare parts which its armed forces desperately need. So when the Russians spend their billions on defence a good portion of the expenditure is wasted on duplicating what they already had in the Ukraine.

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Update: Neighbors heard rapid-fire gunshots before bodies found

Authorities are looking for a man suspected of shooting four people Friday night in Clark County, killing three of them.

Authorities identified the shooting suspect as Brent W. Luyster, 35, the Clark County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Luyster was arrested this past May on accusations of pistol-whipping his ex-girlfriend in Longview, and a May report from The Daily News says he "has a long criminal record sheet that includes several allegedly racially motivated attacks on black men."

Sgt. Tony Barnes of the sheriff's office didn't immediately know early Saturday morning how authorities identified Luyster as the suspect. Barnes said authorities were still at the scene of the shooting -- a home in the 4000 block of Northwest 417th Street near Woodland.

Barnes said Luyster knew all the victims somehow. Barnes said one of the victims, a woman, drove herself from the shooting scene to an AM/PM convenience store. She was suffering from a gunshot wound to the face, deputies said.

The store, 1039 Lewis River Rd., is more than 2 miles away from the shooting scene.

Deputies responded to the store at 10:20 p.m. and found the woman who was suffering from a gunshot wound. Barnes said the woman went right into surgery. Deputies and members of the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team later responded to the home, where they found three people dead.

Luyster hasn't been apprehended, and authorities think he's armed and dangerous.

Deputies said he could be driving a gold Ford Explorer with a cargo rack and plates reading ATD5294. He could also be driving a white Explorer with Washington plates reading AYH9994.

Deputies said Luyster is 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds with a shaved head. He's covered in tattoos, including multiple swastikas and ink that appears to read "skinhead."

Barnes said the last place authorities know Luyster was living is in Longview. He has ties throughout Clark County, Barnes said.

Authorities haven't identified the victims, Barnes said.

Deputies ask anyone who has information to call 911.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan01
WOODLAND, Wash. -- It's not uncommon to hear gunfire in this rural community that hugs the Lewis River. But the shots that rang out so late on a Friday night were clearly different, neighbors said.

"We heard shots about 10:15 p.m., about three rapid fires,'' Jeff Daniels said. "Then there was a pause. Then I heard a couple more.''

When Daniels awakened Saturday, he learned that three adults had been shot to death on the property next door, and a fourth, a woman, had driven 2.2 miles to the nearby AM/PM convenience store with a gunshot wound to the face. Someone noticed the woman in the parking lot and went inside the store to have someone call 911. Store clerks came out with rags to try to stop the bleeding.

On Saturday, a 35-year-old man with ties to a white supremacist group was taken into custody without incident about 4:15 p.m. Brent Ward Luyster was pulled over on State Route 4 by Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers, said Sgt. Fred M. Neiman, a spokesman for the Clark County sheriff's Officer, in a news release.

The case sparked a massive search, and Luyster's name, photographs and personal information were entered into a national law enforcement database. Neiman had described him as "very armed and dangerous."

Luyster did not live at the property where the bodies were discovered, but knew all the victims, authorities said.

A confederate flag Saturday flew from a barn structure on the tree-shrouded Woodland property at 4006 N.W. 417th St. where the three bodies were found. Police did not identify the victims, their ages or genders.

The woman who got away, according to neighbors, was airlifted to a local trauma hospital from Woodland airport, located across the street from the AM/PM store. Police said she went into surgery Friday night.

Neighbors said a man named Joseph Lamar had rented a manufactured home or a large trailer on the property where the killings occurred.

Bonnie Peterson said Lamar had lived there for about a year and wasn't friendly.

"He kept to himself,'' Peterson said. "Our little neighborhood here is a very close community, and he didn't fit in.''

Daniels said he once called police about Lamar after a property dispute nearly escalated into a physical fight. He said Lamar had given a handwritten eviction notice to Daniels' friend, who was living out of a trailer on Daniels' property, adjacent to the property Lamar was renting. Another neighbor called police after she said Lamar and his friends fired rifles across a gully behind his home, and struck a tree on her property while her 3-year-old son was on the front porch.

After the gunfire rang out Friday night, Daniels and his neighbors said they weren't sure what to think.

About 90 minutes after the shots were fired, numerous police cars raced up the gravel roads to Lamar's home, neighbors said. Members of the Southwest Washington Regional SWAT Team surrounded the property.

Neighbors said they could hear police, using a bullhorn, repeatedly ordering "Brent Luyster" to come out.

"Brent Luyster, if you're at the house, make it known," Lisa Daniels said she heard police demand. "Come out with your hands up."

The police demands continued for at least 30 minutes, neighbors said, before they heard the loud booming of flashbang grenades -- a device law enforcement uses to disorient people to try to force then out of a building.

Officers ordered residents in the immediate area to stay inside their homes. Daniels called her friend, Peterson, telling her to lock her doors. Another neighbor said she locked all her windows.

"We all sleep with our doors unlocked,'' Peterson said. "This is usually a peaceful neighborhood."

Luyster's last known residence was in Longview, but he grew up in Vancouver, and has a lengthy criminal record.

Two months ago, he was accused of pistol-whipping his ex-girlfriend and arrested on allegations of second-degree assault and felony harassment.

On May 16, Cowlitz County deputies responded after receiving a 911 call at about 3 a.m. from Erin Cochran, 32, of Vancouver. She said she was bleeding from the head and that she did not know where she was, said Charlie Rosenzweig, sheriff's office chief criminal deputy, in a news release.

Using GPS, dispatchers located Cochran at Luyster's Longview home in the 100 block of Solo Drive, Rosenzweig said. The former couple share a child and do not live together, he said.

When deputies arrived at his home, they heard gunfire from the woods nearby. Deputies believe they were the targets, though no one was injured, police said. Deputies found a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol with Luyster in the woods and placed him into custody.

Cochran told authorities she woke up to Luyster hitting her in the head and face with the pistol. He then grabbed her by the hair before dragging her down a hallway, Rosenzweig said.

Luyster had been ordered to have no contact with Cochran as the case was pending.

Cowlitz County court records show bail in the case was set at $90,000 on June 7, and he posted bail three days later. According to The Columbian, Luyster was set to appear in Cowlitz County Superior Court on the case on Monday.

Luyster pleaded guilty in October 2014 for rioting with a weapon after he was accused of making racially motivated threats at a Vancouver tavern in March 2013. He allegedly threatened to kill an interracial couple cuddling at the tavern and threatened another black man with a pistol outside the bar. He got 90 days in jail.

The Anti-Defamation League, which combats anti-Semitism and other bigotry, has identified Luyster and his brother Robert A. Luyster as white supremacists.

Luyster, who stands 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds, sports a shaved head and is covered in swastika tattoos.

Distraught relatives gathered late Saturday morning at the edge of the gravel road leading to the home where the three killings occurred. Two Cowlitz County sheriff's chaplains were called in to support the families.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
Thanksgiving dinner is one of the most obsessively planned meals of the year. There's grocery shopping to do ahead of time, so you aren't trying to find a Safeway open while everyone else is watching the parade. Maybe you do a two-day brine. Maybe your stuffing needs to sit overnight.

But that's last-minute prep compared to the people who are growing your Thanksgiving meal right now. As soon as winter soils start to thaw, the cranberries you'll turn into sauce are just flowering, and the bare-headed poults that become your holiday bird are wandering the fields.

The Thanksgiving table is unique in that it is filled with foods most Americans don't eat at any other time. Turkey is almost exclusively consumed as sandwich meat, rather than fresh. Cranberries are popular in juices, but most people don't know what else to do with them. Chestnuts? If you eat them at all, it's likely between November and New Year's Eve.

"It's the least interesting week of the year for a buyer," said New Seasons produce purchaser Jeff Fairchild. "The amount of sage we sell is unbelievable for that one holiday."

The earthy, peppery taste that sage lends to that turkey dressing means more than just sustenance to many U.S. households. So while Thanksgiving might feel light years away while we're sitting on the beach, we're taking a moment to recognize the growers who spend all year preparing for just one day.

Thanksgiving is for the birds (when it comes to fresh turkeys)

Mark Anderson wanted pasture-raised eggs, but ended up with turkeys. His St. Paul farm -- Champoeg Farm -- is one of the only places to find local birds who spend most of their lives outdoors.

He is in the midst of feeding voracious baby turkeys -- called poults -- until they get big enough to slaughter. He plans on 110 tons of feed for the year -- more than 100 pounds for a 30-pound turkey. Then, they go in the freezer for about a month before the holiday season hits and people are willing to buy fresh turkey. It only happens once a year.

"My main selling season is November, but my main growing season is now through the end of October," Anderson said. "They just sit there shivering after October."

Last year, New Seasons stores sold 20,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving feasts. This year, they are planning for 26,000.

"By the time we're in December, we're already planning for next year's turkeys," said Alan Hummel, meat and seafood buyer at New Seasons.

Hummel contracted with a Anderson four years ago so the store could start selling local birds. "We fell flat on our face for the first year," Hummel said. "We didn't make any money."

Anderson sells about 500 to 600 turkeys through New Seasons, and about 200 at farmers markets. This year, though, he's dropping the farmers' market as he starts killing and processing his birds on-farm. This allows him enough time and money to raise more birds and sell some of the meat to Grand Central Bakery for sandwiches. It's one way to make his Thanksgiving-focused operation more profitable the rest of the year.

Anderson's birds come with a high price tag, though. He struggles to convert people who are used to frozen Butterball prices to splurge for a pasture-raised turkey on their Thanksgiving table.

"It's not very easy to convince a person to spend $95 on something that if they go to Winco and spend $80, they can get it for free," Anderson said. "They have to acknowledge there's a significant difference."

To sustain his operation the rest of the year, Anderson is working with Grand Central to provide turkey meat for the bakery chain's sandwiches. He is hoping he will soon be raising thousands of a birds a year.

"We all think of turkey as Thanksgiving, but the reality of it is we eat it the rest of the year in sandwiches," Anderson said.

That's nuts (that we don't eat chestnuts outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas)

The chestnut, an often misunderstood food, is possibly the most elusive of the Thanksgiving ingredients. They are either stuffed inside a turkey or roasted at Christmas, but are rarely seen outside the winter holidays. A blight ruined most of the East Coast's chestnut trees in the early 1900s, limiting supply. The nuts have never been incorporated into American food traditions the way they have in parts of Europe and East Asia.

Few people grow chestnuts, even fewer sell them fresh and if you do find them fresh on store shelves, they only last a few weeks.

Chris Foster wants to change that. He grows about 480 trees of rare Italian and French varieties of chestnuts on about acres within Portland's city limits.

"We're going for quality over quantity here. But we're still plenty productive," Foster said.

He started in the 1990s, when state agriculture leaders hoped to make chestnuts a homegrown industry, using varieties from Oregon State University and the University of California at Davis. More than 20 years later, Foster is one of the few left from that experiment and claims he only survived through persistence. He replanted many trees that died and tweaks his process as he goes.

"Oregon is so fortunate in being able to grow so many things, it's just another thing to add to the list," Foster said.

On a late June morning, a few of his trees quaked with bees, though the constant roar as they landed on fluffy white and yellow stems was receding. Most of their pollinating work was over.

Now, Foster will mow and weed his organic orchard and wait for the nuts to plump until they drop. Then, he and his wife -- plus some help -- walk through using contraptions that look like bingo hoppers to pick about 2,500 nuts off the ground. When that fails, they use their hands.

Foster sells about 30 percent of his chestnuts in early fall at the Portland Farmers Market, and then the rest to New Seasons. They usually sell out, which is a good thing, because otherwise they would rot on the shelves. Chestnuts have a life of about 10 days if they're not refrigerated, then they grow mold or dry out and become hard.

Most customers' appetites for chestnuts only last between Thanksgiving and Christmas, months after the first harvest. Foster hopes to change that by convincing New Seasons to stock them in October after the first harvest, so they can be enjoyed solo with wine or stuffed inside ravioli.

"They're wonderful in all kinds of things other than holiday meals."

Cran you believe this berry farmer spends all year prepping for Thanksgiving?

Ron and Mary Puhl spend all year preparing for Thanksgiving.

"If not for Thanksgiving, fresh cranberries would not have a market," said New Seasons' Fairchild. "They work great frozen, but you don't see anyone freezing them and packaging them."

The Puhls wish it wasn't that way.

"One of the challenges for all of the cranberry industry is the tie with Thanksgiving. We have a lot of commercial uses with cereals and granola bars, but in general people don't utilize cranberries other than Thanksgiving," said Ron Puhl. "But they're really good. They are easy to eat, they keep well and they're good for us."

The Puhls sell fresh cranberries at New Seasons, picking the dark red berries about 24 hours before they hit grocery store shelves. It's a rare system, and labor intensive.

Instead of letting the berries mature in storage for a month, the Puhls let them ripen on the vine, which they say makes the cranberries sweeter because they have more time in the sun.

At the start of the summer, the Puhls are mowing and weeding around the cranberry vines. It's usually a down time of the year while they wait for the berries to be ripe enough to start harvesting at the end of October. This year, though, the Puhls are planting new vines.

They are switching from Stevens -- one of the most popular varieties in North America -- to Demoranville vines, a new hardier type created at Rutgers University.

Most cranberries are eaten dried and sweetened, or used in juices, granola bars or other processed foods -- a practice Ron Puhl scoffs at. The Puhls started their Cape Blanco Cranberries farm in 1990, with the first harvest coming in 1996. About three years later, the price of cranberries crashed after nearly two decades of stability. The Puhls have bounced back, staking a lot of their business on cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.

"We stay away from dried cranberries. They don't utilize the strength of our region," Ron Puhl said. "It doesn't take good cranberries to make good sweet dried cranberries. That's something Wisconsin is really good at."

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com

503-294-5923

@MollyHarbarger
North Plains voters blocked farmer Mike Cropp's attempt in 2008 to have his land annexed into the city. Though the property is inside North Plains' urban growth boundary, the vote meant no shovel would yet touch dirt.

It was the fourth time voters rejected an annexation for all or part of Cropp's land. But he's ready to try again. And this time, residents won't be given a chance to vote on it, thanks to a state law approved during this year's short legislative session.

Passed as part of a larger package of bills crafted to increase affordable housing, Senate Bill 1573 effectively nullifies provisions in 34 cities that require public votes on annexations. Now, if landowners' applications meet certain criteria, city councils have almost no choice but to approve them. Projects previously rejected by voters in North Plains - where there is also another annexation proposal in the works - and Sherwood are now moving forward.

But Corvallis, which in 1976 became the first city in the state to require votes on annexations, is challenging the law in court, claiming it is unconstitutional on home-rule grounds. The League of Oregon Cities feels the same way.

"The state has screwed cities over," said David Hatcher, the mayor of North Plains, a small Washington County town of barely 2,000. The city's size could double if the annexations happen, he said. Cropp's proposal alone would add 440 housing units to a city that in 2014 had only 793 housing units, according to an estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Builders and realtors aren't happy either, but that's for different reasons. Rudy Kadlub, who is developing the North Plains land with Cropp, said planning for the project began in the late 1990s - a long wait to build on property that has been included in city officials' projections for growth all along.

"It's very frustrating," Kadlub said. "Because it's very difficult to educate voters on the benefits and the reasons for annexation." One of the annexation attempts in North Plains failed by a total of 14 votes in 2005.

"We just sort of gave up for a while," Kadlub said. "Because there was no reason, with the downturn, to be spending more energy on it."

Most times, voters approve annexations. The League of Oregon cities found that between 2008 and 2013, only 20 out of 152 annexation proposals were rejected statewide. Half of the 'no' votes took place in a single year, 2008. (But some annexation proposals are so-called island properties that involve single homes being added to a city to hook up with infrastructure like water and sewers.)

The League is in an interesting political position. The organization doesn't have an official view on whether city residents should be allowed to vote on annexation proposals. Some of the elected officials from cities within the League's membership actually supported Senate Bill 1573.

Dan Holladay, the mayor of Oregon City, told the Portland Tribune as the bill was being passed, "I regret what I consider to be an error of my youth that I campaigned for voter-approved annexation." Oregon City saw the most annexation votes in the state between 2008 and 2013, with seven being approved and seven denied.

Regardless of the merits of Senate Bill 1573, the larger issue is home rule, said Erin Doyle, intergovernmental relations associate at the League. The law effectively overrules provisions in cities' charters. "Senate Bill 1573 is unconstitutional on its face," the city of Corvallis alleges in its lawsuit.

Brian Beinlich lives in unincorporated Washington County near North Plains and is involved with Friends of North Plains and Oregon Communities for a Voice in Annexations, both of which oppose the new law. He said the Legislature can't just "run roughshod" over local city charters.

Local elected officials are in a tricky political position, as well. Hatcher, the North Plains mayor, led the effort to require annexations in the late 1990s as a part of Friends of North Plains, but he has since left the group after "a splitting of ways on how to operate." He is "not anti-growth," he said, and he wouldn't mind annexing land to North Plains. But he wishes the property was was able to get voters' approval first, and he wishes it wasn't all being added at the same time.

"It's really, really important for people to have a say in how their community grows," Hatcher said.

Similarly, elected officials in Sherwood are now faced with the prospect of having to annex land into the city that residents decisively rejected in November in the third vote on the proposal. If city councilors reject the annexation request, they risk litigation for not applying the new state law.

"They want to listen to the citizens and want to be respectful of what's in the charter," said Sherwood City Manager Joe Gall. "But the state Legislature changed the rules."

Gall added, though, that Sherwood has a "very, very tight housing market."

"We're running out of single-family property," Gall said. Adding land for potential housing - early plans for the Sherwood annexation might result in "200 or less" homes, Gall said, in the Brookman area - might loosen the market during an era of unprecedented growth in Portland-area home values.

For now, the issue is tied up in court. The result of the Corvallis lawsuit will determine if the new state law is constitutional.

Biff Traber, the mayor of Corvallis, said there are "some very good, very strong arguments that being able to quickly... annex property would help reduce the cost of some developments. Those are good arguments, and they have merit."

But, he added, Senate Bill 1573 "sets a bad precedent in terms of changing a city charter." The Legislature is "overstepping the boundaries of state interaction in local business," he said.

Steve Redman, a Corvallis-based broker with Windermere Real Estate, feels differently.

"A lot of people refer to [Corvallis] as Camelot," Redman said. "A lot of people want it to stay the way it is. ... That's not the reality anymore."

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@lucashammill
Buckets of ink have been spilled over the years bemoaning the influence of low-information voters, who participate in the political process without being quite as informed as they should be. Such concern is certainly justified. But casting the blame entirely upon voters ignores the role government institutions and officials play in keeping them in the dark.

Consider a concrete scenario. On Tuesday, Clackamas County's commissioners voted to put a 6-cents-per-gallon fuel tax before voters in November. This decision follows a May advisory vote in which more than 60 percent of those casting ballots said they'd like the county to pursue voter-approved funding for road maintenance. Ask first, then ask again: County officials couldn't have been more straightforward and voter-friendly than this.

Nevertheless, many of those who cast ballots this fall are likely to be in possession of only some of the information they might like to have. The county's gas tax exists within a much broader context that includes both adopted and proposed statewide policies that will affect fuel prices. Voters might like to know what these cost-drivers are and what their effects might be prior to layering on another six cents. But becoming well-informed isn't as simple as it should be.

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The stealthiest cost driver - by design - is the controversial low carbon fuel standard, an environmental mandate that has the effect of a tax. Only voters who've been paying very close attention will know that it's expected to boost fuel prices by up to 19 cents per gallon, and that it will do so gradually and almost surreptitiously through complex bureaucratic maneuvering rather than straightforward taxation. But the cost, though cloaked, will be real.

The cost of fuel would be driven upward, too, by Initiative Petition 28, the gross receipts tax ginned up by public employee unions that will appear on November's ballot and raise in excess of $3 billion per year. The tax's supporters would like voters to believe that its costs will be shouldered largely by big corporations and not Oregonians themselves. But an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Revenue Office found that it will "largely act as a consumption tax on the state economy. Taxes initially born by the retail trade, wholesale trade and utility sectors are expected to result in higher prices for Oregon residents."

The cumulative effect of such stealth cost drivers and the fact that Oregonians might not recognize them worry Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, who co-chairs the Legislature's joint committee on transportation. Bentz is one of many state leaders who believe Oregon desperately needs a transportation funding package, which would include a hike in the gas tax. In anticipation of the coming legislative debate and, eventually, a public vote, Bentz would like to "figure out a way of making it clear to people how much they're going to be paying for the low carbon fuel standard, for IP 28" and so on. "At the very least," he says, "we owe it to the people of Oregon to show how we're spending money."

Gov. Kate Brown has said that repealing the low-carbon mandate is off the table, but you'd think she would, if nothing else, commit to dealing with taxpayers transparently. Unfortunately, Oregonians have little reason for optimism yet. We asked her office on Thursday whether she agreed with the Legislative Revenue Office's assessment that IP 28 would act as a consumption tax, which partisans on the left have criticized. The governor's communications director, Kristen Grainger, declined to offer a simple "yes" or "no" answer, writing instead: "Disagreement among experts about impacts is not surprising. The various economic analyses are nonetheless part of the governor's consideration as she consults stakeholders in business, education, and human services on the impacts of the measure's passage or failure to pass."

This nonanswer remarkably gives equal weight to the opinions of partisan activists and a rigorous analysis by a nonpartisan branch of government. The governor's evasiveness isn't particularly surprising given her refusal, so far, to take a position on IP 28. Also not surprising, sadly, is her willingness to undermine a public body devoted to keeping the public informed. Only months ago, the governor barred members of the Public Utility Commission from speaking openly about a sweeping energy bill that one commissioner described via email as "absolute crap... a shell game that will result in no actual emissions reductions and higher rates for Oregon customers."

There's always time for the governor to change and to become a supporter of transparency in deed as well as word. The proof will be not only in her administration's treatment of public documents, which is the sort of transparency upon which reporters and editors tend to focus. The proof will lie, too, in her commitment to the operational transparency of government undermined by stealth taxes like the low carbon fuel standard and deliberate misdirection of the sort practiced by supporters of IP 28 and endorsed subtly by the governor herself. Supporting good-government institutions like the Public Utility Commission and Legislative Revenue Office in the face of interest-group pressure would be a positive first step.

Surely the governor, a former secretary of state, knows how hard it is to become a high-information voter in a low-transparency state.
By E.J. Dionne

Donald Trump's selection of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate is just what everyone is saying it is: a safe, traditional choice. Pence won't hurt Trump too much and may help him with Republican politicians and some conservatives.

But the pick is also -- and more importantly -- something else: a sign of real weakness. There were many Republicans who could have helped Trump far more. He could not turn to them because they are scrambling as far away from this ticket as they can.

And there were Republicans with whom Trump personally felt far more comfortable: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Trump could not turn to where his heart seemed to want to go because both were too much like him and carried too much baggage. The irrepressible Gingrich blurted out the truth: that he and Trump would constitute "a two pirate ticket," whereas Pence was "a relatively stable, more normal person." Never let it be said that Newt is entirely bereft of self-awareness.

The biggest loss to Trump comes from the refusal of so many Republicans even to be considered for the job. Gov. John Kasich or Sen. Rob Portman would have brought more political heft to the ticket for the simple reason that they are from Ohio, at or near the top of the must-win list for candidates in election after election. Kasich had the potential to reach far beyond Trump's constituency and also beyond the Republican Party. The same, to a lesser degree perhaps, can be said of Portman.

Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico would have been another obvious plus for Trump, who can use all the help he can get with both women and Latinos. But Trump chose to criticize Martinez's tenure as governor and, in any event, she had already signaled her uneasiness with him.

One could multiply the list of lost opportunities, but one of the biggest stories here is just how many Republicans have decided that their futures will be better served by staying away from Trump.

That left Pence as, in Gingrich's terms, the best "normal person" option. Pluses for Pence include strong ties to Capitol Hill (including a friendship with House Speaker Paul Ryan), an agreeable personality (a Democrat I know in Indiana who has tangled with Pence on issues sees him nonetheless as a nice-guy sort of politician), and an appeal to social conservatives.

But even that appeal is slightly compromised by Pence's flip-flopping on "religious liberty" legislation around gay weddings. As The Washington Post's Amber Phillips wrote in an excellent sketch of Pence, some conservatives "thought he backed off last year's religious freedom debate under pressure from liberals."

And it says something about the doubts so many conservatives have about Trump and his need to appease them that he had to go to his right for a running mate. He could not turn instead to someone who might have broadened his appeal to middle-of-the-road voters. Trump received a fair share of the ballots of social-issue moderates in the northeast during the primaries. Those voters and moderate independents will not be reassured by Pence. In fact, social liberals will try to use Pence to tie Trump to the most conservative elements of the GOP.

So the verdict that Pence is probably the best Trump could do is double-edged.

Yes, Pence has experience; yes, he raised no obvious alarms; yes, he's from the Midwest, which is the focus of Trump's strategy; yes he's articulate (he's a former radio talk show host, after all); and yes, regular politicians will like him.

But Pence adds little to Trump's appeal outside the ranks of conservative ideologues. He does not win over voters who would like to think that Trump, under all his pirate-ness, is more moderate than he lets on. And he does not help build support in a swing state. If Trump is in trouble in Indiana, he's probably in trouble in a lot of other places that a, well, more normal Republican might be able to take for granted.

E.J. Dionne's email address is ejdionnewashpost.com. Twitter: EJDionne.

(c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group
By Stacy M. Cross

You've probably seen a lot of headlines about the Zika virus, but you may have some confusion about if and how Zika will affect you.

Across the country, Planned Parenthood health centers see 2.5 million patients every year, and we are the nation's largest provider of sex education. We are working with Oregon Health Authority and Washington State Health Care Authority to provide our seven health centers in Oregon and Southwest Washington with the most up-to-date information so you can be informed about your health.

Here are the top things you should know right now about Zika:

1. While it's been spreading rapidly by mosquitoes in countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Puerto Rico, people who live in the continental United States are also contracting Zika, mostly due to travel. There have been nearly 1,000 travel and sexually transmitted cases confirmed in the continental United States, including 12 right here in Oregon. There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika at this time, and experts anticipate the areas where there is active Zika will grow in the United States in the coming months as mosquito season ramps up.

2. If you've traveled to an area with active transmission of Zika, or had sex without a condom with a man who traveled to, or lived in, an area with active Zika, you should ask a doctor or nurse about getting tested. Planned Parenthood providers are available to help you decide if you should be tested and can work with our local health department, if necessary, to determine the best next steps.

3. There is a lot the medical community still needs to determine about the Zika virus, but we do know it poses serious risks for pregnant women. When a fetus is exposed to the virus during pregnancy, Zika can cause microcephaly and other severe brain problems. It is also associated with impaired fetal growth, hearing loss in infants and other complications for pregnant women, including miscarriage. Family planning is the primary strategy recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce Zika-related pregnancy complications.

4. Planned Parenthood is one of the nation's leading providers of high-quality, affordable health care and can help you find the best birth control for you. Birth control methods are not one-size-fits-all; different methods have different rates of effectiveness, risks, side effects and cost. No matter your reasons, if you want to know more about your family planning options, our expert providers in Oregon and Southwest Washington can help you decide what is best for you.

5. We commend Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who have been champions for women and families by fighting to make family planning part of the U.S. response to Zika. We are proud to have these leaders fighting to make sure that all women, men and young people in Oregon and abroad have access to the information, health care and support necessary to decide to prevent unintended pregnancy, safely end a pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to term and raise a child. It is just common sense that women should be empowered to make decisions for themselves and their families, including the decision of whether to have a child, no matter who they are or where they live.

*

Stacy M. Cross is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette.
EVERETT -- The parents of a man accused of killing a couple in Washington state and burying them in a remote forest clearing have been charged with helping their sons flee.

The Daily Herald reports that Snohomish County prosecutors on Thursday charged Clyde Reed and Faye Reed, of Ellensburg, with first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Prosecutors say the couple gave their sons, John Reed and Tony Reed, money and a vehicle and helped them flee the country following the April slayings near Oso.

John Reed remains at large in Mexico on murder charges. Tony Reed fled with his brother to Mexico, but returned last month and helped detectives locate the couple's remains. He pleaded guilty last month to two counts of rendering criminal assistance.

Investigators believe John Reed fatally shot Patrick Shunn and his wife Monique Patenaude in April over a property dispute. Shunn, 45, is from Oregon City, Oregon, Patenaude, 46, is from British Columbia.

The parents were released from jail shortly after their arrest last month. They are to be arraigned in August.

-- The Associated Press
Federal officials delivered an unmistakable message this spring to the city of Portland: lead levels detected in drinking water were too high.

That edict, conveyed during a closed-door meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency, cut through the otherwise mind-numbing bureaucratese accompanying Portland's growing lead saga.

"EPA was very clear that current lead levels at the tap aren't good enough," state regulators summarized in notes from an April 21 meeting, obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive through a public records request. A spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority verified the accuracy of the summary.

Now, officials for the Portland Water Bureau find themselves under the gun to produce a schedule by August outlining how the city can lower detected lead levels, although actual changes could still be years away.

The EPA's declaration - made more than a month before the Portland Public Schools lead scare - followed a report in The Oregonian/OregonLive showing that Portland had the highest reported lead levels of any large water provider nationwide.

In the fallout over the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, federal officials have been meeting with water providers across America to review local lead concentrations. It's been clear for months that officials want to see more action from Portland, which consistently hovers just below the federal action level for lead.

But EPA officials have largely couched their public concerns in niceties, telling The Oregonian/OregonLive in April that they expected Portland to "maximize health protection" by reducing lead levels "as low as feasible." Later, in a letter to the state, federal officials wrote they "remain interested" in what more Portland can do to minimize lead.

In private, however, the message was blunter, records show. An EPA spokeswoman declined to comment.

On Friday, Portland Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the Portland Water Bureau, said the city is "completely aligned" with the federal goal to improve water quality.

"We think we can do better," Fish said of lead levels, adding that he also believes jurisdictions across America can make improvements.

Portland is an outlier nationally because the state in 1997 approved a unique plan allowing the city to minimally treat its water with chemicals. Lead is hardly detectable in Portland's water supply and the city doesn't have lead service lines. But water from the Bull Run is corrosive and prone to leaching lead from lead solder found in some plumbing.

Since 2006, Portland has twice exceeded federal standards, with more than 10 percent of sampled high-risk homes exceeding 15 parts per billion. The most recent high reading was in fall 2013. Since then, levels have ducked just below.

"Specific to lead, we are committed to improving water quality," Fish said. "And we are working with our regulators to consider what the various options are, based on good science."

But Fish cautioned Portland may not simply add more chemicals to the water to reduce corrosion. Officials could explore options for "more robust outreach and education," more water testing or potentially some sort of program that helps homeowners replace lead-tainted plumbing.

"Until we've completed our assessment, we don't know what's the best option," Fish said.

In August, city officials will meet with state and federal regulators to review preliminary results from a study looking at pipe corrosion within Portland's water system. The meeting has yet to be scheduled.

Although city officials haven't committed to making any changes to their treatment process, they have agreed to present a "detailed proposed schedule for selection, design, construction, and implementation" of treatment techniques to lower lead levels, state records show.

Construction costs could hit $15 million for a treatment facility, according to city estimates. A timeline presented in April showed Portland projected spending three years studying treatment options, three years designing a facility and two years building it - for a total of eight years.

But federal officials told Portland they expect the schedule to be "aggressively timed," according to the state summary of that meeting.

"What EPA has told me directly they're looking for is some certainty in terms of when this process begins and when the decisions are made," Fish said. "A schedule allows them to monitor each of those things."

As it stands, Portland's corrosion study won't be fully complete until next summer. At that time, the Water Bureau plans to make a recommendation to the City Council about adding chemicals or seeking alternatives to reduce lead exposure.

In the meantime, city officials are reluctant to shoulder any blame for high lead levels detected at many Portland Public Schools and in some city park facilities. They say their decision to minimally treat water has already reduced lead levels by about two thirds since the 1990s.

"No amount of treatment can completely eliminate the presence of lead in water in homes, schools or buildings as evidenced by detections of elevated lead in water in schools across the country," Michael Stuhr, the Water Bureau director, said in a written response to questions.

"Only appropriate remediation," Stuhr added, "will solve the issue of lead in schools, homes and buildings."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch
nkengeharmonjohnson.jpg

Nkenge Harmon Johnson, former communications director for ex-Gov. John Kitzhaber, alleges that the former governor, his fiance and his chief of staff fired her after she questioned legal and ethical violations in his office. The lawsuit alleges they violated her First Amendment rights. Harmon Johnson, now president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, is pictured here outside Portland's City Hall on July 11, 2016, speaking out against recent violence around the nation. (Dave Killen|Staff)

A past communications director for former Gov. John Kitzhaber has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against him, his fiancee Cylvia Hayes, his chief of staff and a state investigator.

Nkenge Harmon Johnson alleges she was fired in July 2014 after speaking out against "myriad improprieties'' and "abuse of authority'' by Kitzhaber and staffers who she said directed public employees to help with his re-election campaign.

She also accuses James Williams, an investigator with Oregon Department of Justice, of unfairly targeting her husband, Erious Johnson, the state's top civil rights director, for a "threat assessment" after locating a "#blacklivesmatter'' reference on his Twitter feed.

The lawsuit, filed 5:30 p.m. Friday in U.S District Court in Eugene and first reported by Willamette Week, contends that Hayes instigated the firing after she "took umbrage'' that Harmon Johnson had voiced legal and ethical concerns about having to manage the then-first lady's communications and appearances for Kitzhaber's re-election campaign while on the job.

Immediately after Harmon Johnson sought legal advice from the governor's deputy legal counsel, Steve Powers, Kitzhaber's chief of chief Mike Bonetto asked her to resign, her attorney Beth Creighton wrote in the lawsuit.

Johnson refused, and she was fired on July 18, 2014, according to the suit.

The dismissal came three days after Hayes accused her in an email of being "condescending" toward her during a staff meeting, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported at the time. Her letter of termination from Bonetto includes a reference to the meeting.

On Nov. 3, 2014, Harmon Johnson wrote a guest column in The Oregonian/OregonLive, critical of Kitzhaber.

"During my tenure, I was adamant that the governor's office and his closet advisers not blur the lines between state interest and other matters,'' Johnson wrote. "My concern was seen as disloyalty ... I was told that as long as things were good it did not matter whether things were right.''

Harmon Johnson said she was directed to manage Hayes' communications, appearances and events related to the governor's re-election campaign, as well as Hayes' personal interests beyond her portfolio as a volunteer policy adviser to Kitzhaber, the suit says.

Other employees told Harmon Johnson that they, too, were being asked to do work for Hayes unrelated to state business, Creighton wrote in the suit.

The suit alleges that Kitzhaber, Hayes and Bonetto violated Harmon Johnson's First Amendment rights "for her having spoken out about a matter of public concern."

A Kitzhaber spokeswoman at the time said Harmon Johnson was let go for "performance issues."

Kitzhaber resigned in February 2015, one month into his fourth term, amid a widening influence-peddling scandal involving him and Hayes. Federal agents launched a criminal investigation, which continues today.

Harmon Johnson, who is now president and CEO of the Urban League of Portland, also contends in her suit that her husband was targeted in retaliation. Erious Johnson has filed a separate civil rights complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries.

A report by lawyer Carolyn Walker of the Portland-based firm Stoel Rives, who was hired by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to conduct an inquiry, called the surveillance an "isolated incident," even as it said that employees in the Oregon Department of Justice likely broke laws barring the collection of political speech and criticized the department for lacking "racial diversity and cultural competency."

Harmon Johnson's suit seeks economic damages for lost wages and benefits, as well as undetermined punitive damages and attorney fees.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212; @maxoregonian
Nice terror attack

People have put down floral tributes to the victims near the scene on July 15, 2016 in Nice, France, where a truck drove into a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations. At least 80 people died and many were wounded in a terror attack. (Andreas Gebert/DPA/TNS)

As prayerful chants echoed through this Riviera resort city's cathedral, France plunged Friday into an achingly familiar ritual of grief and recrimination after a truck-borne attacker plowed a path of carnage through a holiday crowd, killing at least 84 people and injuring more than 200.

The third major terrorist attack on French soil in 19 months raised painful new questions - about the security services' ability to defend against weapons as mundane as a delivery truck, about the integration of the country's large and often downtrodden North African population, and the sense that not only Nice but an entire way of life had again come under siege.

Authorities said an 8-month-old state of emergency would be extended, and announced plans to deploy thousands of police reservists to counter threats.

A special anti-terrorism unit was spearheading the investigation into the truck rampage late Thursday on the city's crowded seaside Promenade des Anglais, which left a trail of crumpled bodies, bloodstained shoes and clothing and the detritus of what had been a joyous celebration of France's national holiday, Bastille Day.

Reflecting the city's status as both tourist magnet and melting pot, the dead and injured were of many nationalities, and online appeals proliferated as people from across Europe and around the globe searched for missing loved ones.

The State Department said two Americans were killed, and relatives in Texas identified them as 51-year-old Sean Copeland and his son Brodie, 11. An American student from the University of California, Berkeley was reported to be unaccounted for.

Prosecutor Francois Molins, speaking at a news conference, said fingerprints had identified the slain driver-assailant as a deliveryman named Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian emigre with permission to live in France.

Map showing the truck route of the Nice terrorist.

He said it was still unknown whether Bouhlel, a father of young children who was separated from his wife, had acted in concert with accomplices, shown any signs of radicalization, or had links to any jihadist group.

French television showed footage of investigators leaving the modest apartment where Bouhlel had previously lived, carrying bags of forensic evidence, and authorities said associates and relatives including his estranged wife were being questioned as part of the effort to ascertain whether he acted alone.

With condolences pouring in from around the world - President Barack Obama called the assault "tragic and appalling" - France was set to observe three days of official mourning. President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls flew to Nice in a show of determined solidarity in the face of the assault, eight months after devastating strikes in Paris.

"We are facing a long battle," a haggard-looking Hollande said in a televised mid-afternoon statement from the stricken city, in which he hailed security forces who, in a now-familiar pattern, rushed to respond to the attack. Accounts of wrenching heroism emerged Friday of police and others trying desperately, and at grave risk, to stop the truck's fatal trajectory.

But in a sign of growing public anger over the numbingly repetitive attacks, Hollande was booed and heckled by some onlookers, and - as in U.S. politics - the security issue swiftly took on sharpening political overtones. Analysts suggested the series of attacks over the past two years, with a death toll surpassing 200, could leave the French president vulnerable to ouster.

"There is rhetoric coming from the fight, the extreme right and also the extreme left that in Hollande's duty to defend the country, there was a complete breakdown in intelligence," said Thomas Guenole, a French political expert who teaches at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly referred to as Sciences Po. "For Hollande, the question is, how will he survive politically? I think he's a goner."

Frustration mounted, as well, over a sense of official impotence in foiling attacks.

Outside view of Via Location truck rental agency, where a truck driven by Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had been rented, in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, near Nice airport, southern France on July 15, 2016.

"How is it possible, when the Promenade des Anglais was closed off, that this vehicle could access it?" asked Christian Estrosi, a former mayor of Nice and president of the regional council. "How many national police were deployed? What means were used, when our country is still in a state of emergency, to avoid this?"

Authorities were poring over CCTV footage, tracing the movements of the commercial-sized white truck used in the attack. The prosecutor said the vehicle had been rented on Monday on the outskirts of Nice and not returned on Wednesday as scheduled.

Rejoicing erupted on online networks associated with extremist groups, although even many hours after the attack, no claim of responsibility had been issued. Suggesting a degree of exaggerated bravado on the part of the attacker, most of the weapons found in the truck were nonfunctioning or replicas, authorities said, though there was a working automatic pistol and ammunition clip in the cargo bay, and the attacker was said to have exchanged fire with police.

The militant group the Islamic State for months has issued propaganda videos urging lone-wolf attackers to use any means at hand, however low-tech, to stage attacks against a variety of Western targets. One such video disseminated online in mid-April included the chilling exhortation: "Fill your car with gas. My brother, hurry up! Your neighbor is a kafir (unbeliever.)"

There was no mistaking the heavy-handed symbolism of the attack, staged on a cherished holiday commemorating liberty, and targeting late-night, midsummer revelers watching the offshore fireworks display from Nice's palm-fringed, sea-hugging Promenade des Anglais.

World leaders swiftly expressed sympathy - and renewed determination to confront terrorist threats wherever they originated. In a variety of venues, there were moments of silence and flags flown at half-staff.

By Laura King, Sarah Harvey and Alexandra Zavis, The Los Angeles Times
ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, continued to echo across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning.

Addressing a crowd of supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan told a crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Earlier, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks. Fifty soldiers were taken into custody, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

An official in Erdogan's office says at least 60 people have been killed and more than 330 people have been arrested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in accordance with government rules.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.

-- The Associated Press
As more and more bloodshed happens at the hands of Islamic terrorists throughout the globe, Americans are subjected once again to talking points that really dont pinpoint the main problem.

Were told that more gun legislation is needed.

Its suggested that right-wing Christians and conservatives stir the pot of hatred and intolerance, which leads to violent acts.

We hear that America  ultimately  is at fault in all this, because we do so many things that anger other countries, particularly in the Muslim world.

Take a look at news stories and political commentaries in recent weeks and youll likely find those story-lines, and several more that take us on rabbit trails, away from the true source of the problem, which boils down to this: Islamic terrorists are zealots who have a passion to kill. They shoot people, stab people, blow people up, cut peoples heads off, and throw homosexuals off buildings for being gay. They are religiously motivated, and fully committed to carrying out their jihad through bloodshed and intimidation.

They have used airplanes, bombs, guns, knives and their own blood-stained hands to commit murder. They burn victims alive. They drown them. They mutilate and rape.

They, not Americans, are the bad guys. They are evil and unrelenting, and they live amongst us in the United States.

Why is it so hard to agree on that, and say that is at the heart of it all?

Their hatred toward Americans should be what stirs us to defend ourselves and win this war. That should be our single-minded focus. Islamic militants certainly have no problem expressing their willingness to cause us great harm in the name of their god.

ISIS leaders are urging followers throughout the world  including radical Muslims here in the United States  to take action and kill. So what do they do? They kill, just like what recently happened in Orlando, and before that in December in San Bernardino, California, and before that in Paris, and in Brussels and in Boston .... and what has happened on a daily basis in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, etc., over the years.

Where does it end?

We will kill you everywhere O disbeliever, someone affiliated with ISIS expressed on Twitter shortly after the Orlando massacre.

In a speech in May, an ISIS spokesperson, Muhammad, declared that Ramadan has come near, and it is the month of raids and jihad, the month of conquest. He added that these raids and jihad should focus on innocent civilians. It should be noted that the Orlando attack occurred during Ramadan (from early June to early July).

That is the terrorists mind-set that were up against  complete depravity. An organization called Jihad Watch reported that Islamic militants have committed more than 27,000 deadly terrorist attacks since 9/11/2001. That translates to approximately 2,000 a year, or five a day.

But if you watch the news, many Americans think that more gun control will stymie these killers. Some believe that Christians, the National Rifle Association and conservatives are in some ways complicit in domestic terrorism, and need to tone down the rhetoric or compromise on their positions on certain issues.

Those opinions not only miss the mark, but they seemingly try to avoid dealing with who and what is truly at the heart of this war  religiously-motivated, hateful, zealous radical Islamic terrorists who will stop at nothing to kill Americans by any means necessary.

Thats something that you wont hear coming from the White House. And thats something a number of people just dont want to admit.

Whats truly disturbing is this: If, or when, these terrorists get their hands on a nuclear device, all this talk about more gun control, blaming the NRA, toning down rhetoric, etc., will seem so completely and utterly foolish.

Chris Stevens writes columns for the Editorial page. Email him at stevens@mdn.net.
SFS sniffs out suspects in training scenario

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Galbraith, 374th Security Forces Squadron military working dog handler, helps Topa, 374 SFS MWD, get onto beds to get to a suspect during a training scenario at Yokota Air Base, Japan, July 12, 2016. The beds were used to test Topa's ability to react to apprehending a suspect with obstacles in the way. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman David Owsianka/Released)
Century 21 Real Estate Corp. has recognized Roger Flieth, broker associate with the Systems Masters Ruby Award.

Ruby level status is awarded to an agent who has met minimum sales production of 32 closed transaction sides within a calendar year.

Flieth also received the Century 21 Quality Service Pinnacle Producer Award, presented annually to those Century 21 System members who receive a minimum satisfaction index of 95 percent or better for two consecutive years. Surveys are emailed to all customers immediately after the purchase or sale of a home.

Flieth is a member of the Greater Mason City Board of Realtors, the North Iowa Regional Board of Realtors, the National Association of Realtors and the Iowa Association of Realtors

Reach Flieth at the Century 21 Preferred Office at 641-424-9400.

* * *

First Citizens Bank in Mason City announces the hiring of Tony Conroy as a personal banker at the west Mason City location.

Prior to joining First Citizens, Conroy worked as a personal banker at Wells Fargo in Mason City and Burnsville, Minnesota.

Conroy and his wife, Jen, live in Clear Lake with their three daughters, Lexus, Robyn and Scarlett.

First Citizens Bank is a community bank with nine locations in eight communities in North Iowa and Mora, Minnesota. For more information about Conroy or First Citizens Bank, visit www.firstcitizensnb.com or call 800-423-1602.

* * *

Oshkosh Corp. announced that one of its affiliated companies facilities has received a top workplace safety designation. McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Inc.s Riceville facility, Iowa Contract Fabricators, has been designated a STAR worksite by the Iowa Occupational Safety & Health Administration Voluntary Protection Program.

This impressive award is attributed to the hard work and commitment to safety of our Riceville team members both at work, and in their personal lives, said Wilson R. Jones, Oshkosh Corp. president and CEO.

The Voluntary Protection Program recognizes employers and workers in the private sector and federal agencies who have implemented effective safety and health management systems and maintain injury and illness rates below national Bureau of Labor Statistics averages for their respective industries. To participate, employers must submit an application to OSHA and undergo a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of safety and health professionals.

McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Inc. is an industry-leading manufacturer of refuse truck bodies and concrete mixers. For more information, go to www.mcneiluscompanies.com. Oshkosh Corp. is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of access equipment, commercial, fire and emergency, military and specialty vehicles and vehicle bodies. For more information, go to www.oshkoshcorporation.com.
CLINTON  The window of opportunity to reverse Exelon Corp.'s decision to close the Clinton Power Station next year continues to close, but discussions continue, lawmakers said Friday.

Time is a factor, state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth told a gathering of about 100 plant employees across Clinton Lake from the plant. We've got a ways to go as negotiations continue. We've got to bring a lot of different people together.

Mitchell said the economic impact from the plant can be felt throughout Central Illinois.

Local officials said the plant employs about 700 people, indirectly supports another 1,200 jobs, accounts for 50 percent of DeWitt County's tax base and contributes more than $13 million in local tax revenue to area schools and local governments.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, added, We'll do everything we can to keep the good-paying jobs in Clinton.

House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said he isn't sure how much more time there is before the decision cannot be reversed.

Exelon announced June 2 plans to close the plant and one near the Quad Cities after lawmakers did not act on a financial incentive plan for low-carbon-emission energy production that would include nuclear power.

Company officials have said the decision can be reversed, but Exelon is moving ahead with the process. In June the company formally notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of the closure, for example.

If the plant shuts down, it would have beyond a devastating impact, Durkin said. I will do everything within my power to ensure we don't lose more jobs within the state. This is no time to continue on with that terrible trend.

Durkin said a compromise on the incentive legislation will be needed and the fact that nobody has walked away from discussions is a sign that a deal remains possible.

Mitchell said the issues involved aren't based on political party affiliation and he doesn't care whether the plant employees are Republicans or Democrats.

I just want to keep them working, Mitchell said. We should work together because we care about the future of Illinois. We've got too much riding on this.

Although the General Assembly adjourned June 30 without a deal in place and isn't scheduled to meet again until the fall veto session in November, Mitchell expressed confidence lawmakers can be called back as soon as a deal is reached.

Mitchell said Gov. Bruce Rauner has been involved in discussions with the company along with environmental groups, advocates of alternative energy and coal power industry.

Christian Small, the plant's manager for nuclear reactor engineering, is among the employees who are unsure of what their future will hold if the plant does close.
BLOOMINGTON  At 14, Meoni Dennis already has a plan for how he'll react if he is stopped by a police officer: "Stay calm and do what the officer says."

The Bloomington teen was repeating advice given to him by his parents in a conversation similar to talks other African-American families are having across the country. They are concerned about recent confrontations between police and minority citizens that have claimed the lives of black men and white police officers alike.

"They tell me to be calm. If the police do something wrong, it will come around. Don't argue," said Dennis.

The teenager is one of about 50 youths who regularly participate in Teen Club, a Twin City group headed by Mike Donnelly, co-director of teen services at Western Avenue Community Center and Boys and Girls Club in Bloomington.

The ability to be courteous, especially in stressful situations, is a skill Takendrick Griffin has learned at Teen Club.

"Being here helps me with my attitude and my manners. If you have better manners, you go farther," said Griffin, 11, of Bloomington.

At a gathering this week at the Lawrence Irvin Neighborhood Center, Donnelly talked with youths about the very serious issue of cultural change in the current climate of violence.

Those changes start with people's attitudes, said Donnelly.

"The thing I want you to understand is that the assumptions you make about groups of people, including police, make a difference," Donnelly told the group, which meets twice a week for dinner and activities.

Mistaken impressions are damaging to both sides, he said, adding that a traffic stop or an interaction with law enforcement does not have to be a negative experience.

"It's important for you to know your rights when stopped by cops, but it doesn't have to turn into a confrontation," Donnelly told the teens, who gathered for pizza and a swim at O'Neil Park.

Donnelly acknowledged that he's had similar talks with his three sons.

"We would be naive to think African-Americans aren't talking to their children about how these situations should go," he said.

For the kids in Teen Club, a group supported by the Bloomington and Normal city councils, Western Avenue and funded by United Way, the chance to talk with adults outside their families helps broaden their perspectives, they said.

After the Dallas shootings, local community leaders and police acknowledged such incidents can break relationships between police and minority citizens, but they also agreed those same relationships can be repaired and strengthened by maintaining a constructive community dialogue.

Arajha Bellamy, 13, of Bloomington, said she understands that "not all police officers are racist and prejudiced and we shouldn't get rude with them."

Still, she said, the recent shootings in several states are "an unresolved situation and it should be stopped."

Traci Milan and her husband were looking for a quiet place to raise their 9-year-old biracial son when they moved from Decatur to Lexington.

She worries about what life will be like for their son as he grows older.

"I think about it all the time," said Milan, imagining a future traffic stop where her hearing-impaired son might be slow to respond to an officer.

Even at age 9, Milan's son understands how he should treat police officers, said his mother.

"We've had to treat him more like a grown-up than we would if he were white. We've talked about how he should take his hat off and look them in the eye, make sure they know you're a human being. It's like being in a self-defense class," said Milan.

To Donnelly, the wariness that exists between some police officers and minorities should be addressed before fear spurs another tragedy. "There's got to be a bridge between low-income black communities and law enforcement," he said, adding the frayed relationships go beyond the situations in headlines."
MINONK  The Fieldcrest school board has voted to establish attendance centers and keep all four buildings open in 2017-18.

More than 150 members of the community attended a recent two-hour meeting.

In May, Superintendent Dan Oakley said if the board voted to close a building, the only realistic option would be to close South. Students then would attend pre-K through grade 3 at West in Toluca and grades 4-8 at East in Wenona.

Fieldcrest has four buildings: South in Minonk, with pre-K for the entire district and grades K-4 for Minonk-area students; West in Toluca with grades K-4 for Toluca-area students and grades 5-6 for the entire district; East in Wenona with grades K-4 for Wenona-area students and grades 7-8 for the entire district; and Fieldcrest High School in Minonk with grades 9-12 for the entire district.

The district hasn't determined which grade levels will be assigned to which schools for the 2017-18 school year.

Discussion at recent Minonk City Council meetings has focused on the possibility of South closing, with residents citing their concerns about the ramifications such a decision would have on Minonk and on the district as whole. Parents voiced concerns, too.

Minonk City Administrator Austin Edmondson said city officials were pleased the board voted to keep all four schools open.

We realize this an interim step as the board develops a building plan for the future of the district, he said. The City of Minonk will do all we can to assist the board in developing a plan that achieves the educational goals of the board and the economic and sociological concerns of the city.
MASON CITY  An established Mason City architectural firm plans to breathe new life into a historic downtown landmark.

True to Bergland + Crams mission of restoring old buildings, Principal Kristy Sagdalen King said the firm has purchased the two-story Lapiner Building, which houses Midas, Dominos Pizza and an unoccupied space on the ground floor.

Bergland + Cram, which provides architectural, planning and interior design for health care, education and restoration projects, plans to remodel the 91-year-old space and move its East State Street offices to the vacant second floor within the next few years. The ground floor tenants will remain.

With the development coming downtown, we would like to be in the thick of that, Sagdalen King said.

Located on South Delaware Avenue, the brick structure was once occupied by Lapiner Motor Co.s dealership and drive-through service shop, which was open late for travelers.

With a car-sized elevator  something the firm plans to keep in its restoration  Sagdalen King said it appears vehicles were once displayed on both floors of the building.

Since the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Sagdalen King said changes to the exterior will be dictated by its historic nature.

An updated storefront, better windows and a new roof are planned. The freight door, which was once used for bringing cars to the elevator, will serve as the firms entrance.

The second floor, which has been unused for several decades, is an open space with Carnegie steel bow trusses.

As architects, we like to talk about the bones, Sagdalen King said. The upstairs of the building is an amazing structure that we want to expose and not hide.

At 10,500 square feet, the second floor is will provide additional collaborative areas for large cardboard mock-ups and work spaces. Its more than double the size of 1002 E. State St., a rented office where the firm has been located for 21 years.

With Bergland + Cram celebrating 60 years and recently transitioning to an ownership team, Sagdalen King says the Lapiner Building will offer a fresh start for the 14-person office as it aims to attract young professionals.

They often see a bigger urban area as the only place to flex their design muscles, she said. We want to sell Mason City as a desirable place to live and work.

Total cost for the project is still being estimated, but Sagdalen King noted it will be efficient, since it will use regular materials in ingenious ways.

A phased approach is planned, with exterior work finished first. Move-in is tentatively anticipated by 2018.

The ownership team would like their restoration to spark further interest in transforming empty buildings around town.

We hope others will see the diamonds in the rough, as we have with the Lapiner, Sagdalen King said. We hope we can demonstrate this can be done in an affordable, creative way.

Steven Van Steenhuyse, Mason Citys director of development services, said the city is thrilled Bergland + Cram will invest in downtown.

Their investment shows that downtown Mason City is a great neighborhood, with great people and great businesses, he said via email.
NORMAL  Nine-year-old Josslin Rood is positive her big sister Bekka will be a good teacher once she graduates from Illinois State University with a degree in elementary education.

Josslin, a fifth-grader at Prairieland Elementary School, saw her sisters teaching skills in action at this week's Mission to Mars educational camp at Thomas Metcalf School in Normal.

It was fun spending time with her. I dont get to see her as much as I used to now that shes in college, said Josslin, one of 100 Bloomington-Normal students in third through eighth grade at the summer program taught by 22 Illinois college students through the Golden Apple Foundation.

The youngsters learned about the surface of Mars, how to launch a rocket and create a parachute and build model space settlements.

It was really exciting seeing these kids from all different schools working together as a team. Science and math really brought everyone together, said Bekka Rood, a senior from Normal.

Rood, along with the other college camp counselors, is a Golden Apple Scholar.

The Chicago-based Golden Apple Foundation prepares education majors for challenging teaching environments, providing scholarships and intensive training. After graduation, the newly-licensed teachers must commit to teaching in high-needs school districts for at least five years.

Each summer, the foundation hosts an education program to train aspiring teachers and give them an opportunity to work with kids. This was the first summer ISU was selected as a training location.

Being in this program for four years has impacted me in so many ways. I think the extra hours spent in a classroom will set me apart from other teachers. The diversity really prepares me to be in the classroom, said Rood.

Golden Apple also provides students with workshops in finances, education law, grant writing and career planning.

Scholars said a lot of the kids were timid at the beginning of the week, but by Friday were gushing facts about Mars.

Alden Wagoner, a fourth-grader at Northpoint Elementary, said his favorite part of camp was launching rockets on the Metcalf playground.

We had to press a bunch of buttons and flip switches just the right way to get the rocket to launch, said Alden, 9.

ISU middle-level education senior Nate Titus supervised a group of students as they dropped eggs into the lower courtyard of ISU's DeGarmo Hall. Parachutes and balloons protected the tightly-packaged eggs as they sailed down to meet a tarp representing the surface of Mars.

Titus, of Bloomington, said his Golden Apple experience has shaped his future as a teacher.

I want my classroom to be student-oriented so they have a say in how and what we teach, said Titus. At the end of the second day of camp, one of the kids said, Were done already? Thats an amazing thing to hear as a teacher; when they are learning and having fun.

Nancy Powell, director of summer instruction at ISU for Golden Apple, is amazed by the ideas and questions coming from the ISU scholars.

These scholars are responsible, creative, innovative and dedicated, said Powell. When you see them in action, they provide some very strong activities for students. They dont just tell them to do something, they ask them questions and encourage them to get thinking.
BLOOMINGTON  An East Peoria commercial real estate broker who has tried unsuccessfully to develop a hotel complex on two downtown Bloomington blocks says there are other options for the property.

But Jeff Giebelhausen said he and the property owners, Merle and Carol Huff of Peoria, aren't in a rush to start any new venture.

"We've always had multiple options," Giebelhausen said Friday. "There is nothing saying we have to present something in the next day, week, month or year or two. Commerce Bank is there. They are good tenant for the Huffs. There is no urgency whatsoever."

Giebelhausen's remarks came one day after city officials decided not to proceed with the latest plan he spearheaded for a downtown hotel and conference center on the two blocks bounded by Washington, Center, Front streets and Roosevelt Avenue.

"At this point we will sit back and look at what all of the options are for the property," said Giebelhausen. "Who knows if it is going to be a hotel. A hotel is one of the options, and we do have other hoteliers who have expressed interest."

Mayor Tari Renner said, however, the city won't wait too long for something to be done because the Huffs' buildings on those two blocks  the Commerce Bank and Front 'N' Center buildings and the former Elks Lodge  are in bad shape. A previous fire chief described Front 'N' Center as the largest fire hazard downtown, he added.

"So we're not going to let the properties just sit without improvements for two years," said the mayor. "We're going to pursue all of our options moving forward."

That could include acquiring the properties through eminent domain, the legal process that lets a government take property and compensate the owners at a fair market value.

"It absolutely is a long and lengthy process, and I don't think it would be any municipality's first choice," said Renner. "But that's definitely an option on the table for us."

The properties have a market value for tax assessment purposes of $1.2 million, but Friedman previously noted that Giebelhausen's proposal said acquiring them would cost $3.8 million.

The Huffs could not be reached for comment.

Giebelhausen had been brokering a proposal to rehab the historic Commerce Bank and Front 'N' Center buildings in the 100 block of North Center Street into a brand-name hotel and build a connected conference center and parking deck on the site of the former Elks Lodge across Madison Street.

The city announced Thursday it will shelve the proposal from Riverside Lodging Bloomington LLC, of which Giebelhausen is a part, on the advice of consultant Stephen Friedman of Chicago-based SB Friedman Development Advisors.

Renner said there was confusion about who among the Riverside partners would secure nearly $40 million in private investment for the proposed $52 million project.

Riverside Lodging Bloomington LLC is made up of Commonwealth Hotels LLC, Greystone Realty Group Inc. of Peoria and the Giebelhausen-led Bloomington Downtown Redevelopment Partners LLC.

Giebelhausen also wanted the city to commit $13 million in future tax revenue generated by the hotel and conference center.

Friedman said a report outlining the reasons behind his recommendation would be forthcoming, and city officials were unable to say Friday when it will be made public.

"This particular deal we could not make work, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to explore various options," said Renner.

Ward 6 Alderman Karen Schmidt said she still would like to see a hotel built at that site.

"I consider those blocks to continue to be a prime redevelopment site for the city," she said. "And I hope we look at all of our options for continuing to explore how we put a hotel there."

Previously, Giebelhausen offered to buy the properties, gut the interior of the bank building and raze the others, and then sell the "shovel-ready" land for $8.5 million to the city to redevelop. That proposal faltered in June 2015 in the face of aldermen's questions over finances.

Giebelhausen indicated Friday that he still controls the land because of an option he has to purchase the land from the Huffs.

"Nothing has changed with regard to that," Giebelhausen said Friday, but he declined to say how long that option lasts.

"That is a private business matter. For now, I will continue to work with the Huffs on the sale or redevelopment of those properties," said Giebelhausen.

"We'll continue to see what the options are for the land and when is the right time to do it," he added. "One of the best things to do is just wait and let downtown mature a little bit more and self-identify what might need to be done. There is no rush."
What about the children? I cant get the thought out of my head in the wake of recent violence that has dominated headlines.

I think of the 4-year-old girl in the back seat of her moms car when the Minnesota policeman shot the moms fiance four times as he sat in the front passenger seat, just a couple feet from the little girl.

I think of the kids who were at Bloomingtons Chuck E. Cheeses  some of them for a birthday party  when that Fourth of July weekend brawl broke out.

Children are supposed to have fun. We instead are scaring them and scarring them.

Bloomington police arent saying what sparked the fight that exploded into a pizza playland melee involving about 40 people. Restaurant management referred inquiries to public relations people at corporate headquarters who didnt even know about the incident when I called this week.

A turf issue? A dispute over who was next in line at the Alley Roller game? Whatever caused it, the incident almost certainly left lasting mental and emotional damage on children present, and in the case of a 3-year-old hurt when a game was knocked over, physical harm, too.

All the research shows kids exposure to violence frequently leads to aggression, anxiety, depression and conduct problems. If were looking for a way to continue a cycle of violence into another generation, weve found it.

Feeling safer?

About 800 McLean County residents are licensed to carry a hidden, loaded gun in public. Does that worry you or comfort you?

There are documented instances across the country where an armed private citizen has almost certainly prevented loss of life. Yet, when I reach a bottom line, I cant see how our community or our country is safer overall with more guns around.

Yes, ugly things have been happening, and I concede no law will keep a gun out of the hands of someone determined to do harm. But more and more guns sure arent making me feel more secure, and I doubt theyre making Americans better protected. In fact, more guns means there are more weapons available to be stolen. Probably more gun accidents and suicides, too. Certainly more tension and anxiety for police every time they approach a stopped vehicle.

If I hear voices raised inside a restaurant or see a couple thugs face down each other on a street corner, I dont like having to worry whether somebody might pull a gun. (Theres actually research that indicates handling a gun increases mens testosterone levels. Not good.)

And last weeks sniper attack at a Dallas protest march demonstrates how citizens with legal guns can complicate officers efforts to determine whos a bad guy and whos a good guy in an active shooter situation.

Illinois was the final state to allow concealed carry, beginning 2 years ago. Today, about 220,000 of our states residents are authorized, with new permits being issued to Illinoisans at a rate of about 250 per day. I wonder how many of them have poor judgment.

What heightens my worry quotient is many of the states that have had concealed carry for years are now expanding opportunities for gun-carrying. Beginning next month, students in Texas colleges will be allowed to carry concealed handguns into classrooms and other campus buildings. In Mississippi, worshippers can arm themselves in church. If you live in Idaho or West Virginia, you can carry without having a permit or a lick of firearms training.

Dozens of gun-related bills have been filed in Springfield over the past 18 months, mostly to loosen restrictions on who can get a permit or where a gun can be carried.

Sorry. I just feel better knowing current state law forbids concealed carry at places like the Sugar Creek Arts Festival, Miller Park Zoo or on a Connect Transit bus.
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A child who is diagnosed with autism is one of the most heartbreaking experience for every parent. It would take a lot of courage to accept the fact that your child is not going to grow up as a normal kid like everyone else in the neighborhood. But as a parent, you grip on hopes that are still high. To find a so-called cure is the only solution to make her troubled soul mend. Searching for the best medical program or drugs matters most.

There's a so-called wonder drug for autism being sold online and it's igniting adverse reactions from parents. The so called wonder drug "Mineral Miracle Solution" or MMS is said to be a supplement drug. The truth is the drug is a peroxide. It consist of 28% sodium chloride. If it's used as indicated it produces chlorine dioxide. A chemical substance for textiles and therapy of industrial water. In short, taking this "wonder drug" alone will "cause tremendous health problems". A woman representative from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) relates, "MMS can cause serious damage to health and in some cases even death. Anyone who has bought these products is advised to throw them away."

A mother of two children with autism plus three more siblings with signs of autism and herself, Dalmayne, found out about the wonder drug in 2014. When she organized an online support group. Parents asked her, "have you seen this? Isn't it awful? Or, does it work?".About a year and a half she discovered dozens of websites promoting MMS as the miracle drug for autism. Similar with GcMAF. A medicine said to cure autism, cancer and HIV.

There are no records about the exact numbers of MMS being sold online in the UK and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency verify the understudy of the GcMAF products after learning it's not suitable for human consumption. On the other hand, a true supporter of MMS and a book author of Healing the Symptoms Known as Autism, Kerri Rivera explains, "Almost all of the people with autism have high levels of pathogens; virus, bacteria, parasites and heavy metals. Chlorine dioxide kills pathogens and helps the body to detoxify itself. It is considered safe at doses we use for weight." She adds: "There are over 225 people who no longer have autism after using it."

Meanwhile, the National Autistic Society (NAS) has been active in informing the public about GcMAF and MMS. the Institution's head of policy, Sarah Lambert shared her sentiments, "Not only is there no verified scientific evidence for these so-called cures, but any autistic adult or child using them risks serious harm." The Director of NAS's Centre for Autism, Carol Povey also adds, "We know how difficult life can be for families affected by autism, particularly just before and after diagnosis when there's so much uncertainty and, in some cases, no understanding or support from public services and people around them. Some families end up feeling so isolated and disillusioned that they're desperate for anything that might help, which can leave them vulnerable to the dangerous claims of quacks and charlatans."

Dalmayne has been very keen on finding information about MMS and she even created a dummy account in Facebook to penetrate a group page about autism and the effect of MMS to them. And just about a month ago, she gave an information to the authorities about a suspicious case in London and it's now under investigation. While the FSA is busy doing a non-stop campaign against the wonder drug, Dalmayne said "you can say, 'this is a cure for autism' - and right now there's nothing we can do about it. This is child abuse. It's happening in the UK right now."


The 2016 Republican National Convention will be held in Cleveland, Ohio's Quicken Loans Arena on July 18 to 21. Apparently, hospitals in the area don't expect the event to be a peaceful one, which is why Cleveland's biggest hospitals are preparing for the worst possible scenarios that will occur from the tension at the RNC.

Elaborate Plans

More than 50,000 people are expected to attend the RNC. Together with the U.S. Secret Service, chief medical officers of the four biggest hospitals in Cleveland have devised elaborate preparations and plans. This includes stockpiling food and medical supplies and picturing the worst possible scenarios that the RNC will cause, The Daily Beast listed.

Cell phone and beeper numbers of every medical employee in Cleveland were collected in a binder. The number of surgeons was doubled, with all of them prepared to cover 96 hours of medical procedures. Hospitals also carried out "live simulated exercises" about possible hospital scenarios.

Dr. Robert Wyllie, chief of medical operations at the Cleveland Clinic, said they have developed nearly 200 emergency plans that involve both hospitals and health centers in the city. In the event of incidents at the RNC, these hospitals and health centers are ready to shift resources and personnel.

Eight teams of emergency medical personnel are ready for disposal at the Quicken Loans Arena. That number is four times the usual amount in public events. Despite these elaborate preparations, Cleveland hospitals are still hoping that they will only treat superficial medical conditions.

The 2016 Democratic National Convention, meanwhile, will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 25 to 28. Philadelphia hospitals also have emergency preparations, but those are less severe than the plans in Cleveland.

What To Expect From The RNC

Speakers at the RNC include Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur Peter Thiel, Arkansas Sen. Tim Cotton, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, UFC President Dana White, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, CNN listed. The event will center on security and immigration and the economy, as well as controversial presentations that may include former U.S. President Bill Clinton's infidelities.

The RNC will also feature a speech from Trump's vice presidential nominee, though no name has been listed yet. Trump was supposed to announce his VP pick this Friday, July 15, but he tweeted that he is postponing due to the recent terrorist attack in Nice, France.

Trump events are famous for inciting violence among the Republican nominee's supporters, protesters, campaign/security staff, and members of the media. Since October 2015, more than 20 of Trump's rallies all over the U.S. have seen acts of violence, Slate reported.
In a move lauded by parents and social activists, McDonald's, one of America's popular family fast food chain, has blocked porn access from its free Wi-Fi service effective immediately. The decision covers all of the chain's branches and franchise across the United States.

McDonald's has been offering free Wi-Fi service in its chains for a while now and consumers say that the company does provide fast internet service. New York Post reports that McDonald's free Wi-Fi service has been taken advantage by people who come to the fast food chain to watch porn and child pornography, or download X-rated media from the internet. A group of activists -- called Enough is Enough --- launched a campaign in 2014 to push McDonald's corporate office to do something about this, especially when its establishments are often visited by kids.

Enough is Enough has targeted not just McDonald's but also other food establishments offering free Wi-Fi service, such as Starbucks and Subway. "None of these scenarios match the family-friendly environment that you have worked so hard to create," the group stated in their letters to the corporate offices. Apparently, corporate heads are not aware that this is happening in its branches until the group pointed their attention to it.

Heeding to the call, McDonald's has already started blocking porn access in its establishments during the first quarter of 2016. It has also implemented a "new filtered Wi-Fi policy" in all of its branches, including those owned by franchisees. The company stated it is committed to making McDonald's a safer place for children, per the Enough is Enough press release.

Fox reports that internet safety is a huge problem in the United States and internet pornography remains largely unregulated. Apart from catering to voyeurism, porn sites are actually used for child pornography, solicitation, hacking and other felonies.

A free Wi-Fi access is making it more difficult for authorities to deter the crimes. The group hopes that after McDonald's, other chain stores would follow in its example.
Democrat legislators are attempting to put an end to fraudulent educational programs amidst the ongoing case of Trump University. Senator Elizabeth Warren and her colleagues are pushing for regulations to prevent another university of such kind to arise.

The Washington Post reports a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Veterans Affairs, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Education Department to create an online mechanism that helps students on the lookout to know if a certain educational program is offered by a state-licensed, charter-recognized or accredited institution. The letter is penned by Elizabeth Warren and her fellow Democrat senators.

The Democrats reckon that there is a growing need for an all-in government website that provides information on educational institutions' credibility and legality. At present, there are existing online tools but they only cover a small range of specialized schools and report financially mishandled institutions (via The Washington Post).

The letter comes in the middle of fraud charges being pressed against Donald Trump's defunct Trump University. Parent Herald reported complaints of former students and staff members that verified the scam, claiming that the former did not get their money's worth from the programs the business school promised for $35,000.

Senator Elizabeth Warren slams this deceptive scheme, saying that the only position Trump is qualified to run for is "fraudster in chief." According to the New York Daily News, the Democrat senator is Donald Trump's attack dog who is also against his views on women, minorities, economic policies, and climate change.

Do you think creating a government site to monitor credibility and legality of schools would help potential students to be wary of the institutions they will enroll in? What else can the government do aside from having a go-to site? Comments your thoughts below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.


Recent "General Hospital" spoilers suggest that William deVry's character Julian Jerome might be exiting the show as he is likely to be the next victim of the serial killer. Meanwhile, Tyler Christopher has hot come back yet after announcing that he is taking some time off. Where is he and will he ever return?

'General Hospital' Star William DeVry Got A New Job

William DeVry is going to host the reality show "Best Bottle," which sparked speculations that he might be done with ABC's daytime soap "General Hospital." There's also a good reason to believe so as the role he plays in GH, Julian Jerome, has been stabbed and hospitalized. And with a serial killer on the loose, he could be the next victim, spoilers from Celeb Dirty Laundry revealed.

But with the lack of motive to actually kill Julian as the serial killer seems to be acting on mercy to stop his/her victim's pain, "General Hospital" fans could rest assured the mobster is not exiting yet. Also, CDL reported that reps of wine competition "Best Bottle" said that William deVry is still with GH.

Is Tyler Christopher Coming Back To 'General Hospital?'

Late in May, Parent Herald learned that Tyler Christopher took a break from the ABC soap opera "General Hospital" "for personal reasons." But fans have started to notice that his absence seems to be taking long now. Will he ever return? Before his leave, reports said Tyler had a rather long contract negotiations with the "General Hospital" management and yet they still haven't reached an agreement. Both parties have been silent since.

Could it be that Nick Stabile, who stepped in as Nikolas Cassadine, is going to replace him for good? If so, that's going to be quite a sad news for his fans although Nick Stabile is a good actor himself. The 43-year-old actor originated the role and viewers want to see him back to "General Hospital."

What do you think? Share your thoughts below!

"General Hospital" airs Mondays to Fridays on ABC at 2 p.m.
HAMPTON  The Franklin County Historic Jail is ready to begin accepting guests.

Listed on the National Register of Historic places, the Italianate-style home on Central Avenue East in Hampton once housed the countys inmates and served as the sheriffs personal residence.

It hasnt booked a real prisoner since the 1980s, but later this month will begin its new life as a host for historical role playing.

Owner-operator Mark Gudmundsen says his friends recently tested it out, going through the process of getting booked, put in an isolation cell and spending the night in one of the homes three steel cells.

Theyll even get to spend time in the prison yard, which is still surrounded by tall chain-link fence and three strands of barbed wire.

Itll be fun, Gudmundsen said. When we played with the other guys that came it was kind of fun to do it. It was interesting for them.

He still plans to open a museum in the rest of the house, but isnt finished with construction. The restoration is still underway.

The impending opening of the jail portion is especially exciting for Gudmundsen, because three months ago his dreams of operating the role-playing business were facing obstacles.

Although Gudmundsen says he ran his plans by city officials prior to buying the building, he was informed in March that his business would violate Hamptons zoning ordinances that restrict adult-oriented businesses to industrial areas.

That came after the existence of Gudmundsens personal website was made public, which he suspects was not a coincidence.

The website features photos and writings that explore the concept of extreme non-sexual bondage. It includes photographs of Gudmundsen in various types of restraints, including chains and cages.

Gudmundsen always maintained the site was personal and not indicative of what he planned for his business, which has its own website, hamptonjail.com.

Officials never said exactly what about the business would violate the laws.

On Friday, City Manager Ron Dundt said officials wont take action unless they believe the business is violating the city code.

Hes aware and he needs to run a business thats in compliance, so if we determine that he is doing something that isnt in compliance then we would do something about it, Dundt said.

Hampton Chamber Executive Director Newton Grotzinger has stopped in the jail to see Gudmundsens progress.

The jails application to the chamber remains on hold until it opens and officials can see what the business is like, Grotzinger said.

We just wish him the best, he said. Well just see what he comes up with. ... Hes been working hard on it.

Gudmundsen, who lives in the former sheriffs quarters on the second floor, says hes made some changes to his booking process in order to be sure he complies with the ordinance.

First, there will be no pat-down.

During booking, role players will run their fingers through their own hair, stick out their tongue, run their fingers over their gums and show Gudmundsen theyre not hiding anything behind their ears.

What I say (next is), now, if we were continuing the search, this is what would happen, he said. And Id tell them what happens, because Im not going to go any further than that.

He laughed.

In addition, the booking process requires role players to sign a contract saying theyll abide by Hamptons vice ordinance while at the Franklin County Historic Jail.

On (hamptonjail.com) I now actually have the city ordinance for Hampton and I am telling people Read that ordinance because youre going to be signing and initialling that you wont be doing anything on there thats on that ordinance, because Im covering my butt on this.

People are going, Arent you kind of overkilling? I said, Yes. I am.
Sound waves can solve problems with multiple pregnancy complications- Imperial College London reports. The research involved the study of sheep.

The early-stage feasibility used High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, which is a technique used for cancer treatments. The same ultrasound is said to be able to help in solving the Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). The technology is being developed at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Twins usually have complications but lesser problems compared to other multiple pregnancies. Scientifically speaking, one placenta can support one fetus. In the case of twin pregnancy, the two fetuses share the same placenta and this is where the complications develop.

Almost 60% of twin pregnancies are delivered preterm, and on the other hand, 90% of triplets are given birth preterm as well. Anyhow, the Imperial College London suggests that this can be solved through the use of high energy sound waves. Nonetheless, the process is very critical. The report says that:

"Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome can have tragic consequences, and in severe cases results in one tiny twin, while the other is very large - and begins to squash its sibling in the womb. Unfortunately, the little baby often does very badly - and in some cases the condition results in the loss of both twins." They were able to determine this through the placenta of a sheep. "The blood vessels in the sheep placenta have a similar structure to blood vessels in the human placenta, enabling the researchers to assess whether the HIFU could separate the placenta in TTTS.", the study says. The sheep is perfect for the study because its fetus' size is similar with human fetus' size.

The research showed that there is a high risk but the possibility to give the cure is very high as well. The work was supported by The Isaac Newton Trust, Genesis Research Trust, and Action Medical Research. With such great supporters for this research though, we expect real progress in the specific real application for future twin pregnancies.
"Dancing with the Stars" season 23 premiere is just around the corner and only a little had been known about ABC's hit dance competition show. But latest reports recently hinted that former judges Len Goodman and Julianne Hough may be making a comeback on the show.

Following the superb performances in "Dancing with the Stars" season 22 finale in May where Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd won the most coveted mirrorball trophy, many fans are already excited and curious about the new cast of the upcoming season. So, written below are what we know so far about the 23rd season of ABC's hit dance reality show.

Julianne Hough To Return In 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 23?

Ina recent interview with Access Hollywood, two-time mirrorball champ Julianne Hough hinted her possible participation in "Dancing with the Stars" season 23. Even though Hough revealed that she won't be coming back on the dance floor, she also admitted that she's still figuring out her role in the upcoming season.

"Not as a dancer, for sure," Hough told Access Hollywood, as per International Business Times. "Regardless, I'm always going to be a part of the show somehow - it's my family! It's where I came from. Whether it's as a judge or some [other] form, I'm sure I'll be back in the ballroom at some point."

Len Goodman Coming Back In 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 23 After Almost $4 Million (3 Million) Deal?

Aside from Hough, another familiar face is set to make a comeback in "Dancing with the Stars" season 23. According to Hall of Fame magazine, former judge Len Goodman, 72, is returning to the show after accepting an almost $4 million (3 million) contract offer. The deal was reportedly just a "bonus," Goodman's pal told The Sun.

In addition to "Dancing with the Stars" season 23, Goodman was also enlisted as a judge in the U.K. version of "DWTS" titled, "Strictly Come Dancing." As a recall, Goodman left "DWTS" in 2015 after 20 seasons.

Mark Ballas Ditching 'Dancing With The Stars' Season 23?

Meanwhile, two-time mirrorball champ Mark Ballas is reportedly ditching "Dancing with the Stars" season 23. The reason? Ballas, who's also preparing for his wedding to fiancee BC Jean, wanted to let his back injury completely heal, The Christian Times notes.

"I'm not sure yet," Ballas told People. "This one just finished and my back still hurts. Thinking that far ahead is kind of ... you know, it's hard."

'Dancing With The Stars' Season 23 Cast And Air Date

As of writing, there haven't been any official announcements on the cast of "Dancing with the Stars" season 23 but rumors have it that Pitbull and Shakira may join the show, Earn The Necklace hints. As for the show's air date, the brand new season of the hit dance reality show will premiere on Sept. 12, Monday at 8 p.m. on ABC, TV Guide's Fall Preview Premiere Calendar reveals.

Who do you think will be the participants in "Dancing with the Stars" season 23? Share your thoughts below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
In a nation where individual liberty is of paramount importance, something big is happening. No sooner, discrimination against the LGBT community will slowly die out.

Following the decision of state education officials, lessons about the LGBT community and their struggles will soon find their way in the classrooms of Californian students. This move will eventually eradicate misrepresentations about LGBT people according to a report on The Wall Street Journal.

Lessons about families with two dads or two moms will soon be taught in second grade. After two years Californian students have studied how immigrants have inevitably shaped the Golden State, the students will finally hear how Harvey Milk, a New York native, became a pioneering gay politician in San Francisco.

On Thursday, changes in classroom instruction have been approved unanimously by the State Board of Education to be at par with the country's first law that requires public schools to include prominent gay Americans as well as LGBT rights milestones in history classes as cited on CBS Los Angeles.

The legislation, which had been passed in Congress, some five years ago, has been finally satisfied by this academic move according to Los Angeles Times. The said law strictly prohibited the use of classroom materials, adversely reflecting on gays or particular religions.

The newly approved educational framework basically weaves references to gay Americans as well as events throughout the history and social science curriculum, which begins in second grade by comprehensive discussions about diverse families, and yet again in the fourth grade with lessons on California's place in the LGBT rights movement.

An examination of the gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as examples of individuals who flouted them, is also included on the subject matters in the fifth and eighth grades and throughout high school.

Lessons about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling-which has legalized same-sex marriage across the country-will also come in U.S. government courses. On top of that, court cases that involve bathroom access for transgender students are included as well.

Matthew McReynolds, Justice Institute senior staff attorney, said that the opponents remain concerned that the guidelines de-emphasize significant historical figures and events to give way for LGBT icons of lesser or disputed note.

"Certainly some families will be concerned about their second-graders learning about two-mom families, but I think parents would be much more alarmed if they knew that LGBT History Month, in the last few years, has promoted the notion that 'America the Beautiful' is a source of lesbian pride," McReynolds said.

But supporters strongly believe that the changes have indeed recognized that LGBT history is intrinsically part of American history.

"You cannot understand where we are now collectively as Americans without understanding something of the LGBT past," said Don Romesburg, chairman of women's studies at Sonoma State University.

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Patna: In a setback to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who has, since being re-elected the Chief Minister of Bihar last November, turned into a full-time anti-alcohol crusader, the Patna High Court on Friday said that it was against the existing laws to seize someone's house if bottles of liquor were recovered from the premises.

"There is no law that says that one's house has to be seized by the government if bottles of liquor were recovered from one's home. The new law clearly says that the home could be confiscated if it was proven that the place was being used to offer alcoholic beverages to paying customers so how can one seize the house only because some bottles were found at the premises," designated Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari, said.

Justice Ansari asked the government to explain its reasoning for the decision to seize the house and other properties following the recovery of liquor bottles from someone's house.

The next date of hearing in the case has been set for July 21.

As reported previously, former legislator and Janata Dal - U leader Manorama Devi, who is the mother of Rocky Yadav, the man accused of killing 20-year old Aditya Sachdeva during a road rage in Gaya, was arrested and sent to jail for failing to provide the whereabouts of her son who had gone into hiding after killing Sachdeva from a close range.

Later, during a raid, police found some bottles of liquor from her house resulting in the expulsion of her from the party and confiscation of her properties under the newly-passed prohibition laws by the Nitish administration.
Patna: Anti-Indian forces and followers of Asaduddin Owaisi and Zakir Naik in Patna on Friday took out a rally chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad' in full view of the city police and press reporters causing the Nitish government to squirm in the face of the impending criticism of the Chief Minister who is increasingly seen as a supporter of those who intend to do harm to the nation.

Carrying banner in support of Owaisi and Naik who recently sparked a controversy when he said that killing in the name of war was justified in Quran and the recent Dhaka terror attack was inspired by one of his speeches, the protestors took out a rally from Patna Science College to the Kargil Chowk demanding all charges against the Muslim cleric be dropped.

Naik, who faces imminent arrest for his anti-India and anti-Hindu stands, remains in Saudi Arabia from where he continues to call for Jihad against the 'infidels' who, he said, want to wipe off Islam from the face of the earth.

Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) P. K. Thakur said that while the Friday rally by the Popular Front of India (PFI) was sanctioned by the local authority, it was under investigation for the extreme anti-India rhetoric by some Muslims living in Patna.

PFI leader Mohammed Reyaz Moari said that for years there was a concerted effort to silence Muslim leaders in India and the two leaders  Owaisi and Naik  were giving voice to those who had remained moot spectators for all these years.

Thakur said that FIRs have been lodged with the Pirbahore police station against two PFI activists who were seen on video chanting anti-India slogans.

Meanwhile, as expected, BJP leaders in Bihar pounced on Janata Dal  U President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for being soft on terrorism and thus giving tacit nod to anti-India activities by those who were considered to be the enemies of the nation.

"It is unfortunate that anti-India forces are openly chanting anti-national statements but the Chief Minister chooses to ignore it so as not to damage his vote bank. By continuing to ignore the growing Islamic terrorism, the Chief Minister is in fact encouraging it that could prove to be very dangerous for the nation," senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said.

Reminding people of Kumar's penchant for supporting extremists like Ishrat Jahan and Kanhaiya Kumar, the former Minister said that due to the callous behavior of the Chief Minister, Bihar had turned into a 'Safe Zone' for the terrorists who know they will always have the support of Kumar.
EAGLE GROVE  Eagle Grove Mayor Sandy McGrath supports the plan of Prestage Foods to build a pork processing plant near Eagle Grove  the same plan the Mason City Council rejected in May.

What gives McGrath a unique perspective is that she has been a nurse for 30 years and is the countys environmental health officer.

It was environmental concerns that drew much of the opposition in Mason City. McGrath said she doesnt share those concerns.

Every city has to do what they think is right for them, she said. I respect the decision Mason City made just as I would hope they respect what we do in Wright County.

The opposition group that led opponents in Mason City is attempting to do the same in Wright County.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI), a Des Moines-based environmental advocacy group, has arranged a press conference for 8:45 a.m. Monday to lobby against Prestage, 15 minutes before the Board of Supervisors meets to vote on rezoning the property where the company wants to build.

The plant would be built at a location along Highway 17, about 5 miles south of Eagle Grove, a city with a population of 3,582. If all goes according to plan, the $240 million plant will open by the fall of 2018 and will employ 922 at the start.

As for environmental concerns, McGrath said, Prestage has answered all of our questions regarding water and wastewater and they will be scrubbing for any odors. They will be getting the proper permits and they will be well regulated. As a health officer, those are the safeguards I would ask for.

One of the permits would allow Prestage to tap into the Jordan aquifer, one of the concerns of the ICCI over the Mason City proposal.

Prestage plans to connect into Eagle Groves wastewater treatment plant, which the city plans to expand.

Wright County officials are expected to act on a development agreement later this month with details still to be worked out. It was the Mason City Councils failure to approve a development agreement on May 3, by a 3-3 vote, that sent Prestage looking elsewhere.

The majority of our people who have talked to me are in favor of this. Some are not. Everyone has a right to their opinion, said McGrath. I just hope everyone gets their facts straight and then decides for themselves.

McGrath said she has not noticed any organized opposition in Eagle Grove and Wright County such as Mason City experienced and that 80 to 90 percent of the comments she has received have been positive.

PETA  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals  has expressed opposition to the plan. The organization says its going to put up a MEAT KILLS billboard near the potential plant site. The sign claims a number of diseases  including diabetes, Alzheimers and cancer  are linked to eating meat.

Sometimes with the negative, it is the same message being passed along time after time, McGrath said.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But we are a community that likes to band together and I think we will.

McGrath said Prestage Foods officials have been extremely cooperative and happy to answer all questions.

It is a learning process, she said. I just hope everyone is able to look at the facts.

She sees Prestage as a good fit for Wright County, which she described as very agricultural and said the county welcomes any company that will be productive and a positive influence on growth.

McGrath said cities and counties have to look at every opportunity for growth, but must always keep a watchful eye.
Flowers were placed in early May near the scene on Bear Hill Road in Cumberland where 18-year-old Carl John III was hit by a car and killed while walking at around 1 a.m. Now a friend is petitioning the town to build more sidewalks.
Regional Implications of the JCPOA

07/15/16

By Gary Sick (source: LobeLog)



Photo: High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on the JCPOA signing day in Vienna, Austria in July 2015. (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)





What are the regional implications of the Iranian nuclear deal (the JCPOA)?

A good place to start may be to ask what has not happened since the JCPOA was signed:

(1) The regional states have not rushed to acquire independent nuclear capability. You may recall that this was widely predicted at the time. I am aware of no evidence that any of the states who have expressed skepticism about the agreement have changed their nuclear policies or even hinted at their intention to develop a nuclear capability beyond the peaceful nuclear power plants that are in various stages of planning.

(2) Iran has not dramatically increased its activities in Syria, Iraq, Yemen or elsewhere, despite the fact that they now have access to $50b or more in frozen assets. Again, you will recall that there were predictions that Iran would use these funds to enhance its support of Hezbollah, Assad or other regional surrogates and allies.

(3) By the same token, however, Iran has not shown any signs of changing its fundamental policy objectives in the region. Iran continues to support the Assad regime, it continues to rely on Hezbollah as an important proxy force, it has not changed its rhetoric in opposition to Israel, and it makes no secret of its opposition to Saudi Arabia's policies in Yemen, Bahrain, and Syria.

The JCPOA was about one thing - Iran's nuclear program. It made no attempt to influence Iran's behavior with regard to human rights or its foreign policy. There were hopes that an agreement with Iran would lead to a gradual moderating impact on its domestic and foreign policies.

There is no question that President Rouhani wants to portray Iran in the most positive light possible, if only because he wants to attract desperately need foreign direct investment to reinvigorate the Iranian economy. That is also linked to his reelection campaign, with a national vote in June 2017, less than a year from now. He needs to show progress.

But the Iranian hardliners are determined to demonstrate that they are still very much in charge, despite their loss on the nuclear issue. The Supreme Leader reluctantly validated the JCPOA against the wishes of the hardline conservatives in the Revolutionary Guards and in key domestic positions. But he is now giving those forces leeway to make life difficult for Rouhani and the reformist elements.

So the long-term implications of the JCPOA for Iranian policy are being fought out by rival forces in Iran. We won't know the outcome for some time. The first real marker will be the Iranian presidential election next year. Rouhani will be opposed by his hardline opponents, and the outcome will be a test of strength.

To return to my list of things that have not happened since the signing of the JCPOA, there is very little talk today in the region about rising nuclear threat - from Iran or anyone else. That is a real change.

In the years preceding the JCPOA, the so-called nuclear threat was at the center of almost all foreign policy discussion. You will all recall PM Netanyahu's appearance before the UNGA with a cartoon drawing of an Iranian bomb. It showed an impending red line that at least implied that Israel or others would be forced to take military action.

There is no such talk today.

In fact, if you listen to the pronouncements of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, you would never know that their primary concern just a year or two ago was the Iranian nuclear threat.

But as you know, this has not silenced their concerns about Iranian actions. On the contrary, they are now concerned that Iran's successful negotiation of the nuclear agreement with all the major world powers has empowered it to play a much more influential role in the region, to the detriment of the other regional states.

In the past, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies relied on the United States to keep Iran contained. That began to break down when the Bush administration invaded both Afghanistan and Iraq, thereby eliminating two of Iran's worst rivals - the Taliban and Saddam Hussein - and leaving it essentially unchallenged.

That was reinforced by the Obama administration's decision to pursue a nuclear agreement with Iran. As a result of those negotiations, the top leadership of both Iran and the United States have become accustomed to direct contact. John Kerry and Javad Zarif email back and forth, and they meet regularly.

This new level of contact has had some positive impact, since it lets both countries maintain contact during periods of tension, such as the US Navy boat that strayed into Iranian waters and was taken prisoner by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

But these contacts have also stoked fears on the part of many regional states that the United States and Iran are returning to the days of the shah, when Iran was America's leading ally in the Gulf.

When these fears are combined with U.S. statements about rebalancing or pivoting away from the Middle East, there is something like hysteria that U.S. traditional allies are being abandoned.

In my view, those views are hugely exaggerated. The United States may reduce our military footprint in the area, but we are not going away from the Gulf. Nor is there any likelihood of a new Iran-U.S. alliance. Just listen to the voices in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, if you have any doubt about that.

So the bottom line, I guess, is that the JCPOA has effectively removed the so-called nuclear threat from the headlines in the Middle East. But those headlines have been replaced by fears about Iranian hegemonic ambitions and U.S. betrayal.

So the tone of the foreign policy debate in the Middle East has shifted due to the JCPOA, but it turns out that plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose - the more it changes, the more it looks just the same.


Italy's ANAS to build key highway link in Iran

07/15/16

Source: Press TV

ANAS, Italy's state-owned national roads and highway construction company, says it has signed a major deal with Iran to construct what could be a strategic highway connecting one of the country's key ports on the shores of the Persian Gulf to the border point with Turkey.

The deal which is estimated to be worth 3.6 billion has been reportedly signed on Thursday between ANAS and Iran's Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Reuters reported.

It was a follow-up to a memorandum of understanding that was signed in February.

The length of the projected highway will be 1,200 km (745 miles) and its first stretch covering 350 km will be completed by 2022 at a cost of 600 million.

It will link Iran's Bandar Imam Khomeini to Bazargan on the border with Turkey.

Italy has worked hard to secure lucrative deals in Iran following the removal of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in January.

Italy's steel major Danieli has already won a major agreement to produce steel and aluminum in Iran. Also, two of the country's oil companies, Saras SpA and Iplom SpA, recently signed long term contracts with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to purchase crude oil from Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made Italy his first stop in Europe in January as he sought to drum up investment in the Iranian economy, while Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited Tehran in April with a large business delegation.

A yet another major business delegation is expected in Tehran soon to explore the avenues for post-sanctions investments in the Islamic Republic.
Iran ratifies Paris climate deal, bringing it closer to enter into force

07/15/16

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN - The Iranian cabinet of ministers, headed by President Hassan Rouhani, ratified the Paris climate deal on Wednesday and brought the deal closer to enter into force.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2C by cutting back on the greenhouse gas emission. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

An agreement on the language of the treaty was negotiated by representatives of 195 countries at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the UNFCCC in Paris and adopted by consensus on December 12, 2015.

It was opened for signature on April 22, 2016 (Earth Day) in a ceremony in New York City. As of June 2016, 178 UNFCCC members have signed the treaty; 19 of which ratified it, which is not enough for the treaty to enter into force yet.

The agreement still needs formal approval from 55 countries representing 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions to come into force. In some cases, that means a vote in parliament.

Iran has pledged to reduce its emission by 12 percent.
NIAC Capitol Hill Briefing Assesses JCPOA Implementation and Complications

07/15/16

Source: National Iranian American Council (NIAC)

Washington, DC - We should be pursuing another diplomatic win with the Iranians before the end of this administration, said New Americas Suzanne DiMaggio, speaking at a National Iranian American Council (NIAC) briefing on Capitol Hill on July 14, marking the one year anniversary of the Iran nuclear agreement.

The briefing included remarks from legislators and analysis from Dimaggio, Lawrence Korb of the Center for American Progress, and Reza Marashi and Tyler Cullis from NIAC on the challenges and successes of the accord. Veteran journalist Indira Lakshamanan, who has written on the battle over implementation of the deal, served as moderator.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) delivered opening remarks, stressing the need for further constructive diplomacy with Iran, stating that Iran represents one of the most consequential relationships for the United States. Blumenauer noted the essential role Iran plays in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, where the U.S. has critical national security interests. In closing, Rep. Blumenauer commented on the unfortunate trajectory of US-Iran relations and expressed his interest in seeing the success of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) lead to further agreements where interests align.

Suzanne DiMaggio discussed the legacy and news which has surrounded the deal on its anniversary. She argued that the agreement has been a success, noting Iran has fully complied with the IAEA. She added that while opponents of the deal point to [non-nuclear] Iranian actions, it is important to take the JCPOA for what it is, a non-proliferation agreement. DiMaggio emphasized the multilateral nature of the deal, noting should Congress continue to try to undermine the deal, we should think long and hard about the message that sends to our partners.

DiMaggio recommended other areas where the U.S. and Iran ought to cooperate beyond bilateral talks on Syria and Iraq. Given the possibility of conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, DiMaggio recommended that the U.S. and Iran should negotiate an Incidents at Sea agreement to protect against such a scenario. She also noted that If Congress were smart, it would be advocating for initiatives that would convey to the people of Iran that the United States wants to break down the barriers that have built up over the many decades. Such efforts could include pushing for a U.S. interest section that could engage in consular activities for travel to the U.S., establishing direct flights between the two countries and more cultural and academic exchanges.

Lawrence Korb noted the potential for change with respect to Iran, pointing out that nations do not have permanent friends or enemies, they have permanent interests. Remarking on the political campaign and whether the next U.S. President would overturn the deal, Korb noted that the rhetoric on the campaign trail does not necessarily reflect the tough decisions that are made when actually governing. Nixon said if Im elected the last thing Ill do is recognize red China, he said. Well it was, but not because he recognized red China.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) also spoke at the briefing before heading to the House floor to vote against pending Iran legislation. Schakowsky thanked the panel, NIAC, and the entire coalition which worked hand in glove with Congress to make the deal happen. In reference to pending votes to curtail the JCPOA, Schakowsky determinedly stated Its not going to happen, the attempt to undermine the JCPOA is not going to go anywhere at all.

Reza Marashi, Research Director at NIAC, focused on the internal politics of Iran and surveyed the various elements which could destabilize the deal from the Iranian side. Marashi noted that ongoing sanctions relief complications could lead to Iran backing away from the deal as well as the undermining of the Rouhani administration. Marashi said the inability to process legitimate transactions due to remaining sanctions on the books are the primary culprits behind the economic malaise. Marashi stated that while the Rouhani administration wants the deal to survive, as time goes on it will become more difficult to internally make the argument that the deal is working given the economic circumstances. Marashi emphasized the Rouhani administrations frustration with remaining sanctions, warning that in the absence of an economic upturn by the time of the United Nations General Assembly in September, Iran will likely become more vocal in airing its concern that the U.S. is not abiding by its commitments under the JCPOA.

Tyler Cullis, Legal Fellow at NIAC, focused on particular sanctions which have prevented corporations from investing in Iran and threaten to undermine the deal. Many of the European banks which have reestablished connections with Iran lack the capital to invest in Iran, and larger tier one banks which do have the capital fear the repercussions of remaining U.S. sanctions. In response to claims that sanctions complications are wholly the result of Iranian actions, Cullis said major European corporations in the past (before 2010) had relations with the large state owned and private Iranian banks. The narrative that Iran is primarily responsible for lack of investment due to its business practices is a false narrative restricted to Washington, said Cullis, adding that Iran is today more in compliance with international banking laws than any time before.

In response to questions regarding human rights violations in Iran, Marashi stressed NIACs stance that engagement with Iran must include dialogue on the human rights situation. In response to a question on why Iran is continuing to arrest dual nationals, Marashi stated there are some who want to build bridges between these two nations, and there are those who want to blow them up. Those who blow up these bridges are the ones who want the deal to not succeed.

Related Articles by NIAC:
Iran and Chinese claims in the South China Sea

07/15/16

By Bahman Aghai Diba, PhD International Law of the Sea



Territorial claims in the South China Sea



The international Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague (which has nothing to do with the ICJ or International Court of Justice), on 12 July 2016 voted unanimously (by five Judges) in a 497 page decision, that the Chinese claims for owning 85% of the South China Sea (one of the biggest and busiest maritime territories of the world and close to the size of entire India) was contrary to the international law of the sea. This was the response of court to a case filed by Philippines against China in 2013. (1)

The court in a nutshell has said:

The Chinese claims were not compatible with the concept of Exclusive Economic Zones as envisaged in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There is no evidence (in contrast to the Chinese claims) that China had exclusive historical use of the claimed area. Certain low tide elevations (islands that appear only in low tide) are not suitable to claim extended maritime zones. China has violated the Exclusive Economic Zones of several countries in the claimed area by taking unilateral actions and without waiting for the delimitation of the territorial boundaries. Chinese forces have unlawfully created risks of collision in the area. (2) The construction of artificial islands by China follows a troublesome pattern in the area. ( the artificial islands cannot have maritime territories according to the UNCLOS( such as territorial sea, contiguous zone or EEZ).

China has rejected the decision of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration.(3) One of the Chinese officials have called it a waste paper (4).

The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has not taken an official stand regarding the Chinese claims in the South China Sea and the recent decision of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration. However, even before the decision of the court, there were moves to gain the support of Iran in the case for China.

According to IRNA, the official news agency of Iran, which is very close to the power centers ( such as the Revolutionary Guards) in Iran, the Chinese experts have done extensive research activities in Iran, and especially in the Tehran University, to find evidence to support the Chinese claims. The same report mentions a piece of news from the Xinhua news agency, the official news agency of China, according to which the Iranian and Arab geographers during 9-17th centuries have produced maps that indicate the disputed islands in the South China Sea belonged to China. The report says Iranian and Chinese researchers have made extensive joint research on the subject and they have gained good results. (5)

Also following the decision of the court in The Hague on the case at hand, Mehr News Agency, a semi-official news agency in Iran, has said: the decision of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration is a reflex of changing maritime power balance in a vast area, which traditionally belonged to china and now the US has made it its playground. (6)

It can be concluded that there are indications of indirect support of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Chinese positions on this issue. Also, there is a possibility that Iran is interested to use the concept of historical rights (that has been the main argument of the China for ownership of the almost entire South China Sea), for its maritime claims and disputes in the Persian Gulf and The Caspian sea, where Iran has had long historical presence and yet the newly established states are not interested in paying much attention to the claims of Iran. The issue of historical rights to the maritime territories is a vague part of the law of the sea. It is not directly inserted in the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, but is has been the subject of a study presented to the UN conference on the law of the sea.

( 1) Bloomberg

(2) Bloomberg

(3) Guardian

(4) New York Times

(5) IRNA, and : IRNA

(6) Mehr News Agency...
Whos going to the Republican National Convention this week?

This years Republican National Convention is Cleveland is notable not just for Donald Trump, but for how many prominent Republican leaders who wont be there.

Those skipping the event include the Bush family, the GOPs past two presidential nominees  Mitt Romney and John McCain  and Republican lawmakers in tight races.

Locally, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, is the only member of the Inland congressional delegation who is planning to attend the convention. Calvert, whose district includes Corona, Norco, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Murrieta, announced his support for Trump in May.

Im going to the Republican convention because I want to win elections this November, Calvert said in an email. The past eight years have demonstrated how devastating the consequences are when Republicans lose elections.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, who represents Temecula, is steering clear of the convention, even though he endorsed Trump early on and was named to Trumps House leadership committee.

I think its going to be mayhem and riots and hooligans and thugs and police forces. And thats just the actual convention, Hunter told the San Diego Union-Tribune last month.

Rep. Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, will not attend. Cook, whose district includes Twentynine Palms, Lake Arrowhead and Yucaipa, has scheduling conflicts, said spokesman Michael Fresquez.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com
Michael Garrison has long been active in Republican politics, from going to statewide conventions to serving as the get-out-the-vote vice chairman for the Riverside County GOP.

But this week, the 40-year-old former Marine from Winchester will attend his first Republican National Convention as a delegate for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. Garrisons wife, Alexandra, will be an alternate.

Obviously, its extremely exciting, Michael Garrison said. Were in a day and age now where its a polarizing time in our nation and its an exciting opportunity to be part of history.  Its one of those things where people who havent been traditionally involved are going to be interested.

Garrison is one of 159 California convention delegates who were allocated by voters. In California, GOP presidential hopefuls pick the people who will serve as their delegates if they win a congressional district. Each district is worth three delegates and the districts winner gets all three.

All of Californias elected delegates went to Trump, who won 75 percent of the vote in the June 7 primary. Trumps final challengers, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, dropped out before the state primary.

Trump also received 10 at-large delegates by winning the statewide vote. When 169 alternate delegates are added in, California will send 341 delegates  the largest delegation of any state  to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which will host 2,472 delegates from across the nation.

FAIR AND SQUARE

While the major parties political conventions are an anointing of sorts for presidential nominees, this years GOP convention, like this years election, departs from the norm, with celebrities and Trumps family replacing the more typical GOP politicians as speakers.

Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College said the convention will put discontent on display.

Trump will get his way in the end, Pitney said. But he will leave political damage in his wake.

Inland delegates include Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley, who said he was approached about becoming a delegate by Tim Clark, Trumps California state director. The 80-year-old Ashley said being a national convention delegate is on his bucket list.

Ashley was a Marco Rubio supporter before the Florida senator dropped out. Im looking forward to a very exciting convention, he said. Mr. Trump has re-energized the Republican Party and attracted a lot of Democrats and independents.

The convention was the last stand for a Never Trump movement determined to keep Trump from becoming the nominee. But the movement failed to change the rules to allow delegates to vote for the nominee of their choice, and Ashley, Michael Garrison and delegates Ben Clymer Jr. and Gina Nestande said theyre committed to Trump.

Im a man of my word, said Clymer, a Riverside resident who is chief financial officer of Ben Clymers The Body Shop. I said I would support Mr. Trump.

He earned it fair and square, Michael Garrison said. If someone doesnt like it, tough.

While Cleveland is girding for protests and the possibility of civil unrest outside the convention, none of the delegates expressed concern for their safety. The delegation is staying at a hotel roughly an hour away from Quicken Loans Arena, where the convention will take place.

I believe that at the end of the day, I can always take care of myself, said Nestande, 53, a real estate agent from Palm Desert and the wife of former GOP Assemblyman Brian Nestande.

Im confident that the authorities have had an opportunity to prepare and put their best foot forward, Michael Garrison said.

Trump delegates from San Bernardino County include Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake and his wife Heather and Michael Rademaker, who owns an Upland real estate firm.

OUTSIDE THE NORM

Michael Garrison, director of government affairs for the Building Industry Association of Southern Californias Riverside County Chapter, said Trump is appealing because the American people have been hungry for someone new and outside the norm.

He does have, I think, the right vision for America, putting jobs and the economy and national security up front and having that be the base of his platform, he added.

At first, Gina Nestande supported Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkers campaign. After he dropped out, she listened to the other candidates.

Donald Trumps message resonated with me, despite some of his verbiage, Gina Nestande said. He seems to care about this country.

Its expensive being a delegate. They are expected to pay their own way and spend several thousand dollars on airfare, hotels, meals and related costs.

But its not all work. While there are plenty of meetings and convention events, Gina Nestande said the delegation will have the opportunity to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and other Ohio attractions.

The convention is a family affair for some delegates. One of Ashleys sons is an alternate and another son is going as a guest. Gina Nestande plans to bring her 20-year-old daughter with her.

I feel like Im passing the baton to a younger generation, she said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pressenterprise.com
Acting on a tip prompted by a $20,000 reward, FBI agents arrested a 27-year-old San Diego man they suspect is the Hipster Bandit, believed to have robbed 10 banks  including one in Temecula.

William Conn Robertson was captured Thursday, July 14, at a Ruffin Road apartment, about five miles east of Mission Bay.

Described in court documents as a former Army sniper, Robertson is charged with one count of bank robbery, stemming from a $2,727 holdup at a Wells Fargo branch along Scripps Poway Parkway in San Diego on Nov. 2, 2015.

The case drew widespread publicity in July when the FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Hipster Bandit, so named because of the clothes he wore during the holdups.

The next day  July 9  Crime Stoppers received an anonymous tip that identified Robertson as the robber and said he was staying on the couch of a Ruffin Road apartment resident, according to an FBI statement filed in support of the arrest warrant.

The year-long FBI investigation involved 10 robberies in San Deigo, Orange and Riverside counties. The Riverside County holdup happened April 1 at a U.S. Bank inside a Vons supermarket at 29530 Rancho California Road.

In many of the cases, the getaway vehicle was either a blue SUV or a black motorcycle, possibly a Harley Davidson, investigators determined.

Based on the phone tip, FBI agents staked out Robertsons apartment and watched him arrive on a matte black Harley Davidson Sportster.

Robertson matches the physical description of the Hipster Bandit, according to the FBI statement.

When they made the arrest, FBI agents searched Robertsons bedroom and found a destinctive red t-shirt and black pants that matched those worn during the Nov. 2 holdup.

And there was more.

A fingerprint left on a demand note, the FBI wrote, in a Hipster Bandit robbery in Mission Viejo, California, has been determined to be that of William Conn Robertson.
A Jurupa Valley McDonalds general manager took the first big step in advancing his education  earning his high school diploma from a McDonalds online program, more than 30 years after entering high school the first time.

McDonalds Career Online High School, which Harold DeGuzman recently completed, is part of Archways to Opportunity, a program that offers free opportunities for educational advancement to employees, including assistance with college tuition and an English-language program.

Its another way that McDonalds supports and provides benefits and opportunities to their employees, said Candace Spiel, the owner-operator of the location Harold manages.

Thirty-eight McDonalds employees in Southern California have enrolled in the online high school this year, and 72 have enrolled since the programs inception in early 2015.

DeGuzmans reason for enrolling in the program was simple: opportunity. When he learned that he needed a high school diploma to get a job installing air conditioners, he jumped at the opportunity, just months after the programs unveiling.

Its to make my life better, he said.

He left high school a few credits shy of a diploma shortly after emigrating from the Philippines in 1982 to be with his father, and he got his first job as a crew member at McDonalds two years later.

He has stuck with the company ever since.

They gave me the opportunity to earn more, and they gave me more responsibility, he said.

DeGuzman finished the program in a year and three months and plans to enroll at Riverside City College to become certified to install air conditioners.

Spiel, who also began working at McDonalds as a high school student, has known DeGuzman for decades, since he first became a McDonalds employee.

He is an outstanding individual. He cares a lot about the people he works with and his family, she said, adding that he has always encouraged his daughters, one of whom now has a masters degree, to pursue education.

Contact the writer: community@pressenterprise.com
FLOYD | The Gospel Lighthouse Church in Floyd will be hosting gospel music and inspirational testimonies in Floyd County this month and in August.

All services begin at 6 p.m. Dates and locations are as follows:

 July 17 at Central Park in Charles City.

 Aug. 7 at the Floyd Community Center.

 Aug. 14 at Central Park in Charles City.

The public is invited to come and bring a lawn chair. Free refreshments will be served after the services.

These annual summer outreaches lead up to the 2016 Floyd Gospel Sing from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 9-10. More than 25 groups will be participating in this free event, with lunch and supper served inside the Gospel Lighthouse Fellowship Hall.
Critics of the stepped-up security presence at American airports since the 9/11 terrorist attacks have always said that while it looks good, it isnt really making travelers much safer.

Now, more and more, it doesnt even look good.

After a series of scandals marred the image of the Transportation Security Administration, a congressional committee investigated the TSAs efforts to head off employee misconduct. The result is a new report from the staff of the House Homeland Security Committee whose title does further wonders for the agencys reputation: Misconduct at TSA Threatens the Security of the Flying Public.

The big worry for Southern Californians may be an item on pages nine and 10 of the 29-page report, noting that the nations largest airports had the highest rates of misconduct by TSA employees in 2015, as well as the steepest increases in misconduct from 2013 to 2015. Los Angeles International is one of those airports, along with Newark (N.J.) International and Boston Logan International.

But this is a problem everywhere, which is troubling because everywhere is where we all fly and where we need security-checkpoint officers to be on the ball.

The eye-popping statistic is a 28.5 percent increase in reported misconduct by TSA workers nationwide from 2013 to 2015, when the annual number of allegations climbed to 17,627, equating to about one for every three full-time employees. Thats on top of a nearly 27 percent increase from 2010 to 2012.

The biggest category of misconduct was neglect of duty, which doubled in the two years ending in 2015, to 1,206 incidents nationwide.

Neglect of duty is described as inattention to duty resulting in a loss of property or life; careless inspection; negligent performance of duties; failure to exercise due diligence in performance of duties; failure to follow procedures. Another of the eight categories of misconduct that saw increases is integrity and ethics, which covers accepting bribes and other criminal conduct.

Try not to think about any of that the next time you watch security officers screen your fellow passengers.

The misconduct in question ranges from salacious (federal air marshals spending government money on hotel rooms for romps with prostitutes) to brazenly criminal (a TSA officer in Oakland allegedly helping to smuggle 100 kilograms of marijuana over a two-year period) to downright dangerous (an officer in Orlando taking bribes to smuggle Brazilian nationals through a checkpoint without questioning).

The House report says that while allegations of misconduct have been rising, the TSA has taken fewer disciplinary actions against employees. And a faulty disciplinary system contributes to low employee morale.

The picture is of what Homeland Security Committee Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., called the failure of TSAs big-government, bureaucratic response to misconduct.

As the House report says, Employee misconduct of all types corrupts TSAs core mission to protect the traveling public and poses serious security vulnerabilities.

The TSAs job is to make airline passengers not only feel safer but also actually be safer. Clearly it is not doing that vital job well enough.
Correction: Cynthia Karimi holds a bachelors degree from the UC Irvine School of Social Sciences. Her educational background was misstated in a Cassie MacDuff column on Page 2 of the News section of the Sunday, July 17 edition of The Press-Enterprise.

The view from the top of a knoll in California Citrus State Historic Park is Riverside Councilman Chris Mac Arthurs favorite.

Lush, green groves cover acres of undulating hillsides as far as the eye can see, not a housing tract or shopping center in sight.

It is exactly the kind of unspoiled scenery the 23-year-old citrus park was intended to preserve, said Mac Arthur, a second-generation citrus grower and California native.

The 400-acre park, in Arlington Heights, got a new lease on life last week when the Friends of California Citrus Park signed an agreement with the state parks system to oversee the groves, maintain the meeting hall, picnic shelter and amphitheater, and subcontract with an events planner to book its venues.

MacArthur and others at a signing ceremony last Monday credited former Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge, now president of the nonprofit group, and state Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird, who attended to sign on behalf of State Parks.

Loveridge has made the citrus heritage park a focus since taking the reins as mayor in 1994. Laird saw the community support for the plan and threw his weight behind it.

The ground-breaking agreement was four years in the making, said Cynthia Karimi, Friends executive director.

Why did take so long? Thats just how government works. Whats most important, Loveridge said, is whats going to happen in the future.

From the start, securing park bond funding for California Citrus State Historic Park was touch and go. Riverside faced stiff competition from other cities vying for a new park.

Then-state Sen. Robert Presley, D-Riverside, authored a bill that created the nonprofit (now known as Friends) and enabled proceeds from harvesting the groves to be plowed back into the park instead of being sent to the state general fund, said Pete Dangermond, former state parks director and Riverside County parks director.

A joint powers authority was formed between the state parks system, the city and the nonprofit to speed the usually decade-long process, Dangermond said.

A master plan was drawn up for a visitor center, access roads, growers house and grove workers bunkhouse, meeting hall, amphitheater, gazebo and picnic area.

At various points, money ran out, recessions hit, bond measures failed. During Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers tenure, the entire park was threatened with closure.

That lit a fire under citrus-preservation advocates, who leapt into action to keep the park open and able to continue adding amenities.

After a 20-year partnership with the nonprofit, state parks leadership demanded a new agreement, Loveridge said. Renegotiating it took close to five years.

With last weeks signing, park supporters are looking forward to completing the master plan (the growers home, grove workers housing and a bridge across the arroyo between them have yet to be built), enhancing exhibits that tell the story of Californias second gold rush as well as launching new programs and partnerships.

UCR history professor Cathy Gudis is enlisting a team of students to research the hidden stories of immigrant workers who toiled in the groves but faced racism and exclusionary acts to deport them. (Riverside, unlike some communities, was very supportive of retaining the Chinese labor force, Gudis said.)

The students will record oral histories and curate new exhibits for the park, telling not just the stories of the wealthy growers but also the workers whose labors fueled the thriving citrus industry.

The program is being viewed as a prototype for parks throughout California, said Vince Moses, former curator of history for Riverside Metropolitan Museum, a step to modernizing how Californians relate to their parks.

The new agreement and the UCR program will focus new attention on the park and help it gain a better economic footing, Moses said. Its planting the seeds, if youll forgive me, for a new day, he said.

In addition, Citrus Park has for the first time a sub-concessionaire that books weddings, memorials and other events at park venues, said Terry Nielsen, former city parks chief and Friends board member, adding the effort is raising park attractions to a new level. (I think it would be a stunning setting for a wedding, especially when the groves are in bloom. Imagine the fragrance!)

When Loveridge and Laird put pen to paper last Monday afternoon, and Laird quietly uttered, Its official, a big whoop erupted from the crowd in the Sunkist Center.

Afterward, park Supt. Ryann Gill drove me around to see the parks features, including the view Mac Arthur loves from the knoll north of Van Buren Boulevard. That will be the site of the growers house, either a Victorian or a Craftsman, which will serve as a bed & breakfast or a restaurant, Gill said.

More people are using the park these days. A New Years Day walk brought out 500, 10 times more than expected, Gill said.

School children regularly tour the historical exhibits, learning how citrus came to Riverside and enjoying a tasting of the parks lemons, grapefruits and three kinds of navel oranges.

As I departed, I stopped at the Gless Ranch citrus stand, where I bought a big bag of juicy, late-season navels so I can squeeze some fresh juice and raise a glass to the future of California Citrus State Historic Park.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9470 or cmacduff@pressenterprise.com
A sculpture with a trio of clocks, representing Redlands and its sister cities, has been selected by Cultural Arts Commission members for installation downtown.

The commission decided Monday on a preliminary design by Dan and Dina Romero for the sculpture proposed for Ed Hales Park, facing State Street.

Im really excited to create a clock trio for Redlands, Dan Romero said after the meeting.

The City Council is expected to consider the design and proposed location during its meeting Tuesday.

The design, which the Romeros call the Grand Pendulum Clock, features a clock representing Redlands in the center and a clock representing Hino, Japan, with numbers in Japanese, and another for San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with Roman numerals, on each side.

The proposed design has a swinging pendulum and citrus tree grate covering the pendulum.

Commissioners asked Romero to make some changes to the design, such as raising the height of the pendulum.

The commissioners favored the design with the clocks but were concerned about cost. Their second choice was a sculpture featuring three vertical stands with stainless steel birds that move with the wind.

Dan Romero said both sculptures would cost an estimated $40,000.

Mick Gallagher informed the commissioners that Tim Rochford, a downtown property owner, was interested in donating toward the clock sculpture.

Commissioner James Stewart preferred the Grand Pendulum Clock design because of the clocks, the representation of the sister cities and the sculptures reflection of historic architecture found in the city.

I like those elements, which are echoed by what we have here, which are assets of the community, Stewart said.

Mayor Paul Foster during the 2015 State of the Community luncheon asked the public to support a new piece of public art downtown.

The commissioners since have been raising private donations to pay for the sculpture. In May, they selected the Romeros as the artists.

Dan Romero is a metal artist. Dina Romero secures the materials, equipment and tools for each project.

Why Im drawn to sculpture is that its the real thing, Dan Romero told the commission Monday. Its not a rendering of something. Its actually a three-dimensional object. Sculpture has to be art from all sides and from all angles.

several designs considered

The Romeros, who run a welding shop in Pomona, have drawn several preliminary designs for the commission to consider.

The clocks really mirror Redlands, said commission Chairwoman Danielle Trynoski. I think that the clock really fits what the mayor was calling for  a project that matches the tradition of Redlands and the way Redlands carries itself.

Contact the writer: sandra.emerson@langnews.com Twiiter: @TheFactsSandra
UPDATE (Tuesday, Aug. 16): Riverside Steak n Shake tentative opening now Aug. 22

Steak n Shake, the Midwestern-origin restaurant that features ground-steak hamburgers, hand-cut fries, and milkshakes, is headed for its fifth Southern California restaurant, in Riverside.

The restaurant at 6231 Valley Springs Parkway is anticipated to open on Aug. 15. Its located along the roadway that divides the Canyon Crossings shopping center, which is anchored by a Walmart Supercenter.

The Riverside Steak n Shake will be a 99-seat restaurant and will employ about 120 workers. A hiring fair was held for it in May. The restaurant will eventually go to a 24-hour schedule and serve breakfast, the company said.

RIVERSIDE: Inland readers eager, excited for Steak n Shake opening

RELATED: What is Steak n Shake  and whys it so great?

Steak n Shake, started in 1934 in Normal Ill., quickly gained a reputation for its ground-steak burgers and milkshakes. There are hundreds of its restaurants in the Midwest, East Coast and South, especially Florida.

But Steak n Shakes entry into Southern California only began in 2014, when restaurants opened in Santa Monica and Victorville, followed by a third in Burbank. Another opened in May in Aliso Viejo.

The company, with a regional reputation that rivals Southern Californias In-N-Out, got in trouble during the Great Recession, experiencing double digit declines in customer traffic as well as suffering cash losses of about $100,000 per day, according to a 2015 shareholder statement.

It was turned around by Texas-based Biglari Holdings, which owns it.

The chain had 561 stores at the end of 2015  417 of those company-owned, the rest franchises, which Biglari has aggressively expanded since 2010. The Riverside restaurant is a franchise operation.

The company-owned stores served an estimated 118 million customers for a net revenue of $805.7 million and operating earnings of $39.7 million.

Franchise units brought in $13.7 million in revenue for 2015, a $9.5 million gain over 2010, when there were only 71 franchise units.

Contact the writer: rdeatley@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9573
In the aftermath of heinous terrorist attacks in Nice, Frances Prime Minister Manuel Valls made a jarring comment: The times have changed, and France is going to have to live with terrorism.

Mr. Valls, upset at the most recent attack on his homeland, undoubtedly feels like most of his countrymen  afraid, frustrated and grief-stricken. Those sentiments are natural, but acceptance of terrorism as commonplace  or a hazard of life in 2016  is egregiously unacceptable.

We cannot and should not live with terrorism  in France, in the United States or anywhere.

Now that terror attacks seem like weekly occurrences, there is a tendency to allow ourselves to become numb to the news of new assaults. But we mustnt become desensitized to these barbaric attacks on humanity, because it dulls our resolve and thus our collective commitment to winning the war on terror and eradicating those perpetrating these actions.

Sadness has been the most common response to the long list of recent terror attacks, but Nice feels different  and it should. Citizens in France and throughout the world should be angry and demand that political leaders act more aggressively and strategically in addressing radicalization and terrorism.

The first and foremost role of any government is the security and protection of its citizenry.

What Mr. Valls comment underscores is a scary proposition: that Western governments are not well equipped to fully grapple with the asymmetrical war terrorists are waging against the West and its culture.

Even Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, acknowledged to Bill OReilly on Fox News on Thursday evening that there is not enough cooperation and information-sharing among Western nations. And presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump told Mr. OReilly that, if he were president, he would seek a formal declaration of war from Congress to combat ISIS.

But we should not wait for a new president to do what is necessary now.

President Obama should once again call upon Congress for a formal declaration of war against ISIS. And, much like his admirable hosting of police and civil rights leaders this week to address racial disparity domestically, President Obama should convene a meeting of Western leaders to coordinate efforts to dismantle ISIS globally. This global coalition should not only wage war on ISIS land holdings and leadership, but also engage in sophisticated digital warfare to stop these terrorists from spreading their propaganda digitally.

A formal declaration of war and new levels of Western collaboration should serve as a starting point and symbolize that the West is united and committed against this common enemy of radical Islamic terrorism like never before.

The times have certainly changed, but we should not be lulled into accepting that terrorism is here to stay. The war on terror is winnable, but only with renewed commitment and resolve.
Five San Bernardino County residents have tested positively for Zika virus, the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health announced Friday, July 15.

All five picked up the virus while traveling internationally, said Claudia Doyle, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health.

Zika is especially dangerous for expectant women who may transfer the virus to the fetus. When born, an infected baby can suffer from birth defects, such has microcephaly and brain deformation, according to reports.

Doyle said none of the five infected people is expecting.

An Aedes aegypti mosquito  which transmits the Zika virus and other viral diseases  was found in Colton in June. The species is not native to California.

Common Zika symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Even though no immediate threat to county residents exists, I would like to remind county residents to protect themselves and family members from mosquito bites, especially if traveling to Zika-affected countries, Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, county health officer, said in a statement.

In addition to a mosquito bite, the virus can be transmitted through sexual contact.

Pregnant women can protect themselves from the virus by avoiding travel to an area with Zika, preventing mosquito bites and avoiding sexual contact with someone who has traveled to a Zika-affected country, according to officials.

Statewide, there have been 86 travel-related cases of Zika virus reported as of Friday  of those are 19 pregnant women. One case has been transmitted by sexual contact, according to county health officials.

The U.S. has seen 1,305 travel-associated cases of Zika infection in the U.S., according to county health officials.

Just the same, locals are urged to take precautions by preventing mosquito breeding and protecting themselves from bites, Doyle said.

Were still letting people know they can protect themselves from mosquitoes, she said.

Contact the writer: neil.nisperos@langnews.com or @ReporterNeil on Twitter
Trade between Ghana and China rose to $ 6.6 billion in 2015, representing an 18.2 per cent year- on- year increase, ranking it the sixth amongst the African continent trading partners.



In the same year, China made direct investments of 174 million Dollars to Ghana, with an over-all accumulated amount of 1.3 billion Dollars, ranking it fourth among African countries.



This was revealed in a brief on the recently held China-Ghana Economic and Trade cooperation Forum.



It said the amount of newly signed projects in 2015 reached $1.286 billion, ranking 14th among African countries, and we also achieved $1.406 billion worth of business turn over the same year, it added.



Currently, China is one of the main sources of foreign direct investment in Ghana.



China has financed and carried out a number of projects that have boosted the socio-economic growth of Ghana.



Examples of these are the Sunon Asogli Power Plant, Africa World Airline and the Sentuo Steel factory, which had played the key roles of providing more job opportunities for local people, promoting the interconnection of the sub-region, and helping to resolve electricity power shortage.



Others are the Ghana E-Government Platform undertaken by Huawei Company, the Kpong Water Supply Expansion Project, which was built by the Gezhouba Group, the Atuabo Gas Processing Project undertaken by SINOPEC and the Northern electrification Project built by Hunan Construction Group.



It said these projects have played important roles in improving local peoples livelihood.



Ghanaian students have also developed great passion for studying the Chinese language and culture, which highly compliments the increased level of cooperation between the two countries.



According to the brief, the number of Ghanaian students studying in China, reached 3,000 last year, which it said, was the highest in Africa.



It said China also trained more than 820 officials and technical staff for Ghana last year.



During the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation which was held last year, China mentioned agricultural modernisation, infrastructure, green development and poverty reduction as priority areas of China-Africa cooperation.



The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Madam Sun Baohung, said during the forum, China would uphold the guidelines on Chinas relations with Africa featuring sincerity, results and good faith.



She said China would also encourage and support Chinese companies to invest in Ghana, and further lift China-Ghana economic and trade cooperation to a new level.



China has just emerged as the worlds largest economy, and has gone from being the worlds factory to one of the worlds largest consumer markets, quotes the International Institute for the Advanced Study of Cultures, Institutions and Economic Enterprise.



The institute 1ays following the spectacular economic growth over the last two decades, there had been a huge rise in the number of Chinese companies, with many seeking investment and other business opportunities outside China.



There is thus a number of reasons, which form a solid basis for the newly emerging trend of strengthened relations between China and Ghana.



With socio-economic cooperation being at the core of this new trend, and several benefits being reaped already within the country, it could be said that the new era of China-Africa/ China-Ghana relations, potentially offers not only mutually beneficial collaborations for both sides but also, a chance for Africa as a whole and Ghana, to also get innovative and make use of its rich sources, in order to have good supplies for the worlds greatest consumer, she said.

Source: GNA









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Ladies and gentlemen, just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the Gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Roman empire, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of development of Volta Region beyond my particular abode to everyone from the region both at home and in the diaspora.



Like Paul, who responded constantly to the Macedonian call for aid, I must also constantly respond to the Volta regions call for aid to rescue it from government inactions that remains dangerously structured dam that blocks the flow of social progress into the region. Poor development of the region emerges from government inactions and most people have to go through many hoops. As such, they live with the distressing realities of;



 Severely lack of access to economic opportunity.

 Chronic unemployment

 Impoverishment

 Rural-urban migration



Whenever people complain about the poor level of development of the region, there is always a call to wait for its turn to come. For years now I have heard the word wait. Its rings pierce in the ears of every person from the region. This wait has almost always means never. In the words of Martin Luther King Jnr, wait has been tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration.



We have waited for a long time; even under the current democratic dispensation, we have waited for almost one generation. Volta region, with government inaction, still creeps at horse and buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter while others move with jet-like speed toward achieving the goal of their development due to government action.



We merely bring to the surface government inaction. We do not bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured as long as it is cover up but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, government inaction in the Volta region must likewise be exposed with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of voter conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.



There is an outstanding paradox: we ourselves are imbued with urgency, yet the message is that there is no viable alternative to the present. Beneath the reassuring tones of some of our representatives in government, beneath the opinion among some of our own people, is the pervading feeling that there simply are no alternatives.



These responses are a sign of helplessness, fearfulness of vision, refusal to hope, and tend to bring on the very conditions to be avoided. Fearing vision, we justify rhetoric or myopia. Fearing hope, we reinforce despair.



The question that could be raised is have we tried and tested the other political parties before? No. If the answer is No, why then do we believe that there is no alternative to the present? I think if we try and test the other political parties too, something can be done to change the present circumstances of the deplorable condition of the region.



As I write now, it is alleged that the NDC is planning feverishly to send some equipment  bulldozers  to the beach of Keta to create the impression that work will soon begin on the expansion of Keta Sea Defense Project from Blekusu to Aflao before November 7 poll.



Afterwards, the equipment will be taken away. It is also alleged that special message package is being prepared at the NDC Headquarters for the people of Volta region. All these are bid to convince us to vote massively for the NDC to retain power. Is this the regions share of the national cake? Should the region be on this path until thy kingdom come?



Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Jefferson warned that a society that does not transform itself every generation risks sowing the seeds of its own demise. In response to this warning, I wish to make an appeal as my effort to promote understanding and appreciation of the need to change the current circumstances of the region.



The appeal is simple, all of us from Volta region - both those at home and those in diaspora  should rise and throw off government inactions in the region using the ballot box come November 7, 2016. No political party, per our expressed action, will take the region for granted again.



Historical precedents abound for us to see. For example, Fantes, expressed their displeasure about poor development through 2000 and 2004 polls. Consequently, no politician(s) take them for granted again. The southern states of USA had for a long time voted massively for the Democrats. But at a point in time, they realized that their voting pattern was not helping them in terms of development. So they shifted their position. Today the southern states sparkle.



This is a pointer to the truism that nothing stands still for long. The world of states is a dynamic changing world and not a static unchanging one. Let us embrace and affix to this fact and demonstrate to a watching world that we do not vote for just a political party but a party that can embark on key economic programmes to change our deplorable condition.



Together, lets build a strong base for assault on government inactions. Indeed, this will be the goose that will lay the golden egg.



In making your decision this year to vote, remember these words culled from Anlo anthem composed by Philip Gbeho:



Miade nyigba lla

Mado wo k e dzi

Le nyeagbe blibo me

Nye magble wo i o.



Thanks

Mr. Emmanuel Aheto

Ashaiman

Source: Mr. Emmanuel Aheto









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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Barima Owusu Sekyere, Chief of Asaman, in the Afigya Sekyere East constituency, says the National Health Insurance Scheme, established by the Kufuor-led NPP government, to remove the constant fear of falling ill under the inhumane Cash & Carry system, has collapsed in his town.



According to the Chief, residents of his town, who in times past beamed with smiles after returning from the hospital, now have to pay exorbitant amounts of money, in the midst of the prevailing hardships and suffering, in order to access healthcare.



When as a government you only think of infrastructural development, without paying attention to the wellbeing of the citizenry, it is a cause for worry. President Kufuor instituted the National Health Insurance Scheme, which enabled residents to access affordable healthcare at the Asaman Hospital.



These days, you even have to buy paracetamol yourself, whereas in those days, under President Kufuor, you come home from the hospital with all the drugs paid for by the NHIS. Today, we have to pay for healthcare services, as well as pay for the drugs. This situation is unacceptable, the Chief of Asaman bemoaned.



Barima Owusu Sekyere made this known on Saturday, July 16, 2016, when the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, together with the NPPs parliamentary candidate for Afigya Sekyere East, Mavis Nkansah Boadu, paid a courtesy call on him at his palace.



Delving into the education sector which, he said, is also in crisis, Barima Owusu Sekyere recounted how students, right from the days of Kwame Nkrumah, were given allowances to help them through college. After completing school, the teacher is given everything in order to make him or her comfortable, so he or she can teach the children well.



Today, however, the Asaman Chief indicated that students in training colleges pay fees, have had the allowances cancelled, and even after completion, they have to write application letters. Which teacher, after completing training school, writes an application before he is employed in a school?



Barima Owusu Sekyere, therefore, reposed his confidence in the ability of the NPP flagbearer to return Ghana onto the path of progress and prosperity.



I know you can do it, and that is why the NPP overwhelmingly elected you as flagbearer. There is a saying which states that one goes before the Chiefs three times, if he is to be successful. This is your third time, and we know that God and our ancestors will make sure you are victorious, he added.



To all NPP supporters and sympathisers, Barima Owusu Sekyere, urged patience and unity amongst their ranks in the run-up to this years elections, stating that whatever God has written this year, no man can change it.



In concluding he reiterated his unflinching support for the NPP leader, adding that I bless you. In sickness or in health, I support you. It is he who embarks on a good journey who is encouraged and supported.





Ghanas problem is leadership



Still in the Afigya Sekyere East constituency, Nana Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on Nana Dr. Frimpong Anokye II, Chief of the Agona Traditional Area.



Revealing that the NPP flagbearer was his mate at the University of Ghana, Legon, Nana Dr. Frimpong Anokye II noted that the bane of Africa, and for that matter Ghana, has always been bad leadership.



Bad governance breeds problems and troubles in nations. Africas problem is that of leadership. Wherever there is turmoil and hardship is any nation, then leadership is to blame, he said.



The Chief of Agona, thus, urged Nana Akufo-Addo to constantly trust God, as He is the only one who anoints Kings, adding that we pray for Gods guidance for you, and I am certain that if you do Gods will, His will for your life will also come to pass.





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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Well it is that time of year again when we hear the crack of the bats at the Mason City Holnam Baseball Park. Not much has changed; we go to g
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has revealed, to the surprise of many, that the 2016 presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was his personal lawyer, and the pair still remain good friends.



According to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, Akufo-Addo is my lawyer, I want all of you here to listen. I used to go to court with him, at a time he was not involved in frontline politics, and when I was not a Chief. He never charged me a pesewa for the cases he did for me. We even sat in the same car most of the time.



The Asantehene also noted that the tradition out of which the NPP was born hailed from the Manhyia Palace. The financing of the party was also done by Manhyia, leading it to what it has become today. Baffuor Akoto, the leader of the National Liberation Movement, was even sacrificed for the cause.



His status as King of the Ashanti Kingdom, however, means he cannot engage himself in partisan politics and openly declare his support for any of the political parties.



Therefore, as a Chief, all I am fighting for is education for all the school going children, quality and affordable healthcare for my people, good roads for the communities and jobs for my young men and women. The good of Ghana and of my people is what I am after. I am after one who will come work for my people.



Otumfuo Osei Tutu II made this known when Nana Akufo-Addo paid a courtesy call on him and the Asanteman Council, at the Manhyia Palace on Thursday, July 14, 2016, as part of the NPP flagbearers tour of the Ashanti Region.



The Asantehene remarked that two weeks ago, President Mahama, also called on him as part of his Accounting to the People tour, where he urged the President to also account to the people for all the things he promised to do, which he could not achieve, as well as account for all the things he has done. I also asked him to tell the people of Ghana what he would do for them if they gave him another term in office.



To the NPP flagbearer, he stated that it the same thing I am also telling you. As you are campaigning, I am closely monitoring what you are saying and the policies you are outlining to the people. What I am happy is that you have assured Asanteman that you are going to add on to the successes chalked by President Kufuor. Wherever your campaign takes you to, take your time and outline the various interventions you will put in place to ensure access to education, healthcare, good roads and jobs.



Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also urged the NPP flagbearer, in the course of the campaign, to find time to tell Ghanaians what he would do to ensure that the three arms of government  the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary  are truly made independent of each other.



Otumfuo blesses Akufo-Addo



I pour my blessings on you. Go forth, and when you become successful, implement these policies you have outlined for the wellbeing of Ghanaians. All we are looking for in Ghana is progress and development. It is not about violence or insults, the Asantehene said.



He indicated that both President Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo had given him their word that they will make sure that there is no violence before, during and after the conduct of the 2016 elections.



To this end, the Asantehene stated that let us stop the insults and the use of intemperate language on the airwaves. Let us only promote what unites us, rather than what divides us. We have no country apart from Ghana. Whatever you say in the electioneering period, let it be based on policies and not on insults.

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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As part of its contribution towards the prison development programme dubbed Efiase project launched by the President of the Republic of Ghana, AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine has donated items to the Tarkwa prisons in support of the project. The items include eight sets of 40 inch flat screen television and twenty wall fans for cells in the prisons.



Presenting the items to the Tarkwa Prisons, the Managing Director of Iduapriem Mine Mr. Sicelo Ntuli said the gesture was to take off the boredom amongst the inmates as well as to serve as recreation with the fans reducing excessive heat in the cells of the inmates.



In his remark, Mr. Ntuli said some prisoners were in the prison because they found themselves at the wrong side of the law and should not been seen as outcast but rather society must also help in their reformation processs by helping to address their needs through philanthropic gestures. You should not let the situation you find yourselves in determine your future but look beyond and make the best from it Mr. Ntuli noted.



He added that the Mine will in addition renovate and stock the prison infirmary to enable the inmates have access to quality healthcare.

Interacting with leadership of the inmates, Mr Ntuli encouraged them to be of good behavior and eschew all forms of violence during their various sentences adding that society has not written them off.



Receiving the items, Officer-in-Charge of the Tarkwa Prisons, Kwaku Ababio Ali expressed appreciation to AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine for the prompt response in assisting the prisons through the Efiase project. He called on other organizations within the Tarkwa Nsuaeum Municipality to emulate Iduapriem Mine and assured the items will be put to good use.



Earlier, the Managing Director and his entourage toured the prison facility to see at first hand some challenges they were confronted with.

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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Scores of Ghanaians and other African nationals have demanded the immediate release of former Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo, from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.



The call was made at the official launch of the Free Gbagbo Campaign at the Teachers Hall in Accra.



President Gbagbo was arrested at the Presidential Palace in La Cote DIvoire by French Special Forces, following the second round of voting in the disputed Ivorian General Elections of November 2010 in which he was declared winner by the Constitutional Court.



The Constitutional Courts declaration was in accordance with Article 94 of the Ivorian Constitution, which both determines disputes in and proclaims the results of Presidential elections.



Since his arrest and subsequent extradition to the ICC on November 30, 2011, protests have taken place across the world, including France, in fierce opposition to the attempt to impose an illegitimate government on the people of La Cote DIvoire.



The Editor of the Insight, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, at the launch said he considered the continuing incarceration of President Gbagbo a part of the coercion of progressive African leaders whose governments sought to take their countries out of the grip of imperialism.



According to him President Laurent Gbagbo is before the ICC because he saw through the machinations of the imperialists and worked to ensure that the situation in which the foreign reserves of Francophone Africa was kept in the central bank of France is brought to an end.



Mr Pratt condemned the attempt by, what he described as, foreign forces and their local collaborators, who sought to introduce conflict between Ghana and La Cote DIvoire over the ownership of oil resources in the waters of the two countries.



He urged West African leaders to come together and float one common company owned by all the governments and the people of West Africa to exploit oil and other resources of the region for the benefit of all.



According to Mr Pratt, President Gbagbo is being held at the ICC in spite of the fact that the prosecution has failed to provide sufficient evidence to warrant his trial.



The ICC must be a very strange court, because my little knowledge of the judiciary and judicial processes is that when the prosecution fails to prove its case, the accused person is acquitted and discharged, but that is not the case at the ICC, he maintained.



The court itself sat and came to the conclusion that the evidence of the prosecution was not enough to sustain the charge against Laurent Gbagbo.



Mr Pratt, therefore, explained that, at that moment the court should have freed Laurent Gbagbo, but rather, the court said the prosecution should go and look for better evidence.



According to Mr Pratt, in spite of the absence of proper evidence President Gbagbo will be kept in detention at the ICC until the prosecution is able to find or manufacture some evidence, but called for mass action to campaign and expose the injustice and the corruption of the ICC as an organ of the West, fashioned to stifle the advancement of the African people.



Paa Kwesi Adu, President of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) contested the charges against Laurent Gbagbo when he said: President Laurent Gbagbo is not a criminal. He is a true son of Africa who seeks the interest of the suffering people of his country and on this continent (Africa) and we demand his immediate release from the International Criminal Court (ICC).



According to the President of NUGS, Laurent Gbagbo as a teacher of history and as a leader of the union of teachers, taught Africa how to struggle and free its resources from the hands of the neo-colonialist and imperialist forces.



He noted that Laurent Gbagbo is in detention at the ICC, because the very forces that imposed slavery and pillaged the resources of Africa were still at work.



We are left in no doubt that the assassination of Patrice Lumumba of The Congo, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea Bissau, Captain Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso and several others, including the coup that toppled the regime of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 was a clear attempt to curtail the forward march of a united Africa, where every African will live a dignified life and contribute towards the achievement of a new society based on the principles of social justice and equality for all he emphasised.



The former Deputy Registrar of the Ghana School of Law and the chairperson at the function, Mr John Yaw Opoku, considered it disgraceful that the residence of the head of state in La Cote D Ivoire is a property of France, for which rent was paid.



He added, I feels proud that President Gbagbo took adequate measures to fight for the independence of La Cote DIvoire and establish control over Ivory Coast.



According to Mr Opoku, it must be a blot on the conscience of every African that our oil and minerals and every other resources, are not exploited for our benefit and what is sad is that we have our own Africans who help to take them away for nothing and this is why, for me, Gbagbo is my hero, because he sought to bring an end to this massive rape of his country.



Justin Katinan Kone, a former minister in the Gbagbo regime said President Laurent Gbagbo undertook a vast programme of electrification and safe water supply to rural communities, instituted a comprehensive health insurance for all people living in the country and extended scholarships for the poorest students at the university.



Mr Kone revealed that in January 2001, about four months after Gbagbo took office, militias allied to Allassane Quattara and protected by Blaise Campoare, attempted a coup against the newly elected President, but failed.



On September 19th, 2002, while on an official visit to Italy, another coup was planned against him, but that also failed. Even so, 300 people, mostly civilians, lost their lives in resistance to the coup. Among the dead, was the Minister of the Interior and many other officers.



According to Mr Kone, it was President Gbagbo, who in his quest to save La Cote D Ivoire from civilian war, initiated peace talks under the supervision of ECOWAS, adding that as soon as all the parties were about to agree to a common position, the French government manipulated the peace talks, stopped it and summoned another conference in Paris, where it invited all the parties except President Laurent Gbagbo.



The outcome of that conference was that, President Gbagbo was asked to replace the Prime Minister with another person who was close to the rebellion, with a further demand being that the President appoint another member of the rebellion as Minister of Interior and Defense. Unfortunately, that arrangement proposed by France was viciously opposed by the civilian population.

Source: Duke Tagoe/ghanaweb









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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Some residents of the Volta Region who were victims of a microfinance scam are threatening to boycott the general elections if government fails to assist them to retrieve their monies.



Reports of some microfinance companies swindling unsuspecting clients took center stage in the countrys socio-economic discourse early this year, as victims resorted to various means to recover their funds.



Customers who had huge deposits with microfinance companies such as Little drop investment club, Prosperity and Good Health club and Clear Image Investment anticipating high returns, could not recover their investments as owners of these firms cannot be traced.



Clients of some of the companies which were in the Volta Region, held a demonstration in Ho on Thursday, where they accused the Bank of Ghana and the government of consciously allowing the companies to swindle them before declaring their activities as illegal.



There were government logos on their offices, which means they were duly registered one of the aggrieved investors told Citi News.



Addressing the media, the leader of the demonstrators, Maxwell Donku, said that although government is making efforts to retrieve investment for victims in other regions, those in the Volta Region are yet to benefit from any intervention.



Our slogan is that; No Money NO Vote simply because they claim Volta Region is their world bank. Now we want to proof to the government that, we are also wise. They have taken money from us to pay other groups in Brong Ahafo, Nkoranza and those areas without refunding our monies, he said.

Source: Citifmonline









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 Abetifi constituency parliamentary by-election will come off today [Saturday] to replace the late New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for the area, Peter Wiafe Pepera.



This by-election, which is in accordance with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution, is being contested by candidates from four political parties. Bryan Acheampong will be contesting on the ticket of the NPP, Edmund Nkansah on the Progressive Peoples Partys ticket, Kenneth Nii Quaye for the United Front Party (UFP) and Vida Konadu Enim of Independent Peoples Party (IPP).



EC using pre-deletion register



The District Election Officer for the Abetifi constituency, Stella Sarpong, has said all is set for the estimated 33,773 eligible constituents to cast their votes across 917 polling centres later today.



Despite the Electoral Commission (EC) recently releasing the list of NHIS registrants who have been deleted from the voters register, Mrs. Sarpong indicated that the EC will be using the pre-deletion register for the by-election.



She however said on Eyewitness News we dont have the problem with NHIS. Nobodys name was deleted from our register.



Police presence at all polling centres



The Police Commander for Abetifi, ASP David Kumah told Citi News security officers have been deployed to all polling centers.



So far we have 917 polling stations so we have security at all the polling stations and for now we have a patrol team and a standby team, ASP Kumah said.



NDC absence



The National Democratic Congresss (NDC) Emmanuel Tabi had picked the EC nomination forms to contest in the constituency but didnt file them after the party had decided not to contest the seat. Speaking to that decision to Citi News, the Constituency Chairman for the Abetifi, Gershon Afianyo said participating in this by-election just 3 months to the election will be a waste of resources.



According to him, Looking at the time and how close the election into the general elections, we dont think it is prudent for us to go into this election.



Death of former Abetifi MP



Peter Wiafe Pepera, died on May 21 at the 37 Military Hospital where he was on admission. The late lawmaker who died a fortnight after his 62nd birthday, was once a minister in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration before joining the NPP in 2001.



He was a Ranking Member on the Trade and Industry Committee in Parliament.





Source: Citi News









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In the wake of yesterdays atrocious terror attack in the French riviera town of Nice, that saw 84 people killed as they celebrated Bastille Day on the promenade, a number of Australian tourists in the area have spoken out about their experiences.

Melbourne couple Sasha and Danae Goldsmith, who were watching the celebrations from their apartment balcony, immediately locked themselves inside, and told their two young children that the gunshots they heard were fireworks.

Speaking to Today this morning, Sasha explained the truck came hurtling down the road and the music stopped and people scattered everywhere. Danae added:

Once the music stopped we thought whats going on? so we looked down and all the people started scrambling and there was a whole lot of noise and I thought, why is the truck there?. It was just going through the crowd  there [were] no cars allowed on the Promenade because of the celebration so it was all a bit weird. Then I thought shit, everyone is running so I got the kids and we got down  there was just bang bang bang. We were down on the ground, we got down on the ground in the apartment.

23-year-old Rhys Lawry, one of 27 Australian Students in Nice to attend a European Innovation Academy seminar, was on the beach when the attacks occurred, and told News Corp:

We were there on the beach watching the fireworks and then suddenly everyone started running and there was a massive stampede. We heard screams, people screaming and everyone was running in one direction. We thought wed better start running too and it just got faster and faster and youve just got this panic. There were just hundreds of people running and it became a massive stampede. The cops were yelling Run! Run! Keep going!

Yesterday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop revealed that three Australians suffered minor injuries while seeking to flee the scene, although none were among the casualties.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has reiterated its existing warnings to Australians in France, with the Smart Traveller website telling tourists to exercise a high degree of caution and monitor local media for safety risks.

Source: News Corp.
As Turkey descends into chaos, with members of the countrys military attempting a coup, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appeared on national television in a Facetime interview, denouncing the plot against him.

In the interview, the president claimed that the coup originated from a minority within the countrys military, saying I certainly believe that coup plotters will not succeed, and that they will pay a very heavy price.

Erdogan addresses the nation by iPhone: I am the president pic.twitter.com/ogMROOVtkx  Oren Kessler (@OrenKessler) July 15, 2016

As the broadcast continued, he insisted that he is still president, then urged the people of Turkey to gather at public squares and airports, saying I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people.

Erdogans whereabouts are currently unconfirmed  while presidential sources say he is in a secure location, per government protocol, MSNBC report that he is in a plane, attempting to seek asylum in Europe.

Per NBC, German authorities have rejected Erdogans asylum request, and he is currently en route to London.

DURUM| Tanklar?n ustunde siviller var, askerlere mudahale ediliyor pic.twitter.com/gE0eMQj58P  MUSA KESLER (@MuSaKesLeR) July 15, 2016

A Turkish military group calling itself the Peace At Home Council is reportedly behind the attempted coup. They claim to have seized power in the country, with reports of gunfire and explosions around the capital, and chaotic scenes unfolding on social media.

The military group claim they acted in order to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted.

In a statement, the group said that all our international agreements and commitments retain their validity. We hope our good relations will continue with all countries in the world.

The U.S. State Department have issued an emergency alert for all Americans in Turkey, saying:

Shots fired and explosions have been heard in Ankara and both bridges in Istanbul, the Bosphorous and Faith Sultan Mehmet, are now closed. Martial law and a curfew have been imposed in Turkey. All flights at Ataturk Istanbul airport have been suspended.

U.S. president Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have released a joint statement saying that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Source: The Daily Beast / The Guardian.

Photo: Burek Kara / Getty.
ISIS have claimed their extremist fingerprints are all over yesterdays attack in Nice, saying Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State.

According to the ISIS-affiliated Amaq news organisation, the 31-year-old Tunisian-born migrant was one of the soldiers of Islamic State.

While there has been little definitive evidence to support their claim, the tragedy in Nice joins recent attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Orlando that the organisation has owned up to.

The lack of immediate evidence also lends credence to the idea they could just be spreading opportunistic lies, with the intention of linking their organisation to the works of lone attackers.

German journos: #Amaq statement on ISIS responsibility giving no evidence that they were involved at all in #Nice. https://t.co/9VWWbODWRu  Jan Philipp Albrecht (@JanAlbrecht) July 16, 2016

Investigators have described Lahouaiej-Bouhlel as a petty criminal who was known to law enforcement. Terrifyingly, he was totally absent from French security organisations terrorist watch-lists.

French police have also detained five men described as Lahouaiej-Bouhlels close entourage, who they think may have been involved in the Bastille Day incident.

As it stands, the horrific truck attack has left 84 dead, with many more wounded.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald / Brisbane Times.

Photo: Nicolas Kovarik/IP3 / Getty.
Most of Australia has been trying to dismantle and disavow Pauline Hansons entire political agenda for decades, but Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner may have just succeeded within 25 seconds.

In a clip posted to Facebook by artist Bernaysii Bloom, the One Nation leader cops a succinct dressing down from Yanner at the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.

Its concise. Its conclusive. Its an impassioned slam-dunk from a bloke who just has zero time for Hanson at a celebration of living Indigenous culture:

Murrandoo Yanner letting Pauline know whats good. Posted by Bernaysii Bloom on Friday, 15 July 2016

That particular event may not have been the most stellar stop for Hanson, considering her longstanding take on Indigenous issues.

Of course, in her debut speech to the House of Reps back in 96, Hanson said she was fed up to the back teeth with the inequalities that are being promoted by the government under the assumption that Aboriginals are the most disadvantaged people in Australia.

I do not believe that the colour of ones skin determines whether you are disadvantaged.

Oh, she also used her first stint in parliament to have a crack at the stupid notion of land rights and special treatment for so called minorities at the expense of everyone else.

Comments like that are the kind that stick, and they tend to draw ire from, you know, the people who are involved in the day-to-day task of fighting for Indigenous rights. People like Yanner, who has served as a director of the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.



So, shes well and truly worked her way back into parliament, but nobody can take away the fact weve just witnessed a flawless fish-and-chip referencing verbal takedown.

Source and photo: Bernaysii Bloom / Facebook.
Here are the facts: in 1989, Jean-Claude Van Damme starred in Kickboxer. The film did exactly what it said on the tin. The Belgian martial arts maestro clobbered his way through 100-odd minutes of baddies in what eventually became a touchstone of 80s action film pop culture.

It was a simpler time  a time before movie stars did the splits in commercials. Thats all well and good, but to a younger audience, what could possibly be gained from revisiting that flick when weve got Ip Man and The Raid to satiate our hunger for endless beat-em-ups?

This scene is the answer to that question. This bloody scene:

So, now that everyone is up to speed, we can all agree the appearance of Kickboxer: Vengeances first cinematic trailer is undoubtedly a good thing that we should welcome with open, bulging arms.

While the new clip doesnt feature any American dancing (like disco), it does feature a wisened Van Damme beating the heck outta former stuntman Alain Moussis shins as preparation for his vengeful (duh) fight against the unit that is Dave Bautista.





Also hovering around are Gina Carano and Georges St. Pierre, further adding to the movies legit fighting pedigree. Do they all beat the shit outta each other? Hell yeah. Does JCVD teach em to boog? Well, well find out when it roundhouses its way into US cinemas on September 2:

Source and photo: Yahoo! Movies.
MASON CITY | Cave Quest Vacation Bible School will take place July 18-22 at First Baptist Church.

Children from 3 years of age through sixth grade will participate in Bible-learning activities, sing songs, play teamwork-building games make and eat treats, experience Bible adventures, and more.

The kids will join a missions effort to repair homes for families in the United States.

Cave Quest is from 9 to 11:30 a.m. daily.

Each day concludes with a closing that gets everyone involved in living what they have learned. Family and friends are encouraged to join in for the closing, which starts at 11:15 a.m.

Call 424-3481 for more information.
France Truck Attack

Floral and papers tributes are laid with a French flag near the scene of a truck attack in Nice, southern France, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Nice's seaside boulevard reopens to traffic Saturday following a dramatic truck attack which killed more than 80 people and wounded more than 200 others at a fireworks display.

(AP photo/Luca Bruno)

NICE, France (AP) -- The Islamic State group claimed Saturday that the Tunisian man who barreled his truck into a crowd in the French resort city of Nice was a "soldier" of the group. It's the first claim of responsibility for an attack that claimed 84 lives at a July 14 fireworks display for France's national holiday.

The claim -- circulated on social media by a news outlet affiliated with the group -- didn't name Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who authorities say was behind the wheel as a truck crashed into revelers Thursday night. But the statement quoting an IS security member said the man was following calls from the group to target citizens of countries fighting it.

The veracity of the group's claim couldn't immediately be determined, but French officials didn't dispute it.

MADMAN IN TERROR ATTACK PICTURED: Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was behind the massacre in Nice https://t.co/s5xLNal3Gm pic.twitter.com/8KuOfCl4H1  New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) July 15, 2016

What is known publicly about Bouhlel so far suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in the group's ultra-puritanical brand of Islam. But, in a statement to reporters, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve hinted that Bouhlel may have had a last-minute adoption of a more extremist worldview.

"It seems he was radicalized very quickly," Cazeneuve said following a ministerial meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

It's also unclear whether or not Bouhlel, who was shot dead by police that night, had been acting alone.

Officials said that 202 people had been wounded in the attack, with 25 of them on life support late Friday.

The Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday that five people are in custody following the attack. The identities of most of those taken into custody were not clear. But neighbors in the Nice neighborhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated Press that his estranged wife had been taken away Friday by police.

The claim of responsibility came as French security chiefs met in Paris and as Nice's seaside boulevard, the famous Promenade des Anglais, was slowly coming back to life. A makeshift memorial of bouquets, candles and messages had been set up near one end of the expansive avenue.

France on Saturday began three days of national mourning in homage to the victims -- although that hasn't stopped politicians from sniping at each other over who bore responsibility for the failing to stop the attack.
Fethullah Gulen

Protestors gather outside the compound of Fethullah Gulen in Saylorsburg, Pa., on July 16, 2016.

(Eric Veronikis, PennLive)

PennLive reporter Eric Veronikis is at the Saylorsburg, Pa., compound of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish president Tayyip Erdo has accused of helping to stage the failed military coup that began in Turkey Friday.

A number of protestors are at the compound and Veronikis is tweeting live from the scene. Follow along below for his latest reactions.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason."

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey -- a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group -- that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels.

Pressure has also come from millions of refugees who have fled violence in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and a series of bloody attacks blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels. Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. He flew home early Saturday and declared the coup to have failed.

The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Gen. Umit Dundar, newly appointed as acting chief of the general staff, said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.

Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a U.S.-based Islamist cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania. Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen lives in exile and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think tank in London, said it was not clear who was behind the attempted coup, but it appeared to have been "carried out by lower-ranking officers -- at the level of colonel."

Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained. A source at the office of the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the 161 toll "excludes assailants."

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup. U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a military statement saying forces had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Erdogan, appearing on television over a mobile phone, had urged supporters into the streets to defend the government, and large crowds heeded his call.

People faced off with troops that had blocked the bridges over the Bosporus, linking the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.

By early Saturday, the putsch appeared to have fizzled, as police, soldiers and civilians loyal to the government confronted coup plotters.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. Some flag-waving people climbed onto the tanks.

Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara, the capital.

Elsewhere, a Blackhawk military helicopter transporting seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, where the passengers requested asylum, according to Greece's defense ministry. Turkey demanded their extradition.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

Turkey is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could have made it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

Erdogan's Islamist government has also been accused of playing an ambiguous role in Syria. Turkey's renewed offensive against Kurdish militants -- who seek more autonomy and are implacable foes of IS -- has complicated the fight against the Islamic State group.
A Make-A-Wish party was held for 13-year-old Cristina Astacio at Fire Station #1 in Lebanon on Saturday, July 16, 2016. Astacio, who is battling leukemia, dreams of becoming a firefighter, and in addition to a trip to Disney World, the Make-A-Wish Foundation surprised her by organizing the Lebanon City Fire Department to pick up Astacio in a fire truck to take her to her party at the station.

Alex Driehaus, PennLive
restaurant inspections logo

(PennLive)

Many midstate food establishments are inspected each week and come through with no problems.

But some in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties had violations during inspections conducted from June 19 to June 25.

In Lancaster County as they made their rounds, inspectors noted knives and cleavers being stored between table edges, boxes of food stored directly on the floor and a working container of sanitizer stored next to milk and chocolate sauce.

At one Dauphin County establishment, there was dried blood visible on the walls and floor of a walk-in cooler.

In Lebanon County, an inspector found the decaying body of a mouse in a cabinet.

A Cumberland County restaurant was using duct tape to hold together a freezer, which also had a cracked lid, and rusty metal shelves were noted as well.

A Perry County eatery was advised to replace its deeply scored, hard-to-clean cutting boards.

And in York County, inspectors reported on sanitizer in use at at restaurant that was at a toxic concentration level and a kitchen so poorly equipped that pans of dirty dishes were being kept on the floor, as well as bags of produce being stored on the floor at another business.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture oversees restaurant inspections in the state. Inspection reports are "snapshots" of the day and time the inspections took place. In many cases, violations are corrected on site prior to the inspector leaving.

Click on the links below to see how restaurants and other food establishments in the region fared:
Pokemon Go

Tina Bizaca, left, and Sarah Boutwell play the augmented-reality smartphone game Pokemon Go at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, Monday July 11, 2016. It's the type of digital download that will be hit with the 6 percent sales tax in Pennsylvania next month. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

It stands to reason that Pennsylvania, rarely the league leader in "hip" or "modern," wouldn't be among the first states to tax items bought on-line known as digital downloads.

But, baby, we've arrived now.

Among the tax changes signed by Gov. Tom Wolf this week, the state's 6 percent sales tax will be extended to the purchase of the next big Beyonce hit, a Pokemon Go app, or rights to watch Season Five of Netflix's "House of Cards."

The change takes effect Aug. 1, and from a policy standpoint it is probably one of the easier tax expansions the Legislature has voted in some time.

Here's a few reasons why:

There is an argument for level playing fields here. If I go to the book store and buy Jo Jo Moyes' book "Me Before You," I pay sales tax. If you order it from your e-book device, you don't. So that's an arbitrary market disadvantage both for the traditional merchant and his or her customers.

From a purely political calculation, the new tax should land lightest on the older Pennsylvanians that, in conventional political seasons anyway, have been the most regular voters.

With 23 states and the District of Columbia already having done this for up to a decade, the tax is a tried-and-true money-maker that many online content providers don't really even fight anymore.

Karen Coates, chief of staff to Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, said she saw very little interest group activity on the digital download issue, one way or the other.

In Pennsylvania, this tax expansion is expected to be worth about $47 million in 2016-17, according to Wolf Administration estimates - all paid by the consumer in a surcharge that, in most cases, is counted in cents as opposed to dollars.

Plus, some experts believe, it's where the money is going to be for the foreseeable future.

In 2015, for example, the Recording Industry Association of America reports that of $7 billion national market for music sales last year, just $2 billion was spent CDs or vinyl - that's down from $4.3 billion in 2009.

Digital sales, meanwhile, hit $4.8 billion, just the latest in a string of new highs.

E-books, while appearing to have hit a plateau in recent years, account for about 17 percent of all book sales, according to the Association of American Publishers.

"Taxing digital downloads is about as close to a no-brainer in tax policy as there can be," said Michael Mazerov, a senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' State Fiscal Project.

"It's a fairness issue for consumers who like traditional products that are already taxed. It's a level playing field issue for retailers," Mazerov said.

"And as more consumers move away from buying things in physical formats, if you don't expand the sales tax to digital goods it means that sales tax revenue is going to erode and it will be harder to pay for the schools, health care and all the other services it funds."

So, what is a digital download, exactly?

Examples of items that will be on Pennsylvania's list include: purchases of music and video (think an iTunes purchase); streaming of movies or music (such as Netflix or other fee-based streaming services); satellite radio; e-greeting cards; digital books, often called e-books; apps - including in-app purchases; and online games.

The rationale is that when you buy these items at a store, you pay the sales tax now. Now, when you take possession of them through your electronic device, you'll be taxed on the e-version, too.

As such, tax exempt products like the Bible, or magazine and newspaper subscriptions, still won't be taxed.

The tax will be be triggered when the shopper makes a purchase that sends content through an account with a billing address in Pennsylvania.

It's a pretty routine process at this point, explained Mazerov. "Apple has been charging sales tax in states for a decade and there's no indication that there's been any problems with it."

PennLive reached out to Apple on Friday to get its reaction to Pennsylvania's move, but received no response for this report.
Jessica Reger

Jessica Reger

Two York County women are criminally charged after authorities say one of them placed her two young children in the trunk of a vehicle that the two women then took for a drive.

The incident was first reported on the evening of July 10 in the 200 block of Second Avenue in Hanover Borough.

Police say 29-year-old Jessica Marie Reger was spotted placing two children in the trunk of a red Corvette in the 200 block of Second Avenue in Hanover. Reger resides in the immediate area, court records indicate.

Police say Reger and the driver of the car, 28-year-old Ilena Gale Blackburn, then drove east on West Middle Street where they were pulled over by police.

According to the York Dispatch, the officer then asked Blackburn to open the trunk, where Reger's two children, ages 3 and 5, were found.

Blackburn faces charges of recklessly endangering another person and improper child-restraint system, according to online court records, while Reger is charged with two counts each of endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.

Blackburn's arraignment is scheduled for July 22, and Reger remains in York County Prison in lieu of $2,500 bail.

A Hanover Borough police officer, when reached by phone on Saturday, said department policy prohibits him from discussing an ongoing case like this one. Calls were referred to Hanover chief of police Chad Martin who returns to work on Monday morning.

As a result, it was not immediately clear whether the children were injured or what may have motivated the alleged incident.
REDBLUE AMERICA GRAPHIC.jpg

By Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk

The flaring up of racial tensions in recent weeks - five police officers killed in Dallas, videotaped fatal police shootings of civilians in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, La. - has created alarm, rage and grief across the country.

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll found 69 percent of Americans say race relations are bad - almost on par with the discontent during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Some critics wonder why President Barack Obama, America's first black president, hasn't been able to bring about peace, and some accuse him of exacerbating racial tensions.

What should Obama do? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the Red/BlueAmerica columnists, debate.

JOEL MATHIS

When it comes to race in America, there's still work to do.

That seems obvious to most African-Americans, certainly, as well as anybody sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement. For example: A new study from Harvard this week shows that when both blacks and whites are stopped by cops around the country, blacks are more likely to be pushed around, or have weapons drawn on them, or be subject to the use of pepper spray - and overall were more likely to be subject to use of force, even when compliant with an officer's instructions.

That's how things still work in the country Obama leads. One form of justice for African-Americans, another for whites. Other examples abound.

Obama's critics seem to believe in another story. That yes, there was a time when racism was a big, malignant force in the country, but then the civil rights movement happened, the Voting Rights Act was passed, and everybody lived happily ever after.

There might be pockets of racism here or there, but that most complaints about racism amount to "race hustling" - a power grab - and that any real remaining racism is practiced by blacks and directed at whites. It is, at best, a cynical point of view, one that denies the truth of lives lived and stories told by African-Americans.

So when Obama acknowledges how the world looks from an African-American point of view, then, his critics believe he is being divisive, that he is pandering and that he is, yes, "race hustling." They are wrong.

In fact, the president has often acknowledged racial progress in America. "Race relations are better since I graduated. That's the truth," he told Howard University graduates in May, but he added: "I am not saying gaps do not persist. Obviously, they do. Racism persists. Inequality persists."

I lament the deaths in Dallas, Minnesota and Baton Rouge. But Obama did not create racial strife in this country. He simply acknowledged a problem that was there all along. Pretending the problem doesn't exist won't make it go away.

BEN BOYCHUK

Who is pretending the problem doesn't exist? Nobody. Conservatives know it's bad out there. They also know that cops who abuse their authority are a problem.

Look, when six in 10 Americans say race relations are bad and have only gotten worse - only 38 percent said the same a year ago - that's a problem. Obama surely did not create racial strife, but he hasn't helped alleviate it, either.

The president is divisive. He has been from the moment he took the oath of office. He set the tone of his administration during his first Oval Office meeting with Republican congressional leaders: "I won."

Yes, he did. Yet Obama has never understood that governing demands more than a mere assertion of his will. At its best, the president's rhetoric can reach great heights. But that's all it is - rhetoric.

The president proved it again when spoke at the memorial for one of the murdered police officers in Dallas on Tuesday. He delivered a generally uplifting and unifying speech - until he decided to utter one of the most manifestly ridiculous lines to tumble forth from the lips of a U.S. president not named Jimmy Carter: "It's easier for a teenager to get his hands on a Glock than a computer . or even a book."

No, it isn't. Not at all. That is a laughable lie.

But the president said it, and at a funeral no less.

When we talk about healing racial divisions, the difference between liberals and conservatives is really a difference between culture and politics. Liberals have long looked to government to ensure not only equality of opportunity but also equality of outcome. Conservatives believe that equality of outcome is incompatible with freedom.

Obviously not everyone "lived happily ever after" after Congress passed landmark civil rights legislation more than half a century ago. But it isn't 1965 anymore. There's always going to be work to do.

"I've seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change," Obama said in Dallas this week. "I've seen how inadequate my own words have been."

Then maybe it's time to give the divisive language a rest and meet the people where they are.

Ben Boychuk (bboychukcity-journal.org) is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal. Joel Mathis (joelmmathisgmail.com) is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine. Visit them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/benandjoel
By Jim T. Ryan

Staff Writer

Marysville won't undertake a borough-wide transition to a natural gas "virtual pipeline" after it received low public interest in the idea.

Such a project wouldn't be cost-effective without a critical mass of homes and businesses wanting to switch.

"It doesn't look pretty for what we want to do," said David Magee, chairman of Marysville's natural gas committee.

In April, the borough sent out a survey to residents and businesses to gauge their interest in converting to natural gas if they would see long-term energy savings from the switch-over. The borough also asked its engineering firm, Pennoni Associates, to conduct research into the feasibility of a virtual pipeline. As Magee said, the results were not encouraging for the borough's plans.

When the survey came back, only about a third of respondents said they'd be interested in switching to natural gas, according to the Pennoni study. Of those willing to switch, only 25 percent were willing to pay out-of-pocket for the service.

"I'm still for it, but just not if everyone else isn't," Magee said. "I still think it's a good idea."

Connecting a home or business to a gas main would cost between $1,000 and $2,000, according to Pennoni. In addition, it would cost customers as much as $4,500 to convert their homes to natural gas.

Business conversion would be a far greater cost. It would likely cost tens of thousands of dollars to convert a company such as Specialty Bakery on Route 11/15 in Marysville to natural gas, said Scott Weaver, borough manager. When the borough spoke to Specialty's ownership, it said the company would need to see savings great enough to recoup the conversion costs in a single year to entertain such a switch-over. However, the payback for residential customers alone would likely be three to five years, according to Pennoni.

Weaver and committee members said there's interest from Harrisburg-based Yingst Homes to provide natural gas to its Rockville Estates, which when complete will add about 300 homes to the borough on its southern mountainside border. Installing gas mains there would likely cost the borough more than $255,000, according to Pennoni's study.

However, just seven homes have been sold out of 33 lots in the first phase and the development is expected to be spread out over more than a decade with an average of 10 homes per year. That's not immediately encouraging to virtual pipeline companies.

"A (natural gas) station for seven homes isn't cost-effective," said Yves Pollart, executive vice president of Cumberland County-based Compass Natural Gas, a company that trucks compressed natural gas from supply lines to communities and businesses. "You're in the infancy ... people will eventually want gas."

Compass has been consulting with the borough about the natural gas project, but if the borough decided to build a virtual pipeline it would use a bidding process to select a supplier.

The economics change only slightly even if the borough located natural gas mains with sewer and stormwater lines it plans to work on in the coming year, or put the mains in the ground as part of a project to rebuild Park and Ridgeview drives, Pollart said.

While the committee likely will recommend that council set the large-scale virtual pipeline project aside for now, it also will keep its natural gas committee in place to continue research and future planning.

"I don't want to kill it," said Stephen Copp, a committee member and council president.

One of the spectators at the July 5 committee meeting was Denise Brinley, special assistant to the secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development. She said DCED has been looking for ways to use natural gas in Pennsylvania to benefit residents and businesses.

"I applaud you for being forward-thinking," Brinley said.

Pennsylvania is home to some of the largest natural gas reserves in the country and world because most of the northern and western part of the state is underlined by Marcellus and Utica shales that contain gas trapped in the rocks. Fracturing the rocks through horizontal drilling (also called fracking) releases it. Development of these gas reserves since 2011 has caused a glut in natural gas stores.

That surplus led to depressed prices, which are more than a dollar cheaper at 84 cents per therm when compared to propane and fuel oil, according to the Pennoni study. A therm is a measurement of a fuel's heat content.

Much of the state's natural gas goes into interstate pipelines and is transported to other markets for shipments abroad, or to be used in manufacturing processes. The challenge for the industry and state officials is finding in-state uses for all that natural gas, which is why DCED took interest in Marysville. Brinley said DCED has about $12 million in grants for last-mile pipeline constructions to communities.

Even if grants are enticing, towns still need the will to take on a project. If Marysville keeps its virtual pipeline dreams on the back burner, it could reach out to other communities to gauge interest and increase the feasibility of a project.

"I think it might be beneficial to work together with other towns," Magee said.

Gas supply companies, such as UGI, expressed interest in Marysville when the borough started studying a virtual pipeline. Gary Perry, a committee and council member, said gas companies became interested if the borough was going to build out the gas mains. Considering they're only interested if the borough fronts the infrastructure costs, it's unlikely a gas line is coming over the mountain any time soon.

Jim T. Ryan can be reached via e-mail at jtryan@perrycountytimes.com
Tanks move into position as Turkish people attempt to stop them, in Ankara, Turkey, late Friday, July 15, 2016. Turkey's armed forces said it "fully seized control" of the country Friday and its president responded by calling on Turks to take to the streets in a show of support for the government. A loud explosion was heard in the capital, Ankara, fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
Pall bearers carry the casket of Alton Sterling to his gravesite at the Mount Pilgrim Benevolent Society Cemetery in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, July 15, 2016. Sterling was shot July 5 outside a Baton Rouge convenience store in an encounter with police that was caught on video. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, Pool)
Court reverses ruling, allows FishPass to move ahead in Traverse City

A press release on Thursday announced that the Court of Appeals reversed the 2021 ruling that stalled the FishPass project in Traverse City.
 

       

         23  2021    ,      3  2021      2022 ".
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio, July 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Commercial Metal Forming (Commercial or the Company), one of four industrial subsidiaries of Constellation Enterprises LLC (Constellation), today announced that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with CE Star Holdings, LLC, a newly-formed entity organized by a group of Constellations secured noteholders, to purchase substantially all of the Companys assets as a going concern, as well as certain other assets of Constellations subsidiaries. The sale agreement is being entered into in furtherance of the Companys bankruptcy court approved bidding procedures for the marketing and sale of the Company and its affiliated entities. This sale transaction will be subject to higher or better bids at an auction scheduled for August 9, 2016.



Commercial, together with Constellation and Constellations other subsidiaries, announced on May 16, 2016 they were voluntarily restructuring debt obligations under protection of Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The Company continues to serve its customers and operate its business in the ordinary course during the restructuring.

The Company believes this sale transaction will fulfill its goal to ensure the successful future of the business following the sale. The transaction is subject to the auction process followed by bankruptcy court approval. Commercial also continues the marketing process with other parties who will have the opportunity to submit competing bids.

With bidding procedures established and an auction date scheduled, Commercial is now taking certain other steps to facilitate a sale transaction, including providing a notice to employees in compliance with the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. This notice will facilitate the sale of the Companys assets pursuant to the court-approved auction, and allow the buyer to realize the benefits afforded by the bankruptcy process.

The WARN notice is important to protect the economic interests of our valued employees while also allowing for the completion of the asset sale. We strongly believe our employees are our most valuable asset, and that any buyer will want to hire most or all of our employees. As we work with all potential buyers, we believe the sale process is the best way to ensure the future success of the business, and its customers, vendors and communities, said Bob Messaros, President of Commercial Metal Forming.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and Richards, Layton & Finger P.A. are serving as legal advisors.

Additional information, including court filings and other documents related to the restructuring, can be found by visiting http://dm.epiq11.com/COE.

Company Description

Commercial Metal Forming is a leading manufacturer of tank head and tank head accessories, focused on providing highest quality standards and unparalleled Customer Service on on-time delivery, lead-time, quote responsiveness.
Following up on a promise made to Congress by Attorney General Loretta Lynch in February, the Justice Department has said it will deny federal grant money to sanctuary cities, including Philly. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/feb/24/justice-dept-promises-crackdown-sanctuary-cities/

The announcement came on the heels of last week's failure by the U.S. Senate to strip community development funds from defiant cities. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey was a leader in that effort, which achieved a bipartisan majority, but not the 60 votes needed.

The Justice Department will deny funds from the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program and the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

In the case of Philadelphia, the cost is relatively minor: $1.75 million was received in 2015, and $13.1 million since 2010.

Philadelphia's sanctuary city status is among the most extreme in the nation, protecting even convicted foreign felons from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

How bad are we? During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in May, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson singled out Philadelphia and Chicago as leaders in rejecting cooperation with federal officials trying to locate dangerous immigrants who should be deported. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/senate-toomey-immigration-225135

Johnson had traveled to Philadelphia and met with Mayor Kenney, pleading for cooperation, but he was rebuffed. In KenneyWorld, what he decides is "fair" is what goes, even if it defies federal law.

Toomey, who hailed the move by the Justice Department, has long been pushing a crackdown on criminal aliens and has been challenging his Democratic opponent, Katie McGinty, to get on board.

In a statement to me, showing daylight between herself and Kenney, McGinty said she doesn't believe Sanctuary Cities are "the answer to our complex immigration and law enforcement challenges."

The mayor's office had no response by deadline.

In a 2015 poll, Rasmussen Reports found that Americans opposed sanctuary cities by an overwhelming 2-1 vote.

I'm quite happy Lynch is making good on a promise made in February before a House appropriations committee (which can mess with DOJ's funding) to begin a crackdown on Sanctuary Cities.
NORTHVALE, N.J., July 16, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Elite" or the Company") (OTCQB:ELTP), a specialty pharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of abuse-deterrent opioids and niche generic products, announced today management will host a conference call to update investors on the Complete Response Letter (the CRL) issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) regarding the New Drug Application (the NDA) for SequestOx (oxycodone hydrochloride and naltrexone hydrochloride), Elites investigational abuse-deterrent opioid candidate for the management of moderate to severe acute pain where the use of an opioid analgesic is appropriate.



Conference Call Information

Date: Monday, July 18, 2016 Time: 8:30 AM EDT Dial-in numbers: 1-800-346-7359 (domestic) 1-973-528-0008 (international) Conference number: 98840 Audio Replay: Available approximately one hour following the conclusion of the call at:

http://ir.elitepharma.com/events_presentations

About Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Elite Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a specialty pharmaceutical company which is developing a pipeline of proprietary pharmacological abuse-deterrent opioid products as well as niche generic products. Elite specializes in oral sustained and controlled release drug products which have high barriers to entry. Elite owns generic and OTC products which have been licensed to TAGI Pharma, Epic Pharma and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International. Elite currently has eight commercial products being sold, additional approved products pending manufacturing site transfer and a product under review pending approval by the FDA. Elites lead pipeline products include abuse-deterrent opioids which utilize the Companys patented proprietary technology and a once-daily opioid. These products include sustained release oral formulations of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. These formulations are intended to address two major limitations of existing oral opioids: the provision of consistent relief of baseline pain levels and deterrence of potential opioid abuse. Elite also provides contract manufacturing for Ascend Laboratories (a subsidiary of Alkem Laboratories Ltd.). Elite operates a GMP and DEA registered facility for research, development, and manufacturing located in Northvale, NJ.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Including those related to the effects, if any, on future results, performance or other expectations that may have some correlation to the subject matter of this press release, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, Elites ability to obtain FDA approval of the transfers of the ANDAs or the timing of such approval process, delays, uncertainties, inability to obtain necessary ingredients and other factors not under the control of Elite, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Elite to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations that may be implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding the expected timing of approval, if at all, of SequestOx by the FDA, the steps Elite may take as a result of the CRL, the results of an End of Review Meeting and what actions the FDA may require of Elite in order to obtain approval of the NDA. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future action or performance. These risks and other factors, including, without limitation, Elites ability to obtain sufficient funding under the LPC Agreement or from other sources, the timing or results of pending and future clinical trials, regulatory reviews and approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory authorities, intellectual property protections and defenses, and the Elites ability to operate as a going concern, are discussed in Elite's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. Elite is under no obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Re: In her account of unmarried womens experiences in colonial Philadelph [ #permalink

5 Kudos 2 Bookmarks
Tue, 10/26 (11:30am ET): MBA Essays - Talking About Your Past and Making Your Reader Excited About Your Future
In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, students at Case Western Reserve University were not particularly concerned about the impact the RNC would have on the campus at large. The university is, after all, five miles away from downtown Cleveland, where the majority of events would be taking place, and where protesters and heavily-armed police were expected to crowd the streets during the nomination of lightning-rod candidate Donald Trump. But last month, when an anonymous faculty member alerted law student Amanda King and undergraduate Makela Hayford exactly how involved the university would be in the convention, they were shocked.

He told us that there would be 1500 police living on our campus, King told Gothamist. At that moment, we had no idea who they would be, what they were doing, and the university was not telling us anything about it.

King and Hayford, two leaders of the African-American community on campus, immediately began pressing the university for more information. They wanted to know why the private university had agreed to house over hundreds of out-of-state cops in the midst of national divisiveness over the role and judgement of police officers in communities of color. The university is situated in the middle of several African-American neighborhoods, and just down the road from the Cleveland neighborhood of Hough. 50 years ago this week, the National Guard was sent into Hough after residents rioted following attacks by white business owners against middle-class blacks. Meanwhile, Cleveland's police department is currently under federal oversight following widespread abuse by police and the high-profile murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

The administration released a response after we told them of our concerns, but then they accused us of profiling the police, Hayford said. They told us to stop asserting that the police were bad, and that this attitude we were expressing was in direct opposition to the universitys core values. We were infuriated.

King pointed out to the university that its core values, which dictate expectations of student and faculty conduct on campus, also specified that there would be no guns on campus, but that value was being ignored. King and Hayford, along with other enraged students, launched a Change.org petition outlining their concerns and demands, which include that police keep their weapons off campus, and refrain from drinking or doing drugs while staying in the dorms. They were also curious as to why the university agreed to house the police officers in the first place, interrupting a busy summer semester at the university. Was the university somehow making money off of this deal?

The decision to house the officers was not driven by finances, a Case Western Reserve University spokesperson told Gothamist. The city asked for the universitys assistance, and as a member of the Cleveland community, we felt a civic obligation to assist.



Highway Patrol cars from California. (Max Rivlin-Nadler/Gothamist)

During special national security events like a convention, cities like Cleveland, with police departments deemed too small to provide enough security for the event, can pull in police departments from across the nation to provide extra support. Cleveland is receiving police reinforcements from states as far away as California and Arizona, and arming them with 2,000 riot control suits and 26-inch batons. This raises serious concerns when it comes to out-of-state officers descending on both neighborhoods and populations with which theyre unfamiliar.

One of the biggest issues police have is creating a level of trust with those that they police, and thats incredibly difficult when youre coming from out of town and just for a few days, said Melissa Bilancini, a law student and coordinator for the National Lawyers Guild in Cleveland. Couple that with an intense situation, and a lack of accountability if these officers dont face rules and protocol, and the possibility there for the violation of rights is something Im deeply troubled by.

In response to student concerns and the Change.org petition, earlier this month month Case Western scheduled two separate information sessions for students, where officials fielded questions and explained what the role of the officers would be on campus. There would actually be 1700 police officers on campus, they informed the students, with 200 National Guard members assigned to protect the police officers from possible attacks.

After police shot two black men last week and five cops were killed in a sniper attack in Dallas, the administration announced they were now taking every effort to clear out campus during the convention. Any student who wished to leave campus would be either flown back home or reimbursed to stay elsewhere in the city.

The university also instructed professors to hold classes off-campus next week, or to arrange them to be held virtually. Professors were given one week to propose a plan the administration would have to approve, further truncating an already cramped summer semester.

Were abdicating our educational mission in order to be a garrison for riot police and the national guard, said one professor, who wished to remain anonymous. They had been scrambling to try to find a place for their students to meet, just a week before finals.

By Friday afternoon, students with packed bags milled on sidewalks waiting for rides as police departments from across the country began rolling onto campus. Makela Hayford will be flying back home to Kansas City this weekend, while Amanda King, who sits on the Cleveland Community Police Commission, will be observing the events of the next week with an eye on the conduct of both the Cleveland policewho have jurisdiction and the power to make arrestsand the outside police departments, who are supposed to be strictly in support roles. After the RNC, King and Hayford will return to working on Shooting Without Bullets, a project that puts cameras in the hands of teenagers in Cleveland in response to police violence against young people nationwide.

We are not done with the administration, King said. They are not going to get away with bringing these militarized police forces on campus and trying to appease students by flying us home. There are larger issues and implications. People in this neighborhood dont have the opportunity to just fly away.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that officials added 400 more police officers and National Guard members to the university housing in response to the shootings in Dallas. The university tells Gothamist that this was always part of the security arrangements.


Behind the Scenes

Such a trip doesnt come up every day. The destination of Taiwan was chosen for a couple of reasons. First of all, we havent heard of anyone who's made a freeriding tour around this fascinating island so far. The mountains there rise high up to more than 3000 metres which is a convincing argument to us.After the decision was made we called to our friends in FUNN Company from Taichung, booked a car and bought the four tickets for the flight with Emirates to get from Prague to Taipei with one stopover in Dubai.Here we are with some statistics which can tell more about our expedition. After all, we stayed 12 days on Taiwan where we travelled more than 2500 km in Toyota Innova.The car consumed 6 full tanks of petrol while we drank 52 bottles of water and an unknown amount of excellent Taiwanese beer.Gaspi was riding his blue Mondraker Dune XR Carbon with the FUNN components, Mitas prototype Highlander Textra tyres and Fox suspension.We went all around the island, made some criss-cross expeditions through inland mountain ridges and reached our highest point in 3250 m above the sea.Every day we spent at least 12 hours searching for the spots suitable for freeriding. However, it was not easy. We made stops at a hundred places but found only less than twenty suitable for both riding and photo shooting. 115 GB of photos and 219 GB of video footage were taken.Last but not least wed like to thank the super helpful Kenny and all the other guys at FUNN, Bobby Chen and the Taichung biking crew, foremost to Flower, Kimberly and Titic.Adam MarsalMarty SmolikLukas JuskoRichard Gaspi Gasperotti
The Planetary Society Mars Microphone was selected to fly on the ultimately cancelled CNES Mars Netlander missions. The Society, including the creator of the Mars Microphone, Dr. Greg Delory of UC Berkeley, worked with the acoustic sensor on Cassini-Huygens to turn science data into sound for the public from Titan in 2005, "hearing" the wind sound of descent through the atmosphere. In 2007, The Planetary Society partnered with Malin Space Science Systems on their microphone in the Phoenix descent imager. This second microphone to fly to Mars, on Phoenix, was never turned on because of the potential for an electronic problem.

Mars remained silent. Well, really, it was really more of a question of if a dust devil moves over your spacecraft on Mars, but no microphone is there to hear itwell, you get the idea. The Planetary Society alone or with partners tried to get microphones on every lander that has gone to Mars since Mars Polar Lander. Some were detailed proposals and technical studies; some were quick rejections. None were scrapped due to technical flaws. So why has it been so hard to fly microphones to Mars?

The gist of the challenge has been convincing space agencies that microphones are worth the resources in terms of time, mass, data, and added complexity. Microphones have trouble competing with other instruments on a science or engineering basis alone, which is often the determining factor for what flies and what doesnt. Microphones have come close to flying again before now, but in the end, each mission team has not wanted one more thing to think about among the rest of their engineering challenges. I go into more detail about this in a Q and A piece just came out in Astronomy magazine on why microphones are hard to get on Mars missions.

What is Flying on Mars 2020?

The SuperCam microphone ties specifically into their science. SuperCam, the follow-on to ChemCam on Curiosity, uses Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)vaporizing rock with a laser and analyzing the spectral result to determine composition of the rock. Its microphone can enhance their science, since testing on Earth indicates that analysis of the volume of the sound (kind of a crack or loud pop) can be used to study the mass of material vaporized by a laser shot. You can find more details in our previous blog post about this microphone having been proposed.

It also should be able to detect other sounds of science, engineering, and public interest, from blowing winds to the crunch of the wheels rolling across the surface. The Planetary Society has been working with the SuperCam team and discussing possible ways to collaborate with their microphone. Well be bringing you more details on the SuperCam microphone in the future.
Brazilian Rafael Moraes leads at the 2016 WSOP Main Event Day 4 Dinner Break

July 15, 2016 Marty Derbyshire

Brazilian Rafael Moraes leads the 2016 World Series of Poker Main Event on the Day 4 dinner break.

The relatively unknown Moraes, who was among the Day 2 leaders, has four WSOP cashes on his resume dating back to 2013, and came third in a 25,000 High Roller at the European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monaco for 568,200 this past Spring, climbed into contention dragging a big pot with kings full of nines part way through the day, then ran it up to 3.497 million on a late rush heading into the 90-minute dinner break.

Silsden, England's Tom Middleton, who won the EPT Barcelona Main Event for $1,260,100 back in 2013, hung around the top half of the leaderboard for the past two days before finally leapfrogging everyone in the level before the break, becoming the first player over three million in chips.

However, Moraes now stands on top of approximately 387 players left with Aussie James Obst (3.295 million) and Middleton (3.285 million) right behind him, as the only players above the three-million mark.

The fourth day of the 2016 WSOP Main Event began with Belgian Kenny Hallaert leading 800 of 6,737 players remaining with 1,709,000 in chips.

They played the half hour remaining in Level 15 and moved up to Level 18 with blinds at 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante.

Jared Bleznick asserted himself immediately, making a flush against 2015 WSOP Player of the Year Mike Gorodinsky to move up from second place coming in, to the top of the counts.

Hallaert was still vying for the top spot, but after doubling up Tony Ruttler with a weak ace versus Ruttler's big slick, he got into a massive hand with Maria Ho that sent her soaring to the top of the counts to end that level.

Ho had aces, called a big turn bet on a queen-high board, then led out for 93,000 when a third ace came on the river. Hallaert called and mucked when Ho showed the set. When the dust settled, Ho's stack looked to be in the first to push past the two-million chip mark.

Dan Heimiller also pushed up to the top of the counts getting away with a huge bluff holding only nine-high, but Ho took the lead into the first break of the day.

Somewhere around 200 players were eliminated in that time period, including 1983 WSOP Main Event winner Tom McEvoy, online legend and 2013 WSOP Main Event 8th-place finisher David Benefield, three-time WSOP bracelet winner Matt Matros, British venture capitalist and high roller Paul Newey, and 2010 WSOP Main Event 7th-place finisher Jason Senti.

Following the first break, Melanie Weisner leapfrogged Ho for the lead winning a massive pot with her own pair of aces. Weisner flopped a boat on an board and got all of Jeffrey Loiacono's 600,000 chips in the middle by the turn. Loiacono had two queens for a smaller full house, and after the classic cooler sent him to the rail, Weisner was up over 2.4 million and on top.

Weisner took that lead into the second break with Christopher Kusha and Moraes also moving up above the two-million chip mark. Ho fell from there, laying down a hand in a three-bet pot after Bradley Young shoved 500,000 over her 130,000 almost-pot-sized bet on the turn of an board.

Middleton joined the two-million chip club after the break and Kiwi Jan Suchanek even jumped up into the lead briefly before Weisner stacked a few more chips and moved in front again. Middleton soared up to the top after that, becoming the first player past three million with Obst pushing slightly above him before Moraes took control heading into the dinner break.

When play resumes at approximately 8:40 p.m. local time in Las Vegas, the plan is to play two more levels before the remaining field bags up.
A gunman with an AR-15-style rifle opened fire on four plainclothes police officers in an unmarked car Thursday night in West Baltimore, police said.

Two of the officers returned fire and fatally shot the man outside apartments on Winchester Street in Bridgeview-Greenlawn, reports the Baltimore Sun.

This AR-style rifle was recovered at the scene. (Photo: Baltimore PD)

The Baltimore Police Department officers were drawn to the apartments by reports of gunfire. Police said the man was shooting before they arrived about 9:30 p.m., then turned his rifle on the officers.

Once shot, the gunman ran to a second floor landing in the apartments, where he was found. He had stashed the rifle, police said, in the woods behind the apartments.

Into Friday morning, police were investigating whether the tactic was an attempt to lure police. The officers weren't injured, and no other victims were found.

"Why he was firing initially? Who he was firing at? That's something we don't have the answer to," said T.J. Smith, a police spokesman.

Now it's being reported that the Baltimore field office of the FBI distributed a memo warning that members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang had discussed the possibility of ambushing officers in the wake of a recent attack in Dallas.

The memo, obtained by The Baltimore Sun, said the BGF had discussed how they could ambush law enforcement officers who were parked in side streets or alleys. The FBI determined it had received "highly credible information" that BGF members were instructed to look for opportunities to shoot white police officers.

Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said investigators looking into Thursday night's shooting are giving consideration to the information, but "are not linking this incident at this time."
VIDEO: Nice Attack Comes Amid Heightened U.S. Security Going Into Conventions

The truck attack that killed more than 80 people in Nice, France serves as an ominous reminder of the damage a lone terrorist can accomplish as the U.S. prepares for political conventions, reports USA Today.

Plowing a large vehicle through a crowd, as happened at the Bastille Day celebration in Nice, demonstrates the high level of damage that can be inflicted in open spaces that are difficult to defend against agile, one-person attacks.

The Nice mayor's office confirmed Friday that Mohamed Bouhlel, 31, a resident of the French seaside city, is the main suspect in the attack. Bouhlel, who was killed in a shootout with police, does not appear to have been known to intelligence services and was not on a terrorism watch list.

The Nice attack came as American federal authorities and big-city police departments heightened security after shooting attacks in Dallas, Orlando, and San Bernardino, and in the wake of Islamic State-linked bombings at airports in Istanbul and Brussels.

More than 3,000 federal security officials are heading to the Republican National Convention that starts Monday in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention the following week in Philadelphia.

Thousands of state and local officers will also patrol the conventions. Extra steps for the convention include Cleveland police staffing two officers in each patrol car rather than one. Visible security measures in place for months at public events include searches of bags, more teams of bomb-sniffing dogs circulating and more screening equipment, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

But while federal and local authorities are monitoring security conditions, they say there are no specific threats against the conventions or big cities.

Brian Michael Jenkins, director of the Mineta Transportation Institute's National Transportation Safety and Security Center, said the policy debate is over how strictly to block or screen vehicles, while still allowing commerce and traffic to flow.

"The problem with a vehicle as weapon is that it's so accessible  you don't have to acquire an arsenal or build a bomb," Jenkins said. "It is a vulnerability of modern society."
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As I do every week while preparing Friday Fox Follies, I am currently watching the Fox News Channel. Today, after the latest terrorist attack in France, the meat puppets are breathlessly fomenting anger and resentment at Islam and President Obama. Yesterday the so-called news channel was breathlessly fomenting anger and resentment at Black folks and President Obama. Since going on the air in 1996 Fox News has been breathlessly fomenting anger and resentment at one segment of society or another and President Obama (after 2007 only).

Theres not a thing they wont use to attack President Obama. Frinstance: This morning they are gleefully quoting the daughter of Eric Garner, when they denigrated her father back then, because she attacked both ABC News and President Obama. Another two-fer. How do they do it?

I have been watching Fox News obsessively for the last 11 years (and writing about those Chicolinis for 7), ever since I moved from Canada to Florida to take care of Pops following the death of my mother. Pops has been in the hospital for the last 5 weeks which is why Ive not written this column lately  and that has given me ample time to reflect upon my journey from Newsroom Writer to News Critic.

When I first got to Florida, Pops was an avid Fox News viewer. I was, at the time, only a few years removed from a decade as a News Writer at Citytv, in Toronto. Pops always had Fox News on at dinner and I would be yelling at the tee vee, You cant say that! Thats not true! How can they get away with that?

Pops would say, in his dry way, Why dont you call them up?

I told him it was deliberate propaganda. They knew exactly what they were saying . . . and I couldnt believe it.

Ive long said that a tee vee station in Canada would never get away with broadcasting such obvious lies. There are Broadcast Standards and any aggrieved citizen can make a complaint to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and, if theres merit, it will be heard. Where does one go to complain about the stinking piles of manure Fox News drops throughout the broadcast day?

Then one day, while perusing the documentaries at the local library, I discovered Outfoxed. This movie exposed everything I had been screaming about. This confirmed every trick in the book, that I was seeing with my own two eyes, of how Fox News slanted stories. Before Fox News criticism became a cottage industry, Brave New Films was exposing its dark underbelly. Because absolutely nothing has changed since it was made in 2004, and because its such an important movie, watch the whole thing when you get a spare 77 minutes:

It wasnt long after that I discovered NewsHounds, the motto of which is We watch Fox News so you dont have to! I became a regular reader there and then started to contribute to threads under the nom de troll Aunty Em Ericann. When the editor discovered I watched Glenn Beck because I considered it high comedy, Aunty Em was hired to write a weekly column on the Comedy Cavalcade of Crazy. From there I branched out to make fun of the rest of the Fox News personalities, some with more venom than others because some are more dangerous than others.

IRONY ALERT: It was a while before I learned that some of the people who had started NewsHounds had been some of the researchers for Outfoxed.

I kept up my Fox News criticism at the Not Now Silly Newsroom, the facebookery, and now here at PoliticusUSA. Meanwhile, many years ago, I broke Pops of the habit of watching the Fox News Channel. Now he watches CNN, which TO BE FAIR is becoming more like Fox News every day.

However, Im still obsessed. Thanks, Pops!!!

Fox News has clearly jumped on board the Trump Train  just as it has done for the GOP every election cycle since Bill Clinton was soiling dresses. Thats why its more important than ever to be a Fox News critic and to expose the purported news channels mendacity. Roger Ailes is hoping he can help elect a Merkin Demagogue to the Oval Office. Donald Trump, who knows more than a little about quid pro quo, might be inclined to help pay Fox News back for all the free publicity it has given him over the years.

WRETCHED GRETCHED: Speaking of Roger Ailes, one story Im sorry I missed while away was Gretchen Carlsons accusations of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes. It almost makes me sorry I made fun of her at Not Now Silly. Once I called her the e.e. cummings of the Twitterverse for her bizarre lack of capitalization in her tweets where it mattered, but sprinkled where it shouldnt. Then there was that time I coined Wretched Gretched as an epithet. However, no one deserves to be sexually harassed on the job. Without reservation I believe Carlson, just as I believed the victims of Bill Cosby and Jian Ghomeshi.

Another reason I have no reason to doubt Carlson is that I exposed Roger Ailes lies about Richard Nixons treason to John Mitchells biographer, Fox News reporter James Rosen. If Ailes will cover up treason, what wont he do? Treating women as sexual objects doesnt seem like much of a stretch.

Here are just some of the hundreds of headlines that Roger Ailes helped generate:

Watch the Gretchen Carlson Sexist Supercut from Bloomberg:

However, Roger Ailes has some defenders including Roger Ailes:

Roger Ailes Denies Carlsons Sexual Harassment Allegations.

Fox News Parent Company Conducting A Review

Loofah Lad, who got his unique nickname during his own sexual harassment lawsuit that he settled for an undisclosed amount [cough millions cough], weighed in on the man who allowed him to make millions of dollars off the back of the unsuspecting Fox News audience:

I stand by Roger Ailes 100 percent: Bill OReilly defends

his Fox News boss and raves about their relationship in

wake of Gretchen Carlson suit during chat with Seth Meyers:

Watch one sexual harasser defend another:

I believe The Falafel King. Dont you? And then theres Donald Trumps Reason for His Defense of Roger Ailes is Totally Insane by our own Sarah Jones:

The first issue is that it is ridiculous to speculate on the merit of the accusations if you werent there, arent a woman, have never experienced sexual harassment, and have political incentive to pretend you dont see them.



Presidential it is not, when you make a decision about something when you have no facts upon which to make a decision.



And worse yet, Donald Trump is a harasser of women. He sees women as a piece of meat, eye candy at best and trash to be threatened and hit when he isnt happy.



The allegations against Donald Trump are too numerous to list here, but from his ex-wifes account of his assaulting her to his relentless harassment of a female journalist who rebuffed him until she had to threaten him legally, he sounds a lot like the Roger Ailes described by so many women.

Thats right. One serial harasser defending another. Who else is there? Lookie here! Its Viagra-popping Rush Limbaugh Defends Foxs Roger Ailes From Sexual Harassment Allegations and goofy Geraldo Rivera Defends Roger Ailes by Comparing Him to Bear That Jumped Leonardo DiCaprio. No. Really.

While nothing mitigates such sexist behaviour  NOTHING!  Gretchen Carlson did buy into a so-called news network on which The Leg Chair is an actual thing. A channel on which one subtle subtext is that women should be servile, kinda like in the Bible, yannow? A channel that finds almost any excuse to show scantily clad women, while tut-tutting the behaviour of the women on the screen and blaming it on President Obama somehow. Another rare two-fer. How do they do it?

IRONY ALERT: Fox News claims that Gretchen Carlson and her lawyers are trying this case in the media. If so, theyre winning. That stench never comes off. Just ask Roscoe Arbuckle.

Headly Westerfield promises a longer column next week once hes back up to speed. Meanwhile, he invites you to read Say Goodbye to the E.W.F. Stirrup House While You Still Can.
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First, there was the terror attack in Nice, France and now a military coup in Turkey. What was supposed to be one of the biggest moments for any presidential campaign has been rendered a third-rate afterthought by more serious news.

Bloomberg is reporting that parts of the Turkish military are attempting to overthrow the government:

Turkeys army says it seized power in the country as warplanes flew over the capital and tanks blocked roads in Istanbul. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his government is still in control and will resist.

The army said in an e-mailed statement that it took power to restore freedom and democracy. It said all international agreements will be honored.

The coup effort wont be permitted to succeed, Yildirim told NTV television. He said army units have besieged some institutions, and he said police  traditionally closer to his government than the army  have been ordered to use arms if necessary. He said the elected government remains in power.

Sandwiched around the horrific truck attack in Nice, France and a military coup in Turkey was Donald Trumps announcement of Mike Pence as his running mate.

One of the under-discussed elements of this election is the role that breaking news has played in shaping the perceptions of the candidates.

Trump tends to use every breaking news situation as an opening to gin up fear and reinforce his message that America is not safe. Hillary Clinton has reacted to breaking events by putting her skills on display and demonstrating to voters exactly what she would do if she became the next president.

Donald Trump attempts to exploit breaking news for emotional manipulation, while Hillary Clinton looks to send the impression to voters that she is the competent adult choice for president.

Trump was very lucky during the Republican presidential primary. He lucked out because his Republican opponents didnt take him seriously. He ran against a field of uninspiring choices, and Trump benefited from Jeb Bush completely misjudging the primary electorate.

Donald Trump is on the big stage now, and his luck has run out. Real news and the sort of crisis that every president has to deal with our dominating the campaign. Trumps luck has been bad, but his response to all of these unforeseen events has revealed a candidate who is unable to rise to the challenge and demonstrate the qualities needed in a president.

The universe is conspiring to send the message that Donald Trump is not a future president.
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Perhaps in an effort to recapture the magic after his ho-hum VP pick of Mike Pence, Donald Trump joined conservative radio host Michael Savage for some good old fashioned, Nazi-style immigrant bashing.

According to Savage, President Obama has not only been flooding America with immigrants who cannot or will not work, hes bringing in people who have brought back illnesses that were once basically eliminated in America, and Trump agreed, saying the people are pouring into this country and, in many cases theyre not well people.

It is an obscenity to hear this diseased-immigrant screed coming from a raging anti-vaxxer like Michael Savage, because of course, it is anti-vaxxers themselves who are shepherding these diseases back into our lives, not immigrants.

Listen courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

SAVAGE: Its a disaster to bring in diseased immigrants, dont you agree?



TRUMP: Well thats whats happening, and people dont like talking about it and certainly its not politically correct to talk about it and thats why they dont do it, because everything we do today has to do with political correctness. If somethings a little bit off, off just a little bit, they say, Oh, please dont mention that. Even my people tell me dont mention that and I decide to mention things anyway, even though I know its going to end up being a firestorm I mention them anyway. But theres something thats one of the other elements, and the people are pouring into this country and, in many cases theyre not well people, in many respects.

Actually, people do talk about it, and they should not, not because of political correctness but because its not factually correct.

You hate to say these two are lying, but theyre lying like rugs and the truth is not in them. The ADL gives the facts about this oft-repeated myth:

Although people have claimed that undocumented immigrants have brought diseases to the U.S., including measles, hepatitis C, HIV, tuberculosis, and even ebola, the allegations are not supported by science or medicine. There is no evidence that immigrants have been the source of any modern outbreaks in the U.S. According to the World Health Organization, 113 countries, including many countries in Latin America, have higher vaccination rates for 1-year-olds than the U.S. Mexico, for example, has a 99 percent vaccination rate for measles while Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have around a 93 percent vaccination rate. The vaccination rate in the U.S., by comparison, is approximately 92 percent. The vast majority of immigrants arriving in the U.S. have been screened for health issues.

Of course Trump agrees, being an anti-vaxxer himself. We havent heard the last of this by a long shot. We are reminded by Media Matters that last October, Michael Savage and Donald Trump agreed that the NIH is terrible, that autism is a fraud, a racket, PTSD and depression sufferers are losers, and the conversation ended with an offer from Trump to put Savage in charge of the NIH:

SAVAGE: We have such corruption right now in science itself that theres virtually almost no real honest science anymore and the best evidence I have for that is the fake global warming research. Almost every study comes out thats warped. Its all corrupt. Again Donald, Im going to put it out because I keep saying it because people are hearing it. When you become president, I want you to consider appointing me to head of the NIH. I will make sure that America has real science and real medicine again in this country because I know the corruption. I know how to clean it up and I know how to make real research work again.



TRUMP: I think thats great. And I think that frankly 



SAVAGE: No, I would leave radio for that. Donald, I would take a cut in pay that would be astronomical, but I would do it for this country. You could pay me a dollar a year and I would do it, just to make sure we have real science and medicine.



TRUMP: Well, you know youd get common sense if that were the case, that I can tell you, because I hear so much about the NIH and its terrible. [Cumulus Media Networks, The Savage Nation, 10/6/15]

If you thought things looked bad with regards the economy, think about the fact that you have to be alive to experience an economic crash. If Trump were to win, and Savage were to have any say at all, you wouldnt have to worry about bodies plummeting from windows overhead because youd be gasping your last in a refugee tent somewhere praying for the good old days of Obama death panels to put a quick end to it.

When Game of Thrones character Melisendre says the night is dark and full of terrors, she aint kidding.
Former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer is suing Svetlana Andreevna Zakharova, also known as Lana Travis, after she accused him of assaulting her at the Plaza Hotel back in February. Zakharova apologized to Spitzer and suggested she'd made the whole thing up after news of the incident hit the tabloids, according to the former governor's lawyers, but she later allegedly began demanding money and threatening to "reveal false details of encounters with Spitzer, prompting this suit alleging extortion, the NY Times reports.

In February, police were reportedly called to a $1000/night suite at the Plaza after Zakharova called 911 saying that she was having a breakdown and had cut her wrist. Spitzer apparently answered the door and told responders that everything was fine, but cops returned and found broken glass and blood. They called EMS, who took Travis to the hospital, and once there, she reportedly told hospital staff that Spitzer had attacked her.

But after the fact, Spitzer's lawyers said at the time, Zakharovawho'd flown home to Russiaemailed him to say, "I just read the news, I'm so sorry," and offered to tell the police that her report was fake. She apparently implied she'd made up the story about the assault out of fear she'd be hospitalized for mental illness.

It now appears that wasn't the end of that. From the Times:

[A]fter the February episode, Ms. Zakharova was apparently emboldened to make more demands, according to the lawsuit. Mr. Spitzers lawyers wrote that she believed that this claim gave her new leverage. Ms. Zakharova demanded that Mr. Spitzer provide her with money, stating that if he did not do so she would ruin his life, the lawsuit alleges, saying she wanted hundreds of thousands of dollars, trips to Paris and other valuable property. Ms. Zakharova also wanted to rekindle the relationship, the suit charges, and sent hostile emails and other threats. Then, in June, Ms. Zakharova allegedly contacted one of Mr. Spitzers daughters via social media to reveal false details of encounters with him, an action that Adam Kaufmann, a lawyer for the former governor, described as the final straw.

[...]

Mr. Spitzers lawyers provided emails to The New York Times  which they said Ms. Zakharova had sent  that suggested a serious grievance with the former governor. Still sleeping? began one of the emails. Thats good, when you wake up your life will be destroyed  I promise you that.



The suit notes that Spitzer did agree to make "certain payments" to Zakharova to prevent her from going public with details that she thought would embarrass his family. Spitzer and his lawyers are seeking just $1 in damages, but are also looking for "other relief as may be appropriate."

Spitzer resigned from his position as governor after just a year in office in 2008, after he was linked to a high-end prostitution ring. He's since turned his attentions toward furthering the desecration of the Williamsburg waterfront with a dystopian nightmare of a development based on a "molded iceberg." At least he's found a new hobby?




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Donald Trump woke up this Saturday in a foul mood, and thus he went to Twitter to pout, as all presidential types do.

The Republican presumptive nominee whined about Hillary Clinton having money for ads when he has none, and whined about her attacking him over the fact that he has no foreign policy experience.

To wit:

Crooked Hillary is spending big Wall Street money on ads saying I don't have foreign policy experience, yet look what her policies have done  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 16, 2016

To understand why Trump is so peeved, when Donald Trump told Republicans that his campaign had money, it was a lie. In meeting with Senate Republicans, Trumps campaign privately admitted that they have no money and will not be able to run television ads until after the GOP convention in July.

So what does one do when theyre broke? They whine that the other person has money to spend on ads. Or, if they are actually presidential material, they might get serious about the attempted coup in Turkey. But of course Trump didnt do that because he has no foreign policy experience and thus no insight to share and he seems loath to be told what to say by people who actually know something.

Instead of writing something like President Obama or Hillary Clinton did about Turkey, Donald Trump is whining about the fact that Hillary Clinton has money to spend on ads.

Wall Street money, he claims. And the only reason that matters is because the Republican Party cant get money from Wall Street like they usually do. Yes, Wall Street is not being as generous with the Partys convention as they were during previous years.

The Party is not pleased about this, and they went begging to Sheldon Adelson for $6 million, claiming that big corporations were not living up to their pledges because of Donald Trump.

And while that is true in some cases, things got even worse for the Republican Party when it was revealed that they had lied in their begging letter to Adelson because many of the corporations they claimed werent giving what they had pledged had actually not pledged the amounts claimed or anything at all.

Yes, the RNC convention host letter glossed over facts in order to appeal to Adelson more, and then got embarrassed when the corporations spoke out against the false claims. Though certainly there are many corporations that did pull out or say they wouldnt fund anymore than they already had due to the stench of Dangerous Don.

Given this embarrassment and the cluster mess of a VP rollout, caused by Trumps petulance over being scooped and the fact that he reportedly didnt want Pence at all, he went to Twitter to do the things he does best  pouting and whining.

Next up, were being treated to a Veep rollout redo at 11 AM this Saturday.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse *

Political conventions are generally raucous affairs full of passion for the Party and its chosen standard bearer, including soaring expectations for running the nation. If reports are true, and there is no reason to believe they are not, the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this week looks to be full of passion, certainly raucous, and possibly quite violent; just the way Donald Trump expects from his rabid supporters.

Trumps base, theocrats, white supremacists, and nativists dont have much to anticipate at the convention because their hero has clinched the nomination and chosen a bonafide bigot and theocrat as his running mate in Indiana Governor Mike Pence. With their champions chosen, there is little left for the Trump folks to anticipate other than which demographic they will lash out at first.

If the Trump acolytes arent calling for a race war, including organizing small units and stockpiling thousands of rounds of ammunition, they were gathering support for Trump delegates to attend the convention fully armed and dangerous; against almost everyone who is not white, not evangelical, and certainly not American.

An insurance executive and self-professed economist, James Klein, concluded he had to go to Cleveland armed and urged his fellow delegates to do the same. Were talking about ISISand were talking about people who have shown a propensity for violence in reference to protesters outside Trump rallies.

Klein may be a typical Trump supporter; a lifelong NRA member who carries a gun every day he was quick to note that his particular concern and reason for being armed at a political convention is international terrorism.

Im not a terrorist, okay, but Im an academic and a theorist, and I would think that if I were an ISIS guy that I might want to attack the Republican National Convention. People will attack you at your weakest, at your softest.

He is fairly certain that attacks will not occur at the convention hall, but elsewhere around the city where police and the Secret Service are unlikely to stop an attack, delegates have to be prepared for the worst.

Another Trump delegate, Ash Khare, acknowledged that guns arent allowed inside the convention hall, but Trumps supporters still have to be armed once outside the building. Khare said,

There are a whole bunch of things happening: You go to various events, receptions, whatever, outside the convention hall. And you walk on the streets and, you know, people know that you are a delegate, and who knows what the crazy people are going to do? So youve got to be vigilant about whats going on and prepare yourself.

Khare, like no small number of Trump supporters, has been sufficiently impacted and frightened by Trumps perpetual fear-mongering. He is so worried, in fact, about being prepared for people that may know hes a delegate that he applied for, and expects to receive, a concealed carry permit in time to attend the convention. However, he attempted to stress that delegates carrying concealed weapons are not looking for trouble: You gotta have a proper mindset and the proper trainingThis is just in case you get into a situation where you can make a difference.

Apparently Donald Trumps months-long fear-mongering has achieved its desired effect on many delegates who will not feel safe unless they are armed. One Harrisburg area delegate, Marc Scaringi, said Pennsylvania delegates have spent the past few weeks exchanging many emails discussing the need to bring weapons to Cleveland.

Scaringi specifically pointed out the violence that occurred at a San Jose Trump event in June. Anti-Trump protesters apparently jumped on cars, and did throw eggs at a female Trump supporter. Scaringi predicted that,

This is going to be the most riotous political convention since 1968, and maybe even more so. In addition to just your average political protester, youre going to get serious people here who want to do harm and want to create mayhem.

There are other Trump supporters who seemingly are traveling to Cleveland specifically to create mayhem and do harm. These supporters are the white supremacists that claim their European-American identity is under constant attack by members of American institutions such as the state, education, and multi-culturalism. It was reported last week that the white supremacist group involved in a violent brawl with anti-racists in Sacramento announced that it would be at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland specifically to protect Trump supporters. The Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP) involved in the Sacramento stab-fest informed McClatchy that about 30 members would be at the GOP event. Were essentially just going to show up and make sure that the Donald Trump supporters are defended from the leftist thugs.

The group, which was joined by the Golden State Skinheads (GSS) said on its website that they had to make a statement about the precarious situation our race is in. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) noted that the TWP head, Matthew Heimbach, was the manly white racist who was caught on video physically assaulting a young Black woman at a Trump rally; he had tweeted prior to assaulting the young woman that We wont bow down to leftist scum.

It is impossible to know for sure just how dangerous and violent, much less disruptive, a group of white nationalists looking for violence will be at the convention. These white supremacists are drawn to Trump because they are certain that white people are being victimized by what they claim is an abominable multicultural society. A society founded on equality they claim increasingly denies them their god-given power, white rights, and special privileges they say is their due entitlement as the real Americans.

It is beginning to appear that after months of Donald Trumps fear mongering and demagoguery against any and all non-white and non-Christian groups, and Republican delegates planning an carrying weapons, there will be passion at the Republican National Convention and a very real possibility of deadly violence outside, particularly after Trump regularly encourages violence as the only solution to every issue.
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The Trump announcement of Mike Pence has been a complete fiasco, as the Republican nominee has hijacked the event by accusing Hillary Clinton of murder.

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Trump went on a rambling rant about Hillary Clinton, She a corrupt person, and what shes done with the emails, and what shes done with other things, and I see the ads up all the time, the ads. Shes totally bought and paid for by Wall Street, the special interests, the lobbyists. One hundred percent. Shes crooked Hillary. And I think that while she got away with murder.

The announcement itself has been a disjointed disaster. Pence wasnt even on stage while Trump was reading his written remarks. Trump gave token mention to Pence, but he is making it clear that Pence isnt even a co-star on the Republican ticket. This is the Donald Trump show, and Mike Pence is nothing more than a guest star/constitutional necessity on the Republican ticket.

Trump would ramble on about various unrelated topics, and then try to pivot to Pence by saying, back to Mike Pence.

What was supposed to be Mike Pences big moment on the national stage was the Donald Trump show, as Trump hijacked the announcement of his own VP nominee by accusing Hillary Clinton of murder.

Trumps announcement of Pence has been nothing short of a chaotic disaster that is likely not to give Republicans the slightest bump in the polls.
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After officially announcing his running mate Gov. Mike Pence, Donald Trump is refusing to hit the campaign trail with the governor in his home state of Indiana.

Numerous journalists are reporting that Trump wont campaign with Pence:

Trump is NOT joining Pence for his "welcome home" in Indiana, aides confirm. Will they be seen on trail together after this/the convention?  Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) July 16, 2016

So, if trump isn't joining pence's rally in Indiana, it's just like he's campaigning for governor. Rally in Indiana. Full stop.  Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) July 16, 2016

The idea that a nominee with ditch his running mate right after announcing him is perfectly in character for Donald Trump. One of the dynamics that is hurting the Republican Party is the presidential campaign is the fact that Donald Trump is a lazy campaigner.

Trump is being blown out of the water by the Hillary Clinton campaign. Clinton or her surrogates usually schedule numerous events each day, while Donald Trump is content to hold two or three rallies a week.

If Trump wanted to send the message that he is happy with Mike Pence as VP, not campaigning with him is not the way to do it. Trump continues to send the message that he isnt taking running for president seriously.

Donald Trump feels entitled to the presidency, and he wants the American people to hand him the White House on a silver platter.
EYOTA  At Eyota Antiques, the historical items aren't just lying in display cases or hanging from the walls. It's the walls themselves that come with a sense of history.

The building at 30 S. Front St. was built in the 1860s, said John Erickson, owner of the business.

"It was the ice shack for the railroad back then," he said. Since then, it's been the American Legion building, a bar and several iterations of antique shops by different owners. "It's been a lot of things."

What it wasn't, when Erickson took over the building and started his business there, is visually appealing from outside. So when Erickson heard the city was offering "free money" to improve storefronts in the Historic Downtown business district, he wanted to know more.

"If it was someone's income tax, I'd just do it myself," he said. But when he heard the funds came from the half-cent sales tax money from Rochester, "I was in."

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Eyota is one of several small towns using funds from Rochester or state programs to invest in the curb appeal of their main street businesses. In most cases, the money comes with some strings attached  don't move out of your business within a certain number of years; projects are limited to aesthetic and structural upgrades such as new doors and windows, awnings, paint and signage  but the money is, essentially, free, said Cathy Enerson, director of the Eyota Economic Development Authority.

For example, Eyota's program allows a $2,500 grant with no matching funds. From $2,501 to $10,000, the funds must be matched by the business owner. Repayment is forgiven as long as the owner does not sell the building within five years.

From the city's perspective, the improved building fronts give main street a safer, more attractive look.

"It's the romance of the small town with the awnings and the signage and the windows," Enerson said. "The facade improvement program is a great way to help the building owners and the town at the same time. You get a safer downtown and a more attractive downtown."

Spread the wealth

While Eyota is the first city to use the half-cent sales tax money in Olmsted County, several cities take advantage of grants for downtown redevelopment from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, said Enerson, who also serves as EDA director in Preston and Spring Valley.

"They got $600,000 from DEED in Preston," Enerson said. "The goal is to improve 12 commercial properties and 24 apartments."

While only a handful of grants have been handed out in Eyota, Stewartville has paid out $35,238 in 16 grants since 2013, said Stewartville EDA Director Joya Stetson. One of those grants helped the facade for Identity Designs Graphics at 201 Main St.

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Chris Dahle said she is the second owner of the building who has taken advantage of the facade program, and other businesses in her building have jumped on the bandwagon as well.

The building, which dates from 1940, is in good shape, she said, but adding awnings and signage help make it more appealing to customers and to the city as a whole.

"It dresses it up," she said. "I've received a lot of compliments on it. I think it just gives it a cleaner look."

For Dahle's graphics business, image is everything, and having an improved storefront helps with that image.

"It helps the business get noticed, and it's really improving the look of the town," she said. "So it's a win-win."

Without the project, she doubts many businesses would invest in their facades.

"People that may not have done the improvements have done them because they get reimbursed for half," she said. "Once I heard about the program, it got me doing it."

Heather Woitas received a grant for signage that helps direct customers around back to her furniture restoration and refurbishment business, Cherished Seconds.

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"I used it for directional signage at the front of the building and another sign at my entrance," she said. Getting the help from the city is encouraging. "I hope to take advantage of it again in the future and do a more appealing entrance area."

Rebuilding historic buildings

Charles Pearson is using most of his grant in Eyota to buy supplies and do the work himself at his future location for Wind Power Firearms. Pearson has been running the gun retailer from his home near Eyota, but when he looked to move to a storefront on South Front Street, the property he purchased came with some problems.

"The buildings were built in the early 1900s," he said, referring to the structures along South Front Street. "The brick and the mortar is getting weak."

To help fix the problems with his business's new home, Pearson approached the city for some help in upgrading the deteriorating building.

"It was a pretty easy process. We just sat down and talked about what our ideas were," he said. That included some structural upgrades, new wood on the storefront and a stronger door for security. "If they want to keep them they way they are, they need to put some money into it."

While Pearson still is working on his storefront, Erickson is pleased with his finished project. An awning that runs across most of the building's front along with a new sign, new door and other improvements have changed the look of his antique business, he said.

"How can you go wrong?" Erickson rhetorically asked. "I don't know why everyone hasn't taken advantage of this."
Weekend anchor/multimedia journalist Devin Bartolotta had her final day on KTTC-TV on July 11 and is heading to Baltimore.

Bartolotta spent three years at KTTC, following internships in Pittsburgh and New York City. She graduated from Ohio University, majoring in broadcast news and political science..

She will be reporting for WJZ, Baltimore's CBS affiliate, five days a week. "That means I won't get to do any anchoring or producing, but I will have one weekend day off each week, which is awesome, because I haven't had weekend days off consistently since I was in high school," she said. "I don't even know what I am going to do with myself.

"The job will be less intense in terms of what my responsibilities are, and more intense in terms of what the work requires because there is so much more hard news, so much more crime, some bigger stories than I am used to," Bartolotta said. "It will be a little overwhelming at times, but it's nothing that Rochester hasn't prepared me for."

Now that her time in Minnesota is winding down, she has been reminiscing about her Minnesota memories, and she has packed more Minnesotan things to do in her three years here than most "born and raised" residents of the state do in their lifetime.

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"I knew that I had to cram a lot of stuff into a short amount of time," she said. "I'd say my favorite memories are Matt (her boyfriend) and I took a trip to Duluth in the end of May that was awesome  we did about 30 miles of hiking in two days and went to every state park up there. We went all the way up the coast to the border on a waterfall tour.

"The second thing that that stands out is the ice fishing trip I took with friends (including Justin McKee and Chris Barriere, her co-workers on the weekend shows) to Lake Mille Lacs, and rented an ice house and brought snowmobiles out, slept on the ice," she said. "We all were mad at each other by then end of it because it was such close quarters, but it was so much fun! I didn't catch any fish at all but that was an amazing experience."

As far as memorable stories she has covered in her time here: "Just a few weeks ago I went hang-gliding," she said. "I've also been rock-climbing for a story, and been on a fan boat in the middle of the Mississippi with the Army Corps of Engineers measuring the depth of the ice on Lake Pepin. I've been able to do a lot of really cool things that a lot of people don't normally get to do, and that's what is really cool about this job, you get to do something different every day. If you are willing to take some strange risks, there are always the strange rewards, like having a really cool story that is very memorable and that a lot of people enjoy."

Bartolotta's departure coincides with the news this week that weekday anchor Robin Wolfram is leaving the station.

"We've been getting a lot of emails and comments on Facebook thinking there is this mass exodus of anchors, because we've lost Randy Brock, Dan Wolfe recently left, Robin has been gone for a few months now (on personal leave) and I'm on my way out," Bartolotta said. "But honestly, it's a sad reality of how this business works. A lot of people start in smaller areas and work their way up and learn and grow and work their way up to places that are much closer to home, or a place they feel more at home.

"I've loved my time here in Rochester, and I know that Randy loved it so much he didn't want to move away, but for me, I'm 950 miles away from home, so the opportunity to move within a four-hour drive, I couldn't pass that up," she said. "We all leave this market for different reasons, and it is just unfortunate timing that we are all leaving at the same time."
In 1952, Everett Swanson went to South Korea to preach the gospel to troops in the Korean army.

While he was there, he was deeply moved by the number of orphans because of the war. He discussed this issue with a missionary, who in turn challenged the Rev. Swanson: "You have seen the tremendous needs and unparalleled opportunities of this land. What do you intend to do about it?"

When Swanson returned to the U.S., he and his wife, Miriam, with the help of Dr. Gus and Helen Hemwall, launched a ministry on behalf of the orphans. Christians began donating to the ministry. By 1954, the sponsorship program still offered today was born. People give a monthly gift to help provide food, shelter, medical care and Bible instruction for a specific child.

In 1963, Swanson had grown uncomfortable with the organization bearing his name, so it was renamed Compassion International, from Matthew 15:32: "I have compassion for these people  I do not want to send them away hungry." Today, this ministry serves more than 1 million children in more than 25 nations.

If we say we believe in God and that He loves us and wants a relationship with us, then we also believe it is our responsibility to love other people and to have compassion on them as Jesus taught us. Recall the story of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10, which begins with the two most important laws in the Bible: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" and, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

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We all are called to be compassionate and to serve others out of that compassion. We believe God calls all Christians to show compassion to people in need.

So what difference does being compassionate make in my life? If we choose to show compassion to people as God does, then:

 We will change our priorities and how we use our time. Instead of spending every Saturday in bed, maybe we should get up and rake our neighbor's yard, help our kids clean the garage or serve at a food bank or Salvation Army.

 We are set free to give because we trust God for our needs.

 People who have been forgotten by society will be cared for and restored.

 We truly will reach our neighborhoods and our cities. We can make a difference in our communities! We have heard it often: "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

We need to see people as God sees people. God calls us to feel compassion for those around us, and when we feel that compassion, we must let it trigger action in our hands and feet to be Jesus to "the least of these."
The middle of July begins "crunch time" for monarch butterflies. It is the next month of egg-laying that will determine how many will head south to Mexico in late August and September. Those migrants will then be responsible for producing our monarchs for next year.

Although the past few years have been down years for monarchs, last year at this time the numbers I and many other saw were very encouraging. And, according to the World Wildlife Fund, it was this increase in July that led to higher counts in the Mexico overwintering sites.

One report I read indicated this year there were more than 9 acres of overwintering monarchs at the handful of sanctuaries found in the trans-volcanic mountains northwest of Mexico City. This compares to less than 2 acres surveyed two years ago and only 4 acres last year.

However, 9 acres is still well below historic numbers observed since their wintering sites were discovered by researchers in 1976. And I am guessing it is way below the number of acres used by monarchs in the four years I visited the sanctuaries at times over the past 20 years. On the last visit in 2007, the group I took there was treated to tens of millions of "flying flowers" at just one of the sanctuaries.

Resarchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego found that the eastern migratory monarch population declined by more than 90 percent from the winter of 1996-97 to the winter of 2013-14. Based on those numbers, they indicated "there is a substantial chance of a quasi-extinction over the next 20 years." A quasi-extinction ultimately leads to only a few remaining individuals surviving for a short time before total extinction.

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The same researchers also indicated that while no one knows for sure why monarch numbers have declined, agricultural chemicals and other habitat destruction seem the most likely culprits.

While the numbers in Mexico were fairly high this winter, that did not seem to translate to good numbers showing up thus far this spring and summer. I usually see my first monarch in early- to mid-May, sometimes even the end of April. This year it was mid-June before one crossed my path. And, looking for eggs was a waste of time until a couple weeks ago, when some showed up in my son-in-law's swamp milkweed patch.

My total number seen for the year is still low, at only four. But this year we've planted a couple dozen of the No. 1 monarch nectaring plants, meadow blazing star. So if there are monarchs around, we should see them in the next few weeks.

This past weekend the local butterfly count also yielded low numbers of monarchs, with only 36 reported by a couple dozen counters. Last year 136 were seen, with the year before 86, just slightly above the 18-year average for the count.

Survival of the monarch will require sustained higher populations, not just occasional increases like last winter. Our best bet is probably to tackle chemicals and habitat, and hopefully improve things for the monarchs.

I certainly hope we are successful, so I might someday take my grandchildren to Mexico to experience millions of monarchs like I was able to experience myself.

I'll be interested to hear from readers who see more than five monarchs on any day over the next month. Just text or call me at 261-2985.

Crane Update:Although I still get feedback from others about sandhill cranes in southeastern Minnesota, the pair and their two young I first wrote about at RCTC appear to have moved on. I've gotten no feedback on sightings since July 5, and checked the site over carefully on the 12th, so I suspect, and hope, the parents got smart and moved the young to one of the better-suited nearby pond habitats.
Before his name became associated with genocide and other horrible things, Christopher Columbus once was revered in American classrooms as an intrepid explorer, discoverer of the New World.

And while his name will likely never recover the luster it once possessed (at least among many fierce critics), few would argue that the 15th century Italian explorer was a damn good sailor. Over a 12-year period, Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, discovering what for Columbus and his sailors would be the New World (and what for the inhabitants was home).

And starting Thursday, July 21, and running until early Tuesday morning, July 26, an opportunity for a more intimate connection with that history will present itself when replicas of the Pinta and Nina arrive at Lake City.

The ships will be docked at Lake City Marina, 201 S. Franklin St. The ships tour together as part of a "sailing museum" and draw 20,000 people a year.

Stephen Sanger, captain of the Nina, says a common reaction among visitors who board the Nina for the first time is how incredibly small the vessel is. Measuring 65 feet long (a little more than 20 yards) and 18 feet wide, the ship offered little in the way of privacy for the 24-member crew, some of whom were prisoners and debtors. Columbus, one thinks, must have been a tyrannical and brutal captain to keep such a mob in line.

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"Everyone is expecting something much bigger than what they actually are," Sanger said. "But 520 odd years ago, the ships were big for their time."

Another common reaction: Where the heck is the flag ship Santa Maria? As history buffs know, Columbus set out on his maiden voyage on three ships in 1492, including the considerably bigger Santa Maria. But Sanger says bringing along such a ship would be impossible, because it would sit twice as deep in the water as the other two ships and would be restricted to large ocean and Great Lakes ports.

The real Santa Maria eventually wrecked on a corral reef off Haiti, One story has it that the disaster was the result of an inattentive cabin boy (even back then bad stuff rolled downhill), while the crew was sleeping on shore. After helping the crew build a settlement, Columbus returned to Spain on the Nina, promising to return and completing an eight-to-nine-month journey. When Columbus returned to the settlement in the fall of 1493, none of the crew was found alive.

The Nina that will present itself at Lake City is the exact size as the original. It was constructed using the same methods and tools that were employed in building the original more than 500 years ago. Since there was no electricity back then, none was used during its construction, Sanger said.

The Pinta, recently built in Brazil, is a larger version of the archetypical caravel, which historians consider the Space Shuttle of the late 1400s.

The point is to give visitors a small taste of what life must have been like back then.

"Obviously, when you're on board, to understand what life was like in the day and how fortunate we are today. We take a lot of things for granted," Sanger said. "There were 20 to 30 men living on the main deck of the ship, really not knowing where they are going."

Sanger said navigating the Nina replica gives him some appreciation of the "incredible feat" Columbus managed when navigating across the Atlantic.

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"Being on these ships, just going up the coast and getting in some storms is about enough," Sanger said about his own experiences navigating the replica. "Obviously back in those days, they're not sure where he's going. Some people are thinking the world's flat and they're going to fall off the edge of the earth."

Asked what he thought Columbus must have been like, Sanger offers that Columbus must have been extremely courageous, but he probably got underneath a person's skin after awhile.

"I think he would be extremely arrogant," Sanger said. "Maybe in the beginning, (you'd like him), but he might get on one's nerves as time goes on."
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We're all stellar, literally. The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, and the gold and silver you may be wearing were all forged out of an unknown star that exploded eons ago. In fact, all heavy elements in our world or any other were exclusively cooked up in the colossal explosion of huge stars. These explosions are also known as Supernovas. Astronomers and scientists agree that this is the only way that these elements could physically come into existence.

Every star in our sky, including our sun, are basically huge balls of hydrogen gas held together by gravity. Since they are so massive, the star's gargantuan gravitational force compresses the ball of gas so hard that a huge amount of heat builds up in the core of star, to the tune of millions and millions of degrees. That drives the hydrogen atoms at each other so hard that they fuse together into heavier helium atoms. The details are really hairy, but when that happens it produces tremendous amounts of light and other radiation. This is the process of nuclear fusion.

As stars age, hydrogen atoms become depleted and helium atoms begin to pile up. When the hydrogen has totally run out, the helium core begins to get squished due to gravity. This compression dramatically drives up the core temperature even more, and the expelled heat fires up nuclear fusion in the outer layers of the star. This causes the entire star to bloat out into what's known as a red giant. This is going to happen to our own sun about five billion years from now. When it does, bad things will happen. The sun will swallow up Mercury and Venus. In fact, the edge of the sun won't be all that far away from Earth. Needless to say, our world will get fried and never be the same.

After another billion years or so, when the sun runs out of nuclear fuel, gravity will take over and our home star will collapse under its own weight and get compressed into a white dwarf star. The sun will be down to about 8000 miles in diameter by then, about the size of Earth. Eventually the new white dwarf will flicker out, and Earth and the remaining planets will orbit a dead star.

Much larger stars, at least eight times the mass of our sun, will meet a much more violent end. As they run out of hydrogen in their cores they become super huge red giant stars. An example of a super red giant star is Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the winter constellation Orion the Hunter. It marks the armpit of the great celestial hunter. Betelgeuse is at least 400 million miles in diameter, but occasionally expands out to about a billion miles in girth! It's probably the biggest single thing you've ever seen.

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No one knows for sure when it will happen, but sometime within the next million years, Betelgeuse will explode in unimaginable proportions. It will go supernova. There's no way I can get into all of the details, but essentially what happens is that stars like Betelgeuse develop iron cores due to excessive levels of nuclear fusion. Hydrogen fuses into helium that fuses to heaver carbon and oxygen atoms, and that trend of fusion continues until iron is produced. At that point giant stars like Betelgeuse become unstable and the star literally blows itself to bits. During this annihilation, matter is strewn violently in all directions at speeds over 10,000 miles a second. At the same time, heavier elements like gold, silver, uranium, and many others are "cooked up" in all of the heat and chaos in what's called nuclear synthesis.

So how did all of these elements make it to Earth and eventually into our bodies? Astronomers believe the giant hydrogen gas cloud that gravitationally collapsed into our sun and solar system was laced with heavy elements from a supernova, or very possibly multiple supernovas.

It's been a long time since we've had a major supernova explosion in our neighborhood of the Milky Way Galaxy. The last one recorded was way back in 1054 A.D. We know that because it was documented by Chinese astronomers. It was said to be so bright that it was visible during the day for almost a month.

Nearly a thousand years later, the remnants of this supernova explosion are still visible but considerably fainter. It's called the Crab Nebula, located in the horns of the winter constellation Taurus the Bull. With a moderate telescope it will show up as a faint patch of light that way back in the day was a mighty star over 37 thousand trillion miles away.

You and everyone you know is made of star stuff, so make your life shine.
WINONA  An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to his role in the murder of a Winona man last fall.

Reginald Alexander Burnett Jr., 19, pleaded guilty Thursday in Winona County District Court to aiding and abetting in one count of second-degree intentional murder and two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

In exchange, additional aid and abet charges of first-degree intentional murder and first-degree aggravated robbery were dismissed, as was a third charge of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Sentencing has been set for Oct. 20, a year and two days after the murder.

Lonnie Lavonte Keymone Hudson, 24, is the alleged gunman in the case. He faces one count each of first-degree intentional murder, second-degree intentional murder and first-degree aggravated robbery, three counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm/ammo after conviction of a crime of violence. All are felonies.

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Hudson hasn't entered a plea in the case. He remains in custody in lieu of $5 million bond.

The woman who drove the men to and from the apartment where Adam Tylor Fort was killed has been sentenced to the time she'd already served and put on probation for five years.

Kayla Mae Clay, of Galesville, Wis., pleaded guilty Feb. 12  her 19th birthday  to one felony count of aiding an offender-accomplice after the fact. In exchange for the plea, three identical counts were dismissed.

As part of the plea, Clay agreed to testify against the other defendants.

Hudson and Burnett are accused of pushing their way into an apartment the afternoon of Oct. 18 after arranging to buy a quarter-pound of marijuana. Once inside, they pistol-whipped the man who had brought them there, then shot Fort, 31. He died at the scene.

Clay reportedly drove Hudson, Burnett and a third man, described as the middleman in the drug deal, to Fort's apartment. The man said he'd go in alone because Fort was nervous after being robbed a year earlier.

The suspects went with him, though, prompting a coded response when asked who was at the door. The man said he gave a "code not to open the door," but Fort's girlfriend did, anyway.

The middleman said Hudson pulled the gun as soon as they entered the apartment, so the man tried to "go at him." He apologized to Fort and his girlfriend, court documents say, then Hudson hit him with the gun and shot Fort. After firing that shot, Hudson allegedly held the gun to the girlfriend's head, pointed it at the middleman and continued to demand money and drugs.
A 26-year-old man has been charged with multiple felonies after authorities say he sexually assaulted a young girl over the course of several years.

Daniel Charles Prescott, of Rochester, made his first appearance Tuesday in Olmsted County District Court, where he faces three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct-victim 13-16. He was released on his own recognizance and is due back in court Sept. 20.

The investigation began in February, after the victim told her mother about the abuse, which occurred in several states before the girl moved to Rochester, the complaint says.

The girl detailed several incidents of sexual assault, which included multiple forms of penetration, court documents state.

Prescott, through an attorney, has refused to be interviewed by law enforcement.

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If convicted, the charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $40,000 fine, or both.
Workers at Rochester International Airport have experienced the ups and downs  literally, of multiple jobs at the airport.

Collin Hamlin, a 51-year-old native of Rochester, has worked at Rochester International Airport as a skycap for 33 years.

A skycap assists traveling passengers checking in luggage at curbside. In addition, skycaps answer questions about departures, arrivals and terminal facilities. They assist passengers to and from taxis, buses and cars, and they may check in baggage at the terminal entrance or at the passenger dropoff.

Hamlin's days typically start about 8:30 a.m. and end about 4:30 p.m. Throughout the day, he tends to customers and even said he usually skips lunch to stay available to serve.

"We are solely here for wheelchair assistance," said Hamlin. "The Mayo Clinic brings and sends a lot of people."

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Rochester International Airport skycaps are employed by Signature Flight Support, the firm that operates the general aviation business, and not by the two airlines that serve the airport, American Airlines and Delta.

Speculation has it there could be a switch in employment for the skycaps by the end of the year, according to John Reed, executive director of the Rochester airport.

"What's going to happen at some point in the not-too-distant future is that the airlines will take over that function," he said. "The skycaps probably won't be in the same uniforms  they'll be in airline uniforms  but we've been assured by the airlines that they're going to take care of their customers."

After learning of the plan a few weeks ago, Hamlin isn't sure how to feel about the change.

"I love being able to help the variety of people that come to the airport," he said. "It's very rewarding."

Hamlin would like to stay with Signature Flight Support because he feels secure with the company, but he knows nothing can last forever.

"I just want to help people in all walks of life," Hamlin said. "It will just depend on what happens with the change."

The Rochester airport is one of the smallest airports in the U.S. to have skycaps, Reed said.

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The term skycap is believed to have been coined in 1940 by William Wainwright as part of a newspaper contest for the New York Herald Tribune. In 1940, most Americans knew that railroad porters were known as "redcaps," so called since the early days of the century because of the red caps they wore. Wainwright substituted another three-letter word for the first syllable of that word and the term "skycap" was born.
Vikings' new stadium to be studied for bird deaths

MINNEAPOLIS  The Minnesota Vikings' glassy new stadium will be studied to see how deadly it is for migrating birds.

The operators of the stadium, which opens this summer, said the National Audubon Society and Audubon Minnesota will join the University of Minnesota and Oklahoma State University to study bird deaths from collisions with the stadium. The work is to begin in spring 2017 and cover four migratory seasons, with results to be released in 2019.

The Star Tribune, which first reported the study, said it would cost $300,000.

Environmentalists had called for bird-safe glass to be used on the stadium, which lies along the Mississippi River flyway, but the idea was rejected.  Associated Press

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Little money spent for police sensitivity courses

MINNEAPOLIS  A lawsuit settlement six years ago provided more than $1.5 million for racial sensitivity training to help police in Minnesota avoid the type of confrontations that led to the shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights.

So far, nearly $215,000 of that settlement has been spent, but not one training course has been offered. The 2010 settlement involved the Metro Gang Strike Force, a team that was accused of improperly seizing money and property and brutalizing innocent victims, many of whom were people of color.

The attorney for the unit, Joseph Flynn, says funding for the training wasn't distributed until three years after the settlement. Flynn said the expert developing the training retired in 2015 and a new leader is reworking the course to be used online.  Associated Press
AUSTIN  Hormel Foods is rushing to help out West Virginians after some recent flooding.

The corporation announced a donation of one semi-trailer load of products to assist with relief efforts in West Virginia caused by recent flooding. The donation includes more than 23,000 Hormel chili microwave cups, 14,000 Dinty Moore microwave trays and 16,000 jars of Skippy caramel peanut butter.

"Those affected by these devastating floods are in our thoughts and prayers," said Wendy A. Watkins, vice president of corporate communications at Hormel Foods. "We hope this donation will help feed the people in need during this difficult time."

The donations will be sent to the Mountaineer Food Bank to feed those who are in need after being affected by the flood.
The Rev. Hiram Lake was guided through life by three main loves: his love of God, his love of family, and his love of adventure.

Lake, known to his friends and family as "Hi," was exposed to adventure early. During his childhood, he spent numerous summers with his Uncle Hal in the Adirondacks, sailing boats and reading adventure novels. He looked forward to seeing the world. As a teenager, he was inspired by a Navy recruitment poster, inviting him to "Join the Navy, See the World." He signed up, and shipped out after his senior year of high school. Hi served as a radio man for a Marine unit in the Pacific during World War II. But Lake decided it wasn't enough.

"He ended up wanting to see a lot more of the world than he did during World War II," said Larry M. Lake, Hi's son.

Hi and his wife, Mary, trained as missionaries and applied for foreign missions. In 1957, they took their two oldest children, Larry and Karen, and set sail for Netherlands, New Guinea. The family made their home in the Baliem Valley. Hi and Mary served in New Guinea for eight years. During this time, their children attended boarding school for eight months out of the year, but this didn't mean that they missed out on their father's adventures and excitements.

"When we were home on vacation, he would have actually saved little adventures, projects, and ideas that he thought would be interesting. He would save them to go on with us," Larry said.

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Mary would typically stay home, while the two older children would explore with their dad.

"We would fill old Navy canteens with water and he would pack an old knapsack and carry our lunches," Larry said.

A particularly memorable outing occurred on an exploration of a local cave. There were a lot of limestone caves in the area, and Hi had heard a rumor that one of these caves contained human bones. He was eager to determine whether it was true. He took Larry, age 10 at the time, and Karen, age 8, to investigate this claim. Upon looking through the cave, the three were shocked to find the remains of at least eight different people.

When the family returned to the United States, Hiram took his children on considerably tamer excursions. He particularly enjoyed taking his children to the Adirondacks, showing them around and camping. He loved sharing his sense of adventure with those he loved most.

"He was a real family man, and he loved his wife intensely and made sure that we all knew that," Larry said.

Hi, who passed away earlier this month, left his wife, four children, eight grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. In addition, he left a "three-inch stack" of writing, which his eldest son plans to assemble into a memoir recounting his father's vibrant life.
ST. PAUL  Faith leaders and musicians delivered messages of hope Thursday during a funeral for a black Minnesota man who was fatally shot by a suburban St. Paul police officer.

Mourners filled the 3,000-seat Cathedral of St. Paul to pay their respects to 32-year-old Philando Castile, whose white casket arrived and left on a horse-drawn carriage. After the ecumenical service ended, people lined up on either side of the cathedral's long stairs holding "Unite for Philando" signs as pallbearers dressed in white raised clenched fists while carrying out Castile's casket.

Castile was shot several times during a July 6 traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. Castile's girlfriend streamed the aftermath live on Facebook.

The Rev. John Ubel, rector of the Catholic cathedral that overlooks downtown St. Paul, said the day will prove to have been a good one if it brings people of different backgrounds together and gives them a "tiny measure of peace."

In his eulogy, the Rev. Steve Daniels Jr. of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church questioned why racial profiling still occurs in the U.S. He said he grew up in Mississippi in the 1950s and '60s and understands the frustrations expressed by today's protesters in response to police shootings of black people.

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They want to feel respected, valued and are tired of being "wrongfully murdered," Daniels said.

He said he's thankful for police and their service, but that people need to find a way to work together.

Gov. Mark Dayton, who has suggested that race played a role in Castile's death, attended, as did U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, and U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison.
A group of Minnesota parents say state laws that dictate how teachers can be fired contribute to the state's academic achievement gaps.

Their lawsuit against the state and four school districts over state teacher tenure laws went before a judge Thursday.

Tiffini Forslund is among the parents bringing the suit. She said she started getting angry about tenure laws years ago, when her now-teenage daughter was in fifth grade in the Anoka-Hennepin School District. Her daughter had a fantastic teacher, she said, who kept students engaged.

Then, at the end of the school year: "There's pay cuts, and he is fired," she said.

Forslund blames the layoff on seniority: The teacher was new. She said she detailed her complaints in a letter.

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"I sent it to Minnesota Department of Education, thinking this was very strong and wrong, that I would get some sort of answers," she said, "and it was just budget cuts. That's how it works.

Forslund doesn't think that should be how it works. She and three other Minnesota mothers are challenging state tenure laws on two main points.

First, on the requirement that schools lay off teachers in order of seniority, unless the local union negotiates differently. And second, on the steps schools have to follow before they can fire tenured teachers. Schools are required to grant tenured teachers a hearing and the opportunity to correct problems.

The plaintiffs say the laws keep bad teachers in the classroom. And they say the laws contribute to disparities, because ineffective teachers more often work at schools with large numbers of low-income students and students of color.

The defendants  the state and the districts  argue the case should be dismissed. The state's brief also argues that tenure laws are not driving the achievement gap. It adds that charter schools have achievement gaps, even though they're not subject to tenure laws. And in a statement, state Education Department said the laws do allow districts to remove teachers.

Roseville teacher Maria Le is a supporter of the tenure rules. She serves on her local union's executive board.

Teaching is already hard, Le said, with increasing student needs. She said that tenure gives teachers a chance to improve instead of just being fired.

"Without the protections to allow them to get what they need to allow them to improve, to really just be able to teach our children to be leaders," she said, "they're not going to be able to withstand what really needs to be done to close the achievement gap."

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Le is Vietnamese-American. She said tenure protections can be especially important for teachers of color, who may have cultural differences or disagreements with administrators. In Minnesota, administrators tend to be mostly white.

"I think education in general does a good job of recruiting teachers of color, but not necessarily retaining them," she said.

The Minnesota lawsuit is the latest in a string of cases challenging teacher tenure. A California ruling that struck down tenure laws was overturned in April, and the plaintiffs are appealing. An ongoing case in New York is backed by the nonprofit Partnership for Educational Justice, which also supports Minnesota's suit.

St. Catherine University economist Kristine West said tenure policies, particularly those that lay teachers off in order of seniority, may be due for an update. She said most tenure laws came about when there weren't really good measures for teacher effectiveness, so a teacher's years of service was used as a proxy.

"But the problem is that we're making strides in our ability to measure effectiveness primarily, not having to proxy for it," she said. "And so as the field evolves, and as we are better able to assess teacher effectiveness, we should use that information."

But West said there's less evidence that removing protections against firing teachers would really cause schools to get rid of large numbers of ineffective educators. She said the politically charged debate over that issue may be a distraction.
ST. ANTHONY, Minn.  The city of St. Anthony and organizers of its annual VillageFest have announced they are canceling this year's parade in the wake of the police shooting of Philando Castile.

The parade was scheduled for Aug. 5. The city and festival organizers say other festival events will go on as scheduled.

The 32-year-old Castile was shot and killed last week by a St. Anthony police officer during a traffic stop in nearby Falcon Heights. Authorities from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are investigating.

Festival organizers said in an online statement that the parade requires extensive police, fire and public works resources, which are stretched to the limit.

The city says it hopes residents understand the circumstances under which the "tough, but necessary, decision" was made.
First District Rep. Tim Walz said Democratic leaders have promised him he will get an up-or-down vote on his bid to become the ranking member on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

"That is a very positive sign from leadership that tends to try and stay neutral in these situations. They tip their hats in different ways," Walz said.

That's a far cry from what happened in 2014 when the Mankato Democrat made a play for the leadership post. Walz challenged Florida Rep. Corrine Brown for the ranking minority member spot, even though she was the senior member on the committee. In the end, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and the Congressional Black Caucus rallied around Brown. Leadership determined Walz was ineligible to run for the post based on a technicality.

Fast forward two years and plenty has changed. Brown is facing multiple charges in federal court for allegedly participating in a charity fraud scheme. She has been forced to step down temporarily from her leadership post. She also has a tough re-election fight. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., has been named the interim minority leader on the committee.

Walz sent a letter to fellow Democrats on July 14 asking them to support his leadership bid. He made no mention in his letter of Brown's legal troubles. In an interview, he did not directly discuss the subject but alluded to the difficult situation.

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"When you are the ranking member, you are the face forward of the Democrats on that issue. And I'm not going to speak in detail about the last couple of weeks, but that is simply not the position we wanted to be in," Walz said.

Becoming a permanent member

The big challenge for Walz has been his status on the committee. He has a waiver to serve on the VA committee because he also sits on the House Agriculture and Armed Services committees  more than the two allowed under Democratic caucus rules. Two years ago, Walz's attempt to become a permanent member of the VA committee failed. But this time around, Walz said leadership has promised him he will be allowed to become a committee member.

"Leadership has assured me that I will be put on as a permanent member, and that will be prior to the vote for leadership," he said.

The leadership election is expected to take place soon after November's general election. Walz is seeking his sixth term in Congress. He is being challenged by Blue Earth Republican Jim Hagedorn.

'All things to all people'

The Minnesota Democrat has the most seniority of any of the remaining Democrats on the VA committee. Walz, a retired command sergeant major with the Army National Guard, said he has the experience necessary to lead the committee. He also is touting a list of bills related to veterans issues that he has helped pass, including one aimed at reducing veteran suicide and another to make sure Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange receive benefits. He also has the backing of several veterans organizations.

Walz said he wants to do what he can to improve the VA system. He said there is no simple fix to the agency's bureaucratic problems. Rather, he said lawmakers need to push ahead on major reforms.

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"The problem we've got is the VA is trying to be all things to all people," he said.

For instance, Walz said the VA not only delivers health care benefits and maintains veterans cemeteries but also overseas all of its hospital construction.

"Doctors at the VA in Minneapolis are some of the world's best cardiac surgeons. They are not the best at building the actual hospital," Walz said.

He said members of Congress need to restructure the VA so it mimics other successful health care organizations such as Mayo Clinic.

Walz said he expects Takano will run for the permanent post as well. The Minnesota Democrat said he is optimistic he can win enough support from colleagues to get the leadership post.

He added, "Among my colleagues, I've carved out a reputation as a go-to person on veterans issues."
WASHINGTON  President Obama gave a majestic speech in Dallas, one of the best of his presidency, at once a soaring tribute to slain police officers and an affirmation of peaceful protest. But he was wrong about one thing: On race, sadly, we areas divided as we seem.

This condition is not due to anything Obama has said or done. He bends so far backward to avoid giving offense, even to those who richly deserve offending, that he must need regular sessions with a chiropractor. The racial divide, which has its roots in lingering claims of white supremacy, has been there all along. It was mostly silent and unacknowledged until the very fact of the Obama presidency cast it in stark and unforgiving light.

So I am not surprised at recent polls showing that Americans believe race relations are worsening. It is as if a dark corner has been illuminated to reveal the mess that was swept there long ago and willfully ignored.

I have long believed that the most revolutionary act the first African-American president could ever perform is to go about his official duties for all the world to see. A black man stands to deliver the State of the Union address. A black man toasts foreign leaders at glittering White House dinners. A black family crosses the South Lawn to board the Marine One helicopter and be lifted into the sky.

These scenes are irrefutable evidence of how much America has changed, and to some they are threatening. Donald Trump's campaign slogan  "Make America Great Again"  cannot be read simply as misty nostalgia for an economic golden age. For the overwhelmingly white crowds who fill his raucous rallies, Trump promises a return to a time when the nation's leadership and cultural norms reflected what was then a clear ethnic and racial majority.

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Trump, you will recall, has been one of the most prominent "birther" voices seeking to deny Obama's legitimacy as president. He encourages those who cannot abide the thought of a black president to pretend the whole thing never really happened.

Not all who support Trump, of course, are racists; and not all whites who blame Obama for heightening racial tension are Republicans. There are many others who honestly and naively thought the election of an African-American president meant that race was no longer an issue. Now we can just move on, they believed  looking past the disparities between black and white that still exist.

One glaring disparity is in how blacks and whites are treated by the criminal justice system. The high-profile incidents that have happened since Obama took office are nothing new. Trayvon Martin was not the first young black man to be racially profiled, nor was Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. the first older black man to have the experience. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were obviously not the first black men to be killed by police officers under highly questionable circumstances.

What is novel, though, is that the president of the United States is himself African-American. So when Obama says that arresting Gates on his own front porch was stupid, or that if he had a son the boy would look like Martin  simple statements of fact, in my view  to some whites it sounds as if he is taking sides. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, once just came out and said it: Obama, he claimed, "has a default mechanism ... that favors the black person."

Obama takes pains to avoid having whites see him this way  which frustrates some African-Americans who wonder how he can watch the video of Castile's life bleeding away and not speak with the raw anguish and anger that so many of us feel.

For black Americans, too, the Obama presidency creates perhaps unrealistic expectations -- not that racism could somehow magically end but that it would be fully acknowledged and frontally addressed. I think some commentators underestimate the resistance that stronger words from the president would encounter. To win the White House, I once wrote, Obama had to be seen as the least aggrieved black man in America. As he prepares to leave office, this remains largely true.

When the next president is sworn in, Obama will leave office without having healed the nation's festering racial wounds. He will not have made them worse; rather, he will have allowed us to see how deep they remain and how much healing still needs to take place. It may take years to fully appreciate how dramatically this presidency has bent the arc of history toward justice.

Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post.
NEW YORK  By now most Americans know the name of Dallas Police Chief David Brown  and quite a few wouldn't mind seeing him play a larger national role. I hear Republicans are looking for a substitute nominee.

Brown is admired not only as a defender of law and order but also as a blunt spokesman for a nation reeling from violence. He minces no words when he says, "We're asking cops to do too much in this country" or, addressing protesters around the country, "We're hiring."

"Get off that protest line and put an application in, and we'll put you in your neighborhood and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about."

Such tough talk is welcome from a man who has his own share of suffering, including the death of his son, who went on a shooting rampage, killing two people including a police officer, before being killed in a firefight with police. Whatever forces compelled those acts will no doubt become part of a larger story in time.

For now, Brown has focused his energies on comforting the families of the dead and articulating our anxieties amid the chaos and killing.

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His has been the calming voice the country needed, made all the more powerful by virtue of his personal experience and the heartfelt sorrow he shares with so many. And, let's be honest, my fellow white folks, because he's black. And another black Dallas voice has added texture and depth to the debate now roiling wherever people gather. Dr. Brian Williams, the surgeon who futilely tried to save some of the wounded officers' lives, became emotional as he expressed his own grief, not only for the dead but also the violence.

"I don't understand why people think it's OK to kill police officers," he said in a CNN interview. "I don't understand why black men die in custody and they're forgotten the next day. I don't know why this has to be us against them. ... Something has to be done."

Most people don't understand either. But, as Williams also said, we get the anger and frustration. It is not without reason that many blacks distrust the police. In Ferguson, Mo., where events led to the Black Lives Matter movement, Department of Justice investigators found department-wide racism.

It is not without reason that blacks have little faith in a criminal justice system that imprisons them at six times the rate of whites, according to a Pew Research Center study. Or that awards blacks nearly 20 percent longer sentences than whites for similar crimes, according to a 2013 report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Personal experience and observation also play a role. Even Williams, whose demeanor is as nonthreatening as any central-casting physician, acknowledged his own "fear and mild inherent distrust in law enforcement, that goes back to my own personal experiences that I've had in my own personal life."

This isn't to indict all police officers or even many, but there are "those." Writing for Vox, former black cop Redditt Hudson posited that 15 percent of police will always do the right thing; 15 percent will abuse their authority at any opportunity; the remaining 70 percent could go either way depending on whom they're with.

This is why voices such as Brown's and Williams' are so vital, even as I recognize the racial stereotyping implicit in this observation. But the larger point is that while protesters can be marginalized as rabble-rousers, the voices of a respected doctor and a police chief can't be.

Nor can one ignore (black) tenured Harvard economist Roland Fryer, who on Monday released research findings that police officers don't, in fact, use deadly force more often against blacks than whites. Indeed, in Houston, one of the cities studied, police were less likely to shoot when the suspect was black. But Fryer also found that black suspects more often than whites are subjected to nonlethal force, such as being shoved against a wall.

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What's clear as facts are added to narratives enhanced by video and live- streaming is that few things can be reduced to black and white. It also seems we have reached a tipping point in what any society can tolerate when it comes to injustice. Finally, the nation's long-overdue conversation about race and racism is on the front burner. Keeping it there is the least we can do for those whose blood was shed to make it so.

Kathleen Parker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post.
Olmsted County Board Chairwoman Stephanie Podulke made a simple observation this week: "If you are homeless, you don't have pots and pans and linens and towels and all the things we use everyday."

That's the idea behind the Gage East housewarming gift registry , which is seeking to provide household basics for the 30 families and 20 youth that will be moving into the 55-unit housing complex within the next two months. Those moving into the facility are currently homeless, meaning they likely aren't dragging clean sheets, pans and other necessities with them as they seek out places to sleep on a regular basis.

As the Gage East Apartments strives to give people a home, local residents can help make their new homes even more homelike.

Johnna O'Neill, the Gage East site director, said the goal is to help make the furnished apartments move-in ready and reduce burdens on new residents.

However, we see it as doing more than that. It also allows the community to send a message. It tells the new tenants we care, and informs the rest of our community that we are dedicated to fighting homelessness.

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Too often opportunities for contributing to such causes require writing large checks and wondering how the money is spent. The registry, however, allows participants to contribute what they can -- from a $5 set of wash clothes to providing a gift card to fill an entire apartment.

O'Neill said the items selected are intentionally gender and age neutral, since it's unknown who will move into each apartment. The cost is kept down to allow giving by all and make sure each apartment is similarly adorned.

While the online gift registry was created by Target, which will deliver all online donations, O'Neill said purchases can be made elsewhere and taken to the Gage East Apartments at 3265 19th St. NW, Rochester. She simply asks that those shopping elsewhere look at the Target site to see what is being sought.

Regardless of the specific items being collected, we see one other thing being gathered through the process: community caring.
Military factions in Turkey have attempted to seize control of the country President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkeys Islamist president and Barack Obamas pal, was forced to use his iPhones FaceTime app from an undisclosed location to broadcast messages beseeching the public to resist the coup attempt, according to the New York Times.

It seems uncertain at this moment whether Erdogan will be able to retain power, but several factors may be working in his favor. The armed forces reportedly are divided. Leaders of opposition political parties, who have otherwise worked against Erdogans government, also spoke out against a seizure of government by the military. Kurds also are reportedly supporting the government.

None of this would augur well for the attempted coup. However, it seems too early to predict that the coup will fail.

Walter Russell Mead is blogging the coup attempt. He is my go-to source for up-to-date information and analysis of this development.

Mead suggests that a coup against Erdogan might enhance democracy in Turkey:

Its not actually clear what outcome bodes best for Turkeys fragile and increasingly endangered democracy. Before the coup, Erdogan was setting world records for locking up journalists; if he holds onto power through the coup hes unlikely to mellow. More likely, the reverse, and democracy may be the biggest loser, whoever holds power when this settles down. Theres a case to be made (which is not the same thing as supporting the coup) that a military coup offers the greatest hope for Turkish democracy. In the past, the Turkish army has returned to its barracks and restored civilian government.

Erdogan likes to say, democracy is like a train; you get off once you reach your destination. I wont shed tears if Erdogan gets kicked off the train before it gets to his.
At a White House diplomatic corps reception yesterday afternoon that included Frances ambassador to the United States, President Obama spoke about the massacre in Nice. The White House has posted the text of his remarks. Obamas remarks may be slightly more vacuous than yada yada. Referring to ISIS, he vowed that we are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization. Stirring words, followed by this:

And in contrast to these terrorists who only know how to kill and destroy, were going to win this fight by building; by never giving up on diplomacy to end the Syrian civil war; by working with partners around the world, including Muslim communities, to push back against hateful ideologies that twist and distort Islam  a religion that teaches peace and justice and compassion. We will defeat these ideologies by offering a better vision of development and economic progress, so people, especially young people, have more hope and opportunity and are less susceptible to extremism and violence in the first place. And we will continue to promote political opportunity and democracy so citizens have a say in their future. And we will win this fight by staying true to our values

Staying true to our values harks back to Obamas hilariously mistaken exposition of Winston Churchill at his first press conference, which I wrote about in Obama veers into the Daily Ditch. Obama remains steadfastly unaffected by events. The song remains the same.

JOHN adds: Obama echoes the immortal words of the oft-ridiculedbut not oft enoughFrenchman:
No fewer than 60 people, 42 of them police officers, were killed in overnight clashes as soldiers tried to overthrow the Turkish government.

President Recep Erdogan, who had used an Iphone Facetime to call on the people to come out on the streets and resist the coup plotters, has now flown back to Istanbul, the countrys second most important city.

He was met by cheering supporters who obeyed his call and contributed in frustrating the coup in the city.

Earlier, in a broadcast from the citys Ataturk International Airport, he described the coup as an act of treason and promised that the countrys military would be cleansed.

They have pointed the peoples guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything, Mr Erdogan told cheering supporters outside the airport.

Flight, which was suspended in the Ataturk airport after the coup plotters initially took over, has now resumed as normalcy is gradually returning to the city.

Mr Erdogan is originally from Istanbul and was the former Mayor of the city. He enjoys widespread supports from inhabitants.

However, the situation in the countrys capital, Ankara, is still very hazy. The rebel soldier earlier bombed the countrys parliament and the presidential palace. The renegade soldiers also seems to be in control of the Presidential palace.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, however, said the situation was largely under control. He has ordered the military to shoot down aircraft being used by coup plotters.

So far, more than 754 soldiers allegedly involved in the coup, have been arrested.

Meanwhile, the military Chief of Staff, General Hulusi Akar, who was initially kidnaped by the rebel soldiers, has been rescued and is being taken to a safe place, Turkey state-run news, Anadolu agency, reports.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated the coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings,

There is no where they have proper control, Mr. Bozdag said. God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down.

Turkeys Police Chief, Celalettin Lekesiz, said 16 coup plotters were killed in clashes at Turkeys military police command.


In this report, PREMIUM TIMES Festus Owete traces Dino Melayes controversies in the National Assembly since 2007.

Not many Nigerians, especially close watchers of Nigerias National Assembly, will be surprised at the outburst and behaviour of Senator Dino Melaye on the floor of the Senate last Tuesday.

Mr. Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, had in a closed-door session of the upper legislative chamber, abused his colleague, Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central, over some remarks made against him by the latter.

Mrs. Tinubu, who is also the wife of a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, was elected on the partys platform as Mr. Melaye.

PREMIUM TIMES sources said the two senators clashed after the Kogi senator urged the Senate to deal with its members who had offered to serve as prosecution witnesses in the ongoing forgery case against Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

Mr. Melaye reportedly accused the senators of working for the presidency to undermine the upper legislative chamber and warned that they should be prepared to face the consequences of their action.

You should go and tell those who sent you that nobody, I said nobody, no matter who he is, can ever control this Senate, the senator was quoted as saying as he pointed at the affected senators in anger.

When she rose to speak, the sources further said, Mrs. Tinubu, representing Lagos Central, expressed disappointment with Mr. Melaye, who she accused of always threatening people and behaving childishly and at times like a thug.

I think he needs to know that every senator here represents their constituencies, and that there is no need to threaten anyone.

We are seeking and working towards reconciliation, yet you are busy issuing threats.

At this point, one of our sources said, the Kogi senator jumped up from his seat and charged towards Mrs. Tinubu, saying, Look this is not Bourdillon (referring to the famous Lagos residence of Mrs Tinubus politician husband). I will beat you up, ..impregnate you and nothing will happen.

But for the intervention by other senators, especially those from the South-West geopolitical zone, Mr. Melaye would have physically attack Mrs. Tinubu, a source said. The senators were said to have prevailed on him to take it easy and let peace reign.

Mr. Melaye, a strong supporter of the senate president, at a press conference on Thursday, confirmed the incident but defended his action.

He explained that he reacted that way because he was not a coward.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu got up and was recognised to speak and immediately she started speaking, she specifically mentioned my name, he said.

For reasons only known to Senator Remi Tinubu, she got up and the first thing she said was that she was being harassed in this chamber by Senator Melaye at this point.

She went ahead to say that why would he come here and be threatening senators and there was a large chorus from senators. At that point I was still calm. She got up again and said that this thug must be tamed. At that point, I got up and told her that she was very stupid.

The next statement from her was You are a dog. She called me a dog, and when she called me a dog I stood up and reacted and I told her that this was not Bourdillon and she should look at my face, I am not one of those senators who normally come to prostrate to them in Bourdillon and I am from Kogi and not from Lagos,

The senator denied saying he would impregnate Mrs. Tinubu. He said he did not use such insolent, abusive, degrading and mannerless language against any senator.

He explained, Biologically, it is even impossible to impregnate Mrs. Tinubu because she has arrived menopause. How can you say you want to beat somebody and at the same time impregnate the person?

A leopard does not change its spots

Some Nigerians were surprised, and irritated by Mr. Melayes behaviour on Tuesday. But what many do not know is that Mr. Melaye had always exhibited such conducts since he was first elected to the National Assembly nine years ago.

In 2007, barely four months after he was elected into the House of Representatives where he represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency of Kogi State, Mr. Melaye got into the news for the wrong reason.

At the peak of the crisis that trailed the allegation that then Speaker, Patricia Etteh, awarded N628 million contract to renovate her official residence and that of her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, in Apo Legislators Quarters, Abuja, Mr. Melaye exchanged blows with two of his colleagues.

On September 20, 2007, at the public sitting of the David Idoko-led panel that investigated the alleged contract award, Mr. Melaye, a first-time lawmaker at the time, exchanged blows with Emmanuel Jime (Benue) and Samuel Sejoro (Lagos). The ugly incident forced the panel to adjourn sitting for the day.

Trouble began when Mr. Idoko invited Mrs. Etteh to the witness box to explain her role in the renovation contract as well as the purchase of vehicles for the principal officers of the House.

As the Speaker moved to the box, Mr. Melaye, who had a few weeks earlier been appointed Chairman of the House Committee on Information and National Orientation, and some other supporters cheered and clapped.

However, Mr. Jime , a member of the opposing group, which had styled itself Integrity Group, became angry and shouted ole, ole, ole (meaning thief, thief, thief). Mr. Jimes audacity angered Mr. Melaye, who jumped up and engaged in verbal exchange with his colleague.

Besides, Mr. Melaye took on another female lawmaker from the opposing group, Mercy Alumona-Isei, who he thoroughly abused and threatened to assault.

At that point also, Mr. Jime, a former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, descended on Mr. Sejoro and dazed him with blows. Mr. Sejoro dodged a blow from Mr. Melaye, who, unsuccessfully, tried to hit Mr. Jime.

While the fight lasted, Mrs. Etteh watched with calm from the witness box before she was spirited away by aides. At the executive session that followed immediately, Messrs Melaye and Jime apologised, according to the then Speaker, who read out the resolutions of the closed-door session.

That was how the Kogi lawmaker first came into national prominence as an extremely troublesome and controversial figure.

Mrs. Etteh soon fell from power. And Mr. Melaye was never in the good books of her successor, Dimeji Bankole, even though he was re-appointed chairman of the Committee on Information on October 9, 2008 when the Speaker reconstituted the committees.

In the years that followed, Mr. Melaye worked hard to make the House somehow ungovernable for Mr. Bankole.

He first struck on June 25, 2009 when he accused the House leadership of massive corruption.

He started off by picked on three principal officers, namely Tunde Akogun (House Leader), Baba Shehu Agaie (Deputy House Leader) and Emeka Ihedioha (Chief Whip) who he accused of mismanaging funds released to them to organize events in the House.

He alleged that Mr. Akogun (PDP, Edo) pocketed part of the N160 million he was given to organise a retreat for members in Kano and Uyo.

He said Mr. Agaie (PDP, Niger) mismanaged N130 million advanced to a committee he headed to organize the countrys hosting of Afro-Arab Parliamentary Conference while Mr. Ihedioha (PDP, Imo) allegedly pocketed part of the N160million given to him to organize the 10th anniversary of the return of democracy in the country.

Mr. Melayes action almost earned him a suspension from the House. He escaped the hammer that day.

During plenary, Mr. Jime moved a motion for Mr. Melayes suspension.

The suspension prayer, however, threw the House into rowdiness for several minutes following the insistence of some members that it was a wrong move.

Mr. Melaye, a Geography graduate from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, who had resigned as chairman of the Information and National Orientation Committee of the House, later apologized for causing acrimony in the House and bringing it to disrepute.

He was to explain that he never accused Mr Ihedioha of fraud but of social sins, arrogance and highhandedness.

But like the leopard that he is, Mr. Melaye did not change his spots. A year later, he resurfaced with another antic.

In June 2010, he, alongside 11 other lawmakers gave Mr. Bankole seven days to resign from office.

What was the Speakers offence?

Mr. Melaye and his co-travellers, who styled themselves Progressives, said the young Speaker was dishonest and that his camp was tired of his leadership.

Other members of the group were George Daika (PDP, Plateau), Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Plateau), Austin Nwachukwu (PDP, Imo), Ehiogie West-Idahosa (PDP, Edo), and Anas Adamu (PDP, Jigawa).

Independence Ogunewe (PDP, Imo), Solomon Awhinawhi (PDP, Delta), Ralph Okeke (PDP, Anambra), Darlington Okereke (PDP, Ebonyi) and Asita Honourable (PDP, Rivers) were also members.

The group asked Mr. Bankole to resign because of corruption and bad leadership, which they claimed was responsible for the rift, disagreement and disharmony between the House and the Senate.

It also said the Speaker was highhanded, disrespectful to members, frequent breach of the rules of the House and sweeping and unsubstantiated comments capable of causing disaffection among various arms of government.

We hereby, therefore, in strong terms call on Bankole to resign as the Speaker of the House of Representatives within seven days, Mr. Melaye, who was the spokesperson of the group, said at a press conference on June 9, 2010.

Mr. Melaye warned that if Mr. Bankole failed to comply with the call in the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians, especially the masses of this country, this group has overwhelming evidence, information, everything you see here, they are incriminating records that we will publish, give to you the media.

He assured that in seven days, we are going to write a petition that every member, including the ones on recess, will sign physically and we will send it to the EFCC, the ICPC, the NSA, the SSS and indeed the headquarters of his political party.

About two weeks later, precisely on June 22, the bubble burst. The plenary session of the House was thrown into turmoil as some members of the group were picked up during the plenary session, brutalized and expelled from the chamber for demanding Mr. Bankoles probe.

Those attacked were Messrs Melaye, Awhinawhi, Nwachukwu, Kaze and Uboh.

They were almost stripped by the pro-Bankole lawmakers, who tore their clothes in the process in the full glare of the students of City Royal Secondary School, Nyanya, a suburb of Abuja, who had come on excursion to the House.

How did it begin? Shortly after the commencement of the proceedings at about 11.09 am, more than one hour behind schedule, Mr. Bankole asked Chile Igbauwa (PDP, Benue) to move a motion.

But as Mr Igbauwa moved his motion, Mr Melaye, who sensed that it was aimed at suspending him and members of his group, rose from his seat and began to shout point of order No way! No Way! We will not take it! As he shouted, he also blew a whistle, which he brought into the chamber that.

He was joined by Mr Nwachukwu and Ms. Uboh, who struggled to seize the paper from which Mr. Igbauwa was reading his motion.

Mr. Melaye eventually grabbed the paper from Mr Igbauwa, who was sitting directly behind him, shredded it and threw it at some of his colleagues.

Mr Awhinawhi, who made to grab the mace, the symbol of legislative authority, was stopped and severely beaten up.

Obviously overwhelmed by the confusion that erupted, Mr Bankole adjourned the session and attempted to leave the chamber through the back door which is behind his seat, but was asked to follow the normal front door.

The Speaker was, however, persuaded by his loyalists, who perceived that such action would be interpreted as victory for the Progressives, to return to his seat.

Upon his return, the Speaker announced the suspension of Mr. Melaye and his Progressives colleagues and directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to eject them from the chamber.

That further infuriated the suspended lawmakers, who refused to leave, prompting the pro-Bankole lawmakers led by Ishyaku Bawa, a PDP member from Taraba State, to bundle them out of the chamber, one after the other. In the process, members of both camps were injured.

In the process, a pro-Bankole lawmaker, Chinyere Igwe (PDP, Rivers), had his right hand broken by Mr. Nwachukwu, who also allegedly attacked him with fire extinguisher. Indeed, when he was being forced out of the chamber, Mr. Nwachukwu lifted Mr Chinyere Igwe up and landed him on the floor. Mr Igwe was now bleeding had his arm broken in the process. Both were initially admitted to the National Assembly Clinic before Mr. Igwe was referred to the National Hospital.

Ms Uboh, on her part, was pushed down by Mr Bawa while Messrs Melaye and Awhinawhi were manhandled before being bundled out. Mr Kaze, who was all the while left alone, was later identified and bundled out and in the process, his dress was torn.

After they were sent out, Mr Bankole, who had watched quietly from his seat, called the House to order at exactly 11.45 am and apologized to Nigerians.

He said, First, I must start by apologizing to Nigerians for the rowdiness of todays session. But for the avoidance of doubt, we will still ask Igbauwa to go through the process (moving of motion) for clarity.

Invoking Order 5 of the House Standing Rules, Section 60 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 24 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, Mr Igbauwa called for the suspension of 11 members of the progressive group for failing to avail themselves with the rules of the House in their activities and for causing their allegation to be published in the media.

He said the suspension should be sustained pending the outcome of an investigation into their activities.

Mr. Igbauwa also said that because of his great respect for the House, he was compelled to respond to the various actions of the Progressives under the leadership of Mr Melaye, that have embarrassed and cast aspersion on this House as if it is incapable of resolving its internal crisis.

He further blasted them for failing to adhere to the provision of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, Code of Conduct for Honourable Members and Rules of the House in stating grievances and for taking their matter of the House into disrepute.

The long motion, which was seconded by Shehu Garba Matazu (PDP, Katsina) was unanimously adopted.

Those suspended were Messrs Melaye, Awhinawhi, Nwachukwu, Kaze and Uboh, Ehiogie West-Idahosa, Ogunewe and Anas.

Although they were not known to have openly identified with the Progressives, Gbenga Oduwaiye (PDP, Ogun), Kayode Amusan(PDP, Ogun) and Gbenga Onigbogi (PDP, Osun) were also suspended.

They were to stay away from the House till the end of the legislative year, June 2011.

Curiously, three lawmakers  Ralph Okeke, Darlington Okereke and Asita Honourable  who participated in the press conference the Progressives gave asking Mr. Bankole to resign, survived.

The then spokesperson of the House, Eseme Eyiboh, who briefed journalists after the sitting, said the trio were not suspended because the decision to suspend them was not premised on the press conference two weeks ago, but on the unruly behaviour of the progressive members on the floor.

According to him, the lawmakers, having been suspended were expected to move out of the chamber, but instead conducted themselves in a manner inconsistent with parliamentarians.

He said while Mr Nwachukwu came into the chamber with tear gas, which he interpreted as arm-bearing, Mr. Melaye came with a whistle in a clearly un-parliamentary misdemeanour.

But Mr. Melaye kicked and vowed to seek legal redress.

It is the height of tyranny. What they accused us of, Eseme Eyiboh and Dimeji Bankole are guilty of talking to the press, he said.

There is nowhere in our rules that says we cannot talk to the press. (Halims) Agoda did the same. We shall not allow this. They refused to react to our allegation instead they suspended us. This is collaborative tyranny.

Mr. Melaye and his colleagues later headed to the Federal High Court, Abuja where they challenged their suspension.

The Court subsequently ruled that their suspension was illegal and ordered their reinstatement.

However, in May 2011, just before the 6th Session of the House wound down, it passed a motion urging the leadership to pay salaries of the suspended members.

For the next four years that he was out of the legislature, Mr. Melaye (born on January 7, 1967, according to Christy Anyanwus The Lawmakers 2007-2011) went back to activism.

He floated the Anti-Corruption Network, which he used to campaign against graft.

One of the cases the group fought against was the one involving a former minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, who allegedly purchased two BMW armoured vehicles for N255 million while in office. Interestingly, both Mr. Melaye and Ms. Oduah are colleagues in the Senate today.

Mr. Melaye has transferred his brand of politics, which some consider indecent, to the upper house where he is not only a strong backer of Mr. Saraki but also chairs the Committee on the Federal Capital Territory.
The claim by the Nigerian Senate that it did not discuss a proposal to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari at its executive session on Tuesday is false, further checks by PREMIUM TIMES have shown.

The spokesperson for the Senate, Aliyu Abdullahi, on Thursday circulated a statement, describing reports that the upper chamber deliberated on a suggestion to remove Mr. Buhari as a piece of fabrication which is only the figment of the imagination of the writers and their sponsors.

But PREMIUM TIMES extensive checks have shown that our upper lawmaking body is not saying the truth.

This newspaper has independently interviewed at least six senators who attended the session, and all of them confirmed that impeachment was discussed at the meeting.

Those interviewed include those in support of embattled Senate President Bukola Saraki, and those opposed to him.

They all asked not to be named so they are not punished for divulging details of discussions held behind closed-doors to journalists.

One senator told PREMIUM TIMES it was Eyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia) who tabled the proposal that Mr. Buhari should be removed from office.

It is time to go for the Presidents jugular, Mr. Abaribe reportedly said.

Mr. Abaribes call, insiders said, elicited chants of approval from Mr. Sarakis supporters while those opposed to him shouted No, no. no.

When the Abia lawmaker was asked to further explain what he meant by going for the Presidents jugular, the Senator said it had become clear that Mr. Buhari had no respect for the Senate and that the time had come for him to be impeached.

Mr. Abaribe said the president was encouraging his subordinates to disrespect the upper chamber and that only two options were now open to the senate  go for the presidents jugular (impeachment) or continue to seek reconciliation that might not work.

As Mr. Abaribe made his contribution, there was chorus of yes, yes, conveying approval by his colleagues, mostly PDP Senators.

But resistance came from us, another senator told PREMIUM TIMES.

With the resistance from APC Senators, the Senate descended into a rowdy session.

Mr. Saraki then intervened to calm the Senators and restore normalcy .

The Senate President reminded his colleagues that the issue at stake was not Mr. Buharis impeachment, but the actions to be taken on the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Malami, who is prosecuting him and his deputy.

Mr. Saraki was said to have argued that it was Mr. Malami who was being used to directly launch lethal offensives on the Senate and who should be subdued.

Reached for comments on his suggestion for Mr. Buharis impeachment, Mr. Abaribe was evasive, neither denying nor confirming his proposal.

He said he would only open up if we disclose to him the names of the senators who divulged details of the meeting to PREMIUM TIMES.

What is called executive session is meant to be private, Mr. Abaribe said. If anybody comes out to reveal what is discussed, he should be bold enough to mention his name. If you tell me the name of the Senator that quoted me, I can comment.
President Buharis critics on Friday carpeted his government for allegedly lying about the terms of reference of the latest interim reports on the ongoing probe into arms procurement by successive governments since 2007.

Mr. Buhari had on August 24, 2015, raised the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Nigerian Armed Forces to keep with his determination to stamp out corruption and irregularities in Nigerias public service.

But many are now raising concerns not about what the committee included in its latest report but what it might have deliberately left out.

The investigative committee submitted its third interim report on Thursday which detailed how former senior military officers, political appointees and private individuals allegedly channeled security funds into their pockets while the war against Boko Haram floundered.

Among the big names the report indicted were Azubuike Ihejirika and Kenneth Minimah. Both served as Chief of Army Staff under President Goodluck Jonathan.

But government critics immediately raised concerns about the exclusion of the name of a close ally of Mr. Buhari and the current Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau.

Mr. Dambazzau served as the chief of army staff between 2008 and 2010 and critics said it was highly curious that he was not investigated even when the probe was designed to capture all procurements from 2007 to 2015.

Our findings show that those accusing government of doctoring its latest arms panel may have a point.

Buhari Governments Claim

In an attempt to ward off allegation of bias, the Buhari government, via a statement from the office of the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said Mr. Dambazaus name was not included among those indicted because the third interim report only looked into procurement and contracts awarded for and by the military between 2011-2015.

When the documents regarding procurement from 2007 to 2010 are available and scrutinised, the committee will then issue its report on that, Mr. Mohammed said in a statement signed by his media adviser Segun Adeyemi.

The audit is being done in phases, and the report that was released on Thursday is the third of such.

The Facts:

A PREMIUM TIMES examination of the report showed that the terms of reference in its heading said it queried all procurement from 2007 to 2015.

Press Release on the Third Interim Report of the Presidential Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement from 2007 to 2015, it read.

The first paragraph of the seven-page report also indicated the 13-member committee used 2007-2015 as reference.

In continuation of its assignment, the Committee on Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement (CADEP) in the Nigerian Armed Forces, analysed procurement contracts awarded by or for the Nigerian Army between 2007 and 2015.

PREMIUM TIMES also observed that in page two of the report, the committee looked into procurement far back as 2005, two years earlier than 2007.

Similarly, between 29 April 2005 and 19 October 2010, the MOD (Ministry of Defence) awarded 2 contracts to Progress Limited for the supply of 42 units of BTR-3U Armoured Personnel Carriers and spare parts for the Nigerian Army.

However, neither the MOD nor the NA could provide the contract agreements to ascertain the cost of the APCs. Although 26 of the APCs were delivered in 2007 and immediately deployed for Peace Keeping Operations in Sudan, the APCs scandalously broke down on induction, the report read in part.

In page four where the committee looked into tax infractions in the military, it was also revealed that the members looked beyond 2011.

The Committee observed breaches of laws and regulations on payments of With-holding Tax (WHT) and Value Added Tax (VAT). The unremitted WHT from 2007 to 2015 amounted to about N862,962,065.99, $2,093,710.06 and 2,700.00 respectively.

This newspaper also reported on July 7, citing top administration sources, that Mr. Dambazzaus name was amongst those indicted by the panel and that he was making concerted efforts to have his named removed.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday urged the Federal and State Governments to give priority to agri-business and treat farming as a business for the nation to make progress.

Mr. Obasanjo made the call at the First Eminent Persons Business Lecture entitled: Agribusiness: Time to Act is now.

The lecture was organised by the University of Ibadan, School of Business (UISB), in collaboration with International Institute of tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

It is now time for the country to move into agriculture as there is decline in oil prices, inadequate food supply, need to create employment, raw material for industrialisation, among others, he said.

The former president said agribusiness was a good strategy for economic development, wealth creation, job creation and huge source of foreign exchange.

He also said attention should be given to agriculture at the highest political level.

Mr. Obasanjo said the government should provide conditions conducive and incentives for the private sector to engage profitably in agriculture.

He said, Adequate infrastructure for transportation and storage must be provided; there should be stability in the price of agriculture commodities.

Agriculture financing should be kept at single digit rate of interest, agri-business must be glamourised to make it attractive to youths.

Attention should not be given to professional courses alone in universities, adequate support must be given to agricultural research; we should adopt best practices from within and outside Nigeria.

There should be creation of agro-service centres within reasonable distance for the farmers, we should add value to our foods to maximize returns from our investment.

Mr. Obasanjo, a farmer, said that the decline in oil might be a blessing in disguise to wake up Nigerians to the importance of agriculture.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, represented by the states Commissioner for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development, Oyewole Oyewumi, said the government was focused on the transformation of the agriculture sector.

Mr. Ajimobi said the state had developed an agriculture initiative programme as agriculture was an important factor in the development of the state.

The programme is to tackle unemployment, provide adequate food and encourage youths to embrace agriculture, he said. (NAN)
Fresh out of prisons where he was remanded for two months as he faced corruption trial before a Federal High Court, a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, came out swinging Friday night, using his first press statement since his release to lob scathing assaults against Muhammadu Buharis administration.

Mr. Fani-Kayode, who was announced released only a few hours ago after spending 67 days in Ikoyi Prisons, said his arrest and ongoing trial were a handiwork of Mr. Buharis government that aimed to silence me, break me, discredit me and destroy.

Until Friday, Mr. Fani-Kayode had remained detained since he was first arrested on May 9, 2016, after honouring an invitation from Nigerias flagship anti-corruption agency, the EFCC.

Mr. Fani-Kayode was later transferred to Lagos where authorities slammed a 17-count charge on him, mostly bothering on allegations that the one-time Minister of Culture and Tourism benefitted from stolen public funds during the 2015 general elections.

After weeks in detention, Mr. Fani-Kayode was granted a N250 million bail on July 4, but he was still kept in custody pending his meeting the requirements for his bail.

I give thanks to God that I am free after 67 days in detention, Mr. Fani-Kayode said. I thank my wife, lawyers, children and friends for all their support.

Mr. Fani-Kayode said his ordeal behind bars marked the worst moment of his life and emphasised his innocence.

This was the worst experience of my life but God was with me all the way. I suffered immeasurably but I count it all as joy. I am innocent of all charges and I look forward to defending myself vigorously in court.

These charges are politically motivated and I have been severely punished for my political views and criticisms of the government, Mr. Fani-Kayode said.

Both Mr. Buhari and the EFCC had pushed back against claims that government critics, like Mr. Fani-Kayode, were being unfairly targeted in Mr. Buharis signature war against corruption.

In June, Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the EFCC, reportedly dismissed concerns about his departments alleged favoritism in prosecuting cases of corruption as a mere perception matter because there is no single suspect of the agency that has come to the public space with claims of innocence of any kind.

Earlier this week while still behind bars, Mr. Fani-Kayode had said through his media adviser, Jude Ndukwe, that he remained undaunted by his detention, but added that he had missed his family, especially his five-month-old son.

Despite the fact that he has been locked up for the last 62 days, he remains confident, strong, healthy and in very high spirits, Mr. Ndukwe said. He misses his family very badly, especially his five-month-old son, Aragon, and he looks forward to coming home to be with his family, friends and loved ones.

He echoed a similar resolve in his statement Friday night.

I am strong and I am bold and the struggle will continue.
Controversial senator, Dino Melaye, on Saturday flew to Lagos, and later posted photographs of himself walking freely on Bourdillion Road where former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu lives.

Mr. Melaye posed for photographs with a street sign indicating his location to be Bourdillion Street in the upscale Ikoyi area of Lagos.

The photographs, posted on the senators Facebook page, was accompanied with a message, saying Eru Obodo (the river is never afraid of those swimming in it).

Mr. Melayes trip to the nations commercial capital and his actions in the city, appeared to have been calculated to dare Mr. Tinubu, perhaps the nations most powerful politician.

The senator had on Tuesday clashed with Mr. Tinubus senator wife, Remi, telling her he was not afraid of her husband and could beat her up without any repercussions.

Mr. Melaye said he hit back at Mrs. Tinubu after she called him a dog and a thug.

Senators, who witnessed the dirty clash, hinted that Mr. Melaye threatened to beat and impregnate Mrs. Tinubu and that nothing would happen.

But on Thursday, Mr. Melaye said he did not threaten to impregnate Mrs. Tinubu because she has already arrived menopause.

Mr. Tinubus spokesperson, Sunday Dare, on Wednesday dared Mr. Melaye to beat Mrs Tinubu and wait for the consequences. He described the Kogi West Senator as a disgrace to the Senate.

But on Saturday, Mr. Melaye announced his journey to Lagos via his Facebook account.

Through his updates, he suggested he had received threats not to enter Lagos and doing so on Saturday was a daring move by him.

In the first picture he uploaded, he indicated he had just arrived Lagos. He was pictured, clad in white attire, moving around the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Just landed in Lagos, he captioned the photo, adding, waiting for those who said I should not enter Eko.

Then, he posed for another picture in which he beamed with smiles at the arrival lounge of the airport.

In Lasgidi. Eru o bodo (a river is never afraid of the swimmer), he said.

Mr. Melaye had on Thursday said he reacted furiously to Mrs Tinubus insult because he was not a coward.

He later moved to Bourdillion Road, saying, This is Dino walking freely on Bourdillion in Lagos. I walk down the street right now.

Referring to those he suggested threatened him not to come to Lagos, he added, eyin da (where are you)?

He also posted another photograph of himself again walking on the pedestrian lane of Bourdillion Road, and wrote, Agba Akin kin so jo (the warrior entertains no fear).
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has reiterated the need for African nations to quickly address the problems of poverty and inequality.

Mr. Osinbajo made the call at an event hosted by Ghanaian President John Mahama on Africa and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the African Union meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

This is contained in a statement released by the vice-presidents Spokesman, Laolu Akande, in Abuja on Saturday.

Mr. Osinbajo is leading the Nigerian delegation to the AU meeting.

The delegation comprises the Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babagana Kingibe.

He told the breakfast event attended by a number of presidents and several heads of delegations that the whole idea of the SDGs is really about addressing inequality and poverty.

The problems are so obvious that however we describe the programme, we really must do something and urgently, he said.

The vice-president cited the N500 billion social investment programme of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, saying: In Nigeria, in the current budget cycle, we have the largest social protection programme in the history of the country.

Its a N500 billion programme (worth over 2.5 billion dollars as at the time the budget was signed).



Basically, we are looking at lifting many out of poverty. Of course, many are familiar with the size of the Nigerian state and we have close to 110 million people who are poor and about two-tenths are in extreme poverty.

So it is a huge problem and part of what we are trying to do is to look at how not just to empower people but also to ensure that what they are given is sustainable.

Mr. Osinbajo told the participants that the federal government was also doing a micro-credit programme for one million market women and artisans.

According to him, all the beneficiaries will be given training facilities to enable them to become self-reliant.

He explained that about N5, 000 would be given to the poorest of the women every month to enable them to feed themselves and find something that they could do.

Mr. Osibajo noted, however, that the token was on the condition that the women would send their children to school and participate in immunisation of their children.

So we are really excited about some of the works we are trying to do around the SDGs and we are hopeful that well be able to get the social protection programme working, he stated.

The main AU summit holds on July 17, when African leaders at the level of presidents, vice-presidents and prime ministers are expected. (NAN)
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress in Niger State on Saturday called off their strike following the intervention of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Ahmed Marafa.

The labour unions had started the strike on Monday to protest deductions in workers salaries.

At a meeting, Mr. Marafa solicited a truce between labour and the state government in order to reduce the hardship the action brought on the people.

We were able to reach very impressive headway and on a happy note, an agreement has been reached, after series of deliberation, he said.

The NLC Chairman, Idris Ndako, said labour would end the strike when some conditions agreed on by the government were met.

In our resolution, it was agreed that all workers in the state be paid their salaries in full, he said.

The state government will make available the sum of N1.35 billion monthly for a period of three months starting from this month (July).

We will undertake staff screening to determine the payment of workers.

The balance amount for June will be paid after the screening and to be handled by the organised Labour.

And with the above resolution, we have agreed to end the strike and no worker shall be victimised or dealt with because of the strike.

Also the Secretary to the State Government, Umar Danyaya, said government had resolved to reach an agreement with labour for industrial harmony to reign in the state.

Henceforth, all civil servants from level 17 downwards will be paid by the organised Labour as government will pay salaries directly to Labour, he said.

Government has given labour the sum of N1.35 billion for July salary.

The agreement to end the strike was signed on behalf of the state government by Mr. Danyaya while Mr. Ndako signed for the organised Labour. (NAN)
An Abuja High Court on Friday reserved ruling till July 19 on a bail application filed by Abiodun Agbele, an aide to Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti.

Mr. Agbele was alleged by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to have laundered N1.2billion from the office of the National Security Adviser.

The judge, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, reserved ruling after listening to submissions from by counsel in the matter on the bail application

Mr. Agbele, through his counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), filed a suit alleging breach of his fundamental human rights by EFCC.

Mr. Ozekhome told the court that the application was dated and filed on July 11 and supported by 33-paragraph affidavit, and another nine-paragraph affidavit of urgency.

He claimed to have been detained since June 27 and prayed the court to award the sum of N500million as compensation for his unlawful detention.

Mr. Ozekhome told the court that EFCC did not say that Mr. Agbele paid money into his own account rather that he paid the money into peoples account.

He said it was wrong to detain a suspect and begin to look for evidence or carry out investigation.

EFCC got a warrant of remand on June 30 from a Magistrate court in Lagos pursuant to section 293 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of Lagos.

He said that they should have arraigned him within 48 hours as stipulated by sections 35 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which is inconsistent with the provisions of sections 293 of the ACJA because the constitution is superior.

He said that an administrative bail was granted him with stringent conditions and that EFCC went back to the same Magistrate court to obtain another order after the expiration of the 14 days given.

Mr. Ozekhome therefore urged the court to grant him bail on self recognition or on liberal terms because he had not been proven guilty.

Andrew Akoja, EFCC counsel, in his opposition, alleged that the issue of breach of fundamental rights did not arise at all.

He said he admitted that the Magistrate court may be an inferior court to this court; however, the statute has bestowed power on that court.

He, therefore, urged the court not to grant bail to the applicant, saying treason, before now, was perceived to be the highest offence in the country, but now corruption is the highest.

Mr. Akoja told the court that it does not have jurisdiction to entertain the matter because the offence was not committed within Abuja. (NAN)
Some traders at the popular Alade market in Allen Avenue, Ikeja, are currently embroiled in a disagreement over attempts by government to relocate the traders to a new site.

The Ikeja local government in 2010 gave the market to a concessionaire, Master Reality International Concepts Ltd, to invest N6.9 billion for a 30-year project on a Build, Own, and Transfer (BOT) basis.

Traders at the market had continued to clash with government officials over the latters plans to forcibly move them out of their current location.

On Friday, armed thugs invaded the market to harass the traders, witnesses had told PREMIUM TIMES.

We got an invitation letter that we should come to Zone 2 today, and we went to Zone 2, Lola Odunsi-Dania, a market leader, told PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.

There, we spoke with the AIG and he said we should go and make an undertaking that both parties, that is, Master Reality and us should keep peace until Tuesday. That we should all come back on Tuesday.

We were still there writing that undertaking with their lawyer when we heard that Master Reality brought thugs to the market and started terrorising people again. And as we speak, they said they brought plank and all sorts of things and area boys to be intimidating people there.

And they said everybody should keep status quo ante but they are not keeping it, until Tuesday when we are all supposed to come to zone 2 for resolution, even though the matter is in court.

Some of the traders had filed a suit before a Lagos High Court, last year, challenging the governments plan to relocate them.

Our clients believe that the said lease of Alade Market to the property developer by the Ikeja Local Government Council, with the aim of abolishing Alade Market and building in its stead a shopping mall or complex, is contrary to public policy, Jiti Ogunye, who is representing the traders in a civil suit against the Lagos government, said in an open letter to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday.

The issue of whether our clients could be relocated from the said land is part of the issues being currently litigated at the High Court of Lagos State, Ikeja Judicial Division, he continued.

It will, thus, amount to a grave abuse of the rule of law to resort to self-help while the issues are being tried before a competent court of law that is adjudicating the matter.

The law is well settled that once a civil matter is placed before a court or judicial tribunal for adjudication, parties to the court action must refrain from doing anything capable of overreaching, undermining or foisting a fait accompli on the court.

Doing so will not only be tantamount to subverting the rule of law, but also will amount to treating the court with contempt. No matter the impatience on the part of parties, they are under a legal obligation to await the outcome of the resolution or determination of the issues submitted to the court for adjudication.

PREMIUM TIMES reached Lai Omotola, Master Reality Concept Ltds Managing Director, but a personal assistant who took the call said the company would call back with a robust response.

Later, Olisemeka Obi, Special Assistant to the Sole Administrator, Ikeja local government, called to deny that thugs invaded the market.

They are just trying to create issues for people to think there is something.

Mr. Obi said a new market had been built for the traders near the current one, and added that they would have the choice of returning once the mall is completed.

When Alade market was constructed, in the 80s, it was a little market. More than half of the place we see today were parking lots. Over time, people started acquiring and building their own shops and shanties. For the record, the official shops in that place are 299 shops.

Over time, illegal shops started springing up.

Now the local government decided to move the market, because that place is already constituting a nuisance, so instead of allowing this place to deteriorate, they gave this concessionaire the idea to rebuild this Alade market, to build it up as a big shopping mall with parking lots under.

But instead of chasing people away to start that project, they said lets build a new market for them. Everyone who has a letter of allocation, who is a bonafide owner of a shop in this current Alade market, they are already getting their shops back, all of them. Once you come with your original letter of allocation or you have a proof that you are a shop owner in the current Alade market, they will give automatically you a letter for this new place.

Mr. Obi said the traders would pay N150,000 allocation fee for the new shops.

As I speak to you, out of the 299 people who are original owners, as at the last time we checked, about 263 had come.

There are 504 lock-up shops and 200 open stalls at the new market, with the shops going for as much as N4 million.

In that new market, all the land is interlocking stones, there is creche, two big generators  350kva and 150kva, borehole, said Mr. Obi.

In the current Alade market, they have ten toilets but only two are functional. In the new one, the concessionaire built ten, five each for male and female with water. But the shop owners said it was not enough, that they need another ten.

As Im speaking to you now, that ten is already nearing completion. The market is supposed to be opened on Monday. They have praying grounds for Christians and Muslims. There is security.

Mr. Obi said a group of traders at the market known as Concerned Traders who are not bonafide shop owners are the ones causing trouble at the market.

These people that are agitating are not up to six, he said.

We heard that they went to court. But the court told them to prove their locus standi and give a reason for giving an injunction. That you took a case to court does not mean that action will stop. Court did not say let status quo remain, it said let us look at your case but they did not say stop the movement. Many of them are tenants.

Since they went to court, almost a year ago now, theyve not paid a kobo to their landlords. So they just want this thing to continue so they wont be paying.
( Read 7092 Times)

Udaipur/RitusodhiUdaipurs geographical location is responsible for water scarcity in tribal areas. The Hindu Monarchs, who ruled over the city built an array of artificial lakes to ensure water supply for common people. Since 1678 these human made lakes have provided revenue , recreation and water to the people of Udaipur. Pollution, water consumption and rapid commercialization have intensified water shortage in past few years.Dreams dont work unless you make efforts:Luscious green belt and water bodies of Udaipur are reminding us the beauty of Venice these days. Mukhyamntri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan is in the limelight of whole Nation. Brainchild of CM Raje has changed a dessert land into the most beautiful land of India. Those who have seen the beauty of Europe will agree to this view. Europe is clean and beautiful because of its citizens and Governments joint efforts.CM Rajes desire was to make Rajasthan, a land of cultural beauty to attract more foreign tourists. Her dream came true when each and every individual enthusiastically participated in MJSA.MJSA took the responsibility to save even a single drop of water. The advantages of saving water are beyond imagination. Following the footsteps of our ancestors, villagers have started paying attention to water conservation.The incentive was to fight draught and poor quality of drinking water but benefits of saving rain water is showering as boons in millions over these villages. Trenches were made on hills to stop over flowing of water in rainy season in first phase of MJSA. Now the water bodies are full and they are not only enhancing the beauty of nature but also supplying water to near by agricultural farms.Lifelines rejuvenated:Citizens of Udaipur district won the battle against draught and brought back the life of dying water bodies. The revival of water reservoirs has transformed the ecology of the place and the lives of the people living along it. Their relationship with natural environment has been strengthen. This programme has proved that human kind is not the master of environment, but an essential part of it. If human beings put an effort, damage caused to nature, can be undone.Shelter belts of trees and bushes along the edge of agricultural fields slow down the wind speed and reduce evaporation and erosion. Planting of trees, grass and bushes breaks the force of rain and helps rain water penetrate the soil. Engineers associated with this programme have applied these techniques. They have planted local vegetation and varities of herbs near water bodies. Moisture of soil will help these plants to grow into big trees and bushes. Heavy plantation has been done in Kotda and Gogunda under this programme. Aada magra Gabian structure nursery is full of greenery. Localities can buy plants of their choice from here.In an intense visit, senior media officials with MJSA experts visited a dozen places of Gogunda and Kotda with a purpose to have an idea of the progress of plantation work done by Administration. Water reservoirs were full and ready to supply water to villages. Many ponds and wells can be seen full of water to sort out water scarcity in these areas. Tourists might have seen the beauty of Pichhola and Fateh sagar but the scenic beauty of this tribal belt is unseen till now. The smiling faces of women told us the story without saying a single word. They waved off to us with admiration and great satisfaction.Hopefully quality of drinking water will be improved and it can help to slow down the danger of water related diseases. Electricity costs will be decreased when the amount of ground level increases.From a group of water conscious people, the popularity of this programme has reached to each and every village of Udaipur. A single program has united the people of Rajasthan to show their bravery in this field too.
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.




LONDON, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

As part of its continued support of UNICEF, Access Bank Group, along with 5th Chukker, The Access Bank UK and Access Private Bank hosted the 'Access Bank Polo Day' at the Guards Polo Club, Windsor on Saturday July 16.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160716/390339LOGO )



The annual event is the climax to the high-profile Access Bank/UNICEF Charity Shield Polo tournament, which is in its ninth year and is aimed at reaching out to and highlighting the plight of vulnerable children and orphans and internationally displaced persons.

Based in Kaduna, Nigeria it is the biggest charity polo tournament in Africa and stimulates support for the work of the UNICEF / ACCESS Bank initiative across Africa. This year the Bank donated an additional N10-million (27,000) to UNICEF for its campaign against HIV/AIDS among Nigerian children.

Since the UNICEF/ACCESS Bank initiative was started it has rebuilt two schools in Kaduna and, kept more than 8000 students in continuous education, while at the same time developing new school blocks and a computer literacy building all in a more secure and friendly school environment. The communities surrounding the schools are being supported with bore-holes for water, and sewing and grinding machines to secure employment and stimulate economic and social development.

The UK event was organised by The Access Bank UK Limited which has just published its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015. This shows impressive growth indicators including an increase in operating income of 31% from 15-million in 2014 to 19.7-million. The Bank's profit before tax grew by 72% to 8.6-million, while its post tax profit was up 74% to 6.8-million..

Commenting on the Bank's success chief executive officer and managing director Jamie Simmonds said:

"We are now in our second five year plan that embodies our principles of relationship-based banking, growing our business through the depth and quality of customer relationships, while at the same time maintaining a moderate appetite for risk. Our objective is to grow the international business of Access Bank Group through customer service excellence, and innovative solutions in trade finance, commercial banking and asset management."

Drawing attention to the Bank's 2015 highlights, Jamie Simmonds added: "In 2015 we launched an operation in the UAE, introduced a high net worth regulated execution only mortgage product and unveiled an on-line retail savings product.

"Our achievements owe a great deal to the strong partnership that we have with our parent company, as evidenced by our joint support of the fifth Access Bank Day at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor."

Access Bank PLC group managing director and chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, Herbert Wigwe paid tribute to the UK operation by saying:

"The Access Bank UK has become the business we always envisaged it would. Founded on a model of excellent service and moderate risk appetite it has grown income, increased profit and delivers a healthy return on equity. Importantly it is adding value to Access Bank Group and enhancing the Group's stature on the international stage."

Wigwe also explained the reasons behind the Bank's continued support for the Fifth Chukker UNICEF initiative. "We are conscious of our role as a change agent in Nigeria that can help institute socio-economic development through responsible business practice and environmental considerations," he said. "In addition, we are continually seeking ways through which more resources can be pooled towards supporting the children. We are part of the community and as such should support its wellbeing."

For details of where to obtain photographs and further background information, please see "notes to editors" below

Notes to editors:

Photos ( http://www.imagesofpolo.com) of the Access Bank Polo Day at The Guards Polo Club on June 13 may be found at:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7q5is6be51ueszr/AACY7ydEofAUisE4el_VjFJia?dl=0

(For online media please use separate folder at top of web page)

Suggested captions:

0289 Herbert Wiggenhall, Emir of Kano and Chairman of Coronation Group plc

0361 Jamie Simmonds CEO Access Bank UK tells guests at the Access Bank Charity Polo day something of the schools and the 8000 students that have benefitted from the Access Bank, Unicef, First Chukker initiative in Northern Nigeria

0944 - Adolfo Cambiaso Junior takes control

1008 - Juan Martin Nero, Mia Cambiaso and Babangida Hassan

1172 Adamu Mahmoud Atta - captain First Chukker, takes his award from Mrs Mosum Beli- Olusola Chairman Access Bank Group, the Emir of Kano, and Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank Group PLC managing director and chairman of The Access Bank UK Ltd, at the end of the Access Bank Charity cup match

1180 Adolf of Cambois, the world's leading Polo player takes his award from the Emirates of Kano and Herbert Wigwe at the end of the Access Bank Charity Cup match

1224 Babingida Hassan receives the Access bank charity cup from the Emirates of Kano and Herbert Wigwe CEO Access Bank Group

1232 The two team captains Babingida Hassan and Adams Attached hold the Access Bank Charity Cup with Herbert Wigwe Chief Executive Access Bank group

1144 Damian Duncan - Captain of the Delaneycommunications@eircom.net Polo team receives the Emir's cup from the Emir of Kano and Herbert Wigwe ceo Access Bank Group.

About Access Bank

Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial Bank operating through a network of 348 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom. Listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1998, the Bank serves its various markets through 5 business segments: Institutional, Commercial, Retail Banking, Transaction Services and Financial Markets.

The Bank has over 800,000 shareholders including several Nigerian and International Institutional Investors and has enjoyed what is arguably Africa's most successful banking growth trajectory in the last ten years ranking amongst Africa's top 15 banks by total assets and capital in 2012 and among Nigeria's top four banks by most metrics.

As part of its continued growth strategy, Access Bank is focused on mainstreaming sustainable business practices into its operations. The Bank strives to deliver sustainable economic growth that is profitable, environmentally responsible and socially relevant.

About The Access Bank UK Ltd

The Access Bank UK Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Access Bank Plc. It offers a broad range of banking products and services including:

Private banking, through its specialist division Access Private Bank (see below)

Business banking

Trade finance

Personal banking

to business and personal customers, both from the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa. Its strong commercial ties to Africa and local knowledge are invaluable for customers with personal and business involvement in these regions.

The Bank was authorised by the Financial Services Authority on 12 August 2008. Following the reorganisation of the Regulatory Regime in the UK on 1 April 2013 with the introduction of Twin Peaks regulation, the Bank is currently regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Bank is authorised to undertake a wide range of banking activities.

The Access Bank UK's outstanding year on year growth is derived in part from its international sales and operations, and its geographical expansion within Sub Saharan Africa including trade finance transactions in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Rwanda and Cote D'Ivoire. The transactions related to the import and export of goods such as oil products, paper, auto parts and numerous other commodities. This work, and its success, highlights the Bank's ability to provide an invaluable service proposition for customer's wishing to maximise opportunities in the growing economies of Sub Saharan Africa and its ability to increase market share in Nigeria - the fastest growing economy on the continent.

To further broaden its international reach and ensure the outstanding growth remains self-sustaining, the Bank is undertaking a range of developments. These include

developing closer working relationships with OECD exporters to increase exposure to trade flows across a broader range of African countries

focusing on taking advantage of the growing trade flows in Ghana plus adopting a growth strategy for the Rwandan and Zambian markets

These measures will mean the Bank avoids over-dependency on its substantial market share in Nigeria.

Acting as a confirming bank across OECD markets is a key part of The Access Bank's growing opportunities in trade finance for itself and its customers. Its confirmation is now accepted on over 95% of occasions.

It also:

is a registered correspondent and trade finance bank for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

(CBN) issues Letters of Credit on behalf of the Nigerian government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)

acts as a correspondent bank for Nigerian and Ghanaian banks lacking a UK-authorised subsidiary

is accredited by IFC (World Bank Commercial Arm).

Access Private Bank

Access Private Bank is a global private bank dedicated to helping high net worth individuals reach their wealth management and financial goals. The Bank provides an individual tailored investment solution that is complemented by a personal banking service, and is committed to working with its customers to build long-term relationships based on understanding, knowledge, trust and accountability. Its integrated global investment and wealth management service is based on the principles of discretionary investment management and a portfolio designed specifically for each client after discussion on personal circumstances, investment objectives, knowledge and attitude to risk.

The Bank fully manages customers' investment and reports the performance of portfolios on a regular basis to ensure customers are kept up to date with developments.

SOURCE The Access Bank UK Limited
AURORA, Ontario, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Magna International Inc. (TSX: MG; NYSE: MGA) announced today that it has received notice of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer made by TRC Capital Corporation ("TRC Capital") to purchase up to 2,500,000 Magna Common Shares, or approximately 0.63% of Magna's outstanding Common Shares, at a price of CDN $41.85 per share. The offering price represents a discount of approximately 13.9% to yesterday's closing price of Magna Common Shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) of CDN$48.63. In addition, the offer is highly conditional. TRC Capital's offer states that it may withdraw its offer if, among other things, the market price of Magna Common Shares falls below CDN $43.82, the closing price on the TSX on July 6, 2016.

Magna does not endorse this unsolicited mini-tender offer and recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares. Magna is not associated with TRC Capital, its mini-tender offer or the mini-tender offer documentation.

TRC Capital has made similar unsolicited mini-tender offers for shares of other public companies. Mini-tender offers typically seek to acquire less than 5% of a company's outstanding shares, thereby avoiding many disclosure and procedural requirements applicable to formal take-over bids and tender offers under Canadian and United States securities legislation.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have expressed serious concerns about mini-tender offers, such as the possibility that investors might tender to a mini-tender offer based on a misunderstanding of the terms of the offer, including the per securities price available under the offer relative to the market price of such securities. Comments from the CSA on mini-tenders can be found on the Ontario Securities Commission website at: http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/SecuritiesLaw_csa_19991210_61-301.jsp.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also published an investor advisory regarding mini-tender offers. In the advisory, the SEC cautions that some bidders make mini-tender offers at below-market prices, "hoping that they will catch investors off-guard" if the investors do not compare the offer price to the current market price. The SEC advisory can be found at:http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm.

Magna urges shareholders to obtain current market quotations for their shares, consult with their broker or financial advisor and exercise caution with respect to TRC Capital's offer. Magna recommends that shareholders who have not responded to TRC Capital's mini-tender offer take no action. Shareholders who have already tendered their shares should seek to withdraw them, including reviewing and strictly following the withdrawal procedures in TRC Capital's offering documents.

Magna requests that a copy of this news release be included with all distributions of materials relating to TRC Capital's mini-tender offer related to Magna common shares.

ABOUT MAGNA

We are a leading global automotive supplier with 306 manufacturing operations and 92 product development, engineering and sales centres in 29 countries. We have over 147,000 employees focused on delivering superior value to our customers through innovative products and processes, and World Class Manufacturing. These figures include manufacturing operations, product development, engineering and sales centres and employees in equity accounted operations. Our product capabilities include producing body, chassis, exterior, seating, powertrain, electronic, vision, closure and roof systems and modules, as well as complete vehicle engineering and contract manufacturing. Our common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (MG) and the New York Stock Exchange (MGA).

Vince Galifi, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at 905-726-7100 or Louis Tonelli, Vice-President, Investor Relations at 905-726-7035

SOURCE Magna International Inc.
DUBLIN, July 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global 3D Semiconductor Packaging Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The global 3D semiconductor packaging market to grow at a CAGR of 16.27% during the period 2016-2020.

Recent technology advances along with improved durability, reduced energy consumption, superior performance, enhanced quality, and highly efficient features of 3D semiconductor packaging equipment are making this equipment attractive packaging proposition in the semiconductor industry, especially in the consumer electronics industry. The increasing demand for consumer electronics is expected to increase the revenue of the global 3D semiconductor packaging market during the forecast period.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global 3D semiconductor packaging market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the sales of 3D semiconductor packaging equipment to semiconductor component manufacturers.

One trend which is impacting market growth positively is the short replacement cycle of portable electronic devices. At present times, mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones have a tendency to become obsolete in a short period. Manufacturers launch subsequent models of their devices in every 12 months, cannibalizing the existing mobile device market. With the replacement period of product reduced to 8-12 months, the demand for semiconductor wafers that are used in electronic devices is expected to rise drastically.

According to the report, a key growth driver is the need to control chip design costs. The increasing complexity of designing electronic devices that are required to implement technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) is causing a rapid rise in their designing costs. High designing costs are restricting semiconductor device manufacturers from adopting aggressive pricing strategies. In order to control their design costs and to ensure effective manufacturing of designs on the drawing board, companies such as Samsung are increasingly adopting 3D semiconductor packaging.

Further, the report states that one challenge that could restrict market growth is the high capital investment in 3D semiconductor packaging. The superior technology in the niche global 3D semiconductor packaging market demands huge capital investment from the players seeking to enter this market. As a result, the market is controlled by leading manufacturers that already have control over the global 3D semiconductor packaging market.

Key vendors

- Amkor Technology

- SUSS Microtek

- EV Group

- Tokyo Electron

Other prominent vendors

- ACCRETECH Tokyo Seimitsu

- Rudolph Technologies

- SEMES

- Ultratech

- ULVAC

Key Topics Covered:

Part 01: Executive summary

Part 02: Scope of the report

Part 03: Market research methodology

Part 04: Introduction

Part 05: Market landscape

Part 06: Market segmentation by application

Part 07: Geographical segmentation

Part 08: Market drivers

Part 09: Impact of drivers

Part 10: Market challenges

Part 11: Impact of drivers and challenges

Part 12: Market trends

Part 13: Vendor landscape

Part 14: Market summary

Part 15: Appendix

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/565whk/global_3d

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
Highlights of the Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit included presentations ranging from what private investors are looking for when considering projects in the far north  to the very latest on the Quintillion Subsea Cable Project, which ASRC is a minority partner. Other discussions touched on new satellite technology to compliment subsea fiber optic broadband, and what the government's role should be in connecting the Arctic. In all, nearly 40 speakers participated in the conference, coming from as far away as Finland, Canada and the east coast.

"I'm incredibly grateful to the many experts and presenters who came all the way to Alaska to join us for the Summit," said Tara Sweeney, who serves as chair of the Arctic Economic Council as well as executive vice president of external affairs for ASRC. "They've been able to see firsthand the many challenges we experience in the Arctic and the importance of using broadband as a tool to bring opportunities to the north  like educational, health and economic growth benefits. Improved connectivity capacity is a problem all too common in many parts of the Arctic, and I'm pleased that industry leaders are committed to helping us find solutions."

The Summit, which was organized by the Arctic Economic Council and its telecommunications working group, was broadcast live on KBRW Radio and the program was simulcast worldwide on the internet. The event was also co-hosted by the Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA) and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC).

A full agenda from the Summit can be found at www.arcticeconomiccouncil.com. Video clips and photos will be made available in the near future.

About Arctic Economic Council (AEC)

Established by the Arctic Council under the chairmanship of Canada, the AEC is an independent business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The inaugural meeting was held in September 2014 in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada. The AEC has a 42-member board from eight Arctic states and six permanent participant organizations. Finland will assume the chairmanship from the U.S. in 2017.

About Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA)

IABA comprises representatives of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), NANA Regional Corporation (NANA) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). Its mission is to provide a unified voice, collective vision, guidelines and venue for doing business in the Arctic. The three corporate members of IABA were established as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Together, they own a total of 9.3 million acres of Arctic surface and subsurface real estate and represent more than 31,900 shareholders.

About Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is owned by and represents the business interests of the Arctic Slope Inupiat. Since opening enrollment in 1990 to Alaska Natives born after 1971, the corporation's shareholder base has nearly tripled, growing from the 3,700 original enrollees to around 13,000 today. Corporate headquarters are based in Barrow, Alaska, with administrative and subsidiary offices located in Anchorage and throughout the United States. ASRC, along with its family of companies, is the largest Alaskan-owned company, employing approximately 10,000 people worldwide. The company has six major business segments: petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, construction, industrial services, government services and resource development.

CONTACT:

Ty Hardt, ASRC

Sr. Director of Communications

Desk (907) 339-6888

Mobile (907) 223-3253

thardt@asrc.com

SOURCE Arctic Economic Council
CLEVELAND, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the final 48 hours before the gavel falls to signify the start of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, the Committee on Arrangements has announced the locations of each delegation on the Convention floor.

All 56 delegations, representing every state and territory, will convene Monday on the floor of the transformed Quicken Loans Arena. For the next four days they will be tasked with completing a wide array of party business like adopting rules and a platform, as well as listening to speeches from prominent Republicans on the values of the party. Finally, the delegates will cast their vote to nominate Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence as the Republican candidates for President and Vice President.

"Conventions are a time that bring our party together in one space to reaffirm what we believe in and look to what the future will bring," said Convention CEO Jeff Larson. "Regardless of our home state and background, we come together as one body to select our nominee for President of the United States."

Please click here for a map of each delegation's seating arrangement. If you would like to know more about the speakers for this year's Convention, please visit conventionmedia.gop.

Paid for by the Committee on Arrangements for the 2016 Republican National Convention. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

www.convention.gop.

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160516/367841LOGO

SOURCE 2016 Republican National Convention

Related Links

http://gopconvention2016.com


HONOLULU, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, a broad coalition of environmental, consumer, and business parties joined together to praise the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission's rejection of the takeover of Hawaiian Electric utilities by NextEra Energy. Earthjustice, Hawaii Solar Energy Association, Hawaii PV Coalition, Sierra Club of Hawaii, and the Alliance for Solar Choice all joined together in this release.

Groups cited NextEra's unwillingness to transition to a clean energy utility of the future as a primary reason why they opposed the merger. Hawaii is leading the national trend toward more clean energy investments, with the goal of getting to 100% renewable by 2045. NextEra's utility track record of investing in dirty energy and opposing rooftop solar makes it incompatible with the modern energy infrastructure that lawmakers and consumers are demanding.

"Instead of envisioning a 21st century grid that enables customer options like rooftop solar, NextEra wanted to double-down on its 'build more, pay more' monopoly business," said Hajime Alabanza, Executive Assistant with Hawaii Solar Energy Association. "The Commission understood this isn't the right direction for Hawaii's customers."

"NextEra made this a no brainer," said Isaac Moriwake, Staff Attorney with Earthjustice. "Outright rejection of the takeover was the only realistic option. NextEra refused to provide its plans for Hawaii, other than to give us a 'bigger HECO.' Based on its opposition to clean energy in Florida and failure to chart a different path in this state, NextEra is not what Hawaii wants or needs."

The takeover faced strong opposition across the board. Governor Ige expressed his early opposition and many elected state and county officials voiced similar reservations, or support for exploring other ownership alternatives.

Virtually every party in the PUC proceeding, including government parties and nonprofit and industry groups, opposed NextEra's proposal, and no party supported it without requiring NextEra to commit to extensive additional conditions.

The general public reflected similar opposition. Polls consistently showed a strong and growing majority opposed the takeover, and support fell even further when residents learned about NextEra's opposition to rooftop solar. At least four polls found that only about a third of the population supported the takeover. See http://www.staradvertiser.com/hawaii-news/nextera-losing-support-for-plan-to-purchase-hei/ and http://www.civilbeat.com/2016/02/civil-beat-poll-majority-oppose-nextera-hei-merger/. One poll showed that a staggering 83% opposed the merger when told that NextEra would oppose the further installation of rooftop solar.

"Utility executives need to understand that innovative technologies like rooftop solar, just like cellphones before it, are the wave of the future," said Robert Harris, spokesperson for The Alliance for Solar Choice. "Simply selling out for a golden parachute is not a viable option for HECO executives, nor is fighting against customers trying to do the right thing for their households and the planet. Utilities need to move towards a 21st century grid that empowers customers to save money and produce cleaner power."

"Hawaii is committed to a 100% clean energy future," said Marti Townsend, Director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii. "We need partners that will help advance our critical economic and environmental goals, and not businesses focused solely on their short-term gain."

Media Contact:

Lauren Randall

[email protected]

SOURCE The Alliance for Solar Choice

Related Links

http://allianceforsolarchoice.com


JUNO BEACH, Fla. and HONOLULU, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) and Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HE) (HEI) today issued the following statement in connection with today's order by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC):

"We are in receipt of today's PUC order and are currently reviewing it."

NextEra Energy, Inc.

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of approximately $17.5 billion and approximately 14,300 employees in 27 states and Canada as of year-end 2015, as well as approximately 45,000 megawatts of generating capacity, which includes megawatts associated with noncontrolling interests related to NextEra Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: NEP) as of April 2016. Headquartered in Juno Beach, Fla., NextEra Energy's principal subsidiaries are Florida Power & Light Company, which serves more than 4.8 million customer accounts in Florida and is one of the largest rate-regulated electric utilities in the United States, and NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world's largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. A Fortune 200 company and included in the S&P 100 index, NextEra Energy has been recognized often by third parties for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity, and has been ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune's 2016 list of "World's Most Admired Companies." For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.

Hawaiian Electric Industries

Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE: HE) (HEI) supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utilities, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc., and Maui Electric Company, Limited, and provides a wide array of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through American Savings Bank, F.S.B., one of Hawaii's largest financial institutions. In a changing world, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are taking the lead in adding renewable energy and developing energy solutions for their customers to achieve a clean energy future for Hawaii. HEI has been named one of "America's 100 Most Trustworthy Companies 2015" by Forbes. For more information, visit these websites: www.HEI.com, www.HawaiianElectric.com, www.ASBHawaii.com.

NextEra Energy Contacts:

Robert L. Gould

Vice President, Chief Communications Officer

561-694-4442

Debra Larsson

Manager, Financial and Sustainability Communication

561-694-4442

Hawaiian Electric Company Contact:

Lynne Unemori

Vice President, Corporate Relations

808-543-7972

[email protected]

Hawaiian Electric Industries Contacts:

Cliff Chen

Manager, Investor Relations and Strategic Planning

808-543-7300

[email protected]

A.J. Halagao

Manager, Corporate & Community Advancement

808-543-5889

[email protected]

SOURCE NextEra Energy, Inc.; Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hei.com


WASHINGTON, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia welcomed the release of the 28 pages redacted from the Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11, and reiterated the Kingdom's commitment to crushing terrorism at home and abroad.

"Since the tragic events of 9/11, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has embarked on a series of major steps in confronting terrorism," Minister Al-Jubeir said at a press conference at the Saudi Embassy in Washington following Friday's release of the 28 pages.

"We have put in place financial control mechanisms that are unprecedented for any other country. We have shut down institutions that use fundraising in order to support extremist causes and terrorism. We have put in place laws to criminalize terror financing. We have detained a large number of people. We have prosecuted a large number of people. We have jailed a large number of people. We have put in place better systems in terms of looking at cash couriers," said Minister Al-Jubeir. "Saudi Arabia is in the forefront of countries when it comes to fighting terrorism."

The Foreign Minister said that redacted pages exonerate the Saudi government from involvement in the events of 9/11, as the 28 pages were reviewed by U.S. intelligence agencies who said there is no involvement of the Saudi government or Saudi officials in the events of 9/11.

"We hope with the release of these pages, the aspersions that have been cast against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the past 14 years will come to an end. And we hope that we can focus on moving forward in a cooperative way in order to go after the men, the money and the mindset that represents a threat to your people and ours."

Minister Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia is a victim of terrorism, and works with its allies in going after terrorists and their supporters.

"Terrorism has no religion, it has no nationality, it has no ethnicity, it has no humanity. It is incumbent upon all of us to do everything in our power to defeat it," said Minister Al-Jubeir.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is determined to go after the terrorists, those who finance them, and those who justify their actions."

This is distributed by Qorvis MSLGROUP on behalf of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office
Highlights of the Top of the World Arctic Broadband Summit included presentations ranging from what private investors are looking for when considering projects in the far north  to the very latest on the Quintillion Subsea Cable Project, which ASRC is a minority partner. Other discussions touched on new satellite technology to compliment subsea fiber optic broadband, and what the government's role should be in connecting the Arctic. In all, nearly 40 speakers participated in the conference, coming from as far away as Finland, Canada and the east coast.

"I'm incredibly grateful to the many experts and presenters who came all the way to Alaska to join us for the Summit," said Tara Sweeney, who serves as chair of the Arctic Economic Council as well as executive vice president of external affairs for ASRC. "They've been able to see firsthand the many challenges we experience in the Arctic and the importance of using broadband as a tool to bring opportunities to the north  like educational, health and economic growth benefits. Improved connectivity capacity is a problem all too common in many parts of the Arctic, and I'm pleased that industry leaders are committed to helping us find solutions."

The Summit, which was organized by the Arctic Economic Council and its telecommunications working group, was broadcast live on KBRW Radio and the program was simulcast worldwide on the internet. The event was also co-hosted by the Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA) and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC).

A full agenda from the Summit can be found at www.arcticeconomiccouncil.com. Video clips and photos will be made available in the near future.

About Arctic Economic Council (AEC)

Established by the Arctic Council under the chairmanship of Canada, the AEC is an independent business forum established to facilitate Arctic business-to-business activities, promote responsible economic development and provide a circumpolar business perspective to the work of the Arctic Council. The inaugural meeting was held in September 2014 in Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada. The AEC has a 42-member board from eight Arctic states and six permanent participant organizations. Finland will assume the chairmanship from the U.S. in 2017.

About Inuit Arctic Business Alliance (IABA)

IABA comprises representatives of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), NANA Regional Corporation (NANA) and Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). Its mission is to provide a unified voice, collective vision, guidelines and venue for doing business in the Arctic. The three corporate members of IABA were established as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Together, they own a total of 9.3 million acres of Arctic surface and subsurface real estate and represent more than 31,900 shareholders.

About Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC)

Arctic Slope Regional Corporation is owned by and represents the business interests of the Arctic Slope Inupiat. Since opening enrollment in 1990 to Alaska Natives born after 1971, the corporation's shareholder base has nearly tripled, growing from the 3,700 original enrollees to around 13,000 today. Corporate headquarters are based in Barrow, Alaska, with administrative and subsidiary offices located in Anchorage and throughout the United States. ASRC, along with its family of companies, is the largest Alaskan-owned company, employing approximately 10,000 people worldwide. The company has six major business segments: petroleum refining and marketing, energy support services, construction, industrial services, government services and resource development.

CONTACT:

Ty Hardt, ASRC

Sr. Director of Communications

Desk (907) 339-6888

Mobile (907) 223-3253

[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150910/265586LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160613/378539LOGO

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160613/378541LOGO

SOURCE Arctic Economic Council
CLEVELAND, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This coming Monday at the Republican National Convention, Main Street Advocacy will host another forum as part of the national Women2Women Tour. Monday's event is sponsored by KIA Motors.

Women2Women is a movement to promote the shared needs and ideals of women to impact lawmakers in Washington. Main Street Advocacy is the sister organization of the Republican Main Street Partnership, an organization representing 72 Members of Congress in the governing wing of the Republican Party.

Monday's forum will be moderated by Republican Main Street Partnership's President Sarah Chamberlain and will feature:

Congresswoman Susan Brooks (R-IN)

Congresswomen Mimi Walters (R-CA)

Lt. Gov. of Ohio Mary Taylor (R-OH)

The forum will take place near the Convention site at:

Cleveland State University - Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

1717 Euclid Ave

Cleveland, OH 44114

Monday, July 18th, 2016

9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Already, the Women2Women tour has produced legislative results. In early July, Congress passed, the Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis legislation. This issue of mental health was first raised to the Congressional women involved in the Women2Women tour who immediately took action on Capitol Hill.

Republican Urban Leader's Forum

Additionally, in an event sponsored by the International Union of Operating Engineers

The Republican Main Street Partnership will host a conversation with current and former urban mayors about the importance of GOP mayors and other elected officials in urban areas across the country. For more information click here.

WHO: Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)  Former Mayor of Dayton, OH

Mike Cornett  Mayor of Oklahoma City, OK

Betsy Price  Mayor of Forth Worth, TX

John Lettieri  Economic Innovation Group, Co-Founder

WHAT: A discussion moderated by Rep. Mike Turner on the importance of urban mayors and elected officials across the country.

WHEN: TUESDAY, July 19th Panel Discussion 10:00 AM  10:45 AM

Q&A Session 10:45 AM  11:30 AM

WHERE: Cleveland State University  Levin College Atrium

1717 Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44114

Press is asked to please RSVP to Lauren O'Toole at [email protected] or to David James [email protected].

The panel will feature urban Republican leaders who have distinguished records of leadership in the cities they have served. In their respective offices, they are crafting conservative policy solutions to urban policy problems. These leaders' successes and experiences are instructive for all Republicans in order to grow the GOP in urban areas.

Contact: David James

[email protected]

SOURCE Republican Main Street Partnership

Related Links

http://www.republicanmainstreet.org


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Islamabad, July 12 : A little-known political party has put up banners in 13 Pakistani cities urging Army chief General Raheel Sharif to impose martial law and form a government of technocrats.

The banners have been unveiled in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha and Hyderabad among other cities, media reports said on Tuesday.

According to Dawn, the "Move on Pakistan" party, which is behind the banners, earlier ran a campaign requesting the army chief to reconsider his retirement plan due in November.

A banner hung at a prominent traffic intersection in Karachi reads: "Janay ki baatain hui puraani, Khuda ke liye ab ajao" (Talk of leaving is old; for God's sake, now come).

Ali Hashmi, the central chief organiser of the party, told Dawn that the party wanted the army chief to impose martial law and then form a government of technocrats to run Pakistan.

Gen Raheel Sharif should himself supervise such a government, Hashmi was quoted as saying.

While the army's official mouthpiece - the Inter-Services Public Relations - remained silent, analyst Amir Rana was quoted as saying that the latest development strengthened the view that "something was cooking".

Dawn said that the banners sprang up overnight on all major thoroughfares in the 13 cities, including Cantonment areas, despite the presence of several checkpoints and extra security.

Hashmi claimed that his party's banners were removed in Lahore and Faisalabad on Tuesday morning.

Dawn said the Move on Pakistan party - which has little grassroot support - had been registered with the Election Commission of Pakistan for the past three years.

A Faisalabad-based businessman, Mohammad Kamran, is its chairman. He runs a number of schools and businesses in Faisalabad, Sargodha and Lahore.

The party came into the spotlight in February when it put up posters and banners across the country asking the army chief not to retire and "help in eradicating terrorism and corruption".

Though the party said five months ago that it was not inviting the army to take over, this time it said "there is no choice but to enforce martial law and form a government of technocrats".

Hashmi said the absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the country for more than 40 days proved there was no need of a political government. "Those who have been running the country will keep running it."

He added: "We are considering holding rallies from Faisalabad to Lahore and Karachi to Sukkur in the second phase to convince the army chief that he should intervene for the betterment of the country and nation."

Minister of State for Privatisation Mohammad Zubair said only legal experts could say what action can be taken against those putting up such banners and posters.
Bhubaneswar, July 12 : The number of dengue-infected persons in Odisha is increasing day by day with the number of affected persons reaching almost 800, said the state government on Tuesday but assured steps to tackle the situation were underway.

Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said 797 blood samples have been tested positive in the state while 130 patients have been admitted to hospitals.

"The infected persons are undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the state. We are taking steps to control the situation," he said after holding a review meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singhdeo along with top officials of both their departments.

Nayak said both the departments would work in close coordination to combat the dengue menace in the state, and a a special task force had been formed to monitor the situation.

It was also decided in the meeting that Health Department will provide logistics support while Urban Development Department will take up the sanitation drive on a war-footing at the urban pockets affected by dengue.

Singhdeo said a joint action plan has been prepared to carry out massive cleaning drive in the dengue-affected urban pockets.
Mumbai, July 14 : After drawing flak for tweeting about a film shoot last month when Mathura in her Lok Sabha constituency was engulfed by violence and tension, veteran actress-politician Hema Malini has said she would "restrict" her Twitter updates to "film and dance activities".

In the violent confrontation between the police and encroachers, 24 persons, including two senior police officers, were killed in firing by encroachers. It caused disruption of life in Mathura and its neighbourhood.

It was only after her party leaders directed her that Hema Malini rushed to Mathura from Mumbai.

"Good afternoon everyone! I am fine and I always read all your comments! Thank you all for your patience and for encouraging me every day! After giving it a lot of thought I have decided to restrict my Twitter updates to my film and dance activities. I am an artiste and will always remain one," Hema tweeted on Thursday.

Hema added that she started tweeting for her fans and will continue to give them news of her activities "other than politics".

"As an MP I have always worked sincerely for my constituency and will continue to do so without being prompted by anyone. My conscience is clear," she added.

The 67-year-old actress shared that her upcoming film "Shimla Mirchi", which also stars Rajkummar Rao, is ready for release.

She said: "And now for something for my fans. 'Shimla Mirch' is ready for release. A lovely light-hearted film, it is bound to find favour with everyone."

The Bollywood "Dream Girl" actress says she has completed dubbing for the film and is happy with the results.

"Working with Ramesh Sippy ji was a pleasure and I'm looking forward to the release too," she added.
New York, July 15 : NASA will host a Facebook Live event at 10:30 p.m. India time on Friday to discuss the science and technology aboard NASA's next Mars rover -- Mars 2020.

The scientists will talk about the significant step the agency is taking on Mars 2020's journey to Mars, proceeding with final design and construction of the robotic explorer, NASA wrote in a blog.

During the event, viewers will get a glimpse of the Mars Yard and rock drilling facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and can ask questions during the programme via Facebook.

Mars 2020 will look for signs of past life in a region of Mars where the ancient environment is believed to have been favourable for microbial life.

In addition to collecting samples of Martian rock and soil that a potential future mission could return to the Earth for analysis, the rover will also assess Mars' geology and modern environment, providing context for other investigations.

These studies will address high priority goals for planetary science and further aid NASA's preparations for a human mission to the Red Planet, NASA said.

Kenneth Farley, Mars 2020 project scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, Matt Robinson, Mars 2020 sampling and caching team deputy manager at JPL, and Allen Chen, Mars 2020 entry, descent and landing lead at JPL, will be interacting with the people live on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the Curiosity Mars rover which was brought out of the "safe mode" on July 9 after it put itself into a precautionary safe standby mode on July 2, has resumed full operations.

After investigating why the rover put itself into a safe mode, NASA's engineers said that the most likely cause was a software mismatch in one mode of how image data are transferred on board.

Curiosity has entered safe mode three times previously, all during 2013.

The rover landed in Mars' Gale Crater and has been exploring the area since August 2012.

During its first year on Mars, the mission achieved its goal by determining that, more than three billion years ago, the region offered fresh-water lakes and rivers with environmental conditions well-suited to supporting microbial life, if life has ever existed on Mars.

Recently, the US space agency said it was planning to drive the Curiosity Rover towards water sites on the Martian surface to further investigate the long, seasonally changing dark streaks briny water in the hope of finding evidence of life.
Ankara, July 16 : Tanks opened fire around the Turkish parliament building and military jets were seen flying low over the city as the Turkish military claimed it has seized control of the country late on Friday night.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, addressing Turkey via Facetime, asserted he is President and vowed to crush the opposition forces.

"I am calling on our nation. Go to squares, let us give them the best answer," Erdogan said in a video message, "I do not believe this coup attempt will be successful. No coup-plotter in history has ever succeeded," he said.

First Army commander Umit Dundar said that the coup-plotters represent a small minority in First Army command. "There is nothing to worry about. We are taking necessary measures with the soldiers who have not joined them and are still acting within chain of command."

Erdogan said he was Turkey's commander in chief and there had not been any attempt against him. The Turkish presidency said the president is at a secure location.

Erdogan identified the group as belonging to the FETO/PDY terrorist organization, which three years ago staged an unsuccessful overthrow of the government, Turkey's Anadolu agency reported.

"This is an insurgency against democracy and national will," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the nation on live TV late on Friday night. "We will not allow it. There will never be any compromise on democracy. The perpetrators will pay the heaviest price."

State broadcaster TRT said the military had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland".

"The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," said a military statement quoted by Turkish media.

It said the coup had been launched "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted".

"All our international agreements and commitments retain their validity," the statement added.

"We hope our good relations will continue with all countries in the world."

The presidency said the statement was invalid.

Major bridges, Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, in Istanbul were closed and gunfire was heard at Istanbul airport as soldiers took to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul.

There were reports that coup attempters opened fire on civilians, who hit the streets in several cities to protest the attempt, Hurriyet Daily News online reported.

Soldiers fired bullets at civilians who walked to the Bosphorus Bridge.

Another incident was in the Bayrampasa district of Istanbul, where one person was wounded.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said those responsible for what he described as an attempted coup by a faction within the military would pay the highest price.

He said they would not be allowed to do anything to interrupt democracy.

Meanwhile, President Erdogan is reportedly seeking asylum in Europe, amid the military coup.

US military sources were quoted as telling NBC News that Erdogan's presidential jet was allegedly denied landing rights at Istanbul's airport, before it headed out of the country.

He was then denied asylum in Germany, according to NBC, before heading to London.

He also said "This country can't be managed from Pennsylvania," directly linking the coup attempt to US-based exiled imam Fethullah Gulen.
Ankara, July 16 : Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the US state of Pennsylvania and who once was an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned the ateempted military coup attempt and denied any involvement in it.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," he said in an emailed statement. "The government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force."

"I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly," he added.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Erdogan, who has returned to Istanbul and declared he wass in control of the government, has blamed the coup attempt on the followers of Gulen.

Gulen has for years lived as a recluse at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Centre, a compound in Saylorsburg, in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.

His group, Alliance for Shared Values, describes itself as "an umbrella non-profit organisation serving as a voice for civic, culture and service organisations" across the country.

His movement promotes a version of Islam that embraces science, education and interfaith dialogue, which has earned him millions of followers but also drawn the suspicion of many in Turkey's establishment, writes The New York Times.

His movement has been feared by some for its ability to mobilise considerable resources and for its influence among decision-makers.

Erdogan, speaking at Istanbul Ataturk Airport on early Saturday, said that a coup attempt by members of the armed forces loyal to his rival Gulen, amounted to "treason".

"A minority within the armed forces has unfortunately been unable to stomach Turkey's unity," Erdogan said, adding that individuals loyal to Gulen had "penetrated the armed forces and the police, among other government agencies, over the past 40 years."

"What is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a treason," Erdogan said, adding "They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey."
New Delhi : The Indian government has done well to airlift out nationals stranded in South Sudan. Operation Sankat Mochan, co-powered by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) and the Indian Air Force (IAF), demonstrated a decisive ability. Decisive because in a similar situation, when Indians expected comparable assistance, the then Manmohan Singh government waffled.

Most Indians gave up on New Delhi and scampered to neighbouring Uganda, south of Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Those invested in South Sudan's land, the odd hotel, or a supermarket, wouldn't have left, anyway. Even this time around, the Indian nationals who've chosen to eject are ground workers contracted by multilateral agencies or ONGC Videsh.

There's good reason for India to do more than airlift a few hundred migrant workers. Beyond good optics and aggressive Facebook diplomacy by Gen. V.K. Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs, who led Sankat Mochan, lie two key economic interests.

The first pertains to oil.

Our investments via ONGC Videsh, at $135 million in 2003 -- once the government's largest gamble of foreign direct investment -- cannot be left to our Chinese partners. The aggregate of our oil investments since then, as per the Indian foreign ministry, is now $2.5 billion, spread over South Sudan and Sudan.

ONGC Videsh has 25 per cent participating interest in Greater Nile Oil Project Block 1, 2 and 4, in consortium with CNPC of China, Petronas of Malaysia and Sudapet of Sudan. It also has 24.125 percent participating interest in Block 5A in consortium with Petronas and Sudapet.

The Chinese control even the smallest part of the value chain. We clearly need to hold fort and safeguard our interests. But while we have been evacuating, Beijing looks a little more composed. Their evacuation numbers, as a percentage of total migrant workers, is a lot lower.

Our second economic interest lies in South Sudan's arable land, water and minerals.

Once the dust has settled down, these will remain a case of private investment and technology transfer as much as balancing out the near colonization of the country by the Chinese juggernaut of state-owned enterprises.

An important question remains whether the government heeded the clarion calls too quickly. The role played by social media, particularly Facebook, is case in point. It is an open secret that President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Vice President Riek Machar Teny don't want to run the government together.

It is Machar's rebellion that had caused the specter of evacuation even last time around. This time, under pressure from international interlocutors, the two agreed to meet at Mayardit's presidential palace. But before long, a spokesperson for Machar put up a Facebook post claiming that his boss has been taken hostage.

Hell broke loose in the Machar camp and a convoy of personal security guards, owing personal allegiance to him -- and not the institution, per se -- tried to storm in. Rumours flew around and it didn't help one bit that even ambassadors of South Sudan in different world capitals fanned the fire depending on which of the two leaders they owned allegiance to.

For a country that has celebrated only its fifth independence day, democratic institutions are far weaker than tribal ties. Rivalries between the Dinka and the Nuer are far too deep seated to be replaced in the immediate future. Under intense pressure to make up, Machar and Mayardit, both from opposing tribes, have now declared a joint ceasefire.

But most observers know that the two leaders say the right things only for external consumption. So, here's the point. Irrespective of how much social media platforms inflate the actual instability of the ground, Mayardit controls over 200,000 troops. Machar's forces are less than 2-5 per cent of this number. Plus, the international peacekeepers are obviously behind the ruling president.

Mayardit is an unreliable partner. In August 2013, he left Rashtrapati Bhavan high and dry and cancelled a visit to India at the last minute. In comparison, the frequency of his trips to Beijing are a part of public record. Mayardit finally came around and addressed the India-African Summit in New Delhi last year.

Real politick demands that India works with the ruler of South Sudan, irrespective of who he is. Here the task is cut out for External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj -- she could even redeploy Gen. V.K. Singh to Juba. The former army chief had visited Mayardit once before Sankat Mochan. The terrain now is our oil fields -- we shouldn't let them go on a platter.

(Rohit Bansal is Group Leader with Reliance Industries. He and travelled to and reported from South Sudan on numerous occasions. The views expressed are personal. Twitter @therohitbansal)
Panaji, July 16 : They exemplify grit and courage, proving that nothing is impossible for the fairer gender. And now these six valiant women officers of the Indian Navy are back from their gruelling sea expedition from Mauritius.

On Thursday evening, they anchored their craft INS Mhadei on Goan soil at the INS Mandovi. It was part of the practice run ahead of their voyage across the world scheduled next year.

They appeared a bit done in by the tricky turns of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea riled up by the monsoon, which repeatedly assaulted their craft day in and day out. But according to team leader lieutenant Vartika Joshi, this was just the kind of trial and challenge they were looking for.

"We chose this time of the year so that we could encounter the rough weather during our training and therefore are prepared for it during our circumnavigation. The sea was quite rough and it was very heavy, but that was the aim," Joshi told IANS soon after the sailors docked their craft.

Besides Joshi, the all-women crew of the boat included Lieutenants B. Aishwarya, P. Swati, Pratibha Jamwal, Vijaya and Payal Gupta.

The voyage from Port Louis in Mauritius -- where they had gone for training and conditioning, across 5,000 nautical miles -- took 16 days and nights. The nights, Joshi claimed, were particularly challenging.

"At night, when you have a problem with the boat, you try to repair that. Finally when things work out, you get that relieved feeling," Joshi said when asked about the team's trials during the journey.

But it's the next big journey which the team has set its sights on -- the circumnavigation of the globe. The feat is so rare that a fewer number of adventurers have accomplished it, as compared to those who have conquered Mount Everest, said Joshi.

But there's in-house experience at hand.

Commander Dilip Dhonde, who a few years ago circumnavigated the globe using the same INS Mhadei, was there to see Joshi and her team off the sailing boat and offer them the much-needed tips.

"It makes me happy and proud to see this young team of officers attempt the feat," Dhonde told reporters.

But there's still one sailing race which the team is expected to participate in before the global circumnavigation in August next year.

Earlier, the team had also sailed in 2014 from Goa to Port Blair and last year from Goa to Vizag for the International Fleet review and back as part of training for the final circumnavigation attempt.

According to Joshi, adventure is one thing but serving the Indian Navy and sailing are their way, and the navy's way of promoting women's empowerment.

"Navy backs women empowerment. The women in the armed forces are best examples of empowerment. This is a great way to show the world that women can do all this," she said.

All one has to do is "follow your dreams".

(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan.n@ians.in)
New Delhi, July 16 : Forty-six-year-old Sushila Jasraj had bought an insurance policy before undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. During the journey, she developed a severe breathing problem and had to be evacuated by an air ambulance to a hospital in Kathmandu.

However, the insurance company rejected her claim of Rs 90,000, saying the evacuation was not necessary.

To her rescue came Mumbai-based Claimvasooli.com -- an initiative by a veteran in the non-life insurance space for the past 15 years.

Experts from Claimvasooli took up her case and after detailed investigation found that the interiors of Tibet from where she had to be evacuated were inhospitable. Her claim was settled within four months.

"We found that there is no platform for insurance claims for products like mediclaim and travel policies, among others, which are purchased through agents, banks or online. With increasing number of policies sold online and through direct channels, there is a need for an expert intermediary who can deal with claims and who can represent the aggrieved claimant," Pushkarajj Shete who set up Claimvasooli.com told IANS.

Getting an insurance online is easy. But getting claims approved is usually a cumbersome process, with companies often raising objections.

An insurance is a legal contract. The declarations (proposal form) made by the customer before the contract is executed, as well as the terms of the contract (policy wordings) legally bind both the insurer and the customer.

According to Mahavir Chopra, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Coverfox.com, "ignorance and incorrect declaration of facts while buying/renewing insurance are the two biggest reasons why claims are rejected in general insurance. Customers do not fill their proposal forms themselves or fill them casually without understanding the repercussions of making an incorrect or incomplete declaration."

Coverfox.com is a place to search, compare, buy and manage insurance online.

Just like Jasraj, something similar happened with 38-year-old businessman Dilip Mallesha who suffered from dengue and was admitted to a Mumbai clinic but his insurer refused to cover the cost.

His claim of Rs 25,083 was rejected on the argument that he was admitted only for diagnosis on the advice of his family doctor. Mallesha approached Claimvasooli. The portal's officials conducted an investigation and the results showed that the patient indeed required hospitalisation. They took it up with the company. The claim was settled.

While selling a general insurance policy, it is indeed essential for an insurance company to educate the policy buyer to avoid any doubts or confusion in future. Both the buyer and the seller must be aware of the facts.

"At the time of buying a policy, the customer is provided with complete information on the product both verbally and through product literature such as brochures, leaflets and audio-visual aids. Also, information and generic knowledge on general insurance is sent across to our customers through e-mailers and letters at varying intervals," Mick Miller, Senior Vice President-Claims, SBI General Insurance, told IANS.

To avoid rejection of claims, a policy buyer must diligently fill the proposal form himself or herself ensuring all the information declared is true.

Moreover, reading through the terms and conditions of the policy carefully, clearing all doubts with respect to benefits, processes and exclusions before signing up for the policy are some of the essential things one must take care of before buying a policy.

There are several reasons why general insurance claims are rejected.

Citing an example, Mukesh Kumar, Executive Director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance, told IANS: "A Motor insurance claim will most likely be rejected if the policyholder takes insurance for a regular private car and uses the car for commercial purposes. This is because the risk of a possible mishap increases if the vehicle is being used for commercial purpose. Another reason for the same can be failure of producing relevant documents by the policyholder at the time of filing the claim."

Claimvasooli comprises an in-house team of claims specialists and an advisory board of industry veterans. A claimant can easily contact them through their website. In addition, the organisation won't charge you anything till the claim is settled.

"We do not charge any upfront fee from a claimant. A nominal fee is charged once the claim is approved by the insurance company. This fee, to cover our direct costs, ranges from Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the claim complexities which is conveyed to the claimant in advance," Shete said.

According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the regulations covering insurance brokers permit them to offer claims consultancy to their non-primary clients (clients who have not availed of the insurance broking service).

"We will take action if there are complaints about non-compliance of the regulations," P.J. Joseph, Member (Non-Life) Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), told IANS.

Thus, if your insurance claim is stuck, don't fret. Call Claimvasooli.com.

(Akanki Sharma can be contacted at akanki.s@ians.in. Venkatachari Jagannathan also contributed to this story. He can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Agartala, July 16 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has requested Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to share the investment in smart city projects for the northeastern states by adopting a 90:10 ratio -- 90 per cent by the central government and 10 per cent by the state.

Sarkar met Naidu on Friday in New Delhi and urged him to adopt a separate funding policy for the backward northeastern states, Tripura Urban Development Minister Manik Dey told reporters on Saturday.

The present funding pattern for the smart city project is on a 50:50 basis between the central government and the states.

"The Finance Ministry had issued a circular earlier that the 90:10 ratio norms would be followed in all central government launched projects," Dey said.

"Naidu remained noncommittal after Sarkar put up the proposal," Dey said, adding that northeastern states are unable to bear the huge financial burden to implement the smart city projects.

The minister said that other northeastern states have already made similar demands.

Three cities in the northeastern region -- Guwahati (Assam), Imphal (Manipur) and Agartala (Tripura), have been selected for the implementation of the ambitious smart city plan so far .

Other cities of northeastern states that participated in the fast-track competition, included Shillong (Meghalaya), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kohima (Nagaland) and Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh).

These cities failed to fulfil the stipulated criteria and can submit their revised smart city plans for evaluation in the third round of competition likely to be held a few months later.

Aiming at the all-round development of the infrastructure of the cities, the Smart City Mission marks a paradigm shift towards overall urban development in the country since it is based on a 'bottom up' approach with the involvement of citizens in the formulation of a city vision and smart city plans and the urban local bodies and state governments piloting the mission with little say for the Ministry of Urban Development.

The Tripura Chief Minister also requested the Urban Development Minister to give relaxation in the centre-state funding pattern for northeastern states in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Swachh Bharat Mission and Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana.
Srinagar, July 16 : Thousands of tourists who were caught up in the turmoil in the Kashmir Valley have left, dealing huge blows to the tourism industry. But some of the tourists said they will be back.

On Saturday, the ninth day of unrest in the valley following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, the otherwise busy markets and roads in the Dal Lake area were devoid of people.

Shikaras or Kashmir's houseboats are parked on the banks. Hotels which otherwise are full during this time of the year -- the peak tourist season -- are devoid of guests.

The hotels on the boulevard that otherwise remain full during this time of the year - the peak tourist season - are without guests.

The tourists who were here when the troubles began have left the Kashmir Valley, many without touring resorts like Gulmarg, Pahalgam and other cites.

"Most tourists have left by now," moans Mehmood Shah, Director of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department.

"The hotels are vacant. More than 90 per cent tourists have left. There are no incoming tourists as well. We made arrangements for those who were stranded here," Shah told IANS.

In Srinagar, where major areas are under curfew, the tourism sector has been hit hard.

"This is the best time of our business. We have no hope of making any profit now. We have cancelled at least 30-35 bookings till August," Sarmad Khan, a hotelier, told IANS.

"Many who were here left even without seeing any other place. This is a big loss to the industry," he added.

As the violence sparked by Wani's killing escalated, tourists were seen rushing to the Sheikh-Ul-Alam International Airport here to catch flights.

Some tourists can, however, still be seen strolling in the parks around the Dal Lake.

"We were stranded for four days. We came to Srinagar on Tuesday as we had bookings. We took the risk and came," said one tourist to IANS.

Another tourist volunteered: "We did not see anything but curfew as well as violence. That's why we are leaving."

Shopkeeper Mohammad Ashraf said that July-September were the best time for anyone to visit the Kashmir Valley because of favourable weather.

"It is very sad that we lost many people during last six days. How can we open our shops when our own children are dying?" Ashraf said.

Surprisingly, the tourists are not taking back only bad memories: curfews, shutdowns and violence.

"The best part about the last six days has been the way locals treated us here," Arun Chatterjee from Kolkata told IANS.

"My family and I were on a houseboat with locals. They were so good and sympathetic to us that I feel our trip is complete," he said.

"We will always want to come back and enjoy the scenic beauty apart from its Kashmiriyat," Chatterjee added. "We pray for peace here."
Mumbai, July 16 : Internationally acclaimed Indian star Irrfan Khan will host a screening of "Madaari" for children between the age group of 12 to 15 years.

The screening for children will take place on Sunday at the Zee Premier Theatre here.

A big white board will be put for children for writing their reactions after watching the film, directed by Nishikant Kamat.

Irrfan says he is looking forward to the special screening.

"I am looking forward for this screening to be viewed and reviewed by my young audience. Waiting to get a fresh perspective, fingers crossed," Irrfan said in a statement.

"Madaari", which explores a father-son relationship, also features Jimmy Sheirgill in a pivotal role.

The film is slated to release on July 22.
New Delhi, July 16 : The Congress on Saturday welcomed the latest political developments in Arunachal Pradesh wherein all rebel party legislators have come back to the party fold and said that this proves that only it can provide a stable administration in the northeast.

"This has been proved now that only Congress give stable administration in the northeast," Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters here.

He also said the clear verdicts from highest court of the land - the Supreme Court - on Uttarakhand earlier and lately on Arunachal Pradesh should serve as a big "lesson" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi "who wanted to pursue a politics of destablising" opposition party-led governments in the states.

Surjewala hoped that now with the change of regime in Arunachal Pradesh and return of Congress government, the central government will extend all necessary cooperation to it for development of the border state.

He also lashed out at BJP chief Amit Shah for precipitating a politics of destabilising the Congress-ruled state governments.

In a dramatic development earlier in the day, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki resigned as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and later as chief minister.

In a meeting in state capital Itanagar, Congress legislators including the rebels elected Pema Khandu as the new CLP leader.

The proposal was supported by all the 44 legislators, including 15 Congress and 29 dissident Congress legislators who had joined the People's Party of Arunachal (PPA) in February.
Ranchi, July 16 : The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have called for the resignation of Chief Minister Raghubar Das for rigging the June 11 Rajya Sabha polls as purportedly shown in some video and audio recordings that surfaced on Friday.

"Now evidence has come before the people. We have repeatedly been saying that the BJP government in Jharkhand used money and the state machinery in the Rajya Sabha polls," Kishore Sahdeo, the spokesman of the Jharkhand unit of the Congress, told IANS.

He said Raghubar Das should admit he abused his position in manipulating the elections and resign, and the police officer who helped him in such manipulation should be sacked.

The video and audio recordings purportedly feature Raghubar Das, an ADG rank police officer, and a close aide of the chief minister interacting with Congress leader Yogendra Sao who is also husband of Congress MLA Nirmala Devi.

The recordings purportedly show the police officer suggesting to Sao the political favours he and his wife will enjoy if they helped the BJP candidate win in the Rajya Sabha elections.

A video clip also showed Raghubar Das meeting Yogendra Sao a day before the Rajya Sabha poll, claimed Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) President Babulal Marandi who made the recordings public on Friday.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which is the main opposition party in Jharkhand, has also demanded the resignation of the chief minister and registration of an FIR against the police officer.

"The real face of Raghubar Das government has been exposed. He is running Police Raj in the state. Das misused his position to win both seats of Rajya Sabha despite the fact that numbers were not in their favour," JMM legislator Kunal Sarangi told IANS.

He said the police officer should be removed and an independent probe should be instituted to investigate the evidence contained in the video and audio clippings.

Sarangi also said that his party will raise the issue in the assembly and hit the roads to make people aware about "the Police Raj prevailing in the state."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules the state in coalition with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), had fielded in the Rajya Sabha polls central minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and businessman Mahesh Poddar.

The JMM had put up Basant Soren, son of party chief Shibu Soren, whose candidature was supported by Congress, JVM-P and other opposition parties.

The BJP had the number of supporting MLAs required to get Naqvi through, but not Poddar. And yet, it won both the seats.

The JMM candidate lost because two opposition legislators did not turn up to vote and another two voted for the rival side.
Kolkata, July 16 : In an unusual movie preview, as many as 30 Buddhist monks and 40 sex workers sat side by side here on Saturday for a screening of Bengali director Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar's forthcoming Hindi film "Umformung-The Transformation" which revolves around a monk attaining enlightenment not in a monastery but in a brothel.

"The monk gets enlightenment in the brothel, not in the monastery, not in the presence of his masters but in the presence of sex workers who ultimately show him the reality of life in a way that has never been shown in Indian films," Sarkar told IANS about the movie.

Penned and directed by Sarkar, a criminal psychologist by profession, the two hour feature deals with two parallel plots - one concerning a Buddhist monk living in a secluded monastery searching for truth, and the other about a female business tycoon who understands power, position and wealth.

The film has garnered 19 awards globally in various film festivals including at the World Film Award, Jakarta and 10th Free Spirit Festival. It also looks at Buddhism as a way of life and how detachment is the ultimate truth.

"The film deals with complete transformation. I came across this unique name 'Umformung' which is German word. I came across this word in the context of World War I where a few seconds before death... what becomes completely immaterial to them," Sarkar said.

Produced by NEZ moving pixels & KLK productions, the movie releases worldwide on August 26.

"The message I want to spread is we should pause and ask 'why you are doing... what you are doing' and just go on," Sarkar added.
Pune, July 16 : Police on Saturday said Pune's multi-millionaire Datta D. Phuge was beaten to death by his son's friends after luring him to a fake birthday party because Phuge reportedly owed them Rs.150,000.

Known as 'Pimpri Goldman', Phuge was attacked with a sickle, swords, knives and rods and then bludgeoned to death with large stones near Dighi here on Friday morning, shocking Pune, particularly its wealthy lot.

Moving swiftly, police apprehended five of the accused, all youths, based on the statement of the victim's 21-year old son Shubham D. Phuge. Another four were arrested on Saturday. A manhunt is on for at least three other accomplices.

All the nine accused were produced on Saturday before the Khadki magistrate who remanded them to police custody till July 21.

The five nabbed on Friday are Amol alias Balli K. Pathare, 24, Shailesh S. Walke, 26, Vishal D. Parkhe, 32, Nivrutti alias Balukishan Walke, 35 and Pramod S. Dholpuria, 23.

According to police, around 10 p.m. on Thursday night, one of the prime accused, Atul Mohite, organised a fake birthday party and gave a reminder call to Shubham asking him to bring his father for the bash.

Mohite also told Shubham to pick up 10 biryani parcels and two cigarette packets en route to the party.

Shubham conveyed the message to his father and went to pick up the food parcels in his car with a friend, Rohan Panchal.

When they came to the party spot, they saw Mohite and others attacking his father. Shubham started screaming for help.

But it was too late. A profusely bleeding and hideously mangled Phuge, who had been brutally attacked, was breathing his last in that isolated spot.

Stunned by the turn of events, Shubham and Panchal called the police control and informed them even as Mohite and around 10 others escaped in the darkness.

Later, Shubham and Panchal lodged a complaint with police. Phuge's wife Seema, a former municipal corporator, also reached the spot.

Investigations revealed that the motive behind the heinous crime was the Rs.150,000 Phuge was allegedly supposed to return to the accused.

Given his penchant for a flashy lifestyle, Phuge usually moved around with armed private bodyguards. It is not clear why they were not with him that fateful night.

In late 2012, Phuge shot into the limelight after he stitched an opulent Rs.10 million 22-carat pure gold shirt which came decorated with six glittering Swarovski crystal buttons and an accompanying flashy gold belt in a matching design.

Besides his primary business of lending money, he ran the Vakratund Chit Fund Pvt Ltd with his wife. There had been complaints of financial misappropriation against him in recent times.

His golden shirt was billed the most expensive shirt in the world, weighing around 3.5 kg pure gold and stitched by Ranka Jewellers of Pune.

The shirt had over 14,000 gold flowers intertwined with 100,000-plus spangles sewn on a base of fine velvet. It was said to be comfortable and easy to wear -- like normal clothes.
Hyderabad, July 16 : Telangana's main opposition Congress on Saturday demanded a session of the state legislature immediately to discuss the issues pertaining to farmers and the land acquisition for projects.

The Congress Legislature Party demanded the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government convene the session of both the houses of legislature to discuss the key issues.

Alleging that the TRS government is completely neglecting the farmers in the state, Leader of Opposition in the legislative council, Mohammed Ali Shabbir said despite the fact that farmers have lost four consecutive crops since 2014, the government has failed to take any measures to ensure that they recover from their losses in ongoing Kharif season.

"Farmers were not given total relief by waiving off total dues under Rs 1 lakh crore loan waiver scheme. As against the dues of nearly Rs 8,500 crore the state government cleared only Rs 2,020 crore. Consequently, banks are refusing to sanction fresh loans to farmers," he said.

Addressing a news conference along with two other leaders T. Jeevan Reddy and Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, Shabbir claimed that the state government has not utilised the Rs 800 crore sanctioned by the central government towards drought relief.

He said that the farmers were neither given input subsidy nor provided any financial assistance under state or central government schemes and accused the TRS government of deliberately sabotaging the agriculture sector.

Shabbir slammed the TRS government over the land acquisition for various projects, saying instead of implementing Land Acquisition Act, 2013, the government came out with a new order (GO No 123) to cheat framers. He said there was no provision in the GO for of rehabilitation and re-settlement of affected people.

The Congress leader said that the state government should not avoid convening assembly session. He pointed out that during previous Congress regimes, assembly session was held for 52 days in a year. However, the duration was just 25 days in 2014-15 while it was only 21 days in 2015-16. This year, the assembly session was confined to only 17 days, he added.
Bengaluru, July 16 : The Karnataka government has appointed Justice K.N. Keshavanarayana, a retired judge of the state high court, as a one-man commission of inquiry to probe the death of Mangaluru Deputy Superintendent of Police M.K. Ganapathi on July 7, an official statement said on Saturday night.

In a notification, state Home Department's Additional Secretary Subhash Chandra said the commission would inquire into the circumstances and events leading to Ganapathi's unnatural death in a lodge at Madikeri in Kodagu district.

"The terms of reference of the commission are to inquire into the circumstances and events leading to the unnatural death of Ganapathi in room number 315, Vinayaka Lodge, Madikeri on July 7 and as per the case registered on the same day at the town police station under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 and submit the report within six months," the statement said.

Though the opposition BJP and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) lawmakers have been demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into Ganapathi's death, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a judicial inquiry on Wednesday in the legislative assembly in place of the CID probe that was underway since July 9.

Ganapathi, 51, was found hanging by a rope to the ceiling fan in the lodge room on July 7 hours after he gave an interview to a local news channel, accusing former state Home Minister K.J. George and two IPS officers of harassing him and that they would be responsible should anything happen to him.

George was the home minister till October 31, 2015 before he was made Bengaluru Development Minister and the Congress' state unit president G. Parameshwara replaced him.

The two IPS officers are Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) A.M. Prasad and Lokayukta (Ombudsman) Inspector General of Police Pronab Mohanty.
Bhubaneswar, July 16 : Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Faggan Singh Kulaste on Saturday charged the Odisha government with failing to control the dengue outbreak in various parts of the state.

He, however, assured that a Central team would soon visit the affected areas of the state to take stock of the situation and take steps to contain the situation.

"The state government should have taken precautionary measures to avoid such an outbreak. It should take care of the situation now and do the necessary to address the issue. Somewhere or other it has failed to tackle it," said Kulaste, who visited the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and interacted with the dengue patients and doctors.

Kulaste also attended the fourth foundation day of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Saturday.

Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi reviewed the dengue situation in the state.

"The district collectors have been asked to take precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of dengue in the state. Cleanliness drive is being carried out in the affected areas," said Padhi.

As many as 1,109 persons have been infected with dengue positive and 164 of them are undergoing treatment at various hospitals. Out of them, 127 are in the SCB Medical College and Hospital, informed a Health Department official.
New Delhi, July 16 : The Narendra Modi government on Saturday assured all states that it wants to promote federalism in India, saying the country will progress well only if the centre and states work as a "Team India".

Prime Minister Modi, addressing the 11th Inter State Council meeting here, said cooperation among all states and the centre on sharing intelligence to strengthen country's internal security is also very important.

"The internal security of the country cannot be strengthened until we focus on intelligence sharing, ensure greater coordination among agencies, and equip our police with modern approach and technology.

"While we have come a long way, we need to continuously increase our efficiency and capacity. We must constantly remain alert and updated," he said, terming the ISC the most significant platform for strengthening centre-state and inter-state relations.

In his address, Home Minister Rajnath Singh also dwelt on the importance of cooperative federalism and said the central government was committed to the ideal of centre-state cooperation.

"Our government firmly believes that both the Centre and the states must have important roles to play in development of the country," he said, adding that the Modi government in the past two years has tried to promote the spirit of federalism.

"In the past two years, our main aim has been to promote federalism, be it cooperative federalism or competitive federalism," he said.

"Constitution of Niti Aayog after abolishing the Planning Commission was also a step forward in the same direction," the Home Minister said, adding that with Niti Aayog coming into being the concept of "one size fits all" followed by the erstwhile Planning Commission has been done away with.

During the meeting it was decided that the recommendations of the Commission on Centre-State relations headed by ex-Chief Justice of India M.M. Punchhi will be first referred to the Standing Committee and with their recommendations be placed before the Council.

Speaking on the Punchhi Commission's recommendations, the Prime Minister said that the deliberations marked a good beginning, and discussions on the subject will continue, and as consensus evolves on the recommendations, the process of implementation will follow thereafter.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh urged the central government to grant to green bonus to the hill states in lieu of environmental services provided by them, saying it "will be a big incentive to the hill states as well as a right step towards environment protection and sustainable development".

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa, who did not attend but her speech was circulated, said co-operative federalism may "degenerate into empty rhetoric" if the states are not given "adequate powers and fiscal resources".

"Co-operative federalism should not become a catchword to impose uniform administrative practises across the country without due regard to the specificities of the socio-economic situation in each state," she said.

The 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council, that took place after a gap of 10 years, was held at the West Hall of Rashtrapati Bhawan, and attended by Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and Administrators of states and Union Territories.

The meeting covered a wide ranging topics of common interest to the centre and the states, an official statement said.

Many Chief Ministers lauded the Modi Government for convening the meeting and requested that they should be convened more frequently.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston
Colombo, July 17 : Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed his support for Turkey's elected government on Saturday as a coup attempt had been squashed by authorities earlier in the day.

Wickremesinghe said in a statement that foiling an attempt to overturn a democratically-elected government through a military coup would please all people who valued democracy, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said he was happy to note that the President and Prime Minister of Turkey had been able to preserve democratic rule and assured the support of Sri Lanka and its people.

At least 2,800 military officers have been detained throughout Turkey after suspected coup plotters attempted to overthrow the government late Friday, using tanks and helicopters and blocking bridges and taking over some media outlets.

The Turkish government said on Saturday evening that the coup attempt had been thwarted and the situation was under control.

Over 200 people have been killed in the attempted coup, reports said.
Washington, July 17 : US President Barack Obama on Saturday reiterated "unwavering support" for the democratically-elected civilian government of Turkey in the aftermath of a coup attempt.

Obama made the remarks at a White House meeting with his national security and foreign policy advisers, where he received an update on the situation in Turkey, where reportedly over 200 people were killed and over a thousand others were wounded in the military coup attempt on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The President's advisers apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground, and the President reiterated the United States' unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey," the White House said in a statement.

Obama instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts "to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US servicemembers, and their dependents," the statement said.

So far, there has been no report that any Americans were killed or injured in the violence.

Obama and his team "lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

Obama also "underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism", it added.

The White House meeting was held amid reports that the Turkish government sealed off the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, where US forces launched the air strikes against the terror group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Turkey is a NATO ally and part of the US-led coalition fighting againt the IS.

Meanwhile, Turkey blamed a US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, for the attempted military coup, while demanding Gulen's extradition by the US government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday reiterated a call for Obama to hand over Gulen.

"Please meet our request if we are strategic partners," Erdogan said in remarks delivered in Istanbul.

Speaking earlier in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider the extradition request for the cleric on condition that Turkey proves Gulen's wrongdoing.
Washington, July 17 : The campaign of US Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump unveiled a new logo on Saturday, a day after an original logo was mocked widely on social media.

The campaign released a new logo on Friday after Trump announced that he had chosen Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. The campaign replaced it with another one on Saturday after the original logo was mocked widely online for appearing to be suggestive, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a fundraising email sent by the Trump campaign on Friday, part of the original logo featured an intertwined blue "T" and "P" with the letter "T" penetrating the loop of "P".

On Saturday however, a new logo appeared on the campaign's website, which only shows both Trump and Pence's family names above the slogan "Make America Great Again".
Its very humbling to know we are bringing hope to families and children in need.

Good food, "Havin' A Good Time", and Giving Back is at the core of Mugshots Grill & Bars culture. Located at 29740 Urgent Care Drive, just yards south of the Highway 181 and Interstate 10 intersection, the 7th location to the Mugshots brand in Alabama opened its doors for business on Tuesday, July 12th.

After hosting their "Eat Good, Give Back" soft opening fund raising event the weekend before, Mugshots Grill & Bar and their nonprofit, Making Life Grand, were able to raise funds and awareness for the Child Advocacy Center of Mobile and the Baldwin County Child Advocacy Center and their dedication to assisting families and children. Being a part of the Mugshots Malbis opening was a great experience. The overwhelming support we received from the the people of Malbis, Daphne, Spanish Fort, and Mobile really tells you about the sense of community here. said Sam McAlister, Marketing Director for Aint Life Grand Investments. We have helped our communities with quite a few fund raising events over the years with our Eat Good, Give Back events and we just reached a milestone of $130,000 in donations to great organizations in 3 states. Its very humbling to know we are bringing hope to families and children in need. said McAlister in closing. Tuesday morning during the opening day ribbon cutting ceremony Mugshots founders presented a check to the Child Advocacy Center of Mobile and the Baldwin County Child Advocacy Center in the amount of $10,000.00.

Our Franchisee and Owner, George Herring, is a very driven, goal oriented leader that has done a terrific job with Mugshots Mobile. said Founder of Mugshots Grill & Bar, Chris McDonald. Its exciting to think about what he will do, alongside his great management team, here in Malbis. With this opening we add an additional 100 team members to our Mugshots and Aint Life Grand family. We have over 1,200 family members now and our goal is to spread our culture to thousands of customers every day in over 20 grand restaurants. said McDonald in closing.

About Mugshots Grill & Bar

Mugshots Grill & Bar is one of the South's favorite restaurant concepts serving up great food in a fun, casual, and family-friendly atmosphere. We are dedicated to giving back to the communities in which we operate with our nonprofit organization "Making Life Grand." We pride ourself on our "Havin' A Good Time" culture and now have 16 locations in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Sharen Loeffler is admittedly not a natural ruler. But, the 16-year-old Helenan does like to test herself.

When Loeffler attended the teen police academy this week, she decided to run for chief. She opted to do so partly because it was out of character for her.

"I like the challenge. I was never that big of a leader," Loeffler said during a brief break in scenarios on Thursday.

"It's been a week of being a leader I've never been."

Loeffler assisted her 22 fellow cadets at the Montana Junior Police Leadership Academy through many tasks, including rappelling a mountain, training in self-defense tactics and investigating crime scenes. It's an exhausting week in which each day begins with 5:30 a.m. exercises, and the training continues pretty much nonstop through 10 p.m.

The program, held at the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in the Helena Valley, is a learning experience for both the teens and their advisers. It's tough, but at times it's also fun.

"I'm still torn on who gets more out of this week," said Cpl. Noal Petty with the Helena Police Department, who helps oversee the academy.

"I get to share my love of this profession with them. It's amazing," Petty said. "This week is the most awesome of my law enforcement career."

Two Helena police officers, Roy Tanniehill and Tim Coleman, started the academy about 15 years ago. Since then, it has grown into a statewide effort with officers and cadets from all over Montana.

The program is funded by the Montana Association of Chiefs of Police and sponsors. Participants are selected from a pool of applicants who are approved by their local sheriff or chief.

"They'll each go back to their communities and make a difference," Petty said.

For Loeffler, the academy served to pique her interest in a career in law enforcement. She's still debating if she'd rather focus on the forensic aspects or maybe work for the FBI. The challenge of putting together a case really appeals to her.

"There's a lot more than what you see on TV," she said.

One of the academy's directors, Helena police detective Randy Robinson, knows the impact the week can make on cadets firsthand. In 2004, his son went through the academy. He is now a detective in Indiana.

"It's an awesome program," Robinson said.

Policing is also a shared passion for 17-year-old cadet Brandon Stinson and his father, Curt, who is a captain with the Helena Police Department.

Stinson said the week has helped cement his enthusiasm. He said he enjoys the unpredictable nature of the scenarios, and it has further sparked his desire to be a patrol officer.

"I have a pretty strong interest in law enforcement," said Stinson, a Helena High School student. "It's been really great."
A decade ago, the number of childrens-only bookstores in the U.S. had declined precipitously, to fewer than 100, after hitting a high of 750 in the 1990s. By 2010, members of the Association of Booksellers for Children, a bookselling group that broke off from the American Booksellers Association in the mid-1980s, voted to merge with the ABA. Since then the ABA has been committed to providing educational opportunities to foster childrens bookselling at both BookExpo America and Winter Institute, as well as through Childrens Institute, a separate annual program for kids booksellers.

By 2010, members of the Association of Booksellers for Children, a bookselling group that broke off from the American Booksellers Association in the mid-1980s, voted to merge with the ABA. Since then the ABA has been committed to providing educational opportunities to foster childrens bookselling at both BookExpo America and Winter Institute, as well as through Childrens Institute, a separate annual program for kids booksellers.

But some industry watchers say were now living in the golden age of childrens books, and given strong sales in the category, childrens specialty stores are starting to reemerge. Many are small, less than 1,000 sq. ft., but they are already starting to have a large presence. Two-year-old Second Star to the Right was named 2016s best Denver bookstore by Denver A-List, beating out the much larger and older Tattered Cover.

Like their general bookstore counterparts, childrens bookstores these days are often changing hands when owners are ready to move on, rather than simply shuttering. Last spring, Beth Albrecht purchased 32-year-old Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, Ill., when owners Iris Yipp and Rose Joseph were ready to retire. Earlier this year Sally Sue Lavigne took over the Storybook Shoppe in Bluffton, S.C., the states only childrens bookstore.

To find out more about todays new childrens specialty bookstores, PW contacted booksellers at several stores that have been open for four years or lessin some cases just a few weeks. Childrens booksellers havent always found it easy to pursue their passion. But, despite the challenges, they expressed optimism about the road ahead and have no regrets about their decision to focus on kids books. As Marcus Mayer and Katherine Warde at Addendum Books say: We feel so fortunate to be a part of the childrens book community. It is an absolute pleasure to help introduce kids, teens, and adults to the amazing writing that is happening in the world of childrens lit. We hope weve helped instill a lifelong love of reading and literature in the kids and teens we see each day.

Addendum Books

St. Paul, Minn.; 400 sq. ft.

Opened: June 2012; initially opened as a YA bookstore within Subtext, a general bookstore, before the two stores separated in 2015

Why a childrens bookstore? We are both public-school librarians and almost exclusively read childrens and young adult books, owners Marcus Mayer and Katherine Warde say. We carry everything, but wanted it to have a good feel for teens when they walk into the store. We think teens want a bookstore like ours since the other childrens bookstores are geared more toward the younger set. As far as we know it is the first of its kind.

Challenges: For Warde and Mayer, who work outside the bookstore full-time, having enough time to get everything done is a challenge. So is being able to work at all the stores events.

Sales: Great. We opened in a neighborhood full of kids and teens who can walk or ride their bikes to the store. The neighborhood has been hugely supportive; we feel right at home here.

Best thing thats happened: The many events that weve hosted in our short time being open, and the friendships that weve made along the way. There are so many amazing people in the book worldcustomers, authors, illustrators, publishers, editors, reps, and agents.

All-time bestsellers: Derek Landys Skulduggery Pleasant (HarperCollins), Andrew Smiths Winger (S&S), Sharon Drapers Out of My Mind (Atheneum), and Suzanne Collinss Gregor the Overlander (Scholastic).

Bel and Bunnas Books

Lafayette, Calif.; 823 sq. ft.

Opened: May 2016

Why a childrens bookstore? About 14 months ago, I decided I had had enough of the corporate world, owner Bel McNeill says. While tossing ideas around, I thought I might get a job in the local Barnes & Noble in Walnut Creek. As I am an avid reader and hoarder of books, it seemed like a good place to start. Literally within days of deciding, I got word that it was closing. Then within a matter of a few days more, someone told me that the Storyteller, a childrens bookshop in Lafayette, was closing. And I thought to myself, I can do this. I can open my own shop. I followed my dream, a thing that not many people do.

Challenges: On a very basic level, there were challenges that were totally unexpected. For example, it was a huge struggle to get realtors who would help me find a space. Once the space was secured, and I got down to building the physical business, there were so many unexpected coststhe city and the county permits, various legal bits, all the services and utilities, the infrastructure. On a day-to-day basis, the challenges revolve around convincing parents that their children should be reading books that are both great for their reading level and are developmentally suitable. The other challenge, which I expected, is that I am here every day, seven days a week.

Sales: Remarkably well. I hit, or go beyond, my target most days. People seem to be very enthusiastic about having a childrens bookshop and appear to love the space. I am seeing repeat visitors.

Best thing thats happened: I am utterly passionate about having children read, but more importantly, having them enjoy reading. I wanted to be able to help nonreaders want to read, and I wanted to help stretch those who are confident readers. Ive managed to do both already. I continue to do it every day.

All-time bestsellers: Roald Dahls The BFG (Puffin), Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jefferss The Day the Crayons Came Home (Philomel), and Jeffrey Browns Jedi Academy (Scholastic).

Carmichaels Kids

Louisville, Ky.; 800 sq. ft.

Opened: August 2014 (across from Carmichaels Bardstown Road store)

Why a childrens bookstore? Childrens books were 20%25% of our sales at the Bardstown store, says Kelly Estep, buyer for and manager of both the Bardstown store and Carmichaels Kids. We were so tight on space that when this space opened up, [owners Carol Besse and Michael Boggs] were completely supportive of the idea. I felt confident that the neighborhood would support it. I could just see on Saturdays the number of people buying birthday gifts.

Challenges: It still feels like we dont have enough space. I wish we had a break room and a back room for receiving. The other major challenge I have is staffing, because the staff is tied up with selling. Richard Howorth and Lyn Roberts at Square Books in Oxford, Miss., who were so generous with their time, told me that from the start. We think, as indie booksellers, were so tied up with hand-selling. But its nothing compared to childrens. It has been harder than I thought to run two stores. The mistakes are harder to swallow.

Sales: Meeting my expectations. I think we have a lot more potential to extend our reach. People are so interested in childrens literacy.

Best thing thats happened: For me, this is a challenge and a great thing. I dont get the same opportunity I used to, to sell in the store, because Im wearing all those hats. When I do have the opportunity, the best thing is seeing kids come in the store. They feel like we built it for them.

All-time bestsellers: Andrea Beaty and David Robertss Rosie Revere, Engineer (Abrams), a hand-selling favorite; and Adam Gambles Good Night, Kentucky (Good Night).

LA Libreria

Los Angeles; 750 sq. ft.

Opened: In 2012, began doing book fairs for dual-immersion schools, libraries, and institutions; in 2013, launched online store; in February 2015, opened bricks-and-mortar store

Why a childrens bookstore? We started [a Spanish-language childrens bookstore] because we were disenchanted with the quality and variety of books we could find for our own children in Los Angeles, says Celene Navarette, who co-owns the store with Chiara Arroyo. We could not believe that a city with five million Spanish speakers and growing numbers of schools offering bilingual programs did not have much wider and better access to the rich literary traditions of Latin America and Spain. Our store in Mid-City is a multipurpose space: it is an office and showroom for professionals during the week, a bookstore open to the public on the weekends, and a venue for a monthly series of literature, music, and art events.

Challenges: We knew our main challenge would be to draw customers by convincing them that we offer a product and service that the online global market cannot offer. The physical relation with the book and personalized attention cannot be replicated online, and this is particularly important in the case of childrens literature. In our case the challenge is compounded because authentic literature in Spanish is hard to find in the U.S., and unfortunately there is still limited knowledge about it. We have built a catalogue of thousands of titles traveling through Latin America and Spain. Promoting our books has been a challenge since most of [our] authors and illustrators live abroad, and their publishers cannot afford to send them to Los Angeles on promotion. There are also few professional or trade organizations or forums to learn what is going on in childrens literature in Spanish. Making the importing process efficient and cost effective was a much bigger challenge than we had anticipated. We sell books from dozens of publishers from more than 10 countries, and each supplier has different procedures and timelines, pricing and volume policies, and freight methods and costs.

Sales: Fantastic. We are profitable and growing, and we are already looking into moving to a bigger space soon. Last year we published the first book under our own label, a graphic science fiction novel about the life of Cesar Chavez, and we are considering publishing other books.

Best thing thats happened: In addition to the overwhelming response from the Spanish-speaking community, we have been amazed to find a large and growing community of English-speaking families of all ethnicities that are committed to [ensuring] their children speak Spanish. To us, this reflects a big societal change in attitude towards a more diverse and inclusive culture and linguistic inclusiveness. It is very rewarding at a personal level to play a small role in this process.

All-time bestsellers: Ruth Kaufman, Raquel Franco, and Diego Biankis Abecedario (Pequeno Editor); Francisca Palacios and Carmen Cardemils Ninos de America (Editorial Amanuta); ISOLs Secretos de familia (Fondo de Cultura Economica); and Frederic Kesslers Y sin embargo se quieren (Tramuntana).

Lets Play Books!

Emmaus, Pa.; 800 sq. ft.

Opened: November 2013, open house on Small Business Saturday; grand opening February 2014

Why a childrens bookstore? We had to relocate to Pennsylvania, founder and owner Kirsten Hess says. I had recently left [R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Ct.] and couldnt imagine going back to the corporate world. In 2009, I had started an organization called Lets Play Books! However, it had nothing to do with selling books. The mission was to connect children with the love of story. So I decided to merge the two ideas. Our tagline is Stirring Imagination, Engaging Creativity, and Developing Character, One Book at a Time. 

Challenges: The expected onesoperational costs, the ease of purchasing books on Amazon, competing with big box stores. Through my experience at R.J. Julia, I was prepared to an extent [for] just how much work is involved in running a shop. Bookshop owners and managers have such a broad range of duties and responsibilities, from the business, marketing, and customer-service aspects to an unbelievably huge product base, which requires historical and current knowledge and context in order to serve customers well. Of course, there have been unexpected challenges, basic small-business management for one. I was not adequately prepared to play the role of owner, book buyer, gift buyer, marketing coordinator, events coordinator, accounts payable/receivable, and to staff the floor all day every day. I struggle with this still. If I am doing my job well, customers want to be in my store. However, when Im with customers, my favorite part of the business, Im not tackling the never-ending list of must-do-today items.

Sales: Consistently up, some months as much as 150%. In fact, sales have been so strong that in September, Hess is moving the store two blocks away and more than doubling its size to roughly 1,800 sq. ft.

Best thing thats happened: Hosting author Alex Gino for their book, George. Their visit showcased to my community members our [stores] basic premise, which is celebrating who we are. The bookmark for the book even says Be. Who. You. Are. How perfect! Our childrens bookstore is a place of wonder, a place you can be yourself, a place you are welcome. Everyone. Always.

All-time bestsellers: Chris Colfers the Land of Stories series (Little, Brown); Sylvia Longs board book Hush Little Baby (Chronicle).

Make Way for Ducklings

Boston; 1,200 sq. ft.

Opened: September 2014; forced to move from a 5,000 sq. ft. location at Faneuil Halls North Market endcap to a significantly smaller space in April 2016

Why a childrens bookstore? In 2012, Adam and Jamie Hirsch opened their first childrens bookstore named for a popular childrens book character with local ties, when they reopened the Curious George store in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., which had been closed for a year. Authors Margret and H.A. Rey lived just blocks from the store for many years. Two years later the Hirsches decided to try another store named for a childrens book character, Robert McCloskeys beloved Make Way for Ducklings, published in 1941. With the ducklings theme and the bronze statues in the Public Garden, and no other childrens-themed store in the area, we thought Faneuil Hall would be a perfect place for our offering, cofounder and co-owner Adam Hirsch says.

Challenges: With our close proximity to the construction on the new glass building at the front of the North Market and our limited window presence, its been a bit of a challenge drawing the right eyes into the store.

Sales: A bit off from the previous location.

Best thing thats happened: My team performed a Herculean task in transitioning the store. We have great product and its merchandised really well. I have an extraordinarily skilled team.

All-time bestseller: Robert McCloskeys Make Way for Ducklings (Viking).

Ollies Other Place

Middlebury, Vt.; 900 sq. ft.

Opened: November 2015

Why a childrens bookstore? We opened Ollies in part because of the impending disruption of business at the Vermont Book Shop, our parent store, during repair of two railroad bridges in the middle of downtown Middlebury, says Jenny Lyons, sales/marketing manager of the Vermont Book Shop and Ollies. But really it was a desire to create a place where people could find clever and creative kids books and gifts. It was a niche that needed to be filled in our town.

Challenges: One challenge was where to draw the line in the types of childrens books we would carry. We decided to focus on gift editions of classic books that could be paired with corresponding merchandise, classic and contemporary books for baby shower gifts, and fun activity books, coloring books, mazes, and lift-the-flaps, as well as some educational nonfiction.

Sales: Business is going well. The neighborhood is happy to have us, and I think we are reaching a whole new pool of customers.

Best thing thats happened: The fun energy of the store is infectious. It is such a bright, happy place to be. We always have a new toy sample out to play with. And everyone who walks through the door has nothing but welcoming things to say. It has been really fun.

All-time bestsellers: John and Jennifer Churchmans The SheepOver (Little, Brown). The store also does well with books by another local author-illustrator, Ashley Wolff.

Second Star to the Right Bookstore

Denver, Colo.; 1,100 sq. ft.

Opened: November 2014

Why a childrens bookstore? The dream of a childrens bookstore was always there in the back of my mind while I was teaching, cofounder and co-owner Dea Lavoie says. I would get so excited when a child discovered that love of books, and I wanted to expand on that and create a place that was magical and nurturing. I thought about how I would decorate it, from the glitter in the ceiling paint to the bell on the door. My husband, Marc, was also a teacher, and as teachers we had seen the need in the area for a childrens-only bookstore. There are many wonderful bookstores, but very few that serve only young readers. With so many beautifully written and illustrated stories, we felt that such a place should exist.

Challenges: Going in we knew the learning curve would be steep, as we had no retail experience or business background. We also wondered if having a store of only childrens books would be financially viable. Weve been fortunate in meeting the people we have, at just the right time, who have helped us to gain the expertise we needed.

Sales: Up more than 50% over last yearand they continue to grow.

Best thing thats happened: It was exciting to have their store named Best Bookstore 2016 by Denver A-List. But another of Dea Lavoies favorite moments took place one summer morning: We had kids yoga going on outside, the toy room was opening, kids were everywhere laughing, and we just looked at each other and said, This is just like we had dreamed. 

All-time bestseller: Dallas Claytons Its Never Too Late (Putnam).

Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab

Brooklyn, N.Y.; 650 sq. ft., including a storytelling lab

Opened: May 2016

Why a childrens bookstore? Im one of those writers who has always nurtured a bookshop fantasy, and when my first son was born and I began to discover the world of contemporary childrens books and rediscover my favorites and classics from my own childhood, I really fell in love, cofounder and co-owner Maggie Pouncey says. Our house was soon completely overrun with picture books. I truly believe were in a golden age of childrens literature and celebrating that in a childrens bookshop became a more and more urgent dream for me. My husband, Matt Miller, was the CTO of an education-technology company, and he was ready to make a transition, and we began to talk about doing this together, being business partners. I also teach writing and so at the same time we began to develop the idea of two symbiotic businesses: the bookshop and the storytelling lab, where we teach bookmaking, illustrating, creative writing, and other storytelling arts to kids, and have local authors and illustrators teach master classes to kids.

Challenges: We applied for a small-business loan to start the business, and that was a process with way more complexity than we initially understood. We also decided to do some crowdfunding. Running a Kickstarter campaign was a big new challenge for us, too, but also a wonderful way of engaging our community before we even opened our doors. And, of course, there were construction challenges and thousands of design and inventory decisions. So there has been occasional decision fatigue, but a huge reward of joy as the pieces all come together.

Best thing thats happened: Its just a miracle to watch the thing that once lived as an idea in our heads become a physical space that other people can inhabit and make their own. Matt and I are still pinching ourselves.

All-time bestsellers: Mo Willemss The Thank You Book (Disney-Hyperion) and the first book in John Bemelmans Marciano and Sophie Blackalls Witches of Benevento series, Mischief Season (Viking)my older sons staff pick.

Teich Toys & Books

New York City; 1,000 sq. ft.

Opened: June 2014

Why a childrens bookstore? My husband [J.J. McGowan] and I had been selling a small selection of handmade toys and childrens books by local authors at our original gift store, Teich, up the street, says Allison Teich McGowan. That area of the shop was very popular, and we decided to open a store entirely devoted to toys and books nearby [in Manhattans West Village]. As local parents, we knew there was a clear demand for [a childrens bookstore] in the neighborhood.

Challenges: Honestly, the book aspect of our business is the least challenging out of everything. There is such an amazing selection out there, and though its hard to carry everything we like or that our customers want, we find there is a huge demand for interesting childrens books. We try to keep a very curated selection so that its not overwhelming and our staff is familiar enough that they can make great recommendations. I find that with books more than anything else, people want to touch them.

Sales: Beating last year.

Best thing thats happened: As a member of the community, its been fun to get to know the community more. And I have so many wonderful employees.

All-time bestsellers: New York Citythemed books: Adam Gambles Good Night New York City (Good Night Books) and Pop-Up New York (Lonely Planet).
MacNicol Starts Driving to S&S

In her first acquisition as an editor at Simon & Schuster, Christine Pride preempted world English rights to journalist Glynnis MacNicols memoir Good Driving. The author, who has written for such publications as the New York Times and the Guardian and who cofounded the female networking platform TheLi.st, was represented by agents Molly Friedrich and Lucy Carson. In the book, which is slated for spring 2018, MacNicol ruminates on turning 40. Specifically, Pride said, the author gives a voice to a pioneering generation of women who are single and childless, and considers the challenges and exhilarating freedoms of a life lived outside of the accepted but outdated conventions of adulthood.

Da Capo Gets Nerdy with Posehn

Stand-up comedian, writer (Marvels Deadpool), and actor (The Sarah Silverman Show, Mr. Show) Brian Posehn sold a humorous memoir to Ben Schafer at Da Capo Press. Schafer took world rights from Marc Gerald at United Talent Agency, working on behalf of Dave Rath at Generate. In Forever Nerdy! Or How a Man-Child Lived His Dreams and Stayed Nerdy and Metal, Posehn recounts what the publisher described as hilarious stories of eternal nerd-dom, chronicling what it was like coming of age as a nerd before it was considered hip to be one. The book is slated for spring 2018.

Reinhart Pops Up at Disney

Pop-up creator and illustrator Matthew Reinhart closed a world rights deal with Disney Publishing Worldwide for three new pop-up books: Pixar: A Pop-Up History, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and History of Mickey Mouse. Reinhart (Star Wars: The Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy) is a well-known paper engineer, and the publisher said he will bring his signature style to these books, which, Disney added, will be gravity-defying pops. Wendy Lefkon and Alexis Banyon at Disney brokered the agreement with agent Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management. The first book in the deal is set for fall 2017.

Viking Picks Up Noyess Bones

In a world English rights acquisition, Alex Ulyett at Viking bought Deborah Noyess middle grade nonfiction work, Hatsful of Bones. Jill Grinberg, who has an eponymous shingle, brokered the deal, and her agency said the book is a narrative account of two rival paleontologists who are competing to uncover more and more monstrous fossils in the newly opened Wild West. The book is slated for a fall 2018 publication.

Putnam Lands Lit Agents Picture Book

After a four-publisher auction, Jen Besser at G.P. Putnam won North American rights to Come with Me, written by literary agent Holly McGhee and illustrated by Pascal Lemaitre. McGhee is a childrens agent at Pippin Properties and Lemaitre is a Belgian artist, and the book, Putnam said, chronicles their experiences of two different terrorist attacks, hers of 9/11 and his of the lockdown in Brussels this past spring. Specifically, the book follows a girl who, in the wake of a terrorist attack, must learn, the publisher explained, that taking even the tiniest step forward, as insignificant as it may seem, can make a difference. Elena Giovinazzo at Pippin Properties brokered the sale with Besser, and the book is set for fall 2017.

NOTE: Due to publisher error, an earlier version of this story neglected to mention that agent Lucy Carson represented Glynnis MacNicol, along with agent Molly Friedrich, in selling her memoir Good Driving.
Spencer Beck of Troop 144 in Alpha has achieved the distinguished rank of Eagle Scout.

Mr. Beck has earned 47 merit badges during his nine-year Scouting career. He has held such leadership positions as Senior Patrol Leader, Scribe and Quartermaster, and has completed National Youth Leadership Training as well as being a Philmont Crew Leader.

His accomplishment in serving his community was to work with the local fire department to inspect and replace smoke detectors and carbon dioxide detectors in all of the homes in Ophiem.

He is the son of Robert and Deena Beck, of Ophiem, and is a junior at Alwood High School. His college plans are undecided.
Jenna Preston, of Taylor Ridge, represented Rock Island County as one of 11 students from across the state at the Illinois Pork Leadership Institute in Indianapolis June 20-23.

During the four-day trip, attendees connected with others also interested in pork production and learned many aspects of the agriculture industry. Tour stops included the University of Illinois, Kroger Dairy, Elanco, Dow AgroSciences, Indiana Packers and Fair Oaks Farms.

The trip ended at the Indiana Pork Producers with media training.

The program provides youth interested in the pork industry a chance to become more actively involved in all facets of agriculture. The program focuses on leadership, citizenship and communication skills through hands-on experiences.
River Action is offering a "Citizen Science Program" for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes.

The program will provide field trips to Credit Island in Davenport, Lost Grove Lake near Eldridge, the Hennepin Canal Environmental Park in Milan and Green Valley Nature Preserve in Moline. The QC Wild Places field trips will let students learn about their environment through hands-on testing, creation of field journals and presentations from special guest educators.

The field trip will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The program will cover transportation to and from the site, water quality testing kits and field journals while supplies last.

The outdoor classroom will let students learn about environmental processes and ecosystem, biodiversity and the importance of conserving natural resources. Water testing kits will let students study the quality of water on-site and discuss the impact of human activities on the ecosystem.

QC Wild Places began in 2011 to help local natural areas and their managing organizations market their sites to the public. It is dedicated to preserving natural areas around the Quad Cities through service, funding, awareness and education.

There currently are 66 member sites, totaling 133,000 acres, in eight counties around the Quad Cities region, all within an hours drive of the Quad Cities. To learn more about the field trips and to sign up, visit qcwildplaces.com/node/185 or call River Action 563-322-2969 or email lmorris@riveraction.org.

For families wanting to introduce children to the Wild Places, visit qcwildplaces.com/explorer. A hat and certificate will be issued to each youth upon visiting at least three sites.
Radish Magazine's Yoga Festival kicked off yesterday at the Rock Island Holiday Inn, 226 17th St., and welcomed yogis of all backgrounds.

Some of the Quad-Cities' favorite yoga studios and teachers are featured at the event, as well as some out-of-town special guests. Studios presenting at the festival include Backwards Yoga, Davenport School of Yoga, Indigo Wellness Studios, Inspired Life, One Tree Hot Yoga, Promoting Wellness, Shine Yoga and Bodyworks, Sol Yoga and Tapas Yoga Shala.

Instructor Sara Strother gave the keynote address at the Yoga Festival's opening night and will be teaching classes at the event. She is currently based in Chicago but has previously taught in the Quad-Cities and said that she is excited to return to the area.

"I am really looking forward to reconnecting with this community this weekend," Ms. Strother said. "The attitude towards yoga here (the Quad-Cities) is very gracious and sweet. They don't come to class expecting something, they come to class open and willing to learn."

Ms. Strother is bringing more than 12 years of teaching experience to the Yoga Festival. She is registered at the highest level with Yoga Alliance, ERYT 500, and has completed more than 2,000 hours of study.

She said yoga festivals are a great way for yogis of all skill levels to further explore their practice and to be challenged and inspired.

"You might have a studio or a teacher or a style of yoga that you are really attached to but when you come to an event like this you are exposed to the fact that there are so many different ways to teach and express yoga," Ms. Strother said. "It breaks people out of their shell."

Ms. Strother also said that both beginning and seasoned yogis should use events like the Radish Yoga Fest to "expand their horizons" and take classes that contrast their usual practice.

Saturdays spread of classes at the Yoga Festival are mostly designed for those who wish to dive deeper into their practice; however, those who are new to yoga will find plenty to enjoy, too.

On Saturday there will be 19 two-hour classes spread out over three sessions throughout the day to choose from, beginning at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Some of the Saturday highlights include "Everyone is a Beginner in Yoga," "Rock 'n' Roll Vinyasa" and "Peak Experience: Handbalancing" among others.

Sunday at the Yoga Festival will offer a variety of classes designed to help yogis unwind and restore.

On Sunday there are six, two-hour classes to choose from during each of the 8 and 11 a.m. time slots, followed by a closing ceremony at 1 p.m. Some of the Sunday highlights include "Chair Yoga," "Led Moon Series" and "Yin Yoga" among others. Sunday will also offer a meditation room, open all day.

Tickets to the festival are still available and being sold at the doors, $175 for Saturday and $55 for Sunday.
ROCK ISLAND -- Congregation Beth Israel at the Tri-City Jewish Center is planning a weekend-long birthday party.

An 80th Jubilee Celebration and Reunion Weekend planned July 22-24 will include a dinner celebration and program designed to trace congregation heritage. A traveling exhibit titled "A Welcome Place: Quad City Jewish Heritage, created by Dr. Art Pitz of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, also will be on display during the celebration.

"Were looking forward to re-connecting with many alumni who are returning to celebrate a dream that started in 1936," said event co-chairs Tammie Close and Michael Weindruch.

The synagogue's roots can be traced back to a small committee, led by the late I.C. Gellman, who dreamed of creating a Jewish community center where adults and youth could congregate, Ms. Close said.

"Early records show that our mission was to fulfill the religious, cultural and social needs of all who wished to join," she said. "Todays congregation strives to continue those dreams of our founders."

The center was formed in 1935. Members worshiped in a building at 1807 7th Ave., Rock Island, which was dedicated Dec. 19, 1936. A group of synagogue leaders later decided the 7th Avenue building was not large enough for the growing congregation, Mr. Weindruch said.

"The center also owned the building across the street, which housed the religious school," he said. "In 1981, when we built our present facility, we were able to design enough space to include our religious school, our sanctuary and a social hall -- all in one building."

The center serves about 150 membership units. Units include all individual family members.

"Our membership has had a very important role in the community and produced leaders over the years," Mr. Weindruch said.

Rabbi Jeffrey Lipschultz, the center's current leader, joined the center in July 2015, replacing Rabbi Tamar Grimm, who left the area to become an assistant rabbi at Beth Jacob Synagogue in Mendota Heights, Minn.
The July 2 passing of Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, Nobel peace Prize winner, reminded many of his famous book, Night.

The book portrays how slow the Jews in Germany were to recognize how threatening the Nazis were to them. Adolf Hitlers reign of terror began after the Nazis came to power in 1933 and ended in 1945.

But this ignorance was also found at high levels in the United States. Many American political, business and media leaders were also slow to understand the Nazis threat as well as the threat of the messianic reign of fascism in Italy under its dictator, Benito Mussolini.

There were politically disturbing incidents that lent credibility to the German and Italian regimes. For example, newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst spent a month in Germany, met Hitler and was charmed. He gave favorable press coverage to the Third Reich (Nazi Germany) in 1934. In July 1934, Fortune magazine praised fascism, a governmental system marked by a centralized dictatorship and stringent socioeconomic controls.

Fortune said, The good journalist must recognize in fascism certain ancient virtues of the race, whether or not they happen to be momentarily fashionable in his own country. Among these are Discipline, Duty, Courage, Glory and Sacrifice.

Franklin Roosevelt once called Benito Mussolini, close ally of Hitler, an admirable Italian gentleman. U.S. oil companies continued to sell oil to Italy when it invaded Ethiopia in 1935.

In 1934 the U.S. State Department praised a sham Italian election stating that the fascists 99 percent victory there demonstrated incontestably the popularity of the fascist regime. U.S. officials admired fascism for its efficiency and support of business interests.

In Germany during the era of the Holocaust (the killing of six million Jews, many of them burned alive) the American press did not always publicize reports of Nazi atrocities in full or with prominent placement, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. For example, the New York Times generally de-emphasized the murder of the Jews in its news coverage.

On July 2, 1942, it reported on the operations of the killing center in Chelmno, based on sources from the Polish underground. The article, however, appeared on page six of the newspaper.

In August 1942, the State Department received a report from Gerhart Riegner, the Geneva-based representative of the World Jewish Congress. The report revealed the Germans had implemented their policy to annihilate the Jews of Europe. Department officials declined to pass on the report to Stephen Wise, president of the World Jewish Congress. Wise found out about it anyway but the State Department asked Wise not to publish the information. Wise waited three months for confirmation and then held a news conference.

The Times covered the December 1942 statement of the Allies condemning the mass murder of European Jews on its front page, it placed coverage of the more specific information released on page 10, significantly minimizing it importance.

A few German Jews, however, saw early on what was going to happen and immigrated to other countries including the U.S. But when the U.S. entered World War II after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, immigration virtually dried up.

Despite the obstacles, more than 200,000 Jews found refuge in the U.S. Meanwhile, toward the end of the war, the German Nazis decided to try to rid the entire world of Jewish people, not just those in Germany.

So everywhere in Russia, the Ukraine and in Lithuania the Einsatzgruppen (task forces or death squads) carried out the Final Solution by turning their machine guns on more than a million Jews, men, women and children and throwing them into huge mass graves dug by the victims themselves, according to Elie Wiesel in his book Night.

Babies were thrown in the air for target practice.

Special units would then disinter the corpses and burn them. In a sense those Jews were killed twice.

Elie Wiesel wrote in hopes that nations could detect evil in the making and not be taken by surprise as were the trusting Jewish people in Germany. Yet we were on 9/11.

(Publisher Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. produced a foresighted docudrama in 1934 after visiting Europe and smuggling pictures to the U.S. His film was Hitlers Reign of Terror. He had come to Davenport in 1928 to spend time with Mrs. Waldo Hancock Logan, formerly Ms. Mary Weir, a Davenport socialite.They later married.)
Connemara Marble S/S Shamrock Drop Pendant with Chain is rated 2.9 out of 5 by 8 .

Rated 1 out of 5 by Glodt from Not happy My friend ordered the same pendant and it is a pretty color green marble, the one I received is a grey/black color. Not pretty at all. Not the color of Irish marble that I had looked up. All of the rest of the connemare marble is green not the color of this one. Not something I will wear.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Birdiemommy from Needs a better way to "hold" the marble Marble is heavy and the teeny post they have holding it in place wasn't the greatest idea. I know aesthetics play a huge role but if it won't hold together no one will buy them. Mine fell out on the first day I wore it. After returning my first one because it was brown, not green, sorry it looked like a teardrop gallstone. I love connemara but they really should start giving us options in colors (they do sometimes but..) Anyway. It's beautiful and kind of bigger than the basket necklace (which I suggest you get!) that i wear everyday. I'm going to get it fixed because it's so pretty but I will have to be careful not to lose it because money is money and I don't like to lose it for no reason.

Rated 2 out of 5 by gredela from Color is not Green Looks like a gray and beige blob! I compared it to a piece of Connemara marble that I already have and the color is nowhere near green. Returning. I would call this defective since it is not as advertised.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Ali48 from Connemara marble shamrock drop pendant The piece of marble was bigger than expected which was nice. I liked the shamrock bail which was a nice Irish touch, the chain had a bit of tarnish but that could be easily cleaned. I ordered a connemara marble stretch bracelet previously and I received a wonderful dark green color, I even ordered an earring from a different network in connemara marble and received the dark green color so I decided to add a pendant however, I received a much paler color green than what I would have preferred, that did not match the other two pieces I already had as such, I returned this item.

Rated 3 out of 5 by lc628 from Disappointed The other Connemara I've purchased was beautiful, but this one, not so much. The marble is pretty, but the silver bail with shamrocks was highly tarnished and nearly a fourth of the chain was also very tarnished. It took quite a bit of work and it still needs more polishing. I'm sure I'll end up changing the chain because that's easier than spending hours cleaning, but I'm determined to clean those little shamrocks. I think the issue is the cheap gold colored elastic cord that holds the Connemara tag in place, but I'll still keep the necklace. The marble is too pretty to send back.

Rated 1 out of 5 by RC Shopper from Not as advertised I ordered this necklace based on the manufacturer's sales pitch that the darkest green of the marble is used. When this arrived, I was very disappointed in the brown and cream color. I have returned it and will see the color of the replacement necklace.

Rated 5 out of 5 by irish shopper from Excellent Purchase! So glad I got this pendant! Nice deep dark green marble with a nice bale. I prefer the deeper green & it's perfect! Good weight & length & polished beautifully! Thank you, QVC!!
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.
Storms last week that left significant moisture and dropped temperatures across much of Montana may have delayed drought mitigation measures but are unlikely to stave off more fishing and irrigation restrictions.

Low snowpack and earlier-than-normal spring runoff this year has consistently concerned officials charged with studying and managing Montanas water supply.

(Runoff) has really put the state at the mercy of rains during the latter part of the irrigation season during the summer, Tim Davis, Water Resources Division administrator for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, told the Legislative Water Policy Committee this week.

Welcomed by recreational and agricultural water users were recent storms that left anywhere from a quarter-inch to four inches of precipitation across the state.

Some areas, namely along the Hi-Line and lower Yellowstone, greatly benefited from the added moisture, Davis said. But while most reservoirs elsewhere in the state peaked at 90 to 100 percent of full pool, those reserves have been drafting down fairly quickly to supply irrigates.

The state plans to revamp its drought response plan by next year to streamline delivery of needed resources, he said.

Four counties along the Rocky Mountain Front received drought advisories ahead of the cool spell. Gibson Reservoir west of Augusta supplying water to area irrigators has seen inflows well below normal and is expected to reach minimum pool by the beginning of August, Stephanie Micek, with the Bureau of Reclamation, told the Governors Drought Advisory Committee.

Theres very little water supply -- irrigators will supplement out of Willow Creek and Pishkun (reservoirs), but Pishkun will probably be shutting down near mid-August, she said.

Warm weather triggered fishing restrictions on several western Montana rivers including the Big Hole, Jefferson and Gallatin. Many of those restrictions lifted due to cooler temperatures, but Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks believes the reprieve will only be temporary.

FWP implements so-called hoot owl restrictions limiting fishing to cooler parts of the day when water temperatures exceed 73 degrees for three consecutive days. The agency reopens the stretches when temperatures remain below 70 degrees for three days.

FWP holds water rights for instream flow on several Montana rivers. Calls on junior water-right holders were already made on the Shields and Tongue rivers, and FWP notified more than 400 juniors on the Blackfoot of a likely call, Stephen Begley, water conservation specialist, told the drought committee.

Rain gave the Blackfoot a bump in flows, but the additional water will only last for a week or two.

It is temporary and we expect those flows to drop again, he said. We have 30 streams and stream reaches registering below our instream flow right now, so it may be a busy summer for us in terms of administering all those.

Forecasts for the next couple of months call for a return to higher-than-average temperatures and lower-than-average moisture, Don Britton with the National Weather Service told the drought committee.

Increasingly cooler ocean temperatures, better known as La Nina, are predicated to phase in beginning this fall. A La Nina means a higher likelihood of below-average temperatures and higher probability of above-average precipitation this winter, Britton said.
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We are currently having technical issues and apologize for the inconvenience. Please call 888-345-5788 to place your order.
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!
Live and broadcast events technology provider NEP Group has acquired the assets of Danish outside broadcasting firm DBlux.

DBlux is currently the leading provider of OB services in Denmark and has provided OB, TV, sound, lighting and AV productions to clients throughout Scandinavia for more than 20 years. The company specialises in live broadcasts of sporting events and news coverage, and boasts that it is the largest supplier of live transmissions in Denmark to several national TV channels.NEP believes that the acquisition will allow it to provide a deeper inventory of production resources to clients in Denmark and throughout Scandinavia. It will see the Aalborg-based company add to NEPs portfolio with three mobile units, an ENG truck and a studio control room.We look forward to bringing the DBlux team on board to assist with our production support in the Nordic region, commented Paul Henriksen, president of NEP Broadcast Services Europe . The DBlux team shares the same commitment to client success as we do in NEP, and the additional staff and equipment based in Denmark will be a significant benefit to our clients.DBlux will operate as NEP Denmark from the current facility in Aalborg, and will maintain its current staff. The managing director for NEP Denmark will be Mats Berggren, and daily operations will, as before, be led by Henrik Borup who will work in close co-operation with NEP Sweden.
Property details:

Taylor Creek Department of Land Transfer Info Equipment Feedback Other Claims for Sale Contact Us Add To Favorites CROSS UNION GOLD Mine SN: CMC288289 20 Acre Unpatented Placer Mining Claim on Federal Land / Montezuma County, Colorado (Scroll down to see all pictures) Buyer will receive the following with their completed transaction:Quitclaim deed showing full ownership of the claim. This will be stamped, recorded and verified with the County and the BLM offices.Welcome packet with all of the ru...

Price: $ 4,305 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: Taylor Creek Rd Dolores, CO 81323 Zip/Postal Code: 81323 Type: Unpatented Mining Claims Zoning: Mineral Rights City: Boulder State/Province: Colorado Location: 813**, Dolores, Colorado

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AKRON, Ohio  They share the same birthday. They share the same induction year into the Soap Box Derby Hall of Fame. They are both longtime derby volunteers.

But when they raced head-to-head, there could only be one winner.

Jim Underwood, who has been an All-American Soap Box Derby volunteer since 1973, turned 90 on Tuesday. Bob Troyer, in his 50th year of volunteering for the derby, turned 70 the same day.

Despite years of working and mingling with derbygoers, though, Troyer had never raced on Derby Downs in his life.

That all changed when the two volunteers decided to celebrate their birthdays with a race against one another during the derbys DQ and Subway race challenges Tuesday afternoon.

For both men, the Soap Box Derby has been a part of their lives for decades.

Underwoods first derby experience was in 1938 when he raced in the Akron local race. He raced until 1941, when he ran the track in 26.25 seconds, a time no other racer has beat since.

His children participated in races as well, and in 1973, Underwood helped run the race. He has volunteered since, holding multiple roles with the derby, including serving as the control board chairman in 1982.

When Troyer was a child, he raced in the Portage County local derby race. His father, Loris Troyer, who was an executive director of the Record-Courier, was also the director of the Portage County Soap Box Derby from 1947 through 1972.

Through those connections, Troyer was invited to be a traveling chaperone for the All-American derby in 1967 when he was still in college.

After working in public relations for Firestone and Akrons Chamber of Commerce, he was asked to be the PR chairman for the All-American derby in 1973.

Although he now lives in Chicago, Troyer still works as the public relations chairman for the derby to this day, returning to Akron every summer for race week.

Once it gets in your blood, it just sticks with you, Troyer said. When I come back here for race week, its like a family reunion.

Both Troyer and Underwood were inducted into the derby hall of fame in 2003 for their decades of volunteering.

Though Troyer had never raced down the hill, it was something he had wanted to do for a long time.

I had it on my bucket list that some year, I was going to go down this hill, Troyer said.

As in any other derby race, the day was filled with some friendly competition  and plenty of smack talk.

Roll your eyeballs forward, it gives you more motion, Underwood advised Troyer before the race. As Troyer walked away, Underwood fessed up.

Im setting him up for a big loss. I still think Ive got the edge.

Underwoods prediction came true as he sailed past the finish line just seconds before Troyer. Both men shook hands at the end, and despite Troyers loss, he smiled.

That was a lot of fun, he said.
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Q. Why does God seem to give so much material wealth to some people and less or none to others?

Who's defining wealth? If it is all we can obtain whether money, possessions or position it means very little to God. Instruction from Jesus is for us to store up our treasures in heaven, where it is safe from thieves and decay.

Why are some seemingly blessed with more and others less is a mystery to me. I suppose in the secular world one's application to being industrious adds to success. Some would say luck, though I don't believe in luck. What I do believe is if we place anything before God it's not worth any amount of wealth.

Jim White, lay leader

Weaverville Church of the Nazarene

In Unity we do not believe in a God that gives and takes away. We understand God as principle that cannot intervene in what one has in the physical realm. God is the one presence and one power that is all good all the time. Each person is part of the all good. While prosperity is about everything anyone can imagine, every good one's heart desires, true prosperity is about developing a consciousness of abundance, about developing one's own divine nature. It's about growing in the ability to see the goodness beneath all situations and conditions. Although riches and power do not seem to manifest equally to everyone in the physical world, each person can develop a prosperity consciousness and choose how to perceive his or her life regardless of material wealth. Love, joy, peace and a positive attitude can be developed and are true prosperity that cannot be taken away by anyone.

Carolyn Warnemuende, spiritual director

Unity in Redding

Great wealth is not a gift from God. Our capabilities are God's gifts. What we do with them is our responsibility. The heroes of myth, legend, great sagas, fiction and scripture followed the same script. They all overcame adversity to attain their success. Even though some of the heroes in the Jewish Bible had God's direct help, they all persevered. They were the exceptions out of the multitudes.

A person's material wealth consists of what they own or have access to. Among all people, from the poorest to the wealthiest, some will have more food, water, shelter, family support, opportunities, survival skills and, ultimately, more wealth than others. When we credit only God for the bounties we accumulate, we do an injustice to how we perceive our own capabilities. What we do lifts us from being one of the many poor to being one of the few who are wealthy.

George Wandrocke, chaplain

Temple Beth Israel of Redding

My impression of God is not one of favoritism toward one group or another, but unabashed generosity. However, people are victims of social, political, environmental, and economic inequality. We are called to establish justice, to uplift the downtrodden and work for equality in all these areas. It's human greed and ignorance that cause and maintain these disparities. The question is, "What are you going to do about it?"

Tara Macy, lay servant

First United Methodist Church, Redding

In the Buddha's parable of the poisoned arrow, he tells the story of a man in the midst of a battle who refuses to have a poisoned arrow removed from his body until he could learn the name of the enemy archer who shot him, the names of the arrow- and bowmakers, where the poison was brewed, and where the wood for the bow was grown. The Buddha said that man would die before his questions were answered.

Who knows why some people are rich and some poor? It certainly has nothing to do with their innate worth as sentient beings. The more important question is how we use our material resources.

Buddhist monastics live lives of radical simplicity. Rich lay Buddhists are encouraged to practice radical generosity.

May we be grateful for what we have, use our riches wisely, and share what we have with great generosity and skillfulness.

Chris Carrigan, Buddhist

River Oak Sangha, Redding

God alone knows the answer to this question. He is perfectly wise, all-knowing, and works out his eternal plan with absolute precision in this, his world, and has not chosen to give to us all of the details as to why he gives any particular thing to some and not to others. It's really none of our business why God does this or that. The Bible says that he distributes his gifts "as he wills."

We do know that it's not because someone has prayed a certain "prayer of faith," or performed any act, followed any formula, recited any mantra. The teaching of the so-called "prosperity gospel" or "health and wealth" groups is an unbiblical fabrication. God is sovereign and is not held captive by people who think that they can wring financial or any other type of blessing out of God by the use of manipulation through words or actions.

The Rev. Gene Crow, pastor

Redding Reformed Fellowship

Is it God doing the giving? One of the tragedies we often see are celebrities who seem to have it all get caught up in bad behaviors, narcissistic activities, and self-destructive forays into the alcohol and drug world. One of the gospel sayings is "To those to whom much has been given, much will be expected." Too often we see how mortal those idols are and that they have feet of clay.

On the other hand, many who are born poor or disadvantaged in some way grow to become solid leaders and examples of courage and faith. Perhaps hardship is their blessing instead. We must remember that all we do is in the presence of God. That alone should prod us toward reverence for all and goodness in our lives.

Deacon Mike Evans

Sacred Heart Church, Anderson

Why would a deity give enormous wealth to some and none to others? That would indeed be the act of a malicious being. But the real reason some have much and others little is due to a complicated combination of factors, including individual ambition and intelligence, politics, luck, chicanery and fraud.

Clearly the current disparity in wealth and income among Americans is subverting our democracy as money buys influence in politics. For example, tax laws favorable to the rich, shielding their business ventures and personal assets, are enacted, while programs to help the less fortunate with medical expenses, education and other necessities are axed. Thus the rich become richer at the expense of badly needed social programs.

While some may believe their god is rewarding the rich for some virtue, or strengthening the poor through their struggles and adversity, such a system seems hardly conducive to the peaceful coexistence religions espouse.

Elisabeth Steadman, Humanist celebrant

American Humanist Association

Next week's question: What is a cult? Do all religions start out as cults?
Dr. Tyson Adams

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By Amber Sandhu of the Redding Record Searchlight

A doctor that once lived in his vehicle for over a year and later studied how homelessness affects health shared his knowledge with other health professionals on Friday.

Dr. Tyson Adams talked with health professionals and others at a discussion hosted by Mercy Medical Center. He sought to educate them about the health implications, costs and stigma surrounding those who are homeless.

"A little bit of my story will explain why this topic is important for me," Adams told those in attendance.

Adams lived the lifestyle while working full-time in the Bay Area and studied it as part of his residency at Mercy. He also experienced housing insecurity when he was younger.

In 1984, his father sat him down and told him the family was losing their Lake County farmhouse to foreclosure. The one feeling he remembers at the time is having "an absolute sense of not having a way out."

"You don't just lose your livelihood," he said. "You lose your home, you lose your identity."

In the 1990s, Tyson sought home security by taking on jobs that came with housing. He worked as a ranch hand and herded sheep, a job that came with a cabin. He then worked as a commercial fisherman and lived on a boat.

But when he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to work as a carpenter, he could not find housing. He decided the next best thing would be to remove all the passenger seats out of his Ford Bronco and live in it. And that's what he did for about a year and a half, he said.

"I was homeless, and I had a full-time job," he said.

As a doctor, Adams cares for people who suffer from the effects of homelessness, and saw how living conditions worsened their health conditions.

"Homelessness can cause health problems, but health problems can cause homelessness," he said.

Conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease worsen over time. Some homeless people get tuberculosis because they live in cramped spaces among others infected with the disease. They're also vulnerable to getting cellulitis, lice or scabies because they lack access to a bathroom to wash their hands or bathe. In a sense, the homeless become carriers of disease, Adams said.

"They're all a consequence of a life they live on a daily basis," he said.

He said his medical interventions won't help improve their health, but one thing would  housing. But that isn't controlled by practitioners. More often than not, a homeless person may come in to the emergency room and not leave for months because he can't safely be discharged. Other rehabilitation facilities won't admit a homeless person if he has no address to be discharged to. It drives the cost of care for the hospital "through the roof," Adams said.

In Shasta County in 2015, more than 3,000 CalFresh recipients experienced homelessness, according to a strategic plan to reduce homelessness commissioned by Redding City Councilwoman Kristen Schreder. HomeBase consultants, a San Francisco law firm, cited in its study that 934 people, or 0.52 percent of Shasta County's population, were counted as homeless during the Point in Time Count in January. Among them, 287 had some type of psychiatric or emotional condition, and 238 had a physical disability.

For those who are homeless and mentally ill, the road is tougher, Adams said. They're unable to maintain a job, don't have family support, are off medication, have higher stress and are less rested, which only makes their mental illness worse.

Schreder, who was at Friday's meeting, remembered an old friend she met on the street a few years back only to realize he was homeless. His diabetes worsened over time, and he was unable to maintain a job. He was also Adams' patient.

"If he had stable housing, he would not be as sick as he is," Adams told Schreder. "He's exactly the reason why Housing First should exist."

Schreder said she often thinks of Lloyd Pendleton's talk in Redding last year, and how the Utah Housing First official took 10 years to reduce homelessness in that state using the Housing First model. Housing First aims to put chronically homeless into housing with services.

Redding and Shasta County officials have rejected the Housing First model, and Schreder's strategic plan serves as an early first step toward a coordinated effort to reduce homelessness. "We've got to start somewhere," she said.
Record Searchlight file photo Euesbio Luna, who took the witness stand in his trial, was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder in the death of his uncle.

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By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight

A judge Friday morning sentenced a Cottonwood man to 15 years to life in prison after a six-man, six-woman jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in his uncle's death.

Eusebio Rafael Luna, 21, has maintained he has no memory of how his uncle, Clarence "Jimmy" O'Neil, 49, died because they had both used copious amounts of alcohol and marijuana in the overnight hours leading up to the death.

But Shasta County Superior Court Judge Gregory Gaul sentenced Luna to life in prison, though after 15 years he would become eligible for parole, said Aaron Williams, his defense attorney.

Williams said he plans to appeal Luna's case.

On May 31, the jury found Luna guilty of second-degree murder but cleared him of first-degree murder. The jurors had told the court they were struggling with the definition of "deliberate" for first-degree murder.

Prosecutors had accused Luna of purposefully dropping a 60-pound cement block on O'Neil's head in the early morning hours of May 4, 2015, outside his uncle's trailer after they'd had an argument during a session of heavy drinking and pot smoking. They also said Luna then tried to make the death seem like an accident.

Shasta County Sheriff's deputies had said Luna told them he'd awoken and found O'Neil on the ground after he apparently fell in which he'd hit his head on a pier block. But deputies said Luna had dragged O'Neil's body to conceal it from the roadway and put the block in a nearby trash pile.

An autopsy showed O'Neil suffered broken ribs, a broken collar bone and a knife wound in the face.

Williams had argued none of the mostly circumstantial evidence showed that Luna had acted with premeditation. Luna himself took the stand during the trial, saying he didn't remember the killing.
Joe Szydlowski/Record Searchlight Defense attorney Aaron Williams (left) confers with defendant Tyler Christopher Schweizer, accused of vehicular manslaughter and second-degree murder at the defendant's preliminary hearing in Shasta County Superior Court Friday morning. The hearing was postponed.

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By Joe Szydlowski of the Redding Record Searchlight

A Shasta County Superior Court judge has again postponed the conclusion of a preliminary hearing for a man accused of killing a man in a 2015 crash on Highway 273.

Judge Gregory Gaul granted a request by defense attorney Aaron Williams to delay the second part of the preliminary hearing, which determines whether there's enough evidence to go to trial. Tyler Christopher Schweizer's defense wants to examine his pickup's speedometer, which Williams suspects is faulty.

Schweizer, 30, of Redding, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter in the death of Wallace "Pete" Shelton, 77, of Anderson, electronic court records show.

Schweizer allegedly was driving nearly 100 mph down Highway 273 just before he broadsided Shelton's pickup coming out of Thomas Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP officers have testified Schweizer hit Shelton at 66 mph, though he was not impaired.

But defense attorney Williams disputes that because he suspects the equipment was malfunctioning based on error messages. In April, and later in June, he asked for a delay to investigate the vehicle further.

The mechanic he picked as an expert witness examined the pickup Thursday. But concerns about erasing data caused the CHP to balk at a request to connect the speedometer system to an identical pickup for tests, Williams said.

Deputy District Attorney Brandon Storment said he opposed Williams' request because he waited until July 9 before contacting Storment and Williams' selected mechanic examined it for two hours.

"The defense had three months and left it to the day before the hearing," Storment said.

Williams said his expert witness spent 18 days reviewing a report on the truck in the lead up to inspecting the pickup.

Gaul granted Williams' request, including an order to compel the CHP to allow the speedometer tests. He noted the speedometer evidence could benefit either side, that Gaul himself could have been clearer in his directions and that Williams had other labor-intensive court cases.

"He was in a murder trial with me and we just had the sentencing for that case this morning," Gaul said. "We've come this far, we might as well find out what it is."

Schweizer originally faced accusations of vehicular manslaughter but Storment added a second-degree murder charge based on an "abysmal" driving record, which includes two misdemeanor driving under the influence convictions.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2 at 10 a.m.
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By Jenny Espino of the Redding Record Searchlight

Could a new commercial broker bring to life the long-dormant Stillwater Business Park?

That may be too difficult to predict at this point for Larry Vaupel, Redding's development services director. What's for sure is the Redding City Council on Tuesday will be asked to hire Collier International of Sacramento to market the 700-acre business park for a year.

That would make Collier the third firm in the past eight years to try to turn interest in the shovel-ready park into a sale. Stillwater was represented by Voit Real Estate Services, but its contracted expired at the beginning of the year.

Vaupel has since been fielding the inquiries. He called the choice to go with Collier a testing of the waters.

"There are about a half-dozen firms kicking the tires. We know interest is up because the economy is improving," he said.

But he tempered that upbeat mood and noted how Stillwater is competing against the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento. "Even Sacramento has been pretty slow," he said.

Amazon.com's new fulfillment center is going to go in at Metro Air Park. That facility will be the first at the 1,800-acre park, which has sat idle for years because of the recession and a building moratorium in the Natomas basin.

"It's a matter of supply and demand and letting people know we exist," Vaupel said.

Prior to Voit, Stillwater was marketed by Cushman & Wakefield of California from May 2008 to Jan. 31, 2014.

Collier and Cushman & Wakefield were among the five firms to submit proposals to the city. The others were House of Realty in Redding, Kennedy Wilson and Kidder Mathews, the firm that took over Voit's office in Sacramento.

According to a staff report, Collier would direct more than $90,000 to market and promote Stillwater and its 16 lots. The city would commit $25,000 from the $840,000 sale of the 16.75-acre parcel bought by Lassen Canyon Nursery last year.

Collier's commission rate will be 6 percent of the purchase price.

It would focus on bringing small- to medium-size manufacturers for the larger lots. For the smaller lots, it would eye industries in construction, trades, health care, education, retail and outdoor recreation.

The city would receive status reports from Collier every two weeks.

Vaupel anticipated those first three months will be to craft the pitch and create marketing material.

Locally, Collier represented the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in its search for an industrial site to build a 200,000-square-foot medical facility. Elsewhere, it is listing lots at the Lathrop Industrial Park about 17 miles south of Stockton.

In other business, the council will receive a report from Councilwoman Kristen Schreder to financially support restructuring the Redding/Shasta County Continuum of Care, the planning body that provides housing and other services to the homeless.

Perhaps to bolster her argument, Schreder's report includes a five-page document listing 76 meetings and community activities she participated in over the past year as part of her research into the homeless issue. Her studies revealed about 3,000 Shasta County residents who received food stamps in 2015 were homeless and the cost to the community to respond to homelessness is $34.2 million annually.

Hiring a nonprofit to run the continuum of care and implementing a system to collect data in a uniform way from service providers will cost about $209,000 in the first year and just under $190,000 in the second year.

The city in the past has contributed $20,000 annually to pay for a part-time coordinator. It would be asked to increase its contribution to $130,000 over the two years, or $65,000 each year. A committee working with Schreder has committed to raising $10,000 from businesses.

Schreder also plans to make financial requests of Shasta County, Anderson and Shasta Lake.

If you go

What: Redding City Council meeting

When: 6 p.m., Tuesday

Where: Redding City Hall, 777 Cypress Ave.

About the meeting: The council will seek a one-year extension on a state grant intended for use on parking improvements at Henderson Open Space. It will consider a request from the Colt 45s to schedule all games at Tiger Field and accept $2.5 million in federal and state funds to design and build the path between Diestelhorst Bridge and downtown.

Members will act on Councilwoman Kristen Schreders plan to restructure and fund the Redding/Shasta County Continuum of Care, Mayor Missy McArthur and Vice Mayor Brent Weavers arguments in support of the Measure D and Measure E, a plan to award the Stillwater Business Parks real estate listing agreement to Colliers International, the reinstatement of Redding Electric Utilitys Solar Rebate Program and a modification in labor agreements with police officers and police supervisors, who will contribute more toward their retirement plans.
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In Dallas this week, President Barack Obama spoke movingly of the five officers killed after a protest. The president spoke beautifully of these officers' acts of service, charity and good will, and he honored them for bravely placing themselves between a gunman and the people who were demonstrating to defend constitutional rights.

Then, while discussing the increased burdens placed upon officers by our society, the president said that in some neighborhoods it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than a book.

That line was uttered in the context of the burdens facing police, but many of the officers watching were taken aback: Although we had lost five brothers, Texas law enforcement had never blamed the gun.

Obama was making an unmistakable reference to the gun-control agenda he has passionately advocated since the horrors at Sandy Hook. Cops, such as Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown, recognize America's serious gun-violence problem. But many of the Dallas-area cops I know felt the line foreshadows a renewed push to restrict assault rifles, this time, in the names of our fallen brothers.

And the political morass created every time such measures are put forth has not improved anything. Again and again, calls to increase restrictions on assault rifles and magazines get nowhere, despite bipartisan agreement on what I believe is the most important thing: We all want to reduce gun violence.

We need to think of different ways to accomplish that goal.

I and many of my fellow officers believe reducing the oppressive levels of daily gun violence that plague American cities is possible without even raising the question of new gun-control legislation.

While they grab attention, justifiably, mass shootings remain outliers. Two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides. The tyranny of everyday shootings  the 12,000 homicides a year that happen so regularly that some people don't even call 911 anymore  follow patterns completely divorced from the weapons used. These shootings have much more to do with the realities of life for the poor, the drug-addicted, the mentally ill and the criminal.

Gun violence is most acute among young black men. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency says the homicide rate per 100,000 of white males between 15 and 19 years old is 1.8. For Hispanic males, it's 14.6.

For African-American males, it's a staggering 50.6 per 100,000.

Only recently, Richmond, Calif., had one of America's highest per capita rates of gun violence. In 2009, there were 47 homicides among 100,000 residents. Officials there theorized that a few bad actors caused most of the problem. As it turned out, 70 percent of their gun violence in 2008 was caused by fewer than 1 percent of the city's residents. This isn't unique: in Cincinnati, less than 1 percent of the city's population was responsible for 74 percent of homicides in 2007.

Richmond developed an innovative, controversial program: They identified the 50 people most likely to shoot someone and engaged with them, even paying them to participate.

The city provided career help, training, resume writing and health care. It asked people what they feared and helped them create plans to mitigate those fears.

Critics called it "paying gang members not to shoot people." It was more than that. And it worked.

From 2007 to 2012, the city experienced a 61 percent reduction in homicides. It turned out that the money was nowhere near as important as people had thought  people still show up to the meetings even though no one is paying them anymore. The interventions steered potential killers onto a better path.

"We don't ask them to turn in their guns," Devone Boggan, the neighborhood safety director of Richmond's Office of Neighborhood Safety, told me. "Considering we aren't negotiating the war zones they do daily, it would reek of privilege for us to make that request."

The program aims to teach participants that they don't have to settle their conflicts with guns. Boggan says the process has repeatedly demonstrated that most put their guns down themselves.

Through data-driven decision-making, public-private partnerships and other new methods, the program is expanding. Cities around the United States have taken note. Toledo, Ohio, Washington and several cities in California are considering the model.

Others are developing their own innovative programs. Chicago's Strategic Subject List seeks information about those at risk of gun violence through who they know  actual social networks. Albany, N.Y., implemented the Violent Offender Identification Directive tool, which has shown predictive accuracy.

These programs successfully save the lives of young black men by reducing gun violence. And none of the programs depend on passing new gun laws. Americans need to think beyond guns and to confront the underlying social and economic problems that cause gun violence.

Admittedly, the prospect of police using data-driven solutions is the specter of the government gathering civilian data. When civil libertarians hear phrases like "data-driven crime-reduction," their ears perk up because it usually means government will be increasing the kinds of data officials access and the ways data will be used. Americans are right to view such measures skeptically.

Regardless of politics, I believe all Americans truly want to reduce the number of people killed every year by guns. So we should consider programs that are much easier for elected officials to pass, and have a much higher chance of success. We owe at least that to our children, and to the officers killed and wounded in Dallas.

Nick Selby is a Texas law enforcement consultant and the lead author of "In Context: Understanding Police Killings of Unarmed Civilians." He wrote this for the Dallas Morning News.
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The president sets up an investigative commission, as do many other groups, to try to solve the violence many citizens march against police brutality and police shootings.

Unfortunately these commissions are always composed of notable citizens, ministers and various personnel from police agencies. The problems will never be solved when you're asking some of those who at all costs will preserve and protect their, as they say, brothers and sisters in law enforcement.

The problem with justified and unjustified police shootings is simple when you hear all officers use the brothers and sisters comparison.

Would you, at all cost, protect your brother or sister? You bet you would. Would you lie to protect them? You bet you would. Would you lie to keep from losing your job or going to jail? You bet you would. So what's the mystery? It's either lying to protect your fellow officer or lying to protect your job, livelihood and keep out of jail. Would you lie on a report or under oath? You bet you would as would any person trying to save his butt or a loved one's.

The question that really needs to be asked, and an issue that can be fixed, is why when one officer shoots does every officer on scene with a weapon drawn also shoot? That's what can be managed, not shooting unless you know why you're shooting and not dumping the entire clip before pausing to confirm results of initial shot.

I doubt if every shooter decided in the same instant to pull the trigger. What if an officer accidentally discharged his/her weapon? What one basic reason sympathetic shooting is costly to any suspect, innocent or not. I suspect that answer is found in common sense rational. Why would you want a suspect facing you in court in a criminal or civil action? A one-sided report is always better than two opposing reports. Many years ago, a retired officer told me that, as did an attorney.

Basically the brother/ sister logic is unsolvable unless police officers start pledging their loyalties to the public they serve and not justifying shootings at all cost. Any chief can control overkill, should he choose to.

Don Farrell lives in Redding.
They took investor money via IPOs and then disappeared; investors ask Sebi why it isn't using its legal powers to get after the offenders.

Two defunct regional stock exchanges, from Gujarat, account for a little over three-fourths of vanishing companies in the country.

In all, 683 companies from 10 RSEs were reported on the National Stock Exchange (NSE, 492) and BSE (191) dissemination boards (DBs).



Of these, 77 per cent or 528 were listed on Gujarat-based exchanges. Thousands of investors who hold the shares of these companies are stranded.

DBs were platforms created by the two national exchanges in line with the market regulator's policy for derecognition of regional bourses, to ensure a smooth transition for shareholders of companies listed on the latter.

Ahmedabad Stock Exchange (ASE), whose companies have been moved to the DB of NSE, led the list with 407 companies.

Followed by the Vadodara Stock Exchange (VSE), which had 121 such companies. VSE companies are on the DB of BSE. Vanishing companies are listed entities that raised money from investors through Initial Public Offers of equity and then disappeared.

In 2000, a coordination and monitoring committee (CMC), set up jointly by the Union ministry of corporate affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), had prescribed a three-point criteria for identifying such companies.



One, those which have not complied with listing or filing requirements of a stock exchange or registrar of companies, respectively, for a period of two years.

Two, where no correspondence has been received by the exchange from the company for a long time.

Three, where no office of the company is located at the registered office address at the time of stock exchange inspection.

Some Gujarat-based entities which have disappeared include Aircommand India, Anagram Finance, Baroda Dyeing, Gujarat Apparels, Saurashtra Calcine Bauxite, Superstar Welding and Topline Shoes.

The number of vanishing companies could be higher - only 10 of the 22 RSEs that have wound up have declared the number of such companies.

Over the past couple of years, Sebi has been prodding and allowing regional bourses to wind up.

Those in Delhi and Kolkata are likely to have a significant number of such companies, people familiar with these said.

In addition, 78 entities had been identified as vanishing companies by the CMC a little over 15 years ago.

Investor associations have argued that Sebi should disgorge the assets of these companies and promoters, to repay the investors who have lost.

In many cases, the chartered accountants have also played a key role, apart from the promoters.

Virender Jain, President, Midas Touch Investor Association, says: We are deeply concerned at the high number of companies found to have disappeared by their respective RSE and the likely loss to retail investors due to the failure to monitor companies after listing.

Jain recently wrote to Sebi, asking for a series of steps. These include disgorgement of promoter assets and barring those who abetted the siphoning or diversion of funds in these companies from the market for life.

In the late 1990s, when the problem of vanishing companies first surfaced, Sebi did not have enough teeth to deal with such offences. However, subsequent amendments to the securities laws have provided it with enough for search and seizure. Such powers could be used, Jain said.

Photograph: Reuters
The proposed ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh may hit luxury goods, jewellery sales and real estate.

You have just received cash as gift on your wedding and decide to buy that Rs 3.5-lakh Chanel bag you have been eyeing for a while.



You walk into a store at a five-star hotel and pull out a wad of cash. But the salesperson refuses to accept it and insists that you either pay by card or transfer money online.

It could soon become a reality if the government accepts the recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money headed by Justice MB Shah (retired) and ban cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh.

This could impact sales of luxury goods, ranging from branded handbags to cars and designer watches.

No longer will people be able to walk into a luxury showroom and pay for these ultra-expensive items by cash, says Amit Maheshwari, partner, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates.

Not only that. If you are planning a do, and wanting to pay the decorator, cook, make-up artist, musician, transporters, etc, in cash, it might get tricky. The amount one can keep at her premises is proposed to be capped at Rs 15 lakh. In fact, one may require prior approval from the Income Tax commissioner of the area to hold cash more than Rs 15 lakh.

The proposal will discourage business people from doing large cash transactions and will bring down black money in the system, says Kuldip Kumar, partner and leader, personal tax, PwC India.

Until now, whenever the I-T department found large accumulation of cash, people used to get away by paying tax and penalty on it. But things may change now.

The SIT has recommended that there should be a total ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh and a law should be framed to declare such transactions illegal and punishable.

Currently, all transactions above Rs 2 lakh, irrespective of the mode of payment, require quoting of Permanent Account Number (PAN) and are subject to tax collection at source (TCS).

For a cash transaction, whether for hotel or restaurant bills, foreign travel or bank deposits, PAN is required for payment of more than Rs 50,000.

The tax department is also seeding Aadhaar with the PAN number to weed out multiple PANs.

Real estate is another area where cash transactions happen frequently.

Although property transactions above Rs 10 lakh require furnishing of PAN, often builders ask for a portion of the payment in cash.

A prominent property broker in Gurgaon pointed out that all cash transactions dont represent black money.

He added that under the NDA rule, there was a move to check flow of black money into real estate, thereby decreasing the volume and value of transactions to a large extent.

That, he said, had contributed to the slowdown in the realty sector.

If the SIT recommendations are accepted, the volume of real estate transactions may fall and the prices could show more weakness.

According to estimates, 40 to 60 per cent of property transactions, especially in land deals, happen in cash.

But there is also a view in the real estate industry that the impact may not be that big.

Nowadays the purchasing patterns have changed, as developers themselves are keeping things transparent. The use of cash might be more in some land transactions but cash component in organised developer segment has greatly reduced. Most people go for loans anyway, said C Shekhar Reddy, former president of Credai, a real estate association.

Real estate is seen as one of the sectors where black money has been most prevalent, according to Ankur Dhawan, chief business officer, PropTiger.

The problem, he said, was plugged in when black money Bill, passed by Parliament in 2015, drastically restricted use of cash in real estate transactions.

While he thinks restricting cash transactions to Rs 3 lakh may not bring major change in real estate industry, limiting cash holding to less than Rs 15 lakh will play an important role in plugging black money in the sector.



This is because the buyer and the seller would be scared of holding and exchanging large sum of cash, Dhawan said.

When it come to travel, Rs 3 lakh seems to be large enough for a family to spend on air tickets and hotel bookings, said Rajiv Kohli, senior vice president, Indian Association of Tour Operators.



However, many others said, large cash transactions are very common in hotel bookings. According to Kohli, cash transactions have come down in the last few years.

Earlier, when cash (usually black money) was paid for goods and services, the seller used to show the income as received in cash and convert it into white money.



But the Tax Collection at Source (TCS) system reduced this practice and the ban on large cash transactions will reduce it even further.



Only small jewellers may accept cash and not show it in their income. But spending the unaccounted money in small amounts will be cumbersome.



The intention of introducing TCS was to plug use of black money, which has been successful to a large extent.



The sale of luxury goods has taken a hit and many well-travelled and effluent customers have chosen to shop abroad for these goods, Maheshwari adds.

While these steps are making it difficult for people to hold huge amounts of cash, there should be incentive for making payments through electronic mode, instead of charging additional charge, said Kumar.



Due to the additional charge on credit cards, many sellers insist on cash payments, he pointed out.

(With inputs from Karan Choudhury and Nivedita Mookerji in New Delhi)
Different eras of U.S. history are steps away from one another at the Old State Capitol Plaza in Springfield.

On one hand, you have the former capitol building used by Illinois after Abraham Lincoln and other members of the Long Nine bloc of state representatives got a bill passed in the General Assembly to move the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield in 1839.

The House chamber is where the 16th presidents body lay in state beneath a giant painting of George Washington before burial in Oak Ridge Cemetery in 1865, and the building continued to serve as the capitol until 1876.

That portrait of Washington hangs behind the chamber's podium to this day.

On the other hand, you have the temporary home of the Korean War National Museum, the very same whose future was celebrated with a public ceremony in Tuscola in 1999. The year, ironically, is when my father passed away a few months shy of his 70th birthday.

Raymond Churchill was a military police officer in the Air Force providing security at one of the 15 air fields in Japan the United States used to supply the war effort from 1950 to 1953.

Designed to chronicle the so-called "forgotten war," the museum has had a history of funding difficulties that has seen its collection occupy two temporary homes, first at the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul starting in 2004 before moving to its current location in the Denis J. Healy Freedom Center in the former Osco space of the Old Capitol Plaza five years later.

Coverage of the museum includes at least two soon-to-happen groundbreakings that never happened and proposed buildings that were never constructed, one in Tuscola and one in Springfield. Yet hope remains alive that what has been has been achieved will evolve into the state-of-the-art museum in New York City, where organizers have now set their sights.

Until that happens, area history buffs have easy access to Korean War museum's collection, which includes cultural references to Marilyn Monroe's performance for U.S. troops in South Korea in 1954, the 1970 film M*A*S*H and the long-running television show based on the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals originated during the conflict.

I wasn't able to find much about the Japan air bases except in books stored in back, although I did learn why there were so many. Most air fields in South Korea weren't capable of handling the aircraft the United States was using at the time.

You can go to kwnm.org for more on the museum.

At the old state capitol, we were treated to a lovely a capella performance of Civil War-era songs by the Lincoln Troubadours. The medley included Dixie, reportedly a Lincoln favorite, and was balanced out by Yankee Doodle, a tune dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Admission to both attractions is free, although donations are encouraged.

Another historical tidbit between the two sites is a Looking for Lincoln sign describing his dentist, Dr. Amos W. French, and the sorry state of oral hygiene in Lincoln's time.

Lincoln has such an awful experience getting a tooth pulled before French arrived from New York in 1848, he began of taking a bottle of chloroform to administer to himself while at the dentist, a practice he continued into his presidency.
United Spirits wants to align its resources to meet its goals of becoming a trusted and respected consumer goods company.

United Spirits Ltd (USL), majority owned by British liquor major Diageo, will do away with 300 jobs by making these roles redundant and by removing under-performers as part of a restructuring exercise in the company.

USL, Indias largest spirits maker, has around 5,000 people on its rolls and an equal number with its partners across the country.

The job rationalisation was announced by chief executive officer Anand Kripalu at a town hall meeting with employees on Wednesday.

USL stated that the restructuring was aimed at aligning resources to meet its goals of becoming a trusted and respected consumer goods company.

We are making changes to our structure and the way we work, which will simplify our business in pursuit of becoming the best-performing, most-trusted and respected consumer goods company in the world. Wherever possible, resources and decision-making will be closer to customers and consumers enhancing our responsiveness and agility, a UB (United Breweries) spokesperson stated.

Any saving that occurs from these changes will be re-invested in growth opportunities for our business and brands.

Traditionally, Indian liquor companies have not been able to attract good talent due to their perceived image of promoting anti-social behaviour.

USL, under Diageo, is attempting to reinvent its image as an employer of choice by bringing in better practices and showing it is complying with regulations.

It also encourages gender diversity in its workforce with leadership roles with women forming a fifth of its executive committee.

The firm has also brought in processes to improve transparency and empower junior workforce.

We have added 160 new posts that were not there previously. We have also shed roles that are irrelevant in today's environment, said Steve Correa, executive vice-president and head of human resources at Diageo United Spirits, in an interview last month.

Diageo, run by Indian-born chief executive Ivan Menezes, has spent $3 billion to acquire control of USL.

Early this year, it ousted its former chairman Vijay Mallya from the company by signing a five-year non-compete deal of around Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).

It has written off as losses of Rs 7,863 crore (Rs 78.63 billion) after two forensic investigations found Mallya had diverted funds from USL to other UB Group companies to finance the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Mobile Internet, of course, helped Burhan Wani to spread his message. And some rumour-mongers at the inception of the current unrest spread falsehoods at least on two occasions, but why ban all mobile communication including cellular network and cable TV when deep-seated alienation among youth has shaped their ideology which is now playing out in the form of massive protests, asks Athar Parvaiz.

IMAGE: Protesters throw stones at the police during a protest against Burhan Wani's killing in Srinagar. Photograph: Umar Ganie

It has been a week since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen's 'commander' Burhan Wani, but Kashmir continues to reel under the upheaval which has already claimed 40 lives apart from the reported 1,800 injured people, 135 among whom have received eye injuries.

Burhan had become a sensation among Kashmiri youth months after he chose to pick up arms in 2010 when he was just 15 years old. He had reportedly decided to take up arms so that he could get back at the Kashmir police's anti-insurgency wing personnel who had purportedly humiliated him and his brother while they were enjoying a motorcycle ride in their neighbourhood in the Tral township, south Kashmir.

Following his decision, and driven by his resolve for retaliation, he did not only stop at becoming an armed rebel himself, but also thought of persuading Kashmiri youth to join militant ranks or extend indirect support to the armed rebellion.

Spinning it out on Social Media

Two things helped him to make a strong connection with the youth of his age across Kashmir.

First, being a local lad, Burhan retained his original identity and second, his skills of using social media as he shot off attractive messages at regular intervals using Facebook, YouTube and Whatsapp.

Audiences, especially youth, started lapping up his videos which earned him thousands of fans and sympathisers while some decided to join him as fellow rebels.

Many, including police officers in Kashmir, agree that his messages on YouTube and Facebook had a magical effect on the youth, especially those in south Kashmir where he came from.

'His messages on social media were quite appealing,' a police officer was quoted as saying in a news story.

IMAGE: Burhan Wani's funeral procession in Tral. Photograph: Umar Ganie

The poster boy (as he is often referred to) of Kashmir's new age militancy, despite not directly involving himself in any armed encounter until his death, was able to woo youth who took arms training within Kashmir and outnumbered -- for the first time in 10 years -- the foreign militants (from across the Line of Control in Kashmir) as per the figures issued recently by the Jammu and Kashmir police.

Not only this, an extraordinary personality cult got created around him, with youth all across Kashmir raising slogans in his support during stone-pelting protests.

Social media earned him so much fame that most of the national media outlets carried stories about him. Only last month, a popular New Delhi-based television anchor conducted a special debate, 'The Kashmir diaries: Is social media the new weapon of war' (external link), asking the panellists to respond to how this lad had used social media so successfully.

Following his death, even liberal talking heads in New Delhi studios started marvelling at the popularity he had achieved.

A fair idea of his popularity was reflected by the sheer number of people who, despite strict restrictions in most parts of the Kashmir Valley, made it to his funeral. The funeral rites had to be performed around 50 times with all the people who kept pouring in wanting to pay their religious respects to Burhan.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, who is now the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, told a news television channel that there were 150,000 people at Burhan's funeral as per, he emphasised, modest estimates.

Many youth, as depicted in a photograph widely published by local media and news outlets outside, were jostling to touch his feet following his death, part of the enormous love and sympathy he had evoked through social media.

Social Media and Misinformation

As mourners took to the streets and pelted stones at the security forces in various areas of the Kashmir Valley to express their anger over his killing, the security situation has worsened with many youth falling to the bullets of security personnel and hundreds injured.

Amid this mayhem, a social media user sent out a tweet wherein he said that a mob had attacked a temple with stones as there were no security personnel around.

This post was re-tweeted several times, spreading panic among people, especially Kashmiri Hindus who live inside and outside the Kashmir Valley.

Interestingly, people shortly realised this bluff as the man claimed to have been trapped in a temple in Kakran village in Anantnag where mobile services had been withdrawn and there was no possibility of a broadband connection in the temple (Note: Broadband services are not withdrawn in the state).

'We believe that he tweeted from some other state with malicious intentions,' a police official was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.

Another social media user claimed in a Facebook post that two Kashmiri Hindus had been killed in an attack.

'According to sources two Pandits killed in Kashmir at some village... Many Hindu Houses Burnt... Internet Services Suspended,' he wrote on his Facebook page.

Later, the police registered a case against the man though he has apologised saying he was fed misinformation which he shared with his followers.

In January panic gripped thousands of households in Kashmir following messages spread on Whatsapp and Facebook that the polio drops administered to children in the region had expired.

These messages, which spread like wildfire across the length and breadth of Kashmir, urged parents to get their children examined immediately at nearby hospitals if they had taken the polio drops.

Hospitals were flooded with children and their panic-stricken parents while people made frantic calls to relatives in other villages in a bid to 'inform' them that they had to rush to hospital to examine their children. This situation led to utter chaos.

Not surprisingly, this rumour had a lot to do with the Kashmir conflict and the conspiracy theories which often get woven around it.

A youth, Parvaiz Ahmad, was found to have been involved in spreading the rumour and a case was registered against him.

Internet blockades

More often than not, the social media in Kashmir, which thrives massively on the mobile internet, comes to a juddering halt with the authorities withdrawing mobile internet facilities even when they merely suspect that protests are about to begin.

However, broadband connections, which are used by government offices and a negligible percentage of households, are not withdrawn. The authorities fear that mobile internet access facilitates mobilisation of protesters through social media. Human rights activists have always questioned the withdrawing of internet services, saying it is a violation of the people's right to information.

In a recent report, Freedom House, a United States-based research and advocacy NGO, said that people in Kashmir were denied access to the internet from 18 to 25 days between 2012 to early 2016.

If we add the ongoing internet blockade over the past six days, which is expected to remain in effect for at least two more days, Kashmiris have had not internet access for eight days at an average every year over the past four years.

Sometimes, like on Friday, even mobile phone services are completely blocked though the BSNL mobile phone network is spared. Reports from most areas in Srinagar said that cable television networks have also been withdrawn so that people don't get updates about protests across Kashmir following the Friday prayers.
Deployment of THAAD in South Korea could unfold a new cataclysm in the Korean Peninsula with unwelcome prospects, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.

In response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threat, the United States and South Korea agreed on July 8 to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence battery to be operated by US Forces Bay, which includes 28,500 troops based in South Korea. This is likely to worsen Washington's relations with Pyongyang and Beijing.

The decision came in response to North Korea's increasing threat, especially after the nuclear test in January and subsequent multiple ballistic missile tests.

A statement released by the USKF said that the decision to deploy THAAD is 'a defensive measure to ensure the security of South Korea and its people and to protect alliance military forces from North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats.'

South Korea and the US have not yet revealed a location for the THAAD deployment built by the Lockheed Martin Corporation. The decision to freeze the final location depends upon several considerations such as the system's effectiveness, environment, health and safety requirements. A joint US-South Korea working group is preparing to determine the best location for the deployment.

Though North Korea did not react to the deployment immediately, it did react aggressively to the new sanctions declared by the US Treasury Department for human rights violations as 'a declaration of war.'

The Obama administration has also urged other nations to cut employment of North Korean workers as a way to reduce Pyongyang's access to foreign currency.

Opinions in South Korea are divided. The spokesperson of the ruling Saenuri Party defended the deployment because of threat stemming from North Korea's nuclear armaments and missiles, including the recent Musudan launch and said that 'such measures will greatly contribute to our country's defence and safety of the people.' The party also made it clear that it would not be directed towards any third party nation.

Saenuri Party representative Won Yoo-chul called the Chinese objections and comments by the Chinese ambassador to South Korea 'blackmail.'

The Minjoo Party, however, was critical of the decision, saying that not enough discussion was held with either the people or the Opposition parties and therefore questioned the deployment's practical use.

According to MPK Chairman Kim Sung-soo, the Chinese ambassador warned that THAD deployment could negate the advances made in China-South Korea ties in the past three years under Presidents Xi Jinping and Park Geun-hye.

The People's Party, the second largest Opposition party in South Korea, neither opposed nor supported the deployment, but said the government should have considered China's likely reaction on this matter, and the financial damage that South Koreans might have to suffer as a result of worsened Sino-South Korea relations before agreeing to the deployment.



Experts were not shy to offer their opinions on how effective a single THAAD battery would be as they say that if North Korea launches enough missiles quickly enough, 'it could potentially either outnumber the THAAD interceptors or outpace the reloading process, or overwhelm the tracking radar, which would not only have to track incoming missiles, but also the interceptors fired by the THAAD battery itself.'

One country that would be unhappy and worried is China, which has long been critical of potential deployment of THAAD, even before the decision was announced about its deployment because of its potential impact on Chinese offensive missile capabilities in the region.

No sooner had the deployment decision been announced, China voiced resolute opposition and 'strongly urged the US and South Korea to stop.'

In order to address the concerns of China and possibly Russia, the US-South Korea joint statement clarified that THAAD in Korea 'would not be directed towards any third party nations.'

Beijing has alleged that the deployment of this powerful system, which fires projectiles to smash into enemy missiles is an attempt by the US to flex its military muscle in the region.

The system was expected to be in operation by the end of 2017. China objects to the THAAD deployment because it suspects the system's radar can reach into its territory.

The threat perception in South Korea was heightened when Pyongyang conducted the fourth nuclear test in January and the very next month launched a rocket to put an object into space orbit.

The UN Security Council condemned the launch, which it felt was a test of a long-range missile in disguise, because North Korea is prohibited from doing so under Security Council resolutions. Pyongyang has all along rejected such sanctions, which it says are an infringement on its sovereignty and right to space exploration.

To up the ante, North Korea again launched an intermediate range ballistic missile off its east coast in June. It was again suspected to be a test that showed some advancement in the weapon's engine system.

China fears that the THAAD deployment would destabilise the security balance in the region without achieving anything to end North Korea's nuclear programme. It warned both the US and South Korea to desist from taking any steps that could complicate the regional situation and harm China's strategic interests.

Though the decision to deploy the THAAD system was effectively taken in February, the delay was because of China's opposition.

The deployment issue is quite sensitive because South Korea and China are one of the largest trading partners and the US was careful not to cause damage to this strong economic relationship. Yet, the seriousness of North Korean threat led the US to go ahead with the THAAD deployment.

Each THAAD unit consists of six truck-mounted launchers, 49 interceptors, a fire control and communications units, and an AN/TPY-2 radar.

The first THAD battery, and currently the only deployed system, was set up in Guam several years ago to protect US forces and allies in response to North Korean aggression. That battery appears to be there for a long haul.

North Korea's alleged deployment of Musudan medium-range missile with range that covers all of South Korea and Japan and with potential to reach as far as Guam near its east coast was alarming news to the US and this may have hastened the THAAD deployment process.

Even before the decision to deploy THAAD was announced, there was speculation on how Beijing would react. Though South Korea weighed the costs and benefits, it finally agreed to the deployment because the security issue emerged paramount as the threat from North Korea did not show any sign of diminishing. Having secured hard-earned good relations with Beijing, Seoul now fears the risk of potentially ruining this relationship.

Now that the decision to deploy has been taken, what options are left with Beijing?

It may be recalled that not long ago Qiu Guohong, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea, had, while opposing the deployment, observed that the China-South Korea relationship would be 'destroyed in an instant' and 'take a long time to recover' if the system is deployed as planned.

Now, will Beijing implement its threat? Beijing's concerns stemmed from the fact that the deployment brings Beijing under the threat of attack. China believes the THAAD deployment could be used to monitor Chinese missile deployment, posing a threat to China's national security.

To dispel Chinese concerns, the US wanted to engage Beijing, but Beijing rejected the US offer of talks. US Secretary of Defence Ash Carter, while reassuring Beijing of its security, reiterated that the US has a responsibility to protect not only its own troops stationed in Korea, but also South Korea as its ally.

If the realist theory is applied in South Korea's case, it was reasonable for South Korea to agree to the THAAD deployment because as a State it needs to adopt means to defend itself from possible external attack.

In this case, since THAAD is a defensive system meant to protect an area from aerial assault from perceived attack from North Korea, it can be argued that South Korea was within its legitimate right to agree for THAAD deployment.

But if viewed from the balance of power angle, China and Russia see the deployment to work to their disadvantage.

The larger meaning from the US perspective could also mean that the deployment could contribute to support a democratic system as against the authoritarian Communist system in North Korea.

A larger consideration could be that the US needs to stay because unification, if and when that happens, ought to be under a democratic system. But then China is unlikely to make that happen.

The deadliest scenario could be if North Korea drifts to a situation of collapse and the US intervenes to ensure transition to a democratic system in the unification process, China would unlikely to welcome that strategy.

In that situation, with both the US and China engaged in the Korean Peninsula with conflicting strategies, another Korean War would loom large. This is because China is unlikely to yield space in its neighbourhood to a democratic system, whose ripple effect in its own territory would be unwelcome.

As a short term measure, China might develop technology that would render THAAD useless. Does this mean the THAAD deployment has introduced another arms race in the region or the beginning of another Cold War, this time between the US and China?

That is exactly what the Chinese ambassador to South Korea warned. He said that the THAAD deployment would 'create a vicious cycle of cold war-style confrontations and an arms race.'

If THAAD deployment brings both the US and China into a collision course, that would unfold a new cataclysm in the region with unwelcome prospects. South Korea-China relations would have nosedived as a result in such a situation.

But again what happens if Donald Trump becomes the US president given that he has articulated his views to withdraw the US presence from the northeast Asian region and if he implements his views if elected, would the THAAD deployment be withdrawn? There is no clear picture that can be drawn. But if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, Obama's 'pivot to Asia' policy shall continue and THAAD would stay.

This would, however, not mean the unfolding of a dreadful scenario, but certainly a slowdown in the Sino-US relations. The strong economic partnership accruing mutual benefits are unlikely to be abandoned or put to risk of derailment. The task to deal with North Korea's nuclear issue shall continue to be persevered, nevertheless.

IMAGE: A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor is launched during a successful intercept test. Photograph: US Department of Defence via Reuters

Dr Rajaram Panda is currently the Indian Council for Cultural Relations chair visiting professor at Reitaku University, Japan.
In a televised speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should extradite Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan said Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for terrorists by the United States and stressed Turkeys joint role with the US in fighting terrorism. I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request, he said.

Gulen has harshly condemned the attempted coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. But Erdogans government is blaming the chaos on the cleric, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.

Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force, he said. I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

Secretary of State John Kerry said today that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen."
Celebrated IAS topper from Jammu and Kashmir Shah Faesal, who heads the education department in the Kashmir Valley, on Friday slammed the "national media" for making him part of its "sadistic propaganda" and on comparing and contrasting him with the slain Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist commander Burhan Wani.

The furious reaction from the IAS officer came after some news channels aired Faesal's photograph alongside images of Wani's bullet-ridden corpse.

"By juxtaposing my photos with the images of a slain militant commander, a section of national media has once again fallen back upon its conventional savagery that cashes on falsehoods, divides people and creates more hatred," Faesal, the topper of the civil services exam in 2009, wrote on his Facebook page.

While Kashmir was "mourning its dead, the propaganda and provocation being dished out from red and blue newsrooms is breeding more alienation and anger in Kashmir than what (the) Indian state can manage," he said in his Facebook post.

Faesal threatened to resign "sooner or later" if the "nonsense" continued.

"Personal vulnerability apart, the very fact of becoming a part of a ridiculous debate is something which has disturbed me very much. Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a part of your sadistic propaganda machine?" he asked.

"In fact when I qualified this exam I never thought of spending my whole life scratching the desk and if this nonsense around me continues, I might prefer to resign sooner than later," he added.

Wani was killed on July 8 and his death triggered a wave of violence in the Valley that has left more than 38 people dead in street clashes between protesters and security forces.
Islamic State terror chiefs have claimed responsibility for the Nice terror attack calling 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a soldier.

The ISIS affiliated Amaq news agency posted a statement this morning saying they are to blame for the deaths of the 84 individuals killed by Bouhlel.

Executor of the deadly operation in Nice, France was a soldier of the Islamic State, the statement read.

Bouhlel was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.

Bouhlel was born in the Tunisian town of Msaken but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbors described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

In a news conference on Friday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

Bouhlel had had a series of run-ins with the law for threatening behavior, violence and theft over the past six years. In March, he was given a six-month suspended sentence by a Nice court for a road-rage incident.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed "no radicalisation whatsoever," and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel was never placed on a watch list for radicals.

Records show that the 19-metric-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on July 11 and was overdue on the night of the attack.

About 25 minutes before the July 14 fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city centre.

Shortly after 10:30 pm, he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.
Fethullah Gulen's movement has been feared by some for its ability to mobilize considerable resources and for its influence among decision-makers.

Even as chaos rocked Turkey on Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly called Fethullah Gulen, a high-profile cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, US, as the orchestrator of the coup.

"Now I am addressing those in Pennsylvania. The betrayal you have shown to this nation and to this community, that is enough. If you have the courage, come back to your country. If you can. You will not have the means to turn this country into a mess from where you are," Erdogan said while addressing his supporters in Istanbul.

According to NBC News, Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999 when he fled Turkey amidst accusations of extremist Islamist activities. His movement promotes a version of Islam that embraces science, education and interfaith dialogue, which has earned him millions of followers but also drawn the suspicion of many in Turkeys secular establishment.

His movement has been feared by some for its ability to mobilize considerable resources and for its influence among decision-makers.

Turkish authorities have accused the preacher of seeking to establish "a state within a state" in Turkey, but his movement insists he is committed to democratic reform and interfaith dialogue.

"For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy," the Alliance for Shared Values, which describes itself as 'an umbrella nonprofit organization serving as a voice for civic, culture and service organizations' across Turkey, said in a statement on Friday.

"We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey."

Gulen was an ally of Erdogan until 2013 when a corruption investigation into the then-prime minister and those under him was launched.

Gulen was accused of wielding power in the country's judiciary and police force to open a massive fraud probe into the ruling AK Party in late 2013. Government officials responded to leaked tapes, which tied high-ranking government officials -- including the presidents family -- to corruption, by accusing supporters of Gulen with attempting to destabilize the democratically elected government.

They launched a massive crackdown to purge Gulen's influence from state institutions and vowed to destroy his businesses.

Critics of the ruling party charged Erdogan of scapegoating Gulen's movement to deflect criticism from his own government and reshuffle the country's judiciary.

In the late 1990s, Gulen left for the US, citing medical treatment. But instead, he set up a gated community in the Pocono Mountains, where he has lived in self-imposed exile since. Turkey has since been seeking his extradition.
US President Barack Obama on Saturday convened a situation room meeting with his top national security advisors to discuss the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey, the White House said on Saturday.

IMAGE: A man wrapped in a Turkish flag walks past a military vehicle in front of Sabiha Airport, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

"The President will convene a meeting with his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey," the White House said in a brief update of Obama's daily schedule.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has survived the coup but the situation remains tense as the violence has killed over 250 people.

During the coup, Obama offered support for Turkey's "democratically elected government" and urged all sides to "avoid any violence or bloodshed."

But there were rising concerns of a government crackdown on Erdogan's opponents.

Even before the violent coup attempt, Obama had expressed concern over Erdogan's handling of the media and the rule of law.

Meanwhile, the US military command in Europe has ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures following the attempted military coup there, a US military source said on Saturday.

The US military has around 2,200 service members and civilian employees in Turkey, which is a NATO member and a crucial regional partner for Washington.

About 1,500 of them are stationed at Incirlik, the military base in southern Turkey from which American warplanes have launched bombing missions against the Islamic State group.

US forces in Turkey were now at the "Delta" force protection level, such as is invoked when a terrorist attack is taking place or appears imminent, the American defense official said.

"We are firmly committed to making every possible effort to ensure the safety and security of our service members, civilians, their families and our facilities," the official said.

At the Delta level, all non-essential activities are suspended and all resources placed in defensive positions in case of attack.

An American military official had confirmed late Friday that operations against the Islamic State group were continuing from Incirlik despite the attempted coup.

The Turkish government on Saturday closed its airspace for use of military aircrafts after the failed military takeover bid, affecting America's anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon said.

"The Turkish government has closed its airspace to military aircraft and as a result air operations at Incirlik Air Base have been halted at this time," the Pentagon Press Secretary Peter cook said.

"US officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible," he said.

The US is using the Incirlik air base in Turkey to fly missions against the extremists in Syria and Iraq.

In the meantime, the US Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIS campaign to minimise any effects on the campaign, Cook said.

US facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power sources and a loss of commercial power to the base has not affected base operations, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is continuing with its efforts to fully account for all Department of Defense personnel in Turkey.

"All indications at this time are that everyone is safe and secure. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, our civilians, their families and our facilities," Cook said.
CLINTON  The window of opportunity to reverse the decision of Exelon Corp. to close the Clinton Power Station next year continues to become narrower.

Yet, a group of Republican state lawmakers said Friday while standing in front of a group of over 100 of the plant's employees, who were seated on bleachers with the plant in the background across Clinton Lake, discussions to keep the facility open are continuing.

Time is a factor, said state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth. We've got a ways to go as negotiations continue. We've got to bring a lot of different people together.

Mitchell said the economic impact from the plant can be felt throughout Central Illinois.

House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, isn't sure how far down the road before the point of no return is reached where closure cannot be reversed. Exelon announced June 2 plans to close the plant after lawmakers failed to approve a financial incentive plan for clean energy that includes nuclear power.

Company officials have said the closure decision can be reversed, but time is running out as it follows a series of procedural notifications. The first notification came in June as the company notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of its plan.

Durkin said the impact cannot be overlooked as he pledged to do whatever he can to make the negotiations go quicker.

If the plant shuts down, it would have beyond a devastating impact, Durkin said. I will do everything within my power to ensure we don't lose more jobs within the state. This is no time to continue on with that terrible trend.

Durkin said a compromise will be needed, as is the case when legislation regarding large energy-related issues are involved. He said the fact nobody has walked away from discussions is a sign that a deal remains possible.

Christian Small, the plant's manager for nuclear reactor engineering, is among the employees who are unsure of what their future will hold if the plant does close. Small feels like he is in a good spot in his career as he's worked in Clinton for 15 years after receiving a degree in nuclear engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We haven't given up hope, Small said. We'll continue to support the community whether it's next year or 20 years from now.

Small said employees feel a close connection with Clinton and surrounding areas as they get involved in various ways, including Habitat for Humanity or the 4-H Club. Employees from the plant are the biggest supporter of the United Way in DeWitt County, said Tim Followell, Clinton city manager.

They call Clinton home, Followell said. We will survive, but we'll look and act different.

The impact of the planned closure on taxing bodies within the area such as the county, library, schools and Richland Community College has been discussed, Followell said. The city does not receive tax dollars directly from the plant, but Followell said the impact will be felt in other ways.

The piece of property provides 50 percent of the tax base for the county, DeWitt County board member Terry Ferguson said. Mitchell said the Clinton School District receives 53 percent of its revenue from the power plant, and Richland is expecting to lose more than $1 million if the plant closes as planned.

With about 700 workers, Exelon is the area's largest employer, said Marian Brisard, Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau executive director. In addition, the plant supports 1,200 indirect jobs and contributes more than $13 million in local tax revenue to area schools and local governments.

I'd hate to see it close, Brisard said. It's not too late to reverse the decision.

Between the Clinton plant and another facility slated for closure a year later in the Quad-Cities, Exelon estimated an impact of 4,200 direct and indirect jobs with $1.2 billion in economic activity.

Discussions to reach an agreement to keep the plant open and, in turn, save jobs will continue, said State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington.

We'll do everything we can to keep the good paying jobs in Clinton, Brady said.

Mitchell said the issues involved aren't based on political party affiliation. He doesn't care whether the plant employees who were behind him are Republican or Democrat.

I just want to keep them working, Mitchell said. We should work together because we care about the future of Illinois. We've got too much riding on this.

Although the legislature adjourned June 30 without a deal in place and isn't scheduled to meet again until the fall veto session in November, Mitchell expressed confidence lawmakers can be called back as soon as a deal is reached as talks have gotten incrementally better. He said the issue is important enough where it won't take long after that to get the legislation that is needed approved.

Mitchell said Gov. Bruce Rauner is aware of the impact of the planned plant closure and has been involved in discussions with the company. Mitchell said groups, including ones representing clean energy and the coal power industry, have participated in the discussion process.

The negotiations involve legislation that would place Illinois nuclear plants on a level playing field with renewables such as wind and solar, which receive subsidies from Illinois ratepayers.
SPRINGFIELD  Speaking at a state convention of the American Legion on Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner said the United States has been at war with Islamic terrorists for decades and likely will be for decades to come.

The Republicans remarks came a day after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, killing 84 people.

This is a brutal war. Its going to be very difficult, said Rauner, one of many U.S. governors who sought temporary bans on Syrian refugees entering their states after Novembers terrorist attacks in Paris. We need to remind everyone in our communities to stay vigilant, stay aware. There are thousands of terrorists in America  theyre in America, theyre in Europe, theyre around the world  seeking to hurt innocent people to pursue their own goals. Weve got to stop them.

The governor said state security officials are reviewing procedures for handling motor vehicle attacks like the one in Nice, which also injured more than 200 people.

These terrorists are creative in terms of how they hurt innocent people, but weve got to stay vigilant, remind everyone in our communities to stay aware, stay safe, communicate with law enforcement, Rauner said.

Master Sgt. Matt Boerwinkle, a spokesman for the Illinois State Police, said the agency is working very closely with state and federal agencies to review our terrorism response policies and procedures.

We ask all Illinoisans remain vigilant as we keep the citizens of Nice, France, in our thoughts and prayers, Boerwinkle wrote in an email.

The driver in Nice has been identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian who was living in France with legal permission, according to news reports. As of early Friday evening, no group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on Facebook, Rauner said he and first lady Diana Rauner stand in solidarity with the victims and their families.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this horrific attack, said Rauner, who ordered that flags be flown at half-staff through sunset Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the American Legion convention, Rauner wouldnt answer a question about whether Republican candidate Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton would be better equipped to deal with the threat of terrorism if elected president. The governor has routinely avoided weighing in on the presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, Rauner used his appearance at the convention to sign a bill allowing those whove served in National Guard and reserve units to have a special veteran designation on their drivers licenses regardless of whether theyve served on active duty.

The governor said the legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, corrects an oversight in a previous law.

State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, who served in the Illinois Army National Guard from 1992 to 1998, sponsored similar legislation this spring and was a co-sponsor of Althoffs bill.

Its important that we recognize all who have answered the call to serve our nation in the military, Barickman said. This new law will help make sure National Guard members and reservists are able to take part.
Reading, math scores down in 1st test since COVID. How Indiana did.
SUNDAY

Out & About Group LGBT AA Meeting, 6 p.m. Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, Lower Level Parish Hall, 602 Meander St.

MONDAY

Movie at the library

In conjunction with the summer reading club for adults, a free showing of a classic pirate movie featuring Errol Flynn will begin at 10 a.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Popcorn will be served.

Square dance workshop

TYE  The Key City Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

Other ...

Blood drive, 7:30-11:30 a.m., Bandag, 4750 FM 18.

AARP, 10 a.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center Room B.

Cancer Services Network's Auxiliary meeting, 10:30 a.m., 100 Chestnut St., Suite 100. 325-672-0040.

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.

Those Left To Cope, 7-8:30 p.m., First Baptist Church Ministry of Counseling and Enrichment, 1502 N. First St.

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

Zoo Lady at the library

Joy Harsh, the 'Zoo Lady,' will give a presentation featuring live animals at 3 p.m. at the Abilene Public Library, 202 Cedar St. Admission is free.

Informational meeting

Big Country CASA will conduct an informational meeting at 6 p.m. at Mad Coffee & More, 8049 Highway 83/84. For more information, call 325-677-6448.

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., Coleman County Electric Co-Op.

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

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.

Family Support Group for parents with special needs children, 6:30-7:30 p.m., West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3500.

Alzheimer's Association  North Central Texas Chapter, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Chisholm Place, 1450 E. N. 10th St. 325-672-2907.

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.

Brigadier General John Sayles Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 366, 7 p.m., American Legion Building, 302 E.S. 11th St.

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

Art film

A showing of the film 'Ai Wei Wei: Without Fear or Favor' will begin at noon at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St. A discussion will follow.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Blood drive, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Blue Cross Blue Shield, 4002 Loop 322.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

Alzheimer's Association Caregiver Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Western Hills Healthcare Residence, Comanche.

Alzheimer's disease support group, 5:15 p.m., Cedar Crest Care Center, 1901 W. Elliott, Breckenridge. Assists those who have a family member with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. 1-800-272-3900 or 254-559-3302.

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.
There's always the Russian model for Christianity

It's the height of the mean political season, fitting for July days filled with hot air.

So let's take a break and talk instead of some other country's political problems. Someplace cooler. Russia, maybe?

Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill that criminalizes the sharing of faith anyplace but inside a church. This is supposed to prevent disruptive, even terroristic influences that threaten to pull apart Russian society.

It's not so much that the Russians want to stop Christianity; they just want to have a single church, the Russian Orthodox. So the new law allows for evangelizing by that officially recognized church, but outlaws evangelization by Protestant house churches, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses  pretty much any efforts spearheaded by U.S. missionaries.

So the Russian Orthodox Church is the good church, and all the others are disruptive to the nation  negative influences that need to be stopped. Good Christians, bad Christians.

Side note: I was not happy earlier this week when a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses stopped by the house to invite me to a special event in Lubbock.

They were afraid of Millie the Clueless Dog, so they didn't knock on my door but just rattled the front gate till I got off the couch to walk outside.

I was polite, but my first thought was, 'Lubbock? Why are you asking me to drive three hours when everyone knows that Abilene is Church City USA?' My second was, 'What have I got in common with Jehovah's Witnesses, anyway?'

I grumbled as I walked back to my comfy couch carrying their flyer.

Here in America, we think about the inconvenience of uninvited proselytizing, but we don't pass laws against it.

Another recent example in Church City USA, might be One Kingdom, the group that distributed all those 'Pray for Rain' signs and on Sunday held a big rally to pray for racial peace. Rain and peace are super goals, so hundreds of folks are happy members of One Kingdom  even the mayor and the police chief.

Even so, it would be neither the American way nor the Abilene way to give official sanction to this one group and declare that those who choose not to support it are either bad Christians, or worse, illegal Christians.

Sure, life would be tidier if America had just one accepted church, and we could declare those outside it to be disruptive, bad influences.

But that's more of a Russian model, one size fits all.

The U.S. model is broader and messier, but allows more personalized pursuit of God. It can be annoying, like when you have to get off your couch because someone wants to invite you to church. It can be maddening, like when people who call themselves Christians support the wrong presidential candidate.

Still, if all of us who call ourselves Christians can remember that we mostly prefer the American model to the Russian model, maybe we can extend enough love and grace to lower the temperature a few degrees during this hot, mean political season.

Dr. Doug Mendenhall teaches journalism at Abilene Christian University. Email him at doug.mendenhall@acu.edu.
In Cisco, you can have your pie and eat it, too. Or three. Or more ...
Trustees of the Abilene Independent School District are scheduled to discuss revising district policies concerning teacher evaluations at Monday's board meeting.

Abilene ISD is set to adopt the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System, or T-TESS, which will require slightly more than half of teachers to undergo evaluation next year, according to Gustavo Villanueva, executive director of secondary education for the district.

One of the biggest changes will be the frequency of reviews, Villanueva said.

Under the new system, educators will be evaluated every two years, with probationary employees  including those in their first few years of teaching  facing the process annually.

'It's the recommendation of the state that 100 percent of the staff be reviewed the first year,' Superintendent David Young said. 'After looking, there's no way this can happen.'

Instead, the district proposes having everyone go through a written evaluation process, during which they will meet with a supervisor or administrator, with about half also required to receive in-class observations. For these teachers, the process is expected to take about 10 hours total, Villanueva said.

To help lighten the load of the appraisal process on principals, Young said other administrators have been trained on evaluations, and he also has proposed adding part-time assistant principals to elementary schools to further reduce the requirements placed on principals.

T-TESS is Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath's approved evaluation system, but the Texas Education Agency and Morath himself have been sued by various teacher groups, including the Texas State Teachers Association and the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, to prevent its implementation.

The system was developed to bring the state into compliance with federal education policy under No Child Left Behind. However, the federal law has been repealed and replaced with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which eliminates certain requirements that the T-TESS system was created to address.

Criteria such as student achievement, often thought demonstrated through standardized testing results, eventually will be a large component of the state's teacher evaluation scores, even though federal law no longer requires these be included, T-TESS opponents say.

'Teachers are not robots, and their performance should be evaluated by an easily understood, transparent system that helps them perfect their job performance,' said TSTA President Noel Candelaria in April at the announcement of the association's lawsuit. 'Let's be clear: Educators' compensation and jobs are potentially on the line here, and their work must be evaluated fairly  and legally.'
On the second Saturday last May, Sammy Garcia sat in his State Farm Insurance agency business. Glued to his phone and a small television, he constantly checked results for Abilene Independent School District's board election, anxious to see whether his fourth attempt at a seat on the school board would be successful.

Interactive Map: Ethnicity of Abilene Neighborhoods 

He was surrounded by family and a few close friends. The first wave of results were released, with numbers that covered half of the voting precincts within the district. It looked bleak. They commented on the uphill battle needed to overcome the combination of low voter turnout and his competition, Daryl Zeller, taking a fairly strong lead.

They joked, but they knew it was impossible to win. For them, the loss became another reason school trustees need to come from single-member districts, not at-large voting.

'By going to single-member districts, AISD will have a broader representation of all the different neighborhoods in Abilene,' Garcia said. 'It will give different parts of the community an opportunity to have a representative who lives in their neighborhood. Today, all board members live within the boundaries of Abilene High. As it stands now, the challenge of running a campaign in a totally at-large system allows candidates residing in more powerful and affluent areas of Abilene to dominate and win positions on the board.'

(Editor's note: Trustee Stan Lambert moved into the Cooper High School area near Bowie Elementary in late 2015, according to Lambert)

Throughout the campaign, Zeller led in financial support. At one point, campaign finance reports showed Zeller pulling in $13,000 in contributions to about $2,000 for Garcia. On election night, Zeller defeated Garcia by a 3,032-2,599 count, ending his hopes of returning to the board he served on from 2008-12.

Garcia actually won 13 of the district's 22 precincts, but the two with the largest turnout overwhelmingly favored Zeller, according to Taylor County Elections Office figures. But if the board operated under single-member district rules, instead of the current at-large system, Zeller, who lives in the River Oaks neighborhood, probably wouldn't have been in the same district as Garcia, who lives across town on the northside on Westview Drive.

'More graphically diverse representation will bring a broader perspective and experience to the board,' Garcia said. 'This will enhance the board's ability to better set policy that reflects the needs of the students and families of AISD.'

WHAT IS A SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICT?

Simply speaking, a single-member district is an area that gets to elect a person to represent it on a governmental body. Larger governing bodies, like the Texas Legislature, already do this with their districts. Smaller bodies do it too, like many city governments and some school boards.

Currently, the Abilene City Council and the Abilene and Wylie school boards choose their representatives at-large, meaning no matter where voters and candidates live, ballots can be cast in any and all races. The city does require three council members to reside in north Abilene and three on the south side, but they run at large in the election. The mayor can live anywhere in the city limits.

'With single-member districts, like with county commissioners or the Legislature, there would be ... within the boundaries of the school district, a single representative,' said Sherri Greenberg, professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. 'These would be redistricted every 10 years based on the census. Each member of the school board would run from a specific geographical area only, and only registered voters in that geographic boundary would be able to elect that person.'

There are some observable benefits to this style of running a board, Greenberg said, with representatives much closer to the people  and more connected with their issues  they represent. At-large elections also have benefits, with candidates expected to have a broader view of the issues facing the district as a whole.

But just because a representative in a single-member district doesn't answer to everyone within the larger boundary of the whole school district doesn't mean the elected representative will be shortsighted and focused only on the needs of the people he or she answers to, she said.

MAKING THE CASE

Julian Bridges, Doug Mendenhall and Drew Bowen sat in the audience of the June 13 Abilene ISD board meeting waiting for their turn to speak during the public comment period. One by one, they went up to the podium to address a belief that the school board as it was elected simply doesn't represent the district's growing Hispanic population.

According to the district's figures, 43 percent of AISD students are Hispanic. Only 37 percent is white. But all seven trustees are white. Abilene ISD has 14 neighborhood elementary schools, though school board members live only within the boundaries of three of them  Taylor, Thomas and Austin.

None of these schools is within the Cooper High attendance zone. None lives in the economically disadvantaged areas, either.

Board members, while representative of the problem, weren't the problem themselves, the three speakers said. Bridges, formerly a sociology professor and a city councilman, said one way to address these disparities is to consider what other school districts have done as minority populations increase. It's time for single-member districts, he said.

'Over the years, school districts all over the state have been changing from having at-large elections to single-member districts, as their percentage of minorities has consistently increased,' Bridges said that evening. 'Large cities have had single-member districts for decades. Of course, we have single-member representation at the county, state and national level.

'Other school districts close to Abilene like Big Spring, Sweetwater and Snyder and even quite small districts in our area no longer have at-large districts. Some have had to go to court to bring this about; others have avoided that route by changing voluntarily. Rather recently, Amarillo, Arlington and Austin have changed. Will Abilene be the last to do so?'

HOW AND WHAT CAN BE DONE

Legally, there are a few steps to take before a change can be made and more than one way to bring it about.

According to Education Code section 11.052, school boards can either make the move themselves with a motion and a vote or, if unwilling to do so, can be forced by petition to place a referendum before voters.

For the school board to change to single-member districts, it must call a public hearing. After allowing residents to express their opinions, the board would then have the option to vote. For the decision to affect a regular school board election, it must be enacted at least 120 days before the polls open.

For example, the next Abilene ISD election is scheduled for May 2018. If the board wishes to enact single-member districts beginning with this election, it would need to move forward before mid-January 2018.

Where the process gets complicated is if the board decides to leave the matter up to its residents. To force the public vote, a petition containing 'at least 15 percent or 15,000 of the registered voters of the school district, whichever is less, sign and present to the board of trustees a petition requesting ... that trustees be elected in a specific manner.'

There are 53,444 registered voters in Abilene ISD, according to the elections office. At least 8,017 validated signatures would be required to force a referendum.

Once a petition is submitted, the board would place the matter on the ballot of the first regular election at least 120 days after its submission. This means a petition to create single-member districts would need to be submitted and verified by the board by mid-January 2018 to get on the May 2018 ballot.

If voters approve, then the following election in May 2020 would be the first for single-member districts.

While there exists at least two ways to switch from at-large elections to single-member districts, there doesn't appear to be any language in education law to reverse the decision and move away from neighborhood representation, said Joy Baskin, director of legal services for the Texas Association of School Boards.

Find your neighborhood and the demographics for it

'It's a one-way street,' Baskin said. 'If you choose to opt in, there's currently no mechanism in the law to allow you to opt out. So it's a big deal to make that choice.'

Baskin, who provides legal advice to member school districts about matters such as single-member district implementation, said there's also no guarantee the issue raised by speakers at June's school board meeting are addressed.

Single-member districts, she said, only allow certain geographic areas to be represented on the school board. It does not directly translate into racial or ethnic representation, though it can make it easier.

'(Single-member districts) are used to increase the likelihood of particular geographic areas deciding who best represents their geographic area,' she said. 'It can correlate to race but it's not necessarily what happens. The idea is that this geographic area will have somebody more likely attuned to their issues serving on the board.'

AND THE CONS

While single-member districts can be a way of giving a voice to the voiceless, Paul Fabrizio of McMurry University said it also turns the governing body into a group of silos.

'While at-large voting can have detrimental effects on the representation of the minority communities, it does force all of the members of the council or school board to look at the community as a whole,' said Fabrizio, a professor of political science at the university. 'It's a way to force council members and force the electorate to look beyond their own narrow interests.'

Fabrizio said the city in southern Georgia he lived in before coming to Abilene faced a situation where the City Council blatantly used at-large voting to keep African-Americans off the council. Eventually, he said, it became voting along racial lines and there weren't enough minorities to elect representatives to the council.

But on the opposite side, he said there's nothing to stop a representative in a single-member district from concerning him or herself with problems associated only with his or her neighborhood.

Balkanization, meaning the process of dividing a territory into smaller, quarrelsome, ineffective states, could be a problem under a single-member district school board, he said.

Nothing is perfect, he said, in building a group of leaders, but at-large voting isn't a negative if it's done for the right reasons.

'In the end, if you want your representatives to represent you, and if you want to represent people, you're going to focus on who elected you,' he said. 'If you want people to look at the larger community instead of narrow areas, at-large voting is the best way to do it.'

A WAIT-AND-SEE APPROACH

Board President Danny Wheat said any potential change to the way the board is elected will have to wait at least one more month.

After listening to the comments of Mendenhall, Bridges and Bowen last month, Wheat said, he directed the district's administration to begin gathering information, including consulting on what the law actually permits the district to do. He said the goal is to have an open and honest dialogue about the matter, but there's a more pressing matter the board needs to deal with first.

July and August in Abilene is budget crunchtime, as the district prepares its operating expenses. Approving the spending and revenue plans is a primary function of any school board. Abilene's is set to be approved Aug. 29.

Once that roadblock is passed, Wheat said the board could consider the issue.

'Once we get (the information), I hope to have an open dialogue in regards to (single-member districts),' Wheat said. 'Then I would expect the other (trustees) would want to have some discussion with other members in the community about this. So far, this seems to be mainly directed at us from the Hispanic community, and some from the African-American community. I suspect each board member wants to hear what the community has to say. My plan is to contact those individuals and try to touch base with as many Hispanics as I can and get a feel for what they're looking for.'

Since the June meeting, Wheat said he has had some contact with trustees in other districts with single-member representation. The feedback hasn't been as helpful as he wanted, though, because some of the districts made the change well before these individuals joined the board, he said.

He said he attended a leadership conference, where he was able to speak with a few other board presidents, but conversation was mostly limited to finding out how school boards were set up.

As for his own opinion, right now Wheat said he doesn't know.

'I feel we're one community,' Wheat said. 'I think we need to be represented across the board. I don't know if we should be serving single-member districts or if we should be open. I haven't come to a decision, yet. I want to get everybody's feedback.'

Interactive demographics map courtesy of Energy Justice Network (www.energyjustice.net).

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Sammy Garcia's neighborhood of residence and included an incorrect title for McMurry University's Paul Fabrizio. The story has been changed to reflect the correct information.
Gerard Gallegos, District 6 representative on the board of the San Angelo Independent School District, said he remembers his father complaining that no one cared about the district's outlying, predominantly minority schools.

'At that time, all of your board members all lived within a three block radius of each other,' he recalled.

Interactive Map: Ethnicity of Abilene Neighborhoods 

Those living in the north of the city around Lake View High School weren't being represented on the board because no one serving on it lived there, Gallegos said.

Similarly, in South San Angelo, where he grew up, 'nobody on the board lived on that side,' he said.

That meant board members at the time were more focused on schools in their own neighborhoods, Gallegos said.

Such situations are why the concept of single-member districts exist, a shift away from traditional at-large elections.

'Independent school district boards were always elected at-large throughout the state of Texas, but then the federal government passed the Voting Rights Act, people brought suit against school districts under the Voting Rights Act to require them to go to single-member districts,' said Waco attorney Philip E. McCleery, a former board member there. 'The whole basis was that the all at-large method of electing trustees voted in exclusion of minorities from the boards.'

A trio of speakers recently asked the Abilene Independent School District board to create single-member districts locally as a way to bring racial diversity to the board.

The city's largest student demographic is Hispanic, but all seven board members are Caucasian.

Dr. Julian Bridges, a supporter of moving to single-member districts in Abilene, said that the approach 'apparently has worked quite well in school districts that I've surveyed.'

Districts of all sizes, including Midland, Odessa, Snyder, Sweetwater, Austin and Amarillo have moved to single-member districts, and Bridges said that of cities traditionally compared to Abilene, only the Denton ISD did not have single-member districts.

'An extensive search of Texas' districts, shows that there have been about 250 district cases since the mid-1970s which have moved to this form of elections,' he said.

THE CHANGE IN SAN ANGELO

A lawsuit brought by two San Angelo residents in 1990 ushered in change there, that district's seven at-large districts changing in the resulting settlement to five single-member seats and two at-large seats.

Currently, the board uses a 6-1 split, with one at-large position.

At the time of the lawsuit in San Angelo, the board had 'no minority representation,' said Jamie Highsmith, public information officer for the district.

Lanny Layman, who currently serves in San Angelo's at-large position and is its board president, said that there is now 'good minority leadership' present.

Currently, the district is 60 percent Hispanic.

'We've been very careful in San Angelo to make sure that every board member consistently reminds our constituents that we represent all of our students,' he said. 'That's kind of been a benchmark for our success.  We just make sure that any member feels comfortable hearing concerns a parent or any member of the public might have.'

Gallegos said that single-member districts are  in his opinion  particularly valuable in making sure curriculum is aligned across all schools.

If test scores, for example, are poor at a particular school, then adjustments can be made to make sure that those children are 'learning at the same level playing field as the kids over at this (particular) elementary school or at this middle school.'

'They can go to a different school and they'll all (still) be on the same page,' he said.

But it also allows for more mundane concerns to be addressed, he said, such as when people in the Lakeview area protested a change in the location where their students had high school graduation.

'All those people in that area said 'we want our graduation here at the coliseum because it's here in our zone, in our district, in our area,'' he said.

DIVIDING TO UNITE

Bridges said that while the way single-member districts are traditionally divided varies, 'representation by ethnic groups in a school district is important, particularly if a large percentage of the schoolchildren who are in a district are from a particular ethnic group.'

In addition, residents of heavily minority neighborhoods may feel more comfortable approaching someone of similar ethnic background with a concern, he said.

Sweetwater has had single-member districts since 1989, set up in response to a civil-rights complaint, said nine-year board member Becky Jimenez.

The current system is five single-member district seats and two at large.

'It helps the district by allowing us to be represented by all geographic areas,' she said, more closely representing 'all populations from all parts of the town.'

Longtime Lubbock ISD school board Vernita Woods-Holmes, who served on that city's school board for 16 years, is a fan of the approach.

Woods-Holmes, a 'native Lubbockite' said that the predominantly minority district she represented was small.

But that was a plus, she said, because it allowed her to better reach out to the people she represented.

'I could go across the street and talk to my neighbor and they would feel comfortable because I'm one of them, so to speak,' she said.

'You want to believe everybody's for everybody, but it's not always that way,' Woods-Holmes said. 'I felt like I could be a voice for African-American children and their parents.'

Waco ISD was sued in the early 1970s, forcing the district into a 5-2 single-member approach still used today, said McCleery, who was elected to an at-large seat in the first election after that lawsuit.

In Waco's case, McCleery said that he felt the change gave voters a significant chance to elect both Hispanic and African-American candidates.

'And they can play a very substantial role in who is elected at large,' he said.

But demographics plays strongly into the equation, he said.

'If your demographics aren't right you can have single-member districts and still minorities can't be elected because of the way they're spread throughout the district,' he said.

Snyder ISD school board President Ralph Ramon agreed a community's composition, and how districts were drawn, was important.

'If people who already consider themselves minorities are already living in certain areas of Abilene, then it may not be hard to draw up those districts to get an equal representation,' he said.

But if people don't want to run for a board seat, then they won't, no matter how well district lines are crafted, he said.

'Snyder has a large majority of Hispanics, of Latinos, but I'm the only Latino that's on the board,' he said.

And even if a candidate is available, if you can't get people to turn out to vote, then there's no guarantee that person will be chosen, he said.

That said, Ramon said he did think that single-member districts could be beneficial to communities looking to include more minorities.

'You will get a representative out of that area,' he said. ' I can see where it may ease people's concerns.'

Snyder switched to single-member districts when it was sued for an underrepresentation of minorities on its board., Ramon said. Similar to Sweetwater, it has five single-member district places and two at-large seats.

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES

Not every district chooses a single-member approach.

Mario Zavala Jr., Denton ISD's director of communications and community relations, said that single-member districts have not been an issue in Denton 'because our community has always been focused on the needs of all our students as a whole.'

As an example, community members have supported the district's past six bond elections by an average of 69 percent, he said, advocating both construction of new schools and renovating others 'established for decades.'

Geography also plays a role, Zavala said.

'We are also a district that encompasses more than 186 square miles and 17 different communities, so it would be virtually impossible for each individual community to have its own single-member district,' he said.

To ensure stakeholders' voices are heard, various means of communication are used, including 'surveys, email blasts, social media, etc.' either through the district or through communication with trustees, Zavala said.

An alternate approach to both at-large and single-member districts would be 'cumulative voting,' in which voters have as many votes as there are candidates and can give all their votes to a single candidate or split their allotted votes between several.

Such is the system used in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD, a change wrought by a contentious 2015 lawsuit.

'Our school board wanted to maintain an at-large system and was looking for an election system that would allow every voter to vote every year for every 'place',' said Angela Shelley Brown, the district's chief of communications.

The first election using the cumulative system was in May, she said.

Attorney Guillermo William Ramos was appointed to Carollton-Farmers Branch's board as a part of the mediation from the lawsuit. He was re-elected to his seat in that election.

Ramos said he'd been watching school board elections for some time, and noted it had been 'very difficult' for most minorities to get seats, especially Hispanic or Latino candidates.

Ramos said that he feels the district needs to go through a few more election cycles to truly gauge how well the new approach is working.

But he said he was 'optimistic' that cumulative voting would bring in more minority candidates.

The ability to vote for a variety of candidates was an advantage the system has over single-member districts, Ramos said.

'Say you have two great candidates from one district,' he said. '(Voters) can vote for each of them  and they might win. If they both win, then you've got two great candidates, as opposed to just one.'

The process also works to regularly engage members of the community in the voting process, Ramos said.

'It's sort of a hybrid system because it achieves some of the goals a single-member district would have without taking away some of the benefits at large would have,' he said.

Ramos said that repeated failed campaigns by minority candidates can become extremely frustrating  and at times, genuinely disheartening.

'Sometimes, you get good, qualified candidates that run, but you still don't have any luck,' he said. 'That's when you have to look at different system.'
(Via TimesRecordNews.com)

A conservative states' rights group in St. Louis has joined Texas and other states in their battle against the U.S. government in connection with a lawsuit over bathroom rights for transgender students.

Houston attorney Karen B. Tripp filed a memorandum of support in federal court this week on behalf of Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund Inc. The group, which according to the court filing 'has consistently defended federalism and supported autonomy in areas (such as education) of predominately local concern,' wants the judge in the case to grant the states' motion for an injunction against federal directives.

In May, the U.S. Justice and Education departments instructed states that they would have to allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity, biological sex notwithstanding. Noncompliance with the instruction could mean the loss of federal funding, the agencies said.

Later that month, Texas and a handful of other conservative states filed suit against the federal government, claiming the directive would cause 'seismic changes in the operation of the nation's school districts.' More states and state leaders have since waded into the legal battle as plaintiffs. A separate but similar showdown has now begun in an Ohio federal court.

One of the leading plaintiffs in the action is the Harrold Independent School District in Wilbarger County, one of the first districts in the nation to pass a policy in opposition to the federal directive. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Wichita Falls.

In its memorandum, the Eagle Forum made assertions similar to those previously made by plaintiffs: that the federal government did not give states adequate notice before issuing its directives and that the Constitution does not provide transgender people the right to use bathrooms of the opposite biological sex.

Offering precedent, the filing also asks that federal Judge Reed C. O'Connor defer to states on the issue. The judge has not ruled on the injunction, and the federal government had not issued a response to the litigation as of Friday afternoon.
Investigators are considering the death of a local corrections officers to be a homicide.

A statement from Gov. Greg Abbott said an inmate committed the murder.

About 3 a.m. Saturday, officials at the French Robertson Unit found 7-year officer Mari Johnson unresponsive near the prisons kitchen area, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice news release.

Lifesaving measures were initiated before she was taken to Hendrick Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

The prison is located just northeast of Abilene, near Hamby.

The Office of Inspector General  TDCJ is investigating the incident as a homicide.

Correctional officers have one of the most difficult jobs in all of state government protecting the public from dangerous individuals, said Brad Livingston, TDCJ Executive Director. Each day thousands of men and women in gray are carrying out that critical mission. This is a tragic reminder that carrying out that mission can lead to the ultimate sacrifice. Ms. Johnson made the ultimate sacrifice to keep this state safe. She will never be forgotten. We will see that the offender who committed this cowardly act is held accountable.

Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott released a statement on Johnson's death.

'The State of Texas mourns for Mari Johnson, a correctional officer who was senselessly murdered last night by an inmate at the Robertson Unit in Abilene, Texas. Like all those who faithfully serve, Mari was dedicated to protecting others, and her service will not be forgotten. Cecilia and I ask that all Texans keep the Johnson family in their thoughts and prayers in the aftermath of this unfathomably tragic event. Texas will ensure the perpetrator receives swift justice, and TDCJ has been instructed to take all necessary measures to enhance the safety of their staff to prevent such tragedies.'

Dale Wainwright, Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, said, In times like these, its difficult to put into words the loss felt by the department when a correctional officer dies in the line of duty. I ask the public to remember their acts of unselfishness, remember their many acts of courage, and remember the dedication and commitment demonstrated every day by correctional officers. Please pray for this officers friends, family, and the department during this time.

Investigators with the Office of Inspector General  TDCJ are at the location and processing the crime scene. As this is an ongoing criminal investigation, the agency will not be releasing any additional information at this time.

The French Robertson Unit is an all-male inmate prison. According to the TDCJ website, it can house almost 3,000 prisoners and is approved to have 510 security personnel and 106 non-security employees.

Johnson's death comes a year after the last on-duty slaying of a Texas correctins officer. Timothy Davison, 38, was attacked by an inmate in July 2015 at the Telford Unit near Texarkana in far northeast Texas. The inmate, Billy Joel Torres, 38, already was serving a life prison term and now is awaiting trial for capital murder.
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This just in...
Popular Tibetan religious teacher Khenpo Kartse has been released from prison after serving two and a half years following his conviction on charges widely believed to have been fabricated by Chinese authorities, Tibetan sources say.



Kartse was taken into custody on Dec. 6, 2013, in the Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu and charged at first with harming state security. He was later accused of harboring a fugitive monk linked to a bombing incident, and was sentenced on that charge.



He was released from prison in Chengdu on June 4 after completing his sentence, the online Tibet Times reported on July 15, quoting a source in Dharamsala, India.



But he has not been allowed to return to his monastery, and is staying under close supervision with a relative in Yulshul [in Chinese, Yushu] prefecture in neighboring Qinghai province, the Times said in its report.



His current health condition remains unknown, the Times said.



'Many passes still to climb'



An undated posting on social media apparently by Kartse himself and accompanied by a photo taken after his release thanks his friends and supporters for their concern during his time in jail.



In order to fulfill my secular and spiritual duties, I have returned in good health, Kartse wrote. But I still have many passes to climb.



May the light rays of freedom shine on our world.



Kartse, whose title Khenpo denotes a senior religious teacher or abbot, was active before his imprisonment in social work in the Yulshul area, including in relief efforts following a devastating April 2010 earthquake, and was well-respected among Tibetans for his work to protect and promote the Tibetan language, culture, and religion.



At the end of December 2013, 16 monks from Kartses Japa monastery in Yulshuls Nangchen (Nanqian) county were detained after protesting for Kartses release, sparking wider protests by Tibetans at Japa the following month.



Reported by Sonam Lhamo for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.




Chinese police in Sichuans Ngaba county detained a young Tibetan woman on Thursday after she staged a solitary protest opposing Beijings rule in Tibetan areas, according to a local source.



The unidentified woman, who wore a white dress and appeared to be in her 20s, was taken into custody at around 4:00 p.m. on July 14 while walking down a street known locally as Heroes Road in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) county seat, an area resident told RFAs Tibetan Service.



She was holding up a photo of [exiled Tibetan spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Chinese police stationed along Heroes Road, the site of many protests by Tibetans in the past, quickly overpowered the woman and took her away, the source said.



The womans name and current whereabouts and condition are still unknown, he said.



The protest sparked a brief flurry of comments online from area residents, with some saying the still unidentified woman had come from Ngaba countys Churle Karma village, where one resident told a reporter on Friday he had not heard about the incident.



Besides, it is inconvenient for me to speak about this on the phone. It is better in particular not to say anything about issues related to Tibetan politics, he said.



Chinese authorities in Tibetan areas closely watch exchanges on the internet and record conversations on the popular social media platform WeChat, routinely detaining and questioning anyone suspected of spreading news about Tibetan protests to outside contacts.

Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijings rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.



A total of 145 Tibetans living in China have set themselves ablaze in self-immolations since the wave of fiery protests began in 2009, with most protests featuring calls for Tibetan freedom and the Dalai Lamas return from India, where he has lived since escaping Tibet during a failed national uprising in 1959.



Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.




n-vestigate: Reporters

Connecting investigative journalism

in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, and the EU

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Are you a critical thinking journalist, who wants to work with investigative methods? Did you ever have the feeling that your research is limited by language or geographical borders? If you are interested in becoming part of an international network of colleagues that brings together a collection of multifaceted perspectives, you can apply with your story idea.

We support your cross border investigative story on Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Russia and/or EU countries that will involve at least two journalists from at least two of these countries.

n-vestigate is a project by n-ost from Berlin, Germany in association with Hetq Armenia, RISE Moldova, RDPI Ukraine, and Liberali Georgia, financed by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The project has an objective to promote international collaboration in Eastern Partnership countries, EU and Russia in terms of investigative journalism, media law, FoI and to increase their impact in the respective societies.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Investigative journalists from Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Russia and EU countries, who are experienced reporters with a concrete plan for an in-depth research on a global topic (concerning at least two countries). The time to accomplish investigative research must not exceed 2-3 months (August / September - November 2016).

Experiences with Freedom of Information requests, data journalism, cross border collaboration are welcome. It is an advantage to apply as a cross border team.

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n-vestigate: Reporters offers a scholarship, which covers your research expenses, fair honoraria and support for visualization, translations and legal screening. Your investigation will be mentored by a distinguished journalist.

Along with investigative research there are two compulsory meetings/conferences:

Research Workshop in Kiev, Ukraine (10-13 September 2016)

Here you will meet your team partner and develop a detailed plan for your investigative research. You will also meet other journalists that will undertake investigations within the project, media law & FOI experts from all the countries listed above (Might be interesting actually to meet them). All costs supported by us.

From here on you will have appr. 2 months to make a research for your investigation based on the plan & budget you presented in Kiev.

n-vestigate Annual Conference Tbilisi, Georgia (6-10 November 2016)

n-vestigate involves relevant key actors in the field of investigative journalism like media lawyers, media outlets, FoI activists, etc. Along with n-vestigate: Reporters, all of them will come together for a conference for professional dialogue, discussion and collaboration.

At the same time, the annual conference serves as a deadline to accomplish your investigative research. Here you will meet your team colleagues and begin to plan visualization, storytelling and publication strategies. Your story should be published in your respective countries between December 2016 and February 2017.

In addition to that we offer support for attending international conferences on investigative journalism.

HOW TO APPLY?

Submit your application in English or Russian using the following questionnaire:

http://goo.gl/forms/ SIKzxRJNo8TPybCI2

Deadline: July 30, 2016

You can apply either as a team or an individual with your idea for a team investigation. we will support you with finding partners, if your idea gets short listed. Most important is a good idea of a cross border story.

Even if your story will not be selected you may still become participant of the project. It will happen in case if someone from Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia or EU country will submit a successful cross border project and needs a partner in your country.

For more information you can contact the coordinator of n-vestigate project in Armenia:

Hetq, Kristine Aghalaryan, Email:[email protected], Phone: 010563363
Three doctors working for the Afghan Red Crescent Society who were abducted by militants in northern Afghanistan have been freed.

Zabihullah Amani, a spokesman for the governor of Sar-e Pul Province, said on July 16 that tribal elders and Afghan security forces worked together to free the doctors.

Amani said the three had been seized by militants on July 14 while they were providing medical assistance to villagers near the village of Ahoo in the provinces Sayaad district.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society provides health-care services to remote areas and villages where there is no access to medical clinics.

Based on reporting by dpa and Tolo News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and those around him have been quick to blame the countrys foiled coup on what they say is a shadow state seeking to overthrow the government.

But if such coded language might be confusing for people outside of Turkey, it was not lost on a 75-year-old Turkish religious leader who lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Immediately after the first official Turkish references to a shadow state, Fethullah Gulen denied any involvement in the coup effort.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt, said Gulen.

I categorically deny such accusations," he added.

But who is Fethullah Gulen and why does Erdogan blame his movement for the coup attempt?

Gulen, who has lived in exile since 1999 in the United States, is a one-time Erdogan ally who helped the Turkish presidents religiously conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) come to power in 2002. However, the two allies soon fell out, reportedly over power-sharing issues and over Erdogans authoritarian leadership style. In May, Gulens movement was designated a terrorist organization in Turkey.

A theologian who came to prominence as the leader of Friday prayers in Izmirs main mosque in the late 1960s, Gulen went into voluntary exile in 1999 when he was accused of trying to undermine the countrys secular state. The charges against him were later dropped in absentia but he has remained in the United States, where he lives as the reclusive leader of one of the Muslim worlds largest religiously based civic organizations. His Hizmet (Service) movement is believed to have millions of followers and sponsors some 1,000 scholastic centers helping high-school students prepare for university exams in 150 countries.

The Hizmet movement, which emphasizes community service in tandem with conservative religious values, is generally considered to be the proponent of a moderate form of Islam. But it also is regarded by some governments as a threat because of the network it weaves among wealthy businessmen and students through its scholastic centers.

The centers are funded by community businessmen and the students often come from poor families, with critics charging that they become easy recruits for a movement which itself has no formal international structure and no official membership lists. Members simply say they work together in a loose alliance because they are inspired by Gulens message of public service.

In Central Asia, which initially welcomed the Gulen schools after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the centers were later taken out of the hands of the Gulen movement amid allegations by the regions authoritarian governments that they encouraged Islamist activism. But nowhere does the movement come under as much fire as in Turkey, where Erdogans government routinely accuses Gulens followers of trying to use their positions within Turkish state institutions to undermine the government and usurp power.

Erdogan has previously accused the Gulen movement of being behind several attempts to tar his administration, notably during a police investigation of a 2013 corruption scandal that implicated some of his closest associates. The scandal centered on allegations that officials were enriching themselves by using state funds to buy and funnel gold to Iran to help Tehran evade international sanctions over its nuclear program.

That scandal was followed by the government dismissing many prosecutors and top officials involved in the corruption investigation, with Erdogan telling the public the purge was necessary to protect Turkey from dark forces bent upon destroying it. Erdogan last year also succeeded in taking the Gulen schools in Turkey out of the hands of the Gulen movement by appointing government trustees.

With the foiled coup attempt in Turkey, there is now every sign that Erdogan will step up his efforts to destroy the Gulen movement within the country.



The acting chief of staff of Turkey's armed forces, Umit Dundar, said in a statement issued July 16 that the military was determined to remove members of the "parallel structure" from its ranks.



Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters on July 16 that any country that would harbor Fethullah Gulen would not be Turkeys friend. He did not specifically name the United States, which Ankara has previously said it hopes will extradite Gulen.

Yildirim also indirectly criticized Washington for not understanding Ankaras previous expressions of concern about Gulen, saying, This caused us to pay a big price.



Washington has not yet responded to the indirect criticism.
Here are some details about the military coups in the last 50 years that have unseated four elected governments in Turkey:

1960

-- On May 2, an almost bloodless military coup was carried out, led by officers and cadets from the Istanbul and Ankara war colleges.

-- The next day, the commander of land forces, General Cemal Gursel, demanded political reforms and resigned when his demands were refused.

-- The leaders established a 38-member National Unity Committee with Gursel as chairman. Of 601 people tried, 464 were found guilty. Three former ministers, including Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, were executed and 12 others, including President Celal Bayar, had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

1971 -- The 'Coup By Memorandum'

-- The military delivered a warning to the government to restore order after months of strikes and street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Some months later, Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel stepped down and a coalition of conservative politicians and technocrats set to restore order under the supervision of the military. Martial law was established in several provinces and not completely lifted until September 1973.

1980

-- On Sept. 12, 1980, the senior command of the army, led by General Kenan Evren, carried out a coup. The action followed a resurgence of street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Leading politicians were arrested, and parliament, political parties, and trade unions were dissolved. A five-member National Security Council took control, suspending the constitution and implementing a provisional constitution that gave almost unlimited power to military commanders.

1997 -- The 'Postmodern Coup'

-- On June 18, 1997, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, denounced by opponents as a danger to the country's secular order, stepped down under pressure from the military, business, the judiciary, and fellow politicians. The generals saw themselves compelled to act to defend the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

2007

-- The shadowy Ergenekon group first came to light when a cache of explosives was discovered in a police raid on an Istanbul house. Eventually, hundreds of people went on trial for an alleged coup attempt against then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and 275 officers, journalists, lawyers, and others were found guilty.

The verdicts were all overturned this year after the appeals court ruled a network called Ergenekon was not proven to exist. Erdogan, who became president in 2014, initially supported the prosecution but later blamed police and prosecutors who belong to a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, for faking the conspiracy. He denies playing any role.

2010

-- A newspaper revealed a secularist coup plot, dubbed Sledgehammer, that reportedly dated back to 2003, aimed at fomenting social chaos to topple Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AKP party.

In 2012, a court jailed 300 of the 365 defendants. Two years later, almost all of those convicted were freed after the Constitutional Court ruled their rights had been violated. Again, Gulen's followers were blamed for the case, which they deny.

-- Reuters
Turkeys military has managed to seize power directly three times since 1960 (and forced another government from power in 1997). So why did this latest coup attempt fail

Here's my take:

1. Lack Of Public Support



Three previous coups were fairly well received by a public yearning for peace and order to be restored after periods of social strife or violence. No such public support existed this time for the coup plotters, and few people came out to cheer them on.

In fact, far larger crowds answered President Recep Tayyip Erdogans dramatic call -- made to a television news channel via a mobile-phone video link -- to come out onto the streets to show their rejection of the coup.

2. This Time (It Seems) It Wasnt The Secularists

Turkeys military has long considered itself as the guardian of the countrys secular constitution. In past coups, it has seized power from civilian governments it cast as a danger to the secular order.

This time, authorities blamed not ardent secularists but a religious figure -- Fethullah Gulen, a critic of Erdogan in self-imposed exile in the United States. (He denies being behind the attempt.) The two biggest opposition parties also came out in clear support of the government, saying the bitter experience of past military coups must not be allowed to be repeated.

3. Police, Coup Plotters Were On Different Sides

On previous occasions, the police fell into line behind Turkeys new rulers after the armys takeover. Nowadays, the police are seen as closely aligned to the government. Police officers went after the group inside the military who staged the coup bid, arresting scores of suspected rebel soldiers and officers.

4. Coup Plotters Were A Small Part Of Army

Both the government, as well as the opposition, estimated the strength of the mutineers as a maximum of 10 to 20 percent of the army. In the past, it was the military as a whole that intervened.

5. Shutting Down The Media Is Harder These Days

As on previous occasions, coup plotters took over state television and radio, taking them off the air. But news still managed to spread thanks to nonstate TV outlets, primarily CNN Turk, and social networks, mainly Twitter and WhatsApp, which provided a platform for voices of resistance.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says the world faces the most dangerous decade since World War II and predicted that the historical period of the West's "undivided dominance over world affairs" is coming to an end.

Speaking on October 27 at a conference of international policy experts in Moscow, Putin said the decade ahead is "probably the most dangerous, unpredictable and, at the same time, important...since the end of World War II."

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Putin laid the blame for the situation at the feet of Western countries, which he said have cast aside the norms of international affairs in order to maintain dominance and hold down countries they see as "second-class civilizations."

The Russian leader also said he had no regrets about sending troops into Ukraine and sought to explain the conflict as part of the efforts by Western countries to secure their global domination.

Putin claimed in his speech to the Valdai Discussion Club, a think tank, that the West had helped incite the conflict and also seeks to stoke a crisis over Taiwan in an attempt to enforce global dominance.

Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, triggering the biggest military conflict in Europe since World War II and driving relations with Western countries that back Ukraine and its drive to be part of the European Union and NATO to their lowest depths since the Cold War.

Putin cast the conflict in Ukraine as a battle between the West and Russia for the fate of the second-largest Eastern Slav country. It is partly a "civil war," he said, as Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Kyiv has flatly rejected both of those ideas.

The goal of what Russia refers to as a "special military operation" is to take the eastern Donbas region, Putin said, adding that in his view the region would "not have survived" on its own had Russia not intervened militarily in Ukraine.

WATCH: A local official told Russian conscripts "You are not cannon fodder" in a video published online recently. The men responded by angrily shouting that, actually, that's exactly what they are.

But the war has gone far beyond the Donbas region, with Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and other nonmilitary structures, killing tens of thousands of Ukrainians across the country.

Putin used the speech largely to rail against the West, saying it has nothing to offer to the world "except its own domination," and the goal of globalization "is neocolonialism to dominate the world." He said Russia is only trying to defend its right to exist in the face these Western efforts.

Putin also asserted that more and more nations refuse to follow Washington's demands and Russia will never accept the West's attempts to dominate the world.

Citing gay pride parades and the acceptance of transgender people in Western countries, Putin also defended "traditional values" and said "nobody can dictate to our people how to develop and what society we should build."

He also said Russia has never considered the West an enemy and has many things in common with it but will continue to oppose the diktat of Western neoliberal elites.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Putin's speech presented no new ideas.

"We don't believe that Mr. Putin's strategic goals have changed here. He doesn't want Ukraine to exist as a sovereign, independent nation state," Kirby said.

Answering questions from journalists after his speech, Putin reiterated the Kremlin's assertion that Ukraine plans to use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory. The claim has been dismissed as false by Ukraine and its allies, who say Russia may have raised the matter because it plans to use such a bomb in Ukraine as a pretext for escalation.

"It was me who ordered [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu to inform by phone all his colleagues about it," Putin said, adding that Russia does not need to use dirty bombs in Ukraine.

Putin also said he supported plans by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit Ukraine's nuclear power plants for inspections.

"It must be done as soon and as openly as possible because we know that Kyiv authorities are now working to cover up such [dirty-bomb attack] preparations," Putin said, without giving any exact information proving the claim.

Ukraine invited IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities after the Kremlin made its unsubstantiated claim about the preparation of a dirty bomb -- which would use the explosion of a conventional warhead to spread radioactive material or chemicals over a wide area.

Ukraine said it would welcome inspections because it had "nothing to hide."

According to Putin, Russia has never talked about the use of nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine despite his own promise to defend Russian territory with any means at our disposal" and saying his words were "not a bluff."

"We see no need for [using nuclear weapons in Ukraine]," Putin told reporters. "There is no sense for that, neither political, nor military."
The extremist group now known as Islamic State (IS) first claimed statehood, with clear pretentions to a new caliphate, in 2006 -- and eight years later made it explicit.

"Now the dream has become a reality," Taha Falaha (Abu Muhammad al-Adnani) said in his speech on June 29, 2014, declaring that the territory IS held in Syria and Iraq constituted the rebirth of the caliphate. "The State will remain."

Two years later, this looks like an unsafe proposition.

After IS openly seized control of territory in northern and central Iraq, adding it to their Syrian domains, in the summer of 2014, it controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britain. Since then, IS has lost about half the territory it held in Iraq and about one-fifth in Syria -- and a further one-tenth overall in the first half of this year. Operation Inherent Resolve managed to hold IS out of Kobani in late 2014 but then in early 2015 suffered a setback: After IS was driven out of Tikrit, the extremist group took over Ramadi and Palmyra. Since then, though, progress against IS has been steady.

In June 2015, IS lost Tel Abyad, due north of Raqqa on the border between Syria and Turkey, and with it one of its main access points to the outside world. Iraqs Sinjar Province was finally cleared in November 2015. Large parts of Ramadi were recaptured from the militants in December 2015. IS lost Shadadi (east of Raqqa) in February 2016, Palmyra (central Syria) was retaken in March, and Fallujah (west of Baghdad) in June. In northern Syria, IS-held Manbij is completely surrounded and its fall will precipitate the collapse of IS's position in Aleppo Province, closing off its access to Turkey. And in Iraq, the removal of IS from its last important urban center in Saladin Province, Shirqat -- a development that will further open the road to Mosul -- is only a matter of time, Meanwhile, IS has come under tremendous pressure in Sirte, its de facto capital in Libya.

What reason, then, to call the military campaign against IS anything but a success?

One reason is that IS has actually been making (modest) gains even as the net result is a loss of territory. While IS is losing its access to the Turkish border via Manbij and soon al-Bab, it is -- albeit in a very fluid situation -- gaining territory around Azaz, another border town. In southern Syria, IS has pulled off the remarkable feat of growing an organic wing of the organization, partly playing off the U.S.-led coalition's foolish decision to stop the rebels in the area fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces and to redirect them against the Jihadi-Salafists. This left the rebels vulnerable to charges of being hirelings of foreigners who have betrayed the revolution, and opened the space for the jihadis to position themselves as the banner-carriers of the anti-Assad struggle. And in the mixed Iraqi province of Diyala, from which IS was expelled in early 2015, IS has shown greater activity recently -- not coincidentally after a spate of atrocities by the radically sectarian Shi'ite militias controlled by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

More broadly, IS has adapted to its new environment -- with lethal consequences far outside Iraq and Syria. Falaha effectively conceded in both the IS newsletter al-Naba and a major speech in May that the demise of IS's statelet is approaching. The organization is therefore switching back to insurgent and terrorist tactics. The car bombings in the shopping district in Karrada, Baghdad, on July 3 -- which killed 300 people, the second-worst atrocity IS has conducted on Iraqi soil since it arrived in 2002 -- foreshadowed this. So did attacks in Tartus City and Jableh on May 23. IS has nearly doubled the rate at which it employs suicide bombers in the last six months, averaging about three per day.

The reversion to insurgency underlines the question of how IS views territorial control. Doubtless IS ultimately intends to create an Islamist imperium, but it is not operating as if it believes now is the moment it can forge a durable state.

A study released as IS fell back in Tikrit noted that, while IS "holds out until the last possible moment" in the cities, it "seems more focused on actively defending the rural zones in which urban areas are located. In many cases, the urban center may be the part of the defended zone allocated the smallest proportion of available Islamic State forces."

"The jihadists fight as if they were pirates, with the desert being their sea," Nibras Kazimi has written. "They treat the cities and towns they have captured as ports of call, for booty and resupply. When challenged by superior forces attempting to retake these ports, the jihadists dissolve away into the desert, leaving small and determined bands of fighters to deflect and bleed out the invading force."

IS's strategic thinking is deeply shaped by the work of Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim (Abu Bakr Naji), the author of the infamous Management Of Savagery, and Mustafa Nasar (Abu Musab al-Suri), whom they personally revile. Both stress exhausting the jihadists' foes.

"Were we defeated when we lost the cities in Iraq and were in the desert without any city or land?" Falaha asked in May. "And would we be defeated and you be victorious if you were to take Mosul or Sirte or Raqqa or even take all the cities and we were to return to our initial condition? Certainly not!" IS sees this war as cyclical and attritional, and it sees its enemies' will fading. Last time around, there were tens of thousands of Western soldiers on the ground. This time there are only special forces and air strikes. Next time there will be even less, IS predicts.

It is not to deny that IS is heading into a period of hardship: Its leadership has been dented, the flow of foreign volunteers has been restricted, and less territory means fewer people to be taxed. It is to say that, given IS's strategic vision and proven capacity to adjust to conditions in pursuit of it, territorial control per se is not only not the defining metric of the progress of the war, but the focus on it at the expense of all else is dangerous.

The caliphate is the "driving" force behind IS's recruitment, the U.S. representative to the anti-IS coalition, Brett McGurk, recently said. "So we have to shrink the core". Less than a week later, CIA Director John Brennan said, "Despite all our progress against [IS] on the battlefield  our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach." The answer to the discrepancy in the two statement lies in the nature of IS's territorial losses.

In Syria, IS's losses are largely to ground forces dominated by the local branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and in Iraq to IRGC-run militias -- both of which are regarded as illegitimate by the local populations in areas from which IS has been displaced. The PKK clearly intends to use its U.S.-backed campaign in Aleppo to link its cantons in the east of the country to Efrin, encompassing much territory where the inhabitants do not wish to be part of a Kurdish nationalist project. The support to the IRGC-controlled militias is especially toxic given the recent record of the United States and especially in tandem with U.S. overtures to Russia, solidifying the perception in the region that the United States has sided with the Iranian axis against the Sunnis. In the medium term, this has created the political space for IS to return to the cities, but this narrative of IS as the vanguard against a global anti-Sunni conspiracy enables it in the short-term to call on its foreign sympathizers to "punish" the countries engaged against it.

The foreign terrorism track is not, as some have argued, reactive to the territorial losses; it has always been integral to the state-building project and this increased activity is partly a sign of maturity. "Don't hear about us, hear from us," was IS's mantra. The group developed a mania for pre-emptively infiltrating its near-abroad -- and areas well beyond -- in response to its having been infiltrated and pulled apart during the Surge-and-Sahwa period. The return to insurgency has, however, certainly had an impact on the timing of these strikes by IS.

Put simply, on the current trajectory the coalition is allowing IS to "convert territorial losses into legitimacy." Unless IS is replaced by an accepted local force, the "dream" that Falaha spoke of will find a larger and larger audience as the least-bad alternative -- ensuring IS's territorial collapse is merely a prelude to another cycle of violence.

Kyle Orton is a research fellow and Middle East analyst for the Henry Jackson Society.
A Pakistani model who recently posted photographs of herself with a Muslim cleric on social media has been killed.

Police said on July 16 that they are investigating allegations that Qandeel Baloch, 26, was killed by her brother as an honor killing over the photographs.

It was not immediately clear when Baloch was killed.

Police officer Sultan Azam told AFP that Baloch was strangled to death in an apparent honor killing.

Many conservatives were shocked by the photos showing Balock and Mufti Qavi allegedly having soft drinks and cigarettes together during daylight hours during the holy month of Ramadan, when devout Muslims abstain from food and drink during the day.

Qavi denied wrongdoing and said he only met with Baloch to discuss Islam.

Hundreds of Pakistani women are killed each year by relatives who accuse them of violating conservative social or religious norms.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP
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Turkish officials have rounded up thousands of people suspected of involvement in the failed military coup attempt and have locked down a key air base used for U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants.

Planes also began landing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport on July 16 as the country slowly returned to normal after the shocking coup attempt that killed at least 265 people and left more than 1,400 wounded.

Turkish officials detained a senior judge and the Turkish commander of a NATO rapid-reaction unit on treason charges after the coup, which began late on July 15 when a fraction within the Turkish military announced it had seized power in the country.

Ankara was quick to blame the coup on what it says is a network of supporters of 75-year-old Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Gulen said on July 16 that he had "no knowledge" of the military coup attempt that began late on July 15 and condemned any violent attempt to oust the Turkish government, of which he is a fierce critic.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for U.S. officials to send Gulen -- who has lived in the United States since 1999 -- back to Turkey while speaking at a rally in Istanbul on July 16.

"Mr. [U.S.] President [Barack Obama], I told you myself, either deport or hand over to us this person," said Erdogan. "I told you that he was engaged in coup plots, but I was not listened to.... Deliver this man who lives in Pennsylvania to Turkey."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on July 16 that the Obama administration would consider an extradition request for Gulen but would only comply if Washington was shown clear evidence of the cleric's involvement in the coup.

Speaking in Luxembourg on July 16, Kerry said Turkey had not formally requested Gulens extradition.

Kerry also told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that "public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations," the U.S. State Department said.

Obama urged all parties in Turkey to avoid destabilizing the country and to follow the rule of law in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

PHOTO GALLERY: Death, Chaos In Turkey (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

Although the Turkish government said on July 16 that the situation in the country is under control," Erdogan posted a message on Twitter urging his supporters to remain in the streets to prevent a new flare-up of coup activity.

Turkeys Defense Ministry also warned that although it considered the coup attempt foiled, there could be more fighting between coup supporters and forces loyal to Erdogans government.

It added that the abducted chief of the military staff, General Hulusi Akar, was freed by a helicopter rescue mission early on July 16.

Cavusoglu said Turkish security forces loyal to Erdogan's government imposed the lockdown at the Incirlik Air Base -- a facility where about 1,500 U.S. soldiers also are based for operations against IS militants in neighboring Iraq and Syria.

Cavusoglu said the lockdown, including the closure of airspace that halted strikes against IS militants, was imposed because some Turkish soldiers at Incirlik were coup plotters. He said some arrests were made there.

Lieutenant General Erdal Ozturk, the commander of Turkeys Third Army Corps, was among the senior military officials detained on July 16 who face treason charges as coup plotters.

Headquartered in Istanbul, Ozturks field corps is the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps from Turkeys First Army -- a unit that reports to NATOs supreme allied commander in Europe.

That unit also led the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from February to August 2005 when Turkey headed the UN-mandated mission.

The highest-ranking detained officer named on July 16 as the roundup of suspected coup plotters continued was General Adem Huduti, the commander of Turkeys Second Army.

Huduti heads forces that protect Turkey's borders with Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

The Turkish government also issued an order to detain 2,745 judges and prosecutors for alleged complicity in the coup attempt.

CNN Turk reported that Alparslan Altan, a member of Turkeys top court, was detained on July 16 -- the most senior judicial figure detained so far.

At least 104 coup plotters and 161 others, mostly civilians who confronted those trying to stage the coup, were killed in the overnight violence across the country. At least 1,440 were wounded.

There were reportedly 41 police officers among those killed in clashes against the coup plotters in Istanbul and Ankara.

Yildirim said 2,839 military personnel who supported the coup attempt have been arrested.

Acting military chief of staff General Umit Dundar said Turkeys military was determined to eliminate parallel structures within its ranks.

WATCH: Erdogan Supporters Rally In Antalya As Coup Unfolds

He said most of the coup participants were connected with Turkeys Air Force.

At an extraordinary session of parliament called on July 16 by Yildirim to discuss the crisis, all four parliamentary parties -- including those in opposition -- condemned the coup and backed the government.

Regional powers Iran and Israel both condemned the coup attempt.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said coups have no place in our region.

Saudi Arabia also said it welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership of Erdogan.

In Athens, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Erdogan during a phone call on July 16 that the asylum requests of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece as the coup attempt was failing would be examined "quickly."

Turkey has demanded the return of the soldiers to face charges for their involvement in the coup.

The soldiers flew a military helicopter to the Greek city of Alexandroupolis before asking for asylum.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Dogan, Andolu, and BBC
It was a classically Turkish coup attempt: staged by one faction of the army in isolation from the general population.

Gradually, though, government supporters started to come out onto the streets and strategic points in large cities -- though not in huge numbers -- while few demonstrated support on the streets for the mutiny.

From Friday evening on, leaders of the three biggest political parties represented in the parliament rushed to condemn any coup attempt, referring to the bitter experience of the past three army coups and said that the government has been elected by the people and can only be changed by an election -- and not a coup.

Even leading government allies-turned-critics, such as former President Abdullah Gul and former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, came out in support of the constitutional and elected government.

Generally, it appeared that the police and other security agencies such as the Interior Ministrys rapid-reaction force were leading the pro-government effort against the army.

In many cases, the coup attempts foot soldiers, often very young and seemingly unaware of why they were being deployed, were observed being disarmed and taken away by police officers after occasional shoot-outs.

Deputies also started to gather overnight in the parliament building in Ankara that was strafed with air strikes by the coup plotters, like many other government buildings and strategic points such as Turkish Telecom and the State Radio and TV Center.

Radio and TV channels went off air, but members of the government made it through to those still broadcasting  most memorably, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appearing on CNN Turk via mobile-phone video link -- to encourage the population not to give in.

Arrests soon followed. By Saturday morning, around 1,500 members of the military and security forces suspected of involvement in the coup, including five army generals and 29 colonels, had been detained.

Erdogan, on returning to Istanbul, vowed to restore order as soon as possible and to punish the traitors.

The reopening of Istanbuls Ataturk Airport and the gradual resumption of flights was a sign of a new day on Saturday.

From the beginning, Erdogan and other officials blamed a small mutinous group inside the army, saying they were supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The government calls Gulens supporters a terrorist group that has long plotted to overthrow the countrys elected government.

Gulens supporters have been getting positions in Turkeys army, police, education, and justice system for the last two decades. They supported Erdogan in the early 2000s and helped him later come to power and get reelected. But in 2011, Erdogans government moved to purge them from top government, media, and business positions.

It seems that the July 15 coup attempt was an effort of the Gulen group without visible support from the Turkish opposition.

And by Saturday morning -- less than 12 hours after it launched -- it was clear it would not succeed.
Latest News Developments

-- Security operations are continuing in Turkey following a failed military coup attempt overnight that left many dozens of people dead and more than 1,000 injured.

-- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Haberturk television on July 16 that 161 people were killed and 1,440 were injured during the unrest the previous night. He did not appear to be including the 104 soldiers supporting the coup who were reported killed overnight, meaning the death total for the unrest would be 265.

-- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States would consider an extradition request for the exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen after Turkey's president blamed the Muslim leader for an attempted Turkish military coup.

-- The Pentagon says the U.S. military has temporarily suspended air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq that are flown from the Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey.
12 A man lies in front of a Turkish Army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul. As flights were suspended, Turkish Airlines took to Twitter to condemn the attempted coup, saying, "Citizens who believe in democracy and freedom to stand up against this attack on our Parliament and our public representatives."
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The deal to sell 10 area Martins Food Markets stores to Florida-based supermarket retailer Publix contained a noticeable void.

Only two of the 10 stores the high-end grocer is buying are located south of the James River  one in far western Chesterfield County and one in Colonial Heights.

Publix isnt buying six Martins stores in Chesterfield and one in South Richmond, and that has caused some consternation and surprise among shoppers in that part of the metro area.

I think their game plan is to focus on Henrico County and the city for market share rather than having a store sprinkled here and there, said Brian Glass, a senior vice president in Richmond with real estate brokerage Colliers International.

I think they will find their own sites and build their own stores in Chesterfield and throughout the region, Glass said. You have to start somewhere.

Publix, known for its top-notch customer service, sub sandwiches and birthday cakes, isnt stopping at these 10 stores, said company spokeswoman Kimberly Reynolds. The chain plans to add more locations across the Richmond area and Virginia.

Our store footprint will look very different down the road. We are very committed to the greater Richmond market and are excited to grow the brand in the community, she said. We anticipate more announcements (for new store sites) to come in the future as we are actively appraising sites all across the region.

In fact, the chains 49,000-square-foot store planned for the Nuckols Place shopping center in western Henrico now will open sooner than initially disclosed, she said.

The opening date for that store has been moved to sometime next year rather than in 2018, the time frame that Publix had said in February when it signed a lease for that site.

We dont have a month or a quarter yet, but were working on a 2017 opening, she said.

Publix is buying the 10 stores from Dutch retail conglomerate Royal Ahold NV, the parent company of Martins, so Ahold can satisfy federal regulators in order to merge with Belgian counterpart Delhaize Group, which operates Food Lion. The companies plan to divest 86 stores on the East Coast where the chains have overlapping operations, including 22 Food Lion stores in Virginia (in the Fredericksburg, Culpeper and Winchester areas) to other operators.

The $29 billion merger is expected to close before the end of the month, but it still needs approval of the Federal Trade Commission.

***

Publix scrutinized the 10 store locations it is buying from Martins, Reynolds said.

Without diving into our corporate strategy, the locations purchased were the best fit for us by looking at the existing stores and what they had to offer and what we thought we could turn into a Publix that would have the same level of service and convenience to provide customers with a stellar store and shopping experience, she said.

The stores include the one in Carytown, in the West Park Shopping Center, on Laburnum Avenue in the White Oak Village shopping center, in the Village shopping center at Three Chopt Road and Patterson Avenue, in the Short Pump Crossing shopping center on Pump Road, and on John Rolfe Parkway.

Each location will continue to operate as a Martins until Publix completes the permitting process for a full makeover of each store.

Publix is in the process of evaluating the scope of work for each location, she said. The chain expects that the majority of stores will begin the permitting process this year.

Plans call for Publix to close the stores on a rolling basis to renovate and overhaul them, hire new employees and reopen the locations.

Grand opening dates for the locations will depend on the scope of the remodels and completion of the stores construction, she said.

Employees whose stores are being bought by Publix will lose their jobs and will need to reapply once Publix takes over. Publix will hold job fairs closer to grand opening dates, and Reynolds said the company encourages those Martins employees to apply for employment.

***

Buying just the 10 stores to start its expansion into the Richmond area makes sense for Publix, said Connie Jordan Nielsen, a senior vice president with commercial real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.

They want to be successful, Nielsen said. They want to have the right location. Having the right location is huge even if they are taking over existing stores. I think they are very strategic when choosing locations like most grocers are. This isnt a decision for the next five years. They are choosing locations for the next 30 to 40 years.

Besides, Publix, the nations largest employee-owned grocery chain, typically builds its own stores from the ground up to its specs and does not usually buy existing grocery store locations.

Glass from Colliers International said the chain is looking to make a fresh start in the Richmond area. It wants to make sure it puts its best foot forward initially and get the newly acquired stores to its standards before reopening them.

They are not going to come in and do what Martins did with the fast remodel, said Glass, referring to when Martins entered the Richmond market in 2010 by buying the former Ukrops Super Markets locations and closing them in batches of four or five at a time for one week for renovation over a six-week period.

They will do it right.

***

The remaining nine Martins stores would operate for six months to a year until those locations can be sold, according to officials with Ahold USA, Martins parent company.

But Martins does not expect to operate them a year from now.

One of the stores not sold to Publix was the Martins store on Charter Colony Parkway at Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield  the first and only area store that Martins built from the ground up. It opened in late 2014.

All of the other Martins stores are locations the chain acquired from Ukrops.

That surprised me, Glass said about the Chesterfield store. That should be the right size. It is brand-new. Who knows why they didnt pick that store.

That store also is near a new Wegmans and a Kroger that recently underwent an expansion and renovation.

Will Martins find viable buyers for the nine locations? Maybe one here or there, Glass said.

There could be some cherry-picking, he said. I dont think you will have a chain come in with major growth intentions for this market.

The Martins locations are too large for Aldi, the German-based super frugal chain that has opened seven locations in the past year with more on the way.

German-based Lidl continues its preparations for entry into the area as it has bought five area sites, but Glass said the Martins locations might not fit into Lidls plans.

The Richmond area is already oversaturated with supermarkets, he said.

Kroger, which has been gaining in market share in recent years as it opens new stores or enlarges existing stores, could pick up one or two sites, said Nielsen with Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer.

Kroger makes sense from a market standpoint, she said. They are here and doing well. Im sure they are looking at them.

For instance, Martins did not sell its store in Ashland. That would be a good area for Kroger to consider because it does not have a store nearby, Glass said.

Martins also is closing three stores this month unrelated to the planned merger. The chains store at 3330 South Crater Road in Petersburg closed Saturday. The store at 7324 Bell Creek Road in Hanover County will close this Saturday, and the one in the Stony Point Shopping Center off Huguenot Road in South Richmond closes July 30.

Nielsen said she expects many of the Martins locations  the ones closing this month and the nine up for sale  will be used by non-grocery retailers. Tenant replacements at the Petersburg and Bell Creek Road stores are in the works, she says, and they are all non-grocers.
Publix supermarkets plans to explore whether to carry any of those favorite baked goods and prepared meals made by Ukrops Homestyle Foods.

But a spokeswoman for the Florida-based chain, which is buying 10 area Martins Food Markets stores, cautioned that nothing has been finalized.

We know that is a well-known and beloved brand, Publix spokeswoman Kimberly Reynolds said about Ukrops items.

We will strongly consider Ukrops products, she said Friday. We are actively considering that and other local Virginia brands. We like to carry local products in our stores.

Publix has its own line of baked goods, including pies and its famous cakes, that are made fresh in its stores every day, she said. We will be excited to introduce those to our new customers in Richmond, she said.

Robert S. Bobby Ukrop, president and CEO of Ukrops Homestyle Foods, the Henrico County-based company that makes and ships bakery and prepared foods to more than 1,500 stores in 31 states, said he hopes a wide assortment of his companys products will remain on the shelves and in coolers at the local Publix stores when they open here.

Ukrop said hundreds of customers have called, emailed or posted Facebook comments in the days since Royal Ahold NV announced late Wednesday it was selling 10 of its Martins stores to Publix.

Much of the interest has centered around whether customers still will be able to get the popular rainbow cookies, microwave-ready Spinach Supreme side dishes as well as dozens of other baked goods, sandwiches, and prepared entrees. Many of the items are sold exclusively at local Martins stores.

Its exciting to hear that the emotional connectivity to the food we have been preparing for more than 40 years is as strong as ever, Ukrop said.

We can assure everyone that a broad offering of bakery and kitchen foods such as Ukrops decorated cakes, wedding cakes, pies, cookies, entrees, sides and other prepared foods will be available at fine retailers in Richmond, through our catering division, and/or in conveniently located pickup locations throughout the RVA area, Ukrop said. We will keep you posted in the coming months as details are confirmed.

Dutch retail conglomerate Ahold is selling the local Martins stores as a way to satisfy federal regulators so it can merge with Belgian-based Delhaize Group, which owns the Food Lion chain.

But Publix is not buying nine other Martins stores. Those remaining locations would operate for six months to a year until those stores can be sold, Ahold said, but that company does not expect to operate them after that point.

Martins also is closing three additional stores this month that is unrelated to the merger.

Ukrops Homestyle Foods was created after the Ukrop family sold its Ukrops Super Markets stores to Martins in 2010.

Many of the companys products initially were exclusively available to Martins. But over the years, Ukrops Homestyle Foods has branched, selling a variety of items to hundreds of other stores, including Kroger, under the Good Meadow Homemades brand.

Its famed White House Rolls sold at Martins still use the Ukrops brand name. But the rolls at Kroger are sold under Ukrops Homestyle Foods Good Meadow Homemades label. The rolls also are sold locally under the companys Worlds Most Perfect Roll brand at BJs Wholesale Club, Wegmans and Libbie Market.

A limited amount of the companys prepared foods, mostly sandwiches, are available at local Kroger stores.

The company also supplies some products under its Good Meadow Homemades brand to hundreds of Kroger stores across the country, and ships its refrigerated Mrs. Marshalls brand goods to dozens of stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.

It also sells White House Rolls and the popular rainbow cookies on online retailer Amazon.com.

Some of its prepared sandwiches, wraps and subs as well as some jumbo cookies also are sold at the four Hudson News gift shops at Richmond International Airport.

The company uses the Good Meadow Homemades brand for food and bakery items sold in markets outside the Richmond region where customers arent familiar with the family name.

Ukrops Homestyle Foods said on its Facebook page this week that it is actively working with all of the retailers it supplies to encourage them to carry its baked goods and prepared foods. It also said it has been in contact with Publix.
Althea Premaza was going through the motions. Shed go to Sunday Mass but didnt feel a spiritual connection.

Then along came the Rev. James F. Kauffmann.

He changed my life completely, said the Richmond resident.

Kauffmann started Bible studies and rosaries, engaging members of the church beyond just the typical Sunday service, she said.

Members of Saint Benedict Catholic Church in Richmonds Museum District will gather Sunday to celebrate Kauffmanns 40th anniversary as a priest. While he isnt assigned to Saint Benedicts currently, its his home parish and members of the congregation still feel a strong connection to Kauffmann.

Kauffmann, 66, was ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church 40 years ago Monday. After serving in various churches across Virginia for 23 years, the Richmond native returned home and was appointed pastor of Saint Benedict in 1999 and served in that role until November 2015.

He is now an administrator at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Norfolk.

The priest could not be reached for comment.

Kauffmann is a dynamic preacher who knows how to engage the church, Saint Benedicts congregation members said.

The church was like dying almost and he came and rejuvenated everything, Premaza said. I just cant say enough about him.

The priest was able to help the congregation understand Scripture and dense doctrine, said Jack Garden of Richmond.

He touches people. Hes got a lot of joy in his wording, Garden said.

Garden said the celebration is expected to have about 200-300 attendees, including other priests and local nuns.
Editors note: How does a smart young man, known as a straight arrow with ambition, spiral deeply out of control, become a stranger to his family, and land in jail? This is the first of two stories examining the death of Henrico County teenager Lutalo Octave, one of 126 inmates who died in Virginia jails or prisons in 2015.

Gloria Octave struggled to connect with her son in their final conversation, a month after he nearly burned the familys Highland Springs home to the ground.

She asked him about the Henrico County Jails library. How were the books?

She tried to soothe him with one of her corny jokes. He shook his head and groaned.

When I come back, youre going to have jokes for me, she told him through the phone in a visitors booth at the jail last September.

Lutalo Octave, 19, clutched the phone on his side of the protective glass between them. Mom, can I come home? he asked.

Babe, you cant come home now  not until we know where your head is, she told the youngest of her five children. Weve got to find out where your head is.

Mental health workers at the jail recently had diagnosed Lutalo with schizophreniform disorder, the early stage of schizophrenia. Gloria had been trying to get him transferred to a mental hospital, because she believed he didnt belong behind bars.

When Lowell Octave, one of his brothers, took a turn in the visitors booth, Lutalo asked him the same question over and over: Can I come home?

Lowell tried to explain the severity of the situation to Lutalo.

Bro, you committed a crime  a very dangerous crime at that, Lowell told him. You almost burned somebody elses house down just trying to burn our house down. You cant come home right now.

Lowell reassured his brother that theyd get him out as soon as they could. Lutalo looked at him with defeated eyes, then got up and shuffled off.

His walk away was just hopeless, Lowell recalled. There was nothing I could say, because Im behind the glass.

That was the last time any of the Octaves saw Lutalo alive.

***

Gloria grew up on the pavement of Brooklyn, N.Y., with strict rules from her father about how far down the sidewalk she was allowed to roam.

As a grown woman with three children of her own, she wanted to give them room to breathe and explore. She and her husband, Frank Octave, left New York and moved closer to her family in North Carolina.

The U.S. Postal Service, where Gloria worked, transferred her to Richmond. Frank, a native of Guyana, was a truck driver and often was on the road.

With their children Lemuel, Evelyn and Lowell in tow, they settled in Henrico and had two more children: Leighton in 1995 and Lutalo in 1996.

Gloria, a devout woman who drops Bible verses into casual conversation, named some of her children after biblical characters. Lutalo was given an African name that means warrior.

Gloria couldnt shuttle five kids around to separate sports and activities, so they often did the same things: swim lessons, jobs as lifeguards, actors in school plays, members of the marching band.

The Octaves often joked that they had music in their name. Playing instruments became a big part of their lives at school, at home and at their church, the Richmond Christian Center.

Lowell played the trumpet. Leighton played the saxophone. Lutalo picked the tuba.

Lutalo had been the smallest of the Octave babies, but he quickly outgrew his siblings. He was strong and had the build of a football or basketball player, but sports didnt interest him, said Leighton, who is based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Neither did violence. When Leighton tried to teach Lutalo to fight, he wouldnt engage.

He was not physically athletic, he was mentally athletic, Lowell said. That was his arena.

Lutalo preferred to read books and research everything from politics to product recalls online.

His family never knew what he would say next or when he would crack a subtle joke at their expense. He used to time himself as he entered the names of countries and their capitals into the computer by memory.

The family moved into a five-bedroom, 2,900-square-foot home in the Clarendon Woods subdivision in eastern Henrico in the mid-2000s. Neighbors who live on Chickview Court, where the Octaves lived, say its the kind of place where the residents wave at passing cars and children gather in the cul-de-sac each evening to play basketball.

Lutalo loved gardening with his mother and cooking for his siblings. Hed combine two boxes of cake mix to make elaborate treats shaped like castles, decorated with marshmallows, his all-time favorite.

He was a whiz at video games such as SimCity, RollerCoaster Tycoon and Minecraft. Lowell said he and his siblings were so entertained by Lutalo, theyd watch him build sprawling cities and elaborate houses for hours at a time.

He would say, Youre not going to play this game, but I am, so what do you want? Name me your dream house,  Lowell recalled.

And Id say, Give me a house by the lake. OK, I got you. Do you want to be a part of Richmond, or do you want your own city? 

He parlayed his experiences building cities into the real world. As theyd drive around town, hed question the logic of zoning ordinances.

Lutalo expressed an interest in studying psychology like Lowell, who was attending Virginia State University. But Lowell convinced him to pursue his passion for city planning at Virginia Commonwealth University after he graduated from Highland Springs High School in 2014.

As that summer drew to a close, Lutalo made a selfie video in the car as his family drove him into downtown Richmond to drop him off at VCU.

He was upbeat and smiling. Gloria sat beside him, beaming, and his sister, Evelyn, popped up from the back to wave at the camera.

Today is August 15, 2014. Im going to college, Lutalo said into the camera. My sister in the back. This is my mom next to me. There goes my brother driving.

This is a momentous occasion, Gloria said in her deep, melodic voice. Yes! Now youll be able to make more choices in life.

***

Frank was the first member of the family to raise any flags about Lutalos behavior.

After he left for college, Lutalo lost three cellphones and the computer he had been given  and he wouldnt answer questions directly when his family tried to find out what had happened to all of his devices.

Hold on, this is too much money, Gloria recalled Frank saying. Somethings not right.

Gloria began to feel like Lutalo was withdrawing. It wasnt like him to ignore her calls, because he knew it displeased her.

He got into trouble that fall, after he was found passed out in the lobby of his dormitory with a bottle of liquor in his hand. Lutalo hadnt been a heavy drinker previously.

Gloria met him at the hospital and blamed the alcohol for the strange way he was speaking to her.

Hes always been a sensitive person, Gloria said. If he would withdraw for a minute, he would bounce back.

But this time, he didnt seem to return to his former self after he left the hospital.

Later, Lutalo totaled the family car and couldnt explain how the crash had happened.

After one semester at VCU, Lutalo told Gloria he was moving back home to get a job in city planning. Gloria initially thought he was in a program to get credit for his degree but then realized that wasnt the case.

She didnt understand why he would want to move home, because he had been so excited to go off to school.

He would not answer me directly, Gloria said. He would give me vague answers. I couldnt pin him down.

She couldnt get any information out of VCU, either, because legally Lutalo was an adult.

***

When Lowell came home for the summer, the troubles for Lutalo escalated. He lost his job as a swimming pool lifeguard because he couldnt focus, and friends called to say they had seen him wandering around and talking to himself.

He also seemed to be obsessed with getting the family together to drink alcohol.

He liked that it would bring everyones guard down, Lowell said. Everybody could communicate on kind of the same level.

Frank told the family to try to spend as much time with Lutalo as they could, so Leighton started coming home from Camp Lejeune on weekends.

One night, Lutalo wandered away from a skating rink where Leighton and Lowell had taken him and later insisted his brothers had left him behind. Leighton was frustrated and angry.

I knew my brother normally didnt act like this, so I figured he was just acting out, Leighton said recently. I said, Lutalo, I know you are smarter than this. Why do you keep doing stuff like this? 

***

One day when everyone left the house, Lutalo piled clothes on the floor and set them on fire. His oldest brother, Lemuel, came home and put it out.

The family staged an intervention and begged him to get professional help. They asked him to stop drinking.

Sometime in July, Gloria dropped him off with a pastor at their church, but before she could get far, the pastor called and asked her to come back.

Hes not going to talk, the pastor told her. Hes only here because his parents made him come.

He also said Lutalo was dangerous and warned Gloria not to leave him alone around her grandchildren, Evelyns children. He said Gloria should seek psychiatric help for him as soon as possible.

Frank immediately made an appointment to get his son help at the Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services office. Frank was on the road on the day of the appointment, but he found out later that Lutalo left the office because he became tired of waiting.

Frank took Lutalo to the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, hoping to get his son to open up about how he was feeling. Instead, Lutalo sat in the sand by himself, digging holes. He was oblivious when teenage girls walked by and tried to flirt.

Once, when he was mowing the yard, he ran over the pear trees and the rest of the garden, destroying what he and his mother had planted earlier that year. She couldnt believe what she was seeing.

Another time, Gloria was looking for Lutalo in the yard. She walked by a pile of leaves and grass and felt heat on her legs.

I took a stick and moved it, and there was a fire underneath there, smoldering, she said.

She put out the fire, then called the fire department. The dispatcher said they didnt need to come to the house, because the fire had been extinguished.

Someone needs to do something about this, she recalled saying.

***

Lowell Octave called his mom and dad when Lutalo lit another fire inside the familys home.

I said, Mom, Dad  Lutalo did it again. He set fire to the carpet again. What are we going to do? We have to get him help, said Lowell, who at the time was home from Virginia State University for the summer.

The Octave family had decided to engage police, because Lutalo wouldnt go to see a doctor or therapist voluntarily, so Lowell called 911.

Police officers checked out the house and interviewed Lutalo, but he had buttoned up his shirt and was speaking to them in a rational, reassuring voice. The officers decided that since there wasnt much damage and no one was home at the time, they werent going to arrest him.

They said that they couldnt do anything unless he was either a harm to himself or a harm to somebody else, Lowell said. It was like, how do you make that call to say that your own family member is a danger to society or to anybody who is around?

Lowell tried to explain to the officers that the family didnt believe he would harm anyone, but they didnt know exactly what he was capable of doing.

Thats why were calling you, to figure out what we should do from here, Lowell said he told the police.

Gloria said she begged the Henrico mental health office to help her son, but because he was legally an adult, no one could force him to see a doctor if he wasnt threatening himself or anyone else.

We were pulling at straws, she said. I know my son; I know when he can put on that front and when hes just not himself. How can we get them to hear us? How can we legally get something done?

Frank threw up his hands in frustration.

What, they just want him to hurt somebody? she recalled her husband saying. The family was at a loss.

They discussed whether someone should stay home with him 24 hours a day. Gloria wondered whether she needed to bring him to work with her at the post office.

Time was running out. Lowell had to go back to Virginia State for the fall semester.

Lutalo would be home alone all day.

***

Three hundred and sixty-four days after Lutalos family dropped him off at VCU, Lowells phone rang as he was waking up in his apartment near Virginia State. It was his childhood friend, who still lived around the corner from the Octaves home.

Yo, your house is on fire and your brother is just sitting in a puddle of water in front of the fire  just sitting there in the water, Lowell recalled his friend saying.

Your house is burning to the ground. Do you want me to come get you?

Lowell said yes and then called Frank, who was out on the road. Frank called Gloria at the post office. She was the only person on duty, but she found someone to cover for her so she could get home.

I was just dumbfounded seeing my house burning, Gloria said. It was just  it was unreal.

The neighbor across the street, Tracie Holliday, said she could see the flames from several streets away when she rushed home at her daughters request. By the time the fire was extinguished, not much of the old house was left.

When Lowell arrived, he saw Lutalo standing outside, staring off into space as if he wasnt really there.

I didnt really have any questions to ask him because I knew he wasnt right in the head, and I knew that he wasnt going to give me a straight answer, so I didnt even waste my breath or my time with that, Lowell said.

The fire was started with an accelerant in the room of Lemuel, the oldest Octave sibling. It engulfed the house and was so intense it damaged a neighbors house.

When Henrico police started asking Lutalo questions, Glorias motherly instincts kicked in and she tried to get close to him.

How can yall talk to him without a lawyer? she asked.

Every time she stepped closer to him, they sent her away.

Im like, Hes just 18. Hes a baby! He needs somebody over there, she said.

Gloria heard Lutalo tell police he had been cooking stir fry and the house caught on fire.

Without saying anything to the family, the police handcuffed him and took him to jail, Lowell said. He was charged with arson in Henricos domestic relations district court. It was Lutalos first arrest, but his family had encountered the legal system previously.

Frank pleaded guilty to indecent exposure in 2008 for an incident with a female relative that occurred in 2003. That same year, Lemuel pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual battery and had to register as a sex offender. In that case, the female victim was younger than 13 and wasnt a relative.

Its unclear how much of an effect, if any, the criminal cases involving his father and brother had on Lutalos psychological state.

But his family said he showed no signs of mental illness before he left for college in 2014. Once the symptoms first appeared, he quickly spiraled out of control.

Schizophrenia typically surfaces between the ages of 16 and 30, according to the National Institutes of Health. Scientists believe several genes contribute to the onset of the disease, which is incurable, and it also may be brought on by environmental factors.

At least among the brothers, Lutalo was always seen as the good child, Leighton said. The rest of us would do stuff and get in trouble and get suspended, but Lutalo would always stay home and read books.

Lowell added: Him going from a bookworm to, like, an aggressive pyro is just two ends of the spectrum.

Gloria went to the Henrico jail to tell them her son should not be locked up  that he needed help from a mental hospital.

Maam, weve got to lock him up because this is a crime, she remembers the officer saying to her. Maybe he can get help when hes in jail.

She recalled feeling a twinge of hope.

Coming tomorrow: Lutalo Octave threatens suicide several times in jail. Then hes left alone in a cell with a sheet and a shelf.

Fire destroys Henrico home Henrico County officials are trying to determine what caused a fire this morning that destro

Henrico 18-year-old arrested after extensive fire at his home Henrico County fire officials arrested an 18-year-old man Friday and charged him with settin

Henrico man charged with setting parents' house on fire hangs himself A Henrico County man who had been charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to his par
MARTIN, Edward M. III, 69, of Mechanicsville, went to be with the Lord on July 13, 2016, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Norma Martin. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Betsy; daughters, Shannon Nuckols, Shara Seals (Jay) and Brittany Turner (Ben); son, Ryan Horn; and grandchildren, Mason and Hannah. Ed will be missed by many devoted family and friends. He served as a medic in the Army National Guard for four years. Ed was an EMS volunteer with West End Rescue Squad in his earlier years, spent the last 43 years serving the Hanover community as a volunteer with Hanover Fire and EMS, and was recognized as a life member of East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad. He was the founder and president of Hanover Hounds K9 Search and Rescue and was responsible for establishing K9 Veterans Day in the state of Virginia, which is celebrated annually on March 13. He enjoyed playing music as a multi-instrumentalist in his current band, King Edward and the BD's, which he started in 1966 at John Marshall High School. Ed loved to travel and take cruises with his family and friends. He was full of life, love and laughter. The family will receive friends on Sunday, July 17, from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m., at Bliley's-Staples Mill, 8510 Staples Mill Rd. Funeral services will be held on Monday, July 18, at 12 noon, at Mechanicsville Baptist Church, Atlee Rd., Mechanicsville, Va. Interment to follow in Washington Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hanover Hounds K9 Search and Rescue or East Hanover Volunteer Rescue Squad.
An editorial regarding Donald Trumps selection of Mike Pence as his running mate appears on Richmond.com. A print version will appear on the Editorial Page in tomorrows Commentary section.

African slaves arrived in what would become the United States before the Pilgrims. The slave trade dates to Virginia in 1619. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner are promoting legislation to establish a commission to plan activities commemorating the 400th anniversary of the introduction of Africans to North America. According to Kaines office the commission would be charged with recognizing the resilience and contribution of African-Americans since 1619, as well as acknowledging the painful impact that slavery and laws that enforced racial discrimination have had on our nations history.

Virginia would be the focal point of much of the commissions activity. By telling the truth, the effort would encourage reconciliation.

We didnt land on Plymouth Rock, said Malcolm X. Plymouth Rock landed on us. Slaverys roots lie in Virginia, to be precise.

On Sunday the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia and the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities will sponsor a conversation on race, law enforcement, and coming together. The session, which will feature the participation of attendees, will run from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the museum, 122 W. Leigh Street. This, too, will contribute to the truth and reconciliation process.

The horrific events of last week  the deaths of two black men at the hands of white police officers, then the slaying of five white officers by a black man in Dallas  have shocked the nation. Anger and dismay have run high. The feelings are understandable.

Commendably, many Americans have responded by putting down their talking points and their reflexive defensiveness and sincerely trying to bridge the troubling divides among people who see things differently but endure a shared pain. Connie McGowan, a Richmond photographer, brought many people together in Byrd Park on Sunday for a unity event.

Unfortunately, not everyone responds in a similar fashion. On Tuesday night, somebody vandalized the police memorial statue  also in Byrd Park  by painting it with a red X. Justice for Alton was spray-painted on the brick around it. (Alton Sterling is one of the black men killed by police last week.) This achieves nothing. It does not change minds or elevate the dialogue. It only makes people mad and deepens divisions.

The memorial will be fixed, the paint removed. The impression left by McGowans big city family reunion will linger long after the vandals cheap stunt is forgotten.

Vandals have been defacing Joe Morrisseys campaign signs. We agree with the candidate: This must stop. Now if only someone could get Morrissey to stop vandalizing the citys reputation.

Speaking of the mayoral campaign: The Times-Dispatch has invited the candidates to meet the Editorial Board in sessions that would be recorded for posting online. We also have asked the candidates to respond to questions posed by the board; their answers will be published in our opinion pages. A Sept. 15 Public Square at the Library of Virginia will feature a mayoral debate. We intend to be an indispensable election resource.

Speaking of elections: We predict that Hillary Clinton will carry Virginia, with or without Tim Kaine on the ticket.

This week the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts released some long-awaited good news: The Faberge eggs will return to its collections. The Times-Dispatchs Katherine Calos reported that the five masterpieces will form the centerpiece of a new suite of galleries displaying Russian decorative arts. The objects have been on an international tour and have been greatly missed.

The eggs and associated pieces rank among the VMFAs most popular attractions. The museum boasts the finest collection of Russian artifacts outside Russia itself. They draw repeat visits.

Under the guidance of Leslie Cheek, the VMFA earned a reputation for presentation. That tradition persists. Indeed, the museums acclaimed expansion has enhanced the experience. The Faberge eggs have been shown in different galleries but the atmosphere always has recalled the novels of Tolstoy, the poetry of Pushkin and the music of Tchaikovsky. While enjoying the eggs, we expect to run into Vronsky and Anna Karenina, Natasha and Pierre. They also conjure images of Mathilde Kschessinska in Swan Lake and Olga Spessivtseva in Giselle as well as dreams that cannot come true.
It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?

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A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Ginger Stanley wore outrageous stockings to the General Assembly one year while she was lobbying, knowing they would grab the attention of every lawmakers secretary.

She was terrific at networking with secretaries and legislative aides, all of whom were then quick to get her an in with lawmakers when she needed a meeting or tip her off to sudden meeting changes, said Anne Adams, president of the Virginia Press Association and owner of The Recorder newspaper in Monterey.

Stanley, 67, executive director of the Virginia Press Association for the past 28 years, bid adieu Friday to about 160 friends and associates at her retirement party at the trade associations office in western Henrico County. Her last day there was June 30.

She was honored at Fridays event for being the voice of the Freedom of Information Act (a law that gives citizens the right to access information from the federal government), for maintaining vigilance and lobbying legislators to ensure a free press and transparent government in Virginia.

She also learned at the event that the Virginia Press Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports journalism in Virginia, had established a fund in her name.

We wanted to make sure your legacy is carried on, said Peter Yates, editor and general manager of the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg and former association president.

I never imagined something like this would happen, Stanley said. I am so blessed and honored.

The initial fundraising efforts were quiet and targeted because of the surprise, Yates said.

To date, more than 60 donors  individuals, organizations and member newspapers, have committed more than $31,600 in initial investments to the Ginger Stanley Fund.

One of Gingers greatest strengths was how much she cared about the members, no matter how large or how small, Yates said. She took the time to know them personally, celebrating their successes and helping to lift them through their challenging times.

Money from the fund will be directed toward the core principles of the foundation  literacy for all Virginians, training journalists in responsible doctrine and recognizing excellence in journalism  which align with how Stanley approached her work, Yates said.

In other words, her good works will now live on, and I cant think of a more fitting tribute, he said.

Ginger is caring, classy and courageous, Adams said.

She has never failed to give VPA and its members the kind of service and dedication we demanded  and kicks in the rear when we needed them, she said. Working for newspapers is hard. Working for a board of disparate newspaper people from all over the state, daily and non-daily, is even harder.

Adams recalled how Stanley came to the rescue and rallied support for a small weekly newspaper in Culpeper (White Dog Publishing v. Culpeper County Board of Supervisors) in its appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court in a case involving the Freedom of Information Act.

In 2006, the high court concluded that the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors violated the law by going into closed session regarding construction of a public high school.
Virginia is far from the only state in the nation facing a mental health crisis in its jails, according to a national study of the issue released Thursday.

A survey by the national nonprofits Treatment Advocacy Center and Public Citizen found jails across the country are increasingly crowded with inmates with mental illnesses, yet very little training is available for the officers tasked with their care.

Virginia leaders have been grappling with mental health reform for well over a decade  long before Jamycheal Mitchells death at Hampton Roads Regional Jail; before state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, was attacked by his son with bipolar disorder; and before Seung-Hui Cho killed dozens of fellow classmates at Virginia Tech.

Yet little has been done to change the system, said John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center.

Virginia is one of the states that needs to read the writing on the wall and take mental health seriously, Snook said in a conference call held Thursday to release the results of the survey.

None of this is news to Tammy Farmer, whose son, Thomas Jeter, died of an overdose at their Chesterfield County home in 2011.

Jeter, who had been an active and outgoing teenager, developed severe depression and anxiety when he was 20 years old. He wound up self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and developed addictions.

He went to jail after he was caught stealing cough syrup, but he was not given his medication behind bars. He also was stripped naked to keep him from hanging himself with his clothes.

Farmer said the humiliation crushed him and the lack of medicine sent him on a downward spiral.

Throughout the years, as mental hospitals were shuttered or downsized, many severely ill patients wound up on the streets, said Dr. Fuller Torrey, founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center. On the whole, state and local governments didnt set up enough resources on the community level to keep people stabilized.

Thats resulted in about a million people with serious mental illnesses living in communities who would have been hospitalized 50 years ago, Torrey said. Half of those people arent receiving treatment, and about 200,000 are homeless.

Americas mental health system largely requires people with mental illness to reach a point of crisis before theyre eligible for long-term psychiatric care, so many of them wind up in jails first.

These are crimes of survival  not because they are a master criminal, but because they are trying to survive on the streets, said Tom Dart, sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, who participated in the conference call. Cook County includes Chicago and is the most populous county in Illinois.

Jails are the last place a person with mental illness should go to get better, Dart said, especially when many of them wind up in solitary confinement.

When the day comes to release them, their issues are greater than when they came in, Dart said.

The survey included responses from 230 sheriffs departments that operated jails in 39 states. Seven Virginia jails participated in the study.

Almost half of the jails reported that 2 percent or less of the initial training provided to their staff and deputies was dedicated to dealing with inmates with serious mental illnesses. About 60 percent of jails said only two hours or less of annual training is provided on the topic. Still, about a third of the jails reported that 11 percent or more of their employees time involved handling inmates with serious mental illnesses.

Jail personnel are challenged on a daily basis to try to provide care for these inmates that, as they put it, their training has not prepared them for, said Dr. Azza AbuDagga, health services researcher for Public Citizen and the reports lead author.

Whenever possible, people with mental illnesses who commit crimes should be kept out of jails and diverted into treatment programs, the report recommends. Outpatient treatment programs should be expanded, as well as intake screening in jails.

The reports authors also recommend jails provide proper treatment for inmates with serious mental illnesses and that states expand the number of beds available to treat patients.

Jennifer Hoff of Orange County, California, who participated in the conference call, said she felt her son  who has bipolar disorder, among other illnesses  was pushed off a cliff when he turned 18 because as an adult, only he could seek out treatment for himself. But he was unaware that he was sick.

Hes been in jail for years, including two cumulative years in solitary confinement.

I can say without a doubt that our system for caring for the mentally ill is completely and utterly broken, Hoff said. We want this pain to stop for everyone.

Other findings:

Just over a third of the jails reported providing individual psychiatric care, and about 10 percent reported providing group psychotherapy.

About 42 percent of the jails in the survey reported offering pharmacy services, even though medications are central to stabilize people with serious mental illnesses.

Less than a quarter of the jails said they offer a support system for inmates with mental illnesses once the inmates are released.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has cited Donald Trumps new running mate as an example of a conservative Republican governor who found a way to expand Medicaid.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, whom the presumptive GOP presidential nominee will introduce Saturday as his choice for vice president, has long advocated repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but in January 2015 his state received federal approval for its own version of Medicaid expansion.

Indianas plan, which features health savings accounts, seeks to promote personal responsibility by requiring low-income people to contribute to the cost of their care.

We became the first state in America to reform traditional Medicaid for all able-bodied adults with the launch of the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0, Pence said in January in his State of the State address.

McAuliffe, a close friend of Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has sought without success to win support for Medicaid expansion in the Virginia General Assembly.

Virginias Democratic governor cited Pence as an example just after Indiana received permission from the federal government to implement its own version of Medicaid expansion.

Even conservative Republican governors like Mike Pence in Indiana have seen the light, McAuliffe said, according to remarks prepared for his appearance at a health care sign-up event in February 2015.

The federal government just approved the Hoosier states plan last week. But while Virginias legislators mull over all of that, Im working hard every day to make sure every Virginian has a shot at affordable health care.

Virginia Speaker of the House Bill Howell, R-Stafford, and Pence spoke during Virginias battle over Medicaid expansion in 2014, according to Matt Moran, a spokesman for Howell.

The speaker doesnt agree with Governor Pences position on Medicaid expansion, but appreciates his conservative leadership on taxes and spending, Moran said Friday.

His nomination doesnt lessen the Houses opposition to expanding Medicaid at all.

In a letter to Howell dated May 30, 2014, Pence noted that he had discussed the issue with the Virginia speaker and he applauded GOP efforts in the House of Delegates to resist traditional Medicaid expansion in Virginia.

While the specific solutions Indiana has proposed may not be the best approach for other states such as Virginia, Pence wrote, I believe our respective experiences in reform can help guide the future of Medicaid in America.

Virginia House Majority Leader Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said Friday that he likes Trumps selection of Pence, citing his experience as an executive and as a member of Congress.

Cox said he believes Pence has been a very good governor, noting that he pushed for a balanced budget amendment to Indianas state constitution.

But he splits with Pence on Medicaid expansion.

On that issue I do disagree, Cox said, underscoring that Virginia Republicans do not believe that the federal government can meet its pledge of assuming no less than 90 percent of the costs to the state.

In his State of the Commonwealth address in January, McAuliffe again urged lawmakers to find a way forward together on Medicaid expansion.

Each day that we do not close the coverage gap, we forfeit $6.6 million in federal money, McAuliffe said. Each month we are wasting $15 million in costs to state taxpayers that could be covered entirely with federal dollars.

In a 2010 speech in Richmond to the Family Foundation of Virginia, Pence, then a member of Congress, urged repeal of the Affordable Care Act. If Obamacare becomes permanent, he said, it will forever change the relationship between the American people and their national government.
Ford Indias Endeavour BS6 is only available with a 2.0-litre diesel powertrain

Ford Motor Companys Endeavour, known as Everest outside India, has been a popular 7-seater SUV in global markets for many years. The Ford Everest was initially introduced as a five-door SUV avatar of the iconic Ford Ranger four-door pickup truck, but soon became one of the best names in the segment. The mid-size SUV (according to the US market) is currently in its third generation and India has already received its updated BS6 avatar.

The 2020MY Ford Endeavour BS6 was launched in January at a starting price of Rs 29.55 lakh ex-showroom. Ford India has ditched the old BS4-compliant 2.2-litre four-cylinder (158bhp/385Nm) and 3.2-litre five-cylinder (197bhp/470Nm) diesel variants for an all-new 2.0-litre EcoBlue mill. Another highlight is its 10-speed automatic transmission co-developed by Ford Motor Company and General Motors.

As you may know, diesel powertrains are more of a rarity in foreign markets. Yet, the Ford Everest is one of the few names which have mostly got diesel variants. It is currently available with a 2.0-litre petrol mill in important markets such as China (under Changan Ford Motor and Jiangling Motors). Now, reports state that it will be getting a new 2.3-litre petrol motor later this month.

This piece of information is particularly interesting since global automotive industries are struggling to continue business amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. China, the epicentre of SARS-CoV-2, is going through a stage of recovery and businesses are returning to their former state. Chinas automotive industry is a prime example of this.

The current 2.0-litre EcoBoost turbo four-cylinder petrol motor makes roughly 244bhp and 360Nm of torque while mated to a 6-speed SelectShift automatic. The upcoming 2.3-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder churns out around 271bhp and 455Nm while coupled to the new 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission.

We dont expect this powertrain to come to India even though the Toyota Fortuner is available in a BS6 petrol format albeit in low demand. The Indian-spec Ford Endeavours 2.0-litre diesel four-cylinder develops 168bhp and 420Nm of torque. In international markets, this power plant is available in a twin-turbo setup, pushing the output to 207bhp and 500Nm.

The Ford Endeavour primarily locks horns with the Ford Endeavour and Mahindra Alturas G4 but could face tight competition from the upcoming MG Gloster. The rebadged Maxus D90 is not a direct rival to the popular 7-seaters in terms of powertrain. However, MG Motor India could price it aggressively to seep into the Endeavours purchase margin.

Source
Tata Motors is all set to deliver future ready and technologically advanced, made in India electric cars. The first such car will be launched by March 2020, confirmed Tata Motors. Though the company has not confirmed which car will be the first to get the ZIPTRON technology, we believe it could be either the Nexon electric or the Altroz electric.

What is Ziptron technology? Tata says, ZIPTRON technology comprises of a highly efficient permanent magnet AC motor providing superior performance on demand. It also offers best in industry dust and water proof battery system meeting IP67 standards. Further, ZIPTRON utilizes smart regenerative braking to charge the battery while on the drive.

With this new electric technology, Tata Motors aims to redefine the electric car segment. Not only their electric cars will come with world class features and technology, their pricing will be aggressive as they will be made in India. Below is the first teaser video of this new tech.

Mr. Guenter Butschek, CEO & MD, Tata Motors said, We are proud to present this state-of-art technology brand  ZIPTRON, which has been designed in-house while utilizing our global engineering network. At the heart of our future EV line-up, this technology will deliver a thrilling driving experience to our customers aspiring to go-green.

Rigorously tested across 1 million kms, ZIPTRON technology is well proven, advanced and reliable. With this technology, we hope to usher in a new wave of eMobility in India and accelerate faster adoption of EVs, supporting the Governments vision.

Speaking about the new gen electric car of Tata Motors Ziptron tech, it could be either the Altroz EV, which was showcased at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, or the Nexon electric SUV, which has already spied on test.

Considering that the Nexon EV has already entered the test phase, it is more likely to become the first Tata electric car with Ziptron technology. Not much details are available as of now about the Tata Nexon electric, but it is expected to get larger battery than on offer with the Tigor EV. This will deliver more driving range, expected of about 300 kms on full charge. Price could be in the range of Rs 15 lakhs.
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 ...
Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Urban affairs, investigations, consumer help ("SOS") Follow Chris Rickert | Wisconsin State Journal Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Another week, another Black Lives Matter protest in Madison  two actually: one that marched up State Street to the Capitol and Dane County Jail, and one that sought to shut down police headquarters.

God bless the right of Americans to protest anything, just about anywhere. But I dont know how much good blocking the doors to the police department does in todays polarized political environment. Preaching to ones allies and irritating ones opponents seem equally pointless.

But the protests can help highlight some myths and realities of the communitys frayed relationship with police.

Reality is the disturbing racial disparities seen in arrests and incarceration in Madison and the rest of Wisconsin. While blacks nationally make up about 13 percent of the population, FBI data show they accounted for about 28 percent of all arrests in 2014. In Madison the comparable figures are much worse: about 7.5 percent and, according to the 2015 Madison Police annual report, 45 percent.

Its a similar story in the state as a whole, according to census data and a report from the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Blacks only account for between 6 percent to 7 percent of the population but accounted for about 24 percent of arrests in 2012.

Arrest disparities in Madison almost certainly have something to do with the comparatively lower rates of income, education, employment and other measures of quality of life in the black community. Racial bias in the criminal justice system and among those who call police play roles, too.

Then there are geography and population. A 2014 report by Gannett newspapers showed racial disparities in arrests were most prominent in the Midwest and Northeast and least prevalent in Southern states with much higher percentages of black residents. Perhaps familiarity between blacks and police breeds equity.

The myth is that Madisons experience fits into the overriding narrative of the Black Lives Matter movement  that theres an epidemic of unarmed black, mostly law-abiding men being shot and killed by policefor no reason.

The minor increase in fatal police shootings by Madison police over the last three and a half years is real enough, but if theres any epidemic, race has little to do with it.

Five of the seven people shot and killed by police since November 2012 have been white, five were armed (but only one with a firearm), three had histories of mental illness and two were intoxicated.

Perhaps its not surprising that the two unarmed victims  Paul Heenan, who was white, and Tony Robinson, who was black  were the intoxicated ones, or that their cases have received the most attention from the public and the press.

But if police bias can be measured in fatal police shootings, Madison police would of late appear to be biased against whites, the armed and the disturbed.

Black lives matter. So do the lives of the mentally ill and of people who would have sobered up in the morning, or who were so temporarily distraught or hopeless they disobeyed police orders to drop their weapons.

Maybe thats too detailed for a Madison protest.
Tafua Primary School in Savaii celebrated the official opening of its new school building yesterday.

The reconstruction project was mostly funded under Japans Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects which provided up to US$126,589 to Tafua Primary School Committee. Additional costs were borne by the school itself.

The grant was signed over in January this year and the project included eight classrooms, staff room, a library and a toilet block.

Ambassador of Japan to Samoa, Tuimaugaoalii Kazumasa Shibuta gave a keynote address at the ceremony in Tafua, and stressed Japans commitment to funding projects such as this.

The government of Japan is very keen and committed to supporting the Government of Samoa to achieve its objectives outlined in the Strategy of Development of Samoa (S.D.S) at community and national levels which prioritize education, he said.

The new classrooms will provide a more conducive learning environment for more than 100 students who are educated there.

Japans Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects provides assistance to non-governmental organizations, primary schools, hospitals and other non-profit associations that have a direct impact on the well-being of communities.

Since the inception of this scheme more than 150 projects have successfully completed and benefitted many Samoan communities with its outcome.
An Idaho man described as one of the main drivers in a marijuana distribution ring between Madison and the West Coast was sentenced Friday to four years' probation and fined $3,000 in U.S. District Court in Madison.

Christopher Christmas, 25, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to import and distribute marijuana.

Based on an investigation by federal, state and local authorities, Christmas and seven other young men, all college students, were accused of buying marijuana from suppliers in California and Colorado and transporting it to Madison where investors in the scheme then sold it.

As many as 18 loads of marijuana, ranging from five pounds to 50 pounds each, were brought here between September 2012 and February 2015, prosecutors said.

They said Christmas was one of the key players who drove to California with tens of thousands of dollars and returned with parcels of pot.

Christmas is the last of eight defendants to receive his sentence. Five were given federal prison terms ranging from one year to three years. Two others were put on probation.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation; and the Dane County Narcotics Task Force.
Turkish Americans in Madison keeping watchful eye on coup attempt

Turkish Americans thousands of miles away in Madison were keeping close tabs on the country as the coup was unfolding Friday evening.

Most members of Madison resident Mehmet Erguns family live in Turkey, and his hometown is a 45-minute plane ride from the capital.

The UW-Madison Ph.D. student said he was shocked to hear of the unrest Friday afternoon.

He said he didnt think the coup attempt would have a large effect on the countrys internal affairs.

Within a week, things will hopefully go back to normal, he said Friday evening.

Retired UW-Madison professor Kemal Karpat taught Turkish politics and history at the school for 37 years. He said on Friday evening that it seems only a small portion of the military is involved in the coup and that there doesnt appear to be a large amount of support from the general population.

He said the unrest will likely have little impact on Turkish relations with the United States and other countries, although its difficult to know what impact the events will have on the country internally.

Its is an extremely confusing situation at this time, he said. But its not good for the country.

 Haley Hansen, Wisconsin State Journal
Bao'an, Guangdong -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/15/2016 -- China is a fast emerging destination for companies around the world to procure quality and custom-made injection molds at affordable prices. The country has several reputed plastic injection mold makers that focus on custom mold making at an affordable cost. Eco molding Co. Ltd is a reputed Chinese mold manufacturer that is instrumental in the growth of the mold making business in China, because of their quality work and custom mold making at reasonable prices.



According to the spokesperson of the Chinese plastic injection molding company, they focus on dedicated design and engineering that stresses upon supplying custom molds in a timely and inexpensive manner. They supply plastic molds for various industries, including automotive, electronics, home appliances and general OEM applications. The company is a trustworthy and professional plastic injection mold maker in China, bringing more and more business to the country from offshore clients. With a modernized management system, each mold making project is handled with the due care and professionalism.



The company spokesperson reveals that they cater to the mold making needs of all big and small companies around the world. With cheap prices and high quality, the company supports the new product developments of the companies, both in big enterprises and the SME sector. They follow a strict production process and the prototypes are sent for the client's approval before starting the production work. In a well-equipped production workshop, the company engineers work to design and deliver the precise molds that meet the client expectations.



As a growth driver of the injection molding in China, Eco molding Company foresees a massive growth of demand in the quality and custom mold making service in the coming years. Accordingly, they are improving their production capacity and are adding machinery and tools to meet the growing demand of quality injection molding. One can learn more about their injection mold making services by visiting their website http://www.ecomolding.com/.



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Physicists and astronomers created a three-dimensional map of distant 1.2 million galaxies that would make precise measurements of the dark energy.

Jeremy Tinker of New York University and the co-leader of the scientific team explained that they have spent five years accumulating measurements of 1.2 million galaxies over one-quarter of the sky to map out the structure of the Universe over a volume of 650 cubic billion light years. He further explained that this map has allowed them to make the best measurements yet of the effects of dark energy and the expansion of the Universe. They are making the results and the map available to the world.

The research was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society this week. It was led by researchers from DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, according to Science Daily.

With the new map, which was constructed using the data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) program of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III the researchers can measure the expansion rate of the Universe. They can also determine the amount of matter and dark energy that would make up the present-day Universe. The astronomers could also analyze the changes that are taking place in the Universe and how dark energy influences it, according to Express.

David Schlegel, an astrophysicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and principal investigator for BOSS said that they have made the largest map for studying the 95 percent of the universe that is dark. He further said that in this map, they can see galaxies being gravitationally pulled towards other galaxies by dark matter. On much larger scales, they can see the effect of dark energy ripping the universe apart.

Dark energy is an undetermined form of energy which is theorized to enter all of the space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the Universe. It implies that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. If the standard model of cosmology is precise, the best current measurements suggest that dark energy contributes 69 percent of the total energy in the present-day observable universe.

The constructed map also shows the unique signature of the coherent movement of galaxies toward regions of the Universe with more matter, due to the attractive force of gravity. Natalie Roe, the Physics Division director at Berkeley Lab said that the results from BOSS deliver a solid foundation for even more precise future BAO measurements, such as those they expect from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). This will create a more detailed 3-dimensional map in a volume of space ten times bigger to precisely characterize dark energy--- and ultimately the future of the Universe.
I was always taught to see people, not race or background, but a person. I have worked to instill that same quality in my children. When I see them interact with others, I am reminded of what my mom said to me when I was first ordained as a pastor. She would say, Chris, love your people. Everything else will work out if you love your people. For the better part of 20 years, I have kept that as a personal mission. Sometimes, it means to express a tough love, but for the most part, it is the love I believe Jesus would show.

Over the last few years, we have seen people express many things to each other, but unfortunately, love hasnt been it. As we watch the news and read the papers, we see hate, divisiveness, malice toward many, selfishness, greed, not love. I truly believe that love does triumph. There is a song that has been recorded numerous times and it simply says:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It's the only thing that there's just too little of

What the world needs now is love, sweet love,

No not just for some but for everyone.

I guess being a DJ back in college, I am encouraged through lyrics. But dont those words challenge us all to being better people? I know it tells me to be better in the way I act with others.

I am also inspired by those who fought for the equality of others. While there have been many, one of my favorites is Martin Luther King Jr. Through imprisonment, wrongful treatment and abuse, he was able to encourage us as a people. He is quoted as saying, We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. What a challenge for all of us.

It truly is the power of love. In love, we find relationship, forgiveness, friendship and community. God bless you all and Godspeed.

Christopher Thornhill, a major with the Salvation Army in Florence, is a member of the Morning News Faith & Values Advisory Board. Contact him and other board members at fvboard@florencenews.com.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Some Pee Dee residents are expressing sympathy with Perry Noble, the ousted senior pastor of NewSpring Church, and say people shouldnt be too quick to judge him.

The churchs executive pastor, Shane Duffey, read a statement from the church during services on Sunday that said as outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and the churchs bylaws, Noble was no longer qualified to continue as pastor of NewSpring. The decision to release Noble from his duties was made by the churchs board of directors and the pastor advisory team.

The statement said that Nobles posture toward his marriage, increased reliance on alcohol and other behaviors were of continual concern.

Because Perry chose not to properly address these ongoing issues and didnt take the necessary steps toward correcting them, he is no longer qualified, as outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and the churchs bylaws, to continue as a pastor at NewSpring Church, the statement said.

Clayton King has been hired as the interim senior pastor. According to the NewSpring Church website, King runs Crossroads/Clayton King Ministries, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1995.

Some Pee Dee residents say people shouldnt judge Noble.

My opinion is that it can happen to anyone, said Carmie Thomas of Florence.

She said shes been in situations in the past and knows how it is.

Suddenly everyone has ideas and opinions about your family without even knowing the whole situation, she said. I pray for this man, as well as his family.

Thomas said it is so easy to judge, and easy to be put in the same situation the next day.

Judy Wallace of Florence said that instead of judging Noble, people should be praying for him. She said he is not the first pastor to fall into temptation, and he wont be the last because they are only human.

But I personally believe that we should let God be the judge, Wallace said. And let us pray for all pastors because Satan is out to cause as much trouble as he can, and we are helping by keeping this going.

Jacqueline Gattison of Darlington said if people love Noble as a pastor, it is time to support him and encourage him, not bash him.

Im not saying his actions were correct. I believe it was about alcohol, she said. Yes, he may have been under the influence and got caught, but just wonder how many in the church may also have been or be under the influence. Im not saying he was right, but hes human, and it didnt stop him from going to God for his members.

Gattison said she knows a few people who attend NewSpring, and they only have great things to say about Nobles preaching and teaching.

We all fall short of His glory, Gattison said. I pray your church (NewSpring) get understanding and back in Gods perspective place.

Attempts to reach NewSpring Florence pastors for comments were unsuccessful. NewSpring Churchs media representative said the church is not able to do interviews just yet.

Noble said in a Facebook Live video that he is taking steps to get better. The video was posted Wednesday afternoon.

I want to say to everyone at NewSpring church that I am sorry that I allowed a dependency on alcohol; I ran to it other than Jesus for my comfort and that was wrong. And I am sorry. And I am going to do whatever it takes to make it right, Noble said in the video.

He said he is checking in to a treatment facility and will work with some excellent people who will work with him in taking his next steps.

The church plans to hire a new senior pastor.
FLORENCE, S.C.  When St. Luke Lutheran Church's longtime members Max and Florrie Stockman died, they left their estate to the church. In 2014, an endowment fund was formed with the money received from the estate.

Once we established the program, we had to really get together and come to an agreement on the restrictions and the types of things wed be funding, said Conrad Seastrunk, chairman of the St. Luke Lutheran Church Endowment Fund committee.

The purpose of the fund is to enhance the mission outreach of the church, Seastrunk said. The churchs mission is to proclaim, serve and witness the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The endowment fund is able to give up to five percent of its year-end balance annually to support educational, religious and charitable purposes supported by St. Luke Lutheran Church.

This year, $73,665 was given to 21 different recipients, according to Seastrunk. Recipients included organizations such as Lighthouse Ministries, Camp RAE, Bethlehem Therapeutic Riding Stable and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Francis Marion University.

Seastrunk said a seminary scholarship was also established through the fund for any St. Luke member who is entering into seminary.

Agencies and causes that are interested in receiving grants from the endowment fund have to submit an application each year.

On our grant application, we ask them what their intentions are with the money. Some of them have specific projects that theyre working on, Seastrunk said. They will tell us what theyre looking for. If we approve it, we ask that they send us an expense form to see how they spent the money.

Mercy Medicine Free Clinic director Latrell Fowler said the organization received $4,500 from the endowment fund this year to assist with a diabetes program.

What we asked for was help with our diabetic patients because their supplies are so costly, Fowler said. We are able to purchase the meters that monitor the blood sugar as well as the strips and the needles they need.

Fowler said blood sugar monitoring supplies can cost up to $20 a month. Mercy Medicine is able to supply 30 diabetics with their supplies and some of their medications for up to a year, thanks to the grant from St. Luke.

That money is very helpful in us getting help to our diabetic patients that we wouldnt be able to otherwise, Fowler said.

Mercy Medicine is looking to have a trainer start at the clinic in August to talk with diabetic patients about increasing their physical activity. If funds are still available, Fowler said, the next step is to have a counselor on site to help patients deal with the chronic disease.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pee Dee Area executive director Joey Edwards said the endowment fund grant will help the organization fund a trip of a lifetime for some of its participants.

The community-based mentoring program matches children ages 6 to 18 with mentors in professionally supported one-to-one relationships.

A lot of these children that we work with, theyre pretty much disadvantaged children. A lot of time its financially strained, Edwards said. A lot of these children never get out of Florence County.

Edwards said the organization used to do a big trip in the fall or winter of every year and would carry about 40 children to Orlando, Fla. They call it a trip of a lifetime. Its another tool that is used to work with the children and help get them through their daily lives.

But Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Pee Dee Areas normal budget doesnt fund the trip.

We are very thankful they (St. Luke Lutheran Church) were able to help us with this because it does make a big difference in these childrens lives, a tool to encourage them in their behavior and academics, Edwards said.

The endowment fund is mainly funded through the Stockmans estate, but the church has also added a significant amount, Seastrunk said. The endowment is invested with the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation.

Weve really been very proud to do the things weve done, Seastrunk said.

Grant application forms can be found on the churchs website, www.stlukeflorence.org. Contact the church to make a gift to the fund and to learn more about it.
Thumbs up to Peaches. Shes also known as the Rev. Lethonia Barnes of Savannah Grove Baptist Church.

Shes the person who deserves most of the credit for spearheading the community conversation that was held Monday evening at Savannah Grove Baptist Church. Last week, we gave too much credit to S.C. Rep. Terry Alexander for organizing the forum.

Hundreds of people practically filled the large church on Alligator Road for a 90-minute gathering at which a group of community leaders spoke and answered questions from citizens about law enforcement and race relations.

We applaud everyone who was involved in bringing people together. We applaud citizens who took the time to come.

The meeting was timed four days after five Dallas police officers were fatally shot in an ambush as they patrolled a protest. That incident came shortly after fatal police shootings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Minneapolis area.

Thankfully, we havent had incidents of this extreme in and around Florence, and the point of Mondays forum was to keep it that way.

There were far more questions than answers at this local forum. Thats understandable. This problem cant be solved in 90 minutes.

But this was a good start. Organizers have every intention of continuing the dialogue. We hope there indeed will be follow through.

Community meetings like this have been held in the past, but after the meetings have ended, nothing much has happened.

Perhaps it was a good thing that people still stood in line at microphones and didnt get a chance to say what they came to say or ask the question that they wanted answered. Some of these people were frustrated that the meeting ended at 8 p.m., as planned, but we hope they will be the first ones in line to speak at the next meeting.

We need a continuing dialogue between citizens and law enforcement officials.

Some good points were made by panelists and others Monday.

Being different is not wrong, Alexander said near the beginning of the meeting.  If we had answers, we wouldnt be here.  We dont want this community to blow up because somebody disrespects somebody else.

Kelvin Wymbs, Florence School District Ones director of secondary education, said, Our youth are going to be watching our actions.

Ed Clements III, the 12th Circuit solicitor, quoted extensively from the Bible and said, What we need is a revival.

Darrin Yarborough, a special crimes lieutenant with the Florence County Sheriffs Office, said, Theres a disconnect. We need to find a way to get that connection back. He said when he was on street patrol, citizens used to invite him to their cookouts for something to eat and drink. Now they give you that look, because everybodys on edge.

Johnnie Abraham, a lieutenant with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), said, We need the community and the community needs us. We need to work together.

Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler recalled something his mother used to say. If youre a racist, youre a hater, and if youre a hater, youre not going to heaven, he said.

Pat Gibson-Hye Moore, a Florence School District One board member who recently was elected to the Florence City Council, said, Lets learn to get along and not fear each other.

One citizen said the school district needs to educate students on how to deal with law enforcement officials.

Wymbs didnt disagree but said, We need to talk to our kids about whats going on in this world and not just pass the buck to other people.

Peaches closed the meeting by asking, Will this be just another meeting? She noted that a similar meeting was held a year ago after the Charleston church massacre, and the result was nothing. Today we meet again, she said. Now its on you.

The problem goes deeper than race relations.

Weve got some heart problems, she said. Big heart problems, and rules and regulations cant fix those heart problems.

Shes right. The key is this: How many citizens who came to the Monday meeting will come to the next meeting? How soon will there be a next meeting? We hope its soon. Lets not lose momentum.

Thumbs up to the Windy Hill Fire Department. That praise comes from Pat Hensly of Quinby. A late night house fire on July 4th is something I will never forget, Pat wrote. The flames were higher than the house. I witnessed this and in 20 minutes Windy Hill fire dept. had it under control. We are blessed to have such a dedicated group of men who risk their lives to protect us. Many thanks to them. We lost our elderly neighbor in that fire, which was very sad, but more damage could have occurred if we didnt have these brave men.

A BIG THUMBS DOWN!!!! comes from Barbara Pecca of Florence. Why do most restaurants and fast-food places not have delivery service? she wrote. There are a lot of people who don't have vehicles or the cash to pay a taxi $20 to get to and from a restaurant or fast-food place. All you can get delivered is freaking pizza, and that gets REAL old REAL fast!! What's the deal, Florence?

Thumbs up, thumbs down is a regular feature of the Morning News and appears each Saturday on our Opinion page. We seek nominations for both good and bad deeds from our readers. Send nominations to us by email at letters@florencenews.com. Be sure use the word thumb in the subject and include a contact number. Thumbs can also be mailed to us c/o The Morning News, 310 S. Dargan St., Florence, S.C., 29506.
The beautiful wall Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump envisions would be 35 to 40 feet tall and 1,000 miles long, covering roughly half of the U.S.-Mexico border. Along the rest, natural barriers like rivers and mountains would continue to divide the two countries.

Trump estimates the project would cost $12 billion  though one estimate puts the pricetag as high as $25 billion. Whatever the amount, he says hell make Mexico pay by confiscating money its residents living here send back to their families.

Its tough to find anyone living along the borderlands  even those who agree with Trump that the international line is not secure  who thinks a wall is the solution. Instead, many border residents want fencing that makes sense for their area, agents and surveillance technology closer to the border, and a way for migrants to come here legally and work.

More than half of the 1,000 miles where Trump wants to build a wall are already fenced with a hodgepodge of steel plating, heavy-duty mesh, towering metallic slats and barbed wire. In remote areas, where the Border Patrol wants to stop cars loaded with illegal goods, chest-high vehicle barriers line the border. In cities, where crossers try to scale the fence and run, the poles are high and smooth.

Trump has given few details about his plan, but his August 2015 reference to it as being fashioned from beautiful nice precast plank indicate a solid wall  one that could take the place of the various fences that divide the border now.

Weve been here before. In 2006, six Arizona Daily Star journalists traveled the entire U.S.-Mexico border, analyzing the feasibility of the 700-mile double-pedestrian fence proposed then through the federal Secure Fence Act. The teams conclusion was that it would not work  natural barriers like rivers, canyons, mountains and shifting sand made a continuous fence impossible.

Congress tweaked the law in 2008, requiring the Department of Homeland Security to build fence where and however the agency felt it was needed.

This spring, with Trumps build the wall message resonating so powerfully that he became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a new team of Star reporters went back to the border. Their goal: to go beyond the political rhetoric and talk with people who live and work along the international line.

Much is different after a decade. The border now has 703 miles of barriers  653 miles of linear fence, plus a double or triple layer along 50 of those miles  most of it built in the last decade at a cost of $2.3 billion.

And thats not including the roughly $55 million a year Customs and Border Protection spends to maintain and repair the fence, along with associated roads, lighting and other infrastructure.

As the fence went up, the number of Border Patrol agents jumped from roughly 12,000 to 20,000 and the agencys annual budget almost doubled, to nearly $4 billion. Thousands of ground sensors, dozens of camera towers, helicopters, drones and blimps now keep watch 24 hours a day.

Border Patrol apprehensions are a third of what they were a decade ago and those arrested are more likely to be prosecuted. More Mexicans are leaving than coming for the first time since 2009.

Its impossible to say how much of that is due to enforcement, since the drop coincided with an improved economy in Mexico and the worst financial conditions in the United States since the Great Depression.

Still, people come.

Handprints dot the steel fence poles from crossers who scale it; thousands of etchings indicate repairs made after trucks barreled through; wooden ladders are piled on the ground.

On a series of border trips this spring and summer, four Star reporters and two photographers talked with about 100 residents on both sides of the border along with ranchers, business owners, environmentalists, Border Patrol agents and researchers about the impact and feasibility of a solid wall.

The team found that some stretches the Border Patrol considered 10 years ago to be unfenceable  a canyon in California, for example, and shifting sands near Yuma  were, indeed, fenced, but at great financial and environmental costs.

With the changes in border enforcement in the past decade, the Star team determined that Trumps proposed great, great wall is already built in some ways  and building the rest is either not needed or not feasible:

The jagged mountains, deep canyons and winding rivers that remain unfenced pose a more effective natural barrier than humans could build.

Illegal traffic has shifted to rugged areas where building a fence would be tremendously expensive and would slow smugglers down only by seconds on a multi-day journey.

In Texas, the state with the least fencing, the border runs along private land. Forcing landowners to sell would lead to drawn out and costly lawsuits.

Beyond the logistical challenges, even the tallest wall would not solve the most serious problems at our border:

Hard drugs, a chief reason Trump said he wants a wall, mostly come through the southern borders 328 legal ports of entry. Those crossing stations see $500 billion in trade every year and are used by many of the 15 million border residents in the United States and Mexico.

A wall wouldnt stop the current wave of Central American families and children who turn themselves in rather than evade capture.

It wouldnt keep out people who overstay their visas  a group that makes up about half of the unauthorized population in the United States.

In short, the fence we already have has done most everything a fence can do.
Highly recognised and acknowledged as one of the regions most prestigious industry awards, the awards gala dinner was attended by over 400 leading industry professionals and guests presented by travel television host and media personality  Anita Kapoor. Amongst the 49 finalists in the competitive categories, 11 well-deserving winners chosen by an independent panel of senior industry figures for their remarkable achievements despite the stiff competition and challenges within the martime industry.

As well as the 11 competitive award categories, four special awards were decided by the Seatrade Senior Editorial Board. These awards - namely the Contribution to the Development of Maritime Singapore, Seatrade Young Person of the Year, Seatrade Personality of the Year and Seatrade Lifetime Achievement Award - were presented to individuals for their exemplary contributions to the shipping industry.

Lui Tuck Yew, former Minister for Transport, was presented the prestigious Seatrade Lifetime Achievement Award, an award presented to very select few. Prior to his political career, Lui, a maritime veteran, was the former Chief of Navy and Chief Executive of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.I am truly delighted to be awarded the Seatrade Lifetime Achievement Award 2016. I have spent but a short time in the maritime sector. Hence, while this honour is given to an individual, it truly is less about an individual's contribution than it is to recognise our collective efforts to position Singapore as a maritime centre of global standing and international repute, said Lui.

Masamichi Morooka, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yokohama Kawasaki International Port Corporation, was awarded the Seatrade Personality of the Year and Alan Hatton, Chief Executive Officer of FSL Trust Management Pte. Ltd, the Seatrade Young Person of the Year respectively.

David Chin, Executive Director of the Singapore Maritime Foundation was recognised and presented the Contribution to the Development of Maritime Singapore award for his unwavering commitment towards promoting Singapore as an International Maritime Centre. May I thank Seatrade for this Award and I share this with all those who journeyed with me on this attempt to do a little bit more for Maritime Singapore. It has been my privilege and joy to have had many good colleagues and supportive friends over the years that made this journey satisfying, and yet full of fun.I thank them all again, said Chin, expressing his heatfelt appreciation.

The awards celebration also took the opportunity to recognise the good work contributed by Sailors Society and The Mission to Seafarers, in their efforts to support and assist seafarers and their families. Donations from Seatrade were presented to both charities.

Seatrade Maritime Awards Asia continues to serve as an important platform to recognise and applaud the outstanding achievements and contributions by individuals and companies in the maritime industry. I would like to congratulate all winners and thank our sponsors, judges , supporting partners and charities for the trust and support and joining us in this very meaningful celebration, said Chris Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade.

List of winners Award Category Winners Education & Training Award Magsaysay People Resources Corporation Environment Protection Award Berge Bulk Technical Innovation Award AkzoNobels Marine Coatings Business, International Corporate Social Responsibility Award WillisTowersWatson, Norton Rose Fulbright and RPC Safety Award Pacific Basin Shipping Ship Manager Award Rickmers Shipmanagement (Singapore) Pte Ltd Ship Owner/Operator Award Swire Shipping Ports & Terminals Award Yantian International Container Terminals Maritime Law Award Stephenson Harwood Ship Finance Award ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd Shipbuilding & Repair Yard Award Keppel Shipyard Limited Contribution to the Development of Maritime Singapore David Chin Seatrade Personality of the Year 2016 Masamichi Morooka Seatrade Young Person of the Year 2016 Alan Hatton Seatrade Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 Lui Tuck Yew
When new speakers learn a language, they can often get bent out of shape over idioms. Starting from scratch with a new language is daunting enough when trying to learn the literal translations of words, and upon hearing an idiomatic expression when chewing the fat with a native speaker, novices often clam up.

Idioms are a language device to convey a non-literal meaning through a figurative expression. All languages make frequent use of idioms, and English has at least 25,000 idioms, leaving ESL students with an even taller mountain to climb for an already difficult lingual study.

Give (someone) a ribbing

To non-native or fluent English speakers, "ribbing" someone might sound almost violent, but it means teasing and refers to tickling ribs to induce laughter.

RELATED: Optical Illusions: Your Brain Is Way Ahead of You

Multiple studies have shown that are brains are hard-wired to understand figurative speech.

Treat (someone) with kid gloves

This idiomatic expression means to deal with somebody carefully and/or gently. The phrase is based on the literal meaning of kid gloves, an article of clothing made of soft leather. Kid gloves are also white gloves often used by servants for handling objects without leaving a trace.

A 2005 study out of the University of California - San Diego found that a region of the brain known as the angular gyrus is at least partly responsible for our ability to understand figurative language.

To come to this conclusion, researchers enlisted study right-handed participants who were fluent in English, intelligent and mentally lucid, but had suffered damage to their left angular gyrus. Each participant was asked to explain the meaning behind proverbs such as "The grass is always greener on the other side," or "An empty vessel makes more noise."

Cut to the chase

If someone asks you to cut to the chase, he or she wants you to get to the point. The phrase originates from the early silent film era, when movies often hit their climax during chase scenes. "Cut to the chase" back then referred to not boring the audience with unnecessary dialogue or exposition and get to the part of the movie they were most interested in.

What the researchers found is that patients often gave definitions for each proverb that tended toward a literal meaning, the metaphorical underpinnings of the expression seemingly lost on them.

"[T]he patients often came up with elaborate, even ingenious interpretations -- that were completely off the mark," lead author V.S. Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at UC San Diego, said at the time.

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Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.

"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.

With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless round-up over the coup plot, the authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogan's arch enemy, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year autocratic rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible "flare-up" of Friday's chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country on Saturday after thwarting an attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.

This toll did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, bringing the overall death toll from the bloodshed to 265.

During a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

And Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets to ensure no further challenges to his power.

"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," he said.

As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures Saturday showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets.

- 'People are afraid' -

Friday's putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.

Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.

As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's Taksim Square, injuring several.

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There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."

Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.

As the popular tide turned against them, dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.

- 'Treason and rebellion' -

Erdogan denounced the coup attempt as "treachery", saying he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end".

"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."

The president's critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey's secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

Turkey's once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

RELATED: Weather Causes 90 Percent of Global Disasters: UN

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".

Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."

"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.

Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.

And Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- which had been shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.

- World leaders concerned -

The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.

And world leaders appealed for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg welcomed what he called the "strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey," a key member of the alliance.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for "restraint and respect for democratic institutions," while Moscow said it was "deeply concerned" by the developments, which it warned would increase the threat to regional stability.

"Everything must be done to protect human lives," said a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he hoped Turkish democracy will "emerge stronger."
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Family members of a UC Berkeley student studying abroad in Nice who has not been seen since a terror attack killed at least 84 people in the resort city are planning to fly to France to continue searching for him, relatives said Saturday.

Local officials, family and university staff have been unable to track down Nick Leslie, a 20-year-old junior in the schools College of Natural Resources. Thursdays deadly truck attack on Bastille Day injured more than 300 people, including three other UC Berkeley students.

Leslie was there for a four-week European Innovation Academy along with 85 other UC Berkeley students.

Were trying to get ourselves to France right now, said Conrad Leslie, Nicks father, Saturday morning. He said French officials have not released the names of those injured and being treated in local hospitals.

Were going crazy, Leslie said. Nick Leslies uncle has been searching area hospitals since the attack.

Leslie lived in Del Mar (San Diego County) before attending UC Berkeley, according to his Facebook page.

UC Berkeley students Diane Huang, 20, who suffered a broken foot, and Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, who was treated for a broken leg, were discharged from hospitals, officials with the university said Friday. A third student, Daryus Medora, 21, was still in the hospital with a broken leg.

Were just hoping that Nick is safe and hes coming home, said Claire Holmes, an assistant vice chancellor, on Friday. He was very connected to the campus. A lot of people know him.

More for you Anguished family waits for news of UC Berkeley student missing...

A State Department spokesman said they are aware of reports a U.S. citizen is missing. Because of privacy considerations, the spokesman said he could not provide details.

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.

In early July, Tarishi Jain, an 18-year-old UC Berkeley student, was killed in a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bagladesh, just after she had started an internship in the city through a university program.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
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About 50 Black Lives Matter protesters scrambled briefly onto a downtown Oakland freeway on Friday evening but a rapid response by police and Highway Patrol officers forced them to retreat before traffic could back up.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, three people were arrested after violence broke out among a group of a similar size during an unrelated demonstration in the Mission District, police said.

The San Francisco protesters were arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest, said Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a San Francisco police spokesman. The protesters allegedly assaulted a camera crew around 9:30 p.m. after asking the crew to stop taking video of them, authorities said. The video crew suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The reason for the protest was not immediately known, but the demonstration started around 7 p.m. by Valencia Street near Mission Police Station.

When officers moved in to separate the protesters from the video crew, most of the protesters fled. The 30 to 40 who remained threw garbage in the street then lit it on fire, police said. Officers put out the fire, which caused smoke to billow in the area.

More for you Protesters march in Oakland, demand justice in police shootings

No officers were injured, authorities said.

The Oakland group, demonstrating against recent police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota, walked onto the westbound lanes of Interstate 980 around 6:15 p.m. but left the freeway after only a minute or two, when officers arrived.

The protesters then stood in front of the freeway on ramp at 17th and Brush streets, blocking access to the freeway while traffic on it continued to flow.

A Highway Patrol officer struck a male protester in the leg with a baton while the demonstrators were leaving the freeway, but he did not appear to be injured. The crowd began shouting in anger.

For more than four hours, the small but determined band of protesters wandered through downtown Oakland from one freeway onramp and offramp to another, seeking to gain access and shut down traffic. But officers stayed ahead of the group and were able to position themselves to prevent the protesters from entering the freeway. The route ranged from Lake Merritt to Jack London Square before it finally wound down about 9:30.

Earlier in the evening, the group attempted to block the same stretch of Interstate 880 that a larger group of protesters had walked onto and blocked for several hours on July 7. But about 30 police and Highway Patrol officers were standing by to prevent that.

Throughout the demonstration, the small group chanted Hands up, dont shoot and No justice, no peace, no racist police while officers looked on and passing motorists honked in support.

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 fed up, said protester Pamela Sawyer, 54, of Oakland, who was wearing a shirt that said Danger  Educated Black Woman.

Something has to happen. This hurts my heart. Those were somebodys kids, she added.

In this day and age, that we have to say something as simple as black lives matter is a shame, said Gene Wade, 46, of Oakland.

Another protester, Courtney Stephens, 26, of Richmond, told the crowd, You shouldnt have to be scared when you see the police.

Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth warned that traffic could be disrupted and that motorists should call 511 for road and transit information.
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The East Bays newest public park, which opened two months ago as the culmination of millions of dollars worth of prized land acquisitions, abruptly closed its gates Friday after a judge said roads to the property near Fremont had not been adequately widened to handle the fresh flock of hikers, bikers and birdwatchers.

Vargas Plateau Regional Park, which debuted in early May, offers sweeping views of San Francisco Bay over 1,249 acres of hilly open space to visitors willing to drive several miles of winding, narrow roads to get there.

But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled this week that the East Bay Regional Park District had not upgraded the roads as required under a 2012 court settlement with neighbors who were concerned about traffic. Roesch ordered the park to be immediately shut down  with directional signs to the property covered up  until the necessary improvements are made, which could mean months if not years.

Its sad because its such a pretty park, said Dennis Nugent, 67, of Menlo Park who was one of the first to hit the trails when Vargas Plateau opened.

Nugent described his drive to the park as a Mr. Toads Wild Ride, saying he crossed his fingers in hope that other cars wouldnt come careening around one of the sharp turns. But he said the road wasnt so bad as to keep him away.

Park officials, who insist theyve satisfied their end of the legal arrangement, plan to appeal the court decision.

We will resolve this issue and re-open this publicly owned park as soon as possible, Park District General Manager Robert Doyle said in a statement.

The issue of traffic has plagued Vargas Plateau long before its opening. The East Bay Regional Park District acquired most of the ridgetop land in the mid-1990s from families that once ranched it, but was kept from welcoming in the public  partly because of a lingering lawsuit that suggested a potential for car collisions and parking hang-ups.

A settlement four years ago required the park district, before opening Vargas Plateau, to widen portions of Vargas Road, the main artery to the park off Interstate 680.

The district was also compelled to remove vegetation and install no-parking signs along Vargas Road, limit visitor parking to 25 spaces in a designated lot, and discourage motorists from using the windier Morrison Canyon Road route from Fremont.

The neighbors involved in the initial suit, Jack Balch and Christopher George, filed a new challenge in May saying the district had not lived up to its obligations  and the court agreed.

Even the engineer hired by the defendant to opine regarding the state of completeness of the roadway improvements concedes that some of the shoulders of the roadway do not conform with the requirements, Roesch wrote in his ruling.

Park district officials say the $1 million worth of work they put into the park, including $343,000 to address issues specific to the lawsuit, met the terms of the court settlement.

Officials also said they had received no reports of traffic or parking problems in the two months that the park was open. Visitation averaged just 40 people a day on weekdays, and 70 on weekends.

The park, which is relatively small with 6 miles of trails, was not intended to be a major destination in the East Bay park system. However, the $6.6 million acquisition was considered a crucial boost to the preservation of wildlands around the highly developed bay.

In addition, plans call for the property to host about 2 miles of the emerging Bay Area Ridge Trail, a yet-to-be-completed 550-mile loop around the region.

I guess if theres a time not to go there, its now, said Nugent. In the summer, its really hot.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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Family members of a UC Berkeley student studying abroad in Nice who has not been seen since a terror attack killed at least 84 people in the resort city are planning to fly to France to continue searching for him, relatives said Saturday.

Local officials, family and university staff have been unable to track down Nick Leslie, a 20-year-old junior in the schools College of Natural Resources. Thursdays deadly truck attack on Bastille Day injured more than 300 people, including three other UC Berkeley students.

Leslie was there for a four-week European Innovation Academy along with 85 other UC Berkeley students.

Were trying to get ourselves to France right now, said Conrad Leslie, Nicks father, Saturday morning. He said French officials have not released the names of those injured and being treated in local hospitals.

Were going crazy, Leslie said. Nick Leslies uncle has been searching area hospitals since the attack.

Leslie lived in Del Mar (San Diego County) before attending UC Berkeley, according to his Facebook page.

UC Berkeley students Diane Huang, 20, who suffered a broken foot, and Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, who was treated for a broken leg, were discharged from hospitals, officials with the university said Friday. A third student, Daryus Medora, 21, was still in the hospital with a broken leg.

Were just hoping that Nick is safe and hes coming home, said Claire Holmes, an assistant vice chancellor, on Friday. He was very connected to the campus. A lot of people know him.

More for you Anguished family waits for news of UC Berkeley student missing...

A State Department spokesman said they are aware of reports a U.S. citizen is missing. Because of privacy considerations, the spokesman said he could not provide details.

In early July, Tarishi Jain, an 18-year-old UC Berkeley student, was killed in a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Dhaka, Bagladesh, just after she had started an internship in the city through a university program.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz
Federal prosecutors plan to wind up their pipeline-safety case against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. next week without testimony from some high-ranking PG&E personnel who had previously been listed as witnesses.

After an abbreviated session Friday, the start of the trials fifth week, prosecutors said they would call two or three more witnesses and rest their case by Wednesday. They included an FBI agent, a federal regulatory official, and possibly former PG&E executive William Hayes, who took part in the National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the lethal September 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion.

Absent from the list were Peter Darbee, chief executive of PG&E Corp. until 2011, and Brian Cherry, a fired PG&E vice president who was the companys chief delegate to the state Public Utilities Commission. Also missing was Leslie McNiece, who was hired by PG&E in 2012 to improve its record-keeping and, according to prosecution court filings, was prepared to testify that higher-ups resisted her efforts.

Darbee and Cherry had been granted immunity from possible prosecution in exchange for their testimony, the same agreement accepted by a series of present and past PG&E employees who have made up the bulk of the prosecutions case. Prosecutors did not explain their decision not to call them, but U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson has expressed frustration at the slow pace of the trial, prompting lawyers to omit testimony they didnt need.

PG&E hasnt said which witnesses, if any, it plans to call. Company lawyers previously estimated that the defense case would take two weeks.

The utility is charged with 12 felony violations of laws that require gas pipeline operators to inspect and test lines, using specified methods for potential hazards, and prohibit knowingly keeping inaccurate records. The company is also charged with obstructing the federal investigation of the San Bruno explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes.

The obstruction charge was a subject of Fridays testimony by Calvin Lui, manager of the PG&E unit that determines maximum internal pressures on gas pipelines. Prosecutors contend the company tried to hinder the federal investigation by falsely denying that it had a policy of pressuring lines up to 10 percent above the levels allowed by federal law, a policy that PG&E says it never implemented.

Jurors saw a memo Lui sent to an engineer working for him in March 2010 that said gas pressure in a pipeline was supposed to rise to the maximum federal limit, but no more than 10 percent over.

But Lui testified that any such excesses would have been unintentional and that PG&E hadnt finalized (its) approach to the subject when he wrote the memo.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
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About 50 Black Lives Matter protesters scrambled briefly onto a downtown Oakland freeway on Friday evening but a rapid response by police and Highway Patrol officers forced them to retreat before traffic could back up.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, three people were arrested after violence broke out among a group of a similar size during an unrelated demonstration in the Mission District, police said.

The San Francisco protesters were arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest, said Sgt. Michael Andraychak, a San Francisco police spokesman. The protesters allegedly assaulted a camera crew around 9:30 p.m. after asking the crew to stop taking video of them, authorities said. The video crew suffered non-life threatening injuries.

The reason for the protest was not immediately known, but the demonstration started around 7 p.m. by Valencia Street near Mission Police Station.

When officers moved in to separate the protesters from the video crew, most of the protesters fled. The 30 to 40 who remained threw garbage in the street then lit it on fire, police said. Officers put out the fire, which caused smoke to billow in the area.

More for you Protesters march in Oakland, demand justice in police shootings

No officers were injured, authorities said.

The Oakland group, demonstrating against recent police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota, walked onto the westbound lanes of Interstate 980 around 6:15 p.m. but left the freeway after only a minute or two, when officers arrived.

The protesters then stood in front of the freeway on ramp at 17th and Brush streets, blocking access to the freeway while traffic on it continued to flow.

A Highway Patrol officer struck a male protester in the leg with a baton while the demonstrators were leaving the freeway, but he did not appear to be injured. The crowd began shouting in anger.

For more than four hours, the small but determined band of protesters wandered through downtown Oakland from one freeway onramp and offramp to another, seeking to gain access and shut down traffic. But officers stayed ahead of the group and were able to position themselves to prevent the protesters from entering the freeway. The route ranged from Lake Merritt to Jack London Square before it finally wound down about 9:30.

Earlier in the evening, the group attempted to block the same stretch of Interstate 880 that a larger group of protesters had walked onto and blocked for several hours on July 7. But about 30 police and Highway Patrol officers were standing by to prevent that.

Throughout the demonstration, the small group chanted Hands up, dont shoot and No justice, no peace, no racist police while officers looked on and passing motorists honked in support.

Were fed up, said protester Pamela Sawyer, 54, of Oakland, who was wearing a shirt that said Danger  Educated Black Woman.

Something has to happen. This hurts my heart. Those were somebodys kids, she added.

In this day and age, that we have to say something as simple as black lives matter is a shame, said Gene Wade, 46, of Oakland.

Another protester, Courtney Stephens, 26, of Richmond, told the crowd, You shouldnt have to be scared when you see the police.

Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth warned that traffic could be disrupted and that motorists should call 511 for road and transit information.
Some Starbucks customers have been giving their name to baristas as Black Lives Matter in an effort to help spread awareness of the movement. Lex Cross posted a picture of his Starbucks receipt with the name #blacklivesmatter on Facebook, writing that he changed his name on the Starbucks app, so the barista has to shout it to a room full of people when his order is ready. The post has been shared 50,000 times and several other social media users have followed suit. One Instagram user put up video of a barista calling out the phrase.

Number of the day

$2.86 billion

Thats the amount of investor Warren Buffetts annual donation of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charities as part of his plan to gradually give away his fortune. More than 19.6 million Class B Berkshire shares were donated. The biggest share went to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett also gave Class B Berkshire shares to his own foundation and to the foundations run by each of his three children.

Rankings deserve a Boo!

Sometimes the wisdom of crowds is a pretty dumb strategy, as FiveThirtyEight points out in a look at the IMDb rankings for the new Ghostbusters movie. As of Thursday morning, before the movie had hit theaters, it had almost 13,000 reviews  with an average rating of 4.1. Heres the sticky part: The remake has women as the four Ghostbusters, and women on IMDb gave it a 7.7. But men, who did about five times as many reviews, gave it only 3.6. So is the movie that bad, or are the perspectives that skewed?

The Daily Briefing is compiled from San Francisco Chronicle staff and news services. See more items and links at www.sfgate.com. Twitter: @techbriefing
The Menlo Park City Council will consider Tuesday a proposal by Facebook to expand its headquarters, which includes a pledge to allocate millions of dollars generated by the project to tackling the areas traffic and affordable housing issues.

Facebook plans to add 126,000 square feet of commercial space to its complex, which already stretches from the Belle Haven neighborhood to the bay. The expansion will occupy a 59-acre tract adjacent to its Frank Gehry-designed Building 20. In addition to offices, the social networking company also plans to build a hotel, which it promised will yield at least $1.25 million per year for the city in taxes.

A report by a city planner said the projects buildings would have a minimum value for tax purposes of $695 million and would generate revenue for Menlo Park of approximately $2.1 million a year for 10 years after they are occupied, and $1.8 million a year thereafter. The company also plans to spend more than $7.8 million on affordable housing and more than $3 million to address traffic congestion.

John Tenanes, Facebooks vice president of global facilities and real estate, said the proposal reflects efforts to be a good corporate citizen. He said the company has met with Menlo Park officials several times since it moved its headquarters from Palo Alto six years ago.

Any time you have a major employer like a Facebook who is desiring to grow in your community, there is always going to be impact, City Manager Alex McIntyre said. There will be additional burdens, but there will also be additional benefits, and the question is will those burdens balance with the benefits.

Facebook committed to a program in Belle Haven that would subsidize rents for 22 units for five years in an effort to make housing more affordable to teachers, firefighters and other service workers. It also plans to build at least 1,500 housing units on property it bought from Prologis in 2015. The company says 15 percent of those units will be offered at below-market rates.

Not everyone is convinced that Facebooks millions will be enough to mitigate the impact its growing presence has had.

Giving money doesnt really solve the problem or address the issues of social justice, said Cynthia Cruz, program director at Envision Transform Build East Palo Alto, a coalition dedicated to helping displaced residents in that city, which is close to Facebook headquarters. Im not sure that giving money is a solution, versus sitting with the community and listening.

Finding housing for low-income residents of color is the largest problem the region faces right now, according to Cruz. Just this year, she said, three of the coalitions youth members had to move to Sacramento and Antioch with their families, who could not afford the areas increasing rents.

Traffic, too, is a worry. A third of Facebooks employees live in San Francisco. Many ride company shuttles, but the number of solo drivers has increased this year after San Francisco reduced the number of shuttle stops.

Facebook wants to take another look at transportation options, including possibly restoring the long-closed Dumbarton rail line across the Bay. The defunct connection passes the headquarters, including the planned expansion. The company said it would pay $1 million for a feasibility study and an additional $1 million toward implementing recommended changes.

Its exciting to see them look for solutions for a corridor thats heavily impacting them, said Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeleys Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Its an acknowledgment by the private sector that they want to contribute to this and they want to contribute to public use of these corridors.

The council is expected to review the proposal at Tuesdays meeting and offer comment as part of its negotiations with Facebook. A vote will likely come in the fall.

Jessica Floum is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jfloum@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfloum
WASHINGTON  Federal regulators have opened the door to the next generation of wireless services, making the U.S. the first nation to allocate a wide swath of airwaves to deliver super-fast 5G access.

The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously last week to authorize mobile use in high-frequency spectrum that had only limited uses until recent technological advances.

The agency also laid the groundwork to auction a large amount of that spectrum to wireless companies while allowing more open or shared uses of the rest  all with flexible rules in hopes of duplicating the regulatory environment that helped fuel innovation in the existing fourth-generation networks.

By not getting involved in the technologies that will use the spectrum were turning loose the incredible innovators of this country.  And with our oversight to protect competition we insure that the forces that drive that innovation and improved consumer service are alive and well, said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

This is a big day for our nation, he said.

The fifth generation of mobile service since the first bulky cellular phones were introduced in the early 1980s promises to deliver data at least 10 times faster than todays 4G networks.

Experts said 5G is the key to expanded wireless uses, such as autonomous vehicles, Internet-connected appliances, virtual reality and yet-to-be-imagined applications. The technology also is seen as crucial to extending high-speed Internet access to rural areas that are expensive to serve with cable or fiber.

Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said there is seemingly no limit on how what we refer to as 5G could impact our everyday existence.

A refrigerator that not only alerts you to a near-empty egg carton, but automatically adds that item to a virtual shopping list, enabling a delivery to your door by weeks end, without any action from you, she said. Or a piece of equipment in a factory that automatically pings a repair person at headquarters about an issue well before the machine shuts down. Or remote surgery being performed in the Alaskan bush by a preeminent surgeon thousands of miles away.

The airwaves set aside by the FCC previously had not been thought to be useful for commercial wireless services and have had limited uses, such as satellite transmissions.

But technological advances are making it possible to use that spectrum, which can carry large amounts of data much faster.

Were talking about a network that is 10 times faster than your current network and supports hundreds of times more devices, said Meredith Attwell Baker, president of CTIA, a leading wireless trade group that pushed to open up the airwaves.

Its five times more responsive. Its going to enable real-time services that are really going to unlock potential for consumers and the Internet of Things, she said.

Baker said that an autonomous vehicle using 4G technology takes 4.6 feet to stop once a signal is sent over a wireless connection. With 5G, the car would stop after traveling just an inch.

Still, there are limits.

The high-frequency airwaves can carry signals only over shorter distances that require more but smaller receivers to knit together networks. For those reasons, the FCC has been trying to streamline the processes for approvals of 5G base stations, which could be as small as smoke detectors.

AT&T and Verizon are planning 5G trials next year, although the service probably wont be available to most consumers until 2020.

But with South Korea, Japan and other nations studying the deployment of 5G networks, the FCC said the U.S. needed to act to maintain the nations technological edge in mobile technology.

The race to 5G is on, said FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. But for 5G technology to take off, for the United States to win this race, we need spectrum  and lots of it.

But all is not smooth sailing on the path to the wireless future.

Satellite companies are concerned about interference from new mobile uses in the high-frequency airwaves. And public interest groups want more of the airwaves to be available for unlicensed uses such as Wi-Fi instead of being auctioned to wireless companies.

The FCC said its new rules set up spectrum-sharing arrangements that would ensure satellite and mobile users could coexist.

But the satellite industry is concerned given the billions of dollars invested by Boeing and other companies in its networks.

While we certainly believe that sharing is possible, we want to make sure there isnt interference with existing and planned satellite operations, said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association, a trade group.
A settlement between federal regulators and Herbalife will not shut down the company, as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman had been urging for the last several years, but it will force the nutritional food supplement company to make major changes in its business practices.

The settlement was announced Friday by the Federal Trade Commission, which had strong words for the company that call into question some of its long-standing distribution practices.

This settlement will require Herbalife to fundamentally restructure its business so that participants are rewarded for what they sell, not how many people they recruit, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said in a news release detailing the settlement and announcing the filing of a complaint in federal court seeking a permanent injunction and other relief against the company.

In settling with the FTC, Herbalife has agreed to pay $200 million for consumer relief, an amount it had previously disclosed it expected to pay as part of any settlement.

The agreement with the FTC will require Herbalife to overhaul its system for compensating its salespeople and recording sales of its supplement drinks and other food products.

In the complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the FTC said, the overwhelming majority of Herbalife distributors who pursue the business opportunity make little or no money and a substantial percentage lose money.

Herbalife said: We announced a settlement with the FTC that does not change our direct selling business model and will set new standards for the industry. We agreed to the terms and to pay $200 million because we simply wanted to move forward with our mission.

Herbalife also took a swipe at Ackman and his Pershing Square Capital Management, saying it had been under attack by an intransigent short seller hellbent on a misinformation campaign designed to destroy our company.

Ackmans fund bet about $1 billion that Herbalife would be exposed as an illegal pyramid scheme and forced to shut down. He had said he expected the stock to go to zero.

But on Wall Street, the settlement, despite the stinging language from the FTC, was being seen as a victory for Herbalife and a defeat for Ackman, whose big hedge fund has performed poorly this year.

The settlement also is a big victory for billionaire Carl Icahn, who was one of Herbalifes biggest investors and notably had taken an big bullish position on the stock in opposition to Ackmans bearish position.

In announcing the deal with the FTC, Herbalife said it had decided to let Icahn increase his ownership limit to 34.99 percent from 25 percent. The move could set the stage for Icahn and others to take Herbalife private, an action that would make it difficult to determine the economic impact of the changes in business practices on Herbalifes bottom line.

Now that the company has reached a settlement with the FTC, Icahn said in a statement, it is time to consider a range of strategic opportunities, including potential roll-ups involving competitors, as well as other strategic transactions.

Ackman was not immediately available for comment.
The gavel is finally about to drop in the drawn-out auction for Yahoos core Internet business.

Final bids for the services, which include Yahoos search, email, advertising and media operations, are due Monday, with the board set to make a decision soon afterward, according to people briefed on the process who asked for anonymity because the bidding is confidential.

The sale of Yahoos business would close out a largely unsuccessful four-year effort by CEO Marissa Mayer to turn around the Internet company. Although Yahoo was once the place where many Web users began their wanderings, it fell on hard times over the past decade through a series of strategic and managerial missteps. Although Yahoo properties still draw more than 1 billion visitors a month, the company accounts for a tiny slice of the time people spend online.

Several rounds of bids

The Sunnyvale company has conducted several rounds of bidding since February, when it announced that it would explore a sale to separate its struggling operations from its much more valuable investment stakes in two Asian Internet companies, Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. The process was eased this spring when the company settled a dispute with a persistent critic, hedge fund Starboard Value, giving the activist investor four board seats.

The bidders for Yahoos operations include Verizon Communications and AT&T, several private-equity firms and Quicken Loans co-founder Dan Gilbert, who is getting financial backing from Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway.

The offers are expected to vary depending on what assets are included, but Wall Street expects the business to be sold for an estimated $6 billion, including intellectual property and land.

The field, winnowed from a bigger group of suitors, has a number of plans in mind for Yahoo. Verizon  which has not been shy about discussing its interest in a deal  would probably merge Yahoos Internet business with AOL, another onetime online giant, which it owns. Some of the private-equity firms plan to curtail costs sharply while working out ways to profit from Yahoos still sizable audience.

Though several bidders have acknowledged running into what one called hairy issues, nothing has emerged as a deal-breaker. People involved in the auction describe it as competitive.

As the process has dragged on, Yahoos business, based on advertising, has continued to deteriorate. Recent releases, like travel app Radar and information bots for Facebook Messenger, have made barely a ripple.

Major declines expected

Yahoo will report its second-quarter financial results Monday, and analysts expect the company to post significant declines in revenue and profit.

Any sale of Yahoo has been slowed by a trickle of unpleasant revelations to bidders about expensive decisions made by Mayer, a former Google executive who was named Yahoo CEO in July 2012.

The biggest surprise: In late June, Yahoo told bidders that they could be on the hook for more than $1 billion in immediate payments to Mozilla, the company that makes the Firefox Web browser.

In a 2014 deal, Yahoo promised to pay Mozilla at least $375 million a year to make Yahoo the default search engine on Firefox  about $100 million a year more than Google was then paying for similar prominence, according to Yahoo and Mozilla filings.

To sweeten the deal, Mayer personally negotiated a provision that gave Mozilla unusual leverage to demand all remaining payments immediately if Yahoo were sold, according to people briefed on the terms of the contract.

To collect the payout, Mozilla would have to show that the change in ownership is hurting the Mozilla brand and degrading the search experience, according to one of the people briefed on the terms. If Mozilla switches to another search provider instead, Yahoo would have to only make up the difference between its $375 million annual guarantee and the fee paid by Mozillas new partner.

The deals provisions put pressure on any winning bidder to continue Mayers heavy investment in search, which she has championed despite the long odds of success against Google. About 42 percent of Yahoos $5 billion in revenue last year came from search.

Letters from SEC

Yahoo decided the Mozilla contract provisions were not significant enough to disclose to shareholders, despite a series of letters last year from the Securities and Exchange Commission asking the company to lay out the terms of the agreement and the risks to Yahoo. A spokeswoman for the agency declined to comment on the dispute.

Yahoo spokeswoman Rebecca Neufeld declined to comment on the Mozilla contract or the broader sale process.

Denelle Dixon-Thayer, the chief legal and business officer of Mozilla, said she could not discuss specific terms of the Yahoo contract because of a confidentiality clause, but she acknowledged that Mozilla had protected itself from downside risk.

Dixon-Thayer said that when Mozilla switched to Yahoo from Google in 2014, its priority was making sure there was viable competition in search.

Bidders are also trying to determine how much they would have to pay out in severance if they cut staff. As of March 31, Yahoo had 9,400 employees, excluding those already scheduled to be laid off this year.

Mayer and the board have handed out hefty stock awards to keep employees from jumping ship as the company has repeatedly shifted strategies.

Yahoos top four executives, including Mayer, would receive about $100 million, including two years of stock awards, if they were fired.

Investors complacent

Brian Wieser, an analyst for Pivotal Research, estimates that Yahoos operating business is worth $3.5 billion, but he said that whatever the final price, the sale would have little effect on the stock price, which has risen on speculation of a deal.

Investors just dont care, he said.

Once any deal is announced, investors will turn their attention to the biggest issue affecting the stock: How will the remaining stub of Yahoo make money from its 15 percent stake in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company with a face value of $31 billion, and its 35.5 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, worth about $9 billion? That process, with complex tax and legal issues, could take many months.
Leah Millis/The Chronicle

More than three weeks after a female bicyclist was killed in a hit-and-run in Golden Gate Park, police have arrested a San Francisco teenager suspected of the crime.

Nineteen-year-old Nicky Garcia was booked on a count of murder in the death of Heather Miller, 41, who was biking through the park on June 22 when a white Honda crossed into the opposing lane of traffic and struck her, according to a police report. She died at the scene.
SAN DIEGO - Hunter Pence was missing from the clubhouse Friday night.

Good news, manager Bruce Bochy said. He left.

Its good news because Pence, who is coming off hamstring surgery and hasnt played since June 1, is ready to begin his rehab assignment. Hell report to Triple-A Sacramento and play five innings both Saturday and Sunday in Round Rock, Texas.

Hell be off Sunday and resume his schedule when Sacramento plays in New Orleans.

Bochy said Pence, because of his long run of inactivity, will need at least a weeks worth of games, about 30 at-bats. That could put him on target to rejoin the Giants when their next homestand opens, July 25 against Cincinnati.

We said that last time last year, and we ended up bringing him up earlier than we thought, said Bochy, recalling an abbreviated rehab assignment that ended when Pence urged Bochy in a text to promote him, calling himself a ridiculous weapon.

Pence returned to the lineup, went 2-for-3 and scored three runs to inspire an 11-2 win in Cincinnati.

Well see how it goes. Hes missed a lot of time, Bochy said.

Briefly: Joe Panik could begin his rehab assignment Sunday or Monday. He passed concussion tests and is waiting for final approval to play in games.  Matt Cain is slated to throw 90 to 100 pitches Friday night for Class A San Jose and rejoin the rotation Wednesday in Boston.  Matt Duffy (Achilles) is hitting and traking grounders and did a little running in San Francisco during the All-Star break. It didnt go as poorly as I thought it would. But he was running at about 50 percent and isnt close to playing ball again.

Giants lineup: CF Span, LF Pagan, 1B Belt, C Posey, SS Crawford, 3B Gillaspie, RF Blanco, 2B Pena, LH Bumgarner.

Padres lineup: C Norris, 1B Myers, RF Kemp, 3B Solarte, LF Betancourt, 2B Rosales, SS Ramirez, RH Cashner, CF Jankowski.

John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey
1 9/11 secret papers: Under wraps for 13 years, the U.S. on Friday released once-top-secret pages from a congressional report into 9/11 that questioned whether Saudis who were in contact with the hijackers after they arrived in the U.S. knew what they were planning. The newly declassified document, with light redactions, names people the hijackers associated with before they carried out the attacks, killing nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and on a plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. It identifies individuals who helped the hijackers get apartments, open bank accounts, attend local mosques and get flight lessons. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, and several were not fluent in English. Later investigations found no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi officials knowingly supported those who orchestrated the attacks. But lawmakers and relatives of victims, who dont think all Saudi links to the attackers were thoroughly investigated, campaigned for more than 13 years to get the final chapter of the 2002 congressional inquiry released.

2 Zika transmission: A New York City woman infected her male partner with Zika virus through sex, the first time female-to-male transmission of the germ has been documented. Zika is usually spread by mosquitoes, and health officials have known for some time that men can spread it through sex. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the case Friday and updated its advice for pregnant women. On the day the woman returned from a trip to a Zika-infected country, she had vaginal sex with a boyfriend, without a condom, health officials were told.
1 Deadly crash: One man was killed and three other pedestrians were injured early Saturday when an off-duty police officers sport utility vehicle struck them in Brooklyn, N.Y. Authorities said Nicholas Batka, 28, lost control of his vehicle and it mounted a sidewalk in the popular Williamsburg section, striking two men and two women. Batka was arrested on charges including manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated. A police spokesman said Batka has worked in the departments transit bureau in Manhattan for 1 years. He said Batka was suspended without pay pending the disposition of the case. The surviving pedestrians were said to be in stable condition Saturday.

2 Wheelchair found: Authorities have recovered a motorized wheelchair stolen from a teen with cerebral palsy and arrested the man who allegedly took it. Leonia, N.J., police say 18-year-old Michael Peralta is charged with theft and unlawful taking of a means of conveyance. Bail was set at $25,000 cash for the Palisades Park, N.J., man. The wheelchair, valued at $12,000, belongs to a 14-year-old boy. It was stolen Thursday from a condominium complex in an incident captured on video that showed a man sitting in the chair and driving it away. A police officer on patrol saw the wheelchairs headrest Friday at Peraltas home. It was obstructed by a bicycle and garbage cans.
NEW YORK  If ever there was a moment for Donald Trump to share the spotlight, his formal announcement of his running mate Saturday was it.

Instead, his introduction of Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana was a remarkable reminder that, ultimately, the Trump campaign is about one person.

He called Pence his partner, but before the governor took the stage, Trump stood there alone and talked for 28 minutes, delivering a long and improvised riff that emulated his rallies instead of a traditional vice presidential announcement.

Looking away from his notes, he talked about Hillary Clinton, terrorism, his primary victories, his crushing of a Stop Trump movement afoot at the nominating convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump, Trump said, understands infrastructure and how to build a border wall. He even got in a plug for his new hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

After about 20 minutes, Trump reached for his notes. Back to Mike Pence! he declared, turning to Pences record of jobs creation in Indiana. Then he used the reference to the Hoosier State to remind the 150 people in attendance that he trounced Pences endorsed candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, in the primary there.

When Trump ultimately ceded the microphone to Pence, rather than stand beside him while he delivered his remarks, Trump walked off the stage.

Vice presidential rollouts are usually a carefully orchestrated high point of a presidential campaign, but Trumps has been unusual and chaotic from the start. Typically, the vice presidential candidate is given a moment to shine. But Trump spoke for more than twice as long as Pence, whose speech clocked in about 12 minutes.

Indeed, the event, in a ballroom at a Midtown Manhattan Hilton, had the feel of back-to-back news conferences lacking a recurring theme.

Trump referred to the two men as the law-and-order candidates, adding that were the law-and-order party. He said that Pence looks good, and that, to be honest, part of the reason for Pences selection was to unify the party. Then Trump proceeded to mock those Republicans who had opposed him.

Trump, who eschewed a teleprompter despite aides attempts to impose discipline on his speeches, also introduced a new attack against Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. He described her as something of a foreign policy puppeteer who had led President Obama down unfortunate paths across the globe.

Trump tried to tamp down reports that he had vacillated about Pence as his choice as late as Thursday night, saying that he was his first choice all along. Pence said he had received a call Wednesday about serving on the ticket.

Pence left most of the attack-dog role that is typical of a running mate to Trump. Instead, he spoke in soft tones and with humility about a middle-class upbringing and his spirituality.

He also seemed more mindful than Trump of the need to present a united front, a particular challenge given the fractured state of the Republican Party and the two candidates own considerable differences.

He sought to glide over his previous criticism of Trumps proposed ban on Muslim immigrants, choosing instead to criticize Clintons call to take in more Syrian refugees. He did not speak with any depth about trade pacts, which he has supported in the past and which are a target of Trumps criticism. Pence seemed mindful of reassuring voters about Trumps character.

Donald Trump is a good man, and he will make a great president of the United States, Pence said, adding, I know what all of America will soon know  these are good people.

The ballroom felt cavernous. The event originally had been scheduled for a smaller space Friday, but Trump postponed the announcement, saying it was out of respect for the tragedy in Nice, France. Most Republican leaders had already decamped for the convention in Cleveland.
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Courtesy/Twitter Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Michael Conroy / Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





There's one big, "huuuge," policy difference immediately clear between Donald Trump and his reported running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence  a ban on Muslims entering the country.

In a Dec. 7, 2015 news release, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, called for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States." He said in the statement, which he has not backed down from, that Muslims will be allowed to enter the U.S. after the "country's representatives can figure out what is going on."
Q: My fiance and I recently flew from Honolulu to Paris via Los Angeles, Miami and Helsinki. Our flight to Miami was on American Airlines. Our Finnair flight from Miami to Helsinki was delayed, and we missed our connection to Paris.

My luggage was tagged to go directly from Honolulu to Paris, but it didnt arrive in Paris. Finnair had no record of it. We filed the claim in Paris and received a reference number.

After waiting eight hours, we decided to hunt for the luggage ourselves. My fiance is a veteran police officer. He made more than 80 international cell phone calls. His investigative skills are what tracked down the luggage. Through our persistent phone calls, we discovered that American Airlines never transferred my luggage to the Finnair contractor in Miami. We finally located the luggage in Miami and asked American to put it on the next Finnair flight to Helsinki, and then on to Paris. Our luggage finally was delivered around 11:30 p.m. the next day.

I requested a $262 reimbursement for incidentals from Finnair, but the airline rejected it because I filed past the 21-day limit from the time the baggage was received. I was not aware of the 21-day limit.

I have appealed to Finnairs customer-care department, which offered a 70-euro voucher, but this is not an acceptable option. Finnair was the last segment of our flight, so it is responsible. Can you help us?

Lydia Kelley, Honolulu

A: American Airlines should have transferred your luggage to Finnair. But youre correct, Finnair was responsible for delivering your luggage to you in Paris, and it didnt  not until the next day.

Compensating passengers for incidentals while they wait for their luggage is something of a gray area. Ive seen airline agents hand passengers like you cash to buy new clothes and toiletries. And Ive seen them deny any responsibility.

The page dedicated to lost luggage on Finnairs site (www.finnair.com/ca/gb/information-services/baggage/lost-delayed-damaged-baggage) doesnt mention anything about compensation for incidentals, nor does it state that theres a required 21-day window for applications. Rather, it asks you to fill out a baggage tracing form within 72 hours, which you did, and suggests you wait patiently while the airline finds your belongings.

I like the way you took the initiative on this one. You started contacting people until you got answers and results. (I list the names and numbers of both the Finnair and American customer-service managers on my consumer-advocacy website. Here are the Finnair contacts: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/finnair. And here are the American contacts: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/american-airlines.)

From my experience, the best time to negotiate reimbursement for incidentals is at the time your luggage is lost. Agents are often authorized to offer vouchers or allowances for clothes and toiletries while you wait for your belongings. If possible, make sure you have everything in writing.

Bottom line: Even though Finnair didnt drop the ball on your luggage, it is technically responsible as the last operating carrier. A 70-euro credit is a good start, but it doesnt cover the real expenses you had when you landed without luggage.

I contacted Finnair on your behalf. As a gesture of goodwill, the airline agreed to cover $220 of your expenses, which you accepted.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Find travel tips at www.elliott.org. E-mail: chris@elliott.org Twitter: @elliottdotorg
BENGALURU: US-based quote-to-cash solution provider Apttus on Thursday opened a software development centre here for serving local business enterprises in diverse verticals.

"Opening of our second centre in India after the first at Ahmedabad in 2012 is part of commitment to address the needs of our customers for quote-to-cash processes," said Apttus India General Manager, Operations, Jesal Mehta.

Quote-to-cash is an IT term for the integration and automated management of end-to-end business processes on the sell side. The solution runs on Salesforce1 and Microsoft Azure cloud platforms.

"Quote-to-cash connects a customer's intent to buy with a company's realisation of revenue and encompasses sales, contract, and customer relationship lifecycles," said Mehta, a native of Gujarat, who returned to India after a decade in the Silicon Valley where the company is located (at San Mateo in California).

With about 200 employees, the Bengaluru centre will focus on innovation, engineering, patents, product development and sales growth across verticals spanning healthcare, high-tech banking financial services and insurance, telecom and manufacturing.

"We plan to invest $35 million over the next three years in our India operations, which will include $15-20 million in the Bengaluru centre in 12-18 months," Mehta told reporters here.

The company's Ahmedabad centre has 250 employees and 1,200 worldwide.

"Local enterprises will be able to take advantage of our India specific solutions, which are adopted by Fortune 500 firms globally," said Mehta.

The decade-old venture-funded firm has joined the $1-billion Unicorn Club in valuation with robust growth over the last five years.

The company has raised $186 million ( 1,244 crore) till date after first round of funding in 2013.

As per global research and advisory firm Gartner, the quote-to-cash market is projected to grow to $41 billion by 2018 worldwide.

Of the company's 600 clients worldwide, 70 are Fortune 500 firms.

Read Also: Amazon To Set Up 5 New Fulfilment Centres In India By Year-End

Dharmendra Pradhan Promises Greater Ease In Doing Business With India
mcmahon.jpg

Fifteen people on Staten Island have died of a suspected drug overdose since May 1, the district attorney's office said Friday.

(Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Fifteen people have died of a suspected drug overdose on Staten Island since May 1, the district attorney's office said Friday.

In addition, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon's office has investigated 58 suspected overdose deaths so far this year, a spokesman said. Of those fatalities, it has been determined that four were likely not an overdose, putting the total at 54, he added.

The figures released Friday only account for reports received by McMahon and the NYPD. The district attorney has cautioned that the number could be as much as 30 percent higher, because some of the deaths go unreported.

In addition to the deaths, there have also been 22 saves this year attributed to Naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse the affects of an opioid overdose, the D.A.'s office said.

Police and prosecutors began working more closely in January to track the borough's overdoses. The following month, McMahon unveiled the Overdose Response Initiative, a law enforcement program designed to closely investigate those deaths.

"Before my office and the NYPD started to track and investigate all suspected overdose fatalities on Staten Island, there had been no real-time data available to law enforcement for us to truly understand the scope of the drug epidemic," McMahon said in a statement. "Unfortunately, we quickly learned just how bad the problem had grown."

"This is unacceptable, and we are continuing to work diligently each and every day to put an end to the drug scourge," he added. "Through our Overdose Response Initiative, we are investigating overdose fatalities in an attempt to root out drug dealers while also lending support services to grieving families. And our recent budget increase from the city will also make it possible for us to dedicate more resources and staff to ensure we win this fight."

McMahon said Wednesday that there had been 56 reported overdose deaths on the Island so far this year. But his spokesman explained Friday that because the D.A.'s office and the NYPD are working to track the fatalities in real time, the data is subject to change as each investigation proceeds.

Anyone with tips is encouraged to call the district attorney's drug hotline at 718-876-5839 or visit its website at http://rcda.nyc.gov/initiaves/drugs.html.

McMahon's office provided a description of the 15 suspected overdoses on Staten Island since the beginning of May:

May

Male, 53, Port Richmond

Male, 40, New Dorp

Male, 18, Great Kills

Male, 49, New Dorp

Male, 47, Willowbrook

Male, 54, Arrochar

Male, 31, Willowbrook

Male, 27, Woodrow

June

Male, 45, Tompkinsville

Male, 43, Grasmere

Male, 20, Bulls Head

July
Barack Obama

President Barack Obama speaks about the attack in Nice, France, Friday, July 15, 2016, during a Diplomatic Corps Reception in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(Carolyn Kaster)

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid a military takeover of the key NATO ally.

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers, Obama also urged everyone in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed.

Members of Turkey's armed forces declared hours earlier that they had taken control of the country as explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and supporters of the coup erupted in Ankara, the capital. Erdogan called on the Turkish people to flood the streets in a show of support for his embattled government.

Turkey plays a key role in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Obama discussed the developments by telephone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was traveling in Moscow for separate meetings with senior Russian officials on Syria.

In a separate statement, Kerry said the U.S. viewed the "very fluid situation" in Turkey with the "gravest concern."

Kerry said he had stressed in a telephone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu the United States' "absolute support" for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions. Kerry said he urged all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions, personnel and civilians across Turkey.

Kerry also urged U.S. citizens in Turkey to stay indoors and to be in touch with family and friends.
nws petit larceny

Police are searching for a man wanted for questioning in connection with a petit larceny. (Photos from NYPD)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are asking for help locating a man wanted for questioning after a package was taken from in front of a Grymes Hill home last month.

At around 1:20 p.m. June 28, a man removed a package containing Dacasso desk blotter paper from the steps of a home on Signal Hill Road, near Nesmythe Terrace, according to a written statement from the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner for Public Information.

Police described the person as being 6 feet tall and 175 pounds. He was last seen wearing a Mickey Mouse backpack, police said.

Police released surveillance photos taken from the victim's home of the man wanted for questioning.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-8477 (TIPS), submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers' website or text their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.



All calls are strictly confidential.
BROOKLYN, N.Y.-- Eric Garner's mom has been marching for justice and waiting for answers for two years.

As the two-year anniversary of her son's death approaches Sunday, Gwen Carr, joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton and dozens of supporters, again took to the streets Saturday in Brooklyn.

"Two years later, we haven't got justice," Carr told the crowd at Grand Army Plaza. "This march has been phenomenal. This is the kind of unity we need. Not just for blacks, whites and Latinos, but for all of us.

"We have to stop the killing and start the healing."

The March for Justice began at the House of the Lord Church on Atlantic Avenue, continued down Flatbush Avenue and past the Barclays Center, before ending at the Grand Army Plaza near Prospect Park.

The protesters were loud and boisterous during the nearly 45-minute march, chanting: "No justice no peace," "R.I.P. Eric Garner" and "Whose streets? Our streets."

Several bystanders and drivers honked and yelled in support of the group as it was escorted by a large contingent of NYPD officers all the way to Prospect Park.

"We're here as we were two years ago when Eric Garner was choked to death," Sharpton said. "We want them to know it's two years later, and we're still here.

"If we don't fight it will continue to happen."

Garner, a 43-year-old father of six from Port Richmond, died in police custody in Tompkinsville on July 17, 2014. Officers were attempting to arrest him for allegedly selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

A state grand jury declined to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the cop seen in a video bringing down Garner from behind, in connection with the incident.

The NYPD has finished its investigation and is waiting for the federal government's decision as to whether to file civil rights charges against Pantaleo.

A federal grand jury in Brooklyn began hearing evidence in the case in February.

Meanwhile, Pantaleo remains on modified assignment, police said.

"Clearly, his civil rights were violated when he was choked and said, 'I can't breathe' 11 times," Sharpton said. "We need to end this. We need federal laws changed."

On Sunday, Carr and Sharpton will visit Garner's grave in New Jersey. The family will place flowers and release peace doves at the gravesite, Sharpton said.

Garner's daughter, Erica Garner, is also planning a rally at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.
Turkey Military Coup

People gather at a pro-government rally in central Istanbul's Taksim square, Saturday, July 16, 2016. Forces loyal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left some hundreds of people dead and scores of others wounded Saturday. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

ANKARA, Turkey -- Pouring out into the streets, forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed a coup attempt in a night and day of explosions, air battles and gunfire. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason" and demanded that the United States extradite the cleric he blamed for the attempted overthrow of his government.

The chaos Friday night and Saturday left about 265 people dead and over 1,400 wounded, according to authorities. After reclaiming control of the country, Turkish officials arrested or fired thousands of troops and judges they claimed were followers of the U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

Top Turkish officials -- including the president, the prime minister and the interior minister -- all urged supporters to come out to city squares again Saturday night to defend the country's democracy.

Massive crowds did just that -- singing and waving Turkish flags in Istanbul's neighborhood of Kisikli, in Izmir's Konak square and the northeastern city of Erzincan. A festive crowd also formed in Ankara's Kizilay square.

The unrest came as Turkey -- a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group -- has already been mired in political turmoil that critics blame on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. Erdogan, who stayed in power by switching from being prime minister to president, has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels that has left parts of the southeast in an urban war zone.

The government is also under pressure from hosting millions of refugees who have fled the violence in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and from a series of bloody attacks blamed on Islamic State extremists and Kurdish rebels.

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul overnight Friday, blocking key bridges. From a cellphone, he delivered a televised address that called for huge crowds to come out and defend Turkey's democracy -- which they did in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, facing off against troops who had blocked key Bosporus bridges that link the city's Asian and European sides.

"They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge," he told large crowds after landing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport early Saturday and declaring the coup a failure.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the night as "a black mark on Turkish democracy" and said the perpetrators "will receive every punishment they deserve." He said July 15 will be remembered as "a festival for democracy," the day when those who carried out a coup against the people were hit by a coup themselves.

Late Saturday, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said state authorities were in full control of all areas in Turkey but warned that authorities would remain vigilant.

The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military. Gen. Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.

Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting Saturday denouncing the coup attempt and declaring that any further moves against the people or parliament would be met "with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them."

The statement praised Turks for taking to the streets and resisting the coup.

The death toll from the unrest appeared to be around 265 people. Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the process of putting down the coup attempt and 2,839 plotters were detained. A source at the office of the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the 161 "excludes assailants." Dundar said at least 104 "coup plotters" had died.

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup attempt. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government and Obama held a meeting with his national security advisers. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and urged the Turkish people to respect democracy.

U.S. airline regulators banned all flights between the United States and airports in Ankara and Istanbul, including flights to the United States via third countries.

While government officials blamed the coup attempt on Gulen, the cleric said he condemned "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey" and sharply rejected any responsibility for it.

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," Gulen said. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday the Obama administration would entertain an extradition request but Turkey would have to prove wrongdoing by Gulen.

The cleric, who left Turkey in 1999, now lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

"We would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately," Kerry said.

Even before the unrest was under control, Erdogan's government pressed ahead Saturday with a purge of Turkish judicial officials, with 2,745 judges being dismissed across Turkey for alleged ties to Gulen, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. It said 10 members of Turkey's highest administrative court were detained and arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey's appeals court.

Among those detained for questioning was the commander of Turkey's second army, Gen. Adem Huduti, and other top aides in the eastern city of Malatya, Anadolu said.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a military statement saying forces had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags.

Top military commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks. By early Saturday, the putsch appeared to have fizzled.

CNN-Turk showed dozens of soldiers walking among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. Some flag-waving people climbed onto the tanks. The Hurriyet newspaper, quoting investigators, said some privates had thought they were on military maneuvers, not a coup attempt.

A Blackhawk military helicopter with seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis, where the passengers requested asylum. While Turkey demanded their extradition, Greece said it would hand back the helicopter and consider the men's asylum requests.

Fighting continued into the early morning, with huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, scattering broken glass and other debris across a lobby. CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding others.

Turkey is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon said U.S. warplanes stopped flying missions against IS after the Turkish government closed its airspace early Saturday to military aircraft, and U.S. officials were working with Turkey to resume air operations as soon as possible.

Erdogan's Islamist government has also been accused of playing an ambiguous -- even double-sided -- role in Syria. Turkey's renewed offensive against Kurdish militants -- who seek more autonomy and are implacable foes of IS -- has complicated the U.S.-led fight against IS.

Fadi Hakura of the Chatham House think tank in London said the attempted coup appeared to have been "carried out by lower-ranking officers."

"Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan's attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency," Hakura said. "In the short term, this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan."

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.
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A leading midwifery expert said a promising new trial that led to fewer caesarean and epidural-assisted births would be examined in an ACT review of antenatal education.

University of Canberra professor of midwifery Deborah Davis said caesarean rates were too high across Australia and education preparing women for births in "interventionist" acute-care settings was inadequate.

Professor Deborah Davis, part of a joint collaboration reviewing childbirth courses. Credit:Melissa Adams

"There are many ways to help reduce intervention in childbirth, including arming women with information so that they can make informed choices, pain relief choices, place of birth choices," she said.

Professor Davis said the Australian maternity system had not supported midwives to be as autonomous as they should be, meaning they did not have enough one-on-one time with pregnant women.
The uncertainty in the world with Brexit, Italy and the US election has led investors into the safe haven sectors including real estate investment trusts for indirect exposure to bricks and mortar.

This comes as the Australian REIT sector readies itself for the upcoming reporting season for the full 2016 financial year. Analysts are crunching their own numbers and are starting to predict that the coming year will be positive for the sector.

Broadway shopping centre owned by Mirvac. Credit: Mark Jesser

GPT Group, Mirvac and DEXUS Property all report in the same week, being the second week of August, with expectations they will say the residential business is still growing, albeit at a much slower rate, office vacancies are inching up but not for long and industrial is the golden-haired child, thanks to e-commerce demand for storage.

But speculation persists that Mirvac will be under the brightest spotlight after its reporting systems restructure, which could trigger a sale or takeover of some or all of the business segments.
It says a lot about the political landscape in Victoria that only four federal seats changed hands between Labor and the Liberals in the decade before this month's election: Corangamite, Deakin, La Trobe and McEwen.

While electoral contests in NSW and Queensland are fought on ever-shifting fronts, Victoria's is akin to trench warfare, where the occupied lines are more defined and only a small number of electorates tend to fall into enemy territory every few years.

Duck, and yield not: The federal campaigns contain good lessons for both Daniel Andrews and Matthew Guy.

The July 2 poll  in which Chisholm was the only seat in the state that switched between the two major parties  was no exception.

But as the dust settles on another federal election, the key question at Spring Street is what the outcome might mean for Daniel Andrews and opposition leader Matthew Guy as they prepare for battle in 2018.
A poor country landlocked in the middle of Africa balances on the edge of civil war, in which ancient tribal rivalries, thinly disguised beneath a veneer of post-colonial politics, erupt in horrifying bouts of rape and massacre.

A terrible situation, certainly, and deplorable  but one so far from this country in kilometres and cultural distance that it remains on the edge of mainstream concerns. That is what many Australians will think about events in South Sudan, one of the world's newest nations, itself created after years of fighting with Sudan to its north, and now riven in turn by internecine discord. They will find it hard to distinguish between the antagonists  the Dinka, about 36 per cent of the population, loyal to Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, and the Nuer, 16 per cent, led by Riek Machar, the country's vice-president. What interests can be at stake there, what hatreds, which motivate such ferocity?

Australian South Sudanese Makuer Mabor Mangar, a Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) IO soldier, inside his tent on the outskirts of Juba, South Sudan. Credit:Kate Geraghty

For some Australians, though, there is no distance at all. As we report today, Australians of South Sudanese background are returning to the country of their ancestors to engage in the fighting on one side or the other. It is their engagement in the conflict that brings the whole issue close to home. Their actions may well lay some of them open to prosecution if they return to Australia. Legislation intended chiefly to prohibit Islamist zealots from travelling to fight in war zones in the Middle East also covers those engaged in this quite different conflict.

Australian law allows individuals to join the armed forces of a foreign government, but otherwise prohibits them from travelling overseas to "engage in a hostile activity". Some areas (Mosul in Iraq, Al-Raqqa province in Syria) are simply off limits. Australians can be prosecuted if they try to enter.
The plane fell from more than 10,000 metres above eastern Ukraine, but it was no accident. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was blasted from the sky on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard. The aircraft was travelling along an established commercial route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the passengers and crew could hardly have been expected to be aware of the savage proxy war under way by Russian forces far below. But that ignorance provided no safety from the surface to air missile fired at the plane and the victims of MH17 deserve justice for what is undoubtedly a vicious crime.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin responded to attack on the aircraft with bluster and indignation, and his belligerence has not abated in the two years since. Yet any credible investigation has pointed to Russian culpability in the destruction. The Dutch Safety Board report published in October 2015 rejected technical failure or other cause for the catastrophe, and not identifying a culprit, concluded that a missile fired by a Russian-made "Buk" mobile anti-aircraft system destroyed the plane. Russian forces are strongly suspected to have smuggled the missile system across the border to their proxies in eastern Ukraine, where they had previously attacked Ukrainian military aircraft.

The wrecked cockpit of Malaysia Airlines MH17, shot down two years ago over eastern Ukraine. Credit:Getty Images

Russia has blithely attempted to deflect the finding by pointing out that Ukraine also possesses such a missile system, a turnaround from Moscow's initial claims that a Ukrainian fighter jet bought down the plane. Conspiracy theories have flourished since the first inquiries in the immediate aftermath were obstructed by fighting, making even the recovery of the dead a difficult task. The pain for the loved ones of the deceased was only magnified as it became apparent the victims' personal belongings were being looted. Crucial evidence was also tampered with.

Most of the passengers were Dutch, with 38 people from Australia also on the ill-fated flight, adding to the local resonance in this tragedy. Five countries  Australia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Belgium and the Netherlands  have formed a joint criminal investigation with the aim of identifying suspects, and a final report is expected within weeks. Russia had professed a willingness to co-operate, yet refused to accept responsibility for its actions in Ukraine.
Well this is getting a bit embarrassing. While Hillary Clinton is making a serious and unprecedented bid for the White House, more and more Americans are asking questions about the experiences of Julia Gillard.

Just this week author Malcolm Gladwell has been cable-TV hopping to promote his new history podcast, while expounding on his theory that when we allow one woman through the ranks, we close them behind her to ensure another doesn't follow. In this scenario, he argues, our consciences are safe because we can tell ourselves we have already had one.

It's a phenomenon Gladwell calls "moral licensing". He told CBS This Morning: "what happened to Gillard in Australia is very, very interesting. She gets elected, everyone says, 'Wow, we finally elected a woman'. And there is this kind of backlash. It unleashes this kind of torrent of suppressed misogyny and abuse. You cannot imagine what she goes through."

I don't really buy his theory  I think Australians would happily elect Julie Bishop or Tanya Plibersek if given the chance. But when I watched him I could not help have the discomforting thought that as America is grappling with the prospect of a lady POTUS, we are sliding backwards.
I had been chasing Whit Stillman for months. His film Love and Friendship, an adaptation of a sharp, scintillating Jane Austen novella  very much the Whit of Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco and very much the divine Jane  had made its debut to tremendous acclaim at the Rotterdam Film Festival back in January. We tried and failed to do an interview there, then in London, then in Cannes. No show from Mr Stillman. If he weren't so charming in an old-school, Cary Grant way, a lady could begin to lose her temper.

Love And Friendship is adapted from Lady Susan, the story of a beautiful widow on the make, told entirely through letters between the various players: the eponymous Susan, her confidant Alicia and the various embittered relatives who find themselves hosting the predatory Lady S for months at a time. Because Lady Susan has no money  not in the sense of going without meals, but in the very particular 18th-century sense of lacking the funds befitting her status. She needs to marry into it as soon as possible, which is to say as soon as she can be respectably out of mourning. Meanwhile, she has ways of inducing men to indulge her.

Chloe Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale in Whit Stillman's Love and Friendship.

Whit Stillman and I finally meet in his local. It's a lovely, mildly grubby bar in Paris, where there are people sitting alone at tables, reading and writing. At first he speaks so softly I can't hear him; he says he is nervous about being overheard and written into somebody else's novel. Having insisted on paying the bill, however, he is not at all abashed by having insufficient funds to cover two coffees. "You're an expensive girl," he says, counting out fractions of euros from crevices of his wallet. "You had the grande creme!"

I want to ask him about the appeal of the wicked woman, a literary staple since Salome. Lady Susan is played by Kate Beckinsale and Alicia by Chloe Sevigny, who were last seen together in Stillman's smart evisceration of the aspirational '80s, The Last Days of Disco (1998); they are a wonderfully poisonous duo. "I think the appeal is not of the evil character but the extravagant character," says Stillman. "Although it is true that cinema is seditious, because it does make somewhat bad characters more interesting than mostly good characters."
The failed coup and Recep Tayyip Erdogan's promises of vengeance highlight the worrying trajectory Turkey is on under the Islamist strongman that could affect its role as a security partner of the West and further hamper efforts to stabilise Syria.

The NATO member and bridge between Europe and the Middle East has become less democratic and less predictable under Mr Erdogan's leadership.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is blaming supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen for the coup attempt. Credit:AP

Mr Erdogan is known for personally dictating the country's foreign policy, often directed by his personal pride and ideology rather than the clear-headed national interest espoused by his foreign ministry.

He was slow to join the effort against Islamic State  in which Australia is deeply invested  because his personal animosity towards his former friend, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, meant he supported Islamist rebels including Islamic State against the regime in Damascus.
We went from not living together for 10 years to being thrust together with this huge opportunity as a band and as brothers. Just as Del jumped into Skunkhour, he ultimately jumped out of it, too. Skunkhour was together from 1992 to 2001. In 1995, our dad committed suicide and Del left the band a year later.

I started singing with Skunkhour in 1992 and, soon after, the rapper left the band. I'd heard Del rhyme before and he was amazing, so he got the gig. There I was, years after quitting university and finally getting a break in the music industry, and there's Del in the right place at the right time. He was deserving of it, though; he is a fantastic rapper.

Our parents broke up when I was eight and Mum remarried, and I left that family unit when I was 15 to live with Dad. I was pretty self-absorbed for a while, and Del and I lost touch. It wasn't until Del was 19 that we reconnected as equals.

Aya: My relationship with Del is multi-faceted. Growing up, he was this cute little brother we cherished. My other brother, Gavin, was 18 months younger than me, and while we rolled around like twins, Del was like a mascot. He was a quiet little fellow and a bit adrift in our family because of the age gap.

I felt sad that he felt bad about being in a band that I thought was having a pretty great time. I also thought, "Fuck, hang on a second. The band will be stuffed." His decision affected our viability as a band because having a rapper was our point of difference. I'll admit I'm challenging to work with. I can be intense and that isn't always a bowl of cherries.

When Del left the band, we lost that closeness and led separate lives. Music is simply a thread in my life now. When I was 38, I moved to LA to pursue music but ended up working in film and TV production. I moved back to Australia with my wife and kids in 2010 when our brother Gavin  who founded RUOK? Day  was diagnosed with lymphoma. He died in 2011. Two years later, his son Gus died at 15 from gliomatosis cerebri [brain cancer].

The underlay of those deaths pushed Del and I closer, as has the decision to perform together again as Skunkhour. It's like slipping on an old pair of jeans. The music pulls us together in a big seething mass of sound and has a life of its own and takes us both to a good place. It's not like we are at war. We are very different, but when the band thing happens we both play a role the other one respects.

We have more chemistry on stage because it's a better platform for us as people. On stage, when it's mid-song and he lays out his piece and I take the torch from him and go into another expression of it all, it feels like we are bouncing a ball back and forth. I hope I can get a closeness with Del that serves us well into the next stage of our lives.

Del: Aya was this exotic creature when I was growing up. It wasn't until I left art school and started hanging out with musos that our worlds collided. When Aya got in with Skunkhour, they needed a solid front person. Aya said: "I've put your name up." I was always going to be a [visual] artist, so it was strange to go from working in a bar to supporting INXS within six months. I guess I had a burning desire to prove something to Aya and the world.
Jim Carrey has shared words of wisdom a year after his ex-girlfriend Cathriona White committed suicide.

After being absent from social media for three months, the 54-year-old comedian took to Twitter to post a happy-looking selfie with a positive message.

Jim Carrey says he's doing okay. Credit:Getty Images

"All suffering leads to salvation. You'll see!" wrote Carrey, with the caption "Good news."
Grecko has no care for embarrassing Edelsten with her sex tape which she describes as "art". Credit:Instagram It is just as well because the flamboyant businessman claimed last year he was bankrupt. Grecko said she has been put off by how long it has taken his second ex-wife Gordon to reach a financial settlement with Edelsten, despite their divorce being finalised since April 2015. The American was declared bankrupt last month over a $70,000 legal fee debt racked up during her bitter divorce. In 2012, Edelsten was estimated to be worth $63 million and once owned around 20 cars, including Lamborghinis, a Rolls-Royce, Ferraris, a Bentley, a Mercedes, and an Audi, but Grecko said she has "no idea" where his money has gone now.

When she was living in his CBD penthouse apartment, Grecko said he would give her an allowance of $50 to $100 a day, which was "only enough money to buy food". "If I ever wanted to buy anything he would have to come with me and buy it for me, he would never give me the money," she said. "I think he was afraid if I had enough money I would leave, which is what I did in the end." Grecko has no concerns about embarrassing Edelsten with her sex tape that she described as "art" with "religious" and "political" connotations. "As far as Geoff is concerned I'm sure he would have a pretty prude, uptight attitude about my video," she said. "He never seemed very sexually experienced despite his age." Explaining how the tape differs to mainstream porn, she said: "It's a four-part sexual art piece, it has sex mixed with messages about philosophical subjects.

"It is a lot more creative because it's an expression and exploration of sexuality instead of exploitation." She is single at the moment and is looking for a mature partner but is "too scared" to sign up to SugarDaddy.com again. "I am looking for someone older, but not as old a Geoff, maybe in their 40s," she explained. Apart from her video, she is currently focusing on a budding rap career. Fairfax Media has sought a comment from Geoffrey Edelsten but he did not immediately reply.

Roxy Jacenko's one regret after breast cancer diagnosis Sydney PR queen Roxy Jacenko is no stranger to headlines of late, but her breast cancer diagnosis has come as a shock. At 36 and a mother of two young children, Pixie, 4, and Hunter, 2, Jacenko believed she was an unlikely candidate, despite being in the at-risk category following her mother Doreen Davis' mastectomy a decade ago for the same disease. The Sweaty Betty publicist says she regrets not being more pro-active and urges all women to "be vigilant with self-examination". "Don't just happen to be showering and come across a lump like I did," she told Fairfax Media.

"I should have known better and I should have done routine mammograms knowing that my mum had suffered from breast cancer  but I didn't, I just thought, 'I'll worry about that when I am 40 plus'. "Even when you think, 'that will never happen to me,' one day you could wake up to start the day and it will  just like me." Roxy Jacenko urges all women to "be vigilant with self-examination" after her breast cancer diagnosis. Credit:Don Arnold Jacenko underwent an MRI on Tuesday and a second core-needle biopsy (a test to remove tissue or fluid from the suspicious area) on Wednesday. She was due to meet a specialist on Friday to discuss the next steps with regards to surgery and treatment. The businesswoman, who is known for her strong work ethic, even tending to calls and emails just hours after giving birth to both children, says it will be business as usual for the time being.

"As to slowing down, make no mistake, if I felt unwell, I would, as one cannot get better if they don't rest and take things slower, but I don't feel unwell," she said. "Now is about finding out how to tackle the cancer, and until treatment starts, I will be going about life as normal and then assess what I can and what I can't manage as, and when it happens." Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Australia, with an estimated 15,934 women and 150 men expected to be diagnosed this year. Cancer Council Australia CEO, Professor Sanchia Aranda, said the disease does not discriminate. "Those most at risk of breast cancer are women who have breasts," she said.
With the election outcome settled, investors can plan ahead with greater certainty, at least until the next election. For younger and even middle-aged taxpayers, accumulating large amounts in super will be much more difficult even if the budget measures to restrict non-concessional super contributions are modified.

The main beneficiaries of the super tax concessions are now the fortunate few in generous defined benefit employer funds and those with large amounts in super already. With super's major drawback being money untouchable until retirement age, voluntary super contributions including via salary sacrifice will be far less attractive when the concessional and non-concessional contributions caps are lowered in 2017.

Paying off the family home is now a more attractive strategy than saving in superannuation. Credit:John Shakespeare

The rejection of Labor's proposal to increase capital gains tax and limit negative gearing tax deductions leaves geared investments in personal names and outright family home ownership as the two most tax effective savings options. Both of these strategies are extremely low cost and simple to implement and most importantly, they're flexible if personal circumstances change.

Savings used to reduce an owner-occupied mortgage can easily be accessed via withdrawals from a mortgage offset account using redraw facilities. While not necessarily ideal, geared transactions can similarly be reduced or reversed via sale of part or all of the investment.
It has been a stellar week, and month, for the sharemarket and Money readers alike who have shown their stock-picking prowess at the conclusion of the latest shares race.

Early lagger Mendy Amzalak quietly worked his way up to nab victory in the final week. Amzalak's portfolio of micro- and nano-cap stocks has certainly come home to roost. Among his best performers are Mustang Resources, Redchip and AVZ Minerals, all adding 20 per cent or more in value in just four weeks.

Readers ruled this race.

Amzalak ended the race with a tidy 10 per cent gain, against the broader market which finished the week up 3.4 per cent and the month up 5 per cent.

Five out of eight racers beat the broader market over the month, with Money reader Joan Ponsford in second place, her best performing stocks from the mining sector. Not to be outdone, a portfolio with big cap stocks also performed, with Fortescue Metals Group up an astonishing 34 per cent in one month as well as strong showings by Sandfire Resources, BHP Billiton and Evolution Mining solidifying Ponsford in second place.
Police were called to a hall in Sydney's south after about 30 teenagers gatecrashed a 16th-birthday party where one man was injured.

About 9pm on Friday, fights broke out between partygoers and gatecrashers on Queens Road, Hurstville.

One gatecrasher allegedly took out a knife and assaulted a 17-year-old man, causing a scratch to his elbow.

Paramedics treated the man at the hall and another man was treated after he stood on glass.

About five cars in the car park were damaged by the gatecrashers before they were moved on by police.
An unidentified urn of cremated ashes has been found on a muddy riverbank in Sydney.

Police are trying to find the owners of the urn, which was discovered washed up by the Georges River, in the city's south-west.

Police are seeking information after the cremation urn was discovered at Georges Hall. Credit:NSW Police

It is not known whose remains are inside or how they ended up in their inauspicious final resting place.

A man was walking in Garrison Park at about 7am on June 22, when he noticed a plain grey box in the mud nearby. Inside the box, he found a cremation urn filled with ashes.
A driver accused of running down a man in his car before allegedly bashing him with a brick will face court on Sunday, charged with attempted murder.

The 54-year-old victim remains in a critical condition in Westmead Hospital after being attacked in the front yard of a house in Shalvey, in Sydney's west, on Saturday afternoon.

The scene of an alleged attempted murder in Shalvey on Saturday. Credit:9 News

Emergency services found the man unconscious just after 2pm when they were called to Westward Avenue, where a blue Kia had mounted the kerb and partially demolished a brick fence.
A Brisbane woman allegedly caught driving six times over the legal alcohol limit had a seven-year-old child in her car.

About 3.45pm Friday a car driven by the 41-year-old woman crashed into a fence on Moggill Road, with the woman allegedly fleeing the scene.

A Brisbane woman caught driving six times over the legal alcohol limit had a seven-year-old child in her car.

She was found at a nearby residence about 5.30pm and allegedly returned a breath alcohol concentration of 0.32 percent - more than six times the legal limit.

She will appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 5 charged with driving under the influence of liquor.
Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate a 15-year-old Burpengary boy who has been missing since June 1.

The boy has been missing for more than six weeks but was last seen at the Scarborough boat ramp three weeks ago. Police hold concerns due to his age.

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a 15-year-old Burpengary boy who has been missing since June 1. Credit:Queensland Police

He is described as 175cm tall with a proportionate build, brown eyes and dark brown hair.

Anyone who may have seen the boy or has any information in relation to his whereabouts is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Police are investigating the alleged rape of a Monash University student who has become an advocate for better safety on campus.

Emma Hunt, a 20-year-old student at the university, claimed she was sexually assaulted in a wooden cabin while at an orientation week camp near Kyneton in March 2014.

She reported her alleged assault to police last month.

A Monash spokesman said the university supported the student's decision to contact police and had encouraged them to do so.
The closure of Istanbul's international airport has left Turkey-bound Australian travellers stranded.

Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Turkey's biggest airport, has been shut down following the Turkish military's announcement of a coup on Friday night.

Flights originally destined for Turkey are still departing Melbourne Airport en route to layover ports in Asia.

But passengers bound for Istanbul on a Qantas flight that left Tullamarine Airport at 11.45am on Saturday morning were being told their connecting flight to Istanbul had been cancelled.
A Melbourne woman in Ankara says Turkish people are singing and dancing in the streets in a show of support for embattled President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Meadow Heights resident Ayse Ilanbey, who is in her parents' hometown of Demetevler in Ankara completing an internship, said people were uniting against the military.

Supporters of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gather in Istanbul's Taksim square. Credit:AP

"There is unity I've never seen before," she said. "Everyone's willing to give it their all. The streets are really crowded and everyone is chanting [religious and Turkish songs]."

The 19-year-old said her aunt heard militarly jets fly overheard about 4am overnight.
The construction industry union says the asbestos found in Perth's new children's hospital is more toxic than first thought.

The CFMEU issued a statement on Saturday morning saying it had commissioned its own scientific analysis on asbestos samples taken from the hospital.

Union claims asbestos found at the Perth Children's Hospital to be more toxic than first thought. Credit:CFMEU

"It confirms our worst fears by showing a more toxic content that first thought," union state secretary Mick Buchan said.

"We call on the state government to act swiftly and to fully investigate how asbestos ended up on a children's hospital project.
Chaos and confusion ripped through Turkey after a failed coup by a military faction set off a furious scramble for power and sparked turmoil within one the world's most unstable regions.

Bloodied bodies lay in the streets with at least 60 people killed across Istanbul and the capital Ankara. Among them were 17 police officers who died in a military helicopter attack by rebels late Friday night (Saturday morning AEST). There were separate reports that fighter jets shot down a military helicopter filled with coup plotters and that tanks had opened fire near the Turkish parliament.

A Turkish soldier being held by members of the public. Credit:Michael Schlechta

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that those responsible for the "act of treason" would pay a heavy price. He blamed the failed uprising on a "clique" of the country's armed forces. "We will stand strong, we will not give in," he said. "One nation, one flag, one motherland."

Turkish news agency Anadolu reported that more than 700 army personnel had been detained, after armed police appeared to have regained control of the country by Saturday morning. They were assisted by hundreds of citizens who rallied in major cities and clambered over military tanks in answer to Mr Erdogan's plea for support.
Police have reportedly praised a heroic member of the public for jumping into a truck and wrestling with its murderous driver as it tore through throngs of men, women and children celebrating Bastille Day in Nice on Friday.

French delegate Eric Ciotto told radio station Europe 1 that a man jumped into the truck and tried to stop the driver as the vehicle ploughed through the crowd in the French coastal city.

Forensic police officers examine the truck after the deadly attack. Credit:AP

Mr Ciotto said the man's efforts enabled the police to intercept the killer, 31-year-old French Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.

"It's at that moment that the police were able to neutralise this terrorist," Mr Ciotto told Europe 1. "I won't forget the look of this policewoman who intercepted the killer."
"With the frequency of shootings and terror attacks there is a sense of anxiety that's building in people," she said, "a sense of vulnerability and powerlessness." People gather and sing the French national anthem at a Sydney vigil for the victims of the Bastille Day attack. Credit:AP Smith added: "There is a heightened alarm but there can also be some desensitisation that's happening." The constant stream of news on social media can also be traumatic. A team of researchers at the University of Bradford in England told a British psychology conference last year that exposure to violent imagery on social media can cause symptoms that are similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, defined as a persistent emotional reaction to a traumatic event that severely impairs one's life. Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed offers her tribute to the victims of an attack at a restaurant in Dhaka this month. Credit:AP

In an analysis conducted by the Bradford researchers, 189 participants were shown images and provided with stories of violent events, including the September 11 attacks, school shootings and suicide bombings. The researchers' analysis showed that 22 per cent of those who participated were significantly affected by what they saw. Christians, Sunnis and Shiites pray together at the scene of a massive truck bombing by the Islamic State group in Baghdad, Iraq, this month. Credit:AP The study also found that people who view violent events more often were more affected than people who saw them less frequently, and that people who described themselves as extroverts were at a higher risk to be disturbed by the images. What can we do about it?

Wayne Dominici, 23, cries on the shoulder of his aunt, Ada Dominici, at a memorial outside Pulse, the gay nightclub where a shooter killed 49 and wounded many more exactly in Orlando, Florida, last month. Credit:Tampa Bay Times/AP The self-care advice hasn't changed. It is natural to want to follow along with incremental updates on social media and in the news. But it's important to know that this can heighten your anxiety. Anne Marie Albano, a clinical psychologist and the director of the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, said in an interview after the 2015 Paris attacks that it might be a good idea to limit your exposure to social media. Illustration: Matt Golding Designating times to plug into the news - checking Twitter in the morning over coffee, but not listening to the radio while driving your kids to school, for instance - can help you manage anxiety if you are feeling stressed.

"This will help you balance a realistic and credible threat with information that is sensationalised," Albano said, "or a rush to report something or talk about something that doesn't have the impact that you would think it has." If you're feeling anxiety about a possible attack, compare your fear with the facts. When you fear the worst, it's hard to remember that, say, a flight or a train ride, has extraordinarily high odds of being safe. But you have to try. Humans are bad at assessing risk, Martin Seif, a psychologist who specialises in treating anxiety disorders and the fear of flying, said in an interview late last year. "Every single anxiety-management technique is based on the premise that your reaction is out of proportion" to the likelihood of danger, Seif said.

Also, remember to take a breath. A guide to dealing with terrorism released by the FBI encourages closing your eyes and taking deep breaths to feel calmer. Taking a walk or talking to a close friend can also help. The guide also recommends avoiding alcohol and drugs, exercising regularly and eating healthy foods - basic self-care guidelines that help reduce stress. Make sure you have a plan to contact your family if something happens, especially if cellular networks are overloaded or transportation is disrupted, but remember that you most likely will not need it, experts say.

If you have children, the American Psychological Association recommends asking them how they are feeling about the news. Keep in mind that it is possible for children to be influenced by news reports and the adult conversations around them. Lastly, keep your daily routine. Albano said that a primary worry in the field of psychology is people "going out of their way to be so safe that it shrinks their world". "Terrorists thrive on this kind of thing," she added. "They want to see the population change their practices." Going out of your way to avoid interacting with strangers - by taking mass transit, for example - can stoke fear and anxiety in children, she said.
Washington: That noise heard overnight on Friday was the sound of jaws hitting desks in NATO bunkers either side of the Atlantic, as the uncertain fate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan posed threats to the US-led war against the so-called Islamic State, and to Europe's jury-rigged effort to staunch the flood of war refugees to the continent.

And it wasn't heard in isolation. In the midst of weeks of crazy, dangerous developments in Europe  think a wave of terror attacks and Britain's Brexit vote  and it's as though the pillars of democracy might topple.

A measure of the confusion among foreign policy experts was this assessment by Professor Omer Taspinar, at the Brookings Institution, who in recent months has warned of a Turkish coup: "This will rattle the Turkish markets. It will tarnish the country's image. My analysis is that this will certainly be embarrassing for Erdogan. The signs are chaotic right now, but I think the rumours of Erdogan's demise would be highly exaggerated given he has been on TV."
The University of St. Martin cordially invites you to participate in their town hall meeting on Black Lives Matter.

Pond Island:--- We all are familiar with the gruesome images of the killing of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the many other victims of police abuse. For some the hashtag Black Lives Matters has become a rallying cry for justice. For others it is understood as a limitation as they argue All Lives Matters. Recently, there is even the Blue Lives Matter movement under police officers and their allies.

As these Social Justice movements continue to expand and grow, The University of St. Martin (USM) ought to be the place where Sint Maarteners & Saint Martinoise meet to be informed on international affairs and relate these to their realities. As such, the USM cordially invites you to participate in their town hall meeting to contribute to the debate Do Black Lives Matter on St. Martin.

Tuesday 19, July 2016

The University of St. Martin, Pond island

7:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Room 202 (2nd floor)

The event is open to the general public - free of charge

The objective of the town hall meeting is for the public to collectively converse on how to display solidarity with the victimized and make St. Martin a more decent society. A panel consisting of the radio personalities and up and coming intellectuals, among others Sagan, Gee Money, and Darren Wilson with Melissa Gumbs (as the moderator) will kick off the discussion by sharing personal experiences from living in America as well as on St. Martin whereby, they will be connecting these more generally to the struggle for global justice.

The event will be streamed live via USMs Facebook page www.facebook.com/universityofstmartin , whereby, persons can post questions, voice concerns as well as leave comments on the Facebook page which will be read and discuss during the town hall meeting.
15 persons still missing at sea --- no proper investigation was conducted in BVI.

BVI/ PHILIPSBURG:--- Authorities in the British Virgin Island deported the two culprits that are responsible for trafficking humans from St. Maarten to St. Thomas. According to information SMN News received from the relatives of the missing Cubans states that the boat captain and crew are from the Dominican Republic. However, SMN News managed to obtain the names and nationalities of the two men that were residing on St. Maarten and are responsible for the possible deaths of 15 people that were on the boat Beul Spirit that was transporting at least 19 persons (mostly Cubans) illegally to the US.

Of the 18 persons on board the ill-fated vessel, four of them were rescued by a passing boat sometime on Monday. The captain and crew are 27 year old Daniel Cassell, national of the Dominican Republic and resident of St. Maarten, and 38 year old Adian Gould of St. Vincent who was also a resident of St. Maarten. The other two persons that were rescued are 53yrs old Rodriquez VAZQUEZ VLADIMIR and 32yrs old Fernandez MAINE YASMEL both of Cuba but was residing on St. Maarten illegally. The two Cubans are held in BVI immigration detention.

It is clear that BVI authorities did a premature investigation and deported the two persons that are responsible for the deaths of at least 15 persons. They failed to contact authorities on St. Maarten to even inform them of the fatal incident that claimed the lives of 15 people prior to deporting them to their countries of origin namely St. Vincent and the Dominican Republic.

The ill-fated boat began taking in water and eventually sank somewhere in the vicinity of Virgin Gorda. While four of the people that were on the boat were rescued on Monday San Juan R.C.C only contacted St. Maarten/ Curacao Coast Guard for assistance on Wednesday and requested assistance for the search of the missing persons on board the ill-fated boat Beul Spirit.

On Thursday and Friday the Coast Guard of St. Maarten began assisting in the search with a dash 8 aircraft, despite the efforts by St Juan R.C.C and St. Maarten none of the bodies or the boat were recovered.
PHILIPSBURG:--- During a routine patrol by police on Friday July 15th at approximately 06.00 p.m. in the Fort Willem area, the driver of a gold colored Hyundai Accent which was very heavily tinted was ordered to stop. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop an increased speed in order to flee from police. The police chased this vehicle through the Fort Willem area. During the chase two suspects managed to jump out of the vehicle and took off on foot through the area. When the driver of the car noticed that there was no way out he also jumped of the vehicle and fled on foot. The area was surrounded and one of the suspects was arrested in the vicinity of the Prince Bernard Bridge. During a search of the area where the suspects fled, a loaded pistol and a revolver were found and confiscated. The suspect was taken to the Philipsburg Police Station for further investigation. During a search of the home of the suspect a small amount of marihuana and several different caliber bullets were found and confiscated. The suspect remains in custody for further investigation.

KPSM Police Report
Man in custody responsible for defacing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Sunset Avenue in Venice

LAPD have apprehended the man responsible for defacing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Sunset Avenue in Venice

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office believes they have apprehended the man responsible for defacing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Sunset Avenue in Venice.

Before the Memorial Day weekend, graffiti appeared on the wall, which has become an icon for the Venice and West Los Angeles neighborhoods regarding the service and sacrifice given to the United States by those in the armed services. The mural bears the title "You Are Not Forgotten" and lists the names of 2,273 soldiers who are counted as either prisoners of war or missing in action from the Vietnam War. It was painted in 1992 by artist Peter Stewart, who was inspired by a welcoming parade for Operation Desert Storm veterans.

The graffiti damage to the memorial mural stretched about 100 feet. "We were initially hopeful that the graffiti could be removed without damaging the memorial, but Metro's contractor says the damage is too extensive," reported Metro CEO Phil Washington. The mural is painted on the side of a Metro building. Washington's statement went to explain that the transit authority would "work with the community to gather historical photos so the wall can be restored."

The suspected tagger, Angel Castro, 24, was arrested on July 13. He's plead not guilty to one felony count of vandalism over $400. Castro has previously been convicted of robbery in 2015. Prosecutors will ask that bail be set at $85,000.

If convicted as charged, Castro could face up to six years in prison.

Volunteers helped cleanup the Vietnam War memorial wall in Venice after it was vandalized with graffiti.

If convicted as charged, Castro could face up to six years in prison.

The memorial, located on a black wall along Pacific Avenue, was painted by a Vietnam veteran in 1992 and has 2,273 names on it. It declares "You are not forgotten," which was covered up by the graffiti. Citizens all the way from Lancaster and other areas came together to repaint the phrase over the markings and cleanup the graffiti.

Venice is a residential, commercial and recreational beachfront neighborhood on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles.

Venice was founded in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it merged with Los Angeles. Today, Venice is known for its canals, beaches, and the circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half-mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, mystics, artists and vendors.
Local Ophthalmologist Discovers New Gene Mutation

The ability to drive a car, recognize friends and family in public and see words on your computer, cell phone or on a printed page are a few of the many activities in our daily lives that depend heavily on the normal function of the macula; the part of the eye that deals with fine focus. Dr. Kent W. Small, an ophthalmologist who practices in Glendale and Los Angeles, has made an exciting discovery on a gene that directly effects the vision loss for individuals with an eye disease called North Carolina Macular Dystrophy (also known as MCDR1). Macular dystrophy is a hereditary condition, which is a type of macular degeneration.

For Kent Small, M.D., the formidable, 28-year search for the gene mutations causing the rare retinal disease known as North Carolina macular dystrophy (NCMD) was highly personal and career-defining.

"My first academic position after leaving Duke did not work out so well because, against the wishes of my chairman, I went to Marshfield, Wisconsin, for two weeks to learn genetic testing methods from Dr. James Weber to help find the NCMD genes," recalls Dr. Small. "I made a commitment to the families with NCMD and became too deeply entrenched in the pursuit of this disease to ever give up. It consumed me sometimes at considerable cost personally, emotionally and financially."

But thanks to his collaboration with 12 affected families and 20 researchers - including Ed Stone, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Iowa, who provided powerful, state-of-the-art genetic discovery technologies for the effort - Dr. Small finally got his answer. Mutations involving the genes PRDM13 and IRX1 were identified as the culprit. The first mutations in both genes were difficult to find, because they were located outside of genetic regions known as exons, which code for proteins and are where disease-causing defects are most likely to occur. Results of the long-standing research project were published recently in the journal Ophthalmology.

These findings are so significant that Dr. Small has been invited as a keynote speaker of the Global Ophthalmology Meeting on July 18, 2016 and an invited speaker at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in October 2016In addition, Dr. Richard G. Weleber wrote an editorial in the Journal Ophthalmology of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in January issue of 2016 stating that this is "one of the most important studies in our field in the past several decades."

Dr Small began working on this disease 28 years ago when he encountered a patient at DUKE University with this disease at the Oteen VA Hospital. Early on his research was funded by NIH but the last 14 years it has been funded by himself and his non-profit organization. Within the last year, with the help of colleagues at University of Iowa and the Stephen Wynn Institute for Vision Research they were finally able to find and confirm the mutations causing the disease.

Eye with Macular Corneal Dystrophy

What's more exciting is that it opens the doors for future research on similar mutations. The gene affected is involved in the development of the human macula and opens a new pathway for research into future therapeutics. North Carolina Macular Dystrophy has several similarities to Age Related Macular Degeneration, the number one leading cause of blindness in the United States for individuals about the age of 65. Therefore, understanding the MCDR1 gene will shed light on and contribute to future discoveries on the development of treatment and management of age-related macular degeneration. MCDR1 and Age Related Macular Degeneration can be diagnosed after examination by your ophthalmologist. Dr. Small is one of the world's leading specialists on these diseases.

Dr. Small is very proud of his findings and expects to expand his research in the future and hopes that outside funding becomes available to offset his personal expenditures. Dr. Small has established a non-profit corporation to help fund his future research.
Conspiracy theory why the secret Jew staged coup against himself: To reconcile with Israel

The US wanted Turkey, the most powerful military in the region, to normalize relations with Israel prior to invading Syria and Iraq. This event give Erdogan cover for Zionist reconciliation.

The Middle East is famous for wild conspiracy theories. A majority of Arabs don't believe that American astronauts ever landed on the moon, and think that Israeli Mossad agents staged the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Friday's failed Turkish coup d'etat attempt seems so bizarre and pointless, that it makes fertile ground for conspiracy theorists.

True, President Recep Erdogan had been cracking down on the press, political opposition, and those who would resist his authoritarian Islamist rule anyway. Now he has an excuse to ferret out disloyal army brigades, to arrest and even execute his political opponents. He's already arrested 3000 people for treason and sedition, including 5 generals and a colonel.

Erdogan has said that the military members behind the mutiny will be treated no differently than terrorists. It is interesting to note that he has not traveled the 200 miles from Istanbul to Ankara, the capital. Some believe this indicates that the capital is not in the governments control after all.

But others note that he did seem to put this mutiny down more easily than taking a Turkish bath.

Twitter of course was full of conspiracy theories. They opined that the coup was in fact a deliberate false flag event. "Now they will have an excuse to purge the military which they want to do anyway." Another user said "I just want Turkey to be a secular state like it used to be."

"This is truly awesome. Turkey was funding the enemy, ISIS, by buying oil. Coup is sketchy but a good thing, said another Twitter post.

There were of course the usual anti-Semitic Middle Eastern conspiracy theories that Erdogan is actually Jewish and in league with the Zionists. This one goes as follows:

Turkish-Israeli relations which had been good prior to 2004, took a downturn during the Gaza flotilla. Despite US mediation, no improvement came.

However, in December 2015, Turkey and Israel began to negotiate on restoring diplomatic relations by holding a secret meeting, in the aftermath of the 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown by Turkey the previous month, and the subsequent crisis with Russia and the increasing isolation of Turkey.

The two countries reached an agreement on 27 June 2016 to start the process of normalization, reported Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. It is uncertain how the mutiny will actually affect the process. But the essence of the conspiracy theory is that the US wanted Turkey, the most powerful military in the region, to normalize relations with Israel prior to invading Syria and Iraq. This event gave Erdogan cover to "reconcile with the Zionists." The timing of the coup, just 2 weeks after the agreement, is more than a little suspicious, no?

If none of this appeals to your sense of logic, it's because you didn't grow up in the Middle East. Ergun Poyraz, in his 2007 book Children of Moses, wrote that Turkey' Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his wife, are crypto-Jews, who secretly work with Israeli intelligence. The Turkish public has turned against Israel generally in recent years, especially over the Gaza issue. The theory here is that Erdogan, being Jewish, wanted to distract the Turkish Public from "Zionist war crimes" committed in Gaza.

In 2007, Poyraz was arrested and eventually sentenced to 29 years in prison by the Erdogan government. Here's why: Poyraz claims that Erdogan came to power as part of a Zionist conspiracy devised by Turkey's JITEM, a secret government intelligence unit.

JITEM is believed to be behind many bombings, attacks and assassinations, and is believed to be linked to Ergenekon, which was part of the CIA's Operation Gladio.

And if you believe all of this, I own a bridge across the Bosphorus that you might want to consider buying.

The failed Turkish Coup attempt of 2016 is a serious matter. 104 rebel soldiers were killed and 3000 arrested. 41 police officers and 2 soldiers died defending the government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt

On 13 July, less than two days before the coup was launched, Erdogan signed a bill giving Turkish soldiers immunity from prosecution while taking part in domestic security operations, requiring cases against commanders to be approved by the prime minister, while cases against lower-ranking soldiers may be signed off by district governors.

The immunity bill was seen as further evidence Erdogan himself staged the coup--he gave the soldiers immunity from prosecution 48 hours before the revolt began.

Commentator Fareed Zakaria says that no country has had a successful middle-class revolution since Argentina in the 1980s, following their disastrous military adventure in the Falkland islands. Most political scientists would agree, and Turkey is largely prosperous and middle-class by Middle Eastern standards .

Turkey is a member of the European Union and NATO, and is usually used as a model of stability within the Islamic world.

Erdogan led Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as the Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001 and led it to three general election victories in 2002, 2007 and 2011 before standing down as leader upon his election as President in 2014. Originating from an Islamist political background and as a self-described conservative democrat, his administration has overseen social conservative and liberal economic policies.

There were of course the usual anti-Semitic Middle Eastern conspiracy theories that Erdogan is actually Jewish and in league with the Zionists.

Nationwide protests against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdogan's government began in May 2013, with the internationally criticised police crackdown resulting in 22 deaths and the stalling of EU membership negotiations. Following a split with long-time ally Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan brought about large-scale judicial reforms that were criticised for threatening judicial independence. A US$100 billion government corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdogan's close allies, with Erdogan himself incriminated after a recording was released on social media.

Erdogan's government has since come under fire for electoral fraud, demeaning the Constitution, alleged human rights violations and crackdown on press and social media, having blocked access to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on numerous occasions.

Opposition journalists and politicians have thus branded him a "dictator".

For more about Israeli-Turkish relations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Turkey_relations
First prosecution under the City's new anti vacation rental law, nabs AIRBNB master tenant

Typical Santa Monica apartment buildings, not involved in the Shatford prosecution in any way. Apartments in Santa Monica are easily worth over $300 a night.

Scott Shatford is not a property owner. He would rent several, perhaps as many as 5 apartments, by filling out forms with his own credit information. He would then use his own website and AIRBNB to rent out the apartments as vacation rentals.

In a pre-arranged plea agreement, the Santa Monica City Attorney apparently got Shatford to plead guilty to violation of the City's new anti-vacation statute. It's the first conviction under the statute.

Apartments in Santa Monica that might fetch 3500 a month as ordinary rentals, are worth three or four times that on a daily or weekly basis. This is because the demand for hotel rooms locally is higher than the supply. All of Santa Monica is within 2 miles of the beach and close to other attractions.

Denise Smith works as an Administrative Analyst for the City of Santa Monica. She is one of 3 people hired to enforce the anti-short term rental law. The other two are code enforcement officers, she says.

I asked her why have this law at all. "The City Council really wanted us to make sure that the housing stock was not impacted by that type of activity, in this case we had a gentleman who had more than one short term rental. Shatford's is the type of post we want to impact. We have a lot of people doing it on one unit, and they're violating the law too, but they're not our top priority. If they're doing multiple rental units, they're a priority.

Smith says that her unit has about 200 open cases right now. "Not all of those people are what we call "corporate hosts,' people who buy or rent out more than one Santa Monica unit just for the purpose of renting it it as short term rentals."

Smith says that Shatford "claimed in a newspaper article to offer five units as short term rentals. We were only able to confirm two. He had 4 units on his website, scottshatford.com, on that website, he actually advertises his own units, and also provides advice" to others seeking to AIRBNB their units."

Under Santa Monica's statute, Smith says, it does not matter if you rent the unit or own it. If you're renting it out for less than 30 days while you are not there, you're violating the law. "Los Angeles is currently considering a similar ordinance, there's is a little different than ours, I believe they're going to allow it for 90 days a year," says Smith.

City Attorney Yibin Shen told me that "We're not entirely sure how many apartments Shatford was renting. He used both AIRBNB and his own website" to rent out the units for $200-$900 a night.

The City attorney charged Shatford with operating his illegal vacation rental business without City Permits, and refusing to comply with City Administrative Citations, Shen said.

It seems to me the guy got off rather easily, I told Shen. "He paid $3500 in fines, which is about ten nights in one of his apartments." Shen reiterated that the City is not entirely sure how many months Shatford's business went on, nor how many apartments were involved, nor how much they rented for.

"I don't mind people making a profit," I said. "But on the other hand, the homeless shelters are filled with long time residents who can no longer afford an apartment anywhere West of downtown. I have several friends who are longtime Westside residents who are now homeless, as a result of high apartment rental prices."

Shen said that Shatford paid the maximum allowed under the City's anti Vacation Rental statute, SMMC 6.04.020, and also that "our main concern going forward, is that he not do this any more, and that the rental units be returned to the housing market as normal apartment rentals."

"Prior to referring the case to the City Attorney's Office, Officers from the Task Force attempted to work with and educate Mr. Shatford for many months, issuing multiple warnings and citations with fines." meaning they tried to get the dude to back down, but Shatford said, "are you kidding? People will pay serious money to stay in my places for 2 days!!"

"However, these efforts were unavailing. Instead of coming into compliance, Mr. Shatford continued to operate his illegal vacation rentals within various residential dwelling units within the City and he boasted publicly that he was "not concerned" about local law because it would be "difficult" for the City to enforce the law. As a result, the City Attorney's Office commenced prosecution." This from the City Attorney's press release. My translation of this is that he kept explaining he was banking coin, so the City attorney got medieval on Shatford. (I actually asked the City attorney if this was true, but no response; I'm sure they're all on ten weeks of paid vacation in Bali).

The City is not alone in its concern. Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren is the latest to lash out at the short-term rental start-up, as she joined a group of senators who called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the effect on housing costs from companies such as Airbnb.

The rest of this is directly from the City press release:

This is the first conviction resulting from investigative work undertaken by the City's newly established Vacation Rental Enforcement Task Force (the "Task Force"), a unit of the City's Code Enforcement Division trained to target illegal vacation rental businesses operating in Santa Monica.

On July 5, 2016, Mr. Shatford pleaded "no contest" to the misdemeanor charge of operating his illegal vacation rental business in the City of Santa Monica. Under a plea agreement with the City Attorney's Office, Mr. Shatford was placed on 24 months of probation and ordered to:

1. Cease operation of all vacation rental business activities within the City of Santa Monica.

2. Pay approximately $3,500 in fines and investigative costs to the City.

3. Pay hundreds more in criminal fines, and victim restitution.

4. Comply with all other applicable laws and permit conditions.

Formerly a lower income apartment building, the Palihouse was bought by investors to turn it into a hotel. Valets in front of palihouse

"This is a positive and fair result" said Salvador Valles, Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development, who has responsibility over Code Enforcement and the Task Force. "Last year, when the Council adopted Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 6.20, which reaffirmed the City's longstanding prohibition against vacation rentals in Santa Monica, it clearly reiterated its deep interest in and concerns about protecting Santa Monica's diverse permanent rental housing stock.

Our law provides for true home-sharing of a person's home, however, the proliferation of vacation rentals, operated within residential dwellings like a hotel, do substantial harm to this housing diversity, often displaces long term rent-controlled tenants, and changes the character of our neighborhoods. I am pleased that the Task Force, led by Code Enforcement Manager Sharon Guidry, in cooperation with our partners at the City Attorney's Office, successfully prosecuted this case. Of course, even with this and other enforcement successes, there is much more work to be done."
Five Things to Do: 'Who you gonna call?' The SBSO with 'Ghostbusters'
A bone cell research project is among the 2,200 lbs. (1,000 kilograms) of research and science supplies flying to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft July 18, 2016.

SpaceX's ninth commercial cargo mission, launching early Monday (July 18), is lugging a selection of strange science to the International Space Station  living, beating heart cells, microbes from a nuclear disaster, a tiny DNA sequencer and more.

The six crewmembers on the station have been preparing for the supply ship's arrival early on Wednesday, July 20, when NASA astronaut (and current space station commander) Jeff Williams will grapple the craft with the space station's 57.7-foot (17.6-meter) robotic arm. A Russian Progress supply craft will have arrived at the station Monday night, as well. You can watch both launches and dockings live here, courtesy of NASA TV.

Then, once the craft is berthed to the space station, the real work will begin: Over the next five weeks, the station crew will unload its provisions, including more than 2,200 lbs. (1,000 kilograms) of research supplies and science experiments. [Related: Vital New Docking Port Launching on SpaceX Dragon]

One experiment won't take up a lot of space, but it has the potential to be a huge research boon to the orbiting lab  the space station's first DNA sequencer, which is about the size of a "fun-size Snickers bar," said Sarah Wallace, a microbiologist at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston.

The Biomolecule Sequencer will fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft July 18, 2016. (Image credit: Oxford Nanopore Technologies)

At a news briefing Wednesday (July 13), Wallace discussed how real-time DNA sequencing could help identify disease and assess crew health on the space station  and even, someday, analyze DNA-based life elsewhere in the universe.

For now, though, they're just testing the technology by sequencing DNA from a virus, a microorganism and a mouse. Parallel experiments will be run on the ground, as a control, and also in NASA's NEEMO laboratory on the ocean floor off the coast of Key Largo. The aquanauts there will also use the sequencer to identify microorganisms that inhabit the base.

"We wanted to include the mouse in there so that people would understand it wouldn't just be microbes that this could potentially give us a lot of information on," Wallace said. "It's really, we believe, going to be a game changer to have this capability on the ISS, and we're really excited for all the research potential that could come."

The astronauts will also be bringing aboard live heart cells, which they will cultivate for one month to test for changes in their sizes, shapes and beating patterns.

"It's been pretty well-established that the human heart as a whole undergoes some structural changes in response to a microgravity environment, so it actually assumes more of a spherical-like shape  and this is something that actually reverts back to normal when an astronaut returns planetside," Arun Sharma, a graduate student at Stanford University, said at the briefing. "But one thing that hasn't really been examined as well is the effect of microgravity on single heart cells, or the individual beating cells that comprise the entire human heart."

To obtain the heart cells that were destined for orbit, scientists transformed human skin cells into stem cells, which can become any cell, and then grew them into heart cells. After flying in space, they'll be compared with ground samples to see how their gene expression has changed.

Another experiment that investigates bone loss in space will test some technology that could potentially save researchers from sending similar experiments aloft: It will compare changes in bone cells that have been flown to space with ones that got the zero-g experience on Earth, levitated magnetically in a microgravity simulator.

If the microgravity simulator provides a close-enough match, scientists would be able to carry out many more studies on Earth, without having to contend with the difficulty and expense of sending everything into space.

"When you're doing experiments on Earth that simulate microgravity, you're in a much better-controlled environment," Bruce Hammer, a researcher at the University of Minnesota's Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, said at the briefing.

Researchers can run multiple iterations of the experiment and analyze more samples, which yields better data, and it also gives you an extra step to make sure you succeed in space: "Doing the magnetic levitation at our laboratory helps us vet experiments prior to committing to low-Earth orbit experiments, which are expensive and logistically difficult to carry out. Ultimately, you do want to do these experiments in a microgravity environment." [The Human Body in Space: 6 Weird Facts]

In addition to sending up those heart and bone cells, plus some tomato seeds that will be grown in schools once they return to Earth, the spacecraft is bringing another strange visitor: microbes that emerged after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, located in Ukraine, melted down catastrophically in 1986.

"This is a unique experiment, in that these microbes actually popped up right after the nuclear accident, so they grew out of that heavy radiation environment," Camille Alleyne, an associate space station program scientist at JSC, said at the briefing. "Putting them in microgravity and seeing how the effect of that environment affects them can actually inform therapies for radiation treatment."

The Phase Change Heat Exchanger Project will help regulate temperatures on future space missions; a demo will fly to the International Space Station on the SpaceX supply mission lifting off July 18, 2016. (Image credit: NASA)

Researchers are also sending up a demo of a phase-change material heat exchanger, which will test wax-based and water-based substances that can melt and freeze as the temperature outside a spacecraft changes, absorbing excess heat and re-releasing it to keep the craft warm as it orbits in and out of Earth's shadow, going from blazing heat to chilling cold. They're also testing a receiver that will track ships on the ocean, computer processors to stick outside the station and check for radiation-related errors, and a more efficient solar cell.

And in the spacecraft's trunk, they'll carry the first of two docking adapters that will let commercial spacecraft automatically dock with the station to one day deliver crew and supplies.

See more

Astronauts' days are split between maintenance (and occasional spacewalks), exercise and running the station's 250-plus experiments, but it will likely take some time before they unload all these new experiments and get the chance to run them. But when they do, they have a secret weapon who is accustomed to high-precision lab work: new astronaut Kate Rubins, who arrived in space July 9. Rubins is a microbiologist, and she served as part of the DNA sequencer's science team that designed the experiment's scope.

"Because she's been so involved, she's worked with us, she's had the hardware in her hands, she's put a lot of thought into it, and we really do think that's going to benefit us," Wallace said. "Of course, our goal is that any crewmember could operate this, but I think that life sciences as a whole is going to get a wealth of information getting feedback from Kate on all the various experiments she does while she's up there."

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Because space is an area without defined boundaries, there are many questions about legal jurisdiction on spacecraft orbiting Earth and other celestial bodies. Space-faring nations have agreed to a variety of policies and treaties that concern activities in space exploration.

As soon as humans reached for the stars, some reached for the law books. In the year after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, the United Nations General Assembly created an ad hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOUS). In 1960, the International Institute of Space Law, a nongovernmental organization, was created to promote international cooperation in the space law-making process. Today, several universities worldwide offer programs and degrees in space law.

The field of space law evolved to deal with questions such as property rights, weapons in space, protection of astronauts and other matters. However, space law remains a challenging field to define. While there are treaties that have been voluntarily signed by many nations, technological advances mean that private companies can now take part in space exploration, and these entities may not be covered under some existing treaties (depending on one's legal interpretation of them). Also, national priorities change over time, and those priorities may not be reflected in treaties that were created decades ago.

The United Nations and the Outer Space Treaty

COPUOUS was established in 1958 and made permanent in 1959. As of mid-2016, it has 77 members, including major space-faring nations such as the United States (NASA), Russia (Roscosmos), Japan, China, Canada, Brazil, Australia and the member states of the European Space Agency,

The United Nations describes this committee as the "focal point" where international entities negotiate how to use space peacefully. COPUOUS' duties include exchanging information about space, keeping tabs on what government and nongovernmental organizations do in space, and promoting international cooperation. COPUOUS also formed two subcommittees in 1962 to deal with legal issues, and scientific and technical developments; secretariat services are provided by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

COPUOUS is the force behind five treaties and five principles that govern much of space exploration. The fundamental treaty is the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, or simply the "Outer Space Treaty." It was ratified in 1967, largely based on a set of legal principles the general assembly accepted in 1962.

The treaty has several major points to it. Some of the principal ones are:

Space is free for all nations to explore, and sovereign claims cannot be made. Space activities must be for the benefit of all nations and humans. (So, nobody owns the moon.)

Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are not allowed in Earth orbit, on celestial bodies or in other outer-space locations. (In other words, peace is the only acceptable use of outer-space locations).

Individual nations (states) are responsible for any damage their space objects cause. Individual nations are also responsible for all governmental and nongovernmental activities conducted by their citizens. These states must also "avoid harmful contamination" due to space activities.

Treaties, principles and conferences

To support the Outer Space Treaty, four other treaties were put into place in the 1960s and 1970s to support peaceful space exploration. These treaties (referred to below by their nicknames) are:

The "Rescue Agreement" (1968), formed to give astronauts assistance during an unintended landing or when they are facing an emergency. States are told they "shall immediately take all possible steps to rescue them and render them all necessary assistance."

The "Liability Convention" (1972) outlines considerations if a space object causes damage or loss to human life. Its first article says, "A launching state shall be absolutely liable to pay compensation for damage caused by its space object on the surface of the earth or to aircraft flight."

The "Registration Convention" (1975), drawn up to help nations keep track of all objects launched into outer space. This United Nations registry is important for matters such as avoiding space debris. (For NASA, the United States Strategic Command gives real-time updates to the agency if space debris threatens a spacecraft or the International Space Station.)

The "Moon Agreement" (1979), which gives more detail on the Outer Space Treaty for property rights and usage of the moon and other celestial bodies in the solar system (except for objects that naturally enter the Earth from these bodies, namely, meteorites). This treaty, however, has only been signed by 16 nations, all of which are minor players in space exploration.

COPUOUS has also created five sets of principles to support these treaties.

The "Declaration of Legal Principles" (1963), from which the Outer Space Treaty was created in 1967, lays down guiding principles, including the idea that space exploration is for the benefit of all humans.

The "Broadcasting Principles" (1982) has to do with television broadcast signals. These principles include the idea of noninterference with other countries' signals, the provision of information to help with knowledge exchange, and the promotion of educational and social development (particularly in developing nations).

The "Remote Sensing Principles" (1986) concerns the use of electromagnetic waves to collect data on Earth's natural resources. Remote-sensing activities are supposed to be for all countries' benefit and should be carried out in the spirit of international cooperation.

The "Nuclear Power Sources Principles" (1992) concerns how to protect humans and other species from radiation if a launch goes awry, or a spacecraft flying by Earth accidently crashes to the surface. It's common for spacecraft exploring the outer solar system to use nuclear power sources for energy, since solar power is so weak out there.

The "Benefits Declaration" (1996) says that space exploration shall be carried out for the benefit of all states. This was created two years before the International Space Station  an effort of 15 nations  launched its first two modules into space.

The United Nations has also held three UNISPACE Conferences since 1968. (A fourth one will take place in 2018.) This is what each conference focused on or will focus on:

UNISPACE I (August 1968): Progress in space exploration, international cooperation and creating an "expert on space applications" within UNOOSA. The United Nations body then had several workshops in the 1970s on space applications such as remote sensing, telecommunications and cartography.

UNISPACE II/UNISPACE 82 (August 1982): Peaceful exploration of space (specifically, how to avoid an arms race). Following the conference, UNOOSA worked more closely with developing countries to develop their space technology capabilities.

UNISPACE III (July 1999): Protecting the space environment, giving developing countries more access to space and protecting Earth's environment. This led to the Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development, with 33 recommendations for space-faring countries to follow. A follow-up report to the declaration was issued in 2004, five years after the conference.

UNISPACE+50 (2018): Will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first UNISPACE conference and focus on what COPUOUS should do now that more nations and nongovernmental entities are exploring space.

Major debates

It should be emphasized again that the U.N. treaties are nonbinding, but there is a sort of international pressure by other nations when a nation strays from the principles. There have been, however, some debates over the years about some of the major principles of space law. While the ultimate interpretation of these matters is up to lawyers, here are some of the major questions:

Access to space. This is mostly regulated by country. The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 covers launch situations by U.S. citizens. Uncrewed rockets heading for space and high altitudes must receive special permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) underFAA Regulation 101. In most cases, licenses and permits must be issued from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which examines aspects such as launch site and launch/re-entry vehicles. The FAA is also working on guidelines to protect space passengers when tourism companies start operating.

Weapons in space. Perhaps the most famous effort at putting weapons into space was the United States' Strategic Defense Initiative, sometimes nicknamed "Star Wars." President Ronald Reagan first announced it in 1983 by. Parts of the system were tested on Earth, but it was never completed. The concern was that the portions of the system with space weapons would violate the Outer Space Treaty.

Space debris. With half a million dead objects floating in Earth orbit, some nations are now voluntarily taking measures to prevent more space debris  such as deliberately de-orbiting satellites to hit the Earth's atmosphere. Without careful care, some experts worry that space access will become restricted by debris, but it is unclear what the legal ramifications are. In 2007, China received international condemnation fordeliberately destroying a satellite in Earth orbit, which led to a cloud of space debris. In 2013, a piece of that debris damaged a Russian satellite.

Mining rights. In the United States, there are two major companies hoping to perform asteroid mining in the coming years: Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources. In 2015, the United States passed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which in a nutshell allows for U.S. citizens to exploit asteroids and other space resources, but not the land on which the resources sit. While this makes resource hunting legal for U.S. citizens, some experts have said this could violate the Outer Space Treaty.

Boundary disputes and property rights. For the moment, the Outer Space Treaty says that space and celestial bodies cannot be claimed by other nations, but it is unclear how these provisions would apply to private companies. The U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (see above) does not allow for territorial claims. But with nations talking about landing on places such as the moon and Mars, it is unclear how the exploitation rights and the property rights would work in the case of adjacent colonies. Some suggest that Antarctica, a territory owned by no nation and used mainly for scientific purposes, could be a model to follow  but not everyone agrees.

Geosynchronous satellite slots. Satellites positioned roughly 26,000 miles (41,800 kilometers) above the equator have the same rotation period as the Earth. This allows them to remain in approximately the same location above Earth for years while expending a minimum of fuel, making them useful for telecommunications signals. These slots are limited and are regulated by the International Telecommunication Union. In 1976, eight nations on the equator attempted to exert ownership over this space under the Bogota Declaration, which was largely ignored, due to how property claims are handled under the Outer Space Treaty.

International cooperation. Nations agreeing to work together on a space project can experience problems from time to time. In 2012, for example, a NASA planetary science budget cut led NASA to withdraw from the European-led ExoMars project, forcing the European Space Agency to seek another partner (which ended up being Roscosmos). The most major international project, the International Space Station, has an international treaty (and various other provisions) governing its operations among the 15 member nations, covering situations such as crimes or proprietary rights. In principle, each nation retains control over its own elements and personnel; in most cases, however, damages cannot be claimed among the five major signatories on the station under a "cross-waiver of liability" clause on all contracts.

Additional resources
An unmanned Russian cargo ship launched to the International Space Station on Saturday (July 16) on a mission to deliver three tons of food, supplies and fuel to the orbiting laboratory.

The resupply ship Progress 64 launched into orbit atop a Soyuz rocket at 5:41 p.m. EDT (2141 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was early Sunday morning. Progress 64 will journey for two days in space before arriving at the space station on Monday night (July 18). You can watch Progress 64 arrive at the space station here, courtesy of a NASA webcast. Docking is set for 8:22 p.m. EDT (0022 July 19 GMT).

Progress 64 is one of two cargo ships launching this weekend in near back-to-back flights. On Monday (July 18), as the Russian craft is en route to the station, the U.S.-based spaceflight company SpaceX will launch an unmanned Dragon cargo ship carrying a cornucopia of science experiments and gear as part of a resupply deal with NASA.

SpaceX's Dragon will launch to the space station at 12:45 a.m. EDT (0445 GMT) on Monday from a pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. It will arrive at the orbiting lab early on Wednesday (July 20), with NASA webcasting the subsequent docking.

Traditionally, Russias Progress launches are welcomed by the astronauts because they carry a few items that astronauts miss on Earth, such as fresh fruit. Since the International Space Station does not have a fridge to store food, most of the things astronauts eat must be shelf-stable (like tortillas) or rehydrated.

The launches also replenish the space station's stock of freeze-dried food and coffee, and provide supplies for the space station's toilets, filters and other areas that might need replacing. A Progress spacecraft typically remains at the space station for about six months and departs with a load of trash of up to three tons. The spacecraft then burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

The Progress line of disposable automated spacecraft have flown more than 140 flights in three decades. Only two of these spacecraft have not reached their destination, including one Progress flight in 2015. That flight reached Earth orbit, but spun out of control before flying on to the space station. It eventually burned up in the atmosphere.

Progress is one of a small fleet that supplies the International Space Station. The other main providers are two private companies  SpaceX (which flies Dragon spacecraft) and Orbital ATK (which flies Cygnus spacecraft)  as well as Japan's H-2 Transfer Vehicles. The European Space Agency also flew five supply missions to the space station using its own Automated Transfer Vehicle.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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SUZANNE SCHOLTE



President, Defense Forum Foundation



7:15 PM 06/13/2016







The world lost a great Muslim champion for democracy, human rights and the rule of law, with the untimely death of Mohamed Abdelaziz of Western Sahara on May 31st of this year. As the democratically elected President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), Abdelaziz labored his entire life to see justice prevail for the people of Western Sahara, the only colony in Africa yet to be decolonized.

Abdelaziz led the POLISARIO, an organization he helped found initially to liberate Western Sahara from Spain, and the SADR, the Republic established by the Sahrawis. He first sought peaceful resolution to the conflict over Western Sahara through the International Court of Justice in1974. But, the brutal invasion of his homeland by Morocco in 1975 led to armed conflict until the United Nations brokered a cease fire in 1991 with the promise that the people of Western Sahara would have a referendum on self-determination. Twenty five years later that referendum still has not occurred.

Despite pressure to return to war, Abdelaziz remained steadfast to resolve this issue peacefully through the UN. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited the refugee camps in March stating after his meeting with Abdelaziz: I have been heartened by the faith the Sahrawis people put in the UN, its principles and international law.

The delayed referendum has led to a new generation of Sahrawis to grow up in refugee camps, never seeing their homeland, and has given free rein to the King of Morocco to exploit the natural resources of Western Sahara and even worse commit atrocities against the Sahrawis living in Moroccan Occupied Western Sahara. Hundreds of Sahrawis living in Moroccan Occupied Western Sahara have been killed for peacefully advocating for the right to vote, while others languish today in Moroccan prisons. What is called the Arab Spring started when Sahrawis erected a peaceful protest camp in Gdeim Izik simply demanding the same jobs and opportunities given to the Moroccans occupying their homeland.

Despite these ongoing atrocities, Abdelaziz directed his diplomats to seek redress peacefully relying on international law and the justness of their cause.

Under Abdelazizs leadership, the SADR was recognized as the legitimate government of Western Sahara by over 70 nations and is a full member of the African Union. Abdelaziz was elected several times to serve in the leadership of the African Union, a testament to the respect he had throughout Africa.

The SADR constitution guarantees the right to vote for all citizens 18 years of age; equal rights for women; a free market economy; and religious freedom. Sahrawi women are fully integrated in their society and serve in significant leadership positions in their government. The educational system they created has resulted in an over 90 percent literacy rate, making them the most educated African people group.

Abdelaziz tried repeatedly not to seek reelection for President because of his commitment to see democracy flourish and power transfer peacefully. However, the Sahrawi people continued to re-elect him. As someone who has worked in human rights issues for over twenty years, I have never found a more noble and honorable people than the Sahrawi people or a more remarkable leader than Mohamed Abdelaziz.

A most meaningful exchange I had with him was when my husband and I took our two oldest sons to the refugee camps when they were only 7 and 11 years of age. When we were preparing for this trip, I had been reluctant to use limited resources to take two children to the camps. In my typical Washingtonian mind-set I thought it would have been better to take an NGO leader, a journalist or a Congressional staffer or two, someone who could learn and benefit from visiting the camps. But what President Abdelaziz said to us when we first arrived in the camps with our two young sons made me realize how much it meant to him and the Sahrawi people. President Abdelaziz said: I will remember until the day I die that you brought your children to see us.

To honor Abdelaziz and the values he cherished the UN must hold that long promised referendum or call for Moroccos withdrawal from their illegal occupation of Western Sahara. That is the least we can do for Muslim leaders in this world facing enormous adversity who faithfully work for democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Otherwise, we send a terrible message that invasion, aggression and violence, as Morocco has employed, are the way to accomplish your objectives, while reliance on the rule of law, and trust in the United Nations, will only result in your children growing up in refugee camps, and your loved ones being beaten, tortured, and disappeared into Moroccos prisons. (SPS)

http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/13/a-true-loss-in-the-muslim-world-the-death-of-president-mohamed-abdelaziz/

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STAMFORD  One West Side man has been taken by ambulance to Stamford Hospital for alcohol poisoning and related injuries about 50 times over the past eight months, police say.

This is an acute example of a problem that residents, community leaders and business owners say has afflicted parts of the West Side for at least a year  men drinking on city sidewalks and becoming so intoxicated at times they hurt themselves or endanger others.

Part of the issue is the interpretation of a city ordinance regarding alcohol consumption on municipal properties. Police officers until recently had not enforced drinking on city sidewalks.

With more vigilant enforcement the problem has improved, according to those in the area, but it is still far from solved.

Near Smith and Alden streets, an area where public drinking is most pronounced, business owners are frustrated.

People dont come here sometimes because theyre over there, said Royal Salon owner Myra Quitel, gesturing to sooty concrete steps a few feet from the entrance of her Smith Street beauty shop. They have their beer right there.

Vin Tufo, CEO of Charter Oak Communities, the citys public housing authority and a major stakeholder in the area, said the situation has escalated in recent months.

Our observation is that people loitering on street corners in front of certain establishments seems to be getting worse, he said. It was not something we observed even as recently as two years ago. Maybe we werent focused on it at the time, but were focused on it now.

A focus, however, doesnt necessarily lead to a solution. Many agree addiction is complicated and addressing it on a community level takes time and resources.

This basic pattern of congregation in a business area is not a new phenomenon, said Alan Mathis, CEO of Liberation Programs, which operates a substance abuse and mental health treatment center on Main Street, less than a mile from Smith and Alden.

It tends to happen when the economy isnt so good for everybody, he said. What I witnessed in the late 80s and 90s in parts of New York City is that when people didnt have something to do  whether they were white or black or people who were undocumented  you would see a pattern of folks congregating and drinking alcohol, and thats what they would do to occupy time.

One of the biggest neighborhood complaints has been the number of ambulances called in response to alcohol-related injuries or people who have passed out in the street  often in the scorching heat or bitter cold.

The hospital is usually only blocks away. The West Side is home to Stamford Hospital and its soon-to-be new headquarters, a shimmering, 11-story glass building that cost $450 million to build and backs up to several streets that are some of the areas most troubled.

A spokesman for the hospital said he could not comment on whether there has been a spike in emergency-room visits resulting from public alcohol consumption on the West Side.

But the hospital said it often refers people who are frequent ER visitors to a Community Care Team, a group that draws members from the hospital and community to help its neediest patients obtain primary health care and other resources.

The goal is a better quality of life for them and a better outcome, said Dr. David Reed, the hospitals medical director for care management.

In the streets

The West Side is plagued not only by loitering and public intoxication: gun violence here and in neighboring areas has declined in recent weeks, but has nonetheless resulted in six serious injuries during 15 shootings since March.

The most recent occurred late Friday night, when a series of bullets struck windows of a house and a car near Wilson Street and Hall Place, Police Captain Richard Conklin said. No one was injured.

Some whose city roots span generations argue the West Side has always been a troubled, yet resilient neighborhood. It has historically been a landing spot for immigrants, from Italians in the early 20th century, to African Americans, Latinos and Caribbean immigrants.

In the 80s and 90s, the neighborhood yielded to drugs, crime and the failed urban renewal policies that befell other local neighborhoods and cities across the nation.

West Side stakeholders have recently argued the police departments policies on loitering and drinking worsened the problem and harmed the neighborhood.

Police have a different take.

Assistant Police Chief Tom Wuennemann said the department had been trying to determine whether sidewalks qualify as city streets or municipal property in relation to an ordinance that permits beer drinking on city land, including parks, but prohibits any alcohol consumption on city streets.

A prosecutor recently told police they are able to issue tickets for imbibing on sidewalks, he said.

But a slap on the wrist only does so much.

Wuennemann said people spotted sipping from brown paper bags are often directed to nearby parks, where beer drinking is legal.

Were looking for voluntary cooperation, Wuennemann said.

He added theres a difference between residents who live in multi-family dwellings and quietly drink outside and groups who congregate in the streets.

This is where community policing comes in, knowing the residents and understanding when someone is having a beer in front of their house and its not a big deal, as opposed to 15 or 20 people sitting on a corner drinking, Wuennemann said.

When addressing ingrained behaviors, police say they try to work with community groups.

The problem is deeper than police just issuing a ticket, he said. We cant provide rehab  all we can do it enforce the law when it fits. I cant give everyone a job. I cant give everyone a house. And I cant solve everyones substance abuse problem.

Totally solvable

Thats when an organization like Liberation House plays a role.

What it really takes is a small group of outreach workers who are able to come across without a heavy hand to begin to shift their habits and get them engaged in taking care of themselves, said Mathis, whose organization was founded in Stamford in the early 70s.

This is totally solvable, he said, but like anything else in life, it takes effort and resources.

Resources can be hard to come by, but not always. Rafael Pagan, executive director of Pacific House, formerly Shelter for the Homeless, said Connecticut leads the nation in providing services for homeless people. The South End emergency shelter is one of the few in the state with a 12-bed substance-abuse recovery unit.

However, because youre intoxicated on the street doesnt mean that youre homeless, necessarily, Pagan said.

Ingrid Gillespe, executive director of Communities 4 Action, said her group does substance abuse outreach in Stamford and surrounding towns.

A lot of people dont understand addiction, and when you see somebody on the street, you dont know their story, she said, adding that people who begin drinking before age 15 have a 1-in-4 chance of developing a problem with alcohol.

Charter Oaks Tufo said what he sees happening on the West Side has escalated beyond social drinking.

Its almost a lifestyle, he said. People undergoing significant injury or medical emergencies  these things are frankly very concerning, and they are a use of our precious resources.

Progress

Some business owners say theyve seen progress since they began speaking out.

Police presence is more consistent and the mayor also seems to be taking heed to the needs of the West Side, starting with implementing an ordinance prohibiting drinking on the sidewalks, said Toni Lupinacci, an owner of Pelliccis Ristorante, which at one point had ambulances flying past their business on Stillwater several times a day.

This is an open door for much-needed improvements and quality-of-life issues, thereby giving me incentive to make things happen for our community, she said.

Joe Castro was outside in the sticky heat on Thursday painting the exterior of the barbershop next to Royal Salon a chalky white.

We still get a lot of complaints over here, he said.

On the eastern corner of the block is Smith Liquor, which has customers shuffling in and out with paper bags. Several linger a few feet from the corner on Stephen Street.

Across the road at Scottys Fish and Chips, owner Eupert Scotland said hes noticed more police in the area over the past few weeks.

There used to be a congregation of elements, characters getting drunk and whatnot, Scotland said.

This is my livelihood, he said. Im not going to let it affect that.

eskalka@scni.com; Twitter: @lizskalka
To the editor,

I am writing in response to Margaret Denningers letter to the editor (July 13, Three gripes for Martin) that referenced The Advocate article A step toward road safety (Jule 23). Mayor David Martin and I both share Ms. Denningers concern for safety on our streets. While The Advocate article focused on our citywide Bike and Pedestrian study, what may not have been clear is that we have safety work already underway on the Summer Street corridor. The city isnt waiting for citywide study and its findings to begin implementing street safety.

Specifically on Summer Street, we have already implemented a Leading Pedestrian Interval  essentially a head-start for pedestrians  for the traffic signal at the intersection of Summer and Hoyt streets. This signal design is successful in many communities in New York and other states, and now Stamford is the first community in Connecticut to implement it. The two terrible crashes at this specific intersection warrant ideas such as the LPI, and we will continue to look for ways to protect pedestrians, cyclists and drivers throughout the city.

In addition to the enhanced signal timing at Summer and Hoyt, Stamford is applying for a $500,000 grant from the Connecticut Department of Transportation to deploy and implement traffic calming measures and improved traffic signaling along the entire Summer Street corridor. The citys Transportation Department is in the process of developing a plan to implement sidewalk extensions, enhanced crosswalks and signal timing changes along the whole corridors as soon as the funding is approved.

In short, we can all agree that Summer Street is a priority. We have already begun working to improve the safety on Summer Street and that will continue. Independently of that, we are excited to be embarking the city-wide Bike and Pedestrian study mentioned in the article, which will lead to additional improvements throughout Stamford. The strategies we deploy on Summer Street will help shape the recommendations to improve street safety throughout the City.

Joshua Benson, AICP

Bureau Chief

Transportation, Traffic and Parking
STAMFORD  Mosquitoes trapped in Stamford have tested positive for West Nile virus, the city confirmed in a statement Friday.

The state Mosquito Management Program reported a pool of mosquitoes trapped in Stamford on July 6 tested positive for the virus. This is the programs first discovery of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus in the state this year.

West Nile virus shows up every summer. Any associated illness tends to be mild, but nonetheless precautions are advised, said David Knauf, the citys interim health director.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station maintains a network of trapping stations throughout the state from June through October to monitor the virus. Mosquito traps are set by the CAES every 10 days at each site on a rotating basis. Mosquitoes are grouped for testing according to species, collection site and date.

The West Nile virus season has started, medical entomologist for the CAES Dr. Philip Armstrong said in a statement Friday. Early- to mid-July is when we typically first detect WNV infection in mosquitoes and we anticipate further build-up of the virus from now through September.

Stamford residents should take precautions to avoid contact with mosquitoes, according to Ted Jankowski, the citys director of public safety.

Simple measures including wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirts, head coverings and socks will minimize exposure to mosquitoes, which may carry the virus, he said. The use of insect repellent is also helpful. In addition, we urge people to seek out and empty standing water in and around their homes.
FAIRFIELD - What was originally believed to be a case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is now being investigated as a homicide.

The infant, Adam Gregory Vasaturo Seagull, was called "little prince," "tootie muffin," and "little man" by his family.

His infectious smile brought immediate joy to everyone who had the privilege of experiencing it, his obituary read. As he would look at you with his beautiful brown eyes, your heart became bigger and fuller with love.

Deputy Police Chief Chris Lyddy confirmed Saturday the death of the 4-month old Shelton boy in March at an unlicensed home day care has been ruled a homicide. According to the state medical examiner, toxicology reports showed high levels of Benadryl in the infants system.

The investigator is being extremely diligent and to date, we have not been able to rule out anybody, Lyddy said. The unlicensed day care was run by Carol Cardillo at her home at 63 Edgewood Road and had been in operation for 11 years, Lyddy said.

A lawyer representing Adams parents, Matthew and Michelle, confirmed that the family is aware that the case is being investigated as a homicide. The lawyer, along with Adams grandfather, Lewis Seagull, said that they were not ready to comment on the development in the case.

The police announcement comes just days after the death of Stamford 2-month-old girl was also ruled a homicide. That child was rushed to the hospital from an East Side day care facility with severe head trauma.

Neighbors of Cardillo, the woman who ran the day care where Adam was found dead on March 22, were surprised to learn that the case was being investigated as a homicide.

Dimitri Gregorio, 19, was away at college in March when Adam died but heard the news through text messages from his mother, including images of first responders lining the normally quiet and uncluttered Edgewood Road. He has watched children coming to and from for years.

The family is very nice, the mother, the grandmothertheyre very nice, he said.

Cardillo did not return requests for comment by phone and at her home. A relative confirmed that she still resides there.

She was so sad, said Cliff, a neighbor of Cardills who asked that his last name not be used, of Cardillos reaction after the accident. (Intentional wrongdoing) is last thing that I would expect; its a wonderful family.

Police were called to the home March 22 just after 3 p.m., when Cardillo dialed 911 to report an unresponsive infant. According to Lyddy, Deputy Police Chief, Cardillo told police the baby had been given a bottle around noon and then put down in a play crib for a nap.

When she went to check on the baby around 2:55 p.m., she could not wake him up.

There were seven other children being cared for at the time, five toddlers and two other infants. There were four adults in the home at the time, according to the report.

The baby had not been sick, and there were no signs of trauma, Lyddy said, which led to the belief that SIDS was the cause of death. However, due to the fact that the death was untimely, the infants body was sent to the state medical examiners office for an autopsy.

The autopsy concluded the baby died from acute diphenhydramine intoxication. Lyddy said Cardillo has denied administering Benadryl to the baby.

The day care center has been closed since the incident, and any charges regarding the operation of an unlicensed day care center would likely come from state authorities, Lyddy said.

As for criminal charges in the babys death, Lyddy said, It is very much an active investigation.

He said it is possible that it could be determined the Benadryl overdose was accidental, but certainly, negligence would be a factor in administering a lethal dose of anything to an infant and could still result in criminal charges.

Its very important that parents check into day care facilities, Lyddy said. There are several ways to check if a center is licensed. The easiest is call 211, and you would be provided with a list of licensed day care facilities in your area.

He said parents should also check to make sure a facility has the proper child to staff ratio and that caregivers are properly trained in first aid, including CPR.
A pedestrian has been hit by a car in a major road traffic collision in south London.

Emergency services were called to Brixton Road at about 8.30pm on Saturday after a man was hit by a vehicle near the junction with Acre Lane.

People cleared the street so an air ambulance could land on grass close to the scene.

Police taped off Brixton Road between Coldharbour Lane and Brixton station while officers and paramedics dealt with the incident.

A Met spokesman said the extent of the pedestrian's injuries were unknown at this stage but confirmed he had been taken to hospital.

Witness Raw Heidi tweeted: "Brixton Road shut down both ways with multi police and air ambulance in attendance right now."

Buses were put on diversions and subject to delays because of the collision.
A man and woman have been rushed to hospital after an alleged double stabbing in east London this evening.

Police and ambulance crews were called out to the incident in Shakespeare Crescent, East Ham, at 8.20pm.

Officers say a man and woman were found at the scene suffering from stab wounds.

The pair were taken to hospital by ambulance crews, but there are no details of their condition as yet.

A man has been arrested in connection with the stabbing, police say.

The London Ambulance Service Joint Response Unit tweeted this evening: "Already this evening we have assisted @MPSNewham at a double stabbing.

"Both patients taken to A&E #999Family."

Officers from Newham police are investigating.
B ritish Muslim leaders today denounced the Nice lorry attack as a senseless murder of innocence after Islamic State claimed responsibility for the massacre.

Eighty-four people were killed when a truck was driven into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French Riviera city on Thursday night. Scores more were injured, many of the critically.

So-called IS said one of its soldiers, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, carried out the terror atrocity after responding to the groups calls to target its enemies in the West.

Inquiries are continuing into whether the 31-year-old driver acted alone or had accomplices before he drove the 19-tonne hired truck at speed into revellers before he was fatally wounded in a shoot-out with police.

British religious figures today joined world leaders in condemning the actions.

Killer behind the wheel: Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel

Qari Asim, senior imam at Leeds Makkah Mosque, said: "We pray for the victims and their families following the attack in Nice, the same as we did for those in Orlando, Dallas, Medina, Baghdad, Istanbul, Dhaka and all the other places around the world terrorists have struck in recent weeks.

"Yet again we condemn the barbaric acts of an individual determined to spread hate and prejudice across the world.

"The senseless murder of innocence is always deplorable yet this attack is just another, in a long line of examples, that demonstrates the savagery and brutality of a twisted ideology.

"This a time when people of all faiths and none must come together, we must not let terrorists and extremists win in creating the divisions they viciously seek to sow."

Sara Khan, director of counter-extremism group Inspire, described the incident in Nice as "appalling".

She said: "This attack, along with all the other recent atrocities, are part of a strategy by terrorists to strike out against what they call the 'grey zone' of co-existence, and to create a more polarised society in Europe.

"Terrorists aim to provoke division and propagate a binary world view. With each mass murder they deliberately seek to foster hatred and suspicion - with the hope that our societies restrict the very values and freedom that define our democracy.

"We must not give in to the aims of terrorists and instead remain even more vigilant about the preservation of our ideals and principles. While we pray for all those killed, we must recognise the need for the prioritisation of counter-radicalisation initiatives at this crucial time.

"The recent spate of terror attacks has brought society to a critical juncture. We must realise that integration and human rights are the twin enemies of extremism, and are our strongest weapons in defending our shared humanity."
T housands of people took to the streets of London today to demand Theresa May's resignation just three days into the job.

Organisers claimed up to 10,000 protesters joined the "emergency demonstration" - arranged after the Brexit vote - against austerity, racism and the Conservative Party.

After meeting at noon at the BBC's Broadcasting House in Marylebone, the march proceeded past Downing Street to Parliament Square where it ended with a rally outside Westminster.

Demonstrators waved placards declaring "refugees welcome", "defy Tory rule" and "cut war not welfare" as they travelled the route.

The "No More Austerity, No To Racism, Tories Must Go" demo was arranged by groups including the People's Assembly.

Organiser Steve Sweeney, 42, said the march was a display of "unity" with refugees and a reminder to Theresa May three days into the job that she faced opposition to her policies.

He said: "The messsage is very clear, that people are rejecting the Tories' austerity policies.

"Communities are suffering as a result of them and the one way to end that is to get rid of the Tories."

Mrs May was thrust into Number 10 on Wednesday two days after rival Andrea Leadsom pulled out the Conservative leadership election and prompted David Cameron to official tender his resignation.
A furious row has erupted between two London councils over plans to stage more noisy" music festivals on Clapham Common.

Lambeth and Wandsworth chiefs have clashed over new rules paving the way for louder shows at the popular park, which cuts through both boroughs.

Thousands of music fans are set to visit Clapham Common this summer at three events in the space of two months, starting with this weekends Lets Rock Festival.

This week a war of words broke out after Lambeth council endorsed a new events strategy aimed to boost its coffers through high quality commercial shows.

Iconic: Thousands of music fans will visit Clapham Common for a summer of festivals / Daniel Lynch

But neighbours branded the move unacceptable and a gateway for more noisy music festivals after plans were approved for festivals and shows on Lambeths parks for up to eight days a year.

Wandsworth chiefs blasted the measures which included relaxed noise restrictions.

The authority said half of residents near Clapham Common affected by the change live in the borough.

Wandsworth councillor Jonathan Cook accused senior Lambeth figures of disguising the level of opposition against the plans which he said were buried in a 500 page report.

Star billing: Dizzee Rascal is set to perform at the South West Four festival on Clapham Common next month / Anthony Harvey/Getty

He said: Im afraid that Lambeth is not being open and transparent about these changes. The public has been kept in the dark.

Nowhere does it say that we formally oppose these changes because of the impact they will have on residents living in our borough. The Lambeth report completely conceals this fact.

Their summary of the noise impact also grossly underplays the impact from extended periods of loud music.

But Lambeth bosses hit back at the absurd claims and stressed the strategy has been publicly available since November.

A council spokeswoman said: Lambeths events strategy has been approved by Cabinet and Council.

It was produced after extensive consultation which included Wandsworth Council who were consulted as part of the Culture 2020 consultation and were engaged as part of the separate noise consultation in February this year  and responded.

Its also been on the (public) forward plan since November last year so to claim these proposals have just emerged is absurd.

The recommendations are not buried -the cabinet report is 19 pages, not 520 pages as the press release says and the noise limit will be increased only from 70dB to 75Db and for a maximum of eight days per year.

On Saturday, artists Holly Johnson, Belinda Carlisle and Tony Hadley will perform at retro gig Lets Rock Festival following on from its debut last year.

Next month, chart-toppers Rudimental, Dizzee Rascal and The Chemical Brothers are due to take the stage in Clapham at the South West Four event over the bank holiday weekend.

The festival comes before the House of Common show on August 29 presented by British band Madness and starring David Rodigan, Lee Scratch Perry and Ms Dynamite.
T heresa May today continued her ruthless shake-up of the Cabinet as more well-known Tory figures left their jobs.

Dominic Raab  an ally of sacked minister Michael Gove  left his ministerial post at the Ministry of Justice after taking the lead on now-abandoned plans to scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights.

Former solicitor general Sir Oliver Heald was promoted to a minister of state role at the department.

Meanwhile, Philip Dunne was moved from the Ministry of Defence to become a minister of state at Health.

Nick Hurd was moved from International Development to become a Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Lord Price was appointed Minister of State at the Department for International Trade.

Foreign Minister James Duddridge announced that he was also leaving the Government, having been in post since August 2014.

He tweeted: "Sad to be leaving a great team at the Foreign Office. More time in Southend and will also keep up with friends in Africa".

Caroline Dinenage said she was also leaving her post at the MoJ but would continue in Government at the Education department.

She tweeted: "Sad to be leaving my amazing team @MoJGovUK but excited about new challenges at @educationgovuk & continuing role with @WomenEqualities".

Hugo Swire said he was retiring from his role as a foreign minister hours after likening sacked allies of David Cameron to condemned prisoners sent to the guillotine during the French Revolution.

He tweeted yesterday: "Not a good time to be a Cameroon. The tumbrils are rolling again!"

After news of his departure broke, he tweeted a picture of the closing illustration of Loony Toons featuring the caption: Thats all folks!

Tumbrils were carts used to carry prisoners to the guillotine during the revolution.

On Saturday, he tweeted a photo of the famous Looney Tunes cartoon sign-off "that's all folks!" and said: "I am retiring to the backbenches to join my friends.

"It's been an honour and a privilege to have served as a Minister in the Government since 2010."


A light aircraft flown by a 91-year-old pilot has dramatically crashed into a field in Kent.

Emergency services rushed to the scene near Edenbridge this afternoon after the microlight became stuck 15 feet above ground in a large oak tree.

Fire crews used a winch to secure the small aeroplane before climbing ladders in a bid to release the stricken man.

Kent Police said the pilot was injured in the crash but it was not clear how seriously.

Plunge: The damaged nose of the aircraft rests in the tree it crashed into / South East Coast Ambulance Service

A spokeswoman said: "Kent Police was called to a field in Lingfield Road in Edenbridge at 3.26pm on Saturday 16 July after receiving a report that an aircraft had come down.

"Kent Fire and Rescue Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service are also attending.

"A man is reported to be injured and officers are at the scene. There are no reports of anyone else in the aircraft.

"The Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch have been informed."

In tweets, South East Coast Ambulance Service said the man had been "extricated safely" from the tree before being taken to hospital by paramedics for treatment including an X-ray.
T urkey's president has declared his government remains in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left at least 90 people dead.

The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers had been detained.

However, fighting continued throughout the morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital Ankara and Istanbul, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

Turkey coup - 60 dead in 'act of treason' against the government

Addressing supporters outside Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 per cent of the people brought to power, is in charge.

"This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

The Foreign Office has "strongly" advised Britons in Turkey to stay indoors following "a state of martial law" being put into effect.

Foreign Office advice "Large-scale military action is ongoing in Turkey, and a state of martial law is in effect. "There are widespread reports of gunfire and explosions in Ankara and Istanbul, and the military has been deployed to the streets. "Some flights to airports in Turkey are being diverted or cancelled, and the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul have been closed. "The road between Marmaris and Icmeler is closed, with reports of gunfire between the resorts of Marmaris and Icmeler. "We strongly advise you to stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant."

Justice minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

"There is nowhere they have they have proper control," Mr Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

It was not clear who was in control of the military headquarters and Mr Erdogan had not left the airport as dawn broke.

Earlier he said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey", according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office.

"Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups," he said.

An official in the president's office said at least 60 people had been killed and more than 330 arrested.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge.

Discarded gear was strewn on the ground and people, some holding flags, climbed on to the tanks.

Defiant: Turkish people wave the national flags on a car in Istanbul / AP

Anadolu reported that 754 members of Turkey's armed forces have been detained across the country.

At the Etimesgut armoured units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the attempted coup were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police, the agency said.

Mr Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk early on Saturday and was greeted by large crowds.

Held: Turkish soldiers, arrested by civilians, are handed to police officers, in Istanbul's Taksim squar / AP

Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got under way, his office declined to say where he was and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim has called all MPs to an emergency meeting on Saturday, Anadolu reported.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Mr Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the south east.

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Turkey, a Nato member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq.

Confrontation: A Turkish police officer, right, challenges a Turkish army officer, left, that participated in the coup, after he was apprehended by civilians and handed over, in Istanbul's Taksim square / AP

A coup against the democratically-elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to co-operate with Turkey.

US president Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government and Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began on Friday night with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated".

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

Mr Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying.

Held: Turkish soldiers arrested by police sit on a police bus in Istanbul's Taksim square / AP

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital.

An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded.

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In his TV address, Mr Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.

The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Additional reporting by the Press Association
B oris Johnson today called for an end to bloodshed in the wake of an attempted military coup as Turkish Londoners expressed fears over their countrys future.

The Foreign Secretary urged calm after at least 265 people were killed during the deadly attempted coup, which also saw 1,440 injured and 2,839 military personnel detained. About 161 of the dead were civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters.

Mr Johnson said officials were working hard to "do the best" for the many Britons in Turkey and urged them to follow the Foreign Office's updated travel advice which continues to "strongly advise" holidaymakers and others to stay indoors.

He told reporters: "We've been monitoring the situation in Turkey very closely overnight and remain very concerned about what's been going on there.

A Turkish soldier at the Taksim Square in Istanbul (EPA/SEDAT SUNA) / Sedat Suna/EPA

"The first thing to say is obviously we want to urge calm, the avoidance of any further bloodshed, and it's crucial that we support the democratic institutions of Turkey and that's a message that was very much echoed of course by the Turkish foreign minister, my counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, to whom I spoke a couple of hours ago, and he was very grateful for UK support at the UN and elsewhere.

A car crushed by a tank during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire during a military coup in Turkey / AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

"And obviously I've also spoken to our diplomatic staff in Ankara and in Istanbul.

"They're doing a fantastic job, they are working very hard as you can imagine to do the best for the many Brits who are there, the many people who are there on holiday and they should follow the travel advice and we'll do our best to update you as soon as we can."

Violence between protesters and police in Turkey

After the government claimed the coup had failed, the Foreign Office updated its travel advice to reflect the latest developments in a rapidly changing situation.

It warned that some violence appeared to be ongoing in Ankara and Istanbul, while the road between tourist resorts Marmaris and Icmeler was closed amid reports of gunfire.

Boris Johnson speaks to reporters about the situation in Turkey (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)

Meanwhile, Turkish citizens living in London told of how relatives had been caught up in the chaos.

North London restaurant owner Ahmet Kaz, 40, said his three children were left stranded at Attaturk airport in Istanbul after trying to flee the fighting in the city.

He said: "I'm worried because my family are there. Yesterday night they went to the airport in Istanbul.

"From 10pm until now they are still in the airport - my three kids - they are safe."

Visibly angry at those responsible for the coup, he added: "But why? Why do they do this to our family? Why?"

A shopkeeper on Green Lanes in Harringay said her two sons found themselves near the conflict in Istanbul after going to the city for a holiday.

Burcu Incekara, 37, said: "My sons just went to Turkey two days ago - my son, he's 15 years old, he texted me a news article yesterday and I said 'Are you ok? Are you at home?' and they said they were safe at the moment.

"But on my street, there were F-16 planes going very near to the house, deafeningly low and there were bomb, gun attacks from the soldiers to the police - it's not good.

"They were scared, of course, because near where they are there is a place with soldiers and they are scared - everyone is scared."

She added: "I think this could be the start of World War Three."

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Many said the unrest saddened them and made them scared about the state of their homeland.

Chef Ahmet Altindag, 43, said: "I'm scared now about president Erdogan getting more radical and I am scared for Turkish democracy.
F lights to and from Turkey have been cancelled after at least 161 people were killed in a bloody attempted military coup.

British Airways said it has cancelled all flights to and from the country following a night of gunfire and explosions in capital Ankara and Istanbul.

It comes after the Foreign Office advices Britons to stay indoors after at least 161 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in clashes.

More than 1,500 soldiers were arrested as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced the coup as an act of treason and insisted his government remained in charge.

Held: Turkish soldiers arrested by police sit on a police bus in Istanbul's Taksim square / AP

A British Airways spokeswoman said: "In light of the events unfolding in Turkey, all flights to and from the country have been cancelled today (July 16).

"We are keeping flights to Turkey under review. The safety and security of our customers and colleagues remains our top priority at all times. For the latest flight details please refer to ba.com."

Customers affected by the cancellations are being offered to rebook or a refund, while people currently booked for Sunday or Monday can rebook at no cost, subject to availability, the airline said.

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Dramatic images during the coup attempt showed soldiers walking away from tanks with hands in the air after blocking one of Istanbuls huge Bosphorus bridges overnight.

Turkey coup - 60 dead in 'act of treason' against the government

But an easyJet spokeswoman said the airline did not expect any changes to its schedule.

Defiant: Turkish people wave the national flags on a car in Istanbul / AP

"EasyJet flies from the UK to Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman and Ismir in Turkey and has 24 flights to and from Turkey scheduled on July 16.

"We are liaising with the Turkish and British authorities. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is the airline's highest priority.

Confrontation: A Turkish police officer, right, challenges a Turkish army officer, left, that participated in the coup, after he was apprehended by civilians and handed over, in Istanbul's Taksim square / AP

"Current advice from the British authorities is to continue our flying programme. This will be kept under continuous review," she said.

Advice on the Foreign Office website said: "There has been large-scale military action in Turkey, with the military deployed to the streets and widespread reports of gunfire and explosions in Ankara and Istanbul.

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"The situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are reopening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara.

"Some flights to airports in Turkey are being diverted or cancelled. The road between Marmaris and Icmeler remains closed, following earlier reports of gunfire between the resorts of Marmaris and Icmeler.

"We strongly advise you to stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant."

The Foreign Office advises people due to travel to or from Turkey over the next few days to closely monitor travel advice and check with airlines or tour operators before travelling.
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More than four years after Elijah Houpe was hit by a vehicle while walking his bicycle along North Pointe Boulevard, the person who was behind the wheel of the car was arrested Friday evening.

Angela D. Price, 44, of Statesville was charged with felony hit-and-run after confessing to the crime. She received a $20,000 bond.

Since Houpe was struck -- sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2011 as he walked his bicycle near Lowes Home Improvement -- Statesville Police investigators have been trying to find the driver of the vehicle that left the scene.

Houpe was paralyzed by the crash. He was found by passers-by several hours after he was hit and his body temperature was dangerously low.

SPD investigators were initially looking for a Jeep and believed the driver may have not realized he or she struck someone. Former SPD Chief Tom Anderson said, in 2013, it was believed a Jeeps oversized tire hit Houpe.

However, it turned out not to be a Jeep, but a silver Saturn. That was discovered recently when the N.C. Highway Patrol Collision Reconstruction Unit took a fresh look at the case.

Involving the reconstruction unit came about when Houpes mother, Phyllis Summers, reached out to SPD Chief Joe Barone at a meeting. Barone said she approached him and asked to talk. She told Barone about what happened and he agreed to look at the case.

I looked at it and realized wed done everything we could possibly do, he said. But instead of regulating it to an unsolved case file, Barone decided a fresh set of eyes might be the answer and called the N.C. Highway Patrol for help.

The Reconstruction Unit agreed to take a look at the case and thats when Trooper Dan Souther, who works the area as part of the unit, examined evidence gathered in the hit-and-run. More than a dozen pieces of a silver vehicle were found at the scene and they were linked to a Saturn, according to the highway patrol.

By checking on the part numbers, troopers were able to trace the vehicle back to Price.

She was interviewed and asked to take a polygraph test, which was administered by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. She agreed and did not do well on the test, which led to her confession, Souther said.

He said the confusion regarding the Jeep likely stemmed from interviews with Lowes employees who heard the impact but didnt witness the crash itself. He said the workers saw a Jeep around that time most mornings and thats likely where the idea of a Jeep came about.

The physical evidence, Souther said, told the real story, and he credited the SPD with preserving evidence and doing a thorough job on the initial investigation.

Barone said the efforts of Souther, the reconstruction unit and the SBI led to the arrest. They did a top-notch job, he said Friday night.

Barone said he and Souther talked with Summers to deliver the news shes waited nearly five years to hear.

Summers said she is still trying to deal with the news. Im still in shock, she said Friday evening. Im still trying to calm down.

Barone said hes pleased the arrest was made to provide some answers to Summers and Houpe. Its a gift from God, he said.
Friday, 15 July 2016 09:46:49 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Argentinian crude steel output in June declined 16.2 percent, year on year, and 1.8 percent, month on month, to 372,400 mt, the nations steel chamber, CAA, said late this week.





CAA said accumulated crude steel production in H1 was 2.05 million mt, 15.4 percent down, year on year.





Argentina s hot rolled finished steel output in June totaled 326,300 mt, 16 percent down, year on year, and 12.8 percent lower when compared to Mays figures. As for H1, hot rolled finished steel production reached 1.9 million mt, 11.5 percent down, year on year.





CAA said the countrys cold rolled flat steel production in June fell 17.4 percent, year on year, and 3.6 percent, month on month, to 106,400 mt. As for H1, total cold rolled flat steel output was 715,900 mt, 1.9 percent up, year on year.


Friday, 15 July 2016 23:42:30 (GMT+3) | San Diego

Baker Hughes has reported that for the week ending July 15, the US rotary rig count increased by seven to 447 following a nine-rig increase the week before. The number of rigs drilling for gas decreased by one to 89, while the number of rigs drilling for oil increased by six to 357. The overall rig count is still down by 410 rigs, year-on-year.Meanwhile, the Canadian rig count increased by 14 in the week ending July 15 to 95 following a five-rig increase the week before. The Canadian rig count is still down by 97 from the same week a year ago.
Friday, 15 July 2016 23:21:24 (GMT+3) | Sao Paulo

Creditors of Brazilian flats steelmaker Usiminas have extended the companys standstill agreement for debt restructuring for 60 more days, Brazil s development bank, BNDES, one of the creditors at the steel producer, said late this week.





BNDES told media in Brazil that the 60-day term extension was decided in conjunction with other creditors, mostly banks, while BNDES awaits the results of the financial restructuring of Usiminas.





Despite the willingness of the banks to extend Usiminas debt restructuring term for two more months, creditors said Usiminas should present results regarding its debt restructuring.





After the 60-day period expires, Usiminas will have 10 years for paying its BRL 7.2 billion debt with a threeyear grace period to start repaying the principal, a period in which it will pay just the interest.








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The fourth round of admission will be held from July 18 to July 20, after which a special round of counseling will be conducted for students who failed to apply online.

Fourth round of FYJC admission to be held from July 18 to July 20

By India Today Web Desk: The state education department will conduct a special round of admission for students who failed to register online to first-year junior college, said officials.



Around, 1.16 lakh students already took admission in the three rounds of admissions that held between June 27 and July 15, according to a data published by the education department on Friday.



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The fourth round of admission will be held from July 18 to July 20, after which a special round of counseling will be conducted for students who failed to apply online.

On the basis of a Bombay High Court order that directed the FYJC admissions will be conducted online, the department has taken a decision to give a chance to the students to apply online to seats under general category.



View of Deputy director of education, Mumbai region

The deputy director of education, Mumbai region, BB Chavan told HT "Applying online for admission to seats under the general quota is the only option for FYJC aspirants. Hence, we decided to hold a special round for those who have not yet applied.".

"Nearly 50,000 seats in colleges have not found any takers in the admission round," added Chavan



The department is also thinking to conduct a counseling round for students who have not get their seats in colleges till now.

Read: DU fourth cut off: LSR, Kirori Mal announce cut offs above 95 per cent

Read: Case registered against Gurukul Kangdi varsity's VC over possessing fake degrees

Click here for more education related news.

For more details, follow India Today Education or you can write to us at education.intoday@gmail.com .

--- ENDS ---
CRESTWOOD  The imam at a new mosque thats slated to open soon in south St. Louis County challenged perceptions of a group of older adults from the moment he walked in the door at the Episcopal Church of the Advent to speak about Islam.

Some of the 50 people in attendance Thursday expected Eldin Susa to have dark skin, a full beard and tunic. Instead, Susa, 33, looked like most of the people who grew up here.

In Bosnia, we dress ordinary, Susa told a woman who introduced herself and kindly inquired about his button-down shirt and slacks.

SAJE, an ecumenical Christian ministry, invited Susa to its monthly lunch and learn event because of the political climate and in anticipation of a large mosque thats nearly completed in the Affton area near Reavis Barracks and MacKenzie roads.

Susa said the mosque might open in a month or two, but mostly he spoke from the heart about Islam and how its often misunderstood because of extremists.

He drew applause from the crowd over his reaction to brainwashed suicide bombers and awe when he spoke about the common ground between Christians and Muslims, followers of the Islamic faith.

We do not believe that Jesus was the son of God. We believe that he was created miraculously, he said. We believe that he is one of the greatest of Gods messengers to mankind.

The group was all ears and didnt hesitate to ask Susa questions.

Whats the difference between Muslim and Islam?

What is jihad?

One person said she didnt understand how young men loyal to the Islamic State are willing to blow themselves up and others.

Me, neither,  Susa said, drawing applause.

A higher perspective

While Islam is often tied to terrorism in the news, Susa said their holy book, the Quran, forbids atrocities before everything.

I dont know how they justify killing innocent people, he said. I dont know how they justify killing Muslims, not only non-Muslims, because most of those who are killed by ISIS are Muslim. If some of them came here, the first person killed by them would be me, not you.

He said the extremist ideology first appeared after the seventh-century death of Muhammad, founder of Islam.

In religion, there is a core value that cannot be changed, but there are some things left for people to decide, he said. This is what they do not accept. They have their own opinion and if you are not going according to their opinion, they will kill you.

He said minority extremist groups have popped up since then.

This extreme ideology cannot attract masses, he said. It attracts just brainwashed, brain-empty people.

At times, he said, Islamic extremism has ebbed, then would pop up again. A rebirth is happening now in certain parts of the world such as Syria and Iraq.

But he also turned the extremism question back on the crowd, noting that all religions have terrorists.

Maybe you are just looking around yourselves, Susa said. Lets take a higher perspective. I can count you Christian terrorists who are willing to give their lives for what they believe and what they believe is totally different from what Jesus  peace be upon him  is calling to.

Thousands of Bosnian Muslims were massacred in Srebrenica in 1995. A few months ago, Susa said a Christian orthodox priest who fought in the Serbian army during the war in Bosnia was quoted as saying: Im still in a good mood to kill.

Susa said religion was not in conflict, people are in conflict. Yet religion tends to be used to justify violence, which tarnishes the faith for normal, peaceful believers.

The Dalai Lama, for example, is considered one of the most peaceful leaders on the planet, but he said there were still Buddhist nationalist groups and fringe radicals who resort to violence.

Added the Rev. Dan Handschy, pastor of the church hosting the event: Just remember the troubles in Northern Ireland.

Calming concerns

Episcopal Church of the Advent, 9373 Garber Road, is one of four congregations that are part of SAJE, a ministry funded by Mission St. Louis. Two of the other congregations are Catholic, another is Lutheran.

SAJEs senior ministry puts on the lunch and learn speaker series. The meeting about Islam drew one of the largest turnouts.

Construction for the 800-person-capacity mosque at the busy intersection in the Affton area has caught peoples attention since it began in 2013. Also, Muslims have been the topic and target of the national political discussion.

In February, a 71-year-old man from south St. Louis County was arrested after allegedly threatening a Muslim couple and their four children as they looked for a house to rent. You Muslim? All of you should die, the man allegedly yelled.

Given the rhetoric, people are curious, Handschy said. We wanted to extend a hand of friendship to (Susa).

Several of the people who showed up werent affiliated with the faith groups.

I am interested in learning more about Islam, said Kathy Kingsley, a retired clerk from the Affton area. I am very aware that Islam is persecuted because people dont understand it.

Sandy Albrecht, of the Oakville area, said: I was glad he made it clear that ISIS is not what they believe in.

Susa, who is married with two children, moved from Bosnia to St. Louis a little over a year ago. He served as an imam in Bosnia, where he also taught Arabic, Islamic religion and history in high school. As an undergraduate student in Egypt, he studied history and theology.

Susa is leading one of three Bosnian mosques in the St. Louis area. The congregation didnt take out any loans. They built as money was available.

The mosque will be open for daily prayers, a main congregational service on Friday and Sunday school.

Calming some concerns from the neighborhood, he said there wont be loudspeakers outside the building calling people to prayer. He said there would be an open house for the public once the mosque is finished.

What we fear most is what we do not know, he said at the end of his lecture. We can differ in religion. We can differ in beliefs. But if you know me, you will not fear me. If you dont fear me, then you will not hate me and you will not try to kill me.
A 3-year-old Arkansas girl was found safe in Grayville, Ill., after she was allegedly abducted by her biological mother through her bedroom window, police said.

The 3-year-old, Layla Munholland, was found safe and her mother, Chelsea N. Munholland, 24, has been arrested and is facing multiple charges, according to the Van Buren, Ark., Police Department.

Munholland was already facing a lengthy prison sentence and is known to abuse methamphetamine, according to the Van Buren, Ark., Police Department. Munholland, who currently does not have legal custody of her child, allegedly stole a gray 2006 Toyota Corolla with Arkansas plates 245USV.

She was last seen using her debit card at The Gas Mart in St. Clair, Mo., at 4:26 p.m. Friday. She then proceeded eastbound on Interstate 44.

Munholland was likely with Herbert Thomas, 30. It's unclear if he was with Munholland when she was arrested.
In the lore of the Collinsville police, when I worked at that communitys newspaper an eon ago, was a story about a pursuit of two armed robbers that ended in a car crash.

One suspect ran away. The other lay in the wreckage, unhurt but with his eyes mostly closed, hoping that officers Art Lange and Oscar Fratiglione would give him up for dead. Perhaps he could flee while they called the coroner.

As the story goes, Fratiglione  Ockie to everyone in town  walked over, cocked his revolver, aimed at the guys head and said something to the effect of, Heck, Art, this ones dead anyway. We might as well get credit for it.

Believing that he was about to be shot, the suspect opened his eyes, put up his hands and cried out: Im not dead! Im not dead!

The chuckling cops, who had not been fooled, figured they would have a little fun at the guys expense.

Decades after Ockies death, stories about him still abound  a few a little salty for retelling. I knew him in the back half of his career, and that memory is one of my favorite windows on the old ways of policing.

Not well educated, he went from the coal mine to the patrol car with little training between. Cops of the time were told to keep the peace and catch the criminals, pretty much by any means available.

Twice a widower, Ockie seemed to center his life around the police department and Fairmount Park Racetrack, where he was friends with another railbird who happened to be my dad.

I think that connection gave me some slack in my teen years in Collinsville. Ockie was known to be a little tough on kids. But, What are you doing, Gauen? would be the strongest rebuke I got. Friends were surprised he knew me by name.

Id be dead if I was as tall a man as you are, Gauen, he once said. And he was right. Sometime around 1960, a bank robber fired a slug right through his hat as they exchanged shots in the street. The wounded robber was arrested.

Ockie told me stories of working Sunday nights, when he was the only cop on duty in town. He said he would park in the shadows, slam the patrol car door twice and whisper a little when arriving at a prowler call, to make it appear that he had a partner.

When I interviewed Ockie for a story about his retirement, I posed the usual question about whether he had any regrets. Ive asked it of many people but never got an answer like his. The regret: Not killing a man.

He described interrupting a holdup in the 1950s at a gas station in the building now widely known as Ramons El Dorado Restaurant. The robber pointed a gun toward Ockie, who for whatever reason held his fire. The crook surrendered. So far, so good. The rub was that the gunman eventually got out of prison and killed a gas station attendant in Indiana. Ockie even remembered the dead clerks name. It gnawed at the old cop many years later.

Ockie was a character, and a tough one. He was in his late 60s when I saw a young firefighter friend playfully sneak up and grab him from behind. Ockie, off duty and in plain clothes, instinctively lurched forward, pulled a derringer out of somewhere and reached back between his own legs, jamming the barrel into our buddys crotch. Then Ockie turned around. Whats the matter with you? he demanded to know in a question that I think the firefighter was also asking himself.

We didnt have much racial diversity in town then. I have no recollection of seeing Ockie interact with blacks. In my heart, Im sure he harbored at least the kind of thoughtless prejudice that seemed to permeate my parents generation, and perhaps especially the police.

Those were the days when people watched black-and-white TV  literally and figuratively. Good cowboys wore white hats and bad guys wore black or the feathered headgear of American Indians who had the temerity to be in the settlers way. Television cops were unfailingly right. Criminals shot first but always missed; the heroes fired back and never missed.

Sitcoms taught moral lessons of everyday life that were virtuous if often not realistic: The daughter character might need mom and dad to help her through boy trouble, but never the pregnancy kind. The son character might get caught with a beer, but never a joint.

Life wasnt really simpler then. Its just that more people lived behind an everything-is-all-right facade.

Ockie knew better. Oh, he may have patrolled in a car as black and white as the times. But the hole in his hat and the regret in his heart and the draw of his derringer suggest that law enforcement was pretty challenging in the good old days, too.
The conservative father-and-son lobbying team of Kerry and Abram Messer was a fixture in Jefferson City.

Under the moniker of the Missouri Family Network, the pair often approached lawmakers through their fundamentalist ministry to fight abortion rights, same-sex marriage and other issues they view as government intrusions on parental rights.

Sometimes they brought their wives along. When he wasnt with his wife, Kerry Messer, 57, made a point of never going alone in an elevator with another woman as part of his creed to always remain accountable to God.

Standing together as two generations of a rural family working the farm was an important image to project as they sought the support of private donors.

They lived a half-mile apart on the same property near Festus on a farm with cattle, dogs and cats. The sons ranch house sat on the top of a hill near the main road, the fathers aging and cluttered farmhouse and buildings were down a dirt and gravel road in a hollow.

But a shadow has hung over the Messers pro-family message for two years, dating back to the July 8, 2014, disappearance of Lynn Messer, the family matriarch and Kerry Messers wife of more than 30 years.

In the months after, Kerry Messer said publicly that his wife, 52 at the time, walked away from the farm in the middle of a moonless rainy night while he slept, possibly met up with trouble and disappeared without a trace.

He has continued to lobby in Jefferson City, initially with his son Abram at his side, as police searched in vain for his wife, whom he at times called Ma. He was so respected, he was invited by conservative Republicans to open the 2015 legislative session partly in honor of his missing wife. Prior to that, he and his son posted an open letter in a small political newspaper inviting those with questions about Lynns disappearance to ask them.

But now that partnership has been shattered amid a very public family feud.

Both of Kerry Messers sons, Abram and Aarron, now doubt aspects of their fathers accounting of events relating to the disappearance of their mother.

The brothers say they are particularly disturbed by their fathers changing narrative. Recently, Kerry Messer speculated on a local radio show that his wife may have walked eight or nine miles to the Mississippi River to take her life  a direct contradiction to his initial claims on social media and in various media interviews that his wife was not depressed nor suicidal.

The discord runs even deeper.

Abram Messer said his father never disclosed to the public that the morning his wife disappeared he had found a vague note of affection, apology and regret seemingly written by Lynn. Kerry Messer had maintained that his wife had vanished without a clue.

Moreover, the sons are bitter over Kerry Messers decision to begin what their father describes as a romantic, but chaste, relationship with another woman  a decision that they say raises questions and sullies the reputation of the Missouri Family Network.

The brothers tried, but failed, to persuade their father to resign from his lobbying position. Then, two months ago, Kerry Messer fired Abram.

The two say they havent spoken to each other since Christmas  and even have wound up on opposite sides of the same legislation.

More recently, Abram Messer said he has moved his family off the farm to an undisclosed location.

Kerry Messer calls it all a misunderstanding. He said there is nothing unusual about his changing views about what happened to his wife. Given the passage of time, he said, there is a very likely possibility that she is dead and that her disappearance may have been a suicide, and that he overlooked signs of depression.

Everything is being blown out of proportion by everyone, he said. Its gut-wrenching.

Maj. Jason Schott of the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriffs Department, which is leading the inquiry into Lynn Messers disappearance, said the ongoing investigation continues to be one of the most bizarre situations he has ever encountered. Everyone, he said, remains a suspect.

We still dont have a clue where shes at or what happened to her, or if this is something shes done on her own, or if it was something that happened to her, Schott said.

Disputing the facts

Aarron Messer refuses to speculate on what happened to his mother. In the aftermath of a divorce, he is currently living in an apartment on his parents farm. But he has made it clear in an interview and on his Facebook posts that he is estranged from his father.

I dont have any physical proof he has done anything to my mother, he said in an interview. I do know he has certainly put himself in the most terrible of light.

Abram Messer has said he believes his father knows what happened the morning his mother disappeared.

He told KMOX radio that his dad either hid the evidence of a suicide or was more actively involved in her disappearance. He reiterated those theories to the Post-Dispatch. He said there is no way his mother was physically capable of walking off the 250-acre property to the Mississippi River as his father only recently has suggested.

Both brothers dispute some details of their fathers account of the first few hours after Kerry Messer informed Abram before dawn that Lynn was missing. They say their father also appeared angry and uncomfortable when he learned Aarron had called 911 and that investigators were on their way to the farm. They say Kerry Messer then inexplicably ordered the sons away.

The sons are frustrated by their fathers initial insistence both in the press and on his Facebook posts that their mother was not depressed. Abram Messer said his mother confided to him six months prior to her disappearance that she went to the barn on the property to shoot herself but then turned the firearm on some cats. Kerry Messer said in an interview that he was unaware of the incident.

Aarron Messer and Kerry Messer both said that Lynn had been dealing with persistent hip pain and had been disturbed to learn that hip surgery had not resolved the problem.

Last week, authorities confirmed the existence of a note possibly left by Lynn Messer before her disappearance  a note police retrieved the morning of her disappearance. They say they do not consider it a suicide note.

Kerry Messer said last week he sidestepped many questions from the media about whether his wife left a note because authorities asked him to keep it quiet.

The sons say that for many months their dad kept them from knowing the notes true content and asked the local sheriffs department to keep the note from them.

Kerry Messer said he did so because a middle section of the note referenced a recent family squabble between Lynn and Abram. That section was written in different ink, said Abram Messer, who was first given a copy of the note by police last year.

I tried to protect (Abram) from that note because I feared if something bad had happened, that seeing that note would cause him to take on all the blame and all of the guilt, Kerry Messer said.

Abram Messer isnt buying his fathers explanation. He said his fathers handling of the note was intentionally meant to cast his son as a suspect in his mothers disappearance.

Kerry Messer said authorities had previously questioned him for nine hours about the note, alleging he had written it and not his wife  an allegation he denies. Police say the FBI has not been able to conclude whether Lynn Messer wrote the letter.

A cautious relationship

In months of lengthy, often passionate posts on a Facebook page entitled Find Lynn Messer, Kerry Messer espouses great love, devotion and longing for his missing wife.

He also has acknowledged a wholesome relationship with a woman from Wildwood named Spring Thomas, a family friend.

For the first time in 39 years I kissed someone other than my wife, Lynn. If you want to call that an affair, then you call it that term. But this is not an affair, Messer said in an interview. This is a very cautious relationship thats in a holding pattern while we wait to find out about Lynn. Im a married man.

Thomas could not be reached for comment.

In an interview last week, Kerry Messer said his relationship with Thomas began around Christmas 2014  about five months after his wife disappeared.

But Schott, of the Sheriffs Department, said detectives had confirmed a relationship between Kerry Messer and Thomas months earlier  about eight weeks after Lynn Messer disappeared.

Messer said in an interview that he disclosed the relationship to police voluntarily and upon advice from pastors.

However, police say Messer first told them about Thomas only after authorities already had learned of the relationship from her, while visiting her farm. Hours later, police say, Messer called them to disclose the relationship.

Schott said Thomas was seen by police among search parties organized soon after Lynns disappearance. Police said she has refused further questioning.

Thomas was a longtime friend of the Messer family. Indeed, according to various family accounts, Lynn Messer had for several years told both her husband and sons that Kerry Messer should marry Thomas if she were to die before him.

Abram Messer said the day before his mother disappeared, she made a point of talking to his own wife in private. In that conversation, Abram Messer claims his mother reiterated her wish for her husband to end up with Thomas if something ever happened to her. Kerry Messer said he only learned of the timing of this conversation 11 months later during a family meeting.

Torn apart

Abram and Aarron Messer said they believe their fathers relationship with Thomas has cast more suspicion on Kerry Messer and put the moral foundation of the Missouri Family Network in jeopardy.

Ive had state reps come to me with a great deal of concern about whats going on with my father, Abram Messer said. When everything is said and done, that could potentially destroy something he spent so many years working on.

Abram Messer even found himself battling his father last legislative session over the merits of a bill.

Kerry Messer testified in favor of the legislation, which concerned missing persons. One provision in the bill would restrict the use of any voluntary DNA samples provided for a missing-person case solely for locating or identifying the person and not for any other purpose.

Abram Messer said the bill, if approved, would have protected his dad from having his previously collected DNA used against him in an investigation. Kerry Messer called that absurd and said the provision in no way would deter police from collecting DNA as evidence.

Lawmakers later dropped the bill.

Associates of Kerry Messer say his lobbying efforts have suffered in the two years since his wife went missing.

Kerry has always been valuable to the pro-family movement. In the first year after her disappearance, he sort of disengaged, said longtime Jefferson City lobbyist Samuel Lee, who describes himself as a dear friend of Kerry Messer. In the second year, the strain between him and his son was visible.

Kerry Messer, for his part, says he is trying to be as morally accountable as possible to the ministry, which he said is fully functioning. He said advisers agreed with him last year that the Missouri Family Network should not be handed over to his son, and that he should remain at its helm.

I have visited with our key funding people and those who support us financially, Kerry Messer said. I have sat down with boards and leadership of those organizations and I have been forthright, and done everything I can to be transparent with everyone.

There appears to be just one thing all three Messer men can agree upon. The family is torn apart  something that would have pained Lynn Messer deeply.

For the first anniversary of Lynns disappearance I had to sit and deal with her loss. And now on this anniversary I have to sit through the loss of my sons, and I dont know what to do with that, Kerry Messer said.

Abram Messer said a reconciliation is not likely.

I love my mother, and she deserves more than this, he said. And I truly in my heart of hearts believe that the truth will absolutely come out, and if I have to wait my whole life, I will wait.

Kurt Erickson of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
The eligible candidates can apply online latest by August 12.

By India Today Web Desk: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has published a notification regarding the Combined Defence Services II, 2016. The eligible candidates can apply online latest by August 12.



To check the detailed application procedure, the candidates are required to follow the steps listed mentioned below:



Go to the official website, www.upsconline.nic.in

Click on the link 'Online Application For Various Examinations of UPSC'

Click on the link 'Combined Defence Services Examination (II)'

Read all the instructions carefully

Fill the application form carefully and pay the application fee online

Take a print out of the filled application form for future reference.

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The candidates are advised to fill only single application form. However, if a candidate fills more than one application then he/she should ensure that the application form with higher registration ID is complete.



The exam is scheduled to take place on October 23. It is a national level examination conducted by the UPSC for Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers' Training Academy. The exam is conducted twice a year.



For detailed information, the candidates can visit the official website.



For more updates on education news, follow India Today Education or you can write to us at education.intoday@gmail.com

--- ENDS ---
Thursday evening, Mary Jauer received a text from her son vacationing in Nice, France. She didnt think much of the message at the time.

The text read: Im in Nice. Im OK.

I assumed he meant I got to Nice, and Im here safely, Jauer, of Fenton, said in an interview.

Later she began hearing news reports of an attack in Nice and suddenly realized the text meant something entirely different.

Her son, Mark Verity, 29, originally of St. Louis County but who now lives in New York, had left a Bastille Day celebration just minutes before a man plowed into a crowd of festivalgoers with a 19-ton truck, killing 84 and leaving more than 200 wounded.

Verity and his friend had left the area shortly before the fireworks ended to beat some of the exiting crowds. All of the sudden they heard shooting and mobs of people running toward them, Jauer said.

The Lindbergh High graduate would later tell his mother that terrified people were trying to escape the streets and pushing into any building they could enter.

He was one of the last to enter an apartment building, and he hid in a familys home for hours. He was able to communicate with his mom from there. Those in the apartment turned out the lights and hid, not knowing what was unfolding on the streets.

He was in an apartment where no one spoke English, and he was separated from his friend in an unfamiliar country. He tried to check Twitter to find out what was going on.

The family, as terrified as the fleeing festivalgoers, gave the unexpected visitors water and food, Jauer said. And, she said, her son believes the family was Muslim.

After hours in the apartment, Verity finally located his friend, and when it seemed safe, they began walking back down the then-desolate streets. Before her son left for France, Jauer said she asked him: Mark, are you sure you want to go with everything thats happened in Europe?

He said that thought crossed his mind when he was running, Jauer said.

She was able to talk to Verity on the phone Friday morning. He seems to be doing OK, she said.

But she added, Im sure its going to be ever on his mind.
NEW ORLEANS  The gunman was a black former military man who targeted white police at a time of social unrest. The chaos and confusion led authorities to conclude there must be more than one shooter. When it was over, a major city mourned five dead officers.

This months attack targeting police in Dallas was gloomily reminiscent of a 1973 shooting spree in downtown New Orleans that shattered the peaceful urban landscape and went on for 11 hours, until police shot and killed Mark Essex from a helicopter hovering over a hotel.

It was a horrible time, said David Cressy, then an assistant city attorney who was at City Hall, across the street from the hotel. When I hear a helicopter coming over the house, I still remember.

The Dallas deaths revived disturbing memories for the police, city employees and reporters who lived through the New Orleans attack, which unfolded under many of the same circumstances as the Texas shootings.

There were differences as well, including the way news of the carnage was reported to the world compared to the instantly streamed and tweeted events in Dallas.

Retired Times-Picayune columnist Angus Lind was then a 28-year-old reporter. He remembers tracking down a payphone to dictate notes. The only way for people to learn what was going on was through local TV stations.

Even though fears persisted of multiple, organized shooters, news organizations were granted access to the hotel that would be unusual today.

The cops would actually cover us as we ran across the street to relieve each other, Lind said.

The connections between the two events were unavoidable for Larry Preston Williams, 67, a former New Orleans police officer who was there in 1973.

Asked what went through his mind when he heard the news from Dallas, Williams mind went straight to the hotel: Howard Johnsons, he said Monday. Immediately.

Now a security consultant in Arkansas, Williams was 24 at the time. As an African-American, he was recruited by the New Orleans Police Department as it was integrating, Williams had been a patrol officer and was later assigned to intelligence, helping place infiltrators in left- and right-wing organizations.

He remembers being summoned to City Hall on Sunday morning, Jan. 7, 1973, because police hoped that, with his background in intelligence, he might be able to identify the gunman if he got a good look at him.

Despite the danger, Williams felt less vulnerable than those around him.

I was in plainclothes and I was black, he said. At the time, Essex was not shooting black people.

Williams never got a look at the shooter. What he saw was carnage in the grassy park in front of City Hall. He watched as Paul Persigo, with whom he had patrolled at times, was gunned down. Then came the shots that felled Phillip Coleman, who died of a head wound, and Ken Solis, who survived.

Inside the hotel, Deputy Police Superintendent Louis Sirgo was killed, along with four civilians.

Essex was a 23-year-old from Emporia, Kan., who had been discharged from the Navy for character and behavior disorders according to archived accounts from The Associated Press. He was living in New Orleans and working as a trainee in an anti-poverty program. He harbored deep-seated hatred for whites that people who knew him said took root in the Navy. Investigators later entered his apartment and found racial epithets painted on the walls.

Authorities eventually learned that Essex had actually begun killing people a week earlier, on New Years Eve. His first victim was a black police cadet hit when Essex fired at a gateway at the New Orleans jail and escaped. Later that night, he broke into a warehouse, fatally wounded a responding officer and disappeared again.

The violence resumed on Jan. 7 when Essex shot and wounded a white store owner, stole a car and led police on a chase that ended at the Howard Johnsons, where he turned into the parking garage and ran into the main building.

Then-Mayor Moon Landrieu said in a 1983 AP interview that the shootings occurred at a time of racial and political unrest and authorities feared the violence was part of an organized revolutionary attack. No conspiracy was ever revealed.

The pain lingered for years.

There was the agony of the burials, visiting the survivors, helping raise funds for those orphaned, Landrieu said. So that aftermath continued for a very long time.

In 1973, Louisiana and other Southern states had been rocked by more than a decade of political and social turmoil that accompanied the civil rights movement. Landrieu, in his first term when Essex attacked, had gained the trust of many black voters and the enmity of some whites by bringing African-American appointees into city government.

Williams left police work for law school in 1974. His tenure with the New Orleans Police Department had been difficult at times. Most of the white officers accepted him, but a few refused to ride with him. He was part of a lawsuit alleging discriminatory employment practices by the department.

None of that mattered on Jan. 7, 1973.

When those officers got shot, any kind of racial politics I might have indulged in was put on the back burner, Williams said. Because those were my comrades.
Because somebody had to, Ive been ranking the irrelevancies in this years Missouri Republican primary races, trying to determine just which campaign statement bears the least possible relevance to the problems facing the state.

Oh, sure. Everyone is going to pick Eric Greitens television commercials, the Rambo one with the AR-15 and the Rocky one with the punching bag. Its like he wants to be Gov. Sylvester Stallone.

And yes, ISIS is unlikely to attack Jefferson City, so having a gubernatorial candidate who talks incessantly of his terrorist-fighting chops is pretty weird. Greitens trained SEAL act is pretty darned irrelevant.

But what about John Brunner, one of Greitens three opponents, who served a peacetime hitch in the Marines in the 1970s and cant mention it enough? Its like he wants voters to think he raised the flag on Iwo Jima.

Then there was Greitens famous You are such a weasel phone call to Brunner back in November, when Brunner wouldnt fess up to having a role in an independent TV ad that accused Greitens of being insufficiently conservative. On Wednesday, Brunner pounded back with his own irrelevancy, saying he refused to be lectured by a guy who took $1 million from the owner of a teenage sex slave.

And then theres Kurt Schaefer, who accused Josh Hawley, his opponent in the attorney general primary, of having defended a terrorist. Not for terrorism, mind you, but because he wanted to grow a beard. In prison. In Arkansas. Who cares?

Besides, Hawley said his name was on that brief by mistake. However, he admits to having worked for Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, an Iranian dissident group that used to be bad guys but which some U.S. neoconservatives now say are good guys. But GOP voters in, say, Dent County are unlikely to know that. Mujahedeen-e-Khalq sounds pretty Muslimy.

Good guys, bad guys, whatever. Whats it have to do with Missouri government?

Last week a late-breaking entry appeared in the irrelevance sweepstakes. State Sen. Will Kraus of Lees Summit ran a video ad wondering why Jay Ashcroft, his opponent in the primary for secretary of state, dropped out of the Merchant Marine Academy after just three years.

Was he dismissed for bad behavior? the announcer asks ominously. He doesnt answer your questions. He doesnt finish the job. He is far from who he says he is.

Wheres that You are such a weasel phone call when you need it?

You can understand Kraus frustration. Hes making a big deal about his military service, having flown transport helicopters for the Army Reserve. His campaign website features a photograph of him in Army camouflage and the slogan, From the battlefields of Iraq to the halls of the Capitol, I will fight for Missouri.

He wasnt a SEAL nor a fightin Marine, but still he finds himself trailing a Merchant Marine Academy dropout, a guy whos primary political qualification is that his father was a governor, U.S. senator and U.S. attorney general. John Ashcrofts name may be anathema to many Americans, but hes still a big deal in the Missouri GOP.

But really, is a guy who flew a helicopter any more qualified to run elections and the states corporate registry than a guy who left the Merchant Marine Academy? Maybe Ashcroft gets seasick. To suggest, without any evidence, that he might have been dismissed for bad behavior is not only irrelevant, but sleazy.

Surprise, surprise. One of Kraus campaign consultants is Axiom Strategies of Kansas City, the firm founded by the famously bare-knuckled Jeff Roe. Before going off to run Texas Sen. Ted Cruzs presidential campaign, Roe paid for the Barney Fife radio commercial that helped push state Auditor Tom Schweich over the edge. Schweich, whod planned to run for governor this year, shot himself to death in February 2015.

Its not every campaign dirty trick that inspires funeral oratory, but former Sen. Jack Danforth was talking about Roe in his eulogy for his former aide: As for the radio commercial, making fun of someones physical appearance, calling him a little bug, there is one word to describe it: bullying. And there is one word to describe the person behind it: bully.

So if you go back to the first days of the campaign, the most irrelevant charge was the one made against Schweich. It also turned out to be the most tragic.

This is what you get when you allow unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns. Money hires legions of consultants and pays for ridiculous attack ads. It pays for opposition research that dredges up anything in the opponents past that could, fairly or not, be used against him.

Consultants are paid to win. They know that most voters dont pay attention to public policy, so they look for simplistic messages that grab attention. You wonder why government is the way it is, its because of all that money.
Pokopalypse Now

We're with O'Fallon, Mo., Police Sgt. Phil Hardin: You really can't make this stuff up.

Here we are, living in a world, a nation and a city with all sorts of real-life problems and possibilities, challenges sufficient to test anyone's mettle, and what Hardin and his fellow O'Fallon cops found themselves doing last Sunday morning was responding to robberies that allegedly were enabled by a smartphone game.

"Pokemon Go," released for mobile phones on July 5, has been sweeping the nation. We're neither smart enough nor young enough to explain it, but the hipsters at Vox.com tell us: Building on the giant video game franchise created in the 90s by a Japanese insect collector and game developer, 'Pokemon Go' has become an instrument to take advantage of our nations ADD nature, our reliance on smartphones, the warm fuzziness of nostalgia, and our human thirst for escapism.

We buy the escapism part. Apparently people with nothing better to do walk or drive around to various locations where their phones tell them one of 151 Pokemon game characters can be captured. In O'Fallon, police say, four suspects were arrested after targeting players "Pokemon Go" sent to a gas station on Highway K.

People really need to watch what theyre doing and make sure their kids understand where this game could lead them, said Hardin, who admitted that younger, geeky officers had to explain what was going on.

We share his concern. We're also concerned that when the apocalypse comes, it will look like a smartphone game.

Newt reinterprets the First Amendment

There are many reasons why Newt Gingrich didnt get the nod as Donald Trumps running mate on the GOP presidential ticket, and remarks like the one he made Friday on Fox News underscore why Trump made the right call.

Gingrich, the former House speaker, responded to the killings of at least 84 people in Nice, France, by telling Fox News Sean Hannity that all people of a Muslim background in America should be required to take a test. If they believe in sharia they should be deported, he said.

Sharia is incompatible with western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up sharia  glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door, Gingrich added.

Sharia, which in Arabic means "way" or "path," is the articulation of rules by which Muslims should lead their lives. It forms the basis of the legal system in many Muslim countries, including close allies of the United States.

During the Clinton administration, Gingrich was second in the line of presidential succession behind Vice President Al Gore. And he was on Trumps short list as his vice presidential running mate. Yet he somehow seems to have forgotten the key part of the Constitution known as the First Amendment, which guarantees the right of every person to exercise his or her religion free of government interference. Gingrich's new interpretation should worry everyone.

Civilish service

The St. Louis Sheriff's office is the largest remaining bastion of political patronage jobs in the city. Most city jobs long ago became civil service positions, where qualifications, at least ostensibly, are more important than political connections.

With Sheriff Jim Murphy stepping down this year after seven terms, the Aug. 2 Democratic primary (the only one that counts in the city) drew a field of five would-be successors. Up for grabs: a $101,000 salary, use of a city-owned car and, perhaps most important, control of 173 jobs. Deputies transport prisoners to and from city jails, serve legal papers and provide courtroom security.

By time-honored tradition, the sheriff and the Democratic Central Committee work together to divvy up jobs. Murphy's long tenure brought a lot of stability. The election will probably go to the candidate who can best reassure ward committees that things won't change much.

But candidate Johnny Chester Sr. is trying something different. He told the 7th Ward Independent Democrats that he favors putting the office under civil service. But in a pitch to ward committees, he promised, I will hire and keep, during my term, one male and one female on the payroll out of your ward.

Call it civil service-lite.

Be there ...

Molded melons. Freaky fruit. Call square watermelons what you will, but don't call them genetically modified. Pictures of the odd-looking melons are circulating on the internet, where The New York Times informed readers that the melons may be odd, but their appearance has nothing to do with engineering.

Japanese farmers grow them inside stiff boxes, where they naturally form to the shape of their containers. They were developed as a response to limited refrigerator space and are harvested before they ripen. Decorative? Yes. Tasty? Meh. Too bad because they sure are cute.
At long last, the TIF wars that have plagued the St. Louis region for decades could be ending. Late last month, Gov. Jay Nixon signed House Bill 1434, which will make tax-increment financing a lot less lucrative for developers.

Municipalities could still steal retail centers from their neighbors by offering sweet tax-financing deals. But unless a countywide TIF commission signs off on the deal first, there would be strict limits on what such funding could be used for.

The new law, which affects St. Louis, St. Charles and Jefferson counties, goes into effect Aug. 29. That will affect Maryland Heights controversial effort to develop up to 1,900 acres of Missouri River floodplain near Creve Coeur Lake.

Six developers  among them attorney Alan Bornstein and his partner, real estate tycoon and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke  have submitted general proposals for all or part of the land. The citys timeline calls for the City Council to decide among the plans on Sept. 15. Requests for economic incentives are to be submitted Sept. 22, well after the new law takes effect.

Tax-increment financing allows developers to capture a portion of new sales and property taxes generated by their project to pay part of its cost. Since 2008, municipal TIF projects have first had to be OKd by county TIF commissions. But current law allows city councils to override the countywide panels recommendation with a two-thirds vote.

Under the new law, TIF financing could only be used for demolition of buildings and clearing land. In the Maryland Heights project, most of the property is farm fields.

HB 1434, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, was passed 145-12 in the House and unanimously in the Senate. Republicans and Democrats alike recognized what multiple studies have found: The $2.5 billion in retail TIFs in the region in the past 20 years created very few net new jobs. Instead, they shuffled tax revenue from one municipality to another, cannibalizing city and school district budgets.

The Legislature approved countywide TIF commissions eight years ago to bring a regional perspective to what had become inter-city civil war. But the loophole allowing city councils to override the countywide commission meant business as usual.

Missouri adopted TIF laws in 1982 to encourage development in truly blighted areas. Later economic development areas were added to the TIF law, enabling thriving neighborhoods and farm fields to become eligible.

TIF financing was a godsend to developers and winning cities like Des Peres and Chesterfield. Cities that lost retail tax bases suffered; some asked their police departments and municipal courts to make up the difference. The overall effect on regional economic growth was negligible.

Thinking regionally is critical to the future of St. Louis. TIF reform is a big step forward.
Police in many states, including Missouri, increasingly are using mobile drug tests to perform spot checks during traffic stops. The kits can produce the wrong result in as many as one out of three instances. Americans of all racial and income backgrounds should shudder at the injustices dealt to law-abiding citizens.

Thousands of people may have gone to jail as a result of wrong test results. Arrest and conviction records follow them for the rest of their lives. Yet police officers continue to use the kits.

The New York Times and ProPublica recently reported on the extraordinary rate of false positives returned by test kits marketed to police under brand names such as Serchie Nark II. Different kits test for cocaine, marijuana, opioids or methamphetamine.

When a chemical mixture turns a certain color during the test, it signals to police officers that an illegal drug could be present. But the test used for cocaine also can return the same positive color for 80 other compounds, including acne medications and several types of household cleaners.

The high rate of false positives offers more than ample reason to question their continued use. Manufacturers like Serchie now warn that the results should be treated only as preliminary, and more thorough lab tests are required.

The case of Amy Albritton offers a stark example of how quickly such tests can ruin a life. She and a friend were driving to Houston from her home in Louisiana in 2010 when an officer pulled her car over. He asked permission to search her car and came up with a single, white crumb from the floor. His test kit returned the positive color for cocaine.

Thus began Albrittons nightmare of arrest and negotiations with a prosecutor while she insisted she had not possessed illegal drugs. The result was a plea bargain that left a felony conviction on her record, discoverable whenever she applied for a job or to rent an apartment.

The test was wrong. The crumb, a subsequent test proved, was just a dried-up bit of food.

Years later, the Harris County district attorneys office admitted the error, but it came far too late for her to recover her shattered life  lost job, lost apartment, a custody battle for her child.

In Houston, 59 percent of those wrongfully convicted because of faulty test kits were black, even though they constitute only 24 percent of the population. It usually requires money and lawyers to get false convictions expunged, and thats where these injustices reap their biggest toll.

The presumption of innocence forms the basis of our judicial system. A highly flawed commercial field testing system must never be allowed to short-circuit the rights of law-abiding citizens.
Can we be assured that the plant will not pollute our land or water supply so that we are not discovering something decades later like so many areas in Missouri?
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the notification of Combined Defence Services (CDS) II, 2016.

By India Today Web Desk: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released a notification of Combined Defence Services (CDS) II, 2016. The exam is slated on October 23.



The candidates can check the detailed information below:



Indian Military Academy, Dehradun: 150

Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala - Course: 45

Air Force Academy, Hyderabad: 32

Officers' Traning Academy, Chennai: 175

Officers Training Academy: 11

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Eligibility criteria:



Educational qualification:

Those interested in applying should be in the final year of graduation or must possess any graduate degree. A candidate is required to clear the SSB interview, should be medically fit and then join IMA as a direct entry subject.



Paper pattern:

Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy: The written exam will consist of questions based on the subjects like general knowledge, English and Elementary mathematics. Each section will be held for a duration of two hours and will carry 100 marks, i.e. 300 marks in total.



Officers' Training Academy:

The written exam will test the candidates on Elementary mathematics and general knowledge. Following a similar pattern, each section will be held for a duration of two hours and will carry 100 marks each, i.e. a total of 200 marks.



How to apply:

The eligible candidates should apply through the official website, upsc.gov.in

About the exam:



CDS is a national level examination conducted by the UPSC, for the Indian Military Academy, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and Officers' Training Academy.



Important dates:



Last date to apply online: August 12

Date of examination: October 23

For any other query, the candidates can visit the official website.



For more updates on education news, follow India Today Education or you can write to us at education.intoday@gmail.com



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released today, the External Affairs Ministry said here.

"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today morning at 1030 hrs IST.

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"Both have spoken to their families. Sharmas wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The duo - Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka)- were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.

Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act". PTI PYK RT

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The ghostly image taken by Mariehanna Dickson at Warwick Castle

THIS ghostly figure pictured two weeks ago in the window of one of the most haunted rooms at Warwick Castle could be that of renowned spiritualist, Aleister Crowley.

It was taken, by chance, on an iPhone by paranormal investigator Mariehanna Dickson.

The 30-year-old, who lives in Henley, snapped the figure during a visit to the 1,100-year-old castle as she prepared for a paranormal investigation there in October.

And she believes it could be the figure of Crowley, who, in the late 1800s, was considered the most evil man in England, because of his seances at the castle where he regularly summoned ghosts.

Mariehanna told the Herald she took a few snaps on her phone, including that of an information board, which made mention of Archdeacon Colley, a renowned spiritualist from Mariehannas native South Africa.

Mariehanna Dickson who photographed a ghost at Warwick Castle.

When she took a closer look at the photos when she got home, she saw the figure in the reflection.

Knowing the history of the room [it is said to be the most haunted in the castle] I did feel uncomfortable at the time, because I was in there on my own. And when I looked at the photo closely when I got home and noticed the figure, I went ice cold.

I asked the castle to look at their CCTV and whether there was any waxworks in there at the time, and there wasnt. We tried to recreate it, but we couldnt.

In this industry people work for decades and spend thousands of pounds on hi-tech equipment, cameras and spirit boxes etc, and hours in buildings to get nothing, so the last thing I expected was to walk in and snap something on my iPhone.

You can see the way the light is around it that its not a completely solid figure, and if anyone is going to be in this room its the man who spent his life holding seances there, Aleister Crowley.

During the late 1800s, Daisy Greville, the 5th Countess of Warwick, held a number of seances inside the castle and invited renowned spiritualists, including Crowley, to conduct them.

It is said he opened a Vortex  a curtain between the dead and living  in the Kenilworth Bedroom that has never been closed, according to the castles historian, Richard Shepard.

He told the Herald: With over 1,100 years of history, it is not surprising that we receive stories of paranormal encounters at Warwick Castle. Spiritualists claim that the Kenilworth Bedroom is the most haunted in the castle and the one with the most paranormal activity.

Mariehanna is the founder and lead investigator of www.sageparanormal.co.uk, which is carrying out the paranormal investigation at the castle in October.
Will of William; Shakespeare; 25 March 1616. Proved 22 June 1616.

SHAKESPEARES last will and testament has returned to Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time in 400 years and will go on public display today (Saturday 16th July) for three weeks.

The documents are on loan to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust from the National Archives in Kew, London and can be seen in the trusts Treasures exhibition.

The will is best known in the public consciousness for Shakespeares apparently insulting provision of his second best bed to his wife, Anne Hathaway.

But as Dr Katy Mair, early modern records specialist at The National Archives explained, there would have been nothing particularly unusual about this because the bulk of his legacy  including his house at New Place in Stratford  would automatically have gone to his heir (in this case his elder daughter, Susanna).

In other words the best bed would have come with Susannas inheritance of New Place. But in any event, Shakespeare made sure Anne was looked after. Its also implicit in the will that she will be provided for for the rest of her life, said Dr Mair.

For a full report see the next issue of the Herald.
By David Dolan and Gulsen Solaker

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters on Saturday and ordered thousands of judges detained after thwarting a coup by rebels using tanks and attack helicopters to try to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.

For several hours overnight on Friday violence shook Turkey's two main cities, as the armed faction which tried to seize power blocked a bridge in Istanbul and strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara.

At least 265 people were killed. An official said 161 of them were mostly civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters.

But the coup attempt crumbled as Erdogan rushed back to Istanbul from a Mediterranean holiday and urged people to take to the streets to support his government against plotters he accused of trying to kill him.

"They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, launching a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."

Among those detained were top military commanders, including the head of the Second Army which protects the country's borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Hundreds of soldiers were held in Ankara for alleged involvement in the coup, leaving police stations overflowing.

Some had to be taken under armed police escort in buses to a sports stadium. Reuters footage showed some of the detainees, handcuffed and stripped from the waist up, sitting on the floor of one of the buses.

The government declared the situation under control, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who formed "the backbone" of the rebellion.

Authorities also began a major crackdown in the judiciary over suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, removing from their posts and ordering the detention of nearly 3,000 prosecutors and judges, including from top courts.

Erdogan has blamed the coup on supporters of Gulen, who he has frequently accused of trying to foment uprising in the military, media and judiciary.

Ten members of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and two members of the Constitutional Court have already been detained, officials said.

OBAMA'S SUPPORT

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey's southern neighbor Syria into civil war.

However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilize the NATO member and major U.S. ally that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support for Turkey's government and urged parties on all sides of the crisis to avoid destabilizing the country and follow the rule of law. But his secretary of state, John Kerry, warned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that public suggestions of a U.S. role in the plot were "utterly false" and harmful to relations.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and told thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport that the government remained at the helm.

A polarizing figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, Erdogan said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.

"They bombed places I had departed from right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there."

Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.

His conservative religious vision for Turkey's future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protests demanding more freedom.

He commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, however, particularly for raising living standards and restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises, which grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

The violence is likely to hit a tourism industry already suffering from the bombings, and business confidence is also vulnerable.

SMARTPHONE ADDRESS

In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook.

He addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smartphone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera.

He also urged Washington to deport Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. The cleric, who once supported Erdogan but became a leading adversary, condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement.

Kerry said the United States was willing to help Turkey as it tries to identify those involved in the coup attempt, but made clear it would only act if there was evidence against Gulen.

SOLDIERS SURRENDER

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.

About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.

By Saturday afternoon, CNN Turk reported that security forces had completed an operation against coup plotters at the headquarters of the military general staff. Security sources also said police detained about 100 military officers at an air base in the southeast.

Neighboring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the Greek police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.

At one stage military commanders were held hostage by the plotters and by Saturday evening -- 24 hours after the coup was launched -- some operations against rebels were continuing.

Cavusoglu, the foreign minister, said soldiers at the Incirlik air base, used by the United States to launch air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria, were involved in the attempt. He said Turkey would resume operations with the U.S.-led coalition once the anti-coup operations were completed.

LAWMAKERS IN HIDING

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus, which separates Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Turkish maritime authorities reopened the Bosphorus to transiting tankers after shutting the major trade route from the Black Sea to the Aegean for several hours for security and safety reasons.

In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers hid in shelters inside the parliament building, which was fired on by tanks. An opposition deputy told Reuters that parliament was hit three times and people had been wounded.

When parliament convened later in the day, the four main political parties - running the gamut from Erdogan's right-wing Islamist-rooted AK Party to the left-of-center, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) - came together in a rare show of unity to condemn the attempted coup.

A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara.

Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.

Kerry said he had phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

FLIGHTS RESUME

Flag carrier Turkish Airlines resumed flights on Saturday, though some foreign carriers canceled weekend flights.

At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees. It was a departure point last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

(Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Humeyra Pamuk, Ayla Jean Yackley, Nick Tattersall, David Dolan, Akin Aytekin, Tulay Karadeniz, Can Sezer, Gulsen Solaker, Ece Toksabay, Murad Sezer, Ercan Gurses, Nevzat Devranoglu, Dasha Afanasieva, Birsen Altayli, Asli Kandemir; Additional reporting by Sue-Lin Wong, Ben Blanchard and Rozanna Latiff; Writing by David Stamp and Dominic Evans; Editing by Catherine Evans and Mary Milliken)
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 16 (PTI) Vice President Hamid Ansari returned home tonight from Mongolia where he attended the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit and held a number of bilateral meetings with leaders from the region.

During the visit, Ansari, who was the lead speaker for the Plenary Session on Promoting ASEM Partnership for Greater Connectivity, made a strong pitch for the need to isolate sponsors and financiers of terror and urged the leaders to go beyond condemnation to practical action.

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The ASEM meeting also deliberated upon issues arising out of recent developments affecting the Korean Peninsula and maritime security, including preservation of global commons in accordance with the international conventions.

Ansari, during his stay in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, also held a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

Ansari and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today met in the Mongolian capital and discussed bilateral and mutual interest issues.

The Vice President also held separate bilateral meetings with Prime Minister of EstoniaTaavi Roivasand Prime Minister of LithuaniaAlgirdas Butkevicius. He held a bilateral meeting with Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.

Ansari yesterday held talks with the top Mongolian leadership and the Prime Ministers of Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEM comprises of 53 entities - 51 countries from Asia and Europe and two regional bodies - the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. It represents around 62.3 per cent of the worlds population, 57.2 per cent of the global GDP and almost 60 per cent of the worlds trade.

Indias engagement with ASEM began in 2007 and has since actively participated at the Summits level and Foreign Ministers Meeting held biennially. PTI AKJ ASK ASK

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SEATTLE, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] is celebrating 100 years of aerospace leadership and the start of its next century of innovation during the company's Founders Day Centennial Celebration July 15 at Seattle's Museum of Flight. The event includes a first-ever line up of the Boeing Seven Series airplanes: 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777 and 787.

Contact: Paul BergmanBoeing Commercial Airplanes+1 206-724-7292[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160715/390229

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-marks-100-years-at-founders-day-centennial-celebration-300299657.html

SOURCE Boeing
President of Guinea transition General Sekouba Konate speaks during a meeting with other political parties at the presidential palace in Conakry in this June 26, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Luc Gnago

By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) - An African general who served as Guinea's transitional president for a year after a military coup, Sekouba Konate, avoided being sentenced to a U.S. prison on Friday for smuggling thousands of dollars into the United States.

U.S. District Judge Gerald Lee in Alexandria, Virginia, fined Konate $5,000 and ordered him to forfeit $64,770 that had been seized, after the general pleaded guilty in December to charges of bulk cash smuggling and false statements.

Federal prosecutors had sought three years in prison. Steven Duckett, a lawyer for Konate, said by telephone the sentence reflected his client's work in Africa and his remorse.

"Judge Lee essentially sentenced him because of his life and not because of his crime," Duckett said.

Known as "El Tigre" for his ferocity in battle, Konate was interim president of Guinea in 2010, and starting that December was general commander of the security forces of the 54-country African Union, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Konate flew into Washington Dulles International Airport from Ethiopia in June 2013, and failed to declare $64,770 in U.S. currency, much of which was hidden in his luggage and discovered by customs agents.

At a court hearing in 2015, Christopher Hall, a special agent with U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, testified that the search was due to an agent's suspicions about Konate.

Hall said that Konate had bought a "large amount of properties," and the agent "had received information that there was possible public corruption when General Konate was president of Guinea."

Duckett said that he would be surprised if U.S. officials still thought there was evidence of corruption involving his client.

"If they had it, they would have used it," he added.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)
FILE PHOTO - Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill makes an address to the Lowy Institute in Sydney November 29, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/File Photo

By Matt Siegel

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Attempts by Papua New Guinea's opposition to oust Prime Minister Peter O'Neill over corruption allegations gained steam on Friday as five lawmakers defected from his government and a motion of no confidence was served against him in Parliament.

Parliament has been in recess since last month, when protests by university students boiled over into violent clashes with police and about 40 people were injured, including four with bullet wounds.

O'Neill appeared to be holding out until August, when a one-year grace period before an election would have come into force, protecting his government.

But this week, the Supreme Court ruled the maneuver unconstitutional and ordered Parliament recalled.

Parliamentary Speaker Theo Zurenuoc, from O'Neill's People's National Congress, accepted the no-confidence motion and ordered Parliament adjourned for seven days in accordance with the law, the state-run National Broadcasting Corp reported.

There are signs that O'Neill, who needs 56 of the 111 votes in the chamber to survive, is under pressure. Ben Micah, leader of coalition partner the People's Progress Party, defected to the opposition with his five MP's just moments before the session opened.

But there were no signs the lodging of the no-confidence motion would have any immediate impact on a strike by aviation, maritime and public transport workers that has effectively cut off the rugged, mountainous nation.

While organizers of the strike have said they intend to expand it to other industries if the motion were to fail, it is the specter of political violence that has the country most on edge.

Student protest leader Noel Anjo told Reuters the opposition had no intention of entering into confrontation with the authorities.

"We are not organizing any protests," he said. "The speaker has to accept the notice from the committee and follow the norms, the processes of a vote on no confidence."

O'Neill came to power in 2011 promising to rein in corruption but is facing allegations he authorized millions of dollars in fraudulent payments to a law firm.

In 2014, an anti-corruption watchdog issued an order for his arrest over the incident, which O'Neill denies. He declined to submit to the warrant and ordered the watchdog stripped of its funding.

Papua New Guinea is developing lucrative resource projects with energy majors ExxonMobil and Total that have made it a major gas producer.

However, corruption and violence are endemic in the island nation of seven million people, raising concern about its long-term stability.

(Reporting by Matt Siegel; Editing by Robert Birsel)
By PTI: From Anil K Joseph

Ulaanbaatar, Jul 16 (PTI) Vice President Hamid Ansari today unveiled a stone statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Pethub Monastery in the Mongolian capital which is seen as symbol of India-Mongolia cultural and spiritual ties.

After unveiling the statue of the Father of the Nation, the Vice President also went around the monastery founded by former Indian ambassador Kushok Bakula Rinpoche.

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Pethub Monastery, seen as symbol of India-Mongolia cultural and spiritual ties, was inaugurated in August, 1999 by Indian Vice President Krishan Kant.

Rinpoche named his monastery as Pethub, which in Tibetan means a model or exemplary. The name is drawn from the main monastery in Ladakh which is also known as Spituk Monastery and is over 800 years old.

He founded the monastery after feeling an urgent need to revive Buddhism in the country and for establishing it, Rinpoche chose a tract of land in the city so that it becomes more accessible to the people.

Last year, Prime Minster Narendra Modi also visited a monastery in the Mongolian capital and handed over a Bodhi tree sapling to its chief abbott. PTI AKJ SAI ZH SAI

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A survey by an automobile company revealed that bad roads and absence of sign boards are causing traffic woes in the Mumbai city.

A recent survey by a private automobile company revealed that poor condition of roads or absence of sign boards are the main cause of traffic jams in the city of Mumbai. Several parts of the city lacked 'no parking' and 'one way' signs, leading to confusion among drivers.

Seven Road junction near Arthur Road Jail is one of the busiest junctions in Mumbai. It leads to seven different directions in the city and witnesses intense traffic flow on a daily basis. Lack of sign boards leave commuters clueless about which route to take.

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"On several occasions, I got confused due to absence of direction boards. I wasted a lot of time and even got late for my appointments," said Dr Imran Khan, who takes the route to his clinic in Byculla.

According to the survey:

-The year 2015 witnessed a rise in accidents by 569 cases as compared to 2014.

-Over 89 per cent of drivers are forced to changed their routes during the monsoon.

-Dindoshi, Vikhroli and Chembur are the top accident-prone regions.

-64 per cent of respondents felt that there are not enough road signs during the monsoon.

FIVE ZONES CONSIDERED DANGEROUS



The survey, which was conducted between 2014-2016 in Mumbai's five zones, also revealed that driving during the rains and at night are considered dangerous by 50 per cent and 22 per cent of the respondents respectively.

South zone recorded the least number of road accidents between January 2014 and April 2016. About 35 per cent of the respondents consider 'defective road conditions like wet/slippery roads' as the main cause of accidents.



POTHOLES ARE A MAJOR CONCERN

The top three concerns raised by the respondents are potholes (65 per cent), over speeding (63 per cent) and drunk driving (54 per cent).

Citizens also complained of water-logging which leads to loss of control over the vehicle.

"We had a word with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai regarding this issue. They have provided 4,300 sign boards which we will soon be installing. We are hopeful that these sign boards and direction boards will help to reduce the traffic," said joint commissioner traffic police, Milind Bharambe.

Also read:

Mumbai Congress takes 'Pothole Dindi' rally to BMC headquarters



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Banks directed to double capital to Rs.20 bln View(s):

Commercial banks are to be directed to double their capital to Rs. 20 billion to manage possible financial crises and act as a buffer against financial problems. The Central Bank (CB) is to issue a directive to commercial banks shortly with capital increase guidelines with the rule in place by December 31, 2017, CB sources said. This decision was taken at a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to ensure the overall goal of financial system stability while maintaining bigger banks instead of many smaller banks, the sources disclosed.

Sufficient capital and other buffers will be put in place to ensure the Sri Lankan financial sector is able to resist adverse business cycles and liquidity constraints, without sacrificing investment potential during periods of global economic downturn. A spokesman of the Sri Lanka Banks Association told the Business Times that the government will encourage the voluntary mergers of banks that will result in stronger balance sheets. However state coffers will have to inject billions of rupees to state-owned banks to meet the increased capital requirements, a Treasury official said.

But it will not be an easy task due to current financial constraints of the Treasury; he said adding that the need for additional capital will exert pressure on private sector commercial banks as raising equity by those banks will be more challenging for them than for state banks. Commercial banks have also been asked to diversify lending portfolios as most are confined to collateral-based lending and have shown a marked reluctance to engage in business model- based lending, CB sources disclosed. According to a decision taken by the CCEM the banks lending portfolios are to be controlled by the CB.

Accordingly, all the banks should lend at least 15 per cent of their loan portfolio to agriculture and state institutions, 10 per cent to SME and tourism, 8 per cent to women, 5 per cent to youth, and 3 per cent to export oriented projects. Total lending per customer under these categories has been limited to a maximum of Rs. 30 million. All commercial banks have agreed to work together and join the National Payment Platform (NPP) by the end of this month to handle online payments as part of government efforts to encourage digital transactions. The NPP is being developed by the Communication Technology Agency (ICTA).
CIMA Business Leaders Summit 2016 next month View(s):

CIMA Sri Lankas flagship event, the Business Leaders Summit will be held on August 23-24 at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo. An annual event, the event will be held on the theme Joining the dots this year. In a media release, CIMA said speakers include Dr. Noel Tagoe (Executive Director, CIMA), Prof. Mahendra K. Chouhan from the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), Rasika Karunatilake (Vice President and General Manager, CakeLabs) and Chari TVT (Group CFO, Axiata). The presenters will be joined by other established business personalities in the country from a range of industries for panel discussions.

Through this summit, CIMA will demonstrate how embedding integrated thinking into mainstream business practice, facilitated by Integrated reporting and Global Management Accounting Principles delivers a holistic picture for the growth of better businesses and societies. It will also provide more insights on how employers can invest more strategically in their talent, actionable insights and practical know-how on how to lead the investment in, transformation to, and operation of a digitally thriving business model and how CEOs can keep up with acceleration trends, it said.
Moneragala and Mullaitivu cooperatives share knowledge on International Co-op Day View(s):

To commemorate the International Day of Co-operatives on July 2, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported VEGA/BIZ+ programme brought together two of its cooperative business partners  the Moneragala-based Koularagama Industrial Cooperative Society Limited and the Mullaitivu-based Visuvamadu Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society. This was to share knowledge on sustaining and growing the businesses, as well as to create awareness and promote the cooperative ideals of economic efficiency, equality, and peace, according to a USAID media release. This business exchange is an excellent example of the U.S. Governments and the American peoples commitment to economic and social progress in Sri Lanka, said Michael Parr, Chief of Party of the BIZ+ programme.

Cooperative businesses have social enterprise and community involvement as the core of their business model. Both cooperatives have entered into investment partnerships with the USAID BIZ+ programme in order to improve and expand their business models. The Koularagama Industrial Co-op is restarting the production and marketing of ceramic and clay products, creating new jobs, and increasing the Societys membership. Meanwhile, the Visuvamadu Farmers Co-op is currently upgrading technologies and improving the efficiency at its paddy milling facility, enabling the co-op to better serve its 2,000 members and to increase the number of local paddy suppliers, the release said.

Through the BIZ+ programme, USAID has invested more than Rs. 66 million (approximately US$460,000) to help four cooperative businesses to build, improve, and expand their operations, investing in equipment and specialised machinery. BIZ+ also provides training and expertise in specialised areas such as technology transfer, quality improvement, and workplace safety. Overall, the partnerships forged with cooperative businesses will generate hundreds of jobs and provide sustainable incomes in economically lagging areas of Sri Lanka. The exchange visit, was presided over by S. M. Sajith, Cooperative Development Officer, who represented the Commissioner of Cooperative Development for Mullaitivu.

elcoming the guests, the General Manager of the Visuvamadu Co-op, Sivagnanasundaram Sivaruban, expressed his eagerness to take advantage of a golden opportunity to cultivate a mutually beneficial relationship with a co-op from the South. Chairperson of the Koularagama Industrial Co-op, Ms. S. A. Sriyani Subasingha added, We have come from Sevanagala in Moneragala to meet our colleagues here in Mullaitivu and to recognize the principle of cooperation among cooperatives. We are sharing ideas about how to better serve our members and rural communities, with the aim of working together so that our businesses improve and communities prosper.
Roadmap ready to merge two local housing banks By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s):

The government, in its quest to bring about a strong banking sector, has drawn up a roadmap to (initially) consolidate smaller state banks including the two housing banks. In this roadmap we identified that Housing Development and Finance Corporation (HDFC) and the State Mortgage and Investment Bank (SMIB) need long term funding. We aim to set up one strong housing bank for Sri Lanka by merging them. Over the years their market size hasnt grown as the customers want 15-20 year funding (loans) for housing and both these entities dont possess that capacity. Their main constraint is the long-term funding in order to expand, Eran Wickramaratne, Deputy Minister Ministry of Public Enterprise Development told the Business Times.

The HDFC Banks capital ratios have been declining alongside the expansion in its assets. Regulatory capital ratios benefit from zero risk weights accorded to housing loans backed by EPF balances. HDFC Bank which is 51 per cent owned by the state is required to meet a minimum capital requirement of Rs. 5 billion as a licensed specialised bank by 1 January this year, but the regulator has extended this timeline by two more years. Mr. Wickramaratne said that smaller banks including Divi Neguma, Lankaputhra and Regional Development Bank  some of which are to be merged with each other to set up a stronger financial institution, also need more capital.

He added that in terms of the main three state banks  Peoples Bank, Bank of Ceylon and National Savings Bank, they are drawing up a plan for what their capital requirement will be for the next few years. The Ministry has done a study on what their future capital requirement will be. They themselves have an ongoing process to strategise their future and well work with the Central Bank on restructuring these three banks. The banking sector comprises 22 local banks and 12 foreign banks.
A number of students from public and private universities have reportedly joined the banned Islamic militant group 'Hijbut Tahrir' to make their dream come true of following the underground politics.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: University students with English medium education are allegedly connected with extremism in Bangladesh. The critics have made this comment after the attackers in the two recent terror strikes in Bangladesh were identified as university students.

A security advisor of Bangladesh, Major General (Rtd) Abdur Rashid told India Today that the universities that are allegedly involved with the militant activities have become haven for extremists. University authorities should be careful while recruiting teachers. Due to the apathy of these universities, extremism has spread its branches.

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Critics said that students of some private and public universities secretly carried out militant activities inside their campuses. A number of students of such universities joined the banned Islamic militant group 'Hijbut Tahrir' to make their dream come true of following the underground politics.

33 STUDENTS FROM 9 UNIVS HAD LINKS WITH MILITANTS

According to media reports, at least 33 students from 9 universities have been found to have connections with extremist militancy. Out of them, 11 are from North-South University, six from Chittagong University, three from Rajshahi University, and two from Brac university. One of them is a teacher in Dhaka University's IBA department. In 2015, two students from Darul University and another independent university were detained for having connection with militants.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, the teacher in IBA department of Dhaka University, was named the ring leader of banned organisation Hijbut Tahrir. Ahmed was from the University after his dealings with the controversial organization came to light.

According to critics, Ahmed's termination was a crucial point as it led to several revelations. Teachers reportedly lured students into militancy with promise of good grades. Several universities across the country underwent this phenomenon.

LACK OF ACTION FUELS MILITANCY

Critics claimed that the slack administrative activities in the universities fueled the growth of outfits like Hijbut Tahrir. Despite the recovery of militancy literature from libraries of these universities, the authorities did not took enough measures to restrict such activities.

In October last year, the University Grant Commission submitted an investigation report to the authority. The report stated that their team of investigators found leaflets and books floated by the banned outfit. Despite the report, there was no proactive steps from the authorities against the activists.

A two member probe committee including chairman and member of the commission professor Mohammad Ali Molla and a private university's deputy director Jesmin Parvin was constituted recently. Despite the efforts from several agencies, none of the university authorities were willing to divulge about the subject.

SEVERAL CASES OF STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

On 15 February 2013, blogger Rajib Haider was hacked to death and two students Faisal Bin Nayeem and Razoanul Haque were arrested in connection with the incident. In another incident, three students from Rajshahi University were found to have links with militant activities.

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Critics claimed that despite several instances of militant activities involving students, there was no coverage in the media. Earlier this year three students from Rajshahi University, Abdul Gaffar,Mahbubul Alam and Mostasir Mehedi Hasan were arrested in connection with the murder of professor Rezaul Karim Siddiqui.

ALSO READ:

Mysterious rise in Bangladesh tourists leaves Tourism Ministry baffled

Dhaka attack: Bangladesh police arrests University's acting Pro-VC and 2 others

--- ENDS ---
Sri Lankans urged to use plastic money View(s):

The Central Bank (CB) has launched a public relations exercise to encourage Sri Lankans to use plastic money  debit and credit cards  instead of coins and currency notes as the main form of financial transactions, officials said. In advertisements in local newspapers, the CB urged the use of payment cards for financial transactions as it avoids the inconvenience of carrying cash fear of cash being stolen and hassle of using currency notes.

However, government sources said the main reason for the move was to reduce the circulation of black (or illegal) money in the economy.

CB sources said that a payment platform has been developed for this purpose while commercial banks will be soon informed (through a circular) to encourage customers to use debit cards (particularly for low end communities). The CB ads said that 16 million payment cards are currently in use by Sri Lankans and 60 million transactions take place annually. According to CB data there are around 14.7 million debit cards and 1.3 million credit cards issued by banks and licensed financial institutions in the country.
Where are the people? View(s):

PASSIKUDAH  It was a great conference; the accolades said it, there were many warm handshakes and gentle pats of well done on the backs of organisers. Delegates were wowed by the beauty of Sri Lanka but where were the people? The need for economic inequalities, the need for proper training of village youth in the hospitality business and management, the need for building new schools and provision of computer labs were stressed but where were the people? Sitting through two days of discussion at the Amaya Beach Resort in Passikudah, nearly 300 km east of Colombo in the Batticaloa district, at a United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)-organised international conference titled Tourism: a Catalyst for Development, Peace and Reconciliation, one got the feeling that the missing link at this important meeting was the people from nearby villages and the fishing community.

While all the hardware (material) and software (people) came from Colombo and the rest of the world, few residents were aware of such a conference, a contradiction in terms of the messages that came out from the meeting  connect with the people, tourism is a great way to bridge the divide, tourism quickly improves the economy in post-conflict situations. Passikudah is a fishing village and like many communities in the East was severely affected by the war and the 2004 tsunami. There are a large number of war widows and women-headed households. Activist Ruki Fernando, who attended the conference, wrote in a recent article to coincide with the conference that before the advent of large hotels owned and staffed primarily by outsiders, many local people had tried to develop their economy through small scale guest houses. He says fisherfolk and local guest house owners and staff were unaware about the event, were not consulted or invited.

Those seriously affected by the three decade old war have been totally left out at a conference claiming to discuss peace, reconciliation and development, he wrote. While some of the points raised were challenged and contested by outside hoteliers in Passikudah with one hotelier saying they have provided a lot of support to local communities (buying large quantities of fish for example), much of what Ruki says is true.

And, there were lessons from the conference on how to engage the local community in tourism. For example Cambodia, which also recovered from a bloody conflict that killed over a million people, first invited Cambodians living abroad in exile, as permanent residents and owning foreign passports, to visit the country. They were invited to visit without entry visas (since they own foreign passports) and see their homeland recovering from war and enjoying the fruits of peace.

That is the first thing we did before promoting the country to foreign visitors, explained a Cambodian government representative at the conference. Similarly for a region (Passikudah and Batticaloa) recovering from conflict, the people of the region should have been actively involved in the conference, their presence should have been felt across the small conference hall and the hotels that delegates stayed in. Unfortunately most of the staff of the Passikudah hotels too were outsiders except for a few trainees. Delegates including UNTWO Secretary General Taleb Rifai were enchanted by the very imaginatively-organised train ride from the Katunayake airport to Valachchenai railway station, about 8 km away from Passikudah, as many villagers and happy, laughing children waved merrily as the train sped past towns and villages.

The train ride was the talk of the town and rightly so, with delegates concurring, that Sri Lankas biggest tourism asset is its software  smiling, warm and friendly people. One delegate spoke of how she and her friends were filled to the brim with food and drink when their vehicle was stopped on-and-off (while returning to Colombo from Galle during an earlier trip to Sri Lanka) by friendly people organizing dansalas during a festival. It was a wonderful feeling and expressed how generous Sri Lankans are, she said. That generosity, warmth and ebullience is Sri Lankas strength and the greatest asset for tourism. Instead of only pontificating about this from conference halls, brochures and overseas trade fairs, there should have been peoples participation at the conference.

There were many ways of doing it  creating a small village outside the conference hall, involving local artisans and crafts-persons through stalls to display their products, providing local Eastern cuisine (apart from the many sweetmeats and delicacies at lunch and dinner-time which reflected our Portuguese, British and Dutch heritage), and most of all a greater engagement during conference discussions  panel discussions with local elders and community leaders on bridging the divide, etc. A good case study of living, breathing and engaging with local communities is the Kandalama Hotel development. At the very beginning, the hotel owners were resisted by villagers and the local Buddhist monk alleging that the development would ruin the area, create a scarcity of water (being pumped from the nearby lake) and was culturally unsuitable.

The conflict grew with sometimes, violent protests until the owners did something smart (which should have been done in the first place). A few, down-to-earth hotel officials began living in the village, eating the same food, breathing the same air and discussing the benefits of the development. That established trust and the message that the hotel will provide jobs to village youth, buy most of the produce from the village thereby economically uplifting the community and ensure the least disruption to the environment and nearby surroundings. Kandalama Hotel now has received many accolades but its biggest asset is the positive endorsement from the village. The Passikudah tourism model (too late to change it now) distances the people from visitors.

The string of hotels are built on one side with huge boundary walls while on the other side there is barren land. There are only 1-2 shops or boutiques to provide any evidence of a bustling township which has benefited by this development. There were no 3- wheelers, taxis, restaurants, grocery stores or small pubs to reflect community engagement. It was like visiting a tourism island in the Maldives where the only residents are foreign visitors and staff! This critique is not a reflection on how the conference was organized, It was professionally done and kudos to the team at Sri Lankan Tourism, But thats the hardware. Missing was the software  the hearts and minds, the people mingling with delegates and in a conference that spoke of bridging the great divide (from good to great; from peace to prosperity), this was a crucial, a very crucial missing link.

Without people, how can you bridge communities, how do you reach out to the disadvantaged apart from lofty statements, elaborate presentations and colourful dances? Hotelier Hiran Coorays words expressed how development should take place. My father (Herbert Cooray who founded Jetwing) told me not to even toot the horn while I was learning to drive in Negombo  out of respect for the local people. Such was the respect given by pioneers in the tourism sector and their ways of engaging the local community. That respect appeared to be missing in the conference but with this slated to be an annual event, local community engagement would hopefully be more visible next year.
Asking hard questions from the yahapalana government View(s):

As fashionable as this may seem at the moment, truth-telling in Sri Lanka should not be confined to the Northern conflict, its victims and its perpetrators.

An essential link in the justice dilemma

Rather, this effort needs also to be applied to properly understanding the undermining and near-collapse of democratic institutions in the South during the past two decades. Indeed, the first and the second issues are closely intertwined. It is precisely because Southern national justice institutions failed so spectacularly that securing state accountability for victims of minority ethnicity in the North and the East became such a complex task. That link must be acknowledged for it is central to any justice process.

In that regard, what we see now is certainly not reassuring. There is considerable skittishness displayed by this Government when it comes to fundamental core issues. And by this I do not simply mean reducing the matter to the bare question as to whether the justice mechanism to be established in regard to the Wanni war will be with the participation of international judges or not. In fact, there is a singular danger of limiting our vision purely to that one question and thereby subscribing to a naive view that the inclusion of internationals will be an automatic answer to Sri Lankas continuing justice dilemma. Experiences of other countries around the world dealing with similar such problems have shown us that this is not necessarily the case.

I also do not mean by this that the question of justice only concerns certain areas of the country. What should concern the more perceptive among us are wider questions relating to the basic integrity of the justice process in post 2015 Sri Lanka as applicable to all its citizens. Integral to this is the demand that the Government publicly acknowledge the severity of the crisis that confronts us instead of engaging in the same rhetoric that its predecessor did.

Indulging in the same denials

But there is little evidence of this. In its late 2015 report submitted to the United Nations Committee Against Torture under the countrys periodic reporting obligations, what we see are the old and tired defences. These offend the dignity not only of Tamils and Muslims affected by conflict but also of Sinhalese living in the South who continue to daily face the risk of torture by the police.

As in the past, there is an outright denial in this state party report that the practice of torture remains widespread and unpunished. Some pitifully few (four in number) cases are cited to support this defence. There is a trumpeting of directions issued by the state hierarchy to its agents to abstain from torture. The theory of constitutional and statutory guarantees is described at length.

But the specific question of prosecutorial policy where the Anti-Torture Act No. 22 of 1994 (CAT Act) is cannily avoided. The question is simple. What are the concrete facts that can be cited by the Department of the Attorney General regarding prosecutions under the CAT Act? In the early years following the enactment of this Act, (in theory) one of the best laws on tackling torture in the region, some political will was evidenced. But during the past two decades, there was an active abstaining from filing indictments under the Act. Has this practice of undermining the Act changed and if so, what are the statistics that can be cited in response thereof? These are the hard questions that the Sri Lankan State must be called upon to answer. The Government needs to be put strictly on issue in regard to this matter. It must not be allowed to take refuge in mere waffling about directions and the law in theory.

A common record of state failures

Just last year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (the Committee) established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights considered an appeal filed by the dependants of Sunil Hemachandra, the lottery ticket winner who was taken into custody by the police following his claiming a substantial sum of money and then died inside the Moragahahena Police Station detention facility in 2003. Issuing a Communication of Views, the Committee examined the matter in detail.

In fact, the record reads like a common repeat of all such similar cases, in the South and in the North, broadly speaking. Here, the investigation had been carried out by the same members of the police force (from Moragahahena Police Station) as those implicated in the victims death. None of the officers involved in the alleged violation was suspended or reassigned pending the inquiry, and the case was not referred to the special investigation unit.

The judicial process was no better. The magistrates relied on the evidence collected by the police officers which lacked the requisite impartiality and independence. It is stated on record that the Attorney General refused to inquire into the matter, despite the express order to do so from the Magistrate of Horana. The dereliction of duty occurred at several levels. Despite the victims critical medical condition, characterized by uninterrupted bleeding, to which the detention authorities were alerted, the authorities failed to seek medical assistance for several hours.

The responsibility of the State

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court did not order any further investigative action, or a full separate investigation. Indeed, it took the Court seven years to rule on the fundamental rights petition filed in respect of this incident, finally concluding in August 2010 that the victims custodial death was not due to torture. In its Concluding Views therefore, the Committee found quite reasonably that the Sri Lankan State was responsible, either by act or omission, for failing to protect Sunil Hemachandras life, to properly investigate his death and take appropriate action against those found responsible.

So even as the furore about the 2006 Singarasa precedent is ignited afresh as was examined in these column spaces last week and the Prime Minister engages himself in potentially inflammatory referrals of judicial decisions to the Speaker of Parliament for rulings, there are other priorities in issue. His administration must demonstrate an actual commitment to reforming the States investigative and prosecutorial policies.

In the absence of this, one judicial precedent or another (bad in law or otherwise) and copious reports to the United Nations will matter very little.
Efficiency: It is our duty by the country View(s):

Bribery corruption, cheating, laziness, dereliction of duty, wastage, revenge and crime dominate news these days in newspapers and news bulletins. An in-depth look into these stories will give us an idea as to under what conditions people live.

In any society, there are young, old, sick, deformed, mentally deranged, learned, ignorant, capable and incapable people.

oliticians, businessmen, and employers must understand this. They must help these people in some way. Some have no time to attend to their own work let alone help the old, the sick and the destitute. They say they have no time. Perhaps, they are so busy doing service to society. We begin to realise that it is not because they have no time but because they are lazy. Some are so lazy that they do not even wash their own clothes.

There is an age old saying that the Sinhalese are a lazy race. We are not sure how our people became lazy. This may have happened over time. Or it may be due to chemically processed food that we consume. Or it may be due to drugs. Whatever it is, some of us do not want to walk even 10 or 12 feet. Visionaries like Anagarika Dharmapala, Henry Olcott tried their best to awaken this sleeping nation. We must also be grateful to Madam Marie Higgins who started the Musaeus College to educate our future mothers.

In Japan, people were trained to do everything in a systematic manner. The two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were reduced to ashes after the atomic bomb attacks during World War II. But they soon recovered. They arose and developed. But today, even they seem to be lazy. It could be the case of people becoming lazy, when their country is at the peak of development.

But what has happened to us is different. Instead of development, we have seen decadence with an increasing number of people resorting to begging and criminal activities.

Our ancestors started the day with the crowing of the cock. They worked in their fields and farms till late in the evening. They had a simple routine of living. They were independent. Today even beggars have smart phones.

According to Buddhist teachings, if we are working under someone, it is because we had robbed someone in our previous birth. We are paying in this life for the evil deed we committed in our previous life. To work under someone is no joy. Whether we are working seated in a comfortable chair or doing a labourers job, if we are found fault with by the employer, it is not something to be happy about. Workers have little freedom. It is time for us to think seriously and develop a just and fair working relationship with our employers. For that, we have to shun laziness, work with sincerity and have a keen sense of what is right and wrong.

It is also necessary that we eliminate or minimize waste. I know of a Tamil gentleman who would eat the banana and take the skin home to feed the goat or the cow. There is a lesson for everyone in this. But look at most of us. When we want to serve ourselves rice we serve more than what we can eat and throw away the left over. It is time to stop this. A large number of people work in the private sector today.

Salaries or allowances of private and public sector workers were raised recently. However much our salaries are increased, we will still complain of the rising cost of living. So the solution is not in increasing wages. It lies in tackling the cost of living. Since a majority of our work force is in the private and public sectors, there is a dearth of people to work as farmers, carpenters or masons. This has affected the development of these sectors. Many paddy fields and estates remain uncultivated. Farmers children do not want to work as farmers. This has affected paddy, tea and rubber. Most developed countries owe their economic success to agriculture.

In certain Western countries there is a system of insurance. This does not affect the employers mostly. In Sri Lanka both employer and employee contribute to the EPF while the employer also contributes to the ETF. In certain Western countries the employer does not contribute. Instead of that a certain amount is collected from the employee by the government. The government invests this in banks and other financial institutions and earns a higher dividend for the employee. This helps everyone. The money is available when the employee falls ill or when there is a funeral. Even unemployed people can join this scheme. Such schemes not only help the employee in times of crisis, but also the government. We also can try out a comprehensive scheme like this. If every member of Sri Lankas work force, employed or unemployed, is brought under this, it will become a powerful mechanism for the government to find the money needed for development.

VAT is making news these days. But some time ago, some Inland Revenue Department officials were found guilty for their role in a VAT scam, said to be the biggest ever financial scandal in this country.

What happened to their confiscated wealth? No one is questioning! These days, protests are held against the VAT increase, but no protester is asking about what happened to those who played out VAT earlier. People have come to realize that officials played out money, but we should protest about giving money to those who played out. Devotees drop money into the till in the temple or the church in the hope that the money would be used for a worthy cause. But if the people come to know that the tax paid to the Government is robbed, will they willingly come forward to pay taxes? We have to be transparent on this.

We also have to be aware that there is a link between the lack of agriculture labour and the excessive use of chemical fertilizers on agriculture crops. Earlier, the farmer killed the weed manually. Today unable to find a worker, he depends on weedicide that causes sickness. So we need to work out a mechanism to fill the labour vacuum in the agriculture sector. It wont be a bad idea to get grownup school children in villages to work in the village fields.

If we cut a tree we must think of planting at least three more in its place. Today we are on the path to industrialisation. In years gone by, arecanut or bamboo tree was cut to make ladders and scaffoldings. Today we have iron scaffoldings. Gangaramaya started a tree planting campaign and so far planted more than one million trees. The campaign is modeled the Tree Bank concept in India. We encourage people to grow trees such as mahogany and teak. As a result of this campaign, timber prices have not gone up drastically.

But sadly, timber thieves are felling growing trees to be sold as wooden props. We also hear tree planting rackets. Many had given money to various companies that promised them high returns from tree-planting investment projects. They actually planted the trees and the people were happy. But after a few years when the people went to see their trees, they only saw the bare land. The growing trees had been cut by timber thieves and sold to timber merchants. I complained about this to authorities, but little or no action was taken. In the end, the companies and those who invested in the trees have become debtors.

We have to stop crimes such as this by imposing deterrent punishments. Otherwise we will all suffer. Any tree cut must be taxed and the money used for cultivation. Please write your views and send them to:

Ven Galboda Gnanissara Thera, Podi Hamuduruwo,

Gangaramaya, 61, Sri Jinarathana Road, Colombo 02
External finances fragile despite improvements in trade and services account View(s):

The external vulnerability of the countrys finances persists despite improvements in the trade and services account of the balance of payments in the first quarter of this year. This is owing to capital outflows, and large debt service payments this year. This is a fragile situation in view of the large debt servicing requirements this year.

Overall balance of payments

Even though the current account of the balance of payments generated a surplus owing to a decrease in the trade deficit and increases in workers remittances and tourist earnings, the overall balance of payments is estimated to be in deficit to the tune of US$ 700 million in the first quarter of the year owing to capital outflows.

This balance of payments performance in the first quarter of the year renders the countrys external finances very vulnerable in the current global uncertainly and developments in the capital and foreign exchange markets. This is especially so due to the need to borrow from international commercial lenders to meet the large debt servicing obligations this year.

Trade balance

There are both favourable and unfavourable features in the external trade performance of the first quarter of this year. The trade deficit has been reduced by 2.2 per cent in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of last year owing to imports declining more than decreases in exports. This has been achieved despite a continuing decline in exports by 5.4 per cent owing to a decrease in imports of 4.2 per cent.

However this decrease in the trade deficit by 2.2 per cent to US$ 1867 million in the first quarter of this year is inadequate. The trade deficit for 2016 is likely to be around US$ 7.5 billion. There should be efforts to reduce the trade deficit to at least US$ 7 billion.

Exports

Total exports decreased by 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year. Agricultural exports decreased by 9.2 per cent with tea exports declining by as much as 6.6 per cent. Manufactured exports too decreased by 4.3 per cent, but exports of garments that account for 56 per cent of manufactured exports increased by 8.9 per cent. The decrease in manufactured exports was due to a sharp decline in the exports of transport equipment by nearly 72 per cent.

Admittedly much of the decrease in exports was due to global developments that were beyond the countrys control. This is particularly so in respect of tea exports, where international demand collapsed due to lower incomes of oil exporting countries such as Russia and importers of tea in the Middle East, as well as due to political turmoil in some Middle East countries.

Imports

The decrease in imports by 4.1 per cent is indicative of the impact that the depreciation of the rupee and monetary and tariff policies have had in curtailing imports. Particular significant has been the decrease in vehicle and fuel imports. Oil imports that used to absorb over 25 per cent of import expenditure accounted for only 11 per cent of imports in the first quarter owing to lower oil prices.

Services income

Increased earnings from services have improved the current account of the balance of payments to wipe out the trade deficit of US$ 1,867 million in the first quarter of this year. Tourist earnings of US$ 969.7 million and workers remittances of US$ 1,793 million totalling US$ 2.76 billion exceeded the trade deficit of US$ 1.87 by nearly US$ 1 billion.

There have been increases in these earnings after the first three months of the year. Tourist earnings increased by about 18 per cent in the first five months and the feared decrease in remittances did not happen. In fact workers remittances increased by 6.8 per cent to US dollars 1,793.4 million during the first quarter of 2016 in comparison to the first quarter of 2015. While these improvements would improve the current account of the balance of payments, the capital account is having a large net outflow.

Capital outflows

Capital outflows continue to cause a dent in the overall balance of payments. In the first quarter of this year there have been capital outflows from government securities amounting to US$ 572.3 million. The net outflow of investments from the stock market amounted to US$ 12.5 million. In addition, foreign investments have declined from an inadequate US$ 346.4 million in the first quarter of last year to a mere US$ 164.5 million in the same period this year.

Way forward

The external finances of the country remain weak and highly vulnerable to global developments. Despite the current account of the balance of payments generating a surplus, the balance of payments is estimated to be in deficit to the tune of US$ 700 million in the first quarter of the year due to capital outflows and the countrys massive debt servicing repayments.

In an economic situation where there are large debt repayments, the trade deficit requires to be reduced considerably more than the slight reduction of 2.2 per cent. Furthermore, this reduction was brought about by a reduction in imports rather than an increase in exports. Export earnings continue to be only about half the countrys expenditure on imports. Therefore it is imperative that there is a concerted effort to expand exports.

The recent decrease in export earnings are to an extent beyond the countrys control. This is especially so with respect to tea exports that decreased mostly owing to the fall in incomes and disruption in oil exporting countries that form a high proportion of the export market for tea. An improvement in the security situation could boost tea exports.

The resumption of fish exports to the EU and the likelihood of the restoration of the GSP plus concession should enable higher exports. The garments industry that accounts for about half of the countrys exports has shown signs of being competitive in international markets. Exploring and expanding opportunities in global value chains is another avenue for increasing exports.
Mays day and labours love lost View(s):

Last Wednesday was Britains night of the long knives. This Hitlerian analogy from the early 1930s might not be entirely apposite. All the same much blood has flowed since Theresa May took over the reins of government and her blood letting was still going on at the time of writing. In a day or so it will become clearer whether the political cleansing has stopped, as I suspect it will, now that the major surgery has been performed.

But this is all metaphorical speech of course for British politics has not acquired the violent, obnoxious and boorish characteristics of Sri Lankan political life though over the years several leaders had faithfully promised to establish anything from a dharmishta society to a yaha palanaya.

Still there are nascent manifestations that the malignancy Sri Lankans have lived through particularly in more recent years is slowly poisoning the British body politic. This might come as a surprise to many because those who have entered politics here consider it an honourable profession even though the public at large might disagree and could, on occasion, turn out to be terribly undignified.

Most British politicians have dedicated themselves to serving the people unlike back in Sri Lanka where most politicians have dedicated themselves to have the people serving them.

I am still to hear of British politicians physically attacking rivals, members of the public or officials performing their mandated tasks. It contrasts sharply with the behaviour of some our own who believe that wielding fists and other parts of the anatomy is the preferred way to settle political rivalries or other disputes.

So Speaker Karu Jayasuriyas Code of Conduct for MPs distributed to them before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year to read and digest might as well be deposited with the mortician judging by the reported conduct of several of our law makers since the Speakers Holy Grail was passed on to those servants of the people who labour under the delusion that the people are their servants. The Code of Conduct should be interred with their bones.

These differences in the philosophy of political conduct and their actual behaviour itself are perhaps best illustrated in the turbulence in British politics since the Brexit referendum less than a month ago.

Its genesis is in the referendum promised by the then British Prime Minister David Cameron two years ago offering the public the opportunity to decide whether their country should remain in the European Union or leave.

Cameron misjudged the mood swings of the British people particularly having failed to control immigration and win enough concessions from the EU bureaucracy when he tried to negotiate new terms in some regulatory areas.

Since he led the campaign to remain in the EU and the majority of the people voted to leave, the prime minister felt obliged to resign though he need not have done so.

In Sri Lankas post-independence history I can only think of one Prime Minister who has resigned in somewhat similar circumstances  Dudley Senanayake during the hartal of 1953 though others including the present Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe left office after electoral defeats.

Cameron did the honourable thing though some of his own party members including those who led the campaign to exit the EU, prevailed on him to stay on and carry out the peoples mandate.

The initial turmoil in the Conservative Party which was split over the referendum and in the search for a successor to Cameron was settled earlier than expected as those who threw their hats into the ring quickly withdrew, leaving Theresa May the only woman standing.

It was indeed admirable how quickly the transition happened, how quickly a cabinet was put in place and how swiftly the new ministers got down to work. One example is the new Chancellor Philip Hammonds meeting with the US Treasury Secretary at No 11 hours after he accepted the new portfolio.

Switch channels and consider a similar scenario in Colombo. First the new ministers favourite astrologer would have to be asked to consult the stars and set date and time to appear at his office like a bride arriving at the marriage registry.

On the appointed date the minister will turn up with family and retinue who will all stand beside or behind him as he signs some book so that they appear in the poto as the battery of photographers invited for the occasion click away. Soon the photographs will appear in the media.

No such formalities over here. The new ministers go to their offices, perhaps address the staff as new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson did, and get down to business sans kavun, kokis, kiributh and bananas imported strictly under EU regulations that set out curvature, size and width of the fruit.

Even though David Cameron had been Prime Minister for a little over six years the first time I saw the entire family was when they were leaving No 10 for an audience with the Queen. The three children were kept away from public view or public occasions.

But in the Miracle of Asia family members are thrust into public view or thrust themselves. They are all over intimidating others in night clubs, police stations and other public places throwing their weight around, performing tasks though they have no official role and even barging on to the stage at public events and earning public derision.

David Cameron thought that with a leadership contest in sight he could stay on at No 10 until at least autumn and the annual Conservative Party conference. But with the leadership issue quickly settled he had to leave No 10 at short notice which he did. The new Prime Minister moved in shortly after, the movements so smooth that it seemed like travelling on the Silk Road.

Cameron had to make hasty arrangements to find a roof over his head. Back in Sri Lanka some ministers and others who held office during the Rajapaksa days refused to quit their official residences and for months continued in occupation despite official notices to hand over the premises. It would not be surprising if some of them are residing in official residences almost one year after they were ousted from office.

Moreover you will not find some ministers who served the Cameron government and were deprived of their portfolios going home with their official cars unlike in the Asian Miracle where some official vehicles have not been handed over and others have disappeared even from official records.

New Prime Minister Mays day was done when she had her cabinet in place by Thursday, the day after she took office. Those in Sri Lanka who follow British politics would find that a country with a population of some 60 million has a cabinet of 25.

That was the size of the cabinet the yapalanayas promised the people it would have, unless of course circumstances demanded an increase by 10 or so more.

Today a country of around 22 million people has ministers and deputies numbering 92 at the last count. I suppose when all is said and done it would surprise no one if this country ends up having separate State or Deputy Ministers for coconut trees, arecanut trees and banana trees.

Whether the distribution of public funds in this indiscriminate and clearly political manner is tantamount to the abuse and misuse of public assets and possibly bribery is a matter that should be addressed by legal minds and those mandated to track down offenders.

After all the advocates of yahapalanaya faithfully promised to eliminate corruption not proliferate it. Talking of tracking down those who turn out to be disruptive of work in public office a little known fact is that No.10 had an officially selected individual to perform the task. It is a cat named Larry. I think No10 got itself this cat when the previous one was retired less than a year ago.

Its official task was to catch rats that appear to have infested the Prime Ministers office and residence. How many rats it actually caught might have to be obtained under the Freedom of Information law. But it is known that it did catch some and earned the sobriquet Dirty Larry that some gave it. The Foreign Office next door has its own rat catcher which Boris Johnson will now have to deal with.

But one thing is certain. To catch the rats that infest the public offices and state-owned institutions in Sri Lanka will require more than a Dirty Larry. Our rats are far more prodigious and more difficult to catch. They have many bolt holes and unlike in those days when they hid their ill-gotten gains under the mattress, globalization makes it possible to keep it even with their mistress.

So the Presidential secretariat and Prime Ministers office would need to arm themselves with resources that can catch rodents with two legs instead of four.

If the ruling Conservatives have swiftly settled internal party differences, the Labour Party is in the throes of strife with most of its MPs in rebellion against its leader while the wider membership and trade unions in support of Jeremy Corbyn at the extreme Left of the party and a lacklustre figure.

In an unprecedented rebellion the majority of Corbyns shadow cabinet resigned leaving him bereft of sufficient support in parliament to fill the vacancies. So like the Sri Lanka oppositions attempt to rustle up a shadow cabinet all they have been able to produce is a shadowy cabinet with MPs resigning here and in Colombo.

Labours troubles will continue until the matter is settled before its autumn party conference. Corbyn is being contested by Angela Eagle whose office in her constituency was attacked and a brick thrown through a window and her office staff threatened with death in abusive telephone calls. It resulted in the local police commissioner calling it scandalous behaviour and an insult to democracy.

Sri Lankan political conduct has graduated from brick throwing. But one need not worry. The more Sri Lankan politicians visit this country the more our political culture will permeate British political behaviour. So instead of sending delegations of MPs to influence the Sri Lankan diaspora, the next generation of British politicians would perhaps thank us profusely if they are taught less gentlemanly and more manly ways of dealing with obtrusive rivals and an irate public.
Questions over whether Government is going in different directions View(s):

VAT issue still simmering, SLFP-UPFA members say people are up in arms Joint Opposition and other groups planning protest march from Kandy to Colombo

China back with a bang: Old projects revived, new projects launched with aircraft purchases also Joint Opposition and other groups planning protest march from Kandy to Colombo

China back with a bang: Old projects revived, new projects launched with aircraft purchases also

By Our Political Editor

Storm clouds are building over Governments main partners on the impact of the Value Added Tax (VAT) which has dealt a blow to a large segment of Sri Lankans.

The pro-Maithripala Sirisena Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), or the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), segment is unhappy over the political fallout from this exercise. The issue has been the main subject of conversation during informal meetings. At a dinner this week at the Colombo residence of a Galle District parliamentarian, their UNP counterparts came in for bitter criticism. The reason, they said, was the embarrassment caused to them and the damage to their party. It was a recipe, they noted, for their certain defeat at next years planned local government elections.

The UPFA position was articulated by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera who is the General Secretary. He told the Sunday Times later; We are of the opinion that the VAT, introduced in May, should be amended in such a way as to provide relief to those worst affected. The manner in which the tax was increased was wrong. There should have been a process to educate the public before it was enforced.

Amaraweera said just like the public, we too have issues with the VAT. As members of the Government we have to face the people. You cannot introduce such measures by force. He said in the next two weeks, members in the Government would meet President Sirisena and frankly express their views on the many implications of introducing VAT. We need to keep the President informed about the impact, particularly at a time when we are facing a local government election, he added.

March from Kandy

Even if Amaraweera did not say it, UPFA leaders in the Government are also concerned about a build-up against the Government of National Unity by different opposition groups. This has formed the subject of discussion by President Sirisena and his close allies in the recent weeks. Their attention has been focused on a protest march from Kandy to Colombo by Opposition groups on July 28. Those in the Joint Opposition and former Minister Basil Rajapaksas unnamed political movement are co-ordinating this event with like-minded groups, including members of the Buddhist clergy. Rajapaksa is also trying to bring together chairpersons and members of the local government bodies which now remain dissolved.

On the night of July 27, the Opposition groups will attend a special pooja at Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth) in Kandy and begin their protest march the next day. The first leg of their march will be from Kandy to Mawanella. Thereafter, there will be overnight stops in Kegalle, Warakapola, Nittambuwa, Kadawatha and Colombo. Though there is pressure on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to take part in the protest, he is most likely to receive them when they arrive in Colombo on August 1. It is here that the organisers have proposed to name Basil Rajapaksas new movement which is a precursor to a new political party. At least for Basil Rajapaksa, it comes at a time when he is indicted for the alleged misappropriation of Rs. 33 million from the Divineguma Department Fund which was under his Economic Affairs Ministry. Further legal action against him on the misuse of Government property and related matters is also under active consideration.

Last Tuesday, the Joint Opposition parliamentary group met with former President Rajapaksa in the chair. Behind-the-scenes moves have gone on to pressure him to play a more active role. The meeting was at their Nelum Pokuna office in Battaramulla. They decided to appoint a committee headed by G.L. Peiris to formulate a common position on the proposed Sri Lanka Constitution. Other members are Basil Rajapaksa, Raja Collure, Tissa Vithana, Jayantha Seneviratne, Sisira Jayakody and A.H.M. Azwer. They also discussed the need to step up their campaign for the planned local government elections.

The new turn of events for the Government over the VAT came after a ruling last Monday by a three judge bench of the Supreme Court  Chief Justice K. Sri Pavan, Justice Buvenaka Aluvihare and Justice Prasanna Jayawardena. Acting on a petition filed by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader Wimal Weerawansa, the court granted interim relief suspending the operation of the VAT and NBT (Nation Building Tax) revisions carried out by the Minister of Finance and the Commissioner General of Inland Revenue from May 2. The order will be valid until the relevant amendments to the Acts are passed by Parliament. As a result, the VAT revisions made  new rates, thresholds pertaining to VAT and NBT  by the Government remain on hold. Yet, many establishments continued to charge the same rate of VAT.

In making the order, the Supreme Court ruled that revisions made were illegal since they violate Article 148 of the Constitution which deals with parliamentary control of public finance. The application challenged the tax revisions on the basis that those revisions were illegal since they were not approved by parliament. They sought the courts intervention to annul the revisions. The next SC hearing on this case will be on December 6. Article 148 of the Constitution dealing with Finance states, Parliament shall have full control over public finance. No tax, rate or any other levy shall be imposed by any local authority or any other public authority, except by or under the authority of a law passed by Parliament or of any existing law.

On Thursday, UPFA parliamentarian Sisira Jayakody (Gampaha District) challenged before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill. This Bill was tabled in Parliament to obtain its approval for the VAT revisions made on May 2. Jayakody is seeking a declaration that the Bill should become law only if it is passed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament and by the approval of the people at a referendum. He has said that certain clauses were inconsistent with provisions of the Constitution. Jayakody also said in his petition that the Bill, if it becomes law would be with retrospective effect. He has claimed that the Bill in its current form would contradict the interim order of the Supreme Court that temporally suspended the tax revisions on the basis that it was illegal.

The second reading of this Bill was originally scheduled up for debate on July 23. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told media that it would be with retrospective effect thus giving legal effect to the imposition of VAT from May 2. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told the Sunday Times; We will of course, give all possible relief. In fact President Sirisena is discussing the matter with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, he said. He added that the duo had met last Monday, a day ahead of the weekly ministerial meeting, to discuss issues relating to VAT.

CoL committee under Sirisena

For the Government, the VAT and the NBT have become thorny issues. If it has displeased UPFA members and even a substantial section of the UNP, though they have not publicly voiced their views, the commitments in this regard made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will have to be honoured. It was one of the main assurances on which the IMF granted an Extended Fund Facility of US$ 1.5 billion in June. This will be spread over three years. The first tranche of this facility, nearly 168.1 million dollars (SDR 119.90m), has already been drawn. Just days earlier US$ 3 billion was raised with two different bond issues, each US$ 1.5 billion.

At the ministerial meeting on July 5, VAT and issues related to rising cost of living were discussed. More details of this session have now emerged. Reporting to ministers on his meeting with traders, Sirisena said some traders had even inflated prices of consumer items that did not come under VAT. He said the ministers should raise this issue when they attend meetings of the District Co-ordinating Committees in their respective areas. Sirisena will now chair a 12-member ministerial team that will monitor the cost of living periodically. Other members are Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ministers Ravi Karunanayake, Sarath Amunugama, Susil Premajayantha, Rishad Bathiuddin, Champika Ranawaka, Mahinda Amaraweera, Duminda Dissanayake, Kabir Hashim, Akila Viraj Kariyawasam and Malik Samarawickrema.

The same ministerial meeting on July 5 discussed what was titled Resettlement of Protracted IDPs in the Northern Province. The IDPs or Internally Displaced Persons were those forced to leave their homes during various stages of the separatist war. Resettlement programmes for them still continue and some still remain in refugee camps. The Ministers decided to include traditional Sinhala villages in the resettlement programmes. A Task Force for this purpose has been set up under the chairmanship of Minister Rishad Bathiuddin. Other members are Secretary to the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (or his nominee), Secretary to the Ministry of Industries and Commerce, Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and Construction, Secretary to the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government and Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Prison Reforms and Hindu Religious Affairs. The ministers have decided that District Secretaries (Government Agents) should be called upon to extend their assistance and cooperation to the Task Force.

Ministers are to soon give approval to a string of new arrangements which will see the return of China in a pre-eminent role in Sri Lankas economic development. This will be good news to former President Rajapaksa too. The projects he initiated with Chinese assistance in the Hambantota District will be carried through with the involvement of Chinese companies though the modalities are not known. These measures were worked out by Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema during a visit to Beijing early this month.

Arrangements are to be worked out with Chinas IZP group to operate the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport, more commonly referred to as Mattala Airport. This group recently purchased Italys Parma International Airport. Mattala airport has been described in travel magazines as the only non-operational international airport in the world and was built with a Chinese loan of US $ 210 million. The airport has now become a standby facility whenever incoming aircraft are unable to land at the Bandaranaike International Airport due to bad weather conditions. Such usage has been mostly by SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, already facing huge debts of its own.

The Magampura Mahinda Rajapaksa port is to be operated by China Merchants Holding (International) Company Limited. This major conglomerate is based in Hong Kong and is engaged in a variety of business ventures like port operations, general and bulk cargo transportation, container and shipping business among others. The port was built at a cost of US$ 361 million. Chinas Exim Bank funded 85 percent of the cost.

Chinese loans

The Government found that the repayment of Chinese loans was becoming a burden since the airport and the port were not commercially viable ventures earning any income. They proposed to the Chinese Government that their loan commitments on these two projects be converted to equity. Whether the Chinese have accepted this offer or the projects will become joint ventures is not known. The stalled Colombo Port City project is also to be resumed most likely by October. Some issues in a proposed new agreement, Government sources said, were now being negotiated. One is an undertaking sought by China that no such project be undertaken 20 kilometres north or south of the port city. More extents of reclaimed land is being sought by China to offset over US$ 175 million due as compensation for work stoppage.

In addition, two other multi-million dollar projects are also to get under way in the Hambantota area. One is a proposed Petroleum Refinery to be set up by Shan Dong Dongming Petrochemical Group. The group is described as a large scale petrochemical enterprise integrating crude oil processing, petrochemical industry and natural gas among others.

The second major project proposed is a LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) power plant to initially produce 500 megawatts of power to be extended later to 1000 megawatts. It is to be undertaken by China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), the same company that built the misfiring Lakvijaya (Norochcholai) coal fired power plant. This plant has been subject to repeated breakdowns though it was expected to augment hydropower resources to provide nearly half of the countrys electricity requirements. The 900 megawatts power production facility cost US$ 1.35 billion.

The Government has also decided to enter into military deals with China to provide aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). Air Force Commander Air Marshal Gagan Bulathsinhala had sought to purchase six PT-6 single engine primary trainer aircraft from CATIC or China National Aero Technical Import Export Corporation. However, due to the adverse balance of payments situation the Cabinet of Ministers rejected the Defence Ministrys recommendation to obtain the six aircraft. Instead, it decided to purchase two aircraft. The purchase of remaining aircraft will depend on the provisions for 2017-2019 medium-term budget, the ministers decided.

The trainer aircraft are needed, particularly during peacetimes, to ensure pilots are trained. On August 2, 2000, the SLAF procured ten P-6 trainer aircraft in a package from CATIC. This cost US$ 4,353,273. Each trainer aircraft then cost US$ 300,000. In addition, two more engines and spares cost US$ 156,000 whilst spares cost a further US$ 60,000. A further US$ 200,000 were spent on spares, tools and the freight cost US$ 210,000. These purchases were also made from CATIC. Besides all this, the SLAF also obtained a repair facility for the P-6 trainers.

Air Force Commander Bulathsinhala had also recommended to the Cabinet of Ministers, through the Ministry of Defence, to purchase two Harbin Y 12 Four Series light aircraft for transport purposes. Here again, due to the adverse balance of payments situation, the MoD has been asked to discuss with the Secretary to the Treasury the availability of funds for such a procurement. The SLAF already has a fleet of Y-12 transport aircraft from an earlier series and is operating most of them. Earlier, Air Marshal Bulathsinhala recommended the purchase of two C-130 transport planes from the Royal Air Force in Britain after they had been laid by. They were to be purchased and refurbished. He led an SLAF delegation to inspect the aircraft. However, there was no ministerial approval for this. A similar purchase earlier of two C-130s, also laid by, led to only one aircraft being operational. The other was grounded for lack of spares and was cannibalised to keep one in the air. Restrictions then by the United States Government prevented the procurement of spares.

FCID investigations

These developments come as the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) has begun probes on other matters related to the military and the defence establishment. The latest relates to the construction of the new defence complex at Akuregoda in the Greater Colombo area. Sme officials refer to this as Sri Lankas Pentagon.

FCID detectives are set to question those connected with the construction. In one instance, it has come to light, that a lead consultancy firm assigned to the project had been selected even before the company had obtained registration with the Registrar General of Companies and with the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. Payment to the firm had been Rs. 509,926 million  an 83 percent payment against 30.02 percent of work completed. This has been an over expenditure of Rs. 173.5 million. The ministers have tasked a four member Committee that probed this matter to conduct a further probe into how approval had been granted by the Cabinet of Ministers to the firm concerned and how the firm came to be allocated a large amount of money. The FCID investigation comes in this backdrop.

Investigations by the FCID, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Police came up for scrutiny at a meeting of the Progress Review Committee on Friday June 8. The meeting was chaired by President Sirisena. Among those attending it were Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ministers Patali Champika Ranawaka, Rajitha Senaratne, Sarath Fonseka, Sagala Ratnayake and heads of the investigative agencies. The meeting, among other matters, reviewed the progress made during different investigations and the delays involved in others. One such case related to Hambantota District parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa and his possible arrest the next day. No sooner had the meeting ended did sections of the local media and web sites report that Namal was to be arrested. Senior Police officials were furious that the information had leaked. They feared there would now be accusations that the arrest was a politically motivated exercise. Still, at least one influential minister insisted that the arrest should go ahead. He said that such accusations would come no matter when the arrest was carried out.

Namals father, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was aware that the arrest was going to take place. Arayawa daanawa athulata or they are putting him inside, he told a confidant. At his Mirihana residence, he was watching a Hindi movie but was interrupted several times by telephone calls. Unlike the arrest of his other son Yoshitha, the former President did not display strong anger or emotion over Namals arrest. That is by no means to say he was unconcerned. To the contrary, he told those who spoke to him that Namal was a politician and should learn to cope with such situations. As has been the case in such circumstances, there was no attempt by those in the Government to explain to the public why Namal was arrested, produced before a Magistrate and remanded. It came only three days later during the weekly media briefing that follows the previous days ministerial meeting.

The task fell on Ajith Perera, Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy. Other than explain the detailed reasons for the arrest, he laboured hard to make clear that the arrest was not politically motivated. He was distracted by trying to respond to the former Presidents comment that the arrest of Namal must make Government leaders now very happy. The fact that the Governments communications machinery does not work in harmony with the outcome of investigations, no doubt, raises the oft repeated question of their credibility. The ad hoc move to ask a Deputy Minister in charge of power and renewable energy to speak on the subject speaks for itself. The legitimate question would be why those directly connected are reluctant to speak out publicly?

It transpired at the Progress Review Committee meeting that the FCID was probing 493 cases. Some 36 files have been sent to the Attorney Generals Department which had prepared a few indictments to be presented in court. The CID is probing another 15 cases whilst the SIU is investigating five cases. Mahinda Rajapaksas immediate family members are facing a total of 58 cases. They are still under investigation, however.

This week has bared clear indications that the two major partners in the Government  the UNP and the SLFP  are having sharp differences over key issues. This is not something unusual when there is a coalition, call it by whatever name.

However, this is the first time the issues are playing out eloquently before the public with the Opposition groups reaping the benefits from it. It has exposed what appears to be compartmentalised governance with no one in full control and all of them running the show in different directions.
China showing big-power attitude View(s):

China has been dealt a major setback this week at the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, a tribunal established as way back as 1899 and to which 121 member states are signatories. The tribunal this week ruled in favour of the Philippines over the sovereignty of small but strategically significant and resource rich islands in the South China Sea. The tribunal held that China had no legal basis to its claim for indisputable sovereignty over these islands and dismissed its historic rights argument  something that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (who is making similar claims over the Palk Strait) might take note of.

That the Philippines could have had the moral support of the United States to take this matter up at the world arbitration court is an inference one can easily make. China now rejecting the order as a farce and only a piece of paper displays the archetypical big-power attitude in ignoring the global rule of law that hitherto has been the exclusive preserve of the West.

Since the initial knee-jerk reaction, however, China has climbed down from defiance to wanting to discuss matters further with countries in the South China Sea region.

Sri Lanka got it right last week when the Chinese Foreign Minister made a surprise overnight visit to Colombo to lobby support for its South China Sea policy ahead of the tribunal order. The Prime Minister was to tell the visiting Minister that as an Indian Ocean country, Sri Lanka respects the UN Law of the Sea Convention and the freedom of navigation in international waters reflecting the countrys national interest without taking sides. It was the same during talks the Sri Lankan counterpart who asked that the issue be resolved by negotiations, so much so that, our Political Editor wrote last week how when the Chinese interpreter translating her Ministers remarks at a press conference referred to Sri Lankas supports for Chinas position, the Minister corrected her to say, understands, not supports.

On the one hand, China is genuinely concerned that the US has extended its maritime presence to the South China Sea joining hands with countries sharing coastlines in these seas fearing Chinas rise as a global power. On the other, China itself has been extending its maritime footprint not only in the South China Sea which its opponents refer to as the nine-dash line, but to a Maritime Silk Route concept that includes Sri Lanka and goes as far as East Africa.

In this context, Chinas Colombo Port City Project clearly had designs other than economic. It was an unsolicited project  i.e. a project proposed by China. It is understandable why emotions ran high in India, especially when the Mahinda Rajapaksa Administration agreed to give the Chinese free-hold property within the Port City and when nuclear submarines of the Chinese Navy started showing up at the Colombo harbour, India had had just enough with the former Government. With the Sri Lankan Premier, the Chinese Foreign Minister not just wanted to realign the relationship between the two countries that had strained over several controversial unsolicited Chinese projects begun by the former Administration like airports and harbours, but the two also discussed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow from China to Sri Lanka before the visits of the Chinese President and Premier in 2017 to Sri Lanka.

China has clearly not given up on Sri Lanka and financing unsolicited projects in Polonnaruwa under the Maithripala Sirisena Administration is not for nothing.

Foreign observers as compromise

Two US State Department officials arrived in Colombo this week, hot on the heels of the Chinese Foreign Ministers visit. The duos visit was described in diplomatic circles as routine, to show that the new-fangled relationship with the US under the present dispensation in Colombo was on track; one, to update the February Partnership Dialogue that was held in the US capital and the other to update themselves on the UNHRC Geneva Resolution and to see how well Sri Lanka was coping with implementing it.

That the US-SL Partnership Dialogue has yet to take off at least in the area of substantial trade or FDIs favouring Sri Lanka seems to have begun to sink in to Sri Lankan leaders. Privately, at least, they ask themselves the question, why the Americans dont walk the talk. One of the more contentious areas that the US visitors walked into, however, is that of foreign judges being part of the domestic mechanism that the Government has committed itself to in the Geneva Resolution, to probe allegations of violations of International Human Rights Law.

There still remains a certain amount of confusion within the Government of National Unity in that the President is unequivocally opposed to foreign judges, while the Foreign Minister is equally adamant that the Presidents opinion is only a view. Though sticking to the domestic mechanism nomenclature, he says what it means is open for discussion. Into this debate has come the latest recruit to the Foreign Ministers party. He was the Army Commander who saw the battle with the LTTE through in the last phase of the war. He says foreign observers will be permitted. This might seem the ultimate acceptable compromise between the two positions.

The US visitors were coy about saying too much specifically on the subject and thus being accused of rocking the boat in the midst of this debate. Back home in the US, reconciliation between the minorities, particularly the Blacks and the Establishment whites has now reached a nadir. Old wounds have reopened. The human rights of the minorities are now, and again, the subject of killings, street protests, public debate and election campaigns. One might think that it was one reason for the two senior US diplomats to keep a low-profile role this time and not preach too much on Human Rights and Reconciliation given the goings-on in their own country.

Added to that is the worldwide demand, re-ignited after the Chilcot Report in Britain, calling for the then leaders of the US and Britain to be tried for crimes against humanity by unleashing the mayhem we witness in West Asia and parts of Africa today  13 years after the illegal invasion of Iraq.

Hillary Clinton, the likely next president of the US, recently said she would be giving tax concessions to US companies that invest their businesses in the US and heavily tax those who start businesses in other countries. She criticised the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) Agreement grouping several Pacific Rim countries and said she would review other FTAs (Free Trade Agreements) which were not in favour of the US. What then of the US-Sri Lanka Partnership and FDIs from the US?

One could not envy the Government, cash-strapped as it is, pressured to implement tough fiscal decisions on the orders of the International Monetary Fund and having to face mass protests all over the country. It seems to be caught between a rock and hard place dealing with China and the US.
Better Than Ever Before With Mind Adventures View(s):

Mind Adventures recently presented Better Than Ever Before co written and directed by Associate Artistic Director, Mind Adventures  Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke and Northern Irish theatre artist Alice Malseed.

The British Council Sri Lanka alongside the Arts Council of Northern Ireland have worked together to bring these two artists, both graduates of Goldsmiths College, together to create a play that examines the realities of contemporary Sri Lanka and Belfast.

Loosely adapted from Irish mythology and the Mahavamsa, the play used history as a springboard to examine young people living in post-conflict cities, and their disconnection from the world around them. Set around a multi-storey apartment complex, the denizens in and around the building each lend a window into their lives as Kings and Queens of their own private kingdoms.
Kumarayo to commemorate Shakespeares 400th death anniversary View(s):

By Susitha R.Fernando

Commemorating the 400th death anniversary of the greatest playwright William Shakespeare, Premawantha Kumarayo, Sinhala adaptation of A Midsummer Nights Dream produced by Drama and Theatre and Image Arts Unit of the Kelaniya University and Academic Players theatre group will go on the boards on July 23 at Lionel Wendt theatre, Colombo.

Based on a translation of Jayawathi Jayasinghe, the play which is produced by Lal Handapangoda is directed by veteran actor and theatre lecturer Priyankara Ratnayake. Director of Oedipus, Thatu Ewith and ;Wisekariyo, Premawantha Kumarayo is his latest play.

Filmmakers of many countries have been influenced by the works of William Shakespeare and a large number of films have been produced based on his plays, said Priyankara Ratnyake. The vivid and colourful characters together with depth are among the main reasons for Shakespeares plays to be popular even today.

Priyankara is of the view that there was false perception about Shakespearian plays in Sri Lanka. Many thought that ordinary people cannot understand his plays. Some even thought everybody cannot understand Shakespeare and there were taboos. There were only a handful of people like Tony Ranasinghe and Bandula Vithanage who translated Shakespeares plays to Sinhala. However the reality is that Shakespeare wrote plays for ordinary people,. Asked for the reason to select A Midsummers Night Dream to make a Sinhala play, Priyankara said that the play was a real comedy in its proper sense. Comedy has been misunderstood by Sri Lankan theatre. A play with any jokes cannot be a comedy. Comedy plays have a depth and that is why Shakespeares comedies are so important, Priyankara said.

Sri Lankan theatre both English and Sinhala have promoted a genre of theatre to attract the audience that was glued to television. So directors used same faces in the TV dramas in theatre but now it has proved a failure, he said. The same problem is there in the English theatre also, he added.
'The government has identified the masterminds of the two attacks, they will be exposed to justice,' said Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan.

By PTI: Bangladesh today said it has identified the masterminds of the deadly Dhaka cafe terror attack that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian, and a second assault just days later.

"The government has identified the masterminds of the two attacks, they will be exposed to justice," Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told a media briefing but declined to elaborate "in the interest of investigations".

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CAFE ATTACK



Islamist militants launched a sudden attack on a posh restaurant in Dhaka's upmarket Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 1 killing 22 people, including 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain among 20 foreigners and two police officers while six suspected militants were gunned down in the commando operation next morning.

Security officials later said they confirmed identities of five of the six suspected slain Islamists.

SHOLAKIA ATTACK



Six days after the Gulshan cafe attack, militants tried to carry out an assault on the country's biggest Eid congregation in northern Sholakia killing two policemen.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas government has also alleged that fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam and its crucial ally the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of ex-premier Khaleda Zia had patronized the assaults.

ISIS CLAIMS ATTACK



The Islamic State had earlier claimed responsibility for the cafe attack but the government said homegrown Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) carried out both the assaults.

IS had also claimed several clandestine target killings on secular and liberal activists, writers and religious minorities including moderate Sufi preachers even as the government had denied presence of any foreign terrorists attributing the assaults to homegrown outfits like JMB.

But in an apparent shift, senior government leaders and police said Bangladeshi militants appeared to be trying to establish IS links or managed to ensure their access to their media outlet to lodge the claims.

"Those who carried out the Gulshan attack were all Bangladeshis but I dont rule out their possible foreign links. However, we dont want to say anything in this regard without any proof," Dhaka police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told a separate media briefing at his office.



--- ENDS ---
OZO Hotels contribute towards UNICEF View(s):

Thailand-based ONYX Hospitality Group recently made a contribution towards the WASH initiative of UNICEF Sri Lanka, to support vulnerable children affected from floods and landslides, due to the intense wet weather situation experienced in the country.

About 21,484 people were displaced as a result of the disaster and some are still living in camps and temporary shelters, including schools. The donation was made under UNICEFs relief and recovery work with the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, providing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene to the children affected by the flood.

At a meeting with Una McCauley, UNICEFs country representative, Simon Dell, AGM and VP of ONYX Hospitality Group in Sri Lanka, expressed his concern for those who have been affected through the situation in Sri Lanka and the commitment of ONYX Hospitality Group towards the well-being of children.

Dell said, At ONYX Hospitality Group, we align our values and business practices with a sense of connection to the environment and giving back to the communities. We are privileged to make a contribution towards this good course, as it benefits the community and especially children.

This donation is part of a combined effort from OZO hotels in Sri Lanka, and was facilitated by ONYX Hospitality Group, to provide long-term emergency support to the affected communities.
Better brains for a better world View(s):

July 22 is International Brain Day

By Professor Tissa Wijeratne

What is so special about World Brain Day?

I was part of the global four-member team when we sat together in a high profile World Federation of Neurology meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2011. We discussed the long overdue idea of a World Brain Day. We have to start talking about this amazing organ in the human body, and need to take good care of our brain. We must also be aware of the myriad of health problems affecting the brain. World Brain Day is an ideal platform for this.

We want to see a better world filled with healthier brains. Our main aim was to create awareness of better brain health all around the world. A group was led by the President of World Federation Neurology at that time, Professor Vladimir Hachinski from Canada. Two neurologists from other parts of the world, along with myself, were strongly for the idea of the World Brain Day. Therefore, we decided to select July 22 as our date, which is also the birthday of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN). It still took a further three years to launch the first ever World Brain Day on July 22, 2014.

Key messages from the first World Brain Day

The theme of the day was Our Brain-Our Future.

We focused on brain health and the prevention of brain disorders, which are largely underestimated global health problems.

Your brain is the most amazing and complex organ in your body. It consists of millions and millions of electric wires, called axons (neurons). It is estimated that the human brain consists of 80 billion neurons- the distance of these neurons is the equivalent distance of travelling around the earth four times in a row. These neurons make ten trillion connections between them. It is thanks to these neurons I am using my fingers to type these words! Our neurons allow us to sing, dance, think, feel, ask questions and solve problems on a daily basis!

Our brains are at a crossroad now. According to Framinghams study one in three of us is at risk of developing dementia or stroke during our life. For the most part, these are preventable diseases! It is time to act.

Diseases affecting the human brain such as stroke, epilepsy, depression, brain tumors, concussion and trauma, Alzheimers disease, Infections, genetic disorders, sleep disorders and headaches are the single most important cause of disability in the world. Lets all get together to promote better brain health across the globe with unified voice and action.

Exercise, fruit and vegetable intake, salt reduction, blood pressure control, avoiding air pollution, avoiding smoking, avoiding excessive alcohol intake, avoiding recreational drugs, managing stress well, good sleep hygiene and ongoing learning and problem solving all promote better brain health.

We prepared brochures, PowerPoint slides and banners, which we distributed across the world in 2014.

The first ever World Brain Day activities were a great success.

World Brain Day 2015: Epilepsy

In 2015, WFN and its partners the International League Against Epilepsy (ILEA) and International Bureau of Epilepsy (IBE), together with the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to focus on Epilepsy for the World Brain Day.

Why Epilepsy?

There were several reasons for the chosen theme in 2015.

Epilepsy is the most common of the serious chronic brain diseases affecting human brain. Despite this, most laypeople dont really know that much about it. There is a significant psychological and social impact for most patients with epilepsy. Therefore there is a strong need to educate many doctors on epilepsy, our current understanding of it and successful treatments. There are many countries in the world with poor access to medications that can control epilepsy.

Epilepsy: Treatable, manageable & controllable

Epilepsy is the most common chronic serious disease of the brain affecting 50 million people worldwide. However, appropriate treatment can make 70% of people with epilepsy seizure free. Unfortunately, 80% of people with epilepsy in low and middle income countries do not have access to the necessary medications. Many health care providers also do not have the training to recognize, diagnose or treat epilepsy. Lack of identification and treatment of epilepsy imposes a huge social and financial burden on the patient, their family and community. Ignorance and fear causes social isolation and prevents people with epilepsy from seeking treatment. Research and legislation is needed to improve access to treatments and the quality of life of people with epilepsy.

Thankfully WFN, ILAE, IBE and WHO are working in partnership to address the global burden of epilepsy.

A separate brochure on seizure first aid was given out during the 2015 World Brain Day. During our campaign we also highlighted that neurological infections, head injuries, genetic basis, stroke, brain tumors, defects in brain development and brain damage from prenatal or perinatal causes are all causes of epilepsy. Epilepsy is not infectious. It is not a contagious disease.

It is important to remember that there are more than 50 million people living with epilepsy globally at present. They are 3-6 times more likely to die prematurely. 70% of these people can be treated with inexpensive and effective medications that works well against epilepsy, allowing them to lead normal lives.

World Brain Day 2016: Brain health and the ageing population

Let us talk about the theme for this year now. It is time to become aware of the issue of ageing on the brain. As we get older, additional neurological disorders and conditions further threaten the health of our brains.

Did you know?

In 2015, there were more adult diapers sold than baby diapers. Japan became the first country in the world to start doing this. There are many countries in the race now. It is expected in 2025, eighty percent of the worlds older population will be living in the developing world. Globally there are more than 800 million people in the world right now who are older than 60 years (12 % of the worlds population). In 2050, 21% of the world population will be older than 60 years: roughly 2 billion people!

Illnesses connected to age

When we get older, major social, economic and health consequences occur. The likelihood of acquiring brain diseases like stroke and Parkinsons disease increases with age. Poverty, disability and care needs are all high among older people.

It is estimated that almost half of all health expenditure in the developed world is related to the care of elderly people. This is believed to rise to 70% in 2030.

As a society it is our responsibility to care for ageing people and promote healthy ageing.

Prevention and caring, rather than simply curing, are the key factors here. Our prime aim is to maintain a high quality of care. The WFN will collaborate with WHO, World Brain Council, European Brain Council, Alzheimers Association, the International Federation on Ageing and several other global organizations to promote awareness for the upcoming World Brain Day on July 22, 2016.

Lets learn more about healthy living and healthy ageing, so we can promote better brain health in the ageing population. We must provide better brains for a better world.

(The writer is a senior neurologist and member, Global Policy and Advocacy Committee, World Federation of Neurology)
BOI, JEDB slam private firm over land dispute View(s):

The Board of Investment (BOI) and the Janatha Estate Development Board (JEDB) yesterday accused a private company of unscrupulously holding on to a lease of 24 perches of prime land in Colombo out of 254 perches owned by the JEDB.

BOI Chairman Upul Jayasuriya and JEDB chairman Kennedy Gunawardena told a news conference that the company was pressurising the JEDB to lease out the entire plot at Rs. 5.6 million a perch, citing an earlier valuation of the Valuation Department.

But the BOI had managed to raise the valuation up to Rs 7.5 million a perch. The BOI has also insisted that the private company should show proof of funds before signing any investment agreement. Mr. Jayasuriya said that a Japanese investor had expressed interest in the 254 perch land located at Vauxhall Street, Colombo 2 adjoining the Beire lake, but they could not proceed with the deal because of the dispute.

He charged that a bankrupt politician was acting as a commission agent for the private company to make a fast buck and he was making baseless allegations. This power broker who had no locus standi to represent the company was retained by the company only for the purpose of resorting to pressure tactics on the BOI and the JEDB in its search for the pot of gold, he said.

JEDB chairman Prof. Gunawardena said the land was in three separate plots and the lease term of two plots had ended, but the company had paid the lease for 4-5 months without the concurrence of the JEDB and attempted to keep possession of the land. On this basis, he charged that the company has obtained an enjoining order to prevent the JEDB from leasing out the land to a third party at the actual market price.

The JEDB chairman said the land was initially valued at Rs. 4.5 million a perch, and then Rs. 5.6 million a perch but the latest valuation gives the price as Rs. 10 million a perch. He alleged that the company was trying to lease out the land at a price much lower that this to another party. As two responsible state institutions we cannot agree to a shady deal, he said.

Prof. Gunawardena said the JEDB had debts amounting to more than Rs. 15 billion and other financial burdens such as arrears to be paid to its employees. This was an ideal opportunity to raise money, but because of the actions of the private company, the JEDB was deprived of this opportunity.

He said the JEDB had to depend on the Treasury for funds as its monthly earnings were around Rs. 40 million while its expenditure amounted to around Rs 100 million a month.
CEB engineers say not happy with power sector policy decisions, warns of TU action By Sandun Jayawardana View(s): View(s):

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) has threatened to take trade union action in protest over what it claims are ad-hoc decisions by the Government regarding the countrys power sector. CEBEU President Athula Wanniarachchi told the Sunday Times their members as an initial mark of protest would not take part in Technical Evaluation Committees (TEC) meetings to assess proposed power generation projects.

He cited the governments decision to shift from coal power to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a source of energy and the involvement of outsiders to formulate energy policies as two main reasons for their proposed trade union action. The union leader said the shift from coal to LNG was advocated by a committee appointed by the National Policies and Economic Affairs Ministry which comes under the Prime Minister, but the CEBEU was not convinced that the decision was arrived at after careful consideration of all issues.

The six member committee comprised Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne, Prof. Kumar David, Prof. Kithsiri Liyanage, Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya, K.D. Ranasinghe and Prof. R.A.Attalage. Mr. Wanniarachchi said that Prime Ministers Economic Affairs advisor Charitha Ratwatte had a meeting with CEB engineers and confirmed the policy decision to shift from coal to LNG. The engineers were told that the committee was appointed only to evaluate the economic impact of the decision.

Mr. Wanniarachchi said they were not prepared to accept this explanation. What is the purpose of appointing a committee if a decision has already been made? He said that drafting a long term power generation plan was the responsibility of the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy, the CEB and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). At present, however, the Ministerial Committee on Economic Affairs, the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Energy (comprising 20 MPs) and various Government officials were all involved in the process, resulting in the subject ministry and the CEB having little or no say in the process, he claimed.

Power and Renewable Energy Ministry Secretary Suren Batagoda, however, said the six-member committee was yet to submit its recommendations on whether coal should be completely ruled out as a energy source. Initially, it was decided to do away with coal but after representations by various parties including the CEB, the committee was appointed to evaluate the matter, he explained.

Dr. Batagoda, though, did confirm that the Government has now come to a decision that the power plant in Sampur should be converted from coal to LNG.
Editors Right of Readers to Reply resolves 278 complaints: PCCSL View(s):

The Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka (PCCSL ) received 142 complaints last year, of which 85 were valid complaints falling within the purview of the PCCSL mechanism, with the editors publishing a Right of Readers to Reply to 38 of them, PCCSL CEO, said in his annual report for 2015.

The report was read out at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Commission held this week at the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) auditorium in Colombo. As many as 278 complaints were resolved directly by the editors providing a Right of Readers to Reply to the aggrieved parties, the report said.

CEO Sukumar Rockwood said the Sinhala press which is 43% of the countrys newspapers, attracted most of the complaints. He said the Commission received the fullest cooperation from the editors to resolve these complaints amicably and swiftly.

The report further stated that four English language and two Sinhala language newspapers however, did not cooperate with the PCCSL, which is a voluntary, self-regulatory body of the newspaper industry having the support of the Newspaper Society of Sri Lanka (NSSL), the Editors Guild, the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and four other media organisations including a trade union. They are the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union, Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum, Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance and the South Asian Free Media Association  Sri Lanka Chapter.

The report said the PCCSLs autonomous Dispute Resolution Council headed by former Secretary General of Parliament, Nihal Seneviatne, met bi-monthly to inquire into complaints that required their attention.

Lankadeepa Editor, Siri Ranasinghe, Nawamani Editor, N.M. Ameen, and Deshaya Chief SubEditor, Mohanlal Piyadasa, were re-elected to the PCCSLs Board of Directors, by the general membership of the PCCSL at the AGM.

The other members of the Board of Directors representing separate media organisations are Kumar Nadesan (Chairman, nominated by SLPI), Sinha Ratnatunga (Deputy Chairman, nominated by the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka), Manik de Silva (nominated by the SLPI), Nimal Welgama (nominated by the NSSL), B.M. Murshideen (nominated by the FMM) and Duminda Sampath (nominated by the SLWJA).

Meanwhile, the SLPI also held its 13th AGM this week at its office in Colombo, attended by representatives of its stakeholders comprising the NSS, The Editors Guild, the FMM and the SLWJA. Presenting the annual report of the institution, SLPI CEO, Kumar Lopez noted that, in 2015, the SLPI had conducted several meetings with local and international bodies to promote professionalism in journalism.

The key achievement of last year was the outcome of the long-fought struggle by the Board and the management to enact the Right to Information (RTI) Bill, which was unanimously passed by Parliament on June 24, 2016. The SLPI in this regard, has lobbied with key decision makers and conducted several awareness programmes during 2015 in its training and discussions in the provinces with various groups of people.

Several projects were also implemented in association with foreign missions and organisations in Norway, Denmark, US and Britain namely, Open Society Foundation, International Media Support, Thomson Foundation, WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers), and CANSA (Climate Action Network South Asia). Mr. Lopez further said that, support, mainly through logistical assistance, had been extended to The Editors Guild to organise and conduct the annual  Excellence in Journalism awards.

He reported the SLPI had also hosted an International Conference on Global Media Ethics, which brought together local and international speakers, academics, journalists, researchers and subject matter experts. Furthermore, the SLPI, along with the Colombo University, Strategic Alliance for Research & Development, UNESCO, and International Media Support was involved in conducting islandwide research to understand the media landscape based on the UNESCO Media Development Indicator framework. It is believed this research would help identify gaps in the media domain and help bring in the needed reforms for the betterment of journalists and the media as a whole.

The SLPI board comprises Kumar Nadesan (Chairman) of the Newspaper Society, Sinha Ratnatunga (Vice Chairman), Manik de Silva and Mohanlal Piyadasa of the Editors Guild, Seetha Ranjanee, Hana Ibrahim and Udaya Kalupathirana of the FMM and Lasantha Ruhunage and Kanchana Marasinghe of the SLWJA.
Fly by night at BIA from January to April View(s):

Hundreds of flights to be rescheduled or cancelled to revamp 30-year-old runway

By Sunimalee Dias

For three months next year, Sri Lankas main international airport  the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA)  will permit flights mostly at night due to the revamping of its 30-year old runway. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) informed the airline and travel industry last week that flights would not be permitted between 8.30 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. from January 6 to April 6 next year.

The CAA said in a statement that these times had been decided in consultation with airline operators as the most practical period and time to close the airport for renovations. This indicates that most flights take place at night. The BIA currently handles on average 170 flights a day, Airport and Aviation Services officials said. About 60 flights of 24 airlines operate during the day. They said all daytime flights would be rescheduled for the night in coordination with airline operators.

With the national carrier, SriLankan Airlines, operating the most number of flights in and out of Colombo, it would be the most affected by the daytime closure. Asked to comment, SriLankan Airlines Chief Executive Officer Suren Ratwatte said he believed no final decision had been made and SriLankan was working on its schedules.

Travel industry officials said there was a likelihood of some flights operating out of Mattala airport in an emergency and also Mattala being used for emergency landings. The CAA statement noted that the closure was being carried out by taking into consideration factors such as the minimum number of movements, seasonal weather conditions, contractors requirements and safety implications.

Based on studies and assessments conducted by the local and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) experts, it was clear the runway required major resurfacing. This would be the first time overlaying or re-surfacing is carried out on the BIAs runway since its construction in 1986.

CAA Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri told the Sunday Times that they were scheduled to hold the Slot Committee meeting later this month to work out how the carriers would operate during the period of closure. He said it was entirely up o the airlines to come up with solutions and explained that while some would reschedule their flights others were likely to cancel them.

Sri Lanka Association of Airline Representatives (SLAAR) Secretary Ruha Jasinghe said that from the point of view of the airport this runway upgrade was required and was way overdue. She explained that in view of the type of aircraft being mainly hybrid, the runway needed to be upgraded but they would be looking at ways to minimise inconvenience to passengers.

Other airlines when contacted said they were currently in discussion on the rescheduling of their flights. FlyDubai Commercial Manager Gihan Silva said the airline was holding discussion with the CAA on the flight changes while it has increased its flights to Mattala to four daily from the previous three daily in view of the future potential at the airport. FlyDubai is the only airline to use Mattala.

Etihad Airways General Manager Kumar de Silva said they would not be affected since they were operating day flights only during the summer. Last year, the BIA handled 61,537 flights and upto June this year the airport has handled 33,347 flights.
Green chilli causes heartburn at Rs 1,150 a kilo, vegetable prices rocket By Anushiya Sathisraja View(s): View(s):

The eye-watering price of green chilli in the market is leaving a pungent taste in the mouths of millions who get by on pol sambal and rice, especially the poor. Green chilli, mainly grown in the dry zone districts including Moneragala, Vavuniya, Ampara, Kurunegala, and Puttalam, is now retailing at an unprecedented Rs 1,150 a kilo in Colombo and the suburbs.

What is worse for the average household is that prices of vegetables are also ticking over like taxi meters.Agri officers predict a 50 per cent drop in vegetable production. As supply contracts, prices of popular vegetables such as beans, leek, carrot, beetroot, and cabbage will most certainly rise further.

Large-scale vendors cite adverse weather and natural disasters being contributory factors in low supply.Farmers are also incurring losses as a result of low yields, and high input costs such as seed and labour costs. Chilli growers in particular tussle with pests and diseases such as leaf curl and root rot. Besides, thousands of small-scale farmers are deep in debt across the country.

To try to mitigate the effects of a confluence of adverse factors, the Department of Agriculture is distributing pots of green chilli to farmers to grow in the off-season, rainy months of July and December, instructor S.A Kalana said.

In Dambulla, one of the main vegetable cultivation areas, agricultural officers warned of a 50 per cent drop in production in the next two months.Manning Market welfare society Secretary Gamini Handunge, said consumers are buying less. Nobody purchases more than 500 grams per item. This is because most vegetables are now over Rs 100 per kilogram, and people cannot afford it.

At the Manning Market in the Pettah, where wholesale and retail trading of vegetables takes place, prices have rocketed higher this week. Vendors say supply from the highlands has dropped by about 40 per cent the past week.

Amid the unbearable rise in the cost of living, for years now, home makers have opted for cheaper choices such as manioc.

Our Dambulla correspondent reports that carrots are fetching Rs. 250-290 a kilo, beetroot is Rs. 210-290 per kilo, beans Rs. 300 per kilo, Rs. 230-240; butter beans, Rs. 270-280 and long beans Rs. 212-240. Lime Rs. 645, tomato Rs. 200, drumstick Rs.600-plus, luffa Rs. 166, and capsicum Rs. 350.

The prices of pumpkin, kekiri, cucumber and snake gourd remain low. At economic centres, pumpkin and kekiri are sold at Rs. 60-65 a kilo and cucumber at Rs. 70-80. Snake gourd is Rs. 90-100. Ridged gourd (vetakolu) is sold in supermarkets at about Rs. 170. Bitter gourd is selling at Rs.190-200.

The Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute says that compared with last year, the price of beans has increased by 40 per cent, carrot by 47 per cent, cabbage by 62 per cent, and drumsticks and lime by 80 and 82 per cent respectively.
India to develop Palaly as regional airport View(s):

India is carrying out a feasibility study on the Palaly airport to assess its suitability to be utilised as a regional airport.

This airport is now a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF)-run facility and is used for military and civilian flights in Sri Lanka.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) is now carrying out a feasibility study on the Palaly airport to see how it could be developed, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri told the Sunday Times. About four months ago, an AAI team visited Palali to ascertain how the airport could be developed as a regional airport, he said.

India has already supported the development of the Palaly airport, providing financial assistance for the reconstruction of about 1,000 metres of the existing 2,300-metre runway.This was done in 2010 on an agreement between the former Mahinda Rajapaksa government and India.

The AAIs feasibility report on Palali is expected to be submitted to the Sri Lankan Government soon. Mr. Nimalsiri stressed that if Palaly was to be developed as a regional airport, it would then come under the CAA while the Airport Aviation Services Ltd. would carry out airport operations.
Jumbos for pageants, but not those going back to the wilds View(s):

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

The perahera (pageant) must go on but not at the cost of elephants which are born free and are to be gently guided back into the wild to live free. This is the categorical consensus among many environmentalists in the wake of a Cabinet paper last week to source elephants for peraheras not only from the Pinnawela orphanage but also from Eth Athuru Sevana (Elephant Transit Home  ETH) at Uda Walawe.

Loud and clear came the voice of Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya  who in June submitted his resignation from the post of Director-General (DG) of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC)  on behalf of the voiceless wild elephants awaiting the return to their jungle habitats in the temporary home that is the ETH. When the Sunday Times asked Dr. Pilapitiya why he had resigned as DG in early June, amidst much speculation of political interference, he declined to comment.

Reverting to the issue of elephants for peraheras, Dr. Pilapitiya said that he agrees with the suggestion that 35 elephants should be kept in a pool under the charge of the State to be used for peraheras across the country. But, he says without ambiguity, these elephants should be drawn from the Pinnawela orphanage and not from the ETH. If there is a shortfall in numbers, the Captive Elephant Owners Association should deliver the balance.

At the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on July 5, Decision 17 is titled Maintaining a pool of elephants consisting of about 35 tuskers/male elephants/female elephants, under the Zoological Department to make them participate in cultural activities.

It states: The perahera culture of Sri Lanka has a great history and has attracted the worlds attention. It has been observed that it is essential to use elephants in this perahera to maintain its pride and devoutness. When several cultural activities are held together with the Dalada Perahera, the number of elephants is insufficient.

Therefore, a pool of about 35 elephants is proposed to be established under the Zoological Department with elephants obtained from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and the Uda Walawe Eth Athuru Sevana, with the objective of training for perahera purposes.

It adds that the proposal made by Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Contrasting the Pinnawela orphanage with the Uda Walawe ETH, Dr. Pilapitiya points out that the elephants at Pinnawela will always be captive. They will never be released into the wild. However, the very concept of the ETH revolves around freeing the wild elephants which are provided a transit home until they are fit to roam in the wilderness.

He states that as Pinnawela has a good breeding programme, there would also be adequate numbers to be trained over a period of time for the peraheras. If there are worries and concerns over inbreeding, a good breeding programme should be put in place between the Pinnawela elephants and those in the care of the Captive Elephant Owners Association.

The ETH is a model for which Sri Lanka has acquired a very good reputation and we should never-ever tarnish that and betray the trust of the innocents  the wild elephant babies which are under our protection and care temporarily, reiterates Dr. Pilapitiya who has vast experience not only with regard to Sri Lankan wildlife programmes but also those in South Asia as the former Lead Environment Specialist at the World Bank office based in Colombo.

Echoing the views of many environmentalists, Born Free Trusts Country Representative in Sri Lanka, Manori Deepika Gunawardena who is a wildlife biologist underscored that the elephants at the ETH have a future that promises rehabilitation and release to the wild.

This is in keeping with their natural behaviour and ecology and benefits elephant conservation in Sri Lanka, she said, pointing out that removing elephants from the ETH denies these animals that bright future and condemns them to a lifetime in captivity.

Ms. Gunawardena stressed that such a decision flies in the face of the good work that has been carried out by the Government at the ETH over the years and undermines genuine elephant conservation efforts.

Born Free has been working in Sri Lanka since 2002, with the beginnings being after a visit to the ETH. It has provided extensive assistance in the form of buildings, vehicles and equipment to the ETH, while working with a number of local non-governmental organisations on a range of issues, primarily linked to elephant welfare and conservation.

Going back in time to 30 years ago, a world renowned zoologist and designer of zoological enclosures, Vasantha Nugegoda, who has worked with elephants in many international centres recalled how he had pointed out to the then Diyawadana Nilame Neranjan Wijeyeratne that the urgent need with regard to peraheras was a breeding programme between temple elephants and those owned by the Captive Elephant Owners Association.

Suggesting that the Maligawa tusker should be paired with cow-elephants in the care of the Captive Elephant Owners Association, Mr. Nugegoda had recommended that the State should undertake the training of these already-captive elephants and even facilitate the breeding programme.

There is no need for wild elephants to be used for peraheras. Such use is illegal and against conservation policies, he says, pointing out that it is still not too late to set up such a pool, using the Pinnawela captive elephants and other captive elephants.

According to Mr. Nugegoda, Pinnawela elephants had been used in the Kandy Perahera, two elephants in 1996 and four elephants in 1997, without any issues.

However, they need to be trained well, through slow and measured programmes rather than quick ones which would make them suffer. Thereafter, when temples and devalas use them for peraheras, they should ensure that these elephants have an isolated area, a large plot of land, to rest before and after the pageant, with adequate facilities including basic necessities such as troughs full of drinking water, he says.

Lamenting over the heartrending manner in which elephants are transported for peraheras, Mr. Nugegoda is adamant that guidelines should be set in place to prevent cruelty to these pachyderms. They should not be tied up and taken in open vehicles, swaying this way and that in the scorching sun, but transported like prized horses and accorded the same respect and dignity. Such horses are taken in specially-designed carriages so that they have minimal stress. Elephants need similar facilities and should be transported in low-loaders and not in high lorries.

Do you know that elephants are very clever animals and would get onto a vehicle like a pet dog, he asks, urging a humane way of transporting captive elephants for peraheras.

Jumbo transit home at Uda Walawe a success

Ninety-six elephants are roaming free in Uda Walawe, Lunugamvehera and Maduru Oya National Parks due to the major conservation efforts of the government-run Elephant Transit Home (ETH) at Uda Walawe. To the credit of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) which runs the ETH, several cow-elephants released from Uda Walawe have now produced babies. They have also joined other elephant herds in the wild. The ETH was set up in 1995 by the DWC, under the 29th Amendment to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (Part II), with the primary objective of rehabilitating orphaned elephant calves for ultimate release back into the wild.

These elephant babies which have suffered much at an early age, before coming into the fold of the ETH, deserve the best chance of life in the wild, elephant activists said. They are maintained in a free-ranging herd environment at Uda Walawe which has about 40 orphaned elephants on average at a time.
Lasanthas killing: Army intelligence officer arrested View(s):

CID detectives yesterday arrested Sergeant-Major Udulagama of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (MI) in connection with the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunga, former Editor of The Sunday Leader.

The arrest was made yesterday morning when the sergeant-major was in the company of a senior MI official. He was attached to his unit. Mr. Wickrematunga was assassinated while driving to work in 2009 in Ratmalana. The Mt Lavinia Magistrate yesterday granted permission to detain the suspect for 48 hours for the CID to question him.
There has been an unprecedented rise in the number of tourists from Bangladesh between February and May this year.

The record rise in Bangladeshi tourists coincided with the West Bengal Assembly polls in which Mamata Banerjee stormed to power for the second time.

By Soudhriti Bhabani: Call it a coincidence or matter to be given a serious thought. The unprecedented spurt in the number of tourists from Bangladesh between February and May this year sent the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) officials in a tizzy.

BANGLADESH TOPS TOURIST ARRIVALS



According to sources, the chart of tourist arrival is mostly dominated by the US and the UK throughout the year. But interestingly, this year, Bangladesh accounted for the highest share of tourist arrivals followed by the US and the UK between February to May.

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The neighbouring nation, which recently witnessed a deadly terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka, topped the chart in four consecutive months.

FIGURES REGISTERED

The percentage share of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India during February among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh that stood at 12.96 percent, followed by the US (12.94 percent), the UK (12.45 percent) and Canada (4.71 percent).

In March too, the percentage share of FTAs among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (14.07 percent), followed by the UK (13.16 percent), the US (11.84 percent) and Germany (3.74 percent).



POLL CONNECTION



Sources at the ministry said the record rise in Bangladeshi tourist footfall coincided with the West Bengal Assembly polls in which the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress stormed to power for the second time with a thumping majority. Assembly elections were held in Bengal in six phases from April 4 to May 5 and the counting took place on May 19.

Asked if there was any connection between the rise of tourists and the polls, the official said the development was immediately communicated to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

"It was not something normal. It was quite strange as why such huge number of tourists from Bangladesh came to India only in those four months where as such trend is never visible throughout the year or even in the corresponding period last few years," an official said.

As per statistics, Bangladesh also accounted for about 18.09 per cent and 20.48 per cent of tourist arrival respectively in April and May this year, respectively.

UNDER -SCRUTINY

Movements of visitors from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be under a hawk eye as growing radicalisation in neighbouring nations has emerged as a major threat making intelligence agencies jittery about its impact on India.

The MHA has already asked intelligence agencies and states to chalk out a strategy to combat the danger of radical elements spilling over from neighbouring countries and influencing Indian youth, especially at a time when the region is becoming a hotbed for ISIS sympathisers and increasing extremism.

The counter radicalisation strategy adopted by the government, in the wake of growing attraction to ISIS, needs to keep pace with changing dynamics of the threat from the sunni jihadi group.

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"The plan should take into account the spread of radicalisation in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh," a home ministry note said. Sources said that Bangladesh is emerging as the next breeding ground for ISIS and the growing radicalism in the country is a major concern for India.

ALSO READ:

Assam BJP's Sarbananda Sonowal wants to stop infiltration, will seal border with Bangladesh in 2 years

BSF thwart attempts of smugglers to cross Indo-Bangladesh border





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Lord Naseby accuses UK, US of double standards over Sri Lanka View(s):

From Neville de Silva in London

Lord Naseby, president of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Sri Lanka, has accused Britain and the United States of double standards in asking the UN Human Rights Commissioner to investigate allegations of war-time abuses by Sri Lanka whereas Britains role in the Iraq war was investigated by British judges and privy councillors with no foreign involvement.

Speaking at the House of Lords debate on the recently released John Chilcot report that was largely critical of Britains role in the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, Lord Naseby said Britain and US had called for Sri Lankas war against the terrorist Tamils Tigers to be investigated by the UN Human Rights Commissioner in Geneva along with foreign judges while in the case of the Iraq war domestic investigators were considered sufficient.

This is wrong and misconceived, Lord Naseby told the House of Lords. He said there was a parallel with Sri Lanka as Britain was also engaged in tackling terrorism in the form of weapons of mass destruction. He said the key elements of International Humanitarian Law relating to the targeting of military objectives during a conflict were set out in the 1977 Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention and were mentioned in the Chilcot report.

Sri Lanka, however, was not assessed under the Geneva Convention and instead Britain and the US endorsed investigations by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Lord Naseby argued that there were in Sri Lanka a reasonable number of fair-minded judges across the ethnic groups who could undertake the task of judging what happened against the principles of the Geneva Convention.
Namal Rajapaksa remanded on misappropriation charge View(s):

By Wasantha Ramanayake

UPFA Hambantota Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa was remanded last Monday by the Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne, until tomorrow, allegedly for misappropriating Rs. 70 million.

He was arrested on charges of misappropriating the money given by an Indian company to promote rugby in the country.The Magistrate refusing bail to former Sri Lankan Rugby Captain and the eldest son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was ordered to be remanded in order to facilitate the investigations.

Investigators attached to the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FICD) who produced suspect told court that the inquiry into the missing money was not over. They told court that an Indian real estate company called Krrish had granted the money for the promotion and development of rugby in the country. The company channelled the money through another person who had in turn given it to Namal Rajapaksa.

Presidents Counsel Jayantha Weerasinghe appearing for Rajapaksa told court that his client had been taken into the custody without any evidence and requested bail. Further inquiry would be held tomorrow.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya unseated View(s):

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, constitutionally the third in line of succession in Sri Lanka in the Order of Precedence after the President and the Prime Minister and requiring urgent medical attention overseas, was offloaded from an Emirates Airlines flight from Colombo to Singapore minutes after he took his First Class seat last Tuesday (July 12).

He was to travel to seek medical attention for a heart ailment, accompanied by his daughter Lanka Dissanayake, a doctor attached to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for 20 years. A team of doctors treated him at a private hospital in Colombo but had advised that he travel to Singapore for advanced treatment there. The Colombo hospital had contacted its counterpart in Singapore, briefed it on the requirements and urged a medical team to standby.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, a member of Mr. Jayasuriyas immediate family related what happened.Flights were booked for travel through Emirates on EK 348 due to depart Colombo at 3pm on Tuesday July 12. The need for a wheelchair was explained and inquiries were also made from Emirates on the availability of oxygen on the flight. The information given was that oxygen is available in the emergency kit. The inquiry was made only as a precautionary measure. Even during the hospital treatment Mr. Jayasuriya never received oxygen. When the booking was done there was no information given by Emirates on the need for a medical clearance certificate by the hospital that discharged him.

Mr. Jayasuriya came to the airport boarding area by wheelchair and then walked to his allocated seat in the first class area when an airline staffer asked about a medical clearance certificate. The discharge summary from hospital was provided but was not accepted by an airline staffer. A discussion ensued on the issue and the airline decided to contact its United States health centre by telephone. Mr. Jayasuriyas daughter informed them that it was possible to get an immediate clearance certificate from the discharging hospital within 10 minutes. This was not accepted by the airline staffer handling the matter.

It was then pointed out that it could be faxed by the local hospital directly to whatever number they wished.The airline staffer then proceeded to fill in a questionnaire using the discharge summary and asked a few questions from the accompanying passenger, Dr. Lanka Dissanayake (wife of Plantation Affairs Minister Navin Dissanayake) and then sent the information to their United States office. The Bandaranaike International Airport has a medical desk. The medical officer could have issued a certificate, if it was necessary, but he was not contacted by the airline. After about 20 minutes, an Emirates staffer said that their US desk had claimed that Mr. Jayasuriya is not fit to fly. This judgement was based on the form submitted by the Emirates staffer.

Whilst the discussion was going on, the luggage had already been offloaded by airline staff. Neither Mr. Jayasuriya nor his daughter was informed.

While acknowledging the rules of the airlines questions remain:

Why was the need for medical clearance not told to us by Emirates when the request for wheelchair and oxygen was made?

Why was the offer of obtaining the required clearance by the discharging hospital refused by the officer especially when the process would have taken less than 10 minutes?

Why was the airport medical officer not consulted to obtain the required clearance?

How can an Emirates staffer just look at a medical discharge summary and fill in details of medical history? The form was not shown to the daughter who herself is a qualified medical officer?

Why was the luggage offloaded before conclusive discussions were finalised?

The staffers conduct forced Speaker Jayasuriya to disembark from the aircraft and proceed to a hotel in Negombo. This was until his travel to Singapore, more than ten hours later, was arranged on Singapore Airlines. He boarded the Singapore Airlines flight at 3 a.m. on Wednesday  12 hours after he was scheduled to leave by Emirates. Thus, medical staff in the Singapore hospital were kept waiting until Mr. Jayasuriyas arrival. The Singapore Airlines staff raised no questions and were most courteous.

Emirates Country Manager Chandana de Silva when contacted yesterday by the Sunday Times said he needed to get details from his airport staff, but he had heard that the Speaker left on a Singapore Airlines flight. Speaker Jayasuriya is still in Singapore undergoing medical tests.
Vavuniya economic centre site tussle lands on district officials desk By S. Rubatheesan View(s): View(s):

As northern politicos are at loggerheads over a venue for a proposed dedicated economic centre in Vavuniya, the cabinet directed the District Secretary last week to hold the District Coordination Committee meeting to decide whether Thandikulam or Omanthai should be selected.

District Secretary of Vavuniya, M.B.R. Pushpakumara, told the Sunday Times that he has been preparing for the meeting.

This issue has been dragging on for a long time within a political party. I was informed by the cabinet last week to take a final decision by holding the DDC meeting shortly. The TNA cant decide on this, he said.

The District Secretariat is coordinating with the four co-chairs of the DDC, namely Chief Minister of Northen Provincial Council, C.V. Wigneswaran, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian, Selvam Adaikalanathan, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Rishad Bathiudeen, and United Peoples Freedom Alliance parliamentarian, Kader Masthan to fix a date for the meeting.

This week a group of traders in Vavuniya protested against the move to build the economic centre in Omanthai, an area wrecked by war, and located 12 kilometres from the town.

They complained that traders from Vavuniya, Madawachchiya, and Weli Oya would find it difficult to market their products. Protesters handed over a memo to the District Secretariat urging a review of the decision. In a counter protest, students of Thandikulam Agriculture College took to the streets the next day to claim that their education would be affected if the economic centre is located near the college. Thandikulam is a suburban city located 2 kilometres from Vavuniya town.

Dedicated economic centres have been created to provide opportunities for wholesale traders to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables, directly from producers. This also promised to eliminate middlemen. Finance Minister, Ravi Karunanayake, proposed a new economic zone in Vavuniya, in the budget this year and allocated Rs 200 million to the Ministry of Rural Economic Affairs.

Two more similar economic centres are to be opened in Ampara and Kilinochchi before the end of this year.

The provincial council government was asked to identify a suitable land for the project by the ministry within the Vavuniya district but 10 months passed. Meanwhile, in 2010, at the Vavuniya District Coordination Committee meeting, it was decided to build the economic centre in Omanthai. But that too did not materialise due to the lack of funding from the central government.

Renuka Ekanayake Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Economic Affairs told the Sunday Times that the ministry has asked the District Secretary of Vavuniya to submit the feasibility study reports of the identified sites.

After the cabinet decided to resolve the issue of identifying the land through the DDC meeting in Vavuniya, we are hopeful that things will move in the right direction, she said. The ministry laid down six point criteria for selecting the site, including transport facilities, and the location to be within a two-mile radius from the city. The site has to be between 3 and 5 acres, close to the main road and have water and electricity.

Last month, when P. Harison, the Minister of Rural Economic Affairs visited the two proposed sites in Omanthai, Manikkavalavu private plots and another state site in Veppankulam, he requested the Vavuniya District Secretariat to release the land near the newly built private bus stand in Vavuniya. But the TNA and local politicians opposed it vehemently.

When the Tamil National Alliance found itself divided on this issue, it decided on a secret ballot this week. The Chief Ministers office announced on Monday that 21 participants voted for Omanthai while only five chose Thandikulam; 13 members abstained.

A senior official at the Chief Ministers office told the Sunday Times that the process was followed on the instructions of the Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran.

TNA leader Mavai Senathirajah who visited the proposed sites last Saturday told the Sunday Times that a final decision would be taken after considering the views of councilors and after consulting with other stakeholders. We have to consider many things when deciding on the location. The proposed land in Omanthai has to be cleared after following procedures from the Urban Development Authority. Some of the lands in that area are private lands. The transport availability to the market is also another factor.

Significantly, the NPC passed an urgent resolution last month demanding the central government to build the proposed economic centre in Thandikulam farm land. But, soon after, different opinions emerged on its suitability and many changed their position including Chief Minister Wigneswaran who reasoned later that he was not present in the council when the resolution was passed.

Opposition Leader of NPC, S.Thavarasa told the Sunday Times that this reflected the inefficiency of the NPC administration when it marginalised the decisions of the council unanimously. This is a minor issue which could have been dealt with very easily, but there are many people in the council who have vested interests.
VIP prisoners at Welikada get home comforts View(s):

By Jayantha Samarakoon

Prison authorities are getting more and more accustomed to hosting VIP prisoners with the latest addition to the spate of members of the former regime to be in the lock up at the Welikada Prison being UPFA MP Namal Rajapaksa.

The former Presidents son who was remanded on Monday had to be provided with a mattress, a luxury not accorded to ordinary poisoners, following complaints that he was suffering from a back pain, Usually prisoners are provided with only a mat and a pillow, but in the case of the junior Mr. Rajapaksa, on medical advice, he was given permission to bring a mattress from outside, a prison official said.

Mr Rajapaksa listed as remand prisoner 5502 is held in a separate cell while the ward has about 30 other suspects including those held for drug offences. The same cell was where his brother Yoshitha Rajapaksa was held earlier.The remand prisoners are usually locked up in their cells at night and only can come out to the corridor at the time when they can meet the other prisoners.Some 30 prisoners in the ward share one toilet. In the adjoining cell is National Freedom Front spokesman Mohamed Muzzamil who is in remand custody over an allegation of misuse of State vehicles.

Mr. Rajapaksa has opted to obtain his meals from home as remand prisoners are allowed to get meals from outside.He has been having a stream of visitors including members of the joint opposition and UPFA members with the Government.

I was told that Namal keeps himself occupied by doing Yoga exercises, former Minister Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said.
After Esala Poya, a year of duties at the Dalada Maligawa By Udumbara Udugama View(s): View(s):

Esala(Asahla) Full Moon Poya day which falls on July 19 this year is important to Buddhists as there are many significant events connected with it: the conception of the Bodhisatva in the womb of Queen MahaMaya, Prince Siddhartha Gautamas Great Renunciation, birth of Prince Rahula, performance of the Twin Miracles (yamaka patihariya) by the Buddha and the preaching of the Abhidhamma in the Tavatimsa heaven.

It was on Esala Full Moon day that the Buddha delivered his first sermon the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta setting in motion the Buddha Dhamma, to the five ascetics Kondangna, Bhaddhiya, Vappa, Mahanama and Assaji at the Deer Park (migadaya) in Isipatana (Sarnath), close to Benares. Addressing the ascetics, the Buddha advised them not to cultivate the two extremes, kamasukallikanuyoga and attakilamatanuyoga  sensual indulgence and self-mortification but to follow the middle way (Majjhima Patipada), the Noble Eight Fold Path which is right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration. The eight factors can be grouped into Sila (morality  right speech, right action, right livelihood), Samadi (concentration  right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration), Panna (wisdom- right understanding, right thought)  the stages for mental purity.

This, the Buddha explained would be helpful to see things clearly, to gain knowledge, wisdom, peace, enlightenment and nibbana. Everything in this world is full of sorrow and the cause for it is craving. The end of sorrow is Nibbana. The Buddha then taught the Four Noble Truths in His first sermon. These are Dukkha (suffering), Samudaya (the arising of suffering), Nirodha(the cessation of suffering), Magga (the path leading to the cessation of suffering).

In Sri Lanka, the foundation for the Ruwanveliseya Dagoba and the enshrinement of relics by King Dutugemunu was also on Esala full moon day. The Dalada perahera was initiated by King Kithsirimeghavanna in Anuradhapura on an Esala Poya. The world renowned Kandy Esala perahera (pageant) is held in July/August with many such festivals conducted throughout the island in the month of Esala.

The Most Ven. Dimbulkumbure Sri Saranankara Wimaladhamma Anunayake Maha Thera of the Malwatte Chapter explained how the tevava( duties at the Sri Dalada Maligawa) change from Malwatte Ubhaya Maha Vihara to Asgiriya Ubhaya Maha Vihara and continue for one year by each Chapter, from the day after the Esala Full Moon day. The bhikkhus begin their vasretreat during the rainy season on the same day, when they are confined to their pansala (abode) for three months, meditating and conducting religious discussions with devotees.

Five Theras who perform teva duties observe Vas in the Sri Dalada Maligawa. Lady Blake Aramadipathini Katukelle Sudharma Sil Meni, with the approval of the Diyawadana Nilame provide dane (alms) to these Theras during their Vas retreat, explained the Ven. Anunayaka Maha Thera.

King Kirthi Sri Rajasinha, in the 18th century, requested the Maha Nayaka Theras of the Malwatu and Asgiri Ubhaya Maha Vihara, to perform the teva. After Sri Lanka was ceded to the British in 1815, the British Government continued to place the responsibility of safeguarding and protecting the Sacred Tooth Relic and the performance of all duties connected with the Sacred Relic on the two Maha Nayaka Theras of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters.

The two Maha Vihara had agreed to take it in turn to perform teva(rites) at the Sri Dalada Maligawa. After one year of teva by one Viharaya, it is customary to send a letter to the other Maha Nayaka Thera informing him of the completion of their duty, with a request to take over the tevava for the following year.

On July 20, 2016, the day after Esala Poya, the tevava duties of the Malwatte Maha Viharaya will end and the Asgiri Maha Vihara will take over. The meeting of the Maha Nayaka Theras and the duties in connection with the custom of handing over takes place in the afternoon around 2.30 p.m. in the Sri Dalada Maligawa.

The Diyawadana Nilame and his secretary with the lekam mitiya(inventory), which has the items used for the tevava has to be present at the time of handing over. The Maha Nayaka Theras, the Diyawadana Nilame, his Secretary with his lekam mitiya and the Vattoru Rala enter the Udamale or Ihalamale Barandaya, (ante- room) behind the Gandhakutiya (the chamber where the Sacred Tooth Relic is placed). The items used for the tevava are placed on a table with a white cloth spread over it. The Vattoru Rala takes up each item, raises it and in a loud voice mentions what it is and hands it over to the Chief Thera who was in charge of the tevava. He shows it to the Maha Nayaka Theras and the Diyawadana Nilame after which it is returned to the Vattoru Rala to be placed back on the table. Items that cannot be used are taken out of the list to be placed in the aramudale kutiya (store), a room below, and any new items received are entered in the register.

Once the checking is over, they proceed to the room allocated to the Maha Thera in charge of the tevava who signs the register to say that he is handing over the items. The other Maha Nayaka signs taking on the responsibility and accepts the keys. After a short anusasana (sermon) by both Mahanayaka Theras they leave the Sri Dalada Maligawa.

The Ven. Anunayaka Thera explained that there are five monks to perform the teva duties appointed by the Maha Nayaka Thera. The officiating Chief Thera and two other Theras in the Ihalamale (upper chamber), one in the Pahalamale (lower chamber) and another in the Pattiruppuwa(Octagon). During this time, these Theras live in the Sri Dalada Maligawa. When on duty, the Theras wear the tumpota sivura, depata sivura, tanipota sivura, andane (robes) and the patiya (band or belt) that is used to keep the robes tightened in place so that they have their hands free to perform their duties without having to adjust the robes.

Sri Dalada Danta Dhatu (the Sacred Tooth Relic) is venerated by Buddhists as the living Buddha and the tevava is performed with much reverence and respect, believing that one is in the presence of the Buddha. The Ven. Anunayaka Maha Thera says the tevava in the Sri Dalada Maligawa is performed the way Ven. Ananda Thera, the Buddhas aide performed his daily duties when the Buddha was alive.

Teva is performed three times daily, at dawn around 5.15, the next from 9.30 to 11.00 and the third at 7 in the evening. The morning puja starts with drumming (hevisi). Monks assigned to the duties and others who help in the rituals enter the room of the Chief Maha Thera in charge of the tevava. He hands over the keys taken from a cupboard to the Vattoru Rala. A torch- bearer leads the way followed by the Vattoru Rala who carries the keys wrapped in a cloth (which is known as yaturu payinda karanawa) keeping the bundle at shoulder level, with the chief officiating Thera, the four monks and others who are assigned for duty. In the absence of the Vattoru Rala, the chief Thera or his assistant takes the keys.

At the pallemale (lower chamber), the monks feet are washed by a steward in the hevisi mandapaya. The Vattoru Rala washes his own feet. The Pallemala Thera is handed over the keys of the lower chamber and the others walk up to the Ihalamale. Before opening the door, the officiating Thera kneels and makes his obeisance. The doors are opened and two pahan (oil lamps) are lit. A white cloth is spread on the table (altar) in the shrine where flowers are placed. The items that are required for the tevava, a large golden Kendiya (jug), two smaller golden jugs, three robes, deheti dandu(made out of a twig), a piece of cloth (handkerchief), vajirapath a(a fan), chamaraya (fly-whisk), golden finger bowl, a lamp for burning camphor, a spittoon and a bell are made ready.

The hevisi (drumming) resumes.The Theras pour the water into the jugs, Hakgedi Rala blows the conch in the midst of the beating of mangul bera (auspicious drumming). Once the drumming stops, the teva hevisi (drumming) commences. The Theras chant Pali stanzas and offer deheti dandu, water and the robes. The Geparala brings honey, the Kattiyana Rala and the Hakgedi Rala bring the early morning puja. Rice in the large golden patraya (bowl), two silver bowls with curry, a bowls filled with gruel and avulpath (sweetmeats). The drummers resume the hevisi puja. Finally flowers are offered by the Theras. The doors are opened for the devotees to view the karanduwa in the gandhakutiya (sanctum), to worship and pay obeisance to the unseen Sacred Tooth Relic. Finally a big bell is sounded thrice to inform that the morning tevava has come to an end and the doors are closed. The keys are returned in the same manner to the officiating Theras room.

The second service for the day starts at 9.30 and there is no torch bearer. The keys are taken, the inner chamber is opened and the drummers perform. The first duty is malmure, to offer flowers, the duty of a temple tenant who has to supply the flowers, a rajakariya( duty to supply flowers). The flowers are placed in gold and silver trays held by the Thera who places them on the table (altar). Next, the food to be offered is brought and the drumming continues. Thirty two measures of rice in seven bowls, 32 kinds of curry in trays, sweetmeats and betel leaves are brought in as Buddha puja (offering). The jugs are filled with water, the monk washes his hands and makes his obeisance. Hakgediya (conch) is blown. The offering of the worshippers are taken in. The afternoon theva comes to an end around 11 in the morning with the ringing of the bell.

The evening teva begins around 7 p.m. with drumming for about half an hour which signifies the time of the evening service. Cooked food is not offered. The evening gilanpasa (gilanapaccayam) consists of soft drinks made of mango, pineapple orange, sugarcane, Telijja ( sweet sap from the Kitul tree, which is used to make treacle and juggery) and Bees honey, ghee, sugar, dried plums.

After the devotees have offered flowers and the shrine is swept, the doors are closed for burning of incense. The hakgediya (conch) is blown, drumming resumes. The bell is rung thrice to mark the end of the tevava.

There is a second offering of gilanpasa, a practice since the 18th century. A king had arrived late for the evening puja and a second one had to be arranged for his benefit.

A ceremonial bathing known as Nanumura-mangallaya is performed once a week at the time of the morning teva every Wednesday. A significant change here is that two alattiamma( old women) dressed in white with two oil lamps walk upto the threshold and kneel before the gandhakuti. They are not permitted to go inside the shrine room. A curtain is thrown around them and through a slight opening, they stretch their hands with the lighted lamps. This ritual is known as alattibanawa. Only the officiating Thera and the steward witness this ritual.

Nanu, a mixture prepared using selected leaves, fruit, sandalwood, fragrant oil etc. is offered to the Sacred Tooth Relic by the officiating Thera who repeats Pali stanzas. Hevisi drums are beaten, the conch is blown and the service is conducted and concluded in the same manner as the normal morning puja.
Its time to think anew on how to protect the Plains View(s):

Horton Plains under Threat will be the subject of the monthly Wildlife and Nature Protection Society lecture to be delivered by Rohan Pethiyagoda on July 21, Thursday, at 6 p.m. at the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU), 114, Reid Avenue, Colombo 4 (Thunmulla Junction).

Everyone who has visited Horton Plains recently will be aware of the enormous conservation challenges this tiny jewel among Sri Lankas protected areas faces. Forest dieback, alien species, fire and acid rain are just some of the many threats the park faces. These call for scientific research and management interventions which, if not undertaken urgently, may result in irreparable damage to this fragile ecosystem.

With an area of just 32 square km, Horton Plains National Park is at the same time among Sri Lankas smallest and most visited protected areas. Perched 2,100 metres above sea level and encompassing the second- and third-highest peaks in the island, its rolling grasslands and tropical rainforests contain remarkable biodiversity with an astonishingly high degree of endemism. Dozens of plants and animals that occur on the plains are found nowhere else.

In this richly-illustrated lecture, Rohan Pethiyagoda explains what is so special about this unique site, portraying its biodiversity and outlining what we as a society need to do to save it. The plains are in transition, and we need to think anew about the security of their future.

Rohan Pethiyagoda is a biodiversity scientist who from 1989 to 2008 led the Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka (WHT), which undertook extensive exploration and research into Sri Lankas biodiversity, leading to the discovery and description of some 150 new species of fish, frogs, reptiles, small mammals and crustaceans endemic to the island. He has authored five books and some 80 biodiversity-research papers in addition to publishing, in 2012, the definitive book on Horton Plains: Sri Lankas cloud-forest national park.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and has served as the Deputy Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, a Trustee of the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, and as a member of the World Commission on National Parks and the Global Amphibian Specialist Group. In 2000 his work on montane-forest restoration led to him becoming a recipient of a Rolex Award for Enterprise. He is presently a Research Associate of the Australian Museum, Sydney.
Jaffna:Building back better with value-added research By Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala View(s): View(s):

The three-decade long civil conflict in Jaffna severely impinged on the daily lives of the communities who lived on the peninsula. Although education  at all levels  continued despite the adversities, biological field research suffered and stalled for 30 years.

Post 2009, the picture is very different. With freedom to move around, universities in Jaffna are now out in the field, collecting data for various research studies. And here, as in the rest of the island, ecosystems provide a rich source of information.

The Jaffna peninsula  connected to the rest of the land mass by a small strip of land  is unique ecologically as it lacks any natural streams or rivers, of which there are 103 coursing through the rest of the island. It also houses the largest brackish water system in the island, the Jaffna Lagoon Complex: Jaffna, Uppu Aru and Chundikulam, collectively extending over 441 square kilometres, as well as the Thondaimanaaru Lagoon, which is 74.5 square kilometres. Fringing these lagoons are mangroves,large tidal flats and salt marshes. Edging the peninsula are extensive sand dunes; surrounding it are coral reefs and seagrass meadows.

Off the coastline of this peninsula, are several islands  Analaitivu, Chirutivu, Delft, Eluvaitivu, Karativu, Karaitivu,Kayts, Mandativu, Nagadeepa or Nainativu, and Punkudutivu  less populated than the peninsula.With funding from the Small Grant Facility (SGF) of Mangroves for the Future (MFF) regional initiative, scientists from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Jaffna set out to develop a socio-ecological profile of the Jaffna Lagoon, in order to support the upcoming development efforts while ensuring the sustainability and resilience of ecosystems.

Jaffna Lagoon is a large lagoon, about 400 km, opening in the southwest into the Palk Bay and in the northwest, between Kayts and the most western tip of the peninsula. The study assessed the composition of the flora and fauna of the Lagoon; analysed lagoon water and mud; and collected socio-economic data of communities living around the lagoon.

Mangroves, salt marshes, mud flats and sea grass meadows were observed in the Lagoon area.Five species of mangrove plants, and two species of plants from salt marshes were observed. One hundred species of fin fish, 28 species of molluscs, six species of crabs and seven species of prawns were identified in the catches from the Lagoon, indicating a richness of species important for fisheries.

Data collected from a 1,000 households living around the Lagoon revealed that a quarter of people living around the Lagoon were full-time fishermen, nearly all of whom use traditional methods of fishing, 85.4% of whom fish in the Lagoon, showing how important the Lagoon is for fisheries and their lives. Nearly a tenth of the population was below the poverty line, indicating the need to improve livelihoods, and at the same time ensure that the health of the Lagoon is not damaged.

The study revealed that the water quality in certain areas of the Lagoon raised some serious concerns, as there was exceptional salinity in the Thenmaradchi area. Such hyper-salinity changes the composition of species in the Lagoon  for example, salt-tolerant species will survive while others will not. These changes will have profound impacts on fisheries.

In addition, in the areas of Navanthurai, Pannai, Gurunagar, Columbuthurai and Paasayoor, the researchers found increased phosphate levels and a high occurrence of Escherichia coli indicating pollution from agrochemicals and dumping of sewage. These changes will not only affect fisheries but also the health of lagoon communities.

In Kilaly, land mines have not yet been cleared fully, although fishermen do fish there. Fishermen in Araliththurai and Ponnalai were found to be using small-sized mesh nets, which is an unsustainable practice as it catches juveniles, as well as target species.

Post conflict development has already had a negative impact on the Lagoon, for example, the reconstruction of the Jaffna-Pannai road has blocked the free flow of water, resulting in a reduction of fish catch in the fish landing site of Navanthurai, which is beyond this blockage.Another road constructed for the Mandaitivu village partitioned a wetland, resulting in a differentiation in salinity between the two portions of the wetland, again with consequences for species within this wetland. Yet another road has been built on the island of Chirutivu, destroying the lush mangrove vegetation there.

The Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI), also supported by the MFFs Small Grant Facility, took a different approach and examined the value, in monetary terms, of the Jaffna Lagoon. They found the total value of fish production provided by the Lagoon each year to be 6,100 million rupees. They calculated the total economic value of Jaffna Lagoon to be 7,608 million rupees per year, and qualify their findings by saying this figure is an under estimation, as ecosystem services  such as carbon sequestration, flood protection  were not valued.

To the east of Jaffna Lagoon, lies the elongated and narrow Thondaimanaaru lagoon, opening in the north into the Palk Strait. The surrounds are heavily populated by communities being resettled after the conflict. In the 1950s, a barrage was built near the mouth of this Lagoon (less than two kilometres from the sea)restricting the natural ebb and flow of sea water into the lagoon. Here, the Department of Zoology of the University of Jaffna, under the aegis of MFF, carried out a baseline analysis for development opportunities in the area. They found that the ecosystems in the area are mangroves, salt marshes, mud flats and sea grass meadows, providing homes to 13 species of migratory birds, including four species of sand piper, two species of plover and two species of ducks.Here, the majority of species observed in fish catches were molluscs (38 species), with four species of fin fish, two species of crabs and five species of prawns also found. Several species of mangrove and salt marsh plants were also observed. Again, this list of species indicates not only how important the Lagoon is for fisheries, but also for migratory birds.

Analysis of socio-economic data by the same researchers showed that there were 327 fisher families around the Thondaimanaaru lagoon, indicating a high pressure from lagoon-based fishing.

To the east of the Thond-aimanaaru Lagoon lie some magnificent sand dunes and one of the most beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka  Manalkadu. Here, as was the practice in the 1970s, the Forest Department began planting an eight kilometre belt of Casuarina to prevent erosion and protect communities from the force of extreme weather events. Neglected as a consequence of the civil conflict, severely damaged by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 2004, currently subjected to destruction, this belt became the focus of a community-based organisation, Aaruthal Sri Lanka. Through a grant from the SGF, 375 families in the area were mobilised and empowered through education and awareness programmes to use sustainably this anthropogenic patch of forest.

On the west, is an island popularly known as Delft (named by the Dutch), known by the Portuguese as Ilha das Vacas, and by the locals, Neduntivu. Delft, famous for its wild ponies, baobab tree, coral fences, and historical ruins, is home to a population of about 4,500. Of this, about 1,200 fishermen in 560 families are engaged in fishing as their main livelihood. A fishermans entire catch has to be sold on the same day of the catch as there are no facilities for freezing fish on the island.As a way around this constraint, 80 families are engaged in drying fish and marketing the dried fish. The Sevalanka Foundation, supported by MFFs Small Grant Facility, began a project with 40 fisherwomen, to introduce a process to make dry fish with more hygienic conditions using less salt. The Foundation reports a 31% increase in the monthly income of the beneficiaries and a niche market for the low-salt dried fish, that targets the health-conscious segment of population who prefer low-salt meals. The socio-ecological studies carried out by the University of Jaffna accrued baseline data regarding the flora and fauna and communities, all of which will be invaluable for future monitoring. These projects also created awareness among the general public, fisher communities and government officials. The Sevalanka project mobilised the communities and improved their livelihoods. The HARTI project quantified the value of the Jaffna Lagoon.

The Thondaimanaaru Lagoon study disseminated their results to the stakeholders, including local government officials, through a number of workshops and training programmes and proposed a strategic plan for the future development of the Lagoon, that included recommendations for soft engineering solutions to replace the barrage that has restricted water flow in and out of the Lagoon; declaration of the area as a bird sanctuary; and promotion of ecotourism.

The findings of all research carried out under the aegis of MFFs SGF programme have also been shared in Colombo among key line agencies, such as the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Marine Environmental Protection Agency.

The achievements of these projects are many, but so, unfortunately, are the general problems in the peninsula. As with the rest of the island, the ecosystems of Jaffna too are falling to the axe of unplanned development, as seen in Chirutivu island. Pollutants from cultivation and homes are washing into the lagoons of Jaffna, just as they are choking other lagoons in the country, such as the Lunawa Lagoon. Ill-conceived hydrological alterations of lagoon outlets such as in Thondaimanaaru Lagoon  are changing salinities, with dire consequences for fisheries, as was the case of the hypersaline Mundel Lake. Fishermen fish unsustainably  either using small-meshed nets or simply taking too much. (See the article titled Fishing for sea cucumbers how long can this go on? November 16, 2014.) Again, this mirrors practices in many lagoons in the rest of the island, far too many to mention here. Climate change  with increasing extreme weather events, rising sea levels and changes in weather patterns  added to this mix, will also have serious consequences.

These problems are simply not a rhetoric of conservation, but they will, ultimately, impact the people of Jaffna, who have already had more than their share of tribulations. The destruction of mangroves, salt marshes, tidal flats and sand dunes is equivalent to forfeiting natural flood regulators and natural protection from extreme weather events. Altering the natural flow of lagoons results in a loss for fisheries. Destruction of seagrass meadows and mangroves is the same as razing the nurseries of fish and shell fish species important to us. Damaging seagrasses removes a natural means of filtering sediments and pollutants from water.

There was an opportunity in Jaffna to learn from the mistakes we had made in various infrastructure development projects in the rest of the island. Unfortunately, we have not done so.

All about MFF

Mangroves For the Future (MFF) is a unique partner-led initiative to promote investments in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. Co-chaired by IUCN and UNDP, MFF provides a platform for collaborations among different agencies, sectors and countries, which are addressing challenges related to coastal ecosystems or livelihood issues. The goal of MFF, which is operational in 11 countries, is to promote an integrated ocean-wide approach to coastal management and to enhance the resilience of ecosystem-dependent coastal communities.MFF Programme in Sri Lanka is managed by IUCN and funded by SIDA, NORAD and Danida. MFFs Small Grant Facility is a mechanism by which funding is provided for small-scale projects. Since its inception in Sri Lanka in 2009, the MFF Small Grant Facility has awarded 85 grants with a total value of rupees 65,187,950 to support a range of projects for coastal conservation and livelihood improvement.
Shedding light on the Buddhas views on marriage View(s):

By Bhante Dhammika in Australia

As understood in most cultures, marriage is the union of two persons which is recognised by some authority be it religious, legal or social. There are and always have been many types of marriage  polygamous and polyandrous, there are cousin marriages, forced marriages, and in parts of the Islamic world temporary marriages. In some parts of the Western world same-sex marriage has gained legal and social acceptance. Critics of Buddhism have sometimes claimed that it offers little guidance to lay followers beyond basic morality. An examination of what the Buddha had to say about marriage will demonstrate how ill-informed this claim is.

The various law books of Brahmanism, the main formal religion of the Buddhas time, tell us much about marriage customs and wedding ceremonies in India before the turn of the first millennium. A girl had to be married off within a few months after her first menstruation and a father who failed to do so incurred more blame as time passed. There was a marriage season and the actual day and time of the wedding was determined by astrology. The caste of the two families was a crucial consideration. The two highest castes, Brahmans and the warrior caste sometimes intermarried but neither of them married below this, and to marry a sudra or an outcast was inconceivable.

According to Brahmanism, there were eight types of marriage, although the differences between some of them is not clear. The first five were arranged by the parents without either the boy or girls consent and usually involved payment or at least the exchange of gifts. When a boy and girl liked each other, asked their parents for permission to marry and it was granted, it was called a gandharva marriage. Abducting a girl for marriage was called raksasa and could involve weeping and tears, violence and destruction. The last and lowest type, although still legal, the paisaca marriage, involved marrying the girl after having raped her while she was asleep, drunk or otherwise unaware of what was happening. Apart from these eight official marriages there were in fact several other forms of conjugal arrangements. A slave or servant could gradually come to be treated as a wife, a woman could consent to live with a man because he paid her to do so, and a woman taken in war could become a wife. There was also what was known as a temporary wife (muhuttika, or tamkhanika) when a man and woman came together out of convenience and parted when either one of them wanted to do so.

According to the Ramayana (1st BCE/4th cent. CE?) there were ceremonies that preceded the actual wedding which included making gifts to Brahman priests, checking the geneologies of the two families, and cutting off the bridegrooms side locks (kakapaksa), perhaps a sign of full responsible manhood.The Brahmanical wedding was always conducted by a Brahman priest. While the wedding ceremony might differ slightly in different regions they all shared two other common features. These were the father of the girl joining the couples hands and the couple then taking seven steps around the sacred fire. According to some law books, the newlyweds were to abstain from sex for at least three days after their marriage. As most couples usually did not even see their future spouse until the wedding ceremony, this would have given them at least some opportunity to get to know each other before physical intimacy began.

There does not seem to have been formal divorce in ancient India, at least during the Buddhas time. If a man was dissatisfied with his wife he simply took another one, sometimes keeping his first wife or perhaps casting her out. The law books say a husband could expel his wife if she was barren, unfaithful, cantankerous, chronically ill or because she had not produced a son within a certain number of years. Given that the purpose of marriage was primarily to produce legitimate progeny it is not surprising that Brahmanical law books rarely mention conjugal love and affection. In later centuries the permission of some authority  a guild, the heads of the clan or the king, was needed to divorce a wife. The Arthasastra advises the king to grant divorces if both parties are unhappy with their marriage.

It is worth pointing out that the area of northern India where the Buddha lived, the Middle Land, was by no means completely Brahmanized during his time and would not become so for at least another few centuries. Brahmanical and Hindu law books such as Manusastra,Yajnavalkyasastra and the various Dharmasastras, present the ideal, not necessarily the actual situation, and their rules were not always enforced by state power. Further, many communities and regions undoubtedly had their own wedding and marriage traditions and took no notice of or sometimes opposed Brahmanism teachings on marriage, weddings and other matters.

The Pali Tipitaka, the oldest record of the Buddhas life and teachings, tell us something about what the Buddha and the first Buddhists thought about weddings and marriage and how they conducted them. The usual words for a wedding were mangalakiriya or avahamangala. Vivaha referred to the arrangement where the girl was brought to the boys home and vivahana was when the boy went to the girls. In both cases this was done to the accompaniment of music and dancing.

There is no mention of child marriage in the Tipitaka, nor did the Buddha say anything on this matter. However, all mentions in the Tipitaka of the age of girls being married range from 16 to 20, most being closer to the former. It was thought good for the bride and groom to be the same age (tulyavaya). The only thing the Buddha said concerning marital age was that it was inappropriate for men to marry women much younger than themselves. This is mentioned in the Sutta Nipata.

The Tipitaka only occasionally mentions men having more than one wife. Probably only monarchs and the very rich were polygamous. Although the Buddha did not advocate any particular form of marriage, it can be assumed that he favoured monogamy. His father Suddhodana had two wives and as a prince he could have had several wives also, but he chose to have only one. In a discourse on marriage, the Buddha only discusses monogamy, again implying that he accepted this as the preferred form of marriage. In the Samyutta Nikaya he said that if a woman lacks merit she might have to contend with a co-wife (sapatti), and the Tipitaka occasionally discusses the disadvantages of polygamy for women. Being a co-wife is painful, A womans worst misery is to quarrel with her co-wives. Such problems are confirmed by other ancient Indian literature which describes the tensions and manoeuvrings between several wives in the same household.

The Buddha criticised the practice of buying and selling girls for marriage and he commended the Vijjans for having given up the custom of abducting others wives and daughters and compelling them to live with them. Consequently, the only types of marriage mentioned with approval in the Tipitaka and even in most later Buddhist texts, are those where the parents gave their daughter without payment or where either the boy or the girl or boy freely choose their partner.

The Tipitaka says nothing about Prince Siddharthas marriage or indeed almost anything about his life before he became a wandering monk. We know that he was married because it mentions his wife, without naming her, and makes reference to his son Rahula. The Lalitavistata (1st cent. BCE/2nd cent. CE), a literary account of the Buddhas life, describes Prince Siddhartha selecting his bride and marking his choice by giving the girl his ring (anguliya). Apparently the giving of engagement rings had become a custom by that time. The practice is not mentioned anywhere in the Tipitaka. The Nakkhatta Jataka pokes fun of using astrology to select a supposedly lucky day for the wedding, considering it foolish and ineffectual. Influenced by the prevailing social norms the first Buddhists probably married within their own caste. But as the Buddhas teachings of human equality started to have the effect in breaking down caste barriers, this declined, at least within the Buddhist community. In the 12th chapter of the Lalitavistata it has the Buddhas father say that his son can marry even a low caste girl if she is virtuous. He then adds: He is not concerned with caste or lineage in a wife. He desires only virtue.

To be continued next week

There does not seem to be a word for divorce in the Tipitaka, other than perhaps vikirana meaning to break or to separate which is sometimes used in reference to conjugal relations. When a couple fell out of love one or the other either left or was expelled from the household. It was usually the wife to whom this happened. When Ugga, one of the Buddhas disciples, decided that he was going to become celibate he informed his four wives that they could continue to live in the house, return to their parents or take another husband. The eldest wife apparently already had her eye on another man and asked to be given to him and Ugga happily did so.

The Tipitaka preserves only fragments of information about how the first Buddhists conducted their wedding ceremonies. To distinguish their weddings from those of Brahmanism it seems that the elders of one or the other family conducted the marriage rather than having a Brahman priest officiate. The essential feature of the ceremony was when the father of the bride took her hand, put it in the grooms hand and with a ceremonial vase or pot (bhinkaraor kundi) in his right hand poured water over their joined hands.This event was called the Giving of the Hand (panipradana) and marked the culmination of the marriage. The person conducting the ceremony then imparted a benediction to the newly-wedded couple.

The pouring of water over that the hands is even today a part of Thai marriages and also in some parts of India and Sri Lanka (here not by father, though?). A benediction from the Jataka goes: May your friendship with your beloved wife never decay(Ajeyyames-atavahotumettibhariyayakaccanapiyayasaddhim).

Seven days after the marriage monks were invited for a meal.

Buddhist monks and nuns were forbidden by their rules to act as go-betweens or matchmakers. However, they were allowed to attend weddings. If fact, according to Mahavagga III of the Vinaya, if the supporter of a particular monastic community invited a monk from that community to attend his sons or daughters wedding the monk was obliged to go. It is not certain what role monks had in marriages, if indeed they had one. Perhaps their presence was considered auspicious or that it added lustre to the proceedings. Perhaps they took the place of Brahmans in receiving gifts. It is also possible that they blessed the newlyweds.

With some sympathy, the Buddha described the discomfort of the newly-wedded bride. When a young wife is led to her husbands home, either by day or night, for a while she feels great timidity and shyness in the presence of her mother-in-law, her father-in-law, her husband and even towards the servants and slaves.

The Tipitaka contains the first significant references to love and affection between spouses in Indian literature. Having been both a husband and a father, the Buddha was able to speak of marriage from personal experience. A husband, he said, should honour and respect his wife, never disparage her, be faithful to her, give her authority and provide for her financially. A wife should do her work properly, manage the servants, be faithful to her husband, protect the family income and be skilled and diligent. He said that a couple who are following the Dhamma should speak loving words to each other (annamannapiyamvada,and that to cherish ones children and spouse is the greatest blessing (puttadarassasangaho  etammangalamuttamam. He said that a good wife is the supreme friend (bharyavaparamasakha) and the Jataka comments that a husband and wife should live with joyful minds, of one heart and in harmony (pamodamanaekacittasamaggavasam). The Buddha criticized Brahman priests for buying their wives rather than coming together in harmony and out of mutual affection (sampiyena pi samvasamsamaggatthayasampavattenti), implying that he thought this a far better motive for marriage. In this world, union without love is suffering says the Jataka (lokismim hi appiyasampayogova dukkha).

According to the Buddhas understanding, if a husband and wife love each other deeply and have similar kamma, they may be able to renew their relationship in the next life. He also said that the strong affinity two people feel towards each other might be explained by them having had a strong love in a previous life. By living together in the past and by affection in the present, love is born as surely as a lotus is born in water. This idea is elaborated in the Mahavastu: When love enters the mind and the heart is joyful, the intelligent man can say certainty This woman has lived with me before.

The ideal Buddhist couple would be Nakulapita and Nakulamata who were devoted disciples of the Buddha and who had been happily married for many years. Once Nakulapita told the Buddha in the presence of his wife: Lord, ever since Nakulamata was brought to my home when I was a mere boy and she a mere girl, I have never been unfaithful to her, not even in thought, let alone in body.On another occasion, Nakulamata devotedly nursed her husband through a long illness, encouraging and reassuring him all the while. When the Buddha came to know of this, he said to Nakulapita: You have benefitted, good sir, you have greatly benefitted, in having Nakulamata full of compassion for you, full of love, as your mentor and teacher (anukampika, atthakama,ovadika, anusasika). From the Buddhist perspective, these qualities would be the recipe for an enduring and enriching relationship  faithfulness, mutual love and compassion and being each others spiritual mentor and teacher.

The Buddha pinpointed faithfulness as one of the most important ingredients for a successful marriage. A husband should not, he said, be unfaithful to his wife or a wife to her husband. A character in the Jataka says: We do not transgress with anothers wife and our wife does not transgress against us. We relate to others partners as if we were celibate. (Mayan ca bhariyamnatikkamamaamhe ca bhariyanatikkamamaannatratahi brahma cariyamcaramape). A good wife was praised in the Canon as true to one husband (ekabhattakini), a good husband could be similarly defined. The archetypical, devoted and loyal spouse in the Buddhist tradition is Sambula, the wife of King Sotthisena. When he was struck by a disfiguring disease and had to renounce the throne and go into the forest, she ignored all his requests to stay behind and happily accompanied him in his exile. With patience and love she nursed him through and eventually cured him of his disease. When he doubted her faithfulness and shunned her, she would still not abandon him. Eventually, he recognized her faithfulness, apologized for not trusting her, and the two were reconciled.

Conjugal faithfulness and love is an important theme of many other Jatakas too. In one such story, a wifes devotion to her husband saves him from the machinations of an evil king, and in another, the Bodhisattva instructs a husband to treat his dedicated and long-suffering wife with the respect she deserves. In a particularly moving story, all the friends of a husband desert him when he is confronted by a terrible monster, and even his wifes courage momentarily to falter. His pleas for help dispel her hesitation and she rushes to his side saying: Noble husband of sixty years, I shall not desert you. Even the four corners of the earth know that you are most dear to me. Another story tells of a wife whose willingness to die for her husband saves both of them from certain death (Ja.III,184-7).

Neither the Mahavamsa or the Culavamsa say anything about weddings or marriage. The only thing Robert Knox could say on these subjects was that the Kandyans gave dowries, married only within their own caste and that women and men do commonly wed four or five times before they can settle themselves to their contentation. He also mentioned that fraternal polyandry (a woman having several brothers as husbands) was common. It seems that when two people decided they wanted to make a life together they moved in together after obtaining their parents permission. The whole affair was relatively informal and with little or no ceremony. Burma until recently, a similar situation prevailed. Writing in 1685 Joao Riberiosaid of low-country customs: A girl makes a contract to marry a man of her own caste and if the relatives are agreeable they give a banquet and unite the betrothed couple. The next day a brother of the husband takes his place, and if there are seven brothers she is the wife of all of them, distributing the nights by turns, without the husband having a greater right than any of his brothers. If during the day, any of them finds the chamber unoccupied, he can retire with the woman if he thinks fit she can refuse herself to none of them; whichever brother it may be that contracts the marriage, the woman is the wife of all.

Neither these or other sources mention anything like a wedding ceremony. The modern Sinhala wedding ceremony (i.e. poruwa), although often called traditional is in fact of very recent origins. It was probably originally created to be an equivalent to the Christian idea of having a specific ceremony. Given the recent origins of the modern Sinhala wedding it might be appropriate to adopt aspects of the most ancient Buddhist ceremony in which water is poured over the bride and grooms hands by the father. (This is already done but not by father?)

Caption for Pictures

1.A young loving couple, India 2nd century BCE.

2.A modern Indian wedding with water being pored over the bride and grooms hands.
Marching on the Peace Road View(s):

The Peace Road project aims to promote and support global peace. Under the theme of Peace Road towards Reconciliation and Unity in Sri Lanka Peace Road 2016 the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) held a march on July 9 to create awareness of their mission. After a brief meeting at the Vihara Maha Devi park open air theatre, 150 cyclists and walkers was led by the Ratnapura District Parliamentarian Hesha Withanage riding a bike went up to Independence Square and returned to the park.

The programme started with the prayers and blessings from religious leaders. The welcome speech was delivered by Secretary General of UPF Sri Lanka Dr. Chula Senaratne.

The programme was introduced by Dr. Edgar Tanate Education Director of UPF  South Asia. A peace message was delivered by Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Petroleum Gas Anoma Gamage and the Peace declaration was delivered by Ratnapura District parliamentarian Hesha Withanage.

There were also blessings for unity and reconciliation of Sri Lanka according to the Buddhist, Hindu, Islam and Christian religions respectively. The president of the Youth Federation for World Peace delivered a blessing representing the youth of Sri Lanka.

This also marked the Sri Lankan effort to support the worldwide campaign to have an International Peace Highway that will connect the nations of the world . Peace Road 2016 in Sri Lanka is a joint effort of Universal Peace Federation, United Nations Information Center, National Youth Services Council, Youth Federation for World Peace, Chain-of-Unity, several governmental and non-governmental organisations.

The UPF is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. The co-founders of UPF are Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon from Korea.
This decision comes in the wake of wide spread resentment of Tuki style of functioning within the state party unit.

By Ashhar Khan: In a move, seeped in real politik, the Congress party last night decided to change its Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Nabam Tuki. He is going to be replaced by Congress MLA Pema Khandu. This decision comes in the wake of wide spread resentment of Tuki style of functioning within the state party unit.

This was communicated to the Congress leadership on Friday night. Last night, emissaries spoke to both Nabam Tuki and Pema Khandu and it was conveyed clearly to them that the priority for the party is a Congress government in the state. After such plain-speak, Nabam Tuki acquiesced. There were already murmurs within the party that Pema Khandu should be handed over the CM post over Tuki.

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The plan according to sources is that in the CLP meeting the name of Pema Khandu would be taken as the unanimous choice for the post of Chief Minister. After that everybody will head to the Raj Bhawan to meet the Governor. There Nabam Tuki will submit his resignation, the state Congress president will say that Pema Khandu is the new leader of the Congress legislature party and he is ready to prove his majority almost immediately .

CONGRESS DECIDES TO CALL SESSION IMMEDIATELY



The Congress has also decided that it will waste no time in calling the session. They say that the session can be called almost immediately to prove the majority. The only caveat now is that how the governor responds to this changing situation.

Till last evening, the congress had made up its mind of taking the legal route. They were planning to move the Guwahati High Court against the Governor's order of proving majority in a day. But after wider consultation within the top leadership it was decided to explore other options as it was felt that the legal route will entail a long and protracted legal battle.

ALSO READ: Nabam Tuki files fresh plea in SC against President's Rule in Arunachal



I staked claim to Arunachal Pradesh Governor Tathagata Roy, oath taking date has not been not decided yet: Pema Khandu I have full support of 45 Congress MLAs, all of them support me, including 2 independent MLAs: Pema Khandu The members of Congress Legislature Party or CLP elected me as leader: Pema Khandu I am giving all my support to the party. In total, we have 45 Congress MLAs and two independent MLAs: Nabam Tuki There is no rift in the party and there is no meaning of floor test at all: Nabam Tuki

--- ENDS ---
Sri Lankan lawyer named Member of the Order of Australia View(s):

Maithri Panagoda, a distinguished lawyer, has been made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).

The award was made by the Governor-General of Australia on the Queens Birthday.

In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order of Australia confer recognition for outstanding achievement and service.

It is awarded for extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement. It rewards people who have made a significant difference to their community, the country or at an international level. The citation for Mr Panagodas honour is for significant service to the Sri Lankan community in New South Wales, and to the law, particularly in litigation and dispute resolution.

Mr Panagoda is a partner of Carroll & ODea Lawyers in Sydney. Over a period of nearly 40 years as a litigator, he has represented many people in all jurisdictions, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame.
The Prince of Batticaloa 90th Birthday tribute View(s):

I consider it a great honour to write this tribute to my dear friend Prince Casinader on his 90th birthday which falls on July 21.

Prince was born on July 21,1926 in Batticaloa. His parents had five sons and Prince was the second son. He started schooling at Vincent Girls High School and later moved on to St. Cecilias Convent. He started his schooling among girls but later entered the boys school  Methodist Central College, Batticaloa. His ambition was to be lawyer but the Vice Principal of Methodist Central College, invited him to join the staff temporarily, and that is how he ended up as a teacher.

He joined the Government Training College, Maharagama during 1950-1951 and joined the Methodist Central College, Batticaloa in 1952. During his career he devoted 35 years at the Methodist Central College as a teacher, Deputy Principal and retired as its Principal. During his tenure as Principal, his alma mater rose to great heights.

He was a great social worker and he loved to serve the community. He was the President of the Battiocaloa Citizens Committee and the Batticaloa Vigilance Committee. He was one of the delegates who represented Sri Lanka at the World Conference of Amnesty International held in Amsterdam. He has visited several countries  Russia, China, Japan, Holland, UK. Australia, Austria, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Germany. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka.

He reached the pinnacle of his public career when he was elected as a member of Parliament for Batticaloa. He was a member of the Consultative Committee on Education.

In lighter vein, Prince is well-known as an eloquent orator and his command of the English language is impeccable. His speeches on any occasion are interspersed with witty jokes that keep the audience in stitches. He is a master of jokes and yarns.

He was a founder member of the GTC Fifties and Vice President of the Secondary Trained Teachers Union.

It was a great blow to him when he lost his beloved wife a few years ago. His two daughters Praemini and Sharmini who are married, live abroad and visit him regularly.

Prince was my second year mate at GTC and we still keep in close contact with each other. On his 90th birthday we wish the Prince of Batticaloa all the best and may he blessed with good health, peace and contentment in the years to come!

-Cecil Withana
The search for an elderly Taupo man with dementia heads into its fourth day and concern is growing for his safety.

Alan Pritchard 78, was last seen taking the bins out at his home in Bonshaw Park on the outskirts of Taupo, on Thursday morning.
The Aurora Sentinel newspaper reported that Marquez, the deputy, was visiting his girlfriend's apartment when two suspects approached him in the parking lot with their guns drawn.

shows a close-up of an off-duty sheriff's deputy's bullet lodged inside the barrel of an assailant's gun,

By AP: Investigators say an off-duty Colorado sheriff's deputy fired a bullet straight down the barrel of a suspect's gun, a shot they called "one in a billion."

The detail emerged in a letter from prosecutors on Wednesday announcing that Arapahoe County Deputy Jose Marquez was justified in shooting the attempted-robbery suspect, who survived.

Marquez also was wounded in the January shooting and is still recovering.

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WHAT HAPPENED

The Aurora Sentinel newspaper in suburban Denver reported that Marquez was visiting his girlfriend's apartment when two suspects approached him in the parking lot with their guns drawn.

The off-duty deputy told investigators that one suspect told him to "give it up."

Marquez says the suspects fired first and he shot back. One was wounded in the leg and arrested, and the other got away.

Also Read:

Explosions, gunfire, air battle: All you need to know about Turkey military coup attempt Call of Duty: Photos of cop risking his life to protect a man from gunfire

--- ENDS ---
Todd says Indonesia is an important trade partner for New Zealand and is the countries 11th largest export market offers significant trading opportunities.

Our two-way trade currently sits at $1.6 billion, and were keen to explore ways to meet the target set by the two countries last year to boost trade to $4 billion by 2024, says Todd.

We will be looking to further broaden our trade connections, including through the Prime Ministers meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and my own meeting with Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong.

Todd spoke with Minster Lembong at last weekends G20 meeting in Shanghai and both ministers committed to further develop their government-to-government and business-to-business links.

"With a population of 255 million, Indonesia offers significant opportunity to New Zealand exporters and we will be looking to capitalise on the Prime Ministers visit to open doors for New Zealand companies," says Todd.

While in Indonesia, Todd will take part in business forums in Jakarta and Surabaya.

The Jakarta business forum will focus on the benefits of regional economic integration, including between ASEAN and New Zealand.

The Surabaya business forum will aim to promote New Zealands economic relationship with East Java, Indonesias second most populous province.

I look forward to working alongside the New Zealand business delegation to showcase New Zealands commercial expertise in areas of priority for Indonesia, including renewable energy, food and beverage, aviation, education and tourism, says Todd.

Source: Todd McClays office.
By PTI: Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Jul 15 (PTI) A Congress team today undertook a fact-finding tour of Kandhamal where five civilians were killed last week during anti-Maoist operation even as protesting party workers clashed with cops near the state police headquarters in Cuttack today.

The clash between Congress workers and police personnel took place when demonstrators protesting against the Kandhamal incident of July 8 were prevented from entering the high security office premises.

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Congress workers under the leadership of PCC treasurer and partys city chief Md Moqim went in a rally to submit a memorandum to DGP K B Singh demanding action against southern range IGP and Kandhmal SP for the Gumudumaha incident.

As the sloganeering rally reached the main gate of the police headquarters, jostling and pushing between the deployed policemen at the closed gate and a group of Congress workers began leading to a clash when tomatoes and water pouches were hurled at the policemen from behind.

While Congress leaders alleged that a woman protester was injured in police action, the police denied it.

The situation was brought under control and a delegation headed by the City Congress chief was allowed inside the headquarters to submit their memorandum to the DGP.

"The DGP has assured us that he will take appropriate action on our demands," Moqim said.

Meanwhile, a Congress team led by Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Narasingha Mishra visited Kandhamal and took stock of the situation in the area where the incident had taken place on the night of July 8.

The team, which also included some MLAs, met the family members and relatives of the victims.

Mishra said the focus of the visit was to try and find out the reason behind the incident. An on the spot stock taking of the episode was conducted, the Congress leader said, hitting out at the state government for the incident.

Terming the judicial inquiry and probe by a special investigation team (SIT) ordered into the incident as simply an eyewash, Mishra said strong action should be taken against those responsible for the tragedy. PTI COR SKN DKB RG LNS

--- ENDS ---
This assembly election in Uttar Pradesh is almost a do or die battle for the grand old party and the Congress is not taking any chances this time.

By Ashhar Khan: Come Sunday and for the new elected office bearers of Congress, all roads will lead to Lucknow. It's a gala bash which has been organised by the state Congress in consultation with the AICC. This assembly election in Uttar Pradesh is almost a do or die battle for the grand old party and the Congress is not taking any chances this time. All newly appointed committee members and chiefs including the General Secretary Incharge will be present there.

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Raj Babbar the new Congress Chief while Shiela Dikshit the chief ministerial face of the Congress in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Sanjay Singh the Chief of the Campaign Committee, RPN Singh senior Vice President along with four other Vice Presidents. Jitin Prasada member of the campaign committee will all be in Lucknow to present a show of strength.

All leaders and workers from in and around Lucknow region have been asked by the Congress to be present in large numbers to welcome the new appointees. The approximately 16 km distance between the Lucknow airport and the Congress headquarters at Mall Road in Lucknow is expected to be buzzing with workers and Congress well-wishers.

Ghulam Nabi Azad the General Secretary Incharge said, "the entire team will be taking over on Sunday in Lucknow where we will be forming a strategy." The influential congress leaders from entire Uttar Pradesh are expected to be in Lucknow on Sunday to welcome the new team announced by the AICC. Te block and district level workers including office bearers will also be present.

Sources say that in the coming one month massive outreach programs will be planned. Also the district chiefs have been asked to prepare and submit programs. Chief Minister candidate Sheila Dikshit has already announced of shifting of her base from her Nizammudin house in Delhi to Lucknow. She would be extensively touring the entire state as soon as the district and the block level programs are ready.

The Congress has been out of power in the state for almost 27 years now and number four party in the last two assembly election. The last time it left office in Uttar Pradesh was in the year 1989. However it has been hogging the limelight and media attention in the last one month. The "will she, won't she" card of Priyanka Gandhi has also been in the limelight. But as always the billion dollar question remains - will all this help or its position remain the same at the hustings in early 2017.

--- ENDS ---
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A crowd gathered at Billings Park in downtown and listened to speaker after speaker bemoan the violence that permeates Syracuse and demand the community take steps to end it.

And then dozens of balloons, each with the name of someone claimed by violence, were released and carried into the sky by a swift wind.

But Habakkuk Nickens, the man who helped organize the event Friday, was notably absent: he is locked up in federal prison.

His mother, Denise Nickens, said her son and other men in prison were working together to make a change in the community and atone for their misdeeds. She described herself as a foot soldier for her son, who organized the event from prison for a second year.

Habakkuk Nickens, 30, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2014 after pleading guilty to his role in the V-NOT gang, which used violence to control its drug-trafficking business on the city's South Side.

He admitted he was the driver in the 2010 fatal drive-by shooting of Kihary Blue. Habakkuk Nickens pulled up alongside a car known to be used by rival Bricktown gang members on Interstate 81 and V-NOT leader Kahari Smith opened fire. Blue was not a member of a gang, but was with four Bricktown gang members in the car.

Habakkuk Nickens could have received a 30-year sentence, but a judge cited his work in the community to try to turn teens away from violence and gangs. He started several outreach programs and a Bible study group in jail.

Now Habakkuk Nickens and other inmates, once fierce gang rivals, have come together to encourage others not to turn to violence, Denise Nickens said.

"Stopping the violence on the inside and bleeding on the outside, it can be done," she said. "Nobody's perfect, nobody's perfect, but it can be done."

"They can do it on the inside, I know we can do it on the outside," she said.

In the aftermath of a shooting on the Near West Side and police shootings around the country, recent protests, marches and meetings in Syracuse have tended to emphasize the bitter tensions between black communities and police. But remarks by speakers such as city Councilor Helen Hudson and O.G.'s Against Violence founder Clifford Ryan underscored a more introspective tone.

General Davis, a former gang member turned anti-violence advocate, applauded what Habakkuk Nickens and others had come together to do in prison.

"We have more resources than they do and they're still making it happen," he said.

Davis, who admitted he was shot and shot people as a young man, said he learned the hard way that people who persist with violence have only three outcomes: prison, hospitalization or death.

"I didn't know no better," he said. "Our kids out here they don't know no better."

So Davis, believing most of the problems with young people and violence stem from a missing father, started the group Real Fathers/Real Men.

"Because we know the average kid who goes in and out of jail don't have a father in his life," he said.

Mike Atkins, a former city councilor who works with teens in jail, said most are "children who are lost and need our help." The community also needs to take a stand against tacitly condoning gun violence by family and friends, he said.

"Silence is consent," Rashawn Sullivan said.



Sullivan spent more than 16 years in prison for the 1997 drive-by shooting in front of South Presbyterian Church on South Salina Street that killed Jason Crawford. After being released from prison Sullivan organized a vigil to publicly apologize and plead with others to avoid turning to violence.

He urged community to discard "these fictitious street codes" that let people justify not fighting violence.

"And right now we all got a chance to stand for something and fight for something," he said.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo kicked off the first race at the Onondaga Cup & Lakefest. And he won by more than a giant duck bill.

With a 60-foot inflatable duck looking on, Cuomo and his team raced SMG President Tim Kennedy and his team. Cuomo's team took off fast in the eight-person canoe. The governor joked he had some ringers, but his team included Matt Driscoll, the former Syracuse mayor and current state DOT commissioner.

Kennedy's team included Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, who arrived at the event with Cuomo. The politicians came to the lake following a tour of the Syracuse Nationals car show at the fairgrounds. Kennedy's team also included several other Central New York figures: Jim Bright, president at Dunk & Bright Furniture Co., Jim Fox, CEO of O'Brien & Gere, Jason Smoral, general manager of the Syracuse Chiefs, Al Stirpe, state Assemblyman, and Juli Boeheim.

Both teams donated $1,000 to the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation.

Following the race, Cuomo said the revival of the regatta at Onondaga Lake, which stopped two decades ago, is symbolic of the lake and region's rebound. "It's a story of renewal and rebirth," Cuomo said. "The lake is back. It's coming back faster than anyone expected."

Onondaga Lake, once among the most polluted lakes in the nation, has been undergoing environmental mediation for several years. Last year, scientists declared it safe enough to swim in. (Cuomo's press secretary John Kelly thought it was clean enough today. He ran through the water barefoot to hop on a boat that had already pulled away from shore).

Cuomo also joked that his team was fueled to row faster than Kennedy's team because someone was reading aloud all of the "nasty editorials" penned about him by the The Post-Standard and Syracuse.com. The Lakefest is sponsored by Syracuse.com's parent company, SMG, and The Syracuse Chargers rowing club.

"For a chance to get back at the newspaper, I can't tell you the joy I felt," Cuomo said, smiling.

Mahoney also spoke about the regatta as a sign of the lake's rebirth. And she thanked Cuomo for his support in the county's efforts to clean the lake and rebuild the area around it, including the Lakeview Amphitheater and the renovations at the Fairgrounds.

Kennedy said that when the regatta was first being discussed, it fit seamlessly within his vision of the media company's mission: to make the community a better place.

"This was a no brainer," Kennedy said.

He and Cuomo promised to face off again next year. For that, Cuomo offered some advice: "Go Straight."

The Onondaga Cup and Lakefest is free at Onondaga Lake Park and continues through this evening.

Marnie Eisenstadt writes about people, life and culture in Central New York. Contact her anytime: email | twitter | 315-470-2246.
2016-05-25-mjg-Gov13.JPG

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo greets the crowd at the New York State Fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon, May 25, 2016.

(Michael Greenlar | mgreenlar@syracuse.com)

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo will open the Onondaga Cup & Lakefest Saturday by paddling in a canoe race that will raise money for charity.

The governor, joined by members of his executive office, will compete against a team of Central New Yorkers, titled Team CNY, captained by Tim Kennedy, president of the Syracuse Media Group.

"The rebirth of the Onondaga Lake marks an important chapter in the success story of Syracuse and all of Central New York," Cuomo said in a news release. "By holding the Governor's Cup to celebrate the revival of the regatta, we are paying tribute to a time-honored tradition and celebrating the cultural and historical spirit of this region. I look forward to a spirited race and being the first team to cross the finish line."

Kennedy said "the Governor's Cup is a great addition to the inaugural Onondaga Cup & LakeFest,"

"A spirited but friendly competition will be a great way to start the day as we celebrate the lake and support the important work of both the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation and the Onondaga Lake Conservation Corps," Kennedy said.

The other members of the CNY team will be:

Juli Boeheim, wife of SU basketball coach Jim Boeheim and vice president of the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation

Jim Bright, president at Dunk & Bright Furniture Co.

Jim Fox, chief executive officer of O'Brien & Gere Cos.

Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County Executive

Jason Smoral, general manager of the Syracuse Chiefs

Al Stirpe, state Assemblyman

The winner of the race will donate $1,000 to the Jim & Juli Boeheim Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to help kids in need in Central New York and to provide support for cancer research.

The race will be held at 11 a.m. at Willow Bay near Liverpool.

Cuomo is scheduled to stop at the Syracuse Nationals classic car show at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the State Fairgrounds in Geddes.

The Onondaga Cup & LakeFest is a one-day regatta and onshore festival that will be held at Willow Bay, Onondaga Lake Park. It is the first event to celebrate the rebirth of Onondaga Lake, which was once one of the most polluted lakes in the United States.

The regatta and festival features rowing, paddle board and kayak competitions, plus live music, food, drink and a mermaid visit and a kids' zone. The event will also feature a six-story tall rubber duck.

The final races for each category will be at night, under the lights.

Syracuse Media Group, in partnership with the Syracuse CHARGERS, is producing the regatta, with support from several community sponsors.

"The rebirth of Onondaga Lake is one of the great stories in Central New York," Kennedy said. "This regatta will be a summer tradition that we will promote across Upstate New York."

The Onondaga Cup & Lakefest is free to the public. There will be a paid-ticketed area that will feature a clambake dinner as well.

Syracuse Media Group is the parent company of Syracuse.com, The Post-Standard and NewYorkUpstate.com.
Arthur Jordan

Arthur Jordan has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Buffalo police officers in the wake of the Dallas shooting that left five cops dead.

(WIVB video still)

A gang member has been arrested for making "credible threats" to Buffalo Police officers in the wake of the Dallas shootings.

WIVB reports Arthur Jordan was spotted during a traffic stop and resisted arrest on Friday. He was later arrested at his home and charged with threatening to injure or kill BPD officers.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said Jordan had threatened local authorities after five Dallas cops were shot and killed by a sniper at a Black Lives Matter protest earlier this month.

"Let's Start Killin Police Lets See How Dey Like It," Jordan allegedly wrote that same day on Facebook.

According to WIVB, Jordan was allegedly in possession of an illegally-owned .380 handgun. Derenda described him as a "violent predator" and "gang banger" seeking fame.

"I should've done some CNN s---. You don't even wanna know what I was thinking about," Jordan said, according to a criminal complaint.

The Buffalo News reports Jordan was identified as a member of the Central Park Gang in an announcement by U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, FBI Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen and Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda.

No court date has been set for Jordan.
Clintoncorrectional.jpg

Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, is seen in an undated file photo.

(By Bubby1124,commons.wikimedia.org/)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A state prison in Northern New York remained locked down Friday following an incident in the yard involving several inmates, corrections officials said.

A warning shot was fired and tear gas used after prisoners ignored officers' orders at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora on Thursday evening, authorities said.

A corrections officer was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, the Plattsburgh Press-Republican reported.

The incident is under investigation, prison spokesman Thomas Mailey said. He declined further comment Friday.

A fight among four inmates escalated with hundreds of prisoners in the yard, resulting in some cutting, the newspaper said. At one point, guards were surrounded. The incident ended around midnight after a second altercation as prisoners were returning inside.

"Staff performed a swift and measured response to this incident and were able to safely remove the combatants and begin a search of the area for the cutting weapon," the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision told the Press-Republican.

The maximum-security prison in Dannemora, about 25 miles from the Canadian border, was the scene of an escape last year of two convicted murderers.

The National Desk contributed to this report.
It was alleged that Vijay Kumar Narayan Shewale had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs. 5.26 Crore (approx) in his own name as well as in the name of his family members.

By Shivendra Srivastava: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today recovered more than one crore rupees from the residence of the then Development Commissioner, Special Economic Zone, Surat, during raids conducted after a case of disproportionate assets was registered against him.

The CBI has registered a case under section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of PC Act, 1988 and Section 109 of IPC against Vijay Kumar Narayan Shewale, who is currently posted as Development Commissioner, Mangalore SEZ, and his wife for possession of disproportionate assets.

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It was alleged that said public servant had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs. 5.26 Crore (approx) in his own name as well as in the name of his family members including his wife, daughter and son. The alleged assets include residential, business and agricultural premises.

Searches were conducted at 7 premises in Mangalore, Mumbai, Malegaon and Nashik which led to recovery of several incriminating documents relating to the acquisition of properties and cash to the tune of Rs 99,60,000/ (approx)- from the residence of said public servant and Rs 94,99,000/-(approx) from the office of a private firm at Andheri (West), Mumbai. 300 gms (approx) of gold jewellery and 900 gms (approx) of silver coins were recovered from a bank locker in the name of his wife.

--- ENDS ---
France Truck Attack

Forensic officers stand near a truck with its windscreen riddled with bullets, that plowed through a crowd of revelers who'd gathered to watch the fireworks in the French resort city of Nice, southern France, Friday, July 15, 2016.

(Claude Paris | AP)

NICE, France (AP) -- France called up thousands of reserve security forces Friday as authorities tried to determine why a Tunisian deliveryman known only to be a petty criminal took the wheel of a 19-ton truck and plunged through a terrified seaside crowd on Bastille Day, leaving 84 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

Witnesses described how Mohamed Bouhlel barreled his truck in a zigzag path down a crowded Nice promenade, aiming directly for children, for mothers pushing strollers and for families cowering behind plastic benches.

President Francois Hollande extended a national state of emergency that stretched back to the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The state of emergency had been due to be scaled back but instead was extended another three months. The government tapped its operational reserve of 25,000 -- composed mainly of ex-military or former gendarmes -- to relieve its tired officers, stretched by month after month of state-of-emergency policing.

Hollande said the attack was "undeniably terrorist in nature," but prosecutors said the 31-year-old driver who lived in Nice wasn't known to intelligence services.

No group claimed responsibility for Thursday night's slaughter of tourists and locals packing the upscale seafront, where an estimated 30,000 had just watched a Bastille Day fireworks show.

They fanned out to enjoy nighttime street artists, arcade games and food stalls or strolls back to their hotels beside the gentle Mediterranean tide. Then Bouhlel drove his truck into the sidewalk and turned a celebration into a terrifying dash for survival.

Cyril Croisy said he saw the truck accelerate into the first crowds outside Nice's landmark Negresso Hotel, aiming straight for a stand selling candy to children.

He said he tried to help the wounded, including a woman with catastrophic injuries.

"I was there when her heart stopped," said Croisy, his eyes welling with tears as he spoke. The 40-year-old Parisian suffered a broken arm while fleeing the scene and jumping from the pedestrian promenade to the beach below.

Ten of the 84 dead were children. Of the 202 injured, 52 were critically hurt.

Among the dead were immigrants and tourists from many nations, including Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and the United States. Two Scots were among the dozens listed as missing.

French prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel had a loaded handgun, three replica weapons and an empty grenade in the truck, which he had rented three days earlier. Police considered him a petty criminal suspected since 2010 of various threats and acts of theft, vandalism and violent conduct, he said.

In March, he was convicted for a road-rage crime when he struck another motorist with a wooden pallet but received a suspended six-month sentence because it was his first proven offense.

Molins said Bouhlel was "totally unknown to intelligence services ... and was never placed on a watch list for radicalization."

Hollande's government, whose popularity is plumbing record lows in polls, has been buffeted by allegations that France's intelligence services have failed to get a handle on the country's jihadist threat. France has known for years that it is a top Islamic State target, and France also is the biggest source for European recruits for IS, with more than 1,000 fighting in Syria or Iraq.

Hollande, who flew to Nice visit the injured in Pasteur Hospital, declared three days of national mourning from Saturday.

He was booed by angry members of the public as his motorcade passed the scene of the slaughter. Earlier he addressed the nation live on television and sought to provide a rationale for the horror.

"Why Nice?" Hollande asked. "Because it is a city that is known worldwide, one of the most beautiful cities on the planet. Why on the 14th of July? Because it is a celebration of freedom."

It's unclear how quickly the volunteers and part-time professionals will be seen on the streets of Nice or anywhere else after their callup. Interior Ministry officials declined to comment on the timing of the deployment.

Bouhlel's attack was stopped thanks to a handful of police who pursued the truck on foot and, possibly, by motorcycle as he plowed through the first crowds outside the Negresso.

German tourist Richard Gutjahr filmed the truck from his hotel balcony as a suspected police motorcyclist mounted a curb and tried to open the driver's door, only to tumble to the pavement and barely miss being crushed by the wheels. The video showed the unseated motorcyclist continue pursuit on foot, briefly climbing on the side of the accelerating truck, as two officers fired shots from handguns into the truck cabin.

The truck tore into a pedestrian area as the crowd scattered, many leaping from the pathway to the beach below. The truck bore down toward English tourist Simon Coates, who had just lost his wife Amanda in the chaos.

"Within a few seconds it was almost upon me," Coates told the BBC. "I looked to my left and there was an old man, perhaps a grandfather, and a young boy of about 10. The truck aimed straight for them. I leapt one way. The little boy, I don't know how, but he managed to get away from the truck by inches."

Coates said he reluctantly turned to follow the truck to find his wife -- and searched among dozens of crushed bodies seeking to identify her from her bicycle or an article of clothing. He couldn't find her before reaching the point where police finally stopped and shot to death the driver barely 20 yards (meters) in front of him.

"The police were screaming to get away. They thought there was a bomb, so I turned around as quickly as I could. The ground was very slippery with what was left of some people," Coates said. "I saw some dreadful things. It was like a chamber of horrors. Every person seemed to have died in an increasingly grotesque way."

Egyptian tourist Nader El Shafei said he tried imploring Bouhlel in Arabic through the attacker's open window to stop what he was doing. Instead, he said, he saw the truck smash into a girl and drag many bodies wedged in its undercarriage.

When police closed in, handguns drawn, El Shafei said Bouhlel opened fire.

"I saw the gun in his hand and I saw him shooting through the window," he said. "The police surrounded the car and they kept shooting him until they were sure he's dead."

Watching from his hotel window, English tourist Paul Gordon said he could see the truck bouncing over the bodies of the dead and wounded. "I saw people being knocked over like skittles," said Gordon, who had just left the promenade with his wife and 18-month-old daughter.

Stephane Erbs said he was heading back to his car with his wife, Rachel, and their two children when he saw the truck bearing down on them. He told The Associated Press that his first instinct was to throw his 7-year-old son, Celion, out of harm's way, while his wife pushed their daughter, 12-year-old Noemi, to safety.

"I threw him in the direction of the wall" next to the beach, said Erbs, who broke seven ribs as he tried to get out of the way. His children were unharmed but his wife remained missing Friday.

Coates said he found his unhurt wife, Amanda, after a frantic search of bodies on the path back to his hotel "that was the longest 20 minutes of my life." He said as horrible as the slaughter had been, the placement of a sidewalk-blocking gazebo and the bravery of a handful of armed officers had reduced the potential death toll.

He said the attacker veered wildly from side to side to pick off groups of people "in dribs and drabs," many of them hiding behind plastic benches that splintered into shards. "He'd just mown them down."

The police gunfire kept the attacker from reaching much larger crowds where "hundreds of people could have been killed," he said. "It could have been incalculably worse."

As France and the rest of the world mourned, the Eiffel Tower was bathed in the red, white and blue of the French tricolor -- just as it had after the November attacks.

President Barack Obama condemned the attack and, noting it occurred on Bastille Day, praised "the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world."

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he was "shocked by the violence and exceptional cynicism" of the attack and pledged to work closely with France and other countries to fight terrorism that is "devoid of any human moral."

The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation -- the world's largest Islamic bloc -- denounced the violence as barbaric, shocking and brutal.
By India Today Web Desk: The world's changed. We need people with the skills and the attitude to take on threats we don't even know exist. We need a different kind of soldier.

Those are the words accompanying the logo of Deepika Padukone's maiden Hollywood film, xXx Return of Xander Cage. The Bajirao Mastani star unveiled the logo of her upcoming debut international film, where she will be seen sharing screen space with Hollywood star Vin Diesel.

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ALSO READ: Deepika Padukone on her Hollywood debut - No role is too small or too big

PHOTO: Deepika Padukone with Vin Diesel's daughter Pauline will make you go AWWW!

Deepika, who will play the character of a huntress named Serena Unger in the upcoming international film, revealed the animated logo of her film on her official Instagram account.



#XXX #returnofxandercage #logoreveal #serenaunger A video posted by Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) on Jul 14, 2016 at 6:01pm PDT

The edgy red and silver logo was supported by Diesel's powerful voice.

Deepika captioned the video "'xXx Return of Xander Cage' logo reveal. Serena Unger (sic)".

Directed by DJ Caruso, xXx Return of Xander Cage", a sequel to the 2002 film xXx and 2005 film xXx: State of the Union, also stars Ruby Rose, Samuel L Jackson, Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa. Ever since news broke that Deepika is a part of the film, her fans have been waiting with bated breath for any development on that front.

When her look from the film was revealed, Deepika made many go weak in the knees. The fierce Serena, after all, is not how people are used to seeing the Piku actor.

xXx Return of Xander Cage will mark Deepika's foray into Hollywood, a feat that comes on the heels of her Bajirao Mastani co-star Priyanka Chopra making a mark for herself in the US. Priyanka too will be seen in her first Hollywood film Baywatch next year.

Deepika's xXx Return of Xander Cage is slated to release on January 20, 2017.

--- ENDS ---
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By Paul Ivice, Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

FORT PIERCE  A Circuit Court jury deliberated for about four hours Friday evening before finding a Port St. Lucie man guilty of first-degree murder.

Because first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, Circuit Judge Steven Levin opted to immediately give Thomas Jeffrey Roberts three life sentences, two of them to run consecutively for the murders and the other for armed burglary to run concurrently.

Roberts, 31, was found guilty of the January 2012 shooting deaths of Frank Houck, 51, and his common-law wife, 58-year-old Irene Reiss in the home in the 300 block of Northeast Salida Circle that Reiss had rented for about two decades.

A legal technicality had caused a mistrial in May in the first attempt to convict Roberts.

Defense attorney Karen Tufte of Fort Pierce said Roberts took the jury's verdict stoically. "I don't think it was completely unexpected," she said.

Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Hendriks praised the jury's verdict and said, "We are extremely happy that the victims' family can move past this horrible event."

Tufte said she will appeal the verdict.

She had argued earlier Friday that Roberts, who did not testify, was made a scapegoat by the four fellow drug addicts with him that night.

Testimony in the trial showed Roberts and another friend had been staying for several days at a Fort Pierce motel with Arnold Ray Daugherty, 29, who was a fugitive from Tennessee, and Daugherty's father, who was bedridden.

Two years ago, Daugherty pleaded no contest to one count of accessory to murder after the fact, and is awaiting sentencing.

Daugherty testified the group needed money because his father said they needed to start chipping in for the cost of the room, and also to support their prescription painkiller habit.

Daugherty said he, Roberts and Brian Lawson were all addicted to the powerful painkiller OxyContin, which they injected.

Roberts told him he could get $50 from his parents or he could "do a lick," slang for a robbery, Daugherty said.

Daugherty said he and Colleen Powell went along with his pregnant girlfriend, Keri Kendle, as she dropped Roberts near the home of Roberts' parents, which is two homes away from the home Houck and Reiss shared in the 300 block of Northeast Salida Circle.

First, though, they stopped at a nearby pharmacy because Roberts said he needed to use the restroom. Daugherty said Kendle became upset when she found a gun in Roberts' book bag, which he said she searched looking for needles while Roberts was inside the pharmacy, because she had warned Roberts not to bring a gun in her car.

After they dropped Roberts on the block where his parents lived, the three then went back to the pharmacy to wait for Roberts to call, he said.

He said Kindle had no money when she left, but when she returned with Roberts she bought cigarettes and potato chips.

In her closing argument, Tufte said testimony from the state's witnesses were "filled with conflicts."

In his rebuttal, however, Assistant State Attorney Bernie Romero said Tufte's arguments were "attacks on the periphery of the case."

"If you look at the core of those (witnesses' statements), they are the same," Romero said.
Some beachgoers were already in the water about 7 a.m. Saturday morning as the sun was rising at Jensen Beach, where showers could be seen just offshore. (MARTIN COUNTY WEBCAM)

SHARE Boating forecast for Saturday. (WPTV NEWSCHANNEL 5)

By Staff Report

ADVISORIES

Peak heat index values between 100 and 105 are expected this afternoon, generally across inland areas away from the coast.

For marine interests, storms are expected to develop over land and affect mainly inland lakes.

The rip current risk today is low.

FORECAST

Your typical July forecast should be expected this weekend.

Shower activity is pushing toward the lake this afternoon.

This afternoon, we're seeing scattered showers and thunderstorms. It's mostly sunny, with a high near 91 and an east-southeast wind around 10 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

This evening will be mostly clear and muggy. There will be a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8 p.m. Expect a low around 75 and an east-southeast wind of 5 to 10 mph.

Keep an eye on conditions with our live weather radar.

Sunrise today was at 6:37 a.m. Sunset is at 8:19 p.m.

EXTENDED FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. East wind 5 to 15 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. East wind around 10 mph.

Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 90. East wind 10 to 15 mph.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. East wind around 10 mph.

Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. East wind 10 to 15 mph.

Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 76. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

TROPICAL UPDATE

Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico

Source: National Hurricane Center

There are no tropical cyclones at this time and nothing is expected to develop in the next 48 hours.

TODAY'S TIDE FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Sebastian Inlet Bridge

High tides: 5:38 a.m. and 6:24 p.m.

Low tides: 12:05 p.m. and 12:33 a.m. Sunday

Fort Pierce Inlet, South Jetty

High tides: 555 AM and 641 PM

Low tides: 1211 PM and 1239 AM Sunday

MARINE FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

The axis of the Atlantic high pressure ridge will shift gradually north of the waters today and remain there through the middle of next week. This will cause a light to gentle southeast to east breeze. Expect generally favorable boating conditions with limited shower and thunderstorm chances through the weekend.

Today: Southeast winds 10 knots. Seas 2 feet with a dominant period 7 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Isolated showers and thunderstorms.

Tonight: Southeast winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 7 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Sunday: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 4 seconds. A moderate chop on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning.

Sunday Night: East winds 10 to 15 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight.

WPTV NewsChannel 5 meteorologists and the National Weather Service, Melbourne, contributed to this report.
Google and its parent company Alphabet are facing new charges in the European Commissions ongoing investigation of allegations that Googles comparison shopping and online advertising platforms violated antitrust laws.

The EC on Thursday alleged that Google had abused its dominant position by systematically favoring its own comparison shopping service in search results. Further, it artificially restricted the ability of third-party websites to display search ads from Googles competitors.

While Google has developed many innovative products, it doesnt have the right to deny other companies the right to compete and innovate, said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

Today we have further strengthened our case that Google has unduly favored its own comparison shopping service in its general search results pages, she said. It means consumers may not see the most relevant results in their search queries.

The Commission also has raised concerns that Google has hindered competition by limiting the ability of its competitors to place search adverts on third-party websites, Vestager said.

Google responded to the allegations via Twitter.

In reaction to EC: We believe our innovations and product improvements have increased choice for EU consumers and promote competition (1/2)

 Google in Brussels (@GoogleBrussels) July 14, 2016

Well examine the Commissions renewed cases and provide a detailed response in the coming weeks (2/2)

 Google in Brussels (@GoogleBrussels) July 14, 2016

Google and Alphabet have 10 weeks to respond to the charges.

Merchant Links

The Commission made a detailed examination of Googles prior argument: that it shouldnt consider comparison shopping services in isolation, but together with services provided by merchant platforms such as Amazon and eBay.

The EC has received several complaints about Google in a range of areas, including the companys advertising business, according to an EU official who asked not to be identified.

The charges involving AdSense cover an area that the Commission already was aware of when it opened the investigation in November 2010, the official told the E-Commerce Times.

Dominant Position

Google has controlled about 80 percent of the market for search advertising in the European Economic Area over the past 10 years, according to the Commission.

A large percentage of the companys revenue stems from agreements with Direct Partners, which might result in antitrust violations. Among the arrangements the EC considers problematic are exclusivity deals that prohibit search ads from Google competitors; premium placement of a number of search ads; and giving Google the right to authorize competing ads.

The EC charges are another step in leveling the playing field to achieve fair competition, said Foundem CEO Shivaun Raff, the lead complainant in the EC case against Google.

The Commission should be wary of Googles attempts to use delaying tactics to reinforce its dominance in the market, he warned.

While the Commission is clearly heading towards a robust prohibition decision, Raff said, we are concerned that if it does not act conclusively in the near future, there may be little competition left to protect.
During the company's Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft has unveiled its upcoming plans to provide online degrees that cater to the demands of highly competitive technological fields.

Officially launched as the Microsoft Professional Degree (MPD) program, the first course offered to interested professionals and fresh graduates alike, mainly focuses on skill development and education through a Data Sciences curriculum.

"Recognizing a shortage of qualified individuals to fill the growing need for data scientists, Microsoft consulted with education and industry partners to develop a curriculum concentrated on developing the skills and real world experience these new roles require," says Microsoft.

Data Sciences MPD Program

This specific MPD program features courses that educate incoming applicants on how they can visualize and implement data in Microsoft Excel and Power BI, as well as supplemental (and needed) skills in R and Python programming language, statistics and machine learning.

"At Microsoft, we believe the approach and tools used for learning need to continually evolve to meet the demands of our device-centric and data-driven world," said Alison Cunard, the general manager at Microsoft Learning Experiences. She added that in the current era of technology, "both technical and functional skills are becoming increasingly critical across all careers and vocations."

As such, not only will the courses offer educational talks online, hands-on activities and workshops are some of the other approaches the MPD program is utilizing through learning partners like Fast Lane, QA Ltd., DDLS, and NIIT Ltd.

edX MOOC

The Data Sciences MPD program will be available on the massive open online course (MOOC) platform, edX, as a free initiative, though the certified accreditation from Microsoft (or MPD verified certificate) after each course concludes requires fees ranging from $25 to $99, depending on the classes taken.

The curriculum outlines three units  Fundamentals unit, Core Data Science unit and Applied Data Science unit  with various focuses to choose from in each category, and then finally, a capstone project requirement where "learners" showcase their acquired talents from the course by applying it to real-world scenarios that solve current data science problems.

"The project takes the form of a challenge on the Cortana Intelligence platform, where you will develop and deploy a solution that is tested and scored to determine your grade," describes its edX course outline.

Those who wish to further improve their skill sets and enhance their resume-worthy credentials may visit the Microsoft Data Science Curriculum page on edX to apply for the program.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bangladesh Police have arrested three people for renting out a flat to the attackers of Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Bangladesh Police have arrested three people, including North South University's acting pro-VC Dr Gias Uddin Ahsan, for renting out a flat to the attackers of Holey Artisan Bakery.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed this news to India Today.

The other arrestees are Gias nephew Alam Chowdhury and building manager Mahbubur Rahman Tuhin.

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A team of Counterterrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit arrested them around 5 pm yesterday.

HOW WAS THE APARTMENT USED?



According to police, associates of the five attackers moved into the flat at Block E, Road 6 of Bashundhara Residential Area on May 16, but Gias Uddin did not collect the required information from the tenants to submit it to police, as per the DMP directive.

Police found sand-filled cartons and used clothes in the flat. They suspect the grenades used by attackers at Holey Artisan were carried in those cartons.

They also suspect the five attackers started living in the flat in the beginning of Ramadan, and the plan for the attack was finalised there.

UNIVERSITY CONNECT WITH EXTREMISM



Noted that, Bangladeshi elite educational institutions alleged in militant activities. The university students along with the English medium are allegedly connected with extremism in Bangladesh.

The critics made comments after the militant attacks in capitals Gulshan area and Sholakia Eid congregation premises of Kishoreganj district recently as the attackers identified are the students of universities.

Also read:



Bangladesh identifies masterminds of Dhaka attack

Dhaka attack: Bangladesh minister blames Pakistan government, ISI

--- ENDS ---
Microsoft is gearing up to add a monthly subscription fee for its Windows 10, but it doesn't apply to consumers  at least not at this point.

Called Windows 10 Enterprise E3, the new monthly subscription tier will apply only to enterprises, not individual consumers who upgraded to Windows 10 on the promise that it's free.

The new tier will cost enterprises $7 per month for each user, bringing Windows 10 in line with Azure and Office 365 as a subscription service.

Microsoft promised time and time again that upgrading to Windows 10 is free, prompting many consumers to take the plunge when otherwise they wouldn't have paid for the upgrade. The news of the monthly subscription service stirred some concerns that Microsoft might be looking to charge customers once that year of free upgrades to Windows 10 ends on July 29, but the company confirmed that it's not the case.

So how does this new enterprise tier affect those who got Windows 10 for free? It doesn't, according to Microsoft.

"This new subscription model is not associated with our current upgrade offering or applicable to the Windows 10 consumer edition," a company spokesperson confirmed for PCWorld.

On the other hand, this only gives assurance that consumers will not be charged for Windows 10 at this point, but offers no guarantees that it will not happen in the future. Microsoft could eventually add Windows 10 monthly subscriptions for consumers as well, but it's highly unlikely that it would push them to all customers who already upgraded because it was free.

Instead, the company could decide to implement a threshold at some point and require a subscription for those who want additional features past that point.

While it's just speculation at this stage, this would make sense considering that Microsoft repeatedly said that Windows 10 is the last version of its OS. This means that it will get various upgrades in the future, but it will not get a successor in the form of a Windows 11.

With no Windows 11 replacement, Windows 10 could require a fee somewhere down the line, when it reaches a more advanced stage.

For now, consumers who want to upgrade to Windows 10 can still take advantage of the free upgrade offer until July 29, and they will not have to pay any fees afterward. Once the free upgrade offer expires, Windows 10 will be available for purchase at $119 for the Home edition and $199 for the Pro.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With the election season just around the corner in the U.S., Google is getting in on the action and looking to make things easier for prospective voters. Google Search will simplify the registration process for voters as it will offer state-specific voter registration guides prior to the 2016 presidential elections in November.

On Monday, July 18, the Alphabet subsidiary will push out the new search functionality, which will aid users in registering to vote before the elections.

"Starting on Monday, we're introducing a new tool in Search to simplify the voter registration process to make it easier for you to have your voice heard," revealed Google on July 15.

When you type "register to vote" or a similar query in Google Search post July 18, you will be greeted with state-specific and in-depth guidelines on how you can register to vote, the eligibility criteria and the deadline for your state. All these details will be reflected at the top of the search page, as well as the Google app.

Jacob Schonberg, Google's product manager, revealed in a blog post that the company is optimistic that the feature will be a handy tool for voters.

"We hope these new features in Search will help keep you informed this election season and make it easier for you to make it to the ballot box in November," noted Schonberg.

What prompted Google's move? As Google Search's communication manager Susan Cadrecha revealed, the company observed there was a substantial increase in the number of queries pertaining to "voter registration" or "where do I vote" or "how do I vote" as the elections draw near.

With the integration of this information directly into Google Search, the company will be providing voters with improved information access, which will be at their fingertips.

"We hope that this feature helps simplify the registration process, thereby making it easier for every vote and every voice to be heard," said Cadrecha.

Google will also be introducing a new search tool that will provide information on any Democratic National Convention or Republican National Convention. In the Google app, when a user looks up info about either of the conventions, they will get the event summary, nominee information and detailed list of speakers.

Moreover, users will also be able to view the conventions' live stream posted on YouTube, as well as pertinent social media posts on the Google app and web search page.

Are you excited about the new feature of Google Search? Let us know in the comments section below.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Facebook is in a tight spot after its diversity leader recently blamed the educational system for the difficulties the company faces when looking to hire a more diverse workforce.

Facebook's Global Director of Diversity, Maxine Williams, recently stated that "appropriate representation in technology" depends on the people's access to "necessary skills through the public education system."

Her statement comes in the wake of Facebook releasing its most recent diversity stats. On the bright side, the stats show that women in leadership positions are up by 4 percent, reaching 27 percent. Other good news for inclusiveness is that the number of black employees in non-tech roles rose from 3 percent in the 2015 report to 5 percent in the recent one.

However, the broader picture shows that Facebook remains a male-dominated company.

As much as 67 percent of Facebook's workforce is composed of men, out of which 83 percent are in tech-related jobs. Looking at senior leadership positions, 73 percent of them are occupied by men.

The numbers for racial distribution over Facebook's employees show that whites make up 52 percent of U.S. employees of the company. Asians account for 38 percent, Hispanics for 4 percent and blacks for 2 percent. Bi or multi-racial employees amass to 3 percent.

Strictly measuring tech-related jobs, 48 percent are occupied by whites, 46 percent are Asian, 3 percent are Hispanic and 1 percent is black. Only 2 percent are filled by bi- or multi-racial employees.

"We continue to strive for greater change, we are encouraged by positive hiring trends," Williams notes.

Not everyone agrees with Williams, though.

One of those disagreeing is Joelle Emerson, founder and CEO of Paradigm, a consulting company that advises technology companies on matters of inclusion and diversity.

"I am kind of shocked that Facebook would continue to perpetuate a narrative that has been so thoroughly disproven by the data," Emerson points out.

Data show that there is a disproportion between the number of blacks and Hispanics that graduate in computer science and the number of employees in the tech industry belonging to those groups. To put it in perspective, about 9 percent of those who graduate from top engineering programs are black and Hispanic. However, the two ethnical groups' representation in major tech enterprises is of about 5 percent.

Williams thinks that the high schools should put more effort into pushing computer science to students. According to her, only 25 percent of U.S. high schools have computer science in their curricula.

The social media company made actual steps to bridge the gap between gender and racial misrepresentation in the tech world.

Last year, Facebook started TechPrep. The online program offers resources in Spanish and English that are aimed to increase the appeal of computer sciences to parents and children from ethnical diverse groups. What is more, the social media company caters to the Facebook University (FBU) program, which is targeted at undergrads belonging to minorities.

Facebook backs programs for gender equality, as well. The company supports the Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E) Lean In Circles program, which offers resources to college female students who demonstrate computer science inclinations.

Williams also mentions that her company encourages its recruiters to keep an open eye "for more diversity in the qualified talent pool."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Whether farming and agriculture evolved from an exclusive, homogeneous origin or grew from multiple sources has long been a subject of debate between scientists.

About 12,000 years ago, prehistoric humans began to practice farming, growing wild varieties of crops such as lentils, barley and peas while herding goats, wild oxen and other animals.

Over time, these ancient hunter-gatherers switched to full-time farming and bred both plants and animals, producing new breeds and varieties.

Our ancestors eventually migrated and spread the practice of farming to Asia and Europe.

Experts believe farming may have been started by only one group of ancient humans.

The world's first farmers resided in the Fertile Crescent, which used to be a region in the Middle East that now encompasses modern-day Jordan, Israel, Iraq, Syria, southeastern Turkey, Palestine and western Iran.

It has long been believed that these early farmers were a homogeneous group that intermingled and traded goods, swapping tricks on farming and tools, as well as having interrelationships.

But this longstanding theory is being challenged by a new study. Its findings suggest that instead of originating from a single group, farming may have been invented by multiple people in the Fertile Crescent.

The diverse groups were genetically distinct from one another and did not intermingle at that time. By this, anthropologist Joachim Burger explains that the diverse groups of humans lived more or less in the same area but they remained isolated from one another at least for a few thousand years.

Burger is the co-author of the study along with several international scientists, and they performed a DNA analysis on the remains of four ancient individuals.

These prehistoric humans lived about 10,000 years ago on the eastern edges of the Fertile Crescent. More specifically, they resided on the Zagros Mountains on the border between Iran and Iraq, researchers say.

The research team compared the DNA of the four individuals with that of several skeletons that were younger by a couple of thousands of years. The latter were discovered on the region of the Fertile Crescent that now includes modern Turkey.

Scientists say the two groups "could not have been more genetically different."

Mark Thomas, an evolutionary biologist from University College, London and Burger's study co-author, says they would not expect huge genetic differences from opposite ends of the Fertile Crescent.

But the genetic signatures of both groups indicate that the Zagros population and the Anatolian population diverged from one common ancestor about 46,000 to 77,000 years ago. Farming wasn't even invented back then.

"That's a surprise," says Thomas. "That's the real big surprise of the study."

In the end, the new research concludes that the first farmers of the eastern Fertile Crescent did not move westward. This meant that they were not responsible for spreading farming and agriculture to Western Europe. Additionally, scientists did not find a trace of similarity between the DNA of ancient farmers from this part of the Fertile Crescent and present-day Europeans.

On the other hand, early farmers from Zagros appeared to have genetic resemblance to modern-day humans in South Asia, particularly Afghanistan and Pakistan. Researchers suggest that ancient Zagros farmers may have traveled east and spread their farming techniques to this region of the world.

Meanwhile, the findings of this new study are published in the journal Science.

Photo: Richard Masoner | Flickr

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ford recently injected a hefty sum into the 3D-mapping startup Civil Maps, which should give the automaker an edge in the race toward autonomous driving.

The company invested $6.6 million in a round with Motus Ventures at the helm. Other important names lined up in the participation list, with notable mentions going to StartX Stanford, Wicklow Capital and Jerry Yang's AME Cloud Ventures.

Civil Maps is a startup that debuted in California in 2014 and makes use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and local vehicle-based processing to turn data delivered by the car's sensors into "meaningful map information." Such information is paramount to the proper functioning of self-driving cars.

Before Ford & Friends backed it up, the venture managed to raise about $3 million.

Civil Maps underlines that the recent injection of capital, which it calls a "seed" investment, will go straight to product development and the deployment of its technology into the car manufacturing sector.

It looks like the interest for financing the development of autonomous driving technologies has spiked recently.

No sooner than this week, the startup dubbed FiveAI raised $2.7 million from strategic investors. The premise of the company is an interesting one, as FiveAI plans to leave behind the need to have constantly actualized 3D maps for autonomous vehicles. Instead, the venture proposes that the car builds the map as it drives around the environment.

Earlier this year, General Motors (GM) purchased Cruise Automation, a self-driving car startup, for more than $1 billion.

BMW will team up with Intel and Mobileye to bring self-driving cars to the roads by 2021. Toyota is not sitting idly either, as it recruited Google's head of robotics and set it to push the pedal to the metal for in-house A.I. to bolster its autonomous vehicles.

Whether archived and updated or real-time generated, maps will be a key factor to the success of self-driving cars. Google seems to be aware of that, as the company already has built one of the most comprehensive mapping systems on the market.

Despite Civil Maps' young age, the venture managed to leverage its experience and create value for investors.

According to the company, its systems' software crunches raw 3D data it receives via its Lidar (high-resolution laser imaging) and compiles it with the information delivered by on-board sensors. The end result is a machine-readable map that "requires a fraction of the data storage and transmission for existing technologies."

One big selling point of the technology is that it creates a very small data footprint, making it mobile-friendly.

"Autonomous vehicles require a totally new kind of map," says Sravan Puttagunta, the helm of Civil Maps.

Puttagunta mentions that the scalable map generation process helps self-driving cars drive just as humans would. This means that the vehicles will be ready to identify "on-road and off-road features," whether or not they are fully visible or in a perfect state.

The Civil Maps CEO underlines how grateful his company is to team up with Ford, and is determined to push the autonomous vehicles technologies "at continental scale."

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
"The real reasons for this economic war have been to prevent the success of the Cuban socialist project," Deputy Foreign Minister Fernandez pointed out. | Read More
Around 2 km stretch of the national highway from Matlabi Mukam to Churaibari in Assam is in a deplorable condition.

Around 2 km stretch of the national highway from Matlabi Mukam to Churaibari in Assam is in a deplorable condition. PHOTO: PTI

By Manogya Loiwal : Tripura has been virtually cutoff from rest of the country by road due the disruption of vehicular movement on the Assam-Agartala national highway (8/44).

ALTERNATIVE HIGHWAY VULNERABLE

Around 2 km stretch of the national highway from Matlabi Mukam to Churaibari in Assam is in a deplorable condition.

Having failed to undertake repair works, the ABCL has been using latest technology- geo-textile and geo-grid to make this part of the road motorable.

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This implies that the states lifeline remains blocked due to the deplorable road condition and of course massive repair works would start only after monsoon ends.



WATER, FOOD SUPPLY DISRUPTED

Meanwhile, efforts are being initiated to make an alternative highway covering the route from Chandkhira-Kathaltali-Kurti-Dharmanagar motorable by any means. Nearly 200 trucks loaded with essentials commodities were stranded in the road from last 25 days. Food and water supply is disconnected and the drivers are collecting water from 3 kms away.

The Assam government has already provided two JCB's to push stranded vehicles on the alternative highway. Senior officials who had visited the alternative highway recently said he had meeting with SDO(PWD), Assam Md Jalal Laskar looking after the alternative highway. Assam government will undertake massive renovation works on the alternative highway after fulfilling all tender procedure.

Adding to the troubles of crisis in petroleum supply due to the fragile road connectivity, prices of essential items have also scaled up.

--- ENDS ---
Vinasun, the biggest taxi company in Vietnam, is set to launch a fleet of 500-700 luxury cars exclusively through its ride-hailing mobile app in an effort to compete with popular services Grab and Uber, local media reported.

The company, which unveiled its own hailing app a year ago, reportedly will outsource other transport businesses for the new fleet.

Deputy CEO Ta Long Hy was quoted as saying that customers can choose to book a ride with the new cars or Vinasun's regular cabs. The company's fleet had reportedly expanded to more than 5,200 by the end of last year.

Le Hoang Minh, vice director of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Transport, said Vinasun has been licensed to start the new business model on a trial basis in eight cities and provinces, including HCMC and Da Nang.

At its shareholders' meeting in April, Vinasun forecast its net profit would fall 20 percent to VND264 billion (US$11.68 million) this year, citing high costs and harsh competition from Malaysian-owned startup GrabTaxi, now known as Grab, and the US-based service Uber.

The company saw a 5 percent profit increase last year, compare to 40 percent in 2014.


The separated twin boys in ICU following the surgery on February 27 / PHOTO: NGUYEN MI

A pair of conjoined twins who had separate but connected breastbones were separated after a 90-minute surgery at a Ho Chi Minh City hospital Thursday.

Dr Dao Trung Hieu, deputy director of 'sChildren Hospital No.1, told Thanh Nien that the surgery result was good and the babies are in intensive care since the next 24 hours are very critical.

Hieu led a team of more than 10 doctors to perform the surgery on the boys, who are the youngest ever conjoined twins to be separated in Vietnam.

The babies were born in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang on February 23, and admitted to the hospital, one of the countrys leading pediatrics facilities, a day after birth.

Hieu said they had to separate the boys as soon as possible because one of them had a closed anus while the other defecated a lot, threatening to cause infection for both.

The former also has a malformed urinary duct which is also likely to cause an infection.

Once an infection sets in, performing any surgery would become very difficult and complicated, Hieu said.

Doctors found a hole some six centimeters across in the babies conjoined breastbones.

Their hearts and other organs were not fused, though the hearts were linked by a vein which did not play any role in carrying blood to the hearts, and so they removed it, Hieu said .

The doctors filled the hole using skin and muscles taken from the boys .

The surgery had originally been expected to last six hours.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Dr Nguyen Duc Tuan as saying that both the babies have heart defects  one with a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers and the other with a similar hole in the wall of the upper chambers.

Since there is a chance that the holes can close by themselves, the surgeons did not intervene, he said.

Another surgery is planned on the baby with the closed anus in one or two weeks' time, he said.

The other child, who has hydronephrosis, or water in both kidneys, will be observed and doctors will come up with a suitable treatment plan.

On November 26 doctors at the Children's Hospital No.2 successfully separated a pair of conjoined twins who had fused but separate hearts, livers, and bile ducts in a case which was considered very complicated.

The boys, who were linked at the chest and abdomen, have been in intensive care since birth.

One of the two, who was always stronger, has since recovered, but the other succumbed on February 23 after living on a breathing machine.

He suffered from severe heart and lung problems and a crooked spinal column, doctors said.

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Doctors in Hanoi separated two four-month-old twin boys on Tuesday by severing a link between a small part of their shared breastbone and liver. Doctors in Hanoi separated two four-month-old twin boys on Tuesday by severing a link between a small part of their shared breastbone and liver.

Nguyen Quang Nhat and Nguyen Quang Anh underwent a three-hour surgery at the Central Pediatrics Hospital, nearly 200 kilometers from their home in the mountainous province of Yen Bai.

Dr Pham Duy Hien, deputy head of the surgical department, said the boys condition was discovered during an ultrasound conducted during the 20th week of their mothers pregnancy at the Central Obstetrics and Gynecological Hospital in the capitol.

They were transferred to Hiens hospital on March 20, five days after a cesarean birth.

Following their delivery, both boys ate and breathed independently.

Hien said the procedure was conducted for free at a time when they were considered strong enough to survive the operation.

Dr Le Thanh Hai, director of the hospital, said the separation of their shared liver was complicated but the very lucky the boys were only fused in a small portion of the liver.

Dr Bui Duc Hau, chief surgeon at the hospital, said the operation went smoothly due to the uncomplicated nature of their fusion.

Both boys remain on respirators in infection control rooms.

Doctors said they will remove the post-surgical tubes from the boys in a couple days and they'll be eligible for release in between a week and ten days.

The twins were the sixth pair to have been successfully separated by the hospital since 2003.
The twin baby boys born to a Ha Giang mother on July 13. Photo credit: Ha Giang Online

A woman in the northern mountain province of Ha Giang gave birth to a pair of twins joined at the torso on July 13.

Phan Thi Chay, 20, who is from a poor ethnic Dao family, was not aware she was pregnant until she was admitted to the Vi Xuyen General Hospital to give birth.

After diagnosing her with fetal distress, doctors decided to perform a C-section and saved the conjoined baby boys, who together weigh 4.9 kg.

Nguyen Ngoc Chung, the hospitals deputy director, said the twins have recovered and have separate hearts and lungs.

On Thursday the hospital sent the twins to Hanoi for further examination, he said.

The hospital has donated money it collected from staff and from its fund for poor patients, he said.

It is calling for more donations to help the poor mother.

On Thursday Chung went in his doctors coat to a local market to solicit donations.

He said he wanted to help the poor family though he could be censured for not seeking the hospitals permission first.

He has so far raised around VND40 million (US$1,800).
Agriculture Minister Cao Duc Phat asked the Plant Protection Department (PPD) to develop a plan to better screen imported fruit for prohibited preservatives, VnExpress reported Thursday.

The results are expected out next month.

During a government meeting held on food safety and hygiene, Phat said some residents had reported having purchased imported pears and apples at local markets that never rotted.

The PPD must find out if excessive preservatives were used to keep the fruit fresh for too long, for example, a pear remained fresh for five months and an apple appeared fresh nine months after purchase, he said.

He said people are very concerned about pesticide residues on fruits and vegetables, including imported produce.

He asked the PPD to draft a circular on the management of plant protection chemicals and submit the plan to the government next month.
Sadhus, yogis and sanyasis have roamed our land for centuries-practising austerity, living on alms, and preaching a path to spiritual enlightenment. In recent years, the roles and proclivities of gurus seem to have transformed, given the trappings of the modern world. We've had godmen who've enjoyed immense political clout, such as Dhirendra Brahmachari in the 1970s because of his proximity to then prime minister Indira Gandhi, and Chandraswami in the early '90s by virtue of the influence he wielded over a host of Cabinet ministers and Opposition leaders. We've even had our share of self-styled gurus who have been arrested for alleged criminal activities, such as Asaram, Nityanand and Rampal.

Gurus continue to hold sway on the Indian social spectrum, often delivering not just inner peace to their legions of followers but also large-scale social service. If Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is recognised as a global peace ambassador, and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev as a community developer, Mata Amritanandamayi is hailed as a healer and revered as a saint by her followers in the manner that Satya Sai Baba was.

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But one man scripting an absolutely new definition of what it means to be a successful modern-day guru is the yoga-performing, satsang-delivering, politically active lord and master of a swelling FMCG empire-Baba Ramdev. The 48-year-old Ramdev has assumed so many different avatars that it's hard to properly classify him. A man who first came to prominence by twirling his body on devotional TV channels, he has become associated with the fight against corruption, emerged as one of the pioneers of the 'bring back black money' movement, as a campaigner for Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, as a voice on political issues such as intolerance and Bharat Mata, and now as a businessman whose call for swadeshi and recapturing India's ancient glory has spawned the Rs 5,000-crore Patanjali Ayurved brand, which now competes with giants such as Hindustan Unilever Limited, Nestle and Dabur.

According to an IIFL Institutional Equities report, Patanjali has already garnered more than 5 per cent market share in the FMCG sector, and this will increase to an estimated 13 per cent by 2020. Ramdev has set himself a 10-year sales target of Rs 1 lakh crore, which is almost a third the existing size of India's Rs 3.2 lakh crore packaged consumer products market. From biscuits to shampoo, ghee to anti-ageing creams, his company sells about 350 products-all marketed with an anti-MNC rhetoric that aims to sway not just his own sizeable following but also those who treat Patanjali as just another brand.

Ramdev is a brand ambassador like no other, appearing on some channel or the other every 30 seconds to promote his products. Between November 2015, when the first TV spots appeared, and March this year, industry sources estimate the group spent nearly Rs 400 crore in advertising, but Ramdev says the figure is closer to Rs 60 crore. Just as there is a method in the madness, there is also madness in the method. While he may be claiming to have a "cure" for homosexuality, his business is run on more rational, even scientific principles, with assembly lines and research units. That he has a good relationship with the ruling BJP, including prime minister Modi, raises both his profile and that of his company, particularly with the government promoting yoga and ayurveda in a manner that the previous UPA regime did not.

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Our cover story, written by Senior Associate Editor Kaushik Deka, takes you behind the scenes of Ramdev's empire, chronicling his astronomical rise, deciphering what he represents, and charting what lies ahead for him.

The multiple hats Ramdev wears make him different from any other spiritual guru before. There have been businessmen who cultivated political relationships and godmen with political networks. But never before has a guru so seamlessly blended all three-spiritualism, business and politics. A heady cocktail that makes for a fascinating tale.



--- ENDS ---
A section of Vo Thi Sau St. where a bag-snatching took place on Jun. 27, resulting in the death of a young woman

Five men were arrested Friday over a violent bag snatching which resulted in the death of a woman in Ho Chi Minh City last month, local police have said.

The police alleged the men, identified as Nguyen Tran Hoang Thanh, 29, Pham Minh Tuan, 24, Nguyen Thanh Duy, 29, Nguyen Huu Loc, 30, and Nguyen Huynh Phu, 28, were members of a snatching gang, with Thanh being the leader.

Thanh, Duy and Tuan allegedly snatched a bag of Le Thi Bich Tuyen, 24, in a street in Dist. 1 on Jun. 27, causing her to fall to the ground, the police said.

Tuyen died of severe traumatic brain injury three days later.

The police said they found two scimitars and three stolen bikes during searches of the suspects' houses.
Phan Doanh, a worker of a forestry company in Quang Tri, shows scars from injuries caused by the buffalos. Photo credit: Dan Tri

Quang Tri Province authorities are considering putting down a herd of feral buffaloes that have attacked and injured several people in the forest recently.

The animals will be auctioned after being killed, according to the Peoples Committee of the central provinces Cam Lo District.

A herd of about 7-8 buffaloes in a forest managed by Highway 9 Forestry Company have reportedly chased and attacked at least 10 people in the past few months.

One of the victims is Phan Doanh, 34, a worker of the company, who suffered serious injuries in his abdomen when attacked on May 9.

Doanh said he was attacked in a rubber plantation when he was on his way back to a nearby shack by motorbike.

Four buffaloes chased after me. One of them butted me when I tried to climb up a tree. Luckily they left after tossing me into a bush.

Provincial rangers said they are domesticated buffaloes that were let loose in the forest by their owner.

But no one has claimed ownership.
A large buffalo that ran amok in Hanoi's Phu Xuyen District killing a 62-year-old woman and injuring two others on July 26 was shot and killed by local police.

At around 7:30 a.m. Vu Thi Tham was standing in front of her son's house in the district's Phuc Tien Commune when the male buffalo rushed at her without warning, VietNamNet reported.

The buffalo then hit Vu Thi Tiep, 63, and Luong Thi Loan, 20, before being shot down by commune police..
Thien Nga (Swan) Islet after the top part of its structure collapsed. Photo: Can Dinh Loan/Tuoi Tre Thien Nga (Swan) Islet before the collapse. Photo: Can Dinh Loan/Tuoi Tre The top part of Thien Nga (Swan) Islet, a limestone pinnacle resembling a swan swimming on the Bai Tu Long Bay, collapsed, likely due to natural erosion, a news website report.

The islet rose about 15 meters above sea level in Bai Tu Long, immediately northeast of the famous Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam.

Photographer Can Dinh Loan told Tuoi Tre news website that he found out about the collapse during a trip to the bay in June.

"I think it's a shame that such a natural masterpiece was [ruined] like that," Loan said.

Tran Van Hien, Director of the Bai Tu Long Bay Conservation Center, confirmed the collapse.

"It was most likely a natural geological event," he said. "It had rained heavily in the bay... which caused limestone layers to erode and slide down."

Hien said the collapsed part was located at the bottom of the islet, but he feared it was too damaged to be restored.

Bai Tu Long, a sinking limestone plateau that gave birth to its spectacular islands, is a "laid-back alternative to the touristy bustle of Ha Long Bay," according to Lonely Planet
National carrier Vietnam Airlines is reportedly looking to open direct services to the US in 2018, saying it is "good timing" to start a plan that has been in the works for 10 years.

The plan was revealed by CEO Duong Tri Thanh in an interview with BBC at the Farnborough International Air Show in England's Hampshire on Thursday.

The market's demand has also been rising given increasing trade activities between Vietnam and the US, he said.

Vietnam Airlines is currently operating flights between Ho Chi Minh City and 18 cities in the US under codeshare agreements with foreign carriers, according to its website.

Figures from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism showed 292,960 American visitors arrived in Vietnam in the first six months, up 14.5 percent from the same period last year.
A WWII Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress takes off from the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia

Boeing, creator of some of the world's most iconic aircraft of the 20th century, commemorates its centennial Friday facing multiple challenges to remain at the forefront of global aerospace innovation.

At the top of the list is European archrival Airbus, which has topped Boeing in commercial orders in recent years and made inroads into the American market by building planes on US shores.

Boeing also faces tough going in defense, having lost a US contract for the long range strike bomber to Northrop Grumman, and another from the US and allies for a joint strike fighter to Lockheed Martin.

That leaves Boeing with only the delay-plagued KC-46 tanker program for the US Air Force, a deal it controversially wrested out of Airbus' hands.

"Boeing's biggest challenge is Airbus," said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute. "Whether Boeing keeps up or beats Airbus will determine the future of the company."

To stay strong in defense, Boeing must beef up its operations in maintenance of military vehicles, analysts say.

In space travel, another longtime core activity, Boeing faces upstarts like SpaceX, which has been aggressive on price.

"Technologically they are positioned, but they are not well positioned in terms of pricing" in space travel, said Marco Caceres of Teal Group.

"They are going to have to figure out how to become leaner, or otherwise they won't be able to compete for much longer."

Boeing insists it will stay at the top. Chief executive Dennis Muilenburg told USA Today in June that it is building a rocket that will let man set foot on Mars.

"It's about 50 percent bigger than the Saturn V that took humans to the moon," he said.

Boeing also faces obstacles on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have sought to block a controversial contract to sell some $25 billion in planes to Iran. That came after a lengthy fight over the Export-Import Bank weakened an institution that has long supported Boeing.

Global Icon

Still, analysts say Boeing continues to have cache as a "global icon," as Teal Group's Richard Aboulafia put it.

A Boeing C135 refueling tanker (front) takes part in a fly past over Paris.

Boeing had revenues of $96 billion in 2015 and has a multi-year backlog of orders for a civil aviation market that it believes will be worth nearly $6 trillion over the next 20 years.

First founded July 15 in 1916 in Seattle by William Boeing as the Pacific Aero Products Co., Boeing has evolved into the biggest exporter in the United States.

The company grew rapidly during and after World War I, expanding into air transport, but was broken up by the US government in 1934 on antitrust grounds. William Boeing sold his holdings in the company.

The company's ability to survive without its founder positioned it for growth when World War II sparked huge demand for its B-17 and B-29 bombers.

Strong US military demand for the subsequent B-47 and B-52 bombers boosted Boeing during the Cold War.

Growth was then fueled by a succession of popular commercial planes unveiled in later decades, especially the famous Boeing 747. But today's competitive landscape also includes smaller rivals, such as Canada's Bombardier and China's Comac.
Pakistani supporters of banned organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) shout slogans alongside burning Indian flags during a protest to denounce recent violence by Indian security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir, in Peshawar on July 15, 2016

Two people including a teenager were killed Friday as clashes spread in India-administered Kashmir despite a curfew, with the death toll reaching 38 in a week, officials said.

The teen died, while three protesters were critically wounded, when Indian soldiers opened fire on an angry group that attacked their camp with stones in the frontier Kupwara area, a police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.

"What would the soldiers do? They fired in self-defence," the officer said.

Another young man died when police fired live bullets at a group of protesters who set fire to a police station in the southern village of Yaripora after someone lobbed a grenade wounding five police, one of whom was in a "critical condition" another officer said.

The death of popular rebel leader Burhan Wani in a gunfight with government forces last week sparked clashes in which more than 3,000 people, including about 200 police officers, have been injured.

Protesters have torched armoured vehicles and attacked military camps that dot the restive region, where many deeply resent the presence of an estimated half a million Indian troops.

Fearing large-scale protests after Friday prayers, authorities had warned that nobody except medics and ambulances could be allowed to move on the streets, but government forces at scores of places fired tear gas, pellet shotguns and live bullets at hundreds of demonstrators who defied the curfew, a senior police officer said requesting anonymity.

Internet and mobile networks across large parts of the territory remained suspended for the seventh day running, but the blocks have not stopped the spread of unrest.

It is the worst civilian violence to hit the region since 2010, when mass protests broke out and left 120 dead.

Hospitals in the main city of Srinagar have struggled to cope with the rush of wounded, hundreds of them with severe injuries in their eyes.

New Delhi on Thursday rushed a team of eye specialists to help treat the injured many of whom they said would be partially or fully blind.

"We have not seen these many and these kinds of injuries to eyes anywhere," Dr Sudershan Khokhar, who heads the team of ophthalmologists, told reporters in the city's general hospital where more than 100 eye operations have been performed since Saturday.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting since 1989, when the armed rebellion against Indian rule erupted.

As a sign of escalation following Friday's violence the resistance leadership opposed to Indian rule of the disputed Himalayan territory extended an ongoing strike for another three days.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands during a joint news conference following their meeting in Moscow, Russia, July 16, 2016.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday Washington and Moscow had reached a common understanding on the steps now needed to get Syria's peace process back on track.

But Kerry, after a day of talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart, said more work was needed before those steps could be implemented, and that Russia and the United States still differed over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Five years into a Syrian civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes, Russia and the United States are the most influential outside players in the conflict, but the objectives they are pursuing diverge.

Russia backs Assad and is giving military help to his campaign against rebel fighters, while the United States believes the Syrian leader has to go and is supporting some of the rebel groups who are fighting to unseat him.

At a news conference alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry identified two problems that have damaged an internationally-brokered ceasefire in Syria: attacks carried out by the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, and what Kerry described as indiscriminate bombing by Assad's forces.

"We have agreed to steps that if implemented in good faith can address two serious problems I have just described about the cessation," said Kerry.

"It is possible to help restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence and help create the space for a genuine and credible political transition."

"The concrete steps we have agreed on are not going to be laid out in public in some long list because we want them to work and because they need more work in order to work."

The Russian foreign minister also said he and Kerry had made progress over Syria, after talks that started on Friday morning and lasted deep into the night.

"We have a common understanding about these concrete steps, which Russia and the USA - as co-chairs of the Syria Support Group - could take to enhance the effectiveness of our work," Lavrov said.

Differences remain

Kerry has been accused by some within the U.S. foreign policy establishment of being too willing to make concessions to Russia over Syria. But he stressed that Washington's policy has not changed "one iota."

"We still believe that Syria cant have peace while Assad is there. We have a difference with Russia on that," Kerry said.

Soon after flying in to Moscow late on Thursday, Kerry had talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that focused on the conflict in Syria.

The Washington Post newspaper had reported that Kerry was bringing with him to Moscow a proposal for intelligence sharing with Russia over Syria and joint selection of bombing targets.

But a Kremlin spokesman said that Putin and Kerry had not directly discussed military cooperation between Moscow and Washington in Syria.

At the start of their talks on Friday morning, both Kerry and Lavrov said that the attacks in the French city of Nice underscored the need to join together in fighting terror.

Dozens of people were killed on Thursday when a gunman drove a heavy truck at high speed into a crowd in Nice who were celebrating Bastille Day, France's national holiday. French authorities said it was a terrorist attack.

Referring to what he described as the "incredible carnage" in Nice, Kerry said nowhere was there a greater hotbed for terrorists than in Syria. He said people all over the world were looking to world leaders to do everything possible to combat terrorism.

Kerry and Lavrov broke off their talks and took the short drive to the French embassy in Moscow, where they each laid a bouquet of flowers in remembrance of the victims in the Nice attack, and signed a book of condolences.
Gerard Araud (R), Ambassador of France to the United States, listens to U.S. President Barack Obama speaking about the Bastille Day truck attack in Nice at the Diplomatic Corps Reception at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 15, 2016.

President Barack Obama on Friday angrily denounced suggestions from some Republican leaders that Muslims in America be "tested" after an attack in Nice, France, that killed at least 84 people, calling the idea "repugnant."

Making his first public comments since a Tunisian man drove a truck through a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks, Obama told a gathering of ambassadors at the White House that the United States stands with France and vows to fight terrorism.

Obama did not explicitly link the attack to Islamic State militants who have been connected to other recent attacks around the globe, saying that the details were not yet clear. He vowed to continue to fight the group.

"These terrorists are targeting and killing innocent people of all backgrounds and all faiths, including Muslims. I know I speak for all of us when I say these individuals and these networks are an affront to all of our humanity," he said.

Without naming names, Obama responded to a suggestion from Newt Gingrich, a former Republican speaker, who on Thursday said a religious test was needed for Muslims in America, deporting them if they believe in Sharia law.

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the Nov. 8 presidential election, has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.

"In the wake of last night's attacks, we've heard more suggestions that all Muslims in America be targeted, tested for their beliefs, some deported or jailed," Obama said.

"The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything we stand for as Americans," Obama said.

Obama, who spoke earlier on Friday with French President Francois Hollande, said he met with French Ambassador Gerard Araud to offer sympathy and help.

Obama also spoke about a father and son from Texas who were killed in the attack. "Their family, like so many others, are devastated," Obama said.
An American flag flies near the base of the destroyed World Trade Center in New York, in this file photo from September 11, 2001, taken after the collapse of the towers.

The U.S. Congress on Friday released a long-classified section of the official report on the Sept. 11 attacks describing an array of potential links between some of the hijackers and officials in Saudi Arabia.

The 28 pages of the report on the 2002 investigation focus on potential Saudi government ties to the 2001 aircraft attacks on the United States, in which nearly 3,000 people died.

The report said the alleged links had not been independently verified.

The pages were released by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee after years of wrangling in Washington between Congress and different administrations, Republicans and Democrats, and urging by families of those killed.

"The matter is now finished," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Washington. Asked whether the report exonerated the kingdom, he replied: "Absolutely."

The release of the previously classified pages is unlikely to end the controversy over the role of Saudi Arabia, an important U.S. partner in the Middle East. Many U.S. officials who opposed their release had worried they would damage diplomatic relations.

Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

"According to various FBI documents and CIA memorandum, some of the September 11 hijackers, while in the United States, apparently had contacts with individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government," the report said, giving a catalog of alleged links.

They included reported contacts between Saudis in California, money possibly sent from the Saudi royal family to the hijackers and even a statement that a reported Saudi Interior Ministry official stayed at the same Virginia hotel as one hijacker in September 2001.

One section said Omar al-Bayoumi, said to be a Saudi intelligence officer, met with two hijackers at a public place after they arrived in San Diego. Citing Federal Bureau of Investigation files, it said his salary rose to $3,700 a month from $465 two months after two of the hijackers arrived in California.

Another described how two of the hijackers asked flight attendants technical questions during a trip in 1999 from Phoenix to Washington to attend a party at the Saudi embassy. One tried twice to enter the cockpit. The plane made an emergency landing and the FBI investigated, but did not prosecute.

The newly declassified pages also say a telephone number found in a telephone book of Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi-born al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan, was for a Colorado corporation that managed the affairs of the residence of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Lawsuits ahead?

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said its agreement to the release is not an indication that the intelligence community agrees with the pages' accuracy or concurs with the information it contains.

The office also on Friday released a declassified summary of an assessment of whether Riyadh may have supported al Qaeda before and after the attacks, saying the Saudi government and many of its agencies had been infiltrated and exploited by individuals associated with or sympathetic to Osama bin Laden's militant network.

Several members of Congress said they were pleased the pages had finally been released. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel, said he hoped the release would quiet rumors.

"The Intelligence Community and the 9/11 Commission, which followed the Joint Inquiry that produced these so-called 28 pages, investigated the questions they raised and was never able to find sufficient evidence to support them," he said.

Legislation that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and is making its way through the House, despite President Barack Obama's veto threat.

"While the pages do not reach a conclusion regarding Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, they provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns," said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. His state was home to many people killed when planes hit the World Trade Center in neighboring New York.

Sept. 11 families made clear the pages' release would not stop their push for the legislation. "Congress has to stand up for the interests of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost loved ones on 9/11," one group said in a statement.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters before the pages were released that they would show no evidence of Saudi complicity.

The Obama administration sent a declassified version of the 28 pages, with many lines and sentences blacked out to protect intelligence sources and methods, to Congress on Friday morning. The House intelligence panel released it a few hours later.
The Indian government has advised its nationals there to avoid public places and remain indoors until the situation there becomes clearer.

By India Today Web Desk: The Indian government today said that it is closely monitoring the situation in Turkey.

We hv been closely following the dev's in #Turkey India calls upon all sides 2 support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed.&; Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) July 16, 2016

In a tweet, MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup said, "We have been closely following the development's in Turkey, India calls upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot, and avoid bloodshed".

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The Indian government has advised its nationals there to avoid public places and remain indoors until the situation there becomes clearer.



Emergency contact numbers for Indian nationals in Turkey:



Ankara: +905303142203

Istanbul: +905305671095



Several people were killed during overnight clashes in capital Ankara following an attempted coup in Turkey on Saturday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, soon after he landed at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport earlier on Saturday, said the resort town of Marmaris in southwestern Turkey was bombed as the attackers thought he "was still there".

He blamed the ongoing coup attempt in his country on the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the US state of Pennsylvania.

The Turkish leader also revealed that his secretary general was taken away. "What are you going to do with my secretary general?" he asked.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the situation was largely under control and 130 people had so far been arrested, the BBC reported.

Earlier, one of the helicopters being flown by forces involved in the coup attempt was shot down over Ankara.

A no-fly zone over Ankara has been declared.

However, the whereabouts of the military chief of staff remains unknown and sporadic gunfire is still reported in major cities, BBC noted.

According to CNN, Istanbul's Ataturk Airport has reopened and news channels have begun broadcasting again, after being temporarily shut down by soldiers earlier in the night.

ALSO READ: Turkey President Erdogan returns to Istanbul as coup attempt against him collapses



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A man reacts by flowers left in tribute to the victims near the scene where a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice, in Nice, July 15, 2016.

Best known as a Riviera tourist destination, Nice has been struggling to get a grip on its less prized distinction as France's prime recruiting ground for would-be jihadis.

France's anti-terror prosecutors said on Friday they were looking for terrorist ties after a gunman plowed a delivery truck into crowds gathered to watch Bastille day fireworks, killing at least 84.

The hinterlands beyond the smart streets of the old city have seen dozens of its Muslim residents head to Syria in recent years to fight.

"Nice is the city which has been most hit by the jihadist phenomena," said David Thomson, an expert on radicalization in France.

"There is one main reason behind it: since 2010, a charismatic character, known as one of the main recruiters of French jihadists, has been hugely active preaching in poor neighborhoods," Thomson said.

The militant in question is Omar Diaby, a former Nice resident of Senegalese origin now believed to live in Syria who made a name for himself in 2012 with a series of online propaganda videos entitled "19HH".

The French administrative department of Alpes-Maritimes, of which Nice is the capital, said at the end of last year that 236 individuals had been monitored over several months as part of a surveillance program and that it was tracking five new individuals every week.

The region of just over a million people is thought to be home to 10 percent of all of French citizens gone abroad to wage jihad. Back in 2014 the regional government cited one case where 11 members of a single family were reported missing, believed to have left for Syria.

Flags fly at half-mast in memory of victims the day after a truck ran into a crowd at high speed killing scores and injuring more who were celebrating the Bastille Day national holiday, in Nice, France, July 15, 2016.

But there have been successes as well: that same year, police said they foiled an imminent attack targeting Nice's carnival, one of the world's biggest after those in Rio de Janeiro and Venice.

Since a nationwide state of emergency was declared after the Nov. 13 shootings and bombings in Paris, the regional government has shut down five illegal religious centers on the suspicion they were used to foment extremism.

Nice's jihadi problem is all the more striking as it is one of the most heavily policed cities in France and closely monitored by an extensive video surveillance system due to the efforts of its security-obsessed former mayor Christian Estrosi, now the president of the broader Riviera region and beyond.

Since February 2015, the Alpes-Maritimes department has been running a program to train 1,300 social and medical workers to identify people that may be tempted by radicalization.
Turkish security officers detain unknown individuals on the side of the road on July 15, 2016 in Istanbul, during a security shutdown of the Bosphorus Bridge

Turkey's army launched a coup attempt on Friday in a country that has seen three full military coups since 1960.

Here are some key facts on the strategically important Muslim-majority nation which is battling threats on two main fronts, against Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish militants.

Between Europe and Asia

Turkey shares borders with Syria, Iran and Iraq but also EU members Greece and Bulgaria. With a Black Sea coastline facing Russia, it has been a NATO frontline state for more than 60 years.

Covering about 784,000 square kilometres (300,000 square miles), Turkey is slightly smaller than Pakistan but larger than the US state of Texas.

It has played a key role in Europe's migrant crisis, having taken in more than two million Syrian refugees, compared with its own population of around 78 million.

A NATO member since 1952, it is strategically placed to take part in the US-led fight against Islamic State jihadists, but waited for almost a year to join air strikes on Syria and to open its air bases to US planes.

Parts of the military launched a coup attempt against Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

It has criticised Russia's intervention in Syria, which has provoked several airspace incidents along its border.

The capital Ankara has a population of around five million. Istanbul is the largest city and industrial and commercial hub with more than 15 million people.

Troubled political life

The Republic of Turkey was created as a secular state in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War I.

Its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was president until his death in 1938. His successor Ismet Inonu introduced multi-party democracy in 1946. Turkey witnessed repressive military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980.

In 1997 the Turkish military also forced out current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's late mentor Necmettin Erbakan from the premiership.

The Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002. Its leader Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 until 2014, when he became the first Turkish president directly elected by the people.

Since July 2015, Turkey has suffered heavy violence with the resumption of the Kurdish conflict against the background of the war in Syria and a series of bloody attacks

A de facto ceasefire with the PKK was broken in July 2015 when the government launched an unprecedented two-pronged "anti-terror" operation against jihadists in Syria and Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.

Since 1984, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has led an armed rebellion in the Kurdish-majority southeast that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

Western concerns have also mounted about the state of democracy and freedom of speech in Turkey after several raids on media groups and a string of prosecutions of journalists.

Major attacks

Since mid-2015 Turkey has seen a string of attacks with mass fatalities.

In October of that year, in the bloodiest attack in Turkey's history, 103 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The prime minister said IS was the main suspect.

In 2016, seven major attacks claimed more than 120 lives including the latest on June 28.

In that attack, 45 people were killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. There was no claim of responsibility but authorities said evidence points to the Islamic State group.

Migrant crisis

Turkey has taken in 2.7 million Syrians from the brutal war that broke out across its border in 2011, making it host to the largest refugee population in the world.

Many Syrian refugees have launched attempts to reach Europe from Turkey's shores, making the perilous journey by sea to Greece.

Under a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey that came into force in March, failed asylum seekers face being sent back from the Greek islands to Turkey.
Turkish military stand guard near the the Taksim Square as people wave with Turkish flags in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2016.

Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power but President Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.

Gunfire and explosions rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night, but by the early hours of Saturday there were indications that the coup was crumbling.

If successful, the overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would mark one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. If it fails, the coup attempt could still destabilize a pivotal country in the region.

"We will overcome this," Erdogan said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by an announcer on the Turkish sister station of CNN. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

An official said Erdogan was speaking from Marmaris on the Turkish coast where he was on holiday. A Turkish official later said Erdogan's plane had landed in Istanbul.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, crowds appeared to be answering Erdogan's call to take to the streets, defying orders by the coup leaders to stay indoors.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media in the resort town of Marmaris, Turkey, July 15, 2016..

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other senior officials said the elected government remained in office. Yildirim and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

The United States declared its backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasized "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

Crowds of people, some waving Turkish flags, gathered in major squares in Istanbul and Ankara to show support for the elected government. Police urged people to leave Istanbul's Taksim square, warning military aircraft could open fire.

Warplanes and helicopters roared over Ankara and Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

Reuters journalists saw tanks open fire near the parliament building in Ankara, which they had surrounded. Anadolu later said a bomb hit the building. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut, access to internet social media sites was cut off, and troops sealed off the two bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, one of which was still lit up in red, white and blue in solidarity with victims of the truck attack in France the previous day.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Yildirim later said he was back in control. CNN Turk also reported that hostages were being held at the military headquarters.

"Not a tinpot coup"

Early in the evening a senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

A Turkish army tank drives on a street in Ankara, Turkey July 16, 2016.

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

People stand on a Turkish army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."
An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

The uprising was an "act of treason", and those responsible would pay a heavy price, he later told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Arrests of officers were under way, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. A failed coup attempt could still destabilize a pivotal country.

Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

People stand on a Turkish army tank at Ataturk airport in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016.

By the early hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which had been fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, momentum turned against the coup plotters. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

U.S. support



The United States declared its firm backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasized "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

A policeman aims his weapon in Istanbul, Turkey July 16, 2016.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said he was back in control.

"Not a tinpot coup"

Early in the evening the coup appeared strong. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."
The United States called on all parties in Turkey to support President Tayyip Erdogan's government against a coup attempt on Friday as world leaders expressed concern about the upheaval in a NATO member country that bridges Europe and the Middle East.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone and gave their support to Erdogan after Turkey's military said it had seized power.

"The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said in a statement.

U.S. government sources said a coup attempt was under way in Turkey but it was unclear who was prevailing.

Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.

Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003 and if the coup against him is successful it would be one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years.

The sharp-tongued Erdogan is often accused of authoritarian rule at home and has frequently fallen out with neighbors such as Israel, Iran, Russia and the European Union as he tried to carve out a greater role for Turkey in the Middle East.

But Turkey is a key ally for Washington which has often pointed to the country as a good example of a free-market democracy in the Muslim world, even though it has a poor record on freedom of expression.

Relations between Erdogan and the Obama administration have deteriorated in recent years as Washington complained that Ankara was not doing enough to fight Islamic State. Erdogan chafes at U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish rebels, who have close ties to Kurdish guerrillas fighting in Turkey.

The United States uses the Incirlik air base in Turkey to launch strikes against Islamic State, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. It said those operations had not been affected by the upheaval.

The State Department told U.S. citizens in Turkey to "shelter in place and stay indoors."

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she supported Turkey's civilian government and was following the events in Turkey "with great concern."

EU seeks restraint

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for calm in Turkey.

"Call for restraint and respect for democratic institutions," she tweeted from an EU-Asia summit in Mongolia.

Ties between Turkey and Germany - vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe - have been strained since the Bundestag passed a resolution in June branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a genocide. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation.

Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation which has long been a regional rival to Sunni majority Turkey, said on Friday it was deeply concerned about the crisis in the neighboring country.

"Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity and prudence are imperative," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account.

In Syria, hundreds of cheering government supporters took to the streets of Damascus early on Saturday and celebratory gunfire erupted after Turkey's army said it seized power from Erdogan, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main foes in the region.

Residents said convoys of cars circled around the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.

Assad's government has accused Erdogan of fuelling Syria's five-year conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.

The Kremlin said it was gravely concerned about events in Turkey, and that it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he was concerned about the situation in Turkey.

"I have instructed my chief cabinet secretary to collect information and ensure the safety of Japanese citizens (in Turkey)," Abe told reporters in Mongolia where he is attending a regional summit.

Turkey closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid any travels to the country's southern neighbor.

Britain's new foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said he was "very concerned" by events in Turkey, where many thousands of British and other European holiday-makers were spending summer vacations.
By PTI: From Gurdip Singh

Singapore, Jul 16 (PTI) Four Indian women bikers have completed a 10,000-km trip to 10 Asian countries over 40 days to raise awareness against female foeticide.

The four-woman motorcycle team has visited schools and universities as well as non-governmental organizations in countries such as Bhutan and Thailand, explaining their campaign and calling for education against gender bias.

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In Singapore, the four also called on Indian High Commissioner Vijay Thakur Singh.

Psychologist Sarika Mehta, 40, led the 10,000-km ride which ended in Singapore after the four crossed the causeway from Malaysia on Tuesday.

Said Sarika, founder of the Biking Queens group, "While the problem of female foeticide is huge in India, we believe it is also a global problem and can happen anywhere".

In India, the baby female-to-male ratio has been dropping, partly because of female foeticide. In 2001, there were 927 girls to 1,000 boys; in 2011, the figure fell to 919 girls.

Female foeticide within Indian society had increased especially with the improved technology to determine the sex of a baby in the early stages of pregnancy.

The other three members of the group are - interior designer Yugma Desai, 27, travel agent Durriya Tapia, 36, and Khyati Desai, 31, who works in human resources.

"We commend their strengthen and willpower to campaign to educate the world about the girl child," said Chandra Mohan, secretary of the Global Organisation of People of India Origin (GOPIO) after hosting a lunch reception today.

"It is a challenging task to ride across Asian countries and educate others on the need to promote girl education and work against female foeticide," Chandra said. PTI GS KUN

--- ENDS ---
It was her first time attending a protest against police violence, but as Ieshia Evans calmly stood in a Baton Rouge street with riot-gear clad officers rushing toward her, she didn't yell; she didn't fight.

"It was silence," said Evans, the 35-year-old Pennsylvania mother shown in the now-famous photo, in her first public appearance on "CBS this Morning," according to an MSN report.

"Sometimes silence speaks volumes," she said.

Evans' arrest, witnessed by a reporter for The Advocate, happened on Airline Highway directly in front of Baton Rouge Police Headquarters during a Saturday afternoon confrontation sparked in part by the arrival of a group of about 25 members of the New Black Panther Party.

Police and state troopers had cleared the roadway of protesters, moving them to a BREC park on the far side of the thoroughfare. As Evans stood quietly in the far right northbound lane, about 20 feet from police lines, two state troopers rushed forward and grabbed her.

"It's when you see these officers and you see their gear... and I see his gun. They look impenetrable compared to me with no armor in the sundress ... but there was no fear," Evans said in the report.

"I'm human. I'm a woman. I'm a mom ... " Evans said. "I'm here. We all matter. We don't have to beg to matter. We do matter."

There were about 185 protesters arrests over the week-plus of demonstrations following Alton Sterling's shooting by Baton Rouge officers. About 100 of those arrested won't be prosecuted, according to East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III.

For the full MSN report, click here.
Thousands of mourners gathered Friday to grieve the death of Alton Sterling in a public funeral where comforting words for his family and reflections on his life mixed with demands for justice and calls to reinvigorate the political fight for equality.

More than a dozen people took the stage to speak during the televised memorial service at Southern University, a group including well-known civil rights leaders such as the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, local and national politicians, and people who knew Sterling personally, like the shop owner who took a widely circulated video of his death earlier this month.

The message from many was clear: The nation must address its racial divide.

A cousin of Sterling's, Elvin Sterling Jr., said "it hurts to watch" the video of the fatal shooting.

"But America needed to see who God was using as a sacrifice for his good works to come, to open the eyes of America," he said.

Since Sterling was shot and killed by a Baton Rouge police officer earlier this month, hundreds of people have protested and called for the officer to be prosecuted on charges including murder, though the incident is still under investigation by the FBI.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, told the crowd that today's protesters are picking up the torch from the civil rights activists of the 1960s and trying to make sure future generations have a better life. The black community needs to agitate, legislate and litigate to demand reform of discriminatory institutions that shoot first and ask questions later, he said.

African Americans will need to work with nonblacks to achieve reform, but social media and other technology available in 2016 is allowing black people to share their experiences in a way that wasn't possible in the '60s, Richmond noted.

Jackson told those gathered that when the field is even, the rules clear and the referee fair, everyone has a chance to succeed. But African Americans must contend with a criminal justice system that treats them differently and more harshly, he added.

Jackson compared the situation to taking a pair of seeds, then building a wall between them that throws one of the budding plants in the shade. When the other plant grows taller, it's because it was given more sunlight, not because the seed was inherently better. America needs to tear down its walls and build bridges, Jackson said.

Sharpton's message was less metaphorical and more concrete: Law enforcement officers need to know that if they commit a crime they will be sent to jail just like anyone else.

Police have been arresting folks for taking a step into a street instead of taking to jail people who shoot others in the back, Sharpton said, a clear reference to law enforcement's response to protests in Baton Rouge and to Sterling's death.

Both reverends addressed the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been active in Baton Rouge since Sterling's death. Jackson said the Dallas sniper who fatally shot five white police officers on July 7 was a product of the military, not the activist movement. Sharpton said the demonstrators aren't trying to convince African Americans of their worth, but to convince the justice system to treat black people equally.

The two men and nearly every other politician and preacher who addressed the crowd at the funeral spoke highly of the Sterling family, especially Alton Sterling's 15-year-old son Cameron. Family members have called for peaceful protests, and leaders thanked the Sterlings for the grace and dignity they have shown amid their grief.

A few relatives briefly spoke at the funeral, saying that their family is staying strong and placing trust in their faith. They said that while seeing Sterling's death play on the news has been painful, they believe that God chose to sacrifice him so that the whole country could see how the criminal justice system is failing African Americans.

Abdullah Muflahi owns the store where Sterling was shot, and he filmed the encounter and shared the footage with the public. When he got up to speak, the crowd gave him thundering applause to rival even the reception of Sharpton or Jackson.

His voice cracking, Muflahi described Sterling as a friend who welcomed him to the area and "made a place for everyone in his heart."

"Let's all love like Alton did," he added.

Several speakers addressed ways the public can respond to his death,

"Alton Sterling's blood calls out for justice," said Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel.

But demonstrations only go so far, she said, and real power is wielded in the voting booth.

"If you don't register to vote  don't protest, don't march," she said to drive the point home.

She then turned to her fellow black politicians.

"We have aided in the decline of our black community by omission or commission," she said.

Politicians need to keep the needs of African Americans in mind, and their constituents must hold them accountable, she said.

Sharpton emphasized the point by saying that black shoppers should boycott businesses whose money finances any lobbying for discriminatory laws.

Hundreds of members of the public came out to listen to the political and religious speeches and pay their respects to the Sterling family.

Before the funeral started, 64-year-old Elaine Thomas, a Baton Rouge resident and graduate of Southern University, said she hoped the tragedy of Sterling's death will somehow help bring unity to her community.

"We celebrate our losses and we celebrate our victories," Thomas said. "But people are going to come together now. Love is going to shine through."

Thomas was one of dozens who had lined up outside the doors of Southern University to view Alton Sterling's body before the proceedings. She was joined by Pamela Anderson, 68, and Lynda Hall, 67, both of Baton Rouge, who woke up at 5 a.m. to make sure they got to the event in time.

"It was important to show up because we want to support the family and the community, and we were very disturbed about what we saw on that video," Anderson said, referencing one of the two widely circulated videos showing Sterling being detained and then shot by Baton Rouge police.

Anderson was quick to clarify that she wasn't "anti-police," and that she had family members who were police officers, but added that she couldn't help thinking the video reminded her of protests she had seen during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

"I thought we were making progress, but it appears that we are going back, that we are regressing," Anderson said. "We just want everyone to be treated with dignity and respect."

After the service, family members and friends of Sterling congregated outside before heading to the burial, a private event for invited guests only. Some were crying and hugging each other, while others took a moment to talk about their favorite memories of the "CD Man." Some had even fashioned CD disks around gold chains and were wearing them at the event as a sort of walking memorial to Sterling, who often sold CDs outside the Triple S store where he was killed.

After Alton Sterling shooting, the 'what-ifs' haunt us I continue to watch the video of the Baton Rouge police officers on top of a prone and strug

In the group was Baton Rouge resident Miranda Johnson, who was comforting her boyfriend and other members of Sterling's family.

"He's my boyfriend's cousin, but I've been knowing him so long he really is my family," said 21-year-old retail worker said about Sterling.

Johnson praised Friday's service, saying what she wants people to remember most about Sterling is his "big heart" and his joyous personality.

Reginald Broadway, a friend and former high school classmate of Sterling's, said he'd always remember Sterling's big smile, his sense of humor and his fun-loving personality.

"He put a smile on your face at any given time," Broadway said. "He was my CD Man. And I'll miss that. I just wish he was still here."
A Baton Rouge man's bond on a 2015 sex-crime charge was revoked this week following his Sunday arrest for the alleged theft of guns in a local pawn shop burglary that occurred four days after Alton Sterling was fatally shot by city police, his federal court-appointed attorney said Friday.

Malik Deontre Bridgewater, 20, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Bourgeois Jr. less than 24 hours after federal authorities filed a criminal complaint Thursday charging him with theft of firearms from federally licensed dealer Cash America Pawn on Government Street.

Bridgewater told investigators he stole guns to make money, according to the criminal complaint, but another alleged burglar, 17-year-old Antonio Thomas, told investigators they stole the handguns "to shoot police officers."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kleinpeter told Bourgeois the federal government was not seeking Bridgewater's detention on the federal charge because his bond in Baton Rouge state court on a 2015 charge was revoked this week.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Mark Upton, who was appointed by Bourgeois to represent Bridgewater, told reporters the 2015 state charge is a carnal knowledge of a juvenile charge.

Records at the 19th Judicial District Court show Bridgewater was charged in September by East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutors with a felony count of carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old victim. The incident allegedly took place last July.

The pawn shop burglary occurred last Saturday, and Bridgewater surrendered to authorities the next day.

The 19th JDC records indicate Assistant District Attorney April Williams filed a motion Tuesday seeking to have Bridgewater's bond on the sex-crime charge revoked due to his arrest last weekend. She wrote that Bridgewater is "a danger to the safety of the community and a flight risk."

Upton said state District Judge Mike Erwin revoked Bridgewater's bond, and he is now being held without bond at Parish Prison.

Bridgewater  who appeared before Bourgeois with his wrists and ankles shackled and wearing a long green T-shirt, long gray shorts and black sneakers with black socks  was living with his mother when he was arrested, the magistrate stated Friday.

The federal criminal complaint says Bridgewater led detectives to three of the guns stolen from the pawn shop after police found "for sale" tags from the shop in his bedroom at his Hemlock Street home.

Upton told the magistrate that Bridgewater's grandmother in Baton Rouge has agreed to let her grandson live with her if he is released.

If Bridgewater is released on bond at some point in the state court case, Bourgeois imposed a host of special conditions that he would have to abide by, including a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, electronic location monitoring, travel restrictions, drug testing, and no firearms.

Baton Rouge state court records also show Bridgewater pleaded guilty in January 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of illegal possession of stolen things. He was sentenced to six months in Parish Prison.
An agreement to build a coastal restoration ridge in Plaquemines Parish follows years of disagreements about how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority should work together on federal projects -- disagreements that have slowed some projects and stopped others in their tracks.

On Friday, the Corps and state signed their first agreement for construction under the Louisiana Coastal Areas Beneficial Use of Dredged Material program since it was federally authorized in 2007. Officials hope the Friday agreement signing marks the beginning of a better relationship and not just the start of a new coastal project.

There have been efforts in the last six months to work out issues that have been longstanding with the corps, said David Peterson, attorney for the state coastal authority.

The main sticking point has been that until the 2014 federal Water Resources Development Act, the state had no way to audit how the Corps spent money on joint projects. At the same time, the Corps did have the authority to audit state spending.

In addition, Peterson said, there is an emphasis with the new administration to resolve problems and address the animosity between the state and the Corps that has been evident during the last several years.

The agreement signed Friday will seal a partnership between the Corps, the state and Plaquemines Parish to use material dredged from the river for navigation and barge it 10 miles up river to be put in place. The goal is to move 1.7 million cubic yards of sediment to an area just north Venice to build a one-mile ridge that is 6.5 feet high and 50 feet wide.

+4 Record amount of sediment dredged from Mississippi River, helping restore marshland More than 20 million cubic yards of sediment, enough to build 2,000 acres of land, was taken

Its the second project being done under a congressionally authorized $100 million program to help cover additional costs associated with moving sediment the Corps dredges from the river to coastal wetlands.

Most of our ecosystem restoration we do, where we dredge is not where we need the material, said Darrel Broussard, senior project manager with the corps. Moving the dredged sediment to where its needed requires additional money, which the program allows the Corps to accept from local partnerships.

The total estimated cost of the project is $18.1 million, with $13.5 million to come from the Corps and the rest from the state and the parish, Peterson said.

Broussard said the Corps expects to get a dredging contract awarded in September with the construction of the coastal restoration project to begin in January, a project that is expected to be done within the year.

Everyone is trying to find ways to restore the coast, Broussard said. The state has advocated for years for the material the Corps dredges from the river be used for coastal restoration. Its been complicated because many times the dredging happens far away from where the soil is needed or the dredged material isnt suitable for coastal restoration projects.

This is something weve struggled with, Broussard said.
I continue to watch the video of the Baton Rouge police officers on top of a prone and struggling Alton Sterling. I heard the word gun and then gunshots. One. Then two. Then three. Then four. All at cant-miss range into Sterlings body.

Ive attended and watched street protests, mostly peaceful, held across the city. The Star Wars-looking combat gear and the menacing weaponry recently unveiled by law enforcement was a bit unnerving. Maybe some of the money used to purchase that stuff could have helped fund better community policing programs.

But reflecting on the past two weeks, I have some what ifs and observations surrounding Sterlings death and the uneasy racial cloud hanging over the city.

Why were police officers surprised that Sterling had a gun if they were dispatched to a location based on a complaint of man with a gun? Shouldnt they have assumed that the person matching the description, did, indeed, have a gun and proceed accordingly?

And, why wouldnt the department dispatch six or eight officers to a person with a gun complaint? Maybe an overwhelming show of force could have neutralized the situation and even created a safer environment for the officers.

But there is another what if? What if Sterling had just obeyed the officers command? Perhaps he would still be alive. We will never know.

What if the black community would admit that following the commands of a police officer, even if you feel disrespected in the way the commands are delivered, is your best chance at survival?

What if the white community would understand how strange it is that African-Americans, especially young African-American men, have to be extra obedient at a police stop?

This could have been a historic moment in Baton Rouge, when the words of its elected leader could have meant a lot to a hurting city. But we are only left with what if?

What if police officers spent more time in the community actually learning about the lives and cultures of people of color? Would there be better communications and fewer confrontations between the two groups? Maybe some white officers wouldnt be so afraid when approaching young black men.

What if black people would admit that sometimes, they, too, are just as afraid of young African-American males who look menacing in their attire and in their conversation?

What if white people would understand that the Black Lives Matter movement is not anti-other races? What if they would understand that BLM attempts to raise awareness of black lives lost during questionable circumstances with white police officers? Also, understand that a lone cowardly nut in Dallas is not the BLM just because he says he support them.

Would the BLM movement be more universally accepted if it were just as visible and vocal in communities where horrendous numbers of black people are gunned down by other blacks?

What if white people understood that the recent killing of Sterling and Philando Castile near St. Paul, Minn., was the last straw, not the foundation of the protests here and around the country?

Watch the video of the killing of Laquan McDonald, a black man shot 16 times by a Chicago Police officer while other officers looked on and then lied about what happened. See how you feel.

See the quick, drive up shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. He wasnt given a chance to put down his toy gun before officers shot and killed him.

And there is the oops killing of 7-year-old Aiyanna Stanley Jones, who was in her bed sleeping when officers broke into her apartment looking for someone. The white officer said someone struck his hand and his gun accidentally went off. There was no witness to support his claim. The charges against him were dropped.

Its those types of killings of African-Americans that continue to happen that have caused the explosion of demonstrations.

Understand that the vast majority of protesters and leaders say there are only a few bad cops among thousands. That claim is not a blanket condemnation of all police. Law enforcement must be willing to admit that they have some bad actors in their ranks and root them out.

What if we can admit that race, yes race, will always be a divide in our country, but that the gap will shrink if we are willing to listen and to hear each other? What if?

Email Edward Pratt, a south Louisiana freelance writer, at epratt1972@yahoo.com.
In the sad saga of Alton Sterling, a black man shot to death by Baton Rouge police on July 5, theres been a minor footnote involving a limited boycott of local stores to protest Sterlings death.

Some black leaders have pushed to boycott selected merchants, including those in both of the citys major malls, to pressure authorities to arrest the officers involved in the shooting. The boycott appears to have had little participation or economic impact, perhaps because the public cant see much of a connection between local commerce and what happened to Sterling. A federal probe of the shooting is underway.

The boycott idea sparked by Sterlings death has a whiff of nostalgia, evoking, in a faint way, an earlier Baton Rouge boycott that proved historic. Its an often-forgotten event that a young Martin Luther King used as a model for later protests. In 1953, Baton Rouges African-American leaders launched a week-long boycott of the citys public bus system, protesting a policy that forced black riders to stand while seats reserved for whites remained empty. While the 1956-57 Montgomery boycott led by Martin Luther King lasted 13 months and was violent, the dispute in Baton Rouge was settled more quickly and quietly, former New Orleans first lady Sybil Haydel Morial recalls in her recent memoir, Witness to Change. After eight days, through negotiation and compromise with the city council, the old rules, which had left Negro patrons standing while ten assigned white seats were vacant, ended. That boycott was the first such action of the Civil Rights movement in Louisiana and doubtless helped catalyze what happened in Montgomery. Many south Louisiana residents, white and black, were accustomed to accommodation in a way not yet acceptable in other parts of the South.

Morial speaks from experience about the challenges of the civil rights movement back then, having worked with her husband, the late New Orleans Mayor Ernest Dutch Morial, on the front lines in advancing changes.

The battles are different today, the fields of action more complicated, the leadership on all sides more dispersed. The case of Alton Sterling isnt the same as that Eisenhower-era dispute over access to public transportation, so precise parallels arent possible.

Even so, some basic lessons endure. Advocates for racial progress need a clear set of goals and a coherent strategy for achieving them, and real change is only possible when both sides of the divide can come to the table, working in good faith to bridge differences that, at first glance, seem insurmountable.
Turkey's lira plunged the most in eight years, an exchange-traded fund tied to the country's shares declined and US Treasuries ticked higher after Turkey's army said it seized power and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted that he remains in control. US stock futures slipped.

The lira lost 4.6 per cent to 3.0157 per dollar in the biggest selloff since 2008. Treasuries pared declines with the yield on 10-year notes trimming four basis points off of a six-point advance to end at 1.55 per cent??and US equity futures fell about half a per cent. The yen strengthened to 104.88 per dollar after earlier falling to 106.32.

Warplanes flew over the capital and tanks blocked roads in Istanbul. The army said in an e-mailed statement that it took power to restore freedom and democracy. It wasn't immediately clear how much of the country is now under military control. Yildirim told NTV television that the coup effort won't be permitted to succeed and the elected government remains in power. Erdogan urged citizens to take to public squares and airports to resist a coup attempt.

Political hot spot
People react as they gather at a makeshift memorial near the scene of the carnage in Nice. Credit:AP After dinner, we walked to the beach and sat down to watch the fireworks. We were in the centre of it, surrounded by joy, with people drinking and singing the Marseillaise. However I was exhausted, and during the fireworks, my eyes kept closing so we decided to go back to our hotel. People gather at a makeshift memorial to honour the victims near where a truck mowed through revelers in Nice on Friday. Credit:AP So back we went, I'd just put my pyjamas on, Andie was on the bed on her phone waiting to shower, and we laughed at how loud the streets were, thinking that the French really do know how to party.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang on the door, and we could hear other doors being knocked on as well. Andie looked at me and said "Don't answer it, it's just drunk people." A woman watches the Mediterranean Sea from the Promenade des Anglais after it reopened to traffic on Saturday. Credit:AP The banging continued, so I decided to open it, expecting to find a drunken Frenchman who I would laugh at and then shut the door to. In burst 20 odd people panting, crying, swearing among them, a mother and father with three young children who looked so confused and scared. With broken French on our behalf, and English on theirs, we were told that there was gunfire in the streets. Andie and I suggested that perhaps it was just leftover fireworks, but one woman turned around and firmly stated "No, I know what gunfire sounds like, and I just heard it." However no one had a clue what had actually happened. Out of precaution, we had the lights low and no one was talking. If a noise was heard, everyone was shushed so that we made no sound.

We were in survival mode, a mode which I had never been in and never want to be in again. Every move was made out of fear. Others in the room who had lost their friends on the street in the rush were crying on their phones, trying to contact them. Luckily everyone's friends were safe, and were instructed to come to our hotel to seek refuge. This process however was terrifying, as our response when someone knocked on the door was to shush everyone, demand who it was, and then slowly and hesitantly unlock and crack open the door. Everyone was afraid of what was on the other side. Then finally, the news began to cover the incident. It was then, there on the floor of my hotel room which was so hot due to the amount of people in our room, that it became real. This wasn't a mistake, it wasn't just fireworks, this was offensive violence and human lives had been claimed in the process. And I was there. Moreover, was it even over? I desperately tried to call my parents, but our Wi-Fi wasn't good enough. When the line finally worked and I heard my dad's voice, I began to cry.

There was so much, too much to deal with. I was trying to stay positive but fear was all that I could process, and after 20 minutes in the room and loud noises on the streets, I worried if I'd actually make it. I felt like a sitting duck. Looking around the room, seeing how scared everyone was, that was particularly harrowing. The mother next to me was trying to comfort her children, Andie and I also tried to keep them occupied. In French, she assured them that everything was going to be alright, her face, however, said something entirely different. A French woman from Nice was praying next to me. Across the room a Russian couple who were in Nice only as a stopover were holding each other. After three hours in our room, people started to file out. Everyone was so grateful, but Andie and I didn't know how to respond. We were just glad we were there to open the door and let them in.

The news reported at least 84 dead, hundreds injured. However this is about more than the numbers, it's about these people. I remember reading about the shootings in Paris last year and the main source of my horror and devastation at this event was in response to the number of deaths. However being in that room with all those people, I realised that we often underestimate the human element of these attacks. Think of the victims, think about the fact that their lives were stopped or so forcefully altered at a moment of such elation and pride in country, in freedom, in life. Think of the residents of Nice, this is their home, their house. This incident has fundamentally undermined their lives because it has compromised the safety they should associate with home. A young international student from Denmark who was in our room saw the van drive through the street, only noticing because the road was otherwise blocked off and there weren't meant to be cars.
Residents of Padanna, a prosperous Kerala village, buoyed by Gulf remittances and replete with gleaming Audis and Pajeros, recall Dr K.P. Ijas as a friendly and caring man. The 28-year-old had studied medicine in China and worked at the local primary health centre in the village in Kerala's Kasargod district. His wife Rifila was a dentist, who had studied at the Century Dental College in Kasargod, and the couple had briefly practised at a medical centre in Thiruvallur in Kozhikode. They had a son, Ayaan, not yet two, and Rifila was pregnant with their second child.

Then, on May 28, the Ijas family vanished. Over the next few days, the extended family discovered, Ijas's younger brother Shihas, 24, and his wife Ajmala, 22, also in an advanced stage of pregnancy, had gone missing as well. Likewise his cousin Ashfaq Majeed, 25, who ran a hotel business in Mumbai, his wife Shamsiya, 23 and their 18-month-old daughter Ayisha.

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Their disappearance did not surprise the villagers at first. They frequently left home to attend religious meetings. However, on July 9, when the police came around making inquiries, their parents began to suspect something was amiss. The three couples, it rapidly emerged, were among 21 persons to have vanished from their homes in Kerala's northernmost district over the past fortnight. Most of them lived in just two villages, Padanna and Thrikkaripur, also in Kasargod. While over 40 Indians from various states have already travelled into Islamic State (IS)-controlled territories over the past two years, the emigres from Kerala represent a new and dangerous turn. It is for the first time that entire families-husbands, wives and children-have journeyed to IS's so-called Caliphate.

This small but significant flight of five families marks a new chapter in the organisation's ability to attract and recruit followers remotely through social media. The state government woke up to this fact only on July 8 when the families of the missing people handed over a petition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Vijayan advised the villagers to file missing persons complaints with the local police. If Vijayan was shocked, he did not show it. But the news convulsed Kerala, just as the October 2008 killing of five youth from Malappuram district in Kashmir's Kupwara district had done. The five were shot while trying to cross over into Pakistan allegedly to join militant groups there. Until recently, the state had been thought to be insulated from IS's poisonous allure. So far, most Indian recruits to IS had left from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana. That has changed. Seventeen persons who allegedly left to join the IS, police suspect, are from Kasargod alone. They suspect more people are missing from other districts and may be attempting to enter Iraq via Iran.



THE ROAD TO RADICALISATION

The profile of the Kerala emigres matches those of other IS converts, from Dhaka to London: highly educated middle-class professionals who had suddenly turned religious in the past few years. Shihas's uncle Mujeeb told India Today that he always wondered at his nephew's transformation. The 24-year-old studied BBA in Bengaluru, enjoyed western music and partying as a youth. All that changed after his return from Mumbai three years ago. "He spoke of wanting to follow puritanical Islam and insisted family members too follow his line of faith," he says. Shihas worked as a marketing executive with the Kozhikode-based Peace Educational Foundation, an Islamic educational trust run by a local businessman. Shihas's wife Ajmala, who had a diploma in speech therapy, was an equally conservative Hijab-wearing Salafist. The couple socialised with a closed network of people who followed their faith, and attended religious talks and studies. "But they never informed us where they went or what they did," says Ijas's father Parambath Abdul Rahman, who runs a guest house in Mumbai.

Ijas's family was the first to leave. He told his mother he had got a job in Sri Lanka. Two days later, Shihas informed his parents about his new job in the Lakshadweep islands, for which he had to leave with his family. There was no contact after they left. Ijas and Shihas allegedly influenced their aunt's son Ashfaq and his family to join them. Ashfaq, a commerce graduate, helped his father run a hotel in Mumbai. His wife Shamsiya was a microbiology graduate from Coimbatore.

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The three families took different routes to get to West Asia. On May 24, Shihas and Ajmala boarded a Kuwait Airways flight from Bengaluru to Muscat, Oman. On June 3, Ijas and family flew out of Mumbai and reached Tehran via Oman on June 27. Ashfaq and Shamsiya also took the flight from Mumbai to the same destination.

A similar story was playing out in a neighbouring household in the same village. On July 3, Khadeeja Abdul Hakkeem received a series of text messages from her son Hafissudin, 23. He had been missing for six days. The messages sent chills down her spine. "I have finally reached my destination with Allah's blessings," Hafissudin said. He praised the IS's fight against "evil forces" and called his newly married wife (name withheld) to join him. Khadeeja alerted her husband Abdul Hakkeem, 54, who runs a workshop in Abu Dhabi.

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The Vincents: Bexon Vincent alias Easa, 31, Fathima alias Nimisha, 23 wife, dental student, Betson Vincent alias Yahya, 26 bexon's brother, Merin aka Miriyam, 22 wife

Hafissuddin had passed his higher secondary exam in Abu Dhabi, where his father had been running a business for 30 years. His transformation began after he returned to Kerala, particularly after he came into contact with neighbour Ijas. Hakkeem blames the doctor for radicalising his son. "I curse myself for not being able to save him. He was very close to my neighbour, Dr Ijas, and his brother." Hakkeem noticed the change in his son three years ago. He had become deeply religious and advised his father to close down his business and live as a 'real Muslim'. He hated his mother and sister watching movies or television. His father dismissed these changes as "youthful idealism". A loner at home, Hafissuddin never wanted to do business or work. His only passion was reading religious books and discussing the holy book with his neighbours. He was a member of a closed circuit that attended religious classes organised by the Peace Educational Foundation in Kozhikode. He gave in to his parent's wishes and got married this March to a girl from a neighbouring village, refusing to shave or wear expensive clothes for his wedding. His parents, still nursing hopes he would change, readily agreed. "My tragedy is a lesson for other parents. If my son has joined the IS, I don't want to see him again, dead or alive," says the disheartened father.



ON THE RADICAL TRAIL

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As families come to grips with the sudden flight of their kin, police and intelligence agencies have started investigations. They are trying to ascertain the identities of recruiters they were in touch with, how they planned to enter IS territories and how many more such migrs there may be.

The families apparently ran a group that was active for long and conducted religious classes and discussions regularly. "They were respectable people from an elite background. It was Umrah season and it's difficult to scan people leaving the country for religious visits," Denendra Kashyap, Inspector General of Police, Kannur range, told India Today. The police have been surprised by the meticulous planning and all the preparatory steps taken by the group. The travel details of 11 persons gone missing from Kerala recovered by intelligence agencies indicate they are now in Tehran.

Intelligence agencies have detained at least one more youth wanting to go to IS territories. Firoz Khan, a former employee of the Peace Educational Foundation, was detained in Dongri, Central Mumbai, on July 11 after police tracked his mobile phone to the city. He was the last person to leave home in Padanna on June 27 for Iraq.

Police now suspect that the activities of the three absconding families centred around the Foundation. The group leader was Abdul Rashid Abdullah, 31, an engineer from Thrikkaripur in Kasargod. Rashid, his wife Ayisha and Shihas worked at the Foundation. Bindu, mother of Nimisha, alias Fathima, says Rashid and Shihas were in touch with her while she studied at the dental college. "When my daughter went missing from college in November 2015, I went to Rashid and asked about her whereabouts. I was told she had converted and married Bexon Vincent alias Easa," Bindu told India Today.

Police investigations reveal that Rashid supported women who wanted to convert to Islam. "The group worked with students in professional colleges, motivating them to convert, collecting information on vulnerable students. "None of their activities ever came under the police scanner because they did not have criminal records," says a police official.

The disappearance of 21 people from Kerala is dangerous: For the first time, entire families have travelled to is territories

The three couples were in close touch with Rashid's family. Police believe Rashid was a fanatic, who was making discreet recruitments for the IS. Educated in Oman, he had studied communications engineering in Pala in Kerala, where he found his wife, Sonia Sebastian, a Christian from Ernakulam, who converted to Islam and took the name Ayisha. Rashid and family left home on May 28, ostensibly to start a new business in Mumbai.

His father T.P. Abdullah says he gave his son Rs 1 lakh as seed capital. Rashid left a lucrative job in Oman and returned to Kerala four years ago to work with a private firm in Ernakulam. He then quit the job to join the Foundation as administrative officer for a modest salary of Rs 30,000. His wife, a qualified software engineer who worked in MNCs, settled for a modestly paying teacher's job with the Foundation. "These couples had ulterior motives to be in their village?it was a cover for them," says a senior police official.

The Foundation office in Kozhikode denied they had anything to do with the missing persons in Padanna. However, M.M. Akbar, trustee of the Foundation-run Peace International School in Kasargod, said Rashid and his wife did indeed work for the Foundation. "We have taken a franchise for the school," he told india today. "The Foundation provides the curriculum, trained teachers and other technical support. Rashid was working as a master trainer for the Foundation and his wife worked as support staff."

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management, Delhi, says the migrants are "a cause for extreme concern" though there is no extraordinary or immediate threat. "None of the individuals had the capacity, orientation or training for effective mass terror action," he says. The worry is if some of the IS-trained individuals return to India with their new skill sets.

The Kerala government, meanwhile, is planning to hand over the investigation to the National Investigation Agency, and may slap charges against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for links with the IS. "These individuals aimed to become part of a proscribed terrorist organisation, the so-called Caliphate. This will immediately attract provisions of the UAPA," says a Delhi-based NIA official.

The state government is keen to avoid blowing up the issue. It has so far only registered complaints of missing persons. CM Vijayan told the Kerala Assembly on July 11 that there were attempts to defame the Muslim community after some youth went missing from their homes.

As part of their nationwide counter-radicalisation effort, the police are encouraging families to protect their children. "They should keep a watch on their wards; teachers too should be sensitised to detect behavioural changes in students," says Kashyap. "We can only fight divisive forces with societal help and evolve a strategy of intelligence gathering." Another senior police official adds, "They have left the country for good, but their influence will stay with the state forever, putting the community under a shadow of suspicion." A shadow that ominously has the potential to lengthen.



--- ENDS ---
One of the most misleading statistics in politics concerns unemployment rates. Commentators reassure themselves, and us, that the economy is holding up because unemployment is holding steady at around 6per cent. But anyone working just one hour a week is classified as employed and hence not included in the unemployment count. Most people would assume that employment statistics provide a measure of how many people are able to support themselves and their dependants. But that is clearly not so. It is obvious why governments like to define "employment" in this misleading way, but there is a desperate need for meaningful data on actual livelihoods, especially as more and more people are forced into part-time, casual or intermittent work. Emma Borghesi, Mount Eliza THE FORUM PM's open-border policy Changes quietly made to student visa arrangements will allow almost unfettered access to primary schools and established houses by all overseas applicants and their families. This will place even more pressure on social infrastructure, which is already bursting at the seams.

As of this month, foreign students aged as young as six are now able to apply for student visas. Previously, students from China and some other countries had to be much older to apply. Mr Turnbull announced the changes while in China in April. Cash-strapped schools will be tempted to promote themselves to overseas full-fee paying students, which could displace local families who have already contributed through their taxes to state education. Chinese nationals are already the largest recipients of student visas, accounting for 24 per cent of the 143,886 granted in the six months to December. Holders of student visas and their guardians are temporary residents, meaning they can purchase new and established homes. These changes are not in the national interest as they will almost certainly see local families locked out of education and housing. This issue has not been publicised, so most people remain oblivious to this irresponsible policy change. I, and I'm sure many others, want answers from our politicians. Specifically, "what was the motivation for the change?"; "which electorates asked for it?" and "Given that resources are already at breaking point without this open border policy, how do you plan to resolve these issues?". David Bone, Glen Iris Citizens sold out What future do we have as a democratic, just and caring country if we continue to allow those values to be destroyed by big businesses that care little about being good citizens?

In the past week, we have learnt that beer giant CUB is trying to maximise profits by driving down wages, sacking workers and re-employing them on individual contracts. Telstra is sacking 362 workers and sending their jobs overseas. Meanwhile, food companies Unilever and Smith's have been caught out falsely claiming that their products meet school canteen healthy-eating guidelines. Woolworths, the family fresh food store, appears to have no conscience. As the largest poker machine operator in the country it contributes to social devastation caused by problem gambling. And last but not least, Rio Tinto is so sell its Blair Athol mine for $1 to avoid responsibility for the clean-up costs. It's time consumers became more vigilant and political. We must start making decisions that reflect our desire for a more ethical business environment. Boycott companies that fall short of decent behaviour and actively support those that choose to be good corporate citizens. Geoff Selby, Moorooduc Stop meddling

The devastated Iraqi whose friends were killed in the bomb blast sobbed: "All these countries are meddling in our poor country. Any time we stand on our feet, they knock us down again" (World, 10/7). What could be a more compelling message for foreign countries to stop interfering in Iraq? Yet the US appears committed to such military interventions. Last year, it spent more than $500billion, more than half its federal discretionary funding, on wars, nuclear weapons and other military activities. The Iraq war, initiated by the US and its allies in 2003, has led to the deaths of about 180,000 civilians. We cannot expect people who have experienced gross violations to countrymen and their nation to just walk away. Victims will be looking for retaliation in the same way we seek justice for wrongs done to us. Thus military action inevitably escalates acts of revenge against the regimes and people who perpetrated the violence, and drags other countries into the conflict. Despite this, Australia continues to ignore the fact that the roots of global retaliatory violence usually lie within our past actions. Leigh Ackland, Deepdene Iraq planning was poor

In all the criticism of the trilogy of Bush, Blair and Howard it has been forgotten that Saddam Hussein was an evil dictator who was murdering hundreds of thousands of his own people and had previously invaded Kuwait. Andrew Wilkie and other critics of the war appear absolutely right that the argument to remove Saddam had no basis, but the rationale for removing him remains honourable. The trilogy's huge error was failing to plan for the aftermath; employing unskilled personnel in leading roles, displaying abysmal ignorance of the conflict between Sunni and Shiite Iraqi citizens, and applying inept policies to running Iraq, post-Saddam Hussein. Hopefully lessons have been learned. Mike Reece, Balwyn North Don't follow US blindly

With strong links to both China and the US, Australia needs to think hard about how it reacts to China's claims in the South China Sea. Following America into Iraq has not served our interests and has caused chaos in the Middle East. With the Vietnam war, Malcolm Fraser was furious when he found out Australia was asked to send troops after the CIA had determined it was an unwinnable conflict. Independent strategic analysis and diplomatic expertise is now essential. Blindly following the US has not worked. It is time we emulated another US ally, New Zealand, and acted in our own interest. Margaret Beavis, Medical Association for Prevention of War True man of steel Voters disillusioned by spin and half-truths in federal politics can take heart. NSW Premier Mike Baird is shaping up to be a true man of steel. Under attack from Big Gambling to overturn his ban on greyhound racing, Baird is standing firm.

A courageous vet turned whistle-blower on the ABC's 7.30 program this week added strength to Baird's argument: the industry has engaged in systemic cover-ups and unconscionable cruelty. Like recreational hunting and live exports, dog racing can't be humanely regulated because it's impossible to watch over every participant. The greyhound industry has proved unwilling and unable to tackle its dark underbelly. Now that dark underbelly has a Premier in its sights. Joan Reilly, Surrey Hills Left bruised by Apple Having had similar experiences to Josephine Cafagna in two Apple stores in Manhattan, I took myself to the Flinders Street store last week (Opinion, 10/7). I expected to be approached by at least two "helpers" as per my experience in New York. This was not to be. I finally walked up to a young man wearing a lanyard who was standing around doing nothing, and asked my questions. He pointed me to a service desk and said "wait there". I waited as the line moved oh so slowly. Eventually another young man, wearing his lanyard proudly, walked down the line giving advice. When it was my turn he told me the red dot on my screen would "probably disappear at the next upgrade" and then wrote down on a piece of paper torn from his pad a phone number and said, "call this number and they can probably help with your other problem".

Lynne Wenig, Melbourne Sharing a clean car Hugh Elphinstone (Letters, 10/7), Uber should be called a "ride sharing" service for the following reasons. Passengers "share" a late model, clean, nice-smelling vehicle with a pleasant, articulate driver who is happy to engage in conversation (or not, if you prefer), and isn't on their headset phone for the entire journey. The courteous drivers wait for you on arrival, and even call to let you know they're out the front. They don't refuse to take you on a short ride, nor do they take the long way around to build the fare. Cars don't need an annual roadworthy because they don't have 500,000 kilometres on the clock. And notice I didn't mention the price. John Strahan, Bentleigh Flooding CBD with cars
Artist James Powditch was rejected for this year's Archibald Prize. It was, by his own standards, a failure. A person only enters a competition to win it, or at the very least, to be included on the shortlist. In the selfie-driven, life-curation-for-social-media-age we inhabit, failure is as unspeakable as a bad smell in a small space.

Powditch's fantastical portrait, of Sydney Story Factory founder (and, it must be disclosed, my sister-in-law) Cath Keenan, will hang instead in the Salon des Refuses at the SH Erwin Gallery.

What was so marvellous about the story was Powditch's unvarnished assessment of his own shortcomings.

"Really, honestly, my career is going nowhere," he told journalist Andrew Taylor.
The theme of misguided anthropomorphism was explored in Karen Joy Fowler's award-winning 2013 novel, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which documents the unravelling of human relationships when a chimp, once treated as part of the family, is eventually, and inevitably, cast out. In writing his own take on the phenomenon, Jones admits he "pretty much" stole the structure of Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman. Trevor tells the story of a former showbiz chimp who lives with his widowed keeper and a life-sized cut-out of his most famous co-star, Morgan Fairchild. Trevor is getting on a bit and is not as adorable  or in demand  as he once was. "So it's like the chimp is Willy Loman. And, like Death of A Salesman, the play branches off into his daydreams and memories," Jones explains. "And in the case of his memories, Morgan Fairchild is a bit like the laughing woman; the sort of unattainable symbol of the prize you get if you live your life they way they told you to live; behave and the whole world will open up to you." She would have showers with him, they drank wine out of long-stemmed glasses...

Another, more successful chimp tells Trevor, "even if you're not happy, bear your gums so it looks like you're smiling and then the world will open up to you". Trevor believes that if he acts like a human long enough, he will be rewarded; that's Jones' hypothesis. But of course, it doesn't end well; even those not familiar with the real-life event will pick that up early. "His tragic epiphany comes when he realises that he is guaranteed nothing  and in fact was probably never respected and is just an animal they dressed up in costumes for a laugh," says Jones. "And that's when things get dramatic and scary." In the upcoming Australian premiere, being stage by Melbourne's Red Stitch, Trevor is played by Rory Kelly. For Kelly and the other actors, this creates an unusual on-stage dynamic, with actors having to "talk past" each other and even over each other at times; as Jones explains, everyone speaks English, but Trevor only hears a few words. "They're interacting without communicating and it's hard because they can't react completely naturally to each other. There's lots of overlapping dialogue and it becomes a bit of a delicate choreography."

Jones is accustomed to unconventional theatre  he made his name with Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, a "pirate puppet rock musical" (for adults), described as a raunchy, cabaret-style show. "Weirdly, Trevor is one of the most naturalistic plays I've written," he says. "I like to write plays that have a sort of high concept quality  something quirky or poppy about the conceit. I like a 'gimmick', although I don't call them that." He doesn't want to go to the theatre to see "humans being humans". "That's not enough for me for a play to be 'well-observed', you know? For people to say 'oh yes, I've been there'  that's not enough; I'm always trying to find something a little off-kilter. And funny. Hopefully funny." While Trevor is funny  "and poignant, tragic and absurd  absurd is the colour I like to paint with and if I can hit two out of four, not bad; all four would be great"  it's also a comment on the human condition, the fleeting nature of fame, and the distance between who we think we are and reality.

The disconnect between what Trevor wants to believe he is  an evolved human  and the reality that he is a wild animal is universal, says Jones. "It taps into our deepest fears that maybe we aren't talented, or ever were talented, and never will get the thing we worked so hard to get," he says. The actor as chimp is, of course a metaphor; we're all someone's monkey being asked to perform tricks for certain rewards. "And we all hope that we're getting through to the people we care about or work with  but in reality we have to accept there's this huge gulf of misunderstanding between all of us and we only actually all come together in fleeting moments," says Jones. "The rest of the time, we're all kind of walking through our own plays in life."
Queensland senator-elect Pauline Hanson has told Malcolm Turnbull she refuses to back down on her controversial Islam policies during a private phone call with the prime minister.

The One Nation leader, whose policies include a ban on building new mosques until a Royal Commission into whether Islam is a religion or an ideology has been held and installing CCTV cameras in all existing mosques, said Mr Turnbull called her on Friday night to congratulate her on winning a Queensland seat in the upper house.

Pauline Hanson has told Malcolm Turnbull she refuses to back down on her controversial Islam policies. Credit:Tertius Pickard

"He said 'you have every right to take your place on the floor of parliament, over half a million people voted for you' - and that is correct," she told supporters in a video uploaded to her Facebook page.

Ms Hanson said Mr Turnbull was "taken by surprise" when she told him she would have four and possibly seven senators.
Keith Murdoch outside Charles Bean's dugout during his visit to Anzac Cove in September 1915. Credit:Australian War Memorial Peter Weir's Gallipoli was bankrolled by Robert Stigwood and Rupert Murdoch after the South Australian Film Corporation pulled out of the project. Rupert would concede in a 1989 interview with Gerard Henderson that much of what was said in Keith Murdoch's Gallipoli letter was wrong or exaggerated. But that did not inhibit his approach to Weir's screenplay. The movie is now part of the catalogue of Twentieth Century Fox which News Corp took control of in 1985. On the movie's 25th anniversary, Fox released a special edition of the DVD. A companion disc has special features reinforcing the assertion that it was Keith who was instrumental in rescuing thousands of young Australians from the same tragic fate as the film's heroes. His Gallipoli letter is reproduced in full and the venerable Dame Elisabeth, Keith's then octogenarian widow, recites a glowing paean to the role of her late husband. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee in Peter Weir's Gallipoli. After the film's release, Rupert Murdoch told interviewers he had been attracted to the project because of his father's role in the Dardanelles campaign. As biographer Jerome Tuccille would observe: "To a great extent, he was paying homage to his father's shining moment as a journalist."

The other film that rivals the popularity and influence of Weir's Gallipoli in the cinematic canon of Australian military history is Bruce Beresford's Breaker Morant. It appeared a year earlier - and took similar liberties in telling the story of the Australian troopers of the Bushveldt Carbineers who were executed during the Boer War for killing prisoners. Lord Herbert Kitchener arrives in Sydney. The film's biggest villain (beyond the off-screen Lord Kitchener, who personally signed the warrants for the execution of lieutenants Morant and Handcock) was a senior officer on Kitchener's staff. The supercilious Colonel Hamilton depicted as perjuring himself at the court martial is repeatedly referred to as "Johnny" - Sir Ian Hamilton's nickname. General Sir Ian Hamilton (right) with Admiral John de Robeck aboard HMS Triad. Credit:Australian War Memorial The internet is awash with commentary perpetuating the allegation that Sir Ian was a recidivist killer of innocent Diggers: he was the martinet who lied to secure the firing squad for Morant and Handcock and then, 13 years later, he callously sent thousands more to their deaths at Gallipoli.

In his synopsis of Breaker Morant on the website of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive, film critic Paul Byrnes declares: "The Colonel Hamilton mentioned here is Sir Ian Hamilton, who would later command the allied forces at the start of the Gallipoli campaign  his last command. He was relieved after an Australian journalist, Keith Murdoch, delivered a scathing secret attack to the British cabinet about the Gallipoli campaign." Edward Woodward as Harry Morant in Breaker Morant. While there is a strong case to conclude that Harry Morant got what he deserved, there is no doubt Bruce Beresford shot the wrong Hamilton in Breaker Morant. The senior staff officer who gave evidence at the Morant court martial was not Ian Hamilton but the then colonel and later major general Hubert Ion Wetherall Hamilton, who was Kitchener's military secretary and aide-de-camp from November 1900 until the end of the Boer War. His nickname was Hammy, not Johnny. And he had been dead for six months when the first Australian troops landed at Gallipoli in April 1915, shot through the head on the Western Front. Phillip Schuler was the special correspondent for The Age at Gallipoli and later wrote the first Australian account of the campaign before being killed in Flanders in 1917. The truth of Schuler's important part in the Gallipoli story has also fallen victim to the modern media massagers.

In the age of Twitter, Rupert Murdoch is an irrepressible octogenarian. On Anzac Day 2015 he was particularly busy in the world of 140-character missives. "Today century of Gallipoli disaster," he tweets, channelling his father. "Testament to British arrogance, incompetence. Many thousands of brave Anzac youths slaughtered." Later he gives a plug among his 660,000 Twitter followers to his Foxtel network's new dramatisation of the Dardanelles campaign. The two-part drama screened on the eve of Anzac Day 2015 focuses on the four most significant correspondents to write about the campaign for Australia - Charles Bean, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Keith Murdoch and Phillip Schuler. It takes the hagiography of Keith Murdoch to a new level, while taking considerable liberties with the truth of the character and conduct of the other three journalists. Captain Charles Bean, legendary World War I war correspondent. Credit:Fairfax Archives The executive producer of the mini-series was actor Sam Worthington, who also played Phillip Schuler. At a media conference in Adelaide in early 2014, Worthington appeared ignorant of the fact that while Murdoch and Ashmead-Bartlett had conspired to have Sir Ian Hamilton sacked and the Gallipoli campaign aborted, neither Bean nor Schuler were involved or supported their actions. "The thrilling part of the drama is the story of these four journalists fighting the upper echelons of the military to get the truth out and stop the carnage," Worthington said. Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett. In truth, Bean accepted military censorship and, when he discovered what Ashmead-Bartlett and Murdoch had done, he disapproved of their defiance of the rules. Schuler emphatically disagreed. He greatly admired Hamilton and shared the general's conviction that the campaign would have succeeded if the British government had stayed the course. He was furious with Keith Murdoch, his former close friend and colleague at The Age, and their relationship never recovered.

Having constructed Deadline Gallipoli on a false premise, the producers compounded their corruption of the historical record with some farcical characterisations. As ever, Hamilton is a humourless recluse sipping cognac while brave men die and braver journalists struggle against him. Despite the evidence of his tenacity and courage under fire, Schuler is presented as a coward. He cowers in a landing boat at Anzac Cove. "I couldn't get off," he blubbers to a nurse. Ewen Leslie as Keith Murdoch and Hugh Dancy as Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett in Even the love interest in Deadline Gallipoli is a brazen departure from the facts. A Murdoch is once more in bed with Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, but this time it is Rupert's niece, the actress Anna Torv. Lady Gwendoline Churchill by Sir John Lavery. She plays Lady Gwendoline Churchill, who succumbs vigorously to the British correspondent's affections during his visit back to London in June 1915. This is an exceptional piece of poetic licence. Indeed, it took the Foxtel scriptwriters to achieve the coupling that the correspondent himself had failed dismally to consummate.
Sydney: A western Sydney house has been peppered with bullets in a suspected targeted attack.

Police were called to the Jessop Place property in Westmead on Saturday night following reports shots had been fired.

A car parked at the address was also hit.

Nobody was injured in the incident but police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

AAP
Contract: Mario Condello was targeted by hitmen because of his regular habit of walking his dog early on the same route, past Brighton Cemetery. Credit:Craig Abraham Crooks are often referred to as animals (dogs, jackals, hyenas, rats, maggots and stool pigeons), which is wildly unfair to the planet's non-human community. In fact many colourful characters have an affinity for pets  often based on companionship but sometimes for practical purposes. Prolific drug dealer and killer Dennis Allen kept attack geese at his Richmond house, believing they were more territorial than guard dogs. As he dealt in cash, had more jewellery than Elizabeth Taylor and was a prodigious police informer it was a wise investment  although he was to die in 1987 from a drug-related heart condition. Snapped: Australia's oldest armed robber Aubrey Broughill holds up a bank in 1978. His corpse's lack of testicles was attributed to the snacking habits of eastern snake-necked turtles. One of his relatives also had an interest in birds, but of the canary variety, until her favourite went missing during a police raid. She concluded a detective (who himself had a wildlife nickname) freed the feathered pet in an act of petulance. That is until she opened the freezer to find the bird wedged between the fish fingers and the raspberry ripple.

Master armed robber and alleged gangland killer Russell Cox didn't stay on the run for 11 years after escaping from Sydney's maximum-security Katingal jail division by taking risks. Yabby bait: Lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson had a goldfish named after her by administrative staff of the Purana Gangland Taskforce. Credit:Jason South He was a master of disguise with a number of aliases, including Mr Walker from The Phantom comics. Even his dog Devil (also from The Phantom) had a fake name, also answering to Butch. He and Devil ran early mornings for Cox liked to be out of the house at sunrise, knowing police preferred to conduct raids at dawn. Hitman and former poodle breeder James Frederick Bazley had more time for dogs than his victims. Drifter: Robber Aubrey Broughill's injuries were consistent with the use of a scalpel, not the shredding of turtle claws.

Bazley was paid $20,000 to murder drug couriers Isabel and Douglas Wilson, whose bodies were found buried in Rye in May 1979. The Wilsons were killed on the orders of the Mr Asia drug syndicate boss, Terrence John Clark, after corrupt police confirmed the couple were talking to Queensland detectives. The hitman was instructed to kill the Wilsons' dog, Taj, and drop their car at Melbourne Airport to leave the impression they had fled overseas. He parked the car as per the plan but refused to kill the dog, dropping it in Brunswick on the way to the airport. Dog man: Mark "Chopper" had a succession of canines named after both criminals and lawyers. Credit:Jon Reid Another gangster with a weakness for little dogs was Mario Condello, a qualified lawyer and a tooled-up mobster who once had ambitions to be a High Court judge. The big man liked to take his dog for an early morning walk, using the same route past the Brighton Cemetery. For a fellow connected with the so-call Carlton Crew and up to his armpits in the Melbourne Underbelly gangland war, such predictability could be fatal.

Drug heavy: Dennis Allen (pointing a gun at his mother, Kath Pettingill) kept attack geese at his Richmond home, believing they were more territorial than guard dogs. In 2004 the Purana taskforce found drug boss Carl Williams had put out a contract to kill Condello while on his morning walk. On June 9 police made sure Condello was nowhere near Brighton as the two-man hit team assembled. In a sliding doors moment another large local with a small dog walked past the cemetery, leading the would-be killers to think they had found their man. Confirmation came with a police bug picking up one saying, "I'm going to have to walk up beside him and shoot him". As there were 170 police hiding in the area, the gunmen were quickly arrested before they could move. Worried detectives were instantly relieved, as was one of the gunmen's bladders when he was handcuffed.

We will never know if the wrong man discovered how close he was to becoming a mistaken identity victim. Condello was safe  for a time  but continued to be a creature of habit. Given bail on the condition he spent nights at home, he fell into a routine of returning around the same time. He was shot dead two years later walking up his driveway. The suspect in this case disliked most people and preferred the company of a parrot he taught to cry "not guilty" and "I hate coppers". Who says gunmen don't have a sense of humour? It is not only the baddies who have affection for animals, as police dogs have a wonderful history of catching crooks and protecting their handlers. Which is a lesson crooked drug squad senior detective David Miechel forgot when caught outside an East Oakleigh drug house he was in the process of robbing. Found up a tree by a canine unit he first tried to talk his way out, saying he was looking for the offender. When that failed he punched the handler, which enraged police dog Silky, who proceeded to latch on to the suspect's thigh.

Miechel tried to punch the dog, which enraged the handler who hit him with a police torch, fracturing his cheekbone and jaw. Miechel got a nasty scar and 12 years while Silky got a plate of Meaty Bites. Miechel's co-offender, Terence Hodson, made a statement implicating then detective sergeant Paul Dale but did not live to testify. In May 2004, Hodson and his wife Christine were shot dead in their Kew home. Their two guard dogs were locked in the garage, suggesting the victims felt in no danger and were ambushed by someone they knew. For a time the elite Purana Gangland Taskforce had its own office pet  a mature-age yabby found in a Castlemaine dam and kept in a 25-litre glass receptacle previously used to produce amphetamines. The container was seized from a lab owned by drug boss Tony Mokbel, and so the freshwater crustacean was named Tony.

Both yabby Tony and runaway Tony seemed to like boats. The drug boss escaped to Greece in a $340,000 ketch while the yabby had a $2 toy one at the bottom of the tank. Eventually administrative staff bought a goldfish dubbed Zarah (after lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson, who incidentally owned a snake called Chivas) but the yabby ate the fish, proving neither Tony could be trusted nor was fond of captivity. This brings us to one of the great criminological and zoological mysteries of our time  the unexplained death of Australia's oldest armed robber, Aubrey Maurice Broughill. When in February 1999 his body was found floating in a flooded Wodonga quarry, the death was treated as suspicious. There was no reason for him to be there; he had no car; there was no record he arrived on public transport; and accommodation checks showed no bookings under his name. He was 73 years old, fit and a strong swimmer.

When the body was recovered it showed he was wearing a striped shirt, his blue denim jeans were caught around his left foot, his belt was still fastened, he was not wearing underpants and was barefoot. There was another reason to suggest this was no accident. Aubrey Maurice Broughill had no testicles. One theory put to the coroner was the local population of eastern snake-necked turtles, which usually snack on insects, small fish, tadpoles and the occasional frog, attacked him after death. While the 25-centimetre turtle is known to carry on over carrion, no one can explain why it only went after one part of the anatomy. And when these turtles find a carcass, they use their front claws to shred the flesh into bite-size chunks. Which seems at odds with the description of Broughill's injuries as, "A well-defined incised-like edge measuring seven centimetres and extending to a more irregular ragged tear". This would suggest that unless the turtles were armed with scalpels and doing third-year medicine, they are not guilty.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Thursday's night's truck attack in Nice that left 84 people dead, according to IS-affiliated Amaq news agency, as French police announced they had made five arrests in connection with the incident.

The news agency cited an "insider source" saying that "the person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State".

Police shine a light as they approach the truck driver's cab late on Thursday. Credit:Nader El Shafei/AP

"He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State".

However it is not clear if Islamic State are simply seeking publicity from the attack or whether they are claiming responsibility for an attack they may have directed.
By India Today Web Desk: With just days left for the release, ardent Thalaivar fans are looking forward to witnessing their idol after a very long time.

While the fan frenzy is yet to settle, director Pa Ranjith has given some insight into superstar Rajinikanth's character in the film. He says that the audience will see an altogether different Rajinikanth in Kabali.

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Pa Ranjith was quoted by the Indiaglitz as saying, "While writing the script, I made sure that I write the character of Kabali keeping Rajini sir's image aside and make him fit into the character."



ALSO READ: Rajinikanth's Kabali will be bigger than Baahubali, says producer Kalaipuli S Dhanu



ALSO READ: Kabali: Thalaivar Rajinikanth to return to Chennai on July 20?

About Rajinikanth's character, Pa Ranjith said, "I have changed many things that one would normally associate with a Rajini film. Punch dialogues have been avoided. There won't be any dialogues advising women. He won't utter any dialogue, pointing his finger upwards, referring to the God. Rajini sir generally walks fast. But I wanted him to walk slow with the aged getup. Even in the scenes where I felt he has walked faster than required, I have purposefully reduced the speed. But in the young makeover, he will walk in his usual style."

Speaking about Rajinikanth's acting Pa Ranjith said, "As far as acting is concerned, he has given a very realistic, simple and powerful performance. People will love his character and would connect easily. There is a particular small portion of the film that involves an emotional conversation with his daughter. He has done it brilliantly. After a long time, he has done such a realistic acting and has moved away from cinematic acting."

The film, which will also be released in Telugu and Hindi, co-stars Radhika Apte, Kishore, Dinesh, Kalaiarasan, Dhanshika and Taiwanese actor Winston Chao.

Tipped to be based on the story of a real life don, Kabali has been predominantly shot in Malaysia. Produced by Kalaipuli S Thanu, the film has music by Santhosh Narayanan.

Kabali has cleared the censor board with a 'U' certificate and will hit the screens on July 22.



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22:29 - Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge are both closed. Dogan News Agency footage shows cars and buses being diverted.

How events unfolded in Turkey on Friday/Saturday: (local times, seven hours behind AEST)

22:50 - Gunshots are heard in Ankara, military jets and helicopters seen flying overhead. Helicopters seen overhead in Istanbul.

Turkish army tanks move in the main streets of Ankara in the early hours of Saturday. Credit:Getty Images

23:02 - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says attempted coup under way, calls for calm. He says a group within Turkey's military has attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

23:25 - Turkish military says has taken power to protect democratic order. In a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, the military says all of Turkey's existing foreign relations will be maintained.

23:38 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is safe, reports CNN Turk.
Actor Kamal Haasan thanks his family and fans in an audio message from the hospital, where the Vishwaroopam actor is currently taking medication.

By India Today Web Desk: Earlier this week, actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan suffered the fracture after he slipped and fell in his Chennai office and underwent surgery at a private hospital where doctors termed his condition as "stable."

Hordes of concerned fans wished the actor for a speedy recovery trending various hashtags on Twitter.



ALSO READ: Kamal Haasan hospitalised, condition stable after surgery



ALSO READ: Kamal Haasan is doing much better, tweets daughter Shruti Haasan

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Even his daughter Shruti Haasan assured the fans that he is on road to recovery and also thanked them for their well-wishes.

Now, the Vishwaroopam actor has come up with an audio message thanking his fans and well-wishers. The audio message is already doing rounds on social media.

In the audio message, the National Award-winning director said, "I've faced many tussles in life and I've learned my lessons. But this little incident reminds me that I still have lots to learn."

Here's the audio:



Kamal Hassan, who is known for his witty one-liners, jokingly tweeted about his condition on Twitter. He said, "Hi Shruti Akshara Subbu Nalini. My daughters and sisters nothing to worry except, they allow only cetain charechtors on twitter. Love youall."



Hi Shruti Akshara Subbu Nalini. My daughters and sisters nothing to worry except, they allow only cetain charechtors on twitter. Love youall Kamal Haasan (@ikamalhaasan) July 16, 2016

It is expected that the actor will be discharged in a few days.

Due to the injury, Kamal won't be able to attend the London Indian Film Festival this weekend, where he was to be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

On the work front, Kamal will be next seen in a tri-lingual comedy film Sabash Naidu. The film is being directed by him after an unfortunate turn of events led to director TK Rajeev Kumar moving away from the project. The film will simultaneously be shot in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.



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"It is not the first time that media has been targeted in the Valley but this time they have made it official. We have been asked to suspend the work for the next few days. This is censorship", said Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of Rising Kashmir.

The media today took out a rally against the state governmnet.

By Shuja-ul-Haq : The media fraternity took out a protest march in the Valley against the gag by the state government.

Newspapers were not allowed to publish in Kashmir and were asked by the state government to suspend their operations for the next 3 days.

THIS IS CENSORSHIP

"It is not the first time that media has been targeted in the Valley but this time they have made it official. We have been asked to suspend the work for the next few days. This is censorship", said Shujaat Bukhari, the editor of Rising Kashmir.

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On Saturday morning, most people in the Valley were shocked to see no newspapers being delivered.

Govt seizes newpapers, mobile network suspended as Kashmir reels under curfew

NO NEWSPAPERS

The government, as per one leading newspaper, seized around 50,000 copies and harassed the staff.

"Our office was raided by the police, three of our employees were also arrested and 50,000 copies were seized," said the statement from Greater Kashmir.

VALLEY STILL TENSE

The Valley is reeling under the impact of the unrest that began after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in an encounter.

As many as 40 people have been killed in clashes with the security forces and more than 1800 have been injured.

A strict curfew is imposed for a week.

Internet service, most private mobile networks and even the cable TV is blocked.

Also Read:

Kashmiri IAS officer slams national media over coverage of J&K crisis

Pakistan announces 'black day' over Kashmir, don't interfere in our issue, India hits back



--- ENDS ---
Queen Josefinas Diamond Tiara (Photo: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images)

When you first dig into the history of the Scandinavian royal families, one of the first things you notice is the plethora of empresses, queens, and princesses named Josephine in the family tree. Because of that, there are many opportunities to confuse the royal Josephines with their various tiaras. But the Josephine associated with this lovely diamond tiara is clear: it comes from Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway (nee Princess Josephine of Leuchtenberg), the wife of King Oscar I and the granddaughter of another famous Josephine (that would be Napoleons Empress Josephine). So many Josephines!

Queen Josefina of Sweden and Norway wears the tiara

Although some have suggested that this tiara first belonged to Queen Desiree of Sweden, most seem to agree that Queen Josefina was actually its first wearer. Some think it may have been a wedding present to Josefina, though no one knows precisely who the giver might have been; historian Trond Noren Isaksen proposes that it may even have been worn by her on her wedding day. The maker is also uncertain, but the design is beautiful and typical of the first half of the nineteenth century, with its intricate diamond floral and laurel wreath elements.

Queen Lovisa of Denmark wears the tiara

When Josefina died, the tiara was inherited by her granddaughter, Lovisa, who married King Frederik VIII of Denmark. After Queen Lovisas death in 1926, the tiara passed to her unmarried son, Prince Gustav. When he died, he left the tiara to his niece, Princess Martha of Sweden, who had married Crown Prince Olav of Norway in 1929.

Queen Sonja wears the tiara (Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Martha died before she could become queen of Norway. After her death, her daughter, Princess Astrid, frequently wore the tiara while serving as Norways de facto first lady. Today, its Marthas daughter-in-law, Queen Sonja, who wears Josefinas tiara.

Note: this is an updated version of an earlier post, with new text and images.
For some tasked with thwarting the next jihadist strike, the only thing worse than learning that ISIS was responsible for an attack was figuring out that it wasnt: that maybe some deranged lone attacker did it by himself.

When a lone attacker is involved, the myriad of tactics deployed by the U.S. military and intelligence services to stop mass casualty events suddenly seem less potent. The fact that ISIS has been weakened financially and territorially over the past two years though a barrage of U.S. airstrikes and special operations no longer seems as impressive. And the improved intelligence sharing between the United States and Europe no longer seems as informative.

Much like after the shootings in Orlando and Dallas, U.S. officials sifted through every bit of intelligence Friday following the attack in Nice, Franceonly to, so far, find no evidence that the perpetrator of the attack, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, had any extensive ties with ISIS, al Qaeda, or any other jihadist group. Two U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that Bouhlel had no clear communication with ISIS nor had not raised flags that he could be behind such an attack.

On Saturday, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack through its official channel, Amaq, but its statement suggested the terror group did not orchestrate the attack but rather felt it inspired it. ISIS called Bouhlel a soldier who responded to ISIS calls to target citizens of coalition states which fight the Islamic State. Immediately after the claim, the U.S. position that there was no clear ISIS connection remained unchanged.

Even before the statement, French President Francois Hollande said Thursday a terrorist had killed at least 84 people in Nice, France, including at least 10 children and two American citizens. And there was profound frustration Friday among those in the U.S. government charged with stopping terrorist attacks, that their ongoing wars and intelligence gathering had failed to stop yet another terrorist.

Residents in Nice purportedly shouted at President Hollande Friday as he came through their city, angry over the lack of protection. An ocean away, those Americans in charge of stopping terrorists were just as angry and frustrated, in their case at themselves and their inability to stop such attacks.

Every week. I am not sure how much longer I can keep doing this, one U.S. law enforcement official said Friday morning. We cant find anything, again.

In the last month, 493 people have been killed by either ISIS, ISIS-inspired, or lone wolf attacks, noted Time correspondent Haley Edwards. That includes mass killings in places like Orlando (49), Baghdad (291), Dhaka (24), Istanbul (45), [and now] Nice (84). All in 32 days.

In the past, officials would have said that they must be right every day while the terrorists have to get lucky once for groups like ISIS to appear to be winning. They would have said that the military campaign alone could not defeat an ideology. But not on Friday. The three officials The Daily Beast spoke to Friday all sounded too dejected to repeat what they believe to be true about their war against jihadists.

That does not mean that groups like ISIS had no involvement, as they have urged supporters to use any means necessary to attack the West. And the ongoing rhetoric of the need for a caliphate and ISISs calls for war against the West is arguably enough to inspire mass attacks. ISIS or al Qaeda has been behind the two other major attacks to strike France in the past 18 months, against Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 and against several sites in Paris the following November. Moreover, more Frenchmen have traveled to Iraq and Syria, as a proportion of the population, than persons from any other European country.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told CNN Friday that the U.S. had advance notice of fighters returning to France but nothing to indicate the attack in Nice.

But even when the links to ISIS are not clear, after such attacks, there often is a rush to bolster the military campaign against the so-called Islamic State. Within hours, Hollande announced his nation would increase its involvement in the war in Iraq and Syria. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said it was time for the United States to declare the war. And Hillary Clinton called for a smarter war.

Some military officials privately were frustrated at the rush for more war, especially since there were no obvious connections to ISIS. Tying ISIS to every major attack, they said, bolsters the ISIS name within the jihadist community. And it fails to address the other issues that appear to contribute to such attacks in addition to ISIS, like the segregation and discrimination of Muslims in France.

That gives them credit for things they may not have had anything to do with, a defense official explained.

But what precisely the relationship is between the Nice attacker and ISIS remains unclear. There were some indications early on that suggested ISIS may have been involved. In the hours after the attack, which spanned a mile, scores of Telegram and Twitter accounts affiliated with ISIS celebrated the attacks in Nice in particularly high numbers, the kind of activity one would expect before the terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

But the attack did not bear the hallmarks of ISIS. It was a lone attacker, not multiple ones, using an out-of-control truck, not explosives.

Initial reports suggested that Bouhlel, 31, was a troubled, alcohol-consuming, secular Muslim, with a record of theft and wife-beating who was frustrated by a recent divorce and the separation from his three children. According to French prosecutor Francois Molins, Bouhlel, a truck driver, rented the truck the day before, and then plowed it through the crowds. Local authorities killed him inside that truck; the windshield had at least 18 bullet holes, according to photos.

France has extended its state of emergency and U.S. officials have vowed to help the French investigation. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter reached out to his French counterpart to talk about how to expand Frances war against ISIS. Already, officials at the Pentagon and within law enforcement know it will not be enough.

Where will it happen next? the first defense official asked.
The most coveted Star Wars footage in the galaxy as of Friday was the secret Rogue One trailer that played at Londons big Celebration event, where fans were treated to their first in-movie glimpse of Darth Vader, the iconic Sith lord who will play a small but looming role in the upcoming spinoff.

Or at least, fans saw his silhouette reflected on a gleaming black floor, a tantalizing image paired with the instantly recognizable sound of his rasping mechanical breath. The seconds-long tease came at the end of a new trailer for the film, which will reveal how Rebel spies infiltrated the Empire and stole the blueprints for the original Death Star vital to its destruction in A New Hope.

The trailer begins with a little girl (likely a baby Jyn Erso) running frantically through a green tundra, similar to the one where weve seen images of a Death Trooper clutching a mini toy Stormtrooper. The scene then transitions to an adult Erso running in the same direction, as Felicity Joness voiceover portends the importance of defeating the Empire: Every day we grow weaker, while they grow stronger. This is our chance to make a real difference.

A flurry of war-like images then follow, including a line of handcuffed X-wing pilots being shepherded along by Stormtroopers and explosive battles on the beaches of Scarif, a newly introduced Death Star-adjacent planet. Then the final coup: reflected on the floor against a vivid red background, that familiar silhouette and ragged breath.

One enterprising fan in attendance on Friday took the whole I rebel thing more seriously than most and uploaded a badly shot clip from the eventone that ironically begins with a projected warning from Lucasfilm: Loose lips sink starships! CONFIDENTIAL. See it below or, more ideally, wait for the official Lucasfilm release, which will obviously be less maddeningly fuzzy.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be the first non-trilogy Star Wars movie and has its work cut out for it in tone, in terms of both paying homage to the originals (without that, fans would surely mount their own rebellion) and carving out a unique identity of its own. It already seems more war-like than the average Star Wars movie, at least in part thanks to the influence of Tony To, who produced HBOs stellar WWII miniseries Band of Brothers, along with The Pacific. Director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy have also gushed about the films guerilla-style, shoulder-mounted camerawork, which they promise will make for an incredibly immersive experience.

So far, it sounds like no one is exaggerating: in the press line after the event, Edwards told Fandango that the planet Jedhaanother new location, a Mecca-like place where people go on pilgrimageswas shot on a 360-degree set, where even the cameramen were in costumes.

Still, the first Star Wars standalone storywhich already boasts a baddie of its own, the sartorially distinguished Director Orson Krennic, played by Ben Mendelsohncouldnt resist having James Earl Jones reprise his role as the former Anakin Skywalker. Well see how the whole thing turns out on Dec. 16 when Rogue One hits theaters.
When journalist-turned-activist Michael Elliott addressed his retirement party Tuesday nightwith a few hundred admirers from all over the world crowded into an art gallery near the Washington, D.C., headquarters of rock-star Bonos global poverty- and disease-fighting ONE Campaignthere was zero sense that this would be the Liverpool-born Elliotts last public speech.

His friends knew that hed been fighting cancer for the past 2- years, braving brutal bouts of chemotherapy, surgery, scores of medical procedures and multiple hospital stays, but there wasnt an elegy quality to his remarks that I could detect, said one of the partygoers, Michael Scherer, Washington bureau chief of Time magazine, where the 65-year-old Elliott had spent much of an action-packed journalism career before leaving in 2011 to become chief executive officer of ONE.

I knew hed been sick and he thanked his oncologist in his remarks, Scherer said, but he gave the impression that he was living with cancer but it was mostly behind himHe talked about how he was going back to Crete to hike in the White MountainsHe had tons of energy. He was the host of the party. He was smiling. He was cracking jokes. He was shaking hands.

Perhaps the only hint of the finality in the occasionbut it only seems noteworthy in retrospectwas when the guest of honor made a joke that included a passing reference to mortality.

As Billy Crystal said at [Muhammad] Alis memorial service, youve got to the halfway point now, Elliott began his remarks after a lengthy toast by ONE board chairman Tom Freston, a campy performance by a Paul McCartney impersonator (Elliotts Liverpudlian roots were a leitmotif), and video tributes from 19-year-old Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and U2s Bono (who crooned a Mike Elliott-specific parody of the Beatles tune, When Im 64, retitled as Now Im 65), plus accolades from various volunteers in the 7-million-member non-profit.

Well done! Elliott quipped.

As the man of the hour held court with his friends late into the night, hoisting adult beverages and telling old stories while sporting his trademark Australian kangaroo-skin bush hat, nobody could have known that he was, in fact, the life of the party at his own wake.

The news of Elliotts death Thursday eveningapparently from a raging infection that his compromised immune system just couldnt cope withcame as a devastating blow when it began to leak out on social media Friday morning in what soon became an outpouring of grief and disbelief.

Were all still kind of in shock, said Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs, still unable to process Elliotts passing. As you can imagine, its a tough day.

Gibbs, the first female boss of the 93-year-old newsmag, later issued a heartfelt tribute, one among countless eulogies from Elliotts massive Rolodex of friends and colleagues.

Michael is one of the very few people Ive ever known who deserved the description larger than life,' Gibbs wrote. He lived life large, buoyantly, flamboyantly, delightedly chasing the next big idea, spotting the next great talent, inviting us all to his table to listen and learn. He was preacher and teacher, mentor to generations of journalists and model to all of us as editors. We will miss him terribly.

Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait, his former colleague at The Economistwhere Elliott was Washington bureau chief before he edited Newsweek International, tried his hand as a dotcom entrepreneur, and joined Time as a senior writer in 2001, ending up as deputy managing editorcalled him one of the best journalists I have ever met, adding: He was a great mentor to many young journalists; he always had time and his door was seldom shut. He fought illness in the same way that he tackled lifewith bravery, with humor and with his family and friends right behind him."

Meanwhile, Bill Gates tweeted: Michael Elliott was a tremendous leader and an inspiration to many (including me).

ONE campaign co-founder Bono, aka Paul Hewson, wrote how Mike loved his life, lived it boldly and wanted the rest of the world to have that same experience of it. He was annoyed and sometimes angry at the waste of human potential. Above all else, he wanted his life to be useful. If you were around him, thats what he demanded of you[H]e was also great, great fun. In the world that ONE lives to change, that quality is one of the rarest and the one I personally will miss the most.

And Elliotts heartbroken wife of four decades, author and British public servant Emma Oxford, the mother of their two adult daughters, wrote that his awareness that he might run out of time far too soon only deepened his appreciation of life, of his work for ONE, and his love of family and friends.

Elliott grew up in post-World War II Liverpool, 221 miles on the motorway from London, but an even greater distance culturally and socially from the elite seat of British power and influence.

As he noted in his remarks Tuesday night, his parents never flew on an airplane, and both lived their lives within four miles of where they were born. Elliott told the crowd that of all the 25 jobs hed had in life, his favorite job of all was working on a wrecking crew, where I got to blow shit up.

That, of course, was a bit of misdirection. The pleasures of menial labor could never satisfy such an ambitious spirit. Aside from his stellar career in print journalism and gigs as a presenter for British television documentaries, Elliott became a serious academic, winning not one but two degrees from Oxford University and receiving a tenured professorship at the London School of Economics before joining The Economist in 1984.

When he moved to the United States two years later to become the prestigious magazines Washington bureau chief and political editorcreating the influential Lexington column analyzing American politicshe fell in love with his adopted country and later became a U.S. citizen (even as he accepted an honorary knighthood, an O.B.E. for his service to journalism).

His affection for Britains rebellious former colonies permeates his book-length study of post-war America, The Day Before Yesterday.

I think, as a Brit, he took to the U.S. and settled in the U.S. because the positive attitude appealed to him, said Elliotts former Economist colleague Sebastian Mallaby, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. (The very last entry on Elliotts Twitter feed, on Wednesday, was a re-tweeting of Mallabys Washington Post column on how incoming prime minister Theresa May must deal with Brexit.)

He was naturally more at home in America than in Britain," said Mallaby, "and he was American both in his optimism and general ebullience. The more cynical, downbeat, artificially self-effacing culture of Britain didnt go over so well with him.

India-born CNN host Fareed Zakaria, who held many of the same editorial positions as Elliott at both Newsweek and Time, said Mike had the kind of affection for America that only an immigrant can have.

Noting that Elliott in the 1990s turned down the offer of a senior policy job from then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and narrowly missed being elected editor-in-chief of The Economist, Zakaria added: He was a little out of place in England. He didnt come from the Etons of the world. He didnt come from the sort of gilded world of public schools, and for somebody like that, there were always subtle barriers in a place like Britain. But America felt like an open book. It was a place where people would judge you for who you were, and not what kind of accent you had.

Former Time managing editor Rick Stengel, currently Undersecretary of State for public diplomacy and public affairs, recalled his former deputy as a boon companion and prodigious worker who could stay in that chair hour after hour writing and editing.

Once, at 2 a.m. on a very late closing night when that issue of Time magazine was still not to bed, Stengel recalled wringing his hands ruefully and Elliott dismissing his angst, saying, This is what we do. Stengel said another of Elliotts favorite catchphrasesrare in an enterprise where whining is de rigueurwas: Mustnt grumble.

Top Time Inc. executive Norman Pearlstine pointed out that Elliott was probably unique in that he held senior editorial positions at all three of the planets leading English-language newsweeklies.

He just had an extraordinary level of intellectual curiosity about just about everything, and he knew everybody, Pearlstine said, noting that Elliott regularly hosted an annual dinner for journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He wanted to run something rather than be a perpetual deputy, Pearlstine added about Elliotts decision five years ago to leave journalism for the nonprofit world as president and CEO of ONE.

What was interesting to me is that he was good at it. You never know if somebody who has done one thing for such a long time can be that ambidextrous.

Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver, who enlisted Elliotts active involvement in advocating for people with intellectual disabilities, said he wasnt surprised that Elliott was so successful at ONE (where Shrivers older brother Bobby, a close friend of Bonos, was present at the creation and serves on the board).

He had tremendous leadership skills, Tim Shriver said. I think he became badly disillusioned with journalism. There was only so much you could do by telling stories. Telling a story about a problem is one thing, but actually doing something about it was another.

Like other friends of Elliott, Shriver recalled that he came to everything with a default smile on his face, and a kind of discombobulated but happy aspect, and a commitment to get things doneIf you were at some social event in Washington, you could always find your way to Michael and have a fun conversation about whatever was going on. And he had a great sense of humor, and a belief that humor matters in life.

Fareed Zakaria put it another way: As in the novel Scaramouche, He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that world was mad. 

At his final oration Tuesday night, Elliott ended by reciting a passage from Derek Walcotts poem Omeros about the role of the writer, giving voice to the struggles of ordinary people.

It was a great performance and no one had any idea that this [Elliotts death] was going to happen, said Tom Freston, who recalled Elliotts talking enthusiastically at lunch that day about his plans to refurbish the patio of the familys English summer home in Devon. It was epic.

It was vintage Mike, in a way, Zakaria said. You have to imagine that the writer and the storyteller in him would have appreciated the drama of that moment.
If America thought Turkeys president was difficult to work with before, wait 'til it gets a load of him now.

Hours after a failed coup, evidently planned and carried out by elements in the Turkish Air Force, Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from his holiday on the Aegean coast to a roaring crowd in Istanbul. He claimed to have survived an assassination attempt while he was in the resort town of Marmaris, and he thanked God for the gift that a night of chaos, helicopter strafing and parliamentary attentat had afforded him. He was finally going to do unto his enemies and ill-wishers what he had long sought to do. The message was clear: No More Mr. Nice Sultan.

And it was aimed squarely at the United States as much as the officers attempting to oust him. Erdogan blames a 75-year-old reclusive religious leader, Fethullah Gulen, for orchestrating the coup using loyalists embedded in Turkeys military, police, judiciary and schools. And Gulen lives in the Poconos, which is why Erdogan made a bizarre reference to Turkeys not being run from a house in Pennsylvania at his hastily arranged presser at Ataturk International Airport last night. Turkey is not a country that can be bought or sold cheaply.

Hes certainly right about that last point; buying the country has proven a costly affair.

Erdogan and Gulen had formerly been aligned in an awkward, decade-long attempt to marry a Muslim Brotherhood-style Islamism with Kemalist democracyuntil, that is, corruption scandals began plaguing then-Prime Minister Erdogan and his inner circle in 2013 and he blamed Gulen for inventing them. There were embarrassing audio recordings, too, one being a remarkable phone call in which Erdogan can be heard instructing his 33-year-old son Bilal to squirrel millions in cash out of their jointly owned private residence. Many called for him to resign after that. He responded by sniffing a Gulenist provocation and shutting down even more of Turkeys independent press.

Erdogan had always justified his creeping autocratic behavior as a necessary bulwark against wreckers and plotters and fifth columnists. Now hell absolutely believe he didnt go far enough.

This morning, the newish Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim made it plain that Gulens continued exile in the Keystone State was barely short of an American declaration of war. This threat should not be taken lightly.

In March, rumors were rife within Erdogans ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) that a coup was in the offing and that Gulens partner in putsch was none other than Barack Obama. At the State Department, Ilhan Tanir, a Turkish journalist based in Washington, D.C. who is critical of AKP and has written for The Daily Beast, even put it to spokesman John Kirby whether or not it was true that the American commander-in-chief was looking to unhorse his Anatolian counterpart, as so many pro-government outlets had suggested. Are we trying to overthrow the government of Turkey? Is that your question? Kirby replied. It is such a ridiculous claim and charge that I am not going to dignify it with an answer.

Kirby may yet have to. Obamas earlier unvarnished comments to The Atlantics Jeffrey Goldberg that he considered Erdogan, once his favorite foreign leader, a failure and an authoritarian (in Goldbergs paraphrase) did little to temper what at the time seemed a feverish conspiracy theory that one NATO member might be planning regime change against another. Well, now the thousands of Erdogan supporters who took to the streets and sat atop tank turrets last night will judge that this conspiracy has indeed come to pass, and this will have broad repercussions for U.S.-Turkish relations, not to mention the war against ISIS, upon which those relations have faltered.

The effects can already be felt. According to the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Adana, Incirlik airbase has today been sealed and its electricity cut. Not only is this facility home to some 80 nuclear weapons, it has become a geographically vital launchpad for warplane and drone sorties into Syria. And it took months of exhaustive diplomatic wrangling to make it so.

Erdogan has famously de-prioritized the war against ISIS in favor of getting rid of Bashar al-Assad and installing a friendly Islamist government in Damascus in his place. Moreover, he is deeply wary of the Pentagons preferred ground proxy in routing the jihadists: marxisant Syrian Kurds aligned with the Democratic Union Party (PYD). The PYD is the Syrian sister of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which both Ankara and Washington have designated a terrorist organization, and against which Turkey is still actively at war.

Erdogan fears that the Kurds are constructing their own state upon the ashes of the Islamic one in northern Syria, courtesy of U.S. air power and embedded U.S. special forces, and that this represents a long-term national security menace to his country. (That view is actually shared by a wide sector of the Turkish security and military establishment, including, Id wager, those who just tried to depose him.) It also represents, for him, a dark betrayal by a longtime ally. As one Turkish official not long ago phrased it to me: How would America feel if we helped al-Qaeda build an autonomous zone at the Mexican border?

All of which is to say that negotiating the terms of Turkeys inclusion in Operation Inherent Resolve, as the anti-ISIS war is formally known, has been a near-run thing. Yet some progress had lately been made.

As the Wall Street Journal reported a day before the coup attempt, a meeting was held about two months ago at Incirlik at which U.S. and Turkish officials and representatives of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as the Kurdish-led proxy army is called. The discussion was over the logistics of the forthcoming liberation of Minbij, a crucial ISIS stronghold in Aleppo home to 100,000 Syrian Arabs. The Turks insist that Minbij not become a Kurdish fief after the head-loppers are gone. So the U.S. agreed to a blended composition of fighters to retake the town and to a mainly Arab-dominant military council to govern it once it was secure. The Turks also gave way on their red line that the Syrian Democratic Forces not cross the Euphrates River, thus allowing the Kurds to theoretically link up their cantons.

If, in his infinite paranoia, Erdogan now believes that America was in any way involved in trying to violently overthrow or kill him; or if he just considers America an accomplice after the fact by its continued hosting of the alleged coup-master, then he might easily decide to forswear this agreement with a lame-duck administration and turn quite nasty. Forget Minbij. Forget Raqqa.

Not for nothing was ISIS cheering last night as the gunship bullets tore through civilians and state buildings in Istanbul.
ISTANBUL  The Turkish government said Saturday it had suppressed a coup by a military faction and arrested thousands of soldiers after a chaotic night that saw armed attacks on the national parliament and an apparent assassination attempt against President Recip Tayyip Erdogan.

The coup attempt stunned this nation of nearly 80 million, a key U.S. NATO ally, and raised new questions about its long-term stability as well as its future role in the fight against Islamic State extremists and its response to the civil war in neighboring Syria.

The big unanswered question Saturday was the motive of the coup, which the government immediately blamed on Erdogans former ally, Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric now living in exile in the U.S. Erdogan had been planning a major military purge next month, directed against any Gulenist supporters who hadnt already been removed from the military ranks, and its possible that fear of losing their jobs united the officers behind the coup.

The purge would have added still more to Erdogans control over of Turkish political life. Already in control over much of the news media, he is now attempting to extend his grasp over the judiciary and is pressing hard for a change in the constitution that will give him far greater executive powers.

The government said 161 people were killed in the coup attempt, and 1,440 wounded. In addition, 104 soldiers identified as coup backers were killed in the fighting. It said 2,839 member of the military had been arrested. Erdgogan made it clear they will be treated as traitors and terrorists.

One group of eight military personnel fled by helicopter to Greece, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he had formally requested their extradition.

If the coup plotters had expected a popular upswell of support, they were fatally mistaken. The masses of people who took to the streets did so to back Erdogan. Even the opposition parties made it clear they were against what would have been the fifth military overthrow of a civilian government, whether by force or menacing memorandum, since 1960.

Friday night was a stain in the history of Turkish democracy, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday morning.

As he congratulated Turkish citizens for resisting the coup attempt, he noted that the military chain of command did not support the rebels. Indeed, the coup organizers detained chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar in his headquarters until a commando team reportedly rescued him in the middle of the night.

Erdogan and Yildirim both blamed the coup on officers sympathetic to a movement headed by former Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who now lives in U.S. exile in the foothills of Pennsylvanias Poconos mountains.

It was an action taken by the Gulenist group within the armed forces, Yildirim said as he demanded that the United States extradite Gulen to face charges here. Erdogan, not mentioning his name, nonetheless called on him to return to Turkey to face trial: The betrayal you have done to this nation is enough, he said.

But Gulen issued a statement condemning the military attempt to take over the government.

The coup attempt began at about 7:30 p.m. Friday night local time, when the dissident military faction sent tanks to close Istanbuls two bridges over the Bosporus strait linking Europe with Asia.

Declaring that it was in complete charge of the country, the faction announced a national curfew, seized the General Staff headquarters, took over state television and sent tanks to surround the Turkish parliament. Later the faction carried out bombing raids against the parliament as well as other key security installations.

Erdogan, who was vacationing on the Aegean coast, appealed to his followers to take to the streets in protest and said he was flying to Ankara. Instead he landed early Saturday in Istanbuls Ataturk airport, where he said the coup plotters had bombed the resort hotel in Marmaris hours after he had departed.

Erdogan could not have flown safely to Ankara, because rebel warplanes and helicopters dominated the skies. The government responded by closing the airspace over the capital and ordering its own warplanes to shoot down what it called hijacked government aircraft. As government supporters took to the streets to demonstrate against the coup, fighting between dissidents and loyal troops was reported through the night.

As of Saturday midday, some 150 military coup supporters were still holding out at a major base in Ankara, the government said.

Istanbul was relatively quiet, and there was no sign that anyone was observing the nationwide curfew called by the coup leaders, but starting at about 3:30 a.m., warplanes, apparently piloted by dissidents, criss-crossed the skies repeatedly at low altitudes, causing repeated sonic booms. It may have been one of the last gasps of the rebellion.

The U.S. embassy urged American citizens to stay indoors and not to attempt to reach the main airports in Istanbul and Ankara. The embassy said in a special security message that it had reports of sporadic gunfire at Istanbuls main Ataturk airport and said it had ordered government employees not to attempt to travel to or from the facility.

U.S. airlines were ordered to halt all flights to or from Istanbul or Ankara airports and all direct flights to and from the U.S. were cancelled.
On Saturday morning, in the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan, The Rolling Stones You Cant Always Get What You Want reverberated in the hall, symbolically announcing the new union of Donald Trump and his veep pick, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

After a whirlwind 48 hours in which the news of Pences pick leaked, and Trump reportedly waffled on the choice so much that he was making midnight calls on Thursday night to try to find an escape hatch, the two menopposites in most qualitative respectsbriefly shared the limelight behind a podium emblazoned only with Trumps name.

We are the law-and-order candidates, Trump declared in a dizzying 30-minute address before Pence even made it to the stage. And were the law-and-order party.

As the Indiana governor looked on from the side of the stage, the presumptive Republican nominee devoted much of his address to bashing Crooked Hillary Clinton and weighing in on recent global conflicts, including the attempted military coup in Turkey on Friday.

"Great people, amazing people, Trump said of the Turks, switching back and forth from prepared remarks to his usual riffing. We wish them well. A lot of anguish last night but hopefully it'll all work out.

A day after the Trump campaign scrapped the initial scheduled rollout for his vice presidential pickwhich was ultimately unceremoniously announced on Twitterthey quickly pulled together an event at the same location where Ronald Reagan announced his 1980 presidential bid, with all the pomp and circumstance of a man meeting a mail-order spouse.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence was my first choice, Trump said despite the fact that he reportedly struggled to choose between an establishment-pleasing pick (pushed by campaign chairman Paul Manafort) and two men with whom hes had better rapport: Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Much of Saturdays speech, a rollout that was accompanied by a website redesign to include Pences face and a new logoreplacing a suggestive image that was mocked on social media on Fridaysounded like any other Trump address.

Hillary Clinton is the embodiment of corruption, Trump said before suggesting that she got away with murder for not being charged after an investigation into her use of a private email server. He dropped typically braggadocious lines like I was the one that predicted it, in reference to Brexit, before seemingly remembering that Pence was supposed to be the man of the hour.

Back to Mike Pence, hed interject before beginning to discuss his success in the Republican primary again (I dominated with evangelicals). Trump conceded that one of the reasons Pence was selected was for party unity before adding he looks really good.

When he finally called Pence to the stage, the two men shared a brief handshake before Trump waltzed off and gave the governor the floorchoosing not to stand beside him for a visual representation of the Republican ticket.

Pence, with close-cropped white hair and a strong mandible, represented a striking divergence from Trump; a disciplined, conservative Republican who read from prepared remarks with designated moments for applause.

Im a Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order, Pence said to applause in the room. The Indiana governors address and policy positionswhich include much more conservative opinions on LGBT rights and abortionwere intended to assuage on-the-fence Republicans who cant fathom a former reality television star being the standard-bearer of their party.

He told the crowd that Trump had called him with the decision on Wednesday night, which runs counter to the narrative Trump himself presented to the media in various interviews on Thursday, during which time he proclaimed he hadnt made his final, final decision.

These are good people, Pence said of Trump and his family. And Trump will make a great president of the United States of America.

The tenuous relationship of the two men has developed over the past two months since Pence made a less-than-enthusiastic endorsement of Senator Ted Cruz ahead of the Indiana primary (today, Trump said that endorsement was essentially one for him).

Their policy differences have played out on Trumps favorite form of social media, with the Indiana governor tweeting his support of the Trans Pacific Partnership in 2014, something that the real estate mogul is adamantly against.

In December 2015, Pence tweeted: Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional, in response to an initial proposal from Trump that the United States place a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the country after the attack in San Bernardino.

But on Friday during his first interview as Trumps vice presidential pick, Pence told Sean Hannity that he is very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States," a more recent iteration of the proposed ban.

As their official union got off to a bit of a clunky start, Trumps family joined Pence onstage at the end of the event, giving the two men an opportunity for a rare side-by-side photo.

Roger Stone, a one-time adviser for Trump who showed up in a grey striped suit, was pleased with the results.

"It was strong. A winning ticket!" he texted The Daily Beast after the event.

Michael Caputo, an adviser who resigned from Trump's campaign last month in the wake of former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's firing, echoed Stone's remarks.

"Pence's speech was solid, exceptionally well written and delivered expertly," Caputo told The Daily Beast. "I think he made perfectly clear what he can do for this ticket. His speech was a rousing call to arms for Republicans and a full volume defense of Donald Trump. Mission accomplished."

Before the two men appear together once again at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland next week, the governor is returning to Zionsville, Indiana on Saturday for what is billed as a Welcome Home Rally according to the Trump campaign.

Please note that Mr. Trump will not be in attendance, the media advisory reads.
On June 26, Fallujahthe first Iraqi city to fall to the so called Islamic Statewas finally declared fully liberated by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. It was a significant victory for the much-maligned Iraqi armed forces. They had been fighting to clear the city of about a thousand ISIS militants for five weeks. Just 30 miles west of Baghdad, Fallujah has been a springboard for car bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital since it was seized by the so-called Islamic State in January 2014.

Between the uproar over Brexit and the bizarre gyrations of the current presidential election campaign, the Iraqi victory seems to have barely caught the attention of the American public. Yet for 12,000 Americans, both active duty and former Marines and soldiers, this was a fight that mattered more than they could say.

They have been there before.

In the fall of 2004, two U.S. Marine reinforced regimental combat teamsthe rough equivalent of a divisionwrested Fallujah from 4,000 diehard jihadist insurgents in what proved to be the costliest, most intense battle of the entire Iraq War (2003-2011).

The chief objective of the American campaign plan during the fall of 2004 was to eliminate the major safe havens of a burgeoning insurgency in advance of Iraqs first parliamentary elections after the American invasion. The legitimacy of the interim government, and the upcoming elections, appeared to hang in the balance. Fallujah, a city of 250,000 less than an hours drive from Baghdad, was the mother of all safe havens.

This metropolis on the edge of the desert had a well-earned reputation as a home for former Baathist party enforcers and other criminal elements. It was a squalid, unattractive place, unfriendly to strangersa city, writes military historian Bing West, comprised of two thousand blocks of courtyard walls, tenements, two-story concrete houses, and squalid alleyways. Half-completed houses, garbage heaps, and wrecks of old cars cluttered every neighborhood.

Gen. John Sattler, top commander of the Marines in Iraq, remarked in September 2004 that no Marine vehicle could move in or around Fallujah without being fired on. The Corps couldnt wait to assault the city and mix it up with a colorful melange of al Qaeda, freelance Islamist extremists from across the Middle East, and several Sunni militia groups.

The previous April the Marines had begun to put the hurt on the Fallujah insurgency, only to be pulled out of the city in the middle of a tough fight by an Iraqi government that feared the repercussions of heavy civilian casualties. The Marine command was not pleased.

Unlike the recent struggle to take the city back from ISIS, the outcome of the fall 2004 encounter was never really in doubt. Superior numbers, training, and an immense advantage in firepower insured that the city would fall to the Americans. The critical questions were, how much blood and treasure would it take to wrest the city from the enemy? Would the city have to be destroyed to be saved? And most importantly, would victory in Fallujah reverse the momentum of an insurgency steadily growing in both numbers and intensity across much of the country?

Sattlers Marines had the luxury of several months to prepare their plan of attack, and it proved to be a very good plan indeed. A preliminary feint from the southwest 24 hours before the main assault would draw off considerable numbers of jihadists from the northern sector of the city, the direction from which the main attack would proceed. A U.S. Army armored brigade had thrown a tight cordon around the entire city, preventing reinforcements or resupplies from reaching the enemy.

Crucially, the Iraqi government and the Americans had managed to persuade/cajole well over 90 percent of the citys populace to evacuate their homes, so if the American infantry ran into exceedingly tough resistance, as indeed they did, they could employ the full range of their lethal supporting armsAbrams tanks, the steel rain of 105-mm shells from circling C-130 gunships, jet fighter-bombers, and of course, artillery firewithout fear of causing large numbers of civilian casualties.

During the cold, rainy evening of November 8, the northern rim of the city came under a thunderous and sustained bombardment from artillery and warplanes. Hundreds of 155-mm shells and 500-pound high-explosive bombs shook the earth across a three-mile front, obliterating a train station and a large apartment complex on the outskirts of the city.

An eerie silence followed. Suddenly two Regimental Combat Teams of Marine infantry and Army armored battalions, about 8,000 men in all, crossed a railroad embankment, and began to push south into the city proper. Within seconds, the American advance was met with an avalanche of small arms and mortar fire. Over the earsplitting din of simultaneous fire from thousands of weapons, loudspeakers on Marine Humvees blared Wagners Ride of the Valkyries, and insurgent commanders barked orders in Arabic over their own loudspeakers, ensconced in the minarets of several of the citys 200 mosques.

So began ten straight days of brutal, close-in fighting to sweep through this labyrinth of a city, north to south, and wrest it from the insurgents grasp. The jihadists had spent the better part of half a year constructing bunkers, strong points, and laying out avenues of retreat, and ambush sites. Hundreds of rooms and entire houses had been expertly booby trapped, and IEDs had been liberally planted in the streets and alleys. Road blocks of Jersey barriers and junk cars designed to funnel the attackers down lethal avenues of approach seemed to be around every other corner.

As the insurgents came under fire from the advancing American battalions, they tended to react in one of two ways: they either held their ground and fought to the death, or they rapidly retreated down side streets or into alleys, hoping to lure the Marines and soldiers into prepared kill zones

Dexter Filkins, a New York Times war correspondent who had covered half a dozen wars and was imbedded with a Marine rifle company in Fallujah, described the combat there as a qualitatively different experience, a leap into a different kind of battle. He was hardly the only veteran reporter to register that reaction. Filkins himself narrowly escaped death at least once in the fighting, and saw several of the men with whom he was embedded die as well.

The battle was intense, close, and personal, the likes of which have been experienced [by U.S. forces] on just a few occasions since the battle of Hue City in the Vietnam War . . . There were no real front lines, because [the insurgents] would get behind you constantly, recalled General Sattler after the battle.

How right the general was! On November 9, after 16 straight hours of fighting to take a fortified mosque being used as command post, men in B Company, 8th Marines, saw a car pull up behind them. Out poured six insurgents wielding rocket propelled grenades and AK-47s. The Marines opened up, killing four in a matter of seconds, before they were able to get off a single round of fire. The two remaining insurgents dashed for a courtyard, where they were rapidly cornered by several Marines. Suddenly, one of the insurgents pulled a cord on his suicide vest, sending himself and his brother fighter to instant martyrdom.

Virtually every infantry company in Fallujah could report at least one such encounter by battles end.

Forty-eight hours into the fight, the Marines had advanced methodically through about one third of the city, and seized the government center, having leveled several hundred enemy strongpoints to rubble with air strikes, tank fire, and armored bulldozers that proved critical in keeping the advance moving. (So entrenched were the insurgents that by the end of the fight, the Marines had been forced to level some 10,000 of 50,000 residencesmost were rebuilt at American expense.)

On the fourth day of the battle, November 12, both Regimental Combat Teams crossed Highway 10, the six-lane, east-west artery that divided the northern half of the city from the grimy industrial southern half. Southern Falluja had been far more heavily fortified than the north. Here the Marines came up against dozens of unyielding defensive pockets, and had to fend off a series of suicidal counterattacks that left the streets littered with bloated, stinking corpses. Almost as soon as the insurgents were dead, the dogs started gnawing on their bones, recalled a Marine officer. Heavy rains prevented the authorities from burying these bodies for several days.

It sometimes became necessary to slip small units of Marines in behind the enemy-held pockets in order to clear them out. Marine Capt. Elliot Ackermans platoon slipped behind insurgent lines in the middle of the night, and took up residence in a four-story building. Author Bing West, who was imbedded with a company of Marines in the battle, gives this vivid account of what followed in No True Glory:

At first light . . . on both sides of their building, insurgents were slipping forward in bands of four and six . . . They were unaware of the Marines until the M16s opened up, hitting three or four before the others ducked into the surrounding buildings.

The insurgents scattered for cover, then converged on the platoon. Within minutes the fighting fell into a pattern. The platoon held a stout building with open ground on all sides, which made a frontal assault suicidal. Instead, enemy snipers, RPG teams, and machine-gunners were running from floor to floor and across the roofs of the adjoining buildings looking for angles to shoot down.

The Marines tried to pick out a window or a corner of a building where an insurgent was hiding and smother it with fire. The shooters on both sides were like experienced boxers, jabbing and weaving and never leaving themselves open. The Marines punched mouse holes in the walls and threw up barricades in front of their machine guns, shifting from room to room every ten minutes.

A particularly effective method for reducing stubborn enemy positions within apartment buildings or other large structures was for the American artillery to fire a shake and bake mission: First, a battery of cannons fired incendiary white phosphorus smoke rounds into a building to flush the insurgents outside, and then, after a short delay, they bracketed the building with high explosive rounds to kill them as they exited.

After ten days of grinding, close combat, the Americans, supported by two elite Iraqi Army battalions, had captured the city.

Then came the massive mopping up effort. The fighting was not as intense as it had been during the clearing phase, but it was still dangerous, exhausting work. More than 20,000 structures were searched and clearedsome as many as three times, as insurgent hangers-on re-infiltrated previously cleared dwellings. If the Marines were forced to withdraw from a house due to heavy fire from inside, they would reduce it to rubble by attaching a patch of C-4 explosive to two propane canisters and throwing them through a window.

By the time it was all over on December 23, U.S. forces had uncovered more than 450 weapons caches, three torture chambers, one of which contained a live prisoner whod had his leg sawed off, and 24 bomb-making factories. According to a log cited in Bing Wests book, one Marine platoon cleared 70 or more buildings a day for more than a week, during which time they engaged in an average of three firefights a day, and killed 60 insurgents.

The final butchers bill for taking Fallujah was 95 Americans killed in action, and 450 seriously wounded. According to a report from Gen. George Casey, commander of all coalition forces in Iraq, of the 8,400 insurgents killed in 2004, 2,175 had fallen in the Battle of Fallujah. Unfortunately, hundreds of Islamist insurgents had either left Fallujah before the battle or slipped through the cordon in small groups and went on to join their brothers to spark new uprisings in Mosul, Ramadi, and East Baghdad.

Meanwhile, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, had slipped through the cordon around Fallujah on November 8 and made his escape, but his second in command, Omar Hadid, had been killed in the fighting.

The Battle of Fallujah waged in late 2004 joins the ranks of Tarawa, the Chosin Reservoir, and the Battle for Hue as one of the Marine Corps bitter, hard-won triumphs that unfortunately had little strategic impact on the war of which it was a part. One veteran of the battle, Col. John Toolan, was hardly the only thoughtful officer to question whether the kind of fighting that had gone on in Fallujah was counterproductive in the long run. Whats the impact on a ten-year-old kid when he goes back and sees his neighborhood destroyed? And what is he going to do when he is 18 years old?

Hearts and minds are not won by leveling cities, and by late 2004, the American military was finally waking up to the fact that it was in the middle of a protracted insurgency war, and hearts and minds were what it was all about.

Immediately after Fallujah, a senior military intelligence officer with a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies painted a grim and startlingly prescient picture of the war in Iraq in a secret briefing for President Bush. The insurgency remained robust, well-led, and diverse. It could very well blossom into a full-fledged civil war. The insurgents have the means to fight this [conflict] for a long time, and they have a different sense of time than we do, and are willing to fight.

Twelve years later, the Marines have left Iraq, the insurgents remain, and the country finds itself deeply mired in civil war. But Fallujah has at last been retaken, and the Islamic State is clearly on the defensiveat least in Iraq. And thats good news for Iraq, for the United States, and for the American Marines and soldiers who fought the good fight for Fallujah in 2004.
When Republicans nominate Donald J. Trump for president in Cleveland next week, it will mark the nadir of their partys 164-year existence. To go from Lincoln to Trump is to descend from the sublime to the ridiculous.

As a progressive, I should be delighted because a Trump-led GOP should portend sweeping Democratic gains this fall. But as a citizen, Im sickened by what Trumps rise says about Americas democratic malaise.

Think about it. The party that saved the Union is about to hand its nomination to a vacuous and bigoted blowhard who isnt remotely qualified to be President of the United States. Hes never been elected so much as dog catcher and gives no signs of having thought deeply about any public question. He is incapable of articulating reasoned arguments or engaging in public debate without slurring his opponents and belittling those who disagree with him.

Trumps ideas are a toxic cocktail of some of the most discredited and retrograde tendencies in U.S politics1920s-vintage nativism, Smoot-Hawley style protectionism and America First isolationism. Rather than appealing to the better angels of our nature, Trump aggravates the pathologies that are tearing our society aparta belligerent dogmatism that is deaf to persuasion and prone to violence; a tribal politics that puts ethnic or religious identity above our common rights and duties as citizens, and a disdain for facts and evidence that dont support ones preferred political narrative.

Were supposed to overlook this Emperors stark nakedness because Trump defies political correctness, gives voice to authentic grievances and tells it like it is. Except that he doesnt. In fact, Trump is a chronic liar who peddles ludicrous conspiracy theories to inflame the fears and prejudices of a white working class that feels dispossessed. When called out for his falsehoods, he never mans up and admits error, but doubles down and whines that the media treats him unfairly.

Trump the narcissist is a purely subjective being who has no use for objective reality. Trump whisperers like Sen. Jeff Sessions and other GOP apologists say his outrageous claims shouldnt be taken literally because hes expressing deeper home truths, however inartfully. So, OK, maybe President Obama isnt rooting for the Islamic State; what Trump is really saying is that the president isnt hitting our enemies hard enough, and with Trumpian disregard for civilian casualties. Maybe thousands of Muslims in New Jersey didnt really cheer the 9/11 attacks, but only Trump dares to say what conventional politicians wontthat deep down Muslims everywhere sympathize with Islamist terrorists.

This of course is an even bigger and more destructive lie, since it not only impugns the patriotism of American Muslims but also abets the Islamist strategy of sparking a Doomsday clash between the worlds Muslims and unbelievers. But Trump is oblivious to the damage his incoherent ranting does to our countrys security or its liberal and tolerant image. Hes a showman, not a boring politician, and as long as the audience eats up his act, the show will go on.

Trumps epic political ego trip poses an acute moral and political dilemma for Republicans. He won the nomination fair and square. Yet principled conservatives and Republicans know that he is utterly unprepared and temperamentally unfit to be president. So they face a choice between their consciences and the will of GOP primary voters. To their credit, a surprisingly large cast of the partys leading thinkers and political figures have decided they cannot honorably back Trump and are boycotting the Convention.

Republicans who are going to Cleveland, on the other hand, will take part in an elaborately staged spectacle of make-believe. Their job will be to convince the country that Trump, for all his scary talk and deviations from party orthodoxy, is a normal Republican candidate. They are counting on sheer partisan animus against Hillary Clinton to overcome pervasive doubts about Trump in their own ranksrecent polls show a quarter of Republicans dont support the presumptive nominee, and independents are split.

Nonetheless, the big story in Cleveland will be who isnt there. The list includes the last two Republican Presidents, the partys 2012 nominee; Mitt Romney (a leader of the NeverTrump movement); the host states governor, John Kasich; and a slew of prominent GOP Governors, Senators, Representatives; as well as corporate donors and campaign operatives. The unprecedented defection of so many key GOP leaders and supporters will make it hard for Trump to get a Convention bounce from a strong show of party unity.

Also striking is the revolt against Trump among the GOP commentariat. George Will, the dean of conservative columnists, has quit the party in disgust. Other Trump refuseniks include Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard, Jonah Goldberg of the National Review, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, Eric Erickson of Red State and a host of popular conservative talk radio hosts.

If Trump does manage to find a way to win the White House, he may have a hard time finding qualified people for key posts in his administration. Dozens of top Republican national security professionals, for example, recently declared themselves united in our opposition to a Donald Trump presidency. They describe Trump as fundamentally dishonest and say his views of American power are wildly inconsistent and unmoored in principle. They also chide Trump for embracing torture, calling for trade wars, inflaming anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world and in Mexico, undermining Americas alliances, and fawning over dictators like Vladimir Putin. Its hard to imagine Democrats handing down a more searing indictment.

What Cleveland really signifies is the abject failure of the Republican Party to perform its crucial role as an intermediating institution in U.S. politicsnamely, providing responsible political opposition and governing alternatives and vetting candidates to weed out crackpots, demagogues and mountebanks who have no business holding public office.

Unlike the legion of opportunists, partisan hacks and Trump enablers who will flock to Cleveland next week, the GOP dissidents are keeping faith with their partys best principles and traditions. In them lies the best hope for Republicans eventual return to sanity and decency. Thats something even Democrats should wish for, because it means a stronger democracy.
By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner to register a criminal case against a publication for portraying him as a Nihang Sikh on its cover page which he alleged was part of a "conspiracy" between the Congress and Akali Dal to hurt Sikh sentiments.

In his letter to Police Commissioner Alok Verma, the Chief Minister said some people from Punjab recently came to meet him and told that their sentiments got hurt by the photo of him being portrayed as sword wielding Nihang on the cover page of a publication.

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"The publication has hurt sentiments of the Sikh Community by putting this picture on its cover page without my knowledge and hence, I am writing to you to register a criminal case against it under appropriate sections of Indian Penal Code.

"I doubt that apart from the publication, my political rivals - the Akali Dal and Congress - are also involved in this conspiracy that is why it is necessary to unmask the conspiracy and Delhi Police should take this matter seriously," Kejriwal said in the letter.

The Aam Aadmi Party, headed by Kejriwal, is gearing up to make inroads in Punjab, which will go to polls next year. PTI BUN RG

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Crew members have reported that they are putting up inside a hotel in capital Istanbul and are all safe.

By Indrajit Kundu: A film crew from Kolkata which is currently shooting in Istanbul for a new Bengali film has got stranded amid reports of a coup attempt against the present Turkish government.

The 42 member crew includes filmmaker Birsa Dasgupta, actors Mimi Chakraborty and Yash Dasgupta and actor-turned-West Bengal tourism minister Bratya Basu.

The movie unit landed in Turkey on July 10 and have been busy with the shoot of Birsa Dasgupta's latest starring Mimi and Yash in the lead.

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Crew members have reported that they are putting up inside a hotel in capital Istanbul and are all safe.

"We are all safe and fine. We were shooting till yesterday and have a rest day today. But this isn't a terror strike but an attempted coup. Last night people have been out on the streets chanting "we want democracy". But today morning everything looks fine and people are out for work it seems," said director Birsa Dasgupta.

Actor Yash Dasgupta tweeted, "Thank you Istanbul for making us feel like home, nothing to worry about... Safe & Secured "

Another crew member, actor Gaurav Chakraborty wrote on Facebook, "Shoot in the time of revolution. In Turkey for Birsa Dasgupta's next. Coup attempt by a section of the Turkish military last night. Things looking better today. For everyone asking, we are safe and sound. Shoot should resume soon."

According to producers Venkatesh Films, the team is scheduled to continue shooting in Turkey till July 15.

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Suspected Lashkar terrorists tried to sneak into the Indian territory on the Line of Control in Akbar Doke area of Saujiyan in Poonch sector in Jammu.

By Ashwini Kumar: In a major success, Army today gunned down three heavily armed terrorists along the Line of Control in Saujian Sector of Poonch district when the group was attempting to infiltrate inside the Indian territory from PoK.

Lt Col Manish Mehta, Defence Spokesperson said that the alert and vigilant troops spotted and traced the movement of terrorists through precise surveillance and kept tightening the cordon leaving no escape route for the terrorists.

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He said that a massive search operation was launched for the last 36 hours which led to fierce exchange of fire in which all the three terrorists were killed. It was a flawless surgical operation executed by the Army ensuring neutralization of all the terrorists who dared to cross the Line of Control, without any casualty of own brave soldiers.



ALSO READ:

Operation Chakravyuh: How Army will use Israeli 3-layer security net to target Pakistan-backed terror in Kashmir

How the Indian Army saved the day in South Sudan



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Writer Kishwar Desai has put on hold her new work, a book on early Indian cinema. She says that what she is doing right now is more important. As the Chairperson of the Partition Museum, which has been granted space at the historic Town Hall building in Amritsar, she is excited. "Everything is finally taking shape," she says. It is important for her personally too. After all, while growing up, Partition was another family member. Always lurking somewhere in the shadows, its silence amplifying its presence.

Also read: This unique art residency in Punjab will house 12 artists at one time



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"Coming from a Partition family, I have heard stories where some people who disappeared were never talked about," says the 59-year-old writer who conceived the museum project in early 2015 with four people and now has nine members including art critic Alka Pande, Ritu Kumar, Anjolie Ela Menon, Barkha Dutt, Soni Razdan, Bela Sethi, Dipali Khanna, Bindu Manchanda, and Mallika Ahluwalia, on board.The museum will house documentaries, audiovisual presentations, installations, experimental art and facilitate workshops and lectures. "It will be technologically very advanced and all efforts will be made to ensure that the present generation can relate to it," says Desai who approached Delhi-based Amardeep Behl, the person behind designing Virasat-e-Khalsa in Anandpur Sahib, to give a physical form to the project at an approximate cost of Rs 10 crore, without any funding from the government.

Even as India gets set to celebrate its 70th anniversary of Independence, Desai thinks the time is just right to set up the museum. "There is enough distance between now and 1947, we can look back without any baggage. Historically, it is important for India and the world to have a permanent space where the stories and narratives of the 1947 tragedy are housed permanently.

Every mature society needs to look at the confrontation it has had, in order to learn, so as to evolve. Would we not be a very incomplete country if we talked only about our triumphs? Think,"asserts the author, who was inspired by the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg in South Africa and wants to pay back the debt to those who suffered the break up of the country. "That generation is fading away, as they are in their 80's and 90's. The place will keep their voices alive. Their tales intact.

Also read: Refugee camps to newspaper clippings: This museum is dedicated to the memories of the Partition



Of people who still have not forgotten the loss of their homes so many decades back," she adds. Talk to her about the fact that it was not just people on this side of the border that suffered, and she is quick to say, "We completely understand that. And that is precisely the reason that we are collaborating with intellectuals from across the border. People like Salima Hashmi and Jugnu Mohsin from Pakistan are on our team. Frankly, we would love to have a museum on similar lines in Lahore and in the UK. In fact, there would be lot of exchange programmes with Pakistan," says Desai, who is planning to visit Lahore soon to have meetings with historians and architects there. As the conversation veers towards museums in India looking haunted with number of visitors dropping every day, Desai says, "That is because we have dead objects and trophies to offer to the young in most of the museums. No effort is made to make things attractive and interactive.

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Our museum in Amritsar will be a contemporary one, where history will be told through modern tools." Thankful to Punjab government for allotting the museum 16,000 square feet of space, she says this is not really the first time that there has been talk of a museum on Partition. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and journalist Kuldip Nayar had discussed this idea way back in 1950 but it was too 'close' to the tragedy. "Did I tell you that the museum will also have oral histories and tales of romances that bloomed in refugee camps?" asks Desai.

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SHARE Larry Leslie

By Tom Lovett of The Gleaner

Larry Leslie, who was selected Friday as the Republican candidate for the Henderson Circuit Court Clerk's office in the November general election, admits he's had some legal problems in his past, but is excited about his opportunity to serve.

Leslie, 53, is an account executive with Pittsburgh Paint & Tower and served as a senior accountant for the City of Henderson for 10 years.

"I ran (for Circuit Court Clerk) as a Democrat in 2012 and switched parties within the last 12 months. My core beliefs are with the Republican Party," Leslie said Friday.

Leslie is seeking to serve out the remaining term of former Clerk Ruth London, who retired Feb. 29 for health reasons.

London had nearly three years left in her six-year term when she retired.

The clerk's job requires anyone seeking the job to pass a rigorous examination. Leslie was one of four candidates, and the only Republican, to pass.

On March 17, Judge Sheila Farris named Rick Green III, another of the four, to serve as clerk until the November general election.

But four days later, Green resigned when the Henderson County Democratic Party selected Herb McKee Jr. to be its candidate for the job in November.

Farris then selected Greg Sutton to fill the job until November. Sutton intends to run as an Independent to serve the remaining portion of London's term.

Leslie is a 1986 graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned a B.S. in accounting and met his wife, Lisa. She is a bank manager for Old National at its downtown Henderson branch.

Leslie has served on the board of directors of both United Way and YMCA.

His legal problems go back as far as 2003, when he served four days of a 30-day sentence for DUI. He was then arrested twice in 2004. The first incident involved him threatening to beat someone up and allegedly damaging the man's truck. He pleaded guilty to terroristic threatening and paid to repair the truck.

Later in 2004, Leslie pleaded guilty after getting involved in an alcohol-involved accident and fleeing the scene. He refused to stop when a sheriff's deputy tried to pull him over. He pleaded guilty to DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and fleeing/evading police. He was sentenced to 12 months, but received shock probation.

His most recent arrest took place in 2013, when his truck ran off the road and went through several yards, damaging a mailbox along the way. He was again charged with leaving the scene of an accident, but pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and was sentenced to 90 days.

Leslie declined to discuss his arrest history Friday

"I don't want to focus on that. I think we all have hit some speed bumps along the way," Leslie said.

When asked about Leslie on Friday, Republican Party Chairman Richard Shoulders said he was unaware of Leslie's past, but said he didn't think it would affect the election.

"I can't really speak to (Leslie's past)," Shoulders said. "Without knowing any of the particulars, I can't really say, but I don't think that would affect (the race). ... Nobody's perfect."

Shoulders said he still believed Leslie was a strong candidate.

The (Circuit Court Clerk) job  it's not something you can just bring someone off the sidewalk to do. You have to know record-keeping and be familiar with office management," Shoulder said. "He passed the test; it's a very hard test. Many don't pass it; only a very low percentage does pass it."

Leslie said he's grateful to the Republican Party for its nomination.

"I'm very grateful for this opportunity," he said. "I would like to bring a fresh approach to the office, improve community relations and instill an effective, thorough and accurate process  I think a timely and accurate documentation process is important."

"I think I can promote a user-friendly atmosphere for the people of Henderson County," Leslie said.

"I think I can bring a new energy to the office."
SHARE

By Tim Crawley, Special to The Gleaner

As hard it may seem, allowing a Clinton back into the Oval Office puts our country at a greater risk than ever before. Hillary, and her husband, have shown a callous disregard for national security and entrusting them for our safety is something we should not allow. I could go through a litany of items to argue my case, but there are two that stand out.

In 2003, Bill Clinton asked his national security adviser, Sandy Berger, to visit the National Archives in DC and review classified documents. The newly formed 9/11 Commission requested Clinton to give a deposition regarding homegrown terror prior to 9/11, so Berger made a few trips to the Archives to "review." The trips to the Archives for Berger, in my opinion, were grossly underreported. Had Richard Nixon's national security adviser committed a crime as I'm about to describe, the dictionary would have a new word: "StuffingGate."

While at the National Archives, an NA employee noticed Mr. Berger stuffing something in his pants and socks. Troubled by this, the employee notified their superior. It was hard to tell if any documents were missing, so when Berger scheduled another review, they set up a sting operation. Documents were marked and the employee was right. Berger stole classified documents out of a federal building.

When Berger was charged, Bill Clinton came to his defense. But it didn't help. They had Berger and he had no way out. He confessed to stealing several documents, taking them outside and hiding them under a construction trailer, coming back that night and cutting them up. Many Clinton folks will say "yeah, but there were copies of the documents." Yes there are, but not with handwritten notes by the commander-in-chief.

Berger paid a huge fine and lost his security clearance, yet the feds weren't done with him. To stop the cross-examination of why he committed the crime, he plea-bargained. Berger relinquished his license to practice law . Mr. Berger passed away last year, taking he why he did it to the grave.

During the Benghazi investigation, it was uncovered Hillary was operating an unauthorized server. It was located in the basement of her mansion, where top secret documents were stored. Now we have her under oath during the Benghazi investigation lying extensively about the use of the illegal server, but that really doesn't concern me. She lies; that's nothing new for her. What troubles me?

Hillary Clinton is on record stating her legal team went through all her emails.

The FBI investigation uncovered documents marked classified on her server. These marked documents are only for those who have security clearance. Hillary, allowing her legal team to access "top secret" documents, violates all kinds of laws. We know they deleted some; Hillary told us they did. But how easy would it be for them to copy a top secret document to a flash drive? This is the stuff movies are made of: Blackmail, extortion, bribes, etc., etc. 

Our country is already at risk due to the Clintons and allowing them to take up shop again at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is a clear and present danger.

Tim Crawley is a resident of Henderson.
Iowa-Northwestern prediction: What wrinkles can lift the Hawkeyes?

Examining three topics surrounding this matchup vs. Northwestern, the 3-4 Hawkeyes' most winnable game in their final five.
Director Suseenthiran clarifies that his Maaveeran Kittu is not based on the LTTE leader Prabhakaran.

By India Today Web Desk: Maaveeran Kittu is an upcoming Tamil film directed by Suseenthiran starring Vishnu Vishal in the lead role. The film is based on a true story about a warrior who fought for the rights of Tamil in the 80s.

The first look poster of the film was unveiled on Friday (June 14) to speculations that the film is based on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.



ALSO READ: Kabali-Rajinikanth, the don of dons

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Rubbishing all the rumours, director Suseenthiran said, "It is not about the LTTE leader Kittu or the Sri Lankan war. This film is about a brave man who fought for the rights of Tamils during the 1980s. It is based on a true story."

Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Kittu was a former military commander of Jaffna for the (LTTE) and was a childhood friend of the group's leader Prabhakaran.

Having escaped an assassination attempt in March 1987, Kittu committed suicide in January 1993 atop a weapons-laden ship after it was surrounded by Indian naval ships which asked him to surrender.

However, the Sri Lankan military killed Prabhakaran and crushed the LTTE in 2009.

Notably, director of Kabali, Pa Ranjith praised the first look poster on Twitter.



Regular shooting of the film has already begun in Pazhani, Tamil Nadu.







--- ENDS ---
NORWALK  It started like every day. Nothing was out of place as Hector Alicea left for Cranbury Elementary School 17 years ago.

But its a day hell never forget and one he remembers like it was yesterday.

At the time he didnt fully understand what was happening. All he knew at 8 years old was that, suddenly, he couldnt go home, and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families was at school to pick him up. In hindsight, he said, its clear his family had been evicted that day.

I remember walking out of school and the DCF worker was standing there, and he said, Im here to pick you up. You have to move, you guys are going to be living somewhere new, Alicea said. Ill never forget his expression, he felt for us, he knew we had nowhere to go.

Alicea, his younger brother and their mother moved into the family and children rooms at Open Door Shelter in South Norwalk, where they lived for the next year.

I remember when we got there, and I remember freaking out because we always knew this was a place for people to get help, and so I associated it with us needing help, Alicea said. Its not like we were prepared for it. When we left for school that morning, everything was normal.

Even so, Alicea, now 25, had something many homeless youth do not: his family.

Bridgeport-based Supportive Housing Works estimates there are 3,000 unaccompanied youth and young adults currently experiencing homelessness in Connecticut. In Fairfield County, 150 young adults between ages 18 and 24 call the United Way 211 hotline every month reporting homelessness and seeking resources.

Lisa Bahodosingh, community liaison for regional initiatives at Supportive Housing Works, said youth are defined as anyone under 24, and anyone who does not have stable housing is considered homeless, even if theyre not necessarily sleeping on the street. In one survey conducted by SHW, Bahodosingh said there were 104 self-reported homeless youth at a single Bridgeport high school.

Most people think the 3,000 in Connecticut is a poor representation of the problem in the state because we know a lot of these young people dont want to be identified as homeless because they dont want to be involved in the system, Bahodosingh said. To have 104 unstably housed youth at one school  thats really significant.

Though he wasnt unaccompanied, Aliceas experience with homelessness has motivated him to pursue a career in which he can help end youth homelessness. He volunteers at a youth mentoring program, Veterans Empowering Teens Through Support, where he works with a lot of homeless youth, and is pursuing a double major in psychology and political science at Quinnipiac University in hopes of one day running for office on a platform to help young people.

Being homeless, it completely shaped what I want to do with my life, Alicea said. Its given me a passion and a compassion to help. Its guided my performance and how aggressively I look for resources for these young people. I cant imagine going through what Ive been through alone. Being unaccompanied, I dont know how they would find resources to survive.

Lacking resources

While homeless point-in-time counts have been conducted for years, 2015 was the first year Connecticut divided the count by age specifically to determine the number of unaccompanied homeless youth.

Though 3,000 is just an estimate, it has provided a better gauge for how big the problem truly is, and shed light on the lack of resources available for the homeless population in this demographic.

Weve been armed for the first time ever with the information to start to address the problem of youth homelessness, Bahodosingh said. We never even had the ability to quantify what the problem was prior to 2015 ... Homeless youth have been the invisible population for so long. They often dont self report or dont feel safe reporting that. They dont feel safe going to adult shelters and there are really very few resources for minors that are displaced from housing.

As a result of the youth count, Bahodosingh said a serious dialogue has started among providers of homeless services as well as child and family services about the best way to collaborate in order to better serve the in between population of homeless youth. While the state seeks to end youth homelessness by 2020, there are no new funding resources or staff provided to accomplish this goal, so its up to existing providers to find a solution.

Prior to the youth count we didnt really understand how disconnected the two systems were, homeless service providers and youth service agencies, Bahodosingh said. This has really helped to remedy that situation. We understand we have to reach out to law enforcement and LGBTQ community centers and schools and other youth serving agencies because it cant just be homeless service providers that are trying to stabilize these young people.

At Norwalks Open Door shelter, Executive Director Jeannette Archer-Simons said its a struggle to place unaccompanied youth because of the additional staffing and expertise required to accommodate them. Unaccompanied youth often are too young to be housed with the adult homeless population, but too old to be placed in the family section. Additionally, Archer-Simons said most unaccompanied youth are dealing with some sort of trauma, which requires a different sort of case management the shelter cant provide.

For unaccompanied youth we actually have the space tomorrow, Archer-Simons said. We have 10 beds and a place for them, but it takes additional staffing. We dont have the staffing funding it would require. Were not talking about huge dollars, but maybe $100,000 to $150,000 a year.

Forming coordinated access

Archer-Simons said that in every case, the shelter provides what assistance it can and directs the client to United Ways 211 hotline, which can help pair them with other resources in Fairfield County. In many ways, the hotline is already providing the coordinated service Bahodosingh hopes to implement. The problem is that most of the resources 211 can connect people to arent specifically targeted at unaccompanied youth.

Tanya Barrett, senior vice president at 211 Health and Human Services, said coordinated access is a relatively new approach to finding housing solutions, which was previously treated on a case by case basis with the goal to find short term solutions.

Thats basically the long term goal of coordinated access, Barrett said. Finding solutions that meet their needs longer term. Its a very different approach than in previous years when shelter was the most utilized resource. Now theres a big emphasis on diversion and we try to connect people with those resources.

Bahodosingh said Supportive Housing Works has started to form coordinated access partnerships with Greenwich-based Kids in Crisis, Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Malta House in Norwalk, Project Return and Domus, located in Stamford. Already, she said many of these youth serving agencies have started to meet on a regular basis, and have started conducting focus groups with homeless youth to determine what resources are really missing.

Still, she said SHW is looking to connect with more homeless and youth service providers to form a larger network.

We know that 211 is an option and a way for youth to get into the system and say they need help, but they need other options as well, so were trying to take an inventory of resources,  Bahodosingh said. We need to have safe places they can come in. Most of the youth serving agencies serve the greater Fairfield County which is good because we understand adults and young people are traveling up and down the I-95 corridor.

Even though theyre forming new partnerships to combat youth homelessness, Bahodosingh said theyre not looking to recreate the wheel. The system in place has been effective for combatting adult homelessness, and in the most recent point in time count, the state has effectively ended veteran homelessness through coordinated access housing solutions.

Were trying to create a system that will simplify it for young people, Bahodosingh said. Coordinated access is nothing new. Thats how our adult system works. We want to integrate them into a system that already works, with a few changes. For example we know that youth want a system thats responsive. Once youre connected with the appropriate resources, 211 isnt going to call you back and see how things went. Youth need that.

LGBTQ homelessness

While there are many factors that could force a young person into homelessness, Bahodosingh said the issue is one that disproportionately affects LGBTQ youth, who are sometimes cut off from family resources after coming out. Nearly 30 percent of the homeless youth population identifies as LGBTQ, a national statistic that is mirrored in Fairfield Countys homeless youth.

Theres a big LGBTQ population that are over represented, Bahodosingh said. Particularly in street homelessness.

Norwalk-based Triangle Community Center is one organization providing resources to LGBTQ youth facing homelessness. Anthony Crisci, executive director at TCC, said the organization has co-sponsored a housing program with the Mid-Fairfield Aids Project to provide beds for homeless LGBTQ youth, and in 2015 TCC hired a full-time social worker and started a case management program. Last year, the program served 180 clients, 15 to 20 percent of whom Crisci estimates were housing insecure. He said TCC has also started working with area shelters and housing programs to educate them about working with transgender clients.

Its a strong start because its beyond what we had before which was nothing, Crisci said. One of the biggest issues with LGBT homelessness is that a lot of shelters are not safe places for LGBT people, especially transgender people. We work to connect them to get them off the streets but the resources they need are often few and far between.

Ending the cycle

Following his stint at Open Door, Alicea went through the foster care system and was eventually adopted with his younger brother. After an unstable childhood, he knew he needed discipline and joined the Marines. He served from 2009-2013, and served in Afghanistan from September 2010 to May 2011.

Upon his return, he made the decision to go back to school, a daunting task for someone whos education had been constantly interrupted. While perseverance and a determination to never end up homeless again were contributing factors to his success, Alicea attributes a strong support system formed by mentors at Open Door, people he met through the foster care system and his adoptive family for his success.

You need a support system, Alicea said. Its how you get people out of the cycle. I still come back here (to Open Door) to visit the people who helped me.

That support system is exactly what Bahodosingh, Archer-Simons and the rest of Fairfield Countys homeless and youth service providers are trying to provide.

Everybody needs a family, whether that family is blood related or just a community making sure you get down the right path, Archer-Simons said.
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WILTON  When Swami Balgopal founded the Wilton Hindu Temple in 2014, he was looking for a safe, affordable location to serve the needs of the growing Hindu community in Fairfield County.

When we chose Wilton, we came here for them, he said. Eighty families have moved to Wilton after we built the temple here.

Based on his involvement with local Hindu committees in Fairfield County and the American Hindu RCO Mandir in New York for the past 15 years, Balgopal estimates that the Hindu population has grown from 4,000 to 20,000 members since 2010.

While offficial censuses no longer collect data on religious affiliation and the Association of Religion Data Archives provides a much lower count  citing only 1,579 Hindu adherents in Fairfield County in its 2010 report  Balgopal suspects his number to be more accurate because he keeps track of Hindu groups that may fall through the cracks of such reports, such as visiting family members who stay with students, H-1 visa workers or green card holders.

And since the Wilton Hindu Temple has no specific sect attached to its name, any Hindu is welcome to come at any time  which provides a greater representation of the Hindu community in Fairfield County, he said

Balgopal estimates about 5,000 to 7,000 Hindus visit the temple throughout the year and expects the number to grow.

Every week I see new cars, new babies, new homes, he said. You can really see that the Hindu population is growing. Its an amazing thing.

Before the Wilton Hindu Temple was built, the only available temples were in Middletown, Flushing, N.Y., or Pomona, N.J.  so Hindu families were more likely to stay in New York and neighboring Fairfield County towns, Balgopal said. But once the Wilton Hindu Temple was built, more families were inclined to move into Wilton.

Such was the case for Rajesh Ohri, who moved from New York to Wilton a few months ago so that he and his family could be closer to the temple.

The temple gave us new life in Connecticut, he said. When we came here, we felt so lonely. But Swami Balgopal taught us new things about how to live and how to worship to improve our lives.

Artie Rokkam, who lived in Stamford for 10 years, also said her family and others have moved to Wilton in recent months, not only for the temple but also for a greater sense of cultural community.

We are a young generation of Indians that have immigrated and we all have very young kids, she said. The desire to be able to raise your kids in knowledge and awareness of their roots is a common thread across the community.

This same desire to fulfill spiritual and cultural needs also existed in the Hindu community in Fairfield County in the late 60s  even when it only consisted of 50 to 70 people, said Janardan Upadhyaya, who moved to Stamford from India in 1968 and later moved to Fairfield in 1976.

We used to get together and have a prayer at somebodys house once a month, he said. From childhood, I had the opportunity to stay with my grandparents and they taught me what is Indian culture and why we need to pray to have peace of mind. I saw that and people got the knowledge and that way I started helping people how to pray.

Upadhyaya said he makes sure wake up every day at 4 a.m. to pray to teach his grandchildren and younger Hindu members in the Fairfield community the importance of keeping faith with the religion, so that the Hindu community can continue to grow.

Because, monkey see, monkey do, he said.

SKim@hearstmediact.com; 203-354-1044; @stephaniehnkim
The Broken Bow Public Library and Ord Aquatic Center just got a boost.

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development awarded the library $375,000 for its expansion project. The Ord Aquatic Center received a $276,000 grant. A scope of services contract was also approved for the library on Tuesday.

The Broken Bow library project, which will add more than 4,000 square feet to the current building, aims to raise $2.1 million. So far, about $1.4 million has been raised. The renovation and expansion would open up the entry of the library and create multipurpose rooms. The scope of services contract with JEO Consulting Group details the project further.

Deb McCaslin, executive director of the Custer Economic Development Corp., said the plan will make a lot of non-visible areas visible with its open concept.

It literally has outgrown its space, McCaslin said of the library.

She said there were times she attended the librarys activities and programs and didnt know how one more person would fit in the building because it was so full. She said the expansion and renovation project will help accommodate those events, especially because so much at the library is program-centered.

McCaslin said the city and the library applied for the grant last year but didnt get it. She said the community is really behind this project.

Although the grant wasnt awarded to the library project last year, Library Director Joan Bernie said, the timing was right to get it this year.

This year it just really gave us a large boost, Bernie said.

Bernie said floor plans can be found on the librarys website. She said the plan is to go out for bids in the first part of November, which will get the project even closer to breaking ground. The money raised so far came from donations, fundraisers and grants.

Bernie said the grant helped make people realize how relevant the project still is, because it has been going on for a couple of years.

The floor plans by JEO Consulting show multipurpose rooms that can be split into two rooms via a partition wall. The multipurpose rooms will be able to house more people for the librarys programs instead of crowding them in one area.

The part of the library containing the books will remain, but the circulation area and entry will be an open concept. An adult and youth section is also being added to the right of the entry, which will contain most of the additional square feet.

Bernie said she appreciates the state grant.

It just came at the right time, she said.

Trevor Lee, executive director of Valley County Economic Development, said this was the third year Ord applied for the grant for the aquatic center.

Its a competitive grant, Lee said.

Lee said the research with JEO Consulting on the project began around 2012. He said the project will cost about $3 million, of which $1.2 million is still needed. Ord is the first community in the Nebraska Department of Economic Developments Civic and Community Center Financing Fund program to receive funding for an aquatic center.

Its that much less that would have to go on the backs of taxpayers, Lee said about receiving the grant.

He said a potential ballot issue for the aquatic center may come in November, but its not yet confirmed.

He said receiving the grant has brought more awareness to the project, which would replace the current community pool.

It has been a long fundraising process, Lee said.

The current pool was built in 1978. Lee said cracked pavement, leaks and the presence of chlorine gas make it unsafe and difficult to manage. He said research found that building a new facility would be safer and more cost effective than maintaining the old pool.

Its been a problem property for many years, he said of the old pool.

Besides a pool and a slide, the new aquatic center will include a splash pad where kids can play safely.

Lee said he hopes to have all the funding by the end of the year and to begin construction next spring.
NORFOLK  Marilyn Alexander, 80, of Norfolk died Thursday, July 14, 2016, at Faith Regional Hospital in Norfolk.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the United Methodist Church in Norfolk. The Rev. Earl Reed will officiate. Burial will take place at 3:30 p.m. Monday in the Central City Cemetery at Central City.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Home for Funerals Mortuary in Norfolk.

The daughter of Bernard and Agnes McHargue, Marilyn Jeanne McHargue was born on May 24, 1936, in Central City. She graduated from Central City High School in 1954 and was a member of the National Honor Society and had the lead in the school opera. Thereafter she attended and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1958 with a Bachelors in Teaching. While in college she was a member and Vice President of her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi, and a member of the May Day Court.

On Aug. 10, 1958, she married William (Bill) W. Alexander in Central City. The couple then lived in Germany, where Bill was stationed in the U.S. Army and Marilyn taught children with Down syndrome and other challenges. They were also in Germany when the Berlin Wall was erected. The couple returned to the United States in 1962 and was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, where their son, William W. Alexander Jr., was born.

The couple moved back to Grand Island in 1962 where their daughter, Caroline Alexander, was born in 1965. In 1966, Marilyn and Bill and their family moved to Norfolk, where Bill, a pharmacist, eventually bought Westgate Drug Store in 1969 and Marilyn opened Marilyns Hallmark Card & Gift Shop in downtown Norfolk in 1970. She eventually moved her store to Sunset Mall in 1977 until her retirement from business.

While running her store, Marilyns Hallmark was always a Gold Crown Store of Excellence and one of the top 5 percent revenue-producing stores in the Western Region of the United States, despite competing against other stores in larger metropolitan areas, and at one time was one of the largest Hallmark Stores in the United States. She served on the Gold Crown Store Advisory Board for Hallmark Cards.

Marilyn was on the Retailers Advisory Board for Gift and Decorative Accessories Association. She also brought Hallmark artists and Hummel figurine artists to Norfolk on numerous occasions to meet the public and provide demonstrations of their art.

Marilyn was the first woman elected Chairman of the Downtown Merchants Association in 1975 and later the first woman President of the Sunset Mall Merchants Association. She served on the Norfolk Library Board and also served on the Norfolk School Board Budget Committee as the Community and Parents Representative. She was on the Northeast Nebraska Technical Community College Business Marketing and Management Advisory Committee and also served with S.C.O.R.E. after her retirement, helping new business owners start and run their businesses. She also served as the first Protestant to be appointed to the Board of Directors of the Norfolk Catholic School Charities Foundation.

In addition to the above, Marilyn also found time to be the President of the PTA, a Den Mother, a Brownie Leader, a parent leader with Boy Scout Troop 122; and President of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Mothers Club. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend to all.

Survivors include her husband of 58 years, Bill Alexander; her son, William W. Alexander Jr., and his wife, Robin Harman, of Plano, Texas; her daughter, Caroline Garder of Norfolk; five grandchildren, Michael Garder of Louisville, Ky.; Christopher Garder and Amanda Garder of Norfolk, and Andrew Alexander and McKenna Alexander of Plano, Texas.

Marilyn was preceded in death by her younger brother, Terry McHargue of Central City.
ARABIAN GULF - Capt. Keith G. Moore was relieved by Capt. Patrick V. Foege, of Edwardsville, Ill., as Commander, Amphibious Squadron One (PHIBRON 1) during a change of command ceremony held aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4), July 7.

During Moores time as commander he guided the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) through numerous multi-national exercises and operations including Exercise Dawn Blitz 2015 and the ARGs current deployment to the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleets in support of Exercise Ssang Yong 2016, Operation Inherent Resolve, maritime security operations and theater cooperation efforts.

I cannot imagine having a better group of warfighters to lead the Sailors and Marines of the ARG/MEU through that fast-paced workup cycle and subsequent 5th and 7th Fleet deployment, said Moore.

When I reflect back on your brilliance in executing Ssang Yong, maritime security operations in Yemen and in the Arabian Gulf, I am humbled, amazed and very proud.

The ceremony's keynote speaker, Col. Anthony M. Henderson, Commanding Officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, cited in a letter from Capt. Moores family, the impact Moores service has had on his hometown.

If you visit Winona (Mississippi) and run across someone who knew him, do not be surprised if they show you a picture of him in his commanders uniform and relay to you how proud they are of the fact that someone from their little town has gone on to serve the United States in such a capacity, said Henderson.

In attendance was the ceremonys special guest, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Francis Donovan, commander, Task Force 51. Donovan commended Moore on his accomplishments and his dedication to the Boxer ARG.

There is no better person to command an amphibious ready group than Capt. Keith Moore, said Donovan. When we look at the commodore go over the brow for the last time as our leader of Amphibious Squadron One, were losing 34 years of experience, which is incredible.

Moores next command will be at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV), Expeditionary Warfare (N95) in Washington, D.C.

Your sense of duty and mission excellence is beyond compare, said Moore to Foege. The Navy gets a lot of stuff right, and they definitely got it right when they brought you in here to command this squadron. I know you are ready for what lays ahead.

During the ceremony, Moore read his orders and transferred command to Foege, who read his orders, assumed command and addressed the audience as commander, PHIBRON 1.

This is a humbling opportunity to continue serving our Sailors and Marines as commodore of Amphibious Squadron One, especially while deployed here in the dynamic Arabian Gulf region, said Foege. While the ceremony marks the passing of command from one commander to the next, it also recognizes the awe inspiring work of every Sailor and Marine in this fighting force.

Foege assumed command after serving as the deputy commodore of PHIBRON 1. His previous assignments include serving as Flight Deck Officer and Assistant Air Officer aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4), Commanding Officer of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 10 (HS 10) flying the H-60F/H Seahawk, Air Boss aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) and a hull swap with USS Essex (LHD 2) in Sasebo, Japan.

PHIBRON 1 is one of nine U.S. Navy amphibious squadrons and is currently responsible for the Boxer, the amphibious transport dock ship New Orleans, and the amphibious dock landing ships Harpers Ferry.

PHIBRON 1 was established on 1 October 1954 with the primary mission of commanding an amphibious ready group and coordinating with an embarked MEU to perform assigned naval, joint, or combined operations.
It has been nearly two months since Mamata Banerjee took over as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second time, and she is letting everyone know that she means business. A US delegation led by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas A. Shannon met her in the first week of July. Among other things, say sources in the chief minister's office, they discussed investment in the state.

If Mamata made history last term by overturning 34 years of Left rule in West Bengal, she also undid a lot of that good with her intransigence on Nandigram and Singur, failing to deliver the poriborton she had assured her electorate. West Bengal failed to shake off the image of being a graveyard of industry under her.

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Didi is determined to change things this term and the audience at her felicitation ceremony in June, by the nine chambers of commerce and industry in Kolkata, got the first taste of it. "Is the market in an economic slowdown or are we making it slow by just chanting Hare Rama, Hare Krishna," an admonitory Mamata thundered.

She is certainly laying the foundation for industry to invest. A 2015 World Bank ease of doing business survey ranked the state 11th in the country. Last year, she introduced single-window clearance for 38 industries, a process that can be initiated online. She has also been giving infrastructure a big push, the 2015-16 budget setting aside $8.2 billion. Of this, $99.7 million was allocated to the construction of Asia Highway 2, connecting the Nepal border (Kakarbhitta) to the Bangladesh border (Banglabandha). A number of road development projects have been taken up under public-private partnerships, including the Barasat-Krishnanagar section and the Palsit-Dankuni and Panagarh-Palsit projects. In 2014-15, the state government commissioned a 250 MW thermal power unit in Durgapur and renovated a 210 MW unit of the Bandel thermal power station.

Land acquisition has been famously hard in the state, a problem made worse for industry by the fragmented nature of holdings. And Mamata herself won't be seen as the one responsible for evicting farmers. The state is instead offering 6,000 acres of contiguous land in industrial parks. "Industrial parks all over the state have readily available land," says land and land reforms department secretary Manoj Pant. "The government has special incentive packages for parks in Purulia, West Midnapore and Bankura." The CM reiterated this at her felicitation ceremony. "Land is not a problem. Give us proposals and we will consider them."

"This kind of push will have a big impact on industry," says Abhirup Sarkar, chairman of the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation. "She might have political compulsions in not acquiring land directly, but she's amenable otherwise. She's giving land ceiling clearances and asking industrialists to form consortiums to steer clear of ceiling constraints." In the state's rural areas, holding land in excess of 24.8 acres requires clearance under Section 14Y of the West Bengal Land and Land Reforms Act, 1955.

Keeping within the constraints of her land policy, Mamata is also concentrating on expanding sectors where the land required is less but the potential to generate jobs and bolster the rural economy is rich. Her thrust, therefore, is on sectors such as food processing, animal husbandry, fisheries and textiles. The state is also proposing to set up three biotechnology hubs in Bardhaman, Kalimpong and Medinipur districts.

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She has also been wooing industry assiduously at various forums. Thanks to her efforts, the 2016 Bengal Global Summit garnered investment proposals worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore, while the 2015 edition netted Rs 2.43 lakh crore. (These are government claims.) The state has also organised three business conclaves-Bengal Leads-in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and held roadshows in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

"One very visible change we see in her is a clarity on the industrial roadmap, strong focus on implementation of projects and realisation that industry plays an important role in generating employment and tax revenue," says Indian Chamber of Commerce president Rajeev Singh.

The growth has started reflecting in the state's numbers, though Mamata's detractors attribute any improvement to the low economic base. With ministry of statistics and programme implementation recording a gross state domestic product of over Rs 8 lakh crore in 2014-15, West Bengal stood fifth in the country. In terms of gross value added, its growth rate of 10.48 per cent in 2014-15 was impressive in comparison with the national average of 7.5 per cent. Per capita income growth in the state was also significant at 12.8 per cent, an improvement on its own 9.5 per cent in 2012-13 and comparing favourably with the national average of 6.1 per cent.

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Slowly but surely, Mamata's industry is bearing fruit. A Thailand-based special purpose vehicle company, CPS Indian, is investing Rs 550 core on aqua and prawn feeds. The Emami group will set up a 2 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) cement grinding unit at a cost of Rs 500 crore. Sajjan Jindal's JSW is planning a 4.8 MT cement plant and a 1,320 MW power plant in Salboni at an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore. ITC will invest nearly Rs 3,000 crore in two integrated consumer goods manufacturing facilities in Uluberia and Panchla and an information technology facility in Rajarhat.

Having driven Tata away unceremoniously in 2008, in a blaze of bad publicity, Mamata is now keen to have an automobile industry footprint in the state. She plans to visit the Turin unit of Fiat in Italy when she goes to Rome for the canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa in the first week of September. Fiat, ironically, has a manufacturing tie-up with Tata in India.

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She has roped in Mahindra and Mahindra to set up an auto ancillary unit in the 13 acre Raghunathpur industrial park in Purulia. The Rs 150 crore endeavour will be the largest such project in eastern India, claims an official in the state industries department. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu too were vying for this project, says a senior officer of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), but West Bengal got lucky. "The main reason is that contiguous land was readily available with the industries department," says WBIDC executive director R. Kamala Kanth.

Another area that ranks high in Mamata's priorities is the maritime sector. She is looking to build inland waterways to connect with the national waterways network. Large freighters with full capacity cargo cannot dock at the Kolkata and Hooghly ports. A minor sea port on the Shankarpur-Tajpur coast in East Midnapore with a draft facility of 15 metres is being planned as a gateway to eastern Asia. "A 36 month project, it will be fully operational by 2019," says a senior bureaucrat in the state industries department. "It's going to steal Dhamra port's thunder."





Further, with the central government prioritising the defence sector and easing FDI norms, West Bengal is hoping to bag a few manufacturing contracts. "The competition will be cut-throat," says the bureaucrat, "but everything will depend on the relationship the state has with the Centre."

Mamata made a conciliatory start by inviting the entire Modi cabinet at her swearing-in. She has also been batting for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), indicating clearly that the 12 TMC members in the Rajya Sabha will ensure its smooth passage. Hailing GST as 'positive', 'pro-people' and 'pro-industry', she says, "I may be opposing the Centre politically, but I'll support them on 'positive subjects'."

"This is a practical, pragmatic Mamata," says Kallol Dutta, a member of Mamata's core committee on industry. "She has realised that by rolling out GST, she can reduce the state's debt burden by earningan additional Rs 5,000 crore in revenue." West Bengal had a debt burden of Rs 2.7 lakh crore in 2015. Finance minister Amit Mitra in the vote-on-account budget session in the assembly said debt repayment would rise to Rs 9,781 crore in 2016-17. At 35.5 per cent, the state's debt to GSDP ratio is the highest in the country.

How, then, does Mamata plan to service the sundry populist measures she has announced? These include food security for 80 per cent of the population, free treatment and free blood in government hospitals, 4 million cycles, Rs 80 lakh for school shoes, scholarships and stipends for higher education of 3.3 million girl children, and doles for the unemployed. "These will cost the state only Rs 10,000 crore," claims a senior government officer. Tax revenue has gone up-from Rs 72.9 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs 11.3 lakh crore in 2015-16, according to RBI figures-but the state's tax revenue to GSDP ratio, at 5.7 per cent in 2014-15, was the lowest among non-special category states.

There are other negatives too. Mamata's policy on SEZs remains fuzzy. She has, for instance, been reluctant to extend the SEZ tag to the Infosys project in Rajarhat, which has been on the back-burner for seven years. "The SEZ policy is going to lapse in 2017, and if Infosys fails to start their SEZ by next year, they will lose the chance forever," says Swarup Ray, a senior executive in the state IT department. "Now the concept of SEZ has changed. A small tract of five acres or even 10,000 sq ft area can be declared an SEZ. But since Mamata Banerjee agitated against the proposed SEZ at Nandigram, for which the erstwhile Left Front government was going in for massive land acquisition, she has to stick to her guns." Wipro, which was planning a second unit in Kolkata, also said that minus the SEZ status, it might have to shelve its expansion plan.



--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Sylvia Windya Laksmi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

Over the past decades, advancements in modern technology have influenced the way societies assimilate information and have affected every sector of government operations.

In the macroeconomic sector, such as the global financial system, new innovations in payments and banking make it easier for customers to access and control their financial information with no boundaries. The technologies try to boost transactional competence though they sacrifice client anonymity.

Therefore, digital cash and crypto-currency issues put enormous pressure upon nation-states and legitimate governments. Online anonymous transactions have become a new emerging trend.

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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnamas ambitious plan to build the first city-owned cancer hospital is under threat from an organizations claims that the administration purchased the land for the hospital from an unlawful owner.

The Candra Naya Social Organization (PSCN) has filed a lawsuit against the Jakarta administrations purchase of 3.7 hectares of land from the Sumber Waras Foundation in December 2014.

Candra Naya says the foundation illegally took over the land from it before selling it to the city administration for Rp 775.69 billion (US$59.3 million).

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Linkedin Hans Nicholas Jong and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

The government has finally identified the hospitals and clinics that purchased and administered counterfeit vaccines to children in their care.



The disclosure sent shockwaves across the nation especially among outraged parents who learned that the hospitals and clinics where they sent their children to be vaccinated were on the list.



Santy Juwita, for instance, was shocked when she discovered that Harapan Bunda Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, which delivered and vaccinated her daughter was on the list of hospitals that used fake vaccines. When I learned about the names, I was enraged because I had my baby in one of the hospitals, she told The Jakarta Post.



Santy said she brought her daughter to receive the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine when she was four months old because she could not find the vaccine anywhere else. When she took her daughter there, Santy found the procedure to be suspicious with the nurse only accepting payment in cash even though the hospital had debit and credit card machines.



While not all parents experienced the same as Santy, other parents have expressed concern as the investigation into the case continues and the list is expected to grow longer.



Ichwan Susanto, for instance, is postponing his plan to get the malaria vaccine for his 6-year-old daughter as he is still not sure whether he can trust medical facilities again after the discovery of the large-scale distribution of fake vaccines.



While the clinic where my daughter received her vaccines was not on the list, I wont be relieved until the case is completely solved, he told the Post.



Following the disclosure of the hospitals and clinics, the government owes it to the distraught parents and the victims of the fake vaccines to get to the root of the case and punish those behind it as severely as possible, according to Marius Widjajarta, Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) chairman.



This is an appalling crime because peoples lives are at stake. Their permits should be revoked immediately, he told the Post.



According to data from the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) 14 health facilities and eight midwife clinics administered the fake vaccines.



All of them received the fake vaccines from one illegal supplier, Juanda CV Azka Medika, which operated in Bekasi, West Java.



The 14 health facilities were named as DR. Sander Cikarang, Bhakti Husada Terminal Cikarang 3, Sentral Medika, RSIA Puspa Husada, Karya Medika, Kartika Husada Setu, Sayang Bunda Pondok Ungu, Multazam Medika, Permata, RSIA Gizar Cikarang, St. Elisabeth, Hosana Lippo Cikarang, Hosana Medica Bekasi, all in Bekasi, and Harapan Bunda Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.



Meanwhile, the midwife clinics were those operated by Lia in the Pelaukan Sukatani complex in Cikarang, Lilik in the Graha Melati complex in Tambun, Iis in the Seroja Complex, Mega in Puri Cikarang Makmur Sukaresmi, the Dafa Clinic in Cikarang and the Tabina Clinic in Sukatani in Cikarang, all in Bekasi, and by Elly Novita in Ciracas, East Jakarta, and the Dr. Ade Kurniawan Clinic in Rawa Belong, Slipi, West Jakarta.



Bareskrim chief Insp. Gen. Ari Dono Sukamto said the police had named 20 suspects in the case comprising six producers, five distributors, three sellers, two bottle collectors for the fake vaccines, one person involved in labeling, one midwife and two doctors.



The investigation is still ongoing, we are still digging deeper into how far the involvement of the health facilities, particularly the hospitals, in the case. Just because they received the vaccines, doesnt mean the whole institution was responsible. It could be that some doctors or pharmacists were involved in the crime, Ari said.



Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek said she would wait for Bareskrims investigation before determining the punishments for those involved.



Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI) chairman Aman Bhakti Pulungan estimated that only 500 out of a total of 5 million children across the country had been administered fake vaccines.



The worst effect is that the children have no immunity to certain diseases, but they could also be infected by bacteria if the vaccines were produced in a non-sterile process, Aman said.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

The city administration has given 741 auxiliary teachers provisional civil service (CPNS) status for a one-year trial period.

You have the right to be happy now as you have been waiting for this moment. We will accept you as permanent government employees if your performance is good, Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said to the teachers during their inauguration on Thursday.

Djarot explained that the teachers would be further appointed as permanent government employees after 12 months, but the decision could change if their behavior during the trial period is unsatisfactory.

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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

From an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) has transformed itself into the most attractive market in Southeast Asia.



Move over, Malaysia and Thailand. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Indonesia has overtaken Malaysia and Thailand as the biggest emerging market in Southeast Asia.



The combined value of companies traded in Indonesia reached US$416 billion this week and has outperformed its neighbors for more than a month, the longest stretch since early 2013.



Bloomberg attributes the rise of the IDX to the fall of Malaysian companies stocks as the latter have suffered from a plunging crude oil price. Malaysia is Asias only net oil exporting nation.



The positive performance reversed the IDXs fortunes from its tumultuous 2013-2015 period. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI)  the IDXs benchmark  even surpassed the psychological threshold of 5,000 again early this month, the first time within a year. There are more reasons behind the stock markets positive performance, said analysts contacted by The Jakarta Post.



Investa Saran Mandiri analyst Hans Kwee said talks on the Tax Amnesty Law had fueled positive investor sentiment in the country even before the law was passed on June 28.



Net foreign buys have reached Rp 18 trillion [US$1.37 billion] so far this year compared to net sells of Rp 22 trillion last year. This shows that investors are optimistic about the market and the government needs to continue with the various policies [it is implementing currently], he said.



Net foreign buys on Thursday amounted to Rp 511 billion. Domestic investors accounted for 51 percent of all trading activities and foreign investors made up the remainder.



Asjaya Indosurya Securities analyst William Surya Wijaya added that as the economy slowly recovered, foreign investment has begun pouring in again and strengthened the rupiah. The rupiah usually weakens around the Idul Fitri period, but not this year, he said.



Data from Bloomberg show that the rupiah appreciated by 3.7 percent throughout the Ramadhan month that ended with the Idul Fitri long holidays.



Both Investa Saran Mandiri and Asjaya Indosurya Securities predict that the mining sector will lead in the stock market, in line with the recovery of oil prices, followed by consumer goods, infrastructure, property and finance sectors.



Stocks in finance, meanwhile, saw significant gains after slowing in the beginning of the year. Many believe the banking industrys liquidity will improve along with the incoming repatriated funds from the tax amnesty.



The JCI ended at 5,083.53 on Thursday, down slightly by 1 percent from the day before. Hans said investors indulged in profit-taking after enjoying gains, adding that they may continue to do so for the next few days.



In the meantime, investors are predicted to analyze the governments next step in the amnesty program.



Investa Saran Mandiri itself is anticipating positive development in the program. I think the program will fare better [than similar tax efforts by the government in the past]. Authorities worldwide are also gearing up to make their data available in 2018, so that by that time, tax evaders can no longer hide, Hans said.

------------

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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

As regional elections draw near, the Home Ministry handed over on Thursday data of eligible voters to the General Elections Commission (KPU), where it was revealed 12.19 percent of them were first-time voters.



The ministry has rechecked the validity of a total 41,802,538 eligible voters who have the right to cast ballots in the regional elections that are slated for February 2017 in 101 regions across the country.



The ministry found that five million young adults were scheduled to vote for the first time.



The overall statistic is slightly lower compared to more than 42 millions voters for the presidential election in 2014.



Zudan Arif Fakrulloh, the director general of the ministrys population and civil registration division said on Thursday the decrease was partially caused by the impact of new regulations.



During the 2014 presidential election, citizens could vote in their current residence. However, the next election will not be as convenient because the newly passed Regional Elections Law only allows people to vote in the region that is stated on their identity card.



Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has urged all would-be voters, who have not yet registered, to immediately register themselves to their nearest election office.



Regional administrations can also be proactive in encouraging their constituencies to register themselves, he said at the KPU office.



First-time voters are denied from supporting independent candidates running in the regional elections because Article 41 of the Regional Elections Law stipulates that independent candidates can only be supported by voters who are registered in the final voters list (DPT) of the previous election.



As such a regulation disqualifies first-timers from supporting any independent candidates, the latter will lose many potential votes.



House of Representatives Commission II deputy chairman Lukman Edy of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said all new voters could register themselves on the potential voter list (DP4) at regional, civil and registration agencies (Dukcapil).



Meanwhile, KPU acting chairman Hadar Nafis Gumay said the commission was preparing to file a judicial review to challenge Article 9 of the law, which requires the KPU to consult with the Houses Commission II in drafting KPU regulation (PKPU).



We feel that it will weaken our independence. The KPU should be free from any form of political interference, he said.



Hadar realized that the legal action through the Constitutional Court would take time. However, he did not plan to submit a request to the court to prioritize the case.



Houses Commission II deputy chairman Al Muzzammil Yusuf of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said the KPU should not file a judicial review against the article even if it had a constitutional right to do so.



The article came up because the KPU for a long time has tended to ignore lawmakers input in drafting the PKPU. Besides, the article does not violate the Constitution because the MD3 [Legislative Law] also mentions that our hearing result is binding, Muzzammil said.



Commission II chairman Rambe Kamarulzaman said it was not ethical for the KPU to file a judicial review against the law, arguing that the KPU, although an independent body, cannot do whatever it wanted without any monitoring. (fac)

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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 15 2016

National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian will take a new approach to promoting security as he plans to open dialogue with radical groups in an effort to maintain religious tolerance in the country.

Tito, who was installed on Wednesday, said reaching out to groups that potentially instigated conflict would be part of the plan to prevent conflict from actually taking place.

Prevention will be the priority, Tito said.

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Linkedin Arif Gunawan Sulistiyono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

The Embassy of the Republic Indonesia in Ankara, Turkey, has warned all Indonesian citizens in the country remain alert and to monitor the situation following an attempted military coup in the country.

The embassy has yet report any Indonesian casualties.

According to an official letter dated July 16, the Embassy of the Republic Indonesia in Ankara called on Indonesian citizens to stay at home, avoid public areas and always carry personal identity such as a passport or Ikamet when leaving the house.

The embassy also reminded Indonesians to keep communication channels open with other Indonesians in the country.

Turkish officials claimed on Saturday morning that the government appeared to have repelled an attempted military coup following a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital which left at least 17 dead, according to state-run media CNN Turk. (ags)
By PTI: Allahabad, Jul 16 (PTI) Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav today accused the Modi government of failing to "expose" Pakistan internationally over the ongoing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

He also attacked the BJP over its "inability" to provide credible governance in the troubled state where the party is in power with the PDP.

"The BJP and the PDP, after fighting against each other bitterly in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls, decided to forge an alliance. The performance of the Mehbooba Mufti administration has left much to be desired, resulting in dissatisfaction among the people," he said.

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He said Pakistan was waiting for such an "opportunity" to fish in the troubled waters.

"Now the situation in the state has become a matter of grave concern," Yadav told reporters here.

"While the J-K governments incompetence has been obvious, we are particularly disappointed with the Modi government which has failed to expose the role of Pakistan on the international forums.

"There have been no serious attempts to explain to the world the role played by the neighboring country in fueling tensions in the restive state," he said.

He said Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, is "working tirelessly" to ensure the world is "fooled" into believing Islamabad only has bona fide intentions.

"We demand the government convene an all-party meeting on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. This will enable political outfits across the country to do their bit in defusing the crisis," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Yadav was in the city to participate in a meeting of his party, which will be held in Phulpur near here tomorrow and attended among others by Bihar Chief Minister and party president Nitish Kumar.

"We are yet to emerge as a force to reckon with in Uttar Pradesh. But our support base is rapidly expanding in the state. We may form alliances with like-minded parties for the upcoming Assembly elections and rest assured Janata Dal (United) will make its presence felt here," he said. PTI NAC TIR TIR

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Suzan Fraser & Dominique Soguel (Associated Press) Ankara  Sat, July 16, 2016

Forces loyal to Turkey's president quashed a coup attempt in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead Saturday. Authorities arrested thousands of people as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed those responsible "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey."

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey  a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group  which critics blamed on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, a cracked down on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey has also been under strain from millions of refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria and a series of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels.

Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks moved into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul but flew home early Saturday.

Gen. Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff, said officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units were mainly involved in the attempt. The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government.

Turkish Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people had been killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters had been detained.

Yildirim described the night as "dark stain for Turkish democracy" and said the perpetrators "will receive every punishment they deserve."

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup. U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

Erdogan, appearing on television over a mobile phone, had urged supporters into the streets to defend the government  and large crowds heeded the call.

People faced off with troops that had blocked the bridges over the Bosporus, linking the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. Some flag-waving people climbed onto the tanks.

By early Saturday, the putsch appeared to have fizzled out, as police, soldiers and civilians loyal to the government confronted coup plotters.

Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara.

Addressing large crowds after landing at Ataturk airport, Erdogan said of the plotters: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Fighting continued into the early morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Television footage showed images of broken glass and other debris strewn across a lobby leading to the assembly hall.

CNN-Turk said two bombs hit near the presidential palace, killing five people and wounding a number of others.

Prime Minister Yildirim called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

Turkey is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

But Erdogan's Islamist government has also been accused of playing an ambiguous role in Syria. Turkey's renewed offensive against Kurdish militants  who seek an autonomous state and are implacable foes of IS  has complicated the fight against the Islamic State group.

Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a U.S.-based Islamist cleric, Fethullah Gulen.

Yildirim pinned blame on the "parallel terrorist organization"  a term used by authorities to describe Gulen's movement.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think tank, said it was not clear who was behind the attempted coup, but it appeared to have been "carried out by lower-ranking officers  at the level of colonel."

"Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan's attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency," Hakura said.

But, he said, "this coup failed because it lacked popular support, political support and international support."

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious Muslim mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.

There have long been tensions between the military  which saw itself as the protector of the secular Turkish state  and Erdogan's Islamic-influenced AKP party. Erdogan's government has taken steps, including dismissals and prosecutions of high-ranking active and former officers for alleged coup plots, to bring the military to heel. (ags)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

A lawmaker has urged the government to revaccinate children who were administered fake vaccines at 14 hospitals in Bekasi, West Java and Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

Revaccinating children would be among ways to calm parents who feared for their childrens health, appealed lawmaker Saleh Partaonan Daulay from Commission IX overseeing demographic affairs, health, manpower and transmigration.

Many parents are afraid. The government should deploy medical staff to the 14 hospitals to revaccinate the children, Saleh of the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Consumers Foundation (YLKI) chairman Tulus Abadi said the government should warn or shut down hospitals that administered fake vaccines to children.

They have violated Article 5 of Law 44/2009 on hospital law, which explains the right of patients to quality service, Tulus told the Post.

Health Minister Nila Moeloek told the House of Representatives on Thursday that 14 hospitals purchased fake vaccines from Bekasi-based CV Medika Azka. She promised to appropriately sanction hospitals after the police and ministry officials completed their investigation. (rez/ags)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

The Indonesian Consulate General in Istanbul has met with Indonesian passengers at Ataturk Airport and will soon prepare for evacuations, the Foreign Ministry has said.

It was reported earlier that 60 Indonesian citizens were trapped inside the airport.

Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey Wardana said the situation in the country had gradually returned to normal and airport staff, according to a report from a stuck passenger, had returned to work as the airport had reopened.

Turkey's president declared he was in control of the country early Saturday as loyal military and police forces fought to squash a coup attempt during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead.

More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested across the country. (wnd/ags)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

The government wants the House of Representatives to speed up the revision of the Anti-Terror Law, a senior minister said on Friday.

Amid rising global terror threats, the government should be ready to anticipate terror attacks that might occur, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan said.

"I have delivered our concerns to the House members, [the revision progress] is too slow," Luhut said.

The retired general plans to meet with House members involved in deliberating the Anti-Terror law revision to discuss accelerating the law strengthening process.

The deadly attack at a Bastille Day celebration in Nice, France, on Thursday in which a truck plowed into a crowd of revelers, was seen by the Indonesian government as a warning of the evolving nature of terror threats.

The government plans to explore and strengthen defensive measures to prevent similar attacks from happening on Indonesian soil, Luhut said. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

Anger, worries and perplexity became one as dozens of parents swarmed Harapan Bunda Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, to vent their frustration on Friday after hearing that the hospital was among 14 health facilities that had administered fake vaccines to patients.



The parents took turns shouting their demand to meet hospital representatives for an official explanation.



One of the parents, Desi Damanik who had taken her first son to Harapan Bunda for vaccinations said she was worried after learning the hospital was on the list of places that had administered counterfeit vaccines.



I came here to seek clarification about fake vaccines that have been used here. Ive heard from the news that the hospital was one out of the 14 that administered fake vaccines. Im asking for the hospital to take responsibility, she said.



She said that she demanded the hospital return the money she had spent for her 13-month-old sons vaccination, which had cost her up to Rp 800,000 (US$61) per vaccine.



My son has completed his vaccinations, including BCG tuberculosis, polio, Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus [DPT] vaccines. He received his last vaccine for measles in March 2015, she said.



After waiting for hours, at around 1.30 p.m. parents were finally able to meet with the hospitals medical committee chairman, Seto Hanggoro, who talked to them in the hospitals backyard.



Seto read a statement saying that the vaccines used in the hospital were from legal distributors.



However we ran out of vaccines between March and June. That was when a nurse at the hospital offered to provide the vaccines to the pediatrician, Seto said.



He said the police had named a nurse, Irna, a suspect and questioned the pediatrician.



He further said that the hospital welcomed parents to bring their children in for a medical examination to check whether they had been administered with fake vaccines.



Whether [the children] receive revaccinations or not will depend on the doctors examination, he said.



But for those who want to receive revaccination at other hospitals, they can propose reimbursement to Harapan Bunda by showing their receipt, he said.



Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek revealed on Thursday during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission IX overseeing health and manpower the names of 14 health facilities and eight midwife clinics that allegedly administered fake vaccines.



The health facilities are DR. Sander Cikarang, Bhakti Husada Terminal Cikarang 3, Sentral Medika, RSIA Puspa Husada, Karya Medika, Kartika Husada Setu, Sayang Bunda Pondok Ungu, Multazam Medika, Permata, RSIA Gizar Cikarang, St. Elisabeth, Hosana Lippo Cikarang, Hosana Medica Bekasi, all in Bekasi, and Harapan Bunda Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.



Meanwhile, the midwife clinics were those operated by Lia in the Pelaukan Sukatani complex in Cikarang, Lilik in the Graha Melati complex in Tambun, Iis in the Seroja Complex, Mega in Puri Cikarang Makmur Sukaresmi, the Dafa Clinic in Cikarang and the Tabina Clinic in Sukatani in Cikarang, all in Bekasi, and that operated by Elly Novita in Ciracas, East Jakarta, and the Dr. Ade Kurniawan Clinic in Rawa Belong, Slipi, West Jakarta.



In Bekasi, parents also asked for an explanation from St. Elisabeth Hospital and several other hospitals mentioned by the minister.



As of Friday, the police had declared 23 people suspects in the case.



The Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment Foundation (YPKKI) has called on the victims to file complaints and take legal action.



We have Consumer Protection Law No.8/1999, which stipulates that every consumer has the right to receive information completely, clearly and honestly, foundation chairman Marius Widjajarta told The Jakarta Post.



He said those who violated the law could be a subject to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to

Rp 2 billion.



Marius said that his foundation, in cooperation with the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), had opened complaint services to facilitate fake vaccine victims who were willing to bring their cases to the court.



They can submit their complaint and report at ylbhi.or.oid or come to YLBHIs office at Jl. Diponegoro No. 74 Central Jakarta, he said. (sha)

___________________________________



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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has urged that the 14 health facilities, eight clinics and suppliers be firmly punished if proven guilty of having administered or supplied fake vaccines, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung has said.

Jokowi plans to gather law enforcers and related ministries to enhance law enforcement for vaccine distribution.

"This is a forgery of a fundamental medicine for human life, babies. This act is really inhumane. There must be strong, decisive action taken against the perpetrators and anyone who benefited from it," Pram said on Friday.

He further said that Jokowi was taking the fake vaccine scandal seriously and had continued to keep an eye on the progress of the case, especially after the Health Minister stated on Thursday that 14 health facilities and eight clinics are alleged to have administered the fake vaccines.

"The president follows everything in the media and on social media, and always gets updated reports on the matter," he added.

During a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission IX overseeing health and manpower, Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek disclosed the results of the National Police's Criminal Investigation Division (Bareskrim) investigation detailing the distributors of the fake vaccines.

Based on the investigation, fake vaccines supplied to health facilities and midwife clinics are alleged to have been ordered through Juanda CV Azka Medika. It was also alleged that fake vaccines were mostly distributed by submitting a price list to the health facilitys procurement department, with orders later authorized by the directors of the respective health facilities, Nila said. (ags)
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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo led the tax amnesty campaign team in Surabaya on Friday, undermining the activist-led effort to challenge the Tax Amnesty Law through a judicial review request, officially filed on Wednesday.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the President directly led the campaign team in order to ensure the transparency of the program and to boost confidence among potential participants, before implementation on July 18.

"The first campaign was conducted in Jakarta a week ago, the next one is in Surabaya followed by other big cities, involving many business people across several business sectors," Pramono said on Friday.

The government, he said, wanted to neutralize any wrong perceptions spread by non-government organizations (NGOs) regarding the tax amnesty.

Referencing the judicial review request filed at the Constitutional Court to challenge the Tax Amnesty Law, Pramono said that every citizen possessed the right to challenge any law at the Court.

However, the government will establish a legal team to defend the Tax Amnesty Law, newly passed by the House of Representatives. "The President has appointed Coordinating Economics Minister as the coordinator of the legal team,"he explained. (ags)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

Sixty Indonesian citizens are trapped at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish troops have reportedly shut the airport down and all flights from the airport have been cancelled.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry have advised the 60 Indonesians to remain calm and stay inside the airport. The Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia in Turkey will assist them once the military has re-opened access to the airport.

The embassy has asked all Indonesian citizens in Turkey to remain calm, advising them to stay inside their homes, remain alert to the situation, and to keep in communication with embassy in Ankara and the Consulate General in Istanbul, the ministry said.

The government also advised all citizens planning to travel to Turkey in the near future, particularly to Ankara and Istanbul, to assess the security situation and conditions prior to departure.

There are currently 2,700 Indonesians in Turkey. Around 800 are reported to be in Istanbul and 400 in Ankara. (win/ags)
Nalanda Mahavihara was India's official entry to UNESCO's ?World Heritage Sites list for 2016. The 5th Century ancient seat of learning in Bihar was nominated in the Cultural Category.

Nalanda Mahavihara in Bihar becomes the country's 33rd archaeological site to win the prestigious title.

By Baishali Adak: The 5th Century ancient seat of learning, 'Nalanda Mahavihara,' rose from its ashes to be declared a 'UNESCO World Heritage Site' on Friday finally. This is even though, last month, an advisory body raised objections on the historic varsity's candidature. This decision was taken at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee's 40th session, currently ongoing at Istanbul, Turkey.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) spokesperson Dr. RS Fonia said, "We worked very hard on it. It moved directly from the position of 'Deferral', which means Government of India needing to provide more info to UNESCO for a decision in 2017, to 'Inscription', meaning final selection, directly."

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WEAK DOSSIER

ICOMOS (The International Council on Monuments and Sites) had pointed out several "weaknesses" in India's dossier for Nalanda and recommended not awarding it the title this year.

Dr. Fonia explained, "We prepared additional literature on Nalanda to convince the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. It included a film, a flyer and much more. It gave a detailed comparative analysis of Nalanda to Oxford and other great varsities of the ancient world."

All of this was passed on to India's Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Ruchira Kamboj, who spearheaded the campaign in its final throes.

INDIA'S OFFICIAL ENTRY

"The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Culture closely coordinated to ensure that Nalanda gets the heritage tag," he added. Hence, Nalanda -- India's official entry in the 'Cultural Category' for 2016 -- became the country's 33rd archaeological site to win the prestigious title. Plus, there could be more good news coming.

India's nomination in the 'Mixed Category' - Sikkim's 'Kangchenjunga National Park' - and that in a 'Transnational Category' - 'Works of architect Le Corbusier', known for designing the beautiful Chandigarh - are also in favourable positions. They have bagged positive reports from ICOMOS, which does preliminary evaluations of such sites for UNESCO.

INDIA'S SHOT AT RECORD

Dr. Shikha Jain, Member, Advisory Committee on World Heritage Matters (ACWHM), a body created by the Ministry of Culture, said, "If all the three nominations go through, it will be a record for India. It will be a great achievement for the ministry and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)," she said.

Senior officials attending the conference told Mail Today, "Vietnam and Thailand moved a proposal for a negative report by ICOMOS to be rejected. All 21 Member countries of UNESCO agreed and voted in favour of Nalanda University unanimously."



UNESCO'S TAKE

A press release issued by UNESCO read: "Nalanda stands out as the most ancient university of the Indian Subcontinent. It engaged in the organised transmission of knowledge over an uninterrupted period of 800 years. The historical development of the site testifies to the development of Buddhism into a religion."

It further read: "The Nalanda Mahavihara site, in Bihar, comprises archaeological remains from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. It includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and important art works in stucco, stone and metal."

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Soon after the inscription, Union Minister for Culture, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, tweeted: #Nalanda an epitome of architectural excellence & learning gets listed in @UNESCO #WorldHeritageSite. Proud moment! (sic)

On Friday, UNESCO cleared four sites: Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Landscape (China), Persian Qanat (Iran), Nan Madol (Eastern Micronesia) and Nalanda Mahavihara (India).



ALSO READ:

Nalanda University might not be awarded as World Heritage Site. Here's why

Master plan on anvil to preserve church complex in Old Goa







--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Ankara, Turkey  Sat, July 16, 2016

A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Some background on Gulen:

___

WHO IS FETHULLAH GULEN?

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the U.S. In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

___

WHY NOT DEPORT HIM?

The U.S. has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

___

WHAT'S THE STATUS OF LEGAL CLAIMS AGAINST GULEN IN THE U.S.?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric. "Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," lawyer Robert Amsterdam said. The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. U.S. District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in U.S. courts.

___

WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS?

Some of the U.S. schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service." In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

___

WHAT'S THE RESPONSE TO THE LATEST ALLEGATIONS?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."

___

WHAT ARE GULEN'S DAYS LIKE?

An AP reporter was given a tour of Gulen's Pennsylvania compound this year but was unable to see or interview him. He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan. Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Ankara, Turkey  Sat, July 16, 2016

BC-EU--Turkey-Military Coup-The Latest,35th Ld-Writethru/3935

Eds: APNewsNow. Updates with Tusk's comments. With AP Photos.

The Latest: Tusk says EU fully behind Turkey's government

The Latest on what appears to be an attempted military coup in Turkey (all times local):

6:30 a.m.

European Council President Donald Tusk says the EU fully supports Turkey's democratically elected government, in the wake of the attempted coup that left scores dead and wounded.

Speaking in Mongolia at the Asia-Europe summit meeting, Tusk says "Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law."

He also called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order.

___

6:10 a.m.

Turkish broadcaster CNN-Turk is back on air after police apparently entered the building and arrested soldiers who had taken it over. CNN-Turk showed police taking away a soldier with his hands bound behind his back with wire.

The station also showed the moment five soldiers, who appeared to be conscripts, enter the building brandishing machine guns and telling employees to vacate the building.

___

5:50 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency says Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting on Saturday.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman earlier said that a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He said there were no fatalities and that all legislators were safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Troops loyal to the government are moving to crush the coup attempt, arresting some 130 anti-government forces. A helicopter was flying over the area where the parliament is located and shots were being fired.

A source at the presidency told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that 13 military officers who had earlier tried to forcibly enter the presidential palace were among those arrested.

___

5:30 a.m.

NTV television is quoting the prosecutor's office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in "attacks" in the capital.

According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the coup plot will fail.

___

5:10 a.m.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, says more than 120 people have been arrested in a coup plot.

He says: "Things are getting better every minute."

Yildirim called on people to remain in the streets to support the government against coup plotters and appealed for patience.

He says a few air force planes flown by coup plotters still remain in the air. He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.

___

5 a.m.

A lawyer for the Turkish government says "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.

Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed" by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas denied the charges.

Y. Alp Aslandogan of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values tells The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible."

Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

___

4:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his general secretary was abducted by coup makers and there is no information on the chief of the military staff.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking on NTV, says he has ordered the "annihilitation" of military planes used by coup plotters. He says military jets have taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara.

According to transcripts of the president's remarks provided by his office, Erdogan said that he arrived in Istanbul from the holiday resort of Marmaris, which was also been bombed after he left there.

He says: "Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from. ... The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m."

He says coup makers "are a minority within the military."

According to Erdogan, "Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well."

___

4:20 a.m.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman says a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He says there are no fatalities and that all legislators are safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, an official at the president's office says more than 50 military officers have been arrested in Istanbul and large crowds have carried out multiple citizen arrests.

Turkish TV channels are broadcasting scenes of soldiers being escorted away by policemen.

___

4:10 a.m.

An official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital in the Uskudar district of Istanbul tells The Associated Press they have admitted at least 150 wounded.

The official refused to comment whether there were fatalities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier, NTV reported that six dead were brought to the same facility.

___

4:05 a.m.

Private NTV television is showing footage of large crowds gathering at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport to greet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he emerged from a vehicle upon landing.

___

4 a.m.

The state-run Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed military sources, says the leader of the attempted coup is Col. Muharrem Kose.

The agency says Kose, who headed the military's legal advisory department, was dismissed from the position a short time ago.

The agency says other officers involved include Col. Mehmet Oguz Akkus, Maj. Erkan Agin and Lt. Col. Dogan Uysal.

__

3:50 a.m.

Two large explosions have been heard near Taksim square in Istanbul, where police and military are exchanging fire.

The blasts were accompanied by the screech of fighter jets.

The area is surrounded by military but some soldiers have been taken into custody by police.

___

3:40 a.m.

Turkish broadcaster CNN-Turk says a group of soldiers have entered the headquarters of the Dogan Media group, which owns the television channel.

The newscaster did not provide details on the number of soldiers who entered the building, which is also home to Kanal D television, the Dogan news agency and the Hurriyet newspaper.

The newscaster said she was not sure how much longer the station would be able to broadcast news.

___

3:35 a.m.

Cyprus' deputy government spokesman says the ethnically divided island's conscript army is stepping up its readiness in light of the turmoil in neighboring Turkey.

Viktoras Papadopoulos told The Associated Press Saturday that the Greek Cypriot National Guard is "taking all appropriate measures" in the wake of the military uprising against Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a separate statement, Papadopoulos said top government officials had convened a meeting at National Guard headquarters on the orders of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades who's on an official visit to Mongolia.

The statement said Cyprus' Parliamentary Speaker and acting President Demetris Syllouris and Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides are monitoring developments in Turkey and are in contact with European and other governments.

Turkey maintains more than 35,000 troops in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of Cyprus since the island was split in 1974 whenTurkey invaded after a coup aiming at union with Greece.

___

3:30 a.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says that "democratic order" must be respected in Turkey.

Steffen Seibert wrote on Twitter early Saturday that "everything must be done to protect human lives."

He said: "Democratic order must be respected in Turkey."

In a second message on Twitter, Seibert wrote that Merkel is in constant contact with top officials in her government. He added: "Support for elected government."

___

3:20 a.m.

A top Turkish official says the coup attempt within the country's military appears to have been unsuccessful.

The senior official told The Associated Press all government officials are in charge of their offices, but cautioned that the chief of military staff hasn't appeared in public yet.

The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Earlier, a spokesman for Turkey's national intelligence agency, MIT, said that the attempt to seize control had been defeated.

Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told NTV television: "The military commanders have made it clear that the coup plotters violated the chain of command... The people have shown that they stand in solidarity with democracy and the elected government."

___

3:10 a.m.

Turkish media reports have cited MIT, the national intelligence agency, as saying the coup has been defeated.

The MIT website was not immediately accessible from Turkey.

MIT spokesman Nuh Yilmaz said that Gen. Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, was back in control.

Yilmaz said "Gen. Akar is back on top of his duties." He added: "everything is returning to normal"

___

3:05 a.m.

The movement of the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen has denied any involvement in the Turkish military coup attempt.

The Alliance for Shared Values says "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a broad campaign against Gulen's movement in Turkey and abroad. The Erdogan regime has carried out a purge of civil servants suspected of ties to the movement, seized businesses and closed some media organizations. Gulen has been charged criminally with plotting to overthrow the government, and was placed on trial in absentia inTurkey earlier this year.

___

3 a.m.

As the crisis unfolded in Turkey, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.

The company said in a statement that "we have no reason to think we've been fully blocked in #Turkey, but we suspect there is an intentional slowing of our traffic in country."

A spokesperson would not elaborate.

Separately, YouTube said in a statement: "We are aware of reports that YouTube is down in Turkey, however, our systems seem to be functioning normally."

Access to social media has been obstructed during previous periods of political upheaval in the country, according to some Internet watchdog groups, although Turkish authorities have denied involvement and suggested that technical problems were to blame.

___

2:55 a.m.

The White House says President Barrack Obama has talked on the phone with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the events inTurkey.

It says the two agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

It added that Kerry underscored that the State Department will continue to focus on the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Turkey.

Kerry says the U.S. views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey and officials are monitoring "a very fluid situation."

Kerry says he spoke this evening to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and emphasized the United States' absolute support forTurkey's democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions.

He urged all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel and civilians throughout Turkey.

___

2:50 a.m.

The state-run Anadolu Agency says a bomb has hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara.

CNN-Turk television reported some police officers and parliament workers were hurt in the bomb attack.

A resident living not far from the area told the AP he heard a massive explosion that shook buildings and saw a column of smoke but could not confirm if it was coming from parliament itself.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, also said fighter jets were flying low in the area.

___

2:35 a.m.

NATO's chief has called for "full respect" for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution.

"I have just spoken to the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement issued early Saturday. "I am following events in Turkey closely and with concern."

In an expression of support for President Tayyip Erdogan and his government, Stoltenberg said: "I call for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution."

He added: "Turkey is a valued NATO Ally."

___

2:25 a.m.

The military has taken position at the base of the Taksim monument at Taksim square in Istanbul, occasionally firing into the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters.

Military helicopters are flying overhead and many police are in position, separate from the military.

Meanwhile, a nearby mosque just made an anti-coup announcement.

___

2:15 a.m.

The leaders of Greece's armed forces and police are holding emergency meetings in Athens to monitor developments in neighboringTurkey, according to government officials.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity early Saturday because they weren't authorized to speak to the media, described the country's armed forces as being placed in a state of "heightened readiness" and not alert.

Despite markedly improved trade and relations between Greece and Turkey in recent years, the two countries have ongoing airspace and sea boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea. They also collaborate in implementing an agreement with the European Union  monitored by NATO  to limit the number of refugees and migrants traveling to Europe.

State-run ERT television reported that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had been briefed by intelligence and military leaders on the coup attempt in Turkey, including unusual movements by Turkish armed forces before the attempt became apparent.

-By Derek Gatopoulos in Athens.

___

2:05 a.m.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says that 17 police officers have been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.

Loud explosions were heard earlier in Turkey's capital after the military said it seized full control of the country.

But government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to play down reports that the military was in control. Erdogan called for citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, and said the coup attempt would be unsuccessful.

___

2 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency says Turkish Air Force planes are flying above Ankara to strike at helicopters that are being used by those attempting the coup.

Private NTV television reported that F-16 jets have brought down a Sikorsky helicopter, but didn't provide any details.

NTV also showed what it said were images from a police station in Istanbul, showing military officers allegedly detained by police.

Meanwhile, the commander of Turkey's military special forces, Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, said "those who are attempting a coup will not succeed."

He told NTV television by telephone: "Our people should know that we will overcome this... We are in control of the situation."

He said some deaths and injuries were reported during the coup attempt, without providing any details.

___

1:50 a.m.

The European Union's foreign policy chief called for "restraint and respect for democratic institutions" in Turkey after the military said that it seized control of the country.

Federica Mogherini also tweeted while on a trip to Mongolia that she was "in constant contact" with EU offices in Istanbul and Ankara. Explosions have been heard in the capital, with gunfire also erupting in both cities.

Government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to play down reports that the military was in control. Erdogan called for citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, and said the coup attempt would be unsuccessful.

___

1:40 a.m.

Turkish news agency Dogan has reported that soldiers have opened fired on people trying to cross Istanbul's Bosporus bridge in protest of the attempted coup, and some have been wounded.

TV footage showed people running for cover as shots rang out. Earlier, a statement attributed to the military said that Turkish armed forces have "fully seized control" of the country.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then called on citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government.

___

1:35 a.m.

Turkey's Istanbul-based first army commander says the soldiers involved in an attempted coup "represent a small group" and "there is no cause for concern," according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

An earlier statement attributed to the military said that Turkish armed forces have "fully seized control" of the country.

But First Army Commander Umit Dundar told Anadolu that "we are working to solve the problem here. They represent a small group within the First Army Command. There is no cause for concern. We are taking the necessary precautions with (soldiers) who have not joined them and remain within the military chain of command."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government.

___

1:30 a.m.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala says very effective units from the chief of general staff's office, the Turkish armed forces and the police are responding to the attempted coup in the country.

Ala says they are responding to "gangs who have taken cover in certain locations."

He spoke by telephone to NTV television and also encouraged Turkish citizens to "fearlessly go out and support our security forces."

He says: "We think it would be right for them to go out to the airports, to the streets, especially to the main arteries. As long as they do that this gang's attempts... they will be defeated no matter what."

He added "this is a gang that considers nothing sacred, not the people or the nation. They're taking certain actions."

___

1:15 a.m.

NATO hasn't responded immediately to a request for comment on how alliance operations or Turkey's status might be affected after the military said it seized control of the country.

Independent observers noted that the 1949 treaty that created the U.S. alliance has no mechanism for suspending members, unlike the United Nations, the European Union or the Organization of American States.

Nothing in NATO's founding 1949 Washington Treaty says anything about intervening in the internal or political affairs of an alliance member, and Turkey kept its NATO membership following past military coups.

The treaty's key clause, Article 5, stipulates that NATO member states agree that "an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all," but that language has taken to apply to an external enemy.

___

1:10 a.m.

Loud explosions have been heard in Turkey's capital Ankara and CNN-Turk reports an explosion occurred at the state-run television building.

Turkey's state-run news agency report military helicopters have also attacked the headquarters of TURKSAT satellite station on the outskirts of Ankara and the Ankara Police headquarters.

Dozens of tanks were seen moving toward a palace that is now used by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers. A civilian car tried to stop one of the tanks, but it rammed through the vehicle as those in the car escaped.

___

12:50 a.m.

Turkey's president has urged citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government after the military said it seized full control of the country.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to CNN-Turk through FaceTime, called the actions by the military "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces."

The president's office refused to disclose Erdogan's whereabouts, saying he was at a secure location. Erdogan said "I don't believe this coup attempt will be successful."

Erdogan added: "There is absolutely no chain of command here. Right now the chain of command has been put on hold."

___

12:35 a.m.

The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on developments in key NATO ally Turkey where the military claims to have seized power in a coup.

The National Security Council said Obama had been apprised of Friday "unfolding situation" in Turkey and would continue to get regular updates.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he hopes for stability and continuity in Turkey following the reports.

Kerry, in Moscow for talks with Russian officials on Syria on Friday, told reporters he didn't have details of the situation rapidly unfolding on the ground in Turkey and said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on developments. But, he expressed hope that the key ally and strategically important member of the coalition fighting the Islamic State would remain at peace.

___

12:25 a.m.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have called on their countrymen in Turkey to stay indoors amid uncertainty about whether a military coup is taking place.

Lavrov made the statement early Saturday at a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. However, Lavrov, who had been in lengthy talks with Kerry, said he had little information about what was taking place in Turkey.

Russia's tourism authority issued a similar warning. Turkey had long been a popular vacation destination for Russians, but the numbers dropped sharply last year when Russia banned package tours to Turkey amid tensions over Turkey shooting down a Russian warplane and it was unclear how many Russians currently are in the country.

___

12:20 a.m.

A Turkish military statement read on state TRT television says the military has seized power, citing rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism.

But CNN-Turk has quoted Defense Minister Fikri Isik as describing it as a "pirate statement."

Earlier, another statement published by the private Dogan news agency says that the military has "fully seized control" of the country.

___

11:45 p.m.

A Turkish news agency has published a statement from the military saying the armed forces have "fully seized control" of the country.

The Dogan agency reported that the statement said that the military did this "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated."

The military statement went on to say that "all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue."

___

11:10 p.m.

Turkey's prime minister says a group within Turkey's military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup.

Binali Yildirim told NTV television: "it is correct that there was an attempt."

Yildirim didn't provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any "initiative that would interrupt democracy."

Earlier, military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara.

Media reports said ambulances were seen in front of the Turkey's military headquarters. (dan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

PT Trikomsel Oke failed to change its board of directors during a meeting (EGM) on Friday, claiming that the publicly listed company is required to secure permission from its creditors first.

The phone distributor and retailers s president director Sugiyono Wiyono said the existing board of directors would carry out their duties until the firm had been granted permission from lenders to change the directors formation.

Four of the companys directors  Danang Cahyono, Desmond Previn, Ellianah Wati Setiady and Juliana Julianto Samudro  recently sent letters of resignation to the company due to a decrease in the companys performance.

The company filed a debt postponement petition (PKPU) with the Central Jakarta Commercial Court on June 16, binding every corporate action to creditor agreement. The petition will expire on July 31.

Under a PKPU, a company will be given the opportunity to propose a debt settlement to its creditors. Trikomsel defaulted on a Singapore dollar bond in 2015 as debt servicing requirements ballooned due to rupiah depreciation.

Sugiyono said the company would continue to operate while undergoing the PKPU process. We will complete debt payments through the PKPU process, and our business will run as usual, he said. (vny/ags)
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Linkedin Suzan Fraser and Dominique Soguel (Associated Press) Ankara, Turkey  Sat, July 16, 2016

BC-EU--Turkey-Military Coup,13th Ld-Writethru/1216

Eds: Updates with information on not being sure who's in charge of military headquarters. With AP Photos. AP Video.

Turkish president tells supporters government is in charge

SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press

DOMINIQUE SOGUEL, Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead and at least 150 people wounded.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. However, the sounds of huge blasts, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, continued to echo across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul throughout the morning.

Addressing a crowd of supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan told a crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said security forces have defeated coup plotters in several places, including police and government buildings, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

"There is no where they have they have proper control," Bozdag said. "God willing, they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down."

It was not clear who was in control of the military headquarters and Erdogan had not left the airport as dawn broke.

Earlier, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

An official in the president's office says at least 60 people have been killed and more than 330 people have been arrested. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks.

Anadolu Agency reported that 754 members of Turkey's Armed Forces have been detained across the country.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 16, 2016

Indonesia is exploring the option of deploying a sea marshal to guard coal export barges, either involving the Indonesian Navy or private security firms, a senior minister said on Friday.

Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan said the government was seriously looking into the guidelines of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the deployment of sea marshals to guard vessels delivering goods across borders, so that the plan would not violate any laws.

"For certain, [small vessels] delivering coal to the Philippines will be guarded by the sea marshal. Whether it's the Navy [or another body], we are still exploring the options," Luhut told journalists at his office.

The importance of protection for naval vessels is due to the fact that 15 percent of coal deliveries from Indonesia to neighboring countries use small vessels such as tugboats and barges, which have become the target of hijackings in the regional waters.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI) said in a press release that the TNI Operations Assistant had met with the Philippine Military Operation Assistant on Thursday, during which they discussed strengthening security in the sea to prevent piracy and hostage-taking cases from reoccurring.

Aside from agreeing to conduct joint maritime patrols and exercises with Navy troops of both countries, the two delegations also agreed to discuss further measures on deploying a sea marshal to escort Indonesian and Philippine export vessels, the statement said. (bbn)
(lead article)

Join fight against cop brutality and killings!

Nationwide protests say prosecute the cops

Militant/Seth Galinsky

BATON ROUGE, La.  Protests have taken place coast to coast since cops killed Alton Sterling here July 5 and Philando Castile the next day in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. Hands up, dont shoot, has once again become a rallying cry as protesters take to the streets.

The police have to be accountable for what they do, theyve been doing this for years, maintenance worker Angelo Robinson, 53, said July 8 outside the Triple S convenience store. Daily and nightly protests in front of a memorial at the store were taking place when Militant worker correspondents arrived here three days after Sterling, 37, was killed in front of Triple S. Drivers of passing cars honk their horns protesting the killing and supporting the fight to indict the cops.

Sterling, who was Black, was selling CDs outside the store as he had done for some three years when cops Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, who are Caucasian, approached, reportedly responding to a 911 call. They wrestled him to the ground and shot him point blank. The cops claim he had a gun, but no weapon is seen in the videos.

The owner of the Triple S store, Abdullah Muflahi, 28, who is originally from Yemen, recorded the whole incident. After the killing, Muflahi was placed in a hot cop car for four hours because he was told he was a witness. I didnt tell them about the video, he told the Militant. He later released the video to the media and federal investigators. They should be arresting the cops, he said, adding that they often come into the store to harass customers.

I wanted to stand for Alton, Muflahi told the July 8 Baton Rouge Advocate. We just need to stick together  no matter what race we are, no matter where we are from. The paper reported that Sandra Sterling, Altons aunt, told Muflahi that she wanted him to speak at the funeral.

Soon after Alton Sterling died, the police and media began a slander campaign, reporting that he had a 46-page-long rap sheet, implying that he must have been doing something wrong that justified the cops gunning him down.

Some may know Alton sold CDs, and was doing just that. Not bothering anyone. I will not allow him to be swept in the dirt, Quinyetta McMillon, 31, mother of Sterlings 15-year-old son, told a rally of some 200 people outside City Hall hours after the shooting.

A July 8 noon rally organized by the NAACP at the state Capitol attracted nearly 200 people. Among the speakers were representatives of the Nation of Islam, the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Im here because without unity there will be no justice, Virgin Powell, 61, a retired chef, told the Militant.

Anyone with any heart should be out here, said Ashley Ferdinand, 32, a retail worker at Whole Foods. We have to be unified. We cant trust the government.

The Sterling family lawyer has called on the police to release the cop car dashcam and body camera footage. Baton Rouge police Lt. Jonny Dunnam claims that during the altercation, the body cameras became dislodged. The Justice Department opened a civil rights investigation on July 6.





In the midst of the nationwide protests against the killings of Sterling and Castile five Dallas cops were gunned down July 7 near the end of a march there.

Dallas police say that Micah Johnson, 25, a U.S. military veteran of the war in Afghanistan, was the lone gunman. Police Chief David Brown said that Johnson stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers.

The Dallas cops used a robot to place a bomb and kill Johnson after he was holed up in a building.

I do blame former Black Lives Matter protests, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told the press, attempting to link peaceful protests to the killing of the Dallas cops.

There are some who would use these events to stifle a movement for change and quicken the demise of a vibrant discourse on the human rights of Black Americans, the Black Lives Matter Network responded in a statement. We should reject all of this.

The attack on the cops in Dallas has nothing to do with the fight against police brutality and gives a handle to government authorities to slander and attack it, noted Socialist Workers Party candidates for U.S. president and vice president Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart in a statement the next day.
(front page)

Socialist Workers Party campaign statement

Join fight against cop brutality

We demand the indictment and prosecution of the cops who killed Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana! We encourage all working people and youth to join protests in your area. Where none are scheduled, call one. Get your union involved. This is a working-class and a union issue.

Castile, a cafeteria worker and a member of the Teamsters union, was driving near St. Paul, Minnesota, with his fiance Diamond Reynolds and her daughter, when they were stopped by cops Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser on grounds he had a broken tail light. The cops shot and killed him as he sat in the stopped car.

Sterling was selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge when cops Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake came and wrestled him to the ground. Videos show one of the cops shoot Sterling in the chest multiple times.

Like every aspect of the so-called justice system, cop brutality is an essential part of how the propertied families who rule this country protect their interests.

This is a question that confronts the working class from one end of the country to the other. According to the Washington Post, 1,499 people have been killed by the cops since Jan. 1, 2015. About half are Caucasian, most of the rest are African-American or Latino.

Blacks are killed disproportionately, a product of the racist discrimination and violence the rulers have carried out in an effort to divide the working class.

Since the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York nearly two years ago, protests from coast to coast have inspired working people to speak out.

Workers have won new confidence to stand up and protest cop violence. Its not just in big cities. Protests have taken place in small towns like Council, Idaho, where cops killed rancher Jack Yantis, and Seneca, South Carolina, where cops killed Zachary Hammond.

As a protest march against the killings of Sterling and Castile took place in Dallas, a sniper shot and killed five police officers and wounded seven. This action has nothing to do with the fight against police brutality and gives a handle to government authorities to slander and attack it. The fight for Black liberation paid a heavy price for similar actions directed against the cops in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

All this unfolds in the midst of the worldwide capitalist economic crisis, for which there is no end in sight and as Washingtons wars continue from Afghanistan to Syria and beyond.
(front page)

Socialist Workers Party campaigns door to door

SALT LAKE CITY  Socialist Workers Party members have been going door to door across the country introducing working people to the party. Our party is your party, they say. Members of the Communist Leagues around the world are doing the same.

They explain that the economic and social crisis working people are living through is caused by capitalism. The unraveling of the old imperialist order around the world continues. The capitalist parties have no solution.

A big aid in charting a road forward is the new book Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? Class, Privilege and Learning Under Capitalism. As we gain confidence and experience fighting alongside each other, the book explains, working people recognize that we are capable of taking power and organizing society.

Socialist Workers Party campaigners in the Salt Lake City area and other parts of Utah have found interest in the party and its program  in the explanation and course outlined in the new book. Many they meet end up getting a copy.

I have no insurance and I paid a penalty last year for not having Obamacare, said Mark Pace, 49, July 9. He was laid off after working 15 years at a printing plant and now works installing flooring and other odd jobs in construction. Im eating lunchmeat and hot dogs, and Im not sure I can put together my mortgage payment. I like what you are saying about building a movement.

Later that day campaigners participated in a rally of 300 in front of the Salt Lake City police headquarters against cop brutality and the killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota.

One speaker was Heidi Keilbaugh, whose partner James Barker, a musician, was killed by Salt Lake City police while shoveling snow in January 2015. Keilbaugh first met SWP members at the May 2015 Million Moms March against police brutality in Washington.

Campaigners discussed the fight against police brutality with workers they met door to door. They kill people, they dont care what color they are, and they get a paid vacation, said Ryan White at his door in Kearns July 11. White, 35, who is Caucasian, is just starting a job as a surveyor. He got the new book and a Militant subscription.

Campaigning in Magna, Kearns and other towns outside Salt Lake City, Socialist Workers Party members met active and retired copper miners.

Not everyone agreed with SWP campaigners. I dont like unions. There are plenty of jobs for people who want to work, said one man in Kearns.

In Ogden Brian Klinger, 38, told campaigner Pete Brandli he opposes U.S. intervention in the Mideast. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton are worth supporting, he said.





EAST CARBON, Utah  A sign reading Proud Union Family is in the front window of retired miner Bobby Fivecoats house in this desert town of 1,200 in coal-rich Carbon County.

Campaigners visited Fivecoat, a member of United Mine Workers of America Local 9958, July 5 while knocking on the doors of other workers here. He was one of a number of retired miners who actively supported the 2003-2006 fight by Co-Op miners in nearby Huntington for union representation and better pay and work conditions.

It was tough on those kids, Fivecoat said, referring to the strikers, the majority of whom were Mexican-born workers in their 20s and 30s, but we taught them about the union. Fivecoat recalled how retired miners got the strikers a trailer for a picket shack when the weather got cold.

Theyre rich because theyre exploiters of workers, Fivecoat said when he was shown the new book Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart?

When Fivecoat learned that Alyson Kennedy, one of the leaders of the Co-Op strike, is the SWP candidate for U.S. president, he was elated. Tell Alyson Im voting for her, he said.

Liz Merlen, a certified nurses assistant, agreed about the need to build a society based on solidarity that respects the dignity and humanity of every person. Sometimes we have to turn away an older person because they dont have the insurance or money to pay for nursing home care, she said. It tears me up.

Over the last few weeks in Utah, campaigners for the Socialist Workers Party have sold 151 copies of Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? along with 132 subscriptions and 237 single copies of the Militant and collected 1,304 signatures toward the goal of 1,800 to place the SWP presidential ticket on the ballot.





Branches of the Socialist Workers Party around the country are also using the new book as an aid to building the party.

Campaigners went door to door in South Bend, Indiana, and visited the United Auto Workers union hall where workers locked out by Honeywell are organizing solidarity.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, supporters of the party went door to door July 10 and then joined a Black Lives Matter rally of 100 protesting the recent killings by police. Several people at the rally volunteered to help out on the Aug. 1-2 Nebraska tour of SWP vice-presidential candidate Osborne Hart.

Joel Britton and Mitchel Rosenberg in Utah, Laura Anderson in Chicago and Joe Swanson in Lincoln, Nebraska, contributed to this article.

Nationwide protests say prosecute the cops



Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home




(front page)

SWP candidate in Baton Rouge: Capitalism is root

of problem

Militant/Janice Lynn

BATON ROUGE, La.  Socialist Workers Party vice-presidential candidate Osborne Hart and campaign supporters spent several days in Baton Rouge participating in protest activities against the July 5 police killing of Alton Sterling here and Philando Castile in Minnesota. (See accompanying article.)

At the demonstrations and on doorsteps they spoke with working people about why police brutality is intertwined with capitalism and why workers need to take political power to put an end to it. The SWP presidential ticket of Alyson Kennedy and Osborne Hart will be filing for ballot status in the state of Louisiana later this month.

At the Triple S convenience store, the site of Sterlings killing, campaign supporters spoke with store owner Abdullah Muflahi and his cousin, Fahmi Al Mansoob from Bessemer, Alabama. Al Mansoob described several incidents where he had been followed and stopped by the police for no reason.

Muflahi told the Militant how he had faced anti-Muslim harassment while living in Dearborn, Michigan, following the 9/11 attacks and that he thought it is important for us to stick together.

I see the problem today is not a racial one, but rather rich versus poor, said Ashley Ferdinand, 32, who is Black and works at Whole Foods, and met Hart at a rally at City Hall July 8. She explained how her family in New Orleans lost everything during Hurricane Katrina and that she had worked overtime at Walmart to help those who had not received any assistance from the government.

Ferdinand told Hart about a protest meeting at Southern University and encouraged him to attend and meet people who would be interested in hearing what the party has to say.

We dont have a lot to choose from as far as the elections go. I think Trump scares me more than Clinton. His demeanor and inability to control his rage  you cant do that as the leader of the free world. We need a Plan B, Mia Webb, 58, a retired nurse practitioner who is Caucasian, told Hart.

No matter which one wins the election, the crisis working people face will continue, Hart replied. Neither one of them has a solution. Its working people coming together and joining in solidarity that is the only road forward.

Many of those Hart and campaigners spoke to got copies of the new book Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? Class, Privilege and Learning Under Capitalism. The book notes that tens of thousands have come into the streets to protest police killings and brutality and to demand the arrest and prosecution of the cops responsible over the last several years. This is just one indication of the growing confidence and openness among workers of all nationalities throughout the U.S. to discuss and debate the broadest social and political questions.

Webb was one of those. She liked the title. That sounds exactly right, Webb said. They just paper shuffle and theyre not concerned about what we do every day.

Campaigners also met Lawrence Mills at his home in Scotlandville in northwest Baton Rouge. Mills, 58, works at Ardent Mills, a flour mill at the port, and is a union steward for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union. What youre saying sounds right, Mills said. Ill support you all. It is a struggle for the working class. They need a voice. Its the middle, the low class person getting hurt by the decisions being made. They dont ask us. Those who make the decisions dont have to live on what we get paid.
(front page)

Disrupted world intrudes on US-led NATOs imperialist order

The U.S.-dominated NATO military alliance held a summit meeting in Warsaw, Poland, July 8-9. As expected, the gathering formalized plans to provocatively deploy NATO battalions along the Russian border in the Baltics and to extend its intervention in Afghanistan.

The summit and recent statements by NATO officials highlight the fact that there is no military or diplomatic course U.S. imperialism can take that will bring stability to the unraveling world imperialist order, from the Mideast to central Asia and Europe. This is the opposite of what the U.S. ruling class expected a quarter-century ago, when Washington mistakenly believed it had won the Cold War.

The security environment in and around Europe is, perhaps, the most dangerous and unpredictable it has been in decades, since the height of the Cold War, declared NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow in a June 13 policy speech in Geneva. Chief among the challenges in this disrupted world, he said, are the actions of a more aggressive and assertive Russia, and the tide of violence and instability which has swept across the Middle East and North Africa.

Vershbow, a U.S. diplomat, was outlining Washingtons perspective for the upcoming summit, which drew government and military leaders from the United States, Canada, most countries in Europe and Turkey. He called for an enhanced forward presence of NATO armed forces in eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Formed under Washingtons domination following its victory in World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization codified the permanent presence of the U.S. military on European soil. Comprising 28 countries today, it has no military resources of its own but draws on those of member states, above all Washington. The Warsaw gathering reflected the rivalry that exists between these competing ruling classes.

Just a few days after Vershbows address, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized a NATO military exercise in Poland as saber-rattling and warmongering and called for dialogue and cooperation with Moscow.

Arriving in Warsaw July 8, French President Francois Hollande said, NATO has no role at all to be saying what Europes relations with Russia should be, adding that for France, Russia is not an adversary.

Disrupted world

For more than four decades, nuclear-armed NATO forces in Europe faced off against Moscows Warsaw Pact alliance. The Warsaw Pact crumbled along with the disintegration of the Stalinist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1989-91. Washington and its closest imperialist allies believed they now had free rein to impose their will in eastern Europe and the Middle East. The consequence has been ongoing wars and instability, beginning with the 1991 U.S.-organized slaughter in Iraq, where Washington has carried out nonstop military intervention for 25 years since.

Washington began taking steps to incorporate former Warsaw Pact countries into NATO membership in 1994. That same year the Bill Clinton administration pushed for NATO intervention in Yugoslavia, in what became the first combat operation in the reactionary alliances history. Placing the U.S.-led occupation of Afghanistan under NATO command in 2003 was the first NATO operation beyond Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has reacted to NATOs eastward expansion by seeking to maintain a buffer zone near the Russian border, including carrying out military interventions in Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

NATO held its largest war games since the end of the Cold War in Poland in June, with 31,000 troops from 24 countries. In response the Russian military has held exercises on its western borders.

In May, Washington inaugurated a ground-based anti-ballistic missile system in Romania, with another planned in Poland. Moscow then announced it would deploy nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic coast between Poland and Lithuania.

The July 8-9 summit agreed that up to 4,000 troops under NATO command will be rotated through eastern Poland and the Baltic states for the first time. Washington will send 1,000 troops to Poland. German forces will lead a similar-sized battalion in Lithuania, the U.K. in Estonia, and Canada in Latvia. Moscow regards this as a violation of an earlier NATO pledge not to permanently station foreign troops there.

Expanding role beyond Europe

The summit projected that NATO forces in Afghanistan will remain at close to the current level of 13,000 troops, roughly 6,700 from the U.S. and most of the rest from Germany, Italy and Turkey. On July 6, President Barack Obama announced that Washington would maintain a total of 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, reversing a previous projection to cut U.S. forces there to 5,500 by next year.

The NATO summit agreed to establish a military training mission in Iraq, provide air surveillance for the U.S.-led coalition there and in Syria, and help combat Islamic State and other Islamist groups in Jordan and Libya. A naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea is to be set up for counterterrorism and to stem the flow of migrants and refugees into Europe from North Africa.

In a further escalation of the U.S. intervention in Iraq, Obama announced July 11 that Washington will increase its troop deployment to Iraq by 560, bringing the official total to 4,647.





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A complaint has been filed against actor Anil Kapoor by SAHAS Foundation for traveling on foot board and leaning out of the train during a promotional event for the second season of his TV serial '24'.

Senior Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor on Thursday traveled from Western local lines Churchgate station to Mumbai Central. During this journey he was seen traveling on footboard and leaning out of the local train. On the basis of photographs and mobile footage SAHAS Foundation filed a written complaint to railway police.

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"Anil Kapoor is very senior actor and has got lot of fan following not only in India but also in other countries. His stunts may encourage some fans to copy him and they may get injured. That's why we have filed a complaint against him," said Sayed Furkan Ahemad, president of SAHAS Foundation.

WESTERN RAILWAYS ISSUES NOTICE

According Railway Police sources they are going through the contents of the complaint. They are yet to take a call to file formal FIR in this case.

But Taking cognizance of photographs printed in newspapers and viral video clips on social networking websites Western Railway had slapped a notice to the production house on Friday who had organised the promotional event. WR had demanded an explanation on the stunts by actor.



DEMANDS EXPLANATION

According to WR official, "inspite of terms and conditions to adhere strictly to safety and security during shoot, Anil Kapoor allegedly seems to be leaning from the footboard of the local train on July 14."

--- ENDS ---
(front page)

Florida prisons censorship of Militant violates free speech rights

In response to the impoundment of two recent issues of theby authorities in at least two Florida state prisons, thes attorney David Goldstein filed an appeal July 7 requesting that the state Department of Corrections Literature Review Committee reverse these decisions and deliver the papers to the subscribers.

Goldstein is from the law firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, which is well-known for handling civil rights and liberties cases.

Prison officials claim the paper is a threat to the security, good order, or discipline of the correctional system. At issue, says the appeal, is the First Amendment rights of The Militant and its subscribers, and the federal and state due process clauses.

On June 15, authorities at Northwest Florida Reception Center denied a subscriber the May 30 issue with an article titled, Prisoners Strike to Protest Abuse and Little or No Pay in Alabama, a topic covered by many other news media.

At the end of June a subscriber at the states Santa Rosa Correctional Institute informed the Militant that authorities there impounded that issue, as well as the one dated June 13. Prison authorities claimed that the page with an article and photo on a sizable peaceful public protest in Puerto Rico demanding U.S. authorities free Oscar Lopez contained hang/gang signs. Lopez has been incarcerated in the U.S. for 35 years for his support of independence for Puerto Rico. There is no possible basis to find the article and photo on Lopez a threat to the good order of the prison, Goldstein wrote. And the charge of hang/gang signs he notes has no possible basis in fact.

The Militant has received no notice from Santa Rosa authorities of either impoundment, though prison regulations require them to do so.

In 2013 officials at Santa Rosa and other Florida prisons impounded issues of the Militant with articles covering a hunger strike by thousands of prisoners in California. But under pressure from a well-publicized challenge by the Militant represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, the prisons Literature Review Committee reversed this ruling.

The decision to impound this issue was also arbitrary and capricious, the appeal says, and inconsistent with the prior decision of the Committee that reporting on the California prison strikes cannot be a ground for banning The Militant. The decision is also unreasonable and arbitrary in that no other federal or state prison to The Militants knowledge has banned this issue or article.

Benjamin Stevenson of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida wrote to the Florida Department of Corrections, July 12 about the recent impoundments. The Militants article about the Alabama prisoners strike was written for a general audience and for wide distribution, he noted , and nowhere does the writer encourage anyone to do anything, including inmates to engage in strikes. It simply reports a current events story.

Rejection of these issues violates the free speech rights of both the author and the inmate recipients. No penological reason justifies excluding prison inmates from reading about prisoners responses to their displeasure with conditions of confinement in other prisons. This issue is hardly novel and is of public interest and general conversation, Stevenson added.

The Militant gets around in 63 prisons in the U.S., both state and federal, 21 of them in Florida. To date every attempt by authorities to prevent subscribers behind bars from receiving the paper has been defeated.

The recent impounding of the Militants is another example of the Florida prison system using its armed state power to censor and try to silence news about prisoners struggle for justice, Paul Wright, editor of Prison Legal News, told the Militant. Prison Legal News magazine has also been involved in fights defending the rights of prisoners to receive it.
(feature article)

Overturn of Texas anti-abortion stricture: A victory we can use

The June 27 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down two provisions in a Texas law that sharply restricted access to abortion is a victory that supporters of a womans right to choose abortion can use.

The fact-based decision rejected the Texas governments claim that it was protecting womens health by requiring any doctor who performs abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital and demanding abortion clinics meet hospital-like standards.

The ruling in Whole Womans Health v. Hellerstedt lays the basis for overturning laws in 26 other states that impose one or both of these restrictions. On June 28 the Supreme Court declined to review court orders blocking similar laws in Alabama, Mississippi and Wisconsin.

The court decision cites evidence that abortion was an extremely safe procedure in Texas before House Bill 2 was passed. With enforcement in October 2013 of that laws requirement of hospital admitting privileges for doctors, one-half of the states 40 clinics closed. The ambulatory-surgical standard provisions have been on hold. If implemented they could have resulted in 750,000 women in Texas living more than 200 miles from any abortion provider.

When asked to prove a single instance when the new law helped one woman obtain better treatment, wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the 5-3 majority opinion, Texas admitted that there was no evidence in the record of such a case. Not one.

In her concurring opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the U.S, with complications both rare and rarely dangerous. Tonsillectomies, colonoscopies and in-office dental surgery are more dangerous, but not subject to the same requirements as abortions. It is beyond rational belief, she said, to argue that laws that simply make it more difficult for [women] to obtain abortion protect womens health.

Our clinics stay open! Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Womans Health and a lead plaintiff in the case, told cheering supporters at the Supreme Court after the ruling.

Hopefully, with this decision, new high-quality clinics will be able to open in Texas and throughout the U.S., said Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation.

The ruling was the most devastating defeat in decades for opponents of legal abortion, Mary Ziegler said in a July 2 op-ed column in the New York Times. It stopped cold the momentum of what had seemed to be a promising strategy of focusing on women, and laws that legislators said protected women against dangerous conditions in abortion clinics.

Offensive limits abortion access

The Supreme Court did not rule on other aspects of the Texas law  including a ban on most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, one of earliest limits nationwide, and imposing procedures on medical (pill) abortions that require women to make three or four trips to the doctor. These restrictions are among hundreds implemented around the country that make it much harder for working-class and rural women to obtain abortions.

The 1992 Supreme Court decision Casey v. Planned Parenthood ruled it unconstitutional to place a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before viability, but upheld regulations the court deemed were not an undue burden. These included a 24-hour waiting period and parental consent for a minor to obtain the procedure.

The chipping away at womens right to choose, which began almost immediately after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision decriminalizing abortion, accelerated. The mounting restrictions take advantage of the fact that Roe v. Wade was based on medical judgments, rather than womens right to equal protection of the law under the 14th Amendment. This includes allowing states to ban most abortions after viability, described as the point at which a fetus is potentially able to live outside the mothers womb  a definition that changes based on medical advances.

The ruling is a big step forward, among many obstacles, Lexie Cooper, convener of the Austin, Texas, chapter of the National Organization for Women, told the Militant July 11. Theres still a booklet here, A Womans Right to Know, that doctors have to give to abortion patients. It claims abortion can lead to depression, alcoholism and breast cancer.

Supporters of womens rights should refer to this straightforward decision, and use it, said Loretta Ross, co-founder of Sistersong in Atlanta, in a phone interview.

The increase in recent months of actions in defense of womens right to choose abortion, from the statewide Fight Back Texas Truth Tour to the March 2 rally in Washington, D.C., of more than a 1,000, overwhelmingly young people, shows the potential to advance this fight.





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Workers attitudes no different in Sanders state

BARRE, Vt.  Members of the Socialist Workers Party and other campaign supporters have been going door to door throughout Vermont talking with working people.

This is the state where Bernie Sanders has been a political figure for decades. He was elected Mayor of Burlington in 1981, to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, and then to the Senate in 2006. Campaigners were curious. Are things better for workers in Vermont than elsewhere? Is there a different political situation here?

Not really.

Workers in Vermont face similar conditions to those across the country  official unemployment figures that undercount the real number of jobless, unsafe job conditions, cuts in social services and spreading drug addiction.

Sanders got 86 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary here. But campaigners have found that their discussions with supporters of Sanders, like those who backed Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or none of the above, are not different than the discussions they have in the rest of the country.

The Sanders campaign helped put socialism on the map, Clare LaFrance told a campaigner as they talked in her yard in Burlington.

The so-called political revolution he pushes has nothing to do with pointing a way forward, the SWP campaigner replied.

I think a big, popular movement against capitalism will happen in this country, Joey Schider, 24, a restaurant cook-trainee who backed Sanders run for president, told Jacob Perasso when the SWP campaigner knocked on his door in Barre. How does your party fit into that?

The SWP exists to educate and organize working people to establish a workers and farmers government as part of a worldwide fight to meet human needs, not private profit, Perasso said. We face growing economic calamity and spreading wars. The working class needs a revolutionary party.

Schider asked Perasso how the SWP was different from Sanders. When people say Sanders is a socialist, they mean he advocates reforms within the framework of continuing capitalist rule, like Denmark or Sweden, Perasso said. Its an obstacle to building the kind of party we need.

Fidel Castro and the July 26th Movement in Cuba led workers and peasants to power there against a dictatorship backed by U.S. imperialism, Perasso said. As working people joined the battle, they gained self-confidence, they gained the capacity to make a revolution and run society themselves. We want to do the same thing here.

That makes sense, Schider said Lets keep in touch.

Some workers have come to their own conclusion that Sanders is no different than other bourgeois politicians. I dont like the way he turned out, Margaret Boyce-Bachelor told Val Johnson in Barre. Now that hes gotten to the top, hes forgotten about ordinary people and the elderly.

After discussing why the SWP should be their party, Schider, Boyce-Bachelor and LaFrance all got copies of the new book Are They Rich Because Theyre Smart? Class, Privilege and Learning Under Capitalism and signed to put the presidential ticket  Alyson Kennedy for president and Osborne Hart for vice president  on the Vermont ballot, as did a number of supporters of Trump.

So far 206 people have gotten copies of the book, 124 have subscribed to the Militant and 1,818 signed the partys nominating papers.

Ballot fight

Under an undemocratic election law, town clerks across the state validate their signatures against a government-maintained checklist. The Socialist Workers Party has turned in 969 signatures so far, but town officials say less than half are valid.

This just isnt credible, Chris Hoeppner, who is organizing the SWP campaigning here, told the Militant. They say 70 percent of the people in the state are registered to vote. We are going door to door, talking to workers on their doorsteps about politics, the SWP and signing them up.

And were asking people to join us in saying the SWP should be on the ballot, Hoeppner said.
Philando Castiles mom: Could be your

son tomorrow

ST. PAUL, Minn.  No justice, no peace! Prosecute the police! rang out at numerous demonstrations throughout the Twin Cities area in the days following the July 6 killing of Philando Castile at the hands of a police officer in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights. Castile, 32, was a supervisor at a school cafeteria and member of the Teamsters union.

Many participants had never been to a protest before. They had witnessed the live streaming video by Castiles girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, of the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Castile is seen next to her in the car, covered with blood. As his life slips away, the cop who shot him, Jeronimo Yanez, continues to point his gun at Castile. We got pulled over for a busted tail light, Reynolds says in the video. Hes licensed to carry [a gun]. He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out his pocket and he let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm.

Since being posted to the internet, millions of people have viewed the video. Reynolds was handcuffed and imprisoned for hours after the incident. She was separated from her four-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the car when the shooting happened.

On the day after the killing, thousands held a vigil at the J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School where Castile worked. It was my son today. It could be your son tomorrow, his mother, Valerie, told the multiracial crowd.

Some 300 people gathered in Minneapoliss Loring Park July 9 answering a call from the Minneapolis NAACP. After hearing from several organizers of the march, people lined up to speak at the open microphone. Some shared their own experiences of harassment by the police and racial profiling, like what Castile had experienced prior to his death.

Since 2002 Castile had been pulled over at least 52 times while driving in the area, Associated Press reported, mostly for minor offenses, including speeding and driving without a muffler or not wearing a seat belt.

One participant at the open microphone said he was frustrated with years of police killings. He said that protests had not worked and the people needed to get guns and follow the example of the Dallas sniper who killed five police officers two days before. He was met with emphatic shouts of No! No! from the crowd. An organizer of the rally stopped him from speaking further. Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis NAACP then told the crowd that we do not agree with that. We cant answer violence with violence.

That night hundreds of people marched in front of the governors mansion. Protest organizers then led the march to interstate highway I-94. Many followed them onto the roadway to block traffic. Marchers were joined by residents of the nearby Rondo neighborhood, a historically Black community in St. Paul. Hundreds of people lined the streets overlooking the highway and a pedestrian bridge that crossed over it. The interstate was shut down for five hours.

Some protesters threw rocks, bottles, firecrackers, rebar and pieces of concrete at the police. Police set off smoke bombs and used tear gas in efforts to clear the highway. Some protesters tried to stop others from provoking the police. This went on for several hours as protesters retreated and regrouped. More than 100 people were arrested and charged with misdemeanors and one with a felony.
Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had sent GBP 84,000 to his family days before he killed 84 people in the grotesque terror attack in Nice.

By India Today Web Desk: Nice terror attack accused Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel had reportedly sent GBP 84,000 to his family days before he mowed down 84 people on Bastile Day. His brother Jaber Bouhlel said that Mohamed was depressed and was a violent person.

Mohamed had reportedly persuaded his friends help him send cash to his family in his hometown Msaken, Tunisia. His brother admitted that he had been sending cash to the family. Jaber said that his family was amazed at the large sum that he sent days before the attack.



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HE FREQUENTLY SENT CASH TO THE FAMILY



"Mohamed had sent 2,40,000 Tunisian Dinars (GBP 84,000) in the last few days. He used to send small sums of money like most Tunisians who worked abroad," said Jaber. He added that Mohamed suffered from bouts of anger and frequently broke things.

However, Mohamed's family unanimously said that he was not radicalised. His father Mondher Bouhlel said that he was mentally ill and that he was not a radicalised soldier as reported by the media.

"Between 2002 and 2004 he faced some problems and this led to a nervous breakdown. He would get angry and shout at everyone. He was violent and very ill and we even took him to a doctor. He was put on drugs for sometime," said Mondher.

MOHAMED RARELY VISITED HOME

His father said that Mohamed was a loner and stayed aloof mostly. He did not socialise nor did he greet people. Mondher said that he lost contacts with Mohamed after he moved to France.

The family said that Mohamed rarely came home. He did not observe fasts during Ramadan, drank alcohol and even took drugs. Mondher added that the family was in shock after the incident.

FAMILY BELIEVES THE SUM WAS MOHAMED'S SAVINGS

His family confirmed that Mohamed and his estranged wife had a strained relationship. Jaber too said that he had not seen Mohamed for several years and the money came as a surprise for the family.

Mohamed's family lives in an impoverished neighbourhood in Msaken, some 90 miles south of the capital Tunis. Jaber asserted that Mohamed was not a terrorist and that he never asked how he made so much cash.

"Mohamed sent us all of his savings from his work in France. He had worked for eight years and this was the money he saved," he said.

Mohamed, father of three children, was reportedly upset after his wife left him. He was earlier booked for petty crime including theft and domestic violence, but was not flagged as a terrorist threat.

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Also read:

Nice attack: Truck driver, who killed 84, was convicted for road rage once



--- ENDS ---
The Turkish military has released a statement saying armed forces have fully seized control of running the country.

A group within the military had earlier on Friday engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup, Turkeys prime minister said.

Both bridges in Istanbul have been blocked by Turkish military. Reason unknown. pic.twitter.com/HxyQn05Ox6  Gilgo (@agirecudi) July 15, 2016



Binali Yildirim told NTV television: It is correct that there was an attempt.

Yildirim did not provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any initiative that would interrupt democracy.

But the statement attributed to the military later said the takeover had been successful.

#Turkish military says in statement: to restore constitutional order, human rights, rule of law and democracy we have taken control. #Turkey  Mark Lowen (@marklowen) July 15, 2016

Earlier, military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara.

Media reports said ambulances were seen in front of Turkeys military headquarters.

We are focusing on the possibility of an attempt (coup), Yildirim had said.

There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy.

(Emrah Gurel/AP)

The Dogan news agency says traffic on the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges was blocked.

Video footage and photos showed the bridge being blocked by military vehicles.
Unrest in Taksim Square (AP/PA)

Heavy military equipment descended on Turkish streets (Burhan Ozbilici/AP/PA)

Turkish soldiers in Taksim Square (Emrah Gurel/AP/PA)

Despite the coup, Istanbuls Bosporus Bridge was lit in the colours of the French flag in solidarity Nice attack victims (Emrah Gurel/AP/PA)

The uprising, which the Turkish government claims has been unsuccessful, was focussed mainly in the capital Ankara and Istanbul and led to the arrest of more than 1,500 military personnel after the attempt to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. British-Turkish writer Alev Scott, 29, who lives about 200 metres from Istanbuls popular Taksim square, returned to her flat from dinner with friends as soon as she heard reports of unrest. She said: When I got home I heard there was shooting in Taksim Square and I started hearing the gunfire and the call to prayer  but it wasnt the call to prayer  it was completely the wrong time of night.So then I was watching things from my terrace, watching the military vehicles on the Bosphorus Bridge and then these sonic booms started. It was actually quite scary so I went down into my flat just keeping away from the windows which had all blown open. Describing what happened when the first jet flew past, she said: My friend was on his bed and he was thrown to the floor and I was also on the floor. It was just this huge rush of air, just incredibly loud and it felt like an explosion.Carlos van Meek, director of news at state news channel TRT, described the moment he was stopped from broadcasting by coup plotters. He told the BBC: We were taken off air in our headquarters in Ankara and at our secondary location in Istanbul. I run the English language service. Our teams there were forced to leave the building, they cut the cord and took us off air. It has been a scary night for my staff and people who work at the other channels of TRT but fortunately no one was hurt and everyone is safe at home from what I understand. In a statement read out on TRT, the military said it had aimed to seize control to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated.Mr van Meek said: Essentially they tell you you have to read the statement and thats how it goes. I believe every Turkish broadcaster had to read that statement out. Meanwhile, a British holiday-maker who had only just arrived in Turkey when he became caught up in the coup attempt described a complete state on confusion, even from military personnel. The Briton said: We went over to the soldiers with the guns and we said, Where do we go? What do you want us to do? They said, I dont know. We werent allowed to go back to the airport, we werent allowed to enter Marmaris. We were just stuck roadside with the military. We were stuck.Resorting to a bar to consider whether or not to try and get to his hotel, the tourist said: Some people are telling us we cant leave, some people are telling us we cant go to the airport, some people are telling us its all right, we dont know. But, he added, the Turkish people were absolutely lovely, they are the most hospitable people you will ever meet, we couldnt be in a better place really. Erdogan, who went into hiding when fighting broke out, has since made a television appearance saying that only a small clique within the armed forces was responsible for the coup and that they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.
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Islamic State claimed responsibility today for the deadly attack in the Riviera city of Nice on Thursday that killed at least 84 people.

By Reuters: Islamic State claimed responsibility today for the deadly attack in the Riviera city of Nice on Thursday that killed at least 84 people.

"The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State," the news agency Amaq, which supports Islamic State, said via its Telegram account.

"He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State," the statement said.

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A heavy truck at high speed rammed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice. The accused, who was shot dead by the cops, was identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel.

While Bouhlel had several run-ins with the law previously, the 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not on a watch list of French intelligence services as a suspected militant.

He was convicted for the first time in March this year, French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said.

Also read:



Nice attack: Truck driver, who killed 84, was convicted for road rage once

IS sympathisers flood social media with posts celebrating Nice attack



Nice attack witness: Saw bodies flying like bowling pins along its route

--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Oscar Isaac has hit the mother lode by bagging a role in Steven Spielberg's next film opposite Mark Rylance. Rylance, who has become a recent favourite with the auteur director, will play the role of Pope Pius IX in the religious drama called The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.

ALSO READ: That's my boy, Steven Spielberg on Christian Bale's success



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Spielberg, who is currently working on Ready Player One, will begin work on the film adaptation of the real life story in the first quarter of 2017. The screenplay will be written by Tony Kushner, based on David Kertzer's non-fiction novel. The film is based on the life of a Jewish boy in Bologna, Italy, who is kidnapped to be raised as a Christian.

Isaac, who has made a name for himself with his indie outings like Ex Machina, Inside Llewyn Davis and A Most Violent Year, hasn't gone on record to confirm which role he will be playing in the film. The X Men Apocalypse actor is currently shooting Alex Garland's Annihilation as well as Star Wars VIII.

Spielberg's film The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) is all set to hit the screens in India on July 22.





--- ENDS ---
IWC demands action on rare New Zealand dolphin

NEW ZEALAND: The International Whaling Commission (IWC) has called on New Zealand to take urgent action to save the worlds rarest dolphin from extinction, voicing grave concern about its future.



By AFP

Saturday 16 July 2016, 02:24PM

A critically-endangered Mauis dolphin swims off the west coast of New Zealands North Island. Photo: Professor Steve Dawson/AFP

Population numbers of the Mauis dolphin, the worlds smallest and scarcest sub-species found only in waters off New Zealands North Island, have dwindled to less than 50, prompting fears it could reach the point of no return without strong action, including a ban on fishing in its habitat.

The IWC, in a report released last weekend, said not enough was being done to prevent the dolphins becoming bycatch to the commercial fishing industry.

The IWC scientific committee expressed continued grave concern over the status of this small, severely depleted sub-species, it said.

Existing management measures in relation to bycatch mitigation fall short of what has been recommended previously.

The IWC said Wellington had been saying since 2013 that it was researching the issue, but it had not taken any steps to rectify it.

Barbara Maas, an endangered species specialist with conservation group NABU International, said the New Zealand government had repeatedly ignored the IWCs concerns.

The science is clear, if nothing is done then the Mauis dolphin is gone," she said.

Whats needed is action, not more research. This is a huge indictment on New Zealand.

Maas estimates only 42 Mauis dolphin are left, with perhaps a quarter of those comprising breeding age females.

She has called for a boycott of New Zealands billion-dollar fishing industry, arguing it is the only way to force action on the issue.

Greenpeace said New Zealand could not continue to trade on its clean, green image while allowing the Mauis dolphin to edge towards oblivion.

How many damning scientific reports do we need to see before the government agency actually does something, Greenpeace NZ executive director Russel Norman said.

Protecting New Zealand dolphins from extinction is part of what it means to love this country. We market this country on swimming with dolphins.

The fishing industry argues the government has already banned trawl and set-net fishing in 6,000 square kilometres of waters and there is no evidence Mauis dolphins exist outside this area.
Safe swim zones set up off Phuket after Chinese tourist death

PHUKET: The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has started installing safe swim zones and moving large buoys from protected areas at the Koh Khai islands off Phuket to better protect the reefs from the hordes of tourists that visit the popular sites.

accidentsChinese

By Chanida Summast

Saturday 16 July 2016, 08:00AM

DMCR officials have begun installing safe swimming zones and installing mooring buoys away from the swim zones to protect tourists and corals at the three Koh Khai islands. Photo: Suchart Rattanareangsri,, Director, DMCR Phuket

DMCR officials have begun installing safe swimming zones and installing mooring buoys away from the swim zones to protect tourists and corals at the three Koh Khai islands. Photo: Suchart Rattanareangsri,, Director, DMCR Phuket

DMCR officials have begun installing safe swimming zones and installing mooring buoys away from the swim zones to protect tourists and corals at the three Koh Khai islands. Photo: Suchart Rattanareangsri,, Director, DMCR Phuket

DMCR officials have begun installing safe swimming zones and installing mooring buoys away from the swim zones to protect tourists and corals at the three Koh Khai islands. Photo: Suchart Rattanareangsri, Director, DMCR Phuket

DMCR officers began moving buoys at Koh Khai Nok, Koh Khai Nui and Koh Khai Nai, all a handful of kilometres off Phukets east coast, yesterday (July 14).

Today (July 15), we started moving the big buoys that fishing and large tour boats use because they were too close to shore and inside the swimming zone, said DMCR Phuket Director Suchart Rattanareangsri.

At low tides, the bottom of large boats hit the shallow reefs, said Mr Suchart. Also, some captains were dropping their anchors in the area, which was also causing damage to the reefs, he said.

DMCR officers are also installing more buoys for smaller boats to use, Mr Suchart said.

We have started installing more smaller buoys at Koh Khai Nok first, and we hope to finish there by next week, he said.

The buoys are outside the safe swimming zone so boat captains can safely drop off and pick up their guests, explained Mr Suchart.

We do not allow boats and jet-skis to come inside the safe zone for tourists safety and also to protect our reefs, he added.

Maps of the zones where tourists can swim safely and and where tour boats can tie up to buoys will be available soon, Mr Suchart added.

After we have finished, we will create a map to let tourists and tour operators know what and where they can and cannot do while visiting these islands, and we will continue working to enforce the rules, he said.

The move to protect corals at the three Koh Khai islands follows a crackdown on tourist activities at the popular sites late last month. (See story here.)

The installation of safe swim zones also follows the death of 18-year-old Chinese tourist Li Yuheng after he suffered fatal slash wounds inflicted by a speedboat propeller while he was on a tour to Phi Phi Island last week. (See story here.)
Security ramped up in Phuket following Nice attack

PHUKET: The chief of the Provincial Police has ordered every police station on the island to set up security checkpoints in their area to ensure maximum security is provided for residents and tourists following the attacked in Nice on Friday morning (July 15).

tourismpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 16 July 2016, 03:03PM

Provincial Police Chief Col Teerapol Thipjaroen had ordered more checkpoints be set up across the island. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

In addition, he has requested that business operators report any suspicious activities to authorities immediately.

Provincial Police Chief Col Teerapol Thipjaroen yesterday (July 15) gave an order to all police departments on the island to ramp up their security effort to provide safety to residents and tourists following the tragic incident in Nice where the suspect drove a lorry into crowds of people while they were celebrating Frances national day.

Col Teerapol explained, To keep Phuket safe, officials must be vigilant when patrolling their area and must keep up with the security effort. I have ordered every department to set up checkpoints in all areas leading in and out of tourist areas.

I have requested Immigration Police be posted at the main checkpoint and at the airport. The customs office have also been advised to be on the look out for any suspicious packages and there will be an increase in the number of checkpoint set up across the island especially in areas with lots of tourists such as Patong, Karon and Kamala.

Local residents and business operators have been told to report any suspicious people or activity to local police.

Last night at 8pm, Thalang Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Amnoy Kraiwuttianan led his team of officers to set up a checkpoint at the Tha Ruea police box on Thepkassttri road southbound in Srisoonthorn and conducted a 24-hour patrol in the area to check vehicles left parked at local convenience stores.

In Cherng Talay, Police Chief Col Serm Khawnnimit led his officers set up a checkpoint at Surin Beach junction and another one in front of Tesco Lotus Cherng Talay.
Two Thai monks defrocked and arrested in Phuket

PHUKET: Two Thai monks were defrocked and taken to Patong Police Station yesterday (July 15) after it was found they used fake birth certificates when they ordained as monk, and also that they used inappropriate behaviour while asking for alms in the Patong area.

crimereligionpolice

By Darawan Naknakhon

Saturday 16 July 2016, 10:12AM

The two men were found to have used forged birth certificates when ordained as monks. Photo: Darawan Naknakhon

Phuket officials led by city defence deputy, Jiradet Burarak, together with local officials and Patong police investigated two monks who were suspected of breaking Buddhist monk disciplines at the junction of Sai Namyen and Rat Uthit 200 Pi Rd.

Mr Jiradet explained: The investigation into the two monks came after residents complained that they were asking for alms when stood just a one place. When we arrived we saw the two monks standing on the sidewalk. It is not usual practice for monks to stand waiting for people to give them alms, they usually walk.

We approached them and asked them to come to Suwankiri Temple so we could check their certificates of monkhood and identification cards, he said.

It turned out that the birth certificates they used to ordain as monks were fake documents, he added.

Head monk at Wat Ket Ho, Phra Kru Wichitsangkhapairoj defrocked the two men, Tanai Jaieua, 52, from Lopburi and Bundit Sairat, 42, from Krabi.

Officials also found cash in their bags and an account book from the Thai Commercial Bank Chantaburi branch which had B200,000 deposited in it, said Mr Jiradet.

Both men were taken to Patong Police Station where they face the charge of forgery of birth certificates.

We learned that these two men have been living in a shelter on Patong Hill and roaming the city asking for alms for more than two years, Mr Jiradet concluded.
Unconnected pipes and trash part of Patongs rain drainage problems

PHUKET: Patong Municipality officials may have solved some of the mystery surrounding the areas ongoing floods after digging up drainage pipes to find them blocked with tyres, electrical cables and general everyday rubbish.

environmentcorruptionpollutionpatong

By The Phuket News

Saturday 16 July 2016, 12:10PM

Various rubbish, including an old car tyre and electrical cables were found to be blocking the drains. Photo: Patong Municipality

However, another part of the problem was that the drainage pipes had not been properly connected.

Mayor Chalermluck Kepsap led a team to investigate Patongs drainage problems at the Omsin (GSB) Junction on Phrameita Rd on Thursday (July14) after residents complained of foul smells and water being trapped in the area.

Using a backhoe, the drains were dug and various items including an old tyre, electrical wires, plastic and water bottles were found to be clogging the pipes.

Mayor Chalermluk told The Phuket News yesterday (July 15), We had to open the drainpipe to see why the rain water would not drain on Phrameita Rd. It turned out that the problem was not the old pipe, but was that a lot of rubbish had entered the drainage system.

However, adding to that, we also found that the Rural Road Department had not been connected the pipes properly so the rain water could not drain, she said.

Workers have connected the pipes correctly so now the water should drain away as it is supposed to.

However, residents in Patong should also discard of the rubbish correctly and not dump it in the canal, she added.
Former Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar has said that the government 'came under pressure' to support slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, but its decision to do so was not wrong because every Kashmiri considers him a martyr.

By Ananth Krishnan: The Pakistan government "came under pressure" to support slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani and to celebrate him as a "martyr", former Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar has said.

But its decision to do so was not wrong because "every Kashmiri considers him a martyr", Khokhar, who is in China to attend a conference, said when asked about the renewed strains in India-Pakistan ties following Wani's death and Islamabad deciding to commemorate the Hizbul terrorist.

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JULY 19 BLACK DAY



After the Nawaz Sharif government on Friday decided to label Wani a "martyr" and mark July 19 as "a black day" of mourning, India hit out at Pakistan's "continued glorification of terrorists".

Asked whether Pakistan's decision to do so was the right one, Khokhar, who was foreign secretary from 2002 to 2005, said: "In the beginning our reaction was low key, but the government came under pressure from the media and so forth, that this is not good enough."

"It is very difficult for the present government in Islamabad to try and cool it because of the emotive aspect of the whole thing," he added.

"The Kashmir dispute is the core problem between India and Pakistan and is an emotive issue on both sides," he said. "Now what is happening in Kashmir I do not have to elaborate, the last few days a number of people have been killed."

'EVERY KASHMIRI CONSIDERS HIM A MARTYR'



Khokhar said he "did not see any real issue if Burhan Wani has been described as a martyr". "Every Kashmiri considers him a martyr, every Kashmiri on our side considers him a martyr? So [the Pakistan government's decision] was more in the nature of going along with the Kashmiris".

The former foreign secretary added that both countries at the same time "must not allow these things to get out of hand".

"A lot depends on how India handles the situation inside Kashmir. The ball is in India's court. Pakistan won't aggravate or play up, but we also have a certain obligation because there is a dispute between India and Pakistan, we have an obligation to bring it to the attention of the international community, the UN, etc."

Also Read:

After terrorist Burhan Wani's killing, Pakistan needles India on Kashmir

Burhan Wani encounter: Kashmir continues to be on boil, death toll rises to 30



--- ENDS ---
No truth to rumor that schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms
By India Today Travel Plus: Ask any traveller and he would tell you that it is not the places he saw, or the experiences he had or even the people he met that were the highlight of his journey. It's the freedom that one enjoys the most and my symbol of freedom was my backpack. I spent a year and a half backpacking through a continent. From Argentina to Brazil, I went country to country realising the dream to discover a continent I was so curious about and coming away with experiences to last a lifetime. I had to overcome anxiety I felt about inhabiting 'a world of risky strangers' as the newspapers and television so regularly projected it to be. But it was precisely for this reason that I wanted to leave my comfortable bubble and discover something that stretched my mind.

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Six months into my travel, as I left Bolivia, South America's highest, most isolated, most rugged, coldest, warmest, windiest and steamiest countries, Peru still seemed to top it all. Compared to any other South American country there seems to be more history in Peru-more pre-Columbian history and more colonial history. More food comes originally from Peru than from any comparable square kilometre anywhere else and there are more languages spoken in Peru than any other country in South America. When it rains, it doesn't stop and when the sun is overhead, you never have enough sunblock to fight it. The rivers are bigger and wider and faster and Peru has the Americas' deepest canyon and the world's driest desert. Hitchhiking across this country sleeping in my tent, it did get tiring and I did wish from time to time that there were not so many things to see in this country.

Also read: Top 10 international destinations Indians are flocking to this summer



But then everything was new for me in Peru. Its indigenous languages like Quechua and Aymara, the rugged mountains, its rich history and all of this provided me with the adventure that I was seeking in South America. It was exactly for this adventure that I left my job to live the life of freelancer and alternative learner. I didn't tell my family of my hitchhiking plans to save them from the sleepless nights.

Sometimes hitching was a roll of the dice and while it can get lonely being on your own the people give you inspiration and the landscape gives you strength. Travel is the best for the spirit and the soul and it wasn't like I was a child of hippies but my parents did give me the liberty to think and judge for myself and allow me to live my life according to my own ideas. I was a thumb pointer but was looking for more than a free meal and transportation. The reason to travel like this was to meet people who I would not have met had I been travelling like a tourist and see places which were only in guide books.

Picture courtesy: Flickr/Verb1der/Creative Commons Picture courtesy: Flickr/Verb1der/Creative Commons

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The extraordinary and unique experience that I was looking for came my way when a backpacker whom I had met in Bolivia gave me a secret map to enter Machu Picchu. Without a doubt Machu Picchu was amongst the things I wanted to see in Peru. Just every traveller I had met had a story of this citadel of cut stone fit together so finely that it couldn't be penetrated by something as fine as hair. A tangible evidence of the Inca Empire, the site is more than just ruins; it's a complex of palaces and plazas, temples and homes.

Following the map I left Aqua Calientes, the town closest to Machu Picchu. I left my campsite at midnight and walked for an hour to reach close to the entry gate. Keeping to the instructions leaving the road and walking next to the river for the last kilometre and I found myself under the entry gate. The risks were very obvious and if I got caught I could have well been deported but getting past Machu Picchu's dramatic and natural defences was far too thrilling an option to give up. With its mysterious location on the eastern slopes of the Andes, Machu Picchu that night seemed to lie at the centre of a network of landmarks and the mountains appeared to align with astronomical events.

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Taking my chances and assuming that the guards would be asleep I used the massive boulder placed perfectly under the bridge to muscle my way on top. Had the guards seen me doing that, I wouldn't have ever been able to justify to myself the risks I took that night to save the $50 entry ticket! Built on a high ridge surrounded by a river, I could not make my way up using a torch for the fear of being spotted by the guards. To say it was difficult to climb and make my way through the dense and steep mountainous terrain that night which included the 700-plus terraces used by the Incas for agriculture would be an understatement. Scared, cold and tired while trying to make my way through the forest, the mysteries associated with Machu Picchu only increased when I thought about the fact that this sight was built 500 years ago when the Inca had no iron or wheels to transport the stones to their fortress.

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It took me no less than five hours to eventually get into the site and when I saw Machu Picchu at the break of dawn it seemed to be nestled into a remote mountainside, floating like a castle in the sky. In the midst of the tropical mountain forest, its walls, terraces, stairways and ramps blended seamlessly into its beautiful natural setting. Relieved and thrilled at what I had achieved, the stones in Machu Picchu seemed almost alive and I knew I had a story to tell.

I had walked along the river between the lofty peaks, through the dense tropical jungle, made my way through a precipitous and an almost impregnable cliff to finally jump across the walls made of stones without even a torch-this to me was the adventure I was seeking. Seeing the sun flare from between the peaks, warming my face and the cold stones I knew that this was one of the highlights of my time in the continent.

Within the mountains of Peru lie a wealth of ancient Inca temples but Machu Picchu is rightfully the one to go. In my three months in Peru I hitched to Spanish colonial towns, and breathtaking Andean vistas and Lima, the country's capital.

Peru, though, is incomplete without a visit to the Amazon. The places and sights were never on top of my priority but I couldn't have returned without visiting the Amazon. It was a privilege I couldn't have passed... I walked through the sea of green beneath the canopy, believing that there existed no other colour. My mind played tricks and even the skin began to appear green. But then the colours of the large Scarlet Macaw eating mud known for its rich mineral content brought me back to reality.

As I trekked in this protected area for two weeks I was to see no human habitation. I went inside to see the jaguar. Closely related to the leopard, the jaguar is the biggest cat after the tiger and the lion and it gets its name from the Native American word yaguar that means 'he who kills with one leap'. Said to have the most powerful bite of all the cats, the pattern on its fur is unique to each animal, much like how our fingerprints are unique to us.

The Amazon's dense jungle provides plenty of cover for the jaguar and even if you don't see them you know that the jaguar is always watching you. Revered to be the lord of the underworld or god of the night, the omnipresent danger of the jaguar always existed while we trekked or slept, as this animal normally feeds at night using the lush jungle foliage as its cover. It hunts from the trees and from the forest floor and with its spots keeping it well-camouflaged.

My chances were still understandably bleak to spot one but only four days into our trek, while catching fish for lunch, suddenly-emerging from the forest heading to the river, a jaguar ambled into my view. It was only when the mighty being was swimming across the river did she spot us. But it was with a look of bored indifference. The largest cat in the Amazon, for which explorers use awed expressions like 'apex predator' is one of the most formidable carnivores on the planet, and yet is one of the most beautiful of its creatures. Seeing the cat for over a minute casually walking on the beach is completely contrary of the animal's legendary secretive nature.

My favourite part in the Amazon was the night when things got really loud. At times it seemed that the animals rhythmically began their orchestra. At night all sorts of ghostly noises echoed from behind thick green curtains, the screams of the howler monkeys being the scariest. The rainforest delivers in limitless variety and quality exotic animals and insects and the Amazon truly is the last frontier which is untamed where these animals still survive.

At a Glance There are no direct flights to Peru, you would need to fly via Buenos Aires in Argentina or Sao Paulo in Brazil to get to Lima. South African Airlines and Malaysian Airlines fly to Buenos Aires and Lufthansa and Emirates connects to Sap Paulo from Delhi and Mumbai. From Lima to go to Machu Picchu you could either fly to Cusco or take a bus, which takes around 18 hours. Your best bet to see the jaguar in Peru is in Iquitos (in the Amazon) and you can either fly there from Lima or take a boat from Pucallpa.



WHEN TO GO

Machu Picchu and the Amazon can be visited all throughout the year but monsoon months of January, February and March should be avoided.

SEE

Cotahuasi Canyon: The deepest canyon in the world is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Unlike most of the Grand Canyon, portions of the Cotahuasi are habitable and an absolutely awesome sight here is Andean condors, the bird with the largest wingspan in the Western Hemisphere. Ethnic groups have preserved their strong traditions for more than 2000 years.



The Nazca Lines: Known as the Riddles in the Sand, these are unique to Peru and one of mankind's most enigmatic achievements. These giant geoglyphs in the desert were created by removing the coloured sand and gravel from the surface of the desert. Some are drawings of birds and animals while other are of flowers and trees. Theories suggest these lines could've been an astronomical calendar or representations of dreams.



--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Srinagar, Jul 16 (PTI) Two MLAs and a former state minister today met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra here and expressed concern over the use of pellet guns in dealing with protestors in the Valley.

CPI(M) legislator M Y Tarigami, independent MLA Hakeem Yaseen and former minister G H Mir called on the Governor to discuss the present situation in Kashmir Valley.

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"We had a detailed discussion with the Governor about the present scenario in Kashmir," Tarigami said.

He said they spoke to Vohra about the suffering caused by use of pellet guns and other weapons against the protestors which are proving to be lethal and have proved detrimental to the overall situation.

Tarigami said they also expressed concern over the "indiscriminate arrests" made by police.

"We had thought that the present government would have learnt lessons but unfortunately they have continued with the mistakes," he said.

The MLA from south Kashmirs Kulgam said the "gagging media" was unacceptable and it would encourage rumour mongering.

"The ban on press is draconian and highly unacceptable, which will encourage rumour mongering and is bound to prove counter-productive," Tarigami said. PTI SSB MIJ AAR RT AAR

--- ENDS ---
The protesters, under the banner of Popular Front of India, slammed the Central government for unnecessarily troubling and cracking down on Zakir Naik and Asaduddin Owaisi.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: In an unprecedented act, pro-Pakistan slogans were raised in Patna on Friday afternoon by supporters of a political front. Several people under the banner of Popular Front of India carried out a protest march against the Central government. The protest march was carried to support controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

PROTESTERS SUPPORT ZAKIR NAIK, OWAISI



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The protest march which was carried out after prior permission from the local administration slammed the Central government for unnecessarily troubling and cracking down on Zakir Naik and Owaisi.

The march had started from Patna's Science College and while the march was going on, few people present raised pro-Pakistan slogans. The protestors were demanding that the Bihar government should intervence in the matter and speak to the Centre on Zakir Naik's issue. The protestors alleged that the crack down in Naik and Owaisi was a concerted effort to silence the voice of Muslims leaders in the country.

"We are not going to tolerate this. The Centre is unnecessarily cracking down on Zakir Naik and troubling him", said a protestor.

POLICE INITIATES PROBE



After the video of the pro-Pakistan slogans were aired by electronic media channels, the state police has flung into action. Police headquarters in Patna has begun probe into the matter of how slogans in support of Pakistan were raised at the march. The Bihar police is also coordinating with the central intelligence agencies to probe the case. Bihar DGP, P.K Thakur confirmed that the police was scanning the video of the rally.

"We have initiated a probe in the matter. We are also monitoring the video footage if the rally where pro-Pakistan slogans were raised", said Bihar DGP.

The DGP has assured that if it comes to light that anti-nation slogans and pro-Pakistan slogans were raised, action will be taken.

In a late night move, Patna police has identified the person who raised pro-Pakistan slogans as Taufiq, a worker of the Popular Front of India. Police have arrested Taufiq in the case. The police in the meantime has sent the video footage for forensic investigation.

The controversial Islamic preacher is alleged to have brain washed through his hateful speeches at least of the terrorist who carried out attack at a restaurant in Dhaka earlier this month in which more than 20 people were killed.

ALSO READ: Zakir Naik has no place to speak in Mumbai now



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An opportunity for foodies and beer lovers to get lost in a world of food and drink from a hand-selected range of food trucks and breweries from around New Zealand.
The notice states that Yusuf Bachkana's consent was not taken and since Ram Gopal Verma neither met him nor showed him the script, Bachkana's character should not be shown in the film.

Ram Gopal Verma was so enchanted with Muthappa Rai's life that he convinced him to give consent for the film.

By Vidya : A gangster and known aide of underworld don Chhota Rajan, Suleiman Kadri alias Yusuf Bachkana, has sent legal notice to filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma.

Bachkana had recently read that Verma was making a film Rai on the life of fellow gangster Muthappa Rai.

TROUBLE FOR RGV?

The notice states that Bachkana's consent was not taken and since Verma neither met him nor showed him the script, Bachkana's character should not be shown in the film.

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The notice, which was sent through Bachkana's lawyers Nazneen Khatri and Raees Khan, read that Bachkana would take civil as well as criminal legal proceedings against Verma, if he failed to do the needful.

According to Bachkana, Rai was arrested along with him by the Karnataka police.

The notice read that Verma did not know Bachkana and there was always a possibility of him being shown as a villainous character in the film- an act which would malign him publicly.

Verma, however, did not respond to numerous messages sent to him by India Today.

Ram Gopal Varma vs Rajinikanth: Don't try and touch the Sun, RGV

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RAI, THE FILM

Muthappa Rai's life- a bank clerk turned gangster, someone who was shot five times but survived, and his ultimate renunciation of all- reportedly enchanted Verma to make a film. Verma is also said to have persuaded Rai to give his consent for the film.

In April this year, Verma had announced the making of the film with actor Vivek Oberoi, who has previously worked with Verma in films like Company, Road, Darna Mana Hai and Rakht Charitra.

Salman Khan has left Aishwarya's ex-boyfriend Vivek Oberoi in awe

Verma announced that C R Manohar would produce the film, which would be made in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. The film would be shot extensively in Mangalore, Bangalore, Mumbai, Dubai and London.



BACHKANA'S LIFE

Bachkana was arrested in connection with the three rounds of firing at builder Rajaram Manjaokar in Borivali on May 28, 2013.

The Mumbai police said that he had allegedly made extortion calls to Manjaokar while being lodged inside the Hindalga Central Jail in Belgaum. When the builder did not oblige, he ordered firing.

The gangster was later shifted to Banglore jail from where the Mumbai police took his custody.

The 47-year-old faces several cases of extortion, murder and attempt to murder; and is currently lodged at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai.

Also Read:

Amitabh-Rekha's silsila still baffles India. Google would vouch for that



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Katrina Kaif celebrated her 33rd birthday last night and Salman Khan wasn't a part of her party.

By India Today Web Desk: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif may have parted ways, but their friendship has remained intact. Katrina celebrated her 33rd birthday and threw a party last night. It was a low-key affair for the Bang Bang actor and had only close friends in attendance.

ALSO SEE: On her 33rd birthday, Katrina Kaif finally makes her debut on Facebook

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ALSO SEE: Lovebirds Sidharth and Alia attend Kaitrina Kaif's birthday party



B-Town celebs like Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur and Karan Johar were a part of her birthday bash. There were reports that Salman might be a part of her bash. However, the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor didn't not attend the party. The Sultan actor giving it a miss raised many eyebrows.

The real reason of him not attending Katrina's birthday was that Salman was present for a family function celebrating sister Arpita's father-in-law's birthday at his Panvel farmhouse with the entire Khan-daan in tow. Arpita's husband Aayush Sharma also shared a picture from the celebration on Instagram.



Birthday Celebrations A photo posted by Aayush Sharma (@aaysharma) on Jul 15, 2016 at 12:38pm PDT

The Kick actor was asked to wish Katrina during Sultan's success press meet yesterday. He wished the Fitoor actor in his own style and said, "Happy Birthday to Katrina Kaif from the youngest actor!"

On the work front, Salman Khan's latest film Sultan has grossed Rs 236.9 crore in ten days of its release. Apart from Salman Khan, the film also stars Anushka Sharma in the lead role. Sultan hit the screens on July 6 this year.

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By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) The Securities Appellate Tribunal today came down heavily on a Whole Time Member of Sebi for handling a case in a "shoddy manner" and ordered assigning the matter to another "responsible" member, prompting the regulator to seek a review of the ruling. Besides, the tribunal has decided to bring the matter to the notice of Sebi Chairman and Finance Minister.

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In an unusually hard-hitting order, the order passed by the full bench of SAT, also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh to be paid by Sebi to the appellant within a week for making the appellant "run around on account of apathy on part of WTM (Whole Time Member) of Sebi".

It also asked Sebi to ensure that other WTM passes an order within two weeks after giving an opportunity of hearing to the appellant, Adventz Finance Pvt Ltd, which had approached SAT against Sebi.

"Since we are distressed with the manner in which the WTM of Sebi has discharged his quasi judicial duties which is highly detrimental to the interests of the securities market, we direct the registry to forward a copy of this order to the Finance Minister and also to the Chairman of Sebi for information," said the order signed by SAT Presiding Officer J P Devadhar and Members Jog Singh and C K G Nair. Stating that the latest appeal by Adventz "reveals the shoddy manner in which the directions of this Tribunal are dealt with by the WTM of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)", SAT recalled it had disposed of two earlier appeals in the case on May 6 "by recording the statement made by counsel of Sebi that the representations made by the appellants therein would be heard and disposed of within seven weeks from that day". Sources said Sebi is planning to file an appeal with SAT seeking a review of the order. Although Sebis WTM gave opportunity of hearing to the appellant on June 21, however, no order was passed till June 24, the date on which seven weeks from May 6 expired. Besides, the member did not bother to seek extension of time from this Tribunal for passing the order. It is only when the present appeal was mentioned on July 7, seeking urgent circulation, counsel for Sebi orally applied for extension of time to pass an order. However, the oral application was rejected and directed that the appeal be placed for admission on July 12, 2016.

"On July 13, 2016 when the appeal was taken up for hearing, senior counsel for Sebi fairly stated that there is no order passed by the WTM and submitted that the letter dated July 8 was issued by the Chief General Manager, on the basis of the endorsement made by the WTM on the office note put up by a junior officer (AM) of Sebi on June 23," SAT said while adjourning the matter to July 15.

Today, when the appeal was taken up for hearing, counsel for Sebi fairly stated that there is no order passed by the WTM of Sebi.

"In these circumstances, it is apparent that the WTM of Sebi sought to represent that he has already passed an order, when in fact there was no order passed by the WTM of Sebi," it added. PTI SP RAM BJ MR

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But the tribe has a long way to go
By PTI: London, Jul 16 (PTI) In a first, scientists have made an object disappear by using a composite material that can enhance an objects surface properties, an advance that may lead to practical invisibility cloaks.

Researchers from at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, showed for the first time a practical cloaking device that allows curved surfaces to appear flat to electromagnetic waves.

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"The design is based upon transformation optics, a concept behind the idea of the invisibility cloak," said Yang Hao from QMUL.

"Previous research has shown this technique working at one frequency. However, we can demonstrate that it works at a greater range of frequencies making it more useful for other engineering applications, such as nano-antennas and the aerospace industry," Hao said.

The researchers coated a curved surface with a nanocomposite medium, which has seven distinct layers (called graded index nanocomposite) where the electric property of each layer varies depending on the position.

The effect is to cloak the object: such a structure can hide an object that would ordinarily have caused the wave to be scattered.

The underlying design approach has much wider applications, ranging from microwave to optics for the control of any kind of electromagnetic surface waves.

"The study and manipulation of surface waves is the key to develop technological and industrial solutions in the design of real-life platforms, for different application fields," said Luigi La Spada from QMUL.

"We demonstrated a practical possibility to use nanocomposites to control surface wave propagation through advanced additive manufacturing," said La Spada.

"Perhaps most importantly, the approach used can be applied to other physical phenomena that are described by wave equations, such as acoustics," he added.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. PTI MHN KUN

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the states to exchange their views on the Aadhar, education and internal security in a free and frank manner and forge consensus on these vital issues at the eleventh Inter State Council Meeting.

Delivering the opening address at the meeting of the ISC that is being held after a ten year gap, the prime minister said consensus on these issues will not only enable them to better tackle them, and strengthen the spirit of cooperative federalism and Centre-State relations, but also secure a better future for the citizens.

The prime minister urged the states to find solutions to the challenges confronting the internal security of India, and called for mutual cooperation.

 The internal security of the country cannot be strengthened until we focus on intelligence sharing, ensure greater coordination among agencies, and equip our police with modern approach and technology, he said, adding that while we have come a long way, we need to continuously increase our efficiency and capacity. We must constantly remain alert and updated, Modi said.

The prime minister began by evoking former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and quoted what he had said at this very formum 16 years ago.

In a democracy as big and diverse as ours, debate, deliberation and discussion help evolve policy that relates to the ground reality. More importantly, they enable the effective implementation of such policies.

The Inter-State Council is an inter-governmental forum that can be used for evolving policy as well as ensuring its implementation. I, therefore, urge the states to increasingly use this forum as an effective instrument to strengthen our democracy, our society and our polity, said the prime minister.

The chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka were not seen as the prime minister was speaking.

Modi, who had given the slogan of PM+CMs = Team India, said with the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the states' share in central taxes has increased from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies will receive 2.87 lakh crore rupees during the period of the 14th Finance Commission.

The rights of states have been kept in mind even in revenue received from the auction of natural resources; auctions of coal blocks will yield 3.35 lakh crore rupees to states in the years to come. Auctions of other mines will yield an additional 18,000 crore rupees to states. Similarly, through amendments to CAMPA Act, we are attempting to free up about 40,000 crore rupees lying idle in banks, for disbursal to states, the prime minister elaborated.

The union government, he said, would share with states, the amount that is being saved as a result of transparency being introduced into the systembe it kerosene or LPG.
European leaders greeted the defeat of Turkey's coup on Saturday with relief as it averts chaos and keeps alive a deal that has helped to stem the migration crisis threatening the continent.

But while some hope a reminder of resistance to his personal grip on power may prompt President Tayyip Erdogan to heed European pleas for him to respect civil rights, many fear he is far more likely to step up his crackdown on opponents and so complicate European Union efforts to maintain the bargain.

The coming weeks, starting when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday, will be crucial to the fate of a plan at the heart of the migrant deal: to have sceptical EU lawmakers approve after the summer an end to visa requirements for Turks.

"Erdogan will be judged on his response," one EU official involved in the plan said, citing arrests of judges as an early sign that justified "deep concern that this will lead to a new trampling on rights of freedom of expression and demonstration".

Senior members of the European Parliament, where anger at the prickly Turkish leader's treatment of elected opponents could stymie the EU deal to reward Turkey for stopping refugees, were pessimistic about the outlook for Turkish democracy.

"Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," foreign affairs committee chair Elmar Brok, an ally of the Turkey deal's architect German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Die Welt daily.

Turkish officials have warned that a collapse of the migrant deal could see Ankara allow a resumption of traffic that last year saw a million people, many refugees from Syria and Iraq, cross to Greek islands and trek over open borders to Germany.That shook Europeans' support for the EU and, some argue, fuelled last month's devastating British vote to leave the bloc.

Nuanced support'Not about Erdogan'

Official statements from the EU stressed backing for a democracy that many acknowledge Erdogan has himself abused.

"The EU fully supports the democratically elected government," an early overnight statement read, taking care to add it also backed "the institutions of the country and the rule of law"a nuanced distinction from Erdogan's personal power.

With the plot seemingly already undone, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini followed up to urge "a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order with its checks and balances and... fundamental freedoms". It seemed hardly a call to defeated soldiers dead or in jail, but rather to the victor.

"This is not about supporting Erdogan or not, it is about supporting the rule of law and democracy," a second senior EU official involved in relations with Ankara told Reuters.

EU officials have reminded Turkish counterparts that their past cooperation, in engaging Ankara in a decade of halting reforms to enhance itsdistantprospects of joining the bloc, has helped Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted party to curb the historic threat to civilian rule from Turkey's armed forces.

Now, closer ties with the economic bloc are at stake, the second official said, insisting Europe can use that "leverage", despite criticism from human rights groups that Merkel's deal with Erdogan to hold back migrants put Europe at his mercy.

"This is not a blank cheque for Erdogan," he said of backing against the coup. "He has to be extremely careful not to overshoot the reaction."

Hope for change?Erdogan is not Putin

Many EU diplomats argue that Turkey, faced with conflict across its borders in Iraq and Syria that has fuelled internal strife with its Kurdish minority, and at odds with Russia and most Middle East powers, cannot afford to alienate Europeans.

And some dared to voice hope on Saturday that the coup bid might make Erdogan more willing to reach beyond his own voters:"Erdogan is not Putinhe is not that strong. We have to keep him on the democratic path," a third EU official said.

Expressing a hope that Europeans might now warm to Erdogan again as a lesser of two evils, less unappealing than chaos, or army rule, a fourth EU official referred to the president's call to unarmed supporters to face down the army: "If you win by saying democracy is stronger than tanks," he said, "then the 'democratically elected government' should act for democracy."

A fifth EU official was pessimistic, however: "It would be nice if Erdogan saw this as a wake-up call" to respect civil rights, he said, but a crackdown seemed "almost inevitable".

Senior diplomats dismissed suggestions, however, that the EU had hesitated to condemn the plotters in the early hours in the hope of change. However irksome many find Erdogan, they said, statements against the putsch came as quickly as possible.

"Clearly Europe would have more reasons to worry if the coup had prevailed," one EU official said.

Cards to play'Turkey benefits'

Some fear Erdogan can use his control of the migration route to Europe to ignore calls for restraint in penalising opponents, but others argue that Europe has cards to play against him.

They even play down the importance of Turkish cooperation in the migrant crisis, citing data showing that closing down routes from Greece through the Balkans was at least as big a factor in deterring all but a few from crossing to Europe since March.

Referring to Ankara's hopes of aid for 2.7 million Syrians it is housing, and for visa liberalisation eagerly anticipated by many Turks, a senior European government official said: "The deal is in Turkey's interests, so why should they change it?"

As big a hurdle could be the European Parliament, where some had threatened to block the visa bill if Turkey jails any of dozens of Kurdish lawmakers who were stripped of their immunity from prosecution by a pro-Erdogan majority two months ago.

German leftist Martina Michels said it was Europe's failure to stand up to the Turkish president that had destabilised Turkey. Now, she said: "An uncritical courting of Erdogan as a partner in the wrong solution to the refugee issue must end."
Described by his neighbors as a handsome but "frightening" man, Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, who killed at least 84 people in the French city of Nice by driving his truck into a crowd, had run-ins with the law but was not on militant watch lists.

Bouhlel plowed a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the French Riviera late on Thursday, in what President Francois Hollande called a terrorist act by an enemy determined to strike all nations that share France's values.

While a history of threats, violence and theft had brought him to the attention of police, Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Nice resident born in Tunisia, was not French intelligence services' list of suspected militants.

He was convicted for the first time in March this year, for road rage, French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said.

"There was an altercation between him and another driver and he hurled a wooden pallet at the man," Urvoas told reporters.

As it was his first conviction, Bouhlel was given a six-month suspended sentence and had to contact police once a week, which he did, Urvoas added.

He had three children but lived separately from his wife who was taken into police custody on Friday, prosecutor Francois Molins said.

A former neighbor in Bouhlel's hometown of Msaken, about 120 km (75 miles) south of Tunis, said that he had left for France in 2005, after getting married, and had worked as a driver there.

Tunisian security sources said that Bouhlel had last visited Msaken four years ago. They also said they were not aware of Bouhlel holding radical or Islamist views, saying he had a French residence permit for the past 10 years without obtaining French nationality.

Neighbors in the residential neighborhood in northern Nice where Bouhlel lived said he had a tense personality and did not mingle with others.

"I would say he was someone who was pleasing to women," said neighbor Hanan, standing in the lobby of the apartment building where Bouhlel lived.

"But he was frightening. He didn't have a frightening face, but ... a look. He would stare at the children a lot," he added.

His home town Msaken is about 10 km (six miles) outside the coastal city of Sousse, where a gunman killed 38 people, mostly British holidaymakers, on a beach a year ago.

Many residents of Msaken have migrated to Nice, where there is a large Tunisian community.

Relatives and neighbors in Msaken said Bouhlel was sporty and had shown no sign of being radicalized, including when he last returned for the wedding of a sister four years ago.

A nephew of Bouhlel, Ibrahim, said his uncle had called three days ago saying he was preparing a trip back for a family party.

Bouhlel's brother, Jabeur, said he still doubted whether his sibling was the attacker.

"Why would my brother do something like this?" he said, adding: "We've been calling him since yesterday evening but he's not responding."
Pakistan's social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was allegedly murdered by her brother in a suspected case of 'honour killing.'

Baloch was popular for posting bold pictures, videos and statements on social media. According to reports, her brother had threatened her over her Facebook posts, videos.

Baloch's brother has been identified as Wasim, 30-year-old. However, his whereabouts since the death of Baloch remains unknown.

While initial media reports claimed that Baloch was shot dead, the police have revealed that she was "strangled to death" at her Multan residence. She had gone to her hometown ( Multan) to celebrate Eid.

A few weeks ago, Baloch had written to government authorities seeking protection as she feared for her life. She claimed that she constantly faced threats and abuse due to her activities on social media, where she had acquired thousands of followers by posting pictures and videos.

Three weeks ago, Qandeel had written to the interior minister, the director general of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and the senior superintendent of Islamabad asking them to provide security to her and has requested action against those who made her identification documents public via social media, Dawn reported.

She shot to fame after her video rant on the Pakistans conservative mindset, which do not allow young people to live their lives on the their own terms, went viral. Her latest music video, which was released earlier this month, also touted to be against the conservative standards of Pakistan.

Baloch is the latest victim of the 'honour killing', which is on the rise of late in Pakistan.
Quite interestingly, the Islamic Research Foundation's HQ stands on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Road in south Mumbai's Dongri area. The Iron Man is credited for uniting India, and IRF founder Zakir Naik is being accused of being divisive. The black and white signboard of IRF belies the storm that has been building up ever since two Dhaka terror attack operatives reportedly declared ideological allegiance to Naik.

Police patrol cars are stationed at three-storey IRF HQshutters are downat 195/213 SVP Road, and at 60 Tandel Street, office of the IRF women's wing. The policemen keep a watchful eye as we approach. There's no one inside, said one of them.

The winding SVP Road is crammed with bakeries, hotels and travel agencies. The IRF HQ is sandwiched between Lucky Cybercafe and Lubbaik, a travel agency which offers Hajj, Umrah and Ziyarat services. Both Lucky and Lubbaik attract as many footfalls as the IRF does, said a local resident. Actually, Dongri seems like an unlikely place to headquarter an organisation with worldwide links.

I know about Zakir Naik, but I do not know him personally, said the owner of the nearby studio. He usually offers namaz at the Noor Masjid [tucked away in a lane opposite the IRF HQ] and then goes to IRF.

When the storm broke, Naik was in Saudi Arabia. It was said that he would return on July 11, but the return was cancelled. Then, there was talk of a news briefing via Skype. That, too, did not happen. Then, Naik's office announced that he was going on an Africa lecture tour. Critics accused him of evading Indian authorities. But, he is doing nothing of that sort, said Mubin Solkar, Naik's lawyer for over a decade.

Naik is an NRI, and there is hardly any need for him to be back in India, said Solkar. He will continue his trip across the world this year. He is only expected in India next year. And, he does not need to be here since there is no formal complaint against him. No agency has summoned him or lodged an FIR. He can, of course, come down on his own to clear the air, following adverse reporting by the media.

Naik has fans and critics in equal measure. His Facebook page has 1.43 crore likes. He joined Twitter on July 8, and has attracted 8,229 followers. On his YouTube channel, the video delinking him from the Dhaka attacks racked up 1.23 lakh views in five days.

The responsibility for the Dhaka attack was claimed by Islamic State. And, Naik had once said, They are not Islamic State. In fact, they are Anti-Islamic State. Islam does not approve killing of even one innocent human being. In a YouTube video Naik urges Muslims to denounce IS violence. But, then why the Dhaka connection? Naik's take on YouTube was this: He may have been my fan, but to say that I inspired him to kill innocent human beings is devilish.

The base: Police on guard at the IRF office in Dongri, Mumbai | Janak Bhatt

Naik grew up in Mumbai's Mazgaon area. People remember him as a bright, shy kid with a stammer and an elephantine memory. He studied at St Peter's School on Shivdas Champsi Road, and then joined the science stream at Kishinchand Chellaram College, Churchgate.

The Naiks are Konkani Muslims with roots in Ratnagiri district. Zakir Naik wanted to be a doctor like his father and brother. His father, Dr Abdul Karim Naik, is a psychiatrist. So, he joined Topiwala National Medical College and graduated. He decided not to practise medicine after being inspired by Ahmed Deedat, a South African Islamic preacher. Naik met Deedat in 1987, when he came to India to lecture.

From 1985 to 1990, Naik worked with the Rahmani Foundation, which functioned from the Dongri office of Naqshe Kokan, an Urdu publication. In 1991, Naik set up IRF and grew in popularity. In 1994, Deedat himself called Naik 'Deedat Plus'.

His critics say his interpretation of Islam is against a plural society. Feroze Mithiborwala, president of Bharat Bachao Andolan, told THE WEEK: Naik is rooted in the extreme Salafi-Wahhabi thread in Islam. Naik ignores the basic tenets of Islam as a religion of compassion and peace, and promotes bigotry and divisive orthodoxy. His is a petro-dollar Islam funded by the Saudi-Qatari lobby. Over the years, Naik has modelled himself on the lines of Christian televangelists. No wonder that his preachings and beliefs have caught the attention of security agencies.

And, he has the rare critic from inside IRF, too. Saleem Yusuf, who had worked with him for four years, said, His views are far divorced from that of the Prophet. He is mostly into deceiving gullible young Muslim minds for petty gains. Yusuf used to manage IRF's Bhiwandi chapter.

K.P. Raghuvanshi

Javed Azim, Naik's friend and a civil engineer, said the televangelist was misunderstood. He is an intellectual deeply grounded in comparative religion, said Azim. The recent controversy around him could be the handiwork of vested interests. He is often misunderstood, and his teachings distorted intentionally.

2006 could be called a watershed year for Naik. He launched Peace TV in January 2006, with the tagline 'The Solution for Humanity'. The 24/7 channel is broadcast from Dubai, and has two sister channelsPeace TV Urdu and Peace TV Bangla.

And, it was in 2006 that law-enforcement agencies became concerned about Naik and IRF. He was on a lecture tour to Kashmir, accompanied by IRF staff. One staffer received a phone call from a suspected terrorist, who was being watched by the Intelligence Bureau.

In the same year, IRF librarian Feroze Deshmukh was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in the Aurangabad arms haul case. As Deshmukh was working with IRF, it was natural for us to call Naik, said K.P. Raghuvanshi, then ATS chief. We took his statement. We did not question him after that. Raghuvanshi remembers Naik as being soft-spoken, calm and polite.

Deshmukh was arrested because the suspectsRahil Shaikh and Sayed Zabiuddin Ansariwere allegedly in touch with him. The suspects were reported to have had links with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. In 2008, during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, the police noted that a handler in touch with the suicide squad had a Mumbai accent. It was suspected that he was Ansari aka Abu Jundal. In June 2012, he was deported from Saudi Arabia and arrested at New Delhi airport. Deshmukh was later discharged by a special court.

In 2008, Dr Satypal Singhformerly a Maharashtra cadre IPS officer who is now MP from Baghpat, Uttar Pradeshprepared a dossier on Naik and forwarded it to the Union government. Singh had prepared the dossier after 12 youth converted to Islam at a two-day IRF event in Pune. Naik was reportedly present during the conversion.

Singh said: I was commissioner of police in Pune when this programme was held. The youth who converted were from Hindu and Jain communities. IRF is registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, and they cannot do such activity. So, we sent an intelligence report to state and Central governments. But, nothing happened.

Satyapal Singh

Naik also had a run-in with Muslim clerics when his comments angered Shia and Sunni communities in 2009. The clerics asked Mumbai Police to take strict action against Naik, who later apologised.

In December 2011, Naik was denied permission to conduct his annual Peace Conference at Mumbai's Somaiya Ground, after he allegedly made an inflammatory statement during Ganesh Chaturthi.

So, Naik renamed the event as International Islamic Conference. The venue was to be Mumbra, in neighbouring Thane district. But, a delegation of elders from the Muslim community filed a complaint with the police saying the event would upset communal harmony. Raghuvanshi, then Thane police commissioner, withdrew permission. In 2013, a case was registered against Naik in Kurla police station for insulting sentiments of the Hindu community.

As Naiks popularity grew, state and Central intelligence agencies kept tracking him. We often attended his meetings, said a former intelligence officer from Maharashtra Police. I have even taken trainee intelligence officers to his lectures on a few occasions. IRF volunteers were always smiling and well-behaved. These gatherings were open for all. They were very courteous, especially with people from other faiths.

Social commentator Javed Anand said Naik was too one-sided in his takes on Islam. His observation that Islam is the only true religion is grossly off the mark, Anand said. And, his is no scholarly take on the religion. Rather, his brand of preaching and articulation is exclusivist and in tune with the radical Salafist way. He has, since 1993-94, been marketing a carefully selected strand of Islam to further his own objectives. Nonetheless, IRF is flush with funds and it is not difficult for one to get their sources.

According to a senior police officer, IRF began receiving funds from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates more than a decade ago. He came on the radar of financial and intelligence agencies because of his involvement in conversion activity in late 1990s, said another officer. Naik's close ties with the Saudi royals had always been an issue of interest to the internal security establishment. In 2015, after Naik was awarded the King Faisal International Prize, an existing dossier on him was reviewed.

Not much is known about IRF. People who have worked with Naik told THE WEEK that IRF had 70 to 100 staffers and volunteers. IRF began by circulating free booklets on the various facets of Islam, said a volunteer. IRF circulated translations of the Koran in Marathi, English, Hindi and Urdu. It also distributed cassettes of Naik's speeches to willing Muslims. The books were printed by Darussalam Publishers, based in Riyadh.

Arif Kapadia, who grew up listening to Naik's preaching, is disenchanted now. I understood that Naik never really condemned the brand of Islam promoted by Osama bin Laden, Kapadia said. And, he promoted sectarian divisions and thoughts inside Islam. I found his intellectual offerings regressive.

Dr A.R. Anjaria, scholar and community leader, said Muslims should not support Naik just because he is a Muslim. Similarly, Hindus should not oppose him just because he is a Muslim, said Anjaria. We must see if his speeches are violating the law of the land. At the same time, it does not show IRF in good light when it is listed on Jamat-ud-Dawa's website.

Meanwhile, political parties have come out in Naik's support. Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit president Abu Azmi said, Naik has been a preacher for around 25 years now. If he has been inspiring terrorists, why was no action taken against him for so long? There should be an inquiry by a retired Supreme Court judge. But, this media trial should stop. Lok Sabha member E.T. Mohammed Basheer of the Indian Union Muslim League said Naik was being harassed for no valid reason.

On his part, Naik is sure that there is nothing to link him to terrorists or terror plots. In a statement from Saudi Arabia, he said, "So far, not a single official Indian government agency has contacted me for any clarification regarding this issue. It would be my pleasure to cooperate with any official Indian government investigation agency.
Praksah Javdekar, Anant Kumar, SS Ahluwalia and Ravishankar Prasad are now part of this committee.

By India Today Web Desk: Smriti Irani, DV Sadananda Gowda and Rajiv Pratap Rudy are no longer part of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA).

After reshuffling of his Cabinet of ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now given a new look to the key decision making group in his government.

Praksah Javdekar, Anant Kumar, SS Ahluwalia and Ravishankar Prasad are now part of this committee.

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Gowda was a part of the committees of parliamentary affairs and economic affairs when he was the law minister. He is on none now, after being shifted to the ministry of skill development.

Similarly, Smriti Irani is no longer in the CCPA. Smriti was moved from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to the Ministry of Textiles in the July 6 reshuffle of the Union Cabinet.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy is now only in charge of skill development ministry. Earlier, he was MoS for Parliamentary Affairs before the recent reshuffle. Rudy has made way for his successor SS Ahulwalia as a special invitee to the committee.

ALSO READ:

Lalu Prasad praises Smriti Irani, calls her a gentle lady

Rajiv Pratap Rudy: Skill was never the focus for past 67 years



Modi's massive Cabinet rejig: Smriti's loss is Javadekar's gainTelangana lawyers accuse Sadananda Gowda of cheating, court arrest as their agitation snowballs into crisis

--- ENDS ---
President Barack Obama is urging all parties in Turkey to support the democratically-elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hes urging them to show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed amid a military takeover of the key NATO ally.

The White House says Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry consulted by phone Friday night after the stunning turn of events.

Kerry, who was traveling in Moscow, underscored that the State Department will focus on keeping U.S. citizens in Turkey safe and secure.

(AP)
World leaders expressed support for Turkey and its democratic institutions on Saturday after the government quashed an attempted military coup.

BRITAIN

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkeys democratic elected government and institutions in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to stay indoors, avoid public places, especially demonstrations, and remain vigilant.

British Airways says it is canceling all flights to and from Turkey Saturday, but budget airline easyJet says it plans to runs its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns. The airline says the schedule will be kept under continuous review.

NATO

NATOs chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are safe and secure following the attempted coup.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Twitter post that he had spoken to NATOs supreme commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scapparrotti, who confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure.

The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected gov of Turkey.

SPAIN

Spains acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo condemned the attempted coup, telling Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He says without a doubt we support respecting the constitution and democratically elected institutions, and we condemn all coups without reservation.

Garcia Margallo spoke by telephone from Mongolia, where he is attending the ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting.

ITALY

Italys foreign minister says his Turkish counterpart has defined the coup attempt as terroristic.

Paolo Gentiloni, in a phone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, expressed satisfaction that popular mobilization and defense of the institutions prevailed in Turkey, according to a statement from the Italian Foreign Ministry.

The statement said Cavusoglu, who was speaking from the Turkish capital, Ankara, confirmed the failure of the attempt that he termed terroristic.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

The Council of Europe is calling for Turkeys public institutions to resume their normal functions and is offering its help in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Marina Kaljurand condemned the coup attempt and expressed her support for the democratically elected authorities.

I call for the resumption of the normal functioning of public institutions and reaffirm the Council of Europes availability to continue to assist Turkey on the basis of the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, she said in a statement.

JAPAN

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said democratic institutions should be respected in Turkey.

We strongly hope that the situation will return to normal and that order and peace will be restored as soon as possible, he said in a statement.

SYRIAN OPPOSITION

The exiled Syrian opposition congratulated the Turkish people for halting the attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said Turkey has protected its democratic institutions in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will.

It says the Turkish people value democracy and will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule.

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

In the early hours of the attempted coup, celebratory gunfire broke out across Damascus. The government and its supporters view the rebels as terrorists and consider Turkey to be one of their chief sponsors.

HAMAS

The Islamic militant group Hamas has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for quashing a vicious plot to overthrow him.

The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas says it remembers Turkeys wise leadership in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause and working to lift the blockade on Gaza, the coastal territory ruled by the group.

Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the failure of the coup, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogans image.

Turkey recently restored ties with Israel after a six-year lull following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.

QATAR

The Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogans government, was quick to condemn the military coup attempt.

It called the attempted coup a violation of the constitutional legitimacy in Turkey and said it supports all legal measures the government takes to maintain security and stability.

The official Qatar News Agency said the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatars support.

Qatar and Turkey have grown increasingly close in recent years, and share similar stances on their support for Syrian rebel groups and the Muslim Brotherhood. The two countries agreed last year to establish a Turkish military base in Qatar.

IRAN

Iran said the attempted military coup in Turkey was doomed to fail.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the brave defense by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government.

He said the events in neighboring Turkey prove that coup detat has no place and is doomed to fail in our region.

PAKISTAN

An aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attempted coup in a statement and said Pakistan hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey.

Tariq Fatimi also said he had contacted Turkeys foreign minister to express solidarity with Turkeys government and democratic institutions.

Pakistans main political parties have also praised the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.

Sharif was himself overthrown in a 1999 coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan until 2008.

AFGHANISTAN

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed support for Turkeys elected government, saying in a statement that democratic elections are the most effective means for peaceful transfer of power.

Militaristic options will only undermine democratic institutions, stability and development in the country, the statement from Ghanis office said.

INDIA

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India is closely following the developments in Turkey.

India calls upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot, and avoid bloodshed, she said on Twitter.

SUDAN

Sudanese President Omar Bashir condemned the attempted coup in Turkey and expressed support for the government.

Bashir, who himself came to power in a 1989 military coup, said in a statement that the Sudanese people and government stand alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his government and the people of Turkey.

Sudans Foreign Ministry congratulated Turkey, its president, government and people for the decisive victory of the national will.

HUNGARY

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary condemns the attempted coup in the firmest way.

Based on the number of deaths and the way it was carried out, this attempted coup can be also called an act of terror, he said.

He added that Hungary is in solidarity with the Turkish government chosen in democratic elections and with the Turkish president.

AZERBAIJAN

The president of Turkeys neighbor Azerbaijan condemned the attempted coup.

President Ilham Aliev was concerned about developments in Turkey and welcomed measures taken to prevent the attempt at a coup and to stabilize the situation, spokesman Ali Hasanov said.

Azerbaijan is a Turkic nation and its late president Geidar Aliev once described their relations as one nation, two states  a phrase later echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan says the coup attempt has caused serious anxiety.

The Foreign Ministry said President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov expressed support for the Turkish people and government and also firm confidence in stabilizing the situation in Turkey.

Turkmenistan is ethnically Turkic but does not share a border with Turkey.

(AP)
"I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly," Fethullah Gulen said.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the US state of Pennsylvania and who once was an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned the ateempted military coup attempt and denied any involvement in it.

"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," he said in an emailed statement. "The government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force."

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"I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly," he added.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Erdogan, who has returned to Istanbul and declared he was in control of the government, has blamed the coup attempt on the followers of Gulen.

Gulen has for years lived as a recluse at the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Centre, a compound in Saylorsburg, in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.

His group, Alliance for Shared Values, describes itself as "an umbrella non-profit organisation serving as a voice for civic, culture and service organisations" across the country.

His movement promotes a version of Islam that embraces science, education and interfaith dialogue, which has earned him millions of followers but also drawn the suspicion of many in Turkey's establishment, writes The New York Times.

His movement has been feared by some for its ability to mobilise considerable resources and for its influence among decision-makers.

Erdogan, speaking at Istanbul Ataturk Airport on early Saturday, said that a coup attempt by members of the armed forces loyal to his rival Gulen, amounted to "treason".

"A minority within the armed forces has unfortunately been unable to stomach Turkey's unity," Erdogan said, adding that individuals loyal to Gulen had "penetrated the armed forces and the police, among other government agencies, over the past 40 years."

"What is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a treason," Erdogan said, adding "They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey."

Also read:

Explosions, gunfire, air battle: All you need to know about Turkey military coup attempt

Who is Fethullah Gulen, the cleric being blamed for Turkey coup attempt

--- ENDS ---
Strikes, bad weather and security alerts can all disrupt your travel plans but if something goes wrong with your journey you can claim back compensation.

Whether it's on a train, plane or boat, follow The Mail on Sundays in-depth guide to find out how much you're entitled to and how to claim your money back.

Off the rails: Commuters on Southern trains protest at Victoria last week

Trains

Thousands of rail passengers travelling on Southern trains continue to face serious disruption after management stripped back the timetable following strike action at the company.

Workers have walked out over their employers plans to switch to driver-only trains and this  along with high staff sickness absence  has led to widespread train cancellations.

Last week, hundreds of passengers gathered at Victoria Station in London to protest against the timetable changes while London Major Sadiq Khan branded the train operator an embarrassment to our city.

Painful as it is to suffer such delays, rail passengers hit by disruptions have some reason to cheer  so long as they can get to grips with claiming compensation.

More than 25 million a year is handed out to passengers whose trains are delayed, according to figures from the Department for Transport.

I GOT 400 - FIVE YEARS AFTER OUR FLIGHT WAS HELD UP Emma Joyce, 36, was finally awarded around 400 compensation after her family faced a flight delay of more than 11 hours on their return from Seville, Spain in June 2011. The flight with Ryanair was delayed owing to a technical fault. Emma says: It was a nightmare. I was travelling with my husband and a tired nine-month-old baby, and we were given only a measly food voucher worth a few euros. We were due to fly in the morning, but left late at night. We sat in a crowded airport all day, only getting home just before midnight. Emma, a marketing consultant from Wolverhampton, sent several letters to Ryanair by recorded delivery demanding compensation, but got nowhere. She says: I was told I couldnt claim, and didnt even get an apology. I was furious, but several years later I found out I could get help from lawyers to get the money I was owed. She approached solicitor Bott & Co in March this year. She says: It dealt with the claim on my behalf, and soon I got a cheque in the post. I felt strongly that Ryanair was hoping Id go away  but I wasnt going to let them get away with treating us like they did.

Patience: Emma Joyce, with son Finlay, five, would not give up

Bank holidays account for a hefty chunk of payouts, but only 20 per cent of passengers claim what they are entitled to for delays and cancellations.

Consumer group Which? has blasted rail companies for failing to make clear to passengers their compensation rights.

Alex Neill, policy director at the organisation, says: Train companies need to do more to ensure people are aware of their entitlement and how they can claim.

Rules vary widely among train companies, but typically, if you arrive at your destination station more than 30 minutes late  an hour for Eurostar bookings  you can make a claim.

Like Eurostar, a few rail companies, such as Grand Central and Northern, compensate only for longer delays of 60 minutes or more. Check the companys passenger charter online for its specific rules.

For delays of between 30 minutes and an hour expect a 50 per cent refund on a single ticket, or 25 per cent on a return.

For longer delays of up to two hours you typically get a full refund on a single ticket, or 50 per cent on a return.

If you are delayed for more than two hours, expect a full refund on a return too.

For season tickets and weekly tickets, compensation is calculated as a proportion of the daily cost of the price of the ticket.

Rules vary but typically, if you arrive more than 30 minutes late  an hour for Eurostar  you can make a claim

If you have made a seat reservation and this cannot be honoured, you are entitled to a full refund of the fare and any reservation fee.

You can also claim a full refund if your train is cancelled and you do not use your ticket for a later train.

Remember that the train companys policy on delay compensation is the minimum offered. If a delay or cancellation seriously affects you, ask for more and state your reasons why.

To ensure you can get compensation quickly, keep hold of your travel ticket and make a note of the journey details and delay. Then get a delay repay form either online or at a ticket office.

About 90 per cent of train companies are signed up to this compensation scheme. Other companies have their own arrangements, detailed on their websites. In this case, you will need to write to the company concerned to seek compensation.

Delayed again? Only 20 per cent of passengers claim what they are entitled to for delays and cancellations

Delay repay forms must be completed within 28 days of the journey. You will need to submit the ticket with the form, either by post or by scanning it and sending it online. If you are seeking a refund for a cancelled train, you should be able to obtain this at the station ticket office.

If you no longer have the ticket, try using proof of purchase, such as a bank statement or receipt. Some train operators may accept this as proof of your claim, although they do not have to.

You should be able to claim either money or vouchers. The Consumer Rights Act forces retailers to pay compensation in the form a ticket was bought in. This did not originally apply to rail companies, but they will now start to be covered by these rules from October.

Many rail companies offer cash compensation if you ask. Or you might be able to exchange vouchers for cash.

Some make it simpler to claim than others. Virgin Trains West Coast passengers receive money directly on to their cards within three days if their journey is delayed by at least 30 minutes.

This applies only to passengers who buy tickets in advance through the website or app. Great Western has different compensation schemes depending on the route. Passengers on its London to Thames Valley service receive compensation for delays of 30 minutes or more. On other routes payouts are only given for delays of 60 minutes or more.

Take an unresolved dispute to the watchdog. This will either be Transport Focus (transportfocus.org.uk) for routes outside London, or London TravelWatch (londontravelwatch.org.uk) for services in the capital.

Transport Focus says: We ask that people check what the operators own response times to complaints are and then wait for that amount of time before chasing and then escalating to us.

On the right track: Rebecca Field says she still tries to claim even if the delay is less than 30 minutes

Rebecca Field, from Sheffield, has claimed hundreds of pounds in compensation for delayed trains over the past year. She says: I wish Id known about the scheme before  but I wasnt aware it was possible to get money back.

The 24-year-old project assistant in the post industry says she still tries to claim even if the delay is less than 30 minutes. Rebecca says: It takes two trains to get to my parents from where I live and missing a connection means I have up to an hours wait on a platform in the cold  so Ill still put in a claim regardless.

Rebecca, who also runs cleaning business Mopology, typically takes a TransPennine followed by a Northern Rail service to get to her parents home near Chester. She says: Im not always successful, but I quite often get a money off voucher for my next journey.

She adds: Some of the rail company websites are an absolute maze. But tweeting the company usually gets them to help. Sometimes I only get a partial refund, but its my opinion that I should get a full refund  particularly when it causes inconvenience.

Ive had delays that have made me late for work, interviews, gigs and appointments  everything, really  and when a replacement train does come along its often so jammed you have to sit on the floor for hours. It should be made more obvious how you go about claiming the compensation due.

Claims can be made for flight delays of at least three hours and you have six years to demand redress

Planes

Airline passengers whose flight is heavily delayed or cancelled have the right to claim compensation under European law.

You are able to claim compensation of up to 600 per passenger (500) under EU law, depending on the flight distance and length. Claims can be made for delays of at least three hours and you have six years to demand redress.

Airlines can only refuse to pay out if the delay was for reasons out of their control, classed as extraordinary circumstances. For example, in the case of strikes or bad weather you cannot make a claim. But they cannot argue that a technical fault falls under extraordinary circumstances.

You can claim up to a maximum of 250, or about 212, for a three-hour delay on flights up to 1,500km departing from an EU airport. This covers, for example, a trip from London to Majorca. The sum rises to a maximum of 600, or about 500, for a delay of more than four hours on flights over 3,500km.

THE KEY STEPS TO MAKE YOUR CLAIM SUCCEED Keep hold of your tickets and make a note of the journey details and the length of the delay. You must be delayed by at least 30 minutes to your destination, or 60 minutes under some train companies rules.

Check the train operators website to find out how much you can get back under its policy.

Request a claim form from the station, the train operators website or over the phone.

Post your tickets with the form or scan them if applying online.

Arrange a refund through the website you bought a ticket from, such as redspottedhanky or thetrainline.

Apply within the time limit specified, typically 28 days  but it might be less. You will need to allow a further 28 days for the processing of the claim.

Complain if your claim is rejected but you think you are entitled to compensation. There is a template letter at resolver.co.uk.

Escalate your complaint if you are still rejected by going to Transport Focus or London TravelWatch.

Whether your ticket cost 100 or 4,000, the compensation remains the same. So it is possible you could claim more or less than the cost of the flight itself.

If you are stranded at the airport, you are entitled to subsistence costs on delays  typically from two hours. You should be provided with food, drink and accommodation if you fall victim to an overnight delay.

Compensation for flight delays falls under a piece of European law called EC Regulation 261/2004.

Whether this consumer law changes post-Brexit depends on negotiations over the coming years. But it should still apply to flights departing from other EU airports when Britain leaves the EU. It is worth making your claim as soon as possible after the event to ensure the greatest chance of a payout.

You can claim up to a maximum of 250, or about 212, for a three-hour delay on flights up to 1,500km departing from an EU airport

In terms of claiming, you must find out what caused the delay  to check you are entitled to compensation. Write to the airlines customer services department, enclosing flight details, length of delay and any costs incurred as a result.

Regulator the Civil Aviation Authority has information on how to make a claim at caa.co.uk. Many airlines, such as British Airways, have online claim forms. For template claim letters, visit the Resolver website.

Compensation payments must be made by cheque or bank transfer. You do not have to accept vouchers for future travel if you are offered them. Be warned that airlines are notorious for wriggling out of paying compensation for flight delays. Typically, they claim extraordinary circumstances outside their control, meaning they do not have to pay out.

If your claim is rejected and your flight was from the UK, take your case to the Civil Aviation Authority. If your flight was from another EU country, go to that countrys enforcement body for aviation.

You could also sign up to a no-win, no-fee legal firm specialising in compensation claims such as Bott & Co. But remember the firm will take a fee plus a percentage payout if the case is won. For example, Bott & Co charges 25 per cent of the compensation sum plus VAT, and a 25 administration charge.

EU citizens can claim compensation of 25 per cent or 50 per cent of the ticket price for delays to boat trips, depending on the length and duration of their journey

Boats

Thousands of holidaymakers travel by ferry or take a cruise each year  but they can be just as much blighted by delays and cancellations as other transport.

Ferry users have similar rights to airline passengers in the event of delays or cancellations. EU citizens can claim compensation of 25 per cent or 50 per cent of the ticket price for delays, depending on the length and duration of their journey.

Passengers delayed by an hour or more on journeys of four hours or less are entitled to a refund of 25 per cent of the ticket cost. In the case of delays totalling half or more of the journey time that rises to 50 per cent.

Hitting the high seas: Ferry users have similar rights to airline passengers in the event of delays or cancellations

In the case of cancellation, or delays of more than 90 minutes, the ferry or cruise company must also provide food, drink and overnight accommodation if needed. Accommodation costs may be limited to 80 per night per passenger for a maximum of three nights.

This is under legislation laid down by the European Commission. The law around delay compensation relates to ferries or cruises departing from or arriving in an EU port.

Claims cannot be made for delays due to unforeseen circumstances, such as bad weather. Passengers need to send any claim to the company concerned within two months of the delay.

If they are entitled to compensation, this must be paid out within one month.

Compensation must be paid in cash if this is requested. Otherwise, it may be paid in vouchers for future travel.

Cruises can cost a fortune. But the good news is that if there is a delay or cancellation, payouts are likely to be reasonable, according to the Association of British Travel Agents.

It says: There are no specific rules around compensation payouts, but if a cruise is cancelled you should get a full refund.

In our experience payouts are usually generous  there was a case with a breakout of norovirus on board, and passengers got half their money back and a free cruise.
Recruitment specialist Reed Group said demand for new staff has flourished since the referendum, with 150,000 more jobs added to its website in the past three weeks compared with the same period last year.

James Reed, chairman of the 1 billion-plus turnover group, said the 8 per cent increase was a sign that it was business as usual despite fears that job vacancies could drop. The growth  in line with the first half of the year  bucks fears of a recruitment crash.

The situation is surprisingly good, Reed said. The vote hasnt affected things. People are still hiring and there are lots of opportunities.

On the move: 83 per cent of companies Reed Group surveyed said they did not plan to freeze recruitment

If a drop in confidence begins to feed through I think wed be the first to see it. We were the first to see the jobs recovery after the financial crisis because people advertise jobs that only later come through in Government statistics.

Reed added that 83 per cent of companies it surveyed said they did not plan to freeze recruitment, although two-thirds of the firms had backed Remain before the referendum.

The sectors in line to benefit most from the boost are education, with nearly 13,000 new jobs advertised; IT and telecoms, with 12,000 new vacancies; and sales, with nearly 11,000 new posts. There are also 10,000 new accountancy jobs advertised and 8,000 in engineering.

The market is strongest in London, where 15,000 new jobs are advertised. There are nearly 5,000 new vacancies in Manchester and 4,000 in Birmingham.

In a study by Reed 83 per cent of companies said they weren't planning a recruitment freeze

In contrast, technology firm CEB Global said earlier this month that the number of jobs being advertised had halved since the referendum.

But Reed said: That doesnt chime with our data at all. For a lot of firms its just business as usual.

Weve seen faster growth in previous years, but the market is still growing and there are lots of jobs out there. Weve seen consistent growth in areas like technology and engineering. And we are expecting to see more people coming to Britain on the back of the change in exchange rates so we are anticipating more jobs in tourism and hospitality.
Staff at family-owned Yorkshire Tea company Bettys & Taylors Group were able to treat themselves to a few of the firms cream teas as they were given bonuses equalling five weeks pay last year.

The 97-year-old business, which played host to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall earlier this year, saw sales increase by 5 per cent to 163.4 million in the year to October 31, 2015 as its six tea rooms were visited by 1.3 million customers.

Boost: Sales at the group, which owns Bettys tea rooms, rose to 163 million

The company, which owns a cookery school, leading tea merchant Taylors of Harrogate and the Yorkshire Tea brand, saw pre-tax profits dip slightly from 10.8 million to 9.6 million due to an increase in raw material costs.

But shareholders  descendants of founder and Swiss confectioner Frederick Belmont  still shared a 2 million dividend, up from 1.9 million the previous year.

Finance director Paul Cogan said: This has been a year in which competitive pressures in our core markets continued to grow. We have responded to the challenge by listening to customers and developing new and innovative products.
High-tech firms supplying car makers in the automotive heartland of North-East England are optimistic about their prospects in spite of last months shock Brexit result.

The region voted strongly to quit the European Union despite being home to some of the countrys biggest car makers such as Nissan, a huge exporter to the EU.

It has been suggested that Nissan may move out of Britain if Prime Minister Theresa May fails to secure a decent trade agreement with the EU.

Motoring on: Nissans factory in Sunderland is a major exporter to the EU

But at a meeting of the North East Automotive Alliance, a group representing more than 160 members with a combined turnover of 9.5 billion, members were sanguine in response to the result of the ballot.

We had a meeting of more than two hours shortly after the referendum and Brexit took less than three minutes of our time.

'We are manufacturers. We are businessmen and weve just got to get on with it, said Stephen Irish, chief executive of Hyperdrive Innovation.

The Sunderland-based company makes lithium batteries that can operate autonomously if needed.

Founded four years ago, it has just formed a multi-million pound partnership with Nissan to produce batteries for third parties, such as other car marques, driverless vehicles, industrial vehicles and even homes.

Were a highly technical company and were growing very fast because we make something that everyone wants.

'Of course, Brexit will affect us but the UK has a reputation for innovation. We have the best engineers and the best universities, so I am optimistic, said Irish.

Dave Cann, UK general manager of French-owned car parts maker Mecaplast, echoed his confidence.

'Brexit will affect us but the UK has a reputation for innovation. We have the best engineers and the best universities, so I am optimistic', says Smith

The UK makes good cars and it will carry on making good cars. Thats what matters, so Im upbeat. Its business as usual for us and our turnover is growing, he said.

Nonetheless, businesses in the region are concerned about their long-term future, particularly if there is a period of protracted uncertainty about trade negotiations and the ability to hire employees from the EU.

Paul Butler, chief executive of the North East Automotive Alliance, said: The Government really needs to provide clarity about the future. Our members find the prospect of prolonged uncertainty quite frightening.

Meanwhile, Matt Boyle, chief executive of Sevcon, a US-listed company headquartered in Gateshead, said: We cant plan because we dont know what kind of agreement we will end up with, so we have to make decisions based on not knowing.

A survey of the alliances members, conducted last week, highlights car suppliers fears.

Three in four worry that Brexit will hit companies access to the EU market and have a negative effect on inward investment.
Britain's new Brexit Secretary believes bondholders should sit on boards to curb executive pay.

David Davis suggested that Prime Minister Theresa Mays plan to have employee representatives on boards might not be enough.

I used to believe that, and made the case for it at the Tory conference when I was 18, he said.

But his experience as a corporate troubleshooter at food ingredients group Tate & Lyle taught him that the existence of employees on continental boards meant the other members held private meetings in advance, where real decisions were made.

Critical: New Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit chief David Davis

Bondholders as lenders tend to pull the trigger in difficult company situations, Davis said, referring to the fact that they often call in debts or administrators if they think they cannot be repaid.

So their voice would carry more weight over corporate pay than that of shareholders. Before the EU referendum, Davis was writing a book about capitalism, which is due to come out later this year.

But it was unclear this weekend whether it would still be published.

In an interview about the book with The Mail on Sunday given before last months vote, he was critical of banks, saying: What society gets out of the financial system today is the same as it used to be 30 years ago, but the cost has gone up.

He said that while his heart backed former Chancellor George Osbornes National Living Wage, it would accelerate the use of robots to replace workers.

If you go to a supermarket checkout, the payback on one of those automated tills was about four years, and it becomes three years as a result of the living wage. It accelerates automation.
The falling pounds means less of us will be able to afford to go away

The future is Brexit and amid the uncertainty one sector has not only welcomed the prospect, but predicts that business will rocket as a result.

Britains leisure industry  which was already on a roll having welcomed record numbers of foreign and domestic tourists last year  is expecting to reach new heights in 2016 as the falling pound makes the UK great value for overseas visitors.

Meanwhile, British holidaymakers faced with the prospect of their pounds buying a lot less foreign spending money are more likely than ever to stay within these shores.

Hotting up: Website traffic has gone up for both the Isle of Wight and Cumbria

And terrorist atrocities such as the attack in Nice last week are making Britons even more reluctant to travel abroad.

Patricia Yates, director of tourism organisation VisitBritain, said: Tourism has the potential to benefit from the weakened pound and we know that online travel agents and tour operators have seen an increase in searches for travel to Britain during the past two weeks.

The year has got off to a cracking start, with the first quarter of 2016 breaking records for inbound visits to Britain as well as the number of Britons holidaying at home, and we expect this growth to continue.

Leisure companies are already reporting an upsurge in business since the referendum.

Andrew Shelton, managing director of travel website Cheapflights, said that in the days after the Brexit vote, searches for flights from the US to Britain doubled; searches from China jumped 61 per cent; and searches from Canada were up by 49 per cent.

Searches for flights to the UK from EU countries shot up 31 per cent in the same period, with Spain and Italy leading the push, showing increases of 84 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.

Online travel agents and tour operators have seen an increase in searches for travel to Britain during the past two weeks

Shelton said: The EU referendum result may have sparked a Brexit boom for UK inbound tourism as travellers around the world adjust to the fact that the UK has suddenly just become much better value.

For Britons looking to travel abroad, he said it was a mixed message, noting that the weak pound mixed with a widespread sense of uncertainty is giving British holidaymakers pause for thought before they book.

Simon Phillips at foreign exchange firm No 1 Currency warned: With the pound widely predicted to continue heading south in coming weeks, those going to the Continent should consider stocking up on euros now to lock into a better exchange rate.

Mark Walton, chief operating officer of Roomzzz apartment hotels operating across the north of England, said that while business had fallen off in the weeks leading up to the referendum due to a fear of the unknown, since June 23 bookings from UK holidaymakers had shot up 11 per cent year on year.

What I didnt expect is that bookings from EU countries would have gone up 17 per cent, he added.

People from the Continent still want to come here in spite of the vote and I think British people want to stay in the UK as a vote of confidence in the country. Its a case of people wanting to spend their money in their own country.

Dimitri Konovalovas of hotel price comparison website HotelsCombined said he had seen an increase of 13 per cent in searches for UK accommodation by British users in the three weeks since the vote.

Uncertainty around the pound does appear to have convinced many that its safer to stay at home, at least for now, he said.

Searches for flights to the UK from EU countries shot up 31 per cent in the last two weeks, with Spain and Italy leading the push, showing increases of 84 per cent and 62 per cent respectively

The hospitality and tourism industry is the UKs fourth-largest employer, providing jobs for 10 per cent of the workforce in 180,000 businesses.

The British Hospitality Association has long campaigned for a cut in VAT for the industry and its chairman, Nick Varney, said the industry should seize the moment and lock in that competitive advantage with a permanent cut to VAT for accommodation and possibly, in the future, also for restaurants.

While the weak pound has boosted Britains attractiveness as a holiday destination, tourism was already booming. Last year set a record for UK inbound tourism, with 36.1 million visits  5 per cent up on 2014  and spending up 1 per cent to 22.1 billion.

The trend has been continuing into 2016. Figures just released by VisitBritain show strong growth from markets including the US, Germany, China and Australia in January to March 2016, making it the best ever first quarter for total inbound visits.

It was also a record first quarter for spending on overnight domestic holiday trips in England. Visitors paid out 1.8 billion from January to March  up 23 per cent on the same period last year.
National Grid is preparing to break up its 13 billion pension scheme ahead of the 11 billion sale of its UK gas distribution business.

City sources said National Grid  which owns and runs much of the countrys electricity system  is in advanced talks with the Pensions Regulator about changing the structure of its current scheme, which supports 110,000 members.

The company wants to create a separate fund for the employees of its gas distribution business.

Break up: National Grid is changing its pension structure

The FTSE 100-listed company aims to restructure the National Grid pension scheme to help with the sale of the gas distribution division, which supplies 10.9 million customers across the Midlands, the North-West, Eastern England and North London.

It is understood that National Grid recently wrote to all members of the scheme to tell them about the shake-up.

Sources said each section of the scheme will be ring-fenced with separate assets and liabilities.

However, it is understood that any buyer of the gas distribution business will ultimately be responsible for the associated section of the pension.

Past reports suggest that specialist infrastructure investors from Canada, Kuwait and Germany are in talks with British investors to organise bids for the gas business.
Bosses at a fifth of the top 100 UK-based firms were born elsewhere in the EU

The boss of one of Britains biggest companies  who is a European Union national  sought advice about officially obtaining permanent residence in the UK in the run-up to last months referendum vote. Permanent residence status is a prerequisite to applying for British citizenship.

Business advisory firm KPMG said it had helped the unnamed chief executive of a FTSE 100 blue-chip business in a case which is the most high-profile example of anxiety among EU workers about their rights to stay and work in the UK following the referendum.

During the Tory leadership campaign Theresa May said EU workers here would only be given a permanent right to remain in the UK if the same rights were extended to British citizens living elsewhere in the EU.

Remain: Business advisory firm KPMG said it had helped the unnamed chief executive of a FTSE 100 blue-chip business

Punam Birly, head of immigration legal services at KPMG, said: We have seen an immediate tripling in demand for our immigration law advice services as companies have sought to understand the current immigration law framework and how that might change and importantly, what they can do now to prepare for a new immigration system.

About a fifth of the top 100 UK-based firms  including Lloyds Banking Group, Unilever, Vodafone and AstraZeneca  are run by bosses born elsewhere in the EU.

It is understood that Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio has dual UK and Portuguese citizenship.

Businesses in Britain are also concerned that Brexit could affect their future interaction with European clients.

Birly said: Companies which are used to sending their staff to Europe regularly are worried about the cost, administration burden and

impact on the natural flow of business relationships as a result of having to apply for visas.

Flexibility around business travel in the EU is crucial for the UK to maintain competitiveness with the remaining EU countries who post-Brexit may well cite this as a benefit to choosing, say, a German company over a British one.

KPMG says it's seen a tripling in demand for its immigration law advice services after the EU vote

There are thought to be three million non-British EU nationals living in Britain. Census figures from 2011 suggest that almost one in ten of those working in the City  around 30,000  fell into that category.
A new whistleblower has emerged from the rank and file of state-owned bank Lloyds to confirm widespread mis-selling of packaged bank accounts going back to 2012.

The bank mole says the tactics staff were encouraged to use were shocking and monstrous. He also says staff were bullied and harassed and threatened with being managed out of the business if they did not sell enough fee-charging accounts and other products.

These accusations of product mis-selling are the latest to dog the bank. Back in 2011, former employee Ian Taplin brought to light concerns about vulnerable customers in Maidenhead, Berkshire, being unfairly treated when buying insurance.

Mole: The whistleblower says staff were bullied and harassed if they didn't sell enough packaged accounts

His campaigning won support from local MP and then Home Secretary Theresa May and he gave evidence to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

Taplin has continued his campaign against the bank and says he was in contact with May, now Prime Minister, only months ago.

The latest whistleblower to come forward says customers should now review whether they were wrongly sold fee-based bank accounts. He says Lloyds is under pressure to refund those affected.

About nine million customers of all banks are thought to hold these accounts, which offer a range of benefits  such as holiday or mobile phone insurance  and can cost up to 25 a month. Packaged accounts are still sold, but have been improved.

A letter circulated to Lloyds staff in March this year, seen by The Mail on Sunday, details how customers whose complaints have been accepted by the bank will receive letters informing them of a refund and that their account will change to a free alternative.

The letter also reveals that failings in previous years have led to the creation of a dedicated packaged bank account mis-sale team.

A culture that allowed mis-selling

Referring to a long period of mis-selling that was rife in 2012, the whistleblower says: Staff and customers were treated very badly.

Staff were bullied and harrased into selling paid-for packaged bank accounts, says the whistleblower

Vulnerable people, including people who arent financially literate and those from Eastern Europe, were seen as easy prey as they didnt know about UK banking, didnt speak good English or wouldnt know how to make a complaint. Some were told packaged accounts were good for building a credit score. It was shocking and monstrous.

Staff were bullied and harassed and threatened with being managed out of the business. They were obsessed with targets and profit.

Employees were incentivised to sell packaged accounts, regardless of whether or not they were suitable. Doing so would push an adviser closer to sales targets  with packaged accounts earning them 170 points compared with 30 points for fee-free current accounts.

Those who did not reach their targets were put under a performance review.

The whistleblower adds: Bearing in mind the difference in points, when an adviser is sitting in front of a customer, do you think they were more likely to sell a normal current account or a packaged account?

He says those customers who later tried to cancel their accounts were dissuaded by staff because it would affect the advisers selling record.

This approach was eventually dropped by the bank, but many who were sold the accounts years ago still have them.

Lloyds says: The accusations made by this individual are unfounded and refer to practices and processes no longer in place.

Lloyds Banking Group does not have sales targets. We believe that in the vast majority of cases, packaged bank accounts provide good value to customers. Where we receive customer complaints, we review each one on a case-by-case basis. There is no evidence that staff were harassed.

The bank mole said staff that didn't meet their sales targets were put under 'performance review'

The Wider Problem

In the year to March 2016, complaints about packaged accounts across the market more than doubled, with about 44,000 cases referred to independent arbiter the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In its annual report, released at the end of May, it states: Some customers had been sold accounts that they didnt want or need.

Some people couldnt have used any of the accounts extras  or couldnt use the extras theyd specifically opened it for.

In a few cases, people who hadnt had a UK bank account before werent told that free account options were available.

Thousands of people have had valid claims backed by the Ombudsman, with banks told to issue refunds. It is believed many more could still be paying for accounts they should never have been sold and banks have reportedly set aside up to 1 billion to compensate those who complain. Lloyds put aside 225 million last year.

How to claim your money back

Appeal to the bank that provided the account, explaining why you feel you were missold it. Include your account details, why you feel the sale was inappropriate and how you would like the problem resolved.

Keep a copy of the dated letter for your records. If it is a Lloyds Bank account, write to Lloyds Bank, Customer Services, BX1 1LT.

You must give the bank eight weeks to resolve your complaint. If your complaint is rejected or you dont hear back in eight weeks, you can refer your case to the Ombudsman, which will look at the facts independently and decide whether or not you should be refunded. Visit financial-ombudsman.org.uk or call the helpline on 0800 023 4567.
More than 137,000 travellers had their summer holidays thrown into chaos after one of Britains biggest online booking firms collapsed.

LowCostHolidays, run by business tycoon Paul Evans, ceased trading last night.

It currently has 27,000 customers overseas on holidays, and a further 110,000 who have booked trips and were hoping to go abroad in the next few weeks.

Following a number of attempts to rescue the group, which operated a travel agency business in the UK, it today announced that it had ceased trading

Many now face uncertainty over whether they will get some or any of their money back. And it also emerged many already abroad could be forced to fork out extra for hotels, airport transfers and car parking as these bills may not have been paid by the operator.

It is thought all flights home are covered, but those who have yet to make a trip risk losing their summer holiday altogether. The collapse of LowCostHolidays is particularly controversial because while it sells trips to British customers, its offices are in Spain.

When it moved from the UK in 2013 it stopped being covered by an industry safety-net run by travel body ATOL, which protects travellers if the firm they booked with has gone bust.

British airlines regulator the Civil Aviation Authority had tried to block LowCostHolidays from leaving the ATOL scheme  but failed.

A sales adviser from LowCostHolidays told the Mail that the firms 80-strong sales team, which remained in the UK, had still been selling holidays to customers just hours before the firm went into administration.

He said yesterday: It seems unethical that the firm was still taking bookings this morning and its website was up and running. It must have known it was in trouble. I had one chap ring up and pay 3,000 for his trip.

The Lowcosttravelgroup was founded in 2004 by CEO Paul Evans and evolved into a 700m business with some 500 staff worldwide

I told him that he may as well pay with his debit card because no travel business would go bust over the summer because things were so busy.

The collapse of LowCostHolidays comes ahead of the busiest few days of the year for travel operators, as most schools break up next week.

LowCostTravelGroup operated travel agencies from the UK and offices in Spain, Switzerland and Poland and had annual sales of 500million. It sold hotel accommodation to holidaymakers through its LowCostHolidays site and to other travel agents through its LowCostBeds company.

TRIPS TO NICE CANCELLED AFTER ATTACK Holidaymakers are already cancelling their trips to Nice in the wake of the terror attack, which left 84 dead. The reports came as easyJet and British Airways offered people flying to the Riviera resort the option to change their destination or travel dates without charge. Meanwhile the Foreign Office warned that there is a high threat from terrorism in France, which is visited by more than 17million Britons every year. Yesterday Denis Cippoloni of Nices hotel association said: Weve had a flood of cancellations since last night. A spokesman for The Association of British Travel Agents issued a statement encouraging holidaymakers to check with their tour operators before travelling to France. She also urged Britons in Nice to follow the instructions of French authorities, who are at present advising people to stay indoors at this time, adding: Travellers should remain alert and vigilant, especially in places where there is a high concentration of people. Advertisement

Around 120 staff were employed by the company at Gatwick and their jobs are now at risk. Sales staff were mainly self-employed and are now owed thousands of pounds in unpaid earnings.

Last night as news of the collapse became known, confused customers frantically left messages for the company on its Facebook page. One customer, Melissa King, said: What does this mean? I paid for my holiday and leave on the 28th July. Everything has been confirmed and paid for. What does this mean? Where do we stand?

Another, Terina Hounsell, said: We have a holiday booked in December, taking our granddaughter on her first holiday. Does this mean it is not secure? LowCostHolidays owner Paul Evans is understood to live in Majorca. He was privately educated and once lived in a 1.9million, four-bedroom, three-bathroom property in Fulham, West London.

Mr Evans has regularly appeared on TV as a travel expert and has made appearances on Steve Wrights Radio 2 show. He could not be reached for comment.

In 2013, the CAA warned holidaymakers to be cautious about booking with LowCostHolidays, after the firm announced its move to Majorca. Customers have been urged to contact their travel insurer. Despite not being covered by the UK scheme, trips should be covered by an alternative Spanish version  though refunds could take months.
By AP: A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that "there are indications of direct involvement" in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm "have attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed" by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, "there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government."

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The president of a group that promotes Gulen's ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press "we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible." Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, "we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey."

Some background on Gulen:

WHO IS FETHULLAH GULEN?



Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Fethullah Gulen gained notice in Turkey some 50 years ago, promoting a philosophy that blended a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Supporters started 1,000 schools in more than 100 countries, including about 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the US In Turkey, they have run universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan has long accused Gulen of plotting to overthrow the officially secular government from a gated 26-acre compound in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. Gulen is rarely seen in public and has been put on trial in absentia at least three times.

WHY NOT DEPORT HIM?

The US has shown little inclination to send Gulen back to Turkey. The Justice Department has declined to comment on Gulen's case. In an interview with the AP early this year, Aslandogan, of the Alliance for Shared Values, said: "(Gulen) said that the United States has a long tradition of democracy and rule of law. ... They will see that these are politically oriented charges, and they will not allow Erdogan to spread his ambition into the United States."

WHAT'S THE STATUS OF LEGAL CLAIMS AGAINST GULEN IN THE US?

Last month, a lawyer representing the Turkish government said he would continue exposing Gulen's "unlawful conduct" one day after a federal judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, dismissed his lawsuit against the cleric. "Despite the outcome of this ruling, a very clear message has been sent to Gulen and his co-conspirators in the Poconos: the days of impunity are numbered, and your unlawful conduct will be brought to light," lawyer Robert Amsterdam said. The suit contended Gulen ordered sympathetic police, prosecutors and judges in Turkey to target members of a rival spiritual movement critical of his teachings. US District Judge Robert Mariani ruled the claims did not belong in US courts.

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WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOLS?

Some of the US schools have been investigated by the FBI amid allegations of financial mismanagement and visa fraud. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen's movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for "service." In May, a complaint filed with Texas education officials accused a network of charter schools associated with the Gulen movement of abusing a visa program to import large numbers of Turkish teachers and violating state and federal laws by paying them more than American teachers.

The complaint also asserted that the network, Harmony Public Schools, skirts competitive bidding rules to award contracts to Turkish vendors. Harmony has denounced the complaint as politically motivated and without merit.

WHAT'S THE RESPONSE TO THE LATEST ALLEGATIONS?

In a statement Friday, the Alliance for Shared Values said: "For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy. We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey. Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now. Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible."



WHAT ARE GULEN'S DAYS LIKE?

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An AP reporter was given a tour of Gulen's Pennsylvania compound this year but was unable to see or interview him. He spends hours a day in prayer and meditation and goes out rarely, mostly to see doctors for ailments that include heart disease and diabetes, according to Aslandogan. Gulen's living quarters are lined with books on shelves that also hold jars filled with soil from various regions of Turkey.





--- ENDS ---
Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows. (Reuters)

By Reuters: An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

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ALSO READ: India closely monitoring situation in Turkey



The uprising was an "act of treason", and those responsible would pay a heavy price, he later told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Arrests of officers were under way, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military.



WHAT HAPPENED

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. A failed coup attempt could still destabilize a pivotal country.

COUP PLOTTERS WILL HAVE TO PAY A HEAVY PRICE

Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

By the early hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which had been fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, momentum turned against the coup plotters. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

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"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

US BACKS ERDOGAN

The United States declared its firm backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasized "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

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Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said he was back in control.

"NOT A TINPOT COUP"

Early in the evening the coup appeared strong. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

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"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

WHY IS TURKEY IMPORTANT

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."

Also Read

Turkey coup attempt: Over 250 killed, 3000 rebel soldiers detained





--- ENDS ---
By Reuters: An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan battled to regain control over Turkey today after a coup bid by discontented soldiers.



Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

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The uprising was an "act of treason", and those responsible would pay a heavy price, he later told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Arrests of officers were under way, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. A failed coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country.

Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

By the early hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which had been fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, momentum turned against the coup plotters. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

advertisement

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

US SUPPORT

The United States declared its firm backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

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Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said he was back in control.

"NOT A TINPOT COUP"

Early in the evening the coup appeared strong. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

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Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."

ALSO READ:

Who is Fethullah Gulen, the cleric being blamed for Turkey coup attempt



42 killed, 130 people detained, 13 soldiers arrested during Turkey coup attempt

India Today couldn't verify the authenticity of the video.





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By Patrick Donachie

Outgoing Rep. Steve Israel (D-Melville) endorsed former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi in the general election campaign to succeed Israel in the 3rd Congressional District. Suozzi won the Democratic primary to become the partys nominee in the race, which includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties in addition to Bay Terrace, Whitestone, Glen Oaks and Floral Park.

Im endorsing Tom Suozzi today because he has shown that he will be the best candidate to continue my relentless fight in Congress for New Yorks middle-class families, veterans and seniors, Israel said. Tom has also proven that he is the type of representative we need in Washington  someone who will bring big and bold ideas to the table and have the courage and political skill to solve problems.

In addition to Israel, Suozzi received endorsements from his challengers in the Democratic primary race, including Councilwoman Anna Kaplan, former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern and attorney Jonathan Clarke. Israel endorsed Stern during the Democratic primary race.

Suozzi will face a Republican challenger in the fall. State Sen. Jack Martins claims he is the presumptive nominee, though he currently faces a legal challenge from former fraud investigator that could require a Republican primary to be held prior to the general election, which will be held on Nov. 8.
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By Bill Parry

Elected officials in western Queens are turning up the heat on Long Island City-based JetBlue for paying airport workers low wages.

On Monday, more than 100 airport workers and residents from neighborhoods surrounding LaGuardia Airport attended a town hall meeting at the Jackson Heights Jewish Center and City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) led a rally Wednesday at JetBlues headquarters in Long Island City.

State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) and City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) called the town hall meeting to discuss two of JetBlues subcontractors, Roma and Primeflight, which they say pay their workers low wages with little or no benefits.

JetBlue has ads up all over the city that say JetBlue lives NY, but the poverty wages that the airline allows its subcontractors to pay are causing many residents of Queens to live in poverty, Peralta said. New Yorks hometown airline needs to be good to New Yorkers. Years ago an airport job meant a decent salary, but, unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. A lot of airport workers struggle to make ends meet, at times having to decide between paying the rent and putting food on the table. It is my hope that some of the profits the airlines make will stay with the workers and with our neighborhoods.

Coronas Josefa Haciano, a terminal cleaner at JetBlues JFK terminal, has worked for subcontractor Roma for the last eight years.

I live in Queens and I dont make enough to pay the rent and buy food, let alone invest time or money in my community, he said. This isnt only about airport workers. The way Roma treats us affects me, my family and my whole community. JetBlue shouldnt let that happen.

On Wednesday, 30 airport workers and 32BJ members rallied with Van Bramer outside JetBlues corporate headquarters at Queens Plaza North. They complain that most airport workers live in the neighborhoods that surround LaGuardia and JFK, giving many Queens locales a concentration of poverty-stricken residents.

My mother, father and stepfather were all union members, and because of this, they were able to have jobs with living wages and benefits to support out family, Van Bramer said. Thats why Im standing with airport workers and 32BJ SEIU in their fight for better wages and working conditions.

Van Bramer is no stranger to the plight of the airport workers. He has attended many of the rallies and marches, and was arrested for civil disobedience in 2014, when protesters closed the 94th Street Bridge approach to LaGuardia with a sit-in.

Van Bramer and some of the workers went into the headquarters with petitions demanding to see JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes. Hayes was not available so they asked for a meeting in the future.

JetBlue made record profits last year, Van Bramer said. If they wish to be New York Citys Hometown Airline, they should make sure this bounty is reflected in higher wages.

JetBlue did not comment.
Two Indians who were kidnapped by a group of men from a traffic junction in Benue State of Nigeria on June 29 were released today.

By India Today Web Desk: Two Indians who were kidnapped from Boko area near Makurdi in Benue State of Nigeria on June 29, were released today.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that the duo were released at around 10.30 am.

Mangapudi Srinivas and Kaushal Sharma were kidnapped by a group of a men at a traffic signal when they were on their way to work. The duo worked at Dangote Group, a Nigerian multinational conglomerate which is also the largest in West Africa.

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Srinivas and Sharma spoke to their families after they were released. Their families thanked the External Affairs Ministry for their support. Srinivas' wife thanked the ministry for keeping the family informed of the developments on almost a daily basis.

Immediately after the release of the duo, Swaraj took to Twitter and said "We have been able to rescue Sai Srinivas and Anish Sharma from abductors in Nigeria."



We have been able to rescue Sai Srinivas and Anish Sharma from abductors in Nigeria./1 Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 16, 2016

Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria Shri B.N. Reddy deserves appreciation for his efforts. /2

Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 16, 2016

Also read:

Operation Sankat Mochan brings stranded Indians home from Sudan



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Contributed photo Valerie Gildon, who lives down the street from Faith Mission, received a fan as a part of the mission's annual drive. Last year, the mission handed out 112 fans as a relief to the summer heat.

SHARE Sarah Johnson/Special to the Times Record News New Jerusalem Baptist Church members John Williams (from left), Floyd Vann and Charles Morgan get ready to unload a window air conditioning unit that will be installed in the home of a Wichita Falls resident in need. The summer program has been going on for about 10 years.

Charles Morgan will never forget her. The woman was in her 90s and lived in a small house that felt like an oven that summer.

"She had like 100 fans going and curtains hanging over the windows to provide a little shade," Morgan said.

As part of New Jerusalem Baptist Church's air conditioning program, Morgan and other men from the church installed a window unit in her home.

"She called us 'her kids,'" Morgan said. "After that summer, we'd go by and check on her and see how she was doing."

For almost 10 years, New Jerusalem has been installing air conditioning units for people in need. Identified by Adult Protective Services, the recipients' names are passed on to the church. Two teams from New Jerusalem go out and install the new units. Last year, about 20 units were installed.

Not only do the men of the church bring cool air, they bring hope. While they are at the residence, the men check whether there are any other needs, such as food and clothing.

"We look forward to this each year," Morgan said. "You know the Bible says there are always going to be poor. That is what the church is for  to help those folks. God continues to bless this program."

Angus Thompson, pastor of New Jerusalem, said these people they serve don't have much.

"These air conditioning units are only designed to cool one room, so we usually install them in a bedroom so they can get a good night's sleep. Can you imagine not having any air conditioning in the summer? It's torment."

When the program started, the air conditioning units cost $89. Today, they are paying about $112. The units are paid for by the men of the church and donations from the community.

"We like to serve as a conduit for the Lord's work," Thompson said.

To support the air conditioning program, send your donation to New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1420 Borton St., Wichita Falls, TX 76306.

Cool relief

Valerie Gildon lives down the street from Faith Mission in a tiny duplex with one window air conditioner, two dogs and her husband. It's midsummer in Wichita Falls and it's hot.

"She picked up a fan recently from the mission," said Vicky Payne, chief development officer at Faith Mission. "She said the house is so hot that they are sleeping on a sleeper sofa in the living room. The mission also helps them survive with meals. Because of limited income, Valerie said she has been coming to the mission off and on for 18 years to eat. If they had another window unit, they would put it to good use in another room."

The fan drive at Faith Mission has been going on as long as anyone can remember, Payne said. Started solely for adults on a fixed income, the program has grown to include those who need and cannot afford one, like Gildon.

"People call and get on a waiting list for a fan," Payne said. "They must show identification when the fan is picked up. It is intended that only one fan be distributed per household every two years so that other people can receive a fan. We have been distributing them almost as fast as we receive them this year."

Last year, the mission gave away 112 fans. So far this summer, 28 fans have been distributed with 25 people on the waiting list.

"Calls are coming in every day," Payne said. "The Times Record News and other local media outlets are very helpful in letting the public know about community needs like the fans. Individuals also purchase fans and deliver them to the dock at 1300 Travis St. We distribute all kinds of fans  box fans, tabletop and fans on stands. Last year we received a window air conditioner and gave it away. We don't buy fans unless someone gives us the money designated for that reason. We are stewards of the resources God gives us through our community of partners and friends."

When people think Faith Mission, they think food and shelter. But the organization provides so much more.

"Our mission is to provide Christ-centered programs and services that lead the homeless toward self-sufficiency," Payne said. "Although persons needing fans have a place to live, they can't survive the Texas heat without a fan or air conditioner."

To get on the list to receive a fan, call Faith Mission at 723-5663 and leave your name and contact number. When your name gets to the top, you will be called. The same person who calls to request the fan must pick up the fan.
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By Christopher Collins of the Times Record News

A conservative states' rights group in St. Louis has joined Texas and other states in their battle against the U.S. government in connection with a lawsuit over bathroom rights for transgender students.

Houston attorney Karen B. Tripp filed a memorandum of support in federal court this week on behalf of Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund Inc. The group, which according to the court filing "has consistently defended federalism and supported autonomy in areas (such as education) of predominately local concern," wants the judge in the case to grant the states' motion for an injunction against federal directives.

In May, the U.S. Justice and Education departments instructed states that they would have to allow transgender students to use the bathroom matching their gender identity, biological sex notwithstanding. Noncompliance with the instruction could mean the loss of federal funding, the agencies said.

Later that month, Texas and a handful of other conservative states filed suit against the federal government, claiming the directive would cause "seismic changes in the operation of the nation's school districts." More states and state leaders have since waded into the legal battle as plaintiffs. A separate but similar showdown has now begun in an Ohio federal court.

One of the leading plaintiffs in the action is the Harrold Independent School District in Wilbarger County, one of the first districts in the nation to pass a policy in opposition to the federal directive. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Wichita Falls.

In its memorandum, the Eagle Forum made assertions similar to those previously made by plaintiffs: that the federal government did not give states adequate notice before issuing its directives and that the Constitution does not provide transgender people the right to use bathrooms of the opposite biological sex.

Offering precedent, the filing also asks that federal Judge Reed C. O'Connor defer to states on the issue. The judge has not ruled on the injunction, and the federal government had not issued a response to the litigation as of Friday afternoon.
JOHNSTOWN  A Ballston Lake man was arrested Saturday in New Jersey for possession of stolen property traced to a burglary in the Town of Perth, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office.

Jonathan E. Trow, 34, Route 50 in Ballston Lake, was arrested by the Ho-Ho-Kus police after he was found with his girlfriend sleeping in a rental vehicle in a residential area in possession of stoten property, authorities reported.
Albany

Just hours before a badly needed rainstorm swept through the Capital Region on Friday, the state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a drought watch for the entire state  the first such notice since 2002.

The agency said it made the move after consultation with the state Drought Management Task Force and federal agencies. The decision was prompted not by immediate conditions but the months of low precipitation that reach back to the Oct. 1, 2015, start of the state's official "water year."

Since then, the state experienced one of the least snowy winters in modern memory  a season of extreme financial discomfort for many winter recreation centers.

More Information How to reduce your water use Water conservation tips for homeowners: Fix dripping and leaking faucets and toilets - a faucet leaking 30 drops per minute wastes 54 gallons a month. Raise your lawn mower cutting height. Longer grass needs less water. When using automatic lawn watering systems, override the system in wet weather. Irrigate only when needed. Water lawns and gardens on alternate mornings instead of every day. Less frequent watering will develop grass with deeper roots, and early morning watering minimizes evaporation. Sweep sidewalks and steps rather than hosing them. Eliminating a weekly 5-minute pavement hose-down could save between 625 and 2,500 gallons of water per year depending on the flow rate. Source: Department of Environmental Conservation See More Collapse

The bad news has not changed as the thermometer has risen.

"While most public water supplies are still generally normal throughout the state, below-normal precipitation over the last nine months, low stream flows, and reduced groundwater levels have prompted the need for this action," DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a release. "We are encouraging residents throughout the state to conserve water whenever possible during the coming months."

A watch is the lowest of four levels of state drought advisories (the others are "warning," "emergency" and "disaster"). There are no mandatory water use restrictions in place under a watch, though local public water suppliers can impose their own measures.

The watch was initiated by the tabulation of the State Drought Index, which is calculated from precipitation as well as depth in reservoir and lakes, plus stream flow and groundwater levels in nine designated drought regions around the state.

DEC reported that precipitation has fallen 4 to 8 inches short over the past three months, and steam flows and groundwater levels aren't expected to bounce back any time soon due to the long-term lack of rain.

"Conserving water is important all year long, but particularly during extended dry periods," Seggos said.

Based on the map maintained by the National Drought Mitigation Center, the regions of severest lack at in the central Southern Tier and Western New York. Vermont and Massachusetts have experienced similar droughts. The nation's most hard-hit state  a deep wounded red on the drought map  is California, which is recovering slightly this year after an extended period of freakishly low rainfall.

The federal drought monitor reported that farmers near Syracuse had seen their corn leaves curl and "were irrigating heavily if they had the capacity."

In New Hampshire and Massachusetts, it said, farmers were doing the same, and finding a strawberry crop "smaller but sweeter than normal due to the dry conditions."

cseiler@timesunion.com  518-454-5619  @CaseySeiler
By Tatsam Mukherjee: Udaan was an important film for Bollywood. Apart from announcing the arrival of Vikramaditya Motwane, the film served as the stepping stone towards Phantom films - which formed by the collaboration of Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Motwane himself went on to give us movies like Lootera, Queen, Masaan, Udta Punjab and others.

The film put aside all cliches of a coming-of-age story, and told a searingly honest, personal tale of a dysfunctional relationship between a father and son. As Udaan completes six years today, we look at the six factors which helped this small film take flight into a cult of its own.

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1) Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya's magic

Amit Trivedi, still an upcoming music composer at that time, gave us this beautiful soundtrack which spoke about the struggles, dreams, hopes of a teenager, and Amitabh Bhattacharya's wonderful words only made it better. The soundtrack was a much needed break from popular film music, which didn't have English phrases as hooks, and didn't talk about the protagonist's need to 'party all night'.

2) Rohan's poems

Satyanshu and Devanshu Singh's poems were the back-bone of the film's narrative. The protagonist being a passionate writer, much against his father's wishes, uses poems to channel his feelings. The poems talk about growing up, and facing the world. Motwane uses the poems effectively, to communicate the current mood of film's principal characters.

3) Uncompromised writing

Motwane, Kashyap didn't hold anything back when they went about writing the film. Like that scene featuring the father abusing his son, because he's not had sex in school - asking questions about his manliness. Or for that matter the scene between the father and his younger brother (played by Ram Kapoor) and how their confrontation takes an ugly turn. No punches were pulled and that's why the audience was able to connect with the story.

4) Acting department

The film had an all-round stellar cast, with almost each and every character playing their roles to perfection. Among the key players, Ronit Roy uses his physicality and brooding face to perfect use as there is a sense of doom each time he enters the screen. Rajat Barmecha, Aayan Barodia play their parts really well, testament for the fact you're rooting for them by the end of the movie. Even the supporting actors like Ram Kapoor, Anand Tiwari and even Manjot Singh essay their roles without a single false note anywhere.

5) Mahendra Shetty and Jamshedpur

Looking back at film history, the choice of Jamshedpur, the Steel City, is an interesting choice to set the movie in. Mahendra Shetty (Director of Photography) captures the steeliness of the manufacturing hub with poise, almost making it a character in the film. The audience actually sees what went into the making of Ronit Roy's stubborn, hot-blooded character, the city almost acts as a metaphor to him.



6)The race metaphor

The film has that beautiful race metaphor, which is brilliantly executed in the climax of the film. It is nicely set up during the film, establishing it as a race he can never win. And in the end when he finally runs outside his father's clasp, there is a sense of euphoria, freedom. Motwane builds up to the finale rather well.

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Guilderland

There are hundreds of cool jobs in the Capital Region with a starting salary of $55,000 that don't require a college degree or industry experience.

But local employers, who often belly up thousands of dollars just to find candidates, can't fill these jobs, many of them located at the region's fastest growing high-tech firms.

Welcome to the world of software programming, where the demand for workers here in the Capital Region, like in other metros across the country, far outpaces the supply of qualified workers  known as coders.

And while this region has a growing number of software development companies that drive most of the demand for coders, the problem also impacts other local employers, from hospitals and banks to manufacturers and government agencies.

That's why Annmarie Lanesey has spent the last two years creating AlbanyCanCode, a nonprofit group aimed at creating a new generation of software coders for local employers.

"We all have the same problem  hiring talent," said Lanesey, president of Greane Tree Technology, a custom software developer in Troy.

That problem isn't a small thing. Lanesey and Janet Carmosky, who was hired as AlbanyCanCode's first executive director this summer, say that state employment data suggests there may be as many as 1,800 software engineering job openings in region.

But that data can be inexact and doesn't always tell the whole story. That's one of the reasons why Carmosky launched a new employer advisory council that has participation by many of the leading software and tech-related companies in the region. About three dozen people attended the kickoff event held last Thursday at the Apple store at Crossgates Mall.

Lanesey said the Capital Region's coder shortage experience is not much different than other cities, adding that software engineering and computer science has not been given enough emphasis in schools. Women and minorities in particular have not been exposed to computer code, which in many ways is like art or languages and appeals to the creative side of people, she said.

While getting more students to take computer science in college is one way to fill the coder shortage, there are many bright people without degrees or who work in other fields that can pick up coding with the right training and encouragement.

"We're working to shift mindset in the community," said Carmosky. "The idea that a career in software is open only to people with high math aptitude, a computer science degree, or indeed any college at all, is a misconception."

There are plenty of ways to become a software coder. Some people are self-taught, but many ways are expensive, such as getting a four-year degree or attending a programming "boot camp," which can cost $10,000 or more for intense training programs that take two to three months.

AlbanyCanCode has already helped create new courses at Schenectady County Community College that it also hopes to bring to other local schools, and it is working with the new advisory council on other ideas for training and mentoring at local software companies. The group is being funded with about $66,000 from the Workforce Development Institute in Albany and is seeking additional grants. It is also surveying local firms and people who want to be coders to collect as much data as possible about the dynamics.

"We want to make sure when we get talent to (local firms) they're ready to do the job," Lanesey said.

Local software executives who attended the AlbanyCanCode event said the coder shortage has created a fiercely competitive environment for workers. Companies are forced into bidding wars, and stealing seasoned employees, who can command salaries or $100,000 or more, is commonplace. That forces local firms to look outside the region and even overseas for coders, which is extremely costly.

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"We've got to stop that," Antonio Civitella, CEO of Schenectady-based Transfinder said. "Tech Valley, come on."

The lack of qualified local coders forced Civitella to open an office in China last year, and he also typically gets about two foreign employees a year through the H-1B visa program. But this year, his H1-B workers were rejected because there were not enough visas to go around. Civitella said he's had to pass on clients because he can't hire enough coders to write the transportation routing software that Transfinder sells to school districts. He's also been told he should move the company elsewhere, but he won't.

"We've turned down large checks," Civitella said. "We need this, and we're going to stay here, and we're going to make this work."

Clarke Foley, director of operations at MadGlory, a Saratoga Springs company that makes video game software platforms, said not everyone is born to be a coder, but formal training isn't always needed as it is with the art and literary worlds. Most often, potential candidates are discovered online, by their presence on Twitter and blogs and through GitHub, a massive online software code repository where reputations are made.

"Their GitHub account is worth its weight in gold," Foley said.

The way a person fits in with the team is also important, said Foley, who began his work career in the music industry, and new hires often go through a three-month trial to prove themselves.

"If you like to learn a lot, you're going to do well," Foley said. "You have to be eager to continue learning."

lrulison@timesunion.com  518-454-5504  @larryrulison
A Nenagh woman who underwent breast cancer treatment in Limerick a number of years ago has praised the opeing of a new dedicated Breast Unit at University Hospital Limerick.

Helen Leo said that the Breast Unit women attend in 2016 was a far cry from the environment in which she received her diagnosis in 2010.

The new 3m unit officially opened in the hospital's Leben Building last Thursday.

Women who like me went through the old breast unit will know of its shortcomings. You had to wait for your consultation, even for an initial diagnosis, in a claustrophobic space under a stairway which was very unwelcoming and almost cruel, said Helen after the new unit opened.

However, she said that the staff had always been great and she was delighted for people like the three specialist breast nurses - Mags Sullivan, Laura ODonoghue and Michelle Walsh - that they were moving into a new building as well, which was really fantastic.

My only regret is that I dont get to use it myself because I have fully recovered and, as (Consultant Breast Surgeon) Anne Merrigan puts it, I have graduated from the Breast Unit, said Helen.

According to the HSE, in 2015, there were 206 new breast cancers diagnosed in the Breast Unit at UHL, the women ranging in age from 23 to 96 years with a median age of 68.6. Activity continues to increase annually.

The development includes consultation rooms, a multidisciplinary team conference room, a prosthesis fitting room, a family room, offices and a quiet room where women can retire for cancer consultations and information. The unit boasts cutting-edge diagnostics, with two ultrasound and two mammography suites, including the first use in a public hospital in Ireland of tomosynthesis, also known as 3D mammography.
A Tipperary native is flying the flag for American Airlines pilots having been elected as president of the Allied Pilots Association.

Daniel F Carey, whose roots are in Ballyporeen, has taken the controls at the organisation that represents 15,000 pilots in the company.

Daniel, 56, received the most votes among the six candidates for president, avoiding a runoff when the candidate with the second-most votes requested that his name be removed from the ballot.

Capt Carey was born in Rockville Centre, New York, as the youngest of James and Dorothy Careys seven children. His father was an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II and a TWA captain from 1945 to 1975. His brother, Philip, retired from American Airlines last year as a 757 captain.

Capt Carey grew up in Levittown, New York, and graduated from South Side High School in Rockville Centre before completing the professional pilot programme at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona. He also completed a Negotiation Master Class jointly offered by Harvard and MIT while serving on the Negotiating Committee in 1998.

When hes not working, Capt Carey splits his time between Ballyporeen and Rockville Centre, where his wife, Alison, manages a dance studio.

The couple have three daughters. Jenna is the marketing director for a fitness clothing company; Jamie manages a catering company; and Clare is a senior at the University of Arizona.

Capt Carey is based at LaGuardia Airport, where he pilots the Boeing 777 on international routes. Since being hired by American Airlines in 1984, he has also captained the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and MD-80, the Airbus 300, and the Boeing 727. He has served as a first officer on the DC-10 and A-300, as well as a flight engineer on the B-727. Prior to joining American, he was a corporate pilot for El Paso Electric Company in El Paso, Texas.

Based in New York for almost his entire career, Capt Carey represented LGA on the APA board of directors from 1993 to 1998 as domicile vice-chairman and chairman. His APA service also includes time with the Negotiating Committee, the Legislative Affairs Committee, the Strike Preparedness Committee, the Benefits Review and Appeals Board, and the No B-Scale Committee.

While on leave from American in 2012 and 2013, Capt Carey piloted the presidential B-777 of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been the leader of Equatorial Guinea since 1979. His flight experience also includes Civil Reserve Air Fleet missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
[July 16, 2016] GEICO names Pionne Corbin vice president of Buffalo regional office; Tim LaMere promoted to underwriting assistant vice president

GEICO has announced that Pionne Corbin was recently promoted to vice president of the Buffalo regional office. She will head GEICO operations in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Jersey, assisting more than 1.4 million customers in that region. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160716005001/en/ GEICO names Pionne Corbin vice president of Buffalo regional office (Photo: Business Wire) Corbin began her career with GEICO in 1993 as a management intern at the Fredericksburg, Va. regional office. After successfully completing the internship program, she took on a position as supervisor of claim service representatives. Corbin has since rotated through the underwriting division where she was a sales supervisor and a service manager. In 2004, she also managed the new business underwriting division and the reunderwriting division before moving to claims in 2006. Corbin joined the commercial auto division in 2009 as commercial operations manager, with responsibilities in sales, service and underwriting. She was promoted to director in 2012 before being elected an officer for the Buffalo regional office in 2013. Prior to the new appointment, Corbin served as assistant vice president of claims. She will be succeeded by Jeremy Connor, who is relocating from GEICO's Florida regional office. Corbin graduated cum laude from the University of Mary Washington with a bachelor's degree in economics. She also serves on the board of the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. Also in Buffalo, Tim LaMere has been promoted to assistant vice presiden of underwriting. LaMere joined the Woodbury, N.Y., GEICO sales team in 2003 and went on to hold several positions in GEICO's regional offices and corporate headquarters. By 2006, LaMere earned a position on the GEICO management team as product supervisor and manager. He has since served as underwriting manager and customer service manager in Woodbury. In 2011, he joined GEICO's corporate office as an executive assistant.



After completing rotations in claims liability and auto damage, LaMere accepted a position as service director for GEICO's Buffalo regional office in 2012 and now serves as assistant vice president of underwriting. LaMere holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a concentration in finance, from Marist College. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company) is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is the second-largest private passenger auto insurance company in the United States. GEICO, which was founded in 1936, provides millions of auto insurance quotes to U.S. drivers annually. The company is pleased to serve more than 14 million private passenger customers, insuring more than 23 million vehicles (auto & cycle). Using GEICO's online service center, policyholders can purchase policies, make policy changes, report claims and print insurance ID cards. Policyholders can also connect to GEICO through the GEICO App, reach a representative over the phone or visit a GEICO local agent. GEICO also provides insurance quotes on motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), boats, travel trailers and motorhomes (RVs). Coverage for life, homes and apartments is written by non-affiliated insurance companies and is secured through the GEICO Insurance Agency, Inc. Commercial auto insurance and personal umbrella protection are also available. For more information, go to www.geico.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160716005001/en/

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[July 15, 2016] ESET Discovers Fake Apps on Google Play Targeting Pokemon GO Users

SAN DIEGO, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- ESET, a global pioneer in proactive protection for more than two decades, today announced the discovery of fake apps on Google Play targeting Pokemon GO users. All fake apps were detected by ESET Mobile Security  lockscreen app named "Pokemon GO Ultimate" and scareware apps "Guide & Cheats for Pokemon GO" and "Install Pokemongo"  are no longer available on Google Play. They have already been removed from the store at ESET's recommendation. Having been available on Google Play for only a short time, the apps only managed downloads numbering in the hundreds. "Install Pokemongo" attracted 10,000  50,000 victims, the "Guide & Cheats for Pokemon GO" reached between 100  500, and the most dangerous of them, "Pokemon GO Ultimate" reached 500  1,000 downloads. "Pokemon GO Ultimate" resembles a version of the much hyped game but its true functionality is malicious: it deliberately locks the screen immediately after startup. In many cases, reboot  the intuitive solution for a frozen screen  is not available because the app overlays all the other apps as well as the system windows. Users must resort to restarting their device either by pulling out the battery or using Android Device Manager. After reboot, it runs in the background, invisible to the victim, silently clicking on porn advertisements. To get rid of it, the user needs to g to Settings -> Application manager -> PI Network and then uninstall it manually.



"'Pokemon GO Ultimate' is the first observation on Google Play of lockscreen functionality being successfully used in a fake app," explains Lukas Stefanko, ESET Malware Researcher. "As its ultimate functionality is clicking on porn ads, it's not truly damaging. But as for its lockscreen functionality, it'd only take adding a ransom message to create the first lockscreen ransomware on Google Play." Along with "Pokemon GO Ultimate" which bears signs of both Screen Locker and Porn Clicker, ESET researchers also found other Pokemon GO-related malware on Google Play. Bogus apps named "Guide & Cheats for Pokemon GO" and "Install Pokemongo" on Google Play, belong to the Scareware family. They trick their victims into paying for unnecessary services. Promising to generate Pokecoins, Pokeballs or Lucky Eggs  up to 999,999 each day  they lure victims into subscribing to expensive bogus services. (Such functionality has recently been described in an article published on ESET's blog, WeLiveSecurity.com.)

"Pokemon GO is such an appealing game that despite of all the warnings by security experts, users tend to accept the risks and download anything to catch all the Pokemon," notes Lukas Stefanko. "Those who really can't resist the temptation should at least follow the most basic security rules." ESET experts remind users to only download apps from reputable sources, and use a mobile security solution, like ESET Mobile Security, that can scan and identify malicious apps, as well as check permissions to ensure apps are not accessing unnecessary information. The full article on this discovery can be found here: http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/07/15/pokemon-go-hype-first-lockscreen-tries-catch-trend/ About ESET:

Since 1987, ESET has been developing award-winning security software that now helps over 100 million users to Enjoy Safer Technology. Its broad security product portfolio covers all popular platforms and provides businesses and consumers around the world with the perfect balance of performance and proactive protection. The company has a global sales network covering 180 countries, and regional offices in Bratislava, San Diego, Singapore and Buenos Aires. For more information visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121109/SF09648LOGO To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eset-discovers-fake-apps-on-google-play-targeting-pokemon-go-users-300299616.html SOURCE ESET

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Lawrence County Council approve transfer and appropriation requests

During Tuesday evenings meeting of the Lawrence County Council, budget transfers and additional appropriations were approved for county offices.
By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 16 (PTI) The Turkish government today closed its airspace for use of military aircrafts after the failed military takeover bid, affecting Americas anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon said.

"The Turkish government has closed its airspace to military aircraft and as a result air operations at Incirlik Air Base have been halted at this time," the Pentagon Press Secretary Peter cook said.

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"US officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible," he said.

The US is using the Incirlik air base in Turkey to fly missions against the extremists in Syria and Iraq.

In the meantime, the US Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIS campaign to minimise any effects on the campaign, Cook said.

US facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power sources and a loss of commercial power to the base has not affected base operations, he noted.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is continuing with its efforts to fully account for all Department of Defense personnel in Turkey.

"All indications at this time are that everyone is safe and secure. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, our civilians, their families and our facilities," Cook said. PTI LKJ SUA SUA

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jul 16 (PTI) The US has called for reducing rhetoric and violence in Kashmir, a day after Pakistan termed slain Hizbul commander Burhan Wani as a "martyr" and said July 19 will be observed as "black day" to protest "atrocities" against Kashmiris by Indian security forces.

"It is a situation where we need all parties to this to reduce the rhetoric, reduce the violence, get back to a situation where they can have dialogue," State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters at her daily news conference yesterday.

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"Obviously were gravely concerned about this situation. Were gravely concerned about the violence," she said.

Trudeau was responding to questions on the decision of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs declaration to observe July 19 as "Black day" in support of the killing of Burhan in an encounter in Kokernag on July 8 by Indian security forces.

At least 38 people have died and over 3100 others, including 1500 security men, injured in the week-long clashes following Burhans killing in an encounter in Kokernag.

Trudeau said the US would not support any call for increasing tension in the region.

"I wouldnt say that any call for increasing tension or increasing rhetoric is something that we would support. Weve been very clear on our position on this. But again, it would be the government of that minister to speak to his remarks," the spokesperson said in response to another question.

Addressing a special cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Kashmir, Sharif yesterday termed the "movement of Kashmiris as a movement of freedom".

"The Prime Minister termed Burhan Wani as martyr of independence movement," Radio Pakistan reported.

The cabinet decided that "black day" will be observed on Tuesday (July 19).

Pakistan also briefed the ambassadors of African and Middle Eastern countries over the tense situation in Kashmir.

Thousands of people rallied in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok) yesterday to protest the deadly clashes between the people and Indian security forces in Kashmir. PTI LKJ MRJ

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The week in storage began with Samsung's 850 Evo, which breaks through the high-density barrier with 4 TB of capacity. The right balance of performance and cost is always important, so the high capacity alone doesn't make the SSD a winner. Chris Ramseyer tested the 850 Evo to see if it would take flight, and the verdict is resoundingly positive, as long as one ignores the $1,499 price tag.

We covered the latest news on the Seagate restructuring plan as the company announced positive preliminary earnings, which sent its stock into happy territory. However, the silver cloud has a dark lining in the form of a total of 8,100 layoffs. The restructuring doesn't include just severing employees; news trickled out that the company is also closing its plant in Havant, England, which it obtained when it bought Xyratex.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. government cannot compel Microsoft to turn over email data that it physically stores in other countries. This watershed ruling will help protect the rights of foreign citizens, as the U.S. will have to work in tandem with local authorities to issue a warrant for the data. Several countries now have indigenous data regulations that require all data to be stored locally due to the perception (and perhaps reality) of ever-prying U.S. government eyes.

NAS is becoming increasingly popular as we look for beefier methods to store our digital lives. The Drobo B810n 8-bay offers plenty of storage capacity in an aesthetically attractive design. The nuts and bolts of software interaction and critical capabilities are what separate the wheat from the chaff, but Drobo may have taken simplicity too far.

Of course, there are always other interesting tidbits spread out over the week, so let's take a closer look at a few of the latest.

3D XPoint Optane SSDs Spotted

Standards bodies and interoperability labs are great places to watch if you are interested in a glimpse of the future. The University Of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab (UNH-IOL) ensures that NVMe SSDs are compliant with the NVMe spec. To that effect, it holds regular plugfests, which bring together a multitude of vendors (20 companies in this case) to test their respective SSDs. Devices that pass the tests make it to the UNH-IOL Integrators List, which proves the devices are up to NVMe snuff.

The list now includes the recently certified Intel Optane, which is Intel's 3D XPoint-powered SSD of the future. Intel and Micron tout that 3D XPoint has 1000x the performance and endurance of NAND with 10x the density of DRAM and Intel revealed that it helped establish the NVMe interface with its then-secret 3D XPoint in mind.

3D XPoint performance would overwhelm SAS or SATA connections, so the use of the PCIe interface is hardly surprising. However, 3D XPoint can also be used as memory DIMMs that allow the computer to address the storage as memory (hence the "Storage Class Memory" moniker). Intel disclosed that its Kaby Lake platforms would be 3D XPoint-compatible, which indicates that it will support memory mapping via the RAM slots, but OS/application support for storage class memory is rudimentary and still evolving.

The 3D XPoint-powered Optane SSDs are the near-term home run hitter, as they will certainly be faster than any NAND alternative (though just how much remains open to debate), and NVMe has broad compatibility.

The Optane future is nearly upon us, as the listing indicates that Intel has a fully functional and complete device ready. The Flash Memory Summit and Intel's own IDF event are approaching quickly. We suspect the full unveiling of Optane will occur at one of these two events.

On another note, Samsung also has an "NVMe 96X Series" listed, and it bears a different firmware than the OEM models we recently tested. The listing implies that we will see the consumer version of the SSD soon, which Samsung will likely unveil at its upcoming yearly event.

There is also a Lenovo Atasani M.2 SSD listed, which suggests that Lenovo is now building its own SSDs. Samsung is the traditional Lenovo SSD supplier, which makes that finding all the more interesting.

Google's Pwns Its Own SSDs; Clouds Go Dark

One of the best things about the cloud is that we do not have to manage the servers and storage attached to it; we merely consume the end product with as little thought as possible. Oh, the freedom!

One of the worst things about the cloud is that we do not have any control over said infrastructure, so when an outage occurs we are powerless. Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain accurate reports of cloud outages and disturbances, as there are no industry-standard rules and regulations that govern reporting. Some disturbances go unreported, thus giving the cloud more of a bulletproof image than it deserves.

Google is one of the cloud vendors that appear to be transparent about its outages. On July 10, the company reported there were severe problems in one of its service zones for 211 minutes. The outage may not seem to be a huge issue, unless you are a company that generates money, or is entirely reliant upon Google's services.

The company stated that instances using SSDs as their root partition were likely completely unresponsive during this period and that secondary SSD volumes suffered "slightly elevated latency and errors."

A previously unseen software bug, triggered by the two concurrent maintenance events, meant that disk blocks which became unused as a result of the rebalance were not freed up for subsequent reuse, depleting the available SSD space in the zone until writes were rejected.

The details of the event are telling, at least if you understand the inner working of SSDs. Google is one of the world's largest SSD manufacturers because many of its SSDs are actually custom units that it designs and manufactures itself. The details of how many of the company's SSDs are custom units is a closely guarded secret, but Google builds so many SSDs that it appeared as one of the largest SSD vendors in some SSD market reports.

SSD designs are generally broken into two categories: those that control their own inner workings, and those that the host computer manages directly. Virtually every single consumer SSD, such as the ones we pop into the desktop, are self-contained SSDs that manage the myriad functions internally and independently from the host.

The host manages some enterprise SSDs, which gives the user more granularity and control. The fact that the blocks were not re-designated as open, and summarily returned to use, suggests that software is managing the SSDs at the block layer. This technique fits well with the software-defined nature of today's hyperscale data centers, but it also opens the door to unexpected issues due to host interactions that expose it to numerous various software- or host-imposed errors.

In either case, Google has identified the problem and is already testing a fix on non-production machines in tandem with boosting its error monitoring capabilities to speed its reaction time. The outage serves as a reminder that we are still in the early days of the cloud, and these teething problems are a perfect example of why many companies are reluctant to be entirely reliant upon cloud services.

This Week's Storage Tidbit

Trendfocus released its preliminary CQ2 2016 HDD market update, which revealed that Toshiba is making remarkable gains in the HDD market. Western Digital and Seagate recorded a 12- and 17-percent decline (respectively) in year over year HDD shipments, while Toshiba chalked up a 26 percent gain. Toshiba has a much smaller presence than WDC and Seagate, so it is easier for it to score an impressive growth rate, but any growth at all in the plummeting HDD market is impressive.

There have been unconfirmed rumblings that WDC and Seagate's system efforts may have angered the OEM overlords, who are now moving to Toshiba in retaliation. Toshiba is emerging from a restructuring effort in the wake of an accounting scandal, and many speculated that the company might sell off its HDD division. The latest market reports indicate quite the turnaround for the Toshiba HDD unit, so it's a safe bet the company's HDD efforts will soldier on.
The case dates back to 2012 when two cheques handed out by Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airline to Airport Authority of India (AAI) had bounced.

By Vidya : The 63rd metropolitan magistrate AA Laulkar today issued a non-bailable warrant against business tycoon Vijay Mallya.

The Mumbai court had earlier in may this year directed Mallya to appear before it in July "as a last chance". During the hearing, an advocate appearing for Mallya told the court that since Mallya's passport has been revoked by the government of India, he can't come to the country. So, the matter should be heard without him being present in court, he said.

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KINGFISHER AIRLINES CHEQUE BOUNCE CASE



The case dates back to 2012 when two cheques handed out by Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) to Airport Authority of India (AAI) had bounced. The total money riding on the cheques were of about 107 crores which were due from KFA. These cheques had bounced in 2012 and were of Rs 50 crores and 57 crores each.

Soon AAI filed two cases of cheque bouncing against Kingfisher and six others including Mallya in the Andheri metropolitan court. While the case was being heard, Mallya had been granted permanent exemption by the court.

After the goverment woke up to Mallya having left the country on March 2 this year, AAI filed two applications. One application sought cancellation of permanent exemption granted to him by court and the other asked for a non-bailable warrant to be issued against him.

NON-BAILABLE WARRANTS ISSUED AGAINST MALLYA



Mallya, who is currently lodged in UK and is said to be leading a lavish lifestyle, even while the Indian government had revoked his Indian passport, is already facing two non-bailable warrants issued in his name by Indian courts. The special PMLA court in mumbai had issued warrant in a case of money laundering that enforcement directorate is investigating. A court in Hyderabad had issued the second NBW in a cheque bouncing case registered there against mallya. The service tax department too has been trying to get an NBW issued against Vijay Mallya and his then CEO for the dues that have been pending from the erstwhile company Kingfisher.

ALSO READ:

Spotted! Vijay Mallya appears for F1 meet in UK

Vijay Mallya's customised private jet up for sale

--- ENDS ---
The British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA) has reached an agreement with the government to construct a 1,000 megawatts (MW) solar plant in Iran at an investment of 1.5-billion ($1.65 billion), said a report.



Besides setting up the plant, the agreement also involves establishment of a factory at the value of 25 million ($27.6 million) to build solar panels and transferring technological know-how to the Iran, reported Tehran Times, citing BPVA chairman Reza Sheibani.



Construction of the solar plant will be financed by attraction of foreign financial resources and investments, while the solar panel factory, with the capacity of 500 MW per annum, will be built via cooperating with Iranian companies, stated Sheibani.



BPVA, the national trade association of the UK solar photovoltaic industry, is a strong political and commercial organization.



Iran, which sits on the worlds largest natural gas reserve and also holds the fourth place globally in terms of oil reserves, is also showing interest in renewable energy resources to improve energy security, reduce internal dependence on hydrocarbons, and meet its projected growth in electricity demand, the report added.
Italy's state railways company expects to sign a contract to build the first stretch of a high-speed rail line in Iran in February 2017, its chief executive said.



The contract for the roughly 100 km-stretch between Qom and Arak is worth about 1 billion ($1.1 billion), Ferrovie dello Stato chief Renato Mazzoncini said at an event in Rome.



Ferrovie signed a framework agreement to build two high-speed lines in Iran when Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited Tehran with a delegation of business leaders in April.



Mazzoncini said the overall deal would be worth about 4 billion ($4.41 billion).-Reuters
The United States called on all parties in Turkey to support President Tayyip Erdogan's government against a coup attempt as world leaders expressed concern about the upheaval in a Nato member country that bridges Europe and the Middle East.



President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone and gave their support to Erdogan after Turkey's military said it had seized power on Friday. By early Saturday, Erdogan appeared to have regained control.



"The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said in a statement.



Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003 and if the coup against him was successful it would have been one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years.



The sharp-tongued Erdogan is often accused of authoritarian rule at home and has frequently fallen out with neighbours such as Israel, Iran, Russia and the European Union as he tried to carve out a greater role for Turkey in the Middle East.



But Turkey is a key ally for Washington which has often pointed to the country as a good example of a free-market democracy in the Muslim world, even though it has a poor record on freedom of expression.



Relations between Erdogan and the Obama administration have deteriorated in recent years as Washington complained that Ankara was not doing enough to fight Islamic State. Erdogan chafes at US support for Syrian Kurdish rebels, who have close ties to Kurdish guerrillas fighting in Turkey.



The US uses the Incirlik air base in Turkey to launch strikes against Islamic State, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. It said those operations had not been affected by the upheaval.



The State Department told US citizens in Turkey to "shelter in place and stay indoors."



US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she supported Turkey's civilian government and was following the events in Turkey "with great concern."



European Council President Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns.



"Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," Tusk said at regional summit in Mongolia.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed the sentiments.



"The democratic order in Turkey must be respected. Everything needs to be done to protect human lives," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter.



Ties between Turkey and Germany - vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe - have been strained since the Bundestag passed a resolution in June branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as a genocide. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation.



Iran said on Friday it was deeply concerned about the crisis in the neighboring country.



"Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity and prudence are imperative," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account.



In Syria, hundreds of cheering government supporters took to the streets of Damascus early on Saturday and celebratory gunfire erupted after Turkey's army said it seized power from Erdogan, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main foes in the region.



Residents said convoys of cars circled around the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.



Assad's government has accused Erdogan of fuelling Syria's five-year conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria.



The Kremlin said it was gravely concerned about events in Turkey, and that it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey.



China's Foreign Ministry called on Turkey to restore order and stability as soon as possible after the coup attempt, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Turkey's democracy must be respected, according to the Kyodo news agency.



Turkey closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid any travels to the country's southern neighbor.



Mexico also warned against travel to Turkey, while countries including Malaysia, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand urged citizens in Turkey to be vigilant, stay indoors and keep tabs on local media.



Britain's new foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said he was "very concerned" by events in Turkey, where many thousands of British and other European holiday-makers were spending summer vacations.-Reuters
Yemen's al Qaeda wing has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack that targeted the governor of the southern city of Aden, according to US monitoring group SITE.



Security officials said on Friday that a car packed with explosives blew up when the convoy of governor, Aidaroos al-Zubaidi, passed by in the Inma area of Aden. One soldier was wounded in the attack but Zubaidi was unhurt.



SITE cited a brief statement by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on its Telegram channel on Friday saying it had detonated a bomb in a parked vehicle.



It said both Zubaidi and Aden police chief, Shallal Shayei, were in the vehicle, but gave no further details.



A civil war has raged for more than a year in Yemen and insecurity has gripped the port city, the temporary seat of Yemen's embattled government.



Zubaidi was appointed governor of Aden after his predecessor was killed in a car bombing on Dec. 6 claimed by Islamic State, AQAP's main rival in Yemen. Attackers have tried several times before to kill him in car bomb blasts.



A mostly Gulf alliance led by Saudi Arabia intervened in the civil war in March to support the government and fight the Houthi movement, which it accuses of being a proxy for its regional arch-rival Iran.-Reuters
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday turmoil in Turkey threatened regional stability and called on the Turkish authorities to resolve the situation without violence and within the country's constitutional framework.



It spoke out as forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.



Relations between the Kremlin and Erdogan remain strained over the Syria crisis and the Turkish shooting down of a Russian fighter jet in November despite an agreement last month to resume bilateral cooperation after a period of tension.



"In Moscow we are gravely concerned about events inside the Turkish republic," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.



"The escalation of the political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and of armed conflict in the region pose heightened risks for international and regional stability."



Russian authorities have in the past accused Erdogan of ignoring the smuggling of Islamic State oil from Syria to Turkey and of overseeing what they have called the problematic Islamisation of Turkish society.



Erdogan has rejected the smuggling charges as slander.



Russian trade sanctions on Turkey, imposed over the shooting down of the fighter jet, remain in place despite the Kremlin saying last month that Erdogan had apologised to President Vladimir Putin over the incident.



Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the coup attempt showed something was badly wrong in Turkish society.



"What happened shows that in society and within the army of the Turkish Republic there are powerful deep contradictions which have bubbled to the surface," Medvedev told reporters after a summit in Mongolia.



The Russian Foreign Ministry said it confirmed its readiness to work with Turkey's legitimately-elected leadership, especially when it came to tackling terrorism.



Authorities were working to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Turkey, traditionally one of the most popular holiday destinations for them, the ministry said. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said officials had been ordered to help Russian nationals return home as soon as possible.



Putin was being kept constantly updated, he added.



The TASS news agency reported that Russian airlines had suspended regular passenger flights to Turkey.



Turkey is one of the largest importers of Russian grain. Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said he hoped the turmoil would not seriously affect exports.-Reuters
Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.



One hundred and sixty-one people were killed, including many civilians, after a faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks and attack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and others seized a major bridge in Istanbul.



Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him, and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.



"They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, who saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago.



"This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army." A Turkish broadcaster reported that a purge of the judiciary was also under way.



At one stage, military commanders were held hostage by the plotters, a minister said. By Saturday evening there were still isolated rebel pockets but the government declared the situation fully under control, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who had formed "the backbone" of the rebellion.



Anadolu news agency said one of those detained was the commander general of the second army, one of Turkey's most senior military officials.



A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey's southern neighbour Syria into civil war.



However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a Nato member and major US ally that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.



Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.



Addressing thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport later, he said the government remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.



Erdogan, a polarising figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris.



"They bombed places I had departed from right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there."



Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.



His conservative religious vision for Turkey's future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protests demanding more freedom.



However, he also commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, particularly for restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises. Living standards have risen steadily under his rule, and while the economy has hit serious problems in recent years, it grew a greater-than-expected 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.



Still, the violence is likely to hit a tourism industry already suffering from the bombings, and business confidence is also vulnerable.



SMARTPHONE ADDRESS



In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook.



Erdogan addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera.



He said the "parallel structure" was behind the coup attempt, his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.



Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, once supported Erdogan but became a leading adversary. He condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it.



"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement.



Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had not received any request to extradite Gulen.



The purge appeared to go beyond the military. Citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, broadcaster NTV reported that authorities had removed 2,745 judges from duty.



SOLDIERS SURRENDER



Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably.



About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.



By Saturday afternoon, CNN Turk reported that security forces had completed an operation against coup plotters at the headquarters of the military general staff. Security sources also said police detained about 100 military officers at an air base in the southeast.



Neighbouring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the Greek police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum.



The US consulate in Turkey said authorities were denying movement onto and off the southern Incirlik air base. The Pentagon said it was working with Turkey to resume air operations at the base, used to conduct air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria.



LAWMAKERS IN HIDING



The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus, which separates Europe and Asia in Istanbul.



Turkish maritime authorities reopened the Bosphorus to transiting tankers after shutting the major trade route from the Black Sea to the Aegean for several hours for security and safety reasons.



In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers hid in shelters inside the parliament building, which was fired on by tanks. An opposition deputy told Reuters that parliament was hit three times and people had been wounded.



When parliament convened later in the day, the four main political parties - running the gamut from Erdogan's right-wing, Islamist-rooted AK Party to the left-of-centre, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) - came together in a rare show of unity to condemn the attempted coup.



A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara.



Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.



"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport.



Kerry said he had phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".



Europe's most powerful leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, condemned the attempted coup and also urged that the rule of law be followed in the aftermath.



Erdogan has had often prickly relations with the European Union, which worried about some of his actions including raids on Turkish media.



FLIGHTS RESUME



Flag carrier Turkish Airlines resumed flights on Saturday, though some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights.



At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.



Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.



Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants.



After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.-Reuters
US intelligence officials have finished reviewing 28 classified pages of the official report on the September 11 attacks on the US and they show no evidence of Saudi complicity, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Friday.



"It will confirm what we have been saying for quite some time," Earnest told reporter during a daily White House briefing.



The 28 pages that will be sent to the US Congress on Friday contain no new evidence that Saudi Arabia played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Earnest said.



Saudi Arabia's foreign minister welcomed the release of a long-classified section of the official report on the Sept. 11 attacks that discussed potential links between some of the hijackers and Saudi Arabia.



"The matter is now finished," Adel Al Jubeir told a news conference in Washington. Asked whether the report exonerated the kingdom, he said: "Absolutely."



The 28 pages of the report on the 2002 investigation focus on potential Saudi links to the 2001 aircraft attacks on the US, in which nearly 3,000 people died.



They were issued by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Friday after years of wrangling in Washington between Congress and different administrations, Republicans and Democrats, and urging by families of those killed.-Reuters
Flights to Turkey diverted and departures from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport were cancelled as a coup attempt unfolded in the country on Friday and Turkey's military said it had seized power.



A Reuters witness in Istanbul, citing a pilot, said all upcoming flights from the Istanbul airport had been cancelled. Flight tracking website FlightAware.com so far listed 33 cancelled departures for Friday and Saturday.



A British Airways flight to Istanbul diverted to Sofia, Bulgaria, and a Lufthansa flight to Istanbul returned to its origin in Frankfurt, company spokeswomen told Reuters.



The US Federal Aviation Administration said all US-inbound flights from Istanbul that were in the air prior to the airport's closing would be allowed to land in the United States as planned.



Turkish Airlines and other carriers did not immediately comment.  Reuters
Vijender Singh defeated Australia's Kerry Hope after a 10-round battle to clinch the WBO Asia Pacific middleweight title on Saturday.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Star boxer Vijender Singh defeated Kerry Hope of Australia in a hard-fought bout to win the WBO Asia/Pacific Middleweight title at the Thyagraj Stadium here on Saturday evening.

Faced with the most experienced and highly rated opponent of his fledgling professional career, Vijender carved out a 98-92, 98-92, 100-90 verdict from the three judges to extend his record to seven wins from as many fights. (Also read: Vijender Singh dedicates WBO Asia Pacific title win to Muhammad Ali)



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Both boxers were a bit cagey in the opening round, trying to gauge each other. Vijender did manage to penetrate his opponent's defence once with a powerful blow that clearly shook up the Australian.

Congratulations @boxervijender for a hard fought and well deserved win. It was yet another display of immense skill, strength & stamina. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 16, 2016

The second round clearly belonged to Vijender, who made good use of his long reach to evade Hope's punches while going for power-packed body shots.



Hope did better in the third round, and managed to penetrate Vijender's defence a couple of times with his fast right jabs.



By unanimous decision, @boxervijender is the new WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight CHAMPION! #SinghvsHope pic.twitter.com/YUocv4OwYW IOS Boxing (@IOSBoxing) July 16, 2016

The Australian gradually started gaining the upper hand as the bout wore on, repeatedly outfoxing Vijender with his superior footwork and movement.

He dominated the fourth and fifth rounds and although Vijender managed to land a few solid blows of his own, the local favourite was clearly having the worse of it.

The Indian managed to put Hope in trouble towards the end of the sixth round, putting Hope in trouble with a couple of bodyshots and a jab to the face.

The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist seemed to tire a bit as the fight wore on. Hope continued to move around with speed and vigour, exhibiting impressive technique and footwork while Vijender was comparatively less mobile in the later rounds, relying more on his power to counter his opponent.

But despite taking some hits to his body, he managed to hold his own till the end.

SANDEEP SAHOTA WINS SUPER LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT



Earlier, in the other significant fight of the night, British Asian boxer Sandeep Sahota defeated Vikas Lohan 3-0 in a Super Lightweight bout.

Sahota adopted an aggressive approach right from the start. Lohan also played attacking game but Sahota ultimately proved to be too good for him, winning the fast paced bout 40-37, 40-36, 40-37.

In another bout, Siddharth Verma beat Dilbagh Thakran 80-73, 79-73, 77-75.

In the Lightweight category, Kuldeep Dhanda of India beat Thailand's Vichayan Khamon 60-52, 60-55, 60-53 in convincing fashion.



--- ENDS ---

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Here are a few things you should know about the Pakistani model-actress, who was recently murdered.

By India Today Web Desk: Qandeel Baloch loved the limelight: most of us know this very basic fact, though we know very little about the Pakistani model-actress herself.

Here are a few things you should know about the 26-year-old, who was recently killed.

Qandeel Baloch's real name is Fauzia Azeem. She was married to Ashiq Hussain when she was just 17-years-old, and had a son from the same relationship.

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Also read: Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch, who promised to strip for cricket team, strangled to death by brother

She divorced her husband in 2010 on the grounds of severe physical and mental abuse. In an interview with Pakistani newspaper Dawn, she claimed that, "That man tried to throw acid on me. He said 'I'll burn your face because you're so beautiful'." After the divorce, Baloch lost custody of her son.

Baloch had appeared on the television show 'Pakistani Idol' (a spin-off of American Idol).

She shot to fame in March 2016, when she claimed she would strip dance for Pakistan if the nation's cricket team won the T20 World Cup. She even sent cricketer Shahid Afridi a message with the same claim, and released a teaser on social media.

Recently, she was once again in focus thanks to her href="http://itwebapi.simpleapi.itgd.in/Link%20in%3A%20https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtD72-js8dQ"> 'Ban' video with singer Aryan Khan. Baloch was seen dancing and twerking on the video, and got some flak for not doing either as well as Miley Cyrus or Nicki Minaj.

Last month, Baloch took a selfie with Mufti Abdul Qawi, and posted it on her Twitter page. Qawi was a part of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, but the party suspended his membership following this incident.

Baloch constantly talked about women empowerment, and was known for her controversial actions and posts. She was murdered by her brother Waseem, on Friday, in an act of honour killing. Her body was discovered yesterday morning in Multan. Waseem, who had been threatening Baloch over her social media posts for a while before killing her, was arrested late last night.

--- ENDS ---
Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik said that suicide bombings are permitted in Islam if it used as a tactic in war.

Indian media is running a trial against me. Half sentences being shown, clips being doctored and statements being shown out of context to malign me.

By Mail Today Bureau: Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who is under fire for inspiring terrorists, including those who attacked a Dhaka caf said on Friday that suicide bombings are permitted in Islam if it used as a tactic in war but if innocents are getting killed it is haram.

Justifying suicide bombings as a tactical move in wars, he gave the example of Japan in World War II.

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WON'T RETURN TO INDIA

The televangelist interacted with the media via Skype from Saudi Arabia, stating that he has no plans to return to India this year but maintained that his speeches were blown out of context and that he has never inspired any terror activity.

I'M A MESSENGER OF PEACE: NAIK



Stating that he is a messenger of peace, Naik said, "Killing innocent people is prohibited in Islam and I condemn all terrorist attacks."

Referring to the footage of some of his speeches shown by media following the Dhaka carnage, he said, "Indian media is running a trial against me because of unverified reports. Half sentences being shown, clips being doctored and statements being shown out of context to malign me. It is unethical for the media to not take my answers on face value and doubt me. There are two thousand sentences in which I condemned terrorism...there may be 10 sentences in which one may take out a double meaning... videos are being doctored for ulterior motives...," he said.

I NEVER SAID KILL INNOCENTS: NAIK

To a query on the probe by Mumbai Police into his speeches, he said, "So far no official government agency has approached me to ask me to cooperate in their investigations. If they do, I will welcome it. I have never had any problems with governments or police in the past. I am willing to cooperate with any investigation agency."

He said that there are some people in Islam misguiding people in the name of paradise after death. People are inspired by Prophet Mohammed...but he never said that innocent should be killed. Similarly I never said kill innocents," Naik asserted.



ALSO READ:

Zakir Naik: Don't back terror, being targeted for running Islamic channel

Zakir Naik seeks support from Muslims on Twitter, Facebook against media trials





--- ENDS ---
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 16

Panic gripped the Canal Colony area near the citys cantonment after five rusted bombs were found from bushes on a roadside here this evening. The bombs were spotted by evening walkers who informed the cantonment police about this.

Senior police officials immediately reached the spot and took the bombs into their custody. Army authorities also reached there. The area from where the bombs were found has the residences of senior police officials, judges and administrative officials. The incident has raised a question mark on the security arrangements for the officials living there.

Police Commissioner Amar Singh Chahal confirmed the incident and said further investigations were on to find out who had dumped these bombs there.

Sushil Kumar, SHO, Cantonment police station, said the bombs were without detonators. As soon as the police received the information, senior police officials, including Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) reached the spot.

The bombs were old and rusty. As there were no detonators, they were not harmful, the SHO said. He added that the bomb squad from the Army had also reached the spot and examined the bombs. They later handed over these to the police, he said. Though the bombs had explosives, there were no detonators.
Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 16

While the Mohali police are yet to take action on the complaint of Municipal Commissioner Uma Shankar Gupta against Deputy Mayor Manjit Singh Sethi, the latter lodged a counter police complaint against Gupta today.

In his complaint, sent to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Mohali SSP GS Bhullar, Sethi accused Gupta and MC Superintendent Manoj Kumar of cheating, preparing forged documents and hatching criminal conspiracy against him.

The MC Commissioner along with Kumar has conspired to defame me as I had sent him a legal notice on the issue of an MC Superintendent resigning a few days ago. In my complaint, I have exposed the wrongdoings of Gupta, alleged Sethi.

It is to be noted that after ruckus and war of words between Gupta and Sethi during the MC House meeting yesterday, the MC Commissioner had sent a police complaint to the Mohali SSP, alleging threat to him, manhandling and obstruction in performing official duty against Sethi.

Mohali SP Gursewak Singh, said he was yet to receive the Deputy Mayors complaint. We are looking into the complaint of the MC Commissioner. The required action will be taken, he said.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

A 44-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly murdering his brother in central Delhis Anand Parvat area, said the police today.

The accused has been identified as Dharam Singh (44). The victim, Sukhvinder Singh alias Raju, was murdered on July 15.

On the basis of secret information, accused Dharam Singh was apprehended from near Kamal T Point, New Rohtak Road in the area.

There was a history of family dispute between them over property issue and Dharams wife was staying with Sukhvinder since last year, said Parmaditya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central District).

33-yr-old Croatian man commits suicide

A 33-year-old Croatian man allegedly committed suicide at a hotel in south Delhis Mahipalpur area, said the police today.

The police said the man had been identified as Nenad Kresoja, who worked at a school in Croatia. An inquest had been initiated into the matter, said a senior police officer.

However, no suicide note was recovered.

Forensic teams have inspected the scene, which was also visited by the Croatian ambassador here, said an official.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16

At least 40 persons were taken ill after chlorine gas leaked from a cylinder in a waterworks at Nagpur village of Fatehabad on Saturday evening.

The victims who complained of breathlessness and irritation in eyes were rushed to General Hospital in Fatehabad.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Two seriously ill villagers have been admitted to the hospital while others are being given first-aid, hospital sources said.

At least 40 persons were taken ill after chlorine gas leaked from a cylinder in a waterworks at Nagpur village of Fatehabad on Saturday evening.

The victims who complained of breathlessness and irritation in eyes were rushed to General Hospital in Fatehabad.

Two seriously ill villagers have been admitted to the hospital while others are being given first-aid, hospital sources said.

Deputy Commissioner NK Solanki said a 100 kg chlorine cylinder leaked affecting people living in the vicinity of the waterworks.

He said most of 40-odd people brought to the hospital have been discharged after treatment. Only 3 or 4 are under observation.

The cylinder has been put into a water tank to prevent any further ill-effects on people, he said.
Gurgaon, July 16

A garment businessman was shot dead by three motorcycle-borne assailants in Sadar Bazar here, the police said.

Sanjeev Jindal, 38, was on his way home after locking his shop last night when the three armed men waylaid him and opened fire.

The men fled after three to four bullets hit Jindal, who was shot at point-blank range. He was taken to hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

The entire incident of firing has been recorded in a CCTV camera installed at adjoining shops in the area, according to Sumit Kumar, DCP (West) Gurgaon. Preliminary investigations suggest that it is a matter of personal enmity. The accused may have been hired by someone else as a matter of contract killing, he said. PTI
Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 16

A Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Mumbai police, probing the encounter of Haryana-based gangster Sandeep Gadoli, is investigating whether or not Gurgaon policemen involved in the operation had received money from his rival.

On a complaint filed by Gadolis relatives, the SIT has arrested Sub-Inspector Pradyuman Yadav and constables Vikram Singh and Jitendra Yadav of the Gurgaon police. Gadolis girlfriend Divya Pahuja and her mother Sonia Pahuja have also been arrested on the suspicion that they tipped off the encounter team of the gangsters presence in Mumbai.

Sources say they have stumbled on several suspicious cash and property transactions which indicate that all those under investigation may have been on the payroll of Gadolis rivals from Haryana.

We have discovered that mother-daughter duo had bought a flat for Rs 1 crore in Gurgaon, a police official said. Advocates for Gadolis relatives had earlier told court that the duo had received payments from the gangsters rivals following the encounter.

He added that telephone intercepts of the duo indicated that Divya was regularly updating her mother about her location in Mumbai who, in turn, passed it on to the arrested policemen.

Gadoli was shot dead at a hotel near Mumbai airport on February 7. The Mumbai police are relying on a footage recovered from CCTV cameras installed at the hotel; it showed Gurgaon policemen trying to damage the cameras.

Sources say investigators are in possession of the footage of Gadolis final moments when he was shot by the Gurgaon policemen.

The two women were arrested from a house in Gurgaon on Thursday and produced before court on Friday.

According to the investigators, Divya was present in the room when the gangster was shot.
Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, July 16

Sumit Sharma, a 31-year old software engineer from Kala Amb in Sirmaur, had a close brush with the civil war in Juba in South Sudan, where he spent seven harrowing days holed up in a bunker, along with 50 people.

Sumit is among the 156 Indians who were airlifted from South Sudan in Operation Sankat Mochan by Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh yesterday. He returned home at Kala Amb last evening and shared his experiences with The Tribune.

His mother Sudesh Sharma, who resides at Excise Colony at Kala Amb, heaved a sigh of relief at the safe return of her son.

Working with a Bangalore company for the last two years, Sumit had been sent to Sudan on a special project by his company and he had reached there on May 31 for two months.

Since my office was situated next to the building of the UN Mission, the attack on the missions building on July 6 by insurgents created an emergency situation and 50 persons, including women, stayed in a bunker created for such eventualities, recounts Sumit.

He said with no let-up in the violent situation outside, they were forced to stay in the bunker for seven days. There were people from 10 nations and since the attacks through rocket launchers, grenades and other weapons created an atmosphere of fear and terror, time was spent in building up the morale of those present there. A canteen housed in the same building had stored enough food to feed them during the crisis.Sumit said it was a terrible situation as people around were getting demoralised. The saving grace, however, was the presence of the wi-fi in the building which helped to them connect with the WhatsApp group created for Indians by the ministry and this helped them.

The effect of the constant bombings had created a deep fear among them and even after the ceasefire was declared, it took 48-hours for them to come out of the bunker, recalls Sumit. The fear persisted as the violent group loyal to the vice-president had earlier too violated the ceasefire conditions and attacked people after the declaration of peace.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir had declared ceasefire on Monday after days of heavy fighting between government troops and forces loyal to vice-president Riek Machar in Juba. Sumit, while thanking his company and the Indian Embassy, said the fact that they were able to communicate in hours of crisis gave him the encouragement and positivity to survive the terrible times.
By India Today Web Desk: Chinese company Xiaomi will host a three day promotional event, starting from July 20, to commemorate its two year anniversary in India. The highlight of Xiaomi's Mi 2nd Anniversary carnival would be its Re 1 flash sale where select Xiaomi products will be available for grabs to registered buyers at a price of just Re 1.

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The company will sell 10 Xiaomi Mi 5 phones and 100 Mi 20,000mAh Power Bank for Re 1 on July 20, it has announced. On the second day, it will sell 10 Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 phones and 100 Mi Bands for Re 1. On the last day, it will sell 10 Xiaomi Mi Max phablets and 100 Mi Bluetooth speakers for Re 1, it added. The Re 1 flash sales will be applicable to those who register before July 19. Those interested will have to share the news on Facebook to be eligible for the registration.

At the same time, Xiaomi will also offer a wide range of limited edition devices for sale during the three-day promotional carnival. Items range from 10,000mAh Mi Power Banks, Mi In-Ear Capsule Headphones to Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro Gold, the company has announced. Mi cash coupons and a free 6.44-inch Mi Max for playing a game on the Mi 2nd Anniversary website will also be up for grabs.



Also Read: Xiaomi launches Mi mosquito repellent for Rs 290

Another offer involves Rs 700 price drop on the company's Bluetooth speaker. The speaker will be available for buying for Rs 1,999 during the offer period.

Xiaomi is also offering several app-only offers. For instance, the Xiaomi Mi 5 Gold will come with free Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro Gold edition through the Mi.com/in app. The company is also offering a free USB cable and a USB Fan with the Mi 4i, similarly. The company has further announced that it will give away one Mi TV randomly to someone who purchased from the Mi Store app.



--- ENDS ---
Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 16

The Himachal Government has enhanced the retirement age of medical officers in the Department of Health and Family Welfare from 58 to 60 years.

A notification was issued yesterday. The decision will benefit over 1,483 doctors even as 426 posts of doctor are still lying vacant in various health institutions.

It was being expected that the retirement age of medical officers would be enhanced by two years following the increase in superannuation age of doctors at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College from 62 to 65 years.

However, the benefit can be availed by the doctors subject to their shifting to four new medical colleges to be set up at Nahan, Chamba, Hamirpur and Nerchowk in Mandi district.

The decision will help tide over the shortage of doctors for two years. The state already faces the shortage of doctors, especially specialists, and making the four new medical colleges functional could prove to be an uphill task for the government.

We have decided to hold interviews of doctors every Tuesday so that we can fill the vacancies and provide quality medical services to people even in the remote and rural areas of the state, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur.

He also added that the government could enhance the retirement age of doctors who will join the four new medical colleges to even 70 years as had been done by the Government of India in some of its health institutions.

The medical college at Nahan is expected to start functioning from August-September this year only while the medical colleges at Hamirpur and Chamba are likely to start from the next academic session.

The college doctors wish to avail the benefit but are reluctant to move from their place of posting in Shimla and Kangra. They will get additional two years only on shifting to the new colleges, said officials.
Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 16

Two persons were killed on the spot when an ambulance they were travelling in fell into a 150-metre gorge at Badras near Rampur in the wee hours today.

The vehicle bearing number (HP 63 5769) was on its way back to Rampur after dropping a patient at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, when the tragedy struck. Both driver Sunil (28) and pharmacist Ajay (30) died on the spot.

The vehicle rolled 150 metres down around 2:30 am and was noticed near the bank of the Satluj in the morning by Ishwar Singh, a resident of Nawanin Rampur village who informed the police. The bodies were recovered with the help of the locals.

SP Shimla DW Negi said the bodies of the victims had been recovered and sent for post-mortem. Their relatives, who hailed from the nearby villages of Shingla and Barara, had been informed, he added.

The relatives alleged that the ambulance was not in proper condition and employees were being forced to work overtime.

They also alleged that vehicle was neither passed by the transport authorities nor insured and wanted some senior officials of the company running 108 Service to visit the spot. But no official reached there till 11 am.

The relatives joined by local people lodged a protest outside the Civil Hospital, Rampur, where post-mortem was conducted. They also blocked the Hindustan-Tibet road for about half an hour.

Preliminary investigations pointed out that the accident occurred due to rash and negligent driving and a case had been registered under Section 279 and 304 A of the IPC. Investigations were under way, police sources added.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 16

Two people were killed when the ambulance they were travelling in fell into a 150-metre-deep gorge at Badras near Rampur after hitting a boulder in the wee hours of Saturday.

The vehicle was on its way back to Rampur after dropping a patient at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. when the tragedy struck. Both occupants of the ambulance, Sunil (28) and pharmacist Ajay (30), died on the spot. The accident occurred around 2.30.

Shimla SP DW Negi said the bodies had been recovered and sent for post-mortem. The families of the deceased who hailed from the nearby villages of Shingla and Barara had been informed, he added.

The relatives of the deceased alleged that the ambulance was not in a proper condition and employees were being forced to work overtime. The relatives wanted some senior officials of the company running the 108 ambulance service to visit the spot, and also demanded adequate compensation. However, no official of the 108 service had reached the spot till 11 am.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

The Amarnath yatra has again resumed as a fresh batch on Saturday was allowed to move towards both the base camps of the cave shrine in south Kashmir after two days.

As many as 3,236 pilgrims, including 2,355 males, 669 females, 191 sadhus and 21 sadhvis left for the holy shrine from Jammu on Saturday afternoon in 69 buses, 36 LMVs and two two-wheelers.

The yatra was suspended twice this year after it was flagged off on July 1. Keeping in view the tension in Kashmir followed by the killing of a terrorist commander, the state administration first stopped the yatra for two and a half days on July 9, which later resumed on July 11.

Taking precautionary measures for the Friday prayers in Kashmir, the yatra was again suspended on Thursday after attacks on pilgrims were reported. There was a strong resentment among pilgrims against the state government for not allowing them to move towards the base camps.

After two days, the yatra again resumed and all stranded passengers were allowed to move towards the Valley on Saturday evening. The announcement of restoration of yatra brought cheer to the pilgrims who were stranded at different places of Jammu.
Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

BJP ministers had to face the wrath of Central leaders today for failing to address issues of neglect while executing their administrative responsibilities. They were warned of serious repercussions if tension persisted and there was no effort on their part to restore normalcy in the state as soon as possible.

The partys core group that met today had a heated session with Centrally deputed ministers seeking answers from ministers in the state about the deteriorating situation in Kashmir and their role in tackling the situation.

Taking serious cognisance of the ministers failure to handle the situation arising after Burhan Wanis killing that sparked widespread protests in the Valley, Central ministers and MPs sought clarifications from ministers in the state about their nonchalance, which had given a negative impression to the Centre.

Not even once had the Amarnath yatra been stopped during the height of militancy in the past. How can neutralising a local militant lead to widespread commotion in the Valley which affects the yatra? asked an MP. The Deputy Chief Minister and other ministers had no answer.

The ministers were asked the reasons for bringing the controversial Transfer of Property Bill and they again remained silent. Were BJP ministers asleep when such a Bill was moved to be tabled in the Assembly? asked an MP.

While the MPs expressed their annoyance, there was backlash from the minority affairs in charge, who presented the ministers failure in handling the migrants package given by the Centre. The state BJP cadre was warned that only Prime Minister Narendra Modis elan had helped them share power in the state.

In the next elections, it will be your efforts to reach out to peoples problems that will give you respectability, said another leader.

The meeting, presided over by state affairs in charge Avinash Rai Khanna, was attended by Minister of State in PMO Jitender Singh and MPs Jugal Kishore Sharma and Shamsher Singh. All state ministers, including Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, and state president Sat Sharma were present.

Nirmal Singh, responding to media queries later, said the meet focused on discussing modalities to ensure the yatras continuity without any break. We discussed the state, Centre and BJPs role in ensuring a peaceful yatra, he said.

He blamed Pakistan, its Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the ISI and the UN for interfering in Kashmir, leading to unrest and the deteriorating situation.

Threat perceptions were always there as Pakistan, separatists and terrorists using the shield of mobs are doing damage in the Valley. So far, no member of the minority community was hurt or damage caused to yatris. We are hopeful that normalcy will be restored in a couple of days, he said.

Jitender Singh said the Centre had been intervening in the situation as per its constitutional limits and providing all help needed to bring back normalcy. Asked whether the Centre would take cognisance of the resignation threat given by IAS officer Shah Faesal, he said, Nobody can prevent anybody from resigning.

Reacting to PDP MP Muzaffar Hussain Baigs statement terming Burhan Wanis killing to be in violation of a Supreme Court ruling, state BJP president Sat Sharma said, Does neutralising of a terrorist by security forces need a Supreme Court order?
Srinagar, July 16

Curfew on Saturday remained in force across Kashmir and normal life paralysed for the eighth day in the wake of clashes following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani that has left 38 persons dead and over 3,100 injured.

Curfew continues to remain in force in all 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley today as precautionary measure for maintaining law and order, a police official said.

He said the decision to continue the curfew was taken in view of large number of stone-pelting incidents across the Valley yesterday.

Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength across the Valley for strict implementation of the prohibitory orders, the official said.

Mobile telephone services in the Valley also remained suspended to prevent any rumour-mongering.

Only postpaid connections of BSNL are working, the official said.

Mobile Internet services continued to remain suspended for the seventh day today while trains are also off the tracks in the Valley as a precautionary measure.

Violent protests rocked Kashmir last weekend following the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani and two of his associates in an encounter with security forces on July 8 in Kokernag area of Anantnag district.

In the ensuing clashes with security forces, 38 persons, including a cop have been killed, while 3,140 persons, including 1,500 security force personnel, have been injured.

Normal life has remained paralysed since Saturday in Kashmir on account of separatist sponsored-strike and curfew-like restrictions imposed by authorities.

The separatists groupsboth factions of Hurriyat Conference and JKLFhave been issuing strike calls, a practice reminiscent of 2010 summer agitation.

The separatists groups yesterday extended the strike call till Monday evening. PTI
Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 16

Separatist leaders in Kashmir today asked protesters not to follow chaotic thinking and actions and assured them that their protest programme would continue.

The joint statement issued by the separatist trio  Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik  also appealed to the people to show unity and discipline on immediate basis.

From our side, (protest) programme will continue at all costs, the joint statement said. Deal with the aggression of forces with unity. Maintain discipline at all costs. Save (yourselves) from chaotic thinking and actions, the separatist trio said in their latest appeal.

The statement, which also advised people not to react over rumours, comes at a time when the ongoing unrest in the region has shown no sign of an immediate end as anger has mounted following the killing of at least 38 civilians.

Geelani and Mirwaiz, who head rival factions of separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, and Malik, who heads separatist group Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), have been attempting to take control of the spontaneous protests that left the region paralysed for the past week.

At least 38 civilians have been killed and several hundred injured as security forces cracked down on protesters, who threw stones and also attempted to ransack security installations, during the last eight days as unrest raged in the region following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani in a gunfight in south Kashmir.

The situation that followed Wanis killing has remained so volatile and uncertain that there are no assurances from any quarter, including the government and separatists, about when and how the unrest will end.

The separatists have acknowledged that the ongoing unrest is largely out of their control. Nobody is controlling the protests. People are protesting on their own, Mirwaiz had told The Tribune in an interview yesterday.
Jammu, July 16

Various Sikh bodies, including Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Sikh Intellectuals Circle, International Sikh Federation and Sikh Students Federation today condemned the killing of civilians and use of brutal force in the Valley.

Addressing the media, Jaspal Singh Mangal, vice- president, SAD (A) and others expressed grief over the loss of innocent lives and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families.

They appealed the Sikh community worldwide to render all possible humanitarian aid to the affected people.

Instead of initiating a meaningful dialogue for resolution of the Kashmir dispute, saffron organisations have turned Kashmir into a laboratory to pursue their agenda of hatred and communalism. A large section of media, at the behest of such outfits, is painting a wrong picture of the humanitarian crisis in Kashmir which is highly condemnable and a threat to peace and stability in the region, Mangal said.  TNS
Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, July 16

Two alleged police informers were shot at in the legs by suspected militants at Karimabad locality of south Kashmirs Pulwama district, police said on Saturday.

Shabir Ahmad Pandit, 30, and Manzoor Ahmad Pandit, 45, residents of Karimabad, were shot in the legs around 9.30 pm on Friday, a police spokesperson said.

Shabir is a cousin of Tariq Pandit, who was a close aide of slain Hizb commander Burhan Wani. Tariq is also resident of Karimabad and had surrendered to security forces last month.

Sources said both men were brought out from their houses and shot at in the open by suspected militants. Both the injured were shifted to a Srinagar hospital, where their condition is said to be stable.
Ludhiana: Synetic Business School organised convocation ceremony for BCom, BBA and BCA students. Ambassador of the Republic of Guinea was the guest of honour and he honoured the students for their three years of hard work. He also conveyed the message of peace and fraternity. He said India and Africa had a glorious history of cultural and economic ties. African students prefered India over other countries for higher education. He also expressed his concern over the rising intolerance in the world and asked the students to contribute towards world peace by channelising their energies towards building bridges among comunitites. Chairman MA Zahir congratulated the students and prayed for their success in career.

NEW ACADEMIC SESSION

To mark the beginning of new academic session 2016-17, havan was held on the premises of Kamla Lohtia, Sanatan Dharam College. Principal Shiv Mohan Sharma welcomed the new students, blessed them and guided them to imbibe the principles of diligence, punctuality and discipline. RD Singhal, general secretary, College Managing Committee, said teachers were catalyst who shaped students future and exhorted the students to respect their teachers. TNS
Ms. Pelosi spoke about the moral obligation of freedom-loving people everywhere to protect human rights. She said, This international gathering honors that responsibility. We must champion the building blocks of peace and prosperity and freedom of speech, religion and the press in Iran and around the world. Im proud to say that my state of California is home to more than a half of all Iranian-Americans. Their energetic contributions make America more American.

She talked about the role that women, students and minorities will play in the future of Iran. Their persecution must end. she stated. This gathering is important to advancing the cause of human rights and freedom. The United States is committed to achieving progress in the international community in this respect, and the Iran Nuclear Agreement signals a new era of security and stability in the region and around the world.

Ms. Pelosi finished by saying that the contributions of all Iranians must be valued in Iran, and until they are, there is still work to be done. Thank you for your work and leadership, thank you for your service, and thank you for your commitment to democracy.

Tens of thousands of Iranians and their international supporters attended the Free Iran rally in Paris on July 9, which saw international support for the 10-point plan of Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi for a future free and democratic Iran.
Tribune News service

Srinagar, July 16

A civilian was killed in firing by security forces in North Kashmirs Kupwara district today even as the government imposed curbs on local newspapers in a bid to curtail protests.

Thirtynine civilians and a policeman have been killed in clashes since the killing of Hizbul militant Burhan Wani last week.

Showkat Ahmed Malik, 25, was killed and two persons were injured during clashes in Hutmulla Kupwara,100 km from Srinagar, as protesters attacked a police post. Ahmed was shot in retaliatory firing. There were reports of clashes and stone-pelting in other parts of the Valley, despite the curfew in all 10 districts.

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A mob carrying iron rods, stones and bricks torched a police post at Wullar Vintage Park in Bandipore district. Some police and security personnel, including an SI, were injured, police said.

The police, meanwhile, raided newspaper offices late last night and seized copies of Urdu and English dailies, including the Srinagar edition of The Tribune, even as these were being printed. Employees and drivers of vehicles carrying the newspapers were detained. They were later let off, said media houses.

Editors and owners called it an attack on the freedom of the press. Holding a protest in the afternoon, they apologised to the readers. Official sources said the curbs would remain in force for the next two days.

Meanwhile, despite curfew restrictions, residents of Maharaja Gunj gathered for the last rites of their Hindu neighbour. The family of Deepak Malhotra, whose mother passed away this morning, has not fled the Valley despite the turmoil. Maharaja Gunj has been under curfew since a week.
Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 15

A disabled Special Forces officer, who took part in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, has petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking directions to the Centre to earnestly work towards the repatriation of Indian prisoners of war (PoW) believed to be languishing in Pakistan jails for decades.

We filed the petition this week and expect it to be listed for hearing within the next few days, Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu (retd) said. Substantial evidence, including excerpts of books authored by eminent persons, extracts of official reports of human right commissions and affidavits have been attached with the petition, he said.

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Last year, the Centre had in an affidavit submitted to the SC claimed that it had no details regarding the missing defence personnel believed to be held captive in Pakistan jails after the 1965 and 1971 wars, but would continue making efforts for their repatriation. The SC had fined the government Rs 20,000 for laxity in placing the information before it.

Capt Sidhu served with the Special Forces (5 Para) from 1968-1978 before being discharged on medical grounds after losing his right arm and suffering severe head injuries while deployed on the border with Tibet. He was posted at the Pathankot airfield during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He now runs his business from Amritsar and Mullanpur near Chandigarh.

Speaking to The Tribune, he claimed that over 78 persons gone missing in the 1971 war were rotting in Pakistani jails and there was enough evidence on their existence.

He said among the annexures attached with the petition were excerpts from the biography of a former US Air Force Chief, wherein he had mentioned that during his stint in Pakistan as part of a training team, he had interrogated 16 IAF PoWs to glean information on Soviet war machines. Also, in a book authored by Pakistani Premier ZA Bhuttos lawyer it had been mentioned that Bhutto was unable to sleep at night while incarcerated in jail because of Indian PoWs screaming for help.

Capt Sidhu pointed out that members of a human rights organisation, who had gone to meet alleged Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in Pakistans Kot Lakhpat jail, were greeted with appeals of help by some inmates who claimed to be Indian PoWs.

Affidavits of prisoners released from Pakistan jails vouching for the Indian PoWs there had also been made part of the petition. Capt Sidhu said he would be petitioning the International Court of Justice and the International Human Rights Commission too.
New Delhi: Two Indians abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria were released on Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry said here. Mangapudi Srinivas and Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of June 29 from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today at 10.30 am. Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (Karnataka) were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal. The MEA had said it seems local criminal elements were behind it. PTI
New Delhi, July 16

India on Saturday called upon all the sides in Turkey, which has witnessed violence after an attempted military coup, to support democracy and mandate of the ballot and avoid bloodshed even as it advised its nationals to stay indoors.

We have been closely following the developments in #Turkey India calls upon all sides 2 support democracy & mandate of the ballot, & avoid bloodshed, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

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India also asked its nationals in the country to avoid public places and remain indoors until the situation becomes clearer in the backdrop of the attempted military coup.

Indian nationals in Turkey: Pl avoid public places and stay indoors. Helpline: Ankara: +905303142203 Istanbul: +905305671095, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.

Forty-two persons, 17 of them police and others civilian, were killed in clashes in the Turkish capital of Ankara as groups inside the army attempted to bring down the government.  PTI
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

Keeping in view the hostile neighbourhood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday stressed the need for a 24x7 vigil and alertness, saying the challenge could be successfully met only if states focused on intelligence-sharing and keeping one another updated in tandem with central agencies.

In his inaugural remarks at the meeting of the Inter-State Council, which is being convened after a gap of 10 years, Modi impressed upon the Chief Ministers to focus on how we can make our country prepared to counter challenges to our internal security.

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Modi said internal security could not be strengthened until the states and the Centre focused on sharing intelligence. We always have to remain alert and updated, he added.

Chief Ministers of all states, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and 17 Union Ministers are members of the Inter-State Council. Barring a few chief ministersJ&K and Punjabmost other CMs and administrators of UTs are participating in the day-long deliberations at the Rashtrapati Bhawan here.

J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, owing to the trouble in the state, did not attend the meeting. The state is being represented by Finance Minister Haseeb Darabu. Similarly, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is representing Punjab.

It is for the first time since he assumed office that Modi was interacting with all chief ministers on a single platform.

With close cooperation, we will not only strengthen the Centre-State relations but make a better future for the citizens, Modi said while stressing that how states role in the social and economic uplift of people is important.

Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Modi said, In a democracy as big and diverse as ours, debate, deliberation and discussion help evolve policy that relates to the ground reality. More importantly, they enable the effective implementation of such policies.

Highlighting how the rights of states had been kept in mind, Modi mentioned that even in the revenue received from the auction of natural resources, auction of coal blocks would yield Rs 3.35 lakh crore to states in the years to come. Auctions of other mines will yield an additional Rs 18,000 crore to states. Similarly, through amendments to the CAMPA Act, we are trying to free up about Rs 40,000 crore lying idle in banks for disbursal to states, he said.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

Stressing on the need for better coordination and interaction between the police departments of the states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today highlighted that smart policing should be practiced to ensure safe environment for people to prosper.

In his concluding remarks at the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council here, the Prime Minister said, There should be better coordination between the police departments of the states. For this the focus should be on technology and training of the police personnel, particularly in matters related to cyber crime.

Modi also mentioned that Aadhaar seeding should be attempted to the maximum extent possible in the implementation of welfare schemes. While expansion of educational facilities for school education was the only area of priority earlier, today we should in addition focus on the quality of education and learning outcomes and technology can greatly help in this, he insisted.

In the meeting it was decided that all states will set up DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) cells. The statement released by the Inter-State Council Secretariat confirmed that the states promised to improve the quality of education and learning outcomes.

However, discordant views were expressed on  federalism and internal security.

Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Badal came down heavily on the Centre, accusing it of usurping states powers and indulging in a constitutional rampage by quietly shifting subjects from the State List to Concurrent List and then to Union List.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh laid stress on the importance of cooperative federalism and how the Modi government was committed to the ideal of Centre-state cooperation.

The Prime Minister, who chaired the meeting, in his inaugural address stressed that internal security could not be strengthened until and unless the states and the Centre focused on sharing intelligence. We have to remain alert and updated always, he added.
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, the Congress today scored a huge political victory over the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh by replacing its unpopular Chief Minister Nabam Tuki and staking the claim to government formation under Pema Khandu.

Pema, 36, the son of former Arunachal CM Dorjee Khandu, was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party with all 45 MLAs attending the meeting supporting him in writing.

Kalikho Pul, the rebel Congressman who formed a government with BJPs support after Tukis government was dismissed following President's Rule, attended the meeting in which Tuki resigned.

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Khandu has submitted a memorandum bearing the signatures of all 45 Congress MLAs to Governor Tathagata Roy. He even offered to physically parade the MLAs, but the Governor said signatures would suffice. He has asked the Governor to invite the Congress, Randeep Surjewala, chief spokesperson for the party, said.

Consequently, the floor test scheduled for Tuki was cancelled today and no Assembly session took place. A fresh date will now be given by the Governor.

The Congress termed todays developments as a lesson for BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have been weaving a dream of Congress-free northeast.

The Congress saved its government by quickly replacing Tuki, who was facing a bitter rebellion from 21 Congress MLAs in a House of 60. During parleys with rebels, Khandu emerged a consensus candidate and the Congress quickly got Tuki to step back. Asked why it didnt replace Tuki earlier as his replacement was all that the Congress rebels had been seeking, Surjewala said, Everyone is wiser in hindsight.

At present, out of 60 seats in the Arunachal Assembly, two are vacant and the House strength is 58. The Congress has 45 MLAs, plus two Independents backing Khandu. The BJP has 11.

Importantly, the Arunachal developments come while hectic negotiations are on between the BJP Government and the Congress on the pending Goods and Services Tax Bill.

Considering MoS, Home, Kiren Rijijus remark that the Arunachal developments were an internal affair of the Congress, there was talk in Congress circles over whether there was any deal vis-a-vis GST. Congress leaders denied this vehemently.
Ankara, July 16

The Turkish authorities today regained control of the country after thwarting a coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year autocratic rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible flare-up. With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless round-up over the coup plot, the authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogans arch enemy, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.

TV pictures showed dozens of soldiers surrendering after the failed coup, some with their hands on their head, others forced to the ground in the streets. The situation is completely under control, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, flanked by Turkeys top general who was taken hostage.

Yildirim said 161 persons had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded. The toll did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, bringing the overall death toll to 265.

During a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of supporters of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) marched out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime. We should keep on owning the streets tonight, no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment, Erdogan said.

TV pictures showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets. Yesterdays putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital and the countrys biggest city, Istanbul.

As protesters poured onto the streets, troops opened fire, leaving dozens wounded. There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks.

Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris, denounced the coup attempt as treachery and said the plotters would pay a heavy price.

Turkeys once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan pinned the blame on the parallel state and Pennsylvania  a reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him. But the President's former ally categorically called the accusation insulting.  AFP
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

Two Indians kidnapped in Nigeria last month were released on Saturday, the government announced.

Mangapudi Srinivas and Kaushal Anish Sharma, abducted on June 29 from Boko in Benue state, were freed at 10.30 a.m. IST, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Stating that both released persons had spoken to their families, Swarup said Sharmas wife thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for ensuring his safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments.

Srinivas and Sharma were on their way to work at the Benue Cement company, owned by the Dangote Group, when they were kidnapped.

The Dangote Group is a Nigerian multinational industrial conglomerate, the largest in West Africa. With IANS inputs
Panaji, July 16

They exemplify grit and courage, proving that nothing is impossible for the fairer gender. And now these six valiant women officers of the Indian Navy are back from their gruelling sea expedition from Mauritius.

On Thursday evening, they anchored their craft INS Mhadei on Goan soil at the INS Mandovi. It was part of the practice run ahead of their voyage across the world scheduled next year.

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They appeared a bit done in by the tricky turns of the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea riled up by the monsoon, which repeatedly assaulted their craft day in and day out. But according to team leader Lieutenant Vartika Joshi, this was just the kind of trial and challenge they were looking for.

We chose this time of the year so that we could encounter the rough weather during our training and therefore are prepared for it during our circumnavigation. The sea was quite rough and it was very heavy, but that was the aim, said Joshi soon after the sailors docked their craft. Besides Joshi, the all-women crew of the boat included Lieutenants B Aishwarya, P Swati, Pratibha Jamwal, Vijaya and Payal Gupta.

The voyage from Port Louis in Mauritius  where they had gone for training and conditioning, across 5,000 nautical miles  took 16 days and nights. The nights, Joshi claimed, were particularly challenging.

At night, when you have a problem with the boat, you try to repair that. Finally when things work out, you get that relieved feeling, Joshi said when asked about the teams trials during the journey.

But its the next big journey which the team has set its sights on  the circumnavigation of the globe. The feat is so rare that a fewer number of adventurers have accomplished it, as compared to those who have conquered Mount Everest, said Joshi.  IANS

Bikers on mission

Singapore: Four Indian women bikers have completed a 10,000-km trip to 10 Asian countries over 40 days to raise awareness against female foeticide. The four-woman team visited schools and universities as well as NGOs in countries such as Bhutan and Thailand, explaining their campaign and calling for education against gender bias. PTI
Chandigarh, July 16

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday announced a grant of Rs 14 crore for the distant marketing and export of kinnow so as to ensure remunerative prices to the growers in the state.

Addressing the progressive kinnow farmers and exporters during a workshop on pre and post harvest management in kinnow, Badal said here that the state was committed to provide requisite infrastructure and marketing support to the kinnow growers so that they could compete with their peers not within the country but in international markets also.

Responding to the issues raised by the kinnow growers and exporters, the Chief Minister assured them that he would soon take up the matter with the Union Ministry of Agriculture, to grant permission for fungicide laden wax to be used for waxing the kinnows as per international standards to qualify for export of their produce in the global market.

Likewise, the Chief Minister also assured the local kinnow producers and exporters that he would soon take up the issue of getting special air conditioned rakes sanctioned from the Ministry of Railways and impress upon the Railways Minister to sanction these AC rakes well in advance before the onset of marketing season of kinnow so as to enable them to market their produce to the distant places, especially in southern parts of the country.

The Chief Minister also called upon the farmers to further enhance export potential of kinnow to fetch better prices of their produce.

Badal also said that Punjab Kisan Vikas Chamber had been set up at Mohali with an investment of Rs 20 crore on the pattern of FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM to give suggestions and recommendations on various issues related to agriculture and allied farming like animal husbandry, bee keeping, fishery, horticulture etc to make the agriculture profession economically viable and financially sustainable.

Badal further said that a need was felt to have such organisation since long to provide an interactive platform to the farmers so as to enable them to take up their issues at an appropriate level for the quick resolution to their satisfaction.

On the occasion, Badal announced to send group of progressive farmers in horticulture, agriculture and allied farming abroad so as to enable them to update their knowledge about latest techniques in these fields besides enhancing the export potential.

In his address, MD, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation K S Pannu said that Punjab has nearly 20,000 kinnow producers in the state producing quality kinnow in the areas of Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Muktsar and Bathinda.

He said 5,000 metric tonne of kinnow were exported to Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Dubai from the state during last year.

We have fixed an export target of at least 15,000 MT during the current year, he added.  PTI
New Delhi, July 16

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today accused the Centre of usurping the states powers and indulging in a constitutional rampage by quietly shifting subjects from the State List to the Concurrent List and then to the Union List.

Speaking at the 11th Inter-State Council meeting here, Sukhbir said the states were being reduced to mere beggars as their rights and authority were being usurped by the Centre in violation of the spirit of Constitution.

Sukhbir, who heads the Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA ally, said there was a widespread consensus that the trend towards centralisation of authority was continuing, even as he stressed the need for a genuine federal structure in India with devolution of more powers to the states.

The Deputy CM suggested that for matters on the Concurrent List, due weightage should be given to the state governments opinion, while for Union List matters, consultation with the affected states should be carried out.

He emphasised that the states should be given much greater operational freedom to choose and finance development priorities of their people.

Got raw deal on river waters

On the river waters issue, he said Punjab had suffered gross injustice in the matter of allocation of the Ravi-Beas waters.

He said the considerable decline in the states groundwater level was a direct consequence of the inter-basin transfer of water to non-riparian states.

He said if the allocation was made on the basis of the environmental impact and accepted water laws, the SYL canal would not be required, as Punjab did not have water to spare for running the canal.

He rued that the Centre had not taken any action for the constitution of a new tribunal for the re-allocation of the Ravi-Beas waters on the basis of the states complaint filed in 2003.  PTI/TNS

States reduced to mere beggars

There is a widespread consensus that the trend towards centralisation of authority is continuing in violation of the spirit of the Constitution. Sukhbir Singh Badal, deputy chief minister
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, July 16

The Union Government has waived the cost of deploying the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) during and after the January 2 Pathankot terror attack. This decision was conveyed to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal by Home Minister Rajnath Singh during a meeting in New Delhi yesterday.

Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had asked the state government to pay Rs 6.35 crore towards transportation charges of the CAPF, including the National Security Guard (NSG). The latter was involved in the operation to sanitise the air base.

The MHA had deployed 20 CAPF companies, including the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)and the Border Security Force (BSF). The forces performed duty in and around Pathankot and also at the international border from January 2 to 27. The ministry had charged Rs 1.77 lakh per day per company.

In reply to the MHA letter, the state government said the personnel of six of the 20 companies were deployed along the international border to check infiltration. The government argued that the companies were sent to Pathankot in national interest as the countrys security was at stake.

Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs had not asked the state government to pay for the expenditure incurred on the CAPF in the aftermath of the Dinanagar terror attack, which took place on July 27 last year.
Our Correspondent

Abohar/sangrur, July 16

Giriraj Rajora, who had contested the 2012 Assembly polls as the Congress candidate from Balluana (reserved) segment and lost by 8,227 votes, has joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

Escorted by AAP leaders Ram Singh Bishnoi, Prof Pritam Singh Sidhu and Surinder Saluja, Rajora met MP Bhagwant Mann at Sangrur last evening and was inducted into the party.

Rajora (59) said, Mann has assured that I will be given due respect. I have decided to work as an ordinary activist of the party.

Meanwhile, Mann said in Sangrur that AAP would announce its candidates for all 117 Assembly constituencies by August-end.

Panchayats robbed of rights:Chhotepur

Chandigarh: AAP state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur and party spokesman Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Saturday accused the Badals of robbing more than 13,000 gram panchayats of their rights. Panchayats are being forced to work like puppets on the instructions of Akali Jathedars, the AAP leaders said.

Meanwhile, expelled AAP leader Jassi Jasraj on Saturday alleged that the partys state unit had been hijacked by the Delhi leadership. Jasraj said he and other leaders were expelled for making mistakes, but Ashish Khetan had been spared despite the manifesto gaffe.  TNS

Sikh bodies seek Kejriwals apology

Chandigarh: The All India Sikh Students Federation and the Shiromani Sant Khalsa International Foundation on Saturday asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to apologise during his July 18 visit to Amritsar over the AAP manifesto gaffe and the magazine cover row.

Federation chief Karnail Singh Peermohammad said the AAP national conveners failure to address the two issues was a sign of arrogance and ignorance.

Meanwhile, the federation announced to back the Punjab Independence online petition seeking US President Barack Obamas intervention. TNS
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 16

Punjab today put forth a slew of demands to the Centre, including permission to raise two more armed battalions to monitor cross-border activities, while expressing anguish that the state was being defamed on the drug issue even though it was fighting the nations battle to check its inflow from across the border.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal represented the state at the 11th Inter-State Council Meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While seeking the upgrade of BSF deployment in the border districts on a par with Jammu and Kashmir, at least till the 2017 Assembly elections, he stressed the need for raising an armed battalion at Pathankot and another in Fazilka or Ferozepur.

Sukhbir highlighted that Pakistan-based terrorist groups and drug smugglers were leveraging the mobile tower range of Pakistani mobile operators inside Indian territory. Hence, there was an urgent need to upgrade intelligence and technical capacity of the state agencies, he added.

He sought the waiver of loans worth Rs 3,695 crore, including the reimbursement of Rs 298 crore for the deployment of paramilitary forces in the state.
Sujoy Dhar

If standing at Neist Point in Scotlands Isle of Skye, facing the emerald Atlantic Ocean, the Adele song This is the End for the Bond film Skyfall plays on your mind, do not be surprised.

...for this is the end, it might seem to you in this dramatic landscape of Isle of Skye where the world seemed to have ended before the deep blue North Sea.

That Scottish highlands are panoramic is known to all, but if you are making a trip there, a three-day trip to the Isle of Skye is certainly going to be your icing on the cake.

Skye is a magical island and the largest of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, now connected to the mainland with a bridge. Meaning cloud island, Isle of Skye is 50-mile-long tapestry of jagged, craggy mountains, moors, lakes (lochs) and scary sea cliffs that offer views like the one at Neist Point. The population of the island is around 10,000.

The capital or the major town here is Portree, which is also a bustling port. Villages in the north of the Island include Dunvegan, Edinbane, Uig and Staffin, all of which offer some spectacular landscapes spiced up by the sighting of dinosaur fossils or dramatic history about clan warfare, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite uprisings.

While you should be staying at Portree, reaching there by evening from Edinburgh, set out early in the morning for exploring places like Neist Point and Quiraing.

Your first stop should be the Neist Point. Only here in Scotland can you find a stunning view of a high cliff overlooking the emerald blue sea.

The steep steps of concrete leads to a lighthouse built in 1909. Neist Point is famous for its rock formations offering the dramatic landscape. As you start walking, Neist Points sweeping beauty unravels before your eyes. So walk up to the lighthouse or stand before the sea cliff to breathe deeply.

And between Neist Point and the Quiraing mountains, a must visit is Ferie Glen, which is a miniature landscape of grassy, cone-shaped natural mounds. Ferie Glen or the Fairy Glen is a beautiful halt for grassy walk, with a fairy story from one of the many Scottish fairy folklores and a huge rock that looks like a castle, said to be the abode of fairies.

Next on your list should be the Quiraing, which is a part of the panoramic Trotternish ridge. This place is famous for hiking and walk.

This Trotternish Ridge escarpment has been formed by a massive landslip, which has created high cliffs, hidden plateaus and rock pinnacles. The Quiraing walk is a loop, returning you to the same point (the carpark). It covers 6.8 km. The Quiraing is situated in the north of Skye and as you look down from the cliff top you are treated to a panoramic view of the Table, a flat glassy plateau surrounded by rock formations and sea cliffs.

Next you can head for Staffin, a place set beneath the wonderful Trottenish Ridge. If you are staying there, you can explore perhaps the spotty houses, the beach and amazing geology. If you are halting here as part of sightseeing, what you see from a top viewpoint are the cliffs and waterfalls along the coast.

The famous Kilt Rock is a sea cliff in north east Trotternish where you can also see the Mealt Falls, a spectacular waterfall.

And yes, dinosaur footprints found here made Staffin so famous. With the rugged but beautiful scenery, the place boasts amazing views and the Hebridean Minch cuts through the Highland retreat close to Staffin Bay.

On the day you return, you will be passing through Cuillin Hills back to the mainland. On way back to Edinburgh, you certainly will enjoy the halts at the points like Loch Duich, Eilean Donan castle (most photographed in Scotland and a Bollywood favourite) and then Loch Ness, famous for the unseen Loch Ness Monster called Nessie.

FACTSHEET

HOW TO GO

You can fly directly from India to Edinburgh or to London and then take a train to Edinburgh. Take the Isle of Sky tour from Edinburgh. The Scottish Tourism Board recommends Rabbies small group personalised tours in mini-buses.

WHERE TO STAY

There are several good hotels in Portree, but go for home stays (can be through Rabbies or other operator) if you want to enjoy some warmth of your host who can make you a good Scottish breakfast in the morning.
Saba Naqvi

Weve had the most heated debates over terrorism and individuals described as terror sympathizers over the past few weeks. I dont like hardline Islamic preachers like Zakir Naik and at the cost of getting a lot of threats (including some from Islamic warrior type social media accounts in Pakistan) have made my positions clear. By now, many who had no clue about him or what Naik preaches would have checked him out on social media. He preaches an intolerant, vile version of Islam that is also followed by most terrorist organizations the world over, but that in itself does not make him a terrorist.

Terrorism means the unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. By that definition arent the mobs who go around terrifying Indian citizens in the name of the holy cow, also terrorists? To the best of my understanding, most of the gau raksha samitis are also in pursuit of clear political aims such as establishing a Hindu rashtra. There are now thousands of such people lurking around looking for live or dead cows and human beings to kill or thrash, emboldened in the belief that forces favourable to them are now in power. I believe they present a clear and present danger to our society and that we are under-reporting their activities.

When the first human lynching in the name of cow took place in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, last year, it created a national furore. Now that the novelty factor has gone, it seems that we have just accepted such horrors as par for the course. So many incidents have taken place since them but they do not make headlines or topics for prime time debates. For instance, it barely created a ripple in March this year when in Jharkhand a cattle trader and a young boy accompanying him were beaten to death, rags stuffed into their mouths and then their bodies hanged from a tree. The picture of the corpse of 12 year old Inayatullah Khan swinging from a tree still haunts me. But I do not remember any national outrage over the horrible death of this child.

The cases where humans have been murdered over cows still merit a small story. But there are numerous incidents of intimidation, threats and beatings of people who are moving live cattle or transporting or working with dead carcass. They dont make the news. FIRS are not even registered presuming some victims pluck up the courage to register them. Most of the time, the victims just flee, after the humiliation and terror they have been subjected to.

Last week an incident took place that should make us hang our heads in shame. It was reported and circulated on social media. In fact, the ugly episode was actually recorded and anyone can watch the video grab. It was covered in all the national dailies but it did not generate the kind of outrage that we witnessed during Dadri. Briefly, here are the facts. Seven members of a family were stripped and thrashed for skinning dead cows in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat. They were all Dalits in an area where skinning cattle carcass is their traditional occupation.

Heres what the video shows. Four men are stripped down to their waists, their hands tied with ropes that connect one to the other like some sort of medieval slaves. Except that they are lined up against the back of a car. In the video clip I saw three different men, prosperous and paunchy in comparison to the slender bodies they are beating, take turns in wielding a large rod. It was a perverse and sadistic display of power and savagery. The fact that the victims were Dalits is also notable, for the incident displayed not just the sort of hate that is reserved for minorities but also the swagger of social domination that the cow vigilantes displayed. Now that we are again headed to more elections, if I were Mayawati, I would circulate this tape of patent caste oppression against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh while the AAP could do so in Punjab. All of us who covered the 2004 general election that ended in a shock defeat for the NDA would remember that one of the tactics Lalu Yadav employed in Bihar was to circulate in every village, images of a man with his hands folded, tears in his eyes, begging for his life during the 2002 Gujarat riots (his name was Qutubuddin Ansari and he would survive). In a post mortem the late Pramod Mahajan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee would say that the images of Gujarat worked against them elsewhere.

Beyond the political implications of anti-Dalit actions of the faithful, nationally, all of us should demand a clear (and not vague) condemnation from the BJPs national leadership. Just as we seek solutions to radicalization and terrorism, lets start seeking a national solution to the growing power and terror of the cow vigilantes.
HITCHES: During both departure and arrival, there is almost a stampede-like situation at the Attari railway station for immigration and customs clearance. Wearied travelers lugging heavy baggage, and drained by the scorching temperatures of June, jostle to gain entry through the single gate, manned by an equally hassled official checking the passport. A couple of policemen have the unenviable duty of assisting him in controlling the impatient crowd. It would be nice if on jatha days, a couple of more gates are opened/facilitated for the pilgrims. The SGPC too needs to streamline its act. It must ensure that the outstation pilgrims get accommodation in the Golden Temple serais and ferry them to and fro Attari. And, in the Pakistan gurdwaras, Im sure there would be many more happier yatris if there were some air-conditioned rooms also, at some extra cost, of course.

HOLY PILGRIMAGE Post script: An acrostic is a number of lines of writing in which particular letters from each line form a word or phrase. For example, in this write-up, the first letter of each paragraph forms the phrase Holy Pilgrimage

OLD PEOPLE: Of the nearly 500 pilgrims comprising the jatha that visited the Pakistan gurdwaras from June 21 to 30 marking Maharaja Ranjit Singhs death anniversary, more than 80 per cent were the white-haired elderly. Full of zest, piety and gratitude, those in their late 70s and 80s savoured the yatra as a bonus in life. Four old women from my village asked me to arrange for the pilgrimage. Come, give me your passports, I told them. I filled in their forms and submitted them in Ferozepore, says one with a flowing grey beard in rustic Punjabi, and proudly adding with a toothless smile: This is my ninth visit; lets see how many more Waheguru has in store for me!

LAHORE: The city is so much like Delhi. The Dera Sahib Gurdwara stands cheek by jowl with the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Masjid, reminding one of Sisganj Gurdwara in Chandni Chowk located in close proximity to the Red Fort and Jama Masjid. Its bustling markets (Anarkali Bazaar) and darwazas (Dilli Gate) give it a familiar look. Most of its old prestigious institutions such as Punjab University, Kinnaird College, Lahore Medical College and Government College evoke nostalgia. We have heard our ancestors talk highly of them. Then there are also the modern areas with broad streets, such as the famous Mall Road, reminiscent of Lutyens Delhi. The old couple from Delhi who had joined the yatra only to visit their places of birth  Rawalpindi and Lahore  could not stop marveling at the similarities between the two cities.

YATRIS: It was fun to interact with fellow yatris. Their light-hearted banter on matters ranging from the spiritual to political added a memorable flavour to the journey. While most were from rural Punjab (Indian), a sizable number was from Amritsar, Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Ambala, Delhi and other cities. Sikhs from California, Vancouver, Surrey, Italy and some other distant places could be spotted too. We have come alone this time. The next time we will bring our children along, says a middle-aged couple from the US.

PANJA SAHIB: Located in Hasan Abdal, near Islamabad, Panja Sahib Gurdwara is one of the holiest shrines because of the rock believed to have the hand print (panja) of Guru Nanak imprinted on it and the clear cool water spring flowing from under the rock that the Guru is believed to have struck. Everybody loves to dip their feet in the cold water and put their hand on the panja. Some pilgrims also undertake the arduous trek to the spot on a hill opposite the gurdwara from where a local pir, Hazrat Shah Wali Qandhari, had thrown the rock piece that Guru Nanak stopped with his hand, thus stamping it with his panja.

ITINERARY: On June 21, we travelled by the Special Train that came from Pakistan to pick us from Attari to Nankana Sahib. From there, we took the bus to Sacha Sauda Gurdwara, about two hours drive, on June 23. The next day, June 24, our Special Train took us to Panja Sahib Gurdwara in Hasan Adbal. The following day was reserved for the trek to Wali Qandharis hill top abode. On June 26, we went by the same train to Lahore. It was the only place where we had some freedom to shop around and sight-see. The entrance fee of Rs 500 (Pak) for the Lahore Fort was waived for the pilgrims. On June 28 was the bus trip to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Narowal and Rorhi Sahib Gurdwara in Gujranwala district. Since Narowal is just a couple of kilometres from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur (India), many phones caught the signal and came alive. People were seen catching up with their near and dear ones back home. India was just beyond the tree line ahead of the Ravi. In June 30 as we boarded the Special Train for the return journey (Lahore-Wagah-Attari), we were all looking forward to going home after an enriching experience.

LANGAR: Our Pakistani Sikh brethren took good care of us with their seva, smiles and large-heartedness. They  men, women and children  worked day and night with devotion and dedication to ensure a 24-hour langar running for 10 days for so many yatris. They happily ferried raw material. While women folk cut vegetables and rolled out endless chapattis, men were seen ladling rice (both sweet and plain), dal and vegetables that simmered in extra large pateelas over fire. The tukmalanga seeds mixed in ice-cool refreshing sherbet attracted a lot of curiosity. Some Muslim helpers were hired to serve food and collect used utensils and wash them. There was no dearth of food: it was served not only at the gurdwaras, but also at railway platforms. And, the good hosts even packed meals for us to have in the train.

GURU NANAK JANAM ASTHAN: The shrine representing the place where Guru Nanak was born was established by the Gurus grandson Baba Dharam Chand (1523-1618) as a small structure. Today, spread over acres, it has a huge circumambulatory courtyard around the small sanctum sanctorum for the sangat. Its serais boast of accommodation for around 500 people. There is a big langar hall, a kitchen and green lawns.

RORHI SAHIB: This Gurdwara in Eminabad, near Gujranwala, is so called because it is at this sacred spot, which was then a bed of pebbles (rorhis), that Guru Nanak stayed with Bhai Lalo. Built with cut brick-work, the structure of the imposing gurdwara stands apart.

IN THE TRAIN: The Special Train came to pick us from Pakistan from Attari to Nankana Sahib. Crossing the iron gates on the Indo-Pak border, the train stopped at Wagah for immigration. Then, winding its way through lush green fields criss-crossed by first the Ravi, then the Chenab and finally the Jhelum, it transported us to Hasan Abdal and Lahore before dropping us back home in Attari safely. En route, amid the chanting of Gurbani by some devotees, we had fleeting glimpses of Wazirabad, Rawalpindi, Taxila and Wah Cantt and many villages.

MUSLIMS: The Muslims that we interacted with were mostly security men and officials of the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) as well as some local chaps. Speaking chaste Punjabi, they all spoke of our common cultural roots and of the need for peace between our countries. Some felt emotional about their ancestors lands back in India, just as many Indians felt for their properties in Pakistan. A policewoman, face covered with a scarf, said: I wish to see Karnal that my grandfather always refers to so lovingly. Though our yatra coincided with the Muslims month of fasting (Ramadan), it was creditable that the discomfort derived from refraining from eating and drinking for 16 hours at a stretch did not deter them from putting on happy and welcoming countenances.

ACCOMMODATION: Thats a problem, especially in Lahore. Most of the pilgrims were given bedding and allotted tented space, under the open sky in Dera Sahib Gurdwara, Lahore. The washrooms were common. Those accommodated in government schools nearby complained of inadequate facilities. The yatris willing to pay must be given the choice of air-conditioned rooms with attached washrooms.

GUARDS: During the pilgrimage, your constant companions are security men and women of various hues: district police, traffic police, bomb disposal squad, armed guards. Along with them, CCTV cameras and intelligence guys keep a strict vigil on your movements. Ambulances, medical doctors, firefighters and ETPB men form part of your convoy and as you travel by road, you are given a green corridor. Their endeavour is that we cherish the yatra and return safely.

ETPB: Evacuee Trust Property Board officials were with us throughout the trip. They ensured that everything ran smoothly. The ETPB is the governing body of evacuee properties belonging to the minority communities which were left in Pakistan following the Partition in 1947. The ETPB maintains their shrines and other vast estates and facilitates visits by pilgrims from abroad.

hkhetal@gmail.com
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 16

Chief Minister Harish Rawat has asked the Central government for help in rehabilitation of 400 villages threatened by natural disasters and rebuilding of infrastructure destroyed in recent cloudbursts in the state. He was speaking at the 11th meeting of the Inter-State Council headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held in New Delhi today.

Rawat demanded that Doppler radars for forecasting cloudbursts and extreme rainfall be sanctioned for Uttarakhand. The state government had provided appropriate land for installing Doppler radars for concrete weather forecast and the Centre needs to take speedy action in this regard.

He said the Planning Commission had recommended a single institution to resolve the problems of north-east states. He demanded that a similar institutional framework was needed for other Himalayan states. The Central government should provide financial assistance for establishing a quality upgrade and training centre for higher education in Uttarakhand.

Rawat objected to shifting of subjects such as environment, ecology and climate change from the concurrent list to the union list. These subjects should be kept in the concurrent list, he said.

The Chief Minister said the commission had recommended providing Central aid to backward states only and hilly, frontier and newly created states should also be given additional Central aid for physical and human resource development.

He said Uttarakhand has been affected by natural calamities in the past few years. The state had constituted the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) based on the NDRF to tackle difficult situations. He added that they expected the Central government to provide financial assistance for disaster management.

The Chief Minister talked about the loss of human and animal lives and damage to property due to heavy rainfall, floods and cloudbursts in the state recently. He said so far, according to an estimate, the state had suffered a loss of around Rs 2,000 crore due to damages caused by natural disasters in the past few years. A report would be presented to the Central government in this regard. The affects of natural calamities had increased in the past few years due to climate change

Rawat said Uttarakhand shares borders with many states and countries and hence was vulnerable to child crimes and human trafficking. Inter-state coordination was needed for effective control in this regard, he added.
Dehradun, July 16

The fresh batch of MBA students who joined IMS Unison University participated in an orientation programme here yesterday to mark the beginning of the new academic session. Prof MP Jain, Chancellor, IMS Unison University, welcomed the students while Vice-Chancellor Rajendra Kumar Pandey motivated students to achieve their goals.

Pandey said students of the university had been placed in leading organisations. He also reflected upon how students must face and combat all odds in order to attain their ambitions.

Dr Reena Singh, Dean (Academics), urged the students to work hard and excel not only in academic but also on other fronts to accomplish their dreams. She told the students that academic curriculum of the university was multi-disciplinary in nature and amongst the best being offered in the country. It had been designed by an eminent panel of industry and academic experts.TNS
Lahore, July 16

Qandeel Baloch, a social media star whose exploits divided opinion in conservative Pakistan, was allegedly strangled by her brother in what appears to be an honour killing, police said.

Related story: Shes dead because its so easy to hate women who dont conform to norms

Baloch received multiple death threats and suffered frequent misogynist abuse, but continued posting provocative pictures and videos. In Facebook posts, she spoke of trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people in Pakistan.

Her real name was Fouzia Azeem but she chose Qandeel Baloch as her pseudonym after stepping into modelling.

Balochs body was discovered on Saturday and her father told the police that his son Waseem had strangled her and fled. He said Waseem quarrelled with her over money issues and her risque photos.  Agencies
Brussels, July 16

It was a strangely 20th century coup, defeated by 21st century technology and people power. When a self-styled military Peace Council tried to topple Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his increasingly authoritarian government on Friday night, the rebel generals and colonels seemed to be fighting the last war.

This coup was obviously planned quite well but using a playbook from the 1970s, said Gareth Jenkins, a researcher and writer on military affairs based in Istanbul. It was more like Chile in 1973, or Ankara in 1980 than a modern Western state in 2016. The rebels struck on a weekend when the president was out of town at a holiday resort. They seized the main airport, sealed off a bridge over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, sent tanks to parliament and Ankara and to control the main road junctions. But they failed to capture any of the ruling AK Party leaders or to shut down private television, mobile phone signals or social media networks, enabling Erdogan swiftly to call supporters to resist the coup.  Reuters
Washington, July 16

The attempted military coup in Turkey could hamper the US in its war against Islamic State in Syria and undermine other US goals in the Middle East by weakening democracy and sparking prolonged instability in the NATO pacts only Muslim member.

With the Turkish military and security services apparently split as gunfire and explosions rocked both Istanbul and the capital Ankara on Friday night, the US made clear it was siding with the government of President Tayyip Erdogan.

Relations between Erdogans government and the US administration have been rocky, but he has broadly cooperated in the fight against Islamic State.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The United States views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday. He later stressed Washingtons absolute support for the democratically elected government during a phone call with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Whatever the outcome, analysts said, the US ally now faces a period of political and economic instability. That could divert the Turkish military and security services from stemming a recent series of attacks blamed on Islamic State, fighting a Kurdish insurrection and shutting off the flow of foreign militants across its border to and from Syria.

From the US perspective, the worst case scenario might be an ineffective coup that pitches Turkey into a prolonged power struggle, said Blaize Misztal, the national security director at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Even a quickly executed coup which met little resistance would be destabilizing, but a partial or unsuccessful coup would lead to much more instability ahead.

Turkey, the bridge between Europe and the Middle East, has NATOs second-largest army after that of the United States, and is the regions largest economy. Despite a history of military coups, the country of 75 million people is the regions oldest democracy, and has helped provide stability in southeastern Europe and the Middle East.

This could be one of the most critical challenges of the Obama administration. A stable Turkey is crucial to American interests in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus, said Bruce Riedel, of the Brookings Institution and a former CIA analyst. A democratic Turkey, even if flawed, is essential to any hopes of political reform in the Middle East. Turkey is host to important US and NATO military facilities. They include Incirlik Air Base, from which US fighters and drones hit Islamic State in neighboring Syria, a CIA base from which the agency has been supporting moderate Syrian rebel forces, U.S. listening posts and an early warning radar for NATOs European missile defense system.

Turkey was scheduled to attend a meeting near Washington next week of the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition, although it was unclear if the attempted coup would affect that.

US officials have criticised Erdogans increasing authoritarianism, Turkeys support for Islamist opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the slow pace in sealing its border with Syria to foreign fighters.

For his part, Erdogan has been angered by US support for Syrian Kurds fighting Islamic State that he considers allies of the PKK, the rebel group fighting for greater autonomy for Turkeys Kurds.

The key point is, the (Obama) administration would always support a democratically elected government in this situation, said Matthew Bryza, a former US ambassador to Azerbaijan and a former senior White House adviser on Turkey.

US interests will suffer no matter the outcome of the coup attempt, said Gonul Tol, director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the Middle East Institute.

If the coup fails, Erdogans hand will be strengthened and well see more of his autocratic agenda, Tol said. And if it succeeds, this means . . . further instability for Turkey domestically.  Reuters
Ankara, July 16

Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in exile in the US state of Pennsylvania and who once was an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned the attempted military coup and denied any involvement in it.

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of the failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen.

Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.

He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the coup attempt, although he has denied any role and condemned the miliary uprising.

I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey, he said in an emailed statement. The government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force. I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly, he added.

As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations. Agencies
Nice, July 16

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a petty criminal prone to depression and violence who smoked, drank and never went to the mosque, according to neighbours and family.

The Tunisian delivery driver, who on Thursday evening smashed a 19-tonne lorry into a crowd killing 84 people, including 10 children, had shown no overt signs of radicalistaion.

The Islamic State group, in claiming the attack today, said he was a soldier who had responded to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS).

But authorities said he had not been flagged for links to radical Islamic ideology.

The 31-year-old seemed to have been radicalised very quickly from what his friends and family have told police, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said today.

Speaking outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia, the attackers father said he had suffered from depression and had no links to religion.

From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... he would break anything he saw in front of him, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said.

We are also shocked, he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

He didnt pray, he didnt fast, he drank alcohol, his father said. He even took drugs.

After Thursdays attack on people who had just enjoyed a Bastille Day fireworks display on Nice seafront, his neighbours in a working-class neighbourhood of the city told AFP they had little to do with him.

They portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not return greetings when their paths crossed.

One neighbour in his four-storey block said she had concerns about him, describing him as a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye.

However, another said she had become friendly with him after they struck up a conversation one day in the stairwell when he was looking to buy some cigarettes.

According to her he was teetotaller and refused to drink a glass of wine with her, saying: No, I dont drink. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said he asked to rent her letter box from her.

I dont know why. I found it strange, quite frankly, she said, adding that she turned down his request.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was often seen drinking beer and never attended the small mosque near his home, other residents of his home district told AFP.  AFP
Luxembourg, July 16

Secretary of State John Kerry said today the United States would assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen. Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.

He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the Thursdays boody coup attempt, although he has denied any role and condemned the miliary uprising in the strongest terms. Kerry who spoke late yesterday to his Turkish opposite number Mevlut Cavusoglu by telephone, said: We havent received any request with respect to Mr Gulen.  AFP

US-based cleric denies any role

US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen on Saturday denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup in Turkey and said he condemned in the strongest terms the attempt to topple the government. Turkey accuses Gulen of trying to create a parallel structure, a charge the cleric denies.
Cairo, July 16

Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the deadly attack in the Riviera city of Nice on Thursday that killed at least 84 persons.

"The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State," the news agency Amaq, which supports Islamic State, said via its Telegram account.

"He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State," the statement said.  Reuters
Sacramento, Calif., July 16

Three students on a study abroad programme in France were wounded and another was missing in Thursdays Bastille Day attack in Nice, the University of California, Berkeley, said on Friday.

The university identified the missing student as Nicolas Leslie, 20, one of 85 Berkeley students on a 15-day study abroad trip on entrepreneurship in Europe. Two of the other students who suffered broken bones have been released after medical treatment, while the third injured student remains at a hospital, the university said.

May Nicolas Leslie be found safe, the University of Californias flagship campus posted on Facebook Friday, along with the hashtag #PrayforNice and the image of a heart painted like the tri-color French flag.

A Texan and his 11-year-old son on a family vacation were also among at least 84 people killed when an attacker crashed a heavy truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French seaside city, officials said on Friday.

The Berkeley students were studying at a program affiliated with the international European Innovation Academy in Nice, the university said. The program was suspended temporarily as France marks three days of mourning, and students will be given the option of returning home early, the university said.

Leslie, a junior in the universitys College of Natural Resources, was not listed among the dead in the attack, but family members have not been able to reach him, a woman who said she was a family friend said in an interview.

The last thing that we heard from one of his friends is that he was seen running off, said the woman, who gave only her first name, Antonella.

Leslie, who was born in Italy and grew up in the San Diego area, was a U.S. national, university spokesman Roqua Montez said. The injured students were Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a computer science major who suffered a broken leg, and Diane Huang, 20, who studies environmental economics and suffered a broken foot in the attack. Both students were back in their dormitories in Nice.

The third student, Daryus Medora, 21, whose leg was broken, remains at a hospital.

In the attack, a man identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel plowed into a crowd of some 30,000 local people and tourists attending a fireworks display to celebrate Bastille Day.

At least 84 people were killed, 10 of them children, and 202 more were wounded.

French officials said Friday that Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of Nice, was known to police for petty crime and violence, but had not been suspected of Islamist militancy.  Reuters
LOS ANGELES  The mills of justice grind slowly, but life plunges on, leaving lives blighted when justice, by being delayed, is irremediably denied. Fortunately, Californias Supreme Court might soon decide to hear  four years after litigation began  the 21st centurys most portentous civil rights case, which concerns an ongoing denial of equal protection of the law.

Every year, measurable injuries are inflicted on tens of thousands of already at-risk children by this states teacher tenure system, which is so politically entrenched that only the courts can protect the discrete and insular minority it victimizes. In 2012, nine Los Angeles students, recognizing the futility of expecting the Legislature to rectify a wrong it has perpetrated, asked Californias judiciary to continue its record of vindicating the rights of vulnerable minorities by requiring the states education system to conform to the states Constitution.

After 10 weeks of testimony, the trial court found the tenure system incompatible with the California Supreme Courts decision, now almost half a century old, that the state Constitution, which declares education a fundamental state concern, guarantees equality of treatment to all K-12 pupils. It shocks the conscience, the trial court said, that there is no dispute that a significant number of grossly ineffective teachers  perhaps more than 8,000, each with 28 students  are doing quantifiable damage to childrens life prospects.

Technically, California teachers are granted lifetime tenure after just two years. Actually, they must be notified of tenured status after just 16 months. (Thirty-two states grant tenure after three years, nine states after four or five. Four states never grant tenure.) When incompetent or negligent teachers gain tenure, dismissal procedures are so complex and costly that the process can take up to 10 years and cost up to $450,000. The trial court called the power to dismiss illusory. Each year approximately two teachers are dismissed for unsatisfactory performance  0.0007 percent of Californias 277,000 teachers.

Instead, school districts are forced to adopt what is called the dance of the lemons, whereby grossly ineffective teachers are shuffled from school to school. Another facet of the tenure system  the teachers last hired are the first fired when layoffs are required  reinforces the powerful tendency for incompetent teachers, who must teach somewhere, to accumulate in schools with the most teacher vacancies. These are disproportionately schools attended by low-income minority children.

Abundant research demonstrates that teacher quality is the most important school variable determining academic performance. This is why there is more variation in student achievement within than between schools. This variation is especially dramatic among students from educationally disadvantaged families. A single grossly ineffective teacher can deprive students of a full year of learning, with consequences that include lower graduation and college attendance rates, and lifetime earnings more than $250,000 lower than for pupils without a single incompetent teacher.

Because teachers unions insist that financial appropriations are the all-important determinants of schools successes, they are perversely reluctant to acknowledge the importance of quality teachers.

The appeals court responded with a judicial shrug to the trial courts factual findings. It said Californias tenure system does not constitute a denial of equal protection because the identifiable class of people being injured have no shared trait. Oh? What about their shared injury? The injured pupils share a susceptibility to injury because of their shared trait of being economically disadvantaged. This trait concentrated them in schools that themselves have a shared trait  disproportionately high numbers of bad teachers.

The appeals court breezily said the injured were merely an unlucky subset of pupils, a random assortment produced not by the tenure laws but by the administration of them.

This, however, is a distinction without a difference: The tenure laws purpose is to dictate outcomes by depriving administrators of discretion. Systemic results cannot be dismissed as random. Even if the tenure laws were neither written with a discriminatory motive nor administered with a discriminatory intent, the system is now known to produce  not invariably but with a high probability  predictable patterns of disparities.

Liberal and conservative legal luminaries, from Harvards Laurence Tribe to Stanfords Michael McConnell, have urged Californias Supreme Court to do what the appeals court neglected to do  apply heightened scrutiny to the tenure laws that prioritize teachers job security over pupils constitutional right regarding education. Californias Supreme Court will have national resonance if it affirms that public schools are established to enable children to flourish, not to make even dreadful teachers secure.
Williams extends deadline for nominating

directors

Williams Cos. announced Friday that the deadline for stockholders to nominate candidates to stand for election to the companys board of directors has been extended to the close of business Aug. 25.

The original deadline was the close of business July 18.

The election will be held at the companys 2016 Annual Meeting on Nov. 23.

According to the press release, the board decided to extend the nomination deadline to Aug. 25 to allow stockholders additional time to suggest director nominees. The August deadline is also consistent with Williams past practice of setting the nomination deadline 90 days prior to the annual meeting.

Williams is seeking additional highly qualified director candidates and is committed to maintaining a world-class Board comprised of directors with a broad range of skills and experience, the notice reads.

USDA:

Louisiana company

recall

ing

catfish products

NEW ORLEANS  The U.S. Department of Agriculture says a north Louisiana business is recalling more than 21,500 pounds of catfish products used by hotels, restaurants and other institutions in six states.

The recall by Haring Catfish Inc. of Wisner involves products that USDA says may contain residue of a chemical called gentian violet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says some countries that export seafood use the chemical in aquaculture. It is not approved for use in the U.S.

The products include 11-pound cardboard boxes of products marketed as whole catfish, catfish steaks, filets and nuggets for use by hotels, restaurants and other institutions in Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. No illnesses connected to the product have been reported.

Virgin Mobile USA to open headquarters in Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A communications company that specializes in prepaid wireless service has announced it will open a headquarters in Missouri and create more than 50 new jobs.

Virgin Mobile USA says its still scouting out potential office space in downtown Kansas City and is actively recruiting candidates for a number of positions, including executive. It expects to have its office finished and staffed by the end of the year.

Virgin Mobile is affiliated with Sprint Corp., which is based in Overland Park, Kansas. The companys decision to expand into Missouri is part of a plan to relaunch the brand under Sprint.

The state is working with Virgin Mobile on possible incentives contingent upon the company meeting its projection of 84 new jobs within the next five years.

Herbalife dodges most serious charges from U

.

S

.

NEW YORK  Federal regulators closed an investigation of the multinational, nutritional supplements company Herbalife, which has for years been dogged by accusations that it was run as an elaborate pyramid scheme.

Though Herbalife was ordered to restructure its U.S. operations and pay a $200 million settlement Friday, it avoided being classified by the U.S. as a pyramid scheme.

Under the settlement announced Friday, Herbalife must rework the way in which it pays its salespeople. They must be compensated for selling Herbalife products, and the company must scrap incentives that reward them for recruiting other salespeople. A business model that rewards participants for bringing in others to take part in an enterprise is essentially the base model of a pyramid scheme.

The settlements are an acknowledgment that our business model is sound and underscore our confidence in our ability to move forward successfully, otherwise we would not have agreed to the terms, said Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael Johnson.

 From staff and wire reports
By RANDY KREHBIEL

World Staff Writer

Week ahead: Congress is in recess until after Labor Day.

Zero for Zika: Fourth District Rep. Tom Cole was among six Republicans  three representatives and three senators  to ask President Barack Obama to repurpose previously appropriated funds to combat the Zika virus.

Their request came after Congress failed to agree on a $1.1 billion emergency appropriation to fight the disease.

Republicans want to fund the Zika fight from Affordable Care Act accounts and by cutting off payments to Planned Parenthood and other programs they dont like.

Senate Democrats have filibustered the legislation, causing both parties to claim the other is trying to use the situation for political gain.

In their letter to Obama, Cole and the others say the president has been slow to utilize $589 million originally set aside for Ebola to research and combat Zika.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe was also upset about the situation, but for a different reason  the Zika funding was attached to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.

The Senate easily passed an earlier version of the bill, but Senate Democrats have blocked the more recent version because of changes made by House Republicans.

This will be the legacy of the past seven years, Inhofe said. Democrats using our military as their negotiating tool to get their way with federal spending.

Dots and Dashes: Shepherded by Cole, the spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and other related agencies made it through the full House Appropriations Committee. The draft bill includes $161.6 billion in discretionary funding  a reduction of $569 million from the current enacted level and $2.8 billion less than requested by the Obama administration. ... U.S. Sen. James Lankford spoke twice on the Senate floor Thursday, once to encourage racial interaction and once to slam the Obama administrations 1-year-old nuclear arms agreement with Iran .... Coles attempt to use the Interior appropriations bill to clarify ambiguities involving Indian trust land was shot down by Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Randy Krehbiel, World Staff Writer

Randy Krehbiel 918-581-8365
GROVE  A man considered to be a suspect in the disappearance of his adopted son, who has been missing for 17 years, has died at his home on Grand Lake.

Doug Herrman, 61, had been in failing health for more than a year, said Kelly Herzet, sheriff for Butler County, Kansas.

Herzet confirmed Herrman died Wednesday at his mobile home in a Grand Lake mobile home park. His wife, Valerie Herrman, is also in poor health, Herzet said.

The couple are considered persons of interest in the disappearance and presumed death of their adopted son, Adam Herrman.

We always thought he would take it (information) to his grave, Herzet said, referring to Adam's disappearance and the whereabouts of his remains.

Adam Herrman was 11 years old when he was last seen at a mobile home park in Towanda, Kansas, about 25 miles northeast of Wichita. Authorities in Butler County have conducted several searches of the mobile home park and nearby areas.

Although Adam Herrman, who would be 29 if he were still alive, was last seen in 1999, his disappearance wasn't reported to authorities until 2008, after a relative couldn't locate him.

This has probably weighed heavily on them, Herzet said of the Herrmans.

The couple blamed the boys disappearance on him being a runaway, and said they did not report it because they feared they would lose custody of him and other children, Herzet said. In addition, relatives said Valerie Herrman told them that Adam, who was being home-schooled, had been returned to state custody, he said.

In a 2013 interview, Doug Herrman said the couple had never given up hope of finding their son alive.

Herzet said he didnt know whether authorities will ever learn the whereabouts of the childs remains.

I want to find that little boys remains, Herzet said. He deserves a proper burial.

There is still a $100,000 reward in the case, he said.

Doug and Valerie Herrman were convicted in 2011 of adoption-related welfare fraud after they falsely claimed Adam on their income taxes and received $15,000 in adoption subsidies.

Doug Herrman was sentenced to nine months in prison, and Valerie Herrman was sentenced to seven months. They were ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and $15,488 in restitution. They served their sentences and were released.
Given the horror of the murder of the five police officers in Dallas, it might seem absurd or distasteful to ask if it was a good idea to kill the sniper with a bomb mounted on a robot. Surely, anything that stopped the carnage was justified in the moment, and the police seem to have had no clear shot at the sniper.

But the issue is more complicated, and it deserves to be considered carefully. Theres a legal difference between targeting a crime suspect and targeting a wartime enemy. Theres also a difference between using a weapon that can be aimed and using one that puts bystanders at greater risk. And a precedent set under emergency conditions can easily expand in future cases. The step from the robot bomb to a drone strike is barely even incremental: morally and technologically, theyre basically the same.

Bombs and missiles arent new. There are reasons they are hardly ever used for domestic law enforcement in the U.S. Those reasons have to do with precision, scale, and the difference between apprehending criminals and fighting wars.

We should be cautious and thoughtful about the expansion  even when were using the tools of war to save innocent lives. We need rules and protocols to govern their use, both to protect the public and to make sure the police have guidance and dont have to improvise under extreme pressure.

We dont yet know exactly the circumstances that led the Dallas police to resort to use of the bomb. But we do know that the sniper was by legal definition a suspect. He hadnt yet been arrested or convicted. He could have been legally insane, or he might not have been the shooter at all. The police were operating under emergency conditions, trying to save innocent lives.

Prevention vs. execution

Lethal force is legally justified in trying to stop a suspect who is using lethal force. Thats why it would have been perfectly acceptable for police sharpshooters to shoot the sniper in the head or heart. And its the reason that, on the surface, there seems to be nothing troubling about killing him with a bomb.

But theres an important caveat to the principle that a suspect may be stopped with lethal force. The legal force has to be necessary to stopping the suspect.

It would almost always be more convenient for police to kill a violent felon in the course of committing a crime than to apprehend him. But a police force that systematically and intentionally killed all such suspects would be guilty of executing them extrajudicially. The United Nations would investigate, and international law, which prohibits extrajudicial killing, would be invoked.

Nobody is accusing the Dallas police of extrajudicial killing; lethal force may well have been necessary to stop the sniper there. That is a judgment thats hard to make and only the authorities at the scene can make it.

Ideally, it would have been better to use a police shooter, who might have been able to wound or incapacitate the sniper without killing him, and might have been in the best position to determine whether killing him was legally necessary. Using a shooter would also probably have reduced the chance that others could be hurt. But its quite likely that it wouldnt have been possible to put a shooter into position without endangering the lives of more officers.

If the police had a video camera on the robot that showed them that the suspect was alone, then the collateral damage worry might have been mitigated. In that case the bomb could have functioned just like a lethally aimed bullet.

In fact, sometimes technology might even allow deploying less lethal force than a bullet, in the form of a stun grenade, for example.

So Im not saying the use of the robot was legally unjustified here. Im simply noting that the use of lethal force has to be necessary.

Setting lethal precedent

War is different from police work. Under the laws of war, a soldier is allowed to kill his enemy without worrying about trying to incapacitate him (unless hes in the process of surrendering). He or she must exercise proportionality with respect to collateral damage. But soldiers are entitled to whats called battlefield immunity when it comes to lethal force.

Then theres the question of the precedent created by the use of the bomb in Dallas. A robot with a bomb attached is no different from a drone that fires a missile. Law enforcement already has drones.

Its now only a matter of time until law enforcement uses a targeted drone strike to take out a suspect. That will happen, one hopes, when the danger of collateral damage is relatively trivial  but who knows?

In future cases, the temptation to use bombs and missiles to take out suspected criminals who are killing innocent people will be great. After all, such technology will protect the lives of police officers and other innocent victims.

Before that happens, however, we need rules to determine when and whether such force should be used. Maybe theres nothing wrong with using bombs and missiles for domestic law enforcement. Once we go down that road, however, it will be easy to forget that the suspects being killed arent wartime enemies, but people who are legally presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Tara Brown is reportedly in the US on assignment for 60 Minutes, according to a News Corp report.

Brown, whose last report in Beirut ended behind bars, is yet to broadcast her next story.

She appeared in a follow-up report on the saga in which she told Michael Usher, I thought when we presented ourselves and were being questioned, I really thought: Were journalists, were doing our jobs, they will see reason, theyll understand that, you know, that we are here just to do a story on a very, very desperate mother. And I just thought that reason would prevail, and it didnt.

The 60 Minutes crew is to be charged with knowing about the kidnapping crime in Lebanon and failing to report it, an offence punishable by a fine. But the Nine crew will contest charges, which are likely to result in a fine.

There have been suggestions Browns next story will screen later this month on 60 Minutes.
Rumours that Seven could revive Today Tonight have returned amid speculation Seven News boss Craig McPherson is planning further changes.

Last week Sunday Night producer Steve Taylor was replaced by Hamish Thomson, with News Corp now suggesting the former Foreign Correspondent producer rejected a Taylor Swift interview.

The newspaper again sparks rumours that McPherson could revive his former program Today Tonight, and trim Seven News to 30 minute bulletins, giving it a half hour jump on A Current Affair.

Seven has previously denied the rumours.

In state news battles, Seven News Sydney has recently introduced Mel McLaughlin for Sport and renowned weather presenter David Brown.

Today Tonight still operates in Adelaide and Perth.

UPDATE: Sources tell TV Tonight there are no plans to return Today Tonight to the East Coast. Claims regarding Taylor Swift story are also unknown.
No Ukrainian soldiers were killed but six were wounded as a result of military operations in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas in the past twenty-four hours.

Presidential Administration Spokesman for ATO Issues Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. No Ukrainian servicemen were killed; six were wounded in the last twenty-four hours, Lysenko said. ish
The Security Service of Ukraine is doing everything necessary that the events in Turkey do not affect the deterioration of the operational situation in Ukraine.

Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyl Hrytsak said this at a press briefing on Saturday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I think that the events in Turkey will definitely provoke the terrorist activities around the world. Of course, we have made everything possible that the events in Turkey do not influence the deterioration of the operational situation in Ukraine, and we will do everything for this along with all law enforcement agencies," he said.

ish
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine expresses strong support for the democratically elected government of Turkey and hopes that the President and the Government will quickly resume the public peace and stability.

This has been stated in a statement made by the Foreign Ministry.

"Due to the attempted military coup in Turkey, Ukraine strongly supports the people and the democratically elected governments of the Turkish Republic. We hope that the President and the Government will quickly resume the public peace and stability based on respect for democratic values and laws of Turkey," the document says.

The Foreign Ministry expressed sincere condolences over the loss of human life as a result of criminal encroachment.

ish
Until recently, enroling in school had been a challenge for Petra. The local school in her hometown refused to accept her, and she and her father were forced to relocate closer to a school for children with disabilities. It was only by chance that she met Ana, a teacher at a music school  and then everything changed.



NOVI SAD, Serbia, 15 July 2016  Outside the Isidor Bajic music school, a cacophony of piano, wind and string drifts through the crisp spring air. Upstairs, at the end of a long corridor, Petra sits upright at the piano, perfectly balanced, her back like a board and her head facing straight in front of her. Her instructor, Ana, fixes her eyes on her pupils hands.

Gusto! Gusto! Gusto! Ana repeats in rapid succession, her voice rising as the notes merge closer and closer together.

Today, Ana is trying to demonstrate the requisite amount of pressure to apply to the keys.

What is music? Ana prompts Petra.

Its a story, she answers. Theyve been over this before.

Thats right. You have to tell me a story through music. Not just whisper. You must be convincing in your story.

Petra places her hand on Anas to get a sense of the form.

Imagine your right hand is huge and your left is gentle like a little girl.

Petra places her hands on Anas forearm and taps out the notes so that Ana can feel the pressure. This tactile pedagogical technique is unique to Anas relationship with Petra. Petra feels with her hands what she cannot see, and Ana brings instructions to life through metaphor.



A chance to learn

Before she met Petra, Ana had never taught a blind student. At the beginning, they spent a lot of time training Petra to position her hands correctly. Petra had a tendency to flex her palms downward, her fingers in the air, as required for reading brail or feeling her surroundings. But a more relaxed pose is required for piano, like youre dipping into water, Ana explains.

Ana first met Petra when she was sitting on the panel of a music competition. The judges were impressed by the 10-year-olds singing and touched by her determination. It was at that competition that Petra expressed her desire to study music. She passed the entrance exam at Isidor Bajic with flying colors and was enroled in Anas class.

At the time, Petra was attending a special school for children with disabilities. Just finding a school that would accept her had been a feat for Petras family. The local school in Petras hometown refused to enrol her, even though primary education is mandatory in Serbia. So Petra and her father left her mother and brother behind and moved eight hours north to Novi Sad.

Today, Petra attends a mainstream school. The music school helped Petra develop the confidence to make the transition to her new school. With Anas support, Petra was introduced to the school on the basis of her strengths as a budding young musician, not as girl defined by what she lacks. There are a few boys who tease her, challenging her to hold her jacket in one hand and her sandwich in the other. But its nothing she cant handle. Petra exudes confidence. She knows what she wants and she is working hard to get there.

My lifetime wish is to become the most famous composer and pianist.
On Friday, the Obama Administration made it known to the public a new funding initiative to ensure the United States preserves its leadership in the mobile technology space.

The Advanced Wireless Research Initiative that gathered $400 million will be led by the National Science Foundation and having an intention to develop and advance wireless technology to 5G and beyond, based on the report of CNET.

The White House wrote in a press release that stated, the efforts of the spectrum policy and research will increase the deployment amount of a new generation of wireless networks that are up to 100 times faster compared today. These high-capacity, ultra-low latency and super-fast networks will enable breakthrough applications for smart cities, consumers as well as the Internet of Things that cannot even be imagined today.

The expected breakthroughs listed in the plan of the administration include improved self-driving vehicles, mobile phones and tablets that can download a single film in less than five seconds, live high-res video transmissions from first-responders to emergency rooms.

Adding up to the breakthroughs are the virtual reality job training simulators, and public places, businesses will have a Gigabit-speed wireless broadband available, USA Today reported.

As part of the Obama Administration's research plan, other federal agencies committed to the 5G research include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as the DARPA. The agency plans to make a practical use of the 5G test platforms in the new Spectrum Challenge component of its decade-old competition for teams building robotic vehicles, according to PC Mag.

Multiple technology companies like AT&T, HTC, Nokia, Qualcomm, Intel and Samsung - also pledged their support for the United States government research projects.

The tech companies are already working on their own 5G efforts, and commit themselves to offer financial support as well as engineering equipment and guidance.

NSF director France A Cordova said that as the world rely on the Internet daily, they need a new generation of wireless communication infrastructure.

Here's a video that demonstrated the 5G technology:
CHARLESTON -- Patricia Brant's account of what happened to Piersen Eaker "did not match up" with the injuries the 22-month-old boy received while at Brant's day care facility, a child abuse specialist said Friday.

Carle Foundation Hospital pediatrician Brent Reifsteck said Piersen's injuries were almost certain because of shaking and a fall as Brant claimed occurred was "very, very unlikely."

"This type of injury would require force only an adult could generate," Reifsteck said during testimony Friday at Brant's jury trial on charges of aggravated battery of a child.

Brant, 44, is accused of shaking and permanently injuring Piersen on Feb. 14, 2014, while he in was in her case at Treasured Tots Day Care in Charleston, which she operated at the time.

On Friday, Reifsteck said he examined Piersen at Carle, where he was taken after he was injured, adding that he was notified of the case because of suspected child abuse.

He described injuries that included bleeding between the brain and the membrane that covers it, which was on both side's of Piersen's brain, along with oxygen deprivation of the brain and other damage.

All those injuries are "highly specific" to abusive head trauma, Reifsteck explained.

He also referred to the report of an ophthalmologist, Melissa Ajunwa-Bohonos, who testified earlier in the trial and said the multiple, widespread retinal hemorrhages in both of Pierson's eyes also indicated he was injured by shaking.

Reifsteck call the damage "irreversible" and said Pierson will have "permanent, severe disabilities" because of his injuries. He also said the symptoms would have started almost immediately, so the injuries probably took place shortly before Brant called 911.

Defense attorney Todd Reardon spent time during cross examination trying to call into question research and medical publications Reifsteck said he's reviewed and helped lead him to reach his conclusions.

However, Reardon also asked Reifsteck about Brant's claims, that she was out of the room when Piersen apparently fell trying to climb out of a playpen. Reifsteck agreed that such a fall could cause serious head injuries, but not with the same symptoms and not as severe as Piersen's.

Reifsteck also said he didn't know the specific amount of force from shaking would be needed to cause Piersen's injuries. As he has earlier, Reardon mentioned how bio-mechanical engineers research such issues, and he's indicated he plans to call someone in the field to testify during the trial.

Meanwhile, another Carle pediatrician who testified for the prosecution Friday said he reached the same conclusions about how Piersen was injured.

Ricardo Lema, who treated Piersen at the hospital, said the injuries were likely from "repeated and forceful acceleration and deceleration," or shaking. He said the force was enough to "dislodge" the eyeballs and cause the retinal bleeding.

When Assistant State's Attorney Tom Bucher asked if a fall that Brant said she thinks happened could cause the injuries Piersen received, Lema replied that it could not.

Reardon also mentioned the expertise of bio-mechanical engineers while questioning Lema, who also said he didn't know how much force a person of Brant's size could generate while shaking a child.

Also testifying Friday was Timothy Eaker, Piersen's father, who said Brant was "frantic" when they spoke on the phone and she told him what had happened.

"She said, 'Your son stopped breathing. You need to meet him at the hospital. The ambulance is on the way,' " Eaker related.

He also said Pierson returned home after eight months of treatment and rehabilitation but still can't care for himself. Since he was injured, Piersen has returned to the hospital about a dozen times because of breathing problems, he added.

State's Attorney Brian Bower indicated that Friday's three witnesses were the last the prosecution plans to call and would formally announce to the jury on Monday that it's resting its case.

Defense evidence is scheduled to follow, and the trial is expected to last a few more days next week.

Brant, 44, of Charleston is free on bond and a prison sentence of six to 30 years would be required if she's convicted.
The Cruiserweight Classic is already making waves within the world of wrestling as following its debut episode it has lead to signing of two of the star competitors.

After signing two huge names exclusively to the company, it only sets the tone for what is to come with a number of free agents rumored to be close to deals also.

Pair of performers signed

Two of the performers in the tournament have made a huge impact and have since set the precedent for other competitors to follow.

Pro Wrestling announced that both Gran Metalik and Kota Ibushi have both signed deals with WWE, with the former been speculated for weeks.

The 34-year-old Ibushi worked a show for NXT as he defeated Buddy Murphy which only increased the speculation that he would be signing with the company.

Metalik, a huge star in his homeland of Mexico where he performs under the ring name of Mascara Dorada, attracted a lot of attention from the WWE Universe following his recent victory over Alejandro Saez.

The Ibushi speculation

The 2011 Best of the Super Juniors winner has been linked with a move to WWE for several months, his appearance at NXT TakeOver: Dallas planted the seeds which have since sprouted into a contract with the company.

Ibushi defeated Sean Maluta in the final match of the first episode of The Cruiserweight Classic and displayed an array of high flying ability as well as technical skill that earned him the label of 'Best Flying Wrestler' in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013.

The Japanese performer is recognized as one of the greatest talents in the wrestling industry and is one of few men to have been recognized as having a 5 star match as he had with current NXT star Shinsuke Nakamura in 2015.

Only the beginning

It is believed that Metalik and Ibushi will not be the only two performers in The Cruiserweight Classic to eventually sign deals with the WWE.

A number of other stars are also rumored to make the leap including: Cedric Alexander, Zack Sabre Junior and Akira Tozawa.

Metalik's deal came as a greater shock of the two but will only increase the motivation of the performers to showcase their talents as best as they can.
SHARE Julie Jason

By Julie Jason

In the past few weeks, we have been discussing student-loan debt. Student loans can be discharged if you are totally and permanently disabled (TPD), and (rarely) in bankruptcy.

If discharge is not possible, don't default. There is another option: loan-repayment programs.

''Colleges and the government do such a bad job communicating student loan repayment options that some 70 percent of those defaulting on this debt don't even know they can benefit from a lower, income-based repayment plan,'' said John Wasik, author of ''The Debt-Free Degree'' (an e-book), in a blog for Forbes (http://tinyurl.com/zuxvhe5).

According to Boston attorney Adam Minsky: ''For federal student-loan borrowers who are earning no or minimum income, but cannot get their loans discharged, they can apply for income-driven repayment plans that peg monthly federal student-loan payments to their income. If the borrower is earning below the poverty level, they could pay as little as $0 in monthly 'payments' but remain in good standing on the loan. This isn't a loan cancellation, but can be a viable backup option for federal student-loan borrowers who are ineligible for, or denied, a TPD discharge.'' The ''poverty level'' comes from poverty guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (http://tinyurl.com/jgmp7rv).

According to Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, there are four types of IDR plans:

Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan, in which you pay "generally 10 percent of your discretionary income.'' Pay As You Earn Plan, in which you pay ''generally 10 percent of your discretionary income, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount'' (see http://tinyurl.com/hyd92ur). Income-Based Repayment Plan, in which you pay ''generally 10 percent of your discretionary income if you're a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014'' and ''generally 15 percent of your discretionary income if you're not a new borrower on or after July 1, 2014, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.'' Income-Contingent Repayment Plan, in which you pay the lesser of the following: ''20 percent of your discretionary income or what you would pay on a repayment plan with a fixed payment over the course of 12 years, adjusted according to your income.''

Before choosing one plan over another, study them at http://tinyurl.com/z7sf8xn, and be sure to read these essential resources:

''Income-Driven Repayment Plans: Questions and Answers'' (http://tinyurl.com/jfzcz2v). ''Income-Driven Repayment Plans for Federal Student Loans'' (http://tinyurl.com/ztx8dwf). ''Federal Student Loans: Repaying Your Loans'' (http://tinyurl.com/hcva67w).

Also check out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) interactive tool (http://tinyurl.com/jmzalur), which calculates your approximate monthly payment based on your family size and your annual income. For example, a family of two (or a couple) making $15,000 annually would pay $0 per month because they are making below the poverty level. A family of four making $50,000 annually would make monthly payments of approximately $114. A family of seven making $70,000 annually would make monthly payments of approximately $124.

Federal Student Aid reported in March 2016 that ''as of December 2015, nearly 4.6 million Direct Loan borrowers were enrolled in IDR plans, a 48 percent increase from December 2014 and a 140 percent increase from December 2013 ... approximately 4.8 million unique borrowers are enrolled in IDR plans.''

But more students need to be aware of IDRs.

According to an August 2015 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, ''51 percent of all Direct Loan borrowers would benefit from an income-driven repayment plan, yet fewer than 20 percent were enrolled.'' The annual report of the CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman stated that ''current servicing practices may be inadequate to assist borrowers in distress.''

Additional help may be on the way. In its Oct. 1, 2015, report ''Strengthening the Student Loan System to Better Protect All Borrowers,'' the U.S. Department of Education explains that the administration proposed creating a single, streamlined, simplified repayment plan for borrowers. This plan would ''simplify borrowers' experiences and allow for easier selection of a repayment plan, while reducing program complexity and targeting benefits to ensure program effectiveness.''

Julie Jason, a personal money manager (Jackson, Grant of Stamford, Conn.) and award-winning author, welcomes your questions/comments (readers@juliejason.com). To hear Julie speak, visit www.juliejason.com/events.
TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Virginia Drais greets pilot Zachary Ramzi before boarding a Cessna 172 for her 101st birthday celebration Thursday at Camarillo Airport. Looking on are Drais' daughter Laura Vahl-Gillespie (from left), friend SallieBett Tomei and Loretta Tiede, Drais' caregiver and the one who arranged the flight.

SHARE TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Loretta Tiede (left) helps buckle Virginia Drais into the co-pilot seat of a Cessna 172 before leaving Camarillo Airport on a flight around Ventura County for Drais' 101st birthday celebration Thursday. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR Loretta Tiede (left) helps buckle Virginia Drais into the co-pilot seat of a Cessna 172 before leaving Camarillo Airport on a flight around Ventura County for Drais' 101st birthday celebration Thursday. TROY HARVEY/SPECIAL TO THE STAR A Cessna 172 carrying Virginia Drais is seen taking off from Camarillo Airport on Thursday.

By Anne Kallas, Special to The Star

Wearing a jaunty wide-brimmed white hat with feathers, Virginia Drais, of Thousand Oaks, celebrated her 101st birthday this week by flying in a small plane for the first time and getting a bird's-eye view of Ventura County.

"I thought it was wonderful," she said after Thursday's flight in the Cessna 172.

"I was able to see the coast, and we flew over Thousand Oaks, where I could see the cars looking like this," she said, holding her fingers about a quarter-inch apart. "It was great. I can see why Loretta loves it."

Loretta is Drais' caregiver Loretta Tiede, who runs Norma J's, a senior home where Drais lives. Tiede, a pilot, arranged for Thursday's flight out of the Camarillo Airport.

Tiede enlisted the services of flight instructor Zachary Ramzi, who piloted the four-seat plane toward Ventura Harbor, but it was too overcast to see much. So they turned around and flew over Thousand Oaks.

Ramzi said Drais was the oldest person he has ever taken on a flight.

Tiede said after the flight that Drais had the controls for a short time.

"Zach put his hands in the air and she realized she was doing the flying," Tiede said. "This is not the end of flying for her  our next adventure will be parachuting. She wanted to see the sky and stars, and I said, 'You know, I'm a pilot and I will take you to see the sky.' "

Watching from the ground was Drais' daughter, Laura Vahl-Gillespie, who came with her husband, Ed, from their Malibu home to celebrate her mother's birthday.

"This was all Loretta's idea," Vahl-Gillespie said. "We got the doctor's approval to take her up in the plane. She's always been somewhat adventurous, and she's flown quite a bit, but never in a small plane.

"Her memory is fantastic," she added. "I hope my memory is that good at her age. She remembers everything."

A group gathered after the flight at the airport's Waypoint Cafe for a celebratory lunch.

Vahl-Gillespie said her mother served with the Navy in World War II as an executive secretary on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. Drais was one of the first people to traverse the Golden Gate Bridge, walking across before it opened.

Vahl-Gillespie is Drais' only child, and after raising her, Drais went back to work as a secretary.

Drais said longevity runs in her family. Her sister died recently after a fall at age 97.

"I'm the oldest one in my family," she said, noting that while others may be making big plans for her 102nd birthday, "I'm not planning that far ahead."

Tiede said she enjoys working with the elderly in the care center she established in memory of her mother.

"I love all of my ladies, but Virginia is special," Tiede said. "She wants to live a quality life. Her doctor says all we have to worry about with her is that she will live many more years."
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By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

After a five-day trial, a jury earlier this week found a former Moorpark Little League board member guilty of misdemeanor petty theft and embezzlement.

William Scott Zulager, 44, who is out on his own recognizance, was ordered to return to court for sentencing July 26.

The league's board members filed a formal complaint to Moorpark police in late 2012 after they discovered irregularities in the group's bank statements.

Chris Huerth, who was the league's board president from the 2012 to 2015 season, said Zulager was the auxiliary vice president at the time of the theft.

Huerth, who testified during the trial, said Zulager was one of four individuals who had access to debit cards connected to the league's bank account.

During an accounting of the league's bank statements, the treasurer found a charge to a hotel in San Diego.

"That immediately raised a red flag," Huerth said in an interview Wednesday. "Our Little League definitely didn't have any business in San Diego. We traced it back to (Zulager's) card."

Further investigation into the league's finances showed there were other "irregular" purchases, including various charges at a gas station, Huerth said.

According to the California penal code, theft of $950 or less is considered a misdemeanor. Since the theft involved league property, the charges also included embezzlement by a public or private officer, which is also a misdemeanor.

Huerth, who is no longer a board member but still volunteers in the league, said he is glad the case is over.

"It has been a long process and has been frustrating, but I'm glad for the sake of the league that it has been resolved," Huerth said.
SHARE Jeffrey Kroll

By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

The case involving an Ojai man charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors in connection with the operation of a medical marijuana cooperative was continued to September.

Jeffrey Kroll, 65, the president of Shangri La Care Cooperative, appeared before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young for an early disposition conference, which was continued to Sept. 16.

Kroll, 65, was arrested in April and is facing 34 counts, including manufacturing concentrated cannabis, child endangerment, money laundering, felony failure to file an income tax return and committing fraud with respect to the property of an elderly adult.

Another man, William Macneil, a driver for the cooperative, also appeared in court Friday, but also was ordered to return to court on Sept. 16.

Macneil, 63, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of marijuana for sale and transportation.

A third man, Robert Hoffman, who is the co-director of Shangri La, was also arrested in April and faces one felony count of conspiracy to commit a crime. Hoffman, 63, is scheduled to appear in court on July 28 for a preliminary hearing.

All three men were released on their own recognizance.

Authorities served various search warrants on Kroll's residence and the cooperative's office in Ojai. Kroll's charges involve the period from February 2012 to April 2016, according to court records.

According to detectives, Kroll was allegedly manufacturing concentrated cannabis with the use of ethyl alcohol, which is "extremely dangerous and illegal" because of risk of explosion.

According to court records, the dispensary is about 400 feet from Mira Monte School.

Kroll's attorney, Zenia Gilg, said Kroll was not using ethyl alcohol. Gilg said Kroll slow-cooked the marijuana in a crock pot with water and drinking alcohol, not ethyl, as authorities allege.

Kroll's trailer is on the other side of the highway and is not in the immediate proximity of the elementary school, Gilg said in an interview.

"It was in a crock pot on a very low temperature, which is done to evaporate the water," Gilg said. "He was using the water method, which is perfectly legal. I guess if you're cooking a spaghetti sauce with wine and across from a school, you are endangering children because that is the equivalent to what (Kroll) was doing."

Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Hendren also has said Kroll and Hoffman obtained marijuana products from other marijuana collectives, increased the prices and dispensed the products to Shangri La members for a profit, which is a violation of state law.

Gill said those allegations are false and added Kroll did not receive more money than any other member from the collective.

"I wholeheartedly believe the prosecution will not be able to prove that this was a profit-making entity," Gilg said. "Marijuana was distributed, but it was distributed in compliance with California law."

Gilg said about 650 to 700 people are members of the cooperative, which began operating in 2009. Gilg said Shangri La stopped operating shortly after the arrests in April.

Gilg also filed a motion to modify Kroll's release conditions to allow the Ojai man to posses and use limited quantities of medical cannabis. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright denied the motion at a separate hearing on Friday.

Gilg said Kroll, like other members of the cooperative, suffers from a variety of health problems.

"There are people who are suffering right now because of the county district attorney's actions," Gilg said. "There are a lot of elderly and sick people who were relying on the co-op's delivery service. Now they have to go out and a lot of other dispensaries are too far away or are in bad neighborhoods, which puts them in danger."
STAR FILE PHOTO Ormond Beach

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By Staff Reports

Two marine scientists who are walking and biking the entire 1,200-mile length of the California Coastal Trail will visit Oxnard on Tuesday.

They plan to arrive at 10 a.m. at Ormond Beach.

Morgan Visalli and Jocelyn Enevoldsen, who call themselves the MoJo Coastwalkers, are ambassadors for the California Coastal Trail Association who began May 1 to hike and bicycle the length of the trail, gathering mapping data and collecting photos and videos for inclusion in an app.

As they walk the trail, the recent recipients of master's degrees in marine science from the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara are meeting with coastal and government leaders, other scientists, historians and coastal enthusiasts.

Una Glass, association executive director, said that in addition to gathering data, "the walk is intended to raise awareness and marshal support for completing the trail, granting uninterrupted public access along the entire coastal route."

The idea for the trail originated with the Coastal Initiative, Proposition 20, which was passed by voters in 1972. Additional legislation designated the State Coastal Conservancy as the lead state agency in facilitating the trail's completion. When it is completed, the trail will run unbroken from Oregon to Mexico. Glass said the trail is about two-thirds complete.

The MoJo Coastwalkers' progress can be followed at http://www.facebook.com/CaCoastalTrail.
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By Staff Reports

Oxnard police arrested a man Saturday morning after police on patrol heard the sounds of a blaring alarm coming from a store, authorities said.

Jessie Rivera, 23, was arrested after police said they found him inside a closed Joyeria 5 de Mayo store about 3:54 a.m. at 120 Channel Islands Boulevard.

Rivera allegedly fled when officers spotted him but was taken into custody shortly after, authorities said.

Police were not sure what, if anything, was taken from the store.
JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Suzy Snyder (left), curator at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., goes over the family tree of Helene Goodman while visiting the Oxnard woman's home to collect photos, books and documents for inclusion in the museum's collection. The museum is racing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust while eyewitnesses are still alive.

SHARE JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Photos of Helene Goodman's mother, Bertie Levkowitz, who was hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust, are part of the Goodman family's collection. Goodman is donating photos, book and documents to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum is racing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust while eyewitnesses are still alive. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Helene Goodman displays an April 1942 photo of her grandfather's cousin, who died in a concentration camp. Goodman is donating photos, book and documents to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum is racing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust while eyewitnesses are still alive. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR This fake passport allowed Helene Goodman's great grandmother to buy food during the Holocaust. Goodman is donating photos, book and documents to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The museum is racing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust while eyewitnesses are still alive. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Suzy Snyder (left), curator at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., goes over the family tree of Helene Goodman while visiting the Oxnard woman's home to collect photos, books and documents for inclusion in the museum's collection. The museum is racing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust while eyewitnesses are still alive.

By Michele Willer-Allred, Special to The Star

An Oxnard woman whose mother was a "hidden child" of the Holocaust has donated several dozen photos and documents about her family to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

Museum curator Suzy Snyder traveled to Oxnard and picked them up Thursday from Helene Goodman, who said she shared her mother's belief that while it was difficult to part with such important items from her family's past, it was better that they be preserved at the Holocaust Museum where they can help educate future generations.

"I think the personal stories and documentation touch people so differently than seeing a Steven Spielberg film or hearing a general story," Goodman said. "It makes a stronger impression, and it's proof of the Holocaust."

Snyder said the family's collection will be catalogued and digitized online, where it will be available to researchers, historians and others.

The documents were of particular interest to the museum because photos and stories of children in hiding are rare, Snyder said.

Goodman's mother, Bertie Levkowitz, was born in 1942, and would be Henrietta and Herman Goslinski's only child. Living in the Netherlands, the young family sought to hide from the Nazis to avoid deportation, but their rescuer did not want to risk having a crying infant hiding with them. So Henrietta left her daughter on a doorstep with a note, hoping a kind family would take her in.

The baby, though, was a risk to families, who had to lie about why they had her. She ended up moving about 40 times until a Dutch woman took her in. She was eventually reunited with her parents more than two years later.

During their time apart, the parents received one photograph of their young daughter, taken while the child was in hiding. Snyder said the museum rarely sees such photos because many European Jewish children didn't survive the Holocaust, and many of those who did because they were hidden were never told of their previous lives and prior identities.

The photo taken of Levkowitz in hiding is already at the Holocaust Museum. Levkowitz donated it for a 1991 exhibit on hidden children, along with the "take care of me" note that was with her when she was found as a baby and a cloth Star of David the family had to wear until they went into hiding.

Among the several dozen items Goodman gave to Snyder on Thursday were childhood pictures of Levkowitz by the Dutch woman who cared for her, plus photos of Goodman's grandparents getting married in what was Holland's first postwar Jewish wedding. Other items included a document showing Goodman's grandfather turning in a bike to authorities and a fake identification that allowed Goodman's great-grandmother to get food rations.

Snyder said it was unusual that so many in Goodman's family  including her grandparents, great-grandparents and great aunt  survived in hiding and that the family has so much material to document their experiences.

Goodman's great aunt, Sari Magnus, also donated items to the museum recently. She is credited with keeping the family photo albums safe when she went into hiding as a teenager.

Levkowitz is now 74 and living in Arizona. Goodman said that at first, her mother found it very hard to discuss her survival. But through the years, she has opened up about her past and has been willing to part with the family's documents.

Steven Klappholz, the Holocaust Museum's Western regional director based in Los Angeles, said that before long, the museum's collection of record will be the sole authentic witness to the Holocaust. The museum to rushing to rescue evidence of the Holocaust before all the survivors, World War II veterans and other eyewitnesses are gone.

He said it's imperative to connect with Holocaust survivors in California, like Goodman's family, to preserve historical evidence.

"We also hope that the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors will strongly consider donating Holocaust artifacts to the museum as part of the critical preservation effort," said Klappholz.
STAR FILE PHOTO Fred Bauermeister, executive director of the Free Clinic of Simi Valley, stands outside the facility in 2011.

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By Mike Harris of the Ventura County Star

The Free Clinic of Simi Valley says it did nothing improper with a $50,000 grant that is part of a criminal investigation into possible embezzlement from the Simi Valley Community Foundation's Under One Roof project.

In announcing the Ventura County District Attorney's investigation Tuesday, Jarrod DeGonia, chairman of the foundation's board, said the Community Development Block Grant to the clinic "was of concern."

The nonprofit clinic's executive director, Fred Bauermeister, said Thursday he doesn't believe DeGonia was trying to cast aspersions on the clinic, only that there were possible issues concerning the grant itself.

Even so, Bauermeister said he wanted to address any public perception that the clinic had done something wrong. He said the clinic turned the entire grant over to the foundation about three weeks after receiving the funds from the city of Simi Valley in January 2014.

"The free clinic didn't get one penny out of it," he said. "We gave the money back to the foundation. Dollar for dollar."

The grant was for the design of the long-planned Under One Roof facility, which will house civic, health and human services nonprofits in the city's Development Services Building at 3855-A Alamo Street.

The project is being spearheaded by the nonprofit foundation, an umbrella organization for Simi Valley's charities. The clinic is intended to be the anchor tenant.

But in part because of the investigation, Bauermeister said the clinic is now "evaluating our situation," raising the possibility that it could pull out of Under One Roof.

"I think the DA investigation hurts the credibility of the project," he said. "And we as an organization are horribly saddened by that.

"In the grandest sense, pulling out is always an option for whatever reason," he said. "So that would be a possibility. We're looking at what ensures our program and our ability to service the needs of the folks in the community into the future. And that's our No. 1 priority."

Founded in 1971, the clinic provides medical, individual and family counseling, legal aid and dental services through volunteer professionals. It has been at its present location, 2060 Tapo St., about two miles from the larger Under One Roof facility, since 1973, Bauermeister said.

Bauermeister said the clinic also is concerned that it hasn't received accurate financial reports from the foundation about the project.

"At least since January 2015  a year and a half  the clinic has been requesting accurate financial reports, so we'd know where our money was going," he said. "And we have not ever in that time received an accurate one.

"We received one, but it was off by $10,000," he said.

"There are a lot of pluses" in the relationship between the clinic and the foundation, "but there are some concerns," he said. "And one of them is the lack of accurate financial information coming from the foundation for a long period of time. That's just a fact."

DeGonia did not return a call Friday seeking comment.

City Manager Eric Levitt stressed Tuesday that "the $50,000 is in question, not the Free Clinic." Clinic board Chairman Ron Hyrchuk concurred. But Bauermeister said he wanted to give an even more forceful defense of the clinic.

"The district attorney's investigation is of the Simi Valley Community Foundation and the finances concerning the Under One Roof project," he said. "There was sort of an inference that called into question our credibility. I just want to clarify that every penny of that money we got went to the architectural and engineering plans prepared for Under One Roof.

"There's not a question on anyone's mind that that didn't happen," he said. "We want to assure our donors and our supporters that is the case."

He provided The Star with photo copies of the $50,000 check the city sent to the clinic dated Jan. 15, 2014, and the $50,000 check the clinic sent to the foundation dated Feb. 5, 2014.

The $50,000 was paid to contractor JDO Associates of Westlake Village, Bauermeister said. A member of the firm did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

Bauermeister said Community Development Block Grants reimburse organizations for money they have already spent.

"That's an important principle of a CDBG grant," he said. "In this particular case, the way it worked was basically the foundation spent the money, gave us the receipts, we gave the receipts to the city, the city reimbursed us the money and we gave the money back to the foundation. That's exactly what happened. It was a loop."

The foundation said in a news release Tuesday that it had uncovered possible evidence of "financial malfeasance" in spending for the Under One Roof project and turned it over to the district attorney. Prosecutors said the case could involve embezzlement. The foundation said it is cooperating fully with the investigation.

The foundation has been awarded other grants by the city for the project  a $100,000 Community Projects Grant in July 2012, another one for $100,000 in July 2013, and a $101,613 Community Development Block Grant for construction, Levitt said. The latter grant has not yet been funded, he said.

Some renovation of the planned facility has occurred, including bathrooms, but construction hasn't.
JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Some storefront facades have been upgraded and some projects developed on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. A plan to revitalize the area would bring some 400 condos or apartments to a three-mile stretch of the boulevard.

SHARE JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Supporters of a plan to revitalize Thousand Oaks Boulevard envision a walkable stretch of restaurants, bistros and boutique hotels. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR The Lakes shopping center, near the Civic Arts Plaza, is one of the projects that has been developed on Thousand Oaks Boulevard. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR One of several closed businesses along Thousand Oaks Boulevard. JOSEPH A. GARCIA/THE STAR Paul Burckin (left), of Moorpark, and Record Outlet employee George Soto bring speakers into the shop Friday. The store has been in business on Thousand Oaks Boulevard for several years.

By Amanda Covarrubias, amanda.covarrubias@vcstar.com

Shawn Moradian cruised down Thousand Oaks Boulevard in his SUV, his small dog, Dude, huddled beside him against the door.

He pointed to the right to an empty corner, where he saw the potential opportunity for revitalization and renewal.

"That can be developed," he said. And farther up the road to a shuttered veterinary clinic: "That can be replaced."

Driving recently down the main boulevard, Moradian said: "We need to stir activity. The city is missing out on an opportunity to create a destination and an identity. This is something unique."

Moradian, president of the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Association since January, is the public face of an ambitious effort, a quarter-century in the making, to revitalize the unfocused commercial corridor.

Where many see a hodgepodge of aging office buildings, random strip malls and auto repair shops, Moradian sees potential for a lively, walkable avenue of cafes, microbreweries and boutique hotels with rooftop pools.

Moradian and the 300 boulevard property owners who comprise the association envision the day visitors will travel from throughout Ventura County and beyond to frequent the shops and restaurants arrayed along three miles from Moorpark Road to Duesenberg Drive.

About 400 apartments or condos would be sprinkled on the boulevard, where people would walk from venue to venue, hearing live music emanating from bistros and strolling along wide, tree-lined sidewalks. Parking lots would be hidden in the back of buildings.

The downtown center would attract not only longtime residents but also young professionals who work in the Conjeo Valley's biotech and telecommunications industries, said Haider Alawami, economic development officer for the city of Thousand Oaks.

"We're trying to create a sense of place. I hear people say all the time, 'What's in Thousand Oaks? There's no place to go,' " Alawami said.

After the City Council unanimously approved amendments to the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Specific Plan on Tuesday night, supporters are hoping people will one day have someplace to go. The city now will allow 206 more housing units to be built in mixed-use projects, in addition to the 214 already OK'd, and small restaurants under 2,000 square feet to use on-street parking as credit for their parking space requirements.

A chorus of business owners, civic leaders and regular residents spoke up at the council meeting in support of the amendments, not only to encourage vitality but also to ensure the community's future well-being.

"I think we're losing talent, we're losing brains, and for the future of this community, I hope this Thousand Oaks Boulevard plan will come true," Chris Kimball, president of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, told the council Tuesday.

He said many graduates cannot stay in the area after college because they are not ready to buy homes and start families, and the apartments and condos they want are in short supply.

POSSIBLE ROADBLOCKS

Business and city leaders have been talking about redeveloping Thousand Oaks Boulevard for 25 years, but anti-growth sentiment and concerns about traffic, parking and density prevented anything from getting off the ground, Alawami said.

Slow-growth sentiment runs deep in Thousand Oaks, home to many former San Fernando Valley residents who fled Los Angeles County for a quieter, more suburban way of life.

"There was a lot of fear about Thousand Oaks Boulevard turning into Ventura Boulevard in the Valley," Alawami said. "But I have to say, there's a different expectation here about what we're trying to accomplish. We won't have high-rises along the boulevard. Everything will be Thousand Oaks-style."

Those feelings remain strong among some residents today.

"I live here because of the small-town atmosphere," said Dan Mattera, a retired firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department who's lived in Thousand Oaks for 20 years. "We don't want the hustle and bustle and traffic gridlock. Thousand Oaks Boulevard wasn't zoned for mixed use. Why change that?"

To ease some of the concerns, council members reminded residents Tuesday night that there is a stringent process for approving mixed-use projects that requires developers to take their proposals to the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission and City Council before even one shovel-full of dirt can be dug up.

"We're looking at very high-quality projects, and it's going to be a competitive process," Councilman Andy Fox said Tuesday. "And if it doesn't meet the expectations of the community, they're not even going to get the chance to use the extra units."

A major break in the stalemate over revitalization came in 2005 when association members established a business improvement district to tax themselves to pay for the design work that would provide the basis for the Thousand Oaks Boulevard Specific Plan.

The blueprint for the street's new future was approved by the City Council in 2011.

WHAT'S AHEAD?

Despite the efforts, little has changed along the boulevard. Some facades have been upgraded, and some projects developed, but much of the remainder remains untouched.

Now, Moradian said recently, movement may be close at hand.

Investors are keenly interested in building more apartments and condos on the boulevard because there's a shortage of housing in the area, especially for young professionals. However, based on the number of units that were available to be allocated, there were not enough to allow a viable project to be built, Moradian said. That's why the association wanted the additional units, he said.

Alawami said timing is vital to the effort's success.

"We need to get it done quickly because of the economic cycle," he said. "We need to start doing these things and get them in place so that when there's a recession or economic downturn, we can ride that wave."

Moradian, who was born in and grew up in Thousand Oaks, where his family has owned property along the boulevard since the 1960s, said he thinks the city is ready for significant change on the street that bears its name.

"A city that remains stagnant can't sustain itself," he said.
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In response to John Crisp's column July 6, "Era of captive animals is passing," as an animal care expert I have devoted the past 33 years to caring for animals, working in conservation and educating the public. I am currently a zoo veterinarian and college professor teaching future animal professionals.

We don't do this for the money, because it is a low-paying field. We do it because we are passionate about animal welfare and the future of our planet.

I believe many people like John Crisp (who is an English teacher) care for and want to help animals, and that is our important common ground. But unfortunately, they have been led astray by others who are either woefully uninformed, or worse are deliberately misleading people to achieve their own agendas.

Crisp uses typical cliches to make his argument for all animals regardless of what facility they live in or in which country, lumping all of them together. To understand what is best for an animal, a person needs to be an expert in that species and in the science of animal behavior, care and welfare. They also need to be an expert in the individual animal, because individual animals vary greatly due to their genetics and backgrounds.

For example, when done ethically, most animals choose to engage with trainers and thrive on it because it is a crucial part of maintaining mental and physical health  animals have to work for their food in the wild, this is natural behavior.

Do wild animals "enjoy" their conditions in the wild, as John Crisp states? The idea that animals have a great life in the wild and suffer in human care is false.

Life in the wild is, under normal circumstances, difficult and at times brutal. Further, as the human population grows, animals increasingly have to compete with humans for habitat and resources vital to their existence. Humans take their land, poison them, eat their food, divert their water and kill them for food or their parts.

In zoos, wildlife parks and refuges, animals almost always have longer lives because of the care they receive. Local wild animals often take advantage of this excellent care  they get abundant food and water, shelter and protection at the zoo.

Additionally, in some cases such as the California condor, wild populations were essentially driven to extinction by the actions of humans, and it is because of the work of dedicated professionals within zoos that the California condor has been restored to the wild.

Crisp decries the role that live animals have in being able to educate people and states that seeing animals on video or in pictures is "more educational." Scientific studies prove this wrong. They show that accredited zoos and aquariums enhance the public's understanding of wildlife and the need to conserve the places where animals live.

When visitors experience a stronger connection to nature, they are prompted to reconsider their role in environmental problems and conservation action and see themselves as part of the solution as a result of their visit. This is more important now than ever as humans become more separated from nature and children spend their time in front of a screen viewing animals on TV or playing with pretend species in a video game.

Here are three things that informed experts  people who devote their lives to animals  ask you to do with your concerns:

Donate to conservation in the wild. There are many amazing organizations animal experts can tell you about that have "boots on the ground"  people literally risking their lives to save animals in the wild, such as The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Jane Goodall Institute and the many organizations that are part of the Wildlife Conservation Network. The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Grant Fund are other options, and they donate to individual conservation projects.

Stop trashing and start supporting high-quality zoos and aquariums  facilities that are providing excellent welfare for their animals, breeding and a refuge for endangered species. They are saving animals from extinction and trying to change human behavior, educate children and, well, save the world. Let us introduce you to the magical and amazing world of animals and the humans devoted to them. It's a much better place than the Internet and profit-driven movies that call themselves "documentaries" would lead you to believe.

Stop spreading the false information that is being generated by animal rights groups. These groups often have radical views and do not use their donations to care for animals, either in the wild or in human care. Please research them and your concerns using reputable scientific sources.

Cynthia E. Stringfield is a zoo veterinarian who lives in Simi Valley.
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Roger Hernandez is a Democratic assemblyman from Southern California, but a better moniker might be Roger Dodger.

During his three-term legislative career, Hernandez has careened from one scrape to another, including a drunken-driving arrest (a jury later acquitted him), allegations of campaign money laundering, an ex-girlfriend's request for a restraining order and, most recently, a restraining order issued after his former wife accused him of violently abusing her.

After each incident, Hernandez insisted he was innocent. But the latest abuse allegations finally triggered a reaction.

When the former wife made her allegations in April, the Legislature's women's caucus said Hernandez should take a leave of absence, and Republicans later demanded his resignation. But he spurned both demands, and in June the Hernandez-chaired Assembly Labor Committee rejected a parental leave bill that was a high priority for the women's caucus.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, however, waited until the ex-wife obtained a restraining order July 1 to remove Hernandez's committee assignments.

"Assembly member Hernandez has problems in his personal life that need to be addressed, and he should focus on resolving them," Rendon said.

It's not much of a punishment. The 2015-16 legislative session is almost over, and term limits are forcing Hernandez out of the Legislature anyway.

Oddly, despite his tarnished career, Hernandez is challenging eight-term Democratic Rep. Grace Napolitano and will face her in a November runoff, but she received more than twice as many votes in the June primary.

Hernandez is another indication that the Legislature doesn't handle its aberrant members very well.

That was true even when three senators faced criminal charges a few years ago. Senate leaders fiddled and fussed and finally suspended them, although they continued to receive paychecks. All three were later found guilty.

Voters approved a ballot measure last month to allow the Legislature to suspend members without pay if they are charged with serious crimes, but what happens to those who, like Hernandez, are accused of bad behavior of a noncriminal nature? He's certainly not the first case, nor the last. And the Legislature has been very inconsistent in how it deals with miscreants.

As pointed out previously in this space, a Legislature dominated by Democrats has tended to crack down sharply when Republicans misbehave, but it lets Democrats slide.

The Senate issued a public reprimand and forced GOP Sen. John Schmitz to pay a $20,000 defamation judgment against him after he made a demeaning description of attorney Gloria Allred in 1982. But nearly two decades later, the Senate paid $117,000 to a woman who accused Democratic Sen. Richard Polanco of sexual harassment, tried to cover up the payment and never censured him.

Hernandez may be another example of the Legislature's double standard.

Dan Walters writes for the Sacramento Bee. Email him at dwalters@sacbee.com.
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President Obama gave a majestic speech in Dallas, one of the best of his presidency, at once a soaring tribute to slain police officers and an affirmation of peaceful protest. But he was wrong about one thing: On race, sadly, we are as divided as we seem.

This condition is not due to anything Obama has said or done. He bends so far backward to avoid giving offense, even to those who richly deserve offending, that he must need regular sessions with a chiropractor. The racial divide, which has its roots in lingering claims of white supremacy, has been there all along. It was mostly silent and unacknowledged until the very fact of the Obama presidency cast it in stark and unforgiving light.

So I am not surprised at recent polls showing Americans believe race relations are worsening. It's as if a dark corner has been illuminated to reveal a mess swept there long ago and ignored.

I have long believed the most revolutionary act the first African-American president could ever perform is to go about his official duties for all the world to see. A black man stands to deliver the State of the Union address. A black man toasts foreign leaders at White House dinners. A black family crosses the South Lawn to board the Marine One helicopter.

These scenes are irrefutable evidence of how much America has changed, and to some they are threatening. Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again," cannot be read simply as nostalgia for an economic golden age. For the overwhelmingly white crowds who fill his rallies, Trump promises a return to when the nation's leadership and cultural norms reflected what was then a clear ethnic and racial majority.

Trump has been one of the most prominent "birther" voices seeking to deny Obama's legitimacy as president. He encourages those who cannot abide the thought of a black president to pretend the whole thing never happened.

Not all who support Trump are racist, and not all whites who blame Obama for heightening racial tension are Republican. Many others honestly and naively thought the election of an African-American president meant race was no longer an issue. Now we can just move on, they believed, looking past disparities.

One glaring disparity is in how blacks and whites are treated by the criminal justice system. The high-profile incidents since Obama took office are nothing new. Trayvon Martin was not the first young black man to be racially profiled, nor was Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. the first older black man to have the experience. Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were obviously not the first black men killed by police officers under questionable circumstances.

What is novel is that the president is himself African-American. So when Obama says arresting Gates on his own front porch was stupid, to some whites it sounds as if he is taking sides. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, once came out and said it: Obama, he claimed, "has a default mechanism ... that favors the black person."

Obama takes pains to avoid having whites see him this way, which frustrates some African-Americans. For black Americans, too, the Obama presidency creates perhaps unrealistic expectations  not that racism could somehow magically end but that it would be fully acknowledged and addressed.

I think some commentators underestimate the resistance that stronger words from the president would encounter. To win the White House, I once wrote, Obama had to be seen as the least-aggrieved black man in America. As he prepares to leave office, this remains largely true.

When the next president is sworn in, Obama will leave office without having healed the nation's festering racial wounds. He will not have made them worse; rather, he will have allowed us to see how deep they remain and how much healing still needs to take place.

It may take years to fully appreciate how dramatically this presidency has bent the arc of history toward justice.

Eugene Robinson's email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.
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The mills of justice grind slowly, but life plunges on, leaving lives blighted when justice, by being delayed, is irremediably denied.

Fortunately, California's Supreme Court might soon decide to hear  four years after litigation began  the 21st century's most portentous civil rights case, which concerns an ongoing denial of equal protection of the law.

Every year, measurable injuries are inflicted on tens of thousands of already at-risk children by this state's teacher tenure system, which is so politically entrenched that only the courts can protect the discrete and insular minority it victimizes. In 2012, nine Los Angeles students recognizing the futility of expecting the Legislature to rectify a wrong it has perpetrated asked California's judiciary to continue its record of vindicating the rights of vulnerable minorities by requiring the state's education system to conform to the state's Constitution.

After 10 weeks of testimony, the trial court found the tenure system incompatible with the California Supreme Court's decision, now almost half a century old, that the state Constitution, which declares education a "fundamental" state concern, guarantees "equality of treatment" to all K-12 pupils.

It "shocks the conscience," the trial court said, that there is "no dispute" that "a significant number of grossly ineffective teachers"  perhaps more than 8,000, each with 28 students  are doing quantifiable damage to children's life prospects.

Technically, California teachers are granted lifetime tenure after just two years. Actually, they must be notified of tenured status after just 16 months. (Thirty-two states grant tenure after three years, nine states after four or five. Four states never grant tenure.)

When incompetent or negligent teachers gain tenure, dismissal procedures are so complex and costly that the process can take up to 10 years and cost up to $450,000. The trial court called the power to dismiss "illusory." Each year approximately two teachers are dismissed for unsatisfactory performance  0.0007 percent of California's 277,000 teachers.

Instead, school districts are forced to adopt what is called the "dance of the lemons," whereby grossly ineffective teachers are shuffled from school to school. Another facet of the tenure system  the teachers last hired are the first fired when layoffs are required  reinforces the powerful tendency for incompetent teachers, who must teach somewhere, to accumulate in schools with the most teacher vacancies. These are disproportionately schools attended by low-income minority children.

Abundant research demonstrates that teacher quality is the most important school variable determining academic performance. This is why there is more variation in student achievement within than between schools.

This variation is especially dramatic among students from educationally disadvantaged families. A single grossly ineffective teacher can deprive students of a full year of learning, with consequences that include lower graduation and college attendance rates, and lifetime earnings more than $250,000 lower than for pupils without a single incompetent teacher.

Because teachers' unions insist that financial appropriations are the all-important determinants of schools' successes, they are perversely reluctant to acknowledge the importance of quality teachers.

The appeals court responded with a judicial shrug to the trial court's factual findings. It said California's tenure system does not constitute a denial of equal protection because the identifiable class of people being injured have no "shared trait."

Oh? What about their shared injury? The injured pupils share a susceptibility to injury because of their shared trait of being economically disadvantaged. This trait concentrated them in schools that themselves have a shared trait  disproportionately high numbers of bad teachers.

The appeals court breezily said the injured were merely an "unlucky subset" of pupils, a "random assortment" produced not by the tenure laws but by the administration of them. This, however, is a distinction without a difference: The tenure laws' purpose is to dictate outcomes by depriving administrators of discretion. Systemic results cannot be dismissed as "random."

Even if the tenure laws were neither written with a discriminatory motive nor administered with a discriminatory intent, the system is now known to produce  not invariably but with a high probability  predictable patterns of disparities.

Liberal and conservative legal luminaries, from Harvard's Laurence Tribe to Stanford's Michael McConnell, have urged California's Supreme Court to do what the appeals court neglected to do  apply heightened scrutiny to the tenure laws that prioritize teachers' job security over pupils' constitutional rights regarding education.

California's Supreme Court will have national resonance if it affirms that public schools are established to enable children to flourish, not to make even dreadful teachers secure.

George Will's email address is georgewillwashpost.com. He writes for The Washington Post Writers Group.
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We have had terrible, terrible killings. First came fatal police shootings of two black men. Then came something planned long before those events: a black sniper shooting 12 policemen in Dallas and killing five of them. Two civilians were injured as well. Black protesters then kept at it, throwing fireworks and concrete at cops in other major cities. The hand-wringing question is how we should address all this.

First off, with sympathy for all those shot, I would say. Then with an honest national conversation about such killings, one in which the word "honest" really means honest. Then with cultural change out of which we build our better selves. Finally, with respect for each other and not least of all for policemen. They have been national saviors before and they can be again  if they get respect.

Of the killings lately, one that especially aroused sympathy was a policeman shooting a black man perhaps just reaching for his wallet instead of a gun as apparently suspected. A terrified girlfriend of the man revealed portions of the incident in a video that included the voice of her little girl trying to comfort her. But to have an honest conversation, and not one in which the ideologically presumptuous simply demand we reach their conclusions, we need to know more than we do.

To begin with, we do not know all the details in this case  some of the initial cop-blaming accounts of the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, were as wrong as could be  and we do not know the policeman would not have shot a white man as quickly as he did this black man. After all, in 2015, police shot 494 whites compared with 258 blacks, and while blacks are just 13 percent of the population, they commit far more crimes than whites, meaning more confrontations with police.

A great student of all of this, Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute think tank, points out that blacks commit 57 percent of all murders and 40 percent of all police shootings. Blacks are mainly killing other blacks  some 6,000 a year, more such deaths than whites and Hispanics lumped together. This criminal devastation is often blamed on poverty, but when the 2008 fiscal crisis and recession hit and poverty worsened, crime did not go up, and there are economically struggling groups whose crime rates are extremely low, Mac Donald says.

Saying as much will inevitably strike some as racist. But it is a truth that hardly rules out the manifest virtues of blacks, the biases that too often intrude in their lives or the respect they are due as mostly fine citizens. It is also a truth that points to serious interracial cultural problems that happen to be hitting blacks especially hard. One is single-parent homes that make it far more likely children will involve themselves in crime.

Re-establishing family is no easy matter, but showing more respect for cops is. From 1993 to the present day, gun homicides in America came down by almost half, and one reason among several was almost certainly more and improved policing. Right now, owing to outrage over shootings and pathetic generalizations by President Barack Obama and others about police racism, it has become far riskier for police to take extra steps to keep neighborhoods safe, Mac Donald has pointed out.

Crime is therefore rising again, blacks are paying for it with their lives and various federal interventions are making things worse as local steps make them better. It is true that some cops are bad folks  so are some members of any large group  but the ferocity of some protests is inexcusable, the shooting in Dallas should make us all cringe and police castigators might want to take a look at a brand new study by a Harvard economist  it could find no racial bias in police shootings.

Jay Ambrose is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service. Readers may email him at speaktojay@aol.com.
SHARE The HBO comedy TV series "Silicon Valley" derives much of its humor from how seriously tech people take themselves. AP FILE PHOTO

You can't talk to people in Silicon Valley anymore. They don't even speak our language.

I'm not referencing Mark Zuckerberg's mediocre Mandarin or complex software code. I'm talking about the words Valley denizens use when they speak in sentences like: "That startup is an X for Y model, they don't have a minimum viable product, and that space is already in Hype Cycle. Their only hope is to pull off an acqui-hire."

In other words (rough translation of above sentence: that company is doomed), our technological masters no longer speak the same language that most Californians do. And that is just one sign of a growing divide between tech and non-tech here.

The Valley's growing cadres of wealthy and powerful technocrati have turned the Bay Area into an island that feels cut off from the rest of struggling California. Their outlook and lives are global, while most of the rest of us exist locally. There are chasms between their technological sophistication and ours, and between our diversity and their lack of it.

Yes, they welcome our dollars, downloads and baby pictures, but they don't really invite us into their conversations. Instead, they've built a wall of jargon that keeps us at a distance.

As a frequently bewildered visitor to Silicon Valley, I have felt this firsthand. But I didn't understand the full extent of this language barrier until reading Rochelle Kopp and Steven Ganz's new book, "Valley Speak: Deciphering the Jargon of Silicon Valley."

Kopp, a management consultant, and Ganz, an entrepreneur and founder of Teamifier, which supports collaborative problem-solving, say they wrote the book to help people who want to do business in Silicon Valley but bump up against jargon they call "impenetrable at best, and at worst downright ridiculous."

The best evidence of the problem is that the book has 100 chapters, covering hundreds of terms, from Agile Development to Unicorpse. Kopp and Ganz say Silicon Valley's jargon does exclude people, although they believe it isn't intentional. Instead they suggest that the Silicon Valley dialect is a byproduct of Bay Area crowding, with people living and working in cramped quarters while sometimes shutting out the rest of the world.

"There are so many great things happening here, it would be great if the conversation were more open," Kopp says. With jargon, "there's a big element of 'this is a private club, and you either know what people are talking about or you don't,' and that really marks you."

At root, the language barrier is a monument to Silicon Valley's self-image as a place reshaping the world. Powerful people who create new products and companies tend to put their own new names on things. The downside can be a loss of perspective (not everything is revolutionary or disruptive). It's telling that the HBO comedy series "Silicon Valley" derives most of its humor from how seriously tech people take themselves. Of course, Silicon Valley is powerful, and it's easier to be funny when you're the underdog.

It's true that executives like Zuckerberg or Apple's Tim Cook are more outspoken than your average corporate titan. And tech investor Sean Parker has become one of California's top political donors. But these men attract attention because they are exceptions. Valley types, if they engage at all, are far more likely to engage internationally  on privacy or climate change issues  than they do here at home in California.

The Valley rarely raises its voice on the fundamentals of state governance  school funding, health care, prisons and public universities. That lack of engagement is one reason why a California with so much private wealth has such weak and undernourished public services.

Of course, our civic world is a nasty place, in no small part because of Facebook, Twitter and other platforms the Valley has created. So it's no surprise that Silicon Valley people, like so many of us, are turning inward and talking mostly to themselves.

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zocalo Public Square.
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The Crimson Pipeline oil spill June 23 in Ventura reveals the flaw of having the offending pipeline company serve as co-leader of the Unified Command incident response team.

The pipeline company clearly has a conflict of interest in coordinating incident responses, and particularly incident-related public communications.

The public was not afforded appropriately transparent communications at the one public meeting that took place, and the overall structure of the incident oversight raises questions about the protection of neighbors and the incomplete or inaccurate information provided to the public by Crimson.

California needs to revise state policies regarding oil spill incidents. In this instance, state law turned Unified Command over to the offending pipeline company and a state agency. The transition from local control took place at 6 p.m. on the day of the leak. Local agencies then stepped back to a secondary role.

In addition, citizens and public agencies should not solely rely on monitoring tests done by a private company that guards test results to protect its private liability.

A review of the recent Crimson pipeline incident is helpful. First, it was a full week before a public information meeting was held. I was informed the Unified Command resisted holding a public meeting.

At the June 30 meeting, the issue of testing for airborne toxic substances was addressed by a consultant hired by Crimson. The consultant stated "there had been no detection of benzene." To the contrary, the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District had detected low levels of benzene in samples it collected and analyzed, and the district had released results of its tests by posting them to its website the day before the meeting.

This dissemination of inaccurate information to the public arose primarily because the discussion of air toxics was entrusted to Crimson's consultant, and the air district had not been included in either the Unified Command or the public meeting agenda.

This highlights the need to have greater involvement by public agencies in the testing and those agencies included in communications with the public on this important topic.

Lastly, and most disturbingly to residents, another incomplete or inaccurate statement was made at the meeting in response to citizens' questions regarding when the pipeline would be put back into service. Residents were told that was not known; that many steps and state approvals would be required before it could be restarted, implying it would not be soon. In fact, the line was going through the final stages of restarting that evening and was in full service the next morning.

Emails that we have received from the state show that Crimson had submitted a pipeline restart plan to the state three days before the public meeting and had received state approval of its restart plan that same day. The Crimson representatives failed to disclose that they had submitted a restart plan, had obtained state approval of the restart plan, had completed a substantial portion of the pipeline testing that the plan required and line was ready to be restarted. This was a disservice to the public.

Residents of the neighborhood around the spill were affected by strong petroleum odors. Some complained of nausea or headaches, and many were concerned about health impacts from the petroleum vapors. One anxious grandmother at the meeting said she needed to know whether it was safe to have her grandchildren play in her backyard.

Yet residents were not provided accurate and specific air quality test results and were given no advance notice of the pipeline going back into service.

What is highlighted by these failed communications is that the party responsible for an oil spill should not be the party with substantial control over communication with the public and assuring neighborhood safety. These are public agency roles.

We need changes in the way toxic-material incidents are managed to assure that the public is fully and promptly informed, that adequate health exposure testing is conducted and communicated to the public by trusted local agencies, and that public meetings are not exercises in obfuscation and frustration.

Steve Bennett is a Ventura County supervisor representing the First District, which includes Ventura.
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Go back in time six years to 2010, when the "Top Two" primary election system awaited a decision from California voters. Until then, Republicans could only cast ballots for fellow Republicans in primary elections, while Democrats allowed votes from people who declined to choose a party.

But in fall general elections, the many lopsided races in congressional or legislative districts where voter registration is dominated by one party or the other were essentially done deals before any ballots were counted. In Democratic-dominated districts, Republicans had no voice, even if their party put a name on the ballot. The same for Democrats in Republican districts.

The result was extremism in both major parties, with extreme liberal Democrats and extreme conservative Republicans virtually guaranteed election, often leaving moderates in both parties essentially unrepresented.

The Top Two system ended that. It has often allowed Republicans in Democratic districts to decide which Democrat they prefer in either Sacramento or Washington, D.C., and vice versa. It has forced the majority party in one-sided districts to heed voters in the other party, for the first time in generations. It has basically taken minor parties from the ultraliberal Greens to the usually conservative-leaning Libertarians off almost all general election ballots.

That, in turn, eliminates the possibility of those parties being used to manipulate voters and distort elections, a la what the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston did in 1986. Faced with a close race against tough GOP opponent Ed Zschau, Cranston backers advertised heavily for the previously unknown, extreme conservative American Independent Party candidate Ed Vallen, who took 1.5 percent of the vote in an election Cranston eventually won by just 1.3 percent.

Top Two also produced a new reality in California politics, creating a quasi-party within the Democratic spectrum, loosely called "business Democrats" who vote with their more liberal colleagues on social issues but often seem a bit like Republicans on money-related items.

All this caused little furor for six years, even though dozens of races for the Legislature and Congress were all-Democrat or all-Republican affairs.

But this summer is different, mostly because Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, of Orange County, snagged the second spot in the November runoff for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Barbara Boxer since 1992. Without the Top Two system, Sanchez would have finished a distant second to state Attorney General Kamala Harris in a Democratic primary. This would have left Harris with only token November opposition, as no Republican managed more than a fraction of her primary election vote.

Minor party officials have griped for years that Top Two deprives their voters of a November election voice. But they will have a general election presence any time their candidates earn it.

Similarly, Republicans are whining about the Senate race, where they can either stay home or vote for a Democrat, either Harris or Sanchez.

That's happening because Republicans did not coalesce around a single candidate last spring, instead fracturing their votes among 11 Republicans in a field of 34 Senate candidates. But in a state where Democrats hold a voter registration edge of more than 17 percent, any Republican would have little chance in the fall against Harris.

Not so Sanchez, who now is free to expand her mostly Latino voting base by going after Republican voters dismayed by the likelihood that Harris, part of the San Francisco political establishment that has held almost all major offices in this state for the last six years, might get at least six years in the Senate.

It's up to Sanchez to make those GOP adherents comfortable with her, because they cast well over 25 percent of the primary election votes, enough to make her a credible challenger for Harris if she can attract most of them.

That's what Top Two was designed to do, and it performed this year exactly as advertised.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.
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Many years ago, perhaps two decades, a wise mentor made an observation that has resonated with me ever since. He shared that he had just seen something that warmed his heart and gave him hope for a post-racial America  a white boy, about age 8, riding double on a bike with his black friend.

"It was wonderful," he said.

After a pause came the wisdom: "But then I realized what will really be wonderful is when the day comes that I  and everyone else  simply see two boys riding double."

That day, it was tragically hammered home yet again and again and again in recent days, has not yet arrived.

What is arriving, hopefully, is some education. Personally, among the things I learned from this string of senseless civilian and police deaths, is how naive I was in understanding even to a small degree how rampant racism is  in small ways as well as headline ways  in 2016 America.

In the important novel "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus advises his young daughter, Scout: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Heeding this wisdom, I reached out to a few of my black friends in an attempt to be less naive about my understanding of their points of view. Inadequately but sincerely, I wanted to climb into their skin and imagine walking and driving around in it.

To be honest, I was worried about seeming ignorant or having my words ring hollow. My trepidation proved ill-founded. My questions were appreciated. The silence from most of their white friends regarding these issues, it turns out, is more saddening than saying the wrong thing.

The friends I reached out to are successful professionals, and so at first I asked: "Have you ever been pulled over by the police for no reason?"

I quickly became enlightened that the better question, even for a physician or professor who is a black male, is: "How many times have you been stopped for no reason?"

Also, the real question is not "if" but "how often" are you met with cold stares of objectification when you go for a morning jog in your own gentrified neighborhood? Or to your local Starbucks? Or to the library with your young son?

How often are you shadowed by an employee when you go into a store in the mall? How often this, that, so many things that I, as a white male, never experience.

Something else I have not experienced is worrying about my son if he is ever pulled over by a police officer. However, for a handful of years I have worried about Peter  my son's dear college classmate whom I have become so close with that he calls me "Pops"  if he is ever pulled over.

Correction: every time he is pulled over, even for a broken taillight that magically works when he gets home, which I now less naively know is the reality.

"Pops, your concern and love is a gift," Peter, a technology consultant and founder of a nonprofit organization helping at-risk youth, texted me a few days ago when I reminded him to be safe  as has become my habit after each headline police shooting of a black man.

"I am friends with a couple of great cops," Peter, who lives in Dallas, continued. "I have had to deal with cops pulling me over since I moved to this country (from Ghana) and haven't really had problems. Today, I am more worried about what the cops are thinking I may do and how that heightens their anxiety when they approach a man my size who could be deadly at 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds even without a gun."

Back to those two boys riding double on a bike. Twenty years later, this is what they make me think: Now grown, if they are together  on a bike, in a car, on foot  they will still be seen as different.

This is woeful, not wonderful.

Woody Woodburn's email address is WoodyWriter@gmail.com. His new book, "Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love and Laughter," is available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.
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The surprisingly rapid approval of a dozen new gun laws for California  and the ultimate signing of six of them by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month  was accomplished for all the wrong reasons, with all the right results.

The bills were introduced earlier this year, so their existence was of no surprise to anyone. But most legislative watchers expect bills to methodically wind their way through a laborious process that results in last-minute passage in the waning days of the legislative session in August or September.

This time, the last-minute passage came in the waning days of June in the middle of a Democratic leadership power struggle.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is already running hard for governor even though votes will not be cast until 2018, has promoted an initiative for the fall ballot that would enact many of the same gun-control measures contemplated by the Legislature.

When it became clear that Newsom's initiative would have enough voter signatures to qualify for the ballot and he was not going to back down from promoting it, Democrats scrambled to get their bills approved.

That was based on self-preservation. The Democrats in the Legislature were concerned that Newsom's initiative would draw national attention and money, which might spur more conservative voters to show up and cast ballots, possibly hurting those Democrats' chances of re-election. They hoped if they passed their bills, Newsom would pull his initiative from the ballot.

Newsom has not backed away from his initiative. So what we got were nearly a dozen gun control bills passes quickly in both houses of the Legislature and shipped to the governor on the eve of his vacation. The governor, showing restraint, signed six of the bills and vetoed the rest.

The new laws:

n Outlaw the sale of new assault weapons that include "bullet buttons," a feature created by gun manufacturers to get around California's earlier limit on high-capacity ammunition magazine holders.

n Require background checks when a gun is loaned to someone other than a close relative of the owner.

n Increase penalties for filing false reports of stolen guns, which is intended to target people who buy guns on behalf of folks prohibited from doing so and then report the guns as stolen rather than declare the true owner.

n Regulate the sale of ammunition by requiring that sellers be licensed and buyers undergo a background check. All ammunition transactions would be recorded.

n Ban possession of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and require anyone who owns one larger than that to turn it in to authorities.

The prohibition on ownership of large-capacity ammunition magazines reinforces a long-standing fear among some gun owners that government is going to come and take their weapons. But California banned such high-capacity magazines in 1999 and now, nearly 20 years later, is simply expanding that ban to include those that were grandfathered into ownership a generation ago. It makes sense to get them off the market.

The ammunition regulation is another hot-button issue. It tightens a similar law passed in 2009 that was struck down by a Fresno County judge as being too vague.

We are not overjoyed with the political scramble that led to passage of this package, but we believe the final results as signed by the governor take California another step forward in leading the nation toward a semblance of rational balance on this issue of private gun ownership.

We continue to support efforts to limit ownership when it makes sense for the greater good and does not excessively limit the rights of gun owners.
An executive from a European firm introduces its wastewater treatment technologies at a meeting held in HCM City on Thursday between a visiting EU business delegation and local entrepreneurs. - VNS Photo Xuan Huong

Speaking at the event, Vo Tan Thanh, director general of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HCM City, said the EU has been one of Viet Nam's most important trade partners for the past two decades.

Bilateral trade last year was worth US$41.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18 per cent.

Since European and Vietnamese products and services are more complementary than competitive, the two sides can continue to increase trade, Thanh said.

Talking about water and the environment, he said in recent years combating global warming and protecting the environment have been among the most significant concerns the world over, including Viet Nam, he said.

Viet Nam has had to deal with many disasters caused by El Nino and climate change, he said.

"Therefore, both our Government and people are trying their best to build a green economy and ensure sustainable development."

With its strengths in technology, "The EU is a significant partner for us in this."

Tom Corrie, deputy head of the co-operation and development section at the EU Delegation to Viet Nam, said it is now an interesting time to do business in Viet Nam.

Its economy is very dynamic, growing at 6-7 per cent a year, he said, adding that free trade agreements, in particular the European-Viet Nam FTA, which takes effect in 2018, would create opportunities for businesses in the two countries to work together.

The business mission came to HCM City as part of the EU Business Avenues in South East Asia programme (EUBA) to help SMEs tap business opportunities in the fast-growing region.

The programme will see 20 targeted week-long business missions to Southeast Asia for up to 1,000 European SMEs in a range of sectors over the next five years, with the inaugural mission focusing on environmental and water technologies visiting Singapore and HCM City.

In HCM City, the visitors introduced a broad range of solutions to address the acute problems faced in Asia  the lack of clean water and environmental degradation.

Tran Thi Hieu Hanh, deputy director general of the city's Department of External Relations, said HCM City always welcomes and creates favourable conditions for foreign investors to invest and do business in the city.

The event was organised by the VCCI's HCM City branch, EUBA and others.
This picture taken on Jul 15, 2016, shows the entry phone label reading the name of the man who reportedly drove a truck into a crowd watching a fireworks display the day before, in Nice, southern France. (Photo: AFP/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)

Investigators were on Friday piecing together a picture of the father-of-three who slammed into crowds who had been watching a Bastille Day fireworks display, killing 84 people including 10 children and adolescents.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins identified him as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, "a delivery man, of Tunisian nationality, married and with children" adding that he had a criminal record but no known terrorist connection.

His identity papers and a bank card were found in the truck and his identity had been confirmed by fingerprints, he said.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was shot dead by police at the wheel of the 19-tonne lorry.

As forensic scientists, backed by armed police, searched his apartment in a four-storey block in a working-class neighbourhood of Nice, neighbours told AFP they had little to do with him.

They portrayed him as a solitary figure who rarely spoke and did not even return greetings when their paths crossed.

Sebastien, a neighbour who spoke on condition that his full name was not used, said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel did not seem overtly religious and often dressed in shorts.

Only one neighbour said she had had any concerns about him, describing him as "a good-looking man who kept giving my two daughters the eye".

This picture shows the site where a truck drove into a crowd watching a fireworks display on the Promenade des Anglais seafront near the Negresco Hotel in the French Riviera town of Nice. (Photo: AFP/Valery Hache)

'NEVER ATTENDED MOSQUE'

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was often seen drinking beer and never attended the small mosque near his home, other residents of his home district told AFP.

"I never saw him at the mosque," said the caretaker of an apartment building as he sat in a restaurant next to the mosque, who asked not to be named. Three bearded Muslims with him agreed - they had never seen the man at the mosque either.

Molins said that although Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had never been investigated by the security services, he was known to police.

"He had a police and judicial record for threats, violence, theft and acts of criminal damage between 2010 and 2016, and had been sentenced by the Nice criminal court to a six-month term, suspended, on March 24 2016 for violence with arms, committed in January 2016.

"On the other hand, he was totally unknown to intelligence services, nationally and locally, and was never flagged for signs of radicalisation," he added.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel's wife was brought in for questioning on Friday morning, Molins said.

Neighbours said the couple had three children, including a baby, but were separated.

One resident of the apartment block where the family had lived until 18 months ago before they split up said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was a violent man who had an extreme reaction to his wife's request for a divorce.

"His wife had asked for a divorce after a violent argument," said the man, who also asked not to be identified. "He defecated everywhere, he cut up his daughter's teddy bear and slashed the mattress.

"I don't think there was a radicalisation issue, I think there was psychiatric problem," he added.

Police investigators and forensic experts entered the apartment where he moved to at around 9.30am (0730 GMT) with an armed police intervention unit in support, and brought out bags of material later.

Eighty-four people were killed, including 10 children and teenagers, and 202 were injured, 52 of them critically, Molins added. President Francois Hollande has declared the attack was of "an undeniable terrorist nature."
A message reads "I am Nice" placed at a make-shift memorial for victims of the deadly Bastille Day attack in Nice on Jul 15, 2016. (Photo: AFP/Giuseppe Cacace)

Releases by the extremist group or its affiliated Amaq news agency make no mention of the attack which French anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said was "exactly in line with" calls from militant groups to kill.

Late on Thursday, a Tunisian named as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel rammed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd in the coastal French city after a firework display.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the 31-year-old attacker was "probably linked to radical Islam in one way or another", although Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned that it was too early to confirm such a link.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel - a resident of Nice - was shot dead by police after the attack in which at least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead.

The IS group, which has controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq since 2014, has claimed several deadly attacks in the past in France, Belgium, the United States and in Arab countries.

Despite IS silence over responsibility for Thursday's killings in Nice, supporters of the jihadist group used internet social networks to hail the attack.
The two drugs are Ceferaxim 125 (Cefuroxime 125mg), lot no. 173316001, with the expiry date of January 5, 2018 and registration No.VN-11733-11, manufactured by Vintanova Pharma Pvt. Ltd., and imported by Dai Nam Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., and Rom-150 tablets (Roxithromycin 150mg), lot No.ZET1709, manufacturing date July 22, 2014 and expiry date July 21, 2017 with registration No.VN-17178-13 manufactured by Zee Laboratories and imported by Codupha Central Pharmaceutical JSC.

A lot of antibiotics manufactured in Vietnam was also asked to be recalled, namely Philtadol (Cefpodoxim 100mg), lot No.15002, with the expiry date of November 3, 2017, registration No.VD-22044-14, produced by Korean company Phil Inter Pharma at its Vietnamese plant in Vietnam-Singapore industrial park in the southern province of Binh Duong.

The decision to recall these drugs was based on tests performed by the National Institute of Drug Quality Control.

India is one of the worlds major suppliers of pharmaceutical products and ingredients and the second largest supplier of these items in Vietnam, after France. According to data released by the department, at the moment, there are 7,630 valid drug registration numbers in Vietnam, of which 2,814 were patented by Indian companies. Besides, 200 of the 718 foreign manufacturers of drugs and drug ingredients licensed to operate in Vietnam are Indian.

The preferential tariffs stipulated by a free trade agreement signed by India with the ASEAN, of which Vietnam is a member, have facilitated the import of Indian medicines to the country.

However, despite making up for a significant share of the market, drugs imported from India have a bad track record. In the recalls ordered by the department from 2011 to now, the majority of the drugs in question were manufactured in India.

Last November, the Ministry of Health requested to get rid of all Cefpodoxime Proxetil Tablets USP manufactured by Indian Syncom Formulation due to low quality. Last month, the department recalled Efixime 100DT, lot No.FNB-07, manufacturing date September 26, 2014, expiry date September 25, 2017, and registration No.VN-4941-10, manufactured by Indian All Serve Healthcare Pvt., Ltd., and imported by Sohaco Trading and Pharmaceutical Group JSC, also due to low quality.
The Bac Giang Peoples Committee has imposed a fine of VND210 million ($9,407) on South Korean TTB Vina MFG Co., Ltd. located in Viet Yen district for environmental violations.

According to the inspection records, the companys wastewater samples showed pollution levels exceeding over ten times the permitted level.

The company will have to pay the fine within 10 days after it receives the decision, otherwise provincial authorities would use coercive measures.

The company will have to suspend discharging wastewater into the environment, and simultaneously take appropriate measures to mitigate the environmental damage caused. Besides, the province ordered the company to improve its existing wastewater treatment system.

Along with the environmental break-down, in June 2014, a kiln explosion occurred inside the company. Although there were no casualties, the explosion sent over 1,000 workers into panic.

Starting operation in September 2006, TTB Vina MFG specialises in costumes manufacturing. The company currently has 1,500 employees. Its products are exported to South Korea and Europe.

Previously, Korean Em-Tech Vina Co., Ltd., which specialises in manufacturing mobile speakers, headphones, and electronic components in Vinh City of the central province of Nghe An, was accused to discharge untreated wastewater into the environment.

According to local residents, the company had been directly discharging untreated wastewater into the local channel since it started operations three years ago. However, the provincial authorities ignored the reports.

The residents complained that their daily lives and cultivation were affected by environmental pollution caused by the company. Households can not use the water from the channel for the irrigation due to the serious pollution.

After receiving too much complain from residents, the local authorities started to carry out an inspection.
The African Union Commission launched a campaign against child marriage two years ago, and it's trying to make it a priority for the continents heads of state.

The commissioner for social affairs, Sierra Leonean medical doctor Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, said figures from 2014 suggest about a third of African females marry before they are 18, and many at age 15 or younger. In some countries, he told journalists Thursday, up to 75 percent of females marry before they turn 18.

"I think child marriage is sitting at the top of the table when youre talking about harmful traditional practices," he said at an AU summit in Kigali. "Its so important. Its a little obscure." He said it doesn't get as much attention as female genital mutilation, "but believe me, its effects are probably equal or much, much worse."

Kaloko was referring to the fistulas, or vaginal tears developed by some young girls whose bodies are not ready for sexual intercourse and pregnancy.

"If they end up with a fistula, the first thing the husband does is kick them out of the house," Kaloko said. "They develop vesicovaginal fistulas or rectovaginal fistulas  theyre either smelling of urine or feces all the time, and society cannot tolerate them. All this suffering because of a problem thats not their own."

The commissioner rejected one reporters suggestion that unwanted pregnancies were a higher-priority problem. A 15-year-old bride, Kaloko said, "has nowhere to run to. She cant run to her mother because the mother will simply say, 'Go back there'  because the mother herself most probably was married at the age of 15."

Olawale Maiyegun, director of the AUs social affairs department, called for more action on both issues.

"There is a failure on the part of society to meet what we call unmet needs of young people  family planning, contraceptives  so whether its the campaign against child marriage or meeting the needs for family planning and contraceptives, then we need to do more," Maiyegun said.

Kaloko said the campaign against child marriage needs to build at the village level. He said several partners were strongly supporting it  among others, Canada, Britain and the Ford Foundation  and he stressed there will be serious monitoring and evaluation of its impact.
Turkey: What We Know

 Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildrim said nearly 2,900 officers carried out the attempted coup, but states that the first stage of "this" is now over and Turks will resume their daily lives.

 At least 265 people have been killed in clashes since late Friday in The#TurkeyCoupAttempt: including 161 civilians and 104 "coup plotters," according to Turkish authorities.

 Coup leaders say in an emailed statement they are "determinedly still fighting."

 Istanbul airport has reopened.

 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkish airlines resumed flights, expects Ankara airport to reopen soon.

 F-16 jets bomb tanks stationed by coup-backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara.

 Prime Minister Yildrim announced Turkey has named a new acting army chief of staff.

 The attempted coup was carried out by a "clique" within the military, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

 Video footage shows soldiers who took over the CNN Turk building earlier being arrested; the broadcaster is back on the air throughout the country.

 NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg calls for calm, says Turkey is a valued NATO ally.

 U.S. President Barack Obama is getting regular updates; Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say all parties in Turkey must avoid bloodshed and back democratically-elected government.

 Prime Minister Yildirim told Turkish TV elected government remains in charge.

 TV reports bomb hits Turkish parliament.

 TV reports Turkish figher jet shoots down helicopter used by coup plotters.

 Erdogan addresses nation, says many military officers under arrest, says Turkish Cabinet is functioning and says he is not going anywhere, calls coup plotters treasonous.

 Thousands heeded Erdogan's call to defy curfew and take to the streets, large crowd greets him on his arrival at Istanbul airport.

 Erdogan called coup leaders a small faction within the military, said they will fail and pay "very heavy price."
Images of a former Argentine official in handcuffs after getting nabbed in the middle of the night trying to stash millions of dollars in a convent have thrown the country's political opposition into disarray, buying time for the new president to apply difficult austerity measures.

Mauricio Macri took office in December promising to revive Latin America's No. 3 economy after years of free-spending populism under his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez.

Food and home heating costs have skyrocketed since Macri devalued the currency and reduced energy subsidies. Thousands of protesters took to the streets this week, banging pots and pans in the first "cacerolazo" against his policies.

But Fernandez, a sworn Macri enemy who could run against him in 2019, has been unable to capitalize on the discontent.

She was embarrassed last month when her former secretary of public works Jose Lopez was arrested after throwing bags filled with almost $9 million over the walls of a convent in a Buenos Aires suburb.

Lopez started hurling the cash into the Our Lady of Fatima convent at 3 a.m. when the elderly nuns inside were slow to answer the door. Prosecutors are probing long-standing links between Fernandez administration officials and the convent.

Lopez has been charged with money laundering and for bringing an unlicensed automatic rifle to the convent.

Coverage of the scandal has saturated the media, paralyzing the opposition as Macri grinds forward with investment-friendly policies he says will spark an economic recovery next year.

"The facts regarding previous corruption have bought Macri time," said local pollster Carlos Fara, adding that Macri has a positive image rating of 59 percent while Fernandez's has fallen to 36 percent from the 46 percent she had when she left office.

A convent security tape was released this month showing a nun finally opening the door for Lopez and accepting bags from him in the pre-dawn hours of June 14. Fernandez says any accusations of corruption against her are politically motivated and that she knew nothing about wrongdoing by Lopez.

The former president has a 44 percent unfavorable rating, up from 34 percent when she left office, said Mariel Fornoni, a director at polling firm Management & Fit

"The Lopez affair has hit Cristina hard, and given Macri some political breathing room to get through this period of outcry over the increase in public utility bills," said Fornoni.

Moderate Congressman and former presidential candidate Sergio Massa is expected to make a play to lead the opposition in the run-up to October 2017 legislative elections.

Massa has a more conciliatory approach than the fiery Fernandez and would be less likely to stonewall Macri's free-market reforms in Congress.

"The corruption cases have hurt Fernandez image while Massa's positive image has held steady at about 42 percent," said political analyst Rosendo Fraga.

But for the rest of this year, Macri's main worry looks to be a slower-than-expected economic recovery, rather than any one political rival.

Asked who was most likely to lead the opposition, he said. "For now? No one."
Croatia will hold a snap election in September.

President Kolinsa Grabar-Kitarovic said in a statement Saturday the election will be held September 11.

The news of the snap vote for the European Union's newest member comes a day after parliament was formally dissolved and less than a year after the last vote.

Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic's center-right coalition government collapsed because of bickering between the conservative HDZ party and its junior reformist partner MOST.

The most recent polls show HDZ trailing behind the main opposition Social Democrats,or SDP, by 10 percentage points.

The political deadlock has stalled economic reform for Croatia's economy, one of the weakest in the EU bloc.
As it appears less and less likely that the Democratic Republic of the Congo will hold elections in the coming months, political opposition members and diplomats around the world are calling on President Joseph Kabila to respect his constitutional obligations and pave the way for a democratic transition.

One such effort is the African Unions plan to bring all parties to the table prior to a constitutional deadline for elections in order to find solutions.

The DRC Constitution sets the deadline for December 19. Thomas Perriello, the special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa at the U.S. State Department, said that the United States supports the AU efforts, led by the former prime minister of Togo, Edem Kodjo. However, if such efforts fall apart, Perriello said, time is of the essence for negotiations.

We do worry that if we get to December 19th without a consensus path forward, that could be a very challenging moment for the DRC, he told VOA. But there is time left to figure out a way forward that can bring all the sides together within the spirit and context of the Constitution.

'Glissement' on elections

Kabila, who is nearing the end of his second five-year term in office, has said the country is not prepared to hold elections this year because of problems of financing, the need to first hold local elections and voter registration. In what is being termed a glissement or slippage, he has stated he will push back the date and remain in office until elections can be held.

In May, DRCs highest court said he could remain in power through the next election cycle, which could take as long as a year.

Kabila has not explicitly said whether he plans to run for a third term, something he is constitutionally forbidden from doing.

Members of DRCs opposition say this is a way for Kabila to cling to power. In an interview with VOA Afrique, Olivier Kamitatu, president of the Alliance for the Renewal of the Congo, said it is time for a transition.

What we want is to avoid the Burundization of the Congo, he said, referring to neighboring Burundi, which is enduring its own constitutional crisis. We want to avoid falling back into conflict, we want to avoid violence, we want to avoid instability, and for that, we are calling on Joseph Kabila to say clearly that he will not be a candidate for a third mandate.

'Negotiation' by opposition

Opposition members have rejected participating in a dialogue called for by Kabila in late June. Kamitatu said he would participate in a negotiation rather than a dialogue, with the result being an election and Kabila exiting office.

All the opposition right now speaks with a single voice, Kamitatu said. We arent against a dialogue; we think its more of a negotiation. But we are against a dialogue intended to violate the Constitution, massacre the Constitution. We are for negotiations that will respect the Constitution.

In an independence day address to the nation, Kabila said he supported the AU process and called for a national forum to agree on a way forward. He said, beginning in late July in the province of North Ubangui, the country would launch a massive operation to register all voters in the country.

I want to reassure you that all the arrangements have been made to finance this process, in all its sequences, as prescribed by law, but also ensuring its security, he said. And just like in 2006 and 2011, all logistical assets of the Army will be mobilized and put at the disposition of the Independent National Election Commission to accomplish this goal.

Voter registration

Kamitatu and other critics have questioned the need to register all voters, saying only the 7 million to 10 million young voters between 18 and 25 years old who arent on current rolls must be registered. They have also questioned the independence of the National Election Commission and said Kabila is intimidating and silencing his political opponents.

The former governor of Katanga province, Moise Katumbi, considered a top contender for the presidency, has been charged with two criminal offenses: illegally selling a house and hiring foreign mercenaries. He is out of the country while he recovers from tear gas poisoning he suffered during protests.

Perriello said that the DRC can draw lessons from neighboring countries, including Burundi, and must do everything possible to avoid a return to violence.

When leaders attempt to solve a problem by eliminating their critics and repressing those who disagree with them, it tends to backfire very badly and be destabilizing for the country, he said.

He stressed that it is important for the country and Kabilas legacy to allow an open, diverse civil society and political space and not see that backsliding.
For weeks there were signs that tensions between Turkey's secular military and the Islamist-aligned government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were reaching a boiling point. Semi-public disagreements between the politicians and the generals, especially over Syria policy, were becoming all too frequent. Military briefings appeared increasingly to be at odds with government statements.

And some analysts in recent weeks had feared a coup might be in the offing, with concerns mounting in military ranks about the series of recent deadly terrorist attacks in Turkey, the government's no-holds-barred war on the Kurdish minority in southeast Turkey, and Erdogan's attempts to consolidate ever greater control over the media and judiciary.

Afzal Ashraf of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, said he was surprised by the level of hostility among officers toward the government. They expressed increasing alarm at the autocratic tilt of Erdogan and anger at what they saw as the creeping Islamization of Turkey.

Officers' remarks

"For the first time in 15 years, young officers were making comments about their government in cynical terms," said Ashraf, a frequent visitor to Turkey. That was unusual, especially in front of visiting foreigners, he said. He noted, though, that top-ranking officers seemed more supportive of the government.

Omer Taspinar, an analyst at the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, also had warned for months of the possibility of a coup.

"Right now, the question is whether the attempted coup is from the top command, with the top brass involved, or a colonel-level or officer coup, from a certain segment of the army," he said. "There are indications right now that it is the latter."

In past Turkish coups, the chief of staff of the military and other generals have been the main ringleaders. This time, that appears to not to be case. There were local media reports that the chief of staff and other members of the military top brass had been taken captive by pro-coup forces Friday and held at the main military base in Ankara.

"It seems like this is an officers' coup," Gonul Tol, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based think tank, told VOA.

"So unlike past coups in Turkey, where the chain of command was involved, we have not heard anything from the top military brass recently," she said. "Usually the top generals appear on TV, and they announce the coup and explain the reasons for the coup. And this has not happened yet. We don't know where the chief of staff is. There are rumors that he's captive."

At Istanbul's Ataturk airport, a crowd of Erdogan supporters surrounded a tank, bickered with the tank commander when he fired warning shots from a machine gun, and then clambered aboard the vehicle. Elsewhere in Istanbul, government supporters confronted soldiers backing the coup  including in the city's iconic Taksim Square, as police looked on impassively.

Outsiders watch, wait

The fast-moving events Friday left foreign governments scrambling to calculate who would win  the government or the coup-plotters. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said, "The United States views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey. We are monitoring a very fluid situation."

But with splits appearing within military ranks  elite units appear not to have been involved in the coup attempt  and between the military factions supporting the bid to oust Erdogan and the police and intelligence services, analysts were predicting the coup would fail.

And if it does, they said, Erdogan will emerge stronger.

Tol said she feared the president would be emboldened if he survived the coup.

"He will use this as an opportunity to move forward with his presidential agenda," Tol said. "And so far, he's already used people's fear of a military coup in order to rally people behind his presidentialism agenda. So this will just give him another excuse to use a heavy-handed approach in dealing with the Kurds, dealing with the opposition and even the legal opposition. So we will see a more authoritative Erdogan after this."

According to former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson, either way "there's going to be a great deal of turmoil in Turkey's relations with all countries and the organizations that they belong to, and of course including the U.S. and NATO."
Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been accused of being behind Turkey's apparent coup, has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for more than a decade.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who conducted an interview through FaceTime with CNN Turk Friday, said Turkey "cannot be run from Pennsylvania," a reference to Gulen who lives in the U.S. mid-Atlantic state.

In May, the president designated the religious movement of Gulen a terrorist group and said he would pursue its members, whom he accuses of trying to overthrow the government.

In recent years, Turkey's government has taken over companies that are believed to have ties to Gulen, detained hundreds of followers, and removed thousands of Gulen's supporters from government jobs.

Turkey's government accuses the Gulen movement of infiltrating the police, judiciary and political system and creating a state within a state.

Gulen response

In response to the upheaval in Turkey, a nonprofit group serving as a voice for the Gulen movement rebuked the violence.

We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics, the Alliance for Shared Values said in a statement. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.

Previous close ties

The Gulen movement was once among Erdogan's most enthusiastic supporters and Gulen-affiliated media groups backed government policies.

But Gulen, 75, fell out of favor with the president when police and prosecutors seen as sympathetic to Gulen opened a corruption investigation into Erdogan's inner circle in 2013.

Gulen, who sought refuge in the United States and lives in relative seclusion, has continued to maintain a following within Turkey and his supporters are believed to have raised some 50 million liras ($17 million) between 2004 and 2015.

He preaches Sunni Islam together with a message of interfaith dialogue and his movement, known as "Hizmit" (Service), operates in Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa.

Gulen's followers say they are the victims of an unfair crackdown, and have accused Erdogan of taking increasingly authoritarian measures.
The brother of Pakistani model and social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has been arrested for strangling her the day before.

Local media reported he confessed Saturday to drugging and strangling her for dishonoring their family name.

Baloch was spending the Eid holiday with her family and had travelled from Karachi to Muzaffarabad village in central Punjab province. She was asleep, police said, when one of her six brothers strangled Baloch in the familys home.

Baloch, whose real name is Fauzia Azeem, became widely known in 2014 after a video, in which she asks a man How am I looking, went viral. She provoked controversy. She offended conservatives when she posted pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a well-known cleric.

Reports say Baloch enjoyed drinks and cigarettes with Qavi during the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. Qavi denied the claim and said they only met to talk about teachings of Islam.

Baloch was also praised by young Pakistanis for breaking social taboos and condemning conservatives.

On earlier reports, she told the French News Agency that people are going crazyespecially girls after on Valentines Day, she posted a video going against the presidents message to stay away from Western influence. She was wearing a scarlet dress.

I get so many calls where they [girls] tell me Im their inspiration and they want to be like me, she said.

Baloch, according to reports, had talked about leaving Pakistan for safety reasons. She was receiving anonymous death threats.

Honor killings are often seen as punishment for going against traditions.
In the hours after the terror attack in Nice, France, Prime Minister Manuel Valls riled many critics when he said that times have changed, and France should learn to live with terrorism.

On Twitter, one person called the statement crazy, while another said it was a sad indictment on our times. Heat Street, a conservative news-and-commentary website, chided it for its defeatist tone.

The timing of Valls statement may have struck some as insensitive, but to others, there was a sense that it reflected reality.

I agree with it, said Colin Clarke, a political scientist at Rand Corporation, a global policy research group based in Santa Monica, California. We all have to learn to live with terrorism. Its a different paradigm in the [post-]9/11 world.

Daniel Benjamin, a former coordinator for counterterrorism at the U.S. State Department, called the statement wise.

I think its good that leaders are working to cultivate resilience and not creating illusions that there are a series of buttons that can be pushed and terrorism will go away, said Benjamin, who is now the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Obviously, we have to take it seriously and not get complacent in the face of a threat, but I think its a wise message.

French officials said Friday that 84 people were killed and 52 were critically wounded when a man drove a large truck through a Bastille Day celebration in Nice late Thursday. French police identified the attacker as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a French-Tunisian who lived in Nice.

Similar sentiments in U.S.

President Barack Obama struck a corresponding note, saying Americans and allies could not give in to fear, turn on each other or sacrifice their way of life.

We will not be deterred, he said. We will not relent. We are going to keep working together to prevent attacks and defend our homeland.

Blaise Misztal, director of national security at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, noted that Obamas and former President George W. Bushs calls for resilience in the face of terrorism have not been all that different from the French prime ministers.

President Bush advocated just such an approach of continuing to go about our daily lives after 9/11, Misztal said via email. President Obama has tried to make a similar point in saying that more people die from bathtub accidents than terrorism, and Israel has long ago come to terms with the fact of terrorism.

'Inured to the horror'?

In a blog post about the attack, Danielle Pletka, a terrorism expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative public policy research group in Washington, wrote that were not shocked by terrorist attacks anymore. Thats because as terrorism becomes a regular feature of our lives, weve become inured to the horror and indifferent about the solution.

Misztal disagreed.

The images from Orlando, Istanbul, Dhaka and now Nice elicit universal horror and condemnation, as they should, he said via email. It is that moral outrage that drives our determination that ISIS and its ideological brethren must be defeated.

He added that the normalization of terror attacks should be part of any counterterrorism strategy.

Groups like ISIS are trying to inspire fear in our societies and undermine the openness and freedom they despise in democratic societies, he said. Learning to live normally among the potential for terrorism is the best way to deprive it of its power.

'Off-the-charts' concern

But after the December attack in San Bernardino, California, U.S. public concern about terrorism shot up to levels not seen since 9/11. A March 2016 Gallup poll showed that 48 percent of Americans worried a great deal about possible terrorist attacks in the U.S., a level higher than the 2004-2015 period.

A June 2016 NBC/Survey Monkey poll taken after the Orlando, Florida, shooting  the worst mass shooting in U.S. history  showed that the share of Americans who viewed terrorism as the most important issue to them doubled to 24 percent from 12 percent prior to the attack. The poll also showed that 51 percent of Americans worried that they or someone in their family might become a victim of terrorism, while 48 percent said they were not worried.

These numbers are off the charts, Benjamin said.

Following the attack in Nice, American anxiety over terrorism is likely to edge higher, but the U.S. remains less vulnerable to the type of complex, large-scale terror attacks that have struck Europe over the past two years.

The U.S. is geographically isolated from the Middle East, has better law enforcement and domestic intelligence, and has lower levels of radicalization among an immigrant population that is much better integrated into society than is the case in Europe, Benjamin said.

These cant be reasons to be complacent, but the threat here is lower than it is in Europe, he said.
Violent protests that were met with deadly force in Mali this week are the latest sign a peace pact between rival ethnic groups is at risk of unraveling, threatening to plunge the nation back into the chaos that made it a launchpad for jihadi attacks.

It has been a year since Tuareg-led separatist rebels signed the accord with the Malian government after a conflict that destabilized this West African country.

The lawlessness created by the fighting allowed militant Islamist groups, including al-Qaida's regional wing, to spread, seize control of the desert north, and launch attacks against targets in Mali and its neighbors.

The U.N.-backed peace deal was supposed to give the government space to tackle this threat. Any signs it could fail will sound alarm bells in Washington and other Western capitals, which have long feared Mali could became a haven for militants to launch jihadi attacks around the world.

Few of the signatories to the accord seem satisfied with it, with all sides dragging their feet on implementation and blaming each other.

No 'gains' seen

"Many things were done on paper and commissions have been set up, but people on the ground haven't enjoyed the gains," said Mohamoudou Djeri Maiga, vice president of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a Tuareg separatist movement that fought to establish an ethnic homeland among the sand dunes and oases of northern Mali.

Anger is also growing among those excluded from its spoils, especially youth groups who backed the state in the conflict but feel they have ended up with nothing.

The tensions have spilled over into violence, with sporadic and deadly clashes taking place in some areas that have pitted groups who backed the government in the conflict against groups linked to the Tuareg and the Arab rebels who fought with them.

In the most overt sign of discontent about the peace deal yet, thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday, burning tires and pelting police with rocks, to voice anger at interim authorities  including former combatants who, under the deal, are supposed to take office this week in Gao and other northern regions.

The army responded by opening fire, killing three people and wounding 33.

"At this point no one is satisfied with the implementation of the agreement," the head of Mali's U.N. peacekeeping mission, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, told Reuters late last month. "The parties signed the agreement, certainly, but each of them has a vision of what they want."

Concerned about the lack of progress, representatives from the U.N. Security Council traveled to northern Mali in March to push for parties to put the agreement into action.

Anger at armed groups

French forces intervened in the former colony in 2013 to drive back Islamist fighters who had hijacked the Tuareg insurgency and seized Mali's north, at one point even threatening the capital, Bamako.

A U.N. peacekeeping mission was then deployed, but militants have exploited continued instability to regroup and carry out a wave of attacks against in Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

Yet Tuesday's protests showed that, even if deal gets implemented, it risks igniting violence among Malians who feel disenfranchised by it.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, mindful of the fragility of the accord and the widespread discontent, gave a special televised address Thursday in which he expressed "deep regret" about the killings at the protests.

"The incidents are regrettable and could have been avoided," he said, but added that the unrest was "an illustration of the poor understanding of the peace deal. It shows we need to work harder for all sections of society to have ownership of it."

If armed, 'you get a role'

Many Malian young people don't think they have misunderstood anything.

"It is clear the agreement means that if you are not armed you get nothing, but if you have weapons you a get a role," said Issouf Alhousseini, local head of the Young Patriots of Gao, a vigilante movement that counts among its members many of the government-allied Songhai ethnic group who now feel alienated.

"The Arabs and Tuaregs have weapons, so they get included. The government should have given us a place, too," he said, showing how the divisions that tore Mali apart still linger.

Amadou Sarr, another Songhai vigilante leader, even suggested that some youths would seek to acquire weapons in order to trade them in for demobilization money.

And as insecurity worsens in northern Mali, economic decline has set in. The tourists who used to visit Timbuktu, a medieval Islamic city that grew fabulously rich off the trade in gold and slaves crossing the sands of the Sahara, have never come back.
Everyone agrees it sounds like a wonderful goal: The U.N. AIDS agency aims to end the deadly epidemic by the year 2030.

The agencys 90-90-90 treatment plan, using 2020 as a target date, aims for 90 percent of people living with HIV to know their HIV status; 90 percent of HIV-positive people to receive treatment; and 90 percent of people on treatment to show suppressed viral loads.

The plan, in theory, would prevent nearly 28 million new HIV infections and 21 million AIDS-related deaths worldwide.

It won't come cheaply, UNAIDS said. In the next five years, low-income countries will need as much as $9.7 billion, and lower-middle-income countries will need $8.7 billion. That means the bill will fall on wealthier international donors, like the United States and other Western nations.

As experts from around the world converge on Durban, South Africa, for the International AIDS Conference that begins Monday, even the optimists say such goals won't be easy to reach.

Data look promising

That doesnt mean it's not possible, said Matthew Kavanagh, senior policy analyst for the U.S.-based Health Global Access Project. The health statistics look promising; some countries, he said, have reached the 90-90-90 goals and others are close.

Thats what makes it maddening, he said: The end of AIDS could be within reach if donors invested more money and governments showed more political will to fight the disease. He sharply criticized major donors, including the U.S. and European nations, for giving greater priority to other problems.

Speaking to VOA from Durban, Kavanagh said he was worried that talk about the end of AIDS might overshadow problems at the conference.

I am deeply disturbed that we dont hear the emergency in the voice of UNAIDS and the United Nations," he said. I hope that I dont hear a lot of happy talk about how were on track to end AIDS, because were not. We could be, but the world is not showing a political will. ...

"Were halfway to a goal. If we get the rest of the way to the goal, we could actually be in the space to talk about the end of AIDS. But given that were not on not on track, we need to be hearing about how theres an emergency, how donors need to step up, how affected countries need to step up, how there needs to be a radical change in how we do business  or we wont end AIDS.

Scientists' warning

Its clear the conferences main figures dont think so either. Just days before the conferences Monday start, three of its main figures published a stern warning in Spotlight, a South African publication monitoring the nation's TB and HIV response.

Scientists Chris Beyrer, Linda-Gail Bekker and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi called for more donor commitments and more attention to at-risk groups, such as young women, men who have sex with men, drug users and transgender people.

It is clear, the three wrote, that the global rhetoric around the current end of AIDS needs to be matched with an equally robust reality check.

Anele Yawa has seen that reality up close, as general secretary of South Africas Treatment Action Campaign, which lobbies for social justice, including for South Africans living with HIV. The nation carries the worlds highest AIDS burden, with UNAIDS estimating that 7 million people are HIV-positive.

Yawa said those patients are not getting the services they need  he cited chronic drug shortages, poor health care service and a shortage of health care workers  and that he planned to participate in a protest during the conference to demand improvements.

Lets not talk about an end to AIDS, he told VOA. Lets talk about fixing the public health care system so that our public health care system can be able to deliver on these targets. There is no way that we can talk about ambitious numbers [if] the systems on the ground are still broken.

Major change

The city of Durban last hosted the International AIDS Conference in 2000, and the meeting made global headlines for the wrong reasons. At the time, South Africas government all but denied AIDS existed and did little to fight it.

Today, 3.1 million South Africans receive antiretroviral treatment through government-funded programs.

Experts, however, warn that success can be a distraction. As more than 10,000 activists, experts, scientists and patients converge to discuss the latest work on treatment, vaccines and maybe even a cure, more than half of South Africans with HIV are untreated. For them, the end of AIDS is a faraway goal.
The Standard & Poor's 500 hit an all-time intraday high Friday, the fifth straight day of record highs for the index. Stronger-than-expected results from Dow component JPMorgan Chase as well as upbeat economic data, strong retail sales and general positive sentiment for U.S. stocks helped to move the averages higher.

U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in June as Americans bought motor vehicles and a variety of other goods, bolstering views that economic growth picked up in the second quarter. In addition, industrial production rose 0.6 percent in June, recording its biggest increase in 11 months, driven by a surge in motor vehicle assembly.

JPMorgan set a positive tone for bank earnings topping estimates. Fixed-income revenue growth of 35 percent was the standout on strength in rates and currencies. Loan growth was solid (up 16 percent), consumer deposits hit a record growth rate of 10 percent and credit card sales were up 8 percent. Citigroup, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and PNC also reported earnings. Three of the four financials beat expectations, with Wells Fargo being the only one that met the consensus estimate.

Momentum in crude oil has reined in a bit as concerns about a global glut in crude and refined products weighed on the commodity while supply comes back on the market from Nigeria and Canada and demand is not as strong as expected. Inventories remain historically high after two years of surplus production, and U.S. demand for gasoline, the key driver of prices in summer, is proving to be disappointing, according to the International Energy Agency.

Week ahead

On Monday, the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland, Ohio. The confirmation of Donald Trump as the party's presidential nominee is expected to take place July 21. Trump announced that Governor Mike Pence of Indiana would be his running mate.

Earnings are now in full swing as 88 companies from the S&P 500 will deliver results, with major financials set to report, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, American Express and Morgan Stanley. Tech heavyweights IBM and Microsoft are also on tap, as well as widely-traded stocks Netflix, Starbucks and Yahoo. Global conglomerates General Electric and Honeywell close out the week.

Chipotle Mexican Grill reports next Thursday after the market closes, and the sales recovery could take longer than expected. Customers are still wary about returning to the chain in the wake of food safety woes that surfaced last year.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock ahead of the earnings report: We are downgrading CMG to Equal Weight from Overweight based on new evidence that the sales recovery will remain more protracted than the market believes, and possibly more costly as a result, as CMG likely needs to ramp up marketing spend to lure consumers back in. A full sales recovery to prior peak volumes could take years in our view.

The Housing Market Index for July and Purchasing Managers Manufacturing Index are the pieces of economic data in focus.

The European Central Bank rate decision and press conference will take place before U.S. markets open Thursday. This will be the first scheduled monetary policy meeting since the historic Brexit vote was held in June.
As investigators in France began sifting through the devastation of the attack on Bastille Day celebrations in Nice that killed 84 people, some Western intelligence officials were already alarmed.

They feared the initial investigation could fail to show any definitive links between the suspect, a 31-year-old Tunisian-born Frenchman named Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, and any known terror group. But they also feared that Bouhlels profile would fit with an emerging trend.

Increasingly, these officials said, the Islamic State terror group seems to be seeking out petty criminals and the mentally ill to quickly turn them into weapons.

So far, that appears to be how Bouhlels story is playing out.

The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said Saturday that the terror group was responsible for the deadly attack on Nice, claiming Bouhlel as a soldier of the Islamic State.

Evidence was still being gathered, but French officials were not ruling out the possibility.

"It seems that he was radicalized very quickly," French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters Saturday in Paris.

Just a day earlier, French prosecutor Francois Molins had said that while Bouhlel was known to police and had been involved a violent altercation, he was completely unknown to French intelligence.

This is the future of their jihad, Malcolm Nance, a former counterterrorism and intelligence officer, said of IS. All of these little absences of radicalization themselves are actually a sign of radicalization.

The process is often quick, with no clear line of communication for intelligence agencies to follow. And it can take place with little human interaction; IS allowing its propaganda and ideology to do most of the work.

They take people who have generally petty criminal backgrounds and give them something higher to strive for, said Nance, who now heads the Terror Asymmetrics Project, a counter-ideology think tank in Hudson, New York.

The suspect in the Nice attack would seem to match that description.

Divorced, depressed

French media said Bouhlel was a divorced father of three and suffered from depression. Neighbors recalled being frightened of him, and others said he liked to drink alcohol and eat pork, practices shunned by observant Muslims.

It is a profile that shares striking similarities with at least two other terrorists in attacks either directed or inspired by IS.

Paris attack mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, liked to drink and is believed to have hung out at bars known for attracting drug dealers before suddenly becoming radicalized.

Omar Mateen, the shooter in the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, also is believed to have liked to party and may even have engaged in same-sex affairs.

There is a sort of pathway of someone who has lived a very licentious lifestyle that joins a jihadi group in order to wipe the slate clean  in order to emerge, like, from a chrysalis into the butterfly that is the jihadi  because by becoming the jihadi, it washes away the sins of the past, said Mia Bloom, a communications professor and terrorism expert at Georgia State University.

Until recently, it was a difficult path to take  one that could require a period of study and a concerted effort to change, if it could be done at all.

There were some minimum standards, said Bloom. Terrorist groups tend to avoid people who are mentally ill. They avoid people who are psychopaths because they are not reliable as operatives.

However, intelligence officials say the Islamic State model has turned that notion on its head. While the terror group established a large, secretive external operations wing bent on attacking the West, it has also cultivated a backup strategy of enabling and inspiring attacks by individuals.

The strategy appears to have found a ready audience.

Lone wolf attackers disproportionately suffer from mental illness, not just relative to the general population, but also relative to official members within a terrorist group, said Max Abrahms, a terrorism theorist at Northeastern University in Boston and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations who spoke to VOA via Skype.

Appealing to petty criminals

In Europe, especially, Islamic States message is hitting the mark with petty criminals tired of living on the edges of society.

The idea is to kind of motivate these folks to conduct very simple attacks, using things theyre capable of using, close to where they live, said Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis for the Stratfor intelligence firm, who also spoke via Skype.

And when there isnt a connection to the core group or to these professional terrorists, it makes it very difficult for intelligence agencies to intercept communications and to find out the plans in advance, he said.

FBI Director James Comey compared the task to looking for a needle in a haystack, only worse.

Its finding pieces of hay in that haystack that may become a needle, he told a congressional hearing a few days ago.

All of this makes the job for overwhelmed police and intelligence agencies even harder at a time when jihadists' capabilities have grown quite a bit, said Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a terrorism research and education group in Washington.

We are overwhelmingly likely to see more attacks in the West. Things are likely to get worse before they get better, he said.
Somalia has ordered organizations linked to a U.S.-based Turkish cleric shut down after Turkeys president said Fethullah Gulen was involved Fridays coup attempt.



The decision came in an extraordinary session of the Somali cabinet on Saturday. The government ordered Turkish citizens working for Gulen-linked organizations to leave the country within seven days. The government said the services the organizations provided, such as education and health care, will continue under new administration.



The cabinet said the decision was in response to a request from the Turkish government.



The two countries have close ties. President Hassan Mohamud was one of the first world leaders to oppose the coup attempt as it developed.



It is unacceptable to reverse the democratic path that the people of Turkey enjoyed in the recent times of their history. This was unfortunate and we are very glad to hear that the evil forces who tried to turn Turkey into a violence ground have been defeated, he said.



On Saturday, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Mogadishu in a government-organized rally against the military coup attempt.



Fethullah Gulen denied involvement in the coup attempt and has condemned it. He was a former ally of Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but had a falling out years ago. Gulen now lives in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. His movement advocates service and interfaith dialogue and has millions of adherents in Turkey and abroad.



Our position on what happened in Turkey is never to support the forceful change of a democratically elected government, Somalia Foreign Minister Abdusalam Hadliye Omer told VOAs Somali service.



Somalia will likely have suffered had the coup succeeded, as Turkey provided about $25 million a year in aid.



Omer said the Turkish people and their government have provided Somali close to one billion dollars worth of aid, investment and infrastructure rebuilding since 2011.



Its very important for us to stand with Turkey, its a big country, and they are our friends.



He said President Erdogans visit to Mogadishu on August 2011 has opened the eyes of the world toward Somalia following the deadly famine.



Since 2011 Erdogan visited Somalia three times, including a trip last month to Mogadishu where he inaugurated what was said to be the largest Turkish Embassy in the world.



Turkey has also refurbished Mogadishus sea and airport and has built schools and hospitals as well as roads in Mogadishu. Several thousand Somalis are studying in Turkish schools under sponsorships by charities.



Omer dismissed criticism on social media by some Somalis who suggested that the Somali government should mind its own business.



They want us to wait and see who wins and then speak out? he replied when asked if the government was quick to take sides.



We were making our position clear. When Erdogan was coming to Mogadishu he didnt ask any one permission, we owe to them, he said.
Below is a timeline of breaking events in Turkey. All times in GMT, based on the times Reuters reported the events. Reuters does not vouch for events reported by other media.

0100: Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears among supporters at Istanbul airport, says uprising has been attempted against solidarity and unity of country; says no power is above national will.

0045: Around 30 soldiers, part of faction attempting to carry out a military coup, surrender weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

0045: Turkish private broadcaster CNN Turk halts live news broadcast; presenter says soldiers entered studio control room.

0027: Two more explosions hit parliament; member of parliament reached by telephone says lawmakers are hiding in shelters at the parliament.

0020: Turkish official says Erdogan's plane lands in Istanbul.

2352: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says situation under control, blames U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen movement, and declares no-fly zone over Ankara. A U.S.-based organization close to Gulen earlier denied involvement.

2339: Bomb hits parliament in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency says. Reuters witness hears blast in Istanbul.

2320: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry emphasizes "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions" in phone call with Turkish foreign minister.

2313: Group close to U.S.-based cleric Gulen says accusations it was involved in coup attempt are "highly irresponsible." Condemns military intervention in Turkish politics, expresses concern about safety of citizens.

2305: U.S. President Barack Obama says he and Kerry agree that all parties in Turkey should support elected government. Urges restraint, avoidance of bloodshed in White House statement.

2304: State-run Anadolu Agency says 17 police killed at Ankara special forces headquarters; no independent confirmation.

2259: Turkish fighter jet shoots down military helicopter used by coup-plotters over Ankara, broadcaster NTV says.

2251: Commander of special forces says a group has engaged in treason, but they will not succeed; adds military does not condone coup.

2247: Prime minister says gangs and illegal formations are behind coup attempt, and calls it a terrorist act. He says government remains in charge, and urges people to take to the streets.

2237: Commander of Turkey's First Army, part of land forces responsible for Istanbul and other western areas, said those attempting a coup were a small faction and "nothing to worry about."

2226: Two loud explosions heard in center of Turkish capital.

2208: Tanks surround Turkish parliament building, and open fire. Gunfire heard at Istanbul airport.

2203: Turkish justice minister says members of a movement loyal to Gulen in the army are behind the attempted coup.

2151: A military helicopter opens fire over the Turkish capital Ankara; witnesses report an explosion in the capital.

2135: Turkish state broadcaster TRT goes off air, but later starts broadcasting from London.

2126: Erdogan urges people to take to the streets to protest against what he describes as a coup attempt by a minority faction within the military. Speaking to a CNN Turk reporter via a cellphone video link, he says it will meet a "necessary response." He says he is returning to the capital Ankara.

2122: Turkish prime minister says on Twitter that everything possible will be done to put down coup attempt, even if it means fatalities. Says sieges are under way at some important buildings, without specifying, but urges people to remain calm.

2118: Presidential source says president and government are still in power.

2105: Turkish state broadcaster says  reading statement on the orders of the military  that new constitution will be prepared, government guilty of eroding democratic and secular rule of law, the country is being run by a "peace council," martial law imposed, and curfew imposed across the country.

2102: Head of Istanbul branch of Turkey's ruling AK Party says soldiers enter party building, tell members to leave.

2058: Soldiers are inside buildings of Turkish state broadcaster TRT in Ankara, TRT correspondent tells Reuters.

2057: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media restricted in Turkey, say internet monitoring groups.

2049: Turkish presidential source says statement made on behalf of armed forces was not authorized by military command.

2047: Turkish chief of military staff among hostages taken at military headquarters in Ankara, says state-run Anadolu agency.

2038: Erdogan is safe, reports CNN Turk.

2025: Turkish military says it has taken power to protect democratic order. In a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, the military says all of Turkey's existing foreign relations will be maintained.

2002: Turkish prime minister says attempted coup under way, and calls for calm. He says a group within Turkey's military has attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary."

1950: Gunshots are heard in Ankara, military jets and helicopters seen flying overhead. Helicopters seen overhead in Istanbul.

1929: Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge are both closed. Dogan News Agency footage shows cars and buses being diverted.
I accept your nomination to serve as vice president of the United States of America."

Those words from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence marked the official debut of the Trump-Pence presidential ticket.

But they came only after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke for nearly half an hour, alone at the podium inside Manhattan's glitzy Hilton Midtown ballroom, in front of five rows of seated supporters  an enthusiastic but restrained group of invited guests.

Standing before a backdrop of American flags and a flood-lit red, white and blue curtain, Trump declared himself and Pence as the law-and-order candidates of a law-and-order Republican party.

Paints differences

He painted President Barack Obama and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as politicians who lead from behind, and are weak on combating global terrorism.

Hillarys foreign policy helped launch ISIS, Trump said. He criticized her for not calling recent attacks in Orlando and Nice radical Islamic terrorism.

Mike Pence will never be afraid to speak the name of our enemy, he added, calling his running mate a solid, solid person and a leader who will help deliver a safe society and prosperous society for all Americans."

Pence took the stage to light, polite applause, thanking Trump for the confidence placed in him and his family, calling the businessman a patriotic American and a fighter.

He described himself as a "basic guy, and a small-town boy from rural Indiana.

"I grew up with a front-row seat to the American dream," he said.

Pence, who describes himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order," is regarded as a safe choice within conservative circles, able to pick up support among moderate Republicans and evangelical Christians.

Trump praised Pences record as governor of Indiana, saying he will help push to create manufacturing jobs  a key domestic platform in Trumps campaign. Trump also noted that Pence had lowered state income taxes.

During the 24 hours since Trump announced his decision on Twitter, notable GOP (Grand Old Party) politicians praised the decision, calling Pence as strong on conservative, social and economic principles, including a staunch record of anti-abortion and anti-LGBT policies.

'Love the guy'

Paul Ryan, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said I love the guy, on a radio show this week. Hes actually a buddy of mine."

Pence served 12 years in the House, where he knew Ryan.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio praised Pence on Twitter as a great pick and rock solid.

Trump and Pence will be at the Republican Partys national convention this week in Cleveland where Trump is expected to get the partys formal nomination.
Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in the United States, is strongly denying allegations that he was involved in Friday's attempted coup in his homeland.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who once considered Gulen a close ally, has blamed the attempt to overthrow him Friday on the U.S.-based imam's followers. The Turkish leader is reported to have demanded of President Barack Obama that the United States either arrest or extradite Gulen.

Gulen's Hizmet movement  the name in Turkish means "service"  has an influential presence in Turkish society, including in the media, police and judiciary.

The imam, who now lives in the state of Pennsylvania, said Saturday that he condemned the coup attempt in Turkey "in the strongest terms" and categorically denied he was involved in the plot.

Gulen said he did not know whether any of his supporters in Turkey might have been involved in the abortive attempt to unseat Erdogan.

Speaking to reporters in Saylorsburg, a remote village in eastern Pennsylvania, Gulen noted he left Turkey in 1999 and said he didn't even know who his current followers there were.

'I pray to God for Turkey'

In a statement earlier, Gulen denounced the coup: Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force. I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.

As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, the 75-year-old imam added, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt.

Faced with anti-government protests and corruption investigations, Erdogan has blamed his problems in part on Gulens followers and foreign powers. Washington has never acted on Erdogan's previous denunciations of Gulen, which U.S. officials said they did not find to be backed by any compelling evidence.

Speaking to reporters in Luxembourg on Saturday, Secretary of State John Kerry said U.S. authorities anticipated questions about Gulen's possible role in the current upheaval in Turkey.

Kerry said the United States would review any request for Gulen's extradition, but he also indicated that any move to return the cleric to Turkey would be granted only if Turkey presented evidence of his wrongdoing that could withstand impartial scrutiny.

As an imam in Turkey, Gulen encouraged his followers to become educated, and the movement spread beyond Turkish borders, with hundreds of schools and charities established in other countries.

Since the preachers run-in with Turkeys secular leadership in the 1990s, one of the key aims of his movement's activities abroad has been to leverage its clout back in Turkey.

The ailing cleric is known for promoting a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with strong advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Likened to rights icon King

In an interview with VOA in 2014, Gulen's main spokesman, Turkish-American businessman Alp Aslandogan, compared the preacher to U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The civil rights movement advocated equal rights for all citizens," said Aslandogan. Similarly, in Turkey, Gulen advocated for equality and equal opportunity for all citizens  observant Muslims and others who historically had been discriminated against.

The civil rights movement abstained from violence. Similarly, Gulen throughout his life always criticized and rejected violence, Aslandogan said. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, he said, Gulen denounced al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden as a monster.

Gulens messages of peace and tolerance have won him praise from luminaries in the United States. Two former secretaries of state, Madeleine Albright and James Baker, and former President Bill Clinton have all spoken at Gulen foundation events.

Gulen's Hizmet movement has been under increasing scrutiny in the U.S. for its links to a group of about 145 charter schools.
The U.N.s top diplomat in Iraq is warning that the expected military operation to liberate the city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters could become the worlds biggest humanitarian crisis.

OCHA [UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] estimates that the Mosul operation will be the largest and most sensitive humanitarian crisis in the world in 2016, Iraq envoy Jan Kubis told the U.N. Security Council in a briefing on Friday. Mosul is Iraqs second largest city.

He said a U.N. aid appeal for $861 million stands at less than 40 percent funded, and a reallocation of existing resources is urgently required, not just to meet current emergency needs, but for those anticipated for the Mosul liberation campaign.

The [Mosul] humanitarian effort could cost as much as $1 billion, Kubis warned.

Iraq is already classified as a Level 3 emergency  the highest crisis category. Currently, the U.N. estimates more than 10 million Iraqis require some form of humanitarian assistance  including the 3.4 million people who have been displaced since the rise of the self-styled Islamic State began in 2014.

Next week in Washington, a donors conference is planned in support of Iraq.

Military campaign

The U.S. announced Monday it would send 560 more troops to Iraq, many to be positioned near Mosul in an effort to retake the largest city under IS control. Washington has also been training Iraqi forces to carry out the campaign.

Iraqs U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told the Security Council that his government and the international coalition have liberated 60 percent of territory held by Islamic State.

We are also working to prepare for the liberation of Mosul; certain operations have already begun. He said some villages have already been retaken in the initial phase.

Alhakim said that across Iraq some 700,000 residents have returned to areas liberated from IS and other armed groups.

Last month, Iraqi troops with international support, liberated the city of Fallujah in Anbar province from more than two years under IS control.

Some 85,000 residents then fled the city, overwhelming camps for the displaced and requiring a massive humanitarian response. Many arrived to safety in terrible condition, after months of food shortages and a lack of clean drinking water and medicines.
Four months after giving birth in Umuahia, the capital of Nigeria's southeastern Abia state, 23-year-old single mother Amarachi Amadi is still in hospital with her baby girl.

While the mother and her daughter are in good health, they are not allowed to leave the public hospital until Amadi settles the 543,000 naira ($1,900) bill for their care.

Amadi, who makes a living selling stones to construction workers for 40 naira ($0.15) per sack, fears she may never be able to clear her debt  leaving her and her baby trapped in the Umuahia Federal Medical Center (FMC) for the foreseeable future.

"I have really suffered ... and they do not allow me to go out," said Amadi, who relies on her mother to bring food into the hospital and to help her care for her baby, Oluebubechi.

New mothers like Amadi are stuck in maternity wards across Nigeria  forbidden from leaving until their debts are settled.

Known as Awaiting Bill Settlement (ABS) patients, these women are responsible for looking after and feeding themselves and their newborns.

Few Nigerians have health insurance, leaving many patients clinging to the hope that their bills will be waived by hospital directors or covered by visiting well-wishers.

Meanwhile, whenever the maternity ward at the hospital is full, many ABS patients are forced to sleep on the floor.

"Sometimes, we place all the babies on one bed while the mothers sleep in chairs," said one nurse, who asked not to be named as she was not authorized by the hospital to speak.

"Some babies have stayed here until they started crawling," the nurse said, adding that some mothers had managed to escape the hospital with their babies when no one was watching.

Hoping for charity

Like Amadi, nine other nursing mothers in the FMC's maternity ward are stuck in limbo, having been discharged by the doctors but trapped within the hospital grounds by their debts.

Janet Moses, 19, said the father of her twin boys had stopped visiting or answering her calls over the past month. She believes he has been scared off by the bill.

No one visits Moses or brings her food, so she depends on other patients to share their meals with her.

Other patients on the ward are slightly more fortunate.

Adaku Mmaduabuchi, a 25-year-old housewife who gave birth to her first child in May, is brought meals daily by her husband.

But they, too, have been struggling to pay off their debt.

"I have been phoning my friends and relatives to see if anyone can lend me the money," said her husband, Ihunze, who has so far only paid a third of the 200,000 naira ($700) they owe.

There are a large number of ABS patients at the FMC due to the hospital's policy of treating every patient who arrives, regardless of whether they can afford to pay upfront for their treatment, said Chuku Abali, the director of the hospital.

Abali said he frequently waives the bills of the hospital's patients, many of whom are nursing mothers, with amounts ranging from 10,000 naira ($35) to 1.5 million naira ($5,300).

"But if we continue to run on charity, we will fold. Things have to be paid for," Abali told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Many patients wait in the hope that philanthropists, who sometimes visit during Easter and Christmas holidays, will clear their debts when they next visit, the hospital director said.

"We also conduct investigations to find out if patients have any relatives who can afford to pay, then we write to them."

Call for insurance

Other hospitals, like the University College Hospital (UCH) in the southwestern city of Ibadan, are taking a more novel approach when it comes to dealing with their ABS patients.

The UCH has set up a fund which allows hospital staff to make voluntary monthly contributions from their salaries toward patients' bills. Abandoned teenage mothers are given priority.

Yet these contributions alone are not enough to solve the problem, said Adefemi Afolabi, the UCH's deputy director.

"There is no day I get to my table without seeing letters from people applying for cancellation of bills," Afolabi said.

The health ministry announced plans earlier this year to build 10,000 health clinics across the country, which could provide maternity care at a lower cost, according to Afolabi.

"The government also needs to extend the National Health Insurance Scheme so it goes to the grassroots," he said. "Only government workers and some private workers are entitled to it."

The Nigerian health ministry was not available for comment.

Back at the FMC's maternity ward, the mothers talk about the day when they will finally be free to go home with their babies.

But 25-year-old Blessing Godfrey has no such hope.

The student was rushed to the hospital after she fell unconscious when her baby was born unexpectedly.

Godfrey woke up on the ward to learn that her baby had died.

Two weeks later, the grieving mother is still in the hospital, discharged but unable to settle her 19,000 naira ($67) bill.

Her mother, a widow, makes very little selling vegetables, while her boyfriend, also a student, denies he is the father.

"There is no one to assist me," Godfrey said.
A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that a lower court was wrong to allow the Navy to use sonar that could harm whales and other marine life in the world's oceans.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco Friday rejected the lower court's 2012 decision that gave the Navy permission to use low-frequency sonar during peacetime maneuvers in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Sonar is used to detect submarines, but can harm whales, seals, dolphins, walruses and other marine life, including disrupting their mating and feeding habits.

The rules of the 2012 decision were adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which allowed the Navy to turn off or delay sonar if a marine animal was detected near a Navy ship.

The appellate court ruled the lower court's decision failed to adhere to the standards set in the Marine Mammal Protection Act that requires peacetime programs to have "the least practicable adverse impact on marine mammals."

The court's decision says the fisheries service "did not give adequate protection to areas of the world's oceans flagged to its own experts as biologically important."

The decision said "The result is that a meaningful proportion of the world's marine mammal habitat is under-protected."
A Baltimore judge will issue a verdict Monday for the highest-ranking police officer charged in the death of black detainee Freddie Gray who died in April 2015 in the back of a police van.

The case against police officer Brian Rice focused on the question of whether he should have put a seat belt on Freddie Gray, who suffered a spinal injury during the van ride.

Prosecutors argue the decision by Rice not to secure Gray was an intentional act and should be considered criminal. Defense lawyers say Rice had to make a quick decision about whether or not to belt Gray, who they say was uncooperative and was trying to violently rock the van.

Police bound Gray's hands and feet in the van but did not secure him with safety belts.

Gray's death in the van sparked the worst riots in decades in Baltimore, Maryland, and sparked a national debate about the police treatment of minorities. That debate again came to the forefront this month with the deaths of two black men who were shot by police in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Rice is charged with manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct. He is the fourth officer to be tried in the death of Freddie Gray.

Two other officers have been acquitted and the trial of a third officer ended in a hung jury. One of the officers who was acquitted was the driver of the van, Caesar Goodson, who faced the most serious charges, including "depraved-heart" murder.
The number of suspected yellow fever cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has jumped 38 percent in the last three weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as health officials prepare to launch a vaccination campaign next week.

Congo's government last month declared a yellow fever epidemic in the capital Kinshasa and two provinces that border Angola, where the worst outbreak of the disease in decades has killed about 350 people.

As of July 11, Congo had recorded 1,798 suspected cases since the start of the outbreak in January, WHO said in a weekly report, up from 1,307 on June 24. Seventy-five people are believed to have died from the disease in Congo, it said.

Officials have confirmed 68 cases. But they have not been able to confirm or rule out any additional cases for the last three weeks due to a technical problem shipping a chemical used in the tests, said WHO's resident representative in Congo, Yokouide Allarangar.

However, the issue has now been resolved and new test results will be available in the coming days, Allarangar added.

Health authorities plan to administer 1 million doses of yellow fever vaccine during a 10-day campaign beginning on Wednesday in the Kinshasa district of Kisenso and the neighboring Kwango province.

Due to a global shortage of vaccines, plans to inoculate some 10 million more people in Kinshasa and along the Angolan border have been put on hold until August, when newly-manufactured doses from Brazil are expected to begin arriving.
Leaders around the world have condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey, showing their support for the elected government.

U.N. Spokesman said that the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored that military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable. Ban appealed for calm, non-violence and restraint, adding that it will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy."

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Friday, President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed.

Obama discussed the developments by phone with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was traveling to Moscow for separate meetings with senior Russian officials on Syria.

In a statement Saturday, Kerry said that the U.S. will assist Turkey's government in the coup investigation.



Kerry said he had emphasized in a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu the U.S. absolute support for Turkeys democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions. The U.S. urges all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel and civilians throughout Turkey."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he was in touch with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, and was closely following events in Turkey. "I call for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution. Turkey is a valued NATO Ally," he said in a statement.

The Council of Europe has called for Turkey's public institutions to resume their normal functions, while offering its help in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Marina Kaljurand condemned the coup attempt and expressed her support for the democratically elected authorities.



I call for the resumption of the normal functioning of public institutions and reaffirm the Council of Europe's availability to continue to assist Turkey on the basis of the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, Kaljurand said in a statement.

The spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert, tweeted "The democratic order must be respected...Everything must be done to protect human lives."

British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said he said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's `democratic elected government and institutions in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said his Turkish counterpart defined the coup attempt as terroristic. In a phone conversation with Cavusoglu, Gentiloni expressed satisfaction that popular mobilization and defense of the institutions prevailed in Turkey, according to a statement from the Italian Foreign Ministry.



Russia reiterates its readiness for joint constructive cooperation with the legitimate leadership of Turkey, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday. "The aggravating political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability," the statement said.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said It is unacceptable to reverse the democratic path that the people of Turkey enjoyed in the recent times of their history. This was unfortunate and we are very glad to hear that the evil forces who tried to turn Turkey into a violence ground have been defeated."

Erdogan has been a big supporter of the Somali government and efforts to rebuild that country. He is only non-African head of state to visit there in the last two decades.
After realising that many of its members always fall victim to political violence in the rural areas during election time, the Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe has decided to launch a campaign to promote peaceful coexistence among its members and the communities.

Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president Obert Masaraure said they will kick-start their campaign with a launch at Charumbira Shopping Centre in Hwedza district, Mashonaland East, where a variety of sporting activities will be held.

We have come to realize that teachers, especially those in rural areas have failed to discharge their duties effectively because of political violence, Masaraure said, adding that this has been happening since 2002 elections.

Rural teachers have been victims of political violence in previous election seasons with some losing their lives. Some local people have been accused of perpetrating the violence.

We are going to bring in community leaders which will include councilors, headmen, war veterans, to come together with the teachers then they would share their hopes and aspirations, said Masaraure.
Theres not much wrong with From the Shadows It Watches, but theres not much good about it either. Outcast still relies on emotional shorthand too often, and it keeps skirting the major confrontations that might set it apart from its generic predecessors. Episode writer Joy Blake and director Tricia Brock deploy cliches throughout the episode, and fail to explore the thornier aspects of each story line. Theres a clever show here, one about the moral vagaries of fighting evil by daring to be violent and obsessive. But tonight, Kyle and Anderson are often let off the hook. Theyre allowed to avoid the consequences of their actions.

Lets start with the good Reverend Anderson. At the beginning of the episode, he frantically reviews footage from his previous exorcisms. Hes got a mountain of VHS tapes to go through, which in any other context would be seriously creepy. But this scene is telling for Andersons lack of introspection. Knowing what hes thinking doesnt matter; what matters is the effect of rapid cross-cutting between shots of VHS tapes being slotted into an ancient VCR, extreme close-ups of Philip Glenisters bewildered face, and fast-forwarded TV images of Andersons demon-possessed parishioners. As the scenes intensity picks up, it becomes clear that Andersons frustration comes from his inability to learn anything from these recordings. His helplessness mirrors the feeling of watching the episode  and not necessarily in an intentional or productive way.

Anderson tries and fails to correct what he now sees as prior mistakes. He retraces the steps he took with Kyle, and even enlists the help of his love interest, Patricia, in trying to cure Caleb, the exorcism-of-the-week victim. Patricia quickly distinguishes herself as one of the shows better supporting characters when she stands her ground, and calls Anderson out for shutting her out of his life. Being confronted like this forces Anderson to make a quick decision, so that doesnt necessarily mean that hes reflecting on his sins when he lets Patricia help him. In fact, Kyle robs Anderson of his one shot at a true breakthrough by offering to help out. If the shows writers  who didnt base tonights story on any of series creator Robert Kirkmans comics  wanted to exonerate Anderson, theyd have made it his choice to call on Kyle. Instead, Kyle becomes the source of Andersons salvation. That simultaneously undercuts Andersons agency and feeds into Kyles messiah complex.

More important, Andersons dialogue betrays his sketch-thin motives. The character may be dealing with an interesting inner conflict, as we see in the scene where he confesses to God that he pridefully sought to perform exorcisms because, as he admits, I loved it, the attention, the praise, the feeling of power  Your power. But the effect of this speech is undone in a later scene where Anderson petulantly tries to shoo Kyle away, insisting that Caleb is my test. Hes scrabbling to fix his mistakes, but hes learned nothing. That part is intentional, at least. But lines like Dont touch him, Kyle. Goddamn it, hes mine! are as complex as Anderson gets in this episode. He sees his sins, he tries to confront them in the wrong way, and he fails. Too bad Andersons failure doesnt stick to him.

The same is true of Kyles story line. He finds a new job patching up highway potholes with tar, but quickly loses it after he gets a premonition and hurries to Andersons side. Again, this is not in Kirkmans comics, so it rankles to watch him find and lose a job in the space of an episode. The sense of normalcy this new gig gives Kyle rushes by in a flash, leaving viewers with no sense of great loss. Perhaps thats the point: Losing a menial job is no skin off Kyles back. But it seems really off when Kyles boss  who we just met  must establish the dramatic stakes of such a one-off encounter. He calls after Kyle and warns him that theres still three hours of daylight left, and that he took a risk on Kyle when nobody else would. This is just lazy writing. The line and the scene arent exactly load-bearing sequences, but they dont inspire confidence  not when so much of the episode feels comprised of well-directed but essentially familiar scenes.

I thought about Kyles boss at the end of tonights episode, when it really hit me that Outcast didnt wait too long before Kyle and Anderson made up. This is frustrating since the shows main strength is its staying power. Outcast is about characters who have to live with their actions: Kyle has to live with the guilt of hurting his wife and daughter, and Anderson must live with the knowledge that his exorcisms didnt work. Anderson seems to take a step in the right direction tonight by involving Patricia, especially since his decision to let her in on the truth is a welcome contrast to the way Kyle stonewalled Allison at the end of last weeks episode. But again, there are no consequences to Andersons actions. He lets Patricia in on his secret, she does the right thing by warning Kyle, and he eventually realizes that he has to step up to help his reluctant partner in demon-banishing crime. After a series of promising baby steps, From the Shadows It Watches is a major tumble backward.

Shots in the Dark:
Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was murdered by her brother in what police suspect was an honor killing. Her brother allegedly strangled her to death after an argument at their familys home in Multan, Pakistan.

Baloch became a celebrity by posting pictures and videos that toed the line of propriety for women, whose rights are already deeply circumscribed in the conservative country. Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, had recently posted on her official Facebook page, I believe I am a modern day feminist. I believe in equality. I need not to choose what type of women should be. I dont think there is any need to label ourselves just for sake of society. I am just a women with free thoughts free mindset and I LOVE THE WAY I AM.

Last week, Baloch addressed rumors that she had been previously married, and told an interviewer that she viewed her actions as a sort of revenge on Pakistan and the society that forced her to marry against her will at the age of 17 or 18: Nothing is good in this society. This mardon ki society (patriarchal society) is bad. You probably know this already, think about the problems you face yourself.

Being a girl, think yourself, how difficult it is to move around as a woman in this society. How many men do you encounter who bother you? The same way, I have struggled through difficulties to make a place for myself in showbiz. It was very difficult. What kind of problems I have faced, I dont think anyone can understand, she told Dawn.com.

In light of the threats she received, Baloch had requested extra security from the government, to no avail. She told The Express Tribune, I know I will not be provided security and I am not feeling secured here so have decided to move abroad with my parents after Eidul Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

Qandeel Balochs brother is still being sought by police for her murder.
Two voters. Opposite sides of the death penalty ballot issue.

Bill Synnott, 89, says he opposes capital punishment.

Caitlin Holman, 20, says she favors the death penalty.

It appears their minds are made up. And many people in Nebraska know how they will vote in the Nov. 8 general election.

But a lot can happen in four months.

And so the speeches, the ads, the talks over coffee, the tweets and posts will ramp up as Nebraska voters decide whether to stand by elected officials' repeal of the death penalty, or toss that repeal aside and go back to the status quo.

For Chris Peterson of Nebraskans for the Death Penalty and Dan Parsons of Retain A Just Nebraska, two words are important to cement in voters' heads when it comes time to blackening the oval.

Retain. Repeal.

* * *

Retain a Just Nebraska, a broad-based coalition of people who want to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison, has been active since a referendum petition succeeded last summer.

Last week, the action picked up with the campaign's first significant media buy, an ad running statewide on TV, radio and online.

And Journey of Hope, a group of anti-death penalty speakers including exonerated former death row inmates and family members of victims, fanned out across Nebraska to tell their emotional stories to voters.

They will speak in Catholic, Lutheran, Unitarian, Methodist, Baptist and Mennonite churches in 20 cities.

"I can't think of another public policy issue in Nebraska in my lifetime that those diverse religious leaders agree on," Parsons said.

In addition, the campaign has brought together Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals and people involved in the criminal justice system to reinforce its message.

There's nothing typical about this campaign, Parsons said.

We understand we need to have a conversation with the electorate. And its a difficult conversation. One that weve never had, he said.

They are trying to give voters the information lawmakers had when they voted in 2015 on a bill (LB268) that repealed Nebraska's death penalty, he said. That information included the cost of the death penalty compared to life in prison, and the risk states with the death penalty run of executing an innocent person.

"We've been in editorial boards, news conferences, coffee shops," Parsons said. "We're having hundreds of conversations a day with people."

The Retain A Just Nebraska campaign has been fundraising, but no campaign finance reports are available yet. They aren't due until October with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

But it has 1,933 Nebraska donors, and contributors from outside the state, Parsons said.

"They see how important this election is and we expect that those contributions will continue," he said. "This is a complicated issue. It's an emotional issue. It's going to take more than just a few million dollars with TV ads to be successful in this.

"I expect that we will have the resources necessary to win this election."

* * *

The pro-death penalty campaign, that spent nearly $1 million last summer on gathering signatures for the referendum, has been communicating with its supporters in recent months by mail, email and social media. And it is about to become more visible, said Peterson, spokesman for Nebraskans for the Death Penalty.

The campaign is back to raising money for the months ahead.

About 500 unique donors contributed to the campaign last year, Peterson said.

The most high profile was Gov. Pete Ricketts, who donated $200,000. His father, Joe, a businessman and founder of online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade, donated another $100,000. Together, they covered nearly one-third of the money spent on the referendum campaign.

The governor said last week he had not made additional contributions to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty. And he has not decided whether he will contribute more in the upcoming months.

"Nobody from the campaign has talked to me about it," Ricketts said. "Just like with anything else, I ask people to come bring me plans and bring proposals to me about what they're going to accomplish."

Peterson said polls have shown them more Nebraskans support repealing LB268 than retaining it.

So the campaign's job in the coming months will be to remind people why they support the death penalty. The message will be that it's justice and an appropriate punishment for the murders that have been committed. And that it offers some level of protection for corrections officers and law enforcement.

Peterson believes the pro-death penalty campaign will be outspent.

But that's OK, he said, because the majority of Nebraskans support the death penalty. And in politics, it's hard to get people to change once they've made up their minds.

The primary job of Nebraskans for the Death Penalty will be to ensure that majority gets to the polls, Peterson said.

* * *

Caitlin Holman, a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, decided how she will vote after listening to both sides.

She watched the debates in the Legislature in 2015 that led to the repeal of the death penalty and then, as president of the UNL College Republicans and state chairwoman of the Nebraska College Republicans, she invited Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty to talk to the group.

She concluded Nebraska should keep the death penalty.

The state is not fast-tracking death penalty cases, and it has safeguards against sentencing innocent people to death, Holman said.

"I think our system works really well and that it should be an option for prosecutors to pursue if they see fit," she said.

Bill Synnott says he plans to vote to retain LB268, based on one key argument.

"I'm against the death penalty because of the innocence, you know, the person might be innocent," said Synnott, of Lincoln. "You execute a person, and he's innocent, there's no way you can bring him back to life."

He's heard no debates, seen no speeches or campaign ads. Trying to influence him, he explains, would be like trying to influence a stone wall.

"I make up my own mind. People don't know what pig-headed Irish is until they run into me," he said.
La Madeleine: Country French Cafe, an upscale, Dallas-based restaurant chain specializing in French entrees and baked goods, will place a location in Wacos Central Texas Marketplace, probably during the first quarter of next year, sources have told the Tribune-Herald.

It reportedly will occupy the vacant space behind the La-Z-Boy Home Furnishing & Decor store at the marketplace, West Loop 340 and Interstate 35.

Founded in 1983, the chain has grown to 75 locations in nine states, with 24 restaurants operating in its home city of Dallas.

Sources say Waco will get its La Madeleine after one opens for business in Tyler later this year.

La Madeleine serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual but elegant atmosphere. The fare includes so-called cafe classiques, as well as sauteed pastas, sandwiches, homemade soups and fresh-made salads. Entrees listed on the online menu include Beef Bourguignon and Quiche Lorraine, while sandwiches include Turkey & Brie, which is smoked turkey, caramelized apples and onions with brie and house-made goat cheese spread and baked on a sourdough roll.

Rumors of La Madeleines interest in Waco have been circulating for more than a year, but now a franchisee reportedly is prepared to make it happen.

Also at the marketplace, construction is winding down on an Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom location.

The 40-year-old chain is working to increase its presence in Texas, where it reportedly is recruiting franchisees, according to Mark A. Belanger, vice president of global franchise operations and development at CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries Inc., which is the parent of Chicago Pizza and Taproom.

This is an opportune time for us to accelerate our growth in Texas, as the National Restaurant Association is projecting restaurant sales in the state to surpass $52.4 billion this year, Belanger told pizzamarketplace.com. In that same article, he mentions the opening of new corporate stores in Waco and Tyler.

He said the company also is targeting El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, McAllen, Brownsville, Beaumont and Amarillo.

Verizon, Home2 Suites

A free-standing Verizon Wireless store reportedly is going up at South Valley Mills Drive and Speight Avenue in the development anchored by a Gander Mountain outdoors store.

Site clearing has begun next to the Zoes Kitchen restaurant, and sources confirm Verizon wants to place there one of its retail centers.

A local Verizon employee said the store likely will open well into 2017, giving Verizon a strategic location to complement other Verizon locations at Central Texas Marketplace and at 5301 Bosque Blvd., in the Lake Air Mall shopping center that is anchored by Target Greatland.

Also at the Gander Mountain-anchored center, a new Home2 Suites by Hilton Waco lodging establishment has opened. It features fully equipped kitchens and modular furniture allowing for guests to personalize their rooms. Other features include internet service, a combined laundry and fitness area and grab-and-go food items.

The hotel also offers complimentary breakfast, a pool and a patio with a grill area.

Gas at $1.80

A mini gas war broke out Saturday on South Valley Mills Drive, where the Raceway convenience store at 1708 S. Valley Mills Drive and the H-E-B at 1821 S. Valley Mills Drive were posting $1.80 as the price for a gallon of regular unleaded, whereas most locations around the city were charging $1.90 to slightly above $2.

AAA Texas, the auto club, reported last week that the statewide average for a gallon of regular unleaded had slipped to $2.06, which is 3 cents less than the previous week and 50 cents less than the average a year earlier. Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in the Lone Star State, drivers in El Paso were paying the most on average at $2.14 per gallon, while drivers in Amarillo were paying the least at $1.89 per gallon. The national average stood at $2.22, 4 cents less than the previous week.

Pump prices have now fallen for more than a month, the longest streak since late last summer, and are the lowest mark for this point in July since 2004. About 25,000 gas stations nationwide, about a fourth of the total, are now selling gasoline for less than $2 per gallon.

Gasoline prices are poised to continue to slide as both crude oil and wholesale prices turned lower last week, according to AAA Texas.

Drivers in the southeastern quadrant of the U.S. continue to enjoy some of the cheapest prices in the nation, due to the advantageous proximity to major Gulf Coast refineries and some of the lowest state gasoline taxes in the country, AAA Texas spokesman Doug Shupe said.

Road rage

The AAA Foundation reports that nearly 80 percent of drivers it surveyed had experienced anger, aggression or road rage behind the wheel at least once during the past year.

The most alarming findings suggest that about 8 million U.S. drivers engaged in extreme examples of road rage, including purposefully ramming another vehicle or getting out of the car to confront another driver, according to the report, which was released by AAA Texas.

Its normal for drivers to experience anger behind the wheel, but we must not let our emotions lead to destructive choices, AAA Texas spokesman Doug Shupe said. Dont risk escalating a frustrating situation, because you never know what the other driver might do. Maintain a cool head and focus on reaching your destination safely.

The survey also produced the following estimates:

Purposefully tailgating, 51 percent (104 million drivers)

Yelling at another driver, 47 percent (95 million drivers)

Honking to show annoyance or anger, 45 percent (91 million drivers)

Making angry gestures, 33 percent (67 million drivers)

Trying to block another vehicle from changing lanes, 24 percent (49 million drivers)

Cutting off another vehicle on purpose, 12 percent (24 million drivers)

Getting out of the vehicle to confront another driver, 4 percent (7.6 million drivers)

Bumping or ramming another vehicle on purpose, 3 percent (5.7 million drivers)

The survey showed that drivers living in the Northeast were significantly more likely to yell, honk or gesture angrily than people living in other parts of the country. Men and drivers ages 19 to 39 were much more likely to engage in aggressive behaviors.
McLennan County commissioners could implement a way for department heads to distribute merit-based funds to employees throughout the fiscal year based on performance evaluations.

At the same time, leaders discussed Friday how and if they could ensure every county employee receives a cost-of-living salary adjustment.

County Judge Scott Felton said a merit-based program could be the first for the county.

Mike Dixon, a Waco attorney who represents McLennan County, said the plan is intended to provide an incentive for performance that meets or exceeds expectations. The program would only be available to full-time employees. Elected officials, appointed officials and department heads would not be eligible.

Commissioners could budget a percentage of the cumulative budgeted amount for full-time employees of each department and office, and include that amount in an incentive pay line item. The incentive pay would not carry over from year to year or become part of the employees regular salary under the proposed plan.

Performance evaluations that would determine distribution of the money also would be handed over to the human resources department after being reviewed with the employee. Based on the employees performance evaluation, the department head could award a merit payment of 3 percent, 5 percent or 7 percent of their regular pay.

If it becomes apparent that an office or department head is not conducting candid and truthful evaluations, that office or department head could be disqualified from participating in the incentive pay plan, according to the proposed plan.

Dixon said officials emphasized in the proposal that this is not a way to spread funding across the whole department, but rather to reward individuals.

Felton said if commissioners are interested in the plan, they would need to determine how much money should be accessible for department heads each year.

County Auditor Stan Chambers asked if this move could increase the potential for lawsuits.

Dixon said anyone can disagree with a performance evaluation, but that doesnt warrant a lawsuit. An employee would have to say that the performance evaluation was skewed or falsified based on race or gender, among other reasons, he said.

Commissioners are still determining how to address small departments with only a handful of employees, if the policy were to be approved.

I doubt this will happen, but a manager or a department head or elected official could chose not to use all that money on a particular year, Felton said.

Chambers said commissioners would need to make an effort during the year to ensure department heads or elected officials arent able to use any of the merit-based performance funding for other purposes, including buying supplies or furniture.

Felton said if the policy is adopted it would create a culture change in the county. Department heads and elected officials would need training from human resources on proper evaluations and distributing the pay, he said. There are department heads and elected officials who are against the court implementing the policy, he said.

Some feel allocating the funding could cause a rift in their departments, he said.

Dixon said he hopes department heads and elected officials would look at the new incentive as an opportunity to boost morale.

Cost of living

As part of the fiscal year 2017 budget talks, commissioners also will decide whether to give a cost-of-living salary adjustment to employees. Commissioners have been presented with several options for consideration.

An across-the-board 2.4 percent cost-of-living salary adjustment would cost the county $1.11 million. A 3 percent increase would cost $1.39 million. A 4 percent increase would cost $1.84 million. A 5 percent increase would cost $2.33 million.

Commissioner Ben Perry said when the court includes a cost-of-living adjustment in the fiscal year budget it is intended that every employee gets it.

Department heads are not intended to pick and choose who receives it, Perry said.

Human Resources Director Amanda Talbert said a COLA should be a set percentage, across-the-board increase for all employees.

But Chambers said commissioners authority is limited to setting a budget amount for each position a department head oversees. Its up to the department head to determine whether an employee receives the budgeted amount for their position, he said.

It may be that you just have to trust that department heads will exercise good discretion, Dixon said.

Chambers said the court decides whether to extend any cost-of-living adjustment to department heads and elected officials.

Thats the messed up thing about county government, Dixon said of department heads and elected officials control within their budget. They have that discretion.

Commissioners can budget for a cost-of-living salary adjustment but can not necessarily ensure each employee receives it, he said.

During the meeting Commissioner Kelly Snell said he would like the court next week to consider implementing a 4.4 percent cost-of-living salary adjustment for all employees and consider adopting the effective tax rate. Snell said the plan would help employees and taxpayers.

Chambers has said the countys tax rate of 53.5293 cents per $100 property valuation generated $69 million for the fiscal year 2016 budget. If the rate remains the same, it would generate nearly $75 million to be available for the 2017 budget, he said.

The rate did not change between fiscal year 2015 and 2016. A McLennan County homeowner with a house valued at $100,000 would pay $535 per year in taxes to the county.

New position

Also during the meeting, Veterans Services Officer Steve Hernandez sought funding for a new position.

Hernandez asked for $45,000 for an assistant veterans services officer.

Commissioners will continue budget discussions at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Commissioners Courtroom on the first floor of the McLennan County Courthouse, 501 Washington Ave. The court is scheduled to vote on the proposed tax rate July 29 and vote to adopt the budget by Aug. 26.
Never underestimate the power of Sunday dinner.

Filmmaker and producer Chris Charles Scott remembers how Sunday dinners  actually, the openness and generosity of Waco couple Don and Jo Guest, who provided them  helped him find a second home in Waco when he was a student at Baylor University nearly a decade ago.

Scott, 35, met the Guests when visiting Crestview Church of Christ early in his freshman year, and their invitation to that Sunday meal soon became a weekly invitation, a rich relationship and roots in the community.

I was a poor old country boy from Tyler . . . (but) I got to where I made Waco my home, he said during a break in filming in Waco this week. I built a life outside the (Baylor) bubble.

So much so that he served on a city building standards board and even ran for Waco City Council in 2001.

That love for Waco, its residents and their stories has brought the Baylor graduate back to Waco this week to start filming on what he envisions as a four-part look at Waco history and culture. He plans for the series, titled What About Waco, to be capped with a gala premiere, a theatrical run and DVD sales.

The Historic Waco Foundation is interested in backing Scott on his project, and this weeks filming is for a pilot that would become part of the series.

The historical series model worked recently in Shreveport, Louisiana, with the documentary The Shape of Shreveport. The four-episode series, each one 15-20 minutes long, sampled stories from the citys history that had helped mold Shreveports culture and community: a deadly yellow fever epidemic in 1873, visits by Elvis Presley and Martin Luther King Jr., city namesake Captain Henry Shreve and more.

Telling a story

Scott joined the Shreveport project as imagined by its producers Will and Jim Broyles and soon found producing, writing and directing connected him to what brought him to Baylor more than 15 years ago: storytelling. Well, a form of storytelling.

I was enchanted by the black preachers I grew up with, said Scott, who is black. They were the towns leaders, the orators, and I wanted to be one.

Scott graduated from Baylor in 2007 with a political science degree, then went on to Princeton Theological Seminary before deciding his place wasnt the pulpit. Stints in Dallas and Washington, D.C., followed, before he ended up in public relations in Las Vegas in 2013.

Scotts work with The Shape of Shreveport proved a success. More than 2,000 tickets sold for its debut at the citys historic Strand Theatre, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities picked it as Documentary of the Year. What started as a four-part series now has expanded to some 20 episodes.

Looking for other cities with which he could use his Shreveport experience as a template, Scott debated between Tyler, near where he grew up, and Waco.

The Sunday dinners and the Waco people and stories behind them won out.

His What About Waco proposal and their working titles look at four slices of Waco history and culture, some told from fresh perspectives and some rarely told:

A Mighty Wind  The devastating 1953 tornado that levelled parts of downtown, the citys challenge in rebuilding during a time of suburban growth and how it shaped todays Waco.

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters  How the Waco Suspension Bridge realized Wacoans transformative vision of their citys potential and the part the bridge played in the citys history with the Brazos River.

Three Years In Waco  The three-year period 1916-18 contained the horrific, public Jesse Washington lynching, the construction of the sprawling Army base Camp MacArthur and the closing of the Reservation, Wacos district of legal prostitution  all representing threads in the citys emerging cultural identity.

The Epistle of Paul  A look at Paul Quinn College, the oldest black college west of the Mississippi River. Financial problems eventually caused it to leave Waco in 1990, but the schools existence influenced Wacos black community.

I want to tell histories from both sides of the Brazos River, Scott said.

He pitched his project to the Historic Waco Foundation in January and caught board members attention.

We were impressed with his eye. Chris is a really creative individual, said Stephen Sloan, the foundations board president and director of Baylors Institute for Oral History.

Scotts storytelling skills, as seen in his The Shape of Shreveport series, seemed like they would appeal to a younger Waco audience, Sloan said, and could add to a surprisingly small body of documentaries of general Waco history.

Crossroads

One of those films, in fact, is the Institute for Oral Historys 1991 documentary Crossroads. In an effort to introduce Waco history to a wider audience, the institute also has developed a phone app for Waco history, with information on historic people, events and buildings linked to their locations on a map.

A contemporary film on Wacos history and culture would fit into the foundations mission of bringing Waco history to the public as well as attracting younger supporters.

It would give us more opportunities to share with a larger spectrum of the Waco community, the foundations executive director Don Davis said.

With greater attention on the city, in part because of the national popularity of the Fixer Upper television series, there also may be a larger number of people interested in Wacos past.

I think its really good timing for something like this, Sloan said. The publics understanding of Waco history is way too narrow, and the national understanding of Waco history is narrower than that.

Geoff Hunt, the Texas Collections audiovisual curator, said that while theres film footage of certain events in Waco history in the collection, there arent any general film histories of Waco or footage beyond a specific topic. The Collection has film footage of the 1953 tornados damage and cleanup, for instance, and some shots of cars on the electric rail line that linked Waco to Denton and Dallas.

In addition to Scott, another filmmaker is working with the collection on a Waco documentary, Hunt said, adding that any addition of audiovisual material on Wacos history would be welcome.

A quick check of Waco-related film and video documentaries in the Waco-McLennan County Library turns up films on a number of topics, most of which were produced by Wacos Municipal Information Office for its Waco City Cable Channel.

Sloan said the Historic Waco Foundation board will vote soon on its support of What About Waco. The next stage would be raising the $150,000 Scott feels is needed for the four-part series. To help that effort, Scott is producing the A Mighty Wind episode, underwritten by private funding, and intending to have a working copy by Aug. 1.

He and a crew of Waco filmmaker Damon Crump and Shape of Shreveport cinematographer Rob Senska were in Waco last week, filming at the Tribune-Herald, KXXV studios, McLennan Community College and other locations.

Back in the city where a love for storytelling had drawn him to college, Scott is relishing the chance to tell its stories.

I cried when I had to leave Waco . . . Baylor was my first love, and Waco was definitely a part of that first love, he said.
While the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is considering if impeachment of U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. is warranted, a former judge tapped last year to investigate sexual misconduct claims against Smith has been called back into action.

A federal judicial conduct committee determined last week that a reprimand and sanctions imposed last year against the 75-year-old Smith may not have gone far enough and that additional investigation into whether the judge engaged in a pattern and practice of making unwanted sexual advances toward women is needed.

While that ruling was pending, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, met with U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and other members of the committee to review allegations against Smith and to see if impeachment is appropriate.

Chairman Goodlatte doesnt want this to be a big political fight in the media, but the committee will be studying Judge Smiths case and will be watching the situation, Flores said. I asked them to review the case and to consider if impeachment was warranted. It is not up to me. I dont have all the facts. I am not a trier of facts. That is not my job. My job is to take what I know and what I have learned and take it to the judiciary chairman and share that with the judiciary committee.

The Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability of the Judicial Conference of the United States decided last week that the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Council failed to adequately address allegations made by former Dallas attorney Ty Clevenger.

The judicial council reprimanded Smith last year and stripped him from hearing new cases filed in his court for a year based on Clevengers allegations that Smith groped a courthouse employee in his office in 1998.

The council noted that Smith tried to mislead investigators by saying that the woman initiated sexual advances toward him. The judge later amended his statement. The council said Smith did not seem to comprehend the seriousness of his actions and also ordered that he undergo sensitivity training.

Clevenger, who now lives in New York, appealed the councils orders in January, saying Smith deserves to be impeached.

Smith, who has been a federal judge since 1984 and has a lifetime appointment to the bench, declined comment Friday through a court employee.

Goodlatte, the judiciary committee chairman from Virginia, also did not return phone messages and emails to his office Friday.

Hes not doing much

I think Congressman Flores is trying to make it look like hes doing something about Judge Smith when in reality hes not doing much at all, Clevenger said Friday. Any member of Congress can introduce articles of impeachment, and that would at least start a parallel investigation of Judge Smith. He doesnt need anyone elses permission to do that and he doesnt need anyone elses opinion about whether Smith should be investigated or impeached. Those are conclusions that he should be able to reach on his own.

Clevenger supplemented his initial appeal by submitting the names of witnesses to other alleged incidents in which Smith reportedly sexually harassed at least two other women in the courthouse. His appeal alleges the assault of the court employee was not an isolated incident.

The 5th Circuit council did not address or issue any findings related to the additional allegations, the Committee on Judicial Conduct said.

As a result of the committees ruling, John Creuzot, a former state district judge from Dallas, has renewed his investigation and is tracking down leads outlined in Clevengers appeal that the committee said were not pursued before.

Creuzot declined comment this week on his renewed investigation but confirmed that 5th Circuit officials asked him to continue his investigation into Smith.

Clevenger is pleased the investigation is broadening, but Flores and other lawmakers should be doing more, he said.

The bigger issue here is whether Congress should be trusting the judiciary to police itself, Clevenger said. If nothing else, Congress should be investigating why the 5th Circuit failed to contact the other witnesses and alleged victims. The 5th Circuit has already demonstrated a willingness to downplay sexual misconduct in the judiciary, so why shouldnt Congress be investigating that? Just look at how badly the case of Judge Samuel Kent was handled.

Kent became the first federal judge to be impeached since 1989. He was impeached in 2009 and sentenced to 33 months in prison for lying to investigators about sexually abusing two female employees.

Besides finding that Smith made unwanted advances toward the former court employee, the 5th Circuit judicial council also said Smith does not understand the gravity of such inappropriate behavior and the serious effect that it has on the operations of the courts.

The council also found that Smith allowed false factual assertions to be made in response to the complaint, which, together with the lateness of his admissions, contributed greatly to the duration and cost of the investigation.

The conduct committees order states that because Clevengers appeal included the names of individuals who allegedly witnessed other instances of the judges reported sexual harassment of women in the courthouse, it raises the question whether there was a pattern and practice of such behavior.

Because we believe that additional findings are essential to the consideration of the petition for review, we are unable to complete our review of the Circuit Judicial Councils order, the order says.

The committee remanded the case to the 5th Circuit council with orders to undertake additional investigation and make additional findings where appropriate and reconsider the appropriate sanction if there are additional findings.

The committee also directed the council to provide additional findings and recommendations concerning the finding that Smith allowed false statements to be made in his response to the complaint and to determine the manner in which Judge Smiths conduct adversely impacted or interfered with the inquiry, if at all.

Flores told the Tribune-Herald in January that he thinks Smiths punishment did not fit the offense and that he would begin educating himself on impeachment procedures.

A few months later, Flores said he wanted to allow the appeal process to play out but was monitoring the situation. He said he met with Goodlatte and other judiciary committee members in late April.

Process is moving forward

I did what I said I would do, and the congressional process is moving forward on this, Flores said. But it is up to the judiciary committee to determine how to proceed on this. If you look at the history of this committee with the current chair, they are not scared of impeachment proceedings. But they also understand that you only use that tool when appropriate.

Flores said he also has heard from people who contacted his office to support Smith and others who are detractors. Flores declined to reveal the names of those he spoke to, saying they contacted his office confidentially.
Two more bikers arrested after the Twin Peaks shootout in Waco filed a civil rights lawsuit Friday, claiming they were improperly arrested with no evidence of wrongdoing and denied due process.

Christopher Eaton and Owen Bartlett, both members of the Los Pirados Motorcycle Club, bring the total of bikers who have filed civil lawsuits to 15.

The lawsuit lists Eaton as a Dallas County resident and says Bartlett is from McLennan County and names McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna, Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, Waco police Detective Manuel Chavez and an unnamed Department of Public Safety agent as defendants.

All defendants previously have declined to comment on the lawsuits.

All 15 of the bikers filed suit in federal court in Austin and all are represented by Dallas attorney Don Tittle, who successfully represented nine sheriffs deputies who sued McLennan County and Sheriff Parnell McNamara on claims they were retaliated against for backing McNamaras political opponent.

Neither of these guys have been indicted and neither had anything whatsoever to do with the violence that occurred, Tittle said. Mr. Eaton was employed at DFW Airport before the incident and still works there today. However, the false charges against him have cost him dearly from both a professional and personal standpoint.

Mr. Bartlett is a devoted family man with three children under the age of six. His wife was left at home with a newborn while he was wrongfully jailed for more than a month. The cloud that continues to hang over these guys is just ridiculous. Its way past time for the DA to publicly exonerate them and many others.

The suit alleges unlawful arrest and due process violations and claims the plaintiffs were arrested with no evidence that they committed any crimes or had any ties to warring biker groups the Bandidos or the Cossacks.

Despite a total lack of particularized evidence relating to specific individuals, defendants Stroman, Chavez and Reyna determined that individuals would be arrested and charged with engaging in organized criminal activity based entirely on their presence at Twin Peaks, the motorcycle club that defendants presumed an individual was associated with, and/or the clothing they were wearing at the time of the incident, the suit alleges. Rather than investigating the incident and relying on actual facts to establish probable cause, defendants theorized that a conspiracy of epic proportion between dozens of people had taken place and willfully ignored the total absence of facts to support their theory. 

The suit claims the arrest warrant affidavit, which was identical for all arrested that day, falsely alleges that the bikers all were members of a criminal street gang. The document was drafted by the DAs office and obtained by Chavez.

That statement is categorically false, the lawsuit says. It is an indisputable fact that defendants did not possess any reliable, particularized information to indicate that plaintiffs themselves were members of a criminal street gang on or before the date such fact was sworn to by defendant Chavez.

Disqualification motion

Biker Ray Nelson filed a motion two months ago to disqualify Reyna from prosecuting the cases because of his role in the investigation and his decision to charge the wide array of bikers. A hearing on that motion was set for June 13 but was postponed until Aug. 8. Nelsons attorney charged that Reyna commandeered the investigation after Waco police detectives already had processed a busload of bikers, identified them and allowed them to go home that evening.

The motion also claims that Reyna, as a defendant in the civil lawsuits, has a conflict of interest in prosecuting the cases because he has a financial stake in the outcome of the criminal prosecutions.

In the aftermath of the incident at Twin Peaks, defendants apparently concluded that the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution ceased to apply and could be ignored given what they perceived as an immediate need to announce the re-establishment of law and order in their town, the suit alleges.
There is one race of people on this earth  the human race. There is no black race, white race, yellow race. We are organically one human family. This is a scientific and spiritual truth and always has been  and yet in 2016 this is still not a commonly understood fact.

Our greed for wealth and power and the idea of everythings about me and mine have caused those in power to purposefully find ways to separate people in the hope of maintaining this wealth and power. It has become so much a part of who we are as a society in the United States that racism has become a part of the American psyche and tradition, often without us realizing it. This subconscious us-against-them attitude comes out in so many ways and destroys any possibility of unity. It prevents us from being an effective, thriving community.

Courageously and in a genuine spirit of compassion, honesty and unity, Waco as a community has just spent the last five months commemorating, through several public events, the 100th anniversary of the lynching of Jesse Washington  one of many lynchings that took place during a time of lynching culture and mob violence across Central Texas. Initially this lynching culture included victims of all skin colors but eventually it became almost completely focused on African Americans and was used as a means of social control, as William Carrigans excellent book, The Making of a Lynching Culture, makes tragically clear.

Social control

If we understand this concept of lynching as a means of social control and ponder how effective it was, it gradually becomes obvious that we are still living with the consequences of this terrorism in our community today.

Certainly on its own but especially in juxtaposition to the Jesse Washington commemorations, the recent incident of an African-American Waco Live Oak Classical School student being injured by a rope around her neck while on a school camping trip is disturbing from many angles. The injured child and her mother will learn many things in coping with the physical, emotional and psychological trauma of the incident. They will learn much from outrage vented over the inaction of the school; the motivation behind the incident; the ongoing legal aspects of it; and the broader life lessons in it.

It seems clear the school will learn some valuable lessons on how to run a school and deal with, at the very least, incidents of injury to a child in their care; consequences of the lack of a chaperone with each group of children; the reporting, documenting and treating of injuries; and the importance of notifying parents promptly. What also seems clear is that Live Oak Classical School administrators do not grasp why, on another level, this is such a huge deal to so many people.

Fail to understand

Granted, Live Oak Classical School officials do seem to understand that their lack of protocols and policies have opened them up to tremendous liability in this situation. What they do not seem to get is why this incident has ignited such a strong reaction on the part of, but certainly not limited to, our African-American brothers and sisters. People of color were terrorized by racially motivated violence over long periods of time and still are. We might not be hanging people from trees and burning them alive, but there remain regular incidents of disparate targeting and treating and terrorizing and punishing people of color.

We at Wacos Community Race Relations Coalition would like to invite Live Oak Classical School to get it. Without blaming or attacking or harassing in any way, the CRRC creates safe, respectful situations and opportunities for people of all colors and cultures who remain so separated in our community to come together, share information and learn about the lives of people different from themselves. This ultimately leads to an understanding of how we are different and yet are all the same. In peeling away misinformation and prejudices, we strive to eliminate the us-against-them attitude that so pervades our thinking in this community and country. We help people understand there is no us against them.

There is only WE.

Please join us. Let us together strive for understanding, healing and unity.

Joyce Nobis and Jo Welter are members of Wacos Community Race Relations Coalition, formed during dialogues about local race relations in 1999 and 2000. Its mission is to promote racial and cultural awareness through dynamic outreach to strengthen our community.
Black men have more to fear from police than white men  even when they are peaceful and unarmed.

Roger Olson

Racial strife in America

Bloomberg columnist Leonid Bershidsky claims in his July 13 offering that a Harvard-based study found that lethal force is more infrequently applied to blacks and Hispanics than to whites. The study focused solely on Houston. That conclusion must be adjusted by national statistics and population percentages.

A national study conducted by the Washington Post on police shootings between Jan. 1, 2015, and July 10, 2016, [Arent more white people than black people killed by police? Yes, but no, July 11] discovered black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be shot by police than whites. The study also reported that the number of unarmed white and black people killed by police is equal. Most of them were, of course, males. Black males make up about 6 percent to 7 percent of the U.S. population.

The national statistics speak for themselves. Black men have more to fear from police than white men  even when they are peaceful and unarmed.

Roger Olson, Waco

n n n

It seems that police brutality and shootings make news headlines almost daily. Let us remember that, more times than not, law enforcement officials are dealing with criminals, many of whom are repeat offenders. How have we let ourselves get to the point where the criminals rights outweigh the rights of those who are entrusted to protect us, the law-abiding citizens?

I think that most of us know the answer to that question.

Jeff Luedeker, Crawford

n n n

In light of the recent tragedy in Dallas, I would like to say how much I admire Police Chief David Browns handling of the situation. It would behoove us all to take his words to heart and then take action. He said that we should not be a part of the problem but become a part of the solution by serving our community.

Consider this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quote: Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.

Judy K. Hagen, Waco

n n n

Ironic, isnt it, that all the laws that President Obama spouts constantly about guns are already the laws of the United States of America, every one of them. The only difference is that the current laws on the books are focused on thugs, murderers and illegal Muslim terrorists.

The problem is that the Obama administration and Democratic Party dont want the thugs, murderers and illegal Muslim terrorists disarmed. He wants the honest American citizens who have a right to defend themselves by our laws disarmed to make them easy prey for the thugs, murderers and Obamas imported Muslim terrorists!

That is the problem. Folks should have already gotten Obama impeached and the Democrats run out of office and out of town or the nation!

William Miller Jr., Robinson

n n n

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has just called on the mayors of Texas cities to take action in response to the cycle of violence between police and black citizens. The five Dallas police officers gunned down on July 7 did nothing to warrant their deaths. Add to that the more than 50 officers killed in the line of duty and the 121 black people killed by law enforcement earlier this year, and its clear that the violence is escalating.

I support bringing together the heads of law enforcement agencies committed to protect and serve; the leaders of organizations who fight for equality and justice; and local activists who work daily to defend vulnerable communities. We must work together to ensure the senseless violence the nation witnessed this month  and over the past year  is met with reason, honest reflection and action. We cannot wait a moment longer to start this journey.

Douglas Hurd, Temple

July thoughts

We just celebrated

The 4th of July

And the freedoms

Because of this date.

But recent events

That have been in the news

Seem to some of us

What difference does it make?

We all have to judge

The facts that we have,

Whether its Waco

Or Washington D.C.

Ben Hagins, Woodway

How about trying science?

In his July 2 letter, William Smith demonstrates how little he knows about climate change. First, the earths temperature has consistently increased the past several years. Scientists also measure the use of fossil fuels and compare it with increases in the earths temperature. Therefore they know that what is happening is not just a naturally occurring cycle.

Wacos receiving a record amount of rain in 1905 has nothing to do with the facts scientists have discovered. Yes, we will see more extreme weather such as flooding and drought and we are clearly seeing that now. Its amazing that Mr. Smith has not noticed this. But if you get all of your misinformation from conservative talk shows and Fox News rather than well-educated scientists, then its little wonder were seeing such ignorance of real science.

John Vickrey, Norman, Oklahoma

Incremental growth

Just when downtown Waco is coming alive, the city of Waco raises its taxes unreasonably. Dont you think it would be better to help out these businesses by raising it slowly over many years? This would benefit the well-established stores as well as encourage the growth of new businesses.

As a bystander, it appears the city of Waco is more interested in tax dollars than development of downtown Waco.

Sherrill Kangas, Woodway

EDITORS NOTE: Just to be clear, the uproar involves not the city of Waco but the McLennan County Appraisal Districts raising taxable property values by significant amounts in the downtown area that, through subsequent taxation by city, county, school district and McLennan Community College, would mean higher property tax payments, even if the individual tax rates remained the same.
A Council Bluffs, Iowa, man was killed in an early morning motorcycle accident in Omaha and a Papillion man was arrested on suspicion of felony vehicular homicide.

Dustin Roof, 31, died at an Omaha hospital Saturday morning, according to the Omaha Police Department. Nicholas Colabello, 27, was arrested early Saturday morning,

Colabello was driving a Toyota Camry that turned left in front of an eastbound motorcycle driven by Roof at 60th and Center streets around 1:35 a.m., police said in a news release.

The motorcyclist was taken to an Omaha hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was wearing a Department of Transportation approved helmet.

Alcohol was a factor in the crash, police said.
Lizze Bartz loves Spanish.

More to the point, the 29-year-old mom loves to teach it, and that passion has taken her -- along with her mom and 5-year-old son Oliver -- to Mexico City for the summer.

Shes spending six weeks at a Montessori school there training to be a teacher. Its the first of a three-summer tour that, when complete, will make her certified to teach the child-centered curriculum of the Montessori method -- in Spanish.

Shell take that knowledge to Prairie Hill Learning Center, which has been a Montessori-based farm school near Roca for 35 years.

Bartz has worked in Montessori programs for about six years as a bilingual assistant, the last one at Prairie Hill.

As one of two bilingual assistants, Bartz works with the youngest students, speaking to them in Spanish as they work with the animals or prepare food.

She decided she wanted to combine her Spanish with formal training in the international Montessori program and Prairie Hill Executive Director Mandie Schadwinkel liked the idea.

We want to help (students) become exposed (to other languages), comfortable with the idea that the world is large and interesting and theres lots of different languages and cultures out there, Schadwinkel said.

She also knows that young brains learn languages effortlessly and that exposing children to a second language can have big benefits.

A group of parents and others recently appealed to Lincoln Public Schools to start a dual language program at Everett Elementary, where nearly half the students are Hispanic. LPS officials were enthusiastic but noncommittal and the idea is on hold.

A few miles south of Lincoln at Prairie Hill, Bartz will be able to teach students more fundamental lessons in Spanish when her training is complete, one of two teachers for students 18 months to 3 years.

Bartzs training doesnt mean Prairie Hill will begin a traditional dual language or immersion program, Schadwinkel said, but it will offer students a richer and deeper exposure to a second language, she said.

Her training will allow the school to do what it has with other teachers: tap into their particular passion or talents to enrich students experiences.

Summer school rules

Add another 119 students to the graduating class of 2016.

Those students were among the record 1,340 students who enrolled in LPS summer school this year.

Pam Robinson began overseeing the summer school program a decade ago, when 30 students earned their final credits and graduated. Three years ago, that number exceeded 100 and its stayed there since.

Some of that increase could be attributed to stiffer graduation requirements, but much of it is because of efforts to identify students close to graduation, get them enrolled in summer school and make sure they show up and finish.

A growing number of those summer graduates are English Language Learners, students who came to the district knowing little or no English, often as refugees from war-torn countries. Although the main summer school program is at North Star High School, the district has begun holding additional ELL classes at Lincoln High.

The district also used federal money to add ELL summer programs at 12 elementary schools and three middle schools. And three middle schools offered programs for eighth-graders wanting to earn high school credits this summer.

At North Star, the districts bilingual liaisons were there every day, as were members of the districts youth development team.

Pete Ferguson, the youth development team coordinator, said the culture of summer school has changed dramatically -- from the place where nobody wanted to be, to a place focused on achievement.

This year, Fergusons team took 50 students for a college visit. Of those, just seven had been on such a visit before. Teachers follow up if their kids arent in class, everybody knows the students names.

You dont see that everywhere, he said. Thats what makes it special.

Another change this year: the district added three counselors at North Star to help track students close to graduation. They followed the students, made sure they were enrolled in the right classes. They got on the phone and got them out of bed if they didnt show up in the mornings.

This year, nine students who hadnt signed up for summer school until counselors -- or Robinson -- tracked them down and encouraged them to do so ended up graduating, Robinson said.

And although the number of students who earned enough credits to graduate was down slightly from last year, a larger percentage of the seniors who enrolled finished the credits needed to graduate, Robinson said.

For the third year, LPS officials held a ceremony at North Star to honor those students.

Fewer tests

Last year, just 37 percent of LPS freshmen took a test to determine if their reading skills were sufficient for them to graduate -- one more sign that such graduation demonstration exams are on their way out.

For years, high school students had to pass graduation demonstration exams in reading, math and writing before they could graduate. Three years ago, the district phased out the writing exam, instead embedding the testing in existing classes.

And when the district began requiring high school students to take alegbra to graduate, it rewrote its policies no longer requiring the math tests.

The change reflects the districts efforts to reduce the time students spend taking standardized tests, said Jane Stavem, associate superintendent of instruction.
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"They saved this from getting much worse than it could have," one resident said of the area farmers, before thanking the one who disced her land. "He literally saved our house."
That was it. I was in. No going back now. The growing threat Last year the Australian government was pouring millions of dollars into deradicalisation programs and counter-terrorism efforts. Academics were theorising about how youngsters were so easily drawn into radicalism. But when the Muslim convert and Australian teenager Jake Bilardi blew himself up for Islamic State in early 2015, we were still shocked by how fast radicalism seemed to be spreading, and no closer to understanding it. IS creates a sense of heroism within young men such as Jake Bilardi, and government policies won't counter that. It became clear that conventional journalistic techniques would not work if I wanted to reveal the inner workings of Australia's radical networks.

So I made up my mind. In May 2015, I quietly began my undercover incursion into the shadowy world of Australian radicalism. Mapping the network First, I needed to map the networks. I investigated the breeding grounds of jihadists like Khaled Sharrouf, the Sydney man notorious for posting pictures of his son holding a severed head, and Mohamad Elomar, whose wife and children were stuck in Syria after his death. Vasko Boskovski was closely linked to terrorist Khaled Sharrouf. I labelled hotspots in Sydney and Melbourne: the now defunct al-Furqan Bookstore, Preston Mosque, Lakemba Mosque, al-Noor Mosque. In my previous reporting on terrorism, I hadearned about Islam and especially the language (the specific English translations of Arabic) that radicals used. Using the wrong terms could see my cover blown.

Only then did I put out feelers on social media, posting a simple message on Twitter. "Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. I'm from Australia and want to make hijra (a migration). Any Australian ikhwan (brothers) in Syria or Iraq, or in dar al kuffar (land of the infidels) can help?" Those messages led me to Neil Prakash and the Sydney jihadist, who to this day I have not been able to unmask, known as Abu Hassan Australi. The vetting process All my conversations with Prakash began with the official Arabic greeting. Inevitably, though, the question followed: "Do you want to make hijra?"

Prakash and other IS recruits use the word to describe the travel of foreign fighters to Syria or Iraq. I said yes. Then the process of tazkiya (recommendation) began  a necessary step for me, as with all foreign recruits, to ensure I was not a spy. Every single recruit into IS, man or woman, had to be vouched for by trusted people in Australia. It was these people, living quietly in the suburbs, that I wanted to find. That was when Prakash insisted I make a video. My undercover work into the shadowy world of Australian radicalism began in 2015. Credit:Eddie Jim The video was incredibly risky. Using the wrong word or phrase could expose me as an impostor.

Then there were the legal issues: could such a video breach counter-terrorism laws? My worries were made more real by what Prakash had already asked me to do. A few weeks before he requested the video, Prakash had asked me to kill several Australian journalists who were doing what I wanted to do: writing about Islamic State's influence in Australia. Prakash had asked me what I did for a living. I told him that I had once worked in the communications field, and he said these journalists were "lying non-believers" who should be killed. I refused. I said my focus was on getting to Syria. Chillingly, Prakash was undeterred, telling me he already had four "brothers" in Tasmania who he had ordered to attack the journalists but that I could help by supplying intel to them. The death threats, and information I had already gleaned about potential terror attacks, prompted me to contact authorities. In a crowded cafe along Collins Street, I met two ASIO agents. I told them what I planned to do.

"We're worried you could be getting yourself in too deep and could break the law," one told me. "It's important you don't condone terrorism or support it in any way," the other said, as he picked up his coffee. In the end, though, if I wanted to continue my journey into the heart of radicalism there was no other option. I made the video. Radicalism first-hand Syria's internet access can be intermittent. It took weeks for Prakash to get back to me with instructions about who I would be meeting. Around 2am in late July 2015, he finally sent me a message.

"I have a brother for you to meet in Dandenong. He's a lion and you can find out where to talk to like minded ikhwan (brothers) before you make hijra and learn more about Islam as you are a revert (convert to Islam)." For the sake of security, I will call this man Brian. We met at the Dandenong Plaza shopping centre. He had light brown skin and looked to be of Middle Eastern descent. He was short, wore black jeans and a plain blue T-shirt and Adidas shoes. He shook my hand firmly but spoke in an uncertain voice. "Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh," I said. "Wa alaikum salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh," he replied. (And may peace also upon you.) "Are you the akh (brother) Abu Khaled mentioned?" Brian asked.

"Yes." "He says you want to make hijra, but you need to learn more about Islam and the right path?" I thought of Jake Bilardi, the Craigieburn teen who turned to IS after converting to Islam. Like me, Bilardi came from a non-Muslim background. Had he met Brian, online or in the mosques he frequented? Was this the little bird who had whispered in his ear the hate speech of IS? Conspiracy-driven narratives encourage radicalisation: Jake Bilardi's classmates speak of his one-dimensional take on the Middle East conflict Credit:Christian Stokes Bilardi died in a suicide bombing in Ramadi, Iraq, in March 2015.

Brian began to talk. There were a number of brothers all over Springvale, Dandenong, Broadmeadows and Preston, he said. They met up to discuss in small groups their deen (faith). Similar groups operated in other cities around Australia. "We do it in secret and usually set plans up after Jumaa (Friday prayers)," Brian told me. That week, such a group was going to have a session, he said. The location would be given on the day. The instructions came via the messaging app. It was to be held at a park in Springvale on Saturday. When I approached the park, about seven young men were sitting in a circle talking. Their ages ranged from 17 to 30. Some of them had the beginnings of a beard, others had no facial hair. One older man wore a white thawb, a traditional Middle Eastern garment. In this multicultural part of Melbourne, the group did not stick out. It looked like a bunch of friends getting together. Some had brought tea to drink. As I edged closer to the circle I was nervous. I could see Brian there and hoped that my video and the contact with him and with Prakash was enough to keep my cover.

"Glad you made it," Brian said after greeting me in the traditional Islamic fashion. The older man in the thawb, who I met as I walked up to the group, introduced me to the others. "We are welcoming this new brother. He is a revert and turning to the right path." We sat down in a small circle. The older man, who appeared to be in his late 20s, continued to speak; his audience listening in rapt silence. "Brothers, what we see today is a massive war against Islam and the Umma (community)." IS was taking the righteous path for Islam, the man said, and the war against the West was just and right. "We see how Australia treats the Umma and tries to take us away from our deen. Our brothers are arrested simply for showing their love for Allah. Is that right?"

Almost in unison we replied "No". "So how do we fight against this oppression? Jihad, ya ikhwan (brothers). In the Koran does it not say, 'And kill them wherever you find them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out'?" the man said. "What do you think this is saying? It says to fight the disbelievers wherever they may be and to fight them until there is no more fitna (division)." The young men were shaking their heads in agreement, soaking in every piece of rhetoric. The coroner said Numan Haider had been radicalised before the attack.

"Look at our brother Abdul (Numan Haider). Did he not do what is just against the kuffar? Janna (paradise) is now his prize. But he was fighting for us, for the Umma." Numan Haider was shot dead by police as he tried to stab two officers outside Melbourne's Endeavour Hills police station in 2014. There was a pause, "I'm asking you, brothers. Did he not do what is right by Allah?" "Yes," we all said. "Subhanallah he did. And we must do what is right. This is why you are all here today, to get on to the path and end these transgressions against Islam."

The man then directed a question to me: "Do you not feel the pain of your Muslim brothers and sisters dying? Is this not why you have come to us, brother? Why you have reached out for guidance to Allah in dar al-kuffar (land of the infidels)?" In a flash I responded with: "Allah subhana wa taala (glorious and exalted) is guiding me to the path of vengeance and why I must make hijra." "Allahu akbar (God is greatest) brother, you are a lion and among other lions here today sent by Allah. We must do what is right and according to Allah, subhana wa taala. It is our duty as followers of Allah to stand against this attack on the Muslim way of life. All the kuffar are trying to keep you from the righteous path." I was seeing first hand the process speculated on for so long: here, in the middle of a Melbourne park, young men were being radicalised. As he spoke, men and women walked by, pushing prams and walking dogs, unwitting witnesses to an event that was troubling and terrifying much of the Western world. It was in these types of groups and gatherings where Australia's dead jihadists were inducted into terror.

The meeting also highlighted our miscalculation: IS was not radicalising Australians just through the glimmer of a computer screen. Yes, IS expertly uses social media, but the real radicalisation happened face to face. The sermon lasted just one hour. The young men stood up and headed home, one by one. It was then that a 19-year-old  we will call him Salman  approached me. He talked about how he had lost his way. "I was smoking and drinking, doing things against Islam. My parents couldn't understand, they were brainwashed by kuffar ways," he said. Salman felt the Australian community hadn't embraced him. Here in this group he felt at home. Turbulent upbringings Many Australian jihadists have come from tumultuous backgrounds. Prakash was a former rapper who did drugs. Khaled Sharrouf, a ringleader later killed in Syria, was a criminal. Some had only a moderate understanding of Islam. Salman, too, was from a tough background and had a very rudimentary understanding of Islam. Would his name soon splash across news headlines? I hoped not.

Salman went on to say: "The only brothers who know how I feel are the younger ones. It makes me feel like I belong more." Unwittingly, he had touched on a repeated criticism of Australian deradicalisation programs. The flaw in the Government's counter radicalisation program was that it relied heavily on Muslim community leaders. But the young men I met with said their community leaders didn't understand them. Islamic State terrorist Mohamed Elomar. In 2015 Australia allocated $13.4 million for counter-terrorism programs. But despite all this money, here in front of me was a group of young men who were clearly falling through the cracks, feeling they didn't belong. Throughout Melbourne, over the course of several months, I saw similar scenes, again and again. Young men meeting to discuss radical thoughts with an older man leading the group. Seeing terror attacks overseas, they talked about emulating them here. Parks weren't the only venues. They would also meet after Friday prayer in the corner of radical mosques or at someone's home. Safe places, where they felt the language of radicalism could be spoken freely and not be heard by outsiders.

The young men who attended were often angry or lost in alcohol or drugs. Videos from the IS propaganda machine would be shown. "So inspiring," one said. "We need to head to dawla (IS's Caliphate) or kill kuffar," another said. In Sydney, it was the same. Lakemba, Bankstown, Auburn and other areas all hosted these small, core groups discussing extremism and radical thoughts. The mysterious jihadist Abu Hassan put me in contact with a man from Granville who would help facilitate my introduction to the radical network. The level of extremism here was palpable. Having spent time in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Middle East, I was struck by a sense of deja vu: I had heard the same rhetoric from failed suicide bombers locked up in Abu Ghraib or in Iraqi Kurdish territory as I was now hearing from the men I met here.

Threats to the Australian public were common. The dialogue was aggressive. The young men would agree they must take action, follow orders. The level of violent rhetoric was many times worse than what I heard in Melbourne, and there were several groups who met frequently. They talked about what attacks they planned and how they would do it. They spoke of "bringing Islamic State here, like in Belgium. Like in Paris". Meetings would be set up at Friday prayer, online, and through encrypted messaging applications. With each group I met, I feared being exposed and in danger, despite being vouched for. After one meeting I was able to talk with a group leader  we'll call him Mahmoud. Speaking to him it was clear he had been in the Sydney radical network much longer than others I had met. His knowledge of Islam was deep and his knowledge of Australian jihadists who had gone to Syria was detailed. He told me many of the people who run these groups have hated Australia for some time because of the Western "war against Islam". When I asked him why he didn't go to Syria or Iraq, he told me his duty from Allah was to convince other brothers to go, or carry out attacks on home soil. He later told me he had a direct link with IS fighters.

I was talking to a man directly carrying out orders from the deadly terror group. I was astonished. Mahmoud told me the reason I had come to Islam was because I saw the truth. Now it was up to me to do the right thing. Calmly and convincingly he went on, trying to radicalise me, but our conversation was cut short as he had to leave. "Allah knows best brother. Salam [peace]," Mahmoud said as he left and shook my hand. Through the course of my investigation I would remain in contact with a number of Sydney men, who would urge me to visit again. Much of their talk was hot air, but the intentions were crystal clear. Worrying signs
The 127th/128th Annual Sessions of the World Customs Organizations Council  the Organizations highest decision-making body  were held in Brussels from 14 to 16 July 2016 under the direction and guidance of the Chairperson, Mr. Zouhair Chorfi, Director General of the Moroccan Customs Administration, and with the participation of the Directors General of Customs representing the 180 Members of the WCO.

Members of the Council recognized the critical role played by information and communication technology, research, technical assistance, capacity building and training, intelligence and information sharing and referred to the need for coordinated international cooperation and effective tools on trade management and enforcement in order to enhance risk management, guarantee better coordinated border management, and extend connectivity. Further topics of discussion included e-commerce, security and counter-terrorism, Customs-Police cooperation, Customs-Tax cooperation, and the Revenue Package Phase III Action Plan.

Members of the Council had the opportunity to listen to several keynote addresses, including speeches by Mr. Jurgen Stock, Secretary General, INTERPOL; Ms. Molly Fannon, Director, Office of International Relations, Smithsonian Institution; Mr. Jim DuBois, Corporate Vice-President and Chief Information Officer, Microsoft Corporation; and Mr. Henri Barthel, Vice-President System Integrity and Global Partnerships, GS1 Global Office.

The Council adopted a Resolution on the Role of Customs in Preventing Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Objects which, among other things, calls on Customs authorities to enhance efforts and continue to raise awareness, through special events and public campaigns, of the problem of illicit trafficking of cultural objects and its impact on the common heritage of humanity.

In this regard, the WCO and the Smithsonian Institution signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the aim of promoting cooperation between the two organizations.

The WCO also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Russian Federation concerning the establishment of a new Regional Centre of Best Practices that will focus on promoting activities to develop and improve progressive Customs technologies.

The WCO also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ukraine concerning the establishment of a Regional Dog Training Centre in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine.

The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic deposited its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention), becoming the 104th Contracting Party.

The European Union and China welcomed new Members to the EU-China Smart and Secure Trade Lanes project, which is implemented by participating Member Customs administrations. Its aim is to foster Customs-to-Customs cooperation which is the first pillar of the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards.

The Customs Administration of Bahrain won the annual WCO Photo Competition with a photo illustrating the theme of the year, Digital Customs.

The 2016 Sessions included the election of Mr. R. Davydov, Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation as Chairperson of the Council.

WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya congratulated Mr. Davydov on his election as Chairperson of the Council.

Secretary General Mikuriya recognized the outstanding contributions made by the outgoing Council Chairperson, Mr. Zouhair Chorfi, during his successful tenure which has greatly contributed to the success of the Organization.

Highlights of the 2016 Council Sessions will appear in the next issue of the WCO News magazine.
This is not about the police.

At least, not solely. Granted, the police are the reason we are heartbroken today, the reason cable news networks are assembling panels to talk about black and blue, the fraught intersection between African Americans and the law. Last week, after all, saw two more African-American men shot by police under questionable circumstances and then, five Dallas police officers assassinated by a sniper at a Black Lives Matter rally.

But ultimately another tragedy overarches both of those: Americas ongoing struggle to reconcile itself along lines of race. We are still fighting over what being black means  and should mean  in a nation that ostensibly holds equality as a foundational belief.

We say thats what we stand for, yet in virtually every field of endeavor, our behavior proves us liars.

In education, for instance, the federal government issued data in 2014 documenting that even as early as preschool, African-American kids are suspended far more frequently than others.

In medicine, a 2016 study by researchers from the University of Virginia found that white med students were sometimes less aggressive in assessing and managing the pain of African-American patients.

In labor, a 2003 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that job seekers with perceived black names were significantly less likely to get callbacks from prospective employers.

And in justice, oh, dear God. Multiple studies have documented a system that, from arrest to incarceration, is heavily stacked against African-American people.

This is not abstract. This is blood and bone reality, life as experienced by more than 40 million Americans. And can any thinking or compassionate person blame them if they are sick and tired of it?

Yet rather than respond to expressions of that frustration and anger in constructive and compassionate ways, too many of us seek every cowardly avenue of avoidance they can find.

Some take refuge in defensiveness, answering complaints about subconscious and systemic biases as if youd just accused them, personally, of membership in the KKK. As if their feelings were what this is all about. Others try to shout down the messenger, often using the absurd formulation that to talk about race is racist.

Go online if youre not there already and read the message board beneath this column; chances are good youll see examples of both.

Then, there are those who try to change the subject. As in Bill OReilly, the TV pundit, who recently proclaimed that Martin Luther King would never march with Black Lives Matter, a movement OReilly accuses of fomenting violence. King would probably find that laughable, given how often he was accused of the selfsame thing.

But again, to make this all about Black Lives Matter  or policing  is to make it too small. Granted, inequality becomes more visceral, visible and urgent when police are concerned, when we are called upon to tease out the role color played in some split-second decision to pull the trigger. But the point is, color also plays a role in the decision to punish a toddler, call back a job applicant, prescribe a drug, approve a loan, rent an apartment, or just extend the benefit of the doubt.

The police do not stand apart from society  they reflect it. And our society is riven by race, defensive about race, terrified of race. We say we seek understanding and light, yet too often generate only noise and heat. If America is ever to reconcile itself, that has to change.

Its fine to demand better training, more body cams, more community liaisons. But to lay the onus entirely on the men and women in blue is to delude ourselves. Ultimately, the police are not the problem.

We are.
by Adrian Gibson

Over the last few days, many Bahamians have pulled up a chair to observe the war of the travel advisories between The Bahamas and the United States.

On July 8, the beginning of the Independence holiday weekend, The Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel advisory warning Bahamians, particularly young men, to be compliant and exercise extreme caution when interacting with American police due to escalating tensions over recent fatal police shootings in the US.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warning went viral after it was issued and has come under fire from American commentators who argue that the notice was political - a claim Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell has denied. The warning garnered much conversation on social media - locally and internationally - stirring feelings of pride in some Bahamians whilst off-putting others. It caused a real furore and launched the Bahamas/US cold war of the advisories.

I read the travel advisory. I believe that Fred Mitchell was right to send out such an advisory. Interestingly, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates also warned their citizens travelling to the US to be careful in view of the incidents last week, according to international reports. Whats more, New Zealand issued a travel advisory warning its citizens to avoid all protests and demonstrations as on occasion civil disorder can result. Given the heightened racial tensions and civil unrest in the US, these countries were all concerned about the welfare of their citizens.

Of course, the United States - not being one to take last - released a security message, via its embassy, around 9.30am on Tuesday. The travel advisory urged US citizens and visitors in Nassau and Paradise Island to exercise heightened personal security awareness, pointing out that armed robberies and violent crime remain primary criminal threats.

That lengthy advisory must have been prepared beforehand!

The security message is the second advisory issued by the local mission this year and notes that the embassy has received reports of a significant increase in armed robberies throughout New Providence over the past six months.

On Tuesday, embassy spokesperson David Allen insisted that there was no link to the July 8 advisory sent out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Allen explained that the embassy recently put its staff and their families on alert due to increasing reports of armed robberies and, as such, was legally required to issue a similar message to its citizens.

Im not inclined to believe that explanation. Like many, I too believe that the embassys warning, issued four days after the Mitchell advisory and on the morning of the first business day after the holiday, showed up the Americans as thin-skinned. Their travel advisory was a mealy-mouthed effort, an example of the US being petty. The timing was simply ridiculous. In the eyes of many Bahamians, it appears that the US can dish but cannot take in return. The US embassys travel advisory was exhaustive, over-the-top and clearly responsive. It was an attempt to kill the joy of Mitchell and spank its little, dependent neighbour.

Frankly, outside the obvious tit-for-tat approach, I think that both The Bahamas and the US issued common sense advisories to their citizens given the state of affairs in both countries. The government of the Bahamas was entitled to issue its travel advisory.

And so, the question that has arisen in some quarters is whether the advisory issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was genuinely about the interest and safety of Bahamian travellers?

Given that Fred Mitchells track record is such that there are those who are cynical, who say he doesnt deserve the benefit of the doubt, who say that all he does is driven by political motives, one cannot be surprised at the mixed reactions. Indeed, he does not have the political capital to spend to get the people to believe that even if the advisory was issued out of genuine concern, that that is the only reason why he did it. There are many who say that Mitchell took advantage of an opportunity and took a perfectly timed political jab, playing a game of political one-upmanship with a superpower.

Many Bahamians see Fred Mitchell as a jaded, controversial self-absorbed fella with chips falling from his shoulders, head and mouth. While some might see him as competent and capable, he is easily dismissed as being one of the most insincere members of the Christie Cabinet. It is for these reasons why people are question his true motivations.

I was angered and saddened by the murder of five Dallas police officers at the hands of a sadistic killer. Both incidents are unacceptable.

The US is seemingly facing racial tensions and conflict that threatens to tear the very fabric of that country apart. There is a concern that the very strength of their perfect union is once again being brought into question. It has been a sad few weeks to see the social fabric of that great nation strained by underlying racism, criminality, fear and a lack of dialogue that many thought was addressed and had quelled since the 1960s and 1970s.

Whilst I see nothing wrong with the warning that The Bahamas issued, I also need the Minister of Foreign Affairs to immediately address the issues faced at the Passport Office. Why should Bahamians have to wait months for a passport? What kind of Third World concept is that? Why do Bahamians have to pay an additional $200 for a rushed passport? How do they rush the passport anyhow and where do the $200 go?

I have heard the utterances of all the Doomsday prophesiers who say that, as a result of the shots fired by travel advisories, the United States and the Bahamas will no longer have the relationship they has cultivated over the years. I have heard persons claim that the US will pull out of the agreement for the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) base in Andros; that we will see a cessation of the pre-clearance facilities; a restriction on education and travel visas; new taxes on exports to The Bahamas; limitations on transactions using US banks; increased attention, economic aid and other favourable conditions for Cuba; and so on.

To use Fred Mitchells words, I think such assertions are nothing short of hogwash.

The relationship between The Bahamas and the United States should be able to withstand a couple travel advisories. After all, the US embassy issues travel advisories on The Bahamas often. Tuesdays was their second for the year!

Like many Bahamians - of all hues - I am also concerned about travelling to the US, driving and being pulled over by an aggressive, unprofessional or racist police officer. However, I am no more concerned than I am about being pulled over by a belligerent, unethical and abusive police officer here in The Bahamas.

There is a matter that has been on my mind for months. I take great umbrage to the disrespectful manner with which certain US border patrol/customs agents treat Bahamians who are travelling to the United States from the Lynden Pindling International Airport. In some instances, the behaviour displayed by some of the officers is downright uncouth, boorish and disrespectful. And some of them behave this way while you are in your home country, before you even board the plane!

Are we dependent upon the US? Yes, we are. Do we have a right to exert our sovereignty? We sure do! Do we have a right to be concerned and protective of our citizens? Without question!

Did Christie or his Cabinet approve the advisory before it was issued or did Fred Mitchell draft and issue the advisory himself?

Whilst I am supportive of the issuance of such an advisory, I share the view that if the warning had come from someone seen as more credible by the public, many more persons would be inclined to see it in a different light.

Given our propensity for travelling during holidays, the advisory was the right approach to take!

_________________________________________________________

First published in the The Tribune under the byline, Young Man's View, here

View Adrian Gibson's archive here

____________________________________________________

The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of WeblogBahamas.com (which has no corporate view) or its Authors.
Advertisement

By WestKyStar and MSU Staff

Jul. 16, 2016 | MURRAY, KY

By WestKyStar and MSU Staff Jul. 16, 2016 | 09:33 AM | MURRAY, KY

The Human Resource Management track within Murray State Universitys Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business prepares students for success in the classroom and beyond graduation. In fact, the program boasts an 87.5% pass rate on the National Assurance of Learning Assessment (AOL), compared to a national average of 62% as publicized by the Society for Human Resources Management.

The industry exam covers the information an HR professional needs to know to succeed in an entry-level position. Murray States HR Management faculty encourage graduating seniors to take the assessment to get a step ahead in the field.

Though the assessment does not provide a certification, it is however a third-party evaluation of student qualifications that can be an indicator of the strength of an HR program, which is essential under the AACSB guidelines for a business school to maintain its accreditation, said Sandy Miles, Professor of Human Resource Management.

"This exam is not mandatory to enter the HR profession, but it does distinguish recent graduates who are pursuing HR jobs that they do indeed have the required knowledge, added Miles.

One such graduate is Liz Dodd, who returned to Murray State in 2014 to receive a concentration in HR Management. Nearing graduation, she was encouraged by her professors to take the AOL exam, and she credits HR Management courses for her success.

"I am confident that my completion of HR graduate-level classes at Murray State and my passing score on the SHRM Assurance of Learning Assessment will help prove my expertise to both my current and future employers, said Dodd.

For students interested in becoming certified, the programs faculty recommend taking the aPHR or PHR exams, which are offered through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). The aPHR is designed for recent graduates who are starting their career, while the PHR is intended for those who have mastered HR law.

Courtney Payne, who graduated from Murray State University in fall 2011 with a degree in Business ManagementHuman Resources, took the PHR exam to set herself apart from her peers.

The exam is by far one of the hardest exams I have ever taken  which makes passing it that much sweeter! I passed the exam on my first try and did well on it. I contribute that largely in part to being well prepared by the HR Program and its staff, said Payne.

Now, Payne works as an HR Generalist at Mizkan America, a 400-employee food manufacturing facility that produces Ragu and Bertolli sauces, in Owensboro, Ky. During her time with the company, she has been involved in a divestiture, a layoff, an acquisition and a merger.

When faced with company changes or evolving federal laws  like the overtime rule recently introduced by the U.S. Department of Labor  HR professionals must be able to adapt. Payne said the HR track prepared her for such changes, but more importantly, it helped her to become confident in the field.

Each course that's part of the program taught something important; however, I strongly believe that the most important knowledge you get comes from outside the classroom and a text book, said Payne. Murray States HR Program does just that. It immerses you in the field and allows you to apply what you've learned from the classroom while gaining invaluable experience. Beyond all else, the HR Program teaches you to teach yourself, which is a crucial skill in the ever-changing HR field.

Payne attributes her ability to succeed in the position to her HR professors, who encouraged her to take the industry exam and who continue to support and guide her  even four years after she graduated.

To learn more, please Joy Roach Humphreys at 270-809-4259 or jhumphreys4@murraystate.edu.

s rate on the National Assurance of Learning Assessment (AOL), compared to a national average of 62% as publicized by the Society for Human Resources Management.

The industry exam covers the information an HR professional needs to know to succeed in an entry-level position. Murray States HR Management faculty encourage graduating seniors to take the assessment to get a step ahead in the field.

Though the assessment does not provide a certification, it is however a third-party evaluation of student qualifications that can be an indicator of the strength of an HR program, which is essential under the AACSB guidelines for a business school to maintain its accreditation, said Sandy Miles, Professor of Human Resource Management.

This exam is not mandatory to enter the HR profession, but it does distinguish recent graduates who are pursuing HR jobs that they do indeed have the required knowledge, added Miles.

One such graduate is Liz Dodd, who returned to Murray State in 2014 to receive a concentration in HR Management. Nearing graduation, she was encouraged by her professors to take the AOL exam, and she credits HR Management courses for her success.

I am confident that my completion of HR graduate-level classes at Murray State and my passing score on the SHRM Assurance of Learning Assessment will help prove my expertise to both my current and future employers, said Dodd.

For students interested in becoming certified, the programs faculty recommend taking the aPHR or PHR exams, which are offered through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). The aPHR is designed for recent graduates who are starting their career, while the PHR is intended for those who have mastered HR law and practices.

Courtney Payne, who graduated from Murray State University in fall 2011 with a degree in Business ManagementHuman Resources, took the PHR exam to set herself apart from her peers.

The exam is by far one of the hardest exams I have ever taken  which makes passing it that much sweeter! I passed the exam on my first try and did well on it. I contribute that largely in part to being well prepared by the HR Program and its staff, said Payne.

Now, Payne works as an HR Generalist at Mizkan America, a 400-employee food manufacturing facility that produces Ragu and Bertolli sauces, in Owensboro, Ky. During her time with the company, she has been involved in a divestiture, a layoff, an acquisition and a merger.

When faced with company changes or evolving federal laws  like the overtime rule recently introduced by the U.S. Department of Labor  HR professionals must be able to adapt. Payne said the HR track prepared her for such changes, but more importantly, it helped her to become confident in the field.

Each course that's part of the program taught something important; however, I strongly believe that the most important knowledge you get comes from outside the classroom and a text book, said Payne. Murray States HR Program does just that. It immerses you in the field and allows you to apply what you've learned from the classroom while gaining invaluable experience. Beyond all else, the HR Program teaches you to teach yourself, which is a crucial skill in the ever-changing HR field.

Payne attributes her ability to succeed in the position to her HR professors, who encouraged her to take the industry exam and who continue to support and guide her  even four years after she graduated.

To learn more, contact Joy Roach Humphreys at 270-809-4259 or jhumphreys4@murraystate.edu.


By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 15, 2016 | 12:53 PM | DU QUOIN, IL

The Du Quoin State Fair has announced a new and improved website just in time for fairgoers to start planning their trip to the 2016 fair. The website www.duquoinstatefair.net features has a new layout, new features, and is now easier for fairgoers to access on their mobile devices, with the fair just 40 days away.Du Quoin State Fair Manager Kevin Gordon said, "This revamped website is visually appealing and easy to navigate. As we get closer to the fair you will see more details about dates and times of events, where to find your favorite vendors, and what events are planned on the fairgrounds the other 355 days of the year."Under the Competitive Events tab, fairgoers can find the 2016 Du Quoin State Fair Premium Books and Home Show books. These books give exhibitors easy access to entry information such as, deadlines, price money, and competition rules.Another new feature on the redesigned website is a running list of all the food vendors attending the 2016 Du Quoin State Fair. This new feature, under the Food & Vendors tab, provides fairgoers will select menu items and the exact location of where you can find your favorite vendor will be on fairgrounds.There is still more information to come regarding the 2016 Du Quoin State Fair, so fans are encouraged to check back often for updates. The fair runs August 26th - September 5th, 2016.Musical acts are always a highlight at the fair, and this year's performers include Kelly Pickler, Aaron Lewis, Pat Green, Herman's Hermits with Peter Noone, Jamey Johnson, Skillet, and the Summerland Tour featuring Sugar Ray, Lit, Everclear and Sponge.

On the Net:
Given a new hazardous waste incinerator has not been approved anywhere in the U.S. for a generation, I am concerned and surprised to read about the massive incinerator proposed for the former Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant west of Grand Island. If approved, it would process up to 15,000 tons of munitions per year including HC smoke grenades. Zinc oxide, military designation, HC or HC smoke, is a toxic chemical warfare obscurant.

There are proven and readily-available alternatives to incineration, due in good part to the need for safe, cost-effective means to dispose of our nation's chemical weapons stockpile. These technologies are not only safer for nearby residents but they are safer for family members who may be employed for this work.

Like you, the environment in our rural Wisconsin farming community has been profoundly damaged by historical activities at a nearby former Army ammunition plant. This experience led us to help organize a national campaign calling for an end to open air burning and incineration of hazardous waste munitions everywhere.

Already, 56 environmental, health, labor, social justice and veterans service organizations have endorsed the Cease Fire Campaign goal statement. Please join us in demanding the same advanced technologies that have been deployed in non-rural affluent communities elsewhere. This is not the time for the Midwest Nice.

Laura Olah, Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water around Badger, Coordinator of Cease Fire Campaign, Merrimac, Wisconsin
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Three juveniles charged with robbing same Paducah store twice in one day
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
MOUNT PLEASANT  West Bend Mutual Insurance Co. and LeadingAge Wisconsin have awarded Ridgewood Care Center with a Safe Resident Assistance Endowment grant to purchase an Invacare hydraulic full-body that will enhance the care of its patients and the handling procedures for staff at the nursing facility.
RACINE COUNTY  Some advocates say a comprehensive mental health bill that recently passed the House gets long-awaited reforms moving forward, though the legislation has its critics.

The House of Representatives approved the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act earlier this month. Among many provisions, the legislation increases the number of crisis mental health beds, provides for more training for law enforcement, increases the number of pediatric mental health professionals and extends a suicide prevention program.

It also creates an assistant secretary for mental health and substance use disorders, provides incentives for states to create alternatives to institutionalization and advances early intervention programs.

The bill is a byproduct of years of discussion between legislators, mental health advocates and others, conversations which began in earnest following the Newtown, Conn., school shooting in 2012. The measure now heads to the Senate.

To many, the House bill is a step in the right direction, said Luann Simpson, a peer support consultant with the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Racine County who has advocated for the bill.

Simpson believes the proposal will strengthen communities responses to mental health crises and get people better treatment. She also said it promotes an evidence-based approach to mental health treatment.

This is something thats been a long time coming, said Simpson, who met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to discuss the bill before its passage. Its maybe not perfect, and its never going to be perfect, but we can get it to a place where theres more in it that people can see as positive.

Some opposed

While the bill passed on an overwhelming 422-2 vote, some advocates still have concerns.

Kit Kerschensteiner, managing attorney for Disability Rights Wisconsin, said she doesnt downplay the positives in the proposal but said the bill wont empower people with mental health issues as much as it should. One provision, for example, extends a program allowing for forced treatment.

Kerschensteiner feels the bill skews more toward in-patient services for people already in a mental health crisis and doesnt do enough on preventative measures.

Its looking at things through a certain lens, and I dont think that lens is ... focused on consumer choice, on consumer involvement, Kerschensteiner said.

In a meeting last month with The Journal Times Editorial Board, Ryan acknowledged there are differences within the mental health community about the best approach for reform.

But after the bill passed the House on July 6, Ryan called it a major step to change the way our nations health care system deals with mental illness.

We need to make sure that the people who suffer from mental illness  just like any other patients  get the care and medications they need. H.R. 2646 (the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act) does just that, Ryan said in a statement.

Its maybe not perfect, and its never going to be perfect, but we can get it to a place where theres more in it that people can see as positive. Luann Simpson, National Alliance on Mental Illness peer support consultant.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its finally happening  Manitobas new wave of breweries are opening their doors  or theyre close  and/or are actually making their own beer.

Last week marked the first time Manitobans have been able to buy beer made in the province from a new local craft brewery in a decade (Farmery is locally owned, but its beer is currently made in Ontario). While most of the new/forthcoming breweries were offering samples of their beer at the Flatlanders Beer Festival in June, many used Half Pints or Fort Garry Brewing Co.s existing local facilities in a temporary capacity.

So where are we at when it comes to Manitobas new breweries? Heres the first of a two-part look at whats brewing on the local scene

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Barn Hammer at 595 Wall St. is the first brewery tap room since regulations were changed by the province.

Barn Hammer Brewing Company, 595 Wall St.

First past the proverbial post was Barn Hammer Brewing Company. Its beers became available over the past week or so at a couple of select beer vendors via growler bars; it also has 30-litre kegs for sale.

Then on Wednesday, Barn Hammer opened its tap room  the first since the provincial government relaxed rules allowing breweries to serve their beer on-site.

The company had hinted initially at opening in November 2015 but, like most burgeoning Manitoba breweries/brew pubs, encountered some snags along the way.

There were delays with everything, as expected, but this summer was my very latest date for opening, says Tyler Birch, one of the team behind Barn Hammer.

When we originally started I looked at a brewpub format and I was originally going to partner with someone who does restaurant stuff, says Birch. But after sitting down with a local restaurateur, Birch was encouraged to just do the brewing side of things and avoid the complications of owning/running a restaurant.

In addition to pouring pints in their tap room, Birch and company will likely stick to the growler and keg formats rather than adding smaller bottles or cans to their lineup. Its so much extra work; its so much more expensive, Birch explains. We have a lot more control over (our beer) if we just keep it small and self-distribute.

Look for select Manitoba Liquor Marts growler bars to offer a Barn Hammer tap takeover near the end of July. In the meantime, for a list of what the brewery is pouring, as well as where else its available in the city (its rapidly evolving), visit barnhammerbrewing.ca.

Torque Brewing, 830 King Edward St.

Not too far from Barn Hammer location-wise, but still some ways behind getting its doors open is Torque Brewing. Over the past week, folks there have been busy getting their brewing equipment installed; check out their Twitter account, @torquebrewing, for plenty of images of the work in progress, including installing the variety of fermentation tanks theyll use in producing their range of brews.

Torque has a much larger capacity than Barn Hammer, and will feature its own canning facility for 355-millilitre and 473-ml cans, depending on the beer. Torques tap room will feature beautiful tables made locally at Wood Anchor out of Manitoba elm.

We want to be brewing in two weeks, says brewmaster Matt Wolff, although he anticipates the tap room wont be open for at least another month; look for Torque brews at growler bars and on tap across the city soon.

Beyond growlers and kegs, Torque president John Heim sees another inroad to getting Manitobans drinking his product. We have an advantage because, other than Fort Garry, I think well be the only other brewery doing canning, he notes.

The craft-brewing community is very collegial, fraternal, says Heim. Weve been leaning on Barn Hammer, because theyve been first, and now others are leaning on us.

Were all of the same mindset, adds Wolff.

Its up to the brewers to educate people on what theyve been missing, Heim says. Its the people who dont know whats in store for them we need to transfer some enthusiasm to them. You can come here, you can meet the brewer, you can see what the philosophy is and buy local.

We dont look at each other as competitors, he says. We look at each other as allies.

Trans Canada Brewing Co., 1-1290 Kenaston Blvd.

Contacted by email, Matt Tallman of Trans Canada Brewing Co. noted there was nothing big to announce as of yet, but that the brewery  located near Fort Garry Brewing Co.  will feature three components: a brewery, on-site tap room and retail store.

Oxus Brewing Company, location TBA

Not much to report on this front; contacted by email, Sean Shoyoqubov simply said he is working with lawyers to get the lease done.

Check back for news on the rest of Manitobas budding breweries next week.

uncorked@mts.net

Twitter: @bensigurdson
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The surprising result of the United Kingdoms Brexit vote to leave the European Union and its unpleasant aftermath has many speculating about what this means for this countrys as-yet-unratified trade deal with the EU.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU was scheduled to take effect sometime in 2017. Many observers are skeptical that will happen now that one of the EUs largest importers of Canadian goods has decided to leave.

Dalhousie University agricultural economist Sylvain Charlebois says the Brexit vote means the deal is as good as dead. The drop in the British pounds value will make British exports more competitive globally, but that alone wont make up for loss of the EUs common agricultural policy, which is responsible for 55 per cent of farm supports in the U.K.

Charlebois predicts the need for an alternative support system may cause it to retreat into what some call food sovereignty and others call a protectionist, buy-local first strategy.

Local food systems have been shown to support a local economy, but economists see them as less efficient. They arent very popular with Canadian farmers either, as they depend on exports for much of their income.

So deals like this trade agreement, which are expected to improve access for Canadian farm commodities and processed foods, are important to continued export sales.

News earlier this month that the European Commission has decided the deal must be ratified by all 28 member country parliaments  a process that could take years  further fed the pessimism.

However, Canadian government officials remain sanguine about the trade deals prospects.

At a technical briefing hosted by senior government trade officials July 6, reporters were told the ratification process is still on track. In fact, the deal should be in place before the U.K.s exit. Then it will be up to the British government to negotiate bilaterally with Canada.

The EU Council is expected to approve the deal this fall, after which it goes before the European Parliament, where a vote of 50 per cent plus one is enough to cement its passage. Canadian officials expect that will happen by early 2017. Then it will be referred to member state parliaments. However, the deal, or most of it, can be provisionally applied in the interim.

Issues related to transportation, recognition of professional qualifications, labour, environmental protection, fishing and investment are areas that might be in dispute. If there are elements that are delayed on the EU side, Canada will match those and not apply those clauses either.

By far the biggest threats posed by Brexit to Canadian farmers are the less direct spinoffs  namely whether it signals the beginnings of a general retreat from globalization.

The inconvenient truth about Brexit is the decision to leave was made by the electorate, not the elected. British citizens, albeit narrowly, decided they have had enough of national governments passing the buck on accountability to some higher authority.

Never mind the vote places Britain in the awkward position of having to negotiate trade access with its largest market while having no say in how EU trade policy is set. The people who voted leave no longer want to be told to blame Brussels for policies that are seen as a threat to their sense of security.

The Brexit vote marks yet another point in history when democracy has asserted itself in a way that creates chaos rather than order.

And the debate, similar to the way in which the U.S. presidential election campaign is playing out, has unleashed a tidal wave of xenophobia  a globally destabilizing force that is a far bigger threat to Canadian farm exports than the state of the trade agreement.

Laura Rance is editor of the Manitoba Co-operator and editorial director for Farm Business Communications. She can be reached at laura@fbcpublishing.com or 204-792-4382.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new dispensary in Winnipegs Exchange District will sell you pot if you have an ailment that requires a prescription.

The prescription doesnt necessarily have to be for medical cannabis, said Don Briere, owner of the Weeds Glass and Gifts franchise, which is based in Vancouver.

You come in, lets say you have a prescription for Tylenol 3, which is a pharmaceutical, Briere said. You bring that in with your picture ID, and you make the statement that you would prefer to have cannabis as opposed to Tylenol 3. So, you dont even need to fill the prescription so long as the prescription is made out by a doctor to you and you have proper identification.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Newly opened Pot Shop by owners from BC located in the Exchange District.

Briere said from there, dispensary employees will direct a customer to purchase the strain they think will suit their needs through the stores website. The weed will be delivered to your home, sometimes in as little as two days. There is no weed on-site.

The way they do business is not technically legal.

According to Health Canadas website, getting medical marijuana legally takes longer. First, you have to talk with a health-care practitioner who will complete a medical document for you. Second, you have to register and order your cannabis through a licensed producer who will send the drug through the mail.

CannaConnect, located at 2609 Portage Ave., is an organization that connects potential medical-marijuana patients with physicians to obtain cannabis legally from producers. Meanwhile, a similar company, National Access Cannabis, that also connects patients to health professionals and provides them with information, is gearing up to open at 379 Broadway, according to its website.

Health Canada lists all 33 licensed producers on its website. Briere said his company only buys weed from licensed producers.

Were trying to give good, clean, safe medication in a safe place where you wont get robbed, you wont get ripped off, you wont buy bad weed or they say, We dont have weed, but look, heroin is even better, Briere said. He has nearly 30 stores in B.C. and Ontario, with one of its newest in Winnipeg, at 52 Adelaide St.

That isnt the legal procedure users need to follow to obtain medical marijuana. In the case of Weeds Glass and Gifts, after a doctor prescribes a different drug to a patient, there is no other doctor intervention.

We ask you what type of ailment you have. We are trained, laypeople only. No doctor skills here whatsoever, Briere said.

Theyre saying, This type of medication is used for pain in your legs, this type of medication is used for nausea, this type of medication is used for cancer to get appetite, this is a CBD (cannabidiol) it has no psychoactives in there. Your dog is lethargic and in pain with arthritis? You give this in liquid form to your dog.

Brieres business model has got the attention of the College of Pharmacists in Manitoba.

Spokeswoman Susan Lessard-Friesen said if the store is indeed illegally selling marijuana this way, privacy would be one of her main concerns.

Were trying to give good, clean, safe medication in a safe place where you wont get robbed, you wont get ripped off, you wont buy bad weed or they say, We dont have weed, but look, heroin is even better Don Briere, owner of Weeds Glass and Gifts

Theyre not entitled to keep that prescription because they are not a licensed health-care professional with privileges to have that personal health information. That is a huge thing. That is a police matter.

Meanwhile, Briere said the Winnipeg store is ready to sell recreational marijuana as soon as its legal.

Were setting up for a recreational market, he said, particularly referring to the stores namesake and stock of glass pipes. Were setting up because we know its coming.

Until the federal government legalizes weed, the current law stands, said a June 30 statement from Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

The possession, production and trafficking of marijuana remain illegal, the statement reads. This includes storefronts selling marijuana, commonly known as dispensaries and compassion clubs. These operations are illegally supplied and provide products that are untested, unregulated and that may be unsafe. The Government of Canada supports law enforcement actions to address illegal storefront distribution and sale of marijuana in Canada.

Winnipeg police say theyre aware of the dispensary and theyre looking into the situation, but wouldnt comment further.

bailey.hildebrand@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HERBALIFE Ltd. has agreed to pay US$200 million to consumers and change its business practices to settle a two-year federal investigation.

The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. announced the settlement Friday, saying the Los Angeles companys compensation practices were unfair.

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the agency said Herbalife rewarded distributors for recruiting others to join the company and buy products instead of basing compensation on actual retail demand.

Herbalife is going to have to start operating legitimately, making only truthful claims about how much money its members are likely to make, and it will have to compensate consumers for the losses they have suffered as a result of what we charge are unfair and deceptive practices, said commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez.

Herbalife sells weight-loss shakes and nutritional products through independent salespeople  which it calls its members  in more than 80 countries, including Canada.

 Los Angeles Times
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its an image and a conversation that has haunted me for three years.

It was fall, and I was driving home along McGillivray Boulevard, just west of Pembina Highway, when he came into view. A silhouette of a lone man, standing among the flat stones and the stillness of Thomson in the Park Cemetery. It seemed obvious what he was doing there, but I wondered who he was.

And if there was a story there.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cathy Sherman, daughter of the late Winnipeg MP, MLA and journalist Bud Sherman at the graveside of her parents.

I pulled off the road and into the cemetery. As I got closer, I could see him leaning on a cane and, when I got out my the car, he turned in my direction.

Bud, I said, smiling.

It was Bud Sherman, the former television news director I watched as a kid in the early 1960s, on what is now CTV Winnipeg. He would go on to distinguish himself as a Progressive Conservative politician both provincially, as deputy premier and health minister, and as a member of Parliament.

Now, he was a widower, visiting the grave of his wife of almost 55 years, Lizanne Sherman.

She had died at age 77 in 2010.

Do you talk to her? I asked.

And then I waited for his answer.

  

I never spoke with Bud after that brief encounter.

Time passed. And then, in January 2015, I saw an obituary in the Free Press Passages section for Louis Ralph (Bud) Sherman. He was 88.

As it happened, the Free Press missed reporting his passing in our news pages and, since I was on vacation at the time, all I could do was attend the memorial service at St. Georges Anglican Church in River Heights and pay my respects, along with future premier Brian Pallister, future federal Liberal cabinet minister Jim Carr and former Manitoba premier and governor-general Ed Schreyer. While I hadnt been privileged to know Bud well  as my newsman father had  those who knew him best, his children, Cathy, Christopher and Todd, were able to capture him the way that was reflected by his aura  a refined, intelligent, mannered, gentle man of great character and caring. And all of that, and more, shaped by what could respectfully be called old-fashion virtues. During his eulogy, Todd would reflect that essence by reading a description of his father he wrote as a boy for a Grade 3 assignment.

My dad is good and funny. My dad is a member of Parliament and a journalist. My dad is almost famous my dad has dark brown hair and hazel green eyes. The end.

In the end what was most telling about Bud  and the central message I heard at the memorial service  was his loving relationship with Lizanne.

SUPPLIED Bud Sherman with wife Lizanne were always together.

Ultimately  as his obituary noted of a man with so many career distinctions  that was the proudest accomplishment of his life.

Long after the memorial service, Cathy and I spoke about her parents relationship.

Lizanne, the daughter of Misericordia Hospitals chief surgeon, and Bud, the son of the Anglican archbishop of Ruperts Land, had met at Lake of the Woods. They married when he was 29 and she was 23.

They were best friends, Cathy said. They did everything together. And they loved their life.

Then, late in life, Lizanne become ill. But Bud made sure they were still together, even when Lizanne was moved from hospital to a nursing home.

My dad was absolutely devoted to her, Cathy recalled. He went and saw her every single day. He made that sort of his job in life. He would go to the hospital or the nursing home like you and I would go to work.

Except he would stay overtime.

He would have all his meals with her and spend the whole day with her and not come home until eight or nine at night.

Cathy remembered a conversation they had that put his devotion in a context that reflected another side of her father.

He wanted to do it for her. But he said he wanted to do it for her parents, too, who of course had long been deceased. He said, When I married her I told her parents I would take care of her.

Cathy said that reflected her dads sense of decency and loyalty.

All of his constant attention to being with Lizanne, to doing his duty, left Bud feeling exhausted.

And then, when it ended  when she died  he was left feeling lost.

DAVID RASMUS PHOTO Bud Sherman at the graveside of his wife Lizanne in 2011 at Thomson in the Park cemetery, a year after her passing.

I honestly dont think that it had ever occurred to him that his wife might die before him, Cathy said.

His sons, who live in Toronto, called regularly, Cathy spoke with him every day and she and her husband, Gordo Fryfogle, spent time with him a couple of times a week. But Bud, who had always been so strong and stoic, was inconsolable. All that seemed to matter to him was getting in his Toyota Corolla and driving each day to be with Lizanne at her graveside.

His focus every day was to get out to the cemetery, Cathy said. He thought that was a sign of devotion and loyalty.

Sometimes Cathy would go with him. But usually he would go on his own. Staying for hours. On cold or inclement days, staff at the cemetery sometimes found him asleep in his car. Or, when the weather allowed, they would see him as I found him that fall day. Standing alone with her.

Waiting.

Until he could be beside her again.

When I think about him now  when I see their names together on the ground  I remember that last, brief conversation with Bud Sherman.

Do you talk to her? I asked.

She talks to me, he answered. She tells me what to do.

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/07/2016 (2295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A long-term agreement on federal funding for health care with as few strings attached as possible is the kind of new federal-provincial health accord Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen would like to see.

As the premiers prepare for their annual summer gathering in Whitehorse next week, talk ramped up about what provinces hope for in a new health care accord. The issue will be a key agenda item at the meeting, as the provinces try to generate a unified position to present to Ottawa.

The critical elements for Manitoba are longevity and flexibility so each province can address its own needs.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files HEALTH MINISTER: Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen sits down with the Free Press to discuss wait times, hospital staffing and his mandate letter from the premier. Interview shots and portraits in his office. (KUSCH) May 25, , 2016

Whether its for 10 years or a number slightly less or slightly more than that, the important thing is that we dont want to be doing this every year, said Goertzen in an interview with the Free Press. We need long term flexible funding as opposed to pigeonholing funding.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott told the Canadian Press this week any additional health-care funding will be focused on achieving transformative and measurable improvements in priority areas, like home care and mental health.

In an emailed statement to the Free Press Friday afternoon, Philpott said shes had good discussions thus far with the provinces and that no decisions will be made until areas for health care reform are identified.

Our goal is to ensure that our health care system meets current and future needs more effectively and at a lower cost, and to improve the health of Canadians, she said.

The current accord, negotiated in 2004, expires in 2017. That agreement saw Ottawa increase health funding to the provinces by six per cent each year, with no strings. It has meant over the last decade, Manitobas federal health dollars grew from $813 million to $1.3 billion. The former Conservative government implemented a plan  without much, if any, input from the provinces  to set future health funding growth at the three-year average of growth in the GDP, with a minimum of three per cent each year.

Philpott wants a new accord with the provinces by the end of December and thus far the message the provinces are getting is that three per cent increase is still what Ottawa has to offer.

Goertzen said that would mean Manitoba sees a $39 million increase in federal health dollars next year instead of $78 million. For Ottawa, it would reduce their transfer to all provinces from almost $2.2 billion to $1.1 billion.

Thats a significant amount of dollars to come off the table, said Goertzen.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised last fall to spend $3 billion on home care improvements, including palliative care, over four years starting immediately. That money was not in this years budget, with Finance Minister Bill Morneau saying it is awaiting a deal with the provinces.

The provinces do not see themselves as a uniform entity when it comes to health care needs. Goertzen said a province like Manitoba has higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes, while the Atlantic is concerned about the impact on health care of the aging population.

The provinces have long wanted Ottawa to increase its share of health care spending to at least 25 per cent. The current national average is 23 per cent. Over the last decade Ottawas share of Manitobas health budget grew from 20.7 per cent to 21.8 per cent.

 with files from Canadian Press

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/07/2016 (2295 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Work on the $17-million James Avenue pumping station redevelopment project is expected to start within days, but underground infrastructure problems could throw a wrench into the works.

A spokeswoman with CentreVenture, the city-owned downtown development agency that owns the historic property, said developers will first tackle cleaning up, repairing and preserving the 110-year-old structures pumping machinery, the exterior brick walls, windows, foundation and roof.

The pumping stations interior and exterior are designated heritage features, and all the proposed repair plans have been submitted and approved by the citys heritage office.

5468796 ARCHITECTURE INC. An artists rendering of the redevelopment of the 110-year-old James Avenue pumping station.

Johanna Chabluk, CentreVentures development officer, said concerns raised about a natural gas line and right-of-way and a vital drain line for the Shoal Lake aqueduct on the site will not impede the project.

Work will start right away, Chabluk said. Possibly as early as Monday.

But deputy mayor Mike Pagtakhan, whose Point Douglas ward includes the pumping station, told reporters earlier this week the issues could be more problematic than CentreVenture and the project developers realize.

I know they want to move as soon as possible, but there are still some outstanding issues that need to be resolved, Pagtakhan said after council approved a plan to narrow a portion of James Avenue and allow the property to be sold to the developers.

Work may not commence as soon as people think it might commence.

There have been 13 failed attempts to develop the pumping station since 2000.

The development consortium, which includes builders Rick Hofer and Bryce Alston and 5468796 Architecture Inc., are proposing to construct two new buildings east and west of the pumping station on concrete stilts to allow ground-level views of the historic building and an underground parkade for the new buildings tenants at the rear of the pumping station.

Part of the pumping stations roof will be removed and replaced with transparent material, providing views of the interior from both buildings, which are being developed as residential and commercial space.

Chabluk said the sale of the property to the developers closes Aug. 15 but their crews will be allowed to begin the restoration of the historic buildings interior and exterior before they acquire the title. Construction of the two adjacent buildings is scheduled to begin in 2017 with a 2018 completion date.

Centra Gas, a subsidiary of Manitoba Hydro, has a buried natural gas line and a right-of-way easement that runs along the south side of the property. An administrative report states no permanent structure can be built within the easement area, part of which is needed for the construction of the underground parkade.

A drain line that draws water away from the Shoal Lake aqueduct (which is a block away on Pacific Avenue) runs immediately to the east of the pumping station, where a five-storey building will be constructed, and connects to another line that runs along James, and down to the river.

The administrative report states the drain line is vital to protecting the aqueduct and will require an easement agreement be put in place to protect this chamber and its outfall.

This infrastructure must remain in place, and our department must have unrestricted, 24/7 access to it, it states.

But CentreVenture doesnt believe either of these issues is insurmountable. If need be, the developers will pay to have the natural gas line moved further south from the property. The aqueduct and its drain line will be worked around; developers will determine the location of the drain line and sink the building piles around it.

The water and waste departments concerns over the potential impact the redevelopment will have on the drain line and its related equipment is highlighted in bold in the administrative report: Any future building construction may need to be reviewed by the various planning branches within the water and waste department as servicing of the site could be problematic, depending on the type, size, and capacity of the proposed building and the servicing that it would require.

The water and waste department will engage an engineer later this year to determine if the discharge point of the aqueduct drain line can be moved to a different location. The administrative report notes if it can be moved, the earliest the work can be done is in two years, although no explanation was provided.

Environment Canada is no longer using equipment under the pumping station to monitor river levels, a potential issue the city noted in the report.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Pumphouse+Presentation
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 16/07/2016 (2294 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By now, the surprising result of the recent U.K. Brexit referendum has fully sunk in. Analysts have now turned their attention to ferretting out lessons from this result for other democracies that use  or are thinking of using  referenda to address important questions of public policy.

As it turns out, Canada is one such country. The question here is whether the Liberal governments promise to reform Canadas electoral system should be put to the people in a referendum or simply approved by Parliament following some public consultation.

Writing in the Ottawa Citizen, political scientist Jonathan Rose decried the overall tone of the Leave camp during the Brexit campaign and concluded from this that any effort to reform Canadas electoral system should be accompanied by a robust information campaign so that calculating politicians are less able to mislead voters.

Not since the heady days of constitutional reform and Quebec sovereignty in the 1990s have referenda been on the minds of so many Canadians.

The Liberals argue that they won a mandate to implement electoral reform in the 2016 election, and so no referendum is needed. Further, the government has planned a series of public consultation efforts that they claim will better discover minority opinions than a referendum would. The Conservatives, in contrast, feel that any change to the ways in which governments are elected should be ratified directly by the people; therefore, a referendum is necessary.

Needless to say, there are arguments both for and against their useage in these situations.

The most compelling argument against referenda is they supplant and demean both parliament and parliamentarians, and indeed are inconsistent with the notion of indirect representation. According to one school of thought, the whole reason we elect MPs is so they can learn about complex topics, deliberate and render the best possible decision on behalf of their constituents.

Philosopher Edmund Burke argued citizens should accept their elected representatives unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience. Naturally, referenda are an intrusion upon representatives ability to do their jobs in this manner. Of course, in Canada, severe party discipline undercuts the extent to which MPs can make individual decisions about government legislation.

In addition, referendum advocates argue referenda do not demean Parliament so much as provide a counter-balance to the power of the state, ensuring that potentially Otta-washed representatives do not stray too far from the wishes of the people. In other words, referenda can be useful tools for correcting insulated, inward-looking elites.

The enraged reaction of many establishment figures to the Brexit vote suggests that the referendum accomplished exactly this task. Canadians soundly defeated the Charlottetown Accord in a 1993 referendum despite virtually every major political figure in the country supporting it.

One notable criticism of the debate over the use of a referendum in Canada is that both the Liberals and Conservatives are making self-interested instead of principled arguments. The Liberals, this argument goes, oppose a referendum because they suspect they will lose. The Conservatives support a referendum for precisely the same reason.

Do referenda tend to favour the status quo? It has long been thought that they do; that the lumbering masses voting yea or nay will typically cast their ballots against change.

The jurist Henry Maye, who was no friend of democracy, suspected that while citizens may initially favour change, when the law is before him with all its detail he is sure to find in it much that is likely to disturb his habits, his prejudices, or his interests; and so in the long run, he votes No to every proposal. On this view, referenda are seen as an enemy of change.

There is not, however, much evidence to support this view. The high number of unsuccessful plebiscites that accompany U.S. state elections (referred to as ballot measures or propositions) likely inflates the overall number of defeated referenda.

According to Ballotpedia, U.S. voters will likely vote in between 150 to 200 such ballot measures in 2016. These include two California ballot propositions that would ban plastic shopping bags as well as mandate the use of condoms in pornographic movies.

If anything, the Brexit outcome reminds us that voters in referenda can and do thumb their noses at the status quo and can use referenda to shake things up.

This may be one unexpected lesson of Brexit for Canada and the Liberals: dont fear a referendum, because the people can sometimes surprise elites by using them to bring about radical change.

Royce Koop is an associate professor and head of the department of political studies at the University of Manitoba.
Craft beer will gain another foothold in the Winona area, with construction on a new taproom and brewery under way.

Island City Brewing Co. on Winonas riverfront has its sights set on fall for an opening date. Partners Colton Altobell and Tommy Rodengen have been working since April on their new space at 65 E. Front St., in the unused portion of the Jefferson Pub and Grill building.

Altobell, a Winona native, said the two spent about six months looking at locations and deciding if it would be a good fit for the area. After deciding that yes, people in Winona would like more craft beer, the pair has been moving forward with creating a space and niche for their business.

Altobell said theyre trying to bring craft beer to larger audiences and cast a wide net.

Theres a beer for every pallet, Altobell said. I think people are just discovering that.

Both owners have previous brewing experience. Rodengen worked in several capacities with Lucid Brewing, now named Northloop BrewCo. and located in Minneapolis. Altobell also worked at Lucid Brewing and with Lakes and Legends Brewing Co. in Minneapolis.

Island City Brewing Co.is planning for a 15-barrel brewhouse, which would produce 30 kegs a batch. Aiming for a batch a week once they get into full production, they could produce 800 barrels a year.

The pair would also like to get into distribution of kegs and cans fairly quickly, and establish a few flagship brews to see how they take in the community.

Altobell said he had been fermenting the idea of opening a taproom and brewery since Minnesota legalized it in 2011 after years of negotiation. The so-called Surly Bill  named for the Minneapolis brewery that lobbied heavily for it  allowed breweries to sell by the pint on sight.

Since, conditions in the state have become much more conducive to the craft beer business.

In 2015, the state, Winona County and the city of Winona all approved the Sunday off-sale of growlers by brewpubs and taprooms. Growlers are usually 64-ounce containers, but can be in smaller sizes as well.

The wider community may get a chance to interact with the new brewery at the first Big Muddy Brew N Que, a sanctioned Kansas City barbecue competitive event thats sponsored by the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce, set for Sept. 4.

Island City Brewing Company is one of the sponsors, and while they may not be brewing by Labor Day weekend, Altobell said that with the proximity to the event in Levee Park, they may be showing off the new location.

Meanwhile, Island City Brewing is waiting on licensing at all governmental levels as construction continues, but the time period has been expected, and theyre using it constructively.

What that really does is give us more time to dial in our recipes, Altobell said.

The plan for the 5,000-square-foot space is to be split about halfway between the tap room and brewery.

Theyre hoping to serve both beer and soda, and create a family-friendly environment, Altobell said. And rather than creating just another bar, Altobell said, the hope is to establish a place where visitors learn about and try new brews and tastes.

Where beer can be a cultural experience instead of just a drinking experience, Altobell said.
KENOSHA  Accused killer Andrew Obregon, who eluded law enforcement officers from Racine, Kenosha and Illinois for nearly two weeks last fall, will face justice in Kenosha County, a judge ruled Friday.

Obregons request to change the venue of his upcoming trial on almost 30 felony charges was denied Friday afternoon in Kenosha County Circuit Court by Judge Chad G. Kerkman, according to court records.

Also unsuccessful were attempts by Obregons attorneys to suppress certain pieces of evidence in the case, according to court records. Obregon waived his Miranda rights, so the evidence was allowed, court records showed.

Kenosha County Deputy District Attorney Michael Graveley and Assistant District Attorney Carli McNeill objected to any change of venue, court records showed.

On June 24, Obregons defense attorneys requested the change and suppression of certain pieces of evidence associated with Obregons alleged 22-day stretch of crimes in September and October 2015.

His spree apparently began when he allegedly killed 37-year-old Tywon Anderson  Obregons alleged drug dealer  and left his body in a cornfield in Paris in western Kenosha County.

After Andersons body was found, Obregon was named a suspect and allegedly eluded Kenosha and Racine county authorities on several occasions.

On Oct. 13, Kenosha County authorities pursued Obregon south into Illinois, where Lake County authorities took over. There, Obregon fled east toward Zion, and was apprehended when OnStar  at police request  disabled the stolen vehicle he was driving.

A Zion, Ill., police officer apprehended Obregon after a 1-mile foot pursuit.

Multiple felonies

Obregon faces 27 felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. He also faces charges for multiple vehicle thefts and for robbing two Kenosha County convenience stores. He faces auto theft charges in Racine County related to the crime spree.

If convicted on all charges, Obregon would face a maximum of life imprisonment plus 439 years. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at a preliminary hearing last November.

Obregon, who is being held at Columbia Correctional Institute in Portage, appeared at Fridays hearing, court records showed.

Also at the hearing, prosecutors and Obregons defense attorneys, Kristyne Watson and Carl Johnson, were told to develop questionnaires for potential jurors, court records showed.

A hearing on the questionnaires is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 28, court records showed.
Teaching is natural for Luke Merchlewitz.

Ive just always known I was a teacher, Merchlewitz said.

But a week, at least, the second-grade Washington-Kosciusko Elementary School teacher will become a student again  a highly accomplished one  after being selected as one 35 teachers and educators from around the world to participate in the Agastya International Foundation Maverick Teachers Global Summit in India from July 17-24.

The international trip isnt a first for Merchlewitz, who around 2011 was named a Global Learning Fellow after being awarded for Teaching Excellence by NEA.

That experience landed Merchlewitz in China, where he was able to learn from fellow educators around the world.

It was the catalyst; it lit the fire, Merchlewitz said.

At the summit in India, Merchlewitz will be staying on the 270-acre creativity campus of the Agastya Foundation, and will be involved in discussions surrounding in math, arts, science and the discipline of teaching in a sustainable in an increasingly global world.

Merchlewitz admits that staying on the campus, completely immersed in the culture, is going to be a new and slightly uncomfortable experience for him, but one he sees the benefit from.

Thats okay, because thats what I expect my students to do, Merchlewitz said.

Merchlewitz said he is hoping to share some of his experiences with fellow educators, some of whom he has already connected with because they are also from the U.S.

Through the summit and his experiences, Merchlewitz said he is hoping to continue to broaden the four walls of his classroom further into the Winona community, something he has already began to do.

After returning to China, Merchlewitz reached out to businesses in the community who have international business models, in an effort to connect his classroom to his experiences and knowledge gained in China.

One of the first things, I connected with RTP and Fastenal in Winona and both in of those business pieces were phenomenal, Merchlewitz said. Just another door and window was opened.

Merchlewitz has also brought Winona State Universitys international students to his classroom to educate his students about other cultures and traditions.

But I still wanted more, Merchlewitz said.

Further connecting his classroom to the world through a Dare to Dream Grant, Merchlewitz and his students helped raise funds to build wells in Africa, connecting again with WSU and its facilities to learn about water and waste treatment.

Merchlewitz said he does not know yet what connections the trip to India might bring, but he knows there will be plenty.

Im excited to share my skills, Merchlewitz said. (Im) just open to the experience.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story imprecisely referred to the foundation that sponsored the summit; it is the Agastya International Foundation.
Sheila Link is new to Baraboo, but shes hardly new to American Family Insurance  or rural Wisconsin.

The Friesland native took over American Familys West Baraboo agency May 1, bringing 30 years of experience with the company. Link takes over an office that was long run by Jane Franzen, and was most recently led by Carlos Monroe. This marks the seventh time Link has taken over for another agent.

This is such a beautiful community, and theres so much growth happening in Baraboo, Link said.

She splits her time between agencies in Baraboo and Portage. Baraboo customers will find her in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Im just very excited about having two locations, especially in adjacent towns, Link said. That will give me a chance to get involved.

More transitions lie ahead for Link, her staff and local American Family customers. Jeff Janek is set to retire Oct. 1, and the staff of his east-side agency will move to Links office.

Juggling two offices, remodeling the West Baraboo agency and preparing for a merger has meant busy times for Link and her staff. She credits assistant Barb Zieler for keeping the Baraboo office running smoothly. When you have a knowledgeable, long-term staff, you can really do well, Link said. Any one of my customers knows they can call anyone on the staff and get their question answered.

Link is a former claims adjuster who has held a variety of posts at American Family, from district manager to sales director to agent. She moved her Madison agency to Portage four years ago. She and Jeff, her husband of 30 years and high-school sweatheart, live outside Portage.

She enjoys customer contact, and the variety of challenges her job presents daily. Every situation and every family is different, she said. It makes my career very interesting.

She said she received one weeks notice that she had landed the West Baraboo agency, and had considerable catch-up work to do.

We just kind of hit the ground running, Link said, crediting Zielers steadying influence. She has made this transition fantastic for me.

Its my name on the sign, but were a team.
After being absent from this space for a while, San Francisco makes a roaring comeback this week after the citys government passed the nations most extensive ban on foam products.

The new rules take aim at food trays, disposable coffee cups and packing peanuts. But all those things have been banned by other governments in other cities, so the progressive elites on the San Francisco City Council had to go one step farther to re-take their rightful place at the top of the Nanny State rankings.

So they banned pool toys, too.

Yes, those fun, funky and floatable pool noodles are made out of the same stuff as packing peanuts. That means theyve got to go, even though pool noodles arent (usually) the type of thing that youd use once and then throw away  like a coffee cup or a take-out tray  and theyre not produced in such massive quantities as to clog up the nations landfills.

The city says the ban will protect the environment because polystyrene foam (which technically is different from Styrofoam, a product not subject to the ban) is not biodegradable. Activists who pushed for the ban say plastic foam is polluting San Francisco Bay.

Back in 2006, San Francisco became the first city to ban non-recyclable take-out food trays. That measure became a model for other cities, including Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Seattle, all of which have passed similar bans.

A ban on take-out trays in New York City was overturned last year by a state judge for being arbitrary and capricious. The ban was neither environmentally effective nor economically feasible, wrote Justice Margaret A. Chan of the New York Supreme Court.

The new, broader ban on all plastic foam products likely will face a similar reality in San Francisco. As ABC News notes, the city cant stop anyone outside the city from shipping products packed in foam containers into San Francisco.

Thats why the ordinance is a sham, according to Walter Reiter, deputy director and legal counsel for the EPS Industry Alliance.

Its going to do nothing about the protective packaging coming in, he told ABC News. I dont know how it reduces their waste stream.

Ineffective it may be, but businesses in San Francisco will feel the effect of the ban. Getting rid of to-go trays and foam coffee cups will force businesses to purchase more expensive alternatives  though at this point its likely that the city elites imposing the ban dont notice the expense of anything anymore in the most expensive city in which to live in America.

The good news is that San Franciscans can continue to float around on their pool noodles for the rest of the summer. The ban wont go into effect until January.
Faith.

Family.

Friendship.

And scholarship.

When his bad decisions sent Tony Crescio to prison for a traffic crash that killed his best friend, those four concepts served as the foundation that helped him turn his life around and find his purpose  teaching.

I love teaching, Crescio said. Every time I teach, Im taught.

Crescio is currently serving as the director of youth and young adult ministry at St. Katharine Drexel Parish, but leaves at the end of the month to pursue a masters degree in theological studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He hopes to eventually pursue a doctorate degree and to work at a university.

Crescio said his work for the last year has been faith formation activities for students from eighth through 12th grade and young adults from 18 to their early 30s. He also worked for the Tri-Parishes of Dodge County and said it kept him very busy.

Its been great to serve the people in the area, Crescio said. An opportunity for me to give back.

Crescio said that while the number of young people in the youth program is not huge, those who are active in the church are passionate about their faith.

They are hungry for this, Crescio said. They are ready for serious ideas. It has been really edifying for me.

Crescio said faith can help people get through the tough times, but also learn to live life to the fullest so we can avoid those missteps.

He did not avoid missteps.

It was just before Christmas 2009, whenafter being pulled over twice in the previous nine months for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicatedCrescio chose to get behind the wheel again. This time he borrowed a car to head to a party with his friend Dustin Pugs Vredeveld.

They never made it.

While driving south of Randolph on Highway 73, Crescio lost control of the car while negotiating a sweeping curve. The car spun into the ditch, rolled onto its passenger side and filled with snow.

Crescio crawled out of the car.

Vredeveld did not.

Crescio was sentenced in December 2010 in Dodge County Court to 10 years in prison, with two and one-half years of initial confinement and seven and one-half years of extended supervision after being found guilty of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in July.

He pleaded no contest to the charge.

Crescio does not call the crash in 2009 an accident.

It was the ugliest kind of accident  totally irresponsible, he said. A life was lost. A life that was very dear to me.

Crescio received an early release from prison in 2013, two months before serving the two and one-half years.

The time I was in prison really helped me, Crescio said. I asked myself, How can I best help people?

He found his answer in his faith. He describes his life after the accident as a literal, come to God moment. Crescio said that in the months after the accident, he was feeling sorry for himself and guilt-ridden. He credits the Rev. Justin Douglas, then serving as pastor at Living Hope Community Church in Fox Lake, for helping me to get out of myself.

He really helped me turn to my faith, Crescio said.

Douglas, now serving as the lead pastor at a church in Pennsylvania, wrote that he met Tony when he was in a pretty dark place. Douglas wrote that he and others helped reminded Crescio that Gods grace is enough for even the worst wrongs.

Tony accepted that grace and it changed his direction. He is an extraordinary person who is doing amazing things for the community, Douglas wrote. I am proud to call him a friend.

While in prison, Crescio said his mother visited him every week, with his father and sisters visiting regularly, along with other family and friends.

My family was amazing, Crescio said. I feel so bad. A lot of guys I was in there with go a year without a visitor. The support I had was overwhelming.

Crescio said his family supported his distance learning studies as he earned two years of general credits, including buying him an electric typewriter so he could write papers for classes.

Crescio said he would do his in-prison job, spend time at the gym and use the rest of his day to read, study and write papers.

Its harder if you dont have support from outside, Crescio said.

He only had access to a computer once a week and no Internet access so he studied by reading.

It taught me how to learn, Crescio said. You learn so much by trying to find stuff.

Crescio applied to four colleges, and chose Marquette as it had the best theology program, to pursue his long-term goal of being a teacher. He enrolled two months after his release from prison and graduated in May 2015.

I love Marquette, Crescio said.

While living in Milwaukee, Crescio said he witnessed homeless people on the streets near his apartment. He said he actively destroyed his life and felt undeserving to have the support he has when he looked out and saw people who did not have any.

It re-emphasiszed the hurt that is in the world for me, Crescio said. What people need is loving service.

Crescio no longer drinks and said he has not had a drop since the accident, not even Communion wine. While the conditions of his probation forbid drinking, he said that is not the only reason he abstains.

Its not so much that I can get in trouble, Crescio said. Its the spiritual effect. For me, Ive got other things to do. There is so much life to be lived.

Crescio spoke about the culture of drinking in Wisconsin, especially among high school and college-aged young people.

It lends itself to the idea that there is no rush to get serious about life. We are supposed to have fun, and never ask ourselves the big questions. We miss out on an opportunity to ask ourselves what our purpose is, Crescio said.

Crescio said that with a six-year separation between when he first started college and returned to it, he saw that the party culture is still going strong.

The whole party/hook-up culture is geared toward mutual use, not mutual recognition of another, Crescio said. Its an ugly thing.

Crescio said he struggles with forgiveness. He will not ever say that he forgives himself and will never be cleared of blame.

Its easier to say God has forgiveness for me, he said.

Crescio said there is still life to be lived and he is actively pursuing his purpose.

If you are not doing something for the everyday person, I think you are wasting your time.

Crescio said he thinks about Vredveld every day.

We were more brothers than friends. The hardest thing for me, Crescio said, is I felt like I had an opportunity to care for someone and I failed so miserably at it.

Crescio started an online ministry called Fresh Image aimed at reawakening the recognition of the dignity of the human person within the culture. The ministrys message focuses on faith, respect, endurance, setting goals, hope and recognizing that every person is priceless, created in the image and likeness of God. To learn more visit freshimage.org.
July 19 at 7 p.m. there will be a meeting of the electors to restore village powers to the town of Fox Lake. This meeting will be held at the Fox Lake Town Hall on Highway F.

It is very important that the voters of the town come to this meeting and vote in favor of restoring village powers. This is a meeting called by the town board of Fox Lake as village powers are needed to be able to create certain ordinances and make amendments to existing ordinances. This vote will impact the town boards ability to create ordinances that best regulate and make amendments to existing ordinances that best regulate and protect future growth of the town.

One may ask the question, How did the town lose its village powers?

That is an interesting story. On April 23, 2016, the annual meeting of the town of Fox Lake was held. In the first vote of the meeting there was a count of 43 people voting. On the agenda for the day was the question relating to the board being given the authority to sell the old county building within the city of Fox Lake after there was a land division that would separate that old building from the salt shed currently being used by the town.

It was a beautiful day and with that being the only thing on the agenda after the vote was taken and the voters had agreed to allow the town board to sell the old county building for a certain amount, many of the voters left. They thought this was the only important vote to be taken, but they were wrong. In fact, at the last vote of the day there were only 23 voters left to cast a vote.

At this point in the meeting, when only the few voters were left, Mr. Ed Bentor said, I have a motion. My motion is that the town of Fox Lake rescind their village powers. Immediately Dale Paul seconded the motion. Some of us in the room, including the town board, looked at each other as if to say, What?

This was a calculated, devious, sneaky attack on the town board. It had not been put on the agenda, but most of the voters left in the room knew what was coming. There was some discussion and the vote was taken. Six votes were against this horrible move for the town and the motion passed by a majority of 22 votes. We lost our village powers. The town had been granted village powers in 1973 by the electors at an annual meeting.

Some might say, What is the big deal? Well, it is a big deal! Village powers broaden the power of town boards. A town board may exercise a comprehensive planning authority, the town board may act for the government and good order of the town, it may act for its commercial benefit, and it may act for the health, safety, welfare and convenience of the public. Village powers allow for police power in the town (we had our own police department) and they bolster the regulations and provide some insurance in case an action is challenged in court. A town with village powers may regulate land use matters such as the regulation of the storage of junked cars and reviewing a proposed site plan for an industrial use. According to the Wisconsin Town Association, village powers in other towns have required operators of a proposed landfill to notify the town so the town can get involved in the siting process; required permits for waste haulers; regulated nudity; regulated signage and driveway access.

In the future the town of Fox lake will need village powers to support good farming practices, keep our three lakes clean, keep our air pure, keep our property values up and keep our community a desirable place to live. The village powers cannot be restored without voters coming to the meeting on Tuesday, July 19, at 7 p.m. Voters, please come to the meeting and vote. What were Ed Benter and Dale Paul thinking when the motion was made and seconded?

Julie Flemming, Fox Lake Town Board member
Portage Schools have six teaching vacancies to fill ahead of the 2016-17 school year  a pretty good position to be in considering massive teacher shortages across the nation, District Administrator Charles Poches said.

Poches at the July 11 School Board meeting updated officials on progress the district has made in hirings  a search that began with 32 openings. Reasons given for the 32 openings were as follows: five openings were new positions; 10 were for retirements; four were for teachers not returning; one took an administrative position in another district; and 12 resigned to take new teaching positions in another district.

Poches said candidate shortages in Wisconsin are apparent in the high number of positions regularly posted on WECAN (Wisconsin Education Career Access Network). New postings Poches shared with the board were from June 22 to July 6 that included 230 elementary positions; 53 English positions; 56 math positions; and 108 special education positions.

For a two-week period  thats what we used to see in a (whole) summer, Poches said. This means theres more opportunities for educators than theres ever been.

The district would likely have more positions to fill, Assistant Superintendent Peter Hibner said, had the board not allowed administrators to move up time-frames for listing and approving positions. Thats all helped us a lot in getting out there early.

Poches said at this time last year the district was probably a little further behind in filling open positions due to late-summer resignations.

President Matt Foster said the district this year was committed to getting ahead in the hiring process after struggling to fill positions all the way up to the start of last school year.

Board members agreed with Poches that the national teacher shortage is largely due to new opportunities outside of education. Many teachers today have transferrable skills, Poches said, especially as it relates to technology, where many higher-paying jobs exist in the market.

I just think its become so competitive now, said board member Connie Shlimovitz. Can we get them in here? Can we get them to stay so they dont go down the road?

Its us versus the town next door, versus another region of Wisconsin, versus another neighboring state  I mean, its a no-win.

But then a general sense, Foster said, if youre out there looking for a career, there are opportunities in education. For those who might be interested, give it a shot.

Poches said todays market is so barren that some schools are now calling individuals who are not actively applying for positions  individuals receiving calls based only on their certification. The state of Wisconsin is not in a critical manner  were beyond critical in a shortage of staff and certified teachers.

The passage five years ago of Wisconsins Act 10  which stripped away most of the collective bargaining for teachers and other public employees  has created the Wild West, Poches added.

My fear is as the summer goes on the shortage will only get tighter.

Opportunities abound

Of Portages current teaching vacancies Poches said only one is in danger of not being filled  a half-time high school science position posted in May. Full-time science positions were difficult before, he said, but trying to find someone willing to take a part-time position will be even more difficult.

Poches said of the 12 teachers who resigned to take new positions, most chose to leave to be closer to home. Its often a matter of opportunity, Poches said. Erin Eslinger, for example, who had served as the dean/intervention specialist at John Muir, accepted a position to be the new elementary principal at Boscobel.

I think everybodys looking for something that fits their needs, maybe location, maybe money.

In a time when so much is based on choice, Poches said, theres only so much school districts can do. The majority of teachers Portage has hired this summer come from school districts smaller than Portage, districts that are not even close in comparison to where were at in salary or benefits.

We need to find good reasons for people to go into education, Shlimovitz said, adding it all goes back to Act 10  what she called the public bashing of education.

I could use myself as an example. I left public education  not by choice  but I didnt think there were other options for me. But, boy, you get your eyes open and you realize theres a lot more out there.

I think thats whats happened to everybody right now  good, bad or otherwise.
Wisconsin company wrestles with the FDA over an infant formula

Nikos Linardakis says the FDA has stymied efforts that he and James Esselman have made to launch their Bene Baby Co.s product.
RACINE COUNTY  Local delegates to the Republican National Convention say they are ready to help unify the party after months of discord about the presumptive nominee.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Bill Jaeck of Yorkville said late last week they were prepared to back Donald Trump. They both supported U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the April 5 Wisconsin primary.

Vos had not yet endorsed Trump but said he "assumes" he will vote for him, depending on how the week goes.

"I am optimistic that Donald Trump will offer a positive, optimistic, specific, conservative vision that people all around the country can rally around," Vos said.

Jaeck said he became more comfortable with Trump after he got the backing of House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose district includes all of Racine County. Jaeck believes Ryan could work with Trump on reasserting Congress' legislative power and liked that Trump comes from outside Washington, D.C.

"I actually view that as a strength now based on what's happening," said Jaeck, 64, a retired GE Healthcare employee.

Bound for Cleveland

Vos and Jaeck will be two of more than 2,400 delegates at the convention, set for Monday through Thursday in Cleveland, who will make their party's nominee official.

They will also be part of Wisconsin's big presence, with Ryan chairing the convention, Reince Priebus leading the party as Republican National Committee chairman and others, including Gov. Scott Walker, slated to speak.

Vos said he is "quite certain" the party will unify by the end of the week and put a tumultuous nominating process behind it. He dismissed reports about efforts to unseat Trump as the nominee, noting no alternative candidate has emerged.

"It's a whole lot of chatter and not a lot of reality," Vos said.

Vos also said he's excited about Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. He called Pence "an articulate conservative and somebody who is definitely going to remind folks why the Republican Party is the party of reform and ideas."

Vos has attended every GOP convention since 1996, except for one. But for Jaeck, who was elected delegate in a 1st Congressional District caucus, it will be his first time at a convention.

Jaeck said he views the week as a "lifetime experience."

"I'm eager to represent Wisconsin's 1st District on the national stage," he said.




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Ian Lucas: Iraq War Was Huge, Honest Error

This article is old - Published: Friday, Jul 15th, 2016

MP Ian Lucas says he got it right over his opposition position over the Iraq War, although a respected voting website notes he voted a mixture of for and against the Iraq War and against a subsequent investigation into it.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (full record here) Mr Lucas said: .I am one of the people who got it right. I sat on the Back BenchI was not called to speak, but I heard the entire debateand listened to the evidence presented to me by the then Prime Minister. I made my decision based on the evidence, and I believed then, as I believe now, that I made the right decision.

I want to talk about the context and where we found ourselves in 2003. It is very important that we remember what happened on 9/11 in 2001, because much of what we discussed in the period leading up to the war was seen through the prism of the attack on the World Trade Centre. As a new MP, I visited the United Nations in New York in November 2001.

It was an extraordinary time and the visit was a moving experience, but we could also feel the entirely understandable strength of feeling in the United States about what had happened. That resulted in military intervention in Afghanistan, which was broadly supported, not just in this House, but right across the world.

With history pointing to various pre-planned in the run up to the declaration of war, Mr Lucas notes an inevitable feel to decision: Immediately after the vote in 2003, there was, for me, a terrible sense of inevitability about the military action in Iraq. I am reminded of the fact that the historian A. J. P. Taylor talked about the importance of railway timetables at the beginning of the first world war. When approaching the vote in March 2003, I had that idea in my mind. It seemed to me that we were on a road that was leading to an inevitable conclusion.

Speaking of Hans Blix, the UN Weapons Inspector, Mr Lucas said: On 18 March 2003, he was asking for more time. On the basis of the information that I heard in the debate, I thought it was right to give him more time. That is why I voted in the way that I did and why I supported the amendment.

Interestingly, a couple of years after the vote, I attended a meeting in the House of Commons at which Hans Blix spoke. I recall that he said that, in March 2003, he believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. I had not known that on the day that I cast my vote, and it is extraordinary that he said it. It seems that he had a similar view to the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair: he had a genuine, honest belief. The difference was that he wanted more time to investigate it further, and the Prime Minister did not allow us more time so to do.

Referring to the now widely discredited WMD claims at the time, he said: I am quite certain that Tony Blair acted in good faith. In March 2003, I think he believed, like Hans Blix, that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Blame was lodged at the Conservatives by Mr Lucas, referring to backbenchers such as himself as being ones that held his own government to account, The official Opposition failed in their constitutional duty to ask the difficult questions and hold the Government to account. It was left to other parties in the House and the Labour Back Benchers to hold the Government to account.

The verdict of Mr Lucas on the Iraq War concluded with, On the main issue of taking military action in Iraq in March 2003, Tony Blair and the Labour Government made a huge, honest error. That is supported by the Chilcot report and is a conclusion with which I agree.

On the day that the Chilcot Inquiry was finally released, Mr Lucas tweeted:

Iraq War (10th Anniversary): 13 Jun 2013: On the day of Chilcot, why I voted against the Iraq War. https://t.co/AyNWtblnlx  Ian Lucas (@IanCLucas) July 6, 2016

The well respected TheyWorkForYou.com website he refers to also contains MPs voting records, including his own.

The TheyWorkForYou.com record calculates and states Mr Lucas Voted a mixture of for and against the Iraq war, and that he consistently voted against an investigation into the Iraq war.

On the six relevant votes included in the above calculation for the assertion made by the site, it breaks down as:

On 24 Sep 2002: Ian Lucas was absent for a vote on Iraq  Weapons of Mass Destruction

On 25 Nov 2002: Ian Lucas voted against requiring the support of the UN Security Council and the support of a vote of MPs in the House of Commons before the commitment of UK forces to military action in Iraq.

On 26 Feb 2003: Ian Lucas voted against saying the case for military action against Iraq is as yet unproven

On 26 Feb 2003: Ian Lucas voted to endorse UN Security Council resolution 1441 giving Iraq a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations.

On 18 Mar 2003: Ian Lucas voted to say that the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established

On 18 Mar 2003: Ian Lucas was absent for a vote on Iraq  Declaration of War.

Mr Lucas took part in a Labour rebellion on the evening of the 18th March joining 138 Labour MPs in backing the rebel amendment that opposed the Government stance on Iraq, voting to say the case for war against Iraq has not yet been established. That vote took place at 9.15pm (full text here via PublicWhip.org.uk) with Mr Lucas saying yesterday, On the information available to me, a Back Bencher, at the time, I voted against the Labour Whip for the first time, along with many of my Labour colleagues.

Later that evening after that vote outcome was declared MPs voted again on the second main vote (full text via PublicWhip.org.uk) at 10pm on the Iraq  Declaration of War. Mr Lucas abstained from that vote, so did not vote for it, nor against it.

The Iraq War subsequently started on the 20th March 2003.

Chilcot recently gave his report on the Iraq War, with this Guardian article giving an overview of the findings and Mr Blairs response.
On July 7, the Obama Interior Department issued the first US Arctic Ocean petroleum exploration drilling rules in history applying specifically to the remote Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic Oceans Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) north and northwest of Alaska.

The government will require petroleum explorers to submit a set of advanced plans for addressing drilling and spill accidents, including having capping stacks and spill containment domes on hand, documentation for ice formation and weather forecasting capabilities, and to post a spare relief drilling platform in the vicinity of the active rig in case of a primary well blowout.

The timing of the announcement is significant. It comes under conditions where the oil industry has no immediate plans for exploration or drilling in the Arctic Ocean. It is thus largely for show, aimed at obscuring the abysmal environmental protection record of the Obama administration, the Democratic Party, and its presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The Washington Post reported last week that Royal Dutch Shell had already announced the suspension of exploration operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas late last year, followed shortly by a similar announcement from Statoil, Norways global oil and gas giant, that it would for the present not explore offshore for sources in the Alaskan Arctic. The Post also noted that Obamas Interior Department cancelled two drilling lease sales in the Alaskan Arctic Ocean last year for lack of interest on the part of petroleum company bidders.

As the Hill online edition noted last Thursday, The standards...come despite the fact that no company is using offshore rigs to drill in Arctic federal waters, no company has any imminent plans to drill, and numerous companies have abandoned their drilling lease rights. The Interior Department rules apply only to exploration, not production, loading and shipping, and only in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

As Shells American media spokesman Curtis Smith remarked last week, ...its worth noting we still have no plans to conduct exploration activities offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future.

Given the fall in oil prices by some 70 percent from June, 2014 the New York Times on June 2 reported that presently drilling for oil is not profitable anywhere in the United States. The Times also noted that ExxonMobile recently announced record low quarterly profits and was subsequently stripped of its AAA credit rating.

The Times also pointed out that scores of oil companies have gone bankrupt in recent years, many decommissioning a majority of their rigs, and laying off a quarter-million workers, half of them in the United States. The article also cited industry predictions that prices of over $100/barrel would not likely return soon.

The Wall Street Journal noted the muted response of the industry to Interiors announcement, quoting Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute. This is an unfortunate turn by this administration and will continue to stifle offshore oil and natural gas production. The spokesman merely offered a mild complaint about the impact on the industry of compliance with Interiors rules, estimated at a 10-year cost of $2 billion, a mere pittance by oil company standards.

The Obama administration issued permits to Royal Dutch Shell in August of 2012 for exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea, and despite the companys predictions of a banner profit year, Shell sustained one setback after another, as reported by Thinkprogress.org.

Responding to the Interiors Departments new rules announcement, the CBDs oceans program Director Miyoko Sakashita said, Arctic drilling cant be made safe, period. These rules endanger wildlife and people both, with the false hope that companies can drill in these treacherous waters without spilling. President Obama should take his cue from the history of major, destructive oil spills during his tenure and protect Alaskas coast and our climate by halting all new offshore leases.

Sakashita is referring of course to the administrations series of decisions before, during and after BPs Deepwater Horizon 2010 catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, which exploded and burned on April 20 that year, killing 11 workers and gushing some 200 million gallons of crude into the sea over the course of almost three months.

Despite this, federal agencies issued some 1,200 or more hydro-fracking permits for an estimated 631 platform wells in the Gulf of Mexico from 2010-2014. The government also permitted the dumping tens of billions of gallons of extremely toxic fracking wastewater into the Gulf and exempted some 300 of the fracking jobs from environmental impact assessments.

Last week, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) noted that the Interior Departments own study estimated the risk at 75 percent of a sizable and significant oil spill under the hostile climate, sea and environmental conditions present in the Arctic Ocean.

Despite efforts costing some $5 billion Shells drilling sites choked up with ice and sustained multiple technical failures and permit violations while finding no significant oil or natural gas. Then on New Years Eve, Shells Kulluk drilling platform ran aground near Kodiak, Alaska, a fiasco that required a 500-plus person response effort led by the Coast Guard, working for more than a week in dangerous conditions to secure the rig. After assessing the damage to its equipment, Shell was forced to announce February 27, 2013 that it would not drill that year in that region.

Thinkprogress reports that Shell twice lost control of its Arctic rigs, failed to receive US Coast Guard certification for its oil spill response barge, and had its spill response equipment being tested in Puget Sound crushed like beer cans. Shell was cited for multiple safety and environmental violations, which the Coast Guard referred to the US Justice Department to assess for potential civil or criminal charges.

TP also noted the lack of the most basic infrastructure in the Arctic that would be needed in case of emergencies, such as roads, major airports, ports, hospitals, and adequate facilities to house and feed responders. The nearest permanent Coast Guard facility is more than 1,000 miles away in Kodiak, Alaska, and the United States currently operates just one functional icebreaking vessel... TP also notes that the Alaskan Arctic is characterized by extreme cold, extended seasons of darkness, hurricane-strength storms, and pervasive fog--all affecting access and working conditions. Further, there are very substantial gapes in the scientific knowledge of the Arctic that would allow for the adequate preparation for safe petroleum exploration in that challenging environment.

The insurance giant Lloyds of London issued a caution of unique and hard-to-manage risk(s) to potential Arctic Ocean petroleum clients. The German bank WestLB announced in 2011 that it would refuse financing for Arctic seas exploration, saying the risks and cost are simply too high. The French oil and gas giant Total SA, the fifth largest in the world, announced it would not bid for leases because an accident would be a disaster.
The report by Sir John Chilcot into the 2013 Iraq War begins by stating, In 2003, for the first time since the Second World War, the United Kingdom took part in an opposed invasion and fullscale occupation of a sovereign State  Iraq.

But no consequences are intended to flow from this criminal act. The inquiry was given no legal powers by the then Labour government of Gordon Brown who commissioned it seven long years ago.

The World Socialist Web Site noted that the report was damning and provided a devastating confirmation of the illegal character of the war and the criminal role of those officials, both British and American, who organized and led itabove all, then Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President George W. Bush and their inner circles.

On the release of the 2.6 million-word report just 10 days ago, MPs were unable to respond immediately, as they were only given access to it three hours earlier. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron said that, given its importance, he would make provision for two full days of debate in parliament the following week.

In the event, this weeks parliamentary debate demonstrated that the ruling elite has no intention of allowing the wars architects to be brought to justice. The vast majority of parliaments 650 MPs responded with a big So what? as they absented themselves from the debate. On the first day, only 40 to 50 MPs bothered to show up, with sometimes as few as 15 to 20 MPs present for day two. In the course of the entire two days only around 50 MPs spoke.

It was not until the end of the second day that front bench members of both parties were even obliged to speak in order to make wind-up speeches. Neither newly appointed Tory Prime Minister Theresa May, nor, more significantly, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, participated. The media took the same approach. No national newspaper, including the Guardian, produced a full report of the two-day debate . With the exceptions of MPs from the Scottish National Party (SNP) and a few others, who made vague calls for Blair to be called to account, the debate consisted largely of MPs defending the actions of the Labour government and the Tory opposition, who backed them in voting for war.

When 81-year-old Labour MP Paul Flynn spoke in the Business of the House session that proceeded day two, he said, Chilcot has given its verdict. It is a thunderous verdict of guilty not just for one man but for this House, the previous Government, the Opposition and three Select Committees. We are guilty, and are judged guilty, of commanding our valiant troops to fight a vain, avoidable war

In response, other Labour MPs present walked out in protest.

During the debate, MPs stressed again and again that the main lesson from the Chilcot report was that it should not be used to prevent British troops being sent to war again. Labour MP Margaret Beckett, a Blair government Cabinet member who voted for the Iraq War and consistently voted against any inquiry into the war, complained of how the public are being given the impressionthat the intelligence services and the then Prime Minister knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction and deliberately misled the House. That is not true and was never true.

Labour MP Hilary Benn is another supporter of the Iraq war who is playing a leading role in the ongoing right-wing coup to remove his party leader, Corbyn. Last December, Benn led 60 Labour MPs, in support of the Conservative government, to vote for bombing in Syria, after they were allowed a free vote to do so by Corbyn.

Benn warned that the Chilcot report must not be used to prevent Britain going to war in further imperialist adventures. Citing the United Nations Responsibility to Protect, he said, That principle says that state sovereignty is not absolute and the international community has a responsibility to act in certain circumstances.

The debate was summed up for Labour by its Shadow Defence Secretary, Corbyn appointee Clive Lewis. Lewis graduated as an infantry officer from the elite Sandhurst Military Academy in 2006, and in 2009 was sent to Afghanistan for three months. With unintended irony, he described the debate as being in the very highest and noblest traditions of our country... One can tell how good a debate has been when Members find themselves nodding vigorously, no matter from which side of the House the points are being made. I think that that has happened quite a lot over the past two days.

Lewis was careful to praise the contributions of Beckett and Benn in the debate. He, too, used the occasion to insist that Chilcots criticism of the Iraq war must not act as an impediment to the predatory aims of British imperialism. Speaking in praise of a Tory MP who had similar anxieties, he stated that a holistic approach to defence in both soft and hard power was required and warned, that the continual budget cuts to the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] undermine our ability not just to respond to global security threats, but to pre-empt them.

I am not a pacifist, he stressed. All that was required in future was the highest standard of proof for taking our country to war.

The Chilcot report has served its purpose for the ruling elite, who always intended it as the basis for finally washing their hands of Iraq and moving on.

This is underscored by the fact that the government is refusing to release confidential advice senior officials gave to Gordon Brown about the remit of Chilcots inquiry, explaining why Chilcot was unable to rule on whether the 2003 war was illegal. The advice is being withheld, despite an information tribunal ruling ordering its release. Nevertheless, Chilcot stated that the legal case for UK military action was far from satisfactory.

Nothing was heard of the declared plan of Tory MP David Davis, backed by the SNPs Alex Salmond, to present a motion to parliament accusing Blair of misleading and being in contempt of parliament. This motion was supposed to have been presented to Parliaments Speaker, John Bercow, on Thursday. However, Davis made no mention of the motion in his contribution to the debate the previous day.

Even if the motion is presented, it must first be accepted by the Speaker for it to be debated in parliament before the summer recess on July 22.

For his part, Corbyn has refused to call Blair a war criminal or even to expel him from the party. He has said only that he would probably support Daviss motion. If such a motion were debated, most of Corbyns party would oppose any attempt to hold Blair to account. Emily Thornberry, Corbyns shadow foreign secretary and a human rights lawyer, said in the debate that any action against Blair would turn parliament into a kangaroo court.

The author also recommends:



The Chilcot verdict on Iraq: A war crime by British and US imperialism

[7 July 2016]


Two months ahead of the election for the state Senate in Berlin, there is growing opposition to the governing grand coalition, which stands for mass poverty, a housing crisis, corruption and bureaucratic arrogance towards refugees, the unemployed and all workers in the city.

According to the latest polls, only 40 percent of the population continues to support the two coalition parties21 percent for the Social Democrats (SPD) and 19 percent for the Christian Democrats (CDU). The state government has responded with a massive law-and-order campaign.

This is the background to the events in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, which made nationwide headlines last weekend. They were deliberately, and as is now clear illegally, provoked by interior senator Frank Henkel (CDU) and the police under his command.

More than a thousand police, including federal officers and police from other German states, were deployed in civil war-style against 1,800 protesters, who were protesting the partial clearing of an occupied building in Rigaer Street on June 22 and the constant police harassment that residents have suffered ever since.

According to reports thus far, there were numerous injuries on both sides, including 123 police, according to police sources. Some 86 demonstrators were arrested and over 100 prosecutions initiated.

The buildings owner is one of Berlins notorious property sharks, the property fund Lafone Investment Limited, which is based in the British Virgin Islands tax haven. It has been trying for some time to drive the residents of 94 Rigaer Street from their homes, collaborating closely with the police in the process.

Repeated unrest and police attacks have occurred in and around the building, which has been occupied since the early 1990s, mainly by people with rent contracts. At the end of 2015, the police declared Rigaer Street and the surrounding area an area with excessive criminality, i.e., a danger zone under the general law on security and public order, due to alleged regularity of politically-motivated crimes.

Ever since, police have conducted constant patrols in the district, carry out random checks on individuals and searched bags. On January 13, police stormed 94 Rigaer Street under the pretext that youth had fled into the building after attacking police. They searched the building from top to bottom, confiscated computers, bicycles and other objects and arrested residents.

Then on June 22, several hundred police intervened to clear the ground floor at the request of the ownerillegally, as the Berlin state court confirmed on Thursday. According to the court, the buildings owner did not present an eviction notice or have a court representative present when it was carried out. The rights of the complainant, the friends association of the bar located on the ground floor, were upheld by the court.

The property owners claim that they wanted to clear the ground floor so it could be occupied by Syrian refugees was rejected by the residents. We will not let ourselves be played off against each other, we are in solidarity with all refugees and fight for self-administered spaces for all, everywhere, a press release stated. The refugee assistance organisation Moabit Helps dismissed the claim as a cynical pretext.

The repeated police actions in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg are mainly being justified by the suspicion of acts of criminality and the radical rhetoric of anarchist groups. However, the reality is that the police and state are pursuing a deliberate policy. They aim to whip up a feverish political climate in the capital and push the political system further to the right, as well as justifying the establishment of authoritarian state structures.

Street battles against anarchist groups in Berlin are not new. They have been used for some time to justify the strengthening of police powers. In this, the police and anarchist activists essentially play into each others hands. The police exploit the political inanity of the anarchist groups and frequently influence their actions, either indirectly as a result of provocations or directly via informants and spies.

At the beginning of July, the Berliner Zeitung reported the arrest of Marcel G, who was involved in a series of arson attacks on vehicles after the June 22 evictions. He had ties to far-right circles and apparently collaborated with the police, according to the report.

The latest street battle bears all the hallmarks of having been deliberately engineered by the Senate. The court ruling on the June 22 eviction revealed that both the eviction and the deployment of 300 police, which Henkel initiated as protection for the property owner, were illegal. Only after these illegal actions was the protest called last weekend. The supposition is, therefore, that the Senate intended the massive and violent clashes with the police at the rally to take place.

A despicable role in the engineering of this orgy of violence (Henkel) has been played by the media. They sought to outdo each other last Sunday with sensationalist reports about the police action and the injured officers.

In a piece headlined Black July, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung correspondent Markus Wehner wrote, Left-wing extremists want to plunge Berlin into chaos, and his colleague Regina Monch remarked that the Senate was showing too much regard for left-wing terrorism. Der Spiegel complained of the lack of a concept within Berlin politics, which had failed in a struggle against violence. The Bayernkurier spoke of a summer of left-wing terror.

Leading politicians from across the country weighed in on the law-and-order campaign. German Chancellor Merkel demanded the unrestricted recognition of the states monopoly on force. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere declared in the Berliner Zeitung, The firm measures now required there will be fully supported by me. Christian Social Union General Secretary Andreas Scheuer called for more firmness against enemies of the state.

The escalation of police violence and the virtual placing of an entire district of the city under a state of emergency are aimed at strengthening supporters of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and preparing the ground for a right-wing government capable of suppressing the growing social opposition among the population in Berlin.

Interior senator Henkel even travelled to China in April in order to learn about the policing methods employed there; while CDU justice senator Thomas Heilmanns appointment of AfD executive member Roman Reusch to the position of senior state prosecutor will ensure a right-wing hardline course in the judiciary.
In a test case of Japans new military legislation passed last year, Tokyo dispatched its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to evacuate Japanese aid workers in South Sudan. The newest nation in Africa has been riven by political and military strife since splitting from Sudan in 2011 with the backing of the US and Europe.

On Monday evening, three military C-130 transport planes left the Komaki Air Base in Aichi Prefecture for Japans only overseas base, in Djibouti, and arrived late Wednesday. By that time a chartered plane had left South Sudan, evacuating 47 aid workers from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to Kenya. Another 20 Japanese citizens remained behind. The Defense Ministry said it would assess the situation before deciding whether to send in planes to evacuate the remaining personnel.

There are also 350 Japanese ground troops working ostensibly to aid construction projects as part of the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). Japan first sent troops in 2012, but their role has continually expanded. In December 2013, Japanese troops provided South Korean soldiers, also part of UNMISS, with 10,000 rounds of ammunition in violation of Japans Peacekeeping Operation (PKO) law, which bans providing weaponry to third nations.

Last week fighting broke out in and around the South Sudanese capital of Juba between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing Vice-President Riek Machar. More than 300 people, including civilians, were killed in the violence before a ceasefire took effect Monday night. According to the UN, 36,000 people have been displaced. The clashes raised fears of a return to the civil war that ravaged the country from December 2013 to August 2015.

During the fighting, two Chinese soldiers, attached to UNMISS, were killed on Sunday evening in a shelling attack while on patrol near a UN compound. A UN source also reported that clashes took place near the Japanese militarys camp, according to the Japan Times. The renewed fighting, particularly with UN troops being drawn into the conflict, is significant. Under Japans previous PKO law, SDF soldiers could be deployed only so long as a ceasefire existed between the conflicting sides.

When asked at a press conference on Monday, before the new ceasefire went into effect, whether this was still the case in South Sudan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga replied: We dont consider that any armed conflict as defined by the PKO law has broken out in the operation area of UNMISS.

While cast simply as a mission to protect Japanese citizens, the situation provides Tokyo with the opportunity to deploy SDF forces under the military legislation passed last September, while simultaneously expanding its operations in South Sudan. Under these new laws, Japanese troops are permitted to take part in battles and accept larger and more aggressive roles, under the guise of a UN peacekeeping operation or in coming to the assistance of an allyin particular the United States.

At the same time, Suga was reluctant to invoke the new laws on Monday. The government is well aware that, despite its passage, legal scholars have denounced the legislation as unconstitutional. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party are pushing to revise the constitution to permit the SDF, which would be renamed the National Defense Force, to take part in wars overseas.

The latest deployment follows the killing of seven Japanese JICA aid workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh during an attack on July 2 claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The SDF deployment to Africa is designed to draw the least amount of public objection.

In the past, the Abe government has exploited terrorist attacks or threats to Japanese citizens abroad to further his remilitarization agenda. Following the deaths of 37 hostages, including ten Japanese, in the 2013 hostage situation at In Amenas, Algeria, the prime minister and his cabinet approved a bill, passed in November of that year, allowing the SDF to enter conflict zones, so long as the pretext of a rescue mission existed.

The hostage crisis in early 2015 involving Kenji Goto, a reporter, and Haruna Yukawa, a self-described military contractor, both murdered by ISIS in Syria, was similarly exploited to introduce and promote Septembers military legislation. Emboldened by its recent electoral victory in the upper house of Japans parliament, the Abe government will rapidly accelerate its remilitarization drive.

JICAs role is also an important one for Japanese imperialism. The aid agency allows Japan to expand its presence in countries, like South Sudan and Bangladesh, where China is vying for influence. In South Sudan, Chinas state-owned National Petroleum Corporation owns a 40 percent stake in a joint venture operating the African nations oil fields.

South Sudan was divided from Sudan under the pretext of ending a 22-year civil war. The true purpose of a 2005 peace deal and then the 2011 referendum on independence was to pull Sudan, and more specifically, the vast oil and mineral reserves located in South Sudan, out from under Chinese influence. Japan, no less than the US, is involved in this operation, relying heavily on economic aid to push its agenda against China in Africa. However, Tokyo is no less intent on using its military to achieve its aims.
200 Turkish soldiers surrender at army HQ

Turkey's state-run news agency says some 200 unarmed soldiers have left Turkey's military headquarters in the capital Ankara and have surrendered to police.
Owen Jones, the left author and journalist, finally gave his take on the right-wing putsch against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in his Guardian column Thursday.

In Labours right is a shamblesbut Corbyn has questions to answer too, Jones portrays himself as even-handed, someone prepared to pose the difficult questions that few on the Labour left are otherwise willing to acknowledge. But his pose of impartiality is a fraud.

Jones downplays the origins of Labours crisis in the efforts by the Blairite right-wing in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) to overturn the result of last Septembers leadership election, won by Corbyn with an overwhelming majority on an anti-austerity, anti-militarist agenda. While [s]ome on Labours hard right who launched the coup against Corbyn are opposed to his politics full stop, Jones says, there are many other MPs, including those on the left, who simply worry Labour would be defeated badly at a general election.

This is the same spurious justification utilised by the coup plotters. Jones claims are in marked contrast to the warning he made, on August 4, 2015, just one month before the leadership result. Should Corbyn win the election, he wrote at the time, he would come under attack from the media establishment, the Tories and much of his own party. That's because he presents a dangerous threat to the post-Thatcher political consensus.

Such would be the firestorm unleashed that Corbyn could face a potential strike by the shadow cabinet and Labour MPs, and an attempt by some members of the PLP to stage an instant coup, he continued.

Now that this has happened, Jones is at pains to deny it.

If the result is a shambles, this is only because the right have been desperate to avoid another leadership contestknowing they will almost certainly be defeatedand so have resorted to threats, mass resignations, bars on members voting, the suspension of constituency Labour Party (CLP) meetings and numerous other instances of gerrymandering.

Jones goes so far as to take issue with those pointing out that Corbyns detractors are motivated by opposition to his politics, especially their argument that in the battle between right and left people must pick an unambiguous position; anything else is capitulation and betrayal.

As for his criticism of the right, Jones complaint is not with the coup per se, but rather its timing. Why, he asks, didnt the right wait two or three weeks and launch a stalking-horse challenge instead of shutting down the workings of the official opposition in the midst of Britains greatest crisis since 1945?

This is just not good enough, he continues: if you cant mount an internal party coup effectively or competently, what hope of taking on the Tories?

There is in fact nothing accidental about the timing of this putsch. While the right-wing has long wanted to overturn the leadership result, the trigger for their uprising is precisely the greatest crisis since 1945 that has been caused by the seismic shock of the vote to leave the European Union (EU) in the June 23 referendum.

The Leave vote has accelerated the global financial crisis and the disintegration of the EU, presenting a direct threat to the strategic interests of the ruling elite in Britain and the United Statesespecially as regards NATO and its military provocations against Russia. It is this that is behind the decision of the highest echelons of the British state, in conjunction with the US State Department and the CIA, to mobilise their right-wing assets in the PLP. The aim is to expunge any trace of oppositional sentiment to austerity and war and reposition the Labour Party as the primary pro-EU, anti-Brexit partyaround which a supposedly progressive and globally oriented alliance can coalesce.

The professional purveyors of identity politics and postmodernism at the Guardian have functioned as the mouthpiece for this operation. Now Jones has been activated to play the role of Pontius Pilate and provide legitimacy to a right-wing political crucifixion.

Jones played a lead role in advocating a Remain vote in the referendum, portraying the EU as a progressive alternative to the nationalism and xenophobia of the official Leave campaign. He was the main speaker at meetings organised by Another Europe is Possible, an adjunct of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2015 (DiEM25), founded by Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister in Greeces Syriza government. Jones' central argument in favour of the EU was in fact that a future Corbyn-led Labour government would enable its reform and guarantee workers rights.

In reality, the support extended by Jones, Varoufakis and the Pabloite pseudo-left for the EU has nothing to do with concern for working people. It expresses the social interests of a section of the upper middle class who regard the EU as the most effective means of defending their class privileges through its enforcement of austerity and militarism.

Jones was prepared to bask in Corbyns reflected glory so long as this served his own ends. But his support was always conditional on the movement that has developed around Corbyn not jeopardising the status quo by leading to a genuine, socialist opposition to the Labour Party and the capitalist system it defends.

He makes this clear when writing in regard to Septembers leadership contest, The original expectation was that Corbyn would shift Labours political direction without winningmuch as Bernie Sanders has with the Democrats in the USand lay the foundations for a leadership challenge from Labours left wing new intake in a few years time.

Jones hoped that Corbyn would do a Sanders, i.e., use the groundswell of support he had built up on an ostensibly socialist platform only in order to deliver it behind a reactionary party of the state and its real leadership of arch-warmongers.

Jones has previously made clear that he did not expect Corbyn to win the leadership contest and didnt even want a left candidate in the race. Writing on August 29, 2015, he described how Corbyns success at getting on the leadership ballot filled him with nervousness and trepidation. Though he felt pretty much duty-bound to be helpful to Corbyns bid, he expected he would come third.

No one could have predicted this huge grassroots movement, that helped propel Corbyn into the leadership, he wrote.

Even at this early stage, Jones was advising Corbyn that it would not be enough to focus on issues that affect those at the bottom of society. A new Labour leader must make a pitch to the self-employed people and entrepreneurs, building a grassroots movement on positivity and inclusivity, love-bombing those who disagree, and certainly not attacking others as Red Tories and the like.

A prospective Corbyn-led government had to pick its battles, he warned, including recognising that the merits of NATO membership were so far from the mainstream of political debate, it would be pointless and self-defeating to pick a fight over it.

Just four days after the referendum, on June 27, Jones wrote bewailing the national crisis and political paralysis caused by the Leave vote and confessed that far more was involved than merely the expectation that Corbyn would lose the leadership race. Rather, he writes, There was a plan that, along with others, I subscribed to. The general election was scheduled to take place in 2020; two years or so before, a younger left-wing member of the new intake would take Jeremy Corbyns place.

Learning from the inevitable mistakes of the Labour leadership, they would present a fresh message that could resonate with a wider section of the country.

Who are the others that subscribed to this plan? Jones doesnt say. However, he continues, We have run out of road. A general election is now inevitable, whether it be later in the year or the spring of next year.

The implication is clear. Corbyn has to go and Jones will provide the rationale for the right-wing plotters seeking this end.
In an unremitting campaign of mass repression, Indian military and paramilitary forces have repeatedly fired on civilian protesters for the past week in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the countrys northernmost and only Muslim-majority state.

The official death toll, as of this writing, is 39, with young people between the ages of 16 and 26 accounting for almost all the dead. A further two thousand people have been injured, with some sustaining crippling and even life-threatening injuries.

Despite this savage state violence and the imposition of blanket curfews in many areas, large numbers of Kashmiris have continued to come onto the streets.

This latest bout of anti-Indian government protests erupted in the aftermath of the cornering and killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wanithe 22-year-old commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), a Kashmiri separatist and Islamist groupby Indian troops Friday, July 8.

Partly as a reaction against decades of state repression and violence, Kashmir has been convulsed for more than a quarter-century by an insurgency mounted by groups calling either for an independent Kashmir or its merger into Pakistan.

The past week of mass protests in Kashmir has rattled Indias government, which is currently led by Narendra Modi and his Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as it has once again exposed Kashmiri Muslims deep disaffection with the Indian state.

By the beginning of this week, Home Minister Rajnath Singh felt compelled to postpone a visit to the US, while Modis National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, cut short his participation in Modis four-country Africa trip to return to New Delhi to take stock of the situation.

Pakistan, which has manipulated the Kashmir insurgency as part of its reactionary geo-political conflict with India, has lauded the dead separatist leader as a freedom fighter, accused India of state terrorism, and intensified its efforts to internationalize its 69 year-long dispute with India over control of Kashmir.

As the fatalities mounted in Jammu and Kashmir this week, Islamabad approached the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and the European Union calling on them to intervene to stop what it cynically termed human rights atrocities in Kashmir.

On Thursday, Indias UN ambassador responded with a blistering denunciation, in which he indicted Pakistan as a state that uses terrorism as state policy, extols the virtues of terrorists, and provides sanctuary to U.N.-designated terrorists.

In a move that will undoubtedly enflame the already fraught relations between the rival nuclear-armed states, Pakistans government proclaimed Wani a martyr on Friday and announced that the country will observe a black day over violence in Kashmir next Tuesday.

Western governments have refrained from criticizing the Indian governments repression in Kashmir. The Obama administration essentially gave the Modi government a greenlight to continue using lethal force against civilians. On Tuesday, the US State Department publicly declared the disturbances in Kashmir to be an internal matter of India, although the Kashmir dispute has officially been before the UN since the late 1940s. Later in the week Washington issued a pro forma call for talks between New Delhi and Islamabad.

The USs blithe reaction to the state repression in Jammu and Kashmir is a further sign of Washingtons downgrading of its traditional alliance with Pakistan so as to consolidate an Indo-US global strategic partnership and integrate India into its anti-China Pivot to Asia. Recently, the Modi government finalized an agreement allowing the Pentagon to make routine use of Indian military bases and ports for refuel and resupply.

The Indian government has a long history of using deadly violence against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir. Half-a-million heavily armed Indian troops and para-militaries are currently deployed in the state, which has a population of less than 14 million. Under the Indian Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) they have sweeping police powers and legal immunity from prosecution. Under this blanket legal protection, Indian security forces have committed atrocious crimes with impunity over the past two decades, including summary executions, rape, arbitrary arrests and disappearances.

The anger of the Kashmiri population is not just directed at Indias BJP government, but also at J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, whose Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rules the state in a shaky political alliance with the Hindu-communalist BJP.

A party of Kashmirs Muslim elite that seeks self-rule, the PDP unexpectedly struck a coalition deal with the BJP after state assembly elections in December 2014 produced a highly-fractured result. A traditional also-ran in J&K elections, the BJP made gains in the 2014 assembly elections in Jammu, where the states non-Muslim population is concentrated, using rank communal appeals.

It was Mehboobas father, PDP-founder Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who played the chief role in stitching together a marriage of convenience with the BJP. Sayeed justified this alliance by claiming that the BJP had agreed to a common minimum program that would bring peace, prosperity and economic development. He subsequently became the states Chief Minister, only to be replaced by his daughter after his death last December.

Predictably, the promises of peace and economic development have proven hollow. Mass unemployment and poverty remain endemic and the central government and Indian military have refused to repeal or make any substantive changes to the AFSPA.

In the meantime, the Modi government has whipped up anti-Muslim communalism. This has included: venerating the 20th Century Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar, who declared Indias Muslims to be outside the Indian nation; encouraging BJP-led state governments to outlaw beef-eating; and excusing and covering up for anti-Muslim communal violence perpetrated by the BJPs Hindu nationalist allies.

So deep and widespread is the anger of the Kashmiri masses towards the PDP for its alliance with the BJP that very few people turned up for Sayeeds funeral.

By contrast, tens of thousands, especially young people, came out on the streets to mourn Wani. Under conditions where there is no progressive opposition to the rule of the Indian bourgeoisie, a section of alienated Kashmiri Muslim youth were attracted by Wanis daring defiance of the Indian government and its security forces. Wani regularly used social media, including video and Facebook posts, to promote the communalist separatist and pro-Pakistan politics of the Hizbul Mujahideen. Unlike other insurgents, he did not cover his face.

In the days that followed Wanis funeral, protests engulfed wide parts of J&K including the states summer capital, Srinagar, and the Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama and Doda districts. Angered by the brutality of the security forces, protesters attacked police stations, government offices and other signs of government authority.

Adding insult to injury, the security forces have boasted they are using non-lethal or less-lethal pellet guns to reduce fatalities. In reality the pellets, which form an explosive spray when fired, are inflicting horrific casualties, with scores suffering wounds to their eyes.

Indian authorities claim Burhan Wani died in a gun battle. But much of the local population believe he was hunted down, captured and then summarily executed, since for decades this has been the standard practice of Indian forces when dealing with Kashmiri separatists.

The horror that is contemporary Kashmir is the outcome of the reactionary 1947 communal partition of South Asia into an explicitly Muslim state of Pakistan and a predominantly Hindu Indiaa crime carried out jointly by the Indian National Congress of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, the Muslim League, and the subcontinents departing British colonial overlords. Partition precipitated mass communal violence in which more than a million people died; resulted in some 14 million people fleeing from one state to the other; institutionalized communalism in South Asias state structure, fueling the incendiary strategic rivalry between India and Pakistan that continues to this day; and led, soon after, to the partition of Kashmir into Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistani-occupied Azad Kashmir and the enforced division of the Kashmiri people.

Only an independent movement of the Kashmiri working class in an organic political partnership with their class brothers and sisters in India and Pakistan and animated by a socialist perspective can find a way out of the historic impasse created by Partition and seven decades of the reactionary rule of the Indian and Pakistani bourgeoisies.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, leading media outlets of the imperialist powers, in particular the New York Times, have been waging a campaign ostensibly directed at defending the Crimean Tatars from oppression by Russia.

The campaign reached a new high point with the victory of the Ukrainian candidate, Jamala, at this years Eurovision Song Contest. Jamala, who herself is of Crimean Tatar origin, won the contest with a song entitled 1944 that treats the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Stalinist regime in that year. That the jury awarded her the first prize was a transparent political maneuver, aimed at propping up the imperialist campaign against Russia.

Shortly after the Eurovision Song Contest, on May 19, the New York Times published an editorial, celebrating Jamalas victory and seizing upon it as a welcome opportunity to intensify the imperialist campaign over the Crimean Tatars. The author, Christina Paschyn, is an assistant professor of journalism at Northwestern University in Qatar. Her recent documentary, A Struggle for Home: The Crimean Tatars, won several awards.

In her piece for the New York Times, under the title Russia Is Trying to Wipe Out Crimeas Tatars, Paschyn warns, If the Crimean Tatars are to survive, Western governments must do more to help. This help, she explains, would include the following measures: recognize the deportation of the Crimean Tatars at the hand of the Stalinist regime in 1944 as a genocide, and step up sanctions against Russia.

Her case for harsher sanctions against Russia and stronger support for the Crimean Tatars rests on a mixture of historical distortions and omissions that deserve closer analysis.

The Crimean Tatars are a small, Turkic people that have lived on the Crimea for several centuries. As of today, the 250,000 Tatars living on the Crimea constitute around 12 percent of the peninsulas population. Far more Crimean Tatars live in the diaspora. According to official estimates, 150,000 Crimean Tatars are in Turkey and another 150,000 in Uzbekistan. About 50,000 Crimean Tatars also live in Romania and Bulgaria. Religious Crimean Tatars are for the most part adherents of the Sunni current in Islam.

In a manner and narrative typical of Crimean Tatar nationalists, Paschyn suggests some kind of never-ending historical conflict between Russia and the Crimean Tatars, dating back to 1783, when the Tsarist Empire annexed Crimea as part of its conquest of territories in the Caucasus and Central Asia. She writes, The Crimean Tatars have always been easy scapegoats for Russia.

Her essentially ethnic interpretation of the Crimean Tatars history requires her to blur the distinction between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Russian Federation, which emerged out of the Stalinist bureaucracys destruction of the USSR, referring exclusively to Russia.

Contrary to what Paschyn suggests, the history of the Crimean Tatars is not one of permanent suffering under Russian rule. The October Revolution of 1917 granted the Crimean Tatars, along with all other oppressed nationalities, full citizen rights and the broadest national and cultural freedoms. In a crucial decree from December 11, 1917, the Bolshevik government declared:

Muslims of Russia, Tatars of the Volga and the Crimea, Kirgiz and Sarts of Siberia and Turkestan, Turks and Tatars of Transcaucasia, Chechens and mountaineers of the Caucasus, and all you whose mosques have been destroyed, whose beliefs and customs have been trampled underfoot by the tsars and the oppressors of Russia. Your beliefs and usage, your national and cultural institutions are henceforth free and inviolable. Organize your national life in complete freedom. You have the right. Know that your rights, like those of all the peoples of Russia are under the powerful safeguard of the revolution and its organs, the soviets of workers, soldiers, and peasants. Lend your support to this revolution and its government. [1]

In the following years, as part of the so called korenizatsiia (indigenization) policy that was initiated by Lenin, the Crimean Tatars and the hundreds of other national minorities in the USSR were granted far-reaching national freedoms with state programs fostering the development of their long-oppressed cultures and languages. In the Crimea, a substantial number of Tatar-run schools, scientific institutions, museums, libraries and theaters, and a university in Sevastopol were opened. The Crimean Tatar language was recognized, for the first time in centuries, as one of the official state languages of the Crimea. [2]

To the extent that this does not fit into her narrative of a permanent conflict between Russia and the Crimean Tatars, Paschyn conveniently leaves this chapter of history out altogether. Instead, she exclusively refers to the crimes of the Stalinist bureaucracy, which arose under conditions of the international isolation of the October Revolution. Ignoring all historical context, Paschyn refers to the crimes of Stalinism, presenting them as yet another manifestation of Russian oppression against the Tatars, in order to create the false image of a historically permanent Russian evil.

The deportation of the Crimean Tatars, to which Paschyn falsely refers as genocide, took place in spring 1944. It is now estimated that 240,000 Crimean Tatars, including the elderly and children, were deported. Between 25 and 44 percent died either in the trains to Central Asia or from hunger and forced labor in exile. They were branded enemies of the people and not allowed to return to Crimea or even leave the place of their forced exile until the late 1980s. On the Crimea, many religious monuments and libraries of the Tatars were destroyed and their houses and villages were settled by Ukrainians and Russians.

The two bureaucrats responsible for these deportations were Lavrentiy Beryia, former head of the secret service NKVD and one of the bloodiest figures of the purges of the 1930s, and Ivan Serov, then first deputy peoples commissar for internal affairs in the USSR. Serov had already organized the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians in 1939-1940. Later, he was to become head of the NKVD and led its bloody crackdown of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.

The official justification provided by the Stalinist bureaucracy was that the Crimean Tatar people as a whole had collaborated with the Nazis, and they were declared a people hostile to the USSR. This was a lie. While there was collaboration among the Crimean Tatarsas it occurred in sections of all other peoples of the USSRtens of thousands fought for the Red Army and with the partisans. They too were deported in 1944.

Rather, it is likely that Stalin feared pan-Turkic and pan-Islamic sentiments in the southern Soviet Union under conditions of heightening social tensions within the USSR itself, and increasing tensions with the United States. Turkey, soon to become a key NATO ally in the region, was feared to be able to appeal to pan-Turkic sentiments among these peoples. Moreover, Stalin laid claim to the eastern Turkish provinces bordering the Black Sea, and it is possible that the deportations formed part of preparations for war with Turkey.

There is no question that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and the many other national minoritiesthe Chechens, Dagestanis, many of the Baltic peoples, and also hundreds of thousands of Poleswas criminal. It was criminal not only because of the immediate damage done to these people, but above all from a political standpoint. Fundamentally, the deportations under Stalin were an outcome of the nationalist reaction against the October Revolution and the rise of a privileged bureaucracy, whose greatest fear was a mobilization of the working class on an internationalist and socialist program.

If the Russian Revolution attracted and exerted tremendous influence on the oppressed peoples of the Arab World, Africa and Latin America, precisely because of the extraordinary attention Lenin and the Bolsheviks paid to their problems, the national oppression, the purges and the deportation of entire peoples under Stalinism dealt a devastating blow to the cause of socialism.

They discredited the Soviet Union and the October Revolution in the eyes of hundreds of millions of oppressed workers and peasants. At least as damaging was the conception of the collective guilt of entire peoples, which the Stalinist regime propagated not only with regard to the Crimean Tatars, but also in relation to several Caucasian and the Baltic peoples, and above all the German working class. This myth served not only to divert from the crimes of Stalinism that had helped Hitler come to power and invade the Soviet Union, it also helped divide the Soviet and international working class, obscuring the class issues involved in the struggle against fascism.

The resulting confusion and frustration have been systematically exploited by nationalist forces in and outside the Soviet Union ever since and have served as grist for the mills of imperialist propagandistsas is demonstrated by Paschyns piece itself.

Paschyn tears the deportation out of its historical context and speaks of genocide, implicitly trying to equate the crimes of Stalin with those of Hitler, specifically the Holocaust in which the Nazis murdered 6 million European Jews. First, it must be noted that this implicit equation is false. All recognized legal definitions of the term genocide include two conditions for its application, namely: (1) the murder of an entire people; (2) that it be systematically planned and enacted. Not the slightest evidence to prove either point has ever been put forward by Paschyn or anyone else.

Second, Paschyn, like all imperialist propagandists, uses the crimes of Stalinism not in the interests of the Crimean Tatars or any other people, but in order to cover up the crimes of imperialism, both in history and today. While she clamors about genocide under Stalin, she devotes no syllable to the crimes committed by the Nazis on Crimea, which included the actual physical elimination of virtually the entire islands Jewish population and two thirds of its Sinti and Roma.

German imperialism occupied the Crimea in both world wars and considered the peninsula of strategic importance for its broader plans to bring under its control what was then the Soviet Union as well as the Middle East. It was seen as a guarantee for control of the Ukraine and as a bridge providing access to the Black Sea and thus the energy-rich Caucasus and the Middle East.

At a conference on July 16, 1941, Hitler declared that the Crimea was to become a purely German colony, from which all foreigners were to be deported or evacuated. [3] The Nazis invaded the Crimea in the fall of 1941. For more than half a year, from November 1941 through July 1942, battles raged between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army over the port city of Sevastopol. The Battle of Sevastopol was one of the strategically most important battles of 1941-1942. Once the city was taken after a 250-day siege, the Nazis could proceed with their planned invasion of the Caucasus, whose main goal was the seizure of the oil fields of Azerbaijan.

The plans for an ethnic cleansing of the peninsula were swiftly enacted. Einsatzgruppen, special paramilitary units under the control of the SS, raided the Crimea and murdered most of its Jewish and Gypsy population within just a few months. The Nazis killed about 80 percent of the Jews and the so-called Krymchaks, a specific Jewish group that had been living on the Crimea since antiquity. An Ereignismeldung (Incident Report) from April 8, 1942, proudly noted that, with a few exceptions in the north, Jews, Krimchaks, and the Gypsies no longer exist. [4] The fact that around 30 percent of the Roma population survived is largely due to the solidarity of the Tatar population, which hid many of them and presented persecuted Roma before the Nazis as Tatars. [5]

In total, an estimated 27 million citizens of the USSR fell victim to the Nazi aggression against the Soviet Union, including about 1.5 million Soviet Jews and more than 100,000 Sinti and Roma.

Notes

[1] Quoted in: Alan Fisher: The Crimean Tatars. Hoover Institution Press 1972, p. 117.

[2] Ibid., p. 140.

[3] Quoted in: ibid., p. 152.

[4] Martin Holler: Extending the Genocidal Programme. Did Otto Ohlendorf Initiate the Systematic Extermination of Soviet Gypsies?, in: Alex J. Kay, Jeff Rutherford, David Stahel (eds.): Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. University of Rochester Press 2012, p. 271.

[5] Ibid., pp. 272-73.
A coup attempt by a section of the Turkish officer corps was crushed Saturday, local time, by forces loyal to the government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There was fighting between rival military and police units in both Istanbul, the countrys economic centre, and Ankara, the political capital. As of this writing, 265 people are reported to have been killed and many hundreds more wounded. Over 3,000 military personnel have been arrested and thousands of judges have been suspended.

The coup instigators, who appear to represent a wing of the military and state apparatus that has been sidelined by Erdogan and fears being marginalised even further, declared in a statement that their actions were seeking to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. Erdogan, who was on holiday at an Aegean Sea resort, used a FaceTime video call to a live news broadcast on CNN Turkey to denounce the putsch and call for people to gather in squares and airports to defend his government.

A WSWS correspondent reported early Saturday morning that, in the working class suburbs of Istanbul, thousands of people are in the streets in opposition to the coup and that he could hear jets in the air and gunfire nearby. Near Ankara, Turkish Air Force F-16 jet fighters shot down a helicopter operating in support of the attempted putsch. The Turkish parliament building in Ankara was bombed by the rebels.

The coup attempt was opposed by a large section of the armed forces, the main Turkish business federation, and, most significantly, by the Obama administration, which issued a statement in Washington in support of the Erdogan government. Within hours of the launching of the coup attempt, army units backing the putsch were withdrawing from the streets, while pro-government forces had retaken control of the main state television broadcaster, TRT.

The unfolding events are testimony to the generalised breakdown taking place internationally in the political institutions and mechanisms of bourgeois rule. Country after country is descending into turmoil under the impact of the intractable global economic crisis, historic levels of social inequality and the devastating consequences of the military agenda of US imperialism and its allies to dominate the oil-rich Middle East and undermine Russian and Chinese influence in every part of the world.

The failed coup in Turkey takes place in the context of the fallout from the Leave vote in the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and a political crisis in the United States over police killings and the possibility of Donald Trump winning the November presidential election. It follows the extension of emergency rule in France, an accelerating drive by NATO toward military confrontation with Russia, and immense tensions in Asia after an international court ruling that Chinas territorial claims in the South China Sea are invalid. There is no question that the uncertainty produced by global instability plays a major role in what appear to be reckless, even desperate actions being taken in ruling circles around the worldincluding the calculation by a faction of the Turkish military that the only way to stabilise bourgeois rule in the country was to overthrow Erdogans regime.

Erdogans Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AKP) has held government since 2002. It has presided over a massive economic expansion based on the deregulation and opening up of the country and its labour force as a base for low-cost production for transnational corporations. The capitalist elite has enriched itself enormously, with the top 1 percent of the population increasing its share of national wealth from 39 percent in 2002 to 54 percent by 2015. The working class and rural poor, however, have seen their living standards decimated. Even official statistics show that 22.4 percent of Turkish households earn less than the poverty line of $1,626 a month. Unemployment stands at 10.8 percent, or some three million people, while another three million workers have left the country to seek jobs in other areas of Europe.

Alongside the growth of social contradictions, Turkey has been profoundly destabilised by the collaboration of Erdogan and the AKP with the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and their central role in supporting the US-led civil war in Syria against the Baathist regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which is being carried out by means of Islamist militias, including Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Syrian war has become a debacle for the Turkish ruling elite. Thousands of Islamist militants have used the country as a transit point to join the fighting against Assad, while millions of people displaced by the carnage have flooded over the borders from Syria seeking refuge. In neighbouring Iraq, ISIS used the manpower and weaponry it gained with Turkish assistance to attack the pro-US government in 2014, prompting Washington to launch a war against the very Islamists it had been arming and to demand Turkish support. Russias intervention to shore up the Assad regime has led to open military clashes, with the Turkish air force last year shooting down a Russian aircraft, posing the prospect of all-out war between Ankara and Moscow.

Ankaras greatest concern regarding developments in Iraq has been the ability of the Kurdish regional authorities to utilise the crisis to vastly expand their territory, occupying the oil-rich Kirkuk region and giving aid to Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, who have carved out a de-facto autonomous region on Turkeys border.

To divert internal social tensions and pre-empt renewed unrest among Turkeys Kurds, Erdogan has carried out a brutal crackdown on Kurdish-based political parties and the Kurdish population as a whole. Adding to the instability, ISIS, which had legitimately viewed Erdogan as a tacit ally, has retaliated against what it views as a betrayal by calling on its supporters to conduct terrorist attacks inside Turkey. Economic growth in the country has slowed dramatically under the impact of the global slump and political uncertainty, and is expected to decline even further over the coming year.

The attempted coup by sections of the Turkish military will only raise the intensity of already explosive social and class antagonisms. The critical question, amid the crises and bloody infighting within the capitalist class, is the intervention of the working class to assert its own independent interests. In Turkey, as in every country around the world, what is paramount is the unity of workers of all ethnic and religious backgrounds in the fight for a socialist and internationalist solution to the failure of capitalism.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Thursday evening for discussions over a US-Russian military pact in relation to Syria. The pact had been proposed by the Obama administration in early July.

The Obama administration is, in words at least, holding out the offer of a common front against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Al Nusra Front, Al Qaedas Syrian affiliate. The White House proposal includes the establishment of a joint US-Russian command center, located in the US-allied Kingdom of Jordan, which would run integrated operations, supposedly coordinating military and intelligence operations in Syria.

Since Russia launched its bombing campaign in Syria in September 2015, Washington has accused it of focusing on the so-called moderate opposition, elements armed and funded by the CIA and US regional allies, who are in most cases in alliance with the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate and encamped directly alongside it. Moscows repeated requests for the Pentagon to provide coordinates for the so-called moderates, so that it could avoid striking them, have until now invariably been rejected. In exchange for the proposed American collaboration, Russia would scale back its bombing campaign, insist that Assad end most operations by the Syrian Air Force and accept a military cooperation agreement that would give Washington some degree of control over the targeting of Russian strikes.

In comments to media, the two, Kerry and the Russian president, issued dubious assurances that an agreement, in some form, was at hand. Putin expressed hope that progress and possible headway would emerge from the talks.

Hopefully, well be able to make some genuine progress that is measurable and implementable and that can make a difference in the course of events in Syria, Secretary Kerry said.

Whatever promises are made by the White House, it is impossible to believe that the US will engage in a serious joint bombardment with Russia against Al Nusra. Such a campaign would devastate the leading anti-Assad formation, closing the book on the insurgency fomented against Damascus by Washington.

According to Faisal Itani of the Atlantic Council, combined attacks against Nusra would effectively end the Syrian opposition, cementing Mr. Assads grip on power.

The Nusra group has functioned as an instrument of the US war plan since the beginning of the imperialist-orchestrated insurgency in 2011. Al Nusra has emerged as one of the most effective anti-Assad forces, and the proposed deal would bring American firepower to bear against the strongest anti-Assad military force and a sometime partner of Washingtons allies, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The White House proposals represent a tactical maneuver, aimed at salvaging the remnants of the anti-Assad forces, the backbone of which is composed of ISIS and the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra fighters.

Nonetheless, the fact that the Obama administration has offered such a deal is significant in itself, powerfully underscoring the disastrous position of the American-backed forces on the ground. The Russian-backed Syrian military is tightening the noose around the American-backed opposition forces, and Syrian Army units are encircling opposition militias inside the key city of Aleppo, trapping hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process.

A US-Russian coordination pact would enable Washington to manage and constrain the Russian air campaign, in a last-ditch effort to preserve some portion of the opposition until after the upcoming 2016 US elections. Once the political hurdle of the election has passed, a newly installed presidential administration will have a free hand to escalate the war, renewing the push against Damascus through fresh deployments of US ground troops and an intensified air campaign.

Whatever the twists and turns in its short-term policy, the American ruling class will never willingly accept the re-stabilization of the Assad government, or indeed the consolidation of any Russian-aligned regime in Damascus, which Washington views as an obstacle to US hegemony in the Middle East.

Factions of the US elite clearly remain committed to the violent overthrow of Assad, and deeply hostile to any compromise with the Putin government. As the Times noted Friday, the Obama plan has generated deep unease at the Pentagon and in some quarters of the State Department.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump announced Friday his selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his vice-presidential candidate. Trump and Pence were to appear at a joint press conference Saturday before traveling to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention, which opens Monday.

The choice was announced the day after the last significant resistance to Trumps nomination within the Republican Party collapsed. The rules committee of the Republican National Convention, meeting in Cleveland Thursday, voted by 87-12 against a measure that would declare delegates to the convention unbound, and therefore free to vote against Trump even if he had won their state primary or caucus.

Trump opponents among the convention delegates had hoped to get 28 votes for the resolution, which would have been enough to force a vote by the full convention on a minority report from the rules committee. As it developed, they were unable to attract even half that many votes.

The selection of Pence came after a protracted period in which Pence, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were vetted, privately and publicly, as potential running mates for the real estate and casino mogul.

Press reports, citing sources within the Trump family and his closest aides, said that Christies nomination was effectively vetoed by Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law. While US Attorney in northern New Jersey, before he became governor, Christie prosecuted Charles Kushner, Jared Kushners father, for fraud and sent him to prison.

Christie was also widely opposed in Christian fundamentalist circles because he was deemed insufficiently militant in his opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage and other social issues.

Campaign chairman Paul Manafort and other top Republican Party officials evidently favored Pence over Gingrich as a safer and more reliable alternative, carrying less public and private baggage than the former Speaker, a failed candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 who is now 73 years old.

Pence held an Indiana congressional seat for 12 years, from 2000 to 2012, before leaving Congress to seek and win a term as governor of Indiana in the 2012 election. He faced uncertain prospects in his reelection bid, virtually tied in the polls with Democrat John Gregg, whom he narrowly defeated four years ago.

In Congress, Pence was aligned with the ultra-right faction of congressional Republicans, serving as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the main grouping of conservative Republicans. He challenged John Boehner for the top position in the minority Republican caucus in 2006, and was badly beaten, before winning the third-highest position, as chairman of the House Republican Conference.

His political views were typical of the Christian fundamentalist right: support for militarism and the war in Iraq; hostility to domestic social spending and public education; furious hostility to abortion and gay rights. He voted for the war in Iraq in 2002, then opposed the bailout of Wall Street in 2008-2009 on free market grounds.

Pence gloated in 2005 that Hurricane Katrina had cleared the way for free market solutions in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast generally; toured Baghdad with Senator John McCain in 2007 and hailed the progress being made in US-occupied Iraq; instigated a bipartisan letter in 2010 demanding tougher sanctions on Iran; and introduced legislation in 2011 to cut off funding for healthcare services for women provided by Planned Parenthood and other organizations that also perform abortions.

By 2012, however, as Republicans aligned with the Tea Party faction became dominant, Pence found himself outflanked on the right. He eventually decided to leave Congress and return to statewide politics in Indiana, which would provide a better basis for eventual participation in presidential politics. He was widely mentioned as a possible contender for the 2016 nomination but ultimately decided against it.

A critical episode in derailing a Pence presidential bid came in March 2015, when he signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a state law that allowed businesses to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the name of their professed religious principles. After heavy pressure from corporations concerned about possible consumer backlash, Pence backed and signed a revised bill that caused some Christian fundamentalist groups to denounce him.

Pence oversaw the largest tax cut for corporations and businesses in Indianas history, and defended the states right-to-work law, passed under his predecessor Mitch Daniels, against court challenges.

He also drew fire from right-wing groups by agreeing to implement the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, albeit with a raft of punitive provisions, including one allowing the state to kick low-income adults off Medicaid for six months if they failed to pay premiums, as well as requiring recipients to pay into health savings accounts as a condition of eligibility.

It is doubtful that Trump was particularly concerned, or even aware of, many of these issues. Pences main attraction, according to some reports, is that he has close ties to the network of right-wing lobbies and funding groups run by billionaires Charles and David Koch. One top Pence adviser, Marc Short, was president of Freedom Partners, a major vehicle for the Koch brothers. Matt Lloyd, his deputy chief of staff, was director of communications for Koch Industries, the brothers principal holding company.

The Koch brothers are the most important funders of Republican candidates, but they have stayed on the sidelines in the presidential campaign, and have yet to express any interest in supporting Trump, whose campaign is trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton in fundraising by a huge margin.

The other attraction of Pence is that he is unlikely to steal the limelight from Trump, as Christie or Gingrich might have occasionally done. And he proved willing to engage in the flattery that seems mandatory for any Trump supporter, declaring at a rally Tuesday night in Indiana, that Trump is like no other leader in my lifetime since Ronald Reagan. This is evidently regarded as the highest possible praise in Republican circles, although for millions of working people it amounts to the greatest possible condemnation.
Anthem of our resolve

Remember when the ground beneath our feet shook and we thought that that catastrophe would change the way we think and act for years to come? It was as if all our greed, our hopes, and dreams were challenged by the inescapable reality of life. What good, after all, is greed, hopes and dreams, if our very existence is threatened?
Cylinder exchange scheme opens tomorrow

Kathmandu residents who were forced to buy cooking gas cylinders of companies based outside the valley during last years fuel crisis will be able to exchange them for local brands designated by the Nepal LP Gas Industry Association.
Richard J. Aguirre, 52, right, stands with his defense attorneys Friday during his trial in Franklin County Superior Court.Sarah Gordon Tri-City Herald
Assistant cook Ann Hoge hands out free lunch to kids at Kiwanis Park in Yakima, Wash., Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Yakima schools provides lunches to students in the summer. Besides school and community sites, they also deliver food to different sites with a mobile food truck. Meals are for kids ages 1 to 18. (SOFIA JARAMILLO/Yakima Herald-Republic)
YAKIMA, Wash. - A small group of people protesting circumcision gathered at the busy corner of Nob Hill Boulevard and South 16th Avenue. The California-based group is on a protest tour across the Pacific Northwest. (Ryan Miller/Yakima Herald-Republic)
Flood displaces nine families

Nine families of Parche-1 in Kaski district have been displaced after a flood in the Madi river started eroding farmland. On Thursday night, the swollen river swept away one house, said police.
Frenemies

What has Oli done for the country in the past nine months as our Prime Monster? Nothing! And what has the state given Oli in the past nine months? Everything!
Jacques Bahar wrote Anti-goyisme a Sion, a utopian text about a racist party that rose to power in the land of Israel, and of the public response that destroyed the party. Bahar was a representative of the Algiers Jewish community in the first Zionist Congress. At the same time, Theodore Herzl wrote a utopian document of his own utopian text, Altneuland (The Old New Land), which dealt with the statuses of foreigners in the state that would fulfill the Zionist dream. In an interesting twist, both mens texts combine the values of the enlightenment with their Zionism.

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It may be that due to the fact that Zionism had a naturally nationalistic element to it, both Bahar and Herzl felt the need to make it clear that nationality doesnt mean nationalism, and certainly not racism. In his most famous essay, The Iron Wall, Jewish revisionist Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky emphasized the dual principle of Jewish sovereignty and equal rights for minorities. This message may very well be derived from the core ideas of Zionism. Jews are entitled to a state, since theyve been oppressed everywhere else. However, Jewish thinkers added, we will not do unto others what had been done to us. That old traditional rule had become a part of the national mission.

Its doubtful that theres a single Israeli high school student who hasnt heard of Altneuland. And theres probably nearly none who are familiar with Anti-goyisme a Sion. If the Biton Commissions report leads to high school students ten years from now knowing about Bahars utopia, that wouldnt be ethnic segmentation, but a double blessing of Zionism and enlightenment.

Theodore Herzl. Bahar and him combined Zionism and enlightenment values.

I have no idea if Judah Halevi is a better poet than Shalom Shabazi, and whether or not Hayim Nahman Bialik is superior to either. I also dont know how the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra compare. It doesnt matter; its a matter of taste. Whats more important are values. People should be equal  values? Not necessarily. In terms of values, the East  and may Edward Said and his followers please forgive me  has been largely left behind. The sins of colonialism are known and can be discussed, but they are not the main reason for the inferiority  sorry, theres no other way to say it  of the Arab world. Because this inferiority also exists in places where colonialism was not really a factor.

The main reason for the gaps between the East and the West is the treatment of women. The higher the levels of equality for women in a society, the more it thrives, and vice versa. This is why ultra-Orthodox and Arab people in Israel are somewhat responsible for their own predicaments: improve womens' standing in your communities, and your situation as a whole will improve. For example, the status of Christian Arabs in Israel is much better than the average  due to womens liberation. Its not the exclusive factor, but its the most important one. So no, theres no need to return to the old ways as political parties such as Shas (the Jewish ultra-Orthodox Sephardic party in the Knesset, led by Aryeh Deri. -ed) say. Is that the Mizrahi essence? Its mainly the fostering of ignorance and superiority.

The problem with intellectuals of the post-colonial circles  of all ethnic backgrounds  is that they mostly deal in the externalization of blame. They free the Muslim, Arab, Mizrahi worlds of all responsibility for their situation. As far as they're concerned, the West is to blame. This school of thought has no ethnic basis. On the contrary, the post colonial school of thought was developed in Western academic circles. This is a destructive school of thought that, even if it occasionally has correct ideas, is mostly made up of deception, and self-deception.

The Hindus and Muslims came to Britain from the Indian subcontinent at about the same time and usually had similar economic status. They went through the same rough road of disctimination and racism. And despite this, the Hindus have managed, in the span of two generations, to reach top achievements in education. Theyve surpassed white Brits  and Jews as well, who have a cultural heritage of successful scholarship. In contrast, immigrant groups that have insisted on sticking to womens oppression and Sharia law have been left behind.

Those Muslims who have unchained themselves of self deception and self oppression have succeeded in the West as much as the Hindus have. Those who choose to stick with oppression shouldnt complain about being oppressed. Theyve made their own bed.

Most Mizrahi people in Israel have chosen the Hindu way. Theyve Westernized themselves, or, in Israeli-Jewish terms, Ashkenized themselves. Theyve mixed and mingled. And that means that most senior citizens these days have mixed background grandchildren. Thats not so evident in the film and advertisement industries. In those places, Mizrahi people are usually presented as being ignorant and simple.

Film critic Gidi Orsher and ad man Aryeh Rottenberg, who recently made waves by publishing stupid statements online, are distinct products of their professions. Rottenberg said that German Jews were like the Germans, meaning theyre superior, and that Miri Siboni Regev is a reflection of Morocco.

(Minister of Culture Miri Regevs maiden name is Siboni, and she is of Moroccan-Jewish descent. -ed)

Rottenberg should have known two things: First of all, the Germans did indeed speak of their own superiority, especially when compared to Jews. This was not a criticism of values. They didnt want the Jews to change their ways. It was plain racism, and we know where it led. And Second of all, he should have known how German Jews used to treat Eastern-European Jews, whom they considered inferior. But the Eastern-European Jews also made good: They too chose to embrace Western values when they came to Israel. The past is interesting on a historical level, but theres no need to keep our judgment on matters of values rooted there.

Todays Western culture, it must be said, is more humane, democratic, liberal, and enlightened. It used to include elements of fascism, Nazism, Stalinism, and racism. These have usually been beaten. Jacques Bahar, in his sublime writing, represents Western enlightenment. Rottenberg, in his miserable statement, represents the old Western racism which on occasion still rears its ugly head.
ANKARA- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation Saturday that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left 194 dead with 1,154 wounded.

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The dead include 104 rebel troops, 49 civilians, and 41 police officers.

Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country.

A senior Turkish official says a total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across Turkey.

Turkish rebel soldiers surrenduring (Photo: gettyimages)

Meanwhile, Turkey's presidency said on Twitter that another uprising attempt in Turkey could be staged at any time, adding that it was necessary to stay in charge of the streets.

Operations to take back control of the armed forces headquarters in Ankara were still underway, a Turkish official said. Police special forces and the military are securing the perimeter of the headquarters, the official said.

"Shots were fired by a military officer from inside the walls earlier this morning."

Turkey's intelligence agency headquarters were attacked by military helicopters and heavy machinegun fire during an attempted military coup overnight, wounding at least three people, an intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday.

Turkish rebel soldiers surrendering

The head of the agency, Hakan Fidan, was at a secure location throughout the events and was in constant contact with President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the source said.

The intelligence agency was still working with the armed forces, the police and the government against the coup plotters in ongoing operations in Istanbul and Ankara in particular, the source said.

Reports are saying that Turkish Military Chief Hulusi Akar has been rescued after being held hostage. He was previously reported as killed.

Meanwhile, 29 colonels and five generals have been removed from their positions as a result of the coup attempt. Additionally, 754 members of the Turkish Armed Forces were detained.

Addressing a crowd of supporters outside Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan told a crowd assembled there: "They have pointed the people's guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won't succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything."

A man lies in front of a Turkish tank at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo: Reuters)

Earlier, Erdogan said the government was arresting coup supporters in the military and warned "they will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey," according to a transcript of his remarks provided by his office. "Those who stain the military's reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups."

In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hand held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. People, some holding flags, climbed onto the tanks. Fifty soldiers were taken into custody, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

An official in Erdogan's office says at least 60 people have been killed and more than 330 people have been arrested. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, in accordance with government rules.

Turkey's Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz says 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey's military police command.

In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency Saturday, Lekesiz says 250 others have been arrested. He says clashes at the command are continuing but "are about to come to an end."

The report says Gen. Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey's command for the Aegean region, is among those arrested.

Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk airport early Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Hours earlier, as the coup attempt got underway, his office declined to say where he was, and he was forced to give an interview over FaceTime to a television station.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting Saturday, Anadolu reported.

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

Turkey, a NATO member, is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat ISIS, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A coup against the democratically elected government could make it difficult for the United States to continue to cooperate with Turkey.

US President Barack Obama urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and called for respect for democracy.

Civilians attacking a police vehicle with soldiers inside (Photo: AP)

The coup attempt began late Friday, with a statement from the military saying it had seized control "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated."

Fighter jets buzzed overhead, gunfire erupted outside military headquarters and vehicles blocked two major bridges in Istanbul. Soldiers backed by tanks blocked entry to Istanbul's airport for a couple of hours before being overtaken by pro-government crowds carrying Turkish flags, according to footage broadcast by the Dogan news agency.

But the military did not appear unified, with top commanders taking to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.

"Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this," Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.

Fighter jets under the control of loyalist forces were flying over the capital to strike at helicopters flown by coup supporters, the Anadolu news agency said. NTV reported that one helicopter was shot down. Gunfire and explosions rang out.

Erdogan called on Turks to take to the streets across the country, and many did, marching through the streets of Izmir and Istanbul, waving Turkish flags and gathering in the main square in Ankara. The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt. TV footage showed people running for cover amid gunfire.

Troops also fired in the air to disperse a growing crowd of government supporters at the Taksim monument in Istanbul as military helicopters flew overhead. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Several blasts and the screech of fighter jets were heard in central Istanbul as dawn approached.

At least 42 people were killed in the capital, NTV quoted the prosecutor's office as saying. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers. Turkish media broadcast images of plaster and debris strewn on the ground there.

Turkish attack helicopter (Photo: Gettyimages)

In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. NTV reported six dead had been brought to that hospital. An official at Istanbul's Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to comment publicly.

In his TV address, Erdogan blamed the attack on supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government. The cleric lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

By Saturday morning, a top Turkish official said the coup attempt appeared to have been repelled. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices. The official requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As the crisis unfolded, there were reports that access to popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook had been blocked within the country. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected "intentional" interference with its service.
July 15 () - An African general who served as Guinea's transitional president for a year after a military coup, Sekouba Konate, avoided being sentenced to a US prison on Friday for smuggling thousands of dollars into the United States.

US District Judge Gerald Lee in Alexandria, Virginia, fined Konate $5,000 and ordered him to forfeit $64,770 that had been seized, after the general pleaded guilty in December to charges of bulk cash smuggling and false statements.

Federal prosecutors had sought three years in prison. Steven Duckett, a lawyer for Konate, said by telephone the sentence reflected his client's work in Africa and his remorse.
Yedioth Ahronoth Security Commentator Ron Ben Yishai spoke in a special interview on the coup attempt in Turkey, and why it failed.

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"The coup wasn't supported by the entirety of the military  a large part of the military supports Erdogan, and even went out to defend his rule. If the rebels would have captured Erdogan at the beginning, (this failure ed) wouldn't have happened. The fact that Erdogan was able to make phone calls and send messages to the outside world and to his supporters really saved him."

"The big surprise," ben Yishai continued, "were the masses who responded to Erdogans call to confront the military. Most of the soldiers and commanders didn't want to shoot at civilians, especially when they saw huge crowds of them. Erdogan's political party has a grip on power  and when the military saw the Turkish people go out into the streets to support the president, the coup ended."

Israeli-Arabs in Turkey

Former Israeli Consulate General to Istanbul Eli Shaked says that the possibility of a coup has been hanging over the government for years.

"There are pockets of resistance to Erdogan's Islamist policies, resistance to the direction he's leading the country in, and resistance to his failed policies regarding how the country deals with terror"

Erdogan supporters gathered primarily in Istanbul. According to Shaked, "despite the fact that Istanbul is a super western city, there are millions of people who live in the suburbs who come from small villages throughout the country and who maintain their conservative and religious ways of life. They are natural supporters of Erdogan."

Turks protesting in the streets (Photo: EPA)

"I believe that there are also shows of support similar to the ones in Istanbul in (the Turkish capital of) Ankara," the former consul general continued, "otherwise the people who tried to overthrow the government would have succeeded in their coup attempt."

He went on to say that it seems that the conservative public are the real winners in this attempt, and those are the people who form Erdogan's support base.

Turkey expert at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) Gallia Lindenstrauss said that following this coup attempt, Erdogan is likely to be "more tyrannical in his actions. It seems that this attempt has also solidified his position as president for as long as he wants. The question is what he wants to do after consolidating his power."

"It won't be good for his opponents," she added. "There will be more suspicion and more background checks. Regarding foreign relations, we saw Erdogan taking a pragmatic line when it came to Israel, Russia, and Syria before the coup attempt."

A man throws a traffic cone at a tank in Turkey (Photo: AFP)

In contrast to previous coups, Lindenstrauss stresses that "this was just one well organized group from within the military. However, Erdogan has a strong base of his own, and the government was stable enough to keep the coup from succeeding."

Erdogan accused Islamic Cleric Fethullah Gulen of fanning the flames, thus leading to the bitter fighting and coup attempt. Lindenstrauss said "(Gulen) started off as Erdogan's ally for the first several years, but something happened and he became a traitor in Erdogan's eyes. However, he doesn't have strong connections with the military  he has more influence in the courts and amongst the police. The military is actually very suspicious of him. Therefore, Erdogan's claims (that Gulen was involved in the coup ed) are less believable."

She then went on to say that "the heads of the opposition parties were opposed to the attempted coup. Coups are not really very popular in Turkey. Even people who don't support Erdogan don't support coups."
ISTANBUL - Maritime authorities shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers on Saturday "for security and safety" reasons, shipping agent GAC said, after what the government said was an attempted coup by a faction in the military.

The Bosphorus is one of world's most important chokepoints for the maritime transit of oil with over three percent of global supply - mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea - passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also ships vast amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.

On Saturday, forces loyal to the Turkish government fought to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt, following violence and clashes in Ankara and Istanbul.
ISIS media outlet al-Aamaq reported that the terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Nice, France which killed 84 and injured over 200 as the French celebrated Bastille Day.

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The al-Aamaq statement read "The car ramming attack carried out in Nice, France was done by an ISIS soldier. He carried out this action in response to a call to attack members of the coalition who are attacking the Islamic State."

A short while later the terror group issued another statement, saying that the "crusader states" (the coalition and the West ed) aren't immune ISIS fighters.

The terrorist Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel

Van full of police bullet holes (Photo: Reuters)

Meanwhile, French police arrested five people on Saturday under the suspicion of being involved in the deadly car ramming attack. The terrorist's ex-wife was also arrested on Friday.

Police officials involved in the investigation said that the terrorist was known to the police as a common criminal with a history of theft and violence. He was not on any watch lists.

The vehicle used in the attack was rented out a few days before the attack took place.
Israel has officially responded to the failed coup attempt in Turkey via a foreign ministry statement saying "Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey" on Saturday.

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The message out of Jerusalem also said that it expects that the reconciliation process between the two countries will continue.

Other countries and governments added their messages of support for the Turkish government.

New British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey's "democratic elected government and institutions" in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

A man whips soldiers who participated in the attmpted coup with his belt (Photo: Gettyimages)

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to stay indoors, avoid public places, especially demonstrations, and remain vigilant.

It says "the situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are reopening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara."

British Airways says it is canceling all flights to and from Turkey Saturday, but budget airline easyJet says it plans to runs its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns. The airline says the schedule "will be kept under continuous review."

Meanwhile, Spain's acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo condemned the attempted coup, telling Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He says "without a doubt we support respecting the constitution and democratically elected institutions, and we condemn all coups without reservation."

Garcia Margallo spoke by telephone from Mongolia, where he is attending the ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting.

The Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogan's government, was also quick to condemn the military coup attempt.

It called the attempted coup a "violation of the constitutional legitimacy" in Turkey and said it supports all legal measures the government takes to maintain security and stability.

Soldiers involved in the failed Turkish coup surrender (Photo: Gettyimages)

The official Qatar News Agency said the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatar's support.

Qatar and Turkey have grown increasingly close in recent years, and share similar stances on their support for Syrian rebel groups and the Muslim Brotherhood. The two countries agreed last year to establish a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Additionally, NATO's chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are "safe and secure" following the attempted coup.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Twitter post that he had spoken to NATO's supreme commander, US Army Gen. Curtis M. Scapparrotti, who "confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure."

The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed "the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected gov of Turkey."

The exiled Syrian opposition congratulated the Turkish people for halting the attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said Turkey has protected its democratic institutions "in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will."

It says the Turkish people value democracy and "will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule."

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

Celebratory gunfire broke out across Damascus in the early hours of the attempted coup,. The government and its supporters view the rebels as terrorists and consider Turkey to be one of their chief sponsors.

Furthermore, terror group Hamas, which receives patronage from Turkey, congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for quashing a "vicious" plot to overthrow him.

Gazans celebrate Erdogan maintaining control following a failed coup in Turkey

The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas says it remembers Turkey's "wise leadership in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause" and working to lift the blockade on Gaza, the coastal territory ruled by the group.

Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the failure of the coup, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogan's image.
ISTANBUL- US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen on Saturday denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup in Turkey and said he condemned "in the strongest terms" the attempt to topple the government.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the government have said that Gulen's followers in the military were responsible for the attempted take-over on Friday night and early Saturday morning.

The government accuses Gulen of trying to create a "parallel structure" in the police, judiciary, media and armed forces, aimed at taking over the state, a charge the cleric denies.
Lt. Col. David Shapira, a brigade commander in the Officers' Training School and formerly the Kfir Brigade's Shimshon Battalion commander, was subjected in recent days to online curses and invective following the testimony that he gave against his former subordinate, Sgt. Elor Azaria, who is on trial for having shot dead Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, a neutralized terrorist, in Hebron. Shapira testified that did believe Azaria was speaking the truth following the incident.

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The commander is no stranger to dangerous situations. In 2008, Shapira heard an unusual noise outside his apartment in Jerusalem. He went outside with his firearm and found that a terrorist had entered the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and was slaughtering its students with a rifle. Police, who were already on the scene, stopped Shapira as he approached the yeshiva's main entrance, instructing him to wait for the arrival of special forces.

Shapira wasn't prepared to wait, and he managed to enter the building regardless. He identified the terrorist, who had managed to wound ten and murder eight persons, and shot him dead. He received a citation for his bravery and responsibility in saving lives.





The Mercaz Harav Yeshiva immediately following the attack in 2008 (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO)

However, Shapira now finds himself in a different type of public situation. On Tuesday, he appeared as a witness for the prosecution in Azaria's trial in the Jaffa Military Court. At the time of the shooting in Hebron, Shapira was Azaria's commander. In his testimony, which was consistent with his earlier statements during the IDF's initial investigation into the incident, the commander explained that he did not believe that Azaria was speaking truthfully when he alleged that he felt in danger when he killed al-Sharif.

A prayer book following the 2008 yeshiva attack (Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO)

The online response to Shapira's were disturbing. In a Facebook group called, "We're all with Elor" (with more than 43,000 members), a sampling of the invective included: "Piece of crap, you should be put on trial"; "Shame on the IDF that these are its commanders"; "I wouldn't want a commander like that for my kids"; "Shapira should die in battle A negligent commander who wipes the blood of his soldier for a promotion"; "To the devil with you, Mr. Coward Commander"; "You should take the kipah off your head; even God won't forgive you."

Some are calling the brigade commander "a traitor condemned to death." Omer Samani, a member of the Dror Israel Movement , posted a collection of some of the online insults. Samani wrote, "This is a worrying phenomenon in which one of the symbols of Israeli statehoodthe IDFhas also become a target for incitement and inflammation. It's sad that we've reached a day where even an Israeli hero like David Shapira is attacked in this way."

David Shapira arriving to testify (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

A statement from the IDF Spokesperson Unit said, "The expected norm for IDF officers and soldiers is speaking the truth and giving truthful testimony. The trial in the military court concerning Sgt. Elor Azaria must be permitted to be run according to the accepted rules and without external intervention, and witnesses for the prosecution and the defense must be permitted to speak the truth without worry or fear. Any attempt to apply pressure on those involved in the legal process is reprehensible.

Elor Azaria at the court (Photo: Dana Kopel)

"Lt. Col. David Shapira is an outstanding officer and has many years of operational experience. The brigade commander received a citation for his actions and bravery in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva terrorist attack."

The prosecution in the Azaria case, led by Nadav Weisman of the IDF Military Advocate General, concluded presenting its witnesses on Wednesday.
Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, a central educational figure in the religious sector, called LGBT persons "perverts" at a conference on Monday and condemned the IDF for having permitted them to insert their worldview in the military system. The revelation of his remarks comes at the end of the week following the cancellation of the Be'er Sheva Pride parade and the uncovering of homophobic remarks from the incoming chief rabbi of the IDF.

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The rabbinical conference that Levinstein was addressing was against "the reform of the "Effect of the reform of the State of Israel's identity." Levinstein said, regarding LGBT persons, "There's a crazy movement here of people who have just lost the normalcy of life, and this group is driving an entire country crazy. It's going into the army at full strength, and nobody dares open their mouth to speak up."

Levinstein is the head of the Bnei David pre-army preparatory yeshiva in Eli (north of Ramallah), through which most religious senior IDF officers have passed. As such, the rabbi normally takes a more stately approach to relations between faith and the army and is in close connection and cooperation with the IDF's upper echelons. He was a member in various committees that have shaped the IDF in educational and ethical matters, such as combining men and women.

Be'er Sheva Pride protest this week (Photo: AP)

At the rabbinical conference, Levinstein claimed that, until a few months ago, the value system of religious Zionism was consistent with that of the army and the state, but in recent years, he had identified a dramatic change in the state's identity and the IDF's values.

"In the military, this has the gravest consequences because at the end of the day, those who protect Israel are the soldiers who need to be determined about the righteousness of their path," he said.

The rabbi addressed the military's education regarding relations to others, criticizing the chef education officer's, Avner Paz-Tzuk, use of the Hebrew word for "proud" when referring to LGBT persons, which is common in Israeli parlance: "As part of pluralism, they educate the soldiers and officers about what he calls 'proud.' I don't dare call it that; 'perverts' is what I call them. At the Officers' Training School, there are lectures on perverts. Last year, we managed to stop them; we said that they were an infringement on the individual rights of religious people, but the issue isn't off the agenda."

"There were also movies on the matter. There were soldiers who walked out of the movies that were presenting the perverts' way of life who were tried (for it)," continued Levinstein, referring to the IDF practice of holding courts martial before a commander for soldiers' infractions, such as being late, refusing an order, or wearing one's uniform incorrectly. "By chance, the battalion commander (who tried them) saw the value in it and let them stay on the course and didn't kick them out, even though they refused the order to stay for the film."

Levinstein recounted a story of a soldier in the pilots' course who was allegedly forced to visit a center of the LGBT community in Tel Aviv, where soldiers were sent to volunteer. This apparently conflicted with the soldier's worldview and offended his feelings.

Levinstin accused the IDF of "eliminating" the Jewish Awareness Department in the Military Rabbinate, such that now the chief education officer is "the absolute and only authority in the field of values education, and he sets new values that we haven't heard of and our ancestors didn't hear of."

According to Levinstein, Paz-Tzuk is disseminating his pluralistic worldview amongst senior officers. He claimed, "There's an attempt to identify and mark religious soldiers, especially officers, with the religious-Zionist worldview of our school. I say these things unequivocally; there's proof. Senior officers say that in courses, they can't open their mouths; there's politically correctness. There's a system of values that is permitted to be expressed and a system of values that is forbidden to be discussed in the army. Every officer knows today that if he opens his mouth, he'll be marked."
Government decides to face no-trust motion

A Cabinet meeting of the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli government, which has been left without a majority in Parliament after the CPN (Maoist Centre)s decision to withdraw support, on Friday decided to face the no-confidence motion in the House, in yet another clear indication that Oli is in no mood to step down.
Hurfeish, Israel  Ibtisam Fares hunched next to a small outdoor oven, making fresh pita bread topped with spreads of za'atar, fresh red pepper, and meat. She brought them to an outdoor table already covered with local delicacies including humus, stuffed grape leaves, and an array of fresh salads, chopped just moments before. A jug of lemonade with fresh mint stands waited for thirsty visitors.

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Fares, a white scarf worn loosely around her hair in the traditional Druze fashion, hired two neighbors, both women, to help her cook and serve groups of mostly Israeli Jews who come to visit the town on the weekends.

"Since I was a little girl, I loved to cook," she told The Media Line. "My mother wouldn't let me help, but I watched carefully and learned everything from her."

Druze cuisine is similar to that of neighboring Syria and Lebanon and uses spices native to the area. Everything must be made fresh, and leftovers are never eaten, she said.

Ibtisam Fares serves breakfast.

Fares, who also works as a secretary in the local municipality, is part of a revolution of Druze women who are starting businesses that will not compromise their traditional lifestyle. The Druze, who live primarily in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, maintain a traditional lifestyle. That means that it is considered inappropriate for religious Druze women to leave their homes to seek employment. But there is no reason the work can't come to them.

Fares is one of dozens of Druze women who are opening home-based businesses in ways that do not compromise their culture. In some cases, the women are the sole breadwinners in the family.

A few blocks from Fares's home in this town of 5000 that is overwhelmingly Druze, a handful of women sit in a circle crocheting lace. Called Lace Makers, the women meet once a week to work on their projects. The walls are lined with delicate embroidered table cloths and baby clothes the women are selling.

"Our village was in a tourism coma for ten years," said volunteer Hisin Bader. "The only tourism we had was people driving through on the main highway (looking for a quick meal). But here, deep in the village, we had nothing."

They started in 2009 with five women, she said, and today have 40. They are in the process of opening a second branch.

The Ministry of Tourism is helping them, offering courses in entrepreneurship and helping with advertising. A ministry spokeswoman, Anat Shihor-Aronson, said that they support initiatives such as Lace Makers as a "win-win situation."

"The Druze have so much to offer anthropologically, culturally and culinarily," she said. "They are so authentic, and we want to encourage them."

The views from this town of 5000 in the mountains of northern Israel are stunning. The air is cool, even in the summer. Several families have opened bungalows for vacation rental, and in the summer they are full of Israeli Jews from Tel Aviv escaping the heat of the city.

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking minority who live throughout the Middle East. In Israel, there are about 130,000 Druze, mostly in the northern Galilee and the Golan Heights. Throughout the world, there are about one million Druze. They trace their ancestry to Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, who they say was the first Druze prophet.

Their religion is secret, focusing on belief in one God, heaven and hell, and judgment. Anyone who marries out of the faith is excommunicated, says Sheikh Bader Qasem, a spiritual leader and a descendant of the village's first spiritual leader, Sheikh Mustafa Qasem. They are cut off from their family and may not be buried in a Druze cemetery.

Sitting on a red velvet chair in the middle of the prayer hall carved from stone, Qasem described the danger of intermarriage for the Druze.

"Intermarriage today could lead us to extinction," he explained. "People always say that for love there is no border. In our community, there is a border."

Another unique trait of the Druze is that they are loyal to the country where they live. In Israel, all of the Druze men are conscripted, like all Jewish Israelis, although Druze women do not serve for reasons of modesty. Sheikh Bader's son is about to start his service in one of Israel's most elite units.

Many Druze men have army or police careers. Faraj Fares was the commander of part of northern Israel during the second Lebanon War ten years ago. He was responsible for the safety of tens of thousands of Israeli residents as Hezbollah fired hundreds of Katyusha rockets at northern Israel. Fares was asked to light a torch at Israel's Independence Day celebrations the following year, one of the country's top honors.

These days, he runs a mountain-top restaurant called Delicacies in the Orchard surrounded by plants and trees on a mountaintop outside the town of Rame. Fares said he wants guests who know how to slowly savor a meal, not bolt down a quick bite on their way to somewhere else.

Article written by Linda Gradstein
Howard William Billy Mayberry was born to William John Mayberry and Lilly Rebecca (Ottoman) Mayberry on Oct. 2, 1924, in a granary, because their house had burned down, on a farm located 10  miles east and south of Niobrara.

He passed away July 7, 2016.

Funeral services were held July 12, 2016.

As a child, he attended school at District 70 and Pleasant Hill District 69, walking to and from school every day. For a year, Billy and his family farmed and lived in an 8x12 shack and a tent near flat and barren Patricia, South Dakota. He told of a blizzard that came through and thinking the shack would blow down, they moved to the tent. To stay warm, he slept between his parents while his sister snuggled in a sheepskin bag and slept on top of bed springs on the floor. After that blizzard, the decision was made to return to Nebraska.

Billy attended Niobrara High School, graduating in 1942. It was there he met a young girl wearing riding boots, green riding pants and a bright red jacket  Avis May.

On June 23, 1945, Avis became his bride in a quiet, candlelit ceremony at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Yankton, South Dakota.

Their first home was located in what was called the Devils Nest, a secluded area north of Lindy, Nebraska. During the winter, they were seldom able to get to town unless they drove across the frozen Missouri River. There was a small Russian colony located on the Nebraska side and when the river froze, they would scatter manure on the ice to make a road that was safe to drive on.

Many trips were made this way, until an early spring thaw came one year while they were in Yankton with their two small children. The colony folks on the South Dakota side assured them they could cross safely, but the closer they go to the Nebraska side, the softer the ice became. By the time they reached the bank, the muffler was chugging under the water and ice was cracking all around. During this time, Billy developed a love of flying and eventually bought a small piper cub which made travel in and out of the Nest smooth and easy.

Because there was no school, when the children became school age, the family moved to the Fred May farm, nine miles west of Niobrara. In 1969, they moved into the town of Niobrara. For many years, he helped his father organize and put on the Northeast Nebraska Threshers Reunion east of Niobrara.

Billy was a life member of the Niobrara Lutheran Church where he served for a time as youth sponsor and many years on church council. He was active in the Masonic Lodge, Raymond Rippers 4-H Club, saddle club and served on the school board during the consolidation years.

He enjoyed farming and loved working with his cattle.

He loved music, to dance and to sing, but was unable to enjoy these things in later years due to his hearing loss.

He loved telling stories of his life to his children and grandchildren.

Most of all, he loved and missed his wife of over 67 years. Billy and Avis Mayberry are dancing together again . . .
KC-135 on approach during RIMPAC 2016

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM (July 11, 2016) Lt. Col. Ken Humphrey, a pilot with the 465th Air Refueling Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., turns a KC-135 while on approach to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, in support of Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercise. Humphrey and his crew fly and operate KC-135s out of the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. The 507th ARW is the largest Reserve flying unit in the state of Oklahoma. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Grady Epperly)
Breaking barriers: Miller assumes command

Lt. Gen. Maryanne Miller has assumed the top role as the first female commander of Air Force Reserve Command.



During ceremonies at Robins Air Force Base on July 15, Lt. Gen. James F. Jackson relinquished command of AFRC. He led the Air Force Reserve since 2012, retiring from the Air Force with more than 38 years of military service.



Just before the passing of the guidon from Jackson to Miller, the 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. David L. Goldfein, spoke briefly on the historic events unfolding at Robins, home of AFRC.



Todays ceremony marks a very special moment in history for our Air Force, as well as Air Force Reserve Command, said Goldfein, an experienced command pilot who flew combat missions in operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Allied Force and Enduring Freedom.



When it came time to select the best commander of AFRC, the choice was obvious. General Miller brings a combination of applied and intense warrior spirit and a passion for the mission for airmen and their families, he said. Theres no leader who is more fit, focused or ready to lead the Reserve triad of citizens, airmen and families.



We all have a stake in your success and we will be with you every step of the way, he said.



Since 1948, Citizen Airmen have proudly served on every continent, in every domain, operating in countless locales. In AFRC, citizens are appreciated, airmen are valued and families thrive, said Goldfein, adding that long deployments from service sacrificed by airmen and their families have resulted in a special courage.



I believe in service before self, he said. This particular core value applies as much to our families as it does to those who wear the uniform.



Miller, a command pilot with more than 4,800 hours in numerous aircraft, including the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster, spoke of commitment and service, and understanding of what a life of service entailed in todays challenging global environment. Her career spans 35 years, 26 of those in Air Force Reserve.



To the men and women of the Air Force Reserve, today I take the flag of the Air Force Reserve Command, and just like you, continue to answer the call to serve our great nation, she said.



The strength of the Air Force Reserve is its unique calling, she continued, and as citizens are fully invested within its communities raising families. Yet while immersed in civilian careers, she said theres still a profound calling to do more.



When you serve, your absence at home, in your neighborhoods, in your offices, speaks volumes about who you are as an Airman, she said.



On the vision of the next four years in command, they include protecting our nations strengths, building on capabilities for todays fight, and shaping the force for the fight of the future.



With service in Air Force Reserve for over two decades, Miller has served in every status as full-time and part-time, even as a small business owner.



I have been in your shoes, and I know how hard it is to balance your life as a citizen and your life as an Airman, she continued.



She spoke of contemplating retirement from service at one time, once enjoying a career as a successful restaurateur. But following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on American soil, the veteran pilot explained that four months later she began serving full time again.



I want you to know that I appreciate you and the challenges that you face. I understand the call to serve and the hardships that go with it. I am honored to know you, I am honored to serve with you, but most importantly, to serve you, she said.



Miller joins a list of women accomplishing major firsts in the Air Force, including Gen. Lori J. Robinson, who in May assumed command of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command.



Another first included the appointment of Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, who became the services first female four-star general, who led Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, before retiring in 2015.


In pictures: Attempted coup in Turkey

Some 2,800 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, are arrested after an attempted coup fails in Turkey, in a night that the country's PM Binali Yildirim calls a "black stain on Turkish democracy".
Istanbul's airport reopens, flights resume after coup attempt

Turkish Airlines resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport on Saturday following a failed coup attempt while some foreign carriers canceled weekend flights.
Photo feature: Mass rally in support of Govinda KC

Supporters of Dr Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon who has been staging death fast demanding reforms in countrys medical sector, have taken out a mass rally in Kathmandu in support of the fasting doctor.
Missing boy's whereabouts still unknown

A boy of Patan Municipality-10 in Baitadi district has gone missing for the past one month.
Latest News

Washington, DC - Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State Ambassador David H. Thorne will lead the State Departments Innovation Roadshow to Colombia and Mexico from July 18-22. This Roadshow is a next step in bolstering support for entrepreneurship and follows a March 1-11, 2016 delegation led by Ambassador Thorne to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines as well as a separate March 14-18, 2016 Innovation Roadshow to four cities in India (New Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad) headed by Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin.

The delegation is made up of a diverse group that includes private companies, entrepreneurship non-profits, and financial investors. At each stop, the delegation will meet with government officials, business leaders, venture capitalists, students, and start-ups to discuss the challenges to entrepreneurship and the importance of supporting innovation.

On July 18, in Medellin, Colombia the delegation will hold a panel discussion at the Ruta N innovation center as well as meet with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and city officials. The Innovation Roadshow will move to Bogota on July 19 for a day of activities that includes a panel discussion at Universidad EAN.

In Mexico City on July 20-21, delegates will discuss entrepreneurship at the Escuela Bancaria y Comercial and meet with innovators at StartUp Mexico and MassChallenge Mexico in addition to discussions with businesses and government officials. The roadshow will wrap up on July 21-22 in Guadalajara, Mexico with a tour of the Eugenio Garza Laguera Entrepreneurship Institute at the Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and meetings with decision-makers and entrepreneurs.

The Innovation Roadshow delegation includes IBM, GE, Endeavor, Coursera, Private Advising Group, Elevar Equity, and Agora Partnerships.
Latest News

Washington, DC - The President spoke tonight by phone with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the events in Turkey. The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

The Secretary underscored that the State Department will continue to focus on the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Turkey. The President asked the Secretary to continue to keep him updated as the situation unfolds.
It often becomes painful when you are supposed to write the obituary of a man you loved and admired the most. Ask those who wrote Nehrus obituary. But as a cricket writer, I can say that its more painful to write a match report when the team you fancy, loses without giving a fight. I and my fellow sports writers in media are feeling the same at the moment. <br><br> The demand of my profession requires neutrality, but the passion, unarguably on certain occasions, gets reflected in work. You may argue on the neutrality part, but honestly speaking, a cricket columnist faces that situation quite often in his life-time. <br><br> Yours truly is now caught in a similar situation. Out of the eight matches, KKR has lost seven in a row. Somehow they have managed to successfully chase defeat from the jaws of victory, much to the disappointment of fans and cricket pundits. <br><br> Its not that the situation is unique for me as a cricket writer. I remember writing the match report when India went down to Bangladesh in a crucial tie in 2007 World Cup held in the Caribbean Islands. The loss meant India had to suffer an ignominious opening round exit, as the team failed to qualify even for the Super Six. The next day, a story which could have appeared on the first page saw the daylight on the last page with the header crying, Indian fans marooned in Caribbean Islands. <br><br> It is a similar situation for Kolkata Knight Riders fans in the Indian Premier League season 2 (<a href="http://cricket.zeenews.com/ipl09">IPL 2009</a>). Nothing seems to be going right for the team, either in the field or off it. What started as a difference of opinion between skipper and the coach grew into a big controversy. <br><br> A media war followed soon and Kolkatas two most trusted lieutenants turned into protagonists at war. There are numerous theories coming from all quarters, which go into analyzing the reasons for Kolkatas pitiful run so far. I have already mentioned one earlier in this column. <br><br> Then, before that reason could gather some dust, another one came to haunt the Riders. An anonymous blogger called himself a KKR player and created a furore, which shattered the team think-tank completely and that was reflected in their results. Blame it on anything: bad selection, poor cricket, lack of co-ordination, multiple-captaincy, Ganguly being sidelined, Buchanan given a free hand or, to some utter nonsense like not-so-sexy cheerleaders- one fails to heal the pain of Kolkata fans, who love both SRK and Ganguly and want their team to succeed. <br><br> Reacting to the consecutive defeats, a KKR fan wrote in his blog; Can SRK tell us why he cheated us? If Dada does not become a captain within two days, then I will not support KKR. I will only watch a KKR match if Dada is there and will continue to support only Dada, not KKR. I suggested to SRK not come to Kolkata please, because if he comes here, I am sure that he would get a pair of shoes on his face like George Bush. <br><br> Of course, I was putting my money on KKR and the jury is still out on its performance. A friend earlier suggested, "These are different times, and with so much money at stake no one can afford to lose. At least the corporate sector believes that if a product is not delivering, then it is better to withdraw it from the market." Alas! He speaks the truth. <br><br> Just like its management, the game of cricket has changed. Gone are the days when one could see players like Zaheer Abbas crafting a memorable century with his deft touches as the packed Sydney crowd clapped in appreciation? <br><br> Its the T20 era where commentators shout at you if the batsman has hit a six or four. Soft touches have become a thing of the past and batting is all about power hitting. Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar of KKR learnt the lesson the hard-way. <br><br> The trend continues among fans and sports lovers as well. Defeat is no longer digested somberly; proper protest marches follow it. Fan clubs sprout up on the Internet and signature campaigns are held in order to thrust opinions. If stone pelting was not enough, players have taken the task of slapping each other. Times are changing, for sure. <br><br> But one thing has remained the same in sports and I think all our readers would agree to what Benito Mussolinis Foreign Minister and son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano once said, Victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan. <br><br> Ask any one in the KKR camp and you will realize how true Ciano was.
NC, Maoist Centre block budget endorsement

After the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre) stood firm on not letting the Legislature-Parliament endorse three subsidiary bills related to the fiscal budget until a decision on a no-confidence motion filed by the two parties is taken, Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar postponed Fridays scheduled House meeting until July 21.
Puducherry: Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today said modernisation of police force would be done soon with the help of funds available from the Centre.

Beat constables would be trained in using computers and the personnel would be trained in a phased manner to cover all the constables in a year`s time.

Handing over cash awards and commendation certificates to beat constables and Inspectors of Police of all the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam in recognition of their meritorious work in detection of crimes at a function here today the Lt Governor said that beat constables "are eyes and ears" of the government and their work would be immensely helpful for prevention of crimes.

She said that she would hold meetings with beat constables once in three months and she would soon hold meetings with Investigation officers to get feed back from them for introduction of reforms.

Bedi said she had also plan to offer education and introduce skill development programmes to the convicts as soon as they came out of prison after serving imprisonment so that they would not relapse into committing crimes again.
New Delhi: The post of Governor of states should be abolished as the existing federal democratic structure does not warrant its continuance, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Saturday.

His remarks at the Inter-State Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi came against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's severe criticism of the Arunachal Pradesh Governor over dismissal of the Congress government in the state and some opposition-ruled states accusing the occupants in Raj Bhawans of working politically at the Centre's behest.

The JD(U) President added that if it is not possible to do away with the constitutional post, the discretionary powers that go with it be curtailed. He also said the Chief Minister of a state should have a role in the appointment and removal of the Governor.

"Existing federal democratic structure does not warrant continuance of the gubernatorial post. However, if it is not possible to do away with it, then our opinion is that provisions relating to the appointment of Governor must be clearly defined and made transparent.

"Besides, the Chief Minister of the state should also be consulted and the criteria laid down by Sarkaria Commission should be followed in the Governor's appointment. The propensity to change the Governor, whenever a new Government is formed must be curbed by making constitutional provisions," he said.

The state's Chief Minister must be formally consulted before removal of incumbent Governor and, if required, Article 155 of the Constitution may be amended to provide for such consultation, he added, according to an official statement.

Referring to the Punchhi Commission report on the Centre- state relations, he said it has also recommended that for a Chief Minister's removal, the Governor must give the Leader of the House an opportunity to prove majority on the floor of the House.

"This must be followed in letter and spirit," he said.

The Modi government's decision to impose President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand invited criticism that it misused constitutional provisions. The apex court's verdicts in both the cases led to the restoration of Congress governments.
Patna: A day after `Pakistan Zindabad` slogans were raised during a protest march here, a man was arrested on Saturday and raids continued to arrest more in this connection, police said.

Mohammad Taufique, a leader of Indian Momin Front, was arrested after the slogans were raised on Friday.

According to police, a march under the banner of Popular Front of India was organised here in support of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and AIMIM chief Asauddin Owaisi here on Friday.

"Some people in the march shouted `Pakistan Zindabad`... such a thing happened in Patna for the first time," a police official said.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said police have started a probe into the issue.

"Police are examining the video footage of the march," the police officer said.

Bihar police chief P.K. Thakur told the media that police are also taking assistance of central intelligence agencies in the case.

An FIR has also been lodged in this connection.
New Delhi: The Youth Congress and other frontal organisations including the Mahila Congress on Saturday announced the staging of a march on July 20 in the capital against the price rise of essential items in the country.

"The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi coined the slogan, `Abki bar, Modi Sarkar`. People thought that he would do something for the nation. But now people are frustrated as there has been four-fold increase in prices of essential commodities," Youth Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Brar told reporters here.

He said leaders and workers of all frontal organisations of the Congress would join the protest.

Chief of the All-India Mahila Congress Shobha Ozha also lashed out at the Modi government.

"Earlier when the price of `dal` had reached Rs 70 (during the Congress rule) Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders protested. But now the price is much higher," she said.

"People are now saying that Achhe Din (good times) will only come when Modiji leaves. Jumlas (Rhetoric) don`t fill stomachs," she added.


Nice: The man responsible for turning a night of celebration into one of carnage in the seaside city of Nice was a petty criminal who hadn't been on the radar of French intelligence services before the attack.

The Islamic State group claimed Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel as a "soldier" today, but what is known so far about Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry man with little interest in Islam.

The 31-year-old was born in Msaken, a town in Tunisia, but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbors described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife.

His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

In a news conference yesterday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

Bouhlel had had a series of run-ins with the law for threatening behavior, violence and theft over the past six years. In March, he was given a six-month suspended sentence by a Nice court for a road-rage incident.

His court-appointed lawyer, Corentin Delobel, said he observed "no radicalisation whatsoever," and Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Bouhlel was never placed on a watch list for radicals.

Records show that the 19-metric-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on July 11 and was overdue on the night of the attack.

About 25 minutes before the July 14 fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city centre.

Shortly after 10:30 pm, he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.

"It was such a nice atmosphere before this started," recalled Sanchia Lambert, a tourist from Sweden who had come to visit family in Nice.

Her husband, John Lambert, said the couple was almost struck by Bouhlel. "I saw his face," Lambert told The Associated Press. "He was totally focused.
Paris: The dreaded terror outfit Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in the Riviera city of Nice that killed at least 84 people.

News agency Amaq, which supports Islamic State said via its Telegram account, "The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State."

A Tunisian-born man zigzagged a truck through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing at least 84 and injuring dozens of children, an attack that plunged the country again into grief and anger.

The heavy duty white truck driven by a 31-year-old French of Tunisian origin drove into the crowd for two kilometres an hour before midnight on Thursday, crushing unsuspecting people before police shot him dead.

A shellshocked France found itself in mourning again after attacks on Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015 and the shootings and suicide bombings in Paris last November left a total of 147 dead.

The country has been in a state of emergency since November with heightened security, but the Nice carnage showed how vulnerable it remains to an attack by what appeared to be a determined individual.
Paris: Four men believed to be linked to the Tunisian man who killed 84 people when he drove a truck into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice were arrested overnight, a judicial source said on Saturday.

One of the men being held was arrested yesterday and three others this morning, the source added. The driver's estranged wife is also still being held by police.
Panaji: In a shocking incident, a 45-year-old French woman allegedly committed suicide by slitting her throat and that of a minor adopted daughter in the popular beach village of Anjuna in Goa, police said on Saturday.

According to Sub Inspector V. Kavlekar, the woman, identified as Sevorine Figerre, left behind a suicide note, in which she had allegedly blamed stress for leading her to commit suicide and killing her adopted daughter.

"Severina Figueiredo killed herself yesterday by slitting her neck vain with blade after smothering her seven-year-old daughter from Karntaka, whom she had adopted three years back," Anjuna Police Inspector Paresh Naik told PTI.

The incident came to light on Friday when one of her family friends visited her residence, he added.

Police said Severina's husband had gone to France and at the time of the incident, the woman and her daughter were alone in the house.

"A suicide note purportedly written by Severina in French was found next to her body. As per the note, Severina took the extreme step as she was under depression," the officer said.

Naik said Severina was in Goa on a tourist visa.

The bodies were sent for post-mortem, he said, adding a case under relevant sections of IPC has been registered at the Anjuna police station.

"We have sent both the bodies to Goa Medical College for post mortem and have also informed her husband about the unfortunate incident," Kavlekar told IANS.

The baby was adopted from a family in Karnataka's Bijapur district, police said.

The official further added that police learnt about the incident when Figerre's husband, who is in France, called them for assistance after his wife did not answer his phone calls on several occasions.
Chennai: Several Muslim outfits staged a protest here on Saturday, expressing solidarity with controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik and criticised the Centre and the Maharashtra government for trying to "stifle" the voice of a man of "peace and harmony."

The protesters, including from Social Democratic Party of India, criticised the governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra for trying to "stifle" the voice of a man of "peace and harmony" and said the launch of a probe against Naik was against the Constitution.

"Don't distort Article 25 of the Constitution," they said, adding that action against Naik went against its spirit.

The protesters said Article 25 provides one the right to profess, practice and propagate religion and it should not be infringed upon.

Several women among them displayed placards saying, "Dont distort the Constitution."

Protesters also raised slogans like "Don't insult a world preacher," "We support Zakir Naik," and also displayed placards blaming the BJP-led Centre for "religious intolerance and prejudice."

Naik, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, is under the scanner of state and central agencies for his alleged incendiary speeches.

Yesterday, he rejected charges that his sermons inspired terror activity and claimed that he has never encouraged anyone to kill innocents and that he would co-operate with any probe agency if it approaches him.

Talking to mediapersons in Mumbai via Skype from Medina, Naik, who is facing heat over charges that he inspired some of the Dhaka cafe attackers, condemned all terror attacks and dubbed himself as "a messenger of peace".
New Delhi: Anxious about the rise in global terrorism and frequent strikes including in neighbourhood, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged all Chief Ministers to rise above political affiliations and keep national security "paramount" while countering the terror menace.

He Modi also indicated that his government is keen to implement the Justice Punchhi Commission`s recommendations on the Inter State Council (ISC) to improve centre-state relations but hastened to add that he would prefer a "consensus" to start the process.

Addressing Chief Ministers at the concluding session of the day-long meeting of the ISC, being held after ten years, he asked the states to focus on intelligence sharing and asserted that "the union and the state governments in India cannot ignore what is happening across the world today".

"On this issue, he (Modi) urged all concerned to keep politics aside and keep national security paramount," said an official release from the Prime Minister`s Office (PMO) late on Saturday night.

His remarks came close on the heels of terror attacks in Bangladesh and France.

Citing his recent interaction with state police chiefs at their conference, the Prime Minister urged all Chief Ministers to follow-up on the discussions that took place there.

He stressed on maintaining a visible presence of police forces, and underscored the importance of a good CCTV network in curbing crime, adding privately-installed CCTVs are also extremely useful in this regard.

He also said that discussions on the Justice Punchhi Commission`s recommendations on the ISC were productive and it will continue further till "consensus evolves on the recommendations".

Modi thanked all the participating Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors for their suggestions and views expressed on various agenda items discussed at the meeting, and expressed happiness at the near-total acceptance of Aadhaar as a tool to promote good governance and transparency.

Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav (Uttar Pradesh), J. Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu) and Mehbooba Mufti of NDA-ruled Jammu and Kashmir did not participate.

The five-member Punchhi Commission headed by former Chief Justice of India, Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi submitted its report to the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram in April 2010.

Set up in April 2007, it had taken a fresh look at the relative roles and responsibilities of the various levels of government and their inter-relations, and among other issues, recommended that ISC needs to be "substantially strengthened".

It further had said the council must meet at least thrice in a year on an agenda evolved after proper consultation with states.
Prahlad Rijal is a business reporter at The Kathmandu Post, focusing on the energy sector. Before joining the Post, Rijal was an online reporter at The Himalayan Times.
New Delhi: Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released on Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry said here.

"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released today morning at 1030 hrs IST.

"Both have spoken to their families. Sharma's wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The duo - Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka)- were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.

Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act".
New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Saturday mocked the Congress and asked why it is so afraid of the National Herald papers.

The Delhi High Court has recently put aside a trial court order of summoning documents from the Finance Ministry and other agencies in connection with the National Herald case.

Swamy, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, on Saturday said in a tweet message that he would re-apply for the documents in the court.

NH (national herald) case on schedule. Complying with DHC (Delhi High Court) procedure. I will re-apply for same documents. Order on Aug 20th, Swamy tweeted.

He asked the Congress why it is so afraid of the documents.

Reacting to the Delhi High Court decision, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid had said: "This is something that we thought will happen. It was only a matter of time that all the celebrations that the BJP and Mr. Swamy were doing, I hope will now come to an end."

The trial court had earlier this year summoned various documents from the Finance Ministry and other agencies, including the Congress Party's balance sheet for the year 2010-11.

The High Court had earlier on April 18 reserved its order on the pleas of Congress leaders challenging summoning of documents from different ministries in connection with this case filed by Swamy.

A Delhi Court had on March 11 given its nod to Swamy's plea, seeking the balance sheets of the Indian National Congress (INC) and Associated Journals Pvt Limited (AJL) for the purpose of investigation in this case.

Swamy had on March 1 approached a Delhi Court seeking summoning of certain documents related to the financial details of Congress, AJL and Young Indian Pvt. Ltd.

In an application moved before Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen, Swamy sought to summon the balance sheet, receipts, income and expenditure statements for assessment years 2010- 11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 of the INC, AJL and Young Indian Pvt. Ltd.

Besides the Congress president and her son, Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda are the other accused in this case.

Swamy had accused Sonia, Rahul and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by just paying Rs. 50 lakh by which YI obtained the right to recover Rs. 90.25 crore which the AJL had owed to the Congress.
Jammu: Congress on Saturday lauded the role of security personnel in dealing strictly with stone-pelters and said the country stands firmly behind the security forces.

"We laud the role of the security forces in dealing strictly with the separatists and stone-pelters. The people stands firmly behind the security forces and the Army," J&K Congress leaders said in a statement here

They said J&K is an integral part of the country and any attempt by Pakistan or separatist forces to disrupt peace and harmony should not be tolerated.

At a meeting, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) expressed serious concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the Valley resulting into disruption of Amarnath Yatra.

The meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Sham Lal Sharma, senior vice president JKPCC

They expressed serious concern over the disruption of Amarnath Yatra and held BJP responsible for deteriorating law-and-order.
Srinagar: Shah Faesal, a celebrated IAS topper from Jammu and Kashmir on Friday lashed out at the national media for making him part of its sadistic propaganda and drawing his comparison with killed Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist commander Burhan Wani.

The angry reaction from Shah Faesal came after some TV channels, during their primetime shows on the ongoing Kashmir unrest, aired his pictures alongside Wani's bullet-ridden body.

"By juxtaposing my photos with the images of a slain militant commander, a section of national media has once again fallen back upon its conventional savagery that cashes on falsehoods, divides people and creates more hatred," Mr Faesal, who topped the civil services exam in 2009, wrote on his Facebook page.

While Kashmir was 'mourning its dead, the propaganda and provocation being dished out from red and blue newsrooms is breeding more alienation and anger in Kashmir than what (the) Indian state can manage,' he said in his Facebook post.

He threatened to resign from his post sooner or later if the nonsense continued.

"Personal vulnerability apart, the very fact of becoming a part of a ridiculous debate is something which has disturbed me very much. Have I joined IAS to do a job or to become a part of your sadistic propaganda machine?" he asked.

"In fact when I qualified this exam I never thought of spending my whole life scratching the desk and if this nonsense around me continues, I might prefer to resign sooner than later," he added.
Jammu: There is 'no Kashmir issue' between India and Pakistan, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said and asserted that the only outstanding matter is how to retrieve the part of Jammu and Kashmir which remains under illegal occupation of the neighbouring country.

"There is no Kashmir problem. It has been made clear on all the fronts. There is no issue of Kashmir between Indian and Pakistan and we are not ready to accept it.

"...It was way back in 1994 that Indian Parliament passed an unanimous resolution stating that if at all there is any outstanding issue, it is how to retrieve part of J&K which remains under illegal occupation of Pakistan," the Minister of State in the PMO told reporters here.

He was replying to a volley of questions from journalists over Pakistan's remarks on the prevailing situation in Kashmir in the wake of violence following the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in an encounter.

Reacting to Pakistan's statement describing slain terrorist Wani as "martyr", Singh said, "Regardless of how anyone describes anybody, as far as India is

concerned it has reiterated more than once that there is an approach of zero tolerance towards terrorism."

"Pakistan has always been fishing in the troubled waters of Jehlum," he added.

He hit out at Pakistan for raking up the Kashmir issue and said there is no room for any foreign interference from Pakistan or any other country in the internal affairs of India.

"Pakistan, which is raking up the Kashmir issue and human rights issues, should care about human rights violations taking place in Balochistan, Baltistan and PoK," he said.

"I think Indian society and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are now awakened enough to understand the designs and therefore, there is nothing that can derail the development journey which has been started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi across the country, including J&K," Singh said.

On Kashmiri Pandit employees fleeing their transit accommodation to evade attack by stone-pelting agitators and alleging that the BJP government has failed to protect them, he said, "As far as minorities in Kashmir are concerned, particularly Kashmiri Pandits, it is the responsibility of our government and society that we should protect them... But the answer is not in leaving the Valley."

"Necessary measures are being taken to ensure their security which is of prime concern to us," he said.
Jamshedpur: Police Saturday seized about 60 kg of ganja from a car and arrested three persons in this connection from near Tatanagar station under Bagbera police station of the steel city today, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that a big consignment of narcotics was being unloaded from a four-wheeler, a police team conducted a raid and searched a vehicle.

Around 60 kg of Ganja stuffed in two air bags were seized and three persons identified as Mohan Kumar Jaiswal, Aatish Singh and Ravi Kumar Singh, all residents of Jojobeda under Telco police station here were held, police said.

The three were transporting the narcotics to Madhya Pradesh.
Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das Saturday called on Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of state for Energy and Coal, Piyush Goel in Delhi to discuss issues related to the state.

During the meeting with Goel, Das urged him to direct DVC to end the five-hour power cut in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Giridih, Ramgarh, Chatra, Bokaro and Koderma districts of the state as resentment has been prevailing among the people of those district affecting the law and order, according to an official release here.

The Chief Minister also urged Goel to ensure quick repair of machines following breakdown and deployment of adequate employees to ensure uninterrupted power supply during nights.

Besides, he also appealed to him to instruct DVC to allow work of Jharkhand State Electricity Board employees where DVC did not have their staff.

Goel assured him to take up the issues with officials concerned.

Responding to Das's appeal to set up Railway Zonal Office at Ranchi, the Railway Minister assured him to appoint a Nodal Officer, who will visit the state every fortnight to function as a bridge between the Railway Ministry and the state government.

It has been decided to form a Task Committee involving the officials of the Union government and state government.

The Railway Minister asked Das to issue environment related clearance for construction of Railway Bridge in the state, the release said.

Das also urged the Railway Minister to run Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, Ranchi-Mumbai (LTT Super fast Express), Hatia-Yashwantpur, Ranchi-Alipurdwar (Guwahati Express) and Hatia-Pune express daily.

Das was accompanied by Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, Rajbala Verma and other top officers of the state government.
Itanagar: Nabam Tuki, who was reinstalled as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister on Wednesday, will have to take the floor test on Saturday as directed by Governor Tathagata Roy.

Tuki met Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday and sought ten days time to prove his majority in the house but a Raj Bhavan statement later made it clear that the floor test has to be held on Saturday only as slated.

Tuki is believed to not having numbers to prove his majority in the Assembly. The numbers game did not appear to favour Tuki since ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul, who is backed by Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed the support of 43 MLAs, including 11 BJP and two independent members, in the 60-member Assembly.

In obedience of the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday, Roy has reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister of the state and asked him to call a session of the state legislative assembly on Saturday (July 16) to prove his majority.

In the Arunachal Pradesh assembly, there are 30 Peoples' Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) members, 11 of the BJP, 15 of the Congress and two Independents. Pul claims that he has the support of 29 PPA legislators, 11 BJP and two Independent legislators.

Congress criticised the acting Arunachal Governor for rejecting Tuki's plea for more time to prove his majority saying he cannot unilaterally convene an assembly session on his own.

Congress government fell in January after the controversial role played by then governor JP Rajkhowa.
Itanagar: In a dramatic turn of events, the Congress on Saturday chose Pema Khandu as its new leader in Arunachal replacing restored Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, hours ahead of a scheduled Assembly floor test in a bid to save its government.

Here are the LIVE updates:

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju sought to distance BJP from developments in Arunachal Pradesh where the Congress made a dramatic turnaround by changing its leadership in a bid to save its government. "The BJP and the central government have nothing to do with whatever is happening in Arunachal Pradesh. The political instability has been happening in last seven months due to the division within the Congress," he said.

ArunachalPradesh Governor accepts the resignation of Nabam Tuki.

After meeting the Governor, Khandu speaks to media. He says, "I staked claim to the Governor, oath taking date not decided yet."

Pema Khandu rushes to Raj Bhavan along with 44 supporting MLAs to stake claim to form new government.

Ahead of Saturday's floor test in Arunachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP), has decided to change the leadership from Nabam Tuki to Pema Khandu.

Nabam Tuki resigns as the CLP leader, Pema Khandu unanimously elected as the new Congress Legislature Party leader.

Should the Congress win the floor test, Khandu is most likely to become the next chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh.

"You all know that the CLP is in agreement and Pema Khandu will be sworn in as the chief minister," Congress MLA Kameng Dolo said.

Tuki met Governor Tathagata Roy on Friday and sought ten days time to prove his majority in the house but a Raj Bhavan statement later made it clear that the floor test has to be held on Saturday only as slated.

Earlier today, Congress MLAs and rebel Congress lawmakers attended the Congress Legislature Party meeting in the state capital.

Tuki is believed to not having numbers to prove his majority in the Assembly. The numbers game did not appear to favour Tuki since ousted chief minister Kalikho Pul, who is backed by Bharatiya Janata Party, has claimed the support of 43 MLAs, including 11 BJP and two independent members, in the 60-member Assembly.

In obedience of the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday, the Governor reinstated Tuki as the Chief Minister of the state and asked him to call a session of the state legislative assembly on Saturday (July 16) to prove his majority.

In the Arunachal Pradesh assembly, there are 30 Peoples' Party of Arunachal Pradesh (PPA) members, 11 of the BJP, 15 of the Congress and two Independents. Pul claims that he has the support of 29 PPA legislators, 11 BJP and two Independent legislators.

Congress criticised the acting Arunachal Governor for rejecting Tuki's plea for more time to prove his majority saying he cannot unilaterally convene an assembly session on his own.

Congress government fell in January after the controversial role played by then governor JP Rajkhowa.
Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on Odisha government over the killing of five civilians during an anti-Maoist operation in Kandhamal, BJP Saturday accused the ruling BJD of being habituated with forging understanding with naxals for electoral gains.

"In order to win elections, the BJD has always been entering into understanding with the Maoists. This is an old habit of Naveen Patnaik," BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who returned after leading a three-member central team to Kandhamal, alleged at a press meet here.

Describing the Kandhamal tragedy as a grim chapter involving killing of helpless and innocent people, the BJP delegation alleged that Naveen Patnaik government was not at all serious about the incident that took place in the tribal-dominated district on the night of July 8.

Justifying the claim, Sahasrabuddhe said neither the Chief Minister nor the tribal welfare minister visited the site of the incident or met the families of the victims though a week had elapsed since the tragedy. "Such an attitude is unfortunate and condemnable," he said.

The BJP leader alleged that there was an attempt to cover up and destroy evidence about the killings.

The arrested Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda continued to control the outlawed organisation from jail, claimed Sahasrabuddhe, who was accompanied by BJP general secretaries Ramvichar Netam and Jyoti Dhurve to Kandhamal.

Demanding inquiry into the incident by a sitting judge of the High Court, he said such a probe is essential as the ruling BJD is trying to "cover up the incident".

Accusing the district administration of failing to protect people, Dhurve and Netam said the BJP delegation met the family members and relatives of the victims and also heard eyewitness accounts during their visit to Kandhamal.

Terming the incident as "inhuman and barbaric", the delegation members accused the BJD government of failing to bring development in the backward district, besides being unable to ensure safety and security of the poor people.

They said they would submit a report on the incident to the Prime Minister as well as party president Amit Shah.

Quick action needs to be taken to safeguard the interest of the people of Odisha, particularly those in backward areas like Kandhamal, they said.
No change in fundamental issues of peace & friendship treaty: Indian stakeholders

Though India has agreed in principle to revise the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Nepal, there is a uniform view among Indias ruling parties, opposition and diplomats that fundamental issues of the treaty should not be altered.
Dhaka: Bangladesh on Saturday said it has identified the masterminds of the deadly Dhaka cafe terror attack that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian, and a second assault just days later.

"The government has identified the masterminds of the two attacks, they will be exposed to justice," Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told a media briefing but declined to elaborate "in the interest of investigations".

Islamist militants launched a sudden attack on a posh restaurant in Dhaka's upmarket Gulshan diplomatic zone on July 1 killing 22 people, including 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain among 20 foreigners and two police officers while six suspected militants were gunned down in the commando operation next morning.

Security officials later said they confirmed identities of five of the six suspected slain Islamists.

Six days after the Gulshan cafe attack, militants tried to carry out an assault on the country's biggest Eid congregation in northern Sholakia killing two policemen.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has also alleged that fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam and its crucial ally the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of ex-premier Khaleda Zia had patronized the assaults.

The Islamic State had earlier claimed responsibility for the cafe attack but the government said homegrown Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) carried out both the assaults.

IS had also claimed several clandestine target killings on secular and liberal activists, writers and religious minorities including moderate Sufi preachers even as the government had denied presence of any foreign terrorists attributing the assaults to homegrown outfits like JMB.

But in an apparent shift, senior government leaders and police said Bangladeshi militants appeared to be trying to establish IS links or managed to ensure their access to their media outlet to lodge the claims.

"Those who carried out the Gulshan attack were all Bangladeshis but I don't rule out their possible foreign links. However, we don't want to say anything in this regard without any proof," Dhaka police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told a separate media briefing at his office.
United Nations: Egypt Saturday blocked a United Nations Security Council resolution backed by the United States condemning the attempted coup detat in Turkey, diplomats said.

The United States, following consultations with officials from key NATO ally Turkey, had proposed a draft statement calling on "all parties in Turkey to respect the democratically elected government of Turkey."

But Egypt, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, objected.

Its relations with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been particularly tense.

Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the Egyptian army in 2013.

The Turkish leader has denounced that move as a "coup d'etat," drawing the wrath of the Egyptian general behind the ouster, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.

During the UN debate, Egypt argued that it was "not for the Security Council to decide whether the government is democratically elected," and it demanded that the relevant language be deleted, a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite US insistence, Egypt would not budge.

Turkey and several Security Council members including the United States worried the statement would have been too weak without wording explicitly supporting the Turkish government.

"So there won't be any statement," the diplomat said.

Such Security Council resolutions require unanimous approval from the 15-member group.

The brief draft statement had "condemned the violence and unrest in Turkey and stressed the urgent need for an end to the current crisis and return to the rule of law."

It called on all parties to "show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed."
Nice: The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Saturday for the truck massacre in Nice, as France highlighted the "extreme difficulty" of preventing such attacks amid tough questions over security failures.

In a statement via its Amaq news service, IS said one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".

Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, on Thursday night ploughed a 19-tonne truck into a crowd of people who had been watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city, killing 84 and injuring around 300.

After crisis talks in Paris, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian noted that IS had recently repeated calls for supporters to "directly attack the French, Americans, wherever they are and by whatever means".

"Even when Daesh is not the organiser, Daesh breathes life into the terrorist spirit that we are fighting," he said, using an Arabic name for IS.

In the wake of its third major terror attack in 18 months, the French government faced searing criticism from opposition politicians and newspapers demanding more than "the same old solemn declarations".

Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of the National Front party, called on Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to step down.

"In any other country in the world, a minister with a toll as horrendous as Bernard Cazeneuve -- 250 dead in 18 months -- would have quit," she said.

Cazeneuve defended France's security efforts, saying the country was facing "a new kind of attack" which highlighted "the extreme difficulty of the anti-terrorism fight".

Speaking as France began three days of mourning today, he said Lahouaiej-Bouhlel "had not been known to the intelligence services because he did not stand out... By being linked with radical Islamic ideology".

The interior minister pledged to boost the presence of security forces across the country and called on willing "French patriots" to join the country's operational reservists -- currently made up of 12,000 volunteers.

Police said today they had arrested four more people linked to Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, in addition to his estranged wife who was taken into custody yesterday.

Cazeneuve said the father-of-three "seemed to have been radicalised very quickly, from what his friends and family" have told police.

"We are now confronted with individuals open to IS's message to engage in extremely violent actions without necessarily having been trained or having the weapons to carry out a mass (casualty) attack."

At least 10 children and adolescents were among the dead as well as tourists from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Germany.
Tokyo: Tokyo raised pressure on Beijing at an Asia-Europe summit Saturday to respect an international tribunal`s ruling that dismissed its claims to much of the South China Sea.

At a retreat outside the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the assembled leaders that the rule of law was "a universal principle that the international community must firmly maintain," according to Japan`s Jiji Press.

"I strongly hope the parties to the dispute comply with the award and lead to a peaceful solution of the dispute in South China Sea," he said.

The ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday invalidated Beijing`s claims to much of the South China Sea, which are embodied in a "nine-dash line" that dates from 1940s maps and stretches close to other countries` coasts.

The decision has proved a boon to Tokyo, which is embroiled in a separate territorial dispute of its own with Beijing and vies with it for influence across Asia.

Beijing boycotted the PCA hearings, saying the court had no jurisdiction, and has vowed to ignore the ruling.

It also said the subject should not be brought up at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Mongolian capital.

But Abe`s comments on Saturday followed a blitz of meetings with leaders and foreign ministers from around the region on the summit sidelines as he sought to build consensus on the issue, including discussions Friday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay.Both countries have competing claims with Beijing in the strategically vital South China Sea, where tensions have mounted over the Asian giant`s construction of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations and its claims on the region`s marine resources.

Manila, which brought the case, has promised not to "taunt or flaunt" the verdict.

But Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura told AFP that in his meeting with Abe, Yasay agreed to "closely cooperate" at upcoming ASEAN-related conferences to ensure that the "parties to the dispute comply with the final award of the tribunal".

In his meeting with Phuc, the two leaders agreed that the tribunal`s award should be observed, and Abe offered to increase cooperation on building Vietnam`s maritime law enforcement capabilities, Kawamura said.

Abe also brought his argument directly to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a heated 30-minute meeting Friday.

Kawamura described the exchange as "frank and candid" and Chinese state media accounts described the Chinese leader telling Abe that Japan should "stop hyping up and interfering" in the dispute.

Beijing had hoped to use the ASEM summit -- official theme "Partnership for the Future through Connectivity" -- as an opportunity to showcase its global initiatives, such as the One Belt, One Road programme, an ambitious plan to build infrastructure projects across the Eurasian region.

China has sought to assert its claims in the South China Sea by building a network of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations, and this week reiterated its right to declare an Air Defence Identification Zone in the area, which would demand civilian flights submit to the authority of its military.

Despite Chinese objections, the EU also weighed in on the subject, with President Donald Tusk telling an opening ceremony Friday that "dialogue and a strong commitment to the rules-based international order are necessary."
Washington, DC: US President Barack Obama is convening his National Security Council on Saturday following the attempted coup in Turkey overnight, officials said.

"The president will convene a meeting with his national security and broader foreign policy team to update him on the situation in Turkey," the White House said in a statement.

The Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country on Saturday after thwarting the coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.
Paris: French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve Saturday called on citizens to become reservists and help boost security forces in the wake of the country's latest terror attack.

France's "operational reservists" include French citizens with or without military experience as well as former soldiers.

"I want to call on all French patriots who wish to do so, to join this operational reserve," said Cazeneuve.

His call comes after the government has been criticised for not doing more to stop attacks.

French President Francois Hollande said yesterday that reservists would be called upon to boost the ranks of police and gendarmes.

The operational reserve is currently made up of 12,000 volunteers, 9,000 of whom are within the paramilitary police and 3,000 in the regular police force, said Cazeneuve.

"We are going to reinforce the presence of security forces across the country," he added.

He said the number of security forces deployed to protect the population was nearly 100,000, including 53,000 police, 36,000 para-military police and 10,000 soldiers.
Ankara: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks to remain on the streets on Saturday, as his forces regained control after a spectacular coup bid by discontented soldiers that claimed more than 250 lives.

After hours of chaos and violence unseen in decades, Erdogan ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours where he was cheered by hundreds of supporters.

"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey`s top general.

Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets, warning against a new flare-up after the most dramatic challenge to his 13 years of dominant rule.

"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," he said.

Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey`s democracy, Yildirim said that 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.

This did not appear to include 104 rebel soldiers killed overnight, in a toll given by the military.

As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures Saturday showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets. Crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan`s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appeared to have turned the tide, defying orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

Yildirim said the putsch bid had fallen apart as nearly 3,000 soldiers suspected in involvmenet were detained.

The strongman denounced the coup attempt as "treachery", saying he was carrying out his functions and would keep on working "to the end".

"What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said at the airport. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."

Erdogan`s critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey`s secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but the president was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the president`s former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".

Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."

"Whichever country is behind him is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey," he added.After the night`s fast-moving events, Turkey`s parliament held an extraordinary session, broadcast live on television, while special forces were reportedly securing the headquarters of the military chief of staff.

Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained, television pictures showed.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds took to the streets to boo the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."

The sound of F16 fighter jets screaming low over the capital Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late Friday, with troops also moving to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.

As protesters took to the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul`s Taksim Square, injuring several.

Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.World leaders appealed for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.

The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called for "restraint and respect for democratic institutions," while Moscow said it was "deeply concerned" by the developments, which it warned would increase the threat to regional stability.

"Everything must be done to protect human lives," said a spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said he hoped Turkish democracy will "emerge stronger."

In a key moment in the standoff, Turkish security forces rescued the country`s top army general Hulusi Akar who had reportedly been taken hostage in the earlier stages of the coup bid.

Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- which had been shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.After the initial dramatic military movements, state broadcaster TRT said the troops behind the putsch had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland".

It said the coup had been launched "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted".

No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions although Prime Minister Binali Yildirim claimed a key pro-coup general had been killed.

Turkey`s once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.
Rome: Rescuers saved 366 migrants from rickety boats trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy but at least 20 people were reported to have drowned, Italian police said on Saturday.

The survivors, who were rescued in four separate operations, were crammed onto three rubber dinghies and a wooden fishing boat. They were all taken to the Sicilian port of Augusta, where they were questioned on Friday evening by the Italian police unit Interforce, which combats illegal immigration.

The Norwegian ship Siem Pilot went to the aid of one dinghy that sank in the Sicilian Channel, but many migrants were already in the sea when it arrived, Antonio Panzanaro, an Interforce official, told Reuters. One corpse was recovered but survivors said that at least 20 people had drowned before the ship arrived, he said.

There were 82 women and 25 children among the 366 people rescued, he said. The survivors were mainly from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Bangladesh.

Seven people were arrested from the four boats, including their drivers, on suspicion of people-trafficking, he said.

Italy has long been on the front line of seaborne migration from Africa to Europe, and is now the main point of entry after the European Union struck a deal with Turkey to stem flows to Greece amid Europe`s worst migration crisis since World War Two.

Slightly fewer migrants arrived on Italian shores in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period last year, but the number of deaths on the route has risen, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

More than 67,000 seaborne migrants arrived in Italy between Jan. 1 and July 3, according to the IOM.
Doha: Turkey's regional allies today condemned a deadly but foiled coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.

Key regional powers Iran and Israel, which have both had strained relationships with Erdogan's government, condemned the putsch that began late yesterday.

Despite the enmity between the Turkish and Syrian governments, officials in Damascus did not comment on the failed coup, which was reported by state media including the SANA news agency.

Damascus regularly accuses Ankara of supporting "terrorist groups" fighting regime forces in Syria, while Erdogan has repeatedly called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the Turkish people's "defence of democracy & their elected government" which he said "proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail."

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey," Zarif tweeted late yesterday.

"Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."

Israel, which last month approved a deal to restore ties with Ankara that were frozen after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010, also condemned the coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel," said foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.

Iran's regional arch foe Saudi Arabia also welcomed Erdogan retaking control.

A Saudi foreign ministry official said in a statement that the kingdom "had followed with much concern developments in brotherly Turkey" and "welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government".

Gas-rich Qatar, which is close to Turkey, was quick to condemn the coup attempt and congratulate Erdogan.

In a telephone call with the Turkish leader, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani "congratulated (Erdogan) on the support of the people of Turkey on his rule against the failed military coup", the official QNA news agency reported.

Qatar is Erdogan's closest Gulf ally, sharing his sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood that formerly ruled Egypt and which is outlawed in other Gulf Arab states.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah congratulated Erdogan on "the success of legitimacy and the victory of democracy (of) the will of the friendly Turkish people" who have been spared "much suffering".

Bahrain made a similar statement, rejecting any attempt to undermine "constitutional legitimacy under the leadership" of Erdogan and his government and stability in Turkey.
Ankara: Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday, after crushing a military coup by discontented soldiers seeking to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.

After facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible "flare-up" of Friday`s chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.

The authorities blamed Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who is Erdogan`s arch enemy, for the plot and lost no time in rounding up 2,839 soldiers over alleged involvement amid concerns of the extent of the retribution.

Turks woke up early Saturday to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the failed coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets.

"The situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey`s top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.

Describing the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey`s democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.

General Umit Dundar, who stood in as acting chief of staff while Hulusi Akar was being held by the rebels, said 104 coup plotters has been killed. Akar was later rescued in an operation that marked the end of the plotters` hopes.

During a night where power hung in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan`s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied the coup leaders` orders of a curfew and flooded the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.

"We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment," Erdogan warned on Twitter on Saturday.Friday`s putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.

Parts of parliament were turned to rubble after being hit by air strikes from rebel jets.

Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.

Turks have not seen such scenes since 1980 when the military led by general Kenan Evren ousted the government and many had no desire to revive these memories.

As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul`s Taksim Square, injuring several.

There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with much smaller numbers welcoming the troops.

"The people are afraid of a military government," a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. "Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean."

While condemning the coup bid, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the coup plotters had to be dealt with "under the rule of law".

Judicial authorities said 2,745 judges would also be sacked in the wake of the coup bid.Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Ataturk Airport, said the plotters "will pay a heavy price for this act of treason."

The president`s critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey`s secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.

Turkey`s once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.

It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.

Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.

But the president`s former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the plot, calling the accusation "insulting".

Yildirim took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a terrorist organisation."

Speaking in Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Turkey to hand over any evidence it had against Gulen.

Meanwhile, Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.

And Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.

But the US government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after the coup bid.

Turkish authorities also imposed a security lockdown at the Incirlik air base in the southern province of Adana used by US and other coalition forces in the fight against jihadists in Syria, the US consulate said.

The US military command in Europe has ordered American forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures.
NRA signs aid agreements with 248,559 families

The National Reconstruction Authority has signed tripartite agreements with 248,559 households in 12 earthquake-affected districts to provide the first instalment of house rebuilding aid as of Friday.
Luxembourg: Secretary of State John Kerry said today that the United States will assist Turkey in the investigation of a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against a US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition bid for the expatriate cleric, but added: "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen."

Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.

He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind the Thursday's bloody coup attempt, although he has denied any role and condemned the military uprising "in the strongest terms."

Kerry who spoke late yesterday to his Turkish opposite number Mevlut Cavusoglu by telephone, said: "We haven't received any request with respect to Mr Gulen.

"And obviously we invited the government of Turkey as we always do to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

And, standing alongside Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn outside the country's foreign ministry, he added: "I'm confident that there will be some discussion about that."
About Us

MISSION

This site is devoted to the cause of non-interventionism and is read by libertarians, pacifists, leftists, "greens," and independents alike, as well as many on the Right who agree with our opposition to imperialism. Our initial project was to fight against intervention in the Balkans under the Clinton presidency. We applied the same principles to Clinton's campaigns in Haiti and Kosovo and bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan. Our politics are libertarian: our opposition to war is rooted in Randolph Bourne's concept that "War is the health of the State." With every war, America has made a "great leap" into statism, and as Bourne emphasized, "it is during war that one best understands the nature of that institution [the State]." At its core, that nature includes an ever increasing threat to individual liberty and the centralization of political power.



Antiwar.com is one project of our parent foundation, the Randolph Bourne Institute. It is a program that provides a sounding board of interest to all who are concerned about U.S. foreign policy and its implications.

In 1952, Garet Garrett, one of the last of the Old Right "isolationists," said it well:

"Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is mortal enmity. Either one must forbid the other or one will destroy the other."

This is the perception that informs our activism and inspires our dedication. Non-interventionism abroad is a corollary to non-interventionism at home. Randolph Bourne echoed this sentiment: "We cannot crusade against war without implicitly crusading against the State." Since opposition to war is at the heart of our philosophy, and single-issue politics is the only avenue open to us, Antiwar.com embodies the politics of the possible.

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The pressing need for "citizen experts" is the reason we set up Antiwar.com. In this process, the site evolved very quickly into an online magazine and research tool designed to keep the American people and the world informed about the overseas plans of the American government. The history of our site and of American foreign policy demonstrates the demand for such experts.



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Forged in the experience of the first Balkan war, Antiwar.com has become the Internet newspaper of record for a growing international movement, the central locus of opposition to a new imperialism that masks its ambitions in the rhetoric of "human rights," "humanitarianism," "freedom from terror," and "global democracy." The totalitarian liberals and social democrats of the West have unilaterally and arrogantly abolished national sovereignty and openly seek to overthrow all who would oppose their bid for global hegemony. They have made enemies of the patriots of all countries, and it is time for those enemies to unite  or perish alone.



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YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on July 16 sent a congratulatory message to Peoples Artist of the Republic of Armenia Zhenya Avetissian on the occasion of her 75th birthday, press service of the Presidential administration informed Armenpress.

Throughout your years-long work, you have created numerous vivid and impressive personages, bringing new expressive means and new artistic inventions to the Armenian theater and movie art.

The personages created by you are loved by the audience in Motherland, as well as in Diaspora.

I wish you excellent health, happiness and all the best, the Presidents message reads.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. First Deputy Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan on July 16 received Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, press service of the Defense Ministry informed Armenpress.

Issues related to the the situation over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the installation of investigation mechanisms by the OSCE for recording the ceasefire violations in the contact line, the increase of capabilities of the team of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, as well as the recent developments in the region were discussed at the meeting.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Various international airlines announced that the flights to Turkey have been canceled, reports Armenpress. Yerevan-Istanbul July 16 flight scheduled for 05:20 has also been canceled. The Istanbul Ataturk Airport is the third largest airport in Europe.

Overnight July 15-16 due to the military coup attempt in Turkey, the Istanbul airport has also been closed.

194 people (104 coup attempt participants, 90 pro-governmental people) were killed in the Turkish failed military coup. The number of wounded reaches to 1154. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag announced 1563 members of the Turkish armed forces have been arrested, 5 generals, 29 colonels were dismissed from their posts for the coup attempt. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that one of the generals supporting the coup has been killed during the operations. Armenian citizens or Armenians did not suffer in the Turkish military operations. Shooting was heard in Turkish capital Ankara, military helicopters and jets were flying over the city on the evening of July 15. Turkish PM Binali Yildirim announced that a coup attempt took place in Turkey.
YEREVAN, JULY 16, ARMENPRESS. Servicemen of Border Guard Department of Russian Security Service deployed in Armenia have enhanced the control across the Armenian-Turkish border, press service of the Russian Border Guard Department in Armenia informed Armenpress.

The Russian border patrol servicemen together with the Armenian partners jointly implement the protection of Armenias borders with Turkey and Iran, as well as they conduct service in Zvartnots airport.

194 people (104 coup attempt participants, 90 pro-governmental people) were killed in the Turkish failed military coup. The number of wounded reaches to 1154. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag announced 1563 members of the Turkish armed forces have been arrested, 5 generals, 29 colonels were dismissed from their posts for the coup attempt. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that one of the generals supporting the coup has been killed during the operations. Armenian citizens or Armenians did not suffer in the Turkish military operations. Shooting was heard in Turkish capital Ankara, military helicopters and jets were flying over the city on the evening of July 15. Turkish PM Binali Yildirim announced that a coup attempt took place in Turkey.
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WASHINGTON  This week Beijing is dealing with its loss in the South China Sea, after a five-judge Hague-based tribunal dismissed China's "nine-dash line" territorial claim.

On Tuesday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a 500-page unanimous ruling in Republic of Philippines v. People's Republic of China, a case brought by the Philippines in 2013.

The court found that Beijing had violated the Philippines' economic and sovereign rights and concluded there was no legal basis for China's nine-dash line, which encompasses approximately 85% of the South China Sea.

skitched 9 dash

And while the ruling is only binding between Beijing and Manila, it does, however, set a legal foundation by determining that the rules of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNLCLOS) take precedence over China's historic claims.

In short, if there is no "nine-dash line," other territorial claimants in the South China Sea may be inspired to file lawsuits against China if Beijing refuses to compromise on access to the resource-rich waters.

Territorial claims from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, and China make the South China Sea one of the most disputed places on the planet.

scs skitch

China, which claims the lion's share of the region, has boycotted prior hearings. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters ahead of the ruling, "We won't accept any" of the court's "so-called materials, no matter what they are."

China's Defense Ministry echoed in a statement, "No matter what kind of ruling is to be made, Chinese armed forces will firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and maritime interests and rights, firmly uphold regional peace and stability, and deal with all kinds of threats and challenges."

Will the ruling encourage other states?

scs bless it

Story continues

On Tuesday, a panel of legal experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' sixth annual South China Sea conference commented on the impact of the decision on other claimants.

"Because it's invalid, will it encourage other states to push back against Chinas claims, Dr. James Kraska, professor of Oceans Law and Policy at the US Naval War College asked, referring to the nine-dash line. "I think so and I hope so," he told Business Insider in a question-and-answer session.

"I think it's too early for me to predict, but I think we do need to worry about that," Julia Xue, International Law Program Academy senior fellow at Chatham House.

"It will have enormous impact on future jurisprudence and on the perceived legitimacy of other claims in the South China Sea and around the world," said Gregory Poling, CSIS fellow and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.

"Vietnam must be very happy, Indonesia too, and perhaps Malaysia less obviously," Jerome Cohen, adjunct senior fellow for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Reuters.

"Vietnam and Indonesia can credibly threaten to launch their own arbitrations unless Beijing gives assurances of better behavior and shows a willingness to compromise," he added.

Indonesia objects to China's inclusion of waters around Natuna being included within its nine-dash line, but has sought to remain neutral in the dispute.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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The ultimate guide to paying with your smartphone in Singapore, 2016 edition

From Apple Pay to Samsung Pay, from Dash to MasterPass, there are more ways than ever before to pay using your smartphone in Singapore today.

There are, in fact, so many options that it can get downright confusing. I know I was confused many times over while writing this article  and thats why we decided to compile this one stop, easy to understand guide to mobile payments.

Before we continue, lets define what I mean by mobile payments, because there are a lot of terms floating around. What were going to cover is how to use a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) to pay for things, either through a physical payment terminal or through the internet.

The 4 kinds of mobile payments

There are many ways you can classify the different ways you can pay via mobile (hardware versus apps? telcos versus banks?), but one easy way to group them is simply by where the cash is being deducted from.

When you do that, you can classify mobile payments into four kinds:

Paying via credit/debit card Paying via a mobile wallet Paying via a linked bank account Paying via an NFC SIM card

Grouping them into four kinds is an easy way to understand mobile payments, but you should also know that there are also overlaps. In this guide, we split the various mobile payments in Singapore this way:

Paying via credit/debit card Android Pay

Apple Pay

Samsung Pay Paying via a mobile wallet Singtel Dash

DBS PayLah Paying via a connected bank account OCBC Pay Anyone Paying via an NFC SIM card M1 Mobile Wallet

Singtel Dash

StarHub SmartWallet

1. Mobile payments via credit/debit cards

The first kind of mobile payment is where your smartphone basically acts as your credit or debit card. Any purchases made will be charged to your card. If you want to do this, you can use the three big Pays in Singapore:

Android Pay Apple Pay Samsung Pay NFC-enabled smartphones running Android 4.4 or above iPhone SE

iPhone 6/6 Plus

iPhone 6s/6s Plus

iPad Pro

iPad Air 2

iPad mini 3/4

Apple Watch Galaxy S7/S7 edge

Galaxy Note 5

Galaxy S6 edge+ NFC NFC NFC

MST DBS

POSB

OCBC

Standard Chartered

UOB DBS

POSB

OCBC

UOB

Standard Chartered

American Express DBS

Maybank

POSB

OCBC

Standard Chartered

Citibank Up to S$100 per transaction (except for UOB) Up to S$100 per transaction (except for UOB) Up to S$100 per transaction when using NFC

Up to the cards credit limit when using MST Unlimited 8 10

What you need

To run Android Pay, you need an Android smartphone with NFC running Android 4.4 KitKat and above. Apple Pay only works on compatible Apple devices (as listed above), Samsung Pay only works on compatible Samsung devices (as listed above). Youll also need a participating bank's credit or debit card.

Story continues

What can you use the Pays for?

Android, Apple and Samsung Pay are mainly used to buy things over the counter in brick and mortar stores, via a contactless payment terminal. Android Pay and Apple Pay can also be used to pay in participating apps. More apps, and online payment on websites, is expected to arrive.

Heres a deeper comparison between Apple and Samsung Pay.

Why use them?

If you have a compatible device, Android, Apple and Samsung Pay are an easy way to try using your smartphone to pay for things. There are three reasons:

Theyre widely accepted Theyre easy to use Apple and Samsung Pay are secure



1. Theyre widely accepted

If a store already has a contactless payment terminal set up for NFC credit/debit cards, it should work with Android, Apple and Samsung Pay, even if it doesnt have the services respective logo.

If you see this logo on a contactless payment terminal, you should be able to use Android, Apple and Samsung Pay on it.

Whereas Android and Apple Pay only support NFC payments, Samsung Pay supports both NFC and MST payments. MST replicates a physical card swipe by transmitting magnetic waves from the Samsung smartphone, so if you can swipe a card to pay, its likely you can also use Samsung Pay.

NFC payments for Android and Apple Pay are limited up to S$100 per purchase (except for UOB), but MST payments using Samsung Pay go up to the cards credit limit, so you can pay for more expensive items with it.



2. Theyre easy to use

The three services are also easy to use; for example, all you need to do to activate Apple Pay is to hold it over the payment terminal when asked to pay. Once the graphic of your registered card appears, you confirm the purchase by holding your fingerprint over the Home button, just like how you unlock the iPhone using Touch ID. See it in action in the video below.



3. Apple and Samsung Pay are secure

Apple and Samsung Pay are also secure. Neither Apple nor Samsung store your credit card number on the phone, or transmits it during transactions. Check out how Samsung Pay works and why it's secure:-

The one reservation we have with Android Pay is that it doesnt require you to unlock your phone for up to three purchases. You can pay up to S$100 per purchase, so in theory, a thief can make off with your Android Pay smartphone and spend up to S$300 of your money before being locked out.

2. Mobile payments via mobile wallets

A second way you can pay using your smartphone is via cash stored on a mobile wallet inside an app. Its like having a digital cashcard inside your smartphone, which you have to top up in order to spend.

There are two mobile wallet services in Singapore:

Singtel Dash DBS PayLah

Singtel Dash

You can say that todays Dash is Singtels third version of a mobile payment app. The first, mWallet, was launched in 2012, and has since been retired. Singtel and Standard Chartered Bank released the first version of Dash in 2014, and the app received a major update in May this year.

Confusingly, there are still two versions of Dash you can download, one from Singtel and one from Standard Chartered. Singtel recommends you get theirs. The app is available on iOS (Singtel, Standard Chartered) and Android (Singtel, Standard Chartered).

What you need

While Dash is from Singtel, customers from other telcos can also use it. You dont need a credit or debit card, but you do need a bank account with the participating banks. Dash is a mobile wallet, which means you have to top it up with cash in order to pay for things. You should know that once your cash is in Dash, you cant transfer it back to your bank account.

What can you use Dash for?

You can use the Dash app to make purchases over the counter if the store has a Dash terminal.

Dash terminals arent the same as the NFC contactless payment terminals being used by Android, Apple and Samsung Pay, or NFC cards like Visa PayWave. Dash terminals are Singtels proprietary terminals, so you have to find them in order to pay with Dash. The NFC chip on Apple devices can only be used by Apple Pay, so you need to key in the Dash terminals counter code to use Dash to pay on an iOS device.

You can also pay for online purchases on Lazada using Dash. You can send money to friends. You can also remit money overseas to people using Dash (youll need to sign up at the Singtel stores in Lucky Plaza and City Plaza first).

Dash can also be used to manage an EZ-Link NFC SIM card and pay for public transportation, which we cover in a later section.

Why use Dash?

Dash is one way you can use mobile payments if you dont have a credit or debit card.

Dash also has another interesting feature if youre a Singtel customer. Instead of topping up your Dash mobile wallet via your bank account, you can also choose to top it up using your Singtel bill. In other words, you can top up the mobile wallet first (up to S$999), spend the money, and pay for the top-up later at the end of the month, when your consolidated Singtel bill comes in the mail.

DBS PayLah

PayLah is a mobile wallet app from DBS that does two things:

It lets you send money to your friends. It lets you pay on some online sites.

The app is available on iOS and Android.

What you need

PayLah works for both DBS/POSB and non-DBS/POSB account holders. Non-DBS/POSB account holders can use PayLah if they have a savings/current account with a bank which offers FAST (Fast and Secure Transfers) services in Singapore.

Once youve registered, you can top up funds into the PayLah mobile wallet, with which you send money to friends, and pay for things online. You can also receive funds into the mobile wallet, and transfer it into your linked bank account.

What you can use PayLah for

Once youve linked your bank account, you can transfer funds into PayLahs mobile wallet, where you do all your transactions. This also means that you dont need a credit/debit card to use PayLah.

You can send money to contacts via SMS without having to know their bank account numbers, you only need their mobile number. Unlike OCBCs Pay Anyone service, the recipients of PayLah fund transfers will need to download and register with the PayLah app within 14 business days after the transfer is sent. If they dont, the sender will be refunded the full amount.

PayLah can also be used to pay on some online sites, like Qoo10.sg, comGateway and AXS.

Why use PayLah?

PayLah is one way for people to send money to friends and family, even if they dont have a DBS or POSB account. You dont even need to know their bank account number, you only need their mobile number. But the recipients will have to download the app and register for PayLah in order to receive the money.

3. Mobile payments via a linked bank account

Heres another way to pay  straight from your bank account. Two things:

Technically, you could also say that mobile payments via debit cards is a way to pay straight from your bank account The one app in Singapore that lets you do this right now doesnt technically let you pay, it lets you transfer money, which is sort of a kind of mobile payment

Pay Anyone

Pay Anyone is a feature inside the OCBC SG Mobile Banking app that lets you transfer money to other people, straight from your OCBC bank account, no mobile wallet needed. The app is available on iOS and Android.

What you need

You need to have an OCBC bank account to send money out. If youre the receiver, you dont need to have an OCBC bank account or the Pay Anyone app.

What you can use Pay Anyone for

You can use Pay Anyone to send money to your contacts, without needing to know their bank account numbers. A URL to collect the money can be sent to the recipient via SMS, email or Facebook.

To keep the transfer secure, a passcode is generated on the senders end, which he needs to share with the recipient in order for her to authenticate the transfer. The receiver doesnt need to have an OCBC account, they just need an account from any of the 14 FAST (Fast And Secure Transfer) participating banks.

Why use Pay Anyone?

Its an easy way for OCBC customers to transfer funds to someone. One bonus point is how recipients dont have to download the Pay Anyone app to get their money, nor do they need to have OCBC bank accounts.

4. Mobile payments via NFC SIM cards from telcos

The fourth way you can pay with your smartphone in Singapore is by using an NFC SIM card from your telco and its companion app.

Singapores three big telcos first launched their mobile payment solutions in 2012; some things have changed since then, and each telco offers different features. We have:

There are three main things you should know first about getting an NFC SIM card:

Unlike Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, which cost you nothing to set up, you need to pay extra for an NFC SIM card from your telco, and there might be additional registration fees The NFC SIM card introduced in 2012 has been replaced with a new EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card in 2016 The new NFC Transit SIM has the same mobile payment features as the previous SIM card, and introduces the ability to pay for public transportation in Singapore via EZ-Link

M1 Mobile Wallet

Together with an EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from M1, the M1 Mobile Wallet is two mobile wallets in one app. Like the mobile wallets previously mentioned, you need to top up cash value into these mobile wallets in order to pay for things.

The EZ-Link mobile wallet lets you pay for public transportation as well as pay at EZ-Link terminals. The M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard mobile wallet lets you pay at NFC contactless payment terminals. The M1 Mobile Wallet app is available on Android.

What you need

First, you need to be an M1 customer. Youll also need a compatible NFC smartphone to use the M1 Mobile Wallet services.

Then, youll need to get the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from M1 to use either the EZ-Link and/or the M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard mobile wallet. If you want to use the M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard mobile wallet, you can register for it in the app.

What you can use M1 Mobile Wallet for

With the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card, you can use the EZ-Link mobile wallet to pay for public transportation, as well as at payment terminals that accept EZ-Link.

With the M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard mobile wallet, you can make payment from the mobile wallet at contactless NFC payment terminals that accept MasterCard Contactless or MasterCard PayPass.

Why use M1 Mobile Wallet?

If youre an M1 subscriber with a compatible NFC smartphone, this is one way for you to pay for public transportation and over the counter using your smartphone.

Singtel Dash

Singtel first launched its mWallet app in 2012, and its since been succeeded by the Dash app. You dont actually need the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel to use Dashs other payment services, which were detailed earlier in this article.

The one thing youll need the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel for is if you want to use Dashs EZ-Link mobile wallet to pay for public transportation in Singapore.

Like we previously mentioned, there are two versions of Dash you can download, one from Singtel and one from Standard Chartered. Singtel recommends you get theirs. The app is available on iOS (Singtel, Standard Chartered) and Android (Singtel, Standard Chartered).

What you need

First, you need to be a Singtel customer. Youll also need a compatible NFC smartphone to use Singtel Dash. Then, youll need to get the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel to use the EZ-Link wallet in the Dash app.

Once youve set that up, your Dash app will have two separate mobile wallets, one for Dashs other payment services like paying at Dash terminals, one for the EZ-Link function.

What you can use Singtel Dash for

Together with a compatible NFC smartphone and the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel, you can top up value into the EZ-Link mobile wallet inside Dash, and use that to pay for public transportation in Singapore, as well as at payment terminals that accept EZ-Link.

Again, this is only if you want to use Dashs EZ-Link wallet to pay for public transportation. If you only want to use Dashs mobile wallet for its other payment features, you dont need to be a Singtel customer or to have the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel.

Why use Singtel Dash?

If youre a Singtel customer who wants to pay for public transportation using your smartphone.

StarHub SmartWallet

StarHub SmartWallet first launched in 2012 with DBS One.Tap, but that has since been removed. Now the app only supports paying with the EZ-Link mobile wallet. StarHub SmartWallet is available on Android.

What you need

First, you need to be a StarHub customer. Youll also need a compatible NFC smartphone to use StarHub SmartWallet. Then, youll need to get the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from StarHub to use the EZ-Link wallet in the SmartWallet app.

What you can use StarHub SmartWallet for

Together with a compatible NFC smartphone and the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from StarHub, you can top up value into the EZ-Link mobile wallet inside SmartWallet, and use that to pay for public transportation in Singapore, as well as at payment terminals that accept EZ-Link.

FAQ for paying with your smartphone in 2016

Still with me? I told you it would get confusing. In case your head is still swimming with info, heres a quick summary of how you can pay for what with your smartphone.

1. I want to buy things in the store using my smartphone as if its my credit/debit card

To pay for things over the counter, using your smartphone as if its your credit/debit card, you can use:

These services are linked directly to your credit/debit card, and charge the purchase accordingly to the card. Of course, you can only pay using these services using contactless NFC payment terminals that support them (which should be most of them).

Samsung Pay has one advantage, in that it can also work with MST credit card terminals. If you can swipe your credit card to pay at the terminal, you can also use Samsung Pay to pay. Just hold your Samsung smartphone close to the device and it will broadcast magnetic waves which replicate a physical card swipe.

Android and Apple Pay are limited to a maximum of S$100 per purchase (except when using UOB cards), whereas MST payments are limited to the cards credit limit, so you can pay for more expensive items using Samsung Pay at MST terminals.

2. I want to pay for things in the store using my smartwatch

You can only use an Apple Watch to pay for things in the store. Neither Android Pay or Samsung Pay let you pay with smartwatches for now.

3. I want to buy things in the store, using my smartphone, but I dont have a credit/debit card

If you want to pay for things over the counter, but you only have a smartphone and no credit/debit card, you can use:

M1 Mobile Wallet Singtel Dash

And the two work differently.

With M1 Mobile Wallet, you need to be on M1, and you need the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card, on a compatible NFC smartphone. Once you have these two, you can set up two different mobile wallets with two different ways to pay.

One is the EZ-Link mobile wallet, which you can use to pay for public transportation, as well as in stores which accept EZ-Link payment. The other is the M1 NFC Prepaid MasterCard mobile wallet, which lets you pay at contactless NFC payment terminals. Neither wallet requires a credit or debit card, but they need you to top up funds into them. Heres how you can top up the mobile wallet inside M1 Mobile Wallet.

You dont have to be a Singtel customer to use Dash to pay over the counter. You can download the Dash app on iOS and Android, whether youre on Singtel or not. Once you top up funds into the Dash mobile wallet, you can use the app to pay at Dash terminals across Singapore. Dash terminals are not the same as the contactless NFC payment terminals that everyone else is using for mobile payment.

If you get the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM card from Singtel, you can use it in tandem with Dash to pay for public transportation, as well as at stores which accept EZ-Link payment.

4. I want to pay for things online using my smartphone

To pay for things inside your smartphones app or through online shopping, you can use:

Android Pay Apple Pay DBS PayLah

These three apps support paying within apps or on online sites to some degree. No single service covers everything yet, though.

You can also sign up for MasterPass and PayPal. These are not, strictly speaking, mobile payment solutions, but you can use them to pay on participating websites, which means you can use them inside your mobile browser. MasterPass, for example, lets you pay on Shaw Theatres online booking website, Lazada and AXS.

5. I want to send money to my friends from my smartphone

You can use:

DBS PayLah OCBC Pay Anyone

With DBS PayLah, you dont need to have a DBS/POSB account to use the service, but your recipients will need to download and register for PayLah to receive payment. With OCBC Pay Anyone, you need to have an OCBC account, as the service is a feature within the main OCBC SG Mobile Banking app. However, your recipient doesnt need to have an OCBC account, nor does she need to download the app to receive payment. Both recipients will, however, need an account with a bank which offers FAST (Fast and Secure Transfers) services in Singapore.

6. I want to pay for public transportation using my smartphone

Youll need to get the EZ-Link NFC Transit SIM from your respective telco, whether M1, Singtel or StarHub. Then youll need to download your telcos mobile wallet app, and top up funds into the EZ-Link mobile wallet.
Want to advertise on Twitter but not sure where to start? Especially if you have an advertising budget of $50 or less, its important to know how to best utilize those dollars so that youll get the best possible results for your business.

Twitter offers a variety of different advertising options for all different types of businesses. To learn about making the most out of your Twitter ad budget, check out the tips below.

The Cheap Way to Start Advertising on Twitter

Choose your objectives

The most important thing you need to decide on before you start advertising on Twitter is what you hope to accomplish with your ads. When advertising on Twitter, you set your own budget and then you pay a set amount each time your objective is met. So if you want to gain Twitter followers, you would set your budget and create a Twitter followers campaign. Then each time that campaign helps you gain new followers, your bid amount is taken out of your advertising budget. The bid amount varies based on the type of objective and how much youre willing to pay. But Twitter lets you know what others are bidding for the same types of ads so that you can be competitive.

You can choose from objectives like gaining Twitter followers, growing engagement on Twitter, website clicks, website engagement and more. If youre unsure about what type of campaign to go with, Twitter even has a tool that helps you make those decisions based on your businesss goals. To access it, go to Create new campaign from your Ads dashboard and select Help me choose from the drop down menu.

Select the right ad type

Once you have a goal in mind, youll need to tailor your ad to that goal. For example, if you want to gain Twitter followers so that you can get more potential customers into the early stages of your sales funnel, then you probably want to go with a sidebar ad that promotes your account in the who to follow section. But if youre promoting something more specific, like a sale section of your website, then you could choose a Promoted Tweet ad instead.

There are also more specific options available like promoted trends for if you want to get people talking about your product or a certain subject and app installs if youre promoting an application.

Narrow down your audience

Twitter also offers advertisers the ability to narrow down the audience for each ad campaign. You can select a relevant audience based on demographics like gender, location, language and device. But you can also use keyword targeting to get even more specific about who sees your ad.

For instance, if youre a marketing consultant promoting your account, you might consider targeting those who have searched for words like marketing, business and entrepreneurship, or those who have interacted with Twitter content that included those words or phrases. If you only narrow your audience by gender and location, then youre likely to reach a lot of people who simply arent interested in what you have to offer.

Choose your timing

Twitter also gives you the opportunity to select the timing of your campaigns. You can just have a campaign start immediately and run indefinitely. But if youre promoting a seasonal offering, a sale or a launch, you probably want to consider the timing of your campaign carefully so that youre not spending those precious advertising dollars on results that dont really work toward your main goal or dont match the content that youve decided to promote.

Highlight content that aligns with your goals

The actual content of your ad needs to align with your goals and your intended audience if you want it to be effective. So if youre promoting a tweet, you need to carefully consider which tweet will best resonate to get the results that you want. Or you can craft a new tweet to best align with those goals and appeal to people on Twitter.

The actual content on your website matters too, if one of your goals is to get people to convert on your website. So if youre paying for people to sign up for your newsletter, you need to make sure that your sign up form is displayed prominently and in a way thats likely to appeal to your audience. A snappy headline, the offer of a freebie and a disclaimer about how you wont spam those who sign up can go a long way.

Keep an eye on analytics

Once you decide on the right ad type, audience and time frame, youre ready to launch your campaign. But your work isnt done. Throughout your campaign, keep an eye on your analytics to determine whether or not the results youre getting are worth the investment. You might also find it necessary to pause your campaign and make changes if youre not seeing enough results.

Alternatively, you might consider trying out a few different types of ads so that you can compare the results. If you find that one is significantly more effective than the others for your particular needs, then you know where to focus your efforts going forward.
So youve decided to hire a virtual assistant? Great! But how do you know when youve chosen the right VA for your business? Since there are plenty of different functions that VAs can serve, there are so many different ways to evaluate the effectiveness of a VA. But there are a few clear-cut ways to tell if youve chosen the wrong VA. Here are some warning signs to look out for.

Your VA was not the Best Candidate If:

They Have No Experience

A good VA doesnt need to be able to run every single aspect of your business on an expert level. But they should still have some experience in the area where you need assistance, whether that means that theyve done those tasks as a VA or in another position. If your VA cant offer any references or examples of work theyve done in the past, thats a sign that they might not be the best fit.

They Dont Have the Right Skills

Even more specifically, you should look for experience or skills in the exact area where you really need assistance. For example, if you need help organizing your schedule and responding to emails, then you need to look for someone with strong organizational and communication skills. If you need someone to run your social media accounts, then you need someone who understands those platforms. Even if youve found a VA with lots of experience and positive references, if they dont have experience in the exact area where you need assistance, theyre not going to have a huge positive impact on your business.

They Arent Reachable

A good VA should be like your right hand man. If you cant get ahold of them or if they take days to respond to your urgent emails, theyre not going to be very effective.

They Dont Listen

And once you do get a hold of your VA, they should be receptive to your ideas and instructions. After all, youve hired them to assist you in your business needs. So if you find that your VA is bad at listening or following instructions, how can you expect them to actually get things done to the standards that youd expect?

They Dont Offer Ideas

While a good VA should absolutely listen to your ideas and instructions, a great VA should sometimes also offer ideas of their own. They dont have to just go off and make changes on their own. But if they need you to hold their hand and walk them through every process you want them to take care of over and over again, theyre not going to do you any good. Instead, a good VA should be able to work independently and come up with their own processes for getting their work completed efficiently, and sometimes even offer their own ideas for your approval.

They Dont Understand Your Target Audience

If your VA is involved in any sort of customer facing activities, like posting on social media or responding to emails, they need to be able to understand your target audience. If your company targets baby boomers, but your VA responds to emails with language thats popular with millennials, that could get confusing for people. Or it could even alienate some of the people you communicate with.

They Arent Receptive to Feedback

Even if your VA isnt perfect right away, that doesnt mean that they wont be effective for your business overall. But if you offer them feedback about how to do their job more effectively, and they either get defensive or dont take it seriously, that could be a problem. Everyone needs room to grow and improve in their jobs. And if your VA isnt even willing to listen to feedback to help them get better, then youre going to be stuck with an ineffective VA for too long.

They Deflect Blame

And in those situations where your VA makes a mistake or does something incorrectly, they should ideally own up to it. Those mistakes can be great learning experiences. But if they lie or deflect blame, then theyre likely to just keep making those same mistakes and not allow you to hold them accountable for their work.

Their Personality Isnt a Good Fit

Even great VAs arent going to be perfect for every business. Some people just arent the best fit. They might prefer a different type of communication than you and your team do. They might have a different working style that doesnt fit with your process. Or you just might not get along that well. Those can all be warning signs that the VA youve chosen isnt right for your business.

They Dont Update You with Results

Once youve hired a VA and theyve started working on the areas youve requested, they should regularly keep you updated on their activity. For example, if youve hired someone to manage your social accounts, they might update you with metrics about growth and interaction. Or if youve asked them to manage your schedule, they should check in with you for important updates.
With so many new media marketing tactics for businesses to utilize, it might seem like business cards are a thing of the past. But those seemingly simple tools can still help you make a great impression with in-person customers  if you actually take the time to create designs that reflect your business.

Business Card Design Process Walkthrough

Patricia Braune is a textile and surface designer based in Sydney, Australia. She creates a variety of creative textiles and wallpapers in different patterns and textures. And so when it came to designing her business cards, she wanted something that expressed that same style and aesthetic to potential customers.

For the cards, Braune utilized Moos Soft Touch Paper for a tactile design. The paper offers a feel thats more unique and professional than regular old paper. The hope is that choosing that type of paper will show Braunes customers how much care and consideration goes into the rest of her work as well.

Braune said in an email to Small Business Trends, As a Textile & Surface Designer, I wanted to showcase my fabric design style on my business card, to make an impression of what I offer as a designer. Having a tactile card like Moos Soft Touch Paper, beautifully printed with my designs gives a glimpse into what I do and the attention to detail of my work.

It may not be necessary for every other professional to choose the same exact paper or to even go with an option other than the default business card paper. But for a textile and surface designer, that sort of sensory experience that goes beyond simple aesthetics is important.

So for other small businesses, the lesson is that even the little things that go into making a business card can really matter to your customers. That might mean choosing a sort of metallic finish. It might mean creating a card in a unique shape. Or it could just mean taking the time to create a design that truly encompasses your brand and what it stands for.

Overall, its just important to think about what you want your business cards to say to your customers. Aside from just giving them your basic information, business cards still have the ability to make a real impression. So dont waste the opportunity to show your brand in the best possible light, even if its in a more traditional, offline format.

Braune says, I understand that times are moving fast and technology has replaced printed marketing on many levels, but a business card is still a small tangible reminder of you and your business, that is why you have to make them creative, beautifully designed and memorable.
Freelancers are in demand. Especially those who possess good development or content marketing skills. Thats what the Upwork Skills Index, a new study conducted by freelance website Upwork has found.

The study highlights 20 skills that grew fastest in Q2 2016. The top fastest-growing skills include user experience design, ASP development, Shopify development, English proofreading and SEO writing.

The 10 fastest-growing skills all experienced more than 125 percent year-over-year growth.

Freelance Skills in Demand

Its interesting to note that development skills account for one-third of the top 20 fastest-growing skills. Whether its mobile development or user experience design, developers are in higher demand than ever.

Freelancers specializing in future technologies such as data mining, MongoDB and Java are not far behind. With artificial intelligence, robotics and virtual reality technologies gaining rapid momentum, businesses are looking for freelancers who can help them get an edge.

Content marketing freelance skills are also in demand as businesses continue to look for ways to generate high-quality content and drive online sales. SEO writing, video editing and lead generation are some of the fastest-growing content marketing skills.

Were releasing this freelance skills data to serve as a resource for professionals, educators and policymakers, said Upwork CEO Stephane Kasriel. As skills gaps persist, this information can be leveraged by smart professionals who continue to educate themselves in order to capitalize on market demands. Information about emerging skill demands may also be useful for those seeking to bolster our education system and economic competitiveness.

Pros and Cons of Hiring Freelancers

Flexibility and cost savings are the top reasons why many small businesses are opting for freelancers today. Freelancers are preferred also because they offer quick turnarounds and solid work experience.

On the flip side however, not all freelancers are reliable and its not uncommon for some of them to prioritize other better paying jobs. Another disadvantage is the inability to monitor their work and get revisions done on time.

Finding the right freelancer can make a big difference. It therefore makes sense to spend enough time identifying professionals who have the skills and experience to complete tasks with accountability. You should review their profiles, look for key skill sets and check out testimonials to establish their credentials.

Upwork describes itself as the worlds largest freelancing website. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Upwork helps freelancers earn more than $1 billion annually.

The top 20 freelance skills that grew fastest in Q2 2016 are:

User experience design ASP development Shopify development English proofreading SEO writing Animation Virtual assistant Lead generation Data mining Video editing WordPress development AngularJS development Java development Accounting Android development iOS development Zendesk MongoDB Data visualization AutoCAD
When it comes to digital marketing, content will always be king  and when it comes to content, Gawker Media used to rule with an iron fist.

Until recently, Gawker Media was responsible for maintaining some of the webs top blogs. Gawker, Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Jezebel were all a part of the companys extraordinarily successful content stable. But that all changed in June, when the business was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Gawker Lawsuit

Believe it or not, it wasnt reactionary management or bad accounting that brought the media behemoth to its knees. In the end, it was simply a case of publishing the wrong type of content.

In March, a Florida jury awarded $115 million worth of damages to former wrestling star Hulk Hogan after Gawker published clips of a sex tape in which Hogan allegedly starred. After a huge and costly legal battle, it was ultimately decided that publishing the clips without permission was a violation of Hogans privacy  and with no way to pay Hogan the damages to which he was owed, Gawker Media has since been forced to file for bankruptcy protection and auction off its various businesses.

From a business perspective, theres a clear lesson to be learned here.

True, very few small business owners are ever going to find themselves wondering whether they should be circulating a celebrity sex video on their company blogs or social media accounts. Thats kind of a no-brainer. Yet a huge number of brands are doing things every bit as dangerous.

Things to Avoid

Violation of privacy. If someone posts something to the web and you share it, thats one thing. But posting someones private photos, videos, even private information imparted to you in confidence may land you in trouble  especially if the individual being depicted or quoted is not a public factor. (This is a variation of what happened to Gawker.)

Violation of Copyright Law. U.S. Copyright laws ensure that all authors and artists have the exclusive right to all of their original works. Songs, images, poems, articles, designs  literally anything demonstrating some minimal degree of creativity is protected upon its inception. And although businesses or individuals can voluntarily register a work through the Copyright Office at any point, its not a prerequisite for protection.

Use of another companys logo or promotional materials. If a company has created something, youre not allowed to use it without their permission. In terms of content marketing, that extends to cutting and pasting the ideas of other industry bloggers, embedding photos from a news agency or even adding another brands logo to your site. Replicating anybody elses content on your website without their consent could, theoretically, land you in big trouble.

Are There Exceptions?

As always, there are a couple of exceptions to the rules.

As far as respecting privacy, make sure you have an individuals permission before quoting or mentioning them in your content. Be careful to avoid claims (especially negative ones) that cannot be substantiated. And avoid saying anything that might damage a persons reputation. This is especially the case if the individual youre writing about is not a public figure  or if, as in Hogans case, a court is likely to rule the material you released private despite the subjects standing.

Considering copyright law, materials are generally subject to a doctrine of fair use. Replicating some or part of another person or companys copyrighted materials is often defensible for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching or research. But fair use is more of a court defense than a rationale for republishing somebody elses content. So its up to a court to decide whether your excuse is valid, and the argument does not always win.

When it comes to replicating logos, its one thing when you plan to post positive things about that brand. For example, a well-visited coffee blog might publish a post raving about how fabulous a new Starbucks product is, and choose to cut and paste a copyrighted Starbucks photo into their review to enhance the post.

Technically, Starbucks could pursue action against a blog owner for that. But realistically, so long as the company is getting positive publicity out of the replication, its generally a safe bet the brand would let something like that slide. If, on the other hand, youre posting nasty things online about Starbucks and plastering the companys copyrighted images all over your blog, watch your back. You could find yourself in trouble.
We know that transportation jobs are in high demand by small businesses. More specifically, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers and delivery drivers are what small businesses need most.

And theyre having a difficult time finding the right people, according to survey data conducted by Indeed.

Most In Demand Jobs at Small Businesses

Indeed data shows that large companies dont have nearly the need for truck drivers that small businesses do, which to Indeed economic research analyst Daniel Culbertson, means that large businesses are having an easier time hiring this talent.

In the trucking industry, a tight labor supply has encouraged poaching drivers and tempting them with sign-on bonuses. Its hard for small businesses to compete with those types of perks, leaving them with a high need for drivers, he said.

These types of incentives are hard to match for small business owners so theyre losing good transportation talent to bigger companies.

Customer Service Representative remains a position that small businesses surveyed by Indeed said they needed to fill immediately. It made #2 on Indeeds list of Jobs that Need to Be Filled Now.

Small businesses dont have the kind of scale where they need to outsource, so they keep people in-house to keep an eye on their brand, said Culbertson.

He also notes this role tends to be entry-level, which can mean high turnover.

Small businesses are overall planning to hire and expecting growth, which is why high-skilled jobs are needed like managers, nurses and software engineers.

Knowing that, its important to get ahead of the problems other small businesses are experiencing when it comes to finding good talent.
Turkish President Erdogan appears in Istanbul to denounce army coup attempt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has flown in to Istanbul, after an army group said it took over the country.
Last year, when landing page software company Leadpages raised $27 million in Series B funding, company CEO Clay Collins said he was also going to purchase two or three companies and make larger bets.

Collins has kept at least part of his promise by acquiring marketing automation company Drip recently.

The move is aimed at helping Leadpages add new automation and visual campaign building capabilities to its portfolio.

What the Acquisition Means for Small Businesses

In a statement Collins said, This acquisition will help our customers convert more leads into customers. Some of the best marketers I know have been asking Leadpages to integrate with Drip, so we started digging into the product. What we found was a solution available at a small business price point that was better than $100K+/year automation solutions marketed to Fortune 500 companies.

Drip allows users to create email campaigns, workflows and broadcasts for lead nurturing and customer engagement. Its platform boasts advanced workflow automation, customer journey mapping and lead scoring features, among others.

Leadpages, on the other hand, is a popular marketing software used by businesses to generate leads on the web, in emails, via text messaging and on social media.

By bringing Drips technology to its platform, Leadpages will provide a more dynamic digital marketing experience for small and medium-sized businesses.

Rob Walling, Co-Founder and CEO of Drip, said the partnership will provide customers with access to a larger network of resources to further support customer growth and performance.

Collins agreed, We will continue to provide robust integrations between Leadpages and all other major marketing platforms. Similarly, Drip will continue to maintain its open API and support integrations with other lead generation and landing page solutions, even if theyre directly competitive with Leadpages.

Leadpages for Solopreneurs

With more than 43,000 customers, Leadpages is one of the most prominent lead generation and landing page platforms in the market today.

It offers a standard package for home businesses and solopreneurs at $25. The package comes with features such as unlimited landing pages, advanced HTML export, email support and more.

The addition of the Drip team to Leadpages will make for the best product development team in small business marketing software, said Collins. This will benefit small companies and solopreneurs interested in generating new leads, he said.

Minneapolis-based Leadpages was founded in 2013.

Drip was founded in 2012 with headquarters in Fresno, California. The company will retain its office in Fresno, while its CEO and co-founder Rob Walling and other team members will move to Leadpages headquarters in Minneapolis.
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
YEREVAN, JULY 15, ARMENPRESS. Medieval Armenian capital city of Ani has been included in UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites, Armenpress reports, citing UNESCOs official website, the decision was taken during the 40th session of UNESCOs World Heritage Committee held in Istanbul.





In the description of Ani posted in UNESCOs website, it is mentioned that Ani was built by Armenians. It says that though there is little information about Anis establishment, it is known that the city was populated during Urartu era in mid first millennia BC.

The city flourished in the 10th and 11th centuries CE when it became the capital of the medieval Armenian kingdom of the Bagratides and profited from control of one branch of the Silk Road. Later, under Byzantine, Seljuk, and Georgian sovereignty, it maintained its status as an important crossroads for merchant caravans. The Mongol invasion and a devastating earthquake in 1319 marked the beginning of the citys decline. The site presents a comprehensive overview of the evolution of medieval architecture through examples of almost all the different architectural innovations of the region between the 7th and 13th centuries CE, is mentioned in the website.

Unescos website also informs that Ani was conquered by the Arabs in the middle of the seventh century. After the battle between Arabs and the Kamsarakans (Armenian dynasty), Ani was handed over to another Armenian dynasty: the Bagratides, who consolidated its power by uniting feudal principalities at the end of the ninth century. Although Bagratid King Ashot I (884-890) established his capital at Kars, King Ashot III (953-977) transferred the court from Kars to Ani in 961. It was during this period, (963-964) the inner walls of the city were constructed. With its new status, the city was enlarged and transformed from a fortress into a royal residence and capital of a kingdom. The king Smbat II (977-990) built the second line of the fortifications. During the reign of King Gagik I (990-1020), the city experienced a paramount prosperity for being the center of the cultural, religious and economic activity. It was during this period the renowned architect Trdat built the Cathedral of Ani and round church mausoleum of St. Gregory of Gagik I.

Following Gagiks rule, the city was attacked by Georgians, Arabs and Byzantines. The town fell in 1045 to the Byzantines who reinforced the Citadel. In 1064 the city was conquered by Seljuks under the command of Alp Arslan. The impressive mosque of Manucehr which is the first mosque of the Anatolian plateau and the building known as Seljuk Palace located north of the city walls were built in this period.

During the 12th and 13th centuries Ani changed hands several times. After the Mongol invasion in 1239, Ani lost its importance as a commercial center. In the following years, the area remained in the realm of Karakoyunlus, Akkoyunlus and the Ottomans.

"We made sure that all the participants of the 40th session of UNESCOs World Heritage Committee realized that Ani is an Armenian city", Vahram Kazhoyan, Secretary General of the National Commission of Armenia for UNESCO posted on his Facebook page.





The members of the Committee, led by Chairperson of the Committee, Ambassador Lale Ulker, the Director General for Overseas Promotion and Cultural Affairs at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs studied numerous applications from different countries, one of which was submitted by Turkey wishing to include medieval Armenian city Ani in UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites.
- Muslim youths reportedly carried out said act after the Jumat prayer

- Sources say the church's security man was beaten to a pulp

- Attack comes barely one week after Redeemed pastor's wife lost her life in gruesome murder

Some youths were said to have attacked a Catholic church in Niger state on Friday, with the excuse that 'Friday belongs to them'.

According to Daily Post, the youths laid siege on St. Philips Catholic Parish, Baki Iku, not so far from Zuma Rock in the state, and eyewitnesses reported that the Catholics had gone to church for prayers when the incident occurred.

It was gathered that the Muslims laid claim on Friday as their day of worship, noting that the Christians were only allowed to worship on Sundays after which they (Muslims) destroyed the church's properties.

A source disclosed that, "although some soldiers managed to get there but a lot of harm had been done to the building, while the Christians ran away in different directions to avoid being killed."

The Vicar-General of the diocese, Rev (Fr) Luka Sylvester Gopep, also confirmed the incident, saying: "Sometime around 2pm, some Muslim youths in their hundreds left their Mosque after their Friday Jumat prayer and rushed to the Church premises, climbed the wall and destroyed everything in the Church: the windows, the alter, musical instruments, the chapel.

"The security man in the church premises was beaten to pulp. Some women who were holding a prayer meeting were chased away. The seminarian who is resident in the premises was also beaten up and chased away."

This incident is likely to irk Christians all over the country again as recently, a pastor'w wife, Mrs Eunice Olawale Elisha, was murdered in cold blood by some Muslims in Kubwa area of Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital, for reportedly preaching in their area.

Christians were after the incident, asked to protect themselves as the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) described the recent killing of Christians as brutal and unacceptable, adding: authoritys inaction is becoming unbearable and may not be tolerated anymore.

Source: Legit.ng
HONEY HARBOUR, ONT.-They call this the forgotten national park.

Maybe its because people mistakenly figure they need their own boat to get to Georgian Bay Islands National Park. Or perhaps its because we forget that Ontario has five national parks, not just 113 operating provincial ones.

Its a spectacular June weekend just before school ends and weve got the Cedar Spring campground on Beausoleil Island half to ourselves. In a good way, though. There are enough people here to make us feel part of a secret club, but enough empty campsites to make us feel . . . part of a secret club.

Were an urban family. I havent been in a tent or camper van since I was a kid, and my three kids only know hotels. This is pathetic and unCanadian.

But times have changed. Parks Canada knows not everybody has tents and camping gear and has options to entice lapsed and new campers. Georgian Bay Islands has 120 campsites for those who like to rough it, and 10 rustic cabins, five oTENTiks and two island safari tents (prospector tents with cots) for those who dont.

Weve booked an oTENTik for our Muskoka camping experience. Its a cross between an A-frame cabin and a prospector tent, set on a raised wooden floor, and it has a great name. It sleeps four (on fancy high-density foam mattresses) and comes with a table and chairs, a deck with propane-fuelled camp stove, picnic table and fire pit. Theres a private bear-proof food locker and a communal comfort station nearby with showers and flush toilets.

We bring our one sleeping bag, three blankets, four pillows, a flashlight, barbecue lighter and cooler full of bison steaks, pasta and cereal. Di Cain of Dis Picnic Basket meets us at the boat launch to deliver lunch. Parks Canada loans us pots, pans, plates, forks and knives, but youll have to bring your own. The visitor centre sells ice and firewood.

It takes a split second (two hours) to drive from Toronto to Honey Harbour with my husband, 8-year-old and 3-year-old in tow. Parks Canada has a secure parking lot and two DayTripper shuttle boats. You can take the Parkbus here if you dont drive, and there are private water taxis if you miss the shuttle. You can just come for the day.

Were a great getaway for people who want to try a national park experience, says the parks promotions co-ordinator Ethan Meleg, who takes us for a picnic and boat ride.

Jordan Mulligan, Muskoka Tourisms marketing manager, frets this forgotten national park is a gem that never gets the recognition it deserves. The park was formed in 1929 to keep some prime land for the public in a fast-growing vacation spot dominated by wealthy families. Its a chain of 63 islands, but most of the action is on the largest, Beausoleil.

This is Ontarios north-south transition zone. The islands south side is dominated by picturesque hardwood forests. The north side is iconic Group of Seven territory, with the Canadian Shield and, in Parks Canadas words, barren, glacier-scraped rock and windswept pine.

This is also black bear, eastern massassauga rattlesnake and poison ivy territory, so we stay alert. All we run into, though, are leopard and green frogs, one turtle, one rabbit and one eastern hognose snake.

Thats one of our celebrities, enthuses Meleg of the hognose snake. Its a species at risk. Im really glad to see it.

I dutifully print off the parks list of things to do with a Type-A grand plan to maximize our time.

Photography, picnicking, swimming and hiking on groomed trails  check (if walking counts as hiking). I create a Geocaching account but never get around to looking for treasure. We rent fat-tire bikes but never get on them. We dont have the gear to fish.

Mostly we hang out and, dare I admit it, relax and enjoy our cushy and cosy oTENTik site.

We boil pasta, barbecue steaks on the campfire and show the kids how to toast marshmallows and make smores. The 8-year-old completes five activities in the Parks Canada Xplorers booklet to claim a certificate and a park necklace. The 3-year-old is transfixed by the communal food storage building. It has a yellow warning sign on the door with a picture of a black bear, so he thinks this must be the spot where bears come to eat.

Luckily, it isnt. He gets his animal fix safely with leopard frogs instead.

This is the best day ever, he declares after dinner.

Hes never said it before, or since.

Jennifer Bain was hosted by Muskoka Tourism and Parks Canada, neither of which reviewed or approved this story.

When You Go

Do your research: Find out more about Georgian Bay Islands National Park at the Parks Canada (pc.gc.ca) website. The park is open from Victoria Day weekend to Thanksgiving. Daily entry fees are $5.80 adults, $4.90 seniors, $2.90 youth, $14.70 family/group.

Get to Honey Harbour: Its about a two-hour, 200-kilometre drive from Toronto to Honey Harbour. You can also take Parkbus (parkbus.ca) from Greater Toronto to Georgian Bay Islands National Park (and others). Adult tickets are $84 return and there are four pickup spots.

Get to the island: The largest island is Beausoleil Island and it has various campgrounds. The park is only accessible by boat, so take the Parks Canada DayTripper ferry shuttle, a water taxi or your own boat. Reservations are recommended for the DayTripper, which leaves from the park dock in Honey Harbour. Adult tickets are $15.70, but include park entry and a return trip.

Get around the island: The park is made up of 63 islands, but most of the action is on Beausoleil Island. Once youre on the island, you can walk or bike. Parks Canada rents bikes.

Camping: For an oTENTik, reserve online or by phone at 1-877-RESERVE for $140 per night with a two-night minimum. This fee includes return DayTripper ferry shuttles for four people, park entry and parking in Honey Harbour. Rustic cabins are available for $150 or $175 per night. To simply camp with your own gear, fees range from $15.70 to $25.50. Firewood is $6.80 per bundle.

Get a picnic:Dis Picnic Basket is based in Port Severn. Details: facebook.com/dispicnicbasket .

Explore Muskoka:Muskoka Tourism, discovermuskoka.ca

More national parks: The other four national parks in Ontario are: Pukaskwa, Bruce Peninsula, Point Pelee and Thousand Islands.

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Advocates for five Iraq War conscientious objectors fighting for asylum in Canada, including Rodney Watson, say the federal immigration minister has just 60 days left to quash judicial reviews of their cases.

A letter from NDP critics addressed to both the Attorney General and the Ministry for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship is calling on the Liberal government to end the Harper governments vendetta against U.S. war resisters in Canadian courts by providing them with a pathway to citizenship.

The letter also endorses the War Resisters Support Campaign, an organization founded in 2004 to help U.S. soldiers opposed to the Iraq War settle in Canada.

Watson has taken sanctuary at First United Church in Vancouver for the past six years and nine months, the letter said, because of concerns he could be deported to the U.S. He enlisted as a cook for financial reasons and was deployed to Mosul in 2005 with the promise that he wouldnt be in combat.

Instead, he wrote in an opinion piece in the Star, he was ordered to search local civilians and vehicles for weapons and explosives. He wrote that he witnessed racism and physical abuse toward civilians, describing one case where fellow soldiers beat up an unarmed Iraqi civilian, using racial epithets, after he ventured into their camp, looking for work.

This was not what I had signed up for, Watson wrote. When he was redeployed in a stop-loss action after returning from his one-year tour of duty, he decided not to return to an unnecessary war.

Last May, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that securing permanent residency for resisters was an issue that we are actively looking into as a government, but didnt offer a concrete timeline. During his election campaign last year, Trudeau said he backed the principle of allowing conscientious objectors to the Iraq War, which Canada did not support, to stay in Canada.

Immigration officials were instructed by the previous Conservative government, under former prime minister Stephen Harper, to deport them. About 15 conscientious objectors to the Iraq War are known to be in Canada today, but others may be in hiding.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan and NDP MP Murray Rankin, who signed the letter, noted that Immigration Minister John McCallums deadline to intervene in their five cases, given by the Federal Court, is fast approaching.

However, it appears that no action has been taken and the September 16, 2016 deadline is looming, the letter said.

Kimberly Rivera, another conscientious objector who fled to Toronto with her four children in 2007, was eventually deported in 2013, despite strong public criticism. Sentenced to 10 months imprisonment by a U.S. court, she later gave birth in a U.S. military stockade.

During the Vietnam War (under former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau) Canada took in about 50,000 U.S. soldiers, including both draftees and deserters, who refused to serve in a war many considered immoral.

With files from the Canadian Press and the Associated Press

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The violent coup attempt that swept the Turkish cities of Ankara and Istanbul late Friday evening and overnight into Saturday has left Turkish Canadians feeling uncertain and worried about family and friends.

The coup, which saw anti-government sects of the Turkish military take control of major government buildings and attack pro-government forces, has left the country divided Friday over whos actually in control.

Im so angry, I dont know what to do, said Dilara Kurtaran, a 22-year-old Turkish-Canadian whose family lives in Istanbul and Ankara.

I just got off work and my mom messages me to tell me to buy international calling cards. She said we were going to need a lot, because things had gone bad back home.

Kurtaran has lived in Canada since she was a teenager, but much of her family  including her dad, aunt and uncle  live in Turkey. She and her mother spent most of Fridayglued to their computer to learn anything and everything they could about the situation unfolding back home.

To Kurtaran, the coup is especially bad because her mother just sold her home in Canada so she could move back to Turkey to take care of her ailing grandmother. Now, Kurtaran said she is worried things will only get worse for her family.

Do I have to worry every day now? Am I going to have to call them every time something happens, just to see if theyre OK? If theyre alive?

Maidina Kadeer Ozbek, a 20-year-old Canadian staying with family in Turkey, was at a wedding in Ankara earlier when the coup broke out. In a phone interview with the Star, Ozbek described the scene to be like a war zone.

Theres smoke from people burning stuff, police sirens, people breaking windows  it looks like theyre looting  a lot of rioting, Ozbek said. People are angry on both sides. The (pro-government) people and people who dont want to see a violent takeover. Its a divide.

Ozbek, whose father is Turkish, was planning to fly back to Istanbul on Monday, with plans to stay until August before returning to Toronto. Now, Ozbek is not so sure, but said the situation for Turkish citizens is much worse.

I do feel scared, but I am in a position of privilege, really. If the airport opened again, I could just fly home. Not everybody can.

Tevfik al Jerrahi, leader of the Jerrahi Sufi Order of Canada, an Etobicoke-based religious group that has a largely Turkish congregration, said while his daughter is in Turkey right now, hefears more about the instability that might result from the coup.

My daughter, I am not worried about, he said. But whatever powers may want this to happen are probably doing so because they know what chaos will be left (after) it is all done.

Since the coup began, international powers have voiced similar concerns  both Russia and the U.S. have cited concern over the violence, with U.S. President Barack Obama defending the Turkish government against coup forces.

Over the last few years, Erdogan has come under fire for cracking down on governmental dissent and free speech. Just earlier this year, the Turkish government took control of Turkeys Zaman daily  one of the countrys largest news publications  before converting it to a state-run media outlet.

In Ozbeks eyes, violence is not the best way to solve the polarizing political issues in Turkey.

I understand the outrage  I totally get it. But this may only help Erdogan out, and hurt a lot of innocent people in the process.

More on thestar.com

Turkey has a history of military coups

Photos: Turkeys armed forces attempt military coup

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Before Chatham police sat Jessica Chater down for a breathalyzer last year, they forced her to remove her bra.

Seem odd?

Other police departments in the province said the action is virtually unheard of without a specific reason, like self-harm.

The Chatham-Kent deputy chief, however, said his officers always order a bra removed when an accused is placed in cells, despite an Ontario Superior Court decision from 2013 rejecting bra seizure as a blanket policy.

They were monsters and the whole thing is a nightmare, Chater, 34, told the Star Friday.

This week Justice Lucy Glenn dismissed the impaired-driving charge against Chater on the basis of several Charter violations. The arresting officer failed to ensure the accused understood her rights after rattling them off as a puzzling piece of legal jargon, said the Ontario Court of Justice judge.

Chater had been taken into the station after a breath test during a traffic stop along the towns main artery on the night of March 7, 2015.

A female sergeant ordered her to remove her bra and then put her top back on, said her lawyer Brian Ducharme. Chater was placed briefly in cells then turned her over to a male police officer for breath testing without her intimate apparel, Ducharme said.

Chatham-Kent deputy chief Jeff Littlewood said his officers routinely order women who are detained in a cell, even temporarily, to take off their bras.

The bra is always removed if she is being lodged, Littlewood told the Chatham Daily News, noting it could in theory be used for self-strangulation.

However, Scott Rome, head of the Ontario Provincial Police breath program, said bra removal is far from routine.

I cant think of anything that would (prompt it) . . . unless there were a risk to the officers safety or something like that.

Criminal lawyer Leora Shemesh called the practice invasive and a violation of Charter protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

I dont understand it. Its the dumbest thing ever, she said. At what point are we drawing the line? Tights are more dangerous as ligatures than a bra. Are we going to have everyone naked in a cell?

Shemesh successfully appealed a similar case several years ago where police forced a woman charged with drunk driving to remove her bra before a breathalyzer.

Until three years ago, it was an unwritten policy in at least one York Regional Police district to order underwire bras removed to prevent self-harm, harm to an officer or scratching the cells, noted Ontario Superior Court judge Michelle Fuerst.

Strip searches  which bra removal amounts to  can be carried out by police on a case-by-case basis, Fuerst wrote. A policy applied without exception, however, equates to routine strip searches of female detainees, in contravention of Section 8 of the Charter, she stated in a 2013 decision.

Since then, York police have imposed strict guidelines about bra removal. Officers now must receive authorization from a supervisor before ordering removal of any clothing, said spokesperson Const. Andy Pattenden.

Accessories like belts or ties are often confiscated in detention for safety reasons, but unless shes got suicidal tendencies, we wouldnt take off a bra, said Toronto police spokesperson Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu.

Staff Sgt. Ian Borden at the OPP policy unit said bra removal is not just something blanket; thats a case-by-case sort of thing. You dont automatically strip search everybody who goes into your cells.

Women in minimum- or medium-security prisons are permitted no more than 10 underwire bras, a Corrections Canada spokesperson said.

Correction - July 18, 2016: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said women in minimum- or medium-security prisons are permitted no fewer than 10 underwire bras.

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One hundred and sixty-four years ago, William Henson Holland left his family behind in Maryland and risked his life to travel the Underground Railroad to Canada. His brother Thomas John wasnt far behind.

The brothers, escaped slaves from a plantation in Maryland, were meant to blaze a path to freedom for their family to follow. But instead, their departure caused a cross-border rift that took 130 years to heal.

This weekend, eight generations since the Holland brothers headed north, family from both sides of the border will come together in Toronto.

It was Sandra Smiths mother who helped reconnect the two halves of the family when she was invited to a small gathering in Maryland by a cousin in San Francisco in 1948.

I just thought that my mother was going to visit a few family members. But when she came back, she was so proud, Smith said. She was so proud to see this large group of American cousins that live close to each other in the Silver Springs area.

After that first connection, Smith said family members on both sides of the border started researching their family history more actively.

Digging through archives, a cousin south of the border found copies of their ancestors bills of sale and other documents that he sent north to Smith.

I remember opening that package and seeing these documents and finding the names of my forebears and it just, it just gave me chills, she said.

It made me proud to know that we had a history that was documented and that weve come this far and survived, and that my great-grandfather was brave enough to make that journey to Canada and never see his family again, she said.

Smiths family tree starts with Jack and Polly Howard, workers in bondage on a plantation in Maryland in the early 1800s. They had eight children: Leatha, Enoch George, Eliza, Greenberry, Maria, Brice, Martha and Suzanna.

Leatha married William Augustus Holland. Their sons, William Henson and Thomas John eventually made the arduous journey north to freedom. Risking capture and possible death, the two boys relied on the charity of abolitionists along the route to evade bounty hunters.

Thomas John eventually settled in Hamilton and William Henson in Amherstburg, near Windsor. The plan was to set down roots and prepare for the rest of the family to follow, but the American civil war ended and slavery was abolished before the others could make the journey.

After her mother made the first connection with family in the U.S., Smith said, things started to pick up pace quickly. The first cross-border reunion happened in Windsor in the late 1980s.

It was a teeny, tiny reunion. There was not much planned or anything. We just sort of went to a picnic area and sat around and met each other for the first time, Smith said.

Since then the biennial gatherings have ballooned. Smith is this years planner-in-chief, helping to co-ordinate the logistics.

See that pile of papers over there? she asked, pointing to a two-foot-high stack on a side table in her living room. Those are just the registrations. Shes expecting nearly 200 guests for the three-day gathering at Toronto's Don Valley Hotel.

Its been an amazing journey, said Rev. Thomas Pumphrey, with a slight chuckle in his smooth Maryland accent.

To see someone you have never met before and realize how closely they resemble maybe a father or mother or even yourself, he said. Its an amazing piece (of history.)

Pumphrey is one of the American cousins. At 71, hes been going to the reunions since they started. At one in Maryland, he helped arrange a tour of the old plantation grounds.

As the afternoon wore on, the tour group began to get a little turned around on the expansive estate, Pumphrey said.

As we were coming back out, one of the Canadian cousins asked How do you get out of here? So I said I dont know. You guys are the ones who escaped to Canada. You should know the answer to that, he said, laughing.

Pumphrey and Smiths family is part of Torontos rich history of freedom-seeking slaves helping to build the city that exists today.

In 1826 twelve fugitive slaves, lead by Elder Washington Christian, founded the First Baptist Church after being barred from joining existing churches in the city. Today its the citys oldest black institution.

You can imagine the racial tension at that time, said Rev. Wendell Gibbs, who leads the congregation now.

He sees a direct connection between his churchs history and the struggles today facing not just black people, but anyone from a marginalized group.

Whether its Black Lives Matter or First Nations people, or LGBTQ people, every community has its own struggles, Gibbs said.

All these communities have faced historic oppression, Gibbs said, in the form of residential schools or growing up under anti-gay laws or the colonial slave trade.

Its all tied together. The connection is the emotional pain we still suffer, he said. You still have to go all the way back and tie it to those original pains, he said.

For Sandra Smith and her cousin Yahya (Juan) Gairey, Gibbss message is part of the reason the family takes its reunions and its history so seriously.

My daughters part of Black Lives Matter, Gairey said. Sandras mother tried to start the Martin Luther King Day here in Toronto. Our family has always been at the forefront of speaking for things that affect our people, having a voice and being heard, he said.

I think its really important that the younger generations hear about the struggles of the older generations, Smith said, because its so easy to forget.

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The derelict buildings of historic Camp 30, believed to be Canadas only remaining prisoner of war camp from the Second World War, which were once feared unsalvageable, have emerged victorious against the test of time.

Earlier this month, the Town of Clarington announced it has approved a deal with developer Kaitlin Developments and Fandor Homes to acquire five hectares of the Camp 30 lands and some of the historically significant buildings on the property.

This is a slice of history right in our backyard, said Clarington Mayor Adrian Foster, in a press release. Council would like to restore and rehabilitate the buildings which are historical landmarks in our community.

Camp 30 was the only site used by the Allies to house captured, high-ranking Nazi officers. It is the only known intact camp for German prisoners of war left in the world.

Saving the property has long been a labour of love for local advocates and history buffs, who feared that after years of vandalism and neglect, the buildings were destined for the wrecking ball. Over time, windows have shattered, graffiti has covered the walls and the buildings, once considered architecturally unique, have started to crumble. Despite the sites remarkable history, its future was always uncertain, said Corinna Traill, Clarington Ward 3 councillor.

I grew up with Camp 30, knowing that we had this great historical site and basically seeing it go to ruin, said Traill. This is really a case that if the town hadnt stepped in, this site would have been reduced to rubble.

In the 1920s, 18 buildings were built on 40 hectares of rural land about 45 minutes east of Toronto, initially serving as a training school for troubled boys. But during the Second World War, the site was converted into a PoW camp to house high-ranking members of the Third Reich.

Among its most famous inhabitants were Otto Kretschmer, a skilled German U-boat commander, who was involved in a daring but ultimately unsuccessful escape attempt that was supposed to see him and three others tunnel their way to the east coast. The operation was foiled by guards and the carefully built tunnels were collapsed.

But the sites layered history has been lost on many outside of Bowmanville.

Once the previous owners moved out in 2008, local residents and politicians started to advocate for the site at every opportunity, said Marilyn Morawetz, chair of the Jury Lands Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the conservation of historic lands and the creation of a long-term plan to preserve this property.

It was only in 2013, when the federal government designated Camp 30 a National Historic Site and it made it onto Heritage Canadas Top 10 list of endangered sites, that it was nationally recognized. But until the property was in private hands, there was little the town or the foundation could do in terms of drumming up funds, said Devon Daniell, director of business development for developer Kaitlin Corporation.

When Katilin Corp. bought the land, they didnt know its significance, he said. But over the last few years, they have been working with the town and foundation to find a way to preserve the buildings and the history, he said. That included talking to the developers of Torontos Distillery District in Toronto for inspiration and ideas.

The transfer of land is expected later this year. Before then, the developer will demolish the buildings that have not been identified for historic preservation. The town will be responsible for five of the original buildings, while the developer plans to convert one into a clubhouse to serve a future community.

The developer will also clean up the area, including removing the graffiti which is proving to be a difficult task, said Daniell.

Despite our best efforts to preserve the site, you cant stop these people who are motivated to damage it, he said, adding that vandals have been relentless, spray painting over security cameras, knocking down fences and masonry walls with ATVs, he said.

Once the clean up takes place, the developer is to make a $500,000 donation to the town to assist with maintenance, he said.

The developer has plans for a housing development on some portions of the land. The five-hectare parcel is part of the developers mandatory parkland contribution to the town.

Town officials say while this deal is the first and most important step in securing this piece of Canadian history, the entire country should take ownership of the project.

Redevelopment of these historical buildings cannot be on the backs of local taxpayers, said Faye Langmaid, manager of special projects with the town. This is a national project, with a national scope.

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More than a year after Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan died in immigration custody, Ontarios police watchdog has cleared the officers responsible for guarding him at a hospital from any wrongdoing.

On Friday, the Special Investigations Unit said there are no reasonable grounds to charge the two officer, one from Peterborough police, the other from the Ontario Provincial Police, who were watching the 39-year-old man at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre where he was under medical treatment in June.

The issue that I need to determine is whether or not the actions of either of the subject officers were a significant contributing cause of the mans death, SIU director Tony Loparco said in a statement. My conclusion is that neither officer did anything that could reasonably satisfy the essential offence element of causation.

The same day, the provincial coroners office also called an inquest into the death of Hassan, who had been detained at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay for three years and struggled for decades with mental illness and diabetes.

The SIU has yet again found police not responsible for another black Somali refugees death. The fact is if Abdurahman hadnt been in detention, he would be alive today, said Tings Chak of the advocacy group End Immigration Detention Network.

We cant bring Abdurahman back, but Mr. (Public Safety Minister Ralph) Goodale can step in and stop future deaths by ending immigration detentions now. We cant wait for another two, three years for an inquest, which may turn out nothing.

Hassans family has declined to comment on the SIU and coroners decisions.

There have been at least three other deaths of immigration detainees so far this year, including Chilean man Francisco Javier Romero Astroga, 39, at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton; Melkioro Gahungu, 64, a Burundian migrant at Toronto East Detention Centre, and an unnamed 24-year-old man in Edmonton Remand Centre.

Since last Monday, some 60 immigration detainees in Lindsay and the Toronto East Detention Centre in Scarborough have been on a hunger strike demanding a meeting with Goodale to discuss their concern  a request his office has rejected.

Scott Bardsley, Goodales spokesperson, said the minister is working on issues related to detention and hopes to put forward proposals in public later this year.

In recent months, Goodale has already met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and other groups working for reform, Bardsley said.

The government will consider how to strengthen the accountability and security of all our security, including Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Our goal is to ensure our Canadian approach is world-class, including our methods of enforcement, with effective transparency and accountability, he said.

Alvin Brown, who came to Canada from Jamaica 32 years ago when he was 8, has been detained at Toronto East Detention Centre since September 2011, after he served a jail sentence for robbery and lost his permanent resident status. He joined the hunger strike on Tuesday.

It is cruel for them to punish us, torture us and lock us away indefinitely. It must end now, said Brown, who has been held because Jamaican officials have refused to issue him travel documents.

Hassan came to Canada as a refugee in 1993 from war-torn Somalia. Although he was granted asylum, he never became a permanent resident because of his mental illness.

Canadas border agency runs an immigration detention centre in Rexdale but uses provincial jail facilities in the event of an overflow, or if an inmate poses dangers to others, has medical needs or is not likely to be deported anytime soon.

On any given day, more than 200 immigration detainees are held in Ontario jails alone.

This story has been edited from an earlier version which said incorrectly that two OPP officers were cleared; one of the two officers cleared is from Peterborough police.

-

SIU DETAILS WHAT HAPPENED

Neither subject officer provided copies of their duty notes, as is their right, though one did speak with the SIU. One witness and four civilian witnesses were interviewed as part of the investigation. Here are the SIUs findings:

On June 10, 2015, two OPP officers accepted a paid duty at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, which entailed guarding a refugee claimant in custody and awaiting deportation. The 39-year-old suffered from significant mental health issues, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Between 10:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m., the two officers, five nurses and three security guards entered the isolation room and attempted to sedate the man, who had been smearing his feces on the bed, his face, his forehead and his arms. He had also been ingesting feces and clumps of his own hair.

Subject officer no. 2 was instructed by a nurse to hold a towel to the mans mouth to keep him from biting and spitting. While the security guards held down the mans legs, subject officer no. 1 held his left arm and subject officer no. 2 used the towel to block the mans mouth and force his head down.

The sedative was successfully administered and the man went to sleep within five minutes.

Around 1 a.m., the subject officers and four nurses entered the room to clean it. The man awoke. Again, he ingested feces and threw it about the room.

Subject officer no. 1 held down the mans left arm to prevent him from throwing anything else. Subject officer no. 2 used a towel in the same manner as before.

While being restrained, the man kicked, hit and grabbed at the nurses who were attempting to clean him and his bedding. Suddenly, the man stopped moving. It was determined he was without vital signs and resuscitation efforts were made.

<bullet>He was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m.

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The Obama administration will consider a Turkish extradition request for 75-year-old Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and is blamed by Turkeys government for orchestrating Friday nights attempted coup, but evidence is required.

John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, said Ankara would have to prove Gulens role in the failed effort by elements of the countrys military to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The attempted coup resulted in 200 deaths and rocked a key NATO ally.

Obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny, Kerry said. Im confident there will be some discussion about that.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters Saturday that Gulen was the leader of a terrorist organization and that any country standing by this person will not be a friend of Turkey. He said more than 2,800 military members involved in the coup have been arrested.

From his estate in the Poconos outside the village of Saylorsburg, Pa., Gulen  he is at the helm of a broad religious network that includes hundreds of schools across the world that promote a moderate version of Islam  denied any complicity in the takeover attempt.

At a news conference Saturday, Gulen stressed he left Turkey more than 15 years ago. He said he no longer follows developments in Turkey and doesnt even know who my followers are.

On Friday night, he had condemned in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey.

He said that government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, nor force.

A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said Friday that Turkish intelligence sources have direct proof of involvement by Gulen in the coup attempt. Erdogan said, after arriving in Istanbul as his forces were regaining control of the country early Saturday, that Turkey cannot be governed from Pennsylvania.

Kerry, who spoke about Gulen during a visit to Luxembourg, said no extradition request had yet been received. The state-run Anadolu news agency in Turkey reported Wednesday, two days before the attempted coup, that prosecutors in Ankara were preparing to seek Gulens extradition from the U.S., accusing him of trying to infiltrate and overthrow the government. Anadolu reported that the extradition file was to be sent to Turkeys Justice Ministry July 14.

Gulen and Erdogan have been twin centres of power in Turkey for years, at one time close allies who eventually grew estranged as the cleric became critical of Erdogans moves to consolidate power. In an opinion column written for the New York Times last year, Gulen said the Erdogan administration had squandered an opportunity to transform Turkey into a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens.

Erdogan, who is trying to transform his Muslim-populated country from a traditional secular country to one that observes Islamic customs more faithfully, has cracked down on political dissent and has sought constitutional changes to make his largely ceremonial office far more powerful.

From his 25-acre estate outside Saylorsburg, 140 kilometres north of Philadelphia, Gulen runs a network known as Hizmet (the service), an organization he describes as a civil society movement operating 1,000 secular schools around the world, as well as tutoring centres, colleges, hospitals and relief organizations in 150 countries.

His compound in Pennsylvania, where he maintains residency with a green card, according to the New York Times, is known as the Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center. A spokesman for the centre told the Financial Times that Gulens health is very fragile.

About 10 per cent of Turkeys citizens are Hizmet supporters, according to The Guardian.

With files from The Associated Press

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ANKARA, TURKEYRather than toppling Turkey's strongman president, a failed military coup that left more than 250 dead appears to have bolstered Recep Tayyip Erdogan's immediate grip on power and boosted his popularity.

Tens of thousands marched through the streets in half a dozen Turkish cities late Saturday, waving flags and singing songs in an emotional outpouring of support for the long-time leader as security forces rounded up military personnel it branded coup supporters and launched a purge of judges seen as government opponents.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the perpetrators of Friday's failed coup will receive every punishment they deserve, and the government said it would take steps toward extraditing a U.S.-based cleric it accused of fomenting the uprising.

The government threat of further crackdowns raised concerns over the future of democracy in Turkey, which has long prided itself in its democratic and secular traditions despite being in a tumultuous region swept by conflict and extremism.

The coup attempt began late Friday with tanks rolling into the streets of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul as Erdogan was enjoying a seaside vacation. Explosions and gunfire erupted throughout the night.

It quickly became clear, however, that the military was not united in the effort to overthrow the government. In a dramatic iPhone interview broadcast on TV, Erdogan urged his supporters into the streets to confront the troops and tanks, and forces loyal to the government began reasserting control.

The unrest claimed at least 265 lives, according to a tally compiled from official statements. Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the process of putting down the coup attempt. Turkey's acting chief of the general staff, Gen. Umit Dundar said at least 104 coup plotters had died.

Before the weekend's chaos, Turkey  a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group  had been wracked by political turmoil that critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian rule. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.

By Saturday afternoon, when tensioned eased, an atmosphere of celebration broke around as Turks answered official calls to rally in the squares to protect Turkish democracy. Thousands gathered in major cities singing and waving Turkish flags while others held prayers in support of Erdogan and chanted God is great.

In Istanbul, crowds gathered at Taksim Square, where a man stood on an iconic monument with a Turkish flag draped on his chest.

Government supporters marched through Ankara as cars honked in apparent approval. Some gathered outside parliament and amid the burnt cars outside the presidential palace. One man took a selfie with a Turkish police officer standing atop an abandoned tank.

We are here for democracy, so the country lasts, retired soldier Nusret Tuzak said at the Ankara gathering.

By late Saturday afternoon, flights had resumed into Istanbul's international airport after being halted for nearly 24 hours. Mostly national carriers were flying into Istanbul, but other airlines preferred to wait another day to test the precarious security situation. Late Saturday, the usually buzzing airport was eerily quiet with some stranded travellers sitting on the floors of the largely empty terminals.

In an usual show of unity, Turkey's four main political parties released a joint declaration during an extraordinary parliamentary meeting Saturday, denouncing the coup attempt and claiming that any moves against the people or parliament will be met with the iron will of the Turkish Grand National Assembly resisting them.

Turkey's NATO allies lined up to condemn the coup attempt. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged all sides to support Turkey's democratically elected government.

Erdogan's survival has turned him into a sort of a mythical figure and could further erode democracy in Turkey, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research program at The Washington Institute.

It will allow him (Erdogan) to crack down on liberty and freedom of association, assembly, expression and media in ways that we haven't seen before and find strong public support within the country, he said.

Government forces arrested 2,839 accused coup supporters, Yildirim said. Dundar, the general, said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and armoured units.

Anadolu Agency said the government dismissed 2,745 judges across Turkey. Two constitutional court judges were also detained over their alleged role in the coup attempt, according to a Turkish official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

Officials accused the judges and the coup plotters of being loyal to moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey. At a news conference in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, Gulen strongly denied any role in or knowledge of the coup.

Ankara recently classified his movement as a terrorist organization. Washington, however, has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously against the cleric.

In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen, saying Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for terrorists by the United States. A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey was preparing a formal extradition application.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would entertain an extradition request for Gulen, but Turkey would have to present legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny.

Gulen himself condemned the coup.

Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force, he said. As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.

Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think-tank in London, said the attempted coup appeared to have been carried out by lower-ranking officers.

Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan's attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency, Hakura said. In the short term, this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan.

Turkey's military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious mentor of Erdogan, out of power in 1997.

Turkey has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the Islamic State group in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon said U.S. warplanes stopped flying those missions from Incirlik after the Turkish government closed its airspace to military aircraft during the attempted coup. U.S. officials were working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible.

Soguel reported from Istanbul. Emrah Gurel and Cinar Kiper also contributed from Istanbul. With files from The Washington Post.

Related:

Two Toronto PhD students caught in Turkey coup chaos

Turkey has a history of military coups

Photos: Turkeys armed forces attempt military coup

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged triumphant and possibly stronger from a failed coup attempt, meaning that Turkeys pivotal roles as an ally in the war against Daesh and a guarantor of refugee agreements with Europe will probably remain intact.

An expected purge of military factions responsible for the attempted putsch, however, could leave the armed forces in turmoil and overstretched. While trying to rebuild with loyalists, the military must continue to confront autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels in Turkey and control its turbulent border with war-torn Syria.

Turkey is a strategic ally at the crossroads of the Asian and European continents and abuts conflict zones in the Middle East. It is the only majority-Muslim country in NATO and a key partner in efforts to solve international challenges, including terrorism and mass migration, as well as being an important interlocutor with regional powers such as Iran and Russia.

U.S., European and other world leaders have condemned the assault on Erdogans democratically elected government, while watching for further fallout from the uprising on Turkey, which was seen as a generally stable partner in a neighbourhood plagued by upheaval.

The United States is monitoring the situation closely, in part because it stages air strikes from Turkeys Incirlik air base against Islamist extremists in Syria and Iraq. The Turkish government closed the airspace around Incirlik for several hours on Saturday after the coup attempt, although there was no indication of a long-term negative effect on U.S. operations.

The uprising was launched Friday night with military jets overhead, tanks and soldiers in the streets and firepower that left at least 161 dead and 1,440 wounded, according to the government. It appears to have been led by air force, military police and armoured units, but not the senior commanders of the military, who closed ranks behind Erdogan and put down the putsch early Saturday. Even opposition political parties condemned the attempt to oust the government.

Nearly 3,000 accused plotters already have been detained and new purges in the military are expected to remove any sympathizers among soldiers and officers. This continued internal turmoil could be a challenge for the armed forces as they battle Kurdish rebels and support the campaign against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

On Saturday, Turkeys state-run news agency said the commander of the countrys second army was arrested in connection with the coup. The second army is based in eastern Turkey to counter threats from Syria, Iran and Iraq.

A new wave of purges in military will likely weaken overstretched security services . . . even if basic policies will remain same, said Howard Eissenstat, an associate professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.

Erdogan, an often combative figure, has been accused of increasingly autocratic conduct even though his government was democratically elected and he commands deep support among pious Turkish Muslims. The military has long seen itself as the guarantor of secular government in Turkey, and many in its ranks have bristled at both his tightening grip on power and the growing Islamic influence under Erdogan. The president had jailed or sidelined many of his military adversaries, but clearly others remained to launch the failed coup.

In the international arena, Erdogan recently sought to patch up disputes with Israel and Russia, and to lend stronger support to U.S.-led efforts against Daesh after being accused of tolerating the flow of foreign extremists and weapons from Turkey into Syria. He was pushed through an agreement with the European Union that provides for the safe, regulated passage of Syrian civilians between Turkey and Europe, which has received a massive influx of refugees.

While that pragmatic approach will probably continue as Erdogan shores up international support after the coup attempt, the president has often lashed at out his western partners, questioning their commitment to democratic values and alleging that Kurdish militants enjoy refuge in some European countries.

The United States, emphasizing the importance of its alliance with Turkeys current leadership, expressed support for the democratically elected government as the violence unfolded. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to speak with Turkeys foreign minister. That response contrasted with U.S. comments after the Egyptian military ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi after protests against him in 2013. At that time, Kerry said the military was restoring democracy in Egypt.

Although many Turks are disgruntled over Erdogans moves against civil liberties such as freedom of the press, and are fearful in the wake of a deadly Daesh attack on Istanbuls Ataturk Airport last month, the country appeared to reject the military rebellion. It endured three military coups between 1960 and 1980.

Yet Turkey could be poised for a fresh bout of polarization under Erdogan, who vowed that the coup plotters would pay a heavy price. Domestic tension and suspicion, in turn, could undermine the consistency or effectiveness of Turkeys international commitments and challenges, particularly when the military is involved.

Bottom line is the relationship between the government and the military, no matter how loyal the generals may claim to be in future, is broken for good, Chris Kilford, a former Canadian military attache in Turkey and an expert on the Turkish military, wrote in an email.

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World leaders expressed support for Turkey and its democratic institutions on Saturday after the government quashed an attempted military coup.

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his concern for the situation in Turkey, issuing this statement Saturday morning:

On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to express our concern about this evening's events in Turkey. We call for restraint by all parties. Canada supports the preservation of Turkish democracy, and condemns any attempt to subvert Turkey's democratic institutions by force of arms.

The Government of Canada is being kept informed of developments in Turkey, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that the safety and security of Canadians in that country is maintained.

United States

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would entertain an extradition request for exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey's president blames for a failed coup.

But Kerry added that Turkey's government would have to present evidence of Gulen's wrongdoing that withstands scrutiny.

While visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn't made a request to extradite the Pennsylvania-based Gulen. But he said he anticipates questions about Gulen, who has condemned the coup attempt.

Kerry said on Saturday the U.S. opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader and change must come through a constitutional process.

Israel

A statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continued reconciliation between the countries.

Israel and Turkey recently struck a broad reconciliation pact to restore diplomatic relations after six years of animosity between the once-close Mideast powers following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.

Relations between Israel and Turkey began to decline soon after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose party has Islamist roots, came to power in 2003.

Since then, Erdogan has sought closer ties with Muslim nations while trying to distance his country from Israel. Erdogan's close ties with Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers have further strained ties.

Britain

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkeys democratic elected government and institutions in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.

The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to stay indoors, avoid public places, especially demonstrations, and remain vigilant.

British Airways says it is cancelling all flights to and from Turkey Saturday, but budget airline easyJet says it plans to runs its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns. The airline says the schedule will be kept under continuous review.

NATO

NATOs chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are safe and secure following the attempted coup.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Twitter post that he had spoken to NATOs supreme commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scapparrotti, who confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure.

The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected gov of Turkey.

Spain

Spains acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo condemned the attempted coup, telling Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

He says without a doubt we support respecting the constitution and democratically elected institutions, and we condemn all coups without reservation.

Garcia Margallo spoke by telephone from Mongolia, where he is attending the ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting.

Italy

Italys foreign minister says his Turkish counterpart has defined the coup attempt as terroristic.

Paolo Gentiloni, in a phone conversation with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, expressed satisfaction that popular mobilization and defence of the institutions prevailed in Turkey, according to a statement from the Italian Foreign Ministry.

The statement said Cavusoglu, who was speaking from the Turkish capital, Ankara, confirmed the failure of the attempt that he termed terroristic.

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe is calling for Turkeys public institutions to resume their normal functions and is offering its help in the aftermath of the coup attempt.

Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Marina Kaljurand condemned the coup attempt and expressed her support for the democratically elected authorities.

I call for the resumption of the normal functioning of public institutions and reaffirm the Council of Europes availability to continue to assist Turkey on the basis of the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, she said in a statement.

Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said democratic institutions should be respected in Turkey.

We strongly hope that the situation will return to normal and that order and peace will be restored as soon as possible, he said in a statement.

Syrian opposition

The exiled Syrian opposition congratulated the Turkish people for halting the attempted military coup.

The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said Turkey has protected its democratic institutions in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will.

It says the Turkish people value democracy and will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule.

Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad, and is hosting some 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

In the early hours of the attempted coup, celebratory gunfire broke out across Damascus. The government and its supporters view the rebels as terrorists and consider Turkey to be one of their chief sponsors.

Hamas

The Islamic militant group Hamas has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for quashing a vicious plot to overthrow him.

The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas says it remembers Turkeys wise leadership in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause and working to lift the blockade on Gaza, the coastal territory ruled by the group.

Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the failure of the coup, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogans image.

Turkey recently restored ties with Israel after a six-year lull following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.

Qatar

The Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogans government, was quick to condemn the military coup attempt.

It called the attempted coup a violation of the constitutional legitimacy in Turkey and said it supports all legal measures the government takes to maintain security and stability.

The official Qatar News Agency said the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatars support.

Qatar and Turkey have grown increasingly close in recent years, and share similar stances on their support for Syrian rebel groups and the Muslim Brotherhood. The two countries agreed last year to establish a Turkish military base in Qatar.

Iran

Iran said the attempted military coup in Turkey was doomed to fail.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the brave defence by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government.

He said the events in neighbouring Turkey prove that coup detat has no place and is doomed to fail in our region.

Pakistan

An aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attempted coup in a statement and said Pakistan "hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey."

Tariq Fatimi also said he had contacted Turkey's foreign minister to express solidarity with Turkey's government and democratic institutions.

Pakistan's main political parties have also praised the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.

Sharif was himself overthrown in a 1999 coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan until 2008.

A Pakistani non-profit organization organized a pro-Erdogan demonstration in the capital Islamabad to pay tribute to the Turkish people and their leader for foiling the coup attempt.

Dozens of supporters of the Khubaib Foundation, which works mainly on education and support of orphans, gathered near the National Press Club Saturday and chanted slogans in favour of the Turkish government and President Erdogan.

Holding Turkish and Pakistani flags and displaying banners written in Turkish and Urdu, demonstrator chanted "Long live the Turkish people." One banner in Urdu read "The Pakistani nation salutes the people of Turkey and Erdogan for sustaining democracy."

The foundation's chairman Nadeem Ahmed Khan said the Turkish people's success in foiling the coup attempt is a triumph of democracy and human rights.

Afghanistan

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani expressed support for Turkeys elected government, saying in a statement that democratic elections are the most effective means for peaceful transfer of power.

Militaristic options will only undermine democratic institutions, stability and development in the country, the statement from Ghanis office said.

India

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India is closely following the developments in Turkey.

India calls upon all sides to support democracy and mandate of the ballot, and avoid bloodshed, she said on Twitter.

Sudan

Sudanese President Omar Bashir condemned the attempted coup in Turkey and expressed support for the government.

Bashir, who himself came to power in a 1989 military coup, said in a statement that the Sudanese people and government stand alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his government and the people of Turkey.

Sudans Foreign Ministry congratulated Turkey, its president, government and people for the decisive victory of the national will.

Hungary

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Hungary condemns the attempted coup in the firmest way.

Based on the number of deaths and the way it was carried out, this attempted coup can be also called an act of terror, he said.

He added that Hungary is in solidarity with the Turkish government chosen in democratic elections and with the Turkish president.

Azerbaijan

The president of Turkeys neighbour Azerbaijan condemned the attempted coup.

President Ilham Aliev was concerned about developments in Turkey and welcomed measures taken to prevent the attempt at a coup and to stabilize the situation, spokesman Ali Hasanov said.

Azerbaijan is a Turkic nation and its late president Geidar Aliev once described their relations as one nation, two states -- a phrase later echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan says the coup attempt has caused serious anxiety.

The Foreign Ministry said President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov expressed support for the Turkish people and government and also firm confidence in stabilizing the situation in Turkey.

Turkmenistan is ethnically Turkic but does not share a border with Turkey.

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Whither indigenous justice in Canada, beyond hopeful rhetoric for real change (the two-syllable pitch for electoral success the world over)? Its not for non-indigenous politicians present or past (like me) to say. Thats for aboriginal leadership. But non-indigenous lefties like me also expect concrete reforms for our indigenous brethren. If you think that Justin Trudeau has already promised as much, look a little closer.

The Liberal platform promises to set up some new processes (standard for every new government), undo whatever Stephen Harper did wrong, and launch a national inquiry into the disappearance or murder of nearly 1,200 indigenous women. All positive, but not the stuff of radical change.

Yes, Trudeau promised a renewed, nation-to-nation relationship with aboriginal communities. No, there is nothing specific in the Liberal platform on, say, land claim reforms. How does Trudeau achieve one without the other? In my view, its impossible.

Thats a problem, because the Prime Minister has created radical hope for radical change: appointing Canadas first indigenous Justice Minister; launching, without any missteps, a national inquiry; and trumpeting a new nation-to-nation relationship  something that terrifies federal lawyers but has untold political currency with aboriginal leadership. Meanwhile, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett (my federal counterpart when I was MPP for St. Pauls riding), has been well received by indigenous leaders for her indefatigable outreach efforts  key to forging a new relationship.

This may be enough for a first term in government, some might argue. But by achieving it all so quickly, there is a risk of that all that indigenous optimism boomerangs before long. All of which gets us to the land claims reforms.

Those aboriginal communities developing economically, socially and otherwise in a fashion equal to the rest of Canada almost always have settled their land claims with the federal government and provincial counterparts. But most First Nations, at least, are held back by the outstanding claims. I say held back in that there is an historic grievance, particularized by the land claim, which remains outstanding. There are hundreds of unresolved land claims, between the treaty, non-treaty and other land claims.

As long as that claim is unresolved, the spirit of that community remains at odds with the rest of Canada. The same might be said of Quebec, and the unfinished work of Confederation and repatriation, albeit without all the aboriginal poverty. For the rest of non-indigenous Canada, we have our beefs with governments, but we arent harboring an historic grievance born out of governmental theft of our ancestral lands.

The great flaw in the current land claims process arises from good intentions. Pierre Trudeau reversed Canadas denial of aboriginal rights thanks to a Supreme Court of Canada decision in the early 1970s, after which the current land claim process was born. Later, that court would urge governments to negotiate, not litigate as adversaries. So federal and provincial governments do just that, while at the same time governments try to safeguard taxpayer dollars since thats what usually gets offered to resolve these claims.

Negotiation rather than litigation sounds great because its congenial and awfully Canadian. The problem is that negotiation doesnt work where there is a major power imbalance (the Crown has all the land and all the money), major distrust, and a culture of interminable negotiation (commercial negotiators know how to haggle, and how to settle; Crown-aboriginal negotiators know only how to negotiate, slowly). Think Middle East politics minus the warfare.

At some point, in Canada, the means became the end: negotiation, not settlement, is the modern goal of Crown-aboriginal relations. But it doesnt have to be that way.

The better way is already set up for treaty claims. Treaty claims unsettled after three years of negotiation can go to a special Tribunal led by Superior Court judges who to date have rendered judgments generally acceptable to First Nations. This is already the law in Canada. The problem is that the parties hardly ever avail themselves to this solution since theyd rather negotiate, because, again, thats all they know.

Its too much to ask of First Nations, ordinarily, to trust Canadian governments enough to settle their claims. Theyve been burned too many times. So for those willing parties, lets send all these claims to the Specific Claims Tribunal as quickly as possible to allow these communities to get on with it. Thats radical change.

Michael Bryant was Ontario minister of aboriginal affairs in 2007-08 and was Chief Negotiator for the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nations settlement with the federal government in 2015.

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A July 10 article about the March of the Living in which Jews travel to Poland to remember the Holocaust included a photo of a Holocaust survivor at Majdanek, a death camp built by the Nazis in occupied Poland. The caption accompanying that photo referred to the murder of 80,000 Jews, Roma, Soviets and homosexuals but did not make clear that non-Jewish Poles were among those imprisoned and murdered at Majdanek. As well, a caption accompanying a photo of Esther Fairbloom referred incorrectly to the Lushow Forest. In fact it is the Lupachowo Forest.

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In 2011, Parks Canada tabled a report in Parliament on the state of our national parks system. The conclusions were cause for concern. More than half of the parks ecosystems were in poor condition and about a third were deteriorating. The Harper government wasted no time in responding. Early the next year it cut the agencys funding by $30 million, laid off 638 of its workers and gutted the environmental review process for development projects within national parks.

Its hard to say precisely what impact these moves made. Though Parks Canada is required by law to report to Parliament every second year, it has not done so since its 2011 update. However, a new study by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) suggests that, as one might expect, things have only gotten worse.

Parks Canadas primary legislative responsibility is to ensure that the countrys national parks and historic sites are maintained and made use of so as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. But the new report finds that for the past decade, and especially since the 2012 cuts, the agency has been failing to deliver on its mandate, focusing on tourism more than science, development at the expense of ecological integrity.

Just look at where it puts its resources. The number of staff working on conservation has declined by 31 per cent over the last four years; in 2015, a mere 9 per cent of its budget was allocated to environmental protection. Meanwhile, investment in visitor experience has grown and approvals of development projects have continued apace, even as our capacity to measure and mitigate their environmental effects has been significantly diminished.

Take, for example, the planned expansion of the Lake Louise ski resort in Banff National Park, an approved private proposal that will encroach on legally protected public wilderness and threaten vulnerable wildlife. Or the Glacier Skywalk in Jasper National Park, once a public outlook, transformed into what CPAWS describes as a pay-for-use theme-park-like development, in spite of enormous public opposition.

The troubling transformation of Parks Canada is consistent with the Harper governments emphasis on short-term economic interests over enduring environmental concerns. In trying to make the parks more accessible  and thus generate revenue  Ottawa forsook its primary responsibility to preserve the wilderness and the wildlife within. And so our natural heritage continues to erode.

The new Liberal government, which says it is committed to the ecological integrity of Canada's national parks, should move quickly to redress the imbalance. In our parks, conservation must trump commerce.

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A successful military coup against the elected government of Turkey would have been a severe defeat for democracy. Unhappily, an unsuccessful coup may well turn out to be almost as bad.

Turkeys allies, including Canada, were right to decry the coup attempt as it was underway on Friday night and reject any bid to change the countrys government by force of arms.

As it turned out, the coup attempt was a remarkably amateurish effort, without clear leadership, strategy or political support. Its overnight collapse has set the stage for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to crack down, not only on the coup plotters who will face legitimate punishment but on all dissent against his increasingly authoritarian rule.

Certainly, Erdogan is sending out clear signals that he intends to exact his revenge. He vowed that those behind the coup will pay a heavy price for their actions, and called the failed attempt a gift from God because it gives him a reason to cleanse the army.

If he sticks to punishing those directly involved in the rebellion, the rest of the world will have little to complain about. Open armed rebellion would not go unpunished anywhere.

But there is every reason to believe, based on his track record of the past few years, that Erdogan may go much further and use the failed coup as justification to double down on his efforts to impose his personal will and give himself greater powers.

He has been in office, as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. In his early years many hoped he could show that the leader of a party with Islamist roots would be able to preside over a fully functioning Muslim democracy.

The last three years have put those hopes to a severe test. Faced with widespread street protests against his rule, Erdogan cracked down on dissent. His government took over opposition newspapers, fined dissident TV stations and tightened controls on the Internet and social media.

Erdogan increased control over the judiciary, purged the military, and blamed opposition to him on the exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose influence he claims extends deep into Turkeys police and judicial services. (He now blames Gulen, without any evidence, for inspiring the coup attempt and wants the United States to extradite him.)

At the same time, Erdogan pressed ahead with plans to change the presidency from a largely ceremonial position to a strong executive office. Some predict he will use the failed coup as an excuse to call a referendum and ask voters to legitimize that change  giving him vastly increased powers.

All this points toward a situation in which the space for democratic dissent and protest in Turkey becomes even more constrained. The risk is that the country becomes even more divided and some opponents of Erdogan conclude they have no choice but to use violence.

Turkeys woes are not just its own private affair. As a next-door neighbour to the European Union, a key NATO member and a front-line state in the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq, it plays a vital role in western security.

As other countries in the region have fallen apart, Turkey has been one of the few hopes for continuing stability and democracy. A more divided, less democratic Turkey threatens that possibility. The outside world should urge Erdogan to show restraint and not make a bad situation worse.

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Re: Council supports one-stop subway in Scarborough, July 14

Council supports one-stop subway in Scarborough, July 14

This is all the proof we need that transit decisions must be taken out of the hands of politicians. Transit planners spend years studying urban planning and years more gaining experience planning our communities. But our ability to get around our region is then determined by politicians who have one goal and one goal only: to get more votes. This is urban planning by populism, and the result is a one-stop albatross to Scarborough Town Centre. It will no doubt cost $4 billion before its finished, which is more than half a million dollars for each projected daily rider. Just buy them each a new Tesla and save the rest of the money for a transit project that actually makes sense.

Jason Shron, Thornhill

By chronically underfunding our transit systems, governments have starved communities of the infrastructure they need and pitted them against each other to fight over scraps of funding. The fractured debate on spending $3 billion for a one-stop subway would be a non-issue if permanent, predictable funding was in place for large-scale capital projects.

Phillip Roh, Toronto

Wednesday was grim for the city of Toronto with the mayor achieving his plan for a one-stop subway to Scarborough, with a little help from his friends. He said he was elected to build it. I think the people of Scarborough will be disappointed. Even Mel Lastman did not support the one-stop subway. He said it would be chaos. I cant imagine how it will work. The LRT was clearly the better plan.

Virginia Edman, Toronto

Councillor Josh Matlow had his say: Leadership in my opinion isnt about promising everyone everything they want, its about taking action on doing the right thing for as many people as possible . . . Now its time for every council member who voted for or against the one-stop subway extension to account for his or her actions. Better than half of the councillors voted in favour of this wasteful decision. These people, above all, need to have their reasons heard. Only then might the province step in, dissolve council and call for an emergency election. Time is of the essence, our tax dollars cannot be thrown to the wind, and Scarborough needs a workable transit service.

Jack Drury, Toronto

Clearly, Mayor John Tory has divided city council right down the middle. There are those who always vote for him, right or wrong. The other half contains many wise, experienced councillors plus a group of intelligent dedicated young newcomers who all weigh matters carefully and independently, and vote for best solutions for communities.

It is impossible to imagine why Tory has exerted such extraordinary persistence to press for the Scarborough subway instead of LRT.

Shirley Bush, Toronto s

The decision to go ahead with the Scarborough subway seems completely illogical. The contributions by the senior governments mean that my tax money is not being wisely used, even wasted. I suggest the people write to representatives of the federal and provincial governments to use their influence to modify this decision.

Cynthia Rand, Niagara-on-the-Lake

New word to add to the dictionary: vicTory (noun): winning the right to spend the money you dont have on a project you dont need.

Robert Pierre Tomas, Toronto

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We still don't know exactly what the long-term impact of last month's Brexit vote on U.K. real estate will be. One thing is likely in the near term, though. Britons' decision to leave the European Union is likely to cause investors to pull money out of U.K. real estate. If they do, there's a good chance they'll choose to invest across the pond, and this could have a significant impact on U.S. real estate investment trusts such as AvalonBay Communities (AVB) and Equity Residential (EQR) .

Many industry professionals are convinced U.K. real estate prices will drop. Some think that's a good thing.

"Developers and estate agents have already developed the new marketing pitch," said Bernie Morris, president of U.K., Europe and Middle East for Juwai.com, a large Chinese international property portal. "They point to Brexit as an opportunity for offshore buyers to snap up properties at bargain prices."

Others, however, remain less optimistic about the recent event in the U.K.; they can't help but place the latest news in historical context.

"The most likely scenario is one that we have seen before in other times of dislocation -- 1987, 1998 and 2008 -- a period where the market seizes up and the only activity is between the brave and the desperate," said Charlie Ellingworth, company director at U.K. buying agent Property Vision. "That period will end, but the summer will be long and difficult until the uncertainty passes."

KC Sanjay, an economist at Axiometrics, recently wrote that the U.K. decision to leave the European Union "could decrease the value of British real estate, at least in the short term, as the United Kingdom attempts to first negotiate its way out of the EU, then seeks new trade deals on its own."

Falling prices could lead real estate investors who were active in the U.K. to look elsewhere for rising markets. Some may set their sights on the U.S. And one sector here that is simply too good for them to ignore is REITs, which are firing on all cylinders right now.

REITs have already outpaced the broader equity markets for the better part of 2016, and experts believe their future prospects are even brighter, given that real estate will be elevated to the sector level in the S&P indices in September.

It didn't take the Brexit vote for U.K. investors to take notice of the positive trends for U.S. real estate. According to Real Capital Analytics, Great Britain accounted for the second largest concentration of foreign investments in U.S. multifamily real estate last year, second only to Canada (although Canada was ahead by a wide margin).

But 2016 may be the year British investors gain some ground on their Canadian counterparts in investments in multifamily REITs. That's because a Brexit-related lull in British real estate could very easily convince them to invest more heavily in U.S. REITs.

U.S. real estate provides better returns and appreciation rates. But tax incentives were recently put into place to make -- you guessed it -- REITs more attractive to foreign investors. In an attempt to attract foreign investors, the U.S. government eased the tax burden they would face on respective deals. According to KC Sanjay, "a non-U.S. investor can now own up to 10% of a REIT before incurring federal taxes -- up from 5%."

So not only are U.S. REITs expected to outpace the British real estate market, but they have the added advantaged of a minimal tax burden.

The question, however, isn't whether or not British capital will flow into U.S. REITs, but rather which of those real estate trusts will benefit the most? If the trends witnessed last year tell us anything, it is that REITs investing in multifamily and apartments are a good bet.

Look for REITs such as the aforementioned AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residentialto be among the first to benefit from a potential influx of investor capital. Already in high demand, these companies are heavily invested in apartment buildings and appear ready to take advantage of the new household formation on the horizon.

For what it's worth, new household formation is the highest it has been in nearly a decade, and most of those families are looking to rent rather than buy. It just so happens that AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential have positioned themselves in a great place to take advantage of the impending renter pool. British investors that have noticed the trend may look to these companies first, and you may want to as well. At the very least, now is perhaps one of the best times to be a landlord in recent history, and you can bet foreign investors want a piece of the action.

Both AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential have proven they belong among the ranks of exciting REITs this summer. Each has managed to increase its dividend payouts by as much as 50% in the last five years, which translates roughly into a 3% payout in today's market. As a result, both companies have seen funds from operations (FFO) benefit from an encouraging jump, further proving they are capable of providing sound fundamentals for the foreseeable future.

If multifamily and apartment REITs aren't your speed, you may want to consider Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) . Already a proven leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of premium retail properties, Federal Realty Investment Trust looks to ride the wave of today's successful REITs. In developing and renting out retail space, look for Federal Realty Investment Trust to be a good bet to receive some of the British capital that could make its way overseas. Currently yielding approximately 2.4%, shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust have increased 86% in the last five years.

Only two weeks later, we still have to see just how the Brexit vote will play out in the U.K., however British investors are more than aware of how attractive U.S. real estate is at the moment. In the event their real estate market stagnates or drops in price, there is a good chance REITs stateside will benefit immensely. That said, if the Brexit vote has little to no impact on British real estate, REITs are still in a position to yield attractive returns this summer.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Banco Bradesco (BBD) climbed 4.61% to $8.63 in Thursday's trading session as Brazil-based stocks benefited from optimism that the country's new government will help pull the country out of its worst recession in a century.

Banco Bradesco is an Osasco, Brazil-based bank.

Brazil's lower house of Congress named Rodrigo Maia its new speaker late Wednesday. Maia is an ally of interim President Michel Temer, and his election is bolstering investors' hopes that certain measures to revive the country's economy might finally receive approval by lawmakers, according to Bloomberg.

"That's really a very important victory for Temer's plan," Alvaro Bandeira, chief economist at the brokerage Modalmais, told Bloomberg. "The trend for the market is up now."
Cava Grill executives, (from left) Brett Schulman, Dimitri Moshovitis, Ted Xenohristos, and Ike Grigoropoulos, spent months figuring out how to make a base pay raise to $13 an hour work financially for the company. (Jeffrey MacMillan/Jeffrey MacMillan )

Cava Grill, the fast-casual Mediterranean chain, has raised its starting wage to $13 an hour and begun offering paid sick and parental leave to its 600 hourly workers, in a move that executives hope will help the company attract and retain employees.

The starting wage at the Maryland-based company was previously $10.50.

This is going to help relieve, hopefully, some of the financial stress our employees are feeling as they support themselves and their families, said Brett Schulman, chief executive of Cava. Our industry has to understand that these are household jobs for a lot of folks.

A number of employers, locally and nationally, are rolling out increases in hourly pay. District-based chain &pizza last month raised its starting wage to $11.75 an hour. On Monday, Starbucks announced it would give its employees pay raises of at least 5 percent. The following day, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said the companys hourly workers would make $12 to $16.50 an hour by 2019.

A pay increase is the right thing to do, Dimon wrote in the New York Times. Wages for many Americans have gone nowhere for too long.

Cavas announcement came weeks after D.C. lawmakers approved a bill that would raise the Districts minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. The hourly minimum wage is $11.50 in the District, $8.75 in Maryland and $7.25 in Virginia. (The federal minimum wage is also $7.25 an hour.)

At Cava, hourly employees are now eligible to contribute to the companys 401(k) plan after one year. In addition, all employees will now receive at least six days a year of paid sick leave, four days of paid parental leave and one day to devote to community service.

Higher wages are great, but they are just one of the pieces of the puzzle, Schulman said.

He did not describe how the new measures would affect the companys bottom line, but said they are obviously an investment. In addition to bumping up starting wages, he said many higher-earning employees also got a pay increase this month.

For Henry Hernandez, a supervisor at Cavas newest store in Dupont Circle, a raise in hourly pay to $14.25 from $12 meant he could quit his second job at Chipotle. Before the raise, he said he often left home in Lanham, Md., around 6 a.m. and didnt return until well past midnight. Now he works about 40 hours a week at Cava and, for the first time, has a job that offers paid sick leave.

Before, I was working all the time, said Hernandez, 33, who started as a line server at Cava three years ago. Now I can spend more time with my wife and daughter. My life is much better.

Cava executives spent seven months analyzing finances and cutting costs to figure out what they could afford, Schulman said. The company also offers free uniforms to employees, as well as free meals each shift. Other benefits include pet insurance and stock options for general managers.

It took us a few years to really understand our operating economics, Schulman said. Weve matured to a point where we have a good handle on what we can afford and what we cant afford.

As the company has grown, executives have been able to buy more items in bulk, which has helped drive down the cost of food, as well as disposable materials such as napkins, plastic forks and take-out containers, Schulman said.

Putting that money toward wages helps attract new workers and retain existing ones, which means less turnover in an industry where nearly three-fourths of workers are likely to leave within a year, Schulman said.

Each time one person leaves, that means we have to spend time hiring someone else, Schulman said. That creates more training expenses, leads to inconsistent service and food our stores, which translates to potentially, over time, losing customers. We believe stable teams create stable stores.

Economists say companies that pay higher wages than their competitors are likely to see immediate rewards.

By paying more than the going rate, companies are able to attract higher quality job applicants, and their workers are likely to be more motivated to stay with them long term, said James Sherk, a research fellow in labor economics at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.

But, he added, its one thing to say theres a benefit to paying higher wages. Its another to say that if everyone pays higher wages, every firm will get those benefits. It doesnt work that way.

Even so, advocacy groups say higher wages for hourly workers are important, particularly in the Washington area, where the cost of living is among the highest in the country. For a single person in the District to make ends meet, they need to make at least $20 an hour working full-time, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank. For a single worker with a child, that figure is $37 an hour.

Income inequality has reached historic levels, which is why were seeing not just restaurants like Cava, but also dozens of cities and states move to increase wages, said Laura Huizar, a staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project. Workers are definitely suffering now. Many are working long hours and still cant make ends meet.

Cava, which got its start in an old storefront in Rockville in 2006, now has 16 restaurants, with plans to open eight more by years end. Annual revenue  in the tens of millions  doubled last year and is likely to do the same this year, Schulman said.

Schulman said he and other executives will continue to look for ways to increase employee pay and benefits.

Does this solve all their problems? No, he said. Is it going to alleviate all of their financial stress? Probably not. But its a step in the right direction.


Bell's Poolside Ale, a refreshing witbier. (Fritz Hahn/The Washington Post)

Bells Poolside gets my vote for the most appropriate beer name of the summer. The Belgian-style witbier, released late last month, is the perfect refresher on a hot day, whether youre lounging by the water or just sitting on your stoop.

Poolside is brewed with the juice of sour Montmorency cherries from northwest Michigan. The fruit lends a come-hither sweetness to the aroma and a slightly pink haze to the body while providing pleasing, more-ish tartness to the finish. The words cherry beer can make me cringe, but there are no sticky, sugary flavors to be found in this can, just some fruity, peppery notes and a hint of banana.

What pulls me back to Poolside is the body, which is creamy and softly pillow-like. Its so smooth and drinkable that I invariably finish a glass at a speed that an Olympic swimmer would envy. Thankfully, Poolside is just 5 percent alcohol by volume, so theres no need to feel guilty about diving in again.

 Fritz Hahn

Bells Poolside. bellsbeer.com. $11 per six-pack of 12-ounce cans.


Political conventions usually have speakers and balloons, as was true at the Republican convention in 2012. This years conventions are shaping up to be more interesting. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

This years presidential campaign has been anything but dull. The excitement has been leading up to whats happening in the next two weeks: Its political convention time. The Republican Party will meet in Cleveland, Ohio, beginning Monday to officially nominate its candidate. And the Democratic Party will meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the next week to do the same thing.

You probably know that Americans voted in primary elections and caucuses in the past several months to help pick one candidate for each of the two major parties. Donald Trump won the most votes of all the Republican Party candidates, and Hillary Clinton had the most among the Democrats. So if we know who the two main candidates are, you might ask why you should be interested in the conventions.



Delegate Johnnie P. Patton honors President Obama with her hat during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Delegate Nora Ankron wears an elephant-shaped hat at the Republican National Convention in 2008. The elephant is the mascot of the Republican Party. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

Chris Cillizza, a Washington Post reporter who has covered political conventions since 2000, says you may like the balloons and funny hats, but theres much more to get your attention.

This election is a reality show, late-night talk show and political campaign all rolled into one, he told KidsPost. Especially at the Republican convention in Cleveland, you never know who might take the stage to speak. Celebrities? Athletes? Celebrity athletes? Its must-see TV!

Long before television was invented, these large gatherings were a big deal. In the 1830s, when conventions began, voters didnt know in advance who would be the nominee. Sometimes the delegates had bitter disagreements. In 1860, the Democrats needed two conventions to choose candidate Stephen Douglas. Republicans that year picked Abraham Lincoln at a single convention, but on the third vote. The worst by far was the 1924 Democratic convention: 16 days and 103 votes before John W. Davis became the nominee.



Police lead a Vietnam War demonstrator from Grant Park during protests that disrupted the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August 1968. (AP)

In 1968, there were intense arguments at the Democratic convention over the Vietnam War. But the bigger news happened outside the convention hall. Several thousand war protesters battled with police, and dozens on both sides were injured.

In the past 40 years, conventions have had very little drama. There are usually a few dozen speakers to rally the delegates  and the TV viewers  around the nominee. There are votes on the partys platform, or priorities. And on the final day, the nominees give an acceptance speech that reveals what they believe about important issues.



Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Partys presumed presidential candidate, still faces a challenge from Senator Bernie Sanders going into the partys convention. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Donald Trump, the Republican Partys presumed presidential candidate, has made comments that have angered some members of the party. (Erik Tanner/Contour by Getty Images)

But this year seems to be different. Clinton opponent Senator Bernie Sanders hasnt officially given up his campaign. He wants the Democratic Party to support his ideas. And Trump has made comments that have turned some in the Republican Party against him.

So tune in and see for yourself how these disagreements are resolved. But also try to spot the funny hats.
Acclaimed journalist and author Gay Talese now says reports about flaws in his new book are themselves flawed.

In interviews to promote The Voyeurs Motel over the past week, Talese has defended his reporting about his subject, Gerald Foos, who said he spied on guests of his Colorado motel from an attic perch for decades.

Talese initially disavowed the non-fiction book amid questions about an eight-year gap in Foos ownership of the motel during the 1980s. But he then reversed himself, saying he had over-reacted when he first learned about the ownership gap late last month.

On Thursday, he went further, telling Late Night host Seth Meyers that the Washington Post  which initially revealed flaws in the book  was wrong in its reporting. Im not trying to be self-serving, Talese told Meyers. The Washington Post is wrong.

Taleses pushback comes as new questions concerning the veracity of The Voyeurs Motel have come to light. In an interview Friday, a longtime associate of Foos cast doubt on another element of the book, Taleses account of how Foos met his second wife, Anita.

The book says Foos met his wife one day while fixing the sign in front of the motel, the Manor House, located in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Talese writes that Foos climbed down from a ladder and struck up a conversation with the woman, who was towing her two young sons in a wagon. The couple eventually married after Foos divorced his first wife, who died in 1984.

But Earl Ballard, who bought the motel from Foos in 1980, disputed this. He said Foos, a longtime friend, had told him that he met Anita when Foos picked her up while she was hitchhiking. Ballard said the story about the sign couldnt be true because Ballard owned the motel at the time Talese said Foos met Anita. He wouldnt be up on a ladder fixing anything because it was my sign, not his at that point, Ballard said.

In an interview on Friday, Foos stood by the account in the book, and criticized Ballard, with whom he had a falling out in 1990. Ive never picked up a hitchhiker in my life, woman or man, Foos said.

But when asked when he first met his second wife, Foos replied, This was the latter part of 1981 or 1982.

By his own account and that of county property records, Foos sold the motel to Ballard in October 1980  at least a full year before he said hed met his wife at the motel.

Asked about this apparent discrepancy, Foos said Ballard didnt take possession of the property until 1981. There was a lapse before Earl could come there, he said.

Talese, one of the progenitors of a literary form of non-fiction called the New Journalism, said in an email that he would address questions about his reporting, but then did not reply when pressed for specifics.

Although Talese was unaware of the gap in Foos ownership until told of them last month, he has essentially dismissed concerns about this while promoting the book this month.

He acknowledged on Late Night and in an interview with New York magazine that he was upset to learn of it after the book was published, but he subsequently found that Foos still had access to the motel after selling it and could have continued his voyeurism.

He had the key and he had the key all the way through the owners and then he re-bought the motel in 86, Talese told Meyers. If I had known that [when The Post told him after the ownership gap], I wouldnt have disavowed the book. It was a mistake on my part, but I over-reacted. I was very angry and very embarrassed too because I took pride always in my life as a reliable reporter, thats what I am, and I wasnt what The Post said. But I dont blame the aggressiveness of reporters in trying to check the facts. We all try to do that.

In fact, Foos didnt reacquire the motel until 1988. And despite Taleses suggestion to the contrary, its unclear how much access Foos had to the motel and its secret annex between 1980 and 1988.

Ballard, in an interview, confirmed that Foos retained a key to the property and could have entered it without him knowing. But around 1982, Ballard said he used wood and carpet to close off the vents that Foos had installed to peer into guests rooms from the annex.

In any case, Foos himself has said previously that he didnt have access to the motel from 1983 until 1988, when it was owned and operated by a family to whom Ballard had sold it. After reacquiring it, Foos sold it for good in 1995.
Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) has been the Maryland legislatures leading voice on medical marijuana. He also has a previously-undisclosed role in a company trying to get a state license to sell cannabis. (Photo by Algerina Perna}

The state lawmaker who led the effort to legalize medical marijuana in Maryland is part of a company trying to sell and profit off the drug  a position he never disclosed as he pushed bills and regulations to help cannabis businesses.

Del. Dan K. Morhaim (D-Baltimore County) is the clinical director for Doctors Orders, according to a portion of a dispensary licensing application obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request.

The company is seeking to grow, process and sell medical marijuana and is competing against hundreds of others for a limited number of licenses that are to be awarded by the state starting next month.

[Heres who wants to grow medical marijuana in Maryland]

Morhaim  a 21-year lawmaker who is an emergency room doctor  was a sponsor and driving force behind the 2014 law legalizing medical-marijuana businesses. He has continued to champion the program and is a fixture at meetings of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, offering advice on regulating the industry.

But Morhaim never disclosed at those meetings or during deliberations in the Maryland State House this year that he was part of a company applying for medical-marijuana licenses.

For the past year, he has declined to answer questions from reporters about possible marijuana business dealings. After being presented with records showing his involvement with Doctors Orders, Morhaim said he began talks with the company in late 2015, has no ownership interest, and would be a consultant advising on medical issues if the company is granted a license. Morhaim said he had cleared the job with Dea Daly, the General Assemblys ethics adviser.

When you are a citizen legislature, people do have jobs, and Im entitled to work as a physician, Morhaim said. I dont see any conflicts of interest, and anyone can review the legislation Ive done, and everyone can see its all aboveboard.

Daly said she could not comment on private consultations with a delegate. In general, she said, Marylands ethics law prohibits lawmakers from voting on bills that specifically benefit businesses they own or have a stake in. The law does not forbid lawmakers from sponsoring or voting on legislation affecting industries in which those lawmakers work.

For example, farmers who are state delegates could vote on bills involving industry-wide farming subsidies but must recuse themselves from bills allocating specific ones directly to their own farms.

Jennifer Bevan-Dangel, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause Maryland, said she found it very troubling that Morhaim has used his position as an elected official to influence policy decisions affecting the medical-marijuana market without revealing to the public that he is part of a company that could benefit from such decisions.

It comes down to public trust: Disclosure is the publics ability to know all of the potential influencers that can be shaping an elected officials decisions, said Bevan-Dangel. When you dont have disclosure, you dont have trust.

[Ex-Raven puts his money where his mouth is on medical pot]

During the 2016 legislative session, Morhaim authored a law allowing dentists, midwives, podiatrists and other non-physicians to recommend medical marijuana to patients  a change that could boost the number of patients and sales at dispensaries.

This past week, he urged members of the cannabis commission, which regulates the industry and awards the licenses, to give preference to applicants applying to both grow and process medical marijuana  a category that applies to Doctors Orders.

Patrick Jameson, executive director of the commission, said he was not aware of Morhaim disclosing that he is part of a group that has applied for licenses.

A spokesman for Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who appointed Jameson, declined to comment specifically on Morhaim. But spokesman Matt Clark said in a statement that the work of the commission must be above reproach, and the public must have total confidence that the process is fair and equitable.

Morhaim said officials at Doctors Orders never asked him to introduce or amend legislation or sought his help to change regulations in their companys favor.

Ive been working on this issue since 2003, Morhaim said. This is an issue I care about, and I believe it will help a lot of people.

A spokeswoman for House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) did not respond to questions about Morhaim.

Doctors Orders submitted applications to operate dispensaries in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Southern Maryland. The commission received 811 dispensary applications in all and may grant up to two licenses per state senate district, for a total of 94.

In its application, Doctors Orders touts Morhaim as a highly sought-after doctor who would work exclusively with them.

The company credits him with tapping into his vast network . . . to enhance the entire Doctors Orders operation, including by assembling an advisory board that features top medical professionals from the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University and Sinai Hospital in Baltimore  institutions where Morhaim holds or recently held positions.

The application says he will work closely with the chief executive officer in the development and implementation of Doctors Orders strategies, policies and procedures.

[Marijuana advocates frustrated by slow pace in Maryland]

Jeff Black, chief operating officer of Doctors Orders, said state officials told the company Morhaims dual roles as pot entrepreneur and lawmaker would not be problematic. We vetted this stuff with the state, said Black, founder of the Black Restaurant Group. They said repeatedly backwards and forwards that they saw no conflict.

The chief executive of Doctors Orders is Glenn Weinberg, a partner at the Baltimore development firm responsible for the Maryland Live Casino. The team also includes Joshua Kappel, Brian Vicente and Christian Sederberg, founding members of a Denver-based marijuana-law firm, and Steve Fox, who leads an affiliated political consulting group. Morhaim spoke at a seminar organized by the law firm last year.

Last month, The Post published a database of more than 900 people involved in prospective cultivation companies, which was compiled from background-check authorization forms. To avoid cronyism or any appearance of bias, the team evaluating the applications does not see the names of individuals associated with each company. The Posts study found that many applicant teams include people with political, business and law enforcement experience. At least one-third of the grower applicants had ties to marijuana companies based elsewhere.

Morhaims name did not appear on the disclosure forms that were part of the growing application submitted by Doctors Orders, even though all employees, volunteers and officers were required to submit authorization forms for background checks. He said he is not considered an employee.

As a leading supporter of medical marijuana in the legislature, the Democrat has received more than $9,000 in campaign contributions from people associated with at least seven companies that have applied for medical-marijuana licenses. About half of that came from members of MAK LLC, a company that applied to process and dispense marijuana.
Jeffrey E. Thompson waves off reporters as he leaves federal court in the District after being charged in 2014. (Cliff Owen/AP)

The funder and mastermind behind the illegal financing of Vincent C. Grays successful 2010 D.C. mayoral campaign and scores of other local and federal political campaigns fully cooperated with prosecutors and should serve no jail time, the U.S. attorneys office said Friday.

Once the citys largest contractor, Jeffrey E. Thompson pleaded guilty in March 2014 to funding a secret get-out-the-vote effort for Gray that became the focus of a now-closed federal campaign finance investigation.

Prosecutors said in court papers filed Friday that Thompsons corruption of political contests strikes at a key institution for democracy: transparent and fair elections for officials. But incarceration is not necessary, they said, because Thompsons extraordinary cooperation has pulled back the curtain on years of illegal activity.

Thompson, 61, is one of a half-dozen people connected to the shadow campaign who have pleaded guilty to felony charges. He is to be sentenced Aug. 12.

When prosecutors made a deal with Thompson, they expected the once-powerful donor would help them prove that Gray knew about the off-the-books spending. Thompson has previously said in court that Gray personally asked for the $653,000 in campaign funding for his successful run against then-Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

Then-U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. speaks at a news conference in 2014, after Jeffrey E. Thompson pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws. (Staff/Reuters)

The investigation was shut down late last year, soon after U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips took over the office. Gray was not charged with a crime. The former mayor  who is poised to rejoin the D.C. Council after winning the Democratic primary in Ward 7 in June  has vigorously denied having any knowledge of the illegal spending.

[Gray launches political comeback]

Prosecutors acknowledged for the first time Friday that they could not rely on Thompson as a witness in a potential case against Gray because of other evidence they uncovered about Thompson. The 19-page sentencing memo does not detail the nature of the allegations but says the new information could have been used to undermine Thompsons credibility on the witness stand.

The Washington Post revealed that the broader campaign finance probe was stalled for months last year as investigators questioned witnesses about the ages of Thompsons sexual partners to determine whether he had committed a crime.

The U.S. attorneys office said in its filing Friday that investigators were not able to corroborate the most serious allegations about Thompson and decided not to file additional criminal charges against him. Prosecutors submitted another memo under seal on Friday related to the uncharged conduct that U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly can consider at Thompsons sentencing.

[Gray investigation stalled over concerns about credibility of key witness]

In a separate filing on sentencing made Friday, Thompsons attorneys said he never wavered in his candor in cooperating with investigators. His lawyers asked for probation because they said Thompson already had suffered significant professional and personal consequences.

His filing included letters from 50 friends, colleagues, former classmates and religious leaders who attested to years of Thompsons generosity and community contributions.

Prosecutors agreed that Thompson was fully cooperative and truthful and asked the judge to sentence him to six months of home confinement. Thompsons epic fall financially and socially will remind those tempted to do so of the serious risks and severe consequences that await those executives who try and get caught, they said.

[Read the full sentencing memo from the U.S. Attorneys office]

The judge is not bound by the sentencing recommendations submitted Friday. The terms of Thompsons plea deal, however, give her less discretion than usual and cap the prison time Thompson can receive at six months.

Had he gone to trial, Thompson could have faced seven years in prison.

At the time of Thompsons plea agreement, prosecutors were criticized for making a favorable deal with a prolific donor who secretly contributed more than $2.5 million in illegal contributions that prosecutors said corrupted local and federal political contests during a six-year period. Those donations, prosecutors said, were intended to cultivate close relationships with political leaders that could benefit Thompsons accounting firm and his health-care company, which had a $300 million contract with the District.

The terms of Thompsons plea deal became a flashpoint for other defendants connected to the conspiracy who objected to uneven punishment for lower-level participants.

The filing for Thompson came on the same day that Grays campaign chauffeur, Mark Long, was sentenced to probation. Prosecutors had asked for a six-month sentence for Long. His $30,000 salary and the Lincoln Navigator he used to shuttle Gray to campaign events were paid for, but not reported by, Thompson.

Longs attorney on Friday expressed outrage that prosecutors could ask for less jail time for Thompson than for Long.

The kingpin, the orchestrator, they have agreed to a devils bargain with him so he can sit at home and drink champagne. They give him a pass, Charles E. Wagner said.

Vernon Hawkins, a longtime political adviser to Gray who helped design the Thompson-funded off-the-books campaign, was sentenced to six months in prison in June. Thomas Gore, a top campaign aide to Gray, also was sentenced to six months for campaign finance violations and a felony obstruction of justice charge.

[Grays 2010 campaign chairwoman worried about off-the-books effort]

Prosecutors said Friday that although it is difficult to overstate the severity and significance of Thompsons offense, his cooperation had greatly exceeded that of Hawkins and Gore.

The plea deal with Thompson was widely viewed as a major turning point in the nearly five-year investigation. In their court filing Friday, Thompsons attorneys, Alex G. Romain and Tobin J. Romero, described his extensive cooperation during relentless questioning regarding his personal and professional life in more than a dozen sessions over 18 months.

Thompsons cooperation followed a nearly two-year legal battle with prosecutors over access to the businessmans documents that went to the Supreme Court. He began talking after the government threatened to indict him, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Beyond the secret spending for Gray, Thompson admitted to funding a series of other shadow campaigns that were not reported as required by campaign finances laws. He also admitted making illegal conduit donations in the names of colleagues, friends and family members and reimbursing them through his accounting firm and personal accounts.

In the 2010 Democratic primary election, Thompson wanted to keep his contributions to Gray secret to avoid retribution from the incumbent mayor, Fenty. Thompson told prosecutors that he also hoped that having Gray in the mayors office would benefit his health-care company.

Grays supporters have long blamed the timing of Thompsons plea deal and public comments by the former U.S. attorney, Ronald C. Machen Jr., on his loss to the current mayor, Muriel E. Bowser, in the 2014 Democratic primary.

Keith L. Alexander contributed to this report.
Many top Virginia Republicans are skipping the convention where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will receive the GOP nomination. (Steve Helber/AP)

Dont look for Tom Davis in Cleveland. The former Republican congressman from Virginia, who attended the past six GOP conventions, will be rooting for the home team at Nationals Park this week, not cheering on Donald Trump at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Dodgers are here for a three-game series. Im going to the Nats games, said Davis, who was Virginia chairman of Ohio Gov. John Kasichs failed presidential bid. I just dont feel it this year.

As a crucial swing state, Virginia was well represented at the Republican National Convention four years ago. Most of the commonwealths GOP stars made their way to Tampa to witness Mitt Romneys nomination, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

It will be a different story this time, as Trump becomes the GOPs standard bearer.

Former governor George Allen, who backed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in this springs primary, will be camping out West. Only one of Virginias eight Republican members of the U.S. House will attend for sure: Rep. Rob Wittman, who as a 2017 candidate for Virginia governor needs to hobnob with state activists and out-of-state donors. He got behind Trump only when the billionaires last rival dropped out, releasing a statement that managed not to use the name Trump.

Republican strategist Ed Gillespie, another 2017 gubernatorial contender and half-hearted Trump supporter, will also attend, said an aide who made it sound as if Gillespies focus would not be on the nominee.

Yes, Ed will be there next week for a couple of days to spend time with the Virginia delegation, said Chris Leavitt, executive director of Gillespies political action committee.

All the no-shows and hold-your-nose shows are hardly flattering to Trump, whose inflammatory rhetoric about Muslims, Mexicans and other subjects has turned off many.

But some Trump supporters are looking beyond the snubs to something promising: a party in mid-revolution.

Its unlike any other presidential election year because the establishment is [ticked] off that the power has returned to the grass roots, said Corey A. Stewart, yet another contender for governor and chairman of Trumps Virginia campaign. I believe that the party is in the process of remaking itself . . . into a party that is more responsive to the concerns of middle America.

Backhanded compliment or not, the absences read like a whos who of Virginia politics.

At least four of Virginias eight Republican representatives in the House  Dave Brat, H. Morgan Griffith, Barbara Comstock and Scott Rigell  are skipping the convention. Spokesmen for three others  J. Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte and Robert Hurt  would not respond to inquiries about whether they are attending.

Some fear that Trumps ties could be toxic to their own political futures. That appears to be the case with Comstock, a freshman seeking reelection in a Northern Virginia swing district that has been hostile to the real estate mogul turned reality TV star.

Even some Virginia businesses that would normally attend the convention to make contacts are staying away.

If the nominee were 16 of the 17 people that ran, I would be there, said Will Ritter, a longtime Romney aide who leads Poolhouse, a political and corporate ad agency in Richmond. But Im not going to go and participate in a champagne toast for Donald Trump.

In neighboring Maryland, a reliably blue state in presidential years, several top Republicans are picking an annual crab feast on the states Eastern Shore over Trump. Among them are Gov. Larry Hogan, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Maryland House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (Baltimore County), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barbara A. Mikulski (D).

[Some Md. Republicans are choosing crabs over Donald Trump]

Hogan, only the second Republican in nearly 50 years to become a Maryland governor, has said he does not plan to endorse or vote for Trump.

But Marylands lone Republican congressman, Andy Harris, will serve as a voting delegate in Cleveland. Both states will have a handful of legislators in that role.

Perhaps the most prominent Virginia Republican in attendance will be former attorney general Ken Cuccinelli II, who sees his mission as trying to steer the party rightward.

An ardent supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Cuccinelli arrived a week early to try to change party rules to boost prospects for a conservative, grass-roots win in 2020. As for his attendance at the convention proper, Cuccinelli framed it more as an obligation than a confetti-strewn grand old party.

Im Virginia delegation chair, he said. Its not like I could stay home.

[Attempts to unbind GOP delegates crushed, effectively ending Never Trump movement]

There is a flipside to Republicans boycotting the convention or attending with reluctance, and it is Stewart, Trumps Virginia chairman. The chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, who led a crackdown on illegal immigrants there, could not be a more enthusiastic booster. But in Cleveland, he will be on the outside looking in.

Back in the spring, when Cruz supporters led by Cuccinelli still thought they had a shot at installing the senator from Texas at a brokered convention, Stewart lost a bid to become a delegate.

During a fight between the Trump and Cruz camps, my name was removed, Stewart said. My wife and I are going as guests.

He is not even sure if he will be allowed on the convention floor.

Other prominent Republicans denied delegate slots: former governor Jim Gilmore, a 2016 presidential candidate who never got any traction; former state attorney general Jerry Kilgore, finance chairman for both the state party and for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walkers Virginia campaign; and former lieutenant governor John Hager, who supported former Florida governor Jeb Bush and whose son is married to a daughter of former president George W. Bush.

They were hoping for a coup. I was just hoping to just get selected as a delegate, Hager said.

Hager does not miss many opportunities to rub elbows with fellow politicos. More than a decade after leaving office, he remains a regular at General Assembly sessions and other political functions around the state.

This will be the first one Ive missed since 1980, he said.

Gilmore and Kilgore have found ways to be around the action if not in the thick of things.

Kilgore, a partner in the Richmond legal and lobbying powerhouse McGuireWoods, will travel to Cleveland for a reception his firm is hosting at the Cleveland Browns stadium.

Late last week, Gilmore traveled to Cleveland to participate in a panel discussion about the convention sponsored by a conservative group. There, he preached a message of Republican unity.

I am not a Never Trump person like Romney or Bush or any of those people, he said in an interview earlier in the week. Im trying to hold the party together.

But when his speech was over, he returned home to Richmond.

Theres not a role for me to play, Gilmore said. I have constructive things I can do here.

Josh Hicks contributed to this report.
At 52, Jonathan D. Stern was living a typical life in the Washington suburbs: commuting to a job that I loved at . . . an organization that provides vaccines to children in developing countries when he suffered two massive brain seizures.

After more than a week in the hospital, he learned his diagnosis: glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. Most likely, he would have 12 to 18 months to live.

It was June of 2015.

Mr. Sterns life would deteriorate dramatically and soon. He would write about it in detail in a story published in The Washington Post on Feb. 29, 2016. His wife, Karen Paul-Stern, would write about what it was like to care for her dying husband in the last year of his life and how it changed her own life in a story published June 2.

On June 18, at their home in Takoma Park, Mr. Stern died at 53.

Eight months after his seizures, Mr. Stern wrote, I am no longer able to work or live self-sufficiently, as even getting up to use a bathroom is fatiguing. My balance is poor, and I have fallen down several times. Using a computer makes me dizzy. I rarely leave my family room or my house.

Karen Paul-Stern became her husbands primary caregiver, managing his medication at home, responding to multiple health crises  blood clots, changes in blood pressure, brain swelling, side effects of multiple medications  while also meeting the demands of her own job as Washington director of the New Israel Fund, which supports social justice in Israel.

Every morning felt like a bad version of the movie Groundhog Day as the alarm rang, and I woke to the same script, wishing the day was already over and that I was back in bed, she wrote.

I felt as if I had lost control of every aspect of my life and the things I love. . . . Emotionally, this is a very tough time. Financial concerns are pressing. You are exhausted, physically and mentally. Intimacy is gone, and your partner is now your patient.

The couple had been married for 25 years.

Jonathan David Stern was born Nov. 21, 1962, in Phoenix. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. He graduated from Northern Arizona University in 1984 and received a masters degree in 1988 from Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Advanced International Studies.

He began his journalism career as a reporter for New Mexicos Gallup Independent newspaper in 1984, then worked as a reporter at the Phoenix Business Journal. He came to Washington in 1985 as an associate at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

From 1988 to 2010, he was publisher and reporter at the business newsletter UCG (United Communications Group). In 2002, he won a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his role in exposing inflated accounting practices at WorldCom, whose founder, Bernard J. Ebbers, went to prison. The companys bankruptcy led to the loss of 30,000 jobs and billions of dollars in investors money.

Mr. Stern was the communications director of the Global AIDS Alliance in 2010 and 2011, then was North American communications director for Gavi, a vaccine alliance for children in undeveloped countries, from 2011 until he became ill.

Survivors include his wife and three children, Elan Stern, Talia Stern and Noah Stern, all of Takoma Park; his father, Sheldon Stern of Tiberias, Israel; his mother and stepfather, Sherri Ettkin and Larry Ettkin, both of Phoenix; and a sister.

Citing the book Mainstay: For the Well Spouse of the Chronically Ill, Karen Paul-Stern wrote in June that she had reached what the books author, Maggie Strong, called a new normal in a progression of emotional stages for spouses who are caregivers.

We could laugh together again  even indulging in dark humor  and could focus on enjoying some time together, she wrote.

Although his prognosis was an enormous shock, it brought us closer as we talked about our values, our priorities and ensuring the future for our family without him, she said.

We have been honest and open with our three children, who are 20, 17 and 14 years old, and we dont dance around the central fact of our lives: that he will not be here with us for an extended time.
Pessimism about race relations in America is higher than it has been in nearly a generation, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. In the aftermath of the mass shooting of police officers in Dallas and the high-profile police shooting deaths of two black men, in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul, Minn., more than 6 in 10 adults say race relations are generally bad, and a majority say they are getting worse.

This is certainly the worst political climate that Ive seen in my lifetime, but on some level the violence and hatred have always been around, said Peniel Joseph, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a professor of history at the University of Texas.

While there is agreement that race relations are deteriorating, the common ground ends there, according to follow-up interviews with those who took part in the survey. There is no gathering consensus on how to solve the issue or who is to blame.

The Post-ABC poll finds 63 percent saying race relations are in bad shape, up from 48 percent in a Pew Research survey this spring.





[Read the full results of Post-ABC poll]

The recent rise in concern about race relations has been primarily driven by white Republicans and independents, some of whom long have been skeptical of seeing racial discrimination as a national problem and now acknowledge the disharmony.

Concern about racial polarization among white Republicans has jumped 17 percentage points in the past three months. The new Post-ABC poll was conducted July 11-14 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults reached on cellular and landline phones, and carries a margin of sampling of error for overall results of 3.5 percentage points.

Roney George, a 49-year-old white Donald Trump supporter who lives in Riverbank, Calif., said what worries him about race is everything you see on TV . . . Whats going on right now . . . Blacks killing people. Police killing blacks.

Jane Fannie, a 60-year-old white Republican who lives in Butler, Tenn., sounded a tone of flat-out exasperation. Race has always been a problem, and I dont see no point in it, she said, adding that she thinks police officers have gotten too much of the blame in the roiling debate over racial disparities in policing.

Among whites, there have been periodic spikes in concern about race relations in the years following the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, but African Americans have steadily grown more pessimistic. The protest movement Black Lives Matter started July 13, 2013, the night of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot the teenager while he was walking home.

The following summer, demonstrations and riots followed the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Mo. Then Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man, died after being transported in the back of a police van in Baltimore. Both cities became the focus of protests and riots.





Eleven days after Browns death in 2014, 48 percent of African Americans saw race relations as generally bad, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll. The following year, 68 percent of them saw race relations as bad.

Earlier this month, the crisis reached a crescendo. Two police shootings of black men were captured on video, saturating social media and television news. On July 7, a black man who said he was angry about the police shootings opened fire at the end of a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas, gunning down five police officers.

Now, 72 percent of blacks are pessimistic about the state of race relations.

Imani Dillon, an 18-year-old black woman who identifies as liberal and who lives in Durham, N.C., pointed to the recent news as well as pervasive societal prejudices as driving her worries.

Recently, she said, her father was jogging near his home, and a neighbor who lived a few doors down did not recognize him and called the police.

My dad was really upset, said Dillon, who plans to write in Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont when she votes. He was, like, I pay the same mortgage you pay, the same homeowners dues you pay, and you are calling the police on me? Its scary because he could have been shot.

Karen Cole Brown, a 63-year-old black woman living in Albany, Ga., said seeing the shootings of black men in the news was difficult.

It touched me for a minute there, because I had my baby brother get killed by a police officer, Brown said. I could feel the pain.

Her brother, Henry Cole, died in 1992 after running from police officers, who were responding to a call concerning a possible drug deal involving a black male, according to legal proceedings. Police officers, who Brown said were white, eventually tackled Cole and tried to cuff him. He died of asphyxiation due to neck compression.

I would like to see black people treated with more dignity and respect, Brown said. Treat them as if they were a brother or sister.

Suggestions for solutions to the widening racial gap varied widely. They included the need for broader conversations about race, criminal justice reforms, more responsibility on the part of African Americans for crime and poverty in their own communities and stronger direction from political leaders.

Id like to see the economy improve. I know it has been improving, but Id like to see it get better, said Daniel Geraldi, a 48-year-old white Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter who lives in San Ramon, Calif. Whats the saying? A rising tide raises all boats. I think that would help! And then, you know, increasing the minimum wages would be a good idea. . . . Trying to eliminate the disparities in wealth and income would help a lot.

The feelings of unease about race are layered over a series of concerns, including a presidential campaign that has been viewed as racially divisive and alarm amongst traditional civil rights groups about the erosion of laws passed in the civil rights era to eliminate discrimination.

The collision of these issues with a deeply divided electorate comes just before the presidential nominating conventions occur in the next two weeks and politicians are grappling with how to address them.

As Clinton and Trump prepare to face off in earnest in the general election, the presumptive Democratic nominee enters the contest with a large advantage among voters when it comes to dealing with issues of race.

In the new Post-ABC poll, more than twice as many Americans trust Clinton to handle race relations than trust Trump, 58 percent to 26 percent. The issue could be a weak spot for Trump, whose rhetoric often has been perceived as racially divisive.

He has said he is the least racist person you have ever met, but Trump sprinkles his remarks with references to Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists and is on the record as proposing to ban Muslims from entering the United States.

Hes trying to deport immigrants. This country was founded by immigrants. I see myself as a Republican, but its Donald Trump, so no, said Perla Lucio, a 19-year-old Hispanic Republican in Houston, who plans to vote for Clinton.

More than 8 in 10 voters said they want the next president to be someone who puts a special focus on improving race relations, and 69 percent see it as at least a very important issue.

For now, President Obama remains the leading voice on U.S. race relations, arguing frequently throughout the past several days that Americans are far more united than divided.

I know that for many, it can feel like the deepest fault lines of our democracy have suddenly been exposed and even widened. But the America I know . . . is just not as divided as some folks try to insist, he said Saturday in his weekly radio address.

He encouraged people to find the political will to keep changing this country for the better and engage in challenging conversations. The issues were grappling with go back decades, even centuries. But if we can open our hearts to try and see ourselves in one another, if we can worry less about which side has been wronged, and worry more about joining sides to do right . . . then Im confident that together, we will lead our country to a better day.

The swing toward negativity in attitudes about race relations is in stark contrast to the eve of Obamas first election, when Americans were generally optimistic about the issue, and positive assessments of race relations surged to a record high 66 percent during the first months of his presidency. In the summer of 2008, more than half said race relations were generally good.

Now, people are nearly as worried about racial strife as they were during the race riots that engulfed parts of Los Angeles in 1992 after the beating of black motorist Rodney King by white L.A. police officers in 1991 and their subsequent acquittals. A 55 percent majority say race relations are getting worse, including at least half of black, white and Latino respondents.

Pat Kaufman, a 68-year-old white Democrat who lives in Gaithersburg, Md., said she hopes the current strife will lead to better days.

I think that people, in general, who are not necessarily part of the problem, have a sensitivity that they didnt have before because they werent aware of it, she said. With the incidents that are happening today, people will hopefully be much more sensitive and be able to develop more awareness as times goes on.

Isaac Stanley-Becker and Emily Guskin contributed to this report.
The July 14 front-page article May takes helm as British premier noted that former London mayor Boris Johnson, the newly named British foreign secretary, is not known for his diplomatic niceties. I am a British citizen who knows Mr. Johnson. He is very interested in the history and culture of varied countries, from Africa to the Americas.

Mr. Johnson said bravo about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not because he supports Mr. Assad but rather as an acknowledgment that Mr. Assad did something good  he saved the ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State. After terrorists attacked the U.S. Embassy in Syria, the Assad army protected the Embassy . Then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice thanked Mr. Assad. Mr. Johnson has a lot of support in Britain, and people like him. He is a professional problem-solver, able to bring peace to the world and, hopefully, clean up some of the messes other politicians have created. Mr. Johnson is charismatic and successful and a man of reason.

Sam Niaraeis, London
RECEP TAYYIP Erdogan, Turkeys arrogant and increasingly autocratic president, survived a coup attempt Friday after the nations beleaguered democratic institutions rallied behind him. Opposition political parties that Mr. Erdogan has persecuted quickly issued statements condemning the coup. When soldiers occupied state television, private news media that the president has intimidated and censored provided him with the means to speak to the country. Social media that Mr. Erdogan has been prone to shut down broadcast video of anti-coup street rallies across the country.

Having been backed by Turkeys democrats after a faction of the nationalist military turned on him, Mr. Erdogan ought to respond by backing away from his own drive to neuter or destroy peaceful opponents, critical media and independent judges. Sadly, few close observers of the Turkish leader expect such a reversal. On the contrary, the coup may leave a more unstable and less liberal NATO member on the border of Iraq and Syria, headed by a Putinesque strongman whose paranoia and intolerance have been redoubled.

Though the identity and motives of the military rebels remained unclear Saturday  Mr. Erdogan offered no evidence for his claim that they represented an Islamist movement with which he has feuded  their statement spoke of restoring democracy, and it would be reasonable to suppose they objected to Mr. Erdogans concentration of power. Having first led his Justice and Development (AK) Party to an electoral victory in 2002 as a moderate, pro-Western Islamist, the president has steadily moved to the authoritarian right over the past decade, while continuing to win election victories. Turkey is a world leader in the imprisonment of journalists; once independent television channels and newspapers have been taken over by the government or Mr. Erdogans supporters.

The regime has repeatedly purged the military, including through a mass prosecution of officers for alleged coup plotting a decade ago. Ironically, Mr. Erdogan has moved closer to the army in recent years, using it to launch a bloody assault on Kurdish militants in southeastern Turkey a year ago after a Kurdish political party helped to deprive the ruling party of its parliamentary majority. But lower-ranking officers may have objected to his maneuverings in Syria, where he appeared to tolerate the Islamic State before it staged a series of bombings inside Turkey.

Mr. Erdogans domestic repression and erratic foreign policies  he has oscillated between courting and feuding with Israel, Russia and the Assad regime in Syria, among others  have complicated what began as a warm relationship with the Obama administration. The coup attempt may lead to further troubles. Though the Obama administration eventually offered explicit public backing for the democratically-elected government, a first statement by Secretary of State John F. Kerry, when the coups outcome was uncertain, supported only stability and peace and continuity within Turkey.

Turkey remains vital to the fight against the Islamic State: U.S. planes operating against targets in Syria and Iraq are based at Incirlik Air Base, which on Saturday remained closed and cut off from local power supplies. But the long-term U.S. interest is in a Turkey that preserves its democratic institutions and civil society. Washington must do its best to restrain any move by Mr. Erdogan to respond to the coup with another crackdown on the secular and liberal forces that came to democracys defense.
Soner Cagaptay is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Though we do not yet know who was behind the Turkish coup plot to overthrow the Justice and Development (AK) Party government and the countrys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one thing is for certain: after this attempt, Turkey will be less free and less democratic. If the military had won, then Turkey would have become an oppressive country run by generals. And if Erdogan wins, and this looks the likely outcome, Turkey will still become more oppressive.

Since coming to power in 2003, Erdogan has run the country with an increasingly authoritarian grip, cracking down on dissent as well as freedoms of expression, assembly, association and media. Initially a reformist seeking European Union accession, after winning electoral victories in 2007 and 2011 on a platform of economic good governance, Erdogan has turned conservative and authoritarian.

If part of Erdogans electoral success has been through positive economic performance, his other, more nefarious strategy has been demonizing groups that are unlikely to vote for him. Erdogan achieves electoral victories through violent crackdowns on such demographic blocs as Gezi Park protesters, leftists and liberals, secularists, social democrats, liberal Alevi Muslims and Kurds.

Erdogan has built a cult of personality as a kind of authoritarian underdog, portraying himself as a victim who is forced to crack down on those conspiring to undermine his authority.

On this basis, he has successfully targeted and politically brutalized opposition groups, which collectively make up nearly half of the countrys population and are now unified in their hatred of their president. The other half of the country  generally the conservative and Islamist segments  adores Erdogan. In the 2011 and 2015 elections, the AK Party won 49.5 percent of the votes.

In 2008, Erdogan launched the now-infamous Ergenekon case against the secularist military, alleging that the army planned to carry out an anti-government coup. In the ensuing witch-hunt, a quarter of the countrys admirals and generals were jailed. But the Ergenekon case also targeted the governments secularist opponents, media and civil society, including scholars and journalists. Hundreds ended up in jail.

The prosecutors never produced a full and convincing account of the coup plot, and after the militarys top brass resigned en masse in 2011, bowing to Erdogans power, the countrys higher courts started throwing out the indictments soon after. Still, the Ergenekon case has permeated Turkish politics, producing the idea that opposing Erdogan equaled plotting coups.

Now, following the coup plot against Erdogan, this theory has legs. Opposing Erdogan really does mean plotting a coup. In the eyes of the Turkish president and his supporters, conspiracies to overthrow him are more real than ever.

This is bad news for Turkeys democracy. Expect Erdogan to go after coup plotters, a legitimate move, but also to crack down on all dissent and opposition. Erdogans supporters will accept oppression as the only way to prevent future coups, while his opponents will find it is increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to oppose him democratically. Some will choose to become violent, moving toward radical groups such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and similar unholy outfits.

Equally alarming for the countrys stability is that the coup attempt involved only part of the military, indicating serious rifts in an organization that, through earlier coups, bitter counterinsurgency and the Ergenekon tragedy, maintained solidarity. In yet another blow to the cohesion of the state and society, this event will erode governmental and public support for what was once Turkeys most trusted and united institution.

The coup attempt will also deepen Turkeys societal fault lines. The failed coup punctuates a further shift toward the 1970s: dark years during which the country suffered through a near-civil war between right- and left-wing militant groups and security forces that killed thousands of people.

Unless Erdogan emerges from the current episode as a uniter, not a divider  which I find unlikely  a similar period of unrest and political violence awaits Turkey. The key test will be whether Erdogan presses ahead with his previously frustrated plans to cobble together a parliamentary majority in order to amend Turkeys constitution and consolidate the power of both the executive and legislative branches in his hands, and also become AK Party chair.

The looming cost will be to further divide Turkey, a country that in just the past six months has been hit hard by 11 PKK and Islamic State terrorist attacks, and now a terrible coup plot. A country torn between Erdogan supporters and opponents is vulnerable to further violence. Islamic State attacks will only make things worse.

Erdogan brought Turkish democracy to the brink of disaster before the coup; the officers who launched the coup pushed Turkish democracy into the abyss. It will take leaders Turkey currently does not have to rescue it.
Reading The Iran nuclear deal, one year later [news, July 14], its difficult to reconcile David Albrights assessment that the deal has been a real success in getting deep reductions in Irans nuclear capability with something not included in the article: the assurance the moderate Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, gave his ministers this month that Tehran could quickly restart uranium enrichment.

Even Mr. Albright, a nuclear expert with the Institute for Science and International Security, acknowledged we dont know what we dont know.

What we do know is that we cant trust the leaders of Iran, and we need to be very skeptical.

Alan Stein, Natick, Mass.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs admittedly ill-advised remarks about Donald Trump werent only bad for the justice and her reputation. They were bad for the Supreme Court and, consequently, for the country.

Ginsburg was correct in her scathing assessment of Trump  and correct to express her regret for voicing it publicly. But the damage to the courts image and reputation is already done.

The good news for the justices is that their institution is held in higher regard, for what thats worth, than the other two branches of government.

The bad news is that this support is at an all-time low. According to polling last September by the Pew Research Center, 42 percent of Americans held an unfavorable view of the court, while 50 percent viewed it favorably. By contrast, in January 1988, just 13 percent had an unfavorable view of the court, and 79 percent saw it favorably.

Embedded in this declining assessment is a significant partisan divide: Thirty-eight percent of Republicans and Republican leaners viewed the court favorably, compared with 64 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Interestingly, not so long ago, this ideological gap was reversed: In 2008, 80 percent of Republicans viewed the court positively, vs. 64 percent of Democrats.

The Notorious RBG and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump traded insults. Heres a quick rundown of what the two have said. (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Why does this matter? Why should the justices care? After all, the court is empowered to say what the law is, whether or not the public is happy with its performance and its pronouncements. The justices enjoy life tenure.

Yet stature and public acceptance matter. The court has no independent power, of purse or of sword, to enforce its rulings. The court cannot buy support for its decision by spending money, and, except to a minor degree, it cannot independently coerce obedience to its decrees, a three-justice plurality noted in the 1992 abortion ruling declining to overrule Roe v. Wade. The courts power lies, rather, in its legitimacy, a product of substance and perception.

It is naive to imagine that justices dont have political views, or strong political preferences. Of course they do. It is the rare justice who ends up on the court without having ties to politics and politicians.

As Justice Antonin Scalia pointed out in arguing that he neednt recuse himself from a case in which Vice President Dick Cheney was a party after the two went on a hunting trip, from the earliest days down to modern times Justices have had close personal relationships with the President and other officers of the Executive.

But there is a difference  a big one  between having a preexisting political relationship or predilection that the public might reasonably presume (no one would mistake Ginsburg for a potential Trump voter) and one that is so strongly held that the justice feels impelled to make it public.

That approach is not mere window-dressing. Judicial silence is the tribute that the imperative to appear impartial pays to reality.

Some people will read this and snort: The justices are political animals like all the others; they decide based on their political views, not on the law.

This dismissiveness ignores and obscures the distinction between ideology and partisanship. Broadly speaking, Republicans and Democrats have differing conceptions of the role of the judiciary, the meaning of the Constitution and the proper approach to its interpretation. It is no surprise, and no tragedy, that judges appointed by Republican presidents tend toward one set of reasonably predictable conclusions and those named by Democratic presidents another.

But there are, or should be, limits to this linkage. Ruling on the reflexive basis of partisanship is different from a decision guided by ideology. That is one reason the courts 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore was so disturbing. The five-justice conservative majority adopted a one-time-only expansive reading of the equal protection clause that conflicted with their usual narrow interpretation. This was a liberal jurisprudential approach in cynical service of a conservative political outcome: handing the election to George W. Bush.

In this context, Ginsburgs remarks  like Scalias duck-hunting  present a problem, and not just for her. They drag the court down to the level of other political actors, into the partisan muck. They reinforce the publics perception that this game, too, is rigged  more than it actually is. Evidence of its independence: this terms surprise rulings upholding affirmative action and abortion rights.

Judges arent the neutral umpires, mechanically calling balls and strikes, of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.s imagining. But they can aspire to that ideal, and should  on and off the bench.

Read more from Ruth Marcuss archive, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her updates on Facebook.
Nice, France.

Of all places.

But of course a terrorist in love with death would choose one of the worlds most beautiful coastal cities to mow down innocents in a moment of celebration.

There are no words.

Over the next few days, as Republicans convene in Cleveland to celebrate another sort of pagan ritual, well hear the familiar words and refrains. Solidarity. We mourn with the world. We pray for the victims. We wont let terrorists ruin our way of life or take away our freedom. Wont we?

A friend calls predawn from Cleveland: What are we going to do? No ones coming, she says.

Even before Nice, people were dropping out. Reservations for 700 rooms for volunteers who were to double up  1,400 people  had to be canceled, she says. Theyre not coming.

None of the partys previous presidents is attending. Trey Gowdy (S.C.), one of the most respected members of the GOP House caucus, isnt going. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House, is skipping it.

Not even Tim Tebow is going.

Tebow, who was part of the winners lineup Trump was trying to build for the convention, posted a video online saying it was just a rumor.

Amid this disorganization came chaos in Nice. As the United States did after 9/11, French President Francois Hollande has said: We are at war.

And who should lead this war in the American theater I think is the question before us this convention month. Democrats meet in Philadelphia the week after the GOP grapples with internal problems, not the least of which is a consortium of delegates who want no part of a Trump nomination.

Overnight, however  with at least 84 dead in Nice, including two Americans, and more than 200 injured  the inner workings of a party at war with itself seem less compelling than the larger, existential battle we seem destined to fight. Thus, most people today are likely thinking: Who will keep us safe?

The answer may seem obvious to Trump supporters and others leaning in his direction. Hes the one who promises to build a border and tighten immigration; monitor Muslims and limit their access to the United States. Hes the one who will protect citizens right to bear arms without further limitations.

You dont need an AR-15 to mow down pedestrians along a promenade on Bastille Day, after all. But you might need one to stop the driver of the truck.

Trump has also said he wouldnt take nukes off the table should some country become excessively troublesome. He has sworn that hes the most militaristic person in the world.

These are musical notes to the rough-and-ready  those who are weary of what they view as the Obama administrations weak leadership against the Islamic State. But President Obama has done his fair share of killing. He just doesnt brag about it, in part because his use of drones isnt very popular among the collateral population.

Does Trump give one a sense of security, or does his impulsive nature give one pause about his trustworthiness in a crisis?

As for Hillary Clinton, Republicans would simply point to Benghazi and her lack of attention to repeated requests from Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens for heightened security, followed by the fiasco on the night he and three others were killed when the Obama administration seemed to be in disarray.

They would also point to her conflicting reports about what happened that night, as well as to her extreme carelessness with classified documents.

Are these enough to disqualify Clinton from the presidency?

The question may not be Who will keep us safe? but Who is least likely to make things worse?

The choice is not as simple as it may seem.

Words and policies are only part of the equation. Temperament and character are paramount, as is wisdom based on experience.

In the war on terrorism, our arsenal isnt only bullets, bombs and drones. Fighting an idea requires greater skills than a snipers eye. You also have to counter the ideas that attract terrorists to an absurd and deadly cause with better ones.

The slog we were warned against long ago is our reality for now and perhaps for generations. Wed best hire a commander in chief who also understands this  and who can rally the troops starting on Day One.

Read more from Kathleen Parkers archive, follow her on Twitter or find her on Facebook.
In his July 3 Outlook essay, As a psychiatrist, I diagnose mental illness. Also, I help spot demonic possession, Richard Gallagher cited as evidence that a woman was possessed by a demon the fact that she could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. If that impressed Gallagher, he should read a horoscope sometime. That vague and overly general secret is a simple cold reading technique; a cheap parlor trick that a self-described man of science shouldnt be so naive about. Regardless, Gallagher made quite a leap from phenomena he couldnt explain to his conclusion that the patient must be possessed by a demon. How does he know they arent being haunted by leprechauns or possessed by the ghost of Elvis Presley?

People, including children, have been murdered by their relatives based on suspicions of demonic possession. For The Post to legitimize such a nonsensical belief in the pages of its paper is the height of irresponsibility.

Andrew Walko, Springfield

In his defense of demonic possession as a real phenomenon, Richard Gallagher demonstrated how one can be both a man of science and a very sloppy thinker.

There were two philosophical flaws in his essay.

He made a hasty leap from cannot be explained except by special psychic or preternatural ability to demonic possession. In so doing, he overlooked myriad alternate (non-demonic) scenarios that might fully account for the phenomena he observed. For instance, the hidden knowledge (say, speaking Latin) that a possessed individual displayed might well be the result of telepathic functioning among living individuals (who speak Latin) and have nothing at all to do with demons. This is a lively topic of discussion among contemporary philosophers of the paranormal. Gallagher seemedunaware of it.

Gallagher committed a category error in drawing an analogy between the evidence for demonic possession and that for George Washington crossing the Delaware. The latter is an empirical matter, while the former raises difficult conceptual issues. How can an entity that is purely spiritual (and therefore non-spatial) possess a human body? Gallagher demonstrated no awareness of this issue, which has troubled philosophers at least since the time of Descartes.

The astute reader will not let Gallaghers Ivy League education mask the fact that he simply has not done his philosophical homework.

Steve Baughman, San Francisco

Demonic attacks exist in the practice of Richard Gallagher. He will try to sell a book describing his personal management of the syndrome of demonic possession. As a man of science, a psychiatrist, Gallagher is supposed to understand that there should be a reasonable number of demonic possessions and an equal number of control patients without demonic possession to establish clinical fact. It takes a lot more than personal observation, Mia Farrow and priestly belief to establish a clinical medical disease.

Psychiatry has a long and troubled scientific history with such concepts involving Oedipus, female genital envy and infantile sexual desires. Those of us who have endured generations of questionable science in the psychiatric profession shudder at this continued onslaught. The catechism of sentient demons did little to impress me that psychiatry is making scientific progress.

I am overjoyed that George Washington did indeed cross the Delaware so that there now exists a free press through which I can express an educated opinion of a scientific article in The Post. Quack! Quack! best expresses that opinion.

Oscar I. Dodek Jr., Bethesda

Weve long had the God of the gaps concept, in which supernatural stories are used to fill in what science has not yet explained; for instance, thunder coming from the angered god Thor. Now, this article by a Catholic psychiatrist on exorcism introduces us to the Devil of the gaps, which accounts for weird behavior that psychiatry has not yet explained. My favorite part of the essay: The Devil speaks Latin!

Linda LaScola, Washington

The writer is co-founder of the Clergy Project.
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami.

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump Doral golf course in Miami. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Businessman Donald Trump officially became the Republican nominee at the partys convention in Cleveland.

Introducing his running mate on Saturday, Donald Trump stood alone behind a lectern bearing only his name and rambled for 28 minutes about his primary victories, what he called Hillary Clintons crimes against the country, how pastors should be allowed to endorse candidates and how he correctly predicted the outcome of the Brexit vote.

Occasionally, Trump mentioned his new partner, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, mostly looking down to read from notes when he did. The presumptive Republican nominee insisted Pence was his first choice despite reports that he was uncomfortable with the decision until the end. Trump eventually invited Pence onstage, and the two shook hands.

Youre amazing, Pence whispered to him.

Then Trump left the stage. The interaction lasted all of six seconds.

The scene seemed as uncomfortable and forced as the pairs original campaign logo  a massive T dominating a smaller P  and it underscored the uneasiness in this politically arranged alliance.

1 of 17 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Who is Indiana Gov. Mike Pence? View Photos Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives. Caption Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives. July 16, 2016 Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice-presidential pick in New York. Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto Agency Wait 1 second to continue.

As Pence began speaking after Trump exited, he showed Republicans the role he will play in the campaign: the somber Midwestern conservative who sticks to the script and speaks reassuringly, if not rousingly, to the partys conservative base. In carefully scripted remarks that lasted less than 12 minutes, Pence laid out a clear case for their partnership, something Trump had struggled to do earlier.

Pence also nodded toward the intrigue around his selection, telling the crowd that Trump called him on Wednesday to offer him the position. Trump had insisted as late as Thursday night that he had not made his final, final decision.

[Convention aims to make Trump likable and heal GOP wounds]

The event  held in a dimly lit ballroom at a massive Hilton hotel complex in Midtown Manhattan that was also hosting a weekend tattoo expo  was supposed to happen a day earlier, but Trump delayed it 24 hours because of the terrorist attack in Nice, France. It capped off perhaps the most chaotic and unconventional vice-presidential selection in memory, far different from four years ago when 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney introduced running mate Paul D. Ryan at a conventional rally in Norfolk with a massive crowd waving small American flags.

Instead, Trump took the stage as speakers blared You Cant Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones  an odd choice given how much he wrestled with the choice. The crowd was small and included tourists off the street. Trump had the look of a candidate who had accepted that political calculation and unity mattered even for his unorthodox bid. He was a dutiful salesman, checking a box but not overwhelmed with enthusiasm about teaming up with someone with such a contrasting profile and personality.

Trump laid out reasons for picking Pence.

If you look at one of the big reasons that I chose Mike  and, one of the reasons is party unity, I have to be honest, Trump said. So many people have said, party unity. Because Im an outsider. I dont want to be an outsider.

Later, Trump added, So one of the primary reasons I chose Mike was I looked at Indiana, and I won Indiana big.

As Trump began to list other reasons, he often stumbled off onto tangents: He gave a shout-out to his many friends in Turkey, great people, amazing people and wished them well in resolving the difficulty after an attempted military coup, then blamed Clinton, the prospective Democratic nominee, for leading President Obama right down a horrible path in the Middle East. He boasted of having won more votes in the primary than Ronald Reagan did decades ago when the population was smaller, and he gloated about defeating GOP delegates who tried to stop his candidacy. They got crushed, and they got crushed immediately, he said.

When Trump wrapped up these riffs, he occasionally transitioned back with a comment like Back to Mike Pence! This is when he would refer to the notes in his hands, as if he were unfamiliar with the topic.

[Pence could worsen Trumps problem with female voters]

Trump described Pence as a solid, solid person and a man of honor, character and honesty who helped Indianas economy, is not afraid to say the words radical Islamic terrorism and would help Trump fix the rigged, rigged system in Washington.

Trump did not mention Indianas fight over religious liberty last year, which scared lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists and delighted many evangelical voters. He denounced the North American Free Trade Agreement, calling it the worst economic deal in the history of our country without mentioning that Pence supported it.

As Trump reached the end, he could not help but bring up Pences endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) in the primary.

Governor Pence, under tremendous pressure from establishment people, endorsed somebody else  but it was more of an endorsement for me, Trump said. . . . It was the single greatest non-endorsement Ive ever had in my life.

Once Pence was onstage, the event felt like a traditional vice-presidential announcement.

[Pence used campaign funds to pay his mortgage  and it cost him an election]

A devout evangelical Christian and self-described basic guy, Pence called Trump a good man, and he will make a great president of the United States of America who understands the frustrations and hopes unlike any leader since Reagan.

It was subdued, low key and suggested a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting: of peaceful small towns and cornfields where God and family are paramount.

Pences flurry of shots at Clinton began soon after.

We must bring a change to Americas standing in the world, Pence said. We cant have four more years of apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends.

As Pence finished, the crowd politely clapped and the running mate stood by himself at the lectern, seeming unsure of where to go. Soon Trump rejoined him, along with their families, waving and smiling as they all lined up together.

Afterward, Pence celebrated with his family over dinner at a Chilis in New York. Then he traveled back to Indiana for a Saturday evening rally.

Trump did not join him.

Costa reported from Cleveland.
Long before Donald Trump was a candidate for president, Rep. Joseph J. Heck (R-Nev.) was the Republican whom immigration reformers could do business with. He read the entire 2013 reform bill. He met with undocumented immigrants, sometimes praying with them.

This year, Heck wants Trump to be president. Unlike most other Republicans, he doesnt even squirm at the question.

Hes a lot of talk, said Astrid Silva, a daughter of Mexican immigrants and an activist for immigration reform who recalled how Heck had turned against her cause a while back when he called police about protesters marching outside his office here. He makes me think of the movie Clueless  hes such a Monet. Hes so well put together. He looks like this perfect candidate. But when you look really closely, you see the flaws.

If there was any state where Trump would hurt the chances of down-ballot congressional candidates, Nevada was supposed to be it. President Obama carried it twice, both times losing the white vote but winning landslides with the states enormous Latino population.

Despite sentiments such as Silvas, however, Nevada is the only competitive Senate race in the nation where Democrats are playing defense. Heck, a physician and a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, is on a prized mission for the GOP: seizing the seat of retiring Senate Democratic leader Harry M. Reid. Money and support are flowing in. And Hecks own advocacy for immigration reform  even though he now supports Trump  has bought him some goodwill among nonwhites.

Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, center, speaks at a campaign event in Las Vegas in May. (John Locher/AP)

In 2012, 71 percent of Latinos backed the president  before Trump, before thousands of Latino immigrants became citizens just to oppose him. Democrats still hope that Catherine Cortez Masto, the former state attorney general running against Heck who would be the first Latina senator of any party, could surpass that. She might also benefit from presidential-year turnout, which tends to favor Democrats in Nevada.

Yet polling paints a portrait of a close race. A poll conducted last month by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) found Nevadas presidential race tied between Trump and Hillary Clinton, while Heck was up by 5 points against Cortez Masto. A Monmouth University poll released last week found Clinton up by four points  and Heck up by two.

Weve always run ahead of the top of the ticket, Heck said in an interview before this citys Independence Day parade. We ran eight points ahead of President Obama in our district in 2012. So we dont worry about whats going on above us.

Managing a brand

One of Hecks salvations may be that Nevada has become a contest of resentments. Republican polling, which has mirrored the GQR findings, has found Clinton to be no more popular than Trump in Nevada, in line with Reid. Heck is running ahead of the ticket in his Clark County district, where even Democrats concede that the strength of his constituent services has built relationships with the Latino and Asian voters expected to reject Trump.

[Clinton to stress commitment to deferring deportations in speech to Latino group]

Then there is the question of whether Trump will harm down-ballot candidates anywhere. In new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Friday, Republican Senate candidates in Florida and North Carolina are running ahead of or are statistically even with their opponents  and ahead of Trump, who trails Clinton in those states, according to the same polls.

Narrowly elected to the House as part of the 2010 tea party wave, Heck has frustrated Democrats by adroitly managing his brand. As a state senator and candidate for governor, he refused to sign the Americans for Tax Reform pledge; as a House candidate, he signed it. In 2010, he appeared at a tea party rally with Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, now a Trump endorser who amplifies his panic about Mexican immigration; in 2013, Heck was one of few House Republicans who favored immigration reform  then opposed the measures that came before the House.

Rep. Joseph J. Heck, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, attends a roundtable event in June in Henderson, Nev. (David Becker/AP)

As a result, Asian business owners recall the days that Heck visited and put in a shift; Latino voters hear Spanish-language ads on Pandora describing how Heck really does want immigration reform.

Heck has also shown the ability to reach out to the Hispanic communities in his district, said Ian Prior, a spokesman for the conservative Senate Leadership Fund, which has reserved $6 million in TV ad time for September and October. We recognize that Reid machine as formidable, but we dont think that will be enough to get a mediocre candidate in Cortez Masto past an excellent candidate in Joe Heck.

In an interview, Heck said that he is in favor of an unspecified reform plan and would advocate for it even in a Trump presidency.

Its hard to predict what the futures going to hold, but thats the position Id take on the Senate side, he said. Being a smaller body, it might be easier to build a critical mass of consensus than trying to do it in a group of 435.

That message has strengthened Hecks prospects in Clark County, home to Las Vegas and 78 percent of Nevadans. When Democrats win the state, as Reid did in 2010, they typically score a Clark County landslide  and not too many voters throw up their hands and choose none of the above over the available candidates. (In 2010, 2.3 percent of voters in the Senate race did so.)

Nevada Democrats, with no illusions about the challenge, have prepared by registering voters. As of Monday, they enjoyed a lead of 120,031 voters in Clark County, and even a narrow lead of 5,204 in Hecks congressional district. Trump, they say, was an asset, inspiring Latino immigrants to earn citizenship just so they could register to vote. In an interview at the partys Clark County headquarters, Cortez Masto described Heck as a model Trump ally whom her campaign could expose.

[Top Latino Republican says, Farewell, my Grand Old Party]

Hes got a record thats not supportive of comprehensive immigration reform, she said. Hes voted to tear families apart and is against equal pay for equal work for women.

But as they have come to see Nevada as a must-win state, Republicans have thrown more at Cortez Masto than Democrats have thrown back. The Democrat was Nevadas attorney general during the 2008 economic crisis, presiding over settlements with banks. Republicans have resurrected her old disappointment with one settlement to say that she didnt do enough. Freedom Partners Action Fund, a Koch network-funded super PAC, beat every candidate to the airwaves with a spot accusing Cortez Masto of assisting her friends in Washington because partners at a law firm hired to work on a foreclosure settlement donated money to her campaign.

That ad, which understated the gains from the foreclosure settlement, was a classic example of attacking a candidate for a possible strength. Heck is having more success talking about what he wants to do in Congress than Cortez Masto is with what she actually did in Carson City.

He is also having an easier time tying Cortez Masto to Reid than Cortez Masto is portraying Heck as a Trump clone. Two weeks ago, both candidates marched in Boulder Citys Independence Day parade; Hecks truck stayed behind the main Republican float with its Trump signs.

I took off my Trump button before the parade, confessed Lois Choate, 69, a Republican activist clad hat to heels in patriotic gear.

A message of independence

One aspect of Hecks message is that he is independent-minded  and that Reid became too partisan in office and is trying to install his successor. Asked whether Trump is a racist, Heck immediately turned the question back to Reid.

I think he has said things that are inappropriate, Heck said. I wouldnt cast him as a racist for the comments that hes made. Id say: Is Senator Reid a racist when he called a candidate in CD3 [Nevadas 3rd Congressional District] unelectable because he was a Muslim? Or when he was at the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce and said, You guys arent as smart as everybody thinks you are, but youve got us convinced you are, and then at the end saying: My problem tonight is that I couldnt keep my Wongs straight?

Asked about Clinton and Reid, Cortez Masto doesnt distance herself from either, but she doesnt pretend theyre popular. Clinton, she says, is talking head and shoulders above the Republicans about the issues people care about. Reid, who endorsed her as a successor even before she declared her candidacy, is not dictating how shell run.

Senator Reid is going to leave an incredible legacy for the state of Nevada, and Im honored to have his support, she said. But Im honored to have the support of so many people across the state. And Harry Reids not on the ballot.

Back at the parade, Heck walked and waved, offering a bright Good morning! or Happy Fourth! Three opposition research trackers pointed their cameras at him, coming away with clips of him saying Happy Fourth! or people bolting off a curb to thank him  for getting a building renamed for a veteran, for helping a spouse get citizenship.

The trackers next few weeks didnt look any easier. Heck would skip the Republican convention for the same reason he did not attend Nevadas nominating caucuses, which Trump won by a landslide: Army Reserve duty.

Cortez Masto would be skipping the Democratic convention, too, all the better to keep talking to voters in rural Nevada.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice-presidential pick in New York.

July 16, 2016 Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice-presidential pick in New York. Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto Agency

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

Donald Trump has already had problems making inroads with female, gay and minority voters. His vice-presidential pick, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, could make things even worse.

Pence, the Republican governor of Indiana, has endorsed conservative legislation on abortion, gay rights and immigration both in his home state and while in Congress, where he was consistently ranked as one of the most right-leaning members of the House. He attempted to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding, supported a measure that made English the nations official language and signed one of the nations strictest abortion laws earlier this year.

Pence is almost certain to appeal to socially conservative and evangelical voters who have been skeptical of Trump, a brash, thrice-married New Yorker with little appetite for fighting the culture wars. By picking Pence, Trump added his inverse to the ticket: a social-issues warrior with a long, very conservative track record.

[What it means that Mike Pence called himself an evangelical Catholic]

Democrats (including presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton), womens health advocates and gay rights groups wasted no time pouncing on Pence, whom they described as extreme, anti-woman and anti-gay.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains why Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) was the best vice presidential pick of the candidates Donald Trump was considering. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

A Trump-Pence ticket should send a shiver down the spine of women in this country, said Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Donald Trump just sent a message to the women of America: Your health and your lives are not important.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll last month found that 77 percent of women had an unfavorable impression of Trump, including 65 percent who saw him in a strongly unfavorable light. Trumps negative ratings among women are more than 20 percentage points higher than the ratings 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney received at any point in that campaign.

In a May NBC News/Marist poll, 41 percent of Indiana women surveyed said they disapproved of Pence. The same number said they approved of his job performance.

[After court ruling, both sides of abortion debate brace for political fight]

Earlier this year, Pence signed one of the nations furthest-reaching abortion laws, which bans abortions of fetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome or any other disability or because of their race, sex or ancestry. The measure subjects abortion providers to disciplinary sanctions and civil liability for wrongful death for performing an abortion for any of the reasons stated in the law.

The law also mandates that fetuses that are miscarried or stillborn in a medical facility be buried or cremated and that women have an ultrasound at least 18 hours before a scheduled abortion.

A judge struck down portions of the law prohibiting women from seeking to abort fetuses because of specific circumstances and its mandate on disposing of fetuses before it was scheduled to take effect July 1. The Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the ultrasound provision last week.

Here are a couple times Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate Mike Pence hasn't supported the presumed Republican presidential nominee. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

This law attempted to do exactly what Supreme Court precedent said could not be done: invade a womans privacy rights by preventing her from deciding whether to obtain a pre-viability abortion, Ken Falk, the legal director of the Indiana ACLU, said.

The law provoked a firestorm in Indiana and across the country. Some women said the law doesnt account for the fact that many women have miscarriages and dont know it.

In one attention-grabbing effort, opponents tweeted, emailed and called Pence with graphic descriptions of their menstrual cycles. Many used the hashtag #periodsforpence or wrote on a Facebook page with the same name. On Friday, women started contacting Trump in a similar effort they billed as Tampons for Trump.

Pences election meant R.I.P. to womens rights in Indiana, Clintons campaign wrote in a news release.

[While the culture wars rage, Trump largely stays out of the fight]

In Congress, Pence embarked on a crusade against Planned Parenthood, filing the first legislation that called for barring it from receiving federal funding. In 2011 and 2013, Pence played a central role in trying to shut down the government over funding Planned Parenthood, gambits that did not work.

If Planned Parenthood wants to be involved in providing counseling services and HIV testing, they ought not be in the business of providing abortions, Pence told Politico in 2011. As long as they aspire to do that, Ill be after them.

Some have tied the animus Pence and the Indiana legislature have toward Planned Parenthood with an outbreak of HIV in a rural part of the state last year driven by intravenous drug use. Five rural Planned Parenthood clinics, which provided HIV tests, have shut down there since 2011 because of funding cuts, although at the time, Planned Parenthood officials said they couldnt make a direct link between the closures and the outbreak.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement issued after portions of the abortion law were struck down, Pence spokeswoman Kara Brooks said the governor will continue to stand for the sanctity of human life in all stages, for the compassionate and safe treatment of women faced with an enormously difficult decision, and for the rights of citizens to determine appropriate medical safety standards and procedures through their elected representatives.

The choice of Pence was praised by antiabortion advocates. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said that Trump affirmed the antiabortion promises he made earlier in the campaign by choosing Pence.

Mike Pence is a pro-life trailblazer and Mr. Trump could not have made a better choice, Dannenfelser said in a statement.

[Theres nobody left: Evangelicals feel abandoned by the GOP after Trumps ascent ]

The addition of Pence tacks the GOP ticket far to the right on gay issues, as well. Trump had been hailed by some as the most gay-friendly Republican nominee in history; he has long spoken with sympathy toward gays and lesbians. Pence has long opposed same-sex marriage and has sparked fierce controversy by signing a law last year that many viewed as anti-gay.

The law was designed to give businesses and individuals legal protections against claims of discrimination if they chose not to serve some customers. It sparked an outcry from gay rights activists and companies including Apple, Eli Lilly and Twitter. The NCAA, which is based in Indianapolis, threatened to move its events, and artists canceled concerts.

Pence backtracked, and the law was amended to include a provision that prohibits business owners from denying services to gay and lesbian patrons  a measure that made few on either side happy.

It really didnt help anyone, said Brad Bell, the founder of Southern Indiana Equality. It made the state of Indiana go backwards 50 or 60 years, and it made people across the country laugh at the state of Indiana. Others were more pointed in their assessment of Pence. Chad Griffin, who is president of the Human Rights Campaign, called him the face of anti-LGBTQ hate in America.

[How Pence gained  and then tested  the trust of many conservative activists]

Clinton immediately started fundraising off Fridays Pence announcement: Mike Pence signed an anti-LGBT law, opposed by everyone from NASCAR to Purdue University, that cost his own state $60 million in lost business, the campaign texted supporters minutes after Trump formally named Pence.

Like Trump, Pence has taken conservative views on immigration, calling for increased border security and strict enforcement of immigration laws. He also opposes allowing undocumented people a pathway to citizenship.

Trump choosing Pence as his running mate is, again, only doubling down to be the most divisive campaign in American history, said Martin Garcia, director of campaigns for the Latino Victory Fund.

In 2011, Pence also co-sponsored a measure that would make English the nations official language.

When Trump called for a ban on Muslims coming into the United States in December, Pence called the proposal offensive and unconstitutional. But the Indiana governor later issued an order blocking Syrian refugees from coming to the state. A federal judge blocked that order, writing that it clearly discriminates against people fleeing from the country.

Scott Clement in Washington and Jenna Johnson in New York contributed to this report.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice-presidential pick in New York.

July 16, 2016 Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) addresses the crowd after being introduced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as his vice-presidential pick in New York. Jason Szenes/European Pressphoto Agency

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

Donald Trumps running mate has been in public office since 2000, mostly in Congress, and is a favorite among social conservatives.

The mocking began shortly after a memo leaked from Indiana Gov. Mike Pences office revealing plans for a state-run news agency to distribute prepackaged articles for local papers.

Pravda on the Plains, some called it, likening the idea to a Soviet-style propaganda machine. The state House speaker, a fellow Republican, brought a Russian dictionary to a news conference to poke fun at the plan. When Pence appeared on a popular conservative radio show to tamp down the controversy, the host begged him for assurances that nothing that smells, sounds, tastes or looks anything like this is going to pop up again.

Pence soon withdrew the proposal  one of several politically damaging moments that pointed to a bigger problem of his tenure as governor. A series of reversals, such as championing and then pushing to change an anti-gay religious freedom law and changing his mind on whether to reject federal education money, chipped away at his standing with voters. And although Pence had run for office in 2012 as a restrained wonk focused on jobs and business despite his earlier reputation as an ideologue, he instead picked fights over conservative causes that strained relations with lawmakers.

While Donald Trump introduced his new running mate Saturday as a highly talented executive leading the state of Indiana to jobs, growth and opportunity, the picture of Pence that emerges from his gubernatorial tenure shows a man who struggled under the spotlight to find his identity as a Republican within todays fractured versions of conservatism.

Pences standing in his home state was so shaky that polls showed him in a neck-and-neck race for reelection in his heavily Republican state, with voters memories of the religious freedom controversy that has come to symbolize Pences tentative leadership.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump picked Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) as his running mate. Here's what you need to know about Pence. (Peter Stevenson,Danielle Kunitz,Osman Malik/The Washington Post)

There was no real vision or follow-through on that issue, said Joshua Claybourn, an Evansville and Republican activist.

If Mike Pence wanted to take a particular issue and carry it forward, it wasnt done successfully, added Claybourn, who recently resigned as a GOP convention delegate out of opposition to Trump. There was a lack of controlling the agenda.

Brian Howey, an Indiana political analyst who runs the popular website Howey Politics Indiana, said Pences ascent to the national stage is probably a relief for many of the states Republicans, who feared that the governors race was going to be a referendum on Pences first term.

The national Republicans seem to be completely overlooking the fact that he had a very controversial and polarizing first term in Indiana, he said.

Before he became governor, Pence, 57, spent 12 years in the U.S. House carving out an image as a conservative true-believer. He doubted climate change, supported the Iraq War and called for HIV-fighting funds to be redirected to programs that encouraged gays to change their sexual behavior. He aligned himself closely with the tea party movement that helped propel the GOP to the House majority in 2010.

In Congress  one member out of 435  it was easier to avoid situations that forced him to choose between different strands of conservatism.

When he ran to replace the popular and pragmatic Gov. Mitch Daniels (R), Pence played down his past as a culture warrior and emphasized his business credentials, unveiling a Roadmap for Indiana that promised lower taxes, less red tape and more affordable higher education.

The Fix's Chris Cillizza explains why Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) was the best vice presidential pick of the candidates Donald Trump was considering. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

If we make job creation Job 1, Indiana will be the state that works, Pence said in a campaign commercial set in a factory.

He won, by three points.

Pences staff in Indiana did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Trump on Saturday credited Pence for the states falling unemployment rate, and other backers say Pence notched accomplishments in expanding Medicaid and prekindergarten while improving worker training and building a budget surplus.

Hes a quick study, said David Long (R), president of the Indiana state Senate, referring to Pences transition in 2013 from a career in Congress to the governors office. By the end of his first year, I remember turning to people and saying, Hes the governor. You know? Hes doing a great job, hes in charge, and hes grown in the position.

Pence, in accepting Trumps invitation Saturday, touted his states healthy budget and job gains on his watch as evidence that Republican principles work every time you put them into practice.

In Indiana, we prove every day you can build a growing economy on balanced budgets, low taxes, even while making record investments in education, roads and health care, he said.

But as governor, Pence has found it harder than before to be steadily conservative, as parts of the old conservative coalition were moving steadily further apart.

The most famous example of that was the 2015 controversy over Indianas Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That bill protected business owners who, for reasons of religion, declined to provide services for same-sex couples. Pence signed it, after objections by gay-rights groups and threats by companies to pull business from the state.

After the signing, the objections increased.

Pence wound up in the national spotlight.

Yes or no: If a florist in Indiana refuses to serve a gay couple at their wedding, is that legal now in Indiana? George Stephanopoulos asked Pence on ABCs This Week.

Pences answer was not yes or no. Stephanopoulos asked again.

George, look, the issue here is, you know, is tolerance a two-way street or not? Pence said. At another point in the interview, Pence said, George, look, were not going to change the law, okay?

A few days later, they changed it.

Pence signed a revised version saying that no business may deny service to anyone on basis of sexual orientation, race, religion or disability. Pence continued, however, to say that the original law had been misunderstood.

Business groups were left feeling that Pence had been reactive, whiplashed by the legislature. Groups that had supported the law were left feeling that theyd been abandoned.

This time it was the gay activists. Next time it might be the labor unions, pushing the governor to capitulate, said Micah Clark, of the American Family Association of Indiana, who said he supported Pence overall. Its a bad way to pass laws, to say, Well pass laws, but when the pressure comes, well reverse it a week later. 

Pence has since signed other measures supported by religious conservatives, including a bill that outlawed abortions performed because the fetus was diagnosed with a disability. But the distrust from the 2015 religious freedom fight lingers.

Hes not just a coward, but a quisling, said Steve Deace, an Iowa radio host, referring to a Norwegian traitor who collaborated with the Nazis in World War II.

Gay-rights groups still viewed Pence with suspicion. Kevin Warren, a gay real-estate agent in Indianapolis, started selling yard signs and T-shirts that said, Pence must go! (Your rights could be next). Hes raised $62,000 for an anti-Pence PAC.

I cannot let people forget. I cannot let people forget what hes done to us as a community, Warren said. Overall, polls have shown that Pences approval rating fell from the 60s to the 40s.

Pence has also struggled to reconcile his belief in limited government  I was tea party before it was cool, he once said  with his own ambitions as governor.

In several cases, he was forced to reverse course.

One such embarrassing moment came after the Indianapolis Star broke the news of the Pence administrations plan for a state-run news agency.

Even the Republican state House speaker joined in the ribbing. I do have a new Russian version that will be coming out shortly, speaker Brian Bosma told the Daily Beast. The Star reported that he used the Russian dictionary as a prop to crack that the program prompted him to direct his staff to work on their language skills.

Pence seemed caught off guard and not firmly in control of his own office as he sought to distance himself from a memo laying out plans for an extensive operation of editors and writers.

How does an idea thats that antithetical to what you were setting out to do go that far? radio talk show host Greg Garrison asked Pence when the governor appeared on air.

Pence called the idea a well-intentioned effort to promote transparency in government but said it was a staff effort that he learned about only in the media. I had only passing knowledge of this project, as you might suspect, Pence said.

In the end, he killed it.

In another case, Pence first rejected federal funding to expand an early education program in Indiana  then reversed himself, more than a year later, as polls showed the program was popular. He asked for the money.

On a different issue, Pence started out in the other direction. When he proposed a 10 percent cut in the income tax rate, other Republicans thought that was too much and that theyd be left to fix the hole in the states budget.

Wed like to be heroes and cut taxes, said state Sen. Luke Kenley (R), a chief budget writer, at the time, according to local news accounts. You also need to be prepared to take care of your priorities, and you need to have enough money to do that.

Pence said hed barnstorm the state for his idea.

It didnt work.

The legislature eventually adopted a smaller cut than Pence had advocated, which he described as a great victory.

Corporate support for Pence returned since the religious freedom debate. Many executives in the state credit Pence with continuing an era of economic advancement for Indiana.

Gov. Pence has a strong record of supporting a pro-jobs, pro-economy agenda, including reducing our corporate income tax rate and maintaining a strong fiscal balance sheet for the state, said Kevin Brinegar, president and chief executive of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. On core business issues, he has been very strong.

Still, Brinegar and other corporate leaders said that Pences approach to the religious freedom bill and other social issues was a concern. That was a disappointment to business, Brinegar said.

Michael Maurer, chairman of the board of the National Bank of Indianapolis and a former commerce secretary under Daniels, said Pence lost his support because of his toxic positions on social issues such as abortion, gay rights and his initial opposition to taking the federal education dollars.

Every one of the CEOs that I have had an opportunity to discuss this with in Indiana says  to a man  that they have concern about Pences approach on these social issues, Maurer said.

One case in which Pence angered conservatives  but did not reverse himself  had to do with Medicaid, the federal health-benefit program for the poor.

Pence accepted an Obama administration offer of federal money to expand Medicaid in Indiana. That meant taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act, the health-care overhaul that is hated by many conservatives  and that Pence has said he wants to repeal.

Pence added tweaks to Indianas version, designed to make the law more conservative-friendly. Indiana, for instance, requires that poor residents pay some premiums for health coverage instead of getting it for free.

Pences decision pleased Democrats.

Now, it may please them even more. With Pence on the ticket with Trump, Democrats would like to use this decision against him  to remind other Republicans about Pences struggles to stay on the right side of conservative orthodoxy.

Asked on Friday about Pences selection as the GOP vice-presidential nominee, White House press secretary Josh Earnest described him as the Medicaid-expanding Mike Pence.
Women mourn near the flag-draped coffin of a relative in Istanbul, during the funeral of seven victims of the July 15 coup attempt.

July 17, 2016 Women mourn near the flag-draped coffin of a relative in Istanbul, during the funeral of seven victims of the July 15 coup attempt. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images

The defeat of a coup attempt launched by a faction of Turkeys military has left relations between the United States and one of its most important allies in a state of uncertainty.

President Obama called together his national security team for an unusual Saturday morning meeting to discuss events in Turkey and immediately followed it up with a conference call with foreign policy advisers.

Senior Obama administration officials strongly condemned the effort by the renegade military faction to seize power in Turkey, and the coups failure was greeted with profound relief inside the White House and the Pentagon. The U.S. government depends heavily on Turkeys support to sustain its battle against the Islamic State and to provide a safe harbor for thousands of migrants fleeing Syria.

It looks like the nightmare scenario has been avoided, said Ilan Goldenberg, a former senior Pentagon official and specialist on the Middle East for the Center for a New American Security. But Turkey is going to remain really unstable and concerned with its own military machinations.

More than 100 coup plotters along with more than 160 civilians and police officers were killed in the aftermath of Thursdays chaos as ordinary Turks poured into the streets to prevent the military takeover. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, appearing in Istanbul, blamed the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, for the unrest.

Rogue officers of Turkeys military declared martial law and attempted to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight, but Erdogan a few hours later said his government is in control. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

[The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup]

I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation, Erdogan said. If you dare, come back to your country.

The coup attempt is likely to heighten tensions between Turkey and the United States, which has increasingly worried about Erdogans consolidating power and cracking down on opposition leaders inside Turkey. It is hard to see how the outcome of this will be more democracy, said Derek Chollet, a former senior White House official and author of The Long Game, a book about Obamas foreign policy. The relationship with Turkey is only going to get more complicated.

Erdogan has long criticized the United States for allowing Gulen, who he thought was plotting against him, to live in Pennsylvania. He has been obsessed with the Gulenists for years, Chollet said. I have been in meetings where hes spent more time talking about them than the threat from the Islamic State.

Gulen denied being involved in the coup attempt. He called Erdogans allegations an insult and told reporters for the Guardian and other media outlets on Saturday that the coup attempt might have been staged by the Turkish government. Secretary of State John F. Kerry said the United States was willing to consider requests from Turkey to extradite Gulen so that he could stand trial.

Obviously, we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny, Kerry said. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.

A refusal by the United States to send Gulen home to Turkey would probably complicate the White Houses already-tense relationship with the Erdogan government. After the coup attempt, the Turkish government closed air operations at Incirlik Air Base, a critical hub for U.S. fighter jets and drones striking targets in northern Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon said Saturday that it was working with the Turks to resume air operations there as quickly as possible.

U.S. and Turkish officials spent months haggling over American access to Incirlik for the war in Iraq and Syria before Erdogan relented. It was still unclear on Saturday whether the shutdown in operations was part of an effort to round up elements involved in the coup or whether it was designed to send a signal to the United States.

U.S. officials received initial reports, including some coming from Turkish officials, that the militarys actions Thursday night were taken in response to an imminent threat inside Turkey. Those reports appear to have been false.

Once it became clear that a coup was underway, the White House sought to send a rapid and unambiguous message that it condemned the plotters actions.

The quick condemnation is likely to help smooth relations with Erdogan, whom U.S. officials have described as complicated, paranoid and unpredictable.

Erdogan is going to come out of this more paranoid and more authoritarian, said Goldenberg. But does he blame the United States? Thats the million-dollar question. This really is a country run by one man.

It is also unclear how the Turkish military will respond and operate in the months to come. The United States has pressed the Turks to shut down their border with Syria in an attempt to stop the Islamic State from bringing in critical supplies and bolstering its ranks. The coup attempt and efforts by Erdogan to purge the top ranks of plotters are likely to complicate the militarys border operations.

[Graphic: What we know about the failed coup attempt]

In the days prior to the coup, Obama was able to win Erdogans reluctant support for a military push by a largely Kurdish Syrian force to clear the Islamic State from villages that span a 60-mile stretch of the Syria-Turkey border.

The Turks, fearing that the Kurds would use the operation to establish a state in northern Syria, had previously opposed it. The stretch of border near the Syrian town of Manbij is the last piece of territory that the Islamic State controls in the area and is critical to the militant groups survival. Tense relations with Erdogan could delay operations to seize that key terrain.

I think the whole mess has to affect the timeline, said Andrew Tabler, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who focuses on Syria. We dont know if any of this will affect the hard bargain the U.S. struck with Erdogan.
The Turkish government on Saturday quelled most of the last threats from an attempted military coup, but it was a greatly diminished Turkey that emerged from the chaos of the night before.

As dazed citizens stumbled through streets littered with the remains of tanks and armored vehicles used by the renegade troops, authorities embarked on a sweeping roundup of thousands of people suspected of involvement in what appears to have been a long-planned effort to replace Turkeys democratically elected government with a military junta.

The widespread sense of relief that the attempt had failed was tempered, however, by foreboding. Turkey, until recently hailed as a model of democracy in the Muslim world, must now confront the reality that this NATO member remains vulnerable to the kind of domestic and military upheaval that once earned the country a reputation as a chronically unstable state.

There were also concerns that the unfolding crackdown on participants in the coup attempt will provide further justification for the creeping authoritarianism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had already been targeting opponents of his government. Analysts expressed concern that opposition to Erdogan would be depicted as equal to coup plotting.

People here are celebrating, but what they dont understand is that they are part of a trap that Erdogan is setting for them. Hes going to use them for his own power, said Ozgur Guleray, 30, a chef at a restaurant in downtown Istanbul who watched as thousands of revelers gathered in Taksim Square on Saturday evening to celebrate the governments suppression of the coup attempt.

1 of 63 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene in Turkey after an attempted coup View Photos Turkeys military tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Caption The nations military tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. July 17, 2016 Women mourn near the flag-draped coffin of a relative in Istanbul, during the funeral of seven victims of the July 15 coup attempt. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

The extensive violence deployed by those who sought to overthrow Erdogan suggested the plot did not represent a bid to assert democratic principles, despite a declaration to that effect made by the elements of the military who briefly seized control of some of the state institutions, including the national broadcaster.

At least 265 people were killed late Friday and early Saturday as tanks commandeered bridges and highways. Renegade warplanes dropped bombs on protesters and on the nations parliament and other government facilities, turning parts of Istanbul and the capital, Ankara, into war zones. The dead included 104 alleged coup participants and 161 civilians.

The coup was thwarted in part by the masses of people who swarmed into the streets in response to an appeal by Erdogan, issued over a TV anchors iPhone, to come to the help of the embattled government. There were widespread reports on Saturday of bloody revenge killings against rebel soldiers.

[On the streets of Istanbul, anger, joy, devastation and celebration]

A triumphant and combative Erdogan, addressing a huge crowd gathered in Istanbul Saturday evening, hailed the popular outpouring of support and vowed a tough response to the coup plotters.

By confronting them and chasing them, we will overcome them, he told the cheering supporters.

He reiterated his accusation that a U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, was behind the plot, and called for his extradition by the United States. Once they hand over that head terrorist in Pennsylvania to us, everything will be clear, Erdogan told the crowd.

Rogue officers of Turkeys military declared martial law and attempted to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan overnight, but Erdogan a few hours later said his government is in control. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, during a stop in Luxembourg, said the United States would support investigations to determine who instigated the coup attempt, but he did not immediately say whether Gulen would be extradited.

Kerry also criticized the coup attempt, saying that elections are the proper way to settle disputes in a democracy.

I must say, he added, it does not appear to have been a very brilliantly planned or executed event. But lets reserve judgment until all the facts are in.

The Gulenist movement in Turkey denied involvement and condemned the coup effort.

Erdogan and other government officials stressed that the plot involved a minority of fringe Gulenist supporters, and the response on the streets indicated that those involved had no popular support.

[Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup]

Nonetheless, details of the coup plot that emerged Saturday suggested the existence of a serious threat to Turkeys cohesion from within the ranks of its powerful military, NATOs second-largest army and a major U.S. partner in the war against the Islamic State.

Among those detained were Gen. Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, Turkeys largest field army, and Gen. Adem Huduti, the commander of the Second Army, which controls the countrys borders, as well as a rear admiral who had until recently commanded the coast guard, and multiple colonels in charge of mechanized brigades and other key army units.

The alleged mastermind was Gen. Akin Ozturk, who commanded the Turkish air force until last summer and was a member of the Supreme Military Council. He also has been detained and will be charged with treason, officials said.

The air force appears to have been deeply involved, with pilots commandeering F-16 fighter jets and helicopters and seizing control of at least one military air base, Ackinci, outside Ankara.

Some personnel at Incirlik, a major NATO air base that is home to the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in Europe and about 1,000 U.S. troops, are also suspected of taking part in the attempted government overthrow, a senior Turkish official said.

We suspect that Incirlik was used to refuel hijacked aircraft last night, he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. It appears, he added, that a small group of Turkish troops stationed at Incirlik supported the coup attempt.

U.S. officials said the United States had boosted force protection levels on bases in Turkey to their highest level, and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara warned Americans to stay away from Incirlik, outside the southern city of Adana.

U.S. bombing runs over Iraq and Syria remained suspended because much of Turkish military airspace remains closed, and the U.S. government has adjusted its flight roster to sustain the anti-Islamic State war effort, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. Power was cut to the base, but U.S. operations there run on internal power sources, he added.

[U.S. military boosts security in Turkey to highest level during coup attempt]

Though the coup attempt failed, the effort will be a tremendous blow to the prestige of Turkeys military, and more broadly Turkeys standing as a regional power, said Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The United States reliance on Incirlik for the war against the Islamic State must now be in question, he said, and the trustworthiness of Turkeys military, at home and abroad, will be in doubt.

The military was considered the most trusted institution in the country, he said. The Turkish military will experience a freefall in its standing.

Some of those involved in the coup attempt appear to have fled as the plot fell apart. On Saturday, Greece announced that a Turkish military helicopter made an emergency landing at Alexandroupolis airport. Greece detained eight men aboard, who requested political asylum. Turkey has requested their extradition.

Turkish authorities also detained 2,475 judges and other members of the judiciary who were suspected of supporting what appeared to have been a far-reaching operation. Evidence seized by investigators suggests that the coup plotters had drawn up extensive lists of people who were to be installed as governors, administrators and heads of government agencies in the event that the operation succeeded, according to the senior Turkish official.

The government is still not sure it has rounded up all the coup participants, and there are fears that rogue aircraft may still be on the loose, he said.

[An old-school coup fails to topple Turkeys powerful president]

Nonetheless, in Istanbul, a semblance of normality returned. By early afternoon, the bridges across the Bosporus were reopened and traffic began to move again after a night of gunfire, explosions and violent confrontations.

Small groups of residents gathered on corners and debated in hushed tones, and shelves in many local shops were completely empty after a late-night rush to stock up on food and water.

The U.S. Embassy had warned citizens against heading to the airport amid reports of ongoing sporadic gunfire, but later in the day, commercial flights appeared to be returning to normal. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it had barred American commercial aircraft from flying into or out of Turkey.

Sly reported from Irbil, Iraq. Karatas reported from Istanbul. Hugh Naylor in Istanbul, Ishaan Tharoor, Ashley Halsey and Dan Lamothe in Washington, Carol Morello in Luxembourg, Menekse Tokyay in Ankara and Thomas Gibbons-Neff in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.

Read more:

Turkeys cat-and-mouse game with the Islamic State

Turkeys most-read newspaper begins publishing pro-Erdogan articles after government seizure

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
A large truck rammed into a crowd in Nice, France, during a celebration for the French national holiday. At least 84 people were killed and dozens more injured before the driver was shot by police. Here's what we know so far. (Jenny Starrs,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

A large truck rammed into a crowd in Nice, France, during a celebration for the French national holiday. At least 84 people were killed and dozens more injured before the driver was shot by police. Here's what we know so far. (Jenny Starrs,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Red roses were gently placed over blood stains on the asphalt, as were notes of solidarity and, in some cases, gratitude for a life saved. On the sidewalk, couples cried and held each other. A woman wore a T-shirt that read: Nice is not the same.

On Saturday, French authorities partially reopened the storied Promenade des Anglais, the seaside boulevard on which a Tunisian-born resident of France barreled a truck into crowds gathered for a Bastille Day fireworks display, killing 84 and wounding more than 200, including children. The attack, claimed by the Islamic State on Saturday, elicited strong emotions reminiscent of the aftermath of the two major terrorist attacks on France last year.

Yet this time, the mood is decidedly different. The outpouring of solidarity is far less than what followed the January 2015 attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and the November 2015 assaults in Paris. In its place is a fear that a new era of terrorism has dawned, where a truck is as much a weapon of mass devastation as guns and bombs.

[Attacker in Nice is said to have radicalized very rapidly]

We are afraid. We dont feel safe, said Louisa Rechidova, who fled the Chechen war 15 years with her family. In Chechnya, we knew who the enemy was. Here, we dont know who the enemy is.

Georgetown University faculty member Rollie Flynn spent 30 years working with the CIA and identifies the traits of a lone wolf terrorist attack and why they are difficult to police. (Erin Patrick O'Connor/The Washington Post)

Frances renowned unity  its national motto is liberty, equality, fraternity  has given way to political finger-pointing and frustration at the governments apparent inability to effectively combat terrorism. At a rally on Friday at the Place de la Republique, a famed square in Paris, only about 200 mourners turned up to remember the victims of the Nice attack, according to French media reports.

After the January 2015 attacks at Charlie Hebdo and other nearby sites, in which Islamist militants killed 17 people, about 3 million people took part in unity marches across France, including more than 40 world leaders, who linked their arms in a show of solidarity.

Its the third time in France, said Rudy Salles, Nices deputy mayor and an opponent of President Francois Hollands Socialist Party. People are exhausted, are tired. And they are angry. They dont want to go on like this.

Theres also an unsettling recognition that terrorism is possibly becoming the new normal in their lives, something they will never be able to fully eradicate, at least as long as France remains a key player in the Wests wars against Islamist extremism.

It can happen to everybody, and we cant do anything, said Marie Villani, who was carrying roses to place over the blood stains on the Promenade des Anglais. It can happen another time. The only thing we can do is continue our lives and pray.

[Anger in France over Nice attack focuses on apparently lax security]

On Saturday morning, a senior government official acknowledged the extent to which the truck attack has altered the mind-set of the French people.

The trauma created by the way this really violent crime was committed has deeply shocked the French, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. And, at the same time, it shows us the extreme difficulty of the anti-terrorism fight.

By Saturday evening, in apparent concern over the simmering national disunity, officials had launched attempts to build more popular solidarity and confidence in their efforts to combat terrorism.

Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll tweeted that Hollande had reminded officials at a ministerial meeting of the importance of the unity of the country, adding that this is the greatness of France. Hours later, Cazeneuve called upon all patriotic citizens to join a special reservist force of as many as 12,000 to bolster security.

The government also called for a minute of silence across the country on Monday to commemorate the victims of the Nice attack.

This time, though, bringing people together could prove challenging. In Nice, there is palpable anger at the governments inability to stop attacks, even though its critics have not offered viable solutions.

Before we would be in shock when something like this happened, like the previous attacks, said Francois, a taxi driver who gave only his first name. But now we all know that these things could, might and will happen again. Also politicians know this. By not doing anything, they are accomplices in what happened.

On the Promenade Des Anglais, some mourners said that in the absence of any guaranteed security, their best response is to live their lives as normally as possible. That is why local officials decided to partially open up the walkway just two days after the attack.

We want to show them that nothing will stop us from living, Salles said. We are not going to change our way of life.

On Saturday, restaurants were full. Weddings were taking place. The beaches were packed. Thousands walked the Promenade, as if it was just another day.

We are facing a new type of hate, and we are adapting to this, said Raphael Enthoven, a philosopher. We are getting used to fear in a way.

Elie Petit and Annabell Van den Berghe contributed to this report.

Read more:

Assailant in truck attack had record of petty crime and violence

What France thinks of multiculturalism and Islam

Two Americans among the dead in Nice attack

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Whatever new reality emerges in Ankara this weekend, it is not good news for the United States and its NATO allies.

NATO member Turkey is the front line and home base for much of the coalitions counterterrorism operations in neighboring Syria. It is Europes jury-rigged solution to the crisis of refugees pressing westward from the Middle East.

Although the Obama administration has been frustrated and irritated by the civilian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and finds the military much easier to deal with, a Turkish coup could trigger statutory requirements to cut all U.S. assistance, challenging the U.S. reliance on Turkish military installations in the war against the Islamic State.

The administration managed to brush off demands from some U.S. political factions to sever aid following military takeovers in Egypt and Thailand, refusing to label the actions coups.

But this is Turkey, said Henri Barkey, a Turkey expert and director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center. This is a NATO country. Theres a big difference.

At the same time, an Erdogan government restored to power would probably be even more prickly and paranoid than before. The White House waited several hours after initial reports that a coup was underway to make a strong statement opposing it.

[Turkeys increasingly desperate predicament poses real dangers]

The statement said that President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry, in Moscow, had spoken by telephone and agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government . . . show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.

Kerry later issued his own statement, saying that he had spoken to Erdogans foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and emphasized the United States absolute support for civilian government and democratic institutions.

NATOs founding treaty does not address what to do about military takeovers and has no suspension provisions. Previous coups in Turkey, Greece and Portugal provoked little substantive change in relations with the alliance.

But confirmation of an overthrow of the government would throw Turkeys application to join the European Union to the winds, further hurting an economy already damaged by terrorist attacks. Among the many questions it would open is whether military rulers would be willing to continue restraining the more than 2 million Syrians and other refugees Turkey is housing from trying to get to Germany, Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe.

Although Turkish efforts have improved in the past year, the United States and Europe suspect Erdogans increasingly Islamist government of divided loyalties in the counterterrorism fight. Turkey has been accused of allowing foreign fighters to slip across the border to join the Islamic State in Syria and of supporting non-democratic opposition fighters there who share its zeal to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.





For his part, Erdogan has railed against U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish fighters willing to take on the Islamic State but allied with Turkeys own Kurdish separatists.

Its a very difficult situation for Western countries, Marc Pierini, a Eurasia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said of the unfolding coup. But it may not be totally disruptive for the coalition.

Erdogan has been ambivalent with ISIL, he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, partly because he wanted to go after Assad . . . and partly because there is big business on the border. Only about 65 miles of open border remains unoccupied by Syrian Kurds and available for the transit of militant supplies and fighters. The United States has asked Turkey to use its own military to help prevent that section of border from being taken over completely by the Islamic State, a step Erdogan has so far been unwilling to take.

Defense officials at the Pentagon, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the attempted coup as it unfolded, said Friday that they were aware of what was occurring in Turkey but still working to determine its effects on U.S. operations.

The Pentagon has increasingly relied on Turkish military installations to wage its counterterrorism war in Iraq and Syria. In particular, U.S. troops at Incirlik Air Base near the southern border with Syria and at Diyarbakir airfield in the southeastern part of the country have a direct role in the military campaign against the militants.

We are monitoring the situation in Turkey closely and taking appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of our service members, civilians, their families and our facilities, said a senior U.S. defense official.

As of this time, there has been no impact to Incirlik Air Base and counter-ISIL air operations from Incirlik continue, the official added.

An A-10 squadron has been based at Incirlik since October, after the Turkish government allowed U.S. strike aircraft to use the base. An Air Force commander there said in May that his unit handled one-third of all refueling operations for the air war over Iraq and Syria. Use of the base immediately improved how long the aircraft could remain over Iraq and Syria, considering its close proximity when compared with military bases used by the Pentagon in Persian Gulf countries.

Senior defense officials also said in April that they were planning to place a mobile rocket system known as HIMARS, short for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, somewhere in Turkey to support U.S. operations in Syria.

In other parts of Turkey, U.S. troops use an air base in Izmir, about 200 miles southwest of Istanbul, and Aksaz Naval Base, on the Aegean coast. In March, the Pentagon and State Department ordered the families of U.S. troops and diplomats to leave the country, citing security concerns raised by terrorist attacks across Turkey.

It also was not immediately clear what effect the coup plot had on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkeys capital, and at consulates in the cities of Adana and Istanbul. A statement released by the embassy in Ankara told U.S. citizens that the Turkish government had warned of a coup attempt.

We urge U.S. citizens to contact family and friends to let them know you are safe, the embassys statement said. We have seen reports that social media is blocked, but you can contact friends and family by email, telephone or SMS. We encourage U.S. citizens to shelter in place and do not go the U.S. Embassy or Consulates at this time.

As uncertainty continued throughout Turkey overnight Friday, experts were not optimistic.

If its a coup, its bad no matter what, said Barkey, speaking by telephone from Istanbul, where he had planned a conference on Iran. If its unsuccessful, its still bad. . . . Now, Erdogan is going to be even more paranoid and very suspicious.

Riven by divisions between his supporters and more-secular Turks, including the military, Erdogan has fought to increase his powers through revisions to the constitution. Even if he survives and succeeds in strengthening his constitutional position, Barkey said, hes going to become even more erratic and problematic for us.

No matter what happens, Turkey is now in a period of uncertainty and instability. Successful or unsuccessful, he said of the coup attempt, this is bad for the United States and the alliance.

Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic Forces as U .S. Special Operations troops ride in a pickup in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa. (Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama never liked the phrase war on terror, declared by his predecessor, George W. Bush, barely a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush sometimes also likened the ensuing conflict to World War III.

Obama has a very different way with words. Although he, too, has spoken of war on occasion, he leans more toward the series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America that he outlined in a 2013 speech.

But whatever the preferred rhetoric, and despite the constant U.S. military deployments in ground, air and sea combat against terrorist groups for the past 15 years, the fact remains that Congress  with sole constitutional power to declare war  has not done so.

Donald Trump says he will change that. Following Thursdays terrorist massacre in Nice, France, the latest in a crescendo of attacks across the globe tied in one way or another to the Islamic State, the presumptive GOP nominee said that if he were president, he would ask Congress to pass its first formal declaration of war since World War II.

[Attacker in Nice was radicalized very rapidly]

This is a war, Trump told Fox News. If you look at it, this is war coming from all different parts. He would also, Trump said, mobilize NATO for the fight.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton deflected the same question.I think its clear we are at war with these terrorist groups and what they represent. . . . we have to look at all possible approaches, she told CNN.

NATO needs to be strengthened, Clinton said on Fox, and any involvement by NATO allies should be American-led. While NATO is not formally participating in the international coalition fighting in Syria and Iraq, all 28 alliance countries are participants, under U.S. leadership.

Most legal scholars find a war declaration irrelevant. Declaring war does not serve any real function under modern international law, and it is not required as a matter of U.S. constitutional practice in order to wage war, said Duke University professor Curtis Bradley, co-director of the Center for International and Comparative Law. Wars that were not declared include those in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Iraq  as well as the many deployments of U.S. troops in between those conflicts.

Others think it would be counterproductive.

We looked at this in the Bush administration and rejected it despite some high-level advocates, said John B. Bellinger III, who served as legal adviser to both the National Security Council and the State Department.

Bellinger said he understands why some think a formal declaration by Congress would show resolve and strength of purpose and seriousness at a time when the world is out of control, as Trump put it after the Nice attack.

You look at the World Trade Center, Trump told Foxs Bill OReilly. You look at San Bernardino. You look at Paris  130 people killed and so many injured in Paris from that attack. And you look at Orlando . . . unless we get strong and you, know, really strong and very, very smart leadership, its only going to get worse.

[Were on alert every day. Could U.S. be hit by Nice-style attack?]

But a formal declaration would look silly, Bellinger said. We are using very robust military force against ISIS. . . . It looks feckless to be declaring war against an amorphous group, and to a certain extent buys into their crusader narrative. The Islamic State is also referred to as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh.

Far from declaring war, Congress has not even been able to agree on a specific authorization for Obama to use military force against the Islamic State. It has refused to consider a proposal the White House sent to Capitol Hill 17 months ago after the bombing started in Iraq and Syria, or to come up with its own alternative.

Democrats want to narrow the presidents authority, while Republicans want to widen it. Most, with memories of the political price paid for votes in 2002 approving Bushs ill-fated invasion of Iraq, have preferred to ignore the subject.

In the meantime, the rhetorical combat over what to call both the fight and the fighters  Obamas preferred violent extremists, Trumps radical Islamic terrorists, or Clintons radical jihadists  will not go away.

There is little argument, outside certain legal and left-leaning political circles, that Obama has the power to do everything he is now doing and more. Although Obama and his top aides once ridiculed Bushs claim of authority to wage war on his own as commander in chief of the armed forces under Article II of the Constitution, they now regularly invoke it.

There has been no serious challenge to the administrations justification for its counterterrorism operations around the world under international self-defense doctrines, its claimed legal authority for drone strikes outside areas of active hostilities, and its interpretation of global conventions governing combat and human rights.

In the absence of its desired congressional authorization against the Islamic State, the administration has also said  and lawmakers have not disputed  that its military actions are covered under the 2001 authority to strike al-Qaeda, passed in the days after the 9/11 attacks.

But with an expected increase in attacks like those in Nice, Istanbul, Orlando, San Bernardino, Calif., and Paris  either planned or inspired by the Islamic State  and the still-slow march toward anticipated offensives against militant headquarters in Raqqa, Syria, and Mosul, Iraq, war drums are likely to grow in volume.

The Obama administration and its military commanders have said that attacks on both cities are in the planning stages. They have emphasized the need to prepare the ground with shaping operations that include training and assisting local forces and reclaiming surrounding territory.

At the same time, targeted U.S. airstrikes have been systematically eliminating the Islamic States leadership. While Raqqa continues to be the inspirational and ideological center of Islamic State power in the region, many of the top militant leaders are thought to have gone to ground in the triangle of territory straddling Iraq and Syria that the group still firmly holds. It remains unclear what kind of command-and-control operation still exists in Raqqa, although many of the groups foreign recruits are still thought to be there.

The administration has said that its relatively slow but steady strategy has substantially shrunk Islamic State territory in both countries. It has been loath to launch direct air attacks on either Raqqa or Mosul to avoid the large numbers of civilian casualties that would inevitably result, and until indigenous ground forces are ready to overtake and hold them. Planning for the offensives, particularly against Raqqa, is now likely to be further slowed by upheaval in neighboring Turkey  where much of U.S. air power in the region is based  in the wake of Fridays unsuccessful coup attempt there.

[Thousands arrested after failed coup in Turkey]

Both Trump and Clinton have said they would strike Raqqa sooner and harder. After last months attack in Orlando, in which 49 people were killed by a lone-wolf shooter, a U.S. citizen with no apparent operational links to the Islamic State, Clinton called for ramping up the air campaign.

Trump, who last year said that as commander in chief he would authorize the use of nuclear weapons against the Islamic State in Raqqa, complained after Orlando that Obama was dragging his feet in attacking the Syrian city.

We have to be furious for a short period of time, and were not doing it, Trump said. Asked by a Fox News interviewer whether he advocated hitting Raqqa right now, he said, Were going to have to start thinking of something.

Liz Sly in Irbil, Iraq, contributed to this report.

Read more:
The Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum reports from Nice, France a day after at least 84 people were killed when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day. (Michael Birnbaum,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

The Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum reports from Nice, France a day after at least 84 people were killed when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day. (Michael Birnbaum,Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Soon after this idyllic city was rocked by a horrific attack, the prime minister speculated that the man responsible was probably linked to radical Islam one way or another. Then, the Islamic State called him a soldier in an invisible army of terrorists, though it offered no proof to support the claim.

But emerging details suggest that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the man who bulldozed bodies Thursday in a mile-long rampage along Nices storied seaside boulevard, lived in much the same way that he died: isolated and alone.

When authorities fatally shot him in the front cabin of the truck he had rented for his heinous mission, they killed a man who never quite appeared to be at home in any of the places, communities and families he had known.

[In truck rampage, experts see potential shift toward cruder, deadlier acts of terror]

Born in Tunisia in 1985, Bouhlel left his native country sometime between 2009 and 2010. His father said he remembers a deeply troubled son who struggled with what he described as a history of mental illness.

Speaking from Msaken, about 75 miles south of Tunis, Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told French television in comments broadcast Saturday that, as a young man, his son had psychological problems that caused a nervous breakdown.

He would become angry, shout, break everything around him, Bouhlel said. We had to take him to the doctor.

[Attacker in Nice is said to have radicalized very rapidly]

His sister, Rabeb Bouhlel, told the Reuters news agency much the same. My brother had psychological problems, she said, and we have given the police documents showing that he had been seeing psychologists for several years.

His arrival in France did not appear to have given Bouhlel any peace or stability. Although he found a wife, with whom he is reported to have had three children, he allegedly beat her until she threw him out of their apartment, in a low-income complex on the north side of Nice.

Although she was detained for questioning on Friday, her identity has not been released.

[Nice terror attack prompts new right-wing calls for war against Islam]

Eventually, Bouhlel developed a criminal record  though, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins, no known connections with terrorist networks or radical groups. Instead, petty crimes were his mainstay: As recently as March, he received a suspended sentence for armed assault.

When he moved into an apartment of his own, the neighborhood he chose was Nices Abattoirs area, a working-class district where the citys former slaughterhouse was located.

Unlike the apartment he had shared with his family, in an active community, his second apartment was on an anonymous thoroughfare in a peeling building next to a string of empty storefronts and parking lots.

Neighbors there said they were largely afraid of Bouhlel. Jasmin Corman, 38, said he had fixed eyes that terrified her and her two children, 14 and 7.

He was always alone, she said.

Standing in the doorway of her apartment on the buildings ground floor  directly below Bouhlels first-floor apartment  she recounted Saturday how he recently stood on the stairwell and silently stared at her as she was locking her door.

When she turned around, Corman said, there he was.

Its horrifying to realize you were living beneath a murderer, she said, adding that she was planning on moving in the near future.

In any case, Corman was watching Bouhlel, too.

Corman, a Muslim who observes Ramadan, said that all throughout the Muslim month of fasting, a ritual that is one of the five pillars of Islam, Bouhlel smoked and drank, occasionally returning to the building smelling of alcohol.

For Muslims, these behaviors are strictly taboo, suggesting that Bouhlel had little connection with the religion.

She also noticed him outside the building with a young blonde on more than one occasion. It was not his daughter. There were caresses, she said.

[Anger in France over Nice attack focuses on apparently lax security]

Rebab Bouhlel said her brother rarely called home to Tunisia but recently had begun to do so more often. Over the past month, she told Reuters, he was calling us every day and he sent us money.

He called several times a day, she said.

According to Tunisian media, one of those calls was made the day of the attack. Bouhlel apparently called his brother to tell him about his troubles, mostly his divorce. He also reportedly said he planned to return to Tunisia soon.

If he had been somewhat alienated from his family, Bouhlel was arguably more alienated from the community of his new neighborhood.

One block down the street from his apartment stands the Rene Arziari Primary School. In an attack in which many of the 84 dead were children, two of them  young boys named in a makeshift memorial as only Loan and Sabry  happened to attend this school.

On Saturday afternoon, the schools parking lot was empty save for two people: Dalida Renier, 37, and her 9-year-old son, Ethan, who had been in the same class as Loan and Sabry. They were standing in front of the makeshift memorial.

We are sad, a tearful Renier said. But mostly were angry that someone would kill children like these.

Read more

What France thinks of multiculturalism and Islam

Map: Frances growing Muslim population

One of the first victims of the Nice terror attack was a Muslim mother

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
On the night of the failed military coup, Istanbuls towering bridges hosted hellish scenes of chaos and bloodshed, as ordinary Turks  in stunning acts of bravery and defiance  poured into the streets to halt a violent army takeover of the countrys civilian government.

But by dawn, the once-menacing soldiers who had seized key roads and infrastructure just hours before, could be seen surrendering to police on those same bridges, their hands in the air as they stood in the early-morning light. More masses of triumphant citizens, gleeful that the government had prevailed, came out to gawk at stalled armored vehicles and take selfies with the police who had put down the unpopular putsch.

[The latest developments out of Turkey]

The police officers, for their part, basked in the glory as city residents treated them like heroes. In the crowded Istanbul district of Uskudar, a young boy with a Turkish flag posed for a photograph with riot police in front of an armored vehicle seized in the counter-coup.

Turkey is in secure hands now, one of the police officers said, although he was not authorized to speak to the news media.

Men streamed through the citys squares waving oversize Turkish flags  red, with the white star and crescent associated with Islam  and chanting support for the government.

I was out on the streets until 6 a.m. I was out with all of my family  there were 20, maybe 30 of us, said Olgun Gunes, a 41-year-old Uskudar resident and textile worker. There was a war beginning last night, but we went to the streets and took responsibility for our country.

In Istanbul and in Ankara  the Turkish capital, which saw the heaviest fighting between pro- and anti-coup forces  life slowly began to return to normal Saturday. Shops near Istanbuls famed Taksim Square reopened, and street vendors reappeared selling roasted corn and wreaths of flowers. Cooks at local cafes fired up greasy Turkish kebab, and residents flocked to street-side cafes to drink hot tea in the afternoon sun.

But things felt different, many residents said.

Local muezzins, those appointed to perform the Muslim call to prayer, led sermons from the early morning and into the evening, on orders of the Religious Affairs Directorate. On televisions, which were switched on everywhere, there was news of arrests of coup plotters, purges of judges and a tense standoff at a military headquarters in Ankara, where soldiers were holed up.

Flights to and from Istanbuls Ataturk Airport resumed, were suspended and then resumed again, causing travel chaos at one of the worlds busiest international hubs. Ankaras airport remained closed, reports said.

In Istanbul, even opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who at one point on Friday night addressed the nation via a smartphone video chat, said they did not want to see him shoved aside in a coup. It would set back the country for years, they said.

1 of 63 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  The scene in Turkey after an attempted coup View Photos Turkeys military tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Caption The nations military tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. July 17, 2016 Women mourn near the flag-draped coffin of a relative in Istanbul, during the funeral of seven victims of the July 15 coup attempt. Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

In the up-and-coming Besiktas neighborhood, shops that residents had flooded the night before in a last-minute bid to stock up on key supplies were also being reopened. But only a few people were out on the streets.

Sedat Demircan, 57, retired from foreign trade business, was out looking for fresh bread.

I want Recep Tayyip Erdogan to go, but not like this, he said.

Hakan Sengezen was at his shop, where he sells purses, luggage and backpacks. He said the streets were filled with rumors about who was behind the coup. Sengezen said he wasnt sure what to think.

I do not want a coup, he said. Every time there is a coup the country goes back 10 or 20 years, in terms of the economy, in terms of security. I dont want the military to rule. They interfere with everything. They institute curfews; they interfere with how people dress.

Gizem Oktay, 23, was at a party with friends in the Taksim district when news of the coup broke and everyone rushed home. Her father is an officer in the Turkish army.

When I got back to the barracks, the soldiers were waiting at the ready at the entrance. They rushed us in, she said. It was fairly calm here, but in the morning the police came and are not allowing any entry or exit.

On Saturday evening, several thousand people rallied in Taksim Square to celebrate the failure of the attempted coup. Young men and women waved Turkish flags, and many others wore them as capes as they sang, danced and chanted both nationalist and Islamic slogans.

Police vehicles with water cannons stood at the entrance to the square. Young men  some with selfie sticks  scaled the squares monument, where revelers had stuck a Turkish flag in the hand of the statue of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish republic.

God is great! God is great! God is great! yelled a group of bearded men in white robes and sandals  clothing typically worn by the religiously conservative. Standing near them were women in tight jeans who clapped their hands, whistled and chanted, Turkey! Turkey!

The crowds were diverse and included people who most likely are divided when it comes to Turkeys combustible domestic politics. Some of the revelers struck a more somber tone and prayed amid the celebrations. Others crowded into cars on nearby streets, honking their horns and blaring music by popular American rappers such as Pitbull.

One man, who identified himself as Russell but declined to give his last name, said he came to the bustling downtown shopping district to demonstrate support for Turkish democracy. This is about keeping our country away from military rulers. The people should be running Turkey, the 29-year-old marketing executive from Istanbul said. This is not about Erdogan.

He was referring to Erdogans call to Turks to take to the streets in a show of support.

The Turkish leader nevertheless appeared to have a large number of supporters at the rally in Taksim, as well as at another celebration at Istanbuls main international airport. Erdogan! Erdogan! yelled a group of veiled women who walked between cars stuck in a mile-long traffic jam near the airport.

Booth reported from Jerusalem. Hugh Naylor in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Read more

Fethullah Gulen: The Islamic scholar Turkey blames for the failed coup

Coup in Turkey could lead to uncertainty in anti-ISIS fight

Turkeys Erdogan always feared a coup. He was proved right.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
The United States and Russia agreed Friday to take steps that could reduce the violence in Syria, but Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said they will not outline what they are to prevent spoilers from disrupting the initiative.

In a late-night news conference following talks that began in the morning and stretched until almost midnight, Kerry and Lavrov said they had agreed to do things that could cut down on civilian casualties and target designated terrorist groups.

Kerry combined a plea for urgency with a vagueness about what is being considered or already agreed on.

International efforts have failed the Syrian people for too long, he said. After five years of war, the people of Syria dont want words, They want action, and they want to be able to live in peace.

Kerry said that while he and Lavrov had focused on steps to try to realize those goals, we agreed the best way to make it real is to go about quiet business.

If the unspecified steps were implemented in good faith, Kerry said, it is possible to help restore the cessation of hostilities, significantly reduce the violence and help create the space for a genuine and credible political transition.

But, Kerry and Lavrov declined to spell out any concrete steps they had agreed on in what Kerry termed a public, long list. He said more details need to be ironed out.

I am here with confidence that if the things we talked about are implemented, this has a chance to change the situation, Kerry said.

Let the proof be in the pudding, he said.

The word coordination was never mentioned in their remarks to reporters, even though Kerry came to Moscow with a detailed proposal for the United States and Russia to share military intelligence in Syria and synchronize military operations to fight radical Islamists. A draft of the proposal said that Washington wanted Moscow in return to ensure the Syrian air force would be grounded and would no longer drop bombs on civilians under the guise of targeting terrorists.

Russia is one of the chief backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and its military support has allowed Assad, once on the ropes, to solidify his position. He said in an interview with NBC News last week that neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Lavrov have ever suggested a transitional government that would force him from office, a position the United States continues to maintain.

That policy has not changed, Kerry said, noting that we have a difference with Russia about that. But notwithstanding that difference, we both believe it is important for us to reestablish the cessation of hostilities.

A cease-fire in place since February has been marked by repeated violations, which the State Department blames on Syrian forces and, to a lesser degree, on Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate. By ending the violence, Kerry thinks, the cease-fire can create conditions in which United Nations-brokered negotiations can occur.

Although Lavrov mentioned joint efforts almost in passing, Kerry said nothing being considered will change anything quickly.

The results will not be tomorrow or the next day, he said. It will not be immediate. But our patience is not limitless.

Kerry and Lavrov emerged from their talks 10 hours later than scheduled. Their discussions were interrupted only by a break of about four hours while Kerry went to the U.S. Embassy and consulted with Washington, including with officials at the White House and the Pentagon.

His meetings with Lavrov followed a three-hour meeting Thursday night with Putin. But the truck attack on Bastille Day revelers in the French city of Nice occurred while Kerry was still huddled with Putin, and the magnitude of the assault was unclear.

The casualty count was still rising when Kerry and Lavrov sat down Friday, and the attack bracketed their discussions.

Before the talks got underway, the two diplomats and their senior aides stood for a brief moment of silence in memory of the victims. Before they parted in the late afternoon for Kerry to go to the U.S. Embassy, they rode together to the French Embassy in Moscow to lay wreathes and write in a condolence book.

May we all show strength and purpose to end this scourge of terror and find peace in our time! Kerry wrote.

Kerry and Lavrov said the violence in Nice underscored the need to combat international terrorism and end the violence in Syria.

I believe that the dialogue is becoming even more urgent and relevant because of the barbaric and horrible terrorist attack that took place yesterday in Nice, Lavrov said.

Kerry looked grim and expressed weariness at how often he and other diplomats meet in the wake of terrorist attacks, many of them by extremists from or inspired by the Islamic State and its caliphate in Syria and Iraq.

The problem, Kerry told Lavrov, is you and I and other foreign ministers and leaders of countries are doing this now on almost a weekly basis. And nowhere is there a greater hotbed or incubator for these terrorists than in Syria.

Kerry told Lavrov cooperation in Syria could pave the way for Moscow and Washington to improve their bilateral relationship, which has been severely strained over Russias support for separatists in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea.

I think people all over the world are looking to us, and waiting for us to find a faster, more tangible way of them feeling that everything possible is being done to end this terrorist scourge, and to unite the world in the most comprehensive efforts possible to fight back against their nihilistic, depraved approach to life, and death, Kerry added.

And you and I and our teams are in the enviable position of actually being able to do something about it, he said.

Read more

Preparing for the loss of the caliphate

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
The tenor of newly anointed UK Prime Minister Theresa Mays first speech yesterday was dictated by a desperate attempt to restore some popular support for a widely-despised Conservative government.

The ruling establishment is deeply divided and faces the existential crisis provoked by the impact of the referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU). There has been a dramatic fall of the pound and of share prices, and even the UK itself is threatened with break-up. The major problem hanging over Mays head is how to deal with an acute polarisation between rich and poor that threatens violent social and political convulsions.

Only this can account for the torrent of rhetoric she issued, pledging to lead a one nation government representing not just the privileged few. May would not only defend the Union of nations that make up the UK, but that between all of our citizens. She would fight against the burning injustice of poverty and deprivation, of racism, sexism and for the ordinary working-class family. Hers would be a government driven, not by the interests of the privileged few but by yours.

Arguably not since Margaret Thatcher stood in Downing Street and quoted St. Francis of AssisiWhere there is discord, may we bring harmonyhas there been such a brazen display of political cynicism. Mays will be a government of class warfare, of savage austerity, attacks on democratic rights, of militarism and war.

May has come to office without being elected, through the deliberate sabotage of a Tory leadership contest in which her leading rival, Andrea Leadsom, was told by the media, her peers and no doubt the state that her challenge was unacceptable. An inexperienced pro-Brexit campaigner, Leadsom had no chance of either uniting the party or securing the backing of big business. In contrast, May has years of cabinet experience and, while she campaigned for Britain to Remain in the EU, has pledged to the Eurosceptic wing of the party that Brexit is Brexit.

Her job, she said, would be to conduct the best negotiations with the EU to make this work in the UKs national interests. She has also said that official talks on leaving, triggered when she invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, will not begin until at least the end of 2016. This is meant to provide the possibility of stabilising Britain economically and politically.

She chose her top cabinet positions with the same end in mind, together with efforts to heal the rift in the party. Mays chancellor of the exchequer is Philip Hammond, the former foreign secretary, who campaigned for Remain. On Tuesday, he said that it could take as long as six years for the UK to extricate itself from the EU, due to the long process of agreeing bilateral trade deals. However, the most prominent Leave campaigner, Boris Johnson, was named as foreign secretary, and Eurosceptic David Davis as the secretary of state for Leaving the EU. They were among several prominent Brexiteers named.

Even so, if there was the slightest genuine substance to her professions of social concern and promises to curb bosses pay, then May would not be walking into Number 10. She is expected to hold the line against any demands for a let-up in social attacks.

The agenda of her government is set by the deepening crisis of British and world capitalism. UK growth has slowed to 0.2 percent in the second quarter of this year and the UK has a record current account deficit. Writing on the influential Conservative Home web site, Ryan Bourne, head of public policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs, urged, Our new prime minister must resist the temptation of Keynesianism and maintain fiscal sanity.

May is a hard-line Thatcherite, who is considered capable not merely of political spin designed to paper over the Tories reputation as the nasty party, but of ruthlessly defending the interests of the ruling class. Her political record includes opposing a minimum wage as an unacceptable burden on business and declaring that tax credits for poorer workers disincentivise[s] people from working more hours or finding better-paid jobs. Ending poverty, she added, was about ending idleness.

That is why the ruling class understands very well the difference between spin and reality. The Financial Times, for example, headlined one article, Expect Theresa May to favour social order over freedom and another, Austerity not yet off government agenda.

May has given no indication of rowing back on planned spending cuts, it stated, and has said the government should continue with its intention to reduce public spending and cut the budget deficit.

Billions more planned cuts will remain in place, including cuts to Universal Credit, costing some families as much as 3,000 a year, a four-year freeze in benefit rates, and actual cuts of 30 a week for people found too sick to work. On top of this, the National Health Service is facing a record deficit of 2.45 billion in 2015-16.

Mays other recommendation for the UKs highest office is her record of imposing authoritarian measures. She is the architect of the Draft Communications Data Bill, or Snoopers Charter, which requires Internet service providers and mobile phone companies to maintain records of each users internet and phone activity for 12 monthsto be made available to the police and security services. During the referendum campaign, she argued that the UK should pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights regardless of the result, complaining that it can bind the hands of parliament and adds nothing to our prosperity... She abandoned this only upon becoming a leadership candidate because dissent in her own party would deny her a parliamentary majority in any vote.

Her record in attacking migrants is particularly sinister. The Guardian listed seven bills and 45,000 changes to the [immigration] rules since she became home secretary. She is the author of the Immigration Act 2016, which mandates that employers who hire illegal migrants as well as the workers face criminal sanctions; allows for illegal migrants bank accounts to be frozen and their drivers licenses seized; makes it a criminal offence for a landlord to knowingly rent premises to an illegal migrant, punishable by five years in prison; and extends the governments deport first, appeal later policy to all illegal migrants rather than just convicted criminals.

She infamously introduced Go Home vans, which drove around areas with large immigrant populations urging illegal immigrants to leave the UK.

May can rely on a pliant media to uncritically repeat her lies and claim that the election of a woman as prime minister is somehow progressiveeven after Thatcher! But the main advantage she enjoys is the fact that she faces no opposition from the Labour Party and the trade unions.

As the Tory leadership contest was unfolding, the right wing of the Labour Party was busy mounting a political coup with the intention of removing Jeremy Corbyn as party leader. Speculation is rife over whether May will hold onto office until the end of the governments five-year fixed term in 2020, or possibly seize advantage of the wrecking operation mounted by the Blairites to call a snap election. In either case, the working class will continue to pay a bitter price for not only the role played by the Blairite fifth column, but also the inevitable abject failure of Corbyns perspective of transforming the Labour Party into a political mechanism for opposing austerity and militarism.
Continuing his campaign this week in Western Pennsylvania, Socialist Equality Party vice presidential candidate Niles Niemuth visited Erie, Pennsylvania, a former manufacturing and transit hub of the southeastern Great Lakes region.

Located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Erie has long served as Pennsylvanias main access point to maritime trade in the Great Lakes region, and the St. Lawrence River region of Canada. During the mid-19th century, Erie became a railroad hub as well. In the first half of the 20th century, there was a substantial growth in manufacturing in Erie, including the Erie Forge and Steel factory, Hammermill Paper, and the General Electric locomotive plant.

Like much of the rest of western Pennsylvania, Erie was devastated by layoffs and factory closures that resulted from the policy of deindustrialization. The General Electric locomotive plant, which once employed over 10,000 workers, now only employs several thousand, with major layoffs since 2008, including 950 jobs cut in 2013. Hammermill Paper shut down in 2002, laying off nearly 800 workers. The population of Erie has fallen by more than a quarter, from 140,000 in 1960 to roughly 100,000 today. The median annual income is $33,000, nearly 40 percent below the statewide median of $53,000.

In response to budget shortfalls, Erie Public Schools threatened last month to close all public high schools in the district, effectively ending the right to public education beyond eighth grade in Erie. The district opted to keep high schools open only after the promise of $7.6 million in emergency funds in the Pennsylvania budget passed on Wednesday.

Niemuth spoke with Erie residents about the threat to public education and broader political issues in the US elections.

Asked about the threat to close the school, Elva, a 65-year-old grandmother, responded, I think its terrible. If they cant seem to OK the budget for the schools, then we need to take the kids over to the legislature and let them take care of them.

These kids are running wild. If theyre not in high school, theyll just be shooting up the neighborhood. A lot of them are already skipping school, and quitting school, and this just makes it worse.

Elva works part-time at a dollar store in Erie for $10 per hour, after starting at around $7 per hour. Asked whether someone could raise a family on her wage she responded, No, you cant. You have to get at least $20, $25 an hour to raise a family, and even that might not be enough for a big family.

Asked about the elections, Elva replied, It doesnt make any difference, Republican, Democrat. With all those companies, without all those little people, if they all werent there, what would they do?

Amar, a local restauranteur, spoke on the threat to close the schools. Im pretty sure they have money to fund the schools. We need a change. Both the Republicans and the Democrats have too much power.

Amar, who fled Bosnia during the US-backed violent breakup of Yugoslavia, compared the political situation in the US to that in Bosnia. Bosnia has three presidents, just looping around, getting what they want. Its all about money. The people with power get money. The rich are always getting their funds increased, and were not getting anything.

Asked about the current refugee crisis, Amar expressed deep sympathy. Somebody needs to give them an opportunity. Its not their fault that they are refugees. Someone took everything away from them. Before, they had a home and everything just like everyone else.

Cheryl, a mother of two, moved to Erie from New York City ten years ago. She disagreed strongly with the threat to close the schools. I dont think thats a good idea at all. A lot of these kids dont have anything to do as it is. As far as extracurricular activities, they dont have any after-school programs.

High school is the most important age at this point. They need to know life skills, instead of just violence and shooting people, and killing people, and things of that nature, so closing the schools is just hard. If thats something theyre thinking about doing at this point, I would need to leave, because Im a mother of two. I graduated high school, I went through college, and Im productive. I try to help my little community where I stay, to keep kids active every day. If you close the schools, youll have a bunch of 16-, 17-, 18-year-old kids out in the streets, just wandering.

When I was in high school, I went around and I spoke to kids about things that were going on in their lives and at home, things like teenage pregnancy, and kids not having both parents at home. Already, thats enough for children of that age group to be dealing with. Some kids go to school for an outlet. They dont have that now if they close the schools.

Cheryl works as a machine operator at a local manufacturing facility, making $7.75 per hour, just above the state minimum wage. Such low-wage sweatshop jobs are the deliberate product of the Obama administrations policy of transforming the US into a cheap labor platform to insource manufacturing.

After Niemuth pointed out that a handful of billionaires own more wealth than 150 million poor Americans, Cheryl replied, There are a lot of groups that do have a lot more wealth than other people. They dont have to worry about what we worry about. This is how the system was set up.

Niemuth argued, All of these problems, education, poverty, unemployment, its all rooted in the capitalist system. The politicians speak for those who control the entire system. What were representing is socialism, workers control of production, democratic control of society.

Cheryl agreed strongly, and responded, Im praying and Im hoping, and Im wishing that thats something that will come to light eventually, because the way its going, were in our last days. The way its going right now, its not going too well. The President, the government, its just not right.

It [Erie] is going to be a ghost town in the next five years. When I moved out here, it was such a nice place. The jobs were good, it was a place you could raise your kids. There was no violence.
The public release Friday afternoon of a section of the Congressional report on the 9/11 attacks, which had been kept secret for 13 years, has provided fresh evidence of a deliberate coverup of the role played, not only by the Saudi government, but US intelligence agencies themselves, in facilitating the attacks and then covering up their real roots.

The 28-page segment from the report issued by the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001 provides abundant and damning evidence of extensive Saudi support for the 9/11 hijackers15 out of 19 of whom were Saudi nationalsin the period leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

The Obama White House, the CIA, the Saudi monarchy and the corporate media have all tried to portray the documentsreleased on a Friday afternoon to assure minimal exposureas somehow exonerating the Saudi regime of any culpability in the 9/11 attacks.

This information does not change the assessment of the US government that theres no evidence that the Saudi government or senior Saudi individuals funded al-Qaeda, Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary said Friday, boasting that the main significance of their release was its proof of the Obama administrations commitment to transparency.

In reality, the 28 pages have been kept under lock and key since 2002, with only members of Congress allowed to read them, in a Capitol Hill basement vault, while prohibited from taking notes, bringing members of their staff or breathing a word of their content.

The Obama administration, like the Bush administration before it, maintained this secrecy for several reasons. First, it was concerned that the documents would jeopardize its relations with Saudi Arabia, which, after Israel, is Washingtons closest ally in the Middle East, a partner in bloody operations from Afghanistan to Syria to Yemen, and the worlds biggest buyer of American arms.

Even more importantly, it was concerned that the 28 pages would further expose the abject criminality of the US governments role in facilitating the attacks of 9/11 and then lying about their source and exploiting them to justify savage wars of aggression, first against Afghanistan and then against Iraq. These wars have claimed over a million lives. The false narrative created around the September 11 attacks remains the ideological pillar of the US campaign of global militarism conducted in the name of a war on terror.

Media reports on the 28 pages invariably refer to the absence of a smoking gun, which presumably would be tantamount to an order signed by the Saudi king to attack New York and Washington. The evidence is described as inconclusive. One can only imagine what would have been the response if, in place of the word Saudi, the documents referred to Iraqi, Syrian or Iranian actions. The same evidence would have been proclaimed an airtight case for war.

Among those who were involved in preparing the report, John Lehman, the former secretary of the navy, directly contradicted the official response to the release of the previously censored section. There was an awful lot of participation by Saudi individuals in supporting the hijackers, and some of those people worked in the Saudi government, he said. Our report should never have been read as an exoneration of Saudi Arabia.

Similarly, former Florida Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the committee that carried out the investigation, suggested that the information released Friday was only the beginning. I think of this almost as the 28 pages are sort of the cork in the wine bottle. And once its out, hopefully the rest of the wine itself will start to pour out, he said.

What clearly emerges from the newly-released document, which is titled Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security Matters, is that there were multiple indications of funding and support for the 9/11 hijackers and Al Qaeda in general, but that investigations were either shut down or never initiated because of the close ties between Washington and the Saudi monarchy, and between US and Saudi intelligence.

While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government, the document begins. It cites FBI sources as indicating that some of these individuals were Saudi intelligence officers.

It goes on to indicate that FBI and CIA investigations of these links were initiated solely in response to the Congressional inquiry itself. [I]t was only after September 11 that the US government began to aggressively investigate this issue, the report states. Prior to September 11th, the FBI apparently did not focus investigative sources on [redacted] Saudi nationals in the United States due to Saudi Arabias status as an American ally.

The report focuses in part on the role of one Omar al-Bayoumi, who was described to the FBI as a Saudi intelligence officer, and, according to FBI files, provided substantial assistance to hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi after they arrived in San Diego in February 2000.

The inquiry report deals with al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar only from after they arrived in California, and says nothing about the circumstances under which they were allowed to enter the country in the first place. Both were under CIA surveillance while attending an Al Qaeda planning meeting in 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and placed on a watch list for FBI monitoring if they came to the United States. Nonetheless, the two men were allowed to enter the United States on January 15, 2000, landing at Los Angeles International Airport, eventually going to San Diego. From then on, they were permitted to operate freely, attending flight training school in preparation for their role as pilots of hijacked planes on September 11, 2001.

Al-Bayoumi, the report establishes, received support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense, drawing a paycheck for a no-show job. The report states that the company also had ties to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

According to the report, al-Bayoumi had previously worked for the Saudi Civil Aviation Association and, in the period leading up to 9/11, was in frequent contact with the Emir at the Saudi Defense Ministry responsible for air traffic control. Phone records showed him calling Saudi government agencies 100 times between January and May of 2000.

FBI documents also established that the $465 in allowances that al-Bayoumi received through the Saudi military contractor, jumped to over $3,700 shortly after the arrival of al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar. During this period, al-Bayoumi initially allowed the two future hijackers to stay in his apartment before finding them their own placewith an informant of the San Diego FBIcosigning their lease and advancing them a deposit and the first months rent.

The report states that FBI investigations following 9/11 indicated that al-Bayoumi had some ties to terrorist elements. His wife, meanwhile, was receiving a $1,200 a month stipend from Princess Haifa Bint Sultan, the wife of Prince Bandar, then the Saudi ambassador to the US and later head of Saudi intelligence.

Also named in the document as a likely Saudi intelligence agent is one Osama Bassnan, who lived across the street from the two hijackers in San Diego and was in telephone contact with al-Bayoumi several times a day during this period. He apparently placed the two in contact with a Saudi commercial airline pilot for discussions on learning to fly Boeing jet aircraft, according to an FBI report. Bassnans wife also received a monthly stipend from Princess Haifa, the Saudi ambassadors wife, to the tune of $2,000 a month. As well, the FBI found one $15,000 check written by Bandar himself in 1998 to Bassnan. The report states that FBI information indicated that Bassnan was an extremist and supporter of Usama Bin Ladin, who spoke of the Al Qaeda leader as if he were god.

Appearing before the Congressional inquiry in October 2002, FBI Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism Pasquale DAmuro reacted with undisguised cynicism and contempt when asked about the payments from the Saudi ambassadors wife to the wives of the two reputed intelligence agents involved with the 9/11 hijackers.

She gives money to a lot of different groups and people from around the world, he said. Weve been able to uncover a number of these... but maybe if we can discover that she gives to 20 different radical groups, well, gee, maybe theres a pattern here. Spoken like a man who believes he is above the law in defense of a figure that he clearly sees as untouchable.

Among other material in the report was the recounting of an FBI interrogation of Saleh al-Hussayen, a prominent Saudi interior ministry official, who stayed in the same Virginia hotel as three of the hijackers the night before the 9/11 attacks. While he claimed not to know the hijackers, the FBI agents believed he was being deceptive.

According to the report, al-Hussayen feigned a seizure and was released to a hospital, which he left several days later, catching a flight back to Saudi Arabia without any further questioning. During the same period, nearly 1,200 people, with no links to the attacks, were being rounded up and held incommunicado on little more evidence than that they were Arab or Muslim.

Also in the report was the fact that a phone book belonging to Abu Zubaydah, the Al Qaeda operative who is still held at Guantanamo after extensive torture at the hands of the CIA, was found to contain the unlisted numbers of companies that managed and provide security for Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandars residence in Colorado, as well as that of a bodyguard at the Saudi embassy who, the report states some have alleged may be a [words redacted].

Redactions of this sort recur throughout the document in relation to individual Saudis, suggesting their membership in some sort of secret service whose name must remain unmentioned. This is only part of what the secret material still conceals. Members of the inquirys staff reportedly protested angrily over the failure to clearly present the evidence of Saudi involvement, leading to the firing of at least one staffer.

If the government is determined to continue to shield such Saudi connections, it is undoubtedly because they would expose the involvement of the US intelligence agencies themselves in the events of 9/11.

If such whitewashes are required, it is because elements within the US government were aware that Al Qaeda was preparing an operation on US soil, turned a blind eye to it and even facilitated it because they knew it could be used as a pretext to carry out longstanding plans for aggressive war in the Middle East.

The release of even the limited material on the Saudi-US-9/11 connection is a devastating exposure of the criminals in the US government, from George W. Bush on down, and the lies they employed to engineer wars that have devastated the lives of millions.

These new facts demand a thorough, impartial and international investigation, as well as the indictment and arrest of top-level officials, both American and Saudi. Only a powerful intervention of the international working class, on the basis of a socialist program, will see these war criminals brought to justice.
Just weeks after suppressing widespread student demonstrations, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government is confronting strikes and protests and a renewed push by the parliamentary opposition for a vote of no-confidence. Students had been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Peter ONeill over corruption allegations.

The Supreme Court this week ordered the reconvening of parliament to consider the no-confidence motion. The opposition parties also obtained a court order forcing the parliamentary speaker to allow time for the motion to be properly considered. Parliament, which met yesterday, has been adjourned for a week until July 22.

ONeill had previously used his overwhelming majority to adjourn parliament until August 2, thus avoiding a no-confidence motion due to a statutory period of grace prior to elections due next year. The Supreme Court ruled that government attempts to block such a vote were unconstitutional.

Whatever the reasons are, the fact remains that these rejections are unprecedented and pose a real threat to parliamentary democracy in this country, the court declared. The judges warned of criminal sanctions if government MPs continued to frustrate attempts to debate the motion.

Cracks in ONeills coalition have begun to appear. Shortly before parliament reconvened, Petroleum and Energy Minister Ben Micah defected to the opposition with five other members of his Peoples Progress Party (PPP). The opposition is well short of the 56 voters required to topple the government. However, the ruling coalition is a fragile amalgam of small parties and individuals, and the one-week delay buys time for the opposition to build support.

The no-confidence motion is the oppositions fourth in the past eight months, in response to a longstanding warrant for ONeills arrest over the alleged corrupt appropriation of about $US22 million of public funds.

Large crowds gathered outside parliament on Friday. Police imposed a lock-down and mobilised a large contingent of armed officers. The National reported that police were also monitoring threats purportedly issued by some workers unions for a nationwide stop work.

The unrest follows two months of sustained student protests that culminated in the police shooting into a group of protesters at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) campus on June 8. Several were wounded. Efforts to end a boycott of classes failed, forcing the university administration to terminate the academic year on July 5.

While the opposition parties have focussed on ONeills alleged corruption, the political turmoil is symptomatic of a worsening economic and social crisis. The government is under pressure from global financial agencies to devalue the currency and accelerate austerity measures that have already produced widespread popular opposition. The International Monetary Fund has warned the government has sufficient reserves to cover just three months of imports.

Slumping oil and gas prices have led to a collapse of state revenue and the Asian Development Bank forecasts economic growth will slow to 2.4 percent by 2017. The governments austerity program is more aggressive than that of Greece, slashing expenditure by 13.5 percent, including cuts of more than 40 percent to health and education.

The parliamentary opposition, however, has no fundamental disagreement with the governments socially regressive agenda. Opposition leader Don Polye was ONeills treasurer until 2014 and played a critical role in cutting social spending and attacking living standards.

An opposition grouping, the Concerned Citizens Coalition (CCC), which includes pilots, aviation workers, lawyers and union officials, is mounting limited protests and strikes. Spokesman and lawyer Moses Murray told Radio New Zealand that its members were spurred into action by the police shootings at UPNG. The professional working class and the ordinary citizens want to express the brunt of this countrys failing economy being felt by all as a result of the consequences of Peter ONeils tyrant style leadership, he said.

Murray stressed that the CCC was not calling strikes but for people to not go to work. Its not militant in nature, never, he said. As I speak to you its happening in the three city centres. People are just not going to work, theyre staying home. A number of pilots have not reported for work since Wednesday, causing flight delays and cancellations at Port Moresby airport. Several government departments have reported minimal disruptions. The trade unions have refused to declare a general strike.

The Doctors Association has warned that in response to health budget cuts, doctors and nurses will strike from next week unless ONeill steps down. The association last month ordered a return to work after more than 20 doctors at Mt Hagen General Hospital, the biggest referral hospital in the Highlands, voted unanimously to resign en masse. Over 200 nurses also walked off the job.

ONeill has responded to the spreading unrest by ramping up repressive measures. The National Security Advisory Council (NSAC) met this week to determine how to counter strikes and protests. Chief Secretary Isaac Lupari threatened to invoke the Internal Security Act and Essential Services Act. Politicians, landowners, public, students, landowners and any members of the community who issue threats will be investigated, arrested and prosecuted, he declared.

The NSAC established a National Security Joint Task Force, including police and military personnel, to quell increasing internal security threats. The National Intelligence Organisation will also be involved. Lupari warned that the task force will monitor both social and mainstream media.

The response of Australia, PNGs former colonial ruler, has been muted to date. An offer of help by Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after the UPNG shootings was firmly rejected by ONeill. However, the Australian government will be following developments closely. In 2011, Canberra helped oust former Prime Minister Michael Somare, who was regarded as too close to Beijing, and install ONeill, who took office in 2012.

Following a state visit to Beijing earlier this month, ONeill expressed his respect for Chinas position on disputed claims in the South China Seaa statement that will have raised concerns in Washington and Canberra as they exploit the latest court ruling in The Hague to intensify diplomatic pressure on China.

The author also recommends:

The way forward after the PNG police shootings

[20 June 2016]
The Partei fur Soziale Gleichheit (Socialist Equality PartyGermany) has filed over 3,000 signatures with the Berlin state election supervisor and the relevant district election offices in order to participate in the elections for the Berlin House of Representatives on September 18. This more than satisfies the legal requirement. (Berlin is one of Germanys 16 federal states.)

A certificate of eligibility must be obtained from the authorities for each signatory. The signature of any PSG supporter who does not have German citizenship or is not yet 18 years old would be disallowed.

With the filing of more than 3,000 signatures, the PSG has now fulfilled all the conditions necessary to participate with a state-wide list in the elections for the Berlin legislature and six constituency candidates in Wedding, Tempelhof-Schoneberg and Friedrichshain. The PSG is also standing its own lists in the elections to the district councils in Berlin Mitte and Tempelhof-Schoneberg.

The fact that the PSG submitted significantly more than the required number of signatures despite official restrictions is a major political success. Over recent months, the PSG organised a concentrated political campaign in Berlin, holding rallies and meetings, distributing leaflets and discussing with thousands of workers and young people.

The campaign centred on the fight against the return of German militarism and the growing threat of war. Party supporters in Berlin sold over 1,000 copies of the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals statement  Socialism and the Fight Against War.

The ICFI statement explains how the unresolved issues of the 20th century have reemerged and once again confront humanity with the alternative: socialism or barbarism. The drive to war is centred in the efforts of the United States to maintain its position as the global hegemonic power. The dissolution in 1991 of the Soviet Union was seen as an opportunity to assert unrivalled US domination throughout the world.

At the same time, the statement makes clear that Washingtons rivals in Japan and Europe are faced with the same internal contradictions and pursue no less predatory interests. Seventy years after the fall of Hitlers Third Reich, the German ruling class is once again demanding that its state assert itself as the unquestioned overlord of Europe and as a world power. In the face of deeply felt anti-war sentiments within the German population, Berlin is deploying military force to assert its interests in the Middle East and Africa. It is pouring money into rearmament, while apologetics for the crimes of the Nazi regime are being advanced across the political establishment, media and academia, with the aim of justifying the revival of German imperialist ambitions.

Against the capitalist war policy, the ICFI statement counterposes the unification of the international working class on the basis of a socialist programme. It advances four principles on which a new anti-war movement must be built: (1) It must be based on the working class, (2) have a socialist perspective, (3) be independent of all capitalist parties and organisations and (4) unite workers internationally.

The PSG explained these principles at rallies in various parts of Berlin and at two public meetingsThe return of German militarism and the threat of World War IIIin the Mitte and Lichtenberg districts. PSG candidate Christoph Vandreier also spoke out against the NATO manoeuvres on the Russian border in a campaign video.

The PSG linked the struggle against war to the fight against nationalism and the social attacks on workers throughout Europe. Its campaign was conceived as part of an international movement.

In April, the PSG campaigned intensively for the ICFIs International May Day online rally, which analyzed the key issues of contemporary world developments and formulated a perspective for the international working class. In Berlin, as in other German cities, the PSG held public viewings involving numerous workers and youth.

The campaign for a British exit from the EU was discussed at length at the May Day rally. On the eve of the Brexit referendum, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) invited the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the UK, Chris Marsden, to Humboldt University in Berlin, to explain the position of the Trotskyist movement.

Marsden explained that the working class had to reject both camps in the referendum and take up the independent perspective of the United Socialist States of Europe. While the EU, as the representative of the continents most powerful financial interests, was responsible for the most egregious social attacks, the Brexit referendum was dominated by nationalism and xenophobia. Only a socialist revolution could prevent the rise of noxious nationalism and unite the continent in a progressive fashion, Marsden argued. This message was repeated by PSG representatives at rallies and online.

When mass strikes against the reactionary labour reforms of the Hollande government broke out in France, the WSWS reported daily on the events. PSG members discussed the international significance of the battles in France with workers in Berlin. In particular, they emphasised the pernicious role of the trade unions, the Socialist Party and pseudo-left groups such as SYRIZA in Greece.

The PSG focused in particular on the brutal treatment of refugees in Berlin. The party participated in demonstrations organised by relief organizations and explained that the attacks on the democratic and social rights of refugees were directed against all workers in Germany. What is necessary is a common struggle by refugees and all those living here against war and against its root, capitalism, Vandreier explained in a video.

Throughout the campaign, the PSG argued that workers needed an independent perspective and had to oppose pseudo-left tendencies such as the Left Party. The PSG election statement reads: All of the establishment parties are closing ranks and veering to the right. They take an identical stance when it comes to social cuts, rescuing the banks and increasing military spending. They do not represent the interests of the broad mass of the population, but only the richest 10 percent A particularly pernicious role is played by the Left Party. The only thing left about this party is its name. In the Berlin Senate, it championed the redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top and carried out a policy of social devastation. It long ago swung behind the governments militarist course.

The PSG received a powerful response to its campaign. When we explain in discussions that we have nothing to do with the establishment parties, but advocate the expropriation of the banks and stand for a socialist society, we win great support, PSG candidate Peter Hartmann said. At the same time, there is considerable scepticism about all political parties, Hartmann said. But when we point to the history of the Fourth International, which has struggled for decades against the betrayals of social democracy and Stalinism, this creates greater confidence.

At the end of July, the final phase of the election campaign will begin. The PSG will intensify its campaign against war, nationalism and social attacks. It will work closely with its sister organizations in France, Britain and all over the world to unite workers internationally. We call on WSWS readers in Germany to actively support the campaign.
Mom of Infant Who Died on His First Day of Daycare: He Was My Dream Baby New York mom Amber Scorahs infant son, Karl, died on his first day at daycare in July 2015  find out how shes doing one year later

On July 13, 2015, New York mom Amber Scorah dropped off her 15-week-old son, Karl, at Soho Child Care for the first time, despite not feeling ready to return to work. But she took solace in knowing the facility was just two blocks away from her office. I planned to go back and breast-feed Karl at lunch, the editorial producer tells Us Weekly. I could hardly wait. I ran the two blocks there. I expected to feel the joy of our reunion  it was the first time we had been apart. I imagined his face lighting up, him being so happy to see me.



PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost

But when Scorah arrived at 69 Greene Street, she found her sweet infant lying unconscious on a changing table. His lips and the area around his mouth were blue, and the daycare owner was frantic, trying to revive him, Scorah tells Us.

Karl died just two hours after the first time Scorah had left him. The facility was shut down the following day for not being licensed and for its employees not being trained in CPR. A medical examiner's report said the cause of death remains unknown.

Everything felt so positive and magical about Karl, she says. He was my dream baby, so healthy and strong. I couldnt have imagined I would lose him, not in my wildest nightmare.

Scorah and her partner, visual effects artist Lee Towndrow, couldnt bear to return to their Brooklyn home. For weeks, they stayed at a friends apartment. It felt like the worst kind of time capsule, Scorah reveals. On the one hand, I wanted to preserve everything exactly how it had been, with Karls things here and there, the sheets unwashed, clothing and blankets that had his smell. But on the other hand, to walk into our home and see all of Karls things and not have Karl in my arms was totally unbearable.



Shortly after his death, the grieving mom and dad decided to try for another child. We loved and enjoyed Karl so much, it was impossible to imagine living our lives and not being parents, Scorah tells Us. We couldnt have Karl back, but we could have a little brother or sister for Karl, and another life to nurture that would be just as precious to us as Karl was."

Story continues

PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

In June  11 months after losing Karl  Scorah and Towndrow welcomed a baby girl named Sevi. Like Karl, Sevi is really strong, raves Scorah. She could lift her head right up on day one. Shes also just started to become really curious like her brother was. They look quite a bit alike! One nice thing is that she likes to sleep a little bit more than Karl did.

Meanwhile, Scorah and Ali Dodd  an Oklahoma mom who lost her son on his first day of daycare  are campaigning for parental leave in the United States. Neither of us had wanted to leave our babies yet, but we had no choice as our families needed income, and we both feel that if we had longer with our babies, things might have turned out differently, says Scorah.



According to Scorah, one in four American mothers has to return to work within two weeks of giving birth, while 87 percent of Americans have no access to paid leave through their employers. Yet paid leave has been proven to reduce infant death and have long-lasting positive effects on children, she says.

Scorah encourages everyone who agrees that American babies need time with their parents at the beginning of their lives to add their names to this petition.

Scorah also launched ForKarl, to help people voice their support for paid family leave.




Police in Arkansas are searching for a 3-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her mother who no longer has custody of the child, PEOPLE confirms.



Layla Munholland was staying with her maternal grandmother in Van Buren when the alleged kidnapping occurred, according to a police statement obtained by PEOPLE. The toddler was reported missing earlier this morning.



Police believe Layla was taken by her biological mother, Chelsea Munholland, who had lost custody of the child.



 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.



Layla is described as standing 3-foot-6 and weighing 33 lbs. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing pink pajamas.



Chelsea Munholland, 24, is five-foot-8 and weighs 115 lbs. She has brown hair and green eyes and was last seen in blue shorts and a hooded sweatshirt.



Investigators believe she may be with a 30-year-old man named Herbert Allen Thomas. Police are asking the public to stay on the lookout for a gray 2006 Toyota Corolla with Arkansas license plate number 245USV.



Anyone with information is urged to to call the Van Buren Police at (479) 474-1234.
ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady reportedly has gotten an ultimatum. According to US Weekly, Bradys wife, Gisele Bundchen, has informed him that either he leaves football to spend time with the family or she is gone for good. Its not specified whether he must leave now or next month or after the current year ends. Brady [more]
Aleppo (Syria) (AFP) - Air raids on rebel-held districts of Syria's battleground second city of Aleppo killed at least 28 civilians including children on Saturday, a monitor said.

The death toll from what residents said an attack with barrel bombs steadily rose throughout the day as bombardment rocked the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"Eleven civilians, including four children, were killed by air raids after midnight in the Bab al-Nasr area of Old Aleppo, and seven others were killed in Fardous neighbourhood," the monitor said.

At least six people, including a child and two women, were killed in the Salhin district, in addition to four more civilians in other rebel-controlled neighbourhoods, the Britain-based monitor said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources across Syria for its information, said the air strikes were likely either Russian or regime warplanes.

"At least 20 people are still under the rubble," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian state news agency SANA, for its part, reported that one person was killed and nine others were wounded in rebel rocket fire on government-controlled parts of the city.

An AFP correspondent in eastern Aleppo said helicopters and fighter jets were circling rebel-held neighbourhoods, adding that barrel bombs -- crude, unguided explosive devices -- had been dropped on several areas.

"All of a sudden there was a barrel bomb on top of us. We came outside and a second one, then a third one hit us," said Ahmad Erfan, a teenager living in the Salhin neighbourhood.

A hospital in the Maadi neighbourhood was hit in the bombing, wounding some of the staff and patients inside.

"All kinds of weapons were used to bomb the hospital, from midnight until about 11:00 am. Now it's unusable," Mohammad Kheir, one of its doctors, told AFP.

"There were some injuries among the medical staff but thankfully they are only light wounds."

Story continues

A crying woman clad in a black robe desperately grasped the leg of a bloodied young man as doctors treated him on the hospital floor.

Twisted metal frames and damaged medical equipment lay strewn across the room, some next to small pools of blood.

- Truce routinely violated -

The Observatory said rebel fighters shelled government-controlled western areas of Aleppo, but had no immediate word on any casualties.

Aleppo city is divided roughly between government control in the west and rebel control in the east.

It was once Syria's commercial powerhouse but has since been ravaged by the country's five-year war.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and the United States in February between government forces and non-jihadist rebels does not cover Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front which has a strong presence in many rebel-held areas.

The truce has been routinely violated, particularly in and around Aleppo.

On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said they had agreed on "concrete steps" to salvage the failing ceasefire.

The top diplomats met for a 12-hour marathon meeting, but would not divulge the details of the deal in order to allow the "quiet business" of peacemaking to continue, Kerry said.

Russia has insisted that non-jihadist rebel groups -- particularly those in and around Aleppo -- must disassociate themselves from Al-Nusra in order to avoid being targeted in air raids.

Last week, government forces advanced to within firing range of the last remaining supply route into rebel-held areas of Aleppo, prompting food shortages and spiralling prices.

According to the United Nations, nearly 600,000 people are living under siege across Syria, most of them surrounded by government forces although rebel groups also use the brutal tactic.

More than 280,000 people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011.
A New Jersey woman used crowdfunding to pay off her $12,000 student debt so she could fulfill her dream of becoming a nun with the Sisters of Life in New York.

Alida Taylor, 28, of Clifton, N.J., had been told that she wouldnt be able to enter the convent until she was debt-free, so she launched a GoFundMe page on June 29. By Saturday, she had raised more than $22,000.

My dear friends and family, in ELEVEN DAYS, you all helped me reach my goal!! Praise be to Jesus Christ!!! she wrote in an update to supporters on Friday. I am deeply moved by your generosity. You, the Body of Christ, the Church  contrary to what the media says  HAS ALLOWED me to enter religious life.

Taylor plans to join the Sisters of Life as a postulant, or candidate for admission, on Sept. 10. She will continue to fundraise and said that any money exceeding her goal will go into a vocation fund at Casa Guadalupe, a house of prayer for young Catholic women in Clifton, N.J.

In a post on her GoFundMe page, Taylor explained that the first religious sister she met was her third-grade teacher.

A nun prays in church. (Photo: Getty)

I understood that though she taught like the other teachers, her life was set apart, and was first spent in being with the Lord. And I desired this, she wrote.

In 2010, after college graduation, Taylor moved to New York and started to make costumes for Broadway productions. She met the Sisters of Life during a religious retreat and decided to move to Casa Guadalupe to reflect on her lifes calling in a spiritual community.

At Casa, I had the space to grow more deeply in prayer with Jesus, to discern through different communities and to experience His love and mercy for me, she wrote. And the Lord has made His call clear, inviting me to follow His love by upholding the sanctity and dignity of every human life, through the Sisters of Life.

CBS New York aired a segment on Taylors fundraiser Tuesday night, and she met her goal shortly afterward. In the report, the young woman said that she had originally planned to pay off her debt over the next 10 years but that crowdfunding was her only way to meet the convents September deadline.

Story continues

Sister Mariae Agnus Dei, of the Sisters of Life, told CBS New York that paying off the debt would allow Taylor to freely enter into her vocation because a second job would not be possible for a nun.

Religious life is a full-time job, so to speak, so she wouldnt be able to work and enter into religious life, she told the station.

Taylor declined to be interviewed when contacted by Yahoo News.
Today in 5 Lines

President Obama called Thursdays terror attack in Nice, France, that left more than 80 people dead sickening and appalling. Donald Trump chose Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate in an announcement over Twitter. The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Convention Committee announced President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Bernie Sanders will be among the speakers at the partys national convention in Philadelphia. Congress de-classified 28 pages of information on the 9/11 terror attacks. Federal officials announced that the U.S. Justice Department will review the police departments response to the massacre in Orlando in June. An apparent coup is underway in Turkey, said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on state television Friday.

Today on The Atlantic

Tracking the Crime Rate: Did the murder rate increase or decrease between 1985 and 2014 in the United States? Test how your perception of crime and safety in America compares to reality. (Andrew McGill)

Tim Scott Speaks Up: The only black Republican in the U.S. Senate delivered a speech on the chamber floor Wednesday, describing his personal experiences with police and asking colleagues not to ignore the struggles of black Americans. (Conor Friedersdorf)

Trump, Ryan on a Crash Course: The Republican party is being driven by Donald Trumps brash, angry rhetoric in defense of working-class people, as well as House Speaker Paul Ryans economic vision that will likely harm them. (Derek Thompson)

The Atlantic is headed to the conventions! You can sign up for our daily convention newsletter here, or find out about our events in Cleveland or Philadelphia. And follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal.

Snapshot

President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about the attack in Nice, France, during a Diplomatic Corps Reception in the White House on Friday. Carolyn Kaster / AP

What Were Reading

Finding Her Voice: Despite Hillary Clintons wealth of experience in politics, her aides say she still struggles to reach voters with campaign messaging. Will she find a message that sticks in her convention speech? (Annie Karni, Politico)

Story continues

Recommended: Sharia Does Not Mean What Newt Gingrich Thinks It Means

Ryan Is Crossing His Fingers: In an interview with NPR, the House Speaker Paul Ryan continued to knock Donald Trump for his controversial tone but said he has faith that the presumptive GOP nominee will endeavor to try to make his rhetoric more inclusive. (Jessica Taylor, NPR)

RIP #NeverTrump: Anti-Trump delegates on the Republican National Convention Rules Committee wanted to find a way to unbind convention delegatesbut their efforts failed, effectively bringing an end to the #NeverTrump movement. (James Arkin, Real Clear Politics)

A Common Denominator: The perpetrators of recent incidents of mass violence all have one thing in common, argues New York Magazines Rebecca Traister: a history of violence and grievances against women. (Rebecca Traister, New York Magazine)

Troubling Findings in the Tar Heel State: New voting laws in North Carolina prohibit voters from casting ballots outside of their assigned precincts in an effort to prevent voter fraud. But if a federal court upholds the laws, an estimated 29,000 votes might not be counted in this years presidential election. (Julia Harte, Reuters)

Visualized

Feeling Like Donald Trump Back in the Day: Artists have been referencing the businessman in hip-hop music since the early 1990s in a largely positive way. But their tune appears to be changing. Explore some of the lyrics here. (Allison McCann, FiveThirtyEight)

Question of the Week

The winner of this weeks question is Deb Bell, who suggested that Bernie Sanderss Pokemon name would be Curmudju. Nice work, Deb.

Honorable mention: Tucker Perry, who came up with Electabern.

Bonus: Heres Hillary Clinton with a Pokemon Go reference.

-Written by Elaine Godfrey (@elainejgodfrey)

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Ankara (AFP) - A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets launched a coup attempt overnight against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a bid top officials said they had foiled by Saturday.

Here is what we know so far:

- Who was behind the coup? -

A group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland" declared martial law and a curfew late Friday, saying it had launched the coup "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail..."

No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions.

Erdogan put the blame for the coup on supporters of his arch-foe, US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose Hizmet movement has a powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.

Gulen denied being behind the coup attempt and condemned it "in the strongest terms".

- How did government react?

Government-backed jets downed pro-coup aircraft and bombed tanks surrounding the presidential palace in the capital Ankara.

Dozens of soldiers backing the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul they had held throughout the night, holding their hands above their heads as they were detained.

Nearly 200 soldiers surrendered at the military headquarters in Ankara on Saturday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. An official said special forces were currently securing the complex.

Istanbul authorities sought to make a show of normalisation with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- which had been shut down by the plotters -- gradually reopening.

But Erdogan, who had called on people during the night to take to the streets to help foil the coup, urged them in a late morning Twitter message to stay out "because a new flare-up could take place at any moment".

- Who is in control? -

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in Ankara on Saturday "the situation is completely under control."

Story continues

He was flanked by the ministers of justice and interior as well as Turkey's top general outside his offices in the capital.

The acting army chief, General Umit Dundar, said earlier that the coup attempt had been foiled.

Authorities had regained control of the parliament, which was hastily reconvened into a session broadcast live on television.

A total of 2,839 soldiers had been arrested, Yildirim said.

Erdogan flew back to Istanbul in the early hours of Saturday, saying the hotel he was staying at on Turkey's Aegean coast was bombed after he left.

Erdogan appointed Dundar, commander of the First Army, as acting chief of staff after General Hulusi Akar was captured by putschists.

Akar was later rescued, the private TV station CNN-Turk reported.

- How many casualties? -

More than 250 people have been killed overall.

Yildirim said Saturday 161 people had been killed and that 1,440 had been wounded, while acting army chief General Umit Dundar said 104 coup plotters were dead.

Erdogan had called his supporters out onto the streets, and in several locations they outnumbered putsch soldiers.

Putsch troops had moved to block the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, and an AFP photographer saw soldiers open fire on people gathered near one them, leaving dozens wounded.

Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's famous Taksim Square, injuring several.

Explosions rocked areas near official buildings as government aircraft sought to eject pro-coup tanks.

- How did the world react? -

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed the "strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey," a key NATO ally.

Russia's foreign ministry said the coup attempt, coupled with terrorist threats in Turkey and armed conflict in neighbouring countries, "brings a heightened risk to international and regional stability.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also said his country "hopes that Turkish democracy will emerge strengthened from this test and that fundamental freedoms will be fully respected."
Attorneys for former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson argued Friday that her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes should be tried publicly with a jury trial, after his team moved to transfer the suit to a New York federal court, which would keep the proceedings private.

Carlson filed her suit in New Jersey Superior Court, leading attorneys for Ailes to argue she was trying to circumvent the arbitration clause in her contract, which requires workplace disputes to be resolved in a New York-based arbitration, the New York Times reported. Attorneys for Carlson responded by accusing Ailes of judge shopping, arguing that the clause applies to suits against her employer, Fox News, and Carlson is only suing Ailes.

After invoking jurisdiction of the New Jersey federal court and filing a motion there, Mr. Ailes decided that he doesnt like the judge assigned to this case and he illegally is attempting to judge shop by now seeking to move the lawsuit to another jurisdiction, Carlsons attorney, Nancy Smith, said in a statement. We feel confident that the law will not allow such maneuvering.

In requesting to move the case, an attorney for Ailes accused Carlsons team of attempting to game the system.

Gretchen Carlsons attorney has led a concerted smear campaign to prejudice the rights of Roger Ailes in this case, Susan Estrich said in a statement. Her attempt to game the system so as to avoid the arbitration clause for her clients baseless allegations is contrary to law and unsupported by the facts.

Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti also refuted claims about judge shopping.

Were trying to get this to the court where it belongs, Briganti said in a statement. If anything, Gretchen Carlsons lawyer was attempting to judge-shop by having this heard in her comfort zone of state court in Bergen County, where neither Roger nor Carlson reside.

Read more: Gretchen Carlson Regrets Not Speaking Up About Earlier Sexual Harassment

In the wake of Carlsons suitwhich argues that she was fired from the network for refusing to sleep with Ailes and for making complaints about sexism in the workplacemore women have accused him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior dating back decades. Ailes and his team have denied the accusations, saying Carlsons contract was simply not renewed. Other Fox hosts and personalities have also defended Ailes and said Carlson was upset about being fired from the network.
DUBAI (Reuters) - A Bahraini cleric will go on trial next month on charges of collecting funds illegally and money laundering, the public prosecutor said on Saturday. A source familiar with the case said the cleric was Shi'ite Muslim spiritual leader Ayatollah Isa Qassim, who had his citizenship revoked by the authorities less than a month ago. The case has revived fears of fresh protests in Bahrain, where the Shi'ite Muslim majority complains of discrimination and demands a bigger share in running the country. The United States and the United Nations have criticized the move, seen by local activists as part of a wider crackdown on dissent in the Western-allied kingdom, which has provoked a daily vigil outside Qassim's house that on some days swells to several thousand people. The head of public prosecution, Ahmed al-Dosari, did not identify Qassim by name. He said in a statement posted on Instagram that the case would be heard at the beginning of August but gave no precise date. It was not immediately possible to contact Qassim for a comment. Bahraini media last month reported an investigation was underway into a bank account of some $10 million in Qassim's name to find the source of the funds and how they were being spent. The move sparked a strongly worded statement from senior Shi'ite clerics, including Qassim, against any attempt to meddle with the collection of a Muslim tax called Khums, which is a pillar of Shi'ite Islam. Bahrain in 2011 crushed an uprising by Shi'ites demanding reforms that would give them a bigger voice in governing the Sunni Muslim-ruled country, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based as a bulwark against Iran. (Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Police in Dhaka on Saturday arrested three people, including a university professor, for failing to register information about tenants renting a property who later attacked a cafe in the city, killing 20 people. Gias Uddin Ahsan, a professor at North South University in Dhaka, his nephew, and the manager of Ahsan's apartment were arrested by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for failing to comply with rules forcing landlords to register information about their tenants with the police, Mohammad Masudur Rahman, a senior police official told Reuters. The men will appear in court on Sunday, he said. Five militants who were killed by police after they stormed the cafe on July 1 had rented the apartment along with another person in a nearby residential area in May and started living there from June, Rahman said. "From here they attacked the cafe. There were other militants also who fled after the attack," he said. "We also found evidence that they kept grenades and other explosives in the apartment. If we had been informed they were living there, then that brutal killing would not have been possible and we could also have arrested the other militants who fled." Earlier this year, the DMP issued an order to all apartment owners to provide details of their tenants for a database to help police crack down on criminals and militants using rented accommodation as hideouts. Bangladesh has suffered a series of attacks on liberal bloggers, university teachers and members of religious minorities over the past year. The government says two domestic militant groups trying to replace secular democracy with Islamic sharia rule are responsible for the violence. Twenty people including 18 foreigners were killed before police stormed the cafe, rescued 13 hostages and shot five of the attackers dead. Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Saturday that investigators had identified the masterminds of the attack and that the remaining perpetrators would soon be arrested. Some of the assailants had attended prestigious schools or universities and had been reported missing, according to the police. One was the son of a politician. (Reporting by Serajul Quadir; Editing by Nerys Avery)
MIAMI, FL - JUNE 09: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat posts up Danny Green #4 of the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter during Game Two of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 9, 2013 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFPMIAMI, FL - JUNE 09: Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat posts up Danny Green #4 of the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter during Game Two of the 2013 NBA Finals at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 9, 2013 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Christian Petersen/Getty Images/AFP (AFP Photo/Christian Petersen)
Rome (AFP) - Morocco defender Medhi Benatia is targeting more success with Juventus after joining the Serie A champions on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich.

Benatia, 29, completed his move to the Turin giants on Friday in a deal that gives Juventus the option to make the signing permanent.

"The aim this season is that of retaining the Scudetto but also to be increasingly competitive in Europe as well," Benatia said as he was presented at Saturday's press conference.

"It's undoubtedly our objective to confirm our position among the elite clubs on the continent."

Juventus secured a record-equalling fifth straight Serie A title last season, but the Old Lady haven't won the Champions League since lifting the trophy for the second time in 1996.

Juventus reached the final in 2015, losing 3-1 to Barcelona, but the Italians were knocked out in the last 16 this past season by Benatia's former employers, Bayern.

He returns to Italy after just two seasons in Germany having threatened to leave Bayern in May as the Bundesliga champions courted Germany centre-back Mats Hummels, who completed a switch from Borussia Dortmund before Euro 2016.

Benatia spent three years with Udinese before joining Roma for the 2013-14 campaign, prior to leaving for Bayern at the start of the following campaign in a transfer worth 30 million euros ($33.1 million).

"Bayern is a fantastic club, but I ultimately endured a difficult couple of seasons due to a few too many injuries," he said.

"I wanted to return to Italy for my family, the Serie A and the way of life here. I feel more at home with the Italian mindset and to join Juventus was a logical choice for me."
London (AFP) - New British foreign minister Boris Johnson on Saturday vowed to defend the country's sovereignty of Gibraltar, whose future was thrown into question after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

"The people of Gibraltar have repeatedly and overwhelmingly expressed their wish to remain under British sovereignty and we will respect their wishes," Johnson said following a meeting with Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

"I reassured him (Picardo) of both our steadfast commitment to Gibraltar, and our intention to fully involve Gibraltar in discussions on our future relationship with the EU."

The tiny rocky outcrop on Spain's southern tip has long been the subject of an acrimonious sovereignty row between London and Madrid, which wants Gibraltar back after it was ceded to Britain in 1713.

Immediately following Britain's vote last month to quit the EU, Spain said the "Spanish flag is much closer to the Rock".

Many of the 33,000 inhabitants of the Rock are now worried that it will be at the mercy of Madrid without the protection of the EU, which has had to intervene in the past to ease rows between the two, particularly over the flashpoint border crossing.

Gibraltar is also concerned about its flourishing economy, which depends in large part on its access to the EU's single market.

Johnson pledged that the government "will not enter into any process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.

"We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard Gibraltar, its people and its economy including maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain Border," he said, in a Foreign Office statement.
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 16 (Reuters) - Brazil has deported the Franco-Algerian nuclear physicist Adlene Hicheur, who was convicted in 2012 for his involvement in a French terror plot, after rejecting a request for an extension to his work visa, the Justice Ministry said late Friday. In a statement, the ministry said the decision had been taken in the "national interest" without giving any further details. Brazil is in the midst of tightening security ahead of the Olympics which start Aug 5 and said separately on Friday that it would enhance the scope of operations following a deadly truck attack in Nice earlier this week. Local press reports said Hicheur had been deported to France, though a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry would not confirm the information. Hicheur was sentenced by a Paris court to five years in prison in 2012, on charges of helping to plot an attack in France in 2009 with an al Qaeda militant in Algeria. A former researcher at the prestigious CERN physics lab in Geneva, Hicheur was found guilty of providing logistical advice using encrypted messages sent via the internet. At the time, Hicheur said he had been charged over his opinions rather than his acts, but prosecutors said he had provided a terrorist manual to would-be attackers. Hicheur, who had already been in detention for two and half years, was released shortly after his sentencing and moved to Brazil in 2013 where he took a post at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In a statement, the university said it was "surprised" and "concerned" by Hicheur's deportation, which it said was "announced without clear justification and attention to basic democratic principles." (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson reaffirmed Britain's commitment to Gibraltar on Saturday and said it would fully involve the territory in its discussions with the European Union following last month's vote to leave the bloc. Johnson told Chief Minister Fabian Picardo in talks in London that Britain would never agree to the people of Gibraltar being transferred to the sovereignty of another state against their wishes, the Foreign Office said in a statement. Last month acting Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Spain would seek to jointly govern Gibraltar with Britain following the Brexit vote. The peninsula on Spain's south coast, a British territory since 1713 known to its 30,000 residents as "the Rock", is a major point of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations. Spain has long claimed sovereignty over the enclave. Johnson said in a statement: "The people of Gibraltar have repeatedly and overwhelmingly expressed their wish to remain under British sovereignty and we will respect their wishes. "We will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes. He added: "Furthermore the UK will not enter into any process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content. We will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard Gibraltar, its people and its economy including maintaining a well-functioning Gibraltar-Spain border." Garcia-Margallo had said the Brexit vote opened up new possibilities for Spain not seen for a long time and that he hoped the prospect of the Spanish flag flying on the Rock was much closer than before. Co-sovereignty with Spain was rejected by around 99 percent of Gibraltarians in a referendum in 2002. The majority of people living in Gibraltar -- designated as a British Overseas Territory -- are British citizens with British passports, although thousands of Spaniards cross from mainland Spain every day for work. Gibraltarians voted overwhelmingly in favour of Britain remaining in the European Union but were outnumbered in the referendum. Garcia-Margallo said Spain would push to keep Gibraltar out of any general Brexit negotiations between Britain and the European Union. But Johnson told Picardo on Saturday it would indeed form part of discussions. "I reassured him of both our steadfast commitment to Gibraltar and our intention to fully involve Gibraltar in discussions on our future relationship with the EU," he said. Britain rejects any notion of Spanish sovereignty against the wishes of the people of Gibraltar, one of the most prosperous regions in Europe with a thriving economy based on financial services, tourism and Internet gambling. Gibraltar has complained in the past about excessive border controls on the Spanish side. Disputes have also broken out between Spain and Britain over fishing in waters around the Rock. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Catherine Evans)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways said it had canceled all flights to and from Turkey that were due to fly on Saturday, and at least one flight departing from Istanbul on Sunday, following an attempted coup in the country. BA said in a statement it would also keep flights to Turkey under review. "In the light of events in Turkey we have canceled all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday 16 July 2016, and BA675 departing from Istanbul on Sunday 17 July," it said. "The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so." (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways said it had cancelled all flights to and from Turkey that were due to fly on Saturday, and at least one flight departing from Istanbul on Sunday, following an attempted coup in the country. BA said in a statement it would also keep flights to Turkey under review. "In the light of events in Turkey we have cancelled all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday 16 July 2016, and BA675 departing from Istanbul on Sunday 17 July," it said. "The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so." (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
USADA informed Brock Lesnar Friday of a potential anti-doping violation.

The UFC on Friday announced that Brock Lesnar had failed a random drug test given to him by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on June 28, about two weeks before his bout at UFC 200 with Mark Hunt.

The sample wasnt processed in time in order to remove him from his match against Hunt at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 9. Lesnar won on all three scorecards.

USADA received the results from the lab at UCLA, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency, late on Thursday. The UFC announced the test failure in a release on Friday, though it did not specify the substance for which Lesnar tested positive.

The UFC announced on June 4 that Lesnar, a former heavyweight champion who hadnt fought since 2011, would return to competition. Lesnar is under contract to the WWE and the UFC needed the WWEs permission for him to fight at UFC 200.

The UFC and USADA anti-doping rules require four months once a fighter is signed, to allow for sufficient testing, but rule 5.7.1 gives permission for a fighter to be granted a waiver from having to wait four months before competing. On June 9, Lesnar was given a waiver from that four-month requirement because of how late hed signed.

Lesnar was the first athlete to receive such an exemption.

USADA reportedly tested him five times prior to the bout.

Lesnar has the right to have his B sample tested. If the result is the same, it is considered a violation and hell be subject to penalty. However, there is an appeals process, and Lesnar could choose to appeal if the B sample confirms the initial result.

It is similar to the situation that faced Jon Jones prior to UFC 200. Jones was scheduled to fight Daniel Cormier in the shows main event, but on July 6, three days before the bout, he was yanked when a test from June 16 turned up positive.

Jones requested the B sample be tested and it confirmed the result announced on July 6.
SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria bolstered its patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and appealed to Bulgarians to restrain from traveling to the country's southern neighbor, the government press office said in a statement. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov held talks with the security and intelligence services on the situation in Turkey, where the government has said a military coup attempt is under way. The Foreign Ministry advised all Bulgarians already in Turkey to stay indoors and avoid any public places. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Alison Williams)
Montreal (AFP) - Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion pressed Turkey on Saturday to handle the aftermath of a coup attempt according to "fundamental principles of democracy."

Speaking on the television network Radio-Canada after a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Canadian diplomatic chief said it was "important to avoid collect punishment" against those who organized the aborted coup that sought to seize power from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Democracy has been saved," Dion said, after Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday.

"We must be discerning to ensure that those on trial have the chance to prove innocence or express their point of view according to the fundamental rules of justice we must aim to respect."

Turkish authorities crushed the putsch bid by discontented soldiers in a chaotic night of violence that left at least 265 dead.

With the coup defeated, Turkey rounded up 2,839 soldiers over alleged involvement, amid global alarm that the country could reestablish its death penalty, which Dion said Canadians are against "in all circumstances."

Judicial authorities said 2,745 judges would also be sacked in the wake of the coup bid.

Though he praised Erdogan's swift return to control, the Canadian minister said "the use of military force was completely unacceptable."

Canada has advised its citizens against travel to Turkey since Friday.
By Allison Lampert and Ana Mano

MONTREAL/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Canada insisted on Friday that it plays by international trade rules after Brazil warned it may challenge government funding to planemaker Bombardier Inc, a move that would revive a two-decade-old dispute between the two countries.

The Montreal-based company is locked in competition with Brazil's Embraer for narrowbody jet sales. The South American country has said that government financing gives Bombardier an unfair advantage.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Jose Serra told Reuters on Thursday it could move against Canada at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over $1 billion in funding that Bombardier received from the Canadian province of Quebec for its CSeries jet.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brushed off the suggestion, telling reporters "there is no country in the world that doesn't heavily subsidize its aerospace sector."

"I can understand that our competitors are rightly worried about how great the CSeries plane is," he said in Calgary.

The Brazilian minister responded in a statement on Friday evening that Trudeau's comments were revealing.

"It's telling that the Canadian Prime Minister admits the Canadian government heavily subsidizes Bombardier," Serra said.

Embraer estimates that Bombardier received a total of $3.5 billion in state support, he noted. Embraer imports equipment from Canada to build jets and the subsidies hurt trade flows, he said.

Brazil and Canada have locked horns repeatedly at the WTO over the past 20 years over state support for Embraer and Bombardier, the world's biggest commercial planemakers after powerhouses Boeing Co and Airbus Group.

Ottawa is also considering whether to match Quebec's investment in the CSeries program, which ran years late and billions of dollars over budget.

Embraer's concerns boiled over in April when Bombardier won a deal to provide 75 CSeries to U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines Inc, beating Embraer's E190 family of jets with what many industry watchers saw as an aggressive bid.

Story continues

Industry sources involved in negotiating similar deals have estimated that discounts as high as 75 percent might have been offered to reboot the CSeries program with the order, matching some of the most aggressive pricing in the market.

Embraer complained at the time that it was "not competing with a private enterprise anymore."

A Bombardier executive said on Friday that Embraer was likely worried about competition from the 110-150 seat CSeries program, which has 325 firm orders and made its first scheduled commercial flight on Friday.

"They have seen our airplane go through the certification process and now enter into service. There is certainly a lot more competition and they are probably concerned about what the CSeries means for their business," said Ross Mitchell, a vice president of commercial operations for Bombardier.

Embraer has 272 firm orders for its estimated 100-130 seat next-generation E-Jets. Its E190-E2 is scheduled to enter service in 2018 while the E195-E2 jet is expected to begin commercial flights in 2019.

Embraer has asked the Brazilian government to monitor any funding Ottawa gives Bombardier, an Embraer spokesman said, adding the planemaker was "capable of competing against any companies, but not against the government of Canada."

Quebec's equity stake in the CSeries, first agreed to in 2015, is more difficult to challenge than a straight export subsidy arrangement, said trade lawyer Mark Warner at MAAW Law in Toronto.

Quebec government spokeswoman Melissa Turgeon said in an email that the province has analyzed these questions. "We know we are respecting international trade rules," she said.

However, Embraer could raise questions about Delta buying CSeries jets at heavily discounted prices, especially since Bombardier had not signed a single deal for the planes in more than a year before the ones with Delta and Air Canada in 2016.

Brazil's threat of a challenge could scare away potential customers who see risks to future funding for Bombardier from Canadian governments.

"Most people don't like messy situations," Warner said.

Competition between Bombardier and Embraer is expected to intensify as carriers like American Airlines retire their E190s in the next few years and could consider small narrowbodies to fill mainline routes.

Air Canada ordered the 45 CSeries jets to replace its E190s.

(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Nia Williams in Calgary, Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, and Tatiana Bautzer in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)
Montreal (AFP) - A Canadian priest was charged this week for stealing more than half a million dollars (US$400,000) intended for the resettlement of Syrian refugees, and then gambling it away.

Amer Saka, 51, a clergyman of the Chaldean Catholic Church -- based in Baghdad -- had allegedly collected the funds from more than 20 donors to support refugees arriving from the war-torn nation, according to local police.

"This investigation spanned throughout the province of Ontario, the United States and other countries where refugees were attempting to come to Canada," police in London, Ontario said in a statement on Thursday.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Canada, told The London Free Press that Saka had called him to say he had gambled and lost all of the money.

The priest had been involved in a sponsorship program for refugees for several years. He was suspended by the diocese of Hamilton, Ontario after police opened an investigation in February.

Saka was arrested on Wednesday and granted bail after being charged with fraud and a related possession charge. The newspaper said a court ordered Saka not to enter any casino.
By Julia Harte RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - On Election Day in 2014, Joetta Teal went to work at a polling station in Lumberton, North Carolina. Like all poll workers, she was required to stay until voting booths closed, so she decided to cast her own vote there. That was a mistake, she later discovered. What she didn't know was that under a 2013 state law she had to vote in the precinct where she lived. The polling station where she voted was not in her precinct, so her vote was not counted. A Reuters review of Republican-backed changes to North Carolinas voting rules indicates as many as 29,000 votes might not be counted in this year's Nov. 8 presidential election if a federal appeals court upholds the 2013 law. Besides banning voters from voting outside their assigned precinct on Election Day, the law also prevents them from registering the same day they vote during the early voting period. The U.S. Justice Department says the law was designed to disproportionately affect minority groups, who are more likely to vote out of precinct and use same-day registration. Backers of the law deny this and say it will prevent voter fraud. The battleground state has a recent history of close races that have hinged on just a few thousand votes. Barack Obama, a Democrat, won North Carolina by just 14,177 votes in 2008. In 2012, Mitt Romney, a Republican, narrowly carried the state by a margin of just 2.04 percent. Reuters reviewed state election board data showing the number of North Carolinians who made use of out-of-precinct voting and same-day registration in previous elections, including March's state nominating contest, or primary, when voters nominated their preferred presidential candidate. The Reuters analysis includes some assumptions. For 29,000 votes to go uncounted on Nov. 8, North Carolinians would need to vote in the same numbers and in the same ways they have in previous elections, including the March primary. In that primary, after a court temporarily ordered a stay on the bans, 6,387 North Carolinians voted out of their assigned precinct and 22,501 registered the same day they voted. The North Carolina Board of Elections did not respond to requests for comment on Reuters findings. North Carolina Senator Bob Rucho, a Republican who backed the law, declined to comment specifically on the findings but disputed the notion that the law suppressed votes, saying the increased turnout between the 2010 and 2014 elections shows it has not had a disparate impact on minority voters. How can it show voter suppression when more black voters voted and more white voters voted, and there was more opportunity, and there are more black voters registered than there were before? Turnout between those elections did rise by 1.8 percentage points for black voters and by 1.1 percentage points for white voters, according to data the state election board entered as evidence in court. Advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, however, said their poll monitors saw many people attempting to vote out of precinct in 2014 who were told by officials their ballots would not count, and as a result cast no vote. And it says 23,500 voters would have used same-day registration to vote in 2014 if it had not been banned, basing its findings on a review of election board data, hundreds of hotline calls, and the observations of more than 300 poll monitors. North Carolina Board of Elections executive director Kim Strach said her office looked into claims of voters being turned away "but generally did not find statewide evidence of it." LEGAL CHALLENGES The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering legal challenges to the law from the Justice Department and civil rights groups and citizens, is expected to issue a ruling in the next few weeks. North Carolinas Senate passed its new voting laws weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 in June 2013 to eliminate a requirement that nine states mostly in the South with a history of discrimination, including North Carolina, receive federal approval before changing election laws. Had that requirement been in place, "it may have blocked the provisions now at issue," said Kristen Clarke, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a non-profit legal defense fund. The Justice Department alleged a race-based purpose to the new law in a legal brief. Studies the department cited show that minority and low-income voters are more likely to use same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting because they are less likely to own a car or have flexible working hours. These voters are also more likely to vote for Democratic candidates. "If you pick out precisely the way minority voters are engaging with the process, that's intentionally treating minority voters differently," Justin Levitt, who oversees the Justice Departments voting unit, said in an interview. North Carolina state officials say the changes cut fraud by making it harder for people to cast multiple ballots or impersonate other voters. The Justice Department said in court documents that voter fraud was virtually non-existent in the state. Rucho, the state senator, said while the law banned some voting methods and cut the early voting period from 17 to 10 days, it extended the hours during which voters could vote. We opened up more locations for them to vote, more times to vote, more flexible times, said Rucho. FOUR-PERSON TEAM Teal, who is African American, was one of 14 North Carolina voters Reuters contacted whose votes were invalid in 2014 because of the law. Ten of them, including Teal, did not realize their votes were not counted until informed by Reuters. One was told his vote would not count by a voter advocacy group, and the other three were told by poll workers that their ballots likely would not count. In all, 1,390 ballots were rejected in the 2014 election because they were cast out of the voters assigned precinct  up from 49 rejected for the same reason in 2010, according to the Reuters review of provisional ballots. If they could have just sent people letters and told them exactly where to go, that would have been helpful, Teal said. The North Carolina Board of Elections website has a tool for residents to look up their assigned precincts, but Teal did not know about it. This year she plans to vote early. In other developed democracies, the government takes a greater responsibility for ensuring that voter registration lists are kept up to date and accurate, said Tova Wang, senior fellow at the policy research group Demos. The election board has been trying to educate North Carolinians about the ban on out-of-precinct voting through ads and a four-person voter outreach team that travels around the state to raise awareness about the changes, said Strach, the board's director. Were telling people, go find out where you are, make sure youre showing up at the right precinct, Strach said. (Related stories: INSIGHT-Native Americans move to frontlines in battle over voting rights INSIGHT-Thousands of voters in limbo after Kansas demands proof they're American INSIGHT-Use it or lose it: Occasional Ohio voters may be shut out in November) (Editing by Jason Szep and Ross Colvin)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China will prosecute a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer on charges of subverting state power after months of secret detention, prosecutors said on Friday, the latest move by authorities to crack down on dissent. President Xi Jinping's administration has tightened control over almost every aspect of civil society since 2012, citing the need to buttress national security and stability. China consistently rejects any criticism of its human rights record, saying it adheres to the rule of law, that all are equal under the law and that those who break the law can expect to be punished. Dozens of lawyers and activists associated with the Beijing Fengrui law firm have been swept up in the crackdown and held since last July, triggering concern in Western capitals. The firm has represented several high-profile clients, including the ethnic Uighur dissident, Ilham Tohti. State media has accused the firm and its associates of orchestrating protests outside courts and politicizing ordinary legal cases in order to attract international attention. Zhou Shifeng, the firm's director, will be prosecuted on charges of subverting state power, the prosecutor in the northern city of Tianjin said in a brief statement on its official microblog, without giving details. An official reached by telephone at the prosecutor's office declined further comment. It was not clear who Zhou's own lawyer currently is. Shang Baojun, another well-known rights lawyer, told Reuters that Zhou's previous legal team had all been replaced by government-appointed lawyers. "To be honest, we don't know anything more about his case than you do," Shang said, adding that a court date could still be two months off, according to Chinese law. The prosecutor said in the same statement that three other rights activists - Hu Shigen, Zhai Yanmin and Gou Hongguo - would also be prosecuted on the same charges. It was also not possible to immediately locate lawyers for them for comment. In severe cases, the charges can result in life sentences. Late on Friday, the official Legal Daily published two commentaries on its website saying those involved in Fengrui had challenged state security and the political system, and criticized Western countries for hyping up the issue for their own purposes and accused them of bankrolling rights lawyers. "A small number of 'rights lawyers' have become the leverage the West uses in its political contest with China," the paper said. Last week, U.S. legislators criticized China's detention of the lawyers, a year after the crackdown against them began, while Germany urged China to live up to its human rights obligations. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Ryan Woo)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Chinese men who fled abroad after being suspected of corruption have returned home to face charges, China's anti-graft watchdog said on Friday, the latest suspects caught up in a sweeping campaign by the leadership to tackle graft. One of the suspects was identified as Zhu Haiping, general manager of Shenzhen Yuwei Industry Co., who fled to the United States in 1998 after coming under suspicion of fraud, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on its website. The second suspect, Guo Liaowu, a deputy manager of a company called Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Mining Co., fled to Australia in 2010 after being suspected of bribery, the commission said. Both "chose to return to their country to give themselves up", the commission said. A spokeswoman for Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said neither Bishop nor her department were aware of the circumstances of Guo's return from Australia to China. China has vowed to pursue an overseas search dubbed Operation "Fox Hunt" for corrupt officials and business executives, and their assets. It has been pushing for extradition treaties with various countries but Western countries have been reluctant to help, not wanting to send people to a country where rights groups say mistreatment of suspects is a concern. The CCDI said more than 381 corruption suspects had been repatriated from more than 40 countries. China last year urged the United States to start talks on an extradition treaty, something the United States has been reluctant to do. (Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan; Additional reporting by Matt Siegel in Sydney; Editing by Paul Tait)
Paris (AFP) - The claim by the Islamic State group that it was behind the truck massacre in Nice appears "vague" even if the group has no record of making "opportunistic" claims, analysts said Saturday.

In a statement via its Amaq news service, IS said one of its "soldiers" carried out Thursday night's attack which killed 84 people.

The act was "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)," said the statement.

The claim "is vague and does not allow us to know if the attack was commanded or only inspired by IS calls to hit France," said Yves Trotignon, former analyst with French anti-terrorist service DGSE.

David Thomson, specialist in jihadi groups and author of a book on French jihadists, noted the group usually distinguishes between "soldiers" and "sympathisers" in claims of responsibility.

Two years ago, IS spokesman Abou Mohammed Al-Adnani called on sympathisers in western nations to kill "disbelieving" Americans or Europeans - "especially the spiteful and filthy French" and citizens of other countries fighting the organisation.

Syrian-born Al-Adnani urged supporters to kill the enemy "in any manner" including "run him over with your car."

- 'Never' a wrong call -

Thomson said that even if IS had not necessarily directly commanded the attack, the group had never been found to make a false claim to date.

Thomson noted that "several times they have had the possibility of claiming an attack they were not behind -- for example, the Egyptair crash" in May.

"But they didn't do so, even as Egyptian authorities suggested Islamic extremists were to blame."

Thomson also highlighted IS reactions to other previous claims.

In cases "initiated by their propaganda, a clear claim did not necessarily follow.

"For example, after the attack at San Bernardino" California in December, when a Muslim couple killed 14, IS reacted by "congratulating" the perpetrators of killings it said were carried out by "sympathisers".

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Thomson added: "When a claim is made, in most cases the statement is followed by elements of proof -- photos or videos allowing the establishment of a link between the terrorist and the organisation" of the attack.

For Thomson the Nice attack "could be similar to that of Magnanville," the stabbing to death of a senior police officer and his companion at their home west of Paris last month by a man who claimed IS allegiance.

Self-claimed jihadist Larossi Abballa had "minutes before his act asked his Facebook contacts to tip-off IS's media branches."

The group thereafter saluted the murders by "a soldier of Islamic State."

Although Nice killer Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was not known to intelligence services and appears to have undergone rapid radicalisation his profile "does not rule out his being a jihadist," Thomson concluded.
Beirut (AFP) - The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice on France's national holiday, a news service affiliated with the jihadists said Saturday.

Amaq quoted an IS security source as saying one of its "soldiers" carried out Thursday's carnage "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".

Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, rammed a 19-tonne truck into a large crowd as July 14 fireworks were ending in the French Riviera city.

At least 10 children were among the dead and 50 more were wounded, some of them "hanging between life and death", a hospital official said.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the attacker probably had links to radical Islam, but Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to make the connection.

IS also claimed responsibility for November 13 attacks in Paris which killed 130 people.

French President Francois Hollande said in the wake of the Nice attack that France would strengthen its role in Iraq and Syria, where it is part of a US-led coalition fighting the jihadists.
By Grant Smith and Chris Kahn NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump trailed Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by 12 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday, making him the clear underdog ahead of next week's Republican National Convention. Forty-five percent of likely voters supported former Secretary of State Clinton, 33 percent supported Trump, the wealthy businessman, and the remainder supported neither, according to the July 11-15 online poll. The survey showed little change from Tuesday, when Clinton had led Trump by 13 percentage points. Clinton has been ahead in the poll since early January. Trump only approached her level of support in May, after his last two remaining rivals quit the race and he became the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump's favorability has dropped since then, as his campaign began to focus on the Nov. 8 general election. Trump has faced criticism in recent weeks over his now-defunct Trump University venture, which is accused of making false promises, and over his anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric. The poll results were mostly gathered before Thursday night's deadly truck attack in Nice, France, and before Trump's announcement on Friday that Indiana Governor Mike Pence would be his vice presidential running mate. The poll results suggest that Clintons use of personal email for government business while secretary of state and her handling of classified information have not damaged her support among likely voters. But other polls show a closer race. The CBS News/NY Times telephone poll has the candidates tied at 40 percent each, while a McClatchy/Marist telephone poll has Clinton leading by just 3 percentage points, 42 percent to Trumps 39 percent. Trump may get a bump in the polls following next week's convention in Cleveland, where the party is expected to rally behind him as the nominee. In 2012, support for Republican nominee Mitt Romney rose about 5 percentage points following the convention that year. The Democratic convention is set for the following week, opening July 25 in Philadelphia. The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,186 likely voters across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points. (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Jonathan Oatis)
Washington (AFP) - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed "great concern" at the coup attempt in Turkey, urging calm in the key US ally.

It was unclear who was in control of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people as soldiers took to the streets and multiple explosions rang out overnight in the country's two biggest cities.

"I am following the fast-moving developments in Turkey tonight with great concern," Clinton said in a statement.

"We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms -- and support for the democratically elected civilian government."

She pressed all parties to "work to avoid further violence and bloodshed, and the safety of American citizens and diplomatic missions must be ensured."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government predicted that the move would fail and called for supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to come out onto the streets.
An attack that is being described as an attempted coup by members of Turkey's armed forces left the nation in distress on Friday night, resulting in explosive attacks that left at least 17 people dead and more than 100 arrested.

Dogan Media Center, where CNN Turkey is located, was one of many places affected by the violent takeover. As the chaos unfolded on social media, the network tweeted in the early hours of Saturday morning that several soldiers had entered the studio and stopped a live broadcast short as anchors fled the building.

The group of soldiers who raided the area were later arrested by police.

As of Saturday morning in Turkey, officials said the coup attempt had been repelled.

BREAKING A group of soldiers landed in Dogan Media Center where @cnnturk is based. They have entered the studio. pic.twitter.com/D2QMF6s8Xt

- CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

BREAKING Coup plotters are ending @cnnturk's broadcast now. #TurkeyCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/YFUrphgFbX

- CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

CNN Turk Gen Dir @aktaserdogan reports civs from outside have entered the building and there is a struggle ongoing. pic.twitter.com/gppPVANL3R

- CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

PHOTO The moment a group of pro-coup soldiers raided @cnnturk and were later arrested. #TurkeyCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/Bc4PrrgSN2

- CNN Turk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016

Shortly after tweeting about the situation, the network posted a Facebook Live video on their official page, documenting the scene as it unfolded. In the video, gun shots can be heard as hordes of people crowd just outside of the network's building and police infiltrate the studio.
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f146968%2fscreen_shot_2016-07-16_at_9.27.12_am

Too "busy" to say please? This coffee shop wants you to pay up.

CUPS Coffee and Tea, a small business in Roanoke, Virginia, made Reddit chuckle this week with its brutal new sign, which threatens an upcharge if customers don't say "hi" or "please."

SEE ALSO: Kind coffee shop employees comfort grieving customer at drive-thru window

In the end, the whole thing was a joke  no one actually got charged more. But Austin Simms, the employee who wrote the sign, told a local CBS affiliate that the spirit behind the sign was genuine.

"I decided because I need to solve all the injustices of the world to start charging more for people who didn't take the time to say hello and connect and realize we're all people behind the counter," he said.

According to local reports, the sign has been up since last Sunday. Since then, employees  including store owner Olivia Byrd  have noticed an increase in politeness among customers.

Mission accomplished.
Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher said Friday he will conduct an inquiry into why a sign advertising the Aug. 16 DVD release of God's Not Dead 2 was deemed too "incendiary" for the Republican National Convention, which kicks off Monday in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported Wednesday that the sign was nixed after several emails back-and-forth between the sign company, Orange Barrel Media, and the filmmakers, ended with so many delays that it had to be nixed entirely.

"I think it's up to the Republicans to explain why something so significant to a vital part of its constituency was treated this way. There's no excuse to be taking the Christian vote for granted," said Rohrabacher.

The sign was to feature the image of Melissa Joan Hart, the star of the film, with the text: "I'd rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God."

Read More: 'God's Not Dead 2' Billboard Nixed at GOP Convention After Being Called "Incendiary"

One of the emails to the filmmakers said the sign would never be approved because it is "too political" and "way too incendiary." Orange Barrel, though, was vague about who was objecting to the text, one time citing the GOP, other times the city of Cleveland. The city confirmed it had a problem with the size and location, but not the content of the sign.

The RNC was unavailable for comment on Friday, but the filmmakers say they doubt anyone there would have objected, considering the party is co-sponsoring a screening of the film in Cleveland on Sunday.

"I don't know who is to blame, but I will be asking. I will be tracking this down," said Rohrabacher. "This didn't play out well, and it could cost the Republicans."

Orange Barrel said there was "no bias" intended, blaming the snafu on city ordinances.

But Orange Barrel "picked the building and the size, and advertised that it was available," said Steve Fedyski, the COO of Pure Flix, which distributed the film.

Story continues

Fedyski said he agreed to pay $64,100 for the sign two months ago, then the emails complaining about the content of the sign started coming. "They dragged us along for weeks. Now, right up against the convention date, they say we aren't approved," he said. "My speculation is that someone, somewhere didn't want our message out."

The congressman from California's 48th District said he wants to find that someone.

"This has nothing to do with Congress but with the party, and it shouldn't be tolerated. I'll be going to the people responsible for the convention, and find out if there was any discrimination," said Rohrabacher.

He added: "The sign company has every right to make whatever decision it wants, but the Republican party should make demands that the views of Christians are welcome. We should ensure this sort of snobbery doesn't happen at our convention."

While the God's Not Dead 2 sign won't appear near the convention, one from a pro-atheist group called the Freedom From Religion Foundation will. It has a picture of President Ronald Reagan on it with the text, "We establish no religion in this country ... Church and state are, and must remain, separate."

That sign appears on a billboard owned by Clear Channel. The Freedom From Religion Foundation plans more than 30 pro-atheist signs at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later this month.

Read More: Donald Trump Kisses Ted Cruz in New Billboard Planted Days Before Republican National Convention
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (credit: Day Donaldson)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (credit: Day Donaldson)

Japan is on the brink of making what would arguably be the most significant amendment to its constitution since the charter first went into effect after World War II on May 3, 1947. The portion at issue is Article 9.

Allied Forces (primarily Americans) occupying the country in the wake of WWII wrote the Japanese constitution. It followsand should come as no surprisethat the document closely mirrors that of the United States. The National Constitution Centers interactive tool Rights Around the World provides a closer look at just how similar the two documents are.

Both documents ensure strikingly similar rights on almost all frontsfreedom of expression, speech, rights to trial, and universal equality before the law, to name a fewbut notably absent from the Japanese constitution is the right to bear arms. Japans constitution and the countrys global persona as a whole has been largely pacifist since WWII, mainly due to the nations anti-war constitutional framework. Article 9 explicitly renounces war and prohibits Japan from maintaining any kind of armed forces.

Rights Around the World

There were a plethora of competing countries and factors at work during WWII, but for Japan, the conflict began with a quest to assert regional supremacy. The country adopted an aggressive domestic stance and took up a military offensive against the Chinese in an attempt to achieve dominance in the region. It leveled attacks against the U.S. in response to American attempts to curtail aggressive Japanese expansion and assertion of dominance in both the East Asian region and the Pacific. In response, the U.S. renounced trade treaties and levied sanctions and embargoes against Japan, which eventually led to Japans declaration of war on America and the subsequent surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

The U.S.s retaliationnamely, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasakilaid a largely uncontested foundation for anti-war rhetoric following the conclusion of WWII. The destructive nature of war and the toll it can take on innocent civilians are forever etched into the memory of the Japanese population. While that institutional memory is not the sole factor, it is definitely one potential explanation for why Article 9 has remained unchanged after all these years.

Story continues

However, Japans parliamentary elections on July 10 resulted in what appears to be enough support to amend the Japanese constitution to allow for a more active military. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japans ruling coalition, secured a supermajority in the upper house, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that rewriting the postwar constitution is first on his partys agenda.

The LDP has been pushing for reform of the constitution since 2005, with its most recent slate of formally proposed changes coming in 2012. In order to pass such changes now, the party would first have to win a vote in parliament (in which the LDP now has majority representation) and would then require approval by a majority in a nationwide referendum.

The domestic debate over whether or not to amend Article 9 comes at a time of an increasingly terse climate in the region as both North Korea and China bolster their military capabilities and display aggressive behavior that will only be exacerbated by the recent rulings on Chinese territorial rights in the South China Sea. Japanese militarization is seen by many as necessary to ensure that Japan is able to adequately protectand assertitself as its neighbors continuously sharpen their claws. However, while the LDP now has a majority, there is still resistance to constitutional reform from the partys more conservative members. The impending vote will decide whether institutional memory or contemporary reform will guide Japans next steps.

Jordyn Turner is an intern at the National Constitution Center. She is also a recent graduate of Dartmouth College, where she majored in Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and minored in Government. This fall, Turner will begin work toward a masters degree in Global Studies from Tsinghua University in Beijing as a member of the inaugural class of the Schwarzman Scholars Program.

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Parched corn grows in a field in Coronel Isleno, Argentina on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012. The La Nina weather event that parched crops in Argentina and Brazil and flooded plantations in Thailand and Malaysia may be weakening, said Telvent DTN Inc. Photographer: Diego Guidice/Bloomberg News
A new generation of livestreaming services played a starring role in Turkeys attempted military coup on Friday.

Television and cable news networks have traditionally broadcast live video of previous coups, such as the military uprising against Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan in 2013, along with various wars like those in Iraq.

But the advent of two popular live video streaming services like Live and Twitter's Periscope service have made it possible for people to film and share in real time the chaotic scenes of military roughing up citizens and people climbing on tanks.

Both Facebook Live and Periscope premiered in 2015. Since then, theyve been used by celebrities to promote their latest films as well as more serious matters like chronicling controversial police shootings and the protests that erupt in their aftermath.

Although there were reports that social networking and messaging services were blocked in Turkey, they appear to have come back online. Livestreaming apps, in contrast, seemed to be unaffected during the turmoil.

It is likely the first time that Facebook Live and Periscope have been widely used during a major coup attempt. In this case, hundreds of people livestreamed from the streets of Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir to anyone who wanted to watch from across the globe.

Additionally, Turkish President Recep Tayyp Erdogan used an iPhone and the FaceTime video streaming service from an undisclosed location to issue a statement condemning the coup, marking the increased importance of new communications services.

The rise of livestreaming follows the popularization of social networking services during coups and civil unrest. For example, protesters in Cairos Tahrir Square routinely relayed information using Facebook and Twitter during Egypts revolution in 2011.

Here are a few of the videos people shared via Twitters Periscope streaming service:

Another livestream of the coup d'etat in #Turkey (be advised of agitation and possible graphic images) https://t.co/s8vc4K0flB  Ren (@Nekomonogatari) July 15, 2016

Story continues

Chaotic livestream from Turkey here https://t.co/5cZ1nSzaVh  Chris (@ursusocculta) July 15, 2016

You can watch a live stream of the events via Facebook here.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
Negotiating a Plea Agreement with a Maximum Sentence Cap can get a Federal Drug Sentence Reduced, Reports Dallas Drug Lawyer John Helms

DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / July 16, 2016 / In a prior blog post the four primary ways of getting a sentence reduction in federal drug cases were covered by Dallas drug lawyer John Helms:

1. Cooperate with the government.

2. Negotiate a plea to a charge with a lower mandatory minimum sentence.

3. Negotiate a plea agreement with a maximum sentence cap.

4. Invoke the "safety valve" provision of 18 USC Section 3553(f).

This post is will go into detail about negotiating a plea agreement.

As most of the best drug attorneys in Dallas can tell you, plea bargaining in federal criminal cases is very different from plea bargaining in state court criminal cases in Texas. In state court, a defendant can choose to have either a jury or a judge decide the sentence at trial, so plea bargains usually include an agreed upon sentence. State judges are not literally required to comply with the plea agreement, but they rarely refuse to accept them.

Federal court is different. A judge ALWAYS decides what the sentence will be. A plea agreement with an agreed sentence is not favored by federal judges because it takes away some of their power to decide the sentence. For this reason, the Justice Department puts serious limits on a prosecutor's ability to agree to a specific sentence in a plea agreement. Plea agreements with an agreed upon sentence do happen, but they are rare.

One thing you CAN do in plea bargaining in a federal case is to ask for an agreed "cap" on the sentence. This means the plea agreement says that the LONGEST sentence the defendant can get is, for example, 20 years. A judge still has to approve this type of plea agreement, but they are more likely to approve a "cap" than an agreed sentence.

Caps are especially useful when there is uncertainty over the Federal Sentencing Guideline range or when the defendant is looking at a fairly lengthy sentence so that a prosecutor does not mind capping it at a length the prosecutor believes is reasonable, even if the prosecutor's case is very strong, adds Dallas drug lawyer Helms.

Story continues

It is usually relatively easy to ask for a cap during plea bargaining, and I have used this concept successfully many times.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a federal drug offense or are facing other drug charges, contact Dallas drug lawyer John Helms immediately. Call 214-666-8010

Read more here: http://johnhelms.attorney/federal-drug-defense-attorney-cooperate-government-cut-sentence/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-helms-69172699

source: http://johnhelms.attorney/dallas-drug-lawyer-plea-bargaining-can-reduce-sentence-federal-drug-cases/ - See more at: http://dallascrimenews.johnhelms.attorney/dallas-drug-lawyer-plea-bargaining-can-reduce-a-sentence-in-federal-drug-cases_9444.html?preview_u=1718dc3e-4a06-11e6-9d1a-00259075c433#sthash.GGIzxFha.dpuf

SOURCE: John Helms Law Firm via Submit Press Release 123
Istanbul (AFP) - At first, the young men stayed defiantly in their seats, saying they would not leave their table or their drinks. No Turkish military coup would stop them enjoying a Friday night in Besiktas, a popular hangout on the European side of Istanbul.

But then the pub owner ran out shouting that the state-run TRT broadcaster "has declared it's a coup -- there's martial law" and within seconds, chairs were folded up and people scattered.

Tensions had been steadily rising all evening and by then there were just a few tables still filled with friends arguing over the military's coup attempt, which if successful would mark the fifth overthrow of the government by Turkish soldiers since 1960.

Minutes before the pub owner's warning, Ali, from Istanbul and a proud Besiktas resident, said he did not want another putsch as helicopters flew above and everyone's eyes darted nervously upwards.

"This country has seen so many coups, I am against them. It will not work," he said as he showed off his Ataturk tattoo, expressing his love for the founder of modern Turkey.

"Look, everyone is going home because of the coup. How many people can you see here? This place should be filled with thousands of people.

"This coup is not good, it will set us back 20 years. Brothers should not spill blood."

His friend Basak agreed. "This country has seen many coups and we are not ready for another."

- ATM queues -

All around Ali, other cafes and restaurants had already pulled their shutters down after the military took control late on Friday night, stopping traffic on the two Istanbul bridges while in the capital Ankara F-16 fighter jets flew low over the city.

The two bridges that connect the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus -- usually packed with cars at all hours -- were devoid of traffic and parts of the city began to resemble a ghost town.

When Ali moved to leave, his friends gave the ominous warning: "Just wait until tomorrow morning."

Story continues

While Ali and his four palls fled the area, urging everyone else to go home too, dozens of others queued at ATMs to get money, worried about what the next days might bring.

In the nearby streets of Sisli, another bustling part of Turkey's largest city, people were panic-buying water before disappearing into their homes, from where the loud sounds of live news broadcasts rang out across the neighbourhood.

As residents struggled to process the evening's unexpected events, the mood on the streets turned darker.

Soon after Ali and his friends headed home, an AFP photographer reported soldiers opening fire on crowds near one of the Bosphorus bridges, and saw wounded people being rushed into ambulances.
A Disney worker was fired and then rehired after she tweeted a photo of a sign asking employees not to tell guests they had seen alligators on the property.

I was very offended by it and I was pretty vocal about it, said Shannon Sullivan, who is working in Magic Kingdom restaurants through the Disney College Program, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The poster told employees that the correct and appropriate response to questions about whether there are alligators in the water is: Not that we know of, but if we see one, we will call Pest Management to have it removed.

The incident came after the death of 2-year-old Lane Graves, who was snatched by an alligator last month while playing in shallow water in a man-made lake at a Disney resort.

Please do not say that we have seen them before, read the sign shared by Sullivan. We do not want our guests to be afraid while walking around Frontierland.

Disney has since removed the sign, which had not been authorized by the company, the Sentinel reported. Sullivan was fired around the same time, but on Friday, Magic Kingdom Vice President Dan Cockerell offered her the job back until her internship is scheduled to end later this month.

Graves death raised questions about whether Disney had offered guests sufficient warning about the presence of alligators. The company has since posted signs explicitly warning guests about alligators and snakes.

I think you need to be telling people to be cautious, letting them know this could happen, Sullivan said, according to the Sentinel.
Donald Trump formally announced Mike Pence as his Vice President pick Saturday in a messy event following a drama-filled rollout of the selection.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence was my first choice, Trump said in New York City, battling rumors that he had eleventh hour doubts about Pence after his choice was leaked on Thursday. Pence, when he eventually appeared onstage, said he got the job offer from Trump on Wednesday (when TIME reports Trump also called Jerry Falwell Jr.), addressing doubts that Trump was still making up his mind at the end of the week.

But before Pence took the podium, Trump was onstage alone for about 28 minutes, occasionally mentioning Pence but more often going through his standard stump speech: attacking Hillary Clinton, re-hashing primary wins and touting business accomplishments. When Trump did mention Pence, he said, One of the big reasons I chose Mike is party unity, I have to be honest.

After reading a script of Pences successes in Indiana, Trump ceded the stage to Pence, and the differences in the two mens styles were thrown into sharp relief. Where Trump kept deviating from his prepared remarks, riffing in his usual freewheeling style, Pence stuck to a more traditional political speech and repeatedly highlighted his faith. He said his first thought when Trump offered him the vice presidency was, Who am I, oh Lord? and said that hes a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.

The two men didnt appear onstage together until the very end of the press conference, shaking hands before Pence went down a receiving line of handshakes of Trumps family. But as TIMEs Alex Altman wrote about the pick, Trump wasnt hunting for a kindred spirit. By tapping Pence for the role, hes getting a movement conservative out of central casting, a seasoned politician whose selection may soothe Republicans still skeptical that Trump is one of them.
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 36F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 36F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
NEW YORK  After days of rumors, leaks and counterleaks, and reports of midnight second thoughts, Donald Trump officially introduced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate in a half-hour speech that was mostly about himself, with occasional nods to the crookedness of his presumptive opponent, Hillary Clinton.

What a difference between crooked Hillary Clinton and Mike Pence, Trump declared, appearing alone behind a lectern in a large ballroom at the New York Hilton hotel. Speaking from notes but with extensive extemporaneous digressions, he described Pence as a man of honor, character, and honesty who has been an outstanding leader. I admire the fact he fights for the people, and hes going to fight for you, Trump said. Hes a solid, solid person.

But Pence  whose selection was announced via Twitter on Friday  didnt get his moment in the spotlight until Trump was done reminding the audience of his own numerous primary wins, the historic number of votes he received, and his expertise in construction. No one in the history of this country knows more about infrastructure than Donald Trump, the candidate declared, apropos of a point that was apparent only to him.

Occasionally, Trump seemed to realize he was getting off-track. Back to Mike Pence, the GOP candidate said at 16 minutes into his remarks. But he still kept talking about other things: the treatment of veterans, ISIS, and even the defeat of the so-called #NeverTrump movement, which had been determined to stop him from officially claiming the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland.

They got crushed, Trump declared. And they got crushed immediately, because people want what were saying to happen.

Donald Trump applauds after introducing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

At the side of the room, Paul Manafort, Trumps campaign chairman and chief strategist, watched the candidate, his arms crossed and a slight smile frozen on his face.

In the rare moments Trump did talk about Pence, he detailed the reasons why he had selected the Indiana governor. Describing Pence as his first choice  notwithstanding multiple reports that he had been undecided up until the last minute of his VP search  the New York real estate mogul and former reality television star acknowledged he had picked the former congressman to unite the party.

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One of the big reasons that I chose Mike  is party unity, Trump said. I have to be honest. So many people have said party unity because Im an outsider.

The event was yet another unexpected development in what was an unusually public process for a choice that most candidates typically shroud in intense secrecy. Trump, who has never been a traditional candidate, conducted a whirlwind public audition process over two weeks. Last week, the New York real estate mogul appeared with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker  who subsequently took himself out of the running for the position. That appearance was followed by a joint rally with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Cincinnati. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie introduced Trump at a policy speech Monday in Virginia Beach, Va.

Pence was the last prospective candidate to appear with Trump, joining him onstage Tuesday night at a rally outside Indianapolis. The next morning, Trump met privately with Pence in Indianapolis, this time joined by Trumps adult children. The governor faced a deadline of noon Friday to withdraw as a candidate for reelection, and Trump was keeping him in suspense, it seemed, until the last possible moment. Trump also met that day with Gingrich and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, a longtime Trump adviser who was said to be a dark horse Veep candidate.

On Wednesday, a Republican source close to the Trump campaign said most of Trumps senior advisers, including Manafort, were urging him to pick Pence, arguing that the staunch conservative could help win over mainstream Republicans wary of the unpredictable billionaire developer. Manafort had privately expressed concern about whether Christie and Gingrich, two powerful personalities with their own political brands, had the ability to be disciplined players on the Trump team heading into the fall.

When he finally took the stage, Pence proved his ability to be disciplined  delivering a speech from notes that ran a succinct 12 minutes. He praised Trump as a good man, a fighter, and a brilliant businessman who had put his country over his career in choosing to seek the presidency.

Perhaps in a nod to the intrigue over his selection, Pence said he had answered the call to be VP on Wednesday  though he did not say who it was from or what exactly was said. (On Thursday evening, Trump told Fox News he had not yet made his final, final decision on who should be his running mate.)

I answered this call for two reasons. First, because I know from firsthand experience that strong Republican leadership can bring about real change  just like weve seen in the Hoosier State, Pence said of his choice to accept the job as Trumps running mate. Secondly, because Hillary Clinton must never become president of the United States of America.

Trump, who is not used to sharing the stage, seemed a bit awkward with his new running mate. While candidates of the past have usually remained onstage for their VPs acceptance speech, Trump departed after a quick handshake and a pat on the back. And after Pences remarks, they briefly shared the stage again, this time with members of their respective families before working the rope line, separately.
Belgrade (AFP) - Defending champions Great Britain took a 2-1 lead over hosts Serbia in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final in Belgrade on Saturday.

In the second singles rubber, rescheduled from Friday due to heavy rain, Dusan Lajovic defeated James Ward 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to pull the hosts level.

Lajovic, the world number 81, easily brushed aside Ward in just one hour and 52 minutes after breaking his opponent's serve in the opening game of the match.

But in Saturday's doubles Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic 6-1, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4 to move Britain to within one win of the last four.

Krajinovic replaced Janko Tipsarevic, who was easily defeated by Kyle Edmund 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the first singles match on Friday.

Serbia, the 2010 champions, are without world number one Novak Djokovic, who pulled out of the quarter-final after his shock third-round exit at Wimbledon and with one eye on the Rio Olympics.

Briton Andy Murray also opted out after claiming his second Wimbledon title by beating Canadian Milos Raonic in the final last weekend.

Ward can win the tie in the first rubber on Sunday against Tipsarevic, but if the Serbian veteran wins then it will come down to a deciding match between Edmund and Lajovic, the two teams' highest-ranked players.

The winners will face either Argentina or Italy in the semi-finals. Argentina are currently 2-1 in front in their last-eight tie in Pesaro.
Tijuana (Mexico) (AFP) - The bell rings at the gate of the Tijuana border post as US agents return 12 Mexicans home with their belongings inside paper bags and backpacks.

Such deportations occur on a regular basis, but they could increase exponentially if Donald Trump  set to be confirmed as the Republican Party's presidential candidate next week  wins the election in November and makes good on his promise to expel millions of undocumented immigrants.

At the San Ysidro border station, most of the deportees look on dejectedly, several of them lacking any identification, as a Mexican agent unlocks a metal door and interrogates them to make sure they are really Mexican.

"Where are you from?" he asks. "What's near that town? Do you have 'pisto?'"

That's a trick question. "Pisto" is Central American slang for money, a term not used in Mexico.

After they pass the improvised citizenship test, the migrants walk through a wooden door into the El Chaparral repatriation center.

"Welcome home," reads a sign in Spanish.

"Goodbye America!" says a migrant looking back wistfully.

- 'I will go back' -

Some 30,000 of the 207,000 Mexicans deported from the United States last year were sent back through the San Ysidro gate  which separates Tijuana and San Diego, California  according to Mexican government figures.

Children, unaccompanied teenagers, pregnant women and elderly people are taken through the gate. Some are returned shortly after crossing the border illegally, others have unsuccessfully tried passing the border bridge with fake IDs or had lived in the United States for years.

Trump has angered Mexicans by vowing to build a massive wall to block such illegal crossings by people he has described as "rapists" and drug dealers.

Juan Carlos, a 35-year-old day laborer from the northern state of Sinaloa who was among those recently deported, suggests another idea for Trump.

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"It would be better for this gentleman to help so that we could get paid better here and not go over there," he said.

Juan Carlos, who declined to give his last name, was wearing a shirt still covered with dirt from hiding in the hills when he snuck across the border.

Now he was eating a sandwich provided by the Mexican authorities as he sat in the El Chaparral waiting room expecting a repatriation document along with others.

He planned to make another attempt to cross the border.

"They threatened to send me to prison if I returned," he said, adding, "I will go back."

Javil Cortez, 28, illegally crossed the border because he wanted to "be someone in life."

The farmer had hoped to improve the lives of his four children in the violent western state of Michoacan. Unlike Juan Carlos, he planned to go home.

- Crushed 'Dreamers' -

Millions of people have been deported from the United States in recent years. Latino advocates call US President Barack Obama the "deporter-in-chief."

But Obama has also sought to spare millions from deportations in a program recently blocked by the Supreme Court.

For his part, Trump has vowed to deport the 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, most from Mexico.

"As long as I can remember, there has been anti-Mexican feelings, xenophobia," said Nancy Landa, who migrated to Los Angeles at the age of nine but was deported through El Chaparral 20 years later because she lacked proper documents. "It's a problem of ignorance about the reasons why people migrate."

Landa, who earned a degree with honors in business administration in California, is among two million so-called "Dreamers" -- undocumented migrants who arrived in the United States as children.

She is among 200,000 Dreamers sent back since 2009 to a country she didn't know, with no Mexican documents.

"It's complicated. People noticed from my Spanish that I wasn't from here," said Landa, who initially worked in a call center thanks to her English skills and now lives in southern Mexico.

"For a while, I felt that there was a stigma attached to a person who was deported because they think that you have a criminal record," she added.

Deportations have split up many families. Border cities such as Tijuana have become refuges for those who have been expelled but want to stay close to relatives remaining in the United States.

Yolanda Varona, 49, was deported in 2010 after living in California for 17 years with an expired tourist visa. She left behind two sons.

Varona founded the Dreamers' Moms group. Every Thursday, she and other deported mothers and fathers  many with US-born children on the other side  meet to talk and cope with their pain.

Trump is not popular in the room.

"I think that this gentleman is sick," Varona said. "Not all Mexicans are thieves or rapists or ignorant. I think that we have helped the United States become such a powerful nation."

But around half of foreigners deported by the United States are criminals, according to the US Homeland Security Department.

Mauricio Hernandez-Mata was deported in 2010 after serving prison time for drugs and illegal gun possession.

But the 34-year-old Mexican, who was raised in San Diego, said he deserved better treatment after his US military service in Afghanistan in 2004-2005.

"Everything I did was from the heart," he said. "My actions must be taken into consideration."
Aden (AFP) - Three Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in a drone strike in Yemen's south on Saturday, security officials said.

The raid struck a vehicle carrying the suspected militants in Shabwa province killing all those on board, the officials said.

The United States is the only country known to be operating drones in Yemen and has vowed no let-up in its war against jihadists there who have exploited the power vacuum created by a conflict between the government and the rebels to expand their presence in the south and southeast.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the network's deadliest franchise and similar strikes have taken out a number of senior AQAP commanders in Yemen over the past year.

In March this year, a Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government also turned its sights on the jihadists after a year of focusing its firepower on the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies.

Al-Qaeda claimed a suicide car bombing that struck the convoy of the governor of Yemen's main southern city Aden on Friday.

Aidarus al-Zubaidi had escaped unharmed after the attack but three of his companions were wounded, the official said.

Aden, the temporary base of Yemen's Saudi-backed government, has seen a wave of bombings and shootings targeting officials and security forces.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said. The U.S.-drafted statement, seen by Reuters, also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law. Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus. "We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage," Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Amr Aboulatta told Reuters. Diplomats said Egypt asked for a call for all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey" to be removed from the draft statement, saying the council is "in no position to qualify, or label that government - or any other government for that matter - as democratically elected or not." After the United States and Britain objected to the proposed change to the text, Egypt proposed that the council call on the parties in Turkey to "respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law," diplomats said. Negotiations on the text ended at this point, diplomats said. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it was "surprised that its proposed amendment was not taken up, and with the claim that it is obstructing the release of the statement." Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a former general who overthrew elected President Mohamed Mursi, of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 after mass protests against Mursi. Turkey provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. (Additional reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Egypt on Saturday blocked a United Nations Security Council statement backed by the United States condemning the attempted coup in Turkey, diplomats said, though Cairo denied the move.

The United States, following consultations with officials from key NATO ally Turkey, had proposed a draft statement calling on "all parties in Turkey to respect the democratically elected government of Turkey."

But Egypt, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, objected, according diplomats. An Egyptian diplomatic source, however, denied that Cairo had blocked the resolution.

"This is a process that requires consensus," he said, adding that Egypt agreed to the "overall objective of the statement" that condemned the violence and called for restraint.

"We proposed to call on all parties to respect the democratic and constitutional principles and rule of law," he said, rather than the initial wording calling for respect for the "democratically elected government."

Egypt's relations with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been particularly tense.

Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was deposed by the Egyptian army in 2013.

The Turkish leader has denounced that move as a "coup d'etat," drawing the wrath of the Egyptian general behind the ouster, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is now president.

During the UN debate, Egypt argued that it was "not for the Security Council to decide whether the government is democratically elected," and it demanded that the relevant language be deleted, a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Despite US insistence, Egypt would not budge.

Turkey and several Security Council members including the United States worried the statement would have been too weak without wording explicitly supporting the Turkish government.

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"So there won't be any statement," the diplomat said.

Such Security Council statements require unanimous approval from the 15-member group.

The brief draft statement had "condemned the violence and unrest in Turkey and stressed the urgent need for an end to the current crisis and return to the rule of law."

It called on all parties to "show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed."
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Eight people died in a fire at a hydrocracker unit at the Ufaneftekhim refinery in the Urals city of Ufa, RIA news agency quoted an official from Russia's Investigative Committee as saying on Saturday. The fire at the unit belonging to Russian oil producer Bashneft was brought under control in three hours by 0550 Moscow time (0250 GMT), the company said. Rescue and recovery teams originally found three dead. However, two people with severe burns died on their way to hospital and another three bodies were found later in the debris at the refinery, RIA cited Svetlana Abramova, the Investigative Committee's official representative in Ufa, as saying. Bashneft could not be reached for comment. The committee, which handles serious crimes, said it had launched an inquiry into the possible breaching of safety rules at explosive facilities. (Reporting by Alla Afanasyeva and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and David Evans)
Deep in the heart of the Pocono Mountains  a scenic, isolated region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania  Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen lives a quiet existence on a sprawling 26-acre estate. But more than 5,000 miles away in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims the 75-year-old preacher-in-exile is responsible for the failed military coup that rocked the country Friday and Saturday.

Turkey wont be frightened by this kind of uprising, and Turkey cannot be governed from Pennsylvania, Erdogan said when he landed back in Istanbul after the coup attempt was thwarted. They will pay for what they did.

On Saturday, Erdogan issued a sharper call for Gulens extradition. Dear Mr. President, I told you this before. Either arrest Fethullah Gulen or return him to Turkey, he said, addressing U.S. President Barack Obama. You didnt listen. I call on you again, after there was a coup attempt. Extradite this man in Pennsylvania to Turkey! If we are strategic partners, do what is necessary.

In a rare appearance, Gulen, who is in poor health, told reporters Saturday that Erdogan may have staged the coup to smear his organization. I dont believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdogan, he said, according to the Guardian. There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against the Gulenists].

A powerful, shadowy movement, Turkeys Gulenists operate a network of schools with locations in more than 140 countries around the world. The movement provides college prep courses and a huge network for its members to grease business deals and introductions for jobs and positions of power in Turkey. An elite Islamist organization, the movement includes businessmen, members of the judiciary, journalists, and members of the police.

On his website, Gulen describes himself as an authoritative mainstream Turkish Muslim scholar, thinker, author, poet, opinion leader and educational activist who supports interfaith and intercultural dialogue, science, democracy and spirituality and opposes violence and turning religion into a political ideology.

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To his critics, Gulen represents an insidious force attempting to infiltrate the government, take it over, and swap Turkeys founding secular ideology for the exiled preachers mystical brand of Islam. You must move within the arteries of the system without anyone noticing your existence until you reach all the power centers, he said in a 1999 speech. You must wait until such time as you have gotten all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institutions in Turkey.

Gulen has disputed the accuracy of those remarks and said they were manipulated. Facing charges of attempting to overthrow the government, Gulen fled Turkey for the United States. He was acquitted in 2008. He is facing a slew of charges in Turkey related to accusations of attempting to infiltrate and overthrow the government, with prosecutors seeking a life sentence.

In a 2009 cable by then-U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey that was published by WikiLeaks, the envoy described the sense that the Gulenists are both everywhere at once and impossible to pin down. The assertion that the [Turkish National Police] is controlled by Gulenists is impossible to confirm but we have found no one who disputes it, he wrote, referring to an institution that is often cited as a central source of Gulenist power.

Selim Koru, a Turkish analyst based at the TEPAV think tank in Ankara, told Foreign Policy in an email Saturday that the Gulenists and Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP)  though once allies  grew apart from one another as each gained separate followings and strength. Gulens elite, educated supporters threatened Erdogans hold on power, and the two broke into conflict after Erdogan was targeted in a corruption inquiry in late 2013 that the Turkish leader believed was orchestrated by the Gulenists.

According to Koru, the Gulenists have been steadily losing influence since then, and Fridays coup  if it was indeed carried out by military members loyal to Gulen  could signal the movements rapid decline. At first, it looked like the Gulenists would be persistent, but it became clear over subsequent elections that the government would beat them, he said. This coup, if, as seems likely, was staged by Gulenists, could be their dying breath.

The question now is whether or not Turkey will try once again to extradite Gulen, whom Washington has previously refused to deport to Turkey, claiming that there is no evidence he has committed any crime. Turkish pro-government media reported Saturday that Ankara is in the final stages of requesting his extradition.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he anticipated that Gulens future in the United States will be a central issue in coming weeks. We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen, Kerry said in Luxembourg. We  invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny, and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately.

In Washington, U.S. government officials did not answer questions about whether they believe Turkish government claims that Gulen orchestrated the attempted coup, and it remains unclear whether Ankara will follow through on its promise to seek his extradition.

To date, Turkey has made a lot of noise about requesting extradition but has not actually followed through on all of the required steps to force the U.S. to make a decision, said Aaron Stein, a scholar of Turkey at the Atlantic Council. This may be because the evidence would not hold up to scrutiny, or it could be because Gulens presence in the U.S. is politically beneficial for Erdogans populist brand of politics.

If Ankara demands Gulen be extradited, Washington will be forced to decide whether or not it succumbs to the NATO allys request. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday in remarks carried by Reuters that any country that stands with the Muslim cleric will be considered an enemy of Turkey.

Denying an extradition request may risk access to Incirlik Air Base, the crucial Turkish launch point for American forces fighting the Islamic State. Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged in a phone call with FP on Saturday that in the fight against the Islamic State, Turkey undoubtedly benefits from an American presence at Incirlik but that, at this point, it is the strongest leverage the Turkish government has to pressure Washington to extradite Gulen.

One can imagine a situation where theyre asking for Gulen, and were asking to use the air base, and they say no, he said. Crazier things have happened.

Cook said that placing the blame on Gulen is incredibly self-serving to Erdogans existing discontent with his rival, especially because the Turkish military is one of the countrys institutions that is actually less influenced by Gulen than others, such as the police and judiciary.

The military really hates the Gulenists and has been pretty effective in weeding out the people they dont like in Turkey, he said. Theyre going to go hog wild after their opponents, both perceived and real. Gulen is the first one in their crosshairs.

FP staff writer Dan De Luce contributed reporting to this article.

Photo credit: ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images
This is not what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meant when he said he wanted to transform Turkey. The tanks and gunfire in the streets of Ankara mark the fifth time since 1960 that the Turkish military has attempted to stage a coup. Even if this one proves unsuccessful  and the elected government now seems likely to come out on top  it calls into question the stability of Erdogans political movement. How exactly did a leader who began his rule 13 years ago with such promise derail so badly?

Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept to power on Nov. 3, 2002. The AKP won 34 percent of the vote, not because one-third of Turkish voters necessarily supported Erdogans conservative religious and social positions, but rather because they wanted change. The previous years had seen repeated corruption scandals, banking crises, and a precipitous decline in the value of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar.

Erdogan was initially banned from holding public office because of a trumped-up religious incitement conviction during his time as mayor of Istanbul, but he nonetheless promised good, clean governance and a fresh start. Many Turks who were fed up with the establishment decided to give the AKP a try.

The AKP also got lucky. The reason, ironically, dates back to the 1980 coup against which Erdogan so often rails. After the Turkish military ousted the government, it imposed a new constitution seeking to stabilize Turkeys volatile politics. In order to prevent a fragmented Parliament or create a situation in which governments could become beholden to tiny, niche parties (as has sometimes been the case in Israel), the 1982 constitution imposed by the military mandated that all parties would need to receive 10 percent of the vote to enter Parliament. Those that did not  and, in the 2002 elections, five parties got between 5 and 9 percent  would have their seats redistributed. Long story short, one-third of the votes transformed into a two-thirds grip on Parliament. That enabled the AKP to do pretty much whatever it wanted. One of its first actions? Change the law in order to allow Erdogan to enter government.

Still, Erdogan won plaudits. He stabilized the currency and then knocked six zeros off the Turkish lira. That meant Turks no longer had to be millionaires to buy a Coke. He also embraced a pro-business agenda that not only made investment easier, but also ensured that the state and its private partners spread investment around. Many of the old Turkish elite lived and invested in European Turkey but seldom ventured far into central Anatolia, except perhaps for a quick visit to Ankara. The AKP and its partners, however, pumped money into Anatolia, in cities like Konya and Kayseri. Turks not only got rich, but for the first time parts of the population that had long been ignored or trampled upon felt they got respect.

When it came to the economy, however, Erdogan also got lucky. As Turkeys economy developed, birthrates fell, and as longevity increased, so did the working-age population. It was an economic boom, similar to that which propelled the East Asian Tigers to prosperity in the last decades of the 20th century.

It also, however, masked some deeply troubling trends. While Turkeys debt-to-GDP ratio is relatively low at around 33 percent  a statistic that makes Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, let alone American economists drool  private debt has skyrocketed, according to bank analysts. Most Turks are heavily leveraged and see no hope to pay off the interest on their loans. This meant that even if official statistics looked bright, Turks increasingly sense dark clouds on the horizon.

Then there was Erdogans arrogance. As he and his party won election after election, he dropped any pretense of governing for all Turks. I will raise a religious generation, he declared, turning his back on the secularism that Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, imposed on the country more than 90 years ago. Rather than address the 1,400 percent increase in the murder rate of women, he instructed women to stay at home and have three children. He railed not only against abortions, but also C-sections, as violations of Gods will. He simply no longer cared what Turkish liberals thought, or saw any need to represent them.

The same held true for the press. Many Turks initially supported Erdogan out of animosity toward the military and a belief that his commitment to reform was real. They soon learned, however, that Erdogan wanted not a free press, but rather an obsequious one. Even minor criticism could mean legal trouble. Turkey today has more reporters in prison on a per capita basis than any other country.

It didnt help matters that Erdogan clearly relished a fight. The 2013 Gezi Park uprising began as an environmental protest to save one of central Istanbuls few remaining green spaces, but heavy-handed police tactics transformed it into something far greater. After then-President Abdullah Guls conciliatory words calmed the situation, Erdogan seemed to deliberately fan the flames.

He also turned on friends quickly. Take the followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish theologian (now living in Pennsylvania) who preaches peace and religious tolerance. Both Erdogan and Gulen suffered at the hands of the military, and they worked fist-in-glove to unravel the militarys influence in politics. As soon as Erdogan no longer needed Gulens followers, however, he turned on them, confiscating businesses and assets, arresting them on trumped-up charges, and labeling them as terrorists.

His Kurdish policy suffered from the same cynicism. Kurds found hope in Erdogans promises to resolve their decades-long grievances. He even began secret negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Promises fell by the wayside after each election, however, and when Turkish Kurds responded by voting for the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), an overwhelmingly ethnic party rather than the AKP, he turned on them with vengeance, transforming southeastern Turkey into a war zone reminiscent of the worst days of the 1980s.

The biggest problem, however, may have been Erdogans foreign policy. He promised no problems with neighbors only to enmesh Turkey in problems with almost every neighbor. Tourism revenues plunged as first Israelis, then Russians and, after the Istanbul bombings, almost everyone else spent their holidays elsewhere.

The recent wave of terrorism may have been the last straw. Erdogans increasing sectarianism  and his personal animosity toward both Syrian Kurds and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad  led him to see radical groups inside Syria like the Nusra Front, and even the Islamic State, as useful tools. As Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Syria long ago discovered, however, blowback is real. Suicide attacks in Ankara and Istanbul convinced many Turks that the peace and security Erdogan promised them was illusionary.

Was a coup inevitable? No. But those plotting it presumably believed they were saving Turkey from an increasingly out-of-touch and ideological leadership. Erdogan promised to rule on behalf of all Turks, but increasingly he does not. He promised to repair the economy, but corruption is rife, the currency shaky, and a recession could be on the horizon. He promised peace, but his combative policies isolated Turkey in the Middle East and estranged it from the West. He promised security, but Turks fear recent bombings are just the tip of the iceberg. At the same time, the coup plotters may believe that Erdogans continual consolidation of power made this their last chance.

Whether Erdogan remains in power or not, theres a cautionary tale here. All leaders risk being trapped in a bubble of sycophancy. A free press enables leaders the ability to cut through flattery and calibrate policy to reality. Erdogan, however, lost not only that window to Turkey, but also to the world. Now comes the real danger, however. Should the coup succeed, Turkey will remain divided with no obvious leader to bridge the gap. But should Erdogan survive the coup, his gut reactions may be to accelerate his crackdown and to believe in conspiracies of all sorts  not only those grounded in reality, but also the many that live only in his own florid imagination.

Photo credit: BURAK KARA/Getty Images
(Reuters) - Here are some details about the military coups in the last 50 years, which have unseated four elected governments in Turkey: 1960: -- On May 2, an almost bloodless military coup was carried out, led by officers and cadets from the Istanbul and Ankara war colleges. -- The next day, the commander of land forces, General Cemal Gursel, demanded political reforms and resigned when his demands were refused. -- The leaders established a 38-member National Unity Committee with Gursel as chairman. Of 601 people tried, 464 were found guilty. Three former ministers, including Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, were executed and 12 others, including President Celal Bayar, had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment. * 1971 - The "Coup by Memorandum": -- The military delivered a warning to the government to restore order after months of strikes and street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Some months later, Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel stepped down and a coalition of conservative politicians and technocrats set to restore order under the supervision of the military. Martial law was established in several provinces and not completely lifted until September 1973. * 1980: -- On Sept. 12, 1980, the senior command of the army led by General Kenan Evren, carried out a coup. The action followed a resurgence of street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Leading politicians were arrested, and parliament, political parties, and trade unions were dissolved. A five-member National Security Council took control, suspending the constitution and implementing a provisional constitution that gave almost unlimited power to military commanders. * 1997 - The "Post-Modern Coup": -- On June 18, 1997 Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, denounced by opponents as a danger to the country's secular order, stepped down under pressure from the military, business, the judiciary and fellow politicians. The generals saw themselves compelled to act to defend the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. * 2007 -- The shadowy Ergenekon group first came to light when a cache of explosives was discovered in a police raid on an Istanbul house. Eventually hundreds of people went on trial for an alleged coup attempt against then-prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, and 275 officers, journalists, lawyers and more were found guilty. The verdicts were all overturned this year after the appeals court ruled a network called Ergenekon was not proven to exist. Erdogan, who became president in 2014, initially supported the prosecution but later blamed police and prosecutors who belong to a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for faking the conspiracy. He denies playing any role. * 2010 -- A newspaper revealed a secularist coup plot, dubbed Sledgehammer, that reportedly dated back to 2003, aimed at fomenting social chaos to topple Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party. In 2012, a court jailed 300 of the 365 defendants. Two years later, almost all of those convicted were freed after the Constitutional Court ruled their rights had been violated. Again, Gulen's followers were blamed for the case, which they deny. (Compiling by Andrew Heavens and Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Alison Williams)
(Reuters) - Below is a timeline of breaking events in Turkey. All times in GMT, based on the times Reuters reported the events. Reuters does not vouch for events reported by other media. 1023 - Greek military source says anti-government group at Turkey's Golcuk naval base has taken over frigate, head of Turkish fleet taken hostage. 0954 - Turkish military helicopter lands in northern Greece, eight men on board request political asylum, men arrested, say Greek officials. 0920 - Turkish PM Binali Yildirim says 161 people killed, 1,440 wounded, 2,839 army members detained including ordinary soldiers and high-ranking officers. Says those who formed backbone of coup detained, parliament meeting scheduled for 1200 GMT, calls on citizens to fill town and city squares with flags. 0902 - Turkey's EU Minister, Omer Celik, says coup situation "90 percent under control", but some commanders are still being held hostage. 0800 - Acting Chief of Staff of the armed forces, Umit Dundar, says coup attempt was mainly by troops from air force, gendarmerie, some "armored elements". 0554 - Turkey's intelligence agency headquarters was attacked by military helicopters and heavy machinegun fire, wounding at least three people overnight, an intelligence source tells Reuters. The head of the agency, Hakan Fidan, was at a secure location and in constant contact with President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the source adds. 0529 - The head of Turkey's armed forces, Hulusi Akar, has been rescued after being held hostage, a senior Turkish official says. 0510 - Turkey's military headquarters are now held by pro-government forces but small groups of rebel soldiers are still resisting and control some military helicopters, a senior Turkish official says. Says 29 colonels and five generals had been removed from their posts. 0433 - Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attack a group of soldiers who had surrendered on an Istanbul bridge before police intervene to rescue them. 0418 - An email from the Turkish military General Staff's press office address says the faction of officers behind the coup attempt is still fighting. Calling itself the Peace at Home Movement, the faction tells people to stay indoors for their own safety. 0356 - Turkey appoints the head of its First Army, Umit Dundar, as acting chief of military staff, while the whereabouts of the head of the armed forces is unknown, a senior Turkish official tells Reuters. 0342 - Soldiers involved in the attempted coup surrender on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk shows. 0339 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses thousands waving flags at Istanbul's main airport, urges supporters to stay on streets until the situation normalizes. 0250 - Maritime authorities shut Istanbul's Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers "for security and safety" reasons, shipping agent GAC says. 0119 - The attempted coup was an act of treason and is a reason to "clean up" the armed forces, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says. 0100 - Erdogan appears among supporters at Istanbul airport, says uprising has been attempted against solidarity and unity of country; says no power is above national will. 0045 - Around 30 soldiers, part of faction attempting to carry out coup, surrender weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square. 0045 - Turkish private broadcaster CNN Turk halts live news broadcast, presenter says soldiers entered studio control room. 0027 - Two more explosions hit parliament; member of parliament reached by telephone says lawmakers are hiding in shelters at the parliament. 0020 - Turkish official says Erdogan's plane lands in Istanbul. FRIDAY, JULY 15 2352 - Turkish PM says situation under control, declares no-fly zone over Ankara. 2339 - Bomb hits parliament in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency says. Reuters witness hears blast in Istanbul. 2320 - Kerry says emphasized "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions" in phone call with Turkish foreign minister. 2313 - Group close to U.S.-based cleric Gulen says accusations it was involved in coup attempt are "highly irresponsible". Condemns military intervention in Turkish politics. Says concerned about safety of citizens. 2305 - U.S. President Barack Obama says he and Secretary of State Kerry agree that all parties in Turkey should support elected government. Urges restraint, avoidance of bloodshed - White House statement. 2304 - State-run Anadolu Agency says 17 police killed at Ankara special forces HQ. 2259 - Turkish fighter jet shoots down military helicopter used by coup-plotters over Ankara, broadcaster NTV says. 2251 - Commander of special forces says a group has engaged in treason, they will not succeed. Says military does not condone coup. 2237 - Commander of Turkey's First Army, part of land forces responsible for Istanbul and other western areas, said those attempting a coup were a small faction and "nothing to worry about". 2226 - Two loud explosions heard in center of Turkish capital 2208 - Tanks surround Turkish parliament building, open fire. Gunfire heard at Istanbul airport. 2203 - Turkish justice minister says members of a movement loyal to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen in the army are behind the attempted coup. 2151 - A military helicopter opens fire over the Turkish capital Ankara, witnesses report an explosion in the capital. 2135 - Turkish state broadcaster TRT goes off air, but later starts broadcasting from London. 2126 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urges people to take to the streets to protest against what he describes as a coup attempt by a minority faction within the military. Speaking to a CNN Turk reporter via a cellphone video link he says it will meet a "necessary response". He says he is returning to the capital Ankara. 2122 - Turkish PM says on Twitter everything will be done to put down coup attempt, even if it means fatalities. Says sieges are under way at some important buildings, urges people to remain calm. 2118 - Presidential source says president and government are still in power. 2105 - Turkish state broadcaster says reading statement on the orders of the military - that new constitution will be prepared, accuses government of eroding democratic and secular rule of law, that the country is being run by a "peace council", that martial law and curfew imposed across the country. 2102 - Head of Istanbul branch of Turkey's ruling AK Party says soldiers enter party building, told to go. 2058 - Soldiers are inside buildings of Turkish state broadcaster TRT in Ankara, TRT correspondent tells Reuters. 2057 - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media restricted in Turkey, say internet monitoring groups. 2049 - Turkish presidential source says statement made on behalf of armed forces was not authorized by military command. 2047 - Turkish chief of military staff among hostages taken at military headquarters in Ankara, says state-run Anadolu agency. 2038 - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is safe, reports CNN Turk. 2025 - Statement purportedly from Turkish military says it has taken power to protect democratic order. The message, sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels, says all of Turkey's existing foreign relations will be maintained. 2002 - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says attempted coup under way, calls for calm. He says a group within Turkey's military has attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary". 1950 - Gunshots are heard in Ankara, military jets and helicopters seen flying overhead. Helicopters seen overhead in Istanbul. 1929 - Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge are both closed. Dogan News Agency footage shows cars and buses being diverted. (Compiled by Andrew Heavens; Editing by Alison Williams)
Long a frustrating but critical ally in the fight against the Islamic State, the Turkish governments coming reckoning with its military leadership in the wake of Fridays thwarted coup attempt promises to have serious effects on the future of that fight.

With President Recep Tayyip Erdogan back in control, Turkish authorities are in the midst of a massive roundup of accused conspirators, claiming to have already arrested more than 2,800 officers and enlisted personnel. The highest-ranking officer to be detained appears to be Gen. Erdal Ozturk, the commander of the Third Army, Turkish officials said Saturday.

But the coup and arrests expose deep fissures within the military, which may spell trouble for NATOs second-largest army. The coup plotters were able to get F-16s; they were able to get helicopters; they were able to get tanks. They took the chief of the general staff hostage, all of which points to an enduring problem for Ankara, said Aaron Stein, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

The coup will result in a cleanup of our military, Erdogan insisted Friday night, but Stein said any overall reckoning in Turkey must first be based on the assumption that the government is stable.

Not only is the government unstable, but the military is also unstable, Stein said, which could lead to more trouble, more fractures, and increased instability for the NATO member.

Erdogan has long been angered by U.S. support for various Syrian Kurd factions fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria, fighters the Turkish government considers one and the same with the PKK, a rebel group that has fought to establish a Kurdish homeland in southeastern Turkey and has been blamed for bloody attacks against both civilians and security personnel.

Fighting between the PKK and the Turkish military erupted anew last July after the collapse of a cease-fire agreement. Since then, hundreds of militants and security forces have been killed, including scores of Turkish soldiers and police in several recent roadside bomb attacks.

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The coup has already directly impacted U.S. military operations in Syria: The Turkish government on Saturday shut down all American and NATO air operations at the critical Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey. The U.S. Defense Department confirmed Saturday that power to the base  which houses at least 1,500 U.S. troops and dozens of American B61 nuclear bombs stored in underground bunkers  has also been cut. The base is running on internal power sources, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Press secretary Peter Cook added in a statement that U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible and the U.S. military is adjusting flight operations in order to minimize any effects on the overall war effort. A spokesman for the U.S. European Command, however, told Foreign Policy that the loss of commercial power to the base has not affected [other] base operations.

Due to the continuing instability in Turkey, which has included both PKK and Islamic State attacks, Defense Secretary Ash Carter in May ordered all family members of military personnel based at Incirlik to leave the country.

One of the major points of contention between NATO and the Erdogan government since the start of anti-Islamic State operations has been the inability  or the unwillingness  of the Turks to more effectively seal their southern border with Syria to prevent foreign fighters from passing through on their way to link up with the Islamic State.

I would like Turkey to do more, Carter said this year. I think the Turks can do more to fight ISIL. Theyre helping us fight ISIL by, for example, hosting our aircraft in Turkey. Im grateful for that. But I think they can do more. ISIL is the U.S. governments preferred acronym for the Islamic State.

The issue with respect to Turkeys role in the anti-Islamic State fight has been one of will rather than capability, said Jennifer Cafarella at the Institute for the Study of War. But it is highly unlikely that Erdogans interest to participate in the anti-Islamic State fight is going to increase in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.

American officials quietly acknowledge that theres a simple reason for the Turkish inaction: Erdogan believes that unseating Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is more important than battling the Islamic State. Turkish intelligence teams have long worked with the CIA at a coordination center near the Syrian border for the funneling of arms and weapons to the moderate rebels fighting the Assad regime.

In the days before the coup, however, there were indications that Erdogan  who recently repaired ties with Israel and Russia  may have softened toward Assad as well. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said this month that we normalized our relations with Israel and Russia. Im sure we will go back to normal relations with Syria.

Turkish military officials are expected to be in Washington next week for a NATO meeting aimed at planning the next steps in the counter-Islamic State campaign. Defense officials would not comment on any potential changes to those plans.

Although Turkish efforts to patrol its border with Syria have generally improved in the past year, hundreds of foreign fighters continue to slip into northern Syria, where the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are squeezing the Islamic State near the city of Manbij, the terrorist groups last major stronghold in the border region. On Friday, NATO planes  many operating out of Incirlik before it was closed  struck 22 targets around Manbij, according to figures provided by the U.S. Central Command.

U.S. and NATO forces also operate in other locations outside of Incirlik, and Pentagon officials said in April that they were deploying a powerful mobile rocket system known as HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, to an undisclosed location in Turkeys southwest to support Kurdish and Arab rebels in Syria.

The coup doesnt appear to have much, if any, support among the highest branches of the Turkish military, however. Not only was military chief of staff Gen. Hulusi Akar taken hostage, and later freed in an operation at an air base in the outskirts of Ankara, but another top military officer, Gen. Umit Dundar, said Saturday that the coup attempt was rejected by the chain of command immediately. Turkish officials have also said the countrys intelligence chief, Hakan Fidan, had been taken to a secure location.

Photo credit: Kayhan Ozer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
American citizens in Turkey are still being advised to continue to seek shelter in a safe place, monitor media reports and avoid unnecessary travel after a failed military coup took place late Friday night, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs says.



Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the coup, which was squashed in the early hours of Saturday, left 265 dead, with 1,400 people wounded and 2,839 military personnel detained, according to the The New York Times. He called the event "a black stain in the history of democracy."



U.S. government employees have been instructed not to attempt to travel to and from the airport in Ankara, Istanbul, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs said. All airlines have been prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration from flying to the United States from Turkey, both directly or with stopover, they add. U.S. airlines have also been banned from stopping in Turkish airports.







Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged thousands of Turks to fight back against the uprising, which began with the seizure of two bridges in Istanbul by military forces, the BBC reports. Explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the night as they battled the self-identified "peace council," who claimed they were running the country and had had launched the coup "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms."







"Thanks to these citizens, everyone should understand that no one will be able to make a mess of the peopleas will," Yildirim said in a statement Saturday, according to CNN. "They will never be able to come over the willingness and power of our people. These parallel gang members are now in the hands of the esteemed Turkish justice and they will be punished in every way they deserve through this process."



There have been three coups in Turkey since 1960, according to The Times.




The Force Awakens was a groundbreaking chapter in the Star Wars universe: the seventh installment was the first to feature a female lead in Daisy Ridleys desert warrior Rey.



Rogue One, the eighth live-action film  and first standalone Star Wars Story  also has a woman as the central protagonist in Felicity Joness Rebel Alliance recruit, Jyn Erso. The female focus is a major sign of progress, and judging from the cosplayers at this weekends Star Wars Celebration in London, its making an impact. For the first time weve seen at a major fan event, Princess Leia is no longer the most popular womens costume. Its the badass Rey.

Related: The Rogue One Cast Explains Who Their Characters Are in New 'Star Wars Film

The two most high-profile women behind Rogue One  star Jones and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy  are both excited about their films place within a larger cultural context. But at the same time they both voiced concerns about people getting too hung up on the gender factor.

Obviously its absolutely fantastic, but I hope people would relate to Jyn as a person, said Jones, who earned an Oscar nomination for playing Jane Hawking in 2014s The Theory of Everything. Rather than her gender being at the forefront, it will be her as a person, and as a character.

Related: Heres Felicity Jones Geeking Out Over the First Rogue One Action Figure

Kennedy, who took over the reins of the studio founded by George Lucas in 2012 after producing such mega-hits as E.T. and Jurassic Park  and who regularly tops Most Powerful Women in Hollywood lists  said she is very, very proud of the fact that weve been able to do this with Star Wars. But, she added, I think theres a tendency to want to assume that the character of Jyn and the character of Rey are exactly the same. But in fact theyre both very, very different.

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Kathleen Kennedy with director Gareth Edwards (Disney / @VisionElie)

Jones addressed that same theme when one reporter on the black carpet asked about the prevalent fan theory that Rey is Jyns mother. After letting out a loud laugh at the question, Jones quoted her colleague Ridley: Just because they have the same color hair, doesnt mean theyre related.

Kennedy also brought up the point that Rogue One is more of an ensemble than most Star Wars movies. Jyn, even though she is the lead in Rogue One, shes very much a part of a team and an ensemble group. So the character operates in a way thats quite different the story were telling with Rey.

Related: Lucasfilm Head: Darth Vader Has a 'Very, Very Important Role in 'Rogue One

"But I think its fantastic that were able to bring both men and women into these stories in a way that hopefully at some point  I think were nearing that  it doesnt become something that we talk about. Its just an accepted part of the casting process.

Should Lucasfilm be nervous considering the loud backlash for a film opening this very weekend, the female-led reboot Ghostbusters, which has been criticized by angry (and some very sexist) fans? Then again, the presence of a female protagonist was clearly not a concern with the record-smashing Force Awakens. And Kennedy has a point: perhaps the less we talk about it, the more it will become the norm.

Rogue One opens Dec. 16. Watch the stars introduce their characters:
Carnarvon (South Africa) (AFP) - Even operating at a quarter of its eventual capacity, South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope showed off its phenomenal power Saturday, revealing 1,300 galaxies in a tiny corner of the universe where only 70 were known before.

The image released Saturday was the first from MeerKAT, where 16 dishes were formally commissioned the same day.

MeerKAT's full contingent of 64 receptors will be integrated next year into a multi-nation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) which is is set to become the world's most powerful radio telescope.

The images produced by MeerKAT "are far better that we could have expected," the chief scientist of the SKA in South Africa, Fernando Camilo said at the site of the dishes near the small town of Carnarvon, 600 kilometres north of Cape Town.

This "means that this telescope as is today, only one quarter of the way down (to its full contingent) is already the best radio telescope in the southern hemisphere," Camilo told AFP.

When fully up and running in the 2020s, the SKA will comprise a forest of 3,000 dishes spread over an area of a square kilometre (0.4 square miles) across remote terrain around several countries to allow astronomers to peer deeper into space in unparallelled detail.

It will have a discovery potential 10,000 times greater than the most advanced modern instruments and will explore exploding stars, black holes, dark energy and traces of the universe's origins some 14 billion years ago.

MeerKAT is being built in the remote and arid southwest of the Karoo region of South Africa that offers prime conditions for astronomers.

It will serve as one of the two main clusters of SKA. The other will be in Australia.

Some 200 scientists, engineers and technicians working in collaboration with industry, local and foreign universities have developed the technologies, hardware and software systems for MeerKAT.

- 'Profoundly powerful instrument' -

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South African Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor told AFP that "this the first time that an African group of countries will host global science infrastructure of this character."

"It's a first for us as Africa and also it's a first for the world because the world hasn't done this in Africa," said the Minister. "We are building a global infrastructure for the world."

"We can now expect when the 64 dishes are in place next year, it will be the best telescope, not only in the southern hemisphere but in the world," said Pandor.

More than 20 countries are members of the SKA, including Britain which hosts the headquarters of the project.

Despite its slowing economy, South Africa, which hosts the bulk of the SKA project, has so far invested three billion rands ($205 million) into the telescope project, funded mainly from the public purse and science research partners.

Already some 500 scientific groups from 45 countries have booked slots to use the MeerKAT array between next year and 2022.

"What this will do is bring to South African and world astronomers, the most astonishing and profoundly powerful instrument ever used before in radio astronomy," SKA South Africa project director Rob Adam told AFP.
Nice (France) (AFP) - Five children and 21 adults were still fighting for their lives in hospital on Saturday after the Nice truck attack, the French health ministry said.

In a statement the ministry said a total of 121 injured people remained in hospital while another 182 people had sought care in hospitals around the city and in nearby towns.

Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, 31, smashed a 19-tonne truck into a packed crowd on Thursday night just as a fireworks display was ending, killing 84 people, including 10 children.

The children were being treated at the Lenval Foundation paediatric hospital in the French Riviera city.

Lenval spokeswoman Stephanie Simpson said that "five children are still in critical condition and one child has stabilised", adding the hospital had treated 30 children the night of the attack.

Among the children is an unidentified eight-year-old boy who may be a missing Romanian national.

"Three Romanian nationals, two spouses and a minor, who were in the Nice area at the time of the attack have not yet been located", Romania's foreign affairs ministry said.

"There is one minor (at Lenval) who could be the missing child", it added.

Simpson, the hospital spokeswoman, said the youngest to be treated at Lenval was six months old, with most of the children being treated for head trauma and fractures.

"We are used to treating lots of children, what has been difficult to manage is the psychological aspect," Simpson said.

A team of trauma counsellors has been working at the hospital, seeing over 50 families since the attack.

The Islamic State group, which claimed attacks in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people, said one of its "soldiers" carried out the attack in Nice "in response to calls to target nations of coalition states that are fighting (IS)".
CAIRO (Reuters) - Audio from the flight recorder of crashed EgyptAir flight MS804 mentions a fire on board the plane in its final moments, the investigation committee said on Saturday, confirming what sources on the committee had previously told Reuters. The Airbus A320 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19. All 66 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains unknown. Earlier analysis of the plane's flight data recorder showed there had been smoke in the lavatory and avionics bay, while recovered wreckage from the jet's front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot. Initial audio extracted from the flight deck voice recorder had indicated an attempt to put out a fire on the jet before it crashed, committee sources had told Reuters. The committee said on Saturday it was still "too early to determine the reason or the place where that fire occurred." The committee also said the John Lethbridge vessel, belonging to Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, had completed its search for human remains, which will now be transferred to Cairo for DNA analysis. (Reporting by Eric Knecht; Editing by Mark Potter)
(Adds passenger and Turkish airlines comment, paragraphs 5-6, 10-11)

By Jeffrey Dastin

July 15 (Reuters) - Airlines diverted flights en route to Turkey and canceled departures from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport as a coup attempt unfolded on Friday, pitting Turkey's military against supporters of President Tayyip Erdogan.

A Reuters witness heard a loud explosion at Ataturk Airport. Television images showed tanks parked in front, while scores of people gathered in Istanbul and capital city Ankara to show their support for the elected government.

Government officials insisted that a small group within the military was behind the attempted coup, while army officials claimed to have seized power.

"My Family are stuck in Istanbul airport and have no idea what is happening," Twitter user Fatti (@Rubynapanahi) said. "What is going on with the world."

Cynthia Wee (@Its_A_Cyn), stranded with her family at Ataturk Airport, told Reuters on Twitter that airport workers were advising crowds to stay away from windows. She heard shouting and saw bits of a ceiling falling down, she said in another post.

The "situation is quite tense here," she said.

European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said all flights arriving at Ataturk Airport were being diverted. Flight tracking website FlightAware.com so far listed 138 canceled departures for Friday and Saturday.

The crisis follows a series of bombings that have hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country.

A British Airways flight to Istanbul on Friday night diverted to Sofia, Bulgaria, and a Lufthansa flight to Istanbul returned to its origin in Frankfurt, company spokeswomen said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said all U.S.-bound flights from Istanbul that were in the air prior to the airport's closing would be allowed to land in the United States as planned. Turkish Airlines did not immediately comment but said on Twitter it condemned the attempted coup.

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With reports of gunfire in the streets, governments from the United States to the United Kingdom and Mexico called on their citizens in Turkey to seek shelter.

"Things will be fluid for some time and all people can do is wait it out," said Bruce McIndoe, chief executive of travel risk consultancy iJET. McIndoe said his firm had received calls from clients and their employees based in Turkey seeking advice.

As of July 2, international flight bookings to Istanbul for trips in the second half of the year were down 36 percent from a year ago, travel data analysis company ForwardKeys said on its website.

Arrivals from the Americas and Asia-Pacific were down 45 percent, according to ForwardKeys. Bombings in Istanbul led to progressively sharper declines in bookings in the past six months, it said.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Michele Gershberg, Andrew Hay and Paul Tait)
Khartoum (AFP) - Heavy rains and flash floods in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur killed nine people on Saturday, the official SUNA news agency reported.

The deaths occurred in the town of El-Fasher, the capital of the state of North Darfur.

"Heavy rains lashed the north and east parts of El-Fasher causing floods," the town's municipal commissioner Eltijani Abdullah Salah told SUNA.

Salah said nine people drowned in the floods, including two from a camp for internally displaced people.

The United Nations aid agencies had warned of flooding in Sudan between July and November this year.

Flash floods and heavy rains already damaged more than 2,500 houses in the state of Sennar last month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest weekly bulletin.

Darfur has seen violence since 2003 when ethnic minority rebels rose up against President Omar al-Bashir, accusing his Arab-dominated government of marginalising the region after which Bashir mounted a brutal counter-insurgency.

At least 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict and another 2.5 million have fled their homes, the UN says.
The Mars Volta/At The Drive-In co-leader Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is releasing a whopping 12 solo albums of the course of the next six months. (For those keeping score at home, thats two albums per month.) All 12 were recorded between 2008 and 2013, and Billboard reports that one of them, Aranas En La Sombra, was recorded in 2012  the year before the Mars Volta broke up  with the original Mars Volta lineup of Jon Theodore, Eva Gardner, and the late Ikey Owens, plus erstwhile Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Just a few days ago, Rodriguez-Lopez said that the Mars Volta will probably reunite, so this has been a pretty good week for Mars Volta fans. The first of Rodriguez-Lopezs albums, Sworn Virgins, came out yesterday via Ipecac Recordings; the next, Corazones, will arrive 7/29, also via Ipecac Recordings; and Aranas En La Sombra will be out 8/26.
Heres the thing about anyone who tells you they definitely know how the election is going to play out in November: Anything could still happen before then. There could be a major economic meltdown a la 08, which redirected both nominees during that presidential race. Or maybe well see a last-minute surprise even more devastating than in 2000, when Dubyas drunk-driving citation resurfaced from 24 years earlier  just a week before the polls opened.

Its fair game to speculate on how close the race will be, who will turn out to vote and so many other good, debatable points. But, with all the humility in the world, I have four bold predictions for how this years election race could unfold in surprising ways.

The Ballots Will Add Up

There are rumblings that many GOP loyalists might stay at home on Election Day, which would mean a low turnout. Im not so sure about that. I vote that by the time we have spent $6 billion in ads on this campaign, we could see the first American election with more than 150 million voters. To put that in perspective, the most recent elections have seen more than 122 million but fewer than 132 million voters. Plus, with a slew of new voter laws for early and easy voting as well as automatic voter registration in a handful of states, you can forget about low turnout  and stay tuned for some serious surges, I suspect, in states like Oregon and California.

If Im right, there will also be a side effect: Many of the conventional polls will be wrong. So while youre reading Nate Silver, please maintain a bit of informed skepticism that his underlying assumptions may be too conservative similar to the Mitt Romney polling models in 2012, which assumed modest Black/brown turnout. Silver (an OZY friend, to be sure) and the rest may get it wrong.

One Unexpected Group Will Punch Above Its Weight

Much has been made about how Trumps candidacy will shift voters: Some lifelong Democrats will swing over to the GOP aisle and vice versa, and there is potential for record Latino voter registration and voting. One study suggests that Latinos could become a decisive voting bloc in a narrow race in as many as nine states this fall.

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Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Congress first Muslim member, argues that its high time Muslims did the same and organized into a voting bloc. To be sure, the number of Muslim voters is relatively small  Muslims make up just one percent of the population. Yet they tilt by a margin of 2-1 toward Democrats, according to a February survey of nearly 2,000 Muslim voters, and have higher-than-average populations in two key states: Michigan and New Jersey (1.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively). Even if Trump wins over a meaningful number of Reagan Democrats in those states, he could still narrowly lose if Muslims turn out. This will be something to watch.

Itll Be Closer Than You Might Think

By now, the polls that predicted a Clinton blowout just a few months ago show that her lead has evaporated. I think that if Trumps going to win, it will be because of his knack for going on the offensive. The billionaire has demonstrated he can make an argument or spout an epithet  just ask low-energy Jeb, little Marco and lyin Ted  and his name-calling seems to help him move the poll numbers. Notwithstanding crooked Hillary attacks, and assaults on her gender, I think Trump has not yet begun to fight.

If Crooked Hillary Clinton cant close the deal on Crazy Bernie, how is she going to take on China, Russia, ISIS and all of the others?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2016



So when all is said and done, I could just as easily see a 51-49 or even a 52-48 race. If its really close, wed see the most interesting scenario of all  an undecided election that goes to Paul Ryan and the House of Representatives. Thats not unprecedented: Two presidential elections have been decided in the House. Four others, including the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960, have come within 30,000 votes of requiring a decision by the House. Now that would be the most gripping political theater in modern times  perhaps most akin to the Andrew Johnson impeachment in 1867, which was settled by one deciding vote. Most intriguing of all: If we do find ourselves with a vote in the House, we could see voting blocs use their leverage to impose their platforms on otherwise-uninterested candidates.

Keep an Eye on the Media

Candidates, the voters and key operatives determine presidential races, right? But every four years at least one journalist seems to have an outsize impact. In the 1980 election, it was Roger Mudd, when he made Ted Kennedy look unprepared with the simplest question: Why do you want to be president? In 1988, it was Bernard Shaw. In 1992, it was Larry King. In 2004, it was Dan Rather, who lost his job over an inaccurate 60 Minutes report.

Even more recently, in 2008, Katie Courics interview of Sarah Palin fundamentally reshaped that race  and prolonged Courics career as an evening news anchor. Certainly Candy Crowley had an unexpected impact on the 2012 race when she weighed in during the second debate in President Obamas favor.

So who could be the journalist to tip  or at least meaningfully influence  this years race? My money is on the lawyer who tangled with Trump once before, Fox News Megyn Kelly. She rather quietly took her lumps from Trump, but something tells me that in a close race, with questions of Trumps fairness toward women at stake, she could be an unexpectedly influential voice. This might take the form of a statement, an interview showdown or a debate moderation. A Fox News anchor helping to swing the election for Hillary Clinton? Thatd be juicy.
Prague (AFP) - The world's top doubles pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert put France 2-1 ahead of the Czech Republic in their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final on Saturday.

Wimbledon champions Mahut and Herbert, ranked first and second in the world, beat Radek Stepanek and Lukas Rosol 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in just over three hours.

Mahut and Herbert took only 25 minutes to cruise through the opening set on the hardcourt of the Werk Arena in the eastern Czech steel hub of Trinec.

The Czechs recovered in the second set, making fewer mistakes and taking a 3-0 lead which they converted into a 6-3 win.

The French pair regained their dominance again in set three, winning 6-3, but the Czechs, led by 37-year-old Stepanek, fought back in the fourth with two breaks to one.

Finally, Rosol lost his serve to love in the first game of the last set and that was all the French needed to take the set 6-4.

"We have been getting ready for this rubber for a week," said Mahut.

"We left nothing to chance, we have been together all the time. We know each other by heart and that helps us."

Stepanek said he was happy with the Czech pair's performance, despite the loss.

"I think we played a fantastic game against the world's best pair, we gave it everything," said Stepanek.

"One set doesn't mean anything in these long rubbers, we managed to come back and fought until the end."

On Friday, the Czechs took the lead in the tie as world number 78 Rosol stunned 10th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4.

Lucas Pouille, ranked 21st, then swept 50th-ranked Jiri Vesely 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 7-5 to put France level in his Davis Cup debut.

In Sunday's reverse singles, Vesely is due to face Tsonga before Rosol takes on Pouille.

The Czech Republic won the Davis Cup in 2012 and 2013, while France last lifted the trophy in 2001.

The winner of the tie will face either the United States or Croatia in the semi-finals.
By Richard Lough and Johnny Cotton NICE, France (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the truck attack that killed at least 84 people celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice and police arrested three more people there in connection with the seafront carnage. "The person who carried out the operation in Nice, France, to run down people was one of the soldiers of Islamic State," the Amaq news agency affiliated with the militant Islamist group said on its Telegram account. "He carried out the operation in response to calls to target nationals of states that are part of the coalition fighting Islamic State." French authorities have yet to produce any evidence that the 31 year-old Tunisian killer, shot dead by police in the attack, had turned to radical Islam. Nevertheless, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel may have undergone a rapid change. "It seems that he was radicalised very quickly -- in any case these are the elements that have come up from the testimony of the people around him," Cazeneuve told reporters. Speaking from his home town in Tunisia, Bouhlel's sister told Reuters he had been having psychological problems when he left for France in 2005. Other relatives and friends interviewed in Nice doubted he had militant Islamist leanings. Saturday's arrests concerned his "close entourage", police sources said. Two other people, including the attacker's wife, had already been detained. Bouhlel had been in France for 10 years and lived locally. He drove at the crowd in the Riviera city on Thursday night, zig-zagging along the seafront Promenade des Anglais for two kilometers as a fireworks display marking the French national day ended, until police eventually shot him dead. The Health Ministry said 121 people remained in hospital, including 30 children. Twenty-six individuals were still in intensive care. The attack plunged France into new grief and fear just eight months after gunmen killed 130 people in Paris. Assaults in January 2015 on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket were also claimed by Islamic State, which controls swathes of Iraq and Syria but is now under military pressure from forces opposed to it. A state of emergency in place since the Paris killings last November is to be extended for another three months. On Saturday Cazeneuve called on "patriotic citizens" to become reservists to help relieve exhausted security forces. Bouhlel was known to police for petty crimes but was not on a watch list of suspected militants. He had one criminal conviction for road rage, having been sentenced to probation three months ago for throwing a wooden pallet at another driver. Edwin Bakker, Professor at the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, said Islamic State's claim did not necessarily point to any formal link. "Islamic State called for such (individual) attacks to be carried out back in 2014. They are also using the public perception that an attack like this seems to fit Islamic State. "Investigators still have not discovered a direct link between Islamic State and the attacker, so it is a cheap claim," he said. NISSA MA BELLE In Nice, where the holiday season would normally be in full swing, organizers of the annual Jazz festival joined the singer Rihanna in cancelling their event. A five-day annual festival that has run since 1948 had been due to start on Saturday. Nice's beaches, which are usually packed in mid-July, were noticeably less busy. Tearful well-wishers were still laying flowers, candles, teddy bears and drawings at a makeshift memorial on the Promenade des Anglais. "Nothing will ever be like before ... Nissa ma belle," read one, a reference to the hymn 'Nissa la Bella', or Nice the Beautiful, sung in the local Nicois dialect. "Enough of the carnage. Stop the massacre," read another. Tora Hakausson, from Norway, owns a flat in Nice, and was dining in a beach restaurant when the attack took place. "We don't want to go home. Life has to remain normal. I don't want this to change how we feel about France," she said as she wiped away a tear from under her sunglasses. "Anger is the main emotion today," said Maiche Arlette, a resident of the city. "For two and a half years now we have suffered from these attacks ... "Our society has gone mad." (Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Michel Bernouin, Johnny Cotton and Sophie Sassard in Nice, Emmanuel Jarry, Robert-Jan Bartunek in Paris, Writing Michel Rose, Andrew Callus and John Irish; Editing by Catherine Evans)
VILLARS-LES-DOMBES, France (AP) -- As the Tour de France enters the Alps on Sunday, many would expect Chris Froome to be worried of pure climber Nairo Quintana.

The diminutive Colombian rider, who twice finished runner-up to Froome on the Tour, managed to gain time on the British champion in the closing stages last year, and will have plenty of opportunities in the mountains in the coming week.

But Froome landed what seemed to be a decisive blow at Quintana in the hilly time trial on Friday, moving 2 minutes, 59 seconds in front of the Colombian overall.

So, when asked about his main rival ahead of a tough final week of racing featuring two mountaintop finishes, Froome singled out another opponent.

''Now it's Bauke Mollema, who is in second place,'' Froome said after defending his yellow jersey on Saturday during the flat stage in the Rhone valley. ''I've got to keep a good eye on him, I have got to treat him as my biggest rival. He did a good time trial, and at the Ventoux he was able to sit in my wheel.''

Courtesy of an impressive performance in the time trial, Froome leads Mollema by 1:47 overall, with Briton Adam Yates in third place, 2:45 back.

''I'm very happy with my time trial, I have more room to breathe, but the Tour is not over, there is a long way to go.''

Seventh overall last year, Mollema is a strong allrounder with excellent climbing abilities, and rides for the Trek-Segafredo team.

He could be even closer to the yellow jersey if the race jury had not reinstated Froome at the top of the standings following the chaotic Mont Ventoux stage marred by a motorbike incident.

Richie Porte hit a TV motorbike, and Mollema and Froome also crashed. Mollema was unscathed and crossed the finish line first, but race officials ultimately awarded Porte and Froome the same time as the Dutchman, calling the incident ''exceptional circumstances.''

Froome defended the jury's decision on Saturday.

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''That moto caused the accident for us, it would be a shame if the race was so heavily influenced by an incident like that,'' he said. ''I feel they made the right decision.''

Despite Quintana's lack of impact on the race so far, Froome remains fearful of the Colombian's reaction in the Alps.

''No doubt he is going to attack in the Alps. If Nairo's history has anything to go by, we know he's very strong in the last week, he is going to be trying,'' Froome said. ''My expectations for the last week are that it will be a very testing week, probably tougher than what we had up until now.''
By Daniel Trotta

CLEVELAND, July 15 (Reuters) - A handful of donors to the Republican National Convention have withdrawn pledges and fund-raising has stalled during Donald Trump's polarizing bid for the presidency, leading organizers to ask casino mogul Sheldon Adelson for an urgent donation.

The Cleveland 2016 Host Committee said in a statement on Friday it had approached Adelson, a generous party benefactor, while also acknowledging its fund-raising has come to a virtual standstill, leaving a $6 million shortfall.

"Negative publicity around our potential nominee resulted in a considerable number of pledges backing out from their commitments," the Host Committee said in a letter it sent to Adelson, according to the political news website Politico, which said it had obtained the letter.

The Host Committee on Friday confirmed such a letter was sent to Adelson and his wife, Miriam Adelson, but it downgraded the withdrawn pledges from "considerable" to "a handful." It said the hastily sent original letter "mischaracterized" the status of some donations. Some companies identified in the letter as having backed out said on Friday they had never made such pledges.

"Unfortunately, this letter (to Adelson) was not reviewed nor authorized by the Host Committee chairpersons, and it mischaracterized certain donations from individuals and corporations," the statement said.

"Some of what were referred to as pledges were actually expectations based on pledges made to previous conventions, while a handful had been withdrawn from the Host Committee for 2016 Republican National Convention," it said.

The committee said it had apologized to the Adelsons' staff.

Host Committee officials on Friday declined to comment beyond the official statement, leaving open the question of which donors reneged. Donations will be disclosed after the convention in U.S. Federal Election Commission filings.

The statement, from Host Committee Chief Executive David Gilbert, also said the committee had raised $58.25 million to date, about $6 million short of its goal of $64 million to cover expenses for the four-day convention that starts Monday in Cleveland, where Trump is expected to receive the Republican presidential nomination.

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A month ago, a committee spokeswoman said $57.5 million had been raised.

The Politico report, citing the letter, said David Koch, like Adelson a wealthy donor to conservative causes, and Coca-Cola each withdrew a pledge of $1 million. Koch and Coke representatives told the Wall Street Journal they never made such pledges. Coke previously said it donated $75,000 last year.

Visa, cited in the letter as having backed out of a $100,000 pledge, said in a statement it never made a pledge.

FedEx and BP were named in the letter as withdrawing support but also told the Journal they had not made the stated commitments.

Other marquee companies were also named but did not respond to Reuters queries after business hours on Friday. Representatives for the Adelsons could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last month activists disturbed by Trump's campaign and led by the political arm of California-based advocacy group Color of Change launched an effort to try to shame companies into dropping sponsorships.

It was unclear if that effort, which targeted more than 30 companies, had an impact.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Additional reporting by David Greising; Editing by Andrew Hay)
From the beginning, director Paul Feig has insisted his female-fronted Ghostbusters existed in an alternate universe where the events of the original 1984 bro-powered blockbuster never happened. No Keymaster. No streams crossed. No Stay Puft Marshmallow Man laying waste to the Upper West Side. But that doesnt mean the new Ghostbusters ignores its predecessor. Feig has stuffed his film, arriving in theaters this weekend, with callbacks, cameos, and Easter eggs that fully embrace the Ivan Reitman-helmed classic. Weve assembled a viewers guide to the most notable homages to watch out for; be warned, however: there are spoilers galore below, so bookmark this page for repeat trips to the cineplex.

The OG Ghostbusters

We knew that all the surviving stars from the 1984 film save Rick Keymaster Moranis were going to appear in the new version; what we didnt know was how Feig and cohorts would also pay tribute to the late Harold Ramis. Ramis, who co-wrote the original with Dan Aykroyd and played the teams tech whiz Egon Spengler, died in 2014 at age 69. But he gets lots of love in Ghostbusters. The film is dedicated to him. His son Daniel appears in a concert scene, billed as Metal Head, per IMDb. And best of all, he even gets some face time. When Columbia Dean Harold Filmore (Charles Dance) pays a visit to Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) reminding her that her big tenure review is coming up, the camera lingers on a bust in the hallway outside her office. Its Ramis. Keep your eyes peeled  its easy to miss if youre not paying attention.



More: How the Ghostbusters Team Landed All Those Cameos

Bill Murray, whose Peter Venkman was the undeniable star of the 1984 movie, clocks the most screen time of any of the original cast. He plays Martin Heiss, a famous skeptic out to debunk the claims of the Ghostbusters. He appears in two scenes: once on a TV news show and then later in the film when he turns up at the teams HQ, where he makes the fatal error of unleashing a trapped ghost.

Story continues

Annie Potts (put-upon secretary Janine Melnitz) surfaces as the apathetic desk clerk at the Mercado Hotel, the Manhattan establishment that is spook central.

Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd in 1984 Ghostbusters (Columbia Pictures)

Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz) briefly rolls in as a cabbie during the climactic spirit invasion of Times Square, noting the Class 5 Golden Vapors [are] nothing to worry about before announcing, I dont go to Chinatown, I dont drive wackos, and I aint afraid of no ghosts.

Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddmore) turns up at the very end, playing the uncle who comes looking for the ill-fated hearse he loaned his niece Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones). She informs him its on the other side (Jersey? comes the reply), and tells him hell just have to make due with one hearse and double up on the bodies. What? Im not stacking them like flapjacks! he says as the credits start to roll and the theme music plays.

Finally, Sigourney Weaver (the possessed Dana Barrett) arrives during the beginning of the credits. She plays Jillian Holtzmanns mentor, a character named Rebecca Gorin. After proclaiming that her equipment is dangerous, they bond over their shared derring-do: Safety lights are for dudes.

The Theme Song

After the prologue, Ray Parker Jr.s theme is briefly played; its reprised in an instrumental version as the Ghostbusters roll into action at the start of the third act and at the beginning of the credits before giving way to the Fall Out Boy-Missy Elliott remake, which is also is heard during the movie.

The Gear

Like Winston said in 84, We have the tools, we have the talent. Updated versions of the classic jumpsuits, proton packs, PKE (psycho-kinetic energy) meters, ghost traps, and ecto goggles are present, all creations of Holtzmann, the spiritual successor to Spengler.

The Logo

The seminal Ghostbusters logo returns, but this time we get a backstory. Holtzmann is inspired to adopt the image after a subway hoodlum (Nate Corddry) spray-paints it on the wall.

The secret origin of the seminal symbol is revealed (Sony Pictures)

The Ride

The logo adorns the teams uniforms and their newfangled Ectomobile. While the old-school vehicle was a pimped-out 1958 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance rescued from a salvage yard, the latest is a 1980s Caddy hearse wagon (sorry, Uncle Bill!). Both share the ECTO-1 license plate.

The new Ectomobile accessorized with ghostly hood ornament (Sony Pictures)

The HQ



After getting booted from academia, the OG crew wound up hanging their shingle in a New York firehouse, Hook and Ladder Company 8, bankrolled by Ray. The new film gives a nod to the location, as a Realtor shows the same space to the team, which is excited to shack up there until they learn the rent will be $21K a month. At the films conclusion, newly flush with funds from the city, the Ghostbusters finally set up shop at the firehouse.

Hook & Ladder Company 8 is back (Sony Pictures)

The Ghosts

The key spirits from 1984 are back. Slimer materializes during the climactic attack on Times Square, hijacking the Ecto-1 and taking it for a joy ride.

Slimer finds love and more hot dogs in new Ghostbusters (Sony Pictures)

When he reappears, he has acquired a lady friend, who looks just like him except with a blond wig. Mr. Stay Puft returns as one of the creepy balloons that terrorize the streets of Times Square. Kristen Wiig gets slimed. And the logo ghost gets supersized into the biggest, baddest of the spirits in the final showdown.

The logo ghost terrorizes Times Square (Sony Pictures)

During the post-credit tag, Patty listens to a recording from a purported haunted house, turns to the team, and says, Whats Zuul?  not only setting up a potential sequel, but also paying tribute to the apocalyptic demon that possesses Sigourney Weaver and wreaks havoc on New York in the original.

The Other Cameos

Whereas the 1984 film was stocked with appearances by Larry King, Joe Franklin, and Casey Kasem as themselves, the new version features Al Roker, New York TV fixture Pat Kiernan, and Ozzy Osbourne. Poor Ozzys part was recorded before his split with wife Sharon, adding an unintended poignancy to his line reading of Sharon, I think Im having another flashback.

Pat Kiernan (above) and Al Roker (below) pop up in new Ghostbusters (Sony Pictures)
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias cut short his visit to the Asia-Europe summit in Mongolia on Friday due to unfolding developments in Turkey, a Greek government official said. Turkey's military said in a statement earlier on Friday that it had taken power to restore order and democratic rights. President Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials have described the coup as an attempt by a small faction within the military to seize power, saying it would be defeated. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has discussed the situation in Turkey with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, the official said. Cyprus was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup. A Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the island is recognized only by Ankara, and the two sides are now engaged in reunification talks. By late Friday evening, crossings between the north and the south of the island, supervised in part by Turkish Cypriot police under the command of the Turkish military, was unobstructed, a Reuters witness said. (Reporting By Michele Kambas)
In a brief filed late Friday afternoon, attorneys for former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson have urged court officials against moving her sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes from a public court into a secret arbitration proceeding.



In a statement previously obtained by PEOPLE, Ailes' lawyers had claimed earlier this week that "Gretchen Carlson had an arbitration clause in her contract, stating that any employment dispute regarding her employment at Fox News must be done via confidential arbitration."



"Because Ms. Carlson's lawsuit violated the arbitration clause, a motion was filed in federal court to have the case arbitrated. The federal court is the proper court to decide the motion because Ms. Carlson's primary residence is in Connecticut and Mr. Ailes' primary residence is in New York," the statement read.



But the new brief filed by Carlson's attorneys late Friday disputes that, claiming that Carlson's employment contract was solely with the network  not with Ailes himself.







"In the contract's first paragraph, Fox specifically identifies the only parties as 'Gretchen Carlson ('Performer') and Fox News Network LLC ('Fox')," the statement reads. "The Contract does not define 'Fox' to include any officers and executives such as Roger Ailes, although executive contracts typically have such inclusive language."



The brief also goes onto say that the arbitration clause in Carlson's employment contract does not specifically ensure the benefit of Roger Ailes or any specific individual: "Employers who want to bind officers, executives, managers, and other employees to the employment contract or the arbitration clause do so by explicitly including them. Fox specifically chose not to do so.



"It would be grossly inequitable, asymmetrical and contrary [to require] Carlson to secretly arbitrate against Ailes while permitting Ailes to publicly sue employees in open court," the statement continues.



It also argues that Carlson's sexual harassment and retaliation claims are not based on her contract with Fox, but fall under New York City Human Rights Law, saying that she does not "seek any contractual remedies."



Finally, it says that even if an arbitration clause were applicable, Ailes forfeited the right to enforce it by violating the confidentiality clause after leaking material about the case "in an attempt to smear" Carlson.



" Gretchen Carlson's allegations are false," Ailes previously said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "This is a retaliatory suit for the network's decision not to renew her contract, which was due to the fact that her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon lineup. When Fox News did not commence any negotiations to renew her contract, Ms. Carlson became aware that her career with the network was likely over and conveniently began to pursue a lawsuit."



Adding, "Ironically, FOX News provided her with more on-air opportunities over her 11-year tenure than any other employer in the industry, for which she thanked me in her recent book. This defamatory lawsuit is not only offensive, it is wholly without merit and will be defended vigorously."



A representative for Nancy Smith and Martin Hyman, co-counsel for Carlson, told PEOPLE that the lawyers will file another brief on Monday that "objects to Ailes' illegal and inappropriate judge shopping by trying to move the case out of New Jersey federal court."



"After invoking jurisdiction of the New Jersey federal court and filing a motion there, Mr. Ailes decided that he doesn't like the judge assigned to this case and he illegally is attempting to judge shop by now seeking to move the lawsuit to another jurisdiction," Smith and Hyman say in a statement. "We feel confident that the law will not allow such maneuvering."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-based organization close to Turkish Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen denied involvement in Friday's coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan. "We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey," the Alliance for Shared Values group said in a statement. "Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible," it said. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a television interview that members of the movement loyal to Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, were involved in the attempted military takeover. (Reporting by Alistair Bell; Editing by Mary Milliken)
The Star Wars Celebration kicked off Friday in London, England, and while thousands of fans gathered to celebrate all things Star Wars, another recent event weighed heavy on the minds of many.

Gwendoline Christie -- who plays Captain Phasma in the newest Star Wars trilogy, and was on hand to moderate the panel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story -- led a powerful moment of silence in tribute to the victims of the recent terror attack in Nice, France.

WATCH: Sylvester Stallone Shares Photo Taken Moments Before 'Cowardly' Attack in Nice, France

"I'd like to just take a moment. It's impossible to sit here today at celebration, particularly at an event called Celebration, without thinking of the terrible events that happened not far from here," Christie began, ahead of the Rogue One panel.

"On behalf of everyone, our hearts go out to the people in Nice and France. I know there are so many people here," she said, before being interrupted by applause. "I'd like us all to take a moment to send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers."

After the moment of silence, Christie looked up from the crowd, welcomed by a rendition of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise. Thousands of celebration-goers and fans joined together to pay tribute to the tragedy with song.

According to ET's Ashley Crossan, who was at the panel covering the Star Wars Celebration, the tribute was so powerful it brought many to tears, and ended in overwhelming applause.

After her emotional tribute, it seems Christie was able to relax and enjoy her experience at the celebration.

"Thank you @starwars #StarWarsCelebration #RogueOne for having me moderate the panel!!!!!!!!!!" she posted to Twitter, along with a photo of herself with the Rogue One cast. "It was INCREDIBLE!!"

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters Dec. 16.

NEWS: Rihanna Cancels Concert in Nice, France Following Bastille Day Terror Attack

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See how more celebs have kept Nice in their thoughts and prayers in the video below.

Related Articles
Saint Petersburg (AFP) - Russian cruiser Aurora, whose salvo against the Winter Palace sounded the start of the 1917 revolution, returned to its mooring in Saint Petersburg Saturday after a year-and-a-half of restoration work.

Several hundred people gathered at night on the banks of the River Neva, which flows through the former imperial capital, to see the Aurora towed from the Kronstadt naval shipyard to its traditional mooring in front of the Winter Palace.

The schedule on which the drawbridges across the Neva are usually raised were changed to allow the passage of the historic ship.

On October 25, 1917, the cruiser, largely crewed by Bolsheviks, fired a blank shot at the Winter Palace, then the seat of the provisional government, signalling the start of the October Revolution.

Restored after World War II, the ship was docked on the Neva in 1957 and opened to the public as a museum, receiving millions of visitors.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has retained its status as a tourist attraction in the former imperial capital.

Despite the presence of its military crew, it has also served in many less conventional events such as private parties and as the set of a pornographic film, according to local media.

In September 2014, the ship, which had participated in the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War and World War I, left its mooring for the first time since 1987 to undergo restoration work.

The body of the ship was restored including the bridge and a fire prevention system installed, the navy museum said, adding that the work cost 840 million roubles (nearly $13 million).

The ship, which features a permanent exhibition of items from the Russo-Japanese War and World War I and is still officially part of the navy, is due to reopen to the public on July 31.
Villars-les-Dombes (France) (AFP) - German Marcel Kittel insisted he was still the top sprinter despite again being beaten by Mark Cavendish in a controversial finish at the Tour de France on Saturday.

Kittel was the dominant sprinter in 2013 and 2014, winning four stages at the Tour in both editions.

Yet so far this year he's managed only one stage victory while Cavendish claimed his fourth at the end of the 208.5km 14th stage.

The German was unhappy that his British rival seemed to swerve in front of him in the finishing straight, but the race jury decided Cavendish had done nothing wrong.

"For sure right now I'm a bigger champion than Cav -- I will not point the finger at him," said the 28-year-old Etixx sprinter.

"But his action influenced the result. Whatever I think is fair cannot be the same as the jury."

Kittel was beaten into second by Cavendish on the opening and sixth stages but he did edge Frenchman Bryan Coquard in a photo-finish on stage four.

On Saturday he finished fifth after sitting up to remonstrate after Cavendish crossed in front of him.

"I could have finished higher than fifth today," he complained.

"If you look at the road markings then it's clear that he came out of my slipstream and turned to the right.

"I had to brake and swerve to avoid falling down."

Cavendish unsurprisingly saw things differently.

"It's him who came off the barriers more than anything," insisted the 31-year-old Dimension Data rider.

Kittel was hugging the right-hand side of the course in the sprint finish as the road bore slightly round to the right.

Cavendish launched his sprint from Kittel's slipstream as the German started to drift away from the barriers.

As he got clear of Kittel, Cavendish did jerk slightly to his right, but there was room there for Kittel to move back towards the barriers.

Cavendish's weave seemed to surprise Kittel, though, and he was forced to take evasive action.

Story continues

By the time it happened, though, Cavendish believed he had the German already beaten.

"I knew Kittel would be left on the front quite soon into the headwind. So I knew I had to wait, wait, wait and let him die and then come around," said the winner of 30 Tour stages since 2008.

"I jumped around him and obviously it bent over to the right and he's kicked off a little bit, but I was way past him by then.

"I don't figure there's anything wrong there. I think he was just frustrated."
Editor's note: The Center for Public Integritys money-in-politics reporting team is bringing you news from the Republican National Convention  focusing on special-interest influence, big-money politicking and corporate schmoozing. Senior political reporter Dave Levinthal is on the ground in Cleveland. Please check back regularly as this article will be updated throughout the week. Click here to read our coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

Donald Trump's campaign war chest by the numbers:

$91M raised

55% from own funds

27% from small-dollar donors

18% from donors giving $200+  Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) July 22, 2016

Trump is bashing special interests & lobbyists.



He's also embracing them in a bid to raise campaign cash https://t.co/Jbs734RL9W #RNCinCLE  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 22, 2016

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

FREAKING OUT?

8:40 p.m. Thursday, July 21: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which isn't shy about blasting hyperbolic fundraising emails to its supporters, is out with a whopper tonight as the Republican National Convention conducts its final night in Cleveland.

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With a subject line of "giving up hope," the message states: "We're FREAKING out. Trump is leading in the polls. Hes dominating in fundraising. And tonight, he is actually going to become the Republican nominee."

It's arguable that Democrats have gone into freak mode.

Trump is leading in a few, but not most, recent polls.

And technically, Trump became the Republican nominee Tuesday and will ceremonially accept that nomination tonight.

But what's clearly not the case is that Trump is dominating Clinton in fundraising.

As the Center for Public Integrity reported today, Clinton has raised more money than Trump, and her campaign has spent tens of millions of dollars more, too.

Likewise, the Clinton campaign has a significant advantage in available cash.

Finally, pro-Clinton super PACs have raised and spent exponentially more cash so far this election when compared to pro-Trump super PACs.

Any reasonable way one parses it, the DCCC's statement about Trump's fundraising is simply not true.

 Dave Levinthal

Reminder that the 'Citizens United' case began when filmmaker sued to freely show anti-Clinton movie during election pic.twitter.com/LeXzdmnJkA  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 21, 2016

 Dave Levinthal

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

The Center for Public Integrity's Dave Levinthal interviews Walt Hickey of FiveThirtyEight, who has 3 significant digits related to the Republican National Convention. For more coverage of the convention, go here: https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/07/16/19924/influence-diaries-dispatches-republican-national-convention Posted by Dave Levinthal on Thursday, July 21, 2016

IN CLEVELAND, A TALE OF TWO FEC COMMISSIONERS

1:52 p.m. Thursday, July 21, 2016: It wasnt many weeks ago that Ann Ravel, a Democratic appointee to the Federal Election Commission, was dodging a new round of death threats and Drudge Report headlines after suggesting  much to some conservatives chagrin  her agency should explore tightening rules that govern online political advertising.

But here Ravel is in Cleveland, having never before attended a national political convention  Democratic or Republican.

So, first things first, Commissioner Ravel: are you a masochist?

I feel safe, she said, smiling  then acknowledging her family wasnt jazzed about her attending. There are so many police officers here, and they are all wonderful.

Ravel traveled to the Republican National Convention along with four of her FEC commissioner colleagues because, she says, determining the role money plays in politics is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue.

Trump has said that himself during his campaign, Ravel noted. Trump  his support came in part because he said he wasnt beholden to other people with lots of money.

Ravel is hitting several bipartisan-themed, outside-the-convention-bubble events being conducted this week and plans to evangelize her philosophy of political transparency to any and all who will listen.

For one, Ravel was the only FEC commissioner  and one of the few attendees of any sort  at a Monday rally in Clevelands Public Square conducted by conservative money-in-politics reformer John Pudner of Take Back Our Republic and businessman Morris Pearl of bipartisan advocacy group Patriotic Millionaires.

Ravel, who joined the often-gridlocked FEC in late 2013 and served as the agencys chairwoman during 2015, is also planning to attend the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia.

Opposite Ravel is Lee Goodman, a Republican FEC commissioner and agency chairman in 2014  and very much a national convention veteran during his years working as a lawyer in party politics and private practice.

In 2012, a year before he joined the FEC, Goodman provided legal counsel to also-ran Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, whose supporters agitated for recognition during that years Republican National Convention.

For Goodman, this years Republican National Convention is an opportunity to re-connect with political practitioners and election law types  Im simply here as an interested observer, he said.

Its healthy, Goodman said, for FEC commissioners of any political persuasion to get out of the Washington, D.C., bubble from time to time, and see party politics in action. He doesnt have a rigid schedule for himself  some informal meetings, a few get-togethers, strolling around the convention grounds.

As a commissioner, Goodman has advocated for rules and regulations that help strengthen local, state and national party committees in this post-Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission era of politicking, in which super PACs and certain nonprofit groups often supersede party organizations in fundraising because of their ability to collect unlimited amounts of money. (Federal laws mandate that party committees must raise their cash in limited increments.)

A victory for Goodmans philosophy stands in action here at the Republican National Convention, as the Republican Party has raised millions of dollars through a new kind of political fundraising account parties may use specifically for conducting political conventions. When it comes to raising cash for these accounts, Republicans have dominated Democrats, as the Center for Public Integrity noted Wednesday.

Goodman says hed love to attend the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia but will instead be in North Carolina for a long-standing family vacation.

 Dave Levinthal

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CLINTON OUTRAISING TRUMP BY 3-1 MARGIN

11:15 a.m. Thursday, July 21: Some sobering news from the Federal Election Commission as partygoers in Cleveland await the appearance of the star of the show: new fundraising numbers are in for the candidates and for Donald Trump, they do not look good. Hillary Clinton has a huge fundraising advantage. See details on this, plus many more tidbits from last night's campaign finance filings thanks to Michael Beckel. Go here to check out his latest report.

 John Dunbar

CRUZIN' FOR A BRUISING

10:31 a.m. Thursday, July 21: When Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, declined to endorse  or even mention  Donald Trump during his speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention, the assembled delegates gave this ardent foe of New York values an arena-rumbling Bronx cheer.

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal recaps this blow-up and other convention developments in an interview this morning with WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo. Listen here.

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THE BILL, PLEASE

10:54 p.m., Wednesday, July 20: Someone has to pay for all those balloons. On the eve of the conventions, Republicans continue to vastly outstrip Democrats in amassing contributions to the new party convention accounts meant to help pay for the coronations in Cleveland and Philadelphia this month, according to newly filed campaign finance reports.

Republicans reported raising about $3.7 million in June. Major donors included New York investor Anthony Scaramucci and casino owner Phil Ruffin, who also spoke at the Republican National Convention tonight. The Republican Party has now reported raising roughly $19 million for its convention account so far this election cycle.

Democrats reported just a tenth of what Republicans did in June  $337,400. The DNCs major donors last month included Laura Ricketts, a member of the family that owns the Chicago Cubs, and political action committees for defense contractor Honeywell, retailer Wal-Mart and the American Federation of Teachers labor union. Democrats have now raised about $5.3 million for their convention fund.

Political parties at one time received $18 million each in public funding for their conventions, in addition to money earmarked for security. But Congress eliminated this funding in 2014. To make it up, lawmakers created special convention accounts for each political party, allowing individuals to contribute $100,200 and political action committees to kick in $45,000. Thats in addition to other contributions to the party.

Corporations and unions may not give directly to these accounts, although political action committees they sponsor may do so.

 Carrie Levine

WHY DID DCS DEMOCRATIC MAYOR GO TO THE RNC CONVENTION? TO LOBBY FOR STATEHOOD, OF COURSE

8:54 p.m. Wednesday, July 20: It was a curious scene Tuesday in Cleveland: There was Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, at a private event hosted by black Republicans from Florida, mingling with a crowd that included the likes of former Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Herman Cain and Donald Trump adviser Omarosa Manigault.

Bowser, of course, is a Democrat  and a vocal supporter of Hillary Clinton. She was personally endorsed during her most recent mayoral campaign by President Barack Obama.

So why was she at the Cest La Vie Lounge in Cleveland, at a party co-sponsored by liquor company Cruzan Rum, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and private prison operator GEO Group?

As part of an effort to lobby anyone and everyone she can to support D.C. statehood.

As she did throughout her day in Cleveland, Mayor Bowser took the opportunity to promote the Districts efforts for statehood, Rob Hawkins, Bowsers deputy chief of staff, told the Center for Public Integrity.

Hawkins added that Bowser attended the event at the invitation of Maryland State Senator Catherine Pugh, the Democratic nominee for mayor of Baltimore.

Bowsers pitch to Republicans may be a tough sell.

The Republican Party platform officially calls for the District of Columbia to be maintained as is  and explicitly rejects statehood.

Statehood for the District can be advanced only by a constitutional amendment, the GOP platform states. A statehood amendment was soundly rejected by the states when last proposed in 1976 and should not be revived.

D.C.s residents are overwhelmingly Democrats. And an early draft of the Democratic Party platform supports, D.C. statehood.

Bowser argues that D.C. could achieve statehood via Congress and without a constitutional amendment  something that requires a two-thirds vote of Congress, plus the approval of three-fourths of state legislatures for ratification.

 Dave Levinthal and Michael Beckel

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THANK YOU. LEAVE NOW.

7:32 p.m. Wednesday, July 20: The American West wants you to enjoy its hospitality  make Wyoming your home away from home!  and experience its natural wonders.

But the Western Caucus Foundation  a little-known nonprofit group whose honorary chairs are Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo.  had no interest in welcoming a reporter interested in experiencing how its members interact with wealthy special interests.

Heres what happened:

The Western Caucus Foundation was today conducting a Red, White and Western Whiskey & BBQ Reception at Mabels BBQ in downtown Cleveland, just outside the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena.

A flier obtained by the Center for Public Integrity advertised the event as an opportunity for invited guests to meet with members of Congress.

This reporter walked up, presented the invitation on his iPhone to a security guard, announced himself by name and organization and proceeded inside without issue.

A handful of people milled about, chatting and ordering drinks. The doors to the 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. event had just opened, and no formal program had yet begun.

About a minute later, another security guard, earpiece in ear, approached.

Youre not on the list, and you must leave, he said.

What list?

The list youre not on.

OK. Could I speak to an event organizer?

You can speak to him, the security guard said, pointing to, and motioning over, a police officer.

Thank you. Leave now, the security guard said and opened the restaurants door.

The reporter left.

Its unclear who sponsored and funded todays event. There were no banners or placards visible in the restaurants foyer that listed its financial backers.

The event flier encouraged potential financial backers to contact two event officials listed regarding support opportunities.

Formed in 2013 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural exchange organization, the Western Caucus Foundation counts Republicans lawmakers of the Senate Western Caucus and House Western Caucus among its members. Individuals, corporations and other nonprofits may donate to the group and receive a tax credit for doing so.

The Western Caucus Foundation describes itself as the voice of the West and its mission as informing and educating policy makers and the public on federal policy issues distinctive to western and rural communities. It says it is committed to advancing the following key principles: protecting private property, strengthening local control, promoting economic growth and increasing energy independence.

Here in Cleveland, dozens of different organizations led by politicians or political operatives are conducting events for special interests with a financial or ideological interest in gaining access to lawmakers and political power brokers. And the special interests are all too willing to pay good money for the privilege.

No cash? No access.

Next week in Philadelphia, when Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate, much of the same is slated to occur.

 Dave Levinthal

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VETERANS' SUPER PAC BLASTS TRUMP

11:38 a.m. Wednesday, July 20: A left-leaning veterans organization, backed by unions, made its first ad buy of this election cycle last week, telling voters that Donald Trump is too dangerous for America. See the latest from the Center for Public Integrity's Source Check file, where we look at political ads and identify who funds them.

 John Dunbar

TRUMP CONVENTION TRAIN BACK ON TRACK?

9:54 a.m. Wednesday, July 20: After a wacky Monday sullied by accusations of Donald Trump's wife, Melania, plagiarizing first lady Michelle Obama, Republican National Convention speakers largely trained their anger on one person: Hillary Clinton.

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal in Cleveland gives a recap in this interview on WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo, N.Y. Listen here.

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DC Mayor Muriel Bowser at party tonight at lounge outside #RNCinCLE, hosted by Black Republican Caucus of Florida pic.twitter.com/ZDI1DphBju  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 20, 2016

Drugs, booze and politics on tap today at party outside #RNCinCLE, hosted by Black Republican Caucus of Florida pic.twitter.com/lccOOKQd22  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 20, 2016

DRUG, BOOZE AND PRISON INTERESTS THROW BLACK REPUBLICANS A PARTY IN CLEVELAND

11:05 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: As Donald Trump officially clinched the GOP presidential nomination Tuesday night, a group of about 100 loyal Republicans werent inside Quicken Loans Arena watching history get made.

Instead, they were across Clevelands downtown at a swank private party co-sponsored by liquor company Cruzan Rum, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and private prison operator GEO Group.

Hosted by the Republican Black Caucus of Florida, the gathering at Cest La Vie Lounge featured free drinks and plenty of smiles among attendees, particularly when former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and wife Candy arrived and graciously entertained countless rounds of small talk and selfies.

Herman Cain, the pizza mogul who briefly led polls in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, also showed up. So did former Rep. Allen West, R-Fla. Even Washington, D.C.s decidedly Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, made a brief cameo as partygoers mingled, traded business cards and chatted atop white leather couches.

When approached by the Center for Public Integrity, a half-dozen attendees declined to identify themselves or comment about the event.

But Paul Berry III, a congressional candidate in Missouris St. Louis area, wasnt among them.

He said hes a proud black Republican and a member of a group thats growing. He panned any notion peddled by liberals that the Republican Party doesnt represent black Americans interests or that, as a Democratic fundraising email today suggested, condones racism in its ranks.

Thats completely untrue, Berry said. If it were true, I wouldnt exist as a candidate.

The events loose theme  speeches were kept short, so not to squelch socializing  was inclusiveness in the Republican Party.

Event organizers had billed the affair as featuring Trumps children  Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump  but they didnt attend, instead staying put at the convention hall as delegates formally casted their votes for their father.

Omarosa Manigault, the Trump campaigns director of African American outreach, hung out for the first half of the event.

There is enough room in the tent, she said about black Americans interested in joining the Republican Party. Republicans celebrate diversity.

Sean P. Jackson, chairman of Black Republican Caucus of Florida, wholeheartedly agreed.

Trump, Jackson said, embodies those values.

A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for integrity  for restored dignity, Jackson told the crowd as he stood in front of a sponsorship board that named the aforementioned corporate sponsors, as well as the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

So about those sponsors. What do they get out of the event?

Those sponsors believe in the mission of inclusiveness, which is why were so glad to have a relationship with them, Jackson said.

The Black Republican Caucus of Florida describes its mission as achieving community action through the dissemination of conservative values, in a combined effort with elected officials and community leaders and working tirelessly to empower all walks of life to embrace their God-given potential and take personal responsibility for their lives and their desired prosperity in their respective pursuit of happiness.

 Dave Levinthal

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MONEY MAKES THE SHOW GO ON

7:40 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: Both the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention are largely privately funded affairs in 2016, with donors getting access and seeking influence.

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal discussed the money behind the conventions today with CNN's Hala Gorani. Watch their conversation here.

WHO'S BEHIND TRUMP'S NEW SUPER PAC ATTACK DOG?

7:12 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: A pro-Donald Trump super PAC called Rebuilding America Now has positioned itself as an attack dog, unafraid to take shots at Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

However, Rebuilding America Now is not yet the giant it dreams of being.

Officials with the group say they will raise more than $60 million before Election Day. Campaign finance documents show the group has so far raised $2.16 million  with $2 million of that coming from developer Geoffrey Palmer.

Wealthy real estate investor Tom Barrack, a longtime friend of Trump's who helped launch the super PAC, is slated to be one of the featured speakers at the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

Who else is behind the group? The Center for Public Integrity took a look here.

 Michael Beckel

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Rep Steve King's comments about whites & civilization quickly turned into fundraising email by Hillary Clinton & DNC pic.twitter.com/u0uU8V1DgN  Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) July 19, 2016

 Michael Beckel

CLINTON RAISES CASH OFF REPUBLICAN 'WHITE SUPREMACY'

5:11 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: In a bid to raise money in the midst of the Republican National Convention, the Hillary Victory Fund  a joint fundraising committee involving Democrat Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and a gaggle of state party committees  is accusing the Republican Party of promoting "white supremacy."

Reads an email Tuesday afternoon to supporters: "Yesterday, Republican Congressman Steve King went on TV and asked whether 'any other subgroup of people' had 'contribute[d] more to civilization' than white people ... these kind of bigoted and divisive comments have become the status quo in Donald Trump's Republican Party."

Above the message sits a big, red "CONTRIBUTE" button. Below it, options to donate several specific amounts to the Democratic fundraising operation, from $3 to $100.

Republican Party officials at the Republican National Convention couldn't immediately be reached for comment about the Democrats' email.

Omarosa Manigault, who serves as the Trump campaign's director of African American outreach, declined to answer questions about the fundraising message when the Center for Public Integrity spoke with her at a private party for black Republicans Tuesday near Quicken Loans Arena, where the GOP convention is being conducted.

"I'm not going to talk about it here, at this event," she said, saying she'd consider speaking about the matter by phone later in the evening.

 Dave Levinthal

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Dave Levinthal of The Center for Public Integrity shows you what it's like to walk on the Republican National Convention floor. Go along for a tour. Posted by Dave Levinthal at 3:23 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, 2016

RNC PLATFORM AT ODDS WITH TRUMP ON MONEY IN POLITICS

3:20 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: Raising or repealing contribution limits. Opposing the identification of donors. Ending restrictions on political parties.

Despite criticism of the role money plays in politics from presumptive nominee Donald Trump (though hes walked that back lately), the Republican Party platform, adopted by delegates this week, endorses lifting just about all restrictions on political spending.

Freedom of speech includes the right to devote resources to whatever cause or candidate one supports, it reads.

Several restrictions echo the GOPs 2012 platform, including raising or repealing contribution limits, but there are some differences.

For example, the 2012 platform called for repeal of the remaining sections of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, often referred to as McCain-Feingold, after its chief Senate sponsors.

The Supreme Courts 2014 decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission overturned parts of that law, so the current platform now calls for removing remaining restrictions on political parties  something GOP delegate Jim Bopp of Indiana, a prominent campaign finance lawyer, is trying to do via the courts.

The current platform also has language saying the forced funding of political candidates through union dues and other mandatory contributions violates the First Amendment.

 Carrie Levine

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OFF-SCRIPT INSIDE, TENSIONS OUTSIDE

2:24 p.m. Tuesday, July 19: Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal spoke with Arnie Arnesen of WNHN-FM 94.7 live from Cleveland about the latest developments at the Republican National Convention, both on and off the convention floor.

Listen here to the interview, and begin the clip at the 28:30 mark.

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OOPS  RICK PERRY WANTS YOU TO FORGET HIS TRUMP ANGST

10:54 a.m. Tuesday, July 19: Nearly a year ago today, Donald Trump found himself weathering withering attacks from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, then himself a Republican presidential candidate  albeit one struggling to attract financial or moral support. (Perry would soon become the first Republican presidential candidate to quit Election 2016.)

Trumps candidacy, Perry declared, was a cancer on conservatism  one that must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded. Trump, Perry continued, offers voters no more than a barking carnival act that can best be described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued.

Flash forward to Monday night. As Perry took the the Republican National Conventions stage in Cleveland, he did not look to be a man straddling Hells highway while introducing another speaker, former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

Perry  who in May endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee  borrowed Trumps slogan in last night declaring: Tonight, our commitment is this: making America great again starts by taking care of our veterans.

Just one problem: That cancer on conservatism statement Perry made last year? Perry still had it posted on his website, even as he participated in Trumps nomination coronation.

About an hour after the Center for Public Integrity noted this fact in a tweet, Perrys anti-Trump screed disappeared from RickPerry.org.

Aides to Perry didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

 Dave Levinthal

COPYCAT CONVENTION SPEECH?

9:54 a.m. Tuesday, July 19: Monday night at the Republican National Convention didnt lack high drama  and not all of it reflected positively on Republicans, particularly if your name is Melania Trump.

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal offers this recap on WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo, N.Y. Listen here.

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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE $$$

9:12 a.m. Tuesday, July 19: For retired Col. Rob Maness, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Louisiana, the real action at the Republican National Convention is everywhere but the Quicken Loans Arena.

Maness tells the Center for Public Integrity he's hitting "about 35" fundraisers and other events during the convention in an effort to boost his bid. Read the full story about his fundraising at the convention here.

 Dave Levinthal

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Two rallies, opposite sides of Public Square near #RNCinCLE.



Guess which one is about campaign $ reform? pic.twitter.com/tZxHc2IIBr  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 18, 2016

WHOS ADDICTED TO BIG MONEY IN POLITICS?

8:51 p.m. Monday, July 18: Its tough out there for conservative campaign finance reformers attending the Republican National Convention.

First, John Pudner of Take Back Our Republic and Morris Pearl of Patriotic Millionaires stood suited up atop a shade-free platform in a park on a day when temperatures topped 90 degrees.

The assembled crowd numbered 15 people, perhaps 20. Several left to walk across Clevelands Public Square where a group of ultra-conservative Christian preachers were attracting attention from dozens of unappreciative passers-by  and a small army of police officers.

Then, the wind blew down the little sign Pudner and Pearl had placed by their stage to promote their talk.

It might all seem to be a metaphor for right-of-center activists bent on convincing their ideological brethren that the post-Citizens United age of big-money politics is toxic.

Campaign finance reform is most often the providence of liberals and Democrats. Congressional Republicans, in particular, have routinely rejected legislation designed to curtail political money or otherwise limit its influence on elections.

But these two conservative men stood undaunted.

Pudner railed against a political-industrial complex that leaves people of modest means on the outside of political discourse looking in.

And he challenged political candidates and special interests alike to break free of what he considers a most unhealthy relationship.

The first step of any alcoholic is to admit there is a problem, Pudner said.

He proposed several reforms he says both liberals and conservatives could agree upon. Among them: provide tax credits for political contributions to incentivize small-dollar donations from average Americans and make campaign contributions more transparent across the board.

Most importantly, Pudner said, Americans must press their own congressional representatives and local leaders to push for systematic campaign money reforms.

Said Pearl: Too many are using their political power to gain more wealth. We can change.

 Dave Levinthal

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Among @2016CLE host committee's known donors? Greeting card company @amgreetings foundation, which gave $83K in 2014 pic.twitter.com/uomqNf99Ue  Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) July 18, 2016

INSIDE OUT

6:34 p.m. Monday, July 18: There is plenty of political pageantry going down inside Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, where the Republican National Convention is taking place.

But step outside, and you'll find a world of glad-handing and deal-making that might even make a convention delegate blush.

Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal explains the situation to Arnie Arnesen on WNHN-FM 94.7 in Concord, N.H. Listen to their conversation here, and start the clip at the 31-minute mark.

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PARTY LIKE AN ELECTION REGULATOR?

12:54 p.m. Monday, July 18: Among the convention partygoers this week in Cleveland will be a quorum of the nation's top election regulators.

The Center for Public Integrity has learned that five of the six members of the Federal Election Commission are planning to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

FEC Chairman Matthew Petersen, a Republican, will not be in attendance.

Commissioners Ann Ravel, Steve Walther and Ellen Weintraub  the FEC's three Democratic appointees  also plan on attending the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week. Petersen, along with Republican commissioners Lee Goodman and Caroline Hunter, plan to skip the Democrats affair.

In Cleveland and Philadelphia, commissioners don't have formal events planned  no informational booths for curious passers-by, or, for haters, dunk tanks.

Instead, they say, the conventions will be an opportunity to interact with party activists and a time for informal discussions about campaign finance issues.

 Michael Beckel

10:59 a.m. Monday, July 18: Republican National Convention organizers do a dry run of the day's programming. Posted by Dave Levinthal on Monday, July 18, 2016

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MEANWHILE, IN PHILADELPHIA

11:20 a.m. Monday, July 18: The RNC host committee in Cleveland is still scrambling to raise those last few millions of dollars, but the DNC host committee is hitting a few bumps, too.

The Internal Revenue Service has rejected the Philadelphia host committees application for charitable, tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, which means individual donors cant take a deduction for giving to the group, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported over the weekend.

The Cleveland committee  and most past host committees  have received approval.

In an interview with the Inquirer, David L. Cohen, a Comcast executive and special adviser to the host committee, said it will appeal and is pursuing workarounds in the meantime.

At least two donors requested money back because of the uncertainty around the deduction, he said.

Cohen told the Inquirer that the host committee has an agreement with the Convention and Visitors Bureau Foundation, which does have the charitable tax status. Individual donors who need the tax deduction would donate to that foundation, which would then give a grant to the host committee. The grants would have to be used to pay for expenses in accordance with the foundations mission, promoting Philadelphia.

Anna Adams-Sarthou, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia host committee, didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from the Center for Public Integrity. Shes previously been quoted as saying the host committee might consider becoming a so-called 501(c)(6) organization, a status typically used for trade associations. Corporations would be permitted to deduct contributions necessary to their business under that status, per the tax code.

 Carrie Levine

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PREVIEWING MONDAYS REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION ACTION

9:44 a.m. July 18, 2016: Make America Secure Again  thats the theme of opening-day action in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention.

Senior political reporter Dave Levinthal, whos in Cleveland, explains to WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo, N.Y., what to expect. He also previews the people scheduled to speak at the convention Monday.

Listen here to the interview.

BATTLEGROUND OHIO

9:35 a.m. Monday, July 18: How competitive is Ohio going to be between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton in November? According to Democratic state Sen. Capri Cafaro, the answer is "very."

The Center for Public Integrity recently caught up with Cafaro, who represents an area of northeastern Ohio, to discuss why Trump is winning over many Ohioans. Read the full interview here.

 Michael Beckel

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A (good? bad?) moon rising over the #RNCinCLE welcome party pic.twitter.com/QsHErvLQET  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 18, 2016

CANT SPELL ROCK N ROLL WITHOUT R-N-C

9:49 p.m. Sunday, July 17: First, funnel a gaggle of candidates, political operatives, assorted VIPs, corporate types and Republican National Convention delegates into a (very well-secured) playground of free food and booze.

Then add the fourth-largest Great Lake to the north, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to the south and a nearly full moon above the Cleveland skyline and a crimson sunset on the water. You now have tonights Rock the Night in CLE Welcome Party.

Theres lots of mom dancing and dad dancing to Three Dog Night going on, as the musical staple of the 1970s performs its 44-year-old hit Black and White, a song inspired by the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated public schools. Bursitis and cricks in the neck rank among the bands topics of banter with the many shimmying folks who came of age during the Eisenhower administration or earlier.

Among those spotted: 2012 U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Emken of California; current U.S. Senate candidate Col. Rob Maness of Louisiana; Lakewood, Ohio Mayor Michael Summers and Royal Bank of Canada executive John Stackhouse.

Event sponsors made their presence clearly known to all revelers.

Financial headliners displayed on signs and video boards include Fifth Third Bank, KeyBank, the Cleveland Clinic, accounting titan Ernst & Young, paint giant Sherwin-Williams and Jones Day, a law firm most notable this election cycle for providing presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump his lawyers, including chief election attorney Don McGahn.

The nights most popular beer appears to be Coors  both the light and original versions are available.

 Dave Levinthal

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Playing the role of Suzy Sunshine: @DSCC

Playing the role of Arthur Apocalypse: @DCCC pic.twitter.com/Ylvhdm4c55  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 14, 2016

DEMOCRATS' MIXED MESSAGING

3:31 p.m. Sunday, July 17: As Republicans here in Cleveland ready for Cirque du Donald, Democrats are doing their best to plumb their base for anti-Trump, post-Bernie Sanders vacuum pennies.

Democratic fundraisers are, however, experiencing an acute case of mixed messaging.

Take this come-on from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which proclaims: "Democrats are UNITED for victory... Your support got us here, Friend. Youve helped us recruit the candidates we need to PUMMEL Republicans all over the map!"

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, meanwhile, laments: "After Bernie Sanders inspiring call to unity, we thought at long last Democrats would...well...unify. But sadly thats not whats happened. Grassroots Democrats just havent stepped up."

Regardless of whether liberals are fully united or hopelessly divided against Trump, the Democrats' adventure in A/B testing ends with the same ask: open your wallet and give us money.

 Dave Levinthal

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Donald Trump won't be happy: the umbrellas inside #RNCinCLE swag bags are MADE IN CHINA. pic.twitter.com/vyVMdvucGH  Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) July 17, 2016

STAYING DRY IN CLEVELAND, BEIJING-STYLE

2:17 p.m. Sunday, July 17: There's absolutely zero evidence the Chinese are attempting to influence or otherwise rain on Donald Trump's Republican National Convention presidential parade.

But if it begins pouring here in Cleveland, Trump's favorite Asian foil will be on attendees' minds: swag bags convention organizers are distributing come complete with a small black umbrella clearly labeled as being MADE IN CHINA.

Trump himself has caught flak for lending his name to a clothing line that includes suits and ties made in China.

 Dave Levinthal

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REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION PREVIEW

1:34 p.m. Sunday, July 17: Center for Public Integrity senior political reporter Dave Levinthal, whos reporting from Cleveland on the Republican National Convention, talked this morning with WBEN-AM 930 in Buffalo about what hes seeing and what he expects at the convention later this week.

Listen to the segment here.

TOBACCO, ENERGY INTERESTS GOLF FOR THE KIDS  AND ACCESS

8:37 a.m. Sunday, July 17: Come Monday  the first day of the Republican National Convention  a gaggle of Republican lawmakers, corporate interests and a prominent Fox News host are scheduled to tee off at a posh Cleveland-area golf course in the name of helping educate children of injured and deceased members of the armed services.

It's a good cause, no doubt. Its also a prime schmoozing opportunity for those looking to befriend elected politicians.

Attendees include members of Congress and staff, governors, mayors, government relations professionals, wounded service members, professional athletes and celebrities, an invitation reads.

Led by avid golfer and honorary chairman Bret Baier of Fox News, the No Greater Sacrifice Congressional Shoot-out at Kirtland Country Club is slated to feature five U.S. senators. They include former presidential candidates and U.S. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, according to an invitation reviewed by the Center for Public Integrity.

Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the U.S. Houses Select Committee on Benghazi and someone most certainly not on Hillary Clintons Christmas card list, is also listed as a participant.

The top event sponsor is Southern Company, the Atlanta-based energy giant, that since 2008 has spent between $12 million and $16 million annually lobbying the federal government. Next is Altria, the Richmond, Virginia-based tobacco company that since 2008 has spent between $9 million and $14 million annually to lobby the federal government.

Both companies contributed five-figure amounts, based on event sponsorship information, and will earn a variety of perks for their donations, including, for Southern Company, high level visibility for company name and logo on all event marketing leading up to and at the event.

Other event sponsors include pharmaceutical giant Abbott, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, tire maker Continental, Emerald direct lending advisers, Fierce Government Relations, FTI Consulting and NextEra Energy.

Fierce Government Relations government lobbying clients in 2016 include tech titan Apple, oil company BP, Coca-Cola Co., Delta Airlines, Ford Motor Co., H&R Block, Home Depot, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the National Football League Players Association, Time Warner Cable and the United Parcel Service, according to federal data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The No Greater Sacrifice Foundation is a nonprofit charity that in 2014 had $1.12 million in income, according to tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

 Dave Levinthal

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

CELEBRATE DIVERSITY

6:24 p.m. Saturday, July 16: On Wednesday evening, AT&T, agriculture titan Cargill and liquor giant Diageo are among the sponsors of "A Celebration of Diversity"  a festive gathering at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium that will fete several minority- or women-focused government relations/lobbying organizations: Washington Government Relations Group, Hispanic Lobbyists Association), H Street, Q Street, Women in Government Relations and Professional Women in Advocacy.

Lobbyists aren't normally a shy bunch. But they're apparently not in the mood for celebrating diversity with people who might ... report on their celebrating. "I am sorry but the sponsors of the event do not wish to invite press to attend," event associate LeeAnn Petersen told the Center for Public Integrity.

Here's what we do know, according to an invitation: a top-shelf "platinum" event sponsorship scores you "premier visibility on all marketing materials associated with the event including invitations, flyer and signage at the event," as well as a "speaking role" and 25 event tickets.

In addition to celebrating diversity in general, the event is designed to "recognize elected leaders who come from or support diverse backgrounds and constituencies." Organizers are certain to point out that the event is "planned to comply with all laws and Congressional Ethics Rules." The same groups are also gathering during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Asked about Cargill's event sponsorship, spokesman Pete Stoddart told the Center for Public Integrity: "We are sponsoring this event at both the Republican and Democratic conventions to advance and promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace. He declined to say whether Cargill requested the event be closed to the press. Representatives for AT&T and Diageo did not return requests for comment.

 Dave Levinthal

Don't miss another Politics investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email.

WITHER DONALD?

2:47 p.m. Saturday, July 16: Fly into Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on a Saturday morning flight from Washington, D.C., the weekend before the Republican National Convention, and youll see plenty of familiar faces.

Over there is CNNs Jake Tapper graciously taking selfies with a young fan as he waits at the United Airlines baggage claim.

And heres PBS News Hours Judy Woodruff, stretching her legs with a small entourage after enduring a ride in the decidedly claustrophobic coach section.

One thing you wont find? Almost anything to do with Donald Trump, whos set to formally accept the Republican presidential nomination later this week at Clevelands Quicken Loans Arena.

In this Trump-free zone, there are no massive banners. No gaudy imagery. Even toothy Trump t-shirts or Donald-themed swag are nowhere to be found.

Based on initial airport impressions alone, itd seem equally plausible that some politico other than Trump  Ted Cruz, Mitt Romney, Wendell Willkie  is headlining the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Or maybe basketball royalty LeBron James, whose face is everywhere. Or the cape-clad Man of Steel, who lords over an exhibition that declares, Did you know Superman was created in Cleveland?

The Cleveland 2016 Host Committee  a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization designed to raise money (latest: its begging GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson for cash) and manage Republican National Convention affairs  itself has rolled out a decidedly minimalistic red carpet.

Arriving convention delegates, journalists, political operatives and assorted lobbyists and will see some maroon-and-blue We the people welcome you to Cleveland signs and perhaps be greeted with a free bottle of water from a friendly volunteer in a white host committee polo shirt featuring the logo of AT&T  one of the major companies lending its brand and services to the Republican National Convention.

Many other major corporations, though, have kept a lower profile here at the airport, which fits a pattern for many special interests: dont be too obvious when supporting the Republican National Convention and a shoot-from-the-mouth candidate in Trump who has taken more than a couple of controversial policy stances.

That doesnt so much apply to local companies. Several arriving conventioneers, for example, seemed genuinely impressed by a billboard sponsored by Ohio-based Duck Tape brand duct tape.

 Dave Levinthal

LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED

1:40 p.m. Saturday, July 16: The Republican convention committee may be scrambling to raise a final few million dollars for the show, but corporations, unions and special interests have already given tens of millions of dollars toward businessman Donald Trumps official anointing as the Republican presidential nominee.

The Cleveland host committee  a nonprofit organization that exists to fund and operate the Republican convention  doesnt have to reveal its donors until 60 days after the convention. But the Center for Public Integrity has already unearthed some major backers, including KeyCorp, which is based in Cleveland.

Some companies have pulled back, nervous about the controversial nominee. Others are finding quieter ways to give  such as sponsoring private parties that dont have to be disclosed, but allow them to rub elbows with lawmakers. Want to hear Rascal Flatts or Kip Moore? Sorry  invitation only.

For more, check out our story here  and remember, well be on the lookout for special interest influence throughout the convention.

 Carrie Levine

This story is part of Buying of the President 2016. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.

Related stories

Copyright 2016 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A former Swiss university professor who pleaded guilty to instigating the 1995 meat-cleaver murder of a man who she claimed raped her while she was a college student in California was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison.

Norma Esparza, 41, whose 2012 arrest in the long-unsolved case made international headlines, was sentenced along with two co-defendants for their roles in the slaying of 24-year-old Gonzalo Ramirez more than 20 years ago in Irvine, California.

Shannon Ray Gries, 45, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for his guilty plea in May to felony murder during the commission of a kidnapping, according to Orange County prosecutors. Diane Tran, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison. She pleaded guilty in January to voluntary manslaughter.

Esparza, who moved to Europe after the murder and later became an assistant professor at Webster University in Geneva, pleaded guilty in 2014 to voluntary manslaughter and agreed to testify against others accused in the killing.

Chief among them was her former boyfriend, Gianni Anthony Van, now 46, who was found guilty in May 2015 of first-degree murder and was sentenced two months later to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

According to prosecutors, Ramirez was abducted, tied up and hacked to death with a meat cleaver by Van and others at Esparza's behest in retaliation for her claim that he had raped her weeks earlier.

Prosecutors have raised doubts about the veracity of her rape accusation, noting during Van's trial that Esparza did not report the alleged sexual assault to authorities until after learning Ramirez had made romantic overtures to her sister.

Yet another suspect in the case, Diane Tran's husband Kody Tran, died in a shootout with police in 2012 before charges were filed in the Ramirez killing.

Esparza, a 21-year-old Los Angeles-area college student at the time she met Ramirez at a bar, was initially arrested in his death in 1996. But prosecutors declined to press charges, and she moved to Europe, eventually settling in France with her husband and young daughter.

The Ramirez case grew cold until new evidence surfaced years later, and Esparza was arrested during a visit to Boston.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
Tehran (AFP) - Iranian police denied Saturday claims by prominent sculptor Parviz Tanavoli they were behind a legal complaint that had prevented the artist from leaving the country earlier this month.

Tanavoli, one of Iran's top artists, said last week after having been refused passage at the airport that he was told in court "that the police had accused me of publishing false information and disturbing the public peace".

But police spokesman, Brigadier General Saeid Montazer Al-Mahdi, told ISNA news agency on Saturday that the "police has not filed any complaints against Tanavoli and his being banned from leaving the country... is due to a judicial order".

The artist's lawyer, Sadreddine Mahouzi, also told the official IRNA news agency that a private individual had brought a lawsuit against Tanavoli.

Local media reported that the person behind the lawsuit was a collection owner who had bought six of Tanavoli's works.

Last year, Tanavoli reportedly took the artworks for his personal museum and promised the owner another six works instead, but has not yet delivered.

Tanavoli's works are displayed in major museums worldwide including the British Museum, as well as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art.

The artist was heading to London for the launch of his new book, "European Women in Persian Houses", when he was stopped by authorities.
As French authorities continue to investigate whether the Islamic State had any command or control over Thursdays deadly truck attack in Nice, which left 84 dead and more than 200 injured, the terrorist group issued a claim of responsibility on Saturday.

French authorities have identified the attacker as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, 31, a Tunisia-born French resident who intentionally drove a tractor-trailer into a crowd of civilians celebrating Bastille Day and then opened fire on them before he was shot and killed by police.

Saturdays claim of responsibility in an English-language statement issued by Amaq, the groups self-described news agency, said Bouhlel was a soldier of the Islamic State.

He executed the operation in response to calls to target citizens of coalition nations, which fight the Islamic State, the statement said.

SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi group messaging, said the Islamic State also broadcasted its claim of responsibility on its radio station, Al Bayan, warning that crusader states are not safe from the group.

French authorities have still not produced any evidence to back up the Islamic States claim to have played a role in the attack, the third such carried out on French soil in the past 18 months.

The group has leapt to claim responsibility for various attacks before, seeking to capitalize on lone-wolf terrorists as an opportunity to inflate their capabilities to conduct terrorism, particularly in Western countries. And counterterrorism officials have expressed concern that despite U.S.-led coalition gains against the group in Iraq and Syria, which have prompted a loss of control over territory and resources, the group will launch more attacks in Europe and, potentially, the United States.

The Islamic State has called on sympathizers to target civilians in the countries that make up the coalition  calls that have been answered with a deadly result, particularly in France.

Story continues

While French authorities have said Bouhlel had a criminal record, including a weapons charge as recently as January, he was not on any watch lists for terrorism or radicalization. He was completely unknown by intelligence services, both at the national and local levels, Francois Molins, the French prosecutor who oversees terrorism investigations, said in a press conference on Friday.

But on Saturday, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said for the first time that investigators believe the attacker, who had been living in Nice for at least six years, was radicalized  and quickly.

He radicalized his views very rapidly, Cazeneuve said Saturday, citing initial findings of the investigation after interviews with the attackers acquaintances but providing no additional details. We are now facing individuals who are responding positively to the messages issued by the Islamic State without having had any special training and without having access to weapons that allow them to commit mass murder.

Photo credit: GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images
LONDON (Reuters) - Staff at Istanbul's Ataturk airport hope to resume international departures soon, European air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said early on Saturday. All arriving flights are being diverted until then because there is no room for any more aircraft at the congested airport following the suspension of departures since 2031 GMT on Friday, the agency said in a bulletin to airlines. "Ataturk hope to re-commence international departures shortly, but until they do, all inbound flights to Ataturk are being diverted," Eurocontrol said, although the "situation is unclear". The Ankara air traffic control center is operating normally, it added. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim however told Turkey's NTV news channel that Ankara airspace is closed. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Elaine Hardcastle

July 16 (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport on Saturday following a failed coup attempt while some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights.

Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt. Television images late Friday had shown tanks parked in front of the airport.

A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said flights had now returned to their normal schedule from Europe's third largest hub, though delays were to be expected.

Turkish budget carrier Pegasus said its flights were also experiencing minor delays.

The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late on Friday had caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and cancelled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk.

British Airways said in a statement it was halting all flights to Turkey on Saturday and one on Sunday as a precaution.

"The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so."

Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

EasyJet said its advice from British authorities was to continue flying, although it was monitoring developments.

The attempted coup follows a series of bombings that hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country.

The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 percent in April, data showed on Friday, the biggest drop in 17 years.

The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around $8 billion.

German airline Lufthansa cancelled all its flights to Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday and pared back the number flights to holiday destinations Bodrum and Antalya.

Story continues

TUI which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday companies, said its flights to Dalaman, Antalya and Izmir were operating as normal.

Tour operator Thomas Cook said most German guests who had booked a holiday to Antalya or Bodrum had taken their flights on Saturday. It said flights from the UK were operating as normal but, given the circumstances, free cancellations or amendments were possible for customers due to fly to Turkey this weekend.

Russia also suspended passenger flights to the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency said.

Turkish and Russian officials had met this week to discuss the restarting of charter flights between the two countries and tourism security after relations soured following Turkey's downing of a Russian jet last year.

State airline EgyptAir also cancelled all flights on Saturday to Istanbul, the company said in a statement. The company, which has 14 flights to Istanbul per week, did not say when they were expected to resume.

All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for Saturday had been cancelled, according to Sofia airport's website.

(Additional reporting by David Dolan and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt, Kate Holton in London, Eric Knecht in Cairo and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Editing by David Evans)
By Elaine Hardcastle (Reuters) - Turkish Airlines resumed flights from Istanbul's international airport on Saturday following a failed coup attempt while some foreign carriers canceled weekend flights. Forces loyal to Turkey's government fought on Saturday to crush the last remnants of a military coup attempt. Television images late Friday had shown tanks parked in front of the airport. A spokesman for Turkish Airlines said flights had now returned to their normal schedule from Europe's third largest hub, though delays were to be expected. Turkish budget carrier Pegasus said its flights were also experiencing minor delays. The closure of Istanbul's Ataturk Airport late on Friday had caused the diversion of 35 airplanes and canceled 32 flights, Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci told broadcaster CNN Turk. Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it would resume twice daily flights to Ataturk from Sunday. British Airways said in a statement it was halting all flights to Turkey on Saturday and one on Sunday as a precaution. "The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so." Over 2,500,000 British nationals visit Turkey every year according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. EasyJet said its advice from British authorities was to continue flying, although it was monitoring developments. The attempted coup follows a series of bombings that hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul's main airport. They have weighed on international travel to the country. The number of foreign visitors to Turkey fell by 28 percent in April, data showed on Friday, the biggest drop in 17 years. The decline signals more pain for Turkey's economy, which is smarting from slowing exports and weak investment. Some economists have forecast that tourism revenue will drop by a quarter this year, costing around $8 billion. German airline Lufthansa canceled all its flights to Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday and pared back the number flights to holiday destinations Bodrum and Antalya. TUI which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday companies, said its flights to Dalaman, Antalya and Izmir were operating as normal. Tour operator Thomas Cook said most German guests who had booked a holiday to Antalya or Bodrum had taken their flights on Saturday. It said flights from the UK were operating as normal but, given the circumstances, free cancellations or amendments were possible for customers due to fly to Turkey this weekend. Russia also suspended passenger flights to the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, TASS news agency said. Turkish and Russian officials had met this week to discuss the restarting of charter flights between the two countries and tourism security after relations soured following Turkey's downing of a Russian jet last year. State airline EgyptAir also canceled all flights on Saturday to Istanbul, the company said in a statement. The company, which has 14 flights to Istanbul per week, did not say when they were expected to resume. All flights from Istanbul to Sofia for Saturday had been canceled, according to Sofia airport's website. (Additional reporting by David Dolan and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Peter Maushagen in Frankfurt, Kate Holton in London, Eric Knecht in Cairo and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow; Editing by David Evans)
When Javier Munoz began subbing for Lin-Manuel Miranda in the titular role of the actor and composer's smash hip-hop musical, he was quickly dubbed "The Sexy Hamilton."



That phrase has now become a badge of honor for the 40-year-old actor, who stepped into the title role full time on Monday. The actor jokes he's gotten it printed on his New York State ID.



"It makes me blush," he tells PEOPLE Now, while on set of the magazine's photo shoot at New York City's historic Fraunces Tavern  where Alexander Hamilton once dined. "It's really nice. There are worse things to be called."





WATCH: Hamilton's Javier Munoz Talks Performing in Front of Prince!

Hamilton's Javier MuAoz Talks Performing in Front of Prince!" data-ad-channel="peoplenow" data-ad-subchannel="sharethisnow" data-auto-play="no">



Munoz, who is gay and recently overcame a battle with cancer, also told PEOPLE that he is single.







For more from Javier Munoz, check out this week's issue of PEOPLE.



"After everything that happened in these last two years, there's been no time or energy," he said. "I knew I couldn't give myself to a new relationship. I had had a breakup prior to the Off-Broadway run of Hamilton, and I realized that part of my life has to wait. I can't nurture a new relationship and build this show at the same time. So that'll happen when it happens again."



Until then, he gets to enjoy the effects of his sexy new nickname.




Istanbul (AFP) - Answering a call to fill squares across Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ecstatic supporters surged through the streets Saturday to celebrate what they saw as one of the strongman's greatest victories after he stared down a military coup.

In under 24 hours, the atmosphere in Istanbul changed dramatically. From one of fear and confusion, the city was abuzz with the celebratory sounds of car horns, laughing children and red and white Turkish flags fluttering in the cool evening breeze.

Erdogan had already managed to successfully mobilise supporters on Friday, calling on them to defy a curfew declared by the putschists and help crush the attempted coup by elements within the military.

But even after the danger passed, the triumphant leader urged people to come out again on Saturday and show their numbers.

In Kisikli square on the Asian side of Istanbul, thousands gathered to hear Erdogan speak just a few steps away from his family home.

In a typically fiery speech, he pinned the blame for the coup plot on a "parallel state" and "Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Fethullah Gulen, a US-exiled Muslim cleric and arch-foe whom he has long accused of seeking to overthrow him.

- 'They cannot destroy us' -

Among the jubilant crowds, there was a palpable sense that Friday's botched coup had only made Erdogan stronger.

Hayrullah Kul, 55, from Uskudar, said he was glad the putsch failed as he stressed his love for the Turkish leader who has been in power since 2003, first as premier and now as president.

"They tried to stage a coup and they failed. I am happy they couldn't succeed. For us here, we are celebrating a festival, Turkey is celebrating," he said.

"Yesterday was bad for them (Gulenists), not for us. They cannot destroy us. They brought the Turkish community together."

In the crowd, elderly men, women and children wore headbands emblazoned with the president's name.

Story continues

While Turkey remains a polarised country, with Erdogan's detractors accusing him of authoritarian tendencies and of undermining Turkey's secular principles, Friday's tumult has brought supporters of different political parties together.

Fans of Erdogan insisted the coup would not divide the country further but would in fact unite a disparate population.

"Laz, Turkish, Kurdish, different communities, we are all Turkey and we are all Turkish. This coming together of the community is a message of solidarity to the world," Besir Demirozur, 29, told AFP at the rally.

After Erdogan finished his address, a sea of people poured into the streets and passing cars proudly beeped their horns at every opportunity, flags flying through their open windows.

- 'I love Turkey' -

On the European side of Istanbul, near the city's iconic Taksim Square, children, teenagers and adults marched down the main Istiklal shopping street, waving Turkish flags and chanting: Allahu Akhbar, "God is greatest".

Seven-year-old Ahmet, who had come with his family, said he was happy to be there because "I love Turkey".

Fatima, 18, shared his patriotic fervour: "Today we celebrate freedom and democracy. Today we celebrate Turkey."

And in Izmir's Konuk square by the famous clock tower, photographs in Turkish media showed thousands in the coastal city also protesting against the failed putsch.

- 'Coups are the past' -

The capital Ankara, where parts of the national assembly building were reduced to rubble by strikes from rebel jets, remained a city on edge however and on Saturday night there was a blackout in the neighbourhood where parliament is situated.

In the popular Kizilay square in central Ankara, 59-year-old Osman accused the coup plotters of being traitors.

"Nobody can author a coup in our country. We will not abandon Turkey to traitors.

"We don't recognise them as members of army," he told AFP.

Inci, 27, said coups were a thing of the past in a country where the military has a history of intervening in politics, the last time in 1997.

"Turkey will not go back to the era of coups," she said.
Thursday (July 14) Kanye West and Damon Dash won a lawsuit defending their 2015 film, which was presented in a series of web videos entitled Loisaidas, Hollywood Reporter states. The music moguls had been accused of copyright infringement by Michael Medina, the founder of a New York Latin band of the same name.

The two parties were essentially disputing over their classification of the project. Medina insisted that the project was a music video that was created with his Latin duo in mind due to parts of the film being set to music and various mentions of the slang term, which means Lower East Siders. West and Dash consider the project a film that was created without regard to or knowledge of the Bachata duo.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest reportedly found that Medinas claim was devoid of concrete allegations that defendants attempted to suggest that plaintiffs duo produced the work. To the contrary, as evidenced by Exhibit D to the operative complaint, materials promoting the film prominently informed the reader that it was Executive Produced: Dame Dash & Kanye West.

The judge went on to say that although Medina is entitled to protect the trademark of his duo, he does not have the right to lay claim on all usage of a pre-existing term.

According to the New York Daily News, Medinas lawyer relayed his clients dissatisfaction with the verdict.

Its very damaging because the public will obviously acquaint the trademark theyve built up for beautiful, romantic bachata music with the highly publicized gangsta rap group that was made more popular by the powerful music mogul Kanye West, John Bostany, Medinas lawyer, said.
By David Brunnstrom LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday that creative leadership was needed to bring the best possible outcome from Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry reiterated that the United States did not want Brexit and "did not think it was a good idea", but respected the outcome of the June 23 referendum. "While sometimes things look bleak and difficult, theres opportunity in everything, and you have to find the opportunity, you have to work to do that with creative leadership," he said. "I am absolutely confident that if people approach this thoughtfully, studiously, soberly, with creativity, there is a way to find strength out of whatever we do ahead." Kerry is due to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday before heading to Britain. His counterpart in Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, said the European Union and Britain had to find a way of dealing with the situation, "because we need each other in the future". "We have to negotiate a very, very strong and effective relationship between both of us," he said. On Thursday, new British Prime Minister Theresa May told European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker -- a former prime minister of Luxembourg -- that Britain hopes to hold positive talks with the EU over its divorce from the bloc, but needed time to prepare. Asselborn said the United States and the European Union faced a challenge in convincing their populations of the merits of an EU-U.S. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that is under negotiation. "We have to try to create conditions to reassure our citizens that all we are doing in these negotiations will not diminish or dilute the competencies of the parliaments, or the governments and that we will stick to high standards on both sides concerning he rights of the consumers ... labor standards and environmental standards," he said. "It's a bumpy road ahead, but ... I think there is on both sides the political will to find the best outcome." (Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Kim Palmer CLEVELAND (Reuters) - In an age of social media and sound bites, advocacy groups in Cleveland have turned to the old-fashioned medium of billboards to display messages during the Republican National Convention, from the serious to the ridiculous and shocking. Among them is an artist's fanciful rendering of Donald Trump about to kiss former rival Ted Cruz, a poke at a Republican Party platform that would limit gay rights, the sign's sponsor said. "Love Trumps Hate. End Homophobia," reads the billboard featuring Trump and Cruz moving in for a lip-lock. Elsewhere in Cleveland, there are also chestnuts such as "Don't Trust the Liberal Media," and the eternally contentious issue of abortion is the focus of another that says, "How much time will we serve - when the RNC platform makes abortion illegal?" Some 50,000 visitors are expected in Cleveland for the convention that runs from Monday to Thursday. There Trump, who has selected Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, is expected to officially accept the Republican nomination for president. With so many party insiders, activists, lobbyists and reporters descending on Cleveland, political groups have chosen a direct path to their eyeballs. "Don't Trust the Liberal Media," paid for by the Media Research Center, stands beside a highway near the airport and is repeated at least twice more in central Cleveland, where the convention will take place. Six strategically placed signs around the city depict a group of women in a police-style lineup. The message, sponsored by the National Institute of Reproductive Health, which supports abortion rights, is intended to bring attention to recently passed state laws seeking to limit access to abortion. "We wanted to use the RNC to raise awareness with the public. We wanted to give the public the facts about what is happening and the laws on the books being quietly passed behind the scenes and the logical conclusion that those laws will put women in jail," said Andrea Miller, president of the institute. The Trump-Cruz makeout illustration resembles images of unstated political motives depicting Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that went up in Lithuania and another in Bristol, England, that showed Trump bussing British politician Boris Johnson. The Cleveland sign was paid for by Planting Peace, a group favoring equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "Planting Peace calls for the immediate change in the Republican Party platform with regard to our LGBT family and LGBT rights," said Aaron Jackson, president of the group. The 2016 Republican platform includes a plank called "Preserving and Protecting Traditional Marriage" that calls for marriage to be defined as "a union between one man and one woman." About half a mile (one km) east of the convention site is a fake advertisement for a company called "Dick to Dick LLC" that ends with the line, "We're not going to live forever. So why should the earth?" The billboard sponsor's website (https://www.dicktodickllc.com/home.html) contains more satire including the bon mot, "Need to buy a politician, the Media, or a law? Dick to Dick Executive Consulting is the website for you. If you are interested in buying God, please contact us for today's Market Price." (Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Chizu Nomiyama)
A shocking Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, in which a man shot bystanders and rammed a truck through celebrating crowds, has left more than 80 people dead and many others injured.

The coastal city is a major tourist destinationa base for travelers visiting the French Rivieraand summer is peak season. Both residents and visitors are among those killed.

As the community copes with the the tragic events, travelers should know how officials as well as transportation and tour operators are responding. Travelers in other areas of France as well as western Europe should expect heightened security.

French President Francois Hollande said the country is facing a struggle which will be long. In a post on Twitter, he said that France will always be stronger than the fanatics who want to damage it.

La France est plore, afflige, mais elle est forte et le sera toujours plus que les fanatiques qui veulent aujourdhui la frapper. #Nice  Franois Hollande (@fhollande) July 15, 2016

For travelers currently in the South of France, or those with plans to travel there, here is what you need to know.

Airlines

The Nice airport was briefly put on alert, but passengers are being allowed to return, according to the Associated Press. Flights to and from Nice are continuing, for the most part, on schedule.

However, most airlines are offering passengers the option to change flights scheduled in the next few days, without charge.

British Airways told T+L that customers scheduled to fly to or from Nice in the next few days can change their booking to a different date or destination. Representatives are contacting customers to offer support. We'd encourage customers in Nice to get in touch with us if they want to make a change to their booking and we will do everything we can to help.

We'll continue to be as flexible as possible to help our customers, the airline said in a statement. Our deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of the victims.

Story continues

American and Delta are waiving fees for travelers who are flying to Nice in the next few days and would like to change the date or go to another European hub instead. Passengers will still have to pay the difference in fare.

Our heartfelt thoughts go to the victims of the attack in Nice and to their families and friends. #LiberteEgaliteFraternite  Air France (@airfrance) July 15, 2016

Nordica is also letting customers to depart early, or change the date or destination of flights scheduled for later in July.

Trains

Travelers to Nice should expect to see more security at train stations.

Security has also been heightened at some transportation hubs in other major European cities. If you are traveling in the region, check with your service provider for updates.

Hotels

Some hotels and tour operators are waiving fees for cancelations.

Marriott Intl. said in a statement that fees for canceling existing reservations are waived at properties in Nice, Cannes, Cap dAil and Juan les Pins for the immediate future.

Cruises

Royal Caribbean has canceled two port calls, one on Friday for Royal Caribbean International and one Saturday for Celebrity Cruises, according to Travel Agent Central.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation in France and will contact guests or their travel agents should we make any additional changes to upcoming itineraries, a spokesperson said in a statement.

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Nanterre (France) (AFP) - Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Front party, on Saturday called on France's interior minister to quit after the deadly Nice truck attack.

"In any other country in the world a minister with a toll as horrendous as Bernard Cazeneuve -- 250 dead in 18 months -- would have quit," she told a news conference at her party's headquarters.
After 39 years of ministry, Pastor Mark Jolivette will retire on July 22. Much of Jolivettes ministry has focused on social change and aiding those in need. Most recently hes advocated for marriage equality and supporting the LGBTQ community.

Jolivette attended Luther Seminary in St Paul and was ordained in 1977. He has served parishes in Bridgeton, Mo.; Clear Lake and Estherville, Iowa; English Lutheran in La Crosse and Mindoro; and Lewis Valley Lutheran Churches in north La Crosse County. He began his current ministry as Senior Pastor at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in downtown La Crosse in February 2006. In 1979 he expanded his ministry by joining the Navy as a chaplain. After 30 years of military service, he retired in August 2009 as the national Navy Reserve senior chaplain with the rank of captain. In 1990 he was awarded the doctor of ministry degree from the Graduate Theological Foundation of Indiana (Notre Dame), with a focus in Lutheran-Anglican-Roman Catholic studies.
By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will take advantage of an attempted military coup to strengthen his grip on power, Elmar Brok, the chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee and an ally of Germany's Chancellor said. Brok, a senior member of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, spoke to Die Welt newspaper overnight as Erdogan loyalists fought back against the power grab and the Turkish leader told supporters he would "clean up" the army. "Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," the veteran member of the European parliament was quoted as saying in the interview published on Saturday, adding that such a move could lead to a "dramatic divide" in Turkish society. "Turkey must quickly return to constitutional order. This would apply to the military as well as for Erdogan who currently fulfils a function as president that is not foreseen in the constitution," Brok added. Erdogan and his supporters are pushing for a more executive presidency, saying it would guard against the sort of fractious coalition politics that hampered Turkey's development in the 1990s. His opponents, and some skeptical Western allies, have accused Erdogan of growing authoritarianism. Prosecutors have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since he became president in 2014. Opposition newspapers have been shut and journalists and academics critical of government policies sacked. There was no immediate reaction to Brok's words from Turkey, where Erdogan and his supporters said they were fighting for democracy as they tried to crush the last remnants of the coup attempt on Saturday. The leader of Germany's opposition Green party, Cem Oezdemir, echoed Brok's message. "Erdogan won't let this opportunity be missed to not only thoroughly clean the military but to finally realize his project of a constitutional amendment with the objective of autocracy," Oezdemir told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The few critical media outlets and the first green shots of civil society have certainly nothing good to expect." Germany has led talks with Turkey through the European Union, seeking its help in controlling a record influx of migrants. Turkey has long sought to join the bloc. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and German government spokesman Steffen Seibert both condemned the military coup attempt and called for restraint. "It is encouraging that the parties represented in the Turkish parliament declared their support for the democratic principles," Steinmeier said. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by David Clarke and Andrew Heavens)
By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey and said Berlin stands by those who defend democracy and the rule of law, which must be observed when dealing with the coup's supporters. Elmar Brok, a Merkel ally and chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, had earlier said he expected Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to take advantage of the attempted coup to strengthen his grip on power. "It's tragic that so many people died during this attempted coup," Merkel told reporters in Berlin. "The bloodshed in Turkey must stop now." Merkel said it was the right of the Turkish people to choose their political leader in free elections, and that political change should only be achieved within the framework of political institutions and the rules of democratic competition. "Tanks on the streets and air strikes against their own people are injustice," Merkel said. The conservative leader called on the Turkish government to treat the arrested supporters of the attempted coup in line with the fundamental principles of the rule of law. "We are guided by solidarity with all political forces in the government and the opposition who are committed to precisely these values," Merkel said. "Especially when dealing with those responsible for the tragic events of last night, the state under the rule of law should prove itself." European Parliament President Martin Schulz also urged Ankara to stick to the rule of law. "As distressing as the coup attempt is, which I condemn in the strongest terms, the Turkish government should not take the opportunity for its part to break democratic principles", Schulz told Tagesspiegel am Sonntag newspaper. GRIP ON POWER Brok, who is a senior member of Merkel's Christian Democrats, spoke to Die Welt newspaper overnight as Erdogan loyalists fought back against the power grab and the Turkish leader told supporters he would "clean up" the army. "Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," the veteran member of the European parliament was quoted as saying in the interview published on Saturday, adding that such a move could lead to a "dramatic divide" in Turkish society. "Turkey must quickly return to constitutional order. This would apply to the military as well as for Erdogan who currently fulfils a function as president that is not foreseen in the constitution," Brok added. Erdogan and his supporters are pushing for a more executive presidency, saying it would guard against the sort of fractious coalition politics that hampered Turkey's development in the 1990s. His opponents, and some skeptical Western allies, have accused Erdogan of growing authoritarianism. Opposition newspapers have been shut and journalists and academics critical of government policies sacked. There was no immediate reaction to Brok's words from Turkey, where Erdogan and his supporters said they were fighting for democracy as they tried to crush the last remnants of the coup attempt on Saturday. "OBJECTIVE OF AUTOCRACY" The leader of Germany's opposition Green party, Cem Oezdemir, echoed Brok's message. "Erdogan won't let this opportunity be missed to not only thoroughly clean the military but to finally realize his project of a constitutional amendment with the objective of autocracy," Oezdemir told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The few critical media outlets and the first green shoots of civil society have certainly nothing good to expect." Germany has led talks with Turkey through the European Union, seeking its help in controlling a record influx of migrants. Turkey has long sought to join the bloc. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also called for restraint. "It is encouraging that the parties represented in the Turkish parliament declared their support for the democratic principles," Steinmeier said. In a sign that the events in Turkey are stirring emotions in Germany, several thousand people took to the streets in Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Essen and other cities to show support for the Turkish government, police said. Germany is home to about 3 million people of Turkish origin, most of whom came to Germany to work in the 1960s and 1970s, or as refugees fleeing violence in the 1980s and 1990s. (Editing by Catherine Evans)
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior EU officials on Saturday condemned "in the strongest terms" the failed coup in Turkey, but called on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to deal with the plotters lawfully.

The treatment "of those responsible for the tragic events of last night can and should only be handled according to the rule of law," she said after the coup bid, which left more than 250 people dead.

Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, denounced the coup attempt as "treachery".

"They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said of the putschists. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."

Several senior military figures, and a top judge have been detained since the coup attempt, and over 2,500 other judges across the country dismissed

The government also said that almost 3,000 soldiers had been arrested in a major purge of the armed forces.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the plotters were "cowards" who "would get what they deserve".

Addressing Erdogan but not mentioning him by name, Merkel said that "democracy, which respects everybody's rights and protects minorities, is the best foundation (for the rule of law)".

Germany stands by "all those who, in Turkey, defend democracy and the rule of law," she said, adding that political change should only take place through parliament.

- 'Prevent further casualties' -

Senior European figures echoed Merkel's message, with EU parliament president Martin Schulz stressing that the Turkish government "must not use this occasion to breach democratic rule, restrict freedom of speech and fundamental rights".

"One-man rule and arbitrary decisions are not acceptable in a country which is not only a strategic ally but also an accession candidate to the European Union," he said.

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Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, in a joint statement with the bloc's enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, condemned the coup attempt and voiced support for Turkey's "democratic institutions".

The statement urged restraint from the police and security forces in their response to the coup plotters, "to prevent further casualties".

"Societal tensions can only be addressed through democratic processes," Mogherini said.

Last month the EU opened a new negotiating chapter with Turkey in its long-stalled bid for membership, a week after a British vote to leave the bloc in which Ankara's EU aspirations were a major campaign issue.

The decision to revive the process is part of the European Union's migrant deal with Ankara in which it also agreed to boost aid to Turkey to cope with millions of refugees on its territory and to speed up visa liberalisation.

Muslim-majority Turkey formally launched its membership bid in 2005 and since then the EU has opened 15 policy chapters out of the 35 required to join the bloc, although it has only completed one.
LONDON (Reuters) - The majority of Britons are opposed to a second referendum on membership of the European Union and almost half believe new Prime Minister Theresa May should carry on without calling a general election, according to a poll published on Saturday. A survey by ComRes for the Sunday Mirror and Independent newspapers found that 57 percent of those asked didn't support a second referendum on Brexit against 29 percent who did. A total of 46 percent thought May should not call an election while 38 percent thought she should go to the country to get support for her program to take Britain out of the bloc it joined in 1973. In June's referendum, 52 percent of those who took part voted to leave the EU while 48 percent voted to stay, prompting calls among many shocked "Remain" supporters for a re-run. Four million people signed a petition to seek a second referendum. But May, who took over as prime minister after David Cameron resigned in the wake of the result, has ruled out a second vote, saying "Brexit means Brexit". The ruling Conservative Party narrowly won the last general election in 2015 and May has said there should not be another one until 2020. ComRes interviewed 2,097 adults online between July 13 and 15. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Nerys Avery)
As Istanbul and Ankara descended into chaos with an ongoing military coup in Turkey on Friday night, Izmir, the countrys third most populous city, was relatively calm. As news of the coup started spreading detachments of heavily armed police showed up at Izmirs international airport, and while some flights still managed to take off, many were cancelled.

On the streets of Izmir supporters of both sides were driving and honking their car horns. Coup supporters waved the red national flag of Turkey while supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waved his AKP partys blue flag. In some squares small crowds had gathered and were shouting slogans, and occasionally heated arguments would arise between the supporters of the opposing camps.

Erdogan was crazy,Im happy he is gone! a middle aged man shouted from his car. The Army was right to take over. Others disagreed, a young man shouting back at him. I hate Erdogan, but he was democratically elected. Our democracy is more valuable. Some mosques were broadcasting the Islamic call to prayers at 1:30 in the morning in an effort to get Erdogans supporters onto the streets.

In the Izmir airport many of the passengers waiting to find out whether their flights would go ahead were tourists from neighboring Iran, and reports that Tehran had mobilized its air force only increased their anxiety. We had spent a great week vacationing in Turkey, now I just want to get my family home, said Mehdi, whose 5 a.m. flight to the eastern Iranian city of Mashad had been cancelled. As he tried to find seats on other flights still scheduled to leave for Tehran his 5-year-old daughter was crying and begging him to return to the hotel where it will be safe.

Read More: Turkey Has Become the New Front of ISISs War on the World

The government in Iran was taking the coup reports seriously, as an immediate session of the Supreme National Security Council had been called by the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Iran has mobilized the necessary military and intelligence forces, said Irans intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi on state TV. We are in complete control of our borders with Turkey.

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Iranian media were reporting that army units had been ordered to the Iran-Turkey border and the official news agency IRNA reported that all border crossings with Turkey have been closed and all flights to Turkey cancelled till further notice.

Iran has been locked in a regional struggle with Turkey over the civil war in Syria. Iran supports Syrian President Bashar Assad government, while Erdogan supporting the rebels attempting to bring him down. But while a change in the policy of Ankara toward Assad might be welcomed in Tehran, instability in Turkey, a major trading partner for Iran, is also extremely undesirable.

As the commotion and noise died down on the streets of Izmir, many capitals around the world were following the events in Turkey with concernmaybe none so much as Tehran. We are carefully following the events in Turkey, said Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, We are also very worried about these events, IRNA reported.
Earlier this year, in tiny Keosauqua, Iowa, I slipped into a bar before the last Ted Cruz campaign event of the day. In walked a middle-aged man in a red Nebraska tracksuit, with a Harvey Dent handsome grin and chin, albeit with slightly darker hair, who had just driven four-plus hours with his teenage daughter. He introduced himself as the freshman senator from Nebraska, here to speak out against Donald Trump, who, in his view, would wreak havoc on constitutional checks and balances.

To be honest, I didnt recognize Ben Sasse. Today, as the Cornhusker State enters the primary voting booths in his home state, Sasses red tracksuit is impossible to miss. And the brash object of his ire is far from impressed. Case in point:

.@BenSasse looks more like a gym rat than a U.S. Senator. How the hell did he ever get elected? @greta  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2016

Yep, Sasse was never-Trump long before the sentiment trended into #NeverTrump. And now the jockish academic has emerged as an eloquent megaphone for those conservatives distraught with their partys made-for-reality-TV turn. Why shouldnt America draft an honest leader who will focus on 70% of solutions for the next four years? Sasse recently wrote in an Open Letter to Majority America, railing against Trump on Facebook. You know  an adult? Its just one of many ways Sasse has made himself unavoidable this election cycle, from reading mean tweets from Trump supporters in a viral video to latching onto the campaign events of Cruz and Marco Rubio  constitutional candidates, as Sasse tells OZY  to publicize his criticisms of Trump.

After being elected in November 2014, the first-time legislator waited a year before giving his debut speech from the Senate floor. But once the relatively anonymous former McKinsey adviser took the stage, he promptly used it to bash Congress as a broken institution in a talk that had the conservative blogosphere swooning. He has original ideas, and original ways of expressing them, says former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, who worked under George W. Bush as secretary of health and human services, where Sasse was the departments assistant secretary for planning and evaluation.

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Sasse hasnt dropped the mic since, attaching his name to efforts to enact term limits for lawmakers, increase transparency of government data and bolster watchdog groups monitoring federal spending. Skeptical observers may see his sudden loquacity as opportunistic, but Sasses promise remains impossible to miss; Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee, mentioned Sasse as a future party figurehead in a recent interview with OZY, and multiple Republicans have compared Sasse to fresh-faced House Speaker Paul Ryan. And like Ryan, the father of three home-schooled kids has batted back multiple requests to run a third-party presidential bid to ostensibly save conservatism from Trump.

Heroes dont emerge unless theres a villain, and Sasses own ascendance wouldnt be possible without Trumps bombastic rise. Since Reagans time, GOP candidates have raced to run further to the right, but few have had true ideological differences. Trump has obliterated that model, overpowering ideals with force of character, the first post-ideological Republican nominee since before Barry Goldwater. The billionaires narrative foils  including ideologically pure conservatives like Sasse  have emerged in response. Movement conservativism needed someone to contrast itself to, says Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, a conservative nonprofit.

Thats why far-right champion Cruz was Trumps last remaining competitive antagonist, outlasting a host of moderate-ish Republicans, from Jeb Bush to Rubio, before bowing out in early March. And thats why Sasse could be the emerging face of vigilante conservativism, a brand of the right that wont remain loyal to a duly elected pick when the party needs saving. If the Republican Party becomes the party of David Duke, Donald Trump, Im out, Sasse told MSNBCs Morning Joe earlier this year. But the Midwesterners charm has an edge too: People in my town dont think this is a student council race, Sasse tells me, when he deems a question flippant. Sasse got his political break with grassroots bankrollers like the Club for Growth and Senate Conservatives Fund.

Id never run for anything until elected to Senate 15mons ago. I ran precisely cuz I want to #makeAmericaGreatAgainhttps://t.co/ngezGd7Gjl  Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) February 29, 2016

There are two sides to every coin, of course. The excollege president with four Ivy League degrees could easily have fostered unease within a Republican base increasingly made up of non-college graduates. In his first term, which started in January 2015, Sasse embraced a sidekick mindset, watching intently and hanging out with fellow outsider David Perdue from Georgia. But since finding his voice, the Nebraskan has hardly quieted, making not just a name for himself but also a reputation, so much so that one longtime Republican power player pulled me aside recently to ask if I thought, as others apparently did, that Sasse was arrogant. His staff didnt return our request for comment, though Head says that while the breath of fresh air for Sasse was his willingness to not speak for such a long time  now [he] feels like hes seeing the problems, and has suggestions for how they can be solved. I think he feels like hes starting to get a handle on the diagnosis, if not the actual cure, yet.
ISTANBUL  Almost nobody saw it coming, but on Friday night swarms of tanks and troops rolled into major cities throughout Turkey, locking down roads, government installations, and major thoroughfares. Their goal was nothing less than the toppling of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and launching the fourth successful military coup in the countrys history.

Military officials announced through loudspeakers that a curfew had taken effect throughout the nation, while news reports suggested a dissident group within the military had taken Turkeys general chief of staff hostage.

International flights were canceled, and social media slowed to a standstill. A warplane reportedly struck the seat of the Turkish Parliament before being shot down, while troops stormed the headquarters of Turkeys state broadcaster.

But Erdogan, on vacation in southern Turkey, remained out of the hands of the military putsch, suggesting that the coup has so far failed to decisively topple his decade-plus rule over Turkish politics.

All involved in this will pay the highest price, Erdogan told CNN Turk, where he spoke via a news presenters cellphone. I am calling on our nation. Go to squares; let us give them the best answer.

The attempt comes as Erdogan moves to constitutionally boost his presidential powers in what critics describe as a democracy-destroying maneuver. But on Friday, the countrys three largest opposition parties nonetheless called on supporters to oppose the coup, so bitter is the legacy of military rule in Turkey.

As rumor of a coup swirled across social media early on Friday night, thousands crowded into buses and taxis to rush home in Istanbul, only to find roads blocked by a patchwork of police and military checkpoints. In Istanbuls central Taksim Square, soldiers and police loyal to the government engaged in a tense standoff.

After police fired teargas into a group of pro-coup protesters entering the square, soldiers pushed police into a retreat by firing sporadically into the air. Demonstrators stood around a statue of Turkeys secular founder, Kemal Ataturk, as they chanted calls for Erdogans resignation.

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Turkey has been polarized and brought to the brink of war by one man, Erdogan, said Halil Aktas, a protester who had taken to the square. This will not continue a single day more.

But the wider scene suggested that the coup attempt, no matter its outcome, was sure to dramatically increase social divisions in Turkey that have grown over the strongman legacy of Erdogan and his government.

As protesters called for the governments ouster in Taksim, hundreds took to the streets of the nearby district of Kasimpasa, Erdogans blue-collar birthplace. Erdogan is the honor of Turkey! shouted protesters near a military checkpoint. Revenge! We will take our revenge!

Trapped between opposing protests, residents on one central Istanbul street crowded into corner stores to stock up on water and food.

I am trembling more every second we stand here, said Ayca Tezcan, a shopkeeper handing out pasta and bottled water to a line of six impatient locals. Why is my husband insisting we stay open? Terrible things could erupt any moment. What is money worth if you dont have safety?

Initial reports suggested a cadre of dissident officers had launched the coup. That would mirror Turkeys coup in 1960, when a cadre of dissident junior officers overthrew Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, a populist whose decade-long rule became characterized for is undemocratic excesses. Menderess execution after the coup in 1961 is often cited by Erdogan as a reminder of dark forces that allegedly threaten his rule.

Erdogans ambitions for an all-powerful presidency, coupled with a plummeting record on press freedom and tolerance of dissent, have stoked fury in Turkeys secular circles for years.

But the coup may end up emboldening, rather than tempering, the presidents drive to enhance his powers. A failed coup could easily broaden Erdogans support for a sweeping, controversial boost of his governing powers by validating his allegations that shadowy powers were attempting to undermine his rule.

On social media, anti-coup protesters seemed to roll back the military from scores of checkpoints in the late hours of Friday, while the spokesman for Turkeys spy agency, the National Intelligence Organization, declared that the coup had been repelled.

Yet the motivations for a military coup remain unclear. Turkeys government and military have appeared ever-closer allies in recent years. In 2014, a Turkish court released scores of senior military officials jailed in the Ergenekon coup plot trial, a case that formerly helped Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party rein in the power of the military. And earlier this year, Turkeys Supreme Court of Appeals overturned all convictions in the Ergenekon case, ruling that the alleged shadowy network never existed at all.

Since mid-2015, Ankara has given the military official free rein to combat Kurdish militants in the southeast, and recently enacted a law granting soldiers greater immunity from legal prosecution amid accusations of security force rights violations during military operations in the countrys majority Kurdish southeast.

Most recently, Turkeys government has moved to normalize relations with Russia and Israel while making overtures to improve ties with the Syrian regime, all steps seen to fit the Turkish militarys cautious geopolitical preferences.

If the coup is successful, it is hard to imagine that it will decrease the significant dangers faced by Turkey, which include a growing threat posed by the Islamic State. At the very least, the ouster of a moderately Islamist government by a secular military force will be ready-made propaganda for radical Islamic extremists in Turkey.

Nor would a coup decisively end a revived Kurdish insurgency, which has claimed over 1,700 lives since July 2015, according to the International Crisis Group.

Whoever prevails in the aftermath of the coup, the agenda is likely to be governed by revenge and narrow power-seeking. In the sudden battle for the fate of Turkish democracy, one side is sure to win. But Turkeys democracy is sure to lose.

Photo credit: DEFNE KARADENIZ/Getty Images
NEWS BRIEF This is a threat to all of us. That was President Obamas message to nations across the world Friday as he condemned Thursday nights bloodshed in Nice, France. Obama addressed the attack during a White House reception for the diplomatic corps, whose ranks include French Ambassador Gerard Araud. Noting that at least two Americans, a father and son on vacation, were killed in the attack, Obama emphasized that the threat of terrorism is a shared problem.

We don't know all the details but what we know is the capacity of even a single individual to do extraordinary harm to our people, to our way of life. A lot of nations represented here today have been impacted this year and in previous years. In recent weeks, we've seen heinous attacks inspired or directed by ISIL: here in the United States, in Turkey, in Iraq, in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Obama said. These terrorists are targeting and kill innocent people of all backgrounds and all faiths, including Muslims. And I know I speak for all of us when I say that these individuals and these networks are an affront to all of our humanity.

Obama said hed spoken with Araud in person and with French President Francois Hollande earlier in the day to offer Americans support. At least 84 people were killed Thursday during celebrations for Bastille Daya holiday akin to the American Independence Daywhen a large, white truck drove through crowds of people on a seaside promenade. No terrorist organization has claimed responsibility, but in a statement Thursday night Obama said it appears to have been a terrorist attack.

Recommended: Sharia Does Not Mean What Newt Gingrich Thinks It Means

Thursday nights events come roughly eight months after the attacks in Paris, where gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people. On Friday, Obama reassured the officials assembled that the United States and other partners would keep working to prevent similar violence in the future. We are going to keep taking out ISIL leaders and pushing ISIL back in Syria and Iraq, he said. Were going to keep standing with our partners from Africa to Afghanistan and we are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization.

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Obama also reflected on the difficult several weeks the United States has had, seemingly referencing the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, and shootings in Texas, Minnesota, and Louisiana. The divide that exists is not between races and ethnicities and religions, he said. It is between people who recognize the common humanity of all people and are willing to build institutions that promote that common humanity. And those who do not. Those who would suggest that somebody is less than them because of their tribe or their ethnicity or their faith or their color. And those impulses exist in all our countries.

The president repeatedly emphasized tolerance. As reports about the Nice attacks rolled in Thursday night, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for the United States to deport some Muslim Americans. Without naming him, Obama called such suggestions repugnant and an affront to American values in his message to the diplomats. We cannot give in to fear or turn on each other or sacrifice our way of life, Obama said. We cannot let ourselves be divided by religion because that's exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
By Jeff Mason and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Turkey on Saturday to exercise restraint after a failed military coup sparked a government crackdown, and warned its NATO ally that public suggestions of a U.S. role in the plot were "utterly false" and harmful to relations. President Barack Obama urged parties on all sides of the crisis to avoid destabilizing Turkey and follow the rule of law after the coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan. The coup attempt complicated U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamic State. Turkey closed its airspace to military aircraft and power was cut off to Incirlik air base, which U.S. forces use to launch air attacks against the militant group. U.S. officials were working with Turkish officials to resume air operations quickly, the Pentagon said. Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that authorities should respect the rule of law during their probe of the coup. "He made clear that the United States would be willing to provide assistance to Turkish authorities conducting this investigation, but that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said. Turkey has long been a key U.S. ally but relations have been strained in recent years and Erdogan's government has accused U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup attempt. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said any country that stands by Gulen will be considered at war with Turkey. Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt. Obama conferred with his national security and foreign policy advisers on Saturday morning and reiterated his support for the "democratically-elected, civilian" government of Turkey. "While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the president and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the White House said. Obama noted the United States needed continued cooperation from Turkey in the fight against terrorism. Forces loyal to Erdogan largely crushed the last remnants of the coup on Saturday as he launched a purge of the armed forces to tighten his grip on power. Turkey scrambled jets throughout Friday night to resist the coup launched by a faction within Turkey's military that saw rebels piloting military aircraft. The Incirlik air base near Adana in the southeast of the country was running on internal power sources after a loss of commercial power to the base, the Pentagon said. "U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook. "In the meantime, U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign." THREAT TO COALITION FIGHT Erdogan has cooperated with Washington in the fight against Islamic State, but relations have been rocky with U.S. criticism of Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism, Turkey's support for Islamist opposition groups fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the slow pace in sealing Turkey's border with Syria to foreign fighters. The closing of the airspace over Incirlik effectively grounded U.S. aircraft and drones that have been instrumental in the campaign to crush Islamic State in Syria, including supporting drives by Syrian Kurds and moderate Arabs, who are being advised by U.S. special forces, to seize the militant-held city of Manbij and Raqqa, the "capital" of the caliphate declared by Islamic State. "Clearly the variable here is how long the closure will last," said Jeffrey White, a former senior Defense Intelligence Agency analyst now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "If we're unable to fly from Incirlik, it will have a significant impact on the air campaign." A Turkish presidency official in Istanbul said the move was temporary and aimed at preventing rogue aircraft from targeting civilians and government buildings. "This is a short-term measure which won't have significant effect on coalition operations," the official said. "We have discussed this measure with our colleagues in Washington as well and they understand our concerns." A prolonged closure of Incirlik's airspace could force the United States to divert aircraft based in the Persian Gulf to the Manbij and Raqqa offensives, constraining the air power available to support Iraqi and U.S. forces involved in operations against Islamic State. It could also complicate the Pentagons ability to resupply and aid U.S. special forces inside Syria. A lengthy halt also could constrain the operations of U.S. drones, now flying out of Incirlik, to gather intelligence and strike Islamic State leaders in Raqqa and militants based there who plot and coordinate extremist attacks in Western Europe, White said. If Incirlik remains closed for a extended period, U.S. manned and remotely piloted aircraft will be forced to make much longer flights to targets in northern Syria and Iraq from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and air bases in Qatar and Kuwait, U.S. defense officials said. (Additional reporting by Dasha Afanasieva, John Walcott, Phil Stewart and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Kieran Murray and Mary Milliken)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama repeated his support for the "democratically-elected, civilian" government of Turkey on Saturday and urged all parties involved in the events there to avoid destabilizing behavior, the White House said. "The president and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability," the White House said in a statement about Obama's discussion with his national security team about Turkey. (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Friday urged all parties in Turkey to back the "democratically-elected" government, a clear denunciation of troops who launched a coup that has rocked the country.

Detailing a call between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, the White House said both agreed "all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed."

In Istanbul and Ankara, soldiers took to the streets as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed the putschists would pay a "very heavy price."

Erdogan, speaking from what a presidential source said was a secure location, urged the population to resist the coup.

In a separate statement, Kerry said "the United States views with gravest concern events unfolding in Turkey. We are monitoring a very fluid situation."

"I spoke this evening to Foreign Minister (Mevlut) Cavusoglu and emphasized the United States' absolute support for Turkey's democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions," he said.

"We urge all parties to ensure the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel and civilians throughout Turkey."
Muzaffarabad (Pakistan) (AFP) - A Pakistani social media celebrity whose selfies polarised the deeply conservative Muslim country has been murdered by her brother in a suspected honour killing, officials said Saturday, prompting shock and revulsion.

Qandeel Baloch, praised by many of the country's youth for her willingness to break social taboos but condemned by conservatives, was strangled near the city of Multan, police said.

"Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother. Apparently it was an incident of honour killing," Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, told AFP.

Baloch, believed to be in her twenties and whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, had travelled with her family to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Eid holiday.

She was killed there Friday, police said, adding that the brother, Wasim, was now on the run.

Up to 100 officers were gathered outside her family's home in Muzzafarabad, an AFP reporter there said. Five ambulances were also parked nearby.

"My daughter was innocent, we are innocent, we want justice, why was my daughter killed?" Baloch's father Azeem Ahmad told reporters there.

Police later registered a murder case against her brother based on her father's written complaint, in which he accused his son of killing his daughter for honour because "his son wanted her to quit showbiz".

Hundreds of women are murdered for "honour" every year in Pakistan.

The killers overwhelmingly walk free because of a law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderer -- who is often also a relative.

Filmmaker Sharmeemn Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary on honour killings won an Oscar earlier this year, slammed Baloch's murder as symptomatic of an "epidemic" of violence against women in Pakistan.

News of the murder was trending on social media in Pakistan, with liberal users praising Baloch's bravery, but some conservatives -- including users identified as women -- condemning her relentless self-promotion.

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In one typical comment, Twitter user @JiaAli wrote: "Someone had to do it. She was a disgrace."

- 'No woman is safe' -

But Facebook user Zaair Hussain said: "RIP Qandeel Baloch. You made us laugh, and you made us applaud," adding that history would remember her as a "provocateur".

Baloch shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking "How em looking?" went viral.

Her defiance of tradition and defence of liberal views won her many admirers among Pakistan's overwhelmingly young population.

But in a country where women have fought for rights for decades, and acid attacks and honour killings remain commonplace, she was also reviled by many and frequently subject to misogynist abuse.

Baloch provoked controversy last month after posing for selfies with a high-profile cleric, who was sternly rebuked by the country's religious affairs ministry.

Earlier this year she vowed to perform a striptease if Pakistan's cricket team beat India at the World T20, though they later lost.

"People are going crazy -- especially girls. I get so many calls where they tell me I'm their inspiration and they want to be like me," she told AFP after posting a provocative selfie on Valentine's Day.

In her last interview with Pakistan's biggest English-language newspaper Dawn she spoke of being married against her will at age 17 to "an uneducated man" with whom she had a child, adding that they later divorced.

She had reportedly spoken of leaving the country out of fear for her safety, with Dawn reporting that her request to officials for protection had been ignored.

Obaid-Chinoy told AFP the murder showed no women in Pakistan would be safe "until we start sending men who kill women to jail".

"There is not a single day where you don't pick up a paper and see a woman hasn't been killed," the maker of "A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness" told AFP, adding: "This is an epidemic".

Obaid-Chinoy's film was hailed by Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who in February vowed to push through anti-honour killing legislation.

No action has been taken since then, despite a recent fresh wave of attacks on women.

"Activists have screamed themselves hoarse," said Obaid-Chinoy. "When will it stop?"
Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death by her brother in an apparent honor killing, police said on Saturday.

Police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar said Balochs parents told investigators that one of her brothers strangled her while she slept at the familys home in Multan on Friday, according to the Associated Press. She had argued with her brother Waseem earlier that day over money issues and provocative photos she had posted, according to Reuters.

Apparently, it is an honour killing, but further investigations will reveal the real motives behind this murder, Ghazanfar said, according to Reuters.

Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was known for being a social media celebrity who challenged conservative norms. She drew criticism recently when she posted photos of herself with a Muslim cleric. She said they drank soda and smoked cigarettes during Ramadans daylight hours, which is when practicing Muslims typically fast, the AP reported.

The pictures led the cleric, Mufti Qavi, to be removed from his position on a Ramadan committee. Baloch sought protection earlier this month after receiving anonymous death threats, according to the AP.

Hundreds of women in Pakistan die in honor killings each yearoften at the hands of family members as a form of punishment for violating traditional values, Reuters reported.
Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch was allegedly murdered by her brother on Friday, July 15, in what authorities are calling an honor killing in the city of Multan in Pakistans Punjab province.

According to CNN, Balochs father, Muhammad Azeem, reported his son Waseem to the police after Waseem allegedly killed the 26-year-old social media star in protest of the kind of pictures she had been posting online.

Waseem went missing after news of the killing broke, as did his brother, who works in the Army and reportedly encouraged Waseem to carry out the killing, Al Jazeera reports.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost

Late Saturday, however, Waseem was tracked down and arrested. In a press conference, he spoke with his face covered, telling the gathered journalists that he killed for honor and had no regrets about murdering his younger sister.



According to Al Jazeera, a Punjab Police spokeswoman clarified that the initial postmortem showed that Balochs nose and mouth had been pinned shut at her time of death; she was not strangled, as previously reported.

Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was a popular and controversial figure on social media  dubbed Pakistan's Kim Kardashian  who dared to show off her curves and speak out about female empowerment in Pakistan, a largely conservative nation.



PHOTOS: Most Infamous Family Murders in History

Many of the videos she shared to her nearly 750,000 followers on Facebook involved her making faces at the camera, talking about her celebrity crushes and toying with different hairstyles, but according to CNN, they recently became more political, triggering increasing backlash from critics.



Her Instagram account is full of selfies and short video clips. A particularly controversial post involved a selfie with Mufti Abdul Qavi, a senior member of the clergy, about three weeks ago. Qavi was suspended from his post as a result of Balochs photo.

PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

In her last post to Facebook on Tuesday, July 4, Baloch wrote: I am trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people who dont wanna come out of their shells of false beliefs and old practices.






Panama City (AFP) - Panama's imprisoned former dictator Manuel Noriega will undergo surgery next week for a benign brain tumor, his doctor said.

Physician Eduardo Reyes told AFP on Friday the surgery is set for July 21 at the Santo Tomas hospital in Panama City. He will be admitted prior to the operation on July 18 for medical testing.

The ex-general's relatives renewed calls to move the 82-year-old to house arrest for health reasons, requests that have been turned down several times.

Reyes said the tumor was originally diagnosed in France and "has grown in Panama in recent years in a worrisome way."

The doctor said Noriega's age along with his heart and lung diseases made the surgery "high risk."

Noriega was a military dictator of Panama in the 80's. He was removed from power by US invasion and served time in US and French prisons for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Since being extradited from France to Panama in 2011, Noriega has been convicted for the disappearance of several political opponents during his rule from 1983 to 1989.

He is currently incarcerated at the El Renacer prison.

The former dictator has suffered several strokes and has prostate cancer and heart disease.

Noriega's lawyer Angel Ezra did not rule out the possibility that the octogenarian could refuse the operation if conditions are not optimal.
Businesses Serving Alcohol to Intoxicated Customers who Drive and Injure Others can be Held Accountable says Philadelphia Accident Lawyer Rand Spear

PHILADELPHIA, PA / ACCESSWIRE / July 16, 2016 / Nearly a third of all traffic-related deaths in 2014 in the U.S. involved alcohol use, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, costing nearly 10,000 lives. Thirty states, including Pennsylvania, have dram shop acts, which could hold those serving alcohol to drunk drivers responsible, according to Philadelphia accident lawyer Rand Spear.

The laws can result in liability for restaurants, bars and liquor stores who serve alcohol to intoxicated customers who cause injuries and deaths to others due to their drunk driving. Spear discusses the issues of drunk driving in a podcast available on YouTube.

"If you serve liquor to someone who is visibly intoxicated then you become responsible. If you serve liquor to a minor you become responsible, so you really have to be very careful when you host parties even in your home," Spear warns. "If people get drunk and you can see that they're visibly intoxicated, they continue to drink, get behind the wheel and cause an accident you can be held responsible."

Philadelphia car accident attorney Spear says if a drunk driver causes a car accident and injuries that driver is responsible because it's illegal to drive while intoxicated. While investigating a case it may be discovered where they became intoxicated, whether it was at a bar or restaurant and if the driver was visibly intoxicated at the time.

"You want to take discovery and find out were they slurring their speech, were their eyes glassy, were they acting inappropriately? If the bartender, waitress or person serving them should have noticed this person was intoxicated then the person serving the liquor could be responsible," accident attorney Spear says.

Many of those involved in accidents with a drunk driver suffer severe injuries, according to Spear. "We've had fatality cases, brain injury cases, and just horrific injuries. Think very clearly before you get behind the wheel of a car and make sure you know not to drink and drive. It's just not the right thing," Spear says. He suggests planning ahead so a sober, designated driver takes people home.

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Spear suggests families talk about drinking and driving to avoid possible accidents and harm to loved ones. "It's not something that you should ignore or sweep under the rug. I have a 23 year old son that I have a conversation with him all of the time. Where are you going? Who are you going to be with? How are you going to get home? Will there be alcohol? I want all those questions answered," Spear says.

Spear says his son can call him any time, day or night, and he will go pick him up to make sure he's safe. He suggests that older family members also rely on younger ones to get them home safe because it's not just younger people with less experience driving and drinking who are hazards.

"There's plenty of adults in their thirties and forties and fifties who simply go out and drink too much. If you suspect that's something going on in your family you need to sit down with the family and have a frank, honest conversation and come up with a game plan," Spear suggests.

"There's nothing wrong with a father calling a son and asking him to come pick him up because he's had one too many. There needs to be cooperation within the family so that we can really cut down on the number of people that are drinking and driving. It's all of our responsibility to do the right thing."

If you or a family member were injured or killed in an accident involving a drunk driver, Philadelphia accident lawyer Rand Spear is available to help those living in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His website is http://www.randspear.com and his phone number is 888-373-4LAW.

source: http://randspear.com/2016/07/08/philadelphia-accident-lawyer-serve-drunk-driver-may-liable-injuries/ - See more at: http://randspear.submitmypressrelease.com/philadelphia-accident-lawyer-serve-a-drunk-driver-you-may-be-liable-for-injuries_9441.html?preview_u=827c9b6a-4a23-11e6-971e-00259075c433#sthash.4250PZOg.dpuf

SOURCE: Rand Spear the Accident Lawyer via Submit Press Release 123
Its a sad day for some historically minded Philadelphians: Its the 226th anniversary of the congressional act that moved the nations capital from their city to Washington, D.C.

The Residence Act of July 16, 1790 put the nations capital in current-day Washington as part of a plan to appease pro-slavery states who feared a northern capital as being too sympathetic to abolitionists.

Robert Morris

The City of Brotherly Love became the ex-capital for several reasons: the machinations of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson; the compromise over slavery; a concern about public health; and a grudge against the Pennsylvania state government were all factors in the move.

The problems started with some rowdy actions in 1783 by Continental soldiers. Until then, Philadelphia had been the new nations hub. Important decisions were made there, and it was equally accessible from the North and the South.

The Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia in June 1783 at what we now call Independence Hall, operating under the Articles of Confederation. However, there were serious problems afoot. The federal government had issues paying the soldiers who fought in the war against the British for their service.

The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 was a crisis that literally forced the Congress to focus on its personal safety and pitted the federal government (in its weakened form) against the state of Pennsylvania.

Unpaid federal troops from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, marched to Philadelphia to meet with their brothers-in-arms. A group of about 400 soldiers then proceeded to Congress, blocked the doors to the building, and demanded their money. They also controlled some weapons storage areas.

Congress sent out one of its youngest, quick-talking delegates to negotiate with the troops: Alexander Hamilton, a former soldier. Hamilton convinced the soldiers to free Congress so the lawmakers could meet quickly and reach a deal about repaying the troops.

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Hamilton did meet with a small committee that night, and they sent a secret note to Pennsylvanias state government asking for its state militia for protection from the federal troops. Representatives from Congress met with John Dickinson, the head of Pennsylvanias government; Dickinson discussed the matter with the militia and he told Congress Pennsylvania wouldnt use the states troops to protect the federal lawmakers.

On the same day, Congress sneaked away from Philadelphia to Princeton, New Jersey. It traveled to various cities over the following years, including Trenton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; and New York City.

Delegates agreed to return to Philadelphia in 1787 to draw up the current U.S. Constitution, while the Congress of the Confederation was still seated in New York City. Part of the new Constitution addressed the concerns caused by the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783.

Article I, Section 8 gave Congress the power to create a federal district to become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful buildings.

When Congress met in 1789, two locations were proposed for the capital: one near Lancaster and another in Germantown, an area just outside Philadelphia.

However, Hamilton became part of a grand bargain to move the capital to an undeveloped area that encompassed parts of Virginia and Maryland, receiving some help from Thomas Jefferson along the way.

A deal had been reached at a private dinner party in Manhattan between Hamilton, James Madison and Jefferson a month earlier, where Hamilton agreed with the idea that the capital to be moved south. In exchange, Hamilton got a commitment to reorganize the federal governments finances by getting the southern states to indirectly pay off the war debts of the northern states.

The Residence Act put the capital in current-day Washington. Hamiltons Assumption Bill passed 10 days later after Congressional members from the Potomac region switched their votes.

But a twist in the deal was negotiated by Robert Morris: Until the new capital was built on the Potomac, the capital would be in Philadelphia for 10 years, giving the Pennsylvanians a chance to convince Congress that life was better there than in an undeveloped region of the Potomac.

During the following decade, Philadelphians lobbied hard for the capital to stay in Pennsylvania. They offered President Washington an elaborate mansion as an incentive to stay. Instead, he and his successor, John Adams, lived in a more modest house in Philadelphia near Congress.

But, a yellow fever epidemic hit Philadelphia in 1793, raising doubts about the safety of the area. And native Virginians like Washington, Madison, and Jefferson were actively planning for a capital near their home.

So on May 15, 1800, Congress ended its business in Philadelphia and started the move to the new Federal District. President Adams also left Philadelphia in April and moved into the White House in November.

Philadelphia ceased to officially be the nations capital on June 11, 1800.
Rapper Pitbull had harsh words for Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Friday, telling reporters that he is not supporting the candidate and describing his campaign as a "joke." "I think the [Trump's] campaign is a joke to be honest with you. I think that it's unfortunate the way we're being viewed around the world due to some people's approaches," the Cuban-American rapper said. Pitbull, real name Armando Perez, was speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, where he was honored with a star plaque for his contributions to the music recording industry. Pitbull's comments on Trump came after a report in Vanity Fair magazine that the Miami-born rapper had met with the Republican nominee in Florida. "Am I supporting Donald Trump? No I am not supporting Donald Trump. You all know this already very well," said Pitbull.
It's the new Ghostbusters opening weekend in Pittsburgh and the Steel City Ghostbusters are making appearances all over the city to celebrate! After being at the premier in L.A. last week, they have been seen handing out Ecto Cooler all over Pittsburgh! Missy Moreno caught up with them at AMC Waterfront 22 as they entertained fans of all ages with their awesome autographed proton packs and pics with The Pittsburgh Ecto-1! || See more 4 the 412 videos at Facebook.com/4the412
July 16 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

Turkey's Erdogan calls citizens to streets (http://on.ft.com/29Xxq0R)

Bill Ackman's bet sours as Herbalife settles with FTC (http://on.ft.com/29XxvS6)

May pledges 'UK-wide approach' to Brexit talks (http://on.ft.com/29XxNs9)

Attack in Nice: France reels from third terror atrocity in 18 months (http://on.ft.com/29XxPR3)

Overview

Turkish president Erdogan asked his supporters to take to the streets in an attempt to fight off an attempted coup that has left Turks unsure of who was in charge of the country.

Herbalife Ltd signed a $200 million settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, dealing a blow to investor Bill Ackman's campaign to have the company labelled a pyramid scheme.

Theresa May said she will not trigger Article 50 until she has secured a "UK-wide approach" to talks with Europe.

France was the target of an attack in which 84 people were killed when a man drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice.

(Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's military headquarters are now held by pro-government forces but small groups of rebel soldiers behind an overnight coup attempt are still resisting and control some military helicopters, a senior Turkish official said on Saturday. The official said the pro-coup soldiers did not control any fighters jets and that the helicopters they were still using would be brought down swiftly. Attacks on parliament and the presidential palace had largely stopped, the official said. A second official said 29 colonels and five generals had been removed from their posts in the wake of the coup attempt. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Nick Tattersall)
The new Ghostbusters soundtrack features 2016 updates of tracks from the 1984 film and original cuts alike, from Mark Ronson and Passion Pit to Missy Elliott and Fall Out Boy.

5 Seconds of Summer Stay Up Late, Share 'Ghostbusters' Track 'Girls Talk Boys'

Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer get funky on "Girls Talk Boys," which takes a note from 1982's top hits and marks a departure from their usual pop-punk and acoustic sound.

Producer Ricky Reed (Meghan Trainor, Twenty One Pilots) claims responsibility for the funky alcohol-fueled twist. "The idea for the song came together in a jam session with me and a couple of other songwriters out in Palm Springs about a year and a half ago: myself, a writer named John Ryan, another writer named Teddy Geiger" -- yes, that Teddy Geiger -- "and another writer named Ammar Malik. Four of us drunk and jamming on things that felt like early '80s dance punk, like the kind of downtown sound. We fell into what felt like a fun, silly, weird idea."

5SOS were ready to switch up their sound with the "weird idea": "They kinda freaked out. They came to my studio in Echo Park and cut the vocal here and we had a great time working out the parts." #5SOSFAM members will be delighted to hear they're, in Reed's words, "great guys." "They're hilarious, awesome dudes -- also really talented."

Listen to Zayn's 'Ghostbusters' Soundtrack Song 'wHo'

Reed, who was a childhood Ghostbusters enthusiast, is proud of his contribution to the film and ready to see the 2016 remake. "I'm pumped to see the new movie, because Kristin Wiig is my favorite comedian of all time," he says. "She's like my number one funny maker." But Reed had to pass on the VIP treatment given to people involved with the film. "I think they actually offered me the opportunity to go to the premiere and do the carpet, but Mom and Dad were in town. Guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do."

Reed, who was loosely involved with the 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street soundtracks as well, has a number of soundtrack-related projects he's keeping mum about, but his sound definitely lends itself to lighter fare. "I like to have fun and have a good time, so I guess [my music] makes sense for comedies." But the one soundtrack hit he wishes he'd written definitely skews dramatic: "[Seal's] 'Kiss From a Rose' from Batman Forever. That was a jam."
DOHA (Reuters) - The Gulf state of Qatar said on Saturday it denounced and condemned a military coup attempt in Turkey, according to Qatar state news agency QNA. Turkey set up a military base in Qatar in April as part of a defense agreement aimed at helping the two countries confront "common enemies". Qatar and Turkey, both economic heavyweights, have provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and raised the alarm about what they say is creeping Iranian influence in the region. (Reporting by Tom Finn; Editing by Alison Williams)
CHICAGO -- The Texas Rangers' starting rotation gets a big lift with Saturday's return of right-hander Yu Darvish.

Darvish, 29, was expected to be reinstated off the 15-day disabled list and start the middle game of the three-game Rangers-Cubs series at Wrigley Field. It will be his first start since a no-decision against Houston on June 8.

Darvish worked so hard on his rehab that the Rangers had to work on what to do with his extra strength.

"He practically had to learn how to compensate for the added power that he had," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said Friday. "He worked out so hard on his rehab that his legs got so strong, his lower half got so strong that he was throwing a little bit harder.

"Fortunately for him, for us he's ready to go and obviously he's a huge part of our club."

Darvish will face Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel (7-5, 3.46 ERA) in the 2:20 p.m. ET game.

The Japanese right-hander was 10-7 with a 3.06 ERA in 2014, his last season with extensive playing time. He missed the 2015 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Darvish started the 2016 season on the disabled list, rejoined the Rangers and returned to the disabled list on June 13 with right shoulder discomfort, retroactive to June 6.

The Rangers also activated right-hander Keone Kela from the 60-day disabled list. He's expected to help the bullpen in the second half after being sidelined for surgery to treat a bone spur in his right elbow.

Kela was 1-0 with a 7.11 ERA in seven appearances.

"I feel very good about the club, getting a couple of key guys back here on the pitching staff will go a long ways," Daniels said. "You're talking about two guys -- one at the front of the rotation and the other at the back of the bullpen -- are elite-level talents. It's a big shot in the arm getting those two back here."

The weekend set is the Rangers' first at Wrigley Field since 2013 when they took just one in three games in a series that started in April and didn't finish until a May 6 makeup of an April 17 rainout.

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Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he feels more refreshed after catching up on sleep and hopes his team feels the same way as they resumed play after an admittedly rough stretch of 24 consecutive games heading into the All-Star break.

"I always attempt to gauge what they (his team) may feel like the way I feel like," he said Friday. "I've probably have not been as tired as I was at this break ever. I think the schedule leading up to it contributed to that. If I felt the need to rest, I'm certain our guys felt the same way."

The Cubs are slowly regaining full strength with the return of catcher David Ross (concussion symptoms) and left-hander Clayton Richard (finger blister) on Friday.

Next to come back might be outfielder Dexter Fowler, sidelined since June 19 with a right hamstring strain. Maddon said Fowler could be reactivated sometime next week.

"He ran yesterday, hit the bases and felt good about it," Maddon said. "Hopefully, by the end of this coming week, he'll be available to us."

Fowler missed 21 games since being placed on the disabled list June 10 with a right hamstring strain.

Maddon foresees potential rehab assignments in coming days before Fowler is reinstated with the Cubs.
Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump appeared to express support for the Turkish government on Saturday, saying "it looks like they're resolving the difficulty," even as he blamed much of the unrest in the Middle East on Hillary Clinton.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee's brief comments on Turkey were made in passing during a speech formally introducing Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate.

"As far as Turkey is concerned, so many friends in Turkey, great people, amazing people," he said. "We wish them well. It looks like they're resolving the difficulty, but we wish them well."

But, he went on, "the Middle East today is more unstable than ever before." He said that as secretary of state under Barack Obama, Clinton -- his Democratic rival -- had led the president "down a horrible path," plunging "Iraq, Syria, all into chaos."

Trump's comments came just two days before the opening of the Republican national convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where the New York real estate mogul appears virtually sure to receive his party's formal nomination.
CLEVELANDHere is how they imagined it would go down: On the floor of the Republican convention next week, when the states were called, one by one, to submit their presidential votes, the delegates would rise up.

Objection! a voice would shout, early in the alphabetperhaps it would be Lori Hack, the Arizona delegate whose state GOP was trying to get her disqualified for announcing she wouldnt support the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Or perhaps it would be someone else, one of a handful of other delegates who have brought lawsuits, spoken their minds, or been threatened with sanctions for refusing to support Trump.

The objectors would demand their renegade votes be counted rather than the official tallies their state leaders were reporting. (Under Arizonas delegate-allocation rules, for example, Trump won all 58 of its delegates when he won the states March primary.) The convention chairman, House Speaker Paul Ryan, would recognize and count them.

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And one by one, seeing the objectors boldness, delegates from other states would rise up, too, until Trump no longer had the 1,237-delegate majority he needed to get the nomination on the first convention ballot.

And then what would happen? They couldnt say. But they were sure how it would end.

I think it is probable that Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee, Eric OKeefe, a Wisconsin conservative operative who co-founded Delegates Unbound, told me on Wednesday, sitting in a mostly bare, recently rented office suite on the 16th floor of a downtown Cleveland office building.

There are a lot of delegates who dont want to vote for Trump, OKeefe, a slender man with a mop of gray-white hair, told me evenly. Thats why were here.

The scenario sketched out by OKeefe and his fellow Republican rebelsa ragtag band of misfits and gadflies, with competing agendas and no clear endgamewasnt just farfetched. It was a fantasy. And 36 hours later, it would fizzle in dramatic fashion, as the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign teamed up to squelch it definitively, despite a Republican senators dramatic last-minute appeal to his fellow partisans conscience. By Friday morning, Trump would be publicly gloating about having crushed the delegate revolt, and the GOPs submission to its conqueror would be complete.

Story continues

The push to topple Trump, it turned out, was a paper tiger, a few loud but lonely voices who never stood much of a chance in a party temperamentally inclined not to rock the boat. (Some members of the media who had spent the week hyping the effort grumbled afterward about feeling burned by the rebels grandiose and, it turned out, unsubstantiated claims.) Considering the powerful force of partisanship and the uncertain and unprecedented nature of their efforts, its impressive they got as far as they did: an office, flights of television ads, more than a dozen volunteers frantically strategizing and whipping delegate votes.

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But as the effort went down in flames, it revealed a Republican Party that, although still chaotically divided, has largely decided, having bought the Trump ticket, to take the ride.

A meeting of the Republican National Convention Committee on Rules and Order of Business is not typically thrillsville, but bear with me here, because this was an unusually dramatic meeting of the Committee on Rules and Order of Business. It began on Thursday morning, ominously, with a printer jam.

The ostensible printer jam led to a one-hour delay, then a four-hour delay. Soon word leaked out that the printer jam was a ruse to cover for a secret meeting between the activist delegates, their allies, and the Republican National Committee, which has considered Trump the nominee for months now and whose priority is to create for television audiences an orderly show of a convention, similar to years past, with the nominee smoothly coronated and celebrated as the balloons fall from the ceiling.

(Later, officials insisted there had indeed been a printer jam, but admitted it was not the reason for the long delay.)

Behind closed doors, in a conference room up an escalator from the convention-center basement where the committee was to meet, the negotiators huddled. The rebels key figures included Ken Cuccinelli, the former attorney general of Virginia; Kendal Unruh, a schoolteacher and delegate from Colorado; and U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah.

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Cuccinelli, a conservative operative who worked on Ted Cruzs presidential campaign, wanted procedural changes for future presidential primariesin particular, he wanted to encourage states to close their primaries to non-Republicans by awarding more delegates to states with closed primaries. Not a rules committee member himself, he was the ringleader for a group of mostly Cruz-supporting members seeking procedural reforms.

Unruh, a Cruz supporter whose group, Free the Delegates, had teamed up with OKeefes Delegates Unbound, wanted to change the convention rules to specify that delegates could vote however they wanted, regardless of their states primary results. Failing that, Unruh, a member of the rules committee, hoped to get 28 votes for a minority report that could be brought to the convention floor.

And nobody knew what Lee wanted. The prominent Senate conservative who had endorsed Cruz and criticized Trump sits on the rules committee member along with his wife. He was the subject of much speculation and scrutiny in the days before the meeting, his role thought to be potentially pivotal in swaying undecided committee members. He hadnt tipped his hand publicly, but privately, Lee, a self-described constitutionalist appalled by Trumps seeming lack of principles, had decided he backed Unruhs conscience clause as well as Cuccinellis proposed reforms.

From the start, then, the rebel delegates had competing agendas and little coordination or joint planning. They were flying blind and, to some degree, bluffing; Unruh publicly insisted she had the votes for a minority report, but independent whip counts consistently failed to substantiate her claim. OKeefe, for his part, is a libertarian advocate with ties to the Koch brothers who sees delegate reform as part of a larger agenda of rolling back what he sees as pernicious Progressive Era attacks on private institutions; he was aided by Dane Waters, a Washington-based consultant, ballot-initiative expert, and elephants-rights advocate; and Curly Haugland, a commercial swimming-pool builder from North Dakota and perennial rules gadfly whose 100-page manuscript on delegate binding had languished, unread, in many a fellow delegates inbox for years. Haugland subscribed to an exotic view of the existing RNC rules that held that, with the exception of 1976, convention delegates had never been bound by their states voters, and had voted as if they were only out of a combination of tradition and false consciousness.

The unique intra-party divisiveness of Trumps nomination had given all these eccentrics an opening to push their particular agendas, and they had seized it. OKeefe and Waters took Hauglands much-dismissed manuscript and had it bound into a glossy paperback, titled Unbound: The Conscience of a Republican Delegate. When I came along and knew all the history and, like, ate it all up, Curly was pretty pleased, OKeefe told me drily. That doesnt happen all that often in Curlys life.

So, there they all were in the convention center, trying to figure out if there was a deal they were willing to make. But the talks eventually fell apart when Priebus was unwilling to exchange the closed-primary bonus for the rebel blocs votes on the rest of the rules. Closed primaries would help conservative-movement candidates like Cruz, who tend to command more support from Republican stalwarts than from crossover or independent voters. It would dramatically alter the landscape of the pivotal New Hampshire primary, which is open to all voters. And it would be a slap in the face to Trump, who was launched to the nomination by his dramatic New Hampshire winpowered disproportionately by the votes of non-Republicans.

Priebus and his allies were nervous enough to keep a tight watch on the proceedings, but they were pretty sure they had the votes. Why should they give the rebels anything?

The rules committee had been meeting for several hours when the confrontation finally camefrom an unexpected source.

Unruh hadnt yet introduced her conscience amendment to unbind the delegates. Early attempts by reformers to defy the will of Priebus and his allieson matters including the closed-primary proposal, and a measure to prohibit corporate lobbyists from serving on the RNChad fallen fall short. Senator Lee spoke in favor of closed primaries, calling them the best way to preserve the partys identity and elevate candidates who share our values, but the measure got just 32 votes.

It was now past dinnertime: In late afternoon, the committee had voted to push through and finish its work in a late-night session, rather than reconvening Friday morning. This was a mark of the establishments confidence, as well as its ruthlessness. Knowing the rebels still needed more time to organize, and knowing that tired delegates have less patience for endless procedural debates, the Trump allies pressed their advantage.

As the delegates debated, a horrible terrorist attack took place in France. Trump postponed his vice-presidential announcement, seeming to waver on his expected choice of the governor of Indiana, Mike Pence.

Activists across the country were watching the rules committee: following along on C-SPAN3, where they were being broadcast, or on Twitter, or on blogs like The Resurgent, where a steady stream of posts by the anti-Trump radio host Erick Erickson urged the rebels to take courage. But it was not the rebels who made the move that would draw them into a checkmate.

It was Jordan Ross, a lumbering, white-haired Nevada delegate attending his first convention, who serves as the elected constable for a desert outpost on the California border. He wore his constables uniform on the dais and spoke up in a booming voice, frequently employing colorful metaphors. The amendment he offered would make the rules explicitly state that delegates are bound.

Its time, after all these years, to put an end to this, Ross intoned. Lets give the people what they expectthat their votes count.

A delegate from Rhode Island, Eileen Grossman, agreed: I will not turn my back on the millions of people that voted for Donald Trump, she said. The whip effort by the anti-Trump advocates, she noted, had deluged her with hundreds of emails, many of them threatening, and when she responded politely, the responses were not nice.

The rule was approved, 87 votes to 12.

Unruh brought up her proposal next. The serious-faced brunette seemed to take a deep breath as she prepared to make her case. Does anybody need any information on the conscience clause? she joked, an allusion to the deluge of emails.

Unruh cast the choice in religious terms, comparing delegates right to vote their preferences to doctors right to refuse to perform abortions. That is a God-given right, and it should not be taken away by the RNC, she said.

With little discussion, the committee moved to cut off debate and defeated Unruhs proposal on a voice vote. Then Rosswho had, he told me later, worked with the Trump campaign to draft his proposalsput forward another measure that would codify binding. Thats when Lee got up to speak.

The voters are important, Lee said, but the delegates are an important safeguard that shouldnt be removed. Presidential candidates, he argued, have to win over the voters and the delegates. For Trump to silence the delegates, he claimed, would only deepen the partys internal strife: This problem, this angst  isnt going to go away just because we paper over it with rules, he pleaded.

But Texas delegate Steve Munisteri delivered a rebuke: Sir, theres nobody else running for president in this party right now than Donald Trump, he said. And a Hawaii delegate named Nathan Paikai, who wore a red sweatshirt, a long, wispy beard, and a Make America Great Again hat, broke down in tears as he exhorted, He is the nominee because he won!

There were a few more things to discuss, but it was a formality. The last-ditch effort to stop Trump had been routed in a clean sweep. They never managed to come up with satisfactory answers to the biggest questions surrounding their effort: How could they justify overriding the popular will? And who would they get to run instead?

At every turn of this unusual Republican primary, there has been a vocal minority of dissenters who saw stopping Trump as a necessity of apocalyptic proportions. But their efforts were always too little too late: the elected officials, the operatives, the donors, the establishment, all seemed to mobilize only after Trump took firm hold of the partys reins. Their efforts matteredmany felt they were laying down a marker of principle against a nominee they saw as ruinous or toxic. But in the end, the great majority of the party regulars succumbed to their unorthodox new ruler, preferring the chaos they were already in to the chaos they could not imagine.

Ross told me he was proud to have served on Trumps behalf to defeat what he saw as a disingenuous effort by Cruz to sneak his way to a nomination he did not earn, in defiance of popular will. (The anti-Trump delegates all denied they were working on Cruzs behalf.) This was not a grassroots movement, it was a marketing campaign attempting to exploit dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump among a small group of people, he said. It was, he added, pathetic.

For their part, the rebels would not acknowledge they got beatUnruh vowed to wage a floor fight nonetheless. I ran into OKeefe walking down the street, disgusted by what he saw as an establishment ambush: Repellent behavior, he said, shaking his head, reflective of the coming regime if he wins. The next day brought new Delegates Unbound press releases arguing for yet more exotic interpretations of the rules.

After midnight, a Washington Post reporter spotted some of the rebel delegates at a hotel bar, where the bartender had announced last call. A motion to suspend the rules and keep the bar open was denied.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
ROME (Reuters) - Rescuers saved 366 migrants from rickety boats trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy but at least 20 people were reported to have drowned, Italian police said on Saturday. The survivors, who were rescued in four separate operations, were crammed onto three rubber dinghies and a wooden fishing boat. They were all taken to the Sicilian port of Augusta, where they were questioned on Friday evening by the Italian police unit Interforce, which combats illegal immigration. The Norwegian ship Siem Pilot went to the aid of one dinghy that sank in the Sicilian Channel, but many migrants were already in the sea when it arrived, Antonio Panzanaro, an Interforce official, told Reuters. One corpse was recovered but survivors said that at least 20 people had drowned before the ship arrived, he said. There were 82 women and 25 children among the 366 people rescued, he said. The survivors were mainly from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Bangladesh. Seven people were arrested from the four boats, including their drivers, on suspicion of people-trafficking, he said. Italy has long been on the front line of seaborne migration from Africa to Europe, and is now the main point of entry after the European Union struck a deal with Turkey to stem flows to Greece amid Europe's worst migration crisis since World War Two. Slightly fewer migrants arrived on Italian shores in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period last year, but the number of deaths on the route has risen, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). More than 67,000 seaborne migrants arrived in Italy between Jan. 1 and July 3, according to the IOM. (Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Nerys Avery)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday turmoil in Turkey threatened regional stability and called on the Turkish authorities to resolve the situation without violence and within the country's constitutional framework. It spoke out as forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks. Relations between the Kremlin and Erdogan remain strained over the Syria crisis and the Turkish shooting down of a Russian fighter jet in November despite an agreement last month to resume bilateral cooperation after a period of tension. "In Moscow we are gravely concerned about events inside the Turkish republic," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The escalation of the political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and of armed conflict in the region pose heightened risks for international and regional stability." Russian authorities have in the past accused Erdogan of ignoring the smuggling of Islamic State oil from Syria to Turkey and of overseeing what they have called the problematic Islamization of Turkish society. Erdogan has rejected the smuggling charges as slander. Russian trade sanctions on Turkey, imposed over the shooting down of the fighter jet, remain in place despite the Kremlin saying last month that Erdogan had apologized to President Vladimir Putin over the incident. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the coup attempt showed something was badly wrong in Turkish society. "What happened shows that in society and within the army of the Turkish Republic there are powerful deep contradictions which have bubbled to the surface," Medvedev told reporters after a summit in Mongolia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it confirmed its readiness to work with Turkey's legitimately-elected leadership, especially when it came to tackling terrorism. Authorities were working to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Turkey, traditionally one of the most popular holiday destinations for them, the ministry said. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said officials had been ordered to help Russian nationals return home as soon as possible. Putin was being kept constantly updated, he added. The TASS news agency reported that Russian airlines had suspended regular passenger flights to Turkey. Turkey is one of the largest importers of Russian grain. Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said he hoped the turmoil would not seriously affect exports. (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov; Additional reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Simona Halep came from a set down to reach the Bucharest Open final on Saturday and take a shot at her second home title.

The top-seeded Halep took more than two hours to see off Vania King of the United States 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 for the second time this year.

That set up a final between Halep and seventh-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, who has a 3-1 record against the Romanian ranked No. 5 in the world.

The pressure will be on Halep to deliver after winning the inaugural Bucharest event in 2014. She didn't play here last year.

Sevastova reached her second final of the year and underlined her best season in six years.

She dispatched Laura Siegemund of Germany 6-3, 6-2, and hasn't dropped a set in the clay tournament.

Sevastova won her only WTA title in 2010, and didn't reach a final again until the Wimbledon warmup at Mallorca last month.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2018 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against AZZ Inc. (''AZZ'' or the ''Company'') (AZZ) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division, is on behalf of a class consisting of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the securities of AZZ between April 22, 2015 and January 8, 2018, both dates inclusive (the ''Class Period''). Plaintiff seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ''Exchange Act'') and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder.

If you are a shareholder who purchased AZZ securities between August 4, 2017, and January 5, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until March 12, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and quantity of shares purchased.

[Click here to join this class action]

AZZ manufactures specialty electrical equipment and components for the global power generation, power transmission, and distribution markets. The Company also provides hot dip galvanizing services to the steel fabrication industry across the United States.

The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) that the Company misstated revenues for its Energy Segment for the duration of the Class Period; (ii) that it had failed to report revenues in compliance with FASB's Accounting Standards Codification 605-35-25-92, (iii) that the Company lacked adequate internal controls over financial reporting; (iv) that its purported efforts, over more than two years, to evaluate revenue recognition standards had been an apparent failure; and that (v) as a result of the foregoing, AZZ's publicly disseminated financial statements were materially false and misleading.

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On January 9, 2018, AZZ announced: ''that the Company historically should have accounted differently for certain contracts within its Energy Segment.'' Specifically, the Company reported that revenue for the contracts at issue ''was historically recognized for the Energy Segment upon transfer of title and risk to customers or based upon the percentage of completion method of accounting for electrical products built to customer specifications,'' but that ''in the case of contracts for which revenue was recorded upon contract completion and transfer of title, the Company instead should have applied the percentage of completion method.'' AZZ advised investors that it ''is currently reviewing whether . . . there are any significant impacts to the Company's audited consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended February 28, 2015, and 2017, and the fiscal year ended February 29, 2016, as contained in its 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the previously issued unaudited financial statements contained in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended May 31, 2017, and August 31, 2017.''

On this news, AZZ's share price fell $3.14, or 6.2%, to close at $47.50 on January 9, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2018 / Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit hasbeen filed against Philip Morris International Inc. ("Philip Morris" or the "Company") (PM) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, Southern District of New York, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Philip Morris common stock between February 8, 2018, and April 18, 2018 (the "Class Period"), seeking to pursue remedies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "1934 Act").

If you are a shareholder who purchased Philip Morris securities between February 8, 2018, and April 18, 2018, both dates inclusive, and wish to discuss this action, please contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com.

[Click here tojoin this class action]

Philip Morris is one of the largest and most recognizable cigarette and tobacco manufacturing companies in the world. The Company's subsidiaries and affiliates and their licensees are engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside of the United States.

The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding the Company's business and prospects, including that Philip Morris was experiencing a faster decline in overall cigarette and e-cigarette (or "heated tobacco") sales volumes during the first quarter of 2018 than investors had been led to believe, that its much-lauded sales initiatives had stalled, and that it was experiencing adverse sales headwinds in key markets. As a result of these misrepresentations, Philip Morris stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $109 per share.

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On February 22, 2018 - one day after making rosy statements about the Company's ongoing sales trends and expected results to investors - the Companys Chief Executive Officer, Andre Calantzopoulos ("Calantzopoulos"), sold 49,000 shares of Philip Morris stock at $103.66 per share for over $5 million in gross insider trading proceedings. This sale was unusual in both timing and amount, representing a greater than 22% increase over the next greatest number of shares sold by Calantzopoulos in a single day in at least the preceding five years.

Then, on April 19, 2018, Philip Morris issued a press release announcing disappointing results for the Company's first quarter of 2018. Against its easiest prior-year comparison, the Company reported that a combined cigarette and heated tobacco unit shipment volume had declined by 2.3% during the quarter. The Company also stated that key sales initiatives had stalled, as the Company's heated tobacco unit growth had plateaued due to market demographics and faltering consumer conversion tactics and, further, that cigarette shipments had fallen by 5.3% during the quarter, signaling persistent adverse trends in the business.

On this news, the price of Philip Morris stock declined $15.80 per share or more than 15%, to close at $85.64 per share on April 19, 2018. This represented the worst daily decline for the Company in nearly a decade and a closing price of more than 17% below the price at which Calantzopoulos had sold his Philip Morris stock less than two months before.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP

https://www.accesswire.com/512198/SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-Pomerantz-Law-Firm-Reminds-Shareholders-with-Losses-on-their-Investment-in-Philip-Morris-International-Inc-of-Class-Action-Lawsuit-and-Upcoming-Deadline-PM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The road crowd gave Ichiro Suzuki a standing ovation when he came to the plate and another nice round of applause after he singled as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning for his 2,991st hit.

As much as shaving the countdown to nine, it ended up really helping the Miami Marlins, too.

''He's been amazing for us all year,'' manager Don Mattingly said of the 42-year-old Suzuki, who scored the tying run in a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. ''I thought the fans were amazing right there, respectful.''

Miguel Rojas drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth for the Marlins, who have won four straight, coming from behind in the last three. Then he paid tribute to Suzuki.

''It's been an honor, man,'' Rojas said. ''The last couple of years having the opportunity to be with Ichiro has been huge because everything he's doing on the field is historic.''

Tommy Pham had two of the Cardinals' four homers and drove in four runs. Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk also connected for St. Louis, which hit two each off Wei-Yin Chen and reliever David Phelps but had three defensive miscues.

''It's just tough to be on this side of the equation when you had a good night like I did,'' Pham said. Of his curtain call after a three-run shot in the fourth, he said, ''It's horrible now.''

Manager Mike Matheny noted a number of ''non-plays'' and added, ''It seemed like whenever we had one it hurt us.''

The hit was the first since July 4 for Suzuki. He's had just seven pinch-hit appearances and one start this month with the Marlins, who have a steady outfield rotation of Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton.

''You know if he was playing every day, every day, every day, you know it wouldn't be long, but in our situation you don't know quite how long that's going to take,'' Mattingly said. ''So, I don't think anybody's getting too crazy over it right now.''

Story continues

Suzuki did not speak to reporters after the game.

The Cardinals blew leads of 4-1 and 6-5 to fall to 19-27 at home. They were 55-26 at home last year, tied for best in the majors.

Matt Holliday, getting his sixth start at first base, couldn't handle a long hop on a potential double play ball in the fourth inning that led to a run. Reliever Kevin Siegrist made an errant pickoff throw on Suzuki for an error and Grichuk came in and couldn't retreat in time to harness Ozuna's double in the ninth that led to the winning run.

Chen has surrendered 19 homers, among the league leaders. Phelps had given up just two in 46 innings.

Fernando Rodney (1-2) worked a scoreless eighth and A.J. Ramos finished for his 28th save in 29 chances.

Seung Hwan Oh (2-1), the Cardinals' stand-in closer, lost on his 34th birthday.

Suzuki singled off Siegrist with one out in the eighth and scored on Martin Prado's two-out hit off Jonathan Broxton.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Marlins: 1B Justin Boer (ankle) is eligible to come off the DL on Monday but is still experiencing soreness and Mattingly said, ''progressing, but not ready yet.''

Cardinals: 1B-OF Brandon Moss (ankle) is eligible to come off the DL on Saturday but is still in a walking boot.

UMPIRE DOWN

The umpiring crew worked a man short after plate ump Chad Fairchild took a foul off his right forearm in the bottom of the first. Jim Joyce went from first base to home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Long-time Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon worked the booth on his 77th birthday.

UP NEXT

Marlins: Tom Koehler is 1-2 with a 7.56 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals.

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (8-5, 4.49) is 50-28 with a 3.05 ERA for his career after the break. He is 2-0 his last two outings, allowing one run in 14 innings.
ZURICH (Reuters) - Negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union on immigration restrictions will be stepped up in the next few weeks, the Swiss government said on Saturday, with a high-level meeting planned for September. Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Sept. 19 to seek a solution to an issue that has dominated relations between the two sides since Switzerland voted to limit immigration in 2014. Switzerland wants to negotiate a compromise with Brussels, which has insisted it cannot accept any impediments to the free movement of people enshrined in bilateral accords. If Switzerland unilaterally introduces limits, the move could end the bilateral economic agreements and damage the Swiss economy. Schneider-Ammann and Juncker discussed the state of the ongoing talks when they met on the fringes of summit in Mongolia on Saturday. Both sides acknowledged British's vote to leave the EU had complicated efforts to find a solution, the Swiss government said on Saturday. "However, the two men stressed the common interest on the part of Switzerland and the EU in consolidating and further developing the bilateral path," it said. (Reporting by John Revill, editing by David Evans)
Fred Burton is busy these days  and thats not such a good thing. As one of the worlds foremost experts on security and terrorism, Burton wakes up just like the rest of us seeing horrible events around the globe on an almost regular basis now. Only unlike the rest of us, for him these events from Nice, Dallas, Brussels, to Orlando  are a call to action.

Burton, you see, is chief security officer at the global intelligence firm Stratfor. Before that, Burton was deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service, where he was in charge of preventing and investigating attacks against diplomats and embassies and consulates. So Burton knows terror all to well.

(Full disclosure: I went to high school with Burton in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he later worked as a police officer.)

Burton notes that the number of terror attacks has been increasing, and that the FBI cant stop every one. Were living through troubled times, but our nation has been through this before, he says.

Speaking to me of the attacks in Nice, Burton says: These attacks cant be stopped without human intelligence and I expect to see more due to the success.

Burton, who is the author of a number of books including Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi, which he wrote with Samuel Katz, sees irony in the fact that several countries, including the Bahamas, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, have recently issued travel warnings to their citizens about visiting the United States. Right, whats wrong with that picture, he asks? The US is usually the one issuing the travel alert.

Burton doesnt paint a completely dark picture: I think that in reality law enforcement in big cities like in New York, do a wonderful job, he says. [But] indiscriminate attacks and soft target attacks, is the frightening aspect like we saw at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Its a new normal.

Businesses are concerned, he says: Theres a lot of angst, theres a lot of concern in the C-suite over terrorism and risk assessment  even at corporate offices. Burton says that he leaves the why of terrorism to the politicians and the academics. And that, we try to unpack the how of terror attacks, because if you understand how, you can take steps to mitigate risk and do something about it.

Story continues

So for now, Burton remains very busy. We would all probably be in a better place if he were a little less so.

Read more:

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Munger: Trumps behavior represents a form of sickness
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's infamous sex industry is under fire, with the tourism minister pushing to rid the country of its ubiquitous brothels and a spate of police raids in recent weeks on some of the largest establishments providing sex services in Bangkok. Those who work in the industry say curbs on commercial sex services would hurt a flagging economy that has struggled to recover after political turmoil took the country to the brink of recession in 2014. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and deeply conservative, but is home to an extensive sex industry, largely catering to Thai men. Hordes of tourists also flock to the bright lights of go-go bars and massage parlours in Bangkok and main tourist towns. Thailand's beaches and temples have been the poster child for Asian tourism for decades and the country expects a record number of arrivals in 2016. Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul played down the role of the sex industry in drawing visitors. "Tourists don't come to Thailand for such a thing. They come here for our beautiful culture," Kobkarn told Reuters. "We want Thailand to be about quality tourism. We want the sex industry gone," she said. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand but the law is almost invariably ignored. Experts say it will be hard to rid Thailand of an industry that is so entrenched and that provides pay-offs to untold numbers of officials and policemen. Those trying to promote the welfare of sex workers say Kobkarn's goal is unrealistic. Her push comes amid an attempt by the country's tourism authorities to transform Thailand into a luxury destination to attract moneyed tourists. The military government is in denial about the proliferation of prostitution and its contribution to the economy and tourism, said Panomporn Utaisri, country director of NightLight, a Christian non-profit group that helps women in the sex trade to find alternative work. "There's no denying this industry generates a lot of income," said Panomporn. There are no government estimates of the value of Thailand's sex industry, or how much of the income from tourism comes from sex tourists. LURE OF MONEY There are about 123,530 sex workers in Thailand, according to a 2014 UNAIDS report, compared with 37,000 sex workers in neighboring Cambodia. Last month, police raided dozens of brothels in major cities in what they said was a routine operation. Police said they were looking to prosecute venues employing underage and illegal migrant workers, but only one of the venues raided was shut down. There was no link between the tourism minister's aim to rid Thailand of its sex tourism industry and the raids, a police spokesman said. The tourism sector accounts for about 10 percent of gross domestic product and sex worker groups said the minister's vision of a prostitution-free Thailand would dent that. "The police presence already drives off a number of clients who come to relax or drink at bars," said Surang Janyam, director of Service Workers in Group (SWING), which provides sex workers with free medical care and vocational training. "Wiping out this industry is guaranteed to make Thailand lose visitors and income." Many sex workers come from the impoverished northeast and see selling their bodies as a way out of poverty. One former sex worker from the northeastern province of Maha Sarakham, who declined to be identified, told Reuters she entered Bangkok's sex trade at the age of 19 and earned up to 5,000 baht ($143.14) a night, nearly 20 times the minimum wage of 300 baht ($8.59) per day. "No one wants to work in this business, but it's fast and easy money," she said. NightLight and SWING said they would welcome the sex industry's closure if the government had a plan to ensure that sex workers could support themselves without falling back into the business. "If they want to close the sex industry, they must first have jobs ready to support sex workers," said Surang. (Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Robert Birsel)
Istanbul (AFP) - Thousands on Saturday massed in an Istanbul district waving Turkish flags in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after he survived a coup, an AFP correspondent said.

The people gathered in the district of Kisikli on the Asian side of Istanbul, where Erdogan has a home, responding to a call from the Turkish strongman to come out in force in his support.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Three students on a study abroad program in France were wounded and another was missing in Thursday's Bastille Day attack in Nice, the University of California, Berkeley, said on Friday. The university identified the missing student as Nicolas Leslie, 20, one of 85 Berkeley students on a 15-day study abroad trip on entrepreneurship in Europe. Two of the other students who suffered broken bones have been released after medical treatment, while the third injured student remains at a hospital, the university said. "May Nicolas Leslie be found safe," the University of California's flagship campus posted on Facebook Friday, along with the hashtag #PrayforNice and the image of a heart painted like the tri-color French flag. A Texan and his 11-year-old son on a family vacation were also among at least 84 people killed when an attacker crashed a heavy truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French seaside city, officials said on Friday. The Berkeley students were studying at a program affiliated with the international European Innovation Academy in Nice, the university said. The program was suspended temporarily as France marks three days of mourning, and students will be given the option of returning home early, the university said. Leslie, a junior in the university's College of Natural Resources, was not listed among the dead in the attack, but family members have not been able to reach him, a woman who said she was a family friend said in an interview. "The last thing that we heard from one of his friends is that he was seen running off," said the woman, who gave only her first name, Antonella. Leslie, who was born in Italy and grew up in the San Diego area, was a U.S. national, university spokesman Roqua Montez said. The injured students were Vladyslav Kostiuk, 23, a computer science major who suffered a broken leg, and Diane Huang, 20, who studies environmental economics and suffered a broken foot in the attack. Both students were back in their dormitories in Nice. The third student, Daryus Medora, 21, whose leg was broken, remains at a hospital. In the attack, a man identified as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel plowed into a crowd of some 30,000 local people and tourists attending a fireworks display to celebrate Bastille Day. At least 84 people were killed, 10 of them children, and 202 more were wounded. French officials said Friday that Bouhlel, a 31-year-old Tunisian resident of Nice, was known to police for petty crime and violence, but had not been suspected of Islamist militancy. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento, California, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by James Dalgleish and Richard Chang)
Ulan Bator (AFP) - Tokyo raised pressure on Beijing at an Asia-Europe summit Saturday to respect an international tribunal's ruling that dismissed its claims to much of the South China Sea.

At a retreat outside the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the assembled leaders that the rule of law was "a universal principle that the international community must firmly maintain," according to Japan's Jiji Press.

"I strongly hope the parties to the dispute comply with the award and lead to a peaceful solution of the dispute in South China Sea," he said.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague on Tuesday ruled that there was no legal basis for Beijing's claims to much of the South China Sea, which are embodied in a "nine-dash line" that dates from 1940s maps and stretches close to other countries' coasts.

The case was brought by the Philippines but the ruling has proved a boon to Tokyo, which is embroiled in a separate territorial dispute of its own with Beijing and vies with it for influence across Asia.

China boycotted the PCA hearings, saying the court had no jurisdiction, and has reacted furiously, vowing to ignore the ruling and arguing that it misinterprets international law.

It also said the subject should not be brought up at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the Mongolian capital.

But despite Chinese objections, the EU also weighed in on the subject, with President Donald Tusk telling reporters that the grouping "will continue to speak out in support of upholding international law", adding that it had "full confidence" in the PCA and its decisions.

"It's not so easy to agree with our Chinese partners when it comes to this issue" he said. "Our talks were difficult, tough, but also promising."

- 'Hyping up' -

The comments by Abe and Tusk on Saturday followed a blitz of meetings between the Japanese leader and officials from around the region, including his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, on the summit sidelines as he sought to build consensus on the issue.

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Both countries have competing claims with Beijing in the strategically vital South China Sea, where tensions have mounted over the Asian giant's construction of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations and its claims on the region's marine resources.

The new government in Manila has promised not to "taunt or flaunt" the verdict in the case, which was brought by the previous administration of Benigno Aquino, and its public comments were less forceful than Abe's.

According to a Philippines foreign ministry statement, Yasay told him the decision provided "a legal basis to move forward", and Manila was studying it "very carefully".

In Abe's meeting with Phuc, the two leaders agreed that the tribunal's ruling should be observed, and Abe offered to increase cooperation on building Vietnam's maritime law enforcement capabilities, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura told AFP.

The Japanese prime minister also brought his argument directly to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a heated 30-minute meeting Friday.

Kawamura described the exchange as "frank and candid" and Chinese state media accounts described the Chinese leader telling Abe that Japan should "stop hyping up and interfering" in the dispute.

Beijing had hoped to use the ASEM summit -- official theme "Partnership for the Future through Connectivity" -- as an opportunity to showcase its global initiatives, such as the One Belt, One Road programme, an ambitious plan to build infrastructure projects across the Eurasian region.

China has sought to assert its claims in the South China Sea by building a network of artificial islands capable of supporting military operations, and this week reiterated its right to declare an Air Defence Identification Zone in the area, which would demand civilian flights submit to the authority of its military.

While the summit's final communique made no specific mention of the South China Sea, it said that leaders "reaffirmed their commitment" to maritime security and settling disputes according to the UN Convention on the Law of Sea.
By Julien Pretot BOURG-SAINT-ANDEOL, France (Reuters) - The Tour de France continued in a low-key but defiant mood under heightened security on Friday, with riders, spectators and race officials observing a minute's silence for the scores of victims of the Bastille Day attack in Nice. A gunman at the wheel of a heavy truck ploughed into a crowd celebrating France's national day in the southern city late on Thursday, killing at least 84 people and injuring scores in what President Francois Hollande called a terrorist act. After race organisers held a crisis meeting with police and officials in the Ardeche region where the 13th stage was to be held, they decided it would go ahead. "We want this day to be a day of dignity as a tribute to the victims," said race director Christian Prudhomme. "We think, after agreeing with authorities, that the race must continue." Riders set off at 7:05 a.m. (0805 GMT), but this time unaccompanied by the usual loud music played to energise the thousands lining the route of what is one of France's most prestigious sporting events. The Tour's overall leader, Chris Froome, a Briton who lives in Monaco, said: "I just could not believe the images I saw coming from Nice. I do my prep down there. Horrific scenes. Definitely puts things into perspective for us." That decision to go ahead with Friday's stage was taken "in direct liaison with the highest authorities of the state" Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Luzet, the gendarmerie's liaison officer to the Tour, told Reuters. "We have 600 officers mobilised to ensure security on this stage. Theyre at the start, at the finish and along the route.. After what happened last night in Nice we have changed our security feature accordingly." Special gendarmerie forces, known as GIGN, have accompanied the three-week race since it started on July 2. The force now has an extra helicopter at their disposal in the event of any threat or attack. "There was a question this morning whether we could start. And I think it was right to go on racing," said Dutchman Tom Dumoulin, who won the stage, a 37.5-km (23.5-mile) individual time trial from Bourg-saint-Andeol to Vallon Pont-d'Arc in the Ardeche region, some three hours' drive northwest of Nice. "Its horrific what happened but we cannot let terrorists decide on how we should be living." Frenchman Mickael Cherel, one of numerous riders who live and train in the Nice area, said: "We are shocked. I thought of my family because they could have been there, we live 15 km from Nice." The Tour ends on July 24 in Paris, on the Champs Elysees. Organisers said that cancelling that stage would be 'premature' and that security had been planned three months ago. (writing by John Stonestreet; editing by Gareth Jones and Robin Pomeroy)
By Claire Milhench LONDON (Reuters) - Nine disputed trades that Libya's sovereign wealth fund (SWF) entered into with Goldman Sachs were unsuitable by "dint of risk and complexity", according to an expert witness at a trial in London's High Court. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) is attempting to claw back $1.2 billion from Goldman Sachs from the trades carried out in 2008. It argues the bank took advantage of its financial naivety by first gaining its trust, then encouraging it to make risky and ultimately worthless investments. Goldman Sachs denies the allegations and says the trades in question "were not difficult to understand". It has described the LIA's claim as "without merit". Martin Harrison, managing director of SUMMA Ltd, a management consultancy, appeared in court as an expert witness for the LIA to address the question of suitability. He said in his report filed with the court: "If an SWF enters into an investment which is of a sophistication (in terms of risk and complexity) that falls utterly beyond the competence of the institution to cope with it in terms of expertise and organisation, then that investment is without question unsuitable." The report, seen by Reuters, said Harrison had in the past served as an investment adviser to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and to the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He also headed group asset management at the Qatar Investment Authority. DERIVATIVES Robert Miles, a lawyer for Goldman Sachs, put it to Harrison in cross examination that the emphasis he had placed on a SWF's decision-making process and the need for an asset allocation policy in his report related more to good corporate governance rather than questions of suitability. Harrison replied there was an element of both, adding: "If there is no asset allocation framework, it is going to be very hard to determine whether a prospective investment fits." Harrison said in his report that in his extensive experience of working with SWFs, such direct, strategic use of derivatives by internal teams was unusual even among long-established SWFs. "I conclude that the disputed trades were incongruous and exceptional trades. They were unsuitable for the LIA and I can find no investment rationale for them," his report said. In court documents setting out Goldman Sachs's position the U.S. investment bank argued: "The disputed trades were straightforward transactions from the LIA's perspective which the LIA was able to and did in fact understand." The court also heard from Dr Eliot Kalter, senior fellow at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Kalter's report on suitability, prepared for Goldman Sachs and filed with the court, criticised Harrison's view of how SWFs approach investments. He said that far from being unusual, the disputed trades were just a few of the many investments entered into by the LIA at this time. Nor was it alone amongst SWFs in taking exposure to the financial sector in 2007-08, he noted. "As it turned out, financial stocks performed poorly over the subsequent years ... It is this decline in the share prices, rather than any structural feature of the investment, which resulted in the LIA suffering losses on the disputed trades," Kalter's report said. The trial is expected to run until the end of July. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
This September, you and a guest can join an intimate group of whisky aficionados to taste one of the worlds rarest single malts during an extraordinary five-day, whisky-focused trip to Scotland.

The Glenfiddich Janet Sheed Roberts Reserve 55-Year-Old is named in honor of the late Janet Sheed Roberts, the granddaughter of the companys founder, William Grant. She was the oldest person in Scotland at the time of her death, in April 2012, at 110 years of age; thus, it seems only fitting that she be honored with a limited-edition release of one of the worlds oldest single malts. Eleven bottles were releasedone for each decade of her lifeand all were auctioned for charity. On March 15, 2012, one of those bottles fetched $94,000.

The winning bidder on that bottle, noted whisky collector Mahesh Patel, will share it in Dufftown, Scotland, at a private dinner at Hazelwood House, the former home of Janet Sheed Roberts. Also in attendance will be Peter Grant Gordon, the retired chairman of William Grant & Sons; the companys malt master, Brian Kinsman; and Kirsten Grant Meikle, a descendant of William Grant.

It is all part of an unprecedented five-day Scotch whisky experience, starting on September 21, 2016, that includes tours of the Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and Kininvie distilleries with Ian Millar, William Grants global brand ambassador. Numerous side trips include visits to the medieval British monastery of Pluscarden Abbey; the world-famous Johnstons of Elgin woolen mill (suppliers to brands such as Burberry and Chanel Cashmere), including lunch with the Johnston family; and a tour and tasting of shortbread with a member of the Walker family. There will also be a formal Highland banquet dinner at Ballindalloch Castle. Accommodations will be at Hazelwood House and the luxury homes of Torrin and Malt Kiln. An optional three additional days can be spent touring other Highland distilleries and sites, including Dalmore, and a boat trip down Loch Ness and picnic lunch at the site of Urquhart Castle. The cost is $26,000 per couple (limited to 13 couples), not including airfare to Scotland.

For more information, contact Mahesh Patel at the Universal Whisky Experience: mahesh@universalwhiskyexperience.com.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday described as "horror beyond belief" the truck attack in Nice, France earlier this week that killed 84 people. At the beginning of an event to introduce his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump also expressed concern for the coup attempt in Turkey on Friday, saying he hoped "it will all work out". (Reporting by Jonathan Allen and Ginger Gibson; Writing by Chizu Nomiyama; Editing by Mary Milliken)
It didnt take long for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to realize that his new, eyebrow-raising logo might not have been the best move.

By Saturday morning, within a day of its unveiling, the new logo had been ridiculed endlessly on social media, and the Trump campaign had it removed from the official website.

The logo was intended to celebrate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joining the GOP ticket as Trumps running mate. But it couldnt even be seen on the Donate page of his website alongside the news of Pence.

The Daily Kos political blog was among the first to notice that the Trump campaign apparently had given up on the new design.

The much-maligned logo, which was introduced Friday, featured an interlaced T and P in blue, with red and white stripes stretching to the right to represent a stylized U.S. flag.

It was instantly mocked on social media for having the T pass through the hole of the P in a manner that some considered sexually suggestive. Others joked that T.P. stands for toilet paper.

Comedian Samantha Bee, the host of Full Frontal and a Daily Show alum, shared a GIF on Twitter in which the T repeatedly thrusts down into the P, causing the bottom red stripe to bounce up and down. It was captioned, Breaking the mattress of America.

Breaking the mattress of America. pic.twitter.com/M4Cq62YS2c  Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) July 15, 2016

And she wasnt alone in that interpretation.

Still not sure if the #TrumpPence logo is too risque for the #RealAmerica pic.twitter.com/5Ll1AMBExa  Donnacha Kenny (@TheRealDonnacha) July 15, 2016

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., said the new logo represents what a Trump and Pence administration would do to the nation.

Story continues

This logo accurately represents what Trump Pence will do to America. pic.twitter.com/HQisP8QVzb  Rep. Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) July 15, 2016

Sam Baker, a reporter for the National Journal, joked that the new logo would not be welcome at some pizzerias in Pences home state, alluding to the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which he signed into law in March 2015 and which critics said promoted discrimination against LGBT people.

This logo is not welcome in certain Indiana pizzarias pic.twitter.com/GGcH1TXUm3  Sam Baker (@sam_baker) July 15, 2016

Former Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., also chimed in on the new logo.

What is the T doing to that P? https://t.co/tDvYm2QJYi  John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 15, 2016

Several graphic designers said that the logo simply wasnt well made, even putting aside the sexual undertones people were reading into it.

.@realDonaldTrump This took me 5 minutes. Your graphic designers are somehow more incompetent than you. pic.twitter.com/7inPMN4iUF  Michael Deppisch (@deppisch) July 15, 2016

Trump and Pence made their debut as running mates in New York on Saturday morning. Trump described Pence as his first choice for making the U.S. a safe and prosperous society.

Ive admired the work hes done, especially in the state of Indiana, Trump said. But I also admire the fact that he fights for the people and hes going to fight for you. He is a solid, solid person.

He also said one of the reasons he chose Pence was to help unify the Republican Party.

Trumps logo is not the first from this election cycle to receive widespread ridicule. The exclamation mark in former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bushs Jeb! logo was fodder for many jokes. And some liberals were left scratching their heads when presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unveiled her campaign logo, which features an arrow pointing to the right  rather than the left.
By Jonathan Allen and Ginger Gibson NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Saturday presented his vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, as the man who can unify a fractured Republican party and help him bridge the gap created by the candidate's outsider status. In a wide-ranging speech in which he touted his own "landslide" victory in the Republican primaries, Trump cast Pence as a perfect complement for the White House: a veteran of government, a man with a Midwestern sensibility and strong Republican credentials as a job creator and budget balancer. "Indiana Governor Mike Pence was my first choice, I've admired the work he's done, especially in the state of Indiana," Trump said at an event in New York City. "And one of the reasons is party unity, so many people have said, party unity. Because I'm an outsider," he added in explaining his decision. Trump and Pence made their debut just two days before the beginning of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, where delegates from around the country will convene to officially nominate the pair as their party's ticket for the Nov. 8 election. Frequently straying from the notes on the lectern, Trump talked about himself and likely Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, often detouring from the purpose of the event: to introduce a little-known politician to the broader public. "Back to Mike Pence," Trump said, interrupting himself during a lengthy explanation about why evangelical voters support his candidacy. He then read a series of statistics highlighting the job growth in Indiana. "He looks very good," added the New York real estate mogul, who is known to comment openly on people's appearances. Trump had a bit of a winding path to settle on Pence, a devout Christian and conservative. He postponed his planned Friday announcement after the deadly attack in Nice, France and saying he had not made his "final, final decision," Trump privately had second thoughts on who to pick in late-night conversations on Thursday, said a Republican source familiar with the situation. Trump had been annoyed that the element of surprise had been taken away by the leaking of Pence's name, the source added. Trump ended up announcing Pence as his running mate on Twitter on Friday. Saturday's event in a New York City hotel ballroom had few of the traditional hallmarks of what is arguably one of the most important decisions for a presidential candidate. Before it started, supporters listened to the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want," a tune in regular rotation at Trump events. There were no "Trump Pence" signs distributed to the crowd or adorning the room. The two appeared together on stage only briefly - each standing out of view while the other one spoke. On stage, they made scant eye contact and shook hands rather than raising arms together in the classic pose of running mates. Neither offered anecdotal stories about their private time together. 'COME TOGETHER' Pence, in sharp contrast to Trump, delivered a prepared speech, discussing the love of his wife and country and his adoration for Ronald Reagan. He gave a full-throated call to fellow Republicans to back Trump. "Lets come together as a party, as a people, as a movement, to make America great again and that day begins when Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States of America," Pence said. Trump has struggled to bridge the gap between himself and the establishment and conservative wings of the party. The drastically different styles highlighted Pence's ability to provide a complementing tone to the presidential ticket. It's unclear when the two will appear together again. Pence heads back to Indiana for a solo event on Saturday night, and the Trump campaign hasn't released a schedule for the convention that would include a joint appearance. The pair recorded an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that is scheduled to air on Sunday night. One of their big challenges will be to brook their policy differences in public. Pence gave a nod to that by saying "strong Republican leadership can bring about real change." Trump has made renegotiating trade deals a central theme of his campaign, while Pence has spoken in favor of trade agreements. In an appearance on Friday night on Fox News, Pence offered a moderated take on trade, saying he agrees with Trump that deals should be renegotiated. He also softened his vocal opposition to Trump's call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States. "I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States," Pence told conservative Fox News commentator Sean Hannity. Pence added that he supports Trump's call for building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York, Ginger Gibson and Steve Holland in Cleveland; Editing by Mary Milliken)
Washington (AFP) - In his first interview as Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence late Friday compared the Republican presidential hopeful to conservative icon Ronald Reagan.

Pence, interviewed on Fox News Channel's "Hannity" show, emphasized that the real estate mogul and reality TV star was "the people's choice".

The Republican Party "had a competitive primary with him, enormous number of talented men and women," Pence said.

"Donald Trump again and again emerged because I think very much like the 40th president that you and I so admire, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump understands the anxiety and the aspiration of the American people like no leader since Reagan."

Trump has no direct political experience. In contrast Reagan, a Hollywood actor, was governor of California before he was elected president.

The comparison with the late Reagan, who served two terms during the 1980s and is revered by Republicans, is a clear appeal to make Trump more palatable to conservatives alienated by Trump's bombastic rhetoric and populist message who had backed other primary candidates.

The four-day Republican Party convention that will nominate Trump as their presidential candidate, which starts Monday in Cleveland, Ohio, will feature no former presidents, few party luminaries and only a smattering of elected officials.

John McCain and Mitt Romney, the last two Republican presidential candidates, will also stay away.

Pence, however, predicted the party will unify around Trump.

- Disagreements with Trump -

"I expect next week at our convention you're going to see our party, and leaders in our party, rally around this good man who will be a great president of the United States," he said.

While Trump has campaigned as a protectionist, Pence has backed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sweeping trade deal that Trump has attacked as bad for US jobs.

Pence has denounced Trump's proposal to close US borders to Muslims as "unconstitutional."

Story continues

And while Trump has called the Iraq war a "disaster," Pence was a co-sponsor of the 2002 Iraq war resolution.

But in the Fox interview, Pence fully supported Trump.

"I am very supportive of Donald Trump's call to temporarily suspend immigration from countries where terrorists influence and impact represents a threat to the United States," he said.

"We have a proud tradition of refugee resettlement ... but it has to be subordinated to the safety and security of American people."

As for the Iraq war, "that's for historians to debate," but both he and Trump "are in strong agreement is that Barack Obama's precipitous withdrawal from Iraq created a vacuum in which ISIS was created."

Pence said that trade agreements like the TPP can go back to the bargaining table.

"When we elect one of the best negotiators in the world as president of the United States, I'm open to renegotiating these trade agreements," Pence said.

And if there are major disagreements, "you shut the door. You tell the boss exactly what you think."

Pence said that Trump "is a man that appreciates candor. And we've had some very candid and straightforward conversations.

"But when the door opens, the job of the vice president is to stand right next to the president and implement the policy that he's decided."
Turkish authorities detained thousands of military and judicial personnel on Saturday after the government declared it had successfully resisted an attempt by armed forces officers to stage a coup.

The arrests marked an apparent clampdown within the state as the government of elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted to project an image of complete control. The roundup followed a chaotic night in which at least 256 people died in violence around the country after military officers announced they had seized power.

The government confirmed that 29 generals are among the 2,389 military personnel arrested.

Landing at Istanbuls main airport early on Saturday after returning from southern Turkey, Erdogan said the coup attempt was an act of treason and that the perpetrators will pay a heavy price. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the attempt a black stain for Turkish democracy.

In the hours following the collapse of the coup attempt, at least 2,839 soldiers were detained on accusations of participating in the plot, Yildirim said during a news conference on Saturday. Authorities also removed 2,745 judges from duty, according to Turkish broadcaster NTV. The airspace over Incirlik airbase, from which U.S. has led airstrikes against ISIS, was closed late Saturday.

Members of the military announced that they had taken control of Turkey in a statement sent to journalists and read out by at least one presenter on national television on Friday night. The prime minister separately declared the government was still in control having thwarted an attempted coup, but tanks appeared in streets and military jets circled overhead. Warplanes launched at least one airstrike in Ankara, according to Erdogan.

Turkish authorities are continuing to round up suspected coup participants on Sunday. Police fired warning shots after alleged members of the coup faction resisted arrest at Istanbuls Sabiha Gokcen airport. They surrendered, ending the standoff at the airport on the Asian side of the city.

Story continues

In his first appearance on television following the declared coup, Erdogan appeared in a video chat on a news presenters phone in a moment that suggested a precarious grip on power. Speaking to his supporters, he told them to resist the coup. After hours of suspense and mayhem in the streets, the president reiterated his hold on power in an address from the Istanbul airport moments after landing, even as gunfire echoed in the streets of the city.

Erdogan blamed the attempted coup on an influential U.S.-based religious figure, Fethullah Gulen, who leads a large movement within Turkey. Regarded as an Islamist, Gulen was once an ally of Erdogan in Turkish politics before the two men and their respective power bases split. Gulen denied any connection with the attempted takeover in a statement.

On Saturday, Erdogan called for the United States to extradite Gulen to Turkey, the AP reported, saying that Turkey had never denied a U.S. request to extradite terrorists. Earlier in the day, Prime minister Yildirim said any country standing by Gulen would be considered at war with Turkey, according to Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he was open to considering such an extradition request. Obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately, Kerry said, according to the AP.

Erdogan made the extradition demand in an outdoor address to throngs of people who assembled outside his private residence in Istanbul. Rallies took place throughout Istanbul, part show of force against any remaining coup plotters, part celebration of a victory against the plot. Less than a day after some 200 people had died, the streets near Erdogans house filled with revelers waving Turkish flags, cheering, and many chanting Allahu akbar, or God is Great. Others held signs angrily denouncing Gulen.

In spite of the Islamist flavor of some of the demonstrations, many who joined the crowds were not partisan supporters of the government.

What I care about most is the nation and the country. That is why I am here, said Yasin Aydin, a 23-year-old electronics technician standing with a group of young men in the crowd near Erdogans residence. I dont care about politics. Im not supporting AKP, MHP or any other party. I want peace and my life standards. I want peace for everyone.

Other than Gulen himself, the government has not yet identified any ringleaders of the coup. Deputy Chief of Staff Umit Dundar said the plot had taken place outside the chain of command. He added on Saturday that air force command, the gendarmerie, and other armed forces units had been involved in the plot, according to Turkeys Hurriyet newspaper. The coup leaders commanded tanks and some warplanes, but it remains unclear how many officers in which branches of the military participated.

Turkeys military has ousted four governments in separate incidents since 1960. President Erdogan was widely believed to be concerned about the prospect of another coup, and obsessed with the fate of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, who was overthrown in a coup backed by mass protest in July 2013.

Its a fuzzy coup. Fuzzy in the sense that it has been carried outside the chain of command of the military, which made a big difference in terms of its prospects of success, said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM. It was also fuzzy because its tactical blueprints proved to be largely ineffective.

By midday on Saturday, there were few signs of any attempted insurrection. In Taksim Square, a tiny group of pro-government demonstrators rallied as police looked on. Gone were the soldiers who had appeared in the square the night before. Nearby workers using a crane repaired windows blown out by a series of sonic booms that shook the city the night before as military jets screamed overhead.

Early on Saturday morning, soldiers blocking a bridge over the Strait of the Bosphorus appeared to surrender, with television footage showing the troops abandoning their positions.

In a statement on Saturday, the White House said President Obama reiterated the United States unwavering support for the democratically-elected, civilian Government of Turkey.



While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the President and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability, the White House said.
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey on Saturday detained a member of the country's top court after a bloody coup attempt aiming to oust the government, local media reported.

Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into custody, the private NTV television reported, without specifying what he was accused of.

Earlier, the judicial authorities said that some 2,745 judges across the country would be dismissed in the wake of the coup.

This also came in addition to the arrests of several senior military figures including 2nd army generals Adem Huduti and Avni Angun, Turkish media said.

The government said that in all almost 3,000 soldiers had been arrested in a major purge of the armed forces.
If Recep Tayyip Erdogan had authoritarian tendencies before Fridays surprise coup attempt, wait for what comes next.

As the sun rose Saturday, the Turkish president emerged victorious after tens of thousands of supporters answered his call to take to the streets in defiance of the military units that flew warplanes and helicopters over Ankara, sealed off the bridge over the Bosphorus, and ordered a state television anchor to declare that they had taken over the country.

We are in charge, and we will continue exercising our powers until the end, Erdogan said in Istanbul on Saturday as security forces loyal to him rounded up suspected ringleaders of the failed putsch.

Sporadic gunfire and explosions still echoed across Istanbul and Ankara, according to local reports, and at least 150 rebel troops remain holed up at army headquarters in Ankara. But Erdogan appeared to have weathered the worst of the storm and quickly won the support of an array of world leaders, including Secretary of State John Kerry, who expressed his support for Turkeys democratically elected civilian government and democratic institutions.

The immediate expression of solidarity from Kerry stands in stark contrast to the Obama administrations delayed and obfuscating response to the 2013 ouster of another democratically elected leader, then-Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Still, while the bid to overthrow a democratically elected leader elicited widespread international opprobrium, many analysts fear that Erdogan will come away from the botched coup more emboldened than ever to impose his will on the country and ruthlessly root out his perceived enemies  actions he already alluded to on Saturday.

What is being perpetrated is a rebellion and a treason, Erdogan told reporters at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in the wee hours of the morning. They will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.

As of early Saturday, the number of arrested military personnel has already risen to an astonishing 2,839 people, including high-ranking officers  and that figure is expected to keep growing. According to Turkeys prime minister, 161 people were killed and 1,440 injured in the failed uprising. The military chief of staff, Gen. Hulusi Akar, was rescued after forces liberated him from an air base outside of Ankara. The prime minister, Binali Yildirim, has summoned lawmakers for an emergency meeting Saturday.

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Though the exact rationale for the coup effort remains unclear, the Turkish military has long viewed itself as the guardian of Turkeys secular and moderate institutions, the touchstones of the modern Turkish republic. But over the last decade, Erdogan has chipped away at those institutions by silencing dissent, expanding his grip on the judiciary, and chiseling away at the freedom of the press. Many Turkey watchers fear that Fridays failed coup attempt will push Erdogans authoritarian tendencies into overdrive.

There certainly will be blood, Andrew Bowen, a Washington-based Middle East expert and and columnist at al Arabiya, told Foreign Policy. Erdogan will move swiftly and ruthlessly after his perceived enemies.

If the Turkish president views his survival as a mandate to assert greater control over the country, hell likely start with his long-running plan to rewrite the constitution to create an executive presidency that will give him greater power at the expense of the legislature and the prime minister.

He could arguably make the case that it wasnt Turkeys democratic institutions that saved Turkeys democracy, but him, Bowen added. His supporters have survived this experience and arguably have been more emboldened from this experience, giving him a stronger mandate.

Thats troubling to a number of observers who have grimaced at the dramatic changes Erdogan has brought to Turkey in recent years.

After his bloody crackdown on Gezi Park protesters in 2013, public protest has become a heroic endeavor in and of itself. Under Erdogans rule, hundreds of journalists have been fired from major newspapers and magazines; several are behind bars. A 2016 report from Freedom House gave Turkey a downward arrow for the intense harassment of opposition members and media outlets by the government and its supporters.

As for Turkeys legal system, a 2015 Human Rights Watch report warned that the government has taken unprecedented steps to exert executive control over Turkeys judiciary, to muzzle social media, increase media and internet censorship, and prosecute journalists.

Although Turkeys opposition parties took a principled stand against the coup, many of them will continue to face persecution under Erdogan, especially groups like the pro-Kurdish rights party HDP, which has opposed his pursuit of an executive presidency. Kurdish civilians have literally been caught in the crossfire, suffering curfews and worse as Erdogan has intensified his military campaign against the banned Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a terrorist outfit.

The other question is what happens to the military. The group behind the coup called themselves the Peace at Home Council, a phrase coined by the founder of the country, Kemal Ataturk. After seizing television stations, the plotters quickly found themselves in a wider confrontation with crowds of loyalists and government supporters.

According to CNN Turk, the coup escalated quickly in Ankara after two busloads of military personnel stormed the headquarters of the state-run TRT news agency. Other reports said a military helicopter shot at a government building housing Turkeys special forces in Ankara, killing 17 police officers, and that a loyalist F-16 shot down a Sikorsky helicopter used by members of the coup forces.

The bloated arrest list suggests Erdogan will oversee a significant shake-up of the army, even though he was careful to note that the attempted coup was not a reflection on the entire service.

Turkish Armed Forces was not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety, he said Saturday. It was conducted by a clique within the armed forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation.

Erdogan laid blame for the rebellion squarely on Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive Muslim cleric based in the United States whom Turkish officials routinely blame for fomenting unrest and dissent. But the government has not yet provided evidence of Gulens involvement, and the cleric denied any link to the uprising. In a statement, he condemned in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey. Yet, according to the BBC, 2,745 judges have already been fired due to alleged connections to Gulen.

Still, Erdogan has long been suspicious, and by some accounts, paranoid, about the threat posed by the military. Fridays botched coup attempt will only fan those fears.

The coup attempt sought to turn Erdogan into a Morsi, tweeted Hassan Hassan, a fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. Hes now poised to become a Putin.
An attempted military coup in Turkey appeared to have failed Saturday as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to the city of Istanbul, and his acting military commander and Prime Minister said the uprising had been successfully quashed.

Erdogan called the attempted coup an act of treason in the early hours of Saturday morning, saying perpetrators will pay a heavy price. As he addressed supporters outside Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, the President said: They have pointed the peoples guns against the people. The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They wont succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.

During a live televised address Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the events over the past 24 hours a black stain for Turkish democracy, but assured viewers of the live televised address that the situation is fully under control.

Yildirim also indirectly laid the blame for the coup with Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric and opponent of Erdogan who has strenuously denied having played any part in the attempted putsch. The Prime Minister said any country that stands by Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, will be considered at war with Turkey, Reuters reports. According to Yildirim, some 1,400 were wounded in the coup attempt and more than 2,800 members of the armed forces have been detained. Around 200 are estimated to have been killed.

Umit Dundar who was made acting Chief of Staff after coup-makers reportedly took his predecessor hostage said the air force command, the gendarmerie command and armored forces units were behind the coup, Hurriyet reports. Mehmet Muezzinoglu, deputy head of Erdogans ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), called for the death penalty to be brought back for those responsible.

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Read more: This Is What Istanbul Was Like As Turkeys Attempted Coup Played Out

The violence seemed to be focused on Turkeys major cities, Ankara and Istanbul. A Turkish F-16 jet controlled by the attempted coup-makers, bombed near the presidential palace in the capital city of Ankara. According to Hurriyet, it killed 5 people. A military helicopter carrying coup plotters was reportedly shot down over Ankara by government forces, according to broadcaster NTV.

In Istanbul, as the attempted coup was underway on Friday night, tanks blocked the citys bridges and airport. By Saturday morning, footage from CNN-Turk showed dozens of soldiers leaving their blockade and surrendering to government forces on Istanbuls Bosphorus Bridge.

The coup attempted appeared to crumble as fast as it began. On Saturday, Turkeys Anadolu Agency reported that soldiers part of the attempted coup in the Chief of General Staff Headquarters have requested negotiations for their surrender.

Close to noon local time, the Greece defense ministry confirmed that a Blackhawk military helicopter had landed at Alexandroupolis airport in northeastern Greece. The passengers, which include one civilian and seven Turkish military personnel, have asked for asylum.
Doha (AFP) - Turkey's regional allies on Saturday condemned a deadly but foiled coup attempt by a faction of the army against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule, while his opponents abroad kept silent.

Key regional powers Iran and Israel, which have both had strained relationships with Erdogan's government in the past, condemned the putsch that began late on Friday.

Despite the enmity between the Turkish and Syrian governments, officials in Damascus did not comment on the failed coup, which was reported by state media including the SANA news agency.

Damascus regularly accuses Ankara of supporting "terrorist groups" fighting regime forces in Syria, while Erdogan has repeatedly called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Egyptians woke up Saturday to find some newspapers announcing Erdogan's ouster, even as the strongman loathed by Cairo quashed the coup attempt.

"The Turkish army topples Erdogan," declared a red banner on the front page of the state's flagship Al-Ahram newspaper.

While Egypt's presidency remained mum, the foreign ministry released a statement on consular efforts to help Egyptians in Turkey.

Erdogan is a main backer of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, the president whom the Egyptian army deposed in 2013.

In Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the Turkish people's "defence of democracy & their elected government" which he said "proves that coups have no place in our region and are doomed to fail".

"Deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey," Zarif tweeted late on Friday.

"Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."

Israel, which last month approved a deal to restore ties with Ankara that were frozen after a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010, also condemned the coup attempt.

"Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel," foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said.

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Iran's regional arch foe Saudi Arabia also welcomed Erdogan retaking control.

A Saudi foreign ministry official said in a statement that the kingdom "had followed with much concern developments in brotherly Turkey" and "welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his elected government".

Gas-rich Qatar, which is close to Turkey, was quick to condemn the coup attempt and congratulate Erdogan.

- 'Victory of democracy' -

In a telephone call with the Turkish leader, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani "congratulated (Erdogan) on the support of the people of Turkey on his rule against the failed military coup", the official QNA news agency reported.

Qatar is Erdogan's closest Gulf ally, sharing his sympathies for the Muslim Brotherhood that formerly ruled Egypt and which is outlawed in other Gulf Arab states.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah congratulated Erdogan on "the success of legitimacy and the victory of democracy (of) the will of the friendly Turkish people" who have been spared "much suffering".

Bahrain made a similar statement, rejecting any attempt to undermine "constitutional legitimacy under the leadership" of Erdogan and his government and stability in Turkey.

Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers, who have friendly ties with Qatar as well as Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party, "condemned the failed coup attempt" and "congratulated the people and the Turkish leadership for successfully protecting democracy".

Turkey has recently obtained several compromises from Israel over Gaza, including authorisation for Ankara to build a hospital in the Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, activists - notably those linked to Hamas - called for demonstrations in solidarity with the Turkish government.

Erdogan called on his supporters to remain vigilant, warning of a fresh flare-up of violence even as his forces regained control.

In Khartoum, President Omar al-Bashir condemned "the attempted coup in Turkey and the disturbance of security and stability in the country."

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Saturday 161 people -- not including the putschists -- were killed in the coup attempt, with 2,839 soldiers detained on suspicion of involvement.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish military forces on Saturday opened fire on crowds gathered in Istanbul following a coup attempt, causing casualties, an AFP photographer said.

The soldiers opened fire on grounds around the first bridge across the Bosphorus dividing Europe and Asia, said the photographer, who saw wounded people being taken to ambulances.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities on Saturday ordered 2,745 judges and prosecutors to be detained over Friday's attempted military coup, broadcaster NTV said, as the government cracks down on suspected followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. President Tayyip Erdogan has said Gulen's followers were behind the coup on Friday night that attempted to topple him. Erdogan has said the cleric, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, is trying to build a "parallel structure" in the judiciary and army to try to overthrow the state, which Gulen denies. (Reporting by Gulsen Solaker; Asli Kandemir and Ece Toksabay; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Catherine Evans)
SOFIA (Reuters) - Turkey has reopened border crossings with neighboring Bulgaria after closing them in the early hours of Saturday following an attempted coup, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said. There were no signs of an increase in refugee flows into Bulgaria, and Turkey's government has given assurances that the border will not be overwhelmed, Borisov told reporters after meeting with the Turkish ambassador. An additional 230 Bulgarian soldiers have been sent to the border to bolster patrols and help prevent a possible surge in refugee arrivals, he said. A fence to stop illegal crossings into the country from Turkey is already in place. "We have been in communication with the Turkish government, with the prime minister, with the ambassador," Borisov said. "I have full assurances from all that the border will not be put under pressure." Refugee camps in Turkey, which host more than three million people from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are calm and Turkish authorities have also agreed to bolster border controls, Borisov said. Flights from Sofia to the Turkish cities of Istanbul and Antalya were canceled on Saturday, according to the departure schedule on Sofia Airport's website. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; editing by David Clarke and Nerys Avery)
By David Dolan and Gulsen Solaker ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish authorities rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters on Saturday and ordered thousands of judges detained after thwarting a coup by rebels using tanks and attack helicopters to try to topple President Tayyip Erdogan. For several hours overnight on Friday violence shook Turkey's two main cities, as the armed faction which tried to seize power blocked a bridge in Istanbul and strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara. At least 265 people were killed. An official said 161 of them were mostly civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters. But the coup attempt crumbled as Erdogan rushed back to Istanbul from a Mediterranean holiday and urged people to take to the streets to support his government against plotters he accused of trying to kill him. "They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, launching a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army." Among those detained were top military commanders, including the head of the Second Army which protects the country's borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran, state-run Anadolu news agency said. Hundreds of soldiers were held in Ankara for alleged involvement in the coup, leaving police stations overflowing. Some had to be taken under armed police escort in buses to a sports stadium. Reuters footage showed some of the detainees, hand-cuffed and stripped from the waist up, sitting on the floor of one of the buses. The government declared the situation under control, saying 2,839 people had been rounded up, from foot soldiers to senior officers, including those who formed "the backbone" of the rebellion. Authorities also began a major crackdown in the judiciary over suspected links to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, removing from their posts and ordering the detention of nearly 3,000 prosecutors and judges, including from top courts. Erdogan has blamed the coup on supporters of Gulen, who he has frequently accused of trying to foment uprising in the military, media and judiciary. Ten members of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and two members of the Constitutional Court have already been detained, officials said. OBAMA'S SUPPORT A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey's southern neighbor Syria into civil war. However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilize the NATO member and major U.S. ally that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists. U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support for Turkey's government and called on all sides to avoid action that would lead to further violence or instability. French President Francois Hollande said he expected a period of repression in the aftermath of the failed coup. Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and told thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport that the government remained at the helm. A polarizing figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular principles, Erdogan said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris. "They bombed places I had departed from right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we were still there." Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with the military, which has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980. His conservative religious vision for Turkey's future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppress mass protests demanding more freedom. He commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, however, particularly for raising living standards and restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises, which grew 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. The violence is likely to hit a tourism industry already suffering from the bombings, and business confidence is also vulnerable. SMARTPHONE ADDRESS In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook. He addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smartphone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera. He also urged Washington to deport Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States. The cleric, who once supported Erdogan but became a leading adversary, condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had not received any request to extradite Gulen. SOLDIERS SURRENDER Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through the night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise of fighting had died down considerably. About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack the pro-coup soldiers who had surrendered. By Saturday afternoon, CNN Turk reported that security forces had completed an operation against coup plotters at the headquarters of the military general staff. Security sources also said police detained about 100 military officers at an air base in the southeast. Neighboring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the Greek police ministry said, adding that they had requested political asylum. At one stage military commanders were held hostage by the plotters and by Saturday evening -- 24 hours after the coup was launched -- some operations against rebels were continuing. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said soldiers at the Incirlik air base, used by the United States to launch air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria, were involved in the attempt. He said Turkey would resume operations with the U.S.-led coalition once the anti-coup operations were completed. LAWMAKERS IN HIDING The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus, which separates Europe and Asia in Istanbul. Turkish maritime authorities reopened the Bosphorus to transiting tankers after shutting the major trade route from the Black Sea to the Aegean for several hours for security and safety reasons. In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers hid in shelters inside the parliament building, which was fired on by tanks. An opposition deputy told Reuters that parliament was hit three times and people had been wounded. When parliament convened later in the day, the four main political parties -- running the gamut from Erdogan's right-wing Islamist-rooted AK Party to the left-of-center, pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- came together in a rare show of unity to condemn the attempted coup. A Turkish military commander also said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. Momentum turned against the coup plotters as the night wore on. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting. "We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Ataturk airport. Kerry said he had phoned the Turkish foreign minister and underlined "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions". FLIGHTS RESUME Flag carrier Turkish Airlines resumed flights on Saturday, though some foreign carriers canceled weekend flights. At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the pro-coup faction that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. Turkey would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said. Turkey is one of the main backers of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees. It was a departure point last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two. Turkey has suffered numerous bombings and shootings this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Ataturk airport that killed more than 40 people, as well as those staged by Kurdish militants. After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Humeyra Pamuk, Ayla Jean Yackley, Nick Tattersall, David Dolan, Akin Aytekin, Tulay Karadeniz, Can Sezer, Gulsen Solaker, Ece Toksabay, Murad Sezer, Ercan Gurses, Nevzat Devranoglu, Dasha Afanasieva, Birsen Altayli, Asli Kandemir; Additional reporting by Sue-Lin Wong, Ben Blanchard and Rozanna Latiff; Writing by David Stamp and Dominic Evans; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Andrew Heavens and Catherine Evans)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have arrested 10 members of the Council of State, the country's top administrative court, and are searching for 140 members of the court of cassation in a probe related to a failed overnight coup, broadcaster NTV reported. The arrests follow reports of detentions of judges at other courts, a sign that the probe was widening into the judiciary. Turkey's government has said members of a "parallel structure" in the military were behind the coup - referring to followers of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. President Tayyip Erdogan has long accused former ally Gulen, of building a parallel structure in the judiciary, military, education and media aimed at eventually toppling the state. The cleric, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, denies the charge and has publicly condemned Friday night's coup attempt. (Reporting by David Dolan; editing by David Clarke)
It was the newly minted, and newly respectable, statesman Boris Johnson who sent out the following tweet, just before 11 p.m. GMT Friday:

Very concerned by events unfolding in #Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely. Brits should follow FCO website for advice  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 15, 2016

The tone was measured; the advice reasonable  it was as if that whole thing about potentially deposed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan engaging in a sexual act with a goat had never even happened at all.

Johnson has had an eventful first few days as Britains head diplomat. He assumed office on Wednesday; by Friday evening, hed given his first speech at the French Embassy (to jeers), marked the one-year anniversary of the Iran deal, responded to an attack in Nice that saw at least one Briton injured, and dealt with an ongoing coup attempt in Turkey.

Johnson, who is one-quarter Turkish, is notoriously undiplomatic. But his poem about Erdogan  deliberately designed to offend as part of an effort to scoff in the face of the Turkish presidents thin-skinnedness  is a standout in a career built on colorful insults. The ongoing events in Turkey are simply his baptism by fire into a new role.

Its not just a question of avoiding another diplomatic flap. Turkey is a key member of NATO and a linchpin, however reluctant, in the Western fight against the Islamic State. Johnsons handling of Turkeys attempted coup will have repercussions far beyond British domestic politics and could potentially shape future ties with one of the keystone countries in the region most wracked by terror and unrest right now.

Johnson was given his new office as part of a cabinet reshuffle by new British Prime Minister Theresa May that sought to bring a few leaders of the Brexit campaign into her government. Many observers believe that the foreign office has been stripped of much of its substantive responsibilities.

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News of Johnsons new role was received icily in Turkey, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim responding with: May God help him. Yildirim may have spoken too soon.

Johnsons initial social media reaction is already drawing unwanted attention. The foreign ministers Twitter followers were quick to point out an early slip-up in Johnsons response to events in Ankara: Hed recommended that Brits follow the Foreign & Commonwealth Offices website for advice, but forgot to include a link to its homepage.

The coup attempt is also likely to raise concerns in Berlin, where Erdogan reportedly tried to seek asylum but was rejected, according to NBC News; late Friday, he was reportedly headed to London to seek protection there. Relations between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Turkish president are, at best, strained; relations with Johnson, after the goat limerick, boggle the imagination.

Earlier this year, Erdogan condemned a German parliamentary vote recognizing the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. He said the 11 German members of the Bundestag with Turkish roots who backed the vote essentially supported terrorism and demanded blood tests to determine what kind of Turks they are. Merkel publicly rebuked Erdogan over his remarks, calling them incomprehensible. Berlin summoned the Turkish charge daffaires in the wake of the comments.

Still, the powerful German chancellor has had to walk a fine line with Erdogan, who has threatened to tear up an accord on Syrian refugees meant to reduce the flow of asylum-seekers into the EU. Shes allowed Turkish legal charges to go ahead against German comedian Jan Bohmermann, who publicly read an offensive poem about the Turkish president. She faced an internal rebellion for her actions, with 77 percent of Germans wanting Merkel to stand up to Erdogan even if it affects the EU-Turkey refugee deal, according to a recent poll.

Photo credit: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/Getty Images
Ankara (AFP) - A Turkish F-16 fighter jet on Friday shot down a Sikorsky helicopter hijacked by coup plotters seeking to oust the government, a presidential source said.

Seventeen police officers were also killed earlier at the military's special forces headquarters in the capital Ankara, state-run Anadolu news agency reported, without giving further details.
Alexandroupoli (Greece) (AFP) - Eight Turkish military personnel who fled Greece by helicopter after Friday's failed coup took no part in the putsch, their lawyer said on Saturday, although a Greek government spokeswoman contradicted their account.

The eight, who have claimed asylum in Greece, arrived by military helicopter on Saturday after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in northern Alexandroupolis.

Seven of those on board were in military uniform, ERT TV said.

"They were in Istanbul with the order to transport the wounded. They didn't know what was happening exactly," Greek lawyer Ilia Marinaki told reporters.

"On Saturday morning, when policemen started shooting against them, they decided to leave."

Marinaki added that the soldiers -- all married and in their forties -- were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families' lives.

Athens News Agency said the group was made up of three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara had asked Athens to send the eight back following Friday night's challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule by discontented soldiers in which more than 250 people died.

"We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible," Cavusoglu was quoted as saying by HaberTurk television.

According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, "the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey".

"As far as the asylum-seekers are concerned, we are going to proceed according to international law" Olga Gerovasili, the Greek government spokeswoman, said.

She said Athens was "in constant contact with the Turkish authorities," and would take into account the fact that "the asylum-seekers took part in a coup against the Turkish constitution".

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According to Turkish media reports, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in a Saturday afternoon phone call to his Turkish counterpart, pledged to extradite the Turkish officers.

A Greek Foreign Ministry statement, however, said that Kotzias had assured Cavusoglu Greece would examine the issue according to the international law and taking into account the gravity of the charges the eight face.

The soldiers were due to appear before a Greek prosecutor on Sunday.

Around 300-400 members of the Muslim minority of Greece, meanwhile, staged a demo outside Alexandroupolis airport calling for the "traitors" to be sent back, an AFP photographer witnessed.
Turkish military forces deployed to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul on Friday, July 15, as Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim confirmed there had been an attempt by part of the military in a coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This footage shows troops deployed along one side of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge before it was closed.

Gunfire was also heard in the Turkish capital of Ankara, while military jets and helicopters were also seen flying at low altitude in the skies above the city. Credit: Instagram/Koray Girgin
Residents took the streets of Istanbul, some holding Turkish flags, as an attempted coup was confirmed on Friday, July 15. The videos show residents protesting on Vatan Street, in Istanbul.

Helicopters were also seen in the skies above Istanbul, with soldiers closing both the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in the city, according to Reuters. Credit: Twitter/ysfcsknr
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Any country that stands by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen will not be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with the NATO member, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday. The government said that followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday. The government accuses Gulen of trying to build a "parallel structure" within the judiciary, education system, media and military as a way to overthrow the state, a charge the cleric denies. (Reporting by David Dolan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
When I travel around western and central Wisconsin, I hear from communities about the importance of conserving Wisconsins unique wildlife habitat. In order to preserve our wildlife habitat we need to make sure it will be there for future generations.

I have long fought to protect and expand conservation efforts in Wisconsin and across the country. One way I have supported conservation is by protecting sensitive natural areas through our nations agriculture policy. I fought to establish and strengthen the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership, which seeks to help landowners enhance and protect wildlife habitat on their own lands, reduce the impact of floods, recharge groundwater and offer outdoor recreational and educational opportunities for the communities. The program gives preference to farmed or converted wetland that can be restored successfully and in a cost-effective way to protect and enhance habitat for wildlife.

This U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that Wisconsin will receive $129,000 in funding from the Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership. The federal funds, along with a matching contribution from the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, are a significant investment in our states wetlands.

This investment will help protect and restore wildlife habitat and improve the quality of life for Wisconsin communities. I will continue to fight to protecting wetlands and wildlife across Wisconsin and the country.
By Robin Emmott and Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders greeted the defeat of Turkey's coup on Saturday with relief as it averts chaos and keeps alive a deal that has helped to stem the migration crisis threatening the continent. But while some hope a reminder of resistance to his personal grip on power may prompt President Tayyip Erdogan to heed European pleas for him to respect civil rights, many fear he is far more likely to step up his crackdown on opponents and so complicate European Union efforts to maintain the bargain. The coming weeks, starting when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday, will be crucial to the fate of a plan at the heart of the migrant deal: to have skeptical EU lawmakers approve after the summer an end to visa requirements for Turks. "Erdogan will be judged on his response," one EU official involved in the plan said, citing arrests of judges as an early sign that justified "deep concern that this will lead to a new trampling on rights of freedom of expression and demonstration". Senior members of the European Parliament, where anger at the prickly Turkish leader's treatment of elected opponents could stymie the EU deal to reward Turkey for stopping refugees, were pessimistic about the outlook for Turkish democracy. "Erdogan will try to extend his position of power," foreign affairs committee chair Elmar Brok, an ally of the Turkey deal's architect German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Die Welt daily. French President Francois Hollande expects "repression". If Erdogan responds to public demands to restore the death penalty to execute putschists, or if Turkey moves to jail ethnic Kurdish parliamentarians whom it stripped of immunity in May, EU lawmakers may turn against the migrant deal, EU officials said. Turkish officials have warned that its collapse could see Ankara allow a resumption of traffic that last year saw a million people, many refugees from Syria and Iraq, cross to Greek islands and trek over open borders to Germany. That shook Europeans' support for the EU and, some argue, fueled last month's devastating British vote to leave the bloc. NUANCED SUPPORT - 'NOT ABOUT ERDOGAN' Official statements from the EU stressed backing for a democracy that many acknowledge Erdogan has himself abused. "The EU fully supports the democratically elected government," an early overnight statement read, taking care to add it also backed "the institutions of the country and the rule of law" - a nuanced distinction from Erdogan's personal power. With the plot seemingly already undone, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini followed up to urge "a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order with its checks and balances and ... fundamental freedoms". It seemed hardly a call to defeated soldiers dead or in jail, but rather to the victor. "This is not about supporting Erdogan or not, it is about supporting the rule of law and democracy," a second senior EU official involved in relations with Ankara told Reuters. EU officials have reminded Turkish counterparts that their past cooperation, in engaging Ankara in a decade of halting reforms to enhance its - distant - prospects of joining the bloc, has helped Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted party to curb the historic threat to civilian rule from Turkey's armed forces. Now, closer ties with the economic bloc are at stake, the second official said, insisting Europe can use that "leverage", despite criticism from human rights groups that Merkel's deal with Erdogan to hold back migrants put Europe at his mercy. "This is not a blank cheque for Erdogan," he said of backing against the coup. "He has to be extremely careful not to overshoot the reaction." HOPE FOR CHANGE? - 'ERDOGAN IS NOT PUTIN' Many EU diplomats argue that Turkey, faced with conflict across its borders in Iraq and Syria that has fueled internal strife with its Kurdish minority, and at odds with Russia and most Middle East powers, cannot afford to alienate Europeans. And some dared to voice hope on Saturday that the coup bid might make Erdogan more willing to reach beyond his own voters: "Erdogan is not Putin - he is not that strong. We have to keep him on the democratic path," a third EU official said. Expressing a hope that Europeans might now warm to Erdogan again as a lesser of two evils, less unappealing than chaos, or army rule, a fourth EU official referred to the president's call to unarmed supporters to face down the army: "If you win by saying democracy is stronger than tanks," he said, "then the 'democratically elected government' should act for democracy." A fifth EU official was pessimistic, however: "It would be nice if Erdogan saw this as a wake-up call" to respect civil rights, he said, but a crackdown seemed "almost inevitable". Senior diplomats dismissed suggestions, however, that the EU had hesitated to condemn the plotters in the early hours in the hope of change. However irksome many find Erdogan, they said, statements against the putsch came as quickly as possible. "Clearly Europe would have more reasons to worry if the coup had prevailed," one EU official said. CARDS TO PLAY - 'TURKEY BENEFITS' Some fear Erdogan can use his control of the migration route to Europe to ignore calls for restraint in penalizing opponents, but others argue that Europe has cards to play against him. They even play down the importance of Turkish cooperation in the migrant crisis, citing data showing that closing down routes from Greece through the Balkans was at least as big a factor in deterring all but a few from crossing to Europe since March. Referring to Ankara's hopes of aid for 2.7 million Syrians it is housing, and for visa liberalization eagerly anticipated by many Turks, a senior European government official said: "The deal is in Turkey's interests, so why should they change it?" As big a hurdle could be the European Parliament, where some had threatened to block the visa bill if Turkey jails any of dozens of Kurdish lawmakers who were stripped of their immunity from prosecution by a pro-Erdogan majority two months ago. German leftist Martina Michels said it was Europe's failure to stand up to the Turkish president that had destabilized Turkey. Now, she said: "An uncritical courting of Erdogan as a partner in the wrong solution to the refugee issue must end." (Additional reporting by Paul Taylor in Brussels and Michael Nienaber and Andreas Rinke in Berlin; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Mark Potter)
(Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard has plucked two lightly injured pilots out of the Pacific Ocean a day after their small plane went down in the water off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island, officials said late on Friday.

A crew of an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter rescued them about 1-1/2 miles (2.4 km) offshore just before noon on Friday, flying them to Kona International Airport where they were treated for minor injuries, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The two left the island of Oahu on Thursday in a small, dual-engine plane bound for the Big Island when the pilot at the controls reported an in-flight emergency to a control tower in Honolulu, it said.

A short time later, the plane fell off the control tower's radar system.

Local media identified the two pilots as David McMahon, 26, and Sydnie Uemoto, 22.

Television broadcaster Hawaii News Now, citing Coast Guard officials, reported the pilot at the controls landed the plane in the water and grabbed life vests before the aircraft sank.

The downed plane prompted a massive search and rescue operation involving the Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and a visiting crew from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, officials said.

Ultimately, a commercial helicopter pilot spotted a debris field in the ocean, prompting the Coast Guard to send a chopper whose crew spotted the pilots. They lowered a swimmer to hoist them aboard, the Coast Guard added.

The rescue swimmer, Kevin Cleary, described to local media an emotional reunion between the two pilots and their families at the Big Island's Kona airport.

"To be able to see the families reunited with their loved ones after thinking the worst, it was a special moment," Cleary said, according to Hawaii News Now.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles Editing by W Simon)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen on Saturday denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup in Turkey and said he condemned "in the strongest terms" the attempt to topple the government. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and the government have said that Gulen's followers in the military were responsible for the attempted take-over on Friday night and early Saturday morning. The government accuses Gulen of trying to create a "parallel structure" in the police, judiciary, media and armed forces, aimed at taking over the state, a charge the cleric denies. "I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," Gulen said in a statement. "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations." The cleric has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years. (Reporting by Alistair Bell and Ayla Jean Yackley, Writing by David Dolan, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Friday condemned actions by South Sudan's government to prevent civilians from leaving the country after recent fighting and voiced concern about the beating and detention of some politicians. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said the situation in the capital Juba remained "fluid" but the United States still believed it was possible the country's longtime political adversaries could come together to restore order. Forces loyal to South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar engaged in five days of street battles with anti-aircraft guns, attack helicopters and tanks until a ceasefire was reached on Monday. The fighting prompted the United Nations and some countries to withdraw non-essential personnel. The United States sent 47 additional troops to protect U.S. citizens and the U.S. Embassy. "We continue to press the leaders of South Sudan to end the fighting," Trudeau told reporters. "We call on all parties to allow civilian freedom of movement and provide unfettered humanitarian access to all people in need." "Destruction and damage to humanitarian facilities and violence against aid workers is unacceptable and must stop immediately," she added. Trudeau said the United States "condemned all actions by the government" to prevent civilians from boarding flights out of South Sudan or leaving the country by other means. "It is unacceptable given the conditions in Juba to prevent civilians from freely departing the country," she said. She also said the United States was concerned about the beating and temporary detention on Thursday of officials in the transitional government belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, or SPLM-IO. She said the U.S. government had no scheduled charter flights for civilians leaving the country and encouraged U.S. citizens trying to get out of South Sudan to use commercial flights. Kiir and Machar are longtime rivals, jostling for power even before South Sudan's independence from Sudan in 2011. A civil war that began in December 2013 came a few months after Kiir dismissed Machar as his deputy. They signed a peace deal in August 2015, but implementation has been slow. The flare-up last week was apparently sparked when Kiir's forces stopped and demanded to search vehicles with Machar's troops. Trudeau said the U.S. ambassador and emergency personnel remained in South Sudan, "engaging diplomatically with leaders ... and supporting U.S. citizens in the country." U.S. aid personnel also remained to assess the humanitarian impact of the fighting. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and David Alexander; Editing by Tom Brown)
By Alistair Bell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States called on all parties in Turkey to support President Tayyip Erdogan's government against a coup attempt as world leaders expressed concern about the upheaval in a NATO member country that bridges Europe and the Middle East. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone and gave their support to Erdogan after Turkey's military said it had seized power on Friday. By early Saturday, Erdogan appeared to have regained control. "The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said in a statement. Erdogan has ruled Turkey since 2003 and if the coup against him was successful it would have been one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years. The sharp-tongued Erdogan is often accused of authoritarian rule at home and has frequently fallen out with neighbors such as Israel, Iran, Russia and the European Union as he tried to carve out a greater role for Turkey in the Middle East. But Turkey is a key ally for Washington which has often pointed to the country as a good example of a free-market democracy in the Muslim world, even though it has a poor record on freedom of expression. Relations between Erdogan and the Obama administration have deteriorated in recent years as Washington complained that Ankara was not doing enough to fight Islamic State. Erdogan chafes at U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish rebels, who have close ties to Kurdish guerrillas fighting in Turkey. The United States uses the Incirlik air base in Turkey to launch strikes against Islamic State, which holds territory in Syria and Iraq. It said those operations had not been affected by the coup attempt. The State Department told U.S. citizens in Turkey to "shelter in place and stay indoors." U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she supported Turkey's civilian government and was following the events in Turkey "with great concern." NATO REAFFIRMS SUPPORT European Council President Donald Tusk called for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order, saying tensions there could not be resolved by guns. "Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," Tusk said at a regional summit in Mongolia. Those sentiments were echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg who described Turkey as "a valued NATO ally". "The democratic order in Turkey must be respected. Everything needs to be done to protect human lives," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Twitter. Ties between Turkey and Germany - vital partners in efforts to curb mass migration to Europe - have been strained since Germany passed a resolution in June branding the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation. Iran, a Shi'ite Muslim nation which has long been a regional rival to Sunni majority Turkey, said on Friday it was deeply concerned about the crisis in the neighboring country. "Stability, democracy and safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity and prudence are imperative," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account. In Syria, hundreds of cheering government supporters took to the streets of Damascus early on Saturday and celebratory gunfire erupted after Turkey's army said it seized power from Erdogan, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main foes in the region. Residents said convoys of cars circled around the Mazzeh district of the Syrian capital, with people waving flags and shouting: "God, Syria and Bashar!". There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities. Assad's government has accused Erdogan of fuelling Syria's five-year conflict by supporting Islamist insurgents battling Damascus and allowing foreign jihadis to cross the border from Turkey into Syria. The Kremlin said it was gravely concerned about events in Turkey, and that it had instructed officials to help Russian nationals in Turkey return home at the earliest opportunity. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey. Britain's new foreign minister, Boris Johnson, said he was "very concerned" by events in Turkey, where many thousands of British and other European holiday-makers were spending summer vacations. Pakistan condemned the attempt to undermine democracy and rule of law and China's Foreign Ministry called on Turkey to restore order and stability as soon as possible. The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Turkey's democracy must be respected, according to the Kyodo news agency. Turkey closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid traveling to its southern neighbor. Mexico, Japan, South Korea and India also urged nationals not to travel to Turkey, while countries including Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand urged citizens in Turkey to be vigilant, stay indoors and keep tabs on local media. (Additonal reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Lesley Wroughton and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Tsvetelia Tsolova in Sofia and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Leika Kihara in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Natalie Thomas in UlaanBaatar, Robin Emmott in Brussels, Editing by Mary Milliken, Lincoln Feast and Elaine Hardcastle)
London (AFP) - The head of Britain's new Brexit ministry on Sunday said that EU migrants arriving between now and the country's official departure from the bloc may not be guaranteed the right to remain.

David Davis told the Mail on Sunday that he would negotiate with European leaders to secure "a generous settlement for EU migrants here now and a generous settlement for British citizens in the EU", but offered no such assurances for newcomers.

"There are a variety of possibilities," he said of plans to deal with a predicted "surge" in arrivals from the EU ahead of Britain's departure.

"We may have to say that the right to indefinite leave to remain protection only applies before a certain date. But you have to make those judgments on reality, not speculation."

Britain will have to stick to the EU's freedom of movement rules until it officially leaves, but will then have control over who stays in the country, including over those who arrived before the pullout date.

Davis has said that invoking Article 50, which would trigger official negotiations to leave the EU, should happen by the beginning of 2017. The negotiations have a two-year time limit, meaning Britain would leave by early 2019, at the latest.

The EU Commission is refusing to hold talks until Article 50 takes effect, but Davis said some dialogue was inevitable.

"We don't have to do any negotiations, just find out where their interests are," he told the paper.

"(Foreign Secretary) Boris Johnson is going to the EU foreign affairs council this weekend. Are they going to say, 'Oh, I can't mention this to you?' Of course not."

Davis, 67, has been a long-time eurosceptic and was briefly Europe Minister in the Conservative government of former prime minister John Major in the 1990s.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain opened "very fruitful" trade talks with Canada on Friday, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times newspaper as he prepares to renegotiate Britain's commercial ties following its vote last month to leave the European Union.

In limited extracts of his interview, Fox said he would soon travel to the United States to ensure that Britain was not at the back of the queue in trade talks as President Barack Obama had suggested before the June 23 vote.

He said was "scoping" about a dozen free trade deals outside the EU to be ready for when Britain leaves, some with countries that had indicated they wanted a quick deal and others with some of the world's major economies.

"We can make Britain a beacon for open trade," he told the paper. "We have already had a number of countries saying 'we'd love to do a trade deal with the world's fifth-biggest economy without having to deal with the other 27 members of the EU.'"

Earlier, Prime Minister Theresa May's office said Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had told her he would like to strike a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible.

The European Commission negotiates trade deals on behalf of its member states, meaning Britain has not had to forge its own deals since it joined the bloc in 1973.

(Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain opened "very fruitful" trade talks with Canada on Friday, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times newspaper as he prepares to renegotiate Britain's commercial ties following its vote last month to leave the European Union. In limited extracts of his interview, Fox said he would soon travel to the United States to ensure that Britain was not at the back of the queue in trade talks as President Barack Obama had suggested before the June 23 vote. He said was "scoping" about a dozen free trade deals outside the EU to be ready for when Britain leaves, some with countries that had indicated they wanted a quick deal and others with some of the world's major economies. "We can make Britain a beacon for open trade," he told the paper. "We have already had a number of countries saying 'we'd love to do a trade deal with the world's fifth-biggest economy without having to deal with the other 27 members of the EU.'" Earlier, Prime Minister Theresa May's office said Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had told her he would like to strike a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible. The European Commission negotiates trade deals on behalf of its member states, meaning Britain has not had to forge its own deals since it joined the bloc in 1973. (Reporting by Stephen Addison; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)
Luxembourg (AFP) - Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday the United States will help Turkey investigate a failed coup and invited Ankara to share any evidence it has against US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Kerry said Washington had not yet received a formal extradition request for the expatriate cleric, but added: "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen."

Gulen, a reclusive Islamic preacher with a worldwide following who is regularly accused of leading a behind the scenes role in Turkish politics, lives in a small town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania.

He has been accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of being behind Thursday's bloody coup attempt, although he himself has denied any role and condemned the military uprising "in the strongest terms."

Kerry who spoke late Friday to his Turkish opposite number Mevlut Cavusoglu by telephone, said: "We haven't received any request with respect to Mr Gulen.

"And obviously we invited the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgements about it appropriately."

Standing alongside Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn outside the country's foreign ministry, Kerry told reporters: "I'm confident that there will be some discussion about that."

Gulen, 75, was once a close Erdogan ally but the two fell out in recent years as Turkey's leader became suspicious of Gulen's movement, Hizmet, and its powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.

The preacher moved to the United States in 1999 and has since led a secluded life in Pennsylvania, declining interviews and rarely making public appearances. He has been charged with treason in his native country.

Story continues

- Deal with coup plotters -

Speaking more broadly about the situation in Turkey, Kerry said he understood that a measure of calm had returned after the dramatic events and that all US embassy personnel had been accounted for.

"The United without any hesitation squarely and unequivocally stands for democratic leadership, for respect for a democratically elected leader ... and we stand by the government of Turkey," Kerry said.

Washington's top diplomat said that the embassy was seeking to confirm that no US citizens travelling in Turkey had been harmed, and expressed US condolences to the relatives of the more than 250 Turks estimated to have died.

He expressed Washington's hope "that in the immediate hours things will remain calm, that there will be a constitutional process and a legal process that will deal with coup plotters."

He said that, so far, the crisis in Turkey had not affected the country's cooperation with the rest of the NATO alliance nor its role as part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in neighboring Turkey.

"I'm sure that people will wonder about allegations of who may have instigated this and where the support came from," Kerry said, in a nod to the accusations swirling around Gulen and his alleged supporters in the Turkish military.

"The United States will obviously be supportive of any legitimate investigative efforts and under due process and within the law we will be completely supportive of efforts to assist the government of Turkey if they so request."
For MaKyla Hove and Shaina Ducklow its good to be a geek.

Well, a GEAC, pronounced geek.

It stands for Global Education Achievement Certificate, a program Hove and Ducklow, both 2016 Tomah High School graduates, participated in throughout high school.

For the 20-hour service project required by the program, which aims to promote global awareness, they decided to collect toothbrushes to give to those in need in Uganda.

They have gathered 1,005 since they began the project in April.

Hove said they began the project by researching small, essential items for people that could be packed in a carry-on bag. They decided on toothbrushes.

Then they brought their idea to Jenny Parker, member of the Remembering Jesse Parker charity, and mother of Jesse Parker, who died in a car accident in 2009 at the age of 17.

He dreamed of serving in the Peace Corps and becoming an engineer to bring clean drinking water to impoverished communities.

The Parkers and members of the charity will travel to Uganda this month.

Shaina and I brainstormed toothbrushes  we didnt know there would be a connection there, Hove said. But I called Jenny and asked if there was any way we could help and if they wanted to take toothbrushes, because theyre going to Uganda this summer, she said. She was like, Oh yeah, we were actually thinking about (bringing toothbrushes).

Over the next month, Ducklow and Hove went from city to city gathering donated toothbrushes from dentist offices. Ducklow said the two visited at least 30 different dental clinics.

Hove said out of all the offices, they only got turned down twice.

We went all over Tomah, decided that that wasnt enough and went all throughout Sparta, all through Onalaska, all through La Crosse  we just went into every single dentist, she said.

Ducklow said all they needed to do to get donations was explain the project.

They were really open to helping us, she said. We said, This is what were doing, and they were just really open to it and handed us like a box of toothbrushes.

Once, Hove said, they received over 200 toothbrushes at one stop.

One lady, we walked in there and shes like, How many do you need?, we said our goal was like 1,300 and shes like, Oh, I can do that, Hove said. She came back with like five, six, seven bags full of toothbrushes. There was probably 200, maybe 400 in there.

Hove said the hardest part of the project wasnt collecting the toothbrushes; it was unwrapping them.

The Parker familys leaving this month and theyre taking all the toothbrushes, so we had to take them all out of the packages  every single one had to be out of the packaging, she said.

Ducklow said counting took a long time. Hove said it didnt help that they had to count them all more than once.

We had to count them twice because we forgot how many we had the first time and then got more, she said. We should have written it down, but we didnt.

Ducklow said the project lasted a while but that it felt good to collect all the donations.

I felt so good walking in and then asking (the dentists) and seeing their generosity of giving us all these toothbrushes, she said. (Although) it did take a long time, it was worth it.

Hove said it was fulfilling.

Its Tomah, Wisconsin. Were a pretty little town, and knowing that were doing something somewhere so far away, is pretty cool, she said.
Cucuta (Colombia) (AFP) - Thousands of Venezuelans crossed Saturday into the Colombian city of Cucuta to buy food and medicine, taking advantage of another brief opening in the border that's been closed nearly a year.

Caracas authorized the temporary opening a week after some 35,000 Venezuelans poured across the border during a 12-hour opening of the pedestrian bridge that connects Tachira, Venezuela and Cucuta.

"Right now @GoberNorte is coordinating the passage of thousands of people," tweeted Yebrail Haddad, the government secretary of the Norte de Santander department, of which Cucuta is the capital.

The border opened a day earlier than authorities from both countries had previously announced.

The influx of Venezuelans comes during a 40-day freight truckers' strike in Colombia, heightening fears that shortages could hit major cities there as well, including Cucuta.

Venezuela has suffered crippling shortages for months, a ripple effect from the falling price of oil, the country's primary export. Critics also blame grave mishandling of the state-led economy.

Colombian Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters that security forces would guarantee the arrival of supplies for Cucuta's residents as well as Venezuelan shoppers.

"We have made a great effort to have enough supplies for the 15,000 Venezuelans who have reached and crossed the border today, and those expected tomorrow," Villegas said.

Colombian authorities checked those crossing the border before allowing passage, local government sources told AFP.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the border shut in August 2015 after former Colombian paramilitaries attacked a Venezuelan military patrol and wounded three soldiers, causing a diplomatic row between the neighboring countries.
By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - WeWork Companies Inc, a closely held operator of shared office space, has sued a former employee for unauthorized disclosure of information to Bloomberg News that showed the firm, which is valued at $16 billion, falling short of its financial goals.

In a complaint filed late on Friday with the New York Supreme Court for Manhattan, WeWork accused Joanna Strange, who was fired June 10, of unlawful access to its computers and of stealing confidential and proprietary information. The firm, which operates sites in 40 U.S. and foreign cities, also accused Strange of breaching her contractual and fiduciary duties.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that in late April, WeWork in an internal review document slashed a 2016 profit forecast by 78 percent, cut its revenue estimate by 14 percent and disclosed a 63 percent surge in projected negative cash flow.

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Adam Neumann told employees in meetings on May 9 and May 23 that the company had to rein in costs and get its finances in order, according to Bloomberg. WeWork said on Thursday that it reported a case of corporate theft to the U.S. Attorney's office and that the "stolen document was prepared months ago for scenario planning purposes and does not reflect our robust operating momentum."

Reuters was unable to contact a lawyer for Strange.

WeWork said it required all employees to sign an agreement that precluded them from disclosing proprietary information without written approval. This restriction applied both during and after Strange's employment, the court filing said.

After her termination, Strange accessed WeWork's computers without authorization by using credentials belonging to David Fano, a senior executive, and disclosed the information to reporters, the filing said.

WeWork said it was seeking unspecified damages and a trial by jury.

Strange may say that at least some of the disclosed information was not truly proprietary, said Dan Eaton, a lecturer at San Diego State University's College of Business and an employment lawyer. Some information about the company's finances was known, he said.

Strange may say that she had authorized access to the information, Eaton said. In California, granting access to and then misusing information is not a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act because the anti-hacking statue focuses on access, not misuse, he said.

(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Nice (France) (AFP) - Tahar Mejri looks exhausted as he stumbles out of the children's hospital in Nice where he went in desperate search of his four-year-old son, Kylan.

"I have called everywhere, police stations, hospitals, Facebook and I can't find my son. I have been looking for him for 48 hours," he told AFP.

"My wife is dead, where is my son?"

Mejri is one of hundreds whose life changed in an instant when a truck careered into Bastille Day crowds in Nice on Thursday.

A few hours later his search came to an end at the Pasteur Hospital in the north of the city where he learned that his son was dead.

Earlier, he told AFP he could not understand why Nice's famed Promenade des Anglais -- from where thousands of people had watched a fireworks display -- had not been closed to traffic.

It was, but 31-year-old Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel smashed through onto the pavement in the truck, leaving police helpless to stop him from killing 84 and injuring around 200.

"Everyone was there, old people, babies," Mejri raged.

Abandoned dolls and pushchairs were among the debris left along the promenade after the driver was shot dead by police.

Ten children and teenagers were among the dead and another five children were still fighting for their lives alongside dozens of critically injured adults.

Thirty children were hospitalised at the Lenval Foundation paediatric hospital where a unit of psychologists has been working alongside doctors to deal with the flood of trauma.

"There were a lot of head injuries and fractures," said hospital spokeswoman Stephanie Simpson.

Two of the children admitted to the hospital died shortly after the attack.

Simpson said the youngest victim being treated was six months old.

Also in the hospital was an eight-year-old boy who had yet to be identified.

Romanian authorities said three of their citizens were missing, and one of them might be the boy at Lenval.

"We are used to receiving a lot of children at the same time, but this, has been hard to manage. It is the psychological aspect," said Simpson.

Story continues

- 'My daughter can't speak' -

At Lenval, families dropped in sporadically to see trauma counsellors.

One man accompanied his 13-year-old daughter and ex-wife who had been to see the fireworks display and got caught up in the chaos after the attack.

"It's the first time they have left the house since," he told AFP, on condition of anonymity.

"They saw people running in all directions shouting that there were gunmen in the town. My daughter can't even speak, her mother had to convince her to come."

Another man enters with his wife and two daughters.

"We need to see someone. We saw everything on Thursday night, the truck passed 30 metres (100 feet) from us. Another four seconds and we would have been hit. Luckily we moved aside."

On the storied Promenade des Anglais which runs along the curved bay of clear blue water, locals wept as they came to place flowers and candles at an improvised memorial.

"Right now we are just afraid, fed-up and angry," said Nicole Autard, who came with her husband to pay tribute to the victims.

"We have passed the stage that anyone can stop this from happening."

Messages left at the scene of the carnage gave voice to the anger felt by many -- "Enough talking", "Sick of the carnage in our streets", and "Stop the massacre".

"We want it to stop," said local Daniele Rousseille.

"They hit our symbol, the promenade, where we learned to walk, to ride our bikes," she said.
By Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A white former Atlanta police officer was charged on Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man who he said was fleeing the scene of a crime and put his life in danger, claims that were refuted by investigators, a prosecutor said.

The charges come amid national unrest and Black Lives Matter protests over the deaths of two black men in Minneapolis and Baton Rouge at the hands of white officers and a national debate about race and the use of force by police.

James Burns, who was fired from the Atlanta Police Department on Tuesday, was charged in Fulton County with felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of violation of his police oath, the Fulton County District Attorneys Office said in a statement.

District Attorney Paul Howard said he had requested an arrest warrant to be issued for Burns. It was unclear late on Friday if Burns had turned himself in to police.

Burns responded to a call about a suspected burglar breaking into cars on June 22. When he arrived at the scene, Devaris Caine Rogers, 22, jumped into a car and began to drive, an investigation report said.

Burns said Rogers drove toward him and that he fired into the vehicle because he thought he was in danger. Investigators said they found that Rogers made no attempt to strike Burns with the car he was driving and that Burns was never in danger.

"Burns was safely standing at the rear of his own patrol vehicle," Howard said.

A police review concluded that Burns could not have known if Rogers in fact was a suspect in a crime, police spokesman Warren Pickard said.

Pickard told Atlanta TV station 11Alive that the shooting could not have been racially motivated because there was no reason to think Burns knew Rogers was black.

Efforts have been made across the nation to ease racial tensions after several deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police in cities such as Chicago, New York and Ferguson, Missouri over the last several years.

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In Atlanta, ongoing protests over the deaths in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis drew crowds of thousands and have shut down major thoroughfares for hours.

The Atlanta mayor and police chief are considering city-wide curfews if the protests continue. They plan to meet protest leaders on Monday in an attempt to ease tensions.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Paul Tait)
Aaron K. Chatterji is an associate professor at Duke Universitys The Fuqua School of Business.

The week after Independence Day 2016 will remembered as a time when the conversation about race in America stormed into the foreground once again, with fatal police shootings of African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota and the murder of five police and transit officers in Dallas by an African-American Army veteran. The ensuing protests and heated discourse on cable news and op-ed pages, all during a particularly contentious Presidential campaign, reminded us of the vexing divisions that still fester all across our nation.

While we expect to hear from our political leaders during these challenging times, we have not traditionally expected much from our corporate leaders, particularly on controversial social issues like race relations. But that seems to be changing. CEOs have become activists, as my co-author Michael Toffel and I have described here and here, weighing in on issues not directly related to their bottom line, on same-sex marriage, gender equality, transgender rights, and guns. The preliminary findings from our research are that this kind of activism can increase willingness to buy a company's products among consumers sympathetic to the cause.

Even in light of the recent spate of CEO activism however, the statements of business leaders in the aftermath of the shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota was still notable. Several leading technology companies and executives, including Apple's Tim Cook, Dropbox's Drew Houston, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg (the video of the Minnesota shooting was broadcast using his Live product) quickly tweeted out statements expressing solidarity with those angered by the police shootings. Some companies, including Twitter, Pandora, and Square, used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

This activism immediately produced significant backlash and calls for boycotts, particularly in light of the Dallas shootings, as critics accused the companies of taking sides (the wrong one in their view) on a hot button issue. Given some recent examples of CEO activism on race issues, (Starbucks' Howard Schultz's Race Together campaign and Sam's Club CEO Rosalind Brewer calls for greater workplace diversity come to mind), this response should not have been surprising.

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These cases suggest that wading into race and other social issues can be tricky and almost always generate at least some backlash from consumers. So why do I think companies are doing it and why do I expect to see even more in the future?

First, business-to-consumer companies in particular are trying to personalize their brands to build stronger connections with us. But we are crafting our social connections differently nowadays. For example, opinion research shows that large percentages of Americans are mostly friends with people who share their political beliefs. Moreover, recent data indicates that "negative partisanship", or bad feelings about those with different political views, has increased dramatically. In this kind of polarized environment, differences over nearly anything are more likely to be viewed through a political lens. Our political identities have become a much more important component of who we are. So as we increasingly sort into tribal networks of like-minded individuals, it is becoming more difficult for our favorites brands to gain our trust while staying out of politics.

Second, there is genuine conviction among many corporate leaders about these social issues, in some part shaped by a new wave of business education that has emphasized the social responsibility of business and thinking beyond simply maximizing shareholder value. Moreover, a new younger generation of corporate leaders is emerging that are not only demographically predisposed to social liberalism, but are typically clustered in progressive urban areas around San Francisco, Boston and New York. Predictably, much of the CEO activism has come from the left side of the political spectrum, on cultural and social issues, as opposed to economic issues where the sensibilities and priorities of business leaders can line up differently.

Finally, the advent of social media has transformed the landscape of activism for all of us. I like to say that social media is like a microphone that is always on. So silence is ever more conspicuous. When these events happen, we immediately check our social media accounts to see how other people are reacting, perhaps for new insights, but more likely to see who agrees with us and who does not. When battle lines form, silence can be viewed as implicit support for whatever position we don't agree with, creating a nasty communications problem for normally cautious corporates.

Taken together, a hyper-partisan and hyper-plugged in America portends more CEO activism and more backlash. The most astute CEO activists will speak authentically on selected issues that matter to them personally, and make a measurable impact on their audience. The very best corporate communications teams will red flag tweets that could go viral for the wrong reasons and avoid a hullabaloo you would have definitely read about. And many of us will be keeping track, as we dedicate our hearts, minds and wallets to the companies and causes we support.

See original article on Fortune.com

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Donald Trump botched the announcement of his selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, but the pick itself may prove even more problematic.

Choosing Pence, to be sure, may boost Trump's appeal with the blue collar white voters who make up his base; Pence is an evangelical who calls himself "a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican."

Pence has political experience Trump lacks; he spent a decade in the House of Representatives before his 2012 election as governor. And Pence projects calm and gravitas, marking a contrast to Trump. The pick might sooth concerns of voters tempted to vote for Trump but worried about giving him nuclear codes or control of the Treasury.

But appealing to voters already leaning his way is an insufficient tactic for a candidate that around 60% of voters don't like. And it's hard to see how Pence will help Trump expand his appeal.

Pence has called Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from the United States "offensive and unconstitutional." Picking the Indiana governor may be a sign that Trump is backing off that proposal. But Pences record will not help Trump reverse his catastrophically bad standing with minorities. And he could even worsen the presumptive nominee's unpopularity with women as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender voters.

Pence is stridently pro-life. He has said he longed "for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history," and that he was willing to shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood.

Pence is also out of step with Trump and a growing contingent of Republicans who support same sex marriage. In 2015, Pence stumbled into a national controversy when he signed a bill that allowed businesses to ignore local nondiscrimination laws and to deny services to people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. That is the kind of battle business-friendly Republicans strive to avoid.

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In Indiana, Pence supported corporate tax cuts. And he differs with Trump's protectionist views on trade and immigration, making Pence more business-friendly than the billionaire businessman on a few issues.

But any points those stances may win Pence with business groups and Wall Street will be offset by his status as not only an opponent but lead spokesman against the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or the bailout, in 2008. While that stance was and remains an easy sell to populist voters, it remains a bitter memory for many fiscally conservative voters who felt opponents of the Bush administration-backed bailout endangered the economy.

The Republican-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which aggressively advocated for the bailout bill, did not mention Pence's position in a tepid statement on Friday.

"Gov. Pence has a strong pro-business record both in Congress and as Governor, and we hope he will continue to advance policies that will drive economic growth and job creation on the presidential ticket," the group said. "We look forward to working with both nominees and their running mates to get America back on track."

Pence also opposed the 2009 auto bailout which, like the bank bailout, is now widely considered to have been effective, if far from universally popular. That position was among a series of past stances of Pences that Hillary Clinton's campaign was faulting on Friday.

Pence's opposition to the bank bailout is just one reason the VP pick will not help Trump fill the gap in fundraising between the two campaigns. And Pence lacks connections to deep-pocketed GOP donors.

Pence has previously supported privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Those positions form part of a long record that give Democrats a target and a way to tie Trump to the kind of controversial Republican proposals he has so far avoided because he has never held office.

Pence does not appear able to help Trump overcome his deficits with most voters, though it is unlikely anyone could. Political operatives and academics generally agree that vice presidential selections make little difference in races.

"The running mate has little effect on the election's outcome," Karl Rove, the former top political aide to President George W. Bush, recently wrote. Though Rove added that "the choice and the decision-making process contribute to the impression voters develop about the nominee's leadership abilities."

Picking Pence may have some effect on voters views of Trump, but the race will ultimately hinge on Trump himself.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
Rule No. 2 in planning a successful military coup is that any mobile forces that are not part of the plot  and that certainly includes any fighter jet squadrons  must be immobilized or too remote to intervene. (Which is why Saudi army units, for example, are based far from the capital.) But the Turkish coup plotters failed to ensure these loyal tanks, helicopters, and jets were rendered inert, so instead of being reinforced as events unfolded, the putschists were increasingly opposed. But perhaps that scarcely mattered because they had already violated Rule No. 1, which is to seize the head of the government before doing anything else, or at least to kill him.

The countrys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was left free to call out his followers to resist the attempted military coup, first by iPhone and then in something resembling a televised press conference at Istanbuls airport. It was richly ironic that he was speaking under the official portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkeys modern secular state, because Erdogans overriding aim since entering politics has been to replace it with an Islamic republic by measures across the board: from closing secular high schools so as to drive pupils into Islamic schools to creeping alcohol prohibitions to a frenzied program of mosque-building everywhere  including major ex-church museums and university campuses, where, until recently, headscarves were prohibited.

Televised scenes of the crowds that came out to oppose the coup were extremely revealing: There were only men with mustaches (secular Turks rigorously avoid them) with not one woman in sight. Moreover, their slogans were not patriotic, but Islamic  they kept shouting Allahu ekber (the local pronunciation of akbar) and breaking out into the Shahada, the declaration of faith.

Richly ironic, too, was the prompt and total support of U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the European Unions hapless would-be foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, in the name of democracy. Erdogan has been doing everything possible to dismantle Turkeys fragile democracy: from ordering the arrest of journalists who criticized him, including the outright seizure and closure of the countrys largest newspaper, Zaman, to the very exercise of presidential power, since Turkey is not a presidential republic like the United States or France, but rather a parliamentary republic like Germany or Italy, with a mostly ceremonial president and the real power left to the prime minister. Unable to change the constitution because his Justice and Development Party (AKP) does not have enough votes in parliament, Erdogan instead installed the slavishly obedient (and mustachioed) Binali Yildirim as prime minister  his predecessor, Ahmet Davutoglu, had been very loyal, but not quite a slave  and further subverted the constitutional order by convening cabinet meetings under his own chairmanship in his new 1,000-room palace: a multibillion-dollar, 3.2 million-square-foot monstrosity (the White House is approximately 55,000 square feet), which was built without authorized funding or legal permits in a nature reserve.

That is just normal operating procedure for Erdogan, who started as a penniless youth in a slum and is now allegedly a billionaire. When prosecutors found millions of dollars in cash while investigating his associates and sons, Bilal and Burak, for bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering, and gold smuggling, 350 police officers and all the prosecutors involved were simply removed from their jobs. Only interested in his relentless Islamization of Turkey, Erdogans core party followers evidently attach no value to democratic principles or legality as such and think it only natural that he and his sons should have enriched themselves on such a huge scale.

When Erdogan foists the blame for anything that goes wrong  including his very own decision to restart the war against the countrys Kurds  on foreigners, the United States, and you-know-who (the Saturday people), his followers readily believe him. That is also true of his wild accusations of terrorism against the U.S.-based Turkish religious leader Fethullah Gulen, once his staunch ally. Having previously blamed Gulen for an aborted corruption investigation, which he had described as a judicial coup, Erdogan is now blaming Gulen and his followers for the attempted military coup as well. That could be true to some extent, but Turkish military officers scarcely needed Gulen to egg them on: They blame Erdogan and his AKP followers for dismantling Ataturks secular republic; for having built up the murderous Sunni extremists of Syria who are now spilling back into Turkey to conduct suicide bombings; and for deliberately restarting the war against the countrys Kurds in 2015 for crass political reasons  a war that is costing soldiers lives every day and threatens the survival of Turkey itself within its present borders. (Kurds are a net majority in the eastern provinces.)

Coup planners need not enroll very many soldiers or airmen to win, so long as uncooperative chiefs are apprehended, and their initial success induces more to join in. But Turkeys top military chiefs neither planned the coup nor joined it, and only a few (including the supremo Gen. Hulusi Akar) were detained. Indeed, the principal force commanders stayed out so that the coup activists (fewer than 2,000 in all, it seems), including some fighter pilots, were hopelessly outnumbered once Erdogans followers came out by the tens of thousands in the streets of Istanbul.

Opposition parties all very loyally opposed the coup, but they should not count on Erdogans gratitude. The drift to authoritarian rule is likely to continue, even accelerate: As in other Islamic countries, elections are well understood and greatly valued, but not democracy itself.

Photo credit: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images
A Tomah man could face more charges after reportedly becoming unruly while being booked at the Monroe County Jail.

Joshua L. Clark, 29, was referred to the district attorneys office for a number of charges after he failed to comply with jail staff orders and destroyed his jail cell mattress on June 10, according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Department.

The Sparta Police Department brought Clark to the jail at about 3:20 a.m. He reportedly was resistant while being taken to the booking area, wouldnt listen to orders and elbowed a jailer, and later he was not cooperative when staff tried to change him into jail clothes.

At about 5:15 a.m. Clark had reportedly torn apart his mattress by biting through it. He then proceeded to kick, punch and slap his cell door and used the intercom to yell, according to the report.

He was referred for possible charges of battery to law enforcement, resisting an officer, disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

Clark has a current case where hes been charged with battery, criminal damage to property and two counts each of resisting an officer and disorderly conduct. Hes next due in court on Aug. 1.

In other sheriffs department news:

Emil M. St. Clair, 27, New Lisbon, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia following a June 23 traffic stop.

A deputy at about 9:45 p.m. stopped a vehicle on Highway PP because it had defective registration lamps, according to the report. The vehicle and occupants were searched after a K-9 unit was altered to possible drugs in the vehicle.

St. Clair, the passenger, reportedly had a smoking device on him with residue that tested positive for marijuana. He said he used the pipe to smoke tobacco but other people used it to smoke marijuana.

Sanford D. Decorah, 42, Lyndon Station, was arrested for and charged with disorderly conduct after a June 30 incident in Tomah.

Authorities were called to a Delight Avenue residence after a resident said Decorah yelled at a woman. The residents locked Decorah out, but he pounded on windows, according to the report.

The 45-year-old victim stated Decorah was disruptive in a vehicle on the way to the residence and he threw an object at her.

Decorah stated he had recorded evidence that the initial complainant threatened to call authorities and have him removed because he struck the victim, but Decorah reportedly wouldnt provide authorities with the video and he was arrested.

Decorah was released on a $150 cash bond and has an initial court appearance set for July 25.

Edward E. Janusheske, 34, Tomah, was charged with illegal possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia following a June 29 incident at the south Kwik Trip in Tomah.

The vehicle and occupants had matched descriptions of those involved as suspects in an earlier theft complaint at a Walmart, according to the report. Janusheske was questioned and while retrieving his identification reportedly dropped two baggies with narcotic drugs.

Two passengers also were taken into custody. Wade E. Lowrie, 40, Tomah, was arrested on a warrant, and Christina M. Stratton, 37, Blue Ridge, Georgia, was taken into custody on a probation hold. Neither have been charged with new offenses.

Janusheske was released on a $3,000 signature bond and has an initial court appearance on July 18.

Dustin D. Garrity, 25, Norwalk, was arrested for and charged with possession of marijuana following a June 7 incident.

Garrity reportedly called authorities to his Mercury Avenue home at about 6 p.m., stating he wanted to go to jail and had been punching objects, according to the report.

Authorities arrived, and Garrity  who reportedly was intoxicated  later asked if he would be in trouble if he had marijuana. He was told he would be, and so he went into the house and returned with two plastic bags that contained marijuana, so he was arrested.

Garrity was released on a $500 signature bond and has an initial appearance on June 27.

Aaron T. Lowe, 21, Black River Falls, was charged with a second offense of drunken driving and possession of drug paraphernalia following a June 25 traffic stop in Tomah.

A deputy observed a 2004 Chevrolet vehicle on Highway 12 near Juneau Street approach the emergency vehicle from behind at a high rate of speed and nearly caused an accident, according to the report. The vehicle later was pulled over after changing lanes but not signaling.

The driver, Lowe, reportedly smelled of intoxicants and admitted to consuming alcohol that night. Lowe was arrested after failing field sobriety tests and having a preliminary breath test with an alcohol concentration of .222  over the legal driving limit of .08.

Drug paraphernalia also was reportedly found in the vehicle. Lowe also was cited for following a vehicle too close, operating left of center and open intoxicants in a vehicle. He was released on a $1,000 signature bond and has an initial court appearance on July 26.

Two passengers in the vehicle  Karena L. Smothers, 19, Black River Falls, and Stephanie P. Peterson, 20, Augusta  were cited for underage drinking and having open intoxicants in a vehicle. Both reportedly admitted to consuming alcohol that night.

Ethan Roth, 26, Stratford, was referred for a charge of disorderly conduct after reportedly being rebellious at the Monroe County Jail on June 24.

Jail staff at about 5:40 a.m. asked Roth to remove a cover on a light and a blanket draped over his bunk that he had placed, according to the report. He reportedly became vulgar, yelled and made an aggressive move toward a jailer.

Steven J. Rowan, 42, Blue River, and Edward W. Bobnar, 31, Sparta, both were referred for possible charges of disorderly conduct and prisoner battery after a reported fight April 28 at the Monroe County Jail.

Jail staff at about 5 p.m. heard a yell from a cell block and found both Rowan and Bobnar fighting, and both were bleeding, according to the report.

Rowan said he was watching a movie when Bobnar changed the channel and refused to change back the channel. Rowan said he threw the first punch at Bobnar because he didnt want to put up with Bobnar.
Ankara (AFP) - World leaders urged "respect for democratic institutions" in key NATO member and European neighbour Turkey as parts of the military launched a coup attempt late Friday against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that saw violence erupt in Istanbul.

The United States, Russia, NATO and the European Union appealed for stability, with US President Barack Obama calling on all parties in Turkey to back the "democratically-elected" government.

Detailing a call between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, the White House said both agreed that "all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile lashed out against the attempted coup, as he called for civilian rule to be maintained.

"Military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable," Ban said in a statement.

EU chiefs Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker backed Erdogan's government and urged a "swift return" to normal.

"Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," they said in a joint statement with EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini.

"We call for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was "deeply concerned" about the situation, with President Vladimir Putin being kept up to date by the foreign ministry and intelligence services.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier called on Turkey to avoid all "bloodshed" and insisted that the problems in the country be resolved "in accordance with the constitution."

Turkey will now likely dominate an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday which will also be attended by Kerry.

Ankara in March signed a controversial deal with the European Union aimed at stemming migration to the continent, and has recently mended ties with Russia after a major diplomatic crisis.

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NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called for "calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution," adding that the country was "a valued NATO ally".

Obama, like other Western leaders, has repeatedly expressed concern about authoritarian steps taken by Erdogan's government.

But the country is a key NATO ally and part of the coalition fighting IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. The US has military assets at Incirlik Air Base, carrying out strikes against the jihadists.

- 'No impact' on anti-IS strikes -

The ongoing coup attempt is not affecting operations targeting IS, and American forces will continue flying missions from a key airbase there, a US defence official said Friday.

The situation "has no impact on counter-ISIL operations from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and using another name for IS.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged "calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms" in the country.

The French Foreign Ministry meanwhile called for "the avoidance of violence and respect for democratic order," in an appeal echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Support to the elected (Turkish) government," a spokesman for Merkel said. "Everything must be done to protect human lives."

German-Turkish relations have come under increasing strain in recent months, with Berlin criticising Ankara's tough line against dissenting journalists and the country's Kurdish minority.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said his country, which neighbours Turkey, was monitoring the situation with "great concern".

"Stability, democracy and the security of the Turks are the priority," Zarif said, according to the Iranian government website, as he stressed "the need to preserve unity" in the country.

Iran and Turkey have been at loggerheads in regional conflicts including Syria, where they back opposing sides in the five-year civil war.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose nation also neighbours Turkey, has meanwhile expressed his "support for the democratically elected" government following the attempted coup, a government source said early Saturday.

Tsipras' diplomatic advisor sent the "message of support for democracy in Turkey" to his counterpart in the crisis-hit nation, the source said.

The two leaders were set to speak by telephone later Saturday.

Television pictures showed tanks deployed outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul. Reports said that flights into the airport had been halted.

Greece's Aegean Airlines confirmed it had cancelled Saturday's flights to Istanbul and the coastal city of Izmir.

German carrier Lufthansa said it had delayed its flights to Turkey "for up to 12 hours".
Cairo (AFP) - The final leg of an unprecedented world tour by a solar-powered plane was postponed Saturday due to the pilot's health, he said in a message on Twitter.

The Solar Impulse 2 had been scheduled to leave Cairo for Abu Dhabi.

"I'm sick. Stomach upset. I prefer to postpone the take-off @solarimpulse. I cannot go flying for 48 hours in that shape. Sorry," Bertrand Piccard wrote on Twitter.

The aircraft had arrived in Cairo on Wednesday after a two-day flight from Spain, finishing the 3,745 kilometre (2,327 mile) journey with an average speed of 76.7 kilometres an hour.

It had earlier landed in Seville after completing the first solo transatlantic flight powered only by sunlight, flying through the night with energy stored in its 17,000 photovoltaic cells.

Piccard had completed the 6,765 transatlantic flight in 71 hours.

The plane is being flown on its 35,400-kilometre (22,000 mile) trip in stages, with Piccard and his Swiss compatriot Andre Borschberg alternating at the controls of the single-seat plane.

"So Piccard was not feeling well yesterday. Was much better this morning. And then again tonight things got a bit worse. So we took the decision... it's not an easy decision but it's a wise decision for safety reasons," Borschberg told journalists who had assembled to watch the plane take off in Cairo.

The plane should depart during "the next weather window," he said. "Sometime in the middle of the week."

Borschberg had piloted the plane in its 8,924 kilometre (5,545 mile) flight from Japan to Hawaii in 118 hours, breaking the previous record for the longest uninterrupted journey in aviation history.

The Solar Impulse 2 embarked on its journey in Abu Dhabi in March 2015.

Both pilots have described flying the plane as a delight, but they have to be in good condition for the long flights.

Piccard had said that the pilots take 20 minute naps as the plane, which is no heavier than a large car but with the wingspan of a Boeing 747, inches across the sky.

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"It is comfortable. But of course you need to train for that. You need to train to make some exercise in the capsule, in the cockpit, because otherwise after several days you cannot move your legs and your arms anymore," Piccard had said when the plane landed in Cairo.

Borschberg and Piccard have said they want to raise awareness of renewable energy sources and technologies with their project.

But they do not expect commercial solar-powered planes any time soon.
Kuwait City (AFP) - The UN special envoy for Yemen on Saturday urged the country's warring parties to make "decisions that will prove your true intentions", as peace talks resumed in Kuwait City after government delegates abandoned a boycott threat.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the negotiations, back on after a 15-day suspension, would last for two weeks and warned that they may be Yemen's last chance for peace.

"It's time for decisive decisions that will prove your true intentions and national responsibilities to Yemenis," he told a meeting of the two delegations late Saturday.

The envoy said the discussions between Yemen's Huthi rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi would focus on strengthening a ceasefire that came into effect on April 11 but has been repeatedly violated.

They would also deal with "forming the military committees that will supervise the withdrawal and handover of weapons... and opening safe passages for humanitarian aid," he said.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that over the past two weeks he had held intensive talks in Sanaa, Riyadh and Muscat and met with many dignitaries who declared their support for a final settlement.

"I hope that you will seize this opportunity which could be the last to win the trust of Yemeni people," the UN envoy added.

- Boycott threat -

The talks resumed after Ould Cheikh Ahmed convinced the Yemen government to send its delegation to Kuwait after threatening to pull out of the peace talks which began on April 21.

Earlier in the day, Yemen Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said the government had obtained a "written response to our demands sufficient for the political leadership to decide (on) sending the delegation back to Kuwait".

A well-defined timetable has been agreed that is limited to "withdrawal, handover of arms, return of state institutions, release of prisoners and lifting siege on cities" by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, Mikhlafi said.

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The deal was struck after two days of talks with Ould Cheikh Ahmed in Riyadh, he said.

It was also agreed that the talks' two-week duration will not be extended and no other issues will be debated, he added.

The rebel delegation of Huthis and representatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh's General People's Congress party arrived in Kuwait on Friday.

More than two months of negotiations between President Hadi's Saudi-backed government and the rebels have failed to make any headway.

The government is calling for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2216 which requires the rebels and their allies to withdraw from areas they have occupied since 2014, including the capital Sanaa, and hand over heavy weapons.

Hadi had previously warned that his government would boycott the talks if the UN envoy insisted on a roadmap stipulating a unity government that included the insurgents.

His government wants to re-establish its authority across the entire country, much of which is rebel-controlled, and to restart a political transition interrupted when the Huthis seized Sanaa.

More than 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of Hadi's government in March last year.

Another 2.8 million people have been displaced and more than 80 percent of the population urgently needs humanitarian aid, according to UN figures.
Bulawayo (Zimbabwe) (AFP) - Hundreds of women in Zimbabwe on Saturday demonstrated against President Robert Mugabe's government by beating pots, symbolising a nation facing starvation and economic hardships.

The march organised by the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), dubbed the #BeatThePot campaign, took place in Zimbabwe's second largest city of Bulawayo.

"These pots that we are beating are no longer cooking anything at home this is why we brought them to say we no longer have anything to cook. We are starving," Thokozani Khupe, MDC vice president said while addressing women who took part in the march.

"What we are saying here is we are putting more fire on a pot that is already boiling.We want that pot to boil until Mugabe goes."

"That is why we are saying please Mugabe you have failed, please go so that our lives can go own well,"she said.

The women who were clad in red party colours held up placards denouncing Mugabe.

They marched in the central business district of Bulawayo singing and beating pots with wooden and steel cooking utensils.

"Mugabe must go," they chanted whilst giving the MDC's open palm symbol amidst a heavy anti-riot police presence.

The demonstration follows a series of protests across the country over Zimbabwe's worsening economic crisis.

Evan Mawarire, a church pastor who started the popular ThisFlag internet protest campaign in April, organised a one-day nationwide strike last week that closed offices, shops, schools and some government departments.

He has called for more strikes after he was freed by the courts after being accused of plotting to overthrow Mugabe's government.

Khupe appealed to the international community to intervene in Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis.

"Robert Mugabe and (ruling party) Zanu PF must step aside and allow a government that will be ushered in through free, fair credible elections,"said Khupe, who had a baby strapped on her back.

"We are going to repeat more of these until Mugabe leaves office, until the people of Zimbabwe are free. Enough is enough."

Zimbabwe is facing cash shortages and high unemployment while the government has been struggling to pay its workers.
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By Yasmeen Abutaleb and Dustin Volz SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twitter Inc moved swiftly to remove posts from Islamic extremists glorifying a truck attack in Nice, France, watchdog groups said Friday, in a rare round of praise for a platform that has often struggled to contain violent propaganda. A spate of violence over the past several months has posed numerous challenges to social media companies. The unfolding military coup in Turkey was marked first by restrictions on social media, internet monitoring groups said, but the crackdown appeared to ease as the events unfolded and numerous citizens broadcast live video on Facebook and sent tweets. U.S. and French authorities on Friday were still trying to determine whether the Tunisian man who drove a truck into Bastille Day crowds on Thursday, killing 84 people, had ties to Islamic militants. At least 50 Twitter accounts praising the attacks used the hashtag Nice in Arabic, according to the Counter Extremism Project, a private group that monitors and reports extremist content online. Many accounts appeared almost immediately after the attack and shared images praising the carnage, the group said. The pattern was similar to what was seen on Twitter after attacks last year and earlier this year in Paris and Brussels. But Twitter, which once took a purist approach to free speech but has since revised its rules, took action much more quickly this week. "Twitter moved with swiftness we have not seen before to erase pro-attack tweets within minutes," Counter Extremism Project said in a statement. "It was the first time Twitter has reacted so efficiently." Rabbi Abraham Cooper, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Digital Terrorism and Hate project, also said Twitter had responded with unusual alacrity. Twitter did not provide any information about account suspensions, but said in a statement that it condemns terrorism and bans it on its site. Twitter, Facebook Inc and other internet firms have ramped up their efforts over the past two years to quickly remove violent propaganda that violates their terms of service. Both companies continue to face major challenges in distinguishing between graphic images that are shared to glorify or celebrate attacks and those shared by witnesses who are documenting events. Facebook's "community standards" dictate what types of content are and are not allowed on the platform. Those standards explicitly ban "terrorism" and related content, such as posts or images that celebrate attacks or promote violence. Yet the company's policies around graphic images are more nuanced. Facebook, like most large internet companies, relies on users and eagle-eyed advocacy groups to report objectionable content to teams of human editors, who then review each submission and decide whether a post should be deleted. At Facebook, those reviewers receive more specific guidance beyond the public community standards when it comes to deciding what to do with reported graphic images, a spokeswoman said. But she declined to elaborate on the company's criteria. "One of the most sensitive situations involves people sharing violent or graphic images of events taking place in the real world. In those situations, context and degree are everything," Facebook said in a blog post last week. NEW TACTICS Internet companies have continually updated their terms of service over the past two years to establish clearer and in many cases stricter ground rules on what content is permissible on their platforms. In response to pressure by U.S. lawmakers and counterextremism groups, Facebook and YouTube have moved recently toward implementing some automated processes to block or rapidly remove Islamic State videos and similar material. [http://reut.rs/28U55Vp] That has not stopped Islamist militants from celebrating attacks online and even updating their tactics. Some Islamic State supporters used Twitter hashtags that were trending globally to celebrate the Nice attacks, such as #PrayForNice, #NiceAttack and #Nice, so that their tweets were shown to a wider audience, according to screenshots from the Wiesenthal Center. (Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb in San Francisco and Dustin Volz in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Andrew Hay)
OAKDALEA Texas mining company plans to build a $10 million rail loading terminal near Tomah that would allow one of the states largest frac sand mines to ship its product to new markets.

Smart Sand Inc. has applied to state and federal officials for permission to fill about 2.5 acres of wetlands for a proposed project that would include nearly 7 miles of looped track that could accommodate four trains longer than 1.5 miles. The terminal would handle sand from Smart Sands nearby 1,118-acre Oakdale mine.

The Oakdale mine is along Canadian Pacific tracks, which provide a direct connection to oil wells in North Dakota. Smart Sand says a connection to the Union Pacific line will give the company access to customers in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado.

Having the option to ship direct to customers, on multiple rail lines, from one facility would provide a significant cost savings, the company said in its permit application.

That fits with industry expert predictions that sand companies who survive the current slump in oil prices must be located on major rail lines and have facilities to load unit trains  the cheapest and most efficient mode of transport.

With lagging demand and depressed prices, there is no longer enough profit margin to support both mines and shippers, Joel Schneyer, managing director for the investment banking firm Headwaters MB, said at an industry convention in May.

Founded in 2009, Smart Sand operates two of the 128 silica mines and processing facilities in Wisconsin, which experienced a sand boom after advances in a gas and oil mining technique known as hydraulic fracturing created enormous demand for the round, silica grains prevalent throughout the western part of the state.

Recently low oil prices have caused many wells to be idled and demand for silica has plummeted. Since last year, Wisconsin producers have announced plans to send home at least 310 workers, although Smart Sand has not notified the state of any layoffs.

According to documents filed as part of a 2014 initial public offering, the Oakdale mine contains up to 281 million tons of sand, which is expected to last more than 100 years operating at its 2.2 million-tons-per-year capacity.

Being dependent on a single rail line makes the company vulnerable to disruptions outside its control.

In its IPO, Smart Sand cites its transportation infrastructure as a key advantage against some of its larger competitors. Smart Sand operates a second 1,200-acre mine about 45 miles away in Hixton, Wis., that is served by the Canadian National rail network.

Smart Sand officials did not return calls for comment Friday.

The proposed terminal would sit on about 85 acres of what is now farmland. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, the affected wetlands are adjacent to a couple of drainage ditches. Smart Sand is proposing to purchase about 3.2 acres of wetlands from a Monroe County wetland mitigation bank.

The DNR has tentatively approved Smart Sands wetland permit, but the company still needs approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is accepting public comments on the proposal through Aug. 8.

Sand would be shipped by semi-trailers about four miles from the mine to the loading site.

Smart Sand did not identify potential routes in its application materials, but, according to Monroe County officials, trucks would run on a county highway through the Village of Oakdale, which opposed the route.

According to village records, Smart Sand would run up to 20 trucks an hour during peak times, which village leaders worry would deter over-the-road truckers on Interstate 90/94 from using the two truck stops that are the communitys only businesses and support its water and sewer services.

But village clerk Paulette Bradley said the village doesnt control the road and cant afford to take it over from the county.

We have no say, she said.
If Steven Averys story is best summed up as Making a Murderer, Investigation Discoverys true crime documentary series about a group of six Chillicothe, Ohio women who went missing across a year-long time period might best be titled Making Victims.



The series, actually titled The Vanishing Women, is a six-part documentary that premiered in June, and details the stories of the troubled women whose disappearances from the 20,000 population Southern Ohio town began in 2014.

The women had some unfortunate things in common  drug issues, past or present, for all  as well as histories that, for some, included physical and sexual abuse, and prostitution. Some of the women knew each other, too, and among the many theories posited in the series is that their common problems might have led to common acquaintances who could be involved in their disappearances. The possibility of a serial killer is also a theory batted around during local authorities investigations of the cases, though a very recent development  the July 15 conviction of a man accused of murdering one of the women  may mean that theory is less likely true.

Another universal, and the most compelling, feature of the series: the honest, but respectful portrayals of the women, two of whom are still missing. The victims families speak to producers about their lives, and no sugarcoating is involved as they detail their troubled pasts. But while putting the victim on trial is too often associated with cases like these, the producers allow the families to try to paint full, if complicated, portraits of their loved ones.

Single mother of two Tiffany Sayre had some painful, abuse-filled years in her early childhood, her father, aunt, and grandmother recall in The Vanishing Women; that turned around when her mother signed over custody to her father. But when Tiffany began to look older than she was as a teen, older men started to notice, and childhood issues she hadnt dealt with begat years of unhappiness and struggle that included drugs and prostitution.

Story continues

Sayre, 26, had met and begun dating a military veteran who was trying to help her get her life back on track, and her drug issues under control via rehab, but her family says he died unexpectedly from complications from an injury he sustained while on active duty, and his death sent Sayre on a downward spiral.

She was reported missing on May 11, 2015, and her body was found a little more than a month later in a drainage culvert 30 miles outside of Chillicothe.

The rest of the story:

The Other Victims

Tameka Lynch, a 30-year-old mother of three, whose brother Chris says she became addicted to pain medication she began using to treat Lupus. Unable to continue at her job, Lynch and her family were evicted from their home, and she began to work as a prostitute to support her addiction. Lynch was reported missing May 20, 2014 by her husband (who hadnt seen her for four days prior to that), and her dead body was found in a creek, 20 miles outside Chillicothe, on June 29, 2014.

Charlotte Trego, a 27-year-old mother of two who was friends with Lynch, and, according to rumors that were never proven true, had attended a party with Lynch shortly before her disappearance. Trego, whod told her mother she wanted to go to rehab while also sharing news about a weird date shed gone on, was reported missing shortly thereafter, on May 20, 2014. Trig remains missing.

Shasta Himelrick, a pregnant 20-year-old who disappeared on Christmas Day in 2014. Her abandoned car, with its doors wide open, an empty gas tank, and run down battery, was found near the Scioto River, where her dead body was found on January 5, 2015. She was a recovering drug addict who had gotten clean during a six-month jail stint, but then relapsed after the sudden death of her father. Her best friend tells producers she was excited about the impending birth of her first child, but when police searched her car, they found her cell phone, with an unsent text message that was described by an officer as being a goodbye note. Her death was ruled a suicide.

Wanda Lemons, a 37-year-old mother of five, last seen on November 3, 2014, and reported missing on Dec. 29 that year. She had become addicted to pain pills in her late 20s after suffering an accident in Texas, but moved to Chillicothe to live near her mother, and got and remained sober for eight years. Lemons was supposed to join for Thanksgiving dinner, but failed to show. A friend said she was planning to go to Texas, hitching a ride with a truck driver, for Christmas, but multiple searches for the driver have turned up nothing, and Lemonss bank account has remained untouched. Her mother, Diana, is shown in The Vanishing Women to maintain a friendly relationship with local police, trusting they will continue the search for her missing daughter.

Timberly Claytor, a 38-year-old mother of five, who was last seen on May 28, 2015. Just days prior, she had told her best friend she was going to rehab to battle her addiction, but on May 29, 2015 her dead body was found next to an empty store. She had been shot three times, and on July 15, a local criminal was convicted of her murder (see below).

The Vanishing Women Episodes

Episodes 1-5  Find Our Daughter, Evil Among Us, Dumping Ground, The Sound of Silence, and In the Shadows  have aired, with each featuring news footage and details on the women and their disappearances, as well as interviews with family and friends, updates on the investigations, and a look at the impact of the disappearances on this typical, fairly tight-knit community, where, previously, these kinds of crimes, in these kinds of numbers, did not occur. But law enforcement officials also touch on topics like the areas rampant drug problems, and one local community leader insists the disappearances of the women are directly tied to human trafficking crimes.

Recent Developments

After three hours of deliberation  which included a twist involving a teary juror who had to be replaced at the last minute because she told the judge she couldnt continue to participate in the trial  38-year-old Chillicothian Jason McCrary was found guilty of the murder of Timberly Clayton. The first person tried or convicted in any of the disappearances, McCrary, prosecutors say, killed Clayton by shooting her in the head when she was in his car. He denies the charge, saying he paid Clayton to have sex with him in his car, but that another local criminal, Ernest Dolla Bill Moore shot and killed Clayton from the backseat of McCrarys car. McCrary is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 12.

Meanwhile, The Chillicothe Gazette reported the series has already led to new tips in the cases, from throughout the country. The show has certainly brought more notoriety to these cases, the chief deputy for the local county sheriff told the newspaper. We look at every one and determine the value of each. Were still out pursuing good leads. Gazette editor Mike Throne and former reporter Caitlin Turner, who wrote about the cases from the beginning, are also featured in the docuseries, putting many of the investigation findings in context of how they impact the town and its citizenry.

Future Developments

The final installment of The Vanishing Women was originally scheduled to air on July 18. Instead, Episode 6 will air sometime later this summer or in the early fall, as producers spent this week in Ohio filming the trial of Jason McCrary, and hope to be able to add further details and updates on the cases for the finale.



The Vanishing Women is currently streaming on the Investigation Discovery website, and is available to watch on Amazon Video and iTunes.


Kwasi Yeboah, a Ghanaian surgeon based in Perth, Australia, is the talk of the town after he operated on an accident victim without anaesthesia.

Dr Kwasi Yeboah

Dr Yeboah who is a registrar at the Royal Perth Hospital was heading to a farm in search of mangoes but missed his way and found himself at the accident scene.

He saw that one victim was critically injured, with multiple broken bones and a punctured lung, according to a report by 3news.com.

He is said to have determined that the victim needed immediate surgery to survive and had taken it upon himself to carry it out.

At that time the assessment was that he had a tension pneumothorax which is a life threatening condition and could be fatal.

He was deteriorating before our eyes, his blood pressure was going down, his heart rate was rising, his oxygen level was dropping, and I thought he was going to die.

Anything you do for a patient is a calculated risk and at that time it was a calculated risk that had to be made within seconds.

He was going to have a cardiac arrest so I said to him, mate I am going to do something which is going to hurt, but it will save your life, then he put his hand on my knee and said go for it," he was quoted as saying.

Dr Yeboah said when the victim was ready to be transferred by helicopter to a hospital, his condition deteriorated.

The doctor said the victim then called out to him to do something to save him, so he ran back and took him out of the ambulance and then opened up his chest again through the old wound to let out the air trapped in his chest.

The victim is still in a wheelchair after four months and is expected to walk again, according to the 3news.com report.

Source: YEN.com.gh
The Tomah city council wrestled with marijuana issues during its two meetings this week.

The councils Committee of the Whole met Monday and the City Council met Tuesday.

After discussion Tuesday, the council established an ad hoc committee consisting of the police chief, city attorney, three council members and mayor with city administrator as ex officio to review the citys marijuana ordinances and fines.

Monday night the committee discussed the state of the decriminalization of marijuana in the city.

Councilman Chris King said he brought up the topic because it was one of the main topics on his platform when he ran for the council, and he believes changes need to be made to the city bond schedule and related offenses.

I would really like to see up to three offenses stay within municipal ordinance (before a misdemeanor or felony) ... I would also like to review the bond schedule as far as the level of fines, he said. For me it doesnt make a whole lot of sense that the idea is to discourage people under 18 from consuming cannabis, but yet they have a smaller fine than adults, so it seems to me like that should be flipped.

Tomah police chief Mark Nicholson said marijuana has been decriminalized in Tomah for about 24 years.

We created local ordinances for that, we have fines that are exactly that, they are fines, he said. When people are found guilty in municipal court, its no different than being found guilty of a traffic offense or a disorderly conduct that comes in front of municipal court. Its not a misdemeanor, its not felony. Generally speaking, when somebodys arrested for possession of marijuana, theyre issued a citation. If its their first offense, their first citation will direct them to municipal court.

The first offense for possession of marijuana for a juvenile between the ages of 12 to 16 is $124; its $313 for an adult.

Second offense, if not associated with another charge, is typically referred to circuit court, Nicholson said. Then the district attorney will drop it down to a county ordinance.

For a third offense it will be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, and a fourth offense is a felony.

If we didnt have municipal court at all, if we had not decriminalized marijuana prior to this, all cases would get referred to the district attorneys office, Nicholson said. At that point he still has the option of reducing it down to a county ordinance violation. The second offense would be a misdemeanor, third offense would be a felony. If he didnt wish to file it as a county ordinance, he has the right to file it as a misdemeanor for first offense and a felony a second offense.

Members of the public gave their opinions on decriminalization.

Megan Anderson read a statement from Maretta Budde, club director of the Tomah Boys & Girls Club and member of the Monroe County Safe Community Coalition.

I urge you not to change the ordinances related to cannabis as they pertain to juveniles, the statement read. They should not be repealed or the punishments lessened. I speak with teens who have made a mistake frequently as they are allowed to complete court-ordered community service here at the club. Many of them learn from their mistakes; they need to learn consequences while theyre young to help them to become responsible adults in our community.

Greg Kinsey, a resident of Madison, also spoke at the meeting. He asked members to be open-minded, especially where it concerns medicinal marijuana  which he uses for his Crohns Disease.

I am a legal patient in the state of Wisconsin, under statute 961.413G, which states that if my doctor understands my condition ... that I can consume and possess cannabis in the state of Wisconsin legally with a letter of recommendation that he understands my treatment, my process, he said. I am also understanding of his concerns medically, ethically, legally and under the stress levels in this treatment realm. Please keep an open mind. Its not as crucially bad as folks think it is.

After lengthy discussion Monday, a motion to create a committee to investigate the decriminalization of marijuana failed.

When the council met Tuesday, Nicholson said it was a mistake not to create a committee.

I feel that we should have a committee because it appears that one way or another Chris King intends to take (the issue) to a non-binding referendum, and that will come back to the city council, Nicholson said Wednesday morning. Having a committee allows us to do some research and to educate everybody at the same time. I am not in favor of making changes to the decriminalization any more than there already is. We have a system and process in place that appears to work.

The council voted 5-2 to create a committee to investigate options related to adjustment of the Tomah bond schedule and drug-related offenses and the dual purpose being to bring some form or resolution to the council with a recommendation.

Council members King, Mary Ann Komiskey, Lamont Kiefer, Wayne Kling and Larry Siekert were in favor of the committee. Members Mike Murray and Luke Bohlen were against.

Murray said he is concerned about the consequence of changes to decriminalization.

I think this goes beyond personal belief on an item. I think we need to look at this from a city standpoint  what do we risk as a city by addressing the situation and perhaps ... decreasing fines so on and so forth he said. What is the risk of that? ... What reward are we gaining for the community by lessening fines?

Bohlen said he was confused about the true target of the committee.

Is its target to create information for dissemination to citizens, is it to, as it says here and voted down last night, to start the process of re-charting cannabis-related fines? he said. Thats very specific, thats an actual committee about to take action and change fines ... I would look for clarification on the actual title.
We present the short story "After Twenty Years," by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State.

The cop moved along the street, looking strong and important. This was the way he always moved. He was not thinking of how he looked. There were few people on the street to see him. It was only about ten at night, but it was cold. And there was a wind with a little rain in it.

He stopped at doors as he walked along, trying each door to be sure that it was closed for the night. Now and then he turned and looked up and down the street. He was a fine-looking cop, watchful, guarding the peace.

People in this part of the city went home early. Now and then you might see the lights of a shop or of a small restaurant. But most of the doors belonged to business places that had been closed hours ago.

Then the cop suddenly slowed his walk. Near the door of a darkened shop a man was standing. As the cop walked toward him, the man spoke quickly.

Its all right, officer, he said. Im waiting for a friend. Twenty years ago we agreed to meet here tonight. It sounds strange to you, doesnt it? Ill explain if you want to be sure that everythings all right. About twenty years ago there was a restaurant where this shop stands. Big Joe Bradys restaurant.

It was here until five years ago, said the cop.

The man near the door had a colorless square face with bright eyes, and a little white mark near his right eye. He had a large jewel in his necktie.

Twenty years ago tonight, said the man, I had dinner here with Jimmy Wells. He was my best friend and the best fellow in the world. He and I grew up together here in New York, like two brothers. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West. I was going to find a job and make a great success. You couldnt have pulled Jimmy out of New York. He thought it was the only place on earth.

We agreed that night that we would meet here again in twenty years. We thought that in twenty years we would know what kind of men we were, and what future waited for us.

It sounds interesting, said the cop. A long time between meetings, it seems to me. Have you heard from your friend since you went West?

Yes, for a time we did write to each other, said the man. But after a year or two, we stopped. The West is big. I moved around everywhere, and I moved quickly. But I know that Jimmy will meet me here if he can. He was as true as any man in the world. Hell never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand here tonight. But Ill be glad about that, if my old friend comes too.

The man waiting took out a fine watch, covered with small jewels.

Three minutes before ten, he said. It was ten that night when we said goodbye here at the restaurant door.

You were successful in the West, werent you? asked the cop.

I surely was! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He was a slow mover. Ive had to fight for my success. In New York a man doesnt change much. In the West you learn how to fight for what you get.

The cop took a step or two. Ill go on my way, he said. I hope your friend comes all right. If he isnt here at ten, are you going to leave?

I am not! said the other. Ill wait half an hour, at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth, hell be here by that time. Good night, officer.

Good night, said the cop, and walked away, trying doors as he went.

There was now a cold rain falling and the wind was stronger. The few people walking along that street were hurrying, trying to keep warm. At the door of the shop stood the man who had come a thousand miles to meet a friend. Such a meeting could not be certain. But he waited.

About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long coat came hurrying across the street. He went directly to the waiting man.

Is that you, Bob? he asked, doubtfully.

Is that you, Jimmy Wells? cried the man at the door.

The new man took the other mans hands in his. Its Bob! It surely is. I was certain I would find you here if you were still alive. Twenty years is a long time. The old restaurant is gone, Bob. I wish it were here, so that we could have another dinner in it. Has the West been good to you?

It gave me everything I asked for. Youve changed, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall.

Oh, I grew a little after I was twenty.

Are you doing well in New York, Jimmy?

Well enough. I work for the city. Come on, Bob, Well go to a place I know, and have a good long talk about old times.

The two men started along the street, arm in arm. The man from the West was beginning to tell the story of his life. The other, with his coat up to his ears, listened with interest.

At the corner stood a shop bright with electric lights. When they came near, each turned to look at the others face.

The man from the West stopped suddenly and pulled his arm away. Youre not Jimmy Wells, he said. Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change the shape of a mans nose.

It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one, said the tall man. Youve been under arrest for ten minutes, Bob. Chicago cops thought you might be coming to New York. They told us to watch for you. Are you coming with me quietly? Thats wise. But first here is something I was asked to give you. You may read it here at the window. Its from a cop named Wells.

The man from the West opened the little piece of paper. His hand began to shake a little as he read.

Bob: I was at the place on time. I saw the face of the man wanted by Chicago cops. I didnt want to arrest you myself. So I went and got another cop and sent him to do the job.

JIMMY.

Download activities to help you understand this story here.

Now it's your turn to use the words in this story. How much do people change over time? What is it like to try to connect with a friend you have not seen in a long time? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

cop  n. a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests

watchful  adj. paying careful attention to someone or something

shop  n. a building or room where goods and services are sold

jewel  n. a valuable stone such as a ruby or diamond that has been cut and polished

necktie n. a long piece of cloth that is worn by men around the neck and under a collar and that is tied in front with a knot at the top

coat  n. an outer piece of clothing that can be long or short and that is worn to keep warm or dry
This week on our national parks journey, we explore a unique place where two deserts meet. The hot, harsh, rocky landscape is home to a rare and strange-looking tree. In fact, the park gets its name from this iconic plant.

Welcome to Joshua Tree National Park, in southeastern California.

The limbs of Joshua Trees stretch and twist upward in all directions. At the end of each limb are sharply pointed green leaves. The plant looks like a large cactus, and can grow over 12 meters tall.

But, as the National Park Service explains, Joshua Trees are not really even trees. They are succulents that belong to the yucca family. Succulents are desert plants can hold a lot of water inside them.

Joshua Trees are not exactly beautiful. An early explorer to the area once described them as the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom.

But park visitors are amazed by the wild-looking forests of Joshua trees.

The Mormon religious group is said to have given the plant its name. Mormon settlers reportedly thought it looked like the Christian holy figure Joshua, his arms held out, guiding travelers to the promised land.

Joshua trees thrive in the climate of the Mojave, one of two deserts within the park. The Mojave is a high desert. It is 900 meters above sea level. It is also relatively cool and wet.

The Mojave Desert meets up here with the Colorado Desert. The Colorado is a lower desert. It makes up the eastern part of the national park.

Much of the park sits within the overlap of the two deserts. The overlap creates a diverse ecosystem, where many plants and animals thrive.

Within the park you can find bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, iguanas and black-tailed jackrabbits.

The park is also home to 250 kinds of birds, like the red-tailed hawk, the roadrunner and the Scotts oriole.

After spring rainstorms, desert wildflowers burst to life in colorful display. The blooms on Joshua trees are bright white. Cacti produce bright purple, red and orange wildflowers.

The blooms last just a few weeks before the hot summer heat becomes too strong.

Along with Joshua trees, large piles of rocks are another defining part of the parks landscape. The huge boulders sit stacked on top of each other. Roads and hiking trails lead visitors through paths of these boulders.

Joshua Tree National Park is over 320,000 hectares. It has many hiking and walking trails -- from long hikes that take all day to finish, to short ones, like the Hidden Valley trail. This trail takes you through an area that was once a place for cattle-stealing cowboys to hide out. The areas massive rock piles made for effective places to hide in the desert.

These huge boulder piles and rock walls have made Joshua Tree National Park world-famous for rock climbing and bouldering. The park has more than 8,000 climbing routes.

John Hochhausler often comes to Joshua Tree to rock climb and enjoy nature. He makes the three-hour drive from Los Angeles, where he is a lawyer.

When you see the park from down low, its beautiful, but when you see the park from 150, 200 feet up, its amazing."

Rinat Erlich visited the national park with Hochhausler. She is also a lawyer in Los Angeles. She had just tried rock climbing at Joshua Tree for the first time.

"We love it. We come here to walk on trails, last time we were here we rode Jeeps, which was so much fun. And, it's just a great place, a great outdoorsy place with a lot of character."

I'm Caty Weaver.

And I'm Ashley Thompson.

Ashley Thompson wrote this report, with additional materials from the National Park Service. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

harsh - adj. unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience

iconic - adj. widely known

twist - adj. to bend or turn (something) in order to change its shape

succulent - n. a plant that stores water in its leaves or stems

repulsive - adj. causing strong dislike or disgust

amazed - v. to be surprised and in wonder

thrive - v. to grow or develop successfully

overlap - v. to lie over the edge of (something)

diverse - adj. made up of things that are different from each other

boulder - n. a very large stone or rounded piece of rock

cattle - n. cows, bulls, or steers that are kept on a farm or ranch for meat or milk


A South Korean Christian missionary organization is helping some of the thousands of children of North Korean defectors living in China.

The group works to help the children escape the difficulty of being stateless and suffering lives of poverty and abuse.

Pastor Chun Ki-won is a religious worker for the Durihana Church in Seoul. He has helped many children and their mothers get to South Korea. Once there, they can be granted asylum and citizenship.

Chun said the South Korean government limits some benefits for defectors. For example, free university tuition is not available to North Korean children born in China.

General defectors can get reimbursed for the tuition but our students must pay by themselves, so we have to help them, he said.

The human trafficking of defectors leaves many open to abuse

Increased border security has reduced the number of North Korean defectors in recent years. Those who are able to cross into China are now mostly women.

South Koreas Unification Ministry says nearly 80 percent of all North Korean defectors seeking asylum in the country are women.

Chun said human traffickers bribe guards to let the women across the border. He says, in rural China, there is a high demand for wives, domestic workers and sex workers.

North Korean women are brought into China, often into abusive situations, where they have no rights or legal status.

There are many people who want to buy the women, and there are many North Koreans who want to defect, he said.

Many North Korean defectors have given birth to children in China.

The Korea Institute for National Unification estimated in 2012 that there were about 30,000 children of escaped North Korean women in China.

Defectors live a difficult life in exile

Human rights organizations say China is required to protect refugees under international law. Yet, China considers North Korean defectors illegal migrants.

Activists say North Korean children in China are not considered citizens and often have no access to school or health care.

The childrens mothers live in fear they will be sent back to North Korea where they could face prison.

Fifteen-year-old Han Ye-Seul is a North Korean defector. She said, When I was living in China, it was very dangerous, but here in Korea I am living with freedom.

She and many of the children rescued by Chun were brought to attend the Durihana International School in Seoul. There, they learn educational and social skills. The children also learn how to deal with daily life in the wealthy and democratic South.

South Korea uses the term defector rather than refugee for North Korean asylum seekers. The term shows that they are escaping a repressive, communist political system. Yet, these defectors also are driven by economic and basic human needs.

In the 1990s, North Korea suffered a severe and deadly famine. Conditions in the communist country have improved partly because of market reforms that give farmers more control over what they produce. However, poverty and food shortages are still widespread.

Many defectors helped by Chun carry scars

Some North Korean students in Seoul are still recovering from past abuse suffered during their years in China. Eleven-year-old Kim Choon-woo carries physical scars from when she was stabbed by her Chinese father.

My father did it because he was mentally ill, Kim said.

Pastor Chun said Kims father committed suicide because he thought he had killed his daughter.

Most of the North Korean women and children his church is helping, the pastor said, have experienced some kind of abuse or mistreatment.

Kim says that her mother remarried in South Korea and she is happy in her new home.

Im Mario Ritter.

Brian Padden reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

defector n. someone who leaves their country to go to another for political reasons

reimburse v. to be paid back for an expense

tuition n. the cost of taking classes at a school

bribe n. something valuable given, often illegally, to get someone to do something

status n. the position of a person under the law

scar n. what remains after a wound has healed


The military in Turkey said Friday that it has taken control of the country.

In a statement, the military said it had fully seized control of the government.

However, Prime Minister Binali Yildrim told private NTV television Friday, "Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command."

The prime minister said a small group, and not the entire army, was behind the events.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with a local TV station on the video service Facetime. He urged the Turkish people to go to the streets.

Istanbuls two main bridges across the Bosphorus Strait separating Europe and Asia were blocked on Friday.

U.S. military and diplomatic officials are seeking more information about the situation in Turkey.

For the latest news about events in Turkey, go to the VOANEWS website.
Kansas City, Mo. (July 31, 2016)  VFW Post 890 in Cozad celebrates 75 years of serving the needs of local veterans and their families on Aug. 17, 2016. The Diamond Anniversary Award Citation is presented to the Post in recognition of 75 years of outstanding service to the community.

Brian J. Duffy, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S., congratulated all members of the Post, I send my sincere thanks and appreciation to the members of VFW Post 890 for the outstanding record of service to the community, veterans and to the nation over the past 75 years.

ABOUT THE VFW: The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation's largest and oldest major war veterans organization. Founded in 1899 and chartered by Congress in 1936, the VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With nearly 1.7 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in more than 6,600 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at www.vfw.org.
Pakistani model and social media sensation Qandeel Baloch has been murdered and social media has been vocal about its response to the 25-year-old starlet's death at the hands of her brother, in what initial reports have termed an honour killing.

Baloch may not always have 'trended' for the right reasons, but her killing has highlighted the regressive mindset of the society that we live in.

Qandeel's death was roundly condemned by Twitterati. Here's what they had to say:

#QandeelBaloch was larger than life, in your face, unapologetic about her ambitions and her womanhood. Goodbye, you crazy, beautiful woman  Mehreen Zahra-Malik (@mehreenzahra) July 16, 2016

None at all! #QandeelBaloch was no role model but she deserved a better, life and death. Strongly condemn! https://t.co/Tj5J8Kev9Y  SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) July 16, 2016

You know what's really dishonourable? Killing your sister. #QandeelBaloch  Priya Sometimes (@PriyaSometimes) July 16, 2016

Terrorists killing outside in the name of religion. Brothers killing inside in the name of honour. Where we gonna hide? RIP #QandeelBaloch.  June Paul (@journojuno) July 16, 2016

People condemning the Qandeel Baloch murder but still saying 'Well, she shouldn't have done all those videos' are lower than pond scum.  Suprateek Chatterjee (@SupraMario) July 16, 2016

Regardless of what #QandeelBaloch was or did, no one deserves such a barbaric death, and not at the hands of one's own brother. #epicfail  T.A.N.U.J. G.A.R.G. (@tanuj_garg) July 16, 2016

Sabeen Mahmud. Parveen Rehman. Qandeel Baloch. These women wielded power & the men who killed them were afraid of it. They are cowards.  Khaver Siddiqi (@thekarachikid) July 16, 2016

Highly condemn murder of Qandeel Baloch...this is dishonour killing... inhuman, unislamic and intolerable...  Andleeb Abbas (@AndleebAbbas) July 16, 2016

What a pathetic, insecure little country. Shame on all of us. #QandeelBaloch #Pakistan  Umair Javed (@umairjav) July 16, 2016

Qandeel Baloch killed by her brother. Over the family's honor. I'm sure the family's honor is now saved by having a murderer in the house.  Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) July 16, 2016
ISTANBUL Around 50 soldiers involved in an attempted military coup in Turkey surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.

A Reuters witness earlier saw tens of other pro-coup soldiers surrendering to armed police after being surrounded in Istanbul's central Taksim square.





(Writing by Nick Tattersall)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Jammu: The army on Saturday gunned down three heavily-armed terrorists and foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

The group of terrorists was attempting to infiltrate into the Indian territory from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a Defence Spokesman said in Jammu.

The troops spotted and traced their movement in Saujian area of Poonch and kept tightening the cordon around them, leaving no escape route, he added.

A massive search operation was on for 36 hours which led to exchange of fire resulting in all the three terrorists being killed, he said.

The spokesman described it as a "flawless surgical operation" executed by the army ensuring neutralisation of all the terrorists and no casualty on their side.
New Delhi: Two Indians, abducted last month from Benue state of Nigeria, were released on Saturday, the External Affairs Ministry said here.

"Mr Mangapudi Srinivas and Mr Kaushal Anish Sharma, who were kidnapped in the morning of 29 June from an area called Boko, near Makurdi in Benue state of Nigeria, were released on Saturday morning at 10.30am.

"Both have spoken to their families. Sharma's wife profusely thanked the External Affairs Minister for ensuring safe release. She also thanked the Ministry and the Mission for keeping the family informed of developments almost on daily basis," MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The duo - Srinivas (from Andhara Pradesh) and his colleague Sharma (from Karnataka)- were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters when a group of armed men had abducted them at a traffic signal.

Swarup had earlier said that "as far as our information goes there is no hand of terror group Boko Haram and it seems local criminal elements were responsible for the act".
Heavy rainfall in Srinagar on Saturday reportedly caused river Alaknanda to reach danger level mark and submerge some temples. The Gangotri temple got flooded because of the spate in river Ganga.

Uttarakhand: Heavy rainfall in Srinagar causes River Alaknanda to reach danger mark, temples submerge pic.twitter.com/kQV1s5yhSs  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

#FLASH Uttarkashi: Gangotri Temple flooded as a result of the spate in River Ganga after heavy rainfall. pic.twitter.com/a2Csqbofvr  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

The water level of rivers Kailash, Begul and Sukhi rose as well. Ukhimath experienced a landslide.

Sitarganj (Uttarakhand): Heavy rainfall causes water level of rivers Kailash, Begul and Sukhi to rise. pic.twitter.com/7Rg2VqaGVZ  ANI (@ANI_news) July 16, 2016

This comes just days after Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the situation was under control. He further said that most roads were cleared and opened after heavy rainfall and landslides blocked the Gangotri highway and the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway 58.

The Alaknanda river rose above the danger level after rainfall of over 100 mm hit Uttarakhand a few days back within a few hours, leading to floods in most villages of Uttarakhand.

The water level of most rivers in Uttarakhand had also increased. The rivers in the hilly tracts were in spate and the water level has risen well above the danger mark on 3 July.

Rawat also chaired a special meeting in Dehradun to review the relief and rescue operations.

Atleast 40 people were feared dead in the last bout of rainfall to strike Uttarakhand. Several more were reported missing.

All means of communications had also collapsed because of the rain. Rawat had written to the Home Ministry, the telecom Ministry and spoken to BSNL in this regard.

In response, Home Minister Rajnath Singh ensured all possible support from the central government. "The Centre spring into action immediately and rushed additional companies of NDRF to affected districts besides galvanising other central agencies to address the situation," Pradesh BJP President Ajay Bhatt said.
Slogans were raised at various stages last Saturday while the body of the slain militant commander Burhan Wani lay in Trals sprawling Idgah  before the burial late that afternoon. According to a reporter who was present, there was a lusty response to several of the slogans, but very few of the tens of thousands present responded when pro-Pakistan slogans were raised. According to the eyewitness, a few more responded, but desultorily, when the sloganeer taunted the crowd.

Far beyond that ground, a large proportion of youth across the Valley demonstrated their support for Wani that day  many vociferously, some violently. There is no doubting young Wanis popularity, but it is a strategic blunder to view that popularity only through the prism of Pakistan. The angry responses on the streets do not necessarily translate into a mass pro-Pakistan feeling.

To be sure, Wani was designated the divisional commander for south Kashmir of Hizbul Mujahideen, which has been pro-Pakistan since it was formed in November 1989. But none of the other Hizb commanders, including its designated chief commander, Syed Salahuddin, is anywhere near as popular.

It might even be possible to view the popularity of this homegrown success and heroism as (at least subconscious) separation from the ills that affect contemporary Pakistan. The insistence of sections of the so-called national media to view the anger among Kashmiri youth over Wanis killing through the prism of Pakistan is potentially counter-productive. For, it only serves to drive Kashmiris into the arms of Pakistan by placing Pakistans role front and centre.

These sections of the media have made much of the memorial prayers for Wani which were led by Salahuddin along with Hafiz Sayeed of the Dawat-ul Irshad and Lashkar-e-Toiba. Much time and energy has been spent on media channels to pan statements from senior Pakistani officials too.

It is counter-productive to get exercised over Pakistans stances over Kashmir. It is far better to do what PV Narasimha Rao did through much of his term as prime minister  ignore Pakistan. After all, Pakistans involvement in Kashmir is not new. It continues since 1947, and will continue farther.

There is clear evidence that Kashmirs militancy only got going after Pakistan started training, arming and funding the JKLF in 1989 and several other Kashmiri militant groups from the autumn of 1989. The ISI began to send Pakistan-based groups like Lashkar and Afghan-dominated groups such as Harkat-ul Mujahideen from December 1992.

In fact, during the second half of the 1990s and until troops were massed on the borders in December 2001, 'guest militants' as many Kashmiris called them dominated what had clearly become a proxy war. Lashkar men from Pakistan engaged in several suicide attacks between 1999 and 2001. No Kashmiri perhaps undertook a suicide attack.

There is nothing new in the fact that the Pakistan Army closely controls Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin, and other militants down the line. Nor is it fresh news that Pakistan funds a host of separatist leaders based in Kashmir with lucrative monthly stipends  or that it gives instructions on strategies and tactics.

In the latter phases of both the 2008 and 2010 stone-pelting agitations, which lasted over several weeks in both those years, Pakistani handlers were involved in command and control. Their role has been even more clearly established in the Mumbai attacks in late November 2008.

For what it might be worth, it is worth noting that at least Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs expression of 'sadness was the least provocative he could manage, given his domestic political compulsions. He and many of his colleagues in the political arena may not be entirely on the same page as the Pakistan Army, which dominates the country and dictates Kashmir policy.

Of course, it is unlikely that Nawaz Sharif will be able to influence policy as much as the more powerful Sharif (Pakistans army chief). Indias diplomats have won points in the worlds chanceries and at the UN over the past couple of days. While that is good work on the geopolitical stage, it would be a mistake to view Kashmiri youth too only through the prism of Pakistan. A very different set of initiatives are necessary on the ground there.
From the very premise of time, which has been treated to some lengthy consideration in the form of Amitav Ghoshs Ibis trilogy, comes The House of Wives by Canadian author Simon Choa-Johnston. Firstly, comparing the book to the sizeable body of work that Ghosh already has out there would be unfair unless it is taken as an aperitif for this journey. Johnstons book is a labour of love, as his attempts to trace the roots of his family led him to write the book. What began as a play, Johnston claims, turned into a novel, as most fictional elements slowly fell into place. That said, even the most blase detail about his ancestry that can be verified is not without its tinge of fictional romance and disbelief.

The book opens in 1860 Calcutta, where our lead character Emanuel Belilios  also Johnstons great grandfather  is a young Sephardic Jew looking to make his mark in the business-side Calcutta, populated by a handful of other Jewish competitors and families. Emanuel, keen to prove his business mettle to his doubting father, sets out to establish an empire pillared on the opium trade (Patna AAA grade Opium  apparently the best Opium in the world) that flourishes between the port city and Hong Kong, China.

The first half of the book  which deals with Emanuels rise with unsparing, uncompromising instinct to pull him through tricky deals and situations  is perhaps the most exciting part of the book. The pace with which his meteoric rise is narrated, from the view of his depthless regard for most things emotional, is intoxicating in a way not most stories are; stories that usually dovetail the paths of those who rise from the lesser levels of society or businesses. Instead Emanuel, here, belongs to a wealthy family, but his ambitions still sizzle with the fire of doubt with which his father considers his manhood.

Emanuel marries Semah, the daughter of a non-Jewish wealthy family, more for want of a dowry than the need for a companion. Semah is physically challenged and initially feels indebted to her husband for having married her. The marriage, and its expected uneasiness aside, Emanuels conquests continue apace, and make for a riveting read with auctions, 50-50 decisions and seemingly inspired improvisations.

In the second part of the book, the story moves to Hong Kong. Here, perhaps, appears the best writing and descriptive analysis of the text with the audacious scale and grandeur of the opium trade in China written in full. The prospects, the dangers and the challenges all make for a heady mix of adventure and risk that Emanuel must, and does eventually, undertake. In Hong Kong, Emanuel meets the daughter of his partner, the much younger Chinese woman, Pearl whom he takes as his second wife  and so begins the final part which gave the book its name.

Semah refuses to accept Emanuels request for a divorce, and arrives unannounced in Hong Kong where he is already living with his new wife Pearl, in an exorbitantly royal mansion, aptly called Kingsclere (the property actually existed and was inhabited by Johnstons great grandfather as he later tells us in a note). While Emanuels business acumen rings large over his character, and Semahs nervous energy is palpable, it is difficult to estimate what goes on in the mind of the youngest of the three characters. Pearl, though self-assured and buoyant, feels like an incomplete picture. Upon the arrival of the first wife, her character recedes into being flat, and oddly, predictable, unlike before. The reservation, particularly, from peeling the layers of her character and choices renders her a bit trivial. For that matter, once the two wives start living together, the books moves at a toppling pace. Often you are left to wonder the whys and hows and it would have served the narrative better if the author delved deeper into the mindsets of two women living together as wives of the same man  the peculiar comedy of the situation thus not advantaged upon in full.

This final part of the book is also strangely, thinnest in terms of emotional detail. Things move quickly and at times the pace eats into the depth the worming narrative could have done with. In the quest to attain bragging rights in this derby of sorts, the two wives quarrel, make up, and then quarrel again. Emanuels role diminishes as the book moves on. The two wives have children, who grow up, and bring them closer, before an unforeseen tragedy strikes the household leaving all involved in a state of breakdown. The book ends with the shutterbug moment that romantic reprises are made of, and feels like an un-caging of a number of questions that have lingered in the air. That said, not all of them, or even most of them are answered.

A thing that has to be said about the book is the quality of Johnstons prose. It is immaculate, and safely treads the line between simplistic and poetic. Johnston writes, it seems, with ease and to his credit manages to infuse that lightness in a text that manages to intrigue without relying heavily on the use of the metaphor. The House of Wives is engaging, and for its first two parts, exhilarating in the least. If not for the surface phenomenon of its characters, most notably the young Pearl, it would hold its ground in popular as well as classical fiction. It is a breezy read nonetheless, unique in its plot which despite its limitations of a familiar setting, delivers nuance admirably.
New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday sought to distance BJP from developments in Arunachal Pradesh where the Congress made a dramatic turnaround by changing its leadership in a bid to save its government.

"The BJP and the central government have nothing to do with whatever is happening in Arunachal Pradesh. The political instability has been happening in last seven months due to the division within the Congress. "We have nothing to do with the internal matter of Congress," Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home, told reporters.

In a dramatic turnaround in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party replaced Chief Minister Nabam Tuki by choosing a new leader Pema Khandu, who staked claim to power on the basis of support of 45 party MLAs along with two Independents.

In fast-changing developments, Khaliko Pul, rebel-turned chief minister, who was unseated by the Supreme Court, returned to the party fold with 30 dissident MLAs. "Change of Chief Minister in Arunachal Pradesh is an internal matter of Congress, BJP has nothing to do with it. It was not a BJP government. BJP only supported the government. Whatever has happened it was due to the tussle over leadership among Congress leaders," Rijiju, MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said. The Union Minister said he just wished that there was a political stability in Arunachal Pradesh as it is a sensitive and important state.
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday voiced protest against imposition of President's rules in states on "frivolous grounds" and demanded Centre consult states concerned before appointing Governors.

Speaking at Inter-state Council meeting in New Delhi on Saturday, Kejriwal also demanded that Rs 5,000 crore be given to the state by the Centre as the national capital contributes Rs 1.5 lakh crore to the Union Government's kitty in taxes.

"Inter State Council should pass a resolution that chief ministers be consulted before appointment of Governors and Lt Governors in their respective states, and President's rule can only be imposed in any state if the government loses majority in the Assembly and not on any frivolous grounds by misusing the office of Governors appointed by the Centre," the Delhi Chief Minister said.

At the meeting, Kejriwal urged the Central government to grant approval to the Bills sent by the Delhi Assembly so that people of the capital could get benefit of the welfare scheme.

Speaking on farming issue, he also said that Centre should waive off all the debts of farmers across the country to reduce their sufferings, demanding implementation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report and adequate funds to states so that problems faced by farmers could be resolved at the earliest.

The Delhi Chief Minister said that allegations of rise in prices of pulses due to hoarding at the Mundra Port should be probed with all seriousness, since it is being reported that pulses being imported from countries like Mozambique are being sold at a higher price in India.

He asked the Central government to remove the No Detention Policy from the RTE Act, since it is "harming" the interests of the students.
The BJPs rush to become the dominant political entity across India appears to be proving increasingly a double edged sword for the Modi regime. Chastised by the countrys premier judicial body twice in succession within a few months for violating both the federal and democratic character of the Constitution the Central government finds itself in a spot. The ruling party establishment would require doing a fair degree of damage control to repair its strained relationship with the judiciary and regain its moral authority over states ruled by non-BJP parties.

It was bad enough when just two months ago the Supreme Court ignoring the pleas of the Centre helped nullify the toppling of Chief Minister Harish Rawat-led Congress government in Uttarakhand allowing him to win a confidence vote in the assembly despite the imposition of Presidents Rule. But this weeks Arunachal Pradesh judgment by a five-member Constitution Bench is far more devastating. It has in an unprecedented intervention even more momentous than the landmark Bommai judgment rolled back a series of decisions taken by the state Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa from last December knocking out the BJP supported Kalikho Pul regime and reviving the seven month stale corpse of the Congress government led by Nabam Tuki. Unlike in the case of Uttarakhand the learned judges have also passed severe strictures against Rajkhowa for overstepping his constitutional mandate using such harsh language perhaps never before used by any court against an incumbent governor.

The main judgment delivered by Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar who headed the five-member Constitution Bench has gone well beyond the Bommai judgment which 22 years ago sought to limit the indiscriminate use of Article 356 to topple elected governments quite prevalent till then. Indeed in the case of Arunachal Pradesh, the Supreme Court has gone out of its way to drive further two key guiding principles laid down by the Bommai judgement  the majority of a government can only be tested on the floor of the Assembly and that a political crisis or administrative lapse was not tantamount to a constitutional breakdown which alone could justify the intervention of the governor on behalf of the Central government.

Justice Khehar in no uncertain terms castigated the state Governor for both interfering in the functioning of the legislature and getting embroiled in the internal turmoil of a political party thereby taking a series of decisions all held to be invalid resulting in the restoration of status quo ante of seven months ago erasing in one stroke the five-month old rebel Pul government.

Even more damaging is a concurrent but separate judgment delivered by Justice Khehars fellow judge Madan Lokur who did not mince his words while lambasting the Governor. To make matters worse and, in a sense, humiliate the elected government of the day, the Governor did ignore the resolution of the Council of Ministers taken on 14th December, 2015 when it was placed before him. By this time there was a complete break-down of communications between the Governor and the elected Government and that, among other things, led to an unsavory confrontation between the Governor and some Cabinet Ministers. That interpersonal relationship of constitutional functionaries is carried out with such a complete lack of cordiality and gay abandon is indeed unfortunate. The result is a thrashing given to the Constitution and a spanking to governance. It is precisely to avoid this that the Constituent Assembly invoked the "principle of responsible government."

It is significant that none of the judges on the five-member bench gave any credence to the Governors bid in his letter to President Pranab Mukherjee to justify his action by claiming that there was indeed a constitutional breakdown claiming personal danger from Congress supporters to him and his family. Nor did the court take seriously his bizarre and thinly veiled charge that a cow had been slaughtered in front of the Raj Bhavan gates as another instance of a breakdown in the constitutional machinery.

The courts sweeping indictment of the Governor has made his continuance in office virtually untenable.

Significantly Rajkhowa two days before the judgment abandoned his post and got himself admitted to hospital. This suggests that the Modi government had got a hint in advance of the adverse nature of the Supreme Court. Ironically New Delhi has pushed as a replacement the Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy known for his eccentric and controversial remarks.

The Prime Minister and his party could choose to turn their back to the reprimands of the Supreme Court and bluster its way through by ensuring that the restored minority Congress government loses the confidence vote this weekend in Arunachal Pradesh. According to BJP sources, the mood in the top party leadership is of defiance and even as it paid lip service to the supremacy of the Supreme Court preparations were on a war footing at the launch of the North East Democratic Alliance to snatch back power from the restored Congress government in the state.

Yet regardless of whether the BJP succeeds or not in destabilising the Congress in one state after the other the Modi government by throwing constitutional norms to the winds to achieve this objective is doing so at its own peril. This has increasingly pushed it in open confrontation with the judiciary whose cooperation will become more and more important to the Prime Minister in the second half of his term. Interestingly Justice Khehar is scheduled to be the next Chief Justice of the country.

The other downside to a purely muscular approach to getting rid of Congress governments by hook or by crook is that such political skulduggery spooks not only the Congress but a whole range of regional parties whose support Modi will require in the coming months and years. Sensing the danger to the federal nature of Indian democracy from such highhanded maneuvers of the Centre reminiscent of the Indira Gandhi days there is bound to be both suspicion and hostility from a variety of non-BJP governments across the country.

Ironically, much of the BJPs strong arm methods to marginalise the Congress that has antagonised the judiciary as well regional parties was quite unnecessary. Both in Uttarakhand and in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress was collapsing under the weight of local contradictions and a lack of national leadership. If the BJP had the patience to let the Congress destroy itself it would not have given a moral victory to the rapidly sliding party or put itself in the dock on the eve of the Monsoon Parliament session.
When I was a young reporter, I was in awe of Margaret Alva. She was a respected leader of the Congress in Karnataka, though she spent most of her time in Delhi. Besides, she had the sort of good looks that women had in her Dakshina Kannada district, which is also the native land of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. A bindi the size of a one-rupee coin on her forehead only enhanced her charm.

On the other hand, Margaret Alva always made the local Congress leaders very nervous. They lowered their voices when she approached. And in her presence, I noticed that even Congress chief ministers fidgeted in their seats as if the upholstery had suddenly grown cactus thorns. This was because she was thought to be a "spy" of the Congress High Command.

Alva was elected to the Rajya Sabha four times, the Lok Sabha once, was part of the ministries of Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao and was an AICC general secretary. A favourite of Indira Gandhi, she continued to be part of the inner coterie of the Gandhi clan  till now.

Like John Le Carre's spies turning defectors, Alva has decided to expose the "inside" of the Congress through her book Courage and Commitment  An Autobiography.

According to excerpts available and the glimpses of the book that the 74-year-old Karnataka leader provided on Karan Thapar's show on Friday, some of her revelations are:

-- The decision by the Narasimha Rao government to appeal against a Delhi High court order quashing the Bofors case linking Rajiv Gandhi made Sonia Gandhi suspicious of him. Alva, who was the minister in charge of CBI at that time, says Sonia once asked her whether Rao wanted to send her to jail.

-- CPN Singh, a minister in Indira Gandhi's government, and Sanjay Gandhi had links with Wolfgang Michel, father of middleman Christian Michel whose name figures in the AgustaWestland chopper deal.

--Sanjay Gandhi's Emergency atrocities had Indira Gandhi's approval.

--The functioning of the Congress is centralised and arbitrary.

There is nothing new about the cold relationship between "PV" and the Gandhi family. It's one of the worst-kept secrets, and Alva's revelation throws no major light on it. And Wolfgang Michel, Sanjay Gandhi and CPN Singh are all dead: Alva's revelation is not going to end up in a major breakthrough in the investigations of either the Bofors or the Augusta Westland scams.

But Alva's expose on the style of functioning  if we can call it that  of the Congress High Command offers some disturbing insights.

It reminds us of some fictional and real emperors who allowed their courtiers to write poems in their praise. It also brings to our minds rulers who let their courtiers fight, either for the fun of it or to make sure that they didn't grow too big for their boots. If Alva is telling us the truth, she is hinting at the dark possibility that Sonia believes in letting the cronies fight it out.

What Alva stops short of saying is that Sonia lacks the sagacity of an Emperor Akbar who, in a Birbal story, knew exactly how to handle "jealous courtiers".

She gives us the instance of the Congress party's miserable performance in Kerala in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The rival Left Front walked away with 19 of the 20 seats, leaving a lone seat to the Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress. AK Antony, also of the Gandhi family's "inner circle", was the state's chief minister then. And Alva says Sonia Gandhi despatched her and RL Bhatia to Kerala to find out what had gone wrong.

"The complaint was," Alva writes, "that AK Antony cared only about his image, to the exclusion of all else. He neglected the party."

Then one thing led to another and Antony was replaced by Oommen Chandy.

Then in 2008, Alva shook the Congress party by alleging openly that the party lost the Assembly election to the BJP in Karnataka only because it had "sold" tickets, offering them to the highest bidders instead of deserving ones. This caused nationwide consternation.

"I came to learn from friends in the inner circle of the AICC that Antony, who had been asked to look into the entire controversy (over her statement on the "selling" of tickets), had actually recommended my expulsion," reveals Alva.

So Antony returned a favour to Alva.

It's also sufficiently clear from Alva's observations that, in the byzantine politics of the Congress, Sonia and Rahul have their own, separate inner circles, which may overlap but which are neither concentric nor coterminous.

Yet the book is unlikely to place the Karnataka leader on a high pedestal of moral rectitude. And nobody, leave alone the cynical Karnataka voter, is likely to be convinced that Alva's motives are altruistic. It's no secret that her anger stems solely from the fact that the Congress leadership had denied her son Nivedith a ticket to contest the 2008 Karnataka assembly election. It was this that caused her fulminations about tickets being sold in the first place.

And the man who was responsible for this? Digvijaya Singh, who was suspected to be more a part of Rahul's "inner circle" than Sonia's. Singh headed the party's screening committee that decided on the tickets in Karnataka in 2008.

What infuriated Alva was that while her son had to forgo the ticket on the ostensible ground that family members should not contest the polls, the relatives of many other leaders had been accommodated.

Faced with disciplinary action, Alva resigned as the Congress general secretary but was pretty quick to patch up with Sonia Gandhi. She seemed happy when she was made the governor of Uttarakhand in 2009 and of Rajasthan in 2012. In 2014, her son Nivedith was made the chairman of the Karnataka Coastal Development Authority, a post that carries ministerial perks.

Despite this compromise, Alva has come up with what she calls a "tell-all" book and it only shows that her anger over the party's denial of what is due to her and her son has hardly subsided. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?

Alva's autobiography is unlikely to toss the party's central leadership into any major upheaval. But it is sure to ruffle many leaders in Karnataka, beginning with RV Deshpande, a senior minister in the government of Congress Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah. Deshpande belongs to the coastal district of Uttara Kannada that neighbours Alva's Dakshina Kannada and is her arch rival. He was instrumental in the denial of a ticket to her son in 2008.

Already in deep soup over the suicides of two deputy superintendents of police earlier this month, Siddaramaiah may now have to contend with a churn in the politics of coastal Karnataka as well.

The author tweets @sprasadindia
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However, former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki's resignation and further developments in Arunachal's politics could be one of the key points to be discussed in this meet.

According to CNN News18, Congress will hold a strategy meet at 10 Janpath on Saturday ahead of Monsoon Session.

Arunachal Pradesh Congress President Padi Richo said that only Khandu will take the oath on Sunday. His oath-taking ceremony will be attended by all senior leaders, officers and Opposition as well as independent MLAs.

Pema Khandu, who was elected as the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader of Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday will take oath as the new Chief Minister on Sunday.

I wish all the best to Pema Khandu, we'll co-operate with him for the development of Arunachal Pradesh: Kalikho Pul pic.twitter.com/lr1226G1I8

Will work unitedly in the interest of the people and development of the state: Chowna Mein, Deputy CM, Arunachal pic.twitter.com/ITSHwJYmwM

Mein further said, "Now that the issues (within the party) have been resolved, we look forward to work in co-operation to fulfil our responsibilities."

The newly sworn-in Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said that will work unitedly in the interest of the people and development of Arunachal Pradesh

Will work unitedly in the interest of people and development of the state: Chowna Mein

Differences have ended once for all,party stands united & everyone will work together for dev of state: Nabam Tuki pic.twitter.com/PayYphxKYd

"The party stands united and everyone will work together for the development of the state," Tuki said.

Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said that differences within the party have ended once and for all.

Itanagar: Pema Khandu addresses media after being sworn-in as the CM of the Arunachal Pradesh pic.twitter.com/2XJjqMTnJp

"We'll try to fulfill our responsibilities, and focus on starting new projects. We will look at completion of stalled projects for the development of the state," Khandu said.

Pema Khandu addresses media after being sworn-in as the CM of the Arunachal Pradesh

Expectations of the public are high. I believe in team work, will work hard: Pema Khandu, Arunachal Pradesh CM. pic.twitter.com/ehVcTbuHig

All the differences within have been resolved under one roof, both teams are united who have decided for me to lead:Pema Khandu,Arunachal CM

All the differences within have been resolved under one roof, says Khandu

In a dramatic turn of events, the Congress on Saturday chose Pema Khandu as its new leader in

Arunachal replacing restored Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, hours ahead of a scheduled Assembly floor test in a bid to save its government.

Pema Khandu, son of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu, was unanimously elected leader at a meeting of Congress Legislature Party, which was attended by 44 MLAs, including rebel Khaliko Pul, who became chief minister in February with outside support from BJP.

The Assembly now has an effective strength of 58 in which BJP has 11 and Independents 2. With Speaker Nabam Rebia and the return of dissidents, the Congress strength has gone up to 45.

The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly at Naharlagun has been put under tight security cover ahead of the floor test by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Saturday.

Security personnel were deployed in and around the Naharlagun town, particularly near the State Legislative Assembly complex and all entry and exit routes have been placed under security cover to ensure that no anti-social element hamper the the session.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Tathagata Roy had reinstated Nabam Tuki as the state Chief Minister following the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday and asked him to take the floor test to prove the majority of his government in the House no later than Saturday.

Tuki held a Cabinet meeting on Friday and appealed to the Governor to defer the session of the House by 10 days so that he gets reasonable time to prove his majority in the House.

Roy, however, asked Tuki to take the floor test on Saturday as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the political situation is changing rapidly in the state as sources in the Congress party said that the a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) is slated on Saturday, ahead of the scheduled House session to prove the majority of the Nabam Tuki led government.

"A section of the Congress leaders are not projecting Pema Khandu as the Chief Minister instead of Tuki and the CLP meeting is likely to elect Khandu as the CLP leader. After his election as the new CLP leader, Khandu will meet the Governor and prove the majority of his government in the House," the sources said.

Former Chief Minister Kalikho Pul, who had unseated Tuki in February this year with the help of a faction of dissident Congress legislators and BJP members, claimed that he has got the support of 42 legislators in the 60-member house, whose effective strength is 58 now after two members resigned earlier.

Pul, who is camping in a hotel in Guwahati since last two days with 42 legislators, also expressed fear that Tuki might try to resort to "horse trading" if more time is given for the floor test.
New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) has been rejigged with Smriti Irani being dropped as a special invitee and her successor in the HRD Ministry Prakash Javadekar elevated as a member.

Najma Heptulla, the Minority Affairs Minister who had resigned from the Union Cabinet earlier this week, is no more a member of the panel.

In the recent Cabinet reshuffle, Irani was shifted from the HRD Ministry to Textiles.

Javadekar was earlier a special invitee to the committee.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, the new Law Minister, replaces his predecessor D V Sadananda Gowda in the panel.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who has been divested of his Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, too has been dropped as a special invitee and replaced by S S Ahluwalia who is now the junior minister in the Ministry.

Newly-inducted Minister of State in the Law Ministry P P Chaudhary has also been made a special invitee.

The CCPA, headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is mandated to recommend the dates of Parliament sessions. It has 11 members, including three special invitees.

Other members are Union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ram Vilas Paswan and Ananth Kumar.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is another special invitee, a fresh list issued by the Cabinet Secretariat said.
Dhaka: Bangladesh on Saturday said it has identified the masterminds of the deadly Dhaka cafe terror attack that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian, and a second assault just days later.

"The government has identified the masterminds of the two attacks, they will be exposed to justice," Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told a media briefing but declined to elaborate "in the interest of investigations". Islamist militants launched a sudden attack on a posh restaurant in Dhaka's upmarket Gulshan diplomatic zone on 1 July killing 22 people, including 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain among 20 foreigners and two police officers while six suspected militants were gunned down in the commando operation next morning.

Security officials later said they confirmed identities of five of the six suspected slain Islamists. Six days after the Gulshan cafe attack, militants tried to carry out an assault on the country's biggest Eid congregation in northern Sholakia killing two policemen.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government has also alleged that fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islam and its crucial ally the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of ex-premier Khaleda Zia had patronized the assaults. The Islamic State had earlier claimed responsibility for the cafe attack but the government said homegrown Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) carried out both the assaults.

IS had also claimed several clandestine target killings on secular and liberal activists, writers and religious minorities including moderate Sufi preachers even as the government had denied presence of any foreign terrorists attributing the assaults to homegrown outfits like JMB.

But in an apparent shift, senior government leaders and police said Bangladeshi militants appeared to be trying to establish IS links or managed to ensure their access to their media outlet to lodge the claims.

"Those who carried out the Gulshan attack were all Bangladeshis but I don't rule out their possible foreign links. However, we don't want to say anything in this regard without any proof," Dhaka police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia told a separate media briefing at his office.
New Delhi: Police in Bangladesh denied Saturday that they're still holding a British man and a University of Toronto student rescued during this month's bloody attack on a restaurant by radical Islamists, saying they've questioned and released the men, who reportedly have been missing since the attack.

Hasnat Karim, the British national, and Tahmid Hasib Khan, the student, have not been heard from since being questioned by authorities following the 1 July attack, according to their families and Human Rights Watch.

After the New York-based rights group urged Bangladesh's government to guarantee the rights of Karim and Khan, Masudur Rahman, a Dhaka police spokesman, said Saturday that neither man was still being held by police.

"They are not in our custody. We don't know anything," Rahman told The Associated Press.

He would not confirm reports that they were still in the custody of any other agency as part of the investigation into the attack.

Five armed gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on the night of 1 July, killing 20 people and holding others inside hostage. Security forces stormed the restaurant on 2 July, killing the gunmen and rescuing the remaining 13 hostages. Those killed were nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian.

Human Rights Watch said all of the hostages except for Karim, 47, and Khan, 22, were released by authorities on 3 July.

Earlier this week, Amnesty International expressed its concern over Khan's safety and urged the government to disclose his whereabouts.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Saturday that "Karim and Khan have not had access to a lawyer, and the police continue to deny holding them although they are clearly still being held by the Detective Branch. The authorities need to either charge or release them immediately."

The Islamic State group claimed the responsibility for the attack. The claim was rejected by Bangladesh's government, which said IS has no presence in the country and instead blamed the local radical group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh.
UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said.

The U.S.-drafted statement also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus.

Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Egypt argued that the U.N. Security Council was not in a position to determine whether a government had been democratically elected.

Egypt's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a former general who overthrew elected President Mohamed Mursi, of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 after mass protests against Mursi. Turkey provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Here are some details about the military coups in the last 50 years, which have unseated four elected governments in Turkey:

1960:

-- On May 2, an almost bloodless military coup was carried out, led by officers and cadets from the Istanbul and Ankara war colleges.

-- The next day, the commander of land forces, General Cemal Gursel, demanded political reforms and resigned when his demands were refused.

-- The leaders established a 38-member National Unity Committee with Gursel as chairman. Of 601 people tried, 464 were found guilty. Three former ministers, including Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, were executed and 12 others, including President Celal Bayar, had death sentences commuted to life imprisonment.

* 1971 - The "Coup by Memorandum":

-- The military delivered a warning to the government to restore order after months of strikes and street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Some months later, Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel stepped down and a coalition of conservative politicians and technocrats set to restore order under the supervision of the military. Martial law was established in several provinces and not completely lifted until September 1973.

* 1980:

-- On Sept. 12, 1980, the senior command of the army led by General Kenan Evren, carried out a coup. The action followed a resurgence of street fighting between leftists and nationalists. Leading politicians were arrested, and parliament, political parties, and trade unions were dissolved. A five-member National Security Council took control, suspending the constitution and implementing a provisional constitution that gave almost unlimited power to military commanders.

* 1997 - The "Post-Modern Coup":

-- On June 18, 1997 Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, denounced by opponents as a danger to the country's secular order, stepped down under pressure from the military, business, the judiciary and fellow politicians. The generals saw themselves compelled to act to defend the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

* 2007

-- The shadowy Ergenekon group first came to light when a cache of explosives was discovered in a police raid on an Istanbul house. Eventually hundreds of people went on trial for an alleged coup attempt against then-prime minister Tayyip Erdogan, and 275 officers, journalists, lawyers and more were found guilty.

The verdicts were all overturned this year after the appeals court ruled a network called Ergenekon was not proven to exist. Erdogan, who became president in 2014, initially supported the prosecution but later blamed police and prosecutors who belong to a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for faking the conspiracy. He denies playing any role.

* 2010

-- A newspaper revealed a secularist coup plot, dubbed Sledgehammer, that reportedly dated back to 2003, aimed at fomenting social chaos to topple Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party.

In 2012, a court jailed 300 of the 365 defendants. Two years later, almost all of those convicted were freed after the Constitutional Court ruled their rights had been violated. Again, Gulen's followers were blamed for the case, which they deny.

(Compiling by Andrew Heavens and Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Berlin: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once regarded Fethullah Gulen as an ally in his effort to cement power, then as a rival, and now as a mortal enemy set on ousting him through a military coup.

Their relationship can hardly get worse after the coup that Turkish forces seem to have fought back early Saturday. The real question will be what ramifications the events will have for anyone in Turkey still identified as a Gulenist after Erdogan blamed the coup on the movement.

Gulen's Hizmet (Service) movement supported Erdogan's mildly Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) in its rise to power at the start of last decade.

Born in Turkey, the 75-year-old Gulen has been in exile since 1999 and lives in Pennsylvania. His Hizmet is based on mainstream Islamic readings and is often seen as counter to radical Islamist trends.

With millions of followers and an array of interests  including schools, media outlets and financial institutions  Hizmet also drew the attention of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

But he always had friends in Turkey. It's just that their numbers grew thin after he began to question Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian streak. After the questions became too pointed, Erdogan soured on Gulen, blaming Gulen for orchestrating a corruption scandal in 2012, which Erdogan weathered.

Erodgan then responded with investigations, implicating senior government officials as being too loyal to Gulen. He accused Gulen and Hizmet of running a "parallel state" with thousands of supporters in all structures of authority, all with the aim of overthrowing the government.

In early 2014, Erdogan purged hundreds of suspected Gulenists from the army, police, justice and clamped down on media perceived as controlled by or sympathetic to Hizmet.

Erdogan, who served as prime minister for more than a decade before winning presidential elections two years ago, then promised to hunt down the Gulenists "in their lairs."
Rome: An estimated 5,000 people gathered to mourn the victims of last week's deadly train crash in southern Italy on Saturday, as 13 of the 23 victims were laid to rest.

Among the mourners were Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Parliament President Laura Boldrini and Transport Minister Graziano Delrio.

The politicians were seem embracing grieving relatives, who were all seated in the front row.

The 13 simple wooden coffins were decorated with flowers, pictures and stuffed animals. There were also white balloons for one victim, a 25-year-old student, who was planning to get married this year.

The other 10 victims chose to hold the funerals in private.

Investigators said a lack of an automated braking system may have contributed to the deadly head-on collision of two regional trains.

The district attorney is looking at possible manslaughter charges for a total of six people, including the two station masters and individuals in charge of Ferrotramviaria, a private railway company.
Turkey's army launched a coup attempt on Friday in a country that has seen three full military coups since 1960.

Here are some key facts on the strategically important Muslim-majority nation which is battling threats on two main fronts, against Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish militants.

Between Europe and Asia

Turkey shares borders with Syria, Iran and Iraq but also EU members Greece and Bulgaria. With a Black Sea coastline facing Russia, it has been a Nato frontline state for more than 60 years.

Covering about 784,000 square kilometres (300,000 square miles), Turkey is slightly smaller than Pakistan but larger than the US state of Texas.

It has played a key role in Europe's migrant crisis, having taken in more than two million Syrian refugees, compared with its own population of around 78 million.

A Nato member since 1952, it is strategically placed to take part in the US-led fight against Islamic State jihadists, but waited for almost a year to join air strikes on Syria and to open its air bases to US planes.

It has criticised Russia's intervention in Syria, which has provoked several airspace incidents along its border.

The capital Ankara has a population of around five million. Istanbul is the largest city and industrial and commercial hub with more than 15 million people.

Troubled political life

The Republic of Turkey was created as a secular state in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman empire at the end of World War I.

Its founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was president until his death in 1938. His successor Ismet Inonu introduced multi-party democracy in 1946. Turkey witnessed repressive military coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980.

In 1997 the Turkish military also forced out current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's late mentor Necmettin Erbakan from the premiership.

The Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002. Its leader Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 until 2014, when he became the first Turkish president directly elected by the people.

Since July 2015, Turkey has suffered heavy violence with the resumption of the Kurdish conflict against the background of the war in Syria and a series of bloody attacks

A de facto ceasefire with the PKK was broken in July 2015 when the government launched an unprecedented two-pronged "anti-terror" operation against jihadists in Syria and Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.

Since 1984, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has led an armed rebellion in the Kurdish-majority southeast that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

Western concerns have also mounted about the state of democracy and freedom of speech in Turkey after several raids on media groups and a string of prosecutions of journalists.

Major attacks

Since mid-2015 Turkey has seen a string of attacks with mass fatalities.

In October of that year, in the bloodiest attack in Turkey's history, 103 people were killed and more than 500 wounded in twin suicide bombings targeting a pro-Kurdish peace rally in Ankara. The prime minister said IS was the main suspect.

In 2016, seven major attacks claimed more than 120 lives including the latest on 28 June.

In that attack, 45 people were killed, including foreigners, and over 200 injured in a triple suicide bombing and gun attack at Istanbul's Ataturk airport. There was no claim of responsibility but authorities said evidence points to the Islamic State group.

Migrant crisis

Turkey has taken in 2.7 million Syrians from the brutal war that broke out across its border in 2011, making it host to the largest refugee population in the world.

Many Syrian refugees have launched attempts to reach Europe from Turkey's shores, making the perilous journey by sea to Greece.

Under a controversial deal between the European Union and Turkey that came into force in March, failed asylum seekers face being sent back from the Greek islands to Turkey.
Nice: France today began a period of national mourning for the 84 people who died after a "terrorist" drove his truck through a crowd in Nice as they watched Bastille Day fireworks.

President Francois Hollande said the country would observe three days of mourning as he warned the death toll could rise further, with more than 50 people fighting for their lives following the attack in the Cote d'Azur resort city on Thursday night.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls said attacker Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel probably had links to radical Islam, but Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve cautioned it was too early to make the connection.

Anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said the 31-year-old Tunisian was "completely unknown" to the intelligence services but that the assault was "exactly in line with" calls from jihadist groups to kill.

The attack left a scene of carnage on Nice's picturesque Promenade des Anglais, with mangled bodies strewn over the palm-fringed walkway. At least 10 children and teenagers were among the dead.

AFP reporter Robert Holloway witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, causing "absolute chaos".

"It was hurtling towards us and we had just enough time to yell at each other 'get out of the way!'," he said.

Dramatic video footage showed police surrounding the heavily damaged truck and firing through the windscreen to kill the attacker.

The massacre again prompted questions as to why France is a persistent target for attacks and what can be done to prevent such unsophisticated assaults.

Investigators were building up a picture of Lahouaiej-Bouhlel; a man with a record of petty crime, but no known connection to terrorist groups.

His father said he had suffered from depression and had "no links" to religion. "From 2002 to 2004, he had problems that caused a nervous breakdown. He would become angry and he shouted... he would break anything he saw in front of him," Mohamed Mondher

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel said outside his home in Msaken, eastern Tunisia.

"We are also shocked," he said, adding that he had not seen his son since he left for France but was not entirely sure when this was.

Neighbours described the attacker, who lived in a modest district of Nice and worked as a delivery man, as a loner who never responded to their greetings.

He and his wife had three children, but she had demanded a divorce after a "violent argument", one neighbour said.

His wife was arrested on Friday and taken for questioning, a police source said.
Nice: The Islamic State group on Saturday claimed the Tunisian man who barreled his truck into a crowd in the French resort city of Nice was a "soldier" of the group, the first claim of responsibility for an attack that has claimed 84 lives and wounded more than 200 people.

The claim  circulated on social media by a news outlet affiliated with the group  didn't name Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the 31-year-old Tunisian who authorities say was behind the wheel as his truck crashed into a crowd of revelers at a fireworks display on Thursday. But the statement quoting a security member of the group said the man was following calls from IS to target nationals of countries fighting it.

The nature and scope of Bouhlel's relationship with IS hasn't been established. It's also unclear whether or not he was acting alone. The Paris prosecutor's office said Saturday that five people are in custody following the attack.

The identities of most of those brought into custody were not clear. But neighbors in the Nice neighborhood where the Bouhlel used to live told The Associated his estranged wife had been taken away by police on Friday.

The claim of responsibility came as French security chiefs met in Paris as Nice's seaside boulevard partially reopened to traffic. An Associated Press reporter at the site of the massacre, Nice's famous Promenade des Anglais, said the boulevard was slowly coming back to life. A maskeshift memorial of bouquets, candles and messages had been set up near one end of the expansive avenue.

France is observing three days of national mourning in homage to the victims.
The man who ploughed his truck though Bastille Day revellers, who had gathered to watch fireworks in the French resort city of Nice late Thursday, has been identified by local sources.

As authorities in France frantically search for clues that might indicate a network of supporters of the kind that emerged after the Paris attacks last November, what is known so far about Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel suggests a troubled, angry loner with little interest in Islam.

The Independent identified the man as 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a French citizen of Tunisian descent.

Police sources too had initially formally identified the man through the ID cards and a phone found in the truck. The police raided his property, where fake arms and ammunition were found. His relatives have also been summoned for questioning.

He is lodged as a petty criminal in the police records and has been associated with crimes such as theft and violence. However, he was not on the terror watch list or known to intelligence authorities.

The 31-year-old was born in Msaken, a town in Tunisia, but moved to France years ago and was living in the country legally, working as a delivery driver.

At an apartment bloc in the Quartier des Abattoirs, on the outskirts of Nice, neighbors described the father of three as a volatile man, prone to drinking and womanizing, and in the process of divorcing his wife. His father said Bouhlel had violent episodes during which "he broke everything he found around him."

"Each time he had a crisis, we took him to the doctor who gave him medication," Mohamed Mondher Lahouaiej Bouhlel told BFM television.

His son hadn't visited Tunisia in four years and hadn't stayed in contact with his family, he said.

"What I know is that he didn't pray, he didn't go to the mosque, he had no ties to religion," said the father, noting that Bouhlel didn't respect the Islamic fasting rituals during the month of Ramadan.

Still, Bouhlel could have felt inspired by calls from extremist groups to carry out acts of murder in France, said Molins. Though no group has claimed responsibility for the Nice attack, President Francois Hollande called it "undeniably terrorist in nature" and extended a state of emergency imposed after the Nov. 13 assault on Paris nightspots that claimed 130 lives.

Records show that the 19-ton truck that was rammed through the seaside crowd in Nice was rented in the outskirts of the city on 11 July and overdue on the night of the attack.

In a news conference Friday, hours after the attack in which 84 people were killed and 202 were wounded, prosecutors said they had found no links to the Islamic State extremist group.

However, according to reports by CNN the authorities still don't have any evidence to substantiate their claim that Bouhlel was radicalised.

On the day of the attack, Bouhlel had rented the truck two days earlier somewhere in South East France and parked on the street for almost nine hours. Mirror quoted the local newspaper Nice Matin as saying that he was a delivery driver.

It is surprising to note that despite noticing Bouhlel standing for almost nine hours, the police did not suspect anything strange or amiss.

He told the police that he was delivering ice cream before carrying out the attack.

The Daily Mail reported that although heavy duty lorries are usually banned from roads on national holidays and Sundays, deliveries are exempted.

About 25 minutes before the July 14 fireworks show, a popular event that draws hundreds of thousands of people to the Nice seafront each year, Bouhlel climbed into the vehicle and drove toward the city center.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., he drove onto the Promenade des Anglais that had been closed to traffic for the night.

Witnesses described seeing how Bouhlel purposely steered the truck to hit men, women and children as they tried to flee.

"It was such a nice atmosphere before this started," recalled Sanchia Lambert, a tourist from Sweden who had come to visit family in Nice. "There were people playing drums, kids riding their bikes. That makes what happened all the worse."

Her husband, John Lambert, said the couple was almost struck by Bouhlel.

"I saw his face," Lambert told The Associated Press. "He was totally focused."

Within minutes the attack was over, with Bouhlel dead in a hail of police gunfire. Inside the driver's cab lay a loaded handgun, three replica firearms and an empty grenade.

Investigators are looking into how Bouhlel acquired the cache of weapons. A series of attacks in recent years have shown that radical jihadi networks are seemingly able to obtain guns, and even heavier automatic weapons, with ease in France.

Nice is home to a sizeable Islamic community, and Muslims were among the victims. It is also the home of Omar Omsen, notorious for his French-language jihadi recruitment videos and now believed to be fighting in Syria.

Fellow Tunisians in Nice said they hoped the attack wouldn't reflect badly on them.

"It shocks me because here's a guy who comes from the same town as me," said hair stylist Morgan Braham, 31. "Today I'm almost ashamed and afraid. It's not only shame it's also fear, to tell people that we're Tunisian."

Bouhlel was shot dead by the police at the end of the attack. Before being shot, he fired pistol according to some investigative sources.

With inputs from agencies
WASHINGTON President Barack Obama on Friday said he would deploy up to 200 U.S. troops equipped with combat equipment to South Sudan to protect U.S. citizens and the embassy in Juba amid an outbreak of violence between rival troops in the nation.

The U.S. troops will be initially stationed in neighbouring Uganda, Obama said in a notice to the U.S. Congress. They will include 47 troops announced earlier this week, and 130 troops currently in Djibouti.

"It is not possible to know at this time the precise scope or the duration of the deployments of U.S. Armed Forces necessary to support the security of U.S. citizens and property in South Sudan," Obama said in his letter to Congress.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
WASHINGTON The U.S. Congress on Friday released a long-classified section of the official report on the Sept. 11 attacks describing an array of potential links between some of the hijackers and officials in Saudi Arabia.

The 28 pages of the report on the 2002 investigation focus on potential Saudi government ties to the 2001 aircraft attacks on the United States, in which nearly 3,000 people died.

The report said the alleged links had not been independently verified.

The pages were released by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee after years of wrangling in Washington between Congress and different administrations, Republicans and Democrats, and urging by families of those killed.

"The matter is now finished," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Washington. Asked whether the report exonerated the kingdom, he replied: "Absolutely."

The release of the previously classified pages is unlikely to end the controversy over the role of Saudi Arabia, an important U.S. partner in the Middle East. Many U.S. officials who opposed their release had worried they would damage diplomatic relations.

Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

"According to various FBI documents and CIA memorandum, some of the September 11 hijackers, while in the United States, apparently had contacts with individuals who may be connected to the Saudi Government," the report said, giving a catalogue of alleged links.

They included reported contacts between Saudis in California, money possibly sent from the Saudi royal family to the hijackers and even a statement that a reported Saudi Interior Ministry official stayed at the same Virginia hotel as one hijacker in September 2001.

One section said Omar al-Bayoumi, said to be a Saudi intelligence officer, met with two hijackers at a public place after they arrived in San Diego. Citing Federal Bureau of Investigation files, it said his salary rose to $3,700 a month from $465 two months after two of the hijackers arrived in California.

Another described how two of the hijackers asked flight attendants technical questions during a trip in 1999 from Phoenix to Washington to attend a party at the Saudi embassy. One tried twice to enter the cockpit. The plane made an emergency landing and the FBI investigated, but did not prosecute.

The newly declassified pages also say a telephone number found in a telephone book of Abu Zubaydah, a Saudi-born al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan, was for a Colorado corporation that managed the affairs of the residence of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador to Washington.

LAWSUITS AHEAD?

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said its agreement to the release is not an indication that the intelligence community agrees with the pages' accuracy or concurs with the information it contains.

The office also on Friday released a declassified summary of an assessment of whether Riyadh may have supported al Qaeda before and after the attacks, saying the Saudi government and many of its agencies had been infiltrated and exploited by individuals associated with or sympathetic to Osama bin Laden's militant network.

Several members of Congress said they were pleased the pages had finally been released. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the intelligence panel, said he hoped the release would quiet rumours.

"The Intelligence Community and the 9/11 Commission, which followed the Joint Inquiry that produced these so-called 28 pages, investigated the questions they raised and was never able to find sufficient evidence to support them," he said.

Legislation that would allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, was passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and is making its way through the House, despite President Barack Obama's veto threat.

"While the pages do not reach a conclusion regarding Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, they provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns," said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. His state was home to many people killed when planes hit the World Trade Center in neighbouring New York.

Sept. 11 families made clear the pages' release would not stop their push for the legislation. "Congress has to stand up for the interests of the thousands of innocent Americans who lost loved ones on 9/11," one group said in a statement.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters before the pages were released that they would show no evidence of Saudi complicity.

The Obama administration sent a declassified version of the 28 pages, with many lines and sentences blacked out to protect intelligence sources and methods, to Congress on Friday morning. The House intelligence panel released it a few hours later.

(Additional reporting by Yara Bayoumy, Mark Hosenball, Roberta Rampton, Amanda Becker; Editing by James Dalgleish and Tom Brown)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By now it seems that that the audacious coup attempt in Turkey by a section of the country's military forces has failed to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. If that is the case  the situation is extremely fluid still  it is probably for the better because toppling of the country's elected leader may dangerously destabilise a western ally in a region already reeling from war, terrorism and mass migration.

What we do know at the moment is that 754 members of the armed forces linked to the coup have been arrested which includes 29 colonels and five generals who were removed from their posts.

Images of discarded gear, soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to government forces on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge are dominating the newscasts. CNN-Turk is broadcasting footage of people  who were urged by President Erdogan on Friday night to "come out on the streets and resist the coup  climbing atop the tanks.

At least 60 people have been killed in the attempted coup, most of them civilians but the list also includes 16 supporters of the coup and many police officers who opposed it, says state-run Andalou Agency.

Reports of explosions and gunfire are still coming in, however, and CNN, quoting ministry sources, is saying that at least one air force base in the country is still in control of the insurgents. But signs that the coup attempt is faltering lies in the fact that President Erdogan, who according to Reuters was holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul early on Saturday where he was greeted by hundreds of supporters at Ataturk Airport.

Erdogan has been in power since 2003 and was reelected as President with a huge mandate in 2014. In a televised speech from the airport he claimed to be still in charge, that the uprising was an "act of treason" and those responsible would pay a heavy price.

He blamed the coup attempt on Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Islamic cleric. One-time ally Gulen has recently been at loggerheads with Erdogan, accusing him of corruption as part of an apparent power struggle.

Meanwhile, in an emailed statement from the Turkish military General Staff's media office address, the pro-coup faction said it was determinedly still fighting and called on people to stay indoors for their own safety.

The fact that western powers hastened to back Erdogan indicates that lessons have been learnt from US President George W Bush's historic 'War on Terror' for which the world is still paying a heavy price in blood.

From the White House, US President Barack Obama called on all parties to "support the democratically elected government of Turkey" on Friday, whose cooperation is crucial to defeating the Islamic State terror network.

His secretary of state John Kerry said he had spoken to Turkey's foreign minister "and emphasized the US absolute support for Turkeys democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions." He was echoed by Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Saturday that democracy must be respected and Berlin is supporting the elected government in Ankara.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called for "calm, restraint & full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution" while Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif wrote in a tweet that "Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount. Unity & prudence are imperative."

There is a good reason why the world leaders are rallying behind Erdogan though he has alarmed many with his staunchly Islamist and increasingly authoritarian views.

He has antagonized the military which traditionally has seen itself as a guardian of the countrys secular heritage, embodied by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern republic. The presidents rhetoric has polarised the country and inflamed ethnic and sectarian tensions.

Moreover, the Turkey President's involvement in the Syrian crisis  opposing the president, Bashar al-Assad, and backing Islamist groups fighting to overthrow him  has created the opposite of the old aspiration of zero problems with the neighbours.

Under Erdogan, who amended the Constitution to give himself more powers as the President since getting reelected, Turkey has become richer and more confident. But the President has been frequently accused of intolerance and stifling dissent. Turkish prosecutors have opened nearly 2,000 cases against people for insulting Erdogan since he became President.

However, Obama's swift decision to back Erdogan against the coup plotters comes despite his concern at the Islamist leader's low threshold for dissent.

Why?

Because an overthrowing of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years. Even a failed coup attempt could still destabilize the pivotal country.

As Barry Rubin says in Turkey in World Politics, "since the establishment of the Turkish republic by Ataturk in 1923, the country has followed a relatively consistent course" of non-meddling in foreign affairs. It has preferred to remain generally "inward-looking" and "avoid foreign entanglements wherever possible" because geographical location places Turkey in the middle of an extremely volatile region where every area has its own set of political systems and issues. "Consequently," says the author, "Turkey has one of the most complex foreign policy situations in the world."

A report in Politico magazine points out: "even as Turkey has faced growing domestic turmoil, with a number of lethal terrorist attacks and political tensions bubbling below the surface, it had remained a relatively stable country in a volatile Middle East, and recently restored normal relations with Israel with US encouragement."

Not only will the turmoil in Turkey affect the air war against the Islamic State, which the Obama administration claims has greatly reduced the groups reach and effectiveness, as the world has seen since the ill-fated 'War on Terror', once instability is introduced it creates a power vacuum for terrorist forces to exploit. It becomes a quagmire from which there is no easy escape.

In a recent interview, Obama admitted that Islamic State is a direct outgrowth of Al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion, which is an example of unintended consequences. This admission is evidence of the general causality between Western military interventionism in the Muslim world, and the rise of reactionary armed militia groups.

Let's hope the Turkey coup fails and Erdogan remains in control because the world cannot afford another Iraq.
World leaders urged "respect for democratic institutions" in key Nato member and European neighbour Turkey as parts of the military launched a coup attempt late Friday against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that saw violence erupt in Istanbul.

The United States, Russia, Nato and the European Union appealed for stability, with US President Barack Obama calling on all parties in Turkey to back the "democratically-elected" government.

Detailing a call between Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, the White House said both agreed that "all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed."

UN chief Ban Ki-moon meanwhile lashed out against the attempted coup, as he called for civilian rule to be maintained.

"Military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable," Ban said in a statement.

Ban Ki-moon is following closely and with concern the fast-moving developments in Turkey. https://t.co/3wvPKXfVS6  United Nations (@UN) July 16, 2016

EU chiefs Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker backed Erdogan's government and urged a "swift return" to normal.

"Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law," they said in a joint statement with EU foreign policy head Federica Mogherini.

"We call for a swift return to Turkey's constitutional order."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow was "deeply concerned" about the situation, with President Vladimir Putin being kept up to date by the foreign ministry and intelligence services.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier called on Turkey to avoid all "bloodshed" and insisted that the problems in the country be resolved "in accordance with the constitution."

Turkey will now likely dominate an EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday which will also be attended by Kerry.

Ankara in March signed a controversial deal with the European Union aimed at stemming migration to the continent, and has recently mended ties with Russia after a major diplomatic crisis.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg called for "calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and its constitution," adding that the country was "a valued Nato ally".

Just spoke to Turkish FM. I call for calm, restraint & full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution.  Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) July 15, 2016

Obama, like other Western leaders, has repeatedly expressed concern about authoritarian steps taken by Erdogan's government.

But the country is a key Nato ally and part of the coalition fighting IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. The US has military assets at Incirlik Air Base, carrying out strikes against the jihadists.

'No impact' on anti-IS strikes

The ongoing coup attempt is not affecting operations targeting IS, and American forces will continue flying missions from a key airbase there, a US defence official said Friday.

The situation "has no impact on counter-ISIL operations from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity, and using another name for IS.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton urged "calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms" in the country.

The French Foreign Ministry meanwhile called for "the avoidance of violence and respect for democratic order," in an appeal echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"Support to the elected (Turkish) government," a spokesman for Merkel said. "Everything must be done to protect human lives."

German-Turkish relations have come under increasing strain in recent months, with Berlin criticising Ankara's tough line against dissenting journalists and the country's Kurdish minority.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said his country, which neighbours Turkey, was monitoring the situation with "great concern".

"Stability, democracy and the security of the Turks are the priority," Zarif said, according to the Iranian government website, as he stressed "the need to preserve unity" in the country.

Iran and Turkey have been at loggerheads in regional conflicts including Syria, where they back opposing sides in the five-year civil war.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose nation also neighbours Turkey, has meanwhile expressed his "support for the democratically elected" government following the attempted coup, a government source said early Saturday.

Tsipras' diplomatic advisor sent the "message of support for democracy in Turkey" to his counterpart in the crisis-hit nation, the source said.

The two leaders were set to speak by telephone later Saturday.

Television pictures showed tanks deployed outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul. Reports said that flights into the airport had been halted.

Greece's Aegean Airlines confirmed it had cancelled Saturday's flights to Istanbul and the coastal city of Izmir.

German carrier Lufthansa said it had delayed its flights to Turkey "for up to 12 hours".
ISTANBUL/ANKARA An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV appearing among a crowd of supporters outside the airport, which the coup plotters had failed to secure.

The uprising was an "act of treason", and those responsible would pay a heavy price, he later told reporters at a hastily arranged news conference. Arrests of officers were under way, and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.

But by early Saturday, Reuters journalists saw around 30 pro-coup soldiers surrender their weapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies while war rages on its border. A failed coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country.

Before returning to Istanbul, Erdogan appeared in a video call to the studio of the Turkish sister channel of CNN, where an announcer held up a mobile phone to the camera to show him. He called on Turks to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

By the early hours of Saturday morning, lawmakers were still hiding in shelters inside the parliament building in Ankara, which had been fired on by tanks. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. An opposition MP told Reuters parliament was hit three times and that people had been wounded.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.

As the night wore on, momentum turned against the coup plotters. Crowds defied orders to stay indoors, gathering at major squares in Istanbul and Ankara, waving flags and chanting.

"We have a prime minister, we have a chief of command, we're not going to leave this country to degenerates," shouted one man, as groups of government supporters climbed onto a tank near Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

Erdogan and other officials blamed loyalists of a U.S.-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.

U.S. SUPPORT

The United States declared its firm backing for Erdogan's government. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned the Turkish foreign minister and emphasised "absolute support for Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government and democratic institutions".

The coup began with warplanes and helicopters roaring over Ankara and troops moving in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus that link Europe and Asia in Istanbul.

Reuters reporters saw a helicopter open fire in Ankara. Anadolu said military helicopters had fired on the headquarters of the intelligence agency.

In the first hours of the coup attempt, airports were shut and access to internet social media sites was cut off.

Soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.

Shortly afterwards, TRT went off the air. It resumed broadcasting in the early hours of Saturday.

Anadolu said the chief of Turkey's military staff was among people taken "hostage" in the capital Ankara, but Prime Minister Binali Yildirim later said he was back in control.

"NOT A TINPOT COUP"

Early in the evening the coup appeared strong. A senior EU source monitoring the situation said: "It looks like a relatively well orchestrated coup by a significant body of the military, not just a few colonels. They've got control of the airports and are expecting control over the TV station imminently. They control several strategic points in Istanbul.

"Given the scale of the operation, it is difficult to imagine they will stop short of prevailing."

One European diplomat was dining with the Turkish ambassador to a European capital when guests were interrupted by the pinging of urgent news on their mobile phones.

"This is clearly not some tinpot little coup. The Turkish ambassador was clearly shocked and is taking it very seriously," the diplomat told Reuters as the dinner party broke up. "However it looks in the morning, this will have massive implications for Turkey. This has not come out of nowhere."

Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest military in the Western alliance, is one of the most important allies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State, which seized swathes of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon said there was no impact on operations against Islamic State from the U.S. air base at Incirlik in Turkey.

Turkey is also one of the main backers of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in that country's civil war, host to 2.7 million Syrian refugees and launchpad last year for the biggest influx of migrants to Europe since World War Two.

Celebratory gunfire erupted in Syria's capital Damascus after the army claimed to have toppled Erdogan. People took the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.

Turkey has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.

Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.

After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.

Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.

His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.

Prime Minister Yildirim said a group within Turkey's military had attempted to overthrow the government and security forces have been called in to "do what is necessary".

"Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command," Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.

"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so."

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Ayla Jean Yackley, Nick Tattersall, David Dolan, Akin Aytekin, Tulay Karadeniz, Can Sezer, Gulsen Solaker, Ece Toksabay, Murad Sezer, Ercan Gurses, Nevzat Devranoglu, Dasha Afanasieva, Birsen Altayli and Orhan Coskun; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Catherine Evans and Mary Milliken)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
UNITED NATIONS The United Nations Security Council is considering whether to send up to 228 U.N. police to Burundi to monitor the security and human rights situation in the East African country, where deadly political violence has simmered for more than a year.

France circulated a draft resolution to the 15-member council on Friday, seen by Reuters, that would deploy police for one year and ask U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report immediately on grave security incidents or human rights abuses.

Burundi's U.N. ambassador, Albert Shingiro, said on Friday his country would only accept up to 50 unarmed U.N. police, adding that "the sovereignty of Burundi must be fully respected."

More than 450 people have been killed since President Pierre Nkurunziza pursued and won a third term last year, a move that his opponents say violated the constitution and a peace deal that ended a civil war in 2005.

Government officials and members of the opposition have been among those killed in tit-for-tat violence by rival sides. A Burundian member of the East African Legislative Assembly was shot dead on Wednesday.

The violence in Burundi has caused alarm in a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide remain raw. Like Rwanda, Burundi has an ethnic Hutu majority and a Tutsi minority.

So far the violence has largely followed political rather than ethnic lines. But the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said last month he feared increased violence and incitement could turn ethnic in nature.

The draft resolution "strongly urges the government of Burundi and all parties to cease and reject any kind of violence and condemn any public statement inciting violence or hatred."

In response to a council request, Ban gave the council three options for a possible police deployment in a report in April: a light footprint of 20 to 50 police personnel to assess the Burundi police, a monitoring presence of 228 police, or a protection and monitoring deployment of some 3,000 police.

Akshaya Kumar, deputy United Nations director at Human Rights Watch, said the option contained in the draft resolution "won't provide the kind of protection of civilians we were hoping for."

"But it's a really important step forward for enlarging the U.N. footprint and getting more consistent human rights reporting directly to the Security Council," she said.

About a quarter of million people have fled the violence in Burundi.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Luxembourg: The Obama administration would entertain an extradition request for the US-based cleric that Turkey's president is blaming for a failed coup attempt, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

But he said Turkey's government would have to prove Fethullah Gulen's wrongdoing.

Visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn't yet requested that the United States send home Gulen, who left Turkey in 1999.

Gulen has harshly condemned the attempted coup attempt by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left dozens dead. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on the cleric, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Erdogan has long accused Gulen, a former ally, of trying to overthrow the government. Washington has never found any evidence particularly compelling previously.

"We haven't received any request with respect to Mr. Gulen," Kerry told reporters. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen. And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately."

"I'm confident there will be some discussion about that," Kerry added.

President Barack Obama on Friday urged all sides in Turkey to support the democratically elected government in Turkey, a key Nato ally.

In a statement issued after a meeting with his national security advisers Obama also urged those in Turkey to show restraint and avoid violence or bloodshed. Obama was to be briefed on the situation Saturday by his national security and foreign policy advisers.

Gulen is understood to maintain significant support among some members of the military and mid-level bureaucrats. His movement called Hizmet includes think tanks, schools and various media enterprises. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years.

In a statement, Gulen said he condemned, "in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey."

"Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force," he said. "I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly."

Gulen sharply rejected any responsibility: "As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations."

Reiterating American support for Erdogan's government, Kerry said the US opposed any attempt to overthrow a democratically elected leader. He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process.

Kerry also said that US military cooperation with its Nato ally has been unaffected by the turmoil. Turkey plays a key role in US-led efforts against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

"All of that continues as before," Kerry said.

He said the US had no prior indication of the coup attempt, which came as Erdogan was on vacation.

It appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey's main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Prime Minister Benali Yildirim said 161 people were killed and 1,440 wounded in the overnight violence. He said 2,839 plotters were detained.

"If you're planning a coup you don't exactly advertise to your partners in Nato," Kerry said. "So it surprised everyone. It does not appear to be a very brilliantly planned or executed event."
Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, will be hold series of roundtable discussions to share ideas for combating the growing epidemic of opioid and illegal drug abuse. Sessions will be held during the coming weeks in La Crosse, Monroe, Vernon and Crawford counties.

Area health officials, law enforcement, elected officials and members of addiction recovery organizations will be in attendance to discuss solutions to the addiction crisis in western Wisconsin. The public is welcome to attend.

The La Crosse session will be 1:30 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, third floor conference room, 400 La Crosse St.

For more information, call Sen. Shillings office at 608-266-5490 or email Sen.Shilling@legis.wi.gov.
The Chicken Dance is a lively foot-stomper that people seem either to love or hate, but Millie Napoli love-love-loves it so much she might knock you out of the way to get to the dance floor.

Well, the sprightly 100-year-old lass might not get violent, but she has been known to go through some contortions to join the dance from the polka genre that is common at wedding receptions, birthday parties and, of course, all things Oktoberfest.

This afternoon, Napoli will lead the dance during a party celebrating her centennial milestone at the Village on Cass in La Crosse where she lives.

Its a good thing she leads us, because I never know when to duck, said Jan Pohlman, activity and volunteer coordinator at the assisted living facility.

Although Napoli chicken dances with the support of her walker these days, she hit the dance floor with the bravado of a platoon of Marines establishing a beachhead at a party a decade ago.

She initially pursed her lips and nixed Pohlmans request to tell that tale, which Pohlman learned from Nikole Hauser of Holmen, one of Napolis four grandchildren and a day surgery nurse at Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare.

Napoli, whose face seems to have 1,000 expressions ranging from a broad smile to a mischievous smile to a downright devilish smile to a scolding grimace and the whole gamut of human emotions, gave in to a reporters pout, which she mimicked playfully.

As the legend has it, Napoli was at a party when the Chicken Dance music came on, but she was hemmed in among tightly arranged tables, blocking her path to participation.

Undaunted and undeterred, the then-90-year-old got under the table and literally crawled to the dance floor and got back on her size 6 feet to join the hand motions like beaks, arms flapping like wings, hand clapping and derriere waggling while bending  motions that accelerate as the songs tempo quickens toward the end.

A fan of all sorts of dancing, including polkas and waltzes, Napoli said she cant explain her obsession with the Chicken Dance. However, she demonstrated that she still is adept at it  right down to shaking her tailfeathers during the dip  until the pace gets too fast.

Saverna Stemper, aka Simply Sis, an accordion player from Caledonia, Minn., who will provide the music for Napolis birthday party, probably will slow it down a bit for Napoli and her guests, Pohlman said.

Napoli, whose surname betrays the Italian lineage of her late husband of 74 years, Dominic, was born in Sedalia, Mo., and lived much of her life in Oran, Iowa, where she clerked in a hardware store and the post office. Dominic, who was 100 when he died on July 2, 2015, had two sons, four grandchildren and three great-grandkids.

The two met, as one might expect, when Dominic asked her to dance at a community gathering.

Asked whether the hardware store provided an employee discount way back then, Napoli said it was 20 percent, although she couldnt recall whether she therefore spent more than she made, as many retail clerks do.

Asked whether she likes to shop, Napoli frowned in a friendly fashion as she said, Im a woman.

Asked how tall she is, she responded, I was 5 feet to begin with, but Ive lost a lot. I think Im shriveling. Old age does that.

She tips the scales at 86, although she said, Id like to weigh 100. Asked what she would do with the 14 additional pounds, she said, Id carry it around.

Having been alive for all or part of the terms of 17 U.S. presidents, she has definite views on her choices for the 18th.

Napoli, who has lived in La Crosse for about five years and at the Village on Cass for three or four, said she doesnt like anything about Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, adding, His rudeness for one thing.

As for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, she said, I like her in one way, and in another way, I dont know. I dont know if shes strong enough.

Asked what she believes is the biggest invention during her 100 years, she immediately replied that it is the computer, although she never has used one.

I made up my mind I was not going to learn, said Napoli, whose siblings included two sisters who have passed and a brother who is 83.

Similarly, this veteran of the time before phones of any kind eschews cell phones.

She recalls party lines, when several people in a neighborhood had to share lines, with the honor code of waiting your turn, not hogging the time and, of course, no listening in on others conversations.

Napoli confessed to eavesdropping on occasion, saying, Yes  I might as well be honest, and wrapped herself in the security blanket that those she snooped on are long gone anyway.

Norma Daily, a 93-year-old Village on Cass resident who was in the recreation room where Napoli was being interviewed, asked whether she could make a comment about her.

Welcomed to the conversation, Daily said, She has one of the sharpest minds. I think it was gotten sharper every 50 years. She has a sharp mind and a quick wit.

Asked whether she would do anything differently if she had her life to live over, Napoli said, No. Im pretty well satisfied. I think thats why I am still living.

A fan of all sorts of dancing, including polkas and waltzes, Napoli said she cant explain her obsession with the Chicken Dance.
GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.
Mourners gathered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to memorialize Alton Sterling, a black man who was fatally shot last week by police officers.

Family and friends of Sterling as well as high profile activists, including civil rights leaders Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton attended the service Friday at Southern University, a historically black college.

Sharpton called for justice in Sterling's death, "Wrong must be corrected and the wrong must be held accountable."

Jackson said "Our strongest weapon is not guns and violence, it is the rightness of our cause." He added "There's power in innocent blood. If the killing of Alton Sterling had been in a shootout or drug bust or robbery, we would not be here today."

Sterling was shot by police on July 5 as he sold CDs outside a convenience store. The shooting was recorded on a cell phone and widely circulated on social media.

Sterling's death, along with another fatal police shooting of a black man last week in Minnesota, sparked protests over law enforcement's treatment of minorities. It was at one of those protests that a black sniper shot and killed five white police officers in Dallas, further heightening tensions.

Louisiana's Governor, Jon Bel Edwards, has turned over the investigation of Sterling's shooting to federal authorities, led by the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division. "I have very serious concerns," Edwards said when making the announcement. "The video is disturbing, to say the least."

The video showed two officers initially confronting Sterling before tackling him and pinning him to the ground. They wrestled with Sterling for several seconds before someone yelled "He's got a gun." Both officers pulled their weapons and pointed them into Sterling's chest, with one saying "If you f****** move I swear to God," before firing several shots.

Officials say police went to the convenience store after an anonymous caller said they had been threatened by someone with a gun.
BURLEY  Kent and Marilyn Searle have returned from serving as mission president in the Colombia Barranquilla Mission. They will speak in sacrament meeting at 9 a.m. Sunday, July 17 at the View Second Ward building, 550 S 490 East, in Burley.

DECLO  Brother Jared Gentry, son of Glade and Cherise Gentry of Declo, has been called to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the New York, New York North Mission. Jared will speak in sacrament meeting in the Declo 2nd Ward at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17. He will report to the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah on July 27.

TWIN FALLS  Elder Cole Monte Hunt has been called to serve in the Texas-Houston, Spanish speaking mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He departs from the Twin Falls airport at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 19. He will spend six weeks at the Mexico City MTC before leaving for Houston on Aug. 31. Hunt is a recent graduate from Canyon Ridge High School. He will deliver his farewell address Sunday at 1 p.m. at his home ward, the Twin Falls 18th, located on College Blvd. Elder Hunts parents are Tom and Jan Hunt of Twin Falls. Elder Hunt plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo upon his return.
Boise  An advanced team of Soldiers assigned to the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team of the Idaho Army National Guard has arrived at the Port of Constanta, Romania in preparation for Exercise Saber Guardian 16.

More than 100 Idaho Soldiers are currently there to receive equipment and supplies, which will be used during the exercise occurring July 27 to Aug. 7 at the Romanian Land Force Combat Training Center in Cincu, Romania.

Saber Guardian is an annual multinational exercise that rotates among Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine, and this year will include nearly 3,000 personnel from 11 countries  Romania, United States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine.

The 116th is comprised of units and personnel from the Idaho, Montana and Oregon Army National Guards augmented with the 125th Multi-role Bridge Company of the South Carolina Army National Guard. Approximately 1,000 more personnel from the 116th Brigade Combat Team will join roughly 1,500 Soldiers from other U.S.-based units later this month to participate in the exercise.

It took personnel approximately 26 hours to offload the ship that left Charleston, S.C. two weeks prior carrying approximately 300 wheeled and tracked military vehicles belonging to the 116th Brigade and South Carolinas 122nd Engineer Battalion. Now underway is the task of filling railcars with tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, HUMVEEs and other equipment bound for central Romania.

It will take about eight hours for the trains to reach Cincu, said Chief Warrant Officer Steven Howell, brigade movement officer for the 116th. Once the vehicles are offloaded the trains will return here, to get another load.

Exercise Saber Guardia is part of U.S. European Commands Joint Exercise Program designed to enhance interoperability between Romania, the U.S., NATO members and Partnership for Peace nations.

In addition to preparing and responding to emergencies at home, the 116th also has a responsibility to help ensure peace and stability across the world, said Col. Farin Schwartz, commander of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team. This exercise contributes to the security of our NATO allies, the region and Europe as a whole.

Other U.S. units participating in the exercise include U.S. Army European Command; 1st Battalion of the 64th Armor Regiment; 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division; the 21st Theater Support Command; the 16th Sustainment Brigade; the 30th Medical Brigade; the 321st Psychological Operations Group and a number of joint multinational units.

Activities during Saber Guardian 16 will include a Field Training Exercise, a Command Post Exercise and a Combined Live Fire Exercise.

This is a great training opportunity to enhance our capabilities to conduct multi-national and coalition operations, Schwartz said. By participating in exercises like Saber Guardian, it sends a clear and strong message that NATO and our partner nations have tremendous capability in ensuring a collective security.
ROGERSON  A trooper stopped a Washington woman Thursday for speeding on U.S. 93 and found several safes inside her trunk with Oxycodone pills, cocaine, marijuana and hash oil, police said.

Kimberly Ann Thrawley, 25, of Spokane Valley, Wash., was arraigned Friday in Twin Falls County Magistrate Court on felony counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and possession of a controlled substance. Shes also charged with two misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor count of possession of paraphernalia.

Prosecutors say Thrawley had 681 Oxycodone 30-milligram pills she planned to deliver or sell, plus a ledger listing pills and prices. Shes also accused of having smaller amounts of crack cocaine, marijuana and marijuana butter in separate safes.

An Idaho State Police trooper stopped Thrawleys Toyota Corolla about 10:30 a.m. Thursday on northbound U.S. Highway 93 for speeding and for having a broken headlight, court documents said. Thrawley was very fidgety and her hands were extremely shaky, and she told the trooper that although she had a marijuana license from Washington, she didnt have any of the drug in her car.

But when a drug-sniffing police dog showed up, Thrawley admitted to having marijuana, so troopers searched the Corolla and found several safes in the trunk, court documents said. Inside one safe they found the Oxycodone, while the list of pills and prices was found in Thrawleys wallet.

In another safe the troopers found marijuana and marijuana hash oil, and in a different safe they found a white powder Thrawley identified as crack cocaine, court documents said. They also found glass pipes, razor blades, a mirror and other smoking devices they identified as drug paraphernalia.

Thrawley is being held in the Twin Falls County Jail in lieu of combined $16,000 bond on all charges. Shes set for a preliminary hearing July 22 on the felony charges and Aug. 23 on the misdemeanor counts.
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KIMBERLY  The Kimberly School District has picked the site for a new elementary school.

But Superintendent Luke Schroeder said Friday hes not ready to go public with the exact location until the land sale is finalized. The site will house a new 50,000-square-foot elementary school, slated to open in June 2018.

With rapidly growing student numbers in Kimberly, the new school will help alleviate overcrowding.

Were really wanting this to be ready to be put out to bid in January, Schroeder said. Were really pushing for that timeline.

Voters approved a $14 million bond in May, narrowly clearing the required two-thirds supermajority.

The bond will pay for the new elementary school, upgrades to the existing Kimberly Elementary campus and buying land for a future school site.

Once the new school opens, elementary children will be split up into two schools and attendance zones will be created.

School board chairman Robert Champlin and Kimberly Elementary principal Megan Garner werent available to comment Friday.

Kimberly school enrollment has doubled over the past 20 years. And the district, with more than 1,800 students, grew 4 percent this year.

The existing Kimberly Elementary campus has about 900 students and is one of the largest elementary schools in Idaho.

The new elementary school will cost about $11 million. And about $3 million in bond money will pay for a cosmetic facelift and upgrading safety features at the existing elementary school, slated for completion by January 2019.

School officials started looking at sites for a new school more than nine months ago. They narrowed it down to four options, all north of Center Street.

Their top choice is north of Kimberly and borders the city limit, Schroeder said. The school district will ask the city to annex the land.

The landowner has accepted an offer, but theres not a written sales agreement yet, he said. He expects that will be finalized within a month, and school trustees will vote on whether to approve it.

A nine-member building design committee  which includes school trustees, employees and community members  is looking at design concepts for the new school with the builder and architect.

Right now, what weve developed is a site plan, Schroeder said. It outlines, for example, where the building will be situated on the land, and where the playground, pick up and drop off zones will be.

The group is also considering the shape of the building, such as whether it will be L-shaped or linear. Theyve asked community members for design input.

And to get ideas, committee members have toured new schools in Twin Falls, Wendell and Jerome.

The school district will also need to get rezoning approval from the city, Schroeder said, and the parcel needs to be subdivided. Currently, the land is zoned for agricultural use.

School officials have met with city leaders about the new school project and to find out what kind of site improvements  such as roads, sidewalks and gutters  the city will require.

Earlier on, city officials shared information about land the school district was considering. That led to some potential sites being eliminated.

They knew some improvements wed have to do would be cost (prohibitive), Schroeder said.

Building a new elementary school and renovating the existing campus is part of a 25-year master building plan. Last summer, Kimberly school trustees voted to hire a design-build team: CTA Architects Engineers as the architects and Starr Corp. as the builder.

For Kimberly voters, tax rates are expected to remain steady. Thats because an existing bond for Kimberly High School will be paid off this year, three years sooner than expected.
This article appeared in Fridays Washington Post:

Each summer in the District, everyone in government seems to go on vacationeveryone, that is, except the interns. They come from colleges and cities across the country to work at think tanks, congressional offices and even the White House. They answer phones, mark up memos and go fact-fishing in endless archives. In many ways, they keep the city running over the summer. Most of them do it for no pay.

Meanwhile, employers of college graduates increasingly look not only for college credentials but also for extracurricular experience, so unpaid internships have become the new normal for job- seeking students. Which is fine for young people who can afford to work for nothing. For many students and their families, though, that isnt an option. Unpaid internships become another lever that widens inequality, reduces diversity in the workplace and gives the well-off a leg up in the job market.

The law generally requires for-profit companies, but not nonprofits or government, to pay their interns. Perhaps most egregiously, White House interns leave 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. every spring, summer and fall with padded resumes but empty pocketseven under an administration that prides itself on protecting the most vulnerable among us. The administration should change this.

Some have suggested that internship programs should draw on federal funding through existing student aid programs for those who could not work without help. Charitable contributions could also make a difference. Finding budgetary room for sufficient salaries might be difficult, yet thats no reason not to try.

When asked about its program, the White House declined to comment and instead referred us to two speeches. The addresses, from President Barack Obama to groups of young African and Asian leaders, offer no justification. They note only that the president meets with his interns at the end of their terms to reward them with words of wisdom.

If you had to choose when to be born, Obama said in one of the speeches, now would be the time. Because the world . . . offers more opportunity than any time in human history for more people than any time in human history. The White House and its peers should try harder to make sure that kind of opportunity is available to everyone who wants to serve.
The Nigerian government failed to meet its revenue target for the first quarter of 2016, Reuters reported on Friday.

Months of militant attacks on pipelines and oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta region have crippled production in Nigeria, Africas largest producer of crude.

Up to April we have not been able to meet our revenue target. We have only realized 55 percent. The bulk of this constraint is the problem in the Niger Delta, the countrys Budget Minister, Udoma Udo Udoma told a parliamentary committee.

Exports, according to Voice of America analysts, have fallen from about 2.2 million barrels per day to as low as 990,000 barrels per day, making Angola Africas largest producer of oil, at least for now.

Oil accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria revenue, but the OPEC member has also been hit hard by a prolonged drop in crude prices that has caused the deepest crisis in Africas biggest economy for more than a decade.

President Muhammadu Buhari, elected last year, has accused the previous administration of failing to make savings when crude oil cost more than $100 a barrel.

In May, Buhari signed a 30.6 million dollar budget into law based on an estimated oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day at 38 dollars a barrel.
Hours after a man charged with murder escaped the Broward County Courthouse, Sheriff Scott Israel pointed the finger at his chief funder: the County Commission.

Speaking in front of the TV cameras by the courthouse while the manhunt was underway, Israel argued that the commissioners have failed to adequately providing funding for security.

"We have been battling Broward County for three years now asking for adequate staffing for a courthouse that was understaffed from the day I became sheriff of Broward County...," said Israel, who was first elected in 2012.

Within a few months, a new larger courthouse will open -- and that will be understaffed too, he said.

"The county wants to give me an insufficient amount of funding to staff that building, Israel said. If the county is listening, we need more money. We need more people.

Budget battles between BSO and the county are nothing new but Israels comments have escalated the annual dance they do before reaching an agreement. County officials pushed back at Israel and said his comments are premature while the search for the inmate was still underway and several questions remained as to how Dayonte Resiles escaped.

The inmate remained at large Saturday morning.

Mayor Marty Kiar said that once Resiles is captured and an investigation has been completed, the county will be able to determine how he escaped and take any corrective action.

It may turn out it was insufficient funding -- it may turn out it wasnt, he said Friday. We just dont know right now. How did he get his shackles off while sitting in the jury box? There are so many different factors. Its way too early to be pointing fingers.
@PatriciaMazzei

When Donald Trump planned to come to Miami, his campaign contacted its local finance chairmen, supportive politicians and business people and the county Republican Party chief.

But it apparently failed to invite Miami-Dade County delegates to the Republican National Convention. And they weren't happy about it.

Here's a snippet from our story about skeptical Miami Republicans headed to Cleveland:

Amid rumors that a small but dedicated group of national delegates might try to rebel against Trump in Cleveland, a Trump backer recently telephoned Miami delegates to ensure they didnt plan to stray, several delegates said.

A few days later, Trumps campaign announced its Miami trip. Delegates outside of local party and Trump campaign leadership felt snubbed: They learned about Trumps events on the news No one from the campaign reached out to them, they said, and the delegates were only invited to one of the events after they complained.

Trump ultimately canceled his trip. He plans to return to Miami for a fundraiser after the RNC, on July 26.
On the Sunday after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, when Orlando was still raw in its grief, I struggled to find words of hope for my congregation. My passage for the day was 1 Kings 19, in which Elijahafter experiencing a great wind, earthquake, and firefinally encounters God in a small, quiet voice.

I wanted to write beautiful, comforting words about a burnt-out prophet revived by God. But I found myself standing like Elijah on that mountain, and all I could hear was the wind, splitting and breaking. All I could hear was the thunder of gunshots in a nightclub in Orlando. Thunder spit as more shots rang out a year ago to that day in a Charleston church, as people gathered to pray. And now, as I write, even more thunder: two African American men shot and killed by police officers, and five police officers shot and killed by a sniper.

With so much noise, the beautiful words stuck in my throat, and I was afraid.

In Florida, 49 people were dead and another 53 wounded  many of them Latino/a Americans in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community  shot by a man who believed God was on his side. In response, some Americans called for vengeance, contemplating attacks even on American Muslims, all while believing God was on their side.

And thats why I stood there, stuck in the wind and the fire, unable to move past that first line of our Scripture text.

Our passage began with a reminder that Elijah  dear Elijah who helped the widow and her son, the prophet venerated by our text, the man wracked by pain over the murder of his friends and fellow prophets  has just killed 450 people (prophets of Baal). Murdered them. In cold blood. And he did so believing God was on his side.

I was afraid to think God could be like this.

But as I kept reading, something unexpected happened after Elijah laid down in despair.

An angel of God appeared, encouraging Elijah to get up and eat. Its something that those of us trained in grief counseling know to be essential: he invited Elijah back to daily life. He gave him bread and water. He touched him. He got Elijah moving.

God then spoke directly with Elijah, but Gods voice wasnt in the violent storm; God whispered in a still, small voice. The Common English Bible says, After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet.

This voice told Elijah that he was not alone.

God took this awful thing  that which was not God  and turned it into an opportunity for community and divine encounter, a chance for prophets to arise.

And indeed, as I stood there, on the mountain, searching, I heard God.

I heard American Muslims speaking a message of solidarity with the victims.

I heard thousands of Orlando residents lifting candles in the dark sky in vigil for the victims.

I heard Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda cry, We rise and fall and light from dying embers, remembrance that hope and love last forever.

I heard churches offering grief counseling, food, and free funerals, saying, This is my brother, this is my sister.

I heard the LGBTQ community proudly declare their love and refuse to answer hate with hate.

I heard the father of victim Mercedez Marisol Flores say through tears I forgive the boy, the shooter.

And when I heard that Westboro Baptist Church would be there to protest the funerals of the victims, I also heard that angels would be there. Angels not so different from that angel who visited Elijah all those years ago. People who, dressed as angels, spread out those giant, beautiful wings to shut out the hate.

God is here, after all. For I have heard the quiet sound of love. I have heard the cry of Hallelujah at a funeral. I have heard singing when there was no reason to sing. I have heard a still, small voice that, after the last lash of the whip and the last hammer of the nail, spoke from the cross, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.

I have heard God whisper. And it wasnt in the violence. It wasnt in the wind or the earthquake or the fire. It was in the peace that followed. It was in the love that could not be broken.

And, you know, suddenly I didnt feel so afraid anymore.
Hillary Clinton has released a new ad suggesting that she would be better trusted with handling nuclear weapons than Donald Trump.

"An unsteady world will be in one person's hands," says the narrator, and then cuts to a clip of Trump talking about nuclear weapons and Japan. "More countries with more nuclear weapons. Hillary Clinton knows that's the last thing we need. As Secretary of State she negotiated a reduction in nuclear weapons with Russia and worked with both parties to get it passed."

Here is some background from PolitiFact about what Trump said about nuclear weapons and Japan and his comments on war with nukes.

The ads are part of an eight-figure, television buy in Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, New Hampshire, Iowa, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina.
In a duel for state Senate, two Democrats are battling over bad grades.

Jim Waldman, a former four-term House member from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, sees a bad grade from the National Rifle Association as a selling point. But Parkland lawyer Gary Farmer, his well-funded primary challenger for the newly redrawn District 34 seat, calls it a false advertisement. (Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed is also in the race.)

Farmers campaign sent out emails and fliers claiming Waldman received an A grade from the NRA. You can see how this might be a problem for a Democrat in a heavily Democratic district like Fort Lauderdale.

Waldman says it's not just a problem  it's wrong. He accused Farmer of being the liar, holding up his D from the NRA in 2010 and his voting record on gun legislation in the Florida House.

"Unfortunately, a political committee led by Gary Farmer is spreading lies about my record on guns," Waldman wrote in an email to his campaign subscribers. "Theyre spending tens of thousands of dollars mailing a FALSE claim to voters that I received an A from the NRA."

He continued: "Check the report card. Their claim is an absolute lie."

With both camps taking aim, Allison Graves of PolitiFact Florida stepped into the ring.
Chicago-based author Katherine Ozment says her daughter describes herself as part Jewish, part Christian and part gymnastics.

At 10, shes growing up in a time when close to one-quarter of Americans dont affiliate with a particular religion. Sometimes they dabble in more than one faith; sometimes they refrain altogether.

Nones, so-called because they choose none of the above when asked to define their faith, make up a growing segment of the American public. Ozment, a journalist who lives in Hyde Park with her husband and three children, explores the shift in her new book, Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age (Harper Wave).

I look mostly at the good aspects of religion, Ozment told me. Where it brings people together, how it encourages people to do more volunteer work, how it gives people a sense of belonging and creates these wonderful rituals. If weve left religion behind, how can we get some of that stuff without it?

Ozment was raised Presbyterian in a fairly devout home. Her husband, Michael, was raised Jewish. Both had drifted from religion by the time their children were born, and she found herself questioning whether they needed to fill that spiritual void with something larger than themselves.

One night her son, 8 at the time, asked, What are we? and Ozment blurted out, Were nothing.

My inability to find the words to describe us reflected the fact that my husband and I had never created a cohesive narrative for the life we had chosen to live, she writes. A narrative that would tie us to a like-minded group via a clear moral framework, meaningful rituals and a deep sense of belonging.

***

She spent several years researching and writing Grace Without God, visiting, among others, Catholic church services, a Buddhist retreat and Unitarian gatherings, and interviewing religious leaders, academics and community leaders.

I was trying to answer a single question, she writes. Could my family and I find valid alternatives to all the good that religion gives?

The book offers a fascinating answer  or, more accurately, a series of answers.

Especially in America, we tend to play with our identities, and we have some freedom to change religions, Ozment told me. One thing I found a lot was people picking and choosing little pieces of religions and maybe some new age stuff: You might use mala beads and do yoga, but also do Passover with your family and also like to go hear Christmas music. Were curating spiritualities and choosing the things that are most meaningful to us and resonate the most. Thats really liberating.

But that freedom is not without its drawbacks.

The problem is it keeps us from really joining a community, Ozment said. I try to be really open-minded in my book and not say this is all good. This is a really complicated thing thats happening, and we should take it very seriously.

Once youre locked into a religious structure, people are reminding you always how to live and giving you rituals and giving you these celebrations throughout the year that tell you to atone, she continued. Once you walk away from that, youve got to create those reminders for yourself, and thats a struggle.

At the same time, she feels optimism when she watches her children openly embrace friends of all faiths.

We have friends who are everything: Mormon, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, she said, None of that matters, because we share our values. I love that my kids are growing up with that diversity, that openness, that we can all believe our own thing, as long as were not hurting anybody.

The book feels both timely and timeless, as we see religion woven in and out of so many of the worlds conflicts  and many of us turn to religion for comfort in the face of those same conflicts. Above all, it reads like a clarion call to live more deliberately.

Christians believe that it is God who grants us grace, but I believe we create it for ourselves, through persistence, awareness, and clear-eyed reflection, Ozment writes. Grace comes from knowing that to be alive and conscious in this world is a rare gift. If we are open to it, we can see that there is grace all around us, with or without God.
A 43-year-old man made his initial appearance in Missoula County Justice Court on Friday after being charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor criminal mischief for allegedly stealing guns and other possessions from a Missoula home in August.

Robert Allen Sutton was transported to Missoula after being arrested in Texas on a warrant in late June.

According to a court affidavit, prosecutors say Sutton had broken into a house in the Missoula area on Aug. 22. Residents at the house reported to law enforcement the next day that their basement window had been broken and several possessions were taken, including multiple guns.

A Missoula County sheriffs deputy found blood near the broken window and spattered on the floor inside the house. Samples of the blood and partial fingerprint were recovered.

In February 2016, the Montana State Crime Lab told a detective at the Missoula County Sheriff's Office that the blood sample came back as a DNA match for Robert Sutton, a convicted offender in Texas.

The detective found a report from the day of the robbery that Suttons mother, who lives in Arlee, had called 911 to report that her son was intoxicated and shooting stolen guns, according to the affidavit.

In March, a Missoula Police Department detective found that Sutton had allegedly pawned some of the stolen items at shops in Missoula and Dallas, Texas. The sheriffs detective contacted Sutton, who was in Texas, who said he would cooperate with the investigation. Sutton allegedly asked if the detective was looking for the guns before saying, I just implicated myself.

He told the officer he would try to find out what had happened to the stolen weapons, but the affidavit said the detective was unable to reach him again following that conversation.

In Missoula County Justice Court on Friday, deputy county attorney Mac Bloom asked that Suttons bail be set at $20,000, saying he was concerned about Sutton returning to Texas.

I realize that its a high bail, but I think if hes released were not going to see him again, Bloom said.

Sutton, who had waived extradition to be transported to Montana, said he had gone to Texas because of his children.

Im here to get this behind me, he said.

Justice of the Peace Marie Andersen set his bail at $20,000, appointed the Office of the State Public Defender to represent him, and told Sutton that if he is released, he must stay in Missoula County.
The Missoula Police Department is investigating after an armed man robbed a convenience store early Friday morning.

The incident occurred on the 900 block of North Russell Street around 3:40 a.m. when a man walked into the store with a handgun and demanded money.

Police public information officer Sgt. Travis Welsh said the suspect was described as a 5-feet-8-inch tall white male around the age of 25 with red or blond hair who was dressed in dark clothing.

Welsh said police are working to obtain surveillance footage of the store. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact the Missoula Police Department at 406-552-6300.
Three Republican candidates for statewide office outlined their vision for Montana education during a Friday roundtable in Missoula that focused on expanding local control and increasing funding by growing the private sector.

This tour is about introducing the new executive leadership team for the state, gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte said. He was flanked by state senators Elsie Arntzen, a Billings teacher seeking to become superintendent of public instruction, and Matthew Rosendale, a Glendive rancher and real estate developer running for the state auditor seat.

Gianforte also acknowledged current Attorney General Tim Fox and secretary of state candidate Corey Stapleton, who werent at the event but are the remaining two members of the Republican ticket for statewide offices. In addition to their primary duties, the people who hold those five top executive posts sit on the Land Board, managing more than 5 million acres of trust land and mineral rights that generate revenue for K-12 schools.

In broad-brush pitches, the candidates connected core themes of their individual campaigns to education.

Rosendale highlighted his real estate career, saying he could bring an expertise and professionalism to the land board that would yield better returns for schools.

Thats what I did and how I made a living for several years, he said. I think that possibly that would be some good experience to have sitting at the table.

Gianforte connected education funding to his vision for deregulating business and promoting natural resource development as a way to expand the states economy.

Without the private sector, there is no tax base to pay for whatever we want for our communities, he said.

Arntzen argued that the Democrat-led Office of Public Instruction and some state rules tie the hands of local school boards from spending the money they do have. She said the same government overreach diminishes revenues from state trust lands that support schools.

Micromanaging has occurred too long in this office, she said. Innovation starts here, at the local level.

All three candidates argued that the state had focused too much on enforcing rules and not enough on working collaboratively with the people who want to use state lands for business, such as ranchers or mining developers. Fixing that, they said would bring in more money for schools.

Likewise, Gianforte argued that the state probably asks too many questions of schools, adding administrative demands and reporting requirements that take away resources from classrooms.

A handful of people came to pose questions of the candidates, primarily teachers and school administrators from elementary through college.

Many described barriers getting administrative or state permission to try new teaching models and all said inadequate funding was their biggest challenge, whether paying for enough classroom supplies, developing a technology-centric mode of teaching or growing their department enough to meet the demands of industries looking to hire their graduates.

The best thing you could do for education in Montana is to give us more money, Roch Turner, workforce programs coordinator at Bitterroot College, said. I know everybody says that, but I take issue with the fact I have to find private donors because I dont have state funds supporting programs.

He said too many people, particularly private sector leaders, oppose public education spending when they should instead support those investments in schools, noting the benefits to businesses of having smart, able workers.

Most of us are products of public education, Turner said.
When University of Montana student Rob Miller woke up to a call from a strange number one morning in September, he didnt think there was any reason to be nervous.

But when he answered, an FBI agent told Miller about something called school taxes and how he had never paid them. The agent called it evasion and said it was punishable by jail time. There was a criminal investigation underway, and 30 students at the University of Montana were being prosecuted.

Miller was one of those students and if wanted to resolve the issue, hed have to pay some fines  immediately.

Or maybe you would rather lose everything youve worked for at the university and become a criminal, the agent said to Miller. Local officers were on call and could be sent to Millers home at any minute.

It wasnt until Miller had already wired $3,800 through a MoneyGram kiosk in Walmart that he realized there was never an FBI agent waiting to pick it up. There were never any police coming to arrest Miller, and school taxes dont exist.

Miller is not alone.

Matthew Dale at the Montana Office of Consumer Protection said this particular scam has been unusually common all year. Dale said he received peak reports in the spring, but said hes had a huge number of calls about it again within the last two weeks.

The caller claims to be with the FBI or IRS  in many cases the number comes up on caller ID as an actual FBI offices number  and says huge fines need to be paid right away.

Ive been surprised to see the IRS scam trickle into the summer, Dale said. The IRS scam is the most commonly reported call. I think its probably because everyone is afraid of the IRS.

Miller was certainly afraid when he Googled the number that appeared on his phone and it turned out to be Missoulas FBI office. Miller said the caller knew his old address and told him the FBI had tried and failed to reach him there via mail.

The caller stayed on the phone with Miller for nearly six hours that day, while Miller missed all his classes and raised his credit card limit in order to get more cash. Miller said every time he hesitated to do something or became skeptical, the caller would yell at him and threaten to call the police.

At the time I was so flustered and convinced I was going to jail, Miller said.

After Miller wired $3,800 to someone named Kevin Smith, the caller asked him to send more to cover legal fees.

Then I realized they were just trying to take all the money I had, Miller said. I was so down on myself for being such an idiot. That was the only thing I could think about for the next week.

But Miller is a successful student in business at UM. Hell be a senior next year. And other highly educated people like him have fallen for the same, seemingly obvious scam.

Ashleigh Bailey, another soon-to-be senior at UM, said she received a phone call last summer from the Bozeman FBIs number. The caller said she owed $7,000 to the IRS for evading school taxes. If she didnt pay up, the caller said she would go to jail.

Bailey said the caller had a thick accent that she could hardly understand, but she definitely heard him say FBI and taxes, and those words didnt sound pleasant. Then she accidentally hung up. She quickly redialed the number and profusely apologized for hanging up on the FBI.

I was feaking out, Bailey said. Then the actual FBI told me it must have been a scam because real law enforcement would never call and ask for money like that. But yeah, I did think it was real.

A third-year English major at UM, Danica Wassmann received the same call from the Bozeman FBIs number in March. But when she said she didnt have enough money to pay the fines, the caller said he could create a payment plan just for her.

When Wassmann asked if she could call her mom and straighten things out, the caller said she was over 18 and therefore had to deal with this issue on her own. He said she was under federal investigation and couldnt tell anyone about the call until her fines were paid.

I thought about texting someone while on the phone but I figured if this is the FBI, they can read my texts, Wassmann said. I really thought they were watching my every move. I was so afraid of going to jail. So all rational and logic shut off and I just thought, Just do what this person says and get it over with.

Wassmann wired $2,600 to people named David Manuel and Kentrell Dcousa that day. That was all the money she had.

It wasnt until the caller, after being on the phone all day, hung up on Wassmann that she redialed the number and heard the Bozeman FBIs voicemail, which says:

If you have received a phone call from this number, 406-994-9927, please disregard that phone call as most likely it is a scheme being perpetrated by individuals overseas pretending to be FBI agents.

Wassmann said she threw her phone to the ground and cried. She called the police but there was nothing they could do. Wassmann said she feels traumatized by the experience.

FBI special agent Michael Hensle said this scam has been happening nationwide for years. Hensle said the scam has a decently high success rate because the scammers are smart. They know what to say to get people to make bad choices.

People are just worried when they hear things like theyre going to be arrested, Hense said. They are put in a state of complete fear.

In a 2009 study conducted by the University of Exeters School of Psychology, psychologists who interviewed victims of scams found that scammers purposely provoke basic human desires, such as not wanting to be arrested, to get a response.

According to the study, scammers threaten victims with something bad, such as going to jail, and then create what is called a phantom fixation for the victims by giving them some sort of quick and easy way out of trouble, such as paying huge sums of money immediately.

This fixation, combined with the urgency of the matter, leads victims to become overly motivated to solve the problem and causes distortions in decision-making, the study found.

The study found that scammers frequently pretend to bend the rules or cut the victim a deal, a special payment plan in Wassmanns case and a 90 percent refund in Millers. And because human inclination is to reciprocate the favor, most victims will wire money to the scammers after a deal has been made.

After victims realize they have fallen for a scam, the study found they are often so embarrassed that they wont report it to the police or tell their family members about it.

Victims not only suffer a financial loss, but also a loss of self-esteem because they blame themselves for having been so 'stupid' to fall for the scam, the study reads. Some of the victims we interviewed appeared to have been seriously damaged by their experience.

On July 5, the FBI sent out a press release that warned people to beware of scammers claiming to be with the IRS and FBI and targeting Montanans.

Be advised that federal agencies do not call or email individuals threatening them or demanding that they send money, the press release said. Scammers often spoof caller ID information, and these phone calls are fraudulent even if they appear to be coming from a federal agencys legitimate phone number. Recipients should hang up immediately and report the call.

Miller said he has learned his lesson and is just trying to move on.
For the third time in four years, Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Matt Vincent is getting money from the countys industrial tax district to prop up spending and avoid tax increases.

Vincent persuaded the board overseeing the tax-increment financing district (TIFID) to give $2.5 million this fiscal year with local government getting about $1.37 million and the state and local schools getting about $1.16 million.

Vincent appeared before the board July 8 asking for the money, and he told commissioners Wednesday night the discussion was very robust. The agenda for the meeting did not mention the request  it simply said allocation  and its sudden inclusion in his budget plans surprised some commissioners.

Kristen Rosa, administrator for the TIFID, said Thursday that the agendas she posts probably need to be more descriptive about items to be discussed. That had been brought to my attention, she said.

Regardless, Vincent said the TIFID had far more money than it needed for current projects and the county could use the money to help offset a nearly $2 million revenue shortfall without raising taxes.

Yes, this is a tax-increment district focused on spurring economic development through infrastructure improvements, which they have done a very good job of  but at the end of the day these are taxpayer dollars, he told the council.

Todd Johnston, who chaired the last TIFID board meeting, said members agreed to the request after discussing its primary mission of economic development. They also talked about the possibility of automatic payments to the county every year but rejected that idea.

Rosa said even after the $2.5 million transfer, the TIFID would still have plenty of money available to spend on infrastructure and other steps to attract more industries and businesses to the county and its Montana Connections business park.

The purpose of tax-increment districts is to capture added property tax revenue resulting from new developments in a specific area so the money can be reinvested for more development in that area. The county has two other TIFs  one for Uptown and one for a section of east Butte  and is creating another that would include the MSE facilities just south of town.

Vincent, who is seeking a second four-year term as chief executive this year, got approval to tap nearly $1 million from the fund to supplement his first county budget in 2013 and did so again in the budget approved last year.

Those moves actually took nearly $2 million from the TIFID each time because the state and schools got close to the same amount. For each dollar residents pay in property taxes for general purposes, about 53 cents goes to county government, and most of the rest goes to the state and local schools.

County Budget Director Danette Gleason said the TIFID paid off almost $6 million in bonding debt last year before it was due, and it still had just over $16 million in total cash. It also expects to take in another $4 million in revenue from tax increments over the next year.

Even subtracting the $2.5 million being taken out, it should still get about $1.5 million in new revenue over the next 12 months and have about $17.5 million in cash, Gleason said.

The TIFID Board is autonomous, meaning its decision to give the county and other taxing units another $2.5 million this year does not need council approval.

Vincent sent an email to its board members the day before its July 8 meeting making a case for the money.

He said the county was experiencing some grave challenges in this years budget that included a drop of $1.2 million in gross proceeds taxes, a $385,000 property tax hit because of successful appeals to last years state reassessment, and $375,000 in other revenue reductions.

He said the county was already committed to giving 1.5-percent pay increases to employees and $30 more per month toward health benefits. They added up to $572,000  money that could not be cut because the increases were locked in through contracts with unions.

Residents already face an increase in sewer rates this year, he noted. It is the third year of increases commissioners approved in 2014 and will raise residential bills an average of $9 this year.

Vincent said residents also are looking at a potential water rate increase in the coming years, and voters have just approved additional levies to construct a water park and cover its annual maintenance costs.

His budget plan includes cost-saving measures, he said, including cuts to department operating budgets and not filling three vacant county positions. It also would reduce reserves by about $500,000.

Given all that, he said in his email, I do not think it is reasonable or fair to consider tax increases to cover the shortfalls, particularly when we have far more revenue in the TIFID than we currently have a need for in projects.

He echoed those sentiments before commissioners and said such allotments had become standard procedure for some TIF districts elsewhere in Montana.

Johnston, vice chairman of the TIFID board, said members discussed last week how it should fulfill its mission for providing infrastructure and economic development in the tax district. It has made key road, bridge and other infrastructure improvements, but Rosa said more is needed, including potable water and hooking into a fiber optic network.

Johnston said the discussion included whether to just make automatic contributions to county government, but he personally opposed that, and it was rejected. If it was to be considered again, it should be done each year, he said.

New projects can come into our plans, and income can go down, he said.

Although some commissioners did not know details of the TIFID allotment until Wednesday night, one of them  Jim Fisher  said he had no problem with the move, given the districts surplus. Fisher was among four people who ran for chief executive this year but did not advance past the primary.

Commissioner Dave Palmer, who did advance and will face Vincent in November, said he had not discussed the move with Vincent but also was OK with it.

I would hate to see it become a habit forming, because the money is set out there for a reason. But they have done a good job managing the money, he said, adding that it would help prevent tax increases this year.
DEER LODGE  City and county officials are questioning whether moving the Title and Registration Bureau from Deer Lodge will save the state money or improve customer service.

State officials announced recently that to cut costs and improve efficiency, the bureau office will close in November, sending the 37 jobs to Helena.

This week local officials met with Travis Brazill, a commercial real estate agent with Green & Green Realty in Helena, and 5K Cattle Co. owners Debra and Jason Carroll of Butte, who own the building in Deer Lodge which currently houses the bureau.

Debra Carroll said they want to clarify their position and asked Brazill, who works with state leases, to represent them in developing a proposal to present to the Department of Justice and the Department of Administration.

Carroll said they met with department officials in March to discuss maintenance and upgrades to the building that included the roof and plumbing.

I thought we were all in agreement at that time, and I have a list of the items we all agreed on, she said. Weve always done whatever they asked us to do.

Brazill presented figures from the Department of Administration website demonstrating that keeping the bureau in Deer Lodge saves the most money.

The bureau is in an 11,480-square-foot office building with an additional 3,200 square feet of storage at 221 Buckskin Rd. in Deer Lodge with a five-year renewable lease agreement.

Sarah Garcia, administrator of the Department of Motor Vehicles, said the space was too large for 37 employees since the state requires 300 square feet per employee. There is no statute to this effect, but is a recommendation. The Deer Lodge office figures out at 310 square feet per employee.

The present lease with 5K Cattle Co. costs the state $9 per square foot for office space, or $103,320 per year, and $4.50 per square foot for storage, or $14,400 per year.

5K Cattle Co. pays the traditional expenses of insurance, taxes, maintenance and snow removal. Records show there has been no increase in the rent since 2000.

Brazill explained this is an old lease because the state now prefers a full gross lease where, in addition to traditional expenses associated with the tenants needs, the owner also pays all utilities -- power, water, sewer, garbage fees, and janitorial services.

To compensate for the increased costs of a full gross lease, 5K Cattle Co. proposed a rent increase to $15 per square foot for office space, or $172,200 per year, with storage remaining the same at $4.50 per square foot, or $14,400 annually. This would bring the cost to $186,600 annually.

Based on the Department of Administration website information, Brazill estimated that a similar building meeting the office space needs for the bureau with a full gross lease would cost the state $16 to $18 per square foot in Helena, or $183,680 to $206,640 annually.

He said the average state lease rate for office space in Helena is $16.68 per square foot, a total of $191,484 compared to the $172,200 proposed by 5K Cattle Co., an annual cost savings of $19,284 or $96,420 over the term of the proposed five-year lease.

Storage space is leased in Helena for an average cost of $7.58 per square foot, according to the Department of Administration. The 5K Cattle Co. proposal is $4.50 per square foot for a total of $14,400 and a savings of $9,856 per year, or $49,280 for the term of the lease.

The 5K Cattle Co. lease proposal would potentially save the state $145,700 over the term of the lease, based on the average lease rate the state pays for like space in Helena.

In addition to cost savings, at the present location, the parking area accommodates all those using the bureau services and is easily accessible.

The employees have been offered their jobs in Helena, but they must drive the 125-mile round-trip commute each day or move to the Helena area. The cost of commuting, hazards of driving through the Little Blackfoot River canyon and over MacDonald Pass in the winter, the additional two hours a day away from family, and other issues have employees concerned.

Mayor Zane Cozby said he and the city council have worked hard to develop a plan for growth in Deer Lodge and the decision to move the bureau will have a devastating impact on the city, schools, small businesses and families.

This will directly affect each and every taxpayer in the state, Cozby said, referring to the possibility of people seeking unemployment, Medicaid or housing assistance.

The Title and Registration Bureau has been in Deer Lodge since its inception in 1902 when the state began to issue license tags.
Youre looking ahead, like you want to get to that future, Clarence Cook said. You just have to be willing to put in the work.
Legatus Pulling Up Stakes in Ave Maria, Moving Back to Michigan

Details Published on Saturday, 16 July 2016 18:43

Tom Monaghan moved his Legatus organization to southwest Florida in 2005 as part of his focus on initiatives in the region including the town of Ave Maria, Ave Maria University and the Ave Maria School of Law. Now, he's moving Legatus back to its original home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be closer to where Mr. Monaghan is spending more of his time.

The announcement of the move also coincides with the appointment of a new executive director for the 29-year-old organization, Stephen Henley (right).

Mr. Monaghan said in a statement on the Legatus website that he is personally paying the expense of moving the headquarters of the organization of Catholic executives that he founded 29 years ago. "With the transition in leadership, I plan to work closely with Stephen in both mentoring him as well as taking an active role in the continued growth of Legatus," Mr. Monaghan said. "It seemed important for both the executive director and the headquarters to be close to where I am."

The relocation back to Michigan is another in a series of moves by Mr. Monaghan that seem to be gradually disengaging him from the town he helped found and in which he retains a 50-percent interest with the Barron Collier Cos. He is rarely seen in town these days, apparently plays no role in the day-to-day operation of Ave Maria University and has closed a museum in the town center dedicated to the history of his career in business as well as the founding of Ave Maria University and the town.

Mr. Monaghan founded Legatus in 1987, when he still owned Domino's Pizza and the Detroit Tigers. He moved the Legatus headquarters to Naples, FL, in 2005, shortly after Ave Maria University opened its temporary campus in Naples and while planning was underway for the town of Ave Maria. When the town opened, Legatus established its headquarters in the Ave Maria town center in early 2008, becoming one of the first commercial real estate tenants.

Mr. Henley, the new executive director, is a Marine Corps veteran and graduate of Ave Maria University who has worked for the last three years as a regional director for Legatus, which has 5,000 members in 90 different chapters. Almost all chapters are in the United States, although there is one in Vancouver, Canada, and one in Dublin, Ireland.

He replaces John Hunt, who led Legatus for eight years and will take on a new role as "ambassador at large," in which he will "continue to visit and support chapters across the country as well as represent Legatus at key functions," according to the website statement.

There are seven employees at the Legatus headquarters staff in Ave Maria. The statement on the website says Mr. Monaghan and Legatus management are working with them to "ease the burden of the relocation to Michigan or personal transition if a relocation is not possible."

For more:

Click here for story on Legatus site

Click here for October, 2015 column by Ave Herald Editor Patricia Sette "Where Have You Gone Tom Monaghan"
MISSOULA  Three Republican candidates for statewide office outlined their vision for Montana education during a Friday roundtable here that focused on expanding local control and increasing funding by growing the private sector.

This tour is about introducing the new executive leadership team for the state, gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte said, flanked by state senators Elsie Arntzen, a Billings teacher seeking to become superintendent of public instruction, and Matthew Rosendale, a Glendive rancher and real estate developer running for the state auditor seat.

Gianforte also acknowledged current Attorney General Tim Fox and secretary of state candidate Corey Stapleton who werent at the event but are the remaining two members of the Republican ticket for statewide offices. In addition to their primary duties, the people who hold those five top executive posts sit on the Land Board, managing more than 5 million acres of trust land and mineral rights that generate revenue for K-12 schools.

In broad-brush pitches, the candidates connected core themes of their individual campaigns to education.

Rosendale highlighted his real estate career, saying he could bring an expertise and professionalism to the land board that would yield better returns for schools.

Thats what I did and how I made a living for several years, he said. I think that possibly that would be some good experience to have sitting at the table.

Gianforte connected education funding to his vision for deregulating business and promoting natural resource development as a way to expand the states economy.

Without the private sector, there is no tax base to pay for whatever we want for our communities, he said.

Arntzen argued that the Democrat-led Office of Public Instruction and some state rules tie the hands of local school boards from spending the money they do have. She said the same government overreach diminishes revenues from state trust lands that support schools.

Micromanaging has occurred too long in this office, she said. Innovation starts here, at the local level.

All three candidates argued that the state had focused too much on enforcing rules and not enough on working collaboratively with the people who want to use state lands for business, such as ranchers or mining developers. Fixing that, they said, would bring in more money for schools.

Likewise, Gianforte argued that the state probably asks too many questions of schools, adding administrative demands and reporting requirements that take away resources from classrooms.

A handful of people came to pose questions of the candidates, primarily teachers and school administrators from elementary through college.

Many described barriers getting administrative or state permission to try new teaching models, and all said inadequate funding was their biggest challenge, whether paying for enough classroom supplies, developing a technology-centric mode of teaching, or growing their department enough to meet the demands of industries looking to hire their graduates.

The best thing you could do for education in Montana is to give us more money, Roch Turner, workforce programs coordinator at Bitterroot College, said. I know everybody says that, but I take issue with the fact I have to find private donors because I dont have state funds supporting programs.

He said too many people, particularly private sector leaders, oppose public education spending when they should instead support those investments in schools, noting the benefits to businesses of having smart, able workers.

Most of us are products of public education, Turner said.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach in Muscatine County is hosting a farmland leasing meeting on Aug. 19 at 1 p.m., at the ISU Extension and Outreach Muscatine County Office, 1514 Isett Ave.

The annual meeting is offered to address questions that land owners, tenants or other interested individuals have about leasing farmland.

Topics will include land values and cash rent trends, cost of production, methods for determining a rental rate, legislative updates regarding leases and communicating with tenants or landlords.

More than half of Iowas farmland is rented, and strong landlord/tenant relationships are important for the long-term viability of Iowas valuable farmland, said Alejandro Plastina, assistant professor of economics and extension economist at Iowa State University. Cash rent values across the state of Iowa have declined for the third consecutive year, dropping by 6.5 percent from 2015. Every crop reporting district in the state saw a decline in rental prices.

The two and a half hour workshop is designed to assist landowners, farm tenants and other agri-business professionals with current issues related to farmland ownership, management and leasing arrangements. Attendees will gain a better understanding of current cash rental rate surveys and factors driving next years rents such as market trends and input costs.

Each registrant will receive a 100-page workbook with resources regarding land leasing agreements such as surveys, sample written lease agreements and termination forms, along with many other publications.

Registration is $25 per individual or $40 per couple and includes materials. Preregistration is encouraged as an additional $5 fee will be added if registering less than two calendar days before the meeting date. To register contact the ISU Extension and Outreach Muscatine County office at 563-263-5701 or you can register online.

The leasing meetings being held across Iowa are facilitated by farm management specialists with ISU Extension and Outreach.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said Thursday that the deadline for fall internships for college-age Iowans has been extended. Applications will now be accepted through Aug. 1.

Internships are available in Grassleys Washington, D.C., office as well as his offices in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Sioux City and Waterloo. The semester-long internships will run from Aug. 22 through Dec. 16.

Interns assist staff members with administrative, legislative and communications work, including that of Grassleys staff on the Committee on the Judiciary, where he serves as chairman. An internship allows for a wide range of learning experience and exposure for students on Capitol Hill.

Grassley said he encourages young Iowans who are interested in learning more about the government to apply. Interning in a congressional office is a good way for college students and new graduates to learn more about the legislative branch of the federal government while gaining valuable experience. Internships in my offices are available to students in all areas of study, Grassley said.

Application forms are available on Grassleys website and in Grassleys offices in Iowa. Due to security-related delays in postal mail delivery to U.S. Senate office buildings, internship applications should be emailed to intern_applications@grassley.senate.gov or faxed to 202-224-5136. For additional information, email molly_foley@grassley.senate.gov or call 202-224-3744.
Federal authorities say an investigation into the theft this summer of several semitrailers loaded with frozen beef from Nebraska has led to arrests and uncovered a multimillion-dollar theft ring targeting meatpacking plants in six Midwestern states. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported Tuesday that the discovery of the Miami-based theft ring began in June when several semitrailers loaded with nearly $1 million in frozen beef were stolen near the Nebraska cities of Lincoln and Grand Island. An investigation determined that beef and pork packaging plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin were being targeted. On Oct. 20, investigators arrested three Miami men on suspicion of transporting stolen goods and money laundering.
Next MD Issue - The Return of Kevin Levrone

Written by Steve Blechman

15 July 2016

Next MD Issue - The Return of Kevin Levrone

Kevin Levrone has an extraordinary vision that is sure to stir things up at this years Olympia. Kevin is staging the most exciting comeback in the 51-year history of the event, with the return of the IFBB Hall of Fame legend, who will compete at this years Olympia on September 17th, when Kevin will be 51. The revelation is hardly a surprise coming from four-time Mr. Olympia runner-up Kevin Levrone, who is no ordinary bodybuilder. Kevin says Its an honor to be on the cover of Muscular Development and represent the past as well as inspire the present.

Kevins timing is excellent, and his appearance at this years Mr. Olympia will complement the positive changes that the industry has taken to reshape bodybuilding. Just as more streamlined physiques are being increasingly rewarded over raw mass, and bodybuilders have been told by Arnold to suck in their guts and brush up on their posing, along comes Kevin Levrone who masterfully combines billowing muscularity and aesthetics, flowing, powerful lines and commanding presentation bringing together the elements of a classic physique.

Kevin has his sights set on bringing home the Sandow. As he tells MD this month, My mind is already at the finish line waiting for my body to catch up. Perhaps most importantly, he has a positive mental attitude, declaring, No matter what people say and what you might be up against, you can still overcome all obstacles if you believe.

With his positive mindset about winning and all that he brings to the stage, if anyone can do it, Kevin Levrone can. In Kevins exclusive interview with MD, Flexing Like Its 1999. He reveals to Peter McGough his reasons for returning, his thoughts on current competitors and how he aims to win the 2016 Sandow.

Some veteran fans and athletes feel that the glory days of bodybuilding were anywhere from the 1960s to the early 2000s. But you could also argue that bodybuilding has improved and evolved to keep up with newer demands, with the introduction of the 212 division for the lighter men and the Classic Physique division to showcase superior aesthetics over raw mass. In Making Bodybuilding Great Again! Industry legends and experts weigh in on how we can continue to regain the magic and enthusiasm.

Muscular Development covers the bodybuilding industry better than anyone else on the planet, because we educate readers on how to build muscle, burn fat and enhance performance through all means possible. Chemical enhancement is no chump-change player in your bodybuilding goals. This month we have a feature article entitled: The Real Dope: 37 Scientific Facts on Chemical Enhancement That You Need to Know. We give you the cold, hard truth cutting-edge research and authoritative information about supplementation thats scientifically sound. Knowledge is power, and armed with the truth, our readers can decide how far they want to take their bodybuilding endeavors. The Real Dope is essential information on chemical enhancement that every bodybuilder should know.

Gimmick training systems are a dime a dozen, and most of them are nothing more than a few random techniques from other systems mashed together and branded a catchy name. A few training systems, such as John Meadows Mountain Dog Training, have built a large following and have earned reputations as being highly effective. In Get Massive With Mountain Dog Training! John Meadows Revolutionary System for Building Muscle. Meadows explains why his training works so well and why thousands of bodybuilders swear by it.

Muscular Development is your number-one source for building muscle, and for the latest research and best science to enable you to train smart and effectively. Our team of physicians, industry experts and research scientists has these reports on improving performance this month:

Fat Attack - Low-Carb Dinner Best Prep for Early Morning Workouts

Nutrition Performance - Boost Muscle Size and Prevent Loss of Hard-earned Muscle Mass With Capsaicin

Supplement Performance - Supplementation With Ketones

Muscle Growth Update - This Is Your Brain On Juice!

The M.A.X. Muscle Plan - Are Drop Sets a Beneficial Technique for Enhancing Muscle Growth?

Testosterone - Testosterone Responses In Aging Muscle

Bodybuilding Science - Modified Kaatsu Training for Enhanced Size and Strength

The rest of the book is packed to the binder as usual making MD your one-stop, most authoritative source for optimizing muscular development with the latest cutting-edge research on training, nutrition, fat loss, performance-enhancing drugs, muscle growth and bodybuilding science and exclusive information from the industry experts, insiders and bodybuilding legends who make it all happen. See you next month!



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WASHINGTON (AP)  Antarctica's ozone hole finally is starting to heal, a new study finds.

In a triumph of international cooperation over a man-made environmental problem, research from the United States and the United Kingdom shows that the September-October ozone hole is getting smaller and forming later in the year. And the study in Thursday's journal Science also shows other indications that the ozone layer is improving after it was being eaten away by chemicals in aerosols and refrigerants. Ozone is a combination of three oxygen atoms; high in the atmosphere, it shields Earth from ultraviolet rays.

The hole has shrunk by about 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) in the key month of September since the year 2000  a decline of about one-fifth, the study found. That difference is more than six times larger than the state of Texas. It also is taking about 10 days longer to reach its largest size, according to the study.

The hole won't be completely closed until mid-century, but the healing is appearing earlier than scientists expected, said study lead author Susan Solomon of MIT.

"It isn't just that the patient is in remission," Solomon said. "He's actually starting to get better. The patient got very sick in the '80s when we were pumping all that chlorine" into the atmosphere.

"I think it's a tremendous cause for hope" for fixing other environment problems, such as man-made climate change, said Solomon, who led two U.S. Antarctic expeditions to measure the ozone layer in the 1980s and has also been a leader in studying global warming.

In the 1970s, scientists suggested that Earth's ozone layer  about 6 to 30 miles high (10 to 50 kilometers) in the stratosphere  was thinning because of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons from aerosols and refrigerants.

Those chemicals would break down into chlorine that attacked ozone, which at that level protects people from ultraviolet rays linked to skin cancer. Then in early 1980s, a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica started appearing in October  and then, September and October  making the problem more urgent. Ozone thinned elsewhere on Earth and already has begun healing in the middle section of the planet, but the Antarctic ozone hole was the gaping wound that grabbed the world's attention.

The Montreal Protocol , a 1987 global treaty to phase out many of the ozone-depleting chemicals, led companies to develop new products that didn't eat away at the ozone layer. Still, scientists said it would take time before the problem would heal. Now it is actually getting better, not just stabilizing, based on new observations using different methods to measure the ozone layer, Solomon said.

"There is a sense of 'mission accomplished,'" emailed University of California San Diego's Mario Molina, who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for chemistry for his characterization of the ozone problem. He praised the study, in which he played no part.

Last October threw a big scare into scientists who had been tracking the Antarctic. After years of slow decline, the ozone hole blew up to its biggest size ever.

"It was 'Oh my God, how could there be this record large ozone hole'?' Solomon said. "It was a huge setback."

But the increase was sudden, which told Solomon something else was happening. She determined that small particles in the air from the Calbuco volcano eruption were mostly at fault.

"The paper is quite convincing. To me at least it resolves the mystery of the 2015 Antarctic ozone hole," University of Maryland atmospheric scientist Ross Salawitch, who wasn't part of the research, wrote in an email. "So, 28 years after the Montreal Protocol was agreed upon, we have strong evidence that the ozone hole is getting smaller. I'd say this is a remarkable achievement, particularly in the instant gratification world in which we live."
SEOUL, South Korea  Angry residents in a rural South Korean town threw eggs and water bottles at the prime minister and blocked him for more than six hours Friday to protest a plan to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in their neighborhood.

Earlier this week, South Korea announced that the missile system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, will be placed in the southeastern farming town of Seongju by the end of next year to better cope with North Korean threats. Seongju residents launched protests, saying they fear possible health hazards from the missile system.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, accompanied by the defense minister and others, visited Seongju to try to explain the decision to residents but was immediately disrupted by jeers.

Some hurled eggs and water bottles, shouting We oppose (the THAAD deployment) with our lives, according to TV footage.

A senior police officer was injured on his forehead. Hwang didnt appear to be directly hit by any objects as security guards and aides used umbrellas and bags to protect him. But his suit jacket was tainted by eggs and he evacuated to a town hall office.

When he and the others came out of the building into a minibus, they were surrounded by hundreds of protesters, some using tractors. Hwang was held in the bus for more than six hours.

South Korean officials have dismissed as groundless a belief that THAAD radar systems emit electromagnetic waves that can cause health problems. Defense officials say the U.S. system is harmless if people stay at least 100 meters (yards) away from it.

Seongju residents criticized the government for unilaterally deciding on the deployment without consulting them.

About 200 Seongju residents made a protest visit to Seouls Defense Ministry on Wednesday, and some wrote letters of complaint in blood. A group of 13 local leaders went on a hunger strike.

Defense Minister Han Min Koo told residents Wednesday he would personally stand in front of the radars to prove they arent harmful.

The planned missile deployment drew an angry response from North Korea and China. North Korea has threatened unspecified physical measures in retaliation while China suspects the system would help U.S. radars track its missiles. Russia also opposes the deployment.

U.S. and South Korean officials have said the THAAD system only targets North Korea, not China or anyone else.

Seoul and Washington began their formal discussions on the THAAD deployment after North Korea conducted a fourth nuclear test and carried about a long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. American-led U.N. troops fought alongside South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War while China assisted North Korea.
AMERICAN CANYON  Jamieson Ranch Vineyards Light Horse is more than just a label for wine. It is a metaphor for the winerys unique offering  an animal therapy program that has brought light, even magic into the lives of wine lovers, military veterans and children with disabilities.

Visiting Jamieson Ranch, perhaps the Napa Valleys southernmost winery located just north of American Canyon, means getting the chance to meet and pet three miniature horses: Molly, Sweet Jane and Winnie the Pooh.

The three horses, all rescued from bad homes, are certified therapy animals that shook off the darkness of their early lives to emit a calm, soothing energy that has produced transformational moments for both children and adults.

Their accomplishments include making the catatonic talk and encouraging autistic children to hug.

The horses are at Jamieson Ranch because the owner and president, Bill Leigon, read about someone using miniature horses outside Chicago as therapy animals.

Leigon also had seen with his own eyes how horses helped his son, Christopher, who is autistic, while he was growing up.

I thought, OK, this is cool, were going to do this, said Leigon from his winery office overlooking acres of grape vines and the blonde hills of Jameson Canyon.

He established the Light Horse Foundation, of which the minis, as the horses are commonly known, became a part.

A mutual acquaintance introduced Leigon to Brandy Lipsey, the handler for the three horses Molly, Sweet Jane and Winnie the Pooh.

Bill is very big on giving back to the community, said Lipsey. He believes in that. Because of the winerys ranch heritage, he thought it would be good to have miniature horses.

Lipsey was not a specialist in certified therapy minis when they began the program. She did know firsthand about certified therapy animals because her dog, Magnum, a 210-pound English Mastiff, had become one and often visited Vallejos PACE program, an adult day care facility.

She already had Winnie, whom she rescued nearly 20 years ago. But he was not yet a therapy animal, just a longtime part of her farm in Vacaville.

Lipsey knew Winnie, now 27 and blind in one eye, would make an ideal therapy animal due to his unbelievably calm demeanor.

Our little guy, Winnie, Ive actually had people poke him, said Lipsey. Theyre like, Is he real?

Leigon said hes seen Winnie surrounded by clamoring children, little hands all over him, and hes going to sleep.

Its amazing, said Leigon. People light up when they see them. So for me thats what Light Horse is about. Its about bringing light into peoples lives.

From rescue to therapy

Molly and Sweet Jane joined Winnie after Lipsey contacted Angels for Minis Miniature Horse Rescue in Walnut Creek.

She visited the animal rescue organization planning to get just one additional animal for the Light Horse program.

But once she got there, she saw how attached Molly was to Sweet Jane and decided she couldnt separate them by rescuing only one.

Both horses were in need of help and a good home.

They had rot and mold all over them, said Lipsey of Molly and Sweet Jane. They were a mess when we got them.

Angels for Minis would not tell her what had happened to the horses, owing to the confidentiality agreement the organization has with those who turn over the animals.

Their behavior, however, made it clear to Lipsey that they had been abused.

She had to set up cones outside her barn to remind her to walk slowly and quietly before going in to check on Molly. Otherwise, if she entered abruptly, Molly would bolt in the opposite direction and slam herself into the wall out of fear.

Things were different with Sweet Jane, who would get up on her back legs and attack me, said Lipsey. She wasnt afraid. She was downright pissed.

Touching the horses was out of the question at first. But over time, with lots of caring and love, and eventual training provided by Napas LAPS (Loving Animals Providing Smiles), Molly and Sweet Jane were ready to join Winnie at Jamieson Ranch.

When Lipsey first brought the horses to the winery on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons, she kept them outside for visitors to pet.

But then the Jamieson Ranch staff started to complain to Lipsey, telling her they needed therapy as well.

So Lipsey began bringing them inside the three-story winery. The change of scenery proved helpful because it got the horses familiar and comfortable with being indoors and surrounded by lots of noise. They even got adept at riding in elevators so they could reach the tasting room on the second floor.

You kinda get used to seeing a horse come out of the elevator here, Leigon said with a laugh.

From there, and with encouragement from Leigon, Lipsey began taking the horses out into the community, to schools and hospitals throughout the Bay Area as well as the Napa Valley.

Miracle workers

It was at the Veterans Home in Yountville that Lipsey witnessed one of the more remarkable moments that demonstrated how therapeutic the horses can be for people.

One day she walked Molly into the Memory Care Ward, which specializes in patients with Alzheimers or dementia. There, Lipsey spied an elderly man sitting alone on a couch.

She approached him and asked if she could bring Molly over.

The veteran nodded.

Molly came right up to his belly, said Lipsey. The man didnt flinch and began petting the mini.

He was obviously really enjoying this, really enjoying the contact, she said.

Then, Lipsey noticed that all the nurses in the ward were watching, murmuring and pointing in the direction of Molly and the veteran.

Pretty soon he starts talking to Molly, and as soon as he did, I could see four different nurses stations, she said, and theyre popping up. Im thinking, Uh oh. What did I do? Im looking in the back [to see if Molly had had an accident on the floor]. No she hadnt.

The head nurse walked up to Lipsey and whispered in her ear.

The nurse told her that the man had lost the ability to speak years before. When he arrived at the VA hospital, his records showed he hadnt spoken in a very long time.

He talked to this horse for 20 minutes, said Lipsey. He told us all about his childhood, how he and his brother had a horse they rode.

Leigon said the experience revealed the almost magical ability the minis possess to affect people on an emotional, even psychological level.

Theres some kind of communication that goes on there thats pretty amazing, thats pretty special, said Leigon. Its real, and its powerful.

Craig Brown, a recreational therapist who worked nearly five years in the Memory Care Ward, agreed that the minis have had a positive impact on the veterans.

Its pretty powerful the way everyone has some kind of relationship with the horse either from a childhood memory or an experience as an adult, said Brown.

As soon as people see that little horse, they light up, he added. Its pretty evident.

Molly isnt the only horse who has generated magical moments.

Lipsey took her eldest horse Winnie to Jessie Baker Elementary School in Sacramento, which has the distinction of being the first public school in California for children with severe disabilities.

While attending the schools year-end carnival, Winnie attracted the attention of a 6-year-old autistic boy, according to Lipsey.

The boy would walk by the horse, but that was it. His parents kept encouraging him to get closer, but he refused.

Hours later as the event was winding down, Lipsey noticed the boy had returned. This time he approached Winnie, reached out and quickly stroked the horses mane. Then, he darted away.

The brief contact was enough to startle the parents, said Lipsey.

I didnt get it how important it was at first, she said.

The child came back again, and this time to the shock of his mother and father, he embraced Winnie.

The little boy comes up, puts his arms around Winnies neck, Lipsey recalled. The mom starts tearing up, the dad starts tearing up.

He also did something hes never done in his life, the parents told her. He put his face up against Winnies neck.

The parents bawled, said Lipsey.

She asked them why it was so significant.

The mother demonstrated by going up to her son and very gently giving him a hug.

The boy stiffened like a board, according to Lipsey. She said he doesnt want to be touched. He does not like contact.

Jackie Hadley has also seen the positive influence of Molly and Winnie during their visits to Bay Area schools operated by the Anova Center for Education, which specializes in autism.

Hadley, Anovas head of charitable development and community relations, said Lipsey has visited their campuses four different times.

When you see the effect the mini horses have on the kids, said Hadley, its a great thing to watch. Theres so much warmth between them.

They want to hug the horses despite having tactile sensitivities in some cases, she said. I do believe the horse therapy breaks through the barriers. They are very comforting and calming. The kids want to be close to them.

Ive seen how it has transformed kids, and how much they light up, she added. Its so unique, theyre so sweet. They have this unconditional love about them.

In addition to witnessing the horses impact on others, Lipsey herself has enjoyed their warm, invisible wonder. Its one of the benefits that comes from caring for therapy animals.

Its amazing how much stress they can take away from us, and they do it willingly, said Lipsey. If Im upset and I go out to the barn, its like they know. Theyre a little more snuggly. They just know I need them right then.
Napa County Superior Court Judge Diane Price on Friday heard legal arguments as she prepared to decide next week whether a now-defunct oak woodland protection initiative should be revived.

Proponents gathered enough signatures to place the initiative on the local Nov. 8 ballot. But county Registrar of Voters John Tuteur disqualified it on a technicality based on advice from county counsel.

Attorney Catherine Engberg said the measure should be on the ballot. The measure, opposed by vintner and farming groups, would increase buffer zones for hillside streams and further limit timber-cutting for hillside vineyards and other development.

The county got it wrong when it rejected our initiative, Engberg told Price inside a packed courtroom, with initiative supporters spilling into the hallway.

Attorney Arthur Coon argued that Napa County followed state election code when rejecting the Water, Forest and Oak Woodland Protection Initiative.

I dont believe this case is really a close one or a hard one, Coon said.

At issue is whether proponents made the full text of the proposed measure available to petition signers, as required by state law.

Proponents carried a copy of the 16-page measure to shopping centers and other sites when gathering signatures. But they didnt bring an appendix to the countys 2010 Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan that is mentioned in the measure.

The measure would require property owners in certain cases to obtain permits from the county to cut down oak woodlands. These property owners during construction would follow best management practices to protect remaining trees as described in the Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan.

In addition, if required to replace trees that are cut down, property owners would follow replanting and monitoring steps contained in the plan. These include methods for sowing acorns and maintaining tree shelters.

Petition gathers often dont carry all of the existing laws and codes cited in their proposed initiatives. Nor do past court cases require them to do so to comply with the full text law.

The critical issue here is whether the best management practices are being enacted or adopted by the initiative, Price said.

Engberg said the measure wouldnt enact the best management practices. The Board of Supervisors could update the Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan.

Price said that, if thats the case, after the measure passed, the Board of Supervisors could gut the best management practices. Initiatives are supposed to prevent such possibilities, she said.

I dont see any reason this initiative should be stricken from the ballot for some hypothetical that could or could not happen, Engberg said.

Engberg said the best management practices for replanting and monitoring replacement oak trees, while important, are not the key element of the initiative.

Coon argued that the initiative would enact certain best management practices in the Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan. At present, nothing in the plan is binding. But the measure would make sections binding to receive an oak removal permit, he said.

He pointed to words in the initiative such as mandatory. He contemplated that proponents might have a different view of the matter if the measure passed and the county tried to eliminate or water down the best management practices.

Just as Price questioned proponents, she questioned the county over its decision to reject the initiative because signature-gatherers didnt carry the Voluntary Oak Woodland Management Plan appendix.

How is the lack of the actual text of the best management practices confusing to voters? Price said.

After about an hour and a half, the hearing wrapped up. Price noted time is of the essence to decide the case. The Board of Supervisors has until Aug. 12 to place measures on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Engberg talked at the beginning of the hearing about what she sees as the stakes.

The county oak woodlands are an amazing resource, she said. They not only provide scenic beauty, they protect the countys watersheds.

County residents Michael Hackett and James Wilson helped write the measure because they say further protections are needed in the agricultural watershed areas. The Napa County Farm Bureau, Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Valley Grapegrowers and Winegrowers of Napa County say the county already has stringent protections.

Engberg of the San Francisco law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger argued the case on behalf of Wilson and Hackett.

Coon of the Walnut Creek law firm Miller Starr Regalia argued the case on behalf of the county.